live from washington. this is bbc news. negotiations on the us debt ceiling continue into the night. president biden and the speaker of the house say there's still no deal, but they call their talks productive. i think the tone tonight was better than any other time we've had discussions. russian authorities say they're battling a group of saboteurs that's crossed the border into the belgorod region from ukraine. and coming up, inside russian defences — the new bbc verify service takes a look at moscow's preparation for an expected ukrainian counter—offensive. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. thanks forjoining us. we start in washington,

where negogtiators working to avoid a us debt default are back on capitol hill for talks tonight. negotiations have been described as productive, but there's still no deal. earlier, presidentjoe biden and speaker of the house kevin mccarthy led talks on raising the debt ceiling to ensure the us can continue to pay its bills. biden and republican congressional leaders now have just ten days to avoid a default. president biden said: kevin mccarthy spoke outside the white house, and the bbc�*s nomia iqbal was watching. he said the meeting was productive. he said the tone was good. he appeared in an upbeat mood and he said there was still a way to go before they make a compromise. he did say that he believed the president does want to make a deal. bear in mind, we are fast approaching the deadline, and if a deal is passed, it would take more than a week, or about a week,

to get through congress. the speaker appeared confident that would happen. i never wanted to be here. i do not like the idea that you govern by chaos, you govern by a deadline.

us in this situation. i believe we can still get there. i believe we can get it done. any deal that is reached has to be bipartisan, and i asked the speaker what he thought about members of the house republicans to the far right who have said they won't accept anything less than a house—backed bill, what was he doing to assure them of that? he said, look, we are going to have to compromise, that's the only way to get the deal forward. both parties don't want to concede on any of the key issues that the constituents care about, that voters care about and that party members care about. but he said, when asked, should americans prepare for default, he was quite clear, he said no. earlier in the day, treasury secretary janet yellen told

congress that it's highly likely the agency will be unable to pay all its bills by earlyjune. so if that prediction is correct, what exactly is at risk? according to the financial services company moody's analytics, if the debt limit is breached for evenjust one week, the us economy would shrink so much, so quickly, that around 1.5 million jobs would be lost.

chuck schumer has to sell it to the senate. that could be difficult. do you think a default really is off the table? i think it is always possible that they can't reach this kind of agreement. you heard the speaker say we are willing to negotiate on everything except most things, like raising more revenue, that would be a key way in which one would fight even after there is an agreement between speaker mccarthy and president biden, speaker mccarthy has to sell it

to the republicans in the house of representatives. that could be difficult. chuck schumer has to sell it to the senate. that could be difficult. do you think a default really is off the table? i do not think a default is off the table. i think it is always possible that they can't reach this kind of agreement. you heard the speaker say we are willing to negotiate on everything except most things, like raising more revenue, that would be a key way in which one would fight fiscal imbalances, along with cutting spending. he is going to have to negotiate on things he doesn't want to negotiate on. obviously the democrats don't want to cut their key spending packages that have shown what biden has been able to accomplish four people. to accomplish for people. so i do think there is a lot

that's to have to happen. that's going to have to happen. you know, i think what could happen is they could agree that they are not getting there byjune 1st and pass some sort of temporary increase in the debt ceiling that says, 0k, we need to come to some agreement, we are going to agree to keep negotiating, and in the meantime we will take some of the pressure off. right, that would just be kicking the can down the road. you talked about what president biden might have to do, what further concessions do you think he might have to make to reach a deal? well, you know, ithink all along, it's unfortunate we are in this situation because the debt ceiling shouldn't be tied to these kind of negotiations. but they are, and what we saw in 2011 was everybody had to give a little bit of something. and the thing is, if we are going to do spending cuts, it can'tjust be the sort of key pillars of things biden has accomplished

in his administration. so it's going to have to be across the board. it's going to have to be combined with some sort of revenue—raising measures. the house bill not only includes cutting spending but it actually reduces tax revenue because it cuts the funding for the irs that allowed them to go after tax cheats. so compromise would have to be a little bit on the spending and a little bit on the revenue side. michael, i want to ask for your take about republicans, what do you think they will have to concede on to get some sort of deal? well, i think the most likely deal is a deal that cuts spending by less than republicans would like, less than what republicans have passed in the house of representatives, and it raises the debt ceiling. i think it's unlikely

