tonight at ten: two major international summits, influenced by one man, russia's, vladimir putin. at the g—7 meeting injapan, america signals it will back sending f—16fighterjets to ukraine, in it's war with moscow. meanwhile russia's close ally, syria's bashar al assad, a war criminalfor some, is warmly welcomed, at a summit of arab leaders. we'll have the very latest, live from our editors in washington, japan, and the middle east. the police raid that captured a fraudster, who'd helped con victims, out of more than a £100 million. 1a people have died and thousands are homeless, after heavy rains and flooding,

in northern italy. and, irish boxer katie taylor, bids to become only the second fighter in the modern era, to hold all the major belts, at two different weights. in london, joanna simpson's husband killed her in a vicious attack. he is now due for release after serving half his sentence. her mother desperately wants him to stay behind bars. good evening. vladimir putin cast a shadow over two major international summits today. in a significant shift of policy, at the g7 meeting of the world's most advanced economies injapan, america signalled it's willingness to back the supply of f—16fighterjets, and the training of ukrainian pilots, in the war with russia. meanwhile moscow's closest ally in the middle east. syria's bashar al assad, received a warm welcome at a summit of arab leaders in saudi arabia, after years

of international isolation. during syria's bloody civil war, it was only massive russian military support, that allowed assad — condemned by many as a war criminal — to cling onto power. details on that in a moment, but first, the news of more military support for ukraine, from our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, in kyiv. this is a war of attrition. one where soldiers like these ukrainian servicemen sit in their trenches and fire mortars at russian positions. along front lines that often do not move for months. president zelensky, who has visited a summit of arab leaders today in saudi arabia knows what he thinks could end the relative stalemate and he doesn't

have enough of it. we relative stalemate and he doesn't have enough of it.— relative stalemate and he doesn't have enough of it. we do not have missiles as — have enough of it. we do not have missiles as our— have enough of it. we do not have missiles as our enemy _ have enough of it. we do not have missiles as our enemy has. - have enough of it. we do not have missiles as our enemy has. we . have enough of it. we do not have l missiles as our enemy has. we have less air power. for missiles as our enemy has. we have less air power-— less air power. for months he has toured world _ less air power. for months he has toured world capitals _ less air power. for months he has toured world capitals with - less air power. for months he has toured world capitals with a - less air power. for months he has| toured world capitals with a simple request. here he was at westminster in february giving the speaker a pilot's helmet. fin in february giving the speaker a pilot's helmet.— in february giving the speaker a ilot's helmet. ., , pilot's helmet. on the helmet reads, we have freedom, _ pilot's helmet. on the helmet reads, we have freedom, give _ pilot's helmet. on the helmet reads, we have freedom, give us _ pilot's helmet. on the helmet reads, we have freedom, give us wings - pilot's helmet. on the helmet reads, we have freedom, give us wings to i we have freedom, give us wings to protect it. we have freedom, give us wings to rotect it. , , ., we have freedom, give us wings to rotect it. , , . ., , protect it. this is what he wants. f-16 fighter _ protect it. this is what he wants. f-16 fighterjets _ protect it. this is what he wants. f-16 fighterjets like _ protect it. this is what he wants. f-16 fighterjets like these - protect it. this is what he wants. f-16 fighterjets like these flown | f—16 fighter jets like these flown by the polish air force. modern warplanes that could give ukraine greater control of these guys. some european countries are ready to give some of theirs to ukraine but they are all made by the us and that means that president biden, who is at the g7 summit injapan, needs to give his permission first. he has been reluctant, fearing it could escalate the war, but now his officials say the us will help train ukrainian pilot and will not stop european countries donating some

