this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the us supreme court leaves a controversial texas law banning most abortions in place the white house says president biden is "very concerned". the wikileaks founder julian assange can be extradited to stand trial in the us, according to the latest legal ruling in britain. on a tour of key european capitals, germany's new chancellor, olaf scholz, calls for unity in tackling both the pandemic and tensions with russia. and mike nesmith — singer and guitarist with the sixties band the monkees — has died at the age of 78

president biden has said he is very concerend by the us supreme court's decision to allow abortion providers to challenge a near—total ban, in texas. the restrictive law remains in place for the moment. but a majority of the justices on the conservative—leaning court agreed that lawsuits filed by abortion providers in texas should proceed in a federal court. our washington correspondent barbara plett usher told me victory for abortion rights providers because it removes a hurdle for them so the texas law was specifically designed to prevent legal challenge but nobody what happens with state legislatures pass restrictions on abortion laws that are seen as unconstitutional, the

federal courts step in and they block those laws. but the state of texasis block those laws. but the state of texas is not responsible for enforcing this law. it has passed that task to any ordinary civilian or ordinary citizen and ordinary citizens can be taken to federal court. this is the problem for the abortion providers and the supreme court agreed this was unacceptable they could provide a narrow pathway for the abortion clinics to actually take this to federal court and pursue their case. however, they were very disappointed that the court did not block the law in the meantime. thejustices court did not block the law in the meantime. the justices and conservative justices refused to grant a request that the law be put on hold while this legal action was taken place and they said that was a big disappointment because it's a very extreme and it bans abortions at roughly six weeks and has created great difficulties for women seeking abortions. where can things go from

here? you mentioned that abortion rights activists might have a narrow pathway here but what might happen next? ., , ., , ., next? one of the people involved in the abortion — next? one of the people involved in the abortion providers _ next? one of the people involved in the abortion providers case - next? one of the people involved in the abortion providers case and - next? one of the people involved in the abortion providers case and we | the abortion providers case and we don't know what's going to happen so they will pursue their case and federal court and i believe that can be appealed so there might be a of appeals processes and you could rule out this might not come in front of the supreme court again so that's why abortion rights activists are seeing this as a narrow or a minor victory. it's happening in a context also where the supreme court is hearing another case on abortion rights. this has to do with a mississippi law that directly challenges the constitutional right to an abortion and in that case the conservative justices seem to indicate that they would be ready to roll back on some of these federal guarantees and self that climate

also has the texas anti—abortion why abortion rights activists worried. let's recap some of the mains points that makes the texas abortion law so controversial. the texas heartbeat act is the most restrictive law passed in the us since abortion was made a constitutional right five decades ago. the law, which came into effect in september, prohibits all abortions after 6 weeks of being pregnant. the legislation does make an exception in the case of a medical emergency, although patients would need written proof from a doctor. but — it does not make any exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. i've been speaking to sahar aziz, visiting professor at boston university law school for more on today's ruling. this is a very disappointing ruling for reproductive rights and women across america. even though the heartbeat act effects on the texan women at the moment it is setting a

very dangerous precedent which is creating these bounties where private citizens can now bankrupt abortion clinics by filing these lawsuits that the minimum judgment monetaryjudgment is $10,000 but there is no upper limit and self what they will do is they will sue as many abortion clinics as they want and as they can and ultimately cause them to not be able to financially operate which effectively denies women in texas the right to an abortion and therefore if they can afford it and if they can take him off of work if they have the privilege to be able to travel for an abortion those would be the only women that can do self and most of those women will be upper white women. this self and most of those women will be upper white women.— self and most of those women will be upper white women. this law has been in lace in upper white women. this law has been in place in texas _ upper white women. this law has been in place in texas in _ upper white women. this law has been in place in texas in september. - upper white women. this law has been in place in texas in september. it's - in place in texas in september. it's just a few months. what effect has it had so far?— it had so far? abortion clinics are not getting _

