a remarkable day for ex—president donald trump, with his longtime fixer michael cohen testifying against him in his hush money trial. intense fighting takes place in gaza's north and south, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee. protesters return to tbilisi georgia demanding the government halt plans to adopt a law they worry could silence dissent in the country. and we'll reveal how a bbc investigation led to police arresting one of europe's most wanted people smugglers — known by the nickname �*the scorpion�*. hello and thank you forjoining us. we begin in new york this hour where donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen has finished his first day of testimony in the ex—president�*s historic hush money trial.

he was once the former president's lawyer and fixer — but he spent the day on the stand outlining how he made a payment to the adult film actress, stormy daniels, to stop her talking about a relationship she claimed she had with mr trump. the defence is expected to stress mr cohen's criminal record — and openly stated dislike of his ex boss. nada tawfik was at the trial in new york and gave us this update. michael cohen and his testimony is crucial to this case, prosecutors hope that the conversation that michael cohen are shared between him and donald trump directly tie his former boss to the hush money payments and to the allegations that trump falsified business records. michael cohen testified that everything was done with mr trump's sign off, he said the donald trump even ran for president, he warned michael cohen to be prepared for negative stories that a lot of women would come forward. when they eventually did,

michael cohen says the stormy daniels story was one he feared could be catastrophic for old trump's campaign and that his former boss was fuming, saying it would be a total disaster that some women would hate him for it. michael cohen said that donald trump ordered him to just do it, to make the payment to stormy daniels, the $130,000 payment that is at the centre of this case. michael cohen it says that he ultimately fronted the money because nobody else would. he tried to come up with a creative way to make sure he could not be traced back to donald trump, opening up a front company, a shell company to do that. he says before he wired the money to stormy daniels a lawyer, he called donald trump twice again to get his sign off and to ensure he would be paid off and the court was shown those phone records. michael cohen then eventually spoke about what is really at issue here, the 3a counts of

falsifying business records, michael cohen says that donald trump was present and knew that alan awhile back, the cfo with the trump organization, said he knew he would be reimbursed in monthly instalments and that they would be labelled as legal expenses in business documents and that michael cohen would be known as trump's personal lawyer. michael cohen are directly trying donald trump to that knowledge that the reimbursement for the $130,000 payment would be marked in the trump organization books as legal retainer fees. trump organization books as legal retainerfees. michael cohen will be back on the stand tomorrow and no doubt the defence will try to paint him as a liar and someone who has a vengeance against donald trump. for more, we can speak to ankush khardori, a lawyer based in washington, dc and senior writer for politico magazine. ankush, you've been watching cohen's testimony today. what's the main thing to understand about him as a witness for the prosecution?

i think things have gone up pretty well for him today in terms of maintaining his composure, sticking to that he answer the questions as asked. this has been rehearsed, this is what happens, the nature of these things, it was rehearsed with the prosecutors and is only with his lawyers. this is a bare minimum if i'm being completely frank with you. a lot people here in the us are celebrating that michael cohen did not fall flat on his face today. that is not usually happen when the government was on a witness, they repair them. the main event will begin when cross—examination starts and he gets to be confronted with a more antagonistic questioning. with that in mind somewhat with the defence look to do when they get a chance to cross—examine him? he they get a chance to cross-examine him? he has a lona cross-examine him? he has a long history — cross-examine him? he has a long history of _ cross-examine him? he has a long history of lying, - cross-examine him? he has a long history of lying, so - cross-examine him? he has a long history of lying, so i - cross-examine him? he has a long history of lying, so i am | long history of lying, so i am sure they will hammer away at all that. he has said he largely lied by donald trump thatis largely lied by donald trump that is not true, he has lied

plenty of times including with the justice department plenty of times including with thejustice department is to help advance his own injuries. also painting him as someone who is financially motivated to potentially lie against trump because his whole livelihood is based on his media career. someone who was out for revenge. those would be the principal ways to undermine his credibility but also to demonstrate that some of the key conversations he is describing between him and trump, they are not corroborated, the fact of the conversation may be corroborated with the phone call, the phone call log, there are no notes or recordings of those conversations unlike the recording he has taken of other conversations. he is not operated and i expect his lawyers will hammer that as well. ., . ., , well. how much of this case will hinge — well. how much of this case will hinge on _ well. how much of this case will hinge on his _ well. how much of this case | will hinge on his testimony? well. how much of this case i will hinge on his testimony? i honestly think as a practical matter, it is funny because it is rare that a real live actually works out in this way. this is one of those cinematic cases were actually the case may very well turn on his

