the headlines today. president biden visits poland to show support for ukraine and meet refugees who've fled the fighting. ukraine's president says there must be urgent, meaningful talks with russia and claims his troops have dealt the invaders a series of "powerful blows". ukrainian troops have been able to achieve this against a much larger army, a more powerful army. in places, now they're notjust resisting, they are mounting ukraine says 136 children are known to have been killed since the russian invasion began.

with the spotlight on russian oligarchs and their assets, we've been taking a look at one of the biggest yachts ever built and asking who actually owns it? the united states calls for tougher sanctions on north korea after tests on its largest ever inter—continental ballistic missile. a ferry operated by p&0 has been detained in northern ireland because of fears about staff training. and tributes from across the music industry for taylor hawkins, the drummer with the rock band the foo fighters, who's died at the age of 50.

welcome to bbc news, live from lviv in western ukraine. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskiy, has urged russia to respond to military setbacks it has suffered in his country, and engage in serious peace talks. in his latest video address, the president claimed more than 16,000 russian troops had been killed, including senior officers. on friday, moscow said it was moving to a new phase of the operation, which would focus on the eastern region of donbas. mark lobel has the story. ben brown is in welcome to bbc news, live from lviv in western ukraine. the big question everyone here is asking today is whether russia has changed its war aims in this country and scaled back its ambitions, so that its forces focus on the eastern front and for the first time being at least put less emphasis on trying

to capture the capital kyiv. the russian advance on that city has stalled badly, in fact ukrainian troops are successfully counter attacking them. russian troop morale is said to be at rock bottom with supply lines badly overstretched. so maybe that's why a top russian general sergei rudskoi made the surpise announcement in moscow that the first phase of russia's operations here is over and that its forces will now concentrate on the donbas region in the east. mark lobel reports. after days of silence, russia's military appears in public to proclaim the first stage of their operation complete. translation: the main tasks i of the first stage of the operation have been completed. the combat potential of ukraine's armed forces has been significantly reduced, which allows us to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of donbas.

some saw that as an admission of a russian pre—war strategy gone wrong. president zelensky responded by saying over the past week, his forces have dealt powerful blows to the russians, causing significant losses. the humanitarian crisis continues in mariupol. president macron is trying to organise an evacuation of civilians and will discuss it with president putin. ukraine has requested emergency food aid for encircled cities. the uk will provide $2.6 million worth. there are warnings disrupted crop production in ukraine may cause a food crisis in africa, too. this is a scramble for sugar in russia, driven by government attempts to regulate prices, skyrocketing demand and a crash in the value of the russian currency. it imports little, but the state has temporarily banned exports, blaming consumer panic buying.

meanwhile, on their tvs at home, president putin accuses the west of discriminating against russian culture by calling off events involving russian cultural figures who backed the war. translation: not so long ago i they have cancelled a children's writer, joanne rowling, because she, the author of the books which spread around the world in hundreds of millions of copies, failed to please the supporters of the so—called gender liberties. she responded saying: the fallout from this war continues to affect everyone and everything beyond ukraine's borders, as those remaining within them fight to retain theirfreedom. mark lobel, bbc news. president biden is on the second day of his visit to poland,

where he's holding further talks about the war in neighbouring ukraine. we can show you some live pictures now. he's heading into a meeting with his polish counterpart, andrzej duda, as we speak. that is the only guard there ahead of those talks. amongst other things, we gather the polish government are still going to be saying they think nato, they want to offer ukraine polish warplanes, that is something joe biden has been resistant to in the past because he is worried that could escalate this into a wider war. a short time ago the white house confirmed that two senior ukrainian officials are going to be taking part in those talks with the us delegation. 0ur correspondent mark lowen has more from warsaw. ukraine's foreign and defence ministers are also here in warsaw

meeting president biden, secretary of state antony blinken and the polish president and prime minister. that is a significant meeting, a diplomatic meeting with the ukrainian officials here in warsaw and shows the importance really of this stop on president biden�*s two day visit to poland. he was in the east yesterday meeting humanitarian frontliners there, also talking about meeting, meeting american troops and talking about shoring up nato's eastern flank. and when he spoke to american troops, he said that they were engaged in a battle between democracy and autocracy itself. today, he's in these meetings with the polish president and as i say with the ukrainian officials, he will also be meeting some of the new arrivals, some of the refugees. remember, poland has welcomed more than 2.2 million refugees to poland, and he'll be meeting them in in the warsaw national stadium. and then later on, he will be giving an important address that the white house is billing

