welcome to bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: anthony albanese wins the australian general election, becoming the country's first labor prime minister in almost a decade. tonight, the australian people have voted for change. as russian attacks in eastern ukraine intensify, president zelensky says diplomacy is the only way the war on his country will end we have to start asking the question, whoever ends up occupying these territories at the conclusion of this conflict, what is there going to be left to occupy? millions of people are affected and more than 50 have been killed as flooding and landslides hit eastern india and bangladesh.

switzerland and the netherlands are the latest countries to report cases of monkeypox. doctors warn the outbreak could badly affect access to sexual health services. and two people are taken to hospital after a stand collapses during a rehearsal for queen elizabeth's trooping the colour parade next month. the australian opposition labor party leader, anthony albanese, has said he is humbled by his party's victory in australia's general election. addressing supporters, he pledged to transform the country into a renewable energy superpower and to work towards lifting wages and profits. it still isn't clear whether labour will lead a majority government or a coalition. our correspondent shaimaa khalil reports from sydney. chanting: albo! albo! albo!

this is the labor party's first election victory in almost a decade and it will be led by one of australia's longest serving politicians. we should be making change and, you know, that's what we hope that this government will do. it's been a long time in the darkness and now, finally, we can smile again. anthony albanese has promised voters safe change as he worked to kick out the conservative liberal—national coalition, which has been in power since 2013. it says a lot about our great country that the son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner can stand before you tonight as australia's prime minister. shortly after his election victory, i caught up with australia's new leader. mr albanese told me he was looking forward to working more closely with the uk government. they're going to look

to you for some policies on climate change. this has been divisive, it's been difficult throughout the campaign. what should they expect from you? it's far less controversial in the uk. it shouldn't be controversial here and we have an opportunity now to end the climate wars in australia. it's been a sombre night for the ousted prime minister, scott morrison. going into the election, all signs indicated that the incumbent was in trouble. mr morrison's tenure has been dominated by natural disasters, the covid pandemic, and his government's many scandals. i've always believed in australians and theirjudgement, and i've always been prepared to accept their verdicts, and tonight they have delivered their verdict. independents have also done well in the elections so far, amid public dissatisfaction with the two major parties. mr albanese may have to rely on them form a government. throughout the campaign, anthony albanese had one key message for australians —

it is now time for change. the people have listened, now he has to deliver. the rising cost of living and climate change have dominated this election as two key issues for voters. this is a country that is anxious and divided. its new leader has vowed that his will be a government of optimism and unity. earlier, iasked phil mercer, our correspondent in sydney, what anthony albanese meant when he promised voters a safe change. i don't think anthony albanese wanted to promise australian voters any sort of seismic change, because the labor party, which he leads, promised that in 2019 and lost the election. so this has been a very safe campaign for anthony albanese. i think it's been a fairly underwhelming campaign from both of the major parties and that could, in some way, explain why an estimated one in the three

australian voters decided to support other independents and minor parties. it has been a spectacular election in terms of the results for independent candidates, who have been running on climate change platforms, integrity in politics, and also gender equality. it's also been a very good election for the australian greens. so we're still waiting to see if anthony albanese will be able to lead a majority government or will have to rely on some of those independents and those members of the greens party as well. a lot of talk about climate change and he talked about ending the climate was. he says he wants to turn the country into a renewable energy superpower. what we've heard over the last six weeks of a very long australian election campaign, many, many voters saying that climate change, along with the cost of living and the economy, has been a key issue for them. but both of the major parties have set fairly unambitious environmental

targets when it comes to curbing emissions, for example, and once again that could explain why so many australians decided to look elsewhere when they were casting their ballots, not only on saturday, millions of australians voted before saturday in pre—polling. so climate change has emerged as a key issue, and we heard during anthony albanese�*s triumphant speech in sydney a few hours ago that climate change will be a priority along with, for example, promoting further recognition for indigenous people. so anthony albanese certainly has a lot on his plate and it could take a few days, at least, before we know whether he will be leading a majority government or will have to rely on support from those independents and those minor parties. it is interesting, isn't it, because he wants to get on with being sworn in sunday, because he was to go

to japan on monday for a summit, doesn't he? that's right, there is a quad meeting at which australia is a member, so anthony albanese wants to get out there in terms of foreign policy and introduce himself to australia's key partners india, japan, and the united states, other members of the quad. and there are key foreign issues for the new government, the biggest of which is china. china has been flexing its diplomatic muscles in australia's traditional backyard in the pacific and australia and china have had deteriorating relations in recent years. china is australia's biggest trading partner, but politically the two countries have had many, many disputes in recent times, so that is a big challenge for anthony albanese, as well as, of course, those big challenges here at home as well.

