live from washington, this is bbc news: police in baltimore say six people are presumed dead after a bridge collapsed and are moving to a recovery effort. at this point we do not believe that we are going to find any of these individuals still alive. the us supreme court appears skeptical in a case to limit the use of abortion pill mifepristone. and a moscow court extends the detention of wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich. hello. i'm caitriona perry. you are very welcome. the us coast guard says six people still missing after a container ship brought down the francis scott key

bridge in the city of baltimore are now presumed dead. at a press conference earlier, coast guard officials told reporters they are now moving from a rescue to a recovery mission. these are live pictures of the scene where poor visibility and debris in the water are making those efforts extremely challenging. the missing are reported to be construction workers who were working on the bridge when the collapse happened. these are live pictures of the scene where poor lighting and debris in the water making recovery efforts challenging. so why did the ship go off course? and how did the bridge come crashing down so easily? rebecca morelle has been looking at the sequence of events. well, what do we know about what action happened in baltimore? data analysed by bbc verify shows the ship set off from the port at a quarter to 1am local time. the dali is a 300m—long container ship, and on board were two pilots. mariners from the local port with the specialist knowledge to guide the vessel out to sea. now, it was heading towards the central section

of the bridge, which is wide enough and high enough for the vessel, the ship, to pass through, but it veered off course, crashing into this support column. so what happened 7 well, in this video, you can see the ship is nearing the bridge, but at 1:24am, the lights on it go out, suddenly, suggesting a major technical fault. that happened, and 1:25am, a minute later, the lights come back on. three minutes after this, you start to see black smoke billowing from the ship, and there on the bridge you can see the work vehicles where the team are fixing potholes on the bridge. a mayday call went out. moments later, at 1:28am, the ship collided with the bridge and caused it to collapse. if you lose power all manoeuvring, there's a possibility you could lose steering of the vessel momentarily. there are estimations on how clear you have to be able to regain

that control. but obviously, if that does happen, in such a confined area, the seconds or minutes could make the difference. why did such a large part of the bridge collapse? the bridge opened in 1977, and at its centre is a continuous structure which is 366 metres long, and there are four support columns underneath it. bridges are tested for impacts, but we don't know if the tests would have included a vessel of this size. ships are bigger now than they were in the �*70s and the head—on collision took out an entire loadbearing structure. you have a long element that is supported by four supports and you're simply one of them. i — i could not imagine another situation where a bridge like that resists such a massive force. a major search effort

is going on, using sonar to try and locate any vehicles that fell into the 15 metres of water below, and an investigation to the tragedy has already begun. our north america correspondent, will vernon, is on the shores of the patapsco river. what can you tell us about the operation that is currently under way and those that are missing and presumed dead at this point?— this point? that's right, desperately _ this point? that's right, desperately sad - this point? that's right, desperately sad news . this point? that's right, l desperately sad news for this point? that's right, - desperately sad news for the families of those six men. of course, no presumed dead. the us coastguard a little earlier talking about how this search and rescue operation has now been suspended but the operation that was going on just behind me until recently that, of course, has now become operations research a recovery operation. earlier, authorities spoke about desperately

difficult conditions in which this was carried out. —— has now become a rescue operation. currents are strong and visibility is poor and added to all that the water is full of jagged all that the water is full of jagged metalfrom where all that the water is full of jagged metal from where the bridge collapsed into the river. the various agencies that have been working here all day, looking for those men, using boats, helicopters, sonar equipment, they will regroup tomorrow morning to enter the next phase of this operation. will vernon in baltimore, thank you for that. just before coming on air, i spoke to councilman todd crandall, who sits on baltimore city council. he represents communities around the eastern end of differences got key bridge. thank you forjoining us on bbc news and our condolences to you and the rest of the individuals in baltimore there on this tragic incident

