the metropolitan polce has confirmed that the bbc has made initial contact with the force over the matter. president biden has set off for a trip to the uk, 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. in cricket, england's men have kept the ashes series alive by beating australia in the third test. the victory at headingley in leeds means australia lead england 2—1 in the series, with two test matches left to play, in one of the oldest sporting contests in the world. let's return now to our top story, and the allegations against a bbc presenter. let's remind ourselves of how this situation unfolded. here's a timeline of

all the events so far. on friday, 19th may, according to the sun newspaper, the young person's family complained to the bbc about one of its presenters. on thursday, 6thjuly, allegations "of a different nature" were put to the bbc, according to director—general tim davie. the next day, the sun publishes claims that a bbc presenter paid a teenager £35,000 for sexually explicit photos. on saturday, 8thjuly, the sun on sunday publishes more details of the presenter�*s alleged actions. and today, the bbc confirms a presenter has been suspended and the corporation is in touch with police, with the met confirming an "initial contact" has been received. our legal correspondent dominic casciani has answered some of the questions about this case. effectively, if you go on social media this weekend, there have been two burning questions. firstly, has there been a crime

that's been committed? and secondly, why hasn't this individual been named? so let's go through these in turn — has any crime been committed? well, look, if these allegations turn out to be true, it's a fairly straightforward issue in terms of the criminaljustice system and what it says about the alleged incident. the presenter is accused of paying for sexually explicit photographs. those photographs are said to have come from somebody who was 17 years old at the time that this began. now, that individual would have been a teenager, would have been over the age of consent — which is 16 — but in terms of actually making these images, it's a crime. sorry, i beg your pardon — a child, anyone under the age of 18 cannot consent to making those images and, therefore, it is a crime to make, take or possess what is known as an indecent image, and that can lead to up to ten years in prison. it's a very, very serious offence,

this, and cases such as this are prosecuted around the country all the time in the crown courts. now, the second question perhaps is the harder one, i think, for the public to understand and i think this is where a lot of the speculation has been on social media, which is, why is the media not naming the presenter? look, journalists have a legal right to investigate and uncover scandals, but in a situation like this, there are currently more questions than there are answers and that's where the law begins to bite. and there are two laws in particular we need to talk about. the first one is defamation. now, defamation is the law which protects everyone�*s personal reputation. whoever you are in society, you have a reputation, you have a legal right to that being protected from highly damaging lies. now, if i said something untrue on air about you, for instance, rich, you could sue me for damages if i couldn't substantiate that later. those damages can be absolutely financially catastrophic

to the person who's responsible for the lie or the untruth and, therefore, journalists have to be very, very careful about what they publish, what they broadcast, what they post on social media. they have to be very, very clear of their facts and that they have a defence to what they've said. it doesn't just stop with journalists as well. people on social media, they are basically under the same law as well. people don't really understand this, but anybody who's tweeting and speculates about names tonight, they could also be sued. that's the first law there, which effectively acts as a brake on newsrooms, because if people don't know the facts or are unsure about the facts, it prevents them from broadcasting. the second is the emerging law of privacy. over the last 20 years or so, there have been more and more privacy cases before our courts. one of the most famous involved sir cliff richard, who successfully sued the bbc in i think 2018, when it reported that the police had searched his home. it turned out that the allegation the police were looking into was wholly false, it was an untrue allegation, he was an entirely innocent man, but the damage had already been done

to his private life and, therefore, the courts awarded the case against the bbc. so privacy is in there, as well as defamation. the two laws taken together, they don't necessarily effectively preventjournalists from undertaking investigations and exposing scandal, but they do act effectively as a means of preventing trial by media at the earliest stage of cases. and that's basically where we seem to be at the moment with an investigation going on, a lot of lack of clarity about facts. and it's in that kind of context that very few newsrooms would be prepared to actually name an individual. you can follow the latest on that story on the bbc news website. let's move onto one of our other this hour. the arrival of president biden in the uk, these are live pictures from stansted airport in the south east of england. mr biden �*s plane is expected probably within the next 30 minutes or so on the tarmac at

stansted. you concede two marine corps helicopters. as soon as the president lines in air force one, he will board the helicopter, which will board the helicopter, which will then acquire the call sign marine 0ne, will then acquire the call sign marine one, that will transport him to central london where he will stay at winfield house, the residence of the us ambassador. his schedule for this week is pretty tight, he is meeting the prime minister and then the king and he is going on to the nato summit in lithuania. various items on the agenda there. dr leslie vinjamuri — director of the us and americas programme at chatham house — has spoken to me earlier about the significance of this visit. for starters, really demonstrating the importance of this partnership, of this alliance in the run—up to the nato summit, which is going to be a difficult summit because there are some very big issues on the table on which not

