good afternoon. president biden has said the united states must do everything in its power to end what he called hate—filled domestic terrorism, after a gunman killed ten people in a supermarket. the shooting happened in new york state. most of the victims in the city of buffalo were black. an eighteen—year—old man, who is white, has been charged with murder in the first degree. from new york, nada tawfik reports. a busy grocery store in a predominantly black community. this was the shooter's intended target.

the horror started immediately in the parking lot. as the gunman emerged from his car heavily armed and wearing tactical gear, he shot four people, killing three of them. to eyewitnesses, it was clear he came to do maximum damage. when i first saw him shooting, he shot a woman, he shot a deacon, he shot another woman. and then, he went in the store and started shooting again. a retired buffalo police officer was working security, and shot the gunman. but he was unharmed because of his armour. the shooter then returned fire, killing the security guard. the entire horrific episode of people being killed in cold blood in the store was streamed live online. the suspect was taken into custody alive, after putting his gun to his neck and threatening to shoot himself. he has been identified as an 18—year—old white male, and has been charged with murder in the first degree. officials said evidence showed the attack was racially motivated.

we are investigating this incident as both a hate crime, and a case of racially motivated, violent extremism. a white supremacist who has engaged in an act of terrorism _ and will be prosecuted as such. in a cold—hearted, cruel, - calculating way, a military—style execution targeting people - who simply want to buy groceries. distraught community members have been gathering at the scene, trying to come to terms with the fact that a toxic mix of guns and racism has ended their neighbours' lives in an instant. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. finland's government has announced it will apply to join nato. its parliament is expected to approve the application within days. sweden is likely to do the same. nato foreign ministers —

who are meeting in berlin — say they want a rapid accession because of the crisis in ukraine. president putin has already called finland's move "a mistake." from berlin, our europe correspondent, nick beake, reports. a fresh aerial attack light the sky above the besieged mariupol steelworks, this is where the last of the city's defenders have been holed up, a final ukrainian stand against a relentless russian bombardment. but as well as by land and by sea, russia continues its assault from the air, focusing its fight on the donbas region. here in the german capital foreign ministers from nato countries shoulder—to—shoulder pledging support for ukraine, and now preparing to welcome two new members with finland confirming today it will seek to join the alliance. we have reached today an important decision in good cooperation between the government and the president of the government and the president of the republic, we hope that the

parliament will confirm the decision to apply for nato membership during the coming days. it will be based on a strong mandate. the uk is among the countries giving their full backing. we were very pleased to be joined by our friends _ we were very pleased to be joined by our friends at mswhen rached finland and sweden. if they do apply to join nato the _ and sweden. if they do apply to join nato the uk is strongly supportive of that _ of that. sweden and finland of that. — sweden and finland joining the western military alliance is not just about the symbolism of two more flags being planted here, it would double the length of the land borders between russia and nato countries. the sort of expansion vladimir putin was desperate to avoid. but turkey has said it could block any enlargement although its foreign minister has been stressing solidarity this weekend and prompting hopes any opposition could be overcome. nick beat, bbc news, berlin. so, what's the situation

inside ukraine itself, on this, day 81 of the war? the uk's ministry of defence estimates that russia is likely to have lost one—third of its ground combat forces, when compared to pre—invasion levels on the border. live now to lviv and our correspondent there, joe inwood. joe, what's the latest where you are? nick was talking about attacks from the sky and yesterday we had that here in lviv, no sooner had the celebrations for ukraine's eurovision win had gone down that the air raid sirens came out, we understand six cruise missiles flew over, two were shot down. we don't know if there were casualties but understand the facility was completely destroyed. significant as ukraine's losses are and there are many, this assessment from the british ministry of defence paints the russian bosses as far more significant. one third of all ground

forces they say have been destroyed since the start of the invasion. that doesn't mean all those people have been killed all vehicles destroyed, some had been captured or wounded, but the level of damage for the russians is massive and the mod says their attempts to the donbas region will grind to a halt as a consequence. thank you very much. nhs prescription charges in england are to be frozen for the first time in 12 years — as part of government efforts to ease the cost of living crisis. a single prescription will continue to cost £9.35. nhs prescriptions are free elsewhere in the uk. the government would not be deterred from taking action on the northern ireland protocol, to help restore power sharing at storemont — according to the business secretary kwasi kwarteng. ireland's foreign minister has said unilateral action by the uk on the protocol could undermine the peace process. simon coveney added that there was a need to address unionist concerns about the operation

of post—brexit trading arrangements. ukraine says it hopes to be able to host the eurovision song contest next year after the country's emotional triumph in last night's final in italy. their entry, the kalush orchestra, flew to the top of the leaderboard after winning the popular vote. sam ryder, of the uk, finished second but topped the jury votes with his song space man. our correspondent, mark lowen, sent this report from turin. in the end they had it all, the sound, the sympathy, the success. ukraine's kalush orchestra went into eurovision as the favourite with a folk and hip pop at them to the lead singer's mother and now to their motherland now under attack, one member staying home to fight.