that has happened. we have been hearing the coastguard confirming the six missing individuals are presumed dead. some of those people were living in your district, i believe. living in your district, i believe-— living in your district, i believe. , ., ~ , ., living in your district, i believe. , ., ., ~' believe. yes, thank you, thank ou for believe. yes, thank you, thank you fervour— believe. yes, thank you, thank you for your kind _ believe. yes, thank you, thank you for your kind words. - believe. yes, thank you, thank you for your kind words. yes, i you for your kind words. yes, as i understand, three of the six that are — that are still missing did live in my district in southeastern baltimore county. and three others lived in a neighbouring community, not in baltimore county, but right across the city line in baltimore city. a very tragic day here for all of us. we have seen a huge — day here for all of us. we have seen a huge community - day here for all of us. we have| seen a huge community effort, small boats out taking part in the search, everyone rallying around the first responders. how is this recovery effort going to continue?- how is this recovery effort going to continue? there is a massive effort _ going to continue? there is a massive effort now _ going to continue? there is a

massive effort now focused l going to continue? there is a. massive effort now focused on recovery and, of course, at some point the investigation and mustering resources together to reopen the port of baltimore and to eventually rebuild the bridge. unfortunate, i represent a community that is strong and resilient. it is kind of a hard—working blue—collar community. it has been for a long time. we were a steel town and automating town before the those industries left. we have a way of bouncing back, after a tragedy like this, coming together and supporting each other. i have seen this already in the first few hours that i was at the command centre, off the river from the was at the command centre, off the riverfrom the bridge. and within sight of the containers and twisted metal. community groups, local restaurants were trying to contact anyone they could to supply food, anything

that the first responders would need, knowing they are going to be there for 2h hours around the clock and probably be there for days and days, as the aftermath of this tragedy unfolds. i can't think the community enough for their sentiment and their efforts so far. i did have the opportunity to attend a provigil held at a judge about half a mile from the site. —— prayer vigil. community came out to rally and pray forfamilies community came out to rally and pray for families affected and the first responders that are investigating and searching around a very dangerous structure right now. press went out to the first responders and to the communities, to the families that were affected, which is very touching and that

is just how our communities. strong, resilient, caring people. strong, resilient, caring eo - le. . ., , people. on the community, the bride people. on the community, the bridge leads — people. on the community, the bridge leads into _ people. on the community, the bridge leads into the _ people. on the community, the| bridge leads into the community where you are from. how essential is it to the community and the functioning of the community? obviously it isn't there anymore. the bridge was opened _ isn't there anymore. the bridge was opened in _ isn't there anymore. the bridge was opened in 1977 _ isn't there anymore. the bridge was opened in 1977 when - isn't there anymore. the bridge was opened in 1977 when i - isn't there anymore. the bridge was opened in 1977 when i was| was opened in 1977 when i was seven or eight years old. it is surreal. it has been an architectural icon for us. it has been a major commuter and commerce thoroughfare. the part of either 695, the beltway that ran the entirety of the baltimore metropolitan area and the francis scott key bridge was one of only really two ways around the beltway. one is the

harbour tunnel, and the other was the bridge, that is how you would traverse the patapsco river. there is another tunnel, on 195 south, and these tunnels will be heavily utilised by the commuters and commerce. and there will be long—standing effects from a traffic and commuting and services into and out of the area. and we're going to have to be very patient and realise that, you know, we have lost a major artery in and out of our community.— artery in and out of our community. artery in and out of our communi . �* �* ., community. all right. and of course lost _ community. all right. and of course lost the _ community. all right. and of course lost the lies - community. all right. and of course lost the lies as - community. all right. and of course lost the lies as well. | course lost the lies as well. thank you forjoining us on bbc news, councilman todd crandall of baltimore county council. thank you for talking to us. thank you for talking to us. thank you for talking to us. thank you very much. prayers

