live from washington, this is bbc news. tensions between the us and israel are exposed after the un security council passes a resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in gaza. the us and uk accuse china of a sweeping cyber—espionage campaign that allegedly impacted millions. donald trump gets a victory in one civil case, while the judge in another matter sets the date for his first criminal trial. hello. i'm caitriona perry. you are very welcome. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has cancelled a scheduled trip to the united states by two of his top advisors, after the us did not veto a un security council resolution

demanding an immediate ceasefire between hamas and israel. the us abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass, after numerous failed attempts. the resolution also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. the us says it's "very disappointed" by the cancelled visit, but says a separate visit by israel's defence minister, who is already in washington, is underway. mr netanyahu called the move a "clear retreat" from the previous us position. our international editor jeremy bowen has more on how this will impact the allies�* relationship. well, thinking of the stakes, mr netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, has effectively been on a collision course with the americans for some time, because he has consistently rejected what started as advice and became insistence about reducing the level of palestinian casualties, bringing food into gaza. mr netanyahu's also dismissed american suggestions,

plans and hopes for what happens after the war. especially a palestinian state as a way to making peace throughout the middle east. now, this isjust one disagreement between them — between the americans and the israelis — but the americans will have to decide what to do if the israelis decide not to respect that resolution in the security council, which has the force of international law behind it. now, the relationship between the americans and the israelis is deep, but, at times, over the years, it has been somewhat dysfunctional. and this is not the first time that mr netanyahu, particularly, has fallen out with american presidents. but i think, without doubt, the rift between benjamin netanyahu and the white house has never been this bitter before, or the divide between him and the white house quite as wide as it has. so this is a serious crisis

between two firm allies. to discuss those developments, earlier i spoke tojohn hannah, former national security adviser to us vice president dick cheney and senior fellow at the jewish institute for national security of america. un security council resolutions are widely understood to be legally binding. why is the biden administration today repeatedly saying that this one isn't? well, first, thank you for having me. i think the administration knows that there's no chance that the security council is going to be able to enforce this resolution. israel is not going to cease fire until it gets all those hostages back. so i think the administration knows that — that this is not going to have any operational effects on the ground in gaza, and doesn't want to pursue the fight further with israel. it's sent a message, which it wanted

to do, to its domestic political base here in the democratic party, by allowing this resolution to pass. but i don't think this is a fight that the administration now wants to pursue any further. but given the resolution has passed, what will the international community do if nothing happens? according to the un and ngos operating in gaza, there's a catastrophic famine already seeing children starving to death. of course, those hostages are still being held, as well. yeah, and of course, all of those things you just mentioned — the suffering of innocent gazans and the hostages and the war itself are all because of october 7, which i remind you, the un security council hasn't yet brought itself to condemn either the attacks on israel on october 7, or hamas, specifically, for carrying out the worst pogroms onjews since the holocaust.

so again, i don't think much is going to happen here operationally. israel is determined to go to rafah, it's determined to destroy hamas. we hope there can be a deal with respect to the hostages that would give us some kind of temporary respite from this war, so we can bring in a lot more humanitarian aid and get those poor, suffering hostages back to their families. but the ones holding up a ceasefire deal that's been on offer, a six—week ceasefire, for the last several months, is hamas, it's not israel. israel has agreed to several iterations of the current deal that is being proposed by egypt, qatar, and the united states. we saw prime minister netanyahu cancel the israeli delegation that was due to meet biden administration officials to discuss alternatives

to the invasion of rafah, as you mention, there. but the israeli defence minister is already in washington, dc, has met secretary of state antony blinken, and rafah has been discussed. is there a lot of posturing and optics happening here, or what do you think is really going on? i think you've basically nailed it — that both in israel and the united states, both of these leaders are dealing with very difficult domestic political situations, domestic audiences, that they're talking to. so i believe this cancellation was a way for israel register its disappointment, for the prime minister to stand up and say, you know, "you can'tjust walk all over israel at the united nations and expect us to play along." but the bottom line is his defence minister, a former major general in the idf, is here, who understands the military planning being done for rafah. he will be able to explain

what israel intends to do, including with those i million displaced palestinians in rafah that the idf knows needs to be moved into — into safety if they're going to be able to operate effectively. he'll be able to talk to military counterparts in the us to see if they really have a better idea at a better strategy for doing rather than the one the idf is — is proposing. i'm sceptical that the us has such ideas, because i think we would've all heard about them by this point in time, but let's see what happens over the coming days here in washington with the defence minister. indeed, let's see what happens, as you say, john hannah, former security adviser to dick cheney and senior

