live from washington. this is bbc news. welcome to viewers on pbs in america. the fbi swoops in to arrest national guardsmanjack teixeira after the worst leak of secret us intelligence documents in years. today the justice department arrested jack douglas teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorised removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defence information. and lawmakers in florida back a six—week abortion ban. the white house calls it "extreme and dangerous."

hello, i'm at sumi somaskanda. welcome to our show. the fbi has arrested the suspected leaker of classified pentagon documents. jack teixeira, a 21—year—old member of the intelligence wing of the massachusetts air national guard, is facing potential espionage act charges. agents swooped in to arrest teixeira at a property in north dighton, massachusetts. he oversaw a private online group named thug shaker central, where 20—30 people, mostly young and men teenagers, came together over a shared interest in god, video games, and guns. his online friends include individuals in ukraine and russia. one member of the group spoke anonymously to the washington post. we really became close during the pandemic when we were all look younger than everything all day we would watch videos, play games, streamer houses, mess around, danced around and have fun. we didn't realise this year just

have fun. we didn't realise this yearjust immense nature of these league until a bit later. i spoke to 06 about two days ago before he gave his final goodbye to us. he signed off saying that he did not want to be associated with any of us to be associated with any of us to bring anything bad to him. at least 50 secret files were published on social media. they included sensitive information regarding the war in ukraine, as well as on china and america's allies. the white house confirmed that president biden was brief on the arrest while abroad in dublin. the pentagon called this leak of classified information a "deliberate, criminal act." the department is taking the issue of this unauthorised disclosure very seriously. we continue to work around the clock, along with the inner agency and the intelligence community, to better understand the scope, scale, and impact of these leaks. jack teixeira, the young man at the centre of this, now faces charges under the espionage act.

he joined the force in 2019 and was enlisted in the 102nd intelligence wing of the massachusetts air national guard, which is a reserve of the us air force. promoted lastjuly to airman first class, a relativelyjunior position, he was based at otis air national guard base in western cape cod. mr teixeira was known as the undisputed leader of an invitation—only discord chatroom created in 2020. before he began sharing photos of the documents, he previously wrote up versions of the sensitive information and shared it to the chatroom. one teenager told the new york times: live now to bradley moss, national security lawyer. it's good to have you on the programme. first of all, take us through what would be happening right now. would us intelligence officials be interviewing, interrogating

teixeira? �* , interviewing, interrogating teixeira?— interviewing, interrogating teixeira? , , ., teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be _ teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be able _ teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be able to _ teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be able to do - teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be able to do so, - teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be able to do so, if. teixeira? i'm sure they would love to be able to do so, if i l love to be able to do so, if i was his criminal defence lawyer the last thing i would do would have him provide any information like that. he was just arrested, his going to be indicted, is going to be arranged, there is going to be arranged, there is going to be a discussion about whether or not you can be released on bail, i.e. suspect he will not remain in custody. this is all going to come out into what is the nature of what he leads, how did he get it out, how did he extract it from any secure facility, and is there a defence he has that he able to bring up? is he going to negotiate a plea deal? he is young kid, no other criminal history we know of, it appears this amounts to stupidity not like a manning always snowed in, so there might be some mitigating circumstances there where he make it some consideration in sentencing. that will ultimately be up to him. you might want to take it to trial. if he does though i think he loses.— to trial. if he does though i think he loses. tell us more about what _ think he loses. tell us more about what it _ think he loses. tell us more about what it could - think he loses. tell us more

