hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.ted states, which comes at a challenging time for many members hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. it's the end of pride month here in the united states, which comes at a challenging time for many members

iam sumi i am sumi somaskanda. great to have you with us. we begin in the middle east, where the israeli military has interecepted rockets they say were fired from the gaza strip. this comes hours after israel's forces announced the end of their two—day military operation injenin in the west bank. israeli forces are withdrawing from the west bank'sjenin refugee camp, ending the actions that left 12 palestinians and one israeli soldier dead. gunfire and explosions continued to be heard acrossjenin as news of the withdrawl broke earlier. israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the mission was an attempt to root out terrorists, while palestinian leaders accused israel of mounting an invasion. an estimated 3,000 people left thejenin refugee camp since the attacks started. jenin has become a stronghold of a new generation of palestinian militants who are frustrated by the west bank—based palestinian authority's ageing leadership, and the restrictions of israeli occupation. the united nations meanwhile has denounced the violence in tel aviv

earlier my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke with the pentagon's deputy press secretary sabrina singh about all of this, starting with north korea. sabrina, it's great to have you back on the show. i want to start with north korea escalating its rhetoric on nuclear weapons, saying that the deployment of a us nuclear capable submarine to south korea is a provocation that could meet its criteria for its own use of nuclear weapons. and according to the state run news agency, the defence minister said they would be use "in case nuclear attack is launched against it or is it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent"? what's your response to that? well, thanks again for having me on today. really appreciate the opportunity to be with you. look, we do not seek conflict with the dprk. our alliance with the republic of korea is defensive in nature. and the arrival of this submarine that you mentioned is part of the washington declaration that the president discussed when president came to visit the united states just earlier this year. this is about deepening our military coo

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.alestinian officials say about 3,000 people have fled their homes in thejenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank as israeli forces have launched a massive military operation. these are live pictures we're looking at now and see forces and palestinian insurgents —— and palestinian insurgents —— and palestinians have exchanged fire that meant gunfire. at least eight palestinians have been killed. israel said it had dealt a heavy blow to terrorist organisations.— organisations. palestinians accuse israel _ organisations. palestinians accuse israel of _ organisations. palestinians accuse israel of war - organisations. palestinians| accuse israel of war crimes. prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the operation will continue for as long as needed to restore calm and security. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell reports from jenin. the day ended as it had begun injenin — with battles raging. the israeli military had used a surprise drone strike in the early hours to target what

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. we begin tonight with a rift at the nato summit that is now slowly being repaired. the issue is not if ukraine will enter the alliance, but when. and that question of timing has created tensions at the ongoing leaders summit in lithuania. nato leaders committed to inviting ukraine tojoin the military alliance when "conditions are met". but that's a blow to ukrainian president volodymr zelenskyy, who wants a firm timeline for entry. early in the day, a frustrated zelenskyy slammed nato allies, tweeting: jens stoltenberg then presented a smoother path to membership. it would remove some of the bureaucracy, including scrapping a key part of the two step process, called the member action plan, that the bloc agreed to back in 2008. we reaffirmed that ukraine will become a member of nato. and agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan. this would change ukraine's membership path from a two—step process to a one—step process. we also made clear that we will issue an invita

a short time ago my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to matt miller, the us state department spokespersont to ukraine. thank you forjoining us on the programme. i want ask about the nato summit that just took place in vilnius, with president biden saying before he left vilnius that the ukrainian president zelensky understands that whether or not he is in nato is not relevant now as long as he has the commitments and he is speaking about the security guarantees, as you know, agreed to at the summit. we do not want to be divided, he said, what you make of that? we have never asked any country to choose — we have never asked any country to choose between us and china, the united — to choose between us and china, the united states has economic relations— the united states has economic relations with china, the secretary of state just returned from a trip several weeks — returned from a trip several weeks ago to beijing where he met with — weeks ago to beijing where he met with senior chinese officials because we believe it is important that we have the ability— is important that we have the a

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.udicial reform have rocked the nation. police fired water cannons into crowds and dragged protesters through the streets. the outrage erupted after israel's parliament passed a highly contentious judicial overhaul that limits the powers of the supreme court. critics say it's part of a wider plan from the right—wing government, led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu, to weaken thejudiciary system. thousands of israelis blocked highways across the country, calling the reform an affront to democracy. the measure passed 6a—0 on monday in the knesset, israel's parliament, after last—ditch efforts to find a compromise fell apart.

