this is bbc news. with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. lawyers for the trump organization and its chief financial officer plead not guilty to tax fraud at a court in new york. president biden meets families of people still missing after a building collapse in miami. counting gets under way in the by—election in west yorkshire. meet the woman who will become an astronaut in her 80s after being picked byjeff bezos to join him on his mission to space.

hello, and a very warm welcome to the programme. lawyers for the trump organization and its chief officer, allen weisselberg, have pled not guilty to tax fraud in new york. the prosecutor said there had been a sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme at the former president's company. jon sopel is outside trump tower in new york for us. the district attorney makes it clear this is just following the facts and following the law and that the grand jury has to be what happened. listen to the trump organization, get a different story. a long statement, i will read you a bit of a. "after years of investigating, dozens of sabina, millions and millions of dollars of taxpayer money, the manhattan's da has decided to charge elect trump entities with providing a car and an

apartment. make no mistake: this is not about the law, this is all about politics." donald trump will have been furious at the way he saw his chief financial officer treated today. the powerful moneyman of donald trump's business empire today led into court in handcuffs, surrounded by police — a heavy—handed and deliberate show of force by the new york authorities. the charge is being led by the district attorney cy vance. he'd been hoping to flip mr weisselberg, so that he'd work with prosecutors, but the trump cfo is having none of it. and a statement from the trump organization spat defiance over the treatment of mr weisselberg. .. after a short hearing, he left court charged with fraud, charged with giving perks to trump executives and family members that were never declared. on the face of it, these

charges might seem, after a three—year investigation, relatively minor — keeping payments off the books — but the district attorney is making clear to mr weisselberg, who's just leaving court now, that this is the start of a process, not the end of it. trump lawyers after the hearing were trying to sound upbeat. the company is very, very optimistic... and, uh, we're certainly hopeful that there will not be significant effects. what donald trump desperately needs now is that he remains tough, because weisselberg is under pressure from the new york authorities to tell them everything he knows. this isn't over, nowhere near. jon sopel, bbc news, new york. well, we can speak now to form a cheap house ethics lawyer for george w bush. —— chief white house ethics lawyer. it's good to have you with us. in your

assessment, what you the pilot could be from this for the trump family could be from this for the trumpfamily and could be from this for the trump family and the trump organization? just mark the fallout? , . ., ., , fallout? the district attorney has powerful _ fallout? the district attorney has powerful evidence - fallout? the district attorney has powerful evidence that l fallout? the district attorney l has powerful evidence that the trump organization and allen weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the trump organization, engaged in tax fraud. this is not a minor act, this is a very highly paid executive of the trump organization who apparently received stencil compensation. under the table. that means taxes were not paid. ordinary americans pay very high taxes. the trump organization has made it possible for one of its most highly paid executives to skirt his obligations under the law to pay his fair share. this is serious and criminal tax fraud if the prosecution contributes case in court. and as the

manhattan da has made clear, they are not finished with the investigation yet. there is quite a bit else going on that is being investigated. the new york times has reported the trump family has engaged in various practices to avoid taxes or rather evade taxes, which is illegal, over many decades. so we will see where all of this goes.— all of this goes. and therein lies an important _ all of this goes. and therein | lies an important distinction, as you just sort of acknowledge there. it is one thing to avoid taxes and do so within the law, using loopholes and measures that are entirely above board and legal. it is another entirely to prove that tax has been evaded, which is unlawful? absolutely right. this is a distinction that was made by arthur resolven at the london school of economics, and his colleagues put together a book in 1979 with the title tax

avoison, a combination of avoidance and evasion. for example, paying for the high school education of your employee's child so they do not incur a type of income tax. this has been going on for a long time, and that book written in 1979, in some ways celebrates this practice as a way to fight back against high taxes. this was the era before thatcherism in the uk and regulars in the united states. we lowered some of our taxes for the highest—paid people —— reagan is. the notion that the

