welcome to bbc news, i'm mark lobel. our top stories. michael gorbachev, who has died aged 91, is being remembered as a man of courage. he helped to end the cold war, he's being praised the world over, but wasn't as successful with radical reforms back home, where many blame him for the collapse of the soviet union. pakistan is facing a monsoon on steroids — so says the un as they launch an emergency appeal to help deal with the worst flooding in the country's history. had the floods not come, they would have something to take to market. 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 delivered. a cargo of hope — the first

shipment of grain to africa since the ukraine conflict began has arrived in the republic of djibouti. and meghan markle tells a us magazine that she upset the dynamics of britain's royal hierarchy, just by existing. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. mikhail gorbachev, the last leader of the soviet union, has died at the age of 91. he made it his mission to push for perestroika — political and economic reforms to kick start the russian economy, and set the goal for glasnost — more openness and transparency in the policies of the state and judicial system. he oversaw enormous changes, namely the break—up of

the soviet union in 1991, and the end of the cold war. russian president vladimir putin, who had a sharply divergent view of how things should be done, has expressed his "deep sympathies". our russia editor steve rosenberg looks back at an historic life. he was the kind of russian leader 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. in the last few hours, world leaders have been paying their respects to mr gorbachev. french president emmanuel macron described him as a man of peace whose choices opened a path to freedom for russians. saying his commitment to peace in europe changed our common history. borisjohnson, uk prime minister, said he "always admired the courage and integrity gorbachev showed in bringing the cold war to a peaceful conclusion", and that, "in a time of putin's aggression in ukraine, gorbachev�*s tireless commitment to opening up soviet society remains an example to us all."

ursula von der leyen, president of the european commission, remebered him as a trusted and respected leader who played a crucial role to end the cold war, bring down the iron curtain and open the way for a free europe. she said his legacy is one we will not forget. antonio guterres, the un secretary general, praised mikhail gorbachev as "a one—of—a—kind statesman who changed the course of history." he said, "the world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace." we can now speak to dr evelyn farkas, who was deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, and eurasia under the obama administration. she joins us from washington. ijust want i just want to start by focusing on the importance of personality politics that gorbachev represented. margaret

thatcher told ronald reagan this was a bad they could do business with. i want to start by getting your thoughts on gorbachev�*s legacy in shaping the global political climate at the global political climate at the time he was around, and the end of the cold war.— end of the cold war. gorbachev was somebody _ end of the cold war. gorbachev was somebody who _ end of the cold war. gorbachev was somebody who came - end of the cold war. gorbachev was somebody who came into l was somebody who came into political power within the communist system after khrushchev and some of the dogma related to stalinism, the brutal time in the 30s and 40s when stalin killed millions of his own people and others. khrushchev started to loosen the reins a bit and take down the reins a bit and take down the cult of stalinism. when gorbachev rose through the ranks, he started to have access to literature. low readings, the american

constitution. and i think he was a bright man who understood that his country was rotting economically. those were the things he initially addressed. and of course, history, and again the stalinist period has not yet been fully reckoned with, he opens the door to that and opened the door to democracy. i would say personality matters, he was really charismatic and he understood the west probably because of his readings and because of his readings and because that was his dna. i work for the mccain institute. senator mccain himself was a leader and a statesman. really change the course of history... he tried to domestically open up economic reforms at home, it was delightful for the liberals but... inaudible question. he succeeded in bringing about massive change, but the old

communist system, the centralised autocratic system controlled by the party disappeared. there was a period where people thought russia could become a democratic state, a fully fledged democracy. boris yeltsin came to power. the problem, it was very hard to manage the transition. a lot of analysis as to who failed, whether the west didn't pay enough attention, didn't help enough economically, or providing too much of a shock to the system... regardless, when vladimir putin took power, things began to shift. absolutely... vladimir putin has expressed his deepest condolences. his death was announced on russian tv, albeit briefly and then they went back to normal programming. the popularity of vladimir putin within russia, the changes he

