are confronting a real danger of a devastating full—scale conflict. donald trump will become the first us president to face a criminal trial on monday, facing 3a charges of fraud. and we focus in on sudan as the country marks one year of a bloody civil war that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee. hello and a warm welcome to the programme. i'm sally bundock. world leaders meeting in an emergency session at the un have warned that the middle east is on the brink and that now is the time to de—escalate after saturday night's attack on israel by iran. opening the meeting, the un's secretary—general antonio guterres told diplomats, quote:

adding that: representatives from the uk and us condemned the attacks by iran on israel but made it clear that they didn't want to see any further escalation, but israel's ambassador rejected the call for the violence to stop. iran and its hegemonic or conditions of global domination must be stopped before it drives the world to a point of no return. to a regional war that can escalate to a world war. this attack crossed every red line and is well with reserves its legal right to retaliate. we are not a frog in boiling water. we are a nation of lions. iran launched an estimated 300 drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles towards israel in its first ever direct attack on israel.

iran said it was responding to an israeli strike earlier this month on its consulate in syria's capital damascus that killed several iranian military commanders. speaking at the security council meeting, iran's representative said the response was "proportionate". iran's operation was entirely in the exercise of iran's inherent right to self—defence as applied in article 51 of the charter of the united nations and recognised by international law. this concluded action was necessary and proportionate. let's speak now to jonathan conricus, a former international spokesperson for the israel defense forces and a senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies. welcome to bbc news. israel has allowed a significant response to this. what do you think it

will be? ,., ., ., ., ., ~ will be? good morning and thank ou for will be? good morning and thank you for having — will be? good morning and thank you for having me. _ will be? good morning and thank you for having me. it _ will be? good morning and thank you for having me. it depends i you for having me. it depends really very much on the strategic game and what israel will try to achieve by retaliating because i think that israel won't retaliate for the sake of retaliating. it will retaliate as part of a bigger plan and really, the problem here in the middle east with iranian activity is that for many, many years, iran has, in fact, very successfully built kind of a ring of terror organisations right around israel's borders. that is a problem and the reality since october seven is that it is clear for israel is that we cannot go on living like this. we cannot live with terrorist organisations on our borders that have the ability to choose when, how and what location strike israel, like a mustard on october the seventh, and with iran's attack on israel for the first time from iranian

soil at israeli soil, but offers, if you like, an opportunity to really change fundamentally the situation in the middle east and to improve security, bottom line, for israelis in their homes. world leaders are — israelis in their homes. world leaders are calling _ israelis in their homes. world leaders are calling for - israelis in their homes. world leaders are calling for calm. l leaders are calling for calm. the word from the white house is "let's slow things down. think things through before a response." but within benjamin netanyahu's party, he would be under pressure for a strong response to this, so what do you think is likely to happen? i think that the israeli leadership is thinking things through and i hope, and i'm quite reassured, that lessons have been learned from how israel managed the situation in gaza, the war against hamas which was forced upon israel. where one of the difficulties was to present a coherent plan to the americans and to execute it in such a way that retained

international and, it in such a way that retained internationaland, most international and, most importantly, us internationaland, most importantly, us support. i'm sure that those lessons have been learned and i think that this time what israel will do is first present a plan to the americans, get support and hopefully, and very importantly, also get regional support of arab countries that have been suffering iranian attacks and iranian bullying for decades, who also have an interest in changing the security situation in the middle east. countries like jordan, saudi arabia, the emirates and other countries which, i think, emirates and other countries which, ithink, would be on emirates and other countries which, i think, would be on the side of a sunni—us—israeli access. we have to remember we're not talking about a local small event two countries, we're talking about country, iran, which really exports terrorism and instability in the entire middle east and they are a problem for many countries and what we have before us now is an opportunity to begin to change that. crosstalk. sorry, we're almost

