ofthe of the initial complaint. at centre of the initial complaint. at the nato summit in lithuania, leaders of agreed to allow ukraine tojoin nato but only leaders of agreed to allow ukraine to join nato but only when a number of conditions are met. scientists studying the bottom of her remote canadian lake say we are now in the new geological time period they have admitted the days of newspaper headlines saying that the high—profile male presenter paying for explicit images of been damaging for the organisation. trust is fundamental to the bbc in the current situation is not a good one. he has given his first broadcast interview to bbc radio radioi programme. he was questioned by my colleague.

things did suddenly pick up and kick in from last thursday when the sun reported it, but when you look at the timeline, the question is partly because the bbc said the sun's report contained new allegations — what was the initial complaint? in terms of the situation we've got on our hands, i want to say one thing upfront, which is you are balancing serious allegations, duty of care, privacy issues and legitimate public interests, and how do you navigate that fairly, calmly and do due diligence? i've given a bit of context to a few people in terms of the numbers of issues we get coming into our corporate investigations unit. over six months, that will be about 250 and you take those and they are the serious complaints that are coming through of all different types. what happens is we have an outstanding corporate investigations team, they're very experienced, they assess the complaint.

i'm not going to go into the absolute specifics because of privacy concerns... i understand that, but the question of how it differed because clearly it was judged to be not illegal when it was assessed back in may, but serious enough. how did it differ from the sun's report? i want to be careful in terms of what i can give you about the specifics of the complaint. the facts are there that the corporate investigations team looked at the log that is a summary of the call. we've got clear records of an interaction that lasted through the call and the summary of that call of 29 minutes, that summary then goes to the corporate investigations team, passed by audience services and they assessed it. so exactly as you say. in that summary, in the information that the bbc became aware of at that stage, was it clear that — as the family have suggested — that there were contacts made

and they dated back three years from when the child was 20? i cannot get into specifics. what i would say is it was clearly serious allegations. they were serious because the corporate investigations team decided to push forward and investigate the case. it's very important that the team saw them as serious allegations. which seems weird that the presenter was only spoken to onjuly the 6th. let's talk about that for a minute because i think that is a really important point. if you've got an allegation coming into a corporate investigations team, i think you need to balance the concerns of duty of care, privacy, all those things i've talked about, i don't think you take that complaint directly to a presenter.

if you just work that through, if anything that comes through or anything that hasn't been verified just gets brought in front of someone, i would say it's important at that point to validate that, to have not just the audience services team, but the specialists talk to that individual, understand their concerns and go through that process. but there were only two attempts made to contact the family, one by e—mail, one by phone. does that seem fine to you? one of the things i've said today is i think that's a fair question and as director—general i want to look at a couple of things. the first thing is, immediately, do we raise the red flags quick enough on complaints of this nature? and the second is the processes and protocols — there may well be some [earnings from this case. the case was kept open so that does not mean we had finished.

we have a process where we keep going back, we leave a bit of time and then we go back, so the case was kept open... you left an awful lot of time when you consider that was the 18th or 19th of may until last thursday. you can see from the timeline, they were contacted, there was no response. we can debate how many times that should have happened, but the allegations were taken seriously. do you think it's odd that the presenter was only spoken to last thursday? no, because what has happened is simple... and what was his response, has he denied it? i'm not going to get into the specific conversations with the presenter. have you spoken to him? personally, no. he's been spoken to by a senior manager. has he offered to resign? i think we have to respect the privacy of the employee. we're in a strange situation — he has not been named, but everyone in this building knows who it is and there are an awful lot of people who you also have a duty of care to, male presenters on air, who are having to go on air to say that it's not them. it's not a sustainable situation, is it?

