welcome to newsday on the bbc. let's get you the headlines. the us capitol riot hearings are told about the pressure election workers faced from donald trump, leaving them and their families to cope with abuse and intimidation. various groups come by, arguing and threatening with neighbours and threatening with neighbours and with myself. so it was disturbing. it was disturbing. the uk experiences its biggest rail strike in 30 years, unions confirm a second nationwide stoppage on thursday. tensions between russia and lithuania, following a ban on the transfer of goods, to the russian territory of kaliningrad

on the baltic coast. after the floods, the struggle to reach millions of people affected by the rising waters in bangladesh and north—east india. and, after meeting preisdent zelensky in ukraine, the hollywood actor ben stiller tells the bbc he praises the spirit of the people. these are just people like you and i who have been caught in a circumstance totally beyond their control of. nobody wants to flee from their home. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. three us republican state officials have been describing the direct pressure they were put under by donald trump and his team to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

in an, at times, emotional testimony to the congressional committee, they described threats of violence directed at them from trump supporters when they refused to bow to the pressure. we have various groups come by, and they have had video panel trucks with videos of me, proclaiming me to be a paedophile and a pervert, and a corrupt politician. and blaring loudspeakers in my neighbourhood, and leaving literature both on my property and arguing and threatening with neighbours, and with myself. one gentleman that had the three bars on his chest, and he had a pistol and was threatening my neighbour — not with the pistol,

but just vocally — when i saw the gun, i knew i had to get close. we had a daughter who was gravely ill, who was upset by what was happening outside. and my wife's a valiant person, very strong, quiet, a very strong woman. the secretary of state for georgia, brad raffensperger, also detailed a series of false claims made by the trump campaign. our north america editor, sarah smith has this report. on january the 6th, donald trump was still repeating what he knew to be lies about the election. the mysterious vote dump of up to 100,000 votes forjoe biden. almost none for trump — oh, that sounds fair! committee members today heard from an official that trump

had called days before, alleging fraud in georgia. we found two dead people, when i wrote my letter to congress, that's dated january 6th, and subsequent to that, we found two more, that's four people, not 4,000 — just a total of four. all the fraud allegations had been investigated and dismissed. but still, donald trump asked him to find the exact number of votes he needed to beatjoe biden. what i knew is that we didn't have any votes to find. we had to continually look, we investigated — i could've shared the numbers with you. there were no votes to find. the result of donald trump's

attempts to illegally overturn the election result have now been branded as an attempted coup. what donald trump and his allies did after the last presidential election was shocking but even more worrying was just how many politicians who continued to repeat these election lies are now manoeuvring to be in a position to oversee and certify the next presidential election. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. a jury in los angeles has found the entertainer bill cosby liable for the sexual assault of a 16—year—old girl at the playboy mansion in 1975. he denied her claims, butjurors in the civil trial ruled against him, and awarded her half a million dollars in damages. cosby was released from prison last year when a court in pennsylvania threw out a criminal conviction for sexual assault. a texas senate hearing into last month's uvalde school shooting has been told that the law enforcement response was

an "abject failure". a senior state official said there were enough police officers to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, but they waited for more than an hour to go in. a plane with 150 passengers and crew on board has made an emergency landing at miami international airport. the red air plane had reported problems with its landing gear and landed on its belly before briefly catching fire. it had flown in from the dominican republic. police say four people suffered minor injuries, all 140 passengers and 11 crew were evacuated. singapore has a confirmed case of monkeypox, it's the first one reported in southeast asia during this year's outbreak of the viral disease. the health ministry says the patient is stable and has been identified as a 42—year—old british flight attendant. hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in southern china, due to floods and landslides. authorities there say

the rainfall in the guangdong, fujian and guangxi provinces are at their highest levels since 1961. police in ecuador have used tear gas to disperse thousands of students, workers and indigenous people who took to the streets of the capital quito for the ninth day in a row. they're demanding changes to the conservative government's economic policies. several people have been injured in clashes between demonstrators and riot police. the biggest train strike in the uk in 30 years has disrupted travel for millions of people. it was planned as the first of three days of action, but rail bosses and the unions now say they will hold fresh talks on wednesday to try to find common ground. the effects of the first day of strike have been severe, with only a fifth of services running across england, scotland and wales. here's more from our transport correspondent, katy austin. hull, bournemouth, and much

