welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm arunoday mukharji. the headlines: there's fierce fighting in the battle for severodonetsk, as ukraine's grip on the strategic eastern city seems to weaken. we have a special report. this is a deliberate tactic — bomb, shell, burn and leave nothing but scorched earth. the uk government publishes plans to override part of the brexit agreement involving trade rules for northern ireland and insists it's not breaking international law. president trump's former attorney general testifies

that his boss became detached from reality, as he made false claims of voter fraud. scientists plan to sequence the genomes of all forms of life in britain, which could transform our understanding of the natural world. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. it's 6am in the morning in singapore, and 1am in eastern ukraine, where russian forces are tightening their grip on the region of the donbas. president zelensky has called again for western allies to provide advanced missile defence systems for the ukrainian army, to stop the steady russian advance. the russians now control almost

all of the strategic city of severodonetsk. the final bridge to the city has been destroyed, trapping ukrainian troops and thousands of civilians. the ukrainian government says russia is able to keep up its military offensive because it's still earning huge amounts by selling oil and gas, despite global economic sanctions. the russians are also bombarding the neighbouring city of lysychansk, where civilians are still trying to flee. our international correspondent orla guerin sent this report from the donbas. radio bleeps max speed. we're told to drive at maximum speed on the exposed road to lysychansk. a dark horizon greets us. munitions explode residents praying for salvation, as russia lays waste. man whistles and shouts ukrainian troops call for help.

..to take away one more victim of russian shelling. nearby, the rush to evacuate civilians... ..who have to duck for cover. a panicked departure in an armoured truck. people are taking this chance to get out while they can, but they know this could be a one—wayjourney. if the russians take this territory, and they're getting closer all the time, these people may never be able to come back to their city and their homes. "the situation is critical," a rescue worker says. "can't you hear the shelling?" so, another city empties out here in eastern ukraine. a few more wait anxiously for their turn, hoping to outrun moving frontlines.

volodymyr is among them. he's sick and headed to hospital. he tells me that life here was calm until the war broke everything apart. and it has left its terrible mark. this was the palace of culture. now standing as a grim testament to moscow's superior firepower. ukraine's president says lysychansk is already dead. ..along with neighbouring severodonetsk. ghost cities now. well, this is an example of the kind of devastation that russia has brought. it's notjust destroying apartment buildings and flats and homes,

it's destroying history, and the fabric of cities. and this is a deliberate tactic — bomb, shell, burn and leave nothing but scorched earth. munitions explode those who remain make brief escapes from their basements to cook outdoors. the city has no power or running water. butjelena still clings to her home, despite the growing threat. do you think the russians will take the city soon, it seems like they're getting close. "i don't know," she says. "we're hoping it'll be ok." but the city is running out of time. this is now an artillery war. ukraine doesn't have enough big guns or ammunition. at the 11th hour,

another plea for help. my message, and the message of the ukrainian people, i think we need victory, we need peace, and we cannot get peace and victory without help from our partners, because without equipment for our artillery, i think we cannot get a victory in this terrible war. as we spoke, the war came closer. missile whizzes munitions explode that was a russian shell whistling over our heads. just a short distance away, neighbouring severodonetsk is burning and may soon fall. machine gun fires inside the city, the last pockets of resistance. guns fire

ukrainian troops fight building to building and street to street. but all bridges to the city have now been destroyed. ukraine is facing an enemy that has learned lessons and is imposing crushing losses in battle. troops fight on, but the handful of advanced weapons systems promised by britain and the us may be too little, too late. here in the donbas region right now... missile whizzes and explodes ..it looks like a losing battle. orla guerin, bbc news, eastern ukraine. 0 rla orla guerin, and our team on the ground will getting us regular

updates from ukraine. —— will be getting us. britain's government has published controversial plans to cancel parts of the brexit deal it had agreed to with the eu. britain's prime minister wants to change what's called the northern ireland protocol — to make it easierfor some goods to move between mainland britain and northern ireland. the european union says the plan is unacceptable, as it breaks international law. meanwhile, the white house calls on the uk and the eu to get back to the negotiating table. our political editor chris mason reports. brexit is about borders, about different rules either side of them, but borders usually separate one country from another. and yet here in belfast, there is a border, checks, when goods arrive here from the rest of the uk. those checks happen because of a deal the government signed up to. but now it doesn't like what this means for northern ireland. people can't access the goods they need to access, we're not able to implement the same tax benefits in northern ireland as we are for the people of great britain, so this is a very

serious issue that we need to fix. we have sought a negotiated settlement for the last 18 months, but as yet, the eu have been unwilling to change the terms of the protocol. and they've not changed their mind today, either. no workable alternative solution has been found to this delicate, long—negotiated balance. any renegotiations would simply bring further legal uncertainty for the people and businesses in northern ireland. for these reasons, the european union will not renegotiate the protocol. so, what impact does the protocol have on people in northern ireland? beth runs a garden centre in ballynahinch in county down. a lot of the growers don't want to get involved with the paperwork. i think it's made things harder. you're trying to get stock from different sources.

