this is bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: the us supreme court overturns the landmark roe v 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. this decision to overturn national abortion rights, to overturn roe v wade, was a radical legal move. but it has no way and at the political fight over abortion. critics say the ruling is a major setback to a woman's right to choose. president biden has strongly condemned the decision. but senior republicans, including former vice president mike pence and mitch mcconnell, welcome the ruling — saying it's a victory for the unborn.

and ukraine orders its soldiers to withdraw from one of its last strongholds in the east. hello, and welcome to bbc news. 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. life won today! both: 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 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'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. yells: you are a traitor!

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 2! 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 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. thejudgement made by the supreme court ignites a fresh battle in this decades—long fight over abortion. our correspondent barbara plett—usher has sent this report from a demonstration in washington. there have been demonstrations around the country, and they continued into the night here in washington, dc. this ruling has really exposed the profound divisions in this country over abortion rights.

some states have already started to ban abortions, others will follow. some state —— states are saying they will be safe harbours for women who want abortions. both sides are gearing up for want abortions. both sides are gearing upfora want abortions. both sides are gearing up for a long and bitter politicalfight, gearing up for a long and bitter political fight, and security agencies are warning about violence. they say there has been an increase in threats of extremist attacks. this decision to overturn national abortion rights, to overturn roe v wade, was —— a radical legal move. but it has in no way and the political fight of abortion. —— over abortion. as we saw there in barbara's report, protests have been taking place since friday's ruling was announced. with me is our news reporter shelley phelps. protests around the us and around the world?— protests around the us and around the world? that's right. protests are _ around the world? that's right. protests are planned _ around the world? that's right. protests are planned in - around the world? that's right. protests are planned in 70 - protests are planned in 70 areas across the united states. they are largely led by pro—choice activists, demonstrators have been marching in new york, chicago and los angeles. we can see some pictures now people taking

to the streets in downtown los angeles. there were dozens of people outside the courthouse, one woman is there with a megaphone addressing protesters, somebody holding up an "this is not democracy" sign. the gatherings have been reported to be largely peaceful so far. if we look at misery this was the first state to ban abortion after that ruling earlier on. now, that you can see activists, both for and against about protesting side—by—side, the conservative campaign is celebrating. this is in st louis. now, abortion is in st louis. now, abortion is a hugely divisive issue in the us. there is a huge amount of passion and emotion on both sides of this debate. this ruling is likely to inflame that debate, in what many see as an increasingly polarised america. �* as an increasingly polarised america-— as an increasingly polarised america. �* america. and across the globe, world readers _ america. and across the globe, world readers have _ america. and across the globe, world readers have been - world readers have been reacting to? —— leaders. world readers have been reacting to? -- leaders. yes, canadian _

reacting to? -- leaders. yes, canadian plan _ reacting to? -- leaders. yes, canadian plan mr— reacting to? -- leaders. yes, canadian plan mrjustin - reacting to? -- leaders. yes, i canadian plan mrjustin trudeau canadian plan mrjustin trudeau described this as horrific, my british prime minister boris johnson called this a big step backwards. we have also heard from president macron of france, who says that abortion is a fundamental right. in paris we can see pictures of women taking to the streets. they say that they want to express solidarity with women in america. there was a different sentiment from the vatican. if we look at this tweet, the headquarters of the roman catholic church praising the supreme court's decision on abortion, saying in a statement it challenged the whole world to reflect on life issues. also, if we look to latin america, there has been shock and concern among commentators, with some pointing out this ruling seems at odds with some of the work that has been done there to liberalise abortion, one mexican senator vowing there would be no step back in her work to de— penalise abortion in mexico. then, if we

