donald trump is back in court in manhattan where started listening to more testimony from the woman at the centre of the fraud charges hes facing. the adult film actress stormy daniels has taken to the witness stand again. she's already given the court some rather salacious details about the affair she claims she had with mr trump before he became president. he's denied her version of events. the fraud charges stem from alleged hush money payments which were made to ms daniels. here's what he had to say about the court case. here we sit after two and a half weeks and i think youll see some weeks and i think you'll see some very revealing things today. and i want to thank my lawyers, they've done a very good job. but i'd rather thank them after its over as opposed to now after it's over as opposed to now because we don't want them to get carried away. nada tawfik, our north america correspondent, is there. we already know that donald trump

has been affected by stormy daniels�* testimony because in court transcripts that were released after the last day in court, you could read that thejudge had to essentially give donald trump's lawyers a warning, that donald trump had to stop audibly cursing during stormy daniels�* first bit of testimony. he said that the jury could see it and hear it, it could be contemptuous, showing perhaps intimidation of a witness. so he ordered donald trump's lawyer to advise him to cut that out. donald trump arriving in court today brought with him some political allies — a senatorfrom florida who is loyal to donald trump, rick scott, isjoining him there in the courtroom, along with some of his campaign team and lawyers, who are normally with him. so donald trump certainly bracing for another, what we expect to be a difficult day in court for him, as stormy daniels continues her testimony. so far, donald trump's lawyers have tried to discredit stormy daniels completely by claiming

that she was just after money when she wanted to sell her story of the alleged affair. daniels on the stand insisting it was about keeping her family safe and just getting the story out. they even tried to suggest that she screamed at her lawyer at the time when payment was being held up before the election. but again on the stand this morning she denies that characterisation, that account, sticking to her story that she had on tuesday, again, that this had nothing to do with getting money from donald trump. for more, i spoke to lauren wright, political scientist at princeton university. what we know from the past is that these independent voters who lean republican, that donald trump is at very high risk of alienating and not getting back in the fold. they're nikki haley voters, essentially, and they were kasich voters in 2016 or marco

rubio voters in 2016. the majority of those people do ultimately come home and support the party's nominee. and so it really is a question of what's in the news closer to the election when more people are paying attention. if these court cases get delayed, maybe trump will luck out. if the college campuses protests continue, that's not good for democrats. and so it really depends on the mix of news voters will be exposed to when they head to the ballot box. so this is obviously some months out from that november vote. is there any polling at all out there on, for example, whether there is a different reaction to what we're seeing with this particular case, stormy daniels, between, for example, male and female voters or young and old voters? male and female voters, i have not seen big differences in particular. and, you know, men and women voters

are more alike than different, frankly, there are certainly a lot of women republicans who turned back around and voted for donald trump in 2020 just like they did in 2016. what i'm really interested in is the independent swing voters. and actually there's some evidence to suggest from polling that this is very low on their list of priorities. swing voters, they're not very much tuned in to it. they care more about issues like the economy, national security, education, immigration, crime in particular. and so there is some evidence that compared to the other many criminal charges trump is facing, this set of charges is the least serious. and voters do distinguish between this case and other cases like the mar—a—lago documents case or like the election fraud cases. israel's far—right interior minister has condemned president biden�*s decision not to supply us munitions that could be used in a major israeli assault on the city of rafah. itamar ben—gvir wrote on x,

"hamas loves biden". the british foreign secretary, david cameron, has said the uk is opposed to a military operation in rafah but is unlikely to follow america in delaying arms sales to israel. a senior hamas official has said israel's operations in rafah and its seizure of the border crossing there are meant to derail peace efforts. the group's delegation to the cairo ceasefire talks has left for doha, but have stressed they are commited to reaching a deal. yolande knell reports from jerusalem. bloody and in pain. children were among 25 wounded by israeli shelling in one neighbourhood in the heart of rafah. seven corpses were pulled from the rubble in the west of the city. translation: they said - to evacuate the eastern areas and that the western area was safe. this is proof that the israeli occupation is a liar. there is no safe place.

