welcome to bbc news. i'm chris rogers. our top stories: a 21—year—old russian soldier pleads guilty to shooting dead an unarmed ukrainian civilian in the first war crimes trial of the conflict. on patrol with the afghan vice and virtue inspectors as they enforce the taliban's strict rules on how women should appear in public. as india and pakistan face blistering temperatures of 50 degrees celsius, experts warn such heatwaves are now 100 times more likely because of climate change. and words of advice from singer—songwriter taylor swift as she receives an honorary doctorate from new york university — learn to live alongside cringe.

hello and welcome to bbc news. a russian soldier has pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed civilian in the first war crimes trial in ukraine since the russian invasion began. appearing in court in kyiv, the 21—year—old admitted shooting dead a ukrainian man as he pushed a bicycle on the road. our correspondent, sarah rainsford, sent this report. this was a major moment for ukraine, the first russian soldier accused of a war crime already up in court. vadim shishimarin is a russian tank commander. he's on trial for shooting and killing a civilian. all the time, the widow of the man killed was just the other side of the glass. the soldier seemed nervous and said little, until the words that mattered... asked whether he admitted his guilt, vadim shishimarin told the judge, "yes, completely. "

it was the very start of this war, as russian tanks rolled south through sumy. vadim shishimarin�*s unit came under attack then and were forced into retreat. in the chaos, he and four others ended up fleeing in a stolen car. kateryna described seeing the russians through her gate, but her husband was out in the street. she later found his body lying here. the soldiers had seen him on his phone and vadim shishimarin had killed him. alexander was 62. he was shot four times in the head. this was the first time his widow had seen the man responsible, so i asked how she coped. "i feel very sorry for him," kateryna told me, "but this crime i can't forgive."

ukraine knows most of those it accuses of war crimes may never be prosecuted, the suspects sheltered by russia. but this soldier surrendered, his only defence that he was following orders. those in moscow who sent him to this war have not even made contact with his lawyer. the prosecutor is asking for a life sentence, so i asked him how fair this trial could be. translation: we follow - all the laws and all the norms. the trial is open. if there was any violation by us, shishimarin could have said so. he has all the rights accorded to him by ukrainian and international law. this trial is taking place extremely quickly and, of course, it's happening in the middle of a war, but everyone here knows that they're under scrutiny, they know they have to be transparent. and what ukraine says is that it's not looking for scapegoats. this is not a show trial. they want justice. sarah rainsford,

bbc news, kyiv. we can now speak to susana sacouto who's director of the war crimes research office at the washington college of law. hi to you, susana. thanks for joining us. picking up on what sarah rainsford said there, here we have ukraine putting russian soldiers on trail. there are going to be questions over whether it can be a fair trial, no matter how much transparency there is. why doesn't the international criminal court step in here and there is mounting evidence pointing to russia attacking ukraine as a crime of aggression. my understanding is that's where the icc can now step in and hold russia to account. step in and hold russia to account-— step in and hold russia to account. ., ., ., account. you are right to point towards the — account. you are right to point towards the international - towards the international criminal court, the icc, and it does havejurisdiction

criminal court, the icc, and it does have jurisdiction over three kinds of crimes, war crimes, crimes against unity and genocide in the situation of ukraine and it's interesting because neither the ukraine nor russia is a state party to the rome statute that established the international criminal court but because there was, ukraine has several times accepted the jurisdiction of the court for crimes committed in its territories that have been ad hoc procedure that allows it to accept the jurisdiction of the court but moreover, there has been over 40 moreover, there has been over a0 states that refer the situation to the icc, enabling the prosecutor to initiate an investigation. enter crimes committed in the ukrainian conflict. the icc is artwork in the investigation of crimes committed in the equity and conflict. limitation is the particular crime you mentioned, aggression, icc now has jurisdiction over the crime of