look to el salvador, where the anti—abortion wing is running the parliament there, they welcomed this decision and set it reinforces their claim, they say this is the dominant view on abortion.— on abortion. very interesting caettin on abortion. very interesting getting the _ on abortion. very interesting getting the reaction - on abortion. very interesting getting the reaction across i on abortion. very interesting i getting the reaction across the globe on that landmark decision. thank you very much indeed for bringing us up to date. earlier, iasked robert atkins, a mental health counsellor as chair of the mental health american association of pro—life 0b/gyn clinic, but her response to the supreme court ruling. my initial reaction is i'm very excited. i am hoping this will be a pivotal moment for our country where we can start having an honest discussion about what women do need to support their biology. what effect will this have? because we have already had many places are already putting this into action now. what are you expecting to see in states across america? as far as i know there are 13 states that had trigger laws already on the books that i only been enacted

as of today, so as soon as the ruling felt they would automatically take place. i do expect other states to follow suit and completely ban abortion, and expect some states will go the opposite direction and quantify abortion in their state. 85% of american voters think abortion should be legal in some or all circumstances. what you say those people? i would say they have every right to their opinion, i support them speaking their opinion and i think we need to have an honest discussion about what is it we want abortion to actually do, and what we think abortion actually does do? is it actually seeking the problems women are seeking it out for all it's putting the burden back on women and blaming their bodies for societal ills? this is a somewhat personal experience for you, you have experience with abortion yourself? yes, i had an abortion in the year 2000. how is that shaped your campaign are what you think about it? an it has definitely shipped my opinions on what informed consent looks like. it hasn't shaped my opinion on whether or not it should be legal, my personal belief that is based on the topic

of human rights not my personal experience but i did not get informed consent, so i am a huge advocate of if abortion is going to be legal, people need to be told honestly what happens during the procedure and who is affected by that procedure, both her and her offspring, and what the potential risks are following that procedure, what potential but if it's about b. we know the risk of complications exist if there is a pre—existing mental health conditions, so i think we should be screening for those in an effort not to try to punish women for the bed so we can provide them with informed consent if you have these pre—existing conditions, you may have a higher risk of reaction after. we want you to be well—informed and well—prepared. in some cases, in some states, in cases of incest and rape, abortion will no longer be legal. yes, in some states, those aren't causes that allow for abortion.

and what is next in your campaign, do you think that is the end of the road or will there be challenges to this? i definitely don't think it is the end of the road because my personal campaign isn't so much a legal one as it is a cultural one, so personally i want to help inform what is mental health around reproductive issues and reproductive laws. a topic that still is not addressed well in the states. there is a a lack of support for women who have talked about their grief and have been shut out of the conversation. if abortion is going to be legal we need to talk about what is it actually looked like so women can be supported throughout and after the process. we are seeing protests across the united states this is bbc 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. earlier, i spoke to grace howard, who is an assistant professor ofjustice studies at sanjose state university in grace explained how the move by the supreme court isn't surprising. it is not surprising at all. this is something we have been anticipating for years, if not decades, but it is, you know, when you see these words in print, they're kind of gloating about how they have removed what was once considered a fundamental constitutional right from about half of the population of the united states. this is a horror, this is a human rights violation, this is devastating. and what effect is it going to have? there are so many different ways we can pass that thought. in the immediate, when we talk about the research that shows this. we know what happens when people are denied an abortion that they want to have. they are more likely to go into poverty. their mental health outcomes worsen. theirfamilies go into poverty.

their existing children suffer. we know that the united states has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the developed world and we anticipate that this will rise by about 21% of the population overall, at 33% for black women who already have a dramatically elevated rate of maternal mortality. we can expect people to be put in prison and jails, we can expect people to die because they are forced to give birth to children they don't want to have an abort, to take legal risks to seek the care they deserve. we can see the process is going on in la and across the united states. it is a very divisive issue, of course. do you think this is obviously going to be challenged in various ways? what are you going to do about it, and what are people going to do about it? well, you know, as someone who studies the criminalisation of pregnancy, i am trying to inform people about what we can expect to happen next. there are already hundreds of — or thousands of people in the united states who have

