we are joined by our security correspondent frank gardner. e president has mooted he supports —— he supports sweden's membership and turkeys blocking out, how much of british you will that be at this summit?— at this summit? well, it is an issue because when _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was at _ at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was at the - at this summit? well, it is an issue because when i was at the last - at this summit? well, it is an issue | because when i was at the last nato summit in madrid, a year ago, turkey sat down with sweden and finland encourage very much by the nato secretary general to try and overcome their differences and they thought they had a deal. but since then, things have gone downhill a little bit. turkey is not happy at all with sweden, it is not happy with the undertakings that sweden has given to deal with the kurdish extremists as they would put it, which tur

listening to frank gardner got tiring.the silence of the studio and the background noise contrast was stark. he could have been in a busy canteen or a crowded pub since it is possible for bbc news to achieve clear audio from a reporter at some location in ukraine. why is it not possible to achieve that when someone reports from the newsroom, presumably someone on bbc news believes this background noise gives atmosphere to the programme. thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news, on tv, radio, online and social media email newswatch at bbc.co.uk or you can find us on twitter at newswatch bbc. you can call us on 0370106676. and do have a look at our website for interviews bbc.co.uk. that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. coming up on the travel show... we are finding out what's at the bottom of venice's most popular canals. there's something really big on the line here. it looks really

frank gardner there.is is bbc news. 1000 and 53 feet above sea level, the fish of the river are being hunted, not to be eaten but to be counted. this stream has everything that a fish could want from when it hatches. the water quality is excellent. we don't have the urban areas or the agriculture that would impact on it. it really is the lungs of the river in terms of salmon. it is a pristine environment. mark walker started fishing for salmon here on the ex at the age of six. you can't guarantee you will see salmon on the ex anymore. it is happening everywhere on every major river in the country. salmon numbers are in catastrophic decline. he blames global warming and exploitation at sea, but at a local level, water quality, deteriorating weirs and fish passes, and bad planning. you're live with bbc news. a second child has died after a car crashed into a school in south—west london on thursday. the metropolitan police named the victim as 8—year—old nuria sajjad. her family in a statement described nuria

frank gardner, bbc news. gordon corera is in the ukrainian capital, kyiv.ians saying we need all the help we can get if we are to win this war? , , ,., ~ ., ., ., this war? yes, i spoke to one of president _ this war? yes, i spoke to one of president zelensky's _ this war? yes, i spoke to one of president zelensky's top - this war? yes, i spoke to one of| president zelensky's top advisers today and he said ukraine needs all the tools it can get for its counteroffensive. he said close to munitions are one of those tools and could help significantly on the front lines. there is no doubt this is tricky for ukraine's allies, especially the uk, which has been at the forefront of sending weapons to ukraine, because it might complicate making the case for that, as well as the wider k—stew try to restrict cluster munitions. russia is trying to take advantage by saying that russia's need for them as a sign of its weakness. but there have been patients for months to try to get hold of these cluster munitions and they said they provide written evidence to the us about

frank gardner, bbc news.an francisco where we can speak to steven fish, professor of political science at the university of california in berkeley. so much to discuss here let us talk about where the conflict is today the discussions with the uk prime minister and uk president about the provision of cluster bombs for the war in ukraine? your thoughts on that? this is a tough call. biden is coming under criticism in the united states also among democrats for this as well. they know, and the british prime minister modi is as well, that biden is mindful of humanitarian concerns, we are not dealing with donald trump here, and biden were not actually seen these weapons if he did not think they were necessary in the ukrainian war effort, i don't think you will get too much from the part of the british prime minister modi. ., , �* , modi. not 'ust the british prime modi. notjust the british prime minister _ modi. notjust the british prime minister modi - modi. notjust the british i prime minister modi canada modi. n

frank gardner has more on the impact on the u.s. other allies. >> this is the fifth successful coup in just three years in west africa, and it's pretty bad news for the international community. especially for the u.s., france, and the region. america has $100 million drone bases there, it's a central operation theater for france, which has moved its bases out of mali following a coup there, into niger. it means that the international effort to try to push back al qaeda, and isis linked insertions -- insurgent group that groups is going to be setback. almost certainly, the wagner group, they will be looking to profit from this. i have already entrenched themselves in mali, burkina faso, the central african republic, and they will be looking to do something in niger, which is very rich in uranium or, something that will not escape the notice of people in the kremlin. >> president putin welcome several african leaders at a summit in st. petersburg on thursday. 32 african nations are attending, including 17 heads of state. that is a dec

