live from washington. this is bbc news. a us jury finds former president donald trump sexually abused magazine writer e jean carroll. a standoff in washington with no signs of a deal as the us rapidly approaches default. and, ukraine marks �*europe day�* with a showing of eu soldairty. we'll speak to ukraine's ambassador to the us on what comes next. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start in new york, where a jury has found that donald trump sexually abused former magazine columnist ejean carroll, and then defamed her by branding her a liar.

carroll had accused trump of raping her in the changing room of a luxury department store in 1996. she also claimed that trump defamed her when he called her, quote, "a complete conjob" after she went public with the allegation in 2019. after deliberation, the jurors said trump did not rape carroll, though they did uphold her other complaints. the ex—president has been ordered to pay carroll $5 million in damages. the bbc�*s nada tawfik was outside the courthouse in manhattan today, and sent this report. it took thejury isjust under three hours to rule in herfavour, they did not find that donald trump raped her, they unanimously agreed that he sexually abused her and then defamed her when he accused of being a liar. no doubt this is a bit weary for ejean carroll. she no doubt this is a bit weary for ejean carroll. she later released a statement saying:

donald trump on social media said this verdict was a disgrace and he again repeated his allegation that there is a witch—hunt against him. of course we also heard from his lawyer outside of court, he said that they intend to appeal this verdict, he also said that this verdict, he also said that this won't do anything to stop donald trump in has run for the white house. remember right now he is the front runner for for the white house in 2024 and while many of his hard—core base most likely won't be swayed by this verdict, many are questioning how this might affect donald trump politically if at all with a broader electorate in a general election. 0ne electorate in a general election. one thing is for sure, this is the first time a

former president has been accused of sexual abuse and found liable of sexual abuse and that is the point that is likely to be repeated by his challenges for the white house. staying in the us, and a showdown in washington. a meeting on tuesday between presidentjoe biden and congressional leaders over the us debt limit resulted in no progress. leaders from both parties blame each other for the looming crisis after the meeting, but have agreed to meet again on friday. the current spending cap stands at roughly $31.4 trillion. if the debt limit is not increased, the government could default on its debts, and run out of money within weeks. shortly after the meeting, biden said he made clear with mccarthy that the threat of default needs to be off the table. i made it clear during our meeting that default is not auction. after repeated that time and again. america is not a deadbeat nation, we pay our bills, avoiding default is a basic duty of the united states congress. in response, house speaker kevin mccarthy said congress

will not lift the debt ceiling until the government can keep the spending in control. a literally asked the president personally, do you believe there's any place in government we find savings? they know they said things that were not true about how we would move forward, and explained to the president the only thing we are asking next year we spent the same amount of money that we spent five months ago. the bbc�*s nomia iqbal has been following the story. the meeting lasted for more than an hour and it concluded with no deal and then both sides came out at different times to give their version of events. first up was kevin mccarthy who said that president biden refused to negotiate. then his opponent, chuck schumer and hakeem jeffries came out and said that the republicans refused to take the republicans refused to take the fault of the table, referred to the republicans as a party of maga extremist. if

they don't come up with a deal they don't come up with a deal the us will default and it could lead to economic ruin, we are talking about the stock markets plummeting, gdp shrinking, millions ofjobs could be lost, federal employees won't get paid and so much more. what is interesting, however, is that polls suggest if the us does default, the american public won't necessarily lane president biden, some polls suggest that they would also blame the republican party and this would play into the hands of the president. 0ne play into the hands of the president. one of his central messages for his re—election campaign is that the republican party are a bunch of extremists who don't know how to govern so politically, the stakes are high for both side. let's turn to pakistan. supporters of the former prime minister, imran khan, have called for nationwide protests following his arrest on corruption charges. mr khan was arrested by the military outside the high court in islamabad. 0ur pakistan correspondent caroline davies reports.