it so almost went the uk's way, sam ryder�*s space man hoping to take his country to the galaxy are winners for the first time in 25 years. 183 points. he did so well. there it is. as the public votes went in he was brought down to earth and ukraine's star shone bright. cheering all the way to kyiv where the winning song warmed hearts broken by war. this meant so much more than music or eurovision kitsch, it was a continent rallying behind a country in darkness, defending its european identity. we won here in the eurovision and now we won here in the eurovision and how this _ we won here in the eurovision and now this feeling is like yes, and we will win_ now this feeling is like yes, and we will win also the war with russia,

and all_ will win also the war with russia, and all europe is with us. and it was feeling like we are all together. in- together. in ukraine we have war. together. — in ukraine we have war. it is not a time— in ukraine we have war. it is not a time to— in ukraine we have war. it is not a time to have — in ukraine we have war. it is not a time to have fun. _ time to have fun. but _ time to have fun. but we _ time to have fun. but we need - time to have fun. but we need to l time to have fun. i but we need to have time to have fun. - but we need to have fun. time to have fun. _ but we need to have fun. we need to live. but we need to have fun. we need to live and _ but we need to have fun. we need to live and we — but we need to have fun. we need to live. and we need _ but we need to have fun. we need to live. and we need to _ but we need to have fun. we need to live. and we need to have _ live. and we need to have understanding _ live. and we need to have understanding and - live. and we need to have understanding and a - live. and we need to have l understanding and a feeling live. and we need to have - understanding and a feeling of life. back in— understanding and a feeling of life. back in turin. — understanding and a feeling of life. back in turin, sore _ understanding and a feeling of life. back in turin, sore heads— understanding and a feeling of life. back in turin, sore heads but- understanding and a feeling of life. back in turin, sore heads but pride| back in turin, sore heads but pride for the brits, as well. has sam's result list your faith in the uk's eurovision dream? hopefully this is the beginning of something and we shall continue to have success. so our country and the rest of _ have success. so our country and the rest of europe starts to take us seriously— rest of europe starts to take us seriously again. italy hosted quite the party here. there was politics, too, with russia kicked out for taking europe back to war. but last night, at least, there was room for the fun. thank you so much. and so the hopes of bringing peace and eurovision to ukraine next year both, for now, in doubt, but europe is dancing to ukraine's tune, and that is what

russia will hear. mark levin, bbc news, turin. that's it for now. the next news on bbc one is at 6.35 — bye for now. you are watching bbc news. let's return now to nato expansion. finland has formally announced that it's abandoning decades of neutrality, to apply for membership. the decision, in direct response to russia's attack on ukraine, will still need to be approved by finland's parliament. it comes as nato's foreign ministers wrap up a second day of talks in berlin, which they hope will smooth the way for finland and sweden to join the alliance. i'm joined now by finland's former

prime minister alexander stubb. it isa it is a pleasure to speak to you again. thank you for speaking this is that bbc news. can you explain how we got such a fast turnaround from a position of neutrality from finland, to feeling that an almost sense of unity in finland that people want to go down this route? perhaps i will begin with a little correction which seems to be in the international media, finland ditched... we were neutral because of necessity not because of rl during the cold war. the basic change happened on the 24th of february this year, that five o'clock in the morning when vladimir putin attacked ukraine. released 50% of the population against nato

membership, last week we went to 76% in favour. in many ways this is vladimir putin's attack on ukraine. in some ways the position has been more nuanced in sweden, the ruling social democrats are still debating this weekend whether or not they will go that route, everyone except they will. just as you are indicating. in that sense, ijust wonder what it is in the history of finland's experience of relations with moscow that it looks at what is happening at ukraine, a separate country, no historical connection are such an thanks, ukraine first, it could be as the next.— it could be as the next. yes. you are correct _ it could be as the next. yes. you are correct they _ it could be as the next. yes. you are correct they are. _ it could be as the next. yes. you are correct they are. swedish - are correct they are. swedish neutrality was always much more ideological and of course that lasted for a couple of centuries. in

