welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is ben bland. our top stories: claims that last year's meeting between president trump and the ukrainian leader was arranged after a big payment to mr trump's personal lawyer. we have an exclusive report. yulia skripal, one of two russian victims of a chemical attack in the uk, makes herfirst public appearance since the poisoning. translation: we are so lucky to have both survived this attempted assassination. the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing. we meet one of the many traumatised children who've lost parents in saudi airstrikes in the worsening conflict in yemen. and as ireland prepares for a momentous vote on the country's abortion laws. we speak to those on both sides of the debate. hello. welcome to bbc news.

the bbc has been told that president trump's personal lawyer michael cohen was secretly paid at least $400,000 to secure a white house meeting lastjune for the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko. mr cohen, who denies receiving any such payment, was not registered as a representative of ukraine, as required under us law. there's no suggestion that president trump knew. our correspondent paul wood has this exclusive report. donald trump's run for the us presidency was watched with alarm by ukraine's government, dismayed by his apparently pro—russian rhetoric. then, trump had a setback. his campaign manager, paul manafort, was forced to resign, accused of getting millions of dollars from russian interests in ukraine. the leak that brought manafort down came from the very top

of the ukrainian government, according to sources here and outside ukraine. if that's true, the ukrainians badly miscalculated, backing the losing side in the us election. so in early 2017, president poroshenko was desperate to get talks with donald trump, but he was being offered little more than a white house photo op. according to a senior official here, who has direct knowledge of what happened, poroshenko instructed two close associates to open a back channel. that back channel, our source says, was president trump's personal lawyer and trusted fixer, michael cohen. the senior official says cohen was paid $400,000, a second source says it was more. there's no suggestion that trump knew of this. we're told that cohen got help from felix sater, a convicted former mobster once in business with trump. cohen is under investigation

for paying hush money to a pawn actress, stormy daniels, on trump's behalf. her lawyer says cohen's bank records show he took money from us companies for access to the president. well, i think it's pretty obvious at this point that michael cohen took substantial sums of money and was selling access to the highest office in the land, namely to the us president. we have every reason to believe that there are additional payments that have not been reported yet from those with ukrainian interests. poroshenko couldn't hide his delight at meeting trump — and before russia's vladimir putin. how many minutes he'd get was still being negotiated as he flew from kiev. but this was more than just a photo op, and after poroshenko went home, ukraine's inquiry into trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, was steadily wound down. "there was never a direct order

to stop the manafort inquiry", the special prosecutor in kiev tells me. "but", he says, "from the way the investigation progressed, it was clear that our superiors were trying to create obstacles." did president trump's lawyer ask the ukrainians to stall their inquiry? perhaps he didn't need to — poroshenko knew that to do otherwise, said one source, would be like spitting in trump's face. the us is continuing its own investigation into paul manafort and russian influence in the american election — but without help from ukraine. paulwood, bbc news, kiev. yulia skripal, one of the two russians targeted in a chemical attack in england in march, says she's "lucky to be alive". she and herfather, sergei, a former russian spy,

were exposed to a nerve agent in the english city of salisbury. they spent several weeks in hospital. in her first filmed public statement since the attack, ms skripal said she wanted to return to russia "in the longer term", but rejected an offer of help from the russian embassy. the embassy has demanded direct access to ms skripal to make sure she was not being held against her will. daniel sandford has the story. after weeks of being at the centre of a huge diplomatic crisis, suddenly there she was. julia skripal was poisoned with a nerve agent in salisbury on march the fourth. but today, she was well enough to read a prepared statement. translation: i still find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that both of us were attacked in such a way. the fact a nerve agent was used to do this is shocking. we are so lucky we survived this attempted assassination.

the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing. the police believe she and her father were poisoned by a russian designed novichok nerve agent, smeared on the doorknob. it led to these scenes in salisbury as the police tried to control contamination. it was clear thatjulia skripal has been left with a scar on her neck from a tracheotomy. translation: my life has been turned upside down as i try to come to terms with the devastating changes both physically and emotionally. i want to help care for my father until his full recovery. in the longer term, i hope to return home to my country. julia skripal prepared signed handwritten copies of her statement in russian and english, wanting to show that they were her words. the russian ambassador has repeatedly suggested that she might be being held against her will, and demanded access to her. translation: i'm grateful for the offers of assistance

