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There is plenty of bemusement, irritation and anger in some quarters of the Conservative Party as to why Nadhim Zahawi is still in post. 

Revelations that the party chairman reportedly paid nearly £5m to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to settle a tax dispute, and pay a penalty over around £27m of wealth on which he did not initially pay tax is, for some MPs, a closed case rather than something that needs further investigation.

As one minister pointed out to me on Wednesday, what really mattered here was not the conflict of interest of Mr Zahawi being the chancellor while he was in dispute with the HMRC or what the PM knew when.

What matters here is the naked optics of a cabinet minister receiving around £27m that he didn’t initially pay tax on when people were struggling to make ends meet.

So while the prime minister on Wednesday spoke of following “due process” in determining whether the cabinet minister had broken the ministerial code, the public is more likely to have decided Mr Zahawi had not followed due process of paying his taxes – as they have to do every year – and drawn their own conclusions.

For his part, Mr Zahawi is clear that it was a “careless” error, the tax he owed was paid and the matter settled.

But the sight of Sir Keir Starmer taking easy shots at the prime minister for not asking Mr Zahawi to stand aside over the whole affair was hard for some to stomach.

More on Nadhim Zahawi

Many MPs have concluded the party chairman is going to have to stand down over this affair anyway, and the investigation into the matter by the PM’s independent ethics advisor is only drawing out the pain.

“Many people in the party think that the situation is unsustainable and will only end one way,” is how one senior party figure put it to me on Wednesday.

“The point here is that the public sees a minister with £27m who didn’t pay his tax.”

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Rishi Sunak answers Zahawi question at PMQs

There are myriad explanations as to why Mr Sunak hasn’t sacked Mr Zahawi.

His team argues that the prime minister promised to do things properly and “there is a process to follow”.

He is also in a bit of a bind given that he neither sacked nor suspended Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab over the eight bullying allegations he is now under investigation over, so it would have been hard to treat Mr Zahawi differently.

There is also chatter that he doesn’t have the authority just to sack the party chairman without a fight or backlash, and instead has to do it following a procedure.

But the situation is causing problems.

Read more:
No 10 confirms Rishi Sunak has never paid tax penalty

What did Nadhim Zahawi do?

Nadhim Zahawi arrives at the Conservative Party head office
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Nadhim Zahawi arrives at the Conservative Party head office

‘Job too big’ for Sunak

Sir Keir used it to reiterate his “weak prime minister” attack line on Wednesday and then went further to suggest that the combination of internal scandals and the problems in the NHS is evidence that the “job is too big” for Mr Sunak.

For a prime minister who has styled himself as a competent technocrat getting on with delivering, this is a very uncomfortable jibe that he will not want to stick.

It also calls into question the prime minister himself, both over his promise to lead a government of integrity and his own tax affairs.

Sir Keir was at it again on Wednesday, goading the prime minister over last year’s revelations that his wife Akshata Murty had in the past avoided tax in the UK by claiming non-dom status.

“We all know why [the PM’s] reluctant to ask his chairman about family affairs and tax avoidance,” remarked Sir Keir to the clear discomfort of the man sitting opposite him in the chamber.

Keir Starmer PMQs
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Sir Keir Starmer has used the Zahawi row to say Mr Sunak is incompetent

Conflict over tax affairs

One former senior minister told me they think it’s difficult for the PM to sack someone over tax affairs when his family had its own tax scandal last year and thinks Number 10 is keeping Mr Zahawi in place as a “human shield” to avoid the attention shifting to the PM’s tax affairs.

But the questions are now being directed to Mr Sunak’s door after he was forced to confirm publicly that he had never paid a penalty to the taxman over his own tax affairs.

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For the PM’s part, he might well believe the inquiry by his independent ethics advisor is the right way to handle the situation. But his approach means he is also having to field the political blows and burn through his own political capital over a scandal that many in his party think will end with Mr Zahawi having to resign anyway.

“When this sort of thing happens, there’s only one outcome and it’s just a matter of when,” one former cabinet minister told me this week.

A PM then prolonging the pain for him, his chairman and his party, as his reputation for integrity and competence takes another hit.

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Putin, Xi, and Kim set to unite at major military parade

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Putin, Xi, and Kim set to unite at major military parade

Kim Jong Un will join Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at a major military parade in Beijing next week, North Korean and Chinese state media have announced.

The dictator will make the rare trip abroad as China marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Mr Putin’s presence had already been confirmed. He and Mr Kim will be among 26 foreign leaders at the event, with none expected from the US or Western Europe.

