also tonight: we've been speaking to the tory activist who complained about her local mp phoning her in the middle of the night asking for party funds. it's alleged mark menzies said had people had locked him in a flat. 12 people have finally been chosen for the jury in the trial of former us president donald trump after days of wrangling. we reveal the extent of medical trials on young children in the 1970s and �*80s using contaminated blood products without their parents being told anything about it. # it's a cruel summer... # and swifties are excited as taylor's new album is leaked online. see on bbc london: with two weeks to go before the election to choose the mayor of london, the current mayor publishes his manifesto. find out his plan if he is re—elected.

good evening. the former chief executive of the snp, peter murrell, has been charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the scottish national party. mr murrell, who is married to the former scottish first minister nicola sturgeon, was taken into custody for questioning this morning more than a year after he was first arrested. a police investigation is ongoing. our scotland editorjames cookjoins me from outside mr murrell�*s house. james. james. sophie, it's nearly three ears james. sophie, it's nearly three years since _ james. sophie, it's nearly three years since police _ james. sophie, it's nearly three years since police scotland - james. sophie, it's nearly three i years since police scotland opened operation branch form, looking into the funding and finances of the scottish national party, and today, for the first time, that investigation has resulted in a charge, a charge against the man who was four years at the heart of scottish politics, a development

described by the snp tonight as a shock. —— was peter murrell arriving home tonight after more than nine hours in custody at falkirk police station. mr murrell, any reaction? he was arrested shortly after nine o'clock this morning and charged at 6:35pm. any comment, mr murrell? in a statement, police scotland said a 59—year—old man had been charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the scottish national party. it added a report will be sent to the crown office and procurator fiscal service in due course. it's the second time mr murrell has been arrested in connection with operation branchform. he was first questioned last april, weeks after resigning as chief executive of the snp, when officers searched the home he shares with nicola sturgeon on the outskirts of glasgow. as part of their inquiry, police also searched the snp's headquarters in edinburgh and seized this luxury motorhome from outside the house of mr murrell�*s mother in fife. is your party imploding? two weeks later, officers arrested

the scottish national party treasurer colin beattie, and then, last summer, ms sturgeon herself. after questioning, both were released without charge. at the heart of this inquiry is nearly £667,000 raised by the snp between 2017 and 2020 to campaign for independence. questions first arose at the end of 2019, when it emerged that the party had just under £97,000 in the bank. and tonight, one more development in an inquiry that has sent shockwaves through scottish politics — peter murrell has resigned his membership of the snp. so, what happens now? well, the police say that in due course, they will send what is known as the standard prosecution report to the procurator fiscal. just because someone is charged by the police with a crime in scotland does

not necessarily mean there will be a prosecution. that is a matter for the crown, and that decision could be taken in the coming days, weeks, or even months. james, thank you. a lifelong conservative party activist who complained after a tory mp allegedly called her in the middle of the night asking for thousands of pounds from campaign funds has told the bbc she feels appalled by the party's response to the case. the tory mp mark menzies allegedly rang her saying that he needed the money because bad people had locked him in a flat and wouldn't let him out until he'd given them £5,000. she says he told her it was life or death. mark menzies strongly disputes the claims. the conservative party, which was made aware of the allegations three months ago, says it's investigating. labour says the police should be involved. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. this was mark menzies last week in a local campaign video. when this was

filmed, he was still a conservative mp. but last night, he was suspended from the party. it came after allegations in a newspaper that he used funds from donors to pay thousands to so—called "bad people" who had apparently locked him in a flat. the bbc has spoken to the conservative activist katie fieldhouse, who complained to the party. she said that mr menzies called her in the middle of the night in december asking for money. she says he claimed he was being detained against his will and needed money as a matter of life and death. it's also claimed that £6,500 was provided by another activist, and the money was then reimbursed from donations to the local party. the allegations were first reported to tory managers in parliament back in january, but it was only last night that mr menzies lost the whip as the allegations began to emerge publicly. we havejust been allegations began to emerge publicly. we have just been speaking to miss fieldhouse at her home here

