phone calls and the ethics of secret recordings — donald trump's hush—money trial hears more evidence from his former lawyer michael cohen. police charge a man with the attempted murder of the slovakian prime minister, who is still in a serious condition after being shot. and a special report from taiwan — where the president tells the bbc she doesn't believe an attack from china is imminent. hello and welcome to the program. we begin in china where russia's president and his chinese counterpart have promised to work together to combat what they say

are "destructive and hostile" us policies. vladimir putin is in beijing for talks with xi jinping, during which they vowed to tighten military ties and deepen their economic partnership. our china correspondent laura bicker reports. on the west he as a pariah but in china he is a key partner is a key partner as beijing seeks a key partner as beijing seeks a new world order. one not a key partner as beijing seeks a new world order. one not led by the united states. the red carpet was rolled out, complete with a red army welcome as they walked together in a show of defiance against western pressure. mr perton needs china. it has become an economic lifeline for an isolated and heavily sanctioned writer. —— putin. translation:

china will always be a good neighbour and friend with russia. mr neighbour and friend with russia. ~ ., russia. mr putin he would inform president - russia. mr putin he would inform president xi - russia. mr putin he would inform president xi on - russia. mr putin he would inform president xi on the situation in ukraine and welcomed him as a peacemaker. a 12 point peace plan was put forward a year ago. but while mr xi is trying to play peacemaker he is also accused of feeling the war. this is one place they can do that. the west believes china is supplying russia with component it can use in its war machine. the us has a raft of new sanctions at the ready. this time to target chinese banks so president xi has a decision to make. bashing does need moscow.

russia supplies it with cheap oil and gas, the soaring trade also helps shield vladimir putin from sanctions. no policy shift are likely but a deepening of relationships. president xi will be calculating just how much he is willing to pay for vladimir putin's well. laura bicker there, bringing us up to speed on what happened during the first day of meetings between the two world leaders. president putin will be in china for another day, there, he's expected to attend a "gala" marking 75 years of diplomatic ties between the countries and attend trade and cooperation forums in the city. for more, let's speak to stephen mcdonell in beijing. good to have you on the programme. what are you expecting from this second day of talks? we

expecting from this second day of talks? ~ ., ., ., of talks? we are now hearing that vladimir— of talks? we are now hearing that vladimir putin _ of talks? we are now hearing that vladimir putin has - of talks? we are now hearing l that vladimir putin has already arrived in harbin. why go to the china city of harbin? it has a lot of russian culture and architecture and at one point it had more russian people than chinese living in the city and that is because it is closed to the russian border in the northeast of the country. naturally the symbolism is huge to have this place, which is like a meeting of two cultures, with vladimir putin wondering around that celebrating china— russia relations but there is also big trade expo that an —— and it enables him to talk about boosting trade between these two neighbours went, really, despite all the talk, is not what it probably should be. you compare china's trade with russia and it is nothing

compared to what the trade with the us is. frankly, it has been lagging behind for a very long time and only now are they trying to build these bridges and rail connections and things like that to try and boost trade in a significant way between china and russia. what is the extent _ between china and russia. what is the extent of _ between china and russia. what is the extent of that _ between china and russia. what is the extent of that trade? - between china and russia. what is the extent of that trade? we heard in laura abbas reported that people accused china of funding russia's war in ukraine? —— laura's. it funding russia's war in ukraine? -- laura's. it can be used to _ ukraine? -- laura's. it can be used to build _ ukraine? -- laura's. it can be used to build weapons - ukraine? -- laura's. it can be| used to build weapons fuelling the invasion of ukraine. naturally, china's other big contribution is soaking up all this material which russia is not selling any more because of sanctions. gas, for example. gas imports are up a0%. it does

not make up for all the gas russia was selling to europe but i am sure they would rather haveit but i am sure they would rather have it than not have it. the russian food being sold into china. i mean, part of the problem is that there aren't all that many things that china wants from russia rather than raw material, coal and the like, but even if those things, they can be very useful to russia given it is so isolated at the moment and would have to be one of the few countries that has a trade surplus china so certainly beijing is lending moscow i had by, as i say, picking up some of the black following those sanctions are placed on russia because of the bloodied war that vladimir putin has instigated in europe. it seems to be a relationship of convenience and necessity at this stage. many thanks.

