explaining why he allowed the uk to take part in military action in yemen without first holding a commons debate. rishi sunak has faced criticism for not allowing mps to hold a discussion before britainjoined the us in bombing raids on houthi rebels who have been targeting commercial shipping in the red sea. our political correspondent leila nathoo has the story. rishi sunak has made his case that joining us air strikes on houthi targets in yemen on thursday night was an act of self defence to protect global shipping, that britain could not stand by while fighters defied warnings to stop their attacks on commercial vessels in the red sea, like this one they filmed. there has been broad political support for this limited action, but today mps will get their first chance to question the prime minister about his decision and what happens next. he ll have to address concerns about the escalation of tensions in the region, about the uk being drawn into a longer military campaign a
counter offensive. the comments come after attacks on dnipro and the wagner group claiming it fully captured the city of bakhmut. the battle there for control has been the longest of the war. the head of russia s wagner mercenary group has announced that its forces have started withdrawing from the ukrainian city. ukraine denies this. now, one of the country s most senior security officials says ukraine is ready to launch its long expected counter offensive against russian forces. oleksiy danilov has been speaking exclusively, to our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. this is what s left of bakhmut in eastern ukraine. images filmed by russian forces of the ruins they now largely control. mercenaries from the wagner group claim they re withdrawing, being replaced by regular russian troops. but ukraine insists its forces are still engaged on the ground and the outskirts, as the country s most senior security official told us. translation: we controljust a small i part of
divisive presidential elections. hello, i m lucy grey. british tv presenter holly willoughby has reacted to phillip schofield s admission about a relationship with a younger employee, saying she is hurt. on friday, mr schofield resigned from itv, saying he had lied to cover up the relationship, which he described as unwise, but not illegal . itv has said it investigated rumours of the relationship but both men repeatedly denied it. our correspondent katherine da costa has the latest on holly willoughby s reaction. she s been responding to the news that phillip schofield had had a relationship with a younger man on the show this morning in 2020. and in a statement on her instagram account, holly said. it s taken time you betterjust remind us how big a name tv in tv phillip schofield is, particularly for people watching around the world who may not know him. yeah, that s right. so, he is a household name in the uk. he started out as a children s tv presenter. he went on to hos