live from london, this is bbc news. ukraine's president zelensky rejects russia's claim that it is in control of the embattled city of bakhmut. translation: bakhmut is not occupied i by russian federation as of today. i there are no two or three interpretations of those words. president biden says the us will not waver in its support for ukraine as he confirms a new package of military aid. the g7 reaffirmed our shared and unwavering, i will say it again, our shared and unwavering commitment to stand with the brave people of ukraine. calls for the uk home secretary suella braverman to be investigated following claims she asked civil servants to help her avoid a speeding fine.

saudi arabia is set to make history as the country sends its first ever female astronaut to the international space station. hello and welcome to bbc news. good to have you with us. a defiant ukrainian president, volodymr zelensky, has told the g7 summit in hiroshima that russia does not occupy the embattled city of bakhmut. it comes after conflicting reports of who is now in control of the eastern city. russian president putin has congratulated the wagner mercenary group of capturing the city. but that's been rejected by ukraine. and this follows confirmation from president biden that the united states and partners will help train ukrainian pilots to fly fourth generation fighters such as the f—16.

president zelensky has long called for such jets to better fight russia's full invasion of ukraine. our asia pacific correspondent laura bicker sent this report from hiroshima. this president knows the cost of war. as he paid tribute to the victims of the hiroshima bombing, he needed no reminderfrom this sombre city of what can happen when a bitter conflict leads to the use of a nuclear weapon. he is building relationships with the us president and others to ensure this does not happen in ukraine. together with the entire g7, we have ukraine's back, and i promise we're not going anywhere. the calculated risk to fly so far from kyiv appears to have been worth it. translation: we really have been working for a long time politically i with our partners to get the desired outcome of the strengthening of our skies. besides air defence we are grateful for that, we are really grateful to the united states of america as the leaders in the support

of this sphere and other partners of ours. further on, we have several months for the training of our pilots and we will be working for these people to be as educated as possible, as trained and experienced as possible. and today washington confirmed that it has given the green light to training on much longed for combatjets. the united states together with our allies and partners is going to begin training ukrainian pilots in fourth generation fighter aircraft, including f—16s, to strengthen ukraine's air force as part of a long—term commitment to ukraine's ability to defend itself. president biden has also guaranteed anti—tank weapons and more ammunition but what we don't know, what we don't have is any cast—iron guarantee about who will provide these f—16s or combatjets. and that is crucial because it will take time to train them and president zelensky says, this is what could turn

the tide of this war. one by one, face—to—face, mr zelensky has pushed for breakthroughs. the seating plan may have been deliberate, the indian prime minister, who has refused to condemn russia's invasion. moscow may have hoped that they could wait out the west, that interest and support for the war would wane. the message coming from the world's richest democracies are they are in this for the long haul. laura bicker, bbc news, hiroshima. as we've been hearing, ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has rejected claims by russia that it has occupied bakhmut. here he is explaining why ukraine cannot share the details of his strategy in bakhmut. translation: the hardest is when, if bakhmut had some military - tactical mistake, for instance, and people could be surrounded. then, all the military know what could happen.

how we could create the situation for people not to be captured. now our people are accomplishing a very important mission. they are now in bakhmut. i will not share exactly where exactly but it witnesses that bakhmut is not occupied by russian federation, as of today. colonel richard kemp is a retired british army commander and defence analyst. speaking to me from kyiv, he explained that ukrainian troops were still fighting on the outskirts of bakhmut. i was in that area myself a day or so ago and i spoke to many ukrainian commanders and soldiers who have been fighting in bakhmut, in some cases for many months. the reality is i think that the vast majority of the city, the city itself, has now been captured by the russians but the ukrainian forces are still fighting them. in some cases they are taking ground back from the russians on the flanks, on the external parts of the city.

