australia's prime minister anthony albanese and chinese premier li qiang will meet in a few hours in the first such visit by a chinese premier in seven years. england start their euro 2024 campaign in style — they win their first game of the tournament, 1—0 with serbia. and the uk the campaign for the election is now halfway — we'll be taking a look at what the second half might have in store. welcome to the programme. we begin in australia where prime minister anthony albanese and chinese premier li qiang will meet later in the first such visit by a chinese premier in seven years. trade ties, regional security and a jailed

australian writer are likely to be on the host's agenda. li is china's top—ranked official after president xi jinping. his four—day visit marks a stabilisation in relations between the us security ally and the world's second—biggest economy, after a frosty period. on sunday, mr li's visit began with some panda diplomacy at the adelaide zoo, during which mr li said he'll be sending australia two new pandas. for australia, the chinese premier is the first person holding that position to come to this country since 2017. so there's symbolism in premier li simply stepping off the plane in australia. plenty of symbolism, too, visiting those two pandas at adelaide zoo, suggesting this soft diplomacy that's at play there. also significant that he went to a winery, given that the wine trade in australia was one

of those industries hard hit by china's economic sanctions that it imposed on a range of australian commodities, beginning back in 2020. but significant challenges lie ahead. we are expecting some fairly robust political talks when the chinese premier meets the australian prime minister, mr albanese, in canberra on monday. national security, china's ambitions in the pacific, china's ambitions in the south china sea and human rights likely to be included in those talks. but for now there is optimism that australia's relationship with its most important trading partner is finally improving after years in the deep freeze. i have been speaking to a former us ambassador to china, who described the trip as very significant.— as very significant. china and australia _ as very significant. china and australia have _ as very significant. china and australia have been - as very significant. china and australia have been working | australia have been working very hard in the last several weeks to make this visit

successful. that isn'tjust pandas but also the announcement of australia being able to ship a lot more agricultural products, including wines, to china. basically it is reparation of a breach that occurred not long ago, when australia pushed china to agree to a who representative investigating the origin of the will tan virus. china said ok, we won't take your agriculture products as a result of this. —— wuhan virus. nhfic emily, this shows that countries in south ——in the south, such as china, will have to play both sides. —— importantly, this shows. this is a significant. _ importantly, this shows. this is a significant. whether that be difficult when you say they

had to play both cards? these countries have been looking at growing assertiveness from china in the south china sea, looking at taiwan — how will this pay—out was make their is national security and economic. australia is taking submarines. there is working with japan, new zealand, australia, and other countries in the region to protect american national security, but then there is also economic. these countries like to trade with each other. it is very important. 0ne like to trade with each other. it is very important. one is one. lots of agriculture products. and i was talking to a former prime minister and asked what they are doing about china and he said they love china, because china takes their steel. china is a big trading partner. we their steel. china is a big trading partner.- their steel. china is a big trading partner. we also saw this big summer— trading partner. we also saw this big summer take - trading partner. we also saw this big summer take place | trading partner. we also saw| this big summer take place in sweetland over the weekend. —— switzerland. there was

criticism of russia when it comes to ukraine. how big a role do you think that china can play in a party piece in that conflict was make china can play a role but it depends on the relationship between the us and china. it on the relationship between the us and china.— us and china. if china us pension _ us and china. if china us pension was _ us and china. if china us pension was somehow. us and china. if china us pension was somehow to i us and china. if china us - pension was somehow to ease and china was to be able to work better together, that would enable china to put more pressure on russia and ukraine and pressure on north korea, but a lot of this depends on the relationship between the us and china. because the tension between the united states and china is so great that it is difficult for the united states to exercise much leverage on china in the ukraine war. we are also seeing optics as well. there is panda diplomacy, pictures coming in. how is that going to be viewed and will that go beyond the objects and actually send the message that china wants to send? and how