all nato members are agreed. and of course, we're thinking here about sweden's membership bid to be a full member of nato, which turkey has held up, and there's a very significant question about what terms and conditions will be agreed for the prospect of ukraine's membership in nato. very difficult issues, not the only ones. and of course, as you mentioned, this meeting, president biden�*s trip to the uk, also will be critical in demonstrating that despite the announcement that the us will supply cluster munitions to ukraine, that the us and the uk remain aligned as they travel to that nato summit. how do you think this issue of cluster bombs is going to be addressed by the two leaders when they meet face—to—face? i think the public conversation will be precisely what it's already been, with rishi sunakjust very clearly stating that the united kingdom

is a signatory to the convention that bans the use of these weapons, but not going much further. in other words, i think there will have been a very clear awareness of the debate in the united states, of the reasons for that very difficult, very contentious decision having been taken, but i don't think you will see the prime minister saying much more — in large part, because the stakes are so high for ukraine right now. and there is, as we know, a very serious problem with getting sufficient artillery and ammunition to ukraine. remember that that decision has been made as a time—limited decision, in the lead—up to what what the us and others hope will be an ability to supply more artillery. and it's also one that's been made with conditions about how the ukrainians can use these weapons. again, it's facing a lot of backlash, but i don't think we're going to see that coming

from the prime minister. and northern ireland has been a key bone of contention between the us and uk in the last year or so. what's the us position on that? well, i think that president biden has been very clear about his commitment to the good friday agreement, about his expectation that the uk will do everything that it can to secure the sanctity of that agreement and of that border, which is seen to be and is so critical for peace between northern ireland and ireland. but i think that, you know, again, in recent months, president biden and prime minister sunak have both worked very hard, not only in real terms, but also symbolically, to demonstrate that they are moving past what has been... in the scheme of a very robust and very serious partnership, they're moving past what's been undoubtedly a very difficult period through the brexit years, through the transition, through the upheaval domestically here in the uk in september and october.

since, we've seen several meetings — prime minister sunak travelling to san diego, the announcement of the aukus deal, his recent visit to washington and the announcement of the atlantic declaration. and now, it's a short trip, but it's very significant to have a us president take the time on the way to a nato summit, which is packed with very serious issues, to stop in london to meet with the prime minister and with the king. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bringing you different - stories from across the uk. accidents like this happen on a regular basis, according to residents of coley. the speed limit is 30, but that doesn't seem to stop some drivers.

residents filmed this and say speeding is a constant problem. luckily, nobody is killed, but the quality of life is horrendous, because people speed through here and people use it for racing. campaigners here want permanent average speed cameras — to enforce the 30 mile—per—hour limit — but north yorkshire doesn't have any. there are only mobile speed cameras. residents want an end to speeding on local roads. north yorkshire council have today agreed to develop a new speed—management strategy. it'll take six months, but they say it'll create a safer, more coherent network of speed limits. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. - you're live with bbc news. it is good to have your company. the us treasury secretary, janet yellen, is leaving china after a visit to try and strengthen economic ties, saying she believes the two countries can

have a healthy relationship. whilst in china, ms yellen held ten hours of talks with senior chinese officials, saying the meetings had put relations between the two countries on a "surer footing", after a long period of tensions over trade and other issues. here's ms yellen speaking at a press conference earlier. the 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

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 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 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, 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. let's bring you some live pictures now from stansted airport. this is air force one just touching down.

you can see the boeing plane carrying presidentjoe biden touching down on the tarmac in stansted airport in the south east of england. just the second arriving. mr biden is in the uk, where he will be meeting with the prime minister, rishi sunak. you will also be meeting with the king. president biden didn't go to king charles�*s coronation, his wifejill biden went in his place. and mr biden went in his place. and mr biden will travel on to the nato summit in lithuania which kicks off on tuesday. we arejoined by we are joined by david willis on the us west coast and by our security correspondent frank gardner. frank, let's talk about the bigger picture at the nato summit first. what is top of the agenda, do you think? well, it will always be ukraine in some form and how nato deals with that. there will be a number of issues rumbling along, the one that