aggression but not in this case and that is just because of the specialjurisdictional and that is just because of the special jurisdictional scheme of aggression that requires that the national be of a state party to the rome statute and russia, as i mentioned, is not. sorry to interrupt. usa and russia is immune to that actual charge? to russia is immune to that actual charae? ., . ., charge? to the crime of aggression. _ charge? to the crime of aggression, correct. - charge? to the crime of i aggression, correct. that's cra ! aggression, correct. that's crazy! 50 _ aggression, correct. that's crazy! 50 it _ aggression, correct. that's crazy! so it can't _ aggression, correct. that's crazy! so it can't be - aggression, correct. that's crazy! so it can't be done l aggression, correct. that'sl crazy! so it can't be done by the io crazy! so it can't be done by the to si _ crazy! so it can't be done by the io si site _ crazy! so it can't be done by the io si site --by _ crazy! so it can't be done by the io si site --by the - crazy! so it can't be done by the io si site --by the kc. | the io si site ——by the icc. there are other options being decreased donna discussed in terms of the crime of aggression, one is a hybrid tribunal whether un general assembly would engage or add it to maturity when ukraine, and that of a special tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression and there is precedent that mechanism. the un entered an agreement, for

instance, with sierra leone to set up this special court for sierra leone to prosecute not the crime of aggression but other crimes internationally. there is some precedent with that kind of mechanism. rights ofthe that kind of mechanism. rights of the un could _ that kind of mechanism. rights of the un could step _ that kind of mechanism. rights of the un could step in - that kind of mechanism. rights of the un could step in and - of the un could step in and things could change. but what we do know with past trials and past wars is that the individuals responsible rarely and up in any dock or court, do they? what do you think the chances are that we will see some of those many thousands of soldiers that ukraine are accusing of war crimes actually in a dark like we have seen the last 2a hours? in a dark like we have seen the last 24 hours?— last 24 hours? yes, that's an excellent _ last 24 hours? yes, that's an excellent question _ last 24 hours? yes, that's an excellent question and - last 24 hours? yes, that's an excellent question and i - last 24 hours? yes, that's an| excellent question and i think what we have seen in other similar situations where there is an ongoing conflict and very little capacity or ability to prosecute at the international level or even within the state thatis

level or even within the state that is experiencing conflict is investigations by other states at the domestic level. so that can be done on the basis of a radio theories of jurisdiction but one is called universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction which allows foreign states to prosecute perpetrators, in this case russian perpetrators, of certain violations of international law regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator or the nationality of the victim or the place the crime is committed. a number of countries in europe have already initiated those kinds of domestication is including lithuania, poland, slow fargo, estonia, germany, sweden, latvia and a few others. there is an interesting precedent for this out of the syrian situation in january this this out of the syrian situation injanuary this year, germany prosecuted a case against a person accused of more than 30 counts of murder, £a000 of torture and sexual assault, from what he oversaw a notorious prison in damascus in 2011 and 2012. it was a

landmark trail that marked an effort by germany, another state, prosecuting a high—ranking former syrian officialfor high—ranking former syrian official for war crimes and crimes against him in today. you do see this happening and what's interesting is, as you mentioned, ukraine has prosecuted the 21—year—old russian soldier you just mentioned but it's also engaged in a joint effort with colleagues from lithuania and poland to list yet war crimes set up asjoint investigation team is. set up as joint investigation team is. , ., ., ., team is. they are doing that ri . ht team is. they are doing that right now. — team is. they are doing that right now, aren't _ team is. they are doing that right now, aren't they? - team is. they are doing that l right now, aren't they? there is a huge team in ukraine. we have to leave it there but many thanks. ., ., , have to leave it there but many thanks. . ., ,. ., thanks. that was fascinating. thank yon — thanks. that was fascinating. thank you. thank _ thanks. that was fascinating. thank you. thank you. - well, as for the war on the ground, russia says almost 700 ukrainian fighters at the azovstal steelworks in mariupol have surrendered

