after being trapped for weeks beneath a besieged steel plant in mariupol. and music from the military. one of ukraine's biggest bands, antytila, team up with ed sheeran, releasing a new song as they serve in the war against russia. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president biden has vowed to protect abortion rights in the united states after a leaked document suggested the supreme court is poised to overturn the ruling which legalised abortion nationwide. the draft opinion, written byjustice samuel alito, says the 1973 decision, roe versus wade, was wrong from the start. our north america editor sarah smith reports from washington. chanting: abortion is violence! outnumbered, but vocal, outside the supreme court, anti—abortion activists scent victory, after nearly 50 years of fighting the constitutional guarantee of abortion rights that's known as roe v wade. with overturning roe, it's going back to the states, and the states are going to come up with these great programmes, a network of support to give women a choice, because right now a lot of women feel like abortion is their only choice. we want them to have real choice. you can stay in school and have a baby. you can have a job and have a baby. pro—choice campaigners aghast that more than half the states in america could ban or severely restrict abortion in the next few months, according to a leaked document from the supreme court. what did you think when you read the decision last night? i thought, "this is devastating". the courts are undermining the american people. and we have a long road ahead, but we are not letting this fightjust slip through ourfingers. we are going to keep going. ninejustices sit on the supreme court, five of them, according to the leaked report, will vote to overturn abortion rights, with justice samuel alito writing that the decades—old decision to guarantee abortion was egregiously wrong. the impact will be sudden. there are 13 us states with so—called trigger laws in place, which would lead to an immediate ban on abortion. another 13 would move quickly to ban or severely limit access, says the guttmacher institute, a pro—choice group. it estimates 36 million women of reproductive age will live in states without abortion access. this is what the republicans have been working towards, this day, for decades. they have been out there plotting, carefully cultivating these supreme courtjustices, so they could have a majority on the bench who would accomplish something that the majority of americans do not want. chanting: abortion is violence! donald trump deliberately appointed three of the conservative supreme court justices, hoping to overturn the ban on abortion, a move welcomed by republicans around the country. i think i've been clear, i'm pro—life, and i've made that very clear from the moment i announced my candidacy, and i believe that what we found during the campaign, and even through today, is that there is a lot of common ground on this topic. we want fewer abortions in virginia, not more. president biden says he believes a woman's right to choose is fundamental. he wants to pass a law through congress, guaranteeing access to abortion. everyone knew a ruling on abortion rights was coming from the supreme court, but such a dramatic change in the law has still come as a seismic shock. the passions ignited by one of the most divisive issues in america will not be silenced when the court delivers its official ruling. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. it has triggered a loss of reaction. among the out majority leader in the us, chuck schumer, who says he plans to hold a vote as early as next week on enshrining the right to abortion into federal law. it is our intention for the senate to hold a vote on legislation to codify the right to an abortion in law. second, a vote on this legislation is no longer an abstract exercise. this is as urgent and as real as it gets. we will vote to protect a woman's right to choose and every american is going to see which side every senator stands on. third, to the american people, i say this — the elections this november will have consequences because the rights of 100 million women are now on the ballot. i'm joined now by eric scheidler, the executive director of pro—life action league. thank you very much indeed for joining us. i don't suppose you are too worried about chuck schumer�*s vote, it is clearly not going to pass muster, is it? but what is your reaction to the opinion as it has come out and how confident are you that that is going to be the final decision? i’m that that is going to be the final decision?— final decision? i'm fairly confident _ final decision? i'm fairly confident that _ final decision? i'm fairly confident that this - final decision? i'm fairly confident that this is - final decision? i'm fairly | confident that this is the final decision? i'm fairly - confident that this is the way the supreme court will finally rule. this is a robust argument against the original roe versus wade ruling and is complaining as later on that reaffirmed it, planned parenthood versus casey and the case is made very thoroughly throughout that this is not grounded in the constitution, it is not grounded in american custom, can't be described as a liberty or a right under the constitution. now, that doesn't mean that women will be able to get abortion throughout the united states, why didn't they seek a federal law way back in 1973? having this be the dictate of the supreme court was never good for our country, it has made our federal politics toxic. i think has made it impossible for us to dissolve more fundamental problems that we have like healthcare and immigration and infrastructure, because we're so embittered this debate... crosstalk. sorry to interrupt you on this. would you be happy than if there were votes taken in each individual state which supported the right to abortion nonetheless?