this is an extortionate scheme, they should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead, that is what labour would do. the safety of rwanda bill is central to mr sunak�*s plans to "stop the boats" — arguing the scheme would acts as a effective deterrent for people who cross the channel in small boats. effectively, the legislation would drastically limit the grounds for legal challenges to the rwanda scheme and it gives ministers the power to disregard some human rights law. here's our political correspondent harry farley with more on mr sunak�*s announcement. there are some interesting details there about when he expects flight to take off, he said 10—12 weeks as you said there. and some interesting detail about the work the government has been doing behind—the—scenes to ensure that this plan is ready to go and is operational as soon as possible.

so, just to run you through those, he said they had identified an airfield and a commercial airline to take flights off. he said that they had 500 people trained and ready to escort people to rwanda. he said that they had secured extra court time to process legal claims, and 200 people legally trained to do that. so i think what rishi sunak was trying to do there was to get ahead of the debate this evening in the house of lords and house of commons about the intricacies of the bill and say that the government is ready to get flights off as soon as possible. obviously, the caveat to all of that is that rishi sunak initially said that he wanted to get flights off in the spring, he is now saying the flights now won't happen for at least another 10—12 weeks, which takes us beyond the spring into the summer. i think that will have implications for whether these will be done... they certainly won't be done by local elections, and there are questions about how

much of an impact this will have before a general election, whenever that comes later this year. so what do they make up about the controversy in rwanda itself? our correspondent barbara plett—usher is in kigali. well, the government here has largely stood back and watched legal and political wrangling in the uk, that is the process for britain, they welcome debate and so on. but in the meantime, they stressed that they ready to receive these migrants at a moment's notice, when and if they are able to arrive. certainly, the hostel that has been prepared to receive them has been standing ready for nearly two years now. the rwandan government has been making changes to its law to address concerns raised by the british supreme court about the safety of the migrants here, in particular the risk of them being deported back to countries from which they fled, and so on. the government also has strongly

objected to being called unsafe, which is something they say isn't true. they have a very good safety record and that is certainly true when it comes to crime. but there has been an unwelcome spotlight put on allegations that the government does suppress dissent here. when it comes to people on the ground, i think really, there isn't as much attention paid to it here as there is in the uk, but, in terms of the views, i would say they are largely economic. so, some people say, "well, it will be good for the economy to have migrants coming, especially as many of them are expected to stay here, they bring new blood, they will be consumers and so on." on the other hand, others say that rwanda is a small, densely populated country, we don't have enough jobs and land for those of us here already, this is just going to increase the competition for them. and that is the view also of the opposition party here. thames water customers could see their bills increase

by at least 40% if new plans to boost investment are approved. the waterfirm — which is the biggest in britain — wants to increase its spending on environmental projects by £3 billion — and is now seeking permission from the regulator ofwat to raise consumer bills for second time this year. it comes amid criticism on water quality in the river thames. after one of these sewage outages, the level of certain viruses and bacteria in this river are so high, james will come onto that in the second, because it is notjust here, that being even close to the river can make them sick. i want to make sure that everyone has the information they need to know how to be here safely, but, really, that shouldn't be our job. thames water are the ones putting the sewage into the river, it should be up to them to at least stop that happening but also to let us know what the level of these contaminants are. there are nearly one

and a half million people in england, scotland and wales claiming carers allowance. the amount they receive is just under £82 a week. today mps will debate increasing the allowance in line with the national living wage, as carers face growing demands on their finances amid the cost of living crisis. abi smitton has been speaking to some of those affected. choir sings every monday morning, northamptonshire carers choir meets to rehearse. for many of the unpaid carers here, it's their only break from the constant demands of supporting a loved one. good girl. thank you. sarah cares for her daughter phoebe. phoebe�*s 23 and has a rare genetic disorder — pitt—hopkins syndrome. there is a relentlessness to caring. there is just this feeling that i'm doing this day in, day out, day in, day out. she had to give up work to care for phoebe full—time.

ifelt like we had no choice. i couldn't balance everything. but, yeah, it was scary. it was scary thinking about the money. you know, i still wanted to achieve and strive and do stuff for myself. so it was a tricky one. it was very difficult. sarah is one of more than 1.4 million people in england, wales and scotland who claim carer�*s allowance. carers can earn just under £82 each week if they spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone. it's pennies, really, in comparison. it doesn't equal — because the caring role can be so sporadic and it's across the whole day and night. it's just a drop in the ocean. victoria works for northamptonshire carers. she dropped everything to care for her dad until he passed away last year. she says claiming carer�*s allowance was a battle. she'd spend hours on the phone to the department for work and pensions, desperately trying

