hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. thank byaru hanga. you for thank byaruhanga. you for joining thank byaruhanga. you forjoining us. sources in ukraine say the country's security services — the sbu — were behind a bomb attack in moscow which has killed a senior russian general in charge of the country's nuclear, chemicaland biological defence. this is the live scene where igor kirillov and his assistant were blown up as they left an apartment on monday ukrainian prosecutors charged lieutenant general kirillov with using banned chemical weapons. an sbu source has described mr kirillov as "a legitimate target" — and a "war criminal". kremlin officials have described the bombing as "a terrorist act". our russia editor steve rosenberg is following the story — and gave this

update from moscow. this is what we know so far, based on what russian investigators have said. they say the bomb was hidden in a scooter by the entrance to an apartment block and detonated remotely. they say that lieutenant general kirillov was killed, along with his assistant. now, lieutenant general kirillov was head of russia's nuclear chemical biological protection forces, so this is a senior figure killed in this attack. images coming in from the scene showed considerable damage to the entrance to the block of flats, lots of bomb damage, police and investigators on the scene, looking for clues. ukraine's security service charge the russian general in absentia for

allegedly using chemical weapons in ukraine. he was sanctioned back in october by the british authorities who accused russia of flagrant violation of the chemical weapons convention, but dramatic scenes certainly in moscow today, typical block of flats, apartment block and residents completely shocked by what happened this morning, this considerable blast from this considerable blast from this bomb which was hidden, as investigators say, in a scooter outside the entrance to the apartment block which has killed a senior russian military figure. for more on what ukrainian security sources have been saying about the attack, i've been speaking with vitaliy shevchenko, russia editor at bbc monitoring. this is how it normally works, catherine, they never go on the

record officially saying "we did it," there is no named figure from the ukrainian security service who has done it in the past. this is how they have done... how they have handled similar situations such as the one almost one year ago when a former ukrainian mp who held strongly pro—russian views was killed outside moscow. then, just as now, there were unnamed sources from the ukrainian security service speaking to the media who said that "we did it," but, as it were, unofficially and without any names to which these statements could be attributed. of course this does not really detract from the message sent by ukraine to russia and the world, which as we can't do it, we can assassinate senior, important figures within the russian political and military establishmentjust four miles

east of the kremlin. which is, we can do it. and what do you think the response from the russian authorities is likely to be? this morning so far we have had a statement from the russian foreign ministry spokesman who praised general igor kirillov, saying he fought staunchly against the anglo—saxons, that is the phrase she normally uses for russia's adverse arese across the globe. —— adversaries across the globe. it is not inconceivable to assume that russia will carry out strikes against ukraine and possibly say they are in retaliation for his death. that, of course, is if russia admits that ukraine, or says that ukraine, did stuff

like that right at the heart of moscow. also we need to remember that all these missile strikes carried out by russia, some of which, according to moscow, were carried out in retribution for something, they didn't really need any reasons for that during this war, this is what russia does in ukraine, attacking ukraine's infrastructure to achieve its military objectives during the so—called special military operation, even if russia says that these strikes are a response to something ukraine did. so this is probably what will happen today as well but we will be looking to see what exactly russian investigators say, who they blame for this attack. so far there has been nothing out of moscow on that score. just to let you know, we have a live page on the bbc website with some of the latest developments on that story coming out of moscow.

that report from bbc verify showing what is believed to be a picture of a scooter on the scene with missing handlebars. the report from bbc verify says that despite reports that an explosive device was hidden inside a scooter, the scooter at the scene in that image appears to show it largely intact, apart from those missing handlebars. we have a profile as well of general igor kirillov from our europe editor paul kirby. so we have sat on the website but also here on bbc news. the father and stepmother found guilty of murdering 10—year—old sara sharif are due to be sentenced at the old bailey in london. sara was beaten and burned by urfan sharif and beinash batool for over a period of two years before her body was found at the family home in woking last year.

a warning, some may find helena wilkinson's report distressing. the murder of ten—year—old sara sharif has shocked the country. behind the smiles of this little girl was a life of torture and beatings. at the weekend a vigil was held in sara's memory outside her home. people who didn't know the ten—year—old, horrified at what happened, came together to remember her. police! police discovered sara's body in a bunk bed at the family home in surrey in august last year. she had around 100 injuries. after sara died, herfamily abandoned her body. they fled to pakistan, from where the ten—year—old's father called police. your daughter has died? i killed my daughter. he also left this note by his daughter's body. it said, "it's me,

urfan sharif, who killed my daughter by beating." after more than a month on the run, sara's father, stepmother and uncle faisal malik, came back to the uk and were arrested. they made no comment during police interviews. who did that to sara? no comment. do you love sara? no comment. did you care about her at all? no comment. the old bailey trial heard that sara had been subjected to horrific suffering for more than two years. she had dozens of old and new injuries, including fractures and refractures, burns, bruises, and bite marks. today, herfather and stepmother will be sentenced for her murder. sara would help with the washing. judy lozeron lived next door to sara and herfamily in woking. i shall feel glad that they're going to get the punishment that they deserve.

