hongkongers like ourselves are looking forward to a very bright and prosperous future, very much thanks to the british. but as we've seen, although it took two decades to happen, china eventually suppressed the student democracy movement, and its enormous economic strength meant that hong kong was subsumed, not the other way round. china prioritised its economic growth, while america had to deal with this. screaming. oh, my god! we've got to go! the us found itself responding to al-qaeda's 911 terrorist attacks, ushering a decade of highly destructive conflict. we're pushing into dora, which is a district

in the south of baghdad. in iraq, a war of choice, the us expended enormous amounts of blood and treasure and ended up opening the door to wider iranian influence, while causing the american public to reject a role as the world's policeman. and for those who yearn for that moment, now we see the consequences. instead of a monopolar world or a two—sided rivalry, like the old cold war, we have one where several large states contest for economic and strategic advantage, and where chaos is increasingly widespread. in ukraine, independent since the soviet collapse, they face an existential struggle. inter—state war has returned to europe. hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded.

russia — animated by nationalism, rather than communism — gambled on western indifference and weakness. well, we haven't been here long, but we're getting a good idea about the constant rockets and defensive fire from the israeli iron dome system. in the middle east, one of the few constants of these past 35 years, the israeli—palestinian struggle proved resistant to peacemaking and has at length now brought a terrible war to gaza. further afield, iran has used its proxies at this moment of turmoil to try to push the americans out and extend its own power across the middle east. and while china and india might be very satisfied at the growth of their economic and military power during these past decades, the united states is beset by its internal divisions, all the more so as this

election year proceeds. many people in these border states believe they want him back in office precisely to finish that job. the rhetoric might be about "making america great again", but the reality of a heavily indebted federal government, a public tired of foreign adventures, and deep social schisms is that the world's most powerful nation is turning inwards, and the contest to fill the vacuum it's left around the world keeps on intensifying. a flavour of some of mark's brilliant reporting. that's all from us tonight. i'll be back tomorrow. goodbye.

breaking news from around the world 2a hours a day. this is bbc news.

donald trump's former lawyer and fixer, michael cohen, has completed his fourth and final day of testimony at the ex—president�*s criminal trial in new york. the prosecution has now rested its case. its star witnesses included mr cohen and stormy daniels, the adult film actress at the centre of the hush—money allegations. our north america correspondent nada tawfik has this update on today's events. this historic trial is winding down. prosecutors today rested their case, but before that, the defence took another crack at trying to undermine michael cohen's credibility. the biggest blow they scored today was having michael cohen admit on the stand that he is still —— he stole

from his former boss, donald trump. michael cohen admitted he invoiced the trump organisation $50,000 for tech services from a company — but he then only paid the company $20,000 and pocketed the rest. he said he did that because he was angry about his bonus being cut. but when the prosecution came back on redirect, they tried to rehabilitate their star witness, refocusing jurors to the fact that michael cohen is not the one on trial, and that michael cohen said he had no doubt that donald trump had authorised him to pay stormy daniels the $130,000 hush money payment over several conversations in october of 2016. but then, the most dramatic moment of this trial yet occurred when the defence began their case and called it wild card witness — robert costello, an attorney who offered his services to michael cohen when federal investigators were investigating him in 2018. now

the prosecution has tried to paint robert costello as part of a pressure campaign to try to keep cohenin pressure campaign to try to keep cohen in donald trump's fold. robert costello testified that michael cohen told him he swore he had nothing on donald trump. costello also saying that he had cohen's interests in mind, not donald trump's. but things got heated as the judge sustained several of the prosecution's objections. robert costello exasperated remarked, "geez." the judge, costello exasperated remarked, "geez." thejudge, angry costello exasperated remarked, "geez." the judge, angry about that, took time to remind him about proper court decorum — but then he got extremely angry, accusing robert costello of staring him down in his own court. he cleared the entire courtroom and told robert costello again how to properly behave. court resumed, but nonetheless that was the most striking moment of today and perhaps many key moments of the

