it's this is bbc news, the headlines... finland is set to become the 31st member of nato in a ceremony due to be held in brussels today. former us president donald trump is in new york to face criminal charges in court. the british government says funding for the social care workforce in england has been halved. and tiktok is fined over £12 million for failing to protect the privacy of children in the uk. the british government has confirmed that funding promised to develop the social care workforce in england has been halved. in 2021 the government promised "at least" £500 million for reforms. that money was to be

spent on training places and technology over three years. the department of health say that figure is now £250 million. social care minister helen whately said the government's new plan "focuses on recognising care with the status it deserves", but charities say this is "just the latest in a long series of disappointments" for the sector. live now to our newsroom, where we can speak to our health correspondent nick triggle. let's be clear here, the funding hasn't quite been halved, a lot of it has been held back but hasn't quite been halved, a lot of it has been held baci— hasn't quite been halved, a lot of it has been held back but it doesn't to sa it it has been held back but it doesn't to say it doesn't _ it has been held back but it doesn't to say it doesn't mean _ it has been held back but it doesn't to say it doesn't mean what - it has been held back but it doesn't to say it doesn't mean what is - to say it doesn't mean what is happening now is a social care sector which may be bought so i need the money right now isn't getting it. , , ., ., ., it. yes, there is a lot of frustration _ it. yes, there is a lot of frustration in _ it. yes, there is a lot of frustration in the - it. yes, there is a lot of frustration in the social| it. yes, there is a lot of - frustration in the social care sector. what we have had today is £2 billion of funding. the details of where that money is going to be spent. part of it is going on the workforce, part of it on digital

care records, some extra money for councils who are in charge of running social care, to pay to the providers of care homes and services provided to support two adults with disabilities. this £2 billion from the government isjust disabilities. this £2 billion from the government is just a small fraction of the overall sum that is spent on social care. it is likely to be about 5% of funding, also drawing money from council tax, business rates and other central government grants, but what has happened is they have held back £600 million of what was originally promised and that has meant the money for workforce in particular has been hit, was meant to be £500 million but now it will be £250 million. there was going to be extra training places and this was considered really important to plug some of the gaps in the social care workforce, around one in ten posts at the moment are vacant. that is why the association of directors of

aduu why the association of directors of adult social services are saying that vulnerable people are going to miss out, people will go without care, and i have said the government's vision for social care is actually in tatters but the government is adamant that the money they are holding back will in time be invested in social care, so they could still be some extra money for the workforce but at the moment it is not there. the workforce but at the moment it is not there-— is not there. given it is a political _ is not there. given it is a political issue _ is not there. given it is a political issue very - is not there. given it is a political issue very much j is not there. given it is a i political issue very much in is not there. given it is a - political issue very much in terms of the government having said in the white pepper that it was going to invest more money in social care in the uk what is the excuse now are holding back so much of it? thei;i the uk what is the excuse now are holding back so much of it? they are sa in: the holding back so much of it? they are saying they want _ holding back so much of it? they are saying they want to _ holding back so much of it? they are saying they want to review _ holding back so much of it? they are saying they want to review where - saying they want to review where that money will be best invested. they are adamant it will still make its way into the social care system, but they want to make sure it is prioritised in the right area, but as you say, investment in social care and the priority given to

social care is a long—standing issue, the government has already announced its cap on care costs will be delayed and that has been put off to the pass to the next general election, so this isjust to the pass to the next general election, so this is just the latest of what many in the care sector are saying is an example of the government not doing enough to prioritise these services which are provided to after all the most frail and vulnerable in society.- provided to after all the most frail and vulnerable in society. thank you very much- — to the netherlands now, where one person has been confirmed dead and about 30 injured in a train crash. rescue teams are at the scene of the accident near the village of voorschoten between the hague and amsterdam. authorities say the train — carrying about 50 passengers — was derailed after it hit a crane. the two front carriages are lying on their sides and the rear carriage caught fire. most of the injured have been taken to hospital in utrecht — others are being cared for in homes near the crash site. 0ur correspondent anna holligan

is at the scene of the crash. you can see this is the exact spot where the train derails. one of the carriages has gone down the embankment. an overhead power line has fallen on top of the other. if ijust spin the camera around, you can see in the distance there, emergency teams trying to establish how best to remove this wreckage. the dutch king willem—alexander visited the site earlier. he has also paid his condolences to those affected. the dutch prime minister also tweeted his, he said, a terrible train accident. his thoughts are with the relatives and all of the victims. it was 3:25 in the morning when the crash happened. 1:25 gmt. 50 people on board, 11 of them were looked after by people here living nearby. 19 others taken to an emergency hospital in utrecht, not farfrom here. the train driver is understood to be in hospital with fractures but is conscious.

