that they were contacted on a dating app by the presenter — and then sent menacing and abusive messages. this afternoon the bbc�*s boss faced questions over the corporations handling of the original complaint. and the impact the allegations have had. one thing i would say is these are clearly damaging to the bbc, it's not a good situation. also on the programme... mortgage rates soar to their highest level for 15 years — forcing many homeowners to pay hundreds of pounds more every month. president zelensky urges nato leaders to allow ukraine to join the alliance — saying it will make nato stronger. but leaders refuse to set a timetable for membership. and the world number one is knocked out of wimbledon by an unseeded ukrainian. coming up in sport here in wimbledon, the women's world number one and top seed,

iga swiatek, is knocked out as ukraine's elina svitolina reaches the semifinals. good evening. a second young person has made serious allegations about the bbc presenter accused of sending money for sexually explict photographs. bbc news contacted a young person who revealed that they first came into contact with the male presenter on a dating app. our special correspondent lucy manning has the story. tell us what you know? just to be clear that this is a different person to the one who has been written about in �*the sun'. this individual in their early 20s was first contact enormously on a dating up first contact enormously on a dating up by first contact enormously on a dating up by the presenter and after they

first connected on the up the conversation moved to private messaging and at this stage the presenter revealed his identity until the young person not to tell anyone. but individual has told bbc news they were surprised to find out who it was. they felt that they were put under pressure to meet up but actually they never did. and later that young person alluded online to having contact with a bbc presenter. and implied that they would name him publicly online at some stage. the presenter reacted by sending a number of messages which the individual told us they found threatening. they were abusive, expletive filled messages and the young person told us that they had been scared by the power the presenter held. and they felt that the threats in the messages

frightened them and they remain scared. we have seen those messages. and while the individual has spoken to bbc news they have not made a complaint to the bbc investigations team which is looking into those allegations in �*the sun'. but these new claims of menacing and bullying behaviour by the high presenter raise new issues about his conduct and that is why we have looked into them. bbc news has contacted the presenter and his lawyer but not heard anything back. thank you. well today the director general of the bbc, tim davie, defended the corporation's handling of the initial complaint against the presenter. the bbc was first contacted 7 weeks ago by the family claiming their child had received money for sexually explicit photos. but the presenter was not spoken to by the corporation until last thursday. our media editor, katie razzall, reports on the latest developments.

the bbc at the centre of a storm, not a good situation, the director—general said today. claim and counterclaim goes on about a bbc presenter, still unnamed, explicit photographs, and quite whatthe bbc did when a family complaint. in his first interview since the crisis erupted, tim davie said he had launched an internal review of bbc complaints procedure. i think there is a valid question that i am asking are complaints like this red flagged through the organisation. and i want that immediately looked at and also review the overall process and protocols to make sure we are satisfied by them. today, as it published its annual report, the bbc offered up a new timeline. the key information is about how they handled that early complaint. on the 18th of may, a family member went into a bbc building to try to complain. the next day, their complaint reached the corporate

investigations team who, we are told, felt it didn't involve criminality, but was serious. on the same day, they e—mailed the family member, who didn't respond. more than two weeks later, they called the mobile given but the call didn't connect. the case was kept open. a month later, the sun contacted the bbc corporate press office with what the bbc said contained new allegations. after that, with the top executives informed, the complainant interviewed, and the presenter spoken to for the first time, action was swift. it was a difficult situation in which we were not getting a response to attempts to get more information. when the information came to me on the 6th ofjuly, i think we acted very speedily. that action included suspending the presenter. the director—general told me today he has not personally spoken to the still unnamed presenter throughout this, but tim davie is still under pressure particularly over how much effort was made to investigate that serious complaint made in may.

that timeline today they have released, i have to tell you is very damning. the idea that after you get a complaint of any kind from concerned parents saying a major presenter is giving vast amounts of money and turning my child into a drug addict, whether or not it is true, you cannot know at that stage. you have to ring alarm bells like that. the bbc has now spoken publicly, �*the sun�* has not. though it has pushed back on the claims by the lawyer for the young person at the heart of this that its story is rubbish and that nothing inappropriate or unlawful went on between the client and the presenter. today the sun had the family standing by their story, asking how their loved one could even afford a lawyer. the paper told us about the family is being attacked for not understanding the bbc complaints system.

