welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories — wounded ukrainian soldiers are driven away from the azovstal steel plant after months under russian siege. ukraine's president calls them hereoes. translation: i want to underline, _ translation: i want to underline, ukraine - translation: | want to | underline, ukraine needs translation: | want to - underline, ukraine needs its ukrainian heroes alive. this is our principles. explosion. we have a special report from the front line in the donbass in eastern ukraine, which has seen the heaviest fighting of the last few weeks. police in the us say a gunman who killed ten people at a supermarket in buffalo planned further attacks after the mass shooting. the british prime minister accepts that political deadlock in northern ireland is a result of his brexit deal.

and a 17—year—old striker becomes the first professional footballer in the men's game in england, for three decades, to come out as gay. and a 17—year—old striker becomes the first professional we start with the news that more than 200 wounded soldiers from the azovstal steelworks on the edge of the city of mariupol have been evacuated. pictures suggest that they have been bussed out and have now reached novoazovsk, which is a russian—controlled town in eastern ukraine. at least 50 of them are said to have been taken to local hospitals. the forces had been withstanding a russian offensive for almost three months, gaining almost legendary status among many ukrainians. it's not clear at this stage if they will be released into ukrainian government hands.

translation: we hope - to save the lives of our boys. among them are the heavily wounded. they are being treated. i want to underline — ukraine needs its ukrainian heroes alive. this is our principle. i think these words can be understood by all adequate people. persident zelensky are just emphasising the need to get them back in one piece. elsewhere, ukrainian troops are thought to be back in control of territory on the russian border near kharkiv, the country's second largest city. but that doesn't mean the fighting is over. russian forces have been focusing on the donbas region further south. the bbc�*s quentin sommerville and cameraman darren conway have been near the eastern city of izyum, known as the gateway to donbas, where they have been on patrol with volunteer fighters of the territorial defence force. war descended suddenly

upon ukraine. along the eastern front, its men may be in bunkers, but they do not cower here. three times in the last month, the russians have attacked this base with infantry and tanks, and three times they have been repelled. another attack may be imminent. so here they wait. vladimir putin has turned their days into night, and taken them away from theirfamilies. but for the men of this territorial defence unit, this is now home. above their heads hangs a constant threat. the town they have dug under is all but abandoned, its people gone. orphaned pets have sought shelter here, too. the men know it won't be long before the next attack. explosion.

above, a russian barage is the signal. it's time to get to work. outside these walls, everything is in the line of fire, and these men face it daily. distant explosion. they need little reminder that to the north, the majority of russia's forces are headquartered and, to the south, most of their ukrainian comrades. their patrols in defence along this front—line, keeping these two mighty forces apart. missile whistles. explosions. the shells start landing closer, as the russians adjust their aim.

loud explosion. so you get a sense of what russia's artillery tanks can do to ukrainian homes. this is relentless. but the reason that these men are holding on so tight here in these defensive positions is because they simply cannot let the russians through here. if they do, more ukrainian troops to the south in the donbas will be under threat. so they're hanging on for dear life here. explosion. at the front, there's no bunker, but they're armed to the teeth. yuri, this is a volunteer battalion, these men were doing ordinaryjobs before the war, and they're facing against russian tanks, russian heavy artillery, indirect fire — how are they managing to hold the russians off? our men, they are

going into combat... explosion. they fight every day by this fire, you can watch it, because we believe that all the democratic countries, all the world will help us, and when we will take, we are given modern weapons, these brave men, they can destroy completely, the russian army. as the day grows long, it's time to pick up the pace. on open ground, there's no safe hiding place. explosion. pinned down, their route back is cut off by artillery fire, so, through gardens and back yards, they search for an escape. a soldier calls out, "leave this place as soon as possible", and it is here we find natasha, stubbornly hanging on. "do you need help leaving?", yuri asks her. explosion.

translation: i don't have anyone here. - but she is defiant. this war wasn't her choice. it's as if she refuses to acknowledge it, even as russian shells soar overhead. explosion. let us go to her house, she invites us. we can't go forward, can we? loud explosion. very close to us. very close to us — on our way. yuri tries to convince her to come with us. explosion. to stay risks death. translation: idon't- want to betray my husband, he's buried in the cemetery here. i won't leave him. explosion. we try, one last time.

natasha, why don't you leave here? translation: because it's my| home and i have nowhere to go. yuri implores her, "natasha, go to a nearby town, "they will help you there." explosion. translation: why? i got used to it now. he says, "we can help you, are you ready to be evacuated?" translation: ifi go there, what willl do next? - off you go, guys, thank you. we have to leave, but natasha is told to pack her bags. they will come back for her when the shelling stops. despite the onslaught, the men pushed forward. loud explosions. this is what stalemate sounds like on the eastern front. and this is what it takes to keep the gateway to the donbas firmly shut. quentin somerville, bbc news, near izyum, ukraine.