f-i6s. european countries donating some f—i6s. this comes after concerted pressure from european leaders including rishi sunak earlier this week promised president zelensky to gather international support for getting ukraine the airpower it needed. but training pilots and delivering planes will take many, many months, so they are unlikely to play any role in ukraine's coming counter offensive. but this decision does send a strong signal to moscow that the western allies are determined to support this country militarily for a long time to come. for now, the fighting continues. both sides wait for ukrainian commanders to decide when to launch their long expected assault. james landale, bbc news, kyiv. in a moment we will be speaking to chris mason at the g7 summit injapan, but first to our north america editor, sarah smith, who's in washington. the americans, they have been reluctant to talk about x 16 —— f-i6s reluctant to talk about x 16 —— f—i6s and training, why the change of heart? it

f-16s and training, why the change of heart? , ., f-16s and training, why the change of heart? , . ,. ., ., f-16s and training, why the change ofheart? ,. ., ., ~ ., of heart? it is a scenario you know well we have _ of heart? it is a scenario you know well we have seen _ of heart? it is a scenario you know well we have seen play _ of heart? it is a scenario you know well we have seen play out - of heart? it is a scenario you know well we have seen play out before | well we have seen play out before whether us says it doesn't agree with sending military aid to the ukraine, whether it is a defence missiles, missile launchers, even tanks, and then it does a u—turn. usually under pressure from european allies. the uk has been at the forefront of arguing that ukrainian pilots should be trained to use these f—i6s fighterjets. they have been at the top of ukraine's wish list for a long time. american concerns were that supplying these debts might be seen by moscow as an escalation in the war which could lead to retaliation. —— supplying these things. some say that they do not need control of the airspace. america doesn't actually make much secret of the fact that it is prepared to make concessions to european allies over things like this and that's because president biden is extremely proud of the united front that has been put up by

the west in response to russia's invasion of ukraine. he thinks that is a powerful weapon in itself so he's prepared to make concessions to maintain that level of unity. he was coming under pressure from european partners. obviously at the g7 meeting injapan, as well. so he has agreed that the f—i6s can be allowed for trainee, that the nations that own them can give them to ukraine. he is giving his permission because he thinks that is required to maintain the unity of the alliance. —— can be allowed for training. president zelensky will be addressing the g7 summit later on. is everybody behind this idea of handing over f—i6s? it is handing over f-16s? it is interesting _ handing over f-16s? it is interesting because - handing over f-16s? it is interesting because in i handing over f-16s? it is| interesting because in the handing over f—igs? it 3 interesting because in the last couple of months there has been polite public scepticism from some western leaders about this campaign that president zelensky has mounted for the securing of debts. you might

remember back in february when he addressed mps at westminster hall. i was there when he did it. an arresting argument he made. holding arresting argument he made. holding a fighterjet pilot helmet saying we need jets, what can you do to help us? both then and as recently as the other day when he was at the chequers meeting rishi sunak there was that scepticism. not least because of the practicalities around training, there has been concern from those reflecting on a potential for escalation and how this would be seen by moscow. nonetheless, welcomed by rishi sunak and others overnight. rishi sunak saying it is a welcome announcement the us will approve the training of ukrainian pilots on the f—16 fighterjets and that the uk would work together with america, the netherlands, belgium, and denmark to see that happen. as far as the uk's involvement is concerned in particular, a flight school is going to be set up in order to help with the training of

f-i6 order to help with the training of f—i6 pilots. the uk doesn't have any of these particular planes itself, so won't be providing the aircraft. 0k, so won't be providing the aircraft. ok, thank you. well these pictures are impossible to forget. the devastation of aleppo in syria after years of civil war, that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions homeless. syria's government stands accused of carrying out atrocities, led by president bashar al—assad, and backed by the russian military. but today, after 12 years of arab isolation, assad received a very warm welcome, at a summit of fellow middle—eastern leaders, as our international editor, jeremy bowen now reports. in yasmine camp in beqaa valley, there is horror that the man the syrian refugees here blamed for destroying their country is being rehabilitated.