in fylde. she didn't want to appear on camera, she was upset, and she was angry. she was frustrated at how the conservatives have dealt with her complaints. she told me that she was appalled by their approach, that the party shejoined was appalled by their approach, that the party she joined when she was 15 had let her down, and she didn't want this area to be represented by mr menzies any longer. i understand that cc hq have been aware of it for a while, and have been investigating, and i think some new information has come to light subsequently. new information has come to light subsequently-— new information has come to light subsequently. there are obviously a lot of unanswered _ subsequently. there are obviously a lot of unanswered questions - subsequently. there are obviously a lot of unanswered questions in - lot of unanswered questions in relation — lot of unanswered questions in relation to the these allegations, not least — relation to the these allegations, not least why it seems the conservative party took so long to act, and _ conservative party took so long to act, and whether they have reported this to _ act, and whether they have reported this to the _ act, and whether they have reported this to the police, who it seems to me should — this to the police, who it seems to me should be involved in this. police — me should be involved in this. police are _ me should be involved in this. police are not investigating at the moment, but said tonight they would speak to those involved to see if

they wanted to make a complaint. in his fylde constituency this afternoon, no sign of mr menzies, and the at the address given for the local party offices, there was no response. but he told the times: it is not the first time mr menzies has faced controversy. ten yea rs faced controversy. ten years ago, he quit as a ministerial aide after allegations he paid a male escort, allegations he paid a male escort, allegations he denied. he was also reportedly quizzed a few years later by police over claims he got a dog drunk. again, those allegations were strongly denied. mr menzies said he had been cleared by police. this is a messy story of allegations about the local mp, but it has wider implications about the reputation of politicians more widely. after other different but recent scandals, none of this is good for westminster. the judge at the criminal trial of the former us president donald trump says 12 jury members have now been selected. but the search for six alternative jurors continues. mr trump is facing charges of falsifying accounts to hide hush

money paid to a porn star, and has pleaded not guilty. nada tawfik is at court. despite the jury being selected, there's been some difficulty today? yes, absolutely not, sophie. now we have the 12 jurors who will be deciding donald trump's fete on his first criminal trial. they are seven men and five women, and it really comes after a day of twists and turns just hours after two other jurors were abruptly excused, one a young woman who said she felt intimidated after her identity was figured out by family and friends, and she said she didn't think she could be impartial and fair, that outside opinions could affect her decision—making in the court room. another was a gentleman that prosecutors were concerned had not been forthright about his criminal history. he was excused by the judge, but outside of court, he said he wanted to serve. so he wasn't

happy with that decision. but the 12 jurors, as we have seated now, are a diverse group, different ethnicities, differentjobs, everyone works, from lawyers, physical therapist, everyone works, from lawyers, physicaltherapist, infinance, everyone works, from lawyers, physical therapist, in finance, a security engineer in sales, a recent couege security engineer in sales, a recent college graduate. one noted that there even read the bbc. and donald trump looked on as they were sworn in and said they could be fair and impartial, but here is what he said outside of court. the whole world is watching this hoax _ the whole world is watching this hoax you — the whole world is watching this hoax. you have got a da that is out of control, — hoax. you have got a da that is out of control, you have a judge that is highly— of control, you have a judge that is highly conflicted. the whole thing is a mess, — highly conflicted. the whole thing is a mess, and you have the leading candidate, _ is a mess, and you have the leading candidate, crooked joe biden, is a mess, and you have the leading candidate, crookedjoe biden, he is the one _ candidate, crookedjoe biden, he is the one who should be on trial. he isa is a crook. we have got a crooked president — president. the process started to move president. — the process started to move along after both sides ran out of what are called strikes. they are able to get

