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 the building collapse in miami. a key test for britain's opposition labour party as counting gets under way in the batley and spen by—election in west yorkshire. meet the woman who'll become an astronaut in her 80s after being picked by jeff bezos tojoin him on his mission to space.

hello and welcome. lawyers for the trump organization and its chief financial officer allen weisselberg have pleaded not guilty to tax fraud at a court in new york. the prosecutor said there'd been a sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme at the former president's company. our north america editor jon sopel is outside trump tower in new york for us. if you listen to the district attorney, he makes it absolutely clear this is just following the facts and following the law, and that a grand jury has approved what's happened. listen to the trump organization and you get a completely different story. there's a long statement — i'lljust read you a bit of it. "after years of investigating, dozens of subpoenas, millions of documents and millions of dollars of taxpayers�* money, the manhattan da's office has decided to charge select trump entities with providing a car and apartment. make no mistake — this is not about the law, this is all about politics." and donald trump will have

been furious at the way he saw his chief financial officer treated today. the powerful money man 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 3—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. richard painter is a law professor at the university of minnesota. and he was the former white house chief ethics lawyer for george w bush. he says the allegation of fraud is very serious. ~ allegation of fraud is very seriou— allegation of fraud is very serious. we will see what happens _ serious. we will see what happens but _ serious. we will see what happens but it _ serious. we will see what happens but it appears i

serious. we will see what l happens but it appears that serious. we will see what - happens but it appears that the district attorney has powerful evidence that the trump organisation and mr weisselberg, the cfo, chief financial officer of the trump organisation, engaged in tax fraud. and this is not a minor matter. this is a very, very highly paid executive of the trump organisation who apparently received substantial portions of his renumeration under the table which means the taxes were not paid and what ordinary americans pay very high taxes on the trump organisation has made it possible one of its most highly paid executives to skirt his obligations under the law to pay his fair share. this is serious, it is a criminal tax fraud if the prosecution can prove its case in court, and as the manhattan da has made clear, they are not finished with investigations yet. there is quite a bit else going on, but has been investigated. the new york times has reported the trump family has engaged in various prior this is to avoid

taxes or, rather, evade taxes — back which is illegal— over many decades so we will see where all of this goes. find where all of this goes. and therein lies _ where all of this goes. and therein lies an _ where all of this goes. and therein lies an important distinction, as you just thought of acknowledged there. it's one thing to avoid taxes to so within the law by using loopholes and measures that are entirely above board and legal. it is another entirely to prove that taxes have been evaded which is unlawful. absolutely ri . ht. which is unlawful. absolutely right- this — which is unlawful. absolutely right. this is _ which is unlawful. absolutely right. this is a _ which is unlawful. absolutely right. this is a distinction - right. this is a distinction that was made by arthur sullivan, an economist at the london school of economics, and his colleagues had put together a book of 1979 with a title tax avoisan, it is a combination of tax avoidance which is legal, moving to different jurisdictions, paying lower taxes for example, and tax evasion which is criminal, that would be pretending you have moved to different jurisdictions in order to pay

lower taxes. or paying perhaps the private school tuition of your employees�*s the private school tuition of your employees's grandchild so your employees's grandchild so your employees's grandchild so your employee does not have to incur income tax on the salary. so the bottom line is that this has been going on for a long time and, indeed, arthur sullivan, when he wrote the bookin sullivan, when he wrote the book in 1979, in some ways celebrated this practice as a way to fight back against high taxes. this was the era before thatcherism in the uk and in the united states and we lowered some of our taxes for the highest—paid people. —— paganism in the united states. the way to fight against high taxes is to engage in avoisan and i can say is those who engage in this practice, whether in the uk or the united states whether it is trump organisation or anyone else, they run the risk of prosecution —— reaganism. that is exactly what happened today.

richard painter. to miami now, where president biden has been meeting families and rescue workers in surfside, where an apartment building collapsed last week. 18 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. applause. 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 other family, 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. let's get some of the day's other news. turkey's president has rejected accusations that his country had taken a step backwards by pulling out of an international treaty to prevent violence against women. mr erdogan said turkey's battle on the issue did not start with the istanbul convention and wouldn't end with its withdrawal. he's announced goals for a national action plan to combat such violence, but that hasn't stopped international condemnation. 130 countries have agreed reforms to business taxation. they want to ensure that 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 found that

