welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines... the us and ukraine sign a ten year security agreement following the g7�*s approval of a plan to use profits from seized russia assets to fund kyiv�*s war efforts. a victory for pro—choice activists — us supreme court rejects a challenge to the use of the abortion drug, mifepristone. and... she's one of the world's best known singers, but had to cancel a raft of tour dates because of an autoimmune disease. celine dion tells us she's determined to perform again.

welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in italy, where president biden and ukraine's leader volodymyr zelensky have signed a ten year security agreement following the g7�*s approval of a plan to use profits from seized russia assets to fund kyiv�*s war effort. joe biden said it would include intelligence sharing, troop training, adhering to nato standards and investment in ukraine's industrial base to make more weapons. mr zelensky described it as a bridge towards nato membership. the g7 deal sees a loan of $50—billion sent to ukraine. the group leaders agreed it showed moscow that ukraine's allies weren't backing down and president putin couldn't

simply sit the war out. back in 2022, two days after russia's invasion, members of the g7 european union worked together to freeze $280 billion in russian central bank funds outside of russia. i'm very pleased to share that this week, this week, the g7 signed a plan to finalise, unlock, $50 billion from the proceeds of those frozen assets. to put their mind to work for ukraine and another reminder to putin that we're not backing down. in fact, we're standing together against this illegal aggression. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is at the summit in italy — he gave us this analysis. many of the g7 leaders are facing electoral troubles at home. there is no guarantee they will all be here next year. what they've tried to do today is to agree a package of measures of support for ukraine that will last for the long term, potentially after they are out of office. the centre of that was this idea of using frozen russian app idea of using frozen russian app dues assets to try and generate a loan for ukraine worth as much as $50 billion,

using the interest that all that russian asset is generating to pay off this new loan in a technical, complicated deal. there's various other agreements, the united states and japan have agreed security agreements with ukraine, the uk is promise more money and has widened some sanctions. that's off the back of more sanctions that the americans announced yesterday. all designed to tackle third parties, countries and firms basically dodging existing sanctions to try and support russia's economy. but of course there's problems with theirs. the detail on the russian assets, it's not entirely clear who is going to bear the risk. it's not entirely clear where those loans or can be generated. it's a little bit more detail to be negotiated. some officials say it's still not entirely rudely clear when that cash will reach ukraine. essentially today is a big show of support by the worlds

richest democracies for ukraine to try and send a message to president putin that you can't wait us out, you won't divide us. it's not clear yet how much this will change minds in the kremlin. ukraine has also signed a 10—year security agreement with japan on the sidelines of the g7 summit. it is he first such agreement with a country in the pacific region. kyoko imai— is the associate director with the indo—pacific security initiative of the atlantic council's scowcroft center for strategy and security — and she told me more about the importance of this deal. this is incredibly important. it's obviously a long term security agreement, ten years long. but this is very important forjapan as well, because, as you know, we have an article in our constitution, article nine, which forbids the use of force. so it's renouncing war as a means of settling international disputes. but despite this, japan has signed this agreement to provide support for ukraine through non—lethal measures.

so doing as much as it can to support ukraine without going into lethal measures, so including the treatment of injured service members helping with reconstruction. and so this indicates japan's commitment to ukraine and commitment to the g7 and the commitment to uphold the rule of law and humanitarian principles that all of the g7 countries share. the ukraine peace conference that's coming up in switzerland this weekend will be attended by prime minister kishida and dozens of other world leaders. president zelensky says the goals will include nuclear and food security and the return of ukrainian children from russia. but the question is, is there much potential for a peace summit without russian involvement? i think it's definitely difficult to do a peace summit without the other side of a conflict. so i think there can be ideas thrown out with the g7 countries who obviously are very rich and powerful

liberal democracies. and so i think the idea of having the peace summit is for the g7 countries to kind of show to the world their continued commitment to the role rule of law, international rules based order. and so despite not being able to bring russia to the table, it's really important to continue having these discussions and trying to encourage as many participants as possible throughout the globe to support ukraine's war effort. very briefly, ukraine is also in need of high tech weaponry and equipment. could this agreement open the door to more advanced japanese hardware being used on the battlefield? i think it certainly could. there's definitely limitations given article nine that we previously discussed, but i think there are definitely different ways that japan can continue to provide support with technologies, with reconstruction and support on the ground without actively providing armed weaponry.

