this is bbc news, the headlines: donald trump's hush money trial hears from the man who used to be the former president's fixer — michael cohen. ukrainian officials say russian forces in the eastern kharkiv region are continuing to advance. mps in the uk say urgent action is needed to reduce the trauma experienced by many women during childbirth. and the un says there's still widespread trafficking of plants and animals — despite efforts to bring it under control.

now, with all the latest sport, here's olly foster. we know that the premier league title will be decided on the final day, but there's a significant match coming up for aston villa on monday night. the former european cup winners can secure qualification for the champions league. a win against liverpool at villa park will be enough to ensure a top four finish, that would see them return to europe's top club competition for the first time since 1983. they were european champions in 1982. it's the penultimate game in charge for liverpool'sjurgen klopp, and he's one booking away from a touchline ban. he doesn't want to spoil his farewell at anfield next sunday. unai emery is one of the best we have in our business, 100%. we've only got two yellow cards. so

i have got, over the years, obviously. i have got, over the years, obviously-— i have got, over the years, obviousl . ., ., , ., obviously. you need to be on the touchline for _ obviously. you need to be on the touchline for the _ obviously. you need to be on the touchline for the final— obviously. you need to be on the touchline for the final day, - obviously. you need to be on the touchline for the final day, don't| touchline for the final day, don't you? _ touchline for the final day, don't you? |_ touchline for the final day, don't ou? ., �* ., , ., you? i don't need to, but it would be cool. you? i don't need to, but it would be cool- i — you? i don't need to, but it would be cool. i will— you? i don't need to, but it would be cool. i will try _ you? i don't need to, but it would be cool. i will try absolutely - be cool. i will try absolutely everything to not get involved in any kind of discussions. we everything to not get involved in any kind of discussions.- everything to not get involved in any kind of discussions. we will see if he behaves _ any kind of discussions. we will see if he behaves himself. _ the all—time top scorer in the women's super league vivianne miedema will leave arsenal at the end of the season. the dutch strikerjoined from bayern munich seven years ago and has scored 125 goals, 79 n the league, in her 172 appearances for arsenal. she won the 2019 wsl title but was out for ten months last year with a serious knee injury and has only played 13 times this season. she's only 27, but the club haven't offered her a new contract and manchester city are believed to be one of the clubs interested in signing her. naomi osaka is out of the italian open.

the four—time grand slam champion was beaten in straight sets by china's qinwen zheng in the last—16. the australian open runner—up won in straight sets. osaka is yet to get beyond the quarter—finals at any wta event since her return to the court this year after having herfirst child. also today — in rome, a protest by climate activists disrupted two matches. the last—16 tie between madison keys and sorana cirstea was interrupted, along with a doubles match. keys was leading 6—2, 3—1 when two protestors wearing orange vests ran on to the court and threw confetti. others glued themselves to a stand before police and firefighters arrived. keys went on to win the match. the nba playoffs continue, it's all—square at two games all between the indiana pacers and the new york knicks. the pacers ran away with game four in the eastern conference semi—final. they opened up a huge

lead in the first half. tyrese haliburton top—scored for the pacers — this three at the end of the first half part of his 20 points on the night. and they were having fun by the end — — as the injury hit knicks were beaten 121—89. game five is in new york on tuesday. meanwhile, anthony edwards scored 44 points for the minnesota timberwolves, but that couldn't stop the denver nuggets levelling their western conference play—off semi—final at two games all. the reigning nba champions won it 115—107. i think the three days hurt us, i think after those two wins they gave us three days off, three days before we play again, and i don't really like that at all. i think that's why we came out sluggish in game three. but i don't think they got any momentum. we won two games, they won two games, this is whoever wins two games. i don't now how people look at it but i look at it like i'm happy,

we're competing at the highest level, and i'm smiling about it because i'm happy and ready to go and play. if we play tomorrow i'd be ready, so it's going to be fun. finally in rugby union, new zealand captain, sam cane will retire from international rugby at the end of the year. the 32—year—old flanker, who has been capped 95 times, is currently on a sabbatical with tokyo sungoliath but has now signed a three year deal with the japanese side. the all blacks have released him from the last year of his contract but the 2015 world cup winner will be eligible to play for his country for the rest of this year when thejapanese season comes to a close later this month. so he will pull on that famous all blacks jersey once again. that is all the sport for now. women suffering traumatic experiences in childbirth have prompted mps in the uk — to call for a major overhaul of maternity and post—natal care. a report refers to "harrowing"

