swiftly and sensitively. joe biden begins his journey to the uk — but he's flying into a disagreement over sending cluster bombs to ukraine. and a hero's welcome — five ukrainian army commanders return from turkey, after being released in a prisoner swap. hello, i'm vishala sri—pathma. the culture secretary lucy frazer says she is assured that the bbc is investigating allegations against one of its presenters "swiftly and sensitively" after urgent talks with the corporation's director general. the sun newspaper reports the unnamed male presenter was pictured in his underwear, on a video call to the young person. it comes after earlier allegations that the presenter was accused

of paying a teenager £35,000 for sexually explicit photos — beginning when they were 17. bbc news impartiality covers stories about the wider corporation and like other news organisations is seeking further clarification from the corporation on the story. helena wilkinson reports. 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. the culture secretary added,... pressure on the bbc to act is coming from politicians on all sides. the bbc needs to speed

up its processes. it looks like these issues were raised in may, the presenter stayed on air and 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 of the allegations? and should the investigation had been more thorough? the bbc said... the bbc has not explained itself. well, the question is why hasn't the bbc explained itself? 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 of the hour, 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, in the newsroom. what do we know so far? we know that the sun has — what do we know so far? we know that the sun has been _ what do we know so far? we know that the sun has been publishing _ what do we know so far? we know that the sun has been publishing over- what do we know so far? we know that the sun has been publishing over the i the sun has been publishing over the weekend these very serious

allegations about somebody that they refer to as a top bbc presenter. according to the newspaper, the well—known name paid £35,000 to a young individual to somebody who was 17 years old, so legally a child. more allegations were published in the newspaper today and it is creating more questions for the bbc to answer. the family of the individual complained to the bbc many times, in may and when that happened, they were very frustrated to see that they actually, the presenter remained on—air so they feel that the bbc does have a question to answer.— feel that the bbc does have a question to answer. that pressure is mountin: question to answer. that pressure is mounting on — question to answer. that pressure is mounting on the _ question to answer. that pressure is mounting on the bbc, _ question to answer. that pressure is mounting on the bbc, isn't - question to answer. that pressure is

mounting on the bbc, isn't it? - question to answer. that pressure is mounting on the bbc, isn't it? it- mounting on the bbc, isn't it? it is, absolutely. the bbc does have questions to answer. a lot of it is because we don't know the actual detail of what has happened over the last 2a, 48 hours detail of what has happened over the last 24, 48 hours and going back to the time of the original complaint from the individual�*s family in may. what will polly turn out to be particularly important is how much the bbc was told back in may when that complaint was made, did they speak to the presenter in question? did they try to question the presenter? and what kind of evidence was presented to the bbc at that time? all these factors will be significant in how the bbc will handle this and how appropriate. can ou cive handle this and how appropriate. can you give us an idea of the scale of seriousness here? this you give us an idea of the scale of seriousness here?— seriousness here? this is very potentially — seriousness here? this is very potentially serious. _ seriousness here? this is veryl potentially serious. allegations

have been made about what the sun are describing as a high bbc presenter so if that is true, this is something that the public will be deeply concerned about and also they will deeply be concerned about how the bbc itself deals with this kind of complaint. there is a lot of emphasis on how corporations and how companies deal with their staff and staff behaviours so potentially, this is very serious.— staff behaviours so potentially, this is very serious. thank you for that update _ this is very serious. thank you for that update from _ this is very serious. thank you for that update from our— this is very serious. thank you for that update from our newsroom. | lets speak to our political correspondent peter saull. the director—general, tim davie. the director-general, tim davie. we had a the director—general, tim davie. - had a statement from department for culture, media and sport expressing

how serious the concerns were in government about these allegations and then we had the phone call between lucy frazer and tim davie. shortly after that, lucy frazer tweeted to say she was pretty happy that the bbc were investigating this and it would come to a swift conclusion. it has moved quite quickly this afternoon, in the meantime, other politicians getting involved, we heard from labour shadow chancellor in that. other conservative politicians, the former home secretary priti patel and the chair of the commons culture committee also saying that the bbc has questions to answer. in committee also saying that the bbc has questions to answer.— committee also saying that the bbc has questions to answer. in the last few moments. _ has questions to answer. in the last few moments, we _ has questions to answer. in the last few moments, we have _ has questions to answer. in the last few moments, we have had - has questions to answer. in the last few moments, we have had a - has questions to answer. in the last - few moments, we have had a statement from the bbc on this issue. what is the statement? indie from the bbc on this issue. what is the statement?—

from the bbc on this issue. what is the statement? we do. i won't read it all to you — the statement? we do. i won't read it all to you at _ the statement? we do. i won't read it all to you at this _ the statement? we do. i won't read it all to you at this point _ the statement? we do. i won't read it all to you at this point but - the statement? we do. i won't read it all to you at this point but the - it all to you at this point but the most significant thing for many people is that according to the statement, they confirm a male member of staff has been suspended from the bbc. that male member of staff has not been named but this comes from a bbc spokesperson and also the director—general, tim davie has written to all the bbc staff in the last few minutes on the bbc e—mail system butjust to reiterate, the bbc says we can confirm a male member of staff has been suspended. i will redo the whole statement now. the bbc takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations. this is a complex and fast moving set of circumstances and the bbc is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in