as a major address that will speak to the stakes of this moment. they say that he will talk about the united efforts of the free world to support the people of ukraine, hold russia accountable for its brutal war and defend a future rooted in democratic principles. and i think an important address given here in a country that was, of course, for decades behind the iron curtain, part of the warsaw pact, the soviet military pact that made poland a soviet satellite. and yet now poland is at the center of european security and european solidarity, and that is really a sense ofjust how much the tectonic plates of europe have changed and how much has changed in the last month with president biden very keen to present the western alliance really as totally united in the face of russia's aggression. yeah, totally united, but there is a sort of difference, isn't there in the sense of poland wanting to do more and offering its warplanes to ukraine, something that president biden thinks could be potentially rather dangerous?

will they be talking about that? yeah, i think there will be, because poland says that that proposal is still on the table. even though when the polish government announced the plan a couple of weeks ago, which would basically involve polish fighter jets being transferred to an american military base in germany to then be deployed in ukraine by ukrainian pilots, well, the americans said that was a surprise proposal, and they rejected it because they saw it as potentially being seen by the russians as an escalation of the military confrontation between nato and russia. so that was a disagreement between poland and the us, and i think president biden will be wanting to smooth things over, of course, on this trip. but the poles say that is still on the table. they've been more hawkish than many western european members and western other western nato members. they want an international peacekeeping force, even in ukraine, which america seems reluctant

to accept because it would potentially mean nato boots on the ground in ukraine. and they also want american fighter jets f—35s to come here to poland to reassure nato's eastern flank. so all of this, i think, likely to be in those discussions between the polish and american officials as poland tries to basically reassure its population with the support of america, which is, of course, the guarantor of european security. we'll bring you the latest of those talks between joe we'll bring you the latest of those talks betweenjoe biden and the polish president as they get under way. in one of its largest military exercises in recent years, nato has been simulating its response to an attack on a member state. it's been taking place in norway, which shares a border with russia and was planned before the invasion of ukraine. but as our defence correspondent jonathan beale reports, the war has given the training a sharper focus. gunfire. another neighbour of russia has been invaded. this is northern norway,

but it is just an exercise — a test for nato allies to come to its defence. something nato says it will do to protect a member state, though not for ukraine. but what's happened in ukraine has suddenly made this training feel more real. an exercise like this, it's really good to have, uh, to prove to countries like russia and other foreign states that you don't want to mess with nato. i think there have been some discussions about if the co—response should take place, but i think it's more important to do it now than ever. and what signal does it send to russia, do you think? that we're willing to fight. we will not give up our land. exercise cold response in norway is one of nato's largest, involving 30,000 military personnel from 27 countries. it was planned long before russia invaded ukraine,

but russia's been building up its military presence in the arctic, too — one reason why british and american marines are also stepping up their training here in this harsh, unforgiving environment. president putin wanted less nato near his border. what he's getting is more. notjust more exercises like this, but thousands more nato troops stationed along nato's eastern flank, all the way from the baltic to the black sea. it's notjust nato allies taking part. so are finland and sweden, with a long history of neutrality. but both countries have seen a recent surge in public support tojoin nato. russia's war in ukraine is forcing more of europe to pick sides. the military is ready, if the political decision — and there is a decision tojoin, but it's not up to us to make that decision. russia's war in ukraine has sent

shockwaves throughout the world. i met borisjohnson yesterday... and the head of nato, who met troops taking part in cold response, says the consequences will be felt for many years to come. resident putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he wants. he wants less nato at his borders, he's getting more nato at his borders. he wants to divide nato. he has actually united, is uniting nato. but there's still a limit as to what nato is willing to do. it stands ready to defend its members, but it won't be using its military power to intervene in ukraine. jonathan beale, bbc news, narvik, norway. just want to take it back to warsaw where president biden is there. i think we can show you the scene live now at the presidential palace in warsaw because joe now at the presidential palace in warsaw becausejoe biden is going to

be meeting his polish counterpart and joe biden is holding talks, we understand, with two ukrainian ministers in poland. this is going to be his first face—to—face meeting with such high—level ukrainian officials since the russian invasion officials since the russian invasion of ukraine. the white house is saying joe biden is going to drop by at a meeting between the us secretary of state and the us defence secretary with their ukrainian counterparts. some observers actually suggesting the fact that ukrainian ministers have left ukraine and gone to poland for that meeting is perhaps a sign that they are increasingly confident about how the war with russia is going. joe biden, who has been in poland since yesterday meeting his polish counterpart, and then mr biden is going to make a major speech about the conflict later on

