live from washington. this is bbc news. after years of protests and legal steps, mexico's supreme court decriminalises abortion across the country. a russian missile strike kills 17 people in eastern ukraine, as the us secretary of state commits more funds to kyiv�*s war effort. plus, brazil suffers historic flooding in the country's south, leaving dozens dead and thousands stranded. hello, i'm carl nasman. we begin in mexico, where the country's supreme court has decriminalised abortion nationwide. the decision comes two years after the court ruled that abortion was legal in one northern state.

that ruling set off the slow process of decriminalising abortion state by state. wednesday's decision comes amid a trend in latin america of loosening restrictions on abortion. live now to bbc news reporter mimi swaby, who's tracking this story. just practically speaking, what will this really mean for women in mexico?— in mexico? this unanimous decision — in mexico? this unanimous decision by _ in mexico? this unanimous decision by the _ in mexico? this unanimous decision by the supreme i in mexico? this unanimous i decision by the supreme court has been a cause for celebration for many people across mexico. it means that public of institutions now must offer abortion services to any individual who requests them. so women across mexico can now access these procedures without facing any legal repercussions or prosecution. it also means that medical personnel, who are conducting these terminations, will not be criminalised.

before this rillington place, they could have faced up to five years in prison. so there have been large changes both on the medicalfront have been large changes both on the medical front and have been large changes both on the medicalfront and on have been large changes both on the medical front and on women who could need the services. mexico is traditionally more conservative, this is a country thatis conservative, this is a country that is very catholic. how did this ruling come about? mexico is the second _ this ruling come about? mexico is the second largest _ this ruling come about? mexico is the second largest catholic. is the second largest catholic nation in latin america so this decision is likely to anger more conservative politicians as well as the catholic church. the catholic church has a decreasing influence as the years have gone on and the government have said that they are adamantly non—religious of this movement started two years ago when the supreme court really started the ball rolling by saying that abortion was not a crime in the northern state of coahuila. this opened the gates for other states to follow suit. for the ruling on wednesday, 12 out of 32 mexican

states legalised abortion. the first being mexico city, where was legalised in 2007, and most recently the 12th province being the central state of alaska. so this has been a very slow process but one that has really been pushed forward and it is a huge number of success for many campaigners by the ruling. for many campaigners by the rulina. ~ , for many campaigners by the rulin~.~ , ' ruling. we saw very different court rulings _ ruling. we saw very different court rulings in _ ruling. we saw very different court rulings in the _ ruling. we saw very different court rulings in the united i court rulings in the united states, the overturning of roe v wade are now abortion is not legal in several states in the us. what could this ruling in mexico mean for americans, could we see more people potentially crossing the border to be able to access abortion? definitely. i think when roe v wade was a return, they reported spikes in us women travelling across the border to certain states where abortion was legal in mexico. now that abortion has been decriminalised on a federal

level, so all states will now offer abortion services, it is expected that us women will increase and the number of clinics offering services to mexican and us women will be offering them to more nationalities, and this is only going to increase, because it is more accessible and people perhaps will not have to travel as far. ., . ., as far. that court ruling in mexico just _ as far. that court ruling in mexico just one _ as far. that court ruling in mexico just one in - as far. that court ruling in mexico just one in a - as far. that court ruling in mexico just one in a trendi as far. that court ruling in i mexico just one in a trend of latin american countries, argentina and colombia also among those now decriminalising abortion. thank you very much. now to ukraine, where a russian attack left 17 people dead on the same day that us secretary of state antony blinken arrived in the country. more on the secretary's visit in a moment, but first to the deadly blast. the explosion hit a busy market street in the middle of the day, a rare daytime attack in a civilian area. it happened in what ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky describes as the "peaceful city" of kostyantynivka in ukraine's eastern donetsk

region, near the front line. mr zelensky has condemned the attack, blaming moscow. translation: we understand what they're doing. _ they did the same in the past. whenever there is any positive offensive step by ukraine's defence forces, russia targets civilians and civilian infrastructure. the bbc�*s diplomatic correspondent paul adams is in kyiv with more. explosion close to ukraine's eastern front lines, death falls from the sky without warning. two o'clock in the afternoon, a row of shops in the town of kostiantynivka. they're used to attacks here, but not on this scale. in the blast�*s shocking aftermath, a search for the living and the dead. it's not immediately clear what kind of weapon landed here, but shrapnel tore into the road, into cars and people.

