welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm monica miller. the headlines: a former white house aide tells a congressional committee that president trump wanted to join the capitol hill rioters. the president reached up towards the vehicle at the crowd, at the steering wheel, he grabbed his arm, he said, sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we are going back to the west wing, we are not going to the capitol. in new york, ghislaine maxwell is sentenced to 20 years for helping jeffrey epstein abuse young girls. turkey drops its opposition to sweden and finland joining the nato military alliance, after the three countries sign a joint agreement.

cancer campaigner dame deborah james, host of the bbc podcast, you, me and the big c, has died at the age of a0. and, the seven—time wimbledon champion serena williams suffers a shock first—round defeat. she was playing herfirst singles match in a year. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the program. the inquiry into the riot at the us capitol last year has been hearing dramatic testimony from a former white house aide. cassidy hutchinson said donald trump knew supporters had weapons when he urged them

to march to congress. she also said senior officials had warned repeatedly that mr trump's rally on that day to try to overturnjoe biden�*s victory could spiral out of control. our north america editor sarah smith has more. a surprise witness. her appearance, kept secret until today, delivered explosive testimony. describing how trump had been informed that many in the crowd on the 6th of january were carrying weapons. yet he was furious about security measures. metal detectors were used to find guns and knives. he wanted the screenings stopped to let more people in, ms hutchinson told the committee in previously recorded testimony. i overheard the president say something to the effect of, "i don't effing care they have weapons. "they're not here to hurt me. "take the effing mags away." donald trump: we are going to walk down and i'll be there with you.

trump did want to go to the capitol but as he ordered the secret service to drive him there he was told it wasn't safe. he said something to the effect of, "i'm the effing president, take me up to the capitol now." when the president's secret service agent, bobby engel, refused to go to the capitol, trump got physical. the president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. mr engel grabbed his arm and said, "sir, you need "to take your hand off the steering wheel. "we're going back to the west wing. "we're not going to the capitol." mr trump then used his free hand to lunge towards bobby engel. trump has responded, saying this is a "fake story "that is sick and fraudulent." today is the first time we have heard exactly what was happening inside the white house on the 6th of january, how the president's most senior advisers anticipated the violence and did little to stop it, and then asked trump for a presidential pardon so they couldn't be prosecuted. did white house chief of staff mark meadows ever indicate that he was interested in receiving a presidential

pardon relating to the 6th of january? mr meadows did seek that pardon, yes, ma'am. first—hand evidence from someone who was right at the heart of the white house. sarah smith, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to frank bowman, professor of law at the university of missouri and former federal and state prosecutor, and he gave me his take on the hearing. of course, she added as your reporter said as well as the shocking indications that the president than actually tried to force his way up to the capital to lead the riot, but, to me, the most important thing she said in some ways and places the whole thing in a larger perspective. she was asked for her reactions to the business at the end of the hearing — she said what she was

experiencing at the white house that day, quote, we were capitol building being defaced overlie. that is important. it is easy to forget that. this is not some wide—eyed liberal commentator or opponent of the president. this is a long time, young, republican loyalist who has worked with some of the most conservative members, then went into the white house is the senior aid to the white house chief of staff, and she confirms what all those essentially no, which is that the basis for all of this and the basis for all of this and the underlying basis for all of this violence and all of this mall was alive. and, people inside the white house, people right next to donald trump hewitt. as we learn from the testimony from the department ofjustice officials the last

time around donald trump himself spoke over and over and over again. the claim of fraud in the election was alive. and we also have crosstalk. donald trump confirming that point. frank, one of the heads of the committee, liz cheney, ended it by saying, there is evidence of witness tampering and possibly other criminal activity. but what did cassidy hutchinson offer today? what did cassidy hutchinson offertoday? is what did cassidy hutchinson offer today? is it the smoking gun that the justice department needs to prosecute the former president? i needs to prosecute the former president?— president? i don't think we know that _ president? i don't think we know that precisely. - there is a lot more to be learned. i think one of the key points today — there was an interesting one — she said that the white house chief of staff had wanted to go over across the street from the white house to the willard hotel to the so—called war room where rudy giuliani and other planners of the january sector activities

were making their plans. think of that for a second. the white house chief of staff wanted to go to be part of the conspiracy that was going to lead to this riot at the next day. he was dissuaded from doing so only by his 26—year—old staffer, but nonetheless insisted on being part of the phone conference into that meeting. i would certainly like to know a good deal more of what was said about that, because it certainly suggests that there was direct participation by the white house in the planning of the insurrection, and that is really the key thing. though you are quick to point out the notion that even today supporters of trumbo are trying to intimidate the very courageous witnesses who are coming forward to speak the truth. ghislaine maxwell, once a prominent figure in new york society circles, is facing 20 years in a us prison for trafficking young girls to be abused byjeffrey epstein.

