welcome to newsday. i'm steve live. closing arguments in the fraud trial of the former us president donald trump are continuing in an extended day. israel presses ahead with its assault on rafah — despite international condemnation of a deadly strike that killed dozens of palestinians over the weekend. we're on the frontline in ukraine, with a special report from the northeast of the country — where russia's attack grows in strength. the attack grows in strength. ukrainians are having to make the ukrainians are having to make some very hard choices about what they can defend and they're fighting an enemy that has adapted itself to exploit their weaknesses. and babies who are fed peanut butter are drastically less likely to develop an allergy to the nut — according to a new study.

it's 7am in singapore and 7pm in new york, where we begin. donald trump's defence lawyers have delivered their closing arguments in the hush money trial against him, telling the jury there was little evidence provided by prosecutors. mr trump faces 3a charges of falsifying business records in connection with payments to the adult film star, stormy daniels. if found guilty, his would be the first ever criminal conviction of a former us president. there's beenjust as much action outside the courthouse. oscar—winning film actor robert de nirojoined the joe biden campaign. he spoke to our correspondent nada tawfik about the possibility of donald trunk winning this year's presidential election — and this week's trial. i'm very concerned. i'm very concerned because they don't play by fair rules. they're not...

the republicans, they all came up here before and they were talking. it's crazy. we're in a crazy zone, and that's because of trump, because he's crazy. sir, what if trump is found not guilty in this trial? then we'll deal with that. of course i'm concerned. shortly after, the former president's son donald junior called the trial a "political persecution" and criticised the prosecution's main witness michael cohen. if there was a goat, an mvp| of liars, it is michael cohen. he's lied before his wife, he's lied to bankers, - he's lied all- of you in the press. he's actually liedl to that veryjury — and yet he's the only person of relevance of this entire i case hinges on. we understand that thisl

is a political persecution. holding a rally here. they bring in robert de niro, who was shot down, - and apparently needed tend to be as while visit - it is a sham. if you think for one i second that this end with donald trump, you have not what was going on. - let's speak to our correspondent nada tawfik. jurors paused and they said all right, but prosecutorsjoked jurors paused and they said all right, but prosecutors joked as they were going meticulously to they were going meticulously to the evidence, asking jurors they hoped they were getting all this. alvin bragg is there in court himself. this is clearly like you to be the biggest case of his and the

other prosecutors�* careers. they are not leaving anything on the table. they�*re going through every piece of testimony that corroborates the narrative, but on top try to cover up election fraud by falsifying these business records. at one point, they said evidence was so damning, it was laughable in the defence said there was no fraud. but of course, they have to contend with what the defence has laid out. they tried to do that when the defence said that michael cohen was the greatest liar of all time, the human body be a reasonable doubt. they chose him, they said, precisely because he was willing to lie and cheat on his behalf. is and cheat on his behalf. is there any way of knowing how much longer the closing arguments will take and what will happen next? will continue

tomorrow?— will happen next? will continue tomorrow? . ., , ., tomorrow? prosecutors are close tomorrow? prosecutors are close to potentially — tomorrow? prosecutors are close to potentially wrapping _ tomorrow? prosecutors are close to potentially wrapping up - to potentially wrapping up within the next hour. they have been going for several hours so far. at that point, the court will wrap for the day and tomorrow, we expect the judge tomorrow, we expect the judge to take a little bit over an hour or so to instruct the jury on the law that they have to consider when deciding if the prosecution has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt. it�*s really anybody�*s asked how long the jury will need — hours, days, potentially more than a week — to reach a verdict. we�*ve just seen images of the former president and his team walking to court. thanks very much, nada. let�*s get a bit more depths. for more let�*s hear