of scotland and wales were among the places which turned into train deserts as thousands of workers walked out in the biggest rail strike in three decades. this is one of the stations where some trains are running today, but across the country only about 20% of the usual services are operating. and they finished much earlier. the last train from glasgow to crewe departed just after 2:30pm. major stations like cardiff looked empty, as passengers heeded the warning to avoid the railway and many commuters switched back into working—from—home mode. that's not an option for ruth, who relies on taking the train from southampton to herjob in portsmouth, but there were no services to portsmouth today. well, i won't be able to work today. i have a work phone, so i can log in that way, but i won't be able to do my fulljob today. but my colleagues have been really understanding. 0bviously i've made the effort to try and get there, but today it's just not going to happen. lack of rail services didn't mean

gridlock on the roads — in fact, major routes appeared quieter than usual. in london, a walk—out by underground staff brought additional disruption. commuters queued for buses instead. leisure plans this week will also be affected. sue, from bradford, sympathises with striking workers, but has had to find another way of travelling to a special birthday theatre trip. i would get a return train for i think only £6—8. plan b is taxis. and adding on extra expense, really. the return taxi, i've been given an estimate of, i think, £22 each way. the rmt union says members need a pay rise that reflects the increased cost of living, and thatjobs and conditions must be protected. it has rejected a pay offer worth 2% with a further 1% if reforms are accepted requiring job cuts — and it's warned more strikes could follow. i don't think sunday will be the end of it, from what i can see.

if we can negotiate a deal this week, it can be. but otherwise, we'll have to look at what campaigns we'll put on going forward. and we think other unions willjoin this into dispute on the railway. but the rail industry, under pressure to save money after the financial hit from the pandemic, says ways of working need updating — from using more technology and maintenance to making weekends part of the normal rota. network rail says its changes, which would mean 1,800 fewer jobs, will enable a higher pay offer. it now hopes to push them through whether or not the rmt agrees. we'd much, much prefer to do this by agreement with the trade unions, so we can stop that process at any point if there's a willingness to strike the deal. the prime minister told cabinet the country must prepare to stay the course during the strikes. these reforms, these improvements in the way we run our railways, are in the interests of the travelling public. they will help to cut costs for fare—payers up and down the country.

but they're also in the interests of the railways, of railway workers and their families. tomorrow morning, fresh talks are planned between the two sides in this dispute. let's revisit our top story on the congressional hearing into the congressional hearing into the us capitol riot case. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent, david willis. david, thanks very much for coming up on newsday for us. the focus this time has really been on the kind of intimidation and pressure that officials went through. just take us through the significance of all that we heard on tuesday.- significance of all that we heard on tuesday. you are absolutely _ heard on tuesday. you are absolutely right _ heard on tuesday. you are absolutely right and - heard on tuesday. you are absolutely right and at - heard on tuesday. you are absolutely right and at the| absolutely right and at the last public hearing of coarse committee members sought to draw attention to the pressure that donald trump and his aides but on the former vice president mike pence to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

today the focus was on state officials, republicans, all of them and the effort that were made to get them to overturn the election results. they heard the committee from a man called rusty bowers, a speaker from the arizona house of representatives and he told the committee that in one of many conversations with rudy giuliani, he conceded that they had lots of theories about election fraud, but no real evidence of it and he came under a lot of personal pressure, as did his counterpart in the state of georgia brad raffensperger —— brad raffensperger, in which donald trump pleaded with him to find the votes needed to secure victory. donald trump lost both the states of georgia and arizona but perhaps the most heartrending evidence today came from a mother and

daughter who were both junior election officials in the state of georgia and one of them, ruby freeman, the mother said you know how it feels to have the president of the united states target you? the president of the us is supposed to represent every american, not target one. david, testimonies _ not target one. david, testimonies have - not target one. david, | testimonies have been not target one. david, - testimonies have been piling up against donald trump and his team. what have we heard so far from team trump and the kind of reactions to the hearing so far? ~ ., , far? well, donald trump continues _ far? well, donald trump continues to _ far? well, donald trump continues to dismiss - far? well, donald trump l continues to dismiss these hearings as a political witch—hunt and he has been fiercely critical, issuing statements even before this hearing, just before this hearing, just before this hearing got under way. one of those contentions were dismissed by the chief witness today, rusty bowers. but there is evidence that very little might change as far as the

public mood is concerned, so entrenched are the political positions of people in this country. polls have consistently shown that the majority of republican voters for example continue to believe that donald trump really had no hand in the insurrection that took place at the us capitol building on the sixth of january last year. david willis, always - january last year. david willis, always very - january last year. david| willis, always very good january last year. david i willis, always very good to speak with you. thanks very much for getting us that update. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the hollywood actor ben stiller praises the spirit of the ukrainian people, after meeting preisdent zelensky, and visiting the city of irpin. members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade centre, armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according