China, Russia, and North Korea are close allies. Beijing has long been Pyongyang’s biggest aid and trading partner, while Mr Kim has been providing the Russian president with troops for his war in Ukraine.

There are currently no details of exactly when and for how long Mr Kim will be in China. It’s set to be his first visit in some six years – before the pandemic.

Hong Lei, assistant foreign minister of China, said the country would “warmly welcome” Mr Kim and that “maintaining, consolidating, and developing” relations between the two countries’ governments was a priority.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea, October 7, 2024. Pic: Reuters
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea, October 7, 2024. Pic: Reuters

Asked what message China was sending by hosting Mr Putin, Mr Lei said the Russian president’s attendance at commemorative events “further demonstrates the high level of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era and declares the unity and solidarity between China and Russia”.

He added: “Facing an international landscape fraught with both change and turmoil, China and Russia, as founding members of the UN and permanent members of the Security Council, will continue to uphold the authority of the United Nations and international fairness and justice.”

It may not be the last of Mr Kim’s major global summits of the year, with Donald Trump having said earlier this week he fancies another meeting with the North Korean.

The pair had an unprecedented meeting during the US president’s first term, and he’s suggested they could reunite later this year.

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Minneapolis: Two children dead and 17 people injured in US school shooting

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Minneapolis: Two children dead and 17 people injured in US school shooting

Two children, aged eight and 10, have been killed in a shooting during mass at a school in Minneapolis.

An attacker opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a church at Annunciation Catholic School and struck a group of children as they sat in pews on Wednesday morning.

The FBI has confirmed the killer has been identified as Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman, and is investigating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism” and a “hate crime targeting Catholics”.

As it happened: FBI says attack investigated as ‘terrorism’

Robin Westman
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Robin Westman

The city’s police chief Brian O’Hara said the attacker – armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol – approached the side of the church and fired dozens of rounds as mass was celebrated during the first week of term.

He added that 17 other people were injured, including 14 children, two of whom were in a critical condition.

Police believe the suspect, thought to be in his early 20s and acting alone, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Parents and children wait for news after a school shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pic: AP
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Parents and children wait for news after a school shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pic: AP

Mr O’Hara called the attack in Minnesota a “deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping”.

“The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.”

He also said a wooden plank had been used to barricade some side doors.

Authorities found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene, Mr O’Hara said.

Three adults in 80s among those injured

Hennepin Healthcare, the main trauma hospital in Minneapolis, received 11 patients, including nine children – aged six to 14 – and two adults, emergency medicine chair Dr Thomas Wyatt said.

He said four of the patients were taken to operating rooms.

Children’s Minnesota, a paediatric trauma hospital, said in a statement that five children were admitted.

At a later news conference, Mr O’Hara said three adults in their 80s are among those injured in the attack.

He added that Westman had scheduled a manifesto to be released on YouTube, which “appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings”.

The video has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI.

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‘So much’ gunfire, witness says

Bill Bienemann, a witness to the shooting, told Sky News it went on “for several minutes – a long time for live gunfire”.

“I know what gunfire sounds like, and I was shocked,” he added. “I said there’s no way that could be gunfire, there was so much of it.

“It seemed like a rifle, it certainly didn’t sound like a handgun, so he must have reloaded several times.”

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Witness says he heard 30 to 50 shots

The pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school had an all-school mass scheduled at 8.15am local time on Wednesday morning (2.15pm UK time), according to its website.

Monday was the first day of the school semester.

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Mayor calls shooting ‘unspeakable act’

At the first news conference, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said the shooting was an “unspeakable act”.

“Children are dead,” he said. “There are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.”

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Mayor confirms children killed in school shooting

Speaking later, and joined by Governor Tim Walz, Mr Frey said that the “Minneapolis family” has stepped up in “thousands of different ways” after the shooting.

“The way that they acted during the severe threat and danger was nothing short of heroic,” he says.

“This is a tragic and horrible event that should never occur.”

He added: “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainise our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity.”

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Minneapolis mayor calls for action on gun crime

Mr Walz said: “We often come to these and say these are unspeakable tragedies or there are no words for this, there shouldn’t be words for these types of incidents because they shouldn’t happen.”

The school’s headteacher Matt DeBoer added: “To any of our students and families and staff watching right now, I love you. You’re so brave, and I’m so sorry this happened.”

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Headteacher speaks after US school shooting

Senator: Girl ‘had to watch several of her friends get shot’

Speaking to MSNBC, Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar said she had called one of her longtime employees who had three children in the school during the shooting.

