and the corporation's editor—in—chief speaks for the first time since the crisis began. i think one thing i would say, these are clearly damaging to the bbc. it is not a good situation. hello. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. we begin tonight with a dispute at the nato summit that is now slowly being repaired. the issue is not if ukraine will enter the alliance, but when, and that question of timing has created tensions at the ongoing leaders summit in lithuania. nato leaders committed to inviting ukraine tojoin the military alliance when "conditions are met." but that's a blow to ukrainian president volodymr zelenskyy, who wants a firm timeline for entry. early in the day, a frustrated zelenskyy slammed nato allies,

tweeting. .. "it's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neitherfor the invitation nor for ukraine's membership." and he added... "uncertainty is weakness. " nato head jens stoltenberg then presented a smoother path to membership. it would remove some of the bureaucracy, including scrapping a key part of the two—step process, called the member action plan, that the bloc agreed to, back in 2008. our europe editor katya adler reports now from vilnius. disappointed, volodymyr zelensky put on a brave face today for supporters in the lithuanian capital. translation: i came here today believing in partners, _ in a nato that does not waste time. ukraine will make nato stronger. nato will make ukraine safer. a very different tone from his tweet earlier in the day, when he blasted the military alliance as absurd and weak for not agreeing a timetable for kyiv to join the club.

as confirmed by nato�*s secretary—general... the invitation will be issued when conditions are met. this is not the picture of absolute unity nato was hoping for at its summit, which leaders here know vladimir putin is watching closely from moscow. this is ukraine today. ravaged by war, a year—and—a—half into russia's full scale invasion. fighting to keep its independence, and defend wider european security, it says. arriving in vilnius for the nato summit the prime minister said all allies should up defence spending. priorities for this summit are to strengthen that alliance, so that we face the threats of the future and protect ourselves adequately against them, but also to continue supporting ukraine. the government has announced a big increase in production of nato—standard artillery shells in the uk. ukraine needs the tools to push russia back. kyiv is grateful,

but wants more. 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 the ukrainians, because they are fighting there so that the british, estonians, americans don't have to fight with russia. but the us and germany are more hesitant. they fear direct conflict with russia, if ukrainejoins nato any time soon. this is not a competition, who is at what moment

at what point. the most important thing is that we are all increasing our military support for ukraine. tonight, ukraine's president was given a seat at nato�*s table, for dinner at least. the spat over membership aside, this relationship is close. katya adler, bbc news, vilnius. biden met one—on—one with turkey's president recep tayyip erdogan on the sidelines of the summit. there was little mentioned about turkey's agreement, allowing sweden tojoin nato, but mr biden did congratulate his counterpart on the critical deal. the two leaders focused on strengthening ties between the countries, with mr erdogan saying a "new process" had been initated. in the meeting, the presidents discussed efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation, building on previous talks for the countries to work together strategically. they covered regional issues of shared diplomatic interest, which includes their commitment

to support ukraine, both militarily in their war against russia, preserving stability in the aegean region, which included exchanging views on defense and economic priorities. separately, the us state department said washington would go ahead with the sale of f—16fighterjets to turkey. we can speak now to retired lieutenant general douglas lute, former us ambassador to nato. great heavy back in the programme. we saw images of what our correspondence i was a disappointed president zelenskyy macro on tuesday. did he have a reason to be disappointed do you think? i think understanding president zelenskyy�*s perspective is important but his is not the only perspective. look, there is really only one outcome out of every nato summit over the now almost 75 years of the alliance �*s history, and that is a lie in solidarity, so these are contentious issues

addressed in this summit to include what should be said about membership, eventual membership of ukraine to the alliance. you have compromised language and that compromise language and that compromise language among today is what it takes to keep the alliance glued together, to keep it unified, so there are no gaps, seams orfishes unified, so there are no gaps, seams or fishes presented to vladimir putin or others who would contest the alliance. so alliance cohesion is the single most important thing coming out of this summit.— of this summit. that isn't exactly what _ of this summit. that isn't exactly what the - of this summit. that isn't| exactly what the president of this summit. that isn't - exactly what the president said in an interview before leaving for the summit but do you think that ukraine is ready? in for the summit but do you think that ukraine is ready?— that ukraine is ready? in the washington _ that ukraine is ready? in the washington treaty, - that ukraine is ready? in the washington treaty, the - that ukraine is ready? in the washington treaty, the 1949 treaty that set up the original nato, article ten covers what it takes to become a new

member. glenn taki for months did not agree to move forward with sweden's at mission. the second criteria is that the aspiring member must have defence capabilities that can contribute to the collective defence are not only self defence are not only self defence of the country itself but more broadly in the third is the aspirin and country must represent the democratic values of the alliance. so these are the conditions under which ukraine �*s potential membership, orany ukraine �*s potential membership, or any other potential membership will be judged. you mentioned nato unity, we spoke to the former deputy assistance of defence finetto policy and he said the us and germany are essentially isolated in their opposition to ukraine �*s nato membership. do you think that's the case? i am

