this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm martine croxall. our top stories: britain's former prime minister, borisjohnson, accepts that he did mislead mps about illegal parties held during covid lockdowns, but insists his original denials were made "in good faith". president putin says the chinese leader xijinping has invited him to beijing, as the two men hold talks in moscow aimed at boosting ties. britain's biggest police force is branded "institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic" in a scathing new report which says it needs a complete overhaul. the culture sadly in the met is all pervasive and the institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia is largely led by what their officers have said and what our

own research has shown. sri lanka's president says his country will no longer be deemed bankrupt as it prepares to receive the first installment of a bailout from the international monetary fund. the bbc discovers seven british patients who travelled to turkey for weight loss surgery died after operations there. others have returned home with serious health issues. good afternoon. a 50 page dossier of evidence which the former british prime minister borisjohnson believes will prove he didn't knowingly mislead parliament over partygate allegations has been published. in it, mrjohnson accepts that he misled parliament when he said covid rules had been followed in downing street, but insists the statements

were made in good faith. he raises "serious concerns" about the way the cross—party privileges committee is looking into the case, saying it has gone "significantly beyond" its terms of reference. mrjohnson will be questioned by mps tomorrow. our chief political correspondent, nick eardley, has more. it isa it is a couple of weeks since the committee published the interim report and said it should have been obvious to borisjohnson that the rules were being broken, because he set him and there were occasions when they believed the former prime minister may have misled parliament. today we get boris johnson's defence, which he hopes will clear his name. borisjohnson, huddled around a table with downing street staff. this was during covid restrictions in england when we were all told not to gather for social events. the partygate scandal helped bring down mrjohnson but now he is facing another question, did he mislead parliament?

i'm sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times. this was december 2021 when party reports first emerged. mps are now looking at whether mrjohnson misled the commons and whether he did it intentionally or recklessly. fast forward to today and borisjohnson�*s defence is published where he accepts parliament didn't get the full story and he says it wasn't his fault. there is a lot in mrjohnson�*s 52 page submission, including extracts of messages involving key aides. he said he relied on their advice before making comments to parliament, writing, i was the prime minister of the country...

but not everyone will be convinced. mps on the powerful privileges committee have already suggested it should have been obvious to mrjohnson that the rules had been broken. they will interrogate his evidence tomorrow and could recommend sanctions, from an apology to suspension from parliament, potentially triggering a by—election. that hearing which will be televised tomorrow is down to last for several hours and it will see borisjohnson asked some detailed questions about what's contained in this submission. he has now admitted that parliament was misled. that is a key moment in this process. the question will now focus on whether he did so intentionally, or recklessly. mr johnson is making the argument in

his submission that it was neither, that he asked his aides on several occasions whether the rules had been followed and when he went to parliament he was acting in good faith. but this row has trundled on for months and months. there are many who think that mrjohnson should have known more and it should have been far clearer to him when he appeared before mps in december 2021 that those rules had been broken and he should have made it clearer to mps that that was the case. we will find out a lot more about his defence tomorrow afternoon. i'm joined now by catherine neilan, the political editor at tortoise media. catherine has investigated the former prime minister's funding in a podcast named "borisjohnson: the six million pound man". thank you forjoining us here. what do you think that this report and then the committee hearing that we are going to see tomorrow could mean

for borisjohnson? 1retell are going to see tomorrow could mean for boris johnson?— for boris johnson? well over the weekend we _ for boris johnson? well over the weekend we heard _ for boris johnson? well over the weekend we heard from - for boris johnson? well over the weekend we heard from his - for boris johnson? well over the | weekend we heard from his allies that there was going to be a bombshell dossier that would defend him. the reactions from mps i have spoken to it was a bit more thinner than they were expected. he admitted he misled parliament but not intentionally. i have checked whether the committee is looking at that and in fact that does not have any bearing on what they're looking at, instead they're looking at whether parliament was misled and if so whether that constituted a contempt, which is if it impedes the house of parliament's work. this question of intentionality is a smoke screen that is being put out, that was never the plan for the committee's investigation and it remains not the plan. but surely that is the _