about what it could be - think he loses. tell us more i about what it could be charged with and what is involved with those charges.— those charges. sure. he is probably — those charges. sure. he is probably going _ those charges. sure. he is probably going to - those charges. sure. he is probably going to be - those charges. sure. he is. probably going to be judged under the espionage act, it sounds like spine, it's not. most of it has nothing to do with spying. it has to do with the unauthorised removal and dissemination of national defence information. in this case classified information, the details of the war in ukraine, intelligence estimates, things along those lines. that is what they will charge you with. they can also if they want throw in the kitchen sink, there is removal of government documentation, there might be an obstruction provision in their depending on evidence taken to conceal it, but the espionage act is a truly serious liability for him. ., . ~' . truly serious liability for him. ., ., ~ ., , him. you talk about his possible _ him. you talk about his possible defence. - him. you talk about hisj possible defence. what him. you talk about his l possible defence. what if him. you talk about his - possible defence. what if he hadn't actually intended to cause harm, does that change at all the charges and the approach? it all the charges and the approach?— all the charges and the auroach? , ., . ., , approach? it is not change his criminal liability. _ approach? it is not change his criminal liability. this - approach? it is not change his criminal liability. this is - approach? it is not change his criminal liability. this is the l criminal liability. this is the public interest or inadvertent offence that people such as edward snowden always wanted to raise, it is irrelevant from

the consideration of are you liable, did you commit the offence? it is a consideration possibly at sentencing in terms of a mitigating factor for, unlike say and edward snowden this individual does not appear to have intended this to be disseminated outside the discord channel, it doesn't change whether he is criminally liable but it is a consideration that could mitigate a criminal sentence which could be tens upon tens of years depending on the number of documents ultimately he leapt. i number of documents ultimately he lea t. ., ., number of documents ultimately he leat. ., ., ., ., he leapt. i want to ask for more question _ he leapt. i want to ask for more question about - he leapt. i want to ask for more question about the l more question about the motivation here, in the impose investigation one of the suspect�*s acquaintances is quoted as saying "iwould definitely not call him a whistleblower, i would not call ojee a whistleblower in the slightest. to understand this correctly, if you want to say he was a whistleblower this would not change the situation for him. , ., for him. there is no whistleblower - for him. there is no i whistleblower defence for him. there is no - whistleblower defence in this context. to be clear, the whistleblower laws are set up in the united states requires you to go through a very specific process to authorised

individuals to bring forward your concern about potential violations of law, does not allow you to take classified documents out of a secure base, put it on a discord channel or leak into the media and claim a public interest defence, that is not how the laws work here. so he can claim now he is a whistleblower, it would mean nothing for purposes of whether or not he is criminally liable. it might, at most, no don't see any evidence as yet, at most an issue for sentencing. but i don't see him as a whistleblower, he was just a dumb kid showing off to his friends. �* ., , ., ., ~ ., friends. brad, you talk about other users _ friends. brad, you talk about other users of— friends. brad, you talk about other users of the _ friends. brad, you talk about other users of the espionage j other users of the espionage act, how does this compare for example to the wikileaks source, chelsea manning, who was convicted for violating parts of the espionage act? 50 parts of the espionage act? so there parts of the espionage act? sr there will be some of the same provisions because it was an intentional removal of the classified information and dissemination one of some of the same provisions will come into play there are other things that won't necessarily be an issue with chelsea

manning, remembered that she was prosecuted in the military system, right now this appears to be going through the civilian system, but with chelsea manning they also raised a separate charge with respect to aiding the enemy. i don't see that happening here, partially because in this case, like chelsea manning or say edward snowden, it was deliberate that they wanted to public writ large, to the entire world, and they wanted to do it through the media. with this individual he was just showing off in a discord chat. it was still an intentional and deliberately but it was not in the same context —based of the facts we know right now. i don't see some of those judges being considered. some of those 'udges being considered.— some of those 'udges being considered. ., ., ., considered. there were a lot of other people — considered. there were a lot of other people in _ considered. there were a lot of other people in that _ considered. there were a lot of other people in that chat, - considered. there were a lot of other people in that chat, what j other people in that chat, what is the liability for the people in that chat who might have actually shed those images further? 50 actually shed those images further? , . actually shed those images further? _ ., ., ., further? so by and large none of them are — further? so by and large none of them are going _ further? so by and large none of them are going to - further? so by and large none of them are going to face - further? so by and large none of them are going to face any| of them are going to face any real problems unless they themselves held security clearances with us government. but if they were just ordinary

