rain in more than 70 years. prince william is given get—well—soon cards for the princess of wales as he makes his first appearance since her cancer diagnosis. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live. the german foreign ministry has summoned the russian ambassador after arresting two men suspected of spying and planning sabotage attacks on military sites. german prosecutors say one of them had been photographing potential military targets in germany, including us military facilities which assist ukraine. the arrests came as ukraine's prime minister warned the bbc there will be a third world war if ukraine

loses its conflict with russia. g7 foreign ministers are meeting now on the italian island of capri to discuss ukraine's urgent appeal for more air defence support and how to use frozen russian assets to assist kyiv. earlier, i spoke to our security correspondent gordon corera. potentially, a significant series of arrests by german authorities yesterday. they're certainly suggesting that today, with prosecutors arresting two men, one of those, it appears, had been spending some time carrying out reconnaissance of a military facilities. the second man is thought to have assisted him and then, in turn, they are thought to have been in contact with another person linked with russian intelligence services. some details are emerging about what they may have been looking at. these are military facilities inside germany but the suggestion is this wasn't just spying, collecting intelligence —

that is something that happens normally — but they were considering, particularly that one individual — sabotage, carrying out some kind of explosion or fire at one of those facilities. that's what makes this particularly significant and different from the run—of—the—mill espionage cases which we've seen many of in recent years, including in germany. tell me more about the military facility — why germany, why now? it's clear they have looked at a number of facilities so it's not clear they picked one particular facility to target. some suggestions are these could be facilities linked to ukraine and german support for ukraine, including us military facilities, where there is training, for instance, on tanks that are going into ukraine or where ukrainian soldiers might be trained. another possibility is a supply routes or depots where material might be shipped out to ukraine.

again, this is significant — we've seen some evidence in the past of russian intelligence carrying out sabotage activities in the past. there are reports that russian military intelligence, the gru, blew up an arms depot in the czech republic about a decade ago. but carrying out something like this in germany would certainly be significant. the suggestion is it's all part of attempts to undermine european support for the effort of ukraine in fighting russia. ukraine's prime minister is in washington to urge the us congress to pass a long—stalled foreign aid bill, which includes $61 billion earmarked for kyiv. the house of representatives is set to vote on the package this saturday. in an interview in washington, ukraine's prime minister told my colleague sumi somas—kanda about the risks of a russian victory in ukraine. the global system of security will be destroyed at all, and all the world will need to find and will need to look in for a new system of security.

or there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars. and in the end of the day, it could lead to the third world war. so our mutual task is to protect democratic values, to protect existing after the second world war, global system, secure global security system. and bring long term and sustainable peace on european continent. so russia must lose this war and aggressors should be punished, and putin's regime should be destroyed at all. and only this factors will lead us to the sustainable and long—term peace. i just want to follow up on that, prime minister, we saw a republican, congressman mccall, say last week that he thinks that russian propaganda has infected, that's the word that he used, some members of his party and that they are essentially repeating that propaganda. what do you think of that? we shouldn't forget that russia is leading war

with ukraine on the ground, but russia is leading war with the civilized world, with west countries in the multidimensional spaces, in cyberspace, in propaganda and disinformation space. so there in ukraine, we have war in the water, on the water, on the ground, in the sky. so all of this now bring us to this to this obstacles when we should understand that disinformation and propaganda is influencing here in the united states on many people in the european union, on many people such as in ukraine. so we should count on this and we should make our work. we should fight against of this absolutely unprovoked, illegal aggression of russia in ukraine.

that was ukraine's prime minister. earlier, i spoke to natalie andrews, the congress reporter for the wall streetjournal. i started by asking whether the message from ukraine is cutting through in washington. it does seem that the ukraine/israel/ taiwan package is gaining momentum. it has momentum, it looks like it hasn't had votes to pass the house on saturday, and the senate plans to take it up. in terms of the way it's been designed, speakerjohnson has made the aid and support separate votes, ukraine separate to the israel vote. does that still leave open the worry that perhaps there will be support for israel, but when it comes to ukraine, the blockage we have seen, we may see a repetition? the reason why they're separating the eight votes is because there is a different coalition of lawmakers that will support aid

for israel and ukraine. so they will put up the aid for ukraine you'll see a lot of the democrats, a lot more democrats support it, then you may see for israel, where some democrats are worried that the country does not need more military aid. they've called for a ceasefire, they are upset about the war. you will probably see more republicansjoin in israel, expect a bipartisan coalition on the taiwan portion, and there is a fourth sidecar which contain some national security priorities, some sort of motivators to get this bill across the finish line. that is the critical parts when it comes to ukraine and aid. is it likely to get over the finish line, are there enough republicans that perhaps are not being swayed this time around, around the trump position, which has been to resist this move in the months we've seen? yes.