today. poland really essentially a front line of the nato alliance. it is a nato country, there is some nervousness there in poland about the war here in ukraine spilling over its border. but this meeting at the presidential palace about to happen. let's tell you a bit more about the situation here in lviv, because we are in western ukraine in the war really hasn't extended here although there has been attacks near lviv. the population of refugees who have fled from their homes has swelled, the number of people here in lviv, 200,000 people who have come here from the east and south and they are being looked after here in lviv and volunteers are helping them, they are offering food and

clothes and medicine to those people here in lviv. let's talk about the situation in poland. i have been talking to the deputy foreign minister of poland and i asked him what more help he wants from the western military alliance. first what more help he wants from the western military alliance.- western military alliance. first of all, i western military alliance. first of all. i think— western military alliance. first of all. i think it _ western military alliance. first of all, i think it is — western military alliance. first of all, i think it is ukraine _ western military alliance. first of all, i think it is ukraine that - all, i think it is ukraine that needs help right now when it comes to the humanitarian assistance and political support, and that is what we are providing together with our allies. the second we need to do is the continuation of sanctions on russia in order to push russia to withdraw their troops from ukraine. when it comes to the refugee influx, 2.5 million of refugees in the last four weeks has crossed the polish border and right now on the territory of poland, they are welcome to stay here although it is a challenge for the entire state of

poland, for the government, for the local gardens and ordinary people, any support which could be provided by the european institutions our european partners, nato allies, is of importance and that'll be the topic of discussion between the two presidents today. financial support, to those people, you can imagine we will not be prepared when it comes to the infrastructure, schooling system for example, half a million pupils is coming tojoin the polish schooling system. this is the challenge for us, we are doing quite well but any kind of assistance is very welcome from the western partners. can i ask you about military assistance for ukraine, poland famously offered some of its

warplanes to the ukrainians, nato and joe biden didn't think that is a good idea, thinking it was too dangerous and could potentially provoke a wider war. is that offer still on the table and will you be discussing that with president biden? {iii discussing that with president biden? .., , , discussing that with president biden? , , ., biden? of course, it is on the table. biden? of course, it is on the table- we _ biden? of course, it is on the table. we were _ biden? of course, it is on the table. we were asked - biden? of course, it is on the table. we were asked by - biden? of course, it is on the table. we were asked by ourl table. we were asked by our ukrainian neighbours to provide them with thosejets. being ukrainian neighbours to provide them with those jets. being a ukrainian neighbours to provide them with thosejets. being a member state of nato it was natural for us to discuss it and a nato level. we know what president biden said but the secretary of state said there is a green light for that. that is why we offered this to be discussed at a nato level and to share some of the risk. we don't see it as a provocative step. we are ready to do it but as a nato i write we should

discuss it as a nato level and that would be the topic again of discussion between our polish and american presidents, although we need the consensus on that and so far there is no nato consensus on that. we are providing all the support to the ukraine starting from humanitarian assistance through to diplomatic support. that is what we are concentrating on now. that diplomatic support. that is what we are concentrating on now.— are concentrating on now. that was the deu are concentrating on now. that was the deputy foreign _ are concentrating on now. that was the deputy foreign minister - are concentrating on now. that was the deputy foreign minister of - the deputy foreign minister of poland. one line to bring you from the uk, the transport secretary grant shapps says he has decided to indefinitely detain two jets belonging to a sanctioned russian oligarch. the planes belonging to eugene shvidler, which are thought to be worth up to $60 million, had been held under investigation at farnborough and biggin hill airports for three weeks. mr shapps said the measures showed

that the government would "leave no stone unturned in depriving putin's cronies of their luxury toys. "he said ministers wanted to "see an end to the merciless, bloody war which putin is pursuing" that is the latest from lviv, i am going to hand it over to the studio in london. we are going to look at some of the assets and sanctions. it's one of the biggest and most expensive yachts ever built — longer than a football pitch — with a disco that turns into a swimming pool. reports suggest it belongs to president putin — but its true ownership is wrapped up in secrecy. its now in dock in italy — but hasn t been seized by the authorities unlike some other yachts belonging to 0ligarchs. the bbc�*s angus crawford has been

trying to unravel the mystery. the scheherazade, the ultimate in yacht chic, a billionaire's plaything. the question is, which billionaire? it's still not clear if that's president putin himself or one of his close friends. president putin himself or one 140 metres in length, difficult to hide as it's refitted in this italian dock. difficult to hide as it's refitted it's thought to have cost more than $700 million to build. there are two helipads on there, nine decks of luxury, enough room for you to entertain 19 of your closest, personal friends and the taps in the bathrooms? well, they're gold, of course. paolo is furious. he's a local union boss. translation: it's totally cut off.

