live from london. this is bbc news... ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky meets uk prime minister rishi sunak on the sidelines of the g7 summit in hiroshima. meanwhile, g7 leaders have issued a statement on a shared approach to china, on the second day of the summit. protests held across iran in response to the execution of three men on friday, convicted in connection with the recent wave of mass anti— government demonstrations. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. 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. shortly after landing in hiroshima, president zelensky tweeted that he was expecting to have important meetings with partners and friends of ukraine. he said "peace will be closer" as a result of the summit. he has met with rishi sunak in the past few minutes. they had already met on monday in the uk, where it was announced britain would send hundreds of air defence missiles and armed drones to ukraine. on the second days of talks injapan, 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. live now to our correspondent shaimaa khalil in hiroshima. good to see you. president zelensky has already held several meetings with world leaders. take us through the past few hours. i with world leaders. take us through the past few hours.— the past few hours. i think the past few hours have _ the past few hours. i think the past few hours have been _ the past few hours. i think the past few hours have been filled - the past few hours. i think the past few hours have been filled with - the past few hours. i think the past few hours have been filled with a l few hours have been filled with a great deal of anticipation. you could feel that some thing big was about to happen. it is already hugely symbolic this g7 summit is being held in hiroshima, a city devastated by the atomic bomb and knows first—hand what it is like to suffer under a nuclear weapon but that poignancy has been lodged up on another level when president zelensky landed here. those pictures of him getting out of the french government plane, greeting people and then going into the motorcade.

we could hear the helicopters hovering over us. and of course that is the big presence. somebody said he almost stole the show of the g7 meetings and i think that is quite a fair assessment. as you mentioned, we saw those pictures of him hugging rishi sunak, the british prime minister, and i think he arrives here on a very solid grounding. remember, he comes here after hours —— hours after being granted something he has requested for months and the western alliance forces and western leaders have been quite reticent to give him, which is the f-16 quite reticent to give him, which is the f—16 air support. and now he has been granted that, the us has okayed export of the jets to ukraine and of course the training. having said that, this is a huge development. it is a significant point. but there is so much that needs to be ironed out. remember, training itself is going to take a lot of time. the

technicalities, the skills of the ukrainian pilots, how much time they are going to need, where it is going to happen, in europe, but also the delivery of these jet fighters, we don't know who is going to deliver them and how and when. and also, the efficacy of all of it, when are they going to be operational, how they are going to be effective in the battle to resist russian aggression, all of this i am sure is going to be part of the talks that president zelensky is going to have with the leaders but i must say the optics of this are quite huge. the fact that he has landed here in hiroshima already a very symbolic place to be holding the g7, he is going to stand at the centre of the world stage, making that case for his country, asking for further support. i think it is quite a big moment for the ukrainian president. mr zelensky�*s arrival comes hard on the heels of us approval

of a scheme to allow ukrainian pilots to train on american—made fi6 fighterjets. he has long campaigned for such help and described the decision as historic, but russia has already warned western countries that supplying jets to ukraine can carry �*colossal risks'. the decision is also a major shift in policy for the us, as our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, explains. for many months, the united states has been reluctant to make this change. its policymakers have said it is expensive to hand over all of these weapons, it is expensive to train them, it takes a long time, it is complicated, notjust like is complicated, not just like handing is complicated, notjust like handing over a bit of kit to the ukrainians, it involves who is going to be looking after the support, who is going to be protecting these aircraft, who is going to be doing the engineering and where is that going to happen? it is complicated. it is not simple. it is not a question ofjust handing over missiles or some other kind of weapon. but there has also been a

concern about whether it would escalate the conflict. but i think the pressure now has been put from european capitals on washington to say, we think the time for this is now right. 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 are reallyjust envisaging european f—i6 being handed over at some point, 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 the clip from jake sullivan, you noted the words, many months, long—term, this is about not short—term help for ukrainian counteroffensive, this is about beefing up its long—term air force so that it can deter future russian aggression over the long—term. and that is why it is

symbolically important because it is another commitment by the west to signal to moscow, saying, we are in for the long—term. notjust the next few months, this is about the sustained support in the years to come. , ., , ., , ., come. the question is, who is going to rovide come. the question is, who is going to provide these _ come. the question is, who is going to provide these planes? _ come. the question is, who is going to provide these planes? initially, . to provide these planes? initially, we think the _ to provide these planes? initially, we think the countries _ to provide these planes? initially, we think the countries that - to provide these planes? initially, we think the countries that are . to provide these planes? initially, i 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. at the uk is going to be getting involved in training some ukrainian pilots. at these images are president zelensky in the g7 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 reached peak support for ukraine? there is an election in the united states next year. will there be a change of leadership? we know many republicans

