us presidentjoe biden capped off this year's nato summit in washington, with a speech and news conference running nearly an hour. he touched on a number of world issues, including china. mr biden says he and chinese president xijinping have had an open line of communication since the chinese balloon incident over the us last year. speaking about vladimir putin, president biden said he had no good reason to speak to putin, until the russian president changes his behavior. he also spoke about his own prospects for re—election, saying he was prepared to deal with world leaders for years to come. now, a future american policy is up to the american people. this is much more than a political question. it's more than that. it's a national security issue. don't reduce this to the usual testament that people talk about issues of being a political campaign — it is far too important. it's about the world we live in for decades to come.

every american must ask herself or himself, is the world safer with nato? are you safer? is your family safer? i believe the american people know the answer to all those questions is yes. and i believe the american people understand that america is stronger, stronger because of our alliances. i believe the american consensus from truman, to reagan, to me, still holds today. america cannot retreat from the world. we must lead the world we're an indispensable nation. president biden's speeches are being closely watched after concerns arose about his mental fitness after his performance at the recent presidential debate. he delivered a scripted remarks where he praised nato and the work being done. but during questioning from reporters, he mistakenly misnamed his vice president, kamala harris. my question for you is, how are you incorporating these developments into your decision

to stay and separately, what concerns do you have about vice president harris's ability to beat donald trump if you were at the top of the ticket? look, i would not have picked vice president trump to be vice president if i did not think she was qualified to be president. so let's starts there. number one. the fact is that the consideration is that i think i'm the most qualified person to run for president. i beat him once and i will beat him again. president biden's press conference appeared to go smoothly after that. but it comes just hours after he mistakenly introduced ukranian president zelensky on stage as russian president putin. he quickly corrected himself. joining me now is foreign affairs journalist, christina ruffini. you have been watching all of the action tonight. thank you for sticking around with us.

president biden really was using this press conference as an opportunity to make the case for why he is the best person both here in the us and with leaders abroad to represent america as president. the bar was not that _ america as president. the bar was not that high _ america as president. the bar was not that high and - america as president. the bar was not that high and he - was not that high and he stumbled out of the gate with this, which should have been a lovely moment introducing president zelensky and calling him president putin and which is what people will remember from an otherwise successful summit. the press conference was pretty good other than that gaffe. he was asked over and over again if he thought he could do thejob over again if he thought he could do the job and he said yes and was the end, a very good pointed question that said, if your stuff came to you with polling data sank vice president harris has a better chance of beating donald trump, you drop out of the race? and he said, no. unless they show me data that i cannot win, i staying in this race and that is the big takeaway, despite

all the noise and criticism from republicans and democrats we have heard already, that was a man who thinks he is staying in it is run for president. doesn't that quell some of the concerns, particularly from democrats? i concerns, particularly from democrats?— concerns, particularly from democrats? i think it quiet is it a little bit. _ democrats? i think it quiet is it a little bit. democrats's - it a little bit. democrats's job have gotten a little harder because if this had been a catastrophe, the choice would have been clear. at this point, he came across as competent and able to do the job at least for now but those questions remain and were asked several times tonight. what about in two, three years. can you go toe to toe with vladimir chirkin and xijinping? he said he is able to but there are doubts. fix, xijinping? he said he is able to but there are doubts. a busy few da s to but there are doubts. a busy few days at _ to but there are doubts. a busy few days at the _ to but there are doubts. a busy few days at the nato _ to but there are doubts. a busy few days at the nato summit. l few days at the nato summit. how important has this global stage been for him? i how important has this global stage been for him?— stage been for him? i think it has been _ stage been for him? i think it has been very _ stage been for him? i think it has been very important - stage been for him? i think it has been very important and | stage been for him? i think it i has been very important and we were over at the summit and talked about a dozen ministers from different countries and

they were all a very lockstep, they were all a very lockstep, they either got the member or a new what they needed to say, they were asked about the leadership and they said biden was crucial, the us was still strong and the alliance was still strong but behind—the—scenes, biden's health and mental capacity was all anyone was talking about and i do not think it helped that at the end of a very successful summit, where leaders were for the most but on the same pageant were very productive, to think everyone is going to remember is him calling president zelensky president putin. these gaffes are not catastrophic, they will not impact policy but i was talking to someone after the debate and i asked if it was indicative of him doing hisjob and this is part of hisjob, being able to communicate policy on a global stage at a debate with his opponent is part of thejob debate with his opponent is part of the job and it is unclear he would be able to consistently do that for years

