this is bbc news. i'm tim willcox. our top stories: ukraine and russia sign a deal allowing the resumption of ukrainian grain exports from ports on the black sea. the un says the deal must not fail. many people are at risk of famine, so there is a moral obligation on all those involved in this process to make it a success. we report from the farms on the frontline in the donbas region, which have now become a battleground. a deal to end russia's blockade could make a huge difference but it won't end the war and so, here in the donbas, ukrainian farmers are racing to harvest and to store what they can, whatever the risks. steve bannon, the former aide to president trump,

faces jail after being found guilty of contempt of congress. speaking to reporters, he remains defiant. the prosecutor missed one very important phrase — i stand with trump and the constitution and i will never back off that, ever. struggling to cope with record—breaking temperatures: large swathes of europe, north america and east asia issue their highest heatwave alerts as firefighters battle wildfires. gridlock at the english channel as the port of dover is overwhelmed with traffic, and warnings of worse to come. and the more you look, the more you discover! how the powerful new james webb space telescope is expanding our view of the universe.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. for the first time since russia began its full—scale invasion of ukraine in february, both sides have signed up to a major un agreement allowing wheat and corn to be exported from ukrainian ports. it's aimed at bringing down the high price of grain and restoring supplies to countries suffering food shortages. ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of cereal crops and oils. before the war, 46% of the world's sunflower oil, 18% of its maize and 12% of its wheat came from ukraine, and the poorest countries are most reliant on it. but since the invasion, russia has been blockading ukraine's major ports along the black sea, such as odesa. it means that currently some 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in silos there. our international correspondent orla guerin reports.

ukraine's bountiful harvest — badly needed among global shortages and warnings of famine. but little of this grain can be shipped abroad because of russia's naval blockade. the kremlin stands accused of using food as a weapon of war. now, in istanbul, a rare diplomatic breakthrough — a deal to resume grain exports. applause. also agreed — measures to help russia export its food and fertiliser, which are not covered by sanctions. this is orla guerin from the bbc. nice to see you, mr secretary general. good morning. the un's secretary—general, who nurtured the deal, told me it benefits the world. this is exactly what we need at the present moment because developing countries are in a dramatic situation

with sky—rocketing prices and many people are at risk of famine, so there is a moral obligation of all those involved in this process to make it a success. isn't there also a moral question, that at a time when russia is killing women and children — and we see this every day, i've seen it in ukraine, you've been in ukraine on the ground, you've seen the aftermath of russian attacks — but here we are with russia being rewarded, with russia getting a deal that is going to help it get its food and fertiliser onto the world markets. some would see this as a pay—off for russia. sorry to say, that is totally wrong. it's not russia that is rewarded. this was a basic need for the international markets. but russia will benefit. i mean, russia benefits much more with the exports of fuel. it's incomparable, the volume, and we go on seeing russia exporting oil and gas to several european countries

and to other countries around the world — that is where the big business is. but you understand that some in the outside world will see this as the un helping russia to do business at a time when russia is killing women and children every other day in ukraine. no, we are helping ukraine. back in april, the secretary—general saw the horrors there for himself during a sombre visit to suburbs around the capital forever scarred by russian atrocities. when you went to kyiv and ukraine, you were yourself in bucha and borodyanka and you were obviously very moved by what you saw. of course. and i remember you said you could imagine your own granddaughters having to flee. yes. against that backdrop, was it very difficult to sit and negotiate with russia? was that a hard thing to do? of course, it's not easy. but, i mean, there is a sense of duty that the

secretary—general of the united nations must have in relation to the whole world. as strong was my emotion when i visited the places that you just mentioned, today it was also very emotional for me to sign this agreement. it's probably the most important thing i've been doing since i became secretary—general. for this landmark deal to work, there will have to be a de facto ceasefire in ukraine's black sea ports and safe passage for cargo vessels. it's a big gamble, and peace remains a distant prospect. orla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. as we've just seen, ukraine's wheat is vital for the global economy but the russian invasion has made growing and harvesting crops a dangerous occupation. our correspondent andrew harding has been visiting frontline farms near the heavily—bombarded city of slovyansk.