this was the moment imran khan was arrested. awaiting trial paramilitary troops shattered glass. batons, camera phones and confusion. march to a waiting car in a sea of riot police after two failed attempt to arrest the prime minister, the authorities were taking no chances. the government says the arrest was in line with the law and on the grounds of corruption. the anger was already palpable in some parts of the country. this is one of the main roads out of islamabad and is islamabad. the protesters here have come out in their hundreds to show how angry they are at the arrest of imran khan. today's arrest left some without hope for pakistan's political system. i don't know, let there be anarchy, let there be chaos, if there is no imran khan, there is nothing left in pakistan. 0ther protests were directed that one group, pakistan's

powerful military. imran khan has repeatedly criticised its leadership. in lahore they broke into the city was my highest official residence. in rawalpindi they broached the case of the military headquarters. pakistan has not seen such open attacks on its military in decades. pakistan is due to hold a national election this year. it's politically polarised. imran khan has been accused of whipping up his supporters. from his armoured car on his way to court, he told me then that he thought the authorities intended to jail him.— intended to “ail him. putting intended to “ail him. putting in prison. _ intended to jail him. putting in prison, would _ intended to jail him. putting in prison, would keep - intended to jail him. putting in prison, would keep me i intended to jail him. putting l in prison, would keep me out intended to jail him. putting - in prison, would keep me out of the election race right till the election race right till the end of the elections so i won't be able to campaign, that's the whole thing. they said they — that's the whole thing. they said they would _ that's the whole thing. they said they would challenge . that's the whole thing. they said they would challenge the arrest in court and tried to

distance themselves from any acts of violence but they intend protests to continue. the country is already caught in a deeply divisive political power struggle. caroline davies, bbc news, islamabad. joining me to discuss the protests is brookings institution foriegn policy fellow focused on pakistani politics and policy, madiha afzal. what do you make of the charges against imran khan? he's being of corruption and corrupt practices. i of corruption and corrupt practices-_ of corruption and corrupt practices. i would say the manner— practices. i would say the manner of— practices. i would say the manner of this _ practices. i would say the manner of this arrest, . practices. i would say the| manner of this arrest, the practices. i would say the - manner of this arrest, the fact that it was done by paramilitary forces, dozens of them in riot gear and the timing of this arrest, the fact that it came just a day after mr khan had escalated his allegations against prominent intelligence and military officials saying they were targeting him basically mean that this is not necessarily about the corruption charges that are the pretext of the arrest but about khan's

confrontation, the escalating confrontation, the escalating confrontation that he has had with pakistan's military establishment over the last year, basically since he was ousted from power last april. and that is what has sort of set of the protests there after mr khan's arrest as well. you mentioned — mr khan's arrest as well. you mentioned the _ mr khan's arrest as well. you mentioned the protest, - mr khan's arrest as well. you mentioned the protest, imran khan's spokesperson said it could plunge the country into chaos and anarchy, do you agree? i chaos and anarchy, do you auree? ., chaos and anarchy, do you auree? . ., , , ., agree? i agree that this is a very dangerous _ agree? i agree that this is a very dangerous and - agree? i agree that this is a very dangerous and volatile | very dangerous and volatile time for pakistan. in some ways is to khan seems to have crossed the military�*s redline but his supporters also have been saying since last year that his arrest would be a redline and the fact that we saw the country erupt into protests after and the nature of those protest, the unprecedented venues that those protests went to. the general headquarters of the army in

rubble pending, in lahore, that really suggests an escalation of the confrontation between mr khan's party and pakistan's state, the military establishment. that is really unprecedented and doesn't speak well for what is going to happen in pakistan down the road. everything is up in the air right now. well and election happen? will it happen on time? well either side to side to de—escalate, all of thatis side to de—escalate, all of that is up in the air. side to de-escalate, all of that is up in the air.- that is up in the air. you mentioned _ that is up in the air. you mentioned that - that is up in the air. you mentioned that this - that is up in the air. you mentioned that this is l mentioned that this is unprecedented. what do you see happening next? i unprecedented. what do you see happening next?— happening next? i think today pakistan, it's _ happening next? i think today pakistan, it's the _ happening next? i think today pakistan, it's the morning - pakistan, it's the morning after mr khan's arrest, his party is going to try to challenge the arrest. i think in some ways what we are seeing is kind of a fight to the