silent. they wish to say nothing, to hide. but should workers have to hide, or should we work in the open and be proud? the russian crew and british captain disappeared overnight, replaced by a brand new team. we're told its protected by armed guards, and workers have to strip and go through a metal detector before they can even get on board. locals who know the shipyard well are split about what should happen. she thinks it should be confiscated and the money used for something good. he says it will never be seized, the authorities hands are tied. it is his, you know, he has paid for it and they have produced it. so maybe make sure that it doesn't go into anything that can be used for war,

military or that. but if it is a leisure yacht, i don't think it should be taken from him. but if it isn't seized when the refit is done, it'll leave. the scheherazade secrets sailing with her. angus crawford, bbc news, marina di carrara, italy. a ferry operated by p&0 has been held in northern ireland because of fears about staff training. the uk transport secretary, grant shapps, said the maritime and coastguard agency deemed the european causeway "unfit to sail". trade unions have raised concerns that agency workers — brought in after the company sacked 800 staff last week — won't be adequately trained to operate the ships. 0ur reporter, simonjones has more. detained — the european causeway, seen here last week, must remain at the port of larne. the coastguard said it had found failures relating to crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and training.

transport secretary grant shapps wrote on twitter: p&0's boss was already under pressure, the prime minister backing calls for him to quit. that's after the company fired 800 workers last week to replace them with cheaper agency staff, who will earn an average of £5.50 an hour — less than the uk minimum wage. some employees finding out their fate by a video message. i'm sorry to inform you that this means your employment is terminated with immediate effect on the grounds of redundancy. p&0's boss admitted to mps this week that the company had broken the law by not consulting workers. there's absolutely no doubt that we were required to consult with the unions.

we chose not to do that because... you chose to break the law? we chose not to consult, and we — and we are, and will, compensate everybody in full for that. protests have taken place in larne, calling for sacked workers to be reinstated. the rmt union says the firm isn't fit and proper to run a safe service after what it calls a "jobs massacre." but the company insists without changes the business simply would not survive. it says it will now review the inspection of the the european causeway and make any changes that are required. the coastguard says the ship will not be allowed to set sail again until all the issues are resolved. simon jones, bbc news. do stay with us on bbc news because coming up shortly, i will be speaking to a representative from save the children following reports from ukrainian officials that 136

children have been killed so far following russia's invasion of ukraine. stay with us for that. hello. there's plenty more fine weather to come for the uk this weekend and for saturday, once again, we have a date set to bring us wide spread sunshine. temperatures even a little above average, again looking but if at the mid to high teens. not a lot going on, as you can see across the landmass into saturday afternoon. a little bit of fair weather cloud, perhaps bubbling up across northern england. always a little more cloud across the northernmost reaches of scotland, particularly for the northern isles, but in the sunshine. temperatures widely getting up to 15 to 18 degrees. british summertime officially starts on sunday. the clocks go forward an hour between 1:00am and 2:00am and this is what happens outside underneath the area of high pressure. during the small hours, we pull in some more cloud from the north sea. quite low cloud, potentially

quite dense cloud. so actually a little milder across particularly central and eastern parts of england as we go into early sunday, still looking at pockets of frost for scotland and northern ireland for the west across wales as well. but then that cloud looks like it's going to stick around across central and eastern england through the day on sunday, slowly breaking up. i think many areas will end up eventually with sunny spells, but adjacent to the north sea, the cloud likely to stay quite solid, quite stubborn and peg the temperatures back, notablyjust 11 there in hull and norwich. we're looking at 16 for cardiff, 18 for glasgow on into next week, though our story does start to change and it will change quite significantly, particularly later in the week from monday. the high pressure starting to lose its grip. and so itjustjust means that bank of cloud sitting across central reaches of the uk could produce the odd heavier showers and wetter weather, potentially for northern england, parts of the north midlands and lincolnshire through monday to the south, still 16 or 17 degrees colder air,

