hello, i m victoria valentine. a very warm welcome to the programme. donald trump is spending the night in new york, at trump tower, before appearing in court later. he s set to make history once again, this time as the first president of the united states to be charged with a criminal offence. the charges relate to money paid to a porn star to keep quiet about an affair before the 2016 election. this is the scene live in new york. it sjust gone midnight, and thejudge has ruled that pooled media will be allowed to take still pictures in the courtroom, just before the hearing gets underway, but tv cameras will only be allowed in outside corridors. security measures will be in place with the authorities expecting demonstrations by the president s supporters and opponents. let s get the latest from michelle fleury in manhattan. donald trump has travelled to new york where he is spending the night in his namesake tamme behind me and he is reportedly meeting with lawyers going thr
completing a historic security policy shift. that was triggered by the invasion of ukraine by russia, with which finland shares a long border. in response to this, moscow said it would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions. while sweden remains in the waiting room still, nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg says as a result, sweden will also be safer . let s get the latest from kyiv and our correspondent hugo bachega. asi as i mentioned there, hugo, this sparked by russia s invasion of ukraine just over a year ago. what is ukraine s reaction to this? yeah, i think the ukrainians is ukraine s reaction to this? yeah, i think the ukrainians are is ukraine s reaction to this? yeah, i think the ukrainians are watching | i think the ukrainians are watching it very closely and obviously, as you said, this decision by finland was triggered by russia s invasion of ukraine. and today is a major symbolic moment. finland abandoned decades of mili
limits in hand luggage. a ceremony is due to be held in brussels within the next few hours to officially welcome nato s newest member. this nato s newest member. is the scene live in brusse where this is the scene live in brussels, where officials are arriving to witness the raising of the finished flag here. finland has abandoned its long standing commitment to neutrality in response to russia s invasion of ukraine. the head of the military alliance, jens stoltenberg, told reporters it was a historic day; he said it would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. in response, moscow says it will strengthen its military presence in the region. let s listen to what mr stoltenberg had to say. in a few hours we will welcome finland as the slst member of our alliance. this will make finland safer and nato stronger. on this very day in 1949 the washington treaty, nato s founding treaty, was signed in washington and it s hard to imagine a better way of celebrating our anniversary
finland will become the 31st member of nato later on tuesday. the application to join the western military alliance was prompted by the invasion of ukraine by russia, with which finland shares a long border. our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, has this story. finland only said it wanted to join nato last year. this afternoon, its flag will be raised at the headquarters in brussels, the quickest accession process in nato s recent history. president putin went to war against ukraine with a declared aim to get less nato. he wanted nato to remove our forces, our structures, from all allies that havejoined after 1997, meaning all allies in central and eastern europe. and he wanted nato to make it absolutely clear that nato s door was closed for any new membership. he s getting the exact opposite. he s getting more nato presence in the eastern part of the alliance, and he s getting two new members, with finland and sweden. finland s long frontier with russia, the scene of fig
has died at the age of 91. he was the longest serving chancellor of the 20th century, before he resigned in 1989 over thatcher s choice of economic advisor. political figures have been paying tribute to him. prime minister rishi sunak tweeted this: one of the first things i did as chancellor was hang a picture of nigel lawson above my desk. he was a transformational chancellor and an inspiration to me and many others. my thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. the current chancellorjeremy hunt said: nigel lawson was a rarity amongst politicians, someone who transformed our thinking as well as transforming our economy. since he stepped down as chancellor, his shoes have been impossible to fill but he inspired all his successors, leaving the country more prosperous and enterprising. and former prime minister borisjohnson wrote: nigel lawson was a fearless and original flame of free market conservatism. he was a tax cutter and simplifier who helped transform