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 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 childrens. 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. thanks forjoining us. 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. the hearing also heard from election 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, um, 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 but 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. who was upset by what was happening outside. and my wife is a valiant person, very strong, quiet, a very strong woman. the committee also heard about the threats and the harassment of georgia state election workers. shaye moss and her mother ruby freeman — who were wrongly accused by mr trump and his lawyer of committing voter fraud. here's what ruby freeman said in her testimony.

do you know how it feels to have the president of the united states targeted? the president of the united states is supposed to represent every american, not target one but he targeted me, lady ruby, a small business owner, a mother, a proud american citizen who stood up to help fulton county run an election in the middle of a pandemic. our north america editor sarah smith has this report. onjanuary 6, 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. taylor griffin is a republican strategist and former treasury advisor to president george w bush. hejoins me now. thanks very much indeed for your time. thanks very much indeed for yourtime. ijust thanks very much indeed for your time. ijust wonder thanks very much indeed for yourtime. ijust wonderwhat yourtime. ijust wonderwhat you as a republican make of what you've heard in the hearings today.— what you've heard in the hearings today. it's hard to 'usti . hearings today. it's hard to justify- i — hearings today. it's hard to justify. i think _ hearings today. it's hard to justify. | think | _ hearings today. it's hard to justify. i thinkl stand - hearings today. it's hard to justify. i think i stand very | justify. i think i stand very closely aligned with people like the arizona secretary of state and others you heard from, that the plot is ludicrous and it was above their duty to the president of either party, even their own, and i think republicans like me are in a minority. i've been a

trump sceptic all along. i think what you are seeing now is the maybe there are some more republicans who starting to peel off, who are seeing this as indefensible and that's really going to begin to cut into trump's support as we go forward. ~ ., , ., ., forward. where do you get that idea from. _ forward. where do you get that idea from, taylor, _ forward. where do you get that idea from, taylor, other - forward. where do you get that idea from, taylor, other than l forward. where do you get that idea from, taylor, other than a j idea from, taylor, other than a degree, if you don't mind me putting it this way, i degree of wishful thinking. it putting it this way, i degree of wishful thinking.- of wishful thinking. if you look at the _ of wishful thinking. if you look at the georgia - of wishful thinking. if you l look at the georgia primary of wishful thinking. if you - look at the georgia primary 's, the trump supported candidates did not do quite as well as they might have previously. there is also some new polling out showing there is about 16% orso out showing there is about 16% or so republicans think trump should face criminal actions. i think maybe there are always some republicans who think there was something wrong here but i think it's really, if you are looking at this methodically, it's hard to defend. will that be enough in a primary process where it's primarily the party faithful that elect candidates to run

for office on the republican ticket, is it going to be enough that donald trump was not influence wanes to the point. that much is unclear. it certainly can't help. if i point. that much is unclear. it certainly can't help.— certainly can't help. if i look at it from — certainly can't help. if i look at it from a _ certainly can't help. if i look at it from a slightly - certainly can't help. if i look at it from a slightly broader| at it from a slightly broader perspective, we're talking very much on an international stage on bbc world news. the electoral frontrunner if i can put it that way for the republicans is still seen by many to be donald trump. is depicted by republicans is a liar and a bully. depicted by republicans is a liarand a bully. ——he depicted by republicans is a liar and a bully. ——he is being to pick did. how do you deal with that? i think the screen has frozen rather than taylor being stuck with something to say on that. sadly, that has frozen. we will have to leave it there, i'm afraid. sorry about that. 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 robb elementary school in texas were frantically calling 911 to report multiple victims as their classmates were being shot. now, photos have emerged that appear to show armed police with rifles 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's another accusation. police waited for a master key to arrive so the classroom doors could be opened, but now there are serious doubts aired that the door was even locked. there is compelling evidence that the law enforcement

response to the attack at robb elementary was an abject failure. the damning timeline of events showing in galling detail that it was over an hour into the shooting when officers confronted and killed the gunman. three minutes after the subject entered 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 none. texas' public safety chief also accuses the on—scene commander of placing their lives above the children's. testimony from one survivor illustrates how desperate things were at the time. he shot my friend that was 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 had numerous law enforcement officers and agencies that assisted with the safety

and release of the students. there are calls for this man, uvalde's school police chief pete arredondo, to resign. but he denies he was the incident commander, and says he did not order police to hold back. the initial narrative of police presented by the governor was that police were courageous, acted decisively, quickly ran towards the sound of gunfire and confronted the shooter. that has turned out to be not even close to the truth. it has been very, very hard for texans to hear this narrative fall apart. 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's get some of the day's other news. relating to that shooting. democrat and republican senators in the us have

released a compromise bill on firearms safety legislation. the measures will be voted on in the senate. commentators say it's a significant step towards overhauling the nation's gun laws. 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. 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: solving a staff shortage problem, and mixing a perfect cocktail. the german landlord who's hired a robot bartender. 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. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the congressional hearing into the us capitol riot has heard how some electoral workers were pressurised by donald trump to overturn the result and later faced death threats from the public. 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, $500,000 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. neama rahmani, who's president of west coast trial lawyers in los angeles says this verdict is huge. 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. 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? well, 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: if they were minors, they can fail within five years of 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. there is no question 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 just interested in what you've said about the possibility of 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 cost, maybe this is enough vindication for me. there are a lot of women who have wanted to come forward. they have testified in cosby�*s criminal trial. 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.

