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startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by lping others everyday. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >>. hello. i am ben thompson. you're watching the context on bbc news. >> he has been found to defamed e. jean carroll. now the jury has to determine how much he should pay in damages. what we have seen is donald trump really using his presence in court to rally his base. ♪

ben: donald trump took the witness stand to defend himself against a lawsuit claiming he should pay millions of dollars for defaming and sexually abusing e. jean carroll. he told the court he stands by his claim that he never met her in testimony that laed just four minutes. also tonight, peter navarro is jailed for four months for ignoring a court subpoena investigating alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. a convicted murderer in alabama is set to become the first person executed in the united states using nitrogen gas. it is a method that the u.n. has likened to torture. and the week in artificial intelligence. we will explain all you need to know in this week's ai decoded. all those stories to come on the

context for you tonight, but we start with former u.s. president donald trump spoke briefly in court to defend himself in a defamation case. in the testimony that lasted just four minutes, mr. trump reiterated his stance that he never met his accuser. these are courtroom sketches of mr. trump listening to testimony earlier in the day. while the case is a civil suit brought by writer e. jean carroll who is seeking more than $10 million in damages for defamation for comments he made in 2019 after she accused him of raping her in the 1990's. a judge has already ruled that trump was defamatory. the jury now has to decide how must mr. trump has tpay in damages. just four minutes of testimony. did we learn anything from it? >> yeah, you know, as you say, such a short amount of time was spent on the actual testimony. far more time spent on outlining

exactly what trump would be allowed to say. the judge leaving absolutely no room for him to launch into a monologue or to campaign. i think it was really more to establish the spectacle of him testifying in this case. to show to his base that he was not afraid to testify, that he was willing to fight. when he got on the stand his lawyer simply asked him if he stood by the deposition he had given earlier in a previous case related to this one. he said he 100% dead. she then asked if he ever meant to instruct anyone to hurt e. jean carroll. he said no. and then he went on to say that he did this only to protect his family, to protect himself, the presidency. as i say, the judge not giving him leeway to launch into any type of monologue. so this ended fairly quickly. but if you look at just the amount of press coverage, the fact that his base is so invested and tuned in, i would

argue that donald trump, coming here between his campaign events, will have seen this as worth his time. ben: and that is the point. because in this case, she is seeking $10 million in damages. but mr. trump will use this, as you have touched on, to appeal to his base. he will use this as a campaign stump, won't t? >> absolutely. it is quite extraordinary that this is a second defamation case, he has already been fined $5 million in the past. now she is seeking $10 million or more. and you would expect someone in that position to try to show the jury that they are not trying to cause any harm. but donald trumppublicly has certainly said that he has never met her, but even today in court, muttering from the defense table while he was not under oath that he had never met her, that this was unfair, loud

enough so that the jury cld hear. and the jury could ultimately take that as he is repeatedly defaming e. jean carroll and harming her, and they could decide to fine him even more than that $10 million asked by e. jean carroll. so it was certainly risky, but again, it is because it is playing so well into his campaign, he is funding so much out of his legal troubles, and still doing well in the polls. so his legal considerations in these cases are really taking a backseat to the priorities of his campaign as he seeks to solidify the republican nomination. ben: yes, and you touched on it there, this is just one case that is ahead for mr. trump. we are just getting details of what he was reported to have said whilst leaving the courtroom. it is not america. not america. this is not america, he said. there were no cameras allowed in

the courtroom. we saw those sketches earlier. one assumes mr. trump may have been disappointed by that, because as we touched on, he likes to use these occasions to appeal to his base. and particularly those comments, this is not america. this is all part of his strategy to recast how he would run america if he took the white house again. >> yeah. it has been interesting to see how he is really testing the court's limits. this court does not have the types of cameras in the hallways that has passed civil fraud trial had. there, every time he went into thcourtroom he had an audience of cameras, he was able to speak. again, it was pretty much a memorized speech at the end of the trial saying it was a witch hunt, that the judge and the prosecutors were all democratic operatives, that he was being treated unfairly. this is all to undermine his entire base, not just him, and stop him from going to the white house. we heard that speech over and

