live from london, this is bbc news. the battle for bakhmut — a mercenary group claims it controls the ukrainian city, but president zelensky tells g7 leaders that's not the case. the party of greece's prime minister, kyriakos mitsotakis, has claimed victory in sunday's elections, though the centre—right new democracy failed to win an outright majority. a historic launch — the first female astronaut from saudi arabia en route to the international space station. and it's that time of the year again — the annual chelsea flower show opens in london today.

hello, i'm sally bundock, welcome to the programme. ukraine�*s president zelensky is returning home from a meeting of g7 leaders injapan. he left the summit having secured further promises of financial and military support, including american—made f—16 fighterjets. the commander of ukraine's ground forces says they're close to surrounding the eastern city of bakhmut. ukraine has disputed the russian claims to have taken full control of the city. russia has lost thousands of men in the assault on bakhmut — many from the wagner mercenary group. our diplomtaic correspondent james landale reports from kyiv. for more than eight months, in what's now the longest battle of this war, ukrainian forces have defended bakhmut.

the eastern city is now largely in ruins and largely in russian hands — in particular in the hands of fighters like these from the wagner mercenary group, whose leader yevgeny prigozhin claimed to have full control here. "from house to house," he said, "we took the whole city". something that ukrainian commanders and leaders denied. translation: bakhmut is not occupied by the russian - federation as of today. there are not two or three ways of interpreting those words. what's clear is that tens of thousands of russians have died here. many more have been diverted from other areas. and ultimately, that may be more important than who holds the ruins. steve fish is politics professor at the university of california, berkeley.

a very warm welcome to the programme. given the latest developments, we talk about bakhmut to begin with, the debate about who has control. how likely is it that russia could have captured that city? it is possible. the ukrainians only occupy may be 10% of the city and so it is possible that prigozhin�*s forces, the wagner military group, that mercenary group that has been doing most of the fighting for russia there has captured the rest of there has captured the rest of the city. it is really not of great consequence, though. what might be more important is the fact that ukraine's forces are now basically performing a kind of pincer move on at the city, surrounding it from both sides. and in fact that they are able to do that, wagner's troops in the russian army metric that they should be city because they should be city because they might find themselves trapped. in they might find themselves tra ed. , ., they might find themselves traued. , ., , ., , trapped. in terms of strategy, that did not — trapped. in terms of strategy, that did not work _ trapped. in terms of strategy, that did not work well - trapped. in terms of strategy, that did not work well for - trapped. in terms of strategy, | that did not work well for them if it plays out that way going forward. in terms of president

zelensky, his involvement at the g7 summit in hiroshima, took us through the significance of that and what he has achieved. it significance of that and what he has achieved.— he has achieved. it is of enormous _ he has achieved. it is of enormous significance. | enormous significance. zelensky, as usual, did a terrificjob in making his country's case. he is very good at these things and came away with an even more solid western commitment to his cause than he had before. he has a way of doing this. biden made it clear he is going to send f—i6jets, which is what, something zelensky has been requesting for months now. western resolve in standing with ukraine for as long as it takes is as clear as it could possibly be, so as this war is going on, zelensky has actually been able to exact from the west more and more solid pledges of support. look, most western powers understand perfectly well that her own security is at risk here and that the ukrainians are doing the heavy lifting. and the big

threat to western support for ukraine, indeed to a kind of future world order that is ruled by notjust for us, but by law and norms that will provide some basis for the persistence of peace is keeping donald trump out of office in the united states. tratnik�*s possible return to the white housein possible return to the white house in 2025 is the one thing that could actually beat the ukrainians in the struggle —— trump's possible return. it is the one thing ukrainians and europeans are most concerned about an american should be most concerned about as well. what is president putin most concerned about? you will have seen all the events going on in hiroshima over the weekend, the g7 summit, and all the promises at ukraine is receiving. he g7 summit, and all the promises at ukraine is receiving.— at ukraine is receiving. he has obviously _ at ukraine is receiving. he has obviously been _ at ukraine is receiving. he has obviously been crushed - at ukraine is receiving. he has obviously been crushed by - at ukraine is receiving. he has l obviously been crushed by these things, but also by the way the west has reacted from the beginning. abidin has done a very good job of igniting the western alliance coming colluding the hold western