will it be perceived by the west? . . , will it be perceived by the west? ., ., , ., ., will it be perceived by the west? ., ., ., ., west? pandas are important to china. there _ west? pandas are important to china. there are _ west? pandas are important to china. there are two _ west? pandas are important to china. there are two bed - west? pandas are important to china. there are two bed is - china. there are two bed is currently in australia. they will go back and they will get two new pandas. people love pandas. they love to go to the zoo is and see the pandas. that is very good. the national security relationship, the economic, politicala more important, but they help. they very much help. the good news here is it seems that australia and china are starting to patch up and china are starting to patch up a breach that occurred not too long ago. we up a breach that occurred not too long age-— up a breach that occurred not too long ago-— too long ago. we will be watching _ too long ago. we will be watching that _ too long ago. we will be watching that meeting i too long ago. we will be i watching that meeting very closely in the hours ahead in australia. but meanwhile let's also talk about football and the highly watched european championship currently on. england have beaten serbia. bellingham scored the only goal in the first half. and that is

what it did to the fans. jubilant scenes at a fans own in london as the goal went in. gareth southgate's team are one of the favourites to win the tournament. dan roan was picked side after the game. they ground out a crucial win. that was the kind of game before southgate that england may have drawn or even lost. it's a fourth time in the four major tournaments thing when england won the crucial opening game. first half, england were really good. bellingham majestic as we heard. saka as well. after the restart, serbia was much more energetic. it will worry england. they looked leggy at times. there will be debate about whether they were balance with arnold

in. but southgate will be happy they had the win. 0ur correpondentjoe inwood watched the game with england fans at a bar in london, and sent this update at full time. it wouldn't be an england performance is certainly an england win without this — the unofficial anthem coming on, and now people are relaxed, people have calmed down. but i tell you what, they weren't throughout that second half. now, as we were saying, in the first half, england had the lead in the first half. we were 1—0 up within ten, 12 minutes or so. but the second half was much, much more nervy. and although it was a great atmosphere here at brixton, it was — not subdued, but it was very, very tense — as we approached because serbia really were all over england for parts of that, and you could feel it here. people were sort of thinking after that amazing first half is, "oh no, is it old england back?" but no, they hung on. it wasn't classic in the second half. it wasn't an amazing game in the last a5, but doesn't matter — three points are three points.

and people here are very much going to be enjoying it. now, let's go to a couple of guys. we actually watched the game with these two guys here. shaq, kai, we're live on telly now, what did you make of it? i really enjoyed it, look at atmosphere, look at everybody right now, 1—0. i'm very content with it. but we could do more. we could do more. what was your prediction at the start of the game? isaid 4—0. i really believed in the team, but it's just the first game. we'll dive into more. but yeah, that's about it. kai, what were your thoughts? you were a bit more cautious. i think you said 2—0. yeah. what did you make of the performance? i really enjoyed it. the whole game is in general, i think the performance, like i said before, it's a bit shaky, but we done what we needed to do. we stood up when we needed to, and we attacked when we needed to. so yeah, need a bit more let down in the tournament. what did you make of the trent alexander—arnold role — that sort of the idea of using someone who places right back in the centre of the park. what do you make? did it work? yeah, i think it worked.

i felt like we wanted a bit more crosses from him, but kind of the way the game was going, it didn't really happen. but i feel later in the tournament, that could be very good for us. given that, given that we've got these first three points, do you reckon england are now fairly kind of sure to go through to the knockout stages? yeah, i think we should be good from here on out. just two more wins get top of the group, and we should be fine. and i come back to you, shaq, having watched the first what we've had a first of eight games played now or so, who do you think are the favourites? favourites is either france, france, portugal and finally england. that's a top three. that's my top three. i've got to say, i didn't organise this. i've not organised the music, but right on cue question now, is it coming? i'll say yesjust for the high hopes. yeah, it's coming home. it's coming home. i say this every four years, but yeah, it's coming home. there you have it. who am i to argue?

let's bring you over here. we've got — i'm going to let this gentleman come through first. we have... people have decided it is officially — one game in — it's coming home. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are alive with bbc news. now to the war in ukraine and president zelensky has said his country will hold peace talks with russia tomorrow if moscow's troops left his country but he said vladimir putin would not end the war and had to be stopped in anyway possible. he was speaking at the end of a conference in switzerland at which delegates from around 90 countries discuss proposals for peace. but some key countries that have maintained relations with moscow didn't sign the final communique. sarah rainsford reports. it was to this swiss mountain retreat that politicians came this weekend to talk peace — to discuss

