us treasury secretary janet yellen criticises china for what she calls "unfair" curbs on us companies. and touring a military camp in belarus — our correspondent investigates reports that the site could soon house wagner paramilitary fighters. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. us officials have confirmed the us government will send a cluster munitions package to ukraine to help its counter—offensive against russia. they're a controversial class of weapons that are banned by more than 100 countries, due to the risk of harm to civilians. but ukraine has been pressing for the weapons for months, amid an ammunition shortage. each cluster munitions carries large numbers of smaller bomblets, that are dispersed over a wide area.

the concern is that some of those bomblets that fail to explode, posing a danger to civilians long after a conflict's ended. and for that reason, they're banned in 120 countries. human rights watch says both russian and ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions already, killing civilians and military personnel. so we know the risks of these cluster bombs but how do they work? the munition is fired, before the ammunition or bomblets from the cluster are released. the bomblets then fall to the ground, but not all fall to the ground, which has raised humanitarian concerns. as we said, the usage of cluster bombs is controversial, particularly due to their high dud rate of 10 to a0%, meaning 10 to 40% of cluster bombs do not explode when initially intended. in his press brieifing earlier, us national security advisor jake sullivan defended the decision to send ukraine cluster bombs.

we recognise they create a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordinance, which is why we deferred the decision as long as we could. but there is also a massive risk of civilian harm if russian troops and tanks roll over ukrainian positions and take more ukrainian territory, and subjugate more ukrainian civilians, because ukraine does not have enough artillery. that is intolerable to us. 0ur correspondent in washington, gary 0'donoghue, has more on how president biden�*s decision to send cluster munitions to ukraine. he's been thinking about this decision for a number of months, consulting with allies and people on capitol hill. it seems to have got to a point where he believes he can do this without endangering the unity of the coalition or creating domestic problems at home. essentially, the argument is they can't produce enough shells for the battlefield, and the state of the battle, to keep the ukrainians going, so they will have to plunder

stores for these cluster munitions, of which they say they have hundreds of thousands available. the pentagon won't sayjust how many they available. the pentagon won't say just how many they are planning to supply, but they do say they have significant amounts they can keep sending out a new tranches. they also said they have had assurances from the ukrainians that they won't be used in urban areas and that they will be cleaned up and that they will be cleaned up afterwards. they say it's in ukraine because my interest to do this because it is their territory and it would be there civilians impacted if they didn't do that. so a significant diplomatic victory for the americans, and the ukrainians are very happy about it. we will have to see what transpires on the battlefield. but if you start to see large numbers of civilians injured by these sorts of weapons, the political calculus could easily change. we mentioned earlier how cluster bombs are banned in more than 120 countries, but those nations do not include the united states, ukraine or russia — the latter of which has used the explosives on ukraine already.

still, nato is divided over the us decision to supply ukraine with the cluster bombs. nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg talked earlier from the international viewpoint on the latest weapons package. it is for individual allies to make decisions on what type of weapons. all allies agree on the delivery of weapons and ammunition to ukraine, and allies are delivering an unprecedented level of weapons to support ukraine. germany and many other allies are delivering different types of ammunition, weapons to ukraine. but when it comes to cluster ammunition, there is a difference between allies, because some allies have signed the convention on cluster munitions and they don't have cluster munitions, so of course there is no cluster munitions to provide to ukraine. 0ther allies have not signed the convention and many of them or some of them have cluster munitions. as we've been discussing, ukraine has been pressing the west for more weapons, with its counter—offensive

against russia now in its second month. fighting has been ongoing in the eastern donetsk and south—eastern zaporizhzhia regions. ukraine says its forces have continued their advances around the city of bakhmut, and have retaken nine settlements and 160 square kilometres of territory since the start of the counter—offensive on 4june. this is all happening as president zelensky spends time in turkey for talks with his counterpart, recep tayyip erdogan. it's part of a diplomatic push ahead of next week's nato summit. zelensky is expected to seek support for his country's bid for nato membership, but also urge erdogan to end his opposition to sweden joining the alliance. earlier, i spoke to us democratic congressman raja krishnamoorthi about the situation in ukraine. the ukrainians need to have what they are required to have in order to prevail in this criminal invasion of their country. so i think the white house is correct to provide them with these and other

