hello, i'm carl nasman. ukraine's president came to the annual nato summit in lithuania with high hopes, widespread western support, and a demand for a timeline for his country's entry into the military alliance. volodymr zelensky didn't get that last one. but he didn't walk away empty handed either. nato member nations offered a variety of pledges this week. france says it will provide ukraine a "significant number" of so—called scalp cruise missiles, able to stike targets at far as 250 kilometres away. the united kingdom has commited to providing more than 70 vehicles, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition for the challenger two tanks the uk has already provided to kyiv. eleven nato members will train ukrainian pilots in the use of the f—16 fighterjet, beginning in denmark in august.

with the hope is that ukraine could start using the planes in combat by the beginning of next year. germany, norway and nato itself also offered a variety of monetary and hardware pledges. our europe editor katya adler has been covering the nato summit for us, and has more from vilnius. what we saw is a waste united behind ukraine against russian aggression. but we did see real tension between the realities of war on one hand, decimating ukraine, upending stability in all of europe and on the other the very real domestic political pressures are facing all the leaders there. take vladimir zelensky, because of what his people are going through, don't expect him to be able to rock up to a summit like this with a wish list for weapons and a demand for a timetable for nato membership and they do not really understand why they cannot get it. look atjoe biden, his face in election in the us next year and on a very delicate tight

rope he has pledged billions of dollars of military aid to ukraine and taken on a leadership role here in europe over the wall. look at rishi sunak or emmanuel macron, the countries are facing a cost of living crisis. a blank check for years and years to come, people may not like that so it is tricky. meanwhile, the russian government has suggested that ukraine's delayed pathway into the alliance is a victory for russia. the bbc�*s russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports from moscow. i think the russians were very pleased that ukraine did not get what it really wanted from this summer, in other words a firm timetable for nato membership. on russian state tv today, there was a lot of gloating all day to day. having said that, about these g7 security assurances, they did not go down well here in moscow. we had some reaction from president putin's spokesman saying it would be a

mistake and potentially very dangerous for countries to give security guarantees to ukraine because he said they would infringe on russian security. he called nato an offensive lines that brought with it instability and aggression. nato would say it is a defensive alliance and as far as aggression is concerned, it was not nato that launched a full—scale invasion of ukraine last year, it was russia. but basically the message from moscow was, nato is anti— russia, nato is on the wild path and that was the headline in the government paper here today and that fits in with the wider kremlin narrative according to which russia is a besieged fortress surrounded by elements, by britain, america, the eu, nato, or plotting from morning to night to destroy mother russia. strong rhetoric from the kremlin. strong rhetoric, too, from joe biden, who spoke on wednesday to a crowd of university students in vilnius. since this war began, as

president zelensky said more than an hourago, president zelensky said more than an hour ago, declared to the world and i say again, we will not waver! cheering and applause we will not waver. i mean that. we will not weaken, we will send for liberty and freedom now, tomorrow and for as long as it takes. cheering and applause. sabrina singh is deputy press secretary at the pentagon, and she spoke to the bbc earlier. i think as the president said and you heard from other world leaders who attended the nato summit, nato is united behind ukraine so while ukraine might not be a nato member it is getting the assistance and support it needs to continue on in its fight over sovereign territory and territory that was invaded by russia and so it will continue to get the

military supplies, the training that nato countries and allies and partners all around the world, including the united states have been providing and so, while ukraine may not be in the nato alliance itself, it is getting all the support of every single country as part of that alliance and the alliance is even stronger. we just welcomed sweden as the 33rd country. it will be the 32nd country. it will be the 32nd country as part of the block. —— 32nd country. this is a step forward in strengthening the alliance and ultimately more support for ukraine. turning now to capitol hill, where house republicans grilled fbi director, christopher wray, accusing him of "weaponizing" the nation's top law enforcement agency. wray, a republican himself, who was appointed by former president donald trump, defended his record during his hours—long testimony before the housejudiciary committee. republicans have repeatedly accused the fbi and other federal agencies of targetting conservatives. the committee focused on the bureau's handling

