this is known as election interference. everybody knows it. tens of thousands are forced to leave their homes after torrential flooding and landslides batter southern china. after months of spouting gibberish, nasa says its voyager one probe is again sending usable information back to earth. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. we begin with breaking news. france's coastguard is still carrying out several search—and—rescue operations at sea linked to migrants' attempts to cross the english channel. french authorities said at least five people had died earlier in the day on a small boat that transported over 100 people. the coastguard official said the deaths occurred during a crowd panic. the spokesperson could not say how many boats and people may still be in danger at sea. let's speak to the bbc�*s

simonjones, who's in dover. simon, welcome. what more do we know? (inaudible) not suitable at all for taking to the water in the channel. a boat set out at around 5am, we are told it had more than 100 people on board, and exceptionally large number. the french authorities say the boat got stuck on a sandbank, it managed to relaunch, to continue itsjourney towards the uk. but there was some sort of incident involving the crowd on board, according to the french authorities. we are told three men, authorities. we are told three men, a woman and a young child have lost... �* ., ,

a woman and a young child have lost... ~ ., , ,, ., a woman and a young child have lost... m_, , ,, ., , ., lost... apologies, simon, the signal to ou lost... apologies, simon, the signal to you keeps — lost... apologies, simon, the signal to you keeps breaking _ lost... apologies, simon, the signal to you keeps breaking up. _ lost... apologies, simon, the signal to you keeps breaking up. we - lost... apologies, simon, the signal to you keeps breaking up. we will . to you keeps breaking up. we will try to return to him as soon as possible. that news comes after the uk's rwanda asylum bill becomes law after months of gridlock. the measure designates rwanda a safe country and aims to allow some asylum seekers to be deported to the east african country. just hours after the bill passed, the bbc witnessed migrants on a beach in calais in france trying to get on boats and cross the english channel. these are some of the latest pictures from our team there. the french coastguard says at least five migrants have died in a separate attempt to cross the english channel. well, the rwanda bill took four months to clear parliament because of a stand off with the house of lords. it's a relief for prime minister rishi sunak, who hopes that — barring any last—minute legal objections — flights to rwanda could begin within ten to 12 weeks. official figures show the backlog of people waiting to be removed from the uk rose from nearly 1800 in july last year to more than 50,000 a week ago.

0ur africa correspondent barbara plett usher — who's in the rwandan capital, kigali — told me more about the response to the bill. yes, we have actuallyjust received a statement from the government here in response to the uk finally passing the bill. the government spokesman said, "we are pleased the bill has been passed by parliament, however it does not alter what we have known to be true — that we have worked very hard to secure the country, that we have been able to offer safety to more than 100,000 refugees and we look forward to welcoming those who will be relocated to rwanda." this is what we have heard from government officials in the past weeks, that they are committed to the deal, they had been prepared to receive migrants for some time now. certainly the first plane loads of migrants that rishi sunak talked about, it is not clear what volume they can accommodate in the coming months — that is yet to be worked out, i think — and they are making changes to their law to respond to the concerns of the supreme court in terms of the safety

and protection of those migrants. this is one of the hostels where the migrants are expected to arrive. it has been prepared for a long time, and you will hear more about it in my report in which i look at how rwandans have been preparing and how they view the deal. it's here the migrants will land — hope hostel, long poised for this moment. bedrooms laid out with meticulous care. attention to the needs of guests who've so far failed to arrive. workers in surreal performance of their daily tasks. this place has been ready and waiting for nearly two years. now that the bill has passed, the people staffing it may finally have someone to serve. the british government is hoping that these rooms will be filled with asylum seekers in a matter of weeks. the hostel can house 100 of those

britain plans to send to apply for asylum here. they could also try to go to other countries, but not back to the uk. if you get the news today... yes. ..you would be able to accept people tomorrow. not only tomorrow, even now. rwanda is a beautiful country nestled in the hills of east africa. the streets are tidy, safe from crime, there is order. rwanda works — that's the motto. some here welcome the idea of the new migrants. i think it will be good economically for the nation, considering that there is nothing that is better than human capital. this man didn't want to identify himself because he's against the deal. where are you going to find the jobs for these people? we ourselves are... like, we've graduated, but we've not yet secured jobs. we are out there searching forjobs.

