live from washington, this is bbc news. an appeals court overturns the rape description of disgraced former hollywood producer harvey weinstein, ordering a new trial. humanitarian groups warn of worsening conditions inside gaza as the us military begins construction of a temporary pier to boost aid deliveries. the us supreme court considers whether donald trump is immune from prosecution from actions he took while in office. and in venice, the city takes a new step towards reining in tourism. hello. new york's top court has overturned the 2020 rape conviction of disgraced hollywood producer harvey weinstein, paving the

way for a new trial. in a was a 4—3 ruling, the state's court of appeals found mr weinstein did not get a fair trial, saying the judge made a mistake by allowing women to testify about allegations that were not part of the charges he faced. the accusations against mr weinstein began in 2017. they sparked the movement known as #metoo that exposed sexual abuse at the highest levels of hollywood and beyond. the 72—year—old will remain in prison, serving a 16—year sentence for rape in a separate case in la — that conviction is not directly affected by this ruling. emma vardy has more from los angeles. when harvey weinstein — one of the most powerful men in hollywood — was accused of rape, it led to an outpouring about a culture of sexual assault and misogyny experienced by women around the world — what became known as the #metoo movement. many women came forward, accusing harvey weinstein of forcing them into sex. for years, there was a fear of speaking out, they said, because of his ability

to make or break careers. but now, the rape conviction against harvey weinstein that came out of the #metoo movement has been overturned in new york. the court of appeal said prosecutors had called witnesses whose accusations were not part of the charges against him. that meant, it said, he was unfairly tried for past behaviour. harvey weinstein was also convicted of rape in a separate case here in la. last year, he was sentenced to 16 years for raping a woman in a beverly hills hotel. he will remain in prison while a decision is made in new york over whether to retry him. harvey weinstein�*s lawyer has commended the appeals court, he said for upholding the principles that should govern a criminal trial. in this courthouse behind us, at that trial, the law was not applied fairly to harvey weinstein. you can't throw out 100 years of legal precedent because someone is unpopular. harvey weinstein�*s conviction

in california is also being appealed. his legal team are looking into what implications the new york ruling could have here. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. one of the first women to go public with allegations against harvey weinstein was actress ashleyjudd. she says the court overturning his 2020 conviction is an act of institutional betrayal. speaking to the bbc, she shared more reaction to the decision. it's a hard day for survivors but we live in our truth, we know what happened, and the truth is consistent. you know, when harvey sexually harassed me and defamed and interfered with my economic and creative opportunities after i escaped him in that hotel room in 1996, i told anyone who would listen. i was filming kiss the girls at the time. i went straight to the set and told gary fleder, the director, told the screenplay writer, told my agent and no—one listened and there were all the systems thatjust not only tolerated,

but enabled him — both men and women — at the time. and part of what's so important about the #metoo movement is not only do men who stay silent about other men's violence longer no tolerate that, but that we end impunity. here in washington, the us supreme court heard arguments over whether former president donald trump can be prosecuted for actions he took while in office. mr trump claims he is entitled to absolute immunity, shielding him from being charged for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. thejustices, however, were split on just how much immunity mrtrump should be granted. the bbc�*s gary o'donohoe has more from the us�*s top court. around three hours or so of arguments before thejustices — quite a quite a long session. and the question, the essential question, does a president, does donald trump have immunity from criminal prosecution for acts he committed

while he was in the white house? now, the previous courts have said no to that question. donald trump's lawyers say yes, and there's constitutional basis. but jack smith, the special counsel who is, of course, prosecuting donald trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the events around january the sixth and the attack on the capitol, he says no—one is above the law, and that's what the justices have been wrestling with. they, i think, were pretty sceptical of the idea of total immunity from prosecution. now, that may be bad news for donald trump, but they also may want to make a kind of distinction between acts done as a private citizen or for private reasons, and acts done as official as part of the officialjob. and that may mean they push this back down to the lower courts, which could delay the case even further. and we're already looking at a very tight timetable forjack smith, the special counsel, to bring this case before the election. donald trump himself