out of time so i wanted to get your view this point — do you think though and israeli response to this could be a direct attack on israel, on iran itself?— iran itself? definitely. crosstalk. - iran itself? definitely. crosstalk. do - iran itself? definitely. crosstalk. do you | iran itself? definitely. i crosstalk. do you think iran itself? definitely. - crosstalk. do you think that iran itself? definitely. _ crosstalk. do you think that is likely? i crosstalk. do you think that is likel ? ~' crosstalk. do you think that is likel ? ~ ., crosstalk. do you think that is likel ? ~ . , ., likely? i think that israel has a multitude _ likely? i think that israel has a multitude of— likely? i think that israel has a multitude of options, - a multitude of options, military and let's say kinetic, less kinetic, and i think since israel was attacked so brazenly and so violently by iran, never mind that their attack failed and our defences were successful but at the end of the day, the response i think will include something that kind of balances that equation. all right. hopefully it will achieve a longer strategic objective. achieve a longer strategic objective-— achieve a longer strategic ob'ective. ., ., ., . , objective. jonathan conricus, thank you — objective. jonathan conricus, thank you for _ objective. jonathan conricus, thank you for speaking - objective. jonathan conricus, thank you for speaking to - objective. jonathan conricus, thank you for speaking to us | thank you for speaking to us and giving us your perspective on what could happen next as far as this is concerned. in our business coverage later we will look at market reaction to all of this and you can imagine for financial all of this and you can imagine forfinancial markets, all of this and you can imagine for financial markets, there all of this and you can imagine forfinancial markets, there is a lot of nerves out there and

what does it mean? we will discuss that a little later. but now two events in the united states later this monday. —— but now to events in the united states later this monday. donald trump will become the first former us president to stand trial in a criminal case when he steps into court in new york later. mr trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment made to the former adult film star stormy daniels before the 2016 election. the former president has pleaded not guilty, if convicted he faces four years injail. my colleague in washington helena humphrey has a preview on everything you need to know before the trial gets underway. for the first time in us history, president will face a criminal trial and on monday, the first of four criminal trials against trump gets under way in new york and monday to's trouble examine 3a counts of fraud related to hush money payments that donald trump paid to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election. the queue to say he arranged

payments to stormy daniels in an effort to buy her silence in the run—up to the presidential election and alleged falsified business records, in violation of campaign finance laws. first, jury selection will take place the could take days or perhaps even weeks. 12 chosen individuals will then consider what could be the only criminal case that mr trump encounters before the 2024 us presidential election in november. donald trump, who is the presumptive republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty in the case and argues the allegation that he faces are not criminal and unlike previous civil cases that he has encountered, he is expected to attend almost every day of the court proceedings and it could disrupt his presidential campaign for the duration of the 6-8 campaign for the duration of the 6—8 week trial. speaking alongside us house speaker mike johnson on friday, the former us president says he is ready to testify on the stand. i us president says he is ready to testify on the stand.- to testify on the stand. i tell the truth- — to testify on the stand. i tell the truth. all _ to testify on the stand. i tell

the truth. all | _ to testify on the stand. i tell the truth. all i can _ to testify on the stand. i tell the truth. all i can do - to testify on the stand. i tell the truth. all i can do is - to testify on the stand. i tell the truth. all i can do is tell| the truth. all i can do is tell the truth. all i can do is tell the truth. all i can do is tell the truth. and the truth is that there is no case, they have no case. again, you have to be the scholars, read all of the legal scholars. i haven't seen one legal scholar but said this is a case and in fact even you people said oh, it's too bad this is the first one. all of them are scams. they are all about election interference. it could be a tense trial. mr trump has expressed his hatred for manhattan supreme court justice mechaal who is overseeing the trial which resulted in a gag order against him, barring him from making public statements about court staff, jurors, witnesses and lawyers in the district attorney office or even their families but on saturday, donald trump attacked his further attorney michael cohen, is accepted to be the prosecution star witness and another key witness include former media executive david becker, to help cover up the alleged affair, he testified before a grand jury in 2023.

