welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines... mikhail gorbachev, the last leader of the soviet union, has died at the age of 91. monsoon on steroids — the united nations launches an emergency appeal to help pakistan deal with the worst flooding in the country's history. had the floods not come, they would have something to take to market us out they would have a way of looking after themselves. and yet now, they have to sit on the side of the road and wait for food to be in iraq, shia cleric moqtada al sadr calls for calm after dozens are killed in clashes in baghdad, as his supporters stormed government buildings. and abortion injapan —

how men are still dominating the argument. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. mikhail gorbachev, the last leader of the soviet union, has died at the age of 91. he oversaw economic reforms known as perestroika — and political ones known as glasnost or openness — which led to the break—up of the soviet union in 1991, and the end of the cold war. russian president vladimir putin has expressed "deep sympathies". our russia editor steve rosenberg looks back at a historic life. he was the kind of russian leader of the world had never seen. mikhail gorbachev

smiled, he was relaxed. in the west, he acquired almost pop—star status for helping to end the cold war. but at home, it was a different story. born in the days of dictator josef stalin, gorbachev became a committed communist, rising fast through the ranks of the soviet communist party to the ruling politburo. gorbachev stood out — he was young, energetic, unlike his colleagues. as kremlin old—timers died in quick succession, the ussr was looking more like a cemetery than a superpower. but in 1985, gorbachev became leader and launched perestroika — reforms to reinvigorate the soviet union. at home, there were western—style walkabouts. abroad, he charmed an iron lady and a us president. together, gorbachev and reagan

slashed their nuclear arsenals. with a reformer in the kremlin, eastern europe saw a chance to break free from moscow. when the berlin wall fell, crucially gorbachev refused to intervene to prop up the iron curtain. by now, his own country was breaking apart amid ethnic conflicts and economic chaos. gorbachev was losing control. in august 1991, communist hardliners staged a coup. it collapsed — but soon after, so did the soviet union.

president gorbachev resigned and the ussr was consigned to history. many russians still blame gorbachev for letting a superpower slip away. some of what he changed didn't last — the arms race and geopolitical tension are back. gorbachev will be remembered for at least having tried to end the rivalry between east and west. but i will remember him for this. after one interview, he invited me to play his piano while he sang the favourite songs of his late wife. it was a surreal but special moment that showed the warm, human side of the russian leader who'd struck a chord with millions around the world. mikhail gorbachev, who has

died at the age of 91. i asked our russia editor steve rosenberg what people in the country will remember about the former leader. well, many russians blame mikhail gorbachev for the collapse of the soviet union. many see him as having been a weak leader, someone who couldn't keep control of the reforms he started that spun out of control and lead to the disintegration of the soviet empire. but the fact is that when mikhail gorbachev set out in the mid—80s to try to reform the ussr, there was no textbook he could pick up entitled how to reform the soviet communist superpower. he tried his best — i think his heart was in the right place, he wanted to change his country for the best and, crucially, he wanted to build a more peaceful world, he believed in peace. he wanted to do everything he could to prevent the cold war turning hot — and he achieved for that, he helped at the cold war.

the situation we have now more than 30 years on is very different — we have an administration in russia which is determined to raise conflict and confrontation with the west. in many ways, vladimir putin is the polar opposite of mikhail gorbachev. now mr gorbachev has been very sick for some time and out of the public eye, but had he commented at all

we will certainly learn from our experience, but i think the global community should stand by us today. it is a yawning gap between our requirements and what we are receiving till this point in time. as the water begins to recede from here, the scale of the challenge of rebuilding is becoming clearer, both for ordinary families and for the country, with the economy already in a dire state. this is a disaster whose impact will be felt for years to come. secunder kermani, bbc news, nowshera.

down below, a food crisis is brewing and stand when the aid does arrive, the need is so great fight for it. not only people that have been hit by the floods. the government estimates that 80% of livestock has been killed. translation: isa is a hard decision but i need to keep them alive. if i don't, i will survive. to keep them alive. ifi don't, i will survive.— i will survive. but it's not “ust i will survive. but it's not just animal— i will survive. but it's not just animal feed -

i will survive. but it's not just animal feed that's i i will survive. but it's not - just animal feed that's become expensive. basic food is increased, too, making it unaffordable for many people. across the road from the buffaloes, we met this family of 15 living in a tent. "we were farmers back home and now everything is gone." some days the children don't eat it all. they said they would have a way of looking out for themselves.