one person, of course, sadly died in this crash. an investigation is now under way to try to work out exactly what happened. and in the meantime, these emergency workers are gathering as many clues as they can here at the scene. let me show you some pictures that came from the capital of bangladesh. a huge fire has destroyed large parts of one of bangladesh's popular clothing markets. hundreds of firefighters battled to control the blaze at dhaka's banga bazar. shop owners say the blaze has wiped out stock ahead of eid, bangladesh's biggest religious celebration. it's not known how the fire started and there's been no report on casualties yet. a lack of rain in recent years has

meant that the northeast of spain is seeing its worst drought on record. this has led to a series of strict measures being taken to ensure that the area's water supply is not exhausted. it has also added to concerns about the impact of climate change in southern europe. let's show you an example of the situation. this church is usually hidden underwater, sometimes entirely, in a reservoir near barcelona. for the past few months, though, it's been like this. the church now stands several metres above the waterline, surrounded by parched earth. guy hedgecoe reports from catalonia. for half a century, the sau reservoir has supplied water to the people of barcelona and the surrounding area, but in recent months it has been depleted to less than a tenth of its capacity due to lack of rain. this church totally submerged in times of abundant rainfall has become a bleak symbol

of the drought. now, the sau reservoir has been emptied altogether to prevent the remaining water from being contaminated by mud. its fish are being caught so they don't rot in the water. we are trying to transfer the water as soon as we can because the quality right now in winter was good, with the spring it will become really, really bad and try to extract all the — all the fishes that we can find there. this area has not seen sustained rain for 2.5 years. that's the longest drought here since records began in 1905. local authorities have restricted the use of water for agriculture by a0%. this farmer who produces artichokes and tomatoes among other crops warns that the lack of water is likely to be push up the prices of these products in supermarkets across europe. translation: i am worried because farming is my job i

and if i don't have water, i end up planting fewer crops. if we can't plant as many crops, then this will mean there is less product for consumers. barcelona, like many towns and cities across catalonia, is seeing tight controls on water use for everything from car washing and gardening, to street cleaning. even ornamental fountains like this one have been switched off in recent weeks. as well as stretching water supplies, the dry conditions have other unwanted effects. a wave of wildfires in northern and eastern spain has burned thousands of hectares of land. the summer is still a long way off, but spain and some of its european neighbours are already feeling the heat.

let's ta ke let's take you out to new york. it looks like a lot of scaffolding but i can assure you that it is really interesting scene. the aerial shot is a bit better. this is new york, around trump tower. it is a morning and everyone is waiting for for president donald trump as he prepares to face criminal charges in that historic court hearing which will take place in lower manhattan later today. you can see police cars and police in the areas in the area because security services and police have flooded the city with barricades erected around the manhattan court building and of course high security around trump tower. mrtrump course high security around trump tower. mr trump is expected to face a court but we are not sure exactly what charges he will face but we know they will be related to money paid allegedly to silence a former

pawn star stormy daniels. he is the first us president to appear in court charged with a criminal offence and that is why there is such a lot of media interest in him. he is dominating the front pages of all the papers in the us this morning and as you can see here on bbc news we are live and across this story and we will bring you all the very latest as and when it happens. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. i was gifted a hand—cranked singer sewing machine by my grandmother. just to get on those old machines and see it working, i was fascinated. but being a boy and then being told, you know, my home economics teacher had been told, no, you can't pursue this. so i was like, "but i want, this is what i want to do. this is what i love doing." denied a needle and thread at school, a young clive bruder fought back. after studying textile design