testimony, how effective he is a cross examination and how credible the jurors find him. at this spot in the case. he really is providing some key evidence and he will come down to whether the jury believes him. to whether the “my believes him. ~ ~' ., to whether the “my believes him. ~ ~ ., ., ., . him. we will know more once they cross-examination - him. we will know more oncej they cross-examination takes they cross—examination takes place. the size the car when it testimony, what else are you look out for in this trial as it moves forward?- look out for in this trial as it moves forward? the big question _ it moves forward? the big question is _ it moves forward? the big question is once _ it moves forward? the big question is once the - it moves forward? the big - question is once the government rests, will it trump put on his defence case? the criminal defence case? the criminal defence usually do not run on their own defence cases were trump has that he has an alternative story, he has repeatedly said he wants to justify, even though that would be a bad idea, in my estimation. we are waiting to see, was the governor is the case with this week, whether trump and his lawyers say they have the witnesses of their own and maybe trump himself which would be remarkable event for obvious reasons.— obvious reasons. what is the likelihood — obvious reasons. what is the likelihood of _ obvious reasons. what is the likelihood of trump - obvious reasons. what is the likelihood of trump taking i obvious reasons. what is the i likelihood of trump taking this stand? i likelihood of trump taking this stand? ., ., ., , ., stand? i am of two minds, on

one hand _ stand? i am of two minds, on one hand it— stand? i am of two minds, on one hand it is _ stand? i am of two minds, on one hand it is a _ stand? i am of two minds, on one hand it is a terrible - stand? i am of two minds, on one hand it is a terrible idea i one hand it is a terrible idea for him, his lawyers would tell him that, there is such a lengthy record of lies in his political history that he could be confronted with. i don't think he is credible into 90 had a relationship with stormy daniels. on the other hand, he has testified two civil cases over the course of the last year with the easy unicameral trial, on the other hand, those went poorly for him, i think it will cause him a lot of money because he was not credible, the judge did because he was not credible, thejudge did not like him, the jury thejudge did not like him, the jury did not like him. if i were himi jury did not like him. if i were him i would be trying to learn from that experience to take the advice of my lawyers were trump has a different interest in the average liberal defender because he has a political campaign to run as well and that complicates the usual calculus.— usual calculus. thank you so much for _ usual calculus. thank you so much for your _ usual calculus. thank you so much for your insight - usual calculus. thank you so much for your insight today. | ankush khardori, a lawyer based in washington, dc. and senior writer for politico magazine. well, as we've been reporting, that trial will resume again tomorrow and michael cohen

will again be taking the stand. we'll be bringing you up to speed on those developments when it happens — so stay tuned. to gaza now, where civilians are fleeing on two fronts — in the south near rafah, and in the north near jabalia. the israeli military says it's targeting a resurgence of hamas injabalia — months after forcing the group out of its northern staging ground. fighting also is being reported in the south of gaza, in rafah. the un said that since israel began its operation there a week ago, 360,000 people have fled. earlier today, white house national security adviserjake sullivan said the us was still working with israel to avoid a major military operation in rafah. we still believe it would be a mistake to launch a major military operation into the heart of rafah that would put huge numbers of civilians at risk without a clear strategic game. the president was clear

that he would not supply certain offensive weapons for such an operation where it to occur. it is not yet occurred and we're still working with israel on a better way to the defeat of hamas everywhere in gaza, including in rafah. staying with that story — and the attempts by many thousands of people to leave rafah, as fighting rages around them. our team at bbc verify have been examining the journey people have to make to reach the israeli—designated safe zones. here's richard irvine—brown. this is rafah in southern gaza, which has been home to over a million displaced people in recent weeks. and this is deir al—balah further north where people displaced were told to go for their safety by israel as its forces began a campaign in rafah last week. the red area here is the area they've been instructed to leave. here is al mawasi, an area along the coastal al—rasheed road, also within the israeli designated safety zone. the un estimates that over the past week nearly 360,000 people have fled rafah, heading north. come over here.

we can see them on the move. we can tell from these satellite images that these people are moving from a displacement camp in rafah. here they are on the 5th of may. three days later, they're gone. this is a satellite image of where they might be heading to. we've identified it injust the west of deir all—balah, a recently constructed emergency field hospital. you can see it right there. it's been built by the israelis who say it has 150 medical workers on site. it's vital as hospitals in rafah and khan younis are overwhelmed with many no longer accepting new patients. and this is the journey that people will have to make to get there. you can see from the centre of rafah up to deir al—balah that emergency hospital through al—mawasi along the coast road, it's about 19 kilometres or 12 miles. so it's no easyjourney as this might show.