it makes precarious lives even less secure. around 1500 syrians have been forcibly repatriated from lebanon in recent weeks. these two believe they could be next. the couple met in the camp after they fled syria in 2013. they want better chances for their 18—month—old daughter than they've had. her education stopped when the war began when she was ten. now they believe president assad's return to the arab league might be an excuse for more deportations. translation: we are always afraid of the raids now, - that it will happen to us. i imagine they will come and take all of the men and deport them. translation: after all the killing

and destruction and the misery - in syria, it's not acceptable. after everything that he has done they are hosting him. i don't understand it. forcibly on refugees the outlook is as desperate as ever and the prospect of going home, frankly, is terrifying. —— for syrian refugees the outlook is as desperate as ever and the prospect of going home, frankly, is terrifying. now, on the other side of those mountains, about an hour's drive from here, is damascus. and the view from the presidential palace is looking brighter than it has for years because president assad, who broke his country to save his regime, has been invited back into the fold by his fellow arab leaders. president assad strode into the arab league's summit injeddah, relishing the clearest recognition yet that he has won his warfor syria.

greeted by the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman. a decade ago the saudis funded anti—assad militias, now mbs wants to remake the middle east and he needs syria on side. it was a display of saudi ambition and of the connections between complex. ukraine's president zelensky was there accusing some arab leaders of turning a blind eye to the horrors of russia's invasion of ukraine. listening hard, bashar al—assad, who was propelled to victory by the firepower of his russian allies, which flattened syrian cities, the kremlin�*s decisive intervention in syria in 2015 must have fed vladimir putin's ambition to destroy ukraine's independence. here in beirut, syrian refugees, assad's victims, face increasing hostility.

blamed for lebanon's own economic collapse. this refugee family is scared they will be deported if they are identified. they live in an area where a curfew has been imposed on syrians. their children have been thrown out of school, the turmoil in their lives is all over their teenage daughter's artwork. the father views the authoritarian arab leaders' embrace of president assad with contempt and fear. translation: the assad with contempt and fear. translation:— assad with contempt and fear. translation: , , ~ , translation: the president assad re . ime is a translation: the president assad regime is a dictatorship. _ translation: the president assad regime is a dictatorship. the - translation: the president assad regime is a dictatorship. the same l regime is a dictatorship. the same as the other arab regimes. they are helping each other. they are fighting against the people. at helping each other. they are fighting against the people. at the united nations _ fighting against the people. at the united nations offices _ fighting against the people. at the united nations offices across - fighting against the people. at the united nations offices across beirut they are hoping that syria's readmission to the arab league becomes the circuit breaker that allows diplomatic progress. it becomes the circuit breaker that allows diplomatic progress. if what is happening _ allows diplomatic progress. if what is happening right _ allows diplomatic progress. if what is happening right now _ allows diplomatic progress. if what is happening right now in _ allows diplomatic progress. if what is happening right now in the - is happening right now in the neighbourhood, in the region, is

going to help move towards a political solution that will lead to a lot of these questions being resolved then it is a good thing. there is no sign ofjustice for the victims of the war to save his regime. president assad used to only speak to friends. he was in moscow in march. but his rehabilitation carries a lesson for ruthless authoritarian leaders. wait out the storm and you can outlast your enemies. that's the interesting thing. we've won large chunk of the world, the middle east, that greet a close ally of vladimir putin with open arms. we've got much of the west who want to hobble in. in ukraine this is vladimir putin. what do you take from events today? in vladimir putin. what do you take from events today?— from events today? in that hall toda it from events today? in that hall today it looked _ from events today? in that hall today it looked like _ from events today? in that hall today it looked like a _ from events today? in that hall. today it looked like a microcosm from events today? in that hall- today it looked like a microcosm of world conflicts, if you like. certainly i think that president

assad will recall and he might have reminded vladimir putin that the leaders who were telling him he had to go were david cameron and barack obama who have gone now into political history. i think certainly that president zelensky�*s appeal for them to basically agree with him that ukraine needs support, that isn't really going to wash very well because the arab states, particularly the rich oil states which are considerable military powers in their own right, have stayed very neutral in all of this like most of the global south. this is really nato and ukraine against russia. will this mean that suddenly gulf money will go flooding into syria? no, idon't gulf money will go flooding into syria? no, i don't think so, because there are still severe sanctions attached to syria and there will be retaliation, no doubt, from the americans if they tried to do anything like that. but this is a symbolic moment. president assad, a

