struggles to reach flooding survivors in libya. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. in a major escalation of a long running inveistgation, hunter biden, the son of us presidentjoe biden, has been indicted on federal charges. hunter biden was indicted by a delware grand jury on three counts of lying when buying a fiream. it's the first time that a child of a sitting us president has been criminally prosecuted. the case is on track for a possible high—stakes trial as the 2024 election looms. the 53—year—old's attorneys have pushed back against the charges. the 53—year—old's attorneys have pushed back against the charges. he faces accusations of making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm. making a false statement related to information requested to be kept by federal firearms licensed dealer.

possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance. this all follows an announcement from republicans that they're opening an impeachment inquiry of president biden. it bears remembering that republican congressional investigators have not found any concrete evidence of misconduct by him. this all follows an announcement from republicans that they're opening an impeachment inquiry of president biden. it bears remembering that republican congressional investigators have not found any concrete evidence of misconduct by him. hunter biden�*s attorney slammed the charges saying they were not warranted six weeks ago. the bbc�*s gary o'donoghue is at the white house with more on the case and the political fallout. well, these gun charges go back

to 2018 when hunter biden was a self—confessed drug addict and he at that time filled in a couple of forms, say the prosecution, on which he lied about being a drug addict and then bought a .38 revolver which he possessed for 11 days before his then girlfriend threw it in a dumpster. now, hunter biden believed he'd reached a plea deal with prosecutors back injuly in which he would avoid prison on these charges and some misdemeanor tax charges. but that deal all fell about, and that's why we're here today with this indictment. he could still face further charges. we don't know whether prosecutors are going to do that at this stage. there's been no reaction so far from joe biden and the white house. we know that matters to do with his family, famously rile up the president. so he's not likely to be pleased about this. and of course, it does come in the week when congressional republicans have begun their impeachment inquiry intojoe biden, in particular, his connections to his son's business affairs while he was vice president. that all will present a political problem for democrats, no doubt. but of course, the republicans have problems of their own

with their leading candidate for the nominee for the republican nomination, donald trump, who's also facing 91 separate criminal charges in state and federal courts. 2024 may be a big presidential election year, but a lot of people are going to be spending a lot of time in courtrooms. hunter biden has been a frequent target for the president's republican critics. and for some, thursday�*s charges didn't go far enough. house oversight committee chairman. james comer said in a statemet:

the charges add to a rough week for presidentjoe biden who is running for re—election while facing a republican—led impeachment inquiry in the us house of representatives. to make sense of all of this, i'm joined by formerfederal prosecutorjoe moreno and leigh ann caldwell, washington post live anchor and political reporter. joe, how serious are these charges that hunter biden is facing and why are they coming now? they are serious in that you could look that after 20 years in prison for this type of charges which doesn't mean he will get that, if he's convicted. i would expect something like 2a months on conviction of charges like this. as far as why they are coming now, there was a five year what we call statute of limitations in order to bring charges and that five years was about to lapse at the end of the month so at that point he had no should choice but to bring the charges or drop them

entirely and lose the ability to bring them so i think the cynical view is he was backed into a corner and had no choice but the matter is he's brought them now and they are serious. leigh ann, how will this all impactjoe biden? we know how protective he is about his family, here we have his son facing jail time if convicted. there is a question of how it impacts— there is a question of how it impacts him personally and politically and as your reporter stated he doesn't like his family to be bothered or to be challenged in such a way but normally— be challenged in such a way but normally he doesn't express it publiclx — normally he doesn't express it publicly. politically speaking it's been a very tough week for joe biden— it's been a very tough week for joe biden and as you have set ”p joe biden and as you have set up so — joe biden and as you have set up so well, his son has been indicted _ up so well, his son has been indicted and has the launch of this impeachment inquiry which we can— this impeachment inquiry which we can talk about separately and that _ we can talk about separately and that was also done for political— and that was also done for political reasons by the speaker of the house, kevin