felipe massa reporting. —— phil mercer. as russian forces intensify their attacks in the eastern donbas region of ukraine, president zelensky has said diplomacy is the only way the war with russia will end. meanwhile, britain's foreign secretary liz truss has said that ukraine's neighbour, moldova, should be armed with nato military equipment to help guard it against the threat of a russian invasion. from kyiv, our correspondent james waterhouse reports. ukraine's resistance is far from waning, but in the luhansk region it's going backwards. it's an area of moscow claims will soon be in russian control and they're throwing everything at it. close to the front line, sergiy, a coal miner, still tries to evacuate people, even with his van riddled with bullets. translation: i have to help people. - there are grandmothers and grandfathers, people with disabilities who remain. they have to be pulled out. russia's gains are only a few miles here. people in this region are used to eight years of war already, since moscow backed pro—russian separatists in 2014.

for some, though, the fighting has finally reached their doorstep. translation: my. daughter is in france and my son is in poland. i told them about this and they told me to immediately leave. but how can i leave? this is our home. 0n the third anniversary of his landslide election win, a firm handshake for president zelensky from antonio costa, the prime minister of portugal. translation: i'd like to remind people that we're fighting - a war on our territory, and even if someone in european countries or the world got used to donbas being a russian occupied territory and to the fact that people were given out russian passports there, we'd like to say it's not a good thing to get used to. these are our territories and we're going step—by—step to liberate our territories. the evening light we're seeing in kyiv couldn't be more at odds with the devastation we're seeing in the eastern donbas. we're going to get more reports of russian assaults, as well as ukrainian counter—attacks, but we have to start asking the question, whoever ends up occupying these territories,

at the conclusion of this conflict, what is there going to be left to occupy? ukraine's leader, though, believes peace will only come from talks. given the current lack of dialogue between the two sides, it's a long way off. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. ukraine's first lady, 0lena zelenska, has given a rare interview with husband volodymyr zelensky. this is only the second time the couple have been seen together since the beginning of the war in ukraine. translation: nobody takes my husband away from me, - not even the war. yes, he lives for his job. we almost don't get to see him. we didn't see him at all for two and a half months. we only speak on the phone with each other. now we have a few occasions to see each other and i'm also very grateful for this occasion, because this makes us spend time together. let's get some of the day's other news. turkish concerns over bids by sweden and finland to join nato have been discussed

by the three countries�* leaders during a round of phone calls. president erdogan of turkey accuses the nordic governments of supporting what he calls terrorist kurdish militants. a three—story building has collapsed in lagos, nigeria's commercial hub. at least two bodies have been recovered from the site, while five people have been rescued alive. many more are thought to be trapped in the rubble. president biden has signed a bill intended to expand access to powdered baby milk for low—income families as the us continues to face a shortage of infant formula. it means that people receiving benefits can exchange their vouchers for whatever baby milk is available in their state, rather than being restricted to a single manufacturer. officials in beijing have moved 13,000 people to quarantine hotels after discovering around 20 new covid infections in their neighbourhood. all had tested negative for coronavirus. they'll still have to isolate for at least seven days. china is trying to prevent an outbreak in beijing that's

similar in scale to the one in shanghai, where millions of people have spent months under lockdown. switzerland and the netherlands are the latest countries to report cases of monkeypox. here in the uk, doctors say they're worried that the virus, which can spread through close contact, could have a massive impact on access to sexual health services, with staff having to isolate if they come into contact with anyone who's infected. cases of the virus are rare outside of central and west africa. now at least 90 infections have been confirmed. that's in about 12 different countries, according to the world health organization. scientists say they were not expecting this kind of outbreak, because for the first time the disease is being found in people with no clear connection to areas in africa. dr hans kluge, the world health organization's regional director for europe, says the disease is not a new one. the monkeypox virus is a virus that we know quite well,