way to fight against high taxes was avoison. but all who do these practice in the uk or the united states, whether it is the trump organization or anyone else run the risk of prosecution. and it is exactly what happened today. ok. thank ou ve what happened today. ok. thank you very much — what happened today. ok. thank you very much indeed, _ what happened today. ok. thank you very much indeed, richard . you very much indeed, richard painter, law professor at the university of minnesota. lawyers for the firm and mr faisal berg have led not guilty to tax fraud —— mr allen weisselberg. to miami now, where president biden has been meeting families and rescue workers in surfside, where the apartment building collapsed a week ago. eighteen people have been confirmed dead, while more than 140 are still missing. the bbc�*s sophie long reports from surfside. how are you? president biden thanking the rescue workers who have been searching for survivors day and night. he also spent time with the families affected, who he said are going through hell. they had basic, heart—wrenching questions — "will i be able to recover the body of my son

or daughter, my husband, my cousin, my mum and dad?" "how can i have closure without being able to bury them if i don't get the body?" "what do i do?" jill and i wanted them to know that we're with them and the country's with them. when i saw the video, my heart was ripped from my chest, because that's the moment i saw my mum and my grandmother die, so it was very difficult. and that's all i see now when i close my eyes. now, pablo tries to hold on to memories of happier times. in the days that have passed since the building where his mother and grandmother lived crashed to the ground, rescue teams have been working around the clock, painstakingly removing rubble, searching for survivors. it is a dangerous and demanding task, both physically and emotionally. we are human beings and we are dealing with human beings beneath the surface. and we know that we look for them and we do the best

to get to them, but still, the thought that under all this concrete, all this steel, there is a person — maybe a little boy — that is buried there, it's very difficult to feel, to understand. the families of those still unaccounted for have been to visit the site, and some have told me that seeing the homes that they used to visit reduced to rubble with their own eyes is helping them now to start to prepare for the worst. all of them, though, have one question — how long? how long can someone possibly survive in there? it's a question no—one can answer, but they were able to see what's being done to reach those trapped in the twisted metal and concrete before the hope they cling to fades completely. they were able to understand that there was no longer a specific apartment, there is no spaces, and the crews are working night and day, 2a hours a day, 12—hour shifts, working on top of that pile,

doing everything they possibly can to dig deeper into the rubble to try to find anyone that could possibly be there. as the rescue operation continues, people are demanding answers their loved ones will never hear. my mum would have been shouting at the top of her lungs from the rooftop, from anywhere, speaking to anybody that would listen, to make sure that those responsible for this are brought to justice and that reform happens so that this never happens again to any otherfamily, because no—one should have to go through this. this wasn't an earthquake, it wasn't a terrorist attack. this was a building. people went to sleep, and then they died. sophie long, bbc news, surfside, miami. lets wound up some of the other means stories around the world now. turkey's president has rejected accusations his country has taken a step backwards by pulling out of an international treaty to prevent

violence against women. mr erdogan said turkey was in battle on the issue did not start with the istanbul convention and would not end with its withdrawal. 130 countries have agreed reforms to business taxation. they want to business taxation. they want to ensure multinationals pay taxes where they operate, and impose a minimum tax of at least 15%. ireland and hungary are among nine countries that have not signed up. scientists have not signed up. scientists have found an area of the arctic ocean that was thought likely to stay frozen far longer than the rest of the region may be more vulnerable to climate change than previously predicted. researchers found the region suffered a record decline in ice concentrations last year. canadian authorities are battling wildfires after the extreme wave that has hit western areas. on tuesday, the town of litton recorded the highest ever temperature in the area of 49.6 c. —— lytton.

gordon murray filmed that footage while making his way to safety out of lytton, he's now in safety in vancouver. it is... we are still in shock. it is... we are still in shock. it all happened so fast. and as you know, there was the record heatwave before that. and before that was even over, the winds picked up. this conflagration happened so fast but nobody really had a chance to fully comprehend it before they had to — before we had to basically run. we gathered up literally the clothes on our backs, and they still smell of smoke. and we grabbed our pets and most precious things that we could quickly find and left behind all kinds of things like

