this is bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: alleged war crimes by russian troops near kyiv — the un human rights council orders an urgent inquiry, and the bbc sees first—hand evidence of unarmed civilians shot dead as they walk away. translation: they| killed a 65-year-old. what for? i am not so much furious as full of grief. after days of violent unrest in sri lanka, a veteran politician is sworn in as the new prime minister. hundreds forced to flee from a fast—moving wildfire in southern california that's already destroyed dozens of mansions. biden�*s baby formula crisis — following days of criticism, the us president announces measures to tackle the nationwide acute shortage. and a trifle has triumphed in the search for the ultimate

pudding to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the kremlin has accused western countries of using the un human rights council to demonise russia, after the body voted to investigate alleged war crimes in ukraine. the inquiry will examine accusations that moscow's forces carried out atrocities north of kyiv at the start of the war. in shocking images caught on cctv, the bbc has found clear evidence of war crimes alleged against russian soldiers near ukraine's capital — two unarmed civilians are shot in cold blood. our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, sent this report. it contains flashing images and some parts which you may find disturbing. these are russian soldiers

on their way to loot and to kill, but their every move is caught on multiple cameras. and so is leonid, the security guard, as he approaches them. the men talk, even smoke and then, the soldiers leave. but suddenly, two turn back. they shoot leonid and a second man multiple times in their backs. leonid somehow survives. his boss dead, the guard staggers back to his hut and starts phoning for help. the russians drove a stolen van daubed with their v symbol and the words "russian tank special forces". and this is the man we saw shooting, now helping himself toa drink. he has no idea he's being filmed. no—one does, until it's too late. and all this time, leonid is hiding in here, bleeding heavily.

weeks later, we found his clothes and mattress bundled up outside. he died before help could reach him. i met the men who'd tried to save leonid, sasha and kostya, who sold air conditioning before the war. translation: we tried to calm him down. - we said, "it's all 0k. "we're coming. "you'll live." maybe it helped him — maybe. they show me how the nearby road looked in those days with russian tanks rolling past their positions. it's notjust the burnt—out buildings and businesses along this road that you see, but things like this — two russian tanks just lodged in the forest, and you can see the vs painted on the front. and it's a really stark reminder ofjust how fierce the fighting was all along these roads into kyiv and how terrified leonid must have been as he was lying there, bleeding and calling for help.

leonid's daughter shared this image of her dad as she'd like him remembered. yuliia is abroad now. she tells me she wants her father's killers to face justice. translation: they| killed a 65-year-old. what for? i'm not so much furious as full of grief and fear. these damn russians are so out of control that i'm afraid of what they might do next. leonid never returned to his home or his pets. another life stolen by russian troops, now notorious for their brutality. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kyiv. so how significant is the united nations human rights council resolution going to be in investigating possible war crimes in ukraine? a question i put to gissou nia,

a human rights lawyer and the director of the strategic litigation project at the atlantic council. this is very significant. what i see with the resolution that was adopted at the special session of the un human rights council today is that there is a real effort by the council to put a lens on accountability. there is language in the resolution calling to account for, you know, who is actually perpetrating these violations, and that's something that we don't always see with content from the human rights council, with its enquiries. there are different commissions of enquiries that have been set up for different conflict situations and human rights crises around the world and sometimes, there isjust an analysis of what violations have happened but there's not always a naming and shaming of perpetrators. and, so, i view this as quite a significant move and shows that the human rights council is serious about staying

with efforts for accountability. so they will start an investigation, begin to look into some incidents perhaps like the one that we're hearing there from my colleague. but what sort of timeline are we talking about here? so, there was already a commission of enquiry that was set up at a session in march. so, there is this commission of enquiry that has three independent un experts that have been looking into this situation on the ground. they've made visits, they are speaking to civil society, they are conducting interviews. but there are other mechanisms at ohchr. so, we heard from the humans rights chief michelle bachelet today about the efforts that her office has been taking, including their second visit to the region last week to document these violations, so i see the resolution today as sort of an effort to basically focus on this accountability piece and kind of bring in the different pieces of machinery that the council can vote on and establish and that ohchr controls to really co—ordinate with international courts and prosecutors in ukraine and in other european countries that are looking to hold perpetrators

