hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. vladimir putin has made his first public comments after the wagner mercenary group staged an armed mutiny then abandoned it over the weekend. in a 5—minute speech, mr putin claimed russian society had rallied around his leadership. the rebellion on saturday was led by wagner's head, yevgeny prigozhin. it all ended after a deal purportedly brokered by belarusian president alexander lukashenko. putin reaffirmed his promise to allow wagner troops to either continue in the russian army or go to belarus as part of that agreement. our russia editor steve rosenberg has this report. it was the end of his mutiny and the last time we saw yevgeny prigozhin. under a deal with the kremlin on saturday, the wagner chief had pulled back his fighters in exchange for immunity from prosecution and he agreed

to move to belarus. it's not clear where he is now. he speaks russian. but today mr prigozhin posted this message. he hadn't tried to overthrow russia's government, he said, it was just a protest to stop wagner being disbanded and to punish those who'd made mistakes in what he called the special military operation in ukraine. to try to reassert his authority, president putin summoned security chiefs to a late—night meeting. since his tv address on saturday, he'd stayed silent on the mutiny that he's called an act of treachery. tonight, he addressed the nation again. translation: it was - the patriotism of our citizens, the consolidation of the whole of russian society that played the decisive role in these events. this support helped us overcome the most difficult challenges that our motherland faced. thank you for this.

after a weekend of high drama, in the russian capital it didn't feel like victory. the mutiny had failed, but there are still more questions than answers about what had happened. and a lot of uncertainty about what's in store. russian officials have been queueing up to denounce mr prigozhin as a traitor. but prime minister mikhail mishustin also blamed the west today for what had happened. "russia," he said, "had faced a challenge to its stability." "we need to rally around the president." state tv was on message. the presenter claims that russians had united to support vladimir putin and denounced treachery. "our enemies were in ecstasy during the mutiny," she said. "the traitor yevgeny prigozhin did a good job of western propaganda."

but at the newspaper kiosk i discovered a different reaction. in the dailies it was less blame the west and much more where is russia heading? russian newspapers are really interesting on this today. even though the media landscape here is heavily controlled by the state, some of the papers are saying things the kremlin isn't. for example, this paper says that with the mutiny russia has demonstrated its vulnerability to the whole world and to itself. and this paper calls what mr prigozhin has done "an unprecedented challenge to vladimir putin." it says it will have long—term consequences for russia. events seemed to take the kremlin by surprise. did two decades in power make vladimir putin to confident? —— too confident? after24 years, i mean, you do lose a sense of reality. in a giant country like this where everything is in the centre and everybody is doing everything, if you win you would be an incredibly great person not

to lose your marbles this way. ——at yourwhim. if you win you would be an incredibly great person not to lose your marbles this way. he's under pressure, but don't write off vladimir putin. one thing he's learned since coming to power is how to stay there. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the white house has made clear the us was not involved in the mutiny as putin suggested. the as putin suggested. united states closely monitored the united states closely monitored those events with president biden receiving literally hour by hour updates from his national security team throughout the weekend and those updates continue throughout the weekend. the president can beef found in a call to discuss and any impact stability in russia could have as we prepare for a range of scenarios and the president also convened calls with many of our allies and partners throughout the weekend and those calls continue. we also made clear to all of our allies and partners that the united states was not involved and

would not get involved in these events and that we view them as internal russian matters. joining me is william courtney, former us ambassador and special assistant to the president for russia, ukraine, and eurasia. thank you forjoining us. if we look at what vladimir putin said today in his comments he said today in his comments he said he would keep his promise to let wagnerforces said he would keep his promise to let wagner forces either go to let wagner forces either go to belarus orjoin the russian army. he did not name yevgeny prigozhin. we do not know the exact whereabouts of prigozhin either. what do you think is going to happen to the wagner mercenary group cosmic head? —— mercenary group cosmic head? —— mercenary group's head. balor it appears that putin has come down —— it appears that putin has come down -- it it appears that putin has come down -- . ,, .,, ., down -- it appears that putin has come _ down -- it appears that putin has come down _ down -- it appears that putin has come down under - down -- it appears that putin| has come down under greater pressure partly because prigozhin forces really got pretty close to moscow. so i think it now the vitriol in

