will vernon, bbc news, columbia, south carolina.helena humphrey has been following events at the nikki haley campaign headquarters in charleston, south carolina. taking to the stage here in charleston, south carolina, nikki haley insisted that she is a woman of her word and that she will continue on in this race, going to michigan and then on to super tuesday, despite the fact there is no clear pathway ahead for her to secure the nomination. there is, however, for donald trump. in fact, he could have the nomination wrapped up by march. in his victory speech on saturday night, he did not even mention nikki haley by name. instead, he took aim at president biden. he said he wished that the general election was just around the corner. instead, he will have to wait until november. but certainly, his campaign is seeing a boost in momentum. what he did not say out loud is the fact that he is having to face some 91 criminal charges, some four criminal cases, the first one with regards to hush money payments, moving forward on the 25th of ma

will vernon, bbc news, washington. rlier with shashankjoshi, defence editor at the economist on how deterred iran—backed militia will be after this round of strikes. iran—backed militia in iraq realised that in killing these american troops injordan, they may have gone too far. now, of course, if you fire more than 150 times at american forces over three months, you run the risk of killing americans. but i think they realise they perhaps had overstepped the mark. so we may see these groups rein it in. we may see iran rein some of these groups in. but i think it really depends. and at the same time, iran having been exposed to this, particularly if there are successive waves of strikes, will also have to save face by responding in some fashion. i think that response will be fairly limited. i don't think there is a very high risk of a spiral of escalation right this minute. but it really depends on, as gordon said, what that next subsequent round of american strikes looks like. you talk about iran reining these groups in.

will vernon, bbc news, washington.ident biden addressed concerns about his memory, he made another slip—up. answering a question about the rafah gate in gaza, he referred to abdel fattah el—sisi — the president of egypt. but said he was the president of mexico. as you know, initially the president of mexico, el—sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. i talked to him, i convinced him to open the gate. cbs correspondent michael george told me what people are saying about the president's latest mistake. that could not have come at a worse time for the president, in the middle of a news conference defending his mental competency, his republican opponents are seizing on it and they will be playing that club quite a bit. the supporters of the president called at a slipup. what is your assessment of the response from the president of the special council report? at response from the president of the special council report?— special council report? at first . lance special council report

will vernon, bbc news, washington. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. ut cloud will thicken through the afternoon, and out towards the west it will already be raining by early afternoon, i think, already be raining by early afternoon, ithink, and if already be raining by early afternoon, i think, and if you look at the satellite picture you can see at the satellite picture you can see a weather front sweeping towards the uk, and that clearer weatherjust ahead of it. so i think some brightness along the east coast, may be around the midlands and the south—east. this is around for pm today, but out west you can see it is wet and on top of that it will be windy as well. where you see the green splodges, that's where the rain is heavier, for example around the lake district. south—western scotland, northern ireland and into the western isles. but around the north—east of scotland it is still relatively bright on saturday. temperatures in the north around ten, but closer to ia or 15 in the south. all of us are in for some rain tonight. it will be quite heavy,

will vernon reports from washington. gunshots ring out in central kansas city. streets packed with families and sports fans. police rushed to the scene as the injured are given first aid. guys, guys, guys. this reporter for local tv, about to go live as the chaos unfolds. eyewitnesses describe scenes of panic. all of a sudden, people started crushing forward. everybody started running. there was screaming. we didn't know what was happening. but this day and age, when people run, you run. people had gathered for this, a victory parade to celebrate the local american football team's win in the super bowl, america's biggest sporting event. over 800 police had been deployed to protect the crowds. the mayor of kansas city said that shootings like this were becoming all too common in america. i think that's something that all of us who are parents, who are just regular people living each day have to decide what we wish to do about it. parades, rallies, schools, movies. it seems like almost nothing is safe. the kansas city chiefs�* star player posted on social media th

