live from london, this is bbc news. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky meets uk prime minister rishi sunak at the g7 summit injapan. russia hits back at a deal to supply ukraine with f—16fighterjets — saying it's fraught with "massive risks" for the west. in northern ireland, the republican political party sinn fein is on track to become the largest party in local government. 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. energy bills for a typical household are expected to fall rom july, are expected to fall from july, according to new forecasts.

hello, i'm mark lobel. ukraine's president zelensky has arrived injapan, where he's meeting world leaders at the g7 summit. he's said that "peace will become closer", after the us agreed to train ukrainian pilots on american f—16 fighterjets, paving the way for european countries to supply the warplanes to kyiv. moscow said western countries will be running "colossal risks" if the jets are sent to ukraine. our political editor, chris mason, reports from hiroshima. the airport here has welcomed rather a few leaders in the last few days. and here came another one. after a tour of europe and a trip to the middle east, president zelensky arrived in japan today. long haul diplomacy amid a long, drawn out war and ongoing pleas for help. they met on monday in the uk

and they met again here. the president and the prime minister made it. ukraine's leader said enhanced cooperation would bring victory for him and claimed peace is closer and closer to peace. for months, ukraine has been asking for warplanes and in particular, these fighter jets, f—165. america, which makes them, has now said its allies who have them can give them to ukraine. the uk doesn't have any of these planes, but is one of several countries, including the us, that will help the ukrainian air force. the united states will support a joint effort to train ukrainian pilots on fourth generation fighter aircraft, including f—165. we have turned to discussions about improving the ukrainian air force as part of our long term commitment to ukraine's self defence. this is unquestionably a big win for ukraine, securing the first stage

of what it's long hoped for, the training of its pilots with the expectation that the planes themselves will follow. and president zelensky is the centre of attention here and that sends a pretty blunt message to moscow. but not everyone is a straightforward cheerleader for ukraine. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, has never condemned russia's invasion. the g7 leaders gathered for what's known as their family photo this afternoon. they'll have more talks with volodymyr zelensky throughout the weekend. chris mason, bbc news, in hiroshima. our political editor, chris mason, in hiroshima. chris was there for that embrace between prime minister rishi sunak and president zelensky. i asked chris about the moment zelensky gave the pilot's helmets,

and the fact that chet had been given permission to be handed over to ukraine. ,, . . given permission to be handed over to ukraine. ,, ., . ., _ . to ukraine. search a symbolic moment. _ to ukraine. search a symbolic moment, back _ to ukraine. search a symbolic moment, back in _ to ukraine. search a symbolic moment, back in february . to ukraine. search a symbolic moment, back in february in| to ukraine. search a symbolic. moment, back in february in the british parliament when volodymyr zelensky address parliamentarians and had that fighter pilot's helmut under his arm. even sceptics in that audience, according to the scale of it, were blown away by the power of the argument. here we are several months later and a big stepping stone cross towards that moment actually arriving. in that context, the response inevitable, coming from moscow, that suggestion that this involvement of western aircraft and ukrainian pilots amounts to a significant potential escalation, that it could be dangerous. striking moscow is using the language publicly because it was those

concerns that had led to some reticent in the west. to get to this point, the sanctioning by america of the training of pilots on f—i6jets, and that there are ukrainian pilots in european owned jets very soon, or at least in the coming months. as far as the atmosphere is concerned, the arrival of volodymyr zelensky has grabbed the limelight of the summit, the subject of plenty of speculation. now he is here touring one delegation after another, he would dominate the agenda for the remaining next—day. that is hugely valuable for him, not because it is surprising, because there are plenty who support his cause. but more they are willing to sign up to something that amounts to doing more than

offered so far, adds amounts to something guaranteed to be long—term. it can't be short—term because of the time it takes to train pilots and the time to acquire thejets. he has that longer term, as he sees it, improvement in support from members of the g7 and elsewhere, and a chance to try and persuade some of those leaders, whether they be from india, brazil or elsewhere, up to now have not been as supportive as they may have hoped, and some valuable face time, as opposed tojust hoped, and some valuable face time, as opposed to just a phone call, to try and make their case. zelensky�*s visit to hiroshima comes after the us announced it would allow allies to give fighter jets to ukraine, including f—i6 fighterjets. the ukrainian president 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".