in the past 2a hours. pictures released by the russian ministry of defence appear to show them leaving the site. russia says the total number of fighters brought out since monday is almost 1,000. in afghanistan, the number of restrictions imposed on women under taliban rule is growing. the ministry for preventing vice and promoting virtue has been behind a raft of new, hard—line laws, and among them ordering afghan women to wear the islamic face veil. our correspondent, secunder kermani, has been given exclusive access to a team of inspectors from the ministry. meet the inspectors of the ministry of vice and virtue. with branches across the country, they are remoulding afghanistan to fit in with the taliban's hard—line beliefs. and how often do you do this, in a week? every day. every day? morning and afternoon. we are following one team

in the centre of kabul. first stop, a shopping centre. bystanders and shopkeepers are given a lecture on the importance of saying your prayers and growing a beard, though it's all framed as brotherly advice. "if you have any problems, we can help you," maulvi mahmoud fatih tell them. you haven't been talking about women, about what they should wear? that's what your ministry is most known for at the moment. translation: we have already given advice to the owner - of the shopping centre, and put up some posters, but we can't interact with individuals, for example, stopping a woman and asking her, "why are you not wearing the correct hijab?" my manners in religion do not permit me to do that. so if you see a woman here who's got her head covered but not her face covered, you won't say anything to her? we can distinguish between a woman with hijab and without. if a woman is completely

crossing the limits without any modesty or veil, then we will try to find her male guardian. in such a conservative country, it is not clear which women he means. many already cover their faces. in cities like kabul, others simply cover their hair. this is how the taliban say they should all be dressing now. what right does your ministry have to tell them how they should practice their religion, how they should dress? translation: it is not. the decree of the ministry, it is the decree of god. the real cause of moral corruption is the face. if the face is not covered, then what is the point of hijab? the inspectors are on the move. next up, a bus stop. their ministry has a fearsome reputation from their role during the taliban's previous regime, when offenders

had been regularly beaten. but here, theirfocus is on ensuring men do not get too close to female passengers. certainly, in front of us, these vice and virtue inspectors are behaving politely, gently with the public. is that always the case when cameras are not around for teams right across the country? local residents we spoke to off cameras had no complaints about these inspectors, but many worry the taliban are growing increasingly repressive. leila bassem is an activist who was on board a bus stopped by vice and virtue inspectors. translation: some women had their faces covered, - others, like me, were wearing black gowns and face masks. i said to the inspector, there is no—one without hijab here. he became very angry but would not even look at me, he said, "you are a very shameless woman, "this is not the afghan republic, "now it's the islamic emirate, "you cannot do whatever

you want anymore." the taliban initially appeared more flexible than many expected, but they are becoming increasingly hardline. despite an economic crisis, tightening social restrictions seems their priority and the path ahead for the country looks deeply uncertain. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. still to come: something to celebrate — a new equal pay agreement between us men's and women's soccer teams has been announced. 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 world news. the latest headlines — a 21—year—old russian sergeant pleads guilty to shooting dead an unarmed ukrainian civilian in the first war crimes trial of the conflict. the taliban's vice and virtue patrols step up the enforcement of the new rules in afghanistan. record—breaking heatwaves in north—west india and pakistan are 100 times more likely because of climate change. that's according to a new british study. the two countries have suffered extremely high temperatures recently, as our south asia correspondent, yogita limaye, reports. outdoors in northern india is like the inside of an oven. this work is never easy, but during a heatwave it can be life—threatening.

dozens have died of heat stroke across india, but millions of workers cannot afford to stop. this man has travelled 800 miles from home for thisjob. "we face a lot of problems. "the skin all over our body burns and sometimes we feel like we might faint," he says. "but we have no choice, we have to work to earn." heatwaves are not uncommon in south asia, but this year they started earlier than usual and have been more harsh and frequent. in pakistan, temperatures are touching 50 degrees in some parts. this area of punjab province is facing a severe drought, putting lives and livelihoods at risk.

