this is bbc news, the headlines at 8pm... vladimir putin tells finland it would be a mistake for the country to join nato. representatives of the miltary alliance are meeting in germany, with sweden and finland expected to apply for membership. this as russian troops withdraw from ukraine's second biggiest city kharkiv, according to its mayor. it's been under constant bombardment since the invasion began. both sides say it's not clear when the war might end. the collective west has declared total hybrid war on us, and it is hard to predict how long this will all last. but it is clear the consequences will be felt by everyone. campaigners say the government's obesity strategy is �*falling apart�*, after a ban on multi—buy deals forjunk food and pre—watershed tv adverts was delayed. one former health minister says it undermines a commitment to healthy living.

i worry about it's commitment to health disparities, to the ten year cancer programme, to five more years of a healthy life longevity commitment, to our whole commitment to making britain healthier. liverpool's hero. liverpool win the fa cup, beating chelsea 6—5 on penalties after a goalless game at wembley. and the eurovision final is getting started in turin. there are high hopes for the uk's sam ryder, but ukraine are favourites to win. good evening.

russia's president vladimir putin has warned his finnish counterpart thatjoining nato and abandoning finland's neutral status would be a �*mistake�*. finland is expected to formally announce its intention tojoin the western military alliance tomorrow. as this map shows, russia and finland share a 800 mile border and russia says it has no hostile intentions towards finland and sweden, but has warned that their membership of nato would lead to the militarisation of the baltic region. the finnish president is said to have told president putin that russia's invasion of ukraine had �*altered' his country's security environment. speaking ahead of a meeting of nato foreign minsiters — finland's foreign minister pekka haavisto explained why his country wanted to join nato and why his leader had spoken to president putin. we have 1,300 kilometre common border and it is peaceful and we want to maintain that. it's important we communicate with our neighbour, we don't ask permission. each and every member country of nato has the possibility to prolong the process.

there can be delays in the national parliaments and so forth. countries might have their own concerns but i am confident that in the end we will find a solution and finland and sweden will become members of nato. norway is already a member of nato, and its foreign minister says oslo would fully support finland and sweden joining the alliance. from a norwegian perspective, we are 100% behind finland and sweden if they decide to apply for membership in nato and it would strengthen nordic cooperation, because we chose differently after the second world war, so i think this is a historic moment. let's get some more on this. our europe correspondent nick beake is in berlin and has been explaining the timescale finland and sweden are facing if they are to join nato

over the weekend, sweden in particular, the governing party there, the social democrats, they have been meeting, the prime minister and other figures within the party have been talking about whether this is a good thing for sweden, because traditionally the party has been against sweden joining nato, so the indications are that they will be changing their policy on that. it is not every day you see that — apologies for the noise there. but in terms of finland, we think in the coming days, there will be a decision. the way it all works, assuming there are no major stumbling blocks in the form of turkish opposition, the thinking is, when there is a big nato summit in madrid, that would be the moment at which the countries join. so that is how it is looking for now. interesting that the finnish president spoke to vladimir putin and explained why finland wants to join, he says because of the attack on ukraine, but also the way that vladimir putin has suggested that no more country should be allowed to join nato, and the finnish president suggesting it is not acceptable, that individual countries have

sovereign decision making in this sort of process. the mayor of kharkiv has told the bbc that russian forces have withdrawn from the city area and are heading for the russian border. ihor terekhov says shelling has stopped, and residents are gradually returning to ukraine's second largest city. but he warned that many residential areas have been badly damaged or destroyed. our correspondentjoe inwood has been following the latest from lviv. a parting gift from russian forces in retreat. this used to be the palace of culture in derhachi, a small town on the outskirts of kharkiv. on thursday, it was destroyed. translation: we were hit by rockets. three floors were breached. as you can see, the palace of culture is almost completely destroyed. it has nothing to do with military infrastructure. it's a civilian facility. it's a scene replicated right across ukraine's second city,

much of which has been reduced to rubble. but kharkiv is known as a fortress city. in this invasion, it has earned that name. its defenders have resisted and now repelled the russians. the battle for kharkiv, it seems, has been won. it's a very different story from that of mariupol, where russia seems confident enough of the victory to be redeploying troops to the donbas region. the ukrainian government says it wants to arm a million men for what is increasingly looking like a long fight. that this conflict will continue is perhaps the only thing the two sides agree on. translation: today nobody can l predict how long this war will last, but we are doing everything in order to free our land as soon as possible. this is our priority, every day to work towards making the war shorter. however, it doesn't depend only on our people, unfortunately.