also trump public press secretary hope hicks, she could shed light on what was happening inside the political operation in the final weeks before the 2016 election. and former playboy model karen mcdougal told cnn he had an affair with the former president began in 2006, something that donald trump denies. prosecutors in new york cited evidence payments made to her by mrtrump. cited evidence payments made to her by mr trump. of course the woman at the centre of the trial stormy daniels. cameras will be allowed to —— while no cameras are allowed inside the courtroom, donald trump is expected to use the media coverage to his advantage as he eyes the white house once again. helena humphrey talking us through what we can expect. let's speak to former new york prosecutor vinoo varghese. let's unpack this further. welcome to the programme. all eyes on this, would you say? absolutely. this is the trial of the century in new york city, at least. this is the biggest trial that has happened

here since, i don't know, i can't even remember. harvey weinstein trial ago in 2019? this is bigger because there is no—one bigger than donald trump in america. find no-one bigger than donald trump in america-— in america. and this could be, ofthe in america. and this could be, of the various _ in america. and this could be, of the various trials _ in america. and this could be, of the various trials that - in america. and this could be, of the various trials that are i of the various trials that are ongoing, all pointed out donald trump and his activities, this could be the one, the only one, the begins and ends prior to the begins and ends prior to the election, is that right? yeah, and present it is to begin and end and he has tried in multiple venues to try to get this trial stopped. he has failed. the courts in new york have rejected his claims to move this trial, his wish to move this trial, his wish to move this trial not only to delay it but move it outside of new york city, outside of manhattan. and i will say this for him — he had a good argument, a strong argument, to

do so. new york city is heavily anti— trump, manhattan is even more anti— trump. here on wall street the courthouse is about a ten minute walk from my office, it will be very difficult to find fair and impartialjurors. it is in any criminal case but especially here for him. he criminal case but especially here for him.— criminal case but especially here for him. he says he will testi , here for him. he says he will testify. he — here for him. he says he will testify. he is— here for him. he says he will testify, he is prepared - here for him. he says he will testify, he is prepared to - here for him. he says he will testify, he is prepared to do| testify, he is prepared to do so. do you think he will? will his legal team put him in the stand? it could be very high risk, couldn't it?— stand? it could be very high risk, couldn't it? so, in most cases, defendants _ risk, couldn't it? so, in most cases, defendants don't - risk, couldn't it? so, in most l cases, defendants don't testify — it's not up to his legal team the right of a defendant to testify is exercised by the defendant himself. the defendant himself. the defendant is the only one that can decide whether he or she wants to testify. i believe he is saying that for the media. i don't believe he will testify because he will open himself up to additional prosecutions from perjury, obstruction

potentially even a federal indictmentjust based on if he says something in here that is patently untrue, they can be prosecuted in another court, so i don't believe he will testify. i don't believe he will testify-— i don't believe he will testi ., , , , ., i don't believe he will testi ., ,, , ., , testify. just briefly, what is the outcome? _ testify. just briefly, what is the outcome? what - testify. just briefly, what is the outcome? what do - testify. just briefly, what is the outcome? what do youj testify. just briefly, what is - the outcome? what do you think will happen? i the outcome? what do you think will happen?— will happen? i think the reality is _ will happen? i think the reality is there - will happen? i think the reality is there will - will happen? i think the reality is there will be l will happen? i think the - reality is there will be found guilty, i think it's a foregone conclusion. unfortunately for him, he drew a bad judge, juan merchan, for him who has a history of being very pro— prosecution. he was a former prosecutor. i think the problem — for the trump team, — this judge will actually put him in jail. ithink judge will actually put him in jail. i think trump will be able to get out with an appeal to the appellate court but he may actually see rikers island, one of the most notorious jails in this world. one of the most notorious “ails in this worldi in this world. well, as you sa , in this world. well, as you say. all — in this world. well, as you say. all eyes _ in this world. well, as you say, all eyes will - in this world. well, as you say, all eyes will be - in this world. well, as you say, all eyes will be on . in this world. well, as you | say, all eyes will be on this later today in new york. vinoo varghese, thank you for talking to us. ~ , varghese, thank you for talking to us. y , . , around the world and across

the uk, this is bbc news.