this video shows on friday afternoon the first efforts of people moving north through a sandstorm. this was filmed at the southwest tip of deir al—balah. we're looking south at this point as people head toward the field hospital in the town. and here's what those fleeing north are leaving behind. this is from a video filmed last week in rafah by a palestinian journalist we know was there until the weekend. we're not going to show it. it contains multiple injuries and possible deaths, mainly of children. but we've geolocated this street to yards from one of the last functioning hospitals in rafah. he made the journey from rafah to the israeli designated safety zone. another graphic video he filmed on sunday night, seen here, showed similar desperate scenes at the entrance to al—aqsa martyrs hospital in deir al—balah, less than two kilometres from the field hospital. so for the residents, doctors and journalists of gaza trying to find the place they can call safe changes every day. to the former soviet republic of georgia now —

where protests are ongoing at plans to introduce a new �*foreign influence' law. demonstrators say that would mean georgia might face the same clampdown on media as in russia — where similar legislation is already in place. in a televised address, the prime minister irakli kobakhidze insisted a vote to rubber stamp the law would be held on tuesday. thousands of protesters have gathered outside the parliament in tbilisi to oppose that happening. they say that by passing the law, georgia would be moved closer to moscow and have less chance ofjoining the european union. for more on this lets speak with someone from georgia. tinatin japaridze, political risk analyst at eurasia group. thank you forjoining us today. tinatin, what's the main thing to understand about the concerns of these protesters? the biggest concern here is that the bill aims to impose a very severe restrictions on

civil society groups in the country as well as independent media outlets which will eventually force those who receive 20% or more of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents. this will stifle civil society invoices as it did in russia after 2012, sale is the freedom of speech, and also by extension impact many georgian citizens including the activities of journalists, election monitors and others. journalists, election monitors and others— and others. the georgian government _ and others. the georgian government defended . and others. the georgian| government defended the and others. the georgian - government defended the bill, saying it will boost transparency over ngo foreign funding. why do they see that is a concern?— is a concern? the authorities are justifying _ is a concern? the authorities are justifying this _ is a concern? the authorities are justifying this legislation | are justifying this legislation as an essential measure to prevent foreign influence in a georgian politics, mainly from the west. upholding the sovereignty and stability. the georgian dream hopes that with this law, it can help undercut western support for what it perceives as a direct sources

of threat to its regime which is a civil society and independent media and by extension undermine the position of the ruling party political adversaries leading up political adversaries leading up to the election which is crucial for them up to the election which is crucialfor them in order to win. if crucial for them in order to win. ., ., ., ., , win. if we zoom out, what is the relationship _ win. if we zoom out, what is the relationship with - win. if we zoom out, what is the relationship with russia| the relationship with russia under this current administration? in under this current administration? ., administration? in general the relationship — administration? in general the relationship has _ administration? in general the relationship has been - administration? in general the relationship has been very - relationship has been very complicated and has become more and more complicated over the past couple of years in terms of the kremlin and the georgian parliament sharing a lot of interests that align in many ways and there is a factor of mutual convenience, we see the georgian government is first and foremost fro itself, even though many try to describe it as a pro—russian, essentially it is a party that is trying to stay in power for as long as possible no matter what it takes. russia, given the fact that he wants to benefit from

the growing official between georgia and the west, is potentially going to exploit the situation to try to increase its influence over the south caucasus, so the interests here are very much aligned to any many ways they are helping each other out. it is very much a relationship based on convenience and its mutual interests.— based on convenience and its mutual interests. how have the events in ukraine _ mutual interests. how have the events in ukraine been - mutual interests. how have the events in ukraine been playingl events in ukraine been playing out in georgia? is that part of why the concern of getting close at moscow is such a concern to protesters? interestingly, we also see a binary here, the georgian government on the one hand is cautioning their population, seeing that if we continue to move toward a sort of less what they think and less transparent environments, whereby it becomes more difficult to measure where the influences coming in from measure where the influences coming infrom in measure where the influences coming in from in terms of pressure on government, then it we risk becoming the next front, the second front for

