the slovakian prime minister, who is still in a serious condition after being shot. two presidents and one vision — putin and xi say they will work together to combat "destructive and hostile" us policies. we'll bring you up to date with the latest in the wars in gaza and ukraine as well. also ahead... we report from taiwan — where the president tells the bbc she doesn't believe an attack from china is imminent. the most important thing is that we are on our own, and we are a democracy, and we enjoy freedom and democracy and progressive values.

it's seven in the morning in singapore, and seven in the evening in new york, where the case for the prosecution is coming to a close at donald trump's hush money trial in new york. his formerfixer, michael cohen, was once again on the stand today in manhattan facing cross—examination. the former president's lawyers pushed him on the accuracy of his recollection of phone calls with mr trump — after he'd earlier testified that it was over the phone that he got the go—ahead to make a payment to stormy daniels. mr trump's lawyers also asked whether mr cohen made regular secret recordings of phone conversations, which they said would have been unethical. mr cohen responded that if he had recorded a crime happening, it would have been an exception to the rule

of ethics. mr trump may have been sitting in the courtroom with only his legal team — but a group of republican politicians turned out to support him. they echoed his claims that the prosecution was politically motivated — and without any justification. here's mr trump making that point again on his way into court. outside, if you take a look, it looks like we're fort knox. there's so many police and they don't allow people to come, you know, you're allowed to have friendly protests, but we're not allowed to have anything. they have more police and more assistant das, i've never seen anything like it. our north america correspondent john sudworth has been outside the court in new york. michael cohen faced another hours—long, gruelling barrage of questions from donald trump's defence team, attempting to portray him as a compulsive liar out for revenge.

for example, they played the jury some comments that mr cohen made in one of his podcasts in which he said he wanted to see donald trump rot in jail. for his part, mr cohen remained pretty calm under questioning, conceding that he had at times been dishonest. but his contention is that where he has lied, where he has committed criminal acts, they have been at the behest and on behalf of his former boss. now, the jury might be asked to decide which of those two versions they believe fairly soon. a verdict is expected, if not next week, then probably the week after. in a case that has major ramifications for this year's presidential election and arguably for the future of american democracy — richard painter is a law professor and former chief

white house ethics lawyer for president george w bush. i asked him or his thoughts on the trial as the prosecution phase neared its end. the defence — phase neared its end. the defence lawyers _ phase neared its end. tue: defence lawyers questioned michael coe for very long time and went on and on, and didn't learn anything more about michael cohen and what happened and we do at the beginning. michael cohen did lie, he went to prison for a crime that he participated in at the behest of his client, donald trump, and that's what the evidence shows. i think it's unbelievable that michael cohen just would have done this on his own and paid stormy daniels $30,000 and falsified business records without donald trump's knowledge or approval. the defence can seek to try to show that donald trump did not know about this and didn't approve it and that's what this case is all about. we have not heard the defence present their case yet, but so far, the

prosecution has presented what appears to be a quite compelling case. appears to be a quite comellin: case. �* , ., compelling case. and give us a sense of what _ compelling case. and give us a sense of what might _ compelling case. and give us a sense of what might be - compelling case. and give us a sense of what might be going i compelling case. and give us a i sense of what might be going on inside the republican party. i mean, we've seen a sharp support at the courthouse, but what are people's leanings within the party, given how high—profile this case is? well, the republican party is going to have to figure this one out. i was a republican for 30 years, through 2018, but i finally gave that up with the party doing anything donald trump wanted them to do. a lot of republicans believe it was a mistake to many donald trump in 2016. i believe if they had nominated any other candidate, they probably still have —— munster would have won the election and would probably still hold the white house today. but donald trump has a psychological hold on a lot of people who still call themselves republicans, and some may choose to sit with

