the headlines: russian forces intensify their attacks in north—eastern ukraine, with fighting reported in the border town of vovcha nsk. the prime minister, rushi sunak, warns of dangerous years head in a major speech ahead of an expected general election. more than 300 people have died in flash floods in northern afghanistan — rescue teams step up efforts to help. where i am standing used to be a house with people living in them, so relatives have been trying to look for their loved ones under the rubble. here in the uk, "harrowing evidence" from more than 1,00 women, including some who said they were left in blood—soaked sheets, will be presented to the government

as part of the findings of the birth trauma inquiry. it's calling for an overhaul of the britain's maternity and postnatal care after finding poor care is "all—too—frequently tolerated as normal". our correspondent louisa pilbeam reports. she was left needing a stoma bag after mistakes in her maternity care. she spoke to bbc breakfast earlier this year. i ended up with a fourth—degree tear and a rectovaginal fistula. i had a missed abscess, as well — which burst. none of this was diagnosed till five days after the baby was born. gill is not alone. the first uk inquiry into birth trauma has heard what it calls "harrowing evidence" from more than 1,000 women. some women said they were left in blood—soaked sheets on maternity wards without help, evidence was given about babies who were injured during birth, and many women said they weren't listened to. birth trauma is thought to affect 30,000 women a year in the uk — a term which refers to negative birth experiences, such as serious blood loss and emergency caesareans.

one in 20 women develop post—traumatic stress disorder. it's really patronising, in my opinion, not to give women the information about what it's like to have a baby, because we are able to cope with this kind of information. the report from an all—party parliamentary group calls for urgent change — including ending the postcode lottery on perinatal care, a call for a new maternity commissioner to be appointed, and the government to publish a new national maternity strategy. the report also calls for more support for partners of those having a baby, and for ethnic minorities. the findings of the inquiry will be officially presented today, and the health minister will set out the government's response. louisa pilbeam, bbc news.

ina in a speech in london, the prime minister has said that the country faced challenges posed by an axis of authoritarian states including russia, china and north korea. in the last few minutes the labour leader has been responding to this. the government, rishi sunak, keep saying that everything is fine but everybody knows it isn't and that is why we are laser focused on living standards. what i am developing with the mayors here as a plan for living standards to go up in every part of the country. just ten days ago many voters put their trust and confidence in labour members. i thank them for that and i want to

repay them by showing that we have a plan to make sure that their living standards go up so that under our plan we can genuinely say that people are better off. more than 300 people are reported killed in flash floods that ripped through multiple provinces in afghanistan. the authorities have declared a state of emergency in the affected areas. a search—and—rescue operation is continuing, but some areas are completely cut off. taliban officials have told the bbc that the number of dead and missing could rise significantly. with me is my colleague zari kargar, who has been speaking to local people and officials. what are you hearing? i have been speaking to localjournalists and local people in one of the most affected province. today they are saying finally there is no rain, after two days, but people are still missing. relatives are taking to

find their missing loved ones, the livestock. basically, livelihoods are washed away. i spoke to a reporter who went to a very remote village and he explained the situation. this is the village severely devastated by the floods. it is early in the morning. residents have come here to look for victims and save those who are trapped. this village has been washed away, with the livelihood of many people. people need tents, food and appliances for cooking. residents have been telling me that it has been three days since the flood hit the area, but local officials and aid agencies have not managed to provide sufficient help. where i am standing used to be a house with people living in them, so relatives have been trying to look for their loved ones under the rubble. urgent help is needed. and lacing pictures. the car as heavy rain. how difficult is it

going to be to get help to those affected? , , , . affected? very, very difficult. i soke to affected? very, very difficult. i spoke to a _ affected? very, very difficult. i spoke to a spokesperson - affected? very, very difficult. i spoke to a spokesperson of. affected? very, very difficult. i | spoke to a spokesperson of the natural disaster ministry and he told me that they are trying very hard to reach remote areas but some areas are totally cut off. afghanistan is a country very vulnerable to climate change and climate crisis. as you know, last year there was a devastating earthquake in the west of afghanistan. before that there was a devastating earthquake. flash floods usually happening this season in afghanistan, but this time three provinces have been hit very heavily. with them livestock. thousands of livestock are dead, washed away. thousands of square metres of agricultural lands with fruit, it is the season of

watermelon, grapes in afghanistan, so all the livelihoods of people, those farms, are washed away. they are trying to get help to the people to remote areas but it is difficult. they are also appealing to un agencies to reach the affected areas and help people with temps, shelter. i spoke to one local resident he sat in the last two days children and women have spent the night in the rain with no support or help. thank ou ve rain with no support or help. thank you very much _ rain with no support or help. thank you very much indeed. _ meanwhile, the number of people killed by flash floods and a cold lava flow from a volcano in western indonesia over the weekend has risen to 43, with 15 more still missing. three districts in west sumatra province have suffered the worst disruption. the cold lava flow, which is a mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water, came from mount marapi, one of sumatra's most active volcanoes.