man who was really staring down the barrel of oblivion, if you like, ten years ago or so when a lot of his country was in the hands of rebels, is now back and his erstwhile arab allies, and some of them still don't like him, are effectively saying you are a player once again in our part of the world and your opinion matters and that is why we are talking to you. matters and that is why we are talking to yon-— matters and that is why we are talkinuto ou. , . g , here, a fraudster, who helped con victims worldwide out of more than £100 million, has been sentenced to 13 years injail. police say the uk's biggest ever fraud investigation, led to the arrest of tejay fletcher, the mastermind behind a website, which allowed criminals to buy technology, to carry out online scams. sean dilley, has that story. this was the moment tejay fletcher's criminal empire collapsed.

under arrest for his leading role in scamming vulnerable victims round the world. victims around the world. welcome to ispoof, the number one spoofing service. fraudsters were invited to use fletcher's site to trick people into handing over their bank details. the website offered its criminal users the ability to disguise numbers appearing to be a trusted organisation, such as a bank. they used the information they gathered, to empty their victims' accounts. if you want to spoof your caller id to make spoof calls, then ispoof is here to help. sounds fun, but for the victim, it was anything but. before it was shut down ispoof was constantly growing, with 700 new users registering every week, and it was earning £80,000 a week. until officers caught up with him, fletcher lived a lavish lifestyle. he used his £2 million of illicit earnings to buy a £230,000 lamborghini,

two range rovers and a rolex watch worth £11,000. prosecutors say they plan to recover the cash he never should have had. the judge said that in sentencing fletcher he took account of charitable work he had done in the community and his mental health but there was little personal mitigation. there were thousands of victims not directly of fletcher's but of the fraudsters who used the ispoof website, and for those victims that experience would have been harrowing. there were more than 200,000 victims in the uk, together they lost over £113 million. globally losses are estimated to be more than 100 million. cybersecurity experts hope that fletcher's case will raise awareness of common scams. the onus is on the public unfortunately, do not instantly trust caller id, the fact is we can't believe everything we see, and never hand over sensitive information, especially

from a cold call. i always say to people don't be afraid to say goodbye and hang up on the caller. sign up forfree... fletcher's criminal site ran for two years and at its peak had nearly 60,000 subscribers. for the people who love spoofing. he is behind bars now but detectives say that fletcher is part of a much bigger problem. while he serves his time, they say they will spend theirs looking for those responsible for the scams fletcher made possible. sean dilley, bbc news. tesco's chairman, john allan, is stepping down next month, following allegations concerning his personal conduct. tesco said although it has no findings of wrongdoing, the allegations risk becoming a distraction. mr allan says the claims are totally baseless, and he's determined to prove his innocence. counting is under way in northern ireland's council elections. using the single transferable vote system, candidates are ranked in order of preference. of the results in so far, sinn fein appears to have

made a strong start, with the dup currently in second place. 1a people have died and thousands have been left homeless, after heavy rains and flooding in parts of northern italy. the mayor of the city of ravenna, has told the bbc, that it's the worst disaster in a century. the formula 1 grand prix, due to take place at imola in the affected area, has now had to be cancelled. in some places people are running out of food and drinking water, with aid unable to reach them. our correspondent sofia bettiza, has more. an entire village under water. people forced to move around using canoes. others taking refuge upstairs is the ground floors of as the ground floors of their homes are submerged in flood water. this is the devastating reality for dozens of towns in the region of emilia—romagna after six months of rain fell in one day and a half. more than 15,000 people had to flee their homes.