many ways were sweden and especially for the so—called —— social democrats in sweden it is a little bit like changing religion. for as it was always much more about a combination of idealism and realism. we wanted to cooperate with russia, make them part of the west and we believe that could happen and that is probably why we did notjoin nato but realists in that we held a very strong military. we have one of the largest standing armies in europe with 900,000 reserved, 208,000 to be mobilised in a few days and early in the 1990s, we bought... you have to prepare with the russians. final point, why the change now? the basic thinking of the finnish public was simple, if vladimir putin can slaughter his brothers and sisters

in ukraine, he can do that elsewhere. nevershall in ukraine, he can do that elsewhere. never shall we be left alone again as we were in world war ii as a fight rush the last time. having then prime minister you, you have been in conversations about how we will defend our borders. it is in importers —— my enormous murder, i have not been to finland and i know how close finland and russia are and how close finland and russia are and how close finland and russia are and how close and a sense populations are. will that be at headache for the finnish military, will it need to have a presence in places when it did not need to have one in years? no, not really. we have a strong independent defence and then on top of that we get help, it comes from the nordic countries and europe and in future it will come from nato. the border is 1340 kilometres long. it is further than the most southern tip of the uk... we are talking a

long distance here. having seen obviously all of our military strategies, having the knowledge territories and the way the border are set up in our whole defence mechanism, i would are set up in our whole defence mechanism, iwould not are set up in our whole defence mechanism, i would not be worried. that is the reason why we were, we did not give up our military expenditure etc after the cold war ended and i think that was the right thing to do as painful as it sometimes felt.— thing to do as painful as it sometimes felt. ., ,.,, ., ., sometimes felt. your position on this has been _ sometimes felt. your position on this has been consistent - sometimes felt. your position on this has been consistent for - sometimes felt. your position on | this has been consistent for years, you have been in favour of it as long as i have been interviewing it and you have regarding nato as a good thing. there must be though some people in your part of europe who would say, yeah, it's fine but actually are we not in danger of reinforcing vladimir putin's own argument? it will not make an immediate difference in ukraine, by the two countries can —— joining you will not have the secret solution,

russia will push back and it will end quickly. it reinforces that sense of victimhood that upholds the propaganda. 3�*5�*s sense of victimhood that upholds the tttroaanda. , ., ., ., , propaganda. 7596 of our family's ngo nationali , propaganda. 7596 of our family's ngo nationality, finnish _ propaganda. 7596 of our family's ngo nationality, finnish and _ propaganda. 7596 of our family's ngo nationality, finnish and british. - propaganda. 7596 of our family's ngo nationality, finnish and british. a - nationality, finnish and british. a more serious answer, i think that the kremlin has already counted as out, they know we are part of the west and no, 99% nato compatible. the only thing we have missed out on is article five which is basically collective defence and security guarantee. this will not agitate vladimir putin and the reason i say this is there is also a misunderstanding about vladimir�*s aims in ukraine. the real aim was he did not want to see a european westernised liberal democracy in the form of ukraine. he wanted to ratify

ukraine and have a public government, that is what this war is all about. ., ,., . all about. one related point, which is not to do — all about. one related point, which is not to do with _ all about. one related point, which is not to do with your— all about. one related point, which is not to do with your country - is not to do with your country directly, but how this looks in a place like moldova or in georgia or those countries. what did he do to show that he was dissatisfied with nato, he invaded a country that was not in nato. now there are two more countries in nato and too few countries in nato and too few countries that are outside of it. are those countries that are outside of it going to feel even more vulnerable?— of it going to feel even more vulnerable? , ., , , , ., vulnerable? yes. one answer is you have to look — vulnerable? yes. one answer is you have to look at _ vulnerable? yes. one answer is you have to look at the _ vulnerable? yes. one answer is you have to look at the long _ vulnerable? yes. one answer is you have to look at the long arch - vulnerable? yes. one answer is you have to look at the long arch of - have to look at the long arch of vladimir putin's action and i would argue it started in the war in georgia when he annexed to territories and created further conflict. he thought, this was quite

easy and then he went into crimea in 2014, he thought that was quite easy and now he thinks he could walk into kyiv and do the same thing. now he will have to think again. the second answer is important, after this unit will be divided into two. one side, and isolated imperialist aggressor russia. on the other side you have 40 europeans dates which are democracies and they start from georgia, ukraine and moldova and all the way to the british isles. we need to come up with a security structure that makes everyone feel safe and that is why i think the european union and nato come into play, to make sure nothing like this can happen in for instance moldova. the former finnish prime minister, thank you very much for your time this afternoon. it is sport now,