now that these are over, cosby still has a 5th amendment right to remain silent, he didn't even testify, another door is open for his minor victims to move forward their civil lawsuits. 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. 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 lysyhansk. 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 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. floods in bangladesh and northeastern india have claimed the lives of at least 100 people and forced millions to leave their homes. 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 longer 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 caused 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 even before the floods hit. they'll need all the help they can get to rebuild their lives. yogita limaye, bbc news, india.

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. 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. the elvis estate had issued

cease and desist letters ordering them to stop the weddings. but now they can carry on with their acts after agreeing to continue paying an annualfee. claudia redmond reports. viva las vegas! elvis is back in the building. after venues in the building. after venues in las vegas that had offered king themed wedding packages for decades were left all shook up for decades were left all shook up when authentic brands group issued cease—and—desist letters ordering them to stop the service. ~ , ., ~' ordering them to stop the service. ~ , ., ~ ., ., , service. when you think of las veuas service. when you think of las vegas you _ service. when you think of las vegas you think _ service. when you think of las vegas you think of _ service. when you think of las vegas you think of elvis - service. when you think of las vegas you think of elvis and i vegas you think of elvis and they go hand—in—hand, they are married to excuse the expression.— married to excuse the expression. married to excuse the exression. , , ., married to excuse the exression. ,, ., , expression. this person who is the owner _ expression. this person who is the owner of — expression. this person who is the owner of a _ expression. this person who is the owner of a chapel, - expression. this person who is the owner of a chapel, took . expression. this person who is| the owner of a chapel, took the n went to the counter clerk before embarking on a publicity splits with local media. i just splits with local media. i 'ust said no, splits with local media. i 'ust said i splits with local media. i 'ust said no, no, ii splits with local media. i 'ust said no, no, i won't�* splits with local media. i 'ust said no, no, i won't be h splits with local media. i just. said no, no, i won't be bullied into not doing it. i have too many people to support. that i'm notjust going to give up and lie down. i will fight it.

and that is pretty much what i did. �* . and that is pretty much what i did. ~ . , ., , and that is pretty much what i did. authentic brands group issued a statement - did. authentic brands group issued a statement saying: | did. authentic brands group - issued a statement saying: they are proud to be part of the alvez legacy and are committed to protecting it for legacy to come. we are sorry that communication with a small number of chapels caused confusion and concern. that was never our intention. we are working with the chapels to in sure that the use of elvis name and likeness are in keeping with his legacy. the las vegas wedding industry generates $2 billion a year and couples cannot help falling in love with the elvis themed ceremonies.— with the elvis themed ceremonies. �* , ~ ceremonies. he's the king, the most famous — ceremonies. he's the king, the most famous around _ ceremonies. he's the king, the most famous around the - ceremonies. he's the king, the| most famous around the world! that is why we decided to... elvis is las vegas. and elvis is las vegas. 50 elvis is las vegas. and elvis is las vegas-— is las vegas. so for now, couoles _ is las vegas. so for now, couoles can _ is las vegas. so for now, couples can follow - is las vegas. so for now, couples can follow in - is las vegas. so for now, couples can follow in the | couples can follow in the footsteps of elvis himself, he

married priscilla in las vegas backin married priscilla in las vegas back in the 60s. viva las vegas! a tradition lives on! thank you for watching. hello there. the heat is continuing to build for a few days 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 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, and 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 if it stays cloudy

here. i suspect it 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 sunny 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 so, for many, 26 or 27 degrees. a warmer day than today northern ireland and much warmer than 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 from 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 headed that still some cloud western scotland and northern ireland,

so not high here. another very warm day 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 two 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. i'm david eades. 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 that the former president's influence lead to them and their families having to cope with abuse and intimidation. 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. jurors in the civil trial ruled against him and awarded his victim $500,000 in damages. moscow has warned lithuania it will 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 within its rights to enforce sanctions imposed by the european union. now on bbc news, it's panorama. it's very social in this road. everybody knows each other. it is a friendly place to live. amanda and stuart stephens have lived on the outskirts of reading for 19 years. their two children grew up here. as you come down the road, you see the valley and you see the field and you see all of that. it did feel quite safe. 0ne sunday afternoon their 13—year—old son, 0lly, left the house, grabbing his phone and saying he was heading to meet a friend nearby.

he said, "don't worry, i'll have my location on,"