his former lawyer michael cohen — who allegedly made the payment to stormy daniels — enters the witness box. the outcome of this trial hinges on michael cohen's testimony. i'm live outside the court in new york with the very latest. a judge in belfast rules that uk plans to send asylum seekers to rwanda should not apply to northern ireland. there's fierce fighting near in the north east of ukraine , where russian forces are continuing to press towards the city of kharkiv. the bbc sees new evidence that the british government was warned by its embassy in washington, as long ago as the 1980s, about the risks from contaminated american blood products. and from elephants and rhinos to rare orchids and seahorses — poachers and traffickers switch

focus and tactics. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. donald trump's former personal lawyer has told a court in new york that he lied to getjobs done for his former boss, when required. testifying at the former president's criminal trial, michael cohen also said that as part of his personal legal work he intimidated reporters whose coverage mr trump disliked. mr cohen is being grilled by prosecutors about his role in paying a porn star, stormy daniels, so she wouldn't reveal her alleged affair with mr trump on the eve of the 2016 presidential election. donald trump denies charges of falsifying business records to cover up reimbursing mr cohen. let's speak to our correspondent, nada tawfik, who is live for us in new york.

this is the star witness in this criminal trial, take me through some of the things he's been saying. yeah, that's absolutely right, matthew. prosecutors really need to pull together a few threads here to complete their case and convince jurors that all of this was done at donald trump's direction. so to do that, they've had michael cohen testifying about the fact he wanted to please donald trump and as his attack dog, he would be directed by donald trump for every little thing that he did. so in other words, he never went rogue. he got donald trump's permission before going after and attacking press, lying. he said that donald trump had directed him to speak directly with the editor of the national enquirer, to be part of that alleged scheme to catch and kill stories that were

possibly going to hurt donald trump in his run for the white house in 2016, he said it was also directed by donald trump to deal directly with ellen weiss alert, his chief financial officer at the trump organisation, in order to reimburse, get reimbursed for those alleged hush money payments to stormy daniels. michael cohen making it very clear that he did everything at donald trump's direction. what was also interesting was michael cohen detailing how donald trump had told him ahead of his run at the white house that women were going to come forward, and that michael cohen needed to be repaired to deal with those negative stories, and that also donald trump made efforts to prevent getting caught, or having any kind of paper trail, according to michael cohen. in saying that donald trump never used e—mails because he told cohen that's how people get caught, how in a secret audio recording trump told michael cohen to pay karen mcdougall, the

former playboy model, in cash, ultimately that payment never happened. but michael cohen still certainly trying to paint donald trump as someone not only knew what he was doing but was trying not to get caught for it. of course donald trump has pleaded not guilty and the defence will have an opportunity to cross—examine michael cohen. in terms of credibility of the evidence from michael cohen, has he accepted that in the past he has lied on oath, that he is a convicted felon? you know, matthew, we haven't gotten to that round of questioning, but no doubt, that will be one of the focus of prosecutors, because they understand that michael cohen has those credibility issues. he admitted to lying under oath, he admitted to lying under oath, he admitted to lying under oath, he admitted to finance, federal finance violations in 2018, and donald trump has made that a centrepiece of his defence. that michael cohen can't be trusted because he isjust trying defence. that michael cohen can't be trusted because he is just trying to

go after mr trump for a vendetta. so prosecutors are certainly going to get to that point. before that though, they are establishing why donald trump had him in his orbit, that michael cohen was willing to lie, cheat and do anything necessary to please donald trump.— lie, cheat and do anything necessary to please donald trump. outside the core of house — to please donald trump. outside the core of house there _ to please donald trump. outside the core of house there in _ to please donald trump. outside the core of house there in new— to please donald trump. outside the core of house there in new york. - and for all the latest on michael cohen's testimony, you can visit the bbc news app or go to our website where you can read and watch developments as they happen, with live reporting from our correspondents in new york. turning now to a potential setback in the uk government's plan, to detain and remove asylum seekers to rwanda. ajudge sitting in the high court in belfast has ruled it should not apply to northern ireland. mrjustice humphreys ruled in favour of a challenge to the act — saying that the law undermines human rights protections guaranteed the good friday peace agreement of 1998. let's speak to our home