i'm sumi somaskanda.treasury secretary janet yellen is in china for the latest in a series of visits intended to stabilise relations between washington and beijing. ms yellen was given a low—key welcome as she arrived in the chinese capital, as both countries have placed modest expectations on the visit. she is spending her first day in beijing in meetings with chinese premier li qiang and liu he, a former economy tsar known to be a close confidant of china's president, xi jinping. as if to underline just how tense things are between china and the us, while ms yellen was still in the air on her way to beijing, mr xi was inspecting people's liberation army troops near the taiwan strait. he told them they must "dare to fight". and added quote "it is necessary to deepen war and combat planning... focus on military training for actual combat, and accelerate the improvement in our capacity to win." the bbc�*s asia business correspondent monica miller has more. it is great to see you. how significant do you thi

i'm sumi somaskanda.lywood strikes in 60 years.

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.ir homes in thejenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank as israeli forces have launched

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start the show with a rare act of gun violence in new zealand ahead of one of the biggest sporting events in the world — the women's world cup. police say a gunman shot and killed two people in the central business district of auckland. six others, including police officers, were injured. the attacker also died at the scene. new zealand's prime minister says there is no wider national security threat. and he described how the shooting unfolded. the offender was armed with a pump action shotgun. he moved through the building site, discharging the firearm as he went. upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the man contained himself in an elevator, shots were fired, and he was located a short time later. today's shooting comes just hours before the first women's world cup match is scheduled to begin nearby. live now to katie silver, who's in sydney. it's good to see you. the world cu “ust it's good to see you. the world cup just about _ it's good to see you. the world cupjust

i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. first to a developing story. announced on national television that they have carried out a coup. protests erupted in the streets in response to the attempted coup. the speaker — colonel major amadou adramane — said that they dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions, and closed the country's borders. he did not make a direct reference to president mohamed bazoum who has been detained since early on wednesday. translation: this day, july 23, 2023, we. — translation: this day, july 23, 2023, we. the — translation: this day, july 23, 2023, we, the defence _ translation: this day, july 23, 2023, we, the defence and - 2023, we, the defence and security forces, meeting within the security council for the

iam sumi i am sumi somaskanda. great to have you with us. we start tonight with a developing story.est african country, niger, announced a coup, on national television. the speaker — colonel major amadou adramane — said they dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions, and closed the country's borders. protests erupted in the streets in response to the attempt to overthrow the government. in the announcement, adramane did not reference president mohamed bazoum, who has been detained by troops from the presidental guard since early on wednesday. translation: this day, july 23, 2023, we, the defence _ and security forces, meeting within the security council for the safeguard of the homeland, have decided to put an end to the regime you know.

iam sumi i am sumi somaskanda. great to have you with us.ary has

iam sumi i am sumi somaskanda, thanks forjoining us.as record—breaking heatwaves continue, and wildfires rage. scientists warn it could be the "new normal", thanks to climate change. here in the us, the city of phoenix arizona broke live from washington, this is bbc news. millions across the globe continue to face red alerts, as the record heat wave continues.

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we begin tonight in israel, where anti—government protests overjudicial reform have rocked the nation. police fired water cannons into crowds and dragged protesters through the streets. the outrage erupted after israel's parliament passed a highly contentious judicial overhaul that limits the powers of the supreme court. critics say it's part of a wider plan from the right—wing government, led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu, to weaken thejudiciary system. thousands of israelis blocked highways across the country, calling the reform an affront to democracy. the measure passed 64—0 on monday in the knesset, israel's parliament, after last—ditch efforts to find a compromise fell apart. speaking to the country monday night, mr netanyau defended the reform. translation: today we carried | out a required democratic move. the move was aimed at restoring a degree of balance between authorities, which was here for 50 years. we passed the bill of reasonableness so the elected government c

