the government describes the allegations as �*deeply concerning' and say the culture secretary will be speaking to the bbc�*s director—general today. us president, joe biden, will arrive in the uk later — flying into a disagreement over sending cluster bombs to ukraine. there are new allegations, concerning an unnamed bbc presenter, accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photographs, beginning when they were 17. the sun newspaper claims the unnamed male presenter was pictured in his underwear, on a video call to the teenager. it's understood the corporation is investigating the allegations — and the star is currently not

scheduled to be on air in the coming days. bbc news impartially covers stories about the wider corporation and like other news organisations is seeking further clarification on the story. in the last few moments — the department for culture, media and sport has called the allegations concerning a bbc presenter "deeply concerning" and that the culture secretary will be speaking to the director general later today. in a statement, it said �*as a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the bbc that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed. the culture secretary will be speaking to tim davie later today.�* our correspondent lizo mzimba told us the details we know so far. these serious allegations have been made in the sun newspaper over the weekend concerning somebody that they describe as a top bbc staff. the newspaper says that the

well—known name paid more than £35,000 to a young individual in return for sexually explicit photographs of them. something that the newspaper says began when the young individual in question was 17 years old and legally steal a child. the bbc, of course, has questions to answer on this. the young individual�*s family say they complained to the bbc earlier this year but the bbc kept the person on air. now, the bbc says it takes any allegations very seriously. it attempts to speak to those who have contacted them and to get further details but it pointed out, if it does get no reply or receive no further contact, that can limit its ability to progress things but that doesn't mean that inquiry stop. really is mounting on the bbc, right now, isn't it? yes, it is. the bbc

in —— presenter in question is not scheduled to be on air in the near future but we haven't been able to establish whether they have been formally suspended. the bbc also are facing questions over how they responded to the young individual�*s family's inquiries and of course, this is something that has the potential to, and in all probability, is already causing significant reputational damage to the bbc the longer that this goes on. stewart purvis, former chief executive of itn, highlighted the two main questions surrounding the bbc right now. one is can you trust the bbc to follow up on allegations? so you've got to the sun this morning on the inside page, you are the eight questions we asked the bbc and they were not answer any of them. some of them are quite basic questions. then you've got the political angle which is can you expect the bbc to be

honest with about what they find? i mean, we don't know whether this person watch the news are somewhere else so it can't be assuming that they work in news but we have to say that the has worked incredibly hard in recent times on trying to reinforce its position as the nation's broadcaster of trust. this does not help. and if you were in the bbc right now, what would you be doing? how would you be trying to manage what the newspapers also is a crisis and many people would agree it is already? first of all, you have to gather around you people who know what they are doing, you need human resources, you need lawyers, you communications people, the bosses of the person under scrutiny. and you've got to remember that every single e—mail you send each other is going to be the subject of review and is going to be public at some point so the pressure at the top of the bbc at this moment is enormous first about to respond on the but also to be aware of the long—term issues. victoria atkins, the financial secretary to the treasury, said it's crucial to think of the wellbeing of the young person involved in this case.

it needs to follow its procedures, that it says it has in place, but i am a former minister for safeguarding and i worked for 20 years in the criminaljustice system and so, in all of this and in our conversations about it, we have to remember that there is a person, young person at the centre of this, who will be feeling all sorts of emotions and will be feeling possibly very, very distressed so we do need, please, to keep that person in our minds as we discussed this. shadow chancellor rachel reeves, said the bbc needs to do more. the bbc do need to speed up their processes. it looks like they were raised in may, we are now injuly and the presenter stayed on air, so that is not good enough. the bbc need to get their house in order. the bbc need to give greater clarity as to what on earth has gone on in this case and what they are doing to put it right.

they said the culture secretary will speak to the director—general later this year. "as a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the bbc that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed.""the culture secretary will be speaking to tim davie later today." the us president, joe biden, will arrive in the uk this evening, ahead of a meeting with the prime minister, rishi sunak. the two allies have disagreed in public over the us decision to send controversial cluster bombs to ukraine. the issue has dominated the buildup to the visit. jonathan blake reports. mr president, thank you. a presidential visit will always focus minds and offer an opportunity to do business. good afternoon.