it had so far? abortion clinics are not getting oblations _ it had so far? abortion clinics are not getting oblations because - it had so far? abortion clinics are not getting oblations because if i not getting oblations because if they do they are now subject to liability and they can be sued. and most of them there's very few are ready because texas has passed many laws that make it almost impossible to operate an abortion clinic because they require the doctor have surgery privileges and the hospital within a certain small radius of the clinic and etc so there are very few and most of them to my knowledge to maybe one left but they're not very many that have stopped giving abortions because they're afraid when they get sued they could go bankrupt. when they get sued they could go bankru t. , , ., ., , bankrupt. this is not the only ablation case _ bankrupt. this is not the only ablation case to _ bankrupt. this is not the only ablation case to land - bankrupt. this is not the only ablation case to land in - bankrupt. this is not the only ablation case to land in the l bankrupt. this is not the only - ablation case to land in the supreme court recently, is it?— court recently, is it? now, you also have the statute _ court recently, is it? now, you also have the statute that _ court recently, is it? now, you also have the statute that was _ court recently, is it? now, you also have the statute that was passed i court recently, is it? now, you also have the statute that was passed in mississippi that effectively allows the states to ban outright abortions after 15 weeks. the difference between these two is mississippi is a law that would be enforced by the state and so it's an outright ban on

abortion after 15 weeks. in texas it is delegating these authority to private citizens so it's a way around the us constitution because the us constitution only applies to state action and so in this case it will be private actions that will be sued. a , will be private actions that will be sued. , ., ., , will be private actions that will be sued. ., ,, sued. many abortion rights activists are worried that _ sued. many abortion rights activists are worried that that _ sued. many abortion rights activists are worried that that landmark - sued. many abortion rights activists are worried that that landmark 1973j are worried that that landmark 1973 judges — judgments could be rolled back. is that a strong possibility? with the composition of the court, yes. we heard that the mississippi law case with justice barrett saying couldn't a woman who's having or does not want to have, who wants an abortion could just give the baby up for adoption under these rules as if having a child and going for gestation and pregnancy for nine months is not a major inconvenience and the state should be able to impose that on her. that was a bad

indication at least in favor of the mississippi law which would remove the viability task from casing which is a 1992 case against planned parenthood which said that states can prohibit abortion after a baby is deemed to be viable and they can survive outside the womb of the mother and the debate is somewhere as low as 16 weeks three or 2a weeks. the wikileaks founder julian assange can be extradited to the us to stand trial, the uk's high court has ruled. assange faces charges in the states of publishing classified documents. his extradition was blocked injanuary because of concerns about his mental health, but nowjudges have said that assurances given about mr assange's treatment allow the move to go ahead. dominic casciani has this report.

free, freejulian assange! a day ofjudgment, but is it the end of the road in washington for a man who has been wanted for a decade? today, the high court ruled julian assange should go on trial in the us for disclosing state secrets. his supporters say he'll kill himself injail, the americans say they'll treat him humanely. mr assange's partner says those assurances are worthless. the high court decided againstjulian on this occasion on the basis of political assurances. amnesty international has analysed these assurances and has said that they are inherently unreliable. it's taken 11 years to get here. in 2010, julian assange's wikileaks posted video of iraqi civilians killed by us forces. just one of thousands of us secrets. two years later, he flees into the ecuadorian embassy in london. in 2018, the us begins preparing a prosecution. the next year, assange is removed from the embassy,

and he's been in a british jail cell ever since. for his supporters, julian assange is a warrior for truth and justice, but our extradition law says he must stand trial for his alleged crimes. his lawyers will try to get the case into the supreme court to overturn this judgment, but that's not guaranteed. time is running out. if he can't launch a final appeal, one of the most controversial figures of the internet age will be on his way to trial in america. dominic casciani, bbc news, at the high court. the british government is warning of a deeply concerning situation, as new data confirms that the 0micron variant in the uk is growing rapidly in all regions, and could be the dominant strain here within the next week. the uk health security agency is suggesting that vaccine protection against mild symptoms has been substantially reduced, but that boosters are effective. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. the 0micron variant is spreading incredibly fast, despite our highly