translation: the collective west has declared total hybrid war on us, - it is hard to predict how long this will last, but it is clear the consequences will be felt by everyone, without exception. any diplomatic solutions will depend on russia, who today released these pictures showing their troops on the offensive. their top diplomat was also in combative mood. all over the kharkiv region, the scars of the battle for ukraine's second city. this is unlikely to be a turning point in this conflict, but with russian supply lines now in ukrainian sights, make no mistake — this is a major victory. joe inwood, bbc news, lviv. earlier, i spoke tojohn herbst — who's senior director of the atlantic council's eurasia center — and was the us ambassador to ukraine under president bush from 2003 to 2006. i began by asking him what he made

of russia's withdrawal from kharkiv. it of russia's withdrawal from kharkiv. is it of russia's withdrawalfrom kharkiv. is pretty it of russia's withdrawal from kharkiv. is pretty simp troops it is pretty simple. sent 200,000 troops into ukraine because it thought it could take almost easy lay. they lost around china here a few weeks ago and now they have lost kharkiv, although they have never captured it, although it was only 50 miles from the russian border. this is as a former us ambassador, you would know the significance of kharkiv, that area of ukraine, it has been a key target for pressure since the conflict began, how damaging if the kharkiv met, if what he's saying is true? it is ukraine's second largest city, a major centre of scientific work and regional dynamism. largely a russian speaking city in ukraine, yet the people of

kharkiv are overwhelmingly ukrainian, in terms of ethnicity, but also some russians, full ticketmaster's paws of the city. again, it is close to the russian border so it is a huge failure for putin and it underscores his aims and ukraine are not achievable. find and ukraine are not achievable. and how mi . ht and ukraine are not achievable. and how might it — and ukraine are not achievable. and how might it impact pressure's strategy on this conflict? well, putin already _ strategy on this conflict? well, putin already adjusted - strategy on this conflict? -ii putin already adjusted somewhat, while he personally still want to subjugate ukraine, his and others speak and say they are trying to reinforce gains in the south in the east, but says this is ukraine's second largest city and it is in the east, is adjust things on the east are not going well, and in they are not, just as they are not going well in the south. not, just as they are not going well in the south-— in the south. and yet, even with that analysis _ in the south. and yet, even with that analysis that _ in the south. and yet, even with that analysis that it _ in the south. and yet, even with that analysis that it isn't - in the south. and yet, even with that analysis that it isn't going l that analysis that it isn't going well for pressure, president zelensky said today that no one can predict how long this conflict can go on for. the head of the ukrainian

military intelligence suggesting could be over by the end of the year, what is your assessment on the timescales here?— timescales here? frankly, i 'ust don't timescales here? frankly, i 'ust don-t know. �* timescales here? frankly, i 'ust don't know, it i timescales here? frankly, i 'ust don't know, it really i timescales here? frankly, i 'ust don't know, it really all i timescales here? frankly, ijust| don't know, it really all depends timescales here? frankly, ijust- don't know, it really all depends on putin, this is his war, his war of choice, it was clear the week before the war began, this new escalation began, that his senior advisers were not happy with this. so, they understood this was not as —— this was a disaster for russia in the making, now it has been made. putin will decide when he can back away from his excesses dreams with ukraine, then the walk will end, or excuse me, this new phase of the war will end. ., ,, ., , ., will end. the former us ambassador to ukraine talking _ will end. the former us ambassador to ukraine talking to _ will end. the former us ambassador to ukraine talking to me _ will end. the former us ambassador to ukraine talking to me a _ will end. the former us ambassador to ukraine talking to me a little - to ukraine talking to me a little earlier. health campaigners have criticised the government's plan to delay a ban on multi—buy deals forjunk food by a year. ministers say they're putting the policy on hold to help with the cost of living crisis. with more, here's olivia richwald. as a country, britain is rather chubby and under the government's obesity strategy, junk food ads would have

been banned before 9pm. multi—buy offers on food high in fat sugar and salt would also have been banned. but today the proposed junk food bans were delayed by 12 months. if the government doesn't see through these straight forward measures, which are by the way in line with where history is taking us, i worry if commitment to health disparities, to the ten—year cancer programme, to the five more years of healthy life longevity commitment to our whole commitment to making britain healthier. according to the latest figures 14% of five—year—olds were classed as obese. by 11 it rose to 25%. some of the strategy has been put into place, like you calory counts on menus. but is that enough? the government says it's

