apocalyptic skies over canada — firefighters struggle to contain a blaze near the us border — it's doubled in size since monday. hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. it could be the most serious criminal case to face him so far — donald trump has been criminally charged with plotting to overturn his defeat in the us presidential election of 2020. it comes as the former president campaigns to return to the white house. he's charged with four counts in the 45—page indictment brought by special counseljack smith. the charges are: conspiracy to defraud the united states, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy against the rights of citizens. the former president is due to appear before a federal court

on thursday in washington dc — as our washington correspondent sean dilley explains. crowd: we love trump! he is the first president to be charged with a federal crime but if previous cases are anything to go by, donald trump's third indictment is only likely to boost his popularity with republican voters. the charges he faces though are serious, the 45 page indictment accuses the former president of knowingly spreading false claims about election fraud to trick and persuade states into helping him overturn election results. the attack on our nation's capital onjanuary sixth, 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of american democracy. it is described in the indictment it was fuelled by lies. lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the us government, a nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results

of the presidential election. donald trump responded by posting a campaign statement on his social media network, likening his prosecution to lawless persecution in nazi germany. shortly after charges were announced, he sent a campaign e—mailvowing to continue his campaign for the white house. but thursday's hearing here in washington, dc is all about the crimes mr trump is accused of committing in the two months following the 2020 election. he has already been charged in two other unrelated cases. he is due to face trial in new york next march of crimes he is alleged to have committed in relation to payments to a former adult film star. in may he is set to stand trial in florida over claims he unlawfully held onto military and other classified documents. for now, it is all a question of time. in other cases mr trump has tried

to delay until after next year's elections but prosecutors in this case say they want the trial to go ahead as soon as possible. sean dilley, bbc news in washington. we will bring you more analysis of this particular indictment. but first let us take you to lisbon, portugal, pope francis has arrived there for a five—day visit. you can see the car carrying the pope travelling along the waterfront to the seaside suburb which is near downtown lisbon. hundreds of people, particularly young people today because he is there to mark world youth day. we have seen him, he is in a wheelchair at the moment, he is

86. we are noting how he seems because this is the first trip since he had intestinal surgery back in june. he is using a cane and a wheelchair but he looks well and many many people have gathered there to see him. organisers say up to 1 million people were expected and we know about for hundred thousand people arrived in lisbon for the celebration. it is a day of festivities, some people are doubling as a catholic woodstock. however it comes in the shadow of portugal's huge clergy sexual abuse scandal and criticism in portugal itself of the cost of holding this event here. so those are two issues that might be discussed today but for the moment, we arejust that might be discussed today but for the moment, we are just seeing the pope arrive they are in lisbon in his car, travelling to the

seaside suburb, along the river in fact in lisbon and we will keep across his movements where there will be masses and vigils and other social gatherings. let us return now to our top story, the most serious criminal charges to face donald trump so far, plotting to overturn his defeat at the us presidential election back in 2020. thomas gift, director of the centre on us politics at ucl who joins us live from harrisburg, pennsylvania... good to see you, we are saying this is the most serious charge so far but he says it is a witchhunt, what is your reaction? i but he says it is a witchhunt, what is your reaction?— is your reaction? i agree this is the most _ is your reaction? i agree this is the most serious _ is your reaction? i agree this is the most serious legal - is your reaction? i agree this is the most serious legal battle l is your reaction? i agree this is - the most serious legal battle trump faces, in terms of the scale of the conspiracy in construction and what is at stake, the us election and what it provoked, a major episode of

