plus, us presidentjoe biden kicks off his three—nation tour, making his first stop tonight in london. and russia and turkiye�*s foreign ministers speak after ankara releases five ukrainian azovstal commanders. i'm helena humphrey. thank you for being with us. the bbc has suspended an unnamed presenter and contacted the police over allegations he gave tens of thousands of pounds to a teenager in return for sexually explicit photographs. the corporation, which was told by the young person's family about the allegations back in may, says new information came to light on thursday, and it's now investigating all the claims. the bbc is now in touch with the family. and in the last few hours, the sun newspaper has printed claims the presenter contacted the family in recent days.

our media editor katie razzall has more. for the best part of 48 hours, the bbc has been splashed across many of the front pages. today was an attempt to prove it hadn't been slow to act in the face of a serious complaint, an effort to take control of the narrative. this afternoon, the bbc announced it has suspended the still—unnamed presenter at the heart of the allegations and also contacted the police. the bbc first became aware of a complaint in may, it said in a statement. new allegations were put to us on thursday of a different nature. and in addition to our own inquiries, we've also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols. those new allegations — the devastating story in the sun newspaper yesterday that a male presenter had paid an individual £35,000 over three years in return for sexually explicit images beginning when that person was 17. a possible criminal offence.

today's newspaper had new allegations about the bbc star described as known to millions that he stripped to his underpants in a video call with the young person. with a pressure to act intensifying, a government minister and a member of the shadow cabinet weighed in this morning. 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 criminal justice 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 bbc do need to speed up their processes. it looks like that these issues were raised in may and we're now in july and the presenter stayed on air. that's not good enough. the culture secretary held talks with the director general tim davie soon after and came away apparently reassured

that the bbc is investigating swiftly and sensitively and should, she said, be given space to establish the facts and take action because these are just allegations. they may not be true. this is reputationally damaging for the bbc, which still has questions to answer, not least in terms of what exactly it did in may after the family's complaint and whether it knew at that point that potential criminality might be involved. how many attempts were made to contact the family after they complained 7 was the presenter interviewed and should he have been taken off air? tonight the metropolitan police told bbc news that it has received initial contact from the bbc but that no formal referral or allegation has been made. it will, it says, require additional information before determining what further action should follow. the bbc has said it expects to be able to provide a further update on this story in the coming days. but as a publicly funded corporation, it depends on trust. trust that is earned. the bbc has faced a series of crises in recent months. for some, its reputation

is already tarnished. we can only fullyjudge how damaging this latest crisis will be when the full facts of the story are known. 0ur news correspondent charlotte gallagher has more. we have heard revelations from the sun newspaper. they are saying that this unnamed presenter made a panicked phone call to the young person involved, saying "what have you done?" and tried to get this young person to tell their mum to stop this investigation. the mother of this young person has also told the sun newspaper they are very upset with the bbc statement today, saying that the bbc at no point after they made this complaint in may contacted them for a proper interview. so, more revelations. a lot of people are asking why are we

not naming this presenter and it is a really good question and it is a legal reason. so, firstly, defamation. that is a law that protects people from lies being spread about them essentially and if you sue someone for defamation you can win a lot of money and the second reason is the right to a person privacy which is a law in the uk so that is the two reasons wife at the moment this mail presenter is still unnamed, but, of course, it has not stopped people speculating on social media and a number of high—profile bbc presenters have come out and said it is not them. the director general tim davie today condemned all these rumours about different male presenters who have been innocent and have been caught up innocent and have been caught up in this story. us presidentjoe biden has touched down in london for a brief uk visit on his way to a major nato summit in lithuania. he's scheduled to meet with prime minister rishi sunak amid concerns from the uk and other nato allies

over his decision to send cluster bombs to ukraine. the meeting with mr sunak will be their fifth in as many months. on monday, mr biden is also due to hold his first talks with king charles iii since his coronation. those conversations at windsor castle are expected to focus on environmental issues. london is the first stop on a packed european trip for mr biden. on tuesday, the president and prime minister will travel to the lithuanian capital vilnius for a two—day nato summit. then on thursday, biden will make his final stop in finland, nato's newest member nation, where he will attend the us—nordic leaders' summit. meanwhile, ahead of that nato summit, there are questions about two nations hoping to join the bloc — ukraine and sweden. president biden spoke on sunday with turkish president recep tayyip erdogan about sweden's bid tojoin nato — a move that has been held up by turkiye. also on sunday, president biden addressed ukraine's potential

membership, telling cnn the war with russia must end first. i don't think there is unanimity in nato about whether or not to bring ukraine into the nato family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war. i think we can work it out, but i think we can work it out, but i think we can work it out, but i think it is premature to call for a vote now, because there are other qualifications that need to be met including democratisation of some of those issues. live now to the bbc�*s tom brada in london. good to see you. tom, the president touched down a couple of hours ago. what can we expect from the visit? so, this is not a fully fledged state visit from the president. in fact, it is a very fleeting visit but he is hoping to cram quite a lot in. i would like to point out where we are exactly.