president putin's speech suggests he may have backtracked on a present dogmatic promise he made to yevgeny prigozhin that he could go to belarus. putin saying he will allow wagner forces propose trips to go there but he doesn't say anything about progression. putin nevin mentions names of key opponents, alexei navalny and now of course prigozhin. so this suggests that putin really is worried. this suggests that putin really is worried-— this suggests that putin really is worried. , ., ., ., is worried. does that mean that ou think is worried. does that mean that you think prigozhin _ is worried. does that mean that you think prigozhin will - is worried. does that mean that you think prigozhin will have - you think prigozhin will have to pay some sort of price for this mutiny? it to pay some sort of price for this mutiny?— this mutiny? it is unclear, it will depend _ this mutiny? it is unclear, it will depend in _ this mutiny? it is unclear, it will depend in part - this mutiny? it is unclear, it will depend in part whether| will depend in part whether prigozhin is still in russia and if he is under control of security services than president putin's claim today that leaders of the mutiny will be brought to justice, that leaders of the mutiny will be brought tojustice, that could well take place but if prigozhin is already in belarus and some of his trips are

there, you could have a little mini army or a guard there and be an independent actor which could be troublesome for the kremlin and make putin look weaker again after talking about bringing him tojustice or the leaders of wagner to justice. polio will —— partly it will depend on whether prigozhin got to belarus or not. , ., , prigozhin got to belarus or not. , w. not. do you see the chance he could face _ not. do you see the chance he could face another— not. do you see the chance he could face another challenge l not. do you see the chance he | could face another challenge if you have wagner forces could face another challenge if you have wagnerforces in russia itself? you have wagner forces in russia itself?— you have wagner forces in russia itself? yes, it could be. in russia itself? yes, it could be- in part _ russia itself? yes, it could be. in part because - russia itself? yes, it could be. in part because we - russia itself? yes, it could| be. in part because we saw russia itself? yes, it could - be. in part because we saw the popularity of the outpouring of public support for progression and his troops in rostov on don and his troops in rostov on don and other places so this must have come as a shock to the kremlin as well so we're likely to see other potential opponents to president putin reassessed their chances for a challenge in the government and

if prigozhin is in belarus he could also be calling for to challenge putin again. what about the — challenge putin again. what about the president - challenge putin again. what about the president putin i about the president putin himself? we didn't see any shakeup in his cabinet, particularly addressing his defence minister. why do you think that is? it defence minister. why do you think that is?— think that is? it may be a little too _ think that is? it may be a little too soon _ think that is? it may be a little too soon to - think that is? it may be a little too soon to tell - think that is? it may be a i little too soon to tell those you will recall in august 1991 there a failed attempt at a push or to against mikhail gorbachev then four months later gorbachev, although he survived that attempt, he was out of office and the soviet union collapsed they wouldn't be surprised if again we are going to see some effects of this activity over a number of months with the kremlin probably ending up less popular thanit probably ending up less popular than it was before this attempt.

than it was before this attempt-— than it was before this attem t. ~ ., attempt. meanwhile we saw zelensky visiting _ attempt. meanwhile we saw zelensky visiting troops - attempt. meanwhile we saw i zelensky visiting troops today. how do you think they will respond? ukrainians haven't launched the full-scale - respond? ukrainians haven't i launched the full-scale counter launched the full—scale counter attempt —— counteroffensive yet. now after this confusion there could be further weaknesses or gaps in the russian frontlines so eventually ukrainians will do some more attacks but this is certainly good for ukrainian military prospects. they could have some pretty sensational attacks if some of the russian forces melt away and that is a risk that the kremlin is probably worried a lot about. ambassador, wouldn't this be an opportunity for ukraine to go bigger and bolder with this counteroffensive if there is some perceived weakness with russian forces?— russian forces? yes, that is . uite russian forces? yes, that is quite possible. _ russian forces? yes, that is quite possible. it _ russian forces? yes, that is quite possible. it will- russian forces? yes, that is| quite possible. it will depend on where they see their weakness. the main goalfor ukraine additionally is to break the land bridge from

