♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello. i'm christian fraser. this is the context. >> but we saw in moscow, the jailing of the critic for 25 years, that is a sign of how dangerous it has become for any politician or activist or opposition figure who speaks out and challenges the kremlin. >> the verdict is extremely important because it is the harshest sentence handed down to an opposition figure in vladimir putin's russia.

>> it's an active revenge against blood america removes a a message to everyone in russia which is don't protest the war, don't speak up against putin. christian: welcome to the program. worldwide condemnation today of the 25-year sentence handed to kremlin critic vladimir kara-murza, extraordinary courage from the man who had already been poisoned twice and refused to relent. also tonight, we go to france to get reaction to emmanuel macron's speech to the nation on those controversial pension reforms. the presidential approval ratings now at rock bottom. and freezing on the big stage. elon musk's spacex postponing the launch of their biggest ever rocket, starship, because of prlems with the pressurant valve.

we will start tonight with the problemshat are piling up for rishi sunak. there was news today that 196,000 hospital appointments had to be canceled because of the juniors dr. strike in england last week with more nursing strikes scheduled for the may bank holiday. on top of that, we learn the prime minister is under investigation by the parliamentary standards commission following a complaint made that he failed to properly inform mp's that his wife they stand to benefit from a measure announced in the budget. chancellor jeremy hunt is offering 600 pound incentives to anyone that trains to bece a child minder, but that doubles if they sign up through an agency. one of the six private agencies that would profit is the one in which mr. sunak's wife is a shareholder. he was asked about the scheme last month. >> i want to make sure the policies are effective in bringing additional people into the system. >> there is nothing that the

prime minister wishes to declare? christian: we will get the latest on the strikes with our health editor. first, let's hear from our political correspondent. it was pretty clear, rough the interrogation at the liaison committee, everyone seems to know that his wife had a shareholding, but wasn't properly declared? >> this is what the parliamentary commission of standards, an independent figure who looks at whether members of parliament follow the rules, is inquiring into. particularly, when mp's appeared before committees like that, if they are talking about an issue in the house, before a committee, they are expected to flag up if they have an interest tied to whatever the subject is. usually that would just be a declaration that says, i refer you to my interest on this

matter, and then they carry on. you can see what there is. he was asked explicitly, and did not do that. what downing street is saying, he had declared it, because as prime minister, they are held to another standard at the same time, their ministerial role. they have to declare anything they have a connection with privately to civil servants. mr. sunak says th he had done that. the problem is that list is not made public and the latest one has not been updated for one year. he may have declared it. we don't know when but it was not available to mp's to see. he did not make the declaration verbally and now that is all being inquired into. this is all awkward for the prime minister given we are in the run-up tlocal elections. christian: can we talk about what koro kids would be paid?

why double what a child minder would be paid if they applied in the normal way? >> that is one of the questions that the mps were putting to the prime minister, why do that? the answer from the government is, if you sign up with an agency, there are extra costs because you have to pay the agency, they have two process your application, register you themselves. administrative fees, if you like. it is to make sure the individual signing up covers those extra costs. of course, some of that money goes to the agency, and that is where those questions were being raised about this measure in the budget trying to encourage, it was actually the central measure in the budget, to encourage more childcare to help people. why that particular measure was being taken, particularly

disconnection to mr. sunak's wife owning shares in this one firm, one of six, listed as recognized by the government. christian: hugh, let me bring you in on some of the figures we are hearing today. its one of the prime minister's five pledges, reducing waiting lists. i will he do that if he doesn't pack on the industrial action? >> interesting point because rishi sunak was asked after an appearance, making a speech today, about the impact of the industrial action on the nhs waiting lists. he said a lot of initiatives were out there to reduce waiting lists for planned treatment and england, but he did concede the industrial action due to make it more challenging, and that is the first time he has done that. the latest figures for england show just over 196,000

operations and outpatient appointments were canceled because of the four-d action by junior doctors who were out on strike, the longest strike they have staged so far. if you look back across all the strikes affecting hospitals back to last december in england, that is more than 500,000 canceled appointments and operations. there are millions carried out every year, so put that in context, but clearly it will not help at all the overall ambition for the government to reduce the current 7.2 million waiting list by the time of the next election. christian: what we hear from nhs bosses is that consultants were being deployed to cover the junior doctors. what are they saying about the risks in emergency care over the may bank holiday where the nurses may be out as well? >> the junior doctors did not

cover emergency care. they recovered by consultants, as you rightly said. it seems hospitals just about coped. they had enough consultants, senior doctors to cover, but they are worried about this nurses strike, 48 hours from april 30, affecting all forms of care including emergencies and cancer care. one leading hospital boss told me that very possibly accidents and emergency would have to be scaled back at his hospital because of the impact of the walkout by members of the royal college of nursing. there is even more concerned about the impact of that nurses strike. and there could be more. we have heard that the nurses college will be balancing again. junior doctors have not ruled out further strikes as well. although one major health union,