a couple of hundred metres behind me is the us ambassador�*s residence and that is where we assume present biden is sleeping but on monday he is expected to go to downing street where he will meet with rishi sunak in the fifth time in as many months and they will have a meeting of around 30—a0 minutes and will discuss a range of issues from clean energy to artificial intelligence but chief among theissues intelligence but chief among the issues we expect they are going to discuss will be the war in ukraine. when they have finished that meeting the president is expected to make his way to windsor where he will meet with king charles. this will be the first time he has actually met charles since charles became king because president biden did not in fact attend the coronation, instead sending his wife, first lady, doctorjill biden. when they are meeting, we know that the king is a massive advocate of environmental issues so it is expected they will discuss a range of climate initiatives

close to his heart, and when the president biden meets with both the king and the prime minister, we can surely expect quite a lot of handshakes, quite a lot of handshakes, quite a lot of handshakes, quite a lot of smiles as the leaders seek to project a sense that the special relationship between the united states and the united kingdom remains in a healthy place. you the united kingdom remains in a healthy place-— healthy place. you mentioned that the war _ healthy place. you mentioned that the war in _ healthy place. you mentioned that the war in ukraine. - healthy place. you mentioned that the war in ukraine. this | that the war in ukraine. this coming at a time when we note that the us has committed to sending cluster munitions to ukraine. some allies have been speaking out against that decision. do we know if it will be broached in london? that's riuht. be broached in london? that's right- there — be broached in london? that's right. there has _ be broached in london? that's right. there has been - be broached in london? that's right. there has been some i right. there has been some discomfort amongst lots of members of nato. i mean, the uk, rishi sunak, has not directly criticise president bidon's decision but he has expressed the view that he does not encourage the use of these munitions. i want to remind people what these are exactly. they are weapons that drop

multiple bomblets on the enemy and there is a risk that not all of them bullet detonator and they may rest on the ground and they may rest on the ground and they may rest on the ground and they are known as duds and there is a risk that a civilian mate pick up one of these and they could go off and cause damage to civilian life. the united states has made the judgement that there is a greater risk for civilian life in not providing these weapons and allowing russia to keep on its attack without providing ukraine with such weapons against the fact that there is against the fact that there is a risk for civilians later down the line. the point is that the uk is among 123 signatories to a convention which prohibits the production and the use of these weapons. so, clearly, for these weapons. so, clearly, for the uk and for the majority of nato allies, this is something that they would not do. but president biden has made this decision now. it clearly sits uncomfortably with many of his allies but this is something they will have to discuss over that meeting with rishi sunak tomorrow and presumably will come up again at that summit in

vilnius. £31 come up again at that summit in vilnius. .., , ., ., come up again at that summit in vilnius. , ., ., ., ., vilnius. of course on that nato summit, sweden, _ vilnius. of course on that nato summit, sweden, ukraine, - vilnius. of course on that natol summit, sweden, ukraine, they are both looking for membership. what is the likelihood of any progress on that front?— likelihood of any progress on that front? .,, ., ., that front? so, those are going to be two _ that front? so, those are going to be two of— that front? so, those are going to be two of the _ that front? so, those are going to be two of the critical- to be two of the critical issues at the summit. 0n ukraine's potential membership of nato, they would like to thrash out a potential pathway for their future thrash out a potential pathway for theirfuture membership. the baltic states are key to see that happen and the nato secretary general is explicit about his desire for them to join the alliance but other countries are more hesitant. we could be seen as a provocation to russia and actually president biden in that interview give reference with cnn early on sunday he quite explicitly said that he would like to see ukraine not become a member of nato until after the war with russia has been settled because that is of course the risk that were they to join nato could course the risk that were they tojoin nato could be dragged into combat and that could risk escalating the conflict into an

even more terrible global war and when it comes to sweden, sweden actually applied to become a member of nato at the same time as finland. england has already become a member of nato while sweden has met with many roadblocks. chief among them being turkiye. so, turkiye essentially believes that sweden is harbouring what they believe to be kurdish extremists, kurdish terrace, members of the pkk. that is what the president believes and on that basis have raised an objection to sweden joining the alliance. president biden will hope to flex muscles at the vilnius summit and will hope to convince them to put aside those objections.— those ob'ections. bbc tom wriaht those objections. bbc tom wright are _ those objections. bbc tom wright are there. - those objections. bbc tom wright are there. tom, - those objections. bbc tom i wright are there. tom, thank you so much. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. high up on exmoor, 11150 feet above sea level to be exact.

