i'm not going to get cancelled because there's no skeletons in my closet. some of my comedy hasn't aged particularly well, but if we haven't figured out that that's the truth yet, then, you know... but it doesn't affect you when you're writing now, in 2023. well, i'm done... i was done with satire anyway, i've moved on. so, no, it doesn't. people go, "did you give up comedy because you're scared of being cancelled?" i gave up comedy because... i did it, it was amazing. tim minchin, thank you very much for talking to newsnight. it's a pleasure. thank you so much and good luck. that's all from us tonight. i'm back monday. till then, have an amazing weekend.

breaking news from around the world, 24 breaking news from around the world, 2a hours a day. this is bbc news. turning to the war in ukraine now, and the us secretary of state has called president putin's invasion of ukraine a "strategic failure". speaking in finland, antony blinken said the war had only strengthened the very alliances russia had sought to weaken nato and the eu. finland, of course, is the latest country to join the security alliance. mr blinken made clear that a strong ukraine was the only way to achieve a lasting peace.

precisely because we have no illusions about putin's aspirations, we believe the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy and real peace is a stronger ukraine, capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression. meanwhile, in ukraine itself, president zelensky has threatened to prosecute 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 reach a shelter during a russian missile strike only to find it was closed. mr zelensky said the shelters should 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 more than 30 drones and missiles were shot down in and around the capital. our correspondent james waterhouse has more from kyiv.

there seems to be quite an ugly bit of political fallout from yesterday's strikes, which left three people dead. they were unable to get into an air raid shelter which was locked, it was a public air raid shelter. and today, president zelensky has hardly held back. he has described vitali klitschko, the city's mayor, as an enemy. he said, "i thought it was russia, but it turns out we have "internal enemies as well." now, vitali klitschko has responded, in short saying, "yes, i am partly responsible, but it was the president "who installed the officials who were responsible "for that shelter." it really is ugly, but i think this has been a relentless continuation of russian air strikes. there were two waves of attacks last night, yet another night and morning where people heard sirens and then explosions.

they weren't able to get a night's sleep and they had to head and take cover. the skies were filled with air defence systems, where missiles were going up into the air, lighting the area in orange at times. it was almost like a bizarre fireworks display. and this is the daily reality. and there are no signs to suggest that russia is going to let up with its tactic of targeting ukrainian cities, despite the military significance of such a move continuing to be debatable. james waterhouse there for us in kyiv. attacks on ukraine's cities have intensified in recent weeks, with people living with the constant threat of russian missile and drone strikes. today, the united states said president putin's invasion has will ultimately diminish russia's powerfor years to come.

russia controls large areas of eastern and southern ukraine, but there's been no decisive victory and its occupation comes at a huge cost. the us estimates that more than 200,000 russian soldiers may have been killed or wounded in the conflict. in recent weeks, there have also been a small number of drone strikes in russia which the authorities blame on ukraine, adding to a sense of unease there about the conflict. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has been to the city of yaroslavl to gauge the public mood. piano music this is yaroslavl, about 150 miles from moscow. legend has it that 1,000 years ago here, a prince killed a bear which had been unleashed on him by his enemies, and he celebrated by founding this town. now, a lot has changed in a thousand years. today, vladimir putin portrays russia as a bear, a bear that's under attack. he has claimed that the west is trying to put chains around russia, to pull out russia's fangs and claws. but do russians actually believe that narrative? this is a good opportunity

to gauge the mood. it's city day, it's yaroslavl�*s annual street party and they've gone ahead with it despite russia's war in ukraine. it feels kind of strange, really, because on the one hand it's a celebration, but mixed in are reminders of the so—called special military operation. for example, i've just seen some volunteers who are demonstrating how they make battlefield camouflage for russian troops in ukraine. they even sew in 0rthodox icons to the clothes they're making and they make socks for soldiers too. and one of the volunteers i spoke to, a teacher, had this message for the west. translation: the russian bear won't i hurt you if you don't frighten him. . that's the golden rule. piano music now, look at this, this