hundreds of thousands of people live in the affected areas and they said they heard rocks thundering down roads outside their homes when the heavy rains struck. later this month south africa will be going to the polls. violent crime is one of the big issues in this election. last year the country's murder rate reached a record 20—year high. as part of a bbc africa eye investigation, ayanda charlie had exclusive access to the frontline communities who are fighting back. it's friday night — a policeman has just been shot. theyjust hijacked him and his girlfriend. they take his car and the gun. so this is a regular occurrence? yeah. this is a regular occurrence, a situation that is happening. and this is diepsloot. welcome to diepsloot. nights like these are familiar for volunteer patrol groups, who say if they don't fix their community, then no—one will. people are scared in township.

who's next? who's going to die? diepsloot is in the hands of the criminals. and we know that once they've found out who are patrolling here, we will be a target. the volunteers are badly equipped. the risk to their lives is very real. two years ago, david's son alfa was shot and killed whilst out on patrol. he was 21. they blow the whistles to alert the other guards that there were criminals. unfortunately, he was the first person to reach the place and he managed to shoot alfa on his arm. unfortunately, he didn't make it. i'm trying to accept the situation, but it's still hurtful. 0h, he left a big gap in my life. i mean, there is no law in this place. south africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, according to the un. the latest crime statistics show young black men living in townships like this are most at risk.

but the problem of violent crime cuts across racial and ethnic lines. another set of volunteers begins a nightly patrol. we've got about 500 radio members. that's active radio users. they cover the 11 sectors. so if there is a problem in that sector, they will call it through to us. these farmers are part of a group called afriforum. they campaign for the interests of mainly white afrikaners. in a few minutes, we'll be heading out to tonight's mass patrol. the patrol is going to be happening in cars today, trying to find any suspicious vehicles, trying to see any suspicious activity. as a first responder, you are armed. you can't to go to a gunfight with a knife. that's how it goes. you're prepared to use your firearm and be in a gunfight? i won't hesitate to protect my family. that's it. if i must come into a scuffling between the other guy and he will hurt me, i won't stand back for him.

police budgets have almost doubled in 20 years, but as the economy stutters and unemployment remains high, people are willing to do whatever it takes to survive. in a statement to the bbc, a police ministry spokesperson said, while they concede crime is at unacceptable levels in some parts of the country, aggressive policing interventions have been ushered in. these include a mass recruitment drive of 30,000 police officers over three years. you can watch bbc africa eye's full film �*crime and punishment in south africa' on the world service youtube page. three men have been arrested accused of helping the hong kong security service. counterterrorism police at the alleged offences were concerning but did not believe they provided a whiter threat to the public. lee said they were among 11 people

arrested this month, eight were released without charge on friday. new evidence has been uncovered that the british government was warned by its own embassy staff in the united states, about the risk of hiv from contaminated blood in the early 1980s. it's now thought more than 1,200 nhs patients with the blood disorder haemophilia were infected with the virus, many after being given a treatment made from american blood plasma. 0ur health reporter jim reed has this report. i have always blamed myself for taking him to have his treatment, which infected him. from the 1970s to the early �*90s, tens of thousands of patients were infected with hiv and hepatitis c. now more families at the heart of this scandal are coming forward to speak for the first time. something that should have saved their life...killed them. and still, a0 years later,

there's no answers to that. as a child, laura's brother stuart was given a new treatment for his blood disorder, haemophilia. but factor viii was made from thousands of mixed blood donations. ifjust one donor was carrying a virus, the whole batch could be contaminated. we went in for an appointment and stuart was, i believe, in the play area. we left him outside and we went into this room and we were informed that he was hiv—positive. we were absolutely devastated. i mean, you know, to be told something like that is just mind—blowing. at the time, most factor viii was imported from the united states. their high—risk groups — including prisoners and drug users — were paid to give blood. stuart died of aids in his 20s from the treatment he was given. there was evidence to

suggest it was risky. there were so many people that didn't deserve to die. they were given a death sentence. a public inquiry opened in 2018. it's had access to thousands of documents held in archives. take this five—page memo from 1983 — seen by panorama in full for the first time. it was sent from the british embassy in washington to the department of health. it clearly warned that haemophiliacs were most at risk from the dubious habits of some american blood donors, and the mixing of thousands of those donations. but this and other warnings were not acted on at the time. stuart and other patients continued to be given american factor viii. they've literally torn my family apart, ripped them away from me. sam's father, gary, was another infected with hiv through factor viii.