it's a very difficult and complex situation and we're trying to calmly and judiciously navigate our way through quite difficult circumstances, whereas i said you've got to balance duty of care issues, privacy issues. i think i would restate that it is absolutely not the right thing to be doing, to speculate. some of the malicious stuff online... understood. ..i would condemn, of course i would, but i have to make those calls, as director—general, in a balanced manner. but this situation isn't sustainable, is it? we need to let the police do their work in terms of seeking evidence and further activity. have there been any other allegations or complaints made against the same presenter? because this is the subject of an active police discussion in terms of them looking forward, absolutely, i cannot comment on that. we're now in a situation where the child's mother

and stepfather are saying... actually, let's look at the front page of the sun, "dad, bbc are liars," and they say, where did the child, who has employed a lawyer, where did they get the money to pay for that? do you know categorically that the presenter did not pay for those legal fees? because that's the suggestion being made. the teacher who was stabbed in a corridor at tewkesbury academy has been named as jamie sansom. in a statement, mr sansom said he was "recovering well" and added he was not intervening in a fight when the incident happened on monday, but could not comment further. mr samson has taught maths at the school since 2017. he said he hoped to go back to the school to see pupils before the end of the term. migrants attempting to cross the mediterranean have told the bbc that nothing could stop them from trying to reach europe. recorded crossings in the central mediterranean in the first five months of 2023 are more than double the same period last year, according to eu border agency frontex. our reporter alice cuddy witnessed the rescue of one boat in distress after it

set off from libya. professor nando sigona is a social scientist from the university of birmingham, with more than 15 years of research and teaching experience in migration, refugee, citizenship and ethnic studies. he's given us his assessment. the fact that there's multiple attempts. it's going be lost in ways and it's also an indication of how strong the motivation and drive to do this. and where the reasons why people put their lives at risk is in terms of the journey itself, a lot of people end up in prisons or smuggler camps and in the country of origin, countries going through the pandemic and going through massive economic crisis, and among the

poorest in the world and all this behind them, a moment to get the boats the civilian people under 18 and so, once they have a chance, at least to rebuild her life most european countries, they receive some form of protection for humanitarian protection at least for as long as they are under age. [30 as long as they are under age. do ou as long as they are under age. do you think the problem sometimes lies in the fact that when europeans talk about migration, and by trying to stop boats coming across as opposed to opposed to trying to look into the reasons why people are taking those books in the first place? the last few years. _ those books in the first place? tue: last few years, the those books in the first place? tte: last few years, the crisis of 2015 1516 and stopping people from going into the boats. stopping them along the roads in libya or molly, without really providing young people with

legal routes to come to europe or to search for a better future are going to education, it is basically people at the same time were bombarded with this and the opportunity it offers to youth and almost basically very polarising and for this journey. which are a crisis right now? tt’s which are a crisis right now? it's been a crisis _ which are a crisis right now? tt�*s been a crisis for a long time and we should start to think about this is the normal. and there's a huge differential in terms of wealth between the north and the south coast of the mediterranean. so, it's not going to disappear unless we really invest in think about the possibility for improving development by itself this does mean people will not trade

—— ci’oss. —— try to cross. russia's investigations committee says a suspect has been arrested for the murder of a former submarine commander. tanislav thitsky who worked as a military mobilization officer was shot dead while jogging in the southern russian city of krasnodar, according to local media. several russian media outlets speculated he may have been tracked via his profile on the strava fitness app. with more on this here's olga robinson, from bbc verify. this is stanislav thitsky, a former russian navy commander who was shot dead yesterday morning in southern russia. ukrainian media have accused him of being involved in this attack on the city of vinnytsia last year that killed over 20 people, including several children. so what do we know about the killing so far? let's take a look... well, russian media have reported that stanislav thitsky, 42, was killed on the morning run in this leafy park in the city of krasnodar. and that location is really important because there is talk on russian social media that he may have been tracked using

a fitness app called strava. and we do know that he was using that app because we were able to find his social media profiles and match them to the application. and his profile was public, which means that anyone could see where he was running and where he was cycling. now, he was also very consistent and he often uses the same routes over and over again. this is the map from the 3rd ofjuly, where he was running, and this is the same route he used two days later on the 5th ofjuly. and interestingly, the area where he was reportedly killed is here on that exact route. now, who is to blame? the russian social media accounts have posted this picture of a man they describe as a suspect who was caught on a cctv camera. but we don't really know who this person is. and in the meantime, russian pro—kremlin accounts on telegram have been blaming

