president biden promises to defend every inch of nato territory, as he meets nordic leaders in helsinki. we stand at a point in history where the decisions we make now are going to determine the course of history for the next four, five, six decades. and the oscar winning actor kevin spacey tells a court he's a "big flirt" — but he denies behaving aggressively at his sexual assault trial in london. we're live outside court. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. welcome to verified live — three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. we start with a major development here in the uk, where millions of teachers, doctors and other public sector workers are being offered pay

increases of between 5 and 7%. that comes after the government accepted recommendations from independent pay review bodies. prime minister rishi sunak said that — after months of public sector strikes — this was a final offer. further industrial action, he said, would not change that decision. all four teaching unions in england have recommended their members accept their offer and call off strikes. the announcement came as junior doctors began five days of strikes, what their union calls the longest strike action in the history of the nhs. they're demanding a pay increase, of 35%. ministers have said, that's �*unreasonable�*. we'll have more on that in a minute. let's have a quick look, though, at the recommendations in a little more detail. police officers have been offered 7%. consultants, dentists and gp's — 6%. junior doctors — 6%. prison officers 7%.

the armed forces — 5%. teachers 6.5%. those other rounds of office from the review bodies. —— those are the rounds... this was rishi sunak a little earlier. i can confirm today that we are accepting the headline recommendations of the pay review bodies in full. but we will not fund them by borrowing more or increasing your taxes. it would not be right to increase taxes on everyone to pay some people more, particularly when household budgets are so tight. nor would it be right to pay for them by higher borrowing because higher borrowing simply makes inflation worse. instead, because we only have a fixed pot of money to spend from, that means government departments have had to find

efficiencies and savings elsewhere, in order to prioritise paying public sector workers more. now, there is a clear message here. there are always choices. budgets are not infinite. when some ask for higher pay, that will always create pressures elsewhere, costs which must ultimately be borne by the taxpayer or by spending less on our other priorities. so that is our decision. and having honoured the independent pay review process, i urge all union leaders to accept these pay offers and call off their strikes. let's turn back to the five—day junior doctors�* strike in england. our correspondnet simonjones has been gauging reaction to the government's announcement among strikers gathered outside university college hospital in london. this is one of the largest hospital trusts in the country and junior doctors walked out at 7am this morning. they are demanding a 35% pay rise. the government says it is prepared to give them a 6% pay rise for the coming year, following the recommendation of the independent pay review body.

let's talk now to a couple of the junior doctors here, dr alex and dr rebecca. alex, tell me first of all, you're asking for 35%. what do you make of the 6% offer? i think i will have to look at it properly because we have onlyjust heard what it involves and, you know, if there's anything going forwards, but obviously that is far off what we are asking for. and i think when you consider the impact of the strike so far, i think to settle for that, you'd question, why are we striking in the first place? how do you feel being on strike today? it must be difficult because you're going into the profession wanting to help people and today you have been standing on a picket line. it is difficult, it is really frustrating. no one goes into medical school to do what we have had to do today, but we feel like we have to do this in order to protect both the future of a doctor's

career in this country, but also for the nhs as a whole, because if staff, if the conditions and pay keep deteriorating as they are, we are not going to have the staff that we need to provide the health care this country needs. let's turn to rebecca now. i know you work in maternity here. yes. no such thing as a typical day, but give us an idea of what you face when you go into work and how challenging it can be. so, it is an absolute privilege to do the job that i do. - i love it. and at the same time, | it is very, very intense. it is the same job, if you have seen this is going to hurt, _ which i think was a bbc production, it is that same job. _ i would say it is normal— for emergency buzzers to be ringing, it's normal for there to be| life—threatening situations for pregnant people _ and their babies every single day. and we want to provide care that is notjust safe, - but excellent to those people. it is intense and it is not an easyjob to do. - and i think that we see shifts that

go unfilled every single week, - that need to be filled, - are put out as additional locums and i think that needs to change. the views from a couple ofjunior doctors on the picket line. i've been speaking to professor alison leary, an expert in the health care workforce — and i asked her where the junior doctors' 35% pay demand leaves the sector. i think it is going to be interesting to see how the junior doctors vote on that offer. one of the things we really do need to consider, that even professions that have accepted a pay offer, so for example the nurses and physios and occupational therapists, they accepted a 5% offer. however, there is still quite a lot of discontent in that sector, so the real issue is whether a pay offer will actually retain staff. retention is a serious issue in the nhs. i was going to ask you exactly that as my next question.