armaments.— them with these and other armaments. �* , . ., , armaments. are these armaments the riaht armaments. are these armaments the right decision, _ armaments. are these armaments the right decision, however, - the right decision, however, given the criticism? i’m the right decision, however, given the criticism? i'm going to defer to — given the criticism? i'm going to defer to the _ given the criticism? i'm going to defer to the president - given the criticism? i'm going to defer to the president and | to defer to the president and his national security team on this. i think we have to remember the ukrainians are facing an onslaught of weaponry that few other nations have ever faced. that few other nations have everfaced. so i think they need what is required to defend themselves, and to mount a counter offensive. i themselves, and to mount a counter offensive.— counter offensive. i want to ask ou counter offensive. i want to ask you about _ counter offensive. i want to ask you about something i counter offensive. i want to i ask you about something one counter offensive. i want to - ask you about something one of your colleagues in congress said, representativejim mcgovern, he has spoken out against sending these weapons. he said, i universally oppose the use of these internationally banned weapons, i urge president biden to listen to nato allies like the uk, france, germany and payne, who opposed sending cluster munitions to ukraine for the same reasons. are you concerned about breaking with nato allies who are not using these weapons? especially ahead of this big nato summit next week? i am concerned, but at the same

time i think the white house is balancing those concerns against what is required by the ukrainians on the battlefield. as you and your viewers well know right now, the ukrainians are facing a barrage of armaments, and are kind of in a situation where they have no choice but to use what is required to defend themselves and to mount their counteroffensive and end this criminal invasion of their country. criminal invasion of their country-— criminal invasion of their count .~ ._, ., country. we spoke to ambassador wil ta [or country. we spoke to ambassador wil taylor yesterday. _ country. we spoke to ambassador wil taylor yesterday. he - country. we spoke to ambassador wil taylor yesterday. he told - wil taylor yesterday. he told us these armaments in particular could clear the battlefield. do you agree? i don't know. hopefully they will be used judiciously if they are used at all. but the ukrainians having this capability will be important for them on the battlefield at a very crucial time in this particular war. 0ne time in this particular war. one of the concerns we have seen from human rights watch is

something the icr c has said, up something the icr c has said, up to 40% of these bomblets have failed to explode in recent confrontations, which means they remain on the battlefield and can explode afterwards and put civilians in harm's way. what should the us do about that?— do about that? once this conflict ends, _ do about that? once this conflict ends, hopefully i do about that? once this - conflict ends, hopefully soon, there will be a major effort to clear country not only of these unexploded munitions that you refer to, unexploded munitions that you referto, but unexploded munitions that you refer to, but also the thousandsif refer to, but also the thousands if not millions of landmines that have been placed in the soil by the russians as they try to defend their lines, which need to be cleared as well. as you know, the issue of unexploded ordinance is a big one around the world, and we as an international community have to address it. at this time, the ukrainians have to prevail. i want to ask you about the russian response. there are concerns that the us sending

these weapons could trigger a response from russia to use even more severe weapons and possibly even bring up the nuclear threat as well. i think the russians _ nuclear threat as well. i think the russians will— nuclear threat as well. i think the russians will always - nuclear threat as well. i think| the russians will always rattle their sabre, they have been doing so since the beginning of the conflict, and we always have to be concerned. at the same time, however, it cannot prevent us from providing the ukrainians with the weapons they need to defend themselves and to prosecute their counter offensive. at this point, we are kind of at an inflection point in the conflict, where either ukrainians pressed forward and pushed the russians back or the russians maintain or even make further gains that make their criminal invasion even worse than it is right now. ., , , ., even worse than it is right now. ., ,, ., ., ~ even worse than it is right now. ., ,, . . ~' i., now. congressman, thank you so much forjoining _ now. congressman, thank you so much forjoining us. _ new allegations have emerged in a newspaper about a bbc presenter.