she was sentenced earlier in new york and issued a statement, apologising to her victims, but herfamily said she would appeal. our correspondent, nada tawfik, was in court. a long—fought victory for annie farmer and all of ghislaine maxwell's victims. justice was slow. she was one of the earliest to report maxwell and the paedophilejeffrey epstein to police, in 1996. but today, annie said it was never too late for accountability. maxwell and epstein were predators who were able to use that power and privilege to harm countless individuals and for far too long, the institutions that should be protecting the public were instead protecting them. and i still hope that we find out more about how that was allowed to occur. maxwell did not look at her victims, but she did address them. she said she was sorry for the pain they had experienced. she also said her association with epstein, who she described

as a manipulative, cunning man, was the greatest regret of her life. her statement felt like a very hollow apology to me. she did not take responsibility for the crimes that she committed and it felt like, once more, her trying to do something to benefit her and not at all about the harm that she had caused. the court allowed others who were not a part of the trial to also confront maxwell. the pain and anguish she caused was plain to see, as several accusers emotionally spoke about the lasting impact of her crimes, such as liz stein. she had a wonderful, full, beautiful life, and so many of us just didn't have a chance to have that. i think that the closure part of her sentencing is maybe the beginning for a lot of us to start having the life that we anticipated we might have if we had never met ghislaine maxwell

and jeffrey epstein. the british daughter of the disgraced media tycoon robert maxwell ran in the most influential circles, rubbing elbows with presidents and princes. but in court, as she waited to hear her fate, she was supported byjust three members of herfamily. the judge rejected the defence's claim that maxwell was being punished in epstein�*s place and said her sentencing had to reflect the seriousness of her role in the horrific scheme. today is a major step towards justice and perhaps healing for the victims. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. president lopez obrador of mexico has blamed trafficking and what he called a lack of control at the us border for the deaths of at least 50 migrants, who were abandoned in a truck in texas. it's the worst case of migrant deaths due to people smuggling in the us. sri lanka has said it plans to open up its fuel market

to foreign companies, as reserves of fuel come close to running out. under the plan, firms from oil—producing nations will be able to import and sell their own fuel, without having to meet the country's foreign exchange rules. china has cut the time of quarantine for travellers arriving in the country by half. incoming passengers will now have to isolate at a government facility for seven days, instead of ia. they then have to stay in their own place for a further three days. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said she wants a second independence referendum to be held on october the 19th, next year. the uk government said now was not the time for another vote on the issue. ms sturgeon said the supreme court would be asked to decide whether the vote could go ahead.

turkey has changed its mind, and has now agreed to support the nato membership applications from finland and sweden. the breakthrough came at the nato summit in madrid, where again the war in ukraine dominated the discussions. our europe editor katya adler reports from madrid. it's taken weeks of negotiations, but sweden and finland are now well on their way to becoming nato members after they signed an agreement with turkey to counter threats to each other�*s security. applause front tonight to send a clear message to vladimir putin. welcoming finland and sweden into the alliance will make them safer, nato stronger, and the mid—atlantic area more secure. this is vital as we face the biggest security crisis in decades.

ukraine, of course, is on everyone's minds here. but so is the wider security threat from russia. nato is ramping up its rapid reaction forces, from 40,000 to 300,000... ..like these french paratroopers preparing to support nato countries close to russia, now feeling very exposed. we can't defend ourselves alone. we will never be alone strong. so we have to have, like, friends and allies. finland and sweden agree. just look at finland's long border with russia. hello. thank you so much for taking the time. moscow's aggression has shocked them. we realised that we have to make a change. well, it appeared that russia is ready to try to invade a neighbouring sovereign country. are you worried, though? because president putin told you directly, he warned you not tojoin nato, or there would be repercussions.