in terms of the big issues, how do you navigate between basic pay and retention? which is causing the most problems at the moment? pay is definitely a lever for retention. we know that. it is not the only lever for retention. so, one of the other issues we really see now is things for particularly the junior doctors, like training opportunities. so, a junior doctor might sound like it is a career entry—level, but actuallyjunior doctors range from everything from people who have just left medical school to people who are just about to become consultants, so it is a very, very wide range and we know that there are issues around the way that they are able to access training to become specialists, for example in obstetrics or anaesthetists, so that is also a challenge, but also their working conditions. they move around the country quite frequently, so it is not only pay, but also their working conditions. a quick twin final thought because it is such a tussle, isn't it, internationally to try and attract doctors and other

health care workers? hmm. that continues, and in terms of this sort of pay award, even if it was accepted at 6%, there is no new money, so what are the consequences of that on the wider nhs, do you think? i think there are two very serious consequences of that. the pay awards, we have been told the deficit has to be found from local budgets and the only way you can do that, really, is to de—professionalise your workforce and have lower skilled people, cheaper workers working in that area. the other is that there is a global shortage of health care workers of every kind and it is a global market and we have to be competitive as a country in that global market. pay restraint won't help with that. turning to teachers, kevin courtney, joint general secretary of the national education union, joined me a little while ago and started with this clarification.

we haven't suspended strike action, because we haven't got any strike action to suspend. but we had some strikes last week. it's a pity we had to have those straits, it's a pity the government didn't come forward with this pre—that, but we haven't got any other strike action currently scheduled, although we are in a ballot of our members. on the package that the government has put to us, of fully implementing the strb recommendation of 6.5% on all pay spine points and all allowances, and of 900 million new money for schools, which we have been guaranteed doesn't come out of any front line services, so it's not coming from 16 to 19 or send or school capital, we think those are steps in the right direction. there is also a commitment signed off by the prime minister to look at workload problems, workload reduction for teachers, which is driving people out of the profession.

we think this package, it's not everything we wanted, but it's good enough for us to put it to members with a recommendation that they vote for it, that we end the campaign of industrial action, the forward campaign that we haven't declared yet, that we would end it, and then we would go back to normal relations with government and normal campaigning to get better pay and better funding for our schools, but not with industrial action in the immediate next period. that is the latest. if there is any more action. we will return to that. that's very much i remain story here. let's turn to another important story. director general is to face the courts coming the bbc is re—starting its investigation into the conduct of its highest—paid news presenter, huw edwards.

london's metropolitan police have said they'd found no evidence of a criminal offence. our correspondent charlotte gallagher is here. ta ke take us to the outstanding questions there still are. two take us to the outstanding questions there still are.— there still are. two key questions that still need _ there still are. two key questions that still need answering, - there still are. two key questions i that still need answering, matthew, firstly, how effective is the complaints procedure when people ring up and complain about a bbc member of staff. we know the parents of the original young person called the bbc in may, but it wasn't until seven weeks later that edwards was suspended. they want to look at when does the red flag go up when people make complaints. we know when the bbc investigation team received the complaint they took it seriously,

the presenter still allowed to be on air and cover high—profile events. secondly, this internal investigation will have to look at the behaviour of hugh edwards himself, especially since to members of bbc staff and a former employee have come forward and said that they sent him messages that made them feel uncomfortable, but they said they didn't report it because they feared it would adversely affect their career. their questions to be answered about the culture of the bbc in the workplace.— bbc in the workplace. charlotte, thank ou bbc in the workplace. charlotte, thank you for— bbc in the workplace. charlotte, thank you for taking _ bbc in the workplace. charlotte, thank you for taking us - bbc in the workplace. charlotte, thank you for taking us through l thank you for taking us through that. we will now speak to nathan sparks. ——i�*m joined now by the chief executive of the hacked off campaign, which advocates for a free and accountable press. the newspaper put out a statement last night saying that we must reemphasize that it no point in our original story was alleged

