showed activity. some of them possibly heavy and thundery but then behind those fronts an area of high pressure building. this is bbc news, broadcasting in the uk and around the globe i'm geeta guru—murthy. our top stories: the speaker of the us house of representatives meets ukraine's president in kyiv, saying american support will continue "until the fight is done". ukrainian fighters inside mariupol�*s azovstal steel plant say 20 women and children have been allowed to leave, but hundreds of civilians are still trapped inside. defending the black sea port of odesa, but fears grow after the airport runway is damaged by a russian missile strike. politicians in the uk welcome the resignation of conservative mp neil parish, who admits watching pornography in the house of commons twice. the commons speaker, sir lindsey hoyle, calls for "radical action" to overhaul working practices in westminster.

this is the first time a president is at this dinner in six years. the white house correspondents' dinner returns to washington's political calendar. hello and welcome to bbc news. the us speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, and other congressional leaders have visited the ukrainian capital, kyiv, on an unannounced trip in which she expressed support for president volodymyr zelensky. the visit comes amid a push from the biden administration for a $33 billion package of support for ukraine, which he must pass through congress. speaking to the ukrainian president, ms pelosi described ukraine as the frontier of democracy. mr zelensky said ukraine was grateful for american solidarity. she is now in warsaw to meet to meet the polish president, andrzej duda.

translation: first of all, i am | grateful to you for this signal. | this is a signal of strong support for ukraine. this is a powerful signalfrom the people of the united states, congress and two chamber support and two party support. meanwhile, a small group of women and children have been allowed to leave the besieged steelworks in mariupol — the final part of the city still held by ukrainian troops. both russia and ukraine are said to be respecting a local ceasefire and there are hopes more civilians can be freed. meanwhile, more air strikes have hit homes in eastern ukraine, as tim muffett reports. scenes that have become so familiar over the past nine weeks — another home destroyed, another family rescuing what they can from the aftermath of a russian attack. dobropillia, in the donetsk region of eastern ukraine. seven civilians including three children were injured here, according to authorities.

everything is destroyed, this man says. the house is, you can pretty much say, uninhabitable. so we are holding on. the lord will help us, and we will win. the azovstal steelworks in mariupol, the final part of the southern port city still under the control of ukrainian troops. sealed off more than a week ago under orders from president putin, it is thought around 20 civilians were able to leave the site yesterday. according to russian media, the group included six children under 1a. it is not known where they were taken. earlier, an advisor to ukraine's defence minister pleaded for humanitarian corridors to be set up to allow others to escape the city. tens rrf thousands of people are still trapped there, and russian war criminals still are refusing to allow humanitarian evacuation corridors. and this is a major problem, and the ukrainian authorities are saying on a daily basis

that the international community must intervene with more force. in odesa, in the south—west of the country, preparations continue for a possible russian invasion from the sea. ukrainian officials said last night the runway of the city's airport was destroyed by a russian missile strike, although no—one was injured. as far as russia is concerned, this is all still part of the special military operation, but there is talk that president putin will officially declare it a war. if president putin, maybe using the parade on nine may, declares this a war then the russian legal position changes. so, for example, he can keep the conscripts that are currently serving, whose time is about up. he can keep them in and he can mobilise more reserves, more resources and more of russian industry. but what it would indicate is that this is now a long war, it's not a special military operation. it's something that president putin will cast as an existential fight for russia, to protect

all russian—speaking peoples. there was an unexpected visitor to ukraine yesterday. hollywood actress and un special envoy angelina jolie arrived in lviv. she met people who have been caught up in this conflict, and others too young to fully appreciate its true horrors. our correspondent joe inwood is in lviv. he told us more about nancy pelosi's visit. the visit happened yesterday. we were only told about it after she left the country for security reasons. firstly, this visit shows the ongoing support of the united states. tim was mentioning in his report, $33 billion. this signals that the united states is in for the long haul. it shows the level of support that they have.

