wagoner this is wagoner bbc news. live from washington. this is bbc news. as russian mercenaries from the wagner group say they are pulling out of bakhmut, bbc verify reveals the extent of the destruction cause by months of fighting. could there be movement in the us debt talks? the new york times reports the white house and republicans are closing in on a deal. and the uk sees record migration numbers, after a decade of promises to bring them down. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start in ukraine, where officials have dismissed claims that the city of bakhmut has fallen to russia, after wagner mercenaries said they've started handing over

control of the eastern city to moscow's army. the battle for bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest of the war. this aerialfootage taken earlier this month shows intense shelling in a residential area. most people fled before fighting broke out. bakhmut is of little strategic value, but its capture would be a symbolic victory for russia. the battle for bakhmut began last august. ukraine says its forces still control part of it. our bbc verify team has been looking at images that show the extent of the destruction there during these months of fighting. this is bakhmut before russia invaded ukraine. once famous for its sparkling wine and thousands of rose bushes. this is bakhmut now — reduced to a landscape of ruin and death. but not defeated, the ukrainian army told us. ukrainian troops stay in south—western part of bakhmut. ukrainian army keep pushing the enemy from site of the city.

70,000 people used to live here before russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine. i was here in 2019 when the city was still full of life. this satellite image shows a street in bakhmut in may last year with civilian blocks of flats surrounding a school and two nurseries. and here they are now, after months of shelling. the bbc has been tracking the extent of this destruction. this used to be a famous site in sport — the rose garden. ukrainian�*s largest, with over 5,000 bushes. and here it is in april this year. 0n the eastern side of bakhmut is the winery, the world's deepest underground winery.

bbc verify has seen footage showing it is now used by the russian mercenary group wagner. here is the military group's founder at the winery on the 23rd of february. several months later, he is there again. using visible terrain and structures, we managed to match the video to the winery's entrance. this is exactly where he stood. as russian forces have moved across the city, entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed. it's a site that has echoes of other cities that have faced russia's brutal bombardments in other countries. from grozny in chechnya in 2000, to moscow's intervention in syria reducing aleppo to rubble, to cities in ukraine. russia may claim bakhmut is theirs, but in reality, there is little left to control. 0lga malchevska, bbc news. meanwhile, away from

the frontlines, the ukrainian president volodymr zelensky made a surprise commencement speech for graduates atjohns hopkins university. he spoke virtually to the graduates. let's listen to some of what he had to say. i'm proud that ukraine is not losing a single day in its defence against russian terror. every day, we do everything to become stronger, to give more protection to people, to save more lives. the united states has also not lost a single day to help ukraine repel the russian aggression. well, joining us is pulitzer—prize winning historian anne applebaum and a senior fellow atjohns hopkins who introduced president zelensky�*s address. tell us how it is a about. it was tell us how it is a about. it was the idea of the president of the university. he asked me

a couple of months ago if i knew how to contact president zelensky, he knew i had just been there interviewing him. i made the initial contact but i won't hide the fact that over the past few days, there was a lot of extra effort put into make sure it really happened. president zelensky was in japan. he obviously has many other obligations. but we were really pleased he found a few minutes to join graduation ceremony. these kinds of events in the united states make a really big difference in how people here who listen to him, you know, speaking to students notjust you know, speaking to students not just as a you know, speaking to students notjust as a war leader, not just as the president, but as somebody who can offer them advice on how to think about their own lives in the future, and it was very successful. speaking of the future, you believe that the future of the democratic world, you have written, will be determined by this war. how?— this war. how? look, it's too much to _ this war. how? look, it's too much to call— this war. how? look, it's too much to call it _ this war. how? look, it's too much to call it a _

this war. how? look, it's too much to call it a coalition, i much to call it a coalition, but the russians lead a group of autocratic countries who mostly see their own democratic oppositions as their main opponents. but who perceive liberal democracy and the rule of law in our part of the world as enemies and they seek to undermine them. russia has used this war not only to attack and undermine ukraine, but also to attack ideas about the sanctity of borders, ideas about human rights. the un convention on genocide. 0ne rights. the un convention on genocide. one piece of international law after the next. if we aren't able to push back against russia here, as we weren't able to in syria, and in other earlier conflicts, i think that will embolden russia and other countries to do the same in the future. so i really do think this is a war that has significance well beyond the borders of ukraine. i significance well beyond the borders of ukraine.- significance well beyond the borders of ukraine. i want to ask ou borders of ukraine. i want to ask you about _ borders of ukraine. i want to ask you about some - borders of ukraine. i want to ask you about some of - borders of ukraine. i want to ask you about some of the l ask you about some of the developments we have seen this

