you this is bbc news, our main headlines here. the uk confirms it is sending storm shadow cruise missiles to ukraine to help with their counter offensive. the donation of these weapons give ukraine the best chance of defending themselves against russia's continued brutality. we'll bring you the latest on the ground from president zelensky about the counter offensive against russian forces. pakistan's supreme court orders the release of former prime minister, imran khan saying his arrest on tuesday was illegal. the bank of england follows the federal reserve and hikes interest rates — they're at their highest in nearly 15 years. after months of cancelled trains and

accusations of chaos one of the biggest train operators in the uk is stripped of its contract. and eurovision fever heats up. 16 countries take to the stage in liverpool later for the second semi final. welcome to bbc news and we start with the war in ukraine and a significant development with confirmation from the british defence secretary that cruise missiles are being sent to ukraine. the missiles have a long—range capability and are typically launched from the air. the move prompted an instant response from the kremlin saying the decision required an adequate response from our military. he has ben morris with the announcement in the house of

commons. ican i can confirm that the uk is donating storm shadow missiles to ukraine, a conventional precision strike give ability complementing the long—range system already gifted including happen missiles as well as ukraine's on neptune christmas oh and longer range missions elsewhere gifted. the donation gives ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against continued russian brutality especially they continued targeting of civilian infrastructure against international law. ukraine has a right to defend itself, the use of storm shadow will allow ukraine to push back russian forces based within ukrainian sovereign territory.

president zelensky one to his country needs more arms to be delivered. when the push will happen remains a closely guarded secret but russian forces have fortified the defences along the front line running for nearly 1500 kilometres from the southern region up to the eastern areas. there has been fierce fighting for several months. president zelensky said the ukraine army needs supplies including armoured vehicles that are only arriving in batches. he was speaking to hugo in kyiv. so, mr president, i've been here for a few weeks, and i think almost every conversation i have had has touched on the issue of this much—anticipated ukrainian counteroffensive. are you ready for this counteroffensive? translation: mentally, - we're ready, in terms of how motivated our military

are, we're ready. in terms of enough personnel in our brigades, we are ready. in terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet. that's my answer. so you are still waiting for weapons, the military equipment that was promised to arrive? translation: yes, we are still expecting some things. - they will reinforce our counteroffensive, and most importantly, they will protect our people. we are expecting armoured vehicles, they arrive in batches. we can advance with what we have got, and i think we can successfully. but we will lose a lot of people. i think that is unacceptable. we need to wait, we need a bit more time. let me talk about something that happened last week, because moscow accused ukraine of trying to assassinate president putin. was ukraine behind that alleged attack? translation: no, clearly we were not behind it. -

they are always looking to do something that would look like justification. "you do this, and we do this in response." but it didn't work. not even for their own people at home. so, who was behind it? translation: | think | they did it themselves. what's took to a military analyst and former british tank commander, your assessment of this uk move. storm shadow is a very capable weapon, long and service of the raf, there is a picture behind me and currently used in the typhoon and in operations in the middle east over the last 20 years. it is a very effective long—range capable warhead under the final guidance of the missile when it reaches its target

is somewhat resistant to the jamming the russians have been employing against other weapons systems so it is something that will make the russians uncomfortable, they do not know how many ukraine will get, it is unclear how many launch platforms ukraine has, they use a particular aircraft that can carry this, that has been working poor want to get them ready, we do not know how many so the russians will guess how much this could affect the battlefield but for ukraine it is offering a tangible long—range strike capability which allows them to return some of what the russians have been giving them and particularly the civilian population since last february.— since last february. what do you think this enables _ since last february. what do you think this enables ukrainian - think this enables ukrainian forces are to do that they have not been able to so far.— able to so far. this is a comparatively - able to so far. this is a comparatively stealthy | able to so far. this is a - comparatively stealthy cruise missile so it is something that can deliver over a long distance particularly against hardened targets, it is designed to impact