there's vehicles that can be provided without actually contributing the war effort, but supporting the soldiers that are on the ground. to washington dc now where there's been a victory for abortion rights activists — after us supreme courtjustices unanimously upheld the right to use a widely available abortion pill, mifepristone. the court rejected a bid by a group of anti—abortion doctors and activists to restrict access, saying they had no legal grounds. 0ur north america correspondent, nomia iqbal has more. this is a major victory for those who believe in abortion rights, so this is... this involves a drug called mifepristone, what that means essentially is that their viewpoint is low, to the plaintiffs, we know their moral legal and objected to the drug but you haven't proven that you haven't suffered any

concrete or serious injuries as a result. none of the anti—abortion organisations that brought prescribed the drug 0hl use it. this legal doctrine was summed up by justice cavanaugh using a doctrine articulated byjustice scalia who said what is it to you. the plaintiffs had no argument to make against that. basically the merits of the case weren't even looked at. having said that, anti—abortion activists are very likely to regroup and find another way to bring the case to the supreme court. it's important to know that this ruling doesn't change anything. these abortion pills are still illegal in the 14 states that have near total abortion bands. that's whether there is a ban through procedure on dues or pills. we

know abortion is a potent issue going into the presidential election. we've seen the position that democrats have taken is pretty much in line with the public opinion two years old, since roe v wade was overturned. there's a poll to suggest that most americans do believe in abortion rights. they do believe in medicated abortion rights. broadly speaking for republicans they probably dodged a slightly toxic issue if the ruling had gone another way. and given that we're headed towards a tight presidential race. donald trump returned to capitol hill in washington on thursday for his first visit since the january the sixth riot by his supporters in 2021. he arrived in washington to chants from a small crowd of protestors holding signs saying �*failed coup�* and �*democracy forever�*. at a news conference, the presumptive republican nominee for president said there had been strong party unity in his meetings with republican lawmakers, when he discussed his agenda

for a second term in office. what's happening to our country is of great concern to the group of people standing alongside me and ijust wanted to say that we have great unity, we have great common sense, a lot of very smart people in this room and a lot of people that love our country, they love our country beyond just about all else, and the only thing that may be superseded it is their family and maybe theirfaith in a certain... that's very nice, but they want this country to be great again and we're going to make great again. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

in the campaigning in the uk general election — labour has published its manifesto. sir keir starmer outlined the proposals — promising

that wealth creation would be his number one priority if he became prime minister. he also reiterated previously announced policies — including 40—thousand more nhs appointments each week in england. and there was a promise not to raise personal taxation or the vat sales tax, except on private schools. 0ur poitical editor chris mason reports. the labour movement's past and perhaps its future. it's been a good week for the printing trade, all these manifestos. leader of the labour party... keir starmer was here at the head office of the cooperative almost 18 months ago, to start setting out his vision for government. and, as if to underline there would be no surprises today, he was back again. wealth creation is our number one priority. growth is our core business — the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. not everyone in here was convinced. it's the same

old tory policies! point made, it was an early escorted departure for her, as sir keir responded... we gave up on being a party of protest five years ago. the labour leader said his own upbringing meant he understood the reality of many families�* lives. i know what it feels like to be embarrassed to bring your mates home, because the carpet is threadbare and the window�*s cracked. i was actually responsible for that, because i did put a football through it. and he emphasised his promise on tax. we will not raise income tax. we will not raise national insurance. we will not raise vat. that is a manifesto commitment. "hmm, but what about other taxes," i thought? "i�*ll ask him about that later." and another thing — because there may be some people here today who say, "where�*s the surprise? "where�*s the rabbit