is the so—called rock of friendship. it features the names of towns and cities twinned with yaroslavl. so for example, there's exeter in britain, burlington in america, poitiers in france, although some of these places have suspended ties over russia's war in ukraine. now, because western nations have been supporting ukraine, one local activist here is campaigning to get this rock removed. translation: carved into this rock are names of twin towns _ from countries that are now russia's enemies. if the west didn't help ukraine, the conflict would have been over long ago. but listen to what the public has to say about the idea of removing the monument. translation: this is our history. it shouldn't be removed. history should be left alone. translation: i think it's wrong to remove monuments. - we need to find a common language with each other. translation: we shouldn't break off

relations completely. _ this will end soon and everything will be ok, both countries will reconcile. piano music rock solid is what i thought relations would be between russia and the west post—communism. well, that didn't work out. instead, today, from morning till night, state tv here tells russians that it's the west, not russia, that started the war in ukraine and that the west is trying to destroy russia. and many people here do believe that — but not everyone. and that story with the rock of friendship and what people on the street were telling me about it, to me, that suggests there are some russians who do want a stronger relationship with the west and who are hoping that their country takes a different direction.

a well told story there, and that piano music played by steve rosenberg as well. us presidentjoe biden is set to sign a deal on the us debt ceiling that will prevent the first—ever us default, describing it as a big win for the economy and the american people. in the next hour, he will give his first address to the american people from the oval office. the us senate and the house of representatives recently approved the bill to lift a limit on government borrowing. had an agreement not been reached, the default on the country's debt could have caused widespread disruption to the world's financial markets. so what does the bill do? let's ta ke let's take a look. it suspends the debt ceiling until 2025. that means the government can borrow more money to pay its bills for the next two years, until after the next presidential election. there will also be a two—year freeze on spending, except for defence. that budget will increase to $886 billion, up 3%.

unspent covid funds will be returned, with one estimate suggesting the government will recover about $30 billion. welfare benefits will be slightly tinkered with, but there will be no major overhaul. there will be funds to help the internal revenue service enforce the tax code on america's richest. and new rules will make it easier for both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects to get licences. a lot in that deal. and now in studio isjust parker. you've been following all of the latest of elements with this debt ceiling, lots of late nights for you but this address an interesting one from the president, as we mentioned. he will be doing it from the oval office but what can we address from this address? i what can we address from this address? ~ . what can we address from this address? ~' . ., address? i think the rare oval office address. _ address? i think the rare oval office address. normally - address? i think the rare oval- office address. normally associate office address. normally associate with more or the pandemic when donald trump was in office. with the white house has been saying is they want to lay out the situation where

the gravity of the hypothetical situation, had the still not been reached, and the potential consequences. i think forjoe biden, though, perhaps he had to be relatively muted during this process. of course he was constantly asked about the debt ceiling deal and what was going on in those talks. it was not really in his interest to say that the democrats were scoring massive winds, he just was a, we are protecting key measures, but he did not probably want to put republicans off from voting for it, so maybe it is a chance to set a narrative. so this could potentially _ chance to set a narrative. so this could potentially be _ chance to set a narrative. so this could potentially be biting's - could potentially be biting's victory lap. if it is, how would the president sell this debt ceiling deal as a victory? for president sell this debt ceiling deal as a victory?— president sell this debt ceiling deal as a victo ? ., ., ., deal as a victory? for him, although i don't how— deal as a victory? for him, although i don't how much _ deal as a victory? for him, although i don't how much he _ deal as a victory? for him, although i don't how much he will— deal as a victory? for him, although i don't how much he will boast - deal as a victory? for him, although| i don't how much he will boast about this element particularly, clearly the fact it is a two—year dear is important for him! a two—year deal. this won't re—emerge as a big issue. he has talked about protecting

corporate programmes, priorities like the inflation reduction act, clean energy products, things that will really matter to his part of his constituency, and i wonder as well, and of course we are slightly speculating at the moment because we don't know exactly what he is going to say, but maybe this is a chance is well for him to speak to his supporters and people he might be disappointed by some of the compromises that he has made and try and reach out to them and reassure them, and i think all of this has to be seen in the prism of the 2024 presidential race, which of course he is running for reelection in. briefly, what about on the republican side? there was some criticism of house speaker kevin mccarthy knocking more extractions from the demo credit agenda. how is this deal going down to republicans? i was up on capitol hill earlier this week speaking to some republicans who were deeply disappointed. they felt not only had he failed to get sufficient spending cuts, that actually the kind of pr around it, the spin, had been basically a dishonest and they were

