welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: kherson underfire. russian troops continue to attack the ukrainian city. three people are killed. president zelensky describes the shelling as atrocious. translation: the enemy does not count personnel and despite numerous casualties keeps the intensity of its attack hi. the chairman of britain's governing conservative party is sacked after a damning investigation into his tax affairs. america's secretary of state is to visitjerusalem to try and de—escalate growing tensions between israel and the palestinians.

the rains keep falling in new zealand, and rescue efforts continue. we'll get the latest from auckland. and a day of tragedy in pakistan, with dozens killed in two separate transport accidents. liable from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. we start the show in ukraine, where it's being reported that a missile hit a residential building in country's second largest city, kharkiv. that's according to local officials. this image has been filed by the reuters news agency. it's a developing story, and there's no word yet about any casualties. as and when we get more

information we will bring that to you. this follows intense fighting in the key southern city of kherson, which has come underfire once again from russian troops. three people have been killed there, and six others injured in the intense shelling. the attack came from russian troops stationed on the opposite bank of the dnipro river. local officials say multiple launch rocket systems, artillery, mortars and tank shells were used. damage was reported to a regional hospital, a school, and residential buildings among others. kherson, in the country's south, was captured by russian forces in the early days of moscow's invasion. it was recaptured by ukraine in november. president zelensky used his nightly address to praise the resilience of ukrainian soldiers. translation: the enemy does not count personnel and, _ despite numerous casualties, keeps the intensity of its attacks high. this can only be countered by extraordinary resilience and a complete awareness that our soldiers are defending the whole of ukraine when they

defend the donetsk region. meanwhile, the question of how the west arms ukraine and with what has reared its head again as the german chancellor olaf scholz ruled out sending fighterjets. ukrainian officials have asked allied nations to create a fighterjet coalition to help them further repel russia. but in an interview with the newspaper der tagesspiegel, the german chancellor urged western nations not tojoin a bidding warfor more sophisticated weaponry. last week, germany announced it will deliver its leopard 2 battle tanks to ukraine after weeks of pressure from nato and european union allies. earlier i spoke to the cia's former chief russia analyst, george beebe, who authored the russia trap: how our shadow war with russia could spiral into nuclear catastrophe. he said the west has little choice to continue supplying arms to ukraine, but any aid had to be coupled with a diplomatic strategy to bring the war to a negotiated end. in one sense, i think our strategy has been quite effective. i think the ukrainians have already won a considerable victory in this war

in that it is clear that the russians cannot conquer and occupy the vast bulk of ukrainian territory. and whatever else happens in this war, i think ukraine is going to emerge as an independent state. now, it's also failing in the sense that although we have prevented an outcome that we do not want to see — namely, russia's subjugation of ukraine — we don't have at this point a strategy for bringing this war succesfully to an end. and that's really why we're in this discussion over not just tanks but fighter aircraft and other long—range strike capabilities, because we're concerned that russia has an advantage in a war of attrition, that russia can simply wear ukraine down, use up its manpower, its munitions, and exhaust the west�*s political will to continue supplying ukraine. and we have got to find a way to show the russians that that approach won't work, but we have to do so in a way

that doesn't risk escalating this war into a direct confrontation between the west and russia, which would have quite ominous implications for escalation into a nuclear conflict. so that's why we're in the debate that we're in right now. just to jump in there, and i think you've laid that out really well, but given what you've described, does the west have any other options beyond arming ukraine further, sending more hardware, more firepower there? well, i think we do. clearly, we have to continue our military support for ukraine. otherwise the russians won't have any incentive to negotiate. they'lljust wait us out. but we have to couple that military support with a diplomatic process, and that is something that right now the west is loath to do. and we're going to have to address that, otherwise we're headed towards an escalation spiral which will be quite dangerous. and that means we're

going to have to talk to the ukrainians about how to rebuild, and to help them understand that unless there is some sort of compromise agreement with the russians, the russians will simply wreck ukraine rather than allowing it to rebuild itself and join the eu and nato. and we're also going to have to recognise that we have to discuss with the russians the broader strategic issues of ukraine's military relationship with the west, which is one of the fundamental reasons why this war began in the first place. that was george beebe, the cia former russian analyst and author of shadow trap: how russia aggression could spiral into nuclear war. let's turn to the uk now, where the conservative party chairman nadhim zahawi has been sacked from the cabinet

by the british prime minister rishi sunak following weeks of gathering uncertainty over his future. rishi sunak�*s ethics adviser found mr zahawi failed to disclose full details of a tax dispute, and that this was a serious breach of the ministerial code of conduct. mr sunak asked for the investigation after mr zahawi admitted paying a settlement to the tax authority hmrc, including a penalty. with all the days events, here's our political editor chris mason. nadhim zahawi arrived in the uk as a child, unable to speak english. he became a multimillionaire and rose to be chancellor of the exchequer. just on top of the steps please, joshua. but tonight his political career and reputation is in tatters. in a 2,000—word letter to the prime minister, the government's ethics adviser is devastating in his criticism of mr zahawi. sir laurie magnus says...

