the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen and italy's prime minister, giorgia meloni, visit the italian island of lampedusa, as thousands of migrants arrive on the island. the comedian russell brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse over a seven—year period at the height of his fame. the details are contained in a joint report by the sunday times, the times and the channel a programme dispatches. mr brand denies all the allegations. our correspondent lizo mzimba has the latest — and a warning some viewers may find details in his report upsetting. over the course of the evening, some of my accoutrements could make their way onto your body. laughter. in the late 2000s and early 2010s, russell brand was one of britain's best—known faces...

announcer: russell brand! ..famous as a comedian and presenter on both sides of the atlantic... i am famous in the united kingdom! ..even appearing in hollywood movies. july lst 2012 was when my rape happened. it was in los angeles that he met a woman the investigation by the sunday times, the times and channel 4's dispatches are calling nadia. she says they had a brief sexual relationship, but that on a later occasion he raped her. the women speaking out have had their identities disguised. he pushed me up against a wall. i'm like, what are you doing? and he's like, i have a friend here, and i... i want you to come into the bedroom. i'm like, no, that's not happening. we're not doing that. and i tried to get away from him, and at this point, he's grabbing at my — my underwear. i'm telling him to get off me and he won't get off. and he has that glazed

look in his eye again. i was very distraught, trying to get out of the house... the following year, brand met a woman the investigation is calling phoebe. again, she says that they did have a sexual relationship but that it had ended when she found herself alone with him in his house. and he grabbed me and got me on the bed. i was fully clothed and he was naked at this point, and he held me down. and i was screaming, and i was like, what are you doing? like, stop, you're my friend. i love you, please don't do this. i don't want to do this. a third woman says she met and had a brief relationship with brand when he was in his 30s and she was 16 and still at school. she says he later sexually assaulted her. i was pushing him away and pushing him away, and he wasn't... he wasn't backing off at all. and so i ended up having to punch him really hard in the stomach to get him off.

and then he, like... finally then he, like — moved, fell backwards. and i was crying, and he said, "oh, i only wanted to see your mascara run anyway. " the allegations have been denied by russell brand in a video message. these allegations pertain to the time when i was working in the mainstream, when i was in the newspapers all the time, when i was in the movies. and as i've written about extensively in my books, i was very, very promiscuous. now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships i had were absolutely always consensual. what i seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations. the comedian, who achieved fame with his risque humour and who was once married to katy perry, is now facing the most serious of accusations. lizo mzimba, bbc news. our correspondent simonjones is outside the london headquarters of channel 4 — which broadcast the allegations last night. russell brand found fame here

in the uk working for channel four on the big brother reality series. but it was of course channel four itself that last night broadcast that explosive documentary. now, bosses here at channel four say the allegations are deeply troubling, but they say they have done a review and can find no evidence that those claims were reported to the broadcaster before this documentary. russell brand also worked for the bbc. he had a show on radio 2. now the bbc say that he was taken off air after it was discovered he'd left a lewd voicemail message for the actor andrew sachs about his granddaughter. the bbc say that shows their processes do work and they do take allegations very seriously. but the chair of the commons culture committee, dame caroline dinenage, feels the broadcasters do have further questions to answer, and she fears this could be another case of alleged abuse of power in the tv industry. russell brand himself is not hiding away. he took to the stage in london last night. he said there were things he wanted to talk about but couldn't.

but in a way, he had already addressed the allegations before the documentary ever went on air, because on friday night he released a video on social media to his millions of followers denying the allegations. i think in a way, he was bypassing what he sees as the mainstream media to talk directly to his fans. and at the end of his show last night, he did get a standing ovation. but in terms of what happens next, well, the metropolitan police here in london tell us they are aware of the allegations, but they say no specific complaint has been made. they say, though, that anyone who feels they have been the victim of a sexual assault should come forward and report it to officers, however long ago that may have happened. 0ur correspondent in los angeles david willis has more on the allegations and the reaction from hollywood according to the reports in the times, sunday times and channel 4,

russell brand committed to sexual assaults here in la. one in which he pinned a woman against the wall, it is alleged, at his home in los angeles and raped her. the reports say that that woman was subsequently admitted to a rape treatment centre on the same day but declined to file a police report because she didn't believe that her allegations would be taken seriously. russell brand is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman whom he worked with here in la, and he is facing separate a spokesman for the los angeles police department contacted by the bbc said that the department currently had nothing to add to reports in the uk media. now, russell brand has vigorously denied the allegations against him and continues to insist that all of his relationships were consensual. survivors in the devastated city of derna have accused local leaders of failing them.

