welcome to bbc news. the former us president donald trump has claimed he expects to be arrested on tuesday over a long—running alleged hush money case. he made the announcement on his online platform, truth social, calling for protest and for his supporters to "take our nation back". mr trump is currently campaigning for the republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. i'm joined now by our correspondent david willis in washington.

good to see you, david. what has donald trump said exactly? well, i think one of the key pieces of guidance we are getting in regard to this story, rebecca, is from senior officials within the trump legal team, who are making the point that in this tweet issued on his own social media platform, truth social this morning, donald trump is not suggesting that he will be arrested, he is taking issue with links to the media coming from the manhattan district attorney �*s office, that suggests that he might well be indicted this coming week. let me read you a statement we have just received from his spokesman. this was issued to our partner network here in the united states, cbs news. i think this provides a lot of clarity to this story. "there has been no notification other than a

legal leak from the justice department and the district attorney �*s office to nbc and other fake news carriers that the radical left democratic prosecutor in manhattan has decided to take his witchhunt to the next level. president trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponisation of our injustice system will stop goes on say that he will be in texas next weekend for a rally, make america great again. so, there have been a lot of leaks in the media over the past couple of days, suggesting that a grand jury investigation into allegations that there were hush money payments made to stormy daniels, porn star, and another woman, before donald trump was elected president, and that that grand investigation is concluding,

wrapping up in manhattan, and that charges could be imminent against donald trump. i'm at pains to point out that the manhattan district attorney �*s offers has made no comment on any of these rumours, and it is purely speculation at the moment. it is purely speculation at the moment-— in pakistan, imran khan has left the high court in lslamabad after being granted a special permission to mark his attendance at the entrance gate. the former prime minister travelled to the capital with a convoy of his supporters as he fights corruption charges. the court said the hearing could not take place because of clashes between police and mr khan's supporters in front of the building. our correspondent caroline davies spoke to mr khan from his convoy and sent this report. in his armoured car, inching through the crowds, this was the start of imran khan's journey from his home in lahore to the court in islamabad.

this is a much promised appearance, and it is on the basis of this appearance that his arrest warrants were suspended yesterday. many of his supporters have turned out, as well as, of course, security, because his team have talked repeatedly about threats to his safety. his supporters were adamant that even imprisonment would not stop mr khan's election chances. mr khan has been accused of whipping up his supporters, making them into a human shield, stirring up unrest, as he avoids court. if found guilty there, he could be disqualified from running in this year's elections. in islamabad, security was building. the authorities have no appetite for a repeat of the unrest seen earlier this week between mr khan's supporters and police trying to arrest him. the government have restricted rallies in the capital, but even as he was on the road, mr khan's party officials called for supporters to gather. at the entry to islamabad, the convoy stopped. police said mr khan's group

would need to disarm. the crowd and traffic built. amongst them, we found mr khan. are you more worried about prison or are you more worried about being disqualified from running in the future? it's not disqualified. putting in prison means that they will keep me out of the election race right until the end of the elections, so i won't be able to campaign. that is the whole thing. the government says that this is nothing to do with politics and that mr khan is flouting the rule of law. on the other side of the roadblock, police wait with tear gas. mr khan was allowed through. the stand—off in the courts and on the streets continues. caroline davies, bbc news, islamabad. president biden has welcomed the decision to issue a warrant for the arrest of russia's leader, vladimir putin by the international criminal court in the hague. it has accused the russian president of war crimes over the forced deportation of children from ukraine to russia.

