america's top diplomat makes a surprise visit to ukraine, reaffirming us support for the country. presidentjoe biden puts major new tariffs on billions of dollars�* worth of chinese imports, including electric vehicles. hello. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. riot police clash with protesters in the georgian capital of tbilisi, after parliament passes a divisive foreign agent law that has already sparked weeks of mass protests. the law would force civil society and media organizations to register if they receive foreign funding. georgia's parliament passed the third and final reading of the bill on tuesday, clearing a major hurdle before it can become law. its likely to be vetoed by georgia's president, but parliament can override the veto with an additional vote.

critics are dubbing it the "russia law." they say that its similar to legislation russia uses to suppress certain opinions and silence critics of the kremlin. those who oppose the bill also argue that the legislation could negatively affect georgia's chances ofjoining the european union. speaking earlier, georgia's prime minister irakli kobakhidze said otherwise. translation: today is the most im ortant translation: today is the most important day — translation: today is the most important day in _ translation: today is the most important day in terms _ translation: today is the most important day in terms of - important day in terms of strengthening the independence and sovereignty of our country. the adoption of the on transparency of foreign influence law provides strong guarantees for long—term peace and stability in georgia, addressing polarisation which is essential for georgia's immigration into the european union. the bbc�*s rayhan demytrie has been on the ground in tbilisi and sent this report. they marched in with a warning against the protesters who have been demonstrating outside parliament for weeks. protesters stood defiantly, refusing to move away...

..and then violence... ..all in the name of a contentious law which protesters fear will mark the end of georgia's democracy. you get a sense, now, they are moving more intensely. and the protesters are beginning to boo. they're being pushed away from the square. we will be in the eu. freedom to the georgians! georgian people are standing for their rights, to make a decision, which is to be against this law. we do not wish it. it is dragging us back into the same hole that we finally crawled out of. a similarforeign agents law exists in russia, used there to crack down on the government's critics. georgians worry the same thing might happen here. they are liars, they are putin's guys, you know? they are doing russian work here.

earlier, mps from the governing party passed the law after a debate turned into a brawl. authorities defended the bill, saying it would help protect georgia from foreign interference. critics suspect the government is trying to defend the interests of one man, bidzina ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in russia. that is also intrinsically very russian — to defend the interests of one man against the interests of one nation. these mass protests have been driven by georgia's youth, standing up to defend the national dream of a future in europe. here in the us, white house press secretary karinejean pierre said, "we are deeply troubled by georgia's kremlin "style foreign agents legislation." she then said, "if this legislation passes, it "will compel us to

fundamentally reassess "our relationship with georgia." with me is ambassador william courtney — he served as us ambassador to georgia and to kazakhstsan and is currently a senior fellow at rand. ambassador, great to have you back on the show. what did you make of the scenes we saw from tbilisi market today that the mass protest outside parliament and the brawl inside parliament?- and the brawl inside parliament? , ., , , ., parliament? mass protests have been going _ parliament? mass protests have been going on — parliament? mass protests have been going on for— parliament? mass protests have been going on for a _ parliament? mass protests have been going on for a long - parliament? mass protests have been going on for a long time i been going on for a long time and in some respects they are similar to protest that took place in 2003, 2004 when georgia had its first colour revolution, rose revolution, and ukraine had two car revolutions. mass protests by people suggests that what the government is doing now is not very popular. if government is doing now is not very popular-— very popular. if you got the prime minister _ very popular. if you got the prime minister has - very popular. if you got the prime minister has said, i very popular. if you got the i prime minister has said, he said that they cannot back down because georgia would lose its sovereignty and he also said they would quote easily share they would quote easily share the fate of ukraine. what do