fellow aat the jewish institute for national security of america. russian president vladimir putin says the deadly attack on a moscow concert hall on friday was carried out by islamist extremists. but he maintains ukraine was also involved — an accusation kyiv describes as absurd. police are still combing through the wreckage at the crocus city hall, where at least 139 people were killed. the islamic state group claimed responsibility shortly after the attack, but mr putin ignored those claims until now. four people have been charged with terrorism and three remanded in custody. here's more from mina al—lami, a specialist injihadi media at bbc monitoring. why did is attack russia? for mostjihadists, russia is a key enemy, up there with other key enemies like the us, israel, and china. it seems like this latest attack on the concert hall wasn't that much of a strategic move or shift in is's strategy with a focus on russia. i think it was more

to do with opportunity. is had operatives there, or members there who were trained, capable, and willing to carry out such a big attack. of course, the sophistication of the attack would suggest that there was more central planning involved. unlike attacks, sometimes, in the west and other parts of the world, that seem to be inspired by is, but not necessarily orchestrated or directed. now, for russia, possibly, it is easier for is to get some of its operatives to the country, to travel to the country. this is because a lot of is's members in the so—called khorasan province, or isis—k, are said to be

nationals from former soviet countries, like tajikistan. people from these former soviet countries they don't need a visa to go to russia. they can go there for a holiday or they can go and get work permits and work there. and there is, indeed, a big tajik population, especially, working in russia. it would seem that is has more an opportunity to strike in russia because of operatives there and, of course, striking in a country like russia would be a big propaganda coup for a group like is. china slammed british cyberattack claims as malicious slander after us and uk officials filed charges and imposed sanctions accusing beijing of a cyber—espionage campaign. in the uk, attacks on the country's electoral commission took place in august 2021 but were only revealed last year. several mps who have been critical of beijing were also targeted. our political editor chris mason has the details. who is watching? who is listening? china, an economic powerhouse, a one—party state, a world view a world away from our own. right honourable oliver dowden... beijing spying and meddling, a cyberattack on the elections watchdog — the electoral commission. this is the latest in a clear

pattern of hostile activity originating in china. two people and a company linked to the chinese state are to face sanctions, banned from travelling to the uk and their assets here frozen. we will support the government in efforts to counter attempts by china or any other state to interfere with or undermine the democratic process. america is accusing china of a vast and brash illegal hacking operation. it's bringing criminal charges against seven chinese nationals. and from beijing? dripping contempt. translation: one should not pin the blame on some - certain countries without any factual basis. don't let's politicise this issue.

back in westminster, a campaign group gathers. the chinese state media says this alliance, which has members in more than 30 countries, is sinister, extremist. this is a challenge to the very way that we live our lives, to our belief in democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of worship. sir iain reckons the uk's still too soft on china, and plenty of mps on all sides agree. things have changed though. look at this! it's less than 10 years since the now foreign secretary, david cameron, was swigging a pint with the chinese president in buckinghamshire. there is much more scepticism now but there was one key question i wanted to ask for you, when i spoke to this former secret service official. i wonder how worried we should be as individuals, maybe scared even, about china? the overwhelming majority of the british people probably have nothing to be worried about, but if you are engaged in politics or in areas such as human rights promotion then you can safely assume that china is going to want to be on your case.

cybercrime in the shadows, the world's newest superpower — dealing with china, one of the challenges of our age. chris mason, bbc news. bassirou diomaye faye is set to be the next president of senegal. the 44—year—old opposition candidate will be the youngest ever president of the country. his victory comes just 10 days after he was released from prison for social media posts about alleged injustice in senegal�*s judicial system. his main opponent, former prime minister and ruling party candidate amadou ba, called faye to congratulate and formally recognize the victory. french president emmanuel macron also congratulated him on his win. here's mr faye speaking earlier. translation: by electing me

resident of _ translation: by electing me resident of the _ translation: by electing me resident of the republic, - translation: by electing me resident of the republic, the l resident of the republic, the senegalese people have chosen to break with the past, to give substance to the immense hopes raised by a vision of society. a pledge to govern with humility and transparency and to fight corruption at all levels. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. farmers around europe have been protesting in recent weeks about they way they're treated, and in particular, cheap imports and tighter environmental regulations. today it was the turn of british farmers to demonstrate. a convoy of around 50 tractors made its way through central london. meghan owen has been there for us. they're protesting against a number of things, but particularly cheap food imports and tightening environmental restrictions. now, it comes after a number of eu countries, and countries around the world, who've also staged their own farming protest.