of investigations into donald trump and current presidentjoe biden�*s son, hunter biden. here's one heated exchange between republican matt gaetz and director wray. iam i am sitting here with my father, i will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows in my ability to forever hold at the graduate that you will be regret not following my direction. i am sitting here waiting for the coal with my father. sounds like a shakedown, doesn't it, sha kedown, doesn't it, director? shakedown, doesn't it, director?— shakedown, doesn't it, director? ., ., ., director? i'm not going to get into commenting _ director? i'm not going to get into commenting on - director? i'm not going to get into commenting on that. - director? i'm not going to get| into commenting on that. you seem deeply _ into commenting on that. you seem deeply un- _ into commenting on that. 7m. seem deeply un— curious about it, don't you? almost suspiciously and curious. are you protecting the bytedance? that is a shakedown and everybody knows why you will not answer it because to the millions of people who will see this, they know it is.

more on that in a second. meanwhile, elon musk hosted his own congressional panel of sorts on wednesday, with two lawmakers joining him on twitter spaces for a bipartisan chat on artificial intelligence. the lawmakers expressed their desire for congressional regulation, warning about china's use of ai and its wider effect across industries. the conversation follows musk�*s announcement of a new a! startup earlier on wednesday, he tweeted: musk hopes xai will be an alternative to chat gpt. musk had been sounding the alarm for months on the speed of ai development, which he believes has the potential for "civilizational destruction." it's not clear if he's now changed his mind. joing me now to break all of this down is sophia cai, axios�* congressional reporter. i want to start off with that tense hearing we heard between house republicans and the fbi

director christopher wray. some republicans claiming the fbi is politically biased. what is behind their claims? i think this is a narrative _ behind their claims? i think this is a narrative that - behind their claims? i think this is a narrative that they| this is a narrative that they have been trying to penetrate both in congressional hearings and also the campaign trail. this is the first time that the fbi director is testifying since trump's first and second an indictment and the whole narrative spans congress and it really is this idea that republicans and conservatives feel like they are being unfairly targeted and treated differently and at the examples i have used the have included school boards, targeting catholic churches and targeting parents so these are some examples that they continue to harp on an christopher wray

spent hours today defending the department against all of these accusations.— accusations. some republicans have also threatened _ accusations. some republicans have also threatened to - accusations. some republicans have also threatened to defund the fbi. is thatjust like a political slogan or is there a chance we could see funding taken away from the fbi if that republicans get their way? i think funding will come later when congress kind of really doubles down and decide how they want to find each of these agencies. it sounds like for now, for the most part, a political cry. we saw the fbi director today, political cry. we saw the fbi directortoday, he political cry. we saw the fbi director today, he reminded the congressman from florida than in florida, the number of audience who wanted to join the department was up by 100% so i think he will continue to

return to the basics and he really showed just how much is at stake. he told congress that there is now a new unit to take threats against the fbi and the department and i think this is really significant and shows just how tense things are in the us with regards to this. it should be said that democrats on the committee very much disagreed with what the republicans had to say. it has been an eventful week already. congress has been back in sentient only a couple of days. a senate hearing on artificial intelligence today how likely do you think we might see some sort of concrete regulation of ai this year? fig! sort of concrete regulation of ai this year?— sort of concrete regulation of at this year?— ai this year? ai is the story ofthe ai this year? ai is the story of the year- _ ai this year? ai is the story of the year. we _ ai this year? ai is the story of the year. we have - ai this year? ai is the story of the year. we have seen l ai this year? ai is the story | of the year. we have seen a couple of senate bills. today we saw bipartisan lawmakers gather in tweeter spaces with elon musk who has just launched