rid of a jurorfor any reason, and one woman had even said that she didn't quite like donald trump's persona, and wild donald trump's lawyers objected to her being on the jury lawyers objected to her being on the jury for cause, thejudge lawyers objected to her being on the jury for cause, the judge says it wasn't about how she felt about him as a person but whether she could be impartial. another issue that will be taken care of at a hearing next week is whether donald trump broke a limited gag order when he posted thatjurors limited gag order when he posted that jurors were limited gag order when he posted thatjurors were liberals trying to get on to influence his case. thank you. it has emerged that in the 1970s and �*80s, young children and babies were involved in medical trials which involved contaminated blood products without their parents being told anything about it. the bbc has seen evidence that the children even a baby with mild blood conditions were given blood products that doctors knew could be infected by viruses including hepatitis c. many of them later became ill because of the blood products, linked to high—risk donors, including prisoners in the united states who'd sold their blood. the children are some of the 30,000 people in the uk who were infected with hiv and hepatitis c after being given contaminated blood

products over two decades. in total, it's thought about 3,000 people have died. a public inquiry has been examining what's been described as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the nhs. here is our health editor hugh pym. that's all we were, is guinea pigs. to experiment on children is ethically wrong. when these men were children, they went for treatment for their health conditions, but their parents weren't told they'd been enrolled into medical research trials. luke, who has a mild form of the blood clotting disorder haemophilia, was put into a clinical trial when he was three after a small cut. before that, he hadn't needed treatment. normally, his mild condition wouldn't need the powerful blood clotting product factor eight,

known to be contaminated with viruses. he was labelled a virgin haemophiliac. there was incredible benefit in the virgin haemophiliac. to be able to have a clean petri dish to be scientifically, to be able to understand science through. ultimately, at that point, i didn't need factor eight. this document reveals that luke's doctor wrote a letter to a dr peter kernoff, referring to luke and another boy's treatment, noting they were both virgin haemophiliacs. he writes, i hope they will be suitable for the heat treated trial. the results were published in 1985, confirming that luke, as well as the others enrolled, had been infected with hepatitis c. that was known as non—a non—b at the time. no patients were told about their infections. peter kernoff also had support in recruiting patients from a dr aronstam. he worked in hampshire

at a specialist school known as treloar�*s. it had medicalfacilities on site which helped pupils lead a more normal life, but also presented clinical researchers with a unique cohort of children. i met three of the 122 boys who attended the school in the �*70s and �*80s, gary, steve and ade. every new boy presumably was started on a trial. i mean, i certainly did. i went in �*75. by the beginning of �*76, i was on a trial for quite some time. research focused on preventative, known as prophylactic treatment, which meant three to four times more of the blood product known to be contaminated was given to the boys than they required. if we didn't go for our prophylaxis appointments, we would either get dragged out of school lessons, because you had missed your appointment, and if you did it so many times, you got black marks. they were also supposed to call... the haemophilia doctors were supposed to call our parents, and they were supposed to make that

phone call, and they never did. they had access to our blood, - our veins, whenever they wanted it, and they exploited that. at the public inquiry, the question was asked — did treloar�*s children become objects of research and study rather than being patients first and foremost? were established medical codes of practice broken? if they were given a higher risk product, which they didn't need therapeutically, and that wasn't necessary for their care, then that would seem to be exploitation, unless there is some clinically valid reason for giving it to them. and in breach of these key international codes. in which case it would have breached the declaration of helsinki. mark stewart, his brother and father, all had very mild von willebrand disease, another form of blood clotting disorder. mark's father was in his late 30s before he was even diagnosed, as his condition was so mild. once a month he would have a little nosebleed,

or once every couple of months, nothing. you would go up and you would have cryoprecipitate and it did the job, that was it. cryoprecipitate, that was known to carry less risk of viral infections, had worked well for the stewart boys. but dr kernoff was interested to see just how risky different factor eight treatments were. so, without consent, a new trial enrolled a four—month—old baby, as well as those with very mild blood—clotting conditions. this included the stewarts, who until that moment had never needed the highly contaminated factor eight products. mark suspects he is patient number 11, his father patient number 18, and his brother, patient number 19. all three contracted hepatitis c. mark's brother and

