this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. more trouble for the former uk prime minister borisjohnson — a probe into the downing street lockdown gatherings says evidence suggests he should have known rules were being broken. i believed that what we were doing was within the rules. that's why i said what i said in the chamber. as president biden meets the german chancellor for talks, the pentagon announces details of more military aid for ukraine. 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 the case that's gripped america, disgraced lawyer alec murdock is jailed for life for murdering his wife and son. 21 months in prison for the british reality tv contestant stephen bear — who put a private video of himself having sex with an ex—girlfriend online without her consent hello and welcome to bbc news. 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. our 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, "i'm struggling to come up with the way this one is in the rules in my head." the number 10 official suggested reasonably necessary for work processes. a director of communications replied, not sure that one works, does it? also blows another great gaping hole in the pm's account, doesn't it? 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 number 10 in december.

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 it appears mrjohnson did correct the mistakes mrjohnson repeatedly made and did not use the well—established procedures of the house to correct something that is wrong at the earliest opportunity. 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. so it's certainly awkward for borisjohnson and it's going to make for a really interesting hearing, which we know is going to 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 borisjohnson may have misled parliament. so this suggests that what borisjohnson has to do is sort of make it up a little bit. he's going to start these hearings on the back foot because there's these four specific episodes. one, in response to sir keir starmer himself at prime minister's questions. one in response to another labour party mp asking whether he was aware of these parties, that they are that they suspect that he may have misled parliament and they want some clarity on that. now, borisjohnson, on the other hand he's, he's quite punchy in his defence, so it's he certainly starts off on the back foot, he's got work to do but we'll have to wait until the 20th of march or there and thereabouts when the oral evidence happens and to see quite how this

really does shake out. the us has announced details of the third us military aid package for ukraine, worth 400 million dollars. it includes ammunition and equipment , but not f16 fighterjets which kyiv has been requesting. the announcement came ahead of a meeting in washington between president biden and the german chancellor 0laf scholz. high on their agenda was the war in ukraine, and both leaders re—affirmed their support for president zelensky. let's take a listen to some of what president biden and chancellor scholz had to say. 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 not the natoization just give me the finalisation of europe,

which he was pushing for, more like get the nato's version of europe. and he's had that effect in terms of. what's happened. so a lot�*s happened since last year. we've got a lot to talk about and i look forward to our conversation. thank you for having me again. and i really appreciate to be back in the white house. and let me just say, this is a very, very important year because of the very dangerous threat to peace that comes from russia invading ukraine. and it's really important that we acted together, that we organised our lock step and that we made it feasible that we can give the necessary support to ukraine during all this time. and 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 that we are ready also for staying with the ukrainians as it

as long as it is necessary. and i really appreciate the very good cooperation between the two of us, our governments and the united states and germany and europe. and the transatlantic partnership is really in a very good shape today. 0ur north america editor sarah smith was at the white house, from where she explained the extent of the pledged support. a continuation of what the us have been providing already. what ukraine needs more at the moment is more ammunition to use with the heavier equipment that has already been supplied. as you say, they're getting ammo, they're getting more missiles that can be fired from the rocket launcher systems that the us has already provided, and some armoured vehicle that can create bridges which will be useful. it is not a new commitments of any escalation of what the us is providing. as you were saying earlier, still no commitment to provide those f— i6 fighterjets that president zielinski personally asked president biden for when he was

in ukraine last week. it would be a long time, even before the m—i abrams tanks which the us promise can get to ukraine. possibly up to the next year, actually, so, i ammunition that can get there quickly is very important for ukraine to try and defend itself at the moment. 0n the ground in ukraine, 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. we've been talking to evelyn farkas, a former us deputy assistant secretary of defence for russia and ukraine. she gave us her observations on the

recent developments in ukraine. what we're looking for now is movements, as you said, there hasn't been a lots of movements. and the movement is likely to come once the ukrainians have all the weaponry that has been approved by the us government and allied governments. until that gets there, i don't think that ukrainians want to take on a full—scale offences. although, you never know, because the ukrainians are pretty good at keeping their plans, even from us. we know that they have conducted surprise operations before. i think they would want to have the advantage of as much equipment as possible, including, of course, the tanks. including additional rounds of artillery. they will need all of this protection when they do decide, and i think they would have to decide, to take the offensive. this is not tenable as you mentioned at the top of the segment for them to have a negotiated settlement, the ukrainians will need to see more success.