but israel's military still insists it is carrying out a limited operation against hamas battalions hiding out in gaza's southernmost city. and the us, israel's closest ally, has given its starkest warning yet of the consequences if it goes for a full scale ground offensive. i made it clear that, if they go into rafah, they havent gone into rafah yet, if they go into rafah, i'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with rafah. earlier in the war, powerful explosives caused massive death and destruction. the us is now holding back a shipment of thousands of its large bombs. "very disappointing," one israeli official said. "israel will continue to fight hamas until its destruction," insisted the foreign minister. and a far—right minister suggested the us president was helping israel's enemies. the us fears that if israel goes ahead with a full invasion of rafah,

there will be carnage. already, there is fear and panic, with tens of thousands of people fleeing and fuel and food are quickly running out. while israel has reopened a main entry point for aid, the un says it has not been safe enough to collect supplies. the humanitarian situation in gaza is in another downward spiral. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. let's get more on the aid situation in gaza. margaret harris is a spokesperson for the world health organization, joining us from geneva. what are you hearing about those in rafah? are they trying to flee and if so to wear?— rafah? are they trying to flee and if so to wear? thank you for having me. at if so to wear? thank you for having me- at least _ if so to wear? thank you for having me. at least 80,000 _ if so to wear? thank you for having me. at least 80,000 people - if so to wear? thank you for having me. at least 80,000 people have| if so to wear? thank you for having i me. at least 80,000 people have left rafah according to my colleagues on the ground. and many more are trying to flee. but what they keep saying is people don't know where to go because even the places that are

designated safe are not safe. one of my colleagues, one of our staff had his house destroyed overnight and it was very close to the un offices. he lost several members of his family and has otherfamily members fighting for their lives right now. our teams are no longer working in thejoint operation our teams are no longer working in the joint operation centre because it is too close. they are hearing the bombing and shelling coming closer and closer. one of my colleagues commented that it may be called a limited incursion but it feels full on where they are. in terms of options for people there, earlier this week the israeli military directed some palestinians to eastern rafah and the un had said that place, that part was already home to nine sites sheltering displaced people with three clinics and six warehouses. how difficult it

for your teams operate at the moment?— for your teams operate at the moment? , ' . ., , moment? very difficult and very dangerous _ moment? very difficult and very dangerous. one _ moment? very difficult and very dangerous. one of— moment? very difficult and very dangerous. one of the - moment? very difficult and very dangerous. one of the main - moment? very difficult and very - dangerous. one of the main problems is that of course now there is no fuel because the crossings have been closed all week, since the 6th of may and they remain closed, regardless of what has been said, there are no crossings functioning at the moment, that are functional at the moment, that are functional at the moment into rafah. so none of the aid that we would normally be bringing to the people is coming in and particularly the big problem is no fuel. so we have to really rationalise what we do. we had to cancel submissions to the north, not just because it's so dangerous but also because we simply cannot... we need to preserve fuel or give fuel to hospitals in the south to keep going. to hospitals in the south to keep anoin. �* to hospitals in the south to keep oiiin_ �* ., to hospitals in the south to keep oiiin _ �* ., , to hospitals in the south to keep iioin. �* ., , , ., ., to hospitals in the south to keep ioiin. �* ., , , ., ., going. and what is the situation in terms of food? _ going. and what is the situation in terms of food? we _ going. and what is the situation in terms of food? we have _ going. and what is the situation in terms of food? we have heard - terms of food? we have heard repeated warnings of famine and malnutrition. what's the latest you are hearing from your teams? it is

iettini are hearing from your teams? it is getting worse _ are hearing from your teams? it 3 getting worse and worse. only two of 12 bakeries, there were 12 i2 bakeries, there were 12 functioning bakeries in rafah but only two are now able to function. some of that is down to lack of fuel. the rest is they don't have materials to make food. food is in severe shortage, there is also a shortage of water. there is chaos because people are terrified. they are suffering from fear and panic. they don't know where to go and they don't know what to do.— don't know what to do. margaret harris from _ don't know what to do. margaret harris from the _ don't know what to do. margaret harris from the world _ don't know what to do. margaret harris from the world health - harris from the world health organization in geneva, thank you. the eurovision second semi—final is set to being in the swedish city of malmo in just a few hours with israel taking part in the song contest. pro—palestinian protests against the war in gaza have been taking place in the city

with large crowds of people carrying flags, and smoke canisters in the colours of the palestinian flag being set off. earlier i spoke to our correspondent sarah rainsford who is in malmo. you can see the crowd here. in fact, this is the tail end of the demonstration here. people have been gathering over the past hour or so. just looking at what is happening now, people are starting to march through the centre of malmo. lots and lots of palestinian flags, of course, and lots of chants about what is happening in gaza in particular, but also focused on the eurovision song contest which is taking place here. it is the second semifinal here today. and lots of people are very angry that israel has been allowed to take part. there has been shouts here for a boycott of eurovision by other artists who are taking part in the competition, but also for israel itself to be banned from the competition. there are all sorts of groups here. i have seen queers for palestine. i have seen latinos for palestine. i have seen communists for palestine. lots and lots of people represented. lots of children here too. families coming out, children in pushchairs. it's extremely peaceful. this is an authorised march.