left reading a deal they felt was deeply disappointing. however, for kevin mccarthy, did not exactly emerge into this position in a strong position, it took him 15 rounds to get the speakership, he will be doing victory laps. he will be relieved he got this deal over the line with some republican support, although clearly not all of his colleagues supported it. jess parker, thank _ his colleagues supported it. jess parker, thank you very much for all of your reporting on that debt ceiling deal. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. matlock, november 2019. the town's had more than its fair share of devastating floods. last year, storms in february caused part of the town's flood defence wall to collapse, so work began to rebuild it. the aim of the wall is to protect homes and businesses from future flooding, something florist robert young welcomes, but he says the work has come at a cost. after 40 years operating in matlock,

he's decided to relocate his business to nearby tansley. there may be some kind of perception that matlock is difficult to get to, that it's closed for business, and we as a local council very much want to get over the idea that matlock is open for business. the work to build the wall should be fully finished by the autumn. the a6 is due to reopen in september. it's hoped then matlock can get back to business as usual. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. scientists in the uk say they've had very promising results from an nhs trial of a blood test that can detect 50 types of cancer. the test is particularly good at spotting where many cancers start, but it's not yet accurate enough to be rolled out. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh has this report. scientists believe we are edging ever closer to a blood test

which can reliably detect and rule out cancer. this one developed by californian company grail. so how does it work? the grail test looks for fragments of cancer dna which have broken off from a tumour and are circulating in the bloodstream. in the biggest trial of its kind, a team at oxford university monitored over 5,000 people who went to their gp in england and wales with cancer symptoms. the blood test correctly identified two out of three cancer cases. now what that means for patients is that 75% of those with a positive blood test did have cancer, which was confirmed by conventional methods like scans. but 2.5% who had a negative test also had cancer, which is why researchers described it as "a work in progress", not accurate enough to be used in daily practice. what's exciting researchers is that

where cancer was identified, in 85% of cases, the blood test was able to pinpoint the original site of the cancer. this is crucial, as often people go to their doctor with only vague symptoms like weight loss and abdominal pain. a major trial called nhs—galleri is under way with 140,000 healthy volunteers to see if the blood test can detect early signs of cancer. the first results are due next year, and if successful, the nhs in england plans to extend the roll—out to a further 1 million people. fergus walsh, bbc news. staying in the uk, and two weeks after standing down from his itv show this morning and a week after revealing he had a relationship with a much younger male colleague, presenter phillip schofield has

apologised for what he called a grave error and said that his career was now over and he had lost everything. in his first broadcast interview since he quit itv, he said the relationship only began several years after his first meeting with the young man, who was then 15. mr schofield strongly denies grooming him but says he regrets the relationship and lying about it when itv tried to investigate. he also said he believed that homophobia had fuelled the media coverage of events. he's been talking to the bbc�*s amol rajan. phillip, come on in. good to see you. thank you. thanks for coming in. you've had quite the week, how are you? erm, ithink... i understand how caroline flack felt. last week, if my daughters hadn't been there...

..then i wouldn't be here. and they've. .. ..guarded me. it's like a weird... ..numbness. you feeling strong enough to do this interview? yeah, i have to. why? why do you want to do this interview? because there is an innocent person here who didn't do anything wrong. ijust have to say, stop with him. ok with me, but stop with him, leave him alone now. 0k, 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. whether it was immediately or sometime after, he said, will you really follow him on twitter,

because he's a fan. so i said, "yeah, sure." and he was 15 at the time? yeah. and this is 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, 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 and have a look, for sure. which he did. how old was he when he first said to you, i'm interested in television? 19 then, i would think. to be absolutely clear, how old was this young man when you first had any kind of sexual contact with him? 20. let me ask you, did you have any kind of sexual relationship or sex with him when he was underage? no, god, no. i think that is, you know, in my statement, it says, you know, consensual relationship, fully legal.

i mean, that was approved by both sides. you know, that's. .. no, no. he'd been working at the show for a few months and we become mates. we were mates. and then in my dressing room one day... ..something happened. which, you know, obviously, i will... ..regret foreverfor him and for me — mostly him. but it... that happened maybe four or five times over the next few months. and, i know it's... ..unforgivable. erm, 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. holly did not know. nobody knew. i mean, the reason this matters is because it is about potential abuse of power. and it is... i understand that. and that is a very, very valid question to put to me. and i think if it was male—female, then it wouldn't be such a scandal. there is an enormous amount of homophobia. and we'd like to think that we'd move forward in 2023. is this the tip of the iceberg? are there more allegations of revelations to come, or as far as you're concerned it's all out? my biggest, sorriest secret. and finally, what would you say to the young man in question? to whom i am the most sorry.

