rishi sunak has promised billions more for defence to counter threats from countries such as russia and china. a key witness at the trial of donald trump says he suppressed negative stories to help the former president win the 2016 election. and why this nasa probe 15 billion miles from earth was spouting gibberish — and is now making sense. and on newsnight at 10:30pm... we'll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today's big stories. plus, a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. a boat dangerously crammed with more than 100 people — got into trouble just off the french

coast in the early hours — leading to the deaths of five of those attempting the crossing, including a child. it happened just hours after mps passed the government's rwanda bill — which is designed to deter people from attempting crossings like this. 0ur correspondent andrew harding was on that beach in the early hours of this morning — just north of wimereux — filming as police ran towards the people smugglers and those who had paid them to cross. they'd only been at sea a short time when they got into difficulty. well, we can join andrew now. good evening. the smugglers in this area have accessed almost 150 miles of coastline from which to launch their small boats which makes it very rare and very difficult to actually witness one of those launches as it happens but that is what happened to us in the early hours of this morning, on a big beautiful beach close to a french golf resort. shouting a skirmish early this

morning on a french beach. 0k, we'rejust running to catch up with some migrants here. the police are trying to stop a small boat from leaving the shore. it turns violent. and the police are failing. the boat is dangerously overloaded. it looks like the migrants who did get onto that boat are in trouble. but as we watch, we have no idea that people on board are dying, including a seven—year—old girl. to understand how this happened, we need to go back to yesterday afternoon, with crowds jostling at the bus station in calais, anxious to get to the beaches outside town, the smugglers muscling in. the forecast is for a clear, calm night in the channel, perfect conditions for a crossing. young men from syria, from sudan, none put off by news that they might end up being deported from britain to rwanda. are you worried that you might be

sent to rwanda by the british? "no, if it's safe and i can study in rwanda, then that's fine too," he says. you hear that? yeah. you don't want that? no, i don't want. but it's not stopping you today? no. nothing will stop you? no, no, won't stop me. waiting for the migrants along the french coast line, a high—tech force, funded now by britain, which is spending millions of pounds on drones and other gear to help the french police find and stop the small boats. and yet, compared with the same period last year, the number of crossings has risen. "we need more equipment and more staff," says mathilde, who co—ordinates the police effort here. "0ur officers are brave, but the number of people getting on each boat is rising." 0fficial footage of french border police in the channel earlier this

year — a difficult rescue operation in rough seas. as the number of attempted crossings rises, so does the death toll among migrants. adding to the sense of crisis here, a new development. hundreds of vietnamese have recently begun arriving at the coast. we met this group camped in a forest. the vietnamese people here seem quite confused about where they're going. they don't even know if they're supposed to end up in england. all they do tell us is that they are escaping from gangsters back in vietnam who they owe money to. two years ago, it was albanian migrants. now it's these people from vietnam, swelling the numbers. and so to events overnight. we head to a beach south of calais, a popular launch site for small boats. and we sit for hours in the moonlight and wait. he whispers: there's somebody walking there. i can hear somebody

walking nearby there. two shadows, almost certainly smugglers, come to check we're not police. above us, a police plane circles. we've arranged for a bbc cameraman to be on board. the crews spot two groups of migrants on their thermal imaging camera. they're in the sand dunes and moving towards each other. 0n the beach, a french foot patrol quickly arrives. surely, the migrants will give up now, but they don't. shouting suddenly, the beach erupts with shouting. 0k, we are running with the police as they try to intercept a group of what looks like 60 or 70 migrants. and now things turn violent — fireworks thrown at the police.

