turkey's president backs sweden's membership of the nato alliance — after resisting for many months. it's emerged — vladimir putin — met the head of the wagner mercenary group days after he led a failed mutiny. and a scanning method involving a see—through mouse — that could revolutionise the testing of cancer drugs. live from our studio in singapore — this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. more information has emerged — concerning allegations that a bbc presenter paid a teenager — tens of thousands of pounds — for sexually explicit images. the young person, now

aged 20 , has claimed via a lawyer that —— nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place, and that the claims that first emerged in the sun newspaper are "rubbish", and an invasion of their privacy. the sun says it stands by its story. meanwhile, the metropolitan police say they are making further inquiries — but there is currently no investigation under way. the male presenter, who has been suspended, has not been named. here's our media editor katie razzall. for the first time at the bbc we've had our own person talking to the person involved in this. they told us that the story as reported by the sun is untrue. now the sun says there is something quite another. the pants had to stand by their account and an interview say we did this to help, and that the presenter has got into their loved ones had come as they put

it. the claims tonight on behalf of that empress are not true and they accused the bbc of lying about what happened when they made their complaint. so where does that leave us? not much clearer, perhaps. here is my account of how the the day has unfolded. the story has dominated the front pages for days, driven by the sun newspaper, which first reported it in its saturday editions. now a lawyer for the young person at the centre of the allegations has told the bbc that on friday, via whatsapp, they told the sun the statement by their mother was totally wrong and there was no truth in it, adding, "nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place and the allegations are rubbish". the sun newspaper has pushed back tonight, telling the bbc its story was about two concerned parents who made a complaint about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child. their complaint was not acted upon by the bbc. "we have seen evidence that supports their concerns," they say, adding it is now for the bbc to properly investigate. time is of the essence because it is not fair

on victims, it is not fair on people who could be implicated and it is not fair on the bbc, which does an important job. you know, i am not here to, as it were, bash the bbc, but i do think they to get their house in order and they need to proceed properly, otherwise you will have plenty of collateral victims. according to the sun, for three years, the presenter paid ten of thousands of pounds in exchange for sexually explicit images to a person who was 17 when it began — a potential criminal offence. the family told the paper they were frustrated that the presenter remained on tv after they approached the bbc. so what do we know about the timeline of events? the family complained to the corporation on the 19th of may. nearly two months on, last thursday, the bbc says it received new allegations. the next day, the sun published claims that a bbc presenter paid a teenager for explicit images. on sunday, the bbc suspended the presenter. i think one of the questions that will come out of this in the inevitable inquiry is who did the complaint come into and did they escalate it

fast enough and in future, should a red flag go up when an issue of this seriousness comes in, whether or not there is a huge amount of information or not, that it should go straight to senior management and that they should deal with the issue immediately. escalation yesterday involved a referral of the allegations to the police. today, after a virtual meeting with the met�*s specialist crime command, the police said they are working to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence. there is, they added, no investigation at this time. until it is clearer, until we have a greater knowledge from possibly the police, the bbc itself, the alleged victim or the victim's mother, in this case, it is very hard to know exactly what we are criticising the bbc for. the acting bbc chairman is only in her role after the resignation of the politically appointed former chairman richard sharp. now the corporation is at the centre of another crisis. tomorrow, she and the director—general, tim davie, will have to face the media as they launch the annual

report, with the corporation in the eye of a storm. our legal correspondent dominic cashiani has been looking into the letter from the young person's lawyer as well as the sun's latest article. it's a really, really important development in this story, as is the sun's latest story tonight. i'm going to take each of these in turn, because the law of privacy is there to effectively protect reputations and careers and futures from undue harm. and because there are many things in our private lives which are simply nobody else�*s business, they are private to us. and if you analyse this letter, what this law firm is saying on behalf of their client, and this is not a modest high street firm, there are decent sized firms in central london, is they're saying there is there is a repeated breach of privacy here in this reporting, even though the individual

hasn't been named and nor has the presenter, the young person denies involvement in unlawful or inappropriate activity. and they're effectively saying if you carry on doing this and if you were to name our client, this is effectively the subtext, you might end up in court. so effectively, that's what the warning comes down to, although there's no warning of such in the letter. and if you take that as a starting point, i think it's really interesting then to have a look at what the sun has said tonight. there's one line in that which sticks out to me in the story. it quotes the stepfather saying, "i told the bbc "i had gone to the police in desperation, "but they couldn't do anything, as they said, "it wasn't illegal." now, we're not quite sure exactly what that relates to, but from the perspective of this young person and thinking about this just in pure legal terms, if nothing has been done, which is wrong, what is the case then for this person to be named or the presenter to be named?

