welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: explosion 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. donald trump's former attorney general testifies that his boss became detached from reality as he made false claims of voterfraud. scientists plan to sequence the genomes of all forms of life in britain, which could transform

our understanding of the natural world. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. russian forces are tightening their grip on the donbas region. president zelensky has called again for western allies to provide advanced missile defence systems for the ukrainian army to stop the steady russian advance. russia now controls almost all of the strategic city of severodonetsk. the final bridge to the city has been destroyed, trapping ukrainian troops and thousands of civilians. russia is also bombarding the neighbouring city of lysycha nsk, from which where civilians are still trying to flee. our international correspondent orla guerin, with video journalist colm o'molloy, 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. here in the uk, judges at britain's court of appeal —— there is much more courage on the bbc website. here in the uk, judges at britain's court of appeal have ruled that the first flight to rwanda taking migrants who've arrived illegally in britain can take off on tuesday. the judges supported a previous decision by the high court that it was in the public interest for the government to carry out its policies. it's reported that there will be eight asylum seekers on the flight. our home editor mark easton has the story. dozens more asylum seekers

arrived on the kent coast today, 37 men who the government says should potentially face removal to rwanda because they've travelled from france, a safe country. and this is the boeing 767 chartered by the home office to take the first group of asylum seekers on a one way ticket to rwanda tomorrow night. the plane can take around 200 passengers, but a maximum ofjust eight asylum seekers will be aboard, and three of those are in court tomorrow arguing to be removed from the passenger list. shame on you! the rwanda policy divides opinion, apparent outside the courts ofjustice today. for some, it's an effective way to deal with migrants who come to the uk illegally. for others, it's an immoral and unlawful way to treat vulnerable people who are asking the uk for sanctuary. to stay removal of asylum seekers... lawyers were making a last—ditch attempt in the court of appeal to stop tomorrow's rwanda flight, but the threejudges, led by lord justice singh, decided there was not enough to overturn last week's decision to let

the plane take off. this court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion. shame on you! campaigners were disappointed by thejudgement, but there will be a full legal review of the rwanda policy in the courts to be completed by the end ofjuly. we hope the courts injuly, in that longer hearing will take a different view, because it's a fundamentally unlawful policy. claiming asylum is a human right and rwanda is not a safe country to which people can be returned. at the united nations in geneva, the news that asylum seekers were to be forcibly removed to rwanda was described as catastrophic. we believe this is all wrong. this is all wrong, this deal, for so many different reasons. in the rwandan capital kigali today, the accommodation for those asylum seekers given the one way ticket to africa was receiving final touches — soap and shampoo sets, clean linen. the uk government says the arrangement

is a model the rest of the world could follow. the home secretary has always argued that her rwandan removals policy is designed to deter people from taking dangerous and unnecessaryjourneys from safe countries and will undermine the criminal operations of people smugglers. it is in the public interest, she says. chanting: refugees are welcome here! i demonstrators gathered outside the home office this evening to protest against tomorrow's rwanda departure. but ministers believe that even if only a single asylum seeker is aboard, the flight could be a game changer in dealing with what they call illegal immigration. mark easton, bbc news, at the court of appeal. staying here in the uk. britain's government has published controversial plans to cancel parts of the brexit deal that it agreed with the eu. prime minister borisjohnson wants to change the northern ireland protocol to make it easier for 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 has called 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. chris mason there. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: why a buzz lightyear animated film has been banned in 14 middle eastern and asian countries. 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

each citizen according to race. just a day old and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. | early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and fatherl to their apartments . in kensington palace. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners 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? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea, if i could, to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news. the latest 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 the brexit agreement involving trade rules

for northern ireland, and insists it's not breaking international law. the congressional committee investigating the 6 january attack on the us capitol has held its second public hearing, in which trump campaign advisers and staff testified they repeatedly told the former president there was no evidence to support his claim of voterfraud. the former atorney general, bill barr, described donald trump as being "detached from reality" in his claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. mr trump's former campaign manager bill stepien was not able to appear, so the committee used video clips from his earlier testimony. let's take a listen to what he and bill barr had to say. 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. i did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff, which i told the president was bleep. and, you know, i didn't want to be a part of it. live now to washington. james hohmann is a columnist at the washington post