the chairman of the conservative party... minutes after the prime minister had sacked his party chairman for what he called a serious breach of the ministerial code, the questions began. for a start, why hadn't he got rid of him days ago? as a general rule, i think it is important when allegations are raised that they're investigated promptly. but also we shouldn't rush to judgement before there's been that investigation. the prime minister's ethics adviser highlights seven occasions when nadhim zahawi breached the ministerial code, albeit some for the same mistake — a failure to declare the tax authority were investigating him while he was covid vaccine minister, making the same error when he became education secretary for england in september 2021 and repeating it a third time when he became chancellor injuly last year, a failure to declare he'd paid the penalty to revenue and customs in september last year, a failure to tell the then prime minister, liz truss, about this when she appointed him to government and a failure to tell rishi sunak

when he took the top job. what's your reaction... plus, there was this last july, which sir laurie says was untrue. so i was clearly being smeared. i was being told that the serious fraud office, that the national crime agency, that hmrc are looking into me. you know, i'm not aware of this. but there was an investigation by the tax authority. mr zahawi has maintained he didn't think it amounted to an investigation. the opposition party say all this reflects badly on the prime minister. this is very serious, and nadhim zahawi has spent a very long time dodging this. and i dojust think it speaks to rishi sunak�*s character and hisjudgement and his weakness. nadhim zahawi should have been sacked or at least have stepped aside until the inquiry took place. instead of which, he was allowed to stay in government while there were these serious questions. on a day of letters,

a final one — nadhim zahawi wrote to the prime minister, saying he took pride in having been in government, including his role in the roll—out of the covid vaccine. but he made no mention whatsoever of any of the criticisms levelled at him. the focus now returns to the prime minister and questions about hisjudgement. chris mason, bbc news. turning to other news for you now, and the escalating situation in the middle east. the us secretary of state antony blinken will be in jerusalem today to discuss how to de—escalate growing tensions between israelis and palestinians. more than a dozen people have died in recent days. the israeli security cabinet has now approved new measure in response to friday's shooting outside a synagogue in which seven people died. on sunday, israeli forces moved in to evict the family of the gunman who carried out the killings, as our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports.

in shock at their sudden loss, the grief—stricken family of rafael ben eliyahu, killed by a palestinian gunman outside a synagogue on friday when he was trying to help another victim. "dad, you're my hero," his son says. "you chose to sacrifice your life for others." seven people were shot dead in a due settlement in the deadliest attack of its kind in years. now, israel's cabinet is promising a strong response, making it easier for israelis to carry guns and tougher measures to punish the families of palestinian attackers. translation: our answer to terror is a firm hand, i and a powerful, fast and precise reaction. packing before the bulldozers come. relatives of the dead gunman from the synagogue shooting are forced out of their home, and the doors sealed shut. these videos were released by israel's far—right minister for police to show there

will be retribution. israeli forces have told us to keep back, but we'rejust along the street from the family home of the palestinian who carried out friday's deadly attack. his parents, his siblings have been able to take out some of their things, but soon they are expecting their apartment to be demolished. the gunman�*s father says he had no idea of his son's plans and he's numb to the punishment. "god will compensate us," he says. "if people are gone, will we care about a house?" recent days have seen surging violence, with ten palestinians killed in israel's most deadly raid in the west bank in years. the top us diplomat was already due to visit this week. now, his main focus will be ways to stop the rising unrest. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: another day of mourning in ukraine.

family and friends pay tribute to a hidden hero of the war. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian oil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. a countdown - to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 - of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket —i slashing the cost of a launch —| that makes this a breakthrough in the business| of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake.

thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world nonstop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines: russian forces continue to bombard the ukrainian region of kherson after a day of attacks which has left at least three people dead. the chairman of britain's governing conservative party has been sacked, following an investigation into his tax affairs. let's return to ukraine now because among those killed in the east of the country last

week was, denys sosnenko. he died while carrying out the dangerous task of retrieving the bodies of civilians and soldiers. he was buried by friends and family this weekend. my colleague andrew harding has more now on his story, and i just want to warn you, you might find some of andrew's report distressing. fresh snow and a funeral in the donbas this morning. this time, for a man who was not quite a soldier and not quite a civilian either. 21—year—old denys sosnenko was a body collector. his mother is led towards his open coffin. she sobs last year, we met denys, standing in the background here. he was with his team of volunteers, close to the front lines. a grim and dangerousjob. scouring ukraine's battlefields for abandoned bodies, ukrainian and russian soldiers alike. and now, he's being buried, a few days after driving over an anti—tank mine. "he always told us, �*i have to do this work.