to international law, that we have a right to claim certain parts of this country as ourland. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner". cheering as the uk woke up to the news that it is to exit the european union, leave campaigners began celebrating. in total, 17.4 million people voted for the uk to leave the eu. the medical research council has now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco. it was closing time for checkpoint charlie which, for 29 years, has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. welcome back to newsday on the bbc with me, arunoday mukharji, in singapore. a look at our top stories again:

the congressional hearing into the us capitol riot has focused on how some electoral workers were pressurised by donald trump to overturn the result, and laterfaced death threats from the public. a nationwide strike has led to the cancellation of around 80% of rail services across the uk. another stoppage is due to happen on thursday. ukraine has confirmed that russian forces have captured a key frontline village in the eastern region of luhansk. the loss of toshkivka gives russia a further foothold in the grinding battle for the nearby cities of severodonetsk and lysycha nsk. the region's governor says continuous artillery fire have caused catastrophic destruction to both cities. russia has warned lithuania of serious consequences after it banned the rail transfer of some goods to the russian territory of kaliningrad. the region, where an estimated one million people live,

is sandwiched between lithuania and poland. it relies heavily on imports of raw materials and spare parts from russia and the european union. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, has this update from kaliningrad. when one of the most powerful men in russia, nikolai patrushev, the hawkish chief of the russian security council, flies into kaliningrad as he did earlier today and issues a very public and stern warning about the consequences of russia's response to all of this will be very bad, very serious for the lithuanian people — that makes you wonder what russia is planning here. now some russian politicians and commentators are calling for a military response to lithuania — a show of force by russia. now that's quite incredible, really, because that would mean basically, russia against nato.

and i don't think that's very likely, but the fact that some people are talking about this and pushing this shows just how bad relations have become between russia and the west. floods in bangladesh and northeastern india have claimed the lives of at least 100 people and forced millions to leave their homes. the heavy rains are making it difficult for rescuers to help those stranded due to rising water levels. the floods are affecting the north eastern indian state of assam and parts of northern bangladesh. 0ur south asia correspondent yogita limaye has sent this report. when the rain relents, rescuers work with the means they have to get people out. in small groups and clusters, hundreds of thousands are still to get to safety. in these rural and remote areas of the indian state of assam, it isn't a fast—moving operation,

but without it some would simply not make it. across the border in bangladesh, the situation is even worse. this is the gate of a school in sylhet that was turned into a shelter. if it rains any more, it will no serve as a refuge. inside, people who've managed to save themselves but lost everything they had. "our home was swept away in the floods. all our belongings have gone too," this woman says. anger against the administration is growing. "our home was flooded and we've come here for shelter, but we haven't received any relief material yet. we're here without food," she says. unrelenting rainfall for more than a week because the flooding. and while this is a common occurrence in these low—lying areas during the monsoon season,

bangladeshi officials say it's the worst they've seen in more than a century. today prime minister sheikh hasina surveyed the scale of the disaster that hit her country. she insists her government is doing all it can. supplies have reached some areas. food packets, water and medicines. this is moulvibazar to the south of sylhet. but the threat of more rain remains. and in both countries, most people who've been affected had very little before the flood hit. they'll need all the help they can get to rebuild their lives. yogita limaye, bbc news, india. south korea successfully launched its first satellite into orbit, south of the capital. the country hopes to land a probe on the moon by the

year 2030. the hollywood actor and campaigner, ben stiller, has told the bbc he worries that the world will forget about the victims of ukraine's war. he made the comments on a visit to the city of irpin, as part of his role as an ambassador for the un's refugee agency. while visiting the capital, kyiv, he also met president zelensky, calling him his hero. the zoolander star has been working as a goodwill ambassador since 2016, and spoke tojon kay about the impact the visit has had on him. like you and i who have been caught in a circumstance totally the thing that gets me is these are just people like you and i who have been caught in a circumstance totally beyond their control. nobody wants to flee from their home, nobody wants to have to go out into the world and have to start fresh, or even just try to find a way to survive. and that's what i'm taking from this — these are just people living their lives. the stories we heard today were from mothers who, when this shelling and these rocket attacks started at the beginning of the war,

were having to grab their kids in the middle of the night. 0ne mother who had two twins had to grab her kids and run for shelter, not even knowing where to go for shelter. they went to the basement, then had to wait till the sound of rockets had gone away and take a chance to come back up and grab their clothes. how concerned are you that as time goes on and the seasons pass, and maybe we start to think about the economy in our own individual countries and the cost of living and that kind of thing, that ukraine disappears from the headlines and maybe we start to forget? how much does that worry you? well, it's a real thing. it's very valid, too, because we all have to deal with our own problems in life and what's right in front of us. and all these things you're talking about — domestic issues, pocketbook issues, things that affect us — are very important and top—of—mind. but i think the reality is that our news cycle goes so quickly that it's really hard to keep the attention on these issues that maybe