james landale has more. not surprisingly, it's been welcomed. asking for f—i6s is something that's become a very familiar chorus, heard notjust from the sort of shuttle diplomacy of president zelensky, but also other senior figures, members of this government, wherever they are in the world, they always ask for more military support in the air. and that's for a very simple reason. it's because the air above us is a contested space. we know that ukraine has a lot of air defenses, but as we experienced here ourselves last night, you know, it is a battlefield. the air is frequently filled with missiles and drones from russia that pose a real threat almost on a daily basis to the people of ukraine. yes, the air defense has managed to shoot down most of them, but ukraine is painfully aware that it does not command the authority of the skies. so it wants to be able to do that.

and that has to be in the long term, not in the short term, even if it's going to take time for ukrainian pilots to be trained for these planes to be delivered. and so i think what we're talking about here is a long term commitment, one that's designed for not in the short term, any kind of counteroffensive, but a future defense commitment from the west and the long term. the g7 members are grappling with the challenges posed by russia's invasion of ukraine during this summit injapan, as well as tensions with china. the leaders have issued a communique setting out a common strategy towards future dealings with the world's second—largest economy. they said any malign actor trying to, as they put it, "weaponise" economic dependence would fail. but they insisted their policy was not designed to harm china or thwart its economic progress. the joint statement did warn against what it described as china's "militarisation" in the south china sea.

it also urged beijing to pressure moscow to end its war in ukraine. china's foreign ministry has expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the g7 communique. ukraine's military has denied claims by the leader of russia's wagner mercenary group that its forces are now in full control of the fiercely contested ukrainian city of bakhmut. the claim came after the group posted a video on social media showing yevgeny prigozhin and his men in combat fatigues, holding flags against the backdrop of ruined buildings. mr prigozhin alleged that they had no help from regular russian forces, saying the top brass had turned the war into their personal entertainment. mr prigozhin made claims of fully controlling bakhmut before,

but each time they were disproved by the ukrainians. that is what the ukrainians are claiming, they are suggesting those claims the full capture of bakhmut by the wagner group is being denied by the wagner group is being denied by ukraine. 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. protests were held overnight in several cities in iran in response to the latest executions and videos posted online show people chanting slogans denouncing the government as murderers. to find out more on the latest,

we are joined now by bbc persian�*s parham ghobadi. thank you forjoining us. what is the latest on this? figs thank you forjoining us. what is the latest on this?— thank you forjoining us. what is the latest on this? as you can see, the latest on this? as you can see, the protesters. _ the latest on this? as you can see, the protesters, we've _ the latest on this? as you can see, the protesters, we've got - the latest on this? as you can see, the protesters, we've got their - the protesters, we've got their pictures, were executed on friday, and protests erupted in their home time of isfahan and in other cities, including the capital. it was not the first protest, on wednesday iranians expected they would be executed, so they went in front of the prison and were faced with tear gas. thenjudiciaries the prison and were faced with tear gas. then judiciaries said they had no plans to execute these three protesters on thursday. however, they heard the execution on friday morning. the chilling account of the

families have also infuriated iranian protesters. we received an audio message from the mother of one of these men, he was saying his father was put in handcuffs and are not allowed to hold any funeral or ceremonies. an audio message from inside the prison, from one of these men, the youngest of them, he sent a message saying he was tortured to confess, to give false confessions. he was threatened that iranian authorities would hang two of his brothers as well as him, and he was threatened with sexual violence. a combination of these has infuriated iranians people. and the secrecy as well. they didn't have a final meeting, the families were not aware of the execution and they were buried in three different, remote