immunised population. the growth rate is higher than last christmas, when very few had been vaccinated and the alpha variant hit. new data shows that if you have had two doses of vaccine more than three months ago, it is unlikely to prevent you getting infected with 0micron or stop you from passing it on. but if you had a booster, it is likely to give 75% protection against a mild infection with 0micron. that booster should give even greater immunity against severe disease. but it is the sheer growth rate of 0micron which is worrying scientists. it may produce the biggest wave of infections so far in this pandemic. if we continue to double at this rate, i would expect that, without mitigations, we could have 100,000 or 200,000 cases, or even more, by the end of the month in the case numbers that we see everyday. if those cases then translate into hospitalisation s,

you can look at a ratio of how many cases could turn into hospitalisations. we don't know if it would be 1% or 0.5%, and we have to wait and get the data to raise the concern any further. the key unknown is how serious an illness 0micron causes. the evidence from south africa is unclear. they have a much younger population who are much less vaccinated. we won't know for several weeks what proportion of cases here will need hospital treatment. the government is not ruling out further measures beyond plan b to control 0micron. but no ones yet is using the l word — lockdown. we absolutely do need to keep everything under review. i think the measures we are taking are proportionate. we recognise the importance of balancing the ability for people to get on with their lives with the need to protect against this virus. action is absolutely required,

and as new data comes in, we will consider what action we do require to take in the face of that data. this is the last news people wanted to hear in the run—up to christmas. we face an anxious wait before we knowjust how big and how serious the 0micron wave will be. fergus walsh, bbc news. the new german chancellor, 0laf scholz, has been on a whirlwind tour of europe, calling for european unity to tackle a range of challenges, including the pandemic and tensions with russia. he travelled first to paris to speak with french president emmanuel macron, where he promised to work together to strengthen the european union, before heading to brussels to meet with head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen. 0ur correspondent damian

scholz said he was concerned about a russian build up of troops on the ukraine border. it has to be our responsibility to ensure that everyone can feel safe within their borders and borders in europe are invaluable. mcguinness described why scholz�*s itinerary matters. it is always the tradition for the german chancellor to go for to france for historical reasons to show that france and germany after years of bloodshed this century are of centuries have now brought to europe together. also pragmatic reasons without french and german cooperation but as you say this is a sign of continuity because going to brussels is a signal that the german government is as per european if not more than the previous government under and merkel say you are quite right. the new chancellor is really wanting to show a sense of continuity and it's quite similar in

style to anchor merkel and loki, not a very shallow christianity but actually what he's doing with his government could provide some differences because it is even more pro—european than angela merkel�*s government. what they talked about today both in paris and brussels is what they called a sovereign europe. a phrase that kept on being repeated throughout meetings today. what that means in concrete terms is a lot of radical reform for europe and more control for brussels and less control for brussels and less control for brussels and less control for national leaders and that something that angela merkel always push back against. so, this phrase is actually in the new german clinician agreement and something all of schultz is very keen on and this could mean more powers going to the eu in terms of security and in terms of migration and certainly something that the french president emmanuel macron wants and now you have that in berlin as well. say you are quite right, a sense of continuity in style but actually under this fsp see some big changes

in the eu over the next two years if their plans come to fruition. stay with us on news, still to come: we'll be remembering mike nesmith the guitarist with the sixties band the monkees — who's died aged 78 an inquestjury has concluded that police errors probably contributed to the deaths of three young men who were murdered by the serial killer, stephen port. the jury found that flaws in the investigation into the first death in east london, meant he was free to kill three more times before he was caught. port is serving life for the murders in 2014 and 2015. neil hudgell is the solicitor for the families and spoke earlier. we are incensed by the successful attempt to prevent the jury from examining where that prejudice played any part in police actions. the car and i did played any part in police actions. the carand i did not played any part in police actions. the car and i did not rule that the

police were not homophobic in our position remains unchanged. based on the treatment we received our firm held is metropolitan police actions were in parts by homophobia. had for a white heterosexual girls been found in the same manner the police actions and outcomes would have been different. this is news, the latest headlines the us supreme court leaves a controversial texas law banning most abortions in place president biden says he's very concerned by the decision. the wikileaks founder, julian assange, can be extradited to the us on criminal charges, according to the latest ruling by the uk courts is the climax of the formula one