there are a lot of police in town, they are standing by at the edge of the protests for now. there have been reinforcements brought into malmo for eurovision because of course there have been security concerns. extra police drafted in from norway and denmark too, but everything here is calm and peaceful. but the anger is strong. people are furious that whilst russia was banned from eurovision after the full—scale invasion of ukraine, that israel has been allowed to take part. eurovision says that it's not a political contest and israel has every right to be here. people here are not at all happy about that. still to come on verified live... a former saudi intelligence officer has told the bbc that the kingdom's authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city in the desert. and japan says it will start hunting a fourth species of whale despite a drop in demand for whale meat. that's after the break. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

japan has announced that it will start hunting fin whales as part of its commercial whaling operations. demand for whale meat has collapsed over the past decades. but japan's chief cabinet secretary said whaling was part of the country's traditional food culture. fin whales are at least twice as large as the three smaller species already targeted. luke mcmillan is a spokesperson for whales and dolphins conservation, uk. thank you forjoining us. tell us a bit about fin whales, what are they and why has this change come about injapan? fin and why has this change come about in ja ian? ., , and why has this change come about inja-an? . , ., and why has this change come about injaian? . , ., in japan? fin whales are the second-largest _ in japan? fin whales are the second-largest wales - in japan? fin whales are the second-largest wales after| in japan? fin whales are the i second-largest wales after the in japan? fin whales are the - second-largest wales after the blue second—largest wales after the blue whale. japan been considering adding fin whales to their hunting list for quite some time, possibly driven by

a desire for a larger catch due to their significance size and the amount of meat they provide. they are basically, they have pushed it through and are about to go out, hopefully not, but are about to go out on boats to start catching the second largest whale around. fire second largest whale around. are the an second largest whale around. are they an endangered species or abundant in the wild? the? they an endangered species or abundant in the wild? they are deftly not _ abundant in the wild? they are deftly not considered - abundant in the wild? they are | deftly not considered abundant. abundant in the wild? they are - deftly not considered abundant. they are listed as vulnerable, on the ruc n red list and included on the endangered species act way back in 1973. the fact they are so vulnerable highlights the need for the fact that there needs to be greater conservation efforts to protect the population from further decline. a japanese protect the population from further decline. ajapanese whaler will only threaten fin whales further as well as all the other efforts for fin whaling in places like iceland as

well. ~ ., whaling in places like iceland as well. ~ . , ., whaling in places like iceland as well. . ., ., ,_ well. what proportion of this type of wail will be _ well. what proportion of this type of wail will be affected _ well. what proportion of this type of wail will be affected by - well. what proportion of this type of wail will be affected by the - of wail will be affected by the change in policy injapan? —— this type of whale. i change in policy in japan? -- this type of whale-— change in policy in japan? -- this type of whale. i mentioned iceland briefl . type of whale. i mentioned iceland briefly. iceland _ type of whale. i mentioned iceland briefly. iceland might _ type of whale. i mentioned iceland briefly. iceland might not - type of whale. i mentioned iceland briefly. iceland might not be - type of whale. i mentioned iceland briefly. iceland might not be at - type of whale. i mentioned iceland| briefly. iceland might not be at the point where they are fin whaling any more which we are all very happy about because it being a vulnerable species, that's great news, but now is japan coming species, that's great news, but now isjapan coming into species, that's great news, but now is japan coming into the arena and saying they potentially want to start hunting fin whales as well, not only does this compound the fact, iceland may continue but if japan are wailing for fin whales as well then the population decline will only go more startling rate. what happens to the wider ecosystem when hunting resumes? males what happens to the wider ecosystem when hunting resumes?— when hunting resumes? wales are phenomenally _ when hunting resumes? wales are phenomenally important _ when hunting resumes? wales are phenomenally important for - when hunting resumes? wales are phenomenally important for our i phenomenally important for our oceans. there's a lot about whales that people don't know. they are great for biodiversity. the more whales the more fish we have, the

