hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. a key first vote on the us debt ceiling has passed and will now be considered by the entire house of representatives. the deal, struck by president biden and speaker kevin mccarthy over the weekend, suspends the debt ceiling until the beginning of 2025 and avoids a potential global economic crisis. the house is expected to vote on the bill wednesday before sending it to the senate for a vote. which would then go to the president to become law. treasury secretary janet yellen says the us will not be able to pay its bills if this doesn't pass byjune 5. north korea has carried out a failed attempt to launch a military spy satellite. these images released by the south korean defence ministry show the space vehicle being retreived from the water. state media in pyongyang said the projectile had come down in the sea because of serious defects. they said a second attempt would be made

as soon as possible. the launch prompted neighbours south korea and japan to briefly issue — then rescind — alerts to millions of residents. japan has condemned pyongyang's actions. south korea correspondentjean mckenzie has more from seoul. there was panic and confusion in seoul this morning as we awoke to the sound of this air raid siren which is extremely rare. and messages from loudspeakers telling people to prepare for an evacuation, only to be told 20 minutes later it was a mistake. north korea did fire a missile this morning. it was believed to be carrying a spy satellite. but we now know it was a failure and the rocket exploded in midair and crashed into the sea. this will be a big disappointment for the north korean leader kim jong—un. he has been working to give north korea its first ever spy

satellite and he announced this week he was planning the launch. a spy satellite would give north korea a strategic advantage to allow it to monitor its enemies from the sky, south korea and the us, and be able to spot incoming attacks as well as plotting its own attacks. the north said this morning it will attempt to launch again in the nearfuture. so this false alarm in seoul this morning has serious implications, because over the years, people here have become desensitised to the threat posed by north korea. the danger is now that when a real emergency happens, they will be less likely or less quick to respond. moscow has been targeted by multiple drones, in what's been described as the most dangerous attack on russia's capital since the second world war. officials said eight drones had reached the city and caused some damage, but most had been shot down. ukraine has denied any involvement. russia's president vladimir putin said the drones were aimed at "civilian targets" and that russia "reserves the right to take the harshest possible

measures" against kyiv. he also promised to improve air defences around the city following the attacks. translation: the kyiv regime chose a different path - of frightening russia, frightening the citizens of russia and hitting residential buildings. of course, this is a clear sign of terrorist activity. white house press secretary karine jean pierre raised concerns about the strikes. we do not support the use of us made equipment being used for attacks inside russia, we've been very clear about that, and we continue to do that. we have been clear, notjust publicly but privately with the ukrainians. meanwhile, ukraine says four people have been killed in the past day from russian drone strikes. these are the latest pictures coming in to us from kyiv. officials said air defence systems destroyed many of the drones, but debris hit a residential building in kyiv overnight. 3a people were injured, including two children. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is in the ukrainian capitol.

ukraine has given denials but they are not full throated. one adviser said they have not dealt directly with it. that is a phrase that leaves open a wealth of possibilities but what has been striking has been the willingness of people here in kyiv to express grim satisfaction at what has been happening in moscow. one adviser said he was watching with pleasure and a spokesman for the air force said on social media that there was a rejoice, and that's because there is no complaints here in kyiv that people in moscow are getting a taste of what people here in the capital of ukraine are experiencing almost on a nightly basis. there are clearly risks for ukraine here.

if western allies think about incidents like this are in any way escalate ore and could make the wall worse and cause some western allies to restrict some of the military aid, that potentially could have an impact but the british foreign secretary james cleverly was asked about this, on a trip in estonia and he didn't seem unduly concerned say ukraine had every right to project force outside of its board and i think that is something people here would agree with because they would view the attacks in moscow as a relatively modest, relatively small, compared to the bloody onslaught they have endured for weeks now. over the border in moscow,our russia correspondent, steve rosenberg told us what that moment was like, when the drone strikes hit there. it was surprising. i went out to walk the dog and went back in the house and i heard this