donbas down to crimea which is a crucial military supply land and then they will try to take more area that russians occupy but if the ukrainians can get to close off the land bridge, that will be a huge success. now, though, there may be thinking they have other targets. so far the worst hasn't really proclaimed victory as the goal which zelensky has. it is possibly now the west is also going to think that victory may be a suitable goal. 50 think that victory may be a suitable goal.— think that victory may be a suitable goal. so what do you exect suitable goal. so what do you expect to _ suitable goal. so what do you expect to see _ suitable goal. so what do you expect to see next _ suitable goal. so what do you expect to see next from - suitable goal. so what do you expect to see next from the l suitable goal. so what do you i expect to see next from the us? i think the us will continue supplying equipment and to rely with its allies and make sure they have what they need but they have what they need but the key issue now is how the ukrainians perform in their counteroffensive and more success, the more likely the

west is going to feel emboldened and perhaps provide even more military equipment. ambassador, thank you so much forjoining us with your insights tonight. as tensions rise from within russia, how will this affect the war in ukraine? our international editor, jeremy bowen, has this report from kyiv. anything that is bad for putin and russia is good as far as the ukrainians are concerned from president zelensky right down through to his chain of command but what has to be remembered is that problems in russia do not translate automatically or rapidly into advances on the battlefield for the ukrainian army. since they started their offensive earlier on this month, they have recaptured a number of villages from the russians but what they haven't managed to do yet, and

they haven't really tried either, is to make those vital tactical breakthroughs that would be necessary if they want to change the course of the war which is of course their objective and nato's as well with people giving them the material support that with people giving them the material suppc the at with people giving them the material suppc the russian require. as for the russian army, it is still a question as to whether or not what is happening in moscow and in russia affects their ability to fight on the battlefield. the fighters of the wagner group have been ruthless and at times effective and without them it is possible the russian army might lose whatever capacity it has two dash manoeuvre counter—attack. anyway, armies do not fight well if their political masters are at each other�*s throats. so for president putin and the people who support him in the kremlin,

the big priority has to be trying to restore his authority after the events of the weekend and that for him right now is the biggest challenge. ukraine president, volodymyr zelensky said in an address, that his troops have made advances in all sectors of the front lines. he gave no details, but described monday as a happy day and wished for more like it. ukraine's defence ministry, meanwhile, confirmed the recapture of the village of rivnopil in the donetsk region. zelensky visited soldiers fighting near the eastern city of bakhmut and handed out awards to boost the morale of troops engaged in a counter—offensive, as some ukrainians hope russian forces might be undermined by saturday's mutiny. today, the biden administration announced more than $40 billion in funding to make access to high—speed internet universal by 2030. the pool of funding will be divided amongst us states and territories, with the most populous states, texas and california, receiving $3.1 billion and $1.9

billion respectively. also among the top ten recepients are virginia, alabama, and louisiana, less populous states with larger rural areas which lack widespread broadband access. the large—scale investment comes as internet access is increasingly perceived as essential for daily life. here's a bit of what biden said during the announcement: it's the biggest investment on high—speed internet ever because for today's economy to work for everyone, internet access is just as important as electricity was, orwater, or other basic services. the biden administration has compared this commitment to franklin delano roosevelt's efforts to bring electricity to rural america. today, over8.5 million households and businesses are in areas without broadband infrastructure. biden's announcement kicks off a three—week campaign to promote his economic policies ahead of the 2024 election. despite making progress injob creation and low unemployment rates, biden's policies have

suffered criticism in the face of persistent inflation. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news bringing you different stories. the victorians imported it as a giant ornamental. but giant hogweed is a hazard. the dainty flowers are poisonous. daniel logan came into contact with giant hogweed while trying to retrieve a ball. he was left with his burns on his ankle. mi; with his burns on his ankle. my brother with his burns on his ankle. ij�*i brother kicked with his burns on his ankle. ij�*i: brother kicked the with his burns on his ankle. m; brother kicked the ball into the anning am. i stung my ankle and thought it was a stinging nettle and thought of nothing for a few days. it became really swollen and became sore.