from neama rahmani, an attorney and a former federal prosecutor. great to speak to you. though prosecution is having a final word, certainly making it a lot of words, as we�*ve been hearing. what do you think the strengths lie in and what will they be trying to get across? lots of words is absolutely right, coming up on five hours of closing arguments. i think the strength in the prosecution really lies in donald trump�*s own signature on those reimbursement cheques. i think that�*s what hard for the defence to get around. the arguments where these were legal expenses. i think in their opening statements, the defence said they would put on an accountant from the trump organisation and they would explain these records and why they were logged as legal expenses. they never put on that account and and they put

michael cohen on trial. i think the persecution or did a good job. there�*s a recording of donald trump talking about karen mcdougall, notes from his cfo with those payments. this is a case about donald trump, not michael who in at all. i think they�*re winning so far. neami, just quickly, you�*ve been contributing to this life page. you made a point that the argument has part taken too long? i argument has part taken too lona ? , ,., argument has part taken too lon. ? , , ., 4' long? i believe so. ithink if ou're long? i believe so. ithink if you're the _ long? i believe so. ithink if you're the prosecution, - long? i believe so. ithink if you're the prosecution, at l long? i believe so. i think if- you're the prosecution, at some you�*re the prosecution, at some point, you�*re going to lose the jurors. they�*ve been listening to arguments all day. it now well past seven p:m.. sometimes less is more. we�*ll sometimes think about this case as a case about an affair with stormy daniels and those scandalous details. some forget, there are two lawyers on this panel and they�*re going to be able to separate that noise and really decide what this case is about.

false business records and where those records and further or to cover up and of the crime. that�*s what makes misdemeanors a felony and are you new york law. if you can separate all that out, the michael cohen testimony and focus on the actual accounting themselves and what trump knew and what he didn�*t, i think you can streamline this and really move the process along. neama, i'm afraid we _ move the process along. neama, i'm afraid we have _ move the process along. neama, i'm afraid we have to _ move the process along. neama, i'm afraid we have to leave - move the process along. neama, i'm afraid we have to leave it - i�*m afraid we have to leave it there. neama rahmani, attorney and formerfederal there. neama rahmani, attorney and former federal prosecutor. we did see some live images of donald trump and his team going back into court after a is—minute recess. an emergency meeting of the united nations security council has been taking place in new york as concerns grow about israel�*s operation in southern gaza. israeli tanks have reached the centre of rafah for the first time, the city where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have been sheltering. the hamas—run health authority

says at least 21 have been killed today after an explosion in a tented evacuation zone on the outskirts of the city. it comes two days after dozens more were killed when an air strike triggered a blaze on another tent camp near rafah. internationaljournalists are prevented from entering gaza by israel and egypt. lucy williamson has sent this report from jerusalem. rafah was once gaza�*s refuge, the safest place in a dangerous war. today, the city�*s west and centre was emptying, those still sheltering here fleeing again amid air strikes and artillery fire. taking whatever they need to survive, whatever they can�*t leave behind. there has been no evacuation order from israel�*s army and for many, no sense of where to go. translation: i'm just walking in the street, l i don�*t know where to go,

there is nowhere safe. where should we go? this is not a life, this is not a life. they were packing up also in the displacement camp at tal al—sultan to the west of the city, still scarred by fires triggered in an israeli air strike on sunday. dozens dead, survivors spent. there is more than one way to lose a life. israel says its operation in rafah is key to defeating hamas and that the strike on sunday on hamas commanders in the camp was carried out with precise munitions that would not, by themselves, have caused so many deaths. we are talking about munition with 17 kilos of explosive material, this is the smallest munition that ourjets can use. following this strike, a large fire ignited for reasons that are still being investigated. our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size.

