the british government launches a legal challenge to try to avoid handing over boris johnson's full whatsapp messages to the covid inquiry. it's 7 in the morning in singapore, and 2am in moldova where a summit of european leaders to discuss the war in ukraine has been taking place. moldova neighbours ukraine to the west — so it's become increasingly important strategically, following the russian invasion. it's a former soviet republic and it's remained economically dependent on moscow. it's also struggled for years with pro—russian rebels.

moldova's president said hosting the summit — just 20km from ukraine's border, was a show of solidarity with kyiv. president zelensky has been at the gathering — where he emphasised once again that ukraine should be allowed to join both nato and the eu urgently. every european country that borders russia and that does not want russia to tear it apart, should be a full member of the eu and nato. and there are only two alternatives to this either an open war or creeping russian occupation. our correspondentjenny hill is in kishi—no for us. today was largely about symbolism, as is often the case with this kind of summit. it's no accident that those european leaders chose to meet

here in moldova. of all of ukraine's neighbours, it arguably has the most reason to feel vulnerable in the wake of vladimir putin's full scale invasion of ukraine. moldova is a former soviet state. it's wedged between ukraine and the eu. for many years it's been heavily dependent on moscow for fuel, forfinance, and whilst its government leans heavily to the west, it's desperate tojoin the eu. there is a region, transnistria, which is in the hands of pro—russian separatists. there are still russian troops there. it's a hangover from the soviet era and the way in which it ended in this part of the world. so for those european leaders who gathered in that rural castle today was about sending a message to the kremlin. they're saying not only are we continuing to support ukraine, we're also supporting moldova, but what moldova wants is to be in the eu. and we've heard the country's president once again saying she really hopes accession talks can begin this year. it already has candidate status. ukraine, too, wants that kind

of security guarantee. it wants to be in the eu. it also wants to be in naito. it also wants to be in nato. and we heard today that despite the warm words of support from various leaders, what neither moldova nor ukraine are getting right now are those guarantees. and without those security guarantees, the ukrainian president said there can be no lasting peace. russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, is in south africa ahead of a summit of major economies — the so—called brics group — in august. south africa is coming under increasing pressure whether president putin will be allowed to attend that meeting after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him over war crimes in ukraine. the name — brics comes from the initials of the five key member states — brazil, russia, india, china and south africa. due to

the presence of china and india in particular, they represent 43% of the world's population, with more than three and a quarter billion people living in those five countries. together they now account for a slightly larger share of the world's economy than the g7 group of nations which includes the uk and united states — and that's set to be more than half of the world's gdp by 2030. our africa correspondent andrew harding has this report from cape town. at the southern tip of africa today, russia is hard at work assembling allies. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, joining his chinese, indian, brazilian and south african counterparts. a growing alliance seeking to challenge the west on many issues, including the war in ukraine. mr lavrov lashed out at a "selfish west", accusing it of exploiting and imposing its will on poorer nations.

stop putin, stop the war! on the seashore outside the venue, a small group of ukrainians, protesting against russia's invasion of their country. we want minister lavrov to immediately stop an unjust and unprovoked war. to stop killing civilians, to stop killing our children. russian officials watch from their balcony. for russia, the point of all this is to show that it's not isolated. yes, the west may be united against it because of ukraine but huge countries like india, like china are still supporting moscow, and large parts of africa too are at least trying to sit on the fence. officially, south africa is neutral on ukraine butjust down the road from today's gathering, a naval base from where its claimed weapons were recently shipped to russia, an act allegedly caught on this amateur video. we are confident that weapons

were loaded onto that vessel and i would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion. south african officials insist that's not true but they have an even bigger headache now. vladimir putin, wanted by the international criminal court, is due to come here in august for a summit meeting. so if putin comes here, what will it achieve for him? yet another propaganda coup. "i'm strong, i'm not alone and the west is helpless to stop me going where i want." minister, andrew harding from bbc. if president putin coming here in august, will you arrest him? yes or no? the south african government is currently looking at what the various legal options are. but it sounds to a lot of people like a lot of fudge. the answer is clear cut, your obligations are to arrest him. the obligations are clear but the answer is not fudged. the answer is the president

will indicate what the final position of south africa is. privately though, officials here are hoping for a deal that avoids a putin visit and spares south africa's struggling economy from a furious western backlash. andrew harding, bbc news, cape town. in the uk, there's an escalating legal battle between prime minister's rishi sunak�*s government and the independent public inquiry into the handling of the covid pandemic. government officials in the cabinet office missed a deadline to hand over all of borisjohnson�*s private messages and papers to the inquiry. what's more, the government is now launching a legal challenge, arguing that some of the material is not relevant to the inquiry�*s work. our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. the covid pandemic had a huge and lasting impact. now a public inquiry is examining what happened,

