�*welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. protests in the united states after a leaked document suggests the supreme court is about to overturn the law protecting the right to abortion the draft�*s release has caused a wave of reaction from both sides. the us senate majority leader says he'll hold a symbolic vote to put the right to an abortion into federal law. also on the programme — rescued after more than 60 days trapped underground in ukraine more than 100 civilians — including children — who've spent weeks living beneath the besieged steel plant in mariupol

finally reach safety. in shanghai, the bbc uncovers evidence of people as old as one hundred — who've been moved out of their homes after testing positive for covid—19 — as millions endure a strict lockdown. it's the most vulnerable who suffered the most. almost all the official dead are elderly and unvaccinated. the leaders insist that still, chasing zero covid—19 is the right thing. and one of ukraine's biggest bands, anty—tila, team up with ed sheeran, releasing a new song to help their country while serving in the war against russia.

hello and welcome to the programme. president biden has vowed to protect abortion rights in the united states after a leaked document suggested the supreme court is poised to overturn the ruling which legalised the procedure nationwide. the draft opinion, written byjustice samuel alito, says the 1973 decision — roe versus wade — was wrong from the start. officials have confirmed that the document is genuine, and have launched an investigation into the leak. mr biden said a woman's right to choose was "fundamental". our north america editor, sarah smith, reports from washington. abortion is violence! outnumbered but vocal, outside the supreme court, anti—abortion activists scent victory, after nearly 50 years of fighting the constitutional guarantee of abortion rights, that's known as roe v wade. with overturning roe it's going back to the states and the states are going

to come up with these great programmes, a network of support to give women the choice, because right now a lot of women feels like abortion is their only choice. we want them to have real choice. you can stay in school and have a baby. you can have a job and have a baby. pro—choice campaigners aghast that more than half the states in america could ban or severely restrict abortion in the next few months, according to a leaked document from the supreme court. what did you think when you heard the decision what did you think when you read the decision last night? i thought, this is devastating. the courts are undermining the american people. and we have a long road ahead, but we are not letting this fight slip through our fingers. we are going to keep going. nine justices sit on the supreme court, five of them, according to the leaked report, will vote to overturn abortion rights, with justice samuel alito writing that the decades—old decision to guarantee abortion was egregiously wrong. the impact will be sudden. there are 13 us states that have so—called trigger laws in place which would lead to an immediate ban on abortion. another 13 would move quickly

to ban or severely limit access, says the guttmacher institute, a pro—choice group. it estimates 36 million women of reproductive age will live in states without abortion access. this is what the republicans have been working towards, for decades. they have been out there plotting, carefully cultivating these supreme courtjustices so they could have a majority on the bench who would accomplish something that the majority of americans do not want. abortion is violence! i think i've been clear, i'm pro—life and i've made that very clear from the moment i announced my candidacy and i believe that what we found during the campaign and even through today is that there is a lot of common ground on this topic. we want fewer abortions in virginia, not more. president biden says he believes a woman's right to choose is fundamental. he wants to pass a law through congress guaranteeing

access to abortion. everyone knew a ruling on abortion rights was coming from the supreme court, but such a dramatic change in the law has still come as a seismic shock. the passions ignited by one of the most divisive issues in america will not be silenced when the court delivers its official ruling. and later in the programme we'll be talking to kristin ford from a group that campaigns for access to abortion care. let's turn to ukraine — where more than 100 people who were trapped beneath the rubble of a steelworks in mariupol have finally been brought to safety. the evacuees have spent weeks without seeing daylight — living in tunnels beneath the facility. but the ceasefire that allowed them to escape was brief. fierce fighting has now begun in mariupol again — and the red cross says there are still an unknown

number of people trapped in the city. our correspondent, laura bicker, watched as the first evacuees finally made it to safety in zaporizhzhia. theirjourney from hell is over. two months of horror ends in exhaustion and relief. katarina spent weeks hidden in the depths of the azovstal steel plant as russian bombs pounded the site. she tried to tell her children everything would be ok, even when she didn't believe it herself. translation: howl we were living, to be honest, it was horrible. from morning until night we were bombarded. artillery, rockets, air strikes, our children couldn't sleep. they were crying and scared, and us as well. there were several times we lost hope we would ever get out. we are extremely glad to be in ukraine. for more than 60 days these women and children were stuck in the darkness, living on rations handed down by ukrainian soldiers. it's been a difficult and complex operation to free them.

