hello. you're live with bbc news. donald trump speaks for the first time since he pleaded not guilty to charges in new york. the only crime that i have committed is to furiously defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. cheering. israeli police clash with palestinian worshippers insidejerusalem's al—aqsa mosque after a pre—dawn raid at the holy site. french president emmanuel macron arrives in china amid tensions we will have the latest from our correspondent injerusalem. french president emmanuel macron arrives in china amid tensions over the war in ukraine. and buckingham palace says after the coronation, the queen consort will be known as queen camilla.

hello and welcome. donald trump has spoken publicly for the first time since he was charged with 3a counts of falsifying business records — saying the legal action is an "insult" to america. the former us president earlier pleaded not guilty to hiding damaging information during the 2016 election. speaking to his supporters, mr trump said his only crime was to fearlessly defend the nation from those who would destroy it. in a campaign—style speech, he lambasted the biden administration and repeated the false claims that he'd been cheated out of office in 2020 by voting fraud. nada tawfik reports from new york. a show of defiance just hours after his arrest. back at his mar—a—lago club in florida, donald trump slowly

made his way through a ballroom packed with crowds of supporters, shaking hands and relishing their attention. in his first public remarks since being indicted, he said the justice system had become lawless. and i never thought anything like this could happen in america. never thought it could happen. the only crime that i have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. cheering. he attacked everyone from the district attorney prosecuting him to president biden, and accused democrats of conspiring against him. he abruptly ended his speech after 25 minutes, with the events earlier clearly taking its toll. it was a day for the history books. a man who once held the highest office in the country experienced the indignity of being booked and arraigned. accommodations and security arrangements were made, but he was shown no special

deference. video cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, but a few photographers captured trump's demeanour and facial expression in the moments before he pleaded not guilty to sa felony counts. he's been accused of falsifying business records to conceal a crime. the charges are connected to a hush money payment to the porn star stormy daniels. this is a high stakes case for the manhattan district attorney, alvin bragg. in a press conference, he defended his office's decision to pursue an indictment against trump. 3a false statements made to cover up other crimes. these are felony crimes in new york state, no matter who you are. we cannot and will not normalise serious criminal conduct. donald trump left this courthouse and went immediately back to mar—a—lago, but he won't be able to escape his legal troubles here.

the next hearing is set for december, and this indictment may not even be his biggest concern if other investigations into election interference result in prosecution. nada tawfiq, bbc news, new york. let's get more now from our correspondent, michelle fleury, whojoins us live from new york. a defined donald trump, as we would expect. what did you make of his comments?— expect. what did you make of his comments? , , . , ., comments? this is a trump we are familiar with. _ comments? this is a trump we are familiar with. he _ comments? this is a trump we are familiar with. he went _ comments? this is a trump we are familiar with. he went through - comments? this is a trump we are familiar with. he went through a i familiar with. he went through a list of grievances, some of which we have heard before, whether it was claiming that the election in 2020 were stolen from him or attacks on president biden. but where it was new is, he added to that list issues with the da, the district attorney alvin bragg, and also thejudge with the da, the district attorney alvin bragg, and also the judge who presided over the arraignment here

in new york city. the question is whether, by expressing that publicly, that will land him in trouble. thejudge said publicly, that will land him in trouble. the judge said to publicly, that will land him in trouble. thejudge said to both parties today to be on their best behaviour when it came to speaking and choosing their words to the public so that he would avoid having toissue public so that he would avoid having to issue a gag order, something he has refrained from doing. so to issue a gag order, something he has refrained from doing.— to issue a gag order, something he has refrained from doing. so we have had the big public— has refrained from doing. so we have had the big public court _ has refrained from doing. so we have had the big public court appearance l had the big public court appearance yesterday and all the coverage around that. we are not going to see another court appearance until december. what is going to happen in the meantime and is it definite that there could even be a trial in this case? . , . , ., case? that is a huge question. la ers case? that is a huge question. lawyers for— case? that is a huge question. lawyers for donald _ case? that is a huge question. lawyers for donald trump - case? that is a huge question. lawyers for donald trump are | case? that is a huge question. - lawyers for donald trump are going to push to file certain motions. one of them could be to have the case thrown out entirely. another could be to move it to a different jurisdiction, perhaps one at staten