from washington, here's will vernon. tonight, no criminal charges for president biden... tonight, no charges... the initial headlines seemed to be good news for the president. the special counsel recommended no charges be brought into his handling of official documents. a legal win for mr biden. but, politically, it was a devastating blow. the report made several claims over mr biden�*s mental competency. it described him as "a well—meaning elderly man with a poor memory". in any future trial, it said, it would be "difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him of a crime that requires a mental state of willfulness". last night, president biden hit back at those allegations. my memory is fine. my memory... take a look at what i've done since i've become president. none of you thought i could pass any of the things i got passed. how did that happen? you know, i guess ijust forgot what was going on. butjoe biden has made a series of embarrassing slip—ups that have raised questions about his fitness for office. at a recent event, he said the current president of f

will vernon, bbc news, washington.erns about his memory, he made another slip—up when referring to president el—sisi of egypt, describing him as the president of mexico. as you know, initially the president of mexico, el—sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. i talked to him, i convinced him to open the gate. and we'll get the latest from new york in the next 20 minutes or so here on bbc news. let's stay in the us, because the supreme court has heard arguments in a case — that could decide whether donald trump is eligible to run for president. it's considering a ruling by colorado's top court, that said mr trump could not run in that state's primary, because it considered his actions during the assault on the capitol on january the 6th 2021 as insurrection. speaking to the media after the hearing, mr trump argued that striking him from the ballot would create chaos across the us. you cannot allow a president to be out there without immunity. they don't have immunity, you don't

will vernon, thanks a lot.rst new president since the nordic countryjoined nato. in a close runoff election, voters chose alexander stubb of the center—right national coalition party to lead the country. he defeated the liberal green party member pekka haavisto, who conceded on sunday night. mr stubb is the country's former prime minister. he is a strong supporter of ukraine and holds unfriendly views about russia, which borders finland. the president—elect says finland will have no political relationship with its eastern neighbor. it was russia's invasion of ukraine that convinced finland to join the nato alliance, after decades of choosing not to join it to avoid angering russia. the pentagon says us secretary of defense lloyd austin has transferred his duties to his deputy, as he receives hospital treatment "for symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue". the 70—year—old underwent surgery for prostate cancer in december. he was later hospitalised for complications from the surgery. he was criticised for

will vernon, bbc news, columbia, south carolina.he centre on us politics at university college london, dr thomas gift, explained why he doesn't see a clear route to the nomination for nikki haley. donald trump has been framing himself from the very outset as the inevitable nominee for the republicans and he has been true to his word, essentially. these are thrashings, these are resounding victories for donald trump. really, at this point, nikki haley's only hope would be some type of spring surprise where donald trump's legal challenges catch up to him, either accusations surrounding the 14th amendment, which has gone to the supreme court, or his, you know, insurrection charge, or one of these 91 criminal indictments that he is facing. you know, she is hoping that this catches up to him but i don't see it happening. she has pointed to the fact she thinks the polls suggest she would do better against biden than trump would but she does not seem to be polling particularly well with republicans. how could she get more support from them

will vernon, bbc news, washington. won by the conservatives in 2019. the vote in kingswood in gloucestershire was triggered by chris skidmore's resignation as an mp, while the seat for the wellingborough by—election in northamptonshire is being contested after peter bone lost his seat following a recall petition. polls close at 10pm tonight. red bull's formula one team boss christian horner will make his first public appearance on thursday since a complaint of inappropriate behaviour was made against him. the 50—year—old is under investigation by red bull, but is expected to be at the launch of the team's new car. mr horner has denied the allegations. the welsh coastline is home to some of the largest seabird colonies in the world, including gulls and gannets. but a new study, by the rspb, has found that bird flu has had a devastating impact on the number of migrating species arriving in the uk. brendon williams reports. just two years ago, there were 34,500 northern gannet nests on this pembrokeshire rock, once the fo