criminality. those are made at a later date by other media outlets. your thoughts. later date by other media outlets. yourthoughts. do later date by other media outlets. your thoughts. do you accept that? no, i don't accept that. so the idea that there is illegality here is really quite fundamental to the story, because it is a big part of the public interest defence for running a story which contained some very sensitive information and risks of violating the privacy of both mr edwards and the individual who is as presented by the the sun as the victim. the wii only later learned that they have rubbished the allegations altogether. so it's a critical and it's really interesting that the the sun in their statement have quickly tried to walk back this kind of idea that they look alleged any criminality. actually, only four days ago, the the sun published an article, and i will read the headline, top bbc star who paid child for sex pictures could be charged by cops and face years in prison, expert says, just to be clear, that is categorically

we now know untrue, but it is very clearly the —— the sun suggesting illegality in the case of the bbc presented that we now know as huw edwards. in presented that we now know as huw edwards. , ., , . edwards. in terms of the basic publication _ edwards. in terms of the basic publication at _ edwards. in terms of the basic publication at their _ edwards. in terms of the basic publication at their legitimate | publication at their legitimate questions about the nature of the behaviour? adam boulton from a friend of huw edwards was on newsnight last night and made the point that huw edwards held power for people to account for their behaviour, notjust criminality, and said the the sun do whatjournalists do a. it’s said the the sun do what “ournalists doa. , ., do a. it's absolutely right that the sun would look _ do a. it's absolutely right that the sun would look into _ do a. it's absolutely right that the sun would look into these - sun would look into these allegations as they were brought in front of it. of the person you would do is speak to the present who is presented as a victim here at the heart of these allegations. this poor young person has had their drug addiction issues, theirfamily addiction issues, their family estrangement, addiction issues, theirfamily estrangement, splashed all across the newspapers for the last few days. that is the first person you go to to try to stand up the story.

otherwise what your publishing is something that is essentially based on second or third hand hearsay information based on estranged hands of an adult. now either the sun spoke to the present and found out they objected to it in disagreed with all the claims and went ahead with all the claims and went ahead with publication anyway, not even referring to that, deeply unethical and poorjournalism or they didn't even bother speaking to them at all. he or she tried to get in touch with the sun and the sun wouldn't take their views into account. we the sun and the sun wouldn't take their views into account.— the sun and the sun wouldn't take their views into account. we have to leave it there. _ their views into account. we have to leave it there, it's _ their views into account. we have to leave it there, it's a _ their views into account. we have to leave it there, it's a very _ their views into account. we have to leave it there, it's a very busy - leave it there, it's a very busy afternoon. thank you forjoining us live on the programme. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some of the other stories making headlines here in the uk. new figures suggest the uk economy shrank in may, but not by as much as economists had predicted. gdp fell by 0.1% compared with the month before. analysts had forecast a bigger drop because of the extra

bank holiday in may, to mark the king's coronation. drivers are being urged to brace themselves for higher costs when dropping off friends and family at some of the uk's biggests airports this summer. the rac says charges for short—stay visits have risen by almost a third. operators have defended the hikes, saying the extra revenue is being reinvested in services. the royal veterinary college has estimated that in 2021 more than ten % of puppies bought in the uk were imported illegally. ——10% of puppies bought in the uk were imported illegally. that's more than double the figure for 2019. the rvc also says that animals brought into the uk illegally are more at risk of having been exposed to infectious diseases abroad. you're live with bbc news. turning to another important story, investigations at bbc have found evidence that casts doubt on the

great coastguard's account of the migrant boat sinking in the mediterranean month ago. 82 people are confirmed to have drowned, but it scared 500 may have drowned. survivors claimed they were told to keep quite after raising concerns about the coastguard is handling of the disaster. here is nick speak. let's go back to the journey, because the journey that they took was from libya, the idea was that people would travel to italy, they didn't want to go to greece, but we know that the journey went very badly wrong. this is, in more detail, the northern coast of libya, and what survivors have told essays that they actually were put on smaller boats by the coast there and went further into international waters before getting onto the biggerfishing boats. this is the journey we think that boats took.

