hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. we will start with our main story. let's go straight to new york, the trial of donald trump. we will go through all the details. this is a significant day in the trial because we are about to hear the opening arguments from both the prosecution and the defence. they are in court, it is in session right now, some details being sorted out. in the last 30 minutes, donald trump entered that area we are watching, and as he normally does gave a brief statement to the press. that's listen. i say before we begin. these are all biden trials.

this is done as election interference. everybody knows it. i'm here instead of being able to be in pennsylvania and georgia and lots of other places campaigning. and it's very unfair. fortunately, the poll numbers are very good. they've been going up because people understand what's going on. this is a witch hunt and it's a shame and it comes out of washington. it's in coordination with washington, everything, including the da's office. it's in coordination with washington. ijust want people to understand that this is done for purposes of hurting the opponent of the worst president in the history of our country. we are used to those similar themes coming out when dawn ultram speaks of the press, talking about the witchhunt —— donald trump speaks. let's cross to new york and speak to our correspondent. what is happening in court? ,, ., ., ., , ,

in court? quite a moment as the “ury take their seats �* in court? quite a moment as the “ury take their seats altogether �* in court? quite a moment as the “ury take their seats altogether for h in court? quite a moment as the jury take their seats altogether for the i take their seats altogether for the first time, and donald trump sits for his first criminal trial as opening statements are set to begin. quite a moment here where we will hearfrom both sides, prosecutors, donald trump of margaret defence lawyers, as they layout the facts of the case as they see them —— donald trump is defence lawyers. they will set out the big picture, statement of facts before the trial begins over the next six to eight weeks. for prosecutors, we will hear how they connect this alleged white collar crime of falsifying business records to conceal another crime, they allege, of trying to influence voters by hiding this money payments to the former adult film star stormy daniels. from donald trump is marked

aside, the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove it. we will see how the lawyers so doubt in the jurors' mines about the prosecution case. as you said, the day has already had a lot of housekeeping, bumpy start. the first being with shearer number nine talking to the church on both sides after she had raised concerns that the media attention was too much for her. after speaking with all the parties, they decided during nine would remain. she is someone who previously said she would not let any outside influence and affect her decision—making in this case. there they moved on to something called a sand hearing, where prosecutors have had to come forward with what they would ask donald trump if he takes

the stand. thejudge would ask donald trump if he takes the stand. the judge deciding to allow numerous parts of past civil cases, including on defamation, on business fraud. interesting. as we wait to hear those opening arguments, talk to as about why they are so significant, giving a framing for what we can hearfor the giving a framing for what we can hear for the days and weeks ahead. it's exactly that point. it is all about how these sites are able to frame their case to the jury. 0ften frame their case to the jury. often it is done in a very kind of narrative, storytelling way, trying to set the scene for jurors narrative, storytelling way, trying to set the scene forjurors to put them in donald trump was mind. prosecutors will try to build up the kind of point donald trump was in 2016. and that his campaign was in

panic mode, because he had just had to weather a political storm of the access hollywood tape coming out where he is heard on tape talking about grabbing women's genitals and doing so because he's famous. they say that parts of the campaign was so worrying, they had largely created this scheme to catch and kill any negative information. they allege it was a scheme concocted with donald trump, his former lawyer michael colin and the owner of a tabloid newspaper the national enquirer. they will be setting that scheme, that seem to try to help jurors understand why this is a crime, a felony, and saying he did that, falsified business record in service of that alleged crime. from

donald trump, it is the first chance they will have two so doubt in jurors' mind is to say it had nothing to do with the election, it was about hiding embarrassing information from his family. donald trump, although he has changed his story, he has now said he admits to reimbursing michael cohen, but he denies all wrongdoing in the extramarital affair.- denies all wrongdoing in the extramarital affair. thank you for that. i extramarital affair. thank you for that i know— extramarital affair. thank you for that. i know you _ extramarital affair. thank you for that. i know you will _ extramarital affair. thank you for that. i know you will keep - extramarital affair. thank you for that. i know you will keep across | that. i know you will keep across every twist and turn in new york. i want to speak to ronald sullivan from harvard law school and a faculty advisor. thank you for coming on the programme. thank you for having me. what is at play here when both sides, prosecution and defence, first get up and speak to thejury as a defence, first get up and speak to the jury as a whole?— the jury as a whole? what is at stake? a lot _ the jury as a whole? what is at stake? a lot is _ the jury as a whole? what is at stake? a lot is at _ the jury as a whole? what is at stake? a lot is at stake. - the jury as a whole? what is at

