our washington correspondent, sean dilley, reports. we love trump! he's the first president to be charged with a federal crime and if previous cases are anything to go by, donald trump's 30 indictment is only likely to boost 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 in helping him overturn the election results.- helping him overturn the election results. the attack on our nation's — election results. the attack on our nation's i _ election results. the attack on our nation's i january - election results. the attack on our nation's ijanuary six, - our nation's ijanuary six, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of american democracy. it is described in indictment, it was fuelled by lies. lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the us government, the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election. donald trump responded by posting a campaign statement on his social media network merck, social, likening his prosecution to lawless persecution in nazi germany. shortly after charges are announced, he sent a campaign e—mail vowing to continue his campaign for the white house. but thursday's hearing here in washington, dc is all about the crimes donald trump is accused of committing in the two months following the 2020 election. he has already been charged in two other unrelated cases. he is due to face trial in new york in march over crimes he is alleged to committed overpayments to a former adult film star. in may, he will stand trial over claims the unlawfully held onto military and other unclassified documents. for now, it is a low question of time. in other cases, donald trump has tried to delay after next year's collections but prosecutors in this case say they want the child to go ahead as soon as possible. sean dilley, bbc news. and sean is live for us in washingto now. this, as you say, is the first former president to be charged with a federal crime. he is due to appear in court on thursday. all attention on that now. he is expected to appear in person, isn't he?- is expected to appear in person, isn't he? that is the expectation- _ person, isn't he? that is the expectation. sometimes - person, isn't he? that is the l expectation. sometimes there person, isn't he? that is the - expectation. sometimes there is an option to appear virtually but our understanding is will there be some security involved but mr trump was known to be actively seen in that environment and as we had from the report there, he is quite known to use these appearances and the situation he is in for campaigning. the evidence is from previous cases easy actually sees a boost to popularity when he does. in popularity when he does. in terms of this trial in this case, how long is expected to last for? it case, how long is expected to last for? , . , case, how long is expected to last for? , ., , ., , last for? it is a bit of string but theoretically, - last for? it is a bit of string but theoretically, the - last for? it is a bit of string i but theoretically, the special prosecutor, jack smith, who is prosecuting for the united states, says he would be seeking a speedy trial. without getting into the details of the sixth amended to the constitution, it probably means a defendant, the defendant has the right for a child to be done within a certain period of time. 0rdinarily, under legislation, from the date of the arraignment, that is when the arraignment, that is when the defendant appears for the first time has a charges read and is entering a plea, that would normally be 70 days so theoretically that would be in october but very theoretically. they can certainly say they are ready to go to trial but looking at the unrelated, another case that is a federal case, prosecuted byjack another case that is a federal case, prosecuted by jack smith, case, prosecuted byjack smith, the team of donald trump says they need time to prepare for they need time to prepare for the evidence and the judge on the evidence and the judge on the other case agreed to that. donald trump and his team attempted to delay that until after the election in november next year but the prosecution said they want to crack on with it as early as december this year and a judge, almost like solomons baby, had to say hang on a minute, one timescale is unrealistic and so is the other and she set the trial date in the mar—a—lago classified documents case for may and we are likely to see that sort of wrangling in this case as well. in terms of trump in his reaction, we had his reaction in your report, he says he will continue to campaign and continue to campaign and continue in his mission to become the next president of the united states. just explain to the global audience the impact it has on his ratings and popularity. we impact it has on his ratings and pepularity-_ impact it has on his ratings and popularity. we need to slit and popularity. we need to split that — and popularity. we need to split that off _ and popularity. we need to split that off into _ and popularity. we need to split that off into his - and popularity. we need to| split that off into his ratings and popularity within the republican party and in the country more generally. we can show from the last election he is a polarising and divisive figure and he and joe biden did well at the last election and joe biden, no matter what donald trump says, did win the election. no matter what happens, with both parties, ultimately, what happens, they nominate to run for the presidency within their party and for democrat that looks all but certain to bejoe biden. the same with republicans in donald trump and despite his legal woes, donald trump and despite his legalwoes, his donald trump and despite his legal woes, his nearest rival is a gentleman called ron desantis, the florida governor and he is 37 points roughly behind donald trump at the moment. so notwithstanding the legal troubles, moment. so notwithstanding the legaltroubles, it moment. so notwithstanding the legal troubles, it is looking like a rerun in donald trump and joe biden for the election next year but anything can happen between them. it seems so far that legal woes have not dissuaded donald trump from running and as he has pointed out in interviews even if you were convicted of a crime, he is innocent until proven guilty, even if he were convicted and sent to prison it would not stop him campaigning and even serving as president from behind bars in that scenario.