welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines... closing arguments in the hush money 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 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 8am in singapore and 8pm in new york, where we begin. closing in new york, where we begin. arguments have bee wrapped closing arguments have been wrapped up where donald trump faces 3a charges of falsifying business records in connection with payments to the adult film star stormy daniels. if he was found guilty would be the first ever criminal conviction of a us president. let's speak to our correspondent nada tawfik. jurors paused and they said all right, but prosecutors joked as 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 likely 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, that trump tried to cover up election fraud by falsifying these business records. at one point, they said evidence was so damning, it was laughable 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 embodiment reasonable doubt. they chose him, they said, precisely because he was willing to lie 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 it continue tomorrow? prosecutors are close 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 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 guess how long the jury will need — hours, days, potentially more than a week — to reach a verdict. we know that closing arguments

are finishing up in may have finished already. what is very hard is for the defence to get around it in their argument is that these were not false business records and were legal expenses for a retainer but that is a bridge too far. 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 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 cohen at all. i think they're winning so far. neama, just quickly, you've been contributing to this life page. you made a point that the argument has perhaps taken too long? i believe so. i think if you're the prosecution, at some point, you're going to lose thejurors. they've been listening to arguments all day. it now well past 7pm. sometimes less is more. we all sometimes think about this case as a case about an affair with stormy daniels and those scandalous details. don't 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.

to cover up 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. we have been following the live page of the trial throughout the day and can confirm closing arguments have come to a close after six hours and if you want to find more information, the live page is the place to go to and has been following every twist and turn throughout the day and has a lot of good background as well in this case. 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. critics say the device floor will on human rights. it will require silicon media organisations that receive a fifth of their funds from a board to register as serving the interests of a foreign

power. our correspondent is in noisy tablet see with what is likely to happen next. the presidential veto was overwritten after hours of discussions and we have been here since midday and finally they voted around seven and overturned the presidential veto. protesters were watching the last minutes of the parliamentary discussion here in the square outside parliament and when the voting appeared on the big screen, it was met by booing and i can say right now that the mood is quite sombre and people are very much disappointed that the government refused to hear their voices despite weeks of protest against the law. what will happen next is there is something like 80 days of procedure and then the law will go back to the president who

has to sign it and it will be published and as we understand it will still take a few months' time before the services will start implementing the law. a short while ago the country's new president vetoed the law and address the protesters here and expressed how they have solidarity with their struggle and saying once again that georgia's future is in europe and she has called on the protesters to transform this anger and emotion they feel now into the ballot boxes in october. a couple of days ago she offered all opposition parties in georgia to unite and then talking about the october elections, she said if all of the opposition unites under the slogan of georgia into europe than they hope they might defeat the current ruling

party. 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. 0ur 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. 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 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. "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. 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.

the prime minister was expecting china in the potteries today but no delicate ming vases in his campaign. the conservative _ ming vases in his campaign. the conservative strategy appears to be to move fast and break things with bold policies. today's new officer —— offer, no tax on the basic state pension. no tax on the basic state pension-— no tax on the basic state ension. �* , ., ~' pension. are people you work hard all of _ pension. are people you work hard all of their _ pension. are people you work hard all of their lives - pension. are people you work hard all of their lives and - pension. are people you work hard all of their lives and put| hard all of their lives and put in we need to make sure they have the dignity they deserve when they have finished. that is why i have protected pensions in the triple lock and i've seen the announcement today, the triple lock plus where we raise the threshold and make sure pensioners get a tax cut and they will never pay tax cut and they will never pay tax on the state pension as well as the triple lock going up. at britain's world beating maker ofjet engines, directories held in support of hundred and 20 business objectives for a change in government. i

20 business objectives for a change in government. i can say with confidence _ change in government. i can say with confidence that _ change in government. i can say with confidence that this - with confidence that this labour_ with confidence that this labour party is the natural party _ labour party is the natural party of _ labour party is the natural party of british business. it�*s party of british business. it's take off with _ party of british business. it�*s take off with the election campaign with big calls being made by the two main parties. the conservatives are making almost daily policy announcements that involve tax and spend without being fully accounted for. labour say they do not want to follow the conservatives down what they say is a rabbit hole and they have a singular message of stability, stability, stability and are trying to remind the electorate what happened under liz truss with the mini budget. no tax rises says the shadow chancellor rachel reeves, but north will she match the pension tax cut.- north will she match the pension tax cut. north will she match the ension tax cut. ~ ., ., �* pension tax cut. what you won't aet from pension tax cut. what you won't get from me _ pension tax cut. what you won't get from me in _ pension tax cut. what you won't get from me in this _ pension tax cut. what you won't get from me in this election - get from me in this election campaign or if i become chancellor of the exchequer and a few weeks' time is any commitments that are not fully funded, because if you do that, you are going down the liz truss route and we saw the damage cheated to our economy. rishi sunak is going down that route and i never will. but rishi sunak is going down that route and i never will.- route and i never will. but you can address —