those starting to sneak into the north, just five degrees there in shetland and that cold front not bearing much in the way of rain along its actual length. so we'll start to ebb colder air in from the north further into scotland through tuesday. so just seven degrees in aberdeen. showers across higher ground starting to turn wintry. already cooler further south too. but get to the middle of next week and it looks like all of us will be plunged into a pretty icy arctic blast. so by the time we get to next thursday, we can probably take about ten degrees off our temperatures. we'll see this weekend.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... president biden visits poland to show support for ukraine — and meet refugees who've fled the fighting. ukraine's president says there must be urgent, meaningful talks with russia — and claims his troops have dealt the invaders a series of "powerful blows". with the spotlight on russian oligarchs and their assets, we've been taking a look at one of the biggest yachts ever built — and asking who actually owns it? the united states calls for tougher sanctions on north korea — after tests on its largest ever inter—continental ballistic missile.

let's get more now on the battle for the ukrainian capital. according to the latest british military intelligence, the ukrainians have reoccupied towns and defensive positions 32 kilometres east of kyiv, while russian supply lines in that area are said to be overstretched. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from the front line on the city's northern outskirts. 0n the northern outskirts of kyiv, burnt—out evidence of a russian defeat on this front line. ukrainian troops say russian forces tried to get through here four times this month, and were stopped in their tracks.

they are still firing from a few miles away. it's a grad rocket, says salim, the commander, showing us what landed overnight. he takes pride in what his men from the 72nd mechanized brigade have done against the odds, and are continuing to do. there's plenty of outgoing fire against russian positions. russia. among the wreckage, a sleeping bag and a uniform from a russian soldier who perished. and what if the enemy tries again to advance here? "they will try," he says, "but i don't think we would let them through. "we have let them know who the ukrainian armed forces "are and who the boys

from our brigade are. "we have taken out four tanks and eight fighting "vehicles and killed about 60 of their people." well, this was a road of destruction for russian forces — there's one burnt—out vehicle here, another one just up ahead. there are two more a short distance away. and ukrainian troops have been able to achieve this against a much larger army, a more powerful army. in places now they're notjust resisting, they are mounting a counterattack. for troops here, the priority is guarding the approaches to the capital. more than a month on, russian forces are stuck on the outskirts, clearly not what president putin had in mind.

at 62, valery can't recognise the world around him. putin came, he says, as you can see. our children and grandchildren are dying. i will stay here. if needs be, i will die here. but i will not give them ukraine. then, in anger and in anguish, he kicks at the charred remains of a russian soldier. in a village nearby, more evidence of ukraine's suffering and russia's miscalculations. it fired two ballistic missiles at this tiny hamlet of no strategic value.

well, you can see the devastation, and this massive crater was caused by a russian missile strike. remnants of the missile are still here. no—one was killed in this attack, but russian forces are not far away, and they've been flying a drone in the area in the last hour. russia has bombed and destroyed more than it has captured — a poor return on a costly invasion that may now have to change course. 0rla geurin, bbc news, on the outskirts of kyiv. let us go live to warsaw, the presidential palace. the reason we are showing you that is because there are some very serious and important talks that will be taking place today, saturday, between us presidentjoe biden and the polish

leader, his counterpart, and also significantly, also meeting some other ukrainian ministers, the foreign minister will be there as well as the defence minister. some pretty significant officials travelling from ukraine to poland to be part of these talks with the us president, who has been in poland, this will be his second day. he visited troops on friday, some 50 miles from the ukrainian border, whilst he was there he said i don't want to sound philosophical, but you are in the midst of a fight between democracy and oligarch. you remember that in the build—up to the russian invasion president biden sent some 5000, five and a half thousand additional troops to that border to try and bolster nato troops. part of

these talks today with the polish leader, what we are expecting to be on the schedule, there it is, part of the presidential motorcade, the presidential car. not sure if he is in there currently, but certainly signalling that the us president is on the move. now, if ijust go back to the talks, one of the things that poland has been pushing for was to be allowed to aid ukraine with some militaryjets. president biden, however, has said that he doesn't want that, because that then means that nato is entering the war against russia.