they will have a short—term extension, although it would be a way to give them more time, i think it's unlikely because i don't think they want to do this twice. what's left, work requirements and other programmes, i imagine that will be what republicans say, well, we wanted to include that, but we didn't get everything we wanted. but again, you know, speaker mccarthy has to get that through the house. and they would want to see that included. we know the negotiations are continuing. i want to zoom out, michael, we have a lot of viewers around the globe. what would the impact of a us debt default mean for the rest of the world? well, it would mean chaos in the financial markets. we would see the beginnings of a global financial crisis. we would see massive reductions

in the value of us equities, reductions in the value of equities in other nations as well. we'd see a flight to safety. concern about the stability of the global financial system. that situation would not persist for very long. in the set—up for this segment, massive amounts ofjob loss and things of that nature... i think that might happen if the default were prolonged. but my view on this is the us protocol system could withstand probably a few hours of being in default, maybe a day. and then there would be so much pressure from financial markets, from investors,

members of the house and the senate, and on the president, that a compromise would be found very quickly. and a final question, in our current political system, divided government and incredibly polarised, if we keep reaching this point regularly, on the brink of debt default, what does a long—term solution look like to ensure the us can continue to pay its bills? well, a long—term solution is going to have to be thinking about how to bring spending and revenue in balance, but i want to touch on what is likely to happen. a different scenario, the one i'm most worried about, which is, we're all counting on financial markets to essentially save us by starting to freak out enough that it disciplines congress, but what if the financial markets don't freak out, what if they take it in stride, because maybe the treasury will go ahead and pay

all the treasury bills and pay the interest and they will delay payments... they are going to delay payments but they will be able to make them the next day, the day after, and then we will see they get an influx of revenue onjune 15th due to tax day, and things won't actually really get bad until july. .. my concern is if that were to happen, people would say, hey, you guys have been crying wolf, this isn't that bad. but in fact, it will be that bad, it willjust be a slower burn than what people are predicting. it could be that financial markets will terrorise everything right away, and congress won't make it a few hours, as michael said, before they go and try to solve the problem. but it's also possible that people being late receiving their paycheques, bills being paid a couple of days late, just doesn't cause the chaos many people have predicted. and apologies to viewers on bbc one and viewers outside the uk for a loss of

pictures for a moment. the united states has signed a new security pact with papua new guinea, as itjostles with china for influence in the pacific region. the us secretary of state antony blinken was in the png capital port moresby for the announcement. the deal will make it easier for both countries' forces to train together, and washington hopes it will counter china's growing influence in the pacific. in response to a reporter's question on china, secretary blinken said the deal between the us and papua new guinea wasn't about any third country. we had this basic arrangement going back to 1975. so this is simply updating and modernising what has been a long—standing agreement between our countries, just to make sure that we can work together as effectively as possible. let's get some news from across the uk. former deputy prime minister dominic raab says he will stand down as an mp at the next general election.

he resigned as deputy prime minister last month following an investigation into claims of alleged bullying. home secretary suella braverman has insisted she did nothing untoward in her handling of a speeding ticket she received last summer. she is reported to have asked civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course. opposition parties want an investigation into whether or not ms braverman broke ministerial conduct rules. she told mps in the commons that the whole matter was a distraction. junior doctors in england will take further strike action after pay talks with the british government broke down. the union representing doctors and medical students said an offer of a 5% rise was not credible. they'll walk out for 72 hours onjune14th. to portugal, where officers investigating the disappearance of madeleine mccann will begin a two—day search of a remote

portuguese reservoir. madeleine, from leicestershire, was three years old when she vanished from her parents�* holiday apartment in the algarve in 2007. the search was requested by police in germany. our berlin correspondent damien mcguinness has more. the major search of the reservoir in portugal and the surrounding area is the first time in almost a decade that a large—scale search in portugal has been carried out in connection to the disappearance of maddy mccann. german prosecutors appear to be driving this, and are certainly driving the investigation into the prime suspect — christian bruckner, a german citizen who is in prison here in germany for a separate conviction — that of the rape of a 72—year—old woman in portugal in 2005. mr bruckner says he's innocent, but german state prosecutors believe he's guilty, and believe that he is connected to the disappearance of maddy mccann. so far, they haven't found enough evidence to press charges. they say they've got all sorts of leads, including phone data connecting him to the place where maddie mccann