and i think this is why there's so much at stake here. going to the scotland yard statement, really telling that they're assessing the information, but it hasn't yet crossed a criminal threshold for them. and i think the takeaway from that is we're not the only ones who at the moment are really unsure about exactly what's been going on. in europe, there've been some major developments ahead of a nato summit in lithuania. the alliance�*s chief says turkey's president erdogan has now agreed to support sweden's bid tojoin nato. that was a priority for us presidentjoe biden, who touched down in vilnius on the eve of the summit. swedish prime minister ulf kristerson said: "it's a good day for sweden. we are taking a very big step towards nato membership." let's take a listen to what the nato secretary general — jens stoltenberg, had to say. i think the agreement we achieved today builds on what we agreed a year ago in madrid, because in madrid, all allies and also turkey agreed to invite finland and sweden to become members. then the ratification process

has been finalised for finland. finland is a full member, and now president erdogan has made it clear that they are also ready to ratify sweden. our correspondent lewis vaughan jones has been following developments in vilnius. so it seems this nato�*s summit here in vilnius will be getting under way after a very significant concrete achievement. jens stoltenberg, the head of nato, announcing that turkey had agreed sweden could start the process to membership. now, why is that so significant? well, within nato, each and every member country effectively has a veto against anyone else joining. turkey had some reservations that it made public, and at the beginning of the day, the two sides seemed a long way apart. president erdogan starting to talk about things like opening the door for turkey to eu membership

before sweden then is allowed to open the door into nato membership. eu and nato, of course, completely separate organisations. so that was the start of the day. but at the end of the day, jens stoltenberg making that announcement, and there has been some significant reaction from several politicians who are here. joe biden welcoming it, the german foreign minister saying it's good news from vilnius and, of course, the swedish government saying it is a good day for sweden. so that seems to be one issue of membership well and truly settled. there is a little detail, though, just because recep tayyip erdogan has agreed that sweden can now become a member, it's actually the parliament in turkey that needs to approve that. so a little side detail.

now, the bigger issue of membership, just because sweden seems like it will become a member, there is, of course, another key country, ukraine. it is not a member of nato. it wants to be. but the agreement here is that whilst there is a war going on in ukraine, it simply can'tjoin. president zelensky wants assurances from the leaders here that when the war ends, it will very, very quickly become a member of nato. so still challenges ahead of this summit. dr sue thompson, an associate professor at the national security college of australia national university says it's not quite a done deal yet until the turkish parliament supports it. this decision, the announcement from the turkish president means that this will be happening and sweden will be joining. and the irony is that pollutant�*s standoff in ukraine has only the sort of seen

strengthening of nato. if he was determined to face off against nato, it potentially is backfiring against him since the cold war, since nato�*s first inception, there have been many scandinavian countries haven't been that clear on wanting to be members from norway yet this latest crisis is seeing than lined up tojoin finland crisis is seeing than lined up to join finland first and then probably sweden will be joining very soon. probably sweden will be “oining ve soon. ~ . probably sweden will be “oining very soon. meanwhile, leaders ofthe very soon. meanwhile, leaders of the western _ very soon. meanwhile, leaders of the western allies - very soon. meanwhile, leaders of the western allies in - very soon. meanwhile, leaders of the western allies in the - of the western allies in the region, new zealand, australia, south korea and japan, they have been going on, they've been working together with nato for many years now. but there have been some objections from countries like france. can you talk asked her why that is? the french are _ talk asked her why that is? tue french are concerned talk asked her why that is? tte french are concerned about talk asked her why that is? ttj: french are concerned about what to signal that will let off

towards the chinese. and i think it won'tjust be france. france has been more vocal about the inclusion of the so—called indo—pacific on the sidelines of the summit. this is the second time they all turned up last year in madrid. france is vocal. there will be other countries that are wondering what this then means for the region. wondering what this then means forthe region. in wondering what this then means for the region. in one hand you got the of china obviously key for a lot more activity going on from the asia region when it comes to nato and there is the proposal that there might be a nato liaison office opened up in tokyo next year. so on the one hand, the concerns about what might be happening in asia vis—a—vis china but then on the other hand, there will be some

that are concerned about what message this sends to the chinese. it's been revealed that russia's president vladimir putin held talks with wagner mercenaries, just days after he publicly accused them of betrayal for launching a failed mutiny two weeks ago. the kremlin has confirmed that the wagner leader — yegveny prigozhin — was among those present — at three hours of talks in moscow, where his mercenaries are said to have declared their loyalty to the president. our russia editor steve rosenberg has this update. strange, indeed. i mean, on the day of the mutiny, vladimir putin had called the organisers "traitors" who'd stabbed russia in the back, and he promised that they would be punished. five days later, goodness me, he was sitting down with them in the kremlin, with yevgeny prigozhin, with the commanders of wagner, chatting about what had happened. so what does this tell us about the relationship between wagner and the kremlin? well, we knew they were