was not in washington — he was in a courtroom in new york, where the first ever criminal trial of a us president is under way, and he addressed the supreme court case. the us supreme court had a monumental hearing on immunity and the immunity having to do with the presidential immunity. and i think it was made clear — i hope it was made clear — that a president has to have immunity or you don't have a president — or, at most, you cam say they would be a ceremonial president. that's not the founders had in mind. they're not talking about ceremonial — we want presidents that can get things done and bring people together. so, i heard the meeting was quite amazing. quite amazing. and thejustices were on their game. in new york, donald trump is accused of covering up the hush money payment to an adult film star, which he denies. on day seven, the key witness was former national enquirer publisher david pecker. he testified for more than four hours, discussing the work that he said he did for former

president donald trump, whom he called �*the boss'. nada tawfik has the details. the first witness, david pecker, the former publisher of the national enquirer, was back on the stand, giving more testimony about the alleged �*catch and kill�* scheme that he was a part of, along with president donald trump and michael cohen, allegedly. now, he said that when a former playboy model, karen mcdougal, was shopping her story about an alleged affair with donald trump, that michael cohen directed him to pay her $150,000 to suppress her story. he said the boss — meaning donald trump — would take care of the payment. but then, david pecker said his counsel advised him against being reimbursed, and he said that they thought it was a campaign finance violation, that payment. so, david pecker, when it came to being told about stormy daniels and her story,

he said that he refused to pay her $130,000 to buy her story, instead telling michael cohen that "the boss would probably want him" — cohen, "to buy it to suppress the story". but then, we heard from the defence and in their questioning, they really sought to get pecker to really characterise the catch and kill scheme, as prosecutors have put it as standard operating procedure for a tabloid and not a criminal conspiracy that violated electoral laws. the defence asked him about that and he said yes, they often did buy stories and not publish them, and that he often suppressed stories for celebrities such as arnold schwarzenegger, tiger woods and even a high—profile democrat rahm emanuel, the former white house chief of staff for barack 0bama.

the un relief agency for palestinians is warning about disease outbreaks in gaza amid worsening weather conditions, lack of sufficient water and waste disposal. the us military confirmed it started the construction of a temporary pier off the coast of gaza to boost aid deliveries. following reports that the israel defense forces are preparing for a ground offensive in the city of rafah, satellite images show new tent encampments in southern gaza. wyre davis has more. it's pretty clear now that israel's preparations for this much—anticipated, much—heralded assault on rafah, in southern gaza, are gathering pace. there's been an all—day meeting of the israeli war cabinet. it is still israel's intentions to finish off hamas, notjust politically but also militarily. according to israeli sources, about 25% of hamas�*s fighting force remains, along with the leadership, and most of it is thought to be in rafah in southern gaza. alongside, though, of course, it must be remembered that about 130 hostages, those that were taken and abducted into gaza on october 7.

so, there's also 1.5 million gazans or thereabouts, internal refugees, thought to be in rafah, and that is why the international community — in particular, the americans and british and other allies of israel — have urged israel not to undertake this big, full—scale military operation in order to get or to facilitate the movement of some of those internal refugees because there's already a humanitarian crisis in gaza and the prospect of a big military operation alongside more than a million internal refugees is something a lot of people don't want to consider. the one thing that might prevent a big military operation happening is if peace talks, or talks about a ceasefire between the israelis and hamas, were suddenly to get somewhere. those peace talks haven't really got anywhere in recent days. the mediators, the egyptians in particular and qataris, have expressed some frustration at the big distance between the two sides. there are reports in israel tonight that egyptian negotiators are due to meet the israelis, perhaps with a view to getting those talks about a ceasefire

going again. but as things stand, but as things stand, there are no talks about a ceasefire and israel's military operation is still looking as though it will happen at some point in the nearfuture. it has been nearly a month since seven workers from the world central kitchen aid group were killed in gaza by israeli forces. on thursday, they were remembered in a ceremony held in washington. the founder of the us—based charity chefjose andres gave an emotional eulogy at the memorial service, saying they risked everything to feed people they didn't know. with his voice breaking at times, he demanded more answers from the israeli army. i know we all have many unanswered questions about what happened, and why. there is excuse for these killings. none. the official explanation is not good enough and we are still,