translation: this is a civilian pharmacy. . at the time of the strike, civilians were here, buying medicines, and this is what happened. this was one of the worst attacks on ukrainian civilians since the spring. and it came as the us secretary of state, antony blinken, was here in kyiv pledging yet more support. his arrival, early this morning, was preceded once more by the sounds of war. air raid sirens wail russia launching a fresh wave of attacks at dawn. kyiv�*s well—drilled air defences called into action, keeping the capital safe. president zelensky, fresh from visiting troops at the front, gave his visitor a positive account of ukraine's recent advances. in the ongoing counteroffensive, progress has accelerated in the past few weeks. this new assistance will help sustain it

and build further momentum. that may be, but this grinding conflict continues to exact a terrible price. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. you heard secretary of state antony blinken there speaking about new assistance to ukraine. this latest package totals $1 billion. more than half will go towards military and civilian security assistance. so far, the us has committed more than $43.2 billion in security assistance since the war began. joining me now is liana fix. she's a fellow for europe at the council on foreign relations. thank you for being here. this visit by antony blinken, the first by a top us official to kyiv since the counteroffensive began, what do you think secretary blinken wanted to achieve with this trip? he

basically _ achieve with this trip? he basically had _ achieve with this trip? he: basically had three goals for his trip to kyiv. the first was to demonstrate us commitment to ukraine in the long term, many of financial assurances that blinken has made really are dedicated to long—term financial planning for ukraine. he also underlined it is not only about the counteroffensive but that it is also about ukrainian democracy and about ukrainian democracy and about ukrainian economy, so taking the long term view. the other point he wanted to make with this visit is to counter the perception that the ukrainian counteroffensive has stalled, that western policy has ended in impasse and that there is no movement on the front. the kind of dissatisfaction we have seen in recent weeks has the counteroffensive has now progressed as fast as possible. and lastly and thirdly, he also wants to have a look himself at what is going on in kyiv, what ukrainian plans are the

counteroffensive in the future, especially as there has been a lot of anonymous sources from the us government who have talked about disappointment when it comes to the counteroffensive and have also criticised ukraine for mistakes in their strategy. it is something that secretary blinken wants to counter, he wants to get a picture on sight where the counteroffensive stands are more to do next what's stands are more to do next what' �* , , , :, what's it's interesting you mentioned _ what's it's interesting you mentioned that _ what's it's interesting you mentioned that antony i what's it's interesting you - mentioned that antony blinken wants to get first hand view of how it is progressing. what do you think he is hoping to see her mckinna results would make it easier potentially for the aid and the money to continue to flow from allies like the us? , :, , , :, , to flow from allies like the us? :,,, us? obviously it would be very eas if us? obviously it would be very easy if ukraine _ us? obviously it would be very easy if ukraine would - us? obviously it would be very easy if ukraine would be - us? obviously it would be very easy if ukraine would be able l easy if ukraine would be able to show these kind of rapid advances that it has demonstrated last year but the situation is very different,

russia has been able to fortify the territories it occupies, especially with mines, so there is equipment bradley manning equipment lacking, there's also a continuous ammunition problem for ukraine so what antony blinken wants to see is a plan for how you ukraine hopes to advance until the end of the year and more specifically until the winter season sets in when it will be more difficult with frozen ground to advance. so there is a window of opportunity for ukraine, weeks if not a few months before winter sets in and antony blinken wants to know how they are going to use this time and what else western allies can do to support ukraine in this short window of time that are still left. :, :, ~' short window of time that are still left. :, :, ~ :, :, :, still left. looking ahead to the g20 still left. looking ahead to the 620 meetings - still left. looking ahead to the 620 meetings coming| still left. looking ahead to i the 620 meetings coming up still left. looking ahead to - the 620 meetings coming up in the g20 meetings coming up in india, presumably the war in ukraine will be on the agenda with all those world leaders, how crucial do you think that gathering will be to shore up