bunkers, logistic depots, headquarters, bridges, all of which are of significant interest to ukraine in terms of preparing the battlefield for the offensive. being able to take out of those high—value targets in russia increases the chances of success.— chances of success. they are airborne. _ chances of success. they are airborne. in _ chances of success. they are airborne, in terms _ chances of success. they are airborne, in terms of- chances of success. they are airborne, in terms of the - chances of success. they are i airborne, in terms of the state chances of success. they are - airborne, in terms of the state of ukraine's defences, where rb on that. ., , ., ukraine's defences, where rb on that. . , ., ., ., that. that is a threat to the way these are _ that. that is a threat to the way these are delivered, _ that. that is a threat to the way these are delivered, they - that. that is a threat to the way these are delivered, they have l that. that is a threat to the way l these are delivered, they have to that. that is a threat to the way - these are delivered, they have to be launched from a particular aircraft, the are potentially vulnerable to a russian fighter aircraft, one of the reasons ukraine has been asking for an f—16 to augment its fighting defences but because it has a long range and flies low and is stealthy it means they have a degree of protection for being able to launch further away from the front line so that will help and it keeps them

from that from russian air defences and the missiles themselves are good at penetrating the defences of the russians have, again there is no such thing as a silver bullet, some of these weapons are accurate but some will get shot down or intercepted on the way to target but with sufficient quantities ukraine can deliver quite a strong impact on the russians particularly in the south and be understand as part of the deal it is very much they will not use them against russian territory but targets ukraine which may include crimea which is regarded as seized ukrainian territory and also in donbas so as ben wallace said southern ukraine is where the most likely be employed, they are not a threat to russia and that is an important point when considering threats of reprisals and there is nothing they can do other than acknowledge that ukraine has this capability. acknowledge that ukraine has this ca abili . ~ ., acknowledge that ukraine has this caabili . ~ ., , acknowledge that ukraine has this caabili . ~ . , acknowledge that ukraine has this caabili .~ . , ,,

acknowledge that ukraine has this caabili .~ . ,, ,, capability. what is your best guess about this spring _ capability. what is your best guess about this spring offensive? - capability. what is your best guess about this spring offensive? it - capability. what is your best guess about this spring offensive? it is l about this spring offensive? it is interesting the head of the one group was saying it was an swing already with the various moves in the last 48 hours, we had from president zelensky, there is a lot of shadow—boxing and last time there was a counteroffensive took the russians by surprise so there is a lot of elements into this dynamic and equation. b, lot of elements into this dynamic and equation-— and equation. a huge amount, misdirection _ and equation. a huge amount, misdirection and _ and equation. a huge amount, misdirection and bluff - and equation. a huge amount, misdirection and bluff very - misdirection and bluff very important in warfare and this day and age in particular when the growth of reconnaissance capabilities and drones means it is harder to hide what you are doing, you have to put more effort into camouflaging deception and misdirection. the russians cannot be sure thatjust because ukraine did something one way last time they will do it again now and that is double bluff as you mentioned. and the statement from president zelensky might have to be taken and

are ceasing are not ready, at the ready when they are not so the russians effectively go on the defensive early and one thing on the front line is ukraine currently are retaking a territory slowly but managing to achieve some successes around the centre of so much fighting and taking back the countryside surprisingly so the offensive does not start when someone lowers a chequered flag and tanks are screaming away from the start line towards their objective, it is starting with the shaping of the battlefield and public are pinning and russian mindset and making the russian military that will have to defend better book a point above the 12 new brigades raised over the winter will be committed to action and that will be the most obvious phase but at the moment everyone is kept guessing as to where and when that will happen and we have seen ukraine are good at using misdirection to achieve these ends as we saw last september so i

am sure the russians are very nervous and there are signs and the way they are undertaking the military operations.— way they are undertaking the military operations. the pakistan supreme court ordered the release of the former prime minister imran khan sang his arrest on tuesday was illegal. no repeat of the violent clashes between security forces and imran khan supporters which has left at least ten people dead. mr carnality had been beaten when he was taken away by paramilitary troops. that has been no immediate response to that particular claim but let's get right up—to—date. i have been plenty

of developments so we will watch the pictures of imran khan going into court but that was a pretty dramatic move by the supreme court. yes and also the fact — move by the supreme court. yes and also the fact that _ move by the supreme court. yes and also the fact that the _ move by the supreme court. yes and also the fact that the pictures - move by the supreme court. yes and also the fact that the pictures you - also the fact that the pictures you spoke about and him arriving in the supreme court in a mercedes was very different and contradictory from the way he was taken away from islamabad but he was dragged by paramilitary groups and taken into national accountability custody on may nine, it was difficult at that time to understand what exactly is happening so today the supreme court declared the arrest illegal and that he should be posted and a guesthouse but he can meet members of the party orany but he can meet members of the party or any other frenzy has so he can beat up to ten people. —— any other

