this is bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines. donald trump becomes the first former us president to face criminal charges — the charges are thought to relate to falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star. the unprecedented indictment of a former president of the united states for a campaign finance issue is an outrage. former paralympic sprinter oscar pistorius — who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend — is denied an early release from prison. a uk cricket disciplinary hearing upholds charges against several players over the use of a racial slur. former yorkshire cricketer azeem rafiq says the sport needs to end institutional racism for good. one of the core reasons for me speaking out was for the game to get

better and i think it is really, that test really starts now. italy becomes the first western country to block the ai chatbot chatgpt over privacy concerns. president zelensky attends ceremonies being held in bucha, a year since the town was recaptured by the ukrainian army. donald trump has become the first former us president to face a criminal prosecution. the precise charges against him have not yet been made public, but they're thought to relate to falsifying business records to hide a payment to a porn star during the 2016 election campaign. it's alleged stormy daniels was paid off in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair. mr trump is expected to appear in court in new york to face the charges and enter a plea next

tuesday. he denies any wrongdoing and the affair — saying the indictment is "political persecution". live now to new york where we can speak to our north america correspondent nada tawfik. thank you forjoining us. so aid day has passed and i am wondering how is it shaking down, along expected political lines, whether in support or against political lines, whether in support oragainst trump? —— political lines, whether in support or against trump? —— mr trump. this or against trump? -- mr trump. this is very much — oragainst trump? —— mrtrump. ti 3 is very much exacerbating the divides that already existed here in the united states. it is also actually putting a bit more distrust in the legal system as well. we are seeing both of these things happening at once. on the republican side, you are having republicans who are even running against the former president for the presidential

primary really rallying behind him and supporting him and it is because they know that donald trump's base is so influential still. we have heard from the house speaker kevin mccarthy, saying that he wants to investigate the da's case, saying that this is the weaponisation of the criminaljustice system. we are hearing a bit more silence, though, from republicans in the senate but as i say, certainly, republicans are looking ahead to elections and they have come to rally around donald trump. in the meantime, from democrats and the white house for example, silence, president biden, despite numerous questions from reporters asking him to comment, has been tight—lipped, saying he won't make any comments as regards to the trump indictment and then from other democrats, saying that this is about nobody being above the law and this case needs to take its course. i5 case needs to take its course. is there any way to know yet how his baseis there any way to know yet how his base is understanding what is happening so far? i mean, we have

the election next year which many people will be wondering exactly, you know, where those people may or may not go. you know, where those people may or may not 90-— may not go. yeah, well, look, i would say _ may not go. yeah, well, look, i would say the _ may not go. yeah, well, look, i would say the base _ may not go. yeah, well, look, i would say the base is _ may not go. yeah, well, look, i would say the base is firmly - may not go. yeah, well, look, i | would say the base is firmly with donald trump. you had some supporters turning up outside his club in florida, showing support for him, saying that they do believe that this is a witch hunt, just meant to hurt his chances in the election. and look, i think donald trump has been very aware of his messaging and how to portray this to his base. we have seen him make comments like, "look, they have impeached me twice, investigated me over russia, over ukraine and now looking at what has happened with classified documents in my home and election interference". up until now, he has been able to tell his supporters, "look, they haven't been able to get me on any of these things, theyjust want

able to get me on any of these things, they just want to able to get me on any of these things, theyjust want to keep investigating me." now he has been criminally charged. you hear many people who are against donald trump saying finally, something is sticking because they believe that he needs to be held accountable for these types of alleged violations. but from his face, his supporters, they are still convinced this is all about weakening donald trump. thank ou for about weakening donald trump. thank you forjoining — about weakening donald trump. thank you forjoining us- _ presidentjoe biden has been asked about donald trump, let's hear what he had to say. your reaction to president trump's indictment. no. reporters talk over each other. i have no comment on the indictment. have you any comment in the wake of the indictment? no, i'm not going to talk about trump's indictment. reporter question. i have no comment on trump. ...of the charges against trump politically motivated? i have no comment on trump.

former vice president mike pence labelled donald trump's indictment a political presecution, and critised the manhattan district attorney for campaigning to bring charges against him. first, let me say, i think the unprecedented indictment of a former president of the united states for a campaign finance issue is an outrage. it is clear to the overwhelming majority of the american people that this is nothing short of a political prosecution, being effected by a manhattan da who literally campaigned on bringing charges against one particular american. and i must tell you that that should be offensive to every american, left, right and centre. every american deserves equal treatment under the law, and i believe the american people will see this for what it is.