the culture of fear runs deep here. there are allegations that dissent is suppressed. kigali strongly denies this, and its parliament passed a law to address the concerns of britain's supreme court to strengthen protections for asylum seekers. if they want to hold a protest, can they do it? our national laws are very clear about the right to protest. it is protected under specific circumstances. and if they do wish to protest peacefully within the confines of the law, they are welcome to. rwanda has welcomed other migrants — africans who were stuck in libya trying to get to europe. this is a temporary haven for them while they sort out next steps. they could choose to settle in rwanda. none have. they want opportunities elsewhere. it's all about seeking

a better future for those here and those coming — will rwanda be a detour, a dead end or a new home? barbara plett usher, bbc news, kigali. within hours of the bill being passed, the bbc�*s tom symonds saw people leaving calais in small boats, heading for the uk. i spoke to him earlier. that's right, we turned up quite early, it is a beach just north of calais, a well—known beach that migrants often use for trying to get to the uk, and we watched as a small boat that was half full came towards the shore. the police were here and a group of a0 migrants came out of the dunes, walked briskly to the water's edge and about a0 got on that boat. we counted about 67 when the boat finally left and it had a tiny, tiny outboard motor attempting to propel the boat. there are some waves here today. even though the conditions are

pretty calm for this sort of crossing. the police stopped the migrants as far as they could getting to the boat, but they did not stop the boat. they seemed quite angry we were there and we wondered whether they might have perhaps made more effort to stop the boats. we know in the past the police have used knives and slashed up the boat to try to deflate it so it can't be used to go to see. —— and slashed at the boat. this government policy is primarily aimed at deterring people from getting on those small boats and making, as you said, what is often a perilous journey. what kind of numbers are we talking about? i am just refreshing my memory, 2022 was the highest rate of people leaving, 115,000 people made it across to the uk side. if you can imagine the english channel behind me, there is an imaginary international line between the uk and france and the migrants know if they get across that line they will be taken to the uk and not brought back to france. 45,000 in 2022. that number fell

to 29,000 last year. the government had done deals with countries like albania. to ensure people who came from albania were pretty much straightaway returned. numbers are climbing steadily this year, 4000 or 5000 so far, and the concern is they will be going back up to nearer 115,000 when the year comes to an end. this is the season for crossing the channel beginning. is this legislative change in the uk which will see people taken not to the uk to rwanda, to apply for asylum in rwanda, no chance of coming to the uk, is that working as a deterrent? it does not seem to be changing the thoughts of people in the camps here about whether they want to get to the uk. lots of draws — family members, they speak english better than other languages, they believe they will be able to find work and provide forfamilies back home. in some cases they believe the british system is fair.

they do not seem to be deterred, perhaps because some have made very long journeys to get here, across europe, perhaps through turkey or the mediterranean. we have spoken to people from eritrea, which is one country away from rwanda — if they wanted to go that they could go very easily but they have come here instead, which suggests that, for now, the boats are not stopping. that was tom symonds in calais. let's speak to the bbc�*s simonjones, who's in dover. welcome back. tell us what more we know about the incident in the channel in which we understand at least five people have died today? another reminder of the danger of crossing the world's most dangerous shipping lane in these small boats. we talk about small boats, in this incident a boat set out at around 5am with, we are told, more than 110

people on board. that would be exceptional in terms of numbers, the average per boat is around 50. we are told the boat got stranded on a sandbank shortly after setting off from a beach in wimereux in northern france along the coast from calais, more towards boulogne. after being struck on the sandbank it managed to relaunch into the water but there was some sort of incident involving the crowd, as french authorities call it, on board the boat, and we are told five people lost their lives, among them three men, a woman and a young child. another reminder that even though it looks very calm out there in the channel, and you can see france in the distance pretty clearly, when things go wrong they can go drastically wrong very quickly, particularly when there are so many people on board these boats which are often manufactured to be very low degree to save money for

the people smugglers organising these crossings. before today we knew that nine people had died attempting the crossing so far this year, but that figure has gone up by another five today. the year, but that figure has gone up by anotherfive today. the british government and no doubt the french authorities will say this is another reminder of the need to stop people risking their lives, making that journey in the channel, because if it goes wrong it can result in large numbers of people losing their lives. ., , ., , ., ., lives. lots of people who make that very perilous _ lives. lots of people who make that very perilous journey _ lives. lots of people who make that very perilous journey ends - lives. lots of people who make that very perilous journey ends up - lives. lots of people who make that j very perilous journey ends up where you are in dover, being housed. now this bill has become law, what will happen to those people once they arrive in the uk?— arrive in the uk? what are the government — arrive in the uk? what are the government is _ arrive in the uk? what are the government is saying - arrive in the uk? what are the government is saying is - arrive in the uk? what are the | government is saying is anyone arriving illegally in the uk by a small boat or in the back of a lorry will not be allowed to stay in the uk, and the idea is people will be