season this weekend. who renames the title of the season is anyone's guess. lewis hamilton are level on points with virtue of winning nine races. it's that britain who topped the time sheets on the second practice. he was half a second quicker than his bible which is a huge margin in formula one although he was fastest in the morning session. when it comes to the racetrack has re—profiled for the last year they have got rid of a lot of debates that red bull would have xl back and actually they made a lot fast flowing corners which typically has gone the way of mercedes. say you have to say lewis hamilton came into this weekend as favorite but as we have seen already the roll book has been thrown out so they are so good, these drivers, i don't think you can spit them and that's the great thing about this season and it's a difficult thing because it makes it challenging for us,

including light. they have said if you interfere with the championship being whining the way it should be one you can get penalized whether you are one of the title contenders or happen to be the team—mates. so that was issued to all the teams and to us as media and the fines i had at this weekend and they have highlighted them but i think today the respeaking in the press conferences and both team buses were saying we want this done cleanly and we want it on the right way and i think there is a genuine intention from the teams that it's done on track and not in the stewards office afterwards or the international court of appeals sometimes later. everybody wants this to be a spectacular race and finale. michael schumacher managed seven world titles and this would be one more and he had to fight this year harder than he's everfought and he had to fight this year harder than he's ever fought before. he

truly inspired and has pushed them harder than he's ever been pushed before. play resumes in ashes in brisbane and england will start on to in their second innings on defour and trailing by 58 runs. the captain joe root are closing in on centuries of the opening session could be crucial in determining the course of the match. the wicked will be vital for the host and australian batsmen has been respectful of the england talents. he has been respectful of the england talents. �* ., , has been respectful of the england talents. �* . , ., �* , talents. he ' really well and he's obviously a _ talents. he ' really well and he's obviously a beautiful _ talents. he ' really well and he's obviously a beautiful prayer- talents. he ' really well and he's obviously a beautiful prayer and | talents. he ' really well and he's i obviously a beautiful prayer and in case mowing and at the it's not my job now it's myjob to find holes in his game and try and help the team however i can for us to get elected somewhere like that amount because

the ashes are on the line and we have to make sure we keep putting pressure on him. yet have to make sure we keep putting pressure on him.— pressure on him. yet hancock is sa in: if pressure on him. yet hancock is saying if the _ pressure on him. yet hancock is saying if the case _ pressure on him. yet hancock is saying if the case of _ pressure on him. yet hancock is saying if the case of wine, - pressure on him. yet hancock is saying if the case of wine, not . pressure on him. yet hancock is| saying if the case of wine, not if. be prepared to face each other in opposite dugouts of one of the standout matches this weekend. steven gerrard first return as manager when he takes his side. he had 17 years of the liverpool player and the current boss was asked whether he could see girard in the liver pulled one day. film whether he could see girard in the liver pulled one day.— liver pulled one day. oh yes. i think absolutely _ liver pulled one day. oh yes. i think absolutely the _ liver pulled one day. oh yes. i think absolutely the only - liver pulled one day. oh yes. i - think absolutely the only problem is when it's the right moment for that. so i think he's doing really well because he's very young stair from a manager point of view and when it's the right moment to take the job not that he's not able to do it but how he wants to do it. it that he's not able to do it but how he wants to do it.— that he's not able to do it but how he wants to do it. it will be a good matchuo and _ he wants to do it. it will be a good matchup and just _ he wants to do it. it will be a good matchup and just one _ he wants to do it. it will be a good matchup and just one league - he wants to do it. it will be a good

matchup and just one league in i he wants to do it. it will be a good | matchup and just one league in the premier — about 15 minutes in the second half now it is what fred who the. that's all the support from me. michael nesmith, singer and guitarist with 1960s pop group the monkees, has died at the age of 78. the quartet rose to fame with a string of hit songs and starred in their own popular tv sitcom. nesmith, who was from texas, penned songs like mary, mary; circle sky; listen to the band; and the girl i knew somewhere. in a statement to us media, his family said he "passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes". peter mills is a lecturer at leeds beckett university, and wrote �*the monkees, head, and the 60s' — a book about the group. hejoins me now on the line— what did he mean to the world of popular music? —