while people fled today, gaza�*s health ministry said more than 20 were killed in fresh air strikes to the west, over half of them women. as far beyond these borders, three european nations officially recognise a palestinian state, and gaza�*s last urban centre begins to fall under israeli control. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

dozens of civilians have been killed in kharkiv, ukraine�*s second city, as a resurgent russian military intensifies its attacks on the north—eastern front. civilians are being evacuated

from border villages. president zelensky has called for the west to urgently supply more air defence systems, while president putin has warned of serious consequences if western countries give ukraine approval to use weapons they�*ve supplied against targets inside russia. our international editorjeremy bowen reports from kharkiv. no—one tried to put the fire out in the kindergarten in yurchenkove — its young families are long gone. front line villages are emptying because last year�*s hope of driving the russians out is now a grim struggle to stop them moving deeper into ukraine. vika, a psychologist from a local relief group, is evacuating the last elderly residents. "leaving home after a0 years hurts my soul," said lyubov. but stay and the shelling might kill her. the couple next on vika�*s list preferred to risk it. "you�*ll be well looked after," she said.

"and it�*s all free." "thank you," said emma, "but we won�*t go." vika tried again. "we�*re evacuating people because there�*s a real crisis. "it�*s very dangerous. "there�*s going to be more shelling." emma stayed with her husband. ukrainian composure under fire is impressive, but that cannot obscure real challenges from a resurgent russia. vika had better luck at the next house. leaving home will only be temporary if ukraine weathers the dangerous summer ahead. leaving her home, all these personal tragedies like valentina leaving her home, it all adds up to ukraine�*s massive national trauma at a time, because of russian military pressure close to here and ukraine�*s own relative military weakness, that the people here are feeling under more pressure than at any time since the months after the full—scale invasion more than two years ago.

loud explosion. and here in kharkiv, they can feel it. the city�*s hit most days by missiles and guided bombs made in russian factories, retooled for a long war. ukraine is short of weapons and troops. this raid destroyed a print factory. kharkiv is vulnerable, effectively defenceless, against russian missile strikes. translation: it takes 40 seconds for the - missiles to get here. only the us patriot system could destroy them. and we don�*t have patriots. the destruction is a practical consequence of shortfalls and delays in military aid, especially as $60 billion package that was held up for months in the us congress. ukraine needs reliable supplies if it it�*s to stop russia. the ukrainians weren�*t able to intercept the missiles that did this and they were not able to attack the russian drone that was patrolling in the skies above here before, during and after. the ukrainians are having to make some very hard choices

about what they can defend. and they�*re fighting an enemy that has adapted itself the ukrainians are having to make some very hard choices about what they can defend. and they�*re fighting an enemy that has adapted itself to exploit their weaknesses. ukrainians are feeling the pain inflicted by the resilience of russian forces who�*ve learnt from their mistakes. kharkiv�*s paramedics pulled out another body. the strain is showing, notjust among workers who�*ve seen their colleagues killed, but right across the country. yet another missile warning came in. what�*s he saying? what did he say? it felt close to panic. constant attacks over years now, not months, erode morale.

ukraine is not defeated, but it will not stop the russians without more troops, better defences, and more weapons from its allies. at the weekend, russia destroyed a crowded diy superstore in kharkiv, killing at least 18 people. ukraine wantsjoe biden to allow them to hit back at launch sites inside russia with powerful american weapon systems. manager of the shop next door. "we won�*t give up," said andrei, manager of the shop next door. "look at the beautiful plants people were buying and no soldiers — everyone was a civilian." war carries a heavy cost on every side. dozens of kharkiv�*s police officers paid their last respects to their colleague who was killed evacuating civilians from a front line village. ukrainians are paying a heavy price in blood to stay independent.

it is harder now than when russia launched the full scale invasion more than two years ago for ukrainians to persuade their allies to make big sacrifices to support them. alarm blares. air raid alarms continued throughout the service. other wars, economic challenges and elections are distracting europe and america. ukraine�*s leaders are trying to get their allies once again to look this way at what�*s happening here. it is safe to say that president putin�*s attention has stayed focused. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kharkiv. the taiwanese parliament has passed a series of controversial laws that increase its oversight of the government. thousands of people gathered to protest outside parliament as the bills were passed.