ukraine's president zelensky said it was an historic decision. the kremlin says the accusations are "outrageous." our correspondent anna holligan gave us this update from the hague. this is the most ambitious arrest warrant issued in the history of the icc, accusing a head of state from forcibly deporting children from you dream a ukraine into russia. this will have huge geopolitical ramifications. while people talk about this being a symbolic move because russia is not a member of the icc, russian police will not be arresting vladimir putin, and yet 123 other countries are, and they are now all obliged to arrest him the minute he sets foot on their territory. one of the reasons for this making the arrest warrant

public is because they hope to deter any further atrocities committed against children. ukraine has mentioned the number of 16,000 will stop they estimate around 60,000 ukrainian children have been deported into russia, some of them already adopted by russian families. the symbolism is here, but also the evidence, according to the icc. enough evidence to justify issuing this arrest warrant, which means the prosecutor has pointed the finger firmly at president putin, accusing him of committing war crimes. russia has denounced the charges as being outrageous. in a few days' time, the president of china will be standing alongside president putin on a three—day state visit to moscow. that kind of engagement could start to feel a little bit uncomfortable for other world leaders, now that president putin is a suspected war

criminal, wanted by the icc here in the hague. despite his arrest warrant, president putin has flown to sevastopol to mark nine years since russia's illegal annexation of crimea. state tv shows him being guided around an art school. there is currently heavy russian military presence throughout crimea, but it's becoming increasingly vulnerable as ukraine obtains missiles and drones that can fly deep into crimean territory. there have been clashes in paris, as protests continued against president macron's reforms to pensions. in the last couple of hours, french police have banned protests opposite parliament after the unrest. thousands of people lit fires and threw firecrackers at police, who responded with tear gas. a number of arrests were made. earlier on friday, in the french parliament, opposition parties filed motions of no confidence in the government, after it pushed through a contentious raise

in the retirement age from 62 to 64. meanwhile, industrial action continues. you can see here some of the piles of garbage which have built up in paris, with staff on strike. us media is reporting that president biden's government is investigating the chinese parent company of the social media app, tiktok, for possible spying. an investigation was launched late last year, after data from tiktok users in the united states were inappropriately obtained. here's our north america correspondent david willis. it appears that this investigation was launched sometime last year and then ramped up a couple of months ago after bytedance, the company, the chinese company that owns tiktok, confirmed reports here in the american media that some chinese staff had been using the app to spy on american journalists,

in particular to get information about their sources of stories that had appeared about tiktok in the american media. now, bytedance said in response to today's reports that it is strongly condemning the actions of those staff, who, it says, have subsequently been dismissed. but it's only a couple of months, of course, since tiktok, the app, was banned from government phones here and in an attempt to basically head off further restrictions, bytedance have suggested that maybe the company should keep all user data, american user data on servers located here in the united states. well, it appears that that sort of compromise may well have been blown out of the water by these latest allegations of tiktok being used for spying. the biden administration has come under criticism for not doing enough to make sure national security

through apps such as this. earlier this week, the biden administration announced that it was going to demand that the company either sell off tiktok, or face a nationwide demand that the company either sell off tiktok, orface a nationwide ban here in the united states. here in the uk, the scottish national party chief executive peter murrell peter morrell peter has resigned with immediate effect in a row over party membership. mr murrell is married to scotland's first minister and snp party leader nicola sturgeon, who is standing down later this year. i spoke to our news correspondent catriona renton and asked just how significant his resignation is. he has been a huge figure behind the scenes of the snp for the past two decades. he is the chief executive, as you said. he is married to the first minister, nicola sturgeon, and all of these issues have come to a head now because of the leadership campaign announced last month, when nicola sturgeon said she would be stepping down.