average teenagers, goofing off on a chat and gaming as it sounds like they were doing during the pandemic, the government could always bring espionage act charges against them, they could bring that against any of us who are reading washington post and the new york times today because it is discussing classified details of what was lead—out. the government generally does not do that, they do not have the resources to do that in order to be in the public interest, they are up to the person who was the leader, in this case mr teixeira. shill this case mr teixeira. all riaht, this case mr teixeira. all right. very _ this case mr teixeira. all right, very interesting insights. baddely must, thank you forjoining us on the bbc. any time. now to abortion in america. florida has passed a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks, making it one of the most restrictive states in the country. there are exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking — they can obtain an abortion up to 15 weeks into a pregnancy, but only if the woman provides a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other evidence. the bill now heads to republican governor ron desantis�*s desk. he has indicated his support, making it likely the bill will be signed into law. it's the latest move from republican—led states to restrict abortion access in the wake

of the supreme court's overturning of roe v wade last year. the white house says the florida ban quote, "flies in the face of fundamental freedoms and is out "of step with the views of the vast majority "of the people of florida." also today, the biden administration is taking steps to push a texas abortion pill case to the supreme court. our correspondent jessica parker has more. there has been a loss of legal wrangling going on, but according to the latest ruling, access to mr bristow could be restricted and essentially rolled back to the situation we had in 2016 where it can't be administered beyond seven weeks of pregnancy, rather than ten as things stand now, it states where abortion is legal, and you couldn't get it delivered by mail, but the biden administration appealing these changes, trying to stop them

happening. foranti—abortion happening. for anti—abortion activists they happening. foranti—abortion activists they welcome the idea of further restrictions, they say it will be a win for women and girls. i have is speaking to clinics who clear administer abortion today and they are deeply concerned, they are getting calls from women who are panicking, trying to figure out what is happening, particularly women who are travelling quite far from where abortion is bad, they say should still get on my flight, should still get on my flight, should i still make the long carjourney, so a lot of patient reassurances having go on. while this is a divisive issue, something everybody agrees on is that this is now heading for the supreme court. former us president donald trump was back in new york on wednesday, to face questioning in a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit by the state's attorney general, letitia james. last week, mr trump appeared in court in new york, facing charges relating to falsified business records. in doing so, he made history as the first former us president to face criminal charges. today's events concern a separate case. it was a long day, mr trump arrived at 10am local time and departed

just after 6pm. north america correspondent nada tawfik has more. donald trump was back in lower manhattan today, this time it was for questioning behind closed doors and the new york attorney general�*s civil suit into his business practices. now, that case accuses him and his kids of inflating the trump organization's assets to secure better loan terms and insurance coverage. the attorney general, letitia james, said trump exaggerated his net worth by over $1 billion. and even though this isn't a criminal case, the stakes are still high. she is seeking a quarter of $1 billion in restitution and wants to buy the family from running a business in new york or buying commercial real estate here for five years. well, as donald trump's motorcade arrived at the ag's officers it was greeted with

shouts of new york hates you buy a small number of people gathered. his lawyer, lena hubbard, that he was eager to testify and remains resolute and he says that he has nothing to conceal. the last time tom was deposed in august he invoked his fifth amendment right against self—incrimination more than 440 times in response to questions. and, as usual, trump took to social media to lash out, he attacked the ag, letitia james, slamming her as racist and the case is ridiculous. he also said he would show her what a great, profitable, and valuable company he had built. the trial indicator scheduled to begin in october. nada tawfik reporting there in new york. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. ukrainian youngsters and their english friends just being children. english friends 'ust being children. ~ , english friends 'ust being children. y ., english friends 'ust being children. g . english friends 'ust being children._ english friends 'ust being children. ., ., children. my am so glad that i am here and _ children. my am so glad that i am here and i'm _ children. my am so glad that i am here and i'm safe - children. my am so glad that i am here and i'm safe here - children. my am so glad that i | am here and i'm safe here and