accountable. so that, i suppose, might be our next area, gissou — i mean, what courts might use this information? right, so one thing to note is that the commission of enquiry that has been set up — that was set up in march but which i think the mandate sort of deepened today with the resolution, with these explicit guideline, they are not the body that would be tasked with prosecuting perpetrators — that would be dealt with by ukraine's prosecutors that are looking at establishing war crimes prosecutions, that would be dealt with by the international criminal court and the hague that has a situation open — an investigation on the situation of ukraine open, and that has been moving forward, and that would also dealt with by different european countries that have the ability to prosecute alleged perpetrators under universal jurisdiction. so, there are different bodies

around the world that would be looking at bringing perpetrators to account. i think with mid to lower level perpetrators that are captured in ukraine, the possibility of getting them into the dock is a real prospect. i think with going after higher level perpetrators, like, you know, military and political leaders and moscow, including putin, that will be a bit more difficult but political fortunes can change and they could one day see themselves in the dock. it's now day 79 of the war in ukraine. images and numbers and facts can all over time blur into one. often it's artists and writers who manage to find long—lasting images and words that speak to tragedy. clive myrie has been to meet a ukrainian poet, trying to find the right words.

the desire to destroy in war amid a cacophony of artillery... distant explosion. ..forever raises the question, why? what can ever be the reason for the inhumanity of mass murder? this is the main road leaving ukraine's second city of kharkiv, about to enter the suburb of saltivka. the sign up ahead reads, "warning — shelling." we're less than 35 miles from the russian border. the kremlin�*s troops are being forced back, but they're lashing out. every now and again, we hear the sound of artillery incoming from that direction. the front line's only about 8km from here. as the russians continue to pull back, they're firing into this area, and indeed overnight it was hit by a shell. but it's a residential area, look at it. you've got residential apartment blocks there. this is a sort of pedestrian area.

the pizza place has been smashed to pieces. this is a residential spot, a suburb. why would you hit a residential area in the middle of a war? to sow fear and panic — that's how dirty this conflict is. how to comprehend the madness. weeping. how best to convey the pain to save future generations making our mistakes. the volunteers among the troops distributing food to those the war�*s displaced include serhiy zhadan, one of ukraine's most prominent poets. we agreed to meet in the perfect place for a conversation about the capacity of poetry to capture the tragedy of war. this was once a museum dedicated to a revered 18th

century ukrainian poet. the last visitor — a russian bomb. "the russians are actually trying to destroy our "identity," he tells me, "our subjectiveness." "to me, ukraine, the ukrainian world is to a great extent "conveyed and felt through poetry." "using poetry, you can explain a lot." "it's about emotions, about heart." phone rings. hello? hello, hi, simon, it's clive here. our national poet, simon armitage, the poet laureate, understands serhiy�*s words, having written his own poem called resistance about the ukrainian struggle. ifeel as if i've been appointed to speak out in poetic terms in moments of need and to address

contemporary situations. and, you know, there's been no bigger situation than this that i can remember in my life. "you'll still sleep in your bed today. "you should have returned a while ago. "what could happen to him exactly? "what could happen? "the patrol will let him through, and god will forgive. "god's got other things to do. "they all were killed at once, both older guys "and the young one. "silence between the river banks. "you won't explain

anything to anyone". i've always thought of poetry as a human and humane activity, and what i witnessed through news reports as the war began was something utterly inhumane. long after the tanks have rusted to powder and nature reclaims its fields, the poets�* words will live on — offering solace for future wars, lifting spirits from the depths of despair to the highest stars. the white house has announced that the us has passed more than one million deaths from covid—i9. it's the highest official total in the world, although the world health organization believes the true number may be higher in other countries. in a statement, president biden described it as a tragic milestone. this pandemic isn't over.

today, we mark a tragic milestone here in the united states — one million covid deaths. one million empty chairs around the family dinner table, each irreplaceable. irreplaceable losses. each leaving behind a family, a community forever changed because of this pandemic. my heart goes out to all those who are struggling, asking themselves, "how do i go on without him? "how do i go on without her? "what will we do without them?" it's grief shared by people across all of our nations. the chinese government has announced that it will restrict citizens from leaving the country for non—essential reasons. there'll also be limits placed on the issue of new passports. in the capital, beijing, there were rumours online that a strict lockdown was about to be imposed prompting people to panic—buy. but, daily cases in beijing remain in the dozens,

much less than in shanghai, where millions of people remain under lockdown. meanwhile, in north korea, at least six people are confirmed to have died, a day after state media officially acknowledged some cases of covid—i9 for the first time. it also reported that almost 190,000 people are currently being treated in isolation for what's being called a fever of unidentified origin. pyongyang has refused international help with vaccinations. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: we'll spill the tea on the putting —— pudding deemed fit to celebrate the queen's platinum jubilee. 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 lyon, 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 victims - of a powerful earthquake — the worst to hit the i country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, garry kasparov. it is 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 bbc world news, the latest headlines: the un human rights council orders an investigation into possible war crimes committed by moscow's forces in ukraine. the white house has announced that the us has passed, more thani million