obviously, demanding an investigation into the actions of the idf against ourteam. even one innocent life taken is one too many. stu d e nts students at us universities are continuing to protest against the war in gaza. the commencement ceremony was cancelled, it traditionally hosts about 65,000 students and their loved ones. 0n hosts about 65,000 students and their loved ones. on thursday afternoon, officers and activists clashed at emory university in atlanta, georgia. several students and the professor arrested. police have arrested hundreds of people at us campuses, including columbia, brown and the university of texas. president biden was greeted by science saying genocidejoe upon his

arrival at an official campaign eventin arrival at an official campaign event in syracuse new york. students at yale university told the bbc they blame him and the us government for supplying weapons that israel has used in its bombardment of gaza. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a big story making use of the uk. scotland's first minister humza yousaf faces the threat of being ousted after his party's former coalition partner said they will vote against him when he faces a no—confidence vote in parliament. the greens said on thursday they'lljoin some other parties to vote against the scottish national party leader. yousaf had ended a power—sharing agreement between the snp and the greens just hours earlier. the coalition ran into trouble over a failure to meet a key climate change target and a dispute over transgender healthcare. it is now myjudgement that the balance has shifted. the bute house agreement was intended to provide stability to the scottish government, and it is made possible a number of achievements, but it has

served its purpose. the first minister has decided, i'm sorry to say, to capitulate to the most reactionary, backward—looking forces within the snp, and it's the opposite of what is in scotland's best interests. the vote could come next week. you're live with bbc news. antony blinken is meeting china's foreign minister as part of a troop aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries. blinken and wannyi are expected to discuss restoring connections between the us and chinese militaries and the ukrainian wall. he spoke about direct engagement, saying china and the us must resolve their differences responsibly although tensions have eased

between the two nations since last year. this agreement on issues such as trade and security remain. tom bateman is travelling with mr brinkmann. 0ne one of the main messages will be about the war in ukraine. it's a warning, really, from the americans to the chinese, urging them to curb the us says it is the export of machine tools, of microchips that they say russia is using to build weapons for its war in ukraine and they want the chinese to stop exporting those components. secretary blinken has called china the primary contributor to russia's military industrial base when it comes to the war in ukraine, soa it comes to the war in ukraine, so a warning there but the chinese already countered this, they have hit back, and called

it a groundless accusation, first of all. also saying that the americans are being hypocritical. it was only days before mr blinken flew here to china that congress passed a multibillion—dollar package of little assistance for the ukrainians, so that's why china says this is effectively american hypocrisy. what's going on with the chinese here, i think, is that they are pushing back on the americans. they say that washington is trying to contain them commercially, trying to encircle them geopolitically. the american say, well, they would lift sanctions or tariffs if beijing changes its behaviour. so, there is still a lot of friction, a lot of about this relationship. but we've also heard more about the desire, i think by both sides, to try to stabilise this relationship, keep it on an even keel and the first part of this visit in shanghai, mr

blinken said they have a responsibility to the whole world to manage the relationship and the most senior chinese communist party official in shanghai said the us and china can choose, in his words, between cooperation or confrontation, and he said the whole of humanity had its fate resting on how they manage the relationship. tom bateman reporting. to haiti, where a new transitional council have been sworn in following the resignation of prime minister ariel henri. the government shake—up follows a recent surge in gang violence across the nation. the group, which is backed by other caribbean nations and the us, will try to restore order and democratic rule in haiti. more now with our caroll spinney and correspondent who is in haiti and i understand you are there for this swearing—in ceremony and there

are champagne toasts but also a few streets away there was gunfire in the streets? talk us through this moment and what it means for the country.— means for the country. there were actually _ means for the country. there were actually two _ means for the country. there | were actually two ceremonies and in automatic how violent parts of the capital has become, the first held a secret ceremony, so we had all of the other local journalists were ceremony, so we had all of the other localjournalists were in an upscale part of port—au—prince while secretly, the council was being sworn in in downtown port—au—prince at the national palace. for security reasons, they did not tell many people about this and we have video from people at the ceremony, officials, with gunfire breaking out.- gunfire breaking out. wow. breakina gunfire breaking out. wow. breaking up _ gunfire breaking out. wow. breaking up while - gunfire breaking out. wow. breaking up while the - gunfire breaking out. wow. breaking up while the newl gunfire breaking out. wow. - breaking up while the new prime minister spoke and later on other council members were gathered and when the council moved to pentonville, the prime minister's office, it was a bit

