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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". laura: this iss america." hundreds of people are still trapped in the southern ukraine in a steel plant. some who managed to escape say conditions inside the complex are brutal. in the east of ukraine, fighting continues between russian and ukrainian troops but neither side seems to have the upper hand. >>hey are pushing slowly forward in the donbass region,

but there is still no sign that the kremlin's forces are about to deliver some kind of knockout blow. laura: thousands of people are on the streets of the sri lankan capital, protesting about the huge price hikes for basic goods. and reunited after two years as new zealand relaxes pandemic travel rules and families can see each other at last. that is still ahead. ♪ welcome to "bbc world news america." on pbs and around the globe. we begin in mary a pool where a mission to evacuate citizens from a steel plant is stalled. the shelling resumed after a cease-fire over the weekend.

hundreds of civilians are believed to bepped in the steel plant as well as hundreds of wounded soldiers in mariupol. our correspondent now reports. reporter: feeling grass under their feet after only concrete. >> for a month, we were eating six food tins. 40 of us. and that was it the whole day. >> there is no house anymore. of course therereporter: this ir two months of war. ruins. tens of thousands of people are

thought to have died. many of the survivors came here, this steel plant. as the city fell to ashes, ukrainian fighters used the underground chambers to stay and fight. >> such a genocide and inhumane war. reporter: four weeks, women and children lived in these tunnels, using them as a refuge. appeals to get them out were ignored til now. yesterday for the first time in two months, they left their dark refuge and were led out of the rubble through what many

described as hell. this is where they will come. others have made it out today after scrambling for parts to rebuild a car. >> weere bringing food from a tugboat. we could not even raise our heads. it was scary to be there. reporter: after days of terror and chaos, there is help. but the city each one of these people once knew is gone. russia bombed the plant not long after the civilians left. it is hoped they will be here in ukrainian territory tomorrow. talks to get out the remaining people, including 20 children, continue. but negotiations are proving difficult.

laura: ben brown is in ukraine and has been speaking with the deputy mayor of mariupol. he told me about their conversation about evacuations. reporter: they say they have stalled. they got 100 people out over the weekend, which is good news. women and children. young children. they were in a trench under the steel plant in mariupol. increasingly desperate conditions, running out of food and water. but there are still hundreds of civilianthere and several hundred wounded ukrainian fighters who are desperately in need of medical treatment. the ukrainian government were hoping to have further evacuations in the coming days. there was a two day cease-fire but then russia resumed bombardments so no more people

have been evacuated since then. in terms of the city, the deputy mayor says there are still 100 30,000 civilians who are effectively trapped in the bombarded city of mariupol. there was a hope losses were going to be able to get th out in the early morning but that never transpired and those people are still stuck. laura: the americans are hoping to reopen their embassy in kyiv this may. how significant is it to get the diplomatic support on top of the other support? reporter: it is very significant and it is not just the amerins who are reopening their embassy. british, french this week and today, the danish reopen to embassies. so i think the ukrainian government sees that as a vote

of confidence in the city. diplomatically, president zelenskyy is desperate for western help. they are very grateful for the help they have had so far but in the end, american help is absolutely crucial and they know that. that comes in terms of money from president biden's promise for $33 billion worth of military and humanitarian assistance. they see that as a huge vote of confidence in ukraine and vital if they are going to w the war and drive the russians out. they need money. they need weapons. and they are getting more and more weapons, the kind they need, the heavy weapons. long-range artillery to respond to russian artillery that is bombarding ukrainians in the

eastern donbass region. laura: the ukrainian military is trying to prevent russian forces from advancing into the donbass region. an eastern town is encircled on three sides by russian troops and most residents have fled. those who are still there are living in desperate conditions under constant shelling. andrew has this report. reporter: the russians are getting closer. the missiles are landing to our left and right as we take the last road into lysychansk, a farming town under siege. we are following a ukrainian army medic. he is pointing out the town's latest lacerations. >> look here. bomb. andrew: he is taking us to the front lines, to a hidden base where his teams scoop up casualties. >> over several days, it's

blood, blood, blood. andrew: the russians are making a big push now. >> yes. andrew: you say the fighting is getting a lot worse? >> very extreme and very dangerous, yeah. very. andrew: the army have taken over the local hospital. a soldier is brought in by ambulance with a head wound. his injuries are severe, says the medic. there is not much help for him. -- there is not much hope for him. upstairs, a er silence. you can see the impact of this intense russian bombardment, outside. are still hearing room after room of young men with concussion. faces dazed and haunted. "i've got three young children," he says.

