for a spectacular open—air concert to mark the queen's seventy years on the throne. in a tribute to his mother, prince charles, praised what he called "a lifetime of selfless service." veteran pop stars including diana ross, rod stewart and the band, queen, were among the performers. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. cheering. after the ceremonial and the spiritual, it was time for a jubilee party. they had taken their seats in the royal box, tens of thousands had packed the mall, and first on stage,

who else but queen and brian may? the bbc concert had begun inside buckingham palace with one of those jaw—dropping moments — a tea party with a peruvian—born bear called paddington. thank you for having me. i do hope you're having a lovelyjubilee. tea? oh, yes, please! oh, dear. perhaps...you would like a marmalade sandwich? i always keep one for emergencies. so do i. i keep mine in here! 0h! for later. well, who would have believed it?

this is a monarch who still enjoys springing a surprise. outside, the concert was getting into full swing. there was music and the waving of union flags. some waved with rather more vigour than others, it must be said. and as day gave way to night, the focus shifted. prince william spoke of the need to protect the planet. my own grandmother has been alive for nearly a century. today, in 2022, as the queen celebrates her platinum jubilee, the pressing need to protect and restore our planet has never been more urgent. and the prince of wales spoke movingly of his mother's dedication over 70 years. you have met us and talked with us. you laugh and cry with us and, most importantly, you have been there for us for these 70 years.

you pledged to serve your whole life. you continue to deliver. that is why we are here. that is what we celebrate tonight. these pictures on your house are the story of your life and ours. so, your majesty, that is why we all say thank you. the crowd gave three cheers. cheering. it had been an evening of many emotions. the main ones were respect and gratitude. nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace. in the 70 years the queen has been on the throne many politicians have come and gone — including m us presidents. the bbc�*s sophie long reports on the queen's relationship

with america and its leaders. queen elizabeth's leading role in the special relationship between britain and the united states dates back before her accession to the throne. reporter: princess elizabeth plays hostess to the truman l family... the first of the 13 us leaders her majesty met was president truman in 1951, when she was princess elizabeth. dwight eisenhower was president when she made her first state visit in 1957. reporter: neil armstrong, | the first man on the moon led the way on this historic day... americans have had some issues with royal protocol. after landing on the moon, astronauts neil armstrong, michael collins and buzz aldrin visited buckingham palace. collins is reported to have almost fallen down the stairs in his efforts not to turn his back on the queen. we're going to do a photo? subsequent presidents and first ladies have been a little more lax.

michelle 0bama famously laid a hand on her majesty's back, and president trump not only broke with tradition, ditching a bow in favour of a handshake, but then walked in front of her. while royal commentators gasped, the queen displayed nothing but good humour. i think that when she meets with american presidents, and evenjust going out and about in the general public, she does give off an air too of approachability. and i think the way that she wasn't bothered, for instance, when somebody would break protocol and touch her, or give her the hug, shejust laughs it off, and i think that endears her to the public. the queen waltzed with president ford, rode horses with president reagan. president biden was the first head of state she met in person following the death of prince philip. he and the first lady had this message for her majesty.

in america, the queen retains approval ratings most political leaders would lust after, even higher than that of meghan markle. of course, her marriage to prince harry reinforced the transatlantic relationship. even if the couple have criticised the family, they have only ever spoken fondly of the queen. shall we watch it together? yes. they have spoken so highly - of her, you know, and made sure that any sort of feelings . they have about the 'firm' are divorced from, you know, the queen as harry's - grandmother. even if harry and meghan are back in britain for the platinum jubilee celebrations, there will be plenty of the queen's supporters here raising a cup of tea in her honour. sophie long, bbc news,

the united states. ukraine says russian forces have blown up bridges on a river near the key eastern city of severodonetsk to stop reinforcements coming in. the city is the main focus of russia's current offensive in the donbas region. kyiv says it has recaptured part of the territory that was lost to russian forces. but as our ukraine correspondentjoe inwood reports, both sides are presenting very different pictures of how the conflict is unfolding. russian armour still rolling forward, moving to encircle ukraine's forces in the donbas. an advancing army liberating the people of this region, providing them with humanitarian aid — that is the picture the russians want to present of the invasion they still refuse to call a war. they say they are destroying western weapons and killing foreign mercenaries. but from the ukrainians, you get quite the opposite impression. this is a coalition of soldiers

defending their homeland, orjoining from around the world to face down a global threat. we are on the right side of the history, so we're going to make sure all of us are going to get back home with ourfamilies, and make sure that the occupants are not going to do the same. now, the truth of what is really going on is shrouded in the fog of war. both sides put out the messages they want the world to hear. translation: as soon as we have enough western long-range - weapons we will push their artillery away from our positions. and then, believe me, the russian infantry — they'll just run. what we do know for certain is that it is the people of this region who are paying the price. this is the town of lysychansk, just across the river from severodonetsk. tens of thousands remain here. translation: there is no electricity, no water. - 0ur grandchildren have left.

