in sweden where - ro-palestinian - retest in sweden where nth-palestinian -rotest are _ in sweden where \ pro-palestinian pretest are taking pro—palestinian protest are taking place ahead of the eurovision final. and a british toddler who was born deaf becomes the first person in the world to receive a ground—breaking gene therapy treatment. hello and welcome to bbc news. donald trump is in court in manhattan where he is likely to start the day listening to more testimony from the woman at the centre of the four charges he is facing. stormy daniels is expected to be in the witness stand again and she is already on the stand in fact giving the court some salacious details this week so far about the effect she claims she had with donald trump before he became president. he has denied her version of events. the fraud charges stem

from alleged hush money payments. here's what he had to say about the court case. here we sit after two and a half weeks and i'm sure you will hear some revealing things today and i want to thank myjoy to have done a very good job and i want to thank their efforts. we do not want them to get carried away. let's speak to nada tawfik, our north america correspondent. what is going on inside the court room? we what is going on inside the court room? ~ . . , what is going on inside the court room? . ., , ~ ., what is going on inside the court room? . ., ., ., ., room? we already know that donald trum has room? we already know that donald trump has been _ room? we already know that donald trump has been affected _ room? we already know that donald trump has been affected by - room? we already know that donald trump has been affected by stormyl trump has been affected by stormy daniels testimony because in court transcripts that were released after the last day in court, you could read that the judge had to essentially give donald trump's lawyers are warning that donald trump had to stop audibly cursing during herfirst bit

trump had to stop audibly cursing during her first bit of testimony and he said thejury during her first bit of testimony and he said the jury could see and hear this and it could be contemptuous, showing perhaps intimidation of a witness, so he ordered the lawyer of donald trump to advise him to cut that out. donald trump arriving in court today brought with him some political allies. senator florida who is loyal to donald trump, rick scott, along with some of his campaign team and lawyers, who are normally with him. donald trump certainly bracing for another what we expect to be a difficult day in court for him. stormy daniels will continue her testimony. so far the lawyers of donald trump had tried to discredit stormy daniels completely by claiming she was just after money when she wanted to sell her story of the alleged affair. stormy daniels insisting it was about keeping her family safe and getting the story out. they tried to suggest that she

screamed at her lawyer at the time when payment was being held before the election but again on the stand this morning she denies that characterisation, sticking to her story that she had on tuesday that this had nothing to do with getting money from donald trump. thanks for “oininu us. let's speak to lauren wright, political scientist at princeton university. this is more thanjust this is more than just a salacious court case and the interesting question behind this, given the election yearfor the us question behind this, given the election year for the us comics whether swing voters could be affected in who they vote for by this case? —— the us, whether swing voters. it this case? -- the us, whether swing voters. , ., , ., , voters. it is salacious and it is important _ voters. it is salacious and it is important to _ voters. it is salacious and it is important to cover _ voters. it is salacious and it is important to cover it - voters. it is salacious and it is important to cover it but - voters. it is salacious and it is important to cover it but what voters. it is salacious and it is . important to cover it but what we know from the past is that these independent voters who lean republican that donald trump is at

high risk of alienating and not getting back in the fold, they are nikki haley voters, essentially, or marco rubio voters in 2016, and the majority of those people ultimately come home and support the party and its nominee so it is really a question of what is in the news closer to the election when more people are paying attention, and if these court cases get delayed, maybe donald trump will luck out, but if the college protests continue, that is not good news for democrats, so it is not good news —— so it is about the mix of news which is around when the voters head for the ballot box put up any polling on whether there is a different reaction to what we are seeing with this particular reaction to what we are seeing with this particula— this particular case between the male and female _ this particular case between the male and female voters - this particular case between the male and female voters or- this particular case between the l male and female voters or young this particular case between the - male and female voters or young and old voters? a, ., male and female voters or young and old voters? ~ . . ., male and female voters or young and old voters? a, ., ., ., , old voters? male and female voters, i have not old voters? male and female voters, i have not seen _ old voters? male and female voters, i have not seen big _ old voters? male and female voters, i have not seen big differences - old voters? male and female voters,

i have not seen big differences in - i have not seen big differences in particular, and men and women voters are more alike than different, frankly. there are a lot of women republicans who turned back around and voted for donald trump in 2020, just like they did in 2016. what i am interested in is the independent swing voters and there is evidence to suggest from polling that this is very low on their list of priorities, they are not tuned into it and they care more about issues like the economy, national security, education, immigration, crime. and so there is evidence that compared to the other many criminal charges that donald trump is facing, this set of charges is the least serious and voters do distinguish between this case and other cases like the mar—a—lago documents case and the election fraud cases.

