can be compensated some extent, this can be compensated by increased support from allies and the european allies and canada are stepping up, are doing more and if we put together the military, and economic support, canada and european allies are providing more support than the united states but the united states has been by far the united states has been by far the biggest ally, it is vital that continues to provide support and therefore i continue to expect that they will be able to make a decision, hopefully as soon as possible. decision, hopefully as soon as ossible. ,, a a, , , a, decision, hopefully as soon as ossible. , a, g a, possible. secretary-general, julian smit said she _ possible. secretary-general, julian smit said she doesn't _ possible. secretary-general, julian smit said she doesn't expect - possible. secretary-general, julian smit said she doesn't expect natol possible. secretary-general, julian i smit said she doesn't expect nato to offer ukraine membership at the washington summit. what needs to happen— washington summit. what needs to happen for— washington summit. what needs to happen for ukraine to receive this invitation— happen for ukraine to receive this invitation and don't you think ukrainians who give their lives daily— ukrainians who give their lives daily for—

ukrainians who give their lives daily for security deserve joining nato? _ daily for security deserve joining nato? second question, it is not that ukraine expects to receive fighter— that ukraine expects to receive fighterjet this spring, is it unrealistic and will ukraine actually— unrealistic and will ukraine actually receive them? additionally, how would _ actually receive them? additionally, how would you estimate the chances that f465 _ how would you estimate the chances that f—16s will help ukraine achieve air superiority against russia? is nato _ air superiority against russia? is nato considering providing ukraine with even— nato considering providing ukraine with even more modern fighterjets after the _ with even more modern fighterjets after the f—16s? thank you. with even more modern fighter “ets after the f-16s? thank you. ukraine is closer to — after the f-16s? thank you. ukraine is closer to nato _ after the f-16s? thank you. ukraine is closer to nato membership - after the f-16s? thank you. ukraine is closer to nato membership than l is closer to nato membership than ever before and that is because we made important decisions at our summit last year. then we decided to turn the membership process for ukraine from a two step process to a i—step process, by removing the requirement for a membership action plan. normally, we had this requirement before an invitation can beissued requirement before an invitation can be issued to an applicant country, they had to be part of something

called a membership action plan. we said ukraine doesn't need that so just by doing that, we made the whole access process much more simpler and faster for ukraine. the other decision we made was to establish a nato ukraine council that met today which is a platform to strongly deepen our political cooperation and move again ukraine closer to membership in strengthening our political cooperation. thirdly, we agreed a comprehensive programme. we are ensuring that ukrainian armed forces have standards, doctrines, procedures which makes them fully compatible with nato forces. by doing that, the aim is to move ukraine as a ghost ship that's when we make the decision, they can become members very, very quickly. in one way, as we have seen with

finland and sweden, we where actually they are applied in may and injuly same year, they were both invited to become members. then actually today, we decided to establish the joint relation and training centre, yet another tool to ensure that we will bring ukraine to that level very, very quickly, they can become a full member of the alliance. then of course, an invitation will be made when all allies agree and the conditions are met. we are now moving closer and closer to that point. studio: letsjust leave closer to that point. studio: lets just leave that a news conference in brussels. nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg, most recently answering a question there about ukraine and its desire to become a member of nato. he said ukraine is closer to nato membership than ever before. we will leave that

news conference for the moment, there is a lot happening this afternoon, let's take you back to the court in new york. we have the live pictures there and a major development there which is that a judge in new york has denied donald trump's request to dismiss criminal charges, that stemming from hush money paid to the pawn star stormy daniels. this is significant because it now paves the way for the first ever criminal trial of a former us president. so, that hasjust come ever criminal trial of a former us president. so, that has just come on in the last ten minutes or so. we saw about half an hour or so ago, mr trump arriving at the court. he spoke before he entered that court ahead of the hearing, let's have a listen back to what he had to say. thank you very much. everything i have heard and read, from legal

scholars, said there is absolutely no case. this is not a crime. if you look at what is going on outside, where violent crime is at an all—time high, i think it's very, very... it is a great double standard. the other thing, this case could have been brought three years ago. there is no case. they decided not to bring it. the district attorney said he didn't want to bring this case. it is not a crime. we are here for something that is not a crime. nobody has ever seen anything like it. what it is is a lecture on interference. it is being run byjoe biden's white house. his top person was placed in order to make sure that everything goes right. this is a terrible time for our country. this is a real dark period for our country. his top person and some others have been placed into the da's office to make sure they do a good job of election interference. there has never been anything like this in the history of

our country. with all of this being said, i look outside, into the streets, it is so different from when i left new york. it is so different. it is dirty and crime ridden. today you walk down the street, you get mugged or shot. they are doing this where legal experts, legal scholars said they don't understand that there is no crime and there was no crime here at all. this is just a way of hurting me and there was no crime here at all. this isjust a way of hurting me in the election because i'm leading by a lot, we are leading by no numbers that nobody has ever seen before and they figured this is their way of cheating. last time they had a different way, this time they have something that is really down and dirty that frankly, no country does other than a third world country. so, we are going to do our process, they want to rush it because they want to get it done desperately before the election. if it goes before the election. if it goes before the election. if it goes before the election, that's what they want to do, after the election they want to do, after the election they wouldn't have brought this except for the fact... no way!

