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.

donald trump's former lawyer has taken the stand today at the former president's criminal trial in new york. michael cohen is testifying about his role in what prosecutors say was a cover—up of payments to hide an affair with the adult film actress stormy daniels. mr trump denies falsifying business records to reimburse his then lawyer and "fixer" for the payment on the eve of the 2016 presidential election — prosecutors say his motive was to avoid political damage. let's speak to our correspondent, nada tawfik, who is live for us in new york. he is the star witness in this trial. what has he said in the first hour or so? trial. what has he said in the first hour orso? prosecutors trial. what has he said in the first hour or so? prosecutors have already covered a lot of ground, starting first with how michael cohen came to work for donald trump, and they are trying to establish that michael cohen, yes, wanted to please donald

trump, that he was on top of the world when he took care of matters for donald trump as his attack dog, threatening the press to get rid of negative stories, even trying to get better rates for vendors that donald trump owed, and he said he reported directly to donald trump, he lied on his behalf, and when he moved into donald trump running for the presidency he said that donald trump approached him and told him to be prepared because women would be coming forward with negative stories about him. prosecutors asked him about him. prosecutors asked him about the alleged catch and kill scheme with the tabloid the national enquirer, michael cohen it saying it was the idea of donald trump to have him work with the editor of the national enquirer directly to kill negative stories. he said they did that with numerous instances that have been outlined in this trial already. so the crux of what the

prosecution has been trying to do this morning so far is to point to the fact that nothing that michael cohen did was on his own, it was all in the direction of donald trump. outside the courthouse, for now, thanks forjoining us. let's speak to jessica roth, former federal prosecutor and professor at cardozo law school in new york. thanks forjoining us. michael cohen is the crucial witness in this criminal trial, and if you were conducting the prosecution, given we know he's a convicted felon, how would you approach this? i know he's a convicted felon, how would you approach this? i would make sure _ would you approach this? i would make sure to _ would you approach this? i would make sure to draw— would you approach this? i would make sure to draw the _ would you approach this? i would make sure to draw the sting - would you approach this? i would make sure to draw the sting from would you approach this? i would - make sure to draw the sting from my witness on direct examination, rather than allow things that are unsavoury that has passed to come out for the first time under cross examination, you do not want to look like you are hiding anything from thejury so i like you are hiding anything from

the jury so i would elicit from like you are hiding anything from thejury so i would elicit from him his past convictions and lies and inconsistent statements about these matters that he is testifying about and his bias against donald trump, all of those things are things that go to his credibility as a witness and so i would front them and make sure that i was able to bring them out so that i have some control over the examination but it appears right now the prosecution is bringing out the story that is at the heart of their case and then they will turn to bringing out those other matters. they undoubtedly will build through the course of today and into tomorrow. one of the hurdles they have to establish is that donald trump knew he was doing these things, notjust michael cohen fixing various problems that he thought needed to be fixed, that is a crucial hurdle? it is because the charges are falsification of business records of charges are falsification of business records— charges are falsification of business record ., . , business records of the donald trump organisation — business records of the donald trump organisation so _ business records of the donald trump organisation so it _ business records of the donald trump organisation so it matters _ business records of the donald trump organisation so it matters that - business records of the donald trump organisation so it matters that he - organisation so it matters that he was intending to further his campaign by suppressing the stories

about him but that is only important in service of the charge which is that the payments were concealed in the records of the trump organisation, recorded as legal expenses for michael cohen but in fact they were reimbursements to michael cohen for making the payments to stormy daniels and to keep her silent in the run—up to the presidential election. it is critical to establish through michael cohen that trump was part of the scheme to falsify the records. it is so important to build a picture for thejury for the picture for the jury for the prosecution so does it make sense they are coming to michael cohen now after spending weeks just describing how this system worked in their view in terms of the catch and kill scheme and how payments were made, before you get to michael cohen, in a sense bolstering his evidence? absolutely. their trial strategy makes a lot of sense and the jury is

now familiar with the catch and kill story and they have heard about it from david pecker, and from others, who have less of an axe to grind with donald trump than does michael cohen, and the scheme was related to the campaign, they have heard, not only from david pecker but also from hope hicks who worked on the campaign with donald trump and so in a sense the contours of the story already there through other witnesses who have far less credibility issues than michael cohen, so now we get to the final part of the story which is donald trump a's involvement in the falsification of the records and michael cohen is the only witness who appears to be set to testify about that from direct experience but in a sense the jury is ready to hear his story and they have heard things from other witnesses that corroborate that donald trump was involved personally in signing off on all the invoices that were