a ian 's friend, _ you think that's the case? i am a ian 's friend, and _ you think that's the case? i am a ian 's friend, and i'm - you think that's the case? i am a ian 's friend, and i'm not - you think that's the case? i am a ian 's friend, and i'm not an l a ian �*s friend, and i'm notan expert in this arena but i'm not sure it's that stark, the difference, so two on one side of the argument, 29 allies on the other. i think certainly the other. i think certainly the us and germany are among the us and germany are among the allies that have concerns about the timing and the procedures to welcome ukraine to the alliance but i'm not sure it is simply 29—2. my guess is there are other allies who are happy to rest in the shadows behind germany and the united states. pare shadows behind germany and the united states.— united states. are you concerned, _ united states. are you concerned, lieutenant| united states. are you - concerned, lieutenant general, about how russia might be looking at this hesitancy, as president zelenskyy might put it, to allow ukraine to join nato? it, to allow ukraine to 'oin nato? ., ., ~' it, to allow ukraine to 'oin nato? ., ., ~ ., it, to allow ukraine to 'oin nato? ., , , ., nato? look, there are plenty of other signals — nato? look, there are plenty of other signals coming _ nato? look, there are plenty of other signals coming out - nato? look, there are plenty of other signals coming out in - other signals coming out in this summit for other signals coming out in this summit foeradimir other signals coming out in this summit for vladimir putin to pay attention to. first of all, there was substantial arguments with regard to not only sustaining the military support to ukraine but even

increasing it in the coming years. and the alliance did not back off of its commitment that ukraine will be a member of nato, and added some specificity of how that will actually take place in the coming years. sol actually take place in the coming years. so i think there is more than an adequate message here to vladimir putin. i want to ask you about the discussions we saw between president biden and president erdogan on the sidelines, and the announcement that washington has decided to move ahead with supplying f—i6s to turkey. do you think this was a direct trade for tacky lifting opposition to sweden's membership? irate opposition to sweden's membership? opposition to sweden's membershi? ., , membership? we don't really know the provisions - membership? we don't really know the provisions of - membership? we don't really know the provisions of the . know the provisions of the agreement, the compromise that led to president erdogan relenting and agreeing to move forward with sweden's membership. fora long forward with sweden's membership. for a long time, the biden administration and the biden administration and the executive branch has favoured not only selling new f-i6s favoured not only selling new f—i6s to turkey but upgrading

turkey's existing f—i6 planes. so biden has been on track there for some time. the hang—up has been in the us congress, and the us congressional opposition to providing f—i6s to turkey hinged on the erred again decision with sweden —— the president erdogan decision with sweden. there is room for negotiation between president biden and the us congress. [30 biden and the us congress. do ou biden and the us congress. do you think turkey is a reliable partner? you think turkey is a reliable artner? ~ ., ., ~' ~' , you think turkey is a reliable artner? ~ ~ , .,, partner? well, look, turkey has its own national— partner? well, look, turkey has its own national interest. - its own national interest. national interest sometimes cause turkey to balance very carefully what it does east versus west. so you have seen that turkey has probably among nato allies the closest working relationship in some regard with russia, so for example the deal that allows the export of ukrainian and russian grain through the black sea. but in other instances it is one of the strongest supporters of ukraine. so providing very

capable drones, providing ammunition and so forth. president zelenskyy visited president zelenskyy visited president erdogan recently in turkey. so turkey has a very difficult balancing act, and it does its best to meet those interests. does its best to meet those interests-— interests. thank you for 'oinin: interests. thank you for joining us- _ interests. thank you for joining us. pleasure. . a second set of serious allegations involving a person in their 20s has emerged, relating to the behaviour of the bbc presenter who's accused of sending money for sexually explicit photographs. bbc news spoke to the individual, who revealed that they first came into contact with the male presenter on a dating app. while they are not alleging criminal behaviour, they are accusing him of being menacing and abusive. in a moment, we will have the latest from our media editor, katie razzall, on the sun's latest article with the new allegations, but first, here's our special correspondent lucy manning, with the second set of serious claims.

