An official proceeding. Obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the rights of citizens. The former president is due to appear before a federal court on thursday In Washington, dc, as Our Washington correspondent sean dilley explains. Chanting we love trump hes the first president to be charged with a federal crime. But if previous cases are anything to go by, Donald Trumps third indictment is only likely to boost his popularity with Republican Voters. The charges he faces, though, are serious. The 45 Page Indictment accuses the former president of knowingly spreading false claims about Election Fraud to trick and persuade states into helping him overturn the Election Results. The police are now running back into the capitol building. Hes not been charged with inciting the violent scenes of january 6th, but prosecutors have drawn a link. The attack on our Nations Capital onjanuary 6th, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of american democracy. Its described in the indictment. It was fuelled by lies. Lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a Bedrock Function of the us government, the nations process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the president ial election. Donald trump responded by posting a Campaign Statement on his social media network, truth social, likening his prosecution to lawless persecution in nazi germany. Shortly after charges were announced, he sent a campaign email, vowing to continue his campaign for the white house. His son, donald trumer, has questioned the motives and timing. Have we noticed the pattern of whats happening . Have we seen what theyre doing on a daily basis . I mean, my fathers right. Why did they wait two and a half years . You know why . Because hes leading in the polls because theyre afraid of him becoming president and dismantling the uniparty, dismantling the deep state. Thursdays hearing here In Washington, dc, is all about the crimes mr trump is accused of committing in the two months following the 2020 election. Hes already been charged in two other unrelated cases. Hes due to face trial in new york next march over crimes hes alleged to have committed in relation to payments to a former adult film star. In may, hes set to stand trial in florida over claims he unlawfully held onto military and other classified documents. For now, its all a question of time. In other cases, mr trump has tried to delay until after next years elections, but prosecutors in this case say they want the trial to go ahead as soon as possible. Sean dilley, bbc news In Washington. Live now to our North America correspondent nomia iqbal, whos outside the federal courthouse In Washington dc, where donald trump is due to appear on thursday. In terms of the reverberations after this 45 Page Indictment, just take us through the reaction there has beenin us through the reaction there has been in the last few hours. The reaction we have seen from donald trump is to dismiss it, he has called it ridiculous, said it is a pile on and the Republican Party have got behind him largely. As sean said in his report, its boosted his standing among Republican Voters who do believe in his often repeated narrative that he has with his last indictments, that this is all a political witchhunt designed to stop him getting into the white house. As you can imagine, the media is gathered here and it will be a bigger gathering tomorrow when the arraignment happens. Just to let you know, when we arrived here, a man iogged know, when we arrived here, a Man Jogged Past and came up to us and said, whats going on . We said, donald trump has been indicted for the third time and sort of explains what was going on. He went, oh, and carried onjogging. Im not saying its reflective of the entire American Population but there is probably a sense of fatigue this is happening. It is important to remember not to get to number about the cases piling up against donald trump. This Criminal Indictment is probably the most single most important indictment handed down in american history, especially for a former president , accused of trying to overturn democracy, trying to subvert the Election Result in 2020. The Department Ofjustice has accused him of knowingly doing this. But they have a bit of a task, they have to prove intent, they have to prove donald trump knew what he was doing because of course he can argue that he believes that he had won the election. That he genuinely believed it had been stolen from him. But he is due to a appear in the court that he has been given the option to adhere virtually, wasnt an option given to the last two times but as of yet we dont know for sure exactly if he will take on that option or if he will appear in person to answer these charges laid out to him. ,. , person to answer these charges laid out to him out to him. Nomia iqbal, thank you for the latest. Live now tojulie norman, the co director of the Centre On Us Politics at ucl who is In Washington. Welcome to the programme. The charges could not be more serious in terms of nature. Assess the moment we have reached there in the us. We hear a lot these days about threats to democracy but this is really the real thing. You are talking about allegations that a sitting president sought to overturn Election Results and for the first time in us history, block the peaceful transfer of power. So that is laid out very clearly in the indictment, which i think it