but others, like the meat and dairy industries, who sell goods to the eu, say it's made trading easier. we would see the protocol as something to build on. we would be concerned about anything that damages trade, particularly into... obviously, the risk here is trade into europe. it's worth remembering how we got here. the prime minister was on a farm in hayle in cornwall this morning and was asked... have you driven any other tractors? i've driven a lot of tractors in my... yeah, i have. indeed, he has — this an election stunt not burdened with subtlety back in 2019. he won the election and did deliver brexit, but with the protocol attached, it's had profound political consequences in northern ireland. sinn fein regard overriding elements of it irresponsible. the democratic unionists won't go back into devolved government unless it changes. i believe that finally we are now seeing the kind of action that is required to begin

the process of removing the barriers to trade within the united kingdom. it does nothing to serve the interests of the people here. it flies in the face of an international agreement which he himself negotiated. it is in clear breach of international law. and, you know, the reality is here that the protocol is working. to be prime minister is to be a diplomat. are you breaking international law, prime minister? - borisjohnson met his portuguese counterpart this afternoon. shaking hands on a solution to his northern ireland brexit conundrum won't happen so easily. that was our political editor chris mason reporting on that developing story. the other story that is developing comes out of the us. the congressional committee investigating the attack last year on the capitol has been told that

donald trump repeatedly ignored pleas from his own team to stop making unfounded claims of voterfraud. mr trump's former campaign manager was meant to be the key witness on the second day of public hearing, but he wasn't able to attend because his wife went into labour. in a pre—recorded interview, bill stepien said he tried to convince mr trump not to declare victory prematurely. my belief, my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted, it's too early to tell, too early to call the race, but, you know, we're proud of the race we ran and we, you know, think we're in a good position and we will have more to say about this, you know, the next day or the next day, whenever we had something to say. and did anybody who was a part of that conversation disagree with your message? yes.

who was that? the president disagreed with that. i don't recall the particular words. he thought i was wrong. he told me so, and, you know, that they were going to, you know... he was going to go in a different direction. and it didn't and there. more testimony is coming against the former presidents. —— it did not end there. the former attorney general bill barr told the committee that president trump was "detached from reality" when it came to his baseless claims of election fraud. i did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting this stuff which i told the president wa— and, you know, i didn't want to be a part of it. let's cross to los angeles with our north america correspondent david willis. he is with us. david, thanks for coming up on newsjust take us through the main focus of that

hearing today. == through the main focus of that hearing today.— through the main focus of that i hearing today._ the through the main focus of that - hearing today._ the main hearing today. -- newsday. the main coal at this hearing today. -- newsday. the main goal at this hearing, _ hearing today. -- newsday. the main goal at this hearing, i _ hearing today. -- newsday. the main goal at this hearing, i think, - hearing today. -- newsday. the main goal at this hearing, i think, was - to persuade those watching that donald trump knew he had failed to achieve victory in the 2020 presidential election by continued nonetheless to try and subvert democracy and remain in power, and the committee heard today from a variety of former aides, including campaign managers, members of the us justice department, family members, and as you just heard there, from the former attorney general bill barr, all of whom at one point or another try to persuade donald trump that he had lost the election, but he continued to persist with contrary stories. we heard a little from bill barr, and his testimony, he talked about having to fend off all sorts of different increasingly

wild conspiracy theories. he said at one point, donald trump was detached from reality, as mr barr put it, and he was pursuing what bill barr called and crazy stuff rather than reality for some bill barr also said there was zero places of fact for mr trump's continued at the time that certain voting machines were rigged against him and were rigged in order to give more votes to his rival, joe biden. the hearing was also told that all election night in 2020, donald trump ignored the advice of members of his inner circle not to go out and declare victory, instead deciding to do so on the advice of his inebriated personal attorney rudy giuliani, the former mayor of new york. the vice chair of the committee, liz cheney, said today that donald trump falsely told the american people that the election was not legitimate and millions of