trial. now prosecutors will resumed their questioning of robert costello when court resumes on tuesday, and then next week, closing statements are scheduled, and the jury will soon get this case and decide donald trump ultimate fate. the high court in london has blocked the extradition of the wikileaks founder, julian assange, to the united states. it granted him permission to appeal against the order that he should stand trial for leaking military secrets that endangered lives. the court had previously sought assurances from washington that mr assange�*s free speech would be protected and that he would not face the death penalty if convicted. during the hearing, mr assange�*s lawyer said us promises given so far were inadequate. julian assange has spent more than a decade resisting deportation and facing the espionage charges. our legal correspondent, dominic casciani, explains the key points from the high court's ruling. now the us says it's given

assurances that this is not the type of case where free speech comes into play — but this has not satisfied thejudges here in london. and they've said, "well, we want to have a full appeal on this point, to really try and unpack this." the other point of assurance from the us, thatjulian assange will not face the death penalty — that has been accepted by his team now, that is no longer an issue. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... a woman has died after a dog attack in a house in hornchurch, in east london. police were called just after 1pm this afternoon. officers have seized two xl bullies from the property. —— after 1pm yesterday afternoon. there've been a record number of sightings of asian hornets in the uk — particularly in the south — where they're a growing threat to native bees and insects. the national bee unit said it destroyed 72 nests in 56 locations in 2023 — most of which were in kent. 0ne ofjapan�*s most iconic photo spots is being blocked by authorities frustrated

by tourists disregarding local rules and causing havoc for residents. residents of fujikawaguchiko accuse mainly foreign tourists of dropping rubbish and parking illegally as they search for the perfect photo. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil is at mount fuji and sent us this report. you've probably seen this on your instagram or tiktok. this is the famous mount fuji loss, and the social media money shot for millions of visitors — but it's not going to be around for long. residents here in fujikawaguchiko are fed up with tourists behaving badly — all to get the perfect shot of the convenience store with the snow—capped volcano. as a desperate measure, the local authorities are building a barrier to block the view. well, that's upsetting for the tourists that's going to come here because of those reasons. yeah, i think it's a bit sad to know, so we're lucky to be here before that happens. some locals are also not convinced

that this is the solution. translation: i hope we won't to have to deal with more traffic— and the trust problems, but i'm worried about tourists stepping out onto the street to take pictures when the black screen goes up. translation: traffic here is quite heavy, and we are all very - concerned about accidents. i know it's dangerous, - but i don't want them to put up the black screen. well, the crowd is really picking up now in this spot, and the local security has been warning people, blowing his whistle, shouting at times, telling people to get off the road, to cross the street properly — because there have been so many complains about tourists blocking traffic. you can get a picture of mount fuji from many places — but social media has become a big pull for this particular spot. well, if i didn't have social media, i wouldn't come here. i wouldn't even know that it existed, this place, like this loss exists

with the picture. and because, like, so many people posted it online and maybe just because one person came here, took the picture and it went viral, everyone came here. for the first time ever, japan has had more than three million visitors two months in a row, thanks to a weak yen and the lifting of post—pandemic restrictions. but it's a tough balance to strike for a country with a struggling economy, boosting businesses while protecting residents and popular locations from over—tourism. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, at mount fuji. the chelsea flower show opens to the public on tuesday. 0n the eve of the grand opening, king charles and queen camilla got a sneak preview. earlier, the king was announced as the new patron of the royal horticultural society — taking overfrom his late mother, who was patron for 70 years. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph reports. a first visit to the most famous of flower shows in his new role as patron of the royal horticultural society. the king, the keenest of gardeners himself, will cast an expert eye over this

year's crop of show gardens and exhibits. what he'll see this evening is a focus on the next generation of gardeners. for the first time, children will be judges at chelsea — 72 in all — selecting the children's choice garden. we're going around gardens and judging them to see if we like them or not and, like, the meanings behind it and stuff. to be honest, the best garden so far has been this one. it's like... it has everything a really good garden needs. a place to feel calm and, like, a place to really think. the power of gardening to transform lives also features. nettie served five years in prison, where she did a horticultural qualification. 0n release, it gave her a job offering training and support to women prisoners. this year, the glasshouse is exhibiting at chelsea. knowing that, you know, there's more adventures for me with these plants, knowing that people respect me now,

