this is bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: the us supreme court overturns the landmark roe versus wade ruling, ending the constitutional right to an abortion that dates back nearly 50 years. the historicjudgement will transform abortion rights in america with individual states now able to ban or restrict the procedure. critics say the ruling is a major setback to a woman's right to choose. president biden has strongly condemned the decision. the court literally taking america back 150 years. this is a sad day for the country, in my view. but it doesn't mean the fight�*s over. but senior republicans — including former vice president mike pence and mitch mcconnell — welcome the ruling, saying it's a victory for the unborn.

a second earthquake has shaken an area in south—eastern afghanistan, causing yet more death and destruction. and making a comeback after the pandemic: the legendary glastonbury festival kicks off for the first time in three years. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. 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.

up to half of america's 50 states are expected to do so and 13 have already passed so—called trigger laws which automatically outlaw abortion with the court's ruling. our north america editor sarah smith reports. cheering. this is a huge, historic moment for america. cheering continues. as they hear the news from the court, there isjubilation from anti—abortionists. all chant: life won today! "life won today", they chant, celebrating a victory after almost 50 years. i've seen the devastation abortion has wrought on our country on a communal level and on 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 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's happened. so, we're going to work out of this momentum, we're going to keep going, we're going to keep fighting and we are going to build a better world. you are a traitor! 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 are 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. and 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 court's 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 an outlier among developed nations in the world. but this decision must not be the final word. come join us on the march for quality — —— come join us in the march for equality. abortion rights have been fought overfor decades. good evening. in a landmark ruling, - the supreme court today legalised abortions... in 1973, the supreme court ruled in the test case of roe v wade that women must have access to abortion across america — a decision totally reversed today. it is my profound honour to be the first president in history to attend the march for life. cheering. as president, donald trump

deliberately appointed three pro—life justices to the court, making today's ruling possible. he says god made the decision. in fact, it was six of the ninejudges. by a vote of 6—3, 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. all sing: jesus loves the little children... | anti—abortion activists view today's victory as merely a first step. they will now take their campaigns to every state which continues to allow terminations, trying to get abortion banned in the whole of the united states. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. the bbc�*s peter bowes is in california and has more on the mood among average americans, and also what the democrats could potentially to do reintroduce the right to abortion after friday's landmark ruling. this is hugely divisive,

although it's interesting that in recent surveys of public opinion, a majority have favoured the precise opposite of what the supreme court has done, and that is maintaining the abortion rights of women. so, it is going to be fascinating moving ahead, and one of the things that joe biden and other politicians have been talking about is essentially putting this issue on the ballot in november of this year, the mid—term elections and, potentially, in a couple of years' time, for the next general election in 202a. by that, what he's referring to is that clearly, the democrats will be campaigning to elect those public officials, and especially members of congress, that could ultimately see a majority in both houses large enough to pass a law in congress — a national law — that would essentially reintroduce the national right to abortion across the board. now, that's a long shot at the moment for the democrats,

given the current political make—up, but such is the strength of feeling that it is possible, it is feasible that it could become such an issue — such an issue, i think, perhaps growing in speed towards those elections that it could influence the electorate, i think, quite a lot. and it's going to affect millions of women and it already has, like, right away in many states, right? yes, it has. we've heard about those trigger states, some of which have already, essentially, introduced the ban on abortion. we just heard from the governor of california there. what we didn't hear, what's also interesting about what he'as been doing — he has signed a law here in california to protect abortion providers and, indeed, women from potential civil lawsuits from other states that have banned abortion. and that's a pre—emptive strike. the likelihood — we are expecting thousands of extra women to come

into california from other states where abortion has been banned. of course, the right to an abortion is preserved and enshrined in the constitution of california but the danger and the fear is that there will be civil litigation from other states against individuals in this state. so, the california state is moving, as a pre—emptive strike, to protect those women. and what it is doing, essentially, there could be some very messy legal times ahead, but it is essentially pitting one state against another. peter bowes speaking to me earlier. in utah, trigger ban laws are ready to be implemented resulting from the supreme court ruling. karrie galloway, the ceo and president of planned parenthood organisationjoined us from utah. we asked how does she, her staff and her patients feel today? obviously, devastated. beleaguered for the past six weeks while — since the trial — the opinion was leaked.

