this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. 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.

a british parliamentary probe into partygate — finds evidence that breaches of covid rules would have been �*obvious�* to boris johnson. the us announce another new military aid package for ukraine worth 400 million dollars. it comes as president biden meets the german chancellor scholz for talks in washington. meanwhile, on the ground 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. it's the murder case that's gripped the us and drawn attention across the world. alex murdaugh, a prominent south carolina lawyer, has been given two life terms in prison for killing his wife and son on their hunting estate. in court today, prior to the sentence being announced, the sa—year again denied murdering his son paul and his wife maggie.

i'm innocent. iwould never i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife maggie and i would never hurt my son paul — paul. wife maggie and i would never hurt my son paul - paul.— wife maggie and i would never hurt my son paul - paul. thank you, your honor. my son paul - paul. thank you, your honor- thank— my son paul - paul. thank you, your honor. 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 2021. mrmurdaugh, i mr murdaugh, i sentence 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 your natural life for the murder of your natural life for the murder of paul murdaugh. who you probably love so much. i

sent you for the rest of your natural life was sentences will run consecutive. underthis natural life was sentences will run consecutive. under this statute of evolving a weapon during a violent crime. there is no sentence where life sentence is imposed on other indictments. that is a sentence of the court and you are remanded to the court and you are remanded to the state department of corrections. and officers may carry forth on the imposition. yes, sir. yes, sir.

yes, sir. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue explained how the court case has captured the attention of a nation. 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 injailfor life. so we heard from the judge there as he sentenced alex murdaugh to the two consecutive life terms — what else did he say? he spoke for half an hour.

yeah, i mean, he 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 table, 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 this really indicating he would've given a capital sentence for the crime. that's also when alex murdaugh stood up that's also when alex murdaugh stood up and said he maintained his innocence wife saying i love my wife, i love my wife and my son. i

would do nothing to harm them. " you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he say in court today? like i said, hejust 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 seen 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. the former uk prime minister boris johnson may have repeatedly misled parliament over social gatherings held at downing street during covid restrictions. that's according to mps investigating his conduct, who said that evidence strongly suggests that breaches

of coronavirus rules inside no 10 whilst he was prime minister would have been "obvious" to him. mrjohnson was among those fined by police for breaking lockdown rules. but he said there was no evidence he had "knowingly" misled parliament over the issue. 0ur political correspondent helen catt reports. did borisjohnson know more about lockdown parties in downing street than he told mps? for months now, mps on the privileges committee have been building a picture. they have studied photos with lots of booze but little social distancing, taking evidence and even gone on a tour of number 10. the report says the evidence suggests breaches of guidance would have been obvious to mrjohnson at the time he was at the gatherings. i believed that what we were doing was implicitly within the rules, and that's why i said what i said in the house of commons

and that is why, i thank the committee for their labours, and i'm sorry it has all been going on for so long, but there has been no contempt here. # happy birthday to you... # mrjohnson was fined for attending a party on his birthday in 2020. not here, but this party has late in the day in the cabinet room. the report includes whatsapp messages which suggested to some of those who advised him concerned when the story came out. his director of communications message to number 10 official saying... the number 10 official suggested... a director of communications replied... but it is what mrjohnson told parliament that is the subject of investigation. the committee says there is evidence that he may have misled it when he told mps about claims which have since been proven to be

true of a party held in number10 in decembe . , , . , true of a party held in number 10 in december 2020. i have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there no covid rules were broken. and that is what i have been repeatedly assured. the committee says the commons may also have been misled when mrjohnson failed to tell the house about his own knowledge of the gatherings where the rules or guidance had been broken. it said... sir keir starmer who was in northern ireland earlier, was scathing. i think the evidence of wrongdoing by borisjohnson is already pretty damning. i think it's important to bear in mind that rishi sunak, at the time, was honestly very close to all of this and sat on his hands. and i think first and foremost

of the families, not just those that lost loved ones, but also all the other families who were obeying the rules and changing their lives, whilst those in government were not even following their own rules. the labour leader has himself caused a row and enraged some conservative mps after he offered a top job as his chief of staff to the civil servant who investigated partygate sue gray. she resigned from the civil service but will wait for advice from the appointments watchdog before taking up the role. as for boris johnson he will have the chance to put his case to the privileges committee in person later this month before they reach their final conclusions. earlier, professor sam power — a senior lecturer in politics at the university of sussex joined us from the south east england, to tell us more. yes, it's certainly awkward for borisjohnson. it's good to make for really interesting hearing, which we