we don't know how they are. as the battle for severodonetsk continues, on the streets, ukrainian police evacuate stranded residents. if russia can take this city, it will have a path into the donbas. if the ukrainians can stop them, they will win a battle that could determine the outcome of this war. joe inwood, bbc news, kyiv. some breaking news and there is a number of explosions that have struck the ukrainian capital of kyiv. it has not been spared as russian concentrates attacks in the eastern regions of luhansk and donesk. we will bring you more details as they come to hand. mercedes—benz is recalling nearly a million

older vehicles worldwide. the call back is due to a potential problem with the brakes of the vehicles built between 2004 and 2015. the problem is related to corrosion which, in the worst cases, could lead to the connection between the brake pedal and the braking system failing. so how significant is this recall? a question i put to dan neil, automotive critic with the wall streetjournal. it's a lot of cars and it's over a number of years and it's all over the world. i note the recall numbers are 292 in the us and 70,000 in germany and the rest are spread out. they are not going to be particularly easy to recall and service, given that the number and different models, the mls and gls and r class and such, they are a problem. the problem seems to be related to corrosion which could lead to the connection between the brake pedal and braking system failing. just explain how serious that is. whatjumped out of me is that all three of these vehicles, the series vehicles are suv—type vehicles, heavier, so the consequences of brake failure, while remote, are higher so their risk

assessment was such that they needed to recall that in and it's also not one of those things that you can recall or you can fix really over the air, so many more recent vehicles, many of the problems people have are electronic in nature. in fact, mercedes had 1 million—plus vehicle recalls last year for some emergency tech that they had to fix. one idea with new vehicles is that they don't have to be brought in to be serviced or recalled. they are also asking customers not to drive these vehicles. that's going to cause quite a lot of disruption. yes that was surprising to me, given as many model years are involved, there is a do not drive order and they want them in immediately so the german, the transport authority, the kba, made it clear they wanted people to fix their vehicles and not ignore them. how embarrassing is this for mercedes because it is of course a luxury brand? yes, luxury brand, owners and buyers

have long memories and short tempers and there is a lot of competition in the world, there is a technological change afoot, and mercedes—benz can't lose any cachet as far as it can't afford to lose any brand credibility. this doesn't help again, it's a series of quick public recalls so they will have to tighten their ship if they want to keep going. you are watching bbc news. the headlines: huge crowds have been enjoying a star—studded concert at buckingham palace during a third day of platinum jubilee celebrations. a senior ukrainian official says russia is "throwing all its power" at the key city of severodonetsk, where its soldiers are locked in fierce street battles.

dozens of police officers patrolled hong kong's victoria park on saturday after authorities for a third consecutive year banned public commemoration of the anniversary of the deadly tiananmen square crackdown in 1989. six people were arrested. lea na hosea reports. for decades, hong kong was the only place in china where people could commemorate those killed in the tiananmen square massacre in 1989. this used to be the place where vigils were held — victoria park. but that's all changed with the introduction of the national security law banning vigils. on saturday, scuffles broke out as police tried to arrest those who turned up. they'd already been warned that unauthorised assembly could see them imprisoned for up to five years. the threat didn't stop this democracy activist from observing a minute's silence privately indoors. translation: it has become part

of our life and it is now how - we practice in our everyday life. --is ——is now about how to practise what we believe in our everyday life. as long as we are willing to remember and pass it on, the truth will eventually come to light someday. now, taiwan is the only part of the chinese—speaking world where it can be remembered openly. activists in taipei put up a new version of the pillar of shame — a statue commemorating tiananmen protesters that was removed from hong kong. they call out in support of tiananmen square, but this student's worries are increasingly for his own freedom and that of taiwan. translation: in the face | of ever-increasing military threats by china in recent years, we can learn through events like this that they will use whatever suppressive tactics that they are already using on their own people to also suppress taiwan or any other place in the world. now, taiwan will now be