the fish of the river of being hunted, not to be eaten but counted. hunted, not to be eaten but counted-— hunted, not to be eaten but counted. , . , , counted. this has everything. the water _ counted. this has everything. the water quality _ counted. this has everything. the water quality is _ counted. this has everything. | the water quality is excellent. we don't have the areas that would impact on it. it is the lungs of the river in terms of salmon. it is the pristine environment.— salmon. it is the pristine environment. mark volker started fishing _ environment. mark volker started fishing for - environment. mark volker started fishing for salmon | environment. mark volker - started fishing for salmon here on the ex at the age of six. it is happening everywhere in every major river in the country. salmon numbers are in catastrophic decline. he country. salmon numbers are in catastrophic decline.— catastrophic decline. he blames ulobal catastrophic decline. he blames global warming _ catastrophic decline. he blames global warming and _ catastrophic decline. he blamesj global warming and exploitation at sea but at a local level water quality, deteriorating weirs and fish passes and bad planning. weirs and fish passes and bad ”lannin. ., . , ., , ., planning. formal stories from across the _ planning. formal stories from across the uk _ planning. formal stories from across the uk head _ planning. formal stories from across the uk head to - planning. formal stories from across the uk head to the - planning. formal stories from | across the uk head to the bbc news you are alive with bbc news. ukraine has welcomed home five army commanders

captured by russia, who were being held in turkey, after a prisoner swap. the men had been detained for over a year, following the fierce and prolonged battle for control of the azovstal steel plant in mariupol. moscow has condemned their release, saying the move this breaks the terms of the prisoner swap deal. gordon corera, has more from kyiv. ukraine's president welcoming home five commanders at a ceremony in the city of lviv. 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 the returning men were greeted by their families. 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. the five had spent three months defending the vast azovstal steel plant

in the city of mariupol, holed up in bunkers and tunnels, keeping the russians at bay. finally, the men had been ordered to surrender. under a prisoner swap deal, they were laterfreed, but were supposed to remain in turkey. the men's return has been widely celebrated here in ukraine, but an angry russia has said it was not informed and that ukraine and turkey had gone and that ukraine and turkey had gone against the terms of the deal. the release came after president zelensky met with president erdogan, in turkey, ahead of an upcoming nato summit. turkey's leader saying ukraine deserved to be invited into the alliance. president zelensky returned home notjust with that endorsement, but also five military heroes by his side. with me now is sean mcfate, a senior fellow at the atlantic council, an author, and professor of strategy at the national defense university.

he also served in the us army. good evening to you and great to have you with us in the studio. ukraine has dug in on a counter offensive. comments from general mark milley that the counteroffensive appears to be going slower than many people had hoped. when you think about the later summer coming up in less than 48 hours, what do you think alice could be doing to help ukrainians on the battlefield at this really key moment? i do not think adding _ at this really key moment? i if not think adding more weapons systems is going to be the magic bullet to win a counteroffensive. this has been a problem to date, zelensky has said give us more weapons and we will win this spring offensive. it is now mid summer and it is failing, frankly. i think what the west should be more clever about doing is it the wagner rep against the russian military. ——is pete.

try to question vladimir putin's hold on power. i5 try to question vladimir putin's hold on power. is it something _ putin's hold on power. is it something achievable? - putin's hold on power. is it something achievable? we have seen that situation a matter of weeks ago with the attempted mutiny. we are not necessarily sure what the future could be for wagner and its leader. yevgeny prigozhin. irate for wagner and its leader. yevgeny prigozhin. we have to have a david _ yevgeny prigozhin. we have to have a david versus _ yevgeny prigozhin. we have to have a david versus goliath - have a david versus goliath strategy. we have to be more cunning than brute force and it is something i have been advocating for six months. the relationship between wagner and the heads of the russian military, that has always been fraught and our role should be to try to continue that fraught