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.s officials have confirmed the us government will send a cluster munitions package to ukraine to help its counter—offensive against russia. they're a controversial class of weapons that are banned by more than 100 countries, due to the risk of harm to civilians. but ukraine has been pressing for the weapons for months, amid an ammunition shortage. each cluster munitions carries large numbers of smaller bomblets, that are dispersed over a wide area. the concern is that some of those bomblets that fail to explode, posing a danger to civilians long after a conflict's ended. and for that reason, they're banned in 120 countries. human rights watch says both russian and ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions already, killing civilians and military personnel. so we know the risks of these cluster bombs but how do they work? the munition is fired, before the ammunition or bomblets from the cluster are released. the bomblets then fall to the ground, but not all fall to the ground, which h

i'm sumi somaskanda, thank you for watching.weather systems. so again, it's going to be one of sunshine and showers, but nowhere near as wet as what we had across the south of the country on tuesday. now, that's tuesday's area of low pressure clearing off into the near continent. this area of low pressure will enhance showers across scotland, northern ireland. but we're generally in between weather systems with lighter winds as well. now, it could still start wet and windy across the far east of east anglia first thing, but then that'll clear away. then it's a day of sunshine and showers. you could catch a shower pretty much anywhere, but i think the majority of them will be across scotland and northern ireland because the winds will be lighter. we should see more sunshine around, particularly across the south. we could be up to 20 or 21 celsius, otherwise it's the mid to high teens again in the north. so there is a threat of a passing shower or two for wimbledon. but wednesday's weather looks a lot better. we should get to see

i'm sumi somaskanda. welcome to our show.nation. police fired water cannons into crowds and dragged protesters through the streets. the outrage erupted after israel's parliament passed a highly contentious judicial overhaul that limits the powers of the supreme court. critics say it's part of a wider plan from the right—wing government, led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu, to weaken thejudiciary system. thousands of israelis blocked highways across the country, calling the reform an affront to democracy. the measure passed 64—0 on monday in the knesset, israel's parliament, after last—ditch efforts to find a compromise fell apart. speaking to the country monday night,

earlier, my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to sabrina singh, deputy press secretary at the us defencet. i want to talk to you about what came out of the summit. ukrainian president was clear he wanted to see a timetable to ukrainian membership. do you think these security guarantees are enough?— think these security guarantees are enough? look i think as the resident are enough? look i think as the president said _ are enough? look i think as the president said and _ are enough? look i think as the president said and you - are enough? look i think as the president said and you heard i president said and you heard from other world leaders who attended the nato summit. nato is united behind ukraine. so, while ukraine might not be a nato member it is getting the assistance and support it needs to continue on in its fight over its sovereign territory and territory that was invaded by russia and so it is going to continue to get the military supplies, the training that nato countries and allies and partners all around the world, including the united states, have been providing and so, whil

i'm sumi somaskanda. colleagues there. they will take over at the top of the next hour. thank you for watching. hello. if you're wondering whether any of the heat that's currently affecting southern europe might head our way, well, the answer is a resounding no, but that is good news, i think, when you look at these temperatures. these temperatures which we recorded in the south of europe on monday, are very dangerous indeed. and this heat shows no real sign of letting up. now, we are stuck in a very different type of weather. the jet stream diving to the south of us that's keeping us away from this hot air, instead keeping us in something cooler, and with low pressure in charge, it is quite unsettled. this weather system pushing its way in from the west right now is going to bring some very heavy rain for some through the day on tuesday. that rain through the morning across parts of northern ireland, then swinging across the irish sea into wales, the north of england, the south of scotland, southwest sco

i'm sumi somaskanda. welcome to our show.lobe, as record—breaking heatwaves continue and wildfires rage. scientists warn it could be the "new normal", thanks to climate change. here in the us, the city of phoenix, arizona broke live from washington, this is bbc news. as the record heat wave continues.

i'm sumi somaskanda. france is seeing a fourth night of unrest following the police killing of a teenager at a traffic stop earlier this week. tonight, the interior ministry is reporting hundreds of arrests. authorities in the country's second largest city, marseilles, say that rioters looted a gun store. rioting has also spilled over into belgium. some 16,000 officers are out on the streets and armoured vehicles have been deployed. they want to avoid more scenes like this from thursday, where a young protester died after falling from a roof. speaking earlier, president emmanuel macron condemned the violence and criticised social media, saying it had incited teenagers to get involved. one third of people arrested last night where young people. so it is the responsibility of parents to keep them at home. that is something which we all ought to do. well, in a bid to reach out to those taking part, the french national football team has put out a statement tonight. posted to twitter by captain kylian mbappe,