covering politics, policy, and law and has been following the hearings. good evening to you. president trump falsely claimed the election from him but in this hearing, it was his inner circle warning against this rhetoric. what did we learn today? rhetoric. what did we learn toda ? ~ ., , ., , today? we learned this really was driven — today? we learned this really was driven by _ today? we learned this really was driven by donald - today? we learned this really was driven by donald trump i was driven by donald trump himself and it was notjust his campaign advisers, his own lawyers but also his own attorney general and members of his cabinet and senior officials in his white house staff, all of them told donald trump, to his face, they said under oath, that he had lost the election, that things were not working out and donald trump still went out there and claimed that he had won the election. when he had been told repeatedly that he had not. we heard a lot of video clips,

like those two we just saw of people saying, they told trump he lost an trump ignore them. trump did notjust make false statements, he knew what he was saying was wrong. mas statements, he knew what he was saying was wrong-— saying was wrong. was any suggestion _ saying was wrong. was any suggestion as _ saying was wrong. was any suggestion as to _ saying was wrong. was any suggestion as to why - saying was wrong. was any suggestion as to why this l saying was wrong. was any | suggestion as to why this to trump continued with events? he reall trump continued with events? he: really did not want to lose power, he sensitivity idea of him betrayed as a loser. —— portrayed. we raise more than $250 million after losing the election by claiming that there was fraud and the election was being stolen from him. he said the money was for an election recount fund and there was no such fun. he claimed it would be matched ten times. it was not matched at all. the committee laid out evidence

essentially donald trump defrauded his own supporters to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. ~ ., ., dollars. we had from some significant _ dollars. we had from some significant names, - dollars. we had from some| significant names, including bill barr, any other egg hitters we are expected to hear from? , ~ ., , . from? -- big. we are expecting to hear from — from? -- big. we are expecting to hear from the _ from? -- big. we are expecting to hear from the top _ from? -- big. we are expecting to hear from the top two - from? -- big. we are expecting to hear from the top two guys l to hear from the top two guys in the justice to hear from the top two guys in thejustice department to hear from the top two guys in the justice department who were left over when bill barr resigned, basically because it donald trump would not accept his defeat, jeffrey rosen and richard donoghue will appear on wednesday and then on thursday, we will hear from mike pence's top lawyer, mrjacobs, who will talk about the campaign mike pence face from donald trump to try to overturn the election. james hohmann.

prosecutors authorise the charges against kevin spacey 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 percent, entering what's 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 percent, a more than iio—year high. scotland's first minister is to launch a fresh campaign for scottish independence on tuesday. nicola sturgeon maintains she still wants another vote before the end of next year. the uk government insists that cannot happen without its approval, which it intends to withhold.

temperatures in some areas of spain could reach up to 43 degrees celsius this week, as a heatwave which has been sweeping the country continues. the soaring temperatures have caused the authorities to put many areas of the country on alert due to the risk of wildfires. in what is perhaps 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. around 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 the story. 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 kind 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'sjust the beginning. the plan is to sequence the dna of every plant, animaland 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 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. 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. one genome that is now complete belongs to the badger. in oxfordshire, as dusk falls, a family emerges from their sett. scientists say, having their detailed genetic information is vital. 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. disney and pixar�*s latest animated movie, lightyear, has been banned from cinemas in the united arab emirates.

the film contains a same—sex kiss, but the uae's media regulators did not give a specific reason for its decision. the scene had been cut from the us version but was reinstated after complaints by pixar employees. lightyear�*s problems in the middle east are the latest in a string of difficulties faced by films containing lgbtq+ content in the region. some of the film's stars were in london on monday evening for the uk premier. we're hoping for a time when we don't even have to have this conversation, we can watch a movie and we don't even have to bat an eyelid. we don't even have to think, "oh, wow, weird!" you know? it's not weird, it's normal, and it should be normalised, and so whenever these small steps that studios are making — sometimes it may feel small, but also they are steps. and it's steps towards normalising humanity and love, and i really feel sorry for countries who don't want this film. because of a tiny, weird

little thing like that? you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ richpreston. bye — bye for bye—bye for now. 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, cloudier towards the northwest.

across england and wales, temperatures will start to rise into the high 20s in celsius, so 26—27 celsius for 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 pressurejust 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: intense fighting has continued in the ukrainian city of severodonetsk, as ukraine's grip on the eastern city seems to be weakening. capturing the strategically important city would be a major victory for russia. president zelensky has called for western allies to provide an advanced missile defence system. the european union says it's considering legal action over the uk's plans to unilaterally change the post—brexit trade arrangements for northern ireland. the british government insists its plans to alter the deal, agreed with the eu in 2019, do not breach international law. the us congressional committee, investigating last year's attack on the capitol building in washington has heard that donald trump was "detached from reality." his former attorney general, william barr, said he showed more interest in "crazy stuff" than facts.

mr trump has called the investigation "a sham."