stephen mcdonald joining us from beijing. still to come a bit later in the programme — we'll hear from the outgoing president of taiwan, tsai ing—wen, and what she thinks of relations with beijing. but first, the case for the prosecution is coming to a close, at donald trump's hush—money trial in new york. his formerfixer, michael cohen, was once again on the stand today in manhattan, facing cross—examination. the former president's lawyers pushed him on the accuracy of his recollection of phone calls with mr trump, after he'd earlier testified that it was over the phone that he got the go—ahead to make a payment to stormy daniels. mr trump's lawyers also asked whether mr cohen made regular secret recordings of phone conversations. which they said would have been unethical. mr cohen responded that if he had recorded a crime happening, it would have been an exception to the rule of ethics.

mrtrump may mr trump may have been sitting in if the courtroom with only his legal team but a group of republican politicians turned up republican politicians turned up to supporting and they said the prosecution was politically motivated and without any justification. here is mr trump making that point again outside of court. outside, if you take a look, it looks like we're fort knox. there's so many police and they don't allow people to come, you know, you're allowed to have friendly protests, but we're not allowed to have anything here. they have more police and more assistant das, and das, i've never seen anything like it. our north america correspondent john sudworth has been outside the court in new york. michael cohen faced another hours—long, gruelling barrage of questions from donald trump's defence team, attempting to portray him as a compulsive liar out for revenge. for example, they played the jury some comments

that mr cohen made in one of his podcasts in which he said he wanted to see donald trump rot injail. for his part, mr cohen remained pretty calm under questioning, conceding that he had at times been dishonest. but his contention is that where he has lied, where he has committed criminal acts, they have been at the behest and on behalf of his former boss. now, the jury might be asked to decide which of those two versions they believe fairly soon. a verdict is expected, if not next week, then probably the week after. in a case that has major ramifications for this year's presidential election and arguably for the future of american democracy. here you have a former president, the first in american history to face criminal prosecution, a man who attempted to cling to power after the 2020 election. now claiming that the proceedings in the building

behind me are an attempt to tip the scales of democracy in favor ofjoe biden. without it has to be said. without it has to be said, any evidence at all, and all the while surrounded by throngs of republican politicians here to support him and up from washington in such numbers that it now means they are having to reschedule the business in congress. you'd want to say that you couldn't make any of this up, except, of course, in american politics, in recent years, that phrase has lost something of its meaning. richard painter is a law professor and former chief white house ethics lawyer for president george w bush. i asked him or his thoughts on the trial as the prosecution phase neared its end. the defence lawyers questioned michael cohen for very long time and went on and on, and didn't learn anything more

about michael cohen and what happened than we knew at the beginning. michael cohen did lie, he went to prison for a crime that he participated in at the behest of his client, donald trump, and that's what the evidence shows. i think it's unbelievable that michael cohen just would have done this on his own and paid stormy daniels $130,000 and falsified business records without donald trump's knowledge or approval. the defence can seek to try to show that donald trump did not know about this and didn't approve it and that's what this case is all about. we have not heard the defence present their case yet, but so far, the prosecution has presented what appears to be a quite compelling case. and give us a sense of what might be going on inside the republican party. i mean, we've seen a sharp support at the courthouse, but what are people's leanings within the party, given how high—profile

this case is? well, the republican party is going to have to figure this out. i was a republican for 30 years, through to 2018, but i finally gave that up with the party doing anything donald trump wanted them to do. a lot of republicans believe it was a mistake to nominate donald trump in 2016. i believe if they had nominated any other candidate, they probably still have won the election and would probably still hold the white house today. but donald trump has a psychological hold on a lot of people who still call themselves republicans, and some may choose to sit with him. we saw the speaker of the house of representatives instead of attending to the nation's business, he is watching the courtroom in manhattan — it makes no sense to me. i don't think it makes sense a lot of americans. but this is the choice that a lot of leading republican politicians have chosen, it's what they have

chosen to do. now to slovakia — where the prime minister, robert fico, remains in a critical condition in hospital. ministers say they believe the gunman acted alone, but that it was politically motivated. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in handlova, where the attack took place. at the spot where a man tried to kill a prime minister, there is a hole where a bullet hit a tree and a faint stain of blood. small traces of a giant moment that has shocked slovakia deeply. it was early afternoon when robert fico strode out of a meeting and towards a group of supporters, but on the edges of the crowd was the gunman. he looks the other way at first, then abruptly pulls out a gun, points at the prime minister and fires five times. gunshots.