father have now both died with liver cancer after the virus attacked this organ. angry is an understatement. it took me 17 years of being called delusional and, you know, i'm making this up, none of this is true, being fobbed off. all the doctors named here have since died. the inquiry will conclude how medical ethics codes were observed, but as the interim report stated, wrong was done on individual, collective and systemic levels. and hugh is with me. it's extraordinary to think children, a baby, were involved in these medical trials, without their parents knowing anything about it. shocking stories we've heard, children saying they were guinea pigs or lab rats, and on a much bigger scale over many more years than we had previously thought. it could have been treatment that was justifiable but delivered that much too high a quantity, or not justifiable at all but still delivered, all for medical research

which was very much done in secrecy. so brian langstaff, the chair of the public inquiry, has looked at this issue along with many others. he will report on the whole scandal next month. his conclusions will be very closely watched. but campaigners and families are saying they want a full compensation scheme compensating for loss of life chances, loss of earnings, set up very soon afterwards by the government. that, and what they want above all, in their own words, they want justice. above all, in their own words, they want justice-— the scottish government has confirmed it's abandoning a flagship target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030. it is also scrapping annual climate targets, but insists the final goal of reaching "net zero" by 2045 will remain. it blamed uk government cuts and backtracking on climate measures for the move. prince william has returned to official public duties for the first time since his wife, princess catherine, revealed her cancer diagnosis

nearly four weeks ago. he showed off his culinary skills at a food charity in surrey, helping out in the kitchens and loading meals into delivery vans. one charity volunteer handed him get—well cards for kate and king charles. a man who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he didn't commit has been offered an "unreserved apology". the chair of the criminal cases review commission said she was "deeply sorry" for "failing" andrew malkinson. mr malkinson said the apology was too little, too late. our correspondent graham satchell is with me. i7 17 years, he spent in jail. 17 years, he spent injail. in extraordinary case. the 17 years, he spent injail. i�*i extraordinary case. the government described it as an atrocious miscarriage ofjustice. andrew malkinson was convicted of rape, 37 when he was arrested, spent the best years of his life behind bars, 57

when he was released. this whole case changed when new dna evidence emerged that links the crime to a completely different man. so, from the jail mr malcolm applied to the criminal cases review commission, the body that investigates miscarriages ofjustice. they rejected his application twice. their apology is significant, it's the first time they have put their hand up and said yes, we made terrible mistakes in this case. it's interesting they haven't published any deal tales of their report today, because there is a big public inquiry due to start next year so the commission doesn't want its findings today, which may be critical of the police for example, to influence the public inquiry yet to influence the public inquiry yet to come. mr melkersen said the apology is too late, it's added to his mental turmoil as he com continues his fight for accountability for what was done to him. , ., ., ., ~' i., china's economy grew much

faster than expected at the start of this year, by 5.3%, boosted by its firm focus on manufacturing after a prolonged slump in its badly—hit property market. the country has invested in making high—end products like electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries, to be sold around the world. but now their domination in that market is causing tension with the west, amidst fears it'll become too reliant on cheaper chinese green solutions, and at home with the manufacturing workforce. our china correspondent laura bicker reports. ren wenbing is a lifelong factory worker who's helped forge china's rise. this is your home? everything he owns is behind this door. but as china's economy falters, the last firm he worked for closed without warning, leaving him without his redundancy pay, which will take years to earn back.

translation: it's hard to find newjobs. - we are old and we don't have many skills. most companies only hire younger people. he spent 16 years of his life in what is now a concrete shell. even in the wreckage, he can remember the furniture assembly line. this factory was his family's future. a pay cheque sent to his village home, for children he couldn't afford to travel to see. translation: i feel reluctant to part with this place. - i feel heartbroken. i've spent so many years here and now this place has become like this. all the workers feel astonished and are disappointed and we grieve. prolonged covid lockdowns and bitter trade wars have chipped away at the pillars of china's economy. so the country has changed course.