critics fear it will weaken the self—ruled island defences against chinese influence. the legislation requires the president to answer questions from mps, and expands their ability to carry out investigations. the laws were proposed by the kuomintang party, seen as friendlier towards beijing than president william lai�*s democratic progressive party. police in hong kong have arrested six people for writing messages the authorities say advocated rebellion against the state. the arrests — of five women and one man — are the first of their kind under the chinese territory�*s own security law. they include the noted political activist chow hang tung who�*s already behind bars. she�*s accused of pushing the others to publish the messages ahead of upcoming sensitive dates. there�*s been a surprising development in the uk election campaign. diane abbott has been readmitted as a labour mp, but it is unclear whether she will stand for the party at the general election. she was suspended in april last year after she wrote in a newspaper thatjewish, irish and traveller people did not face racism "all their lives". here�*s our political correspondent, damian grammaticas.

diane abbott — campaigner, trailblazer. for a0 years, she�*s been a fixture on the left of politics, not afraid to criticise her own party, like the iraq war, whenjeremy corbyn became party leader, she became shadow home secretary. 30 months ago, she was suspended by labour. this was on 1987, the day she became the first black woman elected to be an mp. if you would like to go to the swing doors... i thank you very much. what got her suspended was the letter to the observer saying jewish, irish and traveller people do undoubtedly experience prejudice, adding, but they are not all their lives subjected to racism. she withdrew her remarks and apologised and the internal

investigation resulted in a formal warning for conduct prejudicial to her party. sir keir starmer, who has made a priority of rooting out anti—semitism from the party, was under pressure to say whether she would be reinstated to the party. the process is a bit longer than the fact—finding exercise bike in the end this is a matter that will have to be resolved by the national executive committee and they will do that in due course. and this evening, it was revealed her position has been restored — she is once again a labour mp. but with an election coming, it could be for only a few days. it�*s not clear whether diane abbott, for so long a fixture in her party, will stand again for labour. the labour deputy leader, angela rayner, has welcomed a decision from greater manchester police that it will take no further action, over allegations she broke electoral law. she had faced questions about whether she was registered to vote at the correct address and whether she had paid the correct tax on the sale of her council home in 2015. the labour leader,

sir keir starmer, said ms rayner had been vindicated. let�*s get more now on the conservatives promising to increase the �*tax—free allowance�* for pensions if the party wins the general election. speaking at a bowls club in leicestershire earlier, rishi sunak said pensioners would be better off to the sum of nearly £100 in the next financial year. what i believe is that if you work hard all your life, you should have dignity in retirement. that�*s why we�*ve protected the trip lock, which is going up by £900 this year for pensioners, but what we�*ve announced today is the rrr plus. we will increase the personal allowance for pensioners delivering a tax cut for millions of pensioners, demonstrated our commitment to deliver a secure future. the labour party oppose that policy which means they will be paying tax under a future labour government, not the clear choice on offer at this

election. stick with us and our plan that is worth thing. —— working. notjust to cut plan that is worth thing. —— working. not just to cut taxes, but to protect the triple lock and deliver new tax cuts for millions liberal democrats leader ed davey was campaigning in windemere today. he fell off a few times from the paddleboard — some were probably deliberate for the cameras. he was making a point about water pollution — economic record. ..(tx next) and also had this message about the conservative�*s economic record. unlike the conservatives that spend — unlike the conservatives that spend money like it's going on fashion, — spend money like it's going on fashion, they know they've racked _ fashion, they know they've racked up huge that for our countrx _ racked up huge that for our country. this conservative government has mismanaged the public— government has mismanaged the public finances that we have record — public finances that we have record debt levels. people are being — record debt levels. people are being crippled by this conservative government. giving smooth peanut butter to babies and throughout early childhood could give lifelong protection against peanut allergy, say researchers. teenagers who ate it up to age five were almost three quarters less likely to develop

