this makes him the first us president with a criminal conviction and the first major party candidate to run for office with a felony. mr trump was convicted of falsifying business records to conceal a sex scandal involving the former porn star, stormy daniels. the verdict — handed down just a few hours ago — comes after two days of delebrations. the former us president could face up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each count. the trial officially began on april 15th after a lengthy jury selection process. then, over the course of more than six weeks, testimony from mr trump's former business partners, including long—time lawyer michael cohen and his accuser stormy daniels, were heard. 12 new yorkjurors deliberated for two days to reach thursday's verdict in which they found him guilty on all 3a felony charges. mr trump will return to the manhattan courtroom onjuly 11th to be sentenced. here's what he said outside the court right after the verdict. our whole country is being rigged right now. this was done by the biden administration in order to wound or hurt a political opponent. i think it isjust a disgrace and we will keep fighting, we will fight to the end and we will win, because our country has gone to hell. we don't have the same country any more, we have a divided mess. michael cohen, donald trump's former personal lawyer, who was a key prosecution witness in his trial, has hailed the guilty verdict, saying... he goes on to say... there's been immediate reaction from the president. in a statement, joe biden says... he goes on to say that... but mr trump's fellow republicans have quickly condemned the verdict. house of representatives speaker mikejohnson said... let's speak to our correspondent michelle fleury. hello, michelle. we have had that initial reaction was to reaction also from mr trump's supporters when it comes to donations, how has he rallied supporters? i donations, how has he rallied summers?— donations, how has he rallied supporters? i think if you look at what he _ supporters? i think if you look at what he said _ supporters? i think if you look at what he said outside - supporters? i think if you look at what he said outside of- at what he said outside of court afterwards, just moments after he had been found guilty of 3a counts, he turned to the cameras and said, the real verdict will come on november the 5th, that is the presidential election day here in the united states. and he talked about this being a rigged trial, portraying himself really is a victim and saying that all that stood between regular folk and the system, if you like, is donald trump. i think for many of his supporters, that is a message that they buy into and that resonates with them and it will be interesting to see now, after this, be interesting to see now, afterthis, how be interesting to see now, after this, how much sentiment changes, bearing in mind that many americans have already made up their minds about what they think of donald trump, the polarising figure has shattered many norms when it comes to be what it means to be president of this country. so the question remains, will this change people's minds are not in the months ahead, when they go to the polls? 50 in the months ahead, when they go to the polls?— go to the polls? so they took two da s go to the polls? so they took two days to _ go to the polls? so they took two days to return _ go to the polls? so they took two days to return their - two days to return their verdict, less than two minutes to read out all 3a charges, their verdict on those charges. what actually happens next, what happens between now and july the 11th, and could mr trump see prison time? well, we know from _ trump see prison time? well, we know from his — trump see prison time? well, we know from his defence _ trump see prison time? well, we know from his defence team, - know from his defence team, they want to appeal this. they are going to go through various processes to try and do so. and on various grounds. whether it is things like the instruction given to jurors about how to consider the counts before them, whether it is the testimony given by stormy daniels where she gave some quite salacious details of the time she spent with donald trump, she is the former adult film star receiving hush money payments. whether it is the point of law, because this is a case relied notjust on the jurors finding him guilty of falsifying business records, but they're not trying to potentially commit a second crime, in this case as prosecutors claimed, election fraud. that is a novel sort of legal thing that we haven't seen before according to legal experts that potentially may be vulnerable to challenge. after that, we have thatjuly the 11th sentencing which comes just days before the republican national convention, that is typically when the party kind of crowns they are normally for the party, to be the presidential candidate. and at that point we will find out whether or not he faces jail time. there are doubts about whether he will ever see the inside of a prison, for a couple of reasons. one, this was a —— he is a first offender, it was a non—violent crime, all these work in his favour. at the second thing is, we are