climate change could cause extreme weather once every three years instead of 300 years, experts have warned. barely any part of the region has been spared from these changes in weather patterns. here in the west of india, not only are we seeing higher temperatures during the summer, but during the rainy season for the past few years we have seen cyclones hitting this coast, which is extremely unusual, and many climate experts say that is because surface temperatures of the sea are rising. hundreds of miles from the coast, this is the indian state of assam. heavy rains arrived early, and with more ferocity than normal. people used to seeing floods each year found themselves unprepared. river waters are expected to rise further. this country has a lot of experience saving people from natural disasters, but it now finds itself battling on too many fronts.

yogita limaye, bbc news, india. let's get some of the day's other news. president biden has invoked the defense production act to address the shortage of powdered baby milk in the united states. the availability of the product in the us has been hit since the country's biggest manufacturer halted production in february, following reports that several children who were given the food had suffered serious bacterial infections. sri lanka's energy minister says the country has run out of petrol, as protests over the deepening economic crisis continue. he's urged residents not to queue for the next two days. the government says a ship with petrol is docked at colombo port but the government does not have enough money to pay for its cargo. spain's former king will return to his country for the first time this week, after leaving amid scandal two years ago.

juan carlos abdicated in 201a, and left to the uae in 2020, but now says he'll visit spain frequently after proescutors dropped investigations into alleged fraud. in football — or soccer — a new equal—pay agreement between the united states men's and women's teams has been announced, and it has been hailed as potentially "changing the game around the world". us soccer says the teams will now pool their world cup prize money, along with their share of television and sponsorship revenues. joining us now is eric mitchell, a sports analyst in dallas. vote just give us a bit more background how this happened. there has been a lot of campaigning by some pretty high profile people as well, some hollywood celebrities, basically for equal pay.

absolutely, and you've got to keepin absolutely, and you've got to keep in mind us soccer here, here, you know, us football, they have gone by this motto of one nation, one team, and for years it actually wasn't equal, and i can probably say it is. they are one nation, one team. our women who most of us around the world when it comes to soccer will be able to rattle off some of the most amazing names in soccerfor women off some of the most amazing names in soccer for women from our team. names in soccer for women from ourteam. nowi names in soccer for women from our team. now i challenge anybody across the team to rattle off a few names from our men's national team. this is amazing, we are celebrating this here, this is a global accomplishment, because let's face it, everyone looks at our women's team as a dominant force out there in the world cup and at the olympics, and they deserve this pay because let's face it, they have actually won the world cup, they have actually done and perform well and they perform year after year. we perform well and they perform year after year.— year after year. we should remind all _ year after year. we should remind all our _ year after year. we should remind all our viewers - year after year. we should i remind all our viewers around the world that the american female soccer team is hugely

successful, and actually has probably more followers than the men's soccer. but do you think this could have ramifications for football, as we like to call it, around the world, though, and other sports even as well, but women's football?— even as well, but women's football? ~ , , ., football? absolutely, i think this is eye-opening. - football? absolutely, i think. this is eye-opening. everyone this is eye—opening. everyone looks to the uk and looks too of course america for sports, right? when it comes to football, obviously europe and uk lead the way and america is catching up in the sport, but this is eye—opening because we have had struggles here in the united states with equal rights for our sports. we see it in the wnba right, competing against the nba, we see it now with soccer. the great thing about this collective agreement is it brings equal share. he was a great comparison for your real fast, was a great comparison for your realfast, 2018, when france won the world cup, that team made $a0 million. the women's team who won the world cup, the us women's team who won it,

took home $a million. that is now going to be able to pull that money in and out the men's team will make some money offer the women are performing well because that team always finishes in the top four. this is great around the world, it will wake up and get everyone to have equal rights. equality in sport is what we need, women in sport is what we need, women in sports is great, it's amazing and this is exciting for everyone out there. if you are now —— if you are an athlete be excited. are now -- if you are an athlete be excited.- athlete be excited. eric mitchell _ athlete be excited. eric mitchell talking - athlete be excited. eric mitchell talking to - athlete be excited. eric mitchell talking to was | athlete be excited. eric mitchell talking to was there from dallas. some more football news before we go — eintracht frankfurt are the 2022 europa league champions. this is how german fans reacted to their win in frankfurt — their team beat the rangers 5—a on penalties. it's their first european trophy in a2 years. a perfect penalty shootout saw eintracht frankfurt take home the win, and finish the season undefeated. the singer—songwriter taylor swift has received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from new york university. speaking to her fellow graduates, she passed on the advice she's gleaned from a career filled