will vernon, bbc news, washington.ernment say 16 were killed, among them civilians, 25 injured in the air strikes on pro—iran targets, the iraqi prime minister of the said in a statement strikes were an aggression against iraq's sovereignty and denied they were coordinated by the baghdad government with washington, calling their social lives, and saying the us military correlation in the region has become a reason for threatening security and stability in iraq and justification for involving a rack in regional and international conference, reported by reuters. iran said us attacks are another strategic mistake by the us which will escalate tensions in the region. also from rotors. —— reuters. our security correspondent gordon correra criticism to be expected, described as a violation of sovereignty by iraq, syria saying it is significant because these are targets associated with iranian—backed groups have been which hit in iraq and syria. you would expect these countries to criticise the us, criticise this action overn

will vernon, bbc news, washington.hard goodstein, who was the former adviser to bill and hillary clinton. auto policy and strategy in a moment altar, but are you worried about age, memory, those things we have just heard about inner peace? you know, joe just heard about inner peace? 7m. know, joe biden famously says do not compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. donald trump is not exactly someone who should be throwing stones. this is trump, a man who said that he beat 0bama in 2016, who feared getting into world war ii in the future, who mistook nikki haley and nancy pelosi. so this is not exactly somebody who is fit as a fiddle himself. look, there is a reason that democrats wantjoe biden to get re—elected, and that is because of how much he has accomplished, shockingly, with narrow margins in congress, and frankly the promise to do things in the future that trump would never do and what frankly reverse. it is interesting. — and what frankly reverse. it is interesting, i— and what frankly reverse.

that was will vernon. so how many nato allies routinely hit their 2% obligation?et's take a look. aside from the us, with its huge $860 billion military budget, only 11 out of 30 nato members achieved the 2% spending commitment. they include the uk, greece, and poland, which commits a record 4% of its gdp to defence — as well as a number of other central and eastern european states. but many long—time nato members, including some of its founders, such as france, germany, spain and italy, do not currently meet the threshold — causing concern on the other side of the atlantic. for more, i spoke to melinda haring from the atlantic council. nato is the security alliance that has held europe together and the west together for 75 years. and i think will's report was spot on. but it's not just these front—line eastern european countries that are starting to sweat. western europe is starting to sweat with more of this rhetoric coming out from donald trump. there is a legitimate point to be made, though, isn't there, when we see that only 11 out of 31 allies are spending t

thank. you very much indeed, will vernon.yd austin has said the following. today, the militaries of the united states and the uk, support also from australia, bahrain, canada, denmark, the netherlands and new zealand conducted additional strikes against military targets in houthi —controlled areas of yemen. these strikes intended to further distract and degrade the capabilities of the iranian backed houthi militia. this of course aimed at compromising their ability to attack shipping in specifically the red sea. we will keep you up—to—date with anything more we know about those strikes. earlier, the united states hit more than 85 targets in iraq and syria, which it says had links to iran. white house national security spokesmanjohn kirby said three facilities were hit in iraq and four were hit in syria. the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struck. an iraqi government spokesperson, bassem al—awadi, says the us hit locations in the iraqi towns of akashat and al-qaim.

will vernon, bbc news, washington.as lisa lopez—galvan — she's a local radio dj. a kansas city radio host dana wright spoke to the bbc and paid tribute to lisa lopez—galvan. she is a beloved member of our community and i spoke with one of her friends today who is absolutely heartbroken. her cousin actually called into our programme when she was in critical condition and was trying to explain just the disbelief that this beloved member of our community and who djs all of the weddings, she isjust a huge light and beautiful person in our community, that is really well—known for all of the weddings. and he called in when she was in critical condition. and about an hour later called in again to share the news with us live on our programme that she had in fact passed away at the hospital. and she, like everyone else, joined the 800,000, 900,000 others going down just to have a great time and celebrate. this was a day of celebration. and the fact that this happened between what appears to be two groups of idiots who don't und