world and major leaders, including chancellor schultz of germany, by ministers of ukraine, senechaland johnson ukraine, senechal and johnson before him ukraine, senechaland johnson before him as well as at the president of france have actually come down very strongly in favour of ukraine in this. so putin has not got anything of what he wanted there. what putin is hoping for is a trump return to office or the victory of ron desantis, trump's biggest possible rival in the 2024 presidential election. desantis has made clear he sees the conflict between russia and ukraine as what he calls a territorial dispute. 0f what he calls a territorial dispute. of course the presidency by the centre saw trump would be exactly what putin wants and, in fact, i believe that is what he is holding out for because it is clear he is not going to make any headway in chipping away at the result of biden and the other leaders of western countries.—

other leaders of western countries. , , countries. 0k, very interesting to net countries. 0k, very interesting to get your _ countries. 0k, very interesting to get your take _ countries. 0k, very interesting to get your take on _ countries. 0k, very interesting to get your take on this, - countries. 0k, very interesting to get your take on this, steve j to get your take on this, steve fisher from the university of california, berkeley. so much more detail and analysis on our website, updating all the time on the very latest with regards to the war in ukraine —— steve fish from california, berkeley. let's get some of the day's other news now. the uk prime minister is to consult his ethics adviser today to discuss suella braverman�*s handling of a speeding offence. the bbc has been told that the home secretary sought advice about arranging a private speed awareness course via officials and an aide. a government source denied she broke the ministerial code. president biden is to hold talks with the us house speaker kevin mccarthy today after a phone conversation signalled progress on debt limit negotiations. mr mccarthy said the call has been productive but that the two sides were still apart. we'll have more on this in business. india has issued a heatwave warning for the capital delhi and adjoining areas.

the india meteorological department said several parts of delhi recorded maximum temperatures above 45 degrees celsius. it said the extreme conditions are likely to persist in isolated pockets over the next two days. the brazilian president has urged the sports authorities in spain and other european countries to curb the spread of fascism and racism in football grounds. he was speaking after the brazil international viniciusjunior was subjected to racist chants during real madrid's match at valencia. a british study suggests that elephants particularly enjoy the presence of visitors to zoos. the researchers found that public feedings and larger visitor numbers prompt a reduction in elephants' repetitive behaviours. penguins, bears and cheetahs also reacted positively to visitors, but the impact on flightless birds and marsupials appeared

to be negative. the greek elections have been won by the governing centre—right new democracy party. its leader, the prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis, described the victory as a "political earthquake". with almost all the votes counted, his party is on almost 4i%, leaving them five seats short of a majority. mr mitsotakis said the people had given his party a mandate for a four—year government. it was a disappointing day for the centre—left opposition syriza party — led by alexis tsipras — with just 20% of the vote. under a complicated greek electoral system, he will need to face the people again injuly if he hopes to achieve an absolute majority. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake has more from athens. this has been a very good night for prime minister mitsotakis. the changes to the electoral system that he inherited meant it was always going to be very difficult to win an outright majority, although he has come very close to doing that.

in the past few hours, he said that the greek people have given him a mandate to keep on governing this country. the pollsters here massively underestimated the level of support for him, but this has been a government that's been heavily criticised over the past few years. there was the handling of that awful train crash a few months ago, slso what people described as greece's watergate scandal, with politicians and journalists being spied on. but the bottom line here is that lots of greek people have decided that new democracy, the centre—right party, is best placed to keep on steering the economy, which is growing at the moment, although lots of people will tell you they're not actually feeling it for themselves. so what happens now? well, i think with all this momentum, prime minister mitsotakis will want more elections, probably in about a month from now, because that would mean a new system kicks in of bonus seats. he'd be confident of getting an overall majority. and for europe on the wider pitch, that would mean stability in a corner of the continent which, for many years, as we know,

has been the source of a lot of political instability. nick beake there. activists protesting against climate change have climbed into the trevi fountain in rome and poured diluted charcoal into the water. the group were were taken away by police shortly after the protest, which was drawing attention to the impact of recent flooding in the country. 0ur reporter emily brown has been looking into this. the trevi fountain attracts about 3,000 to 4,000 visitors every day. and here it is at the centre of a protest where climate activists got into the fountain and poured charcoal into the water, turning it black. this is the last generation group. they were heard shouting, "our country is dying". it, of course, comes as the devastating flooding has taken place across the north—eastern region of italy in emilia—romagna, where 14 people are now known to have died from the flooding.

