live from washington. this is bbc news, welcome to viewers on pbs in america. a usjury finds donald trump sexually abused magazine writer ejean carroll, the former president vows to appeal the verdict. 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 hear from ukraine's ambassador to the us on what comes next. hello, welcome to bbc news. 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 con job" after she went public with the allegation in 2019. after three hours of 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. his legal team has already said they will appeal the ruling. carroll released a statement following the verdict: we also heard from the former us president. he continued to deny the accusations. he shared this post on his social media platform

truth social. i have absolutely no idea who this woman is. this verdict is a disgrace, a continuation of the greatest with hunt of all time. absolutely a shame. earlier i discussed the verdict with sarah krissoff — former federal prosecutor in the southern district of ny, joe moreno — former federal prosecutor at the department ofjustice, and matt terrill — managing partner at firehouse strategies, former marco rubio chief of staff. joe, let's start with you, what you make of this verdict? i joe, let's start with you, what you make of this verdict? i was thinkin: you make of this verdict? i was thinking about _ you make of this verdict? i was thinking about this _ you make of this verdict? i was thinking about this earlier- you make of this verdict? i was thinking about this earlier and l thinking about this earlier and it is stunning in terms of the fact that a person who was just recently a few years ago, president of the united states has been found liable for having sexually assaulted someone, that's amazing. that being said, having watched the trail these last few weeks and keeping up on it, it's not shocking. the plaintiff was allowed to bring in

contemporaneous witness testimony which under the circumstances is pretty powerful and there was certainly enough propensity evidence, basically statements from other females that mr trump had kissed them, grabbed them, touched them without their consent and of course the access hollywood tape that obviously the jury felt that under the civil standard here it was more likely than not that mr trotman was liable for having done this so it's not a shocking verdict but still it's pretty amazing when you think about it in the big picture. and sarah, what do you think? and sarah, what do you think? and i think that her team put on a — and i think that her team put on a great case, it was a tight case, — on a great case, it was a tight case, she _ on a great case, it was a tight case, she was expertly prepared, she was prepared for this very— prepared, she was prepared for this very vicious cross examination she faced and they cooperated her testimony, the case _ cooperated her testimony, the case really came down to her testimony and her credibility but her_ testimony and her credibility but her team testimony and her credibility but herteam did testimony and her credibility but her team did everything they— but her team did everything they could to corroborate that

so i think_ they could to corroborate that so i think she had skilful lawyers _ so i think she had skilful lawyers and they provided a platform for her to tell her story _ platform for her to tell her sto . ~ . , platform for her to tell her sto . , platform for her to tell her sto . ., , story. mats, you have been watching — story. mats, you have been watching how _ story. mats, you have been watching how all _ story. mats, you have been watching how all of - story. mats, you have been watching how all of this - story. mats, you have been watching how all of this has been playing out politically, what did you think of seeing this verdict come down today. to your question aboutjust the politics of this which people are also paying attention to, given we are in the lead up now to the republican primary for president, the reality is i think if you ask voters, many voters in the republican party right now, many of those voters are going to stay in lockstep with the former president and we look to the access hollywood tape that took place back in 2016, we've looked at the impeachments of the former president, the indictment we saw in new york recently and now this, the reality is if we look at the historical trend of these types of cases or events,

whether people like this or not, the reality is gop based voters by and large will decide who the republican nomination for president will be, they will remain in lockstep largely with the former president. that's a really interesting point that you made there. coming back to you, joe, we saw the former president's lawyer say this is a strange verdict. it was a rape claim all along and thejury it was a rape claim all along and the jury rejected it and made other findings, and the jury rejected it and made otherfindings, do and the jury rejected it and made other findings, do you agree with that?— made other findings, do you agree with that? well, if there is an bit agree with that? well, if there is any bit of — agree with that? well, if there is any bit of good _ agree with that? well, if there is any bit of good news - agree with that? well, if there is any bit of good news here i is any bit of good news here for the trump team it's that, it's that he wasn't found liable for rape, it was of a lesser claim but it's consistent with the fact that there were other women who have reported being sexually assaulted by mr trump so it seems that the jury was willing to believe ejean carroll in part because of the testimony of other people who experienced what they claimed similar advances by mr trump so i don't think it is shocking that that

