this is bbc news. our top stories. ukrainian forces say they're holding out against russia's latest attacks, despite intense bombardment in the eastern, donbas region. this community is trying to prepare itself for a full—on russia offensive. they are doing their best but this is going to be a difficult, protracted war. the united states and its allies promise to send more weapons to help ukraine in its defence. the british prime minister, borisjohnson, apologises profusely to parliament for breaking covid lockdown rules, and insists once again it was not done deliberately. this as soon as i received the notice, i acknowledged the hurt and the anger, and i said that

people had a right to expect better of their prime minister. and, the actorjohnny depp takes the stand in his $50—million defamation trial, against his former wife, amber heard. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america, and around the globe. russia's latest major offensive has been anticipated for long enough. now we are getting a clearer idea of how far they will go in their assault on the east of the country, and in their effort to damage ukraine's ability to respond. so we are starting in the east, where a major attack is under

way, following russia's pull back from around the capital, kyiv. moscow claims to have struck more than 1,200 military targets overnight as part of efforts to establish full control over the donetsk and luhansk regions, known collectively as the donbas. in mariupol, a strategic port on the edge of the donbas, russian—backed separatist fighters have been trying to storm an industrial complex. it's the azovstal works, where the city's last defenders, the azov brigade, have been holding out inside, along with hundreds of civilians. our correspondent catherine byaruhanga sent this report from a village close to the eastern front line. russia unleashed its assault on eastern ukraine, thousands of troops backed by heavy weaponry on the move. it's a campaign to seize the donbas region, an attempt to salvage some kind of victory after significant losses in the north.

another stage of this operation is beginning, and i'm sure this will be a very important moment of this entire special operation. villages like novoselivka are becoming the new front line of this war. explosion in distance russian forces have stepped up their bombardments. a small bomb squad has been called into diffuse unexploded munitions. they have to work carefully, but quickly. explosion there are more and more people needing their services. translation: the enemy has started deploying these - munitions in large numbers, and quite a few of them failed to function in certain conditions. from this village, we can hear live artillery rounds in the distance. and, this community is trying to prepare itself for a full—on russian offensive.

they're doing their best, but this is going to be a difficult, protracted war. mykola ivanovich was home when the explosions started. from a population of 300 people, there are just a handful left in novoselivka. translation: it happened at night, it started - with three massive explosions. at 6am, i got up to work and saw people running around. i saw bits of bombs covering farms. i told them not to go there. some time ago, a woman picked one up over there and got killed. there's a devastating cost to russia's invasion. mariupol in the south has been razed to the ground. aid agencies say thousands of civilians are trapped here, under siege. a few ukrainian forces refuse to let the city fall, holding out in an iron and steel plant. today, russian special forces

began storming buildings nearby. but a russian victory is far from certain in ukraine. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, novoselivka, in the east of ukraine. they certainly need my help, and nato allies have said they will provide summer. president biden said his government would provide extra weapons and artillery, while britain is sending antiship missiles. the us defense department so that ukraine is getting more access to fighterjets, but didn't say which countries would be provided them. jonathan caverley is professor of strategy at the us naval war college. he says as the war enters a new phase, the ukrainians will need lots more weapons. before, there was a lot of anti—tank, small arms,

things were small units defending cities, and now we're talking about a much larger conflict that is also concentrated, geographically, and so now things like artillery, long—range weapons, howitzers and the like are really what the ukrainian forces need, and that is a qualitatively different type of weapon that will have to be supplied to the forces in the east. will it be that much harder to resist russian supremacy in the air now, or are there still weapons and other artillery that can be suitably deployed to keep that at bay? i don't know specifically what type of anti—air weaponry is going to be supplied to the ukrainians. the various nato countries have said they are going to supply weapons, but we're not sure what they are yet. much more specific are the howitzers, which will be used against ground forces. it has been a puzzle that the russian forces have not established air superiority yet. i think you're going to see any russian aircraft generally flying high, out of range

of the many stinger missiles that have been supplied, and the actual close air support will still have a tough time with the ukrainian forces, i suspect. it's one thing to provide this military hardware, it's another for ukraine and ukrainian forces to be able to put it straight into practice. i presume that is the benefit of years of gradually working in closer cooperation? yes, i think that's exactly right. after the shock of losing the crimea, ukraine really became a very cooperative partner with nato countries, especially the united states, uk and canada. and basically the ukrainian military has reformed from the ground up. what you really see is the build—up of a non—commission 0fficer corp, which is really the corp of a modern army. and so, it's not so much the material, though that's very important, you see the superiority of the small units, the initiative taken by small units within the ukrainian military relativer to russian forces. i think that has made a big difference, and there is still training going on outside of ukraine. ukrainian forces are sending