mar-a-lago documents case and the election fraud cases.— election fraud cases. lauren wright, thanks forjoining _ election fraud cases. lauren wright, thanks forjoining us. _ israel's far—right interior minister has condemned president biden's decision not to supply us munitions that could be used in a major israeli assault on the city of rafah. itamar ben—gvir wrote on x, "hamas loves biden." the british foreign secretary, david cameron, has said the uk is opposed to a military operation in rafah but is unlikely to follow america in delaying arms sales to israel. a senior hamas official has said israel's operations in rafah and its seizure of the border crossing there are meant to derail peace efforts. the group's delegation to the cairo ceasefire talks has left for doha, but have stressed they are commited to reaching a deal. yolande knell reports from jerusalem. bloody and in pain. children were among 25 wounded by israeli shelling in one neighbourhood in the heart of rafah. seven corpses were pulled from the rubble in the west of the city.

translation: they said - to evacuate the eastern areas and that the western area was safe. this is proof that the israeli occupation is a liar. there is no safe place. israel's military still insists it is carrying out a limited operation against hamas battalions hiding out in gaza's southernmost city. and the us, israel's closest ally, has given its starkest warning yet of the consequences if it goes for a full scale ground offensive. i made it clear that, if they go into rafah, they haven't gone into rafah yet, if they go into rafah, i'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with rafah. earlier in the war, powerful explosives caused massive death and destruction. the us is now holding back a shipment of thousands of its large bombs. "very disappointing," one is israeli official said.

"israel will continue to fight hamas until its destruction," insisted the foreign minister. and a far—right minister suggested the us president was helping israel's enemies. the us fears that if israel goes ahead with a full invasion of rafah, there will be carnage. already, there is fear and panic, with tens of thousands of people fleeing and fuel and food are quickly running out. while israel has reopened a main entry point for aid, the un says it has not been safe enough to collect supplies. the humanitarian situation in gaza is in another downward spiral. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. let's speak tojosh paul, who resigned from the us state department due to his disagreement with the biden administration's decision to rush lethal military assistance to israel in the context of its war on gaza. thanks forjoining us. hazard and president biden undermined this urgent post for a ceasefire by undercutting the us support for

israel? , �* ., , ., israel? president biden has made it clear that the _ israel? president biden has made it clear that the us _ israel? president biden has made it clear that the us does _ israel? president biden has made it clear that the us does not - israel? president biden has made it clear that the us does not support i clear that the us does not support further slaughter and does not support a major operation by israel into rafah where there are over a million refugees huddled in tents. that message is very clear and the message now has to be applied more broadly to the israeli operation in gaza and the need for humanitarian assistance. the gaza and the need for humanitarian assistance. , ., gaza and the need for humanitarian assistance. , . ., , ., assistance. the israeli ambassador to the un told _ assistance. the israeli ambassador to the un told israeli _ assistance. the israeli ambassador to the un told israeli radio - assistance. the israeli ambassador to the un told israeli radio the - to the un told israeli radio the decision could threaten the efforts of israel to eliminate hamas and they are very disappointed at the us position. given the precarious situation regarding talks and the precarious situation regarding netanyahu's own position, isn't this a misstep by president biden regardless of the pressure he is facing internally within the us? first of all, the comments of the

ambassador are absurd because israel has every military capability to continue its operation if it chooses, it has deep stockpiles that the us has been feeding for over seven months and it is not the case that a military operation will defeat what is ultimately a political movement, and there needs to be a political process here, so on a of those grounds there is a misstatement of the facts in this case. ~ , ., misstatement of the facts in this case. ~ ,, ., ., ~ ., misstatement of the facts in this case. ~ ,, ., ., misstatement of the facts in this case. ~ i” . . , case. when you look at what is happening _ case. when you look at what is happening with _ case. when you look at what is happening with some - case. when you look at what is l happening with some operations having started in rafah, what is your reading of the situation, do your reading of the situation, do you think israel is just threatening to go in or is it really possible? it is possible, certainly, and netanyahu and certain elements of his war cabinet have said they wish to go forward with the operation and what the us is doing with the suspension of transfers of bombs is sending them a message and signalling and telling them they

