this is bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines... a british parliamentary probe into partygate finds evidence that breaches of covid rules would have been "obvious" to borisjohnson. i believed implicitly that these events were within the rules. yelled events were within the rules. back i believed thatv we re yelled back i believed that what we were doing was within the yelled back i believed that what we were doing was withi— were doing was within the rules. that's why _ were doing was within the rules. that's why i _ were doing was within the rules. that's why i said _ were doing was within the rules. that's why i said in _ were doing was within the rules. that's why i said in the - were doing was within the rules. | that's why i said in the chamber. were doing was within the rules. - that's why i said in the chamber. -- that's why i said in the chamber. —— i said what i said in the chamber. alex murdaugh, the disgraced south carolina lawyer, is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his son and wife. i sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life. those sentences will run consecutive. in ukraine, the head of russia's wagner group says its forces now surround most

of bakhmut, the east ukrainian city which has been the focus of extensive fighting in recent weeks. the former uk prime minister boris johnson will give evidence to a parliamentary committee later this month, who are looking into whether he lied to parliament. it relates to the parties which he participated in during the covid lockdown, and the statements which he subsequently made to parliament about them. it comes as conservative mps express anger that the partygate investigator, sue gray, has been offered a job with the opposition labour party, as sir keir starmer�*s chief of staff. a short while ago, we heard from mrjohnson. when i knew they could probably be contradicted by dozens and dozens of officials. but why on earth would i have done that?

it simply doesn't make sense. i believed that what we were doing was within the rules. that's why i said what i said in the chamber. it was my honest belief at the time — and that's why i thank the committee, but i don't think there's been contempt here. i'll add one thing, if i can, and that is i do think it is a peculiarity — let me put it that way — that the person who conducted the inquiry into what went on in number ten and the cabinet office, who was presented to me as a person of complete political impartiality with absolutely no political axe to grind whatever, has just been appointed the chief of staff of the leader of the labour party. i mean, i make no comment about it except to say that i'm sure people may

want to draw their own conclusions about the confidence they can place in her inquiry — or the motives behind her and the way she conducted her inquiry, and into her report. i think people... how can i put this in the most restricted...? i think people may look at it in a different light. i'm joined now by professor sam power — a senior lecturer in politics at the university of sussex, in south east england. sam, thank you very much forjoining us. what were your initial thoughts into these findings by the privileges committee that he misled parliament on four occasions? so it's parliament on four occasions? sr it's certainly awkward for boris johnson and an old make for really interesting hearings which we know will happen later on the week beginning 20 march. what the inquiry have initially said it is they think that there are these four moments,

particularly that they're looking at, where borisjohnson may have misled parliament. so this suggests that what boris johnson has misled parliament. so this suggests that what borisjohnson has to do is sort of make it up a little bit. he'll start these hearings on the back foot because there is these four specific episodes — one in response to secure starmer himself in pmqs, another in response to another labour party mp asking whether he was aware of these parties — that they expect he may have misled parliament and they want some clarity on that. borisjohnson on the other hand is quite punchy in his defence. he certainly starts off on the back foot and he's got work to do, but we will have to wait until 20 march or thereabouts when the oral evidence happens to see quite how this really does shake out. 50 quite how this really does shake out, ., ., quite how this really does shake out. ., ., _, quite how this really does shake out, ., ., y” “ quite how this really does shake out. ., ., i. ~ ., out. so what do you think are the realistic outcomes _ out. so what do you think are the realistic outcomes of _ out. so what do you think are the realistic outcomes of this - realistic outcomes of this investigation?— realistic outcomes of this investiuation? ., ., , investigation? so, one outcome is that they find _

investigation? so, one outcome is that they find he _ investigation? so, one outcome is that they find he didn't _ that they find he didn't deliberately mislead parliament — this is the case that borisjohnson is putting forward, that is not saying these parties didn't happen, but his defence is that he thought they were within the rules, they were reasonable gatherings as work events effectively. so that's one outcome. the other outcome is that they found he did mislead parliament — and if they find that, then that could be quite dangerous for boris johnson because effectively, that means he can get suspended from parliament, and that can trigger a recall petition, which means that a by election will happen in his constituency. what we know is that labour are significantly ahead in the polls here — and anyway, that was quite a marginal constituency anyway, low labour support and a lot of conservative support there. so it's quite risky and by no means obvious that borisjohnson would win that by election — and in that instance, it would mean he's no in parliament.