sam lost his entire family by the age of three. my grandad actually was the first person to tell me. he explained about my dad being haemophiliac. he explained that he needed factor viii and was infected with hiv. subsequently passed that on to my mum, who was pregnant with my sister. all three have passed away. the government has said it will establish a new body to compensate people like sam. it declined to comment on the new documents seen by panorama ahead of the public inquiry�*s final report next week. jim reed, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

today on woman's hour on bbc radio 4 there was an exclusive story about a female officer in the military who says she was raped by a more senior officer in the royal navy. nuala mcgovern, the presenter of woman's hour, is in the newsroom now. hello. yes, this was a female officer in the military who said she was raped by a more senior officer in the royal navy, by a man responsible for behaviours and values, and i includes sexual consent. she alleges his career has been left to continue while hers has been left to continue while hers has been ruined. the women, we are: joanna, came to us hearing as similar story from a woman called

catherine who suffered terrible abuse, including rape, in her career. , , ., career. give us the context of the sto . career. give us the context of the story- the — career. give us the context of the story- the first — career. give us the context of the story. the first sea _ career. give us the context of the story. the first sea lord, - career. give us the context of the story. the first sea lord, he - story. the first sea lord, he launched — story. the first sea lord, he launched an _ story. the first sea lord, he launched an internal - story. the first sea lord, he launched an internal inquiry| story. the first sea lord, he l launched an internal inquiry 18 months ago following allegations of inappropriate behaviour by a whistle—blower who talked about allegations of sexual harassment and abuse on board the new cake —— the uk's nuclear armed submarines. he introduced a zero tolerance policy on sexual offences. he said there would be a presumption of discharge from the service for anyone find engaging in such behaviour. 0ur guest doesn't think that policy is working. responding to the testimony of our guest we spoke to the conservative mp sarah atherton. she is on the defence committee and wrote a landmark review in 2021. she

said she receives one sexual harassment case a week from women following poor experiences with the military�*s process. she also went on to say i have no doubt that service chiefs, ministers and civil servants think they are doing the right thing, but there is a disconnect between what they think is happening and what is actually happening on the ground. she said i think four to zero tolerance policy it is not working for a number of reasons, one that we have the military has a problem with personnel recruitment and retention. she said these people are usually senior males, with ten or 15, 20 years of experience in the military are saying, we can't afford to lose that level of expertise. i should say that a royal navy spokesperson has said that sexual assault and other sexual offences are not tolerated in the royal navy and say they have made significant changes to how those incidents are

reported and how they are investigated. we reported and how they are investigated.— reported and how they are investigated. reported and how they are investiuated. ~ ., ,., investigated. we are getting some ictures of investigated. we are getting some pictures of king — investigated. we are getting some pictures of king charles _ investigated. we are getting some pictures of king charles and - investigated. we are getting some pictures of king charles and prince william. he is handing over responsibility as commander—in—chief of the army air corps to prince william. we don't often see them both together at an engagement. of course, it is a clear signalfrom the king about his relationship with his heir after not seeing harry last week when he was in london. charlton court is having treatment for cancer, as this prince william's wife. i gathered those pictures are in hampshire at an army air corps base where prince harry is to be based. it is interesting and pretty

strong here coming from the royal family. a 300—year—old elephant tusk, a cannon and some human bones are just some of the hundreds of relics that were found at sea or washed up on the shores of the uk last year. a bbc freedom of information request shows more than 300 items were declared to the official government body for offshore wrecks and salvage. rebecca ricks has been finding out more. below the surface lies an often haunting history, and some of the treasures found deep down are more unusual than others. i just saw something poking out of the mud and it was just a little bit too smooth to be a piece of rock or wood. and i put my hand down and grabbed it and i thought, "i think i know what this is." and when i levered it out of the sand, the sun cracked in a big semicircle. and that's when i realised that i've got an elephant�*s tusk. and now it's hanging in his pub in kent. surprisingly, it's not the only elephant tusk declared in recent years.

