the government's got until 4pm tomorrow to give the covid inquiry the whatsapps and notebooks of boris johnson. but with the possibility of embarassing details coming out of the process, what will rishi sunak do? lucy fisher is whitehall editor at the financial times. i wonder if you can explain, as i leg it over to the other side of the studio, what borisjohnson will be weighing up as he has these over today? weighing up as he has these over toda ? �* l, , weighing up as he has these over toda ? �*, a, weighing up as he has these over toda? a, ,, today? boris johnson's team insist he has always _ today? boris johnson's team insist he has always been _ today? boris johnson's team insist he has always been willing - today? boris johnson's team insist he has always been willing to - today? boris johnson's team insist he has always been willing to fully | he has always been willing to fully cooperate with the inquiry and that when this legal notice that baroness heather hallett issue to the cabinet office last week demanding his unredacted notebooks and whatsapps was made, that he hadn't been given due warning that it was the request. it said it wasn't him standing on the way of the information being handed over. but he's a political operator and will have weighed up

whether to hand this material over. and ultimately i'm sure he will have been given the advice that whatever is within that could potentially be embarrassing that withholding it and being seen to withhold it would look far worse. 50. being seen to withhold it would look far worse. ., ., , ., far worse. so, the attention is now on rishi sunak, _ far worse. so, the attention is now on rishi sunak, it— far worse. so, the attention is now on rishi sunak, it is— far worse. so, the attention is now on rishi sunak, it is on _ far worse. so, the attention is now on rishi sunak, it is on the - on rishi sunak, it is on the government. what are they going to do? are they going to risk legal action? ~ y . ., , do? are they going to risk legal action? ~ . ., , ., action? well, officials have said the are action? well, officials have said they are considering _ action? well, officials have said they are considering the - action? well, officials have said| they are considering the position carefully but the cabinet office have said publicly that it really believes that there are so many messages that are of a personal nature. in my mind this speaks of a wider issue which is government by whatsapp has developed over the last few years, many people using the same devices and social media platform of whatsapp to message yes, their colleagues, other ministers, advisers, but perhaps their spouse, their child, and people not to do with their work. so the government

position is that messages of a personal nature shouldn't be passed over, that it should be the government lawyers that go through that and decide what is unambiguously irrelevant. baroness hallett rejects that argument, or has done today and saying it is her inquiry to determine what is relevant to the lines of investigation. d0 relevant to the lines of investigation.- relevant to the lines of investigation. relevant to the lines of investiuation. , ., ~ �* investigation. do you think we'll see le . al investigation. do you think we'll see legal action _ investigation. do you think we'll see legal action or _ investigation. do you think we'll see legal action or will - investigation. do you think we'll see legal action or will there - investigation. do you think we'll see legal action or will there be | see legal action or will there be some fudge? baroness hallett is not the kind of woman you mess with, to be honest, is she? ida. the kind of woman you mess with, to be honest, is she?— be honest, is she? no, she has a statutory underpinning _ be honest, is she? no, she has a statutory underpinning to - be honest, is she? no, she has a statutory underpinning to this - statutory underpinning to this public inquiry. set statutory underpinning to this public inquiry-— public inquiry. set by the government. _ public inquiry. set by the government. set - public inquiry. set by the government. set by - public inquiry. set by the government. set by the l public inquiry. set by the _ government. set by the government and boris johnson _ government. set by the government and boris johnson when _ government. set by the government and boris johnson when he - government. set by the government and boris johnson when he set - government. set by the government and boris johnson when he set up i government. set by the government. and boris johnson when he set up the and borisjohnson when he set up the inquiry. we must wait to see what happens at 4pm tomorrow and baroness hallett has made clear that, you know, there are legal roots she could pursue to order the government to hand this over or seek something similar to a contempt of court in the high court or the government could seek its own legal action including a judicial review