— from behind bars in that scenario. , ., scenario. just an extraordinary thou . ht! scenario. just an extraordinary thought! thank _ scenario. just an extraordinary thought! thank you _ scenario. just an extraordinary thought! thank you so - scenario. just an extraordinary thought! thank you so much. l live now to california, and david alan sklansky, law professor at stanford university and former federal prosecutor. great to have you on the programme. i would love to get your reaction to what our correspondence just sat there, but before we do that, your take, let's talk about the law, in more detail, what the president is, the former president i should say, is charged with in this case? figs charged with in this case? as our charged with in this case? sis your reporter charged with in this case? is your reporter explain, charged with four different felonies, all to do with his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, by fanning the flames of false accusations, of widespread voter fraud. of false accusations, of widespread voterfraud. 0ne of false accusations, of widespread voter fraud. one set of charges has to do with his efforts to corru ptly of charges has to do with his efforts to corruptly interfere with the official accounting and certification of the electoral votes in congress, which is how the winner of the presidential election get certified under the constitution. another set of charges has to do with the allegation that he conspired to defraud the united states by falsely claiming that the election results were fraudulent. then the last charge has to do with a conspiracy to deprive people of their voting rights by avoiding their voting rights by avoiding the results of their lawful votes. ,., . votes. the 45 page indictment lists other _ votes. the 45 page indictment lists other people _ votes. the 45 page indictment lists other people as - votes. the 45 page indictment lists other people as well, - votes. the 45 page indictment lists other people as well, six | lists other people as well, six unnamed co—conspirators, we have lawyers, four of them are justice department officials, a political consultant and as ever it is cold — complicated, the devil is in the detail. how will it play out and talk through the process. he will it play out and talk through the process. he will be arraiuned through the process. he will be arraigned on — through the process. he will be arraigned on thursday, - through the process. he will be | arraigned on thursday, meaning he will appear in court and enter a plea, he will appear in court and entera plea, probably he will appear in court and enter a plea, probably not guilty believe. thejudge may set a trial date and whatever date the trial is set for may later get postponed. there will be lots of motions filed by the defence in an effort to slow the process down. trump will want to delay the trial as long as it can. the prosecutor has said they want a speedy trial. they were convince the judge to move the process along. even if the process moves expeditiously, they will be a range of motion that will have to be decided before the trial about what kind of evidence will be allowed, how the jewellery will be selected, —— anjou, so a fair amount of pre—trial wrangling and part of the story will have to do with the story will have to do with theissues the story will have to do with the issues the judges the story will have to do with the issues thejudges being asked to decide —— jury and part of it will be the effort by trump and his lawyers to delay proceedings and that of the prosecutors to move it along. the prosecutors to move it alon~., , the prosecutors to move it alonu. , , , ,_, along. just briefly, as it sean kellyjust _ along. just briefly, as it sean kellyjust said, _ along. just briefly, as it sean kellyjust said, donald - along. just briefly, as it sean | kellyjust said, donald trump is saying he is determined to become the next president regardless of the outcome of this case or any other cases evenif this case or any other cases even if he is found guilty. from a legal point of view, is he able to do that?— from a legal point of view, is he able to do that? yeah! our s stem he able to do that? yeah! our system was — he able to do that? yeah! our system was not _ he able to do that? yeah! our system was not really - he able to do that? yeah! our system was not really set - he able to do that? yeah! our system was not really set up. system was not really set up with this possibility in mind. the possibility that someone could be charged with and convicted of serious felonies and then elected president! the constitution does not disqualify somebody from being president on that basis. qm. president on that basis. 0k, which just — president on that basis. 