are less enthusiastic about giving what they sometimes call a blank cheque to kyiv. we know that there are countries in europe that ultimately will have to make difficult decisions with their electorate, some of whom are saying, should there be greater focus on their own domestic economies, rather than spending money on weapons and aid for ukraine? and people in kyiv know that. they know that time is finite and the support will not go on forever. that is why president zelensky is going to these kind of meetings and that is why you have this to send a signal to the world that we have not reached that point yet. the western alliance remains resolute. that is the image they want to get across. but as we saw from yesterday's arab league meeting, president assad 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 and i think the message that the west is trying to get into the kremlin is, we don't think the status quo will be able to survive, that actually western support will continue and it is not worth just awaiting us out because we will have greater patience and thatis we will have greater patience and that is great test, who has the greater patience, the west or the kremlin? ahead of his visit to hiroshima, president zelensky attended an arab league summit in saudi arabia. in his address, he accused some arab leaders of "turning a blind eye" to russia's invasion of ukraine. mr zelensky said some of them had failed to recognise what's happening in his country and urged the region to back ukraine against russian aggression. our correspondent, sameer hashmi, has been following zelensky�*s comments from jeddah, where the arab league summit is held. 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. authorities in iran have executed three men sentenced to death in connection with the nationwide anti—government protests last year. the men were convicted over their alleged involvement in a shooting attack that killed three security personnel in isfahan in november. amnesty international says they were subjected to unfair trials and allegedly tortured. four other protesters have been hanged since december. let's speak now to mahmood amiry—moghaddam, director of the non—profit organisation iran human rights and

professor at the university of oslo. welcome to you, professor. what more do we know about these men and what they were charged with? good morning and thank you — they were charged with? good morning and thank you for _ they were charged with? good morning and thank you for having _ they were charged with? good morning and thank you for having me. _ they were charged with? good morning and thank you for having me. these - and thank you for having me. these people as mentioned in the report, they were sentenced to death by revolutionary courts after being subjected to torture and based on confessions that came under torture. basically, they are talking about an extrajudicial killing. and the problem is that we are having a surge in the executions only in the last 20 days, more than 100 people have been executed. we have executions everyday, executions of these protesters. we hope that the international committee will show a

strong reaction and these executions will have consequences for the iranians regime, otherwise more than 100 other protesters can be in danger of being executed. henge 100 other protesters can be in danger of being executed. have the re . ime danger of being executed. have the regime responded _ danger of being executed. have the regime responded to _ danger of being executed. have the regime responded to the _ danger of being executed. have the regime responded to the criticisms | regime responded to the criticisms from the likes of amnesty international?— from the likes of amnesty international? ., ., , international? the regime normally does not respond _ international? the regime normally does not respond to _ international? the regime normally does not respond to this _ international? the regime normally does not respond to this criticism i does not respond to this criticism but what they respond to is international pressure. they respond to how countries with diplomatic relations with the islamic republic react. we remember that injanuary, the execution of two other protesters, because of the harsh reactions because of the international community, they had to stop executions but now it seems that the reactions are not as strong. these executions, so we are very concerned. lam? strong. these executions, so we are very concerned-— very concerned. why do you think that is? i really _ very concerned. why do you think

that is? i really don't _ very concerned. why do you think that is? i really don't know. - very concerned. why do you think that is? i really don't know. i- that is? i really don't know. i think the _ that is? i really don't know. i think the government - that is? i really don't know. i think the government in - that is? i really don't know. i think the government in the | that is? i really don't know. i. think the government in the uk, that is? i really don't know. i- think the government in the uk, in the u, must respond to that, because we know very well that since iran and —— iranians authorities are not arable to solve people's daily problems, they fear protests and they depend on the death penalty, executions, to spread fear in society. that is the only way they can survive. so if the political cost of this execution —— these executions is not raised, they will continue. we might face the execution of hundreds more in the coming months. i really hope that international community thinks long—term and sends a signal to the iranians regime that more executions will not be tolerated. find iranians regime that more executions will not be tolerated.— will not be tolerated. and if the aim is to indeed _ will not be tolerated. and if the aim is to indeed spread - will not be tolerated. and if the aim is to indeed spread fear - will not be tolerated. and if the aim is to indeed spread fear as| will not be tolerated. and if the . aim is to indeed spread fear as you suggest, are these executions having an impact on iran, what do we know about the protest that had been going on for so many months now?