challenging the order requiring them to hand over unredacted information. at the moment, we'll see what happens tomorrow. sources i've spoken to in the government say they are hopeful of finding a way through, a compromise meaning they don't have to resort to legal action. i don't have to resort to legal action. ., , ., , action. i wonder where this leaves eo - le action. i wonder where this leaves peeple when _ action. i wonder where this leaves peeple when it — action. i wonder where this leaves people when it comes _ action. i wonder where this leaves people when it comes to - action. i wonder where this leaves people when it comes to having i action. i wonder where this leaves i people when it comes to having faith in this inquiry?— in this inquiry? yeah it's a good question- _ in this inquiry? yeah it's a good question. i've _ in this inquiry? yeah it's a good question. i've been _ in this inquiry? yeah it's a good question. i've been reporting i in this inquiry? yeah it's a good | question. i've been reporting on this for the ft and i've spoken to pandemic era ministers who had told me they would be happy to hand over all of their own communications unredacted to the inquiry or have the government passed it over on their behalf. i think the government should pursue what one described to me as a nothing to hide, nothing to fear approach. that isn't shared throughout, i spoken to others who say it is a step too far to hand over everything. there are concerns about undermining trust in the inquiry which is why we've heard from the likes of william wragg, the tory chairman of the public

administration and constitutional affairs committee, who said that the government must act in the spirit of the open public inquiry, and hand over all the documentation it has asked for. ., ~ , ., over all the documentation it has asked for. ., ~' , ., . , that's all from us tonight. kirsty�*s here tomorrow. have a lovely evening. this is bbc news. let's take you to nigeria.

there have been long waits outside fuel stations in the city of lagos, after the newly inaugurated president bola tinubu announced the end of fuel subsidies. nigeria is one of the world's most oil—rich countries. it exchanges crude oil worth billions of dollars for gasoline that it then subsidises for its domestic market. this causes a huge drain on revenue and contributes to the country's debt. after the president's announcement, some fuel stations have more than doubled their prices while others have suspended sales altogether. we are having some technical difficulties but will give you a rehash now of this story.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. the brownlee brothers have been associated with running in the rio olympics. nine years ago they set up their foundation olympics. nine years ago they set up theirfoundation to give olympics. nine years ago they set up their foundation to give children an experience of the sport they love. if you want to do it competitively it can be difficult but the brownlee foundation is about children doing an event, achieving something that they could never have thought they could achieve and there is no barrier to entry because it's free. schools are invited to events across the country. 50,000 children have

come through the programme. it’s come through the programme. it's been come through the programme. it�*s been fun. activities at school and with my friends. i been fun. activities at school and with my friends.— with my friends. i feel like i've done hard _ with my friends. i feel like i've done hard work _ with my friends. i feel like i've done hard work and _ with my friends. i feel like i've done hard work and it - with my friends. i feel like i've done hard work and it feels i with my friends. i feel like i've i done hard work and it feels good. you're live with bbc news. some breaking news from the uk, and a 12—year—old girl and 17—year—old boy have died after an incident off bournemouth beach. a man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, following the incident. dorset police were called to the scene near bournemouth pier at around half four in the afternoon. officers say they're in the early stages of their investigations, and their thoughts are with the loved ones of the two children involved. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. nato will send more soldiers to kosovo after peacekeeping soldiers there were hurt in clashes with protesters.

the conflict began when ethnic—albanian mayors took over in several towns, where ethnic serbs are in the majority. dozens of kosovan serb protesters gathered to demand the removal of the elected mayor, an ethnic albanian, from office. nato's secretary general jens stoltenberg condemned the violence. five members of a palestinian militant group have been killed and several more wounded by an explosion in the lebanese town of qusaya, close to the border with syria. the popular front for the liberation of palestine—general command blamed israel, saying it carried out an air strike overnight. israel's military has denied any involvemnt. lebanese security sources say it was caused by munitions being transported. us media reports say donald trump's former vice president, mike pence, will officiallyjoin the race for the white house next week. he's expected to begin his campaign

for the republican nomination with a speech in iowa. his poll ratings so far are low, putting him far behind mr trump. a nasa panel investigating unidentified flying objects has collected around 800 mysterious reports. however, researchers say only a small fraction are truly unexplained. the agency set up the panel last year to explain its work on what it calls unidentified anomalous phenomena — more commonly called ufos. the panel, which will issue a report later this year, held its first public meeting on wednesday. new research from the international rescue committee claims eu states have consistently neglected afghan refugees and have failed to provide adequate safety and inclusion for the small number that reach europe. the report claims the bloc took in just

