welcome to bbc news, i'm mark lobel. our top stories: president biden arrives in the uk for the g7 summit — it's his first foreign tour since taking office injanuary. he promises a multilateral america with a warning to russia and an appeal to support democracies around the world. the united states is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges. the eu says its patience is "wearing very thin" with the uk, in talks aimed at avoiding a trade war over border checks with northern ireland. political organisations linked to the jailed kremlin critic alexei navalny are banned

by the russian government. sky gazers delight — amateur astronomers across the northern hemisphere await a partial eclipse of the sun. those in the arctic will have the best view. and, curfew stops play — the quarter— finals of the french tennis open are disrupted by coronavirus restrictions as 5,000 fans are forced to leave the court. welcome to the programme. president biden has arrived in the uk for the g7 summit. he began his first overseas trip with a rallying cry for the world's democracies, insisting the united states was back after the trump years.

late on wednesday night, air force one arrived in cornwall, where the summit is taking place. he'll meet the prime minister, borisjohnson at carbis bay on thursday, before the summit begins on friday. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has this report on the start of the us president's visit. for the first time since becoming president injanuary, joe biden stepps out from air force one on to foreign soil. the soil of suffolk and raf mildenhall, to be precise, on a perfect summer's evening. the president wants this first foreign trip that will take him to cornwall, brussels and geneva, to be seen as a decisive break from the trump years — america no longer isolationist. points he drove home to us servicemen and women at the base, once he'd told them to relax. please, at ease. i keep forgetting i'm president.

laughter. america is back on a role of global leadership, he told them. at every point along the way, we're going to make it clear that the united states is back, and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges and the issues that matter most to our future. that we're committed to leading with strength, defending our values and delivering for our people. whether it be covid, the global economy or climate change, joe biden wants to see america at the forefront, and he looked ahead to the trickiest of his encounters on this trip. his meeting in geneva with the russian president. i'm heading to the g7 and then the nato ministerial and then to meet with mr putin to let him know what i want him to know. applause 0ne domestic issue where joe biden can be expected to weigh in is on northern ireland,

where the us is watching with some unease british attempts to amend or renegotiate the northern ireland protocol that puts a de facto border for trade between mainland britain and the province. the us says the achievements of the 1998 good friday agreement have played such a decisive role in bringing peace to northern ireland and must not be put in jeopardy. whatever way they find to proceed must at its core fundamentally protect the gains of the good friday agreement and not imperil that and that is the message president biden will send when he is in cornwall. and if he had any indication that it would imperil the good friday agreement, would thatjeopardise a future us—uk trade deal? i don't want to sit here today and negotiate in public around linkage or make some claim or threat. i would just say that our concern runs very deep on the northern ireland issue. the g7 leaders will be relieved to see a more familiar style of american president —

less isolationist, more supportive of international bodies. less capricious. but there's unease too about how reliable a partner the us will be in the long term, how much longer the us can be seen as the pre—eminent superpower. joe biden�*s got his work cut out. jon sopel, bbc news. against the backdrop of the looming g7 summitt, the eu has doubled down on its threat to take action against the uk — after talks about the implementation of post—brexit trading arrangements in northern ireland ended without a breakthrough. but, as they also put it, no break up either. at the heart of the row is the brexit deal�*s northern ireland protocol — which allows for border checks on goods going into northern ireland from great britain. but as he arrived in cornwall ahead of the g7 conference, prime minister borisjohnson said a resolution to the row was "easily doable". 0ur political editor laura kuennsberg reports from cornwall.

so, is this just the beginning? the beginning of what? the start of what could be a momentous week for this prime minister — to crank out deals with other democracies on climate, on covid and cooperation. i got it. as world leaders make their way to cornwall, he wants to be the host with the most. it's a big moment. don't forget, this is the first time in six months in office, almost, thatjoe biden, the us president, has been able to come overseas for a major trip. it's his first time on the european continent, it's the first time any of us, really, have been able to see each other face—to—face since the pandemic began. and you know, the pandemic, let's face it, was a pretty scratchy period. so a tiny cornish bay is being transformed into a stage for the world. yet some of the nuts and bolts of the uk's friendship with its neighbours are already banged out