by getting involved with me, i have caused you so much pain. i'll never forgive myself that i made a bad judgment call. phillip schofield, thank you so much for your time. thanks. switching gears now... in case you weren't watching last night, there's a new national spelling bee champion here in the us. that is correct! dev shah from florida won the 2023 scripps national spelling bee and the $50,000 prize that goes with it. the 14—year—old spelled "psammophile"... i don't know how many people could have done that!

he spelled that correctly in the final round to win the title. now, this got many of us in the newsroom talking about the finer points of spelling, including why some words are spelled diffferently in american english than they are in british english. our digital colleauges put that to some of the folks at the spelling bee. so what we're going to do is we're going to give you words, but you have to spell them in british english instead of american english. i have to spell it the british way? oh, ok. that is going to be tricky. and your word is colour. colour. call there, i can do this. c-o-l-o-u-r. the word defence. defence. so what type of defence is this? d-e-f-e-n-c-e. level three — cheque.

for some reason. i don't know why you guys played 0 in there, but 0k. next level is the word tyre. there's a british way to spell this? i did not know you guys felt this differently. the final round — manoeuvre. i don't know how to do this, but let you think. they spell oh, yeah, i've heard that before. of course it's spelled like that. you got it. hello, bbc. fix your spellings. what are you guys doing? maybe spellings the american way for once. kind of unique spelling. i was in an american

spelling bee, not english. it shows. i commend you for living with these spellings every day. stay tuned, because coming up at the top of the hour, we will bring you the live coverage of us president joe biden addressing the nation from the oval office on the debt ceiling deal. i am carl nasman. stay with us. hello there. no shortage of sunshine in the weekend forecast for most of us. one thing, though, we will continue to see a shortage of is rain. there are many places, particularly in the south and the west of the uk, that have not seen any measurable rainfall for more than three weeks, and that is not going to change very much over the next few days. in fact, over the next five days, while southern parts of europe will continue to be very wet indeed across our shores, very little, if any, rain in the forecast. and that is because high pressure continues to hold firm to the north—west of europe, allowing these thunderstorms to pop up down towards the south, but keeping us largely fine, dry and settled with some

spells of sunshine. and that sun is strong at this time of year with high uv levels. most of us starting on a sunny note on saturday, a little bit of patchy cloud here and there across parts of england and wales, tending to retreat back towards the east coast. we will keep a bit more cloud around northern scotland, particularly for 0rkney and shetland, and there isjust a very, very small chance for a shower over higher ground in scotland and northern ireland, but really only a very small chance. a slightly warmer day, 16 or 17 along the east coast, 23 for some spots further west. and the fa cup final taking place at wembley, the weather is set fair with quite a lot of sunshine through the afternoon. and at hampden park for the scottish cup final, very similar forecast — spells of sunshine, temperatures of 21 or 22 degrees. now, as we head through saturday evening, it is going to stay fine with lots of sunshine and then clear skies overnight. that will mean another

rather chilly night. but we will see some low cloud rolling in across the north—east of scotland and maybe some patches of low cloud across eastern parts of england as well. temperatures generally 7 to 10 degrees, but it may be a little chillier than that in some spots in the countryside. and then into sunday, well, a bit more in the way of low cloud for parts of northern and eastern scotland, threatening to roll onto the east coast of england. further west, spells of sunshine and temperatures again up to 22 or 23 degrees. and then as we look ahead to the coming week, well, little, if any, rain in the forecast. it's going to stay dry. and if anything, it's set to turn a bit warmer later in the week.

hello coming up on bbc news we will bring you live coverage of president joe biden�*s address from the oval office on the debt ceiling deal. his first address on the of office as president, in it he will state that the american people avoid an economic collapse. more on that coming up but first we want to bring you the special broadcast of our podcast. amir cast in it it will feature mari in the spring and conversation with john feature mari in the spring and conversation withjohn bronson and why america is a breeding ground for conspiracies in this information and how they can affect an outcome in 2024 election. to throw us forward and to think about what's coming next.