know is can happen on the week beginning the 20th of march. what the inquiry have initially said is they think that there are these four moments, particularly that they're looking at where boris johnson moments, particularly that they're looking at where borisjohnson may have misled parliament. this suggests that what boris johnson have misled parliament. this suggests that what borisjohnson has to do is make it up a little bit. he's going to start these hearings on the back foot because there are these four specific episode, one response to keir starmer at prime ministers question, one in response to another labour mp asking whether he was aware of these parties. they expect he may have misled parliament and they want clarity on that. now borisjohnson on the other hand, he's quite punchy and his defense. he certainly starts off on the back foot, he's got work to do. but we will have to wait until the 20th of march or thereabouts when the oral

evidence happens to see quite how this shakes out.— this shakes out. what do you think ofthe this shakes out. what do you think of the realistic _ this shakes out. what do you think of the realistic outcomes _ this shakes out. what do you think of the realistic outcomes of - this shakes out. what do you think of the realistic outcomes of this i of the realistic outcomes of this investigation?— of the realistic outcomes of this investiuation? ., . ., , ., investigation? one outcome is that the find investigation? one outcome is that they find he — investigation? one outcome is that they find he didn't _ investigation? one outcome is that they find he didn't deliberately - they find he didn't deliberately lead parliament. this is the case that boris johnson lead parliament. this is the case that borisjohnson is putting forward, he's not saying that these parties did not happen but his defence is that he thought they were within the rules, they were reasonable gatherings as work events, affectively. the other outcome is they find that he did miss lead parliament. if they find that that that can be quite dangerous for boris johnson because affectively that means he can get suspended from parliament. that can trigger a recall petition, which means a by election will happen in his constituency. what we know is that labour are significantly ahead in the polls here for the anyway, that was quite a marginal constituency. there are a lot of labour support and a lot of

conservative support there. quite risky and by no means obvious that borisjohnson would win that by election. in that instance would mean he is no longer in parliament. the us has announced another new military aid package for ukraine. the latest round of security aid is worth 400 million dollars and provides more ammunition, equipment and munitions. the new aid was announced just as presidentjoe biden met the german chancellor 0laf scholz to discuss the two countries' ongoing support for ukraine. we're making the alliance stronger and more capable. you've heard me say before that when i talked to putin a couple

of months before that i told him that we're more likely to get the... the finalisation of europe, more like the nato position of europe. it's had that effect. a lot has happened since last year for that we've got a lot to talk about in further conversation. thank you for having me again and i really appreciate the white house. let me just say this, this is very important year because of the very dangerous threat that comes from russia. it's really important that we act together, we're organised in lockstep and we make it as feasible as we can giving the necessary support to ukraine during all this time. at this time i think it is very important that we give the message that we will continue to do so as long as it takes and as long as it is necessary. and we're ready also for staying with that ukrainians as long as it is necessary.

i really appreciate the very good cooperation between the two of us, our government the united states and europe and the transatlantic partnership is in very good shape today. meanwhile, the head of russia's wagner group has said its forces now surround most of bakhmut, the east ukrainian city that 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. 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—thousand people. here in the uk, a man and a woman have been remanded in custody, charged with manslaughter of a baby. the body of a newborn was found in an allotment shed near brighton, in southern england, on monday. duncan kennedy reports.

mark gordon was let 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 were both sat 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 were then 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 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 through a 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. they with us on bbc news. still to come. a reality contestant is jailed in the uk for sharing a private graphic video of him and his former partner. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side.

the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these i marches are their rights as citizens of the united states, - and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out | so that they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy — i know you don't want to say too much about it — but does it worry you that it's going to boil up? oh, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything'll be all right at the end of the day. this is bbc news the latest

headlines. alex murdaugh the disgrace lawyer is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his son and wife. a british parliamentary probe into party gate finds evidence that breaches of covid rules would have been obvious to borisjohnson. three health unions wrapping something up to 16,000 health workers have suspended a series of strike after government offered to hold talks on pay. the next walk—out was due to happen on monday. the welsh ambulance services also agreed to suspend action for further talks. gmb secretary said the governments latest concession marks a huge shift in its position. latest concession marks a huge shift in its position-— in its position. we've had a significant _ in its position. we've had a significant development i in its position. we've had a significant development in | in its position. we've had a - significant development in this dispute. from the start of the dispute. from the start of the dispute what we've been asking for is for the government to meet with the health unions and seriously negotiate on pay for this dispute and also lectures pay. that is the author we have now received from the department of health. the

british reality tv. she raved she waived her right to anonymity for the trial. bear was found guilty of voyeurism and disclosing private sexual photographs and films — with intent to cause distress. annabel rackham reports. stephen bear's arrival in court this morning was extraordinary. he stopped to take a selfie before singing to a group of reporters. the 33—year—old is best known for winning celebrity big brother in 2016. how many times have i asked if you have a girlfriend at home? georgia harrison met him on the itv show the challenge and she told the court how she had had to move out of her home in essex because it was opposite his. the judge gave near enough the maximum sentence today and said georgia had suffered extreme humiliation and embarrassment in terms of her emotional health and reputation,

and also in her employment status. he praised her dignity and courage and said that he hopes that this result would give vindication to others that had suffered from similar crimes. georgia harrison appeared visibly relieved after the sentence was given. i want to let all other victims of this crime know that i stand in solidarity with them, and i have absolutely no regrets on waiving my anonymity. i hope that this puts anyone off committing this sort of crime, and i hope for anyone else who has been a victim of it it gives them some sort ofjustice. women's charities have told us stephen bear's prison sentence sends the right message. it sets a statement to the general public and it says if you are thinking or considering of committing this crime, because it is a crime, you could go to jail for that and that's an incredibly important message to send because at the end of the day it is sexual abuse. this is the most high profile revenge porn conviction since the law was introduced in 2015.