271 vulnerable afghans under resettlement programmes last year. it says other programs to bring people into the eu have also underperformed, while neighbouring countries like pakistan and iran have welcomed over 1.6 million. since the taliban seized power in 2021, more than 41,000 have been admitted to the eu through various humanitarian missions. but the irc says this figure is outpaced by rising need. it's calling on eu states to expand their refugee resettlement and rehome tens of thousands more afghans in the coming years. 271 people from afghanistan well... 271 people from afghanistan well... 271 people from afghanistan well... 271 people who are at risk compared

to 1.6 million people in neighbouring pakistan and iran and we think that there is a failure of the system that is in place. we've seen some very important push backs and complication on the administrative side for afghan people to have access to this scheme of settlement and have failed to reach the eu even when they are near to the border. the pushback is from the border of the eu especially towards the mediterranean sea, women and girls particularly are at risk so we call for the eu to re—establish a legal and safe passage for these people who need to be welcomed in europe. just after the shift in august 21 and at the

beginning of 2022, there was evacuation schemes, humanitarian schemes and then 41,000 afghan people could be welcomed into the eu but after that this new system which has been put in place the new resettlement system which is in cooperation with the eu has not been functioning. in germany there were pledges to welcome 1000 people in a special scheme last year but none of the afghan people could benefit from this. this pledge saw only 500 people in this field who could really benefit to afghan people. some members of the eu have welcomed 30 or 40 people but some people have not committed at all. so we see a lot of afghan people trying to go

through very dangerous routes, taking risk for their life, the mediterranean sea, land borders, without any protection and being so sometimes in the end with smugglers sometimes in the end with smugglers so it's very important that we help afghan people who for reason of safety or for choice, because they have no choice, and have to flee the country and who are in very vulnerable, difficult places that they are offered is a pathway to europe. —— make a safe pathway. let's take a look at some of the stories

in the headlines in the uk.... an initiative to tackle racism in policing in england and wales is itself facing allegations of racism from some of the ethnic minority staff involved. the �*police race action plan�* was launched after african—american george floyd was murdered in the us in 2020. uk tv channel �*itv�* has launched an externally led review into its handling of a relationship between former presenter, phillip schofield and a younger colleague. the review was confirmed by chief executive dame carolyn mccall in a letter seen by the pa news agency. the former �*this morning' presenter left the network last week after he admitted lying about the affair. itv previously said it had investigated in 2020, but that both parties denied the relationship. uk rail passengers face more disruption at the start of a series of strikes over the coming days. members of the train drivers' union aslef walked out on wednesday morning, and are due to do so again on saturday. the rmt union will strike on friday.

you have been watching newsday. stay with us. stay with bbc world news. iam i am monica miller. the weather for half term week continues to frustrate some but it's been glorious for others. west has certainly been best and thursday was the warmest day of the year. along the warmest day of the year. along the east coast of scotland it was cool and grey at times and that's because the high pressure was settled towards the south—east. always going to dry and driving in

cloud of fat north sea. thursday we start off with some damp and drizzle in the south—east but out of the west sunshine coming through into the afternoon. once again we have those contrasts. south west of england and wales, dry and sunny and warm. east anglia, breezy at times. once again we likely to see temperatures drop in scotland, peaking in the low 20s. it's going to be a tale of two halves. grass pollen is low to moderate. we'll see some subtle differences with that high but that will mean more sunshine coming through on friday. slightly drier air, lighter winds

and a good deal of dry, settled sunny weather for all. it will feel cooler along the east coast but you had that sunshine to go with it. sheltered western areas will see highs into low 20s. the weekend will see that high pressure continued to push its way steadily eastwards. some subtle differences. if you are heading off to the beaches, certainly west is best, once again with those temperatures into the low 20s but along the east coast there will be some sunshine as we head into the wi weekend butjust that little bit fresher as we see that breeze coming from the north—east and guess what? as we head early into next week there's very little change. the driest weather out the

west.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, from south africa. i'm stephen sackur, and this is the south african parliament in cape town, dominated since 1994 by the african national congress. but could the anc�*s grip on power be loosened? well, the once unthinkable

mayjust be possible. the anc has been damaged by economic stagnation,