welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... us lawmakers prepare for what could be the final televised public hearing into the january the 6th attack on the capitol. president biden tests positive for covid, but he says he's carrying on working in isolation in the white house. i really appreciate your concerns, but i'm doing well. hundreds of police in riot gear begin to dismantle anti—government protest camps in the capital, colombo. and ukraine, russia and turkey strike a deal to allow grain exports through the black sea to resume.

live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in washington in the united states where it's a crucial night for the committee investigating the january sixth capitol riot, when supporters of former president donald trump stormed congress, while lawmakers met to certinyoe biden�*s election victory last year. this will be the committee's eighth hearing, and maybe the final televised hearing before the report is published in the autumn. let's hearfrom two insiders who were in the trump white house onjanuary 6th. matthew pottinger, the deputy national security adviser.

he's one of the few senior officials to have been there, throughout the trump administration. as countless others left, he stayed. until the afternoon of jan 6. at 2:24, the president sent this tweet attacking mike pence at the very moment his supporters were in the capitol search for the vice president. at that point, says mr pottinger, he had to quit. my my staff brought me a printout of a tweet by the president, and the tweet said something to the effect that mike pence, the vice president, didn't have the courage to do what should have been done. i read that tweet and made a decision at that moment to resign. that's where i knew that i was leaving that

day, once i read that tweet. the other witness is sarah matthews. formerly a republican staffer, she joined the white house as deputy press secretary injune 2020, working to kayleigh macananny — but like mr pottinger, she too resigned on january six. she told the committee that donald trump's tweet attacking vice president pence felt "like he was pouring gasoline on the fire". we had all talked about how it was bad — we had all talked about how it was bad and that the situation was bad and that the situation was getting out of hand, and i know— was getting out of hand, and i know ben _ was getting out of hand, and i know ben williamson and i were conferring — know ben williamson and i were conferring and we thought that the president needed to tweet something immediately. then i remember getting a notification on my— remember getting a notification on my phone and sitting in a room — on my phone and sitting in a room with_ on my phone and sitting in a room with roma and ben, and we all got _

room with roma and ben, and we all got a _ room with roma and ben, and we all got a notification. it was all got a notification. it was a tweet_ all got a notification. it was a tweet from the president, and we looked — a tweet from the president, and we looked down and it was a tweet— we looked down and it was a tweet about mike pence. i'm joined now by nomia iqbal, our north america correspondent, who is standing by for those hearings that are due to start in the next couple of hours. i was interested that you spoke about these as of prime time tv series that played out to the american public. what does the season finale hold this evening and how significant is it? the committee — and how significant is it? the committee really _ and how significant is it? tue: committee really wants and how significant is it? tte: committee really wants to com m ittee really wa nts to ca ptu re committee really wants to capture american people's attention. it's been six weeks of these hearings. it's been built like a season finale. what it's going to concentrate on is 187 minutes. the committee says this is the period of time on that day were

donald trump disappeared. so, at ten past one, donald trump had told his supporters to march to the capitol. after four o'clock, 4:17 p:m., he released a video saying to the rioters to go home. the committee thinks donald trump did nothing in those three hours, that his inaction laid to the —— led to this lengthy battle. he could have called the national guard, he could have told his supporters to go home early. so we are going to find out in this hearing exactly what happened. even hearing from those two significant members of his administration. the one i want to make is that donald trump has called this a partisan witchhunt, but what's been fascinating as they were part of his administration. matthew

and sarah both served in his administration, so they were republicans. we've seen a lot of his former aides giving evidence. figs of his former aides giving evidence.— of his former aides giving evidence. a ., evidence. as you point out, this has _ evidence. as you point out, this has been _ evidence. as you point out, this has been described - evidence. as you point out, this has been described by| evidence. as you point out, - this has been described by both president trump and his supporters... are we expecting any actual consequences for donald trump or anybody else? they would certainly like it too but they don't have the power to bring any criminal charges. they can only lay out the case to thejustice department and let them decide if there are any criminal charges to be brought. we know the department said they are closely watching the hearings. we will get a report later this year setting out the result of this. but it's in the hands of the justice department,