several young men pulling out crude weapons. you can see the smugglers here, some of them have sticks, they're trying to protect the migrants as they head towards the sea to stop the police from stopping them. and it works. a few stragglers are left behind, but the boat is allowed to move out towards open water. look at the child on someone�*s shoulders on the right. could the french police have done more to stop this? we ask one officer. "we're not allowed to go in the water," he replies, "did you notice they had sticks and there were children too? so, we had to be careful." the boat is wildly overloaded. 0n the right here, you can see another child being led out in an orange life jacket. more than 100 people are trying

to squeeze on board. somewhere in the scrum, a seven—year—old girl's last moments. faint shouting it sounds like someone crying for help. rescue boats do arrive a little later — the five dead are taken away. but then, something remarkable happens. 58 people, more than half the boat's original passengers, remain on board, refusing offers of rescue. instead, they start their motor and manage to get out into the middle of the channel where they're picked up by this british vessel and brought to the country they were ready to take such risks to reach. a reminder of how hard it is to deter some people and how complicated it can be for the police to intervene. some people watching that may well ask, why don't the french please

take much more aggressive action to stop those boats? 0ne take much more aggressive action to stop those boats? one answer is that the police are facing increasing levels of violence from the migrants and the smugglers who are fighting with stones and rocks, against each other and particularly against the police, and it makes it very difficult for the police to intervene without risking making the situation much worse already, in what are very difficult and dangerous circumstances. andrew, thanks forjoining _ dangerous circumstances. andrew, thanks forjoining us. _ rishi sunak said the deaths in the channel today underscored the need for his plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda. the safety of rwanda bill cleared parliament last night — it asserts that the east african country should be considered safe for asylum seekers. mr sunak hopes deportation flights will start leaving in the next 10—12 weeks. our home and legal correspondent dominic casciani is here, along with our deputy political editor, vicki young. vicki, the plans to send people to rwanda are meant to deter people from trying to cross the channel?

the prime minister said that is what he wants to do and this underlines the fact that he says he is acting out of compassion, and last year the supreme court said his plan was unlawful and ever since he has been trying to get a way to get this up and running again, so trying to get a way to get this up and running again,— and running again, so that new treaty with _ and running again, so that new treaty with rwanda _ and running again, so that new treaty with rwanda and - and running again, so that new. treaty with rwanda and emergency legislation which faced huge opposition in the house of lords. late last night after midnight the house of lords decided to give way to the elected house of commons, so i suppose rishi sunak can claim that as a small political victory but what everyone wants to know, is when their flights are going to actually take off. he has laid out a sort of timetable, he is keen to show that after two years, he is making progress, and he talked about the first flights taking off in 10—12 weeks and an airfield being on standby and slots being booked with commercial charter planes, showing there is progress being made, but of

course labour say this is a costly gimmick, the huge cost means they are not in favour of it, and if they came to power they would dismantle it. so with the election looming, rishi sunak has not got much time to prove that the stop the boats, the slogan he keeps talking about, he wants to show it is more than a slogan and that the fights take off and act as a deterrent. dom, does the government still face legal hurdles? practical indeed, 52,000 people at the moment who are in limbo in the ukwho— the moment who are in limbo in the uk who have — the moment who are in limbo in the uk who have crossed the english channel— uk who have crossed the english channel and the government is refusing — channel and the government is refusing to deal with their cases so we do _ refusing to deal with their cases so we do not — refusing to deal with their cases so we do not know if they are genuine at the _ we do not know if they are genuine at the moment, and we don't know how many— at the moment, and we don't know how many of— at the moment, and we don't know how many of those people the prime minister— many of those people the prime minister thinks he can send to rwanda — minister thinks he can send to rwanda any time soon, so that is an enormous _ rwanda any time soon, so that is an enormous cost on the public purse, and then— enormous cost on the public purse, and then you go into the legal issues, — and then you go into the legal issues, we will see challenges on three _ issues, we will see challenges on three levels, and the first is