bait bradley bowman is senior director of the center on military and political power at the foundation for defense of democracies. badly, thank you very much for your time. badly, thank you very much for yourtime. i mean, there are many desperate individual stories —— bradley. wejust had one of them there. but i wonder what you make of this ukrainian ability to maintain a rearguard action, indeed even to be pushing the russians back around places like kharkiv? thanks for the opportunity to join you and thanks for the question. the stories you are covering there are just so heartbreaking and admirable at the same time. before the invasion, a lot of us were counting tanks and armoured vehicles and aircraft and talking about the supremacy of the russians, but we are looking at concepts like to they actually have the means to employ them in a combined arms way. but the biggest thing many

people overlook is the determination of a free people to defend their homes. and when you combine the bravery of the ukrainian people to defend their land against unprovoked invasion with the weapons of the united states and the british have provided them, it is a formidable combination, and as a result we have seen in many places in ukraine the russians reaching what we call the military culminating point. so if the russians, they have denied the russians air supremacy, at more than two and a half months into this conflict, they have inflicted more losses on the russians than they have experienced in ten years in conflict in afghanistan. in places they have started to go on the counteroffensive, pushing the russians back from kharkiv, some of them also making it to the russian border. at the plant in mariupol, it has bought them precious time to refit their forces and receive assistance from the united

states and others. find assistance from the united states and others. and given our states and others. and given your military _ states and others. and given your military background - states and others. and given your military background and expertise, what do you make of the intelligence we get that president putin himself is starting to take almost a direct hand in military operation?— direct hand in military oeration? ., ~ ., ., , operation? you know what, it is almost a grand _ operation? you know what, it is almost a grand strategic- almost a grand strategic version of what we have seen on the battlefield. we know that russia does not have a well trained and disciplined non—commissioned officer corps like the united states, the british and the ukrainians have, that is why we have seen a lot of russian generals going forward frankly and getting killed, because they didn't have non—commissioned officers to implement orders with good order and discipline. and putin is perhaps seeing that what he was told about his forces, in terms of this much trumpeted modernisation, hasn't really panned out very well, has it? so he is starting to understand that the ukrainians are not the pushover is that he thought they were and they will defend their homes, so i think he is going to focus on the mariupol

region and the lamb push from crimea and tried to lock in as much of the dom bess as possible. much of the dom bess as possible-— possible. you mentioned mariupol_ possible. you mentioned mariupol and _ possible. you mentioned mariupol and you - possible. you mentioned mariupol and you have i possible. you mentioned i mariupol and you have seen pictures of many of the ukrainian soldiers being bussed out of the ads of style steelworks. of course they refused on —— the as of style steelworks was that they refused on many occasions to meet the deadlines being imposed on them by the russian forces but i guess there will be a very genuine desire for a prisoner exchange on both sides. that matters to the russians every bit as it would to the ukrainians presumably? it does. i think it is a valid point. but there are amputations going on and unsanitary conditions without medicine to dull the pain. but they have held out for roughly two and a half months. they

held 17 battalion tactical groups in and around mariupol, roughly 20,000 troops, and not prevented them from returning to donbass and conducting that pincer movement designed to annihilate ukrainian forces. so i think in the history of urban warfare this will go down as a extraordinary stand that brought valuable time for ukrainians in their homes. still a very long desperate path to be trodden, but thank you very much indeed. and thank you very much indeed. and thank you for being with us here on bbc news. still to come, zimbabwe asks the eu to support a plan to sell its large stocks of ivory. this morning, an indian air force plane, carrying mr gandhi's body, landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour

of gay marriage. in doing so, it has become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax. to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer. - it's been a peacefulfuneral demonstration so far, but suddenly, the police are tear—gassing the crowd. we don't yet know why. the pre—launch ritual is well—established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor- has become the world's newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country, i and the challengesl ahead are daunting. but for now, at least, i it is time to celebrate. this is bbc news, our top story: wounded ukrainian soldiers are driven away from the azovstal steel plant after months under russian siege.

