sexually explicit photos. the bbc says it treats any allegations very seriously. the government describes the allegations as "deeply concerning" and says the culture secretary will be speaking to the bbc�*s director—general today. joe biden will arrive in the uk later, flying into a disagreement over sending cluster bombs to ukraine. the us treasury secretary is leaving china after a visit which she says put relations between the two countries on a "surer footing". and how natural plant extract from daffodils could help limit methane emissions from cows. hello. there are new allegations, concerning an unnamed bbc presenter, accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photographs, beginning when they were 17. the sun newspaper claims

the unnamed male presenter was pictured in his underwear, on a video call to the teenager. it's understood the corporation is investigating the allegations — and the star is currently not scheduled to be on air in the coming days. bbc news impartially covers stories about the wider corporation and like other news organisations is seeking further clarification on the story. the department for culture, media and sport has called the allegations "deeply concerning" and said that the culture secretary will be speaking to the director general later today. in a statement, it said �*as a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the bbc that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed. the culture secretary will be speaking to tim davie later today.�*

today's front pages contain new serious allegations against a top bbc presenter. the star is accused of allegedly paying a teenager thousands of pounds in exchange for explicit photos. in new claims today, the individual�*s mother told the sun on sunday, the presenter was pictured in his underwear, ready for her child to perform for him. the allegations first emerged in the sun yesterday. the paper isn't naming the presenter for legal reasons. it's claimed the man paid around £35,000 to a 17—year—old over a three—year period for explicit photos. the young person's mother told the paper her child, now 20, used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit. the family told the newspaper. they complained to the bbc in may, but are said to have become

frustrated that the star remained on air. there's growing pressure on the bbc to explain their actions. well, look, these are very, very serious allegations and the bbc needs to act swiftly. it needs to follow its procedures that it says it has in place. but i'm a former minister for safeguarding, and i worked for 20 years in the criminaljustice system. and so in all of this and in our conversations about it, we have to remember that there is a person, a young person at the centre of this. the demand on the bbc to act is coming from politicians on all sides. bbc do need to speed up their processes. it looks like these issues were raised in may and we're now injuly and the presenter stayed on air. that's not good enough. there is no doubt the bbc is in a serious crisis. the corporation has many questions to answer, including what investigations went on when the family contacted the bbc in may. was the presenter made aware

the allegations had been made and should the investigation have been more thorough? the bbc said: we treat any allegations very seriously attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail. if we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact, that can limit our ability to progress things. but it does not mean our inquiries stop. the bbc has not - explained itself well. the question is why hasn't the bbc explained itself? i 0ne, because it's worried - about the legal issues of any kind of detail which might point - to identity or any other potential offence in its trying to get through the process. - the problem is it looks evasive. it doesn't look in the jargon. they are transparent. 0ther bbc presenters, unconnected to the allegations who are themselves facing false rumours, have been forced to publicly deny they are the star in question, including jeremy vine, nicky campbell and gary lineker.

the bbc says the presenter isn't due on air in the nearfuture, but the pressure for the corporation to explain how it's handling this crisis is continuing. helena wilkinson, bbc news. live now to our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, whojoins me now from outside the bbc headquarters in central london. a meeting between the culture secretary and the head of the bbc later on today, we understand, about all of theirs. the pressure over the years building on the bbc, isn't it? yes, we think that the culture secretary and tim davie, the bbc�*s director—general, will be talking on the phone at some point this afternoon but, yes, pressure is building significantly on the corporation over this issue and these allegations raised over the past few days. now, the reason that

there is such a lot of pressure at there is such a lot of pressure at the moment is because people don't really know so much of the detail of what has happened over the past few days and the past few months. i will probably turn out to be particularly important is what where the bbc told when the young individual�*s family made the complaint back in may. what did the bbc hearfrom made the complaint back in may. what did the bbc hear from the presenter in question, if they question them about the allegations that have been received, and crucially, what evidence that the bbc actually have access to at this particular point. that is one of the crucial things that will probably dictate how we eventually, the appropriateness of the bbc�*s response to these events will be judged. the bbc�*s response to these events will bejudged. the the bbc�*s response to these events will be judged. the other question that of course has been asked by so many people is why has the presenter in question not been named. well, in

this area, there are generally two things to look at. libel, defamation and privacy. in the case of libel, these over the serious allegations, some of them. potential criminality. and so, depending on the evidence that media organisations or newspapers have access to, that will particularly dictate whether they are willing to directly accuse and named individual of allegations like this. and similarly in the case of privacy, one of the factors is likely to be the strength of evidence of wrong doing and whether they think that that actually helps them whether there is a sufficient public interest that justifies reporting activities and specifically named person's private life. . ~' specifically named person's private life. . ~ ,., specifically named person's private life. . ~ ., ., specifically named person's private life. . ., ., g, life. thank you for now. just caettin life. thank you for now. just getting a — life. thank you for now. just getting a line _ life. thank you for now. just getting a line through - life. thank you for now. just getting a line through from | life. thank you for now. just| getting a line through from a life. thank you for now. just - getting a line through from a news agency saying that the culture secretary lucy fraser says that she