individual migrants themselves who are selected for flights, they will bring _ are selected for flights, they will bring cases as happened last time round _ bring cases as happened last time round. some cases might go to the european _ round. some cases might go to the european court of human rights which will take _ european court of human rights which will take some weeks to play out, and we are — will take some weeks to play out, and we are likely to see systemwide challenges from a specialist expert bodies _ challenges from a specialist expert bodies like refugee charities, looking — bodies like refugee charities, looking at the bigger picture, and there's_ looking at the bigger picture, and there's another one which we are not sure about _ there's another one which we are not sure about yet, this is a tough call, _ sure about yet, this is a tough call, but — sure about yet, this is a tough call, but the organisation representing senior civil servants may itself — representing senior civil servants may itself take legal action. they are considering their options because _ are considering their options because they are concerned about the position— because they are concerned about the position of— because they are concerned about the position of the people who run the government and whether or not they will he _ government and whether or not they will he left _ government and whether or not they will be left in a position where they— will be left in a position where they are — will be left in a position where they are breaking international law and they— they are breaking international law and they want answers from ministers about— and they want answers from ministers about what _ and they want answers from ministers about what the situation is for them — about what the situation is for them it— about what the situation is for them. if they go to court you have effectively got one internal bit of the government fighting against the government itself and who knows where _ government itself and who knows where that is going to end? this is a very— where that is going to end? this is a very complex picture and it will take weeks to play out and i don't think— take weeks to play out and i don't think there — take weeks to play out and i don't think there is any certainty about how it _ think there is any certainty about how it will— think there is any certainty about how it will end up between now and

the prime _ how it will end up between now and the prime minister's hopeful date of flights— the prime minister's hopeful date of flights in— the prime minister's hopeful date of flights injuly. to the prime minister's hopeful date of flights in july-— flights in july. to both of you, thanks for— flights in july. to both of you, thanks forjoining _ flights in july. to both of you, thanks forjoining us. - the prime minister has said he wants uk military spending to rise to 2.5% of national income by 2030 — that's compared to under 2.1% last year. rishi sunak was speaking during a visit to poland where he held talks with nato's secretary—general. labour has already pledged 2.5% — but only when "economic conditions allow." mr sunak also announced a new package of military aid for ukraine worth £500 million. 0ur political editor, chris mason, reports. europe's front line — ukrainian tanks heading into battle. a war in our back yard showing no sign of end. in neighbouring poland today, at a military base outside warsaw, the prime minister, his polish opposite number and the secretary—general of the nato defence alliance.

and, from rishi sunak, this promise on defence spending... today i'm announcing the biggest strengthening of our national defence for a generation. we will increase defence spending to a new baseline of 2.5% of gdp by 2030. that starts today. is it time to be candid now with people that the costs of supporting ukraine are going to run into the billions and billions for years and years to come? could this last another decade? well, chris, as i touched on, unfortunately, we're living in a more dangerous time than at any point since the end of the cold war. if we don't deter russia in ukraine, all we're going to do is embolden putin to go even further, and indeed embolden other adversaries around the world. there's no way we can run away from that cost. we have to pay. not least because we need to understand that the most expensive alternative is to allow

putin to win in ukraine. labour says it would raise defence spending to 2.5% of national income as soon as resources allow — not as concrete a commitment. i fully support what the prime minister has announced in relation to further funding for ukraine. it's vitally important that we continue to support ukraine against russian aggression. labour added the army had shriveled under the conservatives, but defence posture is changing direction in front of our eyes. what we are seeing in numbers, promises and backdrops is the politics of defence stepping up, an argumentjust beginning between the conservatives, labour and others over who can be trusted to protect us and how much it's going to cost. from a polish afternoon to the dusk of departure. after the cold war

there was a peace dividend. defence spending shrivelled. but in this dangerous world, it is climbing again. in the last hour or so, the prime minister has arrived in berlin for more discussions about defence tomorrow. rishi sunak will meet the chancellor here, 0laf scholz, in the morning, with a focus, after months of attention on war in the middle east, on war here in europe. and on that spending promise, he knows, and his opponents know, that he is making a choice — if you spend money in one place, you can't spend it elsewhere or cut taxes elsewhere. also today we have seen an attempt by the conservatives to outflank labour on defence. let's see how labour on defence. let's see how labour responded in the coming days. what we have here is a collision of a volatile world and a general election year, and when we see the two big parties at westminster in a political arms race over defence

spending, that tells you rather a lot about the state of the world. thank you very much, chris mason reporting. in the us, police say 133 people have been summoned to appear in court after being arrested during pro—palestinian demonstrations at new york university. the latest arrests follow a wave of protests in the past week at some of the most prestigious universities in the country. students on both sides say there has been a rise in both antisemitic and islamophobic incidents since the israel—gaza war began. here's our north america editor, sarah smith. people chant. police clashed with students outside new york university last night — with over 100 arrested when they wouldn't leave. people scream. creating another flashpoint in the spreading pro—palestinian campus protests. please leave the plaza now. free palestine! free, free, free palestine!