the fact that georgia waived her anonymity and came forward is a huge milestone and shows that when people are brave, and we will take this behaviour seriously and do all we can. after nearly three years of waiting georgia harrison says that she can finally move on. annabel rackham, bbc news, chelmsford. the white house has confirmed that czech presidentjoe biden has headed lesion removed from his neck. fix, lesion removed from his neck. biopsy confirmed that the lesion was cancerous and it effectively and safely removed. it cancerous and it effectively and safely removed.— cancerous and it effectively and safely removed. it says mr bidens chest has healed _ safely removed. it says mr bidens chest has healed well— safely removed. it says mr bidens chest has healed well and - safely removed. it says mr bidens chest has healed well and will- safely removed. it says mr bidens chest has healed well and will be l chest has healed well and will be monitored for further developments. a continuing bid to limit increases in bills. the annual household charge for energy was set to rise to

£3000 from next month. it's understood some energy firms are already preparing to keep bills around 2500 for another three months. our business editor simon joc has the details. rutland resident and mum of two has three part—timejobs to resident and mum of two has three part—time jobs to support her family and said the plant rise in energy bills that was scheduled to hit in april was terrifying as she is already stretched to the limit. it has recently reached the point where i had to phone my electricity company and said i have to get it there because i need to do a food child. never in the 15 years of paying have i ever missed a bill of any description. so to feel that pressure to have to feel like i have to make that choice has been horrible. . , ., _, , horrible. charities and consumer campaigners _ horrible. charities and consumer campaigners have _ horrible. charities and consumer campaigners have long - horrible. charities and consumer campaigners have long been - horrible. charities and consumer i campaigners have long been urging the government to extend support beyond april the 1st allowing bills to rise that have dire consequences. it is not good for individuals to a price _

it is not good for individuals to a price is— it is not good for individuals to a price is not— it is not good for individuals to a price is not good for individuals to put prices — price is not good for individuals to put prices up, sort of a people's mental— put prices up, sort of a people's mental health, for business. it would — mental health, for business. it would also keep the inflation rate down _ would also keep the inflation rate down if— would also keep the inflation rate down if we don't put prices up. it�*s down if we don't put prices up. it's a bit of a down if we don't put prices up. it�*s a bit of a no—brainer. the energy price guarantee has seen government subsidies limit the cost of gas and electricity so that a household with the average energy usage pays £2500 a year. the government had planned to let that rise to £3000 a year from the 1st of april. it's now expected that bills will be limited to that £2500 for a further three months. an additional discount for all households of £500 paid in six monthly instalments since october is expected to be phased out —— £1100. there is additional help for those on lower incomes or qualifying benefits for that why it is the government changes my? have a look at this. when the energy price guarantee was announced wholesale gas prices had been breaking records

during a worldwide scrum for energy as russian supplies were shunned or shut off. this on the right—hand side is where they are now. the government has spent tens of billions of pounds less on subsidies that it thought it would. it hopes that it thought it would. it hopes that by summer it won't have to spend anything at all as energy prices will be lower than £2500. from july were expecting to see prices fall. perhaps below £2000 before the average customer. back at last until the end of this year. beyond that, we don't know, there is still a lot of volatility and prices could rise again.— could rise again. bills are still more than — could rise again. bills are still more than double _ could rise again. bills are still more than double the - could rise again. bills are still more than double the level i could rise again. bills are still i more than double the level they could rise again. bills are still - more than double the level they were 18 months ago. without government support they would've been higher still. many hope the worst of a daunting winter winter is be hindo us. 0ne one of the biggest line—ups will join eltonjohn is the main act at

glastonbury. some people aren't happy with the three main acts are men. you are watching bbc news. thank you for watching. bye—bye. 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 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.

this is bbc news, the headlines alex murdaugh, the disgraced south carolina lawyer, is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his son and wife. a british parliamentary probe into partygate — finds evidence that breaches of covid rules would have been �*obvious' to boris johnson. the white house has confirmed us presidentjoe biden has had a cancerous skin lesion removed. biden's doctor says no further treatment is required. the us announce another new military aid package for ukraine worth 400 million dollars. it comes as president biden meets the german chancellor scholz for talks in washington.