a bbc investigation casts doubt on the greek authorities account of the sinking of a boat, in which hundreds of migrants are feared to have died. the united states gives a positive assesment of talks between its top diplomat and china's foreign minister — but beijing says relations are at a historic low. and a senior british government minister apologises after a new video shows conservative activists partying during the uk's lockdown in 2020. hello, i'm rich preston. welcome to the programme. we begin in greece — where a bbc investigation has cast serious doubt on the greek coastguard's account of its response

leading up to the sinking of a ship carrying migrants. the incident happened last thursday — 78 people are confirmed dead, up to 500 are still missing at sea. our research suggests the coastguard's claim that the boat was still on course to italy is incorrect. the greek authorities have yet to respond. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake is in kalamata, where he's been analysing the ship's final movements. last tuesday morning, from the air, authorities spot the migrant boat. this is a surveillance photo. a simulation we've obtained from a ship tracking service shows ships in the area in the run—up to the sinking. coastguard and military vessels do not appear. the yellow pin is where the migrant boat eventually sinks. at around 1500 gmt, a ship, called the lucky sailor, which gave us its logbook, turns north and approaches the migrant boat to give food and water. soon after, says the coastguard, its helicopterfinds the migrant boat on a steady course. but two—and—a—half hours later at around 6pm, another vessel, the faithful warrior,

comes to the same area and supplies food to the boat as well. bbc verify has confirmed this is footage of this happening. from 7.40pm to10.1i0pm, greek officials see the boat keeping a steady course and speed, they say, from a discreet distance. this is what they initially claimed. but this close—up image they themselves published from this time period looks like the migrant boat isn't going anywhere. let's look again at the activity of the last seven hours. it's all around one specific spot, suggesting the migrant boat has hardly moved. remember — all of this time, greece says it isn't in trouble and is on its way to italy, so doesn't need to be rescued. it is at ”pm that the boat sinks with hundreds on board, and there is a frenzy of ships coming to help — including the celebrity beyond from where this footage was taken and later sent

to the bbc. a luxury yacht, the mayan queen, is then instructed to assist and takes the 100 survivors to shore. they safely reach the port of kalamata, but leave behind serious questions about the whole greek response. migrants from pakistan are among those dead and still missing after the boat disaster — and the country's prime minister, shehbaz sharif, has called for immediate action against people traffickers. nearly 80 bodies have been found so far, and hundreds 0ur south asia regional editor anbarasan ethirajan has more. many families are waiting for answers, because a significant amount of pakistani youths were thought to be aboard the disaster—prone boat where many people are still missing. 0ne father was telling the local media how the human traffickers were luring his son with the promise of a good job in europe, and they were paying more than $7,000 — and then finally, they

ended up on this boat. and he's not hearing any information about his son. this is the case with many other families, and one police officer told the local media 21 people from one particular village were on—board the ship, and they were missing — and that's why the pakistani government is now trying to find out more information on what clearly happened. they have already declared a day of mourning, and the pakistani flag will be flying at half—mast, and the government has also formed a committee to look into this tragedy and see how they can prevent people from going in this illegal manner. the us has described the talks between secretary of state, antony blinken, and his chinese counterpart, chin gang, as candid and constructive. the meeting, which was held in beijing, came after growing tensions between the two superpowers — but an american statement said they had both expressed a desire to stabilise the relationship and prevent competition from veering into conflict. china said that the relations

were at their lowest point since 1979, when diplomatic links were first put in place — and said that concerns over taiwain — which is supported by washington, but which china considers to be a renegade province — were the most prominent risk. but mr chin is expected to travel to washington for more talks. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell sent this report from beijing. antony blinken touched down with little expectation this would result in a breakthrough. china—us relations have been so toxic that even having the visit has been a step forward. the first meeting was with the secretary of state's chinese counterpart. the potential to drift into war is a concern shared all round. safeguards are needed to prevent an accidental armed conflict. from trade tensions to climate change, much repair work is needed.