today, nyu students took up their placards again, eager to show their defiance. the police raided and caved in on the protesters in an extremely aggressive manner. they pulled one of our student organisers to the ground by her hair. they maced and pepper sprayed protesters. somejewish students have complained that the protests are intimidating, and say they've faced harassment and anti—semitism on campus. i'm scared to wear a jewish star here. i've gotten very nasty anti—semitic comments at me and ijust don't understand how this is accepted. many of the protesters are wearing masks as they say they've been bullied online when they've been recognised. we are facing very good, very well organised zionist agitators, right, who weaponise their claim ofjewishness in order to shut down what is legitimate protest. accusations of intolerance from both sides are a common feature of these demonstrations.

it looks like this may now be growing into a nationwide movement, because every time one of these protests has been broken up, it's simply inspired more demonstrations on more campuses right across america. protests have spread to campuses right across the us, from the east to west coasts, including yale university, where almost 50 students were arrested last night, and california state university, humboldt, where students barricaded themselves inside a building... people scream and shout. ..where the university summoned the police, a highly controversial move on any campus, where students demand their right to protest. it was at new york's columbia university that the first arrests were made last week. many classes there have now been taken online. universities across the country are braced for protest to disrupt graduation ceremonies this summer. sarah smith, bbc news, new york.

donald trump has been back in court in new york and a key witness has said he suppressed negative stories about the former president to help him win the 2016 us election. the former publisher of the national inquirer david pecker was describing a scheme known as "catch and kill". donald trump is accused of trying to cover up a payment of over £100,000 to porn star stormy daniels, which he denies. 0ur north america correspondent gary 0'donoghue is there. tell us, gary, what else happened in court? , . ., . tell us, gary, what else happened in court? ., . ., . court? dramatic day of evidence here, court? dramatic day of evidence here. reeta- — court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as _ court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as you _ court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as you say, - court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as you say, david | here, reeta. as you say, david pecker, former publisher of the national enquirer, celebrity gossip magazine, detailing effectively an arrangement between himself and donald trump just before the 2016 general election to stop those negative stories about donald trump getting into the press, promote positive ones about donald trump, andindeed positive ones about donald trump, and indeed circulate speculative and negative stories about some of his opponents, he suggested, for

example, that hillary clinton had six months to live, that ted cruz, one of his opponents for the nomination, that his father was involved in the assassination of john of kennedy. that got under way today and the details of that came out, the "catch and kill" scheme. what the prosecution are trying to establish is that there was an absolute effort by donald trump and his advisers to stop those negative stories getting into the press, and that the stormy daniels payment, the payment to the pawn star, was part of that process, and therefore according to the prosecutors became part of election campaign finance violationss. mr pecker will be back on the stand on thursday, the court breaks tomorrow. at the same time, of course, donald trump's lawyers will be in the supreme court in washington arguing that he should have immunity in another criminal case he is facing, about the 6th of january. every which way this former president turns, reeta, he faces legal problems.—

president turns, reeta, he faces legal problems. gary o'donoghue, many thanks- _ a man in iraq has started a landmark legal action against the uk oil company bp over the death of his 21—year—old son. hussein julood alleges that the burning—off of gas at a bp—run oilfield in iraq — a practice known as flaring — caused his son ali's leukaemia. a bbc investigation in 2022 found that ali's village, which lies within the field of rumaila in southern iraq, had high levels of cancer—causing pollutants known to come from flaring. bp says it understands the concerns and that it is continuing to support the operator to reduce flaring at the oil field. esme stallard has the story. ali julood was a happy child who loved playing football with his friends. at 15, he was diagnosed with leukaemia, and last year, after six years of treatment for cancer, he died. in 2022, he documented his life for the bbc, living close to polluting gas flares, where gas is burned off