talking about a former president, notjust any other defendant, and with that comes security questions that presumably would pose a huge headache for any prison warden and they might not like to deal with that. these are all factors that the judge has to weigh when he issued his sentencing, where you can choose between jail time, probation, a fine, don't know what he will go for but given that we have seen donald trump violate gag orders during the process of this trial and act in ways that might have irritated the judge, in ways that might have irritated thejudge, now in ways that might have irritated the judge, now the power rests in the judge's hands. power rests in the 'udge's hands. , , power rests in the 'udge's hands. , ., hands. this could be a humdinger_ hands. this could be a humdinger of- hands. this could be a humdinger of an - hands. this could be a i humdinger of an election hands. this could be a - humdinger of an election that we have been working towards november. let's cut back to the courtroom, what was the atmosphere like in their? just the timeline events. i atmosphere like in their? just the timeline events.— the timeline events. i mean, everyone _ the timeline events. i mean, everyone was _ the timeline events. i mean, everyone was getting - the timeline events. i mean, everyone was getting ready i the timeline events. i mean, l everyone was getting ready to leave for the day, the judge and the lawyers for both sides and the lawyers for both sides and donald trump are all back in the courtroom when the judge said, in 15 minutes i'm going to dismiss thejury said, in 15 minutes i'm going to dismiss the jury for the day, so people pretty much had their eye on the door ready to go home for the day and then a note came back from the jury saying, hang on a minute, we are close to a third. at that point, the energy in the room, according to my colleague who was there in court, change completely. it was within an hour after that that we learned the stunning verdict, but the question to the election as to whether it will change the dynamics, certainly both parties will try to use it to their advantage. the question is, what do people, those few people who are independent in swing states that could ultimately decide this election, what do they make of this? just have to wait and see. ~ . ., ~' this? just have to wait and see. ~ . . ~ y see. michelle, thank you very much. let's speak to vinoo varghese, wall street criminal defence attorney and former new york prosecutor. thank you forjoining us. the significance of this, i mean, this is a question we've been a word we've been using when it comes to donald trump since these legal challenges were brought, but where are now? well, between now and july the 11th, his team will have to present a written submission regarding sentencing and it is called a mitigation package. they are going to be arguing that thejudge doesn't they are going to be arguing that the judge doesn't sentence him to any prison time, that's the argument they will put forth, they will put forth letters in support, and the prosecution at some point, maybe they will do it the day before, will announce what kind of sentence they are seeking, what their recommendation to thejudge is command my strong feeling is that they will be seeking some sort ofjail sentence, perhaps the maximum. so you have thesejialing are submissions, then on the day of sentencing, the prosecutor will get to speak, one attorney for donald trump will get to speak, and mr trump, donald trump will get to speak, and mrtrump, if donald trump will get to speak, and mr trump, if he chooses, will also get to speak. those are the only three people who are the only three people who are legally allowed to speak, but the judge could allow others but it's unlikely, than the total pronounce sentence. it's my view that this judge is going to give him jail time. they concerns your correspondent brought up about security risks, that is a city issue. thejudge, who is a state courtjudge, will not really care about that. in fact, i think he is going to be one who wants to go down as the person who put donald trump in jail. and from the point of view of the district attorney, alvin bragg, they want to say that they took a hard line, so all these factors weigh in for all these factors weigh in for a very strong possibility that he is going to see the inside of rikers island, one of the most notorious prisons in the world. ., ,. ., world. fascinating. the republicans _ world. fascinating. the republicans have - world. fascinating. the i republicans have spoken world. fascinating. the - republicans have spoken about alvin bragg and judge merchan a lot and criticise them as well. is that something that could be considered in the appeal case? no, in terms of the appeal, after the sentencing onjuly the 11th, the defence has 30 days to file what is called notice of appeal. the appellate process can take years. if you're sentenced to jail, his lawyers can immediately go to the intermediate appellate court, which sits just a little bit further north in manhattan, and try to get him bail pending appeal. they may or may not be successful at that, it's hard to predict, because it was before onejudge