welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm arunoday mukharji. lets get you 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. how is madagascar fighting illegal trafficking? we speak to the environment minister in the effort in setting up an international task force to come back. 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 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. the first such agreement with the country in the pacific region. 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. backin back in 2022, two days after russia's invasion, members of the g7 and european union work together to freeze $280 billion in russian and central bank funds outside of russia. i'm very pleased to share that this week, this week, the g7 side of the plant to finalise and unlock $50 billion from the proceeds of those frozen assets. to put that money to work for ukraine and other reminded to putin that we are not backing down and in fact, we are standing together against this illegal aggression. against this illegal an uression. , f, aggression. president zelensky thanked them _ aggression. president zelensky thanked them for _ aggression. president zelensky thanked them for his _ aggression. president zelensky | thanked them for his leadership role in the g7 decision on the $15 billion agreement. it’s role in the g7 decision on the $15 billion agreement.- $15 billion agreement. it's a vital step _ $15 billion agreement. it's a vital step forward _ $15 billion agreement. it's a vital step forward in - $15 billion agreement. it's a i vital step forward in providing sustainable support for ukraine in winning these water. the russian immobilised assets

should be used for defending lies of ukraine and from russian tear and from repeating the damage aggressor caused ukraine its fear and absolutely right. 0ur 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 that they will all be here next year. what they've tried to do todayis 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 their out of office. the sense of that was this idea of using frozen russian assets to try and generate a loan for ukraine. what as much as $50 billion, using the interest that all the russian acid is generating to pay off this new loan in a technical complicated deal. there's also been various other agreements, the united

states and japan have agreed new security agreements with ukraine, the uk has promised a bit more money and is widens and sanctions of the back of some more sanctions that the americans announced yesterday, all designed to tackle third carp parties and otherfirms that are basically dodging existing sanctions to try and support russia's economy. but of course, there is problems with this. the detail, on the russia — russian assets, not entirely clear who's going to bear the risk, it's not entirely clear where those loans are going to be generated so it's a little bit more detail to be negotiated and some officials are saying it's still not entirely clear when that cash will actually reach ukraine so essentially today, it's a big show of support by the world's richest tomography is for ukraine to try and send the message, president biden said to president putin that you cannot wait us out, you won't divide us. it's not clear yet is how much this will

actually change minds in the kremlin. 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. i'v e i've been speaking to the former australian and bassett out to china. == former australian and bassett out to china.— out to china. -- ambassador. it's the first _ out to china. -- ambassador. it's the first time _ out to china. -- ambassador. it's the first time leather - out to china. -- ambassador. it's the first time leather the | it's the first time leather the chinese leader has visited new zealand before visiting australia. in the past, australia. in the past, australia was always first in new zealand and reflects a and importance in the relationship so this is a clear case of beijing signalling to canberra and wellington howard views the

way in which the relationship has been managed in recent years. has been managed in recent ears. �* , , ., years. it's the first time that we see to — years. it's the first time that we see to australia - years. it's the first time that we see to australia from - years. it's the first time that l we see to australia from china since 2017, the difference on how the previous morrison government dealt with china and now the albanese government has chosen to see things, what does beijing hope to get out of this visit? , ., . , visit? first of all, the visit is significant _ visit? first of all, the visit is significant that - visit? first of all, the visit is significant that seven i visit? first of all, the visit is significant that seven a | is significant that seven a high level visit, from the 19805, high level visit, from the 1980s, australia and china have reciprocal high—level visits up until 2017. reciprocal high—level visits up until2017. so, reciprocal high—level visits up until 2017. so, this is the first time that he had an opportunity to engage at this level and i think his issues would be ensuring that australia is continuing to be a stable and reliable supply of resources and energy. i think the chinese has concerned about australia for an investment regime and will be urging on this chilling government for transparency, predictability and nondiscrimination.

certainly, will be running australia to reinforce its existing one china policy and it will raise concerns about the aukus nuclear powers arrangements.— arrangements. those are beijing's_ arrangements. those are beijing's expectations, i arrangements. those are i beijing's expectations, what about australia? china is a crucial trading partner but on the other, australia is forging a military ties with us to counter beijing's drawing influence and presence in the asia—pacific, is a tough pipe — tight walk? in asia-pacific, is a tough pipe - tight walk?— tight walk? in the seven years since the _ tight walk? in the seven years since the last _ tight walk? in the seven years since the last chinese - tight walk? in the seven years since the last chinese leader i since the last chinese leader visited australia, thejoe political tension in the region has risen massively. at australia far in the centre. of this great geopolitical competition playing out between the united states and china. we have always traditionally found a security within the united states, china has been for more than a decade by far australia's largest trading partner. so, it's a very difficult path for the strong government to walk and under

pressure from both sides. let's ta ke let's take you to washington, dc where there's been a victory for abortion rights activist after the us supreme court justice unanimously upheld the right to use a widely available abortion bill. —— 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 anonymous session is not involved in taking any kind of moral safety position on mifepristone, rather they argue that there was no legal standing to hear the case. what that means essentially is their viewpoint is look, to the plaintiffs, we know your moral legal and ideological objectives to the drug but you haven't proven that you have suffered any concrete or serious injuries as a result of mifepristone, and the abortion doctors organisations about this case prescribe the drug or