taking the decision due shoppers in leeds had mixed views on whether a delay on banning junk food deals would stop them eating more healthily. i do believe they deserve a treat and it shouldn't have to put us mums out—of— pocket do that. seem places they have taken off multi—buy offers, - it should be put on healthy foods maybe to stop obesity in the uk. j but of course with the cost| of living crisis it is difficult. the british retail consortium says supermarkets have been moving away from multi—buy offers anyway, but it welcomed the delay to changes in advertising. campaigners are urging retailers to promote offers on healthy food instead. in the meantime, the battle between bulging waistlines and skinny wallets continues. olivia richwald, bbc news, leeds. the north korean leader has described the country's covid—i9 outbreak as the greatest disaster his country has ever faced. speaking at an emergency meeting,

kim jong—un called for an all—out battle to tackle the spread of the virus, which the government acknowledged just two days ago. official media say another 21 people have died and 170,000 new cases have been identified. in all, more than half a million people are now reported to have shown symptoms. a nationwide lockdown has been imposed to try to stop the spread of the virus among the population, which has not been vaccinated. joining me now is hazel smith — who's professor of korean studies at soas. many thanks for joining many thanks forjoining us. first confirmed cases this week, it has been believed that the virus has been believed that the virus has been said lighting for some time, can you give us some background to this? how bad is the situation there? , ., , .., there? they have been unconfirmed re orts of there? they have been unconfirmed reports of covid _ there? they have been unconfirmed reports of covid but _ there? they have been unconfirmed reports of covid but the _ there? they have been unconfirmed reports of covid but the garment - there? they have been unconfirmed| reports of covid but the garment has not admitted any covid cases until recently. part of this is because

there has been limited testing facilities for north korean government and for the health authorities, although there have been some support from the international red cross. we have heard that government's only strategy in response to covid two years ago, as it has done before with ebola and sars was too close of the country, it has very severe covid quarantine measures which basically meant that all the foreigners that came into the country, including chinese and russians and the un people were no longer allowed into the country after 2020, so there has been no independent means of verification of figures, but there is no doubt that this announcement means there is a very serious situation. they will be many more people dying than just the few that have been confirmed, and many, many more cases, and neither the north korean government won't know how many cases there are because it doesn't have sufficient testing facilities or laboratory facilities to support any testing

facilities. i’ll facilities to support any testing facilities. �* . ., . ~ facilities to support any testing facilities. �* ., facilities. i'll come back to the testin: facilities. i'll come back to the testing you — facilities. i'll come back to the testing you mentioned - facilities. i'll come back to the testing you mentioned in - facilities. i'll come back to the testing you mentioned in a - facilities. i'll come back to the - testing you mentioned in a moment but you mention that time frame of two years, over those two years, we had the rest of the world dealing with this virus very publicly but this very secretive country claiming during all that time to be free of covid so where does this leave kim jong—un? covid so where does this leave kim jonu-un? ., , , covid so where does this leave kim jonu-un? ., , .,, , ., jong-un? one of the problems for the north korean — jong-un? one of the problems for the north korean government, _ jong-un? one of the problems for the north korean government, it - jong-un? one of the problems for the north korean government, it is - jong-un? one of the problems for the north korean government, it is not i north korean government, it is not just the covid issue but the comprehensive sanctions which were tightened in 2016 in 2017 and meant that the civilian economy was targeted by the united nations. that of the country �*s economy is agriculture, and of the 26 million people, people get their food from north korean domestic food production. food production collapsed with us sanctions over the past three years or so you have a very, you have very viable credit report of starvation. most of your

watchers will remember there was a famine in north korea which killed half a million people in the 1990s and the conditions are back again in north korea, so you have starvation conditions, you have the tightest sanctions in the world, which are heading the civilian economy, you have virtue no resilience, and you have virtue no resilience, and you have no inputs of disinfectant and so, basic electricity, going into particularly the small hospitals throughout the country, so you have got a national crisis on. there have beenin got a national crisis on. there have been in the past china has doubled in north korea with food and some assistance but china's clearly caught up with its own battle, it's zero covid battle which is proving not to be, to be a problem for them. south korea has wanted to offer assistance to north korea, north korea doesn't believe the government that south korea can follow through because of a residence in 2019 when south korea offered tamiflu to north

