these men are irregulars. they're a strong alliance. a rag—tag of rebel groups and they've had a lot of success. but they're taking on a professional army. donald trump declines to testify in his criminal hush money trial, as his defence team rests its case. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin here in singapore, where 131 passengers and 12 air crew have finally touched down, after a traumatic flight from london. severe turbulence forced the pilots to make an emergency detour and land in thailand. one passenger — 73—year—old geoff kitchen, from gloucestershire is dead. he's believed to have had a heart attack. more than thirty people are injured, seven critically. monica miller has been following the story for us from changi airport.

well, we saw some of the passengers that had gathered their belongings and were greeted by members of the singapore air staff here. one by one, they took them out and we saw them reunited with their families. there were some real emotional moments and some big hugs after such an arduous trip. as my colleague, jonathan head, explains. shaken by their ordeal, the passages were met by an army of ambulances after they landed in bangkok. they had just been served breakfast when the boeing airliner plunged without warning. a shot taken inside the cabin after the aircraft had landed gives us a sense of the absolute chaos on board. another passenger, jerry, was travelling with his family to a wedding in australia. a bit of turbulence and suddenly, the plane plunged, i don't know how far, but they said it was 6000 feet. it didn't seem like 6000 feet. but it was a long way and so sudden. there was no warning at all.

and i ended up hitting my head on the ceiling. my wife did. some poor people were walking around and ended up doing somersaults. it was instantaneous, it really was. and horrible. the aircraft had been on the last stage of the flight from london to singapore when it dropped a staggering 6000 feet, experts believe, throwing any passengers not wearing seatbelts up into the ceiling. many were injured, and one, 73—year—old british man, geoffrey kitchen, died. the pilot then declared an emergency and asked to land at bangkok, the closest airport. translation: we | currently have seven cases of critical injuries, 23 cases of medium injuries including a flight attendant. the rest are minor injuries.

occasional air turbulence is a risk that people know comes with modern day flying. but the singapore airlines crew told passengers that this was the worst turbulence they had ever experienced. it will take an investigation now to find out whether this was something that came out of the blue, or whether there were other factors involved. these images show just how powerful the forces were that those on board flight 50321 were subjected to. a rare occurrence, certainly, but a very frightening one too. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok one of the things that we did see here is that members of the family had waited for quite some time to get information. they were in a very secured room, quite far away from where the media was, as they were getting announcements. and also, there was a mental health

assistance. there was one particular woman who seemed very shaken by the day's events and they had offer help and a place to go. but again, seeing these passengers finally reunited with their families which of the end of a very long and arduousjourney. we which of the end of a very long and arduous journey. we are told by singapore officials that they're working with thai authorities, and really, the main priority still is the wellbeing of the passengers and the crew. for a better understanding of what happens when an aircraft experiences turbulence, i spoke to cat burton, a former british airways pilot and now a flight instructor. cani can ijust can i just clear can ijust clearup can ijust clear up one point before we start. the plane did not plunge 6,000 feet. once the event was over, it's quite clear from the trace that once the event was over, the crew descended in a very controlled way at about 2,000 feet a minute — 6,000 feet. they went from a cruising height of 37,000 feet to 31,000 feet. but

that happened after the event was finished. the event itself was finished. the event itself was typical of turbulence — whether that be mile, moderate or severe, whether that be mile, moderate orsevere, in whether that be mile, moderate or severe, in that it was all speed changes that caused the effect. it feels like the aeroplane is plunging. sometimes it feels like the airplain is going upwards. what it is is the plane trying to maintain speed when there are huge changes in the wind speed around it. those changes in the winds could be the difference between headwinds and tailwinds or up and down convective action in orjust above thunderstorm type clouds. and today's event happened just as the aeroplane was coasting in from the bay of bengal. and the leading edge of the monsoon is just about on the border

between bangladesh and myanmar. and that means that there are huge areas of convective clouds — thunderstorm clouds, all the way up that coast. now, it's entirely possible that the weather radar was telling the crew that they were above the main body of whatever clouds were there, because the weather radar shows water droplet size and water droplet speed of movement. and if the area above the cloud isn't showing any water droplets, it can't sense the up and down drafts in that clear air. so it's entirely possible that the crew thought that they were safely above whatever thunderstorm clouds were around, when in fact, they went into the top of convective action above the clouds, and that's what caused this terrible disaster. i'm not trying to belittle the comments that other people have made, but that 6,000 foot descent was very definitely a controlled

action by the crew after the turbulence event was finished. let's turn our attention to myanmar now, a country in the grip of a war largely forgotten by the outside world. and today we have a special report from the frontline. rebel forces there are fighting an intense battle against the military regime. in the past seven months a country—wide insurgency has made gains conquering large swathes of territory. the fighters, among them a group known as kndf, are now presenting the myanmar military with the biggest threat to its rule in years. press freedom in the country is restricted, hundreds ofjournalists have been jailed, and getting into myanmar to report first hand, is tough. but a bbc team has managed to do it. our correspondent quentin sommerville spent a month with the rebels at theirjungle bases and on the frontline. a revolution is rising across myanmar, hidden from the world by its remoteness. few countries are more isolated. few conflicts more unseen.