has been assured by the bbc�*s director—general tim davie that the corporation is investigating the allegations on this unnamed presenter. these allegations at the presenter. these allegations at the presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit images and they are investigating them swiftly and sensitively. that is coming through from the pa news agency that the culture secretary lucy fraser. as i mentioned, the issue has taken a political turn — with the uk's culture secretary saying they will speak to the bbc�*s director general tim davie today. with more on this is our political correspondent peter saull: we also had labour talking about this earlier on today, haven't we? yes, and the culture secretary suggested the conversation is now taking place between the director—general and lucy fraser. interesting that she decided to put the line—out earlier on today about how concerned she was about these allegations and the fact that she wanted to have a chat with tim

davie. the bbc is independent of government. it operates independently entirely but this, i suppose, is a sign of the political pressure that is now in the bbc to say a little bit more about what exactly has gone on here, when this investigation started, what the current status of that investigation is, why the broadcaster in question was still on airfor some is, why the broadcaster in question was still on air for some time after the reports first came to light and we've had a series of politicians over the last 2a hours or so calling for more clarity, really, from the bbc. the chair of the select committee, the culture select committee, the culture select committee, saying there are serious questions to answer. the former home secretary expressing her concern and also the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, expressing her deep concern about these claims. so clearly the government wanted to get on the front foot on this. we'll wait and see whether there is any further

response from the bbc this afternoon but, for now, it looks like, anyway, the culture secretary is pretty happy with the assurances she has had the director—general although this is clearly far from over. thanks very much for now. just a reminder that that was a tweet from lucy fraser, the culture secretary, saying that she has been assured by the bbc�*s director—general tim davie, there we go. i've spoken to bbc director—general tim davie... so there you go. let's take that conversation between the culture secretary and head of the bbc has taken place and then she carries on. the bbc needs to establish the facts and take appropriate action. i will be kept updated. so that is the latest on that. let's move other news now. the us president, joe biden, will arrive in the uk this

evening, ahead of a meeting with the prime minister, rishi sunak. the two allies have disagreed in public over the us decision to send controversial cluster bombs to ukraine. the issue has dominated the build—up to the visit. jonathan blake reports. mr president, thank you. a presidential visit will always focus minds and offer an opportunity to do business. good afternoon. joe biden arrives in the uk a month after he and the prime minister signed a new agreement to strengthen the longstanding relationship between the uk and the us. the president of the - united states, joe biden. downing street sees the president's visit as an opportunity to take stock of progress on the so—called atlantic declaration. ahead ofjoe biden�*s arrival, rishi sunak said the us was the uk's most important trade, defence and diplomatic partner, and the alliance was part of the foundation of britain's strength and security. but that alliance is being tested on the issue of cluster bombs, which the us is supplying to

ukraine. the uk is one of many countries to have banned the weapons with a record of killing civilians. and yesterday, the prime minister said the uk discouraged their use. the uk a signatory to a convention which prohibits the use of cluster munitions and will continue to do our part to support ukraine against the illegal russian invasion. a sensitive subject and difference of opinion on the crucial issue of support for ukraine in response to the russian invasion. but there will be ceremony as well as substance to this visit. after talks with the prime minister in downing street, the president will meet the king at windsor castle. jonathan blake, bbc news. the united states' treasury secretary, janet yellen, is leaving china after a visit to try to strengthen economic ties, saying she believes the two countries can have a healthy relationship.

while in china, ms yellen held 10 hours of talks with senior chinese officials — saying the meetings had put relations between the 2 countries on a "surerfooting" — after a long period of tensions over trade and other issues. here's ms yellen speaking at a press conference earlier. us and china have significant disagreements. those disagreements need to be communicated clearly and directly. but president biden and i do not see the relationship between the us and china through the frame of great power conflict. we believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive. both nations have an obligation to responsibly manage this relationship, to find a way to live together and share in global prosperity. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been following the story from bangkok — and he gave us this analysis of ms yellen�*s visit to china.

very broadly speaking, i think this trip has gone as well as anyone could have expected. firstly, janet yellen said she had managed to reestablish direct, face—to—face, respectful communications between china and the united states. and that's something that's been missing for really a very long time. secondly, she was able to meet face—to—face with china's new new team, particularly in the economy. and that means she really, referring to yesterday, on saturday, she spent most of the day with he lifeng, vice premier and the man in charge of china's economy, very close to president xijinping, a very key figure in the new chinese administration. you know, no one from the us administration has done that before, so that's important. the other thing janet yellen was at went to great lengths to do during this trip is to try and convince the chinese leadership that the biden administration, unlike the previous trump administration, is not openly hostile to china.