on this dirt road to nowhere, the people can go for days without eating. for many of this families, food is there lost hope —— aid is there lost hope. there are fears that millions will go hungry. still to come on the programme: calm returns to the iraqi capital baghdad, as the influential cleric moqtada al sadr asks his followers to call off their protests after dozens of people were killed. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins

and take them back home. parents are waiting, and wives are waiting. hostages appeared — some carried, some running — trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today. described by all to whom she i reached out as "irreplaceable", an early morning car crash| in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, - warmth and compassion. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. our main headlines... the last leader of the soviet

union, mikhail gorbachev, has died at the age of 91. he was seen as one of the architects of the end of the cold war. let's get more on the death of mikhail gorbachev. i'm joined now by daniel treisman, who's a professor of political science at ucla, and author of the return: russia's journey from gorbachev to medvedev. he joins me from los angeles. we haven't seen much of president gorbachev in the last couple years, but our colleagues said he wasn't disappointed by the war in ukraine. tell us a little bit about his influence on vladimir putin. what was their relationship like? putin. what was their relationshi like? ., . relationship like? from what we know, he relationship like? from what we know. he had — relationship like? from what we know, he had no _ relationship like? from what we know, he had no influence - relationship like? from what we know, he had no influence on i know, he had no influence on him. you have to remember that 2105 most formative moment was

the collapse of the soviet union. that traumatised putin and clearly, he couldn't help but blame the soviet leader in charge at that time. he referred it to as the great it political prosody —— greatest political prosody —— greatest political catastrophe. they had a respectful relationship on the surface, and i know that gorbachev at times tried to influence putin. i don't think putin really took seriously anything that gorbachev had to say. anything that gorbachev had to sa . , ,., . anything that gorbachev had to sa. , say. president gorbachev was a reformer and _ say. president gorbachev was a reformer and it _ say. president gorbachev was a reformer and it didn't _ say. president gorbachev was a reformer and it didn't work - say. president gorbachev was a reformer and it didn't work out | reformer and it didn't work out for many russians who believe that he didn't follow through, but it was also a global recession at the time. that might the case, do you think the ussr would have survived?

no, i think there were chronic problems in the soviet union. what triggered the crisis that led to the ultimate disintegration was gorbachev�*s reforms. he's really a paradoxicalfigure because reforms. he's really a paradoxical figure because he's undeniably one of the greatest statesmen of the late 20th century, one of the people who influenced history in a very positive way. butjust about everything he tried to do at home was a failure. he wanted to revive communism, he was a convinced socialist, communism died on his watch and he wanted to revitalise the communist economy and it collapsed. he wanted to keep the soviet union intact to preserve the soviet state, and he wanted to lead the soviet people — but it turns out they had other ideas. so in a sense, everything you tried to do failed, and what

was truly great in her oak about him was the way he accepted that and adjusted and didn'tjust reach for force in order to reverse the outcome. so it's a reminder of how greatness can come not from delivered successes, but excepting mistakes and failures which can have tremendously positive outcomes. he which can have tremendously positive outcomes.— which can have tremendously positive outcomes. he may have been a failure _ positive outcomes. he may have been a failure at _ positive outcomes. he may have been a failure at home, - positive outcomes. he may have been a failure at home, but - positive outcomes. he may have been a failure at home, but in i been a failure at home, but in western history books he's regarded more as a hero for the fall of the wall. just describe for me very quickly their relationship with margaret thatcher and president ronald reagan. thatcher and president ronald reaaan. �* , thatcher and president ronald reaaan. v . , reagan. it's really quite extraordinary _ reagan. it's really quite extraordinary that - reagan. it's really quitei extraordinary that these leaders on the right in the west would find real rapport and mutual respect with the leader of the soviet union. but this happened very quickly in

both cases, and it led to the kind of understanding that made possible dramatic decreases in nuclear arms on the western and soviet sides in that period. i think margaret thatcher was one of the people who convinced the reagan administration that they should take seriously the initiatives coming from gorbachev early on. she saw very quickly that he was a completely different type of soviet leader, a new, open—minded statesmen — although still committed to socialism and the soviet system. so it's that early relationship with thatcher and the bond he forged with reagan later on that were tremendously important to the history of the late 20th century. we important to the history of the late 20th century.— important to the history of the late 20th century. we will have to leave it _ late 20th century. we will have to leave it there, _ late 20th century. we will have to leave it there, thank - late 20th century. we will have to leave it there, thank you. i

iraq's president, barham saleh, has addressed the nation after nearly 2a hours of violence that's left dozens dead and hundreds injured in the capital baghdad. mr saleh said that he thought early elections could help resolve the high political tensions. iraq has had no functioning government since inconclusive elections last october. caroline hawley reports. in the centre of baghdad, a second day of deadly violence. here, a rocket—propelled grenade being fired. the worst fighting iraq has been in years. the country's political crisis erupted into street battles on monday. supporters of the powerful cleric moqtada al sadr, who gained the most seats in elections last year against rival shia factions backed by neighbouring iran. both groups have been fighting for power and resources. these are moqtada al sadr�*s supporters on monday after they'd stormed into the republican palace inside iraq's well—protected green zone — briefly enjoying this unaccustomed luxury

before, on tuesday, he apologised and announced he wanted them out. translation: | had hoped . for peaceful protests with pure hearts, hearts filled with love for their country, not ones that resort to gunfire. this saddens the revolution, as this revolution now resembles violence and killing. it is no longer a revolution. and so, his loyal followers obeyed — leaving the green zone as he'd demanded, stood down — calm restored and a clear—up under way. but there are questions now about what both neighbouring iran and its allies, and moqtada al sadr will do next. sadr, for all his imaginations, is really more of a nationalist, certainly, than he is iranian—influenced. the divisions and rivalry that led to this bloodshed have not been resolved, and the president has now warned that iraq isn't out of crisis yet. translation: the current