i think while the russians, as far as i can work out, appear to be in main control of the city that doesn't mean to say that they're now in a position to launch a further operation from there. i think they're still being tied down by the ukrainian forces in the area. so, mixed narratives there coming from various sides. can you help us better understand the importance of this area? because as i understand it, bakhmut is not strategically important but symbolically it certainly is. i think it was very symbolically important for the russians because they haven't scored any kind of significant victory for a very long time now and they have been proclaiming bakhmut as a place they're going to capture for the best part of a year, since they've been trying. and so, you know, they will certainly be selling this as a strategic victory back in russia. as far as ukraine is concerned, a loss

of any ukrainian territory is a blow to the country. but i don't think it's a strategic blow. i think that potentially it does open up the opportunity for russia to advance further to the west in donetsk province and maybe even approaching the other two major cities in donetsk, of kramatorsk and sloviansk. but if they're not able to do that then it means little has been achieved in bakhmut for them and as things appear at the moment, the ukrainians are still very actively bottling up the russians in that area. colonel richard kemp speaking to me a short time ago from kyiv. violence broke out on the sidelines of the g7 summit as riot police wrestled people protesting the meeting of world leaders to the ground. the demonstration was organised by the far left extremist revolutionary communist league national committee, which denounces the g7 summit as a conference of "imperialism for nuclear war".

whilst ukraine has been a major focus at the g7 summit, china has also been on the agenda. president biden stressed the joint decision by the g7 nations to "de—risk and diversify" from the beijing government. we are not looking to decouple from china. we are looking to de—risk and diversify. our relationship with china. that means taking steps to diversify our supply chains and we are not dependent on any one country for necessary products. it means resisting economic coercion together and countering harmful practices for our workers. it means protecting the narrow set of advanced technologies critical for our national security. and those elements are all agreed on by the g7. we can nowjoin chinese politics and history professor rana mitter

from the university of oxford. good to have you with us. what do you make of the terminology being used, economic coercion? i you make of the terminology being used, economic coercion?- you make of the terminology being used, economic coercion? ithink it has been very _ used, economic coercion? ithink it has been very carefully _ used, economic coercion? ithink it has been very carefully phrased - has been very carefully phrased because what it is doing is suggesting the greatest power that china might have in the next five to seven years is not necessarilyjust the build—up of its military strength, which has been very visible with warship, navy and so forth in the last few years, but actually the fact that china is such actually the fact that china is such a powerful actor, particularly in asia, as an economic power. in other words, when you think about trade agreements, the capacity control supply change and the exports and imports, china is at the heart of all that and the g7 is trying to find new ways to make sure that china can't dominate those trade networks. �* ,., , ., ., networks. and so stemming from that, china, the world's _ networks. and so stemming from that, china, the world's second _ networks. and so stemming from that, china, the world's second largest - china, the world's second largest economy, the g7 leaders really have

to tread carefully here. what is the solution going forward in their eyes? solution going forward in their e es? , ., ., ., “ solution going forward in their e es? , ., ., ~ , eyes? they are looking at the key areas in which _ eyes? they are looking at the key areas in which china _ eyes? they are looking at the key areas in which china either- eyes? they are looking at the key areas in which china either has i areas in which china either has greater strength and dominance or is seeking to achieve it. in terms of economics, which the g7 is primarily concerned with, this means areas like energy. china has a lot of dominance of the green energy market. things like solar panels are largely made globally speaking in china. i think president biden�*s statement that you had in your package is trying to make the case that the us and other countries need to diversify their sources of that. also think about 5g. the internet of things is going to be at the heart of the economies of the 20 30s. right now it is chinese companies that really have dominance in that particular area, that really have dominance in that particulararea, not that really have dominance in that particular area, notjust in asia, but a large part of the emerging markets in south america and africa as well. it is those market opportunities that the g7 is pointing at when it makes these points. pointing at when it makes these oints. ~ . . pointing at when it makes these oints. ~ ., ., ., .,

points. what are we hearing from bei'ina in points. what are we hearing from beijing in response _ points. what are we hearing from beijing in response to _ points. what are we hearing from beijing in response to the - points. what are we hearing from beijing in response to the various j beijing in response to the various comments coming out of the summit? beijing is not happy at the language thatis beijing is not happy at the language that is being used. they have been speaking for years about the us encouraging what they call the cold war mentality, another was the idea you have to choose between either china and the us, although china itself is not above playing that game either. in this case, what they are doing is flagging up to third—party countries, places like the emerging markets of south africa, africa and latin america, that they should not be coerced by american interests into rejecting china. so cold war is the metaphor they are choosing to use at the moment to push back.- they are choosing to use at the moment to push back. thank you so much. professor— moment to push back. thank you so much. professor of _ moment to push back. thank you so much. professor of chinese - moment to push back. thank you so much. professor of chinese politics | much. professor of chinese politics and history from the university of 0xford's china centre. good to have you with us. also at the g7 summit in hiroshima, the british prime minister has been asked about the uk home secretary suella braverman. that's following claims she requesterd a private speed awareness course,