over, broadcast live across u.s. media, reported on. because ultimately he is a former president facing significant legal troubles. and so, he is using that to his advantage. while instead seeing this as kind of a situation -- he has used it to help. it has worked so far. because it has been a winning strategy he continues to do that. as i say, testing the limit of each court. this is a federal court, no cameras were allowed inside. that will be the case and a few of the other trials where he is facing 91 felony counts. but certainly whenever he can and were never he has an audience, he uses it to his advantage. ben: good to have you with the details on that. thank you very much, joining us live from new york. meanwhile, donald trump's former senior advisor peter navarro has been sentenced to four months in

prison and fined $9500 on two counts of contempt of congress. peter navarro refused to supply -- to comply to a subpoena from congress. federal prosecutors said he chose allegiance to former president donald trump over the rule of law. his lawyers say he will now appeal against that conviction. let's take to our north american correspondent gary o'donoghue in washington. i am right in saying peter navarro originally started rking with president trump in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but then turned his attentions elsewhere. gary: he was actually there from the beginning of the administration working on trade policy, very hawkish on china. but when covid came along, that took up much of his activity. but after the election, he wa part of the process that was trying to overturn the results of the election. and in fact, in 2021, he wrote a

book about it, went on television about it, talked about it in great detail, calling it what he described as the immaculate deception. in other words, he believed there were a number of voting irregularities that should have overturned election. he talked about his part in it, but when the january 6 committee that was investigati the riots came calling to get him to testify about the attempts to overturn the election, he did not want to do that. and he did not provide documents, did not sit for a deposition, and then got charged by the department of justice. he has always claimed he was protected by what is called executive privilege. in other words the president asked him to do things and he was protected from that. but the court did not agree. ben: i am looking at the statement from the judge saying that that investigation into what happened was a significant

effort by congress to get to the bottom of a terrible day in this country's history. they had a job to do, you made it harder. it really is that simple. it is about trying to draw a line on a pretty dark day in america's history. by refusing to appear and give testimony, it made that job much harder. gary: that's right. and he is not the first trump administration official to be charged in this way. bear in mind that steve bannon, who actually left the administration quite early but was involved in this attempt to overturn the election, he was also charged with contempt of congress and found guilty and given the same sentence. he is also now appealing that sentence and he is out of prison while he idoing that. so two former administration officials, senior people in the trump administration, given jail terms for the same things. peter navarro says he is in debt

for $1 million and is appealing for money. he says he was caught between two branches of government, the legislative arm and executive arm. he believes it should go all the way to the supreme court to decide whether or not there was executive privile. ben: donald trump in new york giving testimony in that case. here, a close ally and aid of donald trump being sentenced to four months in prison. nonetheless, all of this simply serves to work in donald trump's favor. he will use this to his advantage, won't he? gary: to some degree. he has certainly been using his own cases to his advantage. he sends out fundraising emails to coincide with all of these court appearances. and successfully sends out those emails, raises a lot of money off the back of those court appearances. he is not so much interested in the people who work for him and their court appearances.

certainly peter navarro was asked whether he expected donald trump would pardon him if he were reelected as psident, and he said he was not expecting that pardon. but certainly trump allies in the past have said they would expect to be pardoned by a future donald trump in the white house if he won in november. ben: gary o'donoghue there joining us live from washington. around the world and across the u.k., you're watching bbc news. let's have a look at some other stories making headlines here. a court has heard that a baby girl would still be alive if it was not for the callous, cruel, arrogant, and grossly negligent conduct of her parents. constance martin and her partner are on trial for the manslaughter of their newborn daughter victoria, found insid a shopping bag covered in rubbish. they deny the charges. the u.k. covid inquiry does -- called boris johnson a clown in

