welcome to bbc news, i'm mark lobel. our top stories. tributes to mikhail gorbachev, the last leader of the soviet union, who's died aged 91 — 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, 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. changes to abortion

legislation injapan — but why are men still dominating the argument? 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 breakup of the soviet union in 1991, and the end of the cold war. president biden said he was a man of remarkable vision. 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's 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". 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." let's go live to amherst, massachusetts, where i'm joined by the pulitzer prize—winning author william taubman, who wrote gorbachev, his life and times. thanks forjoining r. how many times did you meet him, and what was he like? i interviewed him eiuht what was he like? i interviewed him eight or— what was he like? i interviewed him eight or nine _ what was he like? i interviewed him eight or nine times, - what was he like? i interviewed him eight or nine times, i - him eight or nine times, i forget exactly how many, i also talked to him on several other occasions. my wife is a russian professor, he invited us to visit his village where he was born, and stavropol, the southern city where he climbed the ladder of the communist party. what was he like? he was

a charming man. an attractive man. an informal, relaxed person. with a sense of humour. we were not asked by him to provide questions in advance. he didn't need an interpreter, he trusted us to understand him. he was a thoroughly decent man, as a person, and that may have been his undoing as a political leader. he was too decent for the country he was trying to govern. what his character suited to running the soviet union or was that his undoing? he could be very tough. he succeeded in getting a lot of the communist party hardliners to agree to give up their power, also it seemed, they moved against him in the

coup of august 1991. so he was canny. but in his own way, he was naive and utopian. he dreams of turning a country that had never known democracy into a democracy. and i think by the time he died, he realised he had moved too fast and russia might take, i know he believed this, he wrote it, russia might take the entire zist russia might take the entire 21st century to end up in some kind of democracy. i 21st century to end up in some kind of democracy.— 21st century to end up in some kind of democracy. i guess you had a ringside _ kind of democracy. i guess you had a ringside seat _ kind of democracy. i guess you had a ringside seat to - kind of democracy. i guess you had a ringside seat to what - had a ringside seat to what developed later in his life, tell us how he came to these realisations?— tell us how he came to these realisations? well, he came to them by experiencing - realisations? well, he came to them by experiencing the - them by experiencing the break—up of his project. he was forced from power at the end of 1991, on the one hand by the hardliners of the communist party, and on the other by the

radical democrats, who wanted to go much faster than he did. i remember conversations where he talked about how it wasn't clear whether he had moved too fast or too slowly. i think toward the end, we came back to that subject and he said he had moved too fast. too fast for a country that wasn't ready for everything he wanted to offer it. ~' everything he wanted to offer it. ~ . ,, ., it. unlike the current russian president. — it. unlike the current russian president, much _ it. unlike the current russian president, much more - it. unlike the current russian president, much more of- it. unlike the current russian president, much more of an l it. unlike the current russian - president, much more of an open book, talking about his family, his wife you a lot, wasn't he? yes, gorbachev really loved his wife. he was a rare politician, especially a rare russian politician, who was devoted to his wife. many of them are woman noises, of various sorts, but he was devoted to her, and

his daughter. and his granddaughters. he was a family man. —— many of them are womanisers. but his wife had never proved able to tolerate the slings and arrows which descended on the gorbachevs as the project stumbled and struggled. unlike him, she took it all to heart and it wore her down, and as he himself said, it really killed her.— it really killed her. you talked about _ it really killed her. you talked about his - it really killed her. you talked about his sense| it really killed her. you l talked about his sense of humour, that he was funny. can you tell us how that came across to you?— you tell us how that came across to ou? ~ , across to you? well, i remember across to you? well, i remember a ear across to you? well, i remember a year after _ across to you? well, i remember a year after i _ across to you? well, i remember a year after i had _ across to you? well, i remember a year after i had started - a year after i had started working on this book about him. i encountered him at a concert in moscow. he approached me and said, how is the book going? i

said, how is the book going? i said, slowly. iapologise. slowly, i'm afraid. he said, gorbachev is hard to understand! and i think that's true. the west ended up thinking of him as a hero, and so many of his countrymen ended up so many of his countrymen ended up thinking of him as a kind of failure or even worse, a kind of traitor. so the world has been divided about him. that says he was a complicated person, not so easy to understand.— person, not so easy to understand. from all your interactions _ understand. from all your interactions and _ understand. from all your interactions and your - understand. from all your - interactions and your studying of his character, do you think you would have gone back and done anything in particular differently? he done anything in particular differently?— done anything in particular differentl ? , , differently? he was pretty good about admitting _ differently? he was pretty good about admitting certain - about admitting certain mistakes he had made. one of them, for example, was when he was chosen president of the soviet union. inaudible. in contrast, when boris yeltsin

was made president of the republic of russia, he insisted on a popular election. that gave yeltsin a kind of electoral legitimacy, which gorbachev didn't have. but that kind of mistake i don't think was fundamental in his downfall. i think the basic thing he was up against was the fact that russia was not ready yet for a revolution. of becoming a democracy, a capitalist country, a member in full standing of western civilisation.— full standing of western civilisation. ., ., ., civilisation. great to have you on the programme _ civilisation. great to have you on the programme to - civilisation. great to have you on the programme to discuss| civilisation. great to have you . on the programme to discuss the life of mikhail gorbachev, who has died at 91. thank you so much forjoining us.- much for “oining us. you are ve much forjoining us. you are very welcome. _ 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,

rebuild this house? "no," he says, "i'mjust asking god to help us get enough food for now. "we've got 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 an 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. kilometres of connecting roads

have been washed away by heavy floods. the truck queues are so long they disappear into the horizon. they help keep life moving, delivering food, petrol, and even aid. people fight for it. inaudible. when the aid does arrive, the need is so great, people fight for it. and it's not only people that have been hit by the floods. 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. theirfamily 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 to 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's not enough food for the displaced, there are fears that millions will go hungry. pumza fihlani, bbc news, sindh. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. iraq's 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, the latest headlines. 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. 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. 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. 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, 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 not to 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. now japan is finally set to approve the so—called abortion pill, something that's been france since 1988, 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. it could be very expensive, as much as $700—800. this doctor spends most of his time treating

women who want to be pregnant, but he will also prescribe the new abortion pill. he says there are good reasons for making it expensive. translation: in japan, - if you take the abortion pill, you have to be kept in hospital so we can monitor the patient. if we need to help you, it takes even more time than a surgical abortion. sexual health activists disagree — this woman has designed this kit to teach japanese schoolchildren how not to get pregnant. she says there is 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, - and yet injapan, it feels like the only person who is persecuted is the one with the ovaries. a lot of decisions

are made by old men who will never carry a child. they need to listen to the voices of women. activists note it has taken japan over 30 years to approve the abortion pill but tookjust six months to approve the male impotency pill viagra. they say japanese women will never have control of their own bodies while they must ask men for permission to end an unwanted pregnancy. a year after stunning the tennis world at the us open, emma raducanu is out of this year's event at the first—round stage. the teenager was beaten in straight sets by alize cornet — the first time raducanu has lost in the opening round of a grand slam event. defeat for her will also see her slip down the world rankings as she loses the huge number of points she gained when winning the title

as a qualifer in 2021. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @marklobel. 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 degrees 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 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. and the defending women's us open champion emma raducanu has been knocked out of this years tournament in the first round. the teenager lost in straight

sets to alice cornet. it's the first time in her career the 19—year—old has