to avoid points on her driving licence, after she was caught speeding last summer. now opposition parties are urging mr sunak to launch an ethics investigation. this report from our political correspondent, charlotte rose. the issue at play here isn't the speeding fine itself, but whether suella braverman used her position to try and avoid doing a speed awareness course with other members of the public. the government doesn't dispute that she approach to civil servants to try and book a one—to—one session, but was told they couldn't get involved. in the end, she paid the fine and took the points. her team believe that's the end of the matter and deny there has been any breach of the ministerial code. the prime minister was asked at the g7 summit earlier if he would launch an investigation. i don't know the full details of what has happened nor have i spoken to the home secretary, you can see first—hand what i've been doing over the last day or so. but i understand she has expressed regret for speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine.

but speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg show, a former party chairman said he would welcome more information. it certainly brings into question, i think, the use of civil servants. so i think there's definitely questions to be answered. let's see what is said, i guess it will be in the house of commons, an urgent question or a statement on monday, let's see what is said there. one of our viewers wants to know, they have e—mailed in today, - why do government ministers think. they are above the rules and can ask for that kind of special treatment? i don't think ministers do think they are above the rules. some people have recently lost their licence and some people are getting fines. we have seen that across all walks of public life. opposition parties seem unwilling to let the issue drop. what is going on in this government? he should never have appointed her in the first place, he has been too weak to sack her for incompetence, and now he's so weak, he won't even call an inquiry. suella braverman will have to face mps when she answers home office

questions in the commons tomorrow afternoon, and there will be questions too for the prime minister on his return from the g7. the bbc understands he was not previously aware of the matter. charlotte rose, bbc news. greeks are voting under a new electoral system with opinion polls suggesting no single party will win an overall majority. kyriakos mitsotakis, of the centre—right new democracy, has cast his vote in athens. he is hoping to stay in power in the face of the challenge from former prime minister alexis tsipras and his left—wing syriza party. polls will close in the next hour or so. polls will close in the next hour or so. nick beake sent us this update. this is a constituency in the heart of the capital where, four years ago, most people voted for the centre—right new democracy party. it went on to win the election and has been ruling greece ever since. i want to show you the backdrop at this particular polling station because as views go,

it's not a bad one. the acropolis, there it is, looming over the voters who are casting their ballots today. for many people, the symbol of ancient greece, the birthplace of democracy. today's voters will be making their way along here into what is a school and talking of schools and younger people, i7—year—olds, people who celebrate their 17th birthday this year, are able to vote, for the first time. what will be in their minds? well, it's probably what's in the minds of the young and the old because a cost of living election is what people are saying this is. we've seen this in other countries, haven't we, over the past few months or so. the fact that people are saying the money they have in their pocket doesn't go as far as it used to. the cost of products when they go to the supermarket, the cost has gone up. that's something which is important. also, specific to greece in this election has been the awful train crash that we saw at the end of february. 57 people were killed,

most of them students. and critics of the government said that showed not only a defective rail network but also symbolised wider failings within the greek state. there's also been what people have called greece's watergate, a wiretapping scandal and again the government has been trying to bat away criticism. but the opinion polls show that the ruling mitsotakis government will probably be the first party in the elections, will come top, but they've changed the system here so that means they will no longer get a bonus of 50 parliamentary seats. the outcome, therefore, according to analysts will be either a coalition government being formed in the days to come or much more likely greeks will be back to the ballot box later in the summer. now it's time for a look at today's sport. on a day where they'll lift the premier league trophy for the third consecutive season the champions manchester city are playing chelsea

