♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: cfo. caregiver. eclipse chaser. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo.

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". >> hello. this is outside source. pressure mounts a full-scale assault on ukraine soldiers. ukraine says russia is trying to eliminate those defending the steel plant. >> i appeal to the community to evacuate the civilians and extract wounded soldiers. >> the who says the coronavirus

pandemic caused almost 50 million excess death worldwide, triple the current estimate. amber heard tells the court more the violence she says she suffered in her marriage. >> he sits down in front of me at one point and becau i'm not answering him, i was looking out the window and he slaps my face. welcome to the program. we're going to start with the war in ukraine. to the city of mariupol. russia has launched an all-out assault on the final pocket of ukrainian resistance. the steelworks plant. 200 civilians are still sheltering inside. russia said it would stop attacking so civilians could evacuate, but that is not happening. about 2000 ukrainian troops are

still defending the steelworks. russia says the remaining fighters should put down their weapons. experts say it appears to show a vacuum bombs being dropped on the plant. those weapons are controversial. much more devastating than others of similar size. it is unclear when the footage was filmed. the battalion is defending the steelworks. their commander record this message. >> there are heavy bloody battles. i am proud of my soldiers who make superhuman efforts to contain the pressure of the enemy. i'm grateful to the whole world for the colossal support to the garrison of mariupol. >> muska says it is declared a three day cease-fire starting thursday morning to allow the civilians out.

the kremlin says humanitarian corridors are working but other officials said that's not true. one commander says civilians are still trapped. he said yet again, the russians have broken the promises of a cease-fire. ukrainian mp told us this. >> areouses are bleeding with pain. the people there are not able to be evacuated. the russians are firing everything they have from air and ground to destroy it with people still in hiding. there are people still there in the plant and they are unable to get out. >> the situation is desperate. a new convoy is on its wait to try to evacuate remaining civilians.

that is expected to arrive on friday. let me play you this message. it is from the wife of a soldier. >> we ask everybody please act, please do something to help our le our soldiers our civilians. they need our help right now. the situation is really terrible and it is critical right now. they are dying each minute. please help. >> before today, we have seen evacuation's. this was last night in the city rth of there. these people were not sheltering in the steel plant but they were trapped in the city with no clean water, no electricity, limited supplies, and under constant shelling. last week people from the plant itself were evacuated. they are now in shelters.

ukraine's president says they will get the help they need including psychological trauma. now that some of gotten now, we are able to hear what it was like the underground for 60 days under constant shelling. let's hear from to survivors. >> we could never go out. we didn't see the light of day or breat fresh air. the men who were with us who were hidin in the shelters, the coop over the fire boiled water so we could wash ourselves. >> people don't stop crying. they are an absolute desperation to get out. some people have started thinking about suicide because there is nway out. >> mariupol bank has been under attack for months. when russia bombed a theater in march, up to 1000 civilians were said to be sheltering their. this satellite imagef the theater before the attack shows have a tried to deter the russian bombs writing the word

children in large letters on either side of the building. it was bombed anyway. at the time because mariupol was cut off, it was fickle to know how many people died. now an investigation suggests as manys 600 people were killed in that attack. that would make it the worst known loss of life in a single attack of this invasion. our chief international correspondent is in a city in central ukraine. >> we have heard the ultimatum from russia for many weeks now. we heard president zelenskyy of ukraine saying many times he told his fighters that if they had to lay down their arms if they had to surrender, he would completely understand. yet every time he said that, the fighters there have said no, we have to continue to fight. so it is come down to this last stand in the bunkers, the

tunnels, the labyrinth of the steelworks where the commanders today have been speaking abo in their words difficult and what he battles. now underway as they intensify the attacks on the steel plant. >> can we get your assessment on the state of western help? military help, intelligence support, and what impact you think that ihaving the moment? >> obviously, western military, nato members who have been accelerating their supply of weapons to the ukrainian forces which has changed in terms of quality and quantity more and more weapons this started off after the invasion february 24 being a lot of small arms and ammunition. now nato understands this is a

tougher fight than they anticipated. the ukrainian forces are performing better than anticipated. they are now providing more and more heavy weaponry. the antitank missiles that have pred so effective. ukraine continues to demand more aircraft, more antitank weapons, more tanks to continue the fight. it is not surprising that president putin has warned the west not to keep supplying this kind of heavy weaponry -- heavy weaponry. he has targeted the supply lines before. we are not getting all the details, it would be military intelligence, but certainly looking at what is happening in the battlefield, the resistance of the ukrainian forces, it is making the difference. the consistent message from the ukrainians most of all from president zelenskyy is they need more weaponry. we hear more reports of fighters in the trenches that are still