of shape. while the prime minister was making his way to the south—west, in westminster, this diplomatic spat with the eu was reaching new levels of danger. the eu will not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the uk abides by its international law obligations. i was coming here with hope for a breakthrough. of course now we have to consider our future steps. it's not too late, let's correct the path, let's focus on what unites us. that tension is bound to be a topic of conversation here. this huge get—together is the first since the uk left the eu, and there's a heightened sense of hostility over how the brexit deal�*s affecting northern ireland, just at the moment when borisjohnson wants to be showing why friendship matters. remember, under the deal, northern ireland has to follow some eu rules. so some goods are meant to be checked when they move

from one coast to another. that created a trade border of sorts inside the united kingdom, but it avoided the need for a hard border between northern ireland and ireland. now time's passed, the uk is frustrated, it wants the eu to be flexible about the deal, but the eu's perplexed, they think the uk's not willing to do what it agreed. and the time allocated to business to get used to some of the change is about to run out and there's a stand—off, because neither side appears willing to budge. so the problem we've got is that the protocol is being implemented in a way which is causing disruption in northern ireland. and we had some pretty frank and honest discussions about that situation today. there weren't any breakthroughs, there aren't any breakdowns either, and we're going to carry on talking. what we really now need to do is very urgently find some solutions which support the belfast good friday

agreement, support that the peace process in northern ireland and allow things to return to normal. once the final preparations are complete, there is a big chance for the prime minister and for his colleagues from around the world to show they can pull together. but unscripted moments, unplanned for spats, could always spoil the show. reports from the us say america will send 500 million pfizer coronavirus vaccines to around 100 countries over the next two years. but congressional leaders are pushing for even more to be done. earlier, i spoke to congressman raja krishnamoorthi. he is on the us coronavirus crisis select committee which has introduced some new legislation and i asked him what he wanted to achieve. this new bill called the novid act — it's a play on words, no more covid — aims to basically vaccinate 60% of the population of the world's 92 poorest countries. and this is absolutely needed right now, not only

because it's the right thing to do, but it's also the smart thing to do to prevent those variants which are developing abroad, from coming back and defeating the progress we have made in our respective countries, with regard to obviously our health, but also our economic progress. so, to get to where you want to, 60% of 92 poorest countries, is 500 million doses enough? it's an excellent, meaningful step in the right direction, it's a great downpayment, but obviously to get to where we need to go, we need to have a lot more doses. we need to be talking about billions of doses being produced and then getting into people's arms. so, how differently can these doses be produced in order to reach your target? basically, our novid act spins up the manufacturing capacity not only of our domestic companies but also our foreign partners, and basically tries to get

to a point where we can ensure end—to—end delivery of these vaccines because if they don't end up in people's arms, they're not useful. so in my own birth country of india, we learned very quickly how variants and other strains of the coronavirus can take a country which was experiencing cases of no more than 10,000 per day, up to 300,000 per day in a matter of weeks, and we can't possibly allow that to happen either there or anywhere. so manufacturing will be easier in other countries, will it? well, i think that, for instance, take india, which is the world's largest producer of vaccines — it's an essential component of what's called the quadrilateral initiative — the us, india, the australians and the japanese — in helping to vaccinate asia,

for instance, because the indians are licensed, they are able to produce the astrazeneca vaccine within their country, and then export it abroad. of course, nobody predicted that they themselves would fall victim to such a huge surge of the coronavirus. and china and russia seems to be making a lot of headway here. is america going to look like it's constantly catching up? no, i don't think so. i think at this point, if you offer the average person the sinovacs, which is the vaccine from china, or one of these modern vaccines — either the pfizer vaccine, or the moderna, or thejohnson &johnson vaccine — they're going to choose the latter, they're going to choose those ones that work. raja krishnamoorthi, thank you forjoining us. when president biden meets his russian counterpart vladimir putin next week, he'll be discussing the treatment

russia has meted out to jailed anti—corruption campaigner alexei navalny. a court in moscow has just branded three organisations linked to mr navalny as "extremist". a statement by the moscow city court said navalny�*s regional network offices and his anti—corruption organisation had been labelled extremist and banned with immediate effect. anyone who publicly supports mr navalny�*s political network can now be barred from running for public office. russian parliamentary elections are due to take place injust over three months. we can now speak to rachel denber who's deputy director of europe and central asia at human rights watch. what is your reaction to this news? ., ,. , . what is your reaction to this news? ., .,, news? two basic reactions. one that sadly _ news? two basic reactions. one that sadly is _ news? two basic reactions. one that sadly is utterly _ that sadly is utterly unsurprising. that the court ruled in this way. this is exactly what we can expect from