mccarthy getting a lot of pressure from his right flank to do— pressure from his right flank to do that but in addition to that— to do that but in addition to thatjoe _ to do that but in addition to thatjoe biden is facing a slew of tow— thatjoe biden is facing a slew of low poll numbers and polling in the _ of low poll numbers and polling in the high of 30% on favourability rating so the test — favourability rating so the last few weeks forjoe biden culminating with the indictment of his_ culminating with the indictment of his son — culminating with the indictment of his son has been very tough and it's— of his son has been very tough and it's unknown how it will impact _ and it's unknown how it will impact the president election, especially if against donald trump _ especially if against donald trump. republicans thinkjoe trump. republicans think joe biden— trump. republicans think joe biden is— trump. republicans thinkjoe biden is the most corrupt president ever and democrats think— president ever and democrats thinkjoe _ president ever and democrats thinkjoe biden is the most sorry— thinkjoe biden is the most sorry donald trump former president ever and whichever base — president ever and whichever base witi— president ever and whichever base will be more motivated to turn _ base will be more motivated to turn out — base will be more motivated to turn out. ., ., i. base will be more motivated to turn out. ., ., , ., ~' turn out. how do you think it will reflect _ turn out. how do you think it will reflect on _ turn out. how do you think it will reflect on joe _ turn out. how do you think it will reflect on joe biden. - turn out. how do you think it| will reflect on joe biden. and will reflect onjoe biden. and he is separate to the investigation but the critics are keen to lump the president

and his son together. 0fficially it has no connection with joe 0fficially it has no connection withjoe biden tall and some might see this as a relief that it's only gun charges because they are completely separate from joe biden and have nothing to do with him, as opposed to if tax charges of money—laundering charges or something more extensively touch the finance of the biden family, that would be more worrisome so this is isolated from him and if those are the only charges brought he is not affected legally at all. 0therwise affected legally at all. otherwise in terms of unofficially comments embarrassing and you had a lead—in where he talked about the potential defences hunter biden might bring in one of them is to challenge the constitutionality of the gun laws so for a president of hong kong's it will be interesting to see his son in challenging the constitutionality of the guns that the biden

administration is so intent on enforcing. administration is so intent on enforcing-— administration is so intent on enforcinu. ~ ., , enforcing. would you see it as bein: a enforcing. would you see it as being a potentially _ enforcing. would you see it as being a potentially lengthy - being a potentially lengthy profile? it doesn't have to be and it's a question as to why it took him five years to bring it took him five years to bring it on someone page indictment before a grand jury so it's a simple charge and as far as the idea that the diversion agreement prevents it bring brought, that is wrong. it agreement prevents it bring brought, that is wrong. it was never signed _ brought, that is wrong. it was never signed by _ brought, that is wrong. it was never signed by the _ brought, that is wrong. it was never signed by the probation office so hunter biden can make the constitutional argument and thenit the constitutional argument and then it will go to the supreme court but as far as the case itself its a slam dunk, it can be done in a day. leigh ann, how does this sit alongside the impeachment inquiry which republicans are bringing againstjoe biden? what impact do you see all of these court dealings and investigations having on the presidential election? absolutely. that is what they are trying to do is link the

president to his son but there's— president to his son but there's been no evidence of that— there's been no evidence of that yet— there's been no evidence of that yet and we don't know if there — that yet and we don't know if there witi— that yet and we don't know if there will be any evidence of that — there will be any evidence of that you _ there will be any evidence of that. you think about the average _ that. you think about the average viewer, consuming media and how— average viewer, consuming media and how closely they pay attention and does itjust get all mixed up and people are not paying — all mixed up and people are not paying attention to the detail, so the — paying attention to the detail, so the details get lost in translation but this is setting forward _ translation but this is setting forward a very tough legal process— forward a very tough legal process forjoe biden, for his son, — process forjoe biden, for his son, hunter biden, but the democrats i speak on capitol hill are — democrats i speak on capitol hill are publicly standing by joe biden and i asked the top democrat in the house of representatives if he has any concerns _ representatives if he has any concerns about joe representatives if he has any concerns aboutjoe biden concerns about joe biden running _ concerns aboutjoe biden running for election and hack ianjeffreys of new running for election and hack ian jeffreys of new york says he does _ ian jeffreys of new york says he does not, but privately