The senator described the call with the mother as “one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever heard”.

“These kids are doing an all-school mass and had to watch several of her friends get shot – one in the back, one in the neck,” Ms Klobuchar added.

“And they all got down under the pews and she – her daughter, of course, was not shot – but her daughter ended up being the one to tell one of the dads of one of the other kids that his daughter had been shot.”

Responding to the reports, US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social: “I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation.”

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UN told Israeli strike on Gaza hospital was ‘premeditated’ – as Sky News uncovers new details about the attack

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UN told Israeli strike on Gaza hospital was 'premeditated' - as Sky News uncovers new details about the attack

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations has condemned Israel’s attack on Nasser Hospital as “a premeditated strike on medics and journalists”.

The envoy’s comments are the latest condemnation of the 25 August attack that killed 22 people, including five journalists. They come as an investigation by Sky News raises new questions about the incident.

The IDF said the strike targeted an “observation camera” used by Hamas to monitor troop movements from the hospital, adding that six of those killed were “terrorists”.

But the camera that the IDF struck was broadcasting a live stream for the news agency Reuters, and the IDF has said that the journalist operating this camera was “not a target”.

The Israeli military has not indicated that any other camera was on the balcony, and the hospital’s director says the only person on the balcony was the Reuters journalist.

Sky News did find evidence that one of the six people named by the IDF was a militant, but we also found evidence that he was killed in a separate incident, not at Nasser Hospital.

Most of those killed died when the IDF launched a second strike on the same stairwell, around eight minutes after the first, as rescue efforts were under way. Video seen by Sky News shows two missiles hitting the hospital in the second strike.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on 27 August, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said: “The second strike on Nasser hospital was a premeditated strike on medics and journalists who arrived at the scene after the first strike.

“While the world demands a permanent ceasefire, Israel continues its crimes. Where else is the killing of so many civilians and journalists tolerated?”

Here’s what we know

At around 10am on Monday 25 August, journalist Hossam Al Masri, 49, was operating a Reuters live stream from the top floor of Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis.

Footage from the livestream shows Hossam filming the busy market outside the hospital, before raising the camera and zooming in on a cloud of black smoke rising in the distance.

At that moment, the feed froze. Reports emerged, starting at 10.09am, of an explosion at the hospital.

Soon, footage showed smoke rising over the building, and a chunk of concrete missing from the exterior stairwell where Hossam had been filming.

Journalists and rescue workers quickly rushed to the site in search of survivors. They found two bodies, including Hossam’s.

At 10.17am, as rescue efforts continued, a second Israeli strike hit the stairwell.

Three loud bangs could be heard at the moment of impact.

Footage from the ground shows at least two projectiles impacting in quick succession, with just milliseconds between them.

An Israeli military official told the Press Association that the strikes were carried out by tanks.

Amael Kotlarski, weapons team manager at defence intelligence company Janes, told Sky News that the shape of the projectile and resulting damage is consistent with powered, precision-guided munitions such as Lahat laser-guided missiles.

These can be fired from tanks or helicopters. “The IDF is known to have stocks of the air-launched version, it is unclear if the gun-launched version were procured,” he says.

“If these Lahats were fired from the ground, then at least two tanks would have been involved, as the interval between the two impacts is far too short.”

Sky News analysis of the footage suggests that the projectiles were fired from the northeast.

Satellite imagery taken approximately five hours after the attack shows six tanks stationed at a fortified base around 2.4km northeast of the hospital, though Sky News is unable to say whether they were involved in the attack.

Why did Israel attack the hospital?

Footage filmed from the ground shows smoke billowing out of the hospital as people flee.

As the smoke cleared, rescue workers returned to the scene. What they saw is too graphic to publish – at least seven bodies scattered throughout the stairwell.

Health officials have since put the total number killed at 22, including a rescue worker, a doctor, three hospital staff and five journalists.

On Tuesday, the IDF said that Israeli troops had targeted a camera “that was positioned by Hamas in the area of the Nasser Hospital [and] that was being used to observe the activity of IDF troops”.

However, Sky News has confirmed that the initial strike hit Reuters cameraman Hossam Al Masri, who was operating a livestream for the international news agency at the time of the attack.

Footage from the aftermath of the first strike shows that it hit the top balcony on the hospital’s exterior stairwell.

Sky News was able to confirm that the livestream recorded by Hossam was taken from this balcony, based on the buildings visible and a wooden beam obstructing the camera’s field of view.