by the third shot, he's being tackled by security officers as the prime minister tumbles to the floor. mr fico is then dragged to his car and rushed to hospital. the gunman detained and handcuffed. you were filming with the prime minister. dana was reporting on the prime minister's visit to her town. she says the gunman didn't stand out at all until he attacked. nothing special. he stay and was...looked normal. man waiting for our prime minister. robert fico had come from this event, offering support for a small—town economy. but on the big stage, he's a populist who opposes sending arms to ukraine and will block its entry to nato. he also thinks vladimir putin has been demonised. his government claims these issues infuriated the gunman and drove him to this attack.

the interior minister describes him as a lone wolf, but the government's accusing the opposition here and the media of whipping up tension and hatred. given that mr fico himself often uses very confrontational language, inflammatory language himself, would you agree that he is at least, or the government is at least partially to blame for the tensions in slovak society right now? translation: robert fico won elections for the fifth time. - then a frustrated part of the political spectrum and the media started a six—month hunt which has ended like this. i'm not pointing fingers, but you phrased a question to divert attention from the real reasons that led to this. the prime minister is still in intensive care, but his life is no longer at risk, after an attack that has exposed huge divisions here and their danger. sarah rainsford,

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

you are live with bbc news. the israeli military says it has identified the bodies it was done with the help of the israeli military. no american forces walked on dry land in gaza.— land in gaza. part of the unitarian _ land in gaza. part of the unitarian court - land in gaza. part of the unitarian court order- land in gaza. part of the unitarian court order is. land in gaza. part of the - unitarian court order is added to the other routes and will assist humanitarian organisations providing life—saving assistance. aid is arriving in cyprus. it will be screened for loading onto ships for delivering to gaza where humanitarian organisations, including trusted us partners

will determine how to ensure they reach those in need in accordance to humanitarian principles. on monday, taiwan will enter a new era, as president tsai ing—wen hands over power. she's served two terms in office, and in that time, has faced growing pressure from beijing, which sees taiwan as a rebel province. the chinese president, xijinping, has said that what he calls "reunification" must be fulfilled, and taiwan has effectively become more dependent on support from the us to ensure it continues to self—govern. our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been to meet president tsai and ask her about her legacy. singing. it's hard to imagine a famous drag act being invited to perform for the communist party leadership at their compound in beijing. but that's exactly what president tsai ing—wen did this week at the

presidential office building, in taipei. in her eight years in power, this softly—spoken former law professor has turned taiwan into arguably the most progressive society in asia. same—sex marriage is now legal here, and taipei hosts asia's largest pride festival. as she prepares to step down on monday, i sat down with president tsai at her home in taipei and asked her why she chose this particular fight. you were well ahead of any other country in asia in pushing through that legislation. why was that such an important priority for you? it's a test to the society here to see to what extent they can move forward with their values. and it was a very difficultjourney. i am actually rather proud that we managed to overcome our differences. one difference tsai has failed

to overcome is that with china. during her eight years in office, beijing's military intimidation of taiwan has dramatically increased. but tsai says she does not think an attack on the island is imminent. the cost of taking over taiwan is going to be enormous. chinese leadership have to make a good calculation as to whether they are prepared to pay the cost. what we need to do is to increase the costs of an invasion. despite being a thriving democracy of 23 million people, only 12 countries now formally recognise this place, down from 22 countries when tsai came to power. but she says pressure from china must not be allowed to erase the reality of taiwan's existence. china, of course, will say that we're part of them. it's for the people to interpret what taiwan represents at this moment in time. but the most important thing

is that we are on our own and we are a democracy, and we enjoy freedom and democracy and progressive values. and we are a group of people that are very proud of ourselves. on monday, the mantle of power will pass from tsai to her vice president, william lai. if anything, he is disliked by china even more than she is. for the people of taiwan, things are not about to get any easier. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. let's cross live to taipei. good to have you on the programme. that seemed like quite an in—depth discussion. within your conversation, did you get any sense of what she makes of william bligh and how he is going to govern? —— william lai.

he is going to govern? -- william lai.— he is going to govern? -- william lai. ,, ., ., , william lai. she did not really want to say — william lai. she did not really want to say anything - william lai. she did not really want to say anything about. william lai. she did not really| want to say anything about her successor does not want to overshadow him because she is supposed to be the star of the show from now onwards. it is his inauguration on monday but on the whole this is seen as a continuation of her administration. william lai said he will said to her policies when it comes to china, to have a policy of keeping taiwan's status quo, thatis keeping taiwan's status quo, that is to say not moving this place further officially towards independence but also resisting any attempt by china to unify taiwan by force. he also has his vice president who is a protege of tsai ing—wen, when she represented her in the united states. this is a sense of this is not a change of regime but a continuation of tsai ing—wen�*s agassi. she has