this. but it's in the hands of thejustice department, but they have launched their own separate inquiry.— separate inquiry. nomia, i'm interested in _ separate inquiry. nomia, i'm interested in your _ separate inquiry. nomia, i'm interested in your view - separate inquiry. nomia, i'm interested in your view in - interested in your view in terms of how much public reaction this is getting with regards to how americans are feeling about this.— regards to how americans are feeling about this. here in dc, obviously _ feeling about this. here in dc, obviously a — feeling about this. here in dc, obviously a very _ feeling about this. here in dc, obviously a very liberal - feeling about this. here in dc, obviously a very liberal city, i obviously a very liberal city, you stop and talk to people who want to chat about the hearings. that's not true in other parts of america. some of the polls suggested that it's in the single digits in terms of how often people are watching these hearings. ijust want to let you know about a recent poll. reuters suggested a third of republicans believe that donald trump shouldn't run again. 40% of them partially blame him for what happened on january the 6th, and that's up from 33% at the start of the hearing. i think the bigger question will be will this

matter to people for the midterms? polls suggest that republican voters and independence have other priorities such as inflation. we'll see in the long run how much of an impact these have. fascinating stuff. excellent analysis from nomia iqbal, thank you. she will be covering those hearings for us on bbc news and just about 50 minutes or so. news and just about 50 minutes orso. do news and just about 50 minutes or so. do make sure to tune in for that special programme. she and the team in washington will be across all of those latest development. professor robert pape is the director of the chicago project on security and threats at the university of chicago. his team's work is trying to understand and explain american political violence by studying january the 6th. it's great to get you on the programme, professor. just for our viewers, i'd like to explain that you have been

researching political violence in the us and around the world for some time now. talk us through the events that led you to start this specific research.— to start this specific research. �* , , , research. i've been studying international— research. i've been studying international political - international political violence for decades. what led me to focus on january the 6th was actually the pandemic. in april 2020, that is many months before january six, i saw the federal government was dropping the ball on covid, so that meant there would be many mass... and that combination of the federal government dropping the federal government dropping the ball in those deaths could lead to many people in the us losing confidence in the federal government, which is a precursor to political violence thatis precursor to political violence that is confidence in the government to secure people. that is a precursor to violence all around the world. that would lead them to better our

teams, and whenjanuary would lead them to better our teams, and when january the would lead them to better our teams, and whenjanuary the 6th happened, we were ready to go and we started to analyse the arrest data and do other work with them that day. t arrest data and do other work with them that day.— arrest data and do other work with them that day. i find that fascinating. — with them that day. i find that fascinating, this _ with them that day. i find that fascinating, this idea - with them that day. i find that fascinating, this idea that - with them that day. i find that fascinating, this idea that a i fascinating, this idea that a loss of credibility and trust in government then leads to some sort of accident. in your research, what did you find? —— some sort of action. are these fringe groups? is the movement far more rights red? the fringe groups? is the movement far more rights red?— far more rights red? the big surrise far more rights red? the big surprise is — far more rights red? the big surprise is it's _ far more rights red? the big surprise is it's far _ far more rights red? the big surprise is it's far more - surprise is it's far more widespread. of the 900 that have been charged, over half our ceos and business owners and from white—collar occupations like doctors, lawyers, accountants, it specialists. only about 7% were unemployed at the time of january the 6th. about the national average. january the 6th. about the nationalaverage. only january the 6th. about the national average. only 13% were members of militia groups like

the oath keepers like the prog boys —— or the proud boys. this is different than what we are used to seeing in the united states, where they would be unemployed, three or four times the national average. they would also be half members of extremist groups or militia groups. so this is a very different profile, and this is why this is such an important challenge to our democracy. speaking of american democracy, what do you think it says about the future, particularly with regards to the midterms? it means the midterms are like wildfire season. this means 2024 election season will be like a wildfire season. our national surveys show between eight and 10% of americans support the insurrection sentiment on display, and what

that means is it would only take another right—wing straight —— lightning strike to touch off violence. it's like trying to predict where a wildfire would occur. you can't predict the lightning strike, but what we can do is measure the size of the mass sentiment, and between 8—10% of american adults are sympathetic with what they saw on january the 6th, which was the used of force to restore trump to presidency. force to restore trump to presidency-— force to restore trump to residen . ., presidency. professor robert pa e, presidency. professor robert pape. thank _ presidency. professor robert pape, thank you _ presidency. professor robert pape, thank you for - presidency. professor robert pape, thank you forjoining l presidency. professor robert i pape, thank you forjoining us. we can't predict the next lightning strike, but we'll certainly try to analyse the events leading up to that. and we have a special programme on bbc news, with live coverage of the us

congressional inquiry into the january the 6th invasion of the capitol building. do try to join us for that, with my colleaguejane o'brien live from washington, injust under an hourfrom now. us presidentjoe biden has tested positive for covid. the white house said he was experiencing "very mild" symptoms last night, and tested positive this morning. the 79—year—old president is fully vaccinated and boosted and he is also taking anti—viral drugs. in a tweet, mr biden said he was "doing great" and " keeping busy". so, that's president biden suffering from covid, and these are the last moving pictures of him before he tested positive.

