israel marks memorial day, as intense fighting takes place in gaza's north and south. protesters return to georgia's capital, demanding the government scrap a law that they worry will silence dissent. and the remainder of the collapsed francis scott key bridge is demolished in baltimore. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start in ukraine, where us secretary of state antony blinken has arrived for a surprise two—day visit. these are images of him just moments ago, disembarking the train in kyiv. the state department says the trip is intended as a message of strong reassurance, as russian troops make advances in the north—east of the country. on monday, the white house said that it's working with allies to get more patriot defence systems into the country.

over the weekend, russian forces opened up a new front near kharkiv, pushing closer towards ukraine's second largest city as they captured a number of small villages. nearly 6000 people have fled the region amid heavy fighting. as ukrainian troops push back, here's what president zelensky had to say a little earlier. translation: our task is crystal clear. - to stop russia's attempt to expand the war. the fulfilment of this task depends on everyone who is on the ground. from kharkiv, there should be no safe place for the occupier on the ukrainian soil, and in our sky. our defence correspondent jonathan beale is in kharkiv with this update. russia claims it is still advancing, it says it is now entered at vovchansk, which is just a few miles from the russian border. ukraine firmly denies that, the governor

showing video of himself in vovchansk, saying civilians were still being evacuated, still in ukrainian hands. there are not many left there now and not many buildings intact. we spoke to a number of civilians who have already fled the town in the last 2a hours, they told us they could hear the sound of heavy machine—gun fire, which means the fighting has been that close. the bigger debate in ukraine has been about the state of its defence lines and clearly there was a problem here, even officials admitting that the defences, they could have been stronger, they are not in the right place. the fact that the senior ukrainian commander has been removed from his post after what has happened tells you that this should not have happened. i think the bigger problem for ukraine is these new assaults are not on his own, not isolated, they are probing

russian attacks right across these 800 mile front, particularly in the east. the one crumb of comfort for ukraine at the moment is that so far in this war neither side has been able to completely reach their defences. the other side's defences. at the moment, we have seen this year ukrainian defences crumbling in certain areas of the 800 mile front but they have not yet completely collapsed. in gaza, civilians are fleeing fighting 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 in its northern staging ground. in rafah, the un says that since israel began its operation there a week ago, 360,000 people have fled. on monday, white house national security adviserjake sullivan said the us is 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 gain. the president was clear that he would not supply certain offensive weapons for such an operation, were it to occur. it has not yet occurred and we're still working with israel on a better way to ensure the defeat of hamas everywhere in gaza, including in rafah. israel insists victory is impossible without taking rafah. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has more from jerusalem. the war returns to the north. gunfire. 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." gunfire. 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 7 october. 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. as the war rages on,

there's growing pressure on the biden administration over its approach to the war. in a cbs news poll released in april, approval of the president's handling of the war was at 33% — down 11 points from when the war began. that discontent is having a direct impact on the president's bid for re—election, while his rival, former president trump, appears to be picking up steam. the poll, from the new york times, philadelphia inquirer and siena college, shows donald trump leading joe biden in five of six battleground states. president biden leads in wisconsin byjust two percentage points. while mr trump leads in the states of pennsylvania, arizona, michigan, georgia and nevada. in the latter two, mr trump is ahead by 10 and i2 percentage points respectively. president biden�*s appeal among young voters in particular is dwindling. he is almost tied with mr trump. it's a group democrats have carried by at least 18 points in every election since 200a. i spoke about the us

response with wa'el alzayat, ceo of emgage, a national civic engagement organization for muslim americans. wa'el also held senior policy roles at the state department. i want to talk about this impact and president biden struggling with young voters and very much so with arab—american voters, muslims in the us as well. how deep is the frustration in the community? seven months and counting, the frustration is very deep. the community is horrified, particularly by what we see unfolding in rafah. it is beyond the arab and muslim network, this is a national sentiment, the majority of us voters shows, certainly within democratic affiliations and even slight majority among republicans believe there should be a ceasefire and in fact at least

on the democratic side the majority of respondents believe that there absolutely should be conditions on the weapons going to israel, that are being used to commit violations of international law. that's certainly reflected in some of the polling wejust mentioned. the biden administration has changed its tone on the war in recent weeks, we saw president biden threaten to suspend offensive weapons to israel if it were to go through with an operation in rafah. how do you think that has changed how some people see the us position — people have been frustrated? i think it is a necessary first step that the anti—war movement has been calling for now for many months, and people want to believe this is the beginning to accountability, the netanyahu government. even the suspension as well of single shipment of arms