instance, it would mean he's no in parliament-— parliament. professor, thank you very much _ parliament. professor, thank you very much for— parliament. professor, thank you very much forjoining _ parliament. professor, thank you very much forjoining us. - more on the war in ukraine now — where the head of russia's wagner group has said its forces now surround most of bakhmut, the east ukrainian city has been the focus of extensive fighting in recent weeks. yevgeny prigozhin said there was now only one route out of the city, and he called on ukraine's president to withdraw his troops. ukraine has acknowledged that its troops in bakhmut are under severe pressure, and may have to pull out. casualties on both sides have been severe. as you can see, bakhmut is a fairly small town, set in farmland. before the invasion, it had a population of around 73,000 people. earlier i spoke to viktoriia zuhan, from the bbc ukrainian service, who's in kyiv — she told me about the role of russia's wagnergroup in ukraine. the ukrainian army soldiers that the wagner groups have been, you know, the mercenaries

from wagner have been involved around bakhmut for a certain period of time, for a while. and the ukrainian army, you know, soldiers, described that the wagner group have these very distinctive tactics when they send many soldiers to very little protected areas, to be basically shot down by the ukrainian defence — and that way, the wagner group understands where ukrainian defence positions are. and then, once the first line is gone or killed, then the wagner group sends more experienced storm units to continue their offensives. so of course, we know that these groups have been involved in this area — however, we do not have grounds to confirm, you know, their claims about their victories or successes. a man and a woman have been remanded in custody

by magistrates in west sussex, charged with manslaughter of a baby. the body of a newborn was found in an allotment shed near brighton on monday. duncan kennedy reports. he was led into the building ahead of his appearance before magistrates. constance marten was brought in through another entrance. mr gordon walked into the courtroom alongside ms marten both dressed in gray track suits. they are both set next to security staff. the court official asked both of them to give their names and dates of birth, each of them also said they were of no fixed abode. the three charges against each of them more than read out. they are manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child, and perverting the course ofjustice. they were not asked to enter pleas to any of the charges. the court was told that the remains of the baby were found in a locked shed. they

were found in a locked shed. they were inside a plastic bag under some nappies. court documents have given the baby's name as victoria. constance marten and mark gordon were arrested on monday after they had been missing for eight weeks. the case has led to a large police operation in the brighton area. after today's hearing, mr gordon was taken back to a prison van and driven away. ms marten was taken away three different exit. both were remanded in custody and will next appear at the old bailey, in london at the end of march. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at crawley magistrates�* court. alex murdaugh, a prominent south carolina lawyer, has been given two life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and son on their hunting estate in a case that has drawn global attention. prior to the sentence being announced, the 54—year—old again denied the murders of his son, paul, and his wife, maggie. i'm innocent.

i would never hurt my wife, maggie. and i would never hurt my son, paul—paul. i thank you, your honour. thank you. after a lengthy address that last nearly half an hour, judge clifton newman sentenced murdaugh to consecutive life terms for the murders, that were committed injune 202i. well, mr murdaugh, isentence you to the state department of corrections on each of the murder indictments. in the murder of your wife, maggie murdaugh, i sentence you for a term of the rest of your natural life. for the murder of paul murdaugh, whom you probably loved so much, i sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life.

those sentences will run consecutive. under the statute involving possession of a weapon during a violent crime, there is no sentence where a life sentence is imposed on other indictments. that is the sentence of the court, and you are remanded to the state department of corrections. and officers may carry forth on the imposition.

yes sir. yes sir. we will have more on that yes sir. yes sir. we will have more on than ., ., yes sir. yes sir. we will have more ontha. ., ., , on that from our correspondent in america soon- — the funeral has taken place of a 15—year—old boy who, according to palestinian officials, was shot dead by israeli forces. two other teenagers were injured in the occupied west bank town of azzun. the israeli army says the boys were throwing fireworks at israeli cars and threw petrol bombs at troops during a search. there has been a marked increase in violence in the occupied territory in recent weeks. 0ur middle east correspondent tom bateman is injerusalem and has the latest. well, we know, as you say, it happened in the town of azzun late on thursday. the town is often the scene of confrontations between palestinians and israeli forces. in this particular case, the palestinian authority and palestinian health officials say that the 15—year—old boy was shot in the back. a second teenager also shot and his critically wounded, and a third suffered from minor injuries.