editor mark easton. he is here in the studio with us. and, mark, take us through the end, what has happened in belfast and what has happened in belfast and what the judge has actually said here. what the 'udge has actually said here. . ., , , ., here. there are lawyers who were involved in _ here. there are lawyers who were involved in this _ here. there are lawyers who were involved in this case _ here. there are lawyers who were involved in this case who - here. there are lawyers who were involved in this case who reckon l involved in this case who reckon this has thrown a spanner into the works of the government's hall room one a plan. let me take you through it, this case, principally it's about a 16—year—old irani and boy who came over in a small boat in july last year, now lives in northern ireland, and he told the court that if he was sent back to iran, he would be, he could be killed or imprisoned. and it would be a breach of his human rights. now, the argument of the case exactly as you say, was that the rules which apply within the illegal migration act, it underpins the whole government's rwanda policy, it would not apply in northern ireland because as you say, the windsor

framework, that rishi sunak proclaimed as a decisive breakthrough in dealing with the post—brexit problems of eu law and the good friday agreement which includes eu law when it's taxed, that the windsor framework means that the windsor framework means that some of those human rights obligations and still apply in northern ireland. 50 obligations and still apply in northern ireland.— obligations and still apply in northern ireland. , ., northern ireland. so in terms of the government — northern ireland. so in terms of the government response, _ northern ireland. so in terms of the government response, has - northern ireland. so in terms of the government response, has there i northern ireland. so in terms of the i government response, has there been a response? and what is to stop anyone at risk of being sent to rwanda, simply now going to northern ireland? i’ll rwanda, simply now going to northern ireland? �* . , , ireland? i'll answer the second part first. i ireland? i'll answer the second part first i think— ireland? i'll answer the second part first. | think that's _ ireland? i'll answer the second part first. i think that's going _ ireland? i'll answer the second part first. i think that's going to - ireland? i'll answer the second part first. i think that's going to be - first. i think that's going to be the real concern for the government, essentially if you can make it to belfast, as things stand, you cannot be put on a plane to rwanda. however, there is almost certainly going to be an appeal. the prime minister, and this i think is the very fact he decided to come out and respond personally to this judgment tells us why we are taking it so seriously, and what he has said, he is not going to allow this ruling to

prevent him from, as he put it, start the flights to stop the boats. he argues that the good friday agreement is being expanded beyond its remit, into covering issues like what he calls it illegal migration, and therefore it shouldn't apply and he is determined to carry on with the fight. 50 he is determined to carry on with the fiuht. ,, he is determined to carry on with the fiuht. i. ., . he is determined to carry on with the fiuht. ,, ., . he is determined to carry on with the fiuht. ., . ., the fight. so you touch upon what i wanted to ask _ the fight. so you touch upon what i wanted to ask you, _ the fight. so you touch upon what i wanted to ask you, which - the fight. so you touch upon what i wanted to ask you, which was - wanted to ask you, which was in terms of the timelines set out by the prime minister, in terms of the current thinking, they think they can still stick to that in terms of the flights setting off as he outlined. , , �* , the flights setting off as he outlined. , �*, ., , , outlined. he says he's absolutely determined _ outlined. he says he's absolutely determined that _ outlined. he says he's absolutely determined that flights _ outlined. he says he's absolutely determined that flights will - outlined. he says he's absolutely determined that flights will start | determined that flights will start in july, that determined that flights will start injuly, that is written in ink now as the timing for that. but this could be tricky, this is not going to be the only legal challenge. we're confident about that. it will 90, we're confident about that. it will go, it normal circumstances under it would go to the appeal courts in belfast, then potentially to the supreme court in lundy, who knows, it could even possibly end up in the

european court of human rights. so there's quite a long way to go, may be that the courts will exabyte it —— expedited, but this is an important point. -- expedited, but this is an important point.— -- expedited, but this is an imortant oint. . ., . ~ important point. thanks for taking us to the implications _ important point. thanks for taking us to the implications are, - important point. thanks for taking us to the implications are, thank l us to the implications are, thank you. the governor of the kharkiv region in north—eastern ukraine has said russian forces are continuing to advance in several directions, after they launched a cross—border attack on friday. residents have been fleeing the town of vovchansk, which russian forces are battling to capture. kharkiv is the second biggest city in ukraine. the government has been sending reinforcements to try to prevent russia's forces getting within artillery range of kharkiv — thought to be around 30 kilometres. i spoke to security analyst maria avdeeva, who's been to see refugees arriving from the luhansk region in kharkiv. i'm on one of the locations to where people from vovchansk are running and trying to evacuate

