the claims in the sun newspaper, allege the unnamed male presenter, paid the teenager, tens of thousands of pounds. and there are questions tonight, over the bbc�*s handling of the allegations. some allies express concerns over the united states�* decision to send cluster bombs to ukraine. hello i'm carl nasman. ukraine's president marked the 500th day of russia's invasion with a video of his visit to the site of one of the war�*s most iconic battles. volodymyr zelensky posted the clip on telegram of his trip to snake island, a strategically significant outpost in the black sea that ukrainian border guards refused to surrender to russia on the first day of the invasion, february 24th, 2022. their obscene reply to russian

warnings became a rallying cry, and they were presumed dead when russian troops invaded and captured the island, though it later transpired that the guards had survived. ukraine re—took the island four months later. mr zelensky toured the island, laid a wreath and spoke to his nation. translation: dear ukrainians, i wish you good health. - today, we're on snake island, on our snake island, which will never be conquered by the occupier, like the whole of ukraine — because we're a country of the brave. today, we honour here our ukrainian heroes, all the soldiers who fought for this island, who liberated it. and although this is a small piece of land in the middle of our black sea, it is a great proof that ukraine will regain every bit of its territory. i want to thank, from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days. it comes as eight people

were killed in a russian rocket attack on a residential area of an eastern ukrainian town. the governor of the donetsk region said multiple rockets struck the town mid— morning, setting cars and buildings on fire. it is is a major rail hub. it was recaptured by ukrainian forces last october. as ukraine's counter—offensive grinds on, the us has committed to sending controversial cluster munitions. but divisions within nato countries about supplying the weapons are starting to emerge. british prime minister rishi sunak has confirmed that the uk — like several other nato countries is signed up to a convention that bans their use. on friday, president biden said the weapons transfer was "a difficult decision." he arrives in the uk on sunday. rishi sunak is playing down any differences. well, the uk is a signatory to a convention which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions, and discourages their use. we will continue to do our

part to support ukraine against russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion. we have done that by providing heavy battle tanks and, most recently, long—range weapons. and hopefully, all countries can continue to support ukraine, russia's act of barbarism is causing untold suffering to millions of people, it's right that we collectively stand up to it. and i will be heading off to the nato summit next week in vilnius, where we will be discussing with our allies how we can strengthen our support for ukraine. so what is the convention on cluster munitions? it's an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. cluster munitions are an explosive weapon which scatters bomblets over an area. the convention entered into force on the first of august 2010 and a total of 123 states ——nations are committed to it. the united states and russia have not signed this convention, nor has ukraine. but most nato countries have.

european nations have also been reacting to the news — spain's defence minister, margarita robles, said... but germany, which is also a signatory of the treaty, said... while it would not provide such weapons we're certain that our us friends didn't take the decision about supplying such ammunition lightly." my colleague, rich preston has been speaking to kurt volker a former us ambassador to nato and also the us special representative for ukraine. he's told him why he backs the move. ukraine is facing and give ukraine is facing and give ukraine the equipment that they needin ukraine the equipment that they need in order to fight back and push the russians out of the territory. meditate would say two wrongs don't make a right. the us has previously criticised russian forces for setting what it describes as exceptionally lethal weaponry

to ukraine, including cluster munitions. why is it ok for the us to do this because back because rusher is the aggressor and they should not be doing it. it and they should not be doing it. , ., y and they should not be doing it. , ., , ., ., it. it is only fair and right for ukraine _ it. it is only fair and right for ukraine to _ it. it is only fair and right for ukraine to be - it. it is only fair and right for ukraine to be in - it. it is only fair and right for ukraine to be in a - it. it is only fair and right - for ukraine to be in a position to defend itself. it is a fundamentally different position in ukraine compared with russia.— with russia. what difference will these — with russia. what difference will these vacant _ with russia. what difference will these vacant two - with russia. what difference i will these vacant two weapons make to ukraine on the ground because that ukraine has been able to advance on the battlefield but only very slowly. battlefield but only very slowl . ., v battlefield but only very slowl. , , ., slowly. that's because of the minefields _ slowly. that's because of the minefields in _ slowly. that's because of the minefields in the _ slowly. that's because of the minefields in the trenches i slowly. that's because of the | minefields in the trenches put in place by the russians as defensive measures to prevent ukrainians from advancing. using these types of munitions will substitute for single shot artillery shells, they will cover more ground and they will force the russians to have to withdraw their personnel to avoid these types of weapons, which will make it more feasible for ukrainians to advance. feasible for ukrainians to advance-— advance. there are many americans _ advance. there are many americans who _ advance. there are many americans who support l advance. there are many - americans who support president byron's assisting ukraine in its efforts. 0ne byron's assisting ukraine in its efforts. one of the things ukraine has asked for is