ending the biggest conflict in europe since the second world war. . ., europe since the second world war. . ~' , ., , europe since the second world war. ., ~ i. , . europe since the second world war. . ., , ., , . what war. thank you very much. what they achieved — war. thank you very much. what they achieved was _ war. thank you very much. what they achieved was a _ war. thank you very much. what they achieved was a joint - they achieved was a joint declaration affirming ukraine's right not to be invaded. but some, including saudi arabia and india, didn't sign up. volodymyr zelensky is still hailing a great success, arguing the world must meet russia's full—scale invasion with full—scale diplomacy. are you worried that international support for ukraine on the battlefield, to win this on the battlefield, to win this on the battlefield is weakening, and that's why you're talking peace? translation: it is not because we _ peace? translation: it is not because we are _ peace? translation: it is not because we are weaker- peace? translation: it is not because we are weaker that - peace? translation: it is not because we are weaker that we are talking about peace. we have always called for peace. at the peak of wall we were talking about peace. we wanted the world to pressure russia to end the war and stop killing us. �* ~' . �* , end the war and stop killing us. but ukraine's forces are under pressure _ us. but ukraine's forces are under pressure on - us. but ukraine's forces are under pressure on the - under pressure on the battlefield. and ahead of the summit, vladimir putin issued his own peace proposal that was, in fact, his own peace proposal that was, infact, a his own peace proposal that was, in fact, a call for

capitulation. instead, kyiv is trying to seize the initiative. the talks here focused on the easier issues to agree on, like the need to return soldiers and civilians from russian captivity. i civilians from russian captivity-— civilians from russian captivity. civilians from russian cativi . , ., ., captivity. i was beaten and tortured — captivity. i was beaten and tortured every _ captivity. i was beaten and tortured every day, - captivity. i was beaten and tortured every day, twice. | tortured every day, twice. maxim was held for ii tortured every day, twice. maxim was held for 11 months, but he told me attempts to hammer out a peace plan now is not about abandoning the fight. we have enough people. we have enough brave to fight, and we just need weapon.— just need weapon. ukraine didn't get _ just need weapon. ukraine didn't get the _ just need weapon. ukraine didn't get the unreserved i didn't get the unreserved support here it was hoping for, but it did get the chance to stress its key message — that russia only understands strength on the battlefield, or in diplomacy. sarah ra i nsfo rd , rainsford, bbc news, lake

lucerne. and israel has announced a daily tactical pause in military activity in one part of southern gaza to let more adn. —— to let more aid in. the suspension will not apply to rafah, which is the scene of intense fighting. israeli military operations are being halted between 8am and 7pm every day along the road that leads from the kerem shalom crossing to the main salah al—din highway, which extends north through the territory. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports. allahu akbar. they stood to pray with little left standing in gaza. the festival after eid al—adha, marking another milestone in this war. those for whom conflict and celebration are new. those who have lived through both, many times before. translation: for all muslims, eid means sacrificing animals, l to shed blood, but this eid, there are no sacrificed animals. now, we sacrifice ourselves.

we sacrifice our own bodies. agencies warn a lack of aid is causing acute malnutrition in gaza. today, confusion over a limited daily truce announced by the army along a key aid route. it sparked fury from israel's far—right ministers and a rapid army response to say the fighting in gaza wouldn't stop. but the costs of this war are also pressing on israel's prime minister. 11 soldiers killed in gaza yesterday. his instruction to dismantle the hamas army has left his soldiers still facing a guerrilla war. translation: when the price is so heavy, we will remember what we are fighting for. we are fighting to ensure our existence and our future. we are fighting to return all our hostages. mr netanyahu's room for manoeuvre on gaza is narrowing.

protesters last night called again for an end to the war. but ending it now probably means an end to his government. and the rhetoric over gaza is straining to mask the reality of his choices. caught between his promise of total victory and the prospect of a forever war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. at least ilijordanian citizens have died during the hajj pilgrimage in saudi arabia due to intense heat. jordan's foreign ministry said ia of its nationals had died after suffering sun stroke due to the extreme heat wave and a further 17 had been reported missing. now, hajj is one of the largest mass gatherings in the world. more than 1.8 million pilgrims are reported to be taking part this year. firefighters in california are racing to contain a wildfire that's burned through almost fifty square kilometres in a day.

the blaze in los angeles county has forced i200 people out of the area and burned down recreational facilities. there are warnings that strong winds expected later on sunday could further fan the flames. 400 firefighters and 70 fire engines have been deployed. gently shot a man who threatened officers with a pickaxe and a molotov cocktail in hamburg just hours before the city was to hold the euro 2024 championship. as you can see, the government was injured in the leg, it is in hospital, but his condition isn't life—threatening. —— the man was.