island, because it is more favourable towards trump, the idea being that it will be easier to find a jury pool there that might be favourable to him. there is a long way to go. we have all been following the events of the last 48 hours and the drama of watching a former president being arrested and fingerprinted and going through the arraignment process. but now you get to the typical grind of the legal process and that can be quite slow. as you mentioned, the next court date is in december, and that is when donald trump has been ordered to appear. but in future hearings, it mightjust be the lawyers behind closed doors. it mightjust be the lawyers behind closed doom-— it mightjust be the lawyers behind closed doors. ~ ., ., ., ., closed doors. wall-to-wall coverage b the us closed doors. wall-to-wall coverage by the us media. — closed doors. wall-to-wall coverage by the us media, of _ closed doors. wall-to-wall coverage by the us media, of course, - closed doors. wall-to-wall coverage by the us media, of course, of - closed doors. wall-to-wall coverage by the us media, of course, of this i by the us media, of course, of this huge story in us politics. what has the analysis over there been? has it only served to harden party political lines?— only served to harden party political lines? only served to harden party olitical lines? ., ., , political lines? you have never been able to separate _ political lines? you have never been able to separate the _ political lines? you have never been able to separate the legal— political lines? you have never been able to separate the legal from - political lines? you have never been able to separate the legal from the l able to separate the legal from the political here. in part, you see it

both with da alvin bragg. he has been questioned as to why he brought this case now and that is something that people pouring over the indictment want to get a better understanding of, why he felt this was a case he had to bring, given that it involved a former president. and for donald trump's side, he has usedit and for donald trump's side, he has used it as an opportunity to drum up support from his base. since the indictment first dropped, he has raised $10 million. he is even selling t—shirts with a mugshot that didn't take place. you can see he is trying to gain ground because of course, he is trying to run for president of the united states again in the 2024 election.— in the 2024 election. michelle, thank yom _ police in israel have clashed with dozens of palestinian worshippers inside jerusalem's al—aqsa mosque compound. they say they carried out a pre—dawn raid into the holy site

after agitators locked themselves inside the mosque. the palestinian red crescent reported numerous injuries. nine rockets were fired at southern israeli towns from gaza following the police raid. let's speak to our correspondent lucy williamson, who's injerusalem. we are looking at pictures of the al—aqsa mosque. it looks quite at the moment, but what happened overnight? figs the moment, but what happened overniuht? �* , the moment, but what happened overniuht? a ., , overnight? as you say, in the early hours of this _ overnight? as you say, in the early hours of this morning _ overnight? as you say, in the early hours of this morning the - overnight? as you say, in the early hours of this morning the israeli i hours of this morning the israeli police say they went in to clear the mosque after a group of palestinians barricaded themselves inside. they said they were targeted with fireworks and stones. there is video footage that has come out from both sides, showing dramatic scenes inside the mosque. you can see the fireworks exploding towards the israeli police forces. there is other footage showing the police beating people inside the mosque with batons and what looks like

other weapons. these sorts of scenes have been seen before in the aleksyk compound. the risk is that because it is such a sensitive site, it will risk a wider conflict erupting, particularly because there are two religious holidays happening at the same time at the moment, thejewish festival of passover and the muslim holy month of ramadan. last night, we saw rockets fired from the gaza strip towards israel. israeli air strikes have also taken against the militant group hamas. this strikes have also taken against the militant group hamas.— militant group hamas. this is a reuular militant group hamas. this is a regular flashpoint, _ militant group hamas. this is a regular flashpoint, it? - militant group hamas. this is a regular flashpoint, it? it - militant group hamas. this is a regular flashpoint, it? it is - militant group hamas. this is a regular flashpoint, it? it is the | regularflashpoint, it? it is the holiest site injudaism and the third holiest site in islam. explain why it is so contentious, this site? it is very carefully managed. jews are allowed to pray at the wailing

wall just are allowed to pray at the wailing walljust below are allowed to pray at the wailing wall just below the are allowed to pray at the wailing walljust below the site. they are allowed to visit temple mount, but they are not allowed to play there. there are activities that are banned over there for anyone except muslims —— they are not allowed to pray there. there is a call for a fringe jewish group to try and take a lamb up jewish group to try and take a lamb up to temple mount to do a ritual slaughter to mark the holiday of passover. that is seen as something that if it were to happen, would be very inflammatory to the situation. so we are now going into a week where those two religious holidays are coinciding and security forces are coinciding and security forces are watching to make sure there are no incidents of that kind that might prove a flashpoint. in fact, the israeli national security and is the, although he himself has been criticised for visiting temple mount in the past, he has said that while