you think he meant by that? the onl risk you think he meant by that? the only risk of— you think he meant by that? tue: only risk of losing you think he meant by that? tte: only risk of losing sovereignty as if russia takes it over. because moving the government, pro—russian election, makes it more vulnerable because they don't have friends outside who could protect them. it's a real risk for sovereignty is russia rather than the west. t risk for sovereignty is russia rather than the west.- rather than the west. i once asked a question _ rather than the west. i once asked a question we - rather than the west. i once asked a question we put - rather than the west. i once asked a question we put a l asked a question we put a former georgian ambassador to the us. the current ruling part of the georgian dream party were elected and represent a democratic vote in georgia. does it look like these protests represent what people in georgia feel? it seems they are mostly young people on the streets. to people necessarily want to see this bill overturned?- want to see this bill overturned? ., ., ,., overturned? poll after poll shows that _ overturned? poll after poll shows that 8096 _ overturned? poll after poll shows that 8096 of - overturned? poll after polli shows that 8096 of georgia overturned? poll after poll - shows that 8096 of georgia want shows that 80% of georgia want georgia part of europe. not back to the direction of russia. it is clear that popular support is opposed to

the government. the key will the government. the key will the security forces break or will they continue to unforeseen fairly brutal treatment on demonstrators? in 2014 ukraine security forces broke, there was a fling of the country, we don't know what happened in georgia but there was a lot of pressure on the security forces now and a lot of people in georgia are upset. you can see that from the protests. we've seen that it's like with the president would veto the bill but then it could, the parliament could override that. what impact do you think this bill will have? this is a big step toward a more authoritarian government. they could be additional steps. russia has an undesirable organisation with the could come after this. in some sense it is like both rush at the beginning and now victor or ban, a constitutional regression, if you will into

thousand 12 —— in 2012 when he was elected, he was popular but now it's moved to an oratory interaction. the liberal democratic opposition parties are on united.— are on united. that's the question _ are on united. that's the question that _ are on united. that's the question that have - are on united. that's the question that have so - are on united. that's the i question that have so many people want to join europe in georgia, why did the bill pass? the government is concerned about staying in power. i had of elections, we should say. delbene 0ctober, especially after these laws passed on other measures, the elections will highly unlikely to be free and fair. it is on the road to the kind of thing we see in russia. , , ., russia. the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov _ russia. the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov today _ russia. the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov today denied i dmitry peskov today denied russia has any connection to the legislation but what do we know about russian influence on the georgian government? we don't the georgian government? - don't know a lot at least publicly about the influence. but you have a pro—russian being the made his money and his anti—western ——

billionaire. he gave a shocking speech recently calling the us the global war party and promising there would be after the elections trials to charge the elections trials to charge the opposition with crimes. we don't know what russian influences but the direction is what russia would want. the us as it is alive _ what russia would want. the us as it is alive and _ what russia would want. the us as it is alive and we _ what russia would want. the us as it is alive and we saw- what russia would want. the us as it is alive and we saw the i as it is alive and we saw the white house commenting today that it would cause the us to fundamentally reassess the relationship with georgia. what you think that means? tia you think that means? no assistance _ you think that means? tit? assistance accepted from independent ngos and may well mean sanctions on the top people in the government, it could suggest that internationally the us will be not so supportive of georgia in the future as it has been in the future as it has been in the past. the future as it has been in the past-— the future as it has been in the ast. �* , ., ., the past. ambassador, good to have ou the past. ambassador, good to have you again _ the past. ambassador, good to have you again on _ the past. ambassador, good to have you again on bbc- the past. ambassador, good to have you again on bbc news. l have you again on bbc news. thank you forjoining us. thank you for “oining us. thank ou. us secretary of state antony