ukraine for the killing. and that is because of this statement by the ukrainian military intelligence that contains some of the details that have not been previously reported. that includes the brand of the gun that was used and also the number of shots fired. so far, the ukrainian officials have only confirmed the death of stanislav thitsky, but they have not claimed responsibility for it. we also know that his family have been speaking to russian media and they have said that he had resigned from the russian army long before the invasion of ukraine. this is everything we have got for you so far on this story and we will bring you more when we can. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. a man has beenjailed for 12 years and seven months at the old bailey for the manslaughter of 39 men, women and children who were found dead in a lorry trailer in essex in october 2019. mario draghici is believed to have

been the ringleader in the people smuggling gang responsible for the deaths. he was extradited from romania to face charges. a jury has ruled that a man killed a nine—year—old girl by stabbing her in the heart as she played in the street in boston. the girl died injuly last year as she played yards from her mother. deividas skebas, who was charged with her murder, was found unfit to enter a plea or stand trial due to his mental health earlier this year. he did not attend the trial, and can only be sentenced to a hospital order. 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. you're live with bbc news.

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 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 1950s. that was the point when this almost entirely artificial product was globally dispersed. and we pick it up from the early 1950s 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. julia thomas is professor of history at the university of notre dame. she's been telling me about the significance of the latest thinking. i think today's announcement is a milestone for life on this planet in the wake up called everybody here. why is it a wake—up call? what is it telling us the planet and the way human beings interact with the planet? t human beings interact with the lanet? , , ., , human beings interact with the lanet? , , ., .

planet? i see this as an emergence from two different _ planet? i see this as an emergence from two different sides. _ planet? i see this as an emergence from two different sides. one - planet? i see this as an emergence from two different sides. one is . from two different sides. one is geology where you see what you have been discussing and the other is a science which shows that the whole planet as a single entity is beginning to function differently. and, they concur on this mid—20th century day but with the shows is that we have destabilised the functioning of the earths system. and that is tremendously challenging. and i would say that this is not primarily a technological challenge, but a political and economic challenge. technology can help us but those of us in the humanities and social science and are in journalism us in the humanities and social science and are injournalism need to articulate this problem as a problem of politics. what are we going to do to re—stabilize the

earth system through our political system which must now tend towards greater equality and also a regenerative economy, rather than extracting one. find regenerative economy, rather than extracting one-— regenerative economy, rather than extracting one. and if we do not do that, what could _ extracting one. and if we do not do that, what could the _ extracting one. and if we do not do that, what could the consequences| extracting one. and if we do not do i that, what could the consequences be in this new e park? in this new epoch? if we stay on the path of business as usual and go over the tipping point into what might be called hot house, we have already warmed the planet beyond its variation we are already having problems but if we go over the tipping point, we don't even know what will happen and aping the scientists that i've spoken with are truly afraid of that.

the cost of living crisis is placing immense stress on families across the country. official figures show the sharpest drop in household incomes on record. but for many having to face hardship and uncertainty is nothing new. our special correspondent fergal keane has returned to some hard pressed communities and individuals he first visited over 20 years ago in truro in cornwall. at the end of this laneway, i once met a family whose dream was dying. 20 years ago, ben and jacky bailey, on the day they were forced to sell their herd, i saw how they were overwhelmed. how bad of things gotten lately? income's collapsed. costs have gone up. bureaucracy has increased. and we've run out of money. it does feel like you've failed,

even though you know that it's not your fault really. how are you? good to see you, darlin'. good to see you. i'm good. the baileys fought back, took on other work, scrimped and saved. and over the decades, rebuilt their herd. but now, in their 60s, they face a new challenge. in less than five years, they'll have to leave here. as tenant farmers, they don't own the land or the cottage. what do you worry about? just — being under a bloody hedge, really. having somewhere to live and... because it seems — i don't know. ijust think, all we do is work, and we work really hard, and we've always worked really hard, and still can't afford somewhere to live. it's a bit annoying that whatever you do, however much capital you accumulate... it's never enough. what we're doing is never going to

