so far were inadequate. julian assange has spent more than a decade resisting deportation and facing the esponiage charges. our legal correspondent, dominic casciani, has been telling us about the key points from today's ruling at the high court. i think the key point is it's very, very noisy down here because hundreds of people have turned up to supportjulian assange and to show solidarity with him because they believe he's been appallingly, unjustly treated over the last few years, since 2019, when he's fought this us extradition. and there has been, i think, in fairness, a sense of legal inevitability about the direction this was going in a succession of court rulings. but this morning, two seniorjudges here at the high court have actually put the legal blockers on the whole thing for now, at least, because they accepted a very narrow argument thatjulian assange says he has in effect, when he,

as part of the wikileaks organisation in 2010, leaked us military secrets, he did so to expose war crimes and therefore he had a right to free speech in doing that under the us constitution and therefore cannot be prosecuted for doing so. now, the us says it's given assurances that this is not the type of case where free speech comes into play, but this is not satisfied thejudges here in london and they've said, well, we want to have a full appeal on this point and actually really try to unpick this. the other points of assurances from the us thatjulian assange will not face the death penalty — that has been accepted by his team. now that that is no longer an issue, it fundamentally concerns this question of whether or not he, if he went on trial in the united states, can say, "i have a defence of speaking out freely in order to expose war crimes, and that should be heard in my trial." the hush money trial of former us president donald trump has

resumed in new york — with the continued cross—examination of mr trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. last week, he said the former president directed him to pay adult film actress stormy daniels $130,000 to stay quiet before the 2016 election about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006. he testified that donald trump then approved a plan to fudge records to cover up the deal. 0ur north america correspondent nada tawfik has this update on today's events. michael cohen's fourth day on the stand. the defence are again continuing a quite aggressive line of questioning to try to paint michael cohen as someone who has lied in the past as well as under oath. someone who is really guided by wanting revenge against donald trump and not by wanting justice in this case. and so we've seen really this attempt at character assassination once again this morning. you know, phone records are such an important part of this case, matthew, because as many of donald

trump's aides have established in this court, donald trump never wrote anything down on emails and text messages or on computers. and so prosecutors have been trying to tie a series of phone calls that michael cohen said matched him speaking to donald trump about these payments and getting approval. well, they have again today tried to cast doubt on those phone records, bringing up other topics that michael cohen may have been speaking about. they also say that michael cohen stole from donald trump, which he admitted to which was another ding on his character. nada tawfiq in new york. let's get more on our top story in the last hour. the biggest treatment disaster... between the early 1970s and nineteen nineties... 3000 people have already died while others are still living

with the ongoing effects of infection. the inquiry chair, sir brian langstaff said this disaster was not an accident, infections happened because of those in authority, doctors, the blood services and successive governments didn't put patient safety first. sarah westoby is a solicitor who has spent years seeking justice for the victims of tainted blood. she explained her relief at the findings. well, for our 300 or so clients that we represent in this inquiry, we welcome the report and absolutely vindication for years of struggling to be heard, to get to the truth and constantly being pushed back. it's a fight forjustice that has gone on forfour decades, five now. and what the report finds is what it calls a litany of failures at individual, collective, systemic levels. as you said, largely avoidable.

plenty more from that blood inquiry coming up in five or ten and it's time for some let me point you to the bbc website, the live page running with so many accounts from victims and also the prime minister due to give that statement in the house of commons so we watch for that and as soon as we see rishi sunak in the commons, obviously we will return to that. we are expecting more details and of course that apology from the prime minister. you are watching bbc news. now, let's turn to a disturbing story... a nursery worker who strapped a nine—month—old baby face down to a beanbag and left herfor 90 minutes has been found guilty of manslaughter. the trial heard kate roughley put genevieve meehan in "mortal danger". the child died from asphyxiation and a pathologist told the jury "a very unsafe sleeping environment" led to her death. let's speak to our reporter,

nick garnett, who's in manchester. asi as i said they're right at the start, really, really disturbing details, harrowing story, this one? this is every parents�* worst nightmare. we send our children to nurseries to be looked after and we hope that is what is being done but in this case, they were doing anything but that. she worked at the tiny toes nursery, in charge of the baby room. 0n the day in question, in charge of 11 babies, they were just two people there. genevieve meehan was one of them, nine months old, when she was taken into nursery, it was any other day, she went down to sleep at about 130 and her parents were run at about 3pm saying that she was unresponsive and was on her way to hospital, nothing could be done to save her. now, afterwards the nursery worker said she had been checking up on the baby every few minutes but cctv footage

that was seen in court showed that simply wasn't case, she was ignored for 90 minutes, swaddled tightly in a blanket, placed on another blanket and had yet another blanket put on top of her and she was face down, contrary to all the recommendations for how babies of that age should be put and she was on this beanbag bed which was so soft that her face was able to fall and go into the material and she simply couldn't breathe. she became exhausted and suffocated. now, today, kate roughley it was 37 years old and comes from the stockport area, has been convicted of manslaughter. she was told she will be coming back to court on wednesday and has been told she will face a lengthy prison sentence. she will face a lengthy prison sentence-— she will face a lengthy prison sentence. . ~ sentence. nick garnett live in manchester, _ sentence. nick garnett live in manchester, thanks - sentence. nick garnett live in manchester, thanks very - sentence. nick garnett live in | manchester, thanks very much sentence. nick garnett live in - manchester, thanks very much for that. you are watching bbc news, before we close this half hour, let's turn to one more story. the chelsea flower opens tomorrow

