annual security over asia's biggest annual security summit that is getting under way in singapore. and after the death of two youngsters on a beach on the south coast of england, eight boat remains the focus of police investigation. —— a sightseeing boat. one of the initial�*s best known presenters, phillip schofield, says he has lost everything, after admitting to lying about an affair with a young college. the anchor, who hosted the popular daytime show this morning, has been in headlines after admitting to an unwise but not after admitting to an unwise but not a legal relationship. but this is also a story about the workplace culture of britain's biggest commercial broadcaster. let's have a look at what has happened so far. two weeks ago, phillip schofield announced that he was leaving this

morning after 20 years. he suggested that resigning had not been his choice. in a statement, he said, i understand that itv has decided that the current situation cannot go on. a week later, he admitted the affair with the younger colleague, and left itv completely. two days after that, his host —— his co—star, holly willoughby, issued a statement. she said she had been asked about the allegations and rumours emerged in 2020, but that schofield has denied that they were true. mps are now planning to question itv executives over the developments to see how it should have been handled by the organisation. in his first interview since resigning from itv, mr schofield says he desperately regrets the relationship, but insists it was consensual, he strongly denies claims that he groomed the man. he has been speaking to the bbc�*s amol rajan. phillip, come on in. good to see you. thank you. phillip schofield granted this interview because he wanted to say

sorry, he wanted to show contrition, and he wanted to correct some of what he sees as the false narratives in the public domain over the past week. are you feeling ok to do this? are you feeling strong enough to do this interview? yeah, i have to. schofield described the enormous toll that recent days have taken on him. and it is relentless. and it is day after day after day after day. and if you do that... if you don't think that that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone�*s mind... do you want me to die? because that's where i am. i have lost everything. schofield says he is extremely concerned for the welfare of the young man with whom he had an extramarital affair. there is an innocent person here, who didn't do anything wrong. where did you first meet this young man in question? what were the circumstances?

i was invited by a friend of mine to go to open a drama school, and that's where the picture was taken. but whether it was immediately or some time after, he said, "will you follow him on twitter because he's a fan?" so i said, "yeah, sure, no problem," which i did. and he was, what, 15 at the time? yeah. and this was over a decade ago? but i follow... i follow 11,300 people, and in all the time i've been on twitter, there has never been any... ..whiff of impropriety. and how often were you in touch with him? hardly at all. and that was it for a while. and then he asked if he could visit the studios, work experience type of thing. i said, "come down, have a look, for sure," which he did. how old was he when he first said to

you, "i'm interested in television"? was he 18 by that point? 19 then, i would think. 19 by then. when you look back now... if you were to look back at those messages now, is there any sense in which you were flirting with him? no. then when you met him in person, was there a little moment of sexual attraction then, even? absolutely not. 0k. so, to be absolutely clear, how old was this young man when you first had any kind of sexual contact with him? 20. this is obviously the nub of it and for the record and to put speculation to rest, let me ask you directly, did you have any kind of sexual relationship or sex with him when he was underage? no, god, no. i think that is... in my statement it says, consensual relationship, fully legal. i mean, that was approved by both sides. no, no. he had been working at the show for a few months

and we'd become mates. we were mates. around the studios, you hang out together and chat to each other, that sort of stuff. and then, in my dressing room one day, something happened... ..which, obviously... ..i will regret forever, for him and for me. mostly him. but that happened maybe four or five times over the next few months and... ..i know it's... ..unforgivable. but we weren't boyfriends. we weren't in a relationship.

i was really in a mess with my own sexuality at the time, and it just happened. how old was he at this stage? 20, 21. who knew on the team? nobody, to my knowledge. and did you ever tell holly willoughby? no, god, no. when did you last speak to holly willoughby? i whatsapped her on the day i put the statement up and i said to her, "i know you can't reply, you're probably not allowed to, "but please know that i am so desperately, desperately sorry." did she reply? no. on the central question of whether or not he groomed this young man, schofield is emphatic in his denial.