him. we saw the speaker of the house of representatives instead of attending to the nation's business, he is watching the courtroom in manhattan, it makes no sense to me. i don't think it makes sense a lot of americans. but this is the choice that a lot of leading republican politicians have chosen, it's what they have chosen to do. still to come a bit later in the programme — we'll hear from the outgoing president of taiwan, tsai ing—wen, and what she thinks of relations with beijing. but first. . .. russia's president and his chinese counterpart have promised to work together to combat what they say are "destructive and hostile" us policies. that commitment was made on the first day of vladimir putin's two day trip to beijing — the trip continues on friday. the two leaders also promised to deepen their economic partnership — something which has been a theme in their meetings — but which is being drawn into sharp focus by america's concerns that chinese assistance is making it easier for russia to meet the financial burden

of the war in ukraine. steven hall from the university of bath told me more the xi putin relationship. they have been talking a good talk in terms of the everlasting brother shipped and various other times they have developed since president xi came to power. they seem to be very close and this is another maxim that they have developed during these talks will stop we are certain the relationship seems to be more than just cordial now, it seems to be very close and notjust between putin and president xi but also between russia and china primarily the war in ukraine has brought them closer together. has brought them closer together-— has brought them closer touether. �* ., together. i'm glad you brought u . together. i'm glad you brought u- the together. i'm glad you brought up the war- — together. i'm glad you brought up the war. two _ together. i'm glad you brought up the war. two years - together. i'm glad you brought up the war. two years on, - up the war. two years on, beijing still hasn't condemned that conflict in ukraine. how can china and russia really taken the strategic

relationship, as they said in comments after the meeting, when beijing is walking the tightrope? when beijing is walking the tightmpe?_ tightrope? well, as you're corresponding _ tightrope? well, as you're corresponding to - tightrope? well, as you're corresponding to said, - tightrope? well, as you're l corresponding to said, china certainly is walking the tightrope, it is trying to balance in terms of supporting russia so that russia doesn't lose the war in ukraine but at the same time it doesn't want to antagonise america too much. so it is a tightrope, but we have seen in the past that training exercise have been occurring between the chinese and russians, we saw in terms of the collective security organisation military manoeuvres only last year as well in mongolia and central asia. so there is always the possibility, certainly, china will probably keep on sending technological components that may or can be used for russia's war machine, but will try to do it on the quiet in the hope that america doesn't pay too

much attention. which seems that america is doing at the moment, so that is certainly a problem for xi. now to slovakia — where the prime minister, robert fico, remains in a critical condition in hospital. a 71—year—old man has been charged with attempted murder, after a series of shots were fired at close range while mr fico spoke to crowds after a political meeting. ministers say they believe the gunman acted alone, but that it was politically motivated. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in handlova, where the attack took place. at the spot where a man tried to kill a prime minister, there is a hole where a bullet hit a tree and a faint stain of blood. small traces of a giant moment that has shocked slovakia deeply. it was early afternoon when robert fico strode out of a meeting and towards a group of supporters, but on the edges of the crowd was the gunman. he looks the other way

at first, then abruptly pulls out a gun, points at the prime minister and fires five times. gunshots by the third shot, he's being tackled by security officers as the prime minister tumbles to the floor. mr fico is then dragged to his car and rushed to hospital. the gunman detained and handcuffed. you were filming with the prime minister. dana was reporting on the prime minister's visit to her town. she says the gunman didn't stand out at all until he attacked. nothing special. he stay and was...looked normal. man waiting for our prime minister. robert fico had come from this event, offering support for a small—town economy. but on the big stage, he's a populist who opposes sending arms to ukraine and will block its entry to nato. he also thinks vladimir putin

has been demonised. his government claims these issues infuriated the gunman and drove him to this attack. the interior minister describes him as a lone wolf, but the government's accusing the opposition here and the media of whipping up tension and hatred. given that mr fico himself often uses very confrontational language, inflammatory language himself, would you agree that he is at least, or the government is at least partially to blame for the tensions in slovak society right now? translation: robert fico won elections for the fifth time. - then a frustrated part of the political spectrum and the media started a six—month hunt which has ended like this. i'm not pointing fingers, but you phrased a question to divert attention from the real reasons that led to this. the prime minister is still in intensive care, but his life is no longer

at risk, after an attack that has exposed huge divisions here and their danger. sarah rainsford, bbc news, bratislava. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

ukraine says it is sending more forces to try to stabilise the front line in its northeastern kharkiv region — where russian forces have made advances since launching a surprise offensive last week. the ukrainian military has released this footage of its troops heading into vovchans�*k, the scene of fighting in the last few days. 0ne analysis suggests russia has seized around 278 square kilometres of territory — that's around 107 square miles — in the last week. that's the biggest gain in a single operation since december 2022.