forces to learn how to use the howitzers, to learn how to use the various artillery pieces. that is being provided by nato forces, just not inside ukraine, as far as we know. it's often, jonathan, seen perceived perhaps as a bit of a david versus goliath fight here, with russia playing the role of goliath, but, of course, the more the west provides some often more sophisticated weaponry, the longer this conflict is going to go on. and i wonder what happens, ultimately, to this massive welter of hardware that may be left in ukraine. that's a great question. it's certainly a second order of effect that i hope various governments and ngos are considering. the real question is, what is usable after the conflict? so things like anti—tank weapons are certainly very portable, that is why they were sent into ukraine right off the bat.

larger systems like howitzers and tanks are probably less likely to be scattered around the region and abroad. but the second order of effects of proliferation after this conflict are certainly something to think about. let's get some of the day's other news. shares have fallen sharply for the streaming service, netflix, after it reported a loss of subscribers for the first time in more than a decade its customers dropped by 200,000 betweenjanuary and march. the company blamed increased competition and its decision to suspend operations in russia. a bomb blast at a bar in eastern nigeria has killed at least five people. 19 others were seriously wounded in the explosion in the town of iware in taraba state. eyewitnesses said the bomb had been hidden in a bag. at least nine people have been killed in a series of explosions in the afghan capital, kabul, which were reportedly aimed at schoolchildren. it's thought the islamic state group was behind the attacks in a western part of the city.

as apologies go, this was pretty comprehensive. the british prime minister, borisjohnson came face—to—face with his fellow politicians on tuesday, for the first time since he was fined over breaching covid regulations. he apologised yet again, he apologised profusely, wholeheartedly and unreservedly. but he also insisted he did not mislead fellow lawmakers in earlier statements and he will not resign. but that wasn't enough for one former minister who said he'd lost confidence in borisjohnson. the bbc�*s deputy political editor vicki young has more. he may want to talk about something else, but this isn't over yet. reporter: did you lie - to parliament, prime minister? boris johnson's honesty and integrity are being questioned. jeering and cheering many of his mps offered support as he made a choreographed commons entrance with his chancellor. "you're cheering a criminal", shouted labour. i now call the prime minister. all he could do was apologise — again. it did not occur to me then,

or subsequently, that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. objections i repeat, that was my mistake, and i apologise for it unreservedly. mrjohnson said last week he'd been fined for a gathering with colleagues that had lasted just nine minutes. the labour leader accused him of coming up with insulting and absurd excuses. what a joke. even now, as the latest mealy—mouthed apology stumbles out of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections and distortions pour from the other. but the damage is already done. the public have made up their mind. they don't believe a word the prime minister says. the most uncomfortable moment

for the prime minister and his chancellor came when sir keir talked about a husband who couldn't be with his wife in hospital. john would have given the world to hold his dying wife's hand, even if it was just for nine minutes. but he didn't, because he followed the prime minister's rules. the prime minister continues to apologise for his behaviour, but he's effectively downplaying the seriousness of his lawbreaking, saying there are far more important things a prime minister should be concentrating on, but this wall of tributes to those who lost their lives to covid goes some way to explaining why it could be so difficult for him to move the debate on. lockdown and the harsh restrictions we all lived under for so long won't be easily forgotten. scotland yard continues to investigate, which means mrjohnson and conservative mps can't be sure this is over for the government.

vicki young there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the actorjohnny depp takes the stand in his defamation case against his former wife. he draws on cindarella and quasi modo. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high. the school sealed off. the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. choir sings one of the most successful- singer—songwriters of all time, the american pop star prince has died at the age of 57. - ijust couldn't believe it, didn't believe it, he was just here on saturday.

for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift—off of the space shuttle discovery, with the huddle space telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: ukrainian forces say they're holding out against russia's latest attacks, despite intense bombardment in the eastern donbas region. the united states and its allies promise to send more

weapons to help ukraine in its defence. the international monetary fund has warned that the war in ukraine will severely set back the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. in its latest assessment, the imf forecast ukraine's economy would suffer a 35 % collapse over the next two years, while russia's economic output would drop by i7%. here's our economics editor, faisal islam. just as the world appeared to be recovering from the aftermath of the covid pandemic, another unprecedented economic shock has hit — the war in ukraine. a severe setback to the recovery, says the international monetary fund, slowing growth and driving up prices. in washington this week, finance ministers and heads of central banks are meeting to try to tackle these twin shocks to the system, as the imf sharply cut its forecast for the world economy, at the same time as raising its forecasts for inflation. we view a number of clouds on the horizon. first and foremost, the war itself could escalate militarily,