korea, the united nations wouldn't let south korea deliver humanitarian assistance of tamiflu because they had to be delivered in vehicles and it is banned vehicles to go into north korea, north korea doesn't believe the south koreans will be able to deliver any humanitarian assistance that it offers, so it is assistance that it offers, so it is a very serious situation. kim jong—un, this is not a stating collapse yet, the organisation capacity is still very strong but it remains to be seen what will happen in terms of the organisational capacity if doctors and nurses and professionals and teachers, all of home are without proper equipment to look after themselves, never mind anybody else, start dying. as we saw in britain and other countries at the beginning of the pandemic, before we had access to the vaccinations that we have. and as your introduction i did out, they have been no vaccinations are north korea, and also they have an

absolutely almost zero intensive care facilities throughout the whole country. it is a real mess. the north korean government doesn't want to admit to its frailties because it is and want to admit weaknesses and therefore vulnerabilities because it thinks it or it could be, or they could be outside intervention. the fact that is doing this means it is very situation indeed. we mentioned the testin: , very situation indeed. we mentioned the testing. the _ very situation indeed. we mentioned the testing, the offer— very situation indeed. we mentioned the testing, the offer of _ very situation indeed. we mentioned the testing, the offer of assistance i the testing, the offer of assistance from south korea, in particular, what other measures other at the north korean's government disposal to... , ., ., , , north korean's government disposal to... , ., , ., to... they have the ability to get vaccines from _ to... they have the ability to get vaccines from the _ to... they have the ability to get vaccines from the international | vaccines from the international covax facility, they have refused to accept them. on one occasion it was because they were very low and on another occasion we think they were holding up for pfizer, they were offered astrazeneca. given those discussions have been going on, vertically through the red cross and

the international organisations like the international organisations like the world health organization who do not have a presence in north korea now because of the ban on foreigners, but are in touch with the north korean government, the issue of vaccine access to north korea will of course be raised again. the north koreans have a very, very good, paradoxically, public health system. they eradicated measles in 2018, which many of the richer countries haven't done. they have had strong public health vaccination campaigns for a long time, they are capable of doing vaccination campaigns with a bit of support from outside. they need generators to go in and keep vaccines cold for the distribution spots that they are going to have, how they organisation —— how they organise their vaccination campaigns, they will organise counties and districts and they will flood districts and counties over a couple of days so they don't have to keep an extensive chain, they will bring people in and everybody will

be vaccinated over two or three days, it is a successful way of doing vaccinations so this will be something they are having to think about. but in the short term, as we know, vaccinations are a medium to long—term vaccination —— solutions. what will be seen in korea, anybody could get in, which they can't from the outside, is similar to what we saw in a terrific pictures of italian hospitals and us hospitals, and hospitals throughout the world, the beginning of the covid outbreak, a couple of years ago, when nobody knew when it was going to stop, that is the reality in north korea right now. ., ,, , ., , is the reality in north korea right now. ., ,, , ., ., now. hazel smith, professor of korean studies _ now. hazel smith, professor of korean studies at _ now. hazel smith, professor of korean studies at sew - now. hazel smith, professor of korean studies at sew ass, - now. hazel smith, professor of. korean studies at sew ass, many thanks for your time here at bbc news. . ~ thanks for your time here at bbc news. ., ~ , ., thanks for your time here at bbc news. ., ~ i. ., ., liverpool have won the fa cup. they beat chelsea 6—5 on penalties, after the game finished nil—nil after extra time. liverpool's shoot—out triumph keeps their quest for an unprecedented quadruple alive. here's our sports

correspondent nesta mcgregor. what could be a historic season for liverpool, the players are celebrating behind me having won the penalty shoot—out. the game finished 0-0 penalty shoot—out. the game finished 0—0 after normal time and after extra time it went to penalties and in the end it was tsimikas who scored the all—important penalty. the jurgen scored the all—important penalty. thejurgen klopp is a serial winner, he has won the champions league and the premier league but this is the first time he has won the fa cup and the eighth time that liverpool had woven it. their attention now turns to the premier league and the champions league at the end of the month and like i said, and historical season lives on for liverpool and all involved with the club. we'll have more reaction to that went throughout the evening.