stake? a lot is at stake. he - the jury as a whole? what is at | stake? a lot is at stake. he had the jury as a whole? what is at - stake? a lot is at stake. he had the opening statements often frame the entire rest of the trial. in fact, some studies suggest to 80% of jurors make up their minds at the end of openings, and most of them, the overwhelming majority of them retain that same opinion throughout the trial and votes in that way during deliberations. the stakes are high, they are extraordinarily important. there are two concepts trial lawyers know. one is primacy, the other is recency. people remember best what they hear first that what they hear last. the notion is to start with a bang, capture the attention and imagination of the juror and give them your theory of the case so they can frame the rest of the trial in the context of that theory. of the trial in the context of that theo . , ., , theory. interesting, really interesting. _ theory. interesting, really interesting. let's- theory. interesting, really interesting. let's look- theory. interesting, really interesting. let's look at i theory. interesting, really- interesting. let's look at what theory. interesting, really - interesting. let's look at what we are expecting to hear. is it the

case we can presume the prosecution case, we know the accusations. will you be listening to the defence critically, and what will you be listening out for? for critically, and what will you be listening out for?— critically, and what will you be listening out for? for the defence, i am listening _ listening out for? for the defence, i am listening for— listening out for? for the defence, i am listening for them _ listening out for? for the defence, i am listening for them to - listening out for? for the defence, i am listening for them to craft - listening out for? for the defence, i am listening for them to craft the theory around mr trump is a big picture guy, a guy who doesn't deal with these details. they might say something like four $130,000 for donald trump is like $5 to you or me. it is something he won't pay a lot of attention to. he instructed the money be paid, but the way it was paid, the mechanism through which it was paid was totally done by the accountants and that he had nothing to do with it. that is the picture i think the defence will want to paint for the jury.

interesting. and then we were expecting to move on relatively quickly to hear from the first witness. it looks like the date might be shortened now, so we don't quite know, and we aren't going to guess what we hear. just talk us through the process is, what we can expect in the days and weeks ahead, the key moments in the trial you will looking at.— the key moments in the trial you will looking at. after openings, you are riaht, will looking at. after openings, you are right, whether— will looking at. after openings, you are right, whether it _ will looking at. after openings, you are right, whether it is _ will looking at. after openings, you are right, whether it is today - will looking at. after openings, you are right, whether it is today or - are right, whether it is today or tomorrow, the witness testimony will come, fact witnesses. they express facts of the case to the jury, things within their knowledge, things within their knowledge, things they saw, heard or that they did. the first witness is expected to be the head of the national enquirer, owner of the national enquirer. that witness will come on because the prosecution is going to want to show that stormy daniels

payment was not in a vacuum, that he was accustomed to doing these grab and slash methods, to kill negative stories. and that the former president precisely what process his subordinate use in order to make it happen. that will be the first witness. then there will be a couple interesting witnesses like michael cohen, his formerfixer, stormy daniels, the former adult actress. much of the trial will be extraordinarily boring because it will be about financial records, and you will have accountants and record keepers coming on giving endless pieces of paper to the jury about different accounting methods and inputs and invoices, and that sort of thing. but the prosecution has to do it because the case is about falsification of business records. accountants across the world will be

horrified that you called business records in anyway boring. that was really clear, thank you for talking us through what is coming up and what to look out for. thank you for coming on the programme. appreciated. we coming on the programme. appreciated-— coming on the programme. appreciated. coming on the programme. a- reciated. ~ , . ~ appreciated. we will be back in new york as and — appreciated. we will be back in new york as and when _ appreciated. we will be back in new york as and when we _ appreciated. we will be back in new york as and when we start _ appreciated. we will be back in new york as and when we start the - appreciated. we will be back in new| york as and when we start the actual opening statements from both side and we hear the details of what both sides will be outlining. i want to come back to the uk and look at the government's rwanda policy. he wants plane's to take off in three months. legislation has to go through parliament and he wants that to happen today. but first let's take a closer look at the controversial policy and the stakes.