and to predict, because it was before one judge and thatjudge probably will not want to be thejudge probably will not want to be the judge that says, hay—mac, probably will not want to be thejudge that says, hay—mac, i want to let dundonald out from jail. so he will be stuck at lease for a bit in jail. jail. so he will be stuck at lease for a bit injail. —— you want to let the tunnel. the judge doesn't have to give jail, he can put him under arrest, but what short of —— what sort of punishment will he think is appropriate for a person who has now committed 3a criminal acts for which he was convicted? so i was surprised he actually walked out of the courtroom, i think the judge wasn't expecting the verdict today so he allowed him to walk out, the default position in the new york state court, and i know thisjudge, is the new york state court, and i know this judge, is to incarcerate people once they are convicted at trial, but that didn't happen today. i wonder if we could just, looking at the way he mounted his defence, was the defence leading donald trump, your opinion, watching how was all handled, where they leading donald trump was it donald trump pulling the strings? i think in this area, his lawyers, and i know his primary council, i had a case against him when he was a prosecutor, they did everything as far as i can tell, they did everything they could to mount the correct legal challenges. the problem was, thisjudge gave legal challenges. the problem was, this judge gave the prosecution everything that they asked for, and probably more. there was the gag order that was questionable constitutionally, there was the question of moving the case out of manhattan. i've said from the beginning i didn't think he could get a fair trial. my office is on wall street, about ten minutes from the courthouse, this is the most rabidly anti—trump place in america, and if you go to the outer boroughs, just slightly north and slightly east in the suburbs, you havejury pools that are pretty much equally split so he had a good argument to move the trial out there, which was rejected first about this judge also made which was rejected first about thisjudge also made it which was rejected first about this judge also made it very easy and the prosecutors because they didn't have to prove what the underlying crime that he was supposed to be consumers. it could have been tax fraud, state election fraud, federal election fraud, they said that the prosecutors didn't need to prove that. that puts the defence and a very difficult position because how do you know what to argue against if you are not sure what the jury is going to be considering? so there were a number of problems that donald trump faced and i do not at all, normally when i go on and talk my see mistakes, it's very difficult to pin any blame on his attorneys because of the conditions that they had to deal with. conditions that they had to deal with-— conditions that they had to deal with. there is also the argument _ deal with. there is also the argument that _ deal with. there is also the argument that they - deal with. there is also the argument that they moved | deal with. there is also the - argument that they moved from misdemeanour to felony, white as the matter?— as the matter? well, the difference _ as the matter? well, the difference between - as the matter? well, the - difference between misdemeanour and felony is simply one of potential jail and felony is simply one of potentialjail time. potential jail time. misdemeanour in new potentialjail time. misdemeanour in new york is a crime punishable by up to one yearin crime punishable by up to one year injail, and felony is anything where the punishment is greater in one year injail. so the reason, this falsifying business records, that is normally considered a misdemeanour but when you are saying that it was done to conceal another crime, it gets elevated to the felony, for which just on catalonia face four and a half years of prison. —— whichjust four and a half years of prison. —— which just on one count alone. prison. -- which 'ust on one count alone._ count alone. it's been fascinating _ count alone. it's been fascinating speaking l count alone. it's beenl fascinating speaking to count alone. it's been - fascinating speaking to you, thank you for your time. thank ou. for the first time, the us has given ukraine permission to use american weapons to strike russian territory — but only near the kharkiv region. russia has been intensifying its attacks against ukraine's second biggest city in recent weeks. 0ur international editor, jeremy bowen, says the area is defenceless against air attacks — and the local authorities say three people have been killed in strikes overnight. we will get more updates from jeremy, of course. discussions on whether kyiv should be allowed to use western weapons against targets in russia has dominated debate in recent weeks. ukraine and some of its allies say it needs to hit troop concentrations and missile launch sites across the border. here's the nato chief, jens stoltenberg, speaking on thursday. i believe the time has come to consider some of these restrictions to enable the ukrainians to really defend themselves. we need to remember this is a war of aggression launched by choice bite moscow against ukraine. russia invaded another country, invaded ukraine and ukraine has, according to international law, the right to defend themselves. it's enshrined in the un charter, and the right to self—defence includes also striking unitary targets, legitimate military targets, outside ukraine. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. to the middle east now, where british and us forces struck houthi targets in yemen in the fifth combined operation since january. the uk ministry of defence confirmed the strikes took place against the iranian—backed group on thursday as part of a response to houthi attacks on international shipping in the red sea and gulf of aden. meanwhile, according to reports by israel's public broadcaster, israel and egypt are planning to reopen the rafah border crossing in southern gaza for humanitarian aid, following pressure from the us. the crossing had been closed since may 7th, when the israel defence forces took control of the gaza side. with me is our reporter, said shehata, from bbc arabic. lovely to have you here in the studio, let's start off with those attacks, what more do we know about what took place? according to the us central command in the british defence ministry, the strikes targeted 13 targets in three different locations, in sanaa the capital and at the location on the red sea. the british and american statement saying that these military facilities housed drones and surface to air weapons, which are used to attack other ships in the red sea. this shows how the houthis are still causing a threat to the shipment in the red sea. 0n the shipment in the red sea. on tuesday, three plastic missiles from the houthis struck a greek owned ship going through the red sea, which shows how much of a threat it is. this route, it is supposed to be about 15% of the global seaborne trade, so there is expectation from economists and people who are experts in the area saying that this will affect prices because many major companies, shipping companies and oil companies changed the route to go round africa, which is longer. it might take some months to affect and this shows how the american and the british are insisting to weaken the houthi threat because it could affect the prices and the stability of the prices and the stability of the global economy. this shows also that the houthis are not done yet, but the strikes are less than before but it is still causing fear among the shipping companies in the oil companies to use the red sea. there is a bit of a slogan going round at the moment, all eyes on rafah. we have certainly got an article of this on the bbc news website. but when it comes to rafah, there is talk that cat crossing could be opened, what more can you tell us which allow agreement in principle between israel and egypt to reopen the crossing. israel and egypt to reopen the crossinu. , , , , israel and egypt to reopen the crossinu. , , ,, ., crossing. there is pressure on the humanitarian _ crossing. there is pressure on the humanitarian situation - crossing. there is pressure on the humanitarian situation in l the humanitarian situation in gaza. there is talk about israel redeploying forces away from the crossing because a few days ago was one egyptian soldier who was killed because of tension between, clashes between israeli and egyptian forces. in addition to that, they might use the un to be potentially responsible because in the last few days, more than 30 thousand —— 32,000 fled because of the israeli air strikes that are going on in the east and central rafah. it is a dire situation. there is not enough food and people are running from that. so the reopening of the agreement on reopening of the agreement on reopening the crossing, it will ease the pressure on the humanitarian situation in gaza. thank you very much indeed. government leaders, defence officials and diplomats from around the world are gathering in singapore for asia's biggest annual security forum this weekend. defence secretary lloyd austin is expected to hold talks with his chinese counterpart, admiral dong jun. let's speak to our asia business reporter, suranjana tewari, for more on this. great to have you on the programme. this is the raging's most important defence talks. so in terms of the us being there, what are their priorities? —— the region's most important. priorities? -- the region's most important.— priorities? -- the region's most important. yes, lloyd austin is — most important. yes, lloyd austin is in _ most important. yes, lloyd austin is in singapore - most important. yes, lloyd austin is in singapore at. most important. yes, lloyd| austin is in singapore at this forum, and he is expected to speak on saturday morning. he is expected to reassure his allies in the region that the us is here to support some of those smaller nations. that's really about china's rising influence in the region, something that the us has talked about an awful lot and said it is committed to the indo—pacific. many experts say that the war in ukraine, the war in israel and gaza, as we've just been hearing, war in israel and gaza, as we'vejust been hearing, is war in israel and gaza, as we've just been hearing, is a distraction for the biden administration, but lloyd austin has been tasked with reassuring allies in this region that the us is to extend help should anything happen and continue to support places like taiwan and the philippines with whatever is going on in the south china sea, there have been quite a few skirmishes between china and the philippines and the recent weeks and months. we philippines and the recent weeks and months. ~ ., , weeks and months. we have seen those chinese _ weeks and months. we have seen those chinese military _ those chinese military manoeuvres that have been taking place, and really, taiwan is furious about it, of course. where are we in terms of tensions in the region at the moment?