evidence given by more than 1,000 women of still births and life—changing injuries. the birth trauma inquiry said, poor maternity care was all—too—frequently tolerated as normal — and women giving birth were often treated as an inconvenience. katy hunter reports. they didn't really believe that i was at such a final stage. i ended up having to be moved across the hospital when i was ten centimetres dilated. and it caught his head as he was falling out, over the toilet. i have severe incontinence because of that now. - since i was 39, when i gave birth. so i'm basically like - a 100—year—old person. voices of women who have experienced traumatic labour. it's estimated 30,000 women each year suffer negative experiences during childbirth such as serious blood loss and an

emergency caesarean. one in 20 develops post—traumatic stress disorder. i was separated from my baby and rushed into the emergency room for surgery. mp theo clarke, who suffered a traumatic labour, has chaired a cross—party inquiry into the issue. it has heard from more than 1,300 people. what came through very strongly was there does seem to be a postcode lottery for maternity care in this country and that is something i don't think is acceptable, that depending on where you live, you will literally be offered a different level of care in terms of how you're given support during childbirth and afterwards. the report from the all—party parliamentary group calls for urgent changes, including ending the postcode lottery in perinatal care, a new maternity commissioner to be appointed, and for the government to publish a new national maternity strategy. we absolutely recognise birth trauma is an issue. with the use of the services we're putting in place, we can reduce that by 20%, because some are avoidable. there will always be a case where some mothers

do tear during labour, but the care has to be much better in terms of infection control, pain control, psychological support. for families affected by birth trauma, change needs to come, and quickly. let's speak to benash nazmeen, who is co—director of the association of south asian midwives and assitant professor of midwifery at the university of bradford. thank you for being here on the programme. birth trauma is under recognised. it is, how important and significant as it? i recognised. it is, how important and significant as it?— significant as it? i think the re ort significant as it? i think the report goes _ significant as it? i think the report goes to _ significant as it? i think the report goes to highlight - significant as it? i think the | report goes to highlight that significant as it? i think the - report goes to highlight that birth trauma itself is increasing and we as health care professionals need to notjust recognise, we need to refer and address this early on because

the reality is that people will continue to have babies again in the future, this will impact the way the access care and it can also put in barriers to accessing care if there is distrust in professionals from previous experiences. irate is distrust in professionals from previous experiences.— is distrust in professionals from previous experiences. we had a few stories in that _ previous experiences. we had a few stories in that report _ previous experiences. we had a few stories in that report we _ previous experiences. we had a few stories in that report we were - stories in that report we were watching. i know you deal with many women. just tell me some of the stories you have heard? figs women. just tell me some of the stories you have heard? $5 a women. just tell me some of the stories you have heard? as a south asian woman. _ stories you have heard? as a south asian woman, in _ stories you have heard? as a south asian woman, in my _ stories you have heard? as a south asian woman, in my community, . stories you have heard? as a south asian woman, in my community, i| asian woman, in my community, i often have people approaching me because they recognise that i am a midwife and they feel safe to be able to talk to me. they tell me how they have experienced trauma many years ago to more recently and how they haven't been able to speak up or speak out about it for a number of reasons, including the fact that actually, trauma and mental health is often stigmatised in a lot of communities. there is not enough

safe spaces for people to talk about it and we don't always recognise it very well and ourselves so speaking help is very minimal. as someone in the community who is known and respected, i often end up helping people navigate getting the support they need to address the issues coming up for them. tell they need to address the issues coming up for them.— they need to address the issues coming up for them. tell me about the impact — coming up for them. tell me about the impact this _ coming up for them. tell me about the impact this has _ coming up for them. tell me about the impact this has on _ coming up for them. tell me about the impact this has on so _ coming up for them. tell me about the impact this has on so many - the impact this has on so many women, mothers, and their children and in terms of how that manifests itself? 50 and in terms of how that manifests itself? ,, ., . and in terms of how that manifests itself? ., ,, ., ., ,, ., itself? so we all know that kind of initial 1001 days _ itself? so we all know that kind of initial 1001 days are _ itself? so we all know that kind of initial 1001 days are so _ itself? so we all know that kind of initial 1001 days are so important | initial 1001 days are so important to babies and their development. we also know that is very import of the mothers and parents. that transition phaseis mothers and parents. that transition phase is severely impacted if there has been recent trauma. the ability to bond with your child, the ability to bond with your child, the ability to respond to their need and to address your own needs and your own mental health concerns is very diminished. so people often end up