and the king and queen are due to visit this evening. the king was announced as the new patron of the royal horticultural society — taking overfrom his late mother, who was patron for seventy years. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph reports. chelsea ready after months of planning. there is a wilder, more natural look too many of this year's gardens and the more elaborate offerings have taken weeks to build on site. at the heart of chelsea this year is the next generation of gardeners. 72 schoolchildren will be among the chelsea judges for the first time, selecting the children's' choice award. a group of pupils from london have designed this kid—friendly space for the royal horticultural society with a den and a slide, it is "no adults allowed garden". and there is some mentoring going on as well between budding gardeners and experienced hands. it is really peaceful, you can take your mind off of other things and just relax really. i am loving it, i am loving the fact

there is going to be another little arit coming of the gardening ranks and you have started younger than i did and you are going to be even so much better which is brilliant. # some say love, it is a river...# serenaded by alfie boe, the chelsea pensioners get their own flower this year, and scarlet robes that will raise money for charity, rose described as tough and hardy. as ever there is a certain glamour to the opening day flower show with celebrities showing their gardening triumphs and disasters. i got my seven years on and there is still no flowers, so i am hoping they will tell you today how to get the flowers to bloom. i have just been updating my vegetable patch and i am now tackling cucumbers and courgettes and i have got tomatoes in and lettuces. i have been scared of lettuces because of slugs.

it is going to be a busy year going out after dark to pick them off. coming from the wilderness, which is my garden, into - thought—out, careful, beautifully planned and colourful gardens. l i love my garden - with all my heart but i have been away so much this year. the king will make his first visit to chelsea and feature on it later today. he will see flashes of colour but with a wet and warm winter, many chelsea regulars have flowered earlier and are now finished. the preparations of the show have come with challenges this year. daniela relph, bbc news, chelsea flower show. more from the flower show coming up in the next 60 minutes. we will pause for whether in a moment but let me tell you a really busy 60 minutes because we are back at the blood inquiry, a devastating, devastating final conclusion. we will get the latest reaction from there but also live in jerusalem, a response after the icc prosecutor saying his office is seeking arrest warrants for israel's prime minister and the leaders of the hamas so we will get a reaction

to that and also back at the chelsea flower show. all of that after the weather with simon king. the site of this week looking largely fine and dry with lots of sunshine but it will turn much more unsettled as we go through the rest of the week. more details on that in just a moment but for this afternoon, continuing with sunny spells for many of us, the risk of one or two showers cropping up and those likely towards parts of north wales and southern areas of england this afternoon, we will see a few showers this afternoon. also the risk of one or two thunderstorms and heavy showers towards the west of northern ireland. elsewhere, some cloud across northern england, southern scotland, but are still some decent sunny spells with an onshore wind, temperatures 15 to 18 degrees round the north sea coasts. further inland, we will see temperatures once again getting into the 20s. through tonight we will see those showers continuing around the south—east, drifting their way further north. more substantial showers spreading into northern areas of england into tuesday morning. 0vernight temperatures generally down to about five to 10 degrees. but a bit chillier in parts

of eastern scotland, where there will be some low cloud, mist and fog again around the east of scotland and the eastern side of england. some showers around north west and england through tuesday and elsewhere there could be further showers, particularly towards the south—east and through south—western areas of the uk. maximum temperatures down a little bit because there is more cloud around, 17 to 21 degrees. as we go into wednesday and thursday, this area of low pressure here brings very heavy rain, especially towards northern part of the uk, northern england into scotland getting the brunt of that very wet weather as we go through the week with that area of low pressure close by. you can see here from the rainfall accumulation chart, where we have got the greens here across north—east scotland. we could see up to nearly 100 millimetres of rain. so there is the risk of some flooding in these northern areas through wednesday and thursday. well worth staying tuned to the forecast. here it is on wednesday, this is the picture. we have got heavy rain spreading into parts of eastern and northern areas of england,

into scotland by the end of the day, heavy and thundery showers developing across southern areas on wednesday with sunny spells. temperatures about 17 to 20 celsius. and that very wet weather will continue across northern areas as we go through the rest of this week. furthersouth, it won't be quite as wet. there will be some sunny spells, but it temperatures about 1a to 20 celsius. goodbye.

live from london. this is bbc news it could and should have been avoided, that's the devastating conclusion to the seven—year public inquiry into britain's infected blood scandal. is amazing as this report is, ijust can't help but feel there are so many while we have lost along the way you should be here to see this as well. live in central london where the

findings of that long inquiry were released today. the victim says that it brings them some closure in they feel vindicated. you will hear from rishi sunak is expected to make a formal apology on behalf of the government. the international criminal court's chief prosecutor seeks an arrest warrants for israel's prime minister and the leaders of hamas — on war crimes charges over the gaza conflict. the move by the icc prosecutor has been condemned by both hamas and israel's leadership. and i can at the chelsea flower show are the king and queen will shortly be touring the gardens. a seven year public inquiry into the infected blood scandal,

widely considered to be the biggest treatment disaster in the history of