you can see it there leaving, and it actually capsized off the greek coast and sunk. this redline here is the journey of the faithful warrior. now, rememberthat the journey of the faithful warrior. now, remember that name come is much vessel that was sent to deliver food and water to the migrant boat. there is any video we have been looking at and i want to show you here. this is the migrant boat, and look at the situation it is in there. dangerously, precariously to one side. this is significant, because of the time that this video was taken, the greek coastguard continues to argue that the pope was not in danger and did not need to be rescued. look again at the video, you can see there is a much bigger vessel in the background, and if we look at what we have been working on here, the faithful warrior, we looked at this, this is a photo that exists of the boat. if you take that

pattern and apply to our video coming up at the two big windows, two smaller ones into big ones. so that enabled us to basically do a visual match, but also we were looking at the tracking data of that vessel and it places it in the sea at that particular time. but it's notjust at that particular time. but it's not just this evidence at that particular time. but it's notjust this evidence we have been looking at, we have been back to greece talking to people as we try to find out what exactly happened. in a park in central athens we meet two survivors who ask us to hide their identity. they say the greek coastguard caused their boat to sink. translation: they attached a rope from the left. - everybody moved to the right side of the boat to balance it. the greek vessel moved off quickly, causing our boat to flip. they kept dragging it for quite a distance. the men allege that when survivors tried to speak out about what happened, they were quickly silenced. translation: the army man said, "you have survived death, - stop talking about the incident and don't ask more

questions about it. "stop talking about this. "stop making accusations. "you are safe now. "that's the most important thing. "mind your business." we returned to the port of kalamata in southern greece where the coastguard interviewed survivors. but there are now doubts about that process. our bbc investigation last month showed that in the seven hours before it went down, the boat had hardly been moving at all. and now, using court documents, witness statements and the evidence of a new whistle—blower, we can see a pattern of behaviour by the greek coastguard. after farzin khavand watched our bbc verify investigation last month he contacted us. he wanted to explain that he worked as a translator in a previous people smuggling case where he believed

an argument was built against two innocent men, with fellow survivors being threatened. they were told, if, unless you specify such and such, these were the individuals who were people smugglers, you will be treated unpleasantly, you will be put in prison and returned to taliban. as for this summer's shipwreck, the greek authorities have charged nine egyptian men with manslaughter and people smuggling. the greek coastguard refused an interview and have not replied to our latest allegations. but this new video, and these new claims, raise more questions about their actions. nick beake, bbc news. that was a snake with a fascinating investigation from bbc verify. that squeeze in one my story, because hollywood is about to have its first double strike in over 60 years. let me show you the live

pictures from new york, because for months, screenwriters have been on strike. they are about to be joined by actors after last ditch talks failed to make a breakthrough. pay and the use of ai seem to be the same stumbling blocks. let's speak to michael schneider, tb editor of variety magazine. thank you so much forjoining us. this is a really big one. the first double strike since 1960. how much is going to be wiped off our screens?— off our screens? well, basically everything- _ off our screens? well, basically everything- it's _ off our screens? well, basically everything. it's unprecedented, off our screens? well, basically - everything. it's unprecedented, and we are still trying to figure out who is going to be allowed to do what, and it's going to really limit production going forward, notjust here in the united states, but across the globe, not on the actors who are members of sag are told to no longer wear, but other productions, equity productions overseas, if they are companies like hbo, they might also decide to walk off. it is going to have huge

wide—ranging impact. taste off. it is going to have huge wide-ranging impact. off. it is going to have huge wide-ranuain imact. ~ . . . , wide-ranging impact. we are already heafina wide-ranging impact. we are already hearing about _ wide-ranging impact. we are already hearing about it _ wide-ranging impact. we are already hearing about it here _ wide-ranging impact. we are already hearing about it here in _ wide-ranging impact. we are already hearing about it here in london - wide-ranging impact. we are already hearing about it here in london for l hearing about it here in london for openheimer would be turned around so that they would not have to see any industrial action, so that is already happening. we are looking at pictures as i'm talking to you around new york around those writers who have been out on strike for months. in terms of the actors joining us, what's are the big grievances?— joining us, what's are the big urievances? , . , , ., grievances? they are very similar. there is a — grievances? they are very similar. there is a concern _ grievances? they are very similar. there is a concern that _ grievances? they are very similar. there is a concern that the - there is a concern that the streaming revolution sort of left a lot of talent behind, that compensation is down, that they are not participating in the backend of profits of a lot of these productions because streaming is a very different economic model. there is huge concerns about artificial intelligence and how that will impact productions going forward, and they want guarantees that they won't be out of work because of ai. there's the other issues of