passports and things that we really, if we had the time, would have been able to get. [30 would have been able to get. do ou... would have been able to get. do yom -- we _ would have been able to get. do youm we got — would have been able to get. do you... we got in _ would have been able to get. do you... we got in the _ would have been able to get. do you... we got in the car- would have been able to get. do you... we got in the car and - would have been able to get. do you... we got in the car and we | you... we got in the car and we drove. you... we got in the car and we drove- we _ you... we got in the car and we drove. we had _ you... we got in the car and we drove. we had no _ you... we got in the car and we drove. we had no idea - you... we got in the car and we drove. we had no idea which i drove. we had no idea which direction to drive because there was so much smoke and so much by that we had to kind of pick a direction that we thought would be the most likely to get out of the fire and go for it... likely to get out of the fire and go for it. . ._ likely to get out of the fire and go for it... gordon murray there speaking _ and go for it... gordon murray there speaking to _ and go for it... gordon murray there speaking to us - and go for it... gordon murray there speaking to us a - and go for it... gordon murray there speaking to us a little i there speaking to us a little while ago. still to come: a royal reunion, princes william and harry unveil a statue of their mother on what would have been her 60th birthday. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations — a huge fireworks display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory

using a cell from another sheep. i for the first time in 20 years, i russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit - at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. cheering and applause challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 34 years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. hello. i am hello. iam ben. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the trump organization, and its chief financial officer, have been charged with multiple counts

of tax—related fraud. they pleaded not guilty. president biden has said it is "essential" to find out what caused an apartment block in miami to collapse last week. china's president, xijinping, warned foreign powers will get their heads cracked and bloodied if they attempt to bully or influence the country. he delivered a defiant speech at an event marking the centenary of the ruling communist party. our china correspondent, john sudworth, has the story. the unmistakable hallmarks of communist party rule were front and centre of its celebrations — the total control, the omnipotent leader, the unquestioning loyalty. overlooking tiananmen square, the general secretary spoke of how the party had saved china from a history of humiliation and of the power it now wields. translation: the chinese people will never be bullied, _

oppressed or enslaved. anyone who dares to try will have their heads cracked and bloodied against a great wall of steel forged by 1.4 billion chinese people. there are no references, of course, to the fact that on this spot in 1989, the party clung to power by shooting dead hundreds of unarmed protesters, ..nor any mention of the violence and chaos of chairman mao's rule. and while the focus is on the economic success and china's big leap in living standards, critics fear that xinjiang's internment camps and the crackdown on dissent in hong kong reveal, once again, the true nature of one—party rule.

this former party insider was expelled last year for voicing concerns about the direction the party was taking. she's now in effective exile in the us. translation: in china, | 100 years old also means a person has lived long, and it is time to think of death. the communist party should review its mistakes. it should be seeking redemption, not celebrating. the theory used to be that as china got richer, it would get freer, but this celebration of rigid authoritarian control represents the total rejection of that notion, and with a triumphalism that's causing concern, including here in democratic taiwan, with xijinping making clear the party's mission to control a territory it still sees as its own. convinced that it's democracy, not authoritarianism, that's in decline, china intends to party on. john sudworth,

bbc news, taipei. in england, counting is underway in a key by—election in west yorkshire. the opposition labour party is defending a majority of three thousand in batley and spen — it's being seen as a test of sir kier starmer�*s leadership. here's our uk political correspondent, alex forsyth. this is a by—election that's been hard—fought and at times fraught. perhaps that's a sign of just what's at stake, because a loss here for labour would be damaging and would undoubtedly prompt another period of introspection about the party's direction, but perhaps more crucially, the party's leadership. now, for the tories, this is a test of whether they can continue their charge in this part of the country, now that it's their handling of the pandemic rather than brexit that's at the forefront of people's minds. so the result here will have national significance, but there are important local factors at play here too. this was the seat once of

jo cox, the mp who was murdered by a far right extremist, so it has known division before, and this has been a difficult campaign, tense. there's been anger, there's been harassment, there's been a police presence on the ground. it's been a highly charged contest in a very crowded field, some 16 candidates standing. and among them, george galloway, the former mp. now, he's been targeting labour supporters among this area's muslim community, and labour sources have been downbeat about the impact he might have had, tonight saying the numbers look tough, this could be difficult. the tories, though, saying it's too close to call. we'll get the result early hours of tomorrow morning. the fallout will no doubt follow. and we will bring you the result as soon as it happens here on bbc news. the outline deal tries to ensure that large