now the israeli army says that there were youngsters throwing or firing fireworks towards israeli vehicles on one of the main highways there — they say that they then carried out a search for the people that were doing that, and they say that petrol bombs were thrown towards the troops, and they opened fire using live ammunition, and that has then led to the death of this 15—year—old boy. all of this coming in the context of what has been spiralling violence in the occupied west bank — so far this year, at least 65 palestinians killed, including civilians and militant gunmen killed by israeli forces and israeli civilians in the territory. and also in that same period, 13 israelis and one ukrainian national killed in palestinian attacks — and all at a time in which there's been increasing international attempts to try to de—escalate tensions so farfailing. alex murdaugh has been given to life

prison sentences for the murder of his wife and son. i'm joined now by our correspondent gary 0'donoghue in washington. very dramatic scenes in court, and of course it's a case that's really captured public attention in america, as well? it captured public attention in america, as well?- captured public attention in america, as well? it really has. there's a _ america, as well? it really has. there's a number— america, as well? it really has. there's a number of— america, as well? it really has. there's a number of different i there's a number of different television series broadcasted about it, people digging into the background, and the case itself has obviously been viewed unfolding over the last six weeks on live television. so there's been a great deal of interest in it, and it's sort of culminated here in these two life sentences for alex murdaugh — although he does plan to appeal and will face other charges connected to the alleged financial crimes that could give him hefty sentences. but as things stand, he's in jail for life. as things stand, he's in “ail for life, . as things stand, he's in “ail for life. ., ., life. so we heard from the 'udge there as he i life. so we heard from the 'udge there as he sentenced h life. so we heard from the judge there as he sentenced alex - there as he sentenced alex murdaugh to the two consecutive life terms —

what else did he say? he spoke for half an hour. what else did he say? he spoke for half an hour-— half an hour. yeah, i mean, he expressed _ half an hour. yeah, i mean, he expressed a — half an hour. yeah, i mean, he expressed a lot _ half an hour. yeah, i mean, he expressed a lot of _ half an hour. yeah, i mean, he expressed a lot of anger - half an hour. yeah, i mean, he expressed a lot of anger about | expressed a lot of anger about murdaugh�*s conduct in court. i think this is in part because murdaugh was a lawyer and he felt that murdaugh tried to use the system he knew to be dubious about the way he presented things. he also, really interesting talked about the fact that while south carolina has the death penalty, the prosecutors have taken the death penalty off the trial, something they can do — but thejudge said during his sentencing, "look, yourfamily and your ancestors have prosecuted many people in this state and sent many people in this state and sent many people to their deaths for much lesser crimes then you've committed," really indicating that if he had the choice, he would've given alex murdaugh a capital

sentence for this crime. so that was pretty dramatic, and also during that sentencing, that's also when alex murdaugh stood up and said he maintained his innocence twice, "i love my wife, i love my wife and my son, i would do nothing to harm them.�* ., son, i would do nothing to harm them." ., ~ son, i would do nothing to harm them.�* ., ~ ~ ., , them." you said alex murdaugh is likel to them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal. — them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what _ them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did - them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he - them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he say l them." you said alex murdaugh is| likely to appeal, what did he say in court today?— court today? like i said, he 'ust professed fl court today? like i said, he 'ust professed his innocence i court today? like i said, hejust professed his innocence twice, l court today? like i said, he just - professed his innocence twice, those are the only to thank the micro time she spoke. but he did give evidence in the trial in his own defence — though he had to do a 180 on his own story right in the middle of the trial, having said for months ever since the police had been questioning him that he hadn't been democracy and his wife and son for a couple of hours before they were murdered. but this snapchat video emerges during the trial at which you can hear his voice on it, recorded about ten minutes before his wife and son were shot dead. you can clearly hear alex murdaugh�*s voice on that, so he had to change his story, and i think that went down very badly with the jury.

down very badly with the “my. gary, thank you very * down very badly with the “my. gary, thank you very much _ down very badly with the “my. gary, thank you very much for h down very badly with the jury. gary, thank you very much forjoining us. for two wind farms build on their traditional grazing land. norway's supreme court has ruled that the wind farms violated the rights of the reindeer herders. the minister acknowledge the ruling but said any democrat energy generation could still continue in the area. emer mccarthy reports. one of the world's most well—known environmental campaigners, joining protesters against a norwegian wind farm. greta thunberg was among supporters calling for the removal of 151 turbines from reindeer pastures used by indigenous sami herders in fosen in central norway. they say a transition to green energy shouldn't be at the expense of indigenous tribes. translation: of indigenous tribes. tuna/mom- of indigenous tribes. translation: �* ., ,