joe biden arrives in the uk a month after he and the prime minister signed a new agreement to strengthen the longstanding relationship between the uk and the us. the president of the - united states, joe biden. downing street sees the president's visit as an opportunity to take stock of progress on the so—called atlantic declaration. ahead ofjoe biden�*s arrival, rishi sunak said the us was the uk's most important trade, defence and diplomatic partner, and the alliance was part of the foundation of britain's strength and security. but that alliance is being tested on the issue of cluster bombs, which the us is supplying to ukraine. the uk is one of many countries to have banned the weapons with a record of killing civilians. and yesterday, the prime minister said the uk discouraged their use. the uk a signatory to a convention which prohibits the use of cluster munitions and will continue to do our part to support ukraine against the illegal russian invasion.

a sensitive subject and difference of opinion on the crucial issue of support for ukraine in response to the russian invasion. but there will be ceremony as well as substance to this visit. after talks with the prime minister in downing street, the president will meet the king at windsor castle. jonathan blake, bbc news. the united states�* treasury secretary, janet yellen, is leaving china after a visit to try to strengthen economic ties, saying she believes the two countries can have a healthy relationship. while in china, ms yellen held 10 hours of talks with senior chinese officials — saying the meetings had put relations between the 2 countries on a "surerfooting" — after a long period of tensions over trade and other issues. here�*s ms yellen speaking at a press conference earlier. us and china have significant disagreements. those disagreements need to be communicated clearly and directly.

but president biden and i do not see the relationship between the us and china through the frame of great power conflict. we believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive. both nations have an obligation to responsibly manage this relationship, to find a way to live together and share in global prosperity. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has been following the story from bangkok — and he gave us this analysis of ms yellen�*s visit to china. very broadly speaking, i think this trip has gone as well as anyone could have expected. firstly, janet yellen said she had managed to reestablish direct, face—to—face, respectful communications between china and the united states. and that�*s something that�*s been missing for really a very long time. secondly, she was able

to meet face—to—face with china�*s new new team, particularly in the economy. and that means she really, referring to yesterday, on saturday, she spent most of the day with he lifeng, vice premier and the man in charge of china�*s economy, very close to president xijinping, a very key figure in the new chinese administration. you know, no one from the us administration has done that before, so that�*s important. the other thing janet yellen was at went to great lengths to do during this trip is to try and convince the chinese leadership that the biden administration, unlike the previous trump administration, is not openly hostile to china. she said they do not view the relationship through the prism of big power conflict and that america was not going to decouple its economy from china. whether chinese officials believe that or not, we do not know and we haven�*t had a readout from them yet. i think, so in conclusion, i mean,

i think this shows that dialogue is happening again. more dialogue will come in the next few months. there will be more visits by us officials and chinese officials the other way. but you know, most experts you talk to say this is now a very difficult relationship and one that is going to need careful management in the long term if it is going to remain stable. and that this progress made in the last few days is good, but it is fragile. well, we heard there about the need for the world�*s two biggest polluters to work together. the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg asked john kerry, former us secretary of state and nowjoe biden�*s special envoy for climate change how important this issue is to the united states. there is civil disobedience building in communities around the world, and i think if you listen to the scientists, not enough people are, the last week they have described as terrifying and as uncharted territory. it is... the way we have chosen

to propel our vehicles, heat our homes light our factories and businesses, it is the pursuit of power. and we need china to cooperate and we need to cooperate with china. people are in the sort of stand—off but we can�*t afford to be. what we are trying to do is change the dynamic between our nations. we are the two largest economies in the world, we are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions. uk, until quite recently used to post it was a on climate change. yet, recently its own independent adjudicator said actually the uk is missing targets. will you tell the uk to move faster? we won�*t sit there and tell people things, i think that is the kind of diplomacy that doesn�*t work. i think that president biden looks forward to having conversations. i know that he will be meeting with the prime minister and i am sure that climate will be a critical component of that conversation. it has to be, if we don�*t do this,