to come. . . consistently do that for years to come. ., , , ., , to come. that is the questions many democrats _ to come. that is the questions many democrats are _ to come. that is the questions many democrats are asking. l to come. that is the questions - many democrats are asking. what happens now? president biden has been very clear he is not standing down. how do you see the next few days playing out? there is no way to remove him as the party's nominee candidate unless he wants to step down so what needed to be done is he needed to be convinced to step down and based on the speech we had that does not seem to be happening. why the democrats and some said he does not believe he should be the candidate and he will continue the nominee, continued to fight that until the convention, until he is officially the party's nominee and that he will get on board and that he will get on board and do everything again to get elected. that is what you will see from member still critical of the president and would like to see else. when and if it becomes a party's nominee, there is no other choice. they

either have to get on board or admit they are likely going to lose the election. if that does happen, you will see eventually a groundswell from democrats who may have reservations because they still want their party to keep the office. haw party to keep the office. how are republicans _ party to keep the office. how are republicans dealing with all of this, has been open season as they have been watching these gaffes from president biden and the entire internal turmoil?— internal turmoil? after the zelensky — internal turmoil? after the zelensky gaffe, _ internal turmoil? after the zelensky gaffe, they - internal turmoil? after the zelensky gaffe, they said l internal turmoil? after the i zelensky gaffe, they said the emperor has no close and if the democrats cannot figure this out, they are doing a disservice to the country. it is just very easy target practice. the moment we talked about will be played, there are also little moments struggling to say i have had neurology tests, it was not big but those are little things that can be played over and over again to an audience that did not sit

through the entire hour and it is easy fodderfor through the entire hour and it is easy fodder for the republicans. is easy fodderfor the republicans. he is is easy fodder for the republicans. he is already is easy fodderfor the republicans. he is already done in key state and the job will not get that much easier after tonight. not get that much easier after toniaht. . . ' tonight. christina ruffini thank you _ tonight. christina ruffini thank you for _ tonight. christina ruffini thank you for your - tonight. christina ruffini i thank you for your analysis tonight. as the summit wraps up, i sat down with nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg. great to speak to you. we spoke a few weeks ago when you were here in washington and talked about your expectations. what do you think was achieved? we achieved what we hoped for and planned for, and that is a strong message on ukraine — more support and helping to move ukraine closer to membership. it's important decisions on the terms of defence. and then we stepped up our co—operation with our partners in the pacific. so this was something to celebrate, the 75th anniversary of nato. we did so, but also to make important decisions for the future. let's talk about that membership for ukraine.

i think that the wording was "an irreversible path to membership." ukraine wanted a formal timetable for when that would start. do you think that ukraine was disappointed by the fact that there wasn't that concrete language? ukraine welcomed the language. and i attended the press conference, and also had a meeting with president zelensky, they expressed, of course, that this is a strong message. they always want more, because they would like to be members of nato as soon as possible. but given the fact that we are 32 allies — we need to have a consensus. ukraine expressed dissatisfaction with ukraine expressed satisfaction with the language. but in a way, language is important. it is the strongest language that nato has ever had on membership for ukraine. but actions speak louder than words. and what i regard as even more important are the decisions we made on delivering more air defence, more ammunition, and also to set up a nato command

to provide and co—ordinate security supplies and training for ukraine. and also to set up a new training and aviation centre in poland. these are concrete measures, actions, that have been decided here that will be implemented that will help ukraine to prevail. let's talk about some of that military assistance — f—i6 fighterjets, for example, are expected to arrive in ukraine by this summer. do you think that they should be used to also strike in russian territory? well, different allies have different types of restrictions on the use of weapons that they are delivering. and i'll be careful speaking on behalf of every ally. what i can say is that allies have delivered long—range fires, missiles, which are now used also against legitimate targets inside russia. because this is a war of aggression. russia has attacked another country — ukraine. ukraine has, according to international law,

the right to self defence and the right to self defence includes also the right to strike legitimate military targets in russia. did you urge us partner, for example, to allow that to happen with the us weapons systems that have been sent to ukraine? well, as i said, different allies have different types of restrictions. some allies don't have restrictions at all. but allies have now loosened or reduced the restrictions — not least because until recently, the front lines were inside, deep inside ukraine. so to attack targets on the other side of the front—line was still to attack military targets on the ukrainian territory. over the last two months, russia has launched a new offensive in the north in kharkiv where the front—line and the border line is more or less the same. and if you are not able to attack on the other side of the front—line, then that would be is a safe haven for the russian forces.