it was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent twitter follow and then it was a completely innocent backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers. you do that, what's wrong with that? what's wrong with talking to someone, no matter what age they are? does that mean that if you are following anyone on twitter, you absolutely don't talk to anybody else or you don't give advice? attention will now turn to the culture of this morning and specifically whether or not itv bosses handled it appropriately. dame carolyn mccall, the boss of itv, is due to be questioned by mps next week. amol rajan, bbc news. the programme that phillip schofield used to present, this morning, continues on the network. after showing the bbc�*s interview to viewers, who former colleague alison

hammond was emotional. we viewers, who former colleague alison hammond was emotional.— hammond was emotional. we find a really painful. _ hammond was emotional. we find a really painful, because _ hammond was emotional. we find a really painful, because obviously - hammond was emotional. we find a really painful, because obviously i i really painful, because obviously i loved phillip schofield, and it is weird, because i still love phillip schofield. however, what he has done is wrong, he has admitted it, he has said sorry, but as a family, we are all really struggling to process everything. all really struggling to process everything-— all really struggling to process eve hina. ., , ., ., everything. lots of indications of that interview, _ everything. lots of indications of that interview, so _ everything. lots of indications of that interview, so if _ everything. lots of indications of that interview, so if you - everything. lots of indications of that interview, so if you have - everything. lots of indications of l that interview, so if you have been affected by any of the issues raised there, there is a list of organisations that can provide help. the details are on the screen, it the bbc�*s action line website, you can find all you need to know there. and if you want to watch more of that interview, amol rajan's full interview with thorpe schofield, it is available on the bbc iplayer right now. —— phillip schofield. breaking news, two austrian citizens who have been held for years in iran, they have been freed and are now returning home, we are told.

they were released after a very lengthy imprisonment in the country, one of them serving 1586 days, the other 2709 days. we are told that they are now on their way back to austria, this according to an austrian foreign ministry statement. you can see the statement on the screen. in it, they thank belgium and oman for securing the release, saying a lot of work was done behind the scenes. also worth pointing out that and iranian austrian businessman was imprisoned many years ago, as we said, sentenced to ten years for spying in a foreign country. his wife says that sentence was based on a confession that was given under torture, some relief that the two men have been released. they are now on their way back to

austria. they will get you more details on that and speak to our correspondence in the regionjust details on that and speak to our correspondence in the region just a little later. now to the latest development here in the uk regarding material demanded by an inquiry into the government's handling of covid—19. former prime minister borisjohnson says he has sent "all unredacted whatsapp" messages from may 2021 directly to the inquiry�*s chairwoman. in a letter to baroness hallet, he also says he'd like to do the same with material from a previous phone discarded due to security reasons. the inquiry is due to begin public hearings in two weeks' time. live now to our political correspondent ione wells. what is going on here? the inquiry has been asking for these details, these messages for quite a while. the government says no, now boris johnson says, i can hand it over and i will, and i johnson says, i can hand it over and iwill, and i have. johnson says, i can hand it over and i will, and i have.— iwill, and i have. slightly more computed. _ iwill, and i have. slightly more computed. in — iwill, and i have. slightly more computed, in fact, _ iwill, and i have. slightly more computed, in fact, in _ iwill, and i have. slightly more computed, in fact, in that - iwill, and i have. slightly more computed, in fact, in that he i i will, and i have. slightly more. computed, in fact, in that he has said he is engaging with the

inquiry. i don't think he has actually handed over some of these messages just yet, but says that he intends to, and is in discussions about this. he said he is willing to give the inquiry all the unredacted versions of his whatsapp messages, which he has already given to the cabinet office. these are messages from april 2021 until more recently. they don't include whatsapp messages which the inquiry was also after from the period before that. remember covid—19 anti—government's response to that started right at the start of 2020, so that is quite a significant period of time where these messages are not able to be accessed at the moment. and the reason that borisjohnson has given for that is he says that the mobile phone that he was using before april 2021 is one who no longer has access to it, because his mobile number was found to have been available online for 15 years, so he was given advice not to turn that move out back on

for security reasons. he says he has spoken to the cabinet office to try to see if there is a way around that, to access that mobile phone and give the inquiry at the messages from that earlier period. but as you say, there has been a point of tension, really come up with the government and the inquiry over this matter. the government only yesterday launched legal action against the covid—19 inquiry. the government argues it should not be forced to hand over what it has described as unambiguously irrelevant material, which could include, for example, private or personal messages, exchanged between colleagues. the inquiry feels it is “p colleagues. the inquiry feels it is up to them to decide what material is relevant. borisjohnson's intervention today suggest he would be happy to hand over this material evenif be happy to hand over this material even if the government did not want to, but the reality is he does not currently have access to it. interesting, too, because it puts the government on a collision course with that inquiry, one that they set