russia's justice systems, unfortunately. the second reaction is completely, it is a scandalous ruling, the lawsuit itself was completely unfounded and baseless. it is a very dangerous precedent that has been set. there are already organisations that have been branded extremist in russia, jehovah's witnesses have been branded extremist in russia. since that time in 2017, there are almost 500 people in russia who are jehovah's witnesses who are under terminal prosecution. 55 are now behind bars, having been convicted and serving sentences of four or five, six, seven years injail, or are

awaiting jail. seven years in “ail, or are awaiting jail._ seven years in “ail, or are awaiting jail. awaiting 'ail. are worrying prospect’— awaiting jail. are worrying prosraect for _ awaiting jail. are worrying prospect for navalny's - prospect for navalny's supporters. what do you think is going to be the impact on the upcoming elections? the? the upcoming elections? they were pretty — the upcoming elections? they were pretty much _ the upcoming elections? they were pretty much a _ the upcoming elections? tie: were pretty much a foregone conclusion. i think the aim of banning what is called the non— systemic opposition movement, the opposition movement is not in the parliament, the aim of thatis in the parliament, the aim of that is to remove, i think, a movement that the government can control. i don't think they ever really stood a chance in the upcoming election anyway. i don't think it is about whether or not united russia, the ruling party, was going to suddenly fall victim, or lose, against navalny's political movement. mr navalny... crosstalk. _

movement. mr navalny... crosstalk. it _ movement. mr navalny... crosstalk. it is - movement. mr navalny... crosstalk. it is really - movement. mr navalny... i crosstalk. it is really about silencin: crosstalk. it is really about silencing voices _ crosstalk. it is really about silencing voices and - crosstalk. it is really about] silencing voices and removing political opposition. irate silencing voices and removing political opposition.— silencing voices and removing political opposition. we had mr navalny saying _ political opposition. we had mr navalny saying they _ political opposition. we had mr navalny saying they might - political opposition. we had mr navalny saying they might find | navalny saying they might find other ways to protest. looking ahead to joe other ways to protest. looking ahead tojoe biden�*s meeting with vladimir putin, what do you think he can say that will notjust be batted away as interfering in domestic politics?— interfering in domestic olitics? ~ ~ , politics? well, i think it is really important - politics? well, i think it is really important for - politics? well, i think it is- really important for president biden to make clear that the human rights idea, it is a united nations idea, it is not about mystic politics, it is a universal value, about mystic politics, it is a universalvalue, i about mystic politics, it is a universal value, i think it is important to say that you talked about alexei navalny, for example, i think it is clear that navalny's health and welfare are very much directly the responsibility of the kremlin now and i think that biden needs to make clear that thatis biden needs to make clear that that is how they see it and that is how they see it and that they are going to be following it very closely stop

you know, navalny's health and welfare and the entire crackdown.— welfare and the entire crackdown. ., ~ , ., ., crackdown. thank you for “oininu crackdown. thank you for joining us- _ stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why 5,000 fans — tennis fans — were forced to leave their seats during the french open quarterfinals. the day the british liberated the falklands. and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who, for them, has raised great hopes for an end to the division of europe. it happened as the queen moved towards horse guards parade for the start of

trooping the colour. gunshots the queen looks worried but recovers quickly. as long as they'll - pay to go and see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hills. - what does it feel like to be the first man to cross the channel by your own power? it feels pretty neat. it feel marvellous, really. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: on his first foreign trip as president, joe biden touches down in the uk. 0n the eve of the g7 summit, he promises a multilateral america and support for global democracies. the eu says its patience is "wearing very thin" with the uk, in talks aimed at avoiding a trade war over border checks with northern ireland. stargazers in some parts