loud explosion. the window shook. you hear bangs from time to time but the winds don't normally shake and then a half an hour later there was another explosion and we dived onto social media and by then a lot of chat and discussion about what was happening and a lot of people in and around moscow had heard similar explosions and it was clear something big was happening, some kind of drone attack and it didn't take long for the moscow mayor to come out and confirmed there had been a drone attack on the russian capital and moscow region but this isn't something we are used to hear. it is perhaps something that some people had expected, but when you hear it it brings home the fact that there is a war going on. for many muscovites, even after more than 15 months of this so—called special military

operation that the kremlin still calls it, many muscovites have turned away. they don't want to think about what is happening. for many people here what is happening is a war that is on television only happening a long way away but it has brought home to a lot of people here that there is a war going on. earlier i spoke to lt. general doug lute, former us ambassador to nato about escalating airstrikes on both moscow and kyiv. great to have you on our show. drone attacks have hit moscow, as we've heard. we have also seen cross—border attacks on russian territory, and previously a drone attack on the kremlin itself. ukraine has denied direct involvement in these strikes. is that possible or would ukraine have to know and somehow be involved in these strikes? i don't think there's any certainty here about to whom to attribute these strikes. the possibility is ukraine but they've denied it. a possibility there could be elements inside russia itself behind these.

and it's even possible the putin regime might try what is referred to as a false flag operation. that is a spoof operation to rally the russian people around their cause. so it's very unclear. this kind of uncertainty is typical in warfare and combat. there is an old saying in the us army that the first report is always wrong. and i think that might be playing out here as well. we have at the same time seen russia attack kyiv17 times with drones or missiles, mostly at night, but we did also see a daytime raid. both sides striking each other�*s capitals, are we seeing a new phase in this conflict? russia has been striking civilian infrastructure including kyiv four months, almost from the outset. you are right in the last couple of weeks there has been

an uptick in intensity and frequency of these attacks. i was in kyiv for four days last week and two nights out of the four we were called to take shelter, underground shelters, and so forth. this is something, this is a pattern that the citizens of ukraine, particularly in the big cities, kyiv, dnipro and others, are getting used to. nonetheless it emphasises that russia continues to strike with abandon, and without any discrimination, civilian infrastructure targets. when do you think we are going to see this ukrainian counteroffensive? this is another good saying about conflict, and that is that the party that holds the initiative, that is, that has their hands on the controls, in this case the military commanders of ukraine, can dictate when, where and how they attack. they have the initiative. so i don't have a prediction. i think it will happen probably within weeks, if not

the next couple of months. but they will choose a time and place that puts their forces at the best advantage. and i am confident, based on their performance over the last year, that they will do so wisely. do you have a sense that ukrainian forces are ready for this counteroffensive with the forces and weapons they have at their disposal? if you look at the last four to six months, based on the support from the 15 nation coalition, supporting them with military assistance, ukraine has been able to assemble about nine new combat brigades. a brigade is about 5000 troops. these troops have been organised, trained and equipped with largely western equipment. and they have not yet seen action. so i think the ukrainians have amassed the capacity to launch a very significant counteroffensive, and that's what we should be anticipating in the coming weeks. i want to ask you about what we might anticipate as a response from russia. the russian ambassador to the uk spoke to the bbc at the weekend and said russia has huge resources it hasn't

started using it and that it will scale up the war if the west keeps supplying more weapons to ukraine. it also said, this escalation will get a new dimension which we do not need and do not want. what do you make of that? again, it fits the pattern of russian threat going back to the early days of the war, which is now 15 or 16 months old. this very much fits the pattern. on the ground, the russian army has largely been stymied. it not defeated, in ukraine. so i don't think there is much capacity on the ground for the russians to escalate. they have a largely intact air force, but on the other hand, the ukrainian air defence forces are world—class and doing a remarkablejob against the russian aircraft. so i'm not confident the russians have much in terms of escalating options. and last question, what is your sense about what ukraine might need to be able to sustain this counteroffensive?