the disruption to all investment, the disruption to supply chains, the movement in migration of tens of millions of people, you have food production including in africa, for example. or the heat that we are now seeing in various parts of the world, people can�*t work outdoors in that kind of heat. we are seeing, already, in every aspect of life, it is now being affected by the climate crisis. again, i say this is not something where everybody has to go, oh, my god! i don�*t want to do this because it is scary as hell and because we are not going to live the way we did. no, we will have a better quality—of—life. john kerry there talking to the bbc. ukraine has welcomed home five army commanders, who were being held in turkey, after a prisoner swap. the men were captured over a year ago, during the fierce and prolonged battle for control of the azovstal steel plant in mariupol. russia has condemed their return, saying it breaks the terms

of a prisoner swap agreement. here�*s lee milner. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky welcoming home five commanders of ukraine�*s former garrison in mariupol at a ceremony in lviv. they were brought home by the president after a visit to turkey. translation: they were fighting for ukraine. - they survived russian captivity. they spent over 300 days in turkey. it is time for them to be home. applause. reunited with family and friends, the five commanders hailed as heroes in ukraine led last year�*s defence of the southern port of mariupol, the biggest city russia has captured in its invasion. the ukrainian defenders who held out in tunnels and bunkers under a steel plant were finally ordered by kyiv to surrender in may last year. translation: from today onwards we will continue l the fight together with you. we will definitely have

our say in the battle. with each day passing, we are advancing, destroying the enemy. russia says this latest move by president zelensky violates the terms of a prisoner exchange deal made last year which meant the men had to remain in turkey. it is not yet known how or why the commanders were returned home. in a televised press conference yesterday turkey�*s president recep tayyip erdogan supported ukraine�*s bid tojoin nato. something which mr zelensky said he was happy to hear after spending a week trying to rally support from other nato countries ahead of a two—day summit next week. it�*s a year since thousands of protestors in sri lanka stormed the residence of the president, demanding that he resign. demonstrators from all over the country marched on colombo — protesting against the mismanagement of the country�*s economic crisis. extraordinary images were seen all around the world — including protesters taking a dip in the presidential swimming pool.

in the 12 months since that day, the country has suffered desperate shortages of essentials — after the government ran out of foreign currency. live now to arjuna parakrama, rights activist and professor of english at the university of peradeniya in sri lanka. thanks very much to you forjoining us. can you give us your assessment of how sri lanka is now one year since those protests?— of how sri lanka is now one year since those protests? yeah, i think it is a case — since those protests? yeah, i think it is a case of— since those protests? yeah, i think it is a case of snatching _ since those protests? yeah, i think it is a case of snatching defeat - it is a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. the sri lankan population moved from passive citizenship to active citizenship and that is clearly there. there are no longer willing to vote every six years and then wait passively for the governments to mess things up but unfortunately, they have gone from the frying pan into the fire, as it were, because, unlike the previous president, the current

president tolerates no nonsense. he invokes the military and police to protect the government, not the state, so there have been legislation, there is lots of cases going on and of course, the economic crisis continues to worsen in serious ways. as a result of the imf agreement, the poorer segments of the population seem to be affected worse in terms of increased rates for electricity, even in terms of the tax regime and so on. and there is a kind of fear because unlike the wishy—washy president who can make up wishy—washy president who can make up his mind been our president is very firm and clear that he wants no interference of democracy in this. democracy is a nuisance and therefore, he is very clear about not allowing the people any room or space. in fact,

not allowing the people any room or space. infact, he not allowing the people any room or space. in fact, he did not allowing the people any room or space. infact, he did not not allowing the people any room or space. in fact, he did not have elections. local government elections. local government elections. they were due in march. so as a result, there is no tier of government at the local level, even at the provincial level, he has appointed governors. so the administrative lacuna, combined with the sort of military position coming back and the police being extremely tough and strong and, you know, almost ruthless with the population, we have student groups and some others participating in this but the strength and the weakness of the struggle, as we call it, is that it has a middle—class backing. an upwardly mobile middle class backing and that backing has gone away because they were most angry about the weight, the shortages, the delays and all of that. that has gone away, but the prices are still high and the poorest are badly affected. 50 high and the poorest are badly affected. , ., �* high and the poorest are badly affected, , ., �* ., high and the poorest are badly affected. , ., �* ., , high and the poorest are badly affected. ,. �* ., , ., , affected. so you've got this money from the imf, _ affected. so you've got this money from the imf, quite _ affected. so you've got this money from the imf, quite a _ affected. so you've got this money from the imf, quite a lot - affected. so you've got this money