finish between mr khan and the pakistani state, the military establishment and this is the kinds of existential problem, it is being seen as zero sum by both sides so unless there is an attempt to de—escalate on both sides, one of the sides will end up prevailing, and given pakistan's long history, it is likely to be the most powerful institution in pakistan.— powerful institution in pakistan. , ., pakistan. and last question, how much — pakistan. and last question, how much of _ pakistan. and last question, how much of this _ pakistan. and last question, how much of this political i how much of this political turmoil do you think can be linked to the country's economic crisis? we know there are concerns pakistan could default on its debt and food prices have been soaring as well. �* , ,., , prices have been soaring as well. , , well. absolutely. the political crisis has exacerbated - well. absolutely. the political crisis has exacerbated the - crisis has exacerbated the economic crisis but the economic crisis but the economic crisis but the economic crisis has also had an effect on pakistan's politics. it has made the incumbent party, the government right now extremely unpopular, they've lost all their political capital and it has increased

the popularity of mr khan's party so the via links work both ways in this situation but the common man in pakistan is really hurting right now and the political situation is not helping him or her and the imf deal that pakistan so badly needs looks even further down the horizon that it's not going to come through anytime soon because the imf of course once political stability and continuity in pakistan. and really quickly _ continuity in pakistan. and really quickly if _ continuity in pakistan. and really quickly if you - continuity in pakistan. and really quickly if you can, i continuity in pakistan. and really quickly if you can, what do you think the us should do? in this case the us can say that it stands for the rule of law and for democracy in pakistan. that is the most powerful message it can send because the worry is that pakistan may, the democratic slide has begun, the cracks in the democratic veneer are for all to see and we don't want it

to go down further down that road, so for the us, standing ljy road, so for the us, standing by the principles of the rule of law at this point.- by the principles of the rule of law at this point. great to have your — of law at this point. great to have your analysis, - of law at this point. great to have your analysis, thank i of law at this point. great to l have your analysis, thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. we didn't know what was going on in and we opened the tv and we realised that there is a war started between the sudanese army and the parliamentary forces. , forces. reliving their escape from civil — forces. reliving their escape from civil war, _ forces. reliving their escape from civil war, the _ forces. reliving their escape from civil war, the family i forces. reliving their escape from civil war, the family of| from civil war, the family of six from berks were in sudan to celebrate ramadan and eid in the capital khartoum when fighting broke out. we found this bullet — fighting broke out. we found this bullet inside _ fighting broke out. we found this bullet inside the - fighting broke out. we found this bullet inside the house | this bullet inside the house and luckily there wasn't anyone

around the door because since the war started we just stayed in the middle of the house and on the floor.— on the floor. they may have escaped _ on the floor. they may have escaped the _ on the floor. they may have escaped the fighting - on the floor. they may have escaped the fighting but i on the floor. they may have i escaped the fighting but needed to leave the country and to do that they had to get to port sudan for one of the final evacuation flights by the raf. i'm really glad i'm here with my husband and my children, but i'm still thinking about my parents, my siblings, my father and mother—in—law. you're live with bbc news. in russia, president vladimir putin marked the anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany in a speech, saying the world was at a turning point and that russia's future rests on its troops. he appeared at a scaled—down celebration of world war two's end in moscow. in contrast, the urkainian president declared this holiday as europe day in ukraine. volodymyr zelensky welcomed eu commission president ursula von der leyen to kyiv. as victory day celebrations are