one of the main centres of remembrance for those who lost their lives in tiananmen square. leana hosea, bbc news. south korea's military says north korea has fired several ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast. it comes a day after south korea and the united states wrapped up their first combined military exercises involving an american aircraft carrier in more than four years. pyongyang has long protested against the joint exercises and the country has stepped up its missile tests in recent weeks. greece is no stranger to summer fires and once again, homes and wildlife in the suburbs of athens are under threat. last summer, when greece was sweltering in the most severe heatwave for decades, wildfires scorched more than 100,000 hectares of forests and farmland. wendy urquhart reports. the blaze started in glyfada, south of athens, and with strong winds fanning the flames, firefighters

were unable to contain it so, before long, at least four neighbourhoods of the capital were on fire. every time the wind changed direction, so did the fire, putting firefighters under immense pressure as they fought the flames, desperately trying to gain the upper hand. in the popular seaside town of voula, just 16 kilometres south of the capital, hundreds of residents and tourists were forced to evacuate their homes and holiday apartments as the flames crept ever closer, devouring homes, cars, brush and trees along the way. translation: we got a message telling us to evacuate our- homes, so we're watching from a distance. we were a bit scared but i think the situation is better now. up above, six helicopters zigzagged across the land, dumping gallons of water to douse the flames and dampen

the brush in a bid to stop the fire in its tracks. at least 20 homes have been burnt to the ground, their interiors completely gutted by the flames. everything inside either water damaged or up in smoke. greece was already on high alert after the country was ravaged by fire last year and with the most severe heat wave the country had seen for decades. the european union is sending 200 firefighters and technical equipment to greece to help boost the battle against these wildfires. wendy urquhart, bbc news. one of britain's most acclaimed artists, the sculptor sir antony gormley, who created the angel of the north, is to become a german citizen. sir antony said he was giving up his british passport because of the uk's decision leave the european union. he described the move

as "embarrassing," and says he has plans for new sculptures that reflect this view. all i want for christmas is you is one of the most successful christmas singles of all time but now, 28 years after its release, mariah carey and her co—writer are facing a $20 million lawsuit. songwriter andy stone accuses them of exploiting a song he co—wrote in 1989 which had the same name. let's have a listen to the song you've most probably heard before. # 0ooh, yeah. # i don't want a lot for christmas. # there is just one thing i need. # i don't care about the presents. well, earlier, ispoke to pamela koslyn, who's a los angeles attorney specializing in music and intellectual property and asked whether she thought this case had any merit. none — none whatsoever. it won't get past summary judgement, and i doubt it will even get that far.

are there times, do you think, when lawyers themselves are often pushing these cases? yeah, i think the lawyer is looking to make a name for himself. he filed the case, as i understand it, in louisiana, which is the fifth circuit, which is not where you file copyright cases — that would be done in either new york or la, where the judges have seen the cases before, where lawyers have litigated these cases before — but nobody has heard of this guy or his lawyer, except people in louisiana, so he wants home turf and he wants to litigate there, where he has a ghost of a chance of people having heard of him and his song. if you were representing mariah carey, what would your advice to her be in this case, because there are dangers if she does take it on. there's obviously legal costs and just admin and things that she probably doesn't need on her plate. it's certainly not something she welcomes, that's true, but she does have an upside and a very good chance of recovering her own legal

fees, and that's because there —— the copyright act has a cost shifting provision, which is if you have filed your copyright application and somebody accuses you wrongfully of infringing the copyright, you get your legalfees paid by the loser, so this plaintiff actually has a lot to lose. i guess it depends on the outcome of cases like this one to see whether we will see more and more cases like this in the future? i suppose that's true. i think maybe the blurred lines case, where a plaintiff did win on a claim of copyright infringement, it did embolden others to do file their claims. the case of ed sheeran didn't go on the way of the plaintiff, and i think the led zeppelin case also didn't go in the way of the plaintiff, so i think the scale has shifted back to the defence, where it is appropriately placed, given that some of these claims simply have no merit. and how worried do you think are artists now, before they put music out there, that this may happen to them?

i think what they are doing — the smart ones, who have good advice — is actually taping the songwriting process, so if they are ever asked about infringement back and say, "look, here's me in my studio with my songwriters, "here we are writing the song." that's what i think is happening. and finally, as we've been hearing, a spectacular open—air concert and light show has been held in front of buckingham palace to celebrate the queen's platinum jubilee. earlier, people crowded the mall and areas around the palace, with many queuing for hours to get a glimpse of the stars and to share in the heady atmosphere. 0ur entertainment correspondent steffan powell mingled with the crowds. the excitement was building all afternoon. i don't think we'll live through another platinum jubilee with another monarch, i don't think so, so i think this is a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity and i'm really pleased to be here. what better way to bring people together than with music from different generations? gorgeous day, bank holiday weekend, it's amazing. - it's electric, everybody�*s really excited, everyone's