nest. as we saw in the last two weeks, that was not a coup attempt, it was a mutiny and this is how mercenary is we negotiate their contract because this is an older type of warfare, more comment with the 12th century than in the 20th century. we have market forces engaged in battle so you can use market strategies. you can use market strategies. you can try and outfox your adversaries and we should be doing a little bit more of that which is cheaper and safer than sending cluster munitions into the ukraine.— the ukraine. that is a fascinating _ the ukraine. that is a fascinating insight. i the ukraine. that is a l fascinating insight. we the ukraine. that is a - fascinating insight. we do not know exactly what is going on behind the scenes. in the interim the biden administration has taken what they say is a difficult decision to send those a cluster munitions.- decision to send those a cluster munitions. what do you make of that? _ cluster munitions. what do you make of that? i _ cluster munitions. what do you make of that? i think _ cluster munitions. what do you make of that? i think it - cluster munitions. what do you make of that? i think it is - make of that? i think it is wrong. fortwo make of that? i think it is wrong. for two reasons. cluster munitions are in the same

category as napalm and flamethrowers. the reason it has been banned by many countries and it is also the us military itself stopped using these at least 20 years ago, it is because of the collateral damage, to the potential civilians and children who get blown up by them. as we also know, giving more ammunition to ukraine does not mean this spring offensive. it is literally the definition of insanity. you mentioned strategy _ insanity. you mentioned strategy in _ insanity. you mentioned strategy in all _ insanity. you mentioned strategy in all of - insanity. you mentioned strategy in all of these, | insanity. you mentioned l strategy in all of these, as opposed to weapons. coming back to the nato summit taking place in vilnius in lithuania and ukraine upping its bid for its membership to nato. is this something the allies should reconsider?— something the allies should reconsider? you cannot have ukraine joined _ reconsider? you cannot have ukraine joined nato - reconsider? you cannot have ukraine joined nato when . reconsider? you cannot have ukraine joined nato when it | reconsider? you cannot havel ukraine joined nato when it is ukrainejoined nato when it is in a war with russia because suddenly nato would commit to war against russia which could go nuclear armageddon very

quickly. if ukrainejoined nato it will be after the war is done if then.— it will be after the war is done if then. �*, ., ~ ., done if then. let's talk more broadly about _ done if then. let's talk more broadly about the _ done if then. let's talk more | broadly about the geopolitical picture. we have had a situation in which recep tayyip erdogan has freed azovstal commanders. it has angered russia. do you think potentially what leaders could be reconsidering how they feel about that you put in light of what we have seen with wagner? i think most world leaders view wagner is little more than a criminal organisation and i can say that 4—star generals and were leaders in kyiv, moscow and nato capitals have been consistently underestimating the wagner group and the nature of this war. the wagner group and the nature of this war-— of this war. have they be underestimating - of this war. have they be underestimating the - of this war. have they be l underestimating the power of this war. have they be - underestimating the power of vladimir putin?— underestimating the power of vladimir putin? yes, his stock has fallen _ vladimir putin? yes, his stock has fallen in _ vladimir putin? yes, his stock has fallen in the _ vladimir putin? yes, his stock has fallen in the world - vladimir putin? yes, his stock has fallen in the world and - vladimir putin? yes, his stock has fallen in the world and he | has fallen in the world and he has fallen in the world and he

has also turned away xi jinping of china to some extent and i think the strategy of nato now has to help him continue that foal, without getting involved in a nuclear nato— russia conflict. in a nuclear nato- russia conflict-— in a nuclear nato- russia conflict. :: :: , ., , conflict. 500 days into this war, it conflict. 500 days into this war. it is _ conflict. 500 days into this war. it is a _ conflict. 500 days into this war, it is a difficult - conflict. 500 days into this. war, it is a difficult question to ask in terms of potential and the games we have not asked for a very long time because we appear to have been seeing this war of attrition butjust appear to have been seeing this war of attrition but just with your assessment, sketch out son potential and games if you could. i potential and games if you could. ., , potential and games if you could. ~' , ., could. i think the first one is, if ukraine's _ could. i think the first one i is, if ukraine's performance has been disappointing to nato leaders. nato has been giving leopard tanks, f—16s, all of these things with the promise of a shop victory and counteroffensive. it came late and in lacklustre events. —— a sure victory. i think that is

weakening. i also think the story... this time next year vladimir putin could be out of office one way or the other. it is notjust the wagner group and yevgeny prigozhin but also some in the army. it could continue to stalemate. it is possible the wagner group and yevgeny prigozhin leave the conflict and that would change things as well.— things as well. sean mcfate, really interesting _ things as well. sean mcfate, really interesting analysis - things as well. sean mcfate, | really interesting analysis and thank you for being with us. thank you. it's one of the most endangered birds in britain but now, the curlew population could be on the rise again. a project on the south east coast of england has seen 40 eggs hatch and, two months later, the chicks are set to be released into the wild next week. yvette austin has been to the isle of sheppey, in kent, to find out more.