is important to point out, focuses less on the actions injanuary the 6th and more in the two months leading up and more in the two months leading up to that likewise, its not so much about what trump said but what he did, specific actions he took at state, federal and local elections to overturn the election right up through january to overturn the election right up throuthanuary six to overturn the election right up through january six and that to overturn the election right up throuthanuary six and that is what the indictment is focusing on. It is a story which is of course making headlines and rippling right across the world in terms of the way the rest of the world views us democracy. But in terms of moving the needle there among Republican Voters, your assessment on that . As we heard from your correspondents, trump has a very strong grip on the Republican Party right now and they are talking about a voter base that over 70 still believe trumps allegations that the election was stolen from him. So many of those supporters are rallying behind him right now. They are very much buying into his claiming this as a witch hunt, persecution, and its almost become the rallying cry for his current campaign, their sense of persecution from the justice campaign, their sense of persecution from thejustice department. I think we will see this court of Public Opinion playing out along the legal case, where i think it will be more of an Uphill Battle For Trump to make a defence but he will obviously be doing all he can and he has been very savvy in the past about evading culpability. Very savvy in the past about evading culabili. ,,. , very savvy in the past about evading culabili. , very savvy in the past about evading culabili. , culpability. Special Counseljack Smith said culpability. Special Counseljack Smith said he culpability. Special Counseljack Smith said he wanted culpability. Special Counseljack Smith said he wanted a culpability. Special Counseljack Smith said he wanted a speedy| culpability. Special Counseljack Smith said he wanted a speedy trial. How is this going to work, do you think . Because potentially we are going to have four different trials going to have four different trials going on involving donald trump, all before that Nomination Process and all before the general election, or during all of that process. Your thoughts on the timeline and how it possibly can work. It is exactly right, it will be very complicated. There is nothing justice once more then have this be a speedy trial and be able to have this move quickly. But when you are talking about a case of this gravity, there is going to be a long process ahead, months, maybe even more. It is also complicated by the fact that two other court dates are already on the calendar and you cannot have Overlapping Court dates. So they are going to have to work around that and i guess it will be sometime next spring. We are going into a spring that will be characterised by primary z then the general election after that, so all of these will be taking place at the same time. Trump will want to persist as much as possible so expect a lot of back and forth about these dates are being set. fix, expect a lot of back and forth about these dates are being set. These dates are being set. A final auestion these dates are being set. A final question on these dates are being set. A final question on political these dates are being set. A final question on political strategy. These dates are being set. A final| question on political strategy. For republicans, i know it is a minority, but those that dont want trump and the democrats, what do you think the best strategy is, because largely, the democrats have let the judicial process play out without too much of a pile on, is that sensible course or does it leave a vacuum that the trump narrative fills . It is a good question and again i would say, i think the indictment was smart about where they chose to indict. They did not pursue all the charges that the january the 6th Committee had suggested. The democrats, i think it will be being as transparent and open about this process as possible and for allowing justice to do its work. I think the sad thing about all this is the country is are already quite divided. Ithink country is are already quite divided. I think democrats are just prepared that yes, this will run the country but not holding Tour Accountable would likely have done the same thing. We accountable would likely have done the same thing. Accountable would likely have done the same thing. We have to leave it there, the same thing. We have to leave it there. Julie the same thing. We have to leave it there, julie norman. The same thing. We have to leave it there, julie norman. But the same thing. We have to leave it there, julie norman. But thank the same thing. We have to leave it there, julie norman. But thank you | there, julie norman. But thank you for being on the programme and giving us that analysis. Thank you for your time of plenty more on that story today. Lets turn to another important story, niger. Where in the past hour, nigeria has cut off electricity to the country, following last weeks coup. It comes as a delegation from the west Africa Regional bloc, ecowas, arrive in in niger as mediation continues. Mediation continues. Some countries in the region have come to the defence of the new leadership, including burkina faso, mali, and guinea declaring that