and most recently, the italian prime minister, giorgia meloni, has visited the devastated areas. back to rome — the rome mayor, roberto gualtieri, has condemned the protests. he's described it as an attack on italy's artistic heritage. he's also taken to social media to condemn the protests and has said that it will cost about 300,000 litres of water as they start their clean—up mission for an iconic landmark which attracts visitors from around the world. emily brown there. and we have lift—off. five, four, three, two, one stop— five, four, three, two, one stop engine _ five, four, three, two, one stop engine is— five, four, three, two, one stop engine is full- five, four, three, two, one stop engine is full power. i five, four, three, two, one i stop engine is full power. and it off— stop engine is full power. and it off falcon _ stop engine is full power. and it off falcon nine, go - stop engine is full power. and it off falcon nine, go axiom. i these are pictures from the kennedy space center in florida where the first saudi woman has voyaged into space. rayyanah barnawi, a breast cancer researcher

blasted off along with fellow saudi fighter pilot ali al-qarni on what's being called a private chartered flight. they are due to spend around eight days on the the international space station. 0bviously having the first female aboard the ax—2 mission — astronaut rayyanah barnawi — to represent the saudi youth will inspire all. as she said, we hope this mission will inspire girls from various backgrounds who not only will have an opportunity that they've never had before, but will embrace talent and intellect in order to advance the human experience. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. cj has autism and, after three heart attacks, has disabilities, which means he often has to use a wheelchair.

he discovered photography as a teenager and hasn't looked back. i enjoy the photography because i feel i hide behind my camera a bit because it's kind of like a comfort blanket like a child would have, sort of my safety net. in his teens, he teamed up with professional photographer clive figes, who mentored him. they clicked and clive realised cj had a gift. i learned to treat cj as a human being, a human being with gifts that i haven't got. to treat him like a decent person, to show interest in him, because in every direction we take, there's an awful lot of apathy. i spot things that people often overlook, you know, you wouldn't normally see. this relationship, spanning 13 years, has now seen cj recognised for his work by the royal photographic society. you're live with bbc news. now to northern ireland where sinn fein's vice president michelle 0'neill has called on the british and irish

governments to deliver a plan to restore a power—sharing government at stormont. it's after her party delivered a stunning success in the council elections, becoming the largest party in local government for the first time. emma vardy reports. the political landscape of northern ireland is changing. unionism, the belief that northern ireland should remain part of the uk, is no longer the dominant force. as the democratic unionist party, for a second time in 12 months, has been overtaken by sinn fein. i thought it was inevitable that it would be that way, because people, well... my idea, you vote for people who are going to do the job. ijust think it was coming, the dup haven't been standing around doing anything, so ~~ _ is that what it's down to, a lack of government? lack of government, yeah. someone has to make really vital decisions relating - to the environment, employment,

childcare, women's refuge - provision, the whole abortion issue is still unresolved. - the scale of the jump in support for sinn fein is something they themselves hadn't even predicted, but will it do anything to change the dynamic in the power—sharing crisis here in northern ireland, which has left everyone without a government for a year? the dup are preventing a return to power—sharing as a protest over the brexit arrangements, the irish sea border, which they believe undermines northern ireland's place in the uk. the party wants new legislation from the british government to address their concerns before they'll return to government. getting a border poll is still core business for sinn fein. it's just that they downgrade it slightly, come election time. in effect, what you've now got in northern ireland is 40% of the population wanting a united ireland, 40% who don't want a united ireland, and 20% in the middle who can't make up their mind. when a devolved government is reformed here, sinn fein will, for the first time,