�*if not me, then who?”', says his mother, lyudmyla. she sobs. last october, another bbc team caught up with denys, collecting more russian bodies, after checking they weren't booby—trapped, as they often are. denys spoke then of the horrors of the work, of picking the dead up limb by limb. but today, his team—mates talk of his dedication. translation: he did so much with his short life. _ he brought back so many dead people. and we must carry on with that work, because there are families still waiting for the dead to come home. so many of those unclaimed bodies are here in the northern donbas — a blasted landscape, littered with russian corpses. but the kremlin�*s forces are learning from their mistakes

and slowly seizing more ground. russia are learning every day and they change their strategy, and it's very hard for us, and i think we need to learn fast. faster? than russia, yeah. in the meantime, denys's coffin is brought to his home—town cemetery. the mood here — and, indeed, across ukraine — is one notjust of grief, but exhaustion, the fear that this long war has barely even begun and that the work of body collectors like denys will be needed here for months, if not for years, to come. andrew harding, bbc news, ukraine. in pakistan, at least a0 people have died after a bus plunged off a bridge. the accident happened in the south west of the country.

officials said the vehicle hit a bridge pillar before losing control and bursting into flames. separately, at least ten children have died in a boat accident in the north—west of pakistan. the boat capsized on tanda dam lake in kohat district. caroline davis reports. still dripping water, carried to the ambulances. this was the fear and panic after a boat capsized on a lake in northwest pakistan. several children aged between seven and iii were killed. local police were some of the first on the scene. translation: when we came here, we heard some noise, _ and then we saw a few heads bobbing in the water. we took a boat out and rescued i2 kids from water, but we think there are still eight to ten boys missing here. the children were visiting from a seminary where they were students.

one official told the bbc the children were not wearing life jackets. it was not the only tragedy in pakistan today. in the early hours of this morning, a coach travelling from quetta to karachi came off the road. officials said that it did hit a pillar before veering off a bridge and into a dry riverbed below. they told reporters that the coach burst into flames on impact. almost everyone on board died. those who survived are in a serious condition in hospital. officials have said that some bodies are unidentifiable because of the severity of their burns. road and water accidents are not rare in pakistan. authorities have said that there will be investigations of what led to two such great losses of life on different sides of the country. caroline davies, bbc news. lots more on the bbc website on that story and others of course. right now i want to update you on the situation in new zealand as four people are known to have died as torrential rain continues to

hammer the largest city causing flash flooding and landslides. auckland and large parts of the country's north island remain under a state of emergency with thousands of properties still without power and hundreds with no water supply. severe weather is forecast to continue into monday and the rest of this week. the prime minister has attended the area at the weekend to assess the damage and thank emergency services for their effort. well it's been a little over a year since a massive underwater volcano erupted near the pacific island nation of tonga. the eruption of hunga tonga—hunga ha'apai sent plumes of ash tens of kilometres into the air and triggered a tsunami which inundated low—lying areas. the shock was felt across the globe. the volcano lies just 65 kilometres north of tonga's main island, tongatapu. the eruption and tsunami caused widespread destruction, killing three people and damaging hundreds of homes.

damage to undersea cables saw vital communications lines impacted for several weeks in the aftermath. iliesa tora, a media consultant based in tonga, told us of his experience on the day the volcano erupted. january 15 will be something that we will remember for a lifetime, those of us who witnessed what happened on that day. i and my family were actually at our home which is about 300 metres of the shoreline here in nuku'alofa. we were shocked when we had the loud explosions, thinking at first it was somebody letting off bonfires somewhere close to

us but when we looked up into the sky we saw the black ash and smoke that covered almost the whole sky right above us and over the clothesline. i, of course, wanted to run down to the shoreline to take photos. when i got down to the shoreline as i held up my camera and look through the lens, i could see the waves were heading towards sure so got back into the car and dashed back home. by then we had people who realised what was happening. women, children, who were selling stuff, foodstuff, selling clothes at the market on the waterfront, yelling and running away from what they saw coming. i took my family as soon as i got home and we got some clothes into a

bag and dashed off and tried to drive off to an area that was just close to us which was an evacuation centre from tsunamis quite what you have described as unimaginable for so many people but also something that many people in tonga had to go through that day. if it's possible for you to talk us through how of a toll this tragedy has taken on the people and particularly the children of tonga? yes. right now, mentally, our children are still affected because every time there is lightning, thunderstorms, our children are frightened. and that is something that our health people are still working on, with children all over the islands of tonga. there is still a lot of reconstruction work that is still being done.