they're europe's largest wading bird, the long break for finding food in the mud, and their call — distinctive. but their numbers are in steep decline in lowland areas, so these chicks are being given a helping hand for their start in life. so the problem with the curlew is they live over 30 years and so we haven't really noticed their numbers dropping, but now we really are, and they're dropping quickly. that's really driven by — there have been more of us, and we're using the land more intensively, like, cutting grass earlier or perhaps we're leaving more rubbish out and there are more foxes around to eat the curlews�* eggs. so, they're not producing chicks that turn into adults. the eggs were collected by experts in northern england, where their numbers are much higher. to much relief, they hatched in may, at three sites chosen for the project — dorset, west sussex, and here on the isle of sheppey. so after about six days on average, we started bringing them out here, and then

they'd have these huts with some heat lamps inside and a little mat as well in there just to have something to cosy up to. and then they had a little small area that they can move out into and get used to the grass and obviously what they're going to need to get used to in the wild. and now they're running around. how do you feel about it? cause they are so beautiful, aren't they? they're just such beautiful birds. yes, they are. it's very rewarding to see them growing up into proper curlews and making the adult noises and having flight attempts. the curlews are due to be released next week into this, their new home — 3,300 acres of wet grassland and meadow. and from then on, they'll be fending for themselves. there's 250 pairs in lowland england still breeding. if we do nothing, that would be zero in the next 20 years. so that would be a local extinction. they're still breeding well in the moorlands where there's support for them, but in lowland england, they're going to be gone

and i think that would be a bit of a tragic situation. they're such an iconic bird of the estuaries in the winter and they're just amazing waders. they're the largest species of wader and they're really iconic. curlews will usually go back to the place where they hatched for breeding themselves. so it's hoped the chicks will choose this vast nature reserve at elmley to return to each year. yvette austin, bbc news on the isle of sheppey. more news coming up on the bbc at the top of the hour. do join us then if you can. bye for now. hello there. the weekend was quite a mixed bag. we saw some pretty heavy, thundery downpours across more western parts of the country. further east, it was a bit drier, with some spells of sunshine. but temperatures were coming down through the weekend,

and that's the theme as we move through this upcoming week. low pressure in charge. it will feel cool for the time of year. showers or longer spells of rain and winds will be a feature, particularly towards the end of the week — all down to low pressure. monday, not a bad start for many areas, but we've got a new set of weather fronts slowly pushing into south—west england, wales, with stronger winds here for the morning and that will continue to journey its way northwards into the midlands, northern england, as well. some of this rain could be heavy and thundery. elsewhere, after a fine start, it's going to be one of sunshine and showers, though i think the far south—east of england and in towards east anglia should tend to remain drier, with lengthy sunny spells. winds will be a feature, then, across the south—west. those are mean wind speeds. lighter further north. temperatures ranging from high teens, low 20s in the north, maybe 23 or 24 degrees in the south—east. that rain continues to move northwards across the country during monday night. we see another batch of rain pushing into south—west england, wales, the midlands, and this will continue

to drift towards the east in the early hours of tuesday. again, some of this could be heavy and thundery. to the south of it, quite a warm and muggy night to come. to the north of it, a little bit fresher, where we'll have clear spells and showers. for tuesday, then, our area of low pressure starts to drift northwards to the north—east of the uk, and that will bring plenty of showers to the country, pretty much from the word go, across the north. this area of rain will take its time to clear the south and east of england through the tuesday morning. eventually, it will do and then all areasjoin in sunshine and showers. most of these will be affecting scotland, northern ireland, northern and western parts of england and wales. again, the high teens in the north, a little bit fresher across the south—east. then beyond tuesday through wednesday, thursday, that area of low pressure moves to the north. it allows west, north—westerly winds to move down across the country, again, with plenty of showers. further low pressure systems will be moving into western areas by the end of the week and into next week. and so, a very unsettled rest of the week to come,

with showers or longer spells of rain, some sunnier moments, as well, but it will feel quite cool, particularly when winds pick up at times, too.

two biggest economies. the us treasury secretary reaches no major breakthroughs in china but says her visit helped improve relations

between the world's