will vernon, thank you for all of that. thank you forjoining us.been reaction from a number of world leaders, many of them learning of the news while at a key security conference in munich. the british government said it has summoned representatives of the russian embassy to make clear it held russian authorities "fully responsible" for the death of navalny. make no mistake — putin is responsible for navalny�*s death. putin is responsible. what has happened to not only is yet more proof of putin's brutality. —— what has happened to navalny is yet more proof of putin's brutality. we should hold putin accountable for this and we should be under no doubt about the regime in russia. russia has serious . questions to answer. alexei navalny has been i a strong voice for freedom, for democracy for many yearsl and nato and nato allies has — have called for his immediate release for a long time. - the world has lost a freedom fighter in alexei navalny. we will honour his name. and in his name, we will stand up for democracy and for our values. translation:

will vernon, bbc news, washington.orrespondent charlotte writght explained what message the prime minister was trying to send to his party. well, i think he's trying to say, "stick with me." it was a bruising day yesterday for the conservatives. two big losses in those by—elections in wellingborough and kingswood. labour won both taking the seats off the tories. and many conservative mps are feeling despondent at the very least about it, about their experience and about their chances at the next election, which we know is due later this year. so rishi sunak took to the telegraph, which is a newspaper that is read by a lot of conservative party members, activists, and crucially, mps to say, "stick with me, stick with my plan." and he's calling for the "conservative family", as he calls it, to come together and back his plan. it's clearly a message directly to conservative party members, but also his own mps in a week when, you know, they've been having a pretty tricky time. it seems like a bit of a kind of rallying cry

will vernon, bbc news, washington. peri, who was senior speech writer for president barack obama. thanks so much forjoining us on the programme, we will come to strategy in a moment, but would you agree that the special counsel's report, in reference to the present�*s memory, is really damaging for him? well, i don't think that the report is much more than a political hit job by a trump appointee, but there is no doubt that it is problematic for the campaign is no doubt that it is problematic forthe campaign and is no doubt that it is problematic for the campaign and for president biden, because it editorialise as all kinds of things about his mental acuity and his memory which may or may not be true, and it does it in a way which was pretty shocking, i think, to the white house and the american people. that is not thejob of the special prosecutor, to actually do any of that it of the special prosecutor, to actually do any of that it may not be his particular _ actually do any of that it may not be his particularjob. .

will vernon, bbc news, washington.he moon. if it goes to plan in a week's time, it will be the first american moon landing in more than 50 years. the mission is part of nasa's artemis campaign, which aims to put humans back on the moon by the end of the decade. our science correspondent pallab ghosh reports. fuelled up and ready for launch. on board the odysseus spacecraft. three, two, one, ignition... ..and liftoff. go spacex, go im—1 and the odysseus lunar lander. lighting up the night sky and on its way to the moon. you can see the blast from the rocket�*s powerful first stage, as it sends it hurtling away from earth's gravity. inside the rocket, separation of the first stage, itsjob now done. now, the protective nose cone peels away, the legs of the lander now in clear view. at the control centre, staff watch nervously at the next critical stage. im—1 odysseus lunar lander, separation confirmed. the start of an eight dayjourney to the lunar surface. beautiful launch, so exciting. and its mission. characterising the

will vernon has the latest.

will vernon reports from south carolina. # proud to be an american...#. already got his sights set on the presidential election in november. we're going to be up here on november 5th and we're going to look atjoe biden, and we're going to look him right in the eye — he's destroying our country — and we're going to say, "joe, you're fire, get out. get out, joe, you're fired." this is yet another resounding win for donald trump, who is steam—rolling towards victory in this primary contest. here in south carolina, mr trump was looking to bolster his position as the undisputed, unassailable frontrunner in this race. and that's exactly what he's done. y'all are a rowdy bunch. cheering. despite trailing trump by a wide margin, nikki haley was defiant, vowing to continue her campaign. there are huge numbers of voters in our republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative. i said earlier this week that no matter what happens in south carolina, i would continue to run for president. i'm a woman of my word. i think that she's a great proponent for wome