so far this year, more than 6,000 migrants have made the journey across the channel from continental europe to england. under the policy, anyone "entering the uk illegally", could be sent to rwanda, with no limit on numbers. the government hopes the policy will stop people trying to make the dangerous crossing on small boats. the plan has been strongly criticised by human rights groups and the uk supreme court ruled the policy was unlawful. here is mr sunak setting out a timeline for his plan. the first flight will leave in ten to 12 weeks. now, of course that is later than we wanted, but we have always been clear that processing will take time and if labour peers had not spent weeks holding up the bill in the house of lords to try to block these flights altogether, we would have begun this process weeks ago. let's speak to our political correspondent, harry farley, who's live in westminster. a very significant day. it is, the prime minister saying no ifs and

knowbuts, it will pass today. mps this afternoon will dote on the changes lord howe suggested. we are expecting mps to reject them. we are expecting mps to reject them. we are expecting the lords to reattach the certain changes to the bill. it will bands between the two houses, the house of lords and commons, until eventually we are expecting at some point this evening, i do could be late this evening, for the house of lords to eventually give way and for the bill to go through. the government saying they on offering any concessions, any changes to the bill, but the lords want to see. labour and the lord saying they are looking to back down, so it could be a late one. ., , ., , looking to back down, so it could be a late one-— a late one. lots of procedure to get throu~h. a late one. lots of procedure to get through. thank _ a late one. lots of procedure to get through. thank you. _ a late one. lots of procedure to get through. thank you. we _ a late one. lots of procedure to get through. thank you. we will- a late one. lots of procedure to get through. thank you. we will cross l through. thank you. we will cross back to him when it gets under way.

let's speak to our africa correspondent, barbara plett usher. rishi sunak giving a timeline now within 12 weeks, he would like to see planes leaving the uk with asylum seekers heading to rwanda. what is the reaction there? well. what is the reaction there? well, the government _ what is the reaction there? well, the government here _ what is the reaction there? well, the government here have - what is the reaction there? -ii the government here have been watching this whole process basically standing back and letting it play out. the whole time it has said it is ready to receive migrants whenever they come. there is a hostel prepared to receive the initial number, it can accommodate 100 people. that has been ready to go for two years, june 14, 2022 they were preparing to accept people. they are able to kick start at a moment's notice, they tell us. that place has a tent on the ground from where they can process the asylum applications. they have had to make

some changes in their laws to accommodate this new arrangement because they are expecting a number of migrants, if everything goes as planned. they are still working through some of it, and in particular responding to the concerns of the british supreme court, which said there were so risk these migrants could be deported back to the countries from which they had fled, especially at their applications were rejected. there is applications were rejected. there is a guarantee and the treaty signed with the uk this will not happen, they can stay in the country, but it requires changes. their general attitude is whenever britain has decided how to proceed with it, we are ready to accommodate. barbara, thank ou. are ready to accommodate. barbara, thank yon we _ are ready to accommodate. barbara, thank you. we will _ are ready to accommodate. barbara, thank you. we will head _ are ready to accommodate. barbara, thank you. we will head to _ thank you. we will head to westminster to see exactly how britain does proceed with it. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

this is bbc news. the former news anchor

huw edwards has resigned from the bbc. the decision was reportedly made on medical advice, and comes nine months after a string of allegations appeared in the sun newspaper accusing him of misconduct. huw edwards has not appeared on bbc news since then. the bbc has confirmed that he has not been paid off, and hope his decision will "allow all parties to move forward". earlier we heard form our media editor — katie razzall. it's a very significant day for the bbc and of course a very significant day for huw edwards. it is a short statement, not a great deal of detail. it is attributed to a bbc spokesperson and it says huw edwards is today resigned and left the bbc after 40 years of service. he has explained his decision was made on the basis of medical advice from his doctors. the bbc has accepted his resignation which it believes will allow all parties to move forward. the bbc says it doesn't believe it's appropriate to comment further. people may well remember last summer and what happened and the reason why

