the met police agree an independent police force will review the stephen lawrence murder investigation, which it bungled when he was killed 31 years ago. the story of baby sabreen, born against the odds, after a missile strike in gaza. i want to talk to my friends and my family. and a student's successful search for a voice which really and on newsnight at 10:30pm... 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.

it's a policy he's made central to his premiership, and now rishi sunak says the latest version of his rwanda policy will pass parliament tonight — in his words, "no ifs, no buts, these flights are going to rwanda". he promised they would leave by the summer. the safety of rwanda bill, which is designed to deter people crossing the channel in small boats, is currently going back and forth between the commons and the lords, in a parliamentary procedure known as "ping pong". there's been months of deadlock and, tonight, the lords sent the bill back to mps once again. where it is now being debated. official figures show the backlog of people waiting to be removed from the uk rose from more than 1,700 injuly tojust under 52,000 a week ago. let's go to westminster and get the latest from our political editor, chris mason. chris. hello, it is one of those nights here where i feel a little like an umpire. 0ne nights here where i feel a little like an umpire. one minute, i am looking down there at the house of commons. the next minute, down there

at the house of lords. as the two chambers wrestle with this idea that the government has been looking to turn into law for more than two years. a little earlier, there were two so—called amendments from the house of lords, two things are house of lords didn't really like about the government's plan. they wanted to add an hour idea of having independent monitoring that rwanda is a safe country —— add an idea. and a former labour defence secretary wanted a change to ensure people who have served the uk and abroad, for instance, in afghanistan for the military, would be exempt from being sent to rwanda. now, that amendment has been withdrawn this evening. there is a sufficient recognition from labour and others that they do buy what the government is saying in terms of being reassuring. but things are not over yet. it is back in the house of commons right now. this trundles on into the night. so the day is not yet over, but this is the story of

the day so far. rwanda, is this country in east africa at least part of the solution to the huge pressures of international migration? the government thinks so, but it's been one heck of a journey to try to get asylum seekers sent there. no ifs, no buts, these flights are going to rwanda. enough is enough. no more prevarication. no more delay. parliament will sit there tonight and vote, no matter how late it goes. and, he said, once their idea is law, they are ready. we've increased detention spaces to 2200. to quickly process claims, we've got 200 trained, dedicated caseworkers ready and waiting. to deal with any legal cases quickly and decisively, the judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms. but hang on, there are some parliamentary shenanigans first. when a planned new law is very

nearly there here at westminster, but there is a disagreement between the house of commons and the house of lords, we enter something known here as ping—pong, when the idea pings and pongs between the commons and the lords — potentially, over and over again until they agree. and that is what's happening tonight. thank you. first up, then, the house of commons. ministers have been deliberately stringing this out for two reasons. firstly, because they thought that they could make some grubby political capital from the delay. and secondly, because they've been scrambling to get a flight organised and all the other logistics that are not in place. and it's notjust labour who are critical. i wish indeed that the bill had never been brought to this house in the first place, and that we wouldn't have to debate this bill. i wish that it had never seen the light of day. outrage from my constituents also goes to the knowledge that - what could be done with the money that has been spent on this - nonsense scheme so far.

but the government has a majority in the commons. the ayes have it. it's rejecting opposition here, and from those changing the plans in the house of lords... order. ..which means it's been back in the lords tonight, and look at this. content, 240. not content, 211. peers have voted again for independent monitoring of whether rwanda is a safe country, but many are accepting they're reaching the end of the road. i am very disappointed that by the end of tonight, this bill will pass. i think it's an awful bill. i think it's the worst bill i've seen in my 38 years in one or other house of parliament. and so, it looks like ping—pong will soon be done, and then comes probably the biggest question of them all. can you be certain that by the time of the general election, you'll be able to prove that this

policy is a deterrent? this isn'tjust about one flight, right? yeah, could you rush and get one flight off? maybe you could, but that's not the priority here. the priority is being able to deliver a regular rhythm, a drumbeat of multiple flights a month over the summer and beyond, because that's how you build a systematic deterrent and that's how you will stop the boats. that is the ultimate test of success for this policy. does it put people off getting in small boats and crossing the channel? chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. in rwanda, officials insist that they are ready and waiting to receive asylum seekers from the uk. but public opinion there is mixed. from the capital, kigali, our africa correspondent barbara plett usher sent this report. it's here the migrants will land — hope hostel, long poised for this moment. bedrooms laid out with meticulous care.

