tonight at 10:00, tens of millions of women in the us have lost their constitutional right to abortion after a supreme court ruling. we did it! it's a landmark decision that's led

to triumph and to despair, keep abortion safe and legal! and to despair, polarising an already divided nation. the court literally taking america back 150 years. it's a sad day for the country in my view. but it doesn't mean the fight�*s over. the right to life has been vindicated. the voiceless will finally have a voice. with nearly half of america's states expected to use the ruling to ban or restrict abortion, we'll be asking what happens now. and our other main story tonight... two severe by—election blows for boris johnson. the tories lose tiverton and honiton in devon, and wakefield in west yorkshire. his reply... yes, it's absolutely true that we've had some tough by—election results. and they've been, i think, a reflection of a lot of things, but we've got to recognise that voters

are going through a tough time at the moment. a second earthquake in afghanistan in a region where at least a thousand people are known to have died. and glastonbury festival kicks off at worthy farm, with hundreds of thousands of revellers set to enjoy a weekend of music. and in the sport on bbc news, jonny bairstow leads an incredible england fightback on the second day of the third test against new zealand. good evening. 50 years of a legally—enshrined right to abortion in the united states has been brought to an end — after the country's supreme court decided to overturn its landmark ruling made in 1973.

it means tens of millions of women across the us do not have their right to an abortion guaranteed by the constitution — and individual us states are now legally entitled to ban the procedure. are now legally entitled nearly half of america's 50 states are expected to do so — and 13 have already passed so—called trigger laws which outlaw or severely restrict abortion automatically following the court's ruling. it is a momentous decision which has delighted and enraged americans. 0ur north america editor sarah smith is at the supreme court for us now. protests have been growing here outside the court all day, as people absorb this dramatic news. whether you agree with the ruling or not, this is a seismic moment in america, as almost five decades of guaranteed abortion rights have been immediately and totally reversed.

this is a huge, historic moment for america. as they hear the news from the court, there isjubilation from anti—abortionists. life won today! "life won today," they chant, celebrating a victory after almost 50 years. i have seen the devastation that abortion has wrought on our country, on the communal level and then a personal level, and this is so vindicating to know that we can now take tangible steps to lessen the violence of abortion in our country. ten years ago, did you ever| imagine this would happen? i imagined it a lot, but i still... people told me it was impossible, that we would never see this kind of victory, and now i know that victory is not only possible, it happened. so we are going to work out of this momentum, we are going to keep going, we're going to keep fighting, and we're going to build a better world. fury from those campaigning to keep

the guaranteed right to abortion, promising to fight back. it's not the will of the people, and this country's supposed to run off of the will of the people. i'm 21, and i'm terrified! we have a lot of work to do to make that happen, but we will never give up. it's 50 years since there was last a significant decision on abortion rights in america. it might be another 50. it might be 50 more, sure. but we're not going to stop. it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter what they say. again, abortions will continue, theyjust won't be legal, and women will die from botched abortions. it's obvious this ruling is not going to end the arguments over abortion in america. in fact, it will inflame them. in this deeply polarised society, abortion is already one of the most divisive issues. even the president is powerless to change the ruling. itruiith even the president is powerless to change the ruling.— change the ruling. with this decision. — change the ruling. with this decision, the conservative i change the ruling. with this - decision, the conservative majority of the supreme court shows how extreme it is, how far removed they

are from the majority of this country. they have made the united states and outlier among developed nations in the world. but this decision must not be the final word. abortion rights have been fought overfour abortion rights have been fought over four decades. abortion rights have been fought overfour decades. in a abortion rights have been fought over four decades.— over four decades. in a landmark rulin: , over four decades. in a landmark ruling. the _ over four decades. in a landmark ruling, the supreme _ over four decades. in a landmark ruling, the supreme court - over four decades. in a landmark. ruling, the supreme court legalised abortions. in ruling, the supreme court legalised abortions. " g; ruling, the supreme court legalised abortions. " x: ,, , abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled _ abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled in _ abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled in a _ abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled in a test _ abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled in a test case - abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled in a test case of- abortions. in 1973, the supreme court ruled in a test case of roe versus wade that women must have access to abortion across america, a decision totally reversed today. it decision totally reversed today. it is my profound honour to be the first president in history to attend the march for life. as first president in history to attend the march for life.— the march for life. as president, donald trump — the march for life. as president, donald trump deliberately - the march for life. as president, - donald trump deliberately appointed three pro—life justices to the court, making the ruling possible. he said that god made the decision. in fact, it was six of the nine judges. in fact, it was six of the nine 'udues. �* , . in fact, it was six of the nine 'udues. �*, ., ., ., in fact, it was six of the nine