translation: we lived in hope that every day would be - the last day in this hell, that we would go home to a peaceful mariupol, but now it is non—existent. this evacuation represents rare progress to ease the humanitarian cost of this war but hundreds more did not manage to make it on this bus. they are thought to still be trapped in the steel plant, including around a dozen children, and talks are still under way to free them. this footage from social media is said to show the azovstal steelworks this morning, under heavy attack from russian forces. this once thriving industrial heartland is now a charred shell. later in the video, russian tanks are seen patrolling what remains of the streets and park areas surrounding the huge factory. there are thought to be nearly 100,000 people still living in mariupol. translation: idon't.

know where to go at all. i am not alone. imagine, everything is destroyed and broken. where should the people go now? here, they are sitting with small kids, little ones. i have nowhere to go. for those who have made it out, finally they have fresh food and a little hope. lives have been saved today but many more hang in the balance. let's bring you some of the other latest developments on ukraine. the western ukrainian city of lviv has been hit by a number of missile strikes. the authorities say three electricity substations have been damaged. it's the first attack in the west for more than a week. the french president, emmanuel macron, has told

as russia has been hit with growing western sanctions over its invasion of ukraine, moscow has looked to china for support. china has not yet condemned the russian invasion but says it wants a peaceful solution in europe — where it has been investing billions of dollars in huge projects. in the second of his special reports, our europe correspondent, nick beake has been looking at who s really benefitting from china s expansion. greece is emerging from the shadows of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. it's economy among the fastest growing in the eu. the boom at the port of piraeus near athens is helping. two thirds is now owned by a chinese state company. cosco has been building up its stake after international lenders forced greece to sell this and other public assets. when you get this close, you can see just how huge these container ships are. and day in, day out, they're bringing tonnes of goods which will then be

dispatched to all corners of europe. and this is a crucial gateway to the continent for china. but the expansion of this port is controversial. this lawyer has lived in piraeus all her life. she's suing the port over alleged environmental harm. everyone is against this because it will not benefit piraeus. it will benefit other people that do not live here. you think this place could be destroyed effectively? completely. workers at the port have been on strike over safety concerns. watch the containers on the right. a narrow escape. but last year, a worker did die in a crane accident. the chinese owners didn't respond to our questions about the various concerns at the port. minister. how good to see you. greece's foreign minister says although a european buyer would've been preferable, the port will be a success

for both beijing and athens. but is this the high point for the two countries�* economic relations? they're not fading away, but i have to say there was not any more substantial chinese investment in greece. but we judge the investment on commercial grounds. i mean, if the chinese want to invest, we're a free country and a free economy. venture north through the balkans, and this is montenegro, apparently on the path to eu membership. but it's china lending the cash for this, the country's first motorway, a complex project which european experts had claimed was unfeasible. in six years, only 41 kilometres has been built. the cost — 1 billion euros, which must be paid back to beijing. well, take a look. this is as far as montenegro's

flagship infrastructure project extends to today. for now, yes, it is a road to nowhere. and it's held up as a warning to the rest of europe as china pursues its belt and road initiative. we need investments. if the chinese are the only one | interested in investing in you, | yeah, i say go for it, - butjust be careful about, like, the terms of these j investments, conditions of these investments and making . sure that everything is in line . with your general policy. we asked five chinese ambassadors in europe for an interview about beijing's vision for the continent, but none was available. china has declared a new global order with its ally russia and has failed to condemn the invasion of ukraine. more than ever, european nations are reassessing the risk and reward of doing business with beijing. nick beake, bbc news, montenegro. if you want to get in touch with me i'm

on twitter — @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme ukrainian group antytila team up with ed sheeran, releasing a new song partly filmed and recorded while serving in the war against russia. i nelson rolihlahla mandella do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterrand. the tunnel is still not ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now the ppope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister becamel

the first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes _ memories of victory as the ve celebrations reached their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. this is newsday on the bbc. in singapore. our top story. president biden has called for the preservation of the ruling that legalised abortion across the us after a leaked document suggested it could be scrapped by the supreme court. let's stay with that story. i'm joined now by kristin ford, vice president of communications and research

at naral pro—choice america — a group that campaigns for access to abortion care. agreed to get you on the programme. what is your reaction to this decision by the supreme court? we were certainly surprised _ the supreme court? we were certainly surprised to - the supreme court? we were certainly surprised to see - the supreme court? we were certainly surprised to see an l certainly surprised to see an opinion leakfrom certainly surprised to see an opinion leak from the supreme court. it is unprecedented in modern history but we were not surprised by the substance of this, every signal we had gotten up to this point was ominous in terms of the fate of roe v wade in the right to abortions in the united states. we are preparing for this and it's abundantly clear that there's a tremendous amount at stake for abortion rights in the us. ., ~ stake for abortion rights in the us. . ~ , ., ., the us. talk us through how the ri . hts of the us. talk us through how the rights of lower _ the us. talk us through how the rights of lower income _ the us. talk us through how the rights of lower income women i rights of lower income women whose statistics are affected by a lack of access to abortions might be affected by