attention to the needs of guests who've so far failed to arrive. workers in surreal performance of their daily tasks. the hostel can house 100 of those britain plans to send to apply for asylum here. they could also try to go to other countries, but not back to the uk. if you get the news today... yes. ..you would be able to accept people tomorrow? not only tomorrow, even now. rwanda is a beautiful country, nestled in the hills of east africa. the streets are tidy, safe from crime. there is order. rwanda works — that's the motto. some here welcomed the idea of the new migrants. i think it will be good economically for the nation, considering that any... there is no, nothing that is better than human capital. this man didn't want to identify himself, because he's against the deal.

where are you going to find the jobs for these people? i we ourselves are, like, - we've graduated, but we've not yet secured jobs. we are out there searching forjobs. the culture of fear runs deep here. there are allegations that dissent is suppressed. regions of great britain and northern ireland... kigali strongly denies this, and its parliament passed a law to address the concerns of britain's supreme court, to strengthen protections for asylum seekers. if they want to hold a protest, can they do it? our national laws are very clear about the right to protest. it is protected, under specific circumstances. and whilst... and if they do wish to protest peacefully, within the confines of the law, they are welcome to. rwanda has welcomed other migrants — africans who were stuck in libya, trying to get to europe. this is a temporary haven for them,

while they sort out next steps. they could choose to settle in rwanda — none have. they want opportunities elsewhere. it's all about seeking a better future for those here and those coming. will rwanda be a detour, a dead end or a new home? barbara plett usher, bbc news, kigali. so rwanda waits, but here, we return to events in westminster. and, chris, what sort of wait can we expect for this bill to go through tonight? well, we are waiting as well. they say patients is a virtue, don't they? goodjob say patients is a virtue, don't they? good job on a night like this. the debate is back and weigh down the corridor in the house of commons. they will then vote to overturn that one remaining amendment attached by the house of lords and then the house of lords has to decide and some senior peers are doing that deciding now that they press ahead and try and amend

it again. either way, they press ahead and try and amend it again. eitherway, it they press ahead and try and amend it again. either way, it is going to take a while. i tell you what, i will pop back in ten or 15 minutes with an update and see where we are at about half past. we with an update and see where we are at about half past.— at about half past. we will talk to ou then. at about half past. we will talk to you then. thank— at about half past. we will talk to you then. thank you _ at about half past. we will talk to you then. thank you very - at about half past. we will talk to you then. thank you very much, l you then. thank you very much, chris. the former presenter of this programme huw edwards has resigned from the bbc, saying he was leaving on the basis of medical advice from his doctors. the bbc has confirmed that he has not received a pay—off as part of his departure. he worked at the bbc for a0 years. the highest profile and highest paid news presenter, who also fronted major national events. most recently, the king's coronation. but he has been off air since last july, after newpaper reports claimed after newspaper reports claimed a bbc presenter had paid a young person for sexually explicit images. our culture editor katie razzall reports. that's all from bbc news at ten here in edinburgh... this was the last time huw edwards appeared on air, back in july last year. he'd been at the helm of the bbc�*s flagship news at ten

for more than two decades. good evening. it's been a day of turmoil on the world's money markets. we're live in washington, as donald trump celebrates a stunning victory over hillary clinton. tonight at ten, one of the biggest military operations of the past 20 years... today, the presenter resigned and left the bbc, nine months after allegations about his private life made headlines. the bbc said: "after a0 years of service, huw has explained that his decision was made on the basis of medical advice from his doctors. the bbc has accepted his resignation, which it believes will allow all parties to move forward." the moment of crowning has arrived. huw edwards was more than just a regular presenter. he's been the face of the bbc through some of the nation's landmark moments. for the fourth time in the space of five years. he presented elections... and we're live in downing street, where borisjohnson... ..and held our hands through royal and state occasions, even announcing the death of queen elizabeth. the palace has just issued this statement. but a newspaper headline