his own a! company. —— tweeter. they moved from congress and an official hearing to this space which they mention they want to be a more productive conversation devoid of the politics. —— twitter. we saw lawmakers as well as elon musk being open to some sort of measure and government regulation and so i think they are asking very basic questions. should we be providing guardrails? who should be providing those guardrails? who has the expertise to make those decisions? and we saw slightly different answers from these three guys who were in conversation today. i5 three guys who were in conversation today. is there a sense because _ conversation today. is there a sense because we _ conversation today. is there a sense because we heard - conversation today. is there a | sense because we heard these twitter spaces and speaking with chuck schumer back in april, someone like elon musk,

or even mark zuckerberg, they want to be a part of that conversation, they want to be part of any potential artificial intelligence regulation that congress might come up with. regulation that congress might come up with-— regulation that congress might come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes _ come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes to _ come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes to be _ come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes to be a _ come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes to be a part - come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes to be a part of - come up with. yes, i think elon musk likes to be a part of a - musk likes to be a part of a lot of conversations. ai is one of them. i think the premises starting with any mention this again today, is if you are able to press pause on al or really advanced ai in other words super intelligence he would but he realises that is not realistic and say that is why he is engaging, he wants to grow and ai he is engaging, he wants to grow and a! that is curious about humanity, that is how he framed it, and that really means he wants to create ai means he wants to create a! that means he wants to create ai thatis means he wants to create a! that is maximally curious and pro humanity and for him a

timeline that he perceives is that al timeline that he perceives is that ai will be smarter than humans 6— seven years and he really wants to be cautious about what that would mean for us. ., ~ n' about what that would mean for us. ., ~ about what that would mean for us. elon musk saying as well that his goals _ us. elon musk saying as well that his goals is _ us. elon musk saying as well that his goals is to _ us. elon musk saying as well. that his goals is to understand the true nature of the universe, so make what you will of that. thank you so much for your perspective. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. the council is consulting on a scheme to stop vehicles using the rise closest to schools at peak times including the one outside this primary school. to be outside this primary school. trr be honest, it is a great idea. we can get many, especially around any of these areas because there is a lot of traffic. i! because there is a lot of traffic. ., , ., .,

traffic. if it goes ahead it would be _ traffic. if it goes ahead it would be similar- traffic. if it goes ahead it would be similar to - traffic. if it goes ahead it would be similar to this i traffic. if it goes ahead it i would be similar to this one traffic. if it goes ahead it - would be similar to this one in london. drivers got on cameras during drop—off and pickup times will be fine unless residents have businesses in the streets or working in people are choosing other types of transit, potentially card sharing but also looking at walking and cycling to school which i think concurrent impact of reducing pollution as well. counsellors will decide whether or where the scheme should go ahead. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. he's one of the most recognisable faces on british television, anchoring coverage of major national and international events. but huw edwards, the lead anchor of the bbc�*s news at ten, has been revealed as the man at the centre of allegations, over the payment of thousands of pounds, to a young person for explicit pictures. he was identified in

a statement on his behalf by his wife, who said he's now "receiving in—patient" hospital care, having suffered a "serious mental health "episode," after what have been five extremely difficult days. huw edwards has not resigned from the bbc. the statement went on to say that "once well enough, "he intends to respond to the stories that " have been published." the uk metropolitan police, having reviewed the allegations, said there's no evidence of a criminal offence having been committed. as the bbc tonight resumes its own inquiry into his conduct, the sun newspaper says it won't be printing any more claims. here's our culture editor, katie razzle. tonight at 10, we are in edinburgh where the king has been presented with the crown jewels of scotland. named, and likely a huge shock to many viewers. this ceremony was steeped in tradition. wednesday was the last time huw edwards appeared on bbc news, that night from edinburgh.

the next day, the bbc quietly took him off air. now, the secret that has been speculated upon across social media for days is public. huw edwards, the main face of the bbc�*s flagship news at ten for two decades, is the presenter at the centre of allegations of misconduct. this evening, his wife released a statement, naming her husband... she said her husband had been first told of the allegations last thursday.