route and i never will. but you can address pensioners - route and i never will. but you can address pensioners who . route and i never will. but you | can address pensioners who are thinking about where to put their x in the ballot box in six weeks' time, and at the moment they have an offer from the prime minister and current chancellor which is if you are on the basic state pension, you won't get taxed on it if you vote for them, whereas with the labour party, you would. pensioners are only looking at paying tax on the basic state pension because of what the conservatives have done. people should believe these promises from the government because unless a plan is fully funded, you shouldn't have any confidence it's going to be delivered and that's the problem with the conservative party. they are throwing around these ideas with no idea of how they will pay for them. in these ideas with no idea of how they will pay for them.- they will pay for them. in the lake district, _ they will pay for them. in the lake district, some - they will pay for them. in the lake district, some other - lake district, some other opposition parties were chasing floating voters perhaps. as the lib dem leader ed davey said the pensioner me was a u—turn. the last thing pensioners need is another dose of the conservative government on the last thing — conservative government on the last thing the country needs. the liberal democrats have attracted policies for pensioners and not only are we behind — pensioners and not only are we behind the triple lock as the one to —

behind the triple lock as the one to becoming the first place we want — one to becoming the first place we want to make sure the health service _ we want to make sure the health service that pensioners rely on is properly funded and there is a care — is properly funded and there is a care system there. of course we want to _ a care system there. of course we want to see _ a care system there. of course we want to see investments i a care system there. of course we want to see investments in | we want to see investments in peoples — we want to see investments in pennies pockets _ we want to see investments in peoples pockets and _ we want to see investments in peoples pockets and making . we want to see investments in i peoples pockets and making sure that pensioners _ peoples pockets and making sure that pensioners are _ peoples pockets and making sure that pensioners are seeing - peoples pockets and making sure that pensioners are seeing a - that pensioners are seeing a benefit _ that pensioners are seeing a benefit to— that pensioners are seeing a benefit to any— that pensioners are seeing a benefit to any economic - benefit to any economic improvement— benefit to any economic improvement situation. benefit to any economic . improvement situation the country— improvement situation the country faces— improvement situation the country faces but - improvement situation the country faces but we - improvement situation the country faces but we are l improvement situation the - country faces but we are seeing the consequences _ country faces but we are seeing the consequences of _ country faces but we are seeing the consequences of 14.5- country faces but we are seeing the consequences of 14.5 years| the consequences of 14.5 years of austerity _ the consequences of 14.5 years of austerity that _ the consequences of 14.5 years of austerity that both _ the consequences of 14.5 years of austerity that both labour. of austerity that both labour and the _ of austerity that both labour and the tories _ of austerity that both labour and the tories are _ of austerity that both labourl and the tories are committed of austerity that both labour- and the tories are committed to continuing _ and the tories are committed to continuing hit_ and the tories are committed to continuing-— continuing. at a bowling club in leicestershire _ continuing. at a bowling club in leicestershire the - continuing. at a bowling club in leicestershire the pm - in leicestershire the pm pressed his case for a dependable demographic for his party but questions whether the older tax cut offer for those on the state pension will believe that the promise of stability from government whose argument could well determine the winner.

giving smooth peanut butter to babies and throughout early childhood could give lifelong protection against peanut allergy, say researchers. 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. apologies we seem to have frozen. but you get the gist of the idea. thanks forjoining us. bbc news continues with business today in a few months. see you soon.

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 24 hours or so with this band of rain pushing eastwards, clearing away into the north sea. 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 world's smartphone market, and apple is one of the role's biggest smartphone makers. but apple hasn't been doing so well in china. iphone sales fell by 37% during the first two months this year. see, competition is heating up in the region. home—grown rival hallway is increasing its market share, opening more