new technology and a new robotic workforce is taking over and the made in china brand is at the heart of the world's drive towards renewables. you're about to get a clear view of china's capacity to build. china dominates the world's solar panel market. 80% of the world's solar panels are made here. in fact, they've installed more in one year than the us have in a decade, but that has both brussels and washington worried. many in the west say china is making too much of the world's green tech. they accuse beijing of giving firms state hand—outs. that means china's goods are so cheap it's driving western brands out of business. and what do you think of, like, the capacity in china to produce this kind of green energy? right now i think 80 to 90%

of the energy storage equipment is designed and manufactured in china, so we are leading the market in the whole world. china is helping the world capture the sun, but at a cost. this feat cannot save its workforce and the west wants its dependence on china to end. so now, once again, trade tensions threaten to cast a shadow over east—west relations. laura bicker, bbc news, dongguan. in a fortnight, there will be local and police and crime commissioner elections around england and wales. among the contests, there are also ten races around england for elected regional mayors. one of the most keenly contested is in the west midlands, where the conservative andy street is seeking a third term, but he's doing so against the backdrop of bleak national opinion polls for the tories. our political editor chris mason has

spent the day in walsall, taking a look at the race there. the way england is governed is changing. new or newish political power lines, directly elected regional mayors and more of them — with real consequences. yeah, so the role of mayors in england has really been growing over the last decade. and that's what's so exciting about these upcoming elections. you know, these are increasingly powerful figures. they've got powers over policy areas such as transport and skills, local economy, local environment. visiting a building site in walsall, the conservative mayor of the west midlands talking up his own record, rather than his party affiliation. i actually call it brand andy. it's that first name piece. and that's the pitch. it's who is going to lead this region. we're not choosing a party to run the region, we're choosing an individual. you are up against it, aren't you, this time? given where the national opinion polls are.

are you fearful of losing? no. what we do know is that elections here are always very, very close. but what we also know is that mayoral elections are very different to national elections. i think the electorate here has come to understand that this is a job about choosing one person to lead the region. among his rivals, the liberal democrats, reform uk, the greens, an independent. and at a cafe down the road, tea with labour's richard parker, served with an expectation, for many, that he is going to win. mr parker's big idea is bringing the buses here under his control. there are stories of people being unable to get to the doctors, to the high street, to college, or to places where the jobs are. i don't think we can rebuild this region unless we overhaul the transport system. birmingham city council, labour—run, is a shambles, isn't it? council tax is through the ceiling and services are being cut.

why would the rest of the region want a labour mayor? so, let's be clear, birmingham has had many issues and mistakes have been made. but we can't avoid the fact that the government have taken £1 billion out of the budgets of the city council, and that's done a lot of damage. from the contest here, to the wider landscape. north yorkshire, much of the north—east of england and the east midlands are electing mayors for the first time in a fortnight. elsewhere, it's still fairly new. what do you think should happen next with mayors, and what would you say to the person who says, it'sjust yet more politicians? in many places, mayors are only being elected for the second or third time. so it's a relatively new kind of governance that we're seeing. i think there's quite a strong case, both from an economic and social point of view, but also from a fairness and democratic point of view, for evening out that patchwork and completing the map of english devolution. that'll be a call for whoever governs after the general election. firstly it's local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner

elections in england and wales, a fortnight today. chris mason, bbc news, in walsall. and here we have a list of all six mayoral candidates for the west midlands, in alphabetical order. you can find more details about them and the candidates for other mayoral elections on our website, bbc.co.uk/news. the global superstar taylor swift releases her latest album tomorrow. it's called the tortured poets department and is hotly anticipated by her legions of fans, so much so that it seems to have been leaked online early. mark savage reports. taylor swift is the biggest—selling musician in the world, and she is in the middle of a record—breaking tour that made her into a billionaire. so fans were surprised when she used the grammy awards this february to announce an album of new material called the tortured poets department. for the last couple of weeks, she's been dropping hints about the lyrics online.

then, this happened. why am i seeing people posting leaks to taylor swift's new album on tiktok, just publicly?! what?! the leak, which hasn't been officially confirmed, sent fans into a frenzy, with many pledging to wait for the official release. and that's uncool. just wait 36 more hours. like, we've waited this long. i think most people will want to wait, because part of the fun of being a fan of something is everyone at the same time listening to it and reacting to it at the same time, and sort of getting those first—hand reactions. but i'm sure people will secretly be listening and not telling anyone! # its me, n— # i'm the problem, it's me...# the leak is undoubtedly an inconvenience for taylor swift, but she won't be losing too much sleep. the same thing happened with her last album midnights, and it went on to sell more than six million copies in just eight weeks. mark savage, bbc news.