of the world will be treated to a solar eclipse today. the full spectacle will be visible from northern canada, greenland and some parts of russia. and weather permitting, a particle eclipse will be seen in northern asia, europe and the united states. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. it is one of nature's most dazzling sites: the moon casting its shadow across the sun. the northernmost parts of the world will be treated to the world will be treated to the best view of when a total eclipse will begin in canada, travelling across a naval band of the earth before ending in siberia and it is a special sort of event known as an annular eclipse. lam sort of event known as an annular eclipse. an annular ech-se annular eclipse. an annular eclipse happens _ annular eclipse. an annular eclipse happens when - annular eclipse. an annular eclipse happens when the l annular eclipse. an annular - eclipse happens when the moon is a little bit further away from the earth so it looks smaller in the sky. and what you will be able to see is a sort of ring around the moon, and that is way the annular

solar eclipses are sometimes known as the ring of fire. they're incredibly beautiful eclipses to spot as well. how can you safely watch the eclipse?— can you safely watch the eclise? ., , ., can you safely watch the ecli se? ., , ., ., ., ~' eclipse? you should never look at the sun _ eclipse? you should never look at the sun directly _ eclipse? you should never look at the sun directly or _ eclipse? you should never look at the sun directly or use - at the sun directly or use sunglasses, because you can seriously damage your eyes don't make use two pieces of card, one with a hole in it, to make a projection of the sun. 0r make a projection of the sun. or if you can get a pair of certified eclipse viewers, you can use these to watch the spectacle instead. across other parts of the globe, the united states, northern europe and northern asia, a partial eclipse will be visible. scientists are urging people to take a look. it scientists are urging people to take a look-— take a look. it gives us an opportunity _ take a look. it gives us an opportunity to _ take a look. it gives us an opportunity to connect - take a look. it gives us an l opportunity to connect with take a look. it gives us an - opportunity to connect with the sun. normally the sign is so dazzlingly bright we do not pay much attention to it, but during an eclipse of one form or another, we are able to remind ourselves, that if we look safely with special filters and projection techniques, we can see the moon riding in front of it and

remind ourselves of our place in the solar system.— in the solar system. eclipse watches everywhere - in the solar system. eclipse watches everywhere will. in the solar system. eclipse watches everywhere will be | watches everywhere will be hoping for good weather. if not, there will be another annular eclipse at the end of the year, one that will sweep across antarctica. rebecca morelle, bbc news. a controversial oil pipeline slated to run 2,000 miles between canada and the united states has been officially abandoned. the multibillion—dollar keystone xl pipeline had been opposed by environmentalists and indigenous groups whose land was set to be crossed by the infrastructure. let's speak now with our north america correspondent, peter bowes. peter, this is perhaps not the most surprising news that is unwelcome news for american workers? this unwelcome news for american workers? ., , , , ., unwelcome news for american workers? , , ., , workers? no surprise to us because — workers? no surprise to us because we _ workers? no surprise to us because we know - workers? no surprise to us because we know at - workers? no surprise to us because we know at the i because we know at the beginning of his presidency, this was one of the first act ofjoe biden, to refuse the permit necessary for this

pipeline to come across the border from pipeline to come across the borderfrom canada. so it was expected, that it is a blow, if you believe this is a good thing for industry in america, especiallyjobs in those areas that the pipeline would pass through on its way to refineries in this country. there was a large body of opinion that believed it would be very positive for the american economy, perhaps an economy now more than ever before that needed a shot in the arm in the wake of the covid—19 pandemic. but it is not to be because of the environmentalists winning the argument. and this is a project that has been really dogeared for more than a decade —— dogged by various different arguments but from the beginning, environmentalists, native american groups, and groups that have argued it could be potentially bad for local wildlife. there are concerns about oil spillages, but water supplies and perhaps number one is that it will be the green light to a pipeline that would ultimately be bad

for the environment, that would ultimately encourage global warming. 0il ultimately encourage global warming. oil is a dirty fuel. that was the key argument, that this would not be good in terms of c02 this would not be good in terms of co2 emissions and the fight for the environment. of c02 emissions and the fight for the environment.— for the environment. peter, does this — for the environment. peter, does this show _ for the environment. peter, does this show that - for the environment. peter, does this show that under l for the environment. peter, i does this show that underjoe does this show that underjoe biden, i'm an activist have clout? —— climate activists? notjust under president biden but also president 0bama before him put a halt to this project at night president trump reignited it and gave the green light during his presidency, but clearly, very fine line for joe biden between the economic benefits of a project that will create lots of jobs benefits of a project that will create lots ofjobs and the environmental considerations. and, you are absolutely right, he has come down on the side of the environmentalists. as far as those complaints are concern, that probably bodes well for similar decisions that