they were filmed as he flew back to the white house on wednesday evening — by way of comparison to how he looked a few hours ago. dr ashistha is the white house covid—19 response coordinator. he says the president is only experiencing mild symptoms, and he's started a course of pfizer's antiviral pill which reduces the severity of covid—19. because the president is fully vaccinated, double boosted, his risk of serious illness is dramatically lower. he's also getting treated with a very powerful anti—viral, and that further reduces his risk of serious illness. let's bring you right up to date. sri lankan police have begun dismantling protest camps in the capital colombo. the camps were occupied by groups demonstrating against the economic crisis — and the appointment of ranil wickremesinghe

as the new president. he swore his oath of office on thursday, and promised to restore peace and order. our correspondent, anbarasan ethirajan is in the capital, colombo. just in the last couple hours, we've seen these developments take place. what's the situation like there? is it still as tense as it was? dramatic developments in the last few hours, and we saw hundreds of soldiers that came in two different directions, and then 50 metres from me, they pushed all the protesters away, dismantled the tents and they were quite aggressive. there are two armoured carriers full of soldiers. people are not allowed to cross into this area. despite the protesters saying that they would handle the president �*s office, just

behind me, the police and special officers came past midnight to clear the area. all these activists have been pushed beyond near the designated area, and the situation is tense and there is a campaign mobilising more protests in the morning. anbarasan, i know you've cover this right from the start, and the sense was that the political crisis would abate a little bit. once there was a definitive choice. now we have ranil wickremesinghe in the seat and protesters don't seem to like him. seat and protesters don't seem to like him-— to like him. protesters made it very clear _ to like him. protesters made it very clear that _ to like him. protesters made it very clear that they _ to like him. protesters made it very clear that they would - to like him. protesters made it very clear that they would not l very clear that they would not support affect his name was nominated, and they would continue to protest he resigns because they see him as someone

close to the rajapaksa family, which is denies. —— which he denies. a day earlier, mr wickremesinghe warned that forcing government buildings were not in a democracy. what were not in a democracy. what we witnessed a couple of hours ago was a clear follow—up of what mr wickremesinghe has said 48 hours ago. what mr wickremesinghe has said 48 hours ago-— 48 hours ago. anbarasan, thanks for keeping _ 48 hours ago. anbarasan, thanks for keeping us — 48 hours ago. anbarasan, thanks for keeping us up-to-date. - when stars collide — the new telescope that can show you what happens when one sun hits another. coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire has been blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence - and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia, l but now, a decade later, - it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines... us lawmakers are preparing for what could be their final televised public hearing into the january the 6th attack on the capitol. president biden has tested positive for covid, but he says he's carrying on working in isolation in the white house. let's turn to turkey now, which says a deal has been reached to allow ukraine to resume exports of grain through the black sea. it will be signed on friday in istanbul by ukraine, russia, turkey and the un secretary general. russia's invasion of ukraine, which is one of the world's biggest suppliers of wheat and other grains, led to a huge rise in food prices. under the deal, russia would agree to a truce at sea to allow grain to be moved, and turkey would inspect ships to ensure they are not carrying any weapons. here's ukraine's ambassador to un sergiy kyslytsya, speaking to bbc news just a short while ago.

it's a very elaborate agreement that we all may decide tomorrow in istanbul. i can assure you that everybody�*s dictated everybody�*s dedicated and the teams of all parties will continue working on the finalfacts. there are some details... if it is signed, not only signed, but also implemented — that's the important thing — it will ensure a significant number can leave the polls and we can export about 20 million tonnes of grain that is ready to be exported. our international

correspondent orla guerin has been following the talks in istanbul. she said this update on the details. the full details will be published until tomorrow. the full details won't be published until tomorrow. we know the broad outlines of the steel, and it relies on a sort of cease—fire at sea. on ukrainian ports. ukraine will provide vessels that will escort cargo ships through waters that are currently mined. all of this will be monitored by turkey, there will be a coordination centre set up here, and turkey will be involved in inspecting these vessels when they pass through what should be a safe corridor for the black sea. maritime corridor through the black sea. italy is to hold a snap general election in september after the prime minister, mario draghi, as expected,