monday marks one year since the eruption of the civil war in sudan. fighting between the sudanese armed forces and the rapid support forces has claimed thousands of lives, displaced more than eight million, and triggered the world's largest hunger crisis, according to the un. and a year in, there's no end in sight. let's speak to mary louise eagleton, deputy representative for unicef sudan. thank you for talking to us. it just sounds horrific for the people of sudan. what a year. yeah, this morning, 24 million

people are waking up after one year of being in a living nightmare, only to find that that living nightmare is continuing. there are over 4 million children who have fled with their families from their homes in khartoum, dell for and conflict hot spots around the world, eight .5 million people —— darfour. iwas world, eight .5 million people —— darfour. i was speaking to someone yesterday from new zealand which is more than the population of new zealand or switzerland or london. and they have been living this for one year now. have been living this for one year "ow-— have been living this for one ear now. ~ ., ., , ., year now. what conditions are they living _ year now. what conditions are they living in? _ year now. what conditions are they living in? talk _ year now. what conditions are they living in? talk us - year now. what conditions are j they living in? talk us through what it's like. 8 million people displaced.- what it's like. 8 million people displaced. so, first of all, the people displaced. so, first of all. they fled _ people displaced. so, first of all, they fled very _ people displaced. so, first of all, they fled very quickly - all, they fled very quickly with really strong violence and rape and looting that happened in the early days of the war and subsequently micro for subsequent waves are fighting so they left everything behind,

they left everything and friends and family members —— subsequent wars. they left without resources to pay for food, no schools have been open across the country, almost 19 million children out of school. except for a few small cases. and healthcare, only 17% of hospitals are functioning in areas with conflict. very little access to healthcare. compounded with people living in displacement camps and settlement sites where the conditions are very overcrowded, there is poor sanitation, little access to clean water which is rough for disease outbreaks we have cholera, measles and other critical diseases that are killing children every day —— rife fir diseases. i5 killing children every day -- rife fir diseases.— killing children every day -- rife fir diseases. is there any si . n rife fir diseases. is there any sign that _ rife fir diseases. is there any sign that civil _ rife fir diseases. is there any sign that civil war— rife fir diseases. is there any sign that civil war could - rife fir diseases. is there any| sign that civil war could come to an end? what is being done

to an end? what is being done to bring that to an end? it’s to bring that to an end? it's caettin to bring that to an end? it's getting worse _ to bring that to an end? it�*s getting worse day by day. the two parties in this war are very dug in and very determined and that is having massive consequences on the population. it's creating this lethal combination of displacement, hunger and disease outbreaks where now, we have almost 4 million children with malnutrition, 730,000 of them with the most severe form where they don't get immediate assistance and treatment they could die. so we're not seeing an improvement at all and in fact, things are getting worse and worse day, fighting is intensifying and this is really worrying is the lean season is coming up in the country where we are predicting if there isn't an immediate solution in the coming weeks that there

could be a famine in sudan and... ,, ,, �* could be a famine in sudan and... ,, ,, ~ ., , and... crosstalk. really, there needs to be _ and... crosstalk. really, there needs to be an _ and... crosstalk. really, there needs to be an international - needs to be an international response to this, would you say? because it's extremely dangerous, it's hard for aid organisations to operate, isn't it, in saddam?— it, in saddam? there are lots of ongoing — it, in saddam? there are lots of ongoing efforts _ it, in saddam? there are lots of ongoing efforts --in - it, in saddam? there are lots| of ongoing efforts --in sudan. of ongoing efforts ——in sudan. but there needs to be a concerted co—ordinated effort to bring the parties to the table to bring an end to the war and have table to bring an end to the warand have an table to bring an end to the war and have an immediate ceasefire and at the same time securing humanitarian corridors so we can access the population who needs critical humanitarian aid urgently. today in paris, there is a conference that is looking at the humanitarian situation. countries from around the world are coming together to try to find ways to improve this. but overall, the humanitarian appeal is only 6% funded for saddam. fiic even funded for saddam. 0k. even when we _ funded for saddam. 0k. even when we can _ funded for saddam. 0k. even when we can reach children, the funds are not there to be able to bring the critical aid