“p with that inquiry, one that they set up themselves. legal issues aside, many people will look at this and say it smacks of someone who has something to hide, or in this case, the government. figs something to hide, or in this case, the government. $5 i something to hide, or in this case, the government.— the government. as i say, the government's _ the government. as i say, the government's argument - the government. as i say, the government's argument is - the government. as i say, the | government's argument is that the government. as i say, the - government's argument is that they feel it would be inappropriate to hand over some of these private personal messages, but certainly i think borisjohnson's intervention think boris johnson's intervention in think borisjohnson's intervention in particular has heaped further pressure on the government to do so. opposition parties have also heavily criticised the government's decision not to just hand the inquiry full unredacted versions of everything that they want. boris johnson has made the argument that he is happy to give some of this material to the inquiry, the inquiry could then decide what was irrelevant and then not publish material that was deemed irrelevant by the inquiry. when i asked the cabinet office by exactly they did not feel comfortable doing that, the argument that has been put to me is essentially that they feel it would still mean sharing some of this potentially private information with dozens of people who are

working on the inquiry, so that seems to be when he government is making its argument. however, there is some pessimism even in government about whether or not they can actually win this legal challenge. just yesterday, a government minister, george freeman, said that he believed courts would rule in favour of the inquiry and the inquiry�*s demand for them to have a say over what material they have access to. so it could still be the case that if the government loses this legal challenge that they have mounted, they would have to hand over all this material anyway. fine over all this material anyway. one to watch and _ over all this material anyway. one to watch and see _ over all this material anyway. one to watch and see how— over all this material anyway. one to watch and see how this plays out in the coming hours and days. ione, for now, good to have you with us, thank you. ione wells, our political correspondent. asia's biggest annual security summit is getting under way in singapore. it's known as the shangri la summit named after the hotel which hosts the event.

australian feminist anthony albanese it has called china's nuclear threat reprehensible. our correspondent monica miller is in singapore. she sent us this update. this has sent a signal to the world that the two superpowers are far apart on issues like taiwan and trade. the host of this event has put out a report that also shows that countries in this region are feeling incredibly vulnerable in this state. == feeling incredibly vulnerable in this state. ~ . . . this state. -- australian prime minister anthony _ this state. -- australian prime minister anthony albanese - this state. -- australian prime minister anthony albanese a. | this state. -- australian prime - minister anthony albanese a. whether it is us security — minister anthony albanese a. whether it is us security with _ minister anthony albanese a. whether it is us security with less _ minister anthony albanese a. whether it is us security with less of _ minister anthony albanese a. whether it is us security with less of an - it is us security with less of an ability— it is us security with less of an ability to— it is us security with less of an ability to integrate with the economic powerhouse that china is, or economic— economic powerhouse that china is, or economic integration with china, and been _

or economic integration with china, and been left to their own devices in terms _ and been left to their own devices in terms of— and been left to their own devices in terms of security concerns, they do not _ in terms of security concerns, they do not want — in terms of security concerns, they do not want to have to make a choice between _ do not want to have to make a choice between the — do not want to have to make a choice between the devil and the deep blue see it. _ between the devil and the deep blue see it, they are two bad choices in that respect. see it, they are two bad choices in that reaped-— that respect. there is hope that there will be _ that respect. there is hope that there will be groundwork - that respect. there is hope that there will be groundwork laid i that respect. there is hope that| there will be groundwork laid for that respect. there is hope that. there will be groundwork laid for xi there will be groundwork [aid for xi jinping and joe biden to meet later this year. around the world and across the uk, you're watching bbc news. some to some other stories making news in the uk. a teenagerfrom essex has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of six years, after pleading guilty to plotting terror attacks. 19—year—old matthew king admitted carrying out surveillance at police stations, railway stations, and an british army barracks in london. the government has appointed dame elan closs stephens as the bbc�*s acting chair. she replaces richard sharp who resigned after an independent report found he had breached the rules.

