live from london, this is bbc news. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky arrives in hiroshima for the g7 summit. he says the meetings will bring peace closer. meanwhile, g7 leaders have issued a statement on a shared approach to china, on the second day of the summit. 1a people have died and thousands have been left homeless, after heavy rains and flooding in parts of northern italy. hello. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky is in hiroshima tojoin g7 talks, after winning long—sought us support for access to

advanced fighterjets and training for ukraine. as he arrived, president zelensky tweeted, "japan, g7. "important meetings with partners and friends of ukraine. "peace will become closer today." on the second days of talks in japan, the leaders of the g7 group of advanced nations have issued a statement on a shared approach to promote global economic resilience and to counter economic coercion. they said that any malign actor trying to, as they put it, "weaponise" economic dependence would fail. the g7 leaders added that their policy was not designed to harm china or thwart its economic progress. the statement also warned against what it said was china's "militarisation" in the south china sea, and it urged beijing to pressure moscow to end its war in ukraine. our correspondent is in hiroshima.

watching the footage of him arriving, getting out of the plane, that french government plane, touching down in hiroshima is a hugely symbolic moment for the ukrainian president, but also for the city. remember, the fact that the city. remember, the fact that the g7 summit was held in hiroshima was no accident. the japanese prime minister chose this location because it stands as testament of a city that was devastated by the atomic bomb. this is a city that knows first—hand what it is like to suffer under nuclear weapons, and this is a ukrainian president who country, the capital, has now been attacked by russia for a whole year, but we also recently have been reporting these sustained shelling of the capital kyiv itself. this is him taking centre stage, making that argument, making that case for his country. hugely symbolic location. as you say, it is very important for him to make this appearance. it is

interesting because when we got confirmation from his national security official in ukraine, he said the physical appearance of our president injapan is hugely significant for him to further our interests, and i think this really sets the tone. the ukrainian president wants to make a point to the g7 and the world, and the other leaders that are here, to continue to support his country. of course, he arrives on the day that he has finally got what he has wanted. he has got the 0k from president biden to them providing f—i6 planes, and to them providing f—i6 planes, and to oversee the training of pilots. of course this is going to take time, but it is a hugely significant endorsement from the united states and the g7 countries, and a change of tack. , �* , and the g7 countries, and a change of tack. , ~ ._ ., , of tack. yes. away from president zelensky "s _ of tack. yes. away from president zelensky 's meetings _ of tack. yes. away from president zelensky 's meetings and - of tack. yes. away from president zelensky 's meetings and his - zelensky �*s meetings and his appearance there, china is also very much on the agenda, and how the g7 should approach relations with it.

that's right. it is the second topic, if you will, that is at the heart of the g7. the two big countries that have not been invited to the g7 and are not part of the g7 but are at the heart of the g7. russia and its aggression against ukraine, and china. today we heard a joint statement from the g7 about dealing with the economic coercion from china. you are going to hear this term a lot, and you are going to hear another term,. they are trying to hold beijing accountable, so it is basically china deciding not to trade with countries and a prime example is australia. when australia asked for the origins of the coronavirus back in 2019, an angry china announced a raft of

tariffs and it hit a lot of australian industries. that is what they want to counter and stop from happening. the other thing they want to do is this de—risking, which means to decrease the dependency on chinese money, on the chinese economy and on chinese trade. that is a hugely difficult thing to achieve. remember, that the united states for example just last year, had more than $500 billion worth of imports from china. that is the size of the business that they are doing with beijing. so the balance is really hard to strike. how do you hold beijing accountable? how do you counter this growing influence and expansion in the region, but also realistically do a fair business with beijing? rod amir zelensky �*s arrival comes hard on the heels of a scheme to allow ukrainian pilots to train on american—made f—16 pilotjets. —— fighterjets. the us national security advisor jake sullivan has been

speaking about the us f—16jets plan. just yesterday, president biden informed his counterparts that the united states will support a training effort to train ukrainian pilots on a fighter aircraft, including the f—16. 0ver pilots on a fighter aircraft, including the f—16. over the past few months, we and our allies have focused on providing ukraine with assistance, weapons and training that it needs to be able to conduct effective offensive operations this spring and summer. we have delivered what we promised. we have given ukraine what it needs, based on close consultations between our military and theirs. and now we have turned to discussions about improving ukrainian air force as part of our long—term commitment to ukraine �*s self defence. so, as the training unfolds in the coming months, we will work with our allies to determine when planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them, and how many. his delivered, who will be delivering them, and how many.— them, and how many. his our diplomatic— them, and how many. his our diplomatic correspondent - them, and how many. his our i diplomatic correspondent james landale on why this is a major shift in the us position. for