for the last nine months or so huw edwards, who is the lead anchor on the bbc's flagship news at ten programme as well as a key presenter across wider bbc output, people will remember he has not been seen on screen for the last nine months and that is related to a story in one of the british tabloids which at the beginning of the story back last summer was talking about an unnamed presenter and they made allegations that this unnamed presenter and a young adult had exchanged sexually explicit photographs for payment. now, at that point we didn't know who the presenter was and various other bbc presenters found themselves named on social media and they came out and said it's not us. and then a few days after the drip, drip of these headlines and these allegations, huw edwards' wife made a statement naming her husband as the presenter behind the allegations and said he was taking a step back

and he was struggling with mental health issues. that is what we knew. we also knew that he was suspended at that point, although the bbc never confirmed that, but we understand he was suspended. in the past nine months people have been wondering what the outcome was going to be, what was going to happen to huw edwards? there were lots of arguments on this. was this a total invasion of his privacy by the tabloid newspaper? many people would say yes it was. that there was actually no smoking gun despite suggestions on that newspaper that perhaps they was. the police found there was no case to answer and that no criminal offence had been committed. and yet the presenter was suspended from hisjob. today, nine months later, we find out that that same presenter has today resigned and is leaving the bbc. so it is a very significant day.

the head of israeli military intelligence, aharon haliva, has resigned — he's the first senior israeli official to step down over the hamas assault in october. mr haliva had accepted responsibility for security failings which allowed the attacks to take place. 1,200 people were killed and hundreds more were taken hostage by hamas and allied groups. in other developments, prime minister benjamin netanyahu has vowed to reject any sanctions on the country's military, after reports that the us plans to cut aid to one unit. amid ongoing violence in the occupied west bank, the us says it will respond to any human rights violations against palestinians. in gaza, 15 children are among the dead, after an israeli air strike on the southern city of rafah, where more than a million displaced palestinians are sheltering. the hamas—run health ministry in gaza says more than 3a,000 people have died since the start of the war. emergency workers in khan younis

have uncovered more than two hundred bodies buried in the courtyard of a hospital. al nasser had been at the centre of an israeli military operation until two weeks ago. the world health organisation has previously said bodies were being buried within hospitals under israeli siege, but palestinians have accused israeli forces of killing some of the victims. lets cross tojerusalem and speak to our correspondent, wyre davies. can we start with this resignation, going back to the events of october something? this going back to the events of october somethin: ? , , , ., ., something? this is the resignation ofthe something? this is the resignation of the most _ something? this is the resignation of the most senior _ something? this is the resignation of the most senior intelligence - of the most senior intelligence official. his resignation may not be a surprise to many because at the start of the conflict he had taken responsibility what he described as intelligence failures in his directorate. in his statement he said, he dug responsible tea for

military responsibility failures that led to october seven. it is interesting he's gone now, there's no indication why. not only is the war continuing, there's a big crisis in the west bank, the palestinian occupied west bank where thou operations against palestinian militants. israeli forces fighting hezbollah, and the crisis, growing crisis between israel and iran. we don't know why this major general has decided to go now. he's the first seniorfigure has decided to go now. he's the first senior figure involved has decided to go now. he's the first seniorfigure involved in has decided to go now. he's the first senior figure involved in the decisions and what happened around the 7th of october on the israeli side. even though there have been calls from those in charge of the army, in charge of the internal service, and the prime minister himself, benjamin netanyahu, to put their hand up and admit their share of the blame. thus far, netanyahu

has refused to countenance an idea of a big has refused to countenance an idea ofa big inquiry has refused to countenance an idea of a big inquiry because the war is still ongoing. that's been the prevailing attitude. i would be surprised if at the end of this war, there isn't a big inquiry and senior figures well have been found to be at fault or accused of it, and may be other resignations to come. thank ou ve be other resignations to come. thank you very much _ be other resignations to come. thank you very much for _ be other resignations to come. thank you very much for that. _ be other resignations to come. thank you very much for that. i _ be other resignations to come. thank you very much for that. i just - be other resignations to come. thank you very much for that. i just want. you very much for that. ijust want to take you back to new york because we are keeping a kenai on events in the courtroom. this is the live feed we have from the courthouse. the court proceedings themselves taking place upstairs. what we are expecting today is to hear from the prosecution and the fence, their opening statements. they are crucial legal moments in this trial because they will give as a flavour of the framing of the contacts on how this trial will proceed. if there's time, we are due to hear from witnesses.