detained, denied the right to apply for asylum in the uk and then deported. what happens initially when people arrive down out of the port in dover is they are given a security check and a health check, they are taken to a processing centre a few kilometres away from here and then dispersed around the country. what the government seems to be gearing up for it is trying to detain more of those people and to remove them swiftly to rwanda, but that will be quite a tall order because at the moment the number of people who could in theory be removed to are you understand that more than 50,000. these are people who have arrived illegally in the uk since there was a change in the law threatening people with deportation. it even if the flights again in ten or 12 weeks, as the government plans, it will take quite a long time to try to clear that backlog. we expect at first a few hundred

people to be sent. the government is talking about having flights steadily throughout the summer until the numbers are clear, but given it will be the summer all that time we are likely to see more people arriving because summer is traditionally the busiest period for this crossing. when the sea is very calm, people make thejourney this crossing. when the sea is very calm, people make the journey in larger numbers. a tall order but the government is very clean to get the flights off the ground to see if it makes a difference or acts as a deterrent to stop people risking their lives in the channel. thank ou. we their lives in the channel. thank you- we have — their lives in the channel. thank you. we have a _ their lives in the channel. thank you. we have a bbc— their lives in the channel. thank you. we have a bbc helicopter. their lives in the channel. thank . you. we have a bbc helicopter over the channel keeping a view on what is happening as we watch some of those small boats, that looks like a fishing vessel, though. as we heard in the past few hours, one of those small boats heading from northern france to the uk got into difficulties and at least five people, including a child, have

drowned. let's get some of the day's other news now. the us secretary of state says washington is looking into allegations that israeli forces have committed human rights abuses in gaza. antony blinken denied suggestions of double standards when it came to israel. mr blinken's comments follow reports that for the first time an israeli defence force unit was facing sanctions for alleged violations in the west bank. tremors have continued to shake part of eastern taiwan that was struck by a deadly earthquake earlier this month. quakes were still being felt on tuesday morning in the hualien region. the strongest tremor shook buildings in the capital — taipei — but there are no reports of any casualties. a powerful quake earlier this month in hualien killed at least fourteen people and caused widespread damage. bolivian police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of teachers protesting in la paz. teachers and doctors have been protesting for weeks against a controversial retirement bill they say will force them to retire at 65. in bolivia, the voluntary retirement age is set at 58 for men and 55 for women.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

donald trump has returned to court in new york to hear the opening statements in his criminal trial over the alleged cover up of a hush money payment to the porn star stormy daniels. prosecutors told the jury the case was about a criminal conspiracy and a cover up. but the defence said donald trump was not personally involved. from new york, gary 0'donoghue reports. president trump, how are you feeling, sir? i for the first time in american history, a former president went on trial for alleged crimes. donald trump stands accused of falsifying business records over hush money payments to a porn star just before the 2016 general election. for the prosecution, they said donald trump had cooked the books to cover up those payments and that had broken election finance law,

which amounted to election interference, a crime. mr trump's lawyers said paying a porn star is not a crime and the former president had no part in how the payments were accounted for. i should be in florida now. i should be in a lot of different places right now campaigning and i'm sitting here and this will go on for a long time. it's very unfair. the judge is conflicted, as you know. it's very unfair what's going on. and i should be allowed to campaign. the first prosecution witness was david pecker, a tabloid magazine editor who helped buy off people with damaging stories about donald trump. he has been promised immunity from prosecution. the prosecution are also expected to call the porn star stormy daniels herself and donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen. the defence hasn't yet decided whether or not the former president will go on the stand. i am praying that he will be acquitted, but i am scared that

something can go wrong. he is a crook and a cheat, so, yeah, i hope he gets the justice he deserves. later, the judge will consider whether donald trump had already violated a gag order that prevents him speaking publicly about witnesses and could get him fined. gary 0'donoghue, bbc news, new york. china's weather agency has issued its highest—level rainstorm warning for the south of the country. more than 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in guangdong — after massive flooding in the country's most populous province. four people have died, and ten others are missing. laura bicker has more from beijing. powerful storms across southern china turned rivers into raging torrents. roads became fast flowing rapids cascading down village streets as hail the size of golf balls fell