'ud.es_ �*y ., ., ., in fact, it was six of the nine 'udues. j ., ., ., judges. by a vote of 63, the court affirmed that _ judges. by a vote of 63, the court affirmed that the _ judges. by a vote of 63, the court affirmed that the power _ judges. by a vote of 63, the court affirmed that the power to - judges. by a vote of 63, the court| affirmed that the power to protect unborn life is returned to the people and their elected representatives. the people have won a victory. # jesus loves the little children...# anti—abortion activists view today's victory is merely a first step. they will now take their campaigns to every state which allows terminations, trying to get abortion banned in the whole of the united states. well, as we mentioned earlier — there are 13 so—called trigger states which already have laws in place to immediately ban abortion now that roe v wade has been overturned. one of them is arkansas — whose attorney general has this evening signed the ban into law. 0ur correspondent sophie long has had special access to an abortion clinic in the state which is now having to turn women away — and there are distressing details in her report. it was exactly the ruling they had been dreading. but the expectation didn't make the court's decision

any less devastating. abortion is murder! it's just been upheld. 0utside, they had to turn women away. this isn't a country that i ever thought i would know. i thought that this country would still care about people, would still care about women. inside, they had to come to terms with the fact that the care they provided here is now a criminal offence... i don't think there's a waiting period there, but it's about a five and a half hour drive. it's like having to turn women away, like, it sucks. jennifer thompson first came here as a patient. she says her abortion saved her life and the care she received here inspired her to train so she could do the same for others. i now have to tell them, i'm sorry but there's

nothing i can do for you. i'm sorry that your boyfriend beats you every day and that he rapes you all the time but there is nothing i can do, you have to find somewhere else to go. i can give them information and help them try but it is heartbreaking. this place saved my life, literally. for more than ten years dr willie parker has travelled here from another state because the restrictive laws and threat of violence or financial ruin has long been too great for local doctors to carry out abortions here themselves. i feel angry in a way that anyone who is deeply invested in human rights should feel angry and outraged and indignant any time they are witnessing injustice. we will come to recognise the full cost of criminalising abortion when we start to see the bump in the rise in maternal mortality and morbidity, suffering and death related to conditions that are unique to pregnancy. i put that to the woman who fought back tears ofjoy as she signed

arkansas's almost total ban of abortion into law. it makes no exception for rape or incest, a termination can only take place now in the case of maternal medical emergency. i don't know if that doctor has any facts to base that hypothetical answer on. we don't have any information to base that conclusion, that this doctor has come up with. and hopefully this law that we are putting in place specifically says to save the life of a mother. for the anti—abortion protesters outside the clinic, this is a good day. we will not fully celebrate until abortion is eradicated fully from our land, until family planning services for example are closed down and do not reopen. then we can celebrate for sure. they will continue their fight, but the supreme court's ruling will fundamentally change the course of the lives of all the women who passed the protesters every day

to provide the care they did here. along with those of millions of others across the united states. sophie long, bbc news, little rock, arkansas. 0ur north america editor sarah smithjoins us now. such a hugely consequential decision, this. what happens now? well, already several states have enacted immediate bans on abortion, and more will follow in the days and weeks to come. you heard president biden saying he thinks this is a sad day for america. even though he and the democrats control the white house and both houses of congress, there is nothing they can do about the supreme court ruling. and the democrats don't have enough votes in the senate to be able to pass a new law that would guarantee abortion rights. so, for now, president biden says what he can do is try to make sure that women who want abortions but live in states that have banned the procedure are able to travel to other places where the termination can still be performed, places like

new york state, which now says it is a safe haven for women seeking the procedure. this really radical decision that has come from this very conservative supreme court is not necessarily going to stop here. we heard one of thejustices today making it clear that he thinks that the court should now revisit some other progressive rulings, the ones that guarantee things like access to abortion, or legalise same six marriage, it is possible they could look at these and the in—built conservative majority could overturn them. there could be significant and sweeping change coming to america. there's more in the way of updates, news and analysis on bbc news 0nline — that's bbc.co.uk/news — and by using the bbc news app. now to our other main story tonight. borisjohnson has suffered a series of major political blows, with the conservatives losing two by elections in the north

and south of england — and the party's chairman resigning from the cabinet. it's the first time a governing party has lost two by—elections on the same day for over 30 years. tiverton and honiton in devon — a former tory stronghold — saw the lib dems overturning a massive 211,000 majority to take the seat. and labour regained wakefield in west yorkshire, a seat it had lost to the conservatives in 2019. following the defeats, the tory party chairman 0liver dowden resigned, saying in a letter to borisjohnson that we cannot carry on with business as usual. and the former party leader michael howard has said that mrjohnson should step down. but the prime minister, on a trip to rwanda, was defiant, saying there was more for his government to do. here's our deputy political editor vicki young. liberal democrats are getting used to toppling tories in by—elections.

but this victory broke all records. the winning candidates said voters had sent a message. your behaviour, mrjohnson, makes a mockery of leadership. by any measure, you are unfit to lead. this was one of the safest conservative seats in the country. their losing candidate couldn't get out quick enough. do you not want to say thank you to everyone? in wakefield, it was labour celebrating. at the last election, they lost dozens of seats like these that they are held for decades. they hope this is a sign they can win them back, and they think mrjohnson is helping their cause. boris johnson, your contempt for this country is no longer tolerated. as dawn broke, the conservative party chairman decided to quit. 0liver dowden's letter to his leader was polite, but pointed. "0ur supporters are distressed and disappointed by recent events and i share their feelings. we cannot carry on with

business as usual. somebody must take responsibility." and, for the first time, former conservative leader michael howard is calling on borisjohnson to do just that. i think the country needs new leadership, and i think the time has now come to provide it. his biggest asset has always been his ability to win votes. but i'm afraid yesterday's results make it clear that he no longer has that ability. the prime minister, though, is more than 6,000 miles away in rwanda, at a commonwealth get—together, and says it would be crazy for him to resign. when people are finding it tough, they send messages to politicians. and politicians have got to respond. but would he take personal responsibility for the results? people will, you know, continue to beat me up and say this or that about... and to attack me. and that's fine, that's quite right.

that is the job of politicians. in the end, voters, journalists, they have no one else to make their complaints too. i have to take that. but i also have to get on with the job of delivering for the people of this country. the conservatives have now been in power here for 12 years. there's been a pandemic, there is a cost of living crisis. not the kind of political backdrop where you'd expect a government to be doing well in by—elections. but dozens of conservative mps think that borisjohnson's leadership is making things worse, that voters are finding any way they can to punish the party. labour's path back to power is steep, but sir keir starmer insists the result in wakefield is more than a protest vote. this is hugely significant for the labour party. and i'm so proud that we can present that confident labour party, utterly focused on the voters. that's what i wanted to achieve, and this is evidence that we are on course for a labour government. the liberal democrats are

on the march in southern england. and their leader says that's partly down to mrjohnson's and popularity. down to mrjohnson's unpopularity. under borisjohnson's leadership, things keep getting worse. so let me tell the prime minister what the british people expect. they expect to be led, and to be led with decency. yes! labour have had a good win. the lib dems, a spectacular one. it's a combination which could be fatal to the conservatives' chances of staying in power. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. let's take a closer look now at the two by—election results, and the change since the general election. in 2019 the conservatives gained wakefield from labour byjust under 3,500 votes. labour had held this seat since the 1930s, and they've won it back with a majority ofjust under 5,000. but those numbers pale

by comparison with what happened in tiverton and honiton, which the tories won in 2019 with a massive majority of over 211,000 and now the liberal democrats have overturned it to take a seat they've never held before with a majority ofjust over 6,000. now, look at how the share of the vote in wakefield has changed. the tories in 2019 were over seven points ahead of labour. now labour is over 17 points ahead of the tories. and look too at the drop in the liberal democrat vote last night compared with three years ago. it does suggest an element of tactical voting by lib dem supporters. and in tiverton, the figures are even more stark. the conservatives were way ahead of both rival parties back in 2019. now the lib dems have leapfrogged labour and increased their vote share by a massive 39 points. and look again at the drop

in labour's performance. here it's their supporters who appear to have voted tactically. as for the swing — in wakefield from tory to labour it was 12.7%, and in tiverton, from tory to lib dem it was a whopping 29.9%. what would all this mean if the result in wakefield were replicated in a general election, assuming no change in other parties�* support? well, it would result in labour being one seat short of an overall majority. and if we took tiverton as a guide, the lib dems would do vastly better. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young joins us now. baring all of that in mind, where does this now leaves borisjohnson? those graphs you have been showing are what make conservative mps extremely nervous. the idea that thousands of people can switch their vote and get behind the candidate best placed to beat the tory. what

the mps will be weighing up is why is it happening. is itjust mid—term blues or is this about boris johnson, his leadership and character? he has been asked that lots of times today. he will not really engage with it, he says he has lots of work to do, he will carry on and is not going to resign. is he safe? the rules at the moment mean that for one year they can't hold another confidence vote in him but there are suggestions tonight that lots of mps might be trying to change that. the other thing that could change the dial is a senior cabinet minister walking out. no sign of that either, but it all chips away at mrjohnson's authority. lots in the party think he has to go but they don't know quite how it will happen. 1ficki quite how it will happen. vicki youn: , quite how it will happen. vicki young. thank _ quite how it will happen. vicki young, thank you. _ ukraine has begun withdrawing its forces from one of its remaining strongholds — the city of severodonetsk in the eastern luhansk area, that's according to the region's top official. it marks a significant step in the war, taking severodonetsk

would bring president putin closer to gaining control of the whole eastern donbas region, a key russian aim. from donbas, our international correspondent 0rla guerin reports. this is severodonetsk. a strategic city, once home to 100,000 people. it's been shelled for months by russian forces, who can claim a key victory here. ukraine ordered its troops to retreat from the rubble rather than die in vain. gunfire. they fought here, building to building and street to street. explosion. some of the fiercest battles of the war. but they were outgunned by russia's heavy artillery. we reached this commander, who left at dawn, under fire, pained by the retreat.

16 of his men died trying to save the city. translation: it is drenched in the blood of ukraine's - defenders, of my brothers, and mine, too. it was incredibly hard. at that moment, i felt despair. but it's ok. it's not over. 0ur leadership saved the troops to fight another day. maybe that's the right decision. i know for sure that we will be back there. his fighters in the svoboda, or "freedom" battalion are a mix of old and young... like 22—year—old sem. he got married on the 13th of this month and he was killed five days later. young as he was, he led his own unit in europe's biggest war

for more than 70 years. all volunteers, a brotherhood. the ukrainians were resourceful — they had to be — using inflatable boats to get in and out and bring supplies after all the bridges to severodonetsk were blown. but they lost this battle as they waited for advanced weapons systems from their western allies. day by day, president putin is destroying more cities and is gaining more ground in a war which nato has warned could last for years. 0rla guerin, bbc news, donbas. there's been another significant increase in covid infections — up about 300,000 in the last week. 0ur health editor hugh pym