the world superpowers are nowhere near rapprochement. analysts have become pragmatic about where us china relations may land. i don't think we can go back to the good old days. 0n the other hand we are entering a new normal, a new status, where both countries recognise that i can't change you, you can't change me, and we can't change each other. let's try to exist peacefully. if this trip can re—establish lines of communication, can clear a path for visits, then both governments will consider it having been a success. it is a measure of the pessimistic mood around this relationship that, if these meetings can simply slow an increase in tensions, that will be taken as a win. in february, the alleged spy balloon over north america delayed this trip. now that antony blinken is actually here, the mood

is polite and official, but not very warm. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. to the uk — where the government has once again become embroiled in a row over alleged parties during lockdowns. the cabinet minister michael gove has apologised on behalf of the government for a newly released video. it shows staff from the governing conservative party enjoying drinks and dancing at a christmas gathering at their headquarters in december 2020, when social distancing restrictions were in place. mr gove said the event was "indefensible" and apologised "unreservedly" — as iain watson reports. i think it's sickening and it's appalling, and it's maddening. it's actually a kick in the teeth. they made a mockery. those three people have something in common. theirfamilies were hard hit by the covid pandemic, and they all found it difficult to look in the mirror this morning. the newspaper obtained video footage of this event in the basement

of conservative party hq in december 2020, when socialising between different households was banned. they appeared to have missed the social distancing posters on the wall. it features the campaign team for sean bailey — he was running to be london mayor at the time. he is now about to go to the house of lords, courtesy of borisjohnson�*s resignation honours list. mr bailey does not feature in the video himself, but one of his key campaigners does. ben mallett was given an 0be in the honours list, and senior conservatives are braced for a backlash. michael gove said sorry on behalf of his fellow conservatives. on a personal level, i would like to apologise to people for this behaviour. it is unacceptable and indefensible.

would the honours withdrawn? i don't think that. the decision was made by borisjohnson is an outgoing prime minister. charlotte hodge from bradford lost her husband to covid in november 2021 and her children lost theirfather. it is upsetting and it makes me angry. it's ok for them to say sorry. it's just words, it's a word. it isn't going to bring anybody back. the december 2020 event had been reported before, but without video footage. the police previously decided to take no action, but say they are now aware of the previous footage and are considering it. 0pposition parties want action. there also appears to be a mocking of the rules that is going on in the video, where people up and down the country were making sacrifices to follow the rules that were imposed, and you yet again get this one

rule it seems for those who are in government, and another for everybody else. rishi sunak wants to move on from partygate, but events like this still cast a long political shadow. iain watson, bbc news. the former first minister of scotland and former snp leader nicola sturgeon has returned home for the first time since she was arrested and released without charge as part of an investigation into the party's finances. speaking outside her home she maintained her innocence. i can't say very much just now. what i will say is, reiterate the statement i issued last sunday. i am certain that i have done nothing wrong. i intend to be back in parliament in the early part of the week. i will make myself available for questions then, obviously, within the constraints that i am referring to right now. voters in switzerland have backed government proposals designed to cut fossil fuel use and reach net zero

carbon emissions by 2050. the final tally showed that 59% of people approved the measures. they will see more than $3.5 billion invested to help households and businesses switch away from using imported oil and gas — and move to renewable energy. the government had backed the measures, saying that switzerland needs to take action to protect the environment, and protect its energy security. but opponents said it would increase the cost of energy and put a strain on finances. with the details, here's our correspondent in bern, imogen foulkes. two key things led to voter support, convincing support to the climate change measures — the first is the effect that global warming is having on the alpine environments. switzerland's glaciers are shrinking pretty much before our eyes, and much faster than even the climate change specialists had predicted. the otherfactor, the war in ukraine — switzerland doesn't produce any

oil or gas itself, it needs to import it. and the government, which backed today's measure, successfully argued that if switzerland's economy wants to continue to be as successful as it has been and still is, then switzerland needs energy security — and that will have to mean weaning itself off oil imports or gas imports from somewhere like russia. that means then investing in renewables, and the swiss government is making a hefty package available — $3.5 billion, that's more than £3 billion — so that households and businesses can have some support to move away from oil and gas, and to invest in things like heat exchange pumps and solar panels — you can expect a big solar farm, i'm told, in that big green expanse behind me, that's coming

in the years to come. now i think switzerland has been slow, it wasn't meeting its paris climate change goals — this, climate activists say, will put it maybe not quite back on track, but it's a good start, and clearly swiss voters today have thought this is a good investment. now we return to that extraordinary story out of colombia, when four children were found in the jungle a0 days after their plane crashed in may. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping the massive search effort that found them. to talk us through it — here's mimi swaby from the bbc world service. the plane the children were flying in crashed over colombia's southeastern amazon on the 1st of may. now, the body of the mother, the pilot and an indigenous leader on board were all recovered at the site. however, the children, now 13, nine, five and one were then missing for a0 days before they were found by a search party consisting of 160 soldiers and 70 indigenous people.