changed everything. last summer, the sun published a series of articles alleging that an unnamed bbc presenter had paid a young person to send what the paper described as "sordid images". within days, lawyers representing that person said it was totally wrong and there was no truth in it. but speculation about who the unnamed bbc presenter was ended when huw edwards' wife issued a statement revealing his name. she said he was suffering "severe mental health issues". police said there was no evidence anything illegal had taken place. but huw edwards remained suspended, and the bbc said its internal investigation into the presenter�*s behaviour would continue. there are 650 mps... resolving the issue of whether he would return to screen has taken months, during which, it's believed huw edwards — the bbc�*s highest paid news presenter — continued to receive his salary, around £4a0,000 a year. welcome to windsor

for this celebration... today, his ito—year career at the bbc is over. from reporting on politics for bbc wales to his prestigious role bringing the news to the nation, this is now the end of an era. coming up on newsnight, that's on bbc two right now. and katie is here. katie, where does this leave us now? well, the bbc statement talked about all parties moving forward, being able to move forward. and for the bbc, that means it can now announce who will front the election programme that is obviously coming up programme that is obviously coming up soon. who is going to be the lead presenter on this programme. all that had been on hold and now that waiting is over. i mentioned an internal review that i understood was going into the behaviour of huw edwards. it was confidential, the bbc always said this was a private hr matter. but my sense is that process certainly in the sense of huw edwards being an employee and part of this hr process, that is likely now at an end. the sun

tonight has a new interview in its paper with the parents who made the original allegations, they are demanding answers and they say they are worried with huw edwards resigning, they are not going to get those answers. it is worth saying their relative who the sun always refers to ask the young person, that person is in their early 20s, they are an adult and they have always denied the truth of the story and the claims. i am not expecting anything more from the bbc. in the very short three and a half line statement they put out early this afternoon, they said it would be inappropriate to say any more. katie, thank you. katie razzall. the metropolitan police have agreed that an independent police force will review the stephen lawrence murder investigation. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed to death in a racist attack in south london — 31 years ago today. the force has apologised to stephen's mother, baroness doreen lawrence, for failing to answer questions raised by a bbc investigation into his killing, in which our correspondent, daniel de simone, named matthew white as the sixth suspect in the case.

here's daniel's latest report. tonight, scotland yard says it will ask an independent police force to review the stephen lawrence murder investigation. the 18—year—old was stabbed to death in a racist attack 31 years ago this evening at a south london bus stop. two of the original five prime suspects were convicted almost 20 years after the murder, but the met�*s disastrous handling of the case means no one else has been brought to justice. last year, the bbc publicly identified a sixth suspect, matthew white, who died in 2021, and revealed multiple failures by the met to properly investigate him. stephen's mother, baroness doreen lawrence, today told the bbc that the met commissioner, sir mark rowley should reopen the murder investigation, which closed four years ago. there's two lines of inquiries for them to follow up on. there's still three suspects out there, and i'm sure there's

witnesses that probably could help them if they're interested. so i think that's what i'd like to see him do, is to instruct his team to follow up on those information, whatever is out there. because if you don't go and look, you're never going to find anything. so would you like to see the investigation reopened? definitely so. our investigation showed not everything possible was done on matthew white before the met stopped investigating the murder. and tonight, the met confirmed it will ask a new police force to review the case and see if it can spot chances to bring the living suspects to justice. the met said, "recognising the concerns held by baroness lawrence and the significance of this investigation, we will be asking an outside force to review our approach". the day started with the met commissioner, sir mark rowley, apologising to baroness lawrence for a failure to provide promised answers to her about the six suspect,