is here to examine the numbers. yes, reeta. a sharp rise in covid infections according to the latest 0ns household survey. it suggests 1.7 million people in the uk had the virus last week. that was up 23% on the week before. and there were varying case rates in the uk's nations. scotland had the highest — one in 20 had the virus. in england it was one in a0. in wales it was one in a5. and in northern ireland it was one in 30. health officials have said today that more than half of covid cases are driven by newer strains of the 0micron variant — known as baa and ba.5 — which spread more quicky. they've stressed again the importance of getting vaccinated. we've very little evidence that it causes more severe disease. however, we are very concerned that there are a number of people, particularly in the higher risk groups, the over 75s and those that are immunosuppressed, who have not come forward for their fourth dose in the spring booster. and those people, we think,

could get the consequences of severe covid. so, we're urging people, if they've been offered their fourth dose, to come forward. so far hospital numbers remain relatively low thanks to vaccines and 0micron being milder than previous variants. this chart shows the number of daily covid hospital admissions in the uk — the dark line represents the underlying trend. around 2,500 in late march. just under 1,000 now, but rising. some, though, are patients with other conditions who've tested positive. health officials think those numbers could go up further. so how will the vaccination programme continue from here? fourth jabs are set to be available to 65—year—olds and older from the autumn, but it's not clear for those who are younger. reeta. hugh pym, thank you. a second earthquake has shaken an area in south eastern afghanistan, causing yet more death and destruction.

more than 1,000 people are known to have died in the quakes in paktika province, one of the poorest areas in one of the poorest countries in the world. from gayan, secunder kermani reports. scrambling for scraps of bread. for survivors of this earthquake, support is flowing in, but more is needed. we're in gayan district, close to the epicentre. hundreds of homes have been destroyed, families wiped out. there are still injuries to treat. this charity normally removes landmines, but now, they've set up a mobile clinic. this five—year—old had his arm trapped by rubble. there are lots of wounded children, this man tells us. 12 patients had to be flown to kabul by helicopter because they needed specialist care. nearby, we meet this man, his home reduced to rubble.

when the earthquake struck, he faced a terrible dilemma. who to save first? translation: when the ceiling fell i down, my wife cried out for help, | but my daughter was in the room with us, and i took her out first. then i went to my other children. by the time he returned to his wife, she had died. the winding dirt roads leading to the remote, worst—affected villages are now busy with trucks carrying supplies from the taliban government and humanitarian agencies. aid is arriving. the un are here, as are international charities and domestic ones. but this is a country that was already struggling with a dire economic and humanitarian crisis. the red crescent is distributing packs with essentials. blankets and cooking oil.

"we need everything, because everything we owned has been buried in the dirt," this man says. across the road, one large extended family is setting up tents they've just received, their homes destroyed. seven of their relatives were killed, including four young children. "there's no meaning to my life any more," this man tells us. "i saw my three daughters and four grandchildren die. my heart is broken. we help, we have nothing," he says. "whatever we owned has been destroyed." back by the main bazaar, now an aid depot, the crowd waiting for donations has grown. a weary population struggling with a new crisis. secunder kermani, bbc

news, paktika province. the former bbc presenter harry gration has died suddenly at the age of 71. gration's bbc career spanned more than a0 years. you know something, ijust love myjob. 0wain is with us now. so, the beast from the east. a household name in the north of england where he presented look north from 1982 until he retired two years ago, harry gration won four royal television society awards for his presenting and journalism and was well known for his love of sport and rugby league in particular. the bbc�*s director—general, tim davie, said he was an "outstanding broadcaster" and would be "hugely missed". harry gration, who died suddenly today at the age of 71. glastonbury festival's main stage opened today after three years of covid cancellations. our culture editor katie razzall has been down at worthy farm, where she spoke to wolf alice,

who won best band at this year's brits. her report contains flashing images. it's the 50th birthday party twice postponed. finally glastonbury is back. with its youngest ever headliner, billie eilish, taking to the pyramid stage. sam fender's never even been to this festival before. now he knows what it's like to perform here in front of thousands. let's have some fun. brit winners wolf alice nearly didn't make it today after their original flight from america, where they were touring, was cancelled. what is it about glastonbury that means you just don't want to miss it. everything about it, i think. especially playing on the pyramid stage is like a dream come true.