now, all the children were found malnourished, exhausted and dehydrated, but they were found alive. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping out a possible route the children took. they found multiple items during the a0 days, including a nappy and parts of a bottle thought to belong to the youngest sibling. so these were found in the middle area here, and later on there were more fruit parts found such as passion fruit pits, peel and then footprints later on in the a0 days. but heavy rain really made this operation hard as it washed away a lot of the footprints. day after day, soldiers with sniffer dogs and local indigenous groups scoured the jungle area. now the search is split into one kilometre squares, and it's thought that teams walked more than 2,600 kilometres in total. so again, a huge area. two patrols actually in opposite directions, zigzagged across the area,

making sure that nothing was left unturned and there was no possibility they would miss the children. now, the search commander said that this wasn't just a search for a needle in a haystack, but more for a tiny flea in a vast carpet because they kept moving. so it really is a miracle these children were found in such a difficult terrain to navigate. now it's time for a look at today's sport with huw. rich, hello again. the two players sharing the lead heading into the final round of the us open are both hoping to win their first major. rickie fowler and wyndham clark will tee off in the next hour or so at the los angeles country club, having started the day with a one shot—lead over the rest of the field. the two americans are on ten under par, with rory mcilroy one behind with the last of his four major wins back in 201a. he's the world number three. and three off the lead is the world number one scottie scheffler. of those out earlier, austin eckroat and tommy fleetwood are having two of the best rounds of the day, but still some distance

between them and the leaders. the weather has intervened for the first time in the ashes series, with rain forcing an early end to day three of the opening test at edgbaston. at that point, england had just lost both their openers in their second innings, which started with a seven—run lead after australia were bowled out for 386. usman khawaja eventually out for 1a1. after both ben duckett and zak crawley departed within three balls in conditions much—changed by the weather. england ended the day 28 for 2, 37 ahead, needing to build a signifcant enough lead to try and win the match. if we could have a day to bowl at them, we feel like we could bowl them out. and if they actually feel they have a score that they can chase down, then we feel like we're in the game. if they come out and play defensively like they have done this game, it might be a different story. but if we give them something — let's chase the ball

and they feel they can get it, it might be an easier ten wickets. croatia are attempting to win a majorfootball trophy for the first time as they face spain in the nations league final. the match is in rotterdam. still goalless, 15 minutes left to go. spain also reached the final two years ago when they lost to france. earlier, italy beat the netherlands 3—2 to claim third place in the competition. wolverhampton wanderers captain ruben neves is the latest big name player to head to saudi arabia. wolves have agreed a a7 million pound deal with al hilal. neves had a year left on his wolves contract and had been linked with multiple clubs in recent transfer windows, including barcelona. the portugal midfielderjoins the likes of crisitano ronaldo, karim benzema, and n'golo kante in the saudi pro league. max verstappen has once again shown his dominance over the formula one grid, winning the canadian grand prix for red bull, who continue their 100% record for the season so far. verstappen led from start to finish to extend his champoinship lead

to 69 points, as he attempts to win a third world title in a row. after swapping places into the first corner, fernando alonso and lewis hamilton ended up as they started in second and third. verstappen�*s win takes him to a1 overall, level with the great ayrton senna. after winning his first title on grass for seven years last weekend, andy murray has claimed a second in a row at the nottingham 0pen. the british player deliberately missed the french open to try and improve his ranking in time for wimbledon, where he's won the title twice and beat france's arthur cazaux in straight sets to register a tenth win in a row. murray will return to the world's top a0 on monday and will, if he reaches the quarter finals at queens next week, could be seeded for wimbledon. my family have been unbelievably supportive of me continuing with my career, when they could easily have told me to stop. i really appreciate them

still supporting me and trying to get me to keep going, also all of my team over there, i need all of them for all of their help they give me in keeping me motivated and hopefully i will see you again next year. and katie boulter claimed her first wta title after beating jodie burrage in nottingham in all—british final — the first on the tour since 1977. boulter not only sealed the win quickly in straight sets, 6—3, 6—3, she will also remain as the british number one, moving up to a new career high of 77 in the world rankings. head to our website for the latest, but that's all the sport for now. a new report by world football's governing body says there were almost 20,000 abusive social media messages targeting players, coaches and officials during last year's qatar world cup. the posts were identified by moderation software developed