support as the conflict continues into the coming months?— continues into the coming months? , , :, months? yes, it will be on the aaenda months? yes, it will be on the agenda but — months? yes, it will be on the agenda but it _ months? yes, it will be on the agenda but it will— months? yes, it will be on the agenda but it will also - months? yes, it will be on the agenda but it will also be - agenda but it will also be something like the elephant in the room, the topic that is basically spoiling all other topics discussed, because the biggest problem that we see is that the ukraine issue, the russian war against ukraine has become such a big bias, an issue with the g20, it's become increasingly difficult to get a joint leaders' decoration, which india has tried to achieve in the past, or work towards in the past. russia and china not becoming more conciliatory when it comes to language about ukraine, to the country. so ukraine has really become the dividing issue among the 620. it's become the dividing issue among the g20. it's possible that the summer will end without a

latest declaration, only a partial commitment will also impact other topics like climate change and debt relief that easily discussed in this form. so we see a by ification, two sides are emerging, the pro—ukrainian and those camps are likely to be the west on the one hand on the other side especially china sup antony blinken was in ukraine, he will be on his way to the g20 seven as well. be on his way to the 620 seven as well. :, ., be on his way to the 620 seven as well. :, ~ , :, be on his way to the 620 seven as well. :, ~ i:, ,:, : the cost of living crisis and the war in ukraine's impact on rising food prices has hit families around the world hard. none more so than in bangladesh, which last year hiked fuel prices by 50% overnight. bangladesh is among the countries that has seen increasing levels of acute malnutrition. a government national health survey last year found that the number of children experiencing short periods of under—nutrition increased from 8% in 2018

to 11% last year. the world food programme research found that food insecurity is driving nearly two—thirds of households to employ coping strategies — including taking on debt, selling of productive assets and begging. in the final part of our series on how the global cost—of—living crisis is impacting children, correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports from bangladesh, where some of the country's most vulnerable are being hit the hardest. ezrut is more than a year old, but she's severely underweight. half of what she should be for her age. her mother can't afford rising food prices and fears she'll have to beg soon. the family gets some rice rations from the government, but it's not enough. translation: i am hungry.

my children cry because they are hungry. we don't eat meat orfish anymore. even fresh vegetables are so costly. what can we do? every third child here injamalpur is malnourished. already one of bangladesh's poorest districts, deeper in poverty — after the pandemic, floods, and the impact of rising oil prices since the war in ukraine. ezrut�*s father works these fields. it costs more to farm here. the land that fed his family now threatens to starve them. translation: i am struggling to support my family now. - i don't earn that much, but still i have to spend a large amount of my earnings just to buy fuel for irrigation.

we are growing rice here, but we can't even afford it. from villages to cities, similar struggles. bangladesh was forced to go to the imf this year after its economy faltered. the cost of rice has risen by more than 50% since pre—covid times in bangladesh. in fact, the prices of many basic food items continue to increase. take the broiler chicken, a staple in many low income households. in one month alone this year, it rose by a third. at this hospital in the capital, dhaka, mums are taking part in a healthy eating workshop. but with the price of a potato now up by 75% on last year, basics they could once afford are now luxuries.

and at the ward, we see just how bad things can get when children aren't fed a proper diet. bed after bed, young patients severely malnourished. yassin's nearly two. he has stunted growth and is very sick. translation: doctors advised me to give more nutritious food to my son, but i can't afford nutritious food. so how does my baby boy get nutrition? life nowadays is really hard for people like me. a few days later, and yassin's doing a little better. but once home, he'll return to a life of hunger and hardship. it's a cycle of desperation. in the cost of living crisis in bangladesh, the youngest are paying a high price.

rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, dhaka. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making the headlines. prosecutors in donald trump's georgia racketeering case say the trial would take four months and include approximately 150 witnesses. a date for the trial has not yet been set, although prosecutors hope to begin trying at least some defendants on october 23rd. federal prosecutors in the us plan to seek an indictment of presidentjoe biden's son, hunter, by the end of this month. that's according to court papers. it's not clear what charges special counsel david weiss plans to file against hunter biden. a planned plea bargain to resolve tax—and—gun counts

faced by the 53—year—old fell apart injuly. russia and turkey have agreed to a deal in principle to send one million metric tonnes of grain to africa. russia has tried to court african countries, some of which have been suffering food shortages, by offering them free or discounted grain. that's after it quit a deal in july that allowed grain from ukraine to pass safely through the black sea. you're live with bbc news. there are new developments in the women's world cup kiss controversy. spanish football player jenni hermoso has filed a legal complaint over what she says was an unwanted kiss by spanish football federation president luis rubiales. he could now face criminal charges for kissing hermoso on the lips after spain's world cup final win. spanish prosecutors are investigating whether the kiss amounts to a crime of sexual assault. guy hedgecoe in madrid has more. jenni hermoso, the spanish football player who was kissed

on the lips by spain's football federation president luis rubiales at the end of the world cup final, has now registered a legal complaint against mr rubiales for alleged sexual assault. that follows the opening of a preliminary investigation by prosecutors last week where they started to probe to see whether there was enough evidence to bring a case against mr rubiales for sexual assault. with ms hermoso's decision to register her round complaint it would seem that that case can now proceed against mr rubiales, and it could potentially arrive at a courtroom where he could face charges of sexual assault. mr rubiales is under pressure from a series of fronts besides that one. also, the world football

governing body fifa has suspended him while he carries out its own investigation into his behaviour at the world cup final, and spain plasma: national sports tribunal is also carrying out a probe into mr rubiales. yesterday, the federation in spain, without mr rubiales there because he has been suspended, the federation took the decision to sack the coach, jorge vilda, who led the women's team to that world cup triumph. the feeling was that sacking that coach, who was seen as a close ally of mr rubiales, was a way of trying to turn the page on this whole affair, even though mr rubiales remains clinging to his post. on the last day of the inaugural africa climate summit, african leaders issued a sprawling declaration proposing new taxes across the world to fund action against climate change. the first of its kind three—day summit in nairobi was dominated by discussions not of climate science — but about climate financing. leaders discussed how to adapt funding to address increasingly extreme weather.

they also worked on ways to pay for the conservation of natural resources and the development of renewable energy. the united arab emirates has pledged $4.5 billion to accelerate africa's switch to clean energy. and in total, kenya's president, william ruto, said $23 billion was pledged to africa's climate change prevention efforts at the summit. of course, more frequent and more severe weather events are one of the most prominent risks from climate change, and we're seeing several examples of that across the world. in brazil, the death toll has risen to 31 in some of the worst flooding ever seen in the country's south. in the state of rio grande do sul, rescuers say they're still trying to reach families stranded on rooftops by rising waters caused by severe storms. our south america correspondent, katy watson, has more. the governor of rio grande do sul said this has been their worst ever weather disaster, with the small town of mucum the focal point of the flooding. 85% of the town was flooded and it is feared

the death toll could rise. this is not the first major flooding in brazil this year. back in february, around 50 people died in the state of sao paulo because of extreme rain and landslides. experts are saying that the el nino weather phenomenon has made things much worse, that is when the eastern pacific, the waters in the eastern pacific near the coast of peru and ecuador warm up more than usual, causing much more extreme weather events and those often manifest in much heavier rainfall. in rio grande do sul, in the south of brazil, close to the border with uruguay and argentina, it often sees quite a lot of extreme weather events. it is an area of brazil where it rains consistently throughout the year, and president lula da silva has said the federal government is on standby to support the region, with more bad weather expected in the coming days.