we will bring in will vernon who spent many years reporting on russia and navalny.ecognized some of the images of his early rallies where you were there as well. tell us about his rise as such a prominent opposition figure. reporter: my colleagues and i were there throughout all of the mainstream events really. he had annexed ordinary political career. back in 2011, we were on one of the main squares in moscow. 100,000 people came out to posttest. that's where alexei navalny rose to prominence. he made a series of speeches that were well received. calling vladimir putin's political party the party of crooks and thieves. we were there at many of his course case did -- cases. he was arrested on embezzlement charges, the first in the long run of brushes with the law. we were also there when his team traveled across russia, opening a network of political offices after alexei navalny launched a presidential bid in 2016. he was later barred from the 2018 presidential election. we were there in moscow when he returned to russia after being poisoned. he returned in 2021. as

live now to washington, we can speak to the bbc�*s will vernon. en to leave for his latest middle east tour shortly. what does he hope to achieve? , , , achieve? this will be his fifth trip to the middle — achieve? this will be his fifth trip to the middle east _ achieve? this will be his fifth trip to the middle east since - achieve? this will be his fifth trip to the middle east since the - achieve? this will be his fifth trip to the middle east since the warl achieve? this will be his fifth trip. to the middle east since the war in gaza began. he has a lot on his plate. you have to do a bit of a between on the one hand the us' ongoing military action and that means what was launched on friday when we saw those white states strikes against a number of iranians link targets in iraq and syria, so he will have to balance that with ongoing, crucial negotiations that could result in some sort of humanitarian pause, some pause in fighting in gaza, perhaps the release of dozens of hostages. and he will also, say the americans, be pressing for better aid

will vernon, bbc news. columbia, south carolina. from south carolina. helena, is there now any doubt that donald trump will be the republican party's choice? look, let's put it this way. going into this primary, nikki haley's chances of actually winning appeared to be very slim. now, off the back of her fourth consecutive loss to donald trump, i think it is fair to say that chances of her nomination appear to be essentially razor thin, taking to the stage, she vowed nevertheless to plough on. she said she is a woman of her word and that she is a woman of her word and that she will go on in these races in michigan, supertuesday as she will go on in these races in michigan, super tuesday as well where we will see 16 primary races taking place. mathematically speaking, there is now the chance at donald trump, if he does well on super tuesday, could essentially have clinched this nomination by march instead, and i think it is there to say that taking a listen to donald trump's victory speech on saturday night, he is ready acting as if h

will vernon in washington.ro—palestinian protest. it was the first major demonstration in the uk capital since the un's international court ofjustice directed israel to take every measure possible to avoid genocide, while also ensuring humanitarian aid in gaza. a statement from more than 800 serving officials in the us and europe warns that their own governments' policies on the israel—gaza war could amount to "grave violations of international law". the transatlantic statement — which you can see here — says their administrations risk being complicit in "one of the worst human catastrophes of this century", but that their expert advice has been sidelined. the hamas—run health ministry says at least 27,238 palestinians have been killed since october the 7th and 66,452 injured by israeli strikes and military actions in the strip. the death toll has increased by 107 in the past day, with 165 injured. now it's time for a look at today's sport with karthi. thank you very much. a fascinating day all round. we start

up from the iraqi political powers after their meeting tomorrow. 0ur north america correspondent will vernonn. i asked him what the us government makes of the response it received to its attacks. i think these are the responses that washington would've expected. remember, this retaliation was in response to something that happened nearly one week ago, last sunday was when the drone was smashed into the us base injordan and killing three service members and wounding dozens of others. the us released several warnings and has been talking openly about how it will respond and even when, saying it will be the next few days be spread over several days there was really no surprise when this happened and even mutterings here that perhaps, president biden waited too long and there was too much warnings and telegraphing when you broadcast the plans ahead of carrying them out. there's been especially from republicans that this took too long, republicans often criticised president biden for being too soft on iran, former president donald trump who's expected to be the republican presidential nominee, he