landale on why this is a ma'or shift in the us position.* landale on why this is a ma'or shift in the us position. for many months, the united states _ in the us position. for many months, the united states has _ in the us position. for many months, the united states has been _ in the us position. for many months, the united states has been reluctantl the united states has been reluctant to make this change. its analysts, its policymakers have said, look, it is expensive to hand over all of these weapons. it is expensive to train them, it takes a long time and it is complicated. it's notjust handing over a bit of kit to the ukrainians. he was going to be looking after the support customers who will protect these aircraft and do all the engineering? where will that happen and how do you protect it all? so it is complicated. it is notjust it all? so it is complicated. it is not just a it all? so it is complicated. it is notjust a question of handing over some missiles or other kind of weapon. but there has also been concern about whether it would escalate the conflict, but i think the pressure has been put from the european capital on to washington saying we think the time is right and president biden has decided potentially for the purpose of maintaining wider unity of the western alliance that he is happier to go along with it. at the moment, we arejust envisaging to go along with it. at the moment, we are just envisaging european

f-16s we are just envisaging european f—16s being handed over at some point and some of them being handed over to ukraine. there is no sign yet of america giving some of its own because there are political problems for washington over things like that. but if you listen to that clip from jake sullivan there, you know the words, "many months", "long—term". this is not a short—term help for ukraine. this is about beefing up its long—term air force so that it can deter future russian aggression over the long term. that is why it is symbolically important. it is another commitment by the west, it is a signal to moscow saying we are in this for the long term. it's notjust the next few months, this is about sustained support in the years to come. the auestion support in the years to come. the question is. _ support in the years to come. the question is, who is going to provide these planes?— these planes? well, initially we think the countries _ these planes? well, initially we think the countries that - these planes? well, initially we think the countries that are - these planes? well, initially we. think the countries that are most likely to do so will be countries

likely to do so will be countries like the netherlands, denmark, belgium. they have a decent number of these aircraft. the uk does not have any of them, but the uk is going to be getting involved in training some ukrainian pilots. but these images of president zelensky there in the g7, you know, they are important because they are a visual demonstration of a western alliance over which there are questions. if you talk to analysts in the united states, they say there are phrases like how we've reached a peak support for ukraine customer we know there is an election in the united states next year. will there be a change of leadership question mark we know many republicans are less enthusiastic about giving what they sometimes call a blank cheque to kyiv. we know there are countries in europe that ultimately will have to make that difficult decision with the electorate, some of whom are questioning whether there should be greater focus on their own domestic economies, ratherthan greater focus on their own domestic economies, rather than spending more money on weapons or aid for ukraine. people here in kyiv know that. they

know that time is finite, the support will not go on for so that is why president zelensky is going to these meetings, that's why you have these family photos. it is to send a signal to the world that we have not reached that point yet. western alliance remains resolute. that's the image they want get across. but, as we saw from the arab league meeting yesterday, president assad there in all his glory, after all the horror that he has infected on his country, sending a clear message to other world leaders of a more dictatorial, autocratic bent, that for some at least, if you wait out the storm, you can survive. i think the message that the west is trying to get into the kremlin is, look, we don't think the status quo will be able to survive and western support will continue, and it is not just worth awaiting us out because we have a greater patience. that is

a great test, who has greater strategic patience, the west or the kremlin? we strategic patience, the west or the kremlin? ~ ., strategic patience, the west or the kremlin? ~ . , ., ., kremlin? we have 'ust had reaction in from the _ kremlin? we havejust had reaction in from the deputy _ kremlin? we havejust had reaction in from the deputy foreign - kremlin? we havejust had reactionj in from the deputy foreign minister from russia on those western plans to supply f—16 jets to ukraine. in a statement to a news agency in russia, it says, "the west is pursuing an escalator a path fought with colossal risks for them". we will bring you more on that as it comes in. before going to hiroshima president zelensky attended an arab league summit in saudi arabia. his address saw some arab leaders accused of "turning a blind eye" to russia's invasion of ukraine. mr zelensky accused some of them of failing to recognise what's happening in his country and urged the region to back ukraine against russian aggression. 0ur correspondent sameer hashmi is following all the developments injeddah and tells us more about zelensky�*s address to the arab league. it was pretty insignificant, no two ways about it. it was a big surprise

because until yesterday morning, when the summit was about to start, no one knew he was coming. it was just announced two hours before the summit started. until that time, the focus was on president assad, making his first appearance at the arab summit. but coming back to president zelensky, it was a powerful, strong speech. he implored and said that many countries in the world, including some in this room, have turned a blind eye to russian aggression. he said that it was important to recognise that russia was aggressive against ukraine, and the world needs to take notice, including the arab world. most countries in this region have been taking a neutral stance. they still have close ties with moscow, they are happy and cooperating when it comes to oil production, and there have been no sanctions that have been imposed. so what president zelensky is hoping is that this trip will send a message to some of those