she said they do not view the relationship through the prism of big power conflict and that america was not going to decouple its economy from china. whether chinese officials believe that or not, we do not know and we haven't had a readout from them yet. i think, so in conclusion, i mean, i think this shows that dialogue is happening again. more dialogue will come in the next few months. there will be more visits by us officials and chinese officials the other way. but you know, most experts you talk to say this is now a very difficult relationship and one that is going to need careful management in the long term if it is going to remain stable. and that this progress made in the last few days is good, but it is fragile. ukraine has welcomed home 5 army commanders, who were being held in turkey, after a prisoner swap. the men were captured over a year ago, during the fierce and prolonged battle for control of the azovstal steel plant in mariupol.

russia has condemed their return, saying it breaks the terms of a prisoner swap agreement. here's lee milner. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky, welcoming home five commanders of ukraine's former garrison in mariupol at a ceremony in lviv. they were brought home by the president after a visit to turkey. translation: they were fighting for ukraine. - they survived russian captivity. they spent over 300 days in turkey. it is time for them to be home. applause. reunited with family and friends, the five commanders hailed as heroes in ukraine led last year's defence of the southern port of mariupol, the biggest city russia has captured in its invasion. the ukrainian defenders who held out in tunnels and bunkers under a steel plant were finally ordered by kyiv to surrender in may last year.

translation: from today onwards we will continue l the fight together with you. we will definitely have our say in the battle. with each day passing, we are advancing, destroying the enemy. russia says this latest move by president zelensky violates the terms of a prisoner exchange deal made last year which meant the men had to remain in turkey. it is not yet known how or why the commanders were returned home. in a televised press conference yesterday turkey's president recep tayyip erdogan supported ukraine's bid tojoin nato. something which mr zelensky said he was happy to hear after spending a week trying to rally support from other nato countries ahead of a two—day summit next week. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh. places in the quarter finals on offer for a majority of those

playing at wimbledon today. they include men's defending champion and the women's number one seed. chethan, the championships have pretty much caught up but not without criticism — swiatek — it's a 100th match at wimbledon for novak djokovic later. so many rain delays we have had here leading to questions whether that start times should have been brought forward. thinking about the andy murray match which started late and ended up being stopped by the curfew. wimbledon putting out a statement to as earlier this morning saying, for various reasons, that can't happen. they say people are planning a day out at the all england club and they want to look around the grounds before they take their seats on the show courts and they want them, i am sure, to spend money, in all fairness, before they sit down. in saying you can change things at the last minute because of the weather. the player plans, coming in from outside london and

had the train tickets bought etc so it is not easy to say we are going to bring it forward by an hour. they point to the fact that we have caught up. a couple of third—round matches to be completed. 0ne caught up. a couple of third—round matches to be completed. one of them is under way at the moment. an all russian match. what a story this could be, and france's player getting going again later. that third—round match. two sets down, and cut one play under way. playing for a place in the quarterfinals. the american is to be love up against the ukrainian. and we will see the top seed. remember the shock last year when she was put out. stunning streak of matches. she comes into this year's having won her third title. she is a us open

champion as well. she will be playing the olympic champion. she did very good in the last round and she will be the big favourite for many people, to go and learn this title are these to reach the final. later, for novakjock of h, and 100 wimbledon match. the later, for novakjock of h, and 100 wimbledon match.— later, for novakjock of h, and 100 wimbledon match. the numbers around him are extraordinary. _ wimbledon match. the numbers around him are extraordinary. his _ wimbledon match. the numbers around him are extraordinary. his 36 _ wimbledon match. the numbers around him are extraordinary. his 36 years - him are extraordinary. his 36 years old and seems to be getting better and better. it is ten years since he last on centre court last and he played the other night and has not dropped a set at the championships. his opponent looks like someone his age and djokovic is playing better than he was in his mid—20s. you can see why he is everyone's favourite to win. we'll see how he gets on later on.