but despite that, nato, which is monitoring the situation, says moscow does not have sufficient forces to make a war—defining breakthrough. the russians don't have the numbers necessary to do a strategic breakthrough, we don't believe. more to the point, they don't have the skill and the capability to do it, to operate and the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage. they do have the ability to make local advances, and have done some of that. they have also made some local losses. i'm joined now byjohn herbst — a former us ambassador to ukraine and a senior director at the atlantic council. good to have you on the programme. we saw earlier president putin is in beijing. what do you think you might be asking china for, with regards

to the war in ukraine? == asking china for, with regards to the war in ukraine?- to the war in ukraine? -- he miaht to the war in ukraine? -- he might be- — to the war in ukraine? -- he might be. russia _ to the war in ukraine? -- he might be. russia has - might be. russia has consistently been looking for more economic support and more military support from china. and while china has provided some economic support in the form of buying reduced priced russian oil and gas, and russia has sent some high—tech parts for russian arms, they have avoided doing more so as not to run afoul of us sanctions. so putin is likely to not have received the answer he wanted in beijing. what he got was a lot of rhetoric from both russia and china about the united states.— united states. bei'ing are certainly * united states. bei'ing are certainly walking _ united states. beijing are certainly walking a - united states. beijing are . certainly walking a tightrope. the us support for ukraine is crucial, but it is divisive. a robust do you think us backing is, especially ahead of the us election? ~ ,.,

is, especially ahead of the us election? ~ ~' election? well, something like 37 to 5096 _ election? well, something like 37 to 5096 of — election? well, something like 37 to 5096 of americans, - 37 to 50% of americans, according to recent polls, support the amount of aid we are going forward to see more aid. —— are going forward to see more aid. -- 57% are going forward to see more aid. —— 57% to are going forward to see more aid. -- 57% to 58% are going forward to see more aid. —— 57% to 58% stop it also says that a large majority of both republicans and democrats in the house and the senate voted in favour of aid to ukraine. the point is, there is a small faction within the republican party which does not understand that moscow considers the united states as its principal adversary in moscow is working very hard in europe and globally to undermine us. and therefore, the smart place for us to stop putin's aggression is by providing support to ukraine might stop that us package funding. might stop that us package fundinu. ., ., ~ ,., funding. that will take some time to filter _ funding. that will take some time to filter through - funding. that will take some time to filter through to - funding. that will take some time to filter through to the | time to filter through to the front line. the ukrainians were already surprised by that offensive in the north—east. do you see any hope of a ukrainian counteroffensive soon? tia.

counteroffensive soon? no, ukraine does _ counteroffensive soon? no, ukraine does not _ counteroffensive soon? no, ukraine does not write - counteroffensive soon? tin, ukraine does not write now have the equipment or the disposition of its forces for a successful counteroffensive. i think they do have the ability to blood moscow's still snickometer offensive. —— to blood. that will grow now the aid package has passed and the first assistance has arrived. in fact, you can make the argument that moscow has increased efforts in the north—east of the past couple of weeks in the realisation they have moment a lot of opportunity to move before ukraine is properly armed once again. ukraine is properly armed once aaain. . �* , ukraine is properly armed once a.ain_ ., �*, ., ukraine is properly armed once aain. ., �*, ., , again. that's an interesting insi . ht. again. that's an interesting insight. ukraine _ again. that's an interesting insight. ukraine has - again. that's an interesting insight. ukraine has been l insight. ukraine has been calling on dc to allow it to strike targets inside russia. how do you think that's been received in washington? ukraine is absolutely _ received in washington? ukraine is absolutely right, _ received in washington? ukraine is absolutely right, the _ is absolutely right, the administration has been much too cautious, even timid since moscow began the bigger