jews, in his view, should be visiting that compound, they should not be taking animals up there and they should not be planning a ritual slaughter of this kind.— slaughter of this kind. thank you for bringing _ slaughter of this kind. thank you for bringing us — slaughter of this kind. thank you for bringing us the _ slaughter of this kind. thank you for bringing us the latest. - in hopes to reset relations with china, the french president, emmanuel macron, and the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, begin their three—day visit. macron's last visit to china was in 2019. since then, the country's relations with europe soured, partly due to a stalled investment pact in 2021 and then beijing's refusal to condemn russia over its invasion of ukraine. travelling with a 50—strong business delegation, on the agenda for the trip is talks around ukraine and trade risks. for more on this diplomatic trip, our asia regional editor micky bristowjoins me now. tell us what president macron and xi jinping want out of this visit? thea;r

jinping want out of this visit? they will be wanting _ jinping want out of this visit? tue: will be wanting something jinping want out of this visit? t'te: will be wanting something quite different, because of course, their countries have different points of view. president macron is facing difficulties at home over pension reform and the raising of the retirement age. he will be looking to go to china and get a diplomatic victory. these diplomatic visits are good for the optics and for looking good for the optics and for looking good on the world stage. so president macron will be looking to present himself as a world leader who will be able to challenge china on the big issues of the day and secure some business deals to help the french economy. for its part, china will also be looking at the economy. china hasjust come china will also be looking at the economy. china has just come out of three years where there have been strict covid restrictions. that has damaged the economy in china. he will be looking to form business relationships with french companies that help the chinese economy. china has a lot of youth unemployment, so

thatis has a lot of youth unemployment, so that is a key area. but there are a lot of potential potholes in this visit, making it difficult to avoid the big political issue, the war in ukraine. china has given its support towards moscow. europe is firmly behind ukraine, so it will be difficult to avoid that disagreement in all the events taking place over the next couple of days. president biden and emmanuel— the next couple of days. president biden and emmanuel macron - the next couple of days. president biden and emmanuel macron had| the next couple of days. president| biden and emmanuel macron had a the next couple of days. president - biden and emmanuel macron had a call a few hours ago, discussing the fact that they want to engage china to hasten an end to the ukraine war. we have seen xijinping hasten an end to the ukraine war. we have seen xi jinping visit president putin a couple of weeks ago and aligned himself with russia, but meanwhile trying to say that they do want to put forward some kind of peace plan. in reality, where do you think china sits in trying to attempt to end this war? china and

xi jinin: attempt to end this war? china and xi jinping are _ attempt to end this war? china and xi jinping are trying _ attempt to end this war? china and xi jinping are trying to _ attempt to end this war? china and xi jinping are trying to present - xi jinping are trying to present themselves as an honest broker and a global leader with the ability to solve major international issues. so as you suggested, he has put forward as you suggested, he has put forward a series of proposals to end the war. but really, china has positioned itself towards russia, xi jinping visiting moscow. he hasn't visited kyiv. that gives you all you need to know about this relationship. china and particularly xijinping believes that relationship. china and particularly xi jinping believes that it is relationship. china and particularly xijinping believes that it is in china's long term interest to align itself with russia. so even though russia has invaded ukraine and even though it started the war and even though it started the war and even though that threatened so much of the world order, xijinping still doesn't feel that damages the core aim of his to align with russia

against the united states and against the united states and against what he says is the united states led world order. we against what he says is the united states led world order.— against what he says is the united states led world order. we will have a lot more on _ states led world order. we will have a lot more on that _ states led world order. we will have a lot more on that three-day - states led world order. we will have a lot more on that three-day visit i a lot more on that three—day visit by emmanuel macron to china. thank you. you're live with bbc news. there are people both young and old who simply do not know that people of colour fought and died alongside their british counterparts in both world wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a generation who crossed oceans to help britain during world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service of these brave men who came all those thousands of miles from the caribbean to help this country in its hour of need has been pretty much erased from the history books. glenn's uncles came from the caribbean to train with the raf in nearby hunmanby. he wanted a memorial for them and thousands of others who volunteered to serve.