there is another important element to this, that is that it shows high profile visitors are not afraid to come to kyiv. the united nations secretary—general visited last week and while he was here a russian cruise missile landed not two miles away from where he was. to people visiting kyiv. this is the response from the united states, showing they are not afraid to come. what is happening globally is that there is a lot of support from the united states, lots of money, and from europe. other parts of the world, big players, china, india is in a different position, turkey, many other countries, there is not the same level of support for ukraine. what is the sense there of that? are people aware of the different political levels of support around the world? i don't know whether the population is. i know politicians here

will be aware of it. it has been a source of some disappointment that some countries they thought would have offered them support haven't done so. with china, but that is probably not a surprise. they have a close relationship with russia and the two presidents are very close. india and pakistan is an interesting area. there is some talk of them not as firm a line them not as firm a line on moscow as might be expected because they have military supply links. the people and politicians of ukraine will be disappointed by some international reaction to this. but they have had such fulsome support from western europe, from nato, north america, that out matches it. they broadly feel that the international response they have got has been a positive one. for now, thank you. in the uk, the speaker of the house

of commons says "radical action" is needed to overhaul the working culture of the houses of parliament. sir lindsay hoyle's comments, in an article he's written for the observer newspaper, come a day after the resignation of the conservative mp neil parish, who admitted watching pornography twice in the house of commons. our political correspondent ben wright has the details. it's a bleak moment for parliament's reputation. claims of sexism and harassment have put a harsh spotlight on this place, and one mp caught up in sleaze has now decided to quit. neil parish had hoped to tough it out, wait for a parliamentary investigation to do its work. but yesterday the tory mp admitted to watching pornography twice while in the house of commons. in the end, i can see that the furore, the damage i was causing my family and my constituency and association wasn't worth carrying on. a conservative mp since 2010,

mr paris was suspended from the parliamentary party on friday after being named as the mp in the centre of the allegations. two female tory mps had witnessed the behaviour. apologising to them and his constituents, the former farmer explained what happened. finally enough, it was tractors i was looking at, so i did get into another website that had a very similar name, and i watched it for a bit, which i shouldn't have done. but my crime — biggest crime — is that on another occasion i went in a second time. mr parish said he deliberately looked at the material again while waiting to go into a commons voting lobby. and the one thing i wasn't doing, and which i will take to my grave as being true, is i was not actually making sure people could see it. in fact, i was trying to do quite the opposite. it was wrong, what i was doing, but this idea that i was there watching it and intimidating women, i mean, i have had 12 years in the parliament

and have probably got one of the best reputations ever, or did have. neil parish wasn't a well—known mp, until now, but will be remembered for behaviour that caused shock and outrage across parliament. i think there is a great deal of work to do to make sure that the house of commons is a place where women are respected and appreciated, and not merely tolerated. and i very much hope that this can act as a watershed moment so we don't see another deluge of really prominent female parliamentarians coming forward to highlight the misogyny and the harassment that they've faced. there will now be a by—election in the normally rock—solid tory seat of tiverton and honiton in devon, where voters have been absorbing the abrupt resignation of their mp.

�*those reports about the emergence of those reports about neil parish, now his resignation. we have had some prominent female mps come forward and detail some of their experiences in parliament. a cabinet minister spoke earlier this

week about having been picked up against a wall by a male colleague in years gone by. you sort of we heard during this week. classic ten, the business secretary, asked about this this morning on the bbc. he said he had seen bad behaviour in parliament, but he didn't feel it was across the board. imeanl i mean i think we have got to distinguish between some bad apples, people _ distinguish between some bad apples, people who behave badly, and the general— people who behave badly, and the general environment. it is very similar— general environment. it is very similar to — general environment. it is very similarto when general environment. it is very similar to when people say, well, there _ similar to when people say, well, there are — similar to when people say, well, there are a — similar to when people say, well, there are a number of racist people in this— there are a number of racist people in this country, that means the whole — in this country, that means the whole country is racist. that doesn't _ whole country is racist. that doesn't follow. there are some bad apples, _ doesn't follow. there are some bad apples, people who have acted very badly— apples, people who have acted very badly and _ apples, people who have acted very badly and they should be held to account — badly and they should be held to account. in the case of neil parish, he voluntarily resigned. we realised what done _ he voluntarily resigned. we realised what done was unacceptable, there is no professional work environment and what he _ no professional work environment and what he did _ no professional work environment and what he did was acceptable, and he has resigned as a result.