at college and settin, up his own crafting company, he started the boys sew too movement, inspired by his friend and fellow sewing enthusiast rob dawson, who died suddenly last year. and when rob passed away, it was, it was tough. we had a shared experience when we were younger being told, no, we're not allowed to sew because we're a boy. now things have changed slightly. however, the stigma is still there. it doesn't matter who you are, you should be able to do anything you want to do. you're live with bbc news. a new report on the foreign office's handling of hostage diplomacy has criticised their treatment of some hostages and their relatives. it highlighted the distress caused by poor communication and a lack of transparency and coordination. the report drew on the experiences of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe and her family. she returned to the uk last year after being detained in iran for six years.

the foreign affairs committee called for the introduction of a director for arbitrary and complex detentions who would have a direct line to the prime minister. live now to alicia kearns, the conservative chair of the commons foreign affairs committee. thank you forjoining us. first of all, what is the main issue you found here, what is the problem? abductor states a weapon i think the nationality of british citizens and holding us hostage to secure their geopolitical aims. this used to be the action of only terror states but now particularly those autocratic states who feel cornered and isolated, they are essentially treating us like a card on the deck of cards and i always want to have one ice that they hold back so they need to for geopolitical influence. but it's not always abductor states, that the problem here, example we can go to the case of doctor singh gill how he was arrested in india,

the scottish seek activist arrested in india on terror charges. india is not an adductor state, where do we stand with countries like that? the issue is when _ stand with countries like that? tue: issue is when too stand with countries like that? tte: issue is when too often stand with countries like that? tt2 issue is when too often when individuals are arbitrarily detained when we don't recognise are reasons which they have been the time to be valid they can very quickly be escalated to being state hostages, so any country that uses state hostage taking is to be considered an abductor at state and that is a big challenge and it is notjust the uk that is facing this problem, but the reality is that is why we want the reality is that is why we want the foreign office to act quickly when people are arbitrarily detained because at any point they could be escalated to being used as state hostage taking. 50 escalated to being used as state hostage taking.— hostage taking. so what is the answer here, _ hostage taking. so what is the answer here, what _ hostage taking. so what is the answer here, what do we - hostage taking. so what is the | answer here, what do we need hostage taking. so what is the i answer here, what do we need to happen to change the way that things work in the uk foreign office? the introduction _ work in the uk foreign office? tt2 introduction of a director for arbitrary and complex detentions would be important because one of our key learnings is if we can get british nationals home before they are charged that is our best window

of opportunity. this individual would have a direct line of contact to the prime minister and they would be able to be more creative with the approaches they take, but also it would give those families whose lives are ripped out, that contingency and that constant companionship they need because too often families are being made to feel they are an inconvenience. this role would also call out hostage taking. there is too much nervousness around calling a spade a spade and finally it would make sure that dual nationals do not feel their britishness is somehow in question, this role would be transformative in terms of how we deal with this.— deal with this. 0k, thank you for talkin: to deal with this. 0k, thank you for talking to us _ deal with this. 0k, thank you for talking to us today. _ let's cross live to brussels. we are keeping an eye on what is happening, with pendant due to become a nato member. the us secretary of state antony blinken is giving a press conference and let's have a listen. continuing to reaffirm in both political and practical ways our support for ukraine, continue the work we have been doing over

previous summits to strengthen the defence and deterrence capacity of the alliance itself and as a secretary general said to continue to build on new partnerships between nato and countries in other parts of the world, notably in the asian pacific precisely the reason is that the secretary general said, the chances we are facing are global in nature and what we have seen over the last couple of years is greater convergence than i have seen in my own experience doing this for 30 years, between united states and europe, the united states and asian partners and amongst all of us on how to effectively meet the challenges of our time, so the work could not be more timely and more important and as always it is great to be here. thank you. that important and as always it is great to be here. thank you.— to be here. thank you. that was antony blinken _ to be here. thank you. that was antony blinken the _ to be here. thank you. that was antony blinken the us _ to be here. thank you. that was antony blinken the us secretary to be here. thank you. that was i antony blinken the us secretary of state, just reiterating and underlining how great he feels it is to be in brussels to mark the accession of finland to nato. the

