tonight at ten — the crisis deepens for scotland's ruling party — the treasurer of the snp is the second figure to be arrested. colin beattie was questioned by police investigating the snp's finances, and was released pending further inquiries this evening. just a few weeks ago, the party's former chief executive and husband of nicola sturgeon was arrested as part of the same inquiry — the new party leader says today's development is clearly a serious matter. 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. we'll have the latest on the troubles engulfing the scottish national party. also tonight — a sensational development in the us courts.

fox news — america's most popular cable news channel — decides to settle a massive lawsuit out of court after being accused a of lying about vote—rigging in the last presidential election. in moscow, the american journalist evan gershkovich has appeared in court, three weeks after his arrest on charges of spying. changing the rules — on the forced installation of prepayment energy meters — charities say vulnerable households need far better protection. and in tonight's champions' league, chelsea are out of the competition after losing 4—0 on aggregate to real madrid. and in sport, disappointment for emma raducanu, as the british number one, loses herfirst clay—court match of the year in under an hour.

good evening. the state of crisis in the scottish national party has deepened today with the arrest of the party treasurer who was taken into custody this morning by police investigating the snp's finances. colin beattie — who's also a member of the scottish parliament — is on his second stint as party treasurer. police are examining the way in which over half a million pounds of donations were used. mr beattie was released without charge this evening while investigations continue. two weeks ago, police arrested the former snp chief executive peter murrell, who's married to the former first minister nicola sturgeon. today's events overshadowed a major speech given by new snp first minister humza yousaf, setting out his priorities in government — as our scotland

editorjames cook reports. colin beattie is not a familiar face. but for two decades, the man who was once an international banker, was at the heart of the snp, holding the purse strings as the party soared in popularity and gained power. his arrest is another headache for the new first minister, humza yousaf. i can't comment on a live police investigation but clearly it's a very serious matter indeed. have you suspended him from the party? him from the party or the group? i've said already that people are innocent until proven guilty. it follows the arrest and release without charge of the party's former chief executive, peter murrell, who is married to nicola sturgeon, at their home in glasgow. with police also seizing a luxury motorhome in fife. so what led up to this 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 morning's arrest happened here, at colin beattie�*s home in his midlothian constituency. 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. to build a fairer, green and to improve our public services. to build a fairer, green

the first minister would like to open up the country schools do further it's good —— to further scrutiny. but the 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 prove 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 colin beattie return home tonight after being released without charge. —— returned. whatever the outcome of

the investigation, his party, the snp, is in turmoil. colin beattie not answering my questions as he returned home this evening and it has been another difficult day for the scottish national party. the police say they will submit eventually report to prosecutors on this case but stressing a cause that colin beattie was released without charge. —— stressing of course will top this was another difficult day for humza yousaf and his party, and he hoped that today would be a day when the new first minister was able to start writing his own story, setting out his priorities for government but it is very clear that he does not have control of this narrative. james cook, thanks for joining us. hours before the opening arguments

in one of the biggest defamation trials in us history, fox news, owned by rupert murdoch, and america's most—watched cable news network, has agreed to settle a huge lawsuit out of court. fox has agreed to pay nearly $800 million to a voting machine company called dominion voting systems, which had accused fox news of spreading false statements after the 2020 presidential election which donald trump lost to joe biden. fox news repeatedly broadcast false claims about vote—rigging, and blamed dominion and its voting machines. the news about the settlement came in the past hour. let's join our correspondent michelle fleury in delaware. tell us first of all what kind of impact this outcome had and how damaging could it be to rupert murdoch and fox news? this damaging could it be to rupert murdoch and fox news? this was very abru t, murdoch and fox news? this was very abrut, we murdoch and fox news? this was very abrunt. we had — murdoch and fox news? this was very abrunt. we had got — murdoch and fox news? this was very abrupt, we had got to _ murdoch and fox news? this was very abrupt, we had got to the _ murdoch and fox news? this was very abrupt, we had got to the stage -

abrupt, we had got to the stage where lawyers and the jurors had been sworn in, they were sitting at the table and waiting to begin opening arguments, and then the delay and the weight, and after about three hours, thejudge came back and announced a settlement had been reached thanks in part to the jurors and he mentioned them, saying that added pressure for these two parties to reach a deal, one that sees rupert murdoch's media empire payout $800 million but crucially avoids the spectacle of him and other executives as well as some fox news presenters from having to take the stand and answer questions from the stand and answer questions from the lawyers of dominion, and all of this is of course about notjust press freedom but the idea of accountability for disinformation. as we look back on the 2020 us election but also as we look forward to the 2024 us presidential election. ~ . ., .,

election. michelle, thanks for “oininu election. michelle, thanks for joining us- — the american journalist evan gershkovich has appeared in court in moscow, where his appeal against being detained was rejected. he was arrested nearly three weeks ago and he's the first american journalist to face espionage charges in russia since the soviet era, which ended over 30 years ago. he srongly denies any wrongdoing and president biden has demanded his immediate release. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has the story. 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's 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's notorious for the sense of isolation. 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. 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's 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. the debate over the forced installation of prepayment energy meters has intensified. new rules — which limit the practice — have been criticised by campaigners, who say they don't go far enough. the regulator 0fgem says customers must be given more chance to clear their debts and thay forced meter installation will be banned in homes where the residents are over 85. charities say the measures are not enough because as things stand there's no legal obligation on energy firms to follow them, as our cost of living correspondent colletta smith explains.