borisjohnson is expected to meet representatives from the main political parties in northern ireland on monday. political paralysis is continuing there as the democratic unionist party said it would continue to block the restoration of a power—sharing administration with the irish nationalist sinn fein. ahead of the visit, sinn fein's president — mary lou mcdonald — has accused the prime minister of engaging in a "dangerous game of brinkmanship" — using the northern ireland protocol. borisjohnson boris johnson cannot borisjohnson cannot play games with us. he has connived with the dup to use ireland, to use the north of ireland, to use unionism in ireland as a pawn in a wider game that is being played out with the european union, that is clearly a shameful tactic and approach and it is one thatis tactic and approach and it is one that is absolutely not acceptable. we will meet borisjohnson on monday in the north, and i know that

michelle, as first minister, i hope, we hope will meet with the tea shop in the course of the coming week also. —— taoiseach. the final of the eurovision song contest has started and thousands of fans are in italy for the big night. sam ryder is hoping to end a run of bad results for the uk, but ukraine is hotly tipped to win. our arts correspondent david sillito has been meeting some of the contestants. eurovision, and the fans are gathering. turin is this year's host and this is italy's hopeful, mahmood, and it's his second contest. you have fans here and everywhere. everyone knows you. have you got used to all of this, what eurovision has done to you? are you used to this fame? oh, you know, for me it's always a new thing, you know, because the emotion is always the same, so...yeah.

in the past, many looked upon eurovision as a graveyard for careers. but things have changed. for anyone who wonders what eurovision is all about, this is what it's all about. for mahmood, it's made him a star. and it's also done the same for last year's winners — maneskin. well, we've basically been touring nonstop, making new music. yeah. going all around the world. so it's been like basically all we dreamt of. music: stefania by kalush orchestra. and while the favourites for tonight are ukraine's kalush orchestra, there've also been quite a few bets on a country that's rather struggled in recent years — the uk. # i'm up in space, man...# sam ryder and space man has won many admirers. i'll be completely honest, it's quite strange walking around as part of the uk delegation, with people going, "you're

going to win, you're going to win!" and we're like, "what? !" # and i wanna go home...# winning is perhaps being a bit optimistic, but few expect another last place. the left side of the leaderboard for us is a win, put it that way. a top ten is a win. a top five is a homecoming bus tour, in my eyes. a win is panic stations — "what are we going to do?" "this is amazing." and given the uk's long fallow period, a bit of eurovision hope is an unexpected turn of events. # and i wanna go home.# david sillito, bbc news, turin. not long to go. plenty of dancing ahead but no dancing involved in this next story. after a baby giraffe in san diego zoo safari park was born with herfront limb bending

the wrong way, vets came up with a unique way to help her — they created and fitted a brace — like those used on humans. afterjust ten days wearing it, the problem was fixed, and she's now back living with her herd. matt kenney is a senior veterinarian at the safari park. the biggest concern was the limbs were hyperextended at the joints and then the second one started to hyperextended and it looks like it's the knee but it's actually the carcass. for the giraffe, everything is displaced a bit towards the core of the body so the hyperextension, joint going the wrong way was the big concern with her. initially, we stabilised thatjoint with a cast while we had some time to purchase some braces, just off the shelf braces, apply those the next day and discovered they were not strong enough and needed taking a step up. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there.

it has been a warm and largely sunny start to the weekend. things start to the weekend. are changing overnight because things are changing overnight because we are getting more clout developing here and that is going to lead to term showers. it is mainly going to be southern england that sees the rain, could be quite heavy and potentially even thundery downpours as well. further north across the uk, it is going to be drier, clearerspells across the uk, it is going to be drier, clearer spells and clearer skies could mean a chillier start to tomorrow in scotland but even by the morning there could be some showers as far north as northern ireland and south—west scotland. the heavier ones that we started with in southern england, they will tend to move away and generally we will see the showers developing and moving northwards through the day, perhaps northern scotland missing the showers and we should get more sunshine arriving across much of wales in the midlands and southern england so warm they once again here. some showers further north than with the breeze picking up, it is likely to be a little cooler around the north sea coast but there is no potentially heavy rain forecast on monday. goodbye. ——

there is more potentially heavy rain in the forecast on monday.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: vladimir putin tells finland it would be a �*mistake' for the country to join nato. representatives of the miltary alliance are meeting in germany, with sweden and finland expected to apply for membership. this as russian troops withdraw from ukraine's second biggiest city kharkiv, according to its mayor. it's been under constant bombardment since the invasion began. both sides say it's not clear when the war might end. the collective west has declared total hybrid war on us, and it is hard to predict how long this will all last. but it is clear the consequences

will be felt by everyone. campaigners say the government's obesity strategy is �*falling apart�*, after a ban on multi—buy deals forjunk food and pre—watershed tv adverts was delayed. one former health minister says it undermines a commitment to healthy living. liverpool win the fa cup, beating chelsea 6—5 on penalties after a goalless game at wembley. and the eurovision final is under way in turin. there are high hopes for the uk's sam ryder and his song space man, but ukraine are favourites to win. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello, welcome to political thinking.