cemeteries, so people can't gather and stage protests. like i said, families were not aware, they were notified later, after the executions.— notified later, after the executions. ., , ., ., executions. you been monitoring international _ executions. you been monitoring international reaction. _ executions. you been monitoring international reaction. what - executions. you been monitoringj international reaction. what have ou international reaction. what have you found? _ international reaction. what have you found? amnesty _ international reaction. what have| you found? amnesty international international reaction. what have - you found? amnesty international and human rights organisations have denounced the execution because there were suspicions of conducting torture on these three young men. this is not the first time we hear the people were facing execution in iran, subjected to torture. there was another case a few months ago, that the person was subjected to three mock executions in order to give false confessions against himself. all of these people were somehow in cases that related to murdering iranians security forces. authorities want to give messages to

their supporters and opponents. they want to say to their supporters they have their bar, we will take the revenge. to their opponents, they want to instilfear, but revenge. to their opponents, they want to instil fear, but the strategy does not work because every time a protest happens, iranians are becoming more and more fearless as one of their slogans they chanted, which was if we don't get united, we don't become one, we will get killed, one by one. now, to northern ireland, where sinn fein is on course to be the largest party in local government in northern ireland for the first time. it has continued to make gains on the second day of counting in council elections. a62 seats are being contested. i've been speaking to our ireland correspondent emma vardy and i asked her why sinn fein�*s message seems to have resonated so well. we're about three quarters of the way through the counting, second day of counting here, and yesterday morning.

the picture was becoming pretty clear yesterday though and sinn fein�*s positionjust being cemented hour by hour, today as well. don't forget, sinn fein, their ultimate aim is to leave the uk and join up with the irish republic to create a united ireland but they don't put this front and centre of their campaign. they try to broaden their appeal, talk to people about issues that affect everybody, but something that has particularly benefited them this time around has been the situation not in local councils but up in stormont, the devolved government, where their rivals, the dup, the largest unionist party, have been blocking a return to power—sharing. they have been boycotting devolved government there because of the dup�*s opposition to the brexit arrangements, but that stalemate at stormont, that has left northern ireland without a government for a year, has, of course, frustrated many voters and many in nationalist communities have been energised to come out and vote. they have been uniting behind sinn fein to try to send a strong message about their frustrations at stormont.

that has benefited sinn fein, seeing them pick up these seats. meanwhile, the dup�*s vote has largely held up. they will see that as a sign of support for their tough stance and their holding out on power—sharing at stormont. but also, the unionist vote has been somewhat splintered, some people breaking off, going to a harder line party, the tuv. so while the dup�*s vote has held up, conversely, their blocking of stormont has also energised nationalists and seen these wins for sinn fein today, which leaves them in a very strong position. some breaking news from itv, about phillip schofield. phillip schofield has stepped back from itv�*s morning show this morning, which he will present finally on thursday. there was a lot of speculation about his

future. he has to back from presenting duties. his last show was on thursday. he has finished presenting on that show. now it's time for a look at today's sport. it's been a miserable season for tottenham hotspur in the english premier league and theirfinal home game has ended in defeat. harry kane had given them the lead over brentford, as they looked to strengthen their chances of finishing in the top six and qualifying for europe but they then let in three second—half goals. in contrast, thomas frank and brentford have had another impressive season and thanks to two goals from bryan mbuemo and one from yoane wissa, they won 3—1 and stay ninth. spurs are seventh for now. interim boss ryan mason was asked for his thoughts about his players afterwards. before the game today, the one at aston villa last week. there is only