more quiet, you could not hear the gunfire from there but still appreciate the billowing black smoke coming from downtown port—au—prince as well as very heavy military presence.— as very heavy military presence. as very heavy military resence. . , , presence. clearly there will be a lot on the — presence. clearly there will be a lot on the plate _ presence. clearly there will be a lot on the plate for- presence. clearly there will be a lot on the plate for this - presence. clearly there will be a lot on the plate for this new| a lot on the plate for this new transitional council to deal with. is there the feeling there in the country that it's up there in the country that it's up these challenges? it’s up these challenges? it's unclear yet. _ up these challenges? it's unclear yet. i _ up these challenges? it's unclear yet. i think - up these challenges? it�*s unclear yet. i think many haitians hope they are but there been disappointed so many times as they told me, that sort of fear having hope but at this point, has been more than 2500 people injured or killed just from january to march alone and more than 90,000 people have left the capital itself in search of safer towns and cities in northern and southern haiti and so, it remains to be seen. it took a month and a day for this council to finally be formed. there is still a new prime minister possibly to be chosen, the interim foreign minister is the interim foreign minister is the finance minister so there

is a lot to go and still they would like to hold general elections as well and have a president sworn in by february seven, 2026. —— interim prime minister. seven, 2026. -- interim prime minister-— minister. how realistic is that? it's _ minister. how realistic is that? it's a _ minister. how realistic is that? it's a big _ minister. how realistic is that? it's a big goal - minister. how realistic is that? it's a big goal for l minister. how realistic is l that? it's a big goal for the that? it's a big goalfor the council, a couple of years. is it possible? i've been talking about elections for many years now in haiti.— now in haiti. right, they haven't _ now in haiti. right, they haven't held _ now in haiti. right, they haven't held elections i now in haiti. right, they. haven't held elections here now in haiti. right, they- haven't held elections here in almost a decade and that was back when the gang violence was not as widespread as it is today so it's hard to say. i mean, obviously the first thing is how to quell the violence. some people have said a deal must be reached with the gangs because before, the political and economic inaudible 80, there've been manipulating gangs and financing them but the gangs have grown independent now so it all depends on how much they control the gang violence as to whether they can quell some of that in order to have a safe space for general elections.

what comes next now, do you think, for the former prime minister ariel henry? he signed his resignation letter from minister ariel henry? he signed his resignation letterfrom los angeles. is it possible he may never re—enter haiti again? if you talk to some experts, they would take his life is in danger if he re—enters. we haven't been able to speak to him personally to get his thoughts on whether he plans to remain —— re—enter. he is currently with family in california. it's unclear what his future would be. i think at least in the people i have talked to not many would be happy to see him, just in terms of what has happened to the country. they blame a lot of the country's woes on him, the lack of social services, ongoing violence, so i think at this point forjust regular this point for just regular haitians, this point forjust regular haitians, he is inaudible. we have about — haitians, he is inaudible. we have about one minute left, if you don't mind, just briefly, is there any hope on the horizon in terms of getting aid

into the country and food to those who need it? we know the humanitarian situation is really on the brink. correct. the seaport _ really on the brink. correct. the seaport is _ really on the brink. correct. the seaport is paralysed. i the seaport is paralysed. international airport in port—au—prince has remained shut since march the fourth. as you said, there's very little suppliers, just some basic medication for diabetes and high blood pressure and cancer, hiv. food, water, all of that is sorely lacking and even when it does come in, it cannot always reach the people who needed the most because these are areas that are undergoing control and sometimes, the people cannot leave to search for help and sometimes, the aid workers cannot go into the help so a lot of it remains paralysed, plus the gas are closed as well so there's a lot of widespread issues at this point in haiti.— point in haiti. plenty of issues for _ point in haiti. plenty of issues for that - point in haiti. plenty of issues for that new - issues for that new transitional government to deal with. danica coto, caraban correspondent for the associated press, thank you. thank you.