with the police now involved, the met has asked the bbc to pause its own investigation, but the corporation does feel damaged by the story. i think the bbc is often in the midst of quite painful and difficult affairs and storms. and i think one thing i would say is these are damaging, these are clearly damaging to the bbc. it is not a good situation. there have now been days of headlines and media attention. but no real sign that the story is reaching an end. here's our legal correspondent dominic casciani. with the metropolitan police have asked the bbc to pause its internal investigation process and that puts flesh on the balance of what we knew about the involvement of the police which yesterday revolved around a very abline statement that they were scoping out what was going on. scotland yard i sang do not do anything else and that indicates that they are taking it seriously

and do not want any potential evidence gathering to be influenced by things that happened inside this building so i think that is important in understanding the time that the police need to get potential answers and a potential criminal investigation in the future. the question is where this leaves us in terms of that thing out there about why the presenter has not been named. people are still talking about that. we are now four days into theirs and �*the sun�* has not identified the presenter and it could be the case after today because of the steps that the bbc has taken that the case to name the presenter or not becomes harder. they need to show that they are taking steps to act on a matter of

concern. clearly the young person does not want any name out there as the lawyer has said. we have got a new line tonight about a second person, does that strengthen the case to name the presenter, some would say perhaps. but there has been no formal complaint to the bbc or to the police that we know of and we do not know the presenter�*s seidl story. so if the police do not choose to name and the newspaper wants to go further than that comes down to whether they think it will go to an injunction. an down to whether they think it will go to an injunction.— down to whether they think it will go to an injunction. go to an in'unction. an we have got more go to an injunction. an we have got more information _ go to an injunction. an we have got more information today? _ go to an injunction. an we have got more information today? we - go to an injunction. an we have got more information today? we have. more information today? we have toda a more information today? we have today a uk — more information today? we have today a uk police _ more information today? we have today a uk police force _ more information today? we have today a uk police force confirming that they were contacted in april, this is before the main complaint to the bbc and also confirming that no criminality was identified at that point. the family have always said

that they approach the bbc after they'd gone to the police and also sat in the newspaper that they told the bbc, the police had told them nothing illegal had gone on. there has been continued scrutiny of the reporting in �*the sun�* especially since the letter arrived yesterday and i do think that they've got questions to answer not least that they approach the young person for comment as they prepared to report their story because the young person is always said they did not. and what evidence do they have two capital allocations and why that not name the presenter. we ask them for an interview and we are waiting for answers but we have not got them as yet. but in the end whatever the facts are, at the heart of this there appears to be a family and trauma who say that they desperately trying to protect a young person that they claim is addicted to drugs and apparently using any money they can to feed a drug habit so it is a sobering thought.— can to feed a drug habit so it is a sobering thought. thank you very much. mortgage interest rates have hit their highest level for 15 years. the average cost of a two—year

fixed deal is now 6.66%, the first time it has been that high since the 2008 financial crisis. lenders say as rates rise some homeowners are having to find hundreds of pounds more each month. bank and building societies bosses have been questioned by mps today about the impact on customers. our economics editor, faisal islam, reports. the mortgage squeeze continues casting a shadow over the housing market was something similar occurred briefly last autumn after the mini budget, this time there is less market panic but more household pain. less market panic but more household ain. ., ., , , ., ., less market panic but more household ain, ., ., , , ., ., , pain. our mortgage is set to go up b 599, pain. our mortgage is set to go up by 599, essentially _ pain. our mortgage is set to go up by 599, essentially £600 - pain. our mortgage is set to go up by 599, essentially £600 a - pain. our mortgage is set to go up| by 599, essentially £600 a month. katie is expecting a baby in autumn and says that the hike in mortgage costs mean she will not be able to afford to take maternity leave. we are afford to take maternity leave. - are breaking our backs now do not even make ends meet and it makes for a more stressful environment

certainly didn't bring a child into. a typical two yearfixed certainly didn't bring a child into. a typical two year fixed mortgage now costs an average of 6.66%. the highest level for 15 years. that is also now at a high level but after the mini budget last year and what is driving it are increases in recent weeks senior in yellow in the cost of borrowing to government and effectively the whole economy over two years as well. this new surge in the cost of fixed—rate mortgages has effectively been reflecting a judgment in the financial markets that impatient this country will stay higher for longer and therefore require higher interest rates for a year or two. require higher interest rates for a year ortwo. more require higher interest rates for a year or two. more evidence for that from the wages data to date going up by a joint record over the past year. all eyes are now on critical inflation figures next week and a new decision from the bank of england likely to raise rates again early next month. right now the markets are deciding for themselves.