uk prime minister rishi sunak has said the government acted "decisively" after ministers published a list of nearly 150 schools in england made of concrete that's liable to collapse. more than 100 schools were ordered to fully or partially shut buildings because of concerns about potentially dangerous concrete known as raac. the bbc�*s ellie price reports. when politicians go on visits before nine o'clock in the morning, you know they have a point to make. the labour leader keir starmer went to parkview in north london, one of 147 schools in england who have a problem with concrete. so 15 classrooms, two toilet blocks...? in the commons a few hours later, a row about whether cuts made more than ten years ago are to blame. the truth is, this crisis is the inevitable result of 13 years of cutting corners, botched jobs,

sticking plaster politics. it is the sort of thing you expect from cowboy builders. saying that everyone else is wrong, everyone else is to blame, protesting they have done an effing good job, even as the ceiling falls in. the difference, mr speaker, is that in this case, the cowboys are running the country. but the prime minister defended his decisions. this is exactly the kind of political opportunism that we have... ..exactly the kind of opportunism that we have come to expect from captain hindsight over here. before today... ..before today, he has never once raised this issue with me across this dispatch box. he talks about 13 years, let's see what happened. when we came into office, two thirds of schools were good and outstanding. now it's 90%, mr speaker. this afternoon, two school leaders' unions have written to the education secretary demanding an apology after she told them yesterday

to "get off their backsides" and reply to a government survey about raac. what we need is leadership that takes responsibility. and what are we seeing from the secretary of state? a blame game between her and the prime minister, and everybody apparently apart from them are responsible for the crumbling ceilings in some of our schools. this ought to be a time when we are reassuring parents hugely about what is happening. 70 miles away from westminster, half of honywood school in colchester has had to close because of raac, leaving half the students to learn remotely. it is a problem that will not go away anytime soon. i think it is going to take a good six months to get everything back to normal. that is unacceptable, when it comes to looking at the situation we have got with remote learning. that is equivalent of two lockdowns. the row over raac will continue to dominate in westminster in the coming days. the impact on affected schools could last much longer. ellie price, bbc news.

more news coming at the top of the hour, stay with us. hello there. i've got a couple of interesting sunsets to show you. the first of these shows, well, rather subdued colours in the skies in norfolk. and that was because we've got thick layers of saharan dust in the sky — and all saharan dust is good for is, well, blocking out some of the sun's light. whereas in the much cleaner skies and cleaner air that we've had in scotland, some really spectacular sunsets as all of the sun's light can come flooding across the sky. now, looking at the weather pattern at the moment, we've got more of our september heat wave to come thanks to this blocked weather pattern in the jet stream, a ridge of high pressure in north—west europe is bringing us hot and sunny weather. but in contrast to that, this trough in the eastern mediterranean is what is responsible for storm daniel. and of course, that's been bringing some catastrophic floods to parts of south—east europe over recent days.

now, looking at the weather picture as we go through the next few hours — for the vast majority, we're looking at dry conditions with just a bit of low cloud, and mist and fog patches forming primarily around some of the north sea coast in east scotland, eastern areas of england. and so that's how we start the day on thursday. some of that will be quite slow to clear away, but eventually most of us will see sunshine. there'll be a bit more high cloud across the north and west of the uk, so that will make the sunshine a little bit on the hazy side here. but it's another hot and sunny day. temperatures in scotland and northern ireland widely around 21: to 27. but for england, wales we're looking at quite widely the high 20s to low 30s. so we're going to be quite close again to seeing the highest temperature of the year, 32 degrees recorded on wednesday, probably similar for thursday. now for friday, it's another dry day. probably a little bit more in the way of mist and fog patches around both the north sea coast and also through some of our irish sea coasts. but for the bulk, it's hot and it's sunny once again. we've got more of this to come as well as we get into the weekend.

although there's a tendency for the weather to start turning a little bit cloudier and breezier across the north—west of scotland with some showers moving in here. and this really is the first sign of a breakdown in the weather patterns with that slightly cooler air working into parts of western scotland. but for most, saturday is another september scorcher, with highs up to 32. 32.2 is the highest temperature we've seen so far this year. so we're not far away from that. the change in the weather patterns, though, will come through next week. temperatures getting closer to normal and there'll be a bit of rain around as well.

you're watching bbc news. the latest news and headlines follow at the top of the hour, after this programme.