— of tensions in the region at the moment? well, if we talk about the _ the moment? well, if we talk about the us _ the moment? well, if we talk about the us and _ the moment? well, if we talk about the us and china - about the us and china relationship, it has been extremely frosty for some time. there was a somewhat thawed last november when president xi jinping went to the us and met president biden. we are expecting the defence ministers, lloyd austin and his chinese counterpart to meet at some point during the summer. we don't have the details just yet, but it is significant they are meeting face—to—face at all. they held a phone conversation back in april and they did commit to communicating and meeting common and that mayjust happen at the summit. common and that may 'ust happen at the summith at the summit. thank you very much. at the summit. thank you very much- you _ at the summit. thank you very much. you can _ at the summit. thank you very much. you can keep— at the summit. thank you very i much. you can keep up-to-date much. you can keep up—to—date with all the top stories on the bbc news website. i will be back shortly with all the world business news. hello there. the weather for half—term has certainly brought its challenges this week. in fact, across the east coast, it's been rather grey, and take a look at thursday afternoon — and cromer pier, as you can see, it was raining quite heavily and with the breeze coming in off the north sea, it felt quite chilly as well. slightly different story further north and west in the western isles — this is the isle of lewis. we had just over nine hours of sunshine. that's because high pressure is starting to drift in off the atlantic and it will quiet the story down considerably as we move through the weekend. but this little nuisance weather front still bringing in quite a lot of cloud off the north sea on friday. and anywhere from east yorkshire down through east anglia and south—east england will continue to see some outbreaks of showery rain for a time. so into the afternoon, the showers gradually decreasing, but certainly more cloud here, only 15 or 16 degrees. further west, with the cloud well broken, the winds a little lighter, we should see temperatures peaking at 20 celsius. a dry afternoon for northern england, northern ireland and much of scotland. sheltered western areas of scotland perhaps seeing the best of the sunshine, and once again the best of the warmth as well. now, as we move through friday evening and into the early hours of saturday, we'll still continue to see a little cloud across east anglia and that kent coast. but with clearer skies, temperatures are likely to fall away here. one or two spots, we could see temperatures in rural parts down to around 4 or 5 degrees. so potentially a chilly start to saturday, but it will be a dry one and there will be a lot of sunshine pretty much from the word go. again, that nagging northerly breeze continuing to drive in a few isolated showers and some nuisance cloud. and there might be a little more cloud just into the far north—west of scotland. but sandwiched in between the two, a lot of sunshine, a drier story, and temperatures will start to respond. further west, we should see highs of around 20, 21 degrees, 70 fahrenheit. now, as we move into sunday and into next week, this high pressure stays with us for a time, but there's a risk of some weak weather fronts toppling across the high, which mightjust interrupt the sun from time to time. but all in all, the theme into next week looks likely to stay quite quiet, largely dry, and for many, a degree or so warmer than we've seen of late. take care. a boost for modinomics? new figures will confirm india's still the world's fastest—growing major economy — as the nation's general election enters it final days. also coming up — a new chapter for boeing? the aerospace giant promises to change its business culture — as it tries to win back the trust of safety regulators, customers and the public. lady and gentlemans, start your engines! coming soon to a cinema near you — the year's best movie promos compete for the golden trailer awards. welcome to business today, i'm lukwesa burak. we start in india — where official figures out in a few hours' time are set to confirm it's still the world's fastest—growing major economy. the gdp numbers are being released as india enters the final days of its huge general election. they are likely to be seized upon by prime minister narendra