this is a person, to be clear, who the bbc news approached. we understood they might have some information about the bbc presenter 's behaviour. just to be clear, this is a different young person to the one the sun has reported about. this individual in their 20s was first contacted anonymously by the male presenter on a dating app, and after the two had connected on the app, the conversation moved to private messaging, and at that stage the centre revealed his identity and tell the young person not to tell anyone. that individual has told bbc news they were surprised to find out who it was, and they felt under some pressure to meet up with the present day, but actually they never did. and later, that individual online alluded to having contact with a bbc presenter, and implied that they would name him publicly online at some point. the presenter reacted by sending a

number of messages which the individual has described as threatening. they said they felt threatened. we have seen those messages. they were abusive, expletive filled messages. and speaking to bbc news, the young person said they had been scared by the power of the present are held, they said the threats made in they said the threats made in the messages had frightened them, and they remain scared. while the individual has spoken to us at bbc news, they haven't made a complaint to the bbc corporate investigations unit, which is looking into the original allegations from the the sun. these new claims of menacing, bullying type behaviour by the high—profile presenter suggest fresh questions about his conduct, which is why we feel it's right to report them. bbc news has contacted the presenter and his lawyer, but haven't had any formal response. well, 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 almost eight 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. 0ur media editor, katie razzall, reports. 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 what the bbc did when a family complained. 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 which is, how are complaints like this red—flagged through the organisation? 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 around how they handled that early complaint. 0n 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. 0n 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 mr 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, because you can't know at that stage, you have to ring alarm bells like mad. 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 it felt 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 this story. i think the bbc is often in the midst of quite painful and difficult affairs and storms. i think one thing i would say is these are damaging, these are clearly damaging to the bbc. it's not a good situation. there have now been days of headlines and media attention but no real sign of the story reaching an end. and katie has more on the allegations made in the sun newspaper tonight, which says the unnamed bbc presenter broke covid lockdown rules to meet a young person he had met on a dating site. the newspaper says it has seen messages that, suggest as well as visiting the young man's present home, he also

sent money, and received a half—na ked photograph. of course, to reiterate, we do not know the truth of this ourselves, but there is other pressure now on the presenterfrom a bbc colleague, because tonight, jeremy vine has tweeted that he thinks the man involved in the scandal should now come forward publicly. he felt the need to come out on the weekend as well as others to say they were not the presenter. jeremy vine said that these allegations today will result in more vitriol being thrown at bbc colleagues. jeremy vine says he is on his knees with this. it is not a phrase tim davey used today but he did accept it was difficult. around the world and across

the uk, this is bbc news. you have to remember it is a lot of money to take him to the vet. these are free and he will not be able to get treated if it was not for these. this mobile veterinary - it was not for these. this mobile veterinary clinic. it was not for these. this mobile veterinary clinic treats pets — mobile veterinary clinic treats pets belonging to vulnerability housed — pets belonging to vulnerability housed people. it is pets belonging to vulnerability housed people.— housed people. it is run by veterinary _ housed people. it is run by veterinary students - housed people. it is run by veterinary students at - housed people. it is run by veterinary students at the | veterinary students at the university of nottingham. it is vital for the _ university of nottingham. it 3 vital for the community. if it was not for this, i don't know if we could get into the vet. it is long client after another. it it is long client after another.— it is long client after another. , ., , another. it is heartbreaking. the team — another. it is heartbreaking. the team says _ another. it is heartbreaking. the team says they've - another. it is heartbreaking. the team says they've seen | another. it is heartbreaking. i the team says they've seen an increase in the number of people coming to the clinic. there are many sad situations but i think it's good that we can do i think it's amazing because it's normally so expensive. we are on— it's normally so expensive. we are on benefits and things like that so— are on benefits and things like that so we're worrying about our animals.—

that so we're worrying about our animals. for more stories across the _ our animals. for more stories across the uk, _ our animals. for more stories across the uk, head - our animals. for more stories across the uk, head to - our animals. for more stories across the uk, head to the i our animals. for more stories i across the uk, head to the news website. you're live with bbc news. in israel, protesters once again took to the streets in large numbers against new legislation aimed at restricting the power ofjudges. this was the scene in tel aviv earlier. the demonstrations came after a new bill narrowly passed its first reading in the knesset, the israeli parliament. the contentious bill from prime minister benjamin netanyahu's right—wing government has sparked 27 weeks of protests. critics of the legislation are concerned that it erodes democratic safeguards. tom bateman has more from tel aviv. in tel aviv, we saw more violence. there were mounted police that in one instance trampled a protester. so more pretty heavy handed stuff there as well. it feels like the atmosphere around these protests has become much more charged, and that is because these proposed judicial reforms

are suddenly back on the table. they're going through the israeli parliament again after mr netanyahu, amid the last crisis over this a few months ago, had put them on hold. but the far right and ultra religious elements of his coalition are pushing for all of this to happen. they see this as the time to act, their best chance to get all this through. mr netanyahu is politically weaker than he's ever been in his premiership. he's on trial for corruption. there is the concurrent security crisis in the occupied palestinian territories. and so we see this deepening aggravation in israel that deeply dividesjewish israeli society. and the protests now are back on. and i think they're going to last for days, weeks, even months more. and in a sign of the international pressure on mr netanyahu to try and sort this thing out, we've had the white house tonight saying that they expect the israeli government to respect peaceful protest. just weeks after a migrant boat disaster of the coast of greece, migrants attempting to cross the mediterranean have told the bbc that nothing can stop