the decisions taken in government that affected so many lives. it's about learning lessons in case it happens again, but already there's a row over what exactly the inquiry should be allowed to see. the chair, baroness hallett, wants borisjohnson�*s notes and his whatsapps with other government figures in full... welcome everyone, including those attending remotely... ..so she can decide what matters to her work. but at the heart of government the cabinet office is refusing, saying some of the material isn't relevant to the pandemic, like personal whatsapps, and they should be kept private. this was the prime minister earlier. the government has cooperated thoroughly with the inquiry today, handing over tens of thousands of documents and we will continue to comply, of course with the law, and cooperate with the inquiry. we are confident in our position but are carefully considering next steps. then four o'clock came, the deadline for the government's response to the inquiry�*s demands, then a letter from the

cabinet office sticking to its position. it's not handing over unredacted material. in fact, they're taking the matter to court. it said... it went on to say... so, what is the crux of their argument? any material, you know, . frank advice from officials, confidential discussions - between cabinet ministers, might make it out into - the public domain and they say that that's damaging _ for the business of government. from the inquiry's point of view, the problem i they've got is if they say. the government can decide what's relevant, then what's to stop everyone deciding i what they send to the inquiry, at which point it undermines. their ability to say that - they're doing a thoroughjob. borisjohnson has added pressure, saying the government should pass everything

to the inquiry in full, even offering to himself. but it's emerged he hasn't yet handed over his phone from the crucial first year of the pandemic. he says he will if security concerns are addressed. labour says the government should trust the inquiry with the material. i think that britain deserves to know the truth. deserves to know they have a prime minister that can be trusted by thejudges because if rishi sunak the prime minister doesn't trust one of our nation's most senior judges, then they'll be asking themselves how can we trust him? so the row continues and now seems headed for court, while many of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic just want answers. one of the uk's best known tv presenters, phillip schofield, has told the bbc he is not a groomer. the former host of the tv show — �*this morning' left itv last

week after admitting a relationship with a younger male colleague and lying to cover it up. the broadcaster has faced questions about what it knew and when — and the head of itv will be questioned by mps in two weeks�* time. phillip schofield was speaking to the bbc�*s amol rajan. you met someone who's a child. you were in a position of power over them. you used your power eventually to give them something they craved, which is a shot at a job in the media. you nurtured a relationship, and then that relationship became sexual. they might ask, what's the difference between that and grooming? well, i would say that your initial list of things was not right anyway. tell me why. because it was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent twitter follow of which i follow 11,400 people. and and then it was a completely innocent, backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers.

i mean, you do that. what — what's wrong with that? what's wrong with talking to someone no matter what age they are? does that mean that if — if you are if you're following anyone on twitter that you absolutely don't talk to anybody else or you don't give advice? so i disagree with the summation that you just gave because that does paint a very grave picture. in which case, why do you say it was unwise? because you're clearly sensitive to the power differential and you're clearly mindful of the dangers of abuse of power. the brief communications backwards and forwards up to the point that that he came to work on this morning, i think wasjust chat. what was unwise was the fact that it happened. and that was a very, very grave error. now, it was consensual. but it was my fault. defence ministers from around the world will be

gathering at the shangri—la hotel here in singapore this friday to attend asia's biggest annual security summit. the tense relationship between the us and china is expected to take centre stage. earlier this week, washington accused beijing of an "unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre" near a us surveillance aircraft. and in the buildup to the summit, china turned down an invitation for its minister of defense to meet with us secretary of defence, lloyd austin. monica miller has the details. top military brass from more than a dozen countries are meeting here in singapore to discuss critical security issues. and on top of the agenda is the rising tension between ukraine and russia as members of nato's are expected to attend. the us and china will be represented by defence ministers. on saturday, lloyd austin is expected to talk about us security issues in indo—pacific. and on sunday, lee xiang fu will give a speech about china's new security initiatives.

the relationship between the two countries is in a precarious spot. however, presidentjoe biden has predicted that there may be a thaw in the tension with beijing. at the g7 summit two weeks ago, members had decided to change their wording from decoupling to de—risking when they talk about china. trade ministers met one on one when they met in the united states last week. this was after months of no conversations taking place on a high level after the downing of a chinese surveillance balloon in the united states. if tensions continue to thaw, there is hope the two leaders may meet if they attend the 620 summit in india or the apec summit in san francisco in november. we can now speak to richard betts who is a senior fellow for national security studies at the council on foreign relations. thank you forjoining us.