the chief executive of barclays bank does not so far see a repeat of the 19905 property crash. but is the response more benign these days? what is going on? i think the response has been more benign. first of all people have jobs and second people are finding value for money, managing theirfinances people are finding value for money, managing their finances well and controlling their spending. and thirdly is that the banks and we are very committed, we are not seeing signs of stress but we are committed to helping people who may believe they may have difficulty meeting their mortgage. they may have difficulty meeting their mortgage-— their mortgage. lenders are stretching — their mortgage. lenders are stretching the _ their mortgage. lenders are stretching the length - their mortgage. lenders are stretching the length of - their mortgage. lenders are| stretching the length of their mortgage and offering mortgage holidays and trying to be flexible but that will only go so far as rates continue to climb. faisal islam, bbc news. and if you're struggling with rising costs and mortgage

payments, there are tips on saving money in the tackling it together section of the bbc website. just head to bbc.co.uk/new or use the bbc app. you can also use the bbc news app. president zelensky has accused nato of weakness and uncertainty, over the reluctance of some members to set a timetable for ukraine to join the nato alliance. nato leaders meeting in lithuania have agreed to invite ukraine tojoin when certain conditions are met. nato's secretary generaljens stoltenberg said the alliance had never sent a stronger political and practical message to ukraine about its path to membership but made clear that ukraine could notjoin while it was at war with russia. our europe editor, katya adler, is at the summit in vilnius. katya... this is hardly the show of absolute unity over ukraine at night i was hoping for at its summit. it knows overin hoping for at its summit. it knows over in moscow vladimir putin is watching things here extremely

closely, and the message it wants to send is fully fledged member of nato or not, support for ukraine over ongoing russian aggression is unwavering. ukraine today. ravaged by war a year—and—a—half into russia's full—scale invasion. fighting tooth and nail to keep its independence and defend wider european security, it says. but kyiv needs the tools to push russia back. conventional weapons most countries in europe believed a thing of the past, until now. the government has just announced a big increase in production of nato standard artillery shells in the uk, most probably earmarked for ukraine. arriving at the nato summit, the prime minister said today's insecure wild means we need more defence spending in and outside nato. priorities for this summit are to strengthen the alliance so we can face the threats of the future and protect ourselves

adequately against them, but also to continue supporting ukraine. but ukraine wants more from the uk, the us, and other nato allies. more than the billions of pounds worth of military and humanitarian aid it has received since russia's invasion. more than the pledges here that support will continue. what ukraine wants is a seat at nato's table, membership of the club. and why? because of nato's mutual defence clause which means an attack against one member is seen as an attack against all of them. after a ceasefire, says kyiv, that is the way to stop moscow ever thinking of invading again. but here, nato allies are divided. baltic states like lithuania, hosting today's summit, border russia, and fear it. ukraine should join nato sooner rather than later, they all say. we also owe it to ukrainians because they are fighting there so that the british, estonians, americans, don't have to fight with russia.

if the war would expand, we would be the first ones to be hit. and we don't want that. but the us and germany are more hesitant. they fear a direct conflict with russia and are resisting a nato membership timetable for ukraine. this is not a competition, who is at what moment, at which point? the most important thing is that we are all increasing military support for ukraine. putting a brave face on things, a disappointed ukrainian president arrived in vilnius this evening, stopping at this pro—ukraine rally on his way to a nato dinner. glory to ukraine, he said. adding that nato would make ukraine safer, and ukraine would make nato stronger. but the row over membership conditions is a sign of division moscow will no doubt be delighted to see. katya adler, bbc news, vilnius.