them from trying to reach europe. the number of mediterranean crossings in the first five months of 2023 total to over 50,000 more than double the same period last year, according to the eu border agency frontex. 0ur reporter, alice cuddy, witnessed first—hand the rescue of one boat in distress after it set off from libya. they shout this is what it looks like to have gambled your life and won. most of these 86 migrants are under the age of 18, their lives ahead of them, but they said nothing could stop them from trying to cross the mediterranean. for many of these young men, this isn't their first attempt. everyone we spoke to had friends who had died making the same journey.

rescue ngo sos mediterranee bring all 86 safely aboard. most are from the gambia and many left home years ago. a large number seek opportunities in europe but some seek asylum. this 16—year—old tells us he was forced to flee togo due to his family's political connections. somebody came and ran inside the house and picked me and i ran into the bush to hide me. later, the person came back to tell me that your mum is dead. your dad also is dead. those we speak to say they've suffered abuse at the hands of the libyan authorities after failed crossings. to improve their odds, some monitor rescue vessels on their phones. unlike social media. —— i like

social media. ijust don'tjump in water like that. i use it to look at it. the boys now prepare for a life in italy. critics, including the italian government, accused rescue ngos of acting as a pull factor, encouraging migrants to make this dangerous journey. we put this to sos mediterranee. in the last 72 hours, 5,000 people arrived in the island of lampedusa, and there is no ngo at sea at the moment. so itjust shows that people will leave because they have no other choice. most of the boys say they wish to support families back home. 0ne wants to be the next marcus rashford, others doctors and accountants. after borrowing money for thejourney, this 18—year—old says turning back is not an option. it would be a sin for me to collect money from people and not reach my destination.

as they disembark, it is unclear whether what europe will offer them will be worth the life or death risk they took. alice cuddy, bbc news. ajury in michigan has found that a 2014 document discovered in aretha franklin's couch after her death is a valid will. the two—day trial pitted the queen of soul's children against each other, aruging over two handwritten wills. the decision ends a nearly 5—year legal fight over the star's multimillion—dollar foturne. franklin died from pancreatic cancer in august 2018. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. well, southern parts of europe in the grip of a heat wave at the moment. we continue to be in the grip of some big shower clouds, more of them around through the rest of this week, even some longer spells of rain and stronger winds by the time we hit friday. why? well, low pressure is dominant,

we've just got various areas revolving around the same part of north west europe, which continues to bring showers to the north and west into the start of wednesday morning. a slightly fresher start for many of you compared with tuesday morning, but a sunnier one for the south and eastern england as well as the midlands. won't take long, though, for the clouds are build up, showers are in the west, will start to work their way eastwards. a stronger wind across the uk on wednesday, and that means those showers will rattle through quite quickly for some of you. for one or two it be one after another, after another, with a bit of sunshine in between. it does mean that some of you avoid them altogether. nice enough in the sunshine, but overall, temperatures a little bit down on where you want this stage in the year. so there could be the odd passing shower in that breeze at wimbledon. the breeze will probably be pretty noticeable and a bit troublesome, i think, on the outside courts. but a lot of the time, it will be dry. showers continue into the evening, most will fade away then through wednesday night into thursday morning. and with the winds falling a little bit lighter, it's going to be a little

bit cooler still. away from the towns and city centres, there will be temperatures widely into single figures. but the chart for thursday shows we're almost in between this area of low pressure clearing away, this one pushing in, brief ridge of high pressure, that does mean whilst we will still have some showers around, perhaps not as many as we started the week, and the ones we do see will be a little bit lighter. still prone to them, though, scotland and parts of north northeast england, but elsewhere, some longer spells of sunshine. and with winds lighter than wednesday, it mayjust start to feel a touch warmer. first signs of something, thougn, a bit more potent coming in to ireland as we see the day out. and through thursday night into friday, an area of low pressure looks set to wind its way up. details may change a little bit, but as well as heavy rain pushing its way northwards and eastwards, we're going to see strong—to—gale force winds, particularly to the south in the west. bear that in mind if you're travelling around on friday or if you've got plans to spend a few nights under canvas. some in the southeast may stay reasonably dry, driest of all, brightest in the far north of scotland, but it'll feel cool in the strong winds that are around. it stays windy into saturday, sunshine and showers,

some of those heavy and thundery, maybe fewer showers across the south on sunday.

elliot page announced this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme.

in 2020, 0scar—nominated actor