people were wounded has been described by police as a "terrorist" act. donald trump heads back to court as jury selection gets underway in his new york �*hush money�* trial. it's a scam. it's a political witchhunt! it's continues, it continues forever. and we are not going to be given a fair trial. it's a very, very sad thing. hello and thank you forjoining us. we begin in israel where the war cabinet has met to discuss its response to iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack. it is still not known whether a decision has been reached. the white house has described iran 5 attack on israel over the weekend as a spectacular and embarrassing failure.

nearly all of the more than 300 missiles and drones were shot down. israels military chief has again said the attack will be met with a response — despite the fact that many of israel's allies have warned against escalation. here's our middle east corrrespondent lucy williamson. israel is deciding how to respond to this — hundreds of drones and missiles fired over the weekend from iran. damage on the ground was limited. damage to regional stability, much more severe. at an airbase hit by missiles in the negev desert today, israel's chief of staff promised a response. iran will face the consequences for its actions. we will choose our response accordingly. the idf remains ready to counter any threat from iran and its terror proxies.

israel says only a handful of missiles made it through air defences, but this direct confrontation with iran, the first on israeli soil, has thrown the middle east off balance. what's shaken israel in these attacks isn't the damage caused, but how they happened — with drones and missiles sent straight from iran. and what these strikes left broken isn't so much infrastructure, it's iran's fear of launching a direct attack. iran's attack came with careful signalling. its government warned israel's allies of the strikes and said and what these strikes left broken isn't so much infrastructure, it's iran's fear of launching they were punishment for an assassination in syria, and that iran now considered the matter closed. translation: our advice to all the supporters - of the zionist regime is to appreciate iran's responsible and measured action, and dissuade the zionist regime from committing more wicked acts, which would bring incalculable

consequences. but israel has said it will exact a price in return. its prime minister — under pressure from allies to de—escalate the situation — has been discussing with his war cabinet, and today with opposition leaders, exactly what that price should be. one former diplomat with the experience of iran says military action is only one option. our military options are far more varied than the iranians, and frankly, the iranian barrage was a demonstration of weakness, not of strength. there is clearly a strong need for israel to, however it decides to respond, and the response can come in many different ways, notjust military. israel is already fighting iranian—backed groups, in gaza to the south and lebanon to the north.

a far less powerful opponent delivered a major blow on the 7th of october. israel's challenge now is how to restore a fear of conflict in its biggest enemy without triggering a war. lucy williamson, bbc news. for more analysis, we can speak to javed ali, an associate professor of practice at the university of michigan's gerald r. ford school of public policy. he previously held positions in the us defense intelligence agency and the department of homeland security beforejoining the fbi. he joins us now from ann arbor in michigan. israel has vowed to respond to iran's attack. how real is the risk of escalation? and what might a full—blown conflict look like? there are multiple options that israel is potentially considering and one of them despite the rhetoric might be to not do anything although i

don't think that is very likely. if you take the do nothing option off the table, what are the other ones? one might be to put the response back into the shadow war arena and i've been writing and talking about that frequently in the past couple of weeks and israel has already demonstrated that they can inflict pressure on the interests of iran in the region through those operations in the damascus operation was crossing a threshold into a higher threshold of strikes against the italian military officers who at that facility in damascus but they can go back to the shadows, but on the flip side if there was to be an escalation, looking at what he did to israel which is crossing another threshold, would israel be so bold as to try to attempt something like that directly against iran, some combination of cruise or ballistic missiles

and air strikes which iran does not have the capability to deal against. but israel are also special operations raids and cyber attacks, that's probably a package of things that israel is considering that they could do if they wanted to escalate but nobody knows if that is the direction from benjamin netanyahu. now that this line has been crossed and iran has directly engaged with israel do you expect to see a general change in tactics or a return to the relative status quo of hybrid attacks, proxies and aggressive rhetoric? exactly. that is the thing that could potentially push the region into a different phase of volatility if israel directly responds to iran with operations inside iran that are very kinetic and most likely will likely have a higher rate of success than we saw with

iran, then then that is how things will unravel from that point because iran would be forced to respond to that escalation, so it will be really interesting to see what decision israel chooses and then how do they calibrate that with all of the other pressures they face with the domestic pressure and benjamin netanyahu is facing that domestic pressure and the unfinished war against hamas in gaza and the humanitarian aspect and his politt in the skirmishes in the north and the us is saying with president biden but these attempts to de—escalate the situation, so there's so many variables in play and even if israel has operational capability to do —— deliver a punishing blow it doesn't mean they are going to do it. tell us about — they are going to do it. tell us about the _ they are going to do it. tell us about the balancing act that is being navigated here? the