in a really good mood, it's nice. after what we've all been through, i think it's magical, to be honest. not many people in the world could get the likes of duran duran, sir rod stewart and diana ross to share the same stage on the same night — it's a testament to how well admired and respected the queen is across the world. this is a line—up that music festival bosses would die for, and don't take my word for it. cheering. # baby jane. # don't leave me hanging on the line... this party at the palace has been designed to appeal to her majesty's supporters of all ages. # i'm up in space man... # up in space, man. # i'm overyou. # i don't need your lies no more... everyone isjust so happy to be here, happy to be i

celebrating her majesty i the queen and, definitely, i felt the energy when i was on stage that it was just - all about happiness and celebration. i and away from the more formal, traditional celebrations for thejubilee, it's been an opportunity for people to let their hair down — from key workers given tickets for their contribution during the pandemic to royalty itself. # you took a mystery and made me want it. this was a night that the 22,000 with tickets and the crowd watching along the mall won't forget in a hurry. it hasn't happened before and may not happen again. # this girl is on fire! steffan powell, bbc news. # this girl is on fire! before we leave you, let's bring you a quick reminder of our top story, prince charles has paid tribute to his mother queen elizabeth during an open air concert outside buckingham palace to mark her platinum to believe. he told the audience

that she had given a lifetime of selfless service during her 70 year reign. since william also spoke about the need to protect the planet. 0n also spoke about the need to protect the planet. on sunday, a pageant involving around 10,000 people will take place around the streets of central london. that's it from me for now. thanks for much for watching. do stay tuned to adhere to bbc news. —— do stay tuned right here to bbc news. hello there. heavy rain with thunder and lightning has continued to spread northwards across central and southern england and wales. it means for part two of the weekend, we'll have a north—south divide again with much of scotland and northern ireland staying dry with some sunshine, more cloud and further rain across england and wales. it's a very wet start to parts of wales, the midlands and eastern england through the morning and then, that rain will slowly ease down as it continues to move northwards, but it'll stay rather grey and damp. any sunshine that comes out across southern areas just may spark off a heavy shower or thunderstorm into the afternoon. temperatures reaching highs

of around 18 or 19 degrees, but much it'll be cooler under the rain — low teens there. cool along north sea coasts. best of the sunshine and warmth probably across central and northern scotland — 21 degrees or so. and then through sunday night, it stays rather cloudy. further pulses of rain across northern, central and eastern england, some of the ranges getting into southern scotland at times, too. —— and eastern england, some of the rain just getting into southern scotland at times, too. double—figure values to start the day on monday in the south, single figures in the north under the clear skies. so, for monday, the pressure chart shows that area of low pressure slowly pulling out into the north sea, taking the rain with it. and then we're in between weather systems for monday afternoon, so many places should be a little bit drier with probably a bit more sunshine around. still a rather cloudy start for monday through central, northern and eastern england. the rain, the strong winds pull away from the east coast. more sunshine in the south.

plenty of sunshine again across large parts of scotland, where we could see the high teens there, maybe 20 degrees in the warmer spots in the south. we'lljust have to watch that area of rain moving into parts of south west england and the channel islands during monday night. into tuesday, that rain should clear away from southern areas and then, because we're in between weather systems again, it looks largely quiet. maybe an odd shower here and there, but a good deal of sunshine around. more sunshine in the south, so we could see highs of 21 degrees in the capital, 19 or so through the central belt of scotland. turns more unsettled, though, wednesday onwards. we see areas of low pressure moving in off the atlantic. 0ne system will bring in outbreaks of rain, followed by sunshine and showers. this next system through thursday and friday could bring a spell of windier weather with outbreaks of rain, followed by sunshine and showers. so, it's much more unsettled to end the new week with sunshine and showers, fairly strong winds. these temperatures around the seasonal average.

this is bbc news. the headlines: huge crowds gathered in front of buckingham palace for a spectacular open—air concert, marking a high point of the celebrations for queen elizabeth's 70 years on the british throne. in a tribute to his mother, prince charles, praised what he called "a lifetime of selfless service." russia says ukrainian troops in the eastern city of severodonetsk, have suffered critical losses and are retreating. ukraine insists it's still pushing back russian forces, despite the city remaining the main goal of russia's offensive. soldiers from both sides are locked in fierce street battles.

mercedes—benz has recalled nearly one million older vehicles worldwide, due to a potential problem with the braking system. the german manufacturer says corrosion in some cars, built between 2004 and 2015, could lead to the connection between the brake pedal and the braking system failing.