but also the sanctions could be tightened. then there is inflation growing and broadening everywhere, and that might lead to a more aggressive path of monetary policy tightening in many parts of the world, including the us, but also in europe or the uk, and that would weigh down growth. the world economy had been on a mending road, according to the imf, but now that's suffered the severe setback, as the imf puts it, of russia's invasion of ukraine, sending growth down across the world and inflation and prices rising even more. about six out of seven of the world's economies have faced downgrades in this new world economic outlook, that comes out today at the imf, ahead of important meetings of the world's financial ministers and central bank governors. it is notjust the world's advanced economies that are facing lower growth, and those economies most exposed to russia's invasion of ukraine, namely russia and ukraine

and the neighbouring countries, but in particular emerging economies, dependent on this region for theirfood. also those dependent on low energy prices are also seeing their price inflation forecast going up and therefore forecast for growth going down too. so a troubling set of forecasts for the world's economic outlook but also concerns that this twin shock of pandemic and then war, that has its own set of difficult dilemmas and consequences that we're just beginning to unpick. hundreds of thousands of women across the uk had their babies taken away from them during the 1950s, 60s and 70s because they were unmarried. for more than a year, bbc news has been hearing from women who say they were pressured into forced adoptions by doctors, social workers and churches. now for the first time, a former national health service maternity nurse has come forward to say she witnessed callous behaviour towards some of these women. duncan kennedy reports.

in the 30 years after world war ii, hundreds of thousands of unmarried women were shamed into giving up their babies for adoption. most gave birth in hospitals, which were supposed to be places of compassion. some of the older midwives would see — i hate the word — but sort of, these are fallen women. they've got to get on with their lives. in 1974, anne hair was a trainee maternity nurse. she spent some time at this hospital in edinburgh. she is the first health worker to confirm to us that some nurses treated the unmarried pregnant women with scorn and derision. sometimes you felt they were cruel in how they spoke about them. how did these young mothers react? i think they were in shock.

anne says some nurses removed babies straight after delivery, without the mothers being able to hold them. she says she is still haunted by one teenager, desperate to keep her baby. i can still picture her, because she was crying, and i remember her saying to the midwife how she wanted to keep her baby. and ijust was tearful after it. why were you upset? i just felt it was unjust. she says some nurses treated forced adoptions in an almost routine way. i think they were just generally institutionalised. that's what they did. and maybe they thought, by trying to cut everything short, cut and dried, right,

you are in, you are away, you'll have your baby, your baby will go for adoption — that's it. it sounds callous. now, absolutely. these mums, were the unmarried mums? they were these young... we showed the interview to lisa roland, who was one of those shamed into giving up her baby. hair, herface, tears streaming down, and she was very puffy. she became pregnant at 16 and was separated from her baby for nearly 30 years. she says hearing from a former trainee nurse proves what birth mothers went through. actually having someone in the profession saying, this is what happened, just... ..just gives you credibility. as a young, unmarried mother, turning up at hospital to have a baby, you... ..you had absolutely no chance whatsoever. it wasn't just nurses. parents, social workers and churches also shamed the young women. forced adoptions are now the subject of

two national inquiries — one by the scottish government and one by the uk parliament, with birth mothers calling for official apologies. what do you say to their campaign to get an apology from the scottish government and the uk government? i think they are right. these women were not treated with the dignity and respect that you would expect of a professional. it must have been horrible and ghastly for them. duncan kennedy, bbc news. johnny depp — the hollywood actor, has appeared in court in virginia on the fifth day of the defamation case he brought against his ex—wife, amber heard. the lawsuit centres on an article ms heard wrote for the washington post in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. david sillitto was in court and sent this report. good afternoon, mr depp. good afternoon. can you please tell the jury why you're here today? erm, yes, erm...

