an olympic record in her opening heat in the 500m event. a warning about a new scam involving the apple itunes service. tax authorities say elderly and vulnerable people are becoming victims. and taxi by air — click looks ahead into the future of passenger travel. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. 0xfam has rejected claims that it covered up an investigation downing street has said that it is reviewing its relationship with the charity 0xfam in the light of claims that some of its staff in haiti exploited people for sex following the earthquake there in 2011. 0xfam dismissed some workers and reported the matter to the charity to mission, but critics say it didn't do enough to deal with the situation. thanks crawford reports. it was an earthquake that devastated haiti, killing more than 200,000 people, affecting millions more. aid agencies from around the world stepped into the chaos. 0xfam, with more than 70 years‘ experience, had hundreds of staff in the field. but an investigation by the times found that in 2011, four staff members were sacked and three others resigned over allegations of misconduct, including paying local women for sex. 0xfam says the behaviour of some staff was totally unacceptable. the ngo insists it did inform the charity commission, even issuing a press release at the time, and denies a cover—up. 0xfam was actually proactive in going to the british public, the department for international development and the charity commission to explain that there had been serious misconduct and we'd taken action. the government, which gives 0xfam more than £30 million a year, says... today, fresh claims some of the disgraced staff gotjobs at other aid agencies because 0xfam failed to warn them about the misconduct. this is a shudderingly awful tale, terrible on every single level. and, of course, it eclipses the fact that 0xfam is one of the most brilliant humanitarian organisations in the world. 0xfam has worked in haiti for a0 years, helping more than half a million desperately poor people. now, the behaviour of a few stains its past reputation and threatens its work in the future. angus crawford, bbc news. festival let me express the shock of my government after seeing these allegations. it is really shocking. it is shameful, and it is unacceptable. and the worst part of it is the fact that even though those crimes have been reported to the haitian authorities, no action would have been taken, they say, and thatis would have been taken, they say, and that is an insult. they say the reason they did not take it to the haitian authorities is that they believe nothing would happen? that's true and this is really an insult. in fact, these gentlemen left of the country and now he would have been able to work for other ngos, you don't know how many other kids are being victimised from this gentlemen. therefore it is appalling, i think it is something we should condemn, and the haitian government now is about to summon the 0xfam representative in haiti to give and share those reports and to explore those legal steps to be taken against those people. so, what do you think, clearly mistakes have been made and 0xfam have said that they didn't handle it perhaps with hindsight as they should have done — what do you think is the important next step which needs to happen?” believe a mistake is a weak word to use, because the fact that you have accepted a crime has been committed by someone, and not a single employee, it is a 0xfam country director, and this is really shameful. and i am really pleased the fact that her majesty's government has stepped in and requesting 0xfam to share those files and to see what are the measures to be taken. but for my own part, of the haitian government, as i have just mentioned to you, my government is about to summon the 0xfa m government is about to summon the 0xfam presented live to share those files, and even to... because it is not acceptable to repeat such a thing, because even in war zones, those actions are reprehensible. when you said that even those actions would have been reported to the haitian authorities, no action would have been taken, that means you would have... you know, right 110w you would have... you know, right now we don't know, we might be dealing with a paedophile case. because when you said action would not have been taken against those people, it is not acceptable. i think 0xfam should look into itself deeply. if they want to rebuild that trust, now, they need to put some orders, and no stone should be left unturned in this case. are you confident that 0xfam will direct you to hand over whatever material they have, have you had any sort of guarantee from them on that? that's why i'm telling you, if they want to rebuild the trust that we have for them, they have to cooperate and hand over those files, so all legal actions will be taken against those who committed those crimes. because it is not acceptable, even though it has been something committed seven yea rs has been something committed seven years ago, doesn't matter. what matters is the crime that has been committed, because we are dealing with a situation which is a possible case of paedophile, so therefore, one of my regrets is to know that, they allowed this guy to leave the country without any punishment and 110w country without any punishment and now he is working for other ngos. could you imagine? 