we re were both out of talk when we were both out of office. r, talk when we were both out of office. ., u, talk when we were both out of office. ., h, _, talk when we were both out of office. ., _, ., . office. you can continue watching this on the _ office. you can continue watching this on the sac— office. you can continue watching this on the bbc website - office. you can continue watching this on the bbc website news - office. you can continue watching this on the bbc website news at i office. you can continue watching l this on the bbc website news at six now. as part of their probe into its finances. colin beattie was arrested at his home in dalkeith near edinburgh this morning — the party leader and first minister humza yusuf had this to say. i've said already that people are innocent until proven guilty. there is change that is needed within the way the party is operated, i have made that absolutely clear. the arrest comes two weeks after the snp's former chief executive peter murrell was taken in for questioning — he was later released without charge. also on the programme... prepayment meters are back although with restrictions — but it's angered campaigners who want a total ban. in the us — the 16 year old boy who rang the wrong doorbell and was shot in the head —

a man has been charged. and the moment 95—year—old tom street found he'd broken a world record — for playing in a brass band. and coming up on bbc news... for playing in a brass band. can frank lampard and chelsea save their season? they need to overturn a 2—0 deficit against real madrid in the champions league. on bbc london the plan to ban machetes and zombie knives. a london knife crime film maker supports action to tighten up the laws. good evening. police in scotland investigating the finances of the scottish national party have made a second arrest — this time of the snp�*s treasurer colin beattie. officers are examining

how more than £600,000 of donations, which were raised for the campaign for independence, were used. it comes two weeks after the party's former chief executive peter murrell — who is nicola sturgeon�*s husband — was also arrested. he was subsequently released without charge pending further investigation. officers spent two days searching ms sturgeon and mr murrell�*s home as well as the party's headquarters in edinburgh. our scotland editorjames cook has the story. colin beattie is not a familiar face. but the man who was once an international banker was at the heart of the snp for two decades, holding the purse strings as the party soared in popularity and gained power. at around sam the msp for midlothian north and musselburgh was arrested here at his home in dalkeith and taken into custody to be questioned as a suspect by detectives investigating the funding and finances of the snp. another headache for the first minister. i cannot comment on a live police investigation but clearly

it is a very serious matter indeed. have you suspended him from the party? him from the party or the group? i have said already that people are innocent until proven guilty. there is change that is needed within the way the party is operated, i have made that absolutely clear. police had already been to the home of the party's former chief executive, peter murrell, the husband of nicola sturgeon. he was arrested and later released. on the same day, officers removed boxes from the snp headquarters in edinburgh and seized a motorhome from outside a property in fife. so what led up to their inquiry? from 2017 until 2020 the snp raised nearly £667,000 to campaign for independence. questions arose when it emerged the party had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019. and injune 2021 mr murrell loaned the party around £107,000 of his own money.

this house in dalkeith is the last building which humza yousaf wanted to be the focus of attention today. he has inherited a party in crisis but he has also taken over a government facing immense challenges and this afternoon he set out how he intended to meet them. this government's work will be defined by three distinct and interdependent missions. those missions centre on the principles of equality, opportunity and community. they require us to tackle poverty, to build a fairer, green and indeed a growing economy. and to improve our public services. they will be central to our efforts over the next three years to improve the lives of the people of scotland. the first questions were about something else. the first minister makes this statement today as the scandal continues to engulf his party. the snp is in total meltdown. it is past time that humza yousaf tackled this scandal head on and proved to the scottish public

that he is his own man. instead of defending and deflecting from his predecessors's tarnished legacy. what humza yousaf cannot escape from is that he is not now runningl a functioning government. this is an snp that is mired i in scandal, mired in division, talking to themselves _ about themselves, and the crisis that now engulfs the snp is notjust an indication of how— they govern their party, but also how they govern our country. i whatever the outcome of colin beattie's arrest in legal terms, this investigation is already having serious political implications. and james a big speech from the first minister but a major distraction in this arrest? a very significant _ distraction in this arrest? a very significant distraction. _ distraction in this arrest? a very significant distraction. not - distraction in this arrest? a very significant distraction. not as i significant distraction. not as dramatic in terms of the police intervention and police scenes outside the house of mr murrell when he was arrested but nonetheless a significant intervention by the

