live from london, this is bbc news. two summits on the future of ukraine — president zelesnky arrives in jeddah to appeal for arab support. unfortunately, there are some in the world and here among you who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexation.

meanwhile, g7 leaders injapan announce new sanctions against moscow — we'll have the latest from both summits. the tesco boss quits after allegations of inappropriate behaviour. in the next hour, nasa will announce the company to build spacecrafts for their latest expedition to the moon. welcome to bbc news. it is a day of two important summits — with the war in ukraine being the common theme. at the g7 gathering injapan, world leaders met to discuss a new round of sanctions against russia. while at the arab league meeting in saudi arabia, president zelensky made a surprise visit, urging those attending, to support ukraine. he told the gathering injeddah that, on this, the asoth day of the war, the world needed to fight the �*virus of aggression�* from moscow — stressing kyiv would not give up any sovereign

territory to achieve peace. also making the headlines at that summit is president assad of syria — the first time he's been invited to the arab league since the devastating civil war, that's blighted the country. here he is — the official handshake and welcome from the saudi crown prince. initial handshake and welcome from the cramp read is. —— crown pier and is. more on assad in a moment — more on the g7 — first though, let's hear from volodymir zelenski. anyone who defends his native land from invaders and anyone who defends children of his nation from enslavement, every such warrior is on the path ofjustice, and i'm proud to represent such warriors and the entire ukrainian people. ukrainians have never chosen the war. our troops didn't go to other lands. we do not engage in annexations and

plunder of other nations resources. but we will never submit. to any foreigners or colonisers. that's why we fight. and i am sure all your nations will understand this, our main emotion. and i'm also sure all your nations will understand the main goal. i want to leave here injeddah. a noble call to all of you to help protect our people. live now to our middle east business correspondent, sameer hashmi in jeddah. let's start with volodymyr zelensky, that surprise visit, a really strong plea in that speech, saying to all of those countries gathered there, none of you would consider giving away a third of your country to make peace, so absolutely no concession

from him in terms of any moves that might be around the fringes to try to get ukraine to somehow make a negotiated peace settlement. that’s negotiated peace settlement. that's ri . ht. negotiated peace settlement. that's riht. it negotiated peace settlement. that's right- it was — negotiated peace settlement. that's right- it was a _ negotiated peace settlement. that's right. it was a very _ negotiated peace settlement. that's right. it was a very strong _ negotiated peace settlement. triat�*s right. it was a very strong speech and a surprise visit, know one knew until this morning he was coming, the spotlight was on bashar al—assad, then the news came in that president zelensky would speak at the summit. some of the points you mentioned, he highlighted those points during the speech, but one of the points that stuck out was when he said there are some in the world and some sitting here who have turned a blind eye to russia and its atrocities, that was the sharp and strong comment that came out during the course of the speech. because, remember, in the arab league there are many countries that have not adopted a neutral stance and have not taken any sides in this war, in fact some countries share a close relationship with russia, they have been working closely with them, and

thatis been working closely with them, and that is why president zelensky wanted to use this platform to reach out to the wider arab world and ask them to take a more proactive world and condone actions by russia, whether he succeeds or not is a different issue, but he used this platform to make that pitch, and as you said he made it very clear that ukraine will not submit, it will not make any compromises, and territorial integrity is of most importance. he also thanked saudi arabia during the speech for its role in getting ukrainian prisoners released from russia and also appreciated the crown prince's all that saudi arabia would like to play a role of mediator between russia and ukraine, and that's what president zelensky is hoping to achieve because he knows that the crown prince has a good relationship with president putin, they have been working closely when it comes to cooperation, so he does have leveraged and can play a crucial

role if he wants to, as far as negotiations go. i role if he wants to, as far as negotiations go.— role if he wants to, as far as negotiations go. i said in the introduction _ negotiations go. i said in the introduction there, - negotiations go. i said in the introduction there, a - negotiations go. i said in the introduction there, a lot - negotiations go. i said in the introduction there, a lot of l negotiations go. i said in the - introduction there, a lot of focus at that gathering also on president assad who has been speaking in the last little while, and he had a very depressing message for the west, saying the world has actually moved on. , , , saying the world has actually moved on, , , , ., saying the world has actually moved on. , , , ., , , on. yes. this is a very significant moment for— on. yes. this is a very significant moment for president _ on. yes. this is a very significant moment for president assad. - on. yes. this is a very significant l moment for president assad. this on. yes. this is a very significant. moment for president assad. this is the first time he has appeared at the first time he has appeared at the summit in 12 years, the syria membership was suspended in 2011 after president assad's regime crackdown against peaceful demonstrators in syria, and it has taken more than a decade for them to reinstate syria, so from president assad's point of view, the fact he is back into the arab fold, during that speech he did make a point about building a new world order and pointing out that other countries need to work together, the reason