0ther now he is working for other ngos. could you imagine? other children are being victimised around the world because of their fault and it is not good. therefore, what we would love to see is a very drastic measures being ta ken would love to see is a very drastic measures being taken within 0xfam, and look into themselves and see, those workers are taking advantage. you mentioned trust, and clearly thatis you mentioned trust, and clearly that is so important. 0xfam has worked in haiti for a long time, there is this case where a number of 0xfa m there is this case where a number of 0xfam workers have come under suspicion, there have been horrifying allegations, but there are also 0xfam workers who i am sure you will accept to a marvellous job... of you will accept to a marvellous job... of course, absolutely. so how will we restore trust? that's the most important thing. the most important thing is, we have more good people working within those ngos than the bad ones. but the work of the good ones sometimes can be overshadowed, when a small group of them, you know, causes something like such horrendous crimes. i certainly believe my government will be very serious about it... but 0xfa m be very serious about it... but 0xfam are still welcome in haiti? be very serious about it... but oxfam are still welcome in haiti? of course, 0xfam will still be welcome in haiti, because we need to take into account the greatjob they've been doing for the last a0 years, but that doesn't mean to close an eye over those, you know, very shameful things, actions, that some of them have committed. the situation is even... it is also alarming and even concerning for us, the president has ordered a review of all ngos in haiti, because we suspect it some things may have been... so, you feelthe problem may go wider into other charities and ngos? of course the problem i believe is even wider, but what is a shame is the fact that 0xfam is one of the well—respected ngos in haiti, to have such a cover—up, not to report those crimes, because when she said after the earthquake there was a situation of chaos and something, but the state of haiti did not stop to exist. i mean, haiti was not a lawless country. i don't understand how come you do not report those kind of crimes. because you believe no action would have been taken. it's really shameful and reg retta ble been taken. it's really shameful and regrettable and i believe action will be taken, and hopefully 0xfam people will be so corporate if in that investigation. ambassador, thank you very much. thank you for having me. an israeli jet has crashed after coming under a heavy barrage of syrian anti—aircraft fire. the two air crew ejected — one was seriously injured. the plane was taking part in an air raid on a drone base inside syria after israel claimed that an iranian drone had entered its airspace. the syrian government has accused israel of terrorism and has threatened to retaliate. 0ur middle east correspondent injerusalem, tom bateman, has been giving us the latest. is while has described this as what it calls a blatant and severe violation of its sovereignty. as you said, it accuses iran of being behind the drone that was flown into israeli territory early this morning before the israelis shot it down. they then sent several fighter jets into syrian territory to attack in eastern syria the facility from which they said it was controlled. it was one of those aircraft which came under anti—aircraft fire, as usain, the israeli military says it crashed and one of the pilots after injecting was left seriously injured. as for the iranians, they are accusing israel of lying over this. the syrians have said that they believe that this is israeli aggression. but this does mark perhaps one of the most serious escalations yet between these regional enemies. a double decker bus has toppled over in hong kong, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens more. the bus was carrying spectators and workers home from a horse racing track before it overturned near the town of tai po in the new territories. firefighters at the scene cut open the roof to free passengers who were trapped inside. the cause of the accident has not been confirmed but reports suggest the driver was going too fast. gerry adams, one of the longest serving party leaders in the world, is stepping down as president of sinn fein today. he has now stepped down and be replaced by merida mcdonald at a specially convened party conference in dublin. are reported is there for us. how is the mood now? well, mary lou mcdonald has just us. how is the mood now? well, mary lou mcdonald hasjust been us. how is the mood now? well, mary lou mcdonald has just been formally confirmed as the new president of sinn fein. she's speaking on the platform behind me and her speech is being punctured by pretty thunderous applause. this is her home city, she might not be particularly well known outside island but she has had a high—profile in the irish parliament since she was elected to its seven yea rs since she was elected to its seven