it's so nice. am here and i'm safe here and it's so nice-— it's so nice. the easter camp has been _ it's so nice. the easter camp has been organised - it's so nice. the easter camp has been organised by - it's so nice. the easter camp has been organised by the i has been organised by the change foundation. it is about children just _ change foundation. it is about children just hanging - change foundation. it is about children just hanging out - change foundation. it is about children just hanging out with| children just hanging out with their friends and having conversations, rewinding a year we were all using our phones using google translate. now it's like we're actually getting more interaction, they are teaching a thing. it's just amazing thing it develops and grows. amazing thing it develops and crows. ., . y amazing thing it develops and crows. ., ., , , amazing thing it develops and crows. ., ._ , ., grows. the two day event is a world away — grows. the two day event is a world away from _ grows. the two day event is a world away from the - grows. the two day event is a world away from the fighting | grows. the two day event is a l world away from the fighting in ukraine. the war which broke out a year ago is preparing for a spring surge following a winter of stalemate and stagnation. back in burgess hill, parents arejust stagnation. back in burgess hill, parents are just thankful the children are safe. it brings her to life again. she is not afraid of big, of loud noises from outside. and i think it will help her to be friends with more and more people. you're live with bbc news. to china, where brazil's president lula da silva has arrived for an official visit aimed at bolstering relations

between the two nations. here he is arriving in shanghai on wednesday, where he was welcomed by chinese officials and former briazilian president dilma roussef. later, he met with ccp chief chenjining. the two—day visit is also expected to include a meeting with chinese president, xi jinping. the two countries share deep economic ties. china is brazil's top trading partner, involved in 30% of all brazilian imports and exports. china serves as a major market for brazilian products, including soybeans, iron and oil. china also invests more in brazil than any other country in latin america. brazil's president, lula is expected to sign at least 20 deals with china during the trip. live now to our asia correspondentjoao da silva in singapore. what can you tell us about lula's trip so far, his stop in shanghai and the speech he gave there? he

shanghai and the speech he gave there? ., shanghai and the speech he gave there? . ., , , . ., there? he gave that speech at there? he gave that speech at the inauguration _ there? he gave that speech at the inauguration ceremony - there? he gave that speech at the inauguration ceremony of| the inauguration ceremony of his protege and former brazilian president as the head of the new development act and the speech really focused on the speech really focused on the importance of this new development bank in giving emerging economies around the world an alternative to traditional international banking institutions are. that is a big part of lula's multilateral�*s foreign policy agenda, a reminder that the new development bank was established by the brix group of emerging countries and that includes brazil, russia, china, india and south africa, and again it ties in also with china's agenda of challenging what it sees as us dominance in world affairs.— world affairs. everyone is lookinu world affairs. everyone is looking to _ world affairs. everyone is looking to the _ world affairs. everyone is looking to the meeting i world affairs. everyone is| looking to the meeting he world affairs. everyone is - looking to the meeting he will hold with chinese president xi should ping. what do you expect to see come out of that meeting?— to see come out of that meeting? to see come out of that meetinr? ., �* ~ ., , meeting? we don't know exactly what is on _ meeting? we don't know exactly what is on the _ meeting? we don't know exactly what is on the agenda _ meeting? we don't know exactly what is on the agenda but - meeting? we don't know exactly what is on the agenda but there | what is on the agenda but there is at least a couple of issues that are likely to make it into

the talks. burst of course this trade and investment, the brazilian side has said they expect to sign more than 20 bilateral agreements. expect to sign more than 20 bilateralagreements. it signals their desire to strengthen economic relations with china, president lilla desilva who has returned to power only months ago knows he needs brazil's largest trading partner if he is to deliver on his promises to fight and boost brazil's stagnant economy and china is also interested in consolidating trade ties, they are facing growing tensions with the united states which is its largest trading partner. it is looking to boost its company's presents and other markets and brazil being latin america's largest economy makes it an obvious choice. the other issue that could make it onto the talks between lula and president xi as the war in ukraine. president lilla da silva is looking to play the role of a mediator in the conflict. at ties and with his objective to really put is along the international stage

once again. if along the international stage once again-— along the international stage once again. if you look at the meetings _ once again. if you look at the meetings lula _ once again. if you look at the meetings lula has _ once again. if you look at the meetings lula has had - once again. if you look at the meetings lula has had on - once again. if you look at the | meetings lula has had on the message we've seen from him, do you think this trip has been a success for him?— success for him? and i think that in order _ success for him? and i think that in order to _ success for him? and i think that in order to really - that in order to really determine whether this trip is successful we really have to wait and see what comes out in terms of actual bilateral agreements. but in terms of objects we could say that resident lilla da silva's present in china is a success, he is a charismatic leader, he has just staged what is arguably a spectacular political comeback. in a matter of months turning to power his already visited the us and now china and he is clearly working to place brazil at the centre of world affairs by pursuing a prick attic and independent foreign policy. —— pragmatic and independent foreign policy.