friends he has and he can meet up to ten people. tomorrow he has to be present at the high court at 11am and a 3—member bench was heeding the case and apart from the chief justice of pakistan another court member told to be has to be there on time and has to respect what the court decides for him and in these two days there was a lot of violence in the country and rioting. radio pakistan's building was trashed and an islamabad b saw there was a lot of violent protests outside the police lines and similarly in lahore the command of�*s house was donned into so he was also told by the judges that he has to condemn these acts by protesters so tomorrow is not a bad high court will decide

exact what will happen next and we have to wait and see what will happen because in the beginning the supreme court decision put some confusion online and people thought when islamabad called the earlier arrest illegal and plays the supreme court calling it illegal so tomorrow there be much cleaner and people one will exactly what will happen with imran khan. will exactly what will happen with imran khan-— will exactly what will happen with imrankhan. ., ., ~ , ., , imran khan. radio think this leaves the elections _ imran khan. radio think this leaves the elections we _ imran khan. radio think this leaves the elections we are _ imran khan. radio think this leaves the elections we are supposed - imran khan. radio think this leaves the elections we are supposed to i the elections we are supposed to have little in the year and more immediately how tense does it feel. he mentioned he was being asked to distance himself from what we have been seen on the streets, how tense does it feel when you are. the elections _ does it feel when you are. the elections seem _ does it feel when you are. the elections seem to _ does it feel when you are. tue: elections seem to be does it feel when you are. he elections seem to be hanging does it feel when you are. tt2 elections seem to be hanging in the balance because right now it is not clear whether elections will happen not because they were going to happen on may 14 15th but nobody knows so there is confusion regarding that. this deal was

considered to be an election year but the elite of part was going to be the election but now that is not clear because they were supposed to happen in punjab and this trip court was told that the army can be deployed because of the security situation and as they are taking care of those provinces but soon after imran khan was arrested and rioting took place both providences wrote to the federal government to deploy armed troops so there was a lot of questions asked and the army is now available to be present in those provinces shall be sought a of confusion and as far as your question there is definitely confusion regarding whether these elections will happen now or not but we have to see.—

let's get some of the day's other news now. the english actor, stephen tompkinson, has been cleared of punching a man outside his house two years ago. the "dci banks" and "drop the dead donkey" star had been accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm after finding karl poole, and a friend, drinking at the bottom of his driveway. but this morning, a jury at newcastle crown court found mr tompkinson not guilty. and figures from the uk's national health service show hospitals in england have failed to hit key targets to tackle the backlogs in cancer care and routine treatment. the milestones were set by the government to bring down waiting lists, which soared during the covid pandemic. nhs bosses say huge progress has been made, given the demands from flu and covid this winter, and more recent strikes. the national grid says wind turbines became the uk's biggest power generator, more than 350 new

offshore wind turbines have come into operation in the past year. now to interest rates. we saw that move in the us from the federal reserve last week well today in the uk the bank of england did the same. they've raised rates by a quater of 1% from 4.25 to 4.5%. that means they are now at their highest level for almost 15 years. the uk is affected by prices rising across the globe other countries are taking a similar approach, and have also been raising interest rates. and here is the inflation rate a stubbornly high 10.1% in march this year. mohamed el erian is the president of queens�* college, cambridge university and former deputy director of the international monetary fund. he told me the bank of englad had to act on persistent �*sticky�* inflation.

i don't thank you by coming on had much choice, inflation is too high and anything else would have had even more collateral damage under the circumstances. the even more collateral damage under the circumstances.— the circumstances. the predictions ofthat the circumstances. the predictions of that inflation _ the circumstances. the predictions of that inflation would _ the circumstances. the predictions of that inflation would come - the circumstances. the predictions of that inflation would come down | the circumstances. the predictions l of that inflation would come down by now, why does it remain so stubbornly high compared to the us or other european countries. there are two issues. _ or other european countries. there are two issues, one _ or other european countries. there are two issues, one is _ or other european countries. there are two issues, one is the - or other european countries. there are two issues, one is the level- or other european countries. there | are two issues, one is the level and two is the persistence. sticky inflation which refuses to come down as you would want is proving to be a phenomenon all over the advanced countries. that is because central banks started late and as a result inflation has been allowed to migrate from a few products to the sector as a whole and services and wages. to is the level, uk inflation is twice that in the us, it is higher than europe and that speaks