feeling very alone and unsupported and don't know how to ask for help. the reality of this is that in the longer term, it goes unaddressed, this can come up as psychosomatic symptoms, with physical aches and pains in your bodies and it can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms. so it is so important that people get the help they need to be able to address they say that there is unhealthy coping mechanisms are never developed. i unhealthy coping mechanisms are never developed.— never developed. i said that any deduction that _ never developed. i said that any deduction that all _ never developed. i said that any deduction that all too _ never developed. i said that any deduction that all too often, - never developed. i said that any deduction that all too often, it l never developed. i said that any| deduction that all too often, it is just treated as normal, it is tolerated, this sort of care. what are the key things that you think need to actually change here urgently? i need to actually change here uraentl ? ~ ., urgently? i think as a midwife, it saddens me _ urgently? i think as a midwife, it saddens me to _ urgently? i think as a midwife, it saddens me to hear _ urgently? i think as a midwife, it saddens me to hear this - urgently? i think as a midwife, it saddens me to hear this and - urgently? i think as a midwife, it saddens me to hear this and i . urgently? i think as a midwife, it i saddens me to hear this and i know that no one that comes into the profession or into maternity services wants to cause harm. people want to improve outcomes and do better and do good. the reality is,

we have under resourced, understaffed services that continue to give care to more complex needs. women are coming in with armies and needing more complex care needs, but this shortages mean we are not able to give them the best of our abilities so we need more staff, we more training and mental health trauma informed care needs to be a priority because a lot of the time, we have investment in training but that training doesn't always cover the wide areas in enough detail for us to be able to address. so more staff, more training and increased postnatal support because when there has been trauma, firstly, we should try to prevent it but secondly, if there has been trauma, we need to address it. maternity services have been decreased in investment in the postnatal time has gone down significantly. they used to be a time where women would be confined

to 18 days in hospital that has decreased and we need to be able to recognise and support women when it happens postnatally, so more interactions postnatally. 51am happens postnatally, so more interactions postnatally. such an im ortant interactions postnatally. such an important story _ interactions postnatally. such an important story this. _ interactions postnatally. such an important story this. thank - interactions postnatally. such an important story this. thank you | interactions postnatally. such an i important story this. thank you for joining us live in our programme. let's return to the middle east. the uk's foreign secretary is warning that suspending british weapons sales to israel would strengthen hamas. lord cameron also said the uk did not support a "major operation" in the southern gazan city of rafah without a plan to protect civilians. let's find out more about the challenges for civilians. dr hina cheema is an obstetricician and gynaecologist who worked in rafah in march as part of medglobal�*s medical mission there. she is usually based in texas, butjoins us now from thailand. thank you so much for being here with us. i know you spent a couple of weeks in rafah recently. i was reading your description of what it

was like and it sounded absolutely nightmarish. i wonder if you could just describe what it was like? thank you for having me. i was there for two weeks and i was based at a hospital, where at that time it was delivering about 50% of all of gaza's pregnant patients. i saw a lot of stillbirths, which wasn't happening before. the physicians there were telling me that it has significantly increased. they were also saying that he might sing a lot of were quite a lot of women are not having periods because of the stress of war and the physicians were overwhelmed because the volume, this

was a 42 bed hospital and it was not equipped to handle the volume that they were seeing. there were more than 300 patients coming in to the triage, which is the emergency department for our gynaecology and they were literally only two labour rooms and one labour room had three bad and the other had two beds and they were delivering 70 to 100 women over 2a hours. find they were delivering 70 to 100 women over 24 hours-— over 24 hours. and i read that he described the _ over 24 hours. and i read that he described the workload _ over 24 hours. and i read that he described the workload -- - over 24 hours. and i read that he described the workload -- you i described the workload —— you described the workload —— you describe the workload and you witnessed interns working with virtually no supervision because the pressures were so great? yes. pressures were so great? yes, indeed. pressures were so great? yes, indeed- my — pressures were so great? yes, indeed. my role _ pressures were so great? yes, indeed. my role was _ pressures were so great? yes, indeed. my role was not - pressures were so great? 1a: indeed. my role was not defined. we were just there to support the team