for conflicts is there have been disunity is in cracks. let's hear what he said during that speech. the commentary of the west is devoid of ethics _ commentary of the west is devoid of ethics and _ commentary of the west is devoid of ethics and friends. we have an opportunity to rearrange our affairs with the _ opportunity to rearrange our affairs with the least intervention of the west_ with the least intervention of the west and — with the least intervention of the west and the foreign forces in order to have _ west and the foreign forces in order to have our— west and the foreign forces in order to have our place in this new world, effectively — to have our place in this new world, effectively. so to have our place in this new world, effectivel . ., to have our place in this new world, effectively-— effectively. so that was president assad, effectively. so that was president assad. making — effectively. so that was president assad, making his _ effectively. so that was president assad, making his first _ effectively. so that was president assad, making his first speech i effectively. so that was president assad, making his first speech at| assad, making his first speech at the arab summit in more than a decade and making it doubly clear that the world is ready to move on. thanks very much, more from you later in the programme. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale is in kyiv. you have been watching president zelensky, before that surprise visit

to that meeting, what is he trying to that meeting, what is he trying to achieve here? it’s to that meeting, what is he trying to achieve here?— to achieve here? it's very simple, he wants to _ to achieve here? it's very simple, he wants to win _ to achieve here? it's very simple, he wants to win his _ to achieve here? it's very simple, he wants to win his argument, . to achieve here? it's very simple, | he wants to win his argument, one to achieve here? it's very simple, - he wants to win his argument, one of the great failures of ukraine and the great failures of ukraine and the west over this war now that as he made clear is well over a year old, is the failure of the west and ukraine to convince many countries in the arab world and the global south that what has happened is wrong. the argument has been made that an imperial power has aggressively intervened and invaded aggressively intervened and invaded a neighbour, and mr zelensky and other western powers have said, that matters to everyone in the world, and that argument has largely fallen on deaf ears. most arab countries have sat very firmly with a severely painful fence between their legs throughout the war. in fact, saudi arabia has at times been criticised by the west for an effect supporting

russia, by refusing to sell more oil into the global market, keeping russia's oil and gas prices pretty high, so mr zelensky is there simply to try to reverse that, make that case, say, he said specifically in his speech, the days of empire is invading is over, you arab countries would not like to give up a third of your countries to an invading aggressor, therefore nor do we, therefore i want your support as much as possible, so there is a rhetorical diplomat supporting ones, more prosaically, in the future as and when there is any kind of political settlement of this war, he knows that he will need money from elsewhere to help rebuild this country and he will look to the gulf and arab countries as much as anybody else for that. i suppose that's why _ anybody else for that. i suppose that's why he — anybody else for that. i suppose that's why he repeated - anybody else for that. i suppose that's why he repeated that - anybody else for that. i suppose | that's why he repeated that line, none of you want to give away a third of your country. in terms of saudi arabia of course we are seeing

this injeddah, intriguing what is going on there diplomatically with a whole variety of moves we have had, and offer to broker peace in ukraine, we have seen moves recently on iran, yemen, sudan, what is your assessment in terms of the saudi royal? assessment in terms of the saudi ro al? ~ ,,., , assessment in terms of the saudi ro al? ~ , ., assessment in terms of the saudi ro al? . , ., ., assessment in terms of the saudi ro al? ~ , ., ., royal? well, the saudis want to come in from the cold, _ royal? well, the saudis want to come in from the cold, they _ royal? well, the saudis want to come in from the cold, they have _ royal? well, the saudis want to come in from the cold, they have had - in from the cold, they have had difficult relations with the us in recent years. and there's a pattern going on, the saudis are making nice with iranians, they have realised that the scale of tensions between those two countries were having really negative impacts throughout the region, and as you say, yes, the leader of saudi arabia, or the de facto leader, is keen to play a mediating role, today he said, the south africans are also trying to play a mediating role, as much as the chinese are. it's one of the

things that has puzzled me about this war, how long it has taken for other countries to realise that there is a political advantage in claiming to be the peacemaker, claiming to be the peacemaker, claiming to be the peacemaker, claiming to be the country that could mediate between these two sides. the one country that has at least attempted it is turkey, president erdogan has spoken to both sides, but the reality is this. until either side in this war believe that fighting will no there won't be much space for any kind of so saudi arabia can say they can mediate as much as they want, they can mediate in the future as they have done before, perhaps in very specific issues such as prisoner transfers and things like that, but in terms of the bigger picture, it'll be a long time before any outside power starts really shaping the dial on the diplomacy here in