from the russian embassy but at the moment, i don't wish to avail myself of their services. also, i want to reiterate what i said in my earlier statement, that no—one speaks for me or my father but ourselves. while yulia skripal was in a coma, dozens of diplomats were expelled from britain, the united states, russia and europe. russia retaliated in kind as the crisis grew. she is a russian citizen who lived in russia where herfather is regarded as a traitor. and tonight, it's still unclear where they will live next. daniel sandford reporting. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. north korea has declared that it's up to the united states whether the two countries hold a summit, or engage in a nuclear showdown. in a sharply worded statement, pyongyang said it would not beg

for a dialogue with the us. the american secretary of state mike pompeo is holding talks with the chinese foreign minister, wang yi, in washington and says he hopes the summit will still go ahead. after venezuela expelled two top us diplomats on wednesday, the state department has now ordered two venezuelan officials to leave within 48 hours. president nicolas maduro had accused the american diplomats of conspiring against his government, after his controversial re—election. the state department has rejected the allegations. the nfl has agreed a new policy that will fine american football teams if their players refuse to stand during the national anthem. the league wants to avoid a repeat of last season's controversy, when players kneeled to highlight racial injustice. players will have the option of staying in the locker room during the anthem if they wish. the man nominated to be italy's next prime minister, giuseppe conte, will begin assembling his cabinet. mr conte, a political novice, is expected to take several days to form his team.

caroline rigby reports. arriving in a public taxi to meet the president, to become italy's new prime minister — and somewhat of a political experiment. giuseppe conte will have the country's does populist and perhaps eurosceptic parliament. its 66th government in 70 years. it is no small cast for a law professor with no political experience. translation: i am ready to defend the interests of italians in europe and internationally, maintaining dialogue with european institutions and representatives of other countries. i want to be the lawyer who will defend the italian people. mr conte's firstjob will be to assemble his cabinet. that's expected to take several days, but is likely to feature the men who put him forward for the role — leaders of the five star movement and the league, the parties that make up the antiestablishment coalition. it means that, at best,

mr conte would only be the third most powerfulfigure in his own administration. the 53—year—old's appointment brings to an end weeks of political deadlock. but brussels will be sceptical of the man in charge of the eurozone's third biggest economy. translation: i am aware of the necessity to confirm italy's place both in europe and internationally. the government will have to look on the issues of the european budget, the reform of the right of asylum, and the return of the banking union. italy is a country that brussels deems too big to fail, because what happens on this man's watch could have been ramifications elsewhere. but for now, mr conte will have to prove he is a prime minister and is not a placeholder.

caroline rigby, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: surfing — but not as we know it. we'll tell you about foil—boarding, bringing aeroplane technology to the waves. this morning, an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so, it's become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer. it's been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far, but some of the police are tear—gassing the crowd — we don't yet know why. the pre—launch ritual is well established here. helen was said to be in good spirits butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation.

it was a bloody birth for a poor country and the challenges ahead are daunting but for now, at least, it is time to celebrate. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: there are claims that last year's meeting between president trump and the ukrainian leader was arranged after a big payment to mr trump's personal lawyer. yulia skripal — one of two victims of a chemical attack in the uk — has made herfirst broadcast statement since the poisoning. britain says it'll provide what it's calling additional support to saudi arabia, to help deal with the fighting in neighbouring yemen. more than 10,000 people have died since the war started 4 years ago. millions have been displaced, sparking what the un has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. the current conflict started when houthi rebels took control of parts of the country.

a coalition led by saudi arabia and backed by britain, is trying to dislodge them, using airstrikes and a blockade. the bbc‘s nawal al—maghafi has secured footage from some of those whose lives have been shattered by the conflict. a warning that this report does contain harrowing scenes of suffering. a day ofjoy and happiness. music and dancing to celebrate a very traditional wedding of a young local man. ali, here on the floor, made a living drumming for parties like this. his three brothers and his young son samir in the green t—shirt came along to join the festivities. and filming these pictures was the groom's uncle mohamed al—musabi.

translation: people were dancing and celebrating, more than 150 people, dancing and playing games, following the yemenis celebration traditions. and then the strike hit and turned the celebration into a bloodbath. it was a saudi air strike. 22 were killed instantly, including ali and two of his brothers. his son samirescaped. the pictures you are about to see are distressing. his reaction, incredibly harrowing, unable to comprehend the loss, five—year—old samir will not leave his father. he sums up the sheer hopelessness of yemen's war. he stayed clung to his father until morning.

a month later, and samir is still in shock. his uncle tells us the only thing he keeps repeating is his father was killed by an aeroplane, yet another victim in this brutal war. his mother went into labour when she heard the shock news. ali's broken drum hangs as the memory. robbed of an income, the family fears for their future. the war in yemen is now in its fourth year, and in the last month, the fighting has intensified. this is an attack by the saudi coalition on what is now the houthi presidential palace, in the heart of a residential area. as rescuers entered to help the wounded, another strike. "run, get out," the residents scream