fighterjets for the ukraine has asked for is fighter jets for the couldn't america have given fighterjets instead? america have given fighter 'ets instead? ., ., ., , ., instead? could have and should have it still _ instead? could have and should have it still must _ instead? could have and should have it still must do. _ instead? could have and should have it still must do. there's i have it still must do. there's a decision made that f—16s will in fact go to ukraine and consortium countries, including the uk and the netherlands and denmark are working to make that happen. requires american support. we only made the decision to go forward with this just decision to go forward with thisjust a decision to go forward with this just a little over a month ago. this could have been done ago. this could have been done a year ago. ukraine would already have those things and now it's still going to take around next year each for the plates to be ready. fine around next year each for the plates to be ready.— around next year each for the plates to be ready. one of the issues with — plates to be ready. one of the issues with cluster _ plates to be ready. one of the issues with cluster munitionsl issues with cluster munitions issues with cluster munitions is the long—term implications of their use america is willing to send them now, rightly or wrongly. is america going to be willing to stump up the cash in the years to come in the clean—up operation which will be inevitable? clean-up operation which will be inevitable?— clean-up operation which will be inevitable? we're faced with this already- — be inevitable? we're faced with this already. there _ be inevitable? we're faced with this already. there are - be inevitable? we're faced with this already. there are areas i this already. there are areas of ukraine that have suffered enormous amount of unexploded

ordinance and debris from the war that in minefields now need to be cleaned up. all these things caused by russia's against two aggression to ukraine. the sooner we can and russia's aggression the sooner it ukraine can get its territory back and make its people say forget that we can start the clean—up effort. i think if you take a large international programme to clean up areas where these musicians will have been used. one of the big issues is one of the big issues here is, of course, the feeling amongst nato allies of the united states. we heard rishi sunak talking about that a little earlier on. not many countries happy with america sending these weapons. is that going to cause issues at this nato meeting in lithuania this week? first, i wouldn't say that's quite the case. most countries in nato, as prime minister said, are parties to this convention and so are not in a position to provide these munitions themselves or to use them. that does not mean that they are opposing the us doing so because they see what russia

has been doing in ukraine, including with its use of these types of weapons, and that needs to be stopped. and as far as this goes with the nato meeting, i don't think it's a significant issue for nato's at all. as you know, nato as an alliance is not doing much to support ukraine at all. it is all individual allies making their own efforts in a variety of different ways and coordinated through this process that secretary of defence austin leads. so it's not really something that is nato's issue at this point. what i do think the issue will be at nato is what to say about ukraine's aspirations to become a member. i think it's important that the alliance go further than it has done in the past. the bbc�*s gordon corera has this analysis from kyiv. here in ukraine there are no regrets about the provision of cluster munitions, it's something they've been calling for here for months, really. they see it as something which is militarily important. i spoke to one of president zelensky stop adviser told me they need all the tools

they can get the counteroffensive and a cluster munitions were one of those tools and they can make a significant difference on the battlefield. that's because they may help push through some of those difficult entrenched russian positions, which is so important in this counteroffensive. of course this does make it difficult for some allies. including the uk which has been opposed to the use of cluster munitions, one of those countries which has signed the convention against them as well as other members of nato. there is an awareness that this is tricky for them and that they would not be able to supply these weapons even though that us can. russia has been trying to make a play out of ukraine's need for these weapons, describing them as a sign of weakness. but ukraine remains adamant that it needs it and said it provided washington with written assurances about how they will be used to try and restrict civilian casualties.