it's harvest time in ukraine's war—torn donbas. from his perch, vladimir bukhantsev can the front lines, just one hillside away to the north. traces of smoke on the horizon, and then this... engines roar. ..two ukrainian fighterjets roar overhead to attack russian positions. you can see a russian rocket blazing upwards, narrowly missing one jet. the planes both launch decoy flares and turn sharply, heading home. "we see this almost every day," says vladimir. "the pilots do their job, we do ours. "my son is fighting on the front line near here too." farmers and fighters. almost everyone else has left or is leaving this region.

hurried farewells at a bus stop to the sound of russian rockets landing nearby. and plenty of those rockets and cluster bombs are hitting ukraine's wheat fields, setting fire to thousands of acres. it's another challenge for the farmers and for a world that is increasingly desperate for ukraine's crops. farm owner sergei kurinniy takes me on a tour of his bomb craters. he used to sell almost all his wheat and sunflower seeds for export, but the war has put a stop to that. he shows me more footage of the damage to his farm. this is where the cows were killed by another bomb. in fact, we can just hear a few more in the distance. it's quite a noisy morning here. but the biggest problem, sergei tells me, is the russian blockade. "the ports

are closed," he says. "we can't export anything and so, the price we get "for our wheat has dropped by two thirds." a deal to end russia's blockade could make a huge difference but it won't end the war and so, here in the donbas, ukrainian farmers are racing to harvest and to store what they can, whatever the risks. andrew harding, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. let's get some of the day's other news. three men have been charged in brazil with the murder of a local indigenous expert and a british journalist last month. bruno pereira and dom phillips were killed while investigating the link between illegal fishing, logging and drug trafficking in indigenous reserves. the european commission has launched fresh legal action against the uk. it says there is a failure to comply with the post—brexit customs and tax arrangements for northern ireland.

the uk government said the latest claims were "disappointing" and legal action was "in nobody�*s i nte rest" . the white house says president biden�*s mild covid—i9 symptoms are improving and he's responding well to treatment. mr biden tested positive for the disease on thursday. he's fully vaccinated against covid. vince mcmahon, the head of the wrestling entertainment giant wwe, has announced his retirement. he had already stepped down as ceo and chair of the company because of an investigation into alleged misconduct. the wwe board is investigating reports that he made a secret payout of $3 million to a departing employee with whom he's alleged to have had an affair. the billionaire oversaw wwe�*s growth into a global business and often made cameos in the ring himself. ajury in the us has found donald trump's former chief

strategist steve bannon guilty of contempt of congress. it follows his failure to co—operate with a committee investigating the former president's actions during the attack on the capitol in january last year. steve bannon could now face up to two years in prison but speaking outside the courtroom, he remained unrepentant. i want to start by thanking the jury. we respect their decision today. i really want to thank those hard—working citizens of washington, dc, that had to take an entire week off to go through this. so thanks, and we respect their decision. we may have lost a battle here today but we're not going to lose this war. in the closing argument, the prosecutor missed one very important phrase — i stand with trump and the constitution, and i will never back off that, ever. earlier, i spoke to the journalist mollyjong-fast and i put it to her that this wasn't the first time a senior

white house official had been held in contempt of congress, so what's different with steve bannon�*s case. i think these guys are going to get prosecuted. you still have the peter navarro case which is coming up next but i think there were two contempt of congress people who they decided not to prosecute, meadows and scavino, and i think that, but i do think the fact that they chosen to go after bannon and navarro chose before shows are very serious. what do you make of his defence that this is not a fair trial, that this is not a fair trial, that he was not able to subpoena the witnesses he wanted? he subpoena the witnesses he wanted? ., , , . wanted? he did not put up much of a defence _ wanted? he did not put up much of a defence and _ wanted? he did not put up much of a defence and his _ wanted? he did not put up much of a defence and his lawyer - wanted? he did not put up much of a defence and his lawyer did l of a defence and his lawyer did not actually have much of a defence. a sort ofjust went through it and the jury did defence. a sort ofjust went through it and thejury did not take very long to convict. i think they hoped they could get out of it but it seems very likely and again, sentencing is in october, that this may be something that manen cannot get