blinken made a surprise visit to kyiv at what he called a "critical moment" for the country amid a fresh russian offensive. the top us diplomat sought to reassure ukrainians of american support with a direct message: "you are not alone." the coming weeks and months will demand a great deal of ukrainians who have already sacrificed so much. but i have come to ukraine with a message. you are not alone. the united states has been by your side from day one. we are with you today. and we will stay by your side until ukraine's security, sovereignty, its ability to choose its own path is guaranteed. mr blinken also met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky who, in response to mr blinken's assurances, emphasised ukraine's need for fresh military aid. since friday, ukrainian troops have been struggling to push back against a new russian offensive in the north of the country. this is the map of the battlefield. areas in red show what is now under russian occupation. but heavy fighting has opened a new front in the north—east near kharkiv. the area has already changed hands in this war and moscow

seeks to take kharkiv again. our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with the secretary. he sent his report. this was a treatment to show solidarity in the form of a fresh plight of american ammunition. it's been something the well wednesday. we arrived, i was travelling with mr macron either sleeper train from the polish border going to keep first thing this morning. the first thing this morning. the first meeting was with president zelensky and we heard from the queen leader profuse facts to the americans for breaking the deadlock in washington more than a year now it's been going on, that part is in paralysis, unable to get around $60 billion of military assistance flowing to the ukrainians. that would happen three weeks ago. we learn something important and that was that the first armaments of that package are now at the

front line. a senior official telling us that artillery shells, missile interceptors are now in the battle zone. just three weeks or so after that package made its way through. the question is, is all of this going to be enough? what we heard from the secretary of state was an attempt to reassure the ukrainians that they are endless for the long—term and there a particular theme tonight on young ukrainians, i watched the secretary of state speak to hundreds of students here in kyiv and he then believe it or not appeared with a bad, rock band playing rocking in the free world, a neil young classic, and that in the basement of the bar here in kyiv, the secretary of state is a keen guitarist, but there was an important message therapy because it was about trying to say, look, we see ukraine's future with the west, with the european union, with nato. and here is the continuous support from the us with ukrainian reforms meant to be mixed and

to get that in place. but the problem is, this is a promise mr blinken can make, it is not necessarily what he can keep. remember there is a passenger election in the us later this year and president biden is in quite a different place from donald trump. his opponent on theissue donald trump. his opponent on the issue of military assistance to ukraine. for ukrainians looking from here, to washington, whatever the policy is now, there are no guarantees for them that that will necessarily remain exactly as it is now in a the biden administration informed congress its moving forward with more than $1 billion in new weapons for israel. the announcement — first reported by the wall streetjourrnal — comes less than a week after the white house paused an arms shipment to israel over concerns about israel's planned invasion of rafah in southern gaza. the latest weapons package still needs certain approvals before being delivered, but it includes the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunitions, $500 million in tactical vehicles and another $60 million in mortar rounds.

according to thejournal, there are additional steps to be completed before these weapons would be sent could take years. alerting congress triggers a review period which could allow lawmakers to try and halt the deal. coming up: president biden slaps major tariffs on chinese electric vehicles and other items. we look at the impact on the us economy and ties with china. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at another story making the headlines. it is finally open. the uk's biggest indoor arena — co—op live — has staged its first performance after weeks of last minute cancellations and chaos. the manchester band elbow opened the arena in their home city. the new £365 million venue has been blighted by setbacks. shows by peter kay, 0livia rodrigo, take that and other acts had to be cancelled or moved. but as colin paterson reports, those problems ended tonight.

after opening night being cancelled on three previous occasions, a gig was actually going ahead. occasions, a gig was actually going ahead-— occasions, a gig was actually going ahead. you go through something — going ahead. you go through something like _ going ahead. you go through something like this, - going ahead. you go through something like this, you i going ahead. you go through something like this, you go l going ahead. you go through l something like this, you go to bed at night with the demons. this morning the boss of co—op live showed us around. $5 this morning the boss of co-op live showed us around. as much as i love doing _ live showed us around. as much as i love doing these _ as i love doing these interviews with you and i think this is our third one, i don't think we will be doing a four. and although the manchester venue has now finally opened, parts of the venue are still not finished. dozens of construction workers were on the site on tuesday morning, and its boss has said it could take another six months before it is fully completed. you're live with bbc news. president biden said china is cheating, not competing in global trade as he unveiled new tariffs on an estimated $18 billion worth of chinese imports, including electric cars, solar panels, and steel. the white house says beijing's unfair trading practices harm americanjobs and key industries, such as clean energy and electric vehicles.