week. the belarus leader alexander lukashenko said the transfer of tactical nuclear weapons from russia to belarus has started. what do you think that signals right now about moscow's strategy? obviously this is a scare _ moscow's strategy? obviously this is a scare tactic. - moscow's strategy? obviously this is a scare tactic. if - moscow's strategy? obviously this is a scare tactic. if the - this is a scare tactic. if the russians wanted to use nuclear weapons to hit ukraine, they could do so now. they don't need to move them to belarus. it's a way of demonstrating they have them. it may also be a way of defending the leader of belarus. there is enormous discontent in that country, this war is not popular there, and belarus is effectively an ally of putin. i think it's a sign that they feel under threat, they are worried about the coming counteroffensive. it's a pr game designed to scare people. it's a pr game designed to scare maple-— it's a pr game designed to scare --eole. ., , scare people. there have been competing _ scare people. there have been competing narratives - scare people. there have been competing narratives about. scare people. there have been l competing narratives about what has been happening in belgorod just inside russia, and who was behind an attack there inside

russian territory. also earlier in the week, we saw us media outlets quoting american intelligence officials saying that ukrainian forces appeared to be behind the drone attack last month in moscow. are you concerned that we are starting to see the beginning of ukrainian forces attacking inside russia, and what that might mean for support from the west? ~ . ., ., . , ., west? ukrainian forces have attacked military _ west? ukrainian forces have attacked military targets - attacked military targets inside russia for some time now. so i don't think this is necessarily something new. it may be that this is a moment when they are seeking to undermine the sense of safety that most russians have, the sense that this war is something really far away that doesn't affect them. 0bviously doesn't affect them. obviously i don't know who carried out the drone strike on the kremlin. clearly the belgorod attack couldn't have happened without the assistance of the ukrainian army. but i think

this is a piece of a number of moves that we have seen that are simply designed to rattle the kremlin, to rattle the russian elite, and to make russians question whether this is a war they really want to be fighting. remember, this is a war that is over when the russians go home. nobody need to conquer russia, occupy moscow, nothing like that. the russians simply have to decide to leave. so what you might see over the next few months is ukrainian is taking actions designed to convince the russians to come to that conclusion.— conclusion. but if the ukrainians _ conclusion. but if the ukrainians are - conclusion. but if the ukrainians are using, j conclusion. but if the i ukrainians are using, for example, us military equipment to carry out such attacks, could that not change the perspective of the war here in washington? i’m perspective of the war here in washington?— perspective of the war here in washington? i'm not sure how dramatically — washington? i'm not sure how dramatically it _ washington? i'm not sure how dramatically it does _ washington? i'm not sure how dramatically it does change i washington? i'm not sure how dramatically it does change it. j dramatically it does change it. the ukrainians has been using american weapons for many months now. and they have used them to strike targets, you know, in many different places. i'm not sure that this

represents some kind of significant shift. nor do i think this is something that happened without us knowledge. this comes as the us early in the week agreed to training ukrainian pilots on using f 16 jets, as you know. do you think the us is giving ukraine what it needs to effectively launch this counter offensive that we are expecting to see? i mean, it would have been useful to have planes some time ago, and it would have been useful to have modern tanks also some months earlier.— months earlier. many of the weapons — months earlier. many of the weapons have _ months earlier. many of the weapons have come - months earlier. many of the weapons have come late, i months earlier. many of the i weapons have come late, and the question is, and i don't know the answer to this, how much time do ukrainians have had to learn to use them, and how effective they can be in the coming months. the pilots won't be trained any time soon. i think part of this is also the us is sending a message to russia, saying, this war isn't going to be over immediately, we are committed to it for the