he was 78, a month shy of 79 so there's that to consider. but also it's quite remarkable because he found the other surviving member of the original cortex and only finished their farewell tour concluded in los angeles about a month ago and so it's shock obviously at somebody was music and enjoy since i was a child and spent a lot of time listening to and thinking about writing about but... he was known as the monkey in the green will happened but can you tell us about what he meant to the world of pop music? his

us about what he meant to the world of pop music?— of pop music? his contribution to the monkeys _ of pop music? his contribution to the monkeys one _ of pop music? his contribution to the monkeys one criticism - of pop music? his contribution to the monkeys one criticism that i of pop music? his contribution to l the monkeys one criticism that was made of them and you still here it is they were just a manufactured band because as you said they were put together for the television show, that's how they originally formed by the than the the friendship or shared interest and the monkeys was a revolutionary leap forward in the way popular music and other broadcast media technologies work together so that the types some popular music glamour and music got tvs instead of having to go to a halt to see the group you can just turn your tv on every wednesday afternoon or whatever it was. that's an interesting _ afternoon or whatever it was. that's an interesting connection _ afternoon or whatever it was. that's an interesting connection because i an interesting connection because some of our viewers may never have heard of the monkees but they would have heard of mtv and there is a connection nor isn't there? yes.

it's a connection nor isn't there? yes. it's a great _ connection nor isn't there? yes. it's a great contribution, - connection nor isn't there? yes. it's a great contribution, may i connection nor isn't there? 1a; it's a great contribution, may be secret contribution. in the early to mid 70s he started developing an idea for a cable channel because that's when that media technology was being developed and eventually he launched a cable tv channel which was 2a hours station that showed music videos which was like a cutting—edge technology of the time and is on hit the video for that showed his interest in the near media form. showed his interest in the near media form-— showed his interest in the near media form. , ., ., media form. sorry, we will have to leave it there _ media form. sorry, we will have to leave it there but _ media form. sorry, we will have to leave it there but thank _ media form. sorry, we will have to leave it there but thank you - media form. sorry, we will have to leave it there but thank you for - leave it there but thank you for joining us as we remember michael who died at the age of 78.

we have a cold night on the way. the skies are clear and the winds have for him right so the temperatures will drop but that weekend overall is exactly the opposite. it will be turning milder and we have cloud and rain on the way. this is what we have had only recently so we had this gap in the cloud and this window of bright whether on friday but here the later fun is approaching and it's a warm front relatively speaking and you can feed during the early hours of saturday ahead of a three o'clock cascais and the first developing the many central and eastern areas around one or two colder than that in the countryside and the weather will be

turning milder in western parts of the uk as they mild air arrives from the uk as they mild air arrives from the southwest and the reason is this undulating pattern spinning up of the pressure in the atlantic and it is dragging in the mild airfrom the south. 0utbreaks is dragging in the mild airfrom the south. outbreaks of rain is mild to relatively speaking but it will not be particularly appealing in many parts of the country where you have the 12 degrees in the last oriented 6 or 7 in the east. it is a quality picture with outbreaks of rain on and off through the course of the day and into the evening hours of saturday. it will stay dry for longer in the southeast but the rain will reach hit as well. we will focus on this nasty area of low pressure approaching the far northwest of the uk. here is the weather for the majority of the country. very mild well above the

average for london for liverpool and belfast as well. eight degrees but on the whole above average. the met office anticipates a concentrated area of severe gales and the storm forest winds and night and i was in scotland 90 miles of an hour in gusts so take care and that part of the country but for many of us it will be a different picture and it will be a different picture and it will be, and mild into next week as well. goodbye.

this is bbc world news, the headlines... the white house says president biden is very concerned by a supreme court decision to leave strict new abortion laws in place in texas. the new law bans abortions from six weeks of pregnancy. it's being challenged by abortion providers. the high court in london has ruled thatjulian assange should be extradited to stand trial in the united states. the wikileaks founder faces charges linked to the leaking of classified military documents. journalists maria ressa and dmitry muratov have received theirjoint nobel peace prize for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression." they are the first journalists to receive the award in more than eight decades. mike nesmith, the guitarist in the �*60s band the monkees, has died at the age of 78. the group was formed as an american version of the beatles, with a string of hits and a successful tv series.

at 10pm, we'll be here with a full round up of the days news.