has grabbed the most attention is the controversy and the row over cluster bombs. these are banned by 123 countries including britain and many nato members, but the us has decided to go it alone and after a request from ukraine, it has agreed to supply these controversial weapons to ukraine to help it in its bid to try and break through russian defence lines, we're not talking about in russia proper, but areas russia has illegally seized in southern ukraine. the reason they are controversial is because cluster bombs are basically a canister launched from an artillery shell, rocket, missile or plane which shatters in midair and distributes tiny bomblets. not all of these explode and the russian ones, over 40% dud rate. even american ones have a 2% dud rate. that means a number of them lie around as unexploded ordnance long after the war has finished, being picked up by kids, they think it is a toy and they pick it up and it blows their

arms off or worse. so it has been described as an abhorrent weapon. yes, it has a military use and is great for clearing troops out of trenches, but it has an indiscriminate effect on civilian populations, so that is a disagreement for a start. then there is the row about who should become the next secretary general of nato. britain and the baltic states wanted ben wallace to be the next man at the top, britain's defence secretary who has taken a leading role in galvanising nato support for ukraine. but america has decided no, it will not be him, they don't want him. france is not keen because britain is not in the eu. america appears to favour at ursula von der leyen, the european commission chief, but she has a pretty iffy record as germany's defence minister and she really allowed the running down of german defence during her time in office. so that is a bit of a political hot potato. but at the

end of it, the biggest and most enduring issue is, what they do about ukraine? do they invite ukraine tojoin about ukraine? do they invite ukraine to join nato? about ukraine? do they invite ukraine tojoin nato? and ukraine is pretty fed up with empty premises because in 2008, nato at its annual summit invited both georgia and ukraine tojoin, but summit invited both georgia and ukraine to join, but with conditions. they said, you can start, there is an intention here for you tojoin, but it start, there is an intention here for you to join, but it will not happen straightaway. and ukraine feels if that had been solidified into something more concrete, russia would not have invaded. ukraine will be watching very closely as to what promises it is going to be given. at this summit. and whether they are going to be empty or with anything. david willis, in la, the nato summit coming at the latter part of the president's trip to europe. before that, he is meeting the british prime minister and the king, do we know what is on the agenda? weill. know what is on the agenda? well, discussion of— know what is on the agenda? well, discussion of that _ know what is on the agenda? well, discussion of that nato _ know what is on the agenda? well, discussion of that nato summit of course _ discussion of that nato summit of course will— discussion of that nato summit of course will be centre stage. and

there _ course will be centre stage. and there will— course will be centre stage. and there will also be discussion of sweden's — there will also be discussion of sweden's membership which you were 'ust sweden's membership which you were just talking _ sweden's membership which you were just talking about with frank. the more _ just talking about with frank. the more visible part of this visit, because — more visible part of this visit, because let's face it, rishi sunak and president biden have met each other— and president biden have met each other quite a lot since rishi sunak became _ other quite a lot since rishi sunak became the british prime minister. they met _ became the british prime minister. they met in washington, dcjust last month, _ they met in washington, dcjust last month, in_ they met in washington, dcjust last month, in fact. so the most high—profile part of this visit i think— high—profile part of this visit i think witi— high—profile part of this visit i think will be that meeting with the kin- think will be that meeting with the king at— think will be that meeting with the king at windsor castle. two men who have established quite a close relationship over the years. they know_ relationship over the years. they know each— relationship over the years. they know each other reasonably well. and the backdrop of windsor castle is of course _ the backdrop of windsor castle is of course no _ the backdrop of windsor castle is of course no finer place than to reset any kind _ course no finer place than to reset any kind of— course no finer place than to reset any kind of or allay any concerns that there — any kind of or allay any concerns that there might be some sort of fracturing — that there might be some sort of fracturing of the special relationship between the uk and the us. ., ~ _, , ., relationship between the uk and the us. frank when it comes to the nato summit you — us. frank when it comes to the nato summit you touched _ us. frank when it comes to the nato summit you touched on _ us. frank when it comes to the nato summit you touched on the - us. frank when it comes to the nato summit you touched on the divisionsj summit you touched on the divisions earlier around cluster munitions. is

there a sense that the us is somewhat out on its own and there is, how deep are the divisions around this and other issues? well, i think around this and other issues? well, i think they — around this and other issues? well, i think they will _ around this and other issues? well, i think they will try _ around this and other issues? well, i think they will try and _ around this and other issues? well, i think they will try and move - around this and other issues? -ii i think they will try and move on. the cluster bomb deal is done, it is a done deal, it is not going to change, the usjust has to a done deal, it is not going to change, the us just has to take the heat for that and it is happening. but there are other issues i think like the f—16 row. and ultimately, the immediate challenge in this war is for nato to supply ukraine with as much weaponry as it can without actually getting drawn into this conflict itself and without provoking president putin into doing something that escalates this will be armed ukraine's boundaries. that has been the challenge all along. —— this war be armed. back in february last year, nato has slowly ratcheted up last year, nato has slowly ratcheted up how much it provides. so there was a reluctance initially to provide tanks, that was seen as a red line that would provoke president putin. eventually, britain was one of the first to say, we will