0k, which just sounds _ which just sounds extraordinary. thank you so much. good to get your take. for more information head to our website. our team has a live page up with the latest on the donald trump indictment. the page has a breakdown of the recent indictment, as well as what this means for the charges in his other cases. let's get some of the day's other news now. at least one person has been killed as a typhoon hit southern japan. hundreds of thousands of people are without electricty and hundreds of flights into and out of okinawa have been cancelled. more than half a million people were evacuated from the 0kinawa region as the storm approached. the singer lizzo, her production company, and her dance captain, shirlene quigley, are being sued by three former dancers. they have been accused of sexual and racial harassment, disability discrimination, false imprisonment and creating a hostile work environment. two of the dancers were sacked. the third resigned over what she described as the "appalling behaviour" of her bosses. representatives for lizzo have been approached for comment. the ratings agency fitch has downgraded its credit rating for the us government, from its highest triple a score to aa+, citing america's erosion of governance and rising deficits. the white house has criticised the move. in niger, as european nations begin evacuating hundreds of citizens from the country, the first of three french planes sent to evacuate european citizens from niger has arrived back in paris with more than 250 people on board. another french aircraft is still at the capital's airport waiting to bring more people back. some countries in the region have come to the new leadership's defense, including burkina faso, mali and guinea declaring that any military invention in niger would be considered a declaration of war. niger is located in the sahel region. it's a key region for western countries in counterterrorism operations. for more on how western governments are responding to the crisis, our africa correspondent catherine byaruhanga sent in this report. some european governments say they are working harder to get their citizens out of niger. first off, the french, the french government said it would start its evacuations on tuesday afternoon. this is because it says that the airspace in niger have been closed, making it harderfor individual citizens to get themselves out of the country. italy and spain are following suit but the uk government says it is advising its citizens to stay indoors and to register. for the moment it will not be carrying out evacuation missions. this is all happening because there has been a growth of anti—western sentiment in niger over the last three days since ake coup happened there on wednesday last week. anti—western sentiment has been particularly focused towards france, which is the former colonial power of niger. the french embassy was recently attacked during protest in the country. niger matters for western governments because it has been a key ally in the fight against fighting is groups in the region, groups allied to the so—called islamic state and al-qaeda. this is a region that has been fighting this insecurity. we have seen other countries, for example burkina faso, mali and guinea where keys have also happened is that there is a worry there will be growing instability in the region. also the prospect that russia could take advantage of this instability to grow its allegiances in west africa. it already has closed ties with mali and forces from the wagon our polymeric tree group fighting the wagon our polymeric tree groupfighting in the wagon our polymeric tree group fighting in mali analyses of the burkina faso so a prospect that niger could be a new ally for russia in west africa and that is the big concern for western governments at the moment. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. this driving instructor needs no lessons on how bad the traffic can be around canterbury.- traffic can be around canterbury. traffic can be around canterbu . . , canterbury. the city was never made for _ canterbury. the city was never made for this _ canterbury. the city was never made for this volume - canterbury. the city was never made for this volume of - made for this volume of traffic, unfortunately with more cars on the road i don't know what the answer is false. that zoning plan was put forward by the previous administration, the city would be divided into five zones with improvements made to existing routes and a new bypass created to make a ring road. motorists have to drive around then across the city to get across zones or potentially face a fine for crossing boundaries. the idea was to get people out of their cars and travel by foot biker public transport, but the new leadership is reviewing the scheme which is a way of saying scrap. balancing the needs of motorists and the need to detect the planet is now becoming a big political issue. the conservatives condemning the ultra low emission zone by the mayor of london. you're live with bbc news. let's get more on our top story and that's donald trump being indicted over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbal sent this update from outside the court where mr trump will appear later this week. the former president is due to appear in court behind me on thursday. he has the option of appearing virtually or in person but is likely to in person but is likely to in person because he has done was previous two indictments. inside court he will face what is arguably the most serious indictment so far, and probably the most serious indictment that a department ofjustice has ever bought against a former president and potentially a future president. he has been accused in this 45 page indictment trying to subvert the election results of 2020, of trying to overturn democracy. 0ne 2020, of trying to overturn democracy. one of the charges includes conspiracy to defraud the united states. mr trump has dismissed the indictment has —— as he has done with the two saying this is a witch—hunt in the doj being weaponised by president biden in order to stop running for the white house, unsubstantiated claims he has made. the republican party i enlarge backing him, they did so with his previous two indictments, and we have seen his approval ratings go up with republican voters. it is probably going to be the same with this indictment. however how he does with the rest of the american electorate remains to be seen. right now he still remains the clear front—runner for the republican party's presidential nomination. an mp who was suspended for breaking covid lockdown rules has lost her seat after a vote by constituents. a by—election will now take place in the scottish constituency of rutherglen and hamilton west after nearly 12,000 people signed a petition to remove margaret ferrier from office. 