out of the hat?" to which i say, "if you want politics as pantomime, "i hear clacton is nice this time of year." laughter. that, a joke at nigel farage�*s expense. this was keir starmer�*s conclusion. i invite you all tojoin our mission to stop the chaos, turn the page, and start to rebuild our country. thank you so much. right in the thick of it now — let�*s see who we can grabfora word. rachel reeves, what happens if growth doesn�*t happen? well, i reject this idea that we can't be any better than we are today. are you going to win? well, no votes have been cast yet, and we're certainly not complacent. we're fighting for every single vote. is there enough in here to excite people? because there�*s nothing new, is there? this is a serious programme to deliver the change - this country needs. are you going to win? a single vote has not been cast. i we are fighting hard for every vote. - we take nothing for granted. you�*ve nailed that script, haven�*t you? delivered itjust like that.

plenty here have a message to deliver, by hand and by bus. next stop, crewe, in cheshire — and that question i want to put to keir starmer. you�*ve been explicit about income tax, national insurance, and vat. what about capital gains tax, fuel duty and council tax? you�*ve not been quite as explicit on those? well, what we�*ve is set out our plans in our manifesto, which is a manifesto full of hope and change for the future... but you�*re not being specific about those, are you? so the plans in our manifesto are set out — none of them require tax rises over and above the specific ones that we have set out well in advance actually of the manifesto. what is the plan, in those opening weeks and months, if you get the chance to serve? to earn every vote, taking nothing for granted. we�*ll start the work on 40,000 appointments in the nhs to clear our backlog on waiting lists. we�*ll start the work on setting up great british energy, setting up our border security command, starting to recruit

the 6,500 teachers we need, and starting to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood police. they are all step one — that will be the day after the election we start on that, sleeves rolled up, hitting the ground running. there is still, though, plenty of road to trundle over in this campaign. polling day is three weeks today. chris mason, bbc news, at the mornflake stadium, in crewe. also on thursday, the welsh nationalists, plaid cmyru, launched their manifesto. it offered what it called a positive vision for wales — and said it would fight for fairer central funding for its devolved government. by by ideology, it�*s driven by principal, what is right. remember there is nothing whatsoever that is inevitable about our poverty as a nation. nothing intrinsic to a people, which is we cannot create a

five to eight thriving economy and world—class services given the tools that we need. so to the tools that we need. so to the next uk government we say this— show you are serious about wales and resolve the long—standing fair funding issue. let�*s turn to the middle east now — and there have been clashes in israel away from gaza — as well as in the palestinian territory itself. residents say israeli helicopters launched attacks in the southern city of rafah on thursday. there were also reports of street battles in the area — and hundreds more people fled, to escape the fighting. in the occupied west bank, israeli forces carried out a raid in the town of qabatiya. three palestinians were killed — the israeli army says that two of them were �*senior terrorists�*, although no palestinian group has yet acknowledged that claim. and in the north, in the occupied golan heights, the militant group hezbollah said it had attacked military targets in israel with rockets and drones. it says it was in retaliation for an israeli strike which killed one of its commanders.

israel said that most of the projectiles had been intercepted. with more on that — here�*s our correspondent injerusalem — hugo bachega. it was a very short statement by the israeli military, again saying that a0 rockets had been fired. then they said that there were five suspicious aerial targets, possibly drones that had been fired by hezbollah. a number of those objects were intercepted by air defenses, but some of them hit open areas in northern israel. and as you can see, it is very dry, very hot here in jerusalem. and it is a very similar situation in the north of the country. so again, there have been fires sparked by those rockets, also by debris from the interceptions. apparently, two people have been injured as a result of those attacks, but concerns have been high that these attacks by israel and hezbollah could escalate into a major confrontation between israel and the group.

