and on newsnight at 10.30, we'll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today's big stories. plus — a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. he became a household name when his story was told to millions in a tv drama, and today the real alan bates gave evidence for the first time to the post office horizon inquiry. he condemned the post office as a dead duck, beyond saving. he said the organisation had lied as part of a cover—up that led to hundreds of sub—postmasters being wrongly prosecuted because of a faulty computer system. the post office had, the inquiry heard in a letter mr bates wrote years earlier to the government, acted like thugs in suits. zoe conway reports.

is it any wonder that alan bates is smiling? after 23 years of campaigning, he can now tell the inquiry this is his moment to tell everything he knows about the post office scandal. he was shown a post office scandal. he was shown a post office memo which explained why he had been sacked as a sub—postmaster. was that ever explain to you, that you became unmanageable? not at all. you, you became unmanageable? not at all. you. quote. — you became unmanageable? not at all. you, quote, clearly _ you became unmanageable? not at all. you, quote, clearly struggled _ you became unmanageable? not at all. you, quote, clearly struggled with - you, quote, clearly struggled with accounting and despite copious surmort, — accounting and despite copious support, did not follow instructions. firstly, did you struggle— instructions. firstly, did you struggle with accounting? no, instructions. firstly, did you struggle with accounting? no, not at all. were struggle with accounting? no, not at all- were you — struggle with accounting? no, not at all. were you given _ struggle with accounting? no, not at all. were you given copious - struggle with accounting? no, not at| all. were you given copious support? no! there may _ all. were you given copious support? no! there may have _ all. were you given copious support? no! there may have been _ no! there may have been light-hearted _ no! there may have been light-hearted moments i no! there may have been i light-hearted moments but no! there may have been - light-hearted moments but there no! there may have been _ light-hearted moments but there were light—hearted moments but there were also times he was brutal about the post office. fin post office. an atrocious organisation, _ post office. an atrocious organisation, they - post office. an atrocious organisation, they need| post office. an atrocious _ organisation, they need disbanding, it needs removing.—

it needs removing. finally we will aet it needs removing. finally we will net to it needs removing. finally we will get to know _ it needs removing. finally we will get to know everything _ it needs removing. finally we will get to know everything the - it needs removing. finally we will get to know everything the post | get to know everything the post office _ get to know everything the post office knows. _ get to know everything the post office knows. the _ get to know everything the post office knows. the truth. - get to know everything the post office knows. the truth. the - get to know everything the post. office knows. the truth. the whole truth _ office knows. the truth. the whole truth. �* . , office knows. the truth. the whole truth. ~ . , ., truth. alan bates may have reached national treasure _ truth. alan bates may have reached national treasure status _ truth. alan bates may have reached national treasure status following . national treasure status following the itv drama yet he still is fighting for compensation. he says he has been offered a sixth of what he has been offered a sixth of what he asked for. i he has been offered a sixth of what he asked for-— he asked for. i am trying to fight for everyone's — he asked for. i am trying to fight for everyone's financial - he asked for. i am trying to fight for everyone's financial interest | he asked for. i am trying to fight. for everyone's financial interest in this but i also have to fight for my own as well. and i have no doubt that there is a bit of vindictiveness coming in from the department and the post office on this. .,, department and the post office on this. ' . . . this. post office chief executive nick reed was _ this. post office chief executive nick reed was at _ this. post office chief executive nick reed was at the _ this. post office chief executive nick reed was at the inquiry . this. post office chief executive - nick reed was at the inquiry and he says he thinks the financial redress scheme has been slow and says he wants to accelerate the process but he said he did not want to comment on alan bates's case. you could get into a room with him right here,