our culture and media editor katie razzall has more. yes, a bbc presenter has been accused of serious misconduct with an individual that began when the teenager was 17, according to the sun in the uk. the newspaper says the presenter, who hasn't been named, paid the teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images. we understand the bbc is looking into the allegations, which are clearly very serious. the sun claims the well—known presenter paid more than £35,000 in return for those sexually explicit images. the individual�*s family, it is reported, complained to the bbc on may 19th this year and begged them to make the man stop sending the cash, because the mother claims her child, now 20, had gone from a happy—go—lucky youngster to a ghostlike crack addict in three years because it's claimed the money is being used to fund a drug habit.

the bbc in a statement said, we treat any allegations very seriously, we have processes in place to deal with them. they also said, as part of that, if we receive any information that requires further investigation, we will take steps to do this, including actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us to seek further detail and understanding of the situation. the sun has reported that the male presenter has been taken off air, and we understand he is not scheduled to appear in the coming days. in beijing, us treasury secretary janet yellen has continued her trip and expressed concern about what she called china's "unfair trade practices". speaking at the start of a four—day visit, she called for healthy economic competition, and criticised china's recent export restrictions on key minerals. china's premier said the us should "meet china halfway"

and work to put bilateral relations back on track. despite tensions, the world's two largest economies did a record $690 billion in trade last year. here is some of what ms yellen had to say. the us seeks healthy economic competition with china. but healthy economic competition where both sides benefit is only sustainable if that competition is fair. 0ur asia correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes gave us his analysis of what ms yellen had to say. she talked about punitive actions against us businesses in china. that's the fact that this year we've seen several us businesses investigated, some of their staff arrested and at least one closed down. that has caused a great deal of concern, i think, for the safety of us companies operating in china. there's also concern that china isn't really giving proper, free, open market access to us companies according to wto rules, and that china finds ways to discriminate and keep out certain us companies

that it doesn't want to compete in the chinese market. but there are a whole host of other problems in the relationship that janet yellen will have been addressing directly with her chinese counterparts, as well as reassuring them, because she's also given the message that she's gone to beijing to reassure china that the united states is not intent on containing or constraining china's rise as an economic power. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. 207 shipping containers with fake goods and drugs recovered from more than half. the sheer size, 580 tonnes, is described as monumental quantities. police say the seizure is the largest in uk history. 0ver

police say the seizure is the largest in uk history. over two weeks, 100 officers were involved, backed up by brand experts and counterfeit specialists. i experts and counterfeit specialists.— experts and counterfeit specialists. i think it will -ut specialists. i think it will ut a specialists. i think it will put a nail _ specialists. i think it will put a nail in _ specialists. i think it will put a nail in the - specialists. i think it will put a nail in the coffin i specialists. i think it will put a nail in the coffin of specialists. i think it will. put a nail in the coffin of the counterfeit goods trade at the time, so the shops are virtually gone.- time, so the shops are virtually gone. this area of manchester _ virtually gone. this area of manchester has _ virtually gone. this area of| manchester has historically been known as the uk capital of counterfeit trade. this operation is the largest in response, 33 criminal gangs are said to have targeted this area. a single premises can have laws converted to house up to 18 shops. the containers themselves can also act as a trading point for online businesses. —— floor converted. you're live with bbc news. the dutch prime minister mark rutte has said he will tender the resignation of his entire cabinet after it failed to agree on measures to limit the flow of asylum seekers. at a press conference in the last hour, he said: "this evening, we have unfortunately reached the conclusion that the differences are insurmountable.

for this reason, i will shortly present my written resignation to the king in the name of the whole government." tensions came to a head this week when mr rutte demanded support for a proposal to limit the scope forfamilies reuniting, in particular in the netherlands. his was a step too far for two of thejunior partners in the government. here in the us, a court has sentenced a gunman who fatally shot 23 people in a supermarket in texas in 2019 to 90 consecutive life sentences. 24—year—old patrick crusius targetted people of hispanic descent, shortly after posting an online message referring to an invasion of immigrants to the united states. his sentencing follows two days of emotional witness testimony. the whereabouts of wagner boss yevgeny prigozhin have been a mystery since he led a short—lived rebellion in russia last month. under the deal to end the stand—off, charges against him were dropped and he was offered a move to belarus.