hezbollah is supported by iran. the group has been saying that it is supporting hamas in gaza and that any kind of ceasefire in gaza will be observed in lebanon as well. but the reality is that the rhetoric here in israel has escalated in recent weeks. senior government officials have been saying that the military is prepared to fight another war, and they�*ve been saying that if diplomacy fails to reach a deal with hezbollah, they�*re going to use the military option against the group. chinese premier li qiang is due to head to australia this week after wrapping up a two—day tour of new zealand. his arrival in adelaide on saturday will mark the first visit to australia by a chinese premier since 2017. recent years have seen a softening of tensions between beijing and canberra,

with australian prime minister anthony albanese opting for a more cooperative approach to china compared to his predecessor — scott morrison. let�*s speak to geoff raby, a former australian ambassador to china between 2007 and 2011. thank you for your time. it is significant that he�*s chosen new zealand as his first stop before australia. what do you make of that messaging? i think this is the first _ make of that messaging? i think this is the first time _ make of that messaging? i think this is the first time ever - make of that messaging? i think this is the first time ever a - this is the first time ever a senior chinese leader has visited new zealand before visiting australia. in the past australia it was always first and then new zealand and that reflects the relative size and the importance of the relationship. i think this is a clear case of beijing�*s signalling to kevin r and wellington how —— canberra how the relationship has been managed in recent years. it�*s managed in recent years. it's the first type _

managed in recent years. it's the first type profile visit since 2017. there is a difference how the previous morrison government dealt with china and how the government has chosen to see things. what has chosen to see things. what has beijing hope to get out of this visit? ~ , ., ., this visit? well, first of all i think this visit? well, first of all i think the _ this visit? well, first of all i think the visit _ this visit? well, first of all i think the visit is - i think the visit is significant. seven years at a high level visit for that from the 19805 australia and china have reciprocal visits up until 2017. this is the first time that premier li qiang decided to engage at this level in australia. i think he�*s keen and ensuring that australia continues to be a stable and reliable supplier of resource and energy. i think the chinese have concerns about au5tralia have concerns about australia is far as investment regime and will be urging government for transparency, predictability and non—discrimination. certainly we will be wanting au5tralia certainly we will be wanting australia to reinforce its existing one china policy for

that and we will certainly rai5e that and we will certainly raise concerns about the nuclear powered submarine arrangements.— arrangements. those are beijing's_ arrangements. those are beijing's expectation - arrangements. those are beijing's expectation forl arrangements. those are i beijing's expectation for the beijing�*s expectation for the australia, what about beijing military ties with countering beijing�*s growing influence in asia pacific? is at its height to enact tough tight rope to walk? ~ , ,., , , walk? absolutely. in the seven ears walk? absolutely. in the seven years since _ walk? absolutely. in the seven years since the _ walk? absolutely. in the seven years since the last _ walk? absolutely. in the seven years since the last chinese . years since the last chinese leader visited au5tralia years since the last chinese leader visited australia the geopolitical tension in the region has risen massively. au5tralia find5 region has risen massively. au5tralia finds itself right in the centre of this great geopolitical competition playing out between the united states and china. we have always treated security in the united states and china has been for more than a decade by far au5tralia�*5 been for more than a decade by far australia�*s largest trading partner. it is a very difficult path for the australian government to walk. it�*s under pressure from both sides.

government to walk. it's under pressure from both sides. geoff rab , we pressure from both sides. geoff raby. we will— pressure from both sides. geoff raby, we will have _ pressure from both sides. geoff raby, we will have to _ pressure from both sides. geoff raby, we will have to leave - pressure from both sides. geoff raby, we will have to leave it i raby, we will have to leave it there. thank you for your time. she�*s one of the world�*s best known female vocalists, but a year ago celine dion was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome. it�*s an auto immune disease which causes her muscle5 to spasm, seriously affecting her abilty to sing. now a new documentary explains why she�*s been away from the limelight. 0ur la correspondent emma vardy went to meet celine dion. ready? she is one of the most powerful vocalists in the music industry. but celine dion�*5 announcement more than a year ago left fans wondering whether she would ever perform again. i�*ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder. i came to meet celine in las vegas where she has been recovering and she described how her vocal problems began on tour. my voice needed to... wa5 struggling, i was starting to push a little bit.