being held in russia, president zelensky hosted the head of the eu commission, ursula von der leyen inkm/h, a clear break from russia. he said that efforts were security for peace needs to be as strong as russia's desire to destroy security and freedom. this happened as president zelensky is moving to shift the day ukraine marks victory day, the day which marks the defeat of nazi germany, in 1945, from may nine, when russia celebrates it, two may eight, the day the western countries celebrate this day. — # this day. president zelensky says may nine would now be the day when ukraine will be celebrating europe. this came hours after kyiv was attacked again. the fifth time in nine days at the capital came under attack. the

military said it destroyed 23 of the 25 missiles that russia had launched. we heard the area alert at four o'clock in the morning and there were no casualties after this latest wave of attacks. we have seen that russia has intensified these attacks with missiles and drones targeting cities and towns away from the front lines. i think the strategy here is to try to test and exhaust the country's air defence systems and as ukraine says, it is finishing its preparations for a much anticipated counteroffensive. earlier, i spoke to the ukrainian ambassador to the united states about where the war in ukraine stands. madame ambassador, welcome to bbc news and thank you for joining us. there has been a muted ceremony marking europe day, celebrating victory over the nazis in world war ii when i want to ask you about

something the russian president vladimir putin said, he said the following "a true war has been " war has been are you concerned that this shows that vladimir putin has resolved to continue the war at all costs? . ~ resolved to continue the war at all costs?— all costs? thank you for having me. i all costs? thank you for having me- i don't _ all costs? thank you for having me. i don't know— all costs? thank you for having me. i don't know what - me. i don't know what fantasyland someone who says like this lives then because the whole world sees the truth and the truth is russia attack staff in 2014 and russia started another war in 2021 and it was unprovoked, unjustified and the only aggressor there is russia and actually this word is coming from an indicted war criminal who was wanted by the international criminal court for crimes he had against women and children, should probably think about something else rather then continuing this

story about what is not the truth. while vitamin e. putin together with the russian federation is also waiting another aggressive war no different to what hitler did during world war ii. just — while vladimir putin. taste during world war ii. just - while vladimir putin. we have seen at the — while vladimir putin. we have seen at the same _ while vladimir putin. we have seen at the same time - while vladimir putin. we have seen at the same time russia| seen at the same time russia launching drone and long—range missile attacks in kyiv and other cities and the us has announced up to $1.2 billion in military aid to bolster defences and stock up on ammunition. does ukraine have the defences it needs to continue to repel attacks on russia? ~ . , continue to repel attacks on russia? ~ ., , ., ., russia? we are very grateful to all our friends _ russia? we are very grateful to all our friends and _ russia? we are very grateful to all our friends and allies, i all our friends and allies, especially the united states because of this recent announcement of 1.2 billion but also the previous ones. now, do we have everything we need? of course we need more to have an enemy like this, who does not yet finish or drop to the intent to attack and kill us.

we definitely need more but we are grateful for what we have and we will use everything we have in order to defend our homes. �* , ., ., . homes. ambassador, how much more does _ homes. ambassador, how much more does ukraine _ homes. ambassador, how much more does ukraine need - homes. ambassador, how much more does ukraine need to i more does ukraine need to successfully defend? it depends on of course _ successfully defend? it depends on of course when _ successfully defend? it depends on of course when we _ successfully defend? it depends on of course when we will i successfully defend? it depends on of course when we will win i on of course when we will win the war. but even to win now, you see all of these missile attacks so it's clear we need more air defence, it's clear we need more artillery and ammunition. while we are preparing to liberate our villages and cities, while we are preparing to free our people because again, we know what happened to them when under the occupation, people are getting killed, raped, civilians are getting murdered and tortured. we have to liberate as soon as possible all of our territory. of course, after that, we will have to rebuild ukraine and we will have to do rebuild capacities.— will have to do rebuild capacities. what is the immediate _ capacities. what is the immediate need i capacities. what is the immediate need you i capacities. what is the i immediate need you are capacities. what is the - immediate need you are asking from the biden administration and lawmakers as you are having