president biden being greeted by the polish leader. they were meant to speak on friday but the polish leader's plane was diverted, and those talks are now taking place today, entering, he will be meeting a number of officials but essentially making his way into the presidential palace. i'lljust remind you that he is also going to be part of the talks, i should say, are two key ukrainian top ranking officials, the country's foreign minister and also the defence minister. the reason this is important is that firstly they have left ukraine to be part of these talks, but also, is the first time that the us president has had face—to—face meetings with top

ukrainian officials since the beginning of the war. 0bviously zelensky, because of threats to safety, not travelling openly. he has been having a number of key speeches, with a number of governments virtually over the last few weeks. what we are expecting from the speech later today has been indicated any number of dispatches from the white house, a number of official saying that president biden will deliver remarks on what they are describing as the united efforts of the free world. to support the people of ukraine, to hold russia accountable for its brutal war and also to defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles. you remember that poland has taken on some 2.2 million, according to the un, refugees, who have fled ukraine,

and they are looking for some sort of humanitarian aid, because it is a huge pressure on their resources. it also, with russia so close to its borders, there is a hint of some nervousness and as nato, rather poland is a member of nato, there will be discussions as to what can be done and poland still pushing to provide ukraine with some military aid in the form of those jets. president biden has said that will not take place, he does not support that, because that will then mean nato is entering the war. also saying that there will not be troops on the ground, so she's just making his way down the line, guided by the polish leader, meeting a number of

officials and i think now probably making their way in to the palace itself for the beginning of those talks. i think a salute just to take place there. let'sjust talks. i think a salute just to take place there. let's just listen talks. i think a salute just to take place there. let'sjust listen in... american national anthem plays

what we are listening to there are of course the national anthem is being played. us president biden standing beside the polish president. a number of talks taking place, certainly the two leaders are set to meet privately today and what

has been described as a dustup over how to arm ukraine with war planes, poland really pushing for that as well as a number of other security guarantees, the us very cautious, but already in the past weeks, president biden has said no to the plains and also no two books on the ground. poland, as a natal leader, feeling somewhat cautious —— boots on the ground. —— as a natal leader, feeling cautious at the proximity of russian troops to its borders —— nato. also dealing with humanitarian crisis, really stepping up to support ukrainians that have fled the fighting in their country, some 2.2 million refugees its estimated are being hosted by poland itself. this visit is not only practical,

direct action being called for, but it has also been described as symbolic because president biden will be talking about this risk to democracy that president vladimir putin has inflicted in eastern europe, so a symbolic yet also practical visit by the us and the president. he has had some three days of talks, meeting g7 leaders and also nato leaders as well before making this trip to poland. talks with the polish president, andrzej duda, but also to key ukrainian officials have made thejourney duda, but also to key ukrainian officials have made the journey to warsaw. the ukrainian foreign minister, and the defence minister, sojust to remind minister, and the defence minister, so just to remind you minister, and the defence minister, sojust to remind you of minister, and the defence minister, so just to remind you of the latest developments in this invasion is self... president zelensky, of

ukraine, speaking last night in his regular updates has said, he claimed some 16,000 russian troops have been killed and that includes senior russian officers. as far as russia goes, a lot of questions as to what is going to happen next, following a statement by vladimir putin saying that this operation is moving into a new phase and they will be focusing on the eastern donbas region. you will remember that the invasion itself was kicked off in the donbas region, which then spread further inland into ukraine. as faras military intelligence goes, we understand that ukrainians, or what we have been told in brief, the media briefing, is that ukrainians have reoccupied a number of towns and also defensive positions, around

32 kilometres east of kyiv. a number of days ago we were describing how russian troops were digging in for what could be the long fight. it appears now that ukrainians have reoccupied a number of those towns and also those key defensive positions. russian supply lines also being overstretched, again this coming from military intelligence, supply to the media. long—term, another announcement that took place just this week, yesterday, the us president, joe biden, announced that they were going to strike a deal with eu to try to reduce europe's reliance on russian gas. they are going to step up their production of us liquefied natural gas, and also increase efforts in order to switch

to renewable energy full stop if you have been following events you will remember that countries like germany have been very hesitant about sanctions against russian oil because they are so dependent on it, saying that if we were to put a sanction and straightaway, there would be dire consequences for germany's economy. if you're just joining us here on bbc news, that is the square in the presidential palace, in warsaw, the polish presidential palace. you can see presidential palace. you can see president andrzej duda standing beside us presidentjoe biden. he is in town for a number of key talks, and i think now about to be led into the building to begin those talks. humanitarian aid is going to be discussed, but also poland is pushing and would like to have more

military aid provided to ukraine. they have always said that they would like... we havejust lost that shot. they have said they would like to provide militaryjets, for example, to ukraine, to support ukraine in the fight against russian aggression. as we get updates as to what is agreed and those talks or what is agreed and those talks or what was on the agenda and what was discussed, we will bring that to you here on bbc news. we are going to stay with events in ukraine. the ukrainian authorities say 136 children have been killed since the russian invasion beganjust over a month ago. according to the prosecutor general�*s office, the latest victim was a nine—year—old who was killed by shelling in donetsk on friday. officials say hundreds of schools and other educational establishments have been damaged or destroyed.