back to holly hamilton. good afternoon, we are right in the middle of the first fa cup final weekend were both the men and women's final are being played. yesterday liverpool lifted their first fa cup since 2006 after a dramatic penealty shootout win over chelsea. today, it's the turn of the women were wsl winners and fa cup holders take on manchester city. we canjoin our sports reporter rhia chohan who is at wembley ahead of that game this afternoon. rhia, two teams with a lot of history in this competition — but somehow have never actually met in the final? that's right full it is remarkable given how well established both these teams are in the women's game that they only met in a major cup final two months ago in the continental league cup where it was manchester city who came from behind to beat chelsea and get their hands on that silverware. the manchester

city side was not all plain sailing, it had a rocky start and lost key players through injury. but they have managed to secure the champions league spot now and on a 13 match winning run in all competitions. earlier i spoke to the former england midfielder about how she feels this game is going to play out. i feels this game is going to play out. ~' ., ._ , ., feels this game is going to play out. ~ ., ._ , ., ., out. i think emma hayes and her team are doint out. i think emma hayes and her team are doing hard — out. i think emma hayes and her team are doing hard graft _ out. i think emma hayes and her team are doing hard graft away _ out. i think emma hayes and her team are doing hard graft away from - out. i think emma hayes and her team are doing hard graft away from the - are doing hard graft away from the pitch and _ are doing hard graft away from the pitch and that is why they have the confidence — pitch and that is why they have the confidence to win. expect chelsea to win because they have phenomenal but manchester city are... win because they have phenomenal but manchester city are. . ._ manchester city are... manchester ci are manchester city are... manchester city are on — manchester city are... manchester city are on and _ manchester city are... manchester city are on and on _ manchester city are... manchester city are on and on it _ manchester city are... manchester city are on and on it and _ manchester city are... manchester city are on and on it and run - manchester city are... manchester city are on and on it and run in - manchester city are... manchester city are on and on it and run in all| city are on and on it and run in all competitions. 13 games, but they did not start the season so well, how did they turn it around? the?t not start the season so well, how did they turn it around? they have big players- _ did they turn it around? they have big players- they'd _ did they turn it around? they have big players. they'd started - did they turn it around? they have big players. they'd started the - big players. they'd started the season— big players. they'd started the season slow, they had big players out. season slow, they had big players out they— season slow, they had big players out. they lacked confidence and probably—

out. they lacked confidence and probably change their backline on numerous — probably change their backline on numerous occasions and now they have a stable _ numerous occasions and now they have a stable hack_ numerous occasions and now they have a stable back line and a keeper behind — a stable back line and a keeper behind them, they can play a side they are _ behind them, they can play a side they are used to playing. they have -ot they are used to playing. they have got the _ they are used to playing. they have got the squad and that is why they have gone — got the squad and that is why they have gone an unbeaten run and that is what _ have gone an unbeaten run and that is what makes it so exciting. the weather is _ is what makes it so exciting. tie: weather is different to is what makes it so exciting. ti9: weather is different to yesterday, the pitch looks great. you will never know there was a men's final played yesterday. you can see the game on bbc two. it is a big game, set to play out in front of a record crowd in wembley. well, away from the fa cup we have lots of action in the premier league today with big games affecting the top and bottom of the table. manchester city could go 6 points clear of livepool with a win at west ham later. right now tottenham are 1—0 up against burnley. spurs only need a point to move into the top four

above arsenal who play tomorrow. in the battle to avoid the drop, everton and leeds will be hoping burnley slip up here. if they do, everton have the chance to avoid relegation with a win against brentford. it can be a bit repetitive, the message but it is important to repeat. we have to remember every opponent is different and give you different problems come match day. we need to keep the same which is the work ethic and there are some things. we have good communication and at the moment it is clear to see that everyone is fighting in the same direction. former australia cricketer andrew symonds has died after being involved in a car crash. the 46—year—old all—rounder played 26 tests matches, nearly 200 one—day internatiuonals and 14 t20s between 1998 and 2009. he won two 50 over world cups and was part of australia's ashes winning side in 2006—07. he also played county cricket

at gloucestershire, kent, lancashire and surrey. cricket australia said it was "shocked and saddened by the news". that's all the sport for now. you can catch—up on all the fa cup final action on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport more now on the shooting in new york state in which ten people were killed in what the authorities are describing as a racially motivated attack. professor greg barton is an expert in counter—terroism from deakin university in australia. he says elements of the shooting echo past terror attacks from around the world. there is the manifesto which was pretty clear. it echoes the manifesto the christchurch terrorist used in march 2019, and that in turn echoed a manifesto used