it's been a tough day but we've made it through the day. the process in this state is that the ruling from the upper court must be certified. we had a waiting room of women all day long in need of reproductive healthcare and we were able to serve everyone today. it could be certified tonight, it could be certified tomorrow, but we made it through today, serving women. and you're staying positive, of course, but what effect has this had — i mean, obviously, in the short, medium term and the long—term, just today, people are struggling as a result of this, right? 0h, people are struggling. they're calling in tears, as your previous interviewees have said, not knowing what to do. in utah, it's seven hours to the closest clinic outside of utah for people to get access to care. planned parenthood will still be here for those who qualify

through exemptions and we will still be here for basic birth control, family planning, helping people get pregnant and information, education and fighting for their rights. it's only the access to abortion that has been touched today by the supreme court ruling. it sounds very much like you're not giving up, karrie. oh, no! what is your next move? planned parenthood... what do you do now? well, we have to educate people. we have to harness people's anger and frustration that they have to change the people who they voted for. they have to change the policy makers. we have to do that up and down the ballot for the people we send to washington, for the people we send here to the capital, behind me, in salt lake. and we have to get people speaking out.

we've done polls and the majority of people in utah do not believe in what happened today. and how do you see in morale because, of course, it is going to be a tough day for you and america is pretty split on many issues, but this is obviously a tough moment for you — how do you see morale and how do you see people sort of affected by this decision, and what are they saying? morale is down but we've got to harness that. we've got to harness it into action. over half the population of the united states lost a right today to control their own body. they've turned it over to politicians. we must harness that frustration into action because we just can't live this way. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: glastonbury festival kicks off with hundreds of thousands of revellers set to enjoy a weekend of music.

with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge fireworks display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's 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. i for the first time in 20 years, i russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit - at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. cheering and applause. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 31! years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson

and his crew. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the us supreme court overturns the landmark roe versus wade ruling, ending the constitutional right to an abortion that dates back nearly 50 years. the historicjudgement will transform abortion rights in america with individual states now able to ban or restrict the procedure. staying with that now. earlier, i spoke tojohn seago, the president of texas right to life, for his organisation's perspective on the roe versus wade ruling. the pro—life movement is kind of in shock, but also celebrating this phenomenal accomplishment from the pro—life movement in texas. and obviously

it's a big win for you. do you have any kind of, sort of feelings towards the many, many millions of women who do not now have that right to abortion? this is a huge accomplishment, something that the movement has been working towards, but, yes, as the supreme court put it today, this is a profound moral question. there's still a lot of cultural conversation, a lot of discussion here in the united states about — what are our obligations to pregnant women? our view, as pro—lifers, we believe that elective abortion is unethical, but we still have obligations to the women, so we want to support the woman without recommending that causing the death of her child is her best option. it's a hugely divisive issue in america, of course. and is this something you have and campaigning for many years for? yes, the pro—life movement has been working for this movement for the last 50 years,

and in texas, we have been one of the most bold states in trying to push the line, and pass laws that will raise important questions for the supreme court to look at, and they've avoided looking directly at the ethics at the heart of the issue of elective abortion until now. and they're looking and saying it was an egregious error back in �*73 for the supreme court to rule on this for every single state, and today, they reversed that opinion. and what do you make of global reaction? you have quite a few world leaders coming out and saying this is a step back for the united states. in our view, this is not a step back. american history is about expanding more and more protections, and more and more rights to more and different populations. and, so, that has a long history of having an ideal ofjustice and liberty that has not been accessible for every american, every individual within our borders, and american history is a long march to expand that. we believe that

pre—born children — they�* re human, science tells us they are human, science tells us that they're individual human beings, and we believe that means they deserve our moral attention. so we think this is progressive, in protecting more americans. other news now, 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 orla 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. 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. our 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. gunfire 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 gaining more ground in a war which nato has warned could last for years. orla guerin, bbc news, donbas. the latest figures in the uk suggest covid cases are continuing to rise across the country. an estimated 1.7 million people had coronavirus last week, around 1 in 35 of the population. that's a jump of 23% from the previous week. health officials have said that more than half of covid cases are driven by newer strains of the omicron variant, baa and ba.5, which spread more quickly. they've stressed again the importance of getting vaccinated. we've very little evidence that it causes more severe disease. however, we are concerned that there are a number of people, particularly in the higher risk groups, the over 75s or those