the time is 6:19pm. our top story this evening. a second young person has made allegations about the bbc presenter at the centre of accusations about paying money for sexually explicit photos. and coming up, coming up in the sport at wimbledon, chasing a men's record equalling eight singles titles, novak djokovic beat andrey rublev and reached the last four. today, the nationwide climate action relay ends in london. the history of the earth is divided into epochs — periods of geological time that stretch back over billions of years. like the upper cretaceous 100 million years ago — that's when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

or the pleistocene when the ice age began — 2.5 million years ago. and the holocene, was much more recent, beginning almost 12,000 years ago when the cold period came to an end. now scientists are trying to decide whether humans have had such a big impact on the planet that we have entered a new geological epoch — called the anthropocene. here's our science editor rebecca morelle. heading to a site that records a turning point in the earth's history — crawford lake in canada. and scientists are looking for signs of a new geological time period, the anthropocene epoch. so what we have here is the lake bed. when we just took the core, you see light, dark, light, dark layers. these layers are like tree rings representing every year of our past. i am quite sure 1950 is right around here. that would be the base of the proposed anthropocene epoch. this new epoch defines the moment

humans started having a bigger impact on our planet than anything else. so we refer to the anthropocene as the interval of time since the mid—20th century when the great acceleration of human industry, it changed the way the earth behaves. it basically is a tipping point that was reached that altered earth's history forever. some of that core has been sent to southampton university. what's inside these little files doesn't look like much, just a scrape of canadian mud. but each one of these contains material from a particular year. and crucially, one will help to pinpoint the exact moment when the anthropocene began. these sediments can be analyzed. they hold the fingerprints of human activity from the byproducts of fossilfuels, microplastics, and the fallout from nuclear weapons testing. and it's the plutonium from these nuclear tests that's being isolated

here to determine which year the anthropocene started. we're looking at the plutonium radioactivity in the early 19505. that was the point when this almost entirely artificial product was globally dispersed. and we pick it up from the early 19505 in sediments all over the globe. the last epoch change happened more than 11,000 years ago. a record is buried in a bog on the isle of wight. this is a really beautiful transition. you see the difference in the colour of sediments. the darker mud belongs to the ice age. the lighter mud is where the warmer holocene epoch began. but there's a major difference compared with what's happening now. these are natural changes here. this is a natural system that drives these changes. what we are doing right now, we are increasing the speed of these changes. we see that environments are pretty much getting destroyed. but this is part of the human activity.

in huge archives, vital geological records are stored. it's the first time a new epoch has been proposed while we're living through it. geologists now need to put this to a vote before the anthropocene epoch is set in stone. rebecca morrelle, bbc news. mps have been voting on changes to the illegal migration bill after members of the house of lords demanded alterations. the government has offered a number of concessions, including time limits on the detention of children and pregnant women. the bill is central to the prime minister's pledge to stop small boats crossing the english channel. our political correspondent, helen catt, is in westminster. helen, how likely is the government to get its way on this? i think it's quite likely and that's because broadly opposition mps are against the bill but conservative mps back it, so while the house of lords made a lot of changes, those are being removed one by one this evening in a series of votes. the inner immigration minister robert jenrick said the changes made by the

lords had left the bill riddled with exceptions and get out clauses which meant it fundamentally wouldn't work. but the government has made some concessions as a result of some of the law changes, particularly in areas where conservative mps have been critical so it has agreed to reinstate a limit on how long pregnant women can be detained up to 72 hours, and said that unaccompanied children can be granted immigration bail after eight days rather than a proposed 28 days. there is still some unhappiness on the conservative backbenchers around issues like the impact on victims of modern slavery but once the vote is done this evening it will go back to the house of lords and is expected to face further resistance there and there is time pressure for the government in getting this past. parliament goes on summer recess next week. the mother of a 23—year—old, who was killed by a mentally ill man, says the way authorities interacted with him was a catalogue of �*astonishing failings and incompetence'. zephaniah mcleod stabbed eight people in birmingham city centre in 2020. now, a report commissioned

by the nhs has found that he had been released from prison unsupervised. jo black reports. # tell me that it's getting old... lifelong friends michael callaghan, seen here singing, and jacob billington, on the left, playing in their band weeks before their lives changed forever. in september 2020, they were two of eight people stabbed in the centre of birmingham. their attacker, zephaniah mcleod, a paranoid schizophrenic, had recently been released from prison. he had a long history of offending and was well known to the authorities. he fatally stabbed jacob and left michael with life—changing injuries. now an independent report into how organisations managed mcleod has been published. he was making threats, and saying he was hearing voices telling him to kill people. even then he wasn't adequately risk—assessed and was let out of prison with absolutely no plan for his release. i can't forgive that.