out of. he something that manen cannot get out of. . . something that manen cannot get out of. u, . . something that manen cannot get out of. u, . ., ., out of. he can claim to executive _ out of. he can claim to executive privilege - out of. he can claim to executive privilege to l out of. he can claim to - executive privilege to start off with, despite being fired by donald trump year after he got into office. he by donald trump year after he got into office.— got into office. he had not been in the _ got into office. he had not been in the white - got into office. he had not been in the white house l got into office. he had not i been in the white house for three years. executive privilege was pretty farcical. i don't think he took it seriously and there were other people in the trump administration who played hard to get but remember, annan thinks he's a hero and that he will be able to sort of dine out on this and use this as a kind of political prisoner thing —— bannon. i don't think thatis thing —— bannon. i don't think that is how it is going to go off. . . , ., ., , that is how it is going to go off. u, , ., ., off. he claims that he was not that close _ off. he claims that he was not that close to _ off. he claims that he was not that close to donald _ off. he claims that he was not that close to donald trump, i that close to donald trump, although the committee believes that he spoke to the president the day before the capitol hill riots. has that been proven categorically? i riots. has that been proven categorically?— categorically? i don't know what the — categorically? i don't know what the january _ categorically? i don't know what the january six - categorically? i don't know - what the january six committee what the january six committee has. they certainly didn't talk about that but remember, they

have paused hearings for the month of october and will come backin month of october and will come back in september so there may be more, and they constantly collecting more and they constantly imploring witnesses, you know, you hear liz cheney at the beginning and end of every hearing like this is your moment, come and talk to us, so i think they will get more and there is also meadows so we will see more in september. presumably steve bannon will appeal, will he? or is there a very real chance that he could be incarcerated? i very real chance that he could be incarcerated?— be incarcerated? i think there is a very real _ be incarcerated? i think there is a very real chance - be incarcerated? i think there is a very real chance he - be incarcerated? i think there is a very real chance he will. is a very real chance he will go to jail. i mean, that's in october. his attorney says he will appeal but i think it certainly is possible that bannon will go to jail. this is not years injail, it is like a month or two but i think that bannon thinks it will benefit him and help him, you know, anytime someone might bannon get the platform, you know, he tries to use it to get more

popular and spread more lies about the american 2020 election, so i don't know in the end if he will be able to spend this into a wind but i think he thinks it will. molly long-fast _ stay with us on bbc world news. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come... nasa's new james webb telescope reveals galaxies that existed soon after the big bang occurred — 13 billion years ago. coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire has been blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence - and hatred that tore apart

the state of yugoslavia, l but now, a decade later, - it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines... ukraine and russia sign a deal allowing the resumption of ukrainian grain exports from ports on the black sea. the un says the agreement could help millions avoid hunger. steve bannon — the former aide to president trump — faces jail after being found

guilty of contempt of congress. more wildfires continue to spread across europe — with severe weather warnings in place across america this weekend — as parts of china are set to experience searing temperatures over the next ten days as a heatwave takes hold. mark lobel reports. and still the heat blazes its path across europe with nowhere to hide from spain to italy. translation:— to hide from spain to italy. translation: honestly, ifeel the heat more _ translation: honestly, ifeel the heat more than _ translation: honestly, ifeel the heat more than in - translation: honestly, ifeel the heat more than in previous| the heat more than in previous years and i'm trying to cope as best i can. years and i'm trying to cope as best i can-— best i can. across france, the heartbreak — best i can. across france, the heartbreak that _ best i can. across france, the heartbreak that comes - best i can. across france, the heartbreak that comes with i heartbreak that comes with discovering your corner of paradise is no more. translation: , , translation: everything is destroyed- _ translation: everything is destroyed. the _ translation: everything is destroyed. the equipment, | translation: everything is. destroyed. the equipment, the walls, there nothing left. in

slovenia, romania, portugal. translation:— slovenia, romania, portugal. translation: these are painful da s. translation: these are painful days. firefighters _ translation: these are painful days. firefighters and _ translation: these are painful days. firefighters and the - days. firefighters and the people are helpless. fatigue is taking over but the adrenaline in saving what is ours is even greater and keeps us going. band greater and keeps us going. and in greece--- _ greater and keeps us going. and in greece... the _ greater and keeps us going. and in greece... the effects of heat waves shown from the sky, pictured across parts of france and spain here, becoming more frequent, more intense and longer lasting. igniting further fury at longer lasting. igniting furtherfury at a longer lasting. igniting further fury at a human induced climate change. translation: i climate change. translation: , ., translation: i believe that the climate emergency _ translation: i believe that the climate emergency is _ translation: i believe that the climate emergency is lethal, - climate emergency is lethal, but even more lethal is ignorance and the nihilism. away from europe, right across america, the heat is on in