in their final home game. it's currently 1—0 with a quarter of an hour played. at the other end of the table, contrasting fortunes for leeds united, sam allardyce's side, who are on the brink of relegation after a 3—1 defeat at west ham. it leaves them third from bottom on 31 points with just one game to play, two points behind everton who are 17th. we play, two points behind everton who are 17th. ~ . ,, play, two points behind everton who are 17th. ~ , ,, , play, two points behind everton who are17th.~ , ,, , play, two points behind everton who are 17th. ~ , ,, , ., ~ are 17th. we slipped up last week when we could _ are 17th. we slipped up last week when we could have _ are 17th. we slipped up last week when we could have won - are 17th. we slipped up last week when we could have won against| when we could have won against newcastle and today we haven't shown the quality that was needed when we had the opportunity to get a result today. so next week has to be much, much better than those two games to beat tottenham. that is all we can do. all the players need to do is roll their sleeves up and place themselves in the right way and try and beat tottenham and hope as a

result has gone in our favour. brighton and hove albion are assured of playing in euope next season after beating relegated southampton 3—1 at the amex. 18—year—old evan ferguson scored twice for the albion, with pascal gross adding a third. brighton are sixth with two games to play. they host manchester city on wednesday before finishing off the season away to aston villa on sunday. borussia dortmund can go top of the bundesliga if they win at augsburg, with kick off ten minutes away. it follows leaders bayern munich�*s defeat on saturday. rb leipzig came from a goal down to win 3—1 and throw the title race wide open again. if dortmund win their two remaining games they will end bayern�*s ten year run of winning the title. in italy, two sides just outside the relegation zone, lecce and spezia, finished goalless. midtable torino and fiorentina are goalless.

later inter milan can go second if they beat the champions napoli and lazio can strengthen their hold on a top four place with a win at udinese. in spain second from bottom rayo vallacano were beaten 2—1 at home by espanyol. atletico madrid lead osasuna by i—0. real madrid are away at valencia later. severe take on real betis. severe take on real betis. next to the final round of the us pga championship at oak hill in upstate new york where the leader brooks koepka will tee off in around three hours with a one shot lead. the four time major champions is on 6 under par. viktor hovland and corey conners are just a shot behind with fellow american bryson dechambeau on 3 under. rory mcilroy is five shots off the lead. koepka, who says he choked when he led at the masters last month, is the man to catch.

he's hoping to win his third pga title. it would mean a lot. i think a major championship would mean a lot to anybody. so, yeah, to win one would be fantastic. i was just told that i think only tiger and jack have won three, so it would be pretty special to be in a list category with them. just got to go out and play good tomorrow. there was a shock of sorts for katie taylor, who lost her unbeaten record in her hometown with england's chantelle cameron producing a stunning win to retain her undisputed title in dublin. it's taylor's first professional loss. i guess ijust came a bit short and in a very close fight, but this is boxing and i always wanted to take the challenging is on and i look forward to a rematch. andy murray has withdrawn from the forthcoming french open. the 36—year—old three—time grand slam winner says he want to concentrate on the grass

court season building up to wimbledon. murray has only played at roland garros once since 2017. we have that men's final in the rome masters to come. we have that men's final in the rome masters to come. and that's all the sport for now. there have been reports of fighting in sudan despite rival generals agreeing to a temporary ceasefire. previous truce attempts between sudan's regular army and the para—military rapid support forces have tended to collapse within minutes of beginning. but the new deal which starts on monday is enforced by a "ceasefire monitoring mechanism". the bbc�*sjewel kiriungi is following developments. with this particular ceasefire agreement it is backed by the united states and saudi arabia who say there will be an international ceasefire monitoring mechanism that will ensure that the parties of this ceasefire agreement actually honour it.

what we've seen is that the citizens are sceptical because so many previous attempts at reaching a truce have not yielded much. it's expected that with the coming days we will wait to see if the air strikes of the types we have been witnessing shall come to an end. a lot of questions still. we saw only weeks ago thousands of people making their way to port sudan, making their way to egypt by land. it was evident that the humanitarian situation was extremely serious. paint us a picture of what it's like now on the ground. well, the aid agencies we've spoken to say they have really struggled to get humanitarian assistance to some of the affected areas. it's expected that this particular ceasefire will allow humanitarian access and we will also see the withdrawal of armed forces from essential facilities such as hospitals which have been trying

to take care of some of the people affected. there have been reports of mass looting as there are shortages of essential items such as food, money and cash. so we are waiting to see whether this particular ceasefire will actually allow humanitarian assistance to some of the affected communities. the latest from sudan. a woman from saudi arabia will make history later when she blasts off from florida to spend 10 days on board the international space station. rayyanah barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will become the first saudi woman to voyage into space. she will be joined on the mission by fellow saudi ali al-qarni who's a fighter pilot. well, a little while ago i spoke to sameer hashmi who is injuddah, saudi arabia, who told us a bit more about his mission. well, as you mentioned, rayyanah barnawi is a researcher, a cancer researcher, and she is going to become the first arab woman actually to go into space,

