welcome to bbc news, i'm david eades. our top stories: the us capitol riot hearings, election workers speak of the pressure they faced from donald trump, leaving them to cope with abuse and intimidation. various groups come by, arguing and threatening with neighbours and with myself. so it was disturbing. it was disturbing. the disgraced entertainer, bill cosby is found to have sexually assaulted a 16—year—old girl at the playboy mansion in 1975. a civil court awards her half a million dollars in damages. tensions rise between russia and lithuania, following a ban on the transport 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, the hearing into last month's mass school shooting in texas, is told the police could have stopped the gunman after three minutes, but officers put their own lives before the children's. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. threats, intimidation and unbearable pressure. this was the story of the latest congressional hearings investigating alleged attempts by donald trump and his allies to overturn the election result of 2020. and those claims came from republican officials, some of whom spoke of mr trump's direct involvement.

three state officials delivered often emotional testimony, revealing the intense pressure they were under. the hearing also heard from poll workers, who said they had been falsely accused of carrying out a fake ballot scheme to skew the vote, which had led to them facing intimidation and death threats. 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 is just how many politicians who continue to repeat these election lies are now manoeuvring to be in a position to oversee and certify the next presidential election. joining me now is amy gardner, national political reporter at the washington post. thanks very much forjoining us. there is a lot there in the hearings over the course of those few hours. what really stood out for you? i those few hours. what really stood out for you?— stood out for you? i have to say that _ stood out for you? i have to say that what _ stood out for you? i have to say that what stood - stood out for you? i have to say that what stood out - stood out for you? i have to say that what stood out for| stood out for you? i have to i say that what stood out for me the most was both the testimony of rusty bauer, the arizona house speaker you quoted extensively just a house speaker you quoted extensivelyjust a moment house speaker you quoted extensively just a moment ago and how heartrending it was to

hear him describe the pressure and the arguments that he was facing in his own yard as his gravely ill daughter was inside and who passed away a few weeks after those confrontations and the second thing was the testimony of the mother—daughter pair of election workers who were from atlanta who both testified today. one was recorded previously in closed court testimony. ruby freeman, the mother and the daughter both worked in an election counting facility in atlanta, georgia and rudy giuliani and donald trump himself attacked them publicly by name repeatedly and they wound up having to go into hiding. they were afraid to place orders forfood hiding. they were afraid to place orders for food delivery, for fearing that someone would recognise their name because it had been bounced around all over social media. shea's

grandmother had people knocking on her door demanding to be let into her home. it wasjust on her door demanding to be let into her home. it was just an incredible, vivid portrait of the willingness of trump and his allies to upper end the lives of people who hadn't asked for it, to perpetrate their lies about the election result. , . , ,, ., result. yes and the impression that think _ result. yes and the impression that think a — result. yes and the impression that think a lot _ result. yes and the impression that think a lot of _ result. yes and the impression that think a lot of people - that think a lot of people would have drawn from them as characters is so far removed from the impression given previously, not least by rudy giuliani, about what they were like on they were doing. also we have republican officials involved here. does that in any way change the dynamic or donald trump with yellow well, i do think it is clearly a concerted strategy on the part of the committee to use republican officials, this is not the first hearing in which we have seen this. the last

hearing last week featured lawyers for trump, lawyers for mike pence the vice president, and even the committee lawyer who was questioning some of the witnesses last week was a republican. witnesses last week was a republican-— witnesses last week was a republican. witnesses last week was a reublican. �* ~ ., , republican. and i think that is a concerted — republican. and i think that is a concerted strategy - republican. and i think that is a concerted strategy so - republican. and i think that is a concerted strategy so that i a concerted strategy so that this doesn't look like a partisan impeachment as the two impeachment of president trump did look and whether that changes hearts and minds as a separate question. there are so many people, nearly half our country who still support trump, would vote for him again, who say they believe has claims that fraud tainted the 2020 election and they hate to say it but i don't think that many of those individuals are watching these hearings or reading about them. so watching these hearings or reading about them. so it's not really changing _ reading about them. so it's not really changing the _ reading about them. so it's not really changing the dynamic - really changing the dynamic particularly. what about the future work of the committee and what more can we perhaps expect from it?— expect from it? well that is the big question. _ expect from it? well that is the big question. the - expect from it? well that is - the big question. the committee members have made great promises that we are going to see a true line from trump to

the violence that we all saw on january six of 2021 and we don't know what that through line is. there has been some speculation that a documentary filmmaker who was with trump that day, who has been subpoenaed, whose video has been subpoenaed, there has been great speculation about what has video shows, whether it actually shows former president trump admitting that he lost the election. that would be a very big deal because that would sort of seal the deal in terms of his knowledge that he was perpetrating a fraud on the country with the attempt to overturn the election results but we don't know. we know that the committee says that they believe that he committed crimes and they are going to prove that or show it but we haven't seen what that sort of smoking gun is yet. mil haven't seen what that sort of smoking gun is yet.— smoking gun is yet. all right, we wait to — smoking gun is yet. all right, we wait to see. _ smoking gun is yet. all right, we wait to see. amy, - smoking gun is yet. all right, we wait to see. amy, thank. smoking gun is yet. all right, i we wait to see. amy, thank you very much indeed for your assessment. amy gardner. let's get some of the day's other news.