long—term. if we are training pilots, that's a long—term project. so don't imagine that this is something you canjust wait it out or we can call it a war of attrition. the us is seeking to transmit to the russians that this is a long game, and the us is playing it too. , ., ., game, and the us is playing it too. , . ., . game, and the us is playing it too. ., ., ., too. great to have your insights _ too. great to have your insights tonight, i too. great to have your insights tonight, thank| too. great to have your i insights tonight, thank you very much. with a deadline looming here in the us to raise the debt ceiling, the new york times is reporting that negotiators could be closing in on a deal. while details have yet to be finalised, the newspaper reports that negotiators were discussing a compromise that would raise the debt limit for two years while capping federal spending on everything but the military and veterans for the same period. here's what us republican speaker of the house kevin mccarthy told reporters as he left the capitol on thursday evening. look, we've been talking to the white house all day, going back and forth. it's not easy. we

want to make sure this is an agreement for the american people. it takes a while to make it happen, we are all trying to make it happen. meanwhile, a top us general, mark milley, has said that failure to reach a deal could have an impact on us national security. i think if we defaulted that would have significant economic consequences which would then translate into national security consequences. paying troops, the morale of troops, weapons systems, contracts, all of that would be impacted. readiness clearly would be impacted, so our large—scale exercises that we do at various training centres would probably slow down or come to a halt in many, many cases. treasury secretary janet yellen has said that the us government could become unable to pay all of its bills on time as soon asjune 1st if congress doesn't first raise the debt limit. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

0n on her own, she isn't much of a problem. but this prussian cart is part of a much larger issue hiding beneath the surface. they are a non—native species and these hardy fish are a real threat to our own carp. scientists are trying to work out how the fish got here, and they know the female eggs can be fertilised by other species, meaning they spread rapidly. what that effectively produces is clones of the female.- is clones of the female. exact clones of _ is clones of the female. exact clones of that _ is clones of the female. exact clones of that fish? _ is clones of the female. exact clones of that fish? indeed. l clones of that fish? indeed. according — clones of that fish? indeed. according to _ clones of that fish? indeed. according to the _ clones of that fish? indeed. according to the research . clones of that fish? indeed. | according to the research by the fisheries laboratory, the prussian carp arrived in england at some point in the last ten years. since 2020, they have been found in seven different locations in england. we are still learning about the impact they are having on fisheries in the uk, and that is why the work being done at the lab is so important.

you're live with bbc news. in the uk, new figures show net migration hit a record high in 2022. net migration is the difference between the number of people coming to live in the uk and the number leaving. it rose to 606,000 last year, driven by people from non—eu countries arriving for work and study, after the pandemic. that's up from 488,000 in 2021. the figure includes people coming to the uk under resettlement schemes from both ukraine because of the war and hong kong after a political crackdown in the former british territory. 0ur politcal editor chris mason reports. migration — who we are, who and how many we welcome, from where, and for how long. this is great yarmouth, in norfolk, a community and region highly dependent on immigration. a town which overwhelmingly backed brexit. for years and years politicians

have made bold promises about immigration and for years and years they've broken them. the political conversation from successive conservative prime ministers sounded like this. net migration to this country will be in the order of tens of thousands each year, no ifs, no buts. it's important we have net migration that is in sustainable numbers. we believe sustainable numbers are the tens of thousands. the numbers will come down because we'll be able - to control the system. the pledges of yesterday washed away by reality as those of today are spelt out. there's been various factors and you will read the report, whether it's welcoming people here from hong kong and ukraine, that's had an impact, as we saw after the pandemic more people came back to study here who hadn't been here during the pandemic years. look, but fundamentally the numbers are high. i want to bring them down.