i'm joined now by lawrence douglas — a professor of law at amherst college — in sunderland, massachusetts. thank you forjoining us. what about some of those words? these are donald trump's rivals, republicans coming out to support him in this particular case. how do you understand it? are they worried that a precedent could be set also? fine a precedent could be set also? one thin we a precedent could be set also? one thing we need _ a precedent could be set also? one thing we need to _ a precedent could be set also? qua: thing we need to bear a precedent could be set also? iaz thing we need to bear in a precedent could be set also? i2 thing we need to bear in mind i think is that the rivals of donald trump still need to have support from donald trump's base, and so, i think we need to think about the politics of what they are doing. i think they are very much aware that they can't remain politically viable if they alienate that base, and particularly if they are even trying to remove donald trump as the prospective nominee of the republican party for the 2024 presidential elections. so they are in a space of having to pander to the base at the same time as they are trying to replace the person

that the base worships. but apart from that, that the base worships. but apart from that. you — that the base worships. but apart from that, you say _ that the base worships. but apart from that, you say it _ that the base worships. but apart from that, you say it is _ that the base worships. but apart from that, you say it is political. from that, you say it is political pandering, there are many republicans even that are not presidential rivals, shall we say, or campaigners, that are concerned about it becoming really a political issue instead of a straightforward legal issue. we were hearing from our correspondent, some even questioning the legal system in the united states, does that concern you at all? ., ~' ., ~' united states, does that concern you at all? ., ~ ., ~ ., united states, does that concern you at all? ., ~' ., ~ ., ., at all? you know, i think we have to think about — at all? you know, i think we have to think about things _ at all? you know, i think we have to think about things from _ at all? you know, i think we have to think about things from the - think about things from the perspective of a prosecutor, and a prosecutor in a situation like this really find themselves between a rock and a hard place. let's say you have what you think are sufficient amounts of evidence to go forward with an indictment, on a charge which admittedly is not particularly grave, but it does look to be an example of criminal wrongdoing, and then you have to ask yourself, "do i not bring charges, simply because the person i would be bringing

charges against is the former president of the united states?" what does that say about the rule of law if one fails to bring charges because of the fame of the person or the former power and the continuing power of the person that you would be indicting? so... yeah, so i think that ultimately the rule of law councils in favour of in a sense what mike pence said, treating everybody equally before the law, which means indicting, regardless of the position that one occupies or has occupied. i the position that one occupies or has occupied-— has occupied. i suppose some democrats — has occupied. i suppose some democrats are _ has occupied. i suppose some democrats are thinking - has occupied. i suppose some - democrats are thinking strategically about this case, this is the first one of course where he has been indicted but there are other cases that continue, some perhaps that would have preferred are one of those to be the first. can you tell the viewer is a little bit about what they are which may be coming down also in addition to this one? right, so we should remember that

this indictment, there are three other cases that are going along parallel and independent of this indictment, coming out of new york. may be the most interesting one is the one that is taking place in fulton county, georgia, where trump arguably could be indicted for the criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, which is a very serious charge, much more serious than what we are seeing in new york and one which is a lot less vulnerable to the allegation that this is simply a form of political score settling. and then on the federal front, score settling. and then on the federalfront, we have the department ofjustice looking into possibly indicting trump for his actions relating to the insurrection of the 6th of january, and also relating to his refusal to hand over classified materials that he had

improperly removed to his residence at mara lego. —— to his residence in florida. at mara lego. -- to his residence in florida. i, ~' , ., at mara lego. -- to his residence in florida. ., ~ , ., ., florida. thank you and we will continue to — florida. thank you and we will continue to watch _ florida. thank you and we will continue to watch this, - florida. thank you and we will. continue to watch this, tuesday is the next big day that many will be looking towards. thank you for joining us. ma; looking towards. thank you for joining us-_ south african paralympic star oscar pistorius has been denied parole in south africa. that's according to the department of correctional services — but now there is confusion about whether he was even eligible to apply for it in the first place. here's our africa correspondent andrew harding to explain what happened. earlier today, south african prison officials insisted that oscar pistorius had served half a sentence and therefore qualify for parole. the parole hearing went ahead. the paralympic athlete gave evidence, explaining why he felt he had behaved well in prison and deserve to be set free. the family of reeva steenkamp, his victim, also testified, arguing that he should not be released because he had not