i hope people do take notice. i'm proud, my god, lam proud for my comrades. | some are missing, obviously. this is bbc news. nato foreign ministers are convening in brussels one day after finland formally joined the alliance. let's speak to our correspondentjonathan what is on the agenda for the foreign ministers today? there will be a family photo _ foreign ministers today? there will be a family photo of— foreign ministers today? there will be a family photo of nato - foreign ministers today? there will be a family photo of nato foreign l be a family photo of nato foreign ministers which will include finland as a memberfor the ministers which will include finland as a member for the first time. interestingly, there will also be sweden's foreign minister. mentally here at nato headquarters, they have

already welcomed finland and sweden as the new members of the alliance, even though sweden's accession has still to be approved by both hungary and turkey. but there are other things on the agenda. you mentioned china earlier and president macron's visit there. they will discuss with allies in the indo—pacific region, mainly south korea, japan, australia and new zealand, the challenge posed by china. that is the language nato is using when talking about china, not the word threat, but a challenge to nato's interests. it is seeking constructive engagement, but clearly, it is on the horizon for the alliance even though it is far from european atlantic security. then there were of course discussions yesterday with ukraine, ukraine's foreign minister here and the meetings of the nato ukraine

council, which had been blocked in the past by hungary. that happened, and foreign ministers are focused on providing long—term support to ukraine. there is still no indication that ukraine will be a member any time soon, even though there is discussions on the margins are happening. some countries on nato's eastern flanks are more keen than others for ukraine to eventually be invited to be a member, but that hasn't happened and there is no sign of it happening while that war still rages inside ukraine following russia's invasion. and what is the mood amongst foreign ministers, given russia's reaction to finland formally acceding to nato? to to finland formally acceding to nato? ., , ., , nato? to be honest, it was predicted- _ nato? to be honest, it was predicted. they _ nato? to be honest, it was predicted. they are - nato? to be honest, it was predicted. they are not - nato? to be honest, it was- predicted. they are not surprised that russia has responded saying this is an escalation by nato, a violation of russia's security

interests, in the view of moscow my moscow threatening countermeasures without specifying what those countermeasures are. the reality is of course that russia's forces are tied up in ukraine in a long, protracted, grinding, attritional war and i don't think there is a sense — yes, tensions increase, but there is no threat to the border of finland with russia.— a new bbc investigation has exposeed a uk life—coaching organisation that is accused of being a cult. the group says it offers self—development, but people who've left say it's taken over their lives. people say they've been encouraged to hand over tens of thousands of pounds, separate from their families and have suffered extreme harassment. one charity which helps people break free from abusive groups says it receives more calls about the organisation than any other in the uk. catrin nye has been working

on the investigation. it's been 18 months since jeffrey leigh—jones left lighthouse international group, a life coaching company accused of being a cult. the 34—year—old sailor from portsmouth initially got involved with the organisation for business mentoring, but soon he was on the phone to his mentor at all hours of the day. i thoroughly enjoy the conversations you and i have. at first i was motivated, i was inspired and i started working hard. these calls then became more frequent, longer, more intense, more about deeper parts of your life. in time, began to share traumatic things, things i found deeply painful. jeff was encouraged to become part of lighthouse full time. that meant being on group phone calls every day, often led by paul waugh, their charismatic leader.

many people who don't know me very well think i'm a mystic because i'm able to sort of feel things no—one else can. all these calls were recorded, then painstakingly transcribed. they began to take overjeff�*s life. it got longer and longer as we went. so within six months, they're five to six hours. that's every day. every day. so i would listen in at times. the topics were getting more sinister — narcissists, toxic parents. and then that's when i started worrying because i thought he's literally being brainwashed all day, every day. people who have been part of lighthouse have become isolated from family. some move into shared houses, and there's a financial cost too. in total, jeff paid £131,000 to the organisation. he sold his house to fund some of it. lighthouse says that any money paid is a self—investment. erin, anotherformer mentee, paid over £35,000. i took out an interest—free

credit card and the idea came from my mentor. i started to feel as though i couldn't think anything unless my mentor said that it's a healthy thing to think. when people start to ask questions, things can turn nasty. i'm telling you now, you've got to stop doing it. it's not acceptable. treating us as if we're trying to do you over. you're a cynical little witch. lighthouse do not like criticism. people who have spoken out have been reported to the police. lighthouse even contacted the employer of another critic to tell them she was unfit to do herjob. i consider lighthouse a very classic example of a cult. firstly, cults are started and led by a charismatic and authoritarian leader, but they're also bullies. the structure is steeply hierarchical, but it's heavily isolating. then you have this process of what i call brainwashing, or we could also call coercive control. if you do this to people,