on a visit to the region, the head of the administration in eastern libya blamed nature for the failure of two dams. the un says 11,300 people are now known to have died in the city, but thousands are still missing. live now to our middle east correspondent lina sinjab. we've been hearing different views on whether there is enough international aid at the moment. what is the latest?— what is the latest? there are several countries _ what is the latest? there are several countries that - what is the latest? there are several countries that have . what is the latest? there are - several countries that have stepped in and have arrived in the city of benghazi or derna, but in such a catastrophic situation with a whole city destroyed almost, with 30,000 people homeless, 20,000 expected to be the death toll, it's never enough

international aid to arrive, there is the need for water, and rescue, and rescuers are still pulling bodies offshore and off the rubble and the need is immense and this is and the need is immense and this is a city originally of 100,000 citizens living there and most of it is now destroyed, so the capacity of the locals is limited and they will need international support, whether regional or international, it is on the way but it's never enough. something else there has been disagreement on is the level of responsibility and accountability among the leaders, whether it is the local authorities from one or other of the governments. what seems to be the accurate picture emerging from that? it the accurate picture emerging from that? , , , ., that? it is still being debated, no one is sure _ that? it is still being debated, no one is sure what _ that? it is still being debated, no one is sure what is _ that? it is still being debated, no one is sure what is happening - that? it is still being debated, no| one is sure what is happening but one is sure what is happening but one thing we are sure about is that the people of derna did not receive a warning that something would happen and they warned officials

before the catastrophe happened, before the catastrophe happened, before storm daniel that there were cracks in the dams and nobody rushed to do anything about it. in this part of the world where corrupt governments are in place, there is no accountability and transparency on who's doing what. the official said they launching an investigation, too little too late, thousands of lost their lives and thousands of lost their lives and thousands more have lost their homes and it's hard to amend this easily even when the government arrived he promised to rebuild the city of derna, don't forget libya is an oil rich country so money is not a problem, its efficiency and transparency and accountability towards the people.— transparency and accountability towards the people. lets now talk to anas el gomati,

director of sadeq institute, founder of libya's first think tank. ido i do not know if you could hear what my colleague was saying, but do you agree about a lack of transparency and accountability?— agree about a lack of transparency and accountability? absolutely. i'm heafina and accountability? absolutely. i'm hearing from _ and accountability? absolutely. i'm hearing from voices _ and accountability? absolutely. i'm hearing from voices on _ and accountability? absolutely. i'm hearing from voices on the - and accountability? absolutely. i'm hearing from voices on the ground l hearing from voices on the ground about a suffocating environment where any kind of criticism of the local authorities is met with tight scrutiny and juicy whispers of people trying to voice their frustrations and anger about delays in the aid and coordination of what is happening on the ground and they are swiftly ta ken is happening on the ground and they are swiftly taken away by plainclothes police officers or taken away by it citizens themselves say the very individuals that should be acting as the caretakers are still the conquerors and the ones that are trying to suffocate those voices and as we mentioned, libya is an oil—rich country and there is a new two billion dollar fund which has been given up instead of being given to international aid agencies that will ensure its transparency

and overnight site they've given it to the conquerors of the libyan national army. there is no transparency and very little accountability for them. what people watchin: at accountability for them. what people watching at home _ accountability for them. what people watching at home will _ accountability for them. what people watching at home will see _ accountability for them. what people watching at home will see is - accountability for them. what people watching at home will see is live - watching at home will see is live images from derna and the clear up operation and there has been criticism over the international response and in the past hour the uk foreign secretary james cleverly has said it is difficult to get aid to libya. what do you make of what the international aid response has been? negligent. at best, they've given over the control and reins of the operation to the very individuals most likely responsible for locking down citizens and having conquered the city in 2018 and having been responsible for war crimes that they are under investigation for, by the icc and that failure is they've