houses that were destroyed are still being reconstructed and relocations have happened. some of the people from the island have been moved to different locations. economically, we still try to get things together and keep moving. the government with its partners helped a lot in the past 12 months in trying to get, to make sure that needs are met and the reconstruction programme for houses is on par with the needs that is out there. . . , with the needs that is out there. ., ., , ., ., there. that was a media consultant _ there. that was a media consultant based - there. that was a media consultant based in - there. that was a media i consultant based in tonga talking us through what he and the community have faced and gone through in the aftermath of that disaster.

i just want to show you some dramatic footage we've had in from the us state georgia, where a suspected car—jacker�*s had a lucky escape. it's not safe out here driving one light and everything. yo! while police officers were occupied speaking to the driver of a car they'd pulled over, another man stole their patrol car. it sparked a high speed chase in the city of atlanta that ended up with the car overturning on train tracks. things quickly got serious with a train approaching and the driver apparently stuck inside. with just moments to spare, the driver was freed suffering only minor injuries from the car flipping over. just seconds later and it could've been very different. police charged a 29—year—old man with a number of offences including traffic violations and theft. there is much more on that story and other stories on the bbc news website including the

latest lines on ukraine and all the stories we have brought you in this news bulletin but for now, from me and the newsday team, that's it for now. do stay with bbc news and i will see you back on newsday tomorrow. hello. we're looking at a pretty quiet start to the new week weather—wise. there should be a lot of fine weather around this monday. and the winds that were pretty keen, particularly to the north of the uk, on sunday will fall considerably lighter. and here's why. this area of high pressure pushing up from the southwest. this area of low pressure that brought the windier conditions on sunday is off towards scandinavia. still a bit of a breeze for the north and west of scotland, still one or two showers feeding in here. could be the odd one coming in off the irish sea coast early on in the day as well. but overall, monday, we're dominated by dry weather. there should be a lot of sunshine and temperatures eight to 10 degrees. high cloud, though, pushing into northern ireland later on in the day is the first signs of some weather fronts that will sweep into the north—west of the uk late

monday into early tuesday. some wet weather for scotland, briefly for northern ireland. ends the night, that front, across northern england, feeding into wales. clear skies behind the weather front, but quite a lot of showers slamming into northern ireland but particularly western scotland on what will be a very strong westerly wind. and that's because of this low pressure centre here to the north—west of the uk. it's going to mean strong winds right the way across the uk on tuesday. but gales for western scotland and to the north of the country, too. frequent showers, wintry across the higher ground. some showers of rain for northern ireland, northern england. largely dry further south, but distinctly windy, yes. temperatures still 11, 12 to the south of the uk, but feeling chillier — just 7 degrees there, for example, in aberdeen. and then through the evening, into the early part of the night, as that centre of the low pressure goes through to the north, a real squeeze in the winds across northern scotland. severe gales, possibly damaging winds, widespread gales for scotland certainly to take us into wednesday. but off goes that low towards scandinavia for the middle part of the week and the winds become relatively lighter once again. it will be a breezy day on wednesday.

we'll see our next weather front trying to push in to the north—west, so more cloud as the day plays out for northern ireland, for western scotland, northern england and some outbreaks of rain. but sunshine for southern and eastern areas. another pulse of rain to run through to the north of the uk on thursday. to the south, though, high pressure close by keeping things fine. and then for the end of the week, it looks like the high will come to dominate and there should be a lot of fine weather across the uk. and in terms of our temperatures, after those big extremes of last week, it looks like we're going to see a fairly average picture across the uk.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour,

straight after this programme. wales' women on the pitch... commentator: they think they've gone over! - wales score! ..proud to wear the three feathers. you know, it's a wonderful game and it's our national game. it was a dream job. charlotte wathan was hired in 2018 to help transform the women's game in wales. i believed that i could be a force for good. i believed that i could, you know, bring about some positive change. but she quit after four years, telling the wru she was sick of being exposed to bullying, sexism and sexual harassment at work. and that's really sad. um...