football, and it's been a night of mixed fortunes for english teams in europe tonight. aston villa won a dramatic penalty shoot out to reach the semifinals of the conference league. but both liverpool and west ham were knocked out of the europa league. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini. hello, thank you, sophie. some really pretty skies out there earlier this evening, this is a scene captured in the scottish borders behind a weather front that has been thinking southwards and eastwards through today bringing plenty more outbreaks of rain, but that's going to clear overnight tonight, then we will start to welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm steve lai. the headlines... the un secretary general warned that the war in gaza is dragging the middle east to the precipice of a full—scale conflict. the international community must work together to prevent any actions that could push the entire middle east over the edge with

a devastating impact on civilians. police scotland say peter murrell — former snp chief executive — married to nicola sturgeon — has been charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the scottish national party. china hopes selling solar panels and electric cars to europe will solve its economic challenges. we have a report from the country's manufacturing hub. china dominates the world solar panel market. 80% of the world's solar panels are made here. music. and taylor swift fans are in a frenzy after her new album appears to leak online early. hello and welcome to the programme. we start with the middle east and the united nations secretary general has again warned that the war

in gaza has put the region on the precipice of a full—scale regional conflict. alluding to iran's attack on israel, he said recent days had seen a perilous escalation. antonio guterres called for restraint on all sides. he also criticised israel's military offensive in gaza saying it had created a "humanitarian hellscape". in recent days i've seen a perilous escalation in words and deeds. one miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake could lead to the unthinkable — a full—scale regional conflict that will be devastating for all involved and for the rest of the world. the moment of maximum peril must be a time for maximum restraint. the united states and britain have announced new sanctions on iran, targeting the country's drone aircraft production, after its attack on israel last weekend. the us treasury department said the sanctions were against 16 individuals and two firms that produce the engines of iran's shahed drones

which were used in the attack, along with missiles. tensions in the region remain high, with israel's prime minister insisting, his country will make its own decisions, about how to respond to iran's drone and missile attack. israel's western allies fear, striking back against iran, could trigger a broader war. joining me now isjean—loup samaan, a senior research fellow at the middle east institute of the national university of singapore. thank you forjoining me. israel's western allies have agreed more sanctions on iran — would that diplomatic action deter iran and placate israel enough to stop any further military escalations? no, unfortunately i don't think economic sanctions will do more than just reinforce the diplomatic,

symbolic pressure on iran. the reason is, iran is already under comprehensive regime of sanctions and a lot of the missiles, the drones that iran has been using do not need access to western economy. so those sanctions are unlikely to change the behaviour or the ability of iran to either put the pressure on israel directly, likely so a week ago, or indirectly through its forces in the region. 50 ago, or indirectly through its forces in the region. so sanctions don't work. _ forces in the region. so sanctions don't work, the _ forces in the region. so sanctions don't work, the un _ forces in the region. so sanctions don't work, the un is _ forces in the region. so sanctions don't work, the un is warning - don't work, the un is warning against any action that could tip the entire region into chaos and that has got to factor into israel's calculations as they look to respond to last week's attack, doesn't it? it seems so far the israelis are postponing the moment where they decide on the type of retaliation

against iran. i don't think they will not do anything. i think there will not do anything. i think there will be something. the question is the nature of the retaliation. are we talking about air strikes or possibly more cyber attacks, something that would be under the radar, in a sense? possibly something that is not targeting the iranian territory, something i believe the us administration wants to avoid at all costs. at the same time according to the latest reports, the israelis may be refocusing their attention on rafah. it may lower tensions with iran, at least move the reigning priority at least move the reigning priority at least for the moment.— least move the reigning priority at least for the moment. coming back to the un, the — least for the moment. coming back to the un, the devastating _ least for the moment. coming back to the un, the devastating impact - least for the moment. coming back to the un, the devastating impact on - the un, the devastating impact on the un, the devastating impact on the wider civilians and other attack