we spent a month with the insurgents on back roads and jungle tracks in karenni state, where they are winning against the army. they've driven the military out of most of their territory. but main roads are mined and we're still in range of army warplanes, so we have to take the long way round. a steep opposition hilltop above one of the last four military bases remaining in the state. gunfire. that sniper, can they see us from here? sniper can see. sniper men can see here. the insurgents come with a message, a chance to surrender for

the soldiers in the base below. they started firing at me, and mortar bombing. we cannot start yet, we already prepared our loudspeaker. but it's easy, no problem, we will start soon. this man defected to the resistance after 12 years with the army. he says he speaks the soldiers�* language. for now, they don't appear to be listening. there are 80 men still holding out in the base below. cease fire! cease fire, please. translation: i do not wish to fight against you. because i think of you as my brothers. i'm fighting against the system. we have surrounded you. this is your last chance. all of your lives will be spared. i will not let you die. few of these young fighters expect he'll be successful.

so the men there... boom. as you can hear, they still have plenty of weaponry, despite the fact that they've been stuck in that base for a month. so these men have sent their message. they've had the response. it doesn't look like they're surrendering today, so they're withdrawing. sometimes i think the world has forgotten about us. they concentrate on ukraine and also israel. and after that, they forget us. it's a war from another age with close—quarter combat, and casualties run high. the karenni nationalites, defence force has taken its fair share. their leader, marwi, seen here, has led from the front and paid the price. more than 350 of our brothers and sisters already sacrificed their life.

more than 200 sacrificed for their body parts. at the same time, as you see this morning, hundreds of people are willing to join with us and willing to fight against the burma army. so those are our friends. it's a slow and ferocious conflict. in shan state at this base, a counteroffensive against the kndf. mortars start landing around us. none of these fighters have body armour or helmets. and neither do we, so we head for the only available cover. there's another one. so that's, i think, three shells have come in in the last five minutes. and you really get the sense of what this conflict is about, because that is a professional,

professional military over there, firing artillery, firing mortars. these men are irregulars. they're a strong alliance, a ragtag of rebel groups. and they've had a lot of success, but they've taken on a professional army. and that army is edging closer. beyond these banana trees, the military are crawling through the undergrowth. so you see now, it's not safe. so better we go back and later we can decide again and we can come back any time. all right, let's go. let's go fast. the kndf are used to sneak attacks, but this is unexpected. let's go, let's go. let's get out of range. go, go, go. so it looks like as we arrived here, a military squad was coming in and they've been training their guns on this area. the commander said

it's not safe, we have to get out of here and head back to the second line, which hopefully is out of range of their weapons. go, go, go, go. directly ahead of us, a fresh mortar strike. they're narrowing in on the vehicles. bleep. that's another one just landing behind us. just keep driving, philip, fast as you can. it seems like they're trained on the road. just checking to see if there are other vehicles that made it. behind us, more near—misses. 0h, bleep! bleep! you know, very quickly, they have a drone. so it's dangerous.

they have drones following us. you don't have enough ammo to mount the assaults that you need to take these final bases. the military rulers in this country have everything. how are you going to defeat that advantage? they have the artillery, they have the aeroplanes, they have the mortars. we do have enough heart. we do have enough morale. we do have enough humanity. that's the way how we're going to defeat them. even though we don't have physical material and not enough, but this is enough. and now they have record volunteers. # i am a soldier and i'm pushing on. their ranks have never been stronger, their victories never greater. # i am a warrior and this is my song. the ballot box failed them. their peaceful protests

were met with force. so they're taking the fight to the military. myanmar�*s new revolutionaries are on the march. # if that don't bring you fear, i swear you'll fear these marching feet... quentin sommerville, bbc news, karenni state, myanmar. and you can see the second of our special reports from inside myanmar on friday. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. the first—ever trial of a former us president is nearing its end, as donald trump's defense team rested its case on tuesday. closing arguments in the hush—money trial are set to begin next tuesday. then, the jury will begin weighing the evidence on whether mr trump illegally covered up a payment to adult film star stormy daniels. the former president faces 3a felony counts