remains not the plan. but surely that is the crux _ remains not the plan. but surely that is the crux of _ remains not the plan. but surely that is the crux of it, _ remains not the plan. but surely that is the crux of it, to - remains not the plan. but surely| that is the crux of it, to mislead, but to thing you're doing the right thing, to do something in good faith is very different from doing something intentionally. we is very different from doing something intentionally. we have a convention in _ something intentionally. we have a convention in parliament— something intentionally. we have a convention in parliament if- something intentionally. we have a convention in parliament if you - convention in parliament if you mislead, you come back and correct the record. it wasn't done. so this is why you know we have gone through this process. the defence that had been put through, as i say, mps, conservative mps are surprised it is, that it is not as strong as they were expecting. 0bviously is, that it is not as strong as they were expecting. obviously it's taken many weeks to get to this point and we are told borisjohnson has a huge legal team working on this and this some scepticism as to whether it's going to fly. now, tomorrow we are going to fly. now, tomorrow we are going to fly. now, tomorrow we are going to see a sort of four to five hour session. going to see a sort of four to five hoursession. boris going to see a sort of four to five hour session. borisjohnson's clearly going to rely on the fact

that it was unintentional when he did mislead parliament. but the fact that he has admitted is is quite significant. that he has admitted is is quite significant-— that he has admitted is is quite siunificant. ~ , ., ~ ., , significant. when youlike at this articular significant. when youlike at this particular -- — significant. when youlike at this particular -- when _ significant. when youlike at this particular -- when youlike - significant. when youlike at this particular -- when youlike at. significant. when youlike at thisl particular -- when youlike at this particular —— when youlike at this particular —— when youlike at this particular aspect of borisjohnson's time as prime minister, what sort of resonance does it have with the other behaviours that you think that you uncovered in your podcast? yes. you uncovered in your podcast? yes, so the podcast _ you uncovered in your podcast? yes, so the podcast the _ you uncovered in your podcast? yes, so the podcast the six _ you uncovered in your podcast? ya: so the podcast the six million pound man is about borisjohnson's finances. we have taken a deep dive into things that happened, reported previously, as well as things that have not. what is clear that there is a sort of lack of attention to detail, which probably doesn't come as a huge surprise to people and there was this constant reliance on people to come and support him and help him throughout his tenure and subsequently. there is a pattern of behaviour that we have identified which is that really the many people

who have helped him throughout, you know you look at people like simon case, who have helped in various ways, their reputations are now suffering as much as not more so than borisjohnson's. there is a sense when people come close to him, they get burnt. sense when people come close to him, they get burnt-— the chinese president has described china and russia as "strategic partners". 0n the second day of xi jinping's visit to moscow, he invited the russian leader vladimir putin to beijing. that's despite the fact that only last week the international criminal court accused mr putin of war crimes over the conflict in ukraine, and issued a warrant for his arrest. china does not recognise the court. here's our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. it's a visit being watched around the world for what its global consequences could be. according to the chinese president, his meetings in moscow will give

new momentum to china's relations with russia at the expense of both countries hope of the west. out of this meeting with the russian prime minister came an invitation from president xi. for president putin to pay a return visit to china. and then in the grandeur of the kremlin the two leaders met for a second time, eventually standing shoulder to shoulder, a big morale boost for vladimir putin, now wanted for war crimes in ukraine after an arrest warrant last week from the international criminal court. on several fronts the war is not going as president putin wanted. this talk of some kind of chinese peace plan but what russia wants is chinese weapons to help change the course of the conflict on the ground. so far china has only given dual use technology for fear of secondary sanctions on chinese companies.