well, i mentioned they have now fielded nine new brigades, with fresh western equipment and so forth. but the sustainment of those brigades will be just as important as their initial fielding. i mean the maintenance of the equipment, the supply of ammunition, fuel, repair parts and so forth. so i think what's really important in the coming months, certainly perhaps for the rest of this calendar year, is the sustainment of the systems they have. great to have you on our show, thank you. good to be with you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news the rolling again and it's not for the faint—hearted. bumps

and bangs for many but it was matt from manchester who bagged the first trees. h0 matt from manchester who bagged the first trees.— the first trees. no punctures and not got _ the first trees. no punctures and not got many _ the first trees. no punctures and not got many serious i and not got many serious injuries, _ and not got many serious injuries, so i am buzzing. some --eole injuries, so i am buzzing. some peeple did _ injuries, so i am buzzing. some people did take _ injuries, so i am buzzing. some people did take the _ injuries, so i am buzzing. some people did take the rolling - injuries, so i am buzzing. some people did take the rolling a - people did take the rolling a bit too literally but it was delaney from canada who won the ladies race with a thump. despite getting knocked out, like most cheese rolling champions, it wasn't long before she was back on her feet. what do you remember of the race? i feet. what do you remember of the race? , the race? i remember running and then i— the race? i remember running and then i hurt _ the race? i remember running and then i hurt my _ the race? i remember running and then i hurt my head - the race? i remember running and then i hurt my head and l and then i hurt my head and then— and then i hurt my head and then i— and then i hurt my head and then i woke up in the town. it then i woke up in the town. comes as then i woke up in the town. it comes as no surprise there were several injuries. competitors honestly take part at their own risk. one entrant had to be taken to hospital with what was thought to be a broken leg. the authorities want them to be more official organisation to make it as safe as possible, but the tradition carries on. you are watching bbc news- _ for the first time in nearly a decade, a summit

of south american leaders is taking place in brazil. ii of the continent's 12 heads of state are attending the meetings. brazil's president lula urged banks to finance development in the region, and urged countries to tackle climate change together. our will grant has more. 12 south american nations heeded lula's call to join this regional grouping and turn up to the summit in brasilia where lula said they'd been pushed apart by political divisions, that it had interrupted their efforts to integrate. the key, he said, was to get back on the path to integration, on the path to co—operation, and that would take place in several areas, from working together on security and crime, to finance and monetary policy, to the effects of climate change. there are issues all of the nations share. there is one clearly controversial guest, which is president maduro of venezuela. he was being embraced back into the fold both figuratively and literally by lula, who clearly is prepared to welcome a man that his predecessor,

the right wing jair bolsonaro, effectively banned from brazil. there is, of course, an element of logic to the smaller nations in south america wanting to group with some of the bigger nations, like argentina and brazil. but what this says is really that there has now been a swing back to the left in the region, and that those nations under lula's auspices, effectively, are looking to work together notjust as a regional grouping, but with a shared vision that they can take to places like the united nations, and one day, even on lula's vision of a shared currency. a long way off, but this was perhaps the first step in that direction. nato will deploy an extra seven— hundred troops to kosovo in response to clashes with serb protesters. thirty peacekeepers were injured during monday's unrest. the united states has accused kosovo of raising ethnic tensions by forcibly installing ethnic albanian mayors in serb—

majority areas. it's been 15 years since kosovo seceded from serbia, but most ethnic serbs have never accepted the country's independence. our balkans correspondent guy delauney has more. kosovo describes itself as the most pro—american country in the world, so the events of the last few days must have been a shock to the system and things are getting worse because the us ambassador to kosovo says his country is taking measures against kosovo for not following american advice to avoid raising tensions in north kosovo in the majority serb area and these measures for starters include ending kosovo's participation in a nato exercise which was on kosovo soil called defender europe 23 and the ambassador says there is little enthusiasm in the us for helping kosovo a more international recognition or to join more international recognition or tojoin the european union or tojoin the european union or nato. and this all follows