police. it has been pretty quiet outside the home of colin beattie today, he was arrested around eight o'clock this morning and police have an initial 12 hours to question him and they can apply for an extension to that. the 12 hour race runs out in a couple of hours from now. no sign of anyone at the house today but as i said of course humza yousaf does not want the focus to be here in midlothian, he would rather it be on his statement and indeed he did make significant policy announcements today, for example telling us the introduction of a controversial bottle deposit return scheme was to be delayed until next year. also he said his party wanted to reset its relations with business, really an admission of failure is under his predecessor nicola sturgeon. and in a similar vein he promised to reintroduce scotland to international studies

comparing the educational performance but the initial questions and much of the focus was not about that but was about this investigation. we also heard from the labour leader in the uk keir starmer the said it was a mass here and he said that scottish voters had been let down. of course the snp deny that but they know that they are in a very difficult position. keir starmer hoping to profit from thatis keir starmer hoping to profit from that is to the conservative party. this could be the day when humza yousaf started to write his own story as first minister of scotland but it is very clear that he does not have control of the political narrative. , . , not have control of the political narrative. , ., ~ not have control of the political narrative. , . , . ~' new rules agreed by energy firms which limit the forced installation of pre—payment metres have been criticised by campaigners. fitting was stopped after it was revealed that agents were breaking into the homes of vulnerable people. the watchdog ofgem has set up new rules by which people over 85 in england, wales and scotland will be protected — but campaigners are concerned the rules are voluntary and don't

go far enough. here's our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith. a warrant had been executed. they'd come in my house, opened the door, gone in, and changed the gas meter to a pre—payment meter. the first thing tarek knew about his pre—payment meter was coming back to his house in leeds to find it in place. i've been burgled in the past, you know. it felt like that. it felt like an intrusion. i kept it from my children for a couple of days, but i did tell them and they were terrified. it was because of a previous tenant who hadn't paid their bill. my situation was created by a lack of checks and almost a conveyor belt approach to what happens when money is owed. this is one of the many stories that led the energy regulator to ban suppliers from forcibly installing prepayment meters. but from today, they're back on the cards again. the new rules mean that suppliers won't be allowed to forcibly install a meter for certain

types of household. so if you're over 85, if you have a terminal illness or certain types of respiratory conditions, or if you are mentally or physically unable to top up, then you shouldn't have a meter forced into your house. but there are still plenty of vulnerable groups who could qualify to have a meter put in. so if you're under 85, if you're a pregnant woman, or have children under five in the household, or if you have alzheimer's, you may find yourself with a meter being fitted or your smart meter flipped into prepayment mode. in manchester alexandra has four children and knows how hard it is to make sure the meter is always topped up. you push in your key and it shows you that it has nothing on the key right now. so you're in emergency? yes. ..credit for both gas and gas and electricity at the moment. it's easy for that to happen. yeah.

without you noticing? yes. especially for the gas. those with children, young children younger than her, should have that chance as well, because it will definitely help. one of the things with working in a charity that works with older people, there's a lot of hidden disabilities. those working with the most in need don't think energy companies should be trusted to assess who's vulnerable. it doesn't go far enough. what's the difference between an 85 year old and a 75 year old? if you're struggling financially, the issues that they face are the same. energy companies say if they didn't install prepayment meters, customers would get into deeper debt, which eventually everyone would have to foot the bill for. suppliers can only help customers if they know what's going on in their life and what their household circumstances are. the more they know, the more help and support they can offer. ofgem are hoping the new rules will keep companies happy and customers safe. if you're struggling to pay your energy bills, there's advice and help on the tackling it together pages on the bbc news website. colletta smith reporting.

a court in moscow has — as expected — rejected the appeal of the usjournalist evan gershkovich against being detained before his trial. the russian authorities accuse him of spying — charges which he and his employer, the wall streetjournal, strongly deny. he appeared at the same court where yesterday an opponent of president putin was convicted of treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. this was the first time evan gershkovich had been seen in public since being arrested. the wall streetjournal reporter was appealing his detention. the appeal was rejected. he is the first western journalist here to be charged with spying since the cold war. a charge that he, his newspaper, and his government, categorically reject. the charges against evan are baseless and we call on the russian federation to immediately release him. a rare glimpse inside the prison where the american