i'm sumi somaskanda. stay with us here on bbc news hello.rhaps even early october, with the strength of the wind. really not a pleasant picture at all. the weather systems are lining up in the atlantic. here's the satellite picture. multiple weather fronts heading in our direction. and that cloud has already spread across the uk. it has been raining and the rain will get heavier in some areas as we go through the morning and into saturday afternoon. now, over the next two or three days, we will have rather a lot of rain in some parts of the country where you see the deeper blue colours here, the darker blues. that's the rainfall accumulating to around 50 millimetres of rain or more. so about a month's worth of rainfall in a couple of days. so the forecast for the morning shows that rain across many parts of the country. the north of scotland, however, will have had clear skies and in fact, really chilly in the sheltered glens, maybe four or five degrees in rural spots. but for most of us, it's in the range of around 12—14. so a lot of cloud

i'm sumi somaskanda. it's great to have you with us. a former us marine who was wrongfully detained in russia, then freed in a prisoner swap last year, has been injured while fighting in ukraine. the bbc�*s partner cbs news confirmed that trevor reed suffered a laceration to an extremity and is being treated at a military facility in germany. in april of 2022, mr reed was freed by russia in a prisoner swap. he was convicted in russia of endangering the lives of two police officers while visiting moscow in 2019. reed is scheduled to begin studying at georgetown university next month. earlier, the us state department sought to distance the government from reed's actions. mr reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the us government and as i indicated we have been incredibly clear, warning american citizens and nationals not to travel to ukraine let alone participate in fighting there. meanwhile, the us announced a new aid package for ukraine totalling $400 million. the us department of defense said the aid including air defence

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start the show with a rare act of gun violence in new zealand just hours before one of the biggest sporting events in the world — the women's world cup. police say a gunman shot and killed two people and injured six others in auckland's central business district, the suspect was also killed. the shooting took place just three miles from the site where new zealand and norway are set to face off injust hours. speaking to the press, new zealand's police commissioner described the final moments of the shooting. at around 8am, a squad supported by a special tactics group located the offender inside a lift shaft where he had barricaded himself, and attempted to engage him, having secured the floors above and below. the offender fired at police, injuring an officer. shots were exchanged and the offender was later found deceased. tragically, police located two members of the public deceased on the lower levels of the building site. today's shooting comes just hours before the first women's

my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to german mp nils schmid.ment in 2021, it made very clear that china strategy was a top priority and this strategy has just been released. what took so long? well, it was the first time that the federal government proposed a whole of government approach on china, so it took some time to bring together all the relevant ministries. and we have even a more ambitious project, which is to encompass also municipal and state level actors and civil society. so, for the first time, this is a really comprehensive china strategy, and it's rather detailed. so, there are lots of positive recommendations in this strategy — that's why it took some time. 0k. so, you said there's lots of policy recommendations. how concretely do you think this could immediately change germany's ties with china? well, even before publishing this strategy, the government has already changed its approach on china. so, diversification, de—risking is already under way. and i believe that with the strong emphasis on coherent eu policy vis—a—vis chin

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.t hours before a pivotal summit, nato secretary general jens stoltenberg anounced a critical deal that will allow sweden tojoin nato. after negotiations with turkey, who along with hungary were the final holdouts to the country's bid, sweden will become the second nation to join the military coalition since russia invaded ukraine last february. nato's head, jens stoltenberg, said turkey and sweden addressed security concerns and as a result sweden amended its constitution, changed its laws, expanded its counter—terrorism operation against the the kurdistan workers' party , which is banned in turkey — and resumed arms exports to turkey. stoltenberg lauded the deal earlier. nato will also significantly step up its work in this area and i will established for the first time at nato, the pulse of special co—ordinator for counterterrorism. completing sweden's accession to nato is an historic step that benefits the security of all nato allies at this critical time. it makes us all stronger a