you can then exploit them. martin's daughter mel is still part of lighthouse. she no longer talks to herfamily. one feels so powerless. you feel, "what can i do?" what's it like having a child in lighthouse? it's as if my daughter's died. because she's not my daughter that i know, is not there any more. i'm sorry. one week ago, lighthouse international group was shut down as a business by a court over a lack of financial transparency. we put our allegations to their leader. how do you feel about the fact that so many people think you're running a cult? we're not running a cult, because they don't know what a cult is. if you ask them, "what's the difference with a cult and a community that supports people?" they wouldn't be able to tell you. why do you think so many people say it? because they're slurring us,

they're smearing us, that's exactly what they do. are you going to carry on? yes, we are carrying on. thank you. we've had enough. no comment. catrin nye, bbc news. buckingham palace has indicated that after the coronation, the queen consort will be known as queen camilla. this title has been used on the formal invitation to next month's ceremony at westminster abbey — when she will be crowned alongside the king. the invitation itself has been printed on recycled paper with ornate illustrations — including a folklore figure representing re—birth known as the green man. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. a new photograph issued by buckingham palace one month and one day ahead of the coronation, showing the king and the queen consort, as the palace has been at pains to call her from the moment charles came to the throne. but alongside the photograph, the palace also issued this. a copy of the official invitation to the coronation, a brightly coloured document with images of nature. birds, butterflies, flowers and a green man. but it's not the images, but the words that

have caught the eye. the invitation refers to the coronation of king charles iii and queen camilla. the wording, "camilla, the queen consort", has been dropped. and it's clear that that is quite deliberate. the time has come, the palace and no doubt the king feel, for the wife of the king to be known as the queen. and after she's crowned alongside the king at westminster abbey on the 6th of may, she will be referred to as queen camilla. one other point of interest — among the eight pages of honour who will process through the abbey with the king and queen will be nine—year—old prince george. he will get a very close view of the ceremony in which one day, he will be the central figure. nicholas witchell, bbc news. coming up, we will be live in warsaw. this is the scene as president zelensky appears over there for the first time in poland

since russia invaded ukraine last year. stay with us, more on that in a moment. away from the south—east, it wasn't such a cold start to the day today because we had more cloud and rain, courtesy of this weatherfront pushing towards the east. later we have the second weatherfront coming in. that is going to produce heavier and more persistent rain as it does the same thing, moves from the west to the east. so the bright start in the south—east and the chilly one will turn more hazy as the weatherfronts approach, introducing more cloud. this weatherfront through the afternoon will produce heavy rain across northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england and the south—west. where we hang on to sunshine, we could hit 15 degrees, but it will remain when they shetland. if you are stepping

out, bear in mind that tree pollen is prolific at the moment across southern england and wales, the levels are moderate or high today. this evening, all this rain continues to move in the direction of the north sea. we will see some clear skies behind it in the west but by the end of the night, some heavy showers coming into northern ireland. as a result, it's not going to be a cold night, but in some shuttered glens in north—east scotland, temperatures may fall away. tomorrow we start with cloud and rain in the east. it pushes into the north sea, but lingers, especially across shetland, where its will still be windy. behind it, there is a mix of sunshine and showers. the showers become more widespread through the day, some of them heavy in eastern england and in them heavy in eastern england and in the midlands, where they could also be thundery. thursday night, you can see how this high pressure builds across us and remains with us during friday and into saturday, blocking these weatherfronts from coming in

with any substantial rain from the west. for good friday, we still have the remnants of some cloud from thursday's weatherfront. we could see the odd shower in east anglia and london. they will be the exception rather than the rule. foremost, it's going to be dry and there will be a lot of sunshine around. then as we head into the easter weekend, for saturday, again a lot of dry weather around. later, we could see some light rain coming into northern ireland from that weatherfront. sunday, mostly dry with patchy cloud, but showers for many of us on monday.

live from london. this is bbc news. donald trump has given a defiant speech to supporters following a historic court hearing. the only crime that i have committed is to furiously defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. french president emmanuel macron arrives in china — amid tensions over the war in ukraine. the latest after israeli police clash with palestinian worshippers insidejerusalem's al—aqsa mosque. and buckingham palace says after the coronation, the queen consort will be known as queen camilla.