but this is the first time in a while that have taken to the streets of central london in their tractors. the government says "we firmly back up farmers, we firmly put agriculture at the forefront of any deals we negotiate" — but i think, from the sounds and looks of it here, farmers just don't accept that in the uk. our reporter meghan owen there in central london. you're live with bbc news. former us president donald trump was back in court on monday for two major updates in his ongoing legal battles. ajudge rejected mr trump's attempts to secure a long delay in his new york hush money trial. mr trump's trial is set to begin on april 15, it will be the first—ever criminal trial of a former president in us history. he is alleged to have made a hush money payment to adult film star stormy daniels for a sexual relationship which he denies. there was also some positive news for the former president — in a separate civil fraud case a judge reduced his m64 million bond to $175 million.

at a press conference after the hearings, mr trump welcomed the news but attacked thejudge, arthur engoron, who originally set the m64 million figure. i greatly respect the decision of the appellate division, and i will post the $135 million in cash or bonds or whatever is necessary, very quickly — within the ten days. —— $175 million. i thank the appellate division by acting quickly. butjudge engoron is a disgrace of this country and this should not be allowed to happen. our correspondent nada tawfik has the latest from new york city. it was a day of mixed news for

donald trump into of the cases here in new york. firstly civil business fraud case where he was ordered in february to pay $464 was ordered in february to pay $1164 million after he was found liable for inflating his property values to get better loans. he faced a deadline today of paying that massive bondin today of paying that massive bond in order to stave off collection efforts while his appeal plays out. if you missed today's deadline that the new york attorney general said she would begin teasing his assets. but the last minute a court of appeal stepped in and agreed to let him pay a far lesser amount. a bond of $175 million that he has to secure within the next ten days. but it was far less great news for donald trump when it came to his criminal case here in new york, where there was a pre—trial hearing in the courthouse by

me. but criminal case is the first that he was ever charged in and it was on schedule to begin on monday. but then federal prosecutors gave donald trump, at his request, his legal team, some additional documents they were requesting. now, they accused prosecutors of misconduct, but that was something thejudgejust of misconduct, but that was something the judge just wasn't having. they said that the district attorney's office had gone above and beyond to get the materials in their possession and that donald trump's team just didn't put forward a convincing argument, that there was any misconduct whatsoever. so he really shut down that and said that the trial would go ahead on april 15. now, that means that donald trump will go to trial before the november presidential election, and voters will know before then if he is either a convicted felon or if he is acquitted of the charges against him. and that's significant because there was a

big question mark about whether he would face any of the criminal trials against him before the presidential election. for more on mr trump's court cases, i spoke to faith gay — a defence lawyer and former federal prosecutor. let's start with the so—called hush money case, stalling and delaying as a tactic we often see in legal proceedings and donald trump's team appears to be doing that in this case, as in many others, but in this case, do you think it will work? i think not. in this particular case it was a very common argument put to the court. additional documents were requested the last minute by donald trump's team. the documents were probably provided by federal prosecutors and donald trump had a chance to review those. in court today there was close questioning by the judge as to how many documents were actually relevant to this trial, to this offence. the lawyer for trump was unable to

answer. he gave generalities that didn't makejustice marshall happy at all. it turns out there are about to enter documents to review, may be relevant, maybe not, arguably document don't relevant. they have been reviewed in the last two or three weeks. that is plenty of time. —— arguably relevant. thejudge said "this is fair play, you could have asked them for them early, much earlier, go get ready for trial, get ready, because we will start." looking at other court proceedings today involving the former president, he was supposed to post a half billion dollar bond in a civilfraud case. donald trump's lawyers were accusing the manhattan da of misconduct.

does this amount to misconduct or election interference, do you think? absolutely not. the prosecutors got these documents into the defence team's hands. they had plenty of time to look at them. the number of documents that are relevant to this case were quite modest. it has nothing to do with election interference. frankly the charges here are about covering up, from the american public, a sordid sex scandal by falsifying documents. the election interference charge go to donald trump, not to this prosecutorial team. looking at other court proceedings today involving the former president, he was supposed to post a half billion dollar bond in a civilfraud case. on appeal the judge on that trial said $175 million, only $175 million, would be acceptable. is that what usually happens or was that a surprise? i think it came as a surprise to many people. it was a decision that was issued in a short order without any reasoning from the presiding justice and four otherjudges. and essentially it is a conservative decision. this is a 1—of—a—kind civilfraud judgement against

an ex—president. the amounts of money are staggering. although the court didn't give its reasoning, perhaps we could speculate that because of the amount — $175 million is still a lot — perhaps one or more of the appellate court judges have some concerns about the amount is calculated in the trial court below. perhaps there may be a reduction, eventually, of the decision in the trial court. so think this decision gives them hope to donald trumplawyers that maybe the finaljudgement won't be quite as massive. still, you know, gobsmacking, $175 million or so, but maybe it won't be quite as large as was anticipated. so yes, this was a surprise in this 1—of—a—kind civil trial. he has ten days to get that $175 million bond together. what happens if he doesn't make that deadline? the