it's one of the most beautiful cities on the planet but it also attracts vast numbers of tourists. venice has become the first to charge visitors in a bid to control numbers. sometimes beauty can be overshared. venice — glorious, unique and creaking under the weight of mass tourism. 30 million visitors a year, two thirds of them day—trippers crowding the same sites at the same times, pushing out the locals. so, a new way to tackle it — a five—euro entry fee from today, the world's first such scheme. residents and overnight tourists are among those exempt in controls across venice. so, this is how it works. i've entered the city at the main train station. i go to the payment website, find the five euro fee for today, click through and enter my name and credit card details. so, i get a qr code, i come through and have it

scanned — buongiorno. it shows that i paid and i can enter the city and avoid a fine of up to 300 euros. it's a good idea to make money. i don't know if people will like it and want to keep coming to pay. i would try probably try to change my travel dates to make it a little more smooth. avoid the fee? to avoid the fee, yeah. i think if it can help - with their infrastructure or whatever else they may. have a need for, then i think that would be great. the authorities say it's a trial untiljuly that could be extended in price and duration. it's very important for us to discourage the day—trippers and to know in advance how many people will visit venice so we can arrange all the services, the transport, the cleaning of the city. a lot of cities in europe, most of all, are affected by overtourism. so, do you think that you will be a guinea pig, if you like, for other cities? yes. it's not the most beautiful role, but i think, yes. but the tide of critics

is growing, like environmental scientist jane de mosto. she's lived here for 30 years and seen the number of residents drop to record lows in a city threatened by tourism and climate change. a five—euro ticket is less than the cost of a drink at a bar. i think we know enough about what's happening to not need to do experiments. we just need to get on and address the real issues of protecting venice and making it a better place to live. so, this historic city grapples with an instagram—era problem as venetians wait to see if this scheme can save their increasingly fragile jewel. mark lowen, bbc news, venice. china has launched a mission to its space station to mark more than two decades leading manned missions to space. a crew of three astronauts with china's shenzhou 18

mission took off on a rock abound for the tiangong space station. they joined three others already theyjoined three others already there, getting a new round of in orbit crew handed over. stay with us on earth. hello. there are signs that the weather might warm up a bit next week, but not just yet. we stay in the rather chilly air for friday. a mix of sunny spells and showers and, actually, across the south of the uk, a frontal system that will bring more in the way of cloud and some splashes of rain. low pressure generally in charge of the scene through the day ahead. so, after a cold start, most places will see some spells of sunshine and a scattering of showers. some wintriness in the showers over high ground in scotland. but that frontal system will bring cloud and rain across the channel islands and across southern counties of england. temperature—wise — well, about where we have been over the last few days. north to south looking at values between 8 and 13 degrees. now, as we head through friday night, we'll see this band of rain in the south pushing its way further northwards. a lot of cloud with that, too. that will hold the temperatures

up to some extent but northern england, northern ireland and scotland holding on to some clear spells, and it will get chilly again. we'll have a frost to start saturday morning. not as cold further south thanks to that extra cloud, those outbreaks of rain, which will be moving northwards as the day wears on. as the rain clears, it may brighten up a little bit towards the south coast but that could allow some sharp showers to break out. for northern ireland and scotland, it's a mixture of sunny spells and showers once again through the day and those temperatures — well, maybejust creeping up a little bit in some areas. highs between 9 and 1a degrees. into the second half of the weekend, we see this area of low pressure drifting northwards. that's going to bring outbreaks of rain for some, especially across the eastern side of the uk. but it may well be that some of this rain comes a little bit further westwards, affecting quite large parts of england and wales, maybe clipping into eastern scotland. the further west you are, though, it's that mix of sunny spells and showers. some of the showers will be on the heavy side. temperatures between 9 and 12, maybe 13 degrees in the southwest.

but as we head into next week, it does look like things will slowly but surely warm up. we start to bring a feed of winds from the near continent — these orange colours on our air mass chart. temperatures are set to climb, perhaps up to 19 or 20 degrees celsius through the middle part of the week, but that doesn't mean sunshine all the way — still unsettled with some rain at times.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life. i have certainly seen how they have ruined the lives of others. it's really difficult for me to sit here and talk about this because... ..the whole point of fighting these newspapers is because i was so keen to have my privacy. i feel a sense of duty...

..to expose them as they've exposed us.