fighting with old soviet weapons and they need the more modern western weaponry if they will continue to hold back this intensifying russian onslaught particularly east. >> briefly, you covered the military support from the west. there is the meeting of donors and poland promising economic help. the humanitarian effort is huge. you have been speaking to children's charities today underlining the scale of the help that is needed. >> yes, we heard from the chief operating officer of say the children international. the war against ukraine is a war against children. they are suffering in unfathomable ways. children are on the run, trapped in those steelworks. not seeing any sunlight for

weeks on end. >> want to bring you breaking news from israel. at least three people reported to have been killed in an attack in a central israeli city. 25 kilometers east of tel aviv. fourth person is said to be in critical condition. reports say police believe it was a terror attack and the mayor of the town has called on people to stay indoors. i think we can cross now to live pictures of the scene. this is what is happening right now in israel. we see from police reuters news agency have given this account of what the police have been saying. it occurred as israelis celebrated independence day.

they have set up roadblocks now to catch those who have fled the scene. at least three people were killed in this attack in the central israeli city. this is today on thursday and these are life pictures that we're seeing right now. reuters quoting heaofficials with the number of fatalities. as i said, the police have set up roadblocks to try to catch people responsible. >> we are going to turn to covid-19. the who says that estimates 50 million deaths have been caused by the pandemic. they described that number is staggering. the data looks at the excess deaths in the first two years of the crisis. the who explained why they released the numbers this way. >> reporting deaths is important

to monit the impact of the pandemic and the respons it is important to save lives and for us all to be better prepared for future emergencies. >> the concept of excess deaths helps scientists overcome the problem of countries undercounting those who have died in the pandemic. here is one expert on how the idea was put to use. >> estimates look at what were deaths in the pre-pandemic times and based on that what we will expect and actually how many deaths happened and areue directly to covid-19 or from other causes were people could not get care because covid was taking up health care resources. >> you can see the differences between reportedths and what the who inks is the actual number of deaths. the gray lines show the deaths reported from covid about 5.5 million globally. the excess in the red color is pharrell -- far greater.

>> there is a saying in public health which is that if you don't count it, it doesn't matter. we are trying to put numbers to this to see that each life matters, how many of these deaths could have been prevented, and how we can do better next time and the pandemic is not over. how do we try to save lives from this day forward and to avoid this major toll? i know comparisons have been ma to the flu. in an average year, flu deaths are up to 600,000 globally. covid-19 is a much mo serious event and the most serious pandemic since 1918. >> some countries stand out. estimate for essex -- excess deaths in russia -- india's government press office in january tweeted about various accounts of independent modeling

describing them as ill-informed not based on facts and mischievous in nature. the who says its methodology is sound an scientists generally agree that the official count of deaths in india is far short of the truth. >> there are at least seven published reports in the domain including reputed journals that the figure somewhere around 4 million. the second point is the excess deaths in india is consistent with the fatality rate around the world. we have to stop believing that indians are somehow special and died far fewer than people elsewhere in the world. >> is the doctor indicated, lots of cntries saw deaths far in excess of normal years during

the pandemic from europe to south america. >> brazil was at the epicenter of the pandemic for a while. it saw deaths on a masve scale. a nurse from sao paulo lost her grandmother but had to carry on working rather than grieve. >> soon after, i had to work in the icu. the patients remind me of her because they were at the same age. they remind me of my grandmother. >> here, britain had excess mortality rates above the average. a reminder that this pandemic was tough even for some of the wealthiest nations. >> what is very interesting is that we have a wide range of

countries which had really high fatality rates. the united states is one. india according to these figures is also one. india as you said has really pushed back at the estimate that the who has come up with. the who is used to analyzing mortality rates. it does it for all sorts of things like malaria, tb, hiv. it knows what it is dng. one of the things that particularly stands out is that what the who has looked at is not just people who died directly from covid, but people who may have died because they were unable to seek treatment that they needed because their health services were overwhelmed. this happened in many countries even the most developed. that is why the head of the who said this is a really sobering

set of statistics and it needs to be a wake-up call to all countries they have to prepare their health services to cope when there is a pandemic that all the other things that we can get sick from, you shouldn't have cancer patients not being able to get treated because the hospitals are full of covidients. our health services should be able to cope with the possibility of a pandemic. this is something that the who is really hoping will send a message to governments all arnd the world. >> stay with us here on outside source. still to come, amber heard has told a court more of the physical and verbal abuse she says she has suffered at the hands of johnny depp. the royal garden party season is

about to get underway for the first time since the pandemic, but the queen will not be attending. >> the palace has confirmed that the queen will not be attending this year's garden parties. the reason being given is that they involve long times of standing. they are simply too taxing for a 96-year-old. the last time the queen was seen a public was the service of thanksgiving for the life of the duke of edinburgh at the end of march. she has missed a series of events that she would normally attend. the palace will not be drawn on questions about the questions on her health but she is completing virtual engagements from windsor. according to the palace, she is still hoping to attend the state opening of parliament next tuesday. the big question is how visible will she beat for the platinum jubilee celebrations next month?