to get support. not that — you can't put a value on caring for someone, but it doesn't pay the bills. it doesn't help, really. and it's a very cold, standard process which is followed. the letters are very sharp. and when you're feeling really low, it doesn't help at all. it doesn't help. sarah cares for her mum, her brother and two children. she receives her carer�*s allowance payments each week, but they don't go far. it goes straight on my car. last week, i had four appointments — between my mum and my brother, i had four medical appointments, and that's on top of taking my children out and doing things. so it doesn't go very far with fuel prices and distances and everything. campaigners say the carer�*s allowance system is too confusing. neil has cared for his partner, david, since he was diagnosed with a rare degenerative eye condition. it is like a bereavement when you lose your eyesight. but, now, i've learned to cope

the best i can, haven't i? yeah. yeah, you don't have a choice, really, do you? just back him up and everything and make sure he's ok. yeah. last year, neil's carer�*s allowance was abruptly stopped when he started claiming his state pension. under the government's rules, carers aren't entitled to both payments at the same time. i was quite annoyed, actually, i was quite annoyed. his disability is bad enough for me to get it before i was 66. it should still be the same the day after i was 66. because they stopped it straightaway. it is a 24—hourjob, it is constantly running around sorting out and organising the phone calls, the letters — just everything. carers will head to parliament today to call for changes to carer�*s allowance, including raising minimum payments and providing additional support for people earning the state pension. it's like i'm not valued. i feel like what i do isn't valued.

the department for work and pensions says they recognise the role of unpaid carers and are committed to helping them financially. i would also love to have the assurance that if there was an emergency, we would be looked after. you are watching bbc news. let's take you to new york because donald trump is there, the court in new york is due to begin hearing opening statements shortly in the criminal trial of donald trump. as we know, the former us president denies charges that he falsified accounts to hide hush money paid to a adult

actress, stormy daniels. last week there was a lengthy process to select a jury of 12 new yorkers, that jury was selected select a jury of 12 new yorkers, thatjury was selected and they will start hearing initial evidence today from prosecutors and defence lawyers. if convicted, mrtrump could be sent to prison for up to four years. could be sent to prison for up to fouryears. he could be sent to prison for up to four years. he is expected to be in court every day for the trial, due to last several weeks. we will be keeping a close eye on those court pictures. we will return if anything of significance happens, but for the moment it is time for a look at the weather. hello again. yesterday was northern ireland's warmest day this year so far. today, temperatures will be a little bit lower here. but by the time we get to wednesday, we'll all be in some chillier conditions with temperatures below the seasonal average.

it will be the risk of night frosts, and then we'll see some rain coming our way this weekend, particularly saturday night into sunday as low pressure comes back to our shores. but today we've got this weather front sinking south. you can see there's a lot of cloud around and that weather front is producing some patchy, light rain and some drizzle extending from south—west england, eastern parts of wales, the midlands, northeast england, you could also see the odd shower across parts of south—east scotland, but brightening up across much of scotland and northern ireland through the afternoon. and this is where we'll have the highest temperatures, 16 degrees in glasgow, we're looking at 10 or ii in london and norwich. the average in the far southeast is ia or 15. now through this evening and overnight, this is the weather front, still producing some patchy light rain and drizzle. behind that, though, the skies do clear, it's going to be a cold night once again, colder in the north than last night, a little bit milder under all this cloud in the southeast than last night.

so, a real change in fortunes. as we head through tomorrow, we still have this weather front draped across southern areas, producing cloud and patchy light rain, the clearance in the sky, especially out towards the west. so, we hang on to quite a lot of cloud in parts of the southeast through the day, but brightening up southwest england, wales, northern england, scotland and northern ireland. but we'll have a brisk wind coming down the north sea coastline and that will accentuate the cold feel. the temperatures are quite low anyway. but quite a blustery day really wherever you are. then for wednesday, again there'll be a few showers coming down this north sea coastline, getting into norfolk, for example. some of these could be wintry in parts of the highlands and the pennines, a bit more cloud around during the course of wednesday. but there will be some brighter breaks nonetheless. and these are our temperatures, 7 to about 13 degrees north to south. as we move on through thursday and friday, there'll be some showers around. temperatures rising a little bit through the weekend. but then that low pressure comes

in saturday night and sunday bringing some rain.

live from london, this is bbc news. from the campaign trail to the courtroom, donald trump gets ready to become the first american president to face criminal trial. rishi sunak says the first flight to rwanda will leave in the next three months. israel's military�*s intelligence chief resigns, accepting responsiblity for failures before the hamas attack on october 7th. hello, welcome to bbc news now, i'm lucy hockings, three hours of fast—moving news,

interviews and reaction. let's go straight to new york, because the trial of the former president donald trump is due to get under today. thejurors, there was president donald trump is due to get under today. the jurors, there was a lengthy selection process last week. todayis lengthy selection process last week. today is the first day proper of the trial. it is a criminal trial of donald trump, the former us president denies charges that he falsified accounts to hide hirsch money paid to a pawn actress. you will see making their way to the court in new york. that trial due to get under way, and the opening statements due to be heard a little later on. fairly early. just