by a norwegian terrorist in 2011. all of them speaking about a so—called great replacement thesis, saying that white christians are being replaced by brown people, by muslims and asians. awful racism, awful bigotry, but it is used forjustification for a violent response. so this is an all too familiar thesis in extreme right violent extremisim or terrorism. so there is really no ambiguity here about the justifying motive that's being espoused by the gunman. the questions that will be asked, there will inevitably be further debate within the united states about gun ownership and the apparent ease in which someone can obtain a gun at a reltively young age. but then again if that person has no previous predilection to violence, that would not neccesarily prevent an attack of this kind. it has a resonance around the world, is the question of how somebody

would be indoctrinated in this way. it is interesting that the killer, if his words are to believed, explained that he was bored during the covid pandemic lockdowns and went online and we know that he went to places like 4chan but also consumed free—to—air and cable television content. so he looks like he was self—radicalised and he came out of an ecosystem of hate that's both online and unfortunately around the edges of our mainstream media, justifying toxic nationalism justifying hatred to others and saying we need to fight back or else. we do not know more intricate details and what friendships he had, but although he acted alone, he is, as i said, coming out of an ecosystem of hate that is unfortunately becoming too familiar now.

what will the authorities be trying to establish in the coming days and weeks? one of the key things, does he have any close associates who might be inspired to launch a copy cat attack or someone in his circle that might do that. after the christchurch attack, we had another attack very similar to the one in buffalo. they drove around all that they hated. looking at the lessons to learn. that will be the first priority and then trying to figure out the lessons to be learned, figuring how to charge him. we have heard you will be charged with terrorism charges. the us system has been set up towards defining terrorism as being foreign organisations, not domestic organisations. it is clear we need to change that as well. people in lebanon are voting in the first parliamentary election since an unprecedented financial collapse fuelled new anger and distrust of the political elite

that's ruled the country for decades. the devastating explosion in beirut in 2020 deepened the sense among many lebanese of a need for change. but analysts say there's little expectation that this election will bring a major shift in lebanon's power structure. our middle east correspondent anna foster is following events from beirut. this is one of the polling stations. this scene has been repeated across lebanon this morning with a steady stream of people arriving, and you can see the very tight security, pay checked as you come in, they are brought through, checked for weapons and they come and cast their vote, but the thing about this particular polling station is this is the fire station where they come in and see these ten pictures on the wall here, the ten firefighters from the station who died in the beirut blast and it's important to say, you mentioned that there, that nobody has yet been found responsible for that with the investigation stalling several times because when powerful politicians have been

called to give evidence, they have not brought it up or they have brought a legal challenge, so that is one thing in people's mind, the devastating financial crisis here, there has been a lack of fuel and food for people, 80% of lebanese live in poverty and many of them blame the ruling class for that, many blame politicians for financial mismanagement. the system itself is a very rigid, one that see normally voting by religion and sect which is what they will do today, the results will be watched closely but this is the first time since the uprising in 2019 the people have had a chance to pass official comment on their politicians and the job being done but make no mistake this is a fragile country that is angry and wants to send a message, whether they will manage to do that are not today, we will see when the polls close at 7pm. a lot of independent candidates are standing this time, why is there such scepticism among analysts that they will not be able to make an impact? because of the way the system is set up here. at the end of the cival war in 1990,

they drew up a system that set up power between different sects. of course this country is very much split along religious lines so it makes it very difficult to effect any kind of change. this time round, there are more independent candidates then there has ever been before. they hope not to take power, it will be very hard to take a majority from those who had it in the last parliament in 2019. they want to send a message and make things more difficult, have some sort of influence when it comes to passing legislation. it will be interesting to see how many pull away and go independent. the hope and the expectation is there, but things tomorrow may look very same as they have done in the last four years. now it's time for a look

at the weather, let's cross over. hello. some of us have already seen some fairly heavy and thundery downpours at times today. but for the rest of the day we will see some warm sunshine breaking through, particularly for parts of southern england and south wales into the midlands as well, as the cloud and showers push a bit further northwards. far north of scotland, also staying largely dry and sunny, but in between rather cloudy with outbreaks of showery rain. temperatures ranging between about 14 in newcastle to 22 in london today. through this evening and overnight, the first area of cloud and showers clears from the north. but more showers and thunderstorms rattle in from the south affecting central england towards northern ireland by the early hours of tomorrow morning. quite warm and humid in the south, too, a little bit fresher further north.

heading through monday and we're going to be seeing