presented to him for payment, so in a sense that would corroborate what michael cohen is saying specifically about these invoices. it is going to be hard for donald trump to distance himself from these particular invoices and payments on the jury has heard from people at the trump organisation that he took a level of personal involvement in payments generally. personal involvement in payments uenerall. ., , , , generally. really briefly, when we aet generally. really briefly, when we net to generally. really briefly, when we get to cross _ generally. really briefly, when we get to cross examination - generally. really briefly, when we get to cross examination i - generally. really briefly, when we get to cross examination i suspect it will be rather brutal, and would you be using the phrase a convicted felon as you could because you have on the jury two corporate lawyers sitting there? would you be aiming them to just have a question of doubt in their mind about the veracity of everything that michael cohen is saying? i veracity of everything that michael cohen is saying?— cohen is saying? i would be trying to focus them _ cohen is saying? i would be trying to focus them on _ cohen is saying? i would be trying to focus them on his _ cohen is saying? i would be trying to focus them on his credibility, . to focus them on his credibility, yes, but i don't know i would focus exclusively on the fact he has been previously convicted of crimes but i would hammer the fact he has lied

and said things different from what he is saying on these specific matters, he has denied donald trump was involved, and i would focus on his bias in the sense that not only has he spurned donald trump and been spent by him and had had his life turned upside down but he is making his living now essentially the books and podcasts and being a media personality all of which hinges on this brand that he is the person who is going to bring down donald trump. i would really focus on his bias more than anything else. jessica, ureat more than anything else. jessica, treat to more than anything else. jessica, great to talk— more than anything else. jessica, great to talk to _ more than anything else. jessica, great to talk to you, _ more than anything else. jessica, great to talk to you, thanks - more than anything else. jessica, great to talk to you, thanks for i great to talk to you, thanks for joining us. and for all the latest on michael cohen's testimony, you can visit the bbc news app or go to our website, where you can read and watch developments as they happen, with live reporting from our correspondents in new york.

breaking news on the uk government's plan to detain and remove asylum seekers to rwanda. ajudge sitting in the high court in belfast has ruled it should not apply to northern ireland. mrjustice humphreys ruled in favour of a challenge to the act — saying that the law undermines human rights protections guaranteed under the good friday peace agreement of 1998. let's speak to our home affairs editor mark easton. we will get to the response of the government in a moment but to take us through what has happened in the court? as us through what has happened in the court? �* . ., us through what has happened in the court? ~ . ., ., court? a court ruling involving brexit, northern _ court? a court ruling involving brexit, northern ireland, - court? a court ruling involvingl brexit, northern ireland, small boats, rwanda, this is the kind of thing that will be really difficult for number ten to navigate and that is why we have seen the prime minister come out so quickly after the court ruling but essentially, there is a court case brought primarily by a young boy, 16 years of age, when he arrived in a small

boat unaccompanied, and he now lives in northern ireland, and his argument to the court is that he can't be deported to iran where he came from because it would be unsafe for him to be sent back and that actually the legal migration act which the uk passed to prevent people from claiming asylum and claiming these kind of things, does not apply in northern ireland, and the reason his lawyers and those of the reason his lawyers and those of the northern ireland human rights commission believe it doesn't is the windsor framework, the deal rishi sunak signed to deal with the post—brexit problem that in northern ireland the good friday agreement contains within the text eu human rights legislation so they basically said, northern ireland can opt out of some of that, and here we are, judge said, if it doesn't apply in general terms, judge said, if it doesn't apply in generalterms, it judge said, if it doesn't apply in general terms, it should not apply in this specific case, and therefore

great chunks of the illegal migration act should be in his words to supplied in northern ireland. what he is saying is that eu law, and he is very clear about this, eu law trumps uk law in northern ireland. you can imagine this is going to be catnip to all kinds of people, not least because it has the potential to seriously undermine the rwanda policy, because any migrant who is at risk of being sent to rwanda on one of the plains, if they can make it to northern ireland, and lived there, then if the ruling is to stand, that is why they would not be able to be sent to rwanda, so it is a bit of a hole, and there are also questions about whether you can have an asylum legislation that applies differently in different parts of the united kingdom. a lot of questions and the prime minister has responded to it and he says that

the ruling will not distract him from his plans to start flights stop the boats and he says he has been consistently clear that the commitments in the good friday agreement should be interpreted as they were always intended and not expanded to cover issues like illegal migration and he insists he will take all steps to defend that position including appeal, so i think we will probably will see an appealfairly quickly, think we will probably will see an appeal fairly quickly, and the matter will then go to the appeal court in northern ireland and if it does it could go straight to the supreme court but if it goes through that, my expectation would be that whoever wins or loses there would then take it onto the supreme court and that process is going to take some considerable time. so we note the rwanda policy, there are lawyers ready to fight all kinds of ways to obstruct the policy, and this is the first time that we have seen the kind of action that could as one