ukraine. . , the dial on the diplomacy here in ukraine. ., , . ., ukraine. thanks very much for the latest where _ ukraine. thanks very much for the latest where you _ ukraine. thanks very much for the latest where you are. _ leaders of the g7 group of developed economies are holding their summit injapan where they've agreed new sanctions against russia. they're meeting in the city of hiroshima, and visited the memorial to atom bomb victims just outside the city. the japanese prime minister fumio kishida was born in hiroshima — and amid concerns of nuclear threats from russia, he's made nuclear disarmament a key issue for the summit. so what have the leaders agreed? in a joint statement, they call for russia to "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops and military equipment from the entire internationally recognised territory of ukraine". they also announce sanctions designed to "starve russia of g7 technology,

industrial equipment and services that support its war machine". including restrictions on exports of items "critical to russia on the battlefield" one key industry is diamonds. russian diamonds were worth libn dollars in exports in 2021. the uk has announced plans to impose a unilateral ban on russian diamonds, following on the footsteps of action by the us last year. downing street said, so far, more than 60% of president putin's war chest has been "immobilised". worth about 275 billon pounds. or 3112 billion dollars. the european council president charles michel is under pressure to try to persuade the 27 eu members to follow suit. we can now speak to tyler kustra, who's an expert on sanctions at the university of nottingham. thank you for being on the programme. in terms of what you have heard about this new round of sanctions, what do you make of it? i think it's a good exercise in

plugging holes, closing loopholes under the current sanctions regime. the first thing i heard or thought when i heard about this latest round is why well over 12 months into a war are we talking about new rounds of sanctions? why are they coming in dribs and drabs? i of sanctions? why are they coming in dribs and drabs?— dribs and drabs? i can't speak for the uk government, _ dribs and drabs? i can't speak for the uk government, the - dribs and drabs? i can't speak for the uk government, the us - the uk government, the us government, what i can say is unfortunately sanctions took a long time to get going, they took a long time to get going, they took a long time to get going, they took a long time to get europe off of oil, coming out of russia, but we have now done that, that's good, and we will go forward by making sure we stop trading with russia and giving it the resources it needs to continue. it the resources it needs to continue-— it the resources it needs to continue. ~ ., , ,, continue. what is your assessment in terms of the impact _ continue. what is your assessment in terms of the impact is _ continue. what is your assessment in terms of the impact is having - continue. what is your assessment in terms of the impact is having on - terms of the impact is having on russian economy? it terms of the impact is having on russian economy?— russian economy? it has had a substantial _ russian economy? it has had a substantial impact _ russian economy? it has had a

substantial impact on - russian economy? it has had a substantial impact on the - russian economy? it has had a i substantial impact on the russian economy. flood map has stopped publishing statistics because he doesn't want us to know that is going on there so you have to go with anecdotal data yesterday over is telling its pilot cannot, don't mention about any maintenance issues because we can't fix theirs because we don't have access to the parts, so they will flow dangerous planes around russia because it sanctions have given them, they have cut of the access to western technology and western goods, and that is causing them harm. western goods, and that is causing them harm-— western goods, and that is causing them harm. ., . ., ., , them harm. how much of a problem, thou~h, is them harm. how much of a problem, though. is in — them harm. how much of a problem, though. is in of— them harm. how much of a problem, though, is in of effectiveness - though, is in of effectiveness countries that are looking at workarounds? muslera india's prime minister arrive at the g7, and we know that india continues to buy energy and oil from know that india continues to buy energy and oilfrom russia at discounted prices whilst all those various moves in place to try to tighten the noose, not loosen it.. i

don't think it's good to is buying this, but managed animal edge lower the price, we have managed to increase the cost of transporting it, they have to transport all the way to india, so the profit that vladimir putin is able to make from this oil is lower so has fewer resources to murder innocent women and children in ukraine.— and children in ukraine. thank you for “oininu and children in ukraine. thank you forjoining us— and children in ukraine. thank you forjoining us in — and children in ukraine. thank you forjoining us in the _ and children in ukraine. thank you forjoining us in the programme, l forjoining us in the programme, dose thoughts, their strand may have been listening to round of sanctions at the g7. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, whom you saw there at the summit, said vladimir putin must be shown that his "violence and coercion" towards ukraine "do not reap rewards". he gave an interview to our political editor chris mason who started with a question on ukraine. a tranquil if rather damp setting for our interview with the prime minister — a traditionaljapanese tea house,