its ruling it does go through. if a patchwork of access to abortion care and different states have at an act different barriers and those barriers and restrictions fall hardest on communities who are already marginalised by her health care systems. that includes people with lower incomes, as well as communities of colour, immigrant communities, gay and lesbian communities and other constituencies who are rich struggle to access the care they may need and if this decision is issued by the supreme court and it looks like they have the five votes necessary to overturn the landmark roe v wade case, they'll issue a state licensed to ban abortions and people have to travel and in some cases hundreds of thousands of miles to access the care they need and there are lots of

resources necessary to make those kinds of trips to access care about the cost of the procedure and the medications as well as the cost for travel and lodging and the cost for childcare, majority of people who have an abortion already are a parent and there is a lot of roadblocks for people and this is going to make it significantly worse. to this is going to make it significantly worse. to put the e - isode significantly worse. to put the episode of— significantly worse. to put the episode of the _ significantly worse. to put the episode of the debate - significantly worse. to put the episode of the debate to - significantly worse. to put the episode of the debate to you, | episode of the debate to you, the last hour of our programme, we heard from the president of the national right to life committee, pro—life organisation. they said of this decision is final because the supreme court says it is not yet. ill put power in the of elected representatives, which should be, to make these decisions. what you think of that? ., ., ,., ., that? there are two important oints. that? there are two important points- one — that? there are two important points. one is, _ that? there are two important points. one is, there's - that? there are two important points. one is, there's a - that? there are two important points. one is, there's a veryl points. one is, there's a very important washington story and it really made clear that the anti—choice movement, the movement those hostile to

freedom was not trying to turn this back to the statesman walk away, they want a nationwide ban on abortion and they will not rest until abortion is illegal and pushed entirely out of reach and every single state in the united states. that is their agenda that is been the crusade for decades and this is notjust crusade for decades and this is not just about turning it back to the states. and even if it were turning it back to the states, this is a constitutional right. it is been a constitutional right for half a century and constitutional rights should not vary from state to state. everyone, no matter what state they live and should be able to deter what's best for themselves and circumstances make their own decisions about this without politicians interfering. —— determine what's best. interfering. -- determine what's best.— interfering. -- determine what's best. , , ., , what's best. there seems to be no middle _ what's best. there seems to be no middle ground _ what's best. there seems to be no middle ground in _ what's best. there seems to be no middle ground in this - no middle ground in this debate, would you say to bring other people do your perspective to convince them of

view? , ., ., view? the question of middle round view? the question of middle ground is _ view? the question of middle ground is interesting - view? the question of middle ground is interesting because it is really in sharp relief right now so there's one side of this issue, the anti—choice movement that is pushing for total bands on abortions in all 50 states. they don't want anyone to access an abortion or in the pregnancy. 0n the other hand, if you have the movement that i work for and they believe that people ought to have the freedom to make their own decisions and so, there are people within that movement who may not personally choose to get abortion, who may not choose that to be the right decision for them but do not believe politicians should metal this deeply personal decisions. i think that is the reasonable course of action and consensus is that everyone should be free to make their own decisions rather than having politicians impose an agenda on people.—

having politicians impose an agenda on people. thank you so much forjoining _ agenda on people. thank you so much forjoining us _ agenda on people. thank you so much forjoining us on _ agenda on people. thank you so much forjoining us on the - much forjoining us on the programme. to china now, where after more than a month of strict lockdown, authorities in shanghai are beginning to gradually ease covid restrictions. the number of new cases is falling — but thousands of people remain in government run quarantine facilities. the bbc has seen evidence of people in their 90's — some even 100 years old — who've been moved out of their homes after testing positive. robin brant reports from shanghai, where he's still in lockdown. it's taken more than a month, but now shanghai's leaders think this outbreak is contained. so, it's time for a mass clean—up. disinfection by an army of workers, thousands of them, before a gradual opening up. but the brutal war against covid has left a scarred city. people as old as 100 were among those tested positive and taken to quarantine centres. one man detailed what he saw first—hand on social media. translation: a lot | of the old people have

underlying health problems, and the conditions inside quarantine centres are not good. we hope the elderlies can be sent to better hospitals. in the five weeks i've been locked down — you can't step outside the gates — it's shanghai's most vulnerable who've suffered the most. almost all the official dead are elderly and unvaccinated. china's leaders insist that still chasing zero covid is the right thing. the enforcement has been harsh at times. some people barricaded into their homes. 0r forced out of them. communities fenced off. but xijinping has made it clear there's no change. the man in charge of china's ruling communist party believes persistence is victory. this is now a test of china's