would bring, what more can the international community do there? again, ithink international community do there? again, i think in gaza they are basically two elements that need to be done. the first is increase the access of humanitarian aid. it since the israelis have improved that access in the last ten days, the ngos and the un actually brought that into question. but the israeli government says it is increasing the access. the other aspect is the ceasefire, the negotiations on hostage release and they have been conditioned to the ceasefire. so far we have seen some indications of frustrations on many of the parties involved in these discussions. qatar, for the first time expressed

its frustration. we know the frustrations on the us administration on this. before any improvement on those two elements, access to the humanitarian aid and the ceasefire hostage release negotiations, i don't think there is much the international community can do. . ~' , ., , much the international community can do. ., ~ , . much the international community can do. ., ~' , . ., much the international community can do. ., , . ., do. thank you very much for your thou~hts do. thank you very much for your thoughts today. _ in the last hour the united states has vetoed a bid in the un security council to grant the palestinians full un—member status. the palestinian authority has had observer status but cannot vote in proceedings. 12 security council members voted in favour of the resolution and two abstained. let's speak to our north america correspondentjohn sudworth who's at the united nations where the vote took place. john, help us understand the us's position on this better. they aren't against a palestinian state just they way the un is going about it?

yes, there has been a long day of speeches here at the united nations. passionately held positions on both sides, the palestinian representative saying that granting palestine full membership status would give hope to the palestinian people. the response from the israeli ambassador here saying, six months on from the hamas attacks it would simply be a reward for terra. the us position, as you say, has long been known. it argues that granting palestine full status would be premature, that it should not come ahead of a negotiated settlement. a bilateral agreement between palestine and israel. but nonetheless, although that was the us position, it was clear it did not want, if it could possibly avoid it that it had to do what it did today. there are reports of pretty intense

lobbying behind—the—scenes. the us would have liked to have got this book delayed or even better have other members come on board to help defeat it. but in the end, what is remarkable, 12 of the 15 members of the security council voted in favour, including some key us allies, japan, south korea and france. bat. the us ambassador to raise that hand issuing the veto and killing the proposal. not only that, some critics would say once again exposing how isolated the us is becoming on the international stage over this issue.— over this issue. thank you for aaivin over this issue. thank you for giving us _ over this issue. thank you for giving us that _ over this issue. thank you for giving us that context. - all 12jurors have now been selected to assess the guilt or innocence of donald trump in his criminal trial over the coming weeks. mr trump faces charges of falsifying accounts to hide hush money paid to an adult film star — he has pleaded not guilty. our correspondent nada tawfik sent

this update from outside the court. we do have the 12 jurors who will be deciding donald trump's fake in his first criminal trial. they are seven men and five women and it really comes after a day of twists and turns. just hours after two at the jurors were abruptly excused. one, a young woman who said she felt intimidated after her identity was figured out by family and friends and she said she didn't think she could be impartial and fair and that outside opinions could affect her decision—making in the courtroom. another was a gentleman that prosecutors were concerned hadn't been forthright about his criminal history. he was excused by the judge for outside court he said he wanted to serve. so he wasn't happy with that decision. but the 12 jurors, those that we do have seated now, they a diverse group, different ethnicities, differentjobs.

everyone works as lawyers, physical therapists, finance, security engineer, sales and a recent college graduate. one noted that even read the bbc. donald trump looked on as they were sworn in and said they could be fair and impartial but this is what he said outside of court. the whole world is watching. you have a da out of control, a judge thatis have a da out of control, a judge that is highly conflicted. the whole thing is a mess and you have the leading candidate, he is a crook, you have a crooked president. bath you have a crooked president. both sides ran out _ you have a crooked president. both sides ran out of _ you have a crooked president. both sides ran out of what are called strikes, they are able to get rid of the juror strikes, they are able to get rid of thejurorfor any reason. one strikes, they are able to get rid of the juror for any reason. one woman said she didn't quite like donald trump's persona and while donald trump's persona and while donald trump's lawyers objected to her being on the jury for cause, the judge said it wasn't about how she felt about him as a person but whether she could be impartial.

another issue that will be taking care