arab countries do basically put some sort of pressure on russia. may be countries like saudi arabia, which have some leverage over moscow because of oil production, to bring this down to the negotiation table and work out a solution. saudi arabia has offered to mediate between the two countries and i think that is what president zelensky is hoping, that there will be some support from this region. jakov milatovic will be sworn in as montenegro's new president later today. he's replacing djukanovic — the man who dominated the tiny adriatic country's politics for more than 30 years. it isa it is a hugely symbolic move. the president of montenegro theoretically does not have that many powers, it suppose to be a ceremonial role, but that never stopped djukanovic from dominating the political scene of montenegro

from 1991, really until last month �*s presidential election, when his opponent won a large majority in the last round. so it is a sea change and we will see further chain probably with parliamentary elections next month. so, tell us more about what impact this new president could have. weill. this new president could have. well, for starters. — this new president could have. well, for starters. he _ this new president could have. well, for starters, he is _ this new president could have. well, for starters, he is very _ this new president could have. well, for starters, he is very young. - this new president could have. -ii for starters, he is very young. he is 36 years old and he is the deputy to leader of a party called europe now. it does what it says on the packet, they are saying they want to promote montenegro �*s membership of the european union. it is already deep into membership talks with brussels but that has been going on for more than a decade he is me want to speed this up, we want to be within the eu within five years. that's an ambitious statement to make but it shows the direction he wants to go in. he is also an experienced economist and he and his

party are saying they are going to put in place the reforms which are going to make life better for montenegro will reduce corruption, and it is going to accelerate that membership towards the european union. 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. in some places people are running out of food and drinking water, with aid unable to reach them. 0ur correspondent sofia bettitza reports. an entire village underwater. people forced to move around using canoes. 0thers taking refuge upstairs, 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 is 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 under water, 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. nebraska has become the latest american state to limit abortion rights. a bill has been passed banning abortion after twelve weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. the bill also bans "gender—altering surgery", and restricts hormone therapy and puberty—blocking drugs for transgender people under 19. our correspondent

peter bowes has more. this measure has passed after weeks of heated debate. indeed, angry protests in and around the legislative change during the final hours of debate leading up to the vote. rather unusually, this bill has combined two issues, the issue of abortion, but also the issue of medical care for transgender teenagers. the end result on abortion, it is banned after 12 weeks as a result of this bill, which we expect the state governor to sign into law fairly soon. on the issue of medical assistance for transgender teenagers, transgender altering surgery has been banned, and the use of so—called puberty blockers, drugs that pause puberty for people under the age of 19,

restrictions have been put on the use of those drugs, but not a ban. i think it is significant that these restrictions are not as harsh as certainly some other states, in terms of legislation around the country, but also not as harsh as originally envisaged by republicans for this particular bill. for example, they wanted abortion to be bound afterjust example, they wanted abortion to be bound after just six example, they wanted abortion to be bound afterjust six weeks. it seems as if this has become a political reality that there would have to be some compromise. there was some opposition on the republican side to this. of opposition on the republican side to this. of course, this comesjust under a year after the us supreme court overturned a woman �*s constitutional right to have an abortion, and ever since then, they have been abortion bans brought in in 1a states around the country and there are still many places going through the courts. cases that are

challenging the efforts of state government. as far as this particular legislation in nebraska is concerned, opponents say that it is concerned, opponents say that it is unconstitutional and that it is cruel stop supporters say it is essentially safeguarding the rights of the unborn baby. they also say it is safeguarding those teenagers who may go ahead with irreversible medical procedures that some people say they may live to regret. votes in northern ireland's local elections are still being counted, with more than half the council seats now filled. a62 seats are being contested across 11 councils, with sinn fein on course to become the largest party in local government. an hrt drug for women going through the menopause is being limited due to rising demand. pharmacists are being told to dispense only two months�* worth of capsules of utrogestan, which is a form of progesterone. the order was issued by the department of health,

which says it will ensure more women can continue to access the medication they need. the race to space is on. nasa has enlisted a second billionaire to get astronauts back on the moon. amazon'sjeff bezos has won a contract to build a spacecraft. the us space agency is already working with elon musk�*s spacex firm, who was awarded $3 billion to also land on the moon. jonathan amos reports. they are two of the richest individuals on the planet. one, elon musk, has made his fortune by transferring the car industry. —— transforming. 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 elon musk and his spacex company to develop a novel rocket system that will also be able to land on planets. it is 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 is 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, you can see the stars and stripes... it is 50 years since man set foot on the moon. remarkable achievements, but apollo astronauts stayed just days on the surface. when astronauts go back, it will be for weeks at a time. we want to establish permanence