carp in the pond outside. world leaders have gathered here to discuss the global economy, an increasingly muscular china, and the war in ukraine. we've taken the lead on announcing new sanctions on russia. i'm hopeful and confident that our partner countries will follow, as they have done when we've done this previously. that will make the sanctions more effective, ensure that russia pays a price for its illegal activity and, again, this is something we can be proud of in the uk because we have taken a leadership role when it comes to supporting ukraine. but rishi sunak was less sure of his answers on a big issue back home. david cameron and theresa may both promised to get net migration below 100,000. they failed. the most recent conservative manifesto talked about it falling, falling from a level that, at the time, was about a quarter of a million. the latest figures were half a million, the new figures next week expected to be higher still. are you comfortable with that? so i want to bring the levels of legal migration down, let's be crystal clear about that.

to what? i'm not going to put a precise figure on it, but i do want to bring them down. it's not crystal clear, though, if you can't be precise. well, we don't know what the numbers are going to be next week, or when the numbers are coming out. so i think it's right we take stock of those. but what i want people to know is i am committed to bringing those numbers down. but i also know that the country's number one priority when it comes to migration is illegal migration. that's why one of my five priorities is to stop the boats. we are passing new laws in parliament to help us do that. sure. but i want to talk about legal migration. well, hang on, i think it's important, because i spend a lot of my time talking to people, and when it comes to migration, what i hearfrom everyone is the priority they have for the government is to stop the boats and to tackle illegal migration. that is why i am so focused on that issue. the latest migration figures will be published next thursday. the prime minister also said he acknowledged many people were struggling, and he wants to cut taxes, but couldn't say when. of course i want to bring taxes down. i am a low tax conservative, and i do want to see the tax burden fall.

i particulary want to see people's hard work rewarded. but will it come now before the election? now, i never comment on tax policy, never ever, and i won't start now, but people should know that i do want to bring taxes down. it's important right now we tackle inflation. that is the number one economic priority. the first of my priorities is to halve inflation. and while we are doing that, we are supporting people with the cost of living. here, though, the international agenda — security, trade and what to do about artificial intelligence. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. some other stories now developing in the uk. vote counting has began in northern ireland's council elections and is expected to take at least two days.

all of the a62 seats are being contested. polls have suggested sinn fein may overtake the democratic unionists to become the biggest party in local government for the first time. nationwide has announced a a0%jump in profits for the 12 months to april. the company's chief executive says the strong performance meant some customer accounts would be receiving payments of £100. the government is setting out a one—billion—pound strategy to try to boost the semiconductor industry in the uk. the investment over the next ten years is designed to focus on chip design and development rather than manufacture. you're live with bbc news. the chairman of the uk's biggest supermarket chain — tesco — is to step down from his role next month.

the company says allegations over john allan's personal conduct "risk becoming a distraction" to the supermarket. mr allan has faced four allegations in the media in relation to his personal conduct, three of which he "vigorously denies". he has "unreservedly apologised" for inappropriate comments he made to a female member of staff. with more on this let's go to my colleague marc ashdown who's in the newsroom. just give us the latest and tell us a bit more about what is behind all of this. this a bit more about what is behind all of this. �* , ,, a bit more about what is behind all of this. a ,, a bit more about what is behind all ofthis. a i. , .,~ of this. as you said, breaking in the last hour— of this. as you said, breaking in the last hour or— of this. as you said, breaking in the last hour or so. _ of this. as you said, breaking in the last hour or so. this - of this. as you said, breaking in the last hour or so. this john i of this. as you said, breaking in i the last hour or so. this john allan the last hour or so. thisjohn allan very prominent business leader, he has been chair of tesco for eight years, he was due to stand down from tesco next year, but in a statement this afternoon the company confirmed he would now step aside at this year's agm in a few weeks' time, so

a year before he was expected to stand down, he has been under pressure in recent weeks after allegations emerged in the media of his conduct, for women made allegations of inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour, one was a senior member of tesco staff who said he touched her bottom at last year's agm, a similar claim was made by a member of cbi staff, the allegation dates back to 2019, tesco said they carried out a full review into these allegations and have not found any wrong doing themselves but felt this was becoming a distraction, so this appears to be why the active now. john allan strenuously denied these claims and apologise for another allegation made a comment about a female member of staff, he released a statement this afternoon saying he regretted having to stand out from the job following utterly baseless abnegation is against him, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, i

remain determined to prove my innocence. —— allegations. the space agency nasa is due to announce the development of a human landing system for the artemis 5 moon mission. the rocket will transport astronauts to the surface of the moon and back to the lunar space station. live now to the space journalist kate arkless gray. we wait to hear the official details, but what are you expecting? this is an announcement that some companies have been waiting for for some time. initially when nasa chose the contract to return astronauts to