0ur scotland political correspondent andrew kerr reports. leaflets have been disappearing through doors here for weeks already, and people have been meeting politicians. this morning the campaigns will get properly under way. a81,000 constituents a rare chance to deliver their verdict on politics locally in scotland wide. ,, , ., ., politics locally in scotland wide. ,, ., , politics locally in scotland wide. ,, , ., ., , ., wide. she should have been away a lona wide. she should have been away a long time _ wide. she should have been away a long time ago. _ wide. she should have been away a long time ago, she _ wide. she should have been away a long time ago, she is _ wide. she should have been away a long time ago, she is a - a long time ago, she is a disgrace to rutherglen. it a long time ago, she is a disgrace to rutherglen. it was wise there _ disgrace to rutherglen. it was wise there is _ disgrace to rutherglen. it was wise there is a _ disgrace to rutherglen. it was wise there is a by-election, i wise there is a by—election, and — wise there is a by—election, and then_ wise there is a by—election, and then that is right for heapie _ and then that is right for people we want and is in. i�*ll people we want and is in. i'll be people we want and is in. be honest people we want and is in. i'll be honest i don't think it will change — be honest i don't think it will change much _ be honest i don't think it will change much. probably- be honest i don't think it will change much. probably put. be honest i don't think it will- change much. probably put some in the _ change much. probably put some in the same — change much. probably put some in the same as— change much. probably put some in the same as the _ change much. probably put some in the same as the same. - change much. probably put some in the same as the same. in- change much. probably put some in the same as the same. in a. in the same as the same. in a statement — in the same as the same. in a statement last _ in the same as the same. in a statement last night - in the same as the same.“ statement last night margaret ferrier said she decided some time ago she would not stand in the by—election, i think this has been a difficult and taxing process but the privilege of her life to serve as the area's mp. i her life to serve as the area's mp. . ., n, ., mp. i declare margaret ferrier is standard. _ mp. i declare margaret ferrier is standard. she _ mp. i declare margaret ferrier is standard. she won - mp. i declare margaret ferrier is standard. she won the - is standard. she won the rutherglen _ is standard. she won the rutherglen and - is standard. she won the | rutherglen and hamilton is standard. she won the - rutherglen and hamilton west seat from labour in december 19 as the snp candidate she beat her labour arrival by more than 5,000 votes. a sweet victory as she had been defeated by him 2.5 years previously. but shortly after she retook the sea, the pandemic hit. it was margaret ferrier�*s decisions during this time which led to the current situation. i during this time which led to the current situation. i would like to start _ the current situation. i would like to start by _ the current situation. i would like to start by paying - the current situation. i would like to start by paying tributej like to start by paying tribute to all nhs workers.— to all nhs workers. while lockdown _ to all nhs workers. while lockdown restrictions - to all nhs workers. while | lockdown restrictions were to all nhs workers. while i lockdown restrictions were in place in september 2020 she was awaiting a covid—i9 test result while in london. the test came back positive. but she took the train home to glasgow to avoid self—isolating in a hotel in london. thisjourney broke self—isolating in a hotel in london. this journey broke the covid—i9 laws in place at the time. she was reported to the police and suspended from the snp. fast forward to january 2021. margaret ferrier was arrested and charged with culpable and reckless conduct. she pleaded guilty last august. her punishment, to 70 hours of community service. the her punishment, to 70 hours of community service.— community service. the eyes back to the _ community service. the eyes back to the right. _ community service. the eyes back to the right. after - community service. the eyes back to the right. after the i back to the right. after the court 's decision _ back to the right. after the court 's decision it - back to the right. after the court 's decision it was - back to the right. after the court 's decision it was in l back to the right. after the l court 's decision it was in the court �*s decision it was in the hands of the house of commons authorities. the standards committee recommended margaret ferrier be suspended. she appealed but the decision held. �*s voted to suspend her for 30 days. that length of time is mean a recall petition automatically happens. and that is what her constituents have been able to take part in since. crews are still working to try to tackle a huge wildfire near the us—canada border. hundreds of homes have been evacuated, and many others told to be ready to leave at any moment in the towns of 0roville and 0soyoos. it's canada's worst wildfire season on record, with fires continuing to spread across parts of the pacific northwest. 