This conclusion is supported by eyewitness testimony, as well as the fact that the feed cut unexpectedly, but without showing any attack on the hospital, and that Al Masri’s death was the first to be reported, at 10.18am.

The IDF said that Al Masri was “not a target” of the strike. It did not specify whether his camera was the same one it believes was positioned and used by Hamas.

The IDF has not suggested that there was any other camera on the balcony.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, the director of Nasser Hospital, Dr Atef Al Hout, said that Hossam “was the only one on that floor in that moment”.

On Monday, Israeli outlet Channel 12 published an undated aerial photograph of a camera, shared by an anonymous military source, which Sky News matched to the same balcony.

The unnamed source pointed to a white towel placed over the camera as evidence that it was being concealed.

An undated aerial photograph showing a camera on the stairwell of Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis. Pic: Channel 12
Image:
An undated aerial photograph showing a camera on the stairwell of Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis. Pic: Channel 12

Medics and journalists at Nasser Hospital told Sky News that towels, such as the one visible in the photo, are used to prevent cameras from overheating, and this specific location is frequently used by media workers.

Reuters had been delivering daily livestreams from the position for several weeks before the attack.

And the video below, uploaded on 10 June, shows multiple journalists using the space to record video or get phone signal.

Among those visible in the video are journalists Mariam Abu Daqqa and Mohammed Salama, who were killed in Monday’s attack.

“This is among the deadliest Israeli attacks on journalists working for international media since the Gaza war began,” the Foreign Press Association said in a statement on Monday, adding the strikes came “with no warning”.

Brian Finucane, who spent a decade advising the US State Department on conflict law, says hospitals are protected from attack under international law.

“Hospitals may lose this protection if they are used to commit acts harmful to the enemy outside of their normal humanitarian function – but only if prior advance warning is given to allow for the termination of such harmful acts,” he says.

Former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Stephen Rapp told Sky News that “an independent investigation is clearly warranted”.

Sky News asked the IDF whether any advance warning was provided to the hospital, but did not receive a response to this question.

Hamas denied using the camera targeted by the IDF, describing this allegation as “a baseless allegation devoid of any evidence, intended solely to evade legal and moral responsibility for a fully-fledged massacre”.

Who was killed?

In its statement on Tuesday, the IDF said that six of those killed were “terrorists” and part of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Sky News examined social media pages and obituaries for each of these six people.

We found evidence that one of those named, Omar Abu Teim, had been a combatant.

But while obituaries by family and friends of the other five individuals all reference the attack on Nasser Hospital, those for Abu Teim do not.

A neighbour and childhood friend of Abu Teim’s told us he had died while taking part in an attack on a new IDF position east of Khan Younis – not at Nasser Hospital.

Omar Abu Teim's neighbour told Sky News that he was killed while fighting the IDF east of Khan Younis.
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Omar Abu Teim’s neighbour told Sky News that he was killed while fighting the IDF east of Khan Younis.

A Hamas-branded obituary identifies Abu Teim as a “hero of the storming of the new site” alongside four others. Sky News has not been able to verify whether Abu Teim was formally part of Hamas or a different militant group.

Ramy Abdu of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor told Sky News his team saw the Abu Teim family searching for their son’s body the day before the hospital strike, adding that the body has still not been recovered.

Abu Teim’s neighbour also said his body has not been recovered, and Gaza’s health ministry told Sky News it had not received his body in any of its hospitals.

The IDF told Sky News it was examining whether Abu Teim was killed in a separate incident.

Hamas has denied that any of its fighters were killed in the attack on Nasser Hospital.

No explanation given for second strike

The Israeli military has not explained the reason for the second strike on the stairwell, which occurred while rescue efforts were under way and caused the greatest number of deaths.

Such ‘double-tap’ strikes carry significant risks for emergency personnel and journalists, who often gather at the scene of attacks.

Sky News asked the IDF who was being targeted in the second strike, but the military did not respond to this question.

Emily Tripp, executive director of conflict monitoring group Airwars, says that double-tap strikes are something they have seen “consistently” throughout the war, although the intensity of the bombardment has made it difficult to confirm timings.

Her team has documented 24 separate double-tap strikes across Gaza since the war began.

At least 190 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Aid Worker Security Database has also documented 536 killings of aid and rescue workers as of 2 August. This number does not include the 139 reported deaths among workers from Gaza’s Civil Defence rescue agency.

Reuters did not respond to a request for comment.

Additional reporting by Freya Gibson, OSINT producer, and production by Michelle Inez Simon and Celine Al Khaldi.


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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