police in the us say a gunman who killed ten people president biden is going to meet the community affected by the attack, described as racially motivated extremism. an investigation is under way to find out whether authorities missed any tell—tale signs left by the suspected gunman. 0ur reporter is in buffalo and has the latest. they have been people here to leave flowers, memorials, orjust to see the scene. everyone says the same thing, they realise this could have been them, anyone in the community could have been inside at the time. they were attacked simply because of the colour of their skin. this is an ongoing investigation but we

are hearing more from authorities. they say they gunman would have continued his rampage and other parts of the city if not stop. he came to the city multiple times before the city multiple times before the shooting to do reconnaissance. that is certainly one element of the investigation, along with fore nsically investigation, along with forensically examining some of his online posts, learning more about how he got radicalised online. president biden will be visiting here, offering condolences with his partner, jill biden. but people want to see action here, not sympathy, action on how he will tackle systemic racism, how he will tackle gun control, and also extremism online, so it is a lot for president biden to think about and act on when he comes and visits the community. that is the situation in new york, but we also have an update for you now on another

shooting in at the us over the weekend. police there say the suspect behind a mass shooting at a church in california on sunday was a chinese—american man motivated by hatred of taiwanese people. for more on this, here's our north america correspondent david willis. 0fficials officials say the suspect is a 68—year—old man born in china but was living in las vegas as a us citizen, travelling all the way from las vegas in order to carry out this attack. they say they found in his car notes written in a mandarin in which he expressed contempt for taiwan and taiwanese are people, they also say that he chained the doors of the church locked and poured blue into the locks in order to prevent people from escaping, before opening fire. it was only the bravery of one of the people president, of around a0 attending a luncheon for a

former taiwanese pastor, and he burst in. a local doctor apparently attacked them, the person who died in this incident, but that did allow other people president at the time to overpower the man and told him before local deputies arrived on scene. he is due to appear in court on tuesday charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder, including as well the possession, the illegal possession of explosive devices. police say they have found molotov cocktails at the scene. presidentjoe biden has called repeatedly for tighter gun control laws in this country, but those calls have been stymied by failure to get a majority in congress. 0ne a majority in congress. one group that advocates for tighter gun control laws here in the united states said that today since president biden took office injanuary of last year that been more than 800 so—called mass shootings here

in at the united states. david willis there. internet sensors in china appear to be erasing any mentions of a student protest at a elite beijing university. this video reportedly fond of the incident show students gathering to stop the building of a wall that would block their access to the school canteen and food deliveries. beijing has been gradually tightening covid restrictions, leading to rising social tensions. the university has been a politically sensitive location since 1989 when a student protest that grew into the tiananmen square pro—democracy movement, which endedin pro—democracy movement, which ended in a military crackdown. borisjohnson was at hillsborough castle to encourage the five main parties to re—form northern ireland's institutions after the assembly election. the democratic unionist party has withheld its support until the government takes decisive action on post—brexit trade

arrangements. borisjohnson says he tried to persuade the party to get back to governing. isaid to i said to the dup, in particular, "we want to see you backin particular, "we want to see you back in the executive, we want to see you nominated, we want to see you nominated, we want to see you nominated, we want to see a speaker in the assembly." of course, now the issue they have is that they object to the operation of the protocol. we don't want to scrap it, but we think it can be fixed and, actually, five of the five parties i spoke to today also think it needs reform. borisjohnson. let's get some of the day's other news. the number of people suffering from covid like symptoons in north korea is fast approaching one and a half million just a week after the state admitted it's first outbreak of the virus, so far state media has suggested around 56 people have died. the country's leader kim jong un has mobilised the military

to help the supply of medicine but an offer of help from south korea's new president has so far not been taken up. at least three people have died as dust storms affect several countries in the middle east. skies have turned red across nothern syria, much of iraq and part of saudi arabia. such extreme weather has been occurring increasingly regularly in the region this year — with warnings that dust storms could eventually become a near daily experience, as the climate heats up. sri lanka's new prime minister says the country urgently needs $75 million to pay for essential imports, amid worsening shortages of fuel and medicine. government officials say sri lanka has only one day's stock of gas and the next couple of months would be extremely difficult. thousands of people have been protesting against the worsening economic crisis. zimbabwe has asked

the european union to support its bid to sell over a 150,000 tonnes of ivory that it has accumulated due to the global ban on the sale of tusks. the international trade in ivory has been banned since 1989, as gail maclellan reports. zimbabwe is trying to enlist the support of the european union to sell off its stockpile of a library, a hall estimated to be worth around $600 million. the old tasks have been acquired through culling, natural deaths and mostly through seizure through the proceeds of poaching. the eu ambassadors well taken on a tour of the bolts in harare, and they were told by the head of the international union for conservation of nature that the money would be used to help local conservation. it will help, we are appealing