0ur north america correspondent, nada tawfik, has the latest the eagle bluff wildfire still raging extremely close to the edge of the town. things have eased considerably since saturday when that initial scare when the blaze came through from the united states and spread incredibly quickly but nevertheless authorities are still classifying this fire is out of control. they have had water bomber planes, helicopters and the sky going back and all day to the lake to try and bring this under control. they have also had 50 firefighters fighting the blazers but still, this is opposing a threat here. they say, officials, that it is still something that is evolving, a situation that is evolving, a situation that is evolving and they are keeping a very close eye on the wind direction here, on the dry, hot temperatures, seeing how that could affect the course of the fire. canada has had a record year of wildfires, with more than 30 million acres of land burnt so far. this, of course is extremely concerning here because of its proximity to the town. there are dozens of properties still under evacuation orders and hundreds of others have been told to be ready to evacuate immediately if they need to. a resident described on saturday how they were told with very little notice they did not have time to pack, they had to get out of town. and so that is really the concern here about what this fire will do in the coming days, it is still very much an early portion of this, it is only a few days and but for people here they say it has already felt like weeks. day 11; of the women's world cup — and after england sealed their place in the last 16 with victory over china on tuesday, others are looking to join them in the knockout stages. what a match, it was quite incredible, wasn't it? sweden are already through, they face argentina whilst south africa play italy. meanwhile in group f, it's jamaica versus brazil. and france will be looking for at least a point against panama to secure their place in the last 16. for those are still in, it is all to play for. did the lioness is raw yesterday or what? what an incredible match. we have got the top business stories here next. i have to say the us is dominating today. we will be unpacking the news from the global ratings agency fitch, it has downgraded the world's biggest economy. what is it concerned about, we will talk about that and the other top business stories, next. wet and windy weather on the way for wednesday. more on that in a second. but first of all, we start off with the news that for northern ireland, we've had the wettestjuly on record, with over double the averagejuly rainfall. those records go back to 1836. it was also the wettestjuly on record for greater manchester, merseyside and lancashire as well. now, we've got more rain to come through wednesday. this area of low pressure continues to strengthen and we're going to see a swathe of particularly strong winds just running to the south of this hook of cloud you can see just here. now, that is going to be working into the south—west of the uk, but already those winds are picking up across south west england, across southern parts of wales, as our band of rain gets driven northwards and eastwards across much of the country. and, ok, it's going to be a mild start to the day on wednesday, but those winds will continue to strengthen during the first part of the morning. the windiest weather works in across the south coast of england, where we're looking at gusts of around a0 to 55 miles an hour. even stronger for northern france and the channel islands, where we could see gusts of 60—odd miles an hour. now, winds that strong could bring down one or two trees, so you might find some localised disruption. you might also see the ferries running with even some cancellations or delays, so it might be worth checking before travelling if you have plans that way. there'll be plenty of heavy downpours for england and wales, some thunder mixed in, some really heavy downpours. but for northern scotland, well, this is probably where the brightest, driest weather is going to be. you'll manage a little bit of sunshine. it probably won't be too bad a day. now, through wednesday night, the worst of the rain clears away eastwards, but you can still see some tightly packed isobars across the uk as we head into thursday. it will be a blustery day, with some of the strongest winds this time heading into northern ireland, driving in frequent showers here. there'll also be loads of showers for northern areas of scotland. but across inland areas, you probably have to wait, really, until the afternoon until we start to see those showers become really widespread and heavy. now, it's not going to be the warmest of days for for august, with temperatures generally high teens, maybejust about the low 20s. and that kind of weather pattern continues friday and into the weekend. we might even see some longer spells of rain across england and wales as the low pressure potentially moves its way in this weekend. but if you're fed up with being rained on over the last, what, six or seven weeks, better news for next week. it looks like we might have found the first signs of something that resembles summer late next week. live from london, this is bbc news. the burden of debt — ratings agency fitch lowers its top rating for the united states government, saying its current debt level is too high. going it alone — prime minister rishi sunak meets the bosses of shell and bp, as he seeks to secure the uk's energy independence. starbucks shrugs off the cost of living crisis and reports a i2% jump in revenues but financial markets are not impressed. we'll tell you why. and protecting the planet — it's earth 0vershoot day, we examine how the global population is taking too much out of the planet. hello, i'm sally bundock, with the top business stories and we start with a downgrade for the us. the ratings agency fitch has lowered its top rating in an unexpected blow to the world's biggest economy. fitch cut the us debt rating from aaa to aa+ citing america's erosion of governance and rising deficits. the move comes two months after a last minute deal was reached to lift the debt ceiling and avert the country's first ever default.