any Military Invention in the country would be considered a declaration of war. Over the past 2a hours, European Nations have begun Evacuating Hundreds of citizens from the country. The first of three french planes arrived back in paris with more than 250 people on board. Italy has also flown out dozens of its own nationals as well as other europeans and american citizens. Live to nairobi and our africa correspondent, catherine byaruhanga, whos following the developments for us. Lets start with the cutting off of electricity, tell us more about that. Yes, we started to get information from residents in various parts of niger saying they were experiencing power blackouts. This is quite rare for people there at the moment. They were talking about having powerful for maybe an hour and then there would be a blackout for four hours and then eventually, the countrys Electricity Company said they believe that this is as a result of sanctions from neighbouring nigeria stop so what nigeria has done is we understand, according to the authorities in niger, is because of sanctions following the coup, they are cutting off Power Supplies to its neighbour in niger. But this is obviously part of what were seeing is a multipronged effort by neighbouring countries, trying to get to grips with situation theyre in there following the coup. They are sending Mediation Teams and also threatening for the now enforcing sanctions. In threatening for the now enforcing sanctions. ,. ,. , sanctions. In terms of that delegation. Sanctions. In terms of that delegation, is sanctions. In terms of that delegation, is there sanctions. In terms of that delegation, is there any i sanctions. In terms of that i delegation, is there any word seeping out about whether any progress is being made . It is stilljust a short while since they arrived. Remember, ecowas has been trying to talk to the military leaders over the past week. They have been trying to talk to them about handing power back to the former president. We understand that this is quite a senior delegation. So on the team is a former Military Ruler of niger, and also a key religious leader in the region, the sultan. So you have a military man who maybe can speak to the new leaders of the coup, a soldier to soldier, and key religious leader there to reinforce the fact that nigers neighbours are concerned about these developments. They are concerned about the possible destabilisation of the region and they are calling for them to return to a democracy and to reinstate the civilian leader. Civilian leader. Briefly, what is the latest civilian leader. Briefly, what is the latest in civilian leader. Briefly, what is the latest in terms civilian leader. Briefly, what is the latest in terms of civilian leader. Briefly, what is the latest in terms of further l the latest in terms of further evacuations, numbers . Exactly. So what we have seen over the course of the day is that there were more than 260 people who were flown from niger to france on a French Military aircraft. So it was notjust french nationals on board that aircraft, you also had other europeans, portuguese. Then there was an italian flight that landed in rome and then you had most italians on that but also americans, a British National and also some africans that were on board that flight. Spain is also expected to carry out its own flight. The uk, for example, hasnt announced an evacuation yet but is calling on its citizens who want to leave niger to register with authorities. The us has also said right now it doesnt see the need to carry out a mass evacuation, similar to what European Countries are doing. Countries are doing. Thanks very much for the countries are doing. Thanks very much for the latest. Countries are doing. Thanks very much for the latest. It countries are doing. Thanks very much for the latest. It is countries are doing. Thanks very much for the latest. It is a countries are doing. Thanks very much for the latest. It is a fluid l much for the latest. It is a Fluid Situation so we will return through the course of today � s programme. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Lets look at some other main stories in the uk this hour. Cold calling to offer Financial Services or products could be banned under new government plans. The home office says fake scams cost the economy £750 million in the last year. The government will also outlaw so called � sim farms which are used by criminals to send thousands of spam texts at once. The number of people missing payments on essential Household Bills like energy, phone and water is as high as it was over the winter, thats according to Consumer Group which. They estimate that around 2. 