lawyer said in belfast earlier today, throw a real spanner in the works of the government's asylum plan. works of the government's asylum lan. a ~ works of the government's asylum ian. ~' . works of the government's asylum plan. mark, thanks for “oining us. our plan. mark, thanks for “oining us. our home — plan. mark, thanks for “oining us. our home editorh plan. mark, thanks forjoining us. our home editor there. _ still to come on the programme... ukrainian government adviser yuriy sakjoins us live, at a time when the russian military continues to advance near the city of kharkiv. and as antony blinken warns that an all—out israeli assault on rafah would trigger anarchy — we'll have the latest developments in gaza. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the governor of the kharkiv region in northeastern ukraine has said — russian forces are continuing to advance in several directions, after they launched a cross—border attack on friday. residents have been fleeing the town of vovchansk, which russian forces are battling to capture. kharkiv is the second biggest city in ukraine. the government has been sending reinforcements to try to prevent russia's forces getting within artillery range of kharkiv — thought to be around 30 kilometres. i spoke to security analyst maria avdeeva who's been to see refugees arriving from luhansk in kharkiv.

i'm on one of the locations to where people from vovchansk are running and trying to evacuate are being brought. people are terrified. they are stressed. they keep their animals with them. so everyone is in a huge stress because of the constant shelling and of the shock of the russian offensive. so they say they knew that something is preparing, but they've never prepared that this will happen for the second time because vovchansk and kharkiv, the second city where russia is trying to advance, both of them are already under russian occupation. and these people endured all the atrocities russian occupation brings so they know what they're running from. how intense is the bombardment from the russians and in terms of ukraine sending reinforcements, what are you hearing? well, one of the elderly ladies told me that everything was on fire. that's practically

what is happening. ever since russia has sent bombs, artillery missiles, you name it, any kind of weapons. and another ladyjust told me that nothing is left out of it. so these people, they basically have lost everything and russia is trying to advance further. during the night, two more villages around the area were captured. but the ukrainian army says they are bringing more reinforcement to stop this russian advance. let's speak to yuriy sak, advisor to ukraine's minister of strategic industries. he's in kyiv. what is your interpretation of the scale of the russian bombardment? the scope of the bombardment of kharkiv region and the city itself, the second largest in ukraine, it is staggering, and just yesterday the small city of vovchansk which had

about 20,000 people before the war, most of whom have that sense, but yesterday they were the target of 22 bombardments by the glide bombs let alone the incessant and nonstop artillery shelling and multi—launch rocket systems. for quite some time areas which are near the border with the russian federation, they have been pretty much uninhabitable. the roadblock in the us congress for weapons support has finally gone, so how quickly do you hope to actually get what you need and what you need most? it get what you need and what you need most? , , , u, most? it is indeed very significant development _ most? it is indeed very significant development and _ most? it is indeed very significant development and during - most? it is indeed very significant development and during the - most? it is indeed very significant development and during the last. most? it is indeed very significant i development and during the last two years ukraine together with our partners in the west have been able to set up very robust and solid logistics and supply systems so some of the weapons that have been

pledged is arriving in ukraine and we can feel the difference on the front lines because just two weeks ago the ratio for example, artillery shelling was 1—10 in favour of the russians but now this is quickly changing and the reinforcements that we are sending now to stop the russian advances near the kharkiv region, nearthe russian advances near the kharkiv region, near the city there, these reinforcements are equipped sufficiently with the necessary weapons and we are confident that we will succeed. you weapons and we are confident that we will succeed-— will succeed. you must be alarmed, thou~h, i will succeed. you must be alarmed, though. i said _ will succeed. you must be alarmed, though, i said in _ will succeed. you must be alarmed, though, i said in the _ will succeed. you must be alarmed, though, i said in the introduction i though, i said in the introduction that if you get within 30 kilometres of kharkiv then all of what you have described that is happening to their villages will happen to the second city, the reigning of bombardments and artillery shelling. how close do you think you are to that actually happening?— happening? first of all i have to stress, happening? first of all i have to stress. every — happening? first of all i have to stress, every time _ happening? first of all i have to stress, every time russians - happening? first of all i have to stress, every time russians are | stress, every time russians are trying to advance, they are losing