americans believed him. all right, david willis, we will leave it there, but we will be tracking the congressional hearing very closely with you and all the others on the ground reporting on the story. thanks very much for the moment. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: authorities in india's most populous state — uttar pradesh — demolish houses belonging to some muslims for allegedly participating in protests over derogatory remarks on the prophet muhammad. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which, for 40 years, forcibly classified citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal

baby is tonight sleeping - in his cot at home. i early this evening, the new princel was taken by his mother and father to theirapartment in kensington palace. i germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berlin has celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of - the russian woman in space? oh, i think it's a wonderful achievement. and we might be able to persuade the wife it's a good idea, if i could, to get her to go up there for a little while! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm arunoday mukharji in singapore. our headlines: there's fierce fighting in the battle for severodonetsk, as ukraine's grip on the strategic eastern city seems to weaken.

the uk government publishes plans to override part of its brexit agreement involving trade rules for northern ireland and insists it's not breaking international law. let's now take you to india. government agencies have demolished the homes of a number of muslims who officials accuse of participating in violent protests. it followed a threat from one of the country's most senior politicians — yogi adityanath — who warned that illegally constructed homes belonging to protestors who are breaking the law could be bulldozed. demonstrations across the country began after a spokesperson for the ruling hindu nationalist bjp party made offensive comments about the prophet muhammad. politicians and lawyers have raised concerns over the legality of the demolitions. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan reports from delhi. a warning, her report contains distressing images. as homes of muslim families are razed to the ground, they ask if their basic rights

are also being bulldozed. student activist afreen fatima lived here with herfamily. now in hiding, she recorded this a day before the demolition. the police presence is increasing around my house. and there is a presence of bulldozers and jcbs across, around the town. and this is notjust about my house and my family, it's happening to a lot of houses, a lot of muslim houses. a lot of muslim activists, such as my father, are being harassed, are being intimidated. authorities in the north indian state of uttar pradesh accuse afreen�*s father of masterminding violence during recent protests, something he denies. thousands have taken to the streets in largely peaceful demonstrations after a spokesperson for the ruling bjp party made inflammatory

remarks about islam. they tried to evict us from our house... afreen�*s family, including sister sumaiya, were rounded up by police. translation: the demolition i of our house was being broadcast live on television. our destroyed belongings were being displayed in front of the world. i can't describe how it felt. and in the town of saharanpur, more destruction. the homes of muslim men accused of throwing stones at a protest also bulldozed. officials say they're targeting illegally constructed properties. lawyers say, without proper process, it's illegal. how concerned are you that this is happening right now?

you see, this is not at all legal. ultimately, we are living where the rule of law prevails. now, just by having the assistance of bulldozers, just giving a notice of 2a hours, it is highly unjust and totally against our system, our legal system. many fear growing anti—muslim sentiment could bring down the very foundations of india's secular values. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the uk court of appeal in london has rejected a call to block the british government's plans to begin removing asylum seekers to rwanda. the uk government says the policy is designed to deter people trafficking, but it's facing heavy criticism by opposition parties and refugee support services. american actor kevin spacey will appear in court in the uk on thursday,

charged with sexual offences against three men — including four counts of sexual assault. prosecutors authorised charges against him last month, but the actor could only be charged once he arrived in the uk. kevin spacey said he will voluntarily appear in this country and is confident of proving his innocence. global stocks have tumbled on monday amid fears rising inflation could cause an economic downturn. in the us, the s&p 500 share index fell 3.8%, entering what is known as a bear market. this comes after the us on friday reported higher inflation than expected. in may, the annual rate rose to 8.6%, a more than ito—year high. in what is probably the most ambitious project ever undertaken in the field of biology, a team of scientists is planning to sequence the genomes of all forms of life in the british isles, estimated to be 70,000 species. the project could transform how we understand the natural world, and there may be benefits for humans in search of medicines

and materials inspired by nature. our science editor rebecca morelle has more. a close—up look at our weird and wonderful natural world. from a delicate sea creature called a brittle star, to a hermit crab carrying a sea anemone on its back, and these bizarre animals known as mud owls. all of these creatures were scooped up just off the coast of plymouth. so, you've got two worms here. this one, it's almost made these overlapping scales of sandy shell. they're being collected for an ambitious new project, to sequence the genomes of all life in the british isles. today, scientists are focusing on marine worms, known as polychaetes. it's a big task, with hundreds