president biden will have two. thank you for that, peter. —— have to make. novak djokovic will face rafael nadal in the french open semi finals, after battling past matteo berrettini in a match that saw spectators ejected from roland—garros midway through. tennis fans were allowed into a night session for the first time, following a relaxation of paris's curfew from 9pm to 11pm. aruna iyengar has the details. celebrating new freedoms. tennis fans toasting the chance to watch the tennis greats at new night sessions at roland—garros. 5,000 fans were allowed in to court philippe—chatrier for the quarterfinal. an electric atmosphere as top—ranked djokovic was ahead in the first set. but the cheers turned to jeers as the quarterfinal

was stopped at a critical point in the fourth set, officials stopped play at 11pm in line with the new coronavirus curfew. are we going to go out or stay? unhappy fans were forced to leave the court. a cathedral—like silence for the rest of the match. the world number one perhaps making up for the lack of noise from the crowd by making some of his own. yes! yes! commentator: djokovic. novak djokovic will now face 13—time champion rafael nadal for a place in the final but questions remain about whether the quarterfinal could have started earlier. aruna iyengar, bbc news. now, can you name the world's most liveable city? it is auckland, in new zealand. the economist intelligence unit survey ranked 140 cities on factors including infrastructure, education and access to healthcare.

i'm not entirely sure if they include yachts in the survey. with the pandemic a defining factor in this year's list, island countries that responded swiftly to the coronavirus outbreak ranked highly. see you later. hello. two main points to take from our forecast for the next five days. number one, there is very little rain on the way for the uk as a whole, and number two — temperatures will be sitting above average for the majority of us in the days ahead. the reason for this weather, this ridge of high pressure which extends up from the azores. we will see various weather fronts trying to push their way in to the north—west. there'll be some rain for the northern isles on thursday. more cloud around in general and some patchy, light rain possible around western coasts and hills, often quite mucky and murky here with mist and fog as well. best of the sunshine on thursday will be for central and eastern england.

quite windy to the north. that could break the cloud up quite nicely across eastern scotland, seeing temperatures up to 23 around the moray firth. further south, 21l—25 across central and eastern england. 0vernight thursday into friday, we do start to see a weather front having a bit more success working its way south across the uk, but not bearing anything significant in the way of rain. it basicallyjust introduces some slightly lower humidity here, so slightly less muggy across the northern half of the uk first thing on friday. to the south, still a warm and humid start, and a cold weather front works its way south through the day, but you can barely make it out. it's essentially a few showers drifting their way south across england and wales. the odd one may be sharper, but certainly, the majority of places will stay dry. ahead of the front, still looking at temperatures in the mid—20s, a little down on thursday thanks to more cloud. to the north, it will feel fresher, but temperatures still into the high teens, even the low 20s. and then, through the weekend, the high pressure plumbs us into a more southerly airstream once again. it keeps things fine and it also bumps those temperatures back up after that brief dip behind the cold front on friday.

there's what's left of the cold front heading off into the continent. here is saturday. aside from a bit of cloud across western scotland and perhaps northern ireland, wall—to—wall sunshine and temperatures above average across the uk. for sunday, just the chance of a little more in the way of rain getting pushed in on the front to western scotland. elsewhere, though, again, a lot of dry weather. sunday, if anything, the warmest of the two days. eastern scotland up to 21l, perhaps close to 30 in the south—east.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: us president, joe biden has arrived in the uk, on his first trip abroad since taking office. he's due to attend the g7 summit of world leaders in cornwall, where the agenda will include, covid recovery, climate change and trade. the eu has doubled down on its threat to take action against the uk — after talks about the implementation of post—brexit trading arrangements in northern ireland ended without a breakthrough. delayed border checks are due to start at the end of this month. lawyers for the russian opposition activist, alexei navalny, say they will appeal against a court ruling that in effect bans his political movement. supporters face being barred from running for public office, with parliamentary elections due to take place in september. the ruling has been condemned by britain and the united states.