saying, "on top of the failures over the decades, it was totally u na cce pta ble". she says she won't settle for the met�*s failures. i don't think any mother would want to do that and i'm no different. i think all mothers are one to make sure that they're there to support their child if something happened, is to hold those account accountable for what happened to that person. from the bbc... three prime suspects, including brothers neil and jamie acourt, remain free. they've always denied murder. where you there when stephen lawrence was attacked? she says the outstanding suspects are cheating justice. they're living their lives. they don't have to worry because the police have no intention of following up and seeking to investigate them, and they continue to get away with murder. daniel is with me. the stephen lawrence murder was an era—defining case, which the met completely bungled. is this humiliating for them to have

another force now involved? it is very humiliating, it isn't something they wanted to do. we have been investigating the murder, exposed various failings particularly relating to matthew white. there are still leads available, that is what baroness doreen lawrence feels, that's what she said to date and then the met this evening had to announce this. this is a vast case, there have been so many reviews, probably the met�*s best known investigation. what will happen now is the way this will work is yet to be set out. the family will not settle for a force they are not happy reviewing it. how big it is, what happens but ultimately this could lead to the case being reopened if this new force spots ways to bring the living suspects to justice. ways to bring the living suspects to 'ustice. . ~' , ., last night, we brought you the story of a baby girl in gaza

who was delivered by caesarean after her mother was killed in an israeli airstrike on saturday night in rafah. well, doctors have saved sabreen al—sakani. her mother, father and three—year—old sister were killed. the health ministry in gaza, run by hamas, says at least two—thirds of those killed since the war began are women and children. our special correspondent fergal keane reports now on the story of baby sabreen. out of this hell, a new life was struggling to be born. the bomb israel dropped here would kill herfather, sister and mother. doctors had only minutes to rescue the baby from her dying mother's womb. tapping to stimulate breathing. air pumped into tiny lungs. the fight to live, the strongest

instinct at any age. they've called her sabreen, after her mother. "the baby is under medical care," says dr mohammed salama. "she'll stay here for three to four weeks in the nursery and after that, we'll see about her leaving." baby sabreen al—sakani's parents and younger sister lay among the other dead of the air strike. her uncle, riam, a survivor in a broken family. translation: | swear| to god, this is enough. this is enough. we are tired. this was the family before the war. mother sabreen, father shukri and sister malak, who told her parents she looked forward to having a baby sister.

surrounded by relatives in mourning, three—year—old malak was buried with her parents near the hospital. one of 16 children killed by israeli air strikes in rafah at the weekend. the family lived here in rafah. israel says its operations targeted terrorist compounds and armed individuals. as so often in this conflict, civilians appear to have borne the brunt of the suffering. today the bbc met sabreen's maternal grandmother, mirvat, in the refugee tent where she now lives. mirvat speaks to her dead daughter.

sabreen's baby is in a stable condition. but rafah may soon be invaded by israel. who knows what will happen in the life of this little survivor. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. donald trump has returned to court in new york to hear the opening statements in his criminal trial over the alleged cover up of a hush money payment to the porn star stormy daniels. prosecutors told the jury the case was about a criminal conspiracy and a cover up. but the defence said donald trump was not personally involved. from new york, sarah smith reports. mr trump, how are you feeling, sir? how is he feeling? uncharacteristically nervous, you would imagine, as he makes his way to the opening day of his criminal trial. first, his usual claims that this is a politically motivated witch hunt orchestrated by president biden. these are all biden trials.

this is done as election interference. everybody knows it. i'm here instead of being able to be in pennsylvania and georgia and lots of other places campaigning, and it's very unfair. inside the court, we see a man accustomed to being in charge now not in control. forced to sit and listen to the prosecution's allegations, whether he likes it or not, with the jury carefully watching his reactions. the story of the porn star stormy daniels is central to the case. the prosecution said that paying her $130,000 in hush money was election fraud, pure and simple, orchestrated by donald trump. the court will hear evidence from trump's former fixer, now sworn enemy, michael cohen. he'll describe making that payment on mr trump's instructions. the defense will brand him an admitted liar and convicted criminal, who's now obsessed with his former boss. mr cohen was earlier involved in paying off a playboy model,