close, very close. putin had admitted that the state has been financing wagner. so was this three hour meeting in the kremlin a sort of a post mutiny, postmortem? an attempt to reboot or rebuild what had been a pretty effective fighting force for the kremlin? we don't know. we don't know how that meeting ended. what we do know is that the state media here continues to try to discredit yevgeny prigozhin. last night, state tv said "he is not the robin hood he tries to pass himself off as he is a businessman with a criminal past who was involved in dodgy dealings." but for now, mr prigozhin is a free man. so what will happen next? i wish i knew. my advice? stay tuned for the next bizarre episode in putin and prigozhin. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's look at some of the other stories making headlines in the uk. a teenager has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, after a teacher was stabbed at a school in tewkesbury in gloucestershire. a man is in a stable condition in hospital. no—one else was hurt in the attack. the school was locked down, while police searched for the suspect. a review into failings in maternity care in hospitals in nottingham is set to become the largest in the uk. around 1700 families who received maternity care from the nottingham university hospitals nhs trust are to have their cases reviewed. a previous investigation found dozens of babies died or were left with serious injuries while in its care. the jury in the trial of the nurse, lucy letby, has been sent out at manchester crown court, to start its deliberations. ms letby, who's 33, denies

murdering seven babies and trying to murder ten others at the countess of chester hospital. you're live with bbc news. south korea has restated its commitment to welcoming north korean defectors. the number who ve escaped and made it to the south has fallen dramatically over the last decade or so — from 3,000 a year to fewer than 100. but south korea thinks more people will try — now that pyonyang has eased covid restrictions. its main reception centre is getting ready to greet them. michael bristow was shown around. these north korean women fled hunger and repression. now they're learning the art of the manicure — filing, painting and shaping. it's just one of nearly two dozen courses on offer at the south korean reception centre for those who've escaped

north korea and need new skills for their new lives. in another room, defectors are introduced to high tech devices commonplace in south korea, less so in the north. they learn about the software that powers these gadgets. this resettlement center for north korean refugees is also a medical facility. south korean doctors try to fix health problems that might have gone untreated for years. from top to toe. drjunjin yong is a psychiatrist who's worked here. not surprisingly, he says, many defectors suffer with their mental health, not least from being separated from their relatives. translation: these people have families back in north korea - who they can't see. it's a little like bereavement, but different because they haven't passed away. they're still there. for the defectors,

it's complete torture. whatever problems the defectors face. the resettlement center is just the beginning of their education. the hardestjourney starts on the outside. north koreans who arrive in south korea aren'tjust coming o a different place, they're also coming to a different time. in terms of the way people live their lives, south korea is decades ahead. imagine suddenly being transported half a century into the future and you get some idea of the difficulties faced by north koreans trying to adjust to their new lives here. so one of those who's managed to do that is kim seung hui. she started her own business, making a spirit popular in north korea. translation: the first night on the outside is a memorable one for all defectors.

i hugged my daughter and started to cry, not because i was sad or lonely, but because we've survived. she's notjust survived, she's thrived. those still here will be hoping for a similar success. michael bristow, bbc news, seoul. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the spanish coastguard says it's rescued 86 people after a migrant boat went missing off the canary islands more than a week ago. the boat was reported to have been about 70 miles south of gran canaria — having set off from senegal. to thailand next. at least one person has died and a number of others have been critically injured after a huge medal structure fell onto a busy road in bangkok. the massive girder — that fell — was part of a project to build elevated highways in the city. the cause of the accident isn't yet known.

the un says it's extremely worried about the record high temperatures that are being recorded around the planet. the latest data from the world meteorological organisation shows the world has experienced its hottestjune ever, accompanied by rising sea temperatures in the north atlantic. at least 29 people have died as heavy rain battered northern india, causing widespread landslides and flooding. additional weather warnings have been issued for several other states and evacuations are under way in low—lying areas of punjab.?in delhi and its suburbs, all schools will remain closed and there are fears the river yamuna could break its banks. the capital registered its highest daily rainfall in more than 40 years. for more on this, here's arvind chhabra from bbc punjab service. at least 15 people have died in three days in north

india, as heavy rains caused widespread flooding. heavy rain for the past three days has inundated low lying areas, prompting authorities to swing into action in the worst hit places. the record rainfall wreaked havoc, triggering flash floods and landslides, causing extensive damage to infrastructure. schools in punjab, pradesh and delhi have been closed. schools in many places were scheduled to reopen on monday after the summer vacation of over a month. the army has been put on alert as torrential rains battered north india. the monsoon downpour wreaked havoc in both residential and commercial areas of delhi on saturday and sunday, while breaking a 41—year—old record. delhi recorded 153 millimetres of rain, the highest in a single day injuly since 1982. in punjab, at least in two districts, the army has been called in after it was felt that more manpower would be needed to plug the breach. meanwhile, farmers are staring at major losses because of flooding in the fields. office goers were hit