journalist is being held. a russian tv documentary went inside lefortovo jail 20 years ago. it is notorious for the sense of isolation. mr gershkovich�*s lawyer told me what is helping him get through this. he received a lot of letters and he tries to respond to these letters. and he is very glad to have huge support from everybody. the us government has now officially classified evan gershkovich as wrongfully detained. that means that back in america, his case has been taken up by the us special envoy for hostage affairs who will try to secure his release. experience shows it won't be easy. ex—us marine paul wheelan has spent more than four years behind bars in russia. america calls him wrongfully detained too. but he's still here. last year, to free basketball star

britney griner, here on the left, washington agreed to a swap, trading herfor convicted russian arms dealer viktor bout. now a usjournalist is in a moscowjail. what do russian officials make of that? are you worried that this once again will affect russia's international reputation? this journalist is seen as a hostage now. he is not a hostage. and i'm sure that russia's reputation will not suffer greatly from this particular case. locked away here, all evan gershkovich can do is wait and hope for freedom. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. new figures show that the number of people looking for work in the uk has risen asjob vacancies fall.

the figures also show that pay continues to rise sharply — especially in the private sector — but not fast enough to keep up with the increase in prices. a black teenager in the us state of missouri almost paid with his life when he rang the wrong doorbell to pick up his younger brothers and was shot — once in the head and once in the arm. 84—year—old andrew lester has been charged with the attack on 16—year—old ralph yarl, which happened last thursday night at a house in kansas city. prosecutors say there was a �*racial component�* to the shooting, as our north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. it was a wrong turn, which almost turned deadly. 16—year—old ralph yarl had gone to pick up his twin siblings late thursday night, but he went to the wrong house. same number, a different street. he rang the doorbell and was shot in the head and arm. he managed to get help from some residents before being taken to hospital. he is now recovering at home.

he ran outside and got a couple of bullets in his body. that is all i can say. the man accused of shooting ralph yarl also returned home, despite now being charged with first degree assault and armed criminal action. initially, andrew lester had been released by police after questioning, which sparked big protests. the 84—year—old told officers he was scared of ralph's height, but the family say it wasn't that which caused him to reach for his gun. we know just being we knowjust being black is seen as a threat in this country and when we hear him say i feared for my life and he was only confronted by a 16—year—old ringing his doorbell obviously it is unjustifiable for him to use deadly force against the so—called threat. blackness is not a

threat. police said no words were exchanged between the pair before the shooting, so it's hard to determine the motive. if you are afraid to open the door do not answer the door. it if you are afraid to open the door do not answer the door. it makes me so mad. do not answer the door. it makes me so mad- it — do not answer the door. it makes me so mad. it makes _ do not answer the door. it makes me so mad. it makes me _ do not answer the door. it makes me so mad. it makes me so _ do not answer the door. it makes me so mad. it makes me so mad - do not answer the door. it makes me so mad. it makes me so mad that. so mad. it makes me so mad that little _ so mad. it makes me so mad that little kid _ so mad. it makes me so mad that little kid has to be in a hospital because — little kid has to be in a hospital because someone made a wrong decision — but missouri has stand your ground laws which allow citizens to defend themselves if they feel they're at risk. it's controversial. critics say it gives people the license to kill and helps to acquit them. presidentjoe biden has spoken to ralph and his family. he says he hopes for a swift recovery, and nearly $3 million has been donated by the public aimed at helping the teenager do that. namir iqbal, bbc news, washington. the time is 16 minutes past six. our top story this evening. police arrest the treasurer of the scottish national party, colin beattie,

— as part of their probe into its finances. and coming up, why free—range eggs are now back on the menu. coming up on bbc news... after protesters disrupted snooker�*s world championship, we'll tell you how security's being stepped up at the crucible as the former world snooker tour chairman barry hearn calls sport an "easy target." benefits of gardening, how horticulture is helping to heal mind and body. higher death rates in childbirth for black women and those from poorer areas have been condemned as �*appalling' by mps. a report by the women and equalities committee says racism has played a key role in creating health disparities. figures show that out of more than two million women having babies between 2018 and 2020, 229 died in childbirth or up to six weeks after the end of pregnancy. black women were nearly four times more likely to die than white women, and asian mothers were nearly two