don't affect us directly, but they do have an effect on us overall. i mean, wars do — they have trickle—down effects economically and in all other ways. but morally, our responsibility that we have to each other as people, i think, is something that everybody deals and wants to do something about. have you felt in danger there? have you felt at risk? erm...no. i mean, it's my first time coming to an area that's in conflict, but it's really kind of strange because when you drive into the country, in the west of the country, you don't feel the conflict. lviv, except for the curfew at night, where it gets very quiet and a little bit eerie, people seem to be going back to life as normal, or trying to as much as possible. and then, as you get closer and closer to kyiv and to the east of the country, you start to see the roadblocks and the destruction — which is really shocking when you haven't seen

anything like that up close. in terms of safety, inside the city of kyiv, people are doing their thing — they're living, they're going out to dinner — we went out to dinner tonight. and it feels like people are trying to get back to normal here, and the reality is the war is right now focused in a different part of the country. that doesn't mean it can't come back here, but it's a very different reality in the east right now or in some cities in the south, for sure. the next time you go to the sausalito bar in munich, you might find your mojito being mixed by a different type of bartender. a shortage of staff has forced the manager to think outside the box, and with the help of inores robotics, a two—armed robot has been brought in to pick up the slack. it's the first robot of its kind to be employed in a bar and the manager is quick to point out that it's meant to provide extra help to current staff, not replace them.

translation: nobody needs to worry about theirjob. - this branch is suffering from staff shortages, which means we would actually very much like to employ more staff if we could find more people willing to work in hospitality. we will keep the same amount of bar staff we had before. so we are not planning to replace anybody with the robot — rather, it aims to be a help. elvis impersonators in las vegas can now breathe a sigh of relief after a deal was struck to allow elvis—themed weddings to continue in sin city. they were left all shook up after the elvis estate issued cease and desist letters ordering to stop the weddings. but now they can carry on with their acts after agreeing to continue paying an annualfee. vegas claims its the wedding capital of the world with more than 150 marriages a day, many with an elvis theme.

the impersonators say it won't see them stepping on anybody�*s suede shoes. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hello there. the heat is continuing to build just for a few days turns cooler this weekend. today it was the turn of england and wales to see temperatures into the mid—20s in the strong sunshine and blue skies. there has been much more cloud across scotland and northern ireland so temperatures today not quite as high as they were yesterday. that cloud though is continuing to thin, so this evening and into the night, we will have some patchy cloud to scotland and northern ireland, generally across england and wales, and any cloud we have the moment will melt away and we will have clear skies. temperatures typically overnight 11 or 12 degrees. could be a little bit milder than that if it stays cloudy here.

i suspect we will break through the cloud and get some sunshine through the day on wednesday and more sunshine to come across scotland, particularly in the east. the sunnier skies continue to be across england and wales, no wind at all, those temperatures rising rapidly once again. adding a couple degrees onto today's values so for many, 26 or 27 degrees. a warmer day than today northern ireland and much warmer in eastern scotland in the sunshine. when you do have the sunshine, we have got high or even very high grass pollen levels once again tomorrow. the heat is building underneath the clear skies and light winds under that area of high pressure but it's getting eroded a little bit on thursday, particularly from that weather front in the south and that will bring with it some showers. it looks like those are moving a little further north more quickly through the english channel into southern parts of england, eventually into south wales, the south midlands, maybe even east anglia before the end of the day. some sunshine headed that still some cloud western scotland and northern ireland,

it is not so high here. another very warm david because those showers are moving northwards more quickly, the highest temperatures are going to be pushed north through the midlands and northern england. and things continue to break down a bit by the end of the week, pressure falling, some heavy showers around, this band of rain approaching the south—west with cooler air coming in behind that for the weekend. we do have some heavy and potentially thundery showers still from overnight, moving northwards across northern and western parts of the uk, ahead of the band of rain in the south—west later on. so we've got more cloud around to end the week so temperatures are going to be a bit lower but with more sunshine and dry weather for eastern england, it's still going to be very warm.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. this week: lara smells rubbish. it doesn't smell, really. but how can we use food waste as fuel? and how can we make meat without the animals? these are not your normal road

signs — how one video game is crashing through the barrier for deaf people.