shown sufficient remorse. and then, suddenly, prison officials came out and revealed some stunning use, that in fact, this whole parole hearing should not have gone ahead, that they had received recently, in fact, three days ago, new legal advice, explaining that because of the way you calculate the number of days he has served in prison, he is not actually due to qualify for parole until next august, 2024. and so he remains in prison for now. i think there is some sense of real shock and frustration with the way this has been handled. there is an element of farce, really. none of this should have taken place today. at heart, this is a confusion because oscar pistorius was sentenced twice. his initial sentenced twice. his initial sentence was appealed and therefore there has been a debate and an uncertainty about which days in prison should count and which should not. �* i,

and ms steenkamp's family released the following statement: "while we welcome today's decision, today is not a cause for celebration. we miss reeva terribly and will do so for the rest of our lives. we believe injustice and hope that it continues to prevail." i'm joined now by independent journalist tebogo khaas who's been following everything closely from johannesburg. thank you forjoining us. we will probably have younger viewers that don't remember what a huge case this was, and also what a star oscar pistorius was in the years previous to the trial. do you think there was ever a real chance that he could have been eligible for parole? linn. have been eligible for parole? um, 'ust before have been eligible for parole? um, just before i _ have been eligible for parole? um, just before i proceed, _ have been eligible for parole? urn, just before i proceed, let me just just before i proceed, let mejust correct something, i am a political commentator. it is indeed a very

concerning turn of events today which played out in the full glare of local and international media, the bumbling at the hands of the department of correctional services, and it is very concerning that this happens just a few days, if not a week, after the revelations of what happened in one of the maximum—security prisons where one of the prisoners who was also serving time for murder, as well as rape, got away and that was on the watch of the department of correctional services as well. so to have them go ahead and run a hearing for the parole board when they ought to have known that oscar pistorius had not served the minimum 50% of the time required before he could be eligible to be considered for parole, it isjust eligible to be considered for parole, it is just a further, you know, confirmation, of the bumbling

or the ineptitude within the criminaljustice or the ineptitude within the criminal justice system or the ineptitude within the criminaljustice system itself. and criminal 'ustice system itself. and where criminaljustice system itself. and where do you _ criminaljustice system itself. and where do you think south africa is now? when we first looked at this case, almost ten years ago now, there were so many questions about gender based violence in south africa and also the level of crime, you know, that oscar pistorius had a gun, that they were in a gated community. has that changed, do you think, societally? trio. community. has that changed, do you think, societally?— think, societally? no, not quite. and it is very — think, societally? no, not quite. and it is very disturbing. - think, societally? no, not quite. and it is very disturbing. i - think, societally? no, not quite. and it is very disturbing. i am i think, societally? no, not quite. and it is very disturbing. i am a | and it is very disturbing. i am a father to two now adult women. and it is worrisome to see that something that happened to reeva whose career and life had just really started in earnest, could literally happen to any of our family members and friends. nothing has really changed since then. if anything, it appears that the impunity with which some of the

crimes like gender—based violence are committed seems to be getting worse instead of better. and we can lay the blame at the system but the politicians themselves must shoulder much of the blame because they don't seem to have a plan in terms of how they would encounter this kind of crime. in fact, they would encounter this kind of crime. infact, most they would encounter this kind of crime. in fact, most of the officials within the criminal justice system themselves are found to be corrupt. we have got commissioner... to be corrupt. we have got commissioner. . ._ to be corrupt. we have got commissioner... with that, obviously. _ commissioner... with that, obviously. i— commissioner... with that, obviously, i don't _ commissioner... with that, obviously, i don't have - commissioner... with that, obviously, i don't have any| commissioner... with that, l obviously, i don't have any of commissioner... with that, - obviously, i don't have any of those politicians here to respond and you are commentating in your own personal capacity but i understand that you say you feel it has not improved since the death of reeva steenkamp and indeed, the trial and case where oscar pistorius was convicted. thank you forjoining us. thank you very much. here in the uk, a further

highly critical report into yorkshire cricket club following allegations of racism by former player azeem rafiq has upheld complaints of racism against five former team—mates, but has cleared michael vaughan, the ex—england captain and bbc pundit, of using racist language. the report, by the cricket discipline commission, is the latest into the claims into historical racism by rafiq which he first made in 2020. here's our sports editor dan roan. as a former ashes winning england captain turned commentator, michael vaughan is one of cricket's highest profile figures, but for almost 18 months, accusations he used racist language hung over him. he denied the claim, and after a hearing earlier this month, today was cleared. a disciplinary commission ruled... vaughan stepped back from his bbc broadcasting work last year after former yorkshire team—mate azeem rafiq alleged that moments after this huddle before a match in 2009,