"i wish the shelling would just stop -- we all watched our brothers die in front of us." what do this town's performance tell us about the wider war in east ukraine? there are gns russian troops are being methodical and, therefore, perhaps more efive in their offensive in this region. they are pushing slowly forwar against this town and many others in the donbass region. but there is still no sign that the kremlin's forces are about to deliver some kind of knockout blow. even here, a few civilians cling on. these parents saying they cannot afford to flee. this 9-year-old is trying to take it all in stride. the sound of the bombs? you are not scared? >> [speaking foreign language] andrew: she says, "because i am

the oldest girl, i am not scared." good for you. inevitably, those left behind here have moved underground. alexei and lubova gubin still wait for good news from their radio. >> [speaking foreign language] andrew: so they are disagreeing -- she wants to go but has no means of getting out. her husband wants to stay. "have you seen what's happened here? i don't know if we will survive this," she says, voicing the fear that hangs over this whole region. andrew harding, bbc news. laura: more than 5 million people have fled ukraine since the war began. among them, thousands of

africans, students who call the country home for more than a decade. they say they face discrimination from ukrainian border officials while trying to escape. our correspondentraveled to the russia-ukraine border days after russia invaded to hear the stories. reporter: africans caught up in the horror of the war of ukraine. >> this is not our war. it is not our fight. we want to go. reporter: as they fled, many have been treated as second-class citizens. jessica is a nigerian medical student based in western ukraine. on her way to the polish border, she said she said she was stopped from boarding a bus. >> i was told, only ukrainians.

that is all. if you are black, you should walk. reporter: another who was trying to escape was a surgeon and university lecturers lived in ukraine for 40 years. when h arrived to the border with poland, he was pushed to the back of the line. it was freezing and there was no shelter. >> they said, we are allowing just women and children. but there are black women here, as well. over 18 hours. it was horrible. it was uncalled for. it was inhumane. >> i needed to go and talk to the people myself, touch them, make sure that their stories and voices were heard as well. as africans crossed the border,

we were there to meet them. even though they reached poland, they were still uneasy. >> i still do not feel safe. when i walked past, i know people might do something. i can feel them staring. they might attack me. reporter: i was reporting were turned away from to restaurants for no reasons and confronted by a menacing group of polish men who demanded to see our identification. it made me understand what these people told me. for them to say it was worse on the ukrainian side, i just cannot imagine. the u.n. coalition of refugees has acknowledged racist

treatment at ukraine's borders. but not all africans have encountered racism as they escaped the conflict. this family was very moved by the reception they got as they crossed into poland. >> little things when we crossed the border. it made me feel like crying. reporter: peter reporting, bbc news. laura: today the spanish government announced the mobile phones of the prime minister and finance minister were illegally tapped by a pegasus, which can extract data from the devices. they promised to put pressure on the spanish government to examine how pegasus was used to

monitor the government. and haiti gang violence promises to bring chaos to everyday life. dominican officials have urged haitian authorities to act to help release carlos correa 10 after 17 american missionaries were kidnapped last october -- cannot last october and later escaped. return to the worsening economic crisis in sri lanka. many people are struggling to pay for basic food and supplies. people have been protesting for days. our correspondent is in colombo for us tonight with the very latest. >> a bruised economy bringing thousands to the streets. the country has run out of cash. struggles to import essential items.

these sri lankans are not giving up. they demand a course correction. >> people are dying. reporter: one person has been camping here 18 days. for people like her, basics have become luxury. >> you cannot afford to live here. food prices are increasing day by day. a shortage of oil, gas, all other essential goods, and also medicine. it is very difficult to live. i stopped buying fresh milk, because i cannot afford it anymore. reporter: classic case of a country living beyond its means. now, colombo is running from pillar to post. a rude awakening for sri lankans. i have been coming to sri lanka for the past 35 years, and these protests are extraordinary.