by fifa and the players�* union, fifpro. it was designed as part of efforts to boost the protection of those taking part in international tournaments. the report says more than 300 people suspected of sending online abuse have been identified. fifa said their details would be shared with the relevant authorities. live now to manchester, where we can speak to former manchester city footballer and football pundit nedum 0nuoha. a very good sunday evening to you, thanks for being with us. for people not in the public eye or on social media, give us a sense of some of the messages you get online? to be honest, i think _ the messages you get online? to be honest, i think the _ the messages you get online? to be honest, i think the difference - honest, i think the difference between what i get and what some of these players get now is that every time they play in a game, if something bad was to happen against the rival, there's an expectation you'll be expecting the maker receiving some form of abuse from people you don't know. you'll get on

your phone and alert with somebody saying, "i think you need to go back to this place," and so on and so for us, and it's a shame that people have to feel that because they are used to social media, and it doesn't necessarily need to be that way. because i think from a smaller scale, you talk to the people that you know in a way which suits your personality is very respectful, but when you look at someone in the public eye, if you don't know them, you're perceived to be a character in a tv show. so it doesn't feel like you're talking to a real person, but unfortunately there is someone on the other end, and the abuse he received ineffective for life. abuse he received ineffective for life, , .,, abuse he received ineffective for life. , ., ., life. some people will say not to look at your— life. some people will say not to look at your phone _ life. some people will say not to look at your phone or— life. some people will say not to look at your phone orjust - life. some people will say not toj look at your phone orjust switch look at your phone or just switch off notifications, just ignore it, it's just noise. what would you say to that? i it'sjust noise. what would you say to that? . ., , , it'sjust noise. what would you say to that? _, , , to that? i completely disagree, because why — to that? i completely disagree, because why should _ to that? i completely disagree, because why should they - to that? i completely disagree, because why should they have l to that? i completely disagree, i because why should they have to to that? i completely disagree, - because why should they have to do something differently to you? at the end of the day, they are still people. people choose to watch their

games, and doesn't necessarily mean they have to live their life differently to how you can. they need to be aware of what they are pointing out that putting out and what they're saying, but the stuff with they receive, when it's all complete strangers, you can say to ignore it, fine, but what about when there's a threat to your life or your family, there's a threat to your life or yourfamily, orsomething there's a threat to your life or yourfamily, or something really your family, or something really aggressive yourfamily, or something really aggressive is said to you? it feels like it's online, but those people online live in the real world as well, so if somebody says something to you, why would you believe nothing will happen to you based off what has been said? i think it misses the point, and maybe people should get off social media altogether, but i don't think being in the public eye should be the reason why they do that. find in the public eye should be the reason why they do that. and in your exerience reason why they do that. and in your experience and _ reason why they do that. and in your experience and the _ reason why they do that. and in your experience and the expense - reason why they do that. and in your experience and the expense of- reason why they do that. and in your experience and the expense of yourl experience and the expense of your colleagues and friends, our social media companies themselves doing enough to help players tackle this abuse when it comes in? i

enough to help players tackle this abuse when it comes in?- enough to help players tackle this abuse when it comes in? i think they do 'ust abuse when it comes in? i think they do just about — abuse when it comes in? i think they do just about enough _ abuse when it comes in? i think they do just about enough to _ abuse when it comes in? i think they do just about enough to where - abuse when it comes in? i think they do just about enough to where they l do just about enough to where they are doing something, so you can't say they're doing nothing. whether it's whether something has happened, they say they'll ban this person, but the culture has already been set. it's already been set with football in general because we have a situation now in stadiums where you know things you can't say, but if you listen in the background, you can hear lots of abuse being thrown towards the players anyway, you see everyone standing up and jumping up, saying this and that, throwing up gestures, and we say, "it's so hostile in there today." so i think they are doing something, i don't believe it to be enough, i think the culture is set and it can be hard for them to change. i also believe it's not in their best interest to change because most of these companies are in the business of bringing people on board to keep them on for a long time and make money from them, rather than reduce their numbers without any financial gain at the end of it. fifa