conversations in washington? 0ur conversations in washington? our partners know very well what we need. we are discussing all capabilities literally. there is not a single capability we are not discussing. we need more of what we already have on the ground, we need longer range missiles, we need all air defence or elements of air defence, including air support and aircraft and helicopters. we are discussing all about. of course i will not be discussing them publicly as our military will likely surprise russians on the battlefield. but there is a very honest and detailed and very friendly discussion. i want to ask you about something the un secretary general said in an interview today. he said the following: is he right? nobody wants more eace is he right? nobody wants more peace then _ is he right? nobody wants more peace then the _ is he right? nobody wants more peace then the ukraine. - peace then the ukraine. president zelensky has been

very clear about that. as early as fall last year, president zelensky presented our peace formula. it is very simple. it starts with russia stopping their aggressive war in getting out of ukraine. 0f their aggressive war in getting out of ukraine. of course there are other elements of that. just as, rebuilding of ukraine. getting people back. all of it. but it can only be possible if russia, who was the only aggressor, so there are no both sides essentially, there is only one side and that is russia who attacked us, and as soon as they stop being an aggressor, we can start moving into the new phase and until then, ukraine will defend our homes and loved ones with everything we have. republicans in the house _ everything we have. republicans in the house of _ everything we have. republicans in the house of representativesl in the house of representatives had become somewhat split over their support for ukraine. the speaker of the house, kevin mccarthy, made a strong statement in favour in support of ukraine during a recent trip to israel, but do you see bipartisan support possibly

weakening, especially in the lead up to the 2024 election? actually see very strong bipartisan support, and we are grateful to all members of congress and senators who are showing strong bipartisan support, and we feel the same from the american people. they could be different discussions. there could be some questions and we provide data is prepared to answer them and provide more information but i do not see support weakening as we are fighting for the values on which the us is built. freedom. democracy. human decency. so we feel there is support and again, regardless of the discussions, ifeel it again, regardless of the discussions, i feel it is from both parties very strong. the us secretary _ both parties very strong. the us secretary of _ both parties very strong. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, spoke at a press conference shortly, and he spoke about grain shipments from ukraine.— spoke about grain shipments from ukraine. russia has once aaain from ukraine. russia has once again blocking _ from ukraine. russia has once again blocking ships _ from ukraine. russia has once again blocking ships from i again blocking ships from sailing _ again blocking ships from sailing ships to the ports, cynical— sailing ships to the ports, cynical action, sailing ships to the ports, cynicalaction, directly resulting in less food getting to global markets and to human beings _ to global markets and to human beings in —

to global markets and to human beings in africa, middle east and around the world who need that food — and around the world who need that food. �* , ., and around the world who need that food-— that food. are you optimistic that food. are you optimistic that the un _ that food. are you optimistic that the un and _ that food. are you optimistic that the un and russia i that food. are you optimistic that the un and russia and i that the un and russia and other negotiators will be able to ensure the grain can be exported seamlessly? look, i know that _ exported seamlessly? look, i know that ukraine _ exported seamlessly? look, i know that ukraine has - exported seamlessly? look, i know that ukraine has been i exported seamlessly? look, i know that ukraine has been a| know that ukraine has been a very reliable supplier of not only grain but food in general, to so many countries and until the war did they not realise that ukraine has been on the top five so many exporters. we also know that it is russia and russia alone who blocked it. it is rushed is still the produce. it is russia he specifically hits grain storages and others. we also know that ukraine is willing to ship and provide and we even donated a lot of grain to a lot of countries in africa and other parts of the world. so, we will do everything possible together with our friends and allies in order to unblock it. we are calling in all of our friends unblock it. we are calling in all of ourfriends and unblock it. we are calling in all of our friends and partners including those who will be