yes, we are not afraid, not at all. but today, russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov, warned the west beefing up its defences and supporting ukraine would only prolong kyiv�*s agony. and that is the delicate balancing act here. all nato countries agree russia is the aggressor, ukraine must be helped militarily, but to what extent? that's where there's disagreement. should russia be given such a bloody nose, it thinks twice in the future about acts of aggression? or, if vladimir putin feels pushed in a corner, is there a risk that he'll escalate, even making good on a threat to use nuclear weapons? trying to keep nato allies together isjoe biden, arguably the star guest at tonight's gala dinner hosted by spain's king and queen.

europe's security has been thrown upside down by vladimir putin, but one thing hasn't changed — when this continent is in crisis, it still relies heavily on washington. katya adler, bbc news, madrid. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the program: a shock first—round defeat for the seven—time wimbledon champion, serena williams, in herfirst singles match in a year. 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. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. tennis balls thwack. cheering and applause. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for sa years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller, in singapore. 0ur headlines: a former white house aide tells a congressional committee that president trump wanted to join the capitol hill rioters. ghislaine maxwell is sentenced,

in new york, to 20 years for helping jeffrey epstein abuse young girls. the campaigner dame deborahjames has died of bowel cancer, at the age of a0. she had been receiving end—of—life care at home and had raised millions to help others affected by cancer. dame deborah was host of the bbc�*s you, me and the big c podcast and was honoured in recognition of her fundraising work. rachel burden looks back at her life. my name is deborahjames. i'm a mum to two kids and a dog called winston. three years ago, at the age of 35, i was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and i have been living with cancer ever since. she was young, she was vibrant, with an infectious sense of fun. for deborahjames, cancer was a devastating blow.

but she was determined to share her story, in the hope it would help others. i've had everything — surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy — to enable me to live with cancer. 0n social media, the former teacher called herself bowel babe, detailing the endless rounds of treatment, but poking fun at her disease. having fun with her kids and marking life's important milestones. i made my a0th birthday. that's huge, that's enormous, it's the birthday i never thought i would make. i like winding up my oncologist because he's very strait—laced! on her podcast, you, me and the big c, deborah was open... you're sat on the chemo ward in an orange catsuit! funny... and he's, like... doesn't want to say anything and you'rejust, like, "yeah, hi!" i'm back on treatment and every single time i'm back on treatment,

i don't want to be here. i don't want to be back on treatment. ..but never tried to hide her emotions. you just think, it's just not fair. in a final interview, she hoped new treatments would soon be found. cancer should become a chronic disease. i hope it will be in my kids' lifetime, i hope it will become a chronic disease. but i think... there are people doing amazing things and we need to support them and fund them. # and i'll rise up # i'll rise like the day...# the fund she set up to aid research has raised millions. foryears, dame deborah, as she became, fought to increase awareness of her disease... ..with social media posts like these inspiring thousands of fellow patients. in the words of one cancer charity, "the lives her campaign

saved and will continue "to save was nothing short of incredible." i'm joined now by our reporter, mark lobel. tell us about the reaction of her death. a massive outpouring of people paying their respects. it is incredibly _ paying their respects. it is incredibly sad _ paying their respects. it is incredibly sad news - paying their respects. it 3 incredibly sad news but perhaps the most touching tribute came from her mother who wrote, "her heart is broken" and posted a beautiful video of her daughter and also of her daughter dancing. and said," love you forever". 0n the front page of the papers, she is on almost all of the front page news talking about her tireless campaign and also that she was

surrounded by herfamily, dying atjust surrounded by herfamily, dying at just the surrounded by herfamily, dying atjust the age of a0. the prime minister borisjohnson prime minister boris johnson has prime minister borisjohnson has said he is terribly sad game deborah has died. —— dame. the awareness and the research campaign has funded is what she will be remembered for. the bbc�*s director general saying she was a true inspiration and he said the way she talked about cancer moved the nation, inspired change and, undoubtedly, saved lives. a tribute for also bbc�*s heidi dawson. she said they are all how broken and that she had the most incredible energy that drew you to her. and the special connection she made. charities have been particularly grateful for her

work. chief executive of bowel cancer uk said she was deeply saddened that deborahjames had died. an incredible force for good, drawing awareness to bowel cancer, saving countless lives. words echoed by many people. her bowel cancer fund is approaching £7 million, the last time i looked. she only set out to rate a quarter of £1 million. it will help research for personalised medicine for cancer research. her book is due to come out in august but herfinal was due to come out in august but her final was released today if we have a look at those, these are perhaps the most poignant of the day...