unison, has voted to accept a pay offer and not carry out further strikes. the government is hoping other unions will vote for that pay offer. christian: thank you very much for that. let's try and help you understand the context behind this inquiry by the standards commissioner, hannah white, from the think tank institute for government. can you address this discrepancy? the prime minister, as all ministers do, may the cabinet ministers aware of this interest but not mp's aware. how does that happen? >> a number of possible things going on here. the parliamentary commission of standards will be looking into. when they are appointed, they sit down with the cabinet office, ethics team, and they go

through all possible conflicts they might have, make them aware of those. then those are made public in a list of ministerial interests. as damien said, that had not been published for a year. there are other things that may determine too minor or irrelevant to be included but have been discussed. these may have been made plain in government, but not beyond government. the second issue is there is a difference in registering with industry really interests and declaring them when participating in a parliamentary proceeding. when mp's are participating in anything, whether debating in the chamber or committee session, if they have a

registered interest, that they draw that to the attention of other mps and the public, so that the people know that is the case. the difficulty is, the prime minister's interest was recorded but that was not public. he could not make reference in that way, so if it was relevant to what he was talking about, he could have told mp's about that interest at the time. christian: just to be clear, he was asked explicitly at the liain committee if he wanted to make an interest known to the committee. he said i have done everything through the normal channels. does that cover him? might he be called back to give evidence to the liaison committee? >> i think he was potentially confusing registering an interest, discussing it, putting it down on the register of

ministers interest, and declaring it while participating in a proceeding. he should do both. it is not ok just to say it is written down if you are then talking about it, participating in parliament talking about it. it is related. you should also mention it at that point. that may be the thing that the commissioner highlights to him, if that is indeed what has happened. christian: penalties for this, any? >> limited. i would assume, if it is an oversight on his part, requirement of what to do in these circumstances, it will just be quite work explaining what the rules are. christian: thank you. around the world and in the u.k., this is bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other headlines making stories today. police in the usa say the four teenagers died in a mass shooting at birthday party on

saturday were all students at a local high school. nearly 30 others were injured in the attack in the city of dadeville. police have not said whether they have a suspect or motive. the compensation game for victims of the wind rush scandal should be given to an independent body, according to a human rights group. the scandal affected thousands of british people, mostly of caribbean origin, who arrived in the u.k. between 1948 and 1971, wrongly classed as illegal immigrants. human rights watch says many are facing unreasonable bureaucracy. the trainer of a horse who died during the grand national has blamed ignorant protest for the horses to. animal-rights activists enter the track and unsettled everyone. the group says its actions were aimed to prevent the death of hoes.

the world snooker championships were interrupted after protesters climbed onto the table. they invaded the arena shortly after play began with a man interrupting the match by jumping onto the table where he released a packet of orange dye. may be more of that in our sports bulletin coming up. one of president putin's most prominent critics has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. vladimir kara-murza, who also has british citizenship, is accused of treon and spreading false information. his conviction is widely seen as politically motivated, and the u.k. government has demanded his immediate release. this report from our russian editor. >> handcuffed and in a bulletproof cage, one of president putin's most prominent

critics. vladimir kara-murza faced multiple charges including treason. the verdict, guilty. the punishment, a quarter of a century in prison. access to theourtroom was heavily restricted. with other journalists and foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara-murza has been a ghont of the kremlin. he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr. kara-murza is also a british citizen. the u.k. has joint international condemnation of his conviction. >> the british government will continue to support him and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. >> vladimir kara-murza has a

british passport. what will britain do to try and secure his release? >> we are continuing to ask for consular access to mr. ra-murza, and will continue to do that. >> for a critic of the kremlin, political opponent of vladimir putin, a prison sentence of 25 years is unprecedented in its severity, and a sign in today's russia, authorities are determined not only to silence all criticism but to neutralize anyone and anything they believe could be a threat to the political system. >> vladimir is a very strong man. >> this isis wife. when she spoke to me from america before the verdict, she was already preparing for the worst. >> the 25-year prison sentence. to me, ts is the recognition of the effectiveness of vladimir's work. they hate him so much and they are so much afraid of him, of

him running free, that they have to lock them up for a quarter-century to stop him from his work. >> this famous museum reminds russians of political repression of the past. it is named after a soviet human rights campaigner. but the authorities have declared it a foreign agent, and now they are evicting it from the building. their final event feels like a swan song for russian democracy. christian: joining us today is someone who works for the bbc russian service. how widely is he known in russia, what sort of message will this send? >> actually, if you talk about ordinary russians, he is not that much known.