and hundreds of species. and we've got over 100 now, i think 120 odd species of polycha etes collected. it seems like a lot, but, really, it's just the beginning. the plan is to sequence the dna of every plant, animal and fungi in britain and ireland. that's about 70,000 species. and some are surprising. there is a type of microalgae has 200 billion letters of dna. that's more than 60 times bigger than the human genome. and the scientists plan to do this all by 2030. the dna extraction is being carried out of the wellcome sanger institute. at the wellcome sanger institute. the human genome was sequenced here two decades ago. that took years. but now a species can be completed in a few days. in the human genome was sequenced, it changed the way we do when the human genome was sequenced, it changed the way we do human biology forever. it really transformed how we see ourselves, and how we work with our health and illness. and we want to make that

possible for all of biology. so we want everybody working on any species, or any group of species, anywhere in the world, able to have this ultimate foundation. 0ne genome that is now complete belongs to the badger. in 0xfordshire, as dusk falls, a family emerges from their sett. scientists say having their detailed genetic information is vital. getting the badger genome sequence is really important, because we can see how badgers adapt to diseases, how they adapt to their environment, and how they interact with other species in their ecosystem. back onshore in plymouth, the rock pools are full of surprises. but their genetic code could also help us to find nature inspired medicines or materials. this immense endeavour could change our understanding of the diversity of life. rebecca morelle, bbc news, plymouth. it is being seen as one of the most ambitious projects till date in the field of biology. you can find much more on that story and others on our

website. that is it for this edition of newsday. hello there. we're expecting a short spell of rather hot weather across much of the uk, but not all of it over the next few days or so — the heat and the humidity will be gradually building northwards. and that's because there's a heat wave across the iberian peninsula at the moment — temperatures in parts of spain have surpassed a0 celsius. that heat will be pushing northwards into france, and eventually into southern areas of the uk, so england and wales, by the time we get to friday when that heat is likely to peak. and that means that temperatures in london and in birmingham could get over 30 celsius on friday. but further north and west across much of northern ireland and scotland, they'll stick in the low 20s in celsius. at the moment, we do still have this area of low pressure giving us swathes of cloud, some outbreaks of rain — most of it quite light and patchy — across much of western scotland, northern ireland. this will help to keep

the temperatures mild here overnight tonight, but underneath the clear skies, temperatures will drop back into single figures, mid—single figures locally, perhaps, across england and wales. so a locally chilly start to the day here. but here, of course, we'll see lots of sunshine throughout the day on tuesday, some fair weather cloud building through the afternoon. further north and west with still all of this cloud around, some outbreaks of rain for western areas of scotland. eastern areas of scotland, though, should see some sunny spells emerge at times. temperatures peaking in the southeast of england at around 25 celsius. the pollen levels, of course, in all of that sunshine will be very high — a lot lower underneath the cloud and the rain towards the northwest. and that's where the cloud and the outbreaks of rain will tend to stay as we head through tuesday night. we'll start to see some warmer nights as we head through the rest of the week. temperatures across the board into wednesday morning should stay in double figures for the most part. still got some outbreaks of rain up towards the northern isles as we head through the day on wednesday, lots of cloud here. again, cloudiertowards the northwest across england and wales, temperatures will start to rise into the high 20s

in celsius — so 26—27 celsius, much of london cooler the further north you go. and let's take a look at what happens for the rest of the week — so our high pressure just gradually moves eastwards and the cold front will sink southwards, introducing that cooler—feeling air. but if we take a look at the temperatures, you can see that across northern ireland, 19—20 celsius — whereas across cambridge, 31 celsius by friday.

this is bbc news, the headlines... there's fierce fighting in the battle for sevedonetsk, with ukraine's grip on the strategic eastern city appearing to weaken. capturing the city would be a major victory for russian forces in the eastern donbas region. the second congressional hearing into the january 6th attack on the us capitol has heard that donald trump ignored his own advisers in making his false claim that the presidential election had been stolen. the european union has said it is considering legal action over the uk's plans to unilaterally change the post—brexit arrangements for northern ireland. the british government says its plan would not be in breach of international law. uk judges have refused to grant an injunction to stop tuesday's deportation flight taking asylum seekers from britain to rwanda.

the head of the un refugee agency has said the policy will set