so, it's tricky procedurally. what is called a rule. we don't normally worry about rules, but republicans, generally far—right conservatives, have been blocking the road, and it's very uncommon for the minority party to step up and help a rule pass, because it often contains partisan elements. but democrats have said that they are going to help, they are going to vote on the rule for this. it does seem like this has the votes to pass. a final thought, then — how much is the internal fight within the republican party, the psychodrama that is happening with yet again another threat to speakerjohnson, is that playing into, does that help or hinder this ukraine vote? johnson almost seemed he had come to peace yesterday. he said he was ready to do the right thing, let the chips fall where they may. that was his phrasing. he seemed to realise

this is important. republicans are fuelled by the attack from iran on israel, they want to get the israel aid done, they knew this was the way. so, yes, they are already talking about changing the rules for house republicans to have them keep theirjob. he seems at peace. he knows that there is a threat of his job, he knows he may lose hisjob, but he says he believes this is the right thing to do. breaking news coming in from the us, joe biden and the white house, i was saying a little while ago about the uk sanctions and the pronounced against iran. we knew same coordination with the us and joe brighton has released this from the situation room as the us watched iran's attack and it is said that less than a week ago iran launched one of the worst attacks the world is ever seen against israel. together with our allies and

partners, the us defended israel and today are holding iran accountable, imposing new sanctions and export controls on iran. sanctions target leaders connected to the revolutionary guard. and the drone programme that enabled this brazen assault. he also references the conversation he had with g7 leaders the morning after those attacks and makes the point that the sanctions are part of a unified response that has come from western capitals after iran's attack. that is the latest coming in from president biden and us and uk sanctions. in the last hour, the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has given a downbeat assessment of the situation in the middle east warning the region is on a precipice. in a speech to the un security council, mr guterres urged all countries to exercise maximum restraint, saying one miscalculation could lead to full—scale regional conflict.

it is high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation. it is high time to stop. the international community must work together to prevent any actions that could push the entire middle east over the edge, with devastating impact on civilians. let me be clear — the risks are spiralling on many fronts. at the un secretary—general in the last hour. a little earlier, i spoke to our diplomatic correspondent james landale, who is injerusalem. i began by asking them if it is any clearer how israel is going to respond to those attacks. well, what we know is israel is going to act. they've made it very, very clear that there will be a response. what we don't know yet is the timing and the how. in terms of how they might respond,

where the debate is centering is over, should it be an israel to iran attack or should israel attack some other representative parts of iranian authority, in other words, some of its supportive militias in the region? we know the west is saying, look, be very, very cautious about a direct attack on iranian soil because of the risk of escalation. the israelis rhetorically at least have said, well, thanks for your advice, but we're going to make up ourown minds. there is some discussion going on that suggests that the israelis might pause a bit. they might allow time to pass, maybe wait until the passover holiday is over before they respond. but that's just some speculation and some analysis. it's not a clear decision. at the same time, the iranians are doing everything they possibly can to try to deter attack by making it clear that if there is any strike against iran, they will respond firmly. and even today, one of their senior commanders from the iranian revolutionary guard saying that if israel was to attack iranian nuclearfacilities,

then potentially iran could change its nuclear strategy. in other words, openly say we are going to develop nuclear weapons. at the moment, the west thinks that's what iran is doing, but iran always denies that, saying that its iranian development programme is purely civilian. and, james, interesting what you said at the middle of that answer about perhaps israel watching, not rushing to any decision. a former head of mossad talking to the bbc a little earlier, talking about and referencing sanctions from the west. and just i was reading out the latest package of sanctions and measures both from the uk and the us. how significant is that? does that in any way have the potential of changing the dial here? no. these sanctions are just on a handful of individuals. seven people, six entities, defence companies, the irgc, navy section and things like that.

some senior commanders, they will all be banned from travelling to the uk and the us. if they have any assets that are in any way attached to the uk and the us, they will be frozen. look, this particular bit of the sanctions regime against iran, it's already got a list of 400 people on it. they've tacked on another seven people and six entities. this isn't going to shift the dial. what this is, is a symbolic declaration by the us and the uk of saying, look, we need to maintain international pressure on iran. that is something that israel has been asking for. i think there is a desire diplomatically within the west to try and harness some of the diplomatic support that iran has got, israel has got as a result of the iranian attack. this is just a symbolic demonstration of that. but remember, you know, sanctions have a symbolic sort of rhetorical, performative side to them when they're announced. actually changing things in the long run, that takes time. quick 30 seconds, james,