on the moon and we want to ensure that we have consistent access to the moon. three, two, one, booster... the return to the moon is going to involve many participants, multiple new rockets and spacecraft, and what elon musk and jeff bezos learn at the moon they hope to take on to mars. for millions of people across africa, football is an obsession. but while many aspire to be top players — one woman in the democratic republic of congo — has gone in a different direction — as tim allman explains. rachel is only 2a years old, but she has a certain air of self—confidence. she is a fan of the beautiful game, but she never kicks a ball in anger. rachel is a referee. and she is notjust any referee. and she is notjust any referee. translation: i have been a referee. translation: i have been a referee since 2015. i started the referee since 2015. i started the referee training here and i went for a local and national test. i passed,

and now i am an international referee. it has been a tough journey for rachel. her mother abandoned the family not long after herfather, her mother abandoned the family not long after her father, her biggest cheerleader, died. but she's not letting it hold her back. the effect that has been appreciated by everyone who knows her. translation: i saw her meteoric rise. when i heard she was going to become a fifa referee i thought it was well deserved — a fifa referee i thought it was well deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hoes deserved. everyone is proud. rachel ho es she deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hepes she will _ deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hopes she will be _ deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hopes she will be an _ deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hopes she will be an inspiration - deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hopes she will be an inspiration to l hopes she will be an inspiration to others, especially other women who, she says, must fight to achieve their goals. as long as you follow their goals. as long as you follow the rules, of course. rachel will make sure of that. the former women's tennis world number one, simona halep, has been charged with a second doping offence over irregularities in her biological data. the romanian has been suspended since october after earlier testing positive for a banned substance at the us open. she's said that she has not knowingly taken any banned substance.

the american basketballer brittney griner has played her first competitive game since returning to the us after being held in russia over drug charges. it's her first appearance in a wnba game in nearly two years. vice president kamala harris was among the spectators in los angeles. the wnba star was arrested last february at moscow airport, accused of possessing a small quantity of cannabis oil and sentenced to nine years in prison. she was released ten months later in a high—profile prisoner swap with the russian arms dealer viktor bout. it was nice to be back on court in a real game and everything. the love i felt when i came out was amazing. the players, you know, i definitely feel it. ifelt the players, you know, i definitely feel it. i felt it won us over there still. everyone that reached out,

did anything, you know, i felt that. that's it from me for now. felt that. that's it from me for nova stay _ felt that. that's it from me for now. stay with _ felt that. that's it from me for now. stay with us. _ hello. quite a defined split in weather conditions across the uk this weekend. that shows up quite nicely in the satellite imagery from space, which also shows this mass of cloud spreading across italy and that will produce more flash flooding fulsome through today and tomorrow. as we push towards our shores, this strip of cloud will bring some grey skies, compared to sunnier conditions for england and wales. some patchy fair weather cloud in the south, but that's it. even though the cloud is in place in scotland and northern ireland, it will thin in places allowing some hazy sunshine, but it will thicken up hazy sunshine, but it will thicken up again later bringing some outbreaks of rain. that would limit

uv levels here, but there is strong sunshine over head for england and wales this afternoon and that highest of the territories, especially in the west, up to 22 celsius where it is sheltered from the easterly trees. in some areas on the easterly trees. in some areas on the easterly trees. in some areas on the east cooler than yesterday. the rain in the north turns heavier and more extensive overnight tonight. fizzling a little later on, but it will stay in place into the morning and that will keep temperature is in double figures, compared to england and wales where there will be a fresh start to tomorrow with temperatures 3—5 c in rural places. not as much fog as this morning, but some cloud in the far south—east corner which will drift across southern counties during the day. isolated chance of some sea fog. scotland and northern ireland, another cloudy day. a lot more sunshine to the north and the west. temperatures in the low to mid—teens, but getting into the low 20s more widely across some western areas of england and wales away from the breeze in the east. as we go

into the start of next week, a ridge of high pressure is trying to build its way in and make things largely dry. but we just on the edge of it, so we will still see weak weather front toppling across northern areas bringing a few showers into scotland and northern england on monday, but many places will be dry. a little bit more cloud but still plenty of sunshine. the area of high pressure is there through much of this week. we can still see some weather front hit northern scotland, especially on wednesday. for many of us, the week ahead, after what has been a rather dull and damp spring so far, goes out on a fairly dry note with some sunny spells and temperatures in the high teens and low 20s.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, has arrived at the g7 summit injapan. his participation in the meeting comes just after the us approved a decision to allow ukrainian pilots to train on american—made f16 fighterjets. he says the summit will bring peace �*closer�*. g7 leaders have issued a statement on a shared approach to china, on the second day of the summit. the us national security advisor, jake sullivan, said it reflected the desire for stable relations with beijing but also provided tools to address concerns. nebraska has become the latest american state to limit abortion rights.

a bill has been passed banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. the bill also bans "gender—altering surgery", and restricts hormone