deaths from covid—i9. it's the highest official total in the world. after days of violent unrest, sri lanka has sworn in a new prime minister. he's a veteran politician who's served as prime minister five times before. protestors forced out mahinda rajapaksa on monday, blaming him for the economic collapse of the country. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan reports from colombo. returning to the top of sri lankan politics, but what will ranil wickremesinghe offer to this troubled nation? ranil wickremesinghe is no stranger to sri lankan politics. he's held the role of prime minister on five previous occasions. but this might be his biggest challenge yet — lifting this island nation out of its worst economic crisis. sitting on the left of sri lankan politics, he's agreed to work with president gotabaya rajapaksa, a neutral choice for

the president who is clinging onto power. he replaces mahinda rajapaksa — seen on the left — who quit as pm on monday. chanting but many say ranil wickremesinghe isn't the face of change they've been chanting for. ranil has been in politics since i was a child. he's a one—member party, and we have a person who has just one member in his party becoming the prime minister of the country and trying to convince the general public here that he is our saviour and solution. he's not our saviour and solution. in the centre of colombo, they're lining up for hand—outs of bread. as desperation deepens, the task ahead for the new prime minister gets even tougher. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, sri lanka. in the us state of california, a wildfire in orange county, south of los angeles, has burned at least 20 mansions to the ground.

fire officials say the blaze has scorched 199 acres since it started on wednesday. hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate their homes. will grant reports. another multimillion—dollar californian mansion reduced to ashes in minutes. around 20 homes in the canyon near laguna beach were quickly engulfed in flames by the fast—moving wildfire, the latest to wreak havoc and destruction along along the southern california coastline. firefighters are doing what they can to try to contain the flames, but theirjob has been complicated by coastal winds and the long—running drought, worsened by climate change, which has turned the thick brush on the hillsides into dry, brittle kindling. the local fire chief said previously manageable wildfires now quickly get out of hand. our fuel moistures right now are very low, which basically means that when a fire starts, it will get established very rapidly. throwing some wind on that and the terrain, the steepness

of it, was a bad recipe. mandatory evacuations are in place for several areas along the pacific coast, while voluntary evacuation orders were also issued. an estimated 900 homes are currently under evacuation and roads have been closed throughout the area. the priority for the fire authorities is saving life and property, in that order. our priorities are always life and property. so, as you can see behind us, we've established some life security with people evacuating and doing their part by getting out, which we sincerely appreciate. while no injuries have yet been reported, the loss of entire neighbourhoods of homes is an ever—more common sight in this desperately parched state. will grant, bbc news. the white house says president biden is taking steps to address an acute shortage of baby formula, that has seen empty shelves and rationing of the product in shops

across the united states.major us pharmacies have restricted sales of baby formula in response to a worsening shortage, which intensified when abbott — which makes top brand similac — closed a key factory and issued a recall in february afterfinding contamination. in the past few hours, white house press secretary, jen psaki, gave an update on the situation president biden has directed the administration to work urgently to ensure that infant formula is safe and available for families across the country during the abbott nutrition voluntary recall. this is work that's been under way for months. today, president biden spoke with retailers and manufacturers, including the ceos of walmart, target, reckitt, and gerber to call on them to do more to help families purchase infant formula. dr karleen gribble is adjunct associate professor at western sydney university, specialising in infant feeding. i asked her how serious

the situation was. there are very tight requirements about what needs to be in infant formula, it's not something you can make at home. so it does mean that parents who are formula feeding are reliant on the availability of this product, particularly for infants under six months of age. there isn't anything else that they should be being given, if they're not being breast—fed. and of course everybody will make their own decision about whether they want to breastfeed or not. i understand your point of view and where you're coming from with that. what would you like to see happen then in the future, apart from more breast—feeding, perhaps, being promoted, if i've heard you correctly on that? is there another way around this issue? just briefly. what really needs to be done in the us is to actually remove some of the things that are preventing women from being able to breastfeed. they are the only oecd country that doesn't have paid maternity leave available to women.