which is why this whole trip is very historic notjust for saudi arabia but for the arab world. and ali alqarni has been a fighter pilot for a long time. saudi arabia connected wide research before they refined these two names. they have been working on this project for a while now because they want to make space as a critical plan of their programme to diversify their economy and modernise their economy as they try to move away from oil. so there was... they have done a lot of interviews, screened a lot of profiles before they finalised these names and it is indeed an historic day for south arabia because it will be its first foray into space mission in almost a0 years. they're not the first saudis to make this trip. in 1985, sulman al salman, prince sulman al salman, who is the half brother of the current crown prince mohammed bin salman and the son

of the current king, king salman, had also made a trip in the arabsat one satellite in 1985. so, but nevertheless, given that saudis are now trying to re—enter space after such a long time, it's pretty significant for the country. so their ambitions are deep—rooted. i would like to learn more about her and how significant it is not, not just for saudi arabia and the region as a whole, but that they have this female going into space. yes. as a whole, but that they have this female going into space.— female going into space. yes, it is very significant — female going into space. yes, it is very significant because _ female going into space. yes, it is very significant because she - female going into space. yes, it is very significant because she is - female going into space. yes, it is very significant because she is the| very significant because she is the first arab woman to do that. but i think the point is it showcases the ambition notjust of saudi arabia, but of the region. we have the uae, they became the fifth country in the world to successfully launch a mission to mars in 2020. just three years ago they had the first marathi who went to the iss. last month we

had the first arab to undertake a spacewalk. this clearly demonstrates for the arab countries, especially saudi arabia and the uae, they have ambition when it comes to space programmes and they see this as playing a key part as they try to move away and diversify their economies and i see a lot of opportunities on this front. you will see a lot more action from this region. you are watching bbc news. there is a lot of fine weather to come across the uk in the week ahead — our good old friend high pressure building up from the azores. some areas may catch a few showers but those will be in the minority.

in the sunshine, many will end up feeling rather warmer, actually, particularly in contrast to recent days. here is the high pressure stretching up from the azores. you can see it wobbles about day on day, and those changes in wind direction will have subtle effects on how the weather plays out. low pressure to the north occasionally trailing its weather fronts south, giving the increased chance of a shower in one 01’ two areas. here's how we end sunday afternoon in terms of our temperatures. 20, 21 across many parts of england and wales, 16 for scotland and northern ireland, where we've had the tail end of a weather front around here through sunday daytime, and it will continue to slowly slip south overnight sunday. very little rain, though, in association with that. if anything, perhaps a greater chance of the odd punchier shower across east anglia thanks to something a little more unsettled out in the north sea. just 4 degrees for newcastle. clear skies, light winds underneath that ridge high pressure taking into monday. here's the high on monday. as you can see, just trying to continue pushing east, sending those showers further east

into the north sea. could be the odd shower around early on, though, across parts of east anglia and i think we'll keep a little more cloud for lincolnshire, east anglia and into the south—east through the day. the weather front makes its way south, weakening all the while, but what it mightjust do is enable a few showers to break out across northern england on monday afternoon, the odd punchier one maybe, most likely for high ground across the pennines. 20, 21 in the sunshine again on monday, a little warmer in scotland and northern ireland because there will be more sunshine here. we are looking at a glorious week ahead for the chelsea flower show, a lot of fine weather to come, just a bit of a dip in temperatures on tuesday. that could be the case for many parts of england and wales. little bit of a change of wind direction, pulling in something a little cooler off the north sea, and the chance of a little more cloud around. instead of 20 or 21, we are looking at 18—19. scotland and northern ireland, 16—17. as the week plays out, high pressure stays with us so, aside from the risk of the odd

shower across scotland and northern ireland courtesy of the tail end of some weather fronts, very little rain to speak of through the week ahead.

this is bbc news, the headlines. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky says russia does not occupy the embattled city of bakhmut.

it comes after conflicting reports of who is now in control of the eastern city.