need to follow the advice both for the interests of the peace process and frankly of the hostages as well, the rescue of the hostages, if that is a priority, we need gauche asians are not a bombing of the place where hostages are actually being kept to the best of our knowledge. if netanyahu does go ahead with the assault on rafah, what does the west do? has it lost all its leveraged effectively?— do? has it lost all its leveraged effectivel ? ,, , , ., effectively? the us has plenty of low average _ effectively? the us has plenty of low average and _ effectively? the us has plenty of low average and the _ effectively? the us has plenty of low average and the longer - effectively? the us has plenty of low average and the longer a - effectively? the us has plenty of. low average and the longer a pause on shipments of arms lasts and i hope it will, the more sway it will have over the government of israel as they are forced to make ever tougher choices about where their priorities lie and if they continue to destroy gaza at the scope they have been doing so until this point. the us also has other leveraged, at the united nations which we could be using more effectively and the us is also working to limit groups for

israeli officials involved in war groups, effectively. there are various things they could employ. if it pauses weapons supplies, how can it pauses weapons supplies, how can it distinguish between offensive weapons, defensive, supplies to the iron dome, so many levels in which the us can step up pressure. how do you see that unfolding and at what point does a israel feel the heat on that great month president biden has been clear he has no intention to been clear he has no intention tr: relinquish support in terms of the iron dome and we also know at the same time there has been an immense number of civilian casualties in gaza, and i would suggest the pause might consider firearms, where we

have seen increased use of the idf of american origin firearms in gaza and in the west bank in what appears to be extrajudicial killings including with incidents of a child waving a white flag. the us can choose what arms they are pausing and send a clear message to israel by limiting those arms. josh and send a clear message to israel by limiting those arms.— by limiting those arms. josh paul from the us _ by limiting those arms. josh paul from the us state _ by limiting those arms. josh paul from the us state department, | by limiting those arms. josh paul- from the us state department, thanks forjoining us. now to malmo where the eurovision song contest semifinal is taking place this evening. there are pro—palestinian protests taking place in malmo. quite a crowd. let's speak to sarah rainsford in malmo. what has been happening? the crowd ou can what has been happening? the crowd you can see. — what has been happening? the crowd you can see. this _ what has been happening? the crowd you can see, this is _ what has been happening? the crowd you can see, this is the _ what has been happening? the crowd you can see, this is the tail— what has been happening? the crowd you can see, this is the tail end - what has been happening? the crowd you can see, this is the tail end of - you can see, this is the tail end of the demonstration, and people have been gathering over the last hour,

and people are starting to march off through the centre of malmo, a lot of palestinian flags and a lot of chants about what is happening in gaza and also about the eurovision song contest. a lot of people are angry that israel has been allowed to take part and there has been shouting here for a boycott of eurovision by other artists taking part in the competition but also for israel to be banned from the competition, there are all sorts of groups, i have seen queers for palestine, communists for palestine, a lot of people represented, also children, it is very peaceful, this is an authorised march, and there is a lot of police in town, standing by the edge of the process, with reinforcements brought into malmo because they have been security

concerns with extra police drafted in from norway and denmark. but everything here is calm and peaceful but the anger is strong and people are furious that while russia was banned from eurovision after the invasion of ukraine, that israel has been allowed to take part and eurovision says it is not a political contest and israel has every right to be here. people are not happy about that.— not happy about that. thanks for “oininu not happy about that. thanks for joining us- _ around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

a former saudi intelligence officer has told the bbc that the kingdom's authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city in the desert. dozens of western companies are involved in building the $500 billion neom scheme in the north—west of the country. with more on this story, let's cross

to our team at bbc verify and our correspondent merlyn thomas who has been looking into the claims. this is part of neom, the grand plan to transform the country of saudi arabia and its image, a project almost the size of belgium with companies from all over the world building it. at the heart is the line, a city carved from the desert in a 100 mile straight line but it has come at a price. thousands of people live near the line and for years the people objected to being moved but the project and still went ahead. we spoke to a former saudi intelligence officer, excelled in the uk, who says he was given orders to clear one of the villages in the project in 2020 —— exiled. he said he was allowed to use lethal force against whoever stayed in their homes and he said he dodged the mission which went ahead without him. this is the aftermath. walls are littered with bullet holes and this man here refused to leave his