ethnic faultlines run deep in sri lanka, but the cost-of-living prices have brought the three major communities together. elsewhere in colombo, in a show of strength the opposition , turned up in huge numbers. >> the present government has brought our country into total bankruptcy. there is abject poverty in all sectors of society. this government is an incompetent government. it cannot govern. they have to go home. >> the government is on their back foot. now, it admits to a colossal failure in managing the economy. >> yes, we missed the point. we should have known, for example, 2020, when we started with a fresh government. no one can say we did not have the facts. if you are a good analyst of the

economic situation, you should have known this is coming. the only thing that was not predicted was the corona impact. reporter: the economic recovery will be long and arduous. these people want to ensure the government gets it right this time. bbc, colombo. laura: we were reporting on battlefield concussions in ukraine and now we are learning more about concussions in the world of sport. studies show damagin concussions can have consequences later in life, especially for women. our correspondent has more. reporter: it is the game we love. but what are the risks? thursday night training for the

women's team. there e concerns about concussions and long-term injury from repetitive heading and collisions. early research throws women can be more vulnerable than men. >> 16 heads and one ball. and everyone is focused on hitting the ball. it is good that the conversation is finally arising. repoer: jess is trying a new brain scanning device, one of several being developed around the world. the idea is that sports clubs could scan all players at the start of the season using images for comparison if injury occurs, looking into how the brain has been affected, and when it is safe to start playing again. is this applicable to all types

of sporting clubs? >>, chair, different age groups. not just professional. -- amateur, different age groups. not just professional. boxing, football, rugby. it doesn't matter. you can have one of these and if someone has a concussion for whatever reason, it is applicable. reporter: how did just get on with her trial run with the scanning dice? you are scanned with this data and it is going to look like this, that front line, the baseline? that is normal. >> nice. reporter: go, brain. [laughter] it is early days for the study and more data is needed.

the aim is to let people play their favorite sports while keeping them safe. laura: now some heartwarming news from new zealand where hundreds of families were reunited after two years of being separated by pandemic travel rules. britains, americans, and travelers from 60 other countries can travel to new zealand. our correspondent has the story. reporter: a long time coming. it is the biggest day yet in new zealand's reopening to the world. but for these passengers, it is so much more. >> my first grandchild. i am so pleased to finally be able to get down here, to actually hold this precious bundle. >> i originally applied for a working holiday visa in february of 2020, and i am finally here. >> amazing. the older you get, the more family becomes important. i am getting old, and family is becoming very, very important.

tremendous. this is three generations here. >> we missed his brother's wedding because of covid, because we couldn't come. it was very hard. so it is very good to be back. reporter: from today, vaccinated travelers from more than 60 countries are allowed into new zealand without quarantine after one of the world's longest and toughest border traditions. -- border restrictions. but they are arriving nation still adjusting to the idea of living with the virus. for most of the pandemic, covid-19 cases have been kept extremely low here, policy of putting people in front of the economy has saved thousands of lives and was popular with most new zealanders. but for some, patience wore thin at the government's strict approach, a sense that as the world was moving on, they were being left behind. violent protests in wellington in march shocked the country, police clashing with a vocal minority angry over restrictions

and about losing jobs if they did not get jabs. with more than 95% of adults double vaccinated, most rules have been stripped away. but people are still nervous. recently, new zealand has seen one of the world's highest covid transmission rates, and more than 700 people have now died from the virus here. border closures have given the economy a rough ride, too. before the pandemic, international tourism made up 20% of the country's income. recovery will be slow. but for those who can arrive, this is a happy day. simon atkinson, bbc news. laura: let's turn to tidelands and a rocket festival that was truly a blast.

amateur rocket enthusiasts took part in sunday's excitement to build a rocket complete with gunpowder that goes farthest. the festival began as a way to commemorate deceased monks in the region. thank you so much for watching "bbc world news america." ♪ narror: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs.

♪ judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on "the newshour" tonight, the desperation of war. the global impact of fighting in ukraine worsens as russian forces resume their attack on a major steel plant in mariupol and civilians step up their frantic attempts to evacuate. >> the truth is that 130,000 citizens that are still in mariupol, all of them are hostages. judy: then -- the trump effect -- the former president pushes republican candidates in ohio's senate race further to the right. the latest example of polarized politics in the u.s. and the state of the unions -- how a labor vote at an amazon warehouse in new york city has become a catalyst for organizing efforts nationwide.