suffering from russia's actions to join us suffering from russia's actions tojoin us in pushing for this, tojoin us in pushing for this, to be unlocked,. to join us in pushing for this, to be unlocked,.— to be unlocked,. one more question — to be unlocked,. one more question for _ to be unlocked,. one more question for you _ to be unlocked,. one more i question for you ambassador. on question for you ambassador. 0n the fighting in ukraine we know that moscow has ordered the evacuation of russian residence in occupied areas close to the zaporizhzhia nuclear facility. how concerned are you about this? it how concerned are you about this? , , ., ., this? it is very unsafe for a nuclear— this? it is very unsafe for a nuclear facility _ this? it is very unsafe for a nuclear facility to - this? it is very unsafe for a nuclear facility to be i this? it is very unsafe for a i nuclear facility to be occupied by unprofessional, aggressive wall criminals. that is why ukraine is doing everything possible — just war criminals. doing everything possible to get russians out of there and leave it to the professionals to run it. this is especially an issue and we have tojoin forces with all of our friends and allies to send a very strong message to russia that they have to leave the station and they have to allow ukrainian personnel to completely manager, under normal circumstances, not under

their gun to ahead under dart from the russian criminal. madame ambassador, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. thank you for having me. in other news: at least 15 palestinians, including three commanders of the militant group islamichhad, have been killed in israeli air strikes on the gaza strip. palestinian health officials said eight women and children were among the dead. israel said the islamichhad leaders it targeted overnight were involved in recent attacks on israeli civilians. the number of people displaced inside sudan by fighting between rival military factions has more than doubled in the past week to over 700,000, a un agency has said. the increase in displacements has raised fears of an escalation in violence despite current ceasefire talks being held in saudi arabia. us federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against republican congressman george santos, whose finances and financial disclosures have been under investigation. the charges were filed in the eastern district of new york. santos is expected to turn

himself in and be arraigned tomorrow in new york and return to dc in the afternoon, according to a congressional source familiar with the matter. the exact nature of the charges have not been revealed. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. if, like me, you're a fan of a big cloud scape, tuesday was a day of delight across the uk as we saw towering thunder clouds developing across our skies. northamptonshire tuesday afternoon, worcester and the clouds were delivering this bolt of lightning. caught on camera late afternoon. in the next few days, more photo ops as well. there'll be some beautiful sunshine for a time for many of us, but then we can anticipate some heavy and thundery showers also developing. a few showers close to the east coast first thing on wednesday. for many, a lot of early sunshine, low pressure swirling around to the northwest, though, will mean showers even early on for scotland and northern ireland.

but it's some of these home—grown ones across eastern england as we warm up the atmosphere with the sunshine come wednesday afternoon, that will produce, i think, the most dramatic scenes. temperatures up to 18 degrees, of course, coming down as the showers develop. they are likely to be accompanied by thunder, hail, lightning and some quite gusty winds at times. and then that low pressure center just swirls its way south across the uk through thursday. some more organised bands of showers wrapped around it. but also, again, once the sun comes out, we'lljust warm up the quite unstable atmosphere just a little bit more, and pop off some showers. well, a possibility just about anywhere. the difference for thursday, slightly lighter winds. so that will slow down how quickly the showers move across us and could mean some of us see some significantly higher rainfall totals. that low, though, does sink away south for friday. so by friday, it looks like many of us will be under this big area of high pressure and see some quieter dry weather. i can't promise you that much sunshine necessarily, though, because a northeasterly wind is likely to drag in quite a lot of low cloud from the north sea, quite gloomy along many of the north sea coasts. and we've still got the low quite close by on the continent. so i think the chance of some

showers across southern england from time to time. northwestern areas faring best in terms of any sunshine. into saturday, and the high pressure tries to hang on in there. but it looks like we'll start to see this area of low pressure, particularly as we get into the second half of the weekend, trying to advance some weather fronts in from the northwest. so i think the driest and brightest of the two days this coming weekend will be saturday. sunday starting off with sunshine for many, but look out for some rain as the day plays out.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. i've been an opera fan for decades and i want to share my passion with you, so i'm on a mission to find out how opera is making itself fit for the future. i've come to munich to meet one of my all—time opera heroes, the german tenor jonas kaufmann, who's widely viewed as the world's leading opera singer.

he's a charismatic person, performer. his way of communicating, his intelligence that one hears