but yesterday, belarus leader alexander lukashenko said prigozhin was in russia after all. last week, bbc verify revealed these satellite images that appeared to show activity at a disused military base around 64 miles from the belarusian capital. the area has been reported in russian media as a place that could house wagner fighters. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has visited that site ? and he s sent this report. we're looking for answers. where is wagner? where's their chief, yevgeny prigozhin? no—one seems to know. but could the russian mercenaries end up here, an abandoned base in belarus? the country's leader, alexander lukashenko, is offering to host wagner fighters on this site. we're among a group of journalists allowed infora tour. there's plenty of space here for a private army. lots of tents that have only recently been put up — enough for 5,000 people.

"come on in," the major general says. no wagnerfighters here — not yet. we're told these are belarusian soldiers, off—shift. there's something a bit strange about this. belarus says that this camp could be for wagner if they want to come here, but we're told that all these new tents that have appeared in the last couple of weeks have got nothing to do with getting ready for wagner, they're for a territorial defence exercise... ..in september. so forward planning by the belarusians. yesterday, mr lukashenko told us that there are dozens of ex—soviet military bases in his country that could accommodate wagner, but he admitted the group's expected move to belarus wasn't a done deal. if the russian mercenaries do move in, what will the belarusian army make of it? "we don't see any reason for danger,"

major general kosinsky says. "private military companies exist in many countries." true, but not all of them mutiny and march on the capital as wagner did in russia. and what of the time we've spent in belarus and all of those questions we came here with — about the wagner mercenaries, about their leader, their future? well, we're still searching for answers. this steve rosenberg, bbc news, in the village of tsel, belarus. in other news. three railway employees have been arrested in india over a crash involving three trains that resulted in more than 290 deaths last month. a train packed with passengers was mistakenly diverted onto a loop line and slammed into a stationary goods train in the eastern state of 0disha. the derailed compartments then struck the carriages of a third train coming from the opposite direction. thousands of thrill

seekers took part friday in the first of many running of the bulls races held at the san ferm n festival in the northern spanish city of pamplona. animal rights protesters briefly stopped the festivities before being arrested. so far six people have been injured, but not seriously. four runners were gored in the festival last year. sixteen people have died in bull runs since 1910, most recently in 2009. malmo has been announced as the host of the eurovision song contest in sweden next year in may 202a. sweden won the event this year. it's the end of the road for the humble ford fiesta. after nearly half a century, the final car rolls off the manufacturing line in germany, marking the end of an area. capacity is being increased the more electric

vehicles. today marks the 100th day of wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich�*s wrongful detention in russia. evan has spent more than three months in moscow's lefortovo prison, held on espionage charges. earlier this week, a kremlin spokesman said that russia is in contact with the us regarding prisoner swaps. but, they must be carried out in, quote, "complete silence". white house national security adviserjake sullivan earlier, i spoke to paul beckett, the wall street journal's dc bureau chief. 100 days in detention, how is he doing? he 100 days in detention, how is he doing?— 100 days in detention, how is he doinu? . ,, .,, .,, he doing? he appears to be ok in the circumstances. _ he doing? he appears to be ok in the circumstances. today - he doing? he appears to be ok| in the circumstances. today our thoughts are very much with him and his family in philadelphia. a rough day for his colleagues at the wall streetjournal. tempered by the great outpouring of support he has had. from around the world, including from the bbc and its viewers. we are very grateful for that. the american ambassador saw him last week

and reported that he was in decent health and spirits, so we are confident he will be all right. very hopeful this can be brought to an end soon. can you tell us anything _ brought to an end soon. can you tell us anything about _ brought to an end soon. can you tell us anything about the - tell us anything about the conditions he is facing in prison and if he is able to have regular contact with his family, his wall streetjournal family, his wall streetjournal family, also us authorities? he is in a family, also us authorities? he: is in a security services prison in the middle of moscow, a pretty infamous one that used to be used by the kgb. isolated for much of the time, he has access to books, we understand he is working out. he has only had two visits from the american embassy in 100 days, which is pretty diabolical. really a contravention of international laws. that has been task. —— task. his parents have been out