get you to the point where you can just say, right, we're secure now. the baileys will sell the assets they own to try and get on the property ladder. but they know too well how the cornish beauty, loved by tourists, obscures a deepening crisis. the number of people on the social housing register here has more than doubled since the coronavirus pandemic. i've come to this community charity in newquay to meet some of those fighting an escalating crisis of homelessness and poverty. if you want to have a look — if there's anything there, i just help yourselves. monique collins is a soldier's wife who's galvanised the community to help those being pushed to the margins. we're finding more and more families are becoming - homeless, because we get- like a domino roll on effect almost. so you have an owner of a home

that has let their property for, l let's say, ten, 15. years to a person, now they'll find that their daughter or son becomes homeless. - so they now have to evict that family to actually- accommodate their own children. this caravan tells one story of homelessness. the toilet's at the back and there's no shower because there's no water supply. katie pound lives here on her parents' drive with her two children. it's hot. yeah, i've literallyjust cooked it, that's why. she's been waiting for housing for 18 months. we have a box each of normal clothes and the school uniform's in the cupboard. and that's about all of our clothes. you're bottling up a lot of emotion? yeah. yeah — well, for the kids. i don't want to sit and cry in front of the kids when... it is hard, but... just not knowing when it's going

to come to an end, living like this. it's hard. didn't think we'd be here this long. just, there ain't no more i can do now. apart from just keep going forwards, trying. people keep going, communities rally around. but they bear a strain that shows no sign of easing. fergal keane, bbc news, cornwall. good evening. the shower clouds menacing in the menai straits

behind me earlier today. it has been a day of contrasts, really. the sunshine between the showers, but when they've come along, we've had some really torrential downpours, lots of thunder and lightning, some hail in there as well. a rather more persistent band of rain still across the north of scotland. the showers perhaps fading a little later this evening and overnight across england and wales, but some more persistent rain potentially pushing through northern ireland into southern scotland, again back into north wales and northern england. i think we've lost the humidity, so a more comfortable night for sleeping. but those breezes, that brisk wind will continue to push those showers eastwards overnight and into wednesday with that low pressure close by. perhaps a little respite in the south on thursday, but not for long. the next area of wet and windy weather comes in by the end of the week and then lingers

into the weekend. we're set in this trend, really, at the moment of really very unsettled weather. so wednesday dawning with a little bit of sunshine, but the shower cloud soon gets going and they'll be heavy and frequent across northern ireland, scotland, northern england. and there will be showers further south as well. almost nowhere exempt from them, so when they come along, they will move through on that brisk wind coming from the west or the north—west. so it'll feel fresher, but as i say there is still the chance of some showers disrupting the play on wednesday at wimbledon, for example, because they will be coming through on that brisk breeze at times. squally winds and downpours continue into the evening. they fade a little, then, as we head towards thursday morning in southern areas. again, a pleasant night for sleeping having lost that humidity, fairly cool i should imagine in the suburbs, perhaps into single figures. but that ridge of high pressure's really only around in southern areas. still some heavy showers further north. and then this next area of low pressure pushes back in with some more persistent rain and a bout of strong winds again for friday. but for thursday, again plenty of showers, slow—moving and heavy with the slightly less windy weather in the north. perhaps fewer showers in the south, but there'll still be some around. with a bit more sunshine, temperatures will be

a little higher. and then into friday, as our next area of low pressure winds itself in, it will give another spell of quite heavy and thundery rain, strong winds to go with it and following some heavy showers. and you can see it stays unsettled for the most part into the early part of next week as well.

pressure to _ hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. i think one thing i would say you're watching the context on bbc news. is, these are clearly damaging to the bbc, it is not a good situation. they say they were put under the

ressure they say they were put under the