multinationals pay tax on the countries they operate in. it has been described as the most important tax deal and a century. it important tax deal and a century-— important tax deal and a century. important tax deal and a centu . , , , century. it is being billed as the biggest _ century. it is being billed as the biggest change - century. it is being billed as the biggest change to - century. it is being billed as the biggest change to the l the biggest change to the global tax system in a century and i think the emphasis should be on the word bill because we are told what could happen here, there are two parts to this copy we are looking at multinational companies being taxed when they operate, not where they choose to actually file their taxes and also the second leg of this as you say, we will have a minimum corporation tax rate, so the first part of that will redistribute tax take around the world, the second part could raise the oecd estimates perhaps £150 billion per year. and that of course comes at a time we are all talking about the fact that we need to see recovery that builds back better but where is the money going to come from? this could be part of the answer but this isn't something that has just

arrived, it has been a decade orso arrived, it has been a decade or so and the making, these conversations first started in the aftermath of the financial crisis when the emphasis there as well was how do we have a fairy growth system around the world, it has taken many years to get to this point. it is not over yet but the aim, we are told, is to get a system that is in place up and running by 2023, it might sound a while off but in tax terms that is a pretty fast turnaround. prince william and prince harry have unveiled a statue of their mother, diana, princess of wales on what would have been her 60th birthday. the duke of cambridge and duke of sussex, whose relationship has been strained in recent months, met for the first time since the duke of edinburgh's funeral in april. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. the event should have been solely about their mother — the unveiling by her sons of a statue of diana, princess of wales. but the sons, william and harry, have fallen out. the special bond between two young princes has been broken. harsh words are said

to have been spoken. this afternoon, it could largely be hidden. they were with the spencer family — diana's two elder sisters, sarah and jane, and her brother, charles. everybody chatted quite amiably. how could it have been otherwise? william and harry, side by side for some of the time, but more often than not they stood apart, until the moment of the statue's unveiling. the statue shows diana with anonymous children. it is intended, in the words of kensington palace, to reflect her warmth, elegance and energy. william and harry stood together to look at the statue and exchanged their impressions. the brothers went on together to inspect the gardens. there had been talk of them both making speeches. instead, there was a joint statement in which they said they remembered their mother's love and strength. "every day," they added, "we wish she was still with us." perhaps then her sons

will wonder what she would've made of the current tensions. perhaps today will help them to reflect. that is the hope of the sculptor. the fact that their mother is there, you know, in a real physicalsense, perhaps in the evening when the grounds are shut, they could easily come here for a moment of quiet reflection, and i hope that will give them some sort of comfort or solace. today's events will have been an important, shared moment for william and harry in which they will surely have felt their mother's influence. and perhaps it will have encouraged them to move on. because william and harry must surely know that the current tensions between them are not good, for them orfor the widerfamily. nicholas witchell, bbc news. an 82—year—old american woman who trained to be an astronaut in the 1960s but was denied a trip to space because of her gender has finally got her wish. wally funk has been chosen to accompany the world's

richest man, jeff bezos, and his brother on the first crewed space flight of their blue origin company later this month. this report from courtney bembridge. we let gently on the desert surface, we open the hatch and you step outside. the first thing you say? i you step outside. the first thing you say?— thing you say? i will c'est honey. — thing you say? i will c'est honey, that's _ thing you say? i will c'est honey, that's the - thing you say? i will c'est honey, that's the best i thing you say? i will c'est i honey, that's the best thing that— honey, that's the best thing that ever happened to me! it�*s that ever happened to me! it's a moment _ that ever happened to me! it�*s a moment wally funk has been waiting 60 years for. in the 19605 waiting 60 years for. in the 1960s she was one of 13 women who passed nasa's stringent training programme to become astronaut. , . training programme to become astronaut-— astronaut. they asked me, do ou astronaut. they asked me, do you want _ astronaut. they asked me, do you want to — astronaut. they asked me, do you want to be _ astronaut. they asked me, do you want to be an _ astronaut. they asked me, do you want to be an astronaut? | astronaut. they asked me, do| you want to be an astronaut? i said yes! they told me that i had done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys. so i got a hold of nasa and i said i want to become an astronaut. but nobody would take me. ., ., ., ., take me. none of the women from the programme — take me. none of the women from the programme ever— take me. none of the women from the programme ever made - take me. none of the women from the programme ever made it - take me. none of the women from the programme ever made it to . the programme ever made it to space and now at 82 wally funk