they are not going to give up now and, of course, russia isn't either. the white house has confirmed president biden has had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest as part of a routine health check. a statement from the president's doctor said a biopsy confirmed that the lesion was cancerous and affected tissue was safely removed. it says mr biden�*s chest has healed well and he will be monitored for further developments. there've been further disclosures from the daily telegraph about the uk's former health secretary matt hancock , following the publication of photos of him with his then lover, in contravention of covid guidance at the time. they're the latest in the paper's publication of a vast cache of messages from mr hancock relating to the pandemic. 0ur correspondent ione wells has more from westminster these messages published tonight

reveal the scramble that took place after this photograph was published by the sun newspaper of matt hancock kissing his age. essentially, they show his adviser asking matt hancock to think very carefully about whether any rules could have been broken. matt hancock, who was health secretary at the time, asks for clarification about what the covid rules and guidance were at the time that that photograph was taken. he goes on to say that he doesn't think any rules were broken, but possibly the guidance to stay a metre or more away from others and says he feels that the worst way this could be portrayed is that they were kissing before hugging was legalised. in one particularly memorable exchange as well. they discuss the workplace guidance that was in place at the time, which said that social distancing should be maintained where possible. to which his aide replies that clearly from the photograph, it was possible that his team tonight have said that it is highly intrusive and inappropriate to have published these messages. but it is significant. but because it shows that he was aware that guidance

could have been breached, but they were trying to find ways to justify it at the time. and i think that is certainly significant because it was, of course, the issue which he ended up resigning over. the biggest and most famous music festival in the world sparks controversy after revealing its line—up. 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 . a british parliamentary probe into partygate — finds evidence that breaches of covid rules would have been �*obvious' to boris johnson. as president biden meets the german chancellor for talks, the pentagon announces details

of more military aid for ukraine. now to the case that has gripped america, alec 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. prior to the sentence being announced, the sa—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. thank you, your honor. thank you. after a nearly 30 minute address, judge clifton newman sentenced murdaugh to consecutive life terms for the murders, that were committed injune 202i. in the murder of your wife maggie murdaugh, i sentence you for a term of your natural life. for the murder of paul murdaugh,

who you probably love so much. i sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life. those sentences will run consecutive. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue told us about the interest in the case in the us. there's a number of different television series that have been broadcast about it. people have been digging into the background of the case itself, which has been viewed, obviously, unfolding over the last few weeks on live television. there has been a great deal of interest. it 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 financial, alleged financial crimes that could give them hefty sentences. as things stand he

is injailfor life. police officers in greece have raided the station where two trains collided on tuesday night. the crash left at least 57 people dead, and led to widespread complaints that the network has long—term safety issues. reports suggest police seized files from the station. meanwhile greek railway workers are on strike for a second day, complaining that their warnings about safety were ignored. british government support for many domestic energy users is widely expected to be extended — in a continuing bid to limit increases in bills. the average annual household charge for energy in england, scotland and wales was set to rise to £3,000 from next month — but it's understood some energy firms are already preparing to keep bills at around £2,500 for another three months. our business editor simonjack has the details. rutland resident and mum of two

hannah has three part—timejobs to support her family and said the planned rise in energy bills that was scheduled to hit in april was terrifying and she is already stretched to the limit. it has recently reached a point where i had to phone my gas and electricity company i'd say i have to cancel my direct debit for this month because i have to do a food shop. and never in 15 odd years of homeownership have i ever missed a bill of any description. so to feel that pressure, to have to feel like i've got to make that choice, has been horrible. charities and consumer campaigners have long been urging the government to extend support beyond april the 1st, as allowing bills to rise would have dire consequences. it's not good for individuals to put prices up, it is not good for people's mental health, it is not good for consumer confidence meaning it is bad for business, and it was also keep the inflation rate down if we don't put prices up so it is a bit of a no—brainer. the energy price guarantee has seen government limit the costs of gas

and electricity so that houses with average uses pays £2500 a year. the government had planned to let that rise to £3000 a year from the 1st of april, but it is now expected that bills will be limited to that £2500 for a further three months. but an additional discount for all households of £400 paid in six monthly instalments since october is expected to be phased out, meaning most households will still pay more, although there is additional help for those on low incomes or qualifying benefits. so why has the government changed its mind? have a look at this. when the energy price guarantee was announced, wholesale gas prices had been breaking records during a worldwide scramble for energy as russian supplies were shunned or shut off. this on the right—hand side is where they are now, meaning the government has spent tens of billions of pounds less on subsidies and it thought it would. and it hopes that by summer it won't have to spend anything