for just an example... # the whispers in the morning. i was more doing... # the whispers in the morning. pushing it. you�*re pushing. despite the warning signs, she had tried to keep the show on the road. the5e shows were sold out for a year and a half, going around the globe and... i�*m going to say to people, "excuse me about my spasm"? 0uch! the condition stiff person syndrome is an autoimmune disease that causes muscles to spasm. but it can be managed. what are your hopes for performing again? i will have to be rehabilitate vocally. # on my own. celine dion is synonymous with las vegas.

her residences here lasted 16 years and were the bestselling series of vegas concerts of all time, and it�*s here where she says she�*s determined to make her return. i�*m, i�*ll be on stage. i don�*t know when exactly but trust me, i will. i will scream it out loud. the timing is unclear, but she�*s determined that audiences will hear her distinctive and much loved voice again. emma vardy, bbc news, las vegas. japanese rail operators have announced the retirement of the much loved yellow—coloured bullet trains which run along the country�*s high— speed lines to test track conditions. the two elusive trains — known as doctor yellow — have become legendary among enthusiasts who believe a sighting brings good luck. from next year they�*ll start to be replaced by cars added to regular passenger bullet train services. that�*s all for now — stay with bbc news.

hello there. just starting off with confirmation of probably what you already know. so far this month, it has been cold, temperatures running about two degrees celsius below average. and i suppose on thursday, a case in point, we had a lot of cloud around outbreaks of rain and quite widely temperatures of around four or five degrees below average for the time of year. one exception, northern scotland, where we had some sunny skies and also temperatures were a bit above average, but otherwise it was a disappointing day on thursday, thanks to this area of cloud and rain, an area of low pressure. an area of low pressure that you�*re going to get really quite bored with over the next few days because it will still be on our charts through friday, through saturday, through sunday, and it�*s still there even into monday. so we�*re looking at a stuck weather pattern with loads of showers around. now, looking at the weather picture friday morning, we start off on a mild note, probably a bit of sunshine for eastern areas to start off with and dry weather.

showers get going from the west from the word go and the showers become really extensive through the day, some of them heavy with hail and thunder. more general outbreaks of rain for northern scotland, particularly in the morning, where it�*s also going to be windy and cold, temperatures around 12 or 13 degrees here. 0therwise, temperatures staying well below average, in any case, around 15 to 18 degrees for most of us. now through friday evening, there will be some further showers coming and going, particularly across western areas. might have some more general outbreaks of rain here by the end of friday night and the start of saturday morning. saturday, the same area of low pressure is with us, probably something a bit brighterfor a time across western scotland, but some heavy rain for eastern scotland. the winds picking up across southern counties of england with gusts running into the 45 miles an hour. that�*s going to make it feel a little on the cool side as well. and if that weren�*t enough through the afternoon, there�*ll be loads of showers around again, some of them heavy with hail and thunder. across the board our temperatures below average forjune. little change really through sunday.

this time, though, it looks like we could see some heavier bursts of rain working across northern ireland into northern england and scotland. thundery showers developing elsewhere with some sunny spells in between so it won�*t be raining all day across the midlands, wales, east anglia, southern england. but the temperatures for most areas continue to run a little below average for the time of year. however, for a couple of days next week, it looks like temperatures will get closer to average, but it doesn�*t last long. it turns cooler later in the week. showers never far away.

i went to start off by saying... hot damn, i love you, guy. tesla shareholders back a multi billion dollar pay package for elon musk, endorsing his leadership of the electric vehicle company. plus: can tech giants mitigate the environmental impact of energy hungry data centres? hello and welcome to business today. i�*m arunoday mukharji tesla shareholders have approved a $56 billion pay package for elon musk at the electric vehicle maker�*s annual meeting. it�*s a major vote of confidence in the billionaire�*s leadership. but mr musk still faces several legal and operational challenges. in a moment we�*ll take a closer look at why. but first, here�*s erin delmore with the latest.