sumi somaskanda spoke with the mayor of san antonio about his city is dealing with the heat.the president's announcement today so can you tell me how concretely the measures announced will help your city?— your city? sure. thanks for havin: your city? sure. thanks for having me- _ your city? sure. thanks for having me. the _ your city? sure. thanks for having me. the message l your city? sure. thanks for . having me. the message from your city? sure. thanks for - having me. the message from the white house was one of urgency which is very welcome because the heatwave we are experiencing in this country and particularly here in san antonio, texas is of an urgent level so the measures announced today to help backstop efforts today to help backstop efforts to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, particularly outdoor workers, very welcome here in the state of texas. we are in a battle with the state, cities are in battle with the state to protect global control so that we can protect the basic right of workers and so, the president's reminder that federal law ove

a short time ago my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to matt miller, the us state department spokespersonmerica's commitment to ukraine. thank you forjoining us on the programme. i want ask about the nato summit that just took place in vilnius, with president biden saying before he left vilnius that the ukrainian president zelensky understands that whether or not he is in nato is not relevant now as long as he has the commitments and he is speaking about the security guarantees, as you know, agreed to at the summit. but ukraine has made very clear that it does want nato membership, certainly down the line, to prevent russia from attacking again, so can these security guarantees actually deter russia? let me start by saying we fully expect that ukraine will become a member of nato, and you saw nato make that very clear in their communique issued in this summit. the only question now is a matter of timing. we said we don't believe — for the united states's behalf - that it— should be a while ukraine remains at war with russia. that would put the united states instantly in a war with russia

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.hours before a pivotal summit, nato secretary general jens stoltenberg anounced a critical deal that will allow sweden tojoin nato. after negotiations with turkey, who was one of the final holdouts to the country's bid, sweden will become the second nation to join the military coalition since russia invaded ukraine last february. nato�*s head said turkey and sweden addressed security concerns and as a result sweden amended its constitution, changed its laws, expanded its counter—terrorism operation against the the kurdistan workers�* party, which is banned in turkey, and resumed arms exports to turkey. the swedish prime minister ulf kristersson called it "a good day for sweden." bbc�*s lewis vaughanjones is at the site of the summit with details of how the deal unfolded. it seems this nato summit here in vilnius will be getting under way after a very significant concrete achievement. jens stoltenberg, the head of nato, announcing that turkey had agreed sweden could start the process to

i'm sumi somaskanda. the mystery over the whereabouts of yevgeny prigozhin, the leader of the wagner paramilitary group, took an unexpected turn today. prigozhin led the attempted mutiny against the russian defence ministry last month — it ended after the leader of belarus, alexander lukashenko, claimed he negotiated an end to the standoff with putin by granting prigozhin exile in his country. we know prigozhin�*s privatejet had landed in minsk shortly after the rebellion — but we don't know whether he was on it. just over a week ago, lukashenko said prigozhin had arrived in belarus. on thursday, lukashenko said prigozhin is in russia. translation: as for prigozhin, he is in saint petersburg. - he may have gone to moscow this morning or somewhere else. he is not on the territory of belarus. lukashenko also said the question of whether the wagner units would relocate to belarus was still "in the balance", and would depend on the decisions taken by moscow and by wagner. he made those comments to a very smal

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. great to have you with us. france is seeing a fourth night of unrest, following the police killing of a teenager at a traffic stop earlier this week. tonight, the interior ministry is reporting hundreds of arrests, but says that overall violence is less than than the level seen on thusday. despite that, authorities in the country's second—largest city, marseille, say that a gun store was looted. rioting has also spilled over into belgium — some 16,000 officers are out on the streets and armoured vehicles have been deployed. these are scenes from paris earlier on friday, with fires burning in various parts of the capital. speaking earlier, president emmanuel macron condemned the violence and criticised social media, saying it had incited teenagers to get involved. translation: one third of all --eole translation: one third of all people arrested _ translation: one third of all people arrested last _ translation: one third of all people arrested last night - translation: one third of all| people arrested last nig

she gave her reaction to my colleague sumi somaskanda.at 6am and i saw my phone which blew up with messages asking me what my thoughts were on the arrest warrant. and i thought to myself, arrest warrant, why? apparently i have a bounty on my head, $1,000,000 hong kong dollar bounty, and the first second, i was shocked, but in the second second, i didn't really care much because i thought that is exactly the kind of thing that the hong kong government and the chinese communist party would do, which is intimidate people into not doing anything and silencing them. and that is why immediately ithought, ok, ishould make this a big thing definitely talk about the transnational repression going on here and the scare tactics as well as how the hong kong government is just trying to see by which point their hands will be smacked and told to back off. they have been trying to push that line lower and lower to see how far they can go to continue their human rights abuses internationally. so, in the end, i actually got more motivated because i think,