violence at the capitol. the case has its antecedents into other political fights trump is already engaged in, his second impeachment trial and the january six house select committee which let out —— set out the political case but now we will see an adversarial process based on legal facts where the outcome will be decided by a jury of trump's peers. we are accustomed to using the word unprecedented with donald trump but to have a former president prosecuted for this kind of crime is quite something. trump is permitted to spread any mistruths he wants, he can talk about lack of integrity but he entered criminality when he took concrete steps to impede the pans filled transition of power. d0 impede the pans filled transition of ower. ,, ~ _, impede the pans filled transition of -ower. ,, ~ _, ., impede the pans filled transition of ower. ,, ~ _, ., ., power. do you think he could have a freedom of— power. do you think he could have a freedom of speech _ power. do you think he could have a freedom of speech defence - power. do you think he could have a freedom of speech defence here? i freedom of speech defence here? certainly that will be the argument

his defence will make. the defence will say there was no criminal intent because donald trump actually believed and continues to believe that the election was stolen so there is nothing illegal about voicing that opinion because it does not constitute a malign intent. of course the prosecution will have to prove there was criminal intent. and that he was told repeatedly including by members of his own administration there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. that was made to him even by his own attorney general so it is difficult to say donald trump was so deluded by these claims that he could not tell right from wrong. claims that he could not tell right from wrong-— from wrong. three criminal trials ossibl from wrong. three criminal trials possibly over _ from wrong. three criminal trials possibly over the _ from wrong. three criminal trials possibly over the next _ from wrong. three criminal trials possibly over the next 18 - from wrong. three criminal trials| possibly over the next 18 months, from wrong. three criminal trials - possibly over the next 18 months, at the same time we know donald trump is making another run for the white house, what do you think these trials mean for that process and for him? ~ . ., , ,

trials mean for that process and for him? ~ . . , , , ., him? well, certainly this will be a distraction _ him? well, certainly this will be a distraction for _ him? well, certainly this will be a distraction for donald _ him? well, certainly this will be a distraction for donald trump - him? well, certainly this will be a distraction for donald trump but l him? well, certainly this will be a| distraction for donald trump but a distraction for donald trump but a distraction in a good way because he can spin it to his political advantage, we saw that from the first indictment and the second indictment and we will certainly see it now. his legal matters —— battles make the political battle is even more calcified. this indictment will be another windfall for trump's fundraising and we will see another bump in polls but more importantly, him activating voters means the sidelines his opponents. they cannot capture the news cycle because it is already taken, he up all the oxygen. so whatever ron desantis and the other republican hopefuls are trying to do, they will not be able to get into the limelight which leads to a trump versus everyone else a primary where no other candidate can emerge

as the obvious trump alternative and it is a recipe for increasingly what looks like the inevitable, the trump coronation where he runs the table in the early primaries and maintain that all the way to the convention so i do not see the stopping his campaign in any way. thank you for joining us. thank you. as ukraine continues to make small gains on various fronts across the east and south of the country — its also battling a second, but no less aggressive frontline in the form of russian propaganda. while disinformation has been used as a tactic since the war started back in 2014 — when moscow annexed crimea — it's become increasingly targeted, honing in on ukrainian frontline female soldiers particular. our reporter, olga malchevska travelled to ukraine to investigate ? shejoins us from our newsroom now. this is not something we've heard much about olga — can you explain. hello, thank you very much for your attention to the story. this information as you said is not new

especially during this war. we saw how it started to attack ukrainian women in 2014 when russia invaded ukraine for the first time and extinction media, now we see a new wave which is extremely hard on the female soldiers. we see hundreds or thousands sometimes reported, calling them nazis, publishers, using their private social media pictures and include —— incriminating them and spreading narratives that they went to the front line to find boyfriends. they are attacking women much harder which the volunteer soldiers told us. it involves one particular case which we will tell you about and that drove me most when there was an article published in russian media saying a female soldier was killed, celebrating and graphic details. we find the woman and she is alive and

we now have this report. small steps on the road to recovery. my name is andriana. i'm a soldier, servicewoman. a female soldier and a special unit markswoman. adriana is one of the best known members of ukrainian armed forces. her unit drove over a landmine last december. russian media reported she had been killed, describing her death in graphic detail and calling her a "ukrainian nazi". but we have tracked her down in ukraine, in a hospital. we can't disclose its location for her safety. she's alive and not surprised by the russian news. they published that i am without legs and without hands. and like, i was killed by them. they are professionals in propaganda. i am alive and i will