4 million households missed at least one bill payment in the month to mid july. Which also said 770,000 failed to make mortgage or rent payments. A court has ruled an american fugitive who fled to scotland after attempting to fake his own death to avoid prosecution can be extradited to the united states. Nicholas rossi is accused of rape in the state of utah. Youre live with bbc news. Thousands of Women In Africa will die in pregnancy and childbirth as a result of cuts to the uks overseas aid budget. Thats the warning from an internal Foreign Office report, which has been made public by mps. The government says, its budget for low Income Countries has been cut in the short term to hit a savings target, but will then nearly double. Live now to sarah champion, the chair of the International Development committee and the labour mp for rotherham. Thank you so much for being here on the programme. In terms of that headline, it is startling, isnt it, to see it in Black And White . It is horrific. The government published one of these last year but kept it internal so i had to use parliamentary privilege to actually get into the Public Domain so people could realise the real life impact when politicians make cuts to policy programmes. But this document was sent to my committee and it makes for really start reading. You gave some of the examples. But things like critical support to tackle malnutrition wont be delivered in south sudan they are estimating 300, 3000 children could die of untreated severe malnutrition. The list goes on and on. This was written by Civil Servants to let the politicians making these decisions really aware of the actual human impact and it is a chilling read. It is something which i feel quite ashamed of, that we have gone ahead with. I ififiiiii which i feel quite ashamed of, that we have gone ahead with. I will come back to the wider we have gone ahead with. I will come back to the wider point we have gone ahead with. I will come back to the wider point in we have gone ahead with. I will come back to the wider point in the back to the wider point in the moment but in the way some of these cats are falling, are you concerned about that as well . 76 cut in aid for afghanistan, for example . That is a really good example. What we are seeing is people that are probably poorest, most vulnerable, most marginalised, women and girls and disabled people are actually the ones that are facing the brunt of these cats and they are the people that one would hope the uk government would be looking to support the most because they are the most Vulnerable People on the planet. So the fact Civil Servants were warning these Vulnerable People would be targeted by these cuts and they went ahead anyway, it is difficult. I really feel for the Civil Servants. Difficult. I really feel for the civilservants. People difficult. I really feel for the Civil Servants. People get into development because they really care about development. So for them to have to make these cuts are on the ground, it is a tough role they have been put into. To ground, it is a tough role they have been put inte been put into. To accept the need the cuts, been put into. To accept the need the cuts. The been put into. To accept the need the cuts, the squeeze been put into. To accept the need the cuts, the squeeze on been put into. To accept the need the cuts, the squeeze on budgetsj the cuts, the squeeze on budgets across the board, the government pointing to that but also pointing once we get past this moment, that budgets will be doubled . Well, i accept the argument that the government had made to justify the cuts, which is slightly different from your question. Other g7 questions havent cut anywhere as severely as we have and they have had the same financial covid impact on their economies as we have. So this was a Political Choice and, yes, next year the budgets are going to be slightly better. But bear in mind that the budget overall was cut in 2020 by a third. So the fact we are going up by about 55 and 10 next year doesnt take us anywhere near to the levels that we were supporting people. Isnt part of the problem that a quarter of the budget is being actually used by the home office, in terms of housing refugees in this country and that is taking a big chunk of the budget that otherwise potentially could go abroad . You accept that is part of the equation here, do you . 100 , here, do you . Ioo , and it took my committee a lot of argument with a lot of Civil Servants and ministers to get those figures into the Public Domain because that is money being spent by the home office which should be going to the poorest people in the world. Whilst i fully accept and i am proud that our country supports refugees coming to our shores, it shouldnt be at the expense of the poorest people in the world. No other g7 country does that, they managed to find the money to do both. So yes, the budget is ridiculously stretched, so choices have been made and. It is about that, isnt it, choices, choices as mps will have to decide and this is transparent and the public and feeding what they think should be happening as well in terms of the total budget, whether it is to be spent partly on housing refugees here, whether it is on any of these schemes you have been talking about abroad, it is about making choices for the General Public as well . Well, you are absolutely right. Its making choices with the public� s own money. This is taxes paying for this. The more transparency there is, the better. One of the things i would argue because there is always the counter of why are we spending money abroad when we should be spent to get here . I would say the bigger argument is the Development Money we have always invested and invested very well has gone to stabilise fragile states, its going to enable people to have jobs, fragile states, its going to enable people to havejobs, have fragile states, its going to enable people to have jobs, have safety and stay in their own homes rather than what are seeing at the moment, that instability around the world is driving migration. So it is quite perverse that a big chunk of the money that is meant to stabilise fragile