earlier this week, the snp was forced to confirm a massive drop in its membership numbers. it's a situation that the party has previously denied. numbers have fallen by 30,000 since december 2021, and that is a situation that has been denied to the media, but the snp's head of press at holyrood last night stood down, saying there were serious issues with statements he had issued in good faith on behalf of party headquarters. today, peter murrell accepted response ability for that, but he insists there is no intention to mislead. he said his future had become a distraction from the campaign and said responsability for the snp's response to media queries about membership numbers lies with him as chief executive and he said while there was no intent to mislead, he accepted that this had been the outcome. the bbc had earlier learned that mr murrell was likely to face a vote of no—confidence by some members coming from the national executive

committee if he did not stand down. this comes against a backdrop of what has become a very bitter leadership campaign. there are three people vying for the position. the health secretary, humza yousaf, the finance secretary kate forbes, and the former community safety minister, ash regan, and both ash regan and kate forbes had called into question the integrity of how the election for leader was being conducted this week. so this has been a dramatic week for the scottish national party. that was our correspondent catriona renton. the uk home secretary, suela braverman, has arrived in rwanda to discuss the controversial plan to send migrants there, if they've entered the uk illegally. the deal was first agreed 11 months ago, but so far no one has been sent to the central african country, with the plan facing criticism from both home and abroad. however, the uk government has described the plan as ground—breaking, and says it

hopes that ms braverman's visit will "reinforce the government's commitment to the partnership". earlier i spoke to peter walsh from the migration observatory at oxford university, and he outlined where opposition to the plan has been coming from. the opposition to the plan has been coming from-— opposition to the plan has been coming from. opposition to the plan has been comin: from. ., ., , coming from. the thing that has held it u- is it is coming from. the thing that has held it up is it is mired _ coming from. the thing that has held it up is it is mired in _ coming from. the thing that has held it up is it is mired in the _ coming from. the thing that has held it up is it is mired in the courts, - it up is it is mired in the courts, and the opposition that has really slowed it down has come from refugee and human rights ngo, who have raised questions about whether the policy is both safe and fair. so they have highlighted that some of they have highlighted that some of the individuals who have been scheduled to be removed, that they have suffered trafficking, they are victims of trafficking and they have other fun abilities, and they've argued that they would be at risk of harm, were they sent to rwanda. another big legal argument is about fairness. it focused on the idea that in rwanda, asylum seekers are not typically able to avail themselves of the legal assistance

that they would need to process their claim. now in december, in the high court, a judge did ruled that the policy was legal overall. the judge ruled that it did not break the refugee convention, but actually, that court also overturned eight specific decisions to remove people to rwanda. now we have heard a judge from the court of appeal say that a number of asylum seekers can bring another legal challenge because they argue the home office has not given due consideration to the dangers and risks that they would face if they were removed to rwanda. this is probably going to go all the way up to the supreme court. if it does, it's unlikely that anyone will be sent to rwanda year. that was peter walsh from the migration observatory at the university of oxford. now, the latest sports news. we start with the six nations, where scotland have all but secured third spot in this year's championship after a 26—14 win over a dogged italy side.

france have gone ahead 10—7 in their game. duhan van der merwe came up with another special try, contorting his way to the line to put scotland ahead early. in a tight encounter, italy put scotland under severe pressure at the close, cutting the lead to just a single score but blair kinghorn ran the length of the field to seal a bonus point win and end scotland's six nations campaign on a high. it has been an eventful one. it started with such a high, the winner at twickenham, we did come from behind and scored a try, a really good team try near the end of the game and that was brilliant for the squad. to follow that with a record win against wales was the best that we could imagine. the last two weeks, maybe not as good overall. you get that in sport. we're just glad to with a win. we're all set for what could be a heck

of a celebration in ireland — they could win the grand slam later — a 11th overall, and a possible first in dublin. they're up against england at the aviva stadium this afternoon looking to cap to off a fine tournament so far — the world's number one ranked side have won every match so far. head coach andy farrell was keen stress that there is such a thing as wanting it too much. desperation is an illness, light, uniquest might want to try to stay away from that. you can't be accurate if you are desperate. so become and controlled to be accurate when it matters, and that is a temperament that we are always chasing. five matches in the premier league — four underway for the 3pm kick—offs. aston villa are a go up against bournemouth at the moment. gold is between brentford and leicester at the moment. and also between southampton and tottenham. leeds are 1-0 southampton and tottenham. leeds are 1—0 up at wolves. leeds are looking