translation: i'm here to support those who work _ translation: i'm here to support those who work with _ translation: i'm here to support those who work with reindeer - translation: i'm here to support those who work with reindeer to i translation: i'm here to support i those who work with reindeer to have beenin those who work with reindeer to have been in this fight for your now, and it's about time we show our support here —— for years now. it's about time we show our support here -- for years now.— here -- for years now. herders say the towering _ here -- for years now. herders say the towering machines _ here -- for years now. herders say the towering machines frighten - here -- for years now. herders say. the towering machines frighten their animals and disrupt age—old traditions. the sami have traditionally thrived from fishing and reindeer herding. norway's supreme court ruled in 2021 that the turbines violated sami rights and international conventions— but they are still operating 17 months later. after a week of protests and a growing clinical crisis, norway's energy minister apologised to sami groups thursday. translation: i groups thursday. translation: ., ., , groups thursday. translation: ., , ., groups thursday. translation: ., ., , ., ., translation: i apologise today on behalf of the _ translation: i apologise today on behalf of the government _ translation: i apologise today on behalf of the government to - translation: i apologise today on behalf of the government to the - behalf of the government to the reiudeer— behalf of the government to the reindeer herding districts, for the fact that — reindeer herding districts, for the fact that the permits to build wind farms _ fact that the permits to build wind farms constituted a violation of human— farms constituted a violation of human rights, because they would have a _ human rights, because they would have a significantly negative effect for the _

have a significantly negative effect for the ability of the reindeer herders— for the ability of the reindeer herders to live according to their culture — herders to live according to their culture he— herders to live according to their culture. , , , �* , culture. he stressed it's the government's _ culture. he stressed it's the government's aim _ culture. he stressed it's the government's aim to - culture. he stressed it's the government's aim to find i culture. he stressed it's the government's aim to find a l culture. he stressed it's the i government's aim to find a way for the turbines and reindeer herding to coexist — but what that looks like is still unknown. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. thanks very much indeed. former england captain michael vaughan spoke for the first time today — at this week's cricket disciplinary proceedings, into alleged racism at yorkshire cricket club. it's after claims made by azeem rafiq. matt graveling reports now — a warning you may find some of the language heard at the hearing offensive. it was before a t20 match before yorkshire in 2009 that he was accused of racism. von had quickly denied making a statement towards azeem rafiq and three asian players,

which says, "there's too many of you lot, we need to have a word about it." this afternoon a lawyer put out a number of historic tweets posted by vaughn in 2010. today he said that was unacceptable and has since apologised many times. he also reached out to azeem rafiq to try and work things out. he said, "it's not been easy on anybody, this, dealing with comments from 1a years ago_,. dealing with comments from 1a years ago." he added that x team—mates fighting it out over hearsay is a terrible look for the game. he said, "i always believed in champion and that the fundamental aspect of a dressing room is culture, and it must be inclusive." these proceedings will continue on tuesday with closing submissions. australia have got their first test win in india in six years — after a nine—wicket victory in indore confirmed their place in the world test championship final. the tourists needed 76 to win

but got off to a dreadful start. usman khawaja — who made 60 in theirfirst innings — went for a duck to only the second ball of the day. travis head and marnus labuschagne held their nerve on a turning pitch though, and head finished on 49 with his team—mate 28 not out. it is only the third time that india have lost a test at home in the last decade. meanwhile, england claimed victory against bangladesh in the second match of their series. england were put into bat by the home side and capitalised on the decision to score 326. jason roy the star — returning to form with 132 — ahead of the world cup later this year. in reply, bangladesh were all out for a disappointing 194. sam curran and adil rashid both took four wickets as england won the match by 132 runs, and the series 2—0. ahead of his side's premier league match at home to newcastle united on saturday, manchester city manager pep guardiola says former defender and captain vincent kompany is "destined" to manage the club at some point in the future. kompany is currently in charge of championship side burnley and has guided them to a 12—point

lead at the top of the english second tier. personally i'm delighted with his does stomach a success and what he's doing in berlin. i think all of us are happy he's back. he will be back sooner or later, so i think he's destined to become a manager, its already written in the stars. it's going to happen — i don't know when, but it'll happen. he's where the needs, the destiny is there. there was a surprise pacesetter in second practice of formula one's season—opening bahrain grand prix this weekend... aston martin's fernando alonso topped the timesheets, the spaniard continuing the team's strong pace from testing, finishing a tenth ahead of the red bulls of world champion max verstappen and sergio perez. lewis hamilton was eighth fastest, with mercedes team—mate george russell in 13th. and the european indoor athletics is taking place in istanbul —

with jakob ingebrigtsen winning gold in the 1,500 metres, ahead of britain's neil gourley. that's all from us for now. we'll have more for you on the bbc news channel later on. thank you very much, gavin. dutch authorities have announced a pilot scheme to licence cannabis growing. it'll be launched in two cities in the south of the country, but there are plans to legalise production nationwide. tim allman reports. the netherlands is famous — or notorious, depending on your point of view — for its coffee shops. they are places where you can get hold of and consume certain types of drugs. although it's legal to buy cannabis here, it's technically illegal for the coffee shop owner to get hold of their supply, which can make life complicated. it's a very shady territory, the backdoor. and i don't say it's all criminals. you know, that's what you see in the newspapers.