states, prevent conflicts, prevent Global Health pandemics for example is being used as a consequence in this country when the refugees turn up here. Refugees turn up here. Sarah champion refugees turn up here. Sarah champion in refugees turn up here. Sarah champion in rotherham, refugees turn up here. Sarah i champion in rotherham, thank refugees turn up here. Sarah champion in rotherham, thank you refugees turn up here. Sarah champion in rotherham, thank you for taking time to speak to us on bbc news. Lets return and remind you of that Breaking News of the last half an hour or so. The stepfather of a 10 month old little boy has been found guilty of his murder at Derby Crown Court. These are the pictures from the courthouse because we were expecting statements. Police say jacob crouch had suffered a living hell before he was killed by craig crouch in december 2020. The child 5 mother gemma barton was cleared of murder and manslaughter but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. Those were the pictures from the courthouse. Phil mackie was at Derby Crown Court for the hearing. There was high emotion at the end of their seven week trial, there were gasps and tears in the public galleries as those verdicts were read out a short while ago. One person had to be taken out of the court, they were so overcome with the news that jacob crouchs step had been convicted of murder and his mother of the lesser charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. There will be a Safeguarding Review into this case but first of all, its a look at the background at what happened to jacob. A Smiling Asmiling and a smiling and giggling baby but during jacob crouchs short life he endured what was described as a culture of cruelty at the hands of his mother, gemma barton, and stepfather, craig crouch. Can you feel or hear any breathing . There is nothinu. Feel or hear any breathing . There is nothing he feel or hear any breathing . There is nothing he is feel or hear any breathing . There is nothing. He is gone. Feel or hear any breathing . There is nothing. He is gone. He feel or hear any breathing . There is nothing. He is gone. He is feel or hear any breathing . There is nothing. He is gone. He is stone nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and he nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and he has nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and he has gone nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and he has gone stiff. Nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and he has gone stiff. Thisl nothing. He is gone. He is stone cold and he has gone stiff. This is the 999 call cold and he has gone stiff. This is the 999 call made cold and he has gone stiff. This is the 999 call made after cold and he has gone stiff. This is the 999 call made after they cold and he has gone stiff. This is. The 999 call made after they found jacobs lifeless body in his cot, five days after christmas in 2020. They met on a dating site when she was four months pregnant. They were obviously infatuated and quickly moved in together. Crouch was even named as father on jacobs moved in together. Crouch was even named as father onjacobs birth certificate. They pretended to be good parents. Barton said he was her bundle ofjoy and craig said he doted on his stepson. In text messages, they discussed cruel punishments, they called him a devil and whenever he cried, they would smack him or send him to bed. This footage from her phone shows crouch joking about whetherjacob had been killed. Share joking about whetherjacob had been killed. ~ ,. ,. , joking about whetherjacob had been killed hmm joking about whetherjacob had been killed hmm killed. Are you all right . Hmm. Its very quiet. Killed. Are you all right . Hmm. Its very quiet. Have killed. Are you all right . Hmm. Its very quiet, have you killed. Are you all right . Hmm. Its very quiet, have you killed killed. Are you all right . Hmm. Its very quiet, have you killed him . I killed. Are you all right . Hmm. Its i very quiet, have you killed him . You are under very quiet, have you killed him . Are under arrest. Very quiet, have you killed him . You are under arrest. Barton very quiet, have you killed him . You are under arrest. Barton and very quiet, have you killed him . You are under arrest. Barton and crouch | are under arrest. Barton and crouch were arrested are under arrest. Barton and crouch were arrested on are under arrest. Barton and crouch were arrested on suspicion are under arrest. Barton and crouch were arrested on suspicion of are under arrest. Barton and crouch were arrested on suspicion of his i were arrested on suspicion of his murder a week after he died. You are arrested on murder a week after he died. You are arrested on suspicion murder a week after he died. You are arrested on suspicion of murder a week after he died. You are arrested on suspicion of murder. I arrested on suspicion of murder. At the time of his death, jacob had 39 rib fractures, visible bruises and a Perforated Bowel Which led to and a Perforated Bowel Which led to a fatal infection. He and a Perforated Bowel Which led to a fatal infection. A fatal infection. He was only ten months old a fatal infection. He was only ten months old. The a fatal infection. He was only ten months old. The amount a fatal infection. He was only ten months old. The amount of a fatal infection. He was only ten i months old. The amount