provide challenger 2 tanks and gradually, the us agreed and provided m1 abrahams and leopard tanks. then there was the question of whether to provide ukraine with long—range shells. there was a fear what if ukraine uses these against russia, could that provoke retaliation across the borders into nato? in article five, if one nato countries attacked, it calls on the defence of that country by all nato members including the united states. suddenly, it goes global. so everybody is trying to avoid that. but there is a sense i think in which in washington, that the us is a bit peeved that britain has gone further or faster than it would a bit peeved that britain has gone further orfaster than it would have liked. for example, ukraine has been asking for f—16 fighter liked. for example, ukraine has been asking for f—16fighterjets liked. for example, ukraine has been asking for f—16 fighterjets for some time. britain doesn't have f-16s, some time. britain doesn't have f—16s, but other countries do and britain agreed with the netherlands and f—16 training programme. the us

was not very keen on that, the us is very concerned about providing these f-16s very concerned about providing these f—16s because for a start, they require a big logistical tale. it would be a good look when american made f—16s get shot down by russian surface—to—air missiles —— it would not be. and america is extremely concerned about escalation, it wants this war to end preferably with ukraine winning it in some form, but it does not want it to escalate into a nato and russia war. and it will do everything it can to try and stop that. iii do everything it can to try and stop that. , ., , ., that. if you 'ust tuning in, we are watchin: that. if you just tuning in, we are watching live _ that. if you just tuning in, we are watching live pictures _ that. if you just tuning in, we are watching live pictures from - that. if you just tuning in, we are i watching live pictures from stansted airport in the south east of england where in the last few moments, we have seen the us president's plain air force one touching down on the tarmac ahead of a visit to britain, where the president will meet with the british prime minister rishi sunak as well as the king, and travelling on to lithuania for a nato summit. this is air force one, the stairs have pulled up to the

plane in the last few moments. we saw two marine corps helicopters earlier on standing by, as soon as the president comes off the plane, he will get onto the helicopters and they will fly him to wingfield house in central london which is the residence of the us ambassador. i want to go back to our correspondent david willis on the us west coast. weapons to ukraine is one thing, but actually, i am just going to leave you, david. we can see pictures of joe biden coming out of air force one, making his way down the steps. 0ne, making his way down the steps. before he gets onto the marine corps helicopter and travels into central london. he left the delaware air force base earlier on today. david, weapons ukraine is one thing, but ukraine's membership of nato is another and he was asked about that in a cnn interview before he travelled, what did he have to say?

you're right. he said basically, as he has _ you're right. he said basically, as he has said — you're right. he said basically, as he has said all along, that that is not something that the united states is willing _ not something that the united states is willing to back until the war with— is willing to back until the war with russia is over. and he pointed out that— with russia is over. and he pointed out that if— with russia is over. and he pointed out that if ukraine were to be given nato membership before then, it would _ nato membership before then, it would effectively under the treaty involve _ would effectively under the treaty involve all nato members, draw all nato members into the conflict there~ — nato members into the conflict there so — nato members into the conflict there. so president biden is quite determined on that point, it is a point _ determined on that point, it is a point he — determined on that point, it is a point he has made on occasions before — point he has made on occasions before. and he says the ukrainians should _ before. and he says the ukrainians should have to wait.— should have to wait. david willis our correspondent _ should have to wait. david willis our correspondent on _ should have to wait. david willis our correspondent on the - should have to wait. david willis our correspondent on the us - should have to wait. david willis i our correspondent on the us west coast, thank you forjoining us. also thanks to frank gardner, our security correspondent. these are live pictures of president biden who has in the last few moments descended from air force one, which has landed in stansted airport in the south east of england. the president is in britain for a few days meeting the prime minister and then meeting the king before going