——sudan. to bring the critical aid "sudan-— to bring the critical aid "sudan. ., , ., ., --sudan. mary louise eagleton from unicef— --sudan. mary louise eagleton from unicef sudan.. _ --sudan. mary louise eagleton from unicef sudan.. thank - --sudan. mary louise eagleton from unicef sudan.. thank you | from unicef sudan.. thank you so much for speaking to us. thank you for reporting on sudan. to sydney now, where more details have been emerging of the victims of the knife attack at a shopping centre in sydney on saturday. six people were killed and 12 injured, including a nine—month—old baby. the attacker was 40 years old and was shot dead by police at the scene. police now say he may have focused his attack on women and avoided men in the shopping centre. let's speak to our australia correspondent, katy watson. what's the latest? people here are still dropping flowers and paying their respects to the victims, the six victims have now been named, five women and one man. i will give you a rundown, pikria darchia from georgia,

don singleton, 25 years old who was planning her wedding, jade young, an architect, ashlee good, the mother who died protecting her baby who were seriously injured, and yixuan cheng, a chinese student. as well as a male security guard from pakistan. those are the six who have been named. we've got information about the little baby seriously injured. she is now in a serious condition, no longer in critical, so that some good news, if you like, from what has been a terrible shock for people here in australia. fiifi people here in australia. 0k, we've got _ people here in australia. 0k, we've got to _ people here in australia. 0k, we've got to leave _ people here in australia. 0k, we've got to leave it - people here in australia. 0k, we've got to leave it there, thank you very much indeed katy watson. of course more details on what is happening and the man who was shot at the scene on our website. 2024 is the year of elections with at least 50 countries around the world going to the polls. but when it comes to the numbers, one stands above the rest.

india's general election, to be held over six weeks between 19 april and 1june, is set to be the biggest the world has ever seen. 969 million people will be taking to the polls — roughly one in eight of the global population. prime minister narendra modi is hoping to win a third successive term but opposition parties say indians face the loss of many freedoms if he stays in power. so, with the final week of campaigning before polls open, let's head to samira hussain who is in rajasthan. hello to you. talk us through this week. it's going to be busy, isn't it?— this week. it's going to be busy, isn't it? this is going to be a very _ busy, isn't it? this is going to be a very busy _ busy, isn't it? this is going to be a very busy week, . busy, isn't it? this is going - to be a very busy week, you're right. i'm in rajasthan which is considered a swing state here in india. at the last election, it went to the ruling party, the bjp. in fact, everywhere around me, you see them coming here this morning,

a lot of bjp flags, even a rally going to be held by the home minister here. that really shows you that the bjp is campaigning hard in this state to make sure that they actually are able to keep it. rajasthan or at least parts of it are going to be voting at the end of this week when the first phase of polling opens up. remember, polling in this country takes seven phases, it will go on for about six weeks and so, although the elections really kick—off this week and first votes happen on friday, we will not actually get a result until somewhere around during the fourth. just result until somewhere around during the fourth.— during the fourth. just talk us throu:h, during the fourth. just talk us through. for— during the fourth. just talk us through, for voters, - during the fourth. just talk us through, for voters, what - during the fourth. just talk us through, for voters, what are | through, for voters, what are the key issues?— through, for voters, what are the key issues? some of the key issues that _ the key issues? some of the key issues that voters _ the key issues? some of the key issues that voters are _ the key issues? some of the key issues that voters are going - the key issues? some of the key issues that voters are going to i issues that voters are going to be looking at are of course something that we see in a lot of elections around the world, issues that have —— people's