of injuries that he had, the sustained period they were inflicted over, it would have been completely normal for jacob to have lived in a life of pain. He would have been in pain almost throughout his ten month life. Just horrendous levels of injury. Life. Just horrendous levels of inu. ,. Life. Just horrendous levels of inu. Life. Just horrendous levels of inu. , injury. Crouch has been found guilty ofjacobs injury. Crouch has been found guilty of jacobs murder. Injury. Crouch has been found guilty of jacobs murder. Barton injury. Crouch has been found guilty of jacobs murder. Barton was ofjacobs murder. Barton was cleared of murder but convicted of causing or allowing her sons death. Neither have explained how or why jacob died. Soi so i mentioned in the introduction that there would be a Safeguarding Review into his death, that is a matter of course when a child dies like this. But we dont think in his case, as i have been in previous ones, there was much social services involvement. It appears craig crouch and gemma barton were able to hide behind this happy, smiling facade that they created, including some of those videos you saw there, which they shared with people to show that they shared with people to show that they were loving parents. Obviously they were loving parents. Obviously the reality was very different to that. However, there may have been on the missed opportunities. They would have had contact with other agencies before jacobs death. The other question this raises, much like it has with other childrens debts in this country in that period of time, remember this was december 2020, is whether or not the various lockdown is enabled the killers of the young child to hide away from plain site and get away somewhat with what they were doing. So today we have got that guilty verdict. Craig crouch has been found guilty of murder. Gemma barton of causing or allowing the death of a child but they will be a Sentencing Hearing here on friday, but it may not be that they can actually sentence the pair then. That they can actually sentence the pairthen. It that they can actually sentence the pair then. It may be that is further adjourned until a later date. Phii adjourned until a later date. Phil mackie and adjourned until a later date. Phil mackie and those of the live pictures. We are expecting to hear from the police and the next little while. Stay with us on bbc news. Hello there. This is certainly not the sort of weather wed expect to find across the uk at this time of the year and once again, its all due to another area of low pressure bringing wind and rain. Its been named Storm Patricia By the french met service, with the biggest impacts along the north coast of france, partly due to the super moon and also to the strength of the wind. Its going to be windy through the english channel, the south coast of england, strong to gale force winds. Although the winds tending to ease down late in the afternoon. Were also seeing clusters of heavy and thundery downpours developing in england and wales and the more persistent rain is still affecting yorkshire and north lincolnshire, keeping it particularly cool here. Temperatures are not much better in scotland and Northern Ireland but at least here it is somewhat drier. It should become a lot drier across england and wales as we head into the night. The strong and gusty winds tending to ease down, change direction, the heavier rain and thunderstorms moving away. Some clearer spells developing by the end of the night in places and temperatures probably not dipping away any lower than 11 14 degrees. Storm patricia itself, that area of low pressure, is going to be heading into southern scandinavia on thursday, taking the wet and windy weather away. The Wind Direction Changes for thursday and we get a cool north to north westerly wind. Thats going to bring some showers. A bit of sunshine for a while but the cloud will tend to increase and from the word go, weve got some showers coming into Northern Scotland and showers could develop almost anywhere, i think, on thursday afternoon. Some thunderstorms, mainly across the south east of scotland, North Eastern parts of england. With a bit of shelter, though, temperatures could reach 20 degrees in glasgow and it should be a little bit warmer in east anglia and the south east where were missing most of the showers. But that wont be the case on friday. Across Eastern Parts of england we will see the showers. It wont be as windy but theres the threat of some thunderstorms in the south east. Western parts of the uk are likely to be drier to end the week. But still temperatures only 18 degrees in belfast and 19 in cardiff. So its still cool air that weve got really through the next few days and thats because the jet stream, this strong ribbon of air up in the atmosphere, is running to the south of the uk. Quite a strong jet stream and the position will change by the time we get to saturday. That will pick up another area of low pressure and bring some wet and windy weather to england and wales, a bit like were seeing today. This is bbc news, the headlines. Donald trump hits out after being charged with plotting to overturn the 2020 Election Results. A new study finds Artificial Intelligence can accurately detect 20 more Breast Cancers than traditional screening. And stargazers across the world were treated to a bigger and Brighterfull Moon Last Night well have the latest pictures. pres