to try to gain some ground on the teams above them. later on, everton campus further distance between them and the struggling pack, but face a chelsea side that have discovered some of late. in the early kick—off in the scottish premiership, rangers temporarily closed the gap to leaders celtic with a 11—2 win over motherwell. rangers fans protested against a section of their board ahead of kick—off at fir park but on the pitch their team won a see—saw affair, malik tillman's goal sealing the three points and cutting celtic�*s lead to six points after motherwell brought it back to 2—2 in the second half. celtic are now in action against hibernian and it is currently goalless at the moment. aberdeen are a goal up against hearts and they could rise back up to fourth against third placed hearts. dundee united are a goal up against saint mirren and it is currently 0—0 between command accounts injohnston. max verstappen will be expecting to claim pole

position for this weekend's saudi arabian grand prix after dominating final practice. the world champion was more than half a second quicker around thejeddah corniche circuit than his red bull team mate sergio perez. aston martin's fernando alonso was the best of the rest, but he was almost a second slower than the dutchman. lewis hamilton was the top british driver in fifth, but less than a tenth of a second behind alonso. and that's all the sport for now. now, a deal allowing the export of ukrainian grain from the black sea has been renewed hours before it was due to expire. the deal between ukraine and russia, which was brokered by turkey, has been extended by four months. the grain initiative was first brokered lastjuly, during fears of a global food crisis after moscow blockaded ukrainian imports. russia and ukrainejointly account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies,

with ukraine's contribution nearing 10%. a fraud victim has been reimbursed over £150,000 by his bank following a bbc investigation. james was targeted by a us—based scammer who claimed she was in an abusive relationship and tricked him into giving them money. his bank initially declined to cover him because the criminal used an american account, until radio 4's money box programme intervened. dan whitworth is a reporter covering this for money box on radio 4 and he told us more about this scam. it started like many of the investigations we do here with an e—mail from one of our listeners, adam. that is james's son. he e—mailed a couple of weeks ago and explained what had happened to his father. in short what had happened was this. over the course of 13 months, criminals had scams and then stolen £153,000 from james, the victim, by indoctrinating him, by grooming him into believing

that he was actually helping a woman in the united states escape an abusive relationship, and then to help pay for these expensive medical bills. the transfers that the criminals encouraged him to make started off small, but then they got larger and larger. there were multiple transfers of £10,000, a few of £15,000, and james was so deceived by the web of lies that this criminal had spun, the fraud was only discovered whenjames was admitted to hospital a few weeks ago, and so believing was he that he was doing the right thing by this person, he asked his son adam to make a payment to this lady, this supposed lady, whilst he was in hospital. adam took one look at the bank account, realised what had happened, called the police, called his dad's bank, lloyds, realised it was a fraud straightaway. i spoke to adam a little earlier this week and he explained to me that moment when he called lloyds and they said, well, you should be covered by this

voluntary code you mentioned because it covers this type of fraud. only the next day to be told by lloyds actually, sorry, you are not covered and you won't be getting a refund because of this code does not cover criminals when they use foreign bank accounts. if there is a code provided by the bank for their customers then it should be an all—encompassing code. there should not be any holes in it. if somebody is defrauded, they they are defrauded and the code should kick in irrespective of where the criminal resides, or whether money has gone. we began an investigation. lloyds reviewed the case and they have actually gone much further than banks usually do in cases we come across. they spotted these transactions were fraudulent, they warned james and in person, but so groomed had he been by these criminals, he insisted the payments go through. we carried out the investigation and i heard from adam when lloyds eventually told him he was going to get a refund for his dad. it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders essentially,