a phone conversation. her successor has been facing scrutiny over his tenure as health secretary during the plandemic and government's use of apps like whatsapp. -- he's likely to spend the rest of his life in a high-security hospital. he was giving a hospital order after admitting manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. family members of the three fatally stabbed expressed their disappointment of the sentence. you are live with bbc news. president biden is to send cia director william burns to broker a deal on the release of israeli hostages currently held in gaza. he will meet the head of the israeli must said -- the hamas-run health ministry says 20 people have been killed and another 150 injured after

israeli forces fired shells at palestinians who were queuing for food aid in gaza city in the north. in the south, hundreds are still fleeing the city of khan younis in a desperate scramble for safety as israeli tanks bombard areas around two hospitals. the city is encircled by israeli forces and residents say it is under nearly nonstop aerial and ground bombardment. they killed at least 12 people who were sheltering. the attack also wounded more than 75. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has again been told there needs to be an immediate pause in the fighting to allow more aid into gaza. this time the demand has come from the british foreign secretary david cameron, who is on a tour of the middle east. he has been speaking with our correspondent quentin sommerville indo half and explained -- >> for that to happen a lot of

things would have to happen. you would have to see the hamas leadership leave gaza. you would have to see the instruments of terrorism being dismantled in gaza. you have also got to see a political perspective so that palestinian people can see that there is a route to having a palestinian state, to having a new future. it is all of those things together that need to form part of a proper plan. ben: the uk foreign secretary david cameron. spokesrson for the international federation of the red cross and red crescent societies. thank you for being with us. i want to start first of all with what we know about the attack on that facility yesterday. we know the death toll has been rising. the number of injured now at 75. what do you know about what is happening right now on the ground close to those hospitals? >> thank you for having me today. what we know is our colleagues keep going us about a beyond catastrophic situation.

i can speak about the hospital in khan younis. it has now been four days of a siege where no one can get in or out. where lack of medicine, fuel, food, and water is deeply affecting the operation inside th hospital. more than 10,000 people are there seeking refuge because they thought, correctly, that it would be a safe place to stay. but what we have seen sadly is what we already saw in gaza city a couple months ago, where hospitals, ambulances, health-care workers and facilities are surrounded by shelling. and of course this is creating a lot of issues in terms of operation and access to the people in it. ben: yes. the u.n. saying that compound was clearly marked, that its coordinates were shared with the israeli authorities, indicating

they would know it was there and that it was a medical facility. they said they also knew civilians inside needed to be protected by international law. but the idf saying they think this could have possibly been caused by hamas fire. t's -- it is that familiar refrain, we don't know who is responsible, and yet both sides are pointing the finger at each other. >> as you said, we already heard in the last weeks and months this. it's also sadly common in other conflict areas. but theottom line here is what we have been repeating since the beginning of this conflict. under international humanitarian law, humanitarian facilities, civilians must be respected and protected by all parties in the conflict. and we are saying all parties in the conflict. of course our mandate and our work is to get to safe a access and to reach people who need that as much as possible. other colleagues o have

another mandate may be in the next weeks and in the future, they will get more information and also get responsibilities. but for us, our call is the same, to get safe access to the gaza strip. we are talking about hundreds of thousands of people in the north of gaza that are not getting aid. and of course this is unacceptable. ben: yes, the u.n. calling it a blatant disregard for the basic rules of war. i want to talk to you about, and you touched on this, displaced people, now 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of the population of gaza being displaced in the past 12 weeks. once again it is a familiar refrain. aid not getting through to people who need it. what is most desperately in need? and while on that diplomacy goes on behind the scenes, is anymore aid getting through? >> from one side, i don't want to underestimate the importance

that some aid is still getting through. a lifeline in rafah is still open. but it's like a drop in the ocean. this is not enough for the immense needs of the people in gaza. what is needed here is really to have an expanded, continuous, increased flow of humanitarian aid inside the gaza strip. also here, the humanitarian urgency, no one is really able to get a dignified answer. second, humanitarian agencies cannot be responsible to solve the problem. it can only be solved with a political solution, diplomatic efforts. we saw the only moment we were able to operate in a proper way was the days of the truce where there was a safe humanitarian space, there was more humanitarian aid, there was a respect of civilians. i think humanitarians, we can do a lot, but still we need a