for support, so they understand our issues, they understand the issue (speaks indistinctly). in 2019, cites, convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora, rejected a similar request from other countries. charities are hoping that the current appeal will not succeed, believing that sales of stockpiles would only stimulate demand for ivory. gil mclachlan, bbc news. a 17—year old footballer who plays for blackpool in the championship, the second tier in english football, has become the first professional player in the men's game in the uk for more than 30 years to declare publicly that he's gay. jake daniels said the time was right to come out, and explained that hiding his identity had caused stress and mental health problems. the striker also said his team mates had been supportive and he hoped to become a role model for others. 0ur sports editor

dan roan reports. he may be at the very start of his career byjake daniels is already a footballing trailblazer. the 17—year—old only made his first—team debut for blackpool earlier this month. today, he became the first professional in the british men's game for more than 30 years to come out publicly as gay. it's been such a long time of lying, and i'vejust processed and processed every day of how i want to do it, when i want to do it. the day i told my mum and my sister, the day after i scored four, so itjust shows how much of a weight off the shoulders it was, a massive relief, and lying all the time, it has been a struggle, but i feel i am ready to be myself, be free and be confident with it all. justin fashanu was the last active male professional in the british game to come out publicly in 1990, suffering years of homophobic abuse. he took his own life in 1998. with more of a focus on in cclloosseerr include —— with more of a focus

on inclusivity include a city in recent years there has been progress since. last yearjosh cavallo, who plays in australia, revealed this. i am a footballer and i am gay. the only top flight male professional footballer to do so male professional in the world to come out. in making his decision daniels has received the support of his club blackpool and praise from across the game. some will be surprised that in this day and age a player revealing their sexuality has made so many headlines, but others believe this is truly a historic moment forfootball, despite the issues that it continues to confront. he is going down a path many, many others will follow. he's going down a path others will follow. they have probably just been waiting to see how it pans out for whoever is first and i think once they see that the overwhelming majority of people will be more than accepting, others will follow suit. when it comes to gay players the women's professional game remember the act remains far more representative than the men's, but many feel that by leading the way daniels can break the stigma attached to homosexuality in sport.

no other way to look at that other than a major breakthrough in terms of british sport. you are watching bbc news, stay with us. hello. the weather's been all over the place in the last few days. yes, we've had some sunshine, some warmth, too, but also big thundery downpours, particularly in northwestern england and in northern ireland recently. now, on the satellite picture, you can see the motion of the cloud — it's mostly coming in out of the south and the south—west. so that's where the warm weather is coming from, too. and here are the thunderstorms we've recently had — now most of them have died away, we still have a little bit of rain here and there, but i think through the early hours of tuesday morning, it is a mostly dry picture out there with clear spells, a bit of residual cloud, that's pretty much it. oh, and mistand murk forming in the countryside, too. now, the temperatures early on tuesday will range from around eight celsius in aberdeen to 12 in norwich, london, and along the south

coast of england. now there is rain in the forecast for tuesday, but it'll be mostly affecting western areas of the uk. so, here it is, this weather front — in the morning, maybe just about fringing cornwall into western parts of wales, and spreading northwards. but notice how this area of rain expands during the course of the day, progressively getting wetter around these western areas. but further towards the east, the weather will be dry, hazy sunshine at the very least, and sunny closer to the north sea, and look at the temperatures — 26 in london, and easily into the low—to—mid—20s in yorkshire, as well. and then, tuesday evening, that rain will reach wales, the north—west of england, and move further north into scotland, as well, and there could be some thunderstorms returning to southern parts of the uk, as well, tuesday evening. here's a look at wednesday's weather map — still dominated by an area of low pressure and these south—westerly winds pushing in very volatile weather systems, difficult

to predict, really. but the thinking is that on wednesday, we'll see a return of thundery showers quite probably to south—western parts of the uk, whereas further east and north, it should be sunnier. but look at that, northern ireland closer to the weather front — so there's likely to be some rain, too. and here's the outlook from tuesday onwards, just about into the weekend — it will be changeable, staying on the warm side with sunny spells, but always a risk of showers with thunderstorms.

this is bbc news. ukraine says more than 260 soldiers from the azovstal steelworks in mariupol have been evacuated. the defence ministry said all of them would return to ukrainian territory under exchange agreements with moscow. 50 are said to have been taken to local hospitals but in russian—held areas. elsewhere, ukrainian troops are thought to be back in control of territory on the russian border near kharkiv, the country's second city. western military sources say president putin is now directly involved in the day—to—day running of the conflict, a sign the war wasn't going to plan. president biden is expected to visit buffalo, new york, to meet families of the victims of saturday's mass shooting that killed 10 people. it's the worst so far in the us this year.

an investigation is underway to see if any clues left