ukraine qualifies for the final of the eurovision song contest. hello, and welcome. we begin in the states. members of the us house of representatives have voted overwhelmingly in favour of providing another $40 billion in aid for ukraine. most republicans joined democrats in supporting the deal. such is the bipartisan support for ukraine that lawmakers took president biden s request for aid and added nearly $7 billion to it. the funds will be used to provide military support to ukraine and humanitarian assistance to the civilians affected by the russian invasion. the speaker of the house, nany pelosi told fellow democrats it was important to act quickly. as putin desperately accelerates his campaign of horror and brutality, there has just been abhorrent brutality in ukraine, time is of the essence. that why we were so pleased to hear we could proceed immediately with this bill today so it goes through to senate and the president s desk, so the assistance can reach the people
Fires burn across three states on the west coast of america, devastating the land, and the lives, of tens of thousands of people. Britain in lockdown a new exhibition of portraits chosen by the duchess of cambridge goes live. And coming up on bbc news. The fifa corruption saga continues, as disgraced former secretary generaljerome valcke and paris st germain chief Nasser Al Khelaifi go on trial in switzerland. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. The rule of six has come into force today in different forms across the uk in an effort to tackle rising coronavirus infections. The rule places further restrictions on social gatherings, with a limit of six people in england, and similar limits in scotland and wales. The policing minister has encouraged people to report those who break the rules. It comes amid more complaints about the difficulty of getting tests for the virus. Matt hancock says they are dealing with the problems. A further 3,330 positive cases were recorded in
The PATA Annual Summit opened in Macau today, May 15, with the usual fanfare that has accompanied such events. Delegate numbers have crossed the projected targets. Macau seems to be the most potential supporter for the Bangkok based Pacific Asia Travel Organization.
The Intelligence Centre of the Estonian Defence Forces says the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine remains challenging. Russian occupying forces are making some progress, although they are suffering significant losses, while Ukrainian soldiers are short of ammunition.