diplomatic effort to give the proper answer. ben: y talk about a political solution and diplomatic efforts that may be going on. we were just reporting that president biden will deploy the cia director to try to help broker that deal, those talks that will go on between qatar and mossad. we know there is a meeting that will take place in france. how hopeful are you at this stage that that will deliver any meaningful change? because we know talks have gone on, we know the talk of see fire -- cease-fire or even a pause in fighting, to use the language of war. how hopeful are you that these talks will make any difference for the people on the ground in gaza? >> i think that is a very good question. thanks for that. we need to be optimistic by default. as humanitarians, we work in front of suffering and different complexities. in the moment there are

diplomatic efforts and dialogues, it is a positive sign that we cannot underestimate. then we need to see action. it's clear that the people in gaza do not have any more time. kids are not able to get food and water. pregnant women are doing c-sections without anehesia. they don't have time. as well as the families of the hostages. and of course the hostages have said they don't have any more time. i think any diplomatic effort, of course it is a positive sign, but we need action. ben: really good to have you with us. thank you for talking us through that. now, i want to turn to the conflict in sudan, where fighting has been raging for eight months with no end in sight. the conflict is between the sudanese armedorces and the rsf, the rapid support forces, a paramilitary group.

thousands of people have been killed according to a united nations report. they say between 10,000 and 15 ,000 people were killed in one city in the west darr for region last year. it's creating the world's largest human splacement crisis. the world food program's regional director for east africa based in nairobi in kenya, thank you for being on the program. it may seem a crass question, but is this crisis in sudan the forgotten war? given that the headlines and much of the focus of world diplomatic efforts right now are focused elsewhere. >> unfortunately that is the case. i was listening to your previous story. it's the crisis in the middle east that is of course getting most of the attention. rightfully so. but unfortunately the situation in sudan, which is a catastrophe inside the country, and is having ramifications across the

region, is not getting the attention. and yet the number of people impacted is immense. a country of 45 million people. it is touching each and every one of them. there are over 18 million people who are acutely food insecure, acutely hungry. unfortunately, we as humanitarian actors are not able to reach them at the scale required to prevent a humanitarian crisis happening before our eyes. ben: as you said, it is really hard to get a sense of the scale of this crisis. we look at numbers like the one on the screen 18 million people at risk of acute hunger. half a million people just flowing from sudan into eastern chad. it really gives us a sense, even though it is hard to comprehend the scale of this, of quite how much movement there is an the pressure that puts on resources and facilities. not just hunger, but basic

safety and shelter for these people. >> absolutely true. all sectors are currently on their knees. be it the food security, the wash, the health. all of these sectors inside the country or in the process of collapsing. i was speaking with a colleague. it was not a case of whether or not sudan was still on the edge of the cliff. it has already plummeted. it is falling. and it is a question of how far it will fall before we can gradually bring it back. what is desperately needed is a political outcome. what we need today is a cease-fire. and we, as humanitarians, need unhindered access so that we can reach the populations in extraordinarily difficult and remote locations. ben: yes, and we understand why people will be on the move and fleeing that violence.

i am looking at some testimony that was given to the u.n., and they said some people are reporting that when they reach checkpoints, women and men were separated, assaulted. the indiscriminately shot hundreds of people in the legs simply to prevent them fleeing. what hope is there for a solution here? as i said at the start, given that the world's attention is elsewhere right now? >> well, it's esntial that the world's attention focuses on sudan. it's essential that key stakeholders and political actors are investing time and effort in trying to bring the parties together and to try and assist on that cease-fire. without that, without that effort, without that commitment, i fear that this conflict is going to continue endlessly. ben: michael, grateful for you being with us. thank you. let's hope that there is some sort of return to focus on

events there in sudan as well as other conflict aund the world. i will be back with the headlines for you very shortly. much more to come. we will also have our regular look at the week's stories in artificial intelligence. stay with us here on the context . see you soon. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world.