hold the first minister's role. the dup will still have equal powers but the events of recent days have cemented a historic shift, which shows no sign yet of being reversed. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. two leading academics in the uk have written an open letter calling for suicides which may be work—related to be investigated by the health and safety executive. writing in the british medical journal, the letter refers to the death of headteacher ruth perry following an inspection of her school and says this should lead to change. the office for standards in education described her death as a tragedy. here's our education editor, branwen jeffreys. ruth perry took her own life while waiting for an 0fsted report. caversham primary was being graded inadequate. inspectors raised concerns about how children were kept safe. an inquest will look at events

around ruth perry's death. it's provoked a bigger debate about teachers�* mental health. suicides are not investigated by the health and safety executive. now two leading academics are calling for that to change. every suicide is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, for the individual who loses their life. and if there are circumstances that could be tackled to prevent that happening, we have a responsibility to do something about them. but if you don't investigate, if you don't try to find what's happening, then you can't do that. in the british medicaljournal, they also say 0fsted has a duty of care — a call welcomed by the family. we're saying to 0fsted, we're saying to the department for education, we're saying to the government, we're not going away. this issue is not going away. ruth's death was not, sadly — however tragic it is to us — was not a one—off anomaly.

0fsted has described ruth perry's death as a tragedy. it said it inspects first and foremost in the interests of children — professionally and sensitively, careful of the impact on staff. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. in a week's time, turkey will chose its future president in a run—off — and the rebuilding of destroyed cities in earthquake struck regions is one of the main topics. at least two million people lost their homes when the earthquake hit the south—east region of turkey including a small community of afghans who sought refuge in a remote village called little afghanistan. firuz rahimi reports from southern turkey where the people have come together to rebuild their lives in their only sanctuary. mourning the loss of three generations. this secluded cemetery has become a place of sanctuary for nehal. translation: we were

hit by the earthquake. l everything razed to the ground. my daughter and two of my grandchildren died. we are shattered. nehal built a peaceful life here in this remote turkish village since she was forced to leave afghanistan 42 years ago. translation: she was very close to me. - the pain will stay with me forever. known as "little afghanistan," this little village has become a safe haven for thousands of refugees. 41—year—old zahra and her husband came here three years ago to build a better life. the earthquake took her husband away. now left with seven children and an uphill struggle. translation: my biggest worry is that my kids are very young. l my eldest son is disabled and he can't walk. the government here is supporting everyone affected.

but for those like zahra who are not turkish citizens, the future will look bleak. the devastating earthquake killed at least 147 people here. months later and the survivors now look on as the heart of their community is destroyed, deemed too unsafe to stand. it is hard for people to leave the buildings behind they used to call home. they look at the devastation around them, unable to imagine the future. but there are already signs that this community is rebuilding. this is where islam's three—storey textile factory used to stand. he may have lost everything, but not his resilience. working from this tiny garage, he has already started his business. translation: there is hope and we are hopeful. - we will rebuild. this too will pass and everybody will settle back to their lives

and achieve their goals. for nehal and those who lost their loved ones, this place won't be the same. but clinging on to what is left, she is desperate to see little afghanistan rise again from the rubble. firuz rahimi, bbc news, 0verkent. are you a fan of the chelsea flower show? it is getting under way today — and king charles will visit later for the first time since he became monarch. preparations have been months in the making, as garden designers vie for the show�*s top prizes — but this year, the historically male—dominated event will have more women competitors than men for the first time. daniela relph reports. a feminine touch — there is more of it than ever before. 58% of exhibitors this year are women. a wider range of categories and celebrating different kinds of gardens has helped.

on main avenue, though — home to the spectacular show gardens — it is still mostly male designers at work. but in the grand pavilion, there is a garden dedicated to women and their contribution to horticulture. where possible, female growers have been used, and it's an all—women design team. has horticulture been seen as a man's world in the past? it's a really interesting question because it's often argued that it is a man's world. and, i mean, if you look at main avenue, there tend to be more men than women there. so i think it sort of depends who you ask. but ultimately, to me, women are integral in the history of horticulture. so it's all really beginning to come together, isn't it? you feeling happy with all the. it really... absolutely, absolutely. we've got so much texture and froth here and we've got... and the bees! the bees throughout on some of the flowers... the bees are absolutely loving it. this is the garden of unity. it's designed as a space for everyone. scattered around a wooden post with information in braille