protect my country. adriana, like many other ukrainians, joined the volunteer battalion when russia invaded ukraine back in 2014. she spent a year with the battalion, which, like many of the others, was subsequently subsumed into the official army. although not militarily trained she showed strong combat skills, including shooting. when you are on the front line and when you see a target, how do you feel about it? is it a target or a person? it depends on the situation. sometimes it's a person because they are people. but if it will not be for me a target, i will be a target for them. it's a scenario shared by many in this hospital here. there are worries about the costs of rehabilitation. it can cost thousands of dollars a month for each soldier.

but for adriana, the biggest concern is the impact on her family. she hasn't held her son for seven months. two days ago, i was talking with him and he said to me that, mum, remember when we were a family and when we loved each other? so after two years of absence of me, and that he tried to remember a period when we were a family and we loved each other. and i tried to explain to him that we now are family and we love each other. but the period is such. a normalfamily life is some way off. adriana is now preparing to return to the front line. the price paid is already too high to give up.

how many women did you speak to? we spoke to several minutes —— women, probably around ten women allowed us to hear their stories but an hour later stories, you can see the stories of two female snipers who took part in the counteroffensive and one of them is right they are now. i want to see a huge thank you to all our team now. i want to see a huge thank you to all ourteam and now. i want to see a huge thank you to all our team and those people who trusted us with their stories but also what we managed to obtain from the ukrainian ministry of defence, there are currently 60,000 women serving in the ukrainian armed forces, it is a huge number, including 5000 of them are on the front line. we managed also to see

the dynamics have been changing since 2014. in 2020, the number reached 15% of the whole army which ukraine has but obviously now we do not know current numbers because as the ukrainian defence ministry told us it was too sensitive to provide us it was too sensitive to provide us with the information. according to data we obtained, there have been 93 ukrainian women killed on the front line in action which is also quite a dramatic number. obviously the impact on them and the wider population is still unseen and it will take probably time to analyse the general impact. res, will take probably time to analyse the general impact.— the general impact. a great investigation, _ the general impact. a great investigation, order, - the general impact. a great investigation, order, thank| the general impact. a great. investigation, order, thank you the general impact. a great - investigation, order, thank you for joining us and that report. we have to take your life to moscow, we see president putin, he has been

presenting state decorations, you can see him doing that now, he is rewarding soldiers, giving medals to young soldiers in their special military operation as it is called in ukraine. live pictures from moscow at the moment. a russian drone hit ukrainian port facility is a short distance away, this is on the river danube, close to romania. a passenger vessel loaded with green was damaged. —— with green was damaged. ——grain. the american singer lizzo, her production company and her dance captain shirlene quigley are being sued by three former dancers. they have been accused of sexual and racial harassment, disability discrimination, false imprisonment and creating

a hostile work environment. two of the dancers were sacked — the third resigned over what she described as the "appalling behaviour" of her bosses. representatives for lizzo have been approached for comment. to approached for comment. remind you that lizzo ha meteoric to remind you that lizzo had a meteoric breeze —— rise to fame because of crossing stereotypes, it is called the lizzo effect, she is a classically trained flautist and has been praised for raising the numbers wanting to learn how to play the flute. she took to the stage to play at 200—year—old crystal flutes once owned by former us presidentjames madison. there have been controversies as well injune she was forced to change the lyrics to one of her songs after it was accused of being an ablest slur and contained a derogatory term —— term for a form of cerebral palsy and she was forced to apologise and reissue