resigned on thursday. he'd lost the backing of some of his coalition partners. it means the country will soon be led by its 17th government since the end of the second world war. and before we go, space—fanatics, this one's for you. scientists have developed a new telescope to detect the smashing together of dead suns known as neutron stars — something that ordinary telescopes were unable to do — until now. the collisions are thought to have created heavy metals that formed stars and planets like our own billions of years ago. our science correspondent, pallab ghosh, has had exclusive access to the new telescope and sends this report from la palma in the canary islands. opening to the heavens, high above the clouds, a new telescope scans the skies for one of the most enigmatic objects in the universe — a neutron star. they're the smallest and densest bodies in the cosmos, so heavy that a sugar cube of it would weigh about

the same as 8 billion people. scientists have now found a way to detect them. neutron stars have such powerful gravity that they're drawn together until they eventually merge. when that happens, there's a flash of light and a powerful shockwave ripples across the universe. when that shockwave is detected on earth, the new telescope scrambles into action to find the exact location of the flash. the astronomers have to work fast. the flash of light lasts only a couple of days. computer software is key in this impossibly difficult hunt. researchers compare pictures of the same bit of sky night by night, and any speck of light that wasn't there before may be the momentary colliding neutron stars. you would think that these explosions are very energetic, very luminous, it should be easy, but we're having to search through 100 million stars for the one object that

we're interested in and we need to do this very rapidly because the objects will disappear on a timescale of a few days. so, really, this needle in a haystack challenge almost doesn't cut it. it's a huge challenge. these quick collisions create conditions that take us to the very edge of the laws of physics. it could help to answer the mystery of how some of the heavier elements, such as gold and platinum, are created in the universe. the british—built telescope, called goto, is nimble, and can rapidly scan every bit of the sky above it. when a real good event comes along, it's all hands on deck to make the most of it, and that, you know, it's a nice sort of feeling, to spring into action. with these instruments, researchers are learning about the cosmos faster than ever before and are on the precipice of a new age of astronomy. so, now, we have almost a new way of looking at the universe. i we're not hoping i for new discoveries. we're being told where to find

them and we're getting - to uncover, piece by piece, what lays out there - in the universe. so far, just one neutron star collision has been detected. now this new telescope can pinpoint them routinely, revealing a new view of the universe that has so far been hidden. pallab ghosh, bbc news, la palma. that's quite something, isn't it? what's more on the website about that telescope. there's a really interesting piece on that story. you've been watching newsday. just time enough to tell you about another just time before we go to say — we are celebrating our one year anniversary, since ourfirst show. thanks to everyone who watches — we couldn't do it without you. and my personal thanks to the teams in london and singapore who make this programme every single day — you are the real stars of the show. people in the news business know this. thanks so much for

joining us and do stay hello. many people will be hoping for some rainfall in this forecast for their gardens and for the fields, of course. and some of us are going to see it over the next 24 hours or so. friday will bring a cooler day and there will be some heavy and thundery showers around, but not everywhere is going to catch them. as the nature of these showers is, they are a bit hit and miss. they'll be developing probably most likely across central and southern parts of england and wales, just drifting northwards through the day. a few into southern scotland, drier for northern ireland and northern scotland and temperatures between 15 in aberdeen to about 23 in cardiff on friday. still keeping some of those showers here and there into the evening. they'll drift away eastwards through friday night and on into saturday before the next area of low pressure moves in from the west, bringing some more persistent rain there. we'll start the weekend on a bit of a fresher note. so, overnight temperatures falling into the mid—teens for most of us during the day on saturday.

then some rain working into northern and western areas. that's going to stick around into sunday where it's going to be quite breezy, but it'll be drier in the south and east and temperatures close to 30 by sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. around the world, there are signs of deepening worker discontent. inflation is

outstripping wages. global corporations stand accused of putting profits before people, while many governments see organised labour as a threat. why then is the union movement seemingly in retreat? have workers lost their faith in collective action? well, my guest is long time boss of the international trade union confederation, sharan burrow. do workers have problems that unions cannot fix? sharan burrow in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. good evening.

good to have you on the show. let's look at what is happening in the world right now. we have a spike in energy costs right around the world. we have rising inflation in many countries and a squeeze on the cost of living. how grim do you think the prospects for your members, for workers around the world are right now? well, i think you have to take note of workers. they're on strike all around the world. they can't live on the wages that they're being paid. they know that this is a huge injustice when its profits that are driving inflation. in fact, the union movement has a new term. it's called "pro—flation", because it's a myth to say that wages are driving inflation. even the eu confirmed just this week that there is no feedback loop between wages and inflation, and it's not likely that there will be while real wages remain negative. so we're really headed towards stagflation, if not recession, because of the foolish policies of too many central banks