and place ourselves where there was need and i placed myself in the supervisor role for the residents and interns and just take some load off of them. they were working without any pay, so they were doing 24—hour shifts and then they are not getting paid and still need to feed their families and they would go and take up another 24—hour shift at one of the field hospitals of some nonprofit organisations and that is how they were able to support their families. , ,., . _, . families. there is so much concern about billy — families. there is so much concern about billy matt _ families. there is so much concern about billy matt around _ families. there is so much concern about billy matt around maternityl about billy matt around maternity services, pregnant women because the amount of hospitals able to offer treatment for such a vital part of medical care is diminishing by the day. in terms of your worry about consequences of that, how bleak is the situation now? the

consequences of that, how bleak is the situation now?— the situation now? the situation is extremely bleak. _ the situation now? the situation is extremely bleak. i— the situation now? the situation is extremely bleak. i am _ the situation now? the situation is extremely bleak. i am still- the situation now? the situation is extremely bleak. i am still in - the situation now? the situation is| extremely bleak. i am still in touch with the physicians who are at the hospital, especially the medical director and he was telling me that currently the hospital is operating at 10% of its capacity. so many physicians have left, women are having to now give birth in tents because there is no staff, because people are fleeing to save their lives so what we are looking at is women giving birth in tents, potentially increasing maternal mortality and infant mortality because women who need c—sections and cannot deliver by themselves and they are so many other convocations that can happen when you are delivering outside hospital. —— complications. brute

delivering outside hospital. -- complications.— delivering outside hospital. -- complications. delivering outside hospital. -- comlications. ~ ., ., . complications. we have to leave it there but thanks _ complications. we have to leave it there but thanks for _ complications. we have to leave it there but thanks for talking - complications. we have to leave it there but thanks for talking to - complications. we have to leave it there but thanks for talking to us | there but thanks for talking to us live on bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are alive with bbc news. more than 4,000 species of animals and plants worldwide are being trafficked by criminals. that's according to the latest report from the un office on drugs and crime. it's warning that wildlife trafficking is not only doing untold harm to nature, but also jeopardising livelihoods, public health and the planet's ability to fight climate change. we can cross live to vienna, where the un office on drugs and crime is based, and our correspondent there, bethany bell. this is really interesting because in terms of trafficking around things that we are familiar with,

elephants, rhinos, that seems to be in decline but much more, the spread to other species that there is not so much attention about? yes. the reort so much attention about? yes. the report said — so much attention about? yes. the report said that _ so much attention about? yes. the report said that there _ so much attention about? yes. the report said that there has - so much attention about? yes. the report said that there has been - so much attention about? yes. the l report said that there has been some improvements when it comes to trafficking of things like elephant ivory and rhino horn, which are very much in the public eye but it said that there are so many other species, over4000 that there are so many other species, over 4000 different plants, animals, fish, seafood, which are being trafficked for all sorts of different reasons, including food and traditional medicines, including timber and adornment which are really being very ignored and this report is calling for governments to take much more action to try and target things which are not being paid so much attention to. it said that if you think about things like

rare corals, there is an enormous amount of trafficking in corals, and crocodiles and other such species and in such cases, if you had things like rare orchids, the very rarity of the species is fuelling demand and traffickers are exploiting that. i will come back to the actions that perhaps they recommend or are urging but in terms of the impact, tell me more about that because i read out in the introduction, jeopardising livelihoods, public health and the planet's ability to fight climate change. so what is this report saying about those particular areas? it is an enormous topic but everything in something like illegal timber, where people are cutting down too many trees in one area, that has an enormous impact on the local environment. also if you think about biodiversity, if traffickers

start to concentrate on particular species, then it means that you have areas where the diversity is being impacted and people's livelihoods have been set up traditionally to deal with the sort of problems and communities are suffering, if for example, things are not there any more. so this is an enormous problem. it is very important that more is done by governments to tackle the organised crime groups which are exploiting the situation and also looking at local corruption as well, mad lined eyes are being turned to in problems of trafficking. in turned to in problems of trafficking.— turned to in problems of traffickinr. , ., , trafficking. in terms of remedies, what is required? _ trafficking. in terms of remedies, what is required? are _ trafficking. in terms of remedies, what is required? are we - trafficking. in terms of remedies, what is required? are we talkingl what is required? are we talking about better policing, harsher penalties or new international agreements?—