to see him for a couple of court appearances and had a couple of brief exchanges with him, which has been heart—warming and heartbreaking in equal measure. we mentioned in the lead in, white house adviser jake sullivan was asked about him today and he said, the us has been in contact with russian officials to press for his release. we know a lot is happening behind—the—scenes, but what can you tell us about negotiations to try to get him home? as you noted, the russians are saying talks were under way. the us says there has been contact. national security adviser sullivan was pretty firm today in saying he didn't want to provide false hope and that those talks haven't led to clear resolutions on how to get him back. we would encourage any interaction that might bring him home. we are hopeful he can be brought home. inaudible. we understand he was working

on a story about yevgeny prigozhin, who as we know then led an armed mutiny against the russian defence ministry. what do we know about the timing of his arrest and what he was researching at the time? he was reporting for the washington journal. the russians know that, he was an accredited journalist there. he had made a speciality of reporting on the russian economy. he was doing very good journalism for us and for the world there. we do feel this is really a business that russia has made of snatching americans, so i don't read a huge amount into any correlation that might be made. what message do you have on this 100th day of detention, why it's important to keep up the attention on the fact he is still being detained? we ask everybody to keep him in their private thoughts. to show their support on social media. there is a lot going around,

the hashtag i stand with evan. you can read his excellent journalism online and learn about him as a person. in the grander scheme of things, very few countries in the world will have a greater impact on the future of the west than russia, and to be deprived of the excellent information and journalism that evan and his colleagues there provide, it's a dangerous void. paul, one more question. what can you tell us about evan, for those who don't know him personally? he is 31, he is part of a generation of young and brave, really competent journalists who dedicate their career to russia. he is from the us, newjersey. he was born here, he has a fascinating family history, his parents were sovietjewish emigrants to the us

in the 1970s, fleeing persecution to come to the us. with his russian heritage in mind, he became fascinated about the country, and eager to go back. well, we can see where this part of the story has brought us. but one day he will come back to the newsroom and he will continue his stellar career. paul, thank you so much for speaking to us, and we all hope for the speedy of evan. and we all hope for the speedy return of evan. stay with us here on bbc news. we closed the working week on a hot and

increasingly humid story. many areas across the country seeing temperatures in the mid—to—high 20s, peaking in the southeast with 30 degrees. that means temperature not falling very far at all, so the start of saturday morning is going to be quite uncomfortable, quite muggy, temperatures in london at around 20 already, 68 fahrenheit. with that humidity, unfortunately with this weather front pushing in from the south—west, could see sharp thundery downpours through the start of the weekend. dry, settled and sunny start for many, but this weather front, the brighter colours denote the intensity of the rain, hail not out of the question. it sweeps quickly north and east, so behind it, some sunshine, in actual fact across east anglia we could see temperatures into the high 20s. still some showers quite torrential, large hail not out of the question,

and certainly the potential for a lot of rain in a short space of time. into scotland, temperatures into the mid 20s. the rain not arriving in the far north and east of scotland until the end of the afternoon. into sunday, still under the influence of low pressure. a bit more breeze driving in the potentialfor some showers through the day. the second half of the weekend, some rain easing slowly away from the north—east of scotland, potentially sharp thundery rain moving up from the near continent across east anglia and south—east england. we will keep a close eye on that, still some uncertainty in the forecast. top temperatures 17—23 as the overall high. as we close out the weekend into next week, low pressure never far away. it looks likely as we see the areas of low pressure moving eastwards, we lose the south—westerly flow flow and drag in more of a north—westerly. the week ahead looks quite unsettled at times.

still some sunny spells, but temperatures have the potential to just be a little disappointing. next week, a little bit tricky. it looks likely to be fresher, with sunny spells, but still the risk of sharp blustery showers.