his former captain said, "there's too many of you lot" to him and three other asian players. today in a statement, vaughan said... vaughan urged reconciliation but condemned what he called an inappropriate approach by the ecb, saying there had been no winners. now out of contract, the bbc will have to decide whether to restore him to the team. i think michael himself will be able to have greater detail about exactly the toll it takes on him, notjust him, but his family, close friends as it were, but there have been some difficult, challenging times and dark times. but this was still another damaging day for yorkshire, which admitted four charges, including a failure to address systemic use of racist language over a prolonged period. the panel said that its findings did not undermine rafiq's wider

assertions and upheld some of the discrimination charges of the disrepute charges against five other former players and coaches here. all five, which included former england stars matthew hoggard and tim bresnan, had withdrawn from the disciplinary process. today, rafiq gave me this reaction. you know, the hearing was very much closure for me, and again today i feel very vindicated. seven out of the eight charges, for me, it is very important that we don't get hung up on individuals, because that is not the way we are ever going to solve this issue. yorkshire, facing a financial crisis after having to pay compensation to staff sacked in the wake of the scandal, could now be hit with a points deduction, and with what is expected to be a chastening game—wide report on diversity in english cricket still to come, the scrutiny is set to remain. dan roan, bbc news. ukraine's president zelensky has led commemorations in the town of bucha,

just north of kyiv, to mark the first anniversary of its liberation from occupying russian troops. he and and several european leaders listened outside an orthodox church, while the names of ukrainians who were killed were read out. the town has come to symbolise atrocities carried out by russian forces. bucha was the focus of fierce fighting. some tech news now, as italy has become the first western country to block the advanced chatbot chatgpt. the italian data—protection authority said there were privacy concerns relating to the model, which was created by us start—up openai and is backed by microsoft. the regulator said it would ban and investigate openai "with immediate effect". millions of people have used chatgpt since it launched in november 2022, as it can answer questions using natural human—like language. the technology journalist, will guyatt, explained the implications of the ban.

and it's come from absolutely nowhere. there has been some concerns about privacy on the platform but we have not had any government suggesting they were going to do anything close to this. the regulator in italy has come out with a statement saying this is a temporary measure until chatgpt respects privacy, quite a strong statement that they have suggested there. this is interesting because we don't know how many users there were four chatgpt in italy. there are 100 million people who have been using chatgpt in the last several months. it has only been around since november. but the interesting thing from this is that it all goes back to the italian regulator suggesting that algorithms that are made to train... so what happens in these artificial intelligence systems is that they are being trained by all the information you put into it, it is "learning" from what you put into it, and they are suggesting there is currently no legal precedent in italian or eu law that enables this to happen. if that is the case, i am pretty confident there is no law in any country in europe, because we are very slow at adapting to technology and rules when they come through.

you could find theoretically a load of different countries following italy and maybe the whole of the eu following with this ban until you get into a situation where openai and their big funder, now microsoft, get this together and have the conversations that are required. it is a surprise to me as somebody that has followed the tech industry for 20 years that this has happened so very quickly. well, everything happens quickly with chatgpt, it seems. i have got about a minute or so but i know the uk wants to be a leader when it came to ai. what do you think this italian ruling might mean? obviously, the uk is not in the eu any more. this will be really interesting as to whether the uk reacts to this any way. we have seen tiktok being banned on government devices, following concerns in other countries. but i know that the uk government are very keen to position themselves at the front of ai and ai development and the idea that a country can ban a piece of ai technology on the basis of privacy seems to set the argument for al in that country back by a certain period of time. let's see what happens

in the next few days and weeks. i really don't know where this one is going next. and of course, you are looking at italy there but do you think globally, we are talking about the eu and the uk, do you think that globally, are they watching italy, do you think or could possibly follow? yes, well, it is already banned in countries like russia, china and north korea, no big surprises there. i can't see it being banned in the us because microsoft is such a huge investor in it now. but let's see what happens in other countries. i know people will be listening and this has been a really big surprise. nobody expected this at 9am this morning. the oscar winning actress, gwyneth paltrow, has been awarded a symbolic sum of one dollar, after winning a two—week court battle over a skiing collision in utah, in 2016. terry sanderson had accused her of crashing into him at a resort, and sued for nearly a quarter of a million pounds. sophie long reports from utah. the oscar—winning actress has been present throughout this trial that's