is as far as the jury was willing to go and it is a lesson about how when you flaunt the rules and have a disregard for the law as mr trump has done in statements and apparently in actions, eventually that catches up with you. eventually that catches up with ou, ,,., ., , ., eventually that catches up with ou. ., ., you. sarah, so, trump's team callin: you. sarah, so, trump's team calling this — you. sarah, so, trump's team calling this a _ you. sarah, so, trump's team calling this a strange - you. sarah, so, trump's team calling this a strange verdict, | calling this a strange verdict, they've already said they going to appeal, what are the chances of appeal here? i to appeal, what are the chances of appeal here?— of appeal here? i think the chances — of appeal here? i think the chances are _ of appeal here? i think the chances are not _ of appeal here? i think the chances are not good - of appeal here? i think the chances are not good for. of appeal here? i think the - chances are not good for them on appeal. judge kaplan is a very well respected judge, he knew that every decision in this case was going to be analysed in detail by not only the second circuit ultimately but the press and the media and all these legal experts, so i think every decision here it was very well thought out and the second circuit is going to be loath to turn, to overturn any part of this judgement,

particularly with regard to the evidentiary matters that the judge, the district courtjudge here has great discretion on whether or not to admit things pursuant to the evidentiary rules. at pursuant to the evidentiary rules. �* ., ., , ., rules. a lot of observers have said one _ rules. a lot of observers have said one of — rules. a lot of observers have said one of the _ rules. a lot of observers have said one of the key _ rules. a lot of observers have said one of the key turning i said one of the key turning points in this case was the video of the former president's position. what impact do you think that had? i position. what impact do you think that had?— think that had? i think obviously _ think that had? i think obviously there - think that had? i think obviously there are i think that had? ithink- obviously there are voters think that had? i think- obviously there are voters who are going to look at all of this material, look at this case and the deposition video. the reality is, i think where we are at right nowjust been to the politics and the upcoming election, the primary and the election coming up in 2024, voters either like president donald trump they don't. this case, that video, just like the access hollywood and the impeachments, it's likely not going to change any of that. they either like more they don't and that is just the reality of former president trump. particularly for this gop primary election, those voters in the course states,

the delegates, by and large are sticking with when it comes to the general election we will see how this plays out but that is a long way away and a lot can happen stop is unlikely this is not going to have a major impact on the former president's political race coming up here in terms of his candidacy for the presidency. but that is where we are at. what about an republican primary is, we saw what about an republican primary is, we sanohn gorton say today, i don't think he can get a let, you can't win a general election with just your base, so responding to this verdict. ., , verdict. certainly in particular— verdict. certainly in particular for- verdict. certainly in| particular for those, verdict. certainly in l particular for those, i verdict. certainly in - particular for those, i think particularfor those, i think many would argue those potential or current candidates that are declared and running in the primary for president will likely point of this kind of events and make the argument that former president trump may not be as electable, many are calling it trump fatigue, but if we look at where the party is right now, just speaking to

the republican primary for president, these gop based voters, they are any mac lockstep with the former president, whether people like this or not, the data points show that there is growing distrust from many americans in the institutions of our time, political orjudicial, you look at that data and particularly in the gop primary for this race for president, we look at the history of this kind of events, doesn't really impact the former president. we will see how that plays out but ultimately your point, you are likely to see those candidates point to this.— point to this. and sarah, how lona do point to this. and sarah, how long do you _ point to this. and sarah, how long do you think— point to this. and sarah, how long do you think this - point to this. and sarah, how| long do you think this appeals process could last as we get closer to that 2024 election? could take a very long time and part of that really depends on the parties but cases can take months and years to wind their way through the appeal process, so i wouldn't expect that part of the case to be resolved any

time soon. of the case to be resolved any time soon-— time soon. and joe, what is our time soon. and joe, what is your take — time soon. and joe, what is your take on _ time soon. and joe, what is your take on that? - time soon. and joe, what is your take on that? i - time soon. and joe, what is your take on that? i agree | time soon. and joe, what is i your take on that? i agree that mr trump _ your take on that? i agree that mr trump will— your take on that? i agree that mr trump will appeal - your take on that? i agree that mr trump will appeal but - your take on that? i agree that mr trump will appeal but as i your take on that? i agree that| mr trump will appeal but as far as how far the appeal goes, i agree with the other guests, i don't think it will go far at all rather than may be to drag this out for a while. people have to realise that donald trump likes to rant and rave and undermine confidence in the legal system, and undermine confidence in the legalsystem, but and undermine confidence in the legal system, but a lot of that is absurd and yet people have to also realise that when there are cases that feel like a reach, i'm thinking about the molar investigation, even this case in lower new york, the alvin bragg case regarding stormy daniels that seems really shaky, and there are cases where it seems like the jury cases where it seems like the jury has reached a reasonable decision, when you have cases that seem like a reach, that is giving mr trotman ammunition for his hard—core supporters to