times more likely to die. our health correspondent naomi grimley has been speaking to two mothers who have had traumatic births. so this is ezekiel. yeah, yeah, yeah, that was ezekiel. tinuke awaye is looking back at pictures of her son's first few days of life. and that's when he was just three weeks old. thejoy of becoming a mum was tempered by the bad experience she had in childbirth. theyjust didn't believe i was in labour. they did not believe i was in labour and i wasn't checked over. and i think if i was checked, then they would have known that my labour was indeed progressing. for hours, for hours, i wasn't checked at all. no one believed that — i remember at one point someone said to me, "oh, "you're making this much noise now. "what are you going to do later on?" without realising that later on was now. it was actually one of the hardest experiences i've ever had to go through. sandra igwe formed her own pressure group after suffering not one, but two traumatic births. so i begged and pleaded for pain relief or epidural, and she actually said she's not going to give me any

epidural until i stop crying and try to stay still. she came back after two hours and when i then finally stayed still and, you know, obeyed her rules of not crying and not moving, then she gave me the pain relief. and that was quite dehumanising at the time. mps are particularly worried by the data on maternal deaths. although they acknowledged these are rare in the uk, they say the higher level of risk faced by black and asian mothers is frankly shameful. we know that women who are living in the most deprived communities have the worst outcomes in pregnancy. black women simply aren't being listened to. now, that has to be addressed. that's got to be about cultural competence, competency within the nhs. it's got to be about staff who are properly trained to address biases that may preexist. in its response to this report, the department of health pointed out it had set up a specialist task force last year to examine exactly these issues. but it was originally supposed

to meet every three months, and we've learnt that it's only meeting today after a gap of nine months. experts advising the government say more personalised care will be key, and ministers point to more training places for midwives. but nhs england acknowledges there is still more to be done on this issue. as for tinuke, she says she knows a good place to start. now i'm campaigning, it still feels like people don't tend to be listening. i think it's important that we're given much more of a seat at that table when they're making decisions. i think that will be key. naomi grimley, bbc news. hundreds of military personnel paraded through central london last night in a midnight rehearsal for the king's coronation on may the 6th. they travelled in rows on horseback through the quiet streets in preparation for next month's event — which will feature more than 6,000 men and women

from the uk's armed forces. it's just over two weeks to the local elections in england, and the green party is hoping to build on gains in recent years, including in mid suffolk. the party did well there at the last vote in 2019, but this time they're hoping to go further, and win their first majority control of a council. in the first of our pieces about the issues that matter to you in these elections, our political correspondent helen catt reports from woolpit in suffolk. at first glance, the villages of mid suffolk might not seem the most obvious place for the greens to target. they are rural, reliant on the car, and many homes use oil for heating. but the greens think they can win here this year, partly by tapping into concerns about housing developments like this one on the edge of woolpit. at the weekly meeting of the table tennis club, competition is polite but fierce. there are worries here about large scale development. i think the sheer volume of building and the number of people that

would be moving into the area, probably the main concern is about the facilities. can they cope? and what about jobs? there's nojobs in woolpit. ijust hope that an influx isn't going to destroy that wonderful, friendly atmosphere. down the road in stowmarket it's a lack of people that's the concern. paul has been cutting keys and repairing shoes for a0 years, nine of them in this shop. running a business at the moment is a hit up and down. it can be a scary thought. i'm coming into work every day wondering whether you're going to get the people through the door. i would like someone who would come into this town and start to look at what they can do. his concerns are echoed on the high streets. we need more doctors, dentists. the schools are quite good as well, but we just need a bit more infrastructure. there doesn't seem to be enough local business in the high street i

to sort of support the, well, the existing - businesses that are here. in more than a third of the seats being fought across mid suffolk, only green and conservative candidates are standing, setting up straight fights between the two. if the greens can overtake the conservatives here to become the largest party, that will be a big boost to them. if they can win an outright majority, it would be historic. they've never managed that anywhere. it's also a test. the greens need to show they can be serious contenders in places like this, as well as in the cities where they've had some of their recent successes, if they want to build their national presence. helen catt, bbc news, suffolk. tributes have been played to a renowned playerfrom northern ireland who died on a nepalese mountain range. no hannah died while returning from the summit. he was attempting to climb all 1a of the highest mountains. he was an experienced climber having reached the summit of mount everest ten

times. we'll be able to buy free—range eggs again in the next few days, as bird flu restrictions are lifted across most of the uk. today is the first time in six months that captive birds and poultry can go outside — though experts say the h5n1virus is still circulating, and is an ongoing risk to wild birds. our environment correspondent jonah fisher reports. the restrictions eased. the doors of the enclosure opened. and the chickens, well, they were in no rush to embrace their new—found freedom. the ending of a housing order brought in to control the spread of bird flu means that in almost all of the uk, captive birds can now go outside once more. today is a great day. i've been looking forward to this for a long while. mark supplies all the leading retailers and last year, as the outbreak spread, hundreds of thousands of his birds had to be killed. we've had a really tough