there _ he does not, but privately there is— he does not, but privately there is a lot of skittish nurse _ there is a lot of skittish nurse aboutjoe biden's low pott— nurse aboutjoe biden's low poll numbers even though they think— poll numbers even though they think the — poll numbers even though they think the impeachment impeachment inquiry is bogus and democrats will fight it tooth _ and democrats will fight it tooth and nail, there are concerns— tooth and nail, there are concerns it is going to have a negative _ concerns it is going to have a negative impact on him politically. 0n the flip side, one — politically. 0n the flip side, one last _ politically. 0n the flip side, one last thing i will say is that— one last thing i will say is that impeachment usually, they help the — that impeachment usually, they help the party of the person being — help the party of the person being impeached, the republics were _ being impeached, the republics were out— being impeached, the republics were out aware of this in the first— were out aware of this in the first donald trump inquiry and they— first donald trump inquiry and they fett— first donald trump inquiry and they felt it helped him politically and they were concerned that moving to an impeachment inquiry injoe impeachment inquiry in joe biden— impeachment inquiry in joe biden if— impeachment inquiry injoe biden if it becomes an impeachment will actually help joe biden politically so we will have to wait and see. a lot will have to wait and see. a tot of— will have to wait and see. a lot of complicated dynamics at this point and it's definitely notiust_ this point and it's definitely notjust a straight political election. a notjust a straight political election. �* ., ., notjust a straight political election-— notjust a straight political election. ., .,

election. a lot to watch next ear. election. a lot to watch next year- and — election. a lot to watch next year. and we've _ election. a lot to watch next year. and we've already - election. a lot to watch next| year. and we've already seen one deal fall apart year. and we've already seen one dealfall apart on hunter biden with the prosecutors. is there a deal for biden with the prosecutors. is there a dealfor him to be done here orders he fails jail time question i think he makes a deal. question i think he makes a deal . question i think he makes a deal. ., ., �* ~' question i think he makes a deal. ., ., �* ~ ., , deal. you don't think he wants a lona deal. you don't think he wants a long drawn _ deal. you don't think he wants a long drawn out _ deal. you don't think he wants| a long drawn out embarrassing spectacle for his father and he makes the iron since prosecutors were willing to make a deal a few months ago, i think even get a good one if he tries. . ~' , ., think even get a good one if he tries. ., ,, , ., ., think even get a good one if he tries. ., ~' i., ., tries. thank you for both “oininr tries. thank you for both joining us- _ a strike at the three biggest us carmakers could be announced in just hours. little progress was made on thursday during talks before current labor contracts expire. (00v) if the united auto current labor contracts expire. if the united auto workers strike demands are not met, union president shawn fain says strikes will take place at targeted plants. it's possible for all 146,000 union members to walk out over time. among the union's demands includes a 36 percent wage

increase over four years. automakers have responded with wage increases ranging from 17 and a half to 20 percent over a 4 and a half year contract. live now to the bbcs north america business correspondent michelle fleury who is in detroit. what is the latest? any sign of a deal being done?2 we have some jovial passes by, but the mood music is that the three american car—makers, general motors, ford and stallone tess which makes the group, jan karro trie —— grand cherokee tracks has been decidedly quiet. the fact they've increased the pay offer and say the offer is generous, they are pointing the finger at they are pointing the finger at the union as the reason why dion my leg go across the finish line in the union says it's the fault of the car—makers and corporate greed thatis car—makers and corporate greed