the contract to return astronauts to the lunar surface, it would be expected that there would be at least two companies that would get funding for that. unfortunately nasa's budget that year, they had not got as much through congress as they wanted, and they were only able to afford the one company spacex to create this new system, that caused a bitterfarce, other companies in the running challenged this decision but did not get any further than that but now nasa has come up with a way to procure a second landing system, and the benefit of that is that both systems will be developed at the same time, and should there be an issue with one or other of the systems you've always got another one as a back—up, we call it dissimilar redundancy and space, so you want two things are not exactly the same so that if one fails you have something else that can get you to the surface of the moon. teiiii have something else that can get you to the surface of the moon.— to the surface of the moon. tell us more about — to the surface of the moon. tell us more about those _ to the surface of the moon. tell us more about those landing - to the surface of the moon. tell us more about those landing systems| to the surface of the moon. tell us l more about those landing systems in terms of the complexity of what they

have to devise and just remind us on the timescale we are working on here. . , , here. originally when they were lookin: at here. originally when they were looking at the _ here. originally when they were looking at the artemis - here. originally when they were i looking at the artemis programme here. originally when they were - looking at the artemis programme in the lunar landings, the idea was that astronauts would go up on the sls rocket and doc with the gateway, a lunar space station that would be in orbit on the moon, and from there they would be transported down to they would be transported down to the lunar surface. when spacex was selected for the first human landing system, they decided they did not need to do the docking with gateway and in fact starship, the spacex vehicle, will dock with 0rion and then from there they will go down to then from there they will go down to the lunar surface. the mission we are looking for the second lander is artemis five, and by then they hope that the gateway programme will be in full swing, an international collaborative programme to create this space station in lunar orbit, so they want this one to dock with

that, then take the astronauts down to the moon, so they want a sustainable lunar economy. we have to leave it there _ sustainable lunar economy. we have to leave it there because _ sustainable lunar economy. we have to leave it there because the - sustainable lunar economy. we have to leave it there because the music i to leave it there because the music is playing and that means we have a break coming up, we will be live to hear more from that nasa news conference in just a hear more from that nasa news conference injust a minute or two, more headlines here in a few minutes. hello. the focus of the showers today mainly across parts of the south, but it's going to be a role reversal as we step through this weekend where it's going to be scotland and northern ireland that see outbreaks of rain at times, but largely fine across england and wales with some warm spells of sunshine. so today then we have this cold front with us and some outbreaks of rain and this feature will also spark off some sharp showers. so the main focus of those showers through the rest of today will be across parts of the likes of northern england, the west midlands, eastern portions of wales, and then down through the west country. if you do catch some of these showers, they could be quite slow—moving and thundery in nature.

and some of the drier conditions will be found further north with the best of the sunny spells likely to be across parts of scotland. and if you are stepping out this evening, those temperatures generally sitting in the mid—teens. a few more sharp showers with us this evening. those will push westwards and fade away. and then some outbreaks of rain and drizzle pushing into the likes of northern ireland and scotland. temperatures tonight for many of us getting down to around 6—8c, locally a touch lower with some patchy mist and fog developing, too. as for tomorrow, then, most places will see another dry day because of the area of high pressure. but we also have this weather front pushing into the northwest. that will bring more cloud to parts of northern ireland and scotland and eventually some showery rain will start to creep into western areas, which will tend to intensify towards evening. but, actually, for much of england and wales, it's a fine story, dry and bright with sunshine and patchy cloud, higher uv levels and temperatures in the sunshine getting up into the high teens and low 20s. more of a fresher breeze

for parts of the south east. looking further ahead, then, into saturday night and then through sunday, we still have this cold front with us. but by this point, it is a weak feature. there will be more cloud for scotland and northern ireland on sunday, but not really much in the way of rain and drizzle left on this. and for england and wales, it's going to be another fine day, dry and bright, with some sunshine and patchy cloud. and once again, those temperatures responding in the sunshine, into the high teens, low 20s, probably around 21c at best. and then looking further out to next week, as you can see at the moment, it is looking largely dry thanks to high pressure and it should feel pleasantly warm if you are in that afternoon sunshine. that's your forecast.

this is bbc news, the headlines: two summits — dominated by the future of ukraine — president zelesnky arrives in jeddah to appeal for arab support. syria's president assad is invited to that arab league gathering — we'll assess the significance of that after a decade of brutal civil war. meanwhile, g7 leaders injapan announce new sanctions against moscow — we'll have the latest.

we are also keeping a close eye on the