years ago, and knows a prize that it is she who has taken over from gerry adams after 3a years, mr rudd is, the man who led the republican movement from violence to peace. mary lou mcdonald was the only person who put her name forward in this contest, and the membership here, about 2000 of them, have been enthusiastically endorsing her, as it is quite clear, as you can see. there has also been another leadership change in sinn fein this afternoon, mary mcdonald had been the vice president and so the new vice president is the party's leader north of the irish border, michelle o'neill. north of the irish border, michelle 0'neill. in her speech she spoke about the talks which are ongoing to restore devolution at stormont. there has been another round of talks between sinn fein and the democratic unionist party, the former partners in government, and thatis former partners in government, and that is now moving towards some kind ofa that is now moving towards some kind of a conclusion, some reports of progress in the last 2a hours. michelle 0'neill suggested the talks would move to a crunch point over the next few days. there is no doubt that progress has been made, but there are outstanding issues which remain to be resolved. we will continue to meet with the dup, with the british & irish cup comments and we anticipate that talks will resume again on monday morning. and i anticipate that talks will conclude next week. —— the british government and the irish government. i believe that the issues which caused the collapse of the stormont institutions can only be resolved with political will and with future respect to death issues like marriage equality, irish land which actor, legacy, writes, respect, integrity in government, should not be politically contentious. michelle o'neill be politically contentious. michelle 0'neill fair well, that challenge of the negotiations at stormont will be the negotiations at stormont will be the first major test i suppose for her as the new vice president of the party, and mary lou mcdonald, who's just been ratified as the new sinn fein presidentwhether or not those talks are successful will depend on whether sinn fein returns to government in northern ireland. they have been out of power there along with the dup since the power—sharing executive collapsed just over 13 months ago. mary lou mcdonald now ta kes months ago. mary lou mcdonald now takes over as leader of the party, which is the second—largest in northern ireland and the third largest in the irish were just their ambition is to be in government on both sides of the border. they're perhaps unique in that they operate in two differentjurisdictions. mary lou mcdonald will be hoping to put some of the more controversial aspects of sinn fein‘s pastor, the linked with the ira, in the background and focus more on the name of being in government in stormont and in dublin. the next irish general election is not due until 2021, but because the prime minister leo varadkar leads a minority government, there could be an election later on this year perhaps even, so that will be the next major test for mary lou mcdonald, as she leads a party into her first election as leader here in the irish republic. the headlines on bbc news... the head of oxfam denies a cover up over claims that haiti aid workers paid for sex, as downing street orders a review of its relationship with the charity. israel has carried out attacks on a dozen targets in syria, including air defence systems, after one of its jets came under syrian anti—aircraft fire and crashed. at least 18 people are dead and 60 injured as a double—decker bus overturns in hong kong. in sport, tottenham win the north london derby, with harry kane's second—half header. spies are now up to third place in the premiership. ireland are thumping italy 28—0 at half—time in the second week of by half—time in the second week of rugby union's six nations. england play wales later. elise christie qualifies the second fastest in the short—track speed skating 500 metres heats in pyeongchang. australia thrash england by seven wickets to book their place in the t20 tri—series final. and the top chaser returned to the track after a long lay—off, winning the big race at newbury. more sport in an hour's time. the north korean leader kimjong—un has invited the south korean president to visit him at the earliest date possible. the historic invitation was given by kim jong—un‘s sister, who's visiting the south for the winter olympics. if it happens, it would be the first summit in more than a decade between korean leaders. laura bicker reports. this is no ordinary messenger. kim yo—jong is the sister of the north korean leader kimjong—un. she's the first of her family to set foot on south korean soil, and this is the moment president moon had hoped and campaigned for. he is careful to greet each delegate, aware of the significance of this meeting. as the two sides take their seats, the cameras note a blue folder on the desk. we now know it contained an historic invitation. translation: special envoy kim yo—jong presented a personal letter from chairman kim jong—un to president moon, which contained chairman kim's desire to improve inter—korean relations. kim jong un‘s younger