order to properly inform appropriate next steps. it is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care. we have been clear that if at any point, new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up. the bbc first became aware of a complaint in may. new allegations are put to us on thursday at the different nature and in addition to our other inquiries, we have also beenin our other inquiries, we have also been in touch with external authorities. we can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended. we will be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days. the bbc will be continued to be kept up—to—date. the statement saying a male member of staff has been suspended, it doesn't expressly say that this is the same male member of staff that has been talked about as behaving in this way

as reported by the sun, but that is how of course many people will take that statement although it hasn't been stated explicitly. the bbc but has felt under pressure, saying that the bbc first became aware of the complaint and may, that is when according to the sun, the family of the young person complained and the bbc goes on to say new allegations were put to us on thursday, that was the day before the sun published their first story on this. the bbc says, those new allegations put to us on thursday were of a different nature so what they are saying is that what they were told and what was complained about back in may was not the same nature of the allegations put to the bbc a few days ago on thursday. they are not going into more detail but what

those allegations might be but that seems to be a significant point by the bbc are trying to put in their defence against criticism that has been put against them in the last few days and they are saying that addition to their inquiries, they have been in touch with external authorities. we don't know who those external authorities are but tim davie, as i say, has written to all bbc staff and he started out by saying everyone will be aware of the allegations in the media about a male presenter working for us and i wanted to update you on what we are doing in regard to this. we take all allegations seriously, this is now mirroring the bbc statement we saw earlier. the bbc became aware of the complaint in may, the bbc investigations team has been looking into her since it was raised and have been actively following up. and then the point i was just making, and tim davie's e—mail, he said new

allegations of a different nature were put to us on thursday and in addition to our own inquiries, we have been in touch with external authorities in line with our protocols. i can also confirm that we have suspended a male member of staff. he goes on to say, he is wholly condemning allegations about some of our presenting talent. we are in contact with the family and working rapidly to establish the facts and to make sure that these matters are handled fairly and with care, including by external authorities when appropriate. so thatis authorities when appropriate. so that is an extract from the e—mail from the director—general tim davie that has been sent to bbc staff in the last few minutes. confirming that a male member of staff has been

suspended following the allegations being made of the last few days. not explicitly say that it is the male member of staff that is referred to in his allegations but that is the assumption that will be taken by almost anyone and saying in defence of the bbc on how quickly they acted after the family of the young individual concerned came forward in may, emphasising that different allegations were put to them on thursday, a few days ago, compared to the ones originally put them in may. to the ones originally put them in ma . . ~ to the ones originally put them in ma . ., ~' , ., to the ones originally put them in ma . ., ., to the ones originally put them in ma. ., ., ., ,., ~ may. thank you for that update. a cuick may. thank you for that update. a quick recap _ may. thank you for that update. a quick recap on _ may. thank you for that update. a quick recap on that _ may. thank you for that update. a quick recap on that public - may. thank you for that update. a i quick recap on that public statement issued by the bbc in the last few minutes. bbc spokesperson has said, the bbc takes any allegation seriously and we as robust internal processes in place to deal with allegations. this is with a fast moving set of circumstances and the bbc is working as quickly as

possible to establish the facts. it is important that his matters are handled fairly and with care, we have all been clear that if at any point new allegations —— information comes to light, this will be dealt with proactively and quickly followed up. the bbc first became aware of the allegations in may, new allegations of a different nature were put to us on thursday and in addition to our own inquiries, we have also been in touch with external authorities in line with our protocols. we can confirm a member of staff has been suspended. we expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. the bbc board will continues. the bbc board will continue to be kept up—to—date. 0n the screen right now, was, the

statement on our bbc live page. let's go back to our political correspondent. we have had that update from the bbc?— correspondent. we have had that update from the bbc? that's right. as ou update from the bbc? that's right. as you say. — update from the bbc? that's right. as you say, stressing _ update from the bbc? that's right. as you say, stressing the - update from the bbc? that's right. as you say, stressing the fact - update from the bbc? that's right. as you say, stressing the fact that l as you say, stressing the fact that this individual has now been suspended. the bbc also say that it has started the investigation looking into this back in may and then fresh information came to light earlier last week. they have now moved to instigate this formal suspension on the individual concerned and it has been quite a fast moving set of developments today, there was a phone call between the culture secretary lucy frazer and the director—general tim davie and the language really quite can start —— contrasting throughout the day, saying they are deeply concerned but clearly what has happened in that phone call was that the director—general reassure the secretary of state that they were investigating things and that they had a handle on it. that hasn't

stopped politicians of all parties saying that there has to be a swift conclusion to this. the evidence ought to be there, they ought to come up with a disciplinary proceeding if that is indeed what they find needs to happen. you would imagine, that has got quite a long way to run. if you look at the language at the tweet that the culture secretary put out, the bbc needs to be given the space to conduct its investigation, established the facts and take appropriate action. that is a message to other politicians to take a step back and allow the bbc to get on with what is a very sensitive investigation. the us president, joe biden, has now began hisjourney to the uk travelling from the dover air force base in delaware en route to stansted 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 buildup 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 is 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 and unprovoked 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. ukraine has welcomed home five 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. 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 | 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's 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 naito, something which mr zelensky said he was happy to hear after spending a week trying to rally support from other naito countries ahead of a two—day summit next week. lee milner, bbc news.