pocketbooks and so, is a real crisis when it comes to jobs, especially for young men in this country and, of course, there's also the issue of inflation, rising prices, which is something we have seen across the globe. other more social issues are also in front and present for people in this country. if you listen to what the opposition parties say, they say under prime minister narendra modi in this last decade you've seen a real erosion in freedoms and oppressed freedoms, you see it in terms of freedom of people. if you look at the treatment of minorities in this country, it's become a lot more difficult, especially for muslims. they are the largest minority in this country. so those are some of the key issues that people are going to be looking at with this election.— be looking at with this election. ., , ., ~ election. samira hussain, thank ou election. samira hussain, thank you indeed- _ election. samira hussain, thank

you indeed. we _ election. samira hussain, thank you indeed. we will _ election. samira hussain, thank you indeed. we will be going to | you indeed. we will be going to qatar in our coverage, looking at the economic issues on the minds of voters in india in more detail as i mentioned and we will also look at market reaction to the events over the weekend — the attack of israel on the part of iran, the price of oil edging higher, safe havenis of oil edging higher, safe haven is very much in favour right now as investors move their money. and also, do you like fish and chips? if so, cod or haddock? how about this? a ship worm. it may be what we are eating in the future. ship worm and chips. see you in a moment. hello there. some turbulent weather ahead for the next day or two. low pressure's driving in off the atlantic, giving heavy, thundery and intense showers, spray and standing water, so tricky conditions

on the roads, particularly when you add in the strength of the wind. look at the tightly packed isobars. there will be strong to gale—force winds buffeting the uk during much of monday and into tuesday, and it's coming down from the north—west. in fact, as we head towards tuesday, it starts to come down from the north, so it will feel much colder than it has. temperatures below average. so, we've got some heavy, showery rain pushing its way southwards on a weather front. lots of heavy showers following in behind in colder air, so snow over the mountains. it takes longest to get to southern and eastern areas but temperatures hold up above freezing because of the strength of the wind which takes us through the day today. this line of really intense rains giving some tricky travel conditions, the winds picking up to strong gale—force around the coasts in the west and the south, and lots of showers with hail, with thunder, with snow over the hills and mountains across northern ireland, scotland, possibly the pennines. look at the temperatures — just 9—12 degrees celsius, and it will feel colder still when you add on that wind that will be buffeting the uk. so, squally winds near those

showers which continue well into the night and into tuesday. by that stage, our low pressure's moving out into the north sea, so the winds come down from the north again — enough of it, we think, to prevent a frost in many areas, just like we'll see in the morning the glens of scotland, really. but that cold northerly wind will continue to feed showers into particularly central and eastern areas, fewer further west, but there will be because of the northwesterly, some coming into the west of scotland and into northern ireland but perhaps fewer showers in the west generally compared with monday. but a bracing wind in the north sea coast — 40—50 mph gusts of wind, still holding on for the likes of east anglia so, again, it will feel cold, despite 12—14 inland. i suppose, outside the wind, outside the showers, with more sunshine around, it will feel a little more like mid april. but we have to get to the end of the week to see high pressure building in because still on wednesday, we've got low pressure in charge towards the east.

these weather fronts rounding western areas, just giving patchy rain or drizzle, so things start to settle down later — in fact, temperatures pick up as we head towards friday as well.

live from london. this is bbc news. global markets on edge as tensions escalate in the middle east. the price of gold rises as oil falls.

oilat oil at $90 oilat $90 a oil at $90 a barrel. the tensions in the region continue to cast a shadow on the global economy as business leaders and finance ministers gather in washington for the imf and world bank annual meetings. also on the programme — we'll be live from rio, where one of the biggest tech events of the year, the web summit, kicks off — with the future of ai set to dominate the agenda. and sustainable seafood. could a slimy white mollusc known as the shipworm help solve overfishing around the world? as it too early to talk about shipworm and chips. we will do that in this programme. let's start with the events in the middle east. as we've been reporting, the united nations secretary—general antonio guterres has said it's time to step back from the brink after iran launched

hundreds of missiles and drones at israel late on saturday.