toissues higher than europe and that speaks to issues on the supply side. three in particular, one as we have had lagging productivity relative to other countries, too as we have decided to rewire our international relationships and supply chains after brexit and third as we have a very inflexible labour market so thatis very inflexible labour market so that is why the level of inflation is higher than elsewhere but the stickiness of inflation is proving a problem for the us and you as well. headlines recently when the bank of england's advisor said there was a nonsense to accept we are all worse off at how much —— a reluctance to accept. how much is in control of the bank of england.— accept. how much is in control of the bank of england. whether it is in control are _ the bank of england. whether it is in control are not _ the bank of england. whether it is in control are not they _ the bank of england. whether it is in control are not they have - the bank of england. whether it is in control are not they have a - in control are not they have a response ability to react and

deliver low inflation and we have not had a low and stable inflation. but what those comments and most economists will agree on is whatever the bank of england does is necessary but not sufficient. the bank of england on its own cannot deliver 2% inflation, it needs help of the government, help on the supply side to make the supply side more responsive so it will persist the bank of england but it will not succeed unless it gets help. tell me more briefly — succeed unless it gets help. tell me more briefly about _ succeed unless it gets help. tell me more briefly about the _ succeed unless it gets help. tell me more briefly about the exact - more briefly about the exact nature of that help and do you anticipate a further rise. t of that help and do you anticipate a further rise— further rise. i think it is likely that we will— further rise. i think it is likely that we will get _ further rise. i think it is likely that we will get one - further rise. i think it is likely that we will get one more - further rise. i think it is likely - that we will get one more increase in interest rates injune to 4.75% and then the bank of and bill wait and then the bank of and bill wait and observe the impact of interest rate policy. because the policy acts with a like. in terms of

increasingly flexible to of the labour market and attracting more and the workforce and doing more on childcare and infrastructure, these ones have to be followed by sustained action in order to improve the supply side, we cannot get to the supply side, we cannot get to the inflation target by pressing demand and if we do then the average person in the street will be hurt notjust by eroding purchasing power but by the risk of recession means income and security and that we do not want to happen.— not want to happen. more on that later. here in the uk after months of cancelled trains the company which runs rail services across the north of england and parts of scotland has lost its contract. the network will now be run by the government. transpennine express is the fourth rail operator to be nationalised since 2018. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin has more from manchester. transpennine express runs daily

services across yorkshire and the labour mayor of west yorkshire, tracy brabin joins me now from leeds. your reaction? it has been a victory for commuters _ your reaction? it has been a victory for commuters and _ your reaction? it has been a victory for commuters and the _ your reaction? it has been a victory for commuters and the north, - your reaction? it has been a victory for commuters and the north, we l your reaction? it has been a victory . for commuters and the north, we have had two long subjects to delays and cancellations, derailing and our ambitions for a strong northern economy. it is very welcome news but things will not change overnight, the contract comes to an end may 28 and going into operator of last resort that will be a number of weeks we are staff and moved over and there is a look under the bonnet and there is a look under the bonnet and look at what can be done to make the service fit for the 21st century. i am the service fit for the 21st century. iam hoping the service fit for the 21st century. i am hoping this is also a moment for patmos to have a reset of relationships, industrial relations have not been great and i am hopeful this can make a difference and i am

ready to play my part as the voice of passengers and the north. th of passengers and the north. in terms ofjust everyday commuting for people and you are one of those commuters it has been a nightmare for people watching around the world, give them a flavour of what is actually like getting from a to b. if is actually like getting from a to b. , ., ., is actually like getting from a to b. y ., ., ., is actually like getting from a to b. ., ., ._ is actually like getting from a to b. ., ., ., , is actually like getting from a to b. if you do not live any naughty do not understand _ b. if you do not live any naughty do not understand the _ b. if you do not live any naughty do not understand the art _ b. if you do not live any naughty do not understand the art of— b. if you do not live any naughty do not understand the art of misery i b. if you do not live any naughty do not understand the art of misery of| not understand the art of misery of delayed services —— if you do not live and the north. you are squashed in, checking your phone at night and when you wake up in the morning, getting to the platform and it is cancelled. this has been really impactful for our economy and as a commuter and the bear, people tell me their stories so people choosing different universities, because they cannot write on transport are not going to an event in the city because it didn't can get home,