we have had some breaking news on our top story on that unnamed bbc presenter he was accused of paying a teenager the sexually exquisite photographs. what is the latest —— explicit. what is the latest? photographs. what is the latest -- explicit. what is the latest?- explicit. what is the latest? there was an e-mail _ explicit. what is the latest? there was an e-mail from _ explicit. what is the latest? there was an e-mail from the _ was an e—mail from the director—general tim davie and a statement from the bbc. they said the member of staff had been suspended and that the bbc had been in touch with external authorities and we understand that those external authorities are the police. that's part of a statement that came out a few minutes ago saying that bbc had been in touch with external authorities. it is not entirely

clear from the statement what they are talking about but we do understand that they in fact to the police. that is part of the statement where tim davie has addressed all bbc staff and a bbc spokesperson has issued a statement where it said that the family of a young individual did complain to the bbc back in may but the bbc is saying that new information, new allegations were put to them last thursday. also saying that aerial member of staff has been suspended —— and male member of staff has been suspended and they are in touch with external authorities and we understand that to be the police. it won't completely relieve the pressure that has been building on the bbc over the last 24 hours. last thursday, different allegations were put to them. three days can seem an

awfully long time, depending on how serious those allegations were, people will be asking why it has taken three days from those allegations for the bbc to actually decide to suspend a male member of staff. we also don't know the detail of exactly what those allegations were, we don't know what the bbc have done to try and bunched yea —— substantiate the tree for those allegations but if that allegations are true, the three days will be seen potentially by many as not as swift as the bbc could have been. but i emphasise, people will need to see the full facts before making a full decision on what they think the bbc has been like during the last few days and the appropriateness of its response in this fast moving

situation. . ~' , ., , its response in this fast moving situation. ., ~ , ., , . ., situation. thank you very much for u -adatin situation. thank you very much for updating us _ situation. thank you very much for updating us on _ situation. thank you very much for updating us on the _ situation. thank you very much for updating us on the story. - situation. thank you very much for updating us on the story. it - situation. thank you very much for updating us on the story. it has i updating us on the story. it has been an eventful day and fast moving as well. i will recap that statement is that we received from the bbc, external statement that is available on our website. the bbc takes any allegations seriously and we have a robust internal process in place to actively deal with such allegations. this is a complex, fast moving set of circumstances and the bbc is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps. it then goes onto say that they can confirm a male member of staff been suspended. stay with us on bbc news. hello. storm clouds bubbling up. not as many as we saw through yesterday. and still pleasant enough in the sunshine. but through the week ahead, even in the sunny moments, it will start to feel a bit

cooler out there. all of us will still see some rain at times, some more than others, admittedly, and it will be a little bit breezier. and that's because we've got low pressure out towards the west at the moment. circulation of cloud here, which will transfer its way northwards in eastwards. this band of cloud is what brought the rain early in the day across east anglia southeast and will linger across 0rkney into the evening. elsewhere, as i said, more sunshine this evening. a few showers particularly through wales, northern england, northern ireland, some of those heavy and thundery. but even this evening, temperatures still in the low twenties. 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. some rural spots down into single figures, but most places still in double figures as we start the monday morning commute. and it will be a sunny one for the vast majority, but quickly clouding over south west england and wales, outbreaks of heavy and potentially thundery rain pushing in here as we go through the morning. a few showers breaking out through scotland, northern ireland. again, some of those

thundery, especially to the northeast of scotland. but longer spells of rain that's in wales will gradually transfer north west midlands and in the afternoon into parts of northern england and it could have a big impact. of course, if the cricket is still going. certainly winds freshening up a little bit. but whilst you've got the sunshine out and fewer showers, east anglia and south east could see temperatures higher than today. elsewhere, roughly on par, we're feeling cooler where that rain is falling. the rain fizzles into more showery conditions through monday night to the north. but in the south, more persistent rain returns, wales and across central and southern england to take us into tuesday. that may be slow to clear the south east corner on tuesday. other than that, it's back to sunshine, heavy and thundery showers, most frequent during the afternoon in scotland, northern ireland and the north of england. bit of sunshine in between, but temperatures starting to drop, winds going more west to north westerly and that temperature drop will continue further through the second half of the week as our low pressure pushes its way off towards norway. winds going to a more north or north westerly direction, especially for scotland for a time. so temperatures will drop here. further north you are, showers most frequent,

heaviest for the south, you are fewer showers at times. temperatures still in the low 20s here and temperatures in the north of scotland, only the mid—teens at highest.

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the bbc has confirmed a male member