this woman says that the walls started to crumble. then water came in through the windows and from the garage. her son lost everything he owns. translation: divers rescued us at midnight, there were - six of them. they broke through our gate with a boat. three of them loaded our grandma on a dinghy. they were very kind. translation: water started to get into my house at around one in - the morning. lam disabled. i was lying on the sofa. i never thought the water would enter with such violence. for days rescue workers have waded through mud and debris to try and save people. but it's proving to be difficult because so many roads are flooded. you can see the damage everywhere you look here. when rivers like that one broke their banks they inundated entire towns and villages.

some of them are still underwater. and even though it's stopped raining now the emergency is not over and people here are still scared. the prime minister has allocated 30 million euros to tackle the emergency. but many are urging the government to put in place a national plan to deal with floods caused by climate change which are becoming more and more common in italy. this is a broken community and with more rain expected at the weekend the whole region remains under a red alert weather warning, which means this emergency is farfrom over. sofia bettiza, bbc news. the billionaire space race continues as amazon'sjeff bezos wins a contract with nasa to build a spacecraft sending astronauts to the moon. hejoins elon musk, whose company,

spacex, was awarded $3 billion in 2021 to also land on the moon, as part of nasa's artemis programme. here's jonathan amos. they are two of the richest individuals on the planet. one, elon musk, has made his fortune by transforming the car industry. the other, jeff bezos, by reinventing the way we buy things online. but they both have the same passion for space. musk and bezos are building rockets and spacecraft to get humanity off earth. nasa has already teamed with musk and his spacex company to develop a novel rocket system that will also be able to land on planets. it's called starship and had its maiden flight last month, although it didn't quite go to plan, blowing up after four minutes. now it's the turn ofjeff bezos and his blue origin company. nasa wants them to build this, a landing craft to put astronauts on the moon. it's going to cost about $7 billion.

nasa and blue origin will share the cost. these are public—private partnerships. it's the new way that we go to the moon. it helps nasa share the risk, the technical risk and the financial risk. they've got the flag up now and you can see the stars and stripes on the lunar surface. it's 50 years since man set foot on the moon. remarkable achievements, but apollo astronauts stayed just days on the surface. when astronauts go back ii'll be for weeks at a time. we want to establish - permanence on the moon, and we want to ensure l that we have consistent access to the moon. three, two, one! the return to the moon is going to involve many participants, multiple new rockets and spacecraft, and what musk and bezos learn at the moon they hope to take on to mars. jonathan amos, bbc news. tributes have been

paid to andy rourke, the bass player with the band, the smiths, who's died at the age of 59. he had pancreatic cancer, and played with the group, throughout the 1980s. here's our entertainment correspondent, colin paterson. # ajumped—up pantry boy # who never knew his place...# thejoyful, lolloping, often funky bass lines of andy rourke accompanying the doom laden lyrics of morrissey. the juxtaposition of melody and mindfulness gave the the juxtaposition of melody and mournfulness gave the smiths the unique sound and made them arguably the most influential british indie band of the 1980s. the killers, oasis, suede would not have existed without the smiths. # hand in glove # the good people laugh # yes, we may be hidden by rags...# it was a0 years ago this week that the smiths released their debut single, performing it on the tube. they would split just four years later.

drummer mikejoyce was the other half of the smiths' rhythm section and flew to new york in february to see his friend after hearing how ill he was. he never saw himself as a great bass player because it was so effortless for him and so easy for him. he just put the bass on and magic would happen. hand in glove, the first record we have released. record we ever released. you know, do—da—da—do—da—do—da—doom—dum do—da—do—da—da—da—do. what is he doing? how will you remember him? the amount of pleasure that he gave to people, that is such an accolade to be able to do that. take the bass away and he was a wonderful person. i'm so proud of what he's contributed towards music and i'm so proud that he was my mate. the salford lads club became intrinsically linked with the smiths after the band were photographed there for the queen is