missing a funeral on a job interview, it has really held a spike and this company has not been working for quite some time. industrial relations you said are not great, they are terrible and thatis not great, they are terrible and that is a huge part of the problem, the government are quite open, saying it will not be a silver bullet taking it back under government control, what has to change in terms of the dynamic to actually make progress on all the things you have outlined. t actually make progress on all the things you have outlined.- things you have outlined. i have been speaking _ things you have outlined. i have been speaking to _ things you have outlined. i have been speaking to aslef- things you have outlined. i have been speaking to aslef this - things you have outlined. i have - been speaking to aslef this morning and the operator of last resort and that seems to be a sense of relief that seems to be a sense of relief that we finally got to this point so we can reset. management and the direction of travel for the business and with different expectations of a company that is owned by the government.— company that is owned by the government. , _, ., ., government. does it come down to mone ? government. does it come down to money? does _ government. does it come down to money? does the _ government. does it come down to money? does the need _ government. does it come down to money? does the need to - government. does it come down to money? does the need to be - government. does it come down to money? does the need to be more| money? does the need to be more money? does the need to be more money on the table from government.

money is part of the narrative but it is much more nuanced, certainly if you think about safety the staff themselves taking pictures of commuters rammed into trains and apologising and i am sending these pictures to my manager, it is unsafe and i am worried so there are many elements to this but i am hopeful that government will also put its shoulder to the wheel and make sure this new reset gets us of the line, we have a refresh moment. we well as northern mayors stand shoulder to shoulder with the book.— northern mayors stand shoulder to shoulder with the book. it will be back with the sports news and looking at the beyonce world

tour. hello again. lots of slow moving thundery showers today bringing a risk of some flooding this afternoon. the early morning cloud in manchester was spun around by these wake vortices coming off this landing a380 plane. beautiful picture, but enough of the plane spotting and on to the cloud spotting. well, there's plenty of that. and many of these clouds are turning into thunderclouds, cumulonimbus clouds. the big problem today is the storms are going to be slow moving because there's not much wind to move them along. and so there's a threat of seeing some localised flash flooding. you're highly likely to see showers across the pennines, north west england, the midlands and wales. that'll be very widespread here and some of them torrential and also draped around the coast of east anglia, a few across the south downs because the storms are slow moving. rainfall totals can build up 20

to 50 millimetres of rainfall in the space ofjust an hour or two. that is why we could see some flash flooding this afternoon. now, overnight, the showers do clear off as we start to draw in some cooler cloudier weather from the north sea and that will tend to lower the temperatures. and so we're not going to see the same amount of showers around for friday, that's for sure. but it's a different type of weather we'll have across the north sea regions. a lot of low clouds start the day. a weak weather front bringing some patches of light rain across east anglia, pushing towards the midlands, south east england and central southern england. now away from that, there will be some sunshine for scotland, northern ireland, western parts of england and for wales. and in the sunshine it's going to feel warm tomorrow with highs up to 18 degrees or so. but feeling cool around the north sea coast. the weekend? well, we start off with high pressure across the uk on saturday and with that we could see temperatures go as high as 22 degrees, which would make it the warmest day of the year so far. however, we really shouldn't get too excited by 22 because at this time of the year, in previous years, we've already had much warmer spells of weather.

more typically, temperatures reached 25—26 degrees by this time of the year, so it has been relatively cool. now, saturday, we start off with a bit of cloud, but there will be some sunshine coming through widely. the highest temperatures, scotland and northern ireland, that's where we could see the temperatures hit 22c in the best of the sunshine. make the most of that on saturday because it's all change on sunday. it looks like it's going to turn a lot cloudier with outbreaks of rain and cooler weather conditions extending in from the northwest. that's the weather for now.

this is bbc news. the main headlines. the uk is sending long range stealth missiles to ukraine to help with a major counter offensive. the donation of these systems gives ukraine the best chance to defend itself against russia's continued brutality. —— brutality. pakistan's supreme court orders the release of former prime minister, imran khan saying his arrest on tuesday was illegal. the bank of england follows the federal reserve and hikes interest rates they�* re they're at their highest, in nearly 15 years. and eurovision fever heats up. 16 countries take to the stage in liverpool later for

the second semi final. we will