their soldiers by the thousands. this was the case in kharkiv before, we have to remember, russia are trying to take full control of donetsk and luhansk, now for more than two years, and because they were unable to do that, they are now trying to stretch our armed forces and to make us relocate ourselves to the kharkiv region but we know their strategy and we know they do not have the sufficient amount of troops near the pace border to pose a considerable threat to kharkiv city and we will continue to hold the lines. , ., , , ., , and we will continue to hold the lines. ,., _ ._ ,, ., lines. obviously heavy russian losses but _ lines. obviously heavy russian losses but also _ lines. obviously heavy russian losses but also ukrainian - lines. obviously heavy russian. losses but also ukrainian losses lines. obviously heavy russian - losses but also ukrainian losses and president zelensky anticipated the russian summer push but ukraine extended the age of mobilisation, so

are you sure you are ready and able to actually push back what you are expecting from moscow? the newly ado ted expecting from moscow? the newly adopted law — expecting from moscow? the newly adopted law on _ expecting from moscow? the newly adopted law on mobilisation - expecting from moscow? the newly adopted law on mobilisation makes| adopted law on mobilisation makes the procedure more transparent and fair and more predictable and actually it will come into force in just a few days on the 18th of may. everybody who will be recruited from that will undergo sufficient training and because we are confident that our army will be well equipped and well positioned but a lot will depend on the pace at which we continue to receive military support from our allies and at the same time we are building up our own defence industry base and in the last couple of months we have targeted more than a0 russian oil refineries and depots and this is also degrading russian war capability. also degrading russian war capability-— also degrading russian war caabili . . ., ., , capability. thanks for “oining us. thank capability. thanks for “oining us.

rhankyou. * the russian president, vladimir putin, has replaced his long serving defence minister, sergei shoigu, with the deputy prime minister. after 12 years in his previous post, mr shoigu will now head the powerful russian security council. the appointment of andrei belousov — an economist — as the new minister of defence, has taken many analysts by surprise — especially at a time when russia appears to be carrying out a major assault around kharkiv. the us secretary of state, anthony blinken has warned that an all—out israeli attack on rafah would provoke "anarchy" without eliminating hamas. while the south of gaza prepares for more fighting — there's been a new surge in clashes in the north of the territory — in and around jabalia. meanwhile, sombre ceremonies are being held in israel, to mark memorial day — which honours israelis killed in the country's wars. from jerusalem, paul adams reports. the war returns to the north.

there's panic in jabalia. they've been told to leave, but is there anywhere safe? "we don't know where to go," she says. "we've been forced from one place to another. "i saw a tank and a bulldozer, they're over there." months after israeli forces last fought through these streets, they're back. israel says it's trying to stop hamas reorganising. after seven months of war, the group is still unpredictable. a few miles away, a new crossing point for aid heading into the north, israel under enormous international pressure to prevent starvation. a convoy carrying flour went in yesterday, a rare sight in a place deprived for so long, a place of hunger and disease. for israel, a moment of introspection.

it's memorial day, when the country stops to reflect on its own pain, on those who have died in the course of israel's long years of conflict, this already among the worst in living memory. emotions still raw at the scene of the music festival where so many young israelis died on october the 7th. naama's brother is fighting in gaza. ijust want my brothers and my sisters out. i know what they've been through and what they're going through now. and we all want the war to end, but we didn't start it. injerusalem, israel's unpopular prime minister spoke of his and the country's determination. translation: this is . what the war is all about. it's either us, israel, or them, the hamas monster. either continued existence, liberty, security and prosperity, or destruction, slaughter, rape, and enslavement. war is still raging at both ends of the gaza strip,

mr netanyahu looking for some version of total victory, his frustrated allies warning that this isn't possible, that dangerous anarchy is the more likely outcome, a warning the prime minister does not appear to be heeding. paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. after the break we have all the business news and we will also be in india, amazing pictures today here with narendra _ india, amazing pictures today here with narendra modi, as india enters the fourth stage of their general election. those are just some of the pictures coming out of india in the last couple of hours. we will talk to our correspondent on the ground in delhi. stay with us here on bbc news.

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 1a 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.

shares in gamestopjump after a tweet from one of the key drivers of the meme stock rally. on the road to recovery — one of egypt's top ministers tells the bbc how a bailout package will revive the country's struggling economy. and browse your way to happiness. using the internet improves your wellbeing — believe it or not — according to a new global study. welcome to business today. to climate change now — because the uk's ability to feed itself will fall by a tenth this year because of wet weather. a new report from a climate research group — says farmers — have been unable to plant some crops because of waterlogged fields. it says britain could become a lot more on foreign imports going forward. here is tom lancaster from the energy and climate intelligence unit, who were behind the report.

it has been the wettest 18 months on record since 1836,