i don't think anything is great enough to punish someone who's taken away an innocent child's life, but we would feel some justice has been served. sara's uncle will also be sentenced today for causing or allowing her death. sara was a confident ten—year—old girl who loved to sing and play the guitar. she was always smiling despite the horrific suffering that she endured. helena wilkinson, bbc news. police in the us state of wisconsin have identified the attacker in a school shooting as a 15 year—old girl. a teacher and a student were killed and six students were injured. the attacker was found dead at the scene. only 3% of mass shootings

in the us have been carried out by women or girls. the police chief in the city of madison said the alarm was raised by a pupil who was just seven or eight years old. here's our north america correspondent, david willis. mass shootings are sadly no rarity in this country which, of course, enshrines the right to bear arms in its constitution. but shootings carried out by females are extremely rare. and 15—year—old natalie rupnow, who went by the name samantha, was a student at the small, privately run christian school in madison, wisconsin. and about three hours into the school day, officials say, she opened fire in the classroom, killing a teacher and one of her fellow students before turning the gun on herself. officials say that she died on the way to hospital. police are attempting to determine a motive for the attack.

they say that the girl's parents are cooperating with their inquiries, and they've also revealed that the first call to the emergency services, warning them of the bloodshed that was unfolding at this school came from a pupil in what's known as the second grade. that's pupils between the ages ofjust seven and eight years old. now, two other students are said to be in a critical condition in hospital tonight with potentially life—threatening injuries. president biden has called the incident shocking and unconscionable, and has called for tougher gun control laws to be passed by congress. but previous such calls, of course, have gone nowhere, thanks largely to the influence of the very powerful lobby group, the nra, the national rifle association. so among the many unanswered questions tonight, what prompted a 15—year—old girl to open fire on her classmates?

and how was somebody who was not legally old enough to own a weapon, able to get access to a gun and bring it to the classroom? a strong 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck the pacific island nation of vanuatu, triggering landslides, crushing cars and flattening buildings. power and mobile networks across the country have been cut, and the full extent of the damage remains unclear. several buildings were damaged in the capital, port vila. among them, one housing the american, uk, french and new zealand embassies. this drone footage filmed by a localjournalist in vanuatu shows the aftermath of a landslide on the edge of the island's international shipping terminal. that footage was filmed by the journalist dan mcgarry, who i have been speaking to.

it was a violent earthquake, the worst i have ever seen in 21 years living here in vanuatu. we get earthquakes regularly, frequently higher than six, but none of us, nobody i have spoken to here, has experienced anything like it in their lives. it was very close to the capital, that 7.3, i think we felt every bit of it. some of the older buildings in town were severely damaged, some of them collapsed entirely, damage was not as widespread as you might see in other countries that do not build to such an exacting standard as we do here, so that's a relief to many of us. however, i went to the hospital shortly after the initial shock and talked to police there who confirmed one fatality. i spoke to police later and they said there were multiple fatalities but would not give me a number. it is clear from what we have seen at the triage centre that they set up outdoors, outside of the emergency ward, that there are dozens of people who have been injured,

some severely, some not so much. we don't have a good assessment of the extent of the human toll right now. been damaged, we have issues with the main road way through the centre of town, the roads connecting us to the airport and i have heard unconfirmed reports that the airport runway itself might be damaged. if that is damaged that may hinder the disaster response significantly. we're now joined by charlie damon, who is head of program and partnerships at care australia. charlie was previously based with care australia in vanuatu and shejoins us now from melbourne. thank you forjoining us. how prepared were people in vanuatu for this earthquake? a of for this earthquake? a rrf vanuatu is no stranger to

disasters, they get cyclones almost every years and disaster management is at the forefront of community awareness. communities would have had the base level of awareness to know what to do, but of course there are no warnings for earthquakes, which is not similar to cyclones where you normally have to lead to a period to prepare. this would have been a shock in that sense, it is leading up to christmas, people had been shopping, it was lunchtime, they would be getting ready for they would be getting ready for the festive season and working so in that sense it was an absolute shock and i do not think anyone can be prepared for that. ~ . . ~ , for that. what are the key challenges _ for that. what are the key challenges when - for that. what are the key challenges when it - for that. what are the key challenges when it comes j for that. what are the key i challenges when it comes to for that. what are the key - challenges when it comes to any rescue efforts and also supports coming to people in vanuatu?— supports coming to people in vanuatu? ~ , . ., ., vanuatu? the key challenge at the moment — vanuatu? the key challenge at the moment is _ vanuatu? the key challenge at| the moment is communication, the moment is communication, the network is down, power has been cut, understandably, while they try to save the electricity lines. communication is a challenge. and depending on the state of