finnish flag is due to be raised at nato headquarters in brussels as finland becomes the 31st member of nato later on and we will be there live on bbc news across what is happening there. there will also be a joint ceremony between the finnish president and the us secretary of state when that joining president and the us secretary of state when thatjoining happens later. we will bring you all the analysis on the bbc. martha lane fox is one of the uk's most successful tech entrepreneurs. she was also a former board member of twitter during the saga of its sale to elon musk. she sat down with our tech reporter shiona mccallum who began by asking her about the fast developing use of ai in the tech world. i am of the view that you need to think about things carefully but you can't stop them. there is no point us all sitting here saying ai is going to destroy the world. well, it is happening. technology isn't slowing down, it is speeding up. we are digitising, it is speeding up

so we have to decide if we're going to digitise in a way that it is ethical, sustainable and inclusive or we're just going to let it take over and sit i'm not that person, i think we should put frameworks around this stuff and company should think carefully about the unintended consequences. they should bring people into the room... to have a decision in how these technologies are deployed that perhaps weren't in the room before. do you think there are concerns around how it is being used in some scenarios and specifically chat gpt? there is perhaps a slight fear around not knowing its capabilities and the impact it can have or is it an opportunity? both. if you look at any impact of transformative technology you have a kind of stress point and everybody is wrestling with what that is going to look like. of course some jobs go and that is profoundly difficult for the communities that those jobs affect, i'm not diminishing that in any way. but you also look at the opportunities for newjobs

and newjob creation and that is always been shown to be true as well. so you can have both aspects being true at the same time. you mentioned the unintended consequences of ai. what kind of things concern you in terms of how quickly this is now evolving? it is still very early prototypes. we will look back at 2023 and think wow, we thought that was giving us credible answers and we were taken it as gospel truth. we have to be mindful that this is a very early iteration. this is still a very early iteration, check sources, make sure that we understand about that chain and cycle and how these things work. elon musk has now completed his $44 billion deal to buy twitter... what was it like having a front row seat when that was unfolding? exhausting. i feel very much as though i am still winding out from that experience. on one level i feel unbelievably

lucky to have had a front row seat at one of the most extraordinary things. i really did get to see what was happening right in the thick of it, which when you have seen the headlines over here on one level and then you are dealing with stuff on a daily basis it was quite an extraordinary experience. ifeel as if i had a corporate career in the year and a half that most people have in 25 years. can you take me back to when you found out that elon musk would indeed go ahead with this deal? having sold the company we had to uphold the contract, that was absolutely resolute in our minds. so although there were twists and turns and we weren't sure if we were going to end up in court or what was going to happen, actually, it wasn't as surprising as you might think because we were very clear that that was the direction of travel that we were going in and that is what we were going to hold him to.

some breaking news, regarding the murder of lola james. there has been a verdict in that murder. a man has been found guilty of the murder of two—year—old lola james. she died in what was described as a frenzied attack on her home. she was killed ljy attack on her home. she was killed by her mother's boyfriend injuly 2020 just months after he moved into their house in pembrokeshire in wales. 31—year—old kyle bevan assaulted the toddler but later claimed she had fallen down the stairs after being pushed by the family dog. he then spent time taking pictures of his victim and searching the internet for advice on how to cover his tracks before an ambulance was eventually called, but lola then died of her injuries four days later in hospital. her mother 30—year—old sinead james was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. that verdict has come on in the last few minutes.

nigel lawson, who was perhaps best known as the uk's chancellor of the exchequer during the 1980s, has died. he was 91. the current prime minister, rishi sunak, led the tributes, tweeting that... helen catt looks back at his life. nigel lawson was the architect of the economic policies that underpinned thatcherism. six years in office saw some of the most far—reaching changes ever made to britain's financial affairs. i was asked to be the first city editor for the new sunday telegraph. he began his career as a journalist, editing the spectator magazine and making regular appearances as a tv pundit. nigel lawson. he became an mp in 1970, earning a reputation as a man of the right. here he was, calling for the end of sanctions against rhodesia, as it was then.