mostly, it's nice people we buy the cannabis from, but still, i don't know how it's grown. it's shady. in recent years, the dutch government has tried to impose some restrictions on these places, making them less open to tourists, for instance. but ministers also want to normalise the business, break the connection between coffee shops and drug gangs, and ensure a better quality product is sold. for me, it wouldn't matter that much because nine out of ten times i get it from people i know who grow it themselves. but for... if you're getting it from a coffee shop, then yeah, it would be better to have it regularised and have it legalised so you know where it's coming from. for now, the licensing scheme is confined to two cities — breda and tilburg. but the plan is to expand it across the country and make every coffee shop a safer and more satisfying experience. tim allman, bbc news. an international team of astronauts has safely docked at the international space station

in the autonomously piloted capsule, crew dragon. the craft, built by elon musk�*s spacex company, docked 25 hours after take off on its sixth crewed mission. the team is made up of two astronauts from the united states, one from russia, and one from the united arab emirates. they'll spend six months in orbit, conducting more than 200 experiments. imagine making that trip. one of the greatestjazz saxophonists of all time, wayne shorter, has died in los angeles. he was 89. wayne shorter came to prominence collaborating with miles davis' second quintet in the 1960s. he went on to lead his own band, producing seminal albums on the blue note label, including "speak no evil", and formed the jazz fusion group, weather report. during his long career, he was awarded 11 grammys.

you're watching bbc news, thanks for joining us. good evening. it was a cloudy and dull day weather—wise for most of us today, but there were some brighter spells, some sunshine, notably across scotland and also towards the south coast of england — here's gosport, in hampshire, it's quite a mixed picture tomorrow. the further east you are, the more likely you are to see a lot of cloud around, but further west, there will also be some brighter spells at times. and we've still got that feed of cloud coming in from the north sea overnight tonight, a few spots of drizzle always possible, 1—2 coastal showers, as well. further west, this is where we'll see the clearest of the skies — you can see where the blue's tinging in the map, that's where we'll get a widespread frost. temperatures dropping below freezing — so a chilly, locally frosty start to the day where we keep the cloud, temperatures will remain in low single figures.

now over the weekend, our high pressure is pulling away. it'll still be mostly dry, i think, for most areas, but a couple of cold fronts slipping southwards on a northerly wind, and eventually some arctic air. not too cold yet, though, on saturday. a frost out towards the west — this is where we'll also see the best of the sunshine, western scotland, western england, also western wales. further east, a lot of cloud, a few spots of drizzle from the thickness of the cloud, and some showers moving into mainland scotland, too. temperatures round about the seasonal average, but with a bit of added wind—chill from that northerly. the winds are still fairly light on sunday. there'll be some brighter spells around at times, also a few showers — possibly some of those showers wintry across the hills of scotland and towards north sea—facing coasts, as well. but temperatures will take a bit of a dip on sunday, it will start to feel colder for most areas. but that really cold air filters down from the arctic on sunday night, into the start of next week — and it's just pushing further southwards as the start of the week wears on. now, there's still a lot of uncertainty in the forecast —

but what hat we are sure about is that it will turn colder and there will be some snowfall. but we're unsure still as to the extent of the snowfall — will it reach the south, and how long the colder air will last? but we've already got localised weather warnings in force for snow and ice across scotland on monday, and for northeast england. most of the showers on monday will fall as rain towards the south, but we could see some of these showers turn wintry, perhaps, on tuesday. there will be a lot of added wind—chill, too, with a bitterly cold northerly wind.

you are watching bbc news. coming up, it's newscast. hello it is world book day when we are recording is upset. we had some good costumes to hand. first of all to stay two of the telegraph is calling a lock down files, all of those what messages between matt hancock in the health secretary during the early stages of the covid pandemic between borisjohnson and rishi sunak and other advisers in

posters in dominic cummings and others and basically everyone who