are being brought. people are terrified. they are stressed. they keep their animals with them. so everyone is in a huge stress because of the constant shelling and of the shock of the russian offensive. so they say they knew that something is preparing, but they've never prepared that this will happen for the second time because vovchansk and kharkiv, the second city where russia is trying to advance, both of them are already under russian occupation. and these people endured all the atrocities russian occupation brings so they know what they're running from. well, one of the elderly ladies told me that everything was on fire. that's practically what is happening. ever since russia has sent bombs, artillery missiles, you name it, any kind of weapons.

and another ladyjust told me that nothing is left out of it. earlier, i spoke yuriy sak, adviser to ukraine's minister of strategic industries in kyiv and i asked him for his assessment of the scale of the assault by the russians. it's staggering. just during yesterday, the small city of chance which before the war had 20,000 people, most of whom have left since they were the target of 22 bombardments by the glide bombs. —— vovchansk. 0ne truck at six pseudonyms and so on and so forth, so for quite some time areas which are near the border with the russian federation of course they have been made pretty much uninhabitable. horse. made pretty much uninhabitable. now, the roadblock — made pretty much uninhabitable. now, the roadblock in _ made pretty much uninhabitable. now, the roadblock in us _ made pretty much uninhabitable. now, the roadblock in us congress for

weapons and support, that is finally gone. how quickly do you hope to actually get what you need and what do you need most? it is actually get what you need and what do you need most?— do you need most? it is indeed a very significant — do you need most? it is indeed a very significant development - do you need most? it is indeed a very significant development and during the last two years, ukraine together with our partners in the west, have been able to set up a very robust and solid logistics and supply systems, so some of the weapons that have been pledged is already arriving in ukraine and we can feel the difference on the front lines because before, just two weeks ago, the ratio for example, artillery shelling was 1—10 in favour of the russians, now this is quickly changing. the reinforcements that we are sending to stall the russian advances near the khaki region, nearthe russian advances near the khaki region, near the kharkiv city, these are equipped sufficiently with the necessary weapons and we are confident that we will succeed. you

must be alarmed though, i said in the introduction, if you get within 30 km of khakis, everything you're describing that are happening to the villagers will happen to the second city. the reigning of bombardments and artillery shelling. how close do you think you are to that actually happening?— happening? first of all, i have to stress that _ happening? first of all, i have to stress that every _ happening? first of all, i have to stress that every time _ happening? first of all, i have to stress that every time russians i stress that every time russians are trying to advance, they are losing their soldiers by the thousands. i mean, this was the case in other cities, and we have to remember that russians are trying to actually take full control of donetsk and the hanscom region now for more than two years. because they were unable to do that they are now trying to stretch our armed forces and make us relocate our resource to the kharkiv region, but now we know about their terrorist strategy, we know that

they don't have the sufficient amount of troops near the khaki of border to boast a considerable threat. —— kharkiv. the us secretary of state, antony blinken has warned that an all—out israeli attack on rafah would provoke "anarchy" without eliminating hamas. while the south of gaza prepares for more fighting, there's been a new surge in clashes in the north of the territory — in and around jabalia. meanwhile, sombre ceremonies are being held in israel, to mark memorial day — which honours israelis killed in the country's wars. let's go live tojerusalem and live to paul adams who is there for us. we'll come to memorial day in a moment, but let's start with a renewed clashes in the north of the gaza strip. the israeli government are worrying that hammers has been able to regroup. —— hammers.

in the refugee camp ofjabaliya, thatis in the refugee camp ofjabaliya, that is close to the built—up area of gaza city. they launched rockets recently that may have taken place from that area into southern israel. they are back there, an area they had essentially thought they dealt with, and perhaps this is a warning sign, the kind of warning sign that they americans are talking about, this could degenerate into a kind of insurgency in which the israeli military effectively plays walkable, trying to hit hamas when and wherever they pop up. yes, there is this continued focus still on the south and rafah, we don't know how far the israeli military tends to go there, but we have this new