arizona. america, the heat is on in arizona-— arizona. i've had multiple --eole arizona. i've had multiple people compare - arizona. i've had multiple people compare arizona | arizona. i've had multiple| people compare arizona to arizona. i've had multiple - people compare arizona to being like hell. it’s people compare arizona to being like hell. �* , ., , like hell. it's no better in texas. this _ like hell. it's no better in texas. this heat - like hell. it's no better in texas. this heat is - like hell. it's no better inj texas. this heat is crazy. like hell. it's no better in - texas. this heat is crazy. i've seen a lot — texas. this heat is crazy. i've seen a lot of _ texas. this heat is crazy. i've seen a lot of people - texas. this heat is crazy. i've seen a lot of people pass - texas. this heat is crazy. i've seen a lot of people pass out| seen a lot of people pass out with this heat.— with this heat. with water sanctuary _ with this heat. with water sanctuary in _ with this heat. with water sanctuary in new - with this heat. with water sanctuary in new york, i with this heat. with water sanctuary in new york, as with this heat. with water - sanctuary in new york, as well. we are finding fountains around the city and jumping in the fountains to stay cool. iltiuiitii fountains to stay cool. with multi - le fountains to stay cool. with multiple heat _ fountains to stay cool. with multiple heat warnings - fountains to stay cool. with multiple heat warnings are l multiple heat warnings are springing up across state lines as record highs are focused to continue throughoutjuly. they continue throughout july. they are continue throughoutjuly. they are preparing for it in china, too. warnings of forest fires at a time of year big temperatures are expected here, but not like this. record highs predicted, too. demand on air conditioners expected to spell trouble for the national grid. mark lobel, bc news.

a war of words has erupted on both sides of the english channel, after a day of major delays at the port of dover, passengers have reported queuing in their cars for up to seven hours to get to france. our transport correspondent katy austin has more details. it's the big summer getaway, but no—one stuck in these queues today was getting away very quickly. the durnford family took these photos on the way to catch a ferry for the first—ever holiday abroad together. so, this was supposed to be a one—hour carjourney from sevenoaks in kent, and it's just been nearly seven hours now, and we're still not checked in. we completely missed our 9.30 ferry. i was able to get out of the car with my girls and we got to the shops to get some food, because we didn't bring that much food with us because we thought we were going to be having lunch in france. they were allowed onto a later ferry five hours after they'd expected to depart. dover and the surrounding roads are gridlocked and police were out managing traffic.

with post—brexit and covid checks now in place, the port of dover said it had done what it could to prepare for a busy summer and worked with local and government partners. the port also said it had worked with french border police to plan for the expected traffic volumes, but it accused them of providing woefully inadequate resource this morning. what we had requested for the start of the day around 4.00 in the morning, was to have 14 officers in place that could manage, because the traffic starts arriving that early in the morning. what we did have was six, so we had an inadequate number of immigration officers. the port�*s boss insisted his teams had been providing regular updates on what was needed. i promise you there was no more communication, no more planning, no more analysis that we could have done. the french authorities hit back, saying it was not correct that they hadn't put sufficient manpower in place, that the plan had been to man all posts at 8.30am, but an unforeseeable technical incident at the channel tunnel led them to postpone full operational capacity

by one hour. then eurotunnel said the incident had nothing to do with officials being delayed. it's now mid—afternoon, and things are flowing a bit more freely than they were. but the delays this morning were so great there is a really long backlog. as the blame game continues, the reality is a miserable start to many people's holidays. katy austin, bbc news. british airways staff at heathrow airport have called off strike action planned for the summer. they've accepted a new 8% pay offer along with a bonus and irregular shift payments. 700 workers — mostly check—in staff — had been set to strike over a 10% pay cut imposed during the pandemic. nasa's newjames webb space telescope has revealed that there were ten times more galaxies like our own milky way