more fish we have the greater the biodiversity of the ocean. it affects things like phytoplankton, one of the greatest carbon sinks we have on the planet. whales are actually our allies in the fight against climate change. they are incredibly important. luke mcmillan from the whales _ incredibly important. luke mcmillan from the whales and _ incredibly important. luke mcmillan from the whales and dolphins - from the whales and dolphins conservation uk, thank you. let's turn now to the ongoing conflict in sudan — where human rights watch says the paramilitary group known as the rapid support forces may have committed genocide in the west darfur region. the area has seen weeks of clashes involving the sudanese army and paramilitary groups, with reports of large numbers of civilian casualties. our africa correspondent barbara plett usher is in nairobi. there's been a lot of reporting about the waves of attacks against the predominantly non—arab masalit population of al—junaynah. but this is one of the most comprehensive investigations so far. human rights watch interviewed more than 200 people and scrutinised more than 100 images and it concluded that the rsf and its arab allies had

committed war crimes and crimes against humanity within the context of ethnic cleansing, it says, by systematically targeting masalit neighbourhoods and displaced persons camps and it talks about widespread killing, widespread rapes, and of course we know that many of the masalit people left al—junaynah and have now taken refuge in chad. the human rights watch report also says there may have been an intent to do this. there may have been the intent to destroy this community in west darfur, and if that were the case then it would be genocide. and so it calls on the international community to investigate whether the facts support that kind of conclusion. now, the rsf leader, general hemedti, has said all along that his forces do not target civilians. he has said that the massacres were the result of tribal violence, which was not related to his campaign. but human rights watch says that he is among those who had commanding responsibility over the forces who were involved. the united states and the prosecutor

general for the international criminal court have talked about war crimes, the potentialfor war crimes on both sides. the us has also specifically said that the rsf did carry out ethnic cleansing and humanitarian crimes against humanity, but neither have specifically talked about genocide. a former saudi intelligence officer has told the bbc that the kingdom's authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city. dozens of western companies are involved in building the $500 billion neom scheme in the north—west of the country. our team at bbc verify has been looking into this. here's merlyn thomas. this is part of neom — saudi arabia's grand plan to transform the country and its image. it's a project almost the size of belgium with companies from all over the world building it.

at its heart is the line — a city carved from the desert and a 100—mile straight line. but it's come at a price. thousands of people lived near the line. for years, they objected to being moved, but the project still went ahead. we spoke to a former saudi intelligence officer, now exiled in britain, who says he was given orders to clear one of the villages for the project in 2020. now, he said the order licensed him to use lethal force against whoever stayed in their homes. he says he dodged the mission which went ahead without him. this is the aftermath. walls littered with bullet holes. this man refused to leave his home. saudi forces shot him dead. in the months leading up to his death, he posted multiple videos on social media protesting the evictions. the saudi government says he was an armed terrorist. the un and human rights groups say he was killed for refusing eviction. a0 people from three villages remain detained

after objecting to the evictions, according to human rights group. now these three men are now on death row, facing terrorism charges. and villages have been destroyed. the saudi government says more than 6000 people have been moved, but critics say this is likely to be a conservative figure. this is one of the villages back in 2018. and you can see that it's almost completely been wiped off the map. homes, schools, hospitals cleared off the map out. this was over eight kilometers away from the planned area for the line. and this is a satellite image of the line. it was pitched as a car—free city as part of the neom project. it's 170 kilometres long, though now only 2.54 kilometers is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030,

and it's planned to be 200 metres wide and 500 metres tall. so to put that into perspective, that's taller than the empire state building, the eiffel tower and big ben. mohammed bin salman, crown prince of saudi arabia, wants neom to be his legacy, a shining jewel in the desert. but critics say the project has cost some saudis their freedom and their lives. president xijinping of china has been greeted with a military parade in budapest during a visit to hungary. it's the latest location of his european tour after visiting france and serbia. later he'll meet the hungarian prime minister viktor orban. beijing sees hungary as one of its closest allies in the eu, and there have been high levels of chinese investment there. earlier i spoke to charles parton, who is a former chinese diplomat and associate fellow at the council on geostrategy. hungary is the biggest destination of chinese investment in central and eastern europe, so i think they want more of that. they want more trade, obviously, celebrate the building of the railroad from budapest, from belgrade to budapest.