home, and saudi forces shot him dead. in the months leading up to his death he posted multiple videos on social media, protesting the evictions, the saudi government says he was an armed terrorist, and the un human rights groups say he was killed for refusing eviction. a0 people from three villages remain detained after objecting to the evictions according to a human rights group. these three men are now on death row facing terrorism charges and villages have been destroyed. the saudi government says more than 6000 people have been moved but critics say this is likely to be a conservative figure. this is one of the villagers back in 2018 and you can see that it is almost completely wiped off the map. homes and schools and hospitals, cleared off the map. this was over eight kilometres away from the planned area for the line and this is a satellite image of the line. it was

pitched as a city as part of the neom project, 170 kilometres long but now only 2.a kilometres is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030. it is planned to be 200 metres wide and 500 metres tall, so thatis metres wide and 500 metres tall, so that is taller than the empire state building and the eiffel tower and big ben. mohammed bin salman, the crown prince, wants neom to be his legacy, a shining jewel in the desert, but critics say the project has cost some saudis their freedom and their lives.— and their lives. thanks for “oining us. president xijinping of china has been greeted with a military parade in budapest during a visit to hungary. it's the latest location of his european tour after visiting france and serbia. later he'll meet the hungarian prime minister viktor 0rban. beijing sees hungary as one of its closest allies in the eu — and there have been high levels of chinese investment there.

let's speak to charles parton who is a former chinese diplomat and associate fellow at the council on geostrategy. what do the country is one from this alliance, what do they get out of it? it alliance, what do they get out of it? , ., ,., , alliance, what do they get out of it? , ., ,., y ., it? it is the 75th anniversary of the establishment _ it? it is the 75th anniversary of the establishment of - it? it is the 75th anniversary of the establishment of relations| the establishment of relations between the countries, so they want to celebrate that, and hungary is the biggest destination of chinese investment in central and eastern europe, so they want more of that, and they want more trade, obviously, to celebrate the building of the railroad from budapest, from belgrade to budapest, but you also need to look underneath the surface at what the aims of cg and ping are, andi at what the aims of cg and ping are, and i would characterise those as trying to drive a wedge between europe and the us and hungary and serbia in particular —— what the aims of president xi are. i think

they are trying, the chinese are always keen to weaken the unity within europe, much as it likes to say it would like a strong europe, it is in the interest they do not get it together, especially on issues like subsidies investigations and possible blocking moves on some of the chinese exporting of its own capacity industries to europe. xi jinping also wants to encourage the blunting of criticism of the chinese support for russia in the war, hungary is a country that has always been close to china and always willing to support them where they can. let's not forget, the leaders that attended the road initiative in china, there was a big forum in

october last year, only to european leaders turned up, they were from serbia and hungary. —— two european leaders. as ever, the chinese leadership likes to show its own people its leader being feted and honoured around the world and bestriding the world stage and underlining how important he is an china now is. underlining how important he is an china now is— underlining how important he is an china now is. what came out of the french visit — china now is. what came out of the french visit and _ china now is. what came out of the french visit and how _ china now is. what came out of the french visit and how does - china now is. what came out of the french visit and how does that - china now is. what came out of the french visit and how does that play| french visit and how does that play into what we are seeing today in budapest? into what we are seeing today in buda est? ., into what we are seeing today in ihudapest?_ into what we are seeing today in buda est? ., ., , budapest? some of the same aims were at -la budapest? some of the same aims were at play there. — budapest? some of the same aims were at play there. and _ budapest? some of the same aims were at play there, and france _ budapest? some of the same aims were at play there, and france has _ budapest? some of the same aims were at play there, and france has always - at play there, and france has always pursued a fairly independent foreign policy line and president xi would like to encourage that so it is not close to the us. he keeps talking about a multipolar world, one in which america does not dominate and he wants to push that line. france has been one of the countries within