say this deck is stacked against him. so even when you have a good case he is able to undermine confidence in its. joe, sarah, matt, really good to have your takes on this, a big story here in the us today, thank you for your analysis. and in the white house earlier, a showdown over us debt. presidentjoe biden met with congressional leaders, including repblican house speaker, kevin mccarthy, to discuss the country's debt limit. but the tuesday meeting resulted in no progress. leaders from both parties blame each other for the looming crisis, 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 run out of money within weeks and default. biden reiterated his position after the meeting. i made it clear during our meeting that default is not an option. i 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. i 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. federal prosecutors here have filed charges against george santos stop congressmen's financials have been under investigation. he had previously admitted to lying about his qualifications, employment history and family background. the exact nature of the charges have not been revealed although it is understood that prosecutors have been looking at false allegations in his campaign filings. his lies include a

claim that he wasjewish and was with grandparents that escape the nazis. mr santos who is gay also failed to disclose that he was married to a woman. turning 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 chiefjustice

the chief justice of islamabad's the chiefjustice of islamabad's high court said this arrest was legal. the anger was already palpable in some parts of the country. this is one of the main roads out of 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, 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. putting in prison, would keep me out of 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 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. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. we didn't know what was going on in until we opened the tv and we realised that there

is a war started between the regular sudanese army and the paramilitary forces. reliving their escape from civil war, the family of six from berkshire were in sudan to celebrate ramadan and eid in the capital, khartoum, when fighting broke out. 0ur front door, was shot, we found 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. they may have 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 happy 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. 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 ukrainian president declared this holiday as europe day in ukraine. volodymyr zelensky welcomed eu commission president ursula von der leyen to kyiv. earlier i spoke ukraine's ambassador to the us, 0ksana markarova, about where the war stands. madame ambassador, welcome to bbc news and thank you forjoining us. there has been a muted ceremony marking europe day, celebrating victory over the nazis in world war ii. i want to ask you about something the russian president, vladimir putin, said, he said the following:

are you concerned that these words show that vladimir putin has resolved to continue the war at all costs? thank you for having me. i don't know what fantasyland someone who says this lives in, to be honest, because the whole world sees the truth and the truth is russia attack us in 2014 and russia started another war in 2021 and it was unprovoked, unjustified and the only aggressor there is russia, and actually this war is coming from an indicted war criminal, who was wanted by the international criminal court for crimes he had against ukrainian children rather than distoring the truth. putin, together with the russian federation, is also waging another aggressive war no different to what hitler did

during world war ii. we have 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 long—term military aid to bolster defences and stock up on ammunition. does ukraine have the defences it needs to continue to repel attacks from russia? we are very grateful to 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. ambassador, how much more does ukraine need to successfully defend? it depends 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. what is the immediate need you are asking from the biden administration and lawmakers as you are having 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 of that. 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 peace then the ukraine. president zelensky has been very clear about that. as early as fall last year, president zelensky presented our ukrainian peace formula. it is very simple. it starts with russia stopping their aggressive war and getting out of ukraine. of course, there are

other elements of that — justice, 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. until then, ukraine will defend our homes and loved ones with everything we have. republicans in the house of representatives have 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? i 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. look, there could be

different discussions. there could be some questions and we are 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, again, regardless of the discussions, i feel it is from 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. russia has once again returned to blocking ships from sailing ships to the ports, cynical action, directly resulting in less food getting to global markets and to human beings in africa, middle east and around the world who need that food. are you optimistic that the un and russia, other negotiators, will be able to ensure the grain can be exported seamlessly? look, i 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 of so many exports and goods. we also know that it is russia and russia alone who blocked it. it is russia who stole 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 on all of our friends and partners, including those who will be suffering from russia's actions, tojoin us in pushing for this to be unlocked. one more question for you, ambassador, on the fighting in ukraine. we know that moscow has ordered

the evacuation of russian residents in occupied areas close to the zaporizhzhia nuclear facility. how concerned are you about the safety of this site? it is very unsafe for a nuclear facility to be occupied by unprofessional, aggressive wall criminals. fullstop. 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 to join 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 manage it, under normal circumstances, not under their gun to the head from the russian criminals. madame ambassador, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. thank you for having me.

stay with us. 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. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. in the glossy tourist brochures, the seychelles, an archipelago of islands far off the coast of east africa, is portrayed as a little piece of paradise. but dig deeper and you find a very different reality — an island nation threatened by climate change, a population with the worst heroin addiction rate in the world and a political culture tainted by allegations of corruption.