under president biden's new policy, tariffs on chinese electric cars will quadruple from 25% to 100%. levies on steel will triple, and the rate on semiconductors will double. china criticised the move, warning that it would seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation. the levies are the latest escalation in a trade war between the world's two largest economies that has roots in former president donald trump's administration. earlier, president biden contrasted his policies with those of mr trump. my my presidents are promised increased american exports and boosted manufacturing but he did neither, he failed. he signed a trade deal with china, he was supposed to buy $200 billion more in american goods, instead china imports from america barely budged. while in office, mr trump favoured broad tariffs on american goods. 0n the campaign trail, the former president has proposed higher tariffs on foreign imports and investment restrictions between the us and china. president biden says he's

taking a more targeted approach, increasing tariffs in emerging high—tech industries like clean energy and semiconductors. but the biden white house will maintain trump—era tariffs on an estimated $360 billion chinese imports. i spoke about the us—china trade relationship with manisha singh, former assistant secretary of state for the bureau of economics and business affairs in the trump administration. let's talk about these tariffs which focus on critical technologies like semiconductors and electric vehicles and the white house national economic council director said china's trade practices have quoted harmed communities in michigan and pennsylvania and around the country they are now having the opportunity to come back due to president biden's in agenda. what impact do you think these tariffs will actually have here in the us?— tariffs will actually have here in the us? . . ., in the us? thanks so much for the opportunity _ in the us? thanks so much for the opportunity to _ in the us? thanks so much for the opportunity to talk- in the us? thanks so much for the opportunity to talk to i in the us? thanks so much for the opportunity to talk to you | the opportunity to talk to you about these tariffs. i think what we have been looking at is

a slow decline of us industries over the last several decades so the industries that you mentioned when it comes to critical technologies, everything from electric vehicles all of the things that have been tariffs, we've been watching this go on for several decades. in the last administration, the posture towards china finally changed. incidentjust having a conversation, the trump administration decided we needed to actually take action and the biden administration is continuing that. we are seeing this new policy towards china. we need to be able to do things so that our domestic industries can regain their strength. when american workers and companies have a level playing field, they can compete and win. but we have seen over the decades that china has stacked the deck and is not acceding to the rules of the world trade

organisation, so the biden 0rganisation, so the biden administration is trying to level the playing field. that's exactly what _ level the playing field. that's exactly what we _ level the playing field. that's exactly what we heard i level the playing field. that's exactly what we heard from | level the playing field. that's i exactly what we heard from the biden administration in addressing these tariffs today. but there are many business groups who want to see some relief on tariffs including the tariffs that were put in place by the trump administration and the national retail federation said today that this is the last thing that abide administration should be doing because inflation is still high. is this ultimately going to hit consumers here in the us hard? t to hit consumers here in the us hard? ~' �* to hit consumers here in the us hard? ~ ,, �* ., , ., hard? i think you've raised a treat hard? i think you've raised a great point _ hard? i think you've raised a great point about _ hard? i think you've raised a great point about the - hard? i think you've raised a great point about the tariffs| great point about the tariffs and the effect on the consumers. we have to remember that tariffs on these products are one part of the equation. the biden administration needs to look at the complete picture. you will recall that i saw high inflation data comment, inflation is still hot, hazard called, that affects decisions on rates by the fed so tariffs are one part