president biden and colombia's president—elect, gustavo petro, have promised to work together to address climate change, drug trafficking and bilateral security. in their first phone call since mr petro was elected on sunday, mr biden also said he would help colombia in the full implementation of a peace deal with the farc rebel group, which was signed six years ago. mr petro, a former marxist rebel himself, has become colombia's first left—wing leader. 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. in a surprise move the military ruler of burkina faso has met the president he overthrew

in january's coup. president kabore was accompanied by anotherformer president. officials said the meeting showed lieutenant colonel paul—henri damiba's desire for reconciliation. at the time of the coup the military leader said he overthrew president kabore because he had failed to address frequent jihadist attacks. despite a promise to improve security, the attacks have continued. 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. a jury in los angeles has found the american comedian, bill cosby, forced a 16—year—old girl to perform a sex act on him at the playboy mansion in 1975. the court also ordered that cosby must payjudy huth,

who is now 64, 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. dozens of women have previously accused cosby of sexual abuse but have been unable to seek criminal charges because of statutes of limitation. for more on this story i'm joined now by neama rahmani, who's president of west coast trial lawyers in los angeles. ta nks tanks very much indeed for joining us. what do you make of this finding, then?— this finding, then? today is a big verdict — this finding, then? today is a big verdict here _ this finding, then? today is a big verdict here in _ this finding, then? today is a big verdict here in los - this finding, then? today is a | big verdict here in los angeles county because this is the first of may be up to 50 or 60 cosby victims that have had their case moved forward to a jury. after all of course cosby did serve three years but many of the victims believe he hasn't received justice because the pennsylvania supreme court overturned his criminal conviction, but that doesn't mean in states like california that opened up the statute of limitations that victims can't

move forward with civil lawsuits and this is the first of many. lawsuits and this is the first of many-— lawsuits and this is the first ofman. ., of many. are you saying that there are _ of many. are you saying that there are 50 _ of many. are you saying that there are 50 to _ of many. are you saying that there are 50 to 60, - of many. are you saying that there are 50 to 60, i'd - of many. are you saying that. there are 50 to 60, i'd presume all women, who were minors at the time? because that was the understanding on which the statute of limitations was lifted, wasn't it yellow well not all of them were minors and not all of them were minors and not all of them were minors and not all of them have filed lawsuits but to the extent that they are here in california, californian legislature has opened the statute of limitations in two instances copy if they were minors they can fail within five years of discovering their injuries and backin discovering their injuries and back in 2020 the legislature also open up the window for three years so any minor victims may be able to get civiljustice. i suppose we should recognise there is almost certainly going to be another step and we don't know this for sure yet but it would be a surprise if mr cosby did not challenge that ruling and appeal. not challenge that ruling and a- eal. , ., , ., appeal. there is no question that cosby's _ appeal. there is no question that cosby's attorneys - appeal. there is no question that cosby's attorneys are i that cosby's attorneys are going to fail and appeal. first

at the second division here in los angeles and then maybe to the california supreme court stopping these statutes have been challenged previously, first with the state of california opened up the statute of limitations related to childhood sexual abuse because of the allegations that were levelled against the catholic church stopping that was litigated and they wouldn't be surprised if cosby's lawyers followed that same path. i’m followed that same path. i'm 'ust followed that same path. i'm just interested _ followed that same path. i'm just interested in what you've said about the possibility of a few more cases to emerge because there must be a number of winning dominant women who think, we have had a case here, point has been proven, i don't know if they challenge this, i don't know if they can take on the court system, the lawyers, the court system, the lawyers, the cost, maybe this is enough vindication for me. is a the cost, maybe this is enough vindication for me.— vindication for me. is a lot of women who _ vindication for me. is a lot of women who have _ vindication for me. is a lot of women who have wanted - vindication for me. is a lot of women who have wanted to l vindication for me. is a lot of - women who have wanted to come forward. they have testified in cosby's criminal trial stopping there are two other eligible that testified in this case but all of these cases have been stayed or put on hold because of cosby's criminal proceedings

stopping other these are over, cosby still has a fifth amendment right to remain silent, he didn't even testified another door is open for his minor victims to move forward their civil lawsuits. we will watch that very closely indeed, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the robot bartender solving a staff shortage problem and mixing a perfect cocktail. 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. again. my david eades. the congressional hearing into the us capitol riot has heard how some electoral workers were pressurised by donald trump to overturn the result, and laterfaced death threats from the public.

the disgraced entertainer, bill cosby is found to have sexually assaulted a teenager at the playboy mansion in 1975. a civil court awards his victim $500,000 in damages. 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. a texas senate hearing into last month's uvalde school shooting has heard the police officers who responded put their own lives before the children's. the response team is said to have waited more than an hour outside the classroom door, before they confronted the gunman.