>> this is outside source. our lead story, russia has launched an all-out assault on the steel plant where the last ukrainian forces are holding on. now to sri lanka in the grip of an economic crisis. new fuel shortas are leading to long fuels at -- cues at petrol stations. other sites have run out. in some places, the cues were two kilometers long. >> what we see unfolding not just here across the country are people waiting not just minutes but hours on end. just to fill up their tanks with diesel or petrol. you can see there is a petrol station behind me.

in the distance, hopefully you are able to see all of the cars through the traffic waiting to get to the petrol station. some stations are already out of fuel. we drove by another station on the way to get to this one that was already out. people say it's a daily routine they have to wait three or four hours every day just to fill up their tank. >> let's look into how the sri lanka economic cris began. it all comes down to the fact that the foreign currency reserves have ru out. things like food, fuel, medicines. the government says it only has $50 million of usable reserves. the president when he came to power decided to offer big tax cuts.

foreign currency. he and his new finance minister now admit the tax cuts were a mistake. the government blames the pandemic which has all but killed off the tourist trade. >> the finance minister has made it clear foreign reserves or even less than $50 million right now and that is crippling imports of essentials like fuel, cooking gas, and medicines. prices of petrol have gone up by 90%. prices of diesel are up by 138%. that is pinching citizens on the ground. >> there have been protests for weeks. the crisis have made the cost of living unaffordable for many. there are now paying up to 30% more for than one year ago. the protests first flared up in early april demanding the resignation of the president. he says he will not step down.

police have fired tear gas on students. this is the leader of the opposition at a protest on sunday. >>'s abject poverty in all sectors of society. this government is an incompetent government. it cannot govern. have to go home. >> how has the government responded to protesters and the opposition? >> the government has been accused of corruption. the government denies those charges and says it has made mistakes, but it is doing whatever it can to get sri lanka on track. the finance minister spoke to parliament and admitted that the steep tax cuts weren't actually a good idea. he did say that this is going to be a crisis that won't be easy to get out of quickly. he said it could take a couple of years for sri lanka to get back on its feet. >> now to the u.s.. amber heard has continued to

give testimony on the trial pett her against her former husband, johnny depp. he is accusing her of damaging his reputation by saying she was the domestic -- the victim of domestic abuse. a warning, you may find the content upsetting. >> i walk away from him, my back is turned towards him and i feel this boot in my back. he kicked me. in the back. i fell to the floor, i caught myself and i was looking at the floor of the plane for what felt like a long time. >> she described her attempts to stop her ex-husband becoming violent. >> nothing i did made him stop hitting me. nothing.

i tried for over a year maybe two of not reonding physically or verbally. just staring at him. i tried to freeze, i tried to go to a different place. i would try lashing out verbally, try to threaten that if he hit me again i would call the police. the police were called several times. i tragedy everything, even threatened to leave him. nothing was working. >> for more on the testimony, i spoke to a magazine representative. >> while it is riveting and chilling testimony, she has said that he punched her in the face after she allegedly flirted with a woman. she said that johnny kicked her in the back over jealousy over her friendship with james franco. she has described how she joined

a support group for those who love addicts to try to get them help. she has laid out a pattern of violence and a chilling testimony here. beyond the courtroom, the eyes of the world are on this. particularly, the eyes of hollywood where johnny depp is currently a superstar in exile fighting not only for his repudiation, but also for his career. >> what impact has this trial had on both of them so far? >> for johnny depp, the test will come in less than two weeks. that's because the cannes film festival, his new film is up for sale. movie studios and distribes have to decide if they want to be in the johnny depp business. he is attached to a project to play louis the 14th of france. the film will be a test of how

he is damaged whether therere any bids or whatever. box tha you for talking to us about the last on the amber heard johnny depp court case. that is it for now, goodbye. narrator: 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 statn from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: cfo. caregiver. eclipse chaser. a ymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo.