welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm arunoday mukharji. the headlines... the taliban says its main search and rescue operations for victims of the quake in afghanistan are over — now the focus is on helping the survivors. translation: i ran towards my family. | but everything was under the rubble, even my shovel, so i couldn't do anything. when we took my family out they were already dead. the big story in the uk, counting is under way in two key by elections for the conservative party in the first test a boaters opinion since the party gate scandal. the us supreme court strikes down new york's law restricting the right to carry

weapons in public. we can't just stand we can'tjust stand by we can't just stand by and watch these people carry illegal firearms in public. ukraine is given official eu candidate status. and the coach who made a dramatic rescue after a swimmer fainted to the bottom of the pool at the world aquatics championships in budapest. ijust went as i just went as fast as i could to grab herand i just went as fast as i could to grab her and pull her up to the surface. once i pulled her up, my goal was only to make her breathe.— her breathe. live from our studio in _ her breathe. live from our studio in singapore. - her breathe. live from our studio in singapore. this | her breathe. live from our| studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday.

welcome to the programme. taliban officials in afghanistan say the main search for survivors from wednesday's devastating earthquake in the south east of the country has ended. more than 1,000 people are thought to have been killed in the remote part of the country. doctors say many children may be among the victims. relief efforts have been hampered by the destruction of already poor road and communication networks in paktika province — the worst hit area. entire villages have been destroyed with survivors saying they are finding it difficult to bury their dead. our afghanistan correspondent secunder kermani is there and has this report. homes reduced to rubble, lives reduced to memories. "these were my son's shoes," says agha jan. his three young children were killed in the earthquake as they slept, as well as his two wives.

when the roof fell down, what did you do? translation: i ran toward my family, but everything - was under the rubble, even my shovel, so i couldn't do anything. i shouted to my cousins, but when we took my family out, they were already dead. it's a three—hour drive to the nearest big city from the worst—affected villages along largely dirt roads. here, practically every home is destroyed, every family grieving. the people here didn't have much to begin with, but they've seen their homes, their possessions — you can see them scattered amongst the debris — and their loved ones disappear in a single terrible moment. in this one home, 18 people were killed. habib gul raced back across the borderfrom pakistan to help bury 20 of his family members.

translation: if the world looks on us like brothers . and helps us, we will stay here on our land. if they don't, we will leave this place, where we've spent so long, with tears in our eyes. the taliban have been flying in aid on helicopters. the search—and—rescue effort has now finished. the most pressing need is shelter. families forced to live in tents, flanked by the remnants of homes they worked so hard to construct. khalid jan is now responsible for his five grandchildren. two of his sons and his daughter were killed in the earthquake. translation: all my son's i children have been left to me, and i'm all they have left. the house and everything

here has been destroyed. i'll never be able to rebuild it. - aid agencies are delivering supplies, but this is a major crisis. here, prayers for the nearly 50 people killed in one tiny village alone. prayers needed too for those who have survived. secunder kermani, bbc news, paktika province. the taliban have appealed for more international support — to help those affected by the earthquake. humanitarian agencies are rushing to get shelter, food and medicine to the worst—hit areas — but the question is how to get the aid to those who need it, and not into the hands of the taliban. our south asia correspondent yogita limaye, who's in kabul, says the international community will have to tread a very thin line. well, afghanistan doesn't have an internationally recognised government, and that's where the problem lies. you know, whenever a disaster strikes a country, particularly an economically weak one,

what you see almost immediately on the ground are rescue teams from a host of countries around the world trying to help and relieve operations. that's not something which is happening here. as far as financial assistance is concerned, there are difficulties giving that directly to the taliban because there are sanctions against the group. and therefore it comes on to humanitarian agencies, which now for a long time have been providing this important bridge for international funds and aid to be delivered to the people of afghanistan. the uk has said it's working with its partners in the un in the world food programme, as is america. india and pakistan have both said that they have delivered aid on the ground in this country, but in afghanistan, people were pushed into near universal poverty, the health care system is near collapse since the 15th

of august, since the foreign funds which were running this country stopped coming in. and that's from then on has been entirely on humanitarian agencies to try to get any funds, any aid, any support from outside to the people of this country was that they were already stretched, now they are dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake. counting is under way in two key uk by—elections for the conservative party in west yorkshire and devon. it's the first test of voters opinions since the partygate scandal and the british prime minister's confidence vote. in wakefield, the conservatives are defending a majority ofjust over 3,000. and in tiverton and honiton — the tories have a much larger majority of more than 2a,000. let's talk to bbc newsnight�*s policy editor, lewis goodall. he'll be with us throughout the night, bringing you all the latest updates from both constituencies. always good to have you on the programme. why are these by

elections so significant? coming off the backdrop of party gate and also the confidence vote, as he said. the political situation for borisjohnson for some time now has been extremely feeble, he has been extremely feeble, he has a run a by election losses and he is now facing the prospect in the midst of come as you say, party gate, which is a deeply, deeply damaging political period and political crisis for him, but also and perhaps even more significantly, the profound economic malaise, which is now spreading throughout britain as it has done across much of the western world. there is the prospect of his being the first government to lose two by elections, two parliamentary seats on a single night since 1991 for over 30 years. and what will be particularly destabilising for him is that these are in effect these two seats, he couldn't really pick two seats that are more different, which come to epitomise to different strands of a conservative parliamentary majority, the one hand, you've got lakefield in the north of

england, a seat that has been a labour seat since 1932, but borisjohnson in 2019, formally labour seats in the midlands and north of england that where heavily brexit voting and voting conservative for the first time in 2019. on the other end of the country in southwest and debiting, we have tiverton, conservative seat for generations, conservative vote of 60% in a general election of 201980 at the dems are feeling extremely bullish this evening about taking back—seat, just as they took two other tory strongholds over the course of the last year, lastjune in buckinghamshire and north shropshire in december. so then you have conservative mps in different parts of the country worried about different parties suddenly breathing down their neck, and they will be expressing that to boris johnson and starting to wonder, yes, 0k, there has been a

confidence vote from johnson 18, but will this be another part of the jingo block, if you like a borisjohnson�*s premiership, he starts to look more and more unstable, more and more like a loser, and the thing about borisjohnson that you've got to remember is boris johnson has never been loved by huge sections of the conservative party for him it was a transactional relationship, they wanted to get brexit done and he did it, and he did it with a handsome majority. if hejust and he did it with a handsome majority. if he just starts to look like a loser, someone who just keeps losing, didn't do particularly well in local elections, lots to slough up by elections, lots to slough up by elections, could lose one to labour, went to the lib dems, and that could destabilise and that could destabilising even further. mil that could destabilising even further. �* . ~ that could destabilising even further. �* ., ~ , ., further. all right, thank you very much _ further. all right, thank you very much that _ further. all right, thank you i very much that comprehensive update that we will be coming back through the night for more on those results. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. british airways workers at heathrow have voted to go on strike, prompting fears of a summer of flight disruption. the unite and gmb unions want the airline to reverse a ten

per cent pay cut imposed during the pandemic. ba has so far offered a one—off payment instead. after some of the worst flooding in more than 100 years, authorities in bangladesh are racing to get clean drinking water to millions of people left stranded. with flood waters receding, they are trying to prevent the spread of waterbourne diseases. thousands of people have already fallen ill in one of the worst—hit areas in the extreme northeast. scientists have discovered the largest bacterium ever found on earth. the organism — called thiomargarita magnifica — lives in the mangrove swamps of guadeloupe in the french caribbean. it's the size and shape of a human eyelash — and 5,000 times bigger than normal bacteria. researchers stress that it's completely harmless. three years after an artwork by graffiti artist banksy was stolen from a door at the bataclan music hall

in paris, eight people have been convicted of theft or handling stolen goods. the mural "sad girl" was a tribute to the 90 people murdered in a 2015 terror attack on the venue. a hooded gang removed it january 2019 — it was recovered 18 months later in italy. the us supreme court has upheld the right of americans to carry guns in public, striking down century—old restrictions in new york — that limited the ability of people to carry weapons openly. the decision could have ramifications for other states with similar regulations and is expected to allow more people to carry guns legally. the ruling comes amidst a raging debate across the us over gun control especially after the recent school shooting in uvalde. our north america editor sarah smith has the details. the constitutional right to bear arms is dearly held in the united states, but what that means in practice

is deeply controversial. today the supreme court ruled that individual states cannot force people to have a permit to carry guns in public. the president, myself, many of us are deeply concerned and troubled by this ruling today. it, i believe, defies common sense and the constitution of the united states. street protests and public opinion have been demanding tougher action on gun control after recent mass shootings. but new york state will now how to make it easier to carry guns on the streets. we can say with certainty, this decision has made every single one of us less safe from gun violence. in spite of this ruling, we cannot_ in spite of this ruling, we cannot stand by and watch our streets — cannot stand by and watch our streets be flooded with guns due to — streets be flooded with guns due to more people being

legally— due to more people being legally permitted to carry firearms in public. we must take — firearms in public. we must take significant action to protect— take significant action to protect our cities residents. cut. that's a wrap. many republican politicians proudly glorified gun ownership, insisting it is their right granted to them under the constitution's second amendment. this mean your second amendment right to keep and bear arms shall not be denied by an unelected bureaucrat. as the supreme court makes it easier to carry guns, congress is about to make it slightly harder to buy one. democrats and republicans have now agreed some limited gun control measures, including expanded background checks for prospective buyers under 21. this doesn't go nearly as far as the democrats, including president biden, wanted, but it will be the first gun control legislation passed here in nearly 30 years. in a country that now has more guns in it that it has people.

sarah smith, bbc news, washington. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... we hear about this dramatic rescue from the heroic coach or south. —— herself. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the worlds first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space.

challenger powered passed | the lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 34 years. - there was no hiding that sheer elation of richard i branson and his crew. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm arunoday mukharji, in singapore. our headlines... that taliban says it's that taliban says its main search and rescue operations for victims of the earthquake in afghanistan are now over. the focus shifts to helping the survivors. counting is under way and two uk by elections for the conservative party in a first test of voters opinion since the party gate scandal. the congressional committee investigating the january sixth attack on the us capitol heard on thursday about the pressure former president donald trump

placed on the us department ofjustice to overturn joe biden�*s win. mr trump wanted a different attorney—general, who would do his bidding, and investigate voterfraud — even though there was no evidence of any. richard donoghue , a senior justice department official, testified how one jeffrey clark tried to convince mr trump he has never been a criminal attorney, he is never conducted attorney, he is never conducted a criminal investigation in his life. he's never been at a trialjury. and he kind of retorted by saying, well, i have done a lot of very complicated appeals and civil litigation, environmental litigation, environmental litigation and things like that, and i said, that is right, you are an environmental lawyer, but you go back to her office and we will call you when there is an oil spill. pat weighed in at one point, and i remember saying, you know, that letter that this guy wants to send come of that letter is a murder suicide pact. it will

damage everyone who touches it. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent, peter bowes. peter, thanks very much. always good to have you on the programme. what are the key takeaways from this session of the hearing? i takeaways from this session of the hearing?— the hearing? i think the main take away — the hearing? i think the main take away his _ the hearing? i think the main take away his we _ the hearing? i think the main take away his we are - take away his we are hearing from formal officials of the justice department about this alleged pressure that donald trump is putting on them and the department to essentially back and in his claims that he had won the election, that the result was fraudulent as a result was fraudulent as a result of voter malpractice. now, what we heard from the former acting attorney general, jeffrey rosen, during the trump administration, during this crucial period leading up to a january the 6th, he had been in contact with donald trump, or at donald trump had been in contact with him, almost every day, perhaps of the exception of christmas day, suggesting

that the justice department simply wasn't doing enough to support his claim that there ought to be an investigation into voter fraud, ought to be an investigation into voterfraud, and ought to be an investigation into voter fraud, and as we have just been hearing, into voter fraud, and as we havejust been hearing, other officials spoke as well, one suggesting that donald trump wanted the justice suggesting that donald trump wanted thejustice department to declare the election corrupt. there has been a lot of reaction to that, saying that this could well be the smoking gun, that it perhaps is evidence that donald trump was acting illegally. evidence that donald trump was acting illegally-— acting illegally. peter, hearing _ acting illegally. peter, hearing after - acting illegally. peter, hearing after hearing, | acting illegally. peter, . hearing after hearing, the evidence seems to be piling up against donald trump. what kind of political impact have you seen growing since the time that the hearing started? i that the hearing started? 1 think the political impact that the hearing started? i think the political impact that we are seeing now, perhaps there will be a crescendo over there will be a crescendo over the coming weeks and months will be on the stance of republicans as to who should represent them, who should be their presidential candidate in

2024. their presidential candidate in 202a. clearly, the midterm elections are crucial, especially for republicans later on this year i'm about people are looking further ahead than that. and i think there are some republicans now questioning, perhaps previously supporters of donald trump, as to whether he is indeed the best person to lead men into that 2024 election, perhaps persuaded by some of the evidence, some of the allegations, strong allegations made against donald trump during these hearings. peter, thank you _ during these hearings. peter, thank you very _ during these hearings. peter, thank you very much - during these hearings. peter, thank you very much for - during these hearings. peter, | thank you very much for giving us the very latest on that. european union leaders have approved both ukraine and moldova as official candidates for membership of the bloc. the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, said she was convinced that both countries would move as swiftly as possible to implement necessary reforms — and hailed the decision as a much needed source of hope

for those countries. we will try to get that for you in just a we will try to get that for you injusta bit, but we will try to get that for you injust a bit, but let's we will try to get that for you in just a bit, but let's take you through, get you more news on what is happening on that front with reactions coming in from presidents zielinski who... —— president zelensky. he went on to say, and a quote from his tweets that ——president zelensky has welcomed the european the european union's decision. in a tweet he said he "sincerely commended eu leaders' decision at european commission to grant ukraine a candidate status. it's a unique and historical moment in ukraine—eu relations." he went on to say that he was "grateful to charles michel and ursula von der leyen and eu leaders for support. ukraine's future is within the eu." we will try to get you more updates on that, in fact, on

that front, your editor kathy adler is explaining the importance of this moment for ukraine. president zelensky has been pushing for this moment he calls historic for a very long time, because it allows them to turn around to rush and say, love, we are ukraine, we belong in europe, we belong in the west, not in your russian sphere of influence. so he wanted the symbolism tonight. tomorrow, of course, he will be reminding the west that he also really needs that military and economic aid. from russia's perspective, it's actually hardening it stands on ukraine joining the eu, and why? welcome it says brussels is taking a much more active role these days in defence. as for the eu itself, well, leaders and there were really sincere in wanting to show solidarity tonight with war—torn ukraine. at the same time, questions are being asked as to whether they can afford to take on new members. and already got 27, so dramatically different, the often can't find agreement on difficult issues like migration or russia's sanctions, so add more voices to the mix, ukraine, moldova or countries from the western balkans, and some here wondering, will that end up paralysing the eu from the inside? now to a dramatic rescue.