today sees the official opening of the campaign for the french general elections which take over two sundays starting in just under two weeks. saturday was the deadline for parties to register their lists of candidates. president macron called the snap vote a week ago after the far—right national rally won a convincing victory in the european elections. let's turn to the uk and draw breath and take a look at the state of play in the federal elections. we're more than half—way through now — and the main parties have unveiled their manifestos. our political correspondent harry farley has this analysis. less than three weeks till the uk goes to the polls, just over three weeks since the uk prime minister rishi sunak called that election — earlier than expected for many people. and when he did call it, his party were facing a significant gap in the polls to the main opposition party, labour. and the conservatives, i suppose, to try and counter that, made announcement after announcement on quite

significant things like a national service for young people for example on making sure that pensioners never pay tax on the state pension. and the aim for the conservative party was to narrow that gap in the polls between them and the labour party. none have materially shifted the gap in the polls we have seen. labour have a significant lead in the polls. we are seeing across numerous polls we have seen in the past few weeks. their strategy, their tactic, i suppose, weeks. their strategy, their tactic, isuppose, we weeks. their strategy, their tactic, i suppose, we saw a manifesto launch this week, it will be one of reassurance to argue that they will offer economic stability and economic growth and really, i suppose, it is to not upset the apple cart too much. they do have a lead in the polls and want to maintain that.—

maintain that. one of the smaller _ maintain that. one of the smaller parties _ maintain that. one of the smaller parties on - maintain that. one of the smaller parties on the . maintain that. one of the i smaller parties on the right, reform uk, had a member resigned?— resigned? yes, reform uk proposing _ resigned? yes, reform uk proposing a _ resigned? yes, reform uk proposing a significant - resigned? yes, reform uk. proposing a significant threat to rishi sunak�*s conservative party, not on seats but in terms of those they could take from the conservatives. one of the candidates has resigned, grant sinclair armstrong, after comments where he appeared — where he endorsed previously the bnp, a far right party here in the uk. he apologised and said he never supported the bnp but that he had been forced to step down from the party. reform uk haven't said up their manifesto. we expect details of that tomorrow. that is one of the conservatives that rishi sunak�*s conservatives face, suna k�*s conservatives face, reform sunak�*s conservatives face, reform uk, led by nigel farage, a prominent and successful campaign in many ways, here in the uk, is squeezing the vote on the right, and rishi sunak

will be looking, i think, do notjust attack labour public policies over the next few weeks but to squeeze and persuade voters who are tempted to vote for reform uk to come back to his party, to the conservatives.— back to his party, to the conservatives. �* , ., , conservatives. and 'ust as we wra - conservatives. and 'ust as we wrap up. i conservatives. and 'ust as we wrap up. what — conservatives. and 'ust as we wrap up, what are _ conservatives. and just as we wrap up, what are the - conservatives. and just as we wrap up, what are the partiesj wrap up, what are the parties now focusing on from monday forwards?— now focusing on from monday forwards? ., ., ., ., forwards? tomorrow, the main opposition _ forwards? tomorrow, the main opposition party _ forwards? tomorrow, the main opposition party labour- forwards? tomorrow, the main opposition party labour of- opposition party labour of focusing on economic plans and we will see that the rest of the week. rachel reeves, the shadow chancellor, she will be setting targets for business investment she was to get in the uk. i mentioned earlier the shift in tactics that we are seeing from the conservatives where the conservatives have announced most of their main policies. we aren't expecting any major new policy announcements. instead they're announcements. instead they�* re on announcements. instead they're on attacking the labour party. so they have an announcement out tomorrow attacking labour public plans on energy in particular, arguing that scrapping oil and gas licenses in the north sea would risk tax

revenues. laboursay in the north sea would risk tax revenues. labour say that is rubbish and they are claiming a windfall tax on these companies would increase tax revenue. but that will give you a flavour of the debate that we are expecting over the next few weeks. most parties have their manifesto is out, most policies announce, so we're moving to the part of the campaign where parties are attacking other public policies rather than outlining new ones of their own. staying with the uk, a father's day tribute to prince william, featuring a picture of him in norfolk with his three children has been posted on social media. it includes a public message from prince george, princess charlotte and prince louis saying "we love you papa" on the accounts for the prince and princess of wales. our correspondent charlotte gallagher told us more about the image. it was taken in norfolk on a beach. the family members, the prince of wales and his

