welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines... explosions we're on the front line of war in ukraine, near kharkiv where, despite ukrainian advances, the threat of russian fire is constant. with every inch of ground they gain here, every other mile gives their city respite from the russian guns that you can hear. sri lanka's president vows to give up most of his executive powers, but stops short of resigning over the country's economic crisis. in the us, republican senators block a democrat bill which aimed to preserve women's right to abortion nationwide. it was put to a vote ahead

of a key supreme court ruling. shanghai residents face more covid—19 restrictions as china tries to crush an outbreak. millions have now been locked in their homes for seven weeks we are restricted on the food we can get over the next few days. no commercial deliveries, no group buys — just government—approved food deliveries. there's also further restrictions on access to the hospitals. and a passenger with no idea how to fly is given instructions to land a plane in florida, after the pilot fell ill. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday.

hello, and welcome to the programme. ukrainian forces have been retaking a number of towns and villages, pushing russian infantry and artillery back towards the border. the fighting, which has led to a dramatic fall in russian shelling of kharkiv, has been slow and costly — but ukrainian forces, say they now have the upper hand. kharkiv is just a0 kilometres from the russian border, and the russians�* retreat could pose a wider threat to moscow's stated aim of capturing significant territory in the east, as fresh ukrainian troops join the battle there. our correspondent, quentin sommerville, and camera journalist, darrin conway, have spent the last week with ukrainian troops, in and around the town of ruska losova, and they've sent us this report. a warning, you may find some of the reporting distressing. air raid sirens

the spectre of russian victory once haunted this city. but no more. for months, the invaders were at the city gates, but kharkiv has cast doubt vladimir putin's foot soldiers, forcing them back towards the border. this road is deadly. there are landmines either side, and a number of times, vehicles have been hit by russian shelling. so, the russians are retreating, but they're not giving up. they're trying to pin these men down, but retreating they are. there's a lot more at stake here than just the city of kharkiv. the russian supply lines to the donbas are also under threat, and these men, they say that if they can take back their city, the second—biggest in this country, just by the russian border, why can't they take back all of ukraine? for more than a week, they've

been fighting and winning. still, they have to move fast. an army in retreat is just as dangerous. so they're on guard. above them, they know that enemy drones are watching. he shouts in ukrainian these men are exposed. at the top of this ridge, russian tanks and artillery still roam and still lay down fire. this has become a far more mobile fight. a deadly game of hide and seek in the kharkiv countryside. 0k, iwill go. you will go there, behind the fence, yeah? 0k? we're following a ukrainian territorial defence

unit — all volunteers. sit down. every second out in the open risks targeting from russians who are less than half a kilometre away. the men you see are from kharkiv. they're fighting for ukraine, but they're also fighting for their city, and it's a close quarters battle. but every inch of ground they gain here, every other mile gives their city respite from the russian guns that you can hear. explosions we're now in the third month of this war. who's winning? we are winning, of course. ukrainians are winning. every day that our guys do

in mariupol, every day that our guys are doing brave acts that they commit, you know, all these are small wins in the big war. through fields and villages, they gain ground. from here, russia attacked kharkiv dozens of times daily. now, only a handful of shells make it to the city. but there's still a danger in the village. a shell whizzes just overhead. explosion the enemy is there in the forest. l

out there, a russian tank is on the hunt. but they've grown used to these tactics, so already, the men who make up this unit — an economist, a businessman, a mechanic — have taken cover. little prepared them for this, but they haven't flinched. a direct hit knocks out the power. tank fire hammers the bunker. but the men are untroubled and unharmed. russia's occupation has torn these communities apart. these are local men and a woman obtained under suspicion of aiding the enemy. they'll be handed over to the security services. collaborators who cause ukrainian deaths face a life injail.

with each day of this war, the centuries—old ties that bind russia and ukraine together are being torn asunder. ola has been trapped here from the start, she tells me, unable to receive cancer treatment. translation: i lost so much weight because of nerves. - we decided to get evacuated from here. amid the maelstrom — and numb to danger — is 66—year—old raissa. she grew up in the soviet union, lived in east germany. she can't believe it's come to this — her home and her history in ruins.