some mps have said if we get more women into parliament that could help the culture, too. there is a commitment from the party to raise the number of female mps. there is a sense that having some more would help. here is the leader of the liberal democrats, ed davey. we need to show to women and girls that if you come into politics it's going to be an environment where you feel safe, you will feel respected and we have to do far more. what annoys me is we had the #metoo scandaljust a few years ago. it looks like we have made no progress. we have got to go further and faster on that. if we don't attract women and girls into politics, it will undermine our country. our wonderful country needs the contribution of women and girls in politics. so, sir lindsay hoyle is calling for

big changes, as have others. we have the mail on sunday doubling down on its original claims about angela rayner. it is a really tough industry to work in, a tough place to working at the moment. it is. industry to work in, a tough place to working at the moment. it is. the seaker to working at the moment. it is. the speaker says — to working at the moment. it is. the speaker says he _ to working at the moment. it is. the speaker says he wants _ to working at the moment. it is. the speaker says he wants radical - to working at the moment. it is. the speaker says he wants radical action| speaker says he wants radical action taken to change workplace culture. in westminster, there are some structural things within it that don't help those, whether you think it is a widespread culture or bad apples, some of the structural things about her westminster work don't really have that. one of the things he wants to do is set up a formal inquiry to change the way that staff are employed in the house of commons. at the moment they are directly employed by their mp, which makes it hard for them if they want to raise concerns about employment practices. they are effectively having to go to their own boss to complain about their boss. he wants to set up a commission to change that. sir keir starmer said this morning that he would participate in that, although he does back the

current system. he said you have got to lead cultural change from the top. speaking to mps this week, one female mp i spoke to who was quite frustrated by all of this, what she said was at the moment she doesn't think the culture will change until people really feel consequences for overstepping the mark. clearly in the case of neil parish, that has happened. the case of neil parish, that has happened-— the case of neil parish, that has hauened. . , . ., ., happened. the public get to vote this week, _ happened. the public get to vote this week. of _ happened. the public get to vote this week, of course. _ happened. the public get to vote this week, of course. thank - happened. the public get to vote this week, of course. thank you, j this week, of course. thank you, helen. in india and other parts of southern asia there is a record—breaking heatwave causing health problems that doctors say pose a bigger worry than the expected fourth wave of covid—i9. in delhi, temperatures have soared past a0 degrees celsius for several days, and follow the hottest march recorded in more than 100 years. more than a billion people in the region are at risk of heat—related impacts, scientists have warned, linking the early onset of an intense summer to climate change.

the family of the jailed rwandan opposition activist who inspired the film hotel rwanda says it has filed a $400 million lawsuit in the united states over his alleged abduction and torture. paul rusesabagina is serving a 25—year prison term on terrorism charges after a trial his supporters say was a sham. his family say the rwandan government lured him from texas, where he was living in exile, back to rwanda. rusesabagina is credited with saving some 1,200 people during the 1994 genocide. a uk foreign office minister is to hold crisis talks in the british virgin islands after an inquiry found that the government should take direct control of the territory. it cited corruption and bad governance. the report was published earlier than planned following the arrest of the bvi premier andrew foy in the united states, where he's accused of involvement in drug—trafficking and money—laundering. nomia iqbal is in the british virgin islands and reports from the capital road town on the island of tortola.

the view from the sky is calm, but it belies the crisis that's hit the islands. when you see something happen... this is its premier, andrew fahiejust over a week ago, celebrating the country's athletes. now he is more than 1,000 miles away in a miami jail. he appeared in this court accused of drug trafficking and money—laundering after a huge sting operation involving the us drug enforcement agency. his residency on the islands is empty as he waits a pre—trial detention hearing later this week. undercover agents say mr fahie wanted to take money for a slice of the profits from smuggling the drugs through the islands. it's alleged that he was shown part of his payoff in the back of a private jet. when he was arrested, mr fahie reportedly said, "why am i getting arrested? "i don't have any money or drugs."