events last friday when armed kosovo police force their way into municipal buildings in north kosovo to restore ethnic albanian mayors. nato is autosomal ash concerned they sent out another 800 peacekeepers to join their peacekeeping force which normally has a complement of about 3800 and tensions have been easing slightly that they are still pretty high and you can see why nato has taken this swift action. top experts and ceos in artificial intelligence issued a dire warning about the risks of ai. a one—sentence statement released earlier tuesday said: �*mitigating the risk of extinction this week, the g7 group of leading ecomomies and the eu are meeting to work out how to tackle ai risks. our technology editor zoe kleinman has more. the word you're going to keep

on hearing is regulation. governments around the world, including the uk, are racing to try to get the right rules in place to make sure ai companies continue to behave responsibly and make their products accordingly. not everybody thinks that humanity is automatically doomed, by the way. we are already seeing some positive benefits of ai. last week, we had an ai tool discover a new antibiotic. we also had it used to build a microchip which has helped a paralysed man to walk again just by thinking about it. one of the ai leaders has told me that he thinks his product should be considered as a tool, not a creature. and i think the regulators around the world are hoping, if they can keep things like that, if they can keep it as something helpful, without being malicious, then it could resolve lots of problems and find some answers to issues that we currently have in society. the problem, of course, with regulators, as we know, they are not renowned for being nimble. they can move pretty slowly.

and this evolution is happening so quickly at the moment, there is a question about whether any regulator, whether it's territorial or a global body, will be able to keep up with the pace of development. earlier i was discussed all things ai with mit's max tegmark, who runs the future of life institute, which focuses on al and is funded in part by elon musk. so this was an extremely short and very strong statement. how could ai cause extinction of humans? i think, in fact, you and i are most likely to die from some ai catastrophe rather than any other cause of death. so we should take it seriously. how could it happen? that's pretty obvious. we humans have already caused the extinction of about half of all other species on earth. they couldn't stop us because they were less intelligent than us. if we build entities much more

intelligent than us and decide to use the planet for other purposes, then we are not going to be able to stop that either. max, you said you and i could die from some sort of ai catastrophe. how far away are these risks from becoming reality? that's why this conversation is happening today. many of us have warned about this for a very long time. and usuallyjust been laughed at. but it turned out that this wasn't 50 years away, like people thought even quite recently. microsoft had a paper out recently saying that artificial general intelligence, you know, the godlike kind we are worried about, they are already seeing sparks of it today. many people talk seriously about this being something that could happen next year, this decade. really, really soon. which is why, now, this is such huge news. for the first time, extinction from al is actually going mainstream.

what do you want to see scientists and governments do to mitigate the risks? i want us to treat ai the way we treat other industries, where there is an obligation to prove stuff is safe before they unleash it. a biotech company cannotjust start selling a new drug in supermarkets and tell everyone it cures cancer if you haven't first convinced a bunch of experts that the benefits outweigh the risks. we have fda in the us, every country has something like this. you can'tjust build a nuclear power plant in downtown manhattan without convincing regulators it is safe. those of us like myself doing research in al, we have to play by the same rules and we have to realise we are having an impact on the world. the onus should be on us

to prove this stuff is safe, if it's really powerful. so one of the godfathers of ai, geoffrey hinton, spoke to us and told us that if the us stopped developing ai, china would take a big lead. so is there any ability to monitor an entity when it is developing ai and might use it for nefarious reasons? i think there is reason to be optimistic, actually. it got mainstream only recently. the great power that comes with artificial general intelligence, that's possible and that made the geopolitical competition worse, of course, as well as competition between companies, because everyone wanted to get that power first. what's happening today, this realisation that the most likely outcome if we race full steam ahead without safety concern is we are all going to go extinct, really gives for the first time america, china, the uk and everyone else the same incentives, to put safeguards in place so we don't lose control over this tech.