xijinping's bottom line is that he will not abandon russia, he is not willing to see a humiliating defeat for vladimir putin in ukraine. and he is willing to keep providing certainly non—military supplies that have propped up putin's war machine over the last year or so. from the kremlin, china is happy to have russian energy at reduced rates and moscow is more and more reliant on china as a market. the war in ukraine is reshaping economic, diplomatic and political relations. today in kyiv, a surprise but pointed visit from the japanese prime minister delivering a message of support for ukraine, timed to coincide with president xi's trip to moscow. against the backdrop of a war that is changing the world, these were only exercises last week, but they brought together china, russia and iran, countries trying to forge ahead

with a stronger anti—alliance. caroline hawley, bbc news. steve rosenberg told us more about the diplomatic balancing act that president xi is performing on this visit to moscow. he doesn't want to damage the trade relationship with the united states and the eu, those are his biggest trading partners. 0n the other hand, he wants to develop his relations, his partnership, with russia. for many reasons, the two countries share a very big border, 4,000 kilometres. so a good relationship with russia makes sense. the two leaders share a similar world view, both embrace the idea of a multipolar world and standing up to us domination and the two economies, the russian and chinese economy, are complementary. russia has raw materials, china needs raw

materials. so for many reasons the partnership make sense, but it is not an equal partnership. china is very much the senior partner now and i think china is putting chinese interests first and believes that it stands to gain a lot by developing this relationship with russia. here in the uk a scathing review of britain's largest police force — london's metropolitan police — has found it to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. the report's author — baronness casey — said many londoners had lost faith in the metropolitan police and the force could be broken up if it didn't change. our special correspondent, lucy manning has more. let's remember how all this began. sarah everard walking home — kidnapped, raped and murdered by a met police officer. it shocked then and this report is frightening. a force that is broken, failing. there is, without doubt,

a discriminatory culture right across the metropolitan police. and i think that institutional racism, institutional sexism, institutional misogyny and homophobia are definitely present across the organisation. we think the met is not able to assure all of us that its officers are of sufficient integrity and standards to be serving police officers, so it needs to clean itself up. the met has lost the consent to police, the report believes. it can't protect its own female, gay and minority ethnic staff and it can't provide adequate policing for these groups when they're victims of crime. for too long, the met has had predatory officers and a culture of denial about the scale of its problems. the details set out in this report of a broken force are frankly horrific. rape evidence that had to be discarded because the fridges

in police stations didn't work. a sikh officer who had his beard cut by colleagues, a muslim officer who found bacon in his boots, and female officers routinely targeted and humiliated by their male counterparts. couzens and carrick, the met�*s murderer and its rapist. baroness casey clear those who have the powers to search, arrest and detain need to have the trust and confidence of those they police. so this needs to be a landmark moment. the commissioner of the met apologetic, promising change, but not accepting every word of the report, despite baroness casey's plea to do so. it's disturbing. it's upsetting. it's heartbreaking. i apologise to those who've suffered as a consequence. do you accept baroness casey's findings that the force is institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic? i accept her diagnosis about the racism, misogyny, homophobia in the organisation,

and also that we have these systemic failings, management failings and cultural failings. i understand her use of the term institutional. it's not a term i use myself. it's nearly a quarter of a century since the met was labelled institutionally racist after the murder of stephen lawrence. in a statement, his mother baroness lawrence said... shabnam chaudhri was a detective superintendent in the met and lived through some of the racism the review highlights. there was a particular officer, for example, who whenever. i was out of the room, l referred to me as the p, with the p—word. she believes the met must change from the top to the bottom.

my message to sir mark rowley is implement your systems - and processes, ensure - that your leadership is strong, ensure that leadership - is supported at every level. ensure that those who want i to whistle blow can speak out, so that you can root out the dirty, rotten apples that sit _ within your organisation that. have a huge detrimental impact on trust and confidence. reports have come, commissioners have gone and still the met hasn't changed. the warning is this is its last chance. if it doesn't, it could face being broken up. trust in the police has been hugely damaged. ultimately i want both my daughters to grow up in a society which not only do they feel trust in the police, but is just fundamentally safe. for too long, it has failed too many — the very people who need protecting. victims of crime. black and asian communities, women and children. people just walking home. lucy manning, bbc news.