patient. it has sent ukraine the weapons it needs to succeed, weapons ukraine also needs to protect american interests. 0ne needs to protect american interests. one aspect of that timidity has been beneficial to allow ukraine to use american weapons to strike out legitimate military targets in russia. the absurdity of the position, geopolitical acidity for the united states, is especially evident now when russian troops are a0 kilometres from kharkiv on russian territory, because the border is only three kilometres from kharkiv and we know that across the border, ukraine would be much more efficient in defending khakis if they could use american weapons to strike at the strips and russia, if they could use american weapons to strike at the russian jets from russian airspace which are sending bombs that are truly devastating kharkiv. we say no. i believe this will change, i hope it changes soon. but again, the timidity of the administration has been a problem from the very beginning

of the big russian invasion. we will have to _ of the big russian invasion. we will have to leave it there. many thanks for your time. mi; many thanks for your time. my pleasure. _ many thanks for your time. tj�*i pleasure, thank many thanks for your time. tj�*i: pleasure, thank you. the israeli military says it has identified the bodies of two thai agricultural workers abducted by hamas during the attack on the 7th of october. theirfamilies have been informed. meanwhile, in gaza, the us says that the temporary pier which will be used to allow supplies of aid to be delivered by boat, has been anchored at a beach — after being towed down from an israeli port. it was done with the help of the israeli military — no american forces walked on dry land in gaza. the temporary pier, part of the humanitarian maritime corridor, is additive to the other routes and will assist humanitarian organisations providing life—saving assistance. aid is arriving in cyprus. it will be screened for loading onto ships for delivery to gaza, where humanitarian

organisations, including trusted usaid and us government partners, will determine how to ensure they reach those in need, accordance to humanitarian principles. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. a five—year—old boy has died after falling from a block of flats in east london. emergency services were called at around six o'clock this morning — the boy died at the scene. police say the death is being treated as unexpected but not suspicious, and say they are working to establish the full circumstances. tens of thousands of people living in south devon have been told not to drink tap water without boiling it first after the outbreak of a waterborne disease. around 16,000 homes and businesses in the brixham area are affected. they've been warned the outbreak of cryptosporidium could last for at least a week.

teenagers may be able to qualify to drive trains — under new proposals aimed at tackling a shortage of drivers. the government is asking for views on reducing the minimum age from 20 to 18, in a consultation running untiljune. the measures have been prompted over concerns of the number of drivers set to retire in the next five years. on monday, taiwan will enter a new era, as president tsai ing—wen hands over power. she's served two terms in office, and in that time, has faced growing pressure from beijing, which sees taiwan as a rebel province. the chinese president, xijinping, has said that what he calls "reunification" must be fulfilled — and taiwan has effectively become more dependent on support from the us to ensure it continues to self—govern. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been to meet president tsai and ask her about her legacy.

singing it's hard to imagine a famous drag act being invited to perform for the communist party leadership at their compound in beijing. but that's exactly what president tsai ing—wen did this week at the presidential office building in taipei. in her eight years in power, this softly—spoken former law professor has turned taiwan into arguably the most progressive society in asia. same—sex marriage is now legal here, and taipei hosts asia's largest pride festival. as she prepares to step down on monday, i sat down with president tsai at her home in taipei and asked her why she chose this particular fight. you were well ahead of any other country in asia in pushing through that legislation. why was that such an important priority for you? it's a test to the society here to see to what extent

they can move forward with their values. and it was a very difficultjourney. i am actually rather proud that we managed to overcome our differences. 0ne difference tsai has failed to overcome is that with china. during her eight years in office, beijing's military intimidation of taiwan has dramatically increased. but tsai says she does not think an attack on the island is imminent. the cost of taking over taiwan is going to be enormous. chinese leadership have to make a good calculation as to whether they are prepared to pay the cost. what we need to do is to increase the costs of an invasion. despite being a thriving democracy of 23 million people, only 12 countries now formally recognise this place, down from 22 countries