statement — is being navigated here? the statement from _ is being navigated here? tue statement from president is being navigated here? tte statement from president biden on saturday night, some of these televised remarks or captured in print media, they success the us is walking a tightrope so on the one hand it's trying to signal its ironclad commitment to israel's's defence and that's the word president by the news and it was in full play in the events of saturday with the british government and the french government and other partners where they worked together to help intercept those weapons headed towards israel in addition to its capabilities but conversely president biden said openly that he is not willing to get involved in an offensive strike by israel against iran and i would have to think it means attacks inside iran itself, so that's the line where the us sits and already that political relationship between israel and the us has been complicated over the last few months

because of the humanitarian situation in gaza and the fact that the hostages have not recovered including american members as well, so there's a lot to consider going forward. there certainly is. thank you for giving us that context. we heard there has been a phone call with the remaining counterparts and and we've heard from china's foreign ministry that their top diplomat wang yi has held a phone call with his iranian counterpart. mr wang said china noted iran's argument that it had exercised its right to self—defense after israel killed several top iranian commanders at a consulate in syria. he also said iran understood the seriousness of the situation and would avoid further escalation. a reminder then of how far—reaching the implications of these conflicts in middle east can be. we'll keep you up to date on any developments here on newsday as well as on our website. some developing news from sydney now — where police have declared a stabbing at a church as a terrorist incident.

a teenage boy was arrested after a bishop and several churchgoers were stabbed while giving a sermon that was being live streamed. the incident happened on monday evening at the christ the good shepherd church in the suburb of wakeley. at least four people were stabbed but police said none of their injuries were life—threatening. police say the man arrested for the stabbing at a sydney church was known to them — but was not on any terror watch list. the commissioner of new south wales police gave this update a short while ago. the things that influenced my decision to declare this a terrorist incident was the actions of the individual who attended. we allege that he attended that church with a knife, armed with a knife and stabbed the bishop, the priest and others were also injured. we believe there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism, and, of course, the intimidation of the public through that person's acts.

by attending that church whilst it was being live streamed, intimidating not only the parishioners in attendance but those parishioners who were watching online and subsequently, those people that turned up to the church on the outside and the subsequent riot that happened. this is the second attack in sydney in the past four days. in a seperate incident, six people were stabbed to death in a shopping centre. the father of the man responsible has apologised for his son's actions — saying his mental health problems made him a �*very sick boy'. police say they are investigating whetherjoel cauchi intentionally targeted women. here's katy watson. australia's most famous landmark reflecting the pain of a nation. all the victims have now been named. pikria darchia, originally from georgia, dawn singleton, who was planning her wedding. jade young was an architect and mother.

osteopath ashlee good died protecting her nine—month—old baby. yixuan cheng, a chinese student whose picture is yet to be released. and this was security guard faraz tahir, the only man killed as he tried to intervene in the attack. one man who confronted the attacker, warding him off with a bollard, has been telling his story. he didn't say anything, actually. he wasjust, like, very tall, a bit skinny. but the eyes was like empty eyes. it was like, er... he wasn't there. he wasn't like really there, actually. joel cauchi, who was shot dead by a police officer after going on a stabbing spree in this shopping centre, had a history of mental illness. detectives are investigating whether he targeted women in the attack, but they still want to find a motive by speaking to those who knew him. earlier, his parents spoke out.

this is a parent's absolute nightmare, when they have a child with mental illness, that something like this would happen. and my heart goes out to the people our son has hurt. if he was in his right mind, he would be absolutely devastated at what he's done. do you have any reason - to understand why he would have targeted women? yes. why? because he wanted a girlfriend. and he's got no social skills, and he was frustrated out of his brain. and this evening, more horror and fear in western sydney as a bishop and several other people were stabbed during a sermon that was being livestreamed. the two attacks are not connected, but tensions remain high. one man was arrested and police said nobody hurt had life—threatening injuries, but they asked the public to stay away from the area. videos on social media showed people protesting outside the church. australia is still reeling. these past few days have been difficult for the community here in bondijunction and beyond. katy watson,

bbc news in sydney. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to the united states now, where donald trump has marked the end of the first day of a landmark trial against him in new york by telling reporters "it's a scam." mr trump was speaking after becoming the first ever us president — former or current — to face criminal charges in court. he denies trying to disguise a hush money payment to an adult film star in 2016. our north america editor sarah smith reports on the dramatic events of the day.