yes, to some extent in the short—term, they have some impact. the protests are not as big as they were in earlier months. but yesterday, after the execution of these three protest is, we saw protests all over the country. it can have a backlash and the iranians regime is well aware of that. they don't have a choice. i think that the international community can play an important role to save many lives by showing the same reactions that they did in december and january. thank you very much for being with us. jakov milatovic has been sworn in as montenegro's new president. mr milatovic, a former economy minister, has promised to lead his small balkan nation into the european union within the next five years.

he's replacing meelo djukanovic — the man who dominated the tiny adriatic country's politics for more than 30 years. we will get more with our baltics correspondent a little shorty on what all of this will mean for montenegro. now, to northern ireland, where counting continues after thursday's local council elections. over half of the seats have already been filled, with sinn fein making strong gains. if its momentum is maintained, the party will replace the democratic unionists as the largest force in local government. that would be a first for an irish nationalist party. live now to our northern ireland correspondent, clodagh rice. welcome to you, good to sue you. tell us more about these results and what they will mean for northern ireland. it what they will mean for northern ireland. , ._ ., what they will mean for northern ireland. , ., ., ireland. it is day two of counting

in the local— ireland. it is day two of counting in the local council— ireland. it is day two of counting in the local council elections. . ireland. it is day two of counting | in the local council elections. we are at belfast city hall, the largest of the 11 councils. and we have about two thirds of the results so far, still waiting on about a third of the results and that could be a long night ahead. we won't get the full picture until potentially very late on this evening. the big story here so far is the surge in support for sinn fein, especially in some areas that would have been seen as typically strong hold unionist areas, places like ballymena and liz byrne. sinn fein is likely to be the largest nationalist party and that will put the democratic unionist party in second place. it's support is holding up. sinn fein gains coming at the expense of some of the smaller parties like the greens and bp uk. �* , , ., smaller parties like the greens and bpuk. , ,., _ bp uk. and will the results have any im act on bp uk. and will the results have any impact on the _ bp uk. and will the results have any impact on the stalled _ bp uk. and will the results have any impact on the stalled northern - impact on the stalled northern ireland assembly, currently not sitting, of course? i

ireland assembly, currently not sitting, of course?— ireland assembly, currently not sitting, of course? i suppose that is the big question. _ sitting, of course? i suppose that is the big question. i _ sitting, of course? i suppose that is the big question. i am - sitting, of course? i suppose that is the big question. i am sure - sitting, of course? i suppose that is the big question. i am sure the democratic unionist party would say that if their support holds up, that will show that there is a mandate for their position, which is to continue to boycott having an executive in the absence of a power—sharing government, but that'll be the big question after these results. they will be a lot of calls for the return of an executive but it is really not necessarily any more likely today than it was yesterday. more likely today than it was yesterday-— more likely today than it was esterda . ., ~ , . ., yesterday. thank you very much for that undate- _ 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. 0ne, elon musk, has made his fortune

by transferring 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 jeff bezos are building rockets and spacecraft to get humanity off earth. nasa has already teamed with elon musk and his space x 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 prigin 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 will stop when astronauts go back, it will be four 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, notably all records and spacecraft, and what elon musk and jeff bezos learn at the moon they hope to take on to mars. live now to our balkans correspondent guy de launey. take us through who the new president is. it is a huge change in the political scene. it is

president is. it is a huge change in the political scene.— the political scene. it is a bout -- ve bi the political scene. it is a bout -- very big change- _ the political scene. it is a bout -- very big change. we _ the political scene. it is a bout -- very big change. we have - the political scene. it is a bout -- very big change. we have the - the political scene. it is a bout -- very big change. we have the old | very big change. we have the old president and the new president sitting side by side at the inauguration. the former president sitting there thin left while next to him, a much younger man, just 36 years old, all smiles and laughs. but i did notice he was being offered a few words of advice. he knows the way around the job backwards, i would suspect, after all this time in charge. it is such all this time in charge. it is such a big change because if you are looking at this region, he was the one constant, everything else changed. there were conflicts, countries changing names, all sort of things going on, but the person in charge would be him. and that is no longer the case. it is a very big deal indeed. tell

