good afternoon. at the covid inquiry, the prime minister, rishi sunak, has apologised to all those who suffered as a result of the government s decisions during the pandemic. he s also expected to face questions about his controversial eat out to help out scheme, aimed at helping the hospitality sector. scientific advisers have already told the inquiry they didn t know about the plan until it was announced and there were concerns it would spread the virus. our political correspondent pete saull has been watching. it was at news conferences like this that many of us got to know rishi sunak. he had been promoted to chancellorjust before sunak. he had been promoted to chancellor just before a sunak. he had been promoted to chancellorjust before a global pandemic struck. of course a lot of politics has happened since then. he has moved from number 11 to number ten and this morning made the trip across london for a grilling of his actions at the time of covid. quite something to
prime minister rishi sunak has been giving evidence to the covid inquiry here in london today. critics suggest that his eat out to help out the policy under which the government subsidised meals led to an increase in infections. early evidence at the inquiry suggested that health officials hadn t been consulted about that because the milk scheme, but rishi insisted milk scheme, but rishiinsisted insisted that the chief scientific and medical advisers did not object when the scheme was announced. rishi and a chance at the time back in 2020 claim his actions had protected millions ofjobs hospitality sector. my primary concern was protecting millions ofjobs of particularly vulnerable people who worked in this industry. all the data, all the evidence, all the polling, all the input from those companies suggested that unless we did something, many of those jobs would have been at risk with devastating consequences for those people and their families. and that s my independent thin
this was the scene in new york earlier. despite 13 nations voting for a ceasefire, the united states veto means the resolution failed to pass. earlier, the un secretary general warned that the people of gaza are at breaking point. israel says any ceasefire would cement hamas control of gaza. hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by many countries, including the uk. meanwhile, more video has emerged showing dozens of palestinian men detained by israel. the footage, verified by the bbc, shows them stripped to their underwear, kneeling on the ground and being guarded by israeli soldiers. it s understood that some of the men have since been released. we ll speak to our correspondent at the united nations shortly, but first, here s out international editor, jeremy bowen. gaza is at breaking point, says the un. almost 2 million people have been driven from their homes by israeli forces. in deir al balah, the mosque was bombed with such force that the yafa hospital next doo
the main un agency in gaza says society is on the verge of a full blown collapse . but it s hoped the flow of aid will soon improve, after israel agreed to a us request to open its kerem shalom border crossing for the inspection of aid trucks and their cargo. also, images have emerged showing dozens of palestinian men detained by israel stripped to their underwear with their hands tied behind their back, in northern gaza. hamas has condemned the images, accusing israel forces of committing a heinous crime against innocent civilians . there s also been fresh violence in the occupied west bank today. funerals have taken place for six palestinians killed by israeli forces in a raid on al faraa refugee camp north of nablus. some are believed to be members of a militant group known as the al fara brigade. 272 palestinians have been killed in the west bank by israeli forces and settlers in the last two months. a warning that this report from our middle east correspondent yola
good evening. we start tonight with a special report into the sporting revolution being driven by saudi arabia. the kingdom has been investing billions of pounds in attracting some of global sports biggest names, from boxing, formula 1, football and golf. nowjon rahm, one of golf s top players, has announced he sjoining the saudi funded golf tour. the country has been accused of using sport to improve its reputation distracting from its human rights abuses and poor environmental record. but in an interview with the bbc, the sports minister denied claims of so called sportswashing . our sports editor dan roan reports from the port city ofjeddah, where he was accompanied by saudi ministry officials at all times when filming. from a revamped league attracting football s biggest stars and the hosting of world heavyweight title fights to an attempted takeover of golf. jon rahm now the latest top player tojoin its breakaway series. saudi arabia is spending billions of pounds tr