that pause rather captures the moment. his audience, a court, and this, johnny depp's one chance to salvage his reputation. watching was his ex—wife, amber heard, who says she endured months of violence during their brief marriage. all of it, he says, is a lie. never... ..did i myself reach the point of striking miss heard in any way, nor have i ever struck any woman in my life. two completely opposed accounts of a marriage, and so many of the witnesses are either close friends or employees. and the events, most of them took place behind closed doors, so the heart of this for the lawyers is who to believe, which is why today matters. he talked of childhood abuse,

his long career and the effect of the allegations. one day, you're. .. ..cinderella, so to speak, and then, in 0.6 seconds, you're quasimodo. and i... ..i didn't deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all these years. 0k, we'll take a recess, thank you. thank you. throughout, he was careful, hesitant, serious. of course, this isjust one side of the story — amber heard's will follow. but as they rose to leave for recess, a little whistle... whistling. ..a smile. david sillito, bbc news, fairfax, virginia. venice is about to become the first city in the world

to experiment a regulation system of visitor flows. day—trippers will have to make a reservation for visiting the city and will soon have to pay an entry fee. it's in an effort to tackle overcrowding. emily brown reports. the floating city of venice is a unique destination for the millions of tourists who, before the pandemic, flocked to these narrow streets and scenic squares every summer. the easter weekend was the first real sign of the tourism sector bouncing back, with more than 80% occupancy in some of the bigger hotels. but from this summer, venice will be the first city in the world to experiment a regulation system of visitor flows to tackle overcrowding. for day—trippers, reservations will be compulsory and from next year, there will be an entrance fee. translation: covid change feelings and perceptions - of what tourism is,

in the world and in venice too. so we want less quantity and more quality. we will have an experimental phase, starting this summer, by the booking of the visits. the entrance fee is set to be up to 10 euros, depending on the season. people staying in hotels and local residents will be exempt. and while venice contends with the volume of visitors, it also banned large cruise ships from sailing into the city's lagoon. authorities hope the tourist tax will reduced daily visits and encourage longer stays. it means tourism in venice may never be the same. emily brown, bbc news. russian forces have increased their movements in the eastern city of ukraine. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @ bbcdavideades. hello. for the keen gardeners out there, if your garden and your planters are looking a little bit parched at the moment and you missed out on some of the showers we saw on tuesday, you're going to be grabbing the watering can for the rest of this week — very little rain around. there will be a few showers across western areas, but notice how high pressure is dominating the weather charts in and around the uk, pushing rain bearing low pressure systems down towards iberia, time and time again. and through the week, the breeze will be strengthening. in fact, a bit more breeze tonight across england and wales into the morning, which means it won't be quite as chilly as it has been. but for scotland and northern ireland, a touch of frost and patchy mist and fog around. that should clear by the end of the morning rush hour. there will be some cloud drifting westwards across england and wales, but overall, a lot more sunshine around on wednesday,

compared with tuesday, although a few showers will pop up through the afternoon across some of these western districts. most, though, dry. as i said, a bit more of an easterly breeze, making it feel cooler along those north sea coasts of england especially, 9—10 celsius for one or two, but actually, the air�*s a little bit warmer than tuesday, so central and western areas, temperatures up to around 16—17. 17 also possible in and around the moray firth as well. now, as we go through wednesday night into thursday, we continue with a predominantly dry story. a little bit of cloud drifting in on that breeze, but with the breeze continuing to pick up, notice how the temperatures aren't going to drop as much. we should be clear of a frost as we go into thursday morning. a lot of dry and sunny weather, though, to come on thursday. greater chance of some mist and low cloud though, the coast of north east england, eastern scotland. a bit of cloud drifting through england and wales, but sunny spells for many and still pleasantly warm where you have that sunshine. but it is going to start feeling cooler down those eastern coasts, and you've got to bear in mind that easterly wind, coming off sea temperatures around 7 or 8 degrees. it is always going to feel cooler here, especially so on friday as that wind picks up even further. greater chance of some slightly thicker cloud,

especially across england and wales, by this stage, with some light showers, even a little bit of drizzle in places, but most will be dry. sheltered from the breeze, western areas, where it could be quite gusty that wind, is where we'll see the highest of the temperatures, 15—16 west of scotland, maybe up to around 15 or 16 on the south coast of england. quick look into the weekend, and a bit of a complication as to what happens to this area of low pressure, how further north out of iberia it gets and its influence on us. throughout the weekend, we'll still have that breeze with us and that will make it further along the eastern coasts. in the sunshine feeling quite pleasant, but a greater chance of one or two more showers. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukrainian forces say they're holding the line in the east of the country, despite intense bombardment in the luhansk region. russia says it has struck over 1,200 military targets in eastern ukraine and has again called for the country's forces to lay down their arms. the united states and other allies have promised to increase weapon deliveries to ukraine, as it attempts to resist the renewed russian offensive. western leaders say they'll send artillery, anti—tank and air defence equipment. the government in kyiv has repeatedly asked for more military support. the british prime minister, has given what he called a wholehearted apology to parliament after he was fined for breaking covid lockdown laws. borisjohnson repeated that it did not occur to him the birthday gathering

he attended at downing street injune 2020 had breached the rules.