in the early universe than previously thought. the world's most powerful telescope — which entered service earlier this month — collects invisible infrared data that has made visible galaxies that existed soon after the big bang took place. emily brown reports. the universe. 13.8 billion years old. captured here by the world's most powerful telescope. after entering service earlier this month, the james webb telescope has found there were ten times more galaxiesjust like our own milky way than previously thought. many of them are actually almost normal—looking in some ways, like a disk galaxy, like our own milky way is a disk galaxy, a rotating system which is elongated into a kind of a symmetrical disk shape. which is surprising because we thought that those kind of galaxies did not exist. but now we're finding them in great abundance quite

early in the universe. and the discovery has been made possible by collecting invisible infrared data. the team studying the results describe it as revolutionary. it's really one of the most amazing telescopes that astronomers have ever built, and it's maybe comparable to something like the first telescope that galileo used to just look at stuff for the first time with a telescope. more images will be captured over the coming months, possibly leading to even greater discoveries. emily brown, bbc news. now, when the residents of a small town in australia saw a strange red glow in the sky looking just like this they were a little bit alarmed. was it some strange chemical accident — a military attack — or even an alien invasion? the truth turned out to be a little less exotic — it was actually the glow

from lights from a cannabis farm — which were visible because the black—out blinds used to obscure its location at night had malfunctioned. the site, near mildura, in northern victoria, legally grows cannnabis for medical use — and the blinds have now been fixed. that is quite a nice purple glow. a reminder of our top story... ukraine and russia have signed a deal — hailed as a landmark by the un — allowing wheat and corn to be exported from ukrainian ports. it's aimed at bringing down the high price of grain, and restoring supplies to countries currently suffering food shortages. russia has promised not to attack cargo ships carrying grain, or the ports they set sailfrom. ukraine in return has agreed to allow the ships to be inspected, to check they're

not carrying weapons. more on all of those stories on the website. hi. we are forecasting rain this weekend, but not an awful lot of it, and most of it will fall in western areas of the uk, particularly the northwest. there'll be some sunshine around, too, and many of us will actually escape the rain all together, rain that we really need because the gardens are very parched. so, here's the low pressure that will approach us. in fact, it's approaching us right now, the unsettled weather out towards the west. but ahead of this weather front in east anglia, and the southeast, we'll see very warm weather as south—westerly winds develop and tap into some of that heat that's across france right now. but let's have a look at the here and now and the rain approaching northern ireland through early saturday morning. elsewhere, it's generally dry, quite a bright start

to the day — a mild one, too, 17 celsius in london, 15 in hull and around ia in the lowlands of scotland. so the forecast for saturday shows increasing amounts of cloud out towards the west. you can see that rain moves in, it's a fairly broken area of rain, so it'll wax and wane through the morning, into the afternoon, and in fact, if anything, the skies may clear in northern ireland middle of the day, and it'll be quite sunny and pleasant with temperatures up to 20 degrees. it'll stay dry generally east of the pennines, across east anglia and the south coast. so a fine day for portsmouth, southampton, brighton, and temperatures will be in the low 20s. but towards evening, notice this lump of rain heads towards northern ireland and southwestern scotland, and that could really be quite heavy for a time saturday night into sunday. here's sunday's weather forecast. so the low pressure, slow—moving and just to the northwest of us, brisk south—westerly winds pushing in clouds and showers, but most of the showers escaping east anglia and the southeast, where warm south—westerly winds will draw in that heat from france. so temperatures temporarily

reaching 30 celsius there in norwich, and by that, i mean it'sjust going to be the one day. in fact, by the time we get to monday, and this is monday's weather map, the low pressure moves out into the north sea. on the back side of it, the winds are coming in from the north. so fresher conditions sweep across the country and it'll cool off. so, here's the forecast for a couple...for a few cities, then, northern areas staying a little unsettled into monday and fresher. further south, also cooling off, but staying generally dry. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukraine and russia have signed a deal which will allow the resumption of ukrainian grain exports from ports on the black sea. they had been blocked by russia, following the military invasion. russian exports will also be guaranteed safe passage. the un says the agreement could help millions avoid hunger. donald trump's former strategist, steve bannon, has been found guilty of contempt of congress. he was charged after refusing to testify to the inquiry into the january the sixth riots at the us capitol, and could face two years in prison.