amanda brydon is global head of policy and advocacy for save the children — shejoins me now from krakow. amanda, it is great to have you with us. this figure of 136, numbers within this whole invasion, we have to be very cautious, but 136 is what ukrainian officials are saying, what is your take on that? the ukrainian officials are saying, what is your take on that?— is your take on that? the conflict has had a devastating _ is your take on that? the conflict has had a devastating impact - is your take on that? the conflict has had a devastating impact for| has had a devastating impact for children, and what we know from un verified figures is even less than that, 90 children have been killed and 180 have been injured, but it is likely to be an underestimate. the un themselves are unable to verify numbers of deaths within these intense areas of fighting, including the city of mariupol. what we do know is that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas are the result of the vast majority of these

deaths and injuries, due to their indiscriminate nature of the effects of the weapons. we know that children themselves are uniquely vulnerable as well.— vulnerable as well. when we talk about vulnerabilities, _ vulnerable as well. when we talk about vulnerabilities, what - vulnerable as well. when we talk about vulnerabilities, what we i about vulnerabilities, what we talking about? health, obviously safety is involved, but take us to mariupol, what are the conditions like their four children?— like their four children? there, is very difficult _ like their four children? there, is very difficult to _ like their four children? there, is very difficult to say. _ like their four children? there, is | very difficult to say. humanitarian organisations are unable to be accessing the city at the moment. across ukraine the challenges are multiple for children. lack of education, we know the world health organization has verified 72 attacks 0rganization has verified 72 attacks on health care facilities, so that is a challenge for children to access the health care they need. the ministry of education and science has reported 570 education facilities have been damaged in the conflict, 73 completely destroyed, so multiple vulnerabilities for children, deaths and injuries, lifelong injuries for some. we had a

report on thursday that three children who found an explosive device near a village, it could have been a landmine or an explosive ordinance, but the children played with it, an explosion hospitalised all three of them, one of them is in intensive care. these aren'tjust numbers, every single one of them as a child and these deaths are going to go up because of the lack of access to health care. i to go up because of the lack of access to health care.- to go up because of the lack of access to health care. i have been readin: access to health care. i have been reading and _ access to health care. i have been reading and following _ access to health care. i have been reading and following the - access to health care. i have been reading and following the story i access to health care. i have been l reading and following the story and reading and following the story and reading reports of fleeing families, fleeing adults, just grabbing children that they have been finding beside dead family members are dead parents... what support as they're available once the children have been able to find safety and refuge? it is the support they are? it really depends on where the children are ending up. we know from unicef that happy children from ukraine are now displaced, we have 1.5 million have managed to flee the country, so

being able to seek support in neighbouring countries, child protection services, lack of social support and agencies... inside the country, it is still really difficult to be accessing populations, getting to the displaced, but huge needs and psychosocial support for the children witnessing violence, as you say, family members being killed, it is going to be a huge crisis that humanitarian organisations need to be putting children front and centre and their protection is a number one priority. we and their protection is a number one riori . ~ ., , ., , priority. we have seen the images, overhead images _ priority. we have seen the images, overhead images of _ priority. we have seen the images, overhead images of sites _ priority. we have seen the images, overhead images of sites that - priority. we have seen the images, overhead images of sites that have j overhead images of sites that have been bombed, despite the word children written out, hoping they would not be targeted. what do you make of russia targeting children like this? can be done about it? 50. like this? can be done about it? so, i mean, like this? can be done about it? so, i mean. there _ like this? can be done about it? 65>, i mean, there is rules like this? can be done about it? s53, i mean, there is rules of like this? can be done about it? s;r3, i mean, there is rules of war for i mean, there is rules of warfor parties in conflict, international