russia, and therefore in order to avoid what they call a ukraine east asian of georgia, they want to ensure they pursue a pragmatic foreign policy with moscow so that they essentially try not to aggravate them is too much. by the same token, the population is concerned that the closer the georgian government to moscow, if nothing else in terms of economic ties that are clearly going to continue strengthening, then there is a growing risk of this likelihood that over time russia will feel more and more emboldened to essentially start getting involved in a georgia more directly. this could happen primarily because of the fact that we should not forget since 2022 hundreds of thousands of russians have flocked to georgia, so this would be their way of doing something they did in ukraine, using a similar playbook and saying they are there to protect ethnic

russians and to ensure their people are taking care of and therefore using this intervention to essentially try to strengthen their influence and expand their reach within a georgia but more broadly within the overall south caucasus subregion. the overall south caucasus subregion— the overall south caucasus subreaion. ., ~ , . subregion. thank you very much for our subregion. thank you very much for your time — subregion. thank you very much for your time today. _ subregion. thank you very much for your time today. we - for your time today. we appreciate it. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

you alive on bbc news. russia appears to be making more gains in a new frontline in ukraine, seizing territory in the north east, near to kharkiv. kharkiv is the second biggest city in ukraine. russian forces are starting to surround the border town of vovchans'k with reports of heavy damage there due to fighting. with the latest from kyiv, here's our correspondent james waterhouse.

these communities are used to russia being close but not this close. the four days, bombs have rained down here in the window to leave is shrinking. thousands have been forced to escape and counting. keep talking to us, says this police officer to a 71—year—old woman. she was injured in an explosion in their car is now an ambulance. they meet paramedics who were told she is a serious condition. translation: thea;r condition. translation: they are bein: condition. translation: they are being mercilessly - are being mercilessly destroyed, blown up by rocket propelled grenades, artillery, and small arms battles are going on on the northern outskirts of the city. the newly homeless - outskirts of the city. the newly homeless and - outskirts of the city. the newly homeless and up| outskirts of the city. the newly homeless and up here in

the second city of ukraine, kharkiv. ., , . kharkiv. people are terrified, the are kharkiv. people are terrified, they are stressed, _ kharkiv. people are terrified, they are stressed, they - kharkiv. people are terrified, they are stressed, they give l they are stressed, they give their animals with them, so everyone is under huge stress because of the constant shelling and the shock of the russian offensive.— shelling and the shock of the russian offensive. what is that he went to _ russian offensive. what is that he went to feed _ russian offensive. what is that he went to feed his _ russian offensive. what is that he went to feed his animals . he went to feed his animals when he encountered machine—gun fire in all directions. for now, kharkiv is a place of relative safety but for how long? few think the russians are capable of taking us, but they could soon be in artillery range. translation: fiur they could soon be in artillery range. translation: our task is c stal range. translation: our task is crystal clear. _ range. translation: our task is crystal clear, to _ range. translation: our task is crystal clear, to stop _ range. translation: our task is crystal clear, to stop russia's - crystal clear, to stop russia's attempt to expand the war, the fulfilment of this task depends on everyone who was on the ground. on everyone who was on the round. ~ , , , on everyone who was on the round. ~ ,, , ., , ground. missiles routinely hit kharkiv. ground. missiles routinely hit kharkiv- if— ground. missiles routinely hit kharkiv. if this _ ground. missiles routinely hit kharkiv. if this offensive - ground. missiles routinely hit kharkiv. if this offensive is i kharkiv. if this offensive is not contained, the destruction will be even greater. ukraine is struggling to hold what is a

new front line. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. one of europe's most wanted people smugglers, has been arrested in northern iraq. it comes just days after the bbc tracked down, and confronted barzan majeed known as the scorpion, who's been on the run for more than a year. sue mitchell was behind that bbc investigation and has this report. by his own admission, barzan majeed has smuggled as many as 10,000 people across the english channel. the boat crossings are incredibly dangerous. our investigation began when one of his boats failed at sea. many adults and children have had to be rescued in the channel, including six—year—old maili.