with awards, chart—topping hits but also intense public scrutiny. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri has more. it's the graduation she never had. surrounded by the class of 2022, as well as those who missed out on their own big days, because of the pandemic. i am pleased to confer upon you the degree of doctor of fine arts. when taylor swift is on a podium, she is normally accepting a grammy award, but here in yankee stadium, it was an honorary doctorate. not the kind of doctor you would want around in case of an emergency. unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section.

speaking to thousands of gen—z graduates in a sea of purple, she took the opportunity to offer her own guide to life, that's best summarised as shake it off. learn to live alongside cringe. having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport, in which i lose every single game, was not a great way to date in my teens and 20s. but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely. her last piece of advice, one taught by living life in the limelight, was to breathe in and breathe out. she would know, after all. she's a doctor now. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @chrisrogersnews. you can get all of the updates from the war in ukraine and other stories the bbc is covering on the bbc news

website or app. that is the latest for now, thank you for watching. hello, again. there's a few big thunderstorms to watch out for over the next few hours, particularly of concern is across parts of central, southern england, southeast england, and into areas of east anglia, as well. but on into thursday's forecast, they'll all be out of the way, and we're looking at some warm spells of sunshine. so let's take a look at those storms, then. they first developed across the channel islands, and in the first hour that they'd already existed, there had already been over 10,000 lightning strikes, these storms here. now, what'll happen over the next several hours is they'll work in probably around hampshire, sussex,

surrey, greater london, moving into east anglia. they could bring some localised flash flooding — 25 millimetres of rain in some of them falling injust one hour. some large hail is a possibility, as well as some very strong gusts of wind, locally. eventually it will become drier and quieter, and temperatures, as we start thursday morning, around 10—1a celsius, so it is going to be mild. now, there could be an odd shower left over across the far southeast of england, but otherwise, largely fine morning, with spells of sunshine. there'll be a bit of high cloud in the sky, that'll make the sunshine a little hazy at times, and through the afternoon, we could see a few passing showers for northern ireland and northwest scotland, but even here, not many. most of you feeling warm in the sunshine — 19 celsius in aberdeen, 23 towards london and southeast england. it won't be quite so warm, though, on friday. the wind'll pick up, and we've got this band of rain that'll be pushing its way eastwards off the atlantic. now, there could be another batch of thunderstorms coming in from europe that gets very close to southeast england, so we'll have to keep a close eye on that. but otherwise, there'll be a gap between the showers and the more general rain

across the north and the west, so there could be some areas that just about stay dry. but whether you stay dry or not, temperatures will be a little bit lower, 15—18 celsius. now, the weekend starts off with some sunshine, showers mostly confined to the northwest, and after that sunny start, things tend to turn a little bit cloudier through the afternoon, but still with some sunny spells coming through from time to time. temperatures on saturday in any sunshine should reach the low 20s, but across the north and west, not much sunshine, a bit of rain, 1a—15 celsius here. sunday and monday, again, there could be one or two showers, mostly across the northwest of the uk, but otherwise some pleasant spells of sunshine. that's the latest weather — bye—bye. but for now, at least, i it is time to celebrate.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a 21—year—old russian soldier has pleaded guilty to shooting dead an unarmed ukrainian civilian in the first war crimes trial of the conflict. the incident took place in the first days of the war. ukraine's chief prosecutor says they have identified 11,000 cases so far. the battle for mariupol appears to be over after a three—month siege. nearly 1,000 ukrainian fighters, who'd been holed up in the azovstal steelworks, have handed themselves over to russian forces. they have been taken to russian—controlled territory. moscow says that many of the fighters will be �*investigated'. the bbc has filmed patrols by afghanistan's ministry

for preventing vice and promoting virtue as they enforce the taliban's strict new laws, most