because, you know, it doesn't matter if you are chinese, american, british, if you are extinct. max, what is the most imminent threat you are worried about with this technology? control. loss of control for humanity. we are already seeing little hints of it, here and there, when we outsource more and more important decisions to machines, we outsource who should get killed by a drone swarm, a lot of decisions about who should get a job, who should get parole, and so on. if we get to the point where we outsource too much control to machines that ultimately can outsmart us, you know, then even if we do survive, the future isn't going to be our future any more. it's more going to be theirfuture. i think we should aim higher than that. ai has the potential for enormous good. if we can just chill out and set the safety standards

in place and get this and used alto cure all the diseases we are stumped by, lift everybody out of poverty... solve our climate and so much more. we could be flourishing like never before. the disgraced founder of theranos, elizabeth holmes reported to federal prison where she'll serve an 11—year sentence. holmes was convicted last year on four counts of fraud, linked to her failed blood testing start—up. she'll serve her term in a minimum—security prison in texas. alexei navalny, the jailed critic of russia president vladimir putin, will face moscow's city court for a hearing on may 31 on new criminal case against him. last month, navalny said investigators had opened what he called an "absurd" terrorism case that could see him sentenced to an additional 30 years injail. navalny is already serving combined sentences of more than 11 years for fraud and contempt of court. the carter family has released a statement about the health of former first lady rosalynn carter, sharing that she has been

diagnosed with dementia. the announcement comes as her husband, former presidentjimmy carter, receives hospice care at their home in georgia. she and the former president remain at home with loved ones. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. 25.1 celsius was the high in porthmadog in north—west wales on tuesday, making it the warmest day of the year so far across the country. and for the rest of the week, it does stay mainly dry thanks to high pressure, always the warmest and the sunniest of the weather towards western parts of the uk, always a bit cooler and cloudier further east. now this is the blocking area of high pressure which will continue to bring this mainly dry weather. but if you cast your eyes down towards southern europe, it's a different story. here, we've got daytime showers and thunderstorms breaking out for the rest of the week.

so rainfall totals will continue to mount here. could even see some localised flooding in places but further north, thanks that area of high pressure, it's going to stay almost bone dry, but we could see some drizzle at times across eastern england under the thickest of the cloud as we start early wednesday, and under that cloud blanket, which will spread across much of england and wales, temperatures won't fall much below seven to ten degrees, but chilly under the clear skies in the northwest and a little bit of mist and fog, but it's here where you'll see the sunshine from the word go for wednesday morning. the clouds tending to thin and break and burn back to the coast, could linger across parts of the midlands, eastern england once again. and it'll be chilly along north sea coasts and the northern isles down to the southeast, mid—teens there, but up to the mid—20s, central belt of scotland, low 20s for northern ireland and parts of wales. wednesday night the low cloud rolls back into eastern scotland, much of central, southern eastern england and also parts of wales. and again, those temperatures ranging from around six to nine degrees, but a few chillier spots under the clear skies in the northwest.

we do it all again for thursday. best of the sunshine again across northern and western areas, eastern scotland, eastern england will see that cloud burn back to the coast. but again, with the onshore breeze, which will be quite fresh across the east, and the south east, it'll feel cooler here, as opposed to western areas which will see temperatures again into the low 20s celsius. similar picture on friday, most of the cloud across northern and eastern areas. again, more of a breeze in across the southeast. that'll temper the temperatures somewhat. i think temperatures are a little lower across the board. we're in the low 20s out west in the sunshine, as opposed to the mid—20s. but into the weekend it stays largely fine, dry, plenty of sunshine again. best of the sunshine out west, always a bit cloudier and cooler along north sea coasts.

mayjust be possible. welcome to hardtalk, from south africa. i'm stephen sackur, and this is the south african parliament in cape town, dominated since 1994 by the african national congress. but could the anc�*s grip

on power be loosened? well, the once unthinkable