for everyone. here in washington, the us supreme court appear unlikely to restrict access to the widely used abortion drug, mifepristone. the case centers on the food and drug administration's decision to expand its access. medical professionals belonging to anti—abortion groups say the drug is unsafe and also say that treating patients who use it is against their moral and religious beliefs. numerous studies show that mifepristone, which was first approved by the fda in 2000, is safe. a study in the medical journaljama found that the number of self—managed abortions obtained using pills has soared with more than 26,000 americans using pills to induce at—home abortions after the overturing of roe v wade injune 2022. on tuesday, lawyers representing opposing sides of the issue pled their case to the court. one of the things the justices spent a lot of time on today was not what we think of is the heart of the case, which was

the fda's decision to expand access to mifepristone in 2016 and 2021, but instead on whether or not the challenges in this case, who are doctors and physicians groups whose members are opposed to abortion, have a legal right to come to court at all to challenge the fda's approval. you know, on two levels. first of all, whether or not someone can come to court to sue is sort of a bipartisan issue. it is something thatjustices of all ideological transfer attention to. it would also offerjustices attention to. it would also offer justices and attention to. it would also offerjustices and offramp to send this case back, to throw it out, without having to get to the heart of the case, the tougher question about the fda's approval. and what the government argued was that the doctors in this case who are opposed to abortion aren't

required to prescribe mifepristone. they need to show that they are facing imminent harm from the fda's changes that expanded access to mifepristone. the government said they can't show this because what their argument is not that they have to prescribe mifepristone, but that a woman who takes mifepristone, that has been prescribed to her by someone else, might experience complications, which are very rare, come to an emergency room, and one of these doctors might have to provide treatment that might include abortion. they said particularly when there are federal laws that provide protection so that doctors had directed have to violate the conscience, these consciences objectors. it isn't the imminent harm that requires you to go to court to challenge the approval.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. two government ministers have resigned in a double blow to rishi sunak, who was forced to carry out a mini—reshuffle of his team. robert halfon unexpectedly quit as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister, while james heappey followed through on his stated intention to step down as armed forces minister ahead of exiting parliament at the general election. newly released documents reveal a church which supported the asylum claim of the clapham chemical attacker limited his rights to attend services after learning about a sexual assault conviction. ezedi won asylum in 2020 after proving his conversion to christianity. he attacked a woman and two children with a chemical solution injanuary — his body was found last month. buckingham palace says the king and queen willjoin other members of the royal family at the easter sunday service held at st george's chapel in windsor. it will be the king's most significant public appearance since he was diagnosed

with cancer earlier this year. the prince and princess of wales will not be in attendance, as catherine continues with her cancer treatment. you are live with bbc news. on tuesday, us defense secretary lloyd austin issued some of his strongest comments on the israel—gaza war so far at a meeting with israel's defense chief yoav gallant. it comes as israel said it struck more than 60 "terror targets" in gaza, despite monday's passage of a un security council resolution demanding an immediate truce. the israeli government has accused the us of emboldening hamas and hindering negotiations to release israeli hostages by allowing the text to pass. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega has more on today's developments. no surprise the fighting in gaza continued a day after the un security council approved, for the first time, a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza.

realistically there was no expectation that this would lead to any kind of pause in the fighting. in gaza today health officials said dozens of palestinians were killed in israeli airstrikes across the territory, including in the city of rafah, the last relatively safe place in gaza, where more than 1 relatively safe place in gaza, where more than1 million palestinians have been sheltering. the resolution at the united nations was only approved because the us abstained in the vote, something that was heavily criticised by the israeli authorities. this shows a growing discontent in the biden administration with the way israelis have been conducting this military campaign and also shows growing international isolation of the israeli government. more than 30,000 palestinians have been killed in gaza and a humanitarian crisis continues. in washington, the israeli display ——is really defence minister yoav gallant had a meeting with

american secretary of defence, lloyd austin, who had a strong message for israeli authorities. he said it was a moral necessity and strategic imperative to step up a distribution in gaza, also saying that gaza was facing a humanitarian catastrophe and the situation was only getting worse. i've been speaking to barbara starr about all this. she's a senior fellow at university of southern california's center for communications leadership, and a longtime pentagon correspondent. the word is that the israeli defence minister yoav gallant came to the pentagon today to discuss more arms sales to israel with secretary austen. but that isn't necessarily what austin wanted to press on. by all accounts he spoke about a moral imperative, a moral and strategic imperative, to take care of civilians, that if the