right now, get his compensation sorted out, couldn't you? it’s right now, get his compensation sorted out, couldn't you? it's not for me, sorted out, couldn't you? it's not for me. we _ sorted out, couldn't you? it's not for me, we have _ sorted out, couldn't you? it's not for me, we have an _ sorted out, couldn't you? it's not for me, we have an independentl for me, we have an independent panel... for me, we have an independent anel... �* ,, for me, we have an independent anel... �* i. _, for me, we have an independent anelm �* ., panel... but you could get it done? i have spoken _ panel... but you could get it done? i have spoken to _ panel... but you could get it done? i have spoken to alan _ panel... but you could get it done? i have spoken to alan bates - panel... but you could get it done? i have spoken to alan bates in - panel... but you could get it done? i i have spoken to alan bates in 2019 when we did that negotiation, he is an extremely decent man and of course it's very important we get the right level of compensation for him. �* . , . the right level of compensation for him. ~ . , ., . ., , him. alan bates made it clear he is determined — him. alan bates made it clear he is determined to _ him. alan bates made it clear he is determined to seek— him. alan bates made it clear he is determined to seek criminal - determined to seek criminal prosecutions happen. 1 determined to seek criminal prosecutions happen. i think we will see some, whether— prosecutions happen. i think we will see some, whether it _ prosecutions happen. i think we will see some, whether it is _ prosecutions happen. i think we will see some, whether it is undertaken | see some, whether it is undertaken by the authorities themselves or whether we as a group have to bring some if the authorities fail us once again, we'll have to wait and see. so his work is not yet done. but the smile on his face said it all. he is a man who feels vindicated. the inquiry which has taken three years is now in its final stages and over the next couple of months it will hear from some of the biggest figures in this whole story. at the end of may it will take evidence

from the former chief executive paul of ennals for the first time and the inquiry hopes that it will produce its final report at the beginning of next year —— paul "we're not made to sit in a rocking chair and knit." the words of one of a group of women from switzerland, mostly in their 70s, who've won a landmark climate case brought before the european court of human rights. the judges ruled that switzerland's efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate. the judgment could influence the law across europe, including the uk. with more, here'sjustin rowlatt. the swiss women arrived at the european court ready to fight... there has been a violation of article 8 of the convention. ..and they won, persuading the judges that switzerland's failure to do enough to cut planet—warming emissions could help create heatwaves that could threaten the lives of older people. i am so happy we could

contribute to the future, to a better future for our children. today's ruling is not open to challenge. experts say it sets an important precedent and will support the legal case for climate action in european countries, including the uk. the decision comes as new figures show this march was 1.68 degrees celsius above preindustrial levels and the hottest march on record globally. sea surface temperatures were even more dramatic, at 21.07 celsius in march, the highest ever recorded at any time. and just look at the effect that is having on some coral reefs. this is the actual coral animal itself. coral bleaches — turns white — when it is stressed by heat and can die as a result. a mass bleaching event has already begun in the southern hemisphere and is likely to effect coral reefs worldwide. but there are efforts to address the issue, and in some unexpected places.

like the university of derby. scientists here persuaded coral to spawn in the laboratory, for the first time, they say. now, they are working on a world—leading effort to develop heat resistant corals. this isjust small scale behind us and just sort of proof of concept. and it is really about generating the hundreds of thousands of corals which are thermally tolerant, and pushing those corals back out on to the reef in a restoration programme. the good news is, the extreme heat should begin to ease back in coming months. a natural weather event known as el nino has helped push up global temperatures in the last ten months. this is how it works. normally the trade winds blow from east to west across the tropical pacific, sending warm surface water to asia, and drawing up deeper, cooler water, here on the coast of south america.

with el nino, the winds weaken, or reverse, driving the warm water to the coast of south america and delivering extra heat to the atmosphere. the current el nino began injune and has onlyjust begin to weaken. if global temperatures don't begin to fall — and the current high sea temperatures suggest they might not — then some scientists fear we could have entered a new phase of more rapid climate change. justin rowlatt, bbc news. gale force winds and heavy rain have caused flooding and travel disruption in large parts of the uk. more than a hundred people had to be rescued overnight in the south of england, with a major incident declared in west sussex, where the river arun burst its banks. there are still flood warnings in place for parts of england, scotland and wales. the family of a 27—year—old woman, stabbed to death while pushing her baby in a pram in bradford, has told the bbc she was a caring,

polite and humble person, and her mother hasn't stopped crying since she died. kulsuma akter was attacked last saturday. police are questioning a 25—year—old man, habibur masum, on suspicion of murder, after a nationwide manhunt. danny savage reports from bradford. flowers left in memory of kulsuma akter, the 27—year—old stabbed to death in bradford at the weekend. yes, i did ask a few questions. her family don't want to release a picture of her, but they have spoken exclusively to the bbc. she was a very caring, humble, she had good personality, she used to make people laugh. she was a wonderful lady. kulsuma was the youngest of five siblings. her mother lives in bangladesh, herfather in saudi arabia. our mum in bangladesh, she is constantly crying. i spoke to her yesterday. she never stopped crying, all the time mentioning her name.