that's on the surface. but also you need to look underneath that, at what the aims of xijinping in particular are. and i would characterise those as trying to drive a wedge between europe and the us, and hungary and serbia in particular, who have been much more friendly to the chinese than other european countries. i think they are trying, xi jinping, china is always quite keen to weaken the unity within europe, much as it likes to say at once much as it likes to say it wants a strong europe actually it's very much in its interest that they don't get together, particularly on issues like subsidies investigations and possible blocking moves on some of china's exporting of its own capacity industries to europe. and i think xi jinping also wants to encourage any blunting of criticism of china's support of russia in the war. so, serbia, a close ally of russia.

and hungary is always someone, a country that's always been close to china and always willing to support them where they can. and let's not forget that the two leaders that attended the belt and road initiative in china back... there was a big forum in october last year, only two european leaders turned up. guess who they were. they were from serbia and hungary. so, it's close relationships. and as ever, china, the chinese leadership, likes to show its own people, its leader being feted and honoured around the world and bestriding the world stage as an underlining ofjust how important he is and china now is. these are pictures from brazil. deadly flooding in the last week.

a horse was found stranded on a rooftop in a flooded area in brazil's rio grande do sul on wednesday. aerial views showed the brown horse standing on top of a building that had been submerged in floodwater. rescuers are now trying to reach it. temperatures creeping up day by day. a weather front has brought thick cloud and spots of rain. thursday was another grey day here with outbreaks of rain to stop as we move through tonight it looks like the weather front will eventually move northwards, becoming confined to the northern isles of before it clears away, becoming dry, a clear night to come for most areas. mist and fog with temperatures ranging from 9—12. friday, the area of high pressure continues to bring fine unsettled weather and we lose the weather front from northern scotland. apart from a bit of early cloud, some mist and fog, most places should have a

fine, dry day, widespread sunshine particularly in england and wales, northern ireland, central and southern scotland. sunshine in the highlands well lifting temperatures up highlands well lifting temperatures up to 22 perhaps in aberdeen. 23, 2a perhaps in the warmest spots in england and wales. thru friday night, looks like we will see mist and fog returning in places with low cloud, see fog. the south—east, that could creep further west into the midlands first thing on saturday. again, there was temperatures of 9-12. again, there was temperatures of 9—12. now for the weekend, it does stay warm, good spells of sunshine around but the shower risk will start to increase particulars as we head into sunday because we have a weather front and low pressure developing and pushing towards our shores particularly by sunday and into next week it will be a lot more unsettled than we have had this week. saturday, another warm day to come with a bit of early mist and fog and low cloud across eastern england. otherwise per day of sunshine. could see a few heavy showers developing across the high ground of northern england, central and southern scotland into the

afternoon. could be thundery as well. a warm day to come, quite humid as well, the low to mid 20s quite widely. sunday, probably the warmest day of the week across southern areas, could be up to 26. plenty of sunshine, then showers and thunderstorms could become more widespread through the afternoon. temperatures coming down a little bit of western areas as clouds build up bit of western areas as clouds build up in the sky. as we head into next week, low pressure taking over and it will become a lot more unsettled with showers and longer spells of rain at times but there will still be a little bit of sunshine too. take care.

inching towards a cut — the bank of england keeps interest rates on hold. but two committee members are now voting to ease the cost of borrowing. "serious defects" — more revelations about boeing's safety record, this time from a whistle—blower at its main supplier. plus, crushing criticism — apple's new ad is slammed for showing the destruction of musical instruments, works of art, and historic relics. those were not the right pictures, we will show that story about such criticism of the working culture at

baidu later. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start here in the uk, where the bank of england has kept the cost of borrowing on hold at 5.25%, but is inching towards a cut. the bank has revealed that two out of nine committee members are now voting to cut interest rates — it needs needs a majority decision of five. that's caused the pound to continue its slide against the dollar. and it has helped the ftse100 close at a record high for the third day in a row. bank of england governor andrew bailey says they need to see "more evidence" that inflation has eased further, but is "optimistic" things are moving in the right direction. and he said he didn't rule out a rate cut as early as next month. i certainly want to be clear. before our next meeting injune we will have two full sets of data for inflation activity and the labour markets and that will help us making a fresh decision. but saying that, let me clue clear. the rate in

tokmak june is not a fait accompli,