knowing that people believe in me, it'sjust amazing. as ever, there is a certain glamour to the opening day of the flower show, with celebrities sharing their gardening triumphs and disasters. well, not my wisteria. seven years in and there's still no flowers. so i'm hoping to get some tips today on how to get those flowers to bloom! i've just been updating my vegetable patch. . i'm now tackling - cucumbers, courgettes. i've also got tomatoes - in and lettuces, and i've always been scared of lettuces because of the slugs. l so i think it's going to be a busy year, with going out after dark, | trying to pick them off. i have to say, it's coming from the wilderness, which is my garden, into thought—out, careful, beautifully planned, colourful. my garden, i love with all my heart, but it had to get away from me this year because i've been away so much. a new addition that will please the king this year is a green medal for sustainability — a reward for gardens judged to have the lowest carbon footprint.

more than 150,000 visitors are expected over the next five dave. —— next five days. stay with us here on bbc news, coming up i'll have all the business news stories with business today, including an ai conference currently taking place in seoul, to try and respond to calls for better regulation of artificial intelligence. see you in a few minutes, bye for now. hello. we have had some late spring sunshine over recent days, also a few showers around — and we'll see a few more of them over the next few days. in fact, between tuesday and friday, the weather turns more unsettled. this is the rainfall we're expected to accumulate — and you can see, particularly across the northeast of scotland, some places will see close to 100 millimetres of rain by the end of the week. so things certainly turning more unsettled gradually. as for tuesday, after a bit of a misty, murky start, some scattered showers building during the afternoon, but they will be fairly hit and miss.

i think tuesday will dawn with some sea fog across the far northeast of scotland, aberdeenshire towards 0rkney, also some mist and fog around some other north sea coasts, northern ireland too. some patchy rain i think almost anywhere by the afternoon, but the areas most likely to see it, perhaps some heavy showers for the southwest of england, 1—2 in the southeast, could be some thunderstorms around. showers fairly few and far between across parts of wales, northern england, but some heavy potentially thundery ones likely tuesday afternoon across northern ireland, and a scattering of showers for central parts of scotland, as well. some areas staying a little bit murky close to the north sea coasts all day tuesday, and that sea fog will roll back in across parts of scotland as we head overnight into wednesday. we'll also start to see more persistent rain working in across this zone of eastern england and central scotland. and it'll be quite a mild night, with those temperatures staying well in double figures. now into wednesday — and low pressure looks like it'll move in from the near continent, and just push its way gradually further north across parts of northern england and scotland, as well.

so you can see the blue and green colours indicating the more persistent spells of rain we're likely to see on wednesday around the east coast in particular. for northern ireland, wales, perhaps central and southern england, it'll be a day of sunny spells and some scattered showers, but temperatures down a notch compared to recent days — so highs between about 17—19 for most, but a little bit cooler close to some of those coasts. into thursday, we've still got low pressure — this time, it stalls across scotland in particular, so it's feeding in more moisture for parts of highland. aberdeenshire, for instance, as well. could be some localised flooding as those rainfall totals mount up elsewhere. elsewhere, some sunshine, a few scattered showers, especially around some of those north sea coasts, and it is that bit cooler. so the middle of the week, fairly unsettled, some showers on the cards. it does look like the showers become fewer towards the weekend, and for some of us, those temperatures will be on the rise once again. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. to fully commit to a cause is to put

the political above the personal. it has lifelong ramifications, not just for the activist, but for those closest to them. and no—one knows this better than my guest today, the writer gillian slovo, whose parents, joe slovo and ruth first, were hugely important figures in south africa's liberation struggle against apartheid. from teenage, gillian�*s home has been in the uk and her recent writing digs deep into british culture. but how much distance is there from her extraordinary south african backstory?