was followed by a release of a report by antony blinken where the us administration balked at the determination that the israeli government and its military have been in violation of us domestic and international humanitarian law. an opportunity to send a clear signal with his withholding of the single shipment and i am afraid they backtracked. any goodwill there was missed. i want to ask you about that report because you did previously work at the state department. why do you think this report appeared to come down on both sides without reaching a conclusion? i think the administration is looking at this as a political policy problem and now this is a legal problem. you have evidence that israel has committed war crimes with us weapons, targeting civilian infrastructure, targeting civilians themselves, aid organisations with us made bombs. the us lies clear on the misuse

of us weapons by third parties and there are laws on the books, to say nothing of international law. therefore the administration is trying to perhaps maintain its access relationships, influence, whatever may be left of that with the netanyahu government while dancing around the very clear legal question. everyone who was notjust reading the reports, just seeing what is happening, there is a contradiction. they have to make a decision, they can no longer play both ways. we know at least early on in the conflict you were part of some of the community who met with president biden and spoke with white house officials. now more than seven months in, what message do you need to hearfrom president biden and his administration? there has been, as you mentioned, a change in tone. the president himself told the israeli prime minister

several weeks ago he wants to see a ceasefire soon. he said himself that he believes the israelis are using us weapons, in his explanation of why he would want to withhold offensive weapons. what needs to happen now is action, determination that israelis are violating international law. the us domestic law. the certain offensive weapons that are being used in rafah and elsewhere, the heavy bombs and other munition is to be suspended indefinitely. there needs to be more political pressure by the administration both bilateral and at the un removing the threat of veto to ensure that the israelis brings this operation to a halt, certainly in rafah and elsewhere and allow more credibly way more humanitarian assistance. pro—europe demonstrators are on the streets of tbilisi, georgia again, ahead of the government's plans to adopt a new bill that's seen by many as a crackdown on civil

society in the ex—soviet country. the legislation would force ngos and media to register as foreign agents if more than 20% of their funding comes from overseas. the government says the bill would increase transparency and defend georgia's sovereignty. demonstrators say georgia will see the same clampdown on media as in russia, where similar legislation is already in place. earlier, i spoke to batu kutelia, former georgian ambassador to the usa and former head of georgia's foreign intelligence service. you have been at protests that are stretching into tuesday morning in georgia. tell us what you have seen. these protests have been one of the biggest protests that georgia has seen since regaining its independence, and one of the biggest of this protest, and the optics of it is we see in a big number people protesting and they are protesting

for the country. also we have all seen is the weakness felt ourselves as the enormous brutality and violence from the government. it seems it is a deliberate measure to scare people and not to allow them to protest again or express their constitutional guaranteed rights of free speech. the governing party says this legislation would increase transparency and ensure that georgia does not get pulled into a conflict with russia. what is your response to that? first of all this law has nothing to do with transparency. this law is discriminatory. it identifies those organisations, civil society and media outlets as foreign agents, exactly in the same way as russia did. we can also see that

the purpose of this law is to punish them. coming up: he used to be donald trump's lawyer and close confidante. michael cohen takes the stand in the former president's criminal trial. we'll have all the details. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at another story making headlines. an inquiry looking at why some women have traumatic experiences in childbirth has called for a major overhaul of maternity and post—natal care in the uk. the report, led by a group of mps, refers to "harrowing evidence" given by more than 1,000 women. it said poor maternity care was all—too—frequently tolerated as normal, and women giving birth were often treated as an inconvenience. michael buchanan has more. among the themes the inquiry identified was a failure to listen, when a woman says something was wrong. a lack of informed consent — medics not properly explaining specific procedures. and a lack of pain relief, with women in acute pain being given just paracetamol.

it does seem to be a maternity postcode lottery in this country. when looking for patterns, it was clear it was not just individual trust, it was certain parts of the uk, but actually a national challenge. the inquiry wants the government to invest in more midwives and to appoint a maternity commissioner — someone directly responsible for improving care across the nhs. you're live with bbc news. donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen took the witness stand monday in mr trump's new york criminal trial about the hush money payment made to adult film actress stormy daniels. cohen told the court that the former president signed off on everything and that the payment was made at trump's direction. the prosecution also showed phone records between cohen and trump from the day a non—disclosure agreement with stormy daniels was finalised. our north america correspondent nada tawfik was at the trial in new york and sent this summary of the day's events. michael cohen's testimony is crucial to this case. prosecutors hope that the conversations that

michael cohen 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 that before 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 donald 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 says that he ultimately fronted the money because "nobody else would".