— nonetheless? well, certainly not, because _ nonetheless? well, certainly not, because they _ nonetheless? well, certainly not, because they believe i nonetheless? well, certainly. not, because they believe that an abortion takes the life of an abortion takes the life of an innocent human person who we should welcome to the human family and doesn't solve the problems of women, especially all those unwanted abortions out there, that is common ground we can work on. unfortunately, if this is the ruling we get, will have the opportunity to try out different measures to make abortion is faultless necessary —— fortunately. not every state is going to abolish abortion instantly, any more republican leaning states, pro—life state, we will see a whole host of different measures, the idea of experimenting with democracy in these days that makes united states such a powerful, prosperous, and effective country, will be able to play out we will see what kind of solutions we have, and set of theorising and debating about this. i theorising and debating about this. . , , theorising and debating about this. ., , , ., this. i am sure there will be a lot of peeple _ this. i am sure there will be a lot of people who _ this. i am sure there will be a lot of people who are - this. i am sure there will be a lot of people who are quite i lot of people who are quite pleased to hear that sort of language from you, inasmuch as, when you look at the figures, opinion polls turned to point to anything from 60 plus right up to anything from 60 plus right up to 80% of public opinion is in favour of keeping abortion. so do you recognise that you are up against a sizeable opinion which doesn't agree with your point of view and feels that they are being cheated of their rights? in fact, the vast majority of americans, including the majority of women are not on board with the kind of regime we have noticed is currently which allows abortion on demand into what used to be called the third trimester of pregnancy, very late in pregnancy, far beyond the standard of europe. the law in mississippi would simply bring mississippi in line with most of the countries of europe in this abortion policy. so this isn't going to be a sort of radical transformation of the landscape of every state and like a pre— roe versus wade world, this is allowing the democratic process to plough the way it should have back in the 1970s. i very hopeful that we can change our culture and transform the plight of women who won't demand any more to abortion to be part of our civilisation. irate be part of our civilisation. we wait for it _ be part of our civilisation. we wait for it to _ be part of our civilisation. we wait for it to be turned into a decision. i thank you very much for your time. decision. i thank you very much foryourtime. eric decision. i thank you very much for your time. eric scheidler, thank you. for your time. eric scheidler, thank vom— in ukraine, more than 100 people who were trapped beneath the rubble of a steelworks in mariupol have finally been brought to safety. the evacuees have spent weeks without seeing daylight, living in tunnels beneath the facility. but the ceasefire that allowed them to escape was brief. fierce fighting has now begun in mariupol again and the red cross says there are still an unknown number of people trapped in the city. 0ur correspondent laura bicker watched as the first evacuees finally made it to safety in zaporizhzhia. theirjourney from hell is over. two months of horror ends in exhaustion and relief. katarina spent weeks hidden in the depths of the azovstal steel plant as russian bombs pounded the site. she tried to tell her children that everything would be ok, even when she didn't believe it herself. translation: how we were living, to be honest, - it was horrible. from morning until night we were bombarded. artillery, rockets, air strikes, our children couldn't sleep. they were crying, they were scared, and us as well. there were several times when we were losing hope we would ever get out. we are extremely glad to be in ukraine. for more than 60 days, these women and children were stuck in the darkness, living on rations handed down by ukrainian soldiers. it's been a difficult and complex operation to free them. translation: we lived in hope that every day would be - the last day in this hell, that we would go home to a peaceful mariupol, but now it is non—existent. this evacuation represents rare progress to ease the humanitarian cost of this war but hundreds more did not manage to make it on this bus. they are thought to still be trapped within the steel plant, including around a dozen children, and talks are still under way to free them. this footage from social media is said to show the azovstal steelworks this morning, under heavy attack from russian forces. this once thriving industrial heartland is now a charred shell. later in the video, russian tanks are seen patrolling what remains of the streets and park areas surrounding the huge factory. there are thought to be nearly 100,000 people still living in mariupol. translation: idon't. know where to go at all. i am not alone. imagine, everything is destroyed, everything is broken. where should the people go now? here, they are sitting with small kids, little ones. i've got nowhere to go. for those who have made it out, finally they have fresh food and a little hope. lives have been saved today but many more hang in the balance. laura bicker, bbc news, zaporizhzhia. stayed with us here on bbc news. in china, after more than a month of strict lockdown, authorities in shanghai are beginning to gradually ease covid restrictions. the number of new cases is falling, but thousands of people remain in government run quarantine facilities. robin brant reports from shanghai, where he's still in lockdown. it's taken more than a month, but now shanghai's leaders think this outbreak is contained. so, it's time for a mass clean—up. disinfection by an army of workers, thousands of them, before a gradual opening up. but the brutal war against covid has left a scarred city. people as old as 100 were among those tested positive and taken to quarantine centres. one man detailed what he saw first—hand on social media. translation: a lot of- the old people have underlying health problems, and the conditions inside quarantine centres are not good. we hope the elderlies can be sent to better hospitals. in the five weeks i've been locked down — you can't step outside the gates — it's shanghai's most vulnerable who've suffered the most. almost all the official dead are elderly and unvaccinated. china's leaders insist that still chasing