"please do this, do this for us." you know that smuggling through europe is illegal and highly dangerous. you know that. of course. and yet you did it. i'm telling you, i've done them kind of things. i done it. majeed was arrested earlier today as a result of our bbc investigation. he is now being held and questioned by police in iraq. sue mitchell, bbc news. you can hear the full story in a new series or that you can find it on bbc sounds wherever you listen to podcast. let's go to baltimore in the us state of maryland where engineers have carried out a controlled explosion to remove the part of

the collapsed francis scott key bridge, which has trapped a container ship, the dali, since the vessel struck it, causing it to collapse, in march. the blasts were intended to break up the bridge into smaller sections, which would allow salvage crews to haul it away using cranes and barges. the operation involving those explosives is being led by the us army. here's the general in charge of events, speaking just after the first detonation had taken place. i will tell you that it went off as planned. we did not expect the vessel to come rising quickly out of the water, given the amount of ballast that is in front of the ship. i will tell you that today's operation went as planned. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. at least eight people were killed and about 60 injured after a giant billboard collapsed during a storm in a more by. the billboard was 70 metres by 50 metres and fell onto houses any petrol station

in the financial district on monday. 20—30 people are feared to be trapped with a rescue operation under way. rescue efforts are under way for people missing from deadly flash floods and mudslides in indonesia. torrential rain is blamed for the deaths of at least 43 people, triggering a cold lava flow which is a mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water from mount ravi, an active volcano. something quite different. if you've never heard of the hairstyle known as the mullet — well, it's defined by being long at the back, short at the sides, and often a bit spikey on top — three haircuts in one, as it were. it was very big in the 1980s, especially with people living in the southern us and for some reason, with australian cricketers. it's hardly been heard of since that heyday but it's back. if you want proof, just take a look at the people who turned up for the european mullet festival held in belgium. they were proud to show off the style, known by many nicknames, including the mississippi mud

flap, the cameo cut, and the kentucky waterfall. they have promised to bring it back to what they see is its rightful place, which appears to be above the ears and down the back of the neck. before we 90, the back of the neck. before we go, one dog finally had eight stay and made history as well. this is a 6—year—old dog from maryland, she became the first mixed breed canines to win the westminster kennel club agility championship, look at her go. she ran through the obstacle course with a time of 28.7 seconds before jumping course with a time of 28.7 seconds beforejumping into the arms of her own. she certainly looks very happy with herself. speeding through the course. thank you for your company here. back with more injust a bit.

hello. the weather looks decidedly mixed over the next few days, just as it was on monday. for some of us, there was a little bit of sunshine and some warmth — 2a celsius, or at least very close to it, in parts of northern scotland. compare that with 1a celsius in south west england, with cloud, with outbreaks of rain — all in association with this area of low pressure and this slow—moving frontal system. now, this weather front is now slowly on the move, northwards and eastwards. you can follow that weather front here for tuesday morning — that's where we'll see outbreaks of rain across parts of eastern england for a time across the midlands, certainly some rain across northern england, southern and central scotland. rain tending to pull away from northern ireland, and for wales in the south—west, it's a mix of sunny spells and heavy showers. northern scotland should see some dry and bright weather. we could well see the highest of the temperatures here, around 21 celsius more generally, 16—20. and then, through tuesday night, here's our weather front continuing its very slowjourney northwards and eastwards.

much of the rain, though, i think fizzling out. it'll be a bit misty and murky in places as we start wednesday morning, temperatures generally between 9—12 celsius. our weather front still in play, still a band of clouds, some splashes of rain — we may see some heavier rain pushing back in across some eastern and northern parts of england. elsewhere, some spells of sunshine, a scattering of showers — we could possibly see the odd heavy thundery shower breaking out in the northwest of scotland. temperatures in northern scotland likely to touch 22—23 celsius, but in sunny spots elsewhere, we will be in the high teens or the low—20s. for thursday, still the remnants of that weather front providing cloud and a focus for some showers. but we will see some showers breaking out quite widely on thursday, some heavy, thundery ones in places. but again, in the sunshine, temperatures getting into the low 20s celsius — not bad at all for the time of year. now, as we head into the end of the week and the weekend, this area of low pressure tending to weaken, the centre of the low tending to be

to the south of the uk. so spots further north actually may escape most of the showers and see a decent amount of dry weather. temperatures could still get into the 20s celsius for some. more showers further south, some of those heavy and thundery, but still with some spells of warm sunshine in between.

the artificial intelligence race is heating up. openai boss sam altman says upgrades to chatgpt will transform the platform into "ai from the movies". and as india's election enters its fourth phase, we have a special report from the politically sensitive city of ayodhya. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the united states, because a week of developer conferences are being held in the tech world, with three giants set to release their latest features and products in generative artificial intelligence. up first, chatgpt�*s parent company openai, which unveiled its new flagship model gpt—iio. from new york, the bbc�*s erin delmore has all the details. 20 years ago, the biggest battle in tech was over who would win the war for search engine dominance. google took

the prize, and it isn't now