the us operation comes as a long—awaited uk investigation into alleged corruption on the island is published. that report was published by the governor, appointed by the queen. the way the territory is run has long been subject of controversy. it is one of the world's leading offshore tax havens. the conclusion of this investigation is damning and recommends that the uk should impose direct rule on the islands. good evening fellow virgin islanders... that idea has had immediate pushback from the man who is standing in for mr fahie. there are people of their virgin islands who want to see the suspension of the constitution because we support democracy. every country in the world has challenges with governance and we have a very strong and robust programme to reform those challenges and we are confident we can do so without having direct uk rule.

there are more than 3,500 people who live here, with aspirations of self—determination and achieving modern democracy. it's thrown into doubt. uk ministers will be heading here next week to decide the future of the islands. new zealand has opened its borders to international travellers from 60 countries from today. it imposed one of the world's strictest covid lockdowns for more than two years. lynda kean is the head of new zealand's tourism export council. from a private sector tourism business perspective, including the whole country, i think we all felt very proud of our response and the management by government in 2020 and through 2021. i think, from a business perspective, many would have hoped that we would have opened earlier. it's been a long, hard struggle for many businesses and we are just

really keen to welcome back visitors again, so we are excited in that regard, that finally, from midnight tonight, we can welcome back visitors. as we mentioned earlier the speaker of the us house of representatives nancy pelosi was in ukraine yesterday — meeting president volodymyr zelensky. she's speaking now at a press conference in poland — let's take a listen. bill keating is chair of eurasia on the foreign affairs committee, as well as a member of the armed services committee, and congresswoman jason services committee, and congresswomanjason crowe is a member of services and intelligence, who has brought that experience to the discussion. our delegation had the discussion. our delegation had the solemn opportunity and great honour to meet with the president of ukraine yesterday. our discussion centred around the subject at hand, as you would suspect. security,

humanitarian assistance, economic assistance and, eventually, rebuilding when victory is won. we are proud to convey to him a message of unity from the congress of the united states, a message of appreciation from the american people for his leadership, and admiration to the people of ukraine for their courage. as we continue our engagements in poland, we will be thanking the polish government for their hospitality, more than that to refugees and to learn from them what more needs to be done. what more needs to be done was the topic of our conversation with president zelensky and her colleagues will address those. it is with great sorrow that we come here.

we cleave with a firmer understanding and more current understanding and more current understanding of what needs to be done, with a deeper appreciation of inspiration from those who are in this fight, and again, the resolve to move quickly, we are already writing into legislation the initiative that president biden put forth. we are very proud of our president, his experience as a member, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, as a senator of many years and a vice president of the united states and now president, he in the fight against democracy versus oppression, democracy versus autocracy, and he has unified, been autocracy, and he has unified, been a force of unity in nature as well as in the united states. i am pleased please —— pleased to give to mr mcgovern. i pleased please -- pleased to give to mr mcgovern-—

mr mcgovern. i am honoured to be here in poland. _ mr mcgovern. i am honoured to be here in poland. i— mr mcgovern. i am honoured to be here in poland. i have _ mr mcgovern. i am honoured to be here in poland. i have polish - mr mcgovern. i am honoured to be here in poland. i have polish are i mr mcgovern. i am honoured to be l here in poland. i have polish are my mothers _ here in poland. i have polish are my mothers side, and was happy to be in ukraine _ mothers side, and was happy to be in ukraine yesterday. my wife is my family— ukraine yesterday. my wife is my family as — ukraine yesterday. my wife is my family as have ukrainian on her mother's— family as have ukrainian on her mother's side, so this is a special visit~ _ mother's side, so this is a special visit. president zelensky is an inspiration, and so are the people of ukraine, — inspiration, and so are the people of ukraine, and all of us stand with them _ of ukraine, and all of us stand with them i_ of ukraine, and all of us stand with them iwarit— of ukraine, and all of us stand with them. i want to thank speaker nancy pelosi _ them. i want to thank speaker nancy pelosi for— them. i want to thank speaker nancy pelosi for leaving the first official— pelosi for leaving the first official co—delegation into kyiv and i'm grateful for her long—term commitment to human rights and to democracy— commitment to human rights and to democracy and freedom. look, putin's brotat— democracy and freedom. look, putin's brutal war— democracy and freedom. look, putin's brutal war is _ democracy and freedom. look, putin's brutal war is no longer only a war against _ brutal war is no longer only a war against the — brutal war is no longer only a war against the people of ukraine. it is also a _ against the people of ukraine. it is also a war— against the people of ukraine. it is also a war against the will's most vulnerable. ukraine, as we all know, it is basically— vulnerable. ukraine, as we all know, it is basically the breadbasket of the world. it provides wheat, maize, sunflower— the world. it provides wheat, maize, sunflower oil and so many other