there are new allegations tonight, concerning a bbc presenter, accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photographs, beginning when they were 17. the claims in the sun newspaper, allege the unnamed male presenter, paid the teenager tens of thousands of pounds. it's understood the corporation is investigating the allegations, and the star is currently not scheduled to be on air in the coming days. earlier i spoke with our graham satchell. just fill us in. what more do we know — just fill us in. what more do we know about _ just fill us in. what more do we know about the - just fill us in. what more do we know about the story? i just fill us in. what more do | we know about the story? as just fill us in. what more do - we know about the story? as you say, these allegations first appeared in a british newspaper, the sun newspaper. they have spoken to the mother of this teenager now 20 who was 17 when this first started to happen. for explicit photographs. these allegations are serious, notjust ethically or reputation really but

legally as well because in british law it is an offence to share, create or it is inoffensive to share, create or possess pictures like that of anyone under the age of 18. and in tomorrow's paper the sun is giving more detail of the kind of things that were allegedly exchanged between the unnamed presenter and the teenager. it says there are pictures of this presenter allegedly in his underwear on the sofa in preparation for a video call. you can see that there are no serious questions being asked about the way the bbc is starting to handle all of this. the bbc for its part has said it takes these allegations very seriously, is tried to speak to the people involved to get further details. their statement goes on to say...

still unnamed some bbc presenters have felt compelled to come out and say that they are not involved. that's right. we're in a very difficult situation at the moment because the sun is not nameing in the presenter, the bbc is not confirming their name. what you have here is a frenzy on social media with people speculating as to he the bbc presenter is. it's led to a number of other bbc presenters to go on social media and say, "it ain't me. people like gary linacre, jeremy vaughn, nikki campbell, " radio presenters have all taken to their various different twitter accounts to say, don't speculate about me, it's not me. some of been threatening legal action. this is a very serious situation, particularly for the bbc, of course for the unnamed presenter. graham, you alluded to this earlier but there are also questions about how the bbc has

handled these allegations. because the family say they complained to the bbc in may. we're talking some six, seven weeks ago now. and the bbc has not confirming to us or not telling us whether there has been a formal suspension of this bbc presenter. they are saying he's not expected to be on air in the coming days. the questions are being asked and they are serious questions, who knew what, when? why wasn't this presenter immediately suspended? is it is allegedly a criminal event why wasn't this referred to the police? big questions here. politicians have been getting involved, the politician in charge of culture select committee and says bbc has questions to answer. there's pressure on hr department to investigate quickly and explain what has happened since the story first came to back in may.

us treasury secretary janet yellen continues her multi—day trip in china to strengthen economic ties between the two global super powers. speaking on saturday in beijing, she called for deeper cooperation between the us and china in addressing what she called the "existential threat" of climate change. there has been no formal co—operation on climate change since the trump administration. yellen also urged china to support international initiatives such as the green climate fund, which helps developing nations adapt to the impacts of global warming. climate change is on top of the list of global challenges. and the united states and china must work together to address this threat. history shows us what our two countries can do. moments of cooperation on climate between the united states and china has made global breakthroughs possible, including the paris agreement.

both our economies seek to support partners in emerging markets and developing countries as they strive to meet their climate goals. i believe that continued us china cooperation on climate finance is critical. 0ur asia correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has sent this report from bangkok. i think from what janet yellen has said, she sees it as imperative that they do cooperate, because the us and china are by far the worlds largest emitters of greenhouse gases. but also she said not only did they have that responsibility but they have the ability, which means the us and china lead the world in renewables. china installed more solar last year than the rest of the world together, it dominates the solar industry and it dominates the manufacture of wind

turbines so if they can come together they have the financial clout and technology to start addressing climate change across the world and helping poorer countries to install solar, wind to reduce carbon emissions and of course mitigation of the effects of climate change which will be an increasing issue for poor countries. in other news... latvia's long—serving foreign minister edgars rinkevics has become the first openly gay head of state of a european union or former soviet country. he has been sworn in as the country's president. mr rinkevics first came out in 2014 and has been a vocal champion of lgbtq+ rights ever since. gay marriage is illegal in latvia, though the country's constitutional court recognised same sex unions last year. an air strike in a sudanese city on saturday killed at least 22 people, health authorities said, in one of the deadliest air attacks yet in the three months