zero covid is the right thing. the enforcement has been harsh at times. some people barricaded into their homes. or forced out of them. communities fenced off. but xijinping has made it clear there's no change. the man in charge of china's ruling communist party believes persistence is victory. this is now a test of china's way, of his credibility. one part of china has changed tack, though. in hong kong, we never did a total lockdown. schools were closed, a lot of people were working from home, but it was by no means a lockdown. and my concern in shanghai would be how long can this go on because the case numbers are not going to come down to zero immediately. they're going to drop down slowly, but the whole thing could happen again in a month or two months or three months if there's another outbreak of omicron. debate about living with it on the mainland has been shut down in public, though, and there's little room for dissent. this man was detained by police for simply showing his shopping, some pork donated by a neighbouring province. his crime — highlighting the food supply problems. the government said this small—scale, subtle protest, banging pots in parts of shanghai, was influenced by foreign forces. china's capital is now on guard against any spread. most of this country has been virus—free now for almost two years. but as omicron threatens, renewed anxiety is spreading. robin brant, bbc news, in shanghai. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a special report from greece and montenegro, where china is investing billions in huge projects, but there are questions over who is really benefiting. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterrand. but the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and i islam struggled for supremacy. now, the pope's visit - symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in underfour minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in the future of peace and freedom. this is bbc world news, the main story this hour: the us senate majority leader says he'll hold a symbolic vote to put the right to an abortion into federal law. in the last hour, donald trump's hold over the republican party has just passed its first big test in the state of ohio when the candidate he backed won the party's nomination for november's senate race. our north america correspondent, anthony zurcher, has the details. jd vance, i'm outside his victory celebration and he was endorsed by donald trump several weeks ago and his standing in the polls increased. he pulled out a victory and jd vance just gave his victory speech moments ago and he thanked donald trump and said that people have stated that donald trump's make america great movement was dead but he has said that his movement is not dead yet. this is a celebration forjd vance and also it is believed donald trump will be celebrating as well. interesting, how important is it that the jd vance bandwagon rolls through and wins this for donald trump, in fact, in terms of him looking at his prospects and the general level of support? there was a lot of pressure and criticism on donald trump for endorsing jd vance. jd vance criticised donald trump back in 2016, so there were many candidates in this republican senate primary race who wanted the support of donald trump and were shocked and angered that he picked jd vance. for donald trump to reach down and pick a nominee in a tightly contested area, and an area wherejd vance was trailing for a long time, and elevate him to the victory, that is very important for donald trump. if you look at the rest of may, there are primaries in pennsylvania and georgia, where donald trump has also weighed in on candidates who are not clear favourites. this is an early indication that the endorsement of donald trump still has power and there will be tests later this month but i'm sure that donald trump will say it is good to start off with a win early. as europe's conflict with russia continues to escalate, china continues to avoid any condemnation of moscow, while at the same time investing billions in huge projects across much of the european continent. in the second of his special reports, our europe correspondent, nick beake, has been looking at who's really benefitting from china's expansion. greece is emerging from the shadows of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. its economy among the fastest growing in the eu. the boom at the port of piraeus, near athens, is helping. two—thirds is now owned by a chinese state company. cosco has been building up its stake after international lenders forced greece to sell this and other public assets. when you get this close, you can see just how huge these container ships are. and day in, day out, they're bringing tons of goods, which will then be dispatched to all corners of europe. and this is a crucial gateway to the continent for china but the expansion of this port is controversial. this lawyer has lived in piraeus all her life. she's suing the port over alleged environmental harm. everyone is against this because it will not benefit piraeus. it will benefit other people that do not live here. you think this place could be destroyed effectively? completely. workers at the port have been on strike over safety concerns. watch the containers on the right. a narrow escape. but last year, a worker did die in a crane accident. the chinese owners didn't respond to our questions about the various concerns at the port. minister. how good to see you. greece's foreign minister says although a european buyer would've been preferable, the port will be a success for both beijing and athens. but is this the high point for the two countries' economic relations? they're not fading away, but i have to say there was not any more substantial chinese investment in greece. but we judge the investment on commercial grounds. i mean, if the chinese want to invest, we're a free country and a free economy. venture north through the balkans, and this is montenegro, apparently on the path to eu membership. but it's china lending the cash for this, the country's first motorway, a complex project which european experts had claimed was unfeasible. in six years, only 41 kilometres has been built. the cost — one billion euros, which must be