the man police were hunting in connection with the attack was arrested early this morning, 175 miles away, in aylesbury. habibur masum will be questioned by west yorkshire police. we now know habibur masum was bailed by magistrates last november, after being charged with assaulting and threatening to kill kulsuma akter — offences he denied. it is also understood that part of those bail conditions were that he must not contact her. at the scene, the local mp came to visit and leave flowers. she was accompanied by gio khan, who tried to help kulsuma akter in the moments after the attack. he has done his best and i am grateful for him. she has spoken many times about violence against women. there is an issue, isn't there, there is a culture of it is ok to kill a woman, hit a woman. that is not ok, and we need

to empower women, but we also need to make sure that message that you know, we have lost a 27—year—old here, in broad daylight. that isjust not ok. that is what we need to be concentrating on right now. the man whose image has been everywhere for the past few days is now in custody, as this investigation continues. danny savage, bbc news, bradford. the mp who admitted sharing other mps' personal phone numbers with someone on a dating app has "voluntarily" given up the conservative whip. william wragg will now sit as an independent mp in the house of commons. last week, he told the times he had been targeted by a suspected westminster honeytrap, and apologised. the foreign secretary has confirmed that the uk will continue selling weapons to israel, after receiving legal advice. there's been pressure on leaders on both sides of the atlantic to review arms exports to israel. david cameron made the remarks at a press conference in washington with his american counterpart antony blinken, where he also said the uk continues to have grave

concerns about getting enough humanitarian aid into gaza. let's get more now with gary o'donoghue, who's in washington for us. gary, the situation in gaza was clearly top of the agenda for both the uk and us?— clearly top of the agenda for both the uk and us? ., ., .., the uk and us? david cameron came here heping — the uk and us? david cameron came here heping to _ the uk and us? david cameron came here hoping to make _ the uk and us? david cameron came here hoping to make the _ the uk and us? david cameron came here hoping to make the case - here hoping to make the case for weapons transfers to ukraine because thatis weapons transfers to ukraine because that is blocked in congress at the moment and instead he has made headlines about weapons transfers to israel, saying the uk would continue to approve those export licences on the basis of the legal advice he and rishi sunak�*s government has had in the last few weeks. he said he was not prepared to publish that legal advice. labour have said he should publish a summary of it. his answer to that is he only thinks that should happen when british forces are being sent into battle, into conflict, as happened during the

attacks on those who are in yemen andindeedin attacks on those who are in yemen and indeed in libya when he was prime minister ten years ago. however he will spend another day here talking to lawmakers about various subjects and when he returns to london at the end of the week i think there will be increasing pressure on him to come more clean, if you like, with that summary of legal advice and for people to be told exactly what the government has been told by its lawyers on the legality and whether or not israel is in breach of international human rights law and britain's obligations under it. , ., ~ rights law and britain's obligations under it. , . ~' the nobel prize—winning physicist peter higgs has died at the age of 94. known as the father of the god particle, he gave his name to the higgs boson, which helped explain how the universe has mass, and thus solved one of the greatest puzzles in physics. pallab ghosh looks back on his remarkable life. we now know that the cosmos is held together because of a particle called the higgs boson.

it was an idea developed by peter higgs more than 60 years ago. it was seen as far—fetched by his fellow scientists back then. but fast—forward to 2012. applauded by the world's physicists and the rest of us, too, for transforming our understanding of how the universe works. i've never been in a scientific meeting like that before because people got up and cheered and stamped. i regarded it as cheers for the home team, and that was what it was really about. maybe they were cheering me too, but that was a minor issue. after decades of searching, by smashing the insides of atoms together, researchers at the large hadron collider at cern finally discovered the higgs particle. and today, leading scientists who worked at cern sent their tributes to the man

as well as his research. professor brian cox said... professor fabiola gianotti, the head of cern, said... and someone who explained physics in a simple yet profound way. his achievements won him the nobel prize in 2013. a former neighbour congratulated me on the news and i said, oh, what news? and so she told me that her daughter had phoned from london to alert her to the fact that i had got this prize. peter higgs's theory is the bedrock of modern physics and the discovery of his particle is regarded as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 21st century.