translation: shards of. the glass hit me in the face. how could she forgive russia these wounds? translation: why didn't the shrapnel hit me - in the head so that i would die immediately? for days, she suffered through this. translation: but i hardly feel physical pain any more. - the pain is in my soul. "you're lucky to be alive," says the medic. translation: yes, my arm is working. | but lucky? god didn't let me die. now i have to live in pain. in a time gone by, raissa's father and vladimir putin's father battled hitler.

but that shared memory is now lost to history. here in russian—speaking ukraine, the past runs deep — and the suffering brought here won't be easily forgiven norforgotten. quentin sommerville, bbc news, kharkiv. britain and finland have signed a mutual security deal hours after the uk agreed a similar deal with sweden, against the background of the russian invasion of ukraine. the uk prime minister, borisjohnson said the uk "will not hesitate" to act to defend against any threat from what he called a "21st—century tyra nt". he's been visiting both countries which are considering nato membership, in the face of president putin's decision to invade ukraine. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... one of the most senior members of the catholic church has been arrested in hong kong, for breaking china's

national security law. cardinaljoseph zen, who's long been a critic of the government in beijing, is being accused of helping activists in hong kong with financial resources. he was arrested for being a trustee of a now abandoned organisation which helped activists in hong kong with medical and legal bills. other trustees were brought in for questioning. the number of civilians killed in yemen has halved since a un—brokered ceasefire in yemen came into force in early april. the norwegian refugee council said there were 95 deaths in april, compared to over 200 the month before. the un estimates that yemen's seven—year war between iranian—backed houthi rebels and pro—government saudi—led forces has claimed around 380,000 lives. an investigation ordered by the us interior department has uncovered historical abuse of native american children at boarding schools, including more than 50 burial sites. the reports said that

until the late 1960s, native american children were forced to live in brutal conditions at schools run by the government or by churches. survivors and relatives of people who died when an apartment block collapsed in the us state of florida are to receive just under one billion dollars in compensation. nearly 100 people were killed when the building at surfside, near miami, came down last june. google has announced a big expansion of its google translate service, adding 2a new languages. the latest additions range from mizo in north—east india, to lingala, which is spoken across central africa. google says it has used a new translation technology which can learn language based onjust a few paragraphs of text. sri lanka's president, gotabaya rajapaksa, has promised to appoint

a new cabinet within a week. he made the pledge in his first address to the country since anti—government protests erupted. his brother, the prime minister, resigned on monday. anbarasan ethirahjen is in colombo. the sri lankan president, gotabaya rajapaksa, has addressed the nation in an attempt to solve the political crisis facing the country. sri lanka has been witnessing weeks of protests against the government, and the protesters have been accusing the government of mismanaging the economy. and the prime minister was forced to resign on monday after violence during these protests. now, president gotabaya rajapaksa says a new cabinet will be formed within a week, acceptable to the public and also parliament. and he's willing to amend the constitution to transfer more powers to parliament. he will have discussions with the coming interim government about abolishing

the executive presidency in the country, and he also warned that strict action would be taken against anyone for damaged public property or threatening lives. this speech comes on the backdrop of even the central bank governor warning that if there is no political stability here in this country, then we can expect more long power cuts and fuel shortages. this is a very stark warning from the central bank governor because sri lanka has run out of foreign exchange reserves. they are struggling to import basic supplies like fuel and food — at the moment, they are getting these things from india on a credit line. so, economists warn that if this political instability continues, if there is no agreement between the political parties to form a government, that will have a devastating effect on the economy because the country's already running low on revenue. so, if the investors want to come in, if the imf wants to give a loan, or any other foreign country wants to help sri lanka, they would like to see political stability — and that is what the central

bank governor was warning. now, it remains to be seen whether the protesters accept what president gotabaya said this evening, a few minutes ago, because they've also been demanding the resignation of gotabaya rajapaksa, saying we need a new political system for sri lanka. borisjohnson has repeated his threat to overide parts of the agreement with the eu about post—brexit trade in northern ireland. the northern ireland protocol — under which goods from britain going to northern ireland have to be checked — has emerged as a major stumbling block in attempts to set up a new executuve in northern ireland after last week's local elections. but the eu says it could launch legal action against the uk if it tries to rip up the agreement. the key principle in that good friday agreement is that there should be cross—community support for changes. and i think the trouble