humanitarian law requires parties to be taking all feasible precautions to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, also making sure their attacks are proportionate. each incidents needs to be investigated and verified and understood, proximity to military targets. the indiscriminate nature does indicate there is potentialfor serious violations that are going on inside the country at the moment, but for save the children, it is difficult to be able to say on a case—by—case basis exactly what is happening at the moment. we case-by-case basis exactly what is happening at the moment.- happening at the moment. we will leave it there _ happening at the moment. we will leave it there for _ happening at the moment. we will leave it there for now, _ happening at the moment. we will leave it there for now, but - happening at the moment. we will leave it there for now, but thank i leave it there for now, but thank you very much for your time. the united states has called for tougher international sanctions on north korea, following its latest missile test. washington's ambassador to the un

accused pyongyang of �*increasingly dangerous provocations', after the north korean leader, kimjong—un, oversaw the launch of its largest ever inter—continental ballistic missile. taylor hawkins, the drummer of the us rock band foo fighters, has died aged 50. # the best of you! # it's understood he was found in a hotel room in colombia in south america — where the group were due to perform at a festival. in a statement the band paid tribute to him, saying they were "devastated by his tragic and untimely loss" — adding his musicalspirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever." i've been speaking to mark beaumont who is a musicjournalist. he explained why taylor's death is so heartfelt.

this is someone that has always seemed so full of life, so to lose someone like that at 50 is truly shocking. this is someone who, people are mentioning the spirit of taylor, and he really did encapsulate the kind of spirit of foo fighters in so many ways, he was kind of the fun side of it, the beaming and there is that guy, the life and soul the band. —— enthusiastic guy. he encapsulated the spirit in terms appear as a band that dave grohl started, leaping from the drum seat of nirvana to prove himself as a songwriter and front man, and that is exactly what taylor hawkins would do as well, he contributed to some of their best songs, he would come out in front the band for various sort of queen covers and songs of his own. he was there, notjust a fantastic drummer and one of the best drummers and rock, you have to be in order to be

the drummer dave grohl�*s band. plenty more coming up on bbc news, stay with us. there is plenty more fine weather to come for the uk this weekend, and for saturday, once again we have a day set to bring us widespread sunshine. temperatures, a little above average, looking at the mid to high teens. not a lot going on. as you can see across the land mass into saturday, little prayer cloud bubbling up across northern england, a little more cloud across the northernmost reaches of scotland, particularly for the northern isles. in the sunshine temperature is widely getting to 15—18 . british summer time officially starts on sunday, the clocks go forward an hour between 1am and 2am and this is what happens outside, underneath the area of high pressure during the

small hours, we pull in some more cloud from the north sea, quite low cloud, potentially quite dense cloud, potentially quite dense cloud, so a little milder across critically central and eastern parts of england as we go into early sunday, still looking at pockets of trust for scotland and northern ireland, further west across wales as well. they're that cloud looks like it will stick around across central and eastern england through the day on sunday, slowly breaking up the day on sunday, slowly breaking up i think many areas ending up with sunny spells, but adjacent to the north sea, cloud liquid stay solid, quite stubborn and peggy temperatures back notably, just 11 there in hull and norwich. looking at 16 for cardiff, eating for glasgow. —— 18 for glasgow. it changes significantly later in the week, from monday the high—pressure starting to lose its grip. it does mean that bank of cloud sitting across central reaches of the uk could produce the odd heavier shower stops and what your weather potentially for northern england, parts of lincolnshire through

monday. colderair parts of lincolnshire through monday. colder air starting to sneak into the north, just 5 degrees they are in shetland and that cold front, not very much in the way of rain, and will start to ebb colder errant in from the north into scotland to a tuesday, just 7 degrees in aberdeen, showers across higher ground starting to turn 13, already cooler further south, starting to turn 13, already cooler furthersouth, but starting to turn 13, already cooler further south, but get to the middle of next week and it looks like all of next week and it looks like all of us will be plunged into a pretty icy arctic blast, so by the time we get to next thursday, we can probably take about 10 degrees of her temperatures we will see this weekend.

this is bbc news, welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... president biden visits poland to show support for ukraine and meet refugees who've fled the fighting. ukraine's president says there must be urgent, meaningful talks with russia — and claims his troops have dealt the invaders a series of "powerful blows". a ferry operated by p&0 has been detained in northern ireland because of fears about staff training. and tributes from across the music industry for taylor hawkins, the drummer with the rock band, the foo fighters, who's died at the age of 50.