dame elan closs stephens has been on the public broadcaster's governing body since 2010. she's described her new role as "a huge honour". hundreds of people to stay chews down a hill on monday in gloucester. some suffered serious injuries in the annual event. a safety groups says emergency services will no longer staff the event until organisers come up with a safety plan, as it is streaming the emergency services at the moment. —— straining. there's a continued police presence around a moored sightseeing boat in dorset, southern england, following the deaths of two young people off bournemouth beach on wednesday. the dorset belle, which offers regular cruises around bournemouth, was in the area when calls to the emergency services were first made. a 12—year—old girl and a 17—year—old boy died after being pulled from the sea. eight other people were treated at the scene.

earlier we spoke to our correspondent duncan kennedy who's been following the story. police released what details they need to release. that is pretty standard in these kind of investigations. and what they have been addressing rv rumours and speculation, so they put some things to bed as it were, whilst not really revealing too much more about their actual investigation. so what they have ruled out, for instance, is that these swimmers caught up in this incident were hit by a jet ski. that did not happen. they say they were not hit by a boat, and they did notjump off this peer behind me and get injured that way. you want that, they are not saying very much. what appears to be happening is that investigation seems to be centred on a boat called the dorset side, a pleasure craft that runs on small cruises from bournemouth pier. —— the dorset authority mac. it is reported that the boat has been impounded by police and is in a separate marina down the coast from here —— the dorset authority mac ——

the dorset belle. we are not telling us why the vessel is of interest to them at the moment —— the police are not telling us. the rmt union says it regrets the inconvenience caused by its latest round of strikes but it says the dispute will continue until it has a fair pay deal. many operators have a limited service today and there's another strikes planned by train drivers in the aslef union planned for tomorrow. the government says it's made fair and reasonable pay offers. another day of disruption, the unions say they have not targeted specific events but it is hard not to come to that conclusion. absolutely, this is the 29th industrial action day on the

railways, which takes this dispute to almost a year, some 20,000 rmt workers are on strike today, including guards, train managers people working at the stations. as you can see behind me at it is pretty busy. there is a 50% service today, people are coming and going because they checked on the websites beforehand to see that their train is running. if you can get an example, if you are travelling to manchester piccadilly, normally there would be about three trains per hour, but today there's one train per hour there and back. also there is going to be industrial action tomorrow, and the aslef union which represents train drivers, they will be on strike, and as you say, huge disruption because we have the fa cup final at wembley, people will be travelling from manchester because it is manchester city versus manchester united at wembley. there is also 100,000 people expected at the epsom derby, epsom has certainly put on further car parking spaces for people there. —— epsom has said

they have put on. and there's also a mass beyonce concert in the north london, so lots of disruption over the weekend, and of course it is half term —— massive beyonce concert. half term -- massive beyonce concert. ., ~ half term -- massive beyonce concert. . ~ , ., antony blinken america's top diplomat has described president putin's invasion of ukraine as a strategic failure for russia. his comments came as the us secretary of state arrived in finland, months after it became nato's newest member. mr blinken also insisted that a strong ukraine in control of its own territory was a prerequisite for talks with russia, warning against fake peace through a ceasefire. let's have a listen at some of what he had to say. today what i want to do is set out this and the many other ways putin's war of aggression against ukraine has been a strategic failure, greatly diminishing russia's power, its interests and its influence for years to come. and i'll also share our vision of the path to a just and lasting peace.

