hello, welcome to the programme. it is nato s expansion eastwards that has infuriated vladimir putin. the kremlin is deeply suspicious of europe s intentions, they don t like western liberal philosophy, and in spite of all evidence to the contrary, they firmly believe it is the united states that is to blame for the situation in ukraine. that paranoia underpins their wharped justification for this war and the more widely held belief in russia that the principal danger to the state is external and ideological, rather than internal and structural. and if you doubt that, then take a listen to sergei lavrov, the foreign minister, describing today the threat in the most extraordinary terms. what is going on in ukraine now is a result of many years of preparation by the united states and their satellite states for the beginning of the global hybrid war against the russian federation. nobody tries to conceal it. they are waging a war against our country with the same task the fin
since the second world war. hello and welcome to bbc news. the possibility of rishi sunak and borisjohnson meeting each other today is being talked about this evening as the race to become the new conservative leader and prime minister gathers pace. the bbc understands they were due to meet face to face at 3:30 this afternoon but that was delayed although my colleague laura kuenssberg says the meeting may still go ahead later. mr sunak is the first leadership contender to secure the public support of 100 tory mps that s the number needed to enter the race. but he s yet to announce publicly whether he will bid for the top job after losing to liz truss last month. meanwhile, borisjohnson has flown home from a caribbean holiday, as his supporters claim he now also has 100 mps backing him, although others have said this is hogwash. so far, penny mordaunt is the only contender to have officially launched a campaign. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas has mo
northern england, more cloud and the odd shower or a splash of rain. i will have all the details later. it s tuesday 25th june. the bbc has been told that the gambling commission is considering whether more police officers are involved in alleged betting on the date of the general election. four conservatives and a police officer assigned to the protection of rishi sunak are known to be facing inquiries. scotland yard has denied a report that it leaked the names of some of those under investigation. here s our political correspondent, iain watson. did you have inside information when you placed your bet on the election date? i made a statement. it s been nearly two weeks since this aide to the prime minister who s also a conservative candidate said he d made a huge error ofjudgement in betting on the date of the general election. another candidate and two members of the conservative party staff are also being investigated by the gambling commission. last night, interviewe
fighting his extradition to the us. a uk court ruled last month that he could appeal this decision after mr assange argued that he would not receive a fair trial. now he s agreed a plea deal, and legal documents show that mr assange is set to appear before a court in a us territory in the pacific ocean before an expected return to his home nation australia. paul hawkins has more. wikileaks published this clip on social media showing its founder flying published this clip on social media showing its founderflying out published this clip on social media showing its founder flying out of the country late on monday afternoon. it said it spent 9000 2/9000 days in prison for publishing what he called ground breaking stories of corruption and human rights abuses in this stories of corruption and human rights abuses i stories of corruption and human rights abuses in this period of our lives, i rights abuses in this period of our lives. i am rights abuses in this period of our live