they also have rampant unethical marketing of infant formula in the us. and the who just released a report two weeks ago describing how bad this is and the impact that that has on the ability of women to breastfeed. so those are two things that really need to be addressed in the us that will result in a situation where they have fewer infants that are actually in this vulnerable position being dependent on infant formula. ireland has failed to qualify for the final of the eurovision song contest. 23—year—old brooke scullion was eliminated from the second semi—final held in turin. meanwhile finland, serbia and sweden all qualified for the grand final. but they face stiff competition — ukraine are the outright favourites to win.

and finally, a lemon—swiss roll and amaretti trifle has won the competition to be the queen's platinum jubilee pudding. it follows coronation chicken and victoria sponge. the duchess of cornwall announced the winner on a special programme on the bbc. our royal correspondent daniela relph has been to meet the champion baker. gemma's lemon swiss roll and amaretti trifle. it was a unanimous decision from the judges. and a popular choice among herfellow finalists. i hope peoplejust stick their spoon in it and eat it how they want to eat it. gemma's trifle is a twist on the traditional trifle — based on recipes passed down from her gran and her nan, and inspired by lemon posset, served at the queen's wedding. i cannot believe it. everything that i was up against was just the most beautiful desserts, puddings, with beautiful stories. that this quite humble trifle has won is a bit surreal. this will hopefully go down

in history, it's something i'm going to have to try and process for a few weeks, i think. almost 5,000 entries were cut down to just five. the all—female shortlist had to make their pudding for the queen of baking. very happy! fit for a queen, mary! quite right. the pudding will now be sold at fortnum & mason — all proceeds will go to charity. the flavours were incredible. from my point of view as a chef, she made every element, but you could also buy most of the elements, so that became accessible to everybody. and, you know, it's a trifle, but it's a beautiful, beautiful trifle, and it's sunshine in a bowl. a trifle to mark a moment in history. alongside victoria sponge and coronation chicken, we now have a queen elizabeth ii platinum pudding. daniela relph, bbc

news, central london. not a trifling matter. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcnuala. hello again. we're looking at a fairly windy day today across northern areas of the country, and there's a bit of rain around, as well. this is where the rain's been over recent hours, it's been quite wet in northern ireland. a few splashes from northern england, north wales, but the majority of the rain has been working its way across scotland. it will continue to move its way eastwards over the next few hours, the rain tending to become confined, really, to north—western areas of scotland, where it will be quite heavy at times, quite windy, as well. these are kind of temperatures as we head into the first part of friday morning. so it is a mild start to the day, 9—ii celsius. then for many of us, it's a bright enough start, as well.

some sunshine to come for england and wales, but a different story for scotland, where low pressure will be pushing this band of rain, particularly across northern and western areas. through the day, there should be an improvement with a bit of sunshine coming through across eastern and southern scotland, but perhaps staying quite damp across northern areas, particularly for the northern isles. in the sunshine across england and wales, the winds a little bit lighter to the south, and there will be a bit more of that sunshine, so warmer — temperatures reaching 22 celsius or so, but quite cool underneath those windier conditions in scotland with that rain, as well. we have some thundery showers that we are watching to come up from the south. saturday should be a largely dry day with sunshine for the majority of the country, given those brighter skies are working in across scotland, and to a degree northern england and northern ireland, as well, we'll see those temperatures climbing a little bit here. i7 celsius or so for glasgow, 17—18 in parts of northern ireland. but it's in eastern england that we will see that day's

highest temperatures — up to 22—23 celsius. saturday night time, there probably will be some thunderstorms coming up from the south. now, these are going to be hit or miss in nature. the first batch of thundery showers probably not bringing a huge amount of rain, but could bring lots of lightning, but, as we get into sunday and then monday, as well, there is a greater chance of seeing some heavier downpours develop over time. still on sunday, there will be some places that stay dry with some hazy spells of sunshine. it will start to feel a little bit more humid in the south compared with recent days. i9 celsius in glasgow, still into the low 20s across parts of the south and east, but then monday, we've got rain or thundery showers that will break out a little bit more widely. some of the rain quite heavy.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the united nations is setting up an investigation into alleged war crimes by russian forces in ukraine, prompting moscow to complain that it's being demonised by western countries. the bbc has seen footage showing two unarmed civilians near kyiv being shot in the back by russian soldiers. it's one of more than ten thousand cases of alleged war crimes being investigated the white house has announced that the us has passed, more than one million deaths from covid—i9. it's the highest official total in the world, although the world health organization believes the true number may be higher in other countries. a wildfire in orange county, south of los angeles has burned at least 20 mansions to the ground. fire officials say the blaze has scorched 199 acres since it started on wednesday. hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate their homes.