england may well need their captain to provide another telling contribution if they're to win the third ashes test at headingley. ben stokes is at the crease with australia needing just six more wickets to claim victory themselves in the match. and with it the series. england are currently 153 for 4 at lunch, they need just 98 more cows are one of the biggest producers of the greenhouse gas methane in the uk — but pioneering research could help limit their emissions — by using a natural plant extra ct. it comes from daffodils — and adding it to cattle feed seems to help improve the health

of the animals' guts — cutting down on natural methane production. it's just one part of efforts to reduce the levels of greenhouse gases created by the farming industry. tom heap from the bbc�*s countryfile programme has the details. it's a fact of life. cows release a fair bit of gas. the government estimates around half the uk's methane emissions comes from cows, and globally that livestock produces around 14% of greenhouse gas emissions. it's one of the reasons there have been calls from climate campaigners to reduce livestock farming. scientists from the scottish rural college have now succeeded in extracting a chemical called haemanthamine from daffodils, and laboratory tests using an artificial cow stomach, have shown it could reduce methane by 30%. the scientific world is very focused on reducing emissions. so this is really exciting. that there is a compound that can potentially reduce methane emissions. it looks like a big step. now feeds with the chemical added are being tested on a number of farms across the country to see if it works in animals.

if successful, the government says it could make it a legal requirement to use methane—reducing supplements like this on farms in the next few years. we should point out that humans should not try to eat daffodils as they are highly toxic. viewers in the uk can see tom's full report on countryfile, on sunday evening at eight o'clock on bbc one — or you can watch the show on the bbc i—player. culture secretary lucy frazer said she has been assured by bbc director—general tim davie that the corporation is "swiftly and sensitively" investigating the allegations an unnamed presenter paid a teenagerfor sexually explicit images. the department for culture, media and sport earlier called

he has assured me that the bbc are investigating swiftly and sensitively. given the nature of the allegations, it is important that the bbc has now given the space to conduct its investigations, establish the facts and take appropriate action. i will be kept updated. just appropriate action. i will be kept udated. , . ., updated. just a reminder that the alle . ations updated. just a reminder that the allegations are _ updated. just a reminder that the allegations are that _ updated. just a reminder that the allegations are that a _ updated. just a reminder that the allegations are that a male - allegations are that a male presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit images. the young person's family made the complaints of the bbc in the 19th of may. to remind you what the bbc said on friday, the bbc said we treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them and if we receive information that requires a further investigation on examination we will take steps to do this. that

includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation. if we get no reply to our attempts are receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things, it does not mean that our inquiry stop. if at any point new information comes to light, or is provided, including via newspapers, this will be acted upon appropriately and in line with internal processes so that was the statement from the bbc on friday had from the culture secretary that she has spoken to the bbc�*s director—general tim davie and she says she has been assured about their swift investigation into this. thanks very much for watching. goodbye.

storm clouds bubble up. not as many as we saw yesterday. pleasant enough in the sunshine but through the week ahead, even in the sunnier moments it will start to feel a bit cooler out there. all of us will see some rain at times. it will be a little bit breezy and that is because we've got low pressure out towards the west to the moment. circulation of cloud which will transfer northwards and eastwards. this band of cloud is what brought the rain earlier in the day and will linger across 0rkney into the evening. elsewhere, as i said, more sunshine this evening. some showers heavy and thundery and even this evening temperatures still in the low 20s. now, showers for a time through tonight but they will gradually fade away. heavy rain in shetland clearing, too, and tonight will be a little bit fresher again compared with last night. rural spots in single figures but most places in double figures as we start

the monday morning commute. it will be a sunny one for the vast majority but quickly clouding over. 0utbreaks but quickly clouding over. outbreaks of heavy and potentially thundery rain pushing on here as we go through the morning. a few showers breaking out to scotland and northern ireland. a few of those thundery. longerspells northern ireland. a few of those thundery. longer spells of rain in wales will gradually transfer northwards, to the midlands, and in the afternoon, parts of nottingham. a big impact of the cricket are still going. when is freshening up a little bit. but you have the sunshine out and fewer showers. temperatures higher than today. elsewhere, feeling cooler weather and rain is falling. the rain fizzles into my showery conditions there monday night to the north but in the south more persistent rain returns. wells in central and southern england to take us into tuesday. that may be slow to clear the south—east corner on tuesday and it is back to sunshine, heavy and

thundery showers most frequent during the afternoon. scotland, northern ireland and the north of england. temperature starting to drop and when is going more west and north westerly and that temperature drop will continue further to the second half of the week is our low pressure pushes off towards norway. when is going to a more north—westerly direction especially for scotland for a time, temperatures will drop you. the most frequent, the fewer south you are, temperatures still in the low 20s here and temperatures in the north of scotland and the mid—teens and highest.

this is bbc news. sexually explicit images. this is bbc news. the headlines... the headlines... the bbc director—general has spoken the bbc director—general has spoken with the uk culture secretary with the uk culture secretary over allegations a presenter over allegations a presenter at the corporation had at the corporation had

paid a teenagerfor paid a teenagerfor sexually explicit images. in a tweet, lucy frazer said she had been assured by tim davie that the bbc was investigating the claims swiftly and sensitively.