allowed a group that is littering this with red tape when what they need now is the smooth move into derna. they have allowed the aid to flow into benghazi, a six and a half hour drive away from the city when it could be done an hour and 15 minutes away. it's this kind of incompetence and negligence and demand for control at all times, and thatis demand for control at all times, and that is the price today of authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interru -t authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interrupt that _ authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interrupt that i _ authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interrupt that i feel _ authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interrupt that i feel i _ authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interrupt that i feel i should - authoritarianism in libya. sorry to interrupt that i feel i should pick i interrupt that i feel i should pick up interrupt that i feel i should pick up on that. they say that their response is that it's really difficult logistically to get aid to derna. do you accept that? that difficult logistically to get aid to derna. do you accept that? that is a comlex derna. do you accept that? that is a complex dance _ derna. do you accept that? that is a complex dance they _ derna. do you accept that? that is a complex dance they are _ derna. do you accept that? that is a complex dance they are doing - derna. do you accept that? that is a complex dance they are doing when | complex dance they are doing when they had been complicit in propping up they had been complicit in propping up the libyan national army for the last ten years. they are complicit in doing that. if they want to fly there, they should force the authorities there and tell them, stand out of the way, step aside, this is our operation and the un

acted in 2011 under the un responsibility to protect mandate, so where is the responsibility today? if they want to do it, they can do it. the permanent member of the security council can come together in a unifying moment. we have to leave it there, but thank you for your thoughts there. the uk foreign secretary, james cleverly, says it is very difficult to get aid to libya to help those affected by the flooding. but he's defended cuts to the uk's aid budget, saying the country is still one of the biggest donors in the world. let's get more now from our political correspondent damian grammaticas. what has mr cleverly been saying? the foreign secretary was saying that the uk had committed £1 million

to help in libya but the problems he said were trying to get that in because of the lack of what he called our high functioning administration and a lack of resources and reception for people who could be sent in, so logistical and governmental issues. but what was interesting is then he was pressed on what you've just been hearing about, the problems with government issues in libya and whether the uk itself bore some responsibility for that because the uk had helped lead to the intervention back in 2011 that ended up intervention back in 2011 that ended up removing colonel gaddafi and was then followed by a period of instability and civil war. this is what he said. colonel gaddafi perpetrated brutality, notjust on his own people but more broadly. libya has not recovered from the civil war that raged across that country for many, many years. the uk played an active part, i personally played an

active part, through what is known as the berlin process, which is an international coalition, to try and bring about elections, to try and get a high functioning government unfortunately, as we're seeing, we've not been successful. and he was also asked about the uk engagement with china, wasn't he? yes, he was. he was asked about this in the light of recent reports that a parliamentary researcher here had been arrested and allegations linked to the official secrets act and that individual has denied any claims of spying for china but the question was forjames cleverly, that the prime minister said he had raised it at the g20 meeting with the chinese delegation, butjames cleverly at the g20 meeting with the chinese delegation, but james cleverly had just been in china a few days before, so had he done anything

about this when he went to china, that was the question to him. when did you first know about this? we don't comment on security and intelligence related issues. well, the government did speak about this last week. rishi sunak said that he'd raised the issues at the summit and the g20. he did. so we raise, as i said, we raise the sanctity of our democracy. we raise the issues of any kind of interference in our democracies. we always we always highlight the importance that all countries, including china, adhere to their vienna convention obligations. that's the rules that dictate how governments interact and nations interact with each other. so we do raise these issues of concern. but as i say, i am not going to, the prime minister will not, and no matter how many times you ask me to, i won't talk about intelligence or security issues. what was notable is that the prime

minister said he raised it explicitly. you can take it from that that maybe he didn't, but he was not clear about it. on the other thing, when he mentioned the vienna convention, that is obfuscation, because it seems to me he was talking about the convention that regulates how diplomats are treated in other countries on the issue more broadly for the uk and government which has been under pressure is chinese intelligence activities and influence activities and real concerns amongst the conservative party but mr cleverley was not clear about whether he had raised that in this case. ., ~ ,. the family of a 14—year—old boy killed in a stabbing in manchester say he was "very kind" and "caring." two boys, aged 13 and 1a, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and they remain in custody. nathaniel shani died in hospital after he was found with stab wounds on friday evening.