israelis are going to make a move on rafah, they need to have a credible plan for the protection of civilians. the us feels it hasn't seen such a plan. not that the pentagon said it will hold up arms sales, but they are pressing the point that they want to see a credible plan for civilian protection in rafah and equally important more aid crossings opening up more aid going into gaza, and more crossing points for that aid being allowed by the israelis. it isn't at all clear that in this meeting they came to any resolution on any of this, caitriona. a russian court extended the detention of evan gershkovich, an american reporter for the wall street journal, by three months as he awaits trial.

mr gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges nearly a year ago while on a reporting trip, making him the first western journalist to face those charges since the fall of the soviet union. the us ambassador to moscow has called the allegations �*categorically untrue' and �*fiction.’ mr gershkovich has now spent almost a year in moscow's high—security lefortovo prison, and his pre—trial detention has been extended tojune 30. bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg has more. we won't allowed into the moscow city courthouse. nothing personal — all journalists were being kept out. instead, the court released its own video — just six seconds of evan gershkovich. ajudge ruled he must stay injail. evan, how are you? this week marks one year since the wall streetjournal reporter was arrested in russia. evan gershkovich, the first us journalist here since the cold war to be charged with spying. he and his employer insist he is innocent. deadlines and everything... so does the us government.

might be a first step... it's demanding that russia let him go. the message is release him, release him 110w. he was and is a journalist who was doing his job. doing nothing wrong. the insinuations that he was somehow engaging in some kind of criminal activity is just — is just flat—out false. last month, vladimir putin hinted that evan gershkovich could be freed in a prisoner swap. in return, the kremlin is thought to want the release of a fsb officer who is serving a life sentence for murder in germany. no deal yet. if convicted, the usjournalist faces up to 20 years in prison. russian officials no longer hide the fact that evan gershkovich is a bargaining chip — someone they would, in theory, be willing to exchange for one of their own in prison in the west. his fate has attracted worldwide attention.

but he is by no means the only american behind bars in russia. former us marine paul whelan is serving a 16—year sentence for espionage. america insists he is innocent. journalist alsu kurmasheva holds us and russian citizenships. she has been accused of spreading false information about the russian army. as for evan gershkovich, those who know him just want him home. we all miss, you know, our best friend, we missed talking to him all the time. all his friends feel the same way. there is some part of their lives where there is this big hole, this big absence. evan gershkovich is a journalist who loves russia and loves reporting on russia but he remains in a russianjail. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. in the us, nbc news has cut ties with the former chairman

of the republican national committee. the network had reported the forked at $300,000 to hire ms mcdaniel as its latest page continued in a move that was supposed to bring a broader range of political perspectives to the network. david willis reports. it perspectives to the network. david willis reports.- david willis reports. it isn't unusual. — david willis reports. it isn't unusual, of _ david willis reports. it isn't unusual, of course, - david willis reports. it isn't| unusual, of course, perform former political party officials, and so on, to land a lucrative second gig, as a pundit on tv talk shows here. they even have a name for this process, called the politics to pundit the pipeline. but the appointment by nbc of ronna mcdaniel, former chair, as you mention, of the republican national committee, provoked an unprecedented backlash among members of staff at nbc. several of whom took to the airwaves to publicly excoriated

their bosses for the appointment and to call for ronna mcdaniel�*s contract to be cancelled. why was her appointment so controversial? ronna mcdaniel, in her role as chair of the republican national committee, was a staunch defender, of course, of donald trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him and was the subject of fraud. those claims have since been disproven, of course, and the claim by those inside nbc was that that stretched the credibility of somebody whom the network was seeking to appoint as a political commentator and therefore made her position untenable. a short while ago, at the head of nbc universal says an e—mail was issued apologising for the appointment of ronna mcdaniel, and saying that her contract would be cancelled afterjust five days.