our north america editor sarah smith reports on the dramatic events of the day. it's become a well rehearsed ritual — donald trump's performance on his way to court. but this time it's very different. the first criminal trial of a former president, and it comes with a possible prison sentence. just look at his face. he seems drained of all his usual bombast, while insisting he is the victim of a conspiracy to derail his presidential campaign. this is political persecution. this is a persecution like never before. nobody�*s ever seen anything like it. and, again, it's a case that should never have been brought. it's an assault on america, and that's why i'm very proud to be here. loyal trump supporters, and many ordinary voters, do believe he is being unfairly targeted. they are weaponising

the criminaljustice system against their political enemies and it's not right. i will fight for this - man till the day i die, and if they put him injail, - there are going to be millions of americans like me that| are going to grab our guns and have a civil war. trump opponents were also demonstrating outside the court. he has been a lifelong grifter and should never have gotten to the point where he could even be president of the united states because he should've been arrested and injail long ago for all the people he has ripped off over the years. when the porn star stormy daniels claimed they had had an affair, he paid her $130,000 hush money just before the 2016 election. he is now accused of illegally falsifying business records to hide that payment. tv cameras are not allowed inside. sketches show some of the action as lawyers clashed over what evidence could be used in the trial. photos from the start of the proceedings show mr trump looking sombre and very tired.

fidgeting a lot in his seat at times, he also appeared to nod off at one point, mouth slack, head drooping. he scrutinised the list of questions, asked of hundreds of potentialjurors to ascertain their neutrality, including where they get their news and if they've ever been to a trump rally. over 60 have already admitted they cannot be fair and impartial about donald trump. finding 12 people both sides believe will be evenhanded could take weeks. obviously he prefers the campaign trail, but now he has to fit that around his court dates. bringing the trial centre stage as he attacked the judge at a rally in pennsylvania just two days ago. this has never happened before, by the way. you do know that, right? fully gagged before a highly conflicted and corruptjudge who suffers from tds. does anyone know what tds is? correct — trump derangement syndrome. this case could last for months, with donald trump having to be here almost every

day. renato stabile is a criminal attorney who does jury consulting, advising legal teams on their trial strategy. he explained the main issues to know about this stage of the trial. well, you know, i think we saw today that this is going to be a very slow process. the court had to take up some preliminary matters this morning. jurors didn't get into the courtroom until after lunch. and then when the judge asked who cannot be fair and impartial, approximately 50% of them raised their hands. that's an extraordinary number of jurors who were just allowed to raise their hands and walk out the door. so i think it's going to be many, many days before we see the jury in this case. yeah, we understand there are 500 prospective jurors to get through. what are they being asked and how will that inform who the defence and prosecution look to strike off? yeah, so, they're going to each be going through and

—— in probably groups of 20, a 42 question questionnaire. now it is not a written questionnaire. each juror will individually have to answer these questions orally. now, granted, a lot of them are yes/no questions, that it can move through them very quickly. but some of them will ask them, you know, have they ever supported donald trump? are they members of the oath keepers or the proud boys? do they subscribe to truth social? what news outlets do they look at? because all of those things will give the lawyers insight into their political ideology. but keep in mind, some people might not be comfortable answering questions like that in open court and may be asking for the privacy of what we call a side bar where they can answer those questions in private. and will the trump team be looking for spoilers, perhaps hoping for a mistrial or a hung jury versus trying for a full acquittal? well, you know, as you know, manhattan, new york county, where this trial is being held, is probably 85% democrat, maybe only 9% republican, and the rest are independents. so, yeah, i think a win for the trump team would be able to get one of those republicans or maybe

independents that don't have a particularfeeling one way or the other onto the jury and hang the jury. i think a full acquittal here is going to be very, very difficult in manhattan. now this trial will be a political spectacle. willjury safety be a concern? i mean, i don't think jury safety is a concern for the parties. but i mean, of course, today i was outside of the courthouse and you saw it was mostly donald trump supporters. there is a group of people in the park that's across the street from the courthouse with all kinds of flags, probably 100, maybe 120. but there was also a pick—up truck that kept circling the block over and over again with blacked out windows and trump logos all over this black pick—up truck. and it had spiked hubcaps, something out of gladiator days, and it was blasting music. you know, jurors may see that.