an allergy than if the food was shunned. our health correspondentjames gallagher has the details. atticus is now a 6�*7" a—level student. it�*s good for you — protein. but as a baby, he was given a regular diet of peanut butter to try to prevent an allergy. doctors thought he was high risk. he had eczema and had already had a severe reaction to wheat. that was pretty terrifying in itself, so if there was a chance that we could ensure that not happening again later in life by eating peanuts, then it was like, "sign us up." from as young as i can remember, i can remember eating peanuts. not having this allergy is just such a blessing, you know? peanut allergy has become increasingly common in the uk. around one in 50 children are now allergic to peanuts. this trial gave smooth peanut butter to children at risk of allergy from as early as four months until they were five years old. when these children became teenagers, those who consumed peanut butter in early childhood were 71% less likely to develop an allergy.

this is a big deal— because with a very simple, safe intervention, eating peanuts early in infancy, j we can confer long term. protection against peanut allergy, prevent 10,000 . new cases of peanut allergy every year and, - hopefully, i believe, eradicate peanut allergy. we're so grateful to professor lack and his team for including atticus in the leap study because it potentially saved his life. for years, parents have been told to avoid giving peanut butter to young children, but now those early years are seen as a crucial moment for shaping the immune system for life. james gallagher, bbc news. that�*s it for this edition of newsday. business today follows next.

hello there. we�*ve seen a lot of wet weather around lately. the ground is already pretty saturated in many spots, but on tuesday, there were some sunny spells around, and of course, in the best of the sunshine at this time of year, it always feels pleasantly warm. but the general theme doesn�*t change over the next couple of days — more heavy thundery downpours in the forecast, some brighter spells in between. it won�*t be raining all the time, but it has been very wet over the last 2a hours or so with this band of rain pushing eastwards, clearing away into the north sea. eastwards, clearing away some showers still behind it as we head into wednesday morning, but it is a mild start to the day. and then on wednesday, it�*s another day of scattered heavy downpours, also some brighter spells, of course. this time the focus for the thundery showers will tend to be across central and eastern areas of scotland. now, some of these showers could be particularly slow—moving with light winds, so they could last for some time and lead to some very high rainfall totals, maybe even some flash flooding, so do take care within this area. also, some thunderstorms

breaking out across northeast england, down through lincolnshire, parts of east anglia, too. a good scattering of showers elsewhere, possibly drier out towards the south and west by the end of the day. and it will feel a bit warmer highs of 19, maybe 20 degrees in the south east of england, perhaps a few changes as we go into thursday. the low is now pulled away in. high pressure starts to build in from the west. that spells better news in time for the weekend. but still another day of showers on thursday. this time, the heaviest, most thundery of the showers will tend to be across the south of england and south wales. a good scattering of more isolated showers, though, still further north. and it will be feeling a bit cooler, too, on thursday with more of a northerly wind blowing, so a slight drop in temperature for many of us as we go into friday. the high pressure has been building in, remember? so lots of dry weather with some sunshine developing, but windy and really quite cloudy for many eastern coastal areas, particularly for east anglia down through parts of kent as we head through friday.

so, there will be some cloud around and it won�*t be feeling particularly warm, but temperatures could build a little further through the weekend, particularly out towards the north and the west as that high pressure starts to edge in. so lots of dry weather, but just a brisk wind for those north sea facing coasts and also more in the way of cloud here. but we could get to 21—22 celsius in parts of the north and the west, maybe. bye— bye.

apple makes a comeback in china, as sales of its iphones rebound in april. sri lanka is set to hike wages of workers in the tea industry next month. but, not everyone is happy about that. hello and welcome to business today. i�*m steve lai. to our top story today — as the world�*s biggest smartphone makers are battling it out for market share in china, apple has cause to celebrate. the bbc�*s north america business correspondent erin delmore tells us why. china is the worlds biggest smartphone market and apple is one of the worlds biggest smartphone makers. but apple has missed news so well in china. iphone sales fell by 37% during the first two months of this year. competition is heating up in the region. hallway is increasing its

market share, opening more stores, adding more distributors