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 tarique 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. 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. you push in your key and this shows you that you have nothing on the key right now. in manchester, alexandra has four children and thinks struggling parents need extra protection, too. so you're in emergency credit for both gas and gas and electricity at the moment? both gas and electricity at the moment, yes. 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. many charities are disappointed with the regulator's new rules. 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. 0fgem 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. nearly two years after the taliban seized power in afghanistan, the country is on the brink of economic collapse, according to the united nations, who say that drastic restrictions on women's rights and their ability to work are part of the reason that afghanistan is struggling to make progress. the number of people

living in poverty rose from 19 million in 2020 — to 34 million in 2022. that represents more than 90% of the total population. aid is being sent, around £3.5 billion worth last year, from the international community. but if that level of aid is reduced, the un says many more people will be dragged into extreme poverty. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye reports from the capital, kabul. no time for a childhood. 11—year—old saeed ali akbar must work every day so that his family can eat — one of more than a million children out of school in afghanistan. he was in sixth grade till last year. "i really liked school. "i miss it.

"this is very hard work, but i've got used to it now," he says. next door, his older brother does the same work. nine hours of hammering and welding earns them 150 afghanis a day — less than $2. their father lost his job when afghanistan's economy collapsed and has now gone to iran to find work. their mother begs on the streets. translator: | feel awful that | my young children are working. this is their time to study and be something. but life is hard for us. i am struggling to find work and they have to provide for the family. when the taliban took over, foreign money that was being given to this country's government was frozen, triggering an economic collapse.

aid organisations have so far played a crucial role, saving people from going hungry. in recent months, though, the taliban has increased restrictions on women working for them, which threatens to put their operations and their funding at risk. i met a senior official in the taliban's finance ministry... my name is yogita from the bbc. ..who says they're working to improve the economic situation. basically in the previous government, there were a lot of corruptions and misuses of the power of the government. we have transparency in all our departments, and there is a very good 37% of increase in our revenues. two thirds of your population currently does not know where their next meal is coming from. that is not a self—reliant economy. so, how crucial is the operation of aid organisations at this moment? aid, these are temporary things. thank you for the international community helping our people in all over afghanistan.

but this is not the solution we need. we need not only aid, we need trade. we need the aid effectiveness. we need developmental aid. we need the international communities to come and work with us. but it is the policies of your government, including the restrictions on women and girls, which are making it tougherfor aid organisations to operate in this country. is your government willing to take responsibility for your share of what you should be doing to further expand the aid that is coming to your country? so, the girls' education and girls stopping them from the work, so this is, i think, the internal policy of islamic emirates. but i think all the things, all the humanitarian aid and the donations and the grants, those should not be related to this issue — this issue only. the gap between afghanistan's rulers and the world is widening at an unexpectedly rapid pace.

its people are at risk of being left to fight a crisis on their own. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul. in just over a fortnight�*s time, local council elections will take place in parts of england. the green party is hoping to build on gains in recent years — including in mid suffolk — where they're hoping to win their first majority control of a local authority. in the first of our reports explaining the local election issues, our political correspondent helen catt visited the local government district of mid 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 40 years, nine of them in this shop. running a business at the moment is a bit up and down. it can be a scary thought. 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. the latest now in the conflict in sudan.

a country riven by fighting and suffering a major humanitarian crisis, a 24—hour ceasefire is reported to have started, but it's by no means clear if rival factions in the armed forces are observing the deal. there's been intense fighting since the weekend, hundreds of people have been killed and injured. a word about the country itself... it's one of the biggest countries in africa, has experienced years of instability, as moves towards democratic government have been attempted. the latest clashes were started by the power struggle between these two men — general abdel fattah al—burhan, who is president of sudan's military government, and his deputy, mohamed hamdan dagalo, who leads the country's biggest paramilitary group, the rsf. the united nations says the humanitarian situation in sudan is now catastrophic, with mass displacement of people. 0ur senior africa correspondent anne soy has been watching developments

from the kenyan capital, nairobi. every chance they get, sudanese are trying to flee the capital, khartoum, if only they can make it out alive. a 24—hour cease fire to allow families to reunite and aid to flow should be in force now. but there are reports still of gunfire and explosions. pressure is mounting on the warring generals to negotiate. some have been caught up in crossfire, like these engineering students of khartoum university who were forced to bury their flatmate in the back yard. translation: yesterday, there| were clashes and a student died. we were unable to move his body. we're scared, and we're