the physicist peter higgs, who's died at the age of 94. in the first case of its kind, two parents from michigan have been held responsible for a school shooting carried out by their child. james and jennifer crumbley have been sentenced to 10 to 15 years each over a deadly gun attack by their son which left four students dead. let's speak now to our north america correspondent, john sudworth. these are the first parents in the us to be found guilty in this way, and it sets quite a precedent. well, ethan crumbley was just 15 years old when he was given the semiautomatic handgun as an early christmas present. he put it in his backpack, took it to school and carried out the mass shooting that claimed the lives of four students. suchis claimed the lives of four students. such is the epidemic of gun violence in this country that his sentencing last year, to life imprisonment

without parole, may have been just another footnote except for this unique development the charging of both his parents with involuntary manslaughter. they were convicted in two separate trials in the last few months. gun control campaigners will be hoping this very stringent sentence, a minimum of ten years for each parent to be served, will send a message that will resonate in every home in america where guns are kept within reach of children. we should say some legal experts suggest that possibility could be overstated and there are particular circumstances in this case, the negligence being alleged was so severe, the parents' inability to secure the duns, their failure to heed their son rocco own warnings about his declining mental health, but nonetheless there are those who fear there is a failure of political action here and they will take some comfort from today. labour says it plans to crack down on tax avoiders

to fund its commitments on schools and the nhs. the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, says the proposals would help raise an extra £5 billion a year. it comes after the government adopted labour's plan to earn extra tax revenue by scrapping the so—called "non—dom" tax status, which then left a hole in labour's spending commitments. non—doms don't pay tax here on money they earn overseas. here's nick eardley. rachel reeves wants to be chancellor by the end of the year. herjob is to make labour's plans add up. i'm rachel. but after the government nicked one of her key pledges, how can she fund promises to hospitals like this one in manchester? today, an attempted answer. close loopholes to make non—doms pay even more and crackdown on tax avoidance from everyone else. it's not rocket science here. it's about properly resourcing hmrc, making sure more cases are investigated. if it was that easy, someone would have done it before. at the moment there is a £36 billion gap between the tax that is owed and the tax

that is actually collected. it was higher under labour. well, it has gone up by 5 billion in just one year, and the head of the national audit office says that he's confident that 6 billion of that can be recovered. but clawing back tax isn't always easy, so here is how labour say their new plan would work. by closing some of the loopholes on the amount of tax that non—doms pay, they think they will raise this — 2.6 billion by the end of the next parliament. then, by giving hmrc more money and cracking down on tax that should be paid, but isn't, they think they would raise this — 5 billion a year within the next few years. there is a question of ambition here, about how much labour wants to do if it wins power, and what we are hearing is here is a few billion. small change in big government terms, is that it? £5 billion is not small change. it is in terms of government spending. well, £5 billion will mean that we can have two million additional appointments in the nhs,

so to clear the... let me tell you about the ambition because it is huge. at the moment there are more than seven million on nhs waiting lists. this will mean that every year an additional two million appointments can take place. it means for people who can't get a dentist on the nhs, 700,000 additional appointments, and for every primary school child, a free breakfast club. conservative ministers say they are working hard to bring down tax avoidance. we've cut the amount of that tax gap which was over 7% under the last labour government, to under 5% today, through the measures we have already taken. obviously we can always go further and i welcome measures to do that. there will be a lot more debate on spending in the next few months. the question for voters, do plans add up and do they go far enough? nick eardley, bbc news. as we heard there, labour hopes to find an extra £5 billion a year by the end of the next parliament by closing the so—called tax gap. simonjack explains what that is and how labour hopes to do it.

the so—called tax gap is the difference between what the economy should be generating in tax revenue and what actually gets collected. now, currently, its estimated to be around £36 billion a year. sounds like a huge number but, as a share of the uk economy, it's actually quite small and it's been shrinking over the last 16 years. as you can see here, it'sjust1.5% of gdp. that's much lower than in the us, canada, australia and italy. let's take a closer look. it's a hard thing to tackle. in 2010, the coalition government spent nearly a billion pounds to try and shrink it and, as you can see, it didn't really work. in fact, it started to edge up until 2013, when there was a big crackdown on vat fraud and underpayment, which did work, along with the decline of cash as a means of payment also helping. so who is still underpaying? this may be a surprise. small businesses account for more of the shortfall than individuals, criminals, medium and largerfirms combined, partly, say labour,