europe that has actually been more supportive of the european commission in investigating especially in the automotive industry, the subsidies that are likely to cause real problems to the european automotive industry. i expect that part of the reason for president xi of going to france, and also it was the 60th anniversary of them forming relations, but part of them forming relations, but part of the reason was to try and blunt the french support for the european commission over the subsidy investigations which are gathering pace both in their depth and breadth of things that are being investigated.— of things that are being investiuated. ., . . of things that are being investiuated. ., , ., ., investigated. charles, thanks for “oininu investigated. charles, thanks for joining us- _ investigated. charles, thanks for joining us- let — investigated. charles, thanks for joining us. let me _ investigated. charles, thanks for joining us. let me show- investigated. charles, thanks for joining us. let me show you - investigated. charles, thanks for. joining us. let me show you some pictures from malmo in sweden. pro—palestinian protests in malmo in

sweden because a eurovision semifinal is due to take place in the next few hours with israel taking part. as you can see, the protesters are out on the streets. we heard from our correspondent, that it has been basically peaceful with families out there. you can see youngsters out there but we did see smoke canisters being set off in the last few moments. we know the whole event has come under scrutiny and underfire given israel is event has come under scrutiny and under fire given israel is taking part in this. eurovision is designed as a music event but politics, global politics, of course, never able to be fully excluded and those are the people on the streets in

sweden as you can see. we are back for more in the next five minutes. do stay with us. another fine and warm and sunny day to come for most of us. again, we did start off with a little bit of mist and fog that's mostly cleared away during the morning period and into the afternoon. it looks fine for many. however, we still have that weather front affecting northern scotland, so stays rather cloudy here. further spots of rain at times. you can see that front very slow to clear northwards. eventually it will do and it will be drier, brighter, warmer across northern scotland into tomorrow. but essentially for most of the country it's going to be dry for the rest of the afternoon. a little bit of cloud at times affecting north sea coasts, particularly eastern north, northeast england. the thickest of the cloud over northern scotland. a few spots of rain there, particularly for the outer hebrides and into the northern isles

and temperatures here low to mid teens elsewhere. it's going to be warm pretty widely — into the low 20s. now, as we head into this evening and overnight, it stays dry for many. still some spots of rain across northern scotland. that weather front continues to move northwards. we'll see some mist and fog developing once again, some low cloud and murk affecting north sea coasts. temperatures range from 9—11 or 12 degrees. so, into friday, we eventually lose that weather front. it pushes northwards, the rain slowest to clear from the northern isles. but even here, it'll be drier during the course of friday afternoon. so, a brighter, drier, warmer day for northern scotland. elsewhere, plenty of sunshine around. a bit of cloud tending to build in towards the midlands, eastern england and maybe some low cloud and mist into east anglia later in the day. otherwise, most places dry and sunny, maybe a touch warmer — 23—2a degrees will be the high, but even the low 20s there across central southern scotland. now into the weekend, saturday promises to

be another fine day. plenty of sunshine around. could see some grey, misty weather for east anglia and the southeast for a while. there's a chance of a few heavy maybe thundery showers developing later in the day for northern england and southern scotland, mainly over the high ground. but most places will be dry. another very warm daytime, maybe humidity a little bit higher, low to mid 20s. so all change as we head into sunday. although most places having a fine day on sunday. weather fronts, low pressure, starts to move in later on sunday and into monday. next week we're dominated by low pressure. so it's back to being unsettled. could be very warm, quite humid across the south of the country on sunday, up to 26 degrees, but increasing chance of showers — much more unsettled into monday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: is fighting reportedly edges closer to the centre of rafah, a member of israel's government condemns the us decision to pause the supply of weapons. donald trump arrives back in court in newark where his lawyers are rationing... fora in court in newark where his lawyers are rationing... for a second day. marks russia's annual victory day celebration with a warning to the west that he will not tolerate any threats. and we are going to bring you the remarkable story of a young girl who is hearing loss has completely transformed with gene therapy.

before all that, let's get all the latest sport with molly. thank you. welcome to the bbc sport centre. let's start with european football. avoid defeat later on thursday and bayer leverkusen's perfect season will have yielded a title and two finals so far. xabi alonso's team have won the bundesliga, they've reached the final of the german cup and are in a healthy position to do the same in the europa league. leverkusen have a 2—0 lead in their semifinal heading into the second leg against roma after a victory in italy last week. finishing the job with a draw or better later will not only deliver a trip to dublin, but also extend their unbeaten run from the beginning of the season in all competitions to a9 games, breaking a european football record. there's only a handful of games left for leverkusen to go the whole season without defeat, but roma have made a european final in each of the last two seasons, while in the other semifinal

atalanta and marseille are level at 1—1.