things— sunflower oil and so many other things to — sunflower oil and so many other things to countries all around the world, _ things to countries all around the world, especially in africa and in the middle east. it provides important food to relief organisations. the united nations world _ organisations. the united nations world food programme. and all of these _ world food programme. and all of these organisations are dedicated to trying _ these organisations are dedicated to trying to— these organisations are dedicated to trying to prevent an increase in hunger, — trying to prevent an increase in hunger, yet this war, putin plasma poor, _ hunger, yet this war, putin plasma poor, is— hunger, yet this war, putin plasma poor, is making hunger worse all around _ poor, is making hunger worse all around the — poor, is making hunger worse all around the world. his deliberate targeting — around the world. his deliberate targeting of food supplies has resulted in great pain inside ukraine _ resulted in great pain inside ukraine and around the world. food prices _ ukraine and around the world. food prices have — ukraine and around the world. food prices have risen, energy prices risen _ prices have risen, energy prices risen and — prices have risen, energy prices risen and that in turn means that hunger— risen and that in turn means that hunger is— risen and that in turn means that hunger is on the rise. what kind of person— hunger is on the rise. what kind of person does— hunger is on the rise. what kind of person does that? in ukraine we talk to president zelensky about the importance of providing assistance directiv— importance of providing assistance directly to— importance of providing assistance directly to ukraine, so that he has the ability— directly to ukraine, so that he has the ability and the flexibility to provide — the ability and the flexibility to provide what is necessary to people in need. _ provide what is necessary to people in need, whether they are internally

displaced. _ in need, whether they are internally displaced, whether they are in the most _ displaced, whether they are in the most conflicted areas, whether some famiiies— most conflicted areas, whether some families are _ most conflicted areas, whether some families are in ukraine or in poland. _ families are in ukraine or in poland, whatever the situation, making — poland, whatever the situation, making sure they have the flexibility is important, and that is a message we all agree with. we will continue to fund our international relief organisations. we must — international relief organisations. we must find a way to help ukrainians establish a humanitarian corridor— ukrainians establish a humanitarian corridor that will allow them to shape — corridor that will allow them to shape food by sea to help the poorest — shape food by sea to help the poorest people in the world so they don't _ poorest people in the world so they don't go _ poorest people in the world so they don't go hungry. our dear friends, the leader— don't go hungry. our dear friends, the leader of world central kitchen, he remarks — the leader of world central kitchen, he remarks all the time that food is love _ he remarks all the time that food is love it _ he remarks all the time that food is love it is _ he remarks all the time that food is love. it is not a weapon of war. it is a fundamental human right for every— is a fundamental human right for every single person on this planet. i every single person on this planet. i don't _ every single person on this planet. idon't think— every single person on this planet. i don't think putin cares if he starts — i don't think putin cares if he starts ukraine or the world, he has

no regard — starts ukraine or the world, he has no regard for human suffering, but the rest _ no regard for human suffering, but the rest of — no regard for human suffering, but the rest of us shoot. let me finish with this, — the rest of us shoot. let me finish with this, there is good and evil in the world, — with this, there is good and evil in the world, and we have seen the goodness — the world, and we have seen the goodness in the ukrainian people. we saw the _ goodness in the ukrainian people. we saw the goodness in president zelensky— saw the goodness in president zelensky and in so many others. here in poland. _ zelensky and in so many others. here in poland, they are helping to refugees— in poland, they are helping to refugees and provide peace of mind to people _ refugees and provide peace of mind to people fleeing violence. we have seen the _ to people fleeing violence. we have seen the goodness in your own country— seen the goodness in your own country with young schoolchildren raising _ country with young schoolchildren raising money to help make sure that people _ raising money to help make sure that people are _ raising money to help make sure that people are feds who are fleeing the violence _ people are feds who are fleeing the violence. we have also seen the evil _ violence. we have also seen the evil putin's_ violence. we have also seen the evil. putin's war is evil. war crimes, _ evil. putin's war is evil. war crimes, targeting maternity hospitals, the massacre of people. that is— hospitals, the massacre of people. that is evil — hospitals, the massacre of people. that is evil. at the end of the day we believe — that is evil. at the end of the day we believe the goodness will triumph over evil, _ we believe the goodness will triumph over evil, sol we believe the goodness will triumph over evil, so i am honoured to be on this trip— over evil, so i am honoured to be on this trip and — over evil, so i am honoured to be on this trip and i— over evil, so i am honoured to be on this trip and i want to thank speaker— this trip and i want to thank speaker nancy pelosi for her courage in leaving _ speaker nancy pelosi for her courage in leaving it. i will turn it over