because hmrc is under—resourced and unresponsive, and labour promise more people and better technology. closing the tax gap by much has proved historically difficult and a further clampdown on non—doms has amplified warnings that the globally mobile super—rich will flee to switzerland, dubai or even italy. now, it may be possible to raise an extra few billion a year in five years' time but, as nick put to rachel reeves, the sums involved are just a fraction of the current planned spending cuts to many departments that labour have said they will not reverse. football now, and a thrilling night of champions league action which saw ten goals as arsenal took on bayern munich and manchester city met real madrid. security had been increased at the games after a media output supporting islamic state group had published threats online against the quarter—final venues. joe wilson was watching. real madrid think like european champions even when they are

playing against them. sent in there by bernardo silva! manchester city free kick second minute, 1—0. shocked? well, give it time. it is camavinga who is urged to shoot... real�*s response was rapid. theirfirst goal came after a big deflection, goalkeeper helpless. their second goal was a cute finish and a small deflection. big problem. this is not what city do. this is what they do. phil foden only needs an angle, a moment, stunning. well, watch out for gvardiol. a defender�*s finish. that put city ahead, briefly. keep count. best finish of the lot? 3-3. what will they have left for the second leg? here at arsenal, the evening began with real excitement, the club's return to this stage of the champions league. oh, and the return of a familiar north londoner. harry kane, formerly tottenham, now bayern munich, always ready.

a perfect start for arsenal looked like this, bukayo saka with a perfect finish. but bayern soon equalised and then, when the referee said penalty, guess who stepped up. harry kane from there? what did you expect? in european football still, no one does it better. but this tie is alive. arsenal, through trossard, made it 2—2, final score, until it all resumes next week. joe wilson, bbc news. meanwhile, in the women's euros, all four home nations secured a win today, taking them closer to qualifying for 2025, including defending champions england who beat the republic of ireland 2—0 in dublin. jo currie joins us now from there. a very exciting night of football. absolutely. it was a different —looking england side who stepped out in dublin, led for the first time in a year by capita leah williamson while goalkeeper mary

earps was dropped to the bench. any nerves were settled early after lauren james nerves were settled early after laurenjames produced a cool finish to put her side ahead that england were awarded a penalty for handball, centre back alex greenwood stepping up centre back alex greenwood stepping up to score from the spot and again the game should really have been out of sight by half—time after england got a second penalty in the first half, again for handball, but this time alex greenwood hit the post. after the break, in front of the home crowd of 30,000, it was ireland who applied the pressure but the lionesses doing just enough to hang on for a 2—0 victory at the third or second in the group behind france after their victory tonight over sweden. wales continued their fantastic form under ian williamson, cruising to a 670 victory in kosovo. desperate 6—0 victory. northern ireland beat bosnia and herzegovina,

eventually going on to claim a 3—1 victory put up at hampton plot, scotland, a brilliant cross from erin cuthbert, leading her team to a 1-0 erin cuthbert, leading her team to a 1—0 victory over slovakia. i want to not all round, really. how many times have you cursed the fact that you couldn't speak another language — when you're on holiday or trying to talk to colleagues abroad, perhaps? well, no longer. thanks to ai, conversing in another language, or as many languages as you like, has just become a doddle. here's james clayton. the world is more connected than ever. conversations with anyone, anywhere, are just a click away. there's just one problem — we don't all speak the same language. i really, really wish that i could, but unfortunately i can't speak any other languages fluently other than english.

untranslated what if i could speak polish? thanks to new ai apps, though, i can give at least the impression of being able to speak pretty much any language. this one is called heygen. so i'm going to speak like this. i do a quick video of myself, upload it onto heygen and wait. and then, out pops a video of me, speaking the language that i chose, in this case spanish. and here's the really cool bit — when omar, the producer on this piece, got into the shot, it detected his voice was different to mine and translated his voice too. you are in shot, my friend. i've actually managed to fool some friends using this. it really is impressive.

in london, one company called synthesia is using this kind of tech to translate ai—generated corporate videos into any language. many of these companies, of course, have divisions all over the world whom they need to, it's a sales force maybe that they need to train, right. and with this tool, they can create the base material in english, they can then translate it into different localities. but the company's founder says the tech has other benefits, too. we're seeing that with ngos all over the world where they can produce video content instead of written content for people who may have a difficult time reading and it will do it in local languages. so just this kind of dissemination of information in people's native language via video and audio, it's very, very powerful. as it gets easier and easier to change the words that come out of our mouths, there's also a worry that this kind of technology could increase the amount of misinformation on the internet. but when it comes to translating educational videos or sending a message to someone

in their own language... untranslated james clayton, bbc news.