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 that the region suffered a record decline in ice concentrations last year. canadian authorities are now battling wildfires after the extreme heatwave that's hit the western part of the country. on tuesday, the town recorded the country's highest ever temperature of 49.6 degrees celsius. some 250 people fled the fires, some filming as they left. gordon murray was filming as he made his way to safety out of lytton. he's now in vancouver. it is... we're 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 would've, if we had the time, would have been able to get. do you...? we got in the car and we drove. we had no idea even which direction to drive because there was so much smoke and so much fire 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. gordon murray there. stay with us on bbc world news. 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 3h years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. 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. votes are being counted and a crucial by—election here in the uk. the opposition labour party is defending a majority of three thousand in batley and spen — it's being seen as a test of sir keir starmer�*s leadership. but the contest is tight, it has wider implications for the

politics and return. ——in britain. joining me now is siena rogers, offering the inside track on the labor party. and also with me is mo hussein who worked in downing street when david cameron was prime minister. siena, the importance for labour with this result and what it could mean for the leadership?— what it could mean for the leadership? yes, this is kind ofthe leadership? yes, this is kind of the main _ leadership? yes, this is kind of the main focus _ leadership? yes, this is kind of the main focus with - leadership? yes, this is kind of the main focus with this l of the main focus with this by—election, really, mostly because in may, labour suffered this absolutely devastating defeat in hartlepool, another northern seat, very different seat but itjust shows that labour is actually going backwards, literally, rather than improving which was obviously the offer that keir starmer made to labour embers when he was a as labour leader only a year ago, and it

actually turned from a labour majority of around 3000 500, which is very similar to batley and spen and it turned into a tory majority of 7000 almost and the fears are that the same kind of thing could happen again tonight. teams so far if it is a tory win as expected, it is a tory win as expected, it won't be quite that big, the margin will be slimmer. it will be a narrow win but it is still absolutely devastating because it is very rare for governing parties to gain seats in by—elections and two, and a parliamentary term, two in two months, for the conservatives to do that, that would be a great achievement for them and really people will be starting to question keir starmer�*s leadership. to question keir starmer's leadership-— to question keir starmer's leadership. to question keir starmer's leadershi. �* , , ., leadership. ok, let's bring an mo hussein. _ leadership. ok, let's bring an mo hussein. we _ leadership. ok, let's bring an mo hussein. we heard - leadership. ok, let's bring an - mo hussein. we heard therefrom siena about the chances the conservatives have. the indications are, as a governing

party in powerfor 11 indications are, as a governing party in power for 11 years that the momentum would not be with them and a by—election, but do you think they may prevail? i but do you think they may revail? ~ , . prevail? i think there is a chance of— prevail? i think there is a chance of that _ prevail? i think there is a | chance of that happening, certainly. it has been a labour seat for 2h years, so on paper at least labour should be feeling very confident and as we have said, by—elections should be difficult for governing parties, particularly after 11 years, but i think in terms of what has been coming back from doorstep, conservatives would be probably quietly hopeful about this. i think it is very different to hartlepool, though. hartlepool, after 57 years turned from labour to conservative, batley and spen was a conservative seat before 1997 so perhaps not a red wall seat in the truest sense, or as we look around the wider area where it is, but i

think probably, quietly hopeful, but it is really labor's to lose.- hopeful, but it is really labor's to lose. let's 'ust go back to siena * labor's to lose. let's 'ust go back to siena on _ labor's to lose. let's 'ust go back to siena on that_ labor's to lose. let'sjust go back to siena on that one i labor's to lose. let's just go | back to siena on that one and siena, the fallout from that, if the outcome is not an labor's favour and they have lost hartlepool and then batley and spen, do you think that sir keir starmer can remain in his post as leader? i keir starmer can remain in his post as leader?— post as leader? i think i can and i think— post as leader? i think i can and i think most _ post as leader? i think i can and i think most likely - post as leader? i think i can and i think most likely he i post as leader? i think i can i and i think most likely he will do. he was only elected as labour leader in april last year. it wasn't very long ago, and he did something quite brilliant which was unite the majority of labour members with the majority of labour mps and it seems as if he had personal approval ratings that were brilliant that labour had seen in quite some time among the broader electorate and people were so positive about his leadership, it is obviously massively faulted since then because his ratings have gone