. | live now to our north america correspondent will vernon what do you think washington is making ofaking of this receiving its attacks in the region?— making of this receiving its attacks in the region? i think these are the re5ponses that _ in the region? i think these are the responses that washington - in the region? i think these are the. responses that washington would've expected. this retaliation was in response to something that happened nearly one week ago last sunday was when the drone was smashed into the us base injordan and killing three service and wounding dozens of others. the us released several warnings and has been talking openly about how it will respond and even win, signal butte to the next few days be spread over several days there was really no surprise when this happened and even mutterings here that perhaps, president biden waited too long and there is too much warnings and telegraphing when the broadcasted its plans ahead of carrying them out. there's been especially from republicans that this took too long republicans often criticised president biden for

our correspondent will vernon spent many years reporting on russia and alexei navalny, and he told usalexei navalny was a very engaging man. he was an excellent public speaker. he was very funny. we saw he didn't lose his sense of humour right despite all that was thrown at him. he was a very courageous man, and the decision to return to russia in 2021 was an incredibly courageous thing to do. he knew that he almost certainly would be arrested, but he also was very good at persuading people. i remember a few years ago we were on the campaign trail with mr navalny, believe it or not, back in 2016. we were at one of his campaign hq in the ural mountains region and all of a sudden, there was this banging at the door and a kind of gaggle of pro—kremlin grannies had turned up, banging on the door, calling alexei navalny all kinds of names. and he actually asked for the door to be open so they could be let in and he could talk to them. and he managed to calm them down and even convince them of his point of view. he was very good with people, very good at persuading. maria snegovaya is a sen

from washington, here's will vernon.stein, the former adviser to bill and hillary clinton. i began by asking him if he was concerned about president biden's age and memory. joe biden famously says, "don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." donald trump is not exactly someone who should be throwing stones. this is trump, a man who said that he beat 0bama in 2016, who feared getting into world war two in the future, who mistook nikki haley and nancy pelosi. so this is not exactly somebody who is fit as a fiddle himself. look, there's a reason the democrats wantjoe biden to get re—elected, and that's because how much he's accomplished shockingly with narrow, narrow margins in congress and frankly, the promise. to do things in the future that trump would never do and frankly would reverse. it's interesting, because i ask you a question about biden. you talk about trump. withjoe biden, he couldn't remember when he was vice president. he couldn't remember the year his son had died. he couldn't remember

you very much for coming on the program- _ let's get more from our correspondent in washington will vernonough your experiences. ij�*i colleagues talk us through your experiences. ij�*i1: colleagues and talk us through your experiences. m1 colleagues and i in talk us through your experiences. ij�*i1: colleagues and i in moscow talk us through your experiences. ii1: colleagues and i in moscow covered almost all of the momentous and extraordinary events in alexei navalny�*s sc career going right back to 2011, that was when they were a antigovernment protest in moscow of 200,000 people. that's where alexei navalny really made his name. where he really rose to national prominence before he was in the anti—corruption blogger. he made a series of speeches on that square. that's where he coined the term of the party of crooks and thieves, that's what he called vladimir putin is a political party, united russia. after that my colleagues and i covered his court cases because he was first arrested for embezzlement in 2013. that was the first of many run—ins with the law. arrest, imprisonment, court