that is the problem and they are demanding that the car—makers repay their workers for some of the sacrifices they made back in 2008 when these car—makers were in real trouble in two of them had to be bailed out by the us taxpayer and at the time the workers made huge sacrifices get them back on their feet and since then the car companies have made huge profits and increase the salary of the ceos and according to the union they have been spending a lot of money on share buy—backs. they say look, all we want is ourfair share. the clock is ticking and president biden has spoken with the unions and the auto company bosses. what can we expect of the midnight eastern time deadline passes without agreement?— deadline passes without aureement? ~ ., , agreement? the white house has been getting _ agreement? the white house has been getting involved _ agreement? the white house has been getting involved given - agreement? the white house has been getting involved given the i been getting involved given the stakes and this is the first time in history that the uaw has simultaneously contemplated a strike against all three of the car—makers. what we expect to happen if there is no deal

is there will be a limited strike, in other words workers will not suddenly downed tools across the board, the uaw is going to let specific members know which plants at the three companies they are going to targets on the idea is to create some sort of leveraged to create pressure on the car—makers to reach a better deal, so for example, if you get workers at a general motors engine plant to walk out, that means within with a short period of time they will not be engines for the assembly plans to carry on making cars and thatis to carry on making cars and that is the strategy but it's high risk and we will find out more in an hourfrom now when the uaw president is due to hold an update for members. .

ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says he'll attend the united nations' annual gathering of world leaders next week in new york to help bolster international support for his country's fight against russia. a source familiar with zelenskyy�*s plans confirms he's expected to meet president biden during his visit to the us, according to our partner cbs news. russia is expelling two us embassy employees, accusing them of working with a russian national that the kremlin had previously accused of spying. russia's foreign ministry says the two diplomats conducted "illegal activities by liaising with a russian citizen" and that they must leave the country within seven days. the us state department has rejected the allegations. the father, stepmother and uncle of a ten year old girl who was found dead at her home in england last month have been charged with her murder. they were arrested wednesday evening at gatwick airport as they disembarked a flight from dubai. the three left britain for pakistan the day before police found her body.

you're live with bbc news. politicians in libya are demanding an official investigation into floods that wiped out parts of the city of derna. canine search crews are searching house—to—house for survivors and for the dead. the libyan red cresent says the number of people who've died has risen to eleven thousand. that figure is expected to grow as the recovery effort continues, particularly with many bodies buried under mud. 0fficials estimate that about thirty thousand people have been left homeless. many libyans have blamed poor infrastructure maintenance. the united nations has also criticised the country's alert system. the bbc�*s anna foster reached benghazi, the nearest city, in the past few hours. she spoke with me earlier. the death toll has been rising

day after day and the mayor has said he believes as many as 20,000 people could have been killed by that wall of water that came barrelling through the city. we know to damn is designed to hold back water of the scale and volume were destroyed by the power of it and when you look at those extraordinary heartbreaking pictures you can really see the force of the water and the way it has carved the land away in the way cars have been picked up the way cars have been picked up and thrown to one side and the way whole buildings often with entire sleeping families inside have been washed away. it really shows you the scale of what libya is having to deal with and it is clear here in benghazi, the closest airport, particularly to derna, you start to see while the aid has been promised only slowly making its way, it's been no means on the scale to deal with people need because many more have been injured, many

thousands more have been displaced in this country with its infrastructure almost completely destroyed by more than a decade of conflict in these in no position to deal with the situation, the catastrophic situation it's now finding itself in. but what if residents had been warned and given time to escape? petteri taalas, secretary—general of the world meteorological organization, thinks many lives could have been saved. i spoke with him earlier. we've seen thousands of lives lost in libya after catastrophic flooding but do you think some of the lives could have been saved? how is that? ., ., , that? unfortunately the government _ that? unfortunately the government of - that? unfortunately the government of libya - that? unfortunately the | government of libya has that? unfortunately the - government of libya has not been very good in terms of the public sector and they are not able to operate their functions as they used to do before this crisis which broke up in 2011 and that has meant that the