when tsai came to power. but she says pressure from china must not be allowed to erase the reality of taiwan's existence. china, of course, will say that we're part of them. it's for the people to interpret what taiwan represents at this moment in time. but the most important thing is that we are on our own and we are a democracy, and we enjoy freedom and democracy and progressive values. and we are a group of people that are very proud of ourselves. on monday, the mantle of power will pass from tsai to her vice president, william lai. if anything, he is disliked by china even more than she is. for the people of taiwan, things are not about to get any easier. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. rupert's full interview with outgoing president tsai ing—wen will be available to watch over the weekend

here on bbc news — and a long read for our new indepth series will be available at bbc.com/news. finally — scientists in britain say they have proved a theory of einstein, about the way matter plunges into black holes. for the first time they've been able to identify an area called "the plunging region", the point where matter circling a black hole is suddenly pulled into it at close to the speed of light. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. thursday brought us a real mixture of weather across the uk. it was scotland and, to a degree, the far north of england that had the best of the day's weather, with plenty of sunshine. and very warm in the highlands, temperatures reached 25 celsius in altnaharra —

that was the warmest place in the whole of the uk, confirmation of the rather beautiful weather we had here. wasn't like that everywhere, though — for northern ireland, england and wales, we had rain or some thundery showers around, and across berkshire and also pembrokeshire, we had photographs sent to us of some funnel clouds there — tornadoes that don't quite make it all the way down to the ground. it was very wet for some — in nantwich in cheshire, we had 25 millimetres of rain. now on into friday's forecast, the tail end of the weather front will continue to feed in quite a lot of cloud across northern england, and we start off certainly with some mist and fog patches around some of our north sea coast. aside from northern england, though, i suspect overall, we're looking at a brighter day on friday with more in the way of sunshine. there will, though, be one or two showers popping up into the afternoon, one or two thunderstorms, but big gaps between those showers — that means probably for most of you, we're looking at a dry day with temperatures widely high teens to the low 20s.

it will feel warm in the sunshine, highest temperatures, probably west scotland, where i think we'll probably get to 2a — outside chance of a 25. 0n into the weekend, we've got a low pressure system threatening some heavier bursts of rain across southeast england, certainly more cloud around here as we head into the morning. 0therwise, again, we're looking at a few mist and fog patches — clearing and lifting away, sunny spells, breaking through, and then, into the afternoon, one or two showers and thunderstorms popping up. temperatures still on the warm side — we're looking at highs well into the teens, 23—2a celsius in the very warmest areas. given the light winds and the may sunshine, that will feel very pleasant. for sunday, though, there is a slight change in the weather picture across scotland and northern ireland, in that there'll be a bit more in the way of cloud pushing in here — it could be thick enough to give us an odd patch of rain. england and wales mainly dry with some sunshine, but you will notice the temperatures just dropping a little bit across scotland and northern ireland, given that cloudier weather. now beyond that, into next week, looks like the start of the week should be ok — many of us will have drier weather with sunny spells — but there's a tendency

for the cloud to thicken, with rain arriving towards the second half of the week.

the dowjones hits the a0,000 mark for the first time, as investors hedge their bets on interest rate cuts. indian spices come under fire,

as regulators around the world investigate contamination allegations. hello, and welcome to business today — i'm suranjana tewari. let's begin in the us — where wall street has been on a record high this week. on thursday, the the dowjones reached an intra—day fresh record of a0,000, before shedding earlier gains. retail giant walmart raised its full—year forecast after reporting better—that—expected quarterly earnings. but this positive outlook isn't shared by everyone. the bbc�*s erin delmore explains. traders on wall street finally had reason to don their dow a0,000 baseball caps. the dow crossed the symbolic threshold writing hi from an encouraging

inflation report that's in all three major indexes