been streamed around the world like a reality tv courtroom drama. a "he said, she said, who hit whom" on the slopes of a luxury ski resort — and at what cost? this is hard because i don't like going through this scene. he said he broke four ribs and has permanent brain damage, but she said she suffered, too. he has deterred you from enjoying the rest of what was a very expensive vacation? well, i lost half- a day of skiing, yes. right, 0k. he said he was hit from behind. i heard something i've never heard at a ski resort and that was a bloodcurdling scream. just can't do it, it was... aaagh... and then, boom. but she gave a different version of the collision. i was skiing, and two skis came between my skis, l forcing my legs apart. and then there was a body pressing against me, - and there was a very. strange grunting noise.

so, my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening, . i thought, "am i...? is this a practicaljoke? is someone, like, doing something perverted? i this is really, really strange." late—night hosts turned the case into comedy. he's a bumbling optometrist. she's a celebrity mogul. they collide on a ski mountain and neither one can remember what happened? this christmas, see hallmark�*s newest hit, goopsy daisy, a ski accident of the heart! applause and cheering. thank you. but no—one was laughing here. mr sanderson's lawyers tried to paint a picture of an entitled celebrity lacking in care for the little people. and ms paltrow�*s legal team said he wanted to hold her accountable for the unwanted effects of ageing and exploit her high profile and wealth. was gwyneth paltrow at fault? no. after a trial lasting nearly two weeks, it took the jury just two hours to decide that it was not ms paltrow but mr sanderson who had been responsible for the crash.

as the actress and influencer left court she went to see the man whose accusations had brought her here and said, "i wish you well." sophie long, bbc news, park city, utah. thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news. thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news- stay — thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news. stay with _ thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news. stay with us _ thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news. stay with us if _ thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news. stay with us if you - thanks to sophie long. this is bbc news. stay with us if you can. - hello, the last day of march was unsettled across the southern half of the uk. plenty of showers and areas of heavy rain and strong winds, but this area of low pressure will clear away during the first part of the weekend, and into the start of april, things become a bit drier and brighter and more settled and we should start to see more sunshine on sunday. this area of low pressure has been pulling away into the near continent, taking strong wind with it but leaving a legacy of cloud. further showers and a weather front bringing further rain

to northern ireland, parts of wales, south west and southern england, some of the rain heavy at times. further north, a lot of cloud across north sea coasts but western scotland and northwest england seeing the best of any clearer skies so temperatures may take a bit of a tumble. for saturday, still an area of low pressure pulling away very slowly to the near continent, leaving a legacy of cloud across the country. a few showery bursts of rain being pushed in on an east north—easterly wind and eastern scotland and eastern england staying grey and cool. this weather front bringing further rain to northern ireland, parts of wales and the southwest will tend to fizzle out through the day. we could see skies brightening a touch but it will be chilly, certainly compared to the last few days across north sea coast, with an onshore breeze. further west, highs of 11, maybe 12—13 in the sunny spells across the south—west. as we head through saturday night, it stays rather cloudy for most. this weather front should peter out and turn drier across northern ireland, south—west england and i think any rain across eastern england will fizzle out. many places dry with variable cloud

and clear spells and temperatures dipping between 2—7. a cooler night to come, then. sunday, high pressure builds in, few isobars so the wind will be much lighter. we are importing some slightly drier air from the east so i think early on we should start to see any cloud beginning to break up and then sunshine will become abundant into the afternoon. a much brighter second half of the weekend for much of the country, away from northern scotland and northern ireland, a bit more cloud. despite the sunshine, although feeling warm in the sunshine, still quite cool, 9—12. pretty reasonable for early april. into next week, it looks like high pressure continues to bring a lot of dry and settled weather. at times, weatherfronts bringing rain to the north and west of the uk but turning milder as we move through the new week.

this is bbc news, the headlines...

donald trump becomes the first former us president to face criminal charges — the charges are thought to relate to falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a pawn star. oscar pistorius, the former paralympic sprinterjailed for murdering his girlfriend, has been denied an early release from a prison in south africa. the parole board said he hadn't completed his minimum detention period. the cricket discipline commission in the uk upholds complaints against five former yorkshire players for using racist language. but the former england captain, michael vaughan, is cleared. italy becomes the first western country to block the ai chatbot chatgpt, over privacy concerns. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for newscast.