sister is not used to the spotlight. she's usually behind the scenes as a master of her brother's image. but, as a pr queen, she is the perfect charmer for the north's charm offensive. it's quite typical of north korea to actually do this kind of thing. they're stealing a little bit of the limelight from south korea, as the whole world's press descend on it, and they're also trying to control the message between the two. it's very, very hard for south korea, even though they've been talking about pressure, sanctions, to basically refuse these kind of advances from north korea. the us vice—president has looked increasingly isolated on this visit, refusing to even greet the north koreans while pushing for tougher sanctions on the regime. these winter games have provided south korea with a diplomatic breakthrough they never thought possible. but it also presents serious challenges. does president moon accept this invitation and, if so, under what kind of preconditions? and he's also discovering that in befriending his neighbour to the north, he risks alienating a key us ally. laura bicker, bbc news, pyeongchang. her majesty's revenue and customs has written to retailers warning them about a scam involving the apple itunes service. the tax authorities say that elderly and vulnerable people are falling victims to a scam which encourages them to pay fraudsters using itunes vouchers bought in high street shops. our business correspondentjoe lynam says it's a sophisticated scam. they acquire the contact details, usually for elderly people, call them up and say that, you have a huge tax bill outstanding, and that if they don't pay it immediately, they will contact the police, the fraudsters would say, or seize their personal assets. and so they say, you can pay straightaway, if you go down to your retailer and by these itunes vouchers with your own money and then call out the 16 digit number on the back digit number on the back of these cards over the phone to us. how does it work? well, that number can buy a lot of stuff on the itunes system, you could buy system, you could buy an iphone or whatever as well as songs. it has a cash value. so, the criminal could swap that number to someone else, who would give them cash. and this is why hmrc are acting now, urging a lot of retailers to do something about this, to watch out for elderly people coming in, demanding a lot of money worth of itunes vouchers, and this is what angela mcdonald was telling us earlier today. since 2016, about 1,500 people have fallen victim to this fraud, mainly people who are over 65, and very sadly the loss for each customer has been about £1,150, and last week, we heard of an elderly gentlemen aged 81 who had fallen foul of this scam a couple of times and had lost £20,000 as a result. so, hmrc are saying, hmrc will never contact you saying that you owe a huge amount of money and "pay amount of money and "pay us today" — they say they would never do that. so if such a call comes through, hang up. the same applies to apple, they say you can only buy apple stuff on an itunes vouchers, you cannot pay a tax bill with it. and do we have any idea about who is behind this scam? these are usually boiler rooms, basically, usually men who are picking on numbers that they have bought illegally by someone who may have signed up for something maybe a decade ago and left their telephone number, their landline number, and that number is passed from pillar to post, and eventually it lands in the hands of fraudsters, who then chance their arm with all sorts of thousands of unsuspecting victims. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is visiting bangladesh to see at first hand the crisis facing rohingya muslims. nearly 700,000 refugees have fled from neighbouring myanmar since a military crackdown began there six months ago. after meeting with officials from the bangladeshi government, mrjohnson said the challenge now is finding a safe and dignified way for them to return home. it's notjust a question of humanitarian aid, we're giving a lot of that, as people know, about 59 million, to help these refugees. it's about finding a political solution, finding an answer in myanmar, creating conditions for a safe, dignified return for these people. that's what they want to. they d0 want to go back but they don't feel safe. the family of an 11—year—old—girl stabbed to death in wolverhampton yesterday have paid tribute to their "shining star". jasmine forrester‘s father simeon said he found it impossible to explain the loss the family had suffered. detectives are continuing to question a 51—year—old male relative of jasmine on suspicion of her murder. the shadow chancellor says that a future labour government would move away from what he calls the failed model of privatisation and instead put public services irreversibly in the hands of workers. speaking at a conference outlining labour's alternative models of ownership, john mcdonnell said public ownership is notjust a political decision but an economic necessity. the next labour government will put democratically owned and managed public services irreversibly — irreversibly — into the hands of those workers and those who rely upon their work. we will not do this only because it is right, not only because it's the most efficient way of running them, but also because it's the most important protection of our public services for the long—term. it's the protection that comes from everyone having and feeling the ownership of them. we aren't going to take control of these industries in order to put them into the hands of a remote bureaucracy, but into the hands of all of you, so that they can never again be taken away from us. several church of england archbishops have taken part in a silent protest about the church's handling of sexual abuse. theyjoined a group of people who have suffered abuse outside church house in central london, where the general synod was discussing a new independent inquiry into the issue, due to begin next month. 