where maddy mccann disappeared at that time. but it's not enough to press charges and that's why, for state prosecutors, the race is on. they want to find enough evidence to press charges before mr bruckner�*s current prison sentence runs out. that is the danger, and that's why time is of the essence. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. padel is the tennis squash hybrid which is the must play sport of 2023.— hybrid which is the must play sport of 2023. anyone can play and net sport of 2023. anyone can play and get addicted, _ sport of 2023. anyone can play and get addicted, it's - sport of 2023. anyone can play and get addicted, it's very - and get addicted, it's very social and a lot of fun. it's a cross between squash and tennis, tennis scoring but you can play off the backboard like in squash. it can play off the backboard like in squash-— in squash. it couldn't be simpler. _ in squash. it couldn't be simpler, bats _ in squash. it couldn't be simpler, bats instead i in squash. it couldn't be simpler, bats instead ofj simpler, bats instead of brackets and the rest is obvious. it's a sign of how

popular the sport is becoming that it's attracting this kind of investment. each court costs £30,000, and here they have 1a of them. the uk is embracing it, and a national team, yes, there is one, are doing pretty well. ~ ., well. we were in the world adel well. we were in the world padel finals _ well. we were in the world padel finals last _ well. we were in the world padel finals last year, - well. we were in the world padel finals last year, 13 i padel finals last year, 13 countries, so it's pretty good. just down the road is the first centre to open in bristol, only in august last year. there were just four courts in the city, now there are more than 30. you're live with bbc news. let's turn to events in russia, where officials say the army is fighting a group of saboteurs who crossed the borderfrom ukraine in the belgorod region. according to the local governor, eight people have been wounded, buildings have been damaged and local residents had been evacuated from the area. ukraine has denied having anything to do with the attack. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg reports. smoke in the distance.

the first hint of the drama ahead. russia said saboteurs had forced their way from ukraine into russian territory. the bbc has located this video to a border checkpoint south of belgorod. it appears to show military vehicles having crossed over. ukraine denied responsibility. it said russian citizens from two paramilitary groups were behind the attack. the russian army sent in reinforcements. local residents couldn't believe what was happening. the local governor, vyacheslav gladkov, announced a counterterrorist operation. he said he would take special measures and impose temporary restrictions. tonight, russian tv claimed the ukrainian army was behind the incursion. it said civilians had been wounded and people were being evacuated.

in recent months, this part of russia has felt increasingly like a warzone. with a series of explosions in belgorod — suspected ukrainian drone attacks — forcing people here to take cover. attacks on russian territory are putting the kremlin under pressure. one of the kremlin�*s justifications for launching the so—called special military operation was national security — making people here feel more secure. but before russia's war in ukraine, life in belgorod region and in other russian regions close to the ukrainian border was calm and peaceful. there were no explosions, no sabotage groups breaking through. it very much looks as if the full—scale invasion of ukraine has had the opposite effect. for now, though, there is no sign of those in power in russia changing direction.

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. so that's russia. we want to bring you some images from inside ukraine. satellite images like this have revealed the extent of defences being built by russia in the areas they currently occupy in the east of the country. that's in preparation for an expected ukrainian those images have been analysed by bbc verify. it's a new service bringing together 60 journalists with a range of forensic and investigative skills, to fact—check data and help explain complex stories as well as counter disinformation. our analysis editor ros atkins has more. ukraine's expected to launch a counteroffensive soon and here at bbc verify we've been looking at how russia is bolstering its defences. here's the front line with territory controlled by russia marked in red. we've highlighted bakhmut, the city has hosted some of the fiercest fighting in the war. and we know that around bakhmut both sides have been using trenches. this is a ukrainian soldier. we also know that trenches

are a crucial part of russia's effort to fortify the entire front line. that process has been documented by the open source analyst brady africk. all these black dots here mark new russian fortifications. let's focus on a couple of locations. first of all, tokmak. it's a small city, but it's strategically important. you can see it at the bottom of this satellite image. further north would be where the ukrainian positions are. and look what the russians have done. they've built one new defensive line, a second one behind it, and then a third one around the city. we also know that in ukrainian media there are reports that civilians are being removed from tokmak in order that the russians can further fortify it. and to understand all of these fortifications, looking at these types of satellite images is also useful. here, furthest from the front line, you have artillery positions. then the trench network for the soldiers. then what are called dragon's teeth. these are concrete obstacles the russians are using in the hope of stopping ukrainian tanks. tanks are also the focus of these enormous ditches,

produced by these digging vehicles. and if we go back to this satellite image you can see the first line of defence is an anti—tank ditch. so that's one location. this is a second one that bbc verify has looked at. 0n the peninsular of crimea, which was annexed by russia in 2014. this picture shows us a beach on the west coast of crimea. you can again see dragon's teeth. this time running alongside the shore of the black sea. further north on the beach is a bunker. running through it is this trench. bbc verify has measured it at around 15 miles. also note these piles of wood. they are being used by the russians to reinforce the trenches that they are building. i'd also highlight this. a fortification of this nature could be used by a tank or an armoured vehicle should it want to face the sea. now, we should add that we don't know if ukraine has the capacity to attack crimea from the sea. what we can be more certain of, though, is the resources that russia has committed to fortifying all along the front line.