of biden administration is silicate keeping the trump tax cuts in place. we need place. we need to look at deregulated to regain our independence, so hard i would characterise that is let's look at the big picture. tariffs are one part of the equation and if they are a student directly the biden administration takes a look at how to phase—in these tariffs, it could have a negligible effect on the economy but i would crosstalk. if i could justjump in, because you talked about a new relationship with china and we have heard from china saying this is political manipulation that well, quote, seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation. china remains one of the us's biggest trading partners, but the reality, what kind of retaliation do you anticipate from china? t retaliation do you anticipate from china?— retaliation do you anticipate from china? ., ., . ~ ., from china? i would go back to the fact that _ from china? i would go back to the fact that when _ from china? i would go back to the fact that when china i from china? i would go back to the fact that when china is i the fact that when china is said to the world trade organisation in 2001 we 0rganisation in 2001 we supported and granted permanent normal trade relations that

agreement was for the chinese to adhere to the global rules of tradejust as to adhere to the global rules of trade just as we do. i think that what the us under both the trump administration and the biden administration is asking for is for china to adhere to these global rules of trade. certainly it is within their purview to decide on what their reactions are but our response from the us side should be that we are following rules of trade, we are playing fair. t trade, we are playing fair. i want to ask you because we mentioned you search during the trump administration and these tariffs do build, as you said, on what we saw president trump do during his time in office. president biden was asked today about this comment from president trump who said that china is eating our lunch and in response president biden said he has been feeding them a long time. what you think of that? ~ ., ., long time. what you think of that? . ., ., ., that? what i would say that in the trump _ that? what i would say that in the trump administration i that? what i would say that in the trump administration it i that? what i would say that in i the trump administration it was the trump administration it was the first administration where

we change the posture towards china. rememberthe we change the posture towards china. remember the bite in this region is continuing those policies. priorto this region is continuing those policies. prior to the trump administration the us posture was to have a conversation. we had the strategic economic dialogue, we had a strategic and economic dialogue, kept having conversations, it was president trump who finally came in and said we're going to take action, we are going to level the playing field, we are going to create a first set of circumstances american workers can continue to win. it was president biden's administration continuing the posture a new relationship carved out in the trump administration.- carved out in the trump administration. we have to leave it there _ administration. we have to leave it there but - administration. we have to i leave it there but interesting conversation, thank you for joining us. conversation, thank you for joining us— let's turn to some other important news around the world. hundreds of french police are searching for a prisoner after he escaped from a van in a deadly ambush. two officers and three others were wounded after two vehicles rammed a prison van

transporting mohamed amra. gunmen then opened fire, attacking the prison officers, and fled with the prisoner. amra was recently convicted of burglary and had been charged with a deadly kidnapping. federal investigators say the ship that crashed into a baltimore, maryland bridge in march causing it to collapse, suffered power outages before leaving port due to human error. the national transportation safey board report says officials are still investigating why the vessel lost power again in the moments before it struck the bridge. six people on the bridge died. donald trump's defence team cross—examined michael cohen, trump's former lawyer, on tuesday, attacking his credibility as a witness. mr cohen claimed that mr trump approved a plan to reimburse him for a hush money payment made to adult film actress stormy daniels, and that he kept mr trump informed at each stage. on his way out at the end of the day, mr trump spoke to the media, saying he would love to not be under the gag order, and mentioned he would rather be out on the campagin trail. 0ur north american correspondentjohn sudworth was at the court house, where mr trump was joined by several republican

supporters. donald trump's defence team has as expected gordon pretty hard, attempting to question michael cohen's integrity in front of the jury. cohen's integrity in front of thejury. it cohen's integrity in front of the jury. it was mr colvin who made the hush money payment to stormy daniels, the prosecution tried to use his evidence to tie the hush money payment, not only donald trump but to show that donald trump knew that it had been improperly disguised as legal fees. had been improperly disguised as legalfees. but had been improperly disguised as legal fees. but on the stand under some pretty tough questioning, the defence attempted to portray cohen not only as a liar but somebody motivated by bitterness and the financial interest, somebody now interested in securing donald trump's conviction in this trial. we should say that this trial. we should say that this is an approach the prosecution had participated, they got their retaliation in early if you like because during the questioning of cohen