we are expecting a shorter day, so we may not hear from any witnesses. we have seen donald trump, these pictures are from the last week, but we've seen pictures of him in court this morning. things are getting under way. this morning. things are getting underway. in this morning. things are getting under way. in terms of the admin that has been dealt with so far this morning, there was a question about one of thejurors morning, there was a question about one of the jurors potentially carrying on or not, which has been resolved. all thejury carrying on or not, which has been resolved. all the jury are carrying on or not, which has been resolved. all thejury are in carrying on or not, which has been resolved. all the jury are in and setting. there's been other legal matters to be dealing with before we hear from the main event of the day, which those legal arguments from the prosecution and the defence. as a reminder, donald trump is accused of trying to cover up money payments to the adult star stormy daniels before the adult star stormy daniels before the 2016 election. he pleaded not guilty to 3a accounts. plenty of

coverage coming up. do stay with us, we are back with the headlines. i am lewis vaughanjones. goodbye. hello there. many of us enjoyed some drier, sunnier weather this weekend, but it was on the chilly side and it's set to remain chilly for the time of year for the rest of this week. with most of the cloud across northern and eastern parts of the uk, best of the sunshine will be across more sheltered western areas. it's because high pressure is sitting out to the west of the uk and that's bringing northerly winds across the country feeding in thicker cloud off the north sea. and you can see that cooler air, how it continues to move southwards across the country with the milder air kept at bay towards the south of the uk. we've also got a couple of weather fronts around that's brought thicker cloud with outbreaks of rain across large parts of england, east and wales. best of any brightness i think towards the southeast

and western scotland. northern ireland doing pretty well. top temperatures, 16 degrees in glasgow. otherwise, it's a chilly feeling day for most particularly when you're under that cloud and close to the north sea coast through tonight. it stays rather cloudy with the rain pushing its way southwards. clearer spells towards the north and the west. it's here where we'll see actually the lowest temperatures, such a frost in places, generally 3 to 6 degrees where we have thicker cloud, but it stays quite breezy, close to north sea coast for tuesday, then high pressure still sticking out towards the west. this weather front bringing thicker cloud with some spots of rain to eastern and southern parts of england. 0therwise, elsewhere, further north west, we could see more sunshine around what we've had today. pretty pleasant, certainly for the central belt of scotland. glasgow, again, probably seeing the highest, the temperatures around 16 or 17 degrees, 6 to 9 degrees along north sea coast and onshore breeze feeling cold around 11 degrees in the capital there with thicker cloud and a few spots of rain. wednesday promises to be

a largely dry day again, maybe more cloud in the mix, the thickest of it towards northern and eastern areas where there could be the odd shower at times dry drier with the best of the brightness further west. temperatures in glasgow around 13 or ia degrees, but still chilly elsewhere for this time in april. little change as we push towards the end of the week. we're in between weather systems could see increasing chance of showers. this area of low pressure which skirts past the west and the southwest could bring some rain or showers to the far southwest. these could change, but it does look like it's going to stay a little bit more unsettled as we head into the weekend, perhaps a bit warmer in the south.

this is bbc news, the headlines... from the campaign trail to the courtroom — donald trump has arrived at the courthouse, where his criminal trial will hear opening statements. the metropolitan police faces criticism over its handling of pro—palestinian demonstrations in london. four people have died, 11 others are missing, and thousands have left their homes after flooding and landslides hit southern china. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's chetan. hello, i'm chetan pathak with your latest sports news.

we start with the latest on nottingham forest's post—match comments following sunday's defeat to everton. the club accused the video assistant referee stuart atwell of being a fan of their relegation rivals luton after decisions went against them, and say they asked for him to be taken off duties before the game. but the referees governing body, pgmol, says that's not true. 0ur senior football news reporter simon stone is following the story. the implication was that nottingham forest had asked for stuart atwell to be removed from the game but i had been told that whilst there was a conversation between nottingham forest consultant and a former premier league referee and the head of refereeing and this issue ever stuart atwell at his suitability to be referee for the game as mentioned, and no point was requested that he be removed from

the game, and i don't think given the