dead album. andy rourke would often revisit the venue. today, fans have been arriving to pay their respects. just takes me back to when i was 13, listening to that first album. it's very sad news. very upset, actually, because i grew up with the smiths, i because i grew up with the smiths, i followed the smiths all my life. andy rourke was 23 when the smiths split. he would go on to play with the pretenders, sinead o'connor, and badly drawn boy, and have a legal battle over royalties with morrissey and the smiths guitarist johnny marr. # in my life...# morrissey has paid tribute saying andy rourke will never die as long as his music is heard. andy rourke, who's died at the age of 59. it's a big night in boxing tomorrow, as the light—weight world champion, ireland's katie taylor, hopes to become only the second

fighter in the modern era, to hold all the major belts, at two different weights. the fight is a homecoming toom the first major boxing event to be the fight is a homecoming too, the first major boxing event to be held in the republic, for almost a decade. with more, here's ade adedoyin. she's one of ireland's most cherished sports stars. having won multiple professional titles abroad now a chance for katie taylor to finally box at home and make history. all i ever wanted to do ever since i turned pro six years ago, all i wanted to do was actually box at home. i'm a very, very proud irishwoman. i've had a chance to box some big, big nights, madison square garden being one of them. but i think the only thing that could actually top what happened in madison square garden was a big homecoming fight like this, having the chance to fight in front of my own people. this could possibly be the best night of my career so far to date. but the recent history of boxing in ireland has been a challenge. in 2016, a gangland shooting at a weigh—in at the regency hotel brought an end to big—time boxing.

taylor's homecoming will be the first major fight in dublin in seven years. for boxing to be brought back here on a platform with katie taylor headlining is huge, it's monumental. people who will be there to support her saturday night, it's going to be like ireland going to the world cup in 1990 again. a national treasure and also a trailblazer. taylor's inspiration came from deirdre gogarty... a lovely surprise. ..the first irish woman to win a world title back in the �*90s, a time when women's boxing was frowned upon. actually, it's healing a lot of my own heartbreaks from my career and the fact that i never got a chance to box in ireland as a professional, and seeing it happen now is really healing my heart, to be quite honest. well, it's chantelle cameron's light welterweight titles on the line, but this feels very much like the katie taylor show. she's the one that the majority of the crowd will be there to see on fight night. the question is, can cameron upset the homecoming party? kate taylor, she's always been an idol to me and got a lot-

of respect for her and i'll always have respect for her. _ but at the day when the bell goes, she's another opponent. _ and as soon as i am facing someone, i've got the winning mentality - where it's, i kind of don't care who you are, i don't— i don't care what you done, i'm there to win. _ this is a huge night for ireland and for katie taylor. a win, and she'll become only the second boxer in the modern era to hold all the major belts in two different weight divisions at the same time. ade adedoyin, bbc news, dublin. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. high. whenever we get showers at some places get lucky and other places get a bit less lucky. take a look at this coming reading we had some hazy spells of sunshine and a dry day, a decent day. butjust 15 miles away from that benson in oxfordshire got a direct hit from this really big storm, 19 millimetres of rain in the space of just two hours, a third of the month of rain and instead of it being a

nice day it was the kind of day where you needed to paddle to get back to your car. those showers have all pretty much faded out of the way in through the rest of the night england and wales are essentially dry, scotland and northern ireland, there is a weak weather front moving in so you might see some spots of rain but nothing significant and by the end of the night temperatures coming up under those cloudy skies in the north—west, ten or 11 degrees, may be 12 as we start off the weekend. the weekend, for england and wales they will be plenty of sunshine around. scotland and northern ireland will be plagued by weak weather fronts bringing cloudy weather but it will generally be quite bright, just a little rain at times. so this is the big picture. these weather fronts at times. so this is the big picture. these weatherfronts moving in towards high pressure, so they don't really make it all the way across the uk, that's why they are very weak as well, just moving into that high pressure squishy as them. england and wales will have sunshine pretty much all day, scotland and northern ireland, may be a few spots of rain in the morning but essentially a lot of dry and bright weather, late in the afternoon we will start to see rain approaching by scotland and western counties of northern ireland but arriving late

in the day. temperatures, high teens