it is usually self—limiting in nature, difficult and slow to transmit. the question here is to clarify why we see so many cases coming now in europe without a travel history, with a bit more human to human transmission. but, again, this is not covid—19, this is not smallpox, it's usually a geopolitically rare, not severe disease. it is spread by close physical contact, so now we are studying why it is that those cases are surging in europe and a bit more human to human transmission. usually it is what we call supportive treatment, there are antivirals as well, and also vaccines, but in a very, very limited dose. i think we are not at that stage. we should very well study from where this spread is coming and why is it that usually this disease is in west africa or central

africa, not in europe. from the 90 confirmed cases, 82 are in europe, eight are in countries outside of europe — australia, canada, and the united states. days of flooding and landslides in eastern india have left more than 50 people dead. nearly a million people have been affected. water levels in rivers are also running high in bangladesh where about two million people have been hit by the floods, as mark lobel explains. rains normally considered a blessing in this north—eastern corner of bangladesh. it's now called a curse. homes and

livelihoods left submerged after excessive downfalls. translation: we after excessive downfalls. translation:— after excessive downfalls. translation : after excessive downfalls. translation: ~ ., ., translation: we are living one bed on tap _ translation: we are living one bed on tap of— translation: we are living one bed on top of another. _ translation: we are living one bed on top of another. half- translation: we are living one bed on top of another. half of. bed on top of another. half of our home is underwater. if the waters rise, we don't know what we will do. my poultry is decimated and i don't have a boat to bring food from elsewhere.— boat to bring food from elsewhere. ., , , elsewhere. the worst floods here for nearly _ elsewhere. the worst floods here for nearly two - elsewhere. the worst floods here for nearly two decades| here for nearly two decades leaving 2 million people marooned. translation: it’s marooned. translation: it's been two marooned. translation: it�*s been two weeks since there was son. excessive rain has devastated whatever i managed to collect. i cannot drive this up. it is rotting. i am appalled. up. it is rotting. lam appalled-— up. it is rotting. lam appalled. up. it is rotting. lam analled. ' , ., appalled. officials say over 100 villagers here were inundated after floodwater rushing from india's north beach breached a major embankment on the barak river, costing at least ten lives this week. these parts of bangladesh are neighbouring areas in india and are prone to flooding but experts say climate change is

increasing the likelihood of extreme weather like this. for survivors, tens of thousands are without power. this school now a century. translation: mil now a century. translation: all m now a century. translation: fill my furniture is ruined. the entire house submerged with water up my neck. in entire house submerged with water up my neck.— water up my neck. in india's assam state, _ water up my neck. in india's assam state, which - water up my neck. in india's assam state, which borders| assam state, which borders bangladesh, at least 1a people have died in landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain that submerged swathes of farmland and damaged thousands of homes. translation: there is water everywhere. _ of homes. translation: there is water everywhere. we _ of homes. translation: there is water everywhere. we need - water everywhere. we need rations, medicine, but the government has not provided so i appeal to them, give us what we need. ~ , ., i appeal to them, give us what we need-— we need. west of assam, at least 33 people _ we need. west of assam, at least 33 people were - we need. west of assam, at least 33 people were killed i we need. west of assam, at| least 33 people were killed in thunderstorms on thursday. across the region, millions now

waiting for the waters to recede with many hopes now washed away. mark lobel, bbc news. parts of spain are experiencing their hottest may ever with temperatures of more than a0 celsius in some places, according to the state weather agency. the agency issued heat warnings in ten regions, saying it could be "one of the most intense" heatwaves in years. climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense. spain's unseasonably warm spring weather is a result of hotair coming from north africa. president biden has said he might be willing to meet the north korean leader kimjong—un forface—to—face talks, but only if mr kim is "sincere and serious". mr biden, who's on a visit to south korea, said he was also prepared to shore up defences against north korea. the president and his counterpart in seoul, yoon suk—yeol, discussed the possible deployment of extra american jets, bombers and missiles to south korea. 0ur seoul correspondent