manchester and harpurhey have to start talking about smartphones that arrange altercations and young people carrying knives, and they're getting younger and younger carrying knives. and we have to put our heads together in manchester and the uk to get on top of this. otherwise there will be more anguished families in this country. five people have been injured after being bitten by a dog at a holiday park in north wales. two men have been arrested and the dog has been seized after the incident which saw one man hospitalised with serious injuries. north wales police said the dog is not believed to be an xl bully but it is in the process of confirming its exact breed. wales has become the first uk nation to drop the speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 20. the new legislation applies to thousands of roads in built up and residential areas but not everyone agrees with the change. tomos morgan reports.

from today, driving slower will be the norm in built—up areas across wales, but not everyone is happy in the slow lane. jane is a carer in barry, drives about lt—5 hours a day and is concerned with the impact it'll have on her. i'm afraid myself and my staff are going to bed thinking, "gosh, if we just take our concentration off that speedometer for two seconds, whether we've got a colleague in the car, whether the in—car phone goes, are wejust going to go up to 25 by mistake?" are you aware of the national changes coming in in september? if you're pulled over doing more than 20 then you could be fined, but the response from officers will be proportionate and reasonable. for the first 12 months there will be more focus on education, with police officers allowed a level of discretion. however, when it comes to fixed speed cameras, they'll operate using the current tolerance threshold of 10% above the speed limit plus two mph.

although most roads in urban areas across wales will now have a reduced speed limit, every council across the country have picked out exemptions — roads that'll remain at 30 mph, roads like this one that are busier with vehicles and have fewer pedestrians and fewer cyclists. over a third of roads here will now be 20 mph, and these changes have been made, according to the welsh government, to reduce collisions. every day, five people die on roads right across the uk, and we know that speed is a factor in every single crash. also, we know that one in four fatal crashes involve somebody driving too fast. so speed matters on everyjourney, and the faster we drive, the greater our risk of crashing. a last—minute ditch to scrap the proposals by the conservatives was voted down in the senedd on wednesday, but the welsh government did say they would constantly review the impact of the change. the prime minister has said it

wasn't something he was considering, but speed reductions are being trialled by some councils in england, while in scotland, slower speeds will become the norm within a few years. so, for now, wales becomes the first uk nation to adopt 20 mph as the rule and not the exception. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. the head of the european commission — ursula von der leyen — is visiting the italian island of lampedusa, after the italian prime minister georgia meloni called on brussels to take action following a huge surge in migrant numbers. more than 8,000 migrants have arrived on the island over the past three days. that's more than lampedusa's local population which is around 6,000 or7,000. nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in italy so far this year — almost double the figure by the same date last year. the two women are about to give

a press conference. listening to this is our correspondent danny aeberhard give us a bit more of the background. we have covered before the numbers of migrants arriving on the numbers of migrants arriving on the island. well, the reason why people land on lampedusa is it's the closest point of italy to the north african mainland, about hundred and 30 kilometres from the tunisian coast and that's where most of the migrants are coming from all though they come up from places like libya, they come up from places like libya, they are north african migrants but also lots of people from sub—saharan africa countries like guinea and the ivory coast for example, huge numbers have been arriving in recent days partly because of good weather. it's very hard to keep track of the numbers. 8000 people arrived in the first days of the week but another thousand people arrived yesterday. the situation is in a constant state

of flux partly because large numbers of flux partly because large numbers of migrants arriving in lampedusa, once they are met by the italian red cross are transferred onwards largely to sicily which is to the north but also other destinations in italy, so the italian red cross has been under huge pressure and on friday and they provided 10,000 meals to migrants in the local population is also under pressure. some people have been helping the migrants and collaborating with the red cross and there's also been precious and some people have been protesting against the situation saying it's utterly unsustainable and risks livelihoods and things like tourism and that they need solutions both from their own government and also from the european union. the government and also from the european union.— european union. the issue of livelihoods _ european union. the issue of livelihoods being _ european union. the issue of livelihoods being affected - european union. the issue of livelihoods being affected is i european union. the issue of| livelihoods being affected is a european union. the issue of - livelihoods being affected is a key one raised by local people but the journey for the migrants has not