the perspective from baghdad. 0ur north america correspondent will vernon is following the story fromeceived to its attacks. there has been criticism, especially from republicans, that this took too long. republicans often criticise president biden for being too soft on iran. former president donald trump, who's expected to be the republican presidential nominee, he often criticises biden over iran, says this would never have happened on his watch. so, you know, there has been criticism, but we'll have to see what further action is taken by the us in the next few days. john kirby and other officials have said that we should expect more of these strikes. meanwhile, antony blinken is on a diplomatic mission to the region for the next few days. what do you think he hopes to achieve? that's right. tomorrow, the us secretary of state is on another middle eastern diplomatic tour. he'll be meeting key regional leaders. and the main kind of thrust of that visit is he will be discussing a potential pause in fighting in gaza, and perhaps the release of dozens of hostages. now, these are very de

was 15 at the time of the shooting and is serving life in prison. 0ur north america correspondent will vernon 15 years old when he shot dead four of his fellow students and wounded seven others. just four days before the shooting he had been given a handgun by his parents as a present, a nine millimetre weapon, which became the murder weapon. testifying in court, jennifer crumbley said it was her husband that purchased the handgun and it was intended for use at a local shooting range. prosecutors allege that jennifer crumbley ignored her son's downhill spiral into serious mental health problems. 0n the morning of the shooting her and her husband got called into the school after some concerning drawings were discovered. there they were told that their son required counselling, but they didn't take him home and they took no action. of course, he went on to carry out that mass killing. prosecutors also say that jennifer crumbley did nothing when her son asked for help with his mental health problems. he told her that he saw demons in the house. she said in court that she thought he was just mess

our correspondent will vernon spent many years reporting on russia and alexei navalny, and hejoined meudio. we saw these dramatic images of when alexei navalny returned to russia, could you tell us about that iconic moment? ml; that iconic moment? my colleagues _ that iconic moment? my colleagues and - that iconic moment? my colleagues and i - that iconic moment? iji colleagues and i were that iconic moment? m colleagues and i were in that iconic moment? m1 colleagues and i were in moscow airports and he'd been recovering from a poisoning in germany. and they were overwhelming the arrivals hall. his plane was diverted to another airport so the whole plane of people sent to another part of moscow and it soon became clear to us, and we were left there scratching your head, but we soon realise why they'd done this because as soon as alexei navalny got off the plane he was arrested at passport control and he remained in custody from then on. but i suspect the authorities had got nervous, moving him from the airport. . moving him from the airport. , you met him, of course, recovering. what

will vernon reports from washington.

will vernon, bbc news, washington.fe crime, following several fatal stabbings in recent weeks. 16—year—old darrien williams has been named as the latest victim — he died on wednesday evening. our reporter, dickon hooper has more. tributes to 16—year—old darrien williams, who died after being stabbed in bristol. two teenagers, boys aged 15, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. forensics are still at the park. we saw fresh such as taking place, police activity clear for everyone to see. the chosen area. _ clear for everyone to see. tie: chosen area, dedicated clear for everyone to see. tte: chosen area, dedicated officers protected to deliver some enforcement and disruption, intelligence capacity building as well, so we can look to identify who is out there involved in the criminality, and also some investigative capacity. so when we bring people in, we have the highest quality investigation to deliver the bestjustice outcomes.— quality investigation to deliver the bestjustice outcomes. best 'ustice outcomes. polic

our correspondent will vernon is in washington.he reaction to this from the white house. the white house releasing a statement earlier calling these comments appalling and unhinged, and accusing mr trump of encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes. we have heard this kind of thing from mr trump before, he's a notorious sceptic of nato and other international alliances. whilst in office, he was criticised for heaping praise on vladimir putin, for calling nato obsolete and saying it was an unnecessary strain on america's resources. but we should remember, these comments were made at a campaign rally. this was mr trump trying to portray himself as a tough international statesman, standing up for american interests. a lot of his supporters, that's what they want to hear, that will appeal to them, that message. but his words will be very worrying for a lot of european allies, especially those on nato's eastern flank. they are the ones most vulnerable to russian aggression. of course, the war continuing in ukraine