lloyd austin is making another trip to asia — are we seeing a growing importance of asia to washington? that importance has been growing for some time and there is a difference between the temporary priority that the war in ukraine is making in washington and the recognition that the long—term priority is our relations in asia both economic and security. and the problem of balancing the interests and cooperation for economic reasons with the interests in a more steadfast policy towards china for security reasons is the prime issue for the american foreign policy beyond ukraine. the us china tensions _ policy beyond ukraine. the us china tensions remain - policy beyond ukraine. the us china tensions remain very - policy beyond ukraine. the us| china tensions remain very key to this summit. at china's defence secretary, li shangfu choosing not to meet with the us counterpart this weekend, what did you make of that? is a

wa of what did you make of that? is a way of probably _ what did you make of that? is —. way of probably trying to what did you make of that? is 5. way of probably trying to get our attention and to convince the americans that we cannot take for granted relations, diplomatic or otherwise on our terms of the unites states is always had a great is interest in military to military context in military to military context in order to prevent the chances of accidental engagements between our forces of accidental engagements between ourforces in of accidental engagements between our forces in the chinese have never been as interested in that. seeing more questionable motives for the united states in that. this is a way of telling the americans that we just cannot get our way on everything. flan that we just cannot get our way on everything-— on everything. can you tell me our on everything. can you tell me your view— on everything. can you tell me your view on — on everything. can you tell me your view on what _ on everything. can you tell me your view on what is _ on everything. can you tell me| your view on what is happening in taiwan, china's increasingly assertive if you like. is that the main topic at the moment when it comes to this relationship with china for washington? it relationship with china for washington?— relationship with china for washington? it is the main problem- _ washington? it is the main problem. because - washington? it is the main problem. because both - washington? it is the main - problem. because both countries have an interest in avoiding direct conflict. certainly in avoiding war. for many obvious reasons. but there is really no

clear or obvious solution to the taiwan problem. and it has not been a crucial problem so far because until recently china was content to leave it on the back burner. to not make it a high priority. but that is changing. and now the united states is having to face the problem that the strategy for dealing with this is very difficult to put together given the really peculiar situation that taiwan occupies. it is not an independent state, but still supposedly subject to american protection. supposedly sub'ect to american rotection. �* ., protection. another geopolitical - protection. another geopolitical tension j protection. another i geopolitical tension in protection. another - geopolitical tension in the region is of course north korea and lloyd austin talked about it when he was in tokyo earlier. can you tell us what the us can do about this north korean issue with its allies here in asia? i

korean issue with its allies here in asia?— korean issue with its allies here in asia? i think the main roblem here in asia? i think the main problem is — here in asia? i think the main problem is to _ here in asia? i think the main problem is to reassure - here in asia? i think the main problem is to reassure alliesl problem is to reassure allies that the long—standing american commitments, especially in korea remain. and that the evidence we give of that, the deployment of significant american forces in korea, the allocation of a lot of our defence resources to that problem has not changed. the problem has not changed. the problem is that north korea is becoming more difficult to deal with because the nuclear weapons combined with the sort of wild and crazy nature of the north korean regime is putting more pressure on those who worry about any doubts that local countries may have about the american role.— local countries may have about the american role. thank you so much forjoining _ the american role. thank you so much forjoining us, _ the american role. thank you so much forjoining us, richard. - around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you different stories

from across the uk. nasa want to return to the moon in the near future. they've heard about the famous potholes of orpington and decided that some of the potholes have a remarkable resemblance to moon craters. orpington resident tim webb has found a creative way to highlight the issue of potholes. he's turning them into art using the help of some bath—time friends in an attempt to speed up repairs. i post it on various facebook groups, and i'm amazed at the number of likes i get, sometimes into the hundreds. and people seem to enjoy and understand my sense of humour. bromley council says harsh winter conditions has meant the number of repairjobs has gone up, but it is investing more money into solving the problem. i have used the official channels, and because i'd been doing this for a while and some of the potholes hadn't been resolved, i decided to try a slightly different approach, which is why i went down this route in particular. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

you're live with bbc news. to the uk and police in bournemouth, on england's south coast, have ruled out suggestions that a 12—year—old girl and a 17—year—old boy, who died had been hit by a vessel. a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, after a total of ten swimmers got into difficulty. police confirmed the man, who has now been released under investigation, was �*on the water', at the time of the incident. our correspondent duncan kennedy is in bournemouth tonight. for several hours, this part of bournemouth beach was transformed into a major incident. the sand was cleared of the public to allow in helicopters and other emergency crews. medical teams worked at the water's edge to save those who'd been brought ashore. eyewitnesses said they saw

several people being taken away on stretchers. it's horrific, what happened. and i do feel absolutely awful, just to even be there, and obviously people were watching and taking videos and things. yeah, it was just a really distressing event to be a part of and obviously be so close to it. next to the lifeguard post there was someone laying on a stretcher with respiratory gear on, with lots of children and adults surrounding them with stress blankets and water bottles. two of those in the water, a 17—year—old boy from southampton and a 12—year—old girl from buckinghamshire, suffered critical injuries and later died. police today rejected some speculation, including the suggestion that those in the water had been hit by a jet ski. early investigation indicates that there was no physical. contact between a vessel and any of the swimmers at the time of the incident.