that are immunosuppressed who haven't come forward for their fourth dose of the spring booster, and those people we think, they could get the consequences of severe covid. so, we are urging people, if they have been offered theirfourth dose, to come forward. susan hopkins there. 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 were 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. "when the ceiling fell 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 having been destroyed. seven of their relatives were killed, including four young children. "there's no meaning to my life anymore," this man tells us. "i saw my three daughters and four grandchildren die. "my heart is broken. "we need 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. billie eilish has used her headline set at the glastonbury festival to address the us supreme court's decision to end the constitutional right to abortion. before her performance on the pyramid stage, the 20—year—old singer said it was a dark day for women in the us. the world—famous music festival's main stage opened today after three years of covid cancellations. a warning — this report by our culture editor katie razzall 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 didn't want to miss it? everything about it, i think, i mean, especially playing on the pyramid stage. it's like...a dream come true. i think every gig we've played since, well, post—covid, no—one has gone anywhere. since we have been allowed to play live, it has been fever pitch. 200,000 people here in the city that springs up

from the somerset countryside. but for three long years, the cows have had this place to themselves. now, all sorts have been marching into the farm. i'm just excited to be free for five days from anything else in the world. you could go here, your mum could go here, do you know what i mean? it's great. it's great to be back - in a place where everyone is having a good time, especially with last. three years, it's been an absolute myth. sir paul mccartney is the headline act tomorrow. tonight, 15 miles away, a few hundred lucky souls were treated to a warm—up gig by an 80—year—old who clearly loves being on stage. this weekend, mccartney will make history as this festival's oldest ever headliner. katie razzall, bbc news, glastonbury. that bbc news, glastonbury. is about it from me for 110w. that is about it from me for now. our bbc news website is updated 21! hours a day. just visit bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. all the news we brought you today, including the historic judgement which will transform

abortion rights in america. individual states now able to ban or restrict the procedure. that is it from me. hello. plenty of fine weather around this weekend, but showers in the forecast too. however, some of us may miss them altogether and end up with a dry weekend. but i will add that around coastal areas, it could be windy at times and feel a little on the cool side. now, this changeable weather is brought by an area of low pressure, which will basically park itself over ireland, it's already arrived, and the showers are becoming more frequent across some western areas. that is they will be through the course of the next 21! hours. now, we've had some showers in the last few hours. they will continue through early saturday morning across parts of western scotland, but generally speaking, it's a dry end to the night for many of us with clear spells and with temperatures ranging from around 10 to 15 degrees, so not particularly cold first

thing in the morning. so, let's have a look at the forecast for saturday then. here's our area of low pressure with clouds and showers swirling around. this is a cool atlantic breeze, so around these coastal areas here of cornwall, devon, round the coasts of wales, the irish sea and into scotland, it will be chilly. temperatures around 15 or 16 degrees in some spots. basically, the further east you are, the sunnier and warmer it'll be. and remember — out towards the west, always a chance of catching some showers, even some heavy ones, notjust through the afternoon, but into the evening hours, and they'll have a tendency to drift northwards carried by that breeze circling this area of low pressure. that was saturday. this is sunday. and look at this — even some persistent rain for a time expected in northern ireland and around some of these western parts of the uk. further east, dry and brighter and, in fact, in east anglia and the south—east and probably along the south coast of england, it should be a mostly sunny day on sunday. here, temperatures up to 23 degrees in one or two spots, but more typically, we're talking about the mid or high

teens a little bit further towards the west. and this low pressure is still with us early next week, but what happens is it actually moves away and another one takes its place, bringing spells of rain to western parts of the uk once again. so, overall, we are in a spell of fairly unsettled weather. now, here's the outlook for some of our major cities, and you can see the further north and west you are, the more changeable it is with these showers. the best of the weather will always be further south and south—east. have a good weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: millions of women in the united states have lost the constitutional right to have an abortion after the supreme court overturned a 50—year—old ruling that legalised the procedure nationwide. the conservative—dominated court voted 5—4 to set aside the long—established precedent, known as roe v wade. president biden said he was stunned by the ruling, saying it was cruel and driven by extremism that set america back to the 19th century. he pledged to help women to cross state lines for an abortion and urged voters to put personal freedoms on the ballot. his predecessor, donald trump, who appointed three of the conservative judges, welcomed the ruling

as "god's work."