today's extraordinary figures, including doubling the number of work visas since the pandemic, show that the conservatives have no plan and no grip on immigration. in the kings arms in caistor on sea, members of the local social club are having a lunchtime pint. so, is immigration too high? i myself have my grandmother who came up from estonia when the russians invaded, so i'm a product of that. i do think it's important that we take people in, people in need, but i think we've got to the point where we need to ease off a little. that fairness seems to be lost, it seems an influx of those who wish to come here to literally sponge off us and not contribute. i think we need a certain. influx to help us work this country, in my opinion, i so i don't think you will ever get it down to zero. do you think we're more at ease now in country after brexit,

do you think we're more at ease now in this after brexit, with immigration, now that the government has control of it? are they controlling it? you know, they haven't. a desire to be a sanctuary for the desperate, yes, but an ongoing desire for control too as the nature of immigration changes. how is migration to the east of england to great yarmouth changed since brexit? i think since brexit, obviously free movement has now been switched off. so, we are seeing less eu nationals moving into the town that we saw pre—brexit. but what we have seen in its place is that there are some temporary visa schemes in place. so, we are seeing less migrants but maybe different nationalities are now being able to the town because of these visa routes being open to both the eu and non—eu communities. vidia arrived in uk decades ago as an 18—year—old from mauritius. when i looked and the train was coming, i had never seen

all the houses look alike. she now runs a care home in great yarmouth. there are 42 residents here and 76 staff. without india, we would not be here, the staff, we would not be here. and without us, the hospital would have bed block. they couldn't release the patients to me and we aren't able to provide our community the service. when they want to go on holiday, they want to place the parent in for a couple weeks, if we didn't have the beds. sancha and harjit arrived from india two years ago. here they are caring for robert. migration promises people and places in our ongoing conflicted conversation over what to do about it. chris mason, bbc news, on the norfolk coast. the biden administration has released the first ever national strategy to combat anti—semitism. the plan pledges federal efforts to improve security forjewish communities and raise public awareness around the issue.

it also calls on social media companies to do more to prevent the spread of hate—speech. earlier, i spoke to the ceo of the american jewish committee, ted deutch. why does the us need a national anti—semitism strategy right now? well, because this is a really challenging moment of rising anti—semitism. as the plan points out, rising fear and anxiety... we are living in a moment where, because of the spread of anti—semitism on social media, because of the increase of anti—semitism on the streets, there has been violence, there is more concern about security, our own ajc report and research shows 40% of americans feel shows 40% of american jews feel less secure living in america than they did just a year ago. the administration recognised the challenge of the moment. coming on the heels of what happened at tree of life five years ago,

the killing of worshippers simply for being in a synagogue. the rise of the far right... the challenges so often on the far left as well. and they took action, and they deserve great credit for the report put out today. and its very clear action plan that has a way forward. ted, i want to mention some other numbers we came across. the anti—defamation league found that in 2020, 85% of americans believe at least one anti—semitic trope. the fbi director christopher wray said in 2022 americanjews accounted for 2.4% of the us population, but anti—semitism drove 63% of religiously motivated hate crimes. what has sparked this rise in anti—semitism? listen, there are all kinds of things happening. the good news is 90% of americans, jewish and non—jewish, recognise anti—semitism as a problem. anti—semitism is a conspiracy theory. a conspiracy theory that has been problematic for the jewish

community throughout history. and at a time, at moments when there are challenges to institutions, lack of belief in institutions, when you see the kind of rhetoric and conspiracy theories that have spread all across the internet, whether it's what happened onjanuary 6th or what happened in covid, ultimately the jewish community is at risk. that's why it's so important to speak out, like the administration has. what do you think the strategy will change? it's most important to recognise that anti—semitism doesn't just affect the jewish community, it affects everyone, it affects democracy as a whole. there are more than 100 concrete actions that the federal government in the us will take to combat anti—semitism, using a whole of government approach.

there are more than 100 actions called for, from state and local governments, from corporations and nonprofits and universities all across society. this is the first time we have ever seen a whole of society approach that will bring together everyone across the country to combat this scourge of anti—semitism, that will protect the jewish community but will also help to protect all communities in our country. ted, last question, we have 30 seconds, but what would you call on congress to do? congress has an awful lot it can do, from security, nonprofit security grant programme, to really taking a look at social media companies and making sure they are held accountable for algorithms that drive people to the kinds of anti—semitic hatred that pervades. congress has a really important role to make sure accountability is present throughout our community.