because i was looking after my dad on this. so i felt a huge sense of responsibility, to try to get him a good result. he is in ill health, and the relief was indescribable, really. you know, it was phenomenal. now, from the streets to the stage — the heart—warming story about the power of music to transform lives. around 100 people who once lived rough on the streets of nottingham, manchester and london are to perform an opera, which some of them have even had a hand in writing. it's been organised by the charity, streetwise, as our social affairs correspondent, jeremy ball explains. they sing. opera, but not as you know it. songs about life in nottingham, performed by local singers

who've been homeless. caroline and simon both spent time living on the streets. now, they're centre stage. i feel like a star. i love entertaining people, making people laugh. it's a chemical ofjoy. i get excited when i start singing and performing and doing things. when you see the orchestra, it's just so wonderful, what they're doing. it's a production called streetwise opera, around 100 singers are from homelessness projects here in nottingham and in london and manchester. they're working with the bbc concert orchestra and a professional, classical choir. but they're notjust singing opera, they're writing it too. this is all about the luddites, who fought against machines replacing theirfactory jobs in nottingham. we've all written words

to put into songs. picking out bits of nottingham that i thought would represent us, like the clock tower. # when the clock strikes two...#. we've worked really hard on this for over a year. ifeel so much happier, my confidence has gone through the roof. it's like magic. it's a kind of magic! next tuesday, they're be performing in public, here at nottingham playhouse. then they go to london for a big finale performance that will be broadcast nationally on bbc radio 3. my anxiety and depression has improved. i'm out and about, i'm socialising with friends. you are somebody special. you're notjust a number. it's changed your life, hasn't it? it has, yeah. i've got a lot of friends

which i've never had. # we're not having it!#. i've really come a long way. we're not having it! we're proving people wrong and letting them know that we can do all the things they say we can't. # respect!#. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. for many of us this afternoon is looking quite wet with rain or showers, and the rainfall today is going to be added to these totals. in a number of places have seen a wet month already with more rainfall recorded than the first half of the month than we normally get in the whole of the month of march. i have to say there is a lot more to come over the next few days. looking particularly wet over western and north—western areas. it is going to turn out to be a wet month for all of us. today we have a band of rain pushing across scotland and northern ireland, but for england and wales it is a day of sunny spells and heavy showers.

the shower clouds really starting to grow. you can see some of them blossoming in worcestershire, and those shower clouds are going to be not just widespread today, but potentially heavy with hail and thunder mixing as well. let's take a look at the weather details. here is our rain putting in across scotland and northern ireland. you might see the weather brighten up in northern and later on, but england and where is some showers can be heavy and thundery. most of them will be across wales, the midlands and northern areas of england. there will be some sunshine between the downpours, but often the weather looks cloudy for most of us. mild — temperatures 11—15. overnight the showers will fade away, but the weakening band of rain will then push its way across england and wales. clearer skies follow, with one or two mist or fog patches. temperatures dropping down into a low single figures. and in northern ireland, a few patches of frost. frost free in england and wales. tomorrow, this is going to be the nicest slice of weather we get

around this weekend. a fine, if somewhat chilly start to the day with plenty of morning sunshine. however it is forecast to cloud over and outbreaks of rain in northern ireland through the afternoon, which could reach western scotland, wales and western areas of england towards the end of the afternoon. on the mild side, temperatures 10—13 c. into next week, low pressure is continuing to pushing across the atlantic one after the next after the next, so we are looking at a prolonged spell of wet weather. the rain turning heavy on monday, more showery in nature as we head towards tuesday, but lots more rain waiting for the rest of the week and those rainfall totals are really mounting up.

this is bbc news. the headlines. donald trump says he will be arrested on tuesday — and has called on his supporters to protest. it's not yet clear what charges, if any, he is facing. the former pakistani prime minister imran khan has left the high court in islamabad — the court said that the hearing is not possible amid protests outside. he's facing corruption charges which he says are politically motivated. there's turmoil at the scottish national party — as the chief executive — and husband of party leader nicola sturgeon — peter murrell resigns in a row

over party membership. a deal allowing the export of ukrainian grain from black sea