compensation, like i mentioned, and long—term residuals, etc. it comes down to money, as these things usually do. it’s down to money, as these things usually do— down to money, as these things usuall do. 3 , , , usually do. it's interesting because some big hitters, _ usually do. it's interesting because some big hitters, a _ usually do. it's interesting because some big hitters, a listers - usually do. it's interesting because some big hitters, a listers have - some big hitters, a listers have been speaking about this in recent weeks, we have had meryl streep, jennifer lawrence, both of them urging the union not to settle for any sort of mediocre deal, but in terms of potentially here, how long could you see a strike like this lasting for?— could you see a strike like this lastin: for? . �* , , , ., lasting for? that's the big question that everyone _ lasting for? that's the big question that everyone is _ lasting for? that's the big question that everyone is asking. _ lasting for? that's the big question that everyone is asking. right - lasting for? that's the big question| that everyone is asking. right now, what we are hearing is probably into the fall, you know, hopefully once things settle down in negotiations can resume in august, that we may have some sort of resolution by september. i don't think anyone wants this to continue to long, but it doesn't seem like both sides are any closer than they were a couple of days ago. so it's going to take a while. .,, , ., , .,

while. those writers have been out for months — while. those writers have been out for months now, _ while. those writers have been out for months now, so _ while. those writers have been out for months now, so potentially - while. those writers have been out for months now, so potentially can j for months now, so potentially can you can have the same situation briefly. you can have the same situation briefl . , ., ., ., , briefly. rights. in negotiations have halted — briefly. rights. in negotiations have halted on _ briefly. rights. in negotiations have halted on may _ briefly. rights. in negotiations have halted on may one - briefly. rights. in negotiations i have halted on may one between briefly. rights. in negotiations - have halted on may one between the writers and the studios and they haven't resumed because the studios haven't resumed because the studios have been busy negotiating with the directors, which did strike a deal, with the actors who will not be going out to most likely on strike. so, at that point, perhaps they go back to the writers guild and resume negotiations there. there is a lot that we will see in the coming weeks to hopefully move talks forward. we are out of time. thank you for your time. hello there. it's been a familiar story again today. cool, some sunshine and some showers. the next few days, though, could be turning wet and windy. this area of cloud is a developing area of low pressure that will bring the wind and the rain up from the southwest. and ahead of that, whilst the showers that we had today will fade away, we've got a bit of thicker cloud

bringing some patchy rain northwards across wales, north west england, northern ireland and southern scotland. and they're probably going to be a lot of cloud around overnight. so a little bit warmer than last night away for northern scotland where we've got single figure temperatures. but let's focus on the southwest. this is where we've probably got the worst of the weather, i think, for friday. as well as the rain, we've got these strong, gusty winds, gusting 50 miles an hour perhaps, and some rough seas. and that rain is going to be with us for much of the day. before it does clear away later, it could turn heavy and thundery. that rain will push further north and eastwards across more of england and wales, up into northern ireland, maybe eventually into the south of scotland. something a bit drier for the north of the country. could be muggy for a while in the southeast, but if anything, those temperatures are likely to be even lower than they were today in the wind and the rain. and it's all due to that area of low pressure deepening as it heads across the uk. it's going to be sitting around into saturday, lots of isobars on the chart, an indication it's going to be unusually windy, really, for this time of the year. and the rain when it comes could be heavy and thundery. of course, it's going to stay on the cool side as well.

focus on the winds, though, for saturday, and the strongest winds will be across england and wales. it's in this area that we're more likely to have some impacts because of the strength of the wind, and the strongest winds could be along some southern coasts and over the hills, but particularly gusty when those showers arrive and it doesn't take long for them to set off. we've got a lot of downpours developing widely across england and wales where it's windy. not quite so windy for scotland and northern ireland, but again, some heavy and thundery rain is possible. all depressing the temperatures, of course. that area of low pressure still with us, then on saturday will continue to just drift northwards, could take the worst of the weather away with it as well. but, if anything, it may be a windier day for scotland to northern ireland, perhaps the north of england, not quite so windy on sunday further south. and there may well be some sunshine around, but still some heavy thundery showers, wetter weather in the north and the top temperatures 20—21 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines millions of uk workers are offered a pay rise — as the government accepts the recommendations of a public sector pay review. kevin spacey tells the court