scared about the water and electricity being cut off. hospitals are overwhelmed. families have been forced to move patients out. there is no food, water or electricity. it is almost impossible to provide any humanitarian services in and around khartoum. there are calls from various organisations and people trapped asking for evacuation. for the past four days, people have been out of water, food, electricity has been rationed, in some places totally disconnected. tonight, the streets of khartoum are deserted. sudanese remain indoors, fearful, angry and uncertain about the coming days. as the rival forces continue to fight over power, civilians can only watch helplessly and try to stay alive. anne soy, bbc news, nairobi. the winner of a major photography award has refused to accept his prize after revealing that his work was created

using artificial intelligence. the german artist boris eldagsen had entered a work which won in the creative 0pen category at this year's sony world photography awards. he said he had used the image to test the competition and to create a discussion about the future of photography in a world where artificial intelligence is increasingly being used. 0ur correspondentjon donnison has the story. ai providing a test for the human eye. this image, entitled the electrician, was created by a computer. the women in it never existed. don't worry if you couldn't tell. it's possible the judges at one of the world's biggest photography competitions couldn't either. i applied with this electrician picture at three different competitions and twice before the sony award i got shortlisted amongst the finalists. so i knew that it had

an effect on people, but that it was selected as the winner is just very unexpected. the world photography 0rganisation, which runs the sony awards, says it always knew ai had been used for the image. boris says otherwise. and it's not the only artistic ai controversy this week. a song that used artificial intelligence to clone the voices of the singers drake and the weeknd was pulled by streaming services, after complaints from their record labels. art, too, has been touched by ai at the white cube bermondsey gallery in london. these pieces were created by the french artist marguerite humeau, but only after she entered into discussion with an ai chatbot to come up with the concept. ai seems to be creeping more and more into all of our lives and doing things that we might once have thought required a human touch, art, music, literature, and now photography. i think it's very important not

to call it ai photography. i think it's very important to differ it by terms and then to have an open discussion in the photography world. is the umbrella of photography large enough to say, ok, it's part of it? for almost two centuries, photography has provided a record of things that actually happened. a fact — al, though, has now brought it into the realms of fiction. jon donnison, bbc news. let's have some football news. chelsea are out of the champions league after losing 2—0 tonight to real madrid at stamford bridge. it was a 4—0 defeat on aggregate for frank lampard's side. joe wilson was watching. one night here to save the season. 0ne match to prove to those fans, "you should believe." starting 2—0 down from the first leg, sure, chelsea needed goals... commentator: a chance! to be fair, that has never been

n'golo kante's speciality. chelsea's record scorer is now interim manager. frank lampard, staying calm, well, keep watching... only one thing stood between the goal and cucurella... commentator: it's cucurella! ..real madrid's goalkeeper — thibaut courtois, once of chelsea. half—time, not hopeless, but goalless. 0wner todd boehly spent £550 million. can't buy you goals or tackles. ah, when real madrid worked their opening after 57 minutes, here comes the composure, and the execution, and the finish. commentator: squared to rodrygo! that was the game. now, the lesson. make your chances count. by the end, madrid were walking it in. rodrygo again. all over. chelsea's season and presser did investment strategy. 0ut chelsea's season and presser did investment strategy. out of europe investment strategy. out of europe in the quarterfinals and 11th in the

premier league. plenty of chelsea fans left this ground long before the final whistle. that is the reality they will wake up to. indeed, thank you very much. joe wilson with the latest on the outcome at stamford bridge. time coming up to 10.30. susan has joined me for the weather. good evening, 21 degrees no less today in the northern highlands of scotland. no surprise when you had skies like these. this was a little further away from where we saw the high. but to the east coast of scotland and here is edinburgh with an easterly wind off the north sea, cloud coming in, those chilly winds really adding to that cold feel. why is it so cold with the wind off the north sea? the water of the north sea is cold this tiny, eight or 9 degrees. this high across scandinavia, easterly winds to the south and pulled the air of

the north sea straight into north—eastern coastal counties. here it all starts to become a little more easterly through wednesday, so perhaps not quite as warm across western scotland. but we will see through wednesday a bit more cloud across england and wales and come the afternoon, continuing to lurk across wales and the south—west of england, providing a few showers. another look at that window and i will use the word nagging because effectively as it goes on day on day, that is what it will do. we're not going to lose that until the end of the week. for north sea coastal resorts, we will see temperatures no higher than ten or 11. further west, a of sunshine, 15 or 16 possible on wednesday thursday, this high wobble is about a debt, the isobars open up and a chilly start on thursday, a frost who have —— for those who have put anything in early. friday, some rain spreading across england and wales. it looks pretty messy for the

weekend with some longer, heavier