that's a reason also why also the united states has adjusted its restrictions on the use of us weapons. adjusted its policy, but not with the type of weapons, necessarily. and we spoke to a few congressmen who said — the ukrainians are fighting with their hands tied behind their backs. do you think that that is a fair assessment? well, i think it's fair to say that ukraine needs the right to attack a legitimate military targets inside russia. as i said, different allies have different kinds of restrictions. the united states has suggested their policy and this is an issue discussed alongs allies. and again, no doubt that has the right, because this is attacking airfields, missile launcher and therefore they can attack them. was there any road map discussed in the summit towards any sort of possible negotiation or ceasefire of this conflict?

we all want this war to end. but, of course, the quickest war, the way to end the war is to lose a war. but that will not bring peace. that will bring a russian occupation of ukraine, and that is not peace. so what we need is to convince president putin that he will not win in the battlefield. and the stronger the support is to ukraine, the longer term that we are ready to commit to, the sooner it can come to an end. critics will say that more weapons will only lead to prolonging this conflict? no, it will maximise the likelihood for putin realising that he will not get what he wants on the battlefield. if he believes that he can wait us out, then he will continue the war. and again, it's easy to end the war. it's only to lose the war. but that doesn't bring peace. that brings occupation. so unless we want to bow to putin or to lose the war, then the way to achieve peace

is to convince putin, president putin, he will not win on the battlefield and ensure that ukrainians are the military strength to fight back and then putin has to accept the situation where ukraine is a sovereign nation in there. the final communique talked about cyber espionage and china's assistance towards moscow in its war on ukraine. and china called this cold war propaganda and said that nato has no business medaling in the asia—pacific because it will upset peace and security. what is your response to that? that there is no doubt that china is decisive and angry enabler of russia's war aggression against ukraine. they are delivering almost all of the microelectronics, the microprocessor, the dual—use equipment that russia is using to build the missiles, the planes, the battle tanks, they are using to attack ukraine. so china has a big responsibility for the brutality of this war.

and i think that the reason why china is reacting the way that they are is that they know that we are right. we can just see the trade statistics and see how many types of dual—use equipment that china is providing to russia. so that is also a reason why all 30 allies stated this very clearly. and that's a new very strong message from nato. and i have to ask you — questions about president biden's fitness did overshadow parts of the summit. we spoke to the british prime minister about it. he said that president biden seemed to be in good form. you were on the stage with him when he accidentally referred to president zelensky as "president putin". did that surprise you and how did president biden seem during this? we had a very good summit. i also had good bilateral meetings with president biden. the most important thing for me is that we have been able to make important decisions at the summit on support for ukraine at the summit on

support for ukraine, on strengthening our deterrence and defence, on working with our asia—pacific or indo—pacific partners. i will not go into any discussions and questions that will drag nato into a domestic ongoing debate in the united states, because nato is the most successful alliance in history, not least because we've been able to stay out of that kind of internal domestic discussions. secretary general, very good to speak with you. thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a story making news in the uk. in scotland dozens of pilot whales stranded on a beach, in what is thought to be the largest stranding event in scotland for decades. rob flett sent us this update. 12 i2 whales are now being euthanised. the remainder of the 77 whales were not spotted until the middle of this

morning, leaving too little time for rescue efforts to be mounted, i have seen remarkable acts of compassion from the rescuers. trying to keep the whales most ankle and alive long enough until a decision could be taken by veterinary experts from around the country. but sadly, it was decided there was no realistic prospect of success and for those animals to receive. experts say it is too soon to know what caused the stranding. but likely, one of the whales got in trouble and the rest of the pod tried to help. you're live with bbc news. kenya's president, william ruto, has fired every member of his cabinet, apart from the foreign minister, claiming, he wants to make his government more efficient. mr ruto's dismissals of high—level ministers on thursday follows the government's withdrawal of planned tax increases that sparked protests across the country last month. more than thirty people were killed and hundreds injured as security forces sought to quell