from the sky. watch the right hand corner of the security camera. the bridge simply couldn't withstand the sheer force of the flood. the destruction became clearer in daylight, as did the number of people left stranded. some almost managed to sleep through their rescue, cradled from the worst of the rising floodwaters. but others cried for help as their streets were submerged. rescuers had to navigate their boats through a flooded urban landscape. tens of thousands of people were evacuated across the province. several regions stayed on alert as water levels rose over the weekend, drowning dozens of crops. 61—year—old huangjing rong couldn't

save his farm from being swamped. translation: it was my home. everything is gone, all the seedlings are gone. i lost over 13,000 us dollars. our fields over there are all flooded. guangdong is prone to floods, but not this early in the year. weather events in china have become more intense and unpredictable due to global warming. in guangdong, the clean—up can begin. officials will continue to monitor water levels in the hope that for now the worst has passed. laura bicker, bbc news, beijing. two helicopters from the malaysian military have crashed in mid—air — killing all ten naval personnel on board. the accident took place as the aircraft flew in formation over a parade ground. they were rehearsing for a ceremony due to take place next month. online video shows the helicopters flying low over a naval base at lumut when they collide

and plummet to the ground. —— and plummeted to the ground. an extreme form of soil erosion is causing entire communities to disappear across africa and latin america. experts have told the bbc that gully erosion is advancing at a worrying speed, because of deforestation and the extreme weather caused by climate change, and a lack of urban planning. our population correspondent stephanie hegarty has this report. this city in brazil is at risk of falling apart. translation: this thing has taken away my life. l joao batista is a mechanic and his workshop is on the edge of a giant ravine. translation: it got risky after it started raining - when the gullies started to grow. our whole house would collapse. boom. these ravines are caused by gully erosion. translation: my belongings, my house, it's all gone. - i only saved my children and my wife. in total, 60 people were killed when their homes collapsed into a gully here in kinshasa,

in the democratic republic of congo in 2022. translation: my neighbour who was on the other side, l she died with her four children. brigitte blames the construction of a highway uphill. translation: they built very tiny drains. - they couldn't cope with the amount of rainwater, and it overflowed. i've spent 19 years here, and nothing like this has ever happened. buriticupu is in the brazilian amazon, but since the �*90s, the timber industry has cut down most of the trees — a natural barrier to erosion. and when rainwater hits the bare ground, it can dislodge soil. streams of water then push this soil downhill, carving gullies into the earth that develop into these huge canyons. climate change is expected to make this problem worse. the rainfall intensities may increase with 10% to 15%, and due to that, gully erosion rates

may double or even triple. so for sure, this is a manmade disaster in many ways, but with proper infrastructure, this can be prevented. stopping gullies after they form is expensive. the brazilian government is considering a $60 million proposal for structural works in buriticupu. meanwhile, joao batista is trying to solve the problem by himself. translation: if i don't take action, the rain when it comes _ will take everything. after i started planting the bamboo there, the ground no longer fell. stephanie hegarty, bbc news, in buriticupu, brazil. let's return to the top story, the passing of the rwanda bill in the house of commons last night. we have just had a reaction from home

secretary james cleverly to the depth of five people in a channel crossing in the past few hours. —— to the deaths of five people. if you are watching in the uk, nicky campbell has more on the passing of the rwanda bill coming up. hello. today, again, it's going to be milder in the west compared to the east. and as we go through the next few days, you'll notice the temperature coming down everywhere — as represented by the blues on the chart — on wednesday, thursday and friday. but as we head on into the weekend, low pressure looks like it's going to move across our shores. that looks like too it will introduce some milder conditions, but there's still a lot to play for with that one. today, we've got the dregs of yesterday's front pushing slowly south—eastwards, with its cloud and patchy light rain and drizzle. eastern areas still exposed to this brisk wind, taking the edge off the temperatures. it will feel quite cold on the east coast. a few showers for wales into the south—west, and the cloud in the east thick enough for that drizzle.

