ukrainian officials have said a deal has been reached but an agreement could be signed later this week, and have consequences for the war with russia. reports say some of most drastic washington's most drastic demands have been dropped. donald trump says president zelensky might our north america

correspondent peter bowes has the latest on the deal. when you consider its just a few days since donald trump was calling president zelensky a dictator. now it seems they could be meeting in a matter of a couple brewing for a number of days. because it didn't offer the kind of security guarantees he wanted for ukraine. and it still isn't clear in terms of security into this agreement or not. what is clear, or at least becoming clear, is an initial demand for $500 billion for the us for these valuable

he said, $350 billion and lots of military equipment. i think it should be made clear that what he is talking the actual number at least in terms of money confirmed is what the us is contributing to ukraine during the three years of the war. to ukraine to help it fight the war against russia. against russia? well, again, that's a little unclear.

then he kind of qualified that by saying the original right to fight, so to some extent, retrospectively looking over what happened for the last three years and being a little but he did qualify it by saying, yes, the aid will continue until and when there" . to end the war. in washington on friday, is this a patching—up of disagreements? and president trump. and zelensky saying he lives in a disinformation space. yes, clearly a lot of bad blood between them in the past few

donald trump has said many times, certainly the most important thing. if he feels he has a good deal from ukraine, or a good deal for ukraine with mr zelensky, any sort of name—calling in the past few days and weeks, i think, will be forgotten. we're now faced with a serious possibility of a very high—profile signing, probably in the oval office i'm joined now by duncan wood, an expert on critical minerals and energy geopolitics, president and ceo of a bit of optimism about this deal but not a lot of detail. singut not a lot of detail. is your 9.93me not a lot of detail. is your overriding thought what is your overriding thought about it? , . ~ about it? firstrgf all;!t..1-w about it? firstrgf attirlthigle

- a classic _ about it? firstrgf attirlthigle - a classic m- it's a classic example of donald trump's transactional approach to foreign policy and pollen aid. we seeing a pollen aid. we are seeing a shake—up of the traditional us to foreign —— forei-n 7—7. li’* 7—7. 7 foreign aid. doth with and foreign aid. both with and foreign aid. both with and the second this a safer? big thing is this is a very big for the united states in of the critical minerals terms of the critical minerals ukraine produces. ensuring ukraine produces. and ensuring that they stay part of the united states and indeed the . if, ,s,upply supply chainigfi z supply chain system. most of? 1 most ofthe 1 most ofthe focus in the whilst most of the focus in the media has been on media reporting has been on things like lithium, graphite i think the and rarer elements, i think the significant minerals most significant minerals coming out this deal, vital £42 the states, are gallium. germanium. things like gallium, germanium, titanium and of course uranium. germanium and gallium are important because the chinese placed have recently placed export controls on those minerals, which they control... they are vital for the semiconductor

industry. vital for the semiconductor industry- — vital for the semiconductor indust . ., ., ., industry. trump has managed to ca ture industry. trump has managed to capture some — industry. trump has managed to capture some of _ industry. trump has managed to capture some of the _ industry. trump has managed to capture some of the world's - capture some of the world's production of gallium and germanium, and they are going much more to to be much more available to the united states. the interest becoming strategic interest becoming and more clear as we more and more clearas we learn. minerals involved. about the minerals involved. fighting a war with russia, ukraine is dependent on ukraine is highly dependent on military equipment from the united states. so how much leverage do they really have when it comes to this deal? well, part �*the issue... inaudible. about half of these mineral are in areas currently by russians. controlled by the russians. so there is going be an controlled by the russians. so there is goi the be an controlled by the russians. so there is goi the united interest for the united states to ensure ukraine, either through continued fighting or an peace is able anrultimete peacereeel, is able reclaim part

anultimste peesereeel, is able reclaim part of that. but to reclaim part of that. but is in a vulnerable ukraine is in a vulnerable position. zelensky has been lauded and heralded in washington for the past few years, and now faces a much more difficult counterpart in the white i think he's the white house. i think he's done... inaudible. "é§':'9'bee”' know it's ”ésise'enbee” know it's important to sit they know it's important to sit down with donald and to 7 to come to a deal? negotiate. to come to a deal with him, so that ultimately he on your side rather 7 on your side rather than 5 is on your side rather than being opposed to you. this is where ukraine is ultimateqwhese—ukreifle is , — ,, — to continue sitirsstessswhese—usrsise is , — ,, — to continue notjust able to continue notjust with the war against russia but to in the us good is it that some how complicated is it that some of these resources are in 7 ”held ' held areas? does that russian held areas? does that give president putin some kind bargaining well, to of bargaining chip as well, to counter offer donald trump