been charged with crimes against their own pregnancies. we expect more of this. people need to know what the legal risks are. we are urging people to pay a lot of attention to their electronic footprint. we are trying to get the word out that we know that people will be having illegal abortions, right? banning abortion does not stop abortion, itjust stops legal abortions from happening and we want to make sure people know that the clothes hanger days are over. there are other safe ways you can legally terminate a pregnancy. i will be doing my best to get the word out about this. —— there are other safe ways you can illegally terminate a pregnancy. president biden — and other leaders globally, to be honest — say this is a dark day for the united states and has pushed the country back. do you agree? i certainly think so. something ifind incredibly alarming here is that this decision, it sits on a foundation

that they have eliminated the right to privacy and this has huge indications for other rights like contraception, non—procreative sex and families. it also has broader implications. ultimately, what the court is doing is trying to gut the 14th amendment. essentially, if something is not explicitly stated in the constitution as a right or if it is not part of their very cherry—picked understanding of the history and tradition of the nation, they are now saying it is not a constitutional right. that's huge, right? i mean, we can think about all of this privacy but going into other areas of the law that had changed after the last 300 or so years, i think about things like cruel and unusual punishment. that definition has changed dramatically. but a ruling like this essentially says, "hey, "in 1776, we were ok with using "thumbscrews to get confessions out "of 12—year—olds. "maybe we could bring that back. "there is nothing in the constitution saying "we can not. " that is essentially what the court has done here. it's terrifying. grace howard.

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 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, 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. 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.

0rla 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 one 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 0micron 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, you know, will —

could get the consequences of severe covid. so, we are urging people, if they have been offered theirfourth dose, to come forward. dr susan hopkins there. if you want to look up at the stars, one of the best places you can go is chile. its high altitude and dry atmosphere make it the perfect vantage point for astronomers. now, work is underway on a new telescope — the biggest ever made — that will bring the unknown closer than ever before. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. a building site in northern chile, but this is no ordinary building site. it's a place that could soon help us unravel some of the mysteries of the universe. it's the location of the extremely large telescope, or elt. the name may seem a little mundane but the project is anything but. translation: it's a project for the future that will allow us to reach other distances in the universe. it's a mega project. the telescope is currently the world's largest under construction.

and nothing is being left to chance. these are seismic structural dampers that will protect the elt in case of an earthquake. hundreds of finely honed mirrors will be used to build a telescope that will provide images 15 times sharper than those of the hubble space telescope. translation: the basic - questions in astronomy of 30 years ago have already been answered. with the elt, we want to answer the questions of today, not those from 30 years ago. that is why we need to build bigger and bigger telescopes to push the limits of technology. the whole project is estimated to cost nearly $1.1; billion. it won't be complete for another five years but when it is, the potential value of what it may discover could be priceless. 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... cheering. come on! ..with its youngest—ever headliner, billie eilish, taking to the pyramid stage. # i can talk to anyone. 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! cheering. 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, not that it's gone anywhere, but 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. two, three, four! now, all sorts have been marching into worthy 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 in froome were treated to a warm—up gig by an 80—year—old who clearlyjust loves being on stage. this weekend, mccartney will make history as this festival's oldest ever headliner. katie razzall, bbc news, glastonbury. that's just about it from me for now. you can get the latest on the landmark ruling by the us supreme court on our website. just visit bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. as we have been reporting through the night, a number of us states are moving to ban abortion after the supreme court strips women of their constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. more than a dozen states are governed by republicans which have triggered laws that come into effect as a result of the ruling. some democrat controlled states have said they will act as a safe havens for women seeking abortions. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @sipusey. but from me and the rest of the

team, thank you for watching and please stay tuned rightio to bbc news. —— right here. 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 2a 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—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." some high—profile us firms have already offered to fund travel

expenses for employees seeking out—of—state abortions. protests have been held outside the supreme court in washington