let's turn to some other news from around the world. julian assange's extradition to the us was put on hold on tuesday after the uk high court said the us must provide assurances that he would have freedom of speech protections and would not face the death penalty. the court has given the us government three weeks to comply with the order before making its final decision on julian assange's extradition. the years us authorities have been seeking the extradition on as we knowjudges of the wikileaks founder. authorities wikilea ks founder. authorities in wikileaks founder. authorities in candour have begun releasing the remains of some of those who died in a doomsday cult. pastor paul mackenzie is accused of breaching an apocalyptic message to his followers, including starving themselves to death to see god more quickly. charges have been brought against mr mckenzie and 29 others. they have pleaded not guilty. shares of donald trump's social media company

sword at his debut, reaching 49%. donald trump has billions of dollars in stock at its current pricing. the president has to post a $175 million bond in a case where he lied about the value of his assets. before we go, some news from the world of sport. ukraine has qualified for the 2024 european championship after a dramatic 2—1 victory over iceland in their playoff final. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky celebrated the win on telegram, thanking the team for "for proving once again that when ukrainians face challenges but refuse to give up and continue the fight, they invariably win." it's the fourth straight visit to the continental finals for ukraine — who will face belgium, slovakia, and romania in group e at this summer's tournament in germany. that is the news of the moment. stay with us here at bbc news. i'm caitriona perry. thank you for watching.

hello. the weather is going to throw just about everything at us over the next couple of days. certainly for wednesday — lots of heavy thundery downpours, albeit with some spells of sunshine in between, also quite windy out there. all driven by low pressure centred to the west of the uk. rain and hill snow pushing northwards across scotland. some really heavy rain for a time across eastern counties of northern ireland. that will take a while to clear. and then for england and wales, yes, there will be some spells of sunshine, but also some heavy, thundery downpours with hail thrown in for good measure, some sunny spells in between. pretty windy, particularly in the south, but also up towards the north of scotland and temperatures north to south between seven and 11, maybe 12 degrees celsius in parts of eastern england. now through wednesday night, we will see further showers or longer spells of rain. this clump of wet weather drifting across southern england into the midlands. if that gets far enough, west into wales, well over high ground, that could give a little bit of snow because it will be quite cold to take us into thursday morning.

although probably too windy for most places to see a frost. and then into thursday, while this area of low pressure firmly in charge. this low has been named by the spanish weather service. it's been named storm nelson because of the impacts it is going to have in spain, but pretty close to us on thursday. close enough to give some very strong winds, gales around coasts in the south and the southwest. but windy weather even further north across england and wales, very strong winds even inland. some outbreaks of rain — northern scotland perhaps seeing the best of the dry weather, but they'll even here be some showers. and temperatures around nine, ten or 11 degrees. now as we get into friday, good friday, of course, it is not going to be completely dry, but i am hopeful there will be fewer showers. more in the way of dry gaps in between. it won't be as windy and it will feel a little bit warmer. and that certainly is the theme for the start of the easter weekend. our area of low pressure loosening its grip and so not as many showers more in the way of dry weather.

however, there is a lot of uncertainty about the second half of the weekend. there's an area of low pressure that some computer weather models keep well to the south of us, it's this one here. but other computer models push that a lot further north, giving us the chance for some rain. so a lot of uncertainty about the second half of the easter weekend. there will be some rain at times, some spells of sunshine, not as chilly as it has been.

collision in baltimore. authorities say they are suspending search operations and that the six missing people are presumed dead. and a windfallforformer us president donald trump — find out why later on the programme. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin with the collapse of a major bridge in the us city of baltimore after a container ship crashed into it. authorities have said they've suspended search operations and six missing people are presumed dead. baltimore port — one of the east coast's busiest ports — is closed and us carmakers general motors and ford have said they will have to re—route some shipments. tinglong dai is a professor

from thejohns hopkins carey business school. he gave us a sense of the impact of the port closure.