hello and welcome to bbc news. after weeks of debate, voting has closed in the conservative party leadership race. after 2 months of campaigning, and 8 initial candidates whittled down to 2, we ll find out on monday whether liz truss or rishi sunak has been chosen by party members to be the next leader and so prime minister. here s our political correspondent ben wright: after a long, rancorous campaign, it s now time to count the ballots. just 160,000 tory party members are picking their next leader, the next prime minister. and the challenges facing them are huge. they were spelt out today by the current chancellor. he is backing liz truss, presumed frontrunner. there are no easy options. we have war on our continent. we havejust come through a pandemic. but this economy is resilient. how will they handle soaring inflation? i borisjohnson s ejection from office injuly triggered a stampede of wannabe successors. tory mps had the job of picking two final candidates. sunak,
presidential race front and centre donald trump watching meetings with lawmakers and business leaders while president joe biden half the roadway and italy pledging more support for ukraine as he meets with world leaders. for the first time today, commenting on his son hunter. wait till you hear what he said. what did he say over there and who did and didn t show up for donald trump over here? what the president is no sane. welcome everybody glad to have everybody with us. let s begin first with mike emanuel on what we are hearing from the president. mike. good afternoon president biden speaking in italy a short time ago offering support for his son hunter following his conviction on gun charges in delaware. i am externally proud of my son hunter he is overcome an addiction and is 1 of the brightest, most decent men and no. i am satisfied that i m knuckling to do anything i said i d buy by the jury decision i will do that and not pardon him. was also asked about efforts
from american reporters and a question each from bought ukrainian reporters. first colleen moncada associated press. reporter: thanks mr president. about 2 weeks ago you changed course to allow ukraine to fiery u.s. weapons into russia. given the reported successes, would you consider further expanding the parameters on u.s. weapons into russia back even despite you re concerns about escalation and on the note news from home you are going through something so many american families go through. the intersection of drug addiction in the criminal system. dew you believe the justice department operated independently and politics in your son s trial? with the answer you re question. with regard to the first question, it is clear that the mere broad meeting just across the line on the border of russia and ukraine and makes a lot of sense for ukraine to be able to take out or combat what is coming across that order. in terms of long-range weapons, into the interior of russia