preoccupation with the possibility of hamas reappearing in places where they thought they had been dealt with. it is a worrying sign for the israeli military.— with. it is a worrying sign for the israeli military. and paul, briefly, memorial dav _ israeli military. and paul, briefly, memorial day is _ israeli military. and paul, briefly, memorial day is always _ israeli military. and paul, briefly, memorial day is always a - israeli military. and paul, briefly, memorial day is always a sombre| israeli military. and paul, briefly, . memorial day is always a sombre day but this time, this year, more protesters as well.— but this time, this year, more protesters as well. yet, on a day, on which let's _ protesters as well. yet, on a day, on which let's face _ protesters as well. yet, on a day, on which let's face it, _ protesters as well. yet, on a day, on which let's face it, marks - protesters as well. yet, on a day, on which let's face it, marks one | protesters as well. yet, on a day, | on which let's face it, marks one of the worst moments of reflection if you like for the israeli public, this has been one of the worst years that this country has ever known in terms of the price paid by soldiers and civilians. in their conflict with the palestinians. but this has not been a day of unity. we have seen protests when mr netanyahu, the prime minister was speaking at hurtle cemetery earlier today, people walked away while he was speaking down in ashdod where the hardline minister of national security was speaking. they were pushing and shoving and heckling and

also some protests in tel aviv with people holding up placards accusing the government here of having blood on its hands. so this is not a moment of unity at all. and about in 45 minutes we'll have this transition from the day of memorial day to independence day which will dominate tomorrow. that is normally a moment in which the mood switches from sombre and reflective to celebratory, but that is not going to be typical this year because the mood is a very dark and divided one. paul adams, life for us in jerusalem, thanks so much. we will have the latest in a moment after the uk government was warned in the early 1980s, so that report is coming up in a moment on to do on today's programme. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

your live with bbc news. evidence that the government was warned by its own embassy in washington about the risk of hiv from contaminated blood in the early 19805 has been seen by the bbc�*s panorama programme. it's now thought more than 1,200 nhs patients with the blood disorder haemophilia were infected with the virus — many after being given treatment made from american blood plasma. 0ur health correspondent, jim reed, reports. from the 19705 to the early '90s, tens of thousands of patients in the nhs were infected with hiv and hepatitis c. something that should have saved their life...killed them. and still, a0 years later, there's no answers to that. as a child, laura's brother, stuart, was given a new treatment for his blood disorder, haemophilia. but factor viii was made from thousands of mixed blood donations.

ifjust one donor was carrying a virus, the whole batch could be contaminated. we went in for an appointment and we went into this room, and we were informed that it was hiv positive. we were absolutely devastated. i mean, you know, to be told something like that is just mind—blowing. at the time, most factor viii was imported from the united states. their high—risk groups — including prisoners and drug users — were paid to give blood. stuart died of aids, in his twenties, from the treatment he was given. there were so many people that didn't deserve to die. they were given a death sentence. a public inquiry opened in 2018. it's had access to thousands of documents held in archives. now, panorama has seen this five—page letter, sent back in 1983 from the british embassy in washington to the department

of health, clearly warning that haemophiliacs were most at risk from american factor viii. they've literally torn my family apart. ripped them away from me. sam's father, gary, was another infected with hiv through factor viii. sam lost his entire family by the age of three. my grandad, actually, was the first person to tell me. he explained about my dad being haemophiliac. was infected with hiv, subsequently passed that on to my mum, who was pregnant with my sister. all three have passed away. the government has said it will establish a new body to compensate people like sam. it declined to comment on the new documents seen

by panorama, ahead of the public inquiry�*s final report next week. jim reed, bbc news. panorama have a special programme 'infected blood — time for answers' which airs at 8pm tonight on bbc one and iplayer. i'll be talking to someone who lost their father in about 20 minutes' time on our programme. more than 4,000 species of animals and plants worldwide are being trafficked by criminals. that's according to the latest report from the un office on drugs and crime. it's warning that wildlife trafficking is not only doing from vienna — where the un office on drugs and crime is based — our correspondent bethany bell gave more details on the new report. so the report said that there have been some improvements, when it comes to trafficking of things like elephant ivory and rhino horn, which are very

much in the public eye. but it said that there are so many other species — over 4,000 different plants, animals, fish, seafood — which have been trafficked for all sorts of different reasons, including food, including traditional medicines, including timber and adornment, which are really being ignored. and this report is calling for governments to take much more action to try and target things which are not being paid so much attention to. it said that if you think about things like rare corals, there is an enormous amount of trafficking in corals, in crocodiles and other such species. and in some cases, when you have things like rare orchids, the very rarity of the species is fuelling demand and traffickers are exploiting that. bethany, i'll come back to the actions that perhaps they recommend or are urging.