giant hogweed often grows near rivers and councils try to get rid of it. but as it is invasive, it's hard to control. you have many different poisonous plants and funghi, most of which are safe to be around. apart from giant hogweed. do not touch it. you're live with bbc news. the bbc has uncovered new evidence of china's spy balloon programme including flights over japan and taiwan. japan has confirmed balloons have flown over its territory and said it's prepared to shoot them down in the future. this come as a result of a bbc panorama investigation, that discovered evidence of one suspected surveillance balloon, travelling overjapan in 2021. china has not directly addressed the evidence. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera has more details. i am sitting in my driveway and this thing is up in the sky. it was february when residents of the us state of montana saw something strange in their skies. i know there is a lot

of questions about the flying objects. the spy balloon was then spotted moving all the way across the us. they're shooting it! that balloon was eventually shot down, but its journey raised questions about the nature and reach of china's foreign surveillance operation. to find out more, bbc panorama has been working with corey jaskolski, founder of an artificial intelligence company. the ai has been sifting through millions of satellite images to track the balloon. we're looking for something that's maybe a0 metres across. and we're looking for that in millions, and millions, and millions of square kilometres of earth's surface. the balloon was tracked, passing close to a us nuclear base and all the way back to a probable launch site on hainan island in china. china claimed the balloon was a civilian airship used for scientific research, such as meteorology, and that it was an isolated event. but working with corey, the bbc can now reveal new details about other spy balloons.

corey's ai programme discovered four satellite images of a balloon crossing northern japan in early september 2021. the japanese ministry of defence told the bbc that they suspected this was one of three chinese spy balloons that has flown over their territory since 2019. it is strongly presumed that the balloons were reconnaissance balloons flown by china. the ministry of defence ofjapan is taking all precautions to monitor the situation on a daily basis. japan says it's prepared to shoot down chinese balloons in the future. for protecting lives and property of people in the territory of japan, it is possible to respond to the situation with the use of a weapon. the ai software also found evidence of another balloon off the coast of taiwan. the taiwanese government says it believed this was a weather balloon. but corey says that's unlikely. so i suspect, just based on the diameter of the balloon

and the fact that the operating altitudes look similar, that looks an awful lot like the balloon that flew over the united states, overjapan. the chinese embassy say they respect all countries sovereignty and territorial integrity. but former us intelligence officials say they believe china may be using balloons to intercept communications. if you're trying to pick up cell phone transmissions or understand communication patterns, then i could theoretically see where the balloon could be a useful platform for that. countries spy on each other all the time. but the very public nature of china's balloon flights has drawn new attention on the potential scale and ambition of china's surveillance programme. gordon corera, bbc news. in other news. a judge in the american state of colorado has sentenced a 23—year—old to life in prison, without parole, for shooting dead five people in a gay nightclub last november. anderson lee aldrich had

pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in relation to the shooting in colorado springs. pakistan officials say they're carrying out a nationwide crackdown on human traffickers after a boat with hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of greece earlier this month. on friday, the interior minister said at least 350 pakistanis had been on board the overloaded migrant boat. 12 pakistanis were among a 104 survivors. sudan's rsf paramilitary commander, general mohamed hamdan dagalo, better known as hemedti, announced on monday a unilateral truce during the muslim celebration of eid. in an audio recording on al arabiya tv he said that the truce will go into effect on tuesday and wednesday. stunning drone footage off the coast of australia shows a kayaker paddling around near bondi beach in sydney, seemingly unaware of his curious companion the entire time. whale sightings are not

uncommon in this part of the world. a record 5,092 whales were spotted from various points along the new south wales coast on sunday as part of an annual census conducted during the migration season. captagon is a highly addictive drug that has ravaged the middle east in recent years. now, a joint investigaiton by bbc news arabic with investigative journalism network 0ccrp has revealed new direct links between this multi—billion dollar drug trade and leading members of the syrian armed forces. emir nadaer reports. 0n jordan's border with 0njordan's border with syria, its army is fighting traffickers of a drug called captagon. translation: they are smugglers. our ground forces were informed and were ready for them. they fired directly at them, forcing them to

retreat. they were crawling for their lives. retreat. they were crawling for their lives-— their lives. captagon is little known outside _ their lives. captagon is little known outside the _ their lives. captagon is little known outside the middle i their lives. captagon is little i known outside the middle east this highly addictive, highly accessible amphetamine like pill is causing havoc. the syrian regime is accused of making vast profits from the exports of this drug. now, bbc news arabic has uncovered fresh evidence of how exactly the trade is being managed by members of the syrian elite. in suweida close to syria's border, this man was with bashar al—assad. border, this man was with basharal—assad. injuly 2021, bashar al—assad. in july 2021, overcome basharal—assad. injuly 2021, overcome by a rival militia. then found this machine that could be used for pressing captagon. bags of pills. his military id, and an unlocked phone. gaining exclusive access to the phone, we found a series of messages describing the