others like alexi navalny were well known. but for russian officials and people in the west, he is very well known. he was a vocal critic of mr. putin. he was one of the few russian opposition figures who said that russian opposition figures should unite, and that is what he was doing last year when he went to russia despite all of the threats and challenges. he was trying to unite all of the opposition activists i order to stay as a unified front. also, vladimir is known as a successful lobbyist. he started doing that in 2009 after sergei magnitsky died in prison, and after that he was looking at the personal sanctions for russian people involved in that case. since then we know how much this has evolved.

it seems that russian officials have not forgotten. it is also a tiny detail but tells you a lot. the judge who was reading the verdict today was exactly the judge that did the sanctions because of the work of vladimir kara-murza. most of the western countries, he would not be allowed to be on the case in the first place, but in russia, he was the main judge reading the verdict. christian: really interesting guy, kara-murza. he went to america to recover after being poisoned by the russian secret service. everyone else is trying to leave the country, all the local opponents are leaving, but he goes back in probably knowing what he will face. incredible bravery what he has done. >> it is incredible bravery. like you said, he twicsurvived harsh poisoning. he himself, his family believed

this was the work of russian security services. the poison in itself was similar to what had happened to alexi navalny. despite all of that come he kept coming back to russia knowing what he was facing. he said it was his country, and if he does not fight for it, if he does not try to unite the opposition, who will? he did come back to russia after the invasion, after the start of the full scare war in ukraine, exactly at the moment when the majority of opposition figures were leaving the country. christian: the british vernment summoned the russian ambassador today and the foreign office responded, saying britain should stay out, slamming their interference in the case. thank you very much. the french president emmanuel macron's approval ratings have fallen to their lowest level in three years as the opposition to his pension reforms continue to fester. the bill which would have raise the retirement age from 65 to

62, the president said that he understood the level of anger. >> as we now live longer, we needed to do this reform. but has this reform been accepted? frankly, no. despite months of discussions, we could not reach a consensus, and i regret it. christian: let speak to the editor of the dial magazine based in paris. one of the all the veteran centrists who's been around a long time, he said over the weekend, president macron failed to explain the basic reasons for the retirement reform, and that is because pensions are now being paid for with national debt. did the president do any better explaining it tonight? >> what we saw tonight was a president who is trying to move the conversation on from this

pension reform. he acknowledged the divisions about the reform, the fact that it is a deeply unpopular reform, and again stated its necessity, in his view. the trouble with this particular reform is that it is not only disliked by many french people who will have to work longer, who are seeing their lives changed by this new law, but it is also not well-liked by economists who say that it does actually very little to solve the country's pension crisis. macron did not really go into that in this talk tonight. the reform has passed, has passed through a constitutional approval. what he was trying to do instead, it seems, was to move on. instead of going into the reform, he started to cite other areas where he hopes to focus his attention on, whether that

be schools or the hospital system, as if to turn the page. christian: i am sure he would like to do that. i was looking at the polling today from one of the meaning polling agencies. lots of people around the country think he has acted with arrogance and contempt. i don't know what you think, but there seems to be a personal animus to this that we have not seen in france probably since nicholas sarkozy. >> beyond any personal feelings that anyone may have about macron, the truth is this pension did go through in a way that many viewed as undemocratic. when macron was reelected last year, he was elected with the majority of the popular vote but did not get enough seats in the national assembly to comfortably pass through legislation. instead, in cases such as this, he has really rammed through

this legislation using constitutional levers, but that means the legislation can happen without it having broad support from other politicians and from the french public. this leads to many charges among the french people that this is undemocratic, authoritarian. many words have been bandied about. but the truth is, in this particular law, it is the case that the changes will happen and many people would not have voted for them specifically. christian: you said he wanted to move on. the leader of the socialist party said that the left-wing opposition is not ready to move on to other things, and that the may day protests, often a day for protests in paris, that looks like it could be a big event. >> we are entering into about what has been three months of protests, varying in intensity

protests. there were protests on transportation. now, the unions have announced, on may 1, there will be big protests. it is difficult to know how big those will be from this vantage point. but it is true it may be difficult for the president to move on. christian: you said he wants to improve working conditions. what did he mean by that? >> that is a very good question, one that i would also appreciate the answer to. the truth is he was rather vague. he said he was hoping to renew the social contract around work and life, that he had understood through these protests that many french people felt dissatisfied with their work. and he pointed to a few areas in the french economy.

what that means in the long term remains to be seen. christian: nice to see you. thank you very much for being on the program. we are going to go to a short break. we will talk about the situation in sudan, worrying situation in khartoum. lots of people killed today. stay with narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.