of fighting between sudan's rival generals. the assault took place in 0mdurman, outside the capital, khartoum. it was one of the deadliest attacks in urban areas near the capital and elsewhere in sudan. an eu envoy has strongly criticised israel over the force used during this week s raid on thejenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank. twelve palestinians died in the two—day anti—terrorism operation, as well as one israeli soldier. the eu representative for the palestinian territories questioned the proportionality of the force used. india s top court is set to deliver its verdict on whether same sex marriage can be allowed. it s a proposal that has sharply divided opinion in the country. while the government and religious groups have opposed the idea, the lgbt community is hopeful that the court will give its approval — five years after it decriminalised homosexuality. arunoday mukharji reports. i want to get hitched.

well, we're just saying we want to get married. you are not a normal human being. how are their lives getting i affected by people like us? the fight for rights is louder than ever. forging ahead. demanding change. excited and hopeful that the supreme court will now recognise same sex marriage. it's what utkarsh saxena and ananya kota have been wanting a college romance. they have been together for 15 years in 15. when we met were things like indian politics. they want to get married and have what every indian married couple has. equal rights. we both want to be parents. we want to start a family. and we can't adopt children and we can't start a family. we can go for surrogacy, jointly owning property or even things. like if there's

a medical emergency, what right does he have to take decisions on my behalf? so just sort of emotional reasons but also practical reasons. this judgment means a lot for our day to day life. the supreme court deliberations are already a win. even that was unthinkable when they were growing up. there was a lot of mockery and phobia in society, even though we were best friends for everyone. if there was like an intimate moment between two guys, it was a but ofjokes. i was always terrified and scared. i mean, anyway, i'm not going to have a personal future, but this would end my social life and this would end my professional life. marriage is not only a question of dignity, as if that were not enough. it is also a bouquet of rights that lgbtq people are being denied. india's constitution is key to this issue. it promises equality to all. rejecting what we don't. yes. 0pposing sides have

fought it out in the country's highest court. right. to get a particular social relationship recognised as a marriage is not a fundamental right. a formerjudge of the delhi high court agrees. they believe in living relationship. justice s.a. claims it's against india's culture. he and 20 other formerjudges wrote to the supreme court against the proposal. some language abnormality. what is same sex marriage? it's an abnormality. a marriage should be between a man and a woman. how can same sex couples adopt? but why should society interfere? are they not part of the same society? so if they are part of the same society, then shouldn't they have the same rights? but that's only if they comply with the existing societal norms. it took 70 years for the supreme court to legalise gay sex in 2018. the verdict triggered hope that the right to marry might not be far behind.

it's rare to see members of the lgbtq+ community claim public spaces like these in a country like india, where social stigma and taboo are still very much associated with sexual identity. people over here say that gatherings like these are a show of strength. global estimates say the community is now 10% of india's population. this decision is not just about same sex marriage, but also about the path the country takes for equal rights. the dutch prime minister has been meeting with the country's king — to discuss the formation of a caretaker administration after the collapse of his coalition government. mark rutte left the palace after talks with king willem—alexander. mr rutte announced late on friday that his entire cabinet had resigned after it failed to agree on stricter immigration policies. new elections are not expected to be held before mid—november.

anna holligan has more from the hague. so mark rutte met king willem—alexander here in the hague to explain what had happened and discuss forming a caretaker administration. the chat lasted about an hour and a half. and afterwards, mark rutte came out, he told reporters it had been good, but he wouldn't give any further details because he said they were confidential. so no indication as to when that caretaker government may be formed. what happened ? well, the coalition collapsed because of a disagreement, irreconcilable differences, mark rutte said, between the four coalition parties over different rules for different asylum—seekers on when they should be allowed to bring family members into the country. so family reunifications. and according to reports, mark rutte wanted to place a cap on the number of people war refugees could bring to the netherlands at 200 per month. other parties, including the family—focused christian