it's the west that's going to see the lion's share of the sunshine today. and, as a result, this is where we'll have the highest temperatures. we could reach 16 degrees once again. in glasgow yesterday, it was 16.5 celsius here. as we head through the evening and overnight, still the brisk, keen wind coming in off the north sea, blowing in some cloud, one or two showers. we've got this lump of cloud across central parts of england, east wales, pushing down towards the south. but under clear skies, where we've got the blues, temperatures will be freezing or even below. so there will be locally a touch of frost, but it's going to be a cold night generally. tomorrow, still this keen wind, still the cloud coming in from the north sea. but out towards the west, we're looking at brighter skies, some sunshine. you could catch a shower once again in south wales or indeed south—west england. temperatures, 1a in glasgow, so the temperatures coming down a little bit, 9 in norwich. and then as we head on into thursday, well, we've got low pressure out to the east, low pressure out towards the west, a front very close by, and it does mean we will see one or two showers.

it's going to be a colder day as well. some of those showers on high ground in scotland could well prove to be wintry, but a fair bit of cloud around, and again, nowhere really immune to a shower. this is a weather front trying to come in from the west. temperatures, 8 in aberdeen to about 13 in london. as we go beyond that into the end of the week and into the weekend, well, it looks very much like it's going to continue unsettled. there will be some rain at times, but the temperatures slowly starting to creep up.

victims who have been raped or robbed or murdered. star; victims who have been raped or robbed or murdered.— victims who have been raped or robbed or murdered. stay there, and the reason i'm _ robbed or murdered. stay there, and the reason i'm stopping _ robbed or murdered. stay there, and the reason i'm stopping is _ robbed or murdered. stay there, and the reason i'm stopping is that - robbed or murdered. stay there, and the reason i'm stopping is that it - the reason i'm stopping is that it is housekeeping, because we are

going on the television in a second, we are going on tv news. i will get you to make your point. are you ready to come back on that point? that hardline point? let mejust ready to come back on that point? that hardline point? let me just say that we now welcome to viewers on bbc news. robin cheddar, you think this is a ridiculous idea, sending people to rwanda. you think we should be more hardline, stopping them cross. give us an outline of your plan. i them cross. give us an outline of your plan-— them cross. give us an outline of your plan. i think the rnli on the border force _ your plan. i think the rnli on the border force are _ your plan. i think the rnli on the border force are an _ your plan. i think the rnli on the border force are an integral - your plan. i think the rnli on the border force are an integral part| your plan. i think the rnli on the i border force are an integral part to the people smugglers' plans. they rely on telling people in the boats to ring up the uk pull scarred —— coastguard. second thing is, when they get here, those who are using legal aid lawyers, i thought i was only applicable people who are british, not white british, but

british, not white british, but british is in people who live in this country. fin british is in people who live in this country-— british is in people who live in this count . ., ., ., , this country. on the radio a couple of moments _ this country. on the radio a couple of moments ago _ this country. on the radio a couple of moments ago before _ this country. on the radio a couple of moments ago before we - this country. on the radio a couple of moments ago before we were i this country. on the radio a couple - of moments ago before we were joined ijy of moments ago before we were joined by ourfriends watching of moments ago before we were joined by our friends watching on television, you said we should stop the boats in the channel, puncture the boats in the channel, puncture the boats, sink the boats, get them aboard and take them back to france. that is your plan, right? that aboard and take them back to france. that is your plan, right?— that is your plan, right? that would be a choice — that is your plan, right? that would be a choice of _ that is your plan, right? that would be a choice of a _ that is your plan, right? that would be a choice of a plan. _ that is your plan, right? that would be a choice of a plan. the _ that is your plan, right? that would be a choice of a plan. the second i be a choice of a plan. the second choice is the border force orders them to return to france. you don't just think someone's boat, but you give the choice. wet or dry is up to you. give the choice. wet or dry is up to ou. ., ., ., , ., ., _, you. immigration lawyer, how do you resond to you. immigration lawyer, how do you respond to that? _ you. immigration lawyer, how do you respond to that? public— you. immigration lawyer, how do you respond to that? public i _ you. immigration lawyer, how do you respond to that? public i have - you. immigration lawyer, how do you respond to that? public i have a - respond to that? public i have a better plan. how about let's just catch the gangs? if you want to stop the drug dealing, you stop the dealers. — the drug dealing, you stop the dealers, you don't lock up all the users _ dealers, you don't lock up all the users if— dealers, you don't lock up all the users if we _ dealers, you don't lock up all the users. if we can get bin laden and gaddafi _ users. if we can get bin laden and gaddafi holed up in their countries, sending _ gaddafi holed up in their countries, sending elite units, pick them up

and put _ sending elite units, pick them up and put them on trial. are you