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BBC News

in full on the bbc iplayer. called the new drug threat, which is available to watch online, or you can download the iplayer app. do check it out. let's turn to one of the main stories developing in the uk, where the mp, mark menzies, who was suspended from the conservative party over allegations he misused campaign funds, is to quit as an mp at the next election. in a statement, mr menzies said, "it has been an enormous privilege representing "the people of fylde since 2010, but due to the pressures "on myself and my elderly mother, i have decided 0ur political correspondent iain watson has been following the story.

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BBC News

here in uk — the mp, mark menzies, who was suspended from the conservative party over allegations he misused campaign funds, is to quit as an mp at the next election. in a statement, mark meznies said... 0ur political correspondent iain watson has the story. this all got under way, really, when the times newspaper reported a bizarre story where apparently, last december, mr menzies, according to the times, had called, met a local official in his party, in his constituency at 3.15 in the morning demanding £5,000, which he said was a matter of life and death, because he had to be released from a flat

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BBC News

in a statement, mark meznies said... "it has been an enormous privilege representing the people of fylde since 2010, but due to the pressures on myself and my elderly mother i have decided to resign from the conservative party and will not stand at the forthcoming general election. this has been a very difficult week for me and i request that my family's privacy is respected." 0ur political correspondent iain watson has the story. this all got under way, really, when the times newspaper reported a bizarre story where apparently, last december, mr menzies, according to the times, had called, met a local official in his party, in his constituency at 3.15 in the morning demanding £5,000, which he said was a matter of life and death, because he had to be released from a flat in which he was locked by, quote, some bad people. in addition to this, the times newspaper also alleged that some other funds that were meant to be used

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BBC News

to light during the course of the recess. these are very- to light during the course of the recess. these are very serious i recess. these are very serious matters — recess. these are very serious matters. ., ,., recess. these are very serious matters. ., ., ., recess. these are very serious mattere— recess. these are very serious matters. ., ., ., ~ ., ., matters. labour want to know how [on ao matters. labour want to know how long ago senior — matters. labour want to know how long ago senior conservatives, - long ago senior conservatives, including rishi sunak, knew about the case, and whether the conservatives have reported to police issues that could relate to potential banality, the party says. damian grammaticus, bbc news, west mr. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. what has been the political reaction to all of this so far, iain?— to all of this so far, iain? well, ben, in to all of this so far, iain? well, ben. in the _ to all of this so far, iain? well, ben, in the past _ to all of this so far, iain? well, ben, in the past hour - to all of this so far, iain? well, ben, in the past hour the - ben, in the past hour the conservative party has confirmed that mark menzies has been suspended as a trade envoy to various countries. downing street would not comment any further, but in general terms they said that the prime minister believed there was no place in parliament for inappropriate behaviour, and mps should act as role models. there has, however, been plenty of political reaction from labour, who are asking a series of questions. when did the prime minister himself know about the allegations? did mr menzies himself

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BBC News

be talking about. iain that downing street would prefer to be talking about.— that downing street would prefer to be talking about. iain watson, thank ou ve be talking about. iain watson, thank you very much. _ be talking about. iain watson, thank you very much. our _ be talking about. iain watson, thank you very much, our political - you very much, our political correspondent. police have broken up an alleged international cyber—crime gang that had been offering a service to criminals, allowing them to steal from people using fraudulent text messages. 37 people have been arrested worldwide, including 24 in the uk, and police believe there were 70,000 british victims. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. it's 5am in south london — the end of a two—year investigation. police! this was one of a series of co—ordinated raids targeting cybercrime in 17 countries, masterminded from the uk. one man was arrested here and 23 others around the country. and this all began about two years ago when security experts for the banking industry spotted on the dark web criminals offering

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BBC News at One

acting in self defence. rishi sunak would say this is self defence because of threats to merchant vessels. 0ne former conservative minister has been asking where this is going and warning of the risks of as getting into something which we might not like to see. i don't think any further action at the moment is imminent, nonetheless at least the hopein imminent, nonetheless at least the hope in westminster is that this marks the end rather than the beginning of a new conflict with the houthis. 0ur political correspondent iain watson. the uk is to give £2.5 billion of military aid to ukraine over the coming year — britain's largest annual commitment to the country since the russian invasion two years ago. the prime minister made the announcement during a rare visit to kyiv where he's also expected to sign an agreement supporting ukraine's long term security. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale is travelling with rishi sunak.

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BBC News at One

have warned of delays. but this is happening after the christmas rush, consumers will notice less disruption — and even if costs are passed on, the impact will be relatively small. but 13% of crude oil also travels by this route. the price of crude is up overnight but it remains below where it was last autumn. and if the conflict escalates, there are worries about potential interruptions to shipments of liquid gas, but we are currently well stocked, and any impact on energy bills would not be felt for several months. so, while this is not derailing our prosperity yet, that unrest in the red sea — if it is prolonged and escalates — could threaten growth and declining inflation at a time when the economy is already quite fragile. thank you. dharshini david. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster.

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BBC News

to deal with a very, very challenging situation, to say the least. congressman raja krishnamoorthi, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. thank you, carl. video footage has emerged showing people dancing at conservative party headquarters in the uk, despite covid lockdown restrictions in 2020. the footage has been obtained by the mirror newspaper. at the time, there were tier 2 restrictions in london, which meant people should not socialise indoors unless they were in the same household. police did investigate this event but did not issue any fines. 0ur political correspondent iain watson has more on what this might mean for the current conservative government. i think it's certainly something which is going to be very unwelcome for rishi sunak. he of course himself got what's called a fixed penalty notice, a fine, for attending a gathering in downing street. he said hejust had turned up early for a meeting, but nonetheless he was fined for what was a gathering

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Turkey

city where we also heard from the victims families. there was also a moment's silence yesterday at the start of the ashes cricket test series between england and australia in birmingham. valdo calocane, the portuguese national who has settled status here in uk was remanded into custody and will next appear at nottingham crown court on tuesday. video footage has emerged showing people dancing at conservative party headquarters in the uk, despite covid lockdown restrictions in 2020. the footage has been obtained by the mirror newspaper. at the time, there were tier 2 restrictions in london, which meant people should not socialise indoors unless they were in the same household. police did investigate this event, but did not issue any fines. 0ur political correspondent iain watson joins us now. iain, how embarrasing is this for the convservatives? it's embarrassing for a number of reasons. first of all, it's not the

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BBC News at Six

most masters students and their dependents only come for nine months or so during term time, too short to appear in the long—term net migration statistics. mark easton, bbc news, telford. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. we are expecting these record net immigration figures coming out later this week, is this the government trying to show it is taking some kind of control of the situation? ﬁx, kind of control of the situation? phrase that sometimes used here at westminster is getting your retaliation in first, in other words, don�*t wait for a political kicking, get on the front foot. so with those record migration figures due to be unveiled on thursday, today the announcement of dependent visas is supposed to signal a willingness by the government to get figures down. but rishi sunak still has a political problem because i think many people who voted for brexit may feel they are not taking back control while migration numbers are now higher than they were while we were in the year. according to

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