if you would, on these reports from qatar suggesting they may end their role chairing negotiations. is there anything coming from various hostage families as a result of hearing things like that? well, look, there's obviously going to be concern by all those who have an interest in there being a cease fire in gaza. i think the sense here at the moment is this is qatar pushing back against some american politicians who have been critical of qatar, saying they're not putting enough pressure on hamas. this is qatarjust pushing back against that to try and put some pressure back on the americans. james landale there injerusalem. we are keeping an eye on that g7 gathering in capri. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

a juror in the criminal trial of former us president donald trump has been excused after saying

she felt intimidated because some aspects of her identity had been made public. thejuror had been one of seven selected this week. live to new york and our correspondent nada tawfik. tell us a bit more about what we've learned about this one insurer? matthew, thisjuror learned about this one insurer? matthew, this juror had learned about this one insurer? matthew, thisjuror had called into the parties last night and in court today said she slept on it and said she couldn't feel she could be fair and impartial because she said the outside influence would affect her opinions. that's because there were details revealed about her and other jurors about where they worked, their ages, so this young woman who was a nurse said that family and friends found out that she was a

juror on this case. really quickly, thejudge decided to juror on this case. really quickly, the judge decided to excuse her. there might be anotherjuror of the original seven who might get excused as well. we're waiting to see what happens there. essentially, there were concerns he wasn't as forthright about his criminal history. this really underscores how we started the day with seven, we're down to six and might be down to five but yet they are trying to make headway on seating this jury of 12 people with six alternates. this process continues on day three of the literal�*s criminal trial. tell the literal's criminal trial. tell me a little _ the literal's criminal trial. tell me a little more _ the literal's criminal trial. tell me a little more about - the literal's criminal trial. tell me a little more about donald trump's demeanour overa for the last couple of days in court and are we on track to actually start opening statements next week or does it look like things are being pushed back to? ., , ., ,,

to? today in courts, donald trump is re to? today in courts, donald trump is pretty subdued- _ to? today in courts, donald trump is pretty subdued. he _ to? today in courts, donald trump is pretty subdued. he is _ to? today in courts, donald trump is pretty subdued. he is at _ to? today in courts, donald trump is pretty subdued. he is at the - to? today in courts, donald trump is pretty subdued. he is at the defence | pretty subdued. he is at the defence bench with his lawyers. turning to the jurors occasionally but what i think is very different as demeanour outside of court. prosecutors today said that donald trump has again violated a limited gag order that has been placed on him. they had sought at least a $300,000 fine earlier in this trial, saying he violated the school term three times. the site has done that seven more times including calling michael cohen, a potential witness in this case, a serial liar. trump's lawyer said he did that because michael cohen is attacking him and because he is running for office he wants to respond to those attacks. they also say donald trump shared a quote by a conservative journalist essentially alluding to that democratic liberals were trying to get on to the jury to influence it. it was a quote he said

about liberal activist lying to the judge in order to try and get on the trumpjury. they were not judge in order to try and get on the trump jury. they were not happy about that social media post as well from the president but there will be a meeting on some of these issues. as far as the timing of the trial, that depends. thejudge as far as the timing of the trial, that depends. the judge said opening statements could start as early as monday, that will depend onjury selection also if any of the jurors need to observe the passover holiday. need to observe the passover holida . ., ~ , ., dubai international airport is working hard to restore operations after record rains pounded the united arab emirates and neighbouring gulf countries in recent days. one of the world's busiest hubs has seen some inbound flights after hundreds of delays and cancellations, but staff have struggled to get food to stranded passengers crowding the facility. across the uae, where one person was killed, the authorities are working to clear swamped streets of submerged vehicles and to restore disrupted services. flash floods also killed 20 people in oman.

earlier, i spoke with sarah forster, she's a news editor at the national and was caught up in the chaos at dubai airport. i was one of the passengers returning to the uae just after the worst of the storm was over. obviously, i had friends and family here who did have to go through it and they were having to bail their balconies out with water. water tends to flood into houses, that sort of thing. for me personally, i landed about 2 hours late after circling in a hold just as dxb reopened. we then had an hour waiting for a stand before we could be let off the airplane. quite honestly, getting through the airport was a bit of a breeze because there were no other passengers. we were one of the first to land. so going through immigration, getting the bag was absolutely fine. my trouble started immediately after leaving the airport because there were no taxis. there was no metro. the road transport authority, the rta here, were putting on buses to nearby metro stations, but the metro had limited service. so for me, it was only the kindness