those words, of course, because the presence of blood is an early sound of bowel cancer, with 120 new cases a day in the uk, those words really could save lives. uk, those words really could save lives-— save lives. what an extraordinary - save lives. what an extraordinary life. | save lives. what an - extraordinary life. thank you very much, mark. serena williams has made a shock first round exit from wimbledon. in a match that lasted more than three hours, she was beaten by the french player harmony tan who was making her debut at the championships. williams, who's a0, hadn't played a singles match since retiring injured at wimbledon last year. another veteran did make it into the second round — rafael nadal winning his match on centre court. chettan pattak rounds up the day's action.

if day one at wimbledon was about novak djokovic, having to find his form and battle through. day two was very much about rafa nadal doing the same. he was playing francisco cerundolo, the argentinian, on centre court. francisco cerundolo has only one one match on grass on the atp tour. and, boy, did nadal have to work hard for this one. finding his first serve at times hard to come by, but having dropped the third set, the 22 time grand slam champion showed his battling qualities. every inch of them, as empowered through in four sets. he is looking, at 36 years old, to win three grand slams in a row and then potentially the calendar slam at the us open. that is still a big if had a big dream but here with the men's door opening up, matteo berrettini having to withdraw with a positive covid test, marin cilic out for the same reasons, too,

former semifinalist here, too, former semifinalist here, hubert hurkacz isn't at these championships any longer after he lost in the opening round, it is potentially looking like a djokovic—nadal final but it is a bit too early to talk about that. in the women draw, the world number one iga swiatek showed us exactly why she is the standout player in men's and women's game this year. a 36 consecutive wins for her now. she beatjana fett in straight sets. she had to work for it in that second set, iga swiatek. admitted afterwards that she is still finding her feet on grass as she tries to translate her incredible clay—court form which is offer when the french open last month. simona halep, a former champion here, she had arguably the toughest test in the opening round against karolina muchova but she came through that in straight sets. and coco gauff who made her name here at these championships three years ago by beating venus williams continues her incredible development. a runner—up at the french open. she dropped the first set against elena—gabriela ruse before winning in three. that's all for now, stay

with bbc world news. you can also keep up with us on our webpage or downloading our app. thank you for watching. hello there. on tuesday, we saw a definite east—west divide across the country. eastern areas saw the best of the sunshine and the warmth. further north and west, it was windy with outbreaks of rain and felt fairly cool for the time of year. now, for today, it's going to be one of sunshine and showers and it'll be less windy as well. the reason for it — the centre of this low pressure system will be just pulling away slightly from the northwest of the uk, so we'll have fewer isobars across the charts, but still some weather fronts which will bring outbreaks of rain. the overnight band of rain will be slowly clearing away from eastern england and eastern scotland. it will do by around mid—morning, and then we're all into the regime of sunshine and showers, and into the afternoon, some of these showers could turn out to be heavy and thundery across some northern and western areas. probably the best of the

sunshine across the southeast. winds will be lighter — these are mean wind speeds — much lighter than what we had on tuesday. i think with lighter winds and in the sunshine, it'll feel a touch warmer. temperatures range from around 18—23 degrees across the southeast. many of the showers will tend to fade away during wednesday night. just watching this area of heavy, perhaps thundery rain just scrape the far southeast of the near continent there. that'll push in towards the north sea, perhaps affecting northeast scotland during the morning. but for most, it's clear spells, one or two showers and mild with temperatures in double figures for most. you can see that weather front bringing heavy rainfall across the eastern parts of the uk as we head through thursday. 0therwise, low pressure, again, close enough to bring another day of sunshine and showers. so, this rain could get close, again, to the southeast of england during thursday afternoon. could be some heavy rain as well across the far northeast of scotland. otherwise, for most, sunshine and showers again, some of them will be quite heavy, and because the winds are light, these showers will be

fairly slow—moving. temperatures reaching highs of 18—21 degrees. friday, similar story. we've got low pressure to the west of the uk, so again, it's generally light winds, sunny spells, scattered showers and some of them could be quite heavy in places, and those temperatures around just a little below the seasonal norm of, say, 18—21 celsius. now, as we head into the weekend, we'll hold onto the sunshine and showers theme, but i think from sunday and into the following week, it looks like high pressure will build in from the west, and that should settle things down and turn warmer in the south.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. this week: a high—tech message from ukraine. it's unusual for presidents or heads of government to use a hologram to address people. the artificial intelligence catching the rubbish dumpers

in the act, including this suspicious—looking chap.