the airport and the ports, we will see what can happen. care vanuatu has stocks in country and in portobello itself there will be some warehouse stock, the initial supply should be ok but further support might be hindered by communication and infrastructure damage. what hindered by communication and infrastructure damage.- infrastructure damage. what do the next few — infrastructure damage. what do the next few hours _ infrastructure damage. what do the next few hours and - infrastructure damage. what do the next few hours and days - the next few hours and days look like for people in vanuatu? i am sure you have been the one i have been similar disasters? i been the one i have been similar disasters?- been the one i have been similar disasters? i was there in 2015 during _ similar disasters? i was there in 2015 during the _ similar disasters? i was there in 2015 during the category i in 2015 during the category five cyclone cyclone pam, so tomorrow people will be trying tomorrow people will be trying to get in contact with family and friends to make sure they are safe and well, that was the priority care australia, to get contact with staff in portobello and our office in town. the immediate thing is to check whether everyone is contactable and so forth —— get contactable and so forth —— get contact with staff in portobello. then we need to

work out how to support the capital particularly to recover from this disaster.— from this disaster. charlie damon from _ from this disaster. charlie damon from care - from this disaster. charlie i damon from care australia, thank you forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are watching bbc news, i'm karin giannone in london. it is the final day of the post office inquiry which has been going on since 2022, there have been hundreds of testimonies by sub—postmaster mistresses wrongly prosecuted due to the faulty horizon it system. let's take you to the last day and proceedings going on. fine proceedings going on. one witnesses _ proceedings going on. one witnesses have _ proceedings going on. one witnesses have given - proceedings going on. que: witnesses have given recent evidence of matters relevant to paula vennells without support in contemporaneous documents, they should be approached cautiously. it is inevitable, having regard to the very human

desire for self—preservation, that witnesses will now seek to distance themselves from ms vennells. just two examples, if i may. first, jo swinson said in her oral evidence that ms vennells knew about the clerk advice. when i asked her questions about this, ms swinson conceded the assertion is based on a single e—mail she had not seen at the time. that e—mail does not withstand the weight which ms swinson seeks to load upon it. she did not have any personal knowledge on theissue have any personal knowledge on the issue but clearly and in retrospect wanted to assume the worst of ms vennells and sought to point the finger at her. in his oral evidence, alan cooke, the managing director of the post office between march 2006 and early 2010 stated that ms vennells probably authorised in 2006 substantial legal costs

for post office's claim against mr castleton. this could not be correct. ms vennells did not join post office untiljanuary 2007. i now turn to the chronology of ms vennells's involvement which cannot for obvious reasons the a complete chronology. even at 140 pages of written submissions we could not set out a complete chronology with reference to every relevant document. ms vennells was ceo of a newly separated, highly complex business with more than 11,000 branches. her role as ceo and before that as network director stretched far more broadly than horizon, to financial management, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning and decision—making, regulatory matters in the financial success of the company. i do not raise that to downplay in

any way the importance of horizon, simply to highlight the huge demand of competing priorities on the ceo of a business of this size and nature. i now turn to bugs, errors, defects and remote access before ms vennells became ceo. paragraph 88 of mr steen's submissions suggest, i quote, it is simply not credible for ms vennells to have uncritically adopted the mantra she put forward in a letter to lord arbuthnot on january nine, 2012. she said, there has been no evidence to support any of the allegations and we have no reason to doubt the integrity of the system which we remain confident is robust and fit for purpose. he relies on this assertion to suggest the organisation was corrupt from the top. it is easy to make assertions like this with hindsight, knowing

what we know now about what has been found regarding bugs, errors and defects. but from a close analysis of the contemporaneous documentation, it can be seen exactly why it was reasonable for ms vennells to make this statement, and it was not out of a corrupt hotel. so far as ms vennells is aware, she had a competent head of it and a competent general counsel on whom she believed she was entitled to rely. taking over the helm of post office at the time of separation from rmg, as we have heard, was a gargantuan task. it is simply not possible to delve personally into each matter raised, no realistic that she would have the expected —— the expertise in all disciplines to do so. why should she not have been entitled to trust this crichton, mr young and mrs ewell to give her the unvarnished position? ms

vennells had no background in it and was never employed by post office in an it role. post post office in an it