has undone, suggests that gorbachev wasn't very popular with people living in russia today. it with people living in russia toda . . , with people living in russia toda. , , ., today. it was because of the shi - , today. it was because of the ship. the — today. it was because of the ship, the transition - today. it was because of the ship, the transition was - today. it was because of the ship, the transition was too | ship, the transition was too much for the russian people. economically they suffered tremendously. —— because of the shift. as russia tried to become a capitalist society. gorbachev was never able to address that. he lost power. after boris yeltsin, putin came into power. in about 2011, when he was re—elected, he started to really become neo— imperial. he essentially started to re—establish communism and the history of the soviet union as something that was glorious. others had said that while they were still patriotically, they understood that there were blemishes, problems with their

history. putin is trying to paper that over and under ukrainian independence, frankly. ukrainian independence, frankl. . ~ ukrainian independence, frankl. ., ~ ukrainian independence, frankl. ., ukrainian independence, frankl. . . ukrainian independence, frankl. ., . ., frankly. thank you so much for “oininu frankly. thank you so much for joining us- _ to the flooding in pakistan now, and the united nations has launched an emergency appeal to help victims of what the un secretary general called a "monsoon on steroids". pakistan's government says the floods are the worst in the nation's history. in a moment, we'll get the latest from pumza fihlani in the southern city of sukkur, but first, secunder kermani reports from the north—western town of nowsherah. along one of pakistan's busiest motorways, a makeshift camp. poor families forced from their homes, floodwater submerging everything they own. "i'm in so much pain, i can't even express it," says this woman. "we've even lost our honour. where else can we go?" wading through the suburbs of the northern city of nowshera, families trying

to reach their homes. "we haven't been able to get to our house. just look at the road," says this woman. "how can we get there? no—one is helping us." this man, a chef, hasjust returned to his home. will you be able to buy these things again and rebuild this house? no, he says, i'mjust asking god to help for now. we have nothing left, we couldn't save anything, just our children's lives. look at all of this. livelihoods have been lost and billions of pounds of damage done to the country's infrastructure. wejoin a rescue boat transporting engineers, repairing an electricity line serving 200,000 people. floods happen during the monsoon here every year, but not like this.

pakistan is responsible only for a tiny proportion of global emissions, but its people here who are paying the price for climate change. at a press briefing, the prime minister denied allegations his government had initially been slow to act, appealing for more international help. 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. everywhere you look, there is still water. down below, a food crisis is brewing in pakistan. the truck queues are so long they disappear into the horizon. they help keep life moving, delivering food, petrol, and even aid. when the aid does arrive, the need is so great... inaudible. and it's not only people that have been hit by the floods. 80% of livestock has been killed. forthose 80% of livestock has been killed. for those who depend on agriculture, the threat of starvation.

translation: the food has been expensive since the flood started, and i have to sell four of them just to buy food for the rest. it was a hard decision, but i need to keep them alive. if i don't, i won't survive. it's not only animal feed that has gone up — food prices, too. it is unaffordable for many people. across the road from the buffaloes, we meet this cotton farmer. herfamily of 15 live in this tent. their crops were all lost to water. "we were farmers back home, and now everything is gone," she tells me. "we don't even have food for the children. "some days, they sleep hungry. life is difficult," she says. many of the people here are farmers. they work every day for long hours, taking care of their land. it's something they take great pride in. but when the floods came, it took that away from them. the people that you see behind me were cotton farmers, and they also farmed maize. they told me that, had

the floods not come, they would have something to take the market and would have a way to look after themselves. now they have to sit on the side of the road and wait for food to be delivered. on this dirt road to nowhere, the people can go for days without eating. when a food truck comes, there is another scramble. for many of these families, aid is their last hope, but there are fears that millions will go hungry. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: calm returns to the iraqi capital baghdad as the influential cleric moqtada al—sadr asks his followers to call off their protests. 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 bbc news, our main headline this hour. the last leader of the soviet union, mikhail gorbachev,