in the earlier parts of his evidence, they had him freely admit that he had told lies, but he had that criminal conviction. but the purpose, he was always clear to say, was in defence of his boss and at his boss's bass. in the end it will come down to whether the jury believes the prosecution or the defence in their betrayal of michael cohen's character and motives. we should also say the other thing that was significant about the day was the large amount of support on display for donald trump, with senior republican figures here at the courthouse. most notably mike johnson at the courthouse. most notably mikejohnson the house speaker and critics have said that it is remarkable, not to have him here in support of donald trump but to hear him criticising the process itself, calling betrayal corrupt. some people that that is a dangerous undermining of us democratic institutions, coming of course on behalf of a man who stands

accused himself of having attempted to subvert the transfer of democratic power backin transfer of democratic power back in 2021. 0ne one more item for you. nasa says the sun produced its largest solar fare tuesday in its 11—year solar cycle that began in 2020, according to the space weather prediction centre. last week, other similar giant explosions on the sun that ejected energy, light and high—speed particles into space were responsible for dazzling northern lights displays around the world. but nasa says, despite the size of the huge solar flare, it's not expected to have a geomagnetic impact on earth. thank you for watching bbc news. i am sumi somaskanda in washington. we are back at the top of the next hour. stay with us. hello. we've some damp weather out there at the moment, and there's also some rain

in the forecast for wednesday — not an awful lot. here's the outlook for the rest of the week — a bit of a mixed bag, a little bit of sunshine, some scattered showers, but at least it'll be relatively warm. now, on the satellite picture, you'll notice this swirl of cloud — that's an area of low pressure. this is the weather front, and this low pressure will stick around really for the rest of the week. so actually, the overall weather pattern won't change an awful lot across the uk, but there will be some regional differences from day to day, of course. here's the morning, then — around 7am, we will have had temperatures between 12—14 celsius, some damp, if not at times wet, weather from east anglia into lincolnshire and along these eastern counties. but elsewhere, it's a bright and even sunny start to the day, and through the afternoon, i think our best weather will be in the north of scotland. some sunshine there in the highlands, and temperatures could reach 23 celsius. that's the exception, though — for most of us, it'll be in the range of 18—20 celsius. now, with this low pressure not really moving away anywhere, the weather front�*s

still in the same place, so thicker cloud and, at times, outbreaks of rain from east anglia and across northern england, and elsewhere, we'll see some clear spells. and here's thursday morning — again, the weather front still in the same place, at least roughly. there'll be some glimmers of brightness between the layers of cloud, but also some rain at times — or at least showers — coming and going. and again, temperatures between around 18—20 celsius — maybe a little bit cooler where the clouds thicker and the rain's just that little bit heavier. into friday, then, you can see the distribution of showers in slightly different places in scotland, maybe the north—west of england, too. i think further south, it should be brighter, and again, temperatures don't really change — it's because that area of low pressure is basically carrying the same atmosphere, and the temperatures won't be changing. high pressure is starting to push in through the weekend, but it'll be a very slow process, so don't expect major changes. so here's the summary for the rest of the week

and the forecast into the weekend — notice that actually more northern parts of the uk fare better as we head into the weekend, with some sunshine on the way for belfast, and really quite warm. bye— bye.

the us imposes steep tariff hikes on china — hitting goods from

electric cars to chips. plus the commercialisation of television channels in india. we will look at the state of press freedom ahead of the election. hello and welcome to business today. let's begin in the us where thejustice department presidentjoe biden has increased tariffs on $18 billion worth of imports from china. he's accused the country of unfairly subsidising its clean energy sector and flooding international markets with cheap goods. from new york, the bbc�*s erin delmore reports. it is not often we find former president trump and current president biden in agreement but president biden is not only keeping tariffs enacted by his predecessor but increasing

them. they focus on the key technologies that power the green transition and include a 100% tariff