— terrified yet another strike may follow. two air strikes on the same target with a gap of minutes between them is known as a double tap. this can be classified as a war crime. thousands of civilians have been killed in this war. millions have lost their homes and there is still no end in sight. that was nawal al—maghafi reporting. earlier she explained more about britain's involvement in yemen's long running conflict, and the background to the attack in her report. we have to remember this is the impact ofjust one strike on a wedding, in a civilian area. now it is escalating. this is the tragic human cost. the last years have been brutalfor yemenis.

the war is evolving and is turning into a more regional one. for the saudi led coalition, it is no longer about reinstating the legitimate yemeni government, but protecting their own borders and domestic security from the houthis, who are receiving increasing support from iran. and we have to remember the uk government is involved as well. we are providing billions of pounds worth of arms, training, and we have personnel in the command and control headquarters in riyadh. now, the government has said the personnel are only there to help the coalition investigate attacks after they have happened and they urged the saudi coalition to investigate the wedding strike. borisjohnson has pledged that the uk government will give more support to protect against the risk that the houthis pose. in the last few years we have seen 106 ballistic missiles launched by the houthis into saudi arabia.

we've also seen over 17,000 air raids into yemen, and does not look like it will end soon. on friday, ireland will vote on whether to overturn the country's strict ban on abortion. currently, terminations are only allowed if there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother. each year, thousands of irish women travel to the uk to access abortion services here. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy has been meeting those on both sides of the debate. the idea of ending the natural process of pregnancy before its time was just not something that i could comprehend doing. this is one of ireland's most contentious issues. here, women make choices in the face of a deep moral divide.

i knew i could not continue with a pregnancy for another 19 weeks and watch this baby and feel this baby grow stronger... laura was told at 22 weeks that her unborn baby would not survive after birth. the next step for us and the choice that we made was to travel. mentally, we just made the decision, "ok, this is going to happen, our baby's going to die one way or another, regardless. we can't change that fact and we can't fix that fact". it was either prolong the agony and wait the a0 weeks and go through all of that, or decide to terminate but then we could draw a line in the sand and hopefully move on from it. she flew to a hospital in liverpool for a procedure that would have been illegal at home. in ireland, the eighth amendment of the country's constitution gives an equal right to live for both mother and baby, and this woman is fighting to keep it that way. he lived for 17 minutes and for all his 17 minutes, he was held. ireland's protection of the unborn,

she says, gave her strength to continue her pregnancy knowing her baby had a condition he couldn't survive. and he was told how loved he was. it was an incredibly rewarding experience. why do you believe it would be wrong to offer women at least the choice? it's a choice about ending the life, notjust potentially harming, but deliberately ending the life of another. and i don't think that's ever the right solution. more than 3000 women from ireland travel abroad and pay privately for abortions every year. many come here to liverpool, where dr rachel foggin treats irish women each day. quite often, they might be alone. and they may not have told anybody, they may have had to arrange childcare and time off work in secret. why do you yourself believe that women should have access to abortions? i just think for so many different reasons women find themselves in situations, either it's an abnormal pregnancy, it's just not the right time... it should be talked about.

it's a normal, you know, part of healthcare. back in ireland, campaigners have toured the country to get their message across. this referendum stirs strong emotions on both sides. youse are an absolute disgrace to yourselves. this amendment will change. why would i want that? you're full of it, you're all full of it and you women should be utterly ashamed of yourselves! we try and explain this as logically as possible, that it's never 0k to end the life of any innocent human being. if we're to build a humane society, we need to respect the right to life. and this vote is about what kind of society ireland wants to be. the declining influence of the catholic church means social attitudes are changing. in 2015, ireland voted by a large majority to legalise same—sex marriage, but in this referendum, both sides believe the vote could be much tighter.