here's mark lobel. a month ago young children at this elementary school in texas were frantically calling 911 to report multiple becomes as their classmates were being shot. now photos have been emerge that appeared to show armed police with rivals and at least one ballistic shield waiting in a school corridor, arriving earlier and with more powerful weaponry than previously reported. pictured inside the school 19 minutes after the gunman entered the school, but why was there a long delay in using them? there is another accusation. police waited for a master key to arrive so the classroom doors could be opened, but now there are serious doubts cared that the door was even locked. there is compelling — the door was even locked. there is compelling evidence _ the door was even locked. there is compelling evidence that - the door was even locked. there is compelling evidence that the l is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at rob elementary was an

abject failure. the attack at rob elementary was an abject failure.— abject failure. the damning timeline of— abject failure. the damning timeline of events - abject failure. the damning timeline of events showing | abject failure. the damning l timeline of events showing in galling detail but it was over an hour into the shooting when officers confronted and killed the gunman. officers confronted and killed the gunman-— officers confronted and killed the gunman. three minutes in the gunman. three minutes in the west building, _ the gunman. three minutes in the west building, there - the gunman. three minutes in the west building, there were | the gunman. three minutes in. the west building, there were a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armour to isolate, distract and neutralise the subject. the officers had weapons, the children had none. the officers had body armour, the children had body armour, the children had none. had body armour, the children had none-— had none. texas was online safety chief _ had none. texas was online safety chief accuses - had none. texas was online safety chief accuses the - safety chief accuses the officers placing their lives above the children's'. testimony from one survivor illustrates how desperate things were at the time. he shot my _ things were at the time. he: shot my friend who is next to me and i thought he was going to come back to the room. so i grabbed a little blood and put it all over me. we grabbed a little blood and put it all over me.— grabbed a little blood and put it all over me. we had numerous law enforcement _ it all over me. we had numerous law enforcement officers - it all over me. we had numerous law enforcement officers and - law enforcement officers and agencies that assisted with the

release — agencies that assisted with the release of the students.- release of the students. there are calls for — release of the students. there are calls for this _ release of the students. there are calls for this man, - are calls for this man, uvalde's school police chief to reside. but he says he did not order police to hold back. the initial narrative _ order police to hold back. the initial narrative of _ order police to hold back. tue: initial narrative of police presented to the governor was that they were courageous, acted decisively, ran towards the scene and confronted the tutor. that is turned out to be not even close to the shoot. that is very hard to hear texans for this narrative ballpark. texans for this narrative ballpark-— texans for this narrative ballpark. the death of 19 students _ ballpark. the death of 19 students and _ ballpark. the death of 19 students and two - ballpark. the death of 19 i students and two teachers, ballpark. the death of 19 - students and two teachers, now harder to bear following the police decision not to confront the active shooter quickly. mark lobel, bbc news. let me bring you up—to—date on events surrounding ukraine. the country 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 battle for the nearby cities of severodonetsk and lysycha nsk. the region's governor says that continuous artillery fire has caused catastrophic destruction to both cities. russia has warned lithuania of "serious" consequences after it banned the transport 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. a bit ofa a bit of a diversion for you. 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 breathe a sigh of relief after a deal was struck to allow elvis themed weddings to allow elvis themed weddings to carry on in sin city. the elvis estate had sued seize and assist letters asking them to stop the weddings. they can carry on with their acts after agreeing to pay and annual fee.

vegas is the wedding capital of the world with more than 150 marriages every day, many of them, you guessed it, with an elbow spin. hello there. the heat is continuing to build for a few days returns ——before it 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 that 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 have some patchy cloud to scotland and northern ireland, generally across england and wales, any cloud we have the moment will melt away and we will have clear skies. temperatures typically overnight 11 or 12 degrees. a little bit milder than that in northern ireland if it stays cloudy here.

i suspect 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, the temperatures rising rapidly once again. adding a couple degrees onto today's values 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 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 on 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 ahead of that still some cloud western scotland and northern ireland, it is not so high here. another very warm day

but 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 southwest with cool air coming in behind that for the weekend. we do have some heavy and potentially thundery showers from overnight, moving northwards across northern and western parts of the uk, ahead of the band of rain in the south—west later on. more cloud around to end the week so temperatures are going to be a bit lower with more sunshine and dry weather for eastern england, it's still going to be very warm.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us capitol riot hearings in washington have been told about the pressure, election workers faced from donald trump, to overturn the 2020 result. state officials testified the former president's influence lead to them, and their families having to cope with abuse and intimidation. ajury 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. jurors in the civil trial ruled against him, and awarded his victim half a million dollars in damages. moscow has warned lithuania it wil face "serious consequences" over a ban on the transport of certain goods travelling through to the russian territory of kaliningrad, on the baltic coast. lithuania says it is is within its rights to enforce sanctions imposed by the european union. those are the headlines.