except for the fact i'm running for president and doing well. if i had been doing poorly, they wouldn't have bought it. frankly, if i didn't run, they would be extremely happy because they don't like me running and they don't like the numbers. they have me beating him by a lot. that is where we are, i would talk to you later after we know what is going to happen. we want delays, obviously, i'm running for election. how can you run for election and be sitting in a courthouse in manhattan all day long? i'm supposed to be in south carolina now where other people are and where, again, this is where i should be. i shouldn't be in a courthouse. it is something that every legal scholar says they don't understand. even if he was guilty of something, there is no crime. i will say that enjoy it. it is a sad thing, a sad day for new york. they really do... look, i love the city and the state, they have to focus on violent crime that is taking place outside. you have a new form of

crime now. they are trying to beat up crime now. they are trying to beat up our police officers, do things we have never seen before, actually. we are going to have a problem with biden migrant crime because you have billions of people coming into this place, this country —— millions. that has been so badly hurt. they are doing things that nobody has ever seen before. you have violent migrant crime and they are after me for doing nothing wrong. i paid almost $300 million of taxes over the period of time. $300 million! and they say, let's get trump out! you have people that... everything is politics in this city, including decisions and judges and everything else, it has to straighten up and they have to focus on violent crime, not made up crime. thank you very much, we will see you later. comments earlierfrom donald much, we will see you later. comments earlier from donald trump.

he said everything is politics, that seemed like more of a political statement as much as it was a comment before that hearing. crucially, the development coming from that court in new york today, we can take you back to the live pictures outside the court, but the key development today is that a trial is going to begin on the 25th of march. that comes after the judge at the new york state court denied donald trump's request to dismiss criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to the pornstar stormy daniels which means that the first ever criminal trial of a former us president will begin on the 25th of march. that is a key date in the diary, of course, there are a number of other cases that mr trump faces. he remains the frontrunner for the republican presidential nomination in this year's us election. we will

have plenty more on that story throughout the rest of the day full stop sam is up next so do stay with us here on bbc news and there is plenty more on the bbc news website. thank you for watching us for the last few hours, do stay with us. hello there. we've got some unseasonably mild air across much of the uk today. temperatures are a lot higher than they would normally be at this time of the year and higher than yesterday perhaps as well. we've widely got 15 degrees across england and wales and some eastern areas, 17 or even 18 degrees is possible. that's helped by a bit of sunshine coming through. as you can see here earlier on in essex. and continuing the nautical theme, you can see just how different the weather here is in aberdeenshire — fog, low cloud and some rain

that's been affecting scotland. that's going to move northwards and out of the way, should dry off in northern ireland. but we're seeing rain developing in england and wales that could be quite heavy for a while. it'll push its way south eastwards. clearer skies will follow and a few showers overnight across some northern and western parts of the country. temperatures aren't going to be quite as high as they were last night, but still 7 to 9 degrees — pretty mild start to friday. and then we're going to see some sunshine on friday. a few showers initially across northern scotland. those will tend to fade away. the odd shower further south, into northern ireland, pushing into england and wales. but i think southern areas are likely to have a dry day and there won't be many showers around at all. temperatures are still 12 in the central belt, ia in the south east of england, not quite as high as today, but still above average for the time of year. there are some weather fronts to head our way over the weekend. that one's going to fade away. this is the main driver coming in during saturday and then heading eastwards during sunday as well. ahead of that, we've got a slight ridge of high pressure, so dry weather, could be quite a bit of cloud, mind you.

best of the sunshine in the east. a few spots of rain coming in ahead of the main rain band. so it will get wetter in northern ireland. that rain will push before nightfall into western parts of scotland. ahead of it, again, those temperatures probably peaking at 13 or ia degrees. now, that band of rain on that weather front will push eastwards across all areas overnight. so it's going to be wet for a while. whilst northern areas should see the rain clearing away, it's going to be a bit of a struggle further south across england and wales. main rain band, followed by a cluster of rain here, pushing towards the south east. the best of the drier weather probably across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, with just a few showers in the far northwest. and temperatures over the weekend are not changing very much. 12 to ia degrees is mild, just not quite as high as today.

live from london. this is bbc news donald trump will face a criminal trial in relation to hush money payments to an adult film staff. a judge in new york hasjust payments to an adult film staff. a judge in new york has just delivered his ruling. dramatic pictures from gaza's nasser hospital. the israeli military raids the facility — arresting several people.

it says it has credible evidence that hostages have been held there. a setback for two of the world's biggest economies — the uk and japan fall into recession. we will be looking at how the uk recession compares with other countries. recession compares with other countries-— countries. three, two, one, ignition! — and fly me to the moon — again... a us rocket could make the first lunar landing in more than 50 years. hello, i'm samantha simmonds — welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. a new yorkjudge has refused donald trump's request to dismiss criminal charges over alleged hush money paid to a porn star. the decision paves the way for the first—ever criminal trial of a former us president. the trial — scheduled for next month — is the first of four criminal

cases mr trump faces.