jamie klinger, co—founder of the reclaim these streets movementsjoins us now. thank you very much for being with us here on bbc news. how problematic for you is the met chief's refusal to use the word institutional? halli to use the word institutional? half ofthe to use the word institutional? half of the report _ to use the word institutional? half of the report is — to use the word institutional? half of the report is about the fact that there is denial and not taking accountability and this just more of stam. i —— same. iwish i accountability and this just more of stam. i —— same. i wish i was more surprised. we can keep keep replacing staff, the staff in the met is not the core of it and that is what makings it institutional. people liar sarah evrard, we are going through these names and that is where the institutional. 30 years since stephen lawrence and it is called institutional 30 years ago and nothing changes for 30 years and

it hasn't become an anti—racist organise. why should we believe they can police themselveses? taste organise. why should we believe they can police themselveses?— can police themselveses? we are talkin: can police themselveses? we are talking about _ can police themselveses? we are talking about the _ can police themselveses? we are talking about the metropolitan i talking about the metropolitan police at the moment, but when it comes to violence against women and girls, to what extent do we need to look more widely at society's attitude to the problem? absolutely there is societyial _ attitude to the problem? absolutely there is societyial misogyny. - attitude to the problem? absolutely there is societyial misogyny. in - attitude to the problem? absolutely there is societyial misogyny. in the l there is societyial misogyny. in the met�*s case is more a more white and male problem. it will take 30 years to have any reflection of london's street in the force. you can talk about issues in society and education, but when you let those type of cultures flourish and when they built to protect the men who are raping and killing women, rather than the women reporting them, that is where the institution has to take

responsibility and do the work to root it out. baroness casey told them what they have to do and as far as i'm concerned so mark rowelly has failed at the first hurdle. what as i'm concerned so mark rowelly has failed at the first hurdle.— failed at the first hurdle. what is the remedy _ failed at the first hurdle. what is the remedy if — failed at the first hurdle. what is the remedy if the _ failed at the first hurdle. what is the remedy if the person - failed at the first hurdle. what is the remedy if the person at - failed at the first hurdle. what is the remedy if the person at the i failed at the first hurdle. what is i the remedy if the person at the top of the force is not going to grasp that word, that institutional word, which underpins this report? i find fit problematic, _ which underpins this report? i find fit problematic, because _ which underpins this report? i f “if. fit problematic, because even breaking up the force into smaller organisations and smaller capacities, that hasn't stopped the misogyny, the racism or sexism up and down the coast, i sit on the task force for violence against women and girland task force for violence against women and girl and it is widespread. making that up may solve some of the problem of competence and training and there is hundreds of pages of how badly run the metis, but that

doesn't stop the misogyny. i don't know how we fix it unless all hands are on deck. i'm really disappointed that this is the reaction and it is, a, oh, yes, we accept it, but not really. that is where he has really failed and he is continuing to fail the women of london.— the women of london. which organisations _ the women of london. which organisations perhaps - the women of london. which | organisations perhaps outside britain if necessary can you point to where problems like this have been successfully tackled. how have they done it? i’m been successfully tackled. how have they done it?— been successfully tackled. how have the done it? �* . . _ ., ~ they done it? i'm amazed by the work of operation — they done it? i'm amazed by the work of operation blue _ they done it? i'm amazed by the work of operation blue stone. _ they done it? i'm amazed by the work of operation blue stone. they - they done it? i'm amazed by the work of operation blue stone. they have i of operation blue stone. they have gone through step by step of what you need do when dealing with rape prosecutions and how victims are treated and they have done so much work and led a road map on how to make this nationwide. but to do that

you have to invest in it and do training. part of what the report lays bare is not only is there no training and there is people on the street not qualified to take statements. and there are officers who are not trained taking statements. that is not acceptable. they need to do better. the idea evenif they need to do better. the idea even if you take the missing misogyny and racism out, it is still a horror show of mismanagement. thank you. the sri lankan president says a loan approved by the international monetary fund means the country is no longer deemed bankrupt by the world. the country is expected to get the first $330 million tranche of the bailout in the coming days. translation: the world has accepted that - sri lanka is no longer a bankrupt country. and thus the country has the ability to begin normal transactions.