that's triangular relationship, that's really the big question right now. after the trump administration sat down with putin's and putin's government and their affinity for expressed their affinity for each other, we now a much complex triangle, more complex triangle, where ukraine is now firmly in the ukraine—is now firmly in the �* of the united corner of the united states and vice versa... so this is going to be interesting to be an interesting for a deal. to be an interesting i for a deal. to be an interesting i think for a deal. to be an interesting i think it's ra deal. to be an interesting i think it's ra to deal. 7 w ”�*to reach �* to reach an peace easier to reach an ultimately it's a big ukraine? ultimately it's a big step the right direction. step in the right direction. it's a master sf ansls tfsms in. tsfms sf ”"""”'”'""'*"’ own hand... strengthening his own hand... inaudible. pressure he has been the pressure he has been feeling on the domestic front peoplg, ,%i:t if": people who have been from people who have been saying he has been far too generous with putin.

defence spending will increase to 2.5% of gross domestic product — or total economic output — by 2027 from the current level of 2.3% of gdp. the government had already committed to the increase but hadn't set out a timetable. sir keir said the government would also "set a clear here's our political editor chris mason. there's one flying not far from you, too — symbols but now, as well as an aggressive russia, a wildly unpredictable america, and a big decision.

we must find courage in our history, courage era now demands of us. so, starting today, i can announce this government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war. to 2.5%, spending on overseas aid goes down. it'll be cut by billions. look for other savings to protect the development budget. but... nonetheless, it remains a cut, and i will not pretend otherwise. where that is not the case and rebuild a capability on development.

not everyone here is convinced. labour mps don't either, but others were supportive. national interest should always come first. so i am very pleased to hear the prime minister announce that increase to 2.5% by 2027. assets to pay for extra defence support for ukraine. _ there are, though, plenty of dissenting voices. i've got to say, i am hugely, hugely frustrated at this it's the wrong decision. it's going to impact notjust on the poorest people in the world, but also on us here. preventing conflict

makes us safer. aid provides, including through crucial vaccinations, this is then an argument the prime minister needs to win. and so next a slogan, a lectern... good evening. ..a news conference. donald trump is now effectively setting uk government policy? yes, it's true president trump thinks we should do more, and i agree with him. it chimes with my thinking on this. that the united kingdom and its citizens knee grabbing, hand

holding — probably not keir starmer�*s style. this announcement, though, part of the diplomatic charm offensive before his appointment in the oval office. and incidentally, the prime minister and president macron to handle donald trump. but it's also true to say that there's been a view crystallising here at westminster for some time across several parties that there really did need to be from history of the 1990s, aftermath of the cold war was how much difference will the increase in defence spending make, and how much difference will the cut international aid spending make?

the chief executive of nhs england, amanda pritchard, says she's made the "hugely difficult decision" to step down from the role. asking her to quit, saying she's given him "wise counsel" and "led from the front". 0fgem has urged households to consider switching to the cost of gas and electricity in april. the regulator has upped its price cap by 6.4%, blaming higher wholesale costs and inflation, typical annual head judge shirley ballas. kyle shaw pleaded guilty to causing serious harm or distress between 2017 and 2023. shaw will be sentenced in april.

you're live with bbc news. the democratic republic congo, in which 132 women and 26 justice, but don't expect to get it. trying to escape the jail in the eastern city of goma last month. two survivors return to goma's central prison for the first time. and have chosen to be filmed. without being convicted. they enter the main yard

of the women's prison, where many used to sleep crammed together. theirjailers had fled, fearing the rebel advance. a month on, there are human remains among the ashes. they tell us they were among many raped here, pascaline says the block next door. while the second man was raping me, i came to.