their numbers without any financial gain at the end of it.— gain at the end of it. fifa said it would take _ gain at the end of it. fifa said it would take action _ gain at the end of it. fifa said it would take action about - gain at the end of it. fifa said it would take action about this, i gain at the end of it. fifa said it - would take action about this, saying it wanted to implement a plan to protect players — has fifa done enough, has that plan worked? i can cive ou enough, has that plan worked? i can give you 20.000 _ enough, has that plan worked? i can give you 20,000 reasons why it's probably not work, but ultimately people might say to slow down the abuse to some extent due to fear of punishment, but it doesn't change the way they feel about some of those people in the public eye, and lots of people know the ease that they can access them on and say what they can access them on and say what they say. a lot of punishments exist... so if your account goes down, you can create another one. whilst you can also use it as a negative, for if i can talk a great game but the problem is so large itself that i don't think you can really be changed that much. yes, you can bring in stronger punishments, but with stronger punishments, but with stronger punishments come stronger criticisms from those who believe they can say whatever they want. i'm glad they're

doing something, but every time we watch a game of football and something bad happens, ithink the expectation that the next thing there'll be a story about someone being abused, i can't see that changing regardless of what fifa say they'll do. just changing regardless of what fifa say the 'll do. , , , , changing regardless of what fifa say the 'lldo. , , , , they'll do. just briefly, the abuse was divided _ they'll do. just briefly, the abuse was divided amongst _ they'll do. just briefly, the abuse was divided amongst other - they'll do. just briefly, the abuse l was divided amongst other things, like sexism, homophobia and racism, but often these accounts are hidden and anonymous— how big a part does that play in this? i and anonymous- how big a part does that play in this?— that play in this? i think that -la s a that play in this? i think that plays a big — that play in this? i think that plays a big part. _ that play in this? i think that plays a big part, and - that play in this? i think that plays a big part, and havingl that play in this? | think that - plays a big part, and having spoken to certain people that know social media better than i do, there's an attitude that can be... but when somebody creates an account of that isn't necessarily linked to them, they have this sense of being able to say what they want without any punishment. we to say what they want without any punishment-— punishment. we have to leave it there unfortunately, _ punishment. we have to leave it there unfortunately, we - punishment. we have to leave it there unfortunately, we are - punishment. we have to leave it there unfortunately, we are out| punishment. we have to leave it i there unfortunately, we are out of time. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, stay with us on bbc news. bye—bye.

hello. as forecast, downpours are affecting parts of the country right now with thunder and lightning, hail, gusty winds, too, and we'll continue to see that severe weather affecting areas of the uk through the course of this evening and into tonight as that storminess travels from south due north. so further flash flooding is possible, and those downpours could deliver 30mm of rain within an hour and even more than that spread over a few hours. so nasty weather to come. and, of course, it is welcome rain across some parts of the country because it's been very dry. but the solid ground does mean that in some parts of the uk we do get the flash flooding. now, through the evening, the heaviest of the rain will be moving across northern parts of england, really quite heavy in the northwest, throughout yorkshire, into the very far north of england, and then eventually southern, central and eastern parts of scotland through the early hours of monday morning, whereas further south,

the weather will tend to dry out early in the morning it will be muggy — on monday, temperatures will be around 13—15 celsius. so right from the word go, it's a cloudy and rainy picture across many central and northern parts of scotland. but to the south, i think some sunshine. and then tomorrow for many of us, a fine day, just a scattering of showers here and there, the odd crack of thunder, the odd heavier downpour, but a lot of sunshine around and really quite warm. look at these values, around 25 celsius on the north sea coast. low pressure is still with us on monday and tuesday as it travels northwards, and further showers are expected to spread in from the south. so i think on tuesday, again, another round of storms spreading across the country, possible almost anywhere across the uk. the temperatures a little lower than of late, perhaps in the low 20s for most of us, but really pleasant enough in the sunshine, and it is still quite muggy air. how about the rest of the week? well, low pressure will be out in the atlantic. it may be brushing northwestern

parts of the uk later in the week, but ahead of it, towards the south and the east we will see a ridge of high pressure building, and that ridge of high pressure means warm and sunny weather, particularly for eastern and southern areas of the uk. and if we look at the outlook, certainly the apps are suggesting those temperatures rising towards the end of the week, but the weather itself is looking rather mixed with showers at times. bye— bye.