of falsifying business records. as he left the courthouse earlier, mr trump characterized the trial as political interference. this is all about biden. can't campaign so he's trying to injure his owe in. trying to hurt the opponent because they can't win it fair and square. it's a third world country way of campaigning. our new york correspondent nada tawfik sent this report from outside the courthouse. both sides have now rested their case — the defence early tuesday, after calling two witnesses, and donald trump deciding not to take the stand. that had been the major question looming over this weeks—long trial, because donald trump had said publicly that he would — though legal analysts doubted throughout that he would actually take the risk, given he would be opening himself up to damaging questions by prosecutors, and ultimately it is his fifth amendment right not to be compelled to be a witness

against himself, the burden of proof is on prosecutors here. and thejudge will instruct thejury not to hold it against donald trump. now donald trump said he thought his team presented a great case. he wasjoined in court by a large entourage of republican politicians and his eldest son, donjr. outside of court, donjr was asked why his father didn't testify — he said that he wouldn't subject himself to it, that there was absolutely no reason and no justification for him to, slamming the case as a scam and a farce — repeating very much his father's talking points throughout this entire trial. well, both sides will now have the long weekend to prepare for their closing arguments next tuesday after the long holiday weekend. they spent tuesday afternoon debating how the instructions to the jury would be formulated with the judge.

so the judge, after closing arguments, will instruct thejury, and then, it'll be down to those 12 new yorkers to look at the evidence and decide, is donald trump guilty or not guilty of falsifying business records? for more, we can speak tojennifer taub, professor of law and author of big dirty money. shejoins me now from northampton, massachusetts. jennifer, thanks for your time today. we heard there from my colleague, nada, talking about how there was some speculation that donald trump might take the stand. he ultimately didn't. but that's not too much of a surprise, is it? it’s didn't. but that's not too much of a surprise, is it?— of a surprise, is it? it's not a surprise _ of a surprise, is it? it's not a surprise at _ of a surprise, is it? it's not a surprise at all. _ of a surprise, is it? it's not a surprise at all. as - of a surprise, is it? it's not a surprise at all. as was i of a surprise, is it? it's not. a surprise at all. as wasjust a surprise at all. as was just mentioned, it's really on the prosecution to meet the burden of proof. it's quite rare that a defendant would take the stand in their own defence. now, from what you've seen from the trial, which you've been following — where do you see the strengths alie for both the prosecution and the defence?

yes, the prosecution — even though they have the burden of proof, has done quite well in presenting the evidence. and i think that the strengths of their case is that this is a document case. they have evidence linking donald trump and the cfo to this conspiracy to falisfy business records in order to cover up the affair he had with an adult film star. and that they were trying to cover it up to keep from the american public this information in the days leading up information in the days leading up to the 2016 election. and so, you know, the strength of this is that they have testimony from michael cohen, who did quite a good job on the stand on cross. they have testimony from stormy daniels. they had the actual records where you can see alan weiselburg's handwriting on it. and also, even though donald trump did not even need to put on a defence, the key witness

that they did present did a terriblejob. he insulted the judge, and he denied that he had been a bully, or that he had been a bully, or that he had been a go between for donald trump. and yet, on cross—examination, the prosecution presented him with that kind of evidence. so that's sort of the strength of the prosecution's case. one further strength of their case is that the defence probably at donald trump's insistence, in the opening statement, his lawyer, todd blanche, made the claim that donald trump never had the affair. like the overstated, more than they needed to. and thatjust doesn't seem believable. so the jury doesn't seem believable. so the jury is going to have to wonder — if we don't believe the defence on that point, how can we believe them on the other point? in contrast, the strength of the defence's case is although it seems like the slam dunk in terms of proving that the business records were falsified and that donald trump knew that these weren't

actually monthly payments for legal services, actually monthly payments for legalservices, but actually monthly payments for legal services, but they were reimbursements, because you see him say that before on twitter and in otherfilings — him say that before on twitter and in other filings — that might only a misdemeanour. and that's kind of like a traffic fine. in order to make this a really serious felony and convict him for that, they have to show that he actually participated in falisfying these records, or to cover up another crime, namely this election interference. and the strength of the defence's case is that the only person tying donald trump directly to that is michael cohen's testimony. and if the jury decides he's not credible, or that he's making up that aspect of the story for revenge, that would undermine that piece of it. closing arguments are set to begin next tuesday in the us: how long do you think that it could be before we get a verdict returned by the jury? that is the million dollar question! it's really hard to