the unlucky ones were raped. the prison was engulfed by chaos. there was a mass jailbreak from the men's section, thousands of prisoners making a getaway. but the women were still trapped — among them nadine, who saw many take their last breaths. translation: instead of opening the door, . they let us die like animals in the prison. before i got out.

the oldest just seven. tear gas into the prison, though it was already ablaze. in a goma hospital, we meet another survivor, sifa. she was pulled from the flames by a friend, a bomb? i don't know. she died on the spot". and was without sin.

but we do know that women and children were trapped here, locked inside, unable to escape, and survivors have told us they do not expectjustice. of those who died here, and an indictment of those who let them. 0rla guerin, bbc news, goma. a meeting in cairo. the plan would involve the simultaneous exchange of killed israeli hostages held by hamas and more israel has not yet commented. newborn babies have died in the past two weeks

martial law last year. but, in the last hearing of his impeachment trial, the decision for personal gain. lawyers for south korea's national assembly — which impeached him in december — said evidence showed removed from office. more than 1,000 artists have released what's who've released recordings of dormant music studios and performance spaces, as part of an album called, to train their models. marc cieslak has that story.

damon albarn, kate bush and annie lennox. who have released a surprise album today. silence. it demonstrates what they say music will sound like in the future if proposed government changes to copyright law go ahead. campaigning has included adverts in today's national newspapers, with legends from the creative arts culture is absolutely vital to this country. absolutely. ai, properly controlled, could be a very great help. and creators thrown away for nothing, that is monstrously unfair.

generative ai technology is trained on vast amounts ai tech generates new content by predicting patterns it recognises from the information it has already been trained on. critics of ai, some of them say none of this content is original, that it's basically clever remixes of art that's gone before. a spokesperson said... it's likely to be another 12 weeks before the government convinced that this pits art against the phantom of ai.

the vatican says pope francis remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. the 88—year old is battling pneumonia in both lungs, at a hospital in rome — the longest stay of his papacy. the latest from rome. the latest statement from the vatican describes he's had a scan of his lungs, so we should know tomorrow had any acute respiratory crises again, which is what he suffered at the weekend, when there was a lot of shock amongst catholics about how seriously he had taken a downturn.

the tone of the statement we are getting is more reassuring, certainly more positive. the cardinals are gathering for those prayers. one of the cardinals will lead it. each night those prayers are taking place, a different cardinal is presiding over the prayers, the rosary every time. and hundreds of people are expected to gather on the cobblestones to pray for the pope's health. the other thing the vatican is stressing is that the pope is alert, to some degree he's up and about, certainly he's working — yesterday we know he received two senior papal duties, certainly the

administrative ones at least. the vatican says pope francis remains but stable in remains critical but stable in hospital. the 88—year—old has in both lungs. hello. there is a fair bit of dry weather in the outlook but we do have wednesday to get through first, with some outbreaks of rain swinging eastwards, the outbreaks of rain come courtesy of this frontal system working its way eastwards as we go through the day, with some pretty heavy bursts

of rain, some snow mixing in the southern uplands. but that band of rain should pivot its way eastwards through the day, with sunny spells and showers bit of cloud lingering into the afternoon with some outbreaks of patchy rain. weather and sunshine — temperatures generally 7—10 celsius. now, during wednesday night, we see this band of cloud working its way southwards with some outbreaks of rain. but where we see clearing skies, temperatures will drop and so actually, we're looking at a fair bit of dry weather. some early splashes of rain, i think, across parts of eastern england, some showers into northern ireland,

it will stay fairly breezy here, but for most, thursday of around 8—10 celsius. through thursday night, as this area of high pressure light, we will see quite a widespread frost and some fog, as well — and some of that fog could linger a bit breezy up towards the northwest, and temperatures of around 9—10 celsius. now, this weather system tries to push in from the northwest — this is the forecast for the four capital cities of the uk — you can check your local forecast on the bbc weather app.

after a tense week for relations, hello and welcome to business today.

i'm steve lai. will grow by 2% and 3% this year. financial secretary paul chan, who delivered the budget on wednesday, said authorities were looking to cut government and a weak property market. let's turn to our top story. that's according to a senior ukraine official. in potential revenue from ukraine in exchange invasion in february 2022. guarantees to ukraine — which has been a key ukrainian demand. us president donald trump has told reporters that $350 billion and lots of equipment, military equipment,