is going to change that. she has spent a lifetime flying and served as america's first female air safety investigator and first female military flight instructor. but not content with placing just one trail, she is now set to become the oldest person ever to travel into space.- the oldest person ever to travel into space. woo! can hardly wait! _ travel into space. woo! can hardly wait! a _ travel into space. woo! can hardly wait! a ten - travel into space. woo! can hardly wait! a ten minute i hardly wait! a ten minute fliuht hardly wait! a ten minute flight with _ hardly wait! a ten minute flight with a _ hardly wait! a ten minute flight with a lifetime's - hardly wait! a ten minute i flight with a lifetime's worth of significance. there is a big rivalry with all that space travel and richard branson has named the date that he will fly to the edge of space pete it will bejuly he will fly to the edge of space pete it will be july the 11th or very soon afterwards. he will be a passenger in the back of the unity rocket plane developed by his virgin galactic company over the last 16 years. if the mission is not delayed because of weather or technical difficulties it means that sir richard branson will steal a march on his billion arrival, none other thanjeff bezos.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @benmboulos. thanks for watching, i will see you soon. hello there. thursday wasn't a bad day for many of us. it stayed dry across much of the country, apart from a few showers which developed later in the afternoon across southern england. for friday, though, it looks like we could see a few more showers around generally. but that said, there should still be quite a bit of sunshine around. it'll feel quite warm too. so we're in between weather systems for friday. this area of low pressure, though, will be moving injust in time for the weekend. it could bring quite a bit of rain at times and even some thunderstorms. so we start this morning off rather cloudy for many, bit of mist and fog around. that should tend to melt away quite quickly, and then there will be plenty of sunshine as we head on into the afternoon, but a scattering of showers will develop. some of them could turn out to be heavy and thundery. i think the focus of them towards central and eastern parts of the country.

some areas avoiding them completely and staying dry, and it will be quite warm too — top temperatures around 24 degrees. those showers continue into the evening, push their way further northwards, and then we start to see the influence of that area of low pressure arriving across the south—west, sending a band of showery northwards and eastwards across wales, the west country, into the midlands, and some of the rain could be quite heavy and thundery by the end of the night. and generally double figure values for most, so it's going to be a mild night. so for this weekend, it is looking decidedly unsettled, as low pressure will be nearby. here it is, very slowly moving its way north—eastwards as it's pushing against this area of high pressure. it's likely to bring spells of heavy rain, maybe longer spells of rain at times on saturday. and then into sunday, widespread showers develop, and some of these could really be quite intense. so this band of rain will continue to journey its way northwards across england and wales through saturday morning. again, some of it could be thundery. scotland could start dry with some good spells of sunshine, before showery rain arrives there later on. further south, there will be some sunshine appearing, but again showers will develop when temperatures reach highs of around 21 or 22 degrees.

sunday, i think generally looking more unsettled across the board. we'll start off with some sunshine, but then showers will get going — some of these will be heavy, some thunderstorms mixed in there. we could see some localised flooding in places, in fact, and temperatures might be a degree or so down range from around 17, generally, to around 20 or 21 celsius. and then into the start of next week, low pressure sticks nearby. in fact, we could see a deep low which could sweep through to bring some wet and windy weather for a time.

this is bbc news. iam ben i am ben boo lost with the headlines. donald trump's long serving finance chief, allen weisselberg, and the organisation set up in the former president's name have led not guilty to tax evasion and fraud in new york. it's the first brought forward by the district attorney. president biden visits miami. he promised federalfunding for the biden visits miami. he promised federal funding for the rescue effort would continue for a month. mr biden was speaking after meeting families of victims of the disaster. outing is under way in the yorkshire constituency of batley and spen, where voting has been taking place for a new member of parliament. results will be expected in the next few hours and will be seen as a test of keir starmer�*s leadership of labour.