off the coast of falmouth in 2019, another was filmed being brought up from a ship from the 1600s, thought to be linked to the slave trade. and here it is. wow. bringing it to dry land was just the start. you have to get the salt out of them. if the objects are allowed to dry, the salt forms crystals on the inside, and quite often the object will fall apart. it needs to go into a museum. but because it's ivory, because its associated with the slave trade, finding a home for it has been difficult. the receiver�*s list is fascinating. ejector seat parts, a bomb shackle, human bones, mammoth bones, and even a two and a half tonne bronze french—made cannon from the 17th century. not to mention the statues, the ships' bells, the crockery and the iron swords. if you find something from a wreck, you have a duty to report it in 28 days or face a possible fine. in southampton, the receiver of

wreck is working through a backlog. when something is reported to us, we have a year to find an owner for that item. and then what we do is we negotiate between the owner and with the finder. but of course some of the items bought up, some of the most common items — things like portholes, they won't have a great monetary or historical value unless you know the name of the wreck it's come from. we've had things like beer vats that have been reported to us, gas masks. on one occasion, we even had a jacuzzi, which had fallen off of a superyacht. well, sometimes the things found at sea are a little too big to be stored indoors. this anchor is thought to weigh about two and a half tonnes, and for the last two years, it's been living in this hedge. the 19th century trotman�*s anchor was caught in richard's fishing nets. now, in brixham, richard is still waiting on a decision from the receiver. we've been stuck with it now since then, waiting for the receiver of wreck to give us the go ahead to be able to get rid of it, to try and claim back some of the expense we've had.

in 30 years of fishing, it wasn't richard's only unusual find. probably one of the funniest was a kipper, packed in a vacuum pack, with a knob of butter ready to be served. cows, sheep. the sea is still a very mysterious place. the dredging industry has been doing its bit too — identifying culturally—importa nt items. i think for us some of the oldest are the palaeolithic finds. so we have had some really amazing finds that date back to the middle palaeolithic period. so everything from hand axes to mammoth teeth. it's just really incredible to be the first person to touch something in say 300,000 years. 0ur coastlines are a treasure trove of history and riches. there's no doubt the curiosities will continue to land in the hands of people for decades to come. rebecca ricks, bbc news, devon. we will leave you with pictures from

india where the prime minister, narendra modi, is campaigning as the fourth phase of the elections resume in the six—week election campaign. it is the largest democratic exercise ever. the population is around a billion in india, adults are eligible to vote and you can see the huge crowds there. there has been a lot of interest and turnout narendra modi is expected to be successful in maintaining his position as india's litre for the third time. whether that is depressing turnouts in some parts has been a question, but a massive turnout support therefor of the ruling bjp and we will be keeping you across those extraordinary elections in india in the coming days and weeks.

the weather this afternoon is looking a bit half—and—half, really. warm sun transport scotland and eastern england, reaching 25 in parts of east anglia. a different story further west with cloud and rain. forsome, temperatures story further west with cloud and rain. for some, temperatures really struggle, we might only see highs of 13 degrees underneath this carol of cloud. we are also looking at some persistent rain getting in across parts of south—west england, wales and northern ireland. 20 or 30 millimetres, double that over the high ground. you could see areas of localised flooding. it is a slow—moving band of rain, so there is a chance if you have the rain already it will be with you through the rest of today, whereas if you have the sunshine, it is likely you will keep that. temperatures well into the 20s. 23 therefore newcastle and how. today's temperature

probably in east anglia, you could see up to 25. 0vernight tonight we have this plan to been pushing its way northwards and eastwards with showers following into the south—west. temperatures on them outside at 11—14. south—west. temperatures on them outside at 11—14 . tomorrow this band of rain will be across eastern areas, running on across scotland and showers following to northern ireland, wales and western areas of england, but there will be some sunny spells. some of the showers will be happier at times. temperatures coming down back into the teens for most of us. for wednesday, still with the dregs of low pressure with us. wednesday looks like a showery day, but it could be lengthy spells of rain in eastern england. at this stage the highest temperatures will be in northern areas of scotland where he could see the warm spots reach 22 or 23 degrees. 0therwise, temperatures running into the teens. for thursday, it looks like the warmest

weather will be across northern scotland. temperatures into the low 20s here, but no pressure looks to bring another pulse of heavy rain and into england and will is. temperatures for many other staring into the upper teens. this pattern up into the upper teens. this pattern up unsettled weather continues for england and wales through the rest of the week and into the weekend. the brightest weather further north.

today at one: the trauma faced by thousands of women giving birth in nhs hospitals. poor care is too frequently tolerated as normal — says a report by mps — with the denial of basic needs and, sometimes, life—changing injuries. is this the start of a pre—general election campaign? rishi sunak makes a wide—ranging speech and takes aim at labour. the infected blood scandal — the bbc sees evidence that the government was warned in the early 1980s about the hiv risk. 27 new bathing sites have been designated for england, but it doesn't mean that the water is clean, only that it is going to be tested. and a special ceremony for the king to hand over a military role to prince william. coming up in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news: another arsenal win means that the title race is going down to the final day of the season,

but it's still in manchester city's hands.