from the imf, quite a lot of - affected. so you've got this money| from the imf, quite a lot of money. but in terms of the actual situation, in terms of the amount of debt, it is huge, isn�*t it, that sri lanka still has? debt, it is huge, isn't it, that sri lanka still has?— debt, it is huge, isn't it, that sri lanka still has? actually, the money is itiful. lanka still has? actually, the money is pitiful- it's — lanka still has? actually, the money is pitiful. it's only _ lanka still has? actually, the money is pitiful. it's only 3 _ lanka still has? actually, the money is pitiful. it's only 3 billion _ lanka still has? actually, the money is pitiful. it's only 3 billion over- is pitiful. it�*s only 3 billion over 48 months but it facilitates the haircut and the kind of other sort of arrangements of dealing payment of arrangements of dealing payment of interest to the international donors and the debtors in terms of the international bonds but the problem is that that has now led to domestic debt reconstruction as well and there i think it is the pension funds that the government has decided, after keeping it, you know, keep the people in the dark for the longest time, with just discussed that they�*re going to entirely do the domestic debt reconstruction in terms of the pension fund so the pension funds are what actually the vast majority of the population rely on in their retirement and also in

case of death are anything like that so what is happening as they are curtailing interest rates and using it for other things and of course there is a clear conflict of interest because the central bank administers those pension funds and the santo fund says were now going to do all these things to make sure that all the domestic debt is loaded onto the pension fund so, yes, it is a fairly serious problem. i onto the pension fund so, yes, it is a fairly serious problem.— a fairly serious problem. i suppose there's also _ a fairly serious problem. i suppose there's also been _ a fairly serious problem. i suppose there's also been a _ a fairly serious problem. i suppose there's also been a messaging - a fairly serious problem. i supposel there's also been a messaging from there�*s also been a messaging from there�*s also been a messaging from the government in trying to paint the government in trying to paint the protesters from a year ago and people who disagree with them are somehow unpatriotic, i think, haven�*t they? somehow unpatriotic, i think, haven't they?— somehow unpatriotic, i think, haven't they? somehow unpatriotic, i think, haven't the ? , , . haven't they? yes, very much so. the turnin: haven't they? yes, very much so. the turning point— haven't they? yes, very much so. the turning point was—

haven't they? yes, very much so. the turning point was may _ haven't they? yes, very much so. the turning point was may nine _ haven't they? yes, very much so. the turning point was may nine when - haven't they? yes, very much so. the turning point was may nine when the l turning point was may nine when the government unleashed a violent attack on peaceful protesters and, unfortunately, they took the bait, as it were, and went and attacked the people who had attacked them so that they had to the death of a politician and large—scale violence so that shifted the moral high ground and, unfortunately, to say this, we have media businesses, not media, aligned with the state, we have a sort of unpredictable judiciary and we have, of course, clearly non—transparent military clearly non—tra nspa rent military police clearly non—transparent military police and other factions of the government so, yes, the messages, maligning the protesters, the present, future and farmer, and therefore people are scared to do anything. therefore people are scared to do an hina. . ~ therefore people are scared to do an hina. ., ~ ,., therefore people are scared to do an hina. . ~ y., ., therefore people are scared to do an hin. ., ., , ., therefore people are scared to do an hina. . ., , ., anything. thank you for sharing your thou~hts anything. thank you for sharing your thoughts with _ anything. thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. _ back to our top story — that there are new allegations, concerning an unnamed bbc presenter, accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photographs, beginning when they were 17. the sun newspaper claims the unnamed male presenter was pictured in his underwear, on a video call to the teenager. the bbc�*s helena wilkinson reports.