the single. a lot of comments about lizzo on the bbc website. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other main stories in the uk this hour. and cold calling to offer financial services or products could be banned under new government plans. ?the home office says fake scams cost the economy £750 million in the last year. the government will also outlaw so—called �*sim farms�* — which are used by criminals to send thousands of spam texts at once. the prime minister insists he cares about reaching net zero, but he also said the 2050 target needs to be achieved in "a proportionate and pragmatic way". rishi sunak is facing pressure from some conservative mps to review the government's green policies, after the party's surprise win in the uxbridge by—election, when it capitalised on anger over london's ultra low emissions zone. the number of people missing payments on essential household bills like energy, phone and water is as high as it was over the winter, that's according to consumer group

which?. they estimate that around 2.4 million households missed at least one bill payment in the month to mid—july. which also said 770,000 failed to make mortgage or rent payments. you're live with bbc news. the authorities in the canadian province of british columbia are struggling to control a huge wildfire close to the border with the united states. some residents who were evacuated have been allowed back to their homes. they said their gardens and swimming pools had been filled with ash. it's canada's worst wildfire season on record, with fires continuing to spread across parts of the pacific northwest. our north america correspondent, nada tawfik, is near the town of osoyoos, from where she sent this update. the eagle bluff wildfire is still raging extremely close to the edge of the town of osoyoos. now, things have eased considerably since saturday when that initial scare, when the blaze came through from the united states and spread incredibly quickly.

but, nevertheless, authorities are still classifying this fire as out of control. they've had water bomber planes, helicopters in the sky, going back and forth all day to the lake of osoyoos to try to bring this under control. they've also had over 50 firefighters fighting the blazes, but still, this is posing a threat here. they say, officials, that it is still something that is evolving — a situation that is evolving. they're keeping a very close eye on the wind direction here on the dry, hot temperatures, seeing how that could affect the course of this fire. now, canada has had a record year of wildfires with more than 30 million acres of land burnt so far. this, of course, is extremely concerning here because of its proximity to the town. there are dozens of properties still under evacuation orders and hundreds of others have

been told to be ready to evacuate immediately if they need to. residents described on saturday how they were told with very little notice that they didn't have time to pack, that they had to get out of town. and so that is really the concern here about what this fire will do in the coming days. it is still very much early, a portion of this, it's only been a few days in. but for people here, they say it's already felt like weeks. let us go back to lisbon where we are watching the pope, know that is the president of portugal present de sousa. we can see hundreds of thousands of people descending on lisbon to welcome pope francis. it is world youth day, some call it the

catholic woodstock, a few days of celebration, lots of events where young people gather for masses and other social and religious gatherings and our portugal correspondent is watching it for us who as they are now. so he is meeting with the president at the moment, do we know what they are discussing? moment, do we know what they are discussin: ? , , moment, do we know what they are discussing?— discussing? this is actually a courtesy call. _ discussing? this is actually a courtesy call, not _ discussing? this is actually a courtesy call, not a - discussing? this is actually a courtesy call, not a state - discussing? this is actually a i courtesy call, not a state visit. discussing? this is actually a - courtesy call, not a state visit. he was given a marching band, a military reception and a cannonade as well. this isjust military reception and a cannonade as well. this is just a courtesy visit to the president. the president himself is a practising, devout catholic and said this was a dream come true for portugal to be hosting world youth day. it has been in the preparation for several years and cost tens of millions of dollars which has not been uncontroversial but many people here are very pleased to see the pope. the vast majority of portuguese are

self—confessed catholics but practising catholics number is lower. this event is overshadowing the event of child six abuse in the catholic church, earlier this year there was a very severe report produced by an independent commission which found that based on the evidence from witnesses and alleged victims, that more than 40,800 children had been amused since the 1950s. —— for thousand 800 children. so he will be meeting discreetly with some victims here. "4,800. so how does the city feel about the visitor? ., , ., , ., , .,