three children, prince louis, prince george and princess charlotte, have their backs to the camera. they're looking out to sea. they're all dressed very casually. prince william in a baseball cap and a hoodie. and then the message that accompanies the photo is actually the first time the children have posted a message on social media. and it reads, "we love you, papa. happy father's day". then there's two little pink loveheart emojis, and then they've got their three initials. so really lovely, sweet, casual, relaxed family photo. so prince william also issued a tribute to his father, who, of course, is king charles. and the photo is from 1984, and it's when prince william was a toddler. it's taken in the grounds of kensington palace, and they're playing with a football, probably a nod to england's game today, i think. and itjust really shows you as well how royal photos have changed, because the one that was taken by the princess of wales and posted today of the three children and their father is very relaxed, it's very casual, but the one from nearly 40 years ago is a lot more formal. prince charles, as he was then,

wearing a suit and shoes. you wouldn't probably see him back then doing a photo with a baseball cap on and a hoodie. all right, that is all for now. but before we go, i want to tell you about an unusual chase for some police officers in the united states. look at this. newly released body can video shows sebastopol, california, police chasing a piglet. after being cornered in a side yard, it was eventually caught, taken into custody and eventually reunited with its mother. it was quite a chase. you can find more on the stories we are tracking on the bbc news website. that is all for now for newsday. stay with bbc news. hello. sunday was a day of contrasts. we had some warmer weather than we've had for nearly two weeks where the sun shone —

22 degrees in southern areas — that's average, but a cool 12 degrees under that band of cloud and rain. now, that band of cloud and rain is all associated with this area of low pressure, which has been around since friday. thursday, friday, infact, it's sinking southwards — the band of rain — as the low pressure starts to pull away. so we will find that it turns a little lighter, the rain, as it drifts its way southwards, but still a few heavy bursts on it, a lot of cloud and some messiness over the hills. to the north of that, a few showers, but quite cool forjune and cool in southern areas. first thing might be a little bit of dawn mist, but some sunshine. now, gradually through the day, that band of rain will sink southwards and start to break up. so allowing some drier, brighter weather, but could be the focal point for some of the heavy showers, rumbles the thunder, and there will be quite

a cluster of showers following on behind to scotland, northern ireland. but in contrast to sunday, temperatures will get to around about 17 or 18, and still pretty warm further south. and those sorts of temperatures around about the average. it's not promised to dry — there'll still be a good scattering of heavy showers around — but at least with the strong june sunshine in between, we are seeing temperatures or realising temperatures where they should be for the time of year. but a subtle change to the northerly again across the northern half of the uk through sunday night and into — sorry — through monday night and into tuesday. and so it will be again a tad on the cool side tuesday morning. but we're watching developments also in the south. later monday and into tuesday, this could brush, certainly cloud if not rain across the channel islands into the south of england. but this ridge of high pressure through the week should keep many places drier than they have been for a while and allow some more sunshine, so it'll feel warmer. but you can see the potential for the blanket of cloud across southern areas, possibly some rain. showers still with us, particularly in central and northern areas, one or two heavy ones as well on that northerly breeze. so it could actually be a bit cooler on tuesday again for northern scotland, but again, not too bad — temperatures getting to around the average

for the time of year. and that's the way it's set to stay for the rest of the week, but certainly not promising it dry. there'll be some showers around and that risk of rain both for the north and the far south. so you can, as ever, stay up to date on the website. but it does look a little drier and a little warmer as we go through this week.

from pandas to wine, chinese premier li qiang

is in australia four a four—day visit to stabilise trade ties. this as the world's number two economy continues its uneven recovery. we get a preview of crucial economic data due today. hello, and welcome to business today. i'm arunoday mukharji. chinese premier li qiang is in australia for a four—day visit omitted warming ties between both countries. he is in the capital city of canberra where he will be meeting with prime minister anthony albanese. these are visuals from a short while but when the premier arrived. he kicked off his four—day trip on sunday with a stop at the adelaide zoo to visit a perro panders on loan from china. he also met with foreign minister penny wong and a number of south australian wine exporters. china is currently australia's

largest trading partner. last year, two—way trade with china grew over 9%