and now it waits to see if ukraine attacks. another ceasefire has come into effect this evening in sudan, but within minutes there were reports of clashes in the capital khartoum. it's the latest negotiated truce following five weeks of conflict between the sudanese army and its rival paramilitary forces. more than 700 people have been killed in the violence and around one million have fled their homes. some of those have gone to neighbouring south sudan, but it's one of the world's poorest countries and is struggling to deal with the new arrivals. from paloich in south sudan, ourafrica correspondent catherine byaruhanga sent this report. thousands of south sudanese who fled sudan have been camped at paloich airport, desperate to get a flight to other parts of the country. south sudan has very limited infrastructure. many went to sudan because of a civil war here in south sudan that started in 2013

and formally ended in 2018. they never imagined they would have to flee again. this woman has been stranded here with her family for ten days. translation: we sleep on the floor. _ when we were asleep, our things were stolen — our bags, our bed sheets. now we don't have anything. the situation is very hard. this is the moment everyone's been waiting for. the cargo plane that's meant to take them to the capital, juba, has arrived. we're told that the flights can only accommodate around 300 people. but, look — there are way more people than that waiting here. not everyone's going to be able to get on that flight. another group makes it to the capital, juba, where authorities say they're overwhelmed by the number of people returning. this is why we always appeal to the international community, to un agencies, to the donors, that they have to come

in very quickly. otherwise we will actually witness another crisis. with air travel limited, some are turning to the river nile, which runs through south sudan. many people are camped out by the port in the town of renk, waiting to catch a boat. including this woman, who is anxious. she's trying to get to malakal — an area which still sees bouts of violence. translation: i don't know if it's safe or not. _ i've been told that my house has been destroyed and the things have been stolen. if i go there and there is nothing, i will try to rebuild the house. sudan's warring factions are tearing their own country apart and leaving its neighbours stuck between crises. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, paloich, south sudan. stay with us here on bbc news.

you can go to our website bbc dot—com for all the latest. hello. 0ur spell of fairly settled late spring weather is set sunday was the warmest day of the year so far, 23.3 in the sunshine, but under the cloud in aberdeenshire, only 12 celsius. where you see the sunshine and cloud makes all the difference at this time of year. this week things will be mostly dry, some warm sunshine and bearable amounts of cloud. in the cloud it won't feel warm, but generally dry, high pressure building from the atlantic this week. a couple of weather fronts around the top of the high pressure at times. so a bit more cloud particularly in the north. 0n

particularly in the north. on monday, most places looking dry. more cloud across eastern england and the north, but a brighter day in scotland and northern ireland. the chance of a shower towards the pennines. top temperatures of 16—22, but a bit colder in the north of scotland. the breeze coming in from the west. monday evening and into tuesday, a bit of cloud across eastern england, should be frost—free as we start tuesday. temperatures could be down to four where we see clearer spells. tuesday, slightly cooler and fresher, probably the coolest of the week, a bit of a change in the winds, more of a northerly direction, cool across the east where you have cloud and grease on the north sea. most of them with a dry day, generally light winds. —— cloud and breeze. temperatures between 11 in lerwick to 19 further south

across england and wales. the only day we don't reach 20 this week. a cold front pushing into the north on wednesday, a bit more cloud, could be the odd shower. much of the uk dry and fine, cloud across southern and eastern england through the day. top temperatures 21 for most of us, we could see 22 in north—east england. towards the end of the week, staying dry and settled, variable amounts of sunshine, it stays dry into next weekend too.

washington dc is the heart of the free world. let's go now to capitol hill. i'm katty kay, and in more than 20 years here spent here in the news business, i've grown accustomed to thinking of this as the centre of power. decisions that reverberate around the globe are made here by politicians who proudly championed democracy — the rule of the people, by the people. we're here to assess the real meaning of the results. but it's not the only way or necessarily the best. a recent poll shows

that of the 15 most