our security correspondent frank gardner says the influence of western governments in north west africar hole in the dry season, western influence. it's drying up in the south countries, the whole area of north—west africa. it's drying up in the sahel countries, the whole area of north—west africa. one by one, countries are kicking out western forces, severing their ties with the western international community and instead, a number of countries have teamed up with russia's wagner group who has, for them, a very successful business model. if you take a triangle of government, wagner group and a population, two out of three of those do pretty well. the governments get a bespoke security service from this mafia—like organisation, the wagner group. the wagner group enrich themselves with mineral resources like gold mines, diamonds etc. but the people that lose out are the populations because their countries are essentially being plundered of their natural wealth. but mali, burkina faso, central african republic have all decided they would rather work with wagner than the un and french and

live now to our security correspondent frank gardner to get more explanation on these cluster munitionswhy are they so contentious? the main reason _ why are they so contentious? the main reason is _ why are they so contentious? tie: main reason is that a lot of them don't explode. they lie around for a long time and they look a little bit like toys, children pick them up and it blows their arms off. or kills them. they are extremely controversial, 123 countries around the world including the uk, germany and france have signed up to not to use them or stockpiled them. the usa, russia and ukraine have not. both russia and ukraine have been using them. it is basically a canister that is fired from an artillery piece or a missile or dropped from aircraft. that shatters in midair or it comes apart, 88 — hundred and 20 of these tiny bomblets then cascade down to the ground, most of them explode on impact. militarily it is a useful but hideous weapon for dislodging infantry in trenches. or for attacking armoured formations. if you don't have enough artillery it is the next best thing. the dow

here is our security correspondant frank gardner.y look a little bit like toys, children pick them up and it blows their arms and legs. 0r kills them. they are extremely controversial, 123 countries around the world, including germany, the uk and france have signed up to band them or not to use them, or stockpile them or give them on to anybody else. but the us, russia and ukraine have not. both russia and ukraine have been using them. how it works is this. it is basically a canister, that is either fired from an artillery piece orfrom a missile or dropped from an aircraft. that canister, in midair, shatters or comes apart and 88 — 120, depending on which weapon is used of these tiny little bomblets, cascade down to the ground. many of most of them explode on impact. militarily, it is a very useful but hideous weapon for dislodging troops, infantry who are in trenches for example or for attacking armoured formations. if you haven't got enough artillery then it is the next best thing. but the downside is that the good rate, the percen

well, it started a month ago, and i asked frank gardner, the bbc security correspondent, how it was goingthere were some unrealistic expectations of the ukrainians, because so much had been given to them in terms of western hardware, western training, western financial help. the last six months prior to when the offensive began injune, all the time that the ukrainians were getting trained up in the west and building up these armoured brigades, the russians used that time to dig in, really effective, almost impregnable defensive lines. they're not stupid. they looked at the map and they thought the obvious place ukraine is going to want to try and drive their main thrust is going to be south of zaporizhzhia towards the sea of azov to try and split the russian occupied area in two. so they put in deep trenches, tank traps, concrete dragons teeth blocks, minefields, interlocking arcs of fire, all covered by artillery. and that's proving quite an obstacle to the ukrainians. it's not completely impregnable, but the progress they're making is very slow. and quite costly in terms of lives? hugel

tom, thanks a lot for that. 0ur security correspondent, frank gardner, has more on mr biden�*s week ins is potentially an awkward visit at a crucial time, why, because the nato alliance faces a number questions and it needs to try and present a united front. the two—day vilnius so much, tuesday and wednesday coming at a crucial time in the ukraine war, it comes at a time when america is out on its own when america is out on its own when it comes to cluster bombs, the decision taken in the last few days by america to supply ukraine with these very controversial weapons, has not gone down well with its allies, it has been pretty much condemned by human rights groups across the world. britain has come out to say we will not be doing it because britain is a signatory to the convention on cluster munitions and spain has condemned it, so has canada, not in strong terms but they are not sympathetic to its. there is that issue. then there is the issue about who should become the next head of nato, the next secretary general. because there is some disagreement about this they are going to exten

live to the bbc security correspondent, frank gardner. lithuania, which are coming up? it summit in lithuania, which are coming up?— summit in lithuania, which are coming up? it is not 'ust britain amonust coming up? it is not 'ust britain amongst the h coming up? it is not 'ust britain amongst the nato _ coming up? it is notjust britain amongst the nato allies - coming up? it is notjust britain amongst the nato allies who i coming up? it is notjust britain i amongst the nato allies who don't agree _ amongst the nato allies who don't agree with the provision of cluster bombs _ agree with the provision of cluster bombs. france, germany, another of other_ bombs. france, germany, another of other countries are signatures to the convention banning the use of these _ the convention banning the use of these so—called apparent weapons. spain _ these so—called apparent weapons. spain has _ these so—called apparent weapons. spain has been openly critical, so has canada. america is very much out on a limb _ has canada. america is very much out on a