to the — in leaving it. i will turn it over to the chairman of the foreign affairs— to the chairman of the foreign affairs committee. | to the chairman of the foreign affairs committee.— to the chairman of the foreign affairs committee. i want to start off by thanking — affairs committee. i want to start off by thanking the _ affairs committee. i want to start off by thanking the speaker - affairs committee. i want to start off by thanking the speaker for i off by thanking the speaker for leading this delegation. this is my second trip to poland within a month. it isjust second trip to poland within a month. it is just an second trip to poland within a month. it isjust an indication of the dedication... sorry we will have to cut out of this press conference. some of the leaders expressing their support as the us prepares to spend a huge chunk of money with ongoing support for ukraine. we will be back soon. thanks for being with us. hello there. a change of fortunes for many today but not for all. i have managed to find a few glimpses of sunshine, not a bad start in parts of the highlands of scotland, particularly in comparison to saturday where we had an inch of rain falling on one or two areas,

but most of us have been waking up to skies like this, so for the remainder of the day we keep quite a lot of low, grey cloud and at times we will see some outbreaks of rain as this area of low pressure continues to push its way steadily southwards squeezing the high out of away. so the rain so far has been moving out of scotland and northern ireland into the north—west of england and parts of wales. it is starting to weaken a little as it bumps into that high pressure, so we will see some showery outbreaks of rain for central and southern england but a rather grey, gloomy damper affairfollowing on behind for wales and through the irish sea. the best of the breaks in the cloud, the best of the glimpses of sunshine looks likely to continue to be the further north and west with highs of 16 or 17 degrees. now, as we move through sunday evening, that rain still yet to clear. it will do so, it leaves a legacy of cloud in its wake, the cloud preventing the temperatures from falling away so that measns there'll be a relatively mild start

to our bank holiday monday, temperatures holding up, seven to ten degrees. but a rather grey and gloomy start to bank holiday monday, as well. now, there will be a good deal of drier weather in the forecast over the next couple of days. still the risk of a few isolated showers down through the borders, across the pennines, as well. hopefully, the cloud will break in places for allowing glimpses of sunshine, so in the south we could see highs of 17 degrees but a brisk northerly breeze in scotland willjust take the edge off the temperatures here in the far north and east, seven to 11 celsius the highs. as we move out of monday into tuesday and wednesday, we have got a series of weather fronts that's just going to enhance some shower activity. some of them possibly heavy and thundery, but then behind those fronts an area of high pressure building. it is the azores high, so with the wind direction swinging in a clockwise direction, that means the warmer south—westerly flow is set to return, the air coming all away up from western africa, so a slight dip in the feel of the weather and maybe some sharp thundery downpours, but then

towards the end of the week, getting noticeably warmer and drier. this is bbc news. the headlines: the speaker of the us house of representatives has met the ukrainian president in kyiv. she said ukraine was fighting for everyone's freedom — and us support would continue "until the fight is done." around 20 women and children have been able to leave the azovstal steelworks in mariupol, the only part of the city still under ukraine's control. president putin ordered the area to be sealed off last week. the house of commons speaker, sir lindsey hoyle, has called for "radical action" to overhaul working practices in westminster. it comes after the resignation of a conservative mp who admitted watching pornography in the commons twice. police in canada are bracing themselves for a third day

of protests by right—wing anti—establishment protesters on motorbikes.