purchase of the machine. this drug trade is much larger than one man. in 2021, a trial began in lebanon against a well—known businessman. he was found guilty of captagon trafficking after a shipment was seized in malaysia worth over $1 billion. the case was heard behind closed doors, but we met with the judge to find out what was uncovered. translation: he said he was collaborating with the fourth division. , ., , division. did he give any evidence _ division. did he give any evidence of _ division. did he give any evidence of his - division. did he give any i evidence of his connection division. did he give any - evidence of his connection to the fourth division? an evidence of his connection to the fourth division?- evidence of his connection to the fourth division? an id card b the the fourth division? an id card by the four— the fourth division? an id card by the four division. _ the fourth division? an id card by the four division. the - by the four division. the fourth division _ by the four division. the fourth division is - by the four division. the fourth division is an - by the four division. the | fourth division is an elite unit of the syrian army. it's led by bashar al—assad's brother. thejudge concluded that there were no links between syrian officials to the trafficking. but in a 600—page

confidential court document, we found a series of whatsapp messages he sent to someone called "the boss", whose phone number mostly consists of the same digit repeated many times. it's known as a golden number. translation: this number was obtained by the company in the very first days and belongs to an important person in the authority. an important person in the authority-— an important person in the authority. we've trailed the number- — authority. we've trailed the number. high-level - authority. we've trailed the number. high-level syrian | number. high—level syrian sources have told us that it belongs to major general bilal. that is the number two in the fourth division and is understood to run the powerful security bureau. if the boss really is hassan bilal, the conversation suggests that one of syria's most senior officers is linked to the illegal captagon trade, worth billions of dollars. the syrian government didn't respond to the questions. hassan maintained that he was innocent and was working with

authorities to prevent drug trafficking. only last month, the arab league welcomed bashar al—assad back to the fold. as arab governments struggle to contain an epidemic of drug abuse, elites within syria condition to profit. we'll have more on this bbc investigation in the coming weeks. thanks for watching. i'm sumi somaskanda in washington. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. with a more active jet stream now it looks like we're going to see a more unsettled theme to our weather for this upcoming week. there will be some rain at times, followed by sunshine and showers and generally it's going to feel a lot fresher than what we've seen of late with temperatures close orjust above the seasonal norm. now, this low pressure system will be the first of many. that's going to bring a rather breezy, cloudy, wet day to the north and the west of the uk.

initially, northern ireland seeing the rain this morning and that rain will move across much of scotland, northern england, north wales and the north midlands. probably the best chance of staying dry with some hazy sunshine, although even here it'll be quite cloudy, will be across the south and the southeast. temperatures reaching highs of around 22 degrees — that is above the seasonal norm. a little bit fresh in the north and the west, but the humidity will start to increase as well. as we move through tuesday night, the rain begins to push away into the north sea. it'll leave a dry night with variable cloud, a bit of mist and murk, one or two showers. and it will feel a lot warmer and muggy as the humidity levels build, certainly across england and wales. so this is the picture for wednesday. we will have this weather front pushing into western areas gradually on wednesday. it's a cold front introducing some rain, cooler air. but ahead of it, we're in a wedge of warm and more humid air across england and wales. so variable cloud, a bit of sunshine depending on how much sunshine we get will depend on the temperatures. but it's going to be warm generally across england and wales, one or two showers

ahead of the rain band, which will be pushing into western areas. some of this could be heavy and thundery, but you'll see the temperatures coming down behind it. high teens here up to 25 degrees, though, central, southern and eastern england. then for thursday, it looks like that weather front may get stuck across the south—east of england. it could bring quite a bit of rainfall here, we think throughout the day. this other weather front will bring some enhanced showers to the north and the west of scotland, elsewhere, it's largely dry. so plenty of sunshine around on thursday, a bit of uncertainty to the position of this rain. it could be a bit further east across the near continent or a little bit further westwards. but at the moment, it looks like east anglia and the southeast could see some very much needed rainfall here. temperatures will be coming down, though. it will feel cooler and fresher across the board — high teens, low 20s. similar story for friday and the weekend, it stays u nsettled. most of the rain in the north and the west. a better chance of staying dry with some sunshine in the south.

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