for more, i spoke to our security correspondent frank gardner.s, but western and european efforts generally, to try to establish some kind of security in the sahel region. that is the part of northwest africa that borders the sahara, so countries like mauritania, mali, burkina faso, chad and niger. 0nly last year, the french basically gave up on mali, because they had very bad relations with the newjunta that seized power there. so they withdrew their forces. the un withdrew and the french chose to make their base in niger. there is a $100 million us drone base operating out of niger. this was supposed to be their safe place for monitoring and trying to spot the jihadist insurgencies across the region. and now, niger is up for grabs, as it were. this will be welcomed by two lots of people — the jihadist insurgencies, that is al-qaeda and isis. they absolutely love this kind of instability. they feed off it. they will almost certainly be looking for ways to profit from this, and quite possibly, the wagner group, which has got very close relations

here is frank gardner.ernational community. especially for the us, france but also the region. america has got $100 million drone base there, it is the centre of operations for france, which has only recently moved its bases out of mali, following a coup there come into niger. what does it mean globally? well, it means that the international effort to try and push back al-qaeda and isis linked insurgent groups is almost certainly going to be weakened. it depends, of course, how long this coup lasts about the future arrangements are for western forces, but almost certainly the wagner group, which is the kremlin backed masonry group, will be looking to profit from this. they have already entrenched themselves in mali, in burkina faso, in the central african republic, they will be looking to do something similar in niger, which is very rich in iranian or, something that will not have escaped the notice of people in the kremlin. for a look at all of this, i want to bring in the ambassador, former us special env

our security correspondent frank gardner was watching.sen prague because it's 55 years since russian tanks, soviet tanks at the time, rolled into czechoslovakia and crushed what was called the prague spring. and he said there was a similar kind of disillusionment at the time. at the time, there were a number of russians that were appalled by that. and he said what's happening now is that there are... he didn't specify the number, but a certain number of russian people in sensitive places. so these could be military officials, diplomats, intelligence officials, who are appalled at the ukraine invasion and the assault on a fellow slavic country. and they are, of course, ripe for recruitment. normally, there are different ways of recruiting people. the reasons people get recruited as spies or as defectors or double agents, it's often money. they can be hacked off with their career not going anywhere. but in this particular case, it seems to be ideological. and he was very interesting, actually, aboutjune the 24th, which was the day of the me

let's cross to prague now and talk to our security correspondent frank gardner.ar something like that being publicly by somebody who really lives in the shadows, the chief of britain's secret service, he is very aptly chosen prague to make their appearance because it's 55 years since russian or soviet tanks rolled into this country where i am now across these cobbled streets in prague and crushed what was called the prague spring but which was a liberalisation movement and he said something similar is happening now with ukraine and russia and that there is a parallel here. they were a number of russians back in 1968 who are upset at what was being done to their neighbour czechoslovakia in the same way he is saying there are russians website and what is happening to their neighbour ukraine. he started out interestingly by saying the door is open and this is an opportunity but by the time he finished speaking to us he revealed that they had already recruited a number of potential russian agents, people with access to information that is useful to mi6. he obviously

frank gardner, bbc news.street. give us a sense of how important of these meetings will be, particularly when it comes to that relationship between the uk and the us? yeah, of course it really _ between the uk and the us? yeah, of course it really matters. _ between the uk and the us? yeah, of course it really matters. rishi - course it really matters. rishi sunak has made a thing of wanting to be seen to be pretty close to president biden. when they meet here in a few hours, it will be their fifth meeting injust five months. but despite all of that, despite a lot of the agreement they have when it comes to the war in ukraine, there are some tensions there, some issues they are trying to work through over the next few weeks, in particular that decision that washington made late last week to send a cluster munitions to ukraine, for the ukrainian forces to use. that is something downing street opposes. the uk signed up to a convention that opposes the use of those weapons. i think that is one potential point of

frank gardner there in the newsroom, thanks very much.o breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. our headlines today... the eight—year—old who was killed in a school car crash in wimbledon is named as selena lau. herfamily described her as an "intelligent and cheeky girl adored by everyone". the us agrees to supply ukraine with controversial cluster bombs to help their counter offensive against russia. is this the future for the nhs? we'll hear how virtual reality could help reduce waiting lists and deliver care to patients. good morning from damp headingley, where england need quick wickets to stop australia retaining the ashes. while it was a woeful day at wimbledon for all the british men in the singles — for andy murray, it could be his final farewell. yesterday we had the heat, temperatures got to 30 celsius but with the heat and humidity today comes the showers, heavy and sundry in places. i will bring you the details in the programme. it's saturday 8th july. our main story... tributes are being paid to the eight—year—old gi