with the protocol arrangements is that they have been used and interpreted in such a way as to lose the confidence and the support of one important community in northern ireland — the unionist community. still to come on the programme: we'll tell you how a brave passenger and a quick—thinking air traffic controller saved the day when a pilot fell ill in florida. the pope was shot, the pope will live — that's the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that, as an italian television commentator put it, "terrorism had come to the vatican." the man they called the butcher of lille, klaus barbie, went

on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out - effort to help the victimsl of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the | country in 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, gary kasparov. it's the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! cheering this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. our headlines... ukrainian forces launch counter attacks in the east, forcing russian troops out of villages near the country's second biggest city kharkiv. sri lanka's president vows to give up most

of his executive powers, but stops short of resigning over the country's economic crisis. a bill that would have protected nationwide access to abortion in the united states has been blocked in the senate. democrats had attempted to introduce the measure ahead of a supreme court decision that's expected to overturn a ruling that established the right to abortion in the 19705. but all 50 republicans and one democrat voted not to consider the legislation. the supreme court's final decision on the roe versus wade ruling is expected injuly. vice president kamala harris spoke to reporters shortly after the vote in the capitol. i'vejust presided over the women's health protective act vote. and sadly, the senate failed to stand in defence of a woman's right to make decisions about her own body. and let's be clear — the majority of the american

people believe in defending a woman's right, her choice to decide what happens to her own body. earlier, i spoke to anthony zurcher to ask if this is all the democrats can do before the supreme court's ruling in a couple of months. this is a major let down for democrats who were hoping to do something on a national level before the supreme court acts. but if the supreme court does hand down this decision as has been leaked last week, states will have freedom to pass legislation. so i think you'll see more action on the state level from states that have democratic majorities to help strengthen their abortion protections. but when it comes to the us congress and any kind of national protection, it didn't look like it was likely going to pass anything coming into today — and after this vote, it's clear that there won't be any action on the national level

and anytime soon. i guess everyone is already looking ahead to the midterm elections in november — how crucial is this issue going to be? well, if you look at some recent polling that suggests democrats in particular are very interested in the supreme court decision, interested in voting for democratic candidates who support abortion rights much more than they were in the midterm elections beforehand. so it might actually help the democrats boost enthusiasm on their side — compared to conservatives and republicans who were already enthusiastic about voting. when it comes to midterm elections, non—presidential year elections, the enthusiasm of the base really does help decide who the victor will be. so, although today was a setback for democrats and for abortion rights proponents, there may be some silver lining as far as their outlook for the midterm elections.

meanwhile, some companies have started saying they would, for example, pay for staff to travel to a state where abortion is legal. how much corporate pushback do you expect to see? i think a lot of companies will have to respond to what their employees are asking for, are demanding. a lot of these companies are companies that, for instance, relocated to states like texas, where it's pretty clear that abortion, if roe v wade is struck down, will be ruled illegal entirely. so these big companies that recently relocated a lot of employees to red states — florida is another one — will have to do something to keep their employees happy, satisfied, and not looking forjobs in other states where there are democratic majorities. the middle east—based broadcaster, aljazeera, has accused the israeli military, of deliberately targeting journalists after one of its best known correspondents was shot dead

in the occupied west bank. shireen abu akleh died from a bullet wound to the head while covering an israeli army raid on a refugee camp. israel's prime minister, has denied thatjournalists were targeted, and accused palestinians of firing the fatal shot. our middle east correspondent tom bateman reports you can hear gunfire, followed by a man shouting her name. she can be seen in the road lying on the street, but those images are too graphic to broadcast. authorities in shanghai are further restricting access to hospitals and food as the city enters the most severe phase of its extended lockdown. some neighbours of confirmed covid—i9 cases and others living close by are also being forced into government quarantine facilities,