on monday morning because of waterlogging of the roads. at many places, residents were left stranded as water overflowed from clogged drains and submerged roads. public transport and cab services were adversely affected as well. a new scanning technique has been developed that can see inside the body in unprecedented detail — using a transparent mouse. the technology makes it possible to detect cancerous tumours at cellular level. pallab ghosh has the story. meet the transparent mouse. everything inside, its nerves, tissues and organs, all made invisible by a chemical process. and then it's bathed in different chemicals to reveal the parts the german developers want to study. under the microscope, they're searching for cancer tumours shown in small pink and white dots throughout the body.

compare this image to a conventional scan, which shows only two of the largest concentration of tumours. it enables to see every single cancer at single cell level. because diseases like cancer, they kill at cell level. so if we don't see them, we cannot treat them. this technology enables us to see this hidden enemy. in green are the nerve endings outside the mouse's body. different chemicals show different tissue. inside the purple tube snaking around is part of its digestive system. we can even look in the tube. medical researchers try out new drugs and treatments on mice first before trying them out on people. the new scanning technique enables scientists to see things they've never seen

before. it also has the potential to improve the way in which new drugs are developed and tested. and it could greatly accelerate the understanding of hundreds, if not thousands, of diseases. currently, scientists slice up tissues into very thin sections to study them under a microscope. uk researchers are excited about this new way of analysing their samples. the potential that it has to be able to identify various tissues, cells, structures and also understanding really the development of diseases, we can't wait to get our hands on the technique. muzlifah haniffa is imaging cells to help create an online map, or atlas, of every cell in the human body. she says the new scanning technique will be useful for all kinds of medical research. without a doubt it will accelerate the pace of medical research. i mean, combining these types of fantastic cutting edge technologies and building the human cell atlas

will no doubt completely revolutionise medicine. a whole human will to be made transparent because the process would kill the patient. but it could use donated tissues and organs to study human diseases, something can scientists say would transform research. pallab ghosh, bbc news. incredible development. that is that for this edition. i will be back with the business news shortly. tojoin be back with the business news shortly. to join as be back with the business news shortly. tojoin as if be back with the business news shortly. to join as if you be back with the business news shortly. tojoin as if you can. for now, thank you so much for watching the programme and stay with bbc news. hello there. there's no real change in our weather patterns coming our way any time soon. and that means it stays unsettled. loads more showers in the forecast as we'll see in a moment. for monday, we have some heavy downpours come through starting off across parts of northern ireland before spreading to scotland. and as they work through, threave brought 15 millimetres of rain in a space ofjust

an hour, really torrential rain. that's a bit more than half an inch of rain injust an hour. now, those heavy bursts of rain are working north eastwards at the moment. the rain will ease as we head towards dawn, but at the same time we'll see some heavy rain pop up across the midlands running into lincolnshire and east anglia as well. still quite warm and humid across eastern areas of england as we start the day tuesday. but in the west a relatively fresh field to the day, with temperatures around 13—14 degrees. now, tuesday morning, we'll see that band of rain start off with across east anglia, south east england, taking a while to clear out of the way. but once it's gone, it's essentially a day of sunshine and showers. i think some of the showers could merge together to give some longer spells of rain for west scotland, and perhaps through the central lowlands, and also some fairly lengthy downpours coming across wales and running into the midlands too. temperatures a little bit below average for the time of year, but in the sun it won't feel too bad. now, wimbledon, i can't rule out an odd passing shower, but there'll be large stretches of the day that are dry with some sunshine coming through. taking a look at the jet stream

pattern across a good chunk of the northern hemisphere. we've got this pattern at the moment. this is an omega block. now, the uk finds itself underneath a trough. that's where low pressure form. and the thing with these blocks is theyjust don't move very far. it's going to be like this really throughout the rest of this week, into the weekend and even into next week. and what that does for us is, even as we lose one area of low pressure, later in the week another one pops up as if by magic and works back across the country. we've got that kind of repeating pattern. weather kind of like a broken record at the moment. wednesday, yes, it's a day of sunshine and showers. probably a cooler feel to the weather across scotland and northern ireland, where we'll start to get more of a northwesterly breeze. so temperatures just coming down here, a few degrees in the south and east, 21, maybe fewer showers here for wednesday. but really looking at the rest of the week into the weekend and even into the early stage of next week, the showers will continue to pack in. there will be quite a lot of dry weather, even on these showery days. the showers perhaps lasting an hour or two, but still some

heavy downpours to come.

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