penalties or new international agreements? penalties or new international aureements? , . , agreements? they are saying it is robabl a agreements? they are saying it is probably a combination _ agreements? they are saying it is probably a combination of - agreements? they are saying it is probably a combination of all - agreements? they are saying it is probably a combination of all of l agreements? they are saying it is i probably a combination of all of the above. they said a good thing about seizures, if you managed to seize illegally trafficked wildlife specimens like rare orchids, for example, then you know that there has been a problem but you also know that there has been a good example of police action, fighting against it. but it says much more is needed to tighten up on this. and they want to tighten up on this. and they want to shine a light on various problem, for example with seahorses and that is something that needs more attention paid to.— is something that needs more attention paid to. is something that needs more attention aid to. , ., ,, attention paid to. very -- thank you very much — attention paid to. very -- thank you very much for— attention paid to. very -- thank you very much for that. _ a record number of wild swimming spots in england have been designated as bathing sites by the government. the 27 locations include 16 on rivers, but it doesn't mean they are clean. our environment correspondentjonah

fisher has the details. the environment agency is in charge of testing england's bathing water. bottles labelled up for identification at the lab... from may to september, it takes samples at more than 400 locations. the water is then tested and given a rating from excellent to poor. we're looking for two different types of bacteria. e.coli, escherichia coli, and another group called the intestinal enterococci, and they're used to indicate the levels of faecal pollution, poo, in the water. last year, 96% of the sites met the minimum standards, but there was an increase in the number rated poor and a fall in those rated excellent. 27 new bathing sites have been announced today, and most of them are along rivers. but before you reach for your swimming costume, bearthis in mind — designation is based on whether a site is popular with swimmers and whether it has facilities like toilets nearby. it does not mean that the water is clean. we're absolutely determined

to improve the quality of our water in our beach environments, and of course in our river systems, which is why i have been really pleased to announce 12 new sites, including here, that have been designated as bathing water sites, and that enables the environment agency to carry out much more monitoring constantly throughout the bathing water period, which enables us to allocate resource, put pressure on, find out where the challenges are, if any, with water quality, so we can ensure that those who pollute are held to account. this bathing site was designated two years ago, and ever since, has been rated poor. but for campaigners like claire, the environment agency tests are vital. if a designated bathing water site fails, then the water company and the local authority and the environment agency we will take a short break. hello there.

the weather this afternoon is looking, well, a bit half and half, really. warm sunshine for east scotland and parts of eastern england. the day's top temperatures could reach 25 into parts of east anglia. different story further west with cloud and rain. and for some, temperatures really struggle — might only see highs of 13 degrees underneath this curl of cloud associated with low pressure to the south west. and it's notjust cloud. we're looking at some persistent rain getting in across parts of south—west england, wales and northern ireland. 20 to 30 millimetres. could see double that over the high ground. so we may well see one or two areas of localised flooding and it's a particularly slow moving band of rain. so chances are if you have the rain already it's going to be with you through the rest of today. whereas if you've got the sunshine, east scotland, eastern areas of england, likely you'll keep that as well. temperatures well into the 20s, 23 there for newcastle and hull. well into the 20s for the north and east of scotland. the day's top temperature, probably east anglia,

could see highs up to 25. overnight tonight, we get that band of rain pushing its way northwards and eastwards with showers following into the south west. temperatures on the mild side, 11 to 14 degrees for most. tomorrow, we pick up on this band of rain, this time across eastern areas of england running in across scotland and still showers following to northern ireland, wales and western areas of england. but at least you'll see some sunny spells. so in that respect, the weather a little bit brighter here, but some of the showers will be quite heavy at times. temperatures coming down back into the teens for most of us. then for wednesday, we've still got the dregs of that area of low pressure with us. wednesday looks to be a kind of showery day, although there could be some lengthier spells of rain lurking across parts of eastern england. at this stage, the highest temperatures will be working into northern areas of scotland, where we could see the warmest spots reach around 22 or 23 degrees celsius. but otherwise, generally, temperatures running into the teens. again for thursday it looks like the warmest weather will be across northern scotland.

again, temperatures into the low 20s here, but low pressure looks set to bring another pulse of fairly heavy rain in across parts of england and wales. temperatures for many of us staying into the upper teens. this pattern of rather unsettled weather conditions for england and wales continues, then, through the rest of the week and into the weekend. the brightest weather further north.

live from london. this is bbc news:

a crucial day in donald trump's hush money trial in new york. his former lawyer michael cohen — who allegedly made the payment to stormy daniels — enters the witness box. the outcome of this trial hinges on michael cohen's testimony. i am in new york outside the courtroom for very latest. ukrainian officials say russian forces in the eastern kharkiv region are continuing to advance. mps say urgent action is needed to reduce the trauma experienced by many women during childbirth. and millions of people go to the polls across india as the country's seven—week long election reaches its fourth phase. hello.