let's turn to some important news around the world. more details have been revealed with alleged ties between us supreme court justice clarence thomas and billionaire harlan crow. propublica is reporting that crow bought real estate from thomas and thejustice did not disclose the deal which may be a violation of the law. propublica initally reported that thomas was secretly accepting luxury trips from crow last week. residents in fort lauderdale, florida have witnessed the rainest day in the city's history with 25 inches of rainfall in a 24—hour period. a state of emergency has been issued for the entire county. severe flooding prompted emergency rescues, closed the airport, and forced drivers to abandon cars. germany has approved poland's request to transfer five old mig—29 fighterjets to bolster ukraine's air power against russia. poland needed germany's consent to send its remaining jets to a third country. when russia began its full scale invasion of ukraine, a second less visible battle in cyberspace got underway. as well as relentless attacks linked to cyber military, armies of vigilante hackers on both sides have caused chaos with websites taken down,

private data stolen and broadcasts hijacked. the bbc�*s cyber correspondent joe tidy travelled to ukraine to speak to those fighting in the cyberwar and found that the conflict has blurred the lines between cyber military and cyber criminal activity. from his flat in central ukraine, alexander devotes nearly all his spare time to hacking russia. he's one of the most prominent hackers in the it army of ukraine, a nearly 200,000 strong telegram group, which has been co—ordinating and celebrating disruptive cyber attacks for over a year. translation: one of the ones i remember as the chesney�*s attack. it's the one product authentication system for the whole of russia. we found the target, discovered how it operated, and came up with a way to stop it. manufacturers couldn't ship products. the economic losses,

i think, were pretty high. greetings, citizens of russia. large scale hacking by activists, or hacktivists, has been a major element of the cyber war that few predicted. hello. we are the kill net hacktivist community. this is the leader of the 100,000 strong pro—russian hacking group called kill net. he wouldn't agree to a direct interview, but sent us this video before breaking off communication. we devote 12 hours a day to kill net because the main thing is to monitor the situation in the world. then our actions come. i see no equal in the world to russian hackers. this clip shows a kill net attack on a nato website. at ukraine's cyber defence ho, they deal with cyber attacks from all angles, but say vigilante attacks are getting more sophisticated. they accused the russian military of working directly with vigilante groups. the russian authorities didn't reply to our e—mails, but kill milk denied his group

is linked to any special services. however, it seems the lines between vigilante hackers and military hackers have been blurred elsewhere, too. roman started as a volunteer hacker, carrying out disruptive criminal attacks as a civilian. now he's part of the cyber military. but even before he was recruited, he confirms his volunteer group did work with the ukrainian forces. we were kind of synchronising our operations and tried to help them. so they basically started to give us some targets and say what to do, when to do. mikaelo fedorov is minister for digital transformation. as the full scale war broke out, his department controversially set up the telegram group for the it army of ukraine. do you think the lines have been blurred between what is and was criminal hacking, and what is now accepted and encouraged by the government? translation: i am confident that we have the moral right to do everything to protect

the lives of our citizens. some predict that the severity of attacks will increase as russia struggles on the physical battlefield. thankfully, this cyber war has proven to be less destructive than the physical war, but the conflict is no doubt rewriting the rules of engagement online. joe tidy, bbc news in kyiv. russia has reacted angrily to news that 15 members of staff from its embassy are being expelled from norway on accusations of spying. the norwegian foreign ministry said the european security situation meant there was an increased intelligence risk from russia, and that the people expelled were acting against norway's interests. last year, the norwegian authorities arrested seven russians for flying drones near military areas and another working undercover as a brazilian academic. a russian embassy spokesman said the latest steps were "negative" and "unfriendly" — he promised there would be a response. our europe regional editor