on the nato summit in lithuania. i think we still have frank gardner on the line. i want to throw you another question, if i can. how far do you think nato countries, their commitment ukraine will go? look, if i had the answer _ commitment ukraine will go? look, if i had the answer to _ commitment ukraine will go? look, if i had the answer to that, _ commitment ukraine will go? look, if i had the answer to that, i _ commitment ukraine will go? look, if i had the answer to that, i would - commitment ukraine will go? look, if i had the answer to that, i would be i i had the answer to that, i would be the secretary general of nato, i think! there is a real debate over this. and they are not united on it. there are some countries which are much keener than others, the baltic states for example, lithuania, latvia, poland and estonia, they are keen to bring ukraine in as quickly as possible. they say it has the most powerful army in europe right now, they'll battle tested, they are on our side, it is better to have them inside the there are others like germany and to some extent the us which are far more cautious than that. they are not ready yet. this war is still raging, it has a long way to run. so i don't think there is any question of ukraine joining

nato at the end of this summit. what ukraine will be looking for is a road map, a serious road map of the steps it needs to take place and there is something called the map which is supposed to be a process that applying nations go through. there is pretty much universal acceptance ukraine will not be made to go through it, it would be fast tracked just as finland did. it was incredible, i was at the nato summit incredible, i was at the nato summit in madrid last year and that happen very swiftly. the hope was both finland and sweden would join, but turkey and hungary have held up sweden's application. when it comes to ukraine, of course, it is far more complicated because this argument can run both ways. you can say, great, let's get ukrainian and that will be against russian aggression, it will be a barrier and it will protect your�*s eastern flank and make nato stronger. 0r it will protect your�*s eastern flank and make nato stronger. or you can see it as an absolute provocation. president putin already feels

threatened that russia is directly threatened that russia is directly threatened by nato's ever eastwards expansion and that this will be the final straw that provokes him into something absolutely hideous that could trigger a global war. now, i think the expectation, the belief is in most western capitals that most of the time, president putin has been bluffing and rattling the nuclear sabre, been bluffing and rattling the nuclearsabre, but been bluffing and rattling the nuclear sabre, but we understand that china has asked him notjust don't use nuclear weapons, don't even talk about them. we have had 78 years of no nuclear weapons being used in anger, let's keep it that way, the world is a safer place like that. that's quite a lot of difference over how and how quickly ukraine should join, but the secretary general of nato, jens stoltenberg, saying it is inevitable, it is going to happen, it is a question of when and not if. these are the live pictures of stansted airport in the south east england, that is a marine corps helicopter you can see in the

screen. that has the president on board, which means it is officially called marine 0ne. board, which means it is officially called marine one. the president's plane touched down in the last 20 minutes or so and we saw air force one landing on the tarmac at 0ne landing on the tarmac at stansted and in the last few moments, the president boarding the helicopter. it will then fly him to central london, a journey that will take barely any time at all, and he will stay at wingfield house on the outskirts of regents park, that is the residence of the us ambassador. we can see the rotas are starting up as the helicopter prepares to take off. we are joined as the helicopter prepares to take off. we arejoined by our human rights and allowing people the right of legal, peacef our ssent... as the helicopter prepares to take off. we are joined by our security human rights and allowing people the right of legal, peacef our security correspondent frank gardner. frank, off. we are joined by our security correspondent frank gardner. frank, thank you very much for sticking with us. one of the big issues at the nato summit that you touched on issues at with us. one of the big issues at the nato summit that you touched on earlier is related to turkey and earlier is mooted he sweden. the president has mooted he supports —— he supports sweden's sweden. the president has mooted he supports —— he supports sweden's membership and turkeys blocking out, how much of british you will that be at this summit?— sweden. the president has mooted he supports —— he supports sweden be how much of british you will that be at this summit?—

at this summit? well, it is an issue because when _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was at _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was at the - at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was at the last - at this summit? well, it is an issue | because when i was at the last nato summit in madrid, a year ago, turkey at this summit? well, it is an issue because when - year _ at this summit? well, it is an issue sat down with sweden and finland because when - year ago, - at this summit? well, it is an issue i because when - year ago, turkey summit in madrid, a year ago, turkey sat down with sweden encourage very much by the nato summit in madrid, a year ago, turkey sat down v very weden summit in madrid, a year ago, turkey sat down v very much| summit in madrid, a year ago, turkey sat down v very much by the nato encourage very much by the nato secretary general to try and secretary general to try and overcome their differences and they overcome their differences since thought they had a deal. but since then, things have gone downhill a thought they had a deal. but since then, things have gone little bit. turkey is not happy at all with sweden, it is not happy with the undertakings that sweden has given to deal with the kurdish extremists as they would put it, which turkey considers that these are terrorists who are living in sweden, and matters have been made even worse recently by the burning of the koran in stockholm. so whereas sweden would consider it is simply abiding by international human rights and allowing people the right of legal, peaceful dissent...

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