the demonstrations. president ruto himself has faced calls from the public to step down. our senior africa correspondent anne soy is following all the latest developments from nairobi. this is another big win for the protesters, it started out against legislation regarding new taxes. it evolved into an agitation for reforms. they have been protesting against the excesses exhibited by government officials and they even had a session accusing the president of not listening to them or running a bloated government and demanded for cuts in the government expenditure as well as cutting down on some of the excesses and the president has come back

and the president has come back and said i have listened to you, ifired most of and said i have listened to you, i fired most of the cabinet, only left with the deputy president who cannot fire because it is a constitutional office, and one member of the cabinet, the prime cabinet secretary, it is not a constitutional office, it is a controversial one but he's a senior member the cabinet. asjoe biden comes under fire for his age, his campaign is fighting back with a warning about what it says donald trump would do if re—elected. the biden campaign is pointing to project 2025, an initiative from the heritage foundation, a right—wing think tank. the authors of the plan write, "federal education policy should be limited and ultimately the department of education should be eliminated." on abortion, the plan says the white house should "push as hard as possible to protect the unborn in every jurisdiction in america." and the authors say they want to "assemble an army of conservatives to go to work on day one to deconstruct the administrative state." donald trump is distancing

himself from the plan, calling some its proposals "ridiculous and abysmal" joining me now is isaac arnsdorf, national political reporter for the washington post who covers former president donald trump good to see you. let's start with a big step back. what exactly is project 2025? project 2025 is meant to be an off—the—shelf, out—of—the—box blueprint for the next republican administration that represents the consensus of the entire conservative movement so this was something that started before it was clear that donald trump was going to be the nominee and involved the heritage foundation but a whole coalition of about 50 other conservative groups in washington, and what has happened over time, as it became clear that donald trump was the nominee and the fact that this report was written predominantly by alum nye of

trump administration people likely to serve the next trump administration if there is one, it is being read as can have a companion to donald trump's very threadbare policy platform but if you want to get into the nitty—gritty of the details, you would go look at project 2025 and that is what has got trump campaign going, we do not know if we want to own all that. �* . . ~ know if we want to own all that. 1, . ~ ., know if we want to own all that. z, . ~' ., ., know if we want to own all that. 1, . ~ ., ., ., know if we want to own all that. ., ., that. back to that in a second but talking — that. back to that in a second but talking about _ that. back to that in a second but talking about the - that. back to that in a second | but talking about the authors, the heritage foundation, what are the guiding principles of this agenda? philosophically, what is going _ this agenda? philosophically, what is going on _ this agenda? philosophically, what is going on here - this agenda? philosophically, what is going on here is - this agenda? philosophically, what is going on here is a - what is going on here is a shift from the previous conservative orthodoxy of limited government to what is now sometimes called common good conservatism, an idea of using the government in a more proactive way for right wing or conservative policy goals and

so that is very in line with the kind of president trump is running to be, which is not your ronald reagan saying the government is the problem but everything trump says is i am your solution.— your solution. that is so interesting. _ your solution. that is so interesting. if _ your solution. that is so interesting. if you - your solution. that is so interesting. if you want | your solution. that is so l interesting. if you want to take the agenda from project 2025 and put it up against the agenda for the republican party going into the convention next week, how similar are they? i mean, there are definitely some areas where there are gaps. abortion is definitely a key one. but overall, you know, there is a clear alignment where project 2025 is like a more fleshed out, in the weeds, agency by agency blueprint for how you would actually implement as policy the big ideas that trump is promoting

the campaign. ideas that trump is promoting the campaign-— ideas that trump is promoting thecamuain, , ., ., , the campaign. assemble an army of conservatives _ the campaign. assemble an army of conservatives to _ the campaign. assemble an army of conservatives to deconstruct . of conservatives to deconstruct the administrative state is one point. what would that look like? ~ ., ., point. what would that look like? ., ., , .,~ like? what that is talking about is basically - like? what that is talking l about is basically collecting resumes ahead of time for people who are considered bona fides maga to serve in the administration as opposed to those not in the programme in the first place. they've also identified political appointees from the first terms are not welcomed back as well as civil servants, career government officials with a view as uncooperative who then they will be trying to and eliminate.— will be trying to and eliminate. ., . ., ,�* eliminate. how much doesn't donald trump _ eliminate. how much doesn't donald trump himself- eliminate. how much doesn't| donald trump himself actually embrace some of this agenda and proposed policies?— proposed policies? well, again, extra free _ proposed policies? well, again, extra free doesn't _ proposed policies? well, again, extra free doesn't mean - proposed policies? well, again, extra free doesn't mean it - proposed policies? well, again, extra free doesn't mean it when