paid back to beijing. well, take a look. this is as far as montenegro's flagship infrastructure project extends to today. for now, yes, it is a road to nowhere. and it's held up as a warning to the rest of europe as china pursues its belt and road initiative. we need investments. if the chinese are the only one interested in investing in you, yeah, i say go for it, butjust be careful about, like, the terms of these investments, conditions of these investments and making sure that everything is in line with your general policy. we asked five chinese ambassadors in europe for an interview about beijing's vision for the continent, but none was available. china has declared a new global order with its ally russia and has failed to condemn the invasion of ukraine. more than ever, european nations are reassessing the risk and reward of doing business with beijing. nick beake, bbc news, montenegro. ukrainian group antytila have teamed up with ed sheeran, releasing a new song partly filmed and recorded while serving in the war against russia. antytila are one of the biggest musical acts in ukraine but stopped working to join the military. proceeds from the song — which has so far been viewed over 1.5 million times on youtube — will go to help the people of ukraine. mark lobel reports. # cos we're living life at a different pace # stuck in a constant race # keep the pressure on, you're bound to break # something's got to change # we should just be cancelling all our plans # and not give a damn # if we're missing out # on what the people think is right...# the heartbreaking collaboration as the war grinds on. a message of hope amid the despair. # and then we'll go all night # two—stepping with the woman i love...# ed sheeran adding his voice to ukraine's resistance with ukrainian band antytila picking up the tune. singing in ukrainian shot on location in besieged kharkiv by the musicians, turned frontline medics, to raise money for people of ukraine. writing while fighting. the band says they found a way to record the agony of families separated by war despite their recording studio being under occupation at the time. singing in ukrainian their message for the world after this appeal in march. the ukrainian superstars' tiktok video grabbing ed sheeran�*s attention ahead of a benefit concert for ukraine in which he performed, but they weren't allowed to, with organisers worried about associating with the military. nevertheless, their message got through. leading to this remix of a song the multi—award winner originally shot in kyiv before the invasion, in the hope his two—step with antytila can get the world in step with the determination of the ukrainian people through the power of music. mark lobel, bbc news. more of that on the website. you are up—to—date. this is bbc world news. hello, there. we've seen plenty of cloud over the past few days. wednesday brings the promise of brighter skies. but with more in the way of sunshine, we could trigger some heavy downpours with the odd rumble of thunder and some lightning mixed in as well. here's the set—up as we move into wednesday, then. we've got these weather fronts bringing and patchy outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards, so it does mean that we start the day on a generally cloudy note. there could be a bit of mist and murk and some patchy outbreaks of rain. that is all shifting its way eastwards, so it will brighten up from the west as we go through the day. sunny spells coming through with more in the way of sunshine, could trigger those heavy thundery downpours. parts of eastern scotland, north—east england, and the midlands through to southern and central england seeing those heavy, thundery downpours. of course, not everyone catching one, but if you do see one, it could be heavy. and with more in the way of sunshine, it's going to be warmer highs, around 17 celsius in the south and east. as we move overnight, we'll see those showers fading away. we'll see plenty of clear spells, but turning cloudier across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. the temperatures not falling too far at all, staying in the single figures. as we move into thursday, here's how the pressure chart looks. high pressure tending to dominate across england and wales. here, we see a good deal of dry and fine weather. we have those weather fronts just topping across the top in the north—west, bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain. we do drag in this milder air from the south—west, so thursday is looking like a warmer day. a good deal of sunshine across england and wales. cloudier skies, though, across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. so, for the north, we are looking at highs of around 13—16 celsius, 16—21, perhaps 22 celsius in the south. friday, we'll see this band of rain pushing its way south. there could be some heavy bursts in there for parts of northern england and the midlands. drier and brighter behind it, and temperatures dropping off a touch here, but still warm in the south and east. highs of 20 degrees celsius. into the weekend, then, and high pressure dominates the weather, so it's looking like a settled picture. we'll see a good deal of dry, fine weather with light winds. so, if we take a quick look at those outlooks, we can see plenty of dry weather through the weekend. there'll be some patchy cloud and sunny spells and temperatures reaching a high of around 21 celsius. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the headlines: the senate majority leader in the us, chuck schumer, says he plans to hold a vote as early as next week on enshrining the right to an abortion into federal law. it follows the leaking of a draft supreme court ruling showing it plans to scrap the legal right to terminate a pregnancy. donald trump's hold over the republican party has passed its first big test in the state of ohio where the candidate he backed has won the party's nomination for november's senate race. jd vance will face the moderate democrat congressman tim ryan. russia's bombardment of a steelworks in the besieged city of mariupol in the south—east of the country has intensified after more than 100 ukrainian civilians were able to flee and reach safety. the un says most are now in the city of zaporizhzhia.