today�*s front pages contain new serious allegations against a top bbc presenter. the star is accused of allegedly paying a teenager in new claims today, the individual�*s mother told the sun on sunday the presenter was pictured in his underwear ready for her child to perform for him. the allegations first emerged in the sun yesterday. the paper isn�*t naming the presenter for legal reasons. 17—year—old over a three—year period for explicit photos. the young person�*s mother told the paper her child, now 20, used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit. the family told the newspaper they complained to the bbc in may, but are said to have become frustrated that the star remained on air. there is growing pressure on the bbc to

explain their actions. these are serious allegations and the bbc must act swiftly, follow this procedures it says it has in place, but i�*m a former minister for safeguarding and i worked for 20 years in the criminal justice system, and so in all of this and in our conversations about it we have to remember that there is a person, a young person, at the centre of this. the demand on the bbc to act is coming from politicians on all sides. the bbc do need to speed up their processes. it looks like these issues were raised in may and we are now injuly and the presenter stayed on air. that's not good enough. there is no doubt the bbc is in a serious crisis. the corporation has many questions to answer, including what investigations went on when the family contacted the bbc in may. was the presenter made aware of the allegations has had been made and should have the investigation have been more thorough?

the bbc said: "we treat any allegations very seriously, attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail. if we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our inquiries stop." the bbc hasn�*t explained itself on the question is why hasn�*t the bbc explained itself? 0ne because it is worried about the legal issues about any kind of detail that might point to identity or any other potential offence, and it is trying to get through the process. the problem is it looks evasive, it doesn�*t look in the jargon, that they are transparent. 0ther bbc presenters unconnected to the allegations who are themselves facing false rumours have been forced to publicly deny they are the star in question, including jeremy vine, nikki campbell and gary lineker. the bbc says the presenter is not due on air

in the near future. but the pressure for the corporation to explain how it is handling this crisis is continuing. helena wilkinson, bbc news. just of the statement be got at the top of the programme saying that the culture secretary lucy fraser is going to be meeting with the bbc director—general tim davie later today of what they call these deeply concerning allegations. they said, as a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the bbc that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively with the department kept informed. sensitively with the department kept informed. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we�*re going to see some sunny spells and scattered showers today. now, like yesterday, some of those showers could be heavy, perhaps thundery, but there won�*t perhaps be quite as intense or as frequent as they were yesterday. but it�*s been a fine start

to the day for many of us. that�*s the scene this morning in scotland. and a bit of rain effects in the far north of scotland is going to clear away some rain affecting east anglia, the south east of england, that�*s on its way out. and for many of us, sunny spells. but look at these speckled showers here across northern ireland, wales, the south west of england, some of those heavy and thundery at times, especially, i think in northern ireland. and maximum temperatures getting to about 21 to 23 degrees celsius, feeling cooler and fresher compared to yesterday. but at wimbledon, it means we�*ve got a bit of rain this morning that�*s clearing. so there�*ll be some sunshine increasing into the afternoon and the evening temperatures 20 or 21 degrees celsius. and of course, at headingley, for much of the day, it should be dry with some sunshine showers moving their way in late this afternoon into the evening where the odd one or two of those could be heavy with some thunder. those thunderstorms will continue to track their way northward out of northern england.

and then for many of us, it�*s a dry night. there�*ll be some clear spells into monday morning and overnight temperatures getting down to around about 10 to 13 degrees celsius. now, as we go through next week, it�*s going to stay unsettled. low pressure is going to be close by to the uk. there�*ll be a scattering of showers, maybe some longer spells of rain from time to time, a few sunny intervals, but it will feel cool. temperatures will be below the average for the time of year. now, this is monday. we�*ve got this area of low pressure to the southwest and these weather fronts move their way north and eastward. so after a bright and a dry start today, on monday, we�*ll see the cloud increasing. some heavy rain spreads into south west england, wales, spreading into the midlands, northern england. a few showers ahead of that across northern ireland, scotland. we�*re staying largely dry in the south east of england. and here temperatures will be 23 or 24 degrees. elsewhere, though, we�*re looking at highs on monday, about 20 or 21 celsius. that area of low pressure will continue to move its way north eastward throughout the week. and we�*ll have a north, north westerly wind. it remains unsettled. there�*ll be some showers or longer

spells of rain from time to time, maybe a few thunderstorms as well. and temperatures, generally speaking, about 15 to 20 or 21 degrees celsius, as i said, a bit below the average for the time of year. bye bye.

he allegedly paid this is bbc news. the headlines... the uk�*s culture secretary will speak to the bbc�*s director general today as fresh allegations emerge in the sun newspaper that an unnamed presenter was pictured in his underwear

on a video call to a teenager