one way to act. if we can't do it, thatis one way to act. if we can't do it, that is disappointing. i5 one way to act. if we can't do it, that is disappointing.— that is disappointing. is there still ho -e that is disappointing. is there still hope you _ that is disappointing. is there still hope you will— that is disappointing. is there still hope you will qualify - that is disappointing. is there still hope you will qualify forl still hope you will qualify for europe? i still hope you will qualify for euro e? ., still hope you will qualify for euro e? . ., still hope you will qualify for euroe? . ., , , ., still hope you will qualify for euroe? . ., , ., europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands — europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands now— europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands now so _ europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands now so we _ europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands now so we have - europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands now so we have to - europe? i am not sure, it is out of our hands now so we have to see l europe? i am not sure, it is out of- our hands now so we have to see what other teams do and stay focus on trying to get a result at leeds. the rest of the games could go a long way to deciding a number of issues. manchester united are 1—0 up against bournemouth. it could be a significant day. if not then forest win, arsenal cannot be champions. in spain, villarreal needed a win to keep the pressure on the top four as they try to qualify for the champions league, and they got it beating girona it's 2—1. getafe can move out

of the bottom three if they win at relegated elche. champions barcelona play fourth place real sociedad in the late game. three games in italy's serie a, cremonese have to beat bologna if they're to have any hope of avoiding relegation. they're currenly losing 3—0. later ac milan will look to put the disappointment of losing their champions league semi final behind them, they play relegated sampdoria and need a win to keep their hopes of finishing in the top four alive. next, to the third round of the us pga championship at oak hill country club in upstate new york. the leaders will go out later and it's a three—way tie at the top. scottie scheffler�*s sharing top spot with viktor hovland and corey connors at 5—under par. scheffler and connors, both had rounds of 68 on friday, while hovland went one better with a 67. scheffler is looking to add a second major to his collection. brittney griner has made her competitive return

to basketball for the phoenix mercury. the american player spent 10 months in russian custody for possessing cannabis oil, before the us government struck a deal with russia. before the game, griner, the two—time olympic champion, was cheered by the crowd as she warmed up, despite being on the away team. us vice—president kamala harris attended the match and met the phoenix mercury players. griner scored 18 points but her side were beaten 9a—7i by the los angeles sparks in their season opener. it was nice to be back on court, real game and everything. the love from the fans was amazing when i came out. the players, you know, i definitely felt it. i felt it when i was over there still, every single coach in this league that reached out, did anything. it was nice, but performance wise, just wasn't good enough, couldn't help the team.

in tennis, holger rune — the man who knocked out novak djokovic — is into the final of the rome masters after coming from a set down to beat last year's beaten french open finalist casper ruud. meanwhile, ukraine's anhelina kalinina will face wimbledon champion elena rubyakina in the women's final later, after kalinina beat russia's veronika kudermetova in three sets, and dedicated her victory to the people of ukraine. she didn't shake hands, with kudermetova at the net, because of russia's invasion of her country. and that's all the sport for now. ia 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. to the uk now, where energy bills for a typical british household are expected to fall by nearly £450 from july, according to new forecasts. energy consultants cornwall insight predict bills could fall sharply when the new official price cap is announced by ofgem on thursday. live now to our business correspondent mark ashdown, who is in the newsroom. some good news for household? bear with me, it is complicated. this is about the off gem price cap, which has been largely irrelevant because the government put in a energy price guarantee. the cap set limits for household bills, so people on a typical bill payer won't pay more than a certain amount. it is reviewed every three months, but it has been giving £3000 a month, but because the guarantee is on, nobody has paid more than £2500. the latest

production injuly is for that cap to fall to £2031; for the average bill payer, so cheaper for most people. things flipping, and it will be important and interesting how it plays out. they are also predicting it could fall further to £1900 in october, so good news for people with an energy bill. what october, so good news for people with an energy bill.— october, so good news for people with an energy bill. what is behind the surue, with an energy bill. what is behind the surge. and _ with an energy bill. what is behind the surge, and how— with an energy bill. what is behind the surge, and how has _ with an energy bill. what is behind the surge, and how has it - with an energy bill. what is behind the surge, and how has it affected| the surge, and how has it affected people? the surge, and how has it affected --eole? ., , the surge, and how has it affected --eole? ., the surge, and how has it affected neale? ., ,, ~' people? there was a spike in the ener: people? there was a spike in the energy prices. — people? there was a spike in the energy prices. gas _ people? there was a spike in the energy prices, gas and _ people? there was a spike in the energy prices, gas and electric. l people? there was a spike in the i energy prices, gas and electric. out of covid, it shot up, and then when russia invaded ukraine. injanuary the cup peaked at almost £5,000. it was expected it could rise as high as £6,000 this year, hence why the government stepped in to public cap