of friends and family that came to pick me up and take me home. it's the only way i managed to get home. otherwise, there were many people sleeping in metro stations and just waiting for normal service to resume so that they could get home. the pictures are astonishing. and as you're talking, we're playing some of them. i mean, the streets, it's an incredible sight to see the levels of floodwater, what it's done to vehicles and all of the damage. talk to me about the speed of it, because i assume that you've seen nothing like this in this sort of way ever before. well, this was, you know, the phrase that's going around... this was an unprecedented amount of rainfall. this was about a year and a half's worth of rain that fell just within 2a hours. the storm itself went on for longer than that. and it is something that the country tried to brace itself for. but i don't think any nation in the world could deal with a year and a half's worth of rain in one day. so there was a significant

amount of damage done. however, swiftly the water pumps were out on the roads. the police were redirecting people. you know, even the kindness of strangers. i know in my community where i live, some of the security guards and other workers were stuck here and they couldn't get home. and people were putting together clean clothes and food and water for them just to see them through until... i mean, it's beautifully sunny and cloud free sky both yesterday and today. however, many of the roads are still flooded, so people do need to take care out there. it is unprecedented. however, we have now had two very, very serious storms in the space of two months, which, as you can imagine, is very unusual for the uae. i remember my own parents moved to the uae ia years ago and they used to tell me it rained a handful of days a year. my dad likes to tell a story that it took him three years to find out his windscreen wipers were set to automatic because he'd never driven in the rain before and it

took him three years for it to rain. and then suddenly theyjust turned on. so you can see the climate in this part of the world is changing and the government are going to have to start responding to that. we will be live back in to buy place to get the latest here on the programme in about 30 minutes' time. one more story this half hour because prince william has returned to official public duties for the first time since his wife princess catherine reveals her cancer diagnosis four weeks ago. there he is, he was given get well soon cards from well—wishers for his wife and also for the king while visiting a free charity in surrey where he lended a hand in the kitchens and also help to load it delivery vans. we're keeping an eye on the islands

of capri because the g7 foreign ministers have been meeting there and due to have a family photo and we'll get a statement on what they agreed. the situation in the middle eastis agreed. the situation in the middle east is dominating but also the situation with aid to ukraine. we go quickly to dublin and the picture there because we are waiting for more family action there, they are talking to thejurors more family action there, they are talking to the jurors after the inquest delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in all the deaths. hello there. a cold, crisp start and temperatures got to as low as four in the like districts of the watson frost. camogie framering pushing into scotland. this high pressure will influence the story into the weekend, topping across that high as weekend, topping across that high as we bring showery outbreaks of rain

as it moves across scotland pushing into northern england and wales this afternoon. more in the way of cloud but some sunshine in the southeast corner and a degree or so warmer than yesterday with lighter winds here, 15 degrees. that cloud and rain sinks south of the then at clear skies and a brisk, northwesterly wind picking up some scattered showers. symptom wintry overa for the elevation in scotland. here, chillier night to come but across england and wales we keep the cloud, orjust holding up. a drab start to friday morning as that weak frontal system eases away. the cloud will break up gradually, brighter conditions into the afternoon. scattered showers and a blustery wind particular in the far northeast of scotland, and here that would have an impact, 8 degrees the high. we could see 15 or further south. into the weekend, the location will

be the important key because the further west we get sunshine coming through we could see 17 degrees with high pressure building in but along that east coast, cool and disappointing with a lot of cloud at times. that is because of their high—pressure drift away further eastwards, we are going to tamp into some cold air coming from scandinavia and is that wind pushes across the north sea, that means on exposed east coast more in the way of cloud and noticeably cooler. not too bad on saturday but starting with some sunshine and cloud is the day goes on. the highest values in the west with ia degrees, struggling to 9 degrees on the east coast. a similar story on sunday, at all, cool it feel particularly out on those exposed coast. further west, with more shelter, highs of 17 quite possible in northern ireland.

this is bbc news, the headlines. ukraine's prime minister warns the west of the threat of a third world war, if they don't help to arm his country. a meeting of g7 foreign ministers in capri — assistance for ukraine is high on the agenda. there are frozen russian assets in the uk and europe and elsewhere. we

should be finding ways of using those assets to help ukraine in its defence of this appalling, illegal russian invasion. thousands of passengers are still waiting for flights at dubai airport after delays caused by the heaviest rain in more than 70 years. and australia is fighting infestation of fire ants, with a potentially devastating impact on the country's health and agriculture. let's round up the business news of the day. let's take a quick look at our top business stories. could iran face yet more economic sanctions after its unprecendent attack on israel at the weekend? that's one of the things being discussed by g7 foreign ministers gathering in italy. iran is already subject to a range of western sanctions,

including against its oil industry which has helped fund its military