has died at the age of 91. along with president reagan, he helped bring an end to the cold war. more now on russia's invasion of ukraine. the first shipment of grain from ukraine to africa since the war began has arrived in the republic of djibouti. it follows a deal brokered by turkey and the un to open a corridor for food shipments. on board are 23,000 tonnes of wheat bound for ethiopia, which is experiencing its worst drought in a0 years. 0ur correspondent catherine byaruhanga sent this report from djibouti. coming from war—torn southern ukraine, the wheat on this ship is destined to help people facing their own humanitarian crises. this is one of africa's biggest ports but this is the first shipment to arrive from the black sea since russia's invasion of ukraine. it's a massive operation, to off—load 23,000 tonnes of grain and get it

to neighbouring ethiopia. it's humid and sticky here and i'm getting covered in wheat chaff. it is in the air here, it's everywhere. it's being loaded onto these massive conveyor belts and you can see the workers here putting it into white bags and onto trucks. they say they are working quicker than usual and that is because they know there are people who really need this food right now. though commercial shipments have left ukraine over the past month, this is the first humanitarian cargo. the united nations world food programme paid for it to get here. it is giving confidence to the market that food can move from ukraine to eastern africa and across the continent. we have already seen, since the black sea initiative commenced, a 15% decrease in commodity prices. we are hopeful, as this operation continues, that we will see further decreases.

this grain is meant to feed over a million people in ethiopia where conflict, especially in the north of the country, has left people facing hunger. and the worst drought forfour decades means communities cannot grow food or feed their livestock. even camels are dying. shabana ishmael is trying to save his last one. translation: i am a pastoralist. - i was one of the successful pastoralists. i had 15 camels. 14 of them died, one by one, and i'm only left with this one. this drought stretches to most countries in east africa, especially somalia and kenya. three—year—old abe has recovered from a lack of food but here in northern kenya, nearly 900,000 children under five are acutely malnourished. this first shipment of grain

from ukraine is a symbolic step and offers some relief, but it's not clear yet if any other ships will follow its lead. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, djibouti. iraq's president, barham salih, has addressed the nation after nearly 2a hours of violence that's left dozens dead and hundreds injured in the capital baghdad. mr salih 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 vying 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 machinations, 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 responds 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. the duchess of sussex has told an american magazine that she upset the "dynamic of the hierarchy" of the royal

family "just by existing." the interview comes more than two years after she and prince harry stepped back from their royal duties and left the uk. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it's the latest expression of the truth according to meghan — a 6,000 word article, based on an interview she's done with an american magazine called the cut in which she reflects on her departure from the british royal family. looking back to the few months she spent with the windsors as a working royal, she says of her and prince harry, "just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy." she doesn't explain what she meant. there was an ambiguous reference to family relationships. she told the interviewer, "harry said to me, i lost my dad in this process." according to sources, meghan was there referring to her broken relationship with her own father, rather than to harry's relationship

with prince charles. and then to forgiveness. did she have room for forgiveness between her, the royalfamily and her own family? "it takes a lot of effort to forgive," meghan said. "i've really made an active effort, especially knowing that i can say anything." so, how will this latest intervention go down? there is a huge amount of respect, particularly in america, for the queen. so, actually, there's an argument that this could backfire. america is a conservative country, it has a lot of respect for the monarchy and a lot of respect for the notion of family. so, this idea of constantly firing salvos at your in—laws doesn't prove universally popular. meghan�*s many fans will doubtless applaud her candour. others may hope for a period of dignified silence. nicholas witchell, bbc news. british tennis player emma raducanu has lost

she is out of the us open, losing 6—3, 6—3. 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. 0therwise, 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, the headlines: mikhail gorbachev, the last leader of the soviet union, who brought the cold war to a peaceful end, has died aged 91. world leaders have been paying tribute — a kremlin spokesman said president putin had expressed his deepest condolences, and borisjohnson said that he always admired mr gorbachev�*s "courage and integrity". pakistan is facing "a monsoon on steroids", the un's secretary general has warned, after floods submerged a third of the country. antonio guterres urged the world to come to pakistan's aid as he launched an emergency appeal to help the tens of millions affected in the disaster. a shipment of grain from ukraine has arrived in port in djibouti. it's the first such cargo to be sent to the horn of africa region since

the russian invasion. the vessel was chartered by the world food programme,