guarantee, so no one has paid more than that. you could pay more than that if you use more gas and electric, thatjust caps the unit price. also prices have come down sharply, they peaked in august last year. down now to 70p, said this work the latest cup, is reflecting the fall. remember, it is high by historical standards. when the price cap started, bills were just over £1000, so even with this, it would almost be double the price. family still struggling with the rise of other bills and food prices. phillip schofield has stepped back from itv�*s flagship morning show this morning having presented his last episode

on thursday. he has written on instagram to say this morning has become the story. he said i have always been honourable and kind. i understand itv understand the situation, go on and i want to protect the show i love. he goes on to stay, i have agreed to step down with immediate effect in the hope the show can move forward to a bright future. he ends by saying i would like to thank everyone who has supported me, especially the viewers, and i will see you all for the soap awards next month. that is philips go build, who has accepted to step down —— that is philip schofield. thank you for sticking with us on bbc news. you

are up—to—date. we will have more in are up—to—date. we will have more in a moment. hello there. we've got differing fortunes across the four home nations this weekend. have a look out of the window here in west wales, beautifully sunny, feeling lovely and warm in the sunshine in light winds. move northwards into scotland, much more layered cloud. earlier on that's brought some rain, that rain tending to peter out for the most part. the cloud covers scotland and northern ireland and we're starting to see something a little bit wetter coming into the far north—west. underneath that cloud, temperatures are going to be around 16 or 17, could be a touch warmer as it brightens up in the moray firth, but in the sunshine across england and wales, temperatures reaching 20 or21. in the west a little cooler around some north sea coasts. i mentioned some rain coming into the north—west and this evening and overnight, it gets a bit wetter

for a while in scotland and northern ireland before the rain tends to peter out. could see a bit of mist, fog and low cloud again across eastern areas of england, and with clearer skies in england and wales, temperatures could be as low as four or 5 degrees. let's set the scene for sunday and we've got high pressure extending across the uk. that weather front bringing the rain overnight gets stuck in scotland and just peters out. a bit more of an east or north—easterly breeze could drag in some cloud from off the north sea, particularly into the south—east of england. there will be some sunshine around as well. still that cloud for much of scotland and northern ireland, not much rain falling, though by the afternoon and in the far north—west, there could actually be some sunshine. not necessarily going to help the temperatures, mind you. may well be a little bit cooler in scotland and northern ireland on sunday. still the warm sunshine for england and wales and those temperatures reaching 20 or 21 celsius. into next week, not too much changes really, you've still got the high pressure around on monday. another weakening weather front moves in from the atlantic, bringing very little rain. following that, the odd shower

perhaps for western scotland, perhaps northern ireland but on the whole, a lot of dry weather. plenty of sunshine for england and wales, maybe a slightly more northerly breeze on monday but those temperatures changing very little, 17 to 20 celsius. and that weather pattern continues into next week. again, high pressure is never too far away. it's going to be in the far north that we could see some weather front now and again and a stronger breeze that maybe will bring some rain. but on the whole, a lot of dry weather into next week and those temperatures are near average as well.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky meets uk prime minister rishi sunak at the g7 summit injapan. after landing, zelensky tweeted that "peace will be closer�* as a result of meetings. russia hits back at a deal to supply ukraine with f—16fighterjets — saying it's fraught with "massive risks" for the west, amid claims from the notorious wagner mercenary group that bakhmut is now under russian control. in northern ireland, the republican political party sinn fein is on track to become the largest party in local government — with calls for the return of local rule in stormont. 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.