i don't think that person was a trump supporter, but i don't think that person is doing trump any favours because jurors might see that and become concerned for their safety and not want any part of this. at least 50 countries around the world will be heading to the polls this year. but when it comes to the numbers — one stands above the rest. india's general election — to be held over six weeks starting from friday — 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. most of mr modi's support comes from india's northern states — but he's campaigning heavily in the south, where the bjp barely has a presence. our south asia correspondent samira hussain reports. drumming up support. blessings in return. in india's southern states,

regional parties dominate. here in tamil nadu, the dmk won a clear majority in the last election, while prime minister narendra modi's party, the bjp, did not win even a single seat and has limited presence anywhere else in the south. mr modi is desperate to change that because, for the bjp, every single seat matters. however hard the bjp tries, they will never be able to make inroads here. what we stand for — the values of self—respect, you know, respect for our culture, a great love for our language, our identity. this is antithetical to the notion of hindutva and far right and kind of strife causing and rabble rousing and, you know, percentage politics. so there's a profound conflict of the values that will succeed in

tamilnadu and the values that the bjp espouses. the bjp may disagree. nevertheless, the prime minister has made eight trips since january. and then there is kay amali young and tamil speaking, a strong orator, able to connect to the people in their own language. hundreds have come out in support of the bjp's men here in tamil nadu. the party is hoping that with the prime minister's support and his charisma that he'll be able to crack the south. do you think you're going to win? i'm the person we are going to win. we are very confident. we are doing our hard work. we are doing our groundwork. and more importantly, modiji is there. he's a brand that has entered every house. he's the brand for integrity. he's the brand for honesty. he's the brand for hard work. that brand doesn't work

for voters like saraswati. she gets 1,000 rupees a month from the state government, which she uses for house expenses. both her kids get money for school. these welfare benefits have changed her life. do you think that you could ever vote for the bjp? i am very decisive about voting for dmk. even if others have done good work, i have always voted for dmk. that is what i wish to do. regional parties like the dmk will likely continue to dominate because the message the bjp is peddling ofa pan—india hindi speaking identityjust doesn't resonate with the people here. samira hussain, bbc news. that's all for now —

stay with bbc news. hello there. it was a very unsettled day on monday, very windy for many of us with widespread gales and a whole mixture of weather conditions. tuesday looks a little bit quieter. it'll still be quite blustery. there'll be sunshine, a few showers around, but it'll stay on the cool side for the time of year. in this cooler air mass, which was introduced across the uk by monday's area of low pressure, will be sitting to the east of the country for tuesday. so it's here where we'll see most of the showers, the strongest of the winds, the further west you are, closer to this area of high pressure, then it'll be a little bit quieter. so we start off on a chilly note for tuesday morning. quite a bit of sunshine around. a few showers from the word go across northern and eastern areas, and these showers will affect northern scotland, wintriness on the hills. into the afternoon, some heavier showers, perhaps some hail and thunder affecting the midlands into southeast england.

and a fairly breezy day to come, not as windy as monday — those are mean wind speeds. temperature wise, probably a little bit better than monday, up to 13 celsius in the south. so with some light winds, some sunshine, it won't feel too bad, but cooler along north sea coasts, single digits there. tuesday night, we continue to see clear spells, further bands of showers, especially across northern scotland, where it'll turn quite windy again and stay cool as well with some snow on the hills there. touch of frost in some sheltered glens, otherwise, it's quite a chilly night, i think, to start wednesday morning. so wednesday itself, we'll have some showers draped across eastern areas. these weather fronts may bring some cloud and rain to the far west of the country. and once again, we're in a slightly cooler air mass. wednesday, could be a little bit cooler than tuesday. so we start off on a chilly note, plenty of sunshine around. there will be showers again across northern and eastern scotland, eastern england, more cloud here.

and these weather fronts could bring cloud outbreaks of rain to northern ireland. a bit of a question mark to how far eastwards it moves, but it could affect parts of wales and south west england through the afternoon, the best and the brightest through the spine of the country. temperatures range of nine to 11 or 12 celsius, so a bit below average. thursday into friday, we see a spell of wet, windy weather across the north of the uk, something drier in the south. and then this area of high pressure wants to build in in time for the weekend. so that will bring a very much needed quieter, drier spell of weather as we push towards the end of the week. and with a bit more sunshine around, light winds, it'll feel a bit warmer as well.

trouble at tesla, a former ev executives says ev executives says she was accused of stealing. oil prices are flat after iran's weekend attack on israel, but uncertainty is still plaguing the markets. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. a tesla whistle—blower who has battled elon musk and tesla through the courts for a decade has told the bbc she is still seeking a public apology for how she was treated after raising a safety concern about its vehicles.

until 2014, cristina balan was a rising star within the electric car firm in the us.