at all as energy prices will be lower than £2500. from july we are expecting to see prices fall, perhaps below £2200 for the average customer, and that could last until the end of this year. beyond that we don't know. there is still a lot of volatility in the market and prices could rise again. bills are still more than double the level they were 18 months ago. without government support they would have been higher still, but many will hope the worst of a daunting winter is behind us. simon jack, bbc news. a man and a woman have been remanded in custody in the uk, charged with manslaughter of a baby. constance marten and mark gordon appeared before magistrates on three charges. the baby's body was found in a plastic bag under a pile of nappies inside a locked shed outside brighton, in southern england, on wednesday. the couple are due to appear in court at the end of the month. the british reality tv contestant stephen bear has been sentenced

to 21 months in prison after sharing a private video of himself having sex with his ex—girlfriend georgia harrison. 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 mtv 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. one of the biggest and most famous music festivals in the world has sparked controversy after unveiling its line—up arctic monkeys and guns and roses willjoin eltonjohn as the main acts at glastonbury injune. but some people aren't happy that the three main acts are all men. the organisers said they had a female headliner booked the a female headliner booked issue is that familiar sig get the issue is that familiar sigh we get to know if there is a headline act, three headliners are all male and white stopped it's that sort of slight sense of disappointment that thatis slight sense of disappointment that that is where we are at. it says a lot that there is a caveat in the

announcement with the explanation that it was a pipeline issue and they tried their best and they had a female, i know it looks like there may be too female headliners for next year. i was hoping for beyonce coming back or maybe rhianna given the fact that rhiannon adjusted the super bowl. so, i'm into it but the thing with glenn sperry is it isn't all about the main headliners, some years ago and see the headliners, sometimes you see all three. there is so much to take in and explore there. a bus driver in england has rescued a sheep from a busy dual carriageway on her first day behind the wheel. martine patey, a rail replacement driver, spotted the animal on the road near brighton. the animal was apparently causing havoc and running all over the road. with the help of two fellow motorists, martine managed to get the sheep to safety by leading it onto the bus. she then drove it back to its farm. i wonder if that was in a training

manual. thank you for watching bbc news. this is your update from the bbc sport centre. former england captain michael vaughan spoke at the. matt graveling reports now — a warning you may find some of the language heard at the hearing offensive: vaughan, and more than 50 tests over a five—year period but before the t20 match for yorkshire back in 2009 and he has been accused of racism. vaughan categorically denies in the statement towards former yorkshire spinner 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 brought out a number of historic tweets posted by vaughan which said, there's not many english people living in london and i need to learn a new language. and he has since apologised many times. he also reached out to azeem rafiq to work things out and he says it's not been easy for anybody, it's not the right process to deal with the right process to deal with wordy consort comments from 1a years ago. he added former team—mates fighting it out as a terrible look for the game piecesjoyce believes in championing addressing the culture and it has to be inclusive. his proceedings will continue want to stay with closing submissions. england's men's one day side have wrapped up a series win against bangladesh, with a game to spare. they won by 132 runs in dhaka earlier — thanks to a star turn from jason roy with the bat. patrick gearey reports.

bangladesh might be the noisiest place in the road to watch cricket. energy everywhere. betting against the bus was jason roy, trending the sign from the stadium with every shot. later this year, the world cup will be played on pitches not just like this in india. when he went from 132, england's captain freed his arms. in full flight, he is difficult to keep up with and sam was bowling when he somehow wrapped this. astonishing. the game was moving beyond bangladesh grasp at 327 looked improbable after the current struck twice in the first over. syncing with the sun, to make the magic.

great britain are off the mark in the medals on day 2 of the european indoor athletics championships in istanbul. daryl neita took home the bronze in the womens 60 metres. neita finished third behind switzerland's mujinga kambundji, who triumphed in a new championship record of 7 seconds, and poland's ewa svodboda. neita, one of the favourites for this distance — said she would have liked to have done better. feels amazing to bring a medal home. 60 metres and it has been a fun indoor season and i'm not particularly happy with this result but it was still amazing to get a medal and bring it home. i've been running all of the 60 metres and it's a lot better than i did my 100 metres outdoors and this into a season, an amazing place having to my outdoor season, i feel like today, i would've liked

more for myself but i am happy. it is a bronze medal. bronze also for melissa courtney—bryant — who got gb going with a third place finish in the women's 3000 metres. she lost out to the german pair — hanna klein — who won gold, and konsta nze klosterhalfen, britain's hannah nuttall was 5th. and neil gourley took silverfor britain, in the men's 1500 metres, his first major senior medal. he was a close second to norway's jakob ingebrigtsen, the olympic champion held off a resurgent gourley in the final stages but the scot was delighted to push him all the way. i believed i could do it. i put myself in the right places and i got beaten by someone who was just better. i've got take that on the chin and outdoors because our momentum is heading into it. when a medal here today, i haven't done that yet never won a major metal. so it was important

to get that started. yeah, as you said, this is a building block for the summer