meteorological service has limited resources and they have staffing problems so they have to do this with their observing systems and also the emergency management has difficulties in functioning as they used to functioning as they used to function in the previous administration and this has all meant that when the storm and flooding was hitting libya, the public was not warned and there was not a tap from paid to the people and in the normal case one could have avoided lots of this casualties and have had no casualties in this case, but it is clear that this instability of the situation in libya has led to higher numbers of casualties.—

led to higher numbers of casualties. , ., ., casualties. given what we have seen, casualties. given what we have seen. what _ casualties. given what we have seen, what can _ casualties. given what we have seen, what can libya _ casualties. given what we have seen, what can libya do - casualties. given what we have seen, what can libya do now? | seen, what can libya do now? hopefully they will pay more attention to the early warning services and how communicate the services to various places especially with the management and that has been very much the missing piece in this case and has led to this very unfortunate high number of casualties.— casualties. are there other countries _ casualties. are there other countries you _ casualties. are there other countries you feel - casualties. are there other countries you feel could i casualties. are there other i countries you feel could face similar risks in terms of flooding and potential tragedy? so down is in a very poor state at the moment —— sudan. the metropolitan service last week at the african climate summit said that most of the establishment escape the country and some of them have moved to the north—eastern part of the country where they can have very limited operations

with the early warning services and we have a handful of countries where the situation is poorer and it means with high impact event since those countries that unfortunately we see more casualties and more economic losses.— see more casualties and more economic losses. unstable power bases like you — economic losses. unstable power bases like you have _ economic losses. unstable power bases like you have been - bases like you have been describing, what is the role for the international community for the international community for an organisation like your own? ~ . . for an organisation like your own? ~ ., ., ., ., , ., ., own? we have a ma'or programme called own? we have a ma'or programme caued early _ own? we have a major programme called early warning _ own? we have a major programme called early warning services - called early warning services and our aim is called early warning services and ouraim is to called early warning services and our aim is to improve early warning services in a hundred countries by the end of 2027 and we have the mandate from to promote that programme and we are lucky that many donor countries have allocated resources for that purpose and more developed countries are sharing their expertise to

improve the early warning service. our member countries we are in partner with and we have to make sure that the message is understood and there is the relevant tax and emergency management and the usage of customers of those services. ., usage of customers of those services-— usage of customers of those services. ., ., ., services. how can you do that if there are — services. how can you do that if there are challenges - services. how can you do that if there are challenges in - if there are challenges in identifying who is controlling the country or say in the case of sudan with meteorologists have fled?— of sudan with meteorologists have fled? . ., , have fled? once we have these kind of military _ have fled? once we have these kind of military conflicts - kind of military conflicts going on there is no way to operate in the short term but hopefully this crisis in sudan will be over in the coming months or years and thereafter we can start to act. we have resolves in 30 countries where we are functioning and sudan was one of the selected countries, but of course, at the moment there is no chance to operate that and improve their services.—

their services. secretary general _ their services. secretary general of _ their services. secretary general of them - their services. secretary general of them but - their services. secretary l general of them but world meteorological organisation, thank you forjoining us —— the world meteorological organisation. morocco's government says it will rebuild about fifty—thousand homes damaged by last week's earthquake. authorities say they'll provide more than 13—thousand—dollars for each home that was completedly destroyed and now needs reconstruction. they'll also offer eight thousand for those partially damaged. residents will meanwhile be given temporary shelters equipped to withstand cold weather, and each household will receive a grant of three thousand dollars. the exact number of people left homeless is still not known. nearly three—thousand people have been confirmed dead, and more than five—thousand injured in the six point eight magnitude quake. in brazil, the first person tried there for storming government buildings back injanuary has been given a 17 year prison sentence. our correspondent katy watson has more. this is the first of what is expected to be many sentences connected to january the 8th which came a week after luna da silva took power as president