union and the liberal d66, were opposed. so what happens next? well, the dutch electoral commission has said the earliest elections can take place is november due to electoral rules, the summer holidays and the need to give parties time to campaign. before that, though, mark rutte will address parliament monday morning, first thing, 10.15am local time, after which, we are expecting a pretty heated debate. lavender is usually known for its rich fragrance. dan bater explores one mini provence in cornwall which is expecting its biggest summer to date. these bees aren't the only ones working hard at cornish lavender. the owner tina bessell is ready to spring into action and harvest this yea r�*s flowers. the next few weeks are going to be absolutely frantic as we enter the distillation and harvesting period, because we hand harvest but can only harvest in a dry day,

and we have to harvest when it is dry because we don't want the lavender to rot. but honestly, the rewards are brilliant. 0ils, mists and even shortbread and cream teas are made from this lavender, but tina says it is not the easiest plant to farm. i always call lavender oil liquid gold because it takes an awful lot of stems to make a single drop of lavender oil. so i would say 50 stems for one drop, so all the lavender behind me here, we have got three litres of lavender oil out of these 700, 800 plants. but when we first started we were just getting a coke can's worth, like 300 millilitres, of our first 350 plants. so it takes a lot of effort, the plant had to mature and we got lots of these lovely flower spikes and get them maturing in the sunlight. people from every generation are squeezing in a few more visits to perranporth's mini—provence before this process begins. looking at it, it's so fabulous. everything is in bloom, it smells wonderful and the best

thing is it is covered in bees because we want to keep our furry friends happy, don't we? it's a treat really and it is lovely to come and see the beautiful lavender and be in this beautiful setting out in the countryside. it is a spectacle, and look at the view behind us. - this is still a work in progress for tina, though — she is planning on adding even more purple to the landscape. because we are organic we have to grow our own plants to plant more, i have a field above that is only about a third planted, we need 12,000 plants up there and probably have got about 2000, so three or four more years growing. just a beautiful scene there. we will have more news for you at the top of the hour. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it was a very thundery start to the weekend, and particularly so across parts of the west midlands,

into north—west england. and later, those storms spread their way northwards, into scotland, during the overnight period. part two of the weekend looks a little bit better. there will be sunny spells around, but further showers too and low pressure always close by, and these weather fronts, which will continue to generate these showers and thunderstorms. now, we start sunday off on a bright note, plenty of sunshine. that's the overnight rain — thundery in places, clearing northwards, so it could be quite wet in 0rkney all day. an area of rain, some of it thundery, could affect east anglia and the south—east for a time through the morning. then that clears into the afternoon, and then it's sunny spells, scattered showers. most of these, northern ireland, wales and western england. now, it's going to be a cooler, fresher day across the board. top temperature, around 23 degrees in the south—east. so we could have some disruption at wimbledon for that early rain. but then, into the afternoon, it does look like conditions will improve, with increasing amounts of sunshine. so as you move into sunday evening, most of the showers fade away — not completely, but most of them will. we'll see lengthy, clearer skies, but across the south—west, here, we'll see some cloud thickening, with

increasing breeze too. temperatures lower, fresher than what we've had over the last few nights. range from 10 to 12 degrees. cooler than that out of towns and cities. this area of low pressure will throw out further weather fronts into the south—west. this area of cloud will thicken up further. we'll see outbreaks of rain, strengthening winds — south—west england, into wales, pushing into the midlands. some of this could be quite heavy. elsewhere, it's sunny spells, scattered showers. so we could be up to around 2a degrees in the south—east, given plenty of sunshine. a little bit lower than that further north. but as you move out of monday into tuesday, this area of low pressure sits right on top of the uk, so a really unsettled day, i think, on tuesday. it'll be quite breezy. there will be some sunny spells in—between, but showers or longer spells of rain, and some of these showers could turn out to be heavy and thundery in places. pretty much anywhere could catch a shower. and temperatures will be lower, 16 to 21 or 22 degrees. that's below par for the time of year. and temperatures fall further as we move deeper into the week. this area of low pressure pushes towards the north

of the uk, bringing some cooler air down on that north—westerly wind. so it stays unsettled for much of this upcoming week, with temperatures below par for the time of year. there will still be some sunshine in—between the showers.