no longer the case. it is a very big deal indeed-— no longer the case. it is a very big deal indeed. tell us what milatovic will brin: deal indeed. tell us what milatovic will bring to _ deal indeed. tell us what milatovic will bring to the _ deal indeed. tell us what milatovic will bring to the role _ deal indeed. tell us what milatovic will bring to the role in _ deal indeed. tell us what milatovic will bring to the role in the - will bring to the role in the country. will bring to the role in the count . , will bring to the role in the country-— will bring to the role in the count . , , , ., ., country. he is the deputy leader of a -a country. he is the deputy leader of a party called _ country. he is the deputy leader of a party called europe _ country. he is the deputy leader of a party called europe now. - country. he is the deputy leader of a party called europe now. you - country. he is the deputy leader ofj a party called europe now. you can imagine the sort of things he is promising. he has already said me and my party are going to ensure that montenegrojoins and my party are going to ensure that montenegro joins the european union within the next five years. that is highly ambitious and extreme the optimistic. the country is already in negotiations and has been for more than a decade now. milatovic does have the economic chops. he has worked with european bank on construction and development. he has links to the united states and oxford university in the united kingdom. he has worked with big banks like deutsche bank. he says if anybody can put in the reforms and get us closer to european union membership, it is going to be big. that is the goal and that is what we are promising. thank you. 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 in february 2022 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 from the fans when i came out was amazing. the players... i definitely feel it, and i felt it

when i was over there, still. every single lady in this league, coach, that reached out, did anything, you know, i felt that. 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 2a years old but she has a certain air of self—confidence. she is a fan of the beautiful game but never kicked a ball in anger. she is a referee and notjust any referee. translation: i have been a referee since 2016. i started the referee training and went for a local and national tests and no i passed and i managed to

referee. it has been a tough journey for rachel. her mother abandoned the family not long after her father, her biggest cheerleader, died. but she has not let it hold her back, a fact appreciated by everyone who knows. translation: i saw her meteoric rise. when i heard she was going to become a fifa referee, i thought it was well—deserved. everyone is proud. rachel hopes she will be an inspiration to others, especially other women. who she says much fight —— must fight to achieve their goals. as long as they follow the rules, of course, rachel will make sure of that. let's briefly take you to montenegro. the new president is being sworn in. there he is clapping hands in the middle. milatovic's victory in the presidential election was a massive watershed moment. they

have had the former president in powerfor 30 years. we have had the former president in power for 30 years. we will bring you more on that, do stay with us on bbc news. thank you for watching. quite a defined split in weather conditions across the uk this weekend. that shows up quite nicely in the satellite imagery, also showing this mass of cloud spreading across italy. that'll produce more flash flooding and tomorrow. across scotland on northern ireland, this strip of cloud will bring grey skies, can peddle better conditions in england and wales. the cloud will thin, allowing hazy sunshine. sickening later on. bringing outbreaks of rain. and that will limit uv levels but some strong sunshine over head for england and this afternoon. top temperatures in

the west, 21, 20 two celsius. the easterly breeze makes the coasts rather cooler. the rain turns heavier and more extensive in scotland and northern ireland tonight. fizzling a little bit later on. temperatures in double figures overnight. but a fresh start tomorrow in england and wales. some mist and fog patches. but a bit more cloud in the far south—east corner. isolated chance of some sea fog stopped scotland and northern ireland another cloudy day. temperatures still in the lota mid—teens here, but getting into the low 20s in western areas of england and wales. 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 are on the edge of it and that means we will see whether france toppling in over northern areas bringing showers. —— weather fronts. a little bit more cloud for england and but still plenty of sunshine. the area of high pressure is there or thereabouts through much of this week. still weather france had in northern scotland on wednesday. but for many of the week ahead goes out on a fairly dry note. sunny spells and temperatures in the high teens and temperatures in the high teens and low 20s.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the uk prime minister rishi sunak has met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky on the sidelines of the g7 summit in hiroshima. mr zelensky says that 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 adviser, jake sullivan, said it reflected the desire for stable relations with beijing , but also provided tools to address concerns. protests have been held overnight in several cities in iran in response to the execution of three men on friday, who were convicted in connection with the recent wave of mass anti—government demonstrations.

the executions have been condemned internationally.