about the plants and flowers. the message from the designer here — gardening is something everybody can access. chelsea has often felt like a very white place to be. yeah. do you feel in the world of horticulture, in the world of garden shows, that that is shifting? i very much think so, that it is shifting. especially the fact that i am now the ambassador for inclusivity and diversity. and i hope that i can be that light and that torch for other communities to see me doing gardens like this, doing myjudging at chelsea. chelsea is, of course, all about the show. building gardens on site can be an ambitious undertaking, manoeuvring every element into place. there will be a touch of nostalgia too. the queen's visit to chelsea last year — in an adapted golf buggy — was one of her last

public appearances. she'd been here more than 50 times during her reign and her support of the show will be remembered. this is the royal tribute garden. the teams who work with the royal family on their gardens have advised what to plant — favourites of the late queen and king charles. we're sitting in the section at the back of the garden, and what i've tried to do is create an area here where it's calmer colours and it's a more peaceful setting so that this is the section where we can remember the late queen. and as we sit here, we look towards the front of the garden, and that's where the king's preferred planting is going to be, and, looking forward and looking towards the future. the chelsea flower show is evolving. balcony and container gardens will again feature strongly this year. it is an event that wants to prove that gardening is good for all of us. daniela relph, bbc news, chelsea flower show. next we have all the top business stories and i will be talking to the boss of the

horticultural trade association about the chelsea flower show, amongst other stories. the us debt ceiling will, of course, feature. stay with us, i will see you in a moment. hello. it's been a weekend of mixed fortunes, weather—wise. where we did see the sunshine come through, it's been pleasantly warm. in fact, sunday was the warmest day of the year so far in the uk at 23.3 degrees in the sunshine at porthmadog. but under the cloud across aberdeenshire, we only got to about 12 celsius. so where you see the sunshine coming through, where you see the cloud makes all the difference really this time of year. and through the week ahead, things are looking mostly dry. yes, some warm sunshine around, but variable amounts of clouds, so where you do get the cloudier spells of weather, it won't feel particularly warm through this week, but generally dry is the theme. high pressure building from the atlantic through this week, a couple of weather fronts just moving around the top of that high pressure at times so there'll be a bit more cloud coming and going, particularly towards the north. now through monday, most places looking dry from the word go.

we've got a bit more cloud drifting across parts of eastern england, northern england, too, but a brighter day to come for scotland and for northern ireland. most of us dry, just the chance perhaps of a shower towards the pennines. top temperatures between about 16 to 22 for most of us, but a little bit colder than that across the north of scotland where we've got the breeze coming in from the west here. now, heading through monday evening, overnight into tuesday, a bit of cloud again across parts of eastern england. should be frost free as we start the day on tuesday, but could just be temperatures down to about three or four degrees where we do see some of those clearer spells. so into tuesday, a slightly cooler, fresher day, probably the coolest day of the week, in fact, because just a bit of a change in those winds, just bringing the winds in from a bit more of a northerly direction so cool across some eastern areas where you've got a bit of cloud and that breeze from the north sea. but actually most of us, again, having a dry, quiet day, generally light winds, a little bit cloudier in the far north—west. so temperatures varying between about 11 there in lerwick to around about 19 degrees or so further south across england and wales, probably the only day that we won't reach 20 degrees this week.

into wednesday, a cold front just pushing into the north so introducing some colder air again across the far north of scotland, and a bit more cloud. could be the odd light shower here. much of the uk again having a dry, fine day. there'll be fairweather cloud bubbling up and you can see that cloud generating across parts of southern and eastern england through the day. top temperatures probably up to about 20, 2i degrees for most of us. we could just squeeze 22 there for the likes of north—east england. towards the end of the week, staying dry and settled. variable amounts of sunshine. stays dry into next weekend too. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. china hits back, banning the use of semiconductors from us chipmaker micron in major infrastructure projects. up, up and away — ryanair is poised to prove its flying high and beating its rivals by keeping prices rock bottom. and have you got green fingers? the year's most important horticultural event begins here in the uk — we look at the impact of the chelsea flower show. time now for the top business stories — i'm sally bundock and we begin in china, where it has banned key operators of its infrastructure from using products by us memory chip—maker micron.