the purpose of economic sanctions was to achieve a political end. they have failed to do this, and i think it is clear to all of us now, if it wasn't clear before, that they never will. just this way, sir. in 1983, he became chancellor in mrs thatcher's cabinet, presenting a series of tax—cutting budgets. the privatisation of state industries saw him fulfil his vision of a people's capitalism. his relaxation of the rules governing london's stock market was aimed at making the city a successful financial centre. but as inflation and interest rates rose, the government found itself in trouble. lawson's opposition to the poll tax, a measure which led to huge public disorder, soured relations with margaret thatcher. a public row with the prime minister's financial guru, sir alan walters, was the final straw. good evening.

the chancellor, nigel lawson, resigned tonight, taking the government, westminster and financial markets around the world totally by surprise. his resignation was seen by many as the beginning of the end of the thatcher era. he sat in the lords as lord lawson until last december, during which time he criticised the idea of man—made climate change and argued to leave the european union. the european union, as it is now, half of it is a complete economic basket case and the other half is not all that great. his view had always been that the markets should operate with the minimum of interference, a philosophy that guided one of the 20th century's longest serving and most reforming chancellors. nigel lawson who has died at the age of 91. i want to take you to

new york now and some incredible pictures. lightning striking just once, but with incredible results in the big apple. these were taken by earthcam, a network of live streaming cameras, on saturday night. the bolt hits the tallest building in new york city, the one world trade center, and look, we can see it from all different angles. i wonder what new yorkers thought about that and what they think about this. let's take you live to what is happening in new york. as always we take you on bbc news to where the story is and that is very much following the former president donald trump who is going to be appearing before a manhattan court. it is the first time a us president will appear in court charged with a criminal offence and we will be across the story live here on bbc news throughout the day, so stay with us, plenty more to come from me

and the team. bye—bye for now. hello. well, let's see how the weather is looking for the rest of the day. for most of us, actually, not bad at all. bright, if not sunny weather, particularly across england and wales. not necessarily the case in scotland and northern ireland. we're closer to a weather front here and, in fact, rain is expected in some areas if it hasn't reached you already. but england and wales is under the influence of high pressure. you can see it here close to denmark and this sort of nose shape stretching towards the southwest. talking about noses, also high pollen levels across parts of england and wales through the course of today. and these levels will vary as we go through the rest of the week. now here, the temperatures, end of the afternoon typically 11 to m degrees.

here's that thick of cloud and the outbreaks of rain reaching northern ireland, western and northern scotland, perhaps a few spits and spots of rain through the early hours reaching wales too. but the bulk of england should be dry and clear into the evening and overnight. and once again a touch of frost on the way, particularly across east anglia and the south east. elsewhere it is going to be mild because we are close to weather fronts. in fact, the weather fronts are right over us. when you're in between weather fronts like this, that means there's a fair amount of mild air stuck. so tomorrow, wednesday, we're calling ita mild, damp, cloudy day for many areas across northern and western parts of the country. you can see that weather front makes more progress northwards, not so much eastwards. so it does look as though in norwich and in london it should be dry for the bulk of the day on wednesday. let's have a look at thursday. the weather front will have swept through the country. behind it, more of a northwesterly breeze. so things are going to feel a little bit cooler on thursday, a bit more sunny spells around

and notice a few showers dotted around in the wake of that weather front, which will be sweeping through wednesday night into thursday. and then friday, the weekend and into next week, it does look as though we pick up these south—westerlies that is going to draw in much milder air from the south. the weather will settle down as well. so if we look at the outlook, it does look as though things are going to turn quite a bit milder —11l,15,16 degrees. possibly the high teens across the south of the country. a little bit more changeable further north. bye— bye.

to court in new york — the first former us president to face criminal charges. mr trump is accused of paying hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election. supporters and opponents will be outside the courthouse. well, i think it's amazing and it's beautiful that finally the institutions are doing what they're supposed to do. he told the american people, the working people of america, "i've got your back." now he's in peril, he's being persecuted, ifelt i had to come in to let him know i got your back. we'll be live from the courthouse in new york with the latest. also this lunchtime... the social media giant tiktok fined more than £12 million

for failing to protect the privacy of children in the uk.