moments earlier, the metropolitan police had confirmed it was not investigating, that there was no evidence to suggest a criminal offence had been committed in the case. the bbc had responded, saying, having paused its investigation yesterday at the request of the police, it would now restart it with a thorough assessment, while continuing to be mindful of its duty of care to all involved. for many, the processing of this news isjust beginning. he is the face of bbc in many ways, particularly in terms of news, absolutely. i don't think it is quite such a shock. i think this speculation has been so rampant for the last few days that it is more a relief in a sense

than a shock. the sun broke the story in its saturday paper, alleging that a high profile, unnamed presenter at the bbc had paid £35,000 to a much younger person for sexually explicit images, beginning when the young individual was 17. more allegations were front page every day since, although on monday, the lawyer for the young person said the story was rubbish and nothing criminal had taken place. some will now be asking whether the sun has questions to answer for its decisions. tonight the paper said... it added that it at no point in the original story alleged criminality and also took the decision neither to name huw edwards nor the young person involved in the allegations. why are we not saying to the sun newspaper, you published these allegations, you asked the bbc to give the detail you wouldn't

give, what is the sun's response? has it got photographs, details of bank transfers and so on? it has not put them forward and a lot of former tabloid editors are asking the same questions. we must not forget that huw edwards is suspended from the bbc. he may not be facing a criminal investigation but he is accused of potential misconduct, and if true, there is a family and a young person who are also in trauma. in recent years, huw edwards has publicly shared his struggles with mental health in a welsh documentary. the future of the united kingdom is uncertain. now the man who has held viewers' hands through some of the most significant moments of the nation's history is asking to be left in private. that is bbc news at 10... whether he can find a way back to health and broadcasting is a question for the future. huw edwards became a trusted name for millions, presenting flagship bbc programmes, and anchoring coverage of some of the most important news

stories, for more than two decades, as our media correspondent, david sillito, now reports. a very good evening. for the fourth time in the space of five years... when huw edwards took the helm of the bbc�*s tv election coverage of 2019, it was the first change of presenter in a0 years. there are 650 mps... when millions are watching at the important moments in british life... 10 seconds... ..it needs someone who can project reliability, trustworthiness, dignity. presenting the news is just a part of it, it's the great state occasions, and over the years, only a handful of names have been entrusted with such a role. one of them was huw edwards. tonight at 10 — thousands of police officers deployed across france... he speaks welsh his career, from reporting country. we on politics for bbc wales,

to being made a lead presenter of bbc tv news saw him become one of the most familiar faces on british television. welcome to windsor... the great royal events, the coming and going of prime ministers. tonight at 10, we are live in downing street... the one voice that links it all, huw edwards. the serious, reliable, dignified presence for those era—defining moments. here, the minutesjust before the announcement of the death of the queen. and then suddenly, a newspaper headline changed everything. a tv career of almost a0 years that had taken him to the very top of bbc news, one of the corporation's highest paid and highest profile figures, was off air. and while the guessing game about the bbc presenter at the centre of the week's headlines is now over, there is still much to resolve. david sillito, bbc news. nearly a year after he was stabbed before giving a lecture in new york, novelist salman

rushdie has spoken excusively with the bbc about the attack that left him blind in one eye. rushdie spoke candidly about his recovery — both emotional and physical. actually the physical stuff is more or less ok. with the exception of having lost and i stop it otherwise, the physical stuff is reasonably all right. the emotional stuff, it takes dealing with. i have a very good therapist who has a lot of work to do. i have crazy dreams. but i think really the main difference is i don't know when i will again do a public event is open to the public that anybody can show up. a look now at some other stories making headlines. in guatemala, electorial confusion as a prosecutor