jean mackenzie reports. good evening, president biden. the first task for the us president upon landing in seoul — learn the mechanics of the computer chip. the focus of this trip was supposed to be semiconductors and supply chains — things that will help these countries compete with an increasingly dominant china. fanfare. but by the time the leaders sat down to talk, an increasingly hostile north korea was top of their agenda. ..attacks on the dprk... but the door to dialogue with the north was still open, they said. with regard to whether i would meet with the leader of north korea, that would depend on whether he was sincere and whether he was serious. the situation in north korea is serious. covid—19 is infecting millions of its unvaccinated population. the united states hopes this could lead to a reconciliation.

we've offered vaccines and we're prepared to do that immediately. we've got no response. despite the pleas to kim jong—un to come back to the negotiating table, the focus here today was much more on south korea and the united states being ready for if the north were to attack, for how they could be more prepared for if the worst were to happen. remembering the us soldiers that died fighting the korean war. ever since this battle divided korea in two, the south has relied on the us to defend it. we go together. earlier, mr biden agreed to send it more weapons if needed. translation: we discussed the timely deployment - of various strategic assets, including fighter jets and missiles. this relationship has never been stronger or more vital, according to mr biden. it certainly seems on pretty firm ground. jean mackenzie,

bbc news, seoul. venezuela is suffering a shortage in the supply of fertiliser, due to the russian invasion in ukraine. now is the season to plant corn — a staple in the country — but agricultural producers are faced with the challenge of finding enough fertiliser for their crops. emily brown reports. as the rain pours in venezuela, this is the season to plant corn — a staple here. butjust like much of latin america, the race is on to find fertiliser, vital for crops. it's another country feeling the impact of russia's invasion of ukraine, which has limited the supply of the key agricultural supplement. 80% of fertilisers used every year in venezuela are imported from russia, ukraine and belarus. sanctions against russia and limits on ukraine's exports mean shipping has been disrupted and the whole of latin america is struggling

to find replacements. translation: here in venezuela, as agriculture is now, _ we need 150—180,000 tons of fertiliser. the inventory show that what has arrived is around 100,000 tons. it's another challenge to a country already dealing with fuel shortages. translation: we're going to work with the fertiliser i we have, but we know that's not enough. in some parts, we're going to use under—doses, which is serious because it affects not only the yield but also the profitability of the farmers. the country is exploring other options to source fertiliser but with 250,000 hectares of corn expected to be sown by the farming sector, time is running out. emily brown, bbc news. here in the uk, opposition parties are demanding that

borisjohnson explain a meeting he had with the senior civil servant sue gray over her report into parties held in and around downing street during lockdown. it's emerged the pair met several weeks ago. 0ur political correspondent iain watson said opposition parties are concerned about what this means when it comes to the independence of the report. they are suggesting the mere fact that the prime minister and the person conducting the enquiry, sue gray, met about one month ago and well before publication could suggest perhaps this was not been done as transparently as it should so they have asked for an explanation why that took place but what they are also asking for is that all of the evidence of gatherings that she has accumulated, which includes more than 500 photographs, but all of that should be published again in the name of transparency but i can certainly say this afternoon that i have been told in no uncertain terms not all of that evidence will be made public in due course. what sue gray will do is draw on some of those evidence for her report, for

the explanation of the report of the events which took place but which will not see all of the evidence being put into the public domain. but it has been interesting but both downing street and those close to sue gray disagree over the circumstances of the meeting in the first place. i think downing street were keen to emphasise this was not done in the prime minister's behest but then suggested that sue gray had initiated the meeting. those close to her said no, in fact, this came from a suggestion from number ten officials and downing street is now defying the opposition to make clear the prime minister himself said they had not called for this but i'm not denying that someone at number ten suggested it was a good idea that the meeting place. nonetheless both sides do agree that he was not showing the content of the report and still has not seen it.— two people have been taken to hospital after part of a stand collapsed at a trooping the colour event at horse guards parade in central london. in two weeks' time, the queen is due to attend. shelly phelps reports. members of the army rushing