when you look at president putin's long strategic aims and objectives, there is no question, russia is significantly worse off today than it was before its full—scale invasion of ukraine, militarily, economically, geopolitically. ukraine's president zelensky has threatened potential prosecutions of local officials if there is any repeat of the failure to open air raid shelters, which contributed to the deaths of three people in kyiv on thursday. a nine—year—old girl, her mother, and another woman died, after trying to use a shelter during a russian missile strike, only to find it was closed. mr zelensky said the shelters had to be accessible 2a hours a day. this was the scene in a kyiv subway station, as fresh russian air strikes triggered countrywide alerts overnight. the ukrainian government says 36 drones and missiles were shot down in and around the capital. our correspondent james waterhouse has more from kyiv. a colleague filmed some of the air defences last night and it's almost

a bizarre fireworks display where you can see projectiles lighting up the sky in deep orange at times. this is the kind of cocktail people are trying to sleep with that night, air raid sirens followed by explosions, it's a disturbed night for so many people where they are urged to go down to shelters, and it seems yesterday that three people died because of a public air raid shelter being locked. president zelensky didn't hold back in his criticism of vitali klitschko, the mayor of kyiv. they are not political allies, they are different beasts with different loyalties and priorities. president zelensky said we thought we had russia, but it turns out we have internal enemies as well.

vitali klitschko hasjust responded, in short saying, yes, i'm responsible, but it's the president who installed the district officials who are responsible for the air raid shelter, so, yes, i'm responsible, but it's not my fault was the crux of his response. it was quite a bit of ugly political fallout from what was a deeply tragic incident where three people including a mother and her nine—year—old daughter were killed from falling debris as they tried to take cover. russia seems to be sticking with... seem to be relentless with its strategy of targeting ukrainian cities and there is always the danger for people that they get used to the sirens but there are times when innocent people find themselves on the sharp end of this destruction.

well, as republican rivals line up to take on president biden at next year's presidential election in the us, there was a photo op that mr biden could probably have done without. he fell over at a public event in colorado. this is the moment it happened. the white house later issued a statement saying mr biden was fine, and that he'd tripped over a sandbag which had been hello there. the wind flow hasn't changed, but we're seeing more sunshine across the uk today and that's because whilst the winds are still coming in off the north sea, it's drier air that's heading our way from norway and the cloud has been much thinner and has been breaking up more widely. so plenty of sunshine around, feels warm in the sunshine as well. it's still a little cooler right on those north sea coasts because we've got that north—easterly breeze. it's still quite breezy in the south east of england as well. overnight, some of that cloud will come back in across some eastern areas of england, and we'll see some patchy cloud in the north of scotland. otherwise, skies will be clear. it's going to be pretty chilly out there as well.

colder than it was last night in england and wales, 45 degrees, "4—5 degrees, perhaps even lower than that in north east england and south east scotland. there'll be some cloud around from overnight first thing, it'll burn off again and we'll see lengthy spells of sunshine, bit of fairweather cloud bubbling up over the high ground in scotland and across some southern parts of england as well. but a fine day, temperatures may be a little bit higher widely, up to 20 to 22 degrees. again, cooler around some of those north sea coasts, but a pleasant day nonetheless. and sunshine far and wide, and it's high uv levels as well. we've still got high pressure in charge right the way through the weekend. there it is centred to the north—west of the uk. there's a lot of cloud in that, and that cloud is going to run across northern scotland and then push back down across the north sea into some eastern areas of england overnight into sunday morning. so a bit more cloud around. it will retreat back to those north sea coasts, but it could stay cloudy in a few more places. otherwise, a lot of sunshine around.

dry day as well. warmest out towards the west. temperatures reaching 23 or 2a degrees, but a lovely weekend for many parts of the country, and high pressure isn't going anywhere really at all next week. still got some blustery winds through the english channel and the south—east of england. otherwise, the winds will be light. this cloud that we start with across the midlands and eastern england, burning back to some of those north sea coasts. sunshine developing across more of the country, and those temperatures climbing up to 23 or 2a degrees 01’ so. so this weather pattern is still with us and it's not changing at all through next week. high pressure will be dominant, staying dry. there will be some areas of cloud around west is going to be best in terms of sunshine and also the highest temperatures.

the us economy added 339,000 new jobs last month, far more than expected, but unemployment also rises. food commodity prices have hit their lowest level in two years so why are prices at the supermarket still soaring? hello and welcome. we

will begin in the usa where