we cannot allow anti—semitism to be normalised. i know we look forward to working with members of congress to make sure they do their part in moving this action plan forward. ted, speaking on the day the biden administration released the first ever national strategy to combat anti—semitism, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you, it's my pleasure. also in the us, the leader of a far—right group has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the attack on the capitol building in washington two years ago. stewart rhodes, the leader of the 0ath keepers, was convicted on charges of seditious conspiracy and other crimes. it marks the toughest penalty yet in connection with the assault in january 2021. more than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the riot. more than half have pled guilty to a variety of crimes. the judge said today that stewart rhodes presented an ongoing threat to the country. here's our north america correspondentjess parker. stewart rhodes — the leader of 0ath keepers — and one other member today

were sentenced for the charge of seditious conspiracy. now, that is a civil war—era crime, which is the crime of conspiring to overthrow or oppose the government by force. now, the court heard during the trial that the group had stashed weapons in a nearby virginia hotel, although the defence said those weapons were never used. and, as well, stewart rhodes — well, he didn't personally enter the capitol building, other members of the group did, and prosecutors said he had acted like a battlefield general. now, he is a former us army paratrooper, a yale—educated lawyer, as well, and he was very defiant in court — he said he was a political prisoner. but the judge during sentencing really rejected that characterisation and used very strong language during the court session. he said — thejudge, amit mehta — "you present an ongoing threat and peril to the country". he said to stewart rhodes,

"you are smart, charismatic and compelling. that's frankly what makes you so dangerous. and for decades," he said, "it's clear you've wanted the democracy of this country to devolve into violence." now, this case, ithink, being seen as very significant — a high—profile case and, as i've mentioned, as well, the longest sentence handed down so far linked to january 6th — where, of course, trump supporters stormed the capitol building in order to try and block the certification ofjoe biden's presidential election win. now, donald trump recently said in an interview with cnn that if he were to become president again — and, of course, at the moment he's the front—runner in the republican nomination race — he would likely pardon a large portion of those convicted. so these aren'tjustjudicial matters of the past, but current political ones, as well. jess parker there.

more on that story on our website, and follow us on twitter. stay with us on bbc news, i am sumi somaskanda in washington, thank you for watching. hello. you need a certain level of temperature to make clouds. and on thursday, that temperature was 17 degrees. from a blue sky, sunny start to the day across the yorkshire area, as we hit 17, we started to get these cumulus clouds. as the air started to rise, it hit a layer of warm air higher up in the earth's atmosphere and that cloud then started to spread out. and by the time we got to the early afternoon, it turned pretty cloudy and that kind of thing you can see happening here on the satellite picture from thursday, look how this area of cloud just expands through the course of the afternoon, showing you that because probably going to see a similar sort of thing happening on friday, as well. now, right now, quite a few

patches of cloud still across areas of lincolnshire. otherwise, for most of us, we've got clear skies and temperatures around seven to nine degrees celsius. now on friday, for many of us, it's going to be a sunny start to the day with those blue skies with us first thing in the morning — late morning, that's when we hit 17 degrees. that's when we start to see clouds develop. and i think probably parts of yorkshire again prone to seeing some of those clouds spreading across the skies. same too probably across parts of the north midlands, northwest scotland have a bit more cloud, a few more breaks for northern ireland. for most, it's a dry day with sunny spells and temperatures still into the low twentiesin the warmer spots. it will feel pleasant if you're outside. into the weekend, we do have a cold front that's going to be running into our area of high pressure that will be affecting northern areas. so expect more in the way of cloud for scotland. a bit of patchy rain too for 0rkney, shetland, the western isles and the highlands too. and this air flowing

into north scotland, it's actually quite chilly, so temperatures just 12 degrees through the afternoon in lerwick on saturday. further south, more sunshine and if anything it's going to be a warmer day with more of us seeing temperatures into the low twenties, probably peaking at around 23 or 2a degrees. heading into sunday, the high pressure is still there. and again, it's a case of sunny spells coming and going with the cloud. the highest temperatures continue to be across more western areas. so south and east wales, the south west midlands, south west england, highs could hit around 23 or 2a degrees, but otherwise starting to turn just a little bit cooler across northern and eastern areas. that's the case as well for bank holiday monday. temperatures just down a few degrees, but still feeling warm in that strong may sunshine. that's your weather, bye for now.

reporters speak in spanish. it was once the murder capital of the world. cries. for decades, rival gangs ruled the streets of el salvador through violence, extortion and fear. until now.

for a year, the country's media—savvy president has