at the attorney general�*s office announced the party of one of the candidates, bernardo arevalo, has been suspended. but at almost the same time, guatemala's election court announced that a run—off can go ahead in august between arevalo and the other candidate sandra torres. a top official for the electoral court says they were not notified of suspension. the women's tennis association has announced that four—time grand slam singles champion naomi osaka has given birth to a baby girl in los angeles. osaka, who last played in tokyo's toray pan pacfic open, confirmed she had her eye on returning to the court for the paris olympics in 202a. hundreds of residents in the indian capital, delhi, have been evacuated as the water level of the yamuna rivers reaches its highest level in 45 years. it comes as parts of northern india are recovering from recent floods. from there, the bbc�*s arvind chhabra reports. i am in the solan district of the himalayan state

of himachal pradesh, which is the worst affected state in the region, because of heavy rains since the last weekend. authorities say that in himachal pradesh, 3! people were killed until tuesday. nearly 1,300 roads were closed due to landslides and flash floods, and a0 major bridges damaged in the last three days. a lot of tourists flock to this state, but for many, their holiday has turned into a nightmare. many people have been stranded because of landslides and flash floods. officials claim that as many as 2,000 tourists stranded in kullu district owing to incessant rain have been safely evacuated. several parts of the state, and also that of the neighbouring states of punjab and haryana, continue to be flooded. since tuesday, weather has been largely clear in most parts, bringing relief to the residents. the authorities have stepped up relief measures in the region. the nominations for the 75th annual primetime emmy awards were announced today. hbo tops the field with 127 nominations overall, including securing four best drama nominations. its shows, succession, the last of us, and the white lotus

receiving the most nods. however, potential plans for an emmys ceremony are currently up in the air. 11,000 tv and film writers have been on strike for more than two months. and now another 160,000 actors could join the picket line as soon as thurday morning. negotations between both sides are now down to the wire with an already extended deadline set to expire tonight at midnight on the west coast. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. if you thought summer had already taken a bit of a back—seat, just wait till friday and into the weekend. this is the area of low pressure that's developing. it will be responsible for some big changes. before that arrives, and as one area of low pressure pulls away into scandinavia, into a slightly quieter spell on thursday. still a few showers around to start the day in the north

and the west. temperatures like they were on wednesday morning. but low pressure still close enough by for the shower clouds to bubble up once more. thing is, with thursday, there'll be fewer showers around. the heaviest of the showers, some will be across scotland, slow moving here. large rainfall totals for some, but equally, some will stay dry. northern ireland, england and wales, fewer showers by and large. many will spend the day, well, at least the bulk of it, dry. though, we'll start to see cloud gather towards the south—west. feel a touch warmer with winds that little bit lighter. now, into the evening, rain at times, northern ireland, north wales, spreading its way into central southern scotland. elsewhere, some clear skies into friday morning. temperatures 9—13 celsius again. but already the change is towards the south—west. this is the area of low pressure. it's going to make it feel like autumn at times through friday and into the weekend. strongest of the winds, though, for friday, mainly towards the south—west of the uk. we could see gales around hills and coasts and some pretty rough seas developing too. it's here where we start with the rain on friday, some of it should become heavy and thundery. dry start elsewhere, a bit of patchy rain

in scotland working its way north, but far north of scotland stays dry throughout. outbreaks of rain, though, spread to much of england, wales, northern ireland, maybe not too much east anglia south—east until late in the day. and while temperatures high teens low 20s, the strengthening wind will start to make it feel a little bit cooler. and that cooler story continues into the weekend. an unseasonably windy spell through the weekend too. not what you want to see this stage injuly. low pressure by saturday, will be to the north of ireland, wrapped around it, rain, but it's wrapped around it where we've got some of the strongest of the winds, far north of scotland and towards the south west approaches, widespread gales, strong winds more widely on saturday than they will have been on friday. lightest winds through parts of scotland, but that rain will be persistent in the far north. heavy thundery downpours quite widely across much of the uk. they could give some large rainfall totals. strong winds, making it feel rather cool as well, despite seeing temperatures again, high teens and low 20s. winds strengthen for scotland on sunday. elsewhere, sunshine and blustery showers yet again.

inflation in the us. the lowest level in more than two years. the world �*s biggest economy at a turning point? plus, we take you to shall anchor one year after major protest because as

former president to flee the