on friday, voters will decide whether ireland should offer women a new choice. access to abortion — a deeply private issue — now rests on the outcome of a very public debate. emma vardy, bbc news, dublin. we will have full coverage of that referendum, here on bbc news. a new yorkjudge has ruled that president trump may not block twitter users based on their political beliefs because it would be a violation of the right to free speech. users who are blocked cannot see or respond to tweets from the accounts that have blocked them. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee explains. the president is of course famous for using twitter to share his views on policy, the media and anything else that appears to arrive in his head. people that have disagreed openly with the president by sending tweets to him are often blocked, but

a judge has now said that he can no longer do that. users that are blocked on twitter cannot see the tweet sent by the account that has blocked them, they also cannot reply directly to them. this was an infringement on the first amendment's right to free speech. however, thejudge did say amendment's right to free speech. however, the judge did say that president and other officials could still mute people on twitter, while people could he didn't have to hear all they had to say and those things would appear in his feed. this ruling doesn't just would appear in his feed. this ruling doesn'tjust affect president trump, but all officials in the us, so trump, but all officials in the us, so many of them now will be forced to unblock people that had been targeting them on twitter with things they perhaps did not want to hear. what comes to mind when you think of the beaches of southern california? bronzed bodies, golden sands and surfing. lots of surfing. well, things might be changing, with a surfboard that is a little bit different, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. in this workshop in the small town of carlsbad, a kind of sporting

revolution is taking place. dave daum and his colleagues are perfecting a new kind of surfboard. somewhere along the line i took my engineering talents and coupled them with surfboard and stand up paddle board design and worked out what i was doing, and came up with the foilboards and a paddle board like you see in the background. high—tech, computer designed, but these testing on the waves. cue the beach boys. surfin' safari. technically, it is not surfboarding, but foilboarding. either way it's a ride. we have so much fun. it was the worst conditions today, and we went out and had a blast. the board works like a hydrofoil.

the wing under the water helps it to rise up in the air as it gains speed. and because there is less drag, it can travel much faster, even on the smallest of waves. there isjust a lot of lift, you know? you are literally feeling like what an aeroplane wing would do when it lives up. you're that on your body, under your feet. the foilboard is by no means perfect. you will still fall off every so often, and it's probably a little more awkward to carry home. tim allman, bbc news. if you ever tried to stand on a surf order, that is hard enough. —— surf board. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @benmbland. hello.

there is plenty more spring sunshine in the forecast for the next few days. it will feel warm in the sunshine as well. but it's not that simple, because in southern areas, particularly, there is a risk of thundery showers. we will see some of those during the day on thursday, courtesy of this weather front that's been sneaking its way in from the near continent. it doesn't look like much, but it introduces that extra kick of energy and moisture that the atmosphere needs to generate some of the showers and storms. they will be quite hit and miss, but they will drift westwards during the day. for eastern scotland in north—east england, mist and fog to start off, but this will burn its way back to the coast, things brightening up as the day goes on. here is how it looks on a high—resolution weather model. a bit more detail across wales, parts of england, as well. showers and thunderstorms drifting westwards. it should dry up for much through the day.

long spells of sunshine in northern england and scotland, but still mist and murk and low cloud lapping onto the north sea coastlines as we go through the day. so as a consequence, temperatures in aberdeen and newcastle will be pegged back to about 1a or 15 degrees. elsewhere, real warmth to be had, particularly in the best of the sunshine, with highs of 22 or 23. tuesday night, we are expecting further showers, perhaps thunderstorms, drifting from the near continent, moving a little bit further north at this stage. not eating them, is in scotland, holding onto some of the mist and fog rolling a little bit further inland as the night wears on. we start friday morning on a muggy note. temperatures generally about 8—11; degrees. during the day on friday, further pulses of wet weather, thunderstorms drifting, perhaps getting into northern england at this stage. to the north of that, long spells of sunshine. further south, i suspect it will be quite cloudy for much of the time. quite muggy as well. 19 degrees in plymouth and cardiff. 20 in the sunshine in belfast. but those temperatures look set to climb as we move on through the weekend. we will tap into this warm air that is sitting in place across the near continent.

that will waft up in our direction. we will also bring up from the south further areas of heavy, perhaps thundery rain — particularly, we suspect, drifting towards the south—west of the uk, as high pressure has more influence to the north. some dry weather and sunshine further south. some real warmth as well, but the risk of some thunderstorms. this is bbc news. the headlines: the bbc has been told president trump's personal lawyer michael cohen was secretly paid at least $100,000 to secure a white house meeting lastjune for the ukrainian leader. mr cohen, who denies receiving any such payment, was not registered as a representative of ukraine. the daughter of a former russian spy has made herfirst public appearance since she and her father were poisoned with a nerve agent in the english city

of salisbury in march. in a statement to the reuters news agency, yulia skripal said she was lucky to have survived. russia denies any involvement. the italian president, sergio mattarella, has asked a little known law professor, giuseppe conte, to form a government — ending a stalemate since inconclusive elections in march. mr conte, who is backed by the five star movement and the league, said italy's place was in the european union. now on bbc news, zeinab badawi talks to the former news corp executive les hinton on hardtalk.