he says i do not know anything about project 2025, that does not speak for me and it is true. those are not official campaign positions but the campaign positions but the campaign is kind of trying to haveit campaign is kind of trying to have it both ways, in terms of not having the liabilities of some of those controversial positions that are getting a lot of public pushback but obviously they are relying doctor if donald trump went, it will be turning to a lot of the people contributing to this for help in taking over the administration.- help in taking over the administration. ~ . , ., ~' administration. what you think we can exneet _ administration. what you think we can expect in _ administration. what you think we can expect in the _ administration. what you thinkl we can expect in the convention in milwaukee?— in milwaukee? conventions are four-day infomercials - in milwaukee? conventions are four-day infomercials to - in milwaukee? conventions are four-day infomercials to some | four—day infomercials to some extent they always about presenting a kinder, gentler, reintroduction of the candidate and what i am interested to see as this is shaping up is how it compares to your average donald trump rally, based on what we

know about the schedule, it looks to be very different. really about the poll tested messages that republicans inaudible rather than what he prefers document on the campaign trail.— prefers document on the campaign trail. thank you for “oininu campaign trail. thank you for joining us- — that is our programme. thank you for watching. we're back at the top of the next hour. hello there! the best way to sum upjuly so far this month has been rather wet at times and disappointingly cool. average temperatures at this time of year, generally between 18 and 23 degrees. just take a look at the next few days. temperatures below par for the time of year, all due to the direction of the wind and the amount of cloud we're going to see. now let's take a look at the pressure chart a little more detail, explain further. we've got this high pressure

out to the west but circulating around that high, the wind direction comes in a clockwise fashion, and and so that means a northerly wind. it will continue to drive in plenty of cloud across exposed east coast, maybe thinking of for a spot or two of drizzle as we go through the day, and perhaps a few sharp and thundery downpours breaking out across south wales and southwest england. best of the sunshine, perhaps on friday, will be across parts of southern scotland and northern ireland. brisk northerly wind, particularly out on those exposed east coast. temperatures will struggle mid—teens, but we could see highest values of 20 degrees in western scotland, but generally those temperatures a little bit subdued. the high pressure tries to hang on in there as we go into the start of the weekend, staying out to the northwest, and this area of low pressure could just influence eastern areas, spilling in, once again, a little more in the way of cloud and some drizzle. so double figures to start the day on saturday. still some showery outbreaks of rain around for some, and as we go through the day on saturday, sheltered western areas will see the best of the sunshine. a feed of cloud and some

showery rain just drifting in across east yorkshire. so here temperatures once again mid—teens at very best. we might see highest values of 20 degrees. now as we move into sunday, there is a potential for that low pressure to just pull away a little bit further and allow for more sunshine to come through, particularly across england and wales, and as a result, the sunshine is strong at this time of year. we'll start to see those temperatures recover just a touch. and that's going to be the trend as we move into next week. we've got low pressure pushing across the country, which could bring some showery outbreaks of rain at times. but then the weather story looks set, fingers crossed, to quieten down. so a few scattered showers around monday, possibly tuesday, but by wednesday onwards, drier and warmer.

inflation in the us cooled injune, raising hopes that the federal reserve will pull the trigger on an interest rate cut soon. tesla is reportedly delaying the launch of its highly—anticipated robotaxi, sending its shares tumbling. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's start in the us, where presidentjoe biden has wrapped up his highly—anticipated press conference at the nato summit.

biden reiterated his commitment to ukraine, in their fight with russia. he also addressed questions about his fitness to serve another four years in office. to that, biden said he is the most qualified person for the job but that he needs to pace himself a little better. whether that's enough to quell decent among democrats calling for him to step down is yet to be seen and will be looked into in depth in our bulletins ahead from washington. in the meantime, we'll focus on something else that president biden talked about and that's the state of the us economy, referencing the softer inflation numbers forjune. just this morning, we had a great economic report showing inflation is down. overall, prices fell last month. core inflation is the lowest it's beenin inflation is the lowest it's been in three years. prices are falling for cars, alliances and airfares. grocery prices have fallen since the start of the

year. we're going to keep working to take