during oil production. his family have been left devastated by ali's passing. now his father has started legal action against bp seeking compensation for his son's medical treatment. translation: it has been a year since ali died. - may his soul rest in peace. it was a very sad yearfor the family. for me, his mother, and his brothers, too. ali was an unforgettable person. he was my backbone. i depended on him in my work, my life, and in everything in the house. all the days we live are sad. this claim will be the first time that an individual has taken legal action against an oil giant for gas flaring. gas flaring happens all over the world at oil fields,

it's a byproduct of oil production, but it's happening at very significant levels here both in absolute terms and in relative terms to other oil fields around the world. so we're effectively saying that his leukaemia was caused by this excessive gas flaring, which was occurring within five kilometres of his home. bp says it's not the operator of the rumaila field and doesn't have any ownership interests or rights to the oil produced. but bp's own report shows that it was the biggest stakeholder in the operator. in a statement, they said... ali's family will now wait to hear if bp will accept liability or refute the claim. but for all those living in rumaila, they hope for the day when the flaring ends. esme stallard, bbc news.

nasa says its voyager1 probe, the most distant man—made object in the universe, is sending usable information and data back to earth again after months of spouting gibberish. the spaceship was launched from earth in 1977 and is currently more than 15 billion miles from earth. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill explains. we have ignition — and we have lift—off. a spacecraft bound for a journey no—one imagined. when voyager1 launched in 1977, its mission was to explore our solar system. it captured details of saturn's rings and discovered thatjupiter has a thin ring of its own. then itjust kept going. in 2012, it became the first human—made object to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space. but last year, after nearly 50 years exploring, something finally went wrong. the data voyager1 was sending back to earth stopped making sense.

nasa engineers worked out that one chip on its decades—old onboard computer had stopped working. to fix it, they transmitted an essential piece of code that was on that broken chip back to the craft. this very remote reboot worked, and the spacecraft has now sent data reporting its health and status back to earth for the first time in five months. this image taken by voyager1 in 1990 is said by some to be the most important photograph ever taken of our planet. earth from 3.7 billion miles away. we're that tiny little speck amongst the stars. that is our island home. don't screw it up. what does it mean to see it back online? we're dealing with a spacecraft with very, very old technology. a lot of this technology is �*60s. i'm sitting here at my my age thinking, good god, this thing is still going! and it's brilliant. voyager1 is now the most distant human—made object from earth.

it's traveling at around 38,000 miles per hour and it's more than 15 billion miles from our planet. that means it takes a radio signal from mission control 22—and—a—half hours to reach the craft. by next year, though, its ability to generate enough power to operate its instruments is set to come to an end, leaving it to wander through the milky way and beyond, perhaps for eternity. hello from the children of planet earth. on board is a golden record with sounds and images of life on earth. bonjour, tout le monde. until it's cut off for ever, scientists will keep communicating with this icon of space exploration. seeking only peace and friendship... victoria gill, bbc news. football now — and arsenal have extended their lead at the top of the premier league table with a thumping 5—0 win over chelsea. the gunners are now three points clear at the top having played more games than their rivals in what could be a thrilling title race. patrick gearey reports.

crowd sings. at arsenal, the voices were loud and clear, shouting out the doubts. others had questioned whether they still believed that they could win the title. within four minutes against chelsea, a statement of conviction. leandro trossard kept the faith. the only surprise was that it took arsenal until the second half to add to it. ben white eased any gathering nerves. his team—mates loosened their collars. martin 0degaard saw kai havertz on the fringe of his radar, against the team he used to play for. three and easy. a disorientated chelsea, lost in their own city, could only stand and watch him do it again. that was 4—0. it had got to the point where arsenal were scoring without trying. ben white was attempting to find a team—mate — instead he found a fifth. the title race is still in manchester city's hands, but this from arsenal was a challenge bellowed at full volume. patrick gearey, bbc news.

time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. and i think it is a tale of two halves, louise, and we are in the wrong half? yes! it is pretty miserable at the moment, but this was glasgow, we had just shy of 12 hours of sunshine today, west has certainly been

two years on — is ukraine losing the war russia began with its full scale invason? 0n the day the uk prime minster travels to poland to announce more