and camejust after the silva took power as president and came just after the october elections in which jaya bolsa scenario lost, very divisive elections and it was those supporters who ransacked, buildings and those visions of total chaos and damaged arc words are seared in the minds of many brazilians and will be for many years to come. and it was a point in which many brazilians feared for the future of the country's democracy but on their opening day of the trials, prosecutors said that brazil had turned the page on the day of the coup. i spoke to a man who is 51, rested in the senate, wearing a t—shirt promoting military intervention and had filmed footage praising people who had broken into the senate and has been accused or sentenced for several crimes and i will read them out. including attempting a coup, violent uprising

against the rule of law, armed criminal conspiracy and damage to cultural and patrimonial heritage and for all of that he was sentenced to 17 years. he has denied wrongdoing and said that he assumed the processed would be peaceful but the court rejected that and said that one judge said it was impossible for anyone with a healthy conscience to believe after openly inciting a coup that they were there just for a trip to the park. but overall there were more than a thousand people with crimes, accused of crimes relating to january the 8th and it expected they will be sentenced in the coming months, towards the end the year. months, towards the end the ear. ,, ., , months, towards the end the ear. ,, , ., months, towards the end the ear. . ,., “ , hello. the weather is looking a little mixed over the next few days. certainly some sunshine on offer and really quite warm weather in the south of the country, but the further north you are, you're more likely to run into the cloud with some outbreaks of rain. and that's exactly what's happening right now.

if we look at the satellite picture, you can see a weather front there spreading across ireland into more central parts of the uk. so here it's the case of thicker cloud and some outbreaks of rain. to the south of the weather front we've got that warmer, more humid air spreading in from spain and also france and that will be in place across most of england and wales through friday. so here's the forecast then through the early hours, you can see where the rain is and the cloudier conditions for the north. in the south, it's warmer and clearer temperatures of around 12—14 degrees celsius, fresher there in the glens of scotland, around 5—7 degrees celsius. so in the morning it's cloudy and rainy across the far north of england, parts of northern ireland, the south of scotland, though the north of scotland is fine in the morning. and then further south across england and wales, i think through the course of the morning, into the afternoon, we'lljust see fair weather, cloud building. it will be a really warm day. temperatures in the low to mid 20s, 22 for birmingham, 20 for norwich and london could get up to about 26. for the north, only around 14 degrees.

now on saturday the weather front still with us. it's kind of stuck in this area of high pressure, very little wind to move things around. so it'll be here until it reallyjust rains itself out. so thick of cloud and spots of rain through this part of the country. notice the blobs of blue here, the potential for one or two showers and thunderstorms later in the day. but on the whole, it's a dry day for most of us, at least. really warm in the south—east, again, 26 or seven degrees with that continental influence as the fraction higher, and the fraction higher, i think in the north. now on the showers and thunderstorms, they really get going i think on sunday spreading in initially to south—western and western areas and they'll probably move further north and east. frequent lightning, gusty winds, maybe hail, that sort of thing. so it could be quite lively for some of us, at least later on sunday. lower temperatures in the south on sunday, slightly higher in the north. now, here's the outlook then — we've got a couple of really warm days then across more southern parts of the uk. but after that, the temperatures are closer to the seasonal norm.

and the weather, well, of course, a little more unsettled with rain and showers at times. bye— bye.

arm flexes its muscle on its first day of trading on wall street. the bbc speaks to its chief executive. with the rising cost

of living squeezing budgets, we'll take you to the us where the big three auto workers are about to go on strike. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. shares in softbank�*s arm holdings opened t10% above their offer price on wall street. the british chip designer is now valued at nearly $60 billion. this has been seven years in the making. the japanese investment giant took arm private in 2016, but later had to abandon that plan due regulatory roadblocks. the bbc�*s simonjack spoke with company's chief executive about its debut. cheering. euphoria in new york as one of the world's most important

technology companies had one of the biggest sale of shares in years.