i can also confirm there is no| suggestion of people jumping from the pier orjetl skis being involved. the tragedy happened just after 4:30 yesterday afternoon in the sea off bournemouth pier. ten people were in the water, although no physical contact took place between the swimmers and a vessel in the area. tonight police said a ao—year—old man who was on the water and arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, has been released under investigation while inquiries continue. the other eight people involved in this incident were treated on the beach and are not thought to be seriously hurt. at the same time, the police have asked for anybody who saw or filmed the incident to come forward to help with their investigation. the beach has attracted tens of thousands of people during this half—term week. local leaders say it will remain busy but safe. bournemouth remains a really fantastic place to visit and, you know, this incident needs

to be investigated properly and we are confident with our partners that any lessons that need to be learned in the future will be learned. this safe, benign setting has been transformed into one of pain and distress, and we still don't yet know exactly what happened, but two families have been left grieving the loss of their children. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in bournemouth. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines.... new zealand police say —— they've charged a man with five counts of murder in relation to a deadly hostel fire in wellington last month. the 48—year—old man is already remanded in custody on two counts of arson. the deadly blaze engulfed the four—story, 92—room hostel in the city center, killing five men who police have named. us prosecutors have obtained an audio

recording of donald trump, in which he acknowledges keeping a classified document after leaving the white house. the former president has repeatedly claimed that all the material he kept after leaving office had been declassified. finally we wanted to leave you with some of the images from today's royal wedding in jordan. crown prince hussein married his fiance, saudi architect, rajwa al saif. britain's prince william and his wife kate were among the royals from around the world at the ceremony. their attendance had been kept a secret from the media untiljust before the event. this is the moment that the 28—year—old heir to the thone exchanged rings with his bride in front of their families and 140 guests. the newly titled princess rajwa chose a modern gown by a lebanese designer. her "something borrowed" was queen rania's arabic script diamond tiara. the couple left for their reception in an white open

top 1984 range rover that was specially customised for the late queen elizabeth's visit to the country that year. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. the next couple of days should bring a bit more in the way of sunshine to some parts of the uk that haven't seen that much of it recently. the brightest and warmest of the weather has been found in the west of the uk, whereas some spots further east have had a lingering cloud and onshore breeze which has made it feel cool, even chilly — during thursday, some eastern parts only got to around 11 celsius under cloudy skies. out west, 24—25 in some sunshine. but what is coming our way shows up clearly here on the earlier satellite picture — some thinner cloud, which will be in place for friday morning, particularly across england and wales. but because that cloud

is thinner, it should break up a little more readily, so i'm hopeful that more places will see sunshine during friday. just a bit of cloud close to the east coast of england, and also some more cloud into the western isles. but otherwise, largely sunny skies overhead, still a little bit on the chilly side for some eastern coasts with the breeze off the sea, highest temperatures in the west 23 celsius. with more of us, though, seeing sunshine, i think high uv levels will be an issue pretty much wherever you are. and then, as we head through friday night, we'll keep largely clear skies overhead, a few patches of cloud will float in from the north sea, and a bit more cloud hugging the coast of north—west scotland. but unusually chilly for an earlyjune night — temperatures perhaps down to 3—4 celsius in a few places. but after that cool or chilly start, saturday will be a predominantly dry day, with high pressure still firmly in charge, and most of us should get to see quite a lot of sunshine. there will be some patches of cloud close to this eastern coast. at times a bit more cloud

maybe for the north coast of northern ireland, certainly for northwest scotland, and there isjust the small chance, a very small chance of catching a shower in scotland, particularly over high ground. highest temperatures again in the west, up to around 22—23 celsius. now as we move through saturday night, our area of high pressure, slightly changing shape, and i think we will pull a bit more of this cloud back around that high into some eastern counties of england. i don't think it'll linger in many places, it mayjust stay a little bit grey for some along the coast. but further west, again, lots of sunshine and highs of 23 celsius. and if you're looking for some rain, well, very little in the forecast next week — any that does turn up will be very short—lived. it'll stay predominantly dry with some spells of warm sunshine.

the us and taiwan sign a free trade agreement — a provocative move attracting warnings from beijing. as turkey prepares to swear in recep tayipp erdogan for a third term, we take a look at how the election result has sent the lira plummeting. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm mariko oi. the united states and taiwan have just signed a new trade agreement which is meant

to strengthen the economic and trade relationship between the two.