following the receipt of the loan facility from the international monetary fund, with the improvement of the foreign exchange situation, the government is working to gradually remove import restrictions on essential goods, medicines and goods required for tourism. well it's a deal that's been nearly a year in the making as appeals to the imf were made after the former president fled the country.and as our india business correspondent, archana shukla reports, the release of funds will be based on numerous conditions by the imf. the $3 billion loan from imf will certainly not push the sri lankan economy out of the woods, but it will give a fillip to the economic activity that was stalled over the last year, first being bringing sri lanka back on the loan market. remember last year when sri lanka defaulted on its loan repayment, it was declared bankrupt and it could not raise fresh funds. but now with the imf deal, more avenues will open up

and sri lanka can go ahead and borrow fresh funds from other multilateral organisations like the world bank or the adb, and all the government projects that were running with this supply of money from multilateral organisations, will also come back on stream. add to that, with better foreign reserves and better reserves, the government will be able to import essentials and some of the import restrictions that it had put could also would also be slowly eased out, which means shortages on the ground would be eased in the coming months. and that will also help bring prices of essentials down to a bit. inflation is the biggest challenge that the country has to deal with. it's at 53% even today. so bringing that down to about 12 to 18% by the end of this year is a target that imf has put. two other key targets that the government has to work on, one being tough debt negotiations with its private, as well as bilateral lenders, whether it's a write off on the loans or a postponement

on the interest payments is what they will have to discuss and which is where discussions with china will be key to watch out for. restructuring of some of the large public sector enterprises, privatisation of some of the public units, is also on the cards to boost revenues for the government, which will be the key going forward and a key condition that imf will watch out for, not to miss the biggest being, keeping an eye on corruption and building policies to deal with corruption. because, remember, economic mismanagement, corruption, was one of the reasons why sri lanka is in the position that it is in today. and this is something that both the imf and the citizens of this country will look forward to. reflecting there on the bailout for sri lanka. much more on those

stories, be they based in the uk or around the world on our web—site or the app. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @martinebbc. next world business report. hello, more sunshine today and what has been o' wet month so far. especially for eastern england. cambridge is currently heading towards its wettest march on record. we have seen over two and a half times the normal rain fall. in lerwick we have seen barely over a third of rain. but this is one of the wetter spots for today. sitting under this zone of cloud. most are between that cloud and what will come in tonight. it will turn wetter in northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. rain easing from

shetland. in between sunshine and showers. showers from the north—west to london and a few through northern england. some people will see more showers than others. 0ne england. some people will see more showers than others. one or two will stay dry this afternoon. brisk south—westerly wind. not very strong, but a very mild one. 15 degrees possible in eastern scotland. we finish the day with rain in northern ireland. that spreads across, scotland, wales, northern and western england. all parts will see rain. lingering in the south tomorrow morning. elsewhere clear skies developing and another mild start. as we go into wednesday the other story the more persistent rain clearing, is the strong winds in the south. 60 or 70mph gusts across scotland during the morning. persistent rain

clearing from shetland. staying drizzly east of the chan. some passing or heavy showers. for all a windy day with wide spread gales. they're coming from a south—westerly direction, so still mild. but feeling cooler given the strength of the wind. staying windy into thursday. more persistent rain could move up into the south—east. a lot of showers in england and wales. heavy and thundery. fewer showers for scotland and northern ireland. temperatures still on the high side. but this weekend it will turn cooler and eventually a little bit drier again.

we won't hesitate to help. us treasury secretary janet yellen says her government will rescue more smaller banks if they get in to trouble, as concerns about the banking sector soften. and music in the air — we'll find out how streaming is driving a resurgence in the global music industry. welcome to world business report, i'mjonathanjosephs. are the jitter for the global banking sector over?

that's the question that many anxious investors are continuing to ask after the weekend rescue of credit suisse by ubs.