user. and so, this legal standing was summed up by justice kavanagh who wrote this opinion using a doctorate that was by a former consecutive said, what is it to you and the plaintiffs had no argument to make against that. so, basically, the merit of the case won't even looked at. having said that, anti—abortion activists are likely to regroup and find another way to bring the case of the supreme court. it's important to note that this ruling change anything so, these abortion pills are still illegal in the 1a states that have near total abortion bounce and that's where there is a ban through on the procedure or on the pills. we know that abortion is very potent issue going into the presidential election, we have seen that the petition that democrats have

taken is in line with the public opinion two years on sense ray v wade was overturned so paul suggest that most americans do believe in abortion rights, that you believe in medicated abortion rights, broadly speaking. i think for republicans, they dodged a slightly toxic issue, if the ruling had gone another way given that we are heading in towards a very tight presidential race. the general election, labor has published its manifesto, sir keir starmer outline proposals promising that wealth creation would be his number one priority if he became prime minister. he read to read a previously announced policies including 40,000 more in hs appointments in england and there was a promise not to raise personal taxation or the value added tax sales tax except on private schools. chris mason with more. 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 grab for a 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. 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.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are life with bbc news. —— live. 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 40 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. donald trump returned to capitol hill in washington on thursday for his first visit since the january 6 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. so what's happening to our country is of great concern to the group of people standing alongside of 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, love our country beyond just about all else and the only thing that may be supersedes it is their family and may be their faith supersedes it is their family and may be theirfaith in certain instances and that's very nice but they want this country to be great again and will make it great again. a task force designed to share information and fight against illegal wildlife traffic and has been set up between southeast asian nations, madagascar and into paul, it comes a month after authorities in bangkok airport arrested several individuals on suspicion of animal trafficking, six lemurs and thousands of turtles coming from madagascar were found in the luggage and have been speaking to the environment

minister and started by asking him, why demand was high for these animals across southeast asia. ., ,., _, , asia. there are some countries 'ust asia. there are some countries just want _ asia. there are some countries just want to — asia. there are some countries just want to pared _ asia. there are some countries just want to pared the - asia. there are some countries just want to pared the animals | just want to pared the animals for instance, for the totals, some cultures believe that as this totals live long time, there are a sign of good luck and sign of good health for the house that will pat them but for the same animal, under the country, we believe that they have value, they edit in soups for instance so, as i said, it's really different for the lemurs, some countriesjust lemurs, some countries just wants lemurs, some countriesjust wants to pet them, to private families houses, some want to put them in zoos, so we cannot say it's only for one purpose,

is for a different purpose and there are many different cultures in southeastern asia and our goal is really to reduce the demand. that's one t in: to reduce the demand. that's one trying to understand, - reduce the demand. that's one trying to understand, how- reduce the demand. that's one trying to understand, how is i trying to understand, how is this happening, is it a question of weak border controls? are they robust enough and how did you intend to tighten the infrastructure to tighten the infrastructure to avoid this?— to tighten the infrastructure to avoid this? madagascar is the four biggest _ to avoid this? madagascar is the four biggest island - to avoid this? madagascar is the four biggest island in - to avoid this? madagascar is| the four biggest island in the world with more than 5000 kilometres of marine borders and of course, it is difficult to protected and the government is strengthening our strategy to protect our borders, we have new ways they can help us like drones for instance, we are also strengthening the control in the surveillance around our national perks —— parks, raising awareness with the

local population living in the national parks all around them. and as one of your strategies, you've recently died up with southeast asian nations and you're also created a task force, what are you planning to achieve by way of that? what are some of the hard deliverables that you are hoping this will achieve? fine hoping this will achieve? one word is hoping this will achieve? que: word is collaboration. we've hoping this will achieve? i2 word is collaboration. we've —— with all the law enforcement with all the law enforcement with madagascar, thailand, peru and malaysia, indonesia, taiwan, we decided to create an international task force because it's not a network that is only working or acting in one country, there is many branches in all of these countries and the goal of this task force is to share the information about the investigation because they are

links amongst these countries, amongst the smugglers and these countries so you can for instance, follow the money, follow the transfers that are being done into this countries and each country has some information and if we gather all of this information, only then we have a chance to be able to really fight this network at the roots and we can share the result of our local investigation and meet regularly, could be physically or online to keep updated each of our countries frequent. 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 muscles 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's 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... was 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. these 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. # there's nothing ifear... 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. that's also now but stay on with bbc news, thank you for watching. —— all for now.

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 brighter for 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 want to start off by saying i love you guys. tesla shareholders back a multi billion dollar pay package for elon musk, endorsing his leadership of the electric vehicle company. can tech giants mitigate the environmental impact of energy hungry data centres? hello and welcome to business today. i'm arunoday mukharji. let's get to the big story we have been tracking. 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. welcome to the tesla shareholder meeting.

i just want to start off by saying, hot