down and the electoral performances are shockingly bad at this point, especially if labour does lose tonight, so obviously there are going to be calls for him to resign, certainly from the left of the parties. their may be a leadership challenge but i think the mood in the parliamentary party, certainly, if not in the membership is that it would just be too early and has leadership and he started to address some of their criticisms and their suggestion in terms of changing his top team in the leaders office, so addressing some of those things about strategy and communications. fine those things about strategy and communications.— communications. one last question _ communications. one last question to _ communications. one last question to mo, _ communications. one last question to mo, because. communications. one last. question to mo, because of communications. one last- question to mo, because of the conservatives lose this by—election, having that upset recently in chesham and amersham, losing that seat to the lib dems, what do you think people will make of that? how will that fit in the direction of the party? i will that fit in the direction of the party?— will that fit in the direction of the -a ? ~ ., ., of the party? i think, i am not sure it will— of the party? i think, i am not sure it will have _ of the party? i think, i am not sure it will have that - of the party? i think, i am not sure it will have that big - of the party? i think, i am not sure it will have that big an i sure it will have that big an effect, to be honest, with the majority that the conservatives

have. the chesham and amersham result was disappointing, it was certainly a warning shot and there were some pacific issues around that, whether it was planning reform or interestingly, voters in the south feeling they are being ignored and the focus was too much on the north so i think it would be different and this has been labour 2a years, so i think if conservatives win, it would be seen as a bonus. it is also very high muslim population, as well, so i think that in itself would be interesting for government to have to go forward with as well in terms of maintaining the trust and relationship with the muslim community, so let's see what happens but i don't think it would be too significant with the majority the conservatives have and the plan they have to focus on these parts of the country. mil parts of the country. all ri . ht, parts of the country. all right. we _ parts of the country. all right, we must- parts of the country. all right, we must leave it there,

thank you very much to you both. prince william and prince harry have unveiled a statue of their mother, diana, princess of wales on what would have been her 60th birthday. 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. this report from courtney bembridge. we land gently on the desert surface, we open the hatch and you step outside. what's the first thing you say? i'm will say, "honey, that was the best thing that ever happened to me! give me a hug!" it's a moment wally funk has been waiting 60 years for. you're going to be an astronaut. 0h, finally! in the 1960s, she was one of 13 women who passed nasa's stringent training programme to become astronauts. 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 fourtimes, isaid, "i want to become

an astronaut." nobody would take me! none of the women for the programme ever made it to space, and now at 82, wally funk is going to change that. she spent a lifetime flying and served as america's first female air safety investigator and first female military flight instructor. but not content with blazing just one trail, she's now set to become the oldest person ever to travel into space. woo! i can hardly wait! a ten—minute flight with a lifetime's worth of significance. courtney bembridge, bbc news. australia plans to halve the amount of international arrivals at let's and in response to the delta variant of covid-19. response to the delta variant of covid—19. australia already has a number of people who can enter the country, but that number will be cut from 6000 to

3000. the government has come under increasing pressure over its vaccine rollout, with less than 10% of the population fully vaccinated. the prime minister scott morrison has been laying out the country's path forward and here is what he said a short time ago. while the reduction _ he said a short time ago. while the reduction of _ he said a short time ago. while the reduction of those - he said a short time ago. while the reduction of those caps i the reduction of those caps will certainly, right across the system, obviously take some pressure off, as we have observed over the course of the past 18 months, that alone does not provide any failsafe regarding any potential breaches. we have seen breaches occur, predominantly as a result of infection control procedures and human error and so on. those issues need to continue to be strengthened, so simply reducing the caps doesn't necessarily provide a failsafe, but because of the particular virulence of the delta strain, it is believed that that is a prudent action while we remain in this suppression phase of the virus.

scott morrison there. you can reach me and the team on a social media. thanks for watching, i'll 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 in just 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 2a 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.

and the benefits it can all bring to us. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. donald trump's long—serving finance chief allen weisselberg and the organisation set up in the former president's name have pleaded not guilty to tax fraud and theft at a court in new york. the charges are the first to be brought as part of a 3—year investigation by the manhattan district attorney. president biden has said it is essential to find out what caused an apartment block in miami to collapse last week. he also promised that federal funding for the rescue effort would continue for a month. mr biden was speaking after meeting families of victims of the disaster. counting is under way in the yorkshire constituency of batley and spen where voting has been taken place. it will be seen as a test of keir starmer's leadership of the labor party.