he tried to come up with a creative way to make sure it 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' 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 weisselberg, the cfo of the trump organization, said that 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 directly tying 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. 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. to discuss today's developments, i spoke to molly ball, senior political correspondent for the wall streetjournal and marcus childress, partner atjenner & block and the former investigative counsel to the house select committee on the 6 january attack. this was the main witness for the prosecution. what impact do you think the testimony today had? michael cohen today provided direct evidence of the former president, his knowledge of the hush money payments on october 2016 but otherwise he corroborated what we have already heard throughout the majority of the trail. michael cohen told the story of the initial meeting between david pecker, donald trump and michael cohen, to do this catch—and—kill scheme.

he took the jury to the timeline, the october 2016 time frame when stormy daniels was paid off. what was key for him to talk about is what trump was saying at key events, whether paying the doorman who had a story, and eventually paying stormy daniels. before we had testimony of what michael cohen told others but today provided what donald trump was telling him when he was making these acts. remind us why michael cohen is so important. he was a close confidant of donald trump? he was by his side long before he ever ran for president. reporters like myself remember dealing with him and he was notoriously a bulldog in fighting for trump going after anyone who he suspected of getting in trump's way or siding with trump. and that came through in his testimony as well, something that he talked about a lot, how close they were, how zealously he guarded mr trump's prerogatives and the work

he did as an all—purpose fixer, not primarily a litigator in the sense of a lawyer but an all— purpose fixer, making things happen for trump wherever he needed them to, whether in business or his personal affairs. interesting how we talked about a great time he had previously working for donald trump. we heard from our correspondent as well that the difference will take a very hard line on michael cohen, to paint him as a liar. tell us more about the strategy and if you think it will be effective? the defence is crossing buckets, a bucket of trying to portray michael cohen as a liar with a history of not necessarily being truthful in response to authorities and a second bucket they will attack is donald trump's actual knowledge of what michael cohen was doing. starting with the first bucket, michael cohen has an open record of not being truthful with prior investigations or truthful about what he was doing on behalf of donald trump to the media.

the defence will try to say if you have interfered in the past, how to we know you are truthful today. the second bucket, they will try to show that michael cohen was going rogue, trying to impress the boss, not necessarily doing it because of orders from donald trump. we have seen some evidence of that in the defence crossing other witnesses about going rogue, and they said yes. we will see more of that type of theme, lying in court this week allegedly, and also cohen when trying to impress the boss by going rogue with his actions. a big picture, where do you think the trial stands right now as we have heard witness testimony? where are things? it is a black box. we cannot know what is on the jury's mind, what they think as they process all of this. the prosecution seems to feel things are going smoothly. one important feature of michael cohen's testimony was he kept his cool, he was even, he was able

to explain things in a very forward way, something that i think we will see when the defence starts examining him as they will try to get under his skin because he is known as someone who has a temper who flies off the handle, and that is something the prosecution is concerned about. on the trump side, they feel it has gone well for them particularly in the court of public opinion. trump has came out and seeks to discredit the prosecution in his public statements every day as he goes into and out of the trial and his personal social network. the realjury that trump is concerned about is not so much the one in the room as the one on 5 november, and there is a feeling on his political campaign side that he is succeeding in that court. what do you think? on the prosecution side i am sure they think it is going as well. every witness has shown this was about the election and not necessarily about embarrassing a former president, the payments that were made,

juries are the most unpredictable things in the world so i think the prosecution are not necessarily comfortable with where they are but the case has been put on smoothly and a clear narrative so far. the trump team is happy with where it is going because it is playing well in public opinion and also be able to get some newsworthy cross examination so far which is what they are looking for. the trump camp is happy, looking at the latest polls, the new york times showing that biden support is crumbling and donald trump leading in a five battleground states only 29% of voters say they follow the trial closely. there is a pervasive feeling money electric that this is old news, this is the tawdry scandal that people have always irritated

with him, not news, he is a womaniser, and has engages in sleazy conduct and maybe not always told the truth. potentially also cutting corners on his business. certainly his campaign feels that the ability of this trial to damage him politically is limited and we will see. and before we go, crews in baltimore, maryland, used explosives to help free a cargo ship trapped under a collapsed bridge. explosion crews have been working to clear the wreckage and reopening shipping channels. the ship struck the francis scott key bridge on march 26, causing it to collapse, killing six people. the vessel's 21 crewmembers remained on board during the detonation. rebuilding is expected to be completed in 2028. thank you for watching bbc news. 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 southwest 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 southwest, 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 slow journey 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.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. russia's invasion of ukraine served as a wake—up call to those members of nato who have long ignored american demands that they spend more on defence. ordid it? canada, for one, may still be snoozing, still well short of nato's defence bending target. —— spending target. of course, canada is a long way from kyiv. but there are concerns about russian and chinese intentions much closer to home, and in arctic north, for example. my guest is canada's defence minister, bill blair. is canada ready to get serious about defending itself?