what happens if he doesn't make that deadline?— that deadline? the same thing that deadline? the same thing that would _ that deadline? the same thing that would have _ that deadline? the same thing that would have happened - that deadline? the same thing| that would have happened with the half—million dollar number that was reduced today by the court. if he doesn't get the 175 million together, the new york attorney general letitia james, can start to seize assets. deadly differences you can only seize 175 million, rather than half a million in assets. ., ~' , ., rather than half a million in assets. ., ~ , ., rather than half a million in assets. ., ~' , ., . rather than half a million in assets. ., ~ . ., assets. thank you so much for “oininu assets. thank you so much for joining us. _ assets. thank you so much for joining us, with _ assets. thank you so much for joining us, with insides, - joining us, with insides, former us federal prosecutor faith gay. scientists at europe's centre for particle research, cern, have approved a £100 million experiment, which could prove the existence of particles that haven't yet been found. they want to identify what are known as "ghost particles". researchers believe 95% of the particles which make up the universe remain hidden. here's pallab ghosh. the world around us is made up of very tiny particles, even smaller than an atom. they linked up to form everything we can see in earth

and in space too. but recently, scientists have discovered the tiny particles we know about make up only 5% of the universe. some scientists think there might be other ghost particles that can't be detected by earthly instruments. if we could detect these ghost particles, it would really transform our understanding of fundamental science. we could really try and start to understand why the universe is the way it is, what the missing matter is or how some of these properties come about, therefore why we are here at all. researchers have been searching for the missing 95% of the universe deep under the swiss french border at the large hadron collider. they have been smashing the insides of atoms together harder than they've been smashed before. but so far,

they've had no luck. all attention was given to large hadron collider, during last decades. the other possibility must have forgotten. then we proposed our experiment, this makes us believe that our chances for success really big. the ghost particles appear extremely rarely. so to increase the chances of spotting one, the researchers are building a brand—new instrument. normally in particle accelerators, bunches or particles are sent on a collision course, but only one in a billion hit each other. the new instrument crashes them against a block of material, so they all get smashed into tiny bits. and this greatly increases the chances of creating ghost particles. the discovery of the missing particles, which shed new light on the true nature of the universe, and their detection, would be one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics of all time. pallab ghosh, bbc news.

a case of known unknowns. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. an area of low pressure is going to sit around on top of the uk over the next few days, and that will drive some very heavy downpours of rain, with some flashes of lightning, some rumbles of thunder, some of the showers over high ground will be wintry, and we will often have some strong and gusty winds. so here is our area of low pressure. you can think of this as the engine room of the weather, driving things over the next few days. a couple of different slow—moving fronts. one which has been bringing some rain and snow across scotland, that tending to pull away eastwards but leaving a residue of cloud across southern scotland, northern england, northern ireland, some quite murky conditions, damp and drizzly, too. and then another weather front�*s just bringing some rain northwards across central southern england, into parts of the midlands, the southeast eventually getting into parts of wales, something a little bit brighter into the south—west of england, also brighter but with some wintry showers in northern scotland, highs of 6—12 degrees.

now, during tuesday night, we'll see this rain band journeying northwards and then bumping into cold air across scotland with some snow, especially over high ground, but to relatively low levels in the northern half of scotland. behind that, some clear spells, but bands of showers pushing in from the west, some of which will be heavy with some hail and thunder. that theme continues on into wednesday. you can see one band of heavy thundery rain here moving its way northwards and eastwards. plenty of showers following on behind. it's going to be a windy day for just about all of us. and our area of rain and snow still affecting the far north of scotland. temperatures struggling a little bit, 6—12 degrees. our area of low pressure still with us through wednesday night and into thursday. further bands of very heavy rain circulating around the lows. so expect more intense downpours on thursday with some hail, some thunder, could be some wintriness over higher ground, gales likely through the english channel and quite windy elsewhere,

particularly across eastern and north—eastern parts. and those temperatures, again, between 8—12 degrees. now, as we move into good friday, there are some signs that this area of low pressure will loosen its grip a little. so not as many showers on friday, more in the way of sunshine and actually a decent amount of dry weather on saturday as well. so drierfor a time over the easter weekend. it's certainly going to turn a little bit warmer, but it does look like rain will return through sunday and monday.

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. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur and today i'm on the road — and on the water — in guyana, south america, a country of extraordinary ecosystems and of vast resource potential. the question is, which comes first? guyana has always been resource—rich. for decades, the rush was for gold. now it's for oil. guyana is fast becoming a petrostate, the fastest growing economy in the world. but new wealth has stoked old tensions. neighbouring socialist venezuela claims a vast chunk

of guyanese territory.