paul moss has the latest. it must have been quite serious to expel for dean, there's only 40 and the holiness is that it means more than a third of the embassy are expelled, but it is no secret that inside embassies, you have spies. everybody knows that. if you are going to try to get a spy into a country, the simplest way to do it is point them as something like trade cachet and countries will generally tolerate that. whether they decide to expel will depend on several things. decide to expel will depend on severalthings. first decide to expel will depend on several things. first of all it is what they are actually up to. if spies are collecting vague information on war preparedness, chatting to people, that is probably acceptable. if they are snooping around clear bases or trying to bribe the members of the armed forces to spell secrets or having affairs with senior politicians in order to make mail them, that is likely to get you expelled. the other thing it is going to depend on is the international situation.

in previous times i think norway might have been more prepared to allow spooks to do what speaks to an play cat and mouse with them but the invasion of ukraine has changed everything, of course that has changed everything everywhere but norway has a border with russia in the far north at work and that's made them particularly sensitive. the other thing isjust particularly sensitive. the other thing is just the sheer number, f—15 diplomats, more than a third of the embassy really were spying, norway might have decided that is taking the mickey too much and decided to take action. russia has said it will take action itself, usually these things are tit—for—tat so my guess is that at this very moment there are about a dozen norwegians in moscow packing their toothbrushes, may doing some last—minute shopping for cheap vodka before preparing to say goodbye. that's our programme at this hour. you can head to our website or download our app to stay on top of the latest headlines. we will have the

latest on our top story, the man behind the us document leaks and about half—an—hour's time. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. thursday brought us a day of sunshine and showers, many of the showers came from these big cumulonimbus clouds looming over the skyline of hastings. not too far away in kent we had a heavy downpour that brought some hail, two centimetres of hail was reported and temperatures came down to about one celsius as well so a sudden drop in temperatures as that storm went through. at the moment we have still got a few showers left over across scotland but otherwise some clear spells around, bit of rain starting to edge back into south—west england, southern parts of wales. a chilly old start to the day with temperatures 1—3 degrees. this area of low pressure moves rain across southern wales,

southern areas of england and dives into northern france. i think away from that for scotland and northern ireland there is another day of sunshine and showers, some of them slow—moving as well. as that low pressure works into france it changes the wind flow and we get this zone of convergence whether winds bash together, a big line of thunderstorms form. maybe we will get an odd funnel cloud even from that kind of area. eyes to the skies. sunshine comes out even though temperatures will be below everywhere, probably won't feel too bad but where cloudy, ten, 11 degrees, that is not going to feel too great but on into the weekend we go and the prospect is the weather is going to turn drier, sunnier and a good deal warmer as pressure rises and we start to get these milder southerly winds blowing their way across the country both saturday and into sunday as well. weatherwise not a bad start to the weekend, most of us will see some spells of sunshine, still a few showers left over for eastern areas of england and there is the threat of it turning a bit cloudier for northern ireland

into the afternoon, maybe with an odd patch of light rain in the extreme west. it's starting to get warmer though and 15 degrees given the light winds for glasgow and london, it should feel pleasant in the sunshine you will have. a lot of dry and reasonably sunny weather i think for most of us on sunday. that said, probably a bit more in the way of cloud across north—western areas with an odd spot of light rain, temperatures continuing to climb. 15 in liverpool and manchester, 17 in london and that should feel pleasantly warm. high pressure hangs around next week so a lot of dry weather to come with some warm april spells of sunshine but fairly brisk winds developing in the south—east towards the middle part of the week.

brazil's president is said to me xijinping in a bid to deepen economic relations. analysis on the ties between asia and latin america's largest economies. plus, auto backin largest economies. plus, auto back in the fast lane after a covid speedbump. —— automakers. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm karishma vaswani. our top story, brazil's leader lola da silva is expected to meet with china's leader xi jinping in the next few hours, president lula arrived in beijing late on wednesday and

attended the inauguration of the new bank