to the scene in video footage filmed by a member of the public close to where part of a stand reportedly collapsed. a number of people can also be seen climbing over the back wall, close to where a section of the structure is understood to have given way. the area was then evacuated one stand at the time, according to witnesses. we were all invited to stand for the national anthem and as we did, there was a commotion behind us and it transpired that the floorboards in the temporary arena had cracked and several people had fallen through, it appeared. the incident took place just before 11am as crowds gathered in horse guards parade to watch rehearsals marking the queen's birthday. stjohn ambulance were first on scene. we treated a total of six patients. four of the patients were minor injuries and have been discharged, and two of the patients were taken to a central london trauma hospital. the army says safety is its number one priority and it's working urgently with partners to understand what happened, and ensure it

doesn't happen again. shelly phelps, bbc london. one of the world's largest and most active volcanoes, mount etna in italy, has been putting on a spectacular sunset show. these pictures show the volcano roaring into action, spewing plumes of hot ash and steam into the sky over the mediterranean island of sicily. lava has been flowing down the mountain towards the lion valley. at over 3000m high, etna often erupts but rarely causes damage. it's reported to have the longest written record of eruptions of any volcano, dating back to 425 bc. a reminder of our top story — anthony albanese wins the australian general election, becoming the country's first labor prime minister in almost a decade. he pledged to transform the country into a renewable energy superpower. it still isn't clear whether labor will lead

a majority government or a coalition. thank you very much for watching. hello there. there was a north—south divide with the weather for the start of the weekend. yes, weather fronts across scotland and northern ireland brought certainly more cloud, a bit more of a breeze, some showery outbreaks of rain as well. high pressure, though, hanging on in across england and wales. the cloud did develop as we went through the afternoon with some warm sunshine. london saw a high of 22 degrees — 72 fahrenheit. but where that cloud and the rain lingered across the highland, where we had around half an inch worth of rain through the day, it was a fairly grey affair at times. and that rain is still sitting there, chiefly to the north—west of the great glen but certainly, more cloud along western fringes. quite a murky start for the day with a few isolated showers here and there as well. so, the best of the sunshine, the best of the warmth, if we draw a line, really, from cardiff over towards

norwich, anywhere south and east of that could potentially see highs of 23 degrees with the wind direction light and coming from a southerly. a little more cloud, a few spots of rain across north wales, northern england as well. a few more nuisance showers into northern ireland and once again to the north—west of the great glen, so here, a little bit fresher — 13—17 degrees the overall high. those weather fronts will ease away as we move through the latter stages of sunday, weakening all the time. but something worth bearing in mind is this weather front that's going to push up from the near continent. mightjust bring some sharp showers across the far south—east corner as well. and also worth bearing in mind, the wind direction changing to more of a north—westerly, so a cooler feel, and that's going to push the warm air that we've seen away from the south—east corner as well, so a noticeable difference to the feel to the weather potentially on monday. so, we need to keep an eye on those showers. there is a level of uncertainty of how far west those showers

are likely to be, but there could be some sharp showers, maybe even a little bit of saharan dust mixed in there as well. a cloudier day on monday with a few scattered showers elsewhere and noticeably cooler as well. top temperatures 12—18 celsius. now, as we move out of monday and head into tuesday, that low pressure eases away and we see through the middle part of the week, after sunshine and showers on tuesday, more wet weather moving in, so things stay on the cooler side and a little more unsettled tuesday into wednesday, but high pressure then set to build once again and those temperatures will start to recover for the start of the weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: anthony albanese has won the australian general election, beating scott morrison to become the country's first labor prime minister in almost a decade. addressing supporters, he pledged to transform the country into a renewable energy superpower and to work towards lifting wages and profits. as russian attacks in eastern ukraine intensify, president volodymyr zelensky has said diplomacy is the only way the war on his country will end. the british foreign secretary, liz truss, has said that ukraine's neighbour, moldova, should be armed with nato military equipment to help guard against the threat of a russian invasion. switzerland and the netherlands have become the latest countries to report cases of monkeypox, with doctors warning the outbreak could badly affect access

to sexual health services. at least 90 infections have been confirmed