when i read the report and it's red flag, after red flag, ijust don't know how he was on the street in that situation. ijust can't believe it. mcleod pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, attempted murder and wounding. the report says he wasn't appropriately treated and medicated from 2011 to 2020. he didn't engage with services and was reluctant to take medication. the authorities missed opportunities to exchange information and carry out proper risk assessments. on release from prison, he wasn't supervised, which meant no—one knew where he was. he should have been referred to his local mental health service back in birmingham. he wasn't raising alarm bells serious enough to mean that he would warrant detention under the mental health act. and there's not a lot services can do. jacob and michael's family say mcleod's attacks

were predictable and preventable, and they want tougher recommendations for all agencies involved so they understand that poor practice can lead to devastating consequences. jo black, bbc news. now a look at some other stories making the news today. a people trafficker has been jailed for 12 years and seven months over the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants who died in a lorry container. the bodies were discovered on an industrial estate in grays in essex, in october 2019. royal mail workers have voted overwhelmingly to accept a new pay deal ending a long—running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. 7596 75% of members of the communication workers union voted to accept a new pay deal that will see right it —— wages rise by 10% over the next three years. and the european court of human rights has ruled in favour of double 800m olympic champion caster semenya, in a case involving testosterone levels in female athletes. the 32—year—old south african

was born with differences of sexual and the european court of human rights has ruled in favour development and is not allowed to compete in events between a00m and a mile without taking testosterone—reducing drugs. at wimbledon, the women's world number one, iga swiatek, from poland, has been knocked out in the quarterfinals by an unseeded ukranian. she described her win "unbelievable", and said she would probably have a beer tonight to celebrate. andy swiss reports. so who is for some champagne tennis? while the fans were busy savouring wimbledon�*s cuisine, for the players, this is where it gets tasty. the quarter—finals, and a new crowned favourite. ukraine's elina svitolina said she wants to bring some happiness to her country and against the top seed, poland's iga swiatek, she made some start. roared on by the fans, she seized the first set. but iga swiatek, who wore the ukrainian colours on her cap in solidarity,

soon hit back. nothing wrong with that one! suddenly it was one set all. but from there, svitolina, carried on a wave of emotion, was unstoppable. and soon the dream when was reality. game, set, match, svitolina. svitolina, who only returned to tennis three months ago after having a baby, had knocked out the world number one. how do you celebrate that? first of all i'm going to have a beer, probably! at the beginning of the tournament, if someone had told me i would be in the semifinal and beating the world number one i would, you know, just say that they're crazy. well, if that was a tough act to follow, enter novak djokovic and andrey rublev. novak djokovic and andrey rublev. djokovic is going for a record equalling eighth men's title here. but he didn't start well. but he didn't start well. very comfortable! very comfortable! well done.

as rublev took the first set, on a day of shocks, could we be in for another? could we be in for another? ican i can tell you that novak djokovic ican i can tell you that novak djokovic has just hit back and won the second has just hit the second set 6—1, so it is 1—1 in that match, has just hit back and won the second set 6—1, so it is 1—1 in that match, but earlier on, what an incredible set 6—1 so it is 1—1 in that match, what an incredible win that was for elina svitolina. but earlier on, what an incredible win that was for elina svitolina. she had bought tickets to go to she go to eight harry styles concert last she had bought tickets to go to eight harry styles concert last weekend because she thought she weekend because she would not still be involved here but eight harry styles concert last weeks not necause she eight harry styles concert last weeks not still ise she eight harry styles concert last weeks not still be she eight harry styles concert last she will be glad she was wrong. she weeks not still be involved here but would not still be involved here but she will be glad she was wrong. she certainly will. certainly will. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. here's matt taylor. just a few passing showers at just a few wimbledon but let me bring you wimbledon but let me bring you up—to—date with a few extreme up—to—date with a few extreme weather events across the world in weather events across the world in the past few days. this was a the past few days. this was a vermont yesterday after what has vermont yesterday after what has been termed a one in a thousand year extreme rainfall event, three times of monsoon rain in parts of india and at the weekend big impacts and record rainfall injapan at the end of last week spain in saragossa