i'm sumi somaskanda.alestinian officials say around 3000 people have fled their homes in thejenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank as israeli forces launch a military operation. they have exchanged intense fire in the refugee camp and these are live pictures we are seeing from jenin right now where it is evening. 0fficials where it is evening. officials say the fighting has killed at least eight palestinians and injured more than 80. israel said it dealt a heavy blow to terrorist organisations but palestinians accused israel of war crimes. prime minister netanyahu said the operation will continue for as long as needed to restore calm and security. 0ur correspondent reports from jenin. the day ended as it had begun injenin — with battles raging. the israeli military had used a surprise drone strike in the early hours to target what it said was the headquarters of local militants. armed palestinians began fighting back from inside the city's crowded, decades—old refugee camp. hundreds of israeli soldi

hello, i'm sumi somaskanda.s treasury secretary janet yellen has left for beijing, a trip which will test the biden administration's ability to cool relations with the superpower. secretary yellen will aim to preserve healthy economic ties between the world's two largest economies. but, the two sides may clash over the biden administration's push to de—risk relations, which ultimately means relying less on chinese supply chains. live now to rupert wingfield hayes, bbc asia correspondent. what do you think that will look like in this visit? the expectations i keep quite low because relations between the two countries have low because relations between the two countries have been pretty bad, the worst for decades. we have seen secretary of state blinken go last month and nowjanet of state blinken go last month and now janet yellen of state blinken go last month and nowjanet yellen is of state blinken go last month and now janet yellen is going to beijing, these are trips that are designed to stabilise relations an

i am sumi somaskanda in washington, stay with us.ture not falling very far at all, so the start of saturday morning is going to be quite uncomfortable, quite muqqyt to be quite uncomfortable, quite muggy, temperatures in london at around 20 already, 68 fahrenheit. with that humidity, unfortunately with this weather front pushing in from the south—west, could see sharp thundery downpours through the start of the weekend. dry and settled and sunny start to many, but this weather front, sunny start to many, but this weatherfront, the brighter colours weather front, the brighter colours denote weatherfront, the brighter colours denote the intensity of the rain, hail not out of the question. it sweeps quickly north and east, so behind it, some sunshine, in actual fact across east anglia we could see temperatures into the high 205. still some showers quite torrential, large hail not out of the question, and certainly the potential for large hail not out of the question, and certainly the potentialfor a lot of rain in a short space of time.

of san antonio texas and phoenix, arizona to talk climate change on thursday and my colleague sumi somaskandathe city is coping with the heat.— coping with the heat. thanks forioining — coping with the heat. thanks forjoining us. _ coping with the heat. thanks forjoining us. you _ coping with the heat. thanks forjoining us. you are - coping with the heat. thanks forjoining us. you are part l coping with the heat. thanks| forjoining us. you are part of the president's announcement today. tell us how concrete the measures he announced will help your city. measures he announced will help our ci . ., ~ measures he announced will help our ci . ., ,, vi, measures he announced will help our ci . ., ,, ., measures he announced will help ourci . ., ,, ., i, your city. thank you for having me. the message _ your city. thank you for having me. the message from - your city. thank you for having me. the message from the - your city. thank you for having i me. the message from the white house _ me. the message from the white house was — me. the message from the white house was one of urgency which is very—

i'm sumi somaskanda, it's great to have you with us. us presidentjoe biden hosted sweden's prime minister, ulf kristersson, at the white house to hold critical talks about the economy, climate crisis, and his country's bid tojoin nato, which biden said he's "anxiously looking forward" to. the meeting comesjust days before biden heads to europe for next week's nato summit, during which ukraine will once again be front and center. we are stepping up to protect our shared democratic values including providing security and humanitarian assistance, a great, great deal as ukraine bravely defend themselves against russia's brutality. the un's nuclear watchdog says its inspectors need greater access to the russian—occupied zaporizhzhia plant in ukraine. they want to make sure explosives have not been planted there. it follows a claim by ukraine's president that objects that looked like explosive devices had been placed on the site. our correspondent gordon corera has more from kyiv. the warnings over what could happen at the nuclear power plant