gets. i think had i question! it's really hard to gets. ithink had i been question! it's really hard to gets. i think had i been in the courtroom, being able to watch the jurors' courtroom, being able to watch thejurors' demeanours, i would have a better sense of where i thought they were. but to the extent that either tuesday or wednesday, they finally get the instructions from the judge — wednesday, they finally get the instructions from thejudge — i would be surprised if they didn't have a verdict by friday. however, you know, the longer they hang on, it could be because there are 3a counts, so they have to look at each of the business records. or there could be a hold outjuror. or they could be just preparing themselves for what is a very serious, unprecedented moment in american history. not only has a president never been charged with a crime — they've never been actually beforehand triedment and now this would be a verdict. so they may take their time for that reason. thank you very muchjennifer, for putting that in perspective for putting that in perspective for us. time now to look at other news making headlines around the world. funeral rites for iran's president are underway in the north—west

of the country. ebrahim raisi was killed in a helicopter crash near the azerbaijan border on sunday. his body is expected to be buried in his birthplace, mashhad, on thursday. a large funeral is expected to be held in the capital tehran, where the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei will lead prayers. israel has reversed its decision to confiscate broadcasting equipment belonging to newsagency associated press. israeli officials used powers under a new foreign media law to seize the belongings — a move the un described as shocking. the camera provided a live feed looking from southern israel into gaza. and before we go — after several delays, a large mesh barrier was finally put up on tuesday at a popular viewing spot for mount fuji in front of a convenience store in fuji—kawaguchiko, meant to deter photo—taking by an ever—growing number of tourists. we'll discuss what's driving over—tourism in japan

with the country's top travel agency — on business today. that's coming up — in just a few minutes. see you then. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. we had wet weather today but wednesday will be a wash—out for some of us. persistent and heavier rain at times and it's starting this evening. now, here's the forecast. it's already been quite wet in east anglia and the southeast. the rain will spread into the midlands through the night. it will nudge into the peak district and then spread into northern england by the early hours of wednesday morning. could reach eastern parts of wales, too. but scotland and northern ireland, apart from a few showers here and there, actually looking generally dry. so tomorrow's forecast then. this is the morning — a widespread area of rain. we'll zoom in and see what's happening around three or four in the afternoon. by that

stage, the heaviest of the rain will have cleared east anglia, the southeast and along the southern counties, blustery winds and occasional showers. so here's that persistent rain from the midlands, wales, the north of england, pretty much almost everywhere. that rain is just nudging into southern scotland. more showery, though, across the highlands. look at northern ireland — escapes most of the rain. if anything, that rain should reach you later in the afternoon. probablyjust into the east of northern ireland. now, this is an area of low pressure that's parked itself in the north sea and that weather front will just spiral around the centre of the low. so in some areas, the rain will keep falling in the same place for a couple of days, so really a substantial amount of rainfall is possible. now, by thursday, the rain will be not quite as heavy and it will be more patchy, but i think a lot of cloud and at least a chance of cloud and at least a chance of encouncilering some rain on thursday. best of the weather in the south and the southeast of east anglia. in norwich,

london, portsmouth and plymoth, it could be cool. how much rain? a lot. the teal colours in the pennines and northern england could indicate a0—50mm of rain. but the met office is suggesting in extreme case, we could have as much as 100mm of rain or more, and that would lead to some flooding. here's the good news as we head towards the end of the week and the weekend. the weather will slowly settle down and there are indications as we go into the when in bank holiday monday, we are going to have primarily dry and bright weather with just a scattering of showers. some good news for you there. bye—bye.

it was another record day on wall street, as investors await ai—darling nvidia's quarterly report card. tourists continue to flock to japan in record numbers. we discuss what's driving demand with the country's top travel agency. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. it was another strong session on wall street with both

the s&p 500 and tech—heavy nasdaq closing at record highs. which means a lot of focus will be on nvidia's quarterly report card which is due on wednesday. our north america business correspondent michelle fleury filed this preview. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq both closed at new record highs each rising more than two tenths of a percent. meanwhile the dow jones industrial average had a small gain after earnings from some big retailers shed light on how american consumers are faring. shares in macy's closed up faring. shares in macy's closed up 5% as its turnaround plan does appear to be working. however it did still see a drop in sales as shoppers continue to pull back on spending. that has been a big worry that they are feeling under pressure from rising prices. investors are turning their attention now to the giant chipmaker nvidia. it is inspect the to post another

strong set of