the american artistic swimmer — anita alvarez — had to be helped from the bottom of the pool, by her coach, after fainting at the world aquatics championships. the 25—year—old lost consciousness, and was not breathing, when she sank — after completing her routine in the solo free final in budapest. mark lobel has the story. it was a commanding performance by artistic swimmer anita alvarez in the world aquatics championship solo free final, everything seemingly going swimmingly in budapest — except her coach noticed her slightly paler than usual. instead of staying up for air at the end of her performance, the american swimmer suddenly sank. she had actually fainted... ..the crowd noticing something was not quite right. commentator: yes, we're not showing close-up pictures - because it is a little bit disturbing, to say the least. her coach, andrea fuentes, was first on the scene. with lightning reflexes,

the olympic medallist dived in. i knew i was the fastest swimmer there, and for sure, i was going to be faster than the lifeguards. so, ijust went, and when the lifeguard arrived, we would be ok. but i wanted to have this solved before anyone else because i knew if somebody was going to be fast enough, it was me, so why not? it was important, it was more important than ever. i think i swam faster than any of my olympics! this was not the first time. alvarez collapsed during an olympic qualifier in barcelona last year — and yes, fuentes rescued her then, too. it's not so strange to us. it happens in every country. every time, we try to do a little bit better than the other, because we hold our breath in a very limited situation.

the 25—year—old swimmer is said to be doing well and looking forward to swimming again in friday's free team finals. mark lobel, bbc news. sir paul mccartney's warm—up gig has sold out in under an hour of being announced. the former beatles star will perform at a not—for—profit venue called the cheese and grain in on somerset on friday. tickets are sold on a first—come first—served basis, then you organisers took to show some media to say that the gig has sold out shortly after the tickets went on sale. you have been watching newsday. a quick reminder of our top story, the taliban authorities have called off the search for survivors and the afghan province worst hit by a devastating earthquake which is thought to have killed more than 1000 people. many of the victims were reported to be children. it had been feared that many were still trapped in the rubble of their homes and villages following the earthquake in the early hours of wednesday. the acting

governor of the province told the bbc that rescuers had reached all areas. we are checking that story closely, but that's all for the moment. thanks for watching. hello there. showers have been making their way northwards through the night accompanied by the odd rumble of thunder. not as warm for the day ahead, and there will be some sunshine around certainly, but equally a rash of showers will develop as the day goes, that's because we got low pressure moving into the west now and throwing bands of rain or showers our way. we're are also seeking some misty, low cloud and fog coming into eastern scotland, and it will be a much warmer start to friday, quite a close night and end to the night. that mist and fog could hang around, cloudy for the northern isles, showers developing quite quickly turning heavy and thundery, and then more persistent rain pushes into the southwest of england, western wales and more notably northern ireland later in the day. it turns quite wet and breezy, increasingly breezy, particularly in the west, so it will feel fresher here.

we could still see 25—26 celsisus in the east, but not as warm for northern england, north wales or scotland as it was during the day on thursday. but still some very high levels of pollen despite a scattering of showers around across parts of the midlands, east anglia, up into lincolnshire in the southeast. we do see that band of rain turning more showery pushing northwards during the evening and overnight. that low pressure centred, as you can see, to the west of us, and it is going to stay there. it is going to become stalled, slow moving, and it's going to continue throw showers across the united kingdom, because its low pressure, it makes the air conducive to seeing showers anyway, so some of them will be heavy, the odd rumble of thunder, but as the breeze increases later today and through the weekend, certainly unusually windy for the time of year. it will push those showers through quite quickly and freshen the air up. temperatures around about where they should be for the time of year, but some lengthier spells of rain certainly close to that area of low pressure across parts of northern ireland and scotland. we could easily see some lengthier spells of thundery

rain pushing into the eastern side of england saturday night into sunday and then brushing close by to the east of scotland. but otherwise, the onus on the frequency of the showers, the intensity of the showers, will be in northern and western areas. really quite a brisk wind, gusts of 30—40 mph. so that's something to bear in mind if you are out and about through the weekend, otherwise temperatures once again into the low 20s. that low pressure system sat to the west will stay with us into the start of the new week, as you can see, still some showers around, more prevalent in the west, temperature staying in the low 20s at best.