way, of his credibility. one part of china has changed tack, though. in hong kong, we never did a total lockdown. schools were closed, a lot of people were working from home, but it was by no means a lockdown. and my concern in shanghai would be how long can this go on because the case numbers are not going to come down to zero immediately. they're going to drop down slowly, but the whole thing could happen again in a month or two months or three months if there's another outbreak of omicron. debate about living with it on the mainland has been shut down in public, though, and there's little room for dissent. this man was detained by police for simply showing his shopping, some pork donated by a neighbouring province. his crime — highlighting the food supply problems. the government said this small—scale, subtle protest, banging pots in parts of shanghai, was influenced by foreign forces. china's capital is now

on guard against any spread. most of this country has been virus—free now for almost two years. but as omicron threatens, renewed anxiety is spreading. robin brant, bbc news, in shanghai. the lead singer of the ukrainian band antytila has been talking about the difficulties the band faced while writing the lyrics for a collaboration with ed sheeran. sheeran has created a remix of his track 2step, which will raise money for ukraine. mark lobel reports. music: 2step (ukrainian remix by ed sheeran ft/antytila # cos we're living life at a different pace # stuck in a constant race # keep the pressure on, you're bound to break # something's got to change # we should just be cancelling all our plans # and not give a damn # if we're missing out on what

the people think is right...# the heartbreaking collaboration as the war grinds on. a message of hope amid the despair. # and then we'll go all night # two—stepping with the woman i love...# ed sheeran adding his voice to ukraine's resistance with ukrainian band antytila, musicians turned front—line medics, picking up the tune. singing in ukrainian. shot on location in besieged kharkiv to raise money for the people of ukraine. writing while fighting. the band says they found a way to record the agony of families separated by war despite their recording studio being under occupation at the time. singing in ukrainian. their message for the world after this appeal in march.

the ukrainian superstars' tiktok video grabbing ed sheeran�*s attention ahead of a benefit concert for ukraine in which he performed, but they weren't allowed to, with organisers worried about associating with the military. nevertheless, their message got through. leading to this remix of a song the multi—award winner originally shot in kyiv before the invasion, in the hope his 2step with antytila can get the world in step with the determination of the ukrainian people through the power of music. mark lobel, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. stay with us.

hello there. we've seen plenty of cloud over the past few days. wednesday brings the promise of brighter skies. but with more in the way of sunshine, we could trigger some heavy downpours with the odd rumble of thunder and some lightning mixed in as well. here's the set—up as we move into wednesday, then. we've got these weather fronts bringing and patchy outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards, so it does mean that we start the day on a generally cloudy note. there could be a bit of mist and murk and some patchy outbreaks of rain. that is all shifting its way eastwards, so it will brighten up from the west as we go through the day. sunny spells coming through with more in the way of sunshine, could trigger those heavy thundery downpours. parts of eastern scotland, north east england and the midlands through to southern and central england seeing those heavy, thundery downpours. of course, not everyone catching one, but if you do see one, it could be heavy. and with more in the way

of sunshine, it's going to be warmer highs, around 17 celsius in the south and east. as we move overnight, we'll see those showers fading away. we'll see plenty of clear spells, but turning cloudier across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. the temperatures not falling too far at all, staying in the single figures. as we move into thursday, here's how the pressure chart looks. high pressure tending to dominate across england and wales. here, we see a good deal of dry and fine weather. we have those weather fronts just topping across the top in the north—west, bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain. we do drag in this milder air from the south—west, so thursday is looking like a warmer day. a good deal of sunshine across england and wales. cloudier skies, though, across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. so, for the north, we are looking at highs of around 13—16 c, 16—21, perhaps 22 celsius in the south. friday, we'll see this band

of rain pushing its way south. there could be some heavy bursts in there for parts of northern england and the midlands. drier and brighter behind it, and temperatures dropping off a touch here, but still warm in the south and east. highs of 20 degrees celsius. into the weekend, then, and high pressure dominates the weather, so it's looking like a settled picture. we'll see a good deal of dry, fine weather with light winds. so, if we take a quick look at those outlooks, we can see plenty of dry weather through the weekend. there'll be some patchy cloud and sunny spells and temperatures reaching a high of around 21 celsius. bye— bye. (00v)

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. as the russian war machine tries to inject momentum into its ukraine offensive, could it be crippled by the west's economic countermeasures? ten weeks of sanctions have seen foreign currency reserves frozen, oligarch assets seized, and international businesses quit russia. but putin can still count

on his oil and gas income and there's no sign of economic pain forcing a rethink.