will vernon, bbc news, washington.ng early american they need to deliver give ukraine to win i hope the us are listening. h0 give ukraine to win i hope the us are listening-— give ukraine to win i hope the us are listening. no matter how much euro -e are listening. no matter how much europe increases _ are listening. no matter how much europe increases the _ are listening. no matter how much europe increases the defence - europe increases the defence production, the financial aid. the united states is the fulcrum inside and outside of nato. it will be hard for them taking a leadership role. i was on the hill weeks ago and i was really horrified by how forgotten the threat of putin. this is the man responsible for the novichok attacks taken against many of his chemical attacks, and the man who invaded ukraine only a few weeks ago. we have to stand resolute and republicans have to remember that if they hope to defeat one of their biggest enemies in the world without a single american life lost. the ukrainians are almost

will vernon, bbc news, washington.have more now we have more on now we have more on bereaved families having meetings today after a high—profile trial. the families of grace o'malley—kumar, barnaby webber and ian coates, who were killed in nottingham last year, will meet the cps inspectorate and the care quality commission later. it is part of two ongoing reviews into their killer, valdo calocane�*s sentencing to a high security hospital and his contact with mental health services. a warning that this report contains flashing images. killed on their way home last summer after a night out. students grace o'malley—kumar and barnaby webber were attacked by valdo calocane, who then stabbed to death ian coates, a school caretaker. calocane stole his van and used it to hit three pedestrians. the families of those who died have spoken of their loss to bbc breakfast. grace is just frozen as a 19—year—old. her life is just cut short and she's sort of just stopped. our biggest fear was our little girl driving up and down the mot

let's get more on the sanctions announced by the us from will vernon in washington dc...antial package of sanctions and over 500 individuals and entities included in those, including those linked to the russian military industrial complex, the banking sector and key among those are targeting key russian payment systems and created when russia first invaded ukraine and a large scale western sanctions and that payment system was expanded in march 2022 when visa and mastercard ceased operations in russia. third party and that is important because russia is now the most sanctioned economy in the world it is difficult to find any key sectors of the economy or parts of the military that are not already under western sanctions because of that, russia got very good at evading sanctions, finding workarounds and loopholes in one of those ways is importing key western goods via a third country such as china. ukrainian officials publish details of western technology, microchips and semiconductors all made in the us and europe and they have found inside russian military drones they sh

our north america correspondent will vernon has more from washington. attacks on us troops must stop. escalation means ensuring you don't ratchet up tensions too far in a very volatile region. now, remember also it is an election year here. the election campaign is shaping up to be particularly polarising and closely fought, so any decision president biden takes is under even more scrutiny than usual. this iran issue is one of six that former president donald trump uses to beatjoe biden. we assume mr trump will be the republican nominee for that election in november. and donald trump saysjoe biden is too soft on iran and something like this would never have happened on his watch and many republicans agree with him on that. added to all that, tomorrow, the us secretary of state antony blinken is due to depart on another diplomatic tour around the middle east. he will be taking part during that trip in delicate negotiations on a potential ceasefire deal for gaza. some sort of agreement whereby there is a pause in fighting and perhaps dozens of hostages co

will vernon, bbc news, washington.ns today, in seats which were won by the conservatives in 2019. a vote in kingswood in gloucestershire was triggered by chris skidmore�*s resignation as an mp, while the wellingborough by—election in northamptonshire comes after peter bone lost his seat after a recall petition. polls open at 7am and close at 10pm tonight. the number of international students applying for uk university undergraduate courses has risen for the second year in a row. the university admissions service, ucas, says almost 116,000 foreign students want places from september — an increase of 0.7% on last year. a memorial stone honouring the antarctic explorer, sir ernest shackleton, is to be dedicated at westminster abbey today. he is best known for saving the lives of his crew aftertheirship, endurance, became stuck in ice before sinking in 1915. the shipwreck was discovered in 2022. ukraine says it's destroyed another russian warship off the coast of occupied crimea. powerful explosions were heard around the b