situation is no longer - acceptable and cannot continue. holding new early elections i in accordance with the national consensus represents an exit from this crisis instead - of political confrontation. it guarantees political and social stability . and response to the aspirations of the iraqi people. _ but as long as the political stalemate goes on, iraqis will fear a new wave of violence when most people in the countryjust want security and peace. caroline hawley, bbc news. now, while arguments rage in the united states over the repeal of roe vs wade, injapan — a much less noisy debate is going on over the legalisation of "medically—induced abortions". in may, a senior health official told parliament the ministry was finally set to approve an abortion pill combination. from tokyo our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports.

this japanese woman became pregnant after her boyfriend repeatedly refused to use a condom during sex. she then had to ask his permission to get an abortion, which he didn't want to give. translation: it's strange that i had to ask him - to use contraception — and when he decided to not use a condom, i needed permission from him to abort the baby. i felt completely powerless. i couldn't make my own decision about my own body. japan was one of the first countries in the world to legalise abortion all the way back in 19118. but it's always had this very paternalistic twist — japanese women must get the written consent of their husband or partner. well, now japan is finally set to approve the so—called abortion pill — something that's been available in france since 1988, and britain since 1991. but japan�*s health ministry says women will still need

the consent of their partner — and it'll be very expensive, perhaps as much as $700—800 us. this doctor spends most of his time treating women who want to be pregnant, but he will also prescribe the new abortion pill and says they are good reasons for making it expensive. translation: in japan, | if you take these abortion pills, you have to be kept in hospital so we can monitor the patient. if something happens, then a nurse can help you. it takes even more time than a surgical abortion. sexual health activists like asuka disagree — she's designed this kit to teach japanese schoolchildren how not to get pregnant. asuka says there's still huge resistance from japan�*s male dominated elite to women getting proper sexual education, modern contraception, and easy access to abortion.

translation: it takes two people to get pregnant - i and yet injapan, it feels like the only person who's persecuted is the one with the ovaries. a lot of decisions are made by old men whose bodies will never carry a child. they need to be listening to the voices of women. activists note it has takenjapan over 30 years to approve the abortion pill — but took just six months to approve the male impotency pill viagra. and they say japanese women will never have control of their own bodies while they must ask men for permission to end an unwanted pregnancy. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. that's all for now — you can also keep up with latest developments on the bbc news website. stay with bbc world news.

hello there. i'm sure many people have been making the most of this generally dry weather with some sunshine — we had a lot of sunshine actually around on tuesday, and we've got more of the same for today. we start, though, with temperatures on the whole in double figures early on wednesday morning. but it'll be a bit colder, i think in the northeast of scotland, could be down to 3—4 celsius here. now many places will start wednesday, dry and sunny, but there's cloud coming in off the north sea to bring a few showers into the far north of england, and with the cloud bubbling up in eastern england, there could be the odd, light shower here. but on the whole, it'll be dry for england and wales. quite windy in the south, especially through the english channel. not as windy for scotland and northern ireland, a sunnier day than it was on tuesday — but temperatures not changing very much, so again, we're likely to make 2a in southern parts of england and south wales. now high pressure extends

all the way down from the arctic circle, and that's keeping it generally fine and dry. the fly in the ointment on thursday is that area of low pressure and weather fronts that threatens to bring some heavier showers, notjust for the channel islands, but now perhaps into the far southwest of england. otherwise, some lengthy spells of sunshine, some patchy cloud bubbling up here and there, probably not quite as windy for southern areas. it may be a bit warmer widely, temperatures into the low—to—mid—20s on thursday. so, we've got a couple more days of this quiet, largely dry weather with some sunshine, but by the end of the week and into the weekend, things may look a little different — we've got some rain in the forecast. and that's because pressure will be falling — we've got this low pressure heading up towards the english channel weather fronts sliding in from the atlantic, and the two sort of bumping into each other and combining. so, we'll find some patchy rain coming into the northwest of the uk. these showers, though, moving up from the south, from the english channel, look a little more widespread. some of them could be heavy and possibly thundery. there'll still be some sunshine away from those showers, and those temperatures peaking

again at the mid—20s. now, we started the week with high pressure, we'll end the week with low pressure — and that low pressure will be dominant into the weekend, as well. central and to the west of the uk, a couple of weather fronts on the scene. no doubt those will come to rest in a slightly different place, but you've got this idea of a couple of bands of wet weather that could be heavy and thundery. some sunshine either side of that and a bit of warmth still, but some stronger winds will keep most of the rain away from scotland. 20 celsius here, 2a in the southeast.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. how should society deal with the perpetrators of horrific crimes — the child killers, the serial murderers, sadists and those who commit acts of extreme sexual violence? well, a starting point is whether such people are inherently evil or whether they are sick.