been quite a transformational character in taiwan politics over the last eight years and many people have spoken to hear of watching her departure with a certain sense of sadness and boldness. she is leaving with an approval rating that most politicians and other parts of the world would envy. around 60% of taiwanese people in a server this week said they think she has done a good job. taiwan has certainly prospered economically. even that cheap industry has grown under her leadership. —— chip. how much has acted with her policy or the state of the world economy? she has tried to reduce taiwan's dependence on china and with mixed results but what we have seen very much over the last eight years and in particular the last four years is the rise and importance of

taiwan's chip industry. that is not something she has created, it goes back to the 70s and 80s but it is very prominent globally because taiwan is so much at the cutting edge of the really, really advanced chips with things like that taiwan semiconductors. what she has encouraged is companies to invest at home but also to diversify away from relying on mainland china and that is why we think companies making big investments injapan, southeast asia and also in the united states. , ~ asia and also in the united states. , . ., states. rupert wingfield from tai ei, states. rupert wingfield from taipei. many _ states. rupert wingfield from taipei, many thanks. - rupert's full interview with outgoing president tsai ing—wen will be available to watch over the weekend here on bbc news — and a long read for our new indepth series will be available at bbc.com/news. finally — scientists in britain

say they have proved before we go, scientists think they have figured out the mystery of the parents. scientists have long wondered how the giant stone blocks were transported without a waterway and they have discovered a branch of the river used. researchers think a major sand covered it up. sediment samples and satellite images helped with the discovery. stay with bbc news. that is all the time we have for you for now. hello there. thursday brought us a real mixture of weather across the uk. it was scotland and, to a degree, the far north of england that had the best

of the day's weather, with plenty of sunshine. and very warm in the highlands, temperatures reached 25 celsius in altnaharra — that was the warmest place in the whole of the uk, confirmation of the rather beautiful weather we had here. wasn't like that everywhere, though — for northern ireland, england and wales, we had rain or some thundery showers around, and across berkshire and also pembrokeshire, we had photographs sent to us of some funnel clouds there — tornadoes that don't quite make it all the way down to the ground. it was very wet for some — in nantwich in cheshire, we had 25 millimetres of rain. now on into friday's forecast, the tail end of the weather front will continue to feed in quite a lot of cloud across northern england, and we start off certainly with some mist and fog patches around some of our north sea coast. aside from northern england, though, i suspect overall, we're looking at a brighter day on friday with more in the way of sunshine. there will, though, be one or two showers popping up into the afternoon, one or two thunderstorms, but big gaps between those showers — that means probably for most of you, we're looking at a dry day with temperatures widely high teens to the low 20s. it will feel warm in

the sunshine, highest temperatures, probably west scotland, where i think we'll probably get to 2a — outside chance of a 25. on into the weekend, we've got a low pressure system threatening some heavier bursts of rain across southeast england, certainly more cloud around here as we head into the morning. otherwise, again, we're looking at a few mist and fog patches — clearing and lifting away, sunny spells, breaking through, and then, into the afternoon, one or two showers and thunderstorms popping up. temperatures still on the warm side — we're looking at highs well into the teens, 23—24 celsius in the very warmest areas. given the light winds and the may sunshine, that will feel very pleasant. for sunday, though, there is a slight change in the weather picture across scotland and northern ireland, in that there'll be a bit more in the way of cloud pushing in here — it could be thick enough to give us an odd patch of rain. england and wales mainly dry with some sunshine, but you will notice the temperatures just dropping a little bit across scotland and northern ireland, given that cloudier weather. now beyond that, into next week, looks like the start

of the week should be ok — many of us will have drier weather with sunny spells — but there's a tendency for the cloud to thicken, with rain arriving towards the second half of the week.

the dowjones hits the 40,000 mark for the first time as investors hedge their bets on interest rate cuts.

indian spices come under fire as regulators around the dowjones hits the 40,000 mark for the first time as investors hedge their bets on interest rate cuts. indian spices come under fire as regulators around the world investigate contamination allegations. hello and welcome to business today. i'm suranjana tewari. let's begin in the us where wall street has been on a record high this week. on thursday, the the dowjones reached an intra—day fresh record of 40,000, before shedding earlier gains. retail giant walmart raised its full—year forecast after reporting better—that—expected quarterly earnings. but this positive outlook isn't shared by everyone. the bbc�*s erin delmore explains. traders on wall street had reason to don their dow 40,000

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