visitor? lots of people have registered _ visitor? lots of people have registered for _ visitor? lots of people have registered for benefits - visitor? lots of people have registered for benefits like l registered for benefits like discounts for supermarkets and so forth but there is no obligation to register but authorities have said there could be 1 register but authorities have said there could be1 million people for there could be1 million people for the events. they could be attending the events. they could be attending the events. they could be attending the events with the pope at the weekend, it is difficult to tell, lisbon is rather chaotic at the moment, there are certainly hundreds of thousands of people visiting from various countries, many from spain and also many from across portugal. this is the longest any pope has beenin this is the longest any pope has been in portugal, five days. he has visited before but this is by far the longest period he has visited here. ., ~ the longest period he has visited here. . ,, ,, the longest period he has visited here. ., ~' ,, , the longest period he has visited here. . ,, ,, , . the longest period he has visited here. . ,, , . ~ here. thank you very much, alison, aood to here. thank you very much, alison, good to see — here. thank you very much, alison, good to see you _ here. thank you very much, alison, good to see you and _ here. thank you very much, alison, good to see you and to _ here. thank you very much, alison, good to see you and to see - here. thank you very much, alison, good to see you and to see the - here. thank you very much, alison, l good to see you and to see the pope, there had been some concern about him. we can show you those life photos again, there was concern about the poor�*s health, he is 86

and this is his first trip since his surgery injune. he is in a wheelchair and he uses a cane but the comments are how well he is looking. we will keep across his visit to portugal today, to stay with us on bbc news. hello there, this weather has been named storm patricia with the biggest impacts in france, partly due to the super moon and the strength of the wind. it will be windy through the english channel, strong to gale force winds but the winds will ease down late in the afternoon. we see clusters of heavy and thundery downpours in england and wales and more

persistent rain affecting yorkshire and north lincolnshire, keeping things cool here. temperature is not much better in scotland and northern ireland but it is drier. it should become a lot drier across england and wales as we head into the night, the strong winds easing down and changing direction, heavy rain and thunderstorms moving away and clear spells by the end of the night in places, temperatures not dipping lower than 11—14. storm patricia, that area of low pressure will head into scandinavia on thursday taking the wet and windy weather away. the wind direction changes and we get a cool north to north—west wind which will bring showers. sunshine for a while but the cloud will increase. we have showers coming into northern scotland and showers could develop anywhere on thursday afternoon. some thunderstorms across the south—east of scotland and north—east of england. with shelter, temperatures

could reach 20 degrees in glasgow and it should be warmer in east anglia and the south—east where we will see most of the showers. not the case on friday, across the east of england we will see the showers, not as windy but the threat of thunderstorms in the south—east, western parts of the uk will be drier to end the week. still temperatures only 18 degrees in belfast and 19 in cardiff so still cool area we have the next few days because the jet stream, the strong ribbon of there is to the south of the uk. the position will change by saturday, that will pick up another area of low pressure and bring wet and windy weather to england and wales, a bit like we are seeing today.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a third charge for donald trump and the most serious yet — as the former president's accused of plotting to overturn his election defeat. pope francis is meeting right now with a portuguese president asif visits lisbon for international youth day. a warning from british mps — thousands of women in africa will die as a result of cuts to the uk's overseas aid budget. donald trump has been criminally charged with plotting to overturn his defeat in the us presidential election of 2020,

the most serious legal threat yet to the former president as he campaigns to return to the white house. he's charged with four counts — conspiracy to defraud the united states, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the rights of citizens. many republican say the real reason for charges being brought now is because mr trump is way ahead of his republican because mr trump is way ahead of his reublican ., , because mr trump is way ahead of his reublican . , ., , because mr trump is way ahead of his reublican . , , ., republican rivals as he campaigns to retain the republican rivals as he campaigns to regain the white _ republican rivals as he campaigns to regain the white house. _ republican rivals as he campaigns to regain the white house. that - republican rivals as he campaigns to regain the white house. that view l regain the white house. that view has been echoed by mr trung's son. we have noticed a pattern of what swap happening, we have seen what they are doing on a daily basis. why did they wait 2.5 years? because he's leading in the polls and they are afraid of him becoming president and dismantling the party and

dismantling the deep state.