been without loss of life either, how is it? . been without loss of life either, how is it?— how is it? there have been relatively _ how is it? there have been relatively few _ how is it? there have been relatively few deaths - how is it? there have been relatively few deaths given | how is it? there have been - relatively few deaths given the numbers involved. there was a baby who was found in a boat by the italian coastguard in a rescue of lampedusa yesterday and the baby had just been born, they think on the boat itself, so that was one tragedy there was also a baby who drowned in there was also a baby who drowned in the process of moving the migrants off the boat, the young child fell into the water, so there constant risks in the journeys of these migrants. the migrants themselves have often faced extremely difficult times before they'd even let the coast of north africa and some people had been travelling for months from different parts of africa and in its extremely hazardous process in itself, so there is the humanitarian worry but

there is the humanitarian worry but the situation at the moment is there is a big political crisis going on and georgia maloney is pushing for greater assistance from the european union and has also promised to bring in extraordinary measures on the local italian level to deal with this and ursula von der leyen, someone who has cooperated with miss meloni on how to restrict migration —— migration, but ursula von der leyen doesn't control all aspects, so things like solidarity and the relocation of migrants who arrived in italy, that sort of decision is dependent more on individual member states. i dependent more on individual member states. ., ., , , dependent more on individual member states. ., ., , states. i want to pick up on the issue of the — states. i want to pick up on the issue of the help _ states. i want to pick up on the issue of the help that - states. i want to pick up on the issue of the help that the - states. i want to pick up on the | issue of the help that the italian prime minister is requesting, but just to tell viewers joining us now what you are seeing our live images

of where we expect a press conference to be held by the italian prime minister, georgia meloni and european commission head, ursula von der leyen, if we return to the point you are making about the fact that the italian prime minister is calling for the eu to help, what help can the eu offer and what are they currently offering? there is a conjugated process going on for a number of years and in 2015 more than a million people had arrived at that time and since then the european union has known full well it needs to get its house in order when it comes to asylum and migration, but reaching agreement is extremely difficult so there is a process currently under way to standardise procedures, border procedures and reinforcing european

external borders but it's also about how a silence because are treated and trying to put a maximum term of how long it takes to process their applications and if necessary return people who are not eligible for asylum, but there is also an important aspect of that which is about solidarity, offering solidarity to front line states such as italy in terms of relocation and setting targets for 30,000 people at least to be relocated from front line states, and those countries, some countries really disapprove of the idea of mandatory relocations so there is another mechanism they are trying to introduce a by countries such as poland and hungary that oppose mandatory relocations would in theory pay into a fund to fund the relocations to other places, something in the region of 20,000 euros per relocation. the

something in the region of 20,000 euros per relocation.— euros per relocation. the prime minister is _ euros per relocation. the prime minister is of _ euros per relocation. the prime minister is of course, _ euros per relocation. the prime minister is of course, in - euros per relocation. the prime minister is of course, in terms i euros per relocation. the prime l minister is of course, in terms of her politics, and i will pause a moment to explain to viewers. ursula von der leyen, just walking and taking her seat at the press conference. that is the head of the european commission and she is expecting to give a press conference on this, the issue of the help that is being requested to deal with the migrant influx on the italian island of lampedusa. we will see if that is due to begin. itjust depends on how long it takes. they are taking their seats as you can see, so we will see if we can listen in and we have our correspondent there if they haven't quite begun. i correspondent there if they haven't quite begun-— correspondent there if they haven't uuite beuun. . ,~~ , quite begun. i immediately accepted the invite to — quite begun. i immediately accepted the invite to come _ quite begun. i immediately accepted the invite to come to _ quite begun. i immediately accepted the invite to come to lampedusa, i quite begun. i immediately accepted the invite to come to lampedusa, to j the invite to come to lampedusa, to tell us how the situation is going.

speaks italian i would like to add and say that this gesture, i don't consider it just solidarity by europe towards italy, but rather a responsibility by europe to support itself because these are the borders of italy, for sure but they are equally the borders of europe. speaks italian.

a translation: however somebody here in europe were to think this crisis we are facing could be solved within the italian borders then there would be a very big and huge mistake on their side because this massive flow is something that requires

involvement and responsibility by everybody to be tackled because it is going to