as officials push ahead with enhanced measures that they think will stop the spread of omicron. from shanghai, robin brant has more. this was initially a lockdown that was supposed to last four days. we're now into its seventh week. this does feel, frankly, like the darkest time. we are seeing, as well, some of the most extreme measures imposed as the authorities try to contain the spread and try to get towards their target of what they're calling "societal zero" — so no new cases emerging outside of quarantine. now here, we are restricted on the food we can get over the next few days. no commercial deliveries, no group buys — just government—approved food deliveries. there's also further restrictions on access to the hospitals — anyone needing anything other than emergency care in the next few days will need approval of the local communist party neighbourhood committee. now, i'm aware already of people needing emergency ambulances that have struggled

to get them, they couldn't come quick enough, so they've had to go by private car. so, all of that shows you how desperate, frankly, the authorities are to get towards this target that has slipped. i think one of the most severe measures we're seeing announced now, though, is bigger swathes of people living in apartments who are near positive cases being swept up and taken to quarantine centres. the authorities now say anyone living on the same level in an apartment block, maybe even injust the same apartment block, even if they're negative, will be taken to centralised quarantine facilities. a passenger with no flying experience has had to land a cessna aircraft at palm beach airport in florida after the pilot fell ill. the plane had taken off from the bahamas. the passenger, who has not been

named, was given landing instructions by an aircraft controller, who reportedly had a picture of the plane's dashboard in front of him so that he could tell the passenger exactly which controls to use. what a remarkable achievement there! before we leave, the largest diamond ever auctioned has been sold for 18 million swiss francs. it actually fell far short of the record for such a jewel. the 228.31 carrot stone, which is bigger than a golf ball, was sold by christie's auction house in geneva. the world record for white diamonds still stands at $33.7 million. and of course, you can keep up with all the stories we are covering, just had our website and you'll find a life page dedicated to the

war in ukraine, as well. that's it for newsday, thanks for watching. hello. rain reached some of the driest southern areas of the uk on wednesday. it wasn't very much, but it was more than has fallen for quite some time. that system now out of the way, and southern areas are having a mainly dry thursday to come — whereas across northern areas close to a weather front, there'll be some more rain, particularly across parts of scotland, and especially in the west. there will be a lot of dry weather to begin the day and a cooler start, with temperatures quite widely into single figures, a little bit lower than this in some rural spots. there will be a lot of sunshine first thing. all parts will see cloud increasing — not everywhere will get rain from that cloud. there will be a few showers popping up in northern ireland during the morning lasting into the afternoon. northwest scotland turning wetter more widely across western parts of scotland — later in the day, you'll see some rain, some of that pushing a bit further east

during the afternoon. the odd shower for wales and southwest england to cross wales and england, more cloud in the afternoon compared with the morning. and a warmer day across the east and southeast of england, where it stays dry with some sunny spells, compared with wednesday's rain. it is scotland, northern ireland, northern england with some patchy rain on to thursday night, and then, really by friday morning, it's just the northern half of scotland really seeing some rain on what will be a milder start to the day. so on friday, then, it's really across northern scotland we will see some further outbreaks of rain for a time. some cloud elsewhere in scotland, northern england, and northern ireland. it's wales and the southern half of england that will see the lion's share of friday's sunshine. and what will be a windy day across scotland, northern ireland and northern england in particular, really quite gusty winds here. and temperatures are edging just a touch higher. now, it is a sign of things to come into the weekend — it will be pleasantly warm, especially when you get to see some sunshine, high pressure is close by. but that's not the whole story — later saturday, saturday night, first thing sunday, there are some showers,

even some thunderstorms pushing up from the south into parts of england and wales. some of those come back sunday night and into monday morning. so, whilst many places this weekend will stay dry, there will be a chance of seeing a shower or maybe a thunderstorm, especially the further south you are. so, a selection of locations — you can find more places, of course, online and through the app showing a lot of fine, pleasantly warm weather when the sun is out. but again, that chance of showers and thunderstorms later on saturday, particularly into england and wales.

welcome to hardtalk from washington.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the menu stray spray at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. —— will have the headlines for yield. welcome to hardtalk from washington. i'm stephen sackur. when vladimir putin made that momentous decision to invade ukraine, maybe he calculated that the us was too weak, too polarised to offer anything more than ritual condemnation. if so, he was wrong. american weapons are now flowing into ukraine. unprecedented sanctions have been imposed on moscow. my guest today is the senior democrat senator mark warner.