but in terms of the the impacts, tell me more about that, but in terms of the impacts, tell me more about that, because i read out in the introduction "jeopardizing livelihoods, public health and the planet's ability to fight climate change." so what is this report saying about those particular areas? well, i mean, it's an enormous topic. in but if you think of something like illegal timber, where people are cutting down too many trees in one area, that has an enormous impact on the local environment. also, if you think about biodiversity, if traffickers start to concentrate on particular species, then it means that you have areas where the diversity is being impacted upon. and also, people's livelihoods have been set up traditionally to deal with these sorts of problems. and people are really, the communities are suffering, if, for example, things are then not

there any more. so this is an enormous problem, the unodc says, and it says it's very important that more is done by governments to tackle the organised crime groups which are exploiting this situation and also looking at local corruption as well, where blind eyes, news from downing street saying the government will take all steps to appeal a ruling in the belfast high court tojust apply appeal a ruling in the belfast high court to just apply the rwanda act in northern ireland. the prime minister has said it doesn't disrupt our plan to send illegal migrants to rwanda, or the safety of the rwanda act, so this one is heading back to the courts. that news coming in now coming will back with the headlines in just a coming will back with the headlines injust a moment coming will back with the headlines in just a moment or two.

hello there. the weather this afternoon is looking, well, a bit half and half, really. warm sunshine for east scotland and parts of eastern england. the day's top temperatures could reach 25 into parts of east anglia. different story further west with cloud and rain. and for some, temperatures really struggle — might only see highs of 13 degrees underneath this curl of cloud associated with low pressure to the south west. and it's notjust cloud. we're looking at some persistent rain getting in across parts of south—west england, wales and northern ireland. 20 to 30 millimetres. could see double that over the high ground. so we may well see one or two areas of localised flooding and it's a particularly slow moving band of rain. so chances are, if you have the rain already it's going to be with you through the rest of today. whereas if you've got the sunshine, east scotland, eastern areas of england, likely you'll keep that as well. temperatures well into the 20s. 23 there for newcastle and hull. well into the 20s for the north and east of scotland. the day's top temperature, probably east anglia, could see highs up to 25.

0vernight tonight, we get that band of rain pushing its way northwards and eastwards with showers following into the south west. temperatures on the mild side, 11 to 1a degrees for most. tomorrow, we pick up on this band of rain, this time across eastern areas of england running in across scotland and still showers following to northern ireland, wales and western areas of england. but at least you'll see some sunny spells. so in that respect, the weather a little bit brighter here, but some of the showers will be quite heavy at times. temperatures coming down back into the teens for most of us. then for wednesday, we've still got the dregs of that area of low pressure with us. wednesday looks to be a kind of showery day, although there could be some lengthier spells of rain lurking across parts of eastern england. at this stage, the highest temperatures will be working into northern areas of scotland, where we could see the warmest spots reach around 22 or 23 degrees celsius. but otherwise, generally, temperatures running into the teens. again for thursday it looks like the warmest weather will be across northern scotland. again, temperatures into the low 20s here, but low pressure looks set

to bring another pulse of fairly heavy rain in across parts of england and wales. temperatures for many of us staying into the upper teens. this pattern of rather unsettled weather conditions for england and wales continues, then, through the rest of the week and into the weekend. the brightest weather further north.

this is bbc news, the headlines. a crucial day — in donald trump's hush money trial — in new york. his former lawyer michael cohen admits he lied to getjobs done for his former boss — and intimidated reporters on the former president's behalf. the bbc sees new evidence — that the british government was warned by its embassy in washington as long ago as the 19805 — about the risks from contaminated american blood products. we will talk to someone who lost their father in the scandal. 0ne we will talk to someone who lost their father in the scandal. one of their father in the scandal. one of the most notorious people smugglers has been arrested in northern iraq. mps say urgent action is needed — to reduce the trauma experienced by many women during childbirth. all of the stories in a moment or

two first, let's catch up with the