karen mcdougal, who also said she'd had an affair with donald trump. he even recorded a conversation with mr trump about that deal, which the prosecution will use to show a pattern of behaviour. it will be a dramatic moment when michael cohen gives evidence as the prosecution's star witness, and there may be some rather more salacious testimony as well. donald trump's lawyers believe stormy daniels herself will be called to the stand. the first witness was david pecker, from the national enquirer magazine, who the prosecution claim conspired with donald trump to stop harmful stories being published that could damage his presidential campaign. donald trump will be back in court tomorrow in a case that's expected to last around six weeks. sarah smith, bbc news, new york. lucy letby, the nurse found guilty of the murder and attempted murder of babies in her care, is applying for permission to appeal against her convictions. the 34—year—old was told last year she'd spend the rest of her life injail, after she was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill a further six

at the countess of chester hospital between 2015 and 2016. her application is being considered by a panel ofjudges at the court of appeal in london. two men have been charged with spying for china after an investigation by counter—terrorism officers. the metropolitan police said christopher berry from oxfordshire and christopher cash from east london are both accused under the official secrets act. our security correspondent gordon corera is with me. what more do we know about this? the two men what more do we know about this? tie: two men charged under section one of the 1911 official secrets act, which means they are charged with either obtaining or passing documents or information which could be useful to an enemy in the rather archaic language of that 1911 act, but the police are making clear that refers to china. they are saying these are extremely serious allegations and this was also a complex

investigation. it is notable that they were arrested more than a year ago. news of that only first emerged six months later, last september. that is when we heard more about christopher cash and it turned out he was a researcher in the house of parliament, working particularly for something called the china research group set up by conservative mps to inform the debate about china. at the time he made clear that he was innocentin the time he made clear that he was innocent in a statement through his lawyers and today the chinese embassy have said the allegations are malicious slander but the two men will appear at westminster magistrates on friday.— men will appear at westminster magistrates on friday. a student who has cerebral palsy and relies on a communication device to speak has found a new voice after a two—year search. daniel challis was fed up with sounding like a robot and decided to search for someone from his local area — walsall — to record a spoken vocabulary for him. he was overwhelmed by the response. he's been talking with our midlands correspondent navtej johal. when i chose my voice,

i knew what voice i liked. dan will happily admit that he loves the sound of his own voice. but you can't blame him, especially as it's not technically his own voice. dan was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was a toddler and has never been able to speak in his own voice. since he was nine years old, he's used a tablet—like device to communicate, which he controls with his eyes and sounds like this... robotic: this is my old voice. it's a robot voice. but two years ago, he set out on a mission to replace the robotic drawl and find someone with a walsall accent, like his family, whose voice he could use as his own. i wanted my voice because i want to talk to my friends in my family's accent. a social media and bbc local radio appeal led him to eli from walsall. the shewolf had developed a ferocious temper. with the help of dan's specialist college, where he also lives, eli recorded 3,500 words

from new york where he is studying drama. i think it sounds more i like us now, doesn't it? and this was the moment his mum heard her son's new voice for the first time. emotional. when his dad heard him l as well, he was like, "oh, he sounds like me now!" i was going to say, that's his voice there. that's him in the background, yeah. does he ever stop talking now? no. you won't ever get him quiet now! and dan had a special message for the person who gave him his voice. i feel happy and i feel that it is going to improve my confidence. i love my new voice. thank you, eli. aww! that's so lovely. that's amazing. dan says the unusual search has meant he has now found his voice and his identity. navteonhal, bbc news.

and as promised back to westminster now for a final thought from chris mason on the safety in rwanda bill as the parliamentary ping pong continues. so it does. mps in the house of commons are voting now to overturn the amendment attached by the house of lords earlier this evening. we expect the result in the next five minutes. they will reject that lords amendment. then it will be back to the house of lords and they have to decide whether or not they are willing to pursue it any further. as the night gets late, and they feel they've made their point, the expectation is that the rwanda bill will become law in the coming hours. the bigger challenge than for the government, actually making it happen and getting migrants to rwanda.