0ur religion editor martin bashir has been at the protest and says the mood has been one of immense humility. the day began with a silent protest here, just in this spot, where a group of survivors were joined by the archbishops of york, canterbury and the bishop—elect of london, sarah mulalley, all pausing for two minutes to reflect on survivors of sexual abuse in the church of england. you mention the case of bishop george bell, and one of the first speakers inside the council chamber was the bishop of chichester, martin warner. he said in a very humble statement, "we sit in the dust of shame." those were his words. then there was a presentation by the church of england's lead bishop on safeguarding, peter hancock, bishop of bath and wells. he explained what the church is doing to address the problem. since 201a, for example, it has increased its investment resourcing in safeguarding fivefold. every diocese now has a safeguarding lead individual, an official with the diocese. it also was announced that something like 11,000 people who serve the church in various capacities around the country has the church in various capacities around the country have been through training in the area of safeguarding. but peter hancock continued and warned the synod that, because the church next month will be the subject of scrutiny at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, it had to prepare for even more challenging times. he said it would be painful for the church, but it would also be a route to making progress. so, there's a sense of humility but also a desire to address what is a decades—old problem. we know, for example, in the latest figures in 2016, 3,300 cases of safeguarding were raised in the church of england. just 18% of those involved clergy, the rest were individual members of congregations and so on. but still, that's an incredible number just for one year, number just for one year — those are the latest figures we have. so, the church is desperately trying to address the issue and to take on board some of the recommendations that it has had. in the last two years, there have been three independent inquiries. the elliott review, concerning one individual who made allegations against the church. and, of course, bishop peter ball, who was eventually sentenced to jail. and now, the case of bishop george bell. so there's a real attempt to address the issue and, in some ways, move forward. some breaking news coming into us from indonesia via the afp news agency. we're hearing that at least 27 people have died when a bus carrying domestic tourists trashed on the indonesian island ofjava, according to local police. this crash happening when the barca, which had at least a0 people on board, apparently hit a motorbike as it was speeding down a hill in west java province, causing the bastareud over multiple times, with the result that at least 27 people have been killed, reports say. —— causing the bus to roll over. great britain's elise christie has produced an impressive performance in qualifying second fastest in the heats of the 500 metres short track speed skating at the winter olympics in pyeongchang. here's our sports correspondent andy swiss. she is britain's biggest medal hope. and elise christie was soon showing precisely why. she led her 500m heat from start to finish, setting a new 0lympic record... christie wins it! it was some statement of intent. after her disqualification at the last games, what relief! i was so nervous! i was like, i'm not going to do this, cos i'm so nervous! but it was fine. i got over the line and i was excited and i'm just glad i've got to race in front of everyone again! but british hopes in the snowboarding came crashing down. jamie nicholls and then team—mate billy morgan both tumbling out of the slopestyle event. the women's cross—country skiing, meanwhile, produced the first gold medallist of the games, victory for sweden's charlotte kalla. but for team gb, this was an opening day of decidedly mixed fortunes — disappointment on the snow but elise christie's hopes of gold are off to the perfect start. andy swiss, bbc news. snow yet. it could be heading our way. a bit ofa a bit of a roller—coaster, tonight we have the spell of heavy rain and strong winds as well, gale force winds and they are expected across northern parts, this next area of low pressure is moving in and this is the one that is over the country

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