time over the winter. we ended up with nine farms being infected with the virus, which we sadly had to have culled. and we've got through that. wild birds have been blamed for spreading the disease, and they've perished in large numbers too. last year, bird flu led to what one conservation charity called a catastrophic death toll at seabird colonies. by lunchtime in norfolk, the chickens had worked out the meaning of free—range. this is good news for the birds and good news for those of us who want to buy free—range eggs and meat. but there are farmers who say the risk is still too great and that despite the rule change, they'll be keeping their birds inside. it's like playing russian roulette. alistair produces and packs eggs, and even though his entire business is based on the hens being happy, he says he's keeping them in as a single infection would be so devastating.

i don't think at the moment there's enough evidence to suggest that the wild bird population is free from the disease. the easing of restrictions is unlikely to have an immediate impact on egg shortages, which are linked notjust to bird flu but to farmers leaving the industry. expect free—range produce to be back in supermarkets by the end of the week. jonah fisher, bbc news, in norfolk. a 95—year—old man from derbyshire has been playing and conducting in his local respite for eight decades has been honoured with a guinness world record. tom street's lifelong love of music has seen him named as the longest—serving man to play in a brass band, 82 years and 332 days. our correspondent heidi booth tells us more. brass band plays this is the moment 95—year—old tom street found out he was an official guinness world record holder,

for the longest—serving male member of a brass band. cheering and applause i wondered what it was all about. and then looking around and seeing all the friends was here. it means very much to me when i see how they've all come along, because we've played with them through the years. tom joined heage band when he was 1a years old. he's been a member for over 82 years. it's been his life basically two or three times a week, and i think without him, the band wouldn't have existed or wouldn't be here today. so it's an amazing effort. the whole surprise was arranged by tom's grandson, louis, who spent nine months gathering all the evidence guinness needed to award tom the record. i told him we were going to the pub, which is a very easy, easy thing for him to get out of the house to go and do. and having been recognised for all his hard work

with a world record, there's only one way to celebrate. well, going fora drink, i hope! heidi booth, bbc news, derbyshire. and if you're in the east midlands, you can see the full story of tom's 85 years in the band on tonight's news in your area. time for a look at the weather. here's susan powell. good evening. 21 degrees today in the northern highlands stop one of the northern highlands stop one of the images sent to an earlier on today from one of our weather watchers and you can't really pick out anything in the way of cloud in the sky. it was a very different story to the east of scotland for edinburgh, where we had the horror and threat pushing into the east coast. this feature came across on the continent and kept things chilly across much of the south—east of england. ten or 11 the house. it is

working with now is stop overnight we will see outbreaks of rain pushing towards devon and cornwall. nothing especially heavy. further north clear skies and look out for of. across parts of scotland. perhaps rural wales as well and some more sheltered spots in northern ireland. on wednesday it is very similar to tuesday but with that cloud further towards the west, wales, the south—west of thing at a greater chance of seeing some showers here. easterly wind still with us and still feeding that cold air in off what is a choppy north sea. eight or nine in the north sea if you are brave enough to get in. fully air across the uk direct from there and the coast, that is where temperatures will set around nine or ten. furtherwest temperatures will set around nine or ten. further west with some sunshine and shelter we could still be looking at the mid—teens on wednesday. thursday we will generally be done some slightly chilly air. lighterwinds generally be done some slightly chilly air. lighter winds into the early hours of thursday. greater chance of a more widespread frost

and for the end of the week it starts to get a bit lively towards the south—east with the weather feature growing up and that looks like it will bring our run of wealth of the dry weather to an end particularly for england and wales on friday and more widespread showers across the uk for saturday and sunday and i look out for a chilly snap early next week. thanks, susan. and that's bbc news at six on the 18th of april. you can keep up with all the latest developments on the bbc website. from the six team, it's goodbye. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it's time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are. goodnight. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm chetan pathak. coming up on tuesday night's programme... looking to save their season — can frank lampard and chelsea keep their champions league hopes alive? it's one of the tightest title races in recent wsl history. we'll look ahead to what

could be a defining week at the top of the table.