this is bbc world news today. our top stories. a wave of attacks in sri lanka. more than 200 people are dead, as eight bomb blasts hit churches and luxury hotels. it's the island's deadliest violence in a decade — three churches were targeted — as worshippers celebrated easter. i heard the explosion and then the roof fell on us. we took the children and ran out. a government minister tells us — sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack 10 days ago — but the prime minister wasn't told. the million question was, this was sent on 11th april and no government

official actually got their hands on it. a nationwide curfew is in force — as sri lankan specialforces raid a number of properties. eight people have been arrested. the comedy actor, volodymyr zelensky, wins ukraine's presidential election run—off despite no political experience. hello and welcome to world news today. more than 200 people have been killed and a50 injured after a series of explosions at churches and hotels in sri lanka. the country's prime minster has said it appears prior warnings of the attacks were given to the police but that he was not kept informed. eight suspects — all of them local — have been arrested so far. the blasts happened during easter services at churches in negombo and the eastern city of batticaloa.

in colombo, worshippers were targeted at st anthony shrine and two other churches. three of the city's major hotels were also hit — the kingsbury, the cinnamon grand and the shangri la. a short time later there were explosions at another smaller hotel and a private house. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. a warning was received by the government but not acted upon. the prime minister says the priority now is to tackle terrorism. we have to make sure that terrorism does not lift its head in sri lanka. we are prepared to take all measures necessary to ensure terrorism is contained and wiped out in this country. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. they came here to pray on one of the most sacred days of the year. butjust before nine in the morning, the sanctity of their easter service was shattered.

as a violent bomb blast ripped through the historic st anthony's shrine in colombo, worshippers scrambled to escape. look closely at the left of frame. this amateur video said to show the moment the explosion happened and the smoke billowing from the church. translation: i heard the explosion, and then the roof fell on us. we took the children and ran out from the rear door. but when i came to the hospital, i saw my brother—in—law and son on the ground. at almost the same time, two other churches were also hit by deadly explosions. leaders speaking on behalf of the country's christian minority called for peace and harmony in the wake of these horrific attacks. i would like to call upon all to pray that all those who are injured may be healed soon,

and that all these families who have lost someone may be consoled. i condemn to the utmost of my capacity this act that has caused so much death and suffering to the people. and it wasn'tjust churches. bombs also exploded at three hotels popular with tourists. the sri lankan foreign ministry says five britons are among those killed, two had joint citizenship with the us, details about the victims have yet to be released. outside the shangri—la, the scene of one of the explosions, investigators survey the damage. and eyewitness staying on the 25th floor to the bbc what happened. we could hear two loud bangs, and the room was shaking. i could see that a lot of guests are being taken to hospitals. there were casualties among

the hotel staff and guests. as grieving relatives waited for updates, two further blasts were reported. with hundreds of casualties, hospitals are at capacity. this 20—year—old from the united states is being comforted by his father as he receives treatment for his injuries. the government believes most of the blasts were carried out by suicide bombers. the prime minister has admitted officials had some prior knowledge of the attacks but that ministers weren't told. three police officers were killed as security forces raided a house in colombo today. no group has admitted carrying out the attack. several people have been arrested.

the country's prime minister has described today's atrocities as cowardly. translation: this is a serious situation aimed at destabilising the country and the economy. i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital. a nationwide curfew is in place, and access to social media has been temporarily banned. this was the worst attack sri lanka has seen since its deadly civil war ended ten years ago. tonight, this usually idyllic island remains on a state of high alert. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news. sri lanka's minister for telecommunication says the government had a specific intelligence report about today's attack on april 11th — thats ten days ago. i asked the minister — harin fernando — why the report was not acted upon?

the report from the investigation department, the security division had these particular details. however, this was not dealt with properly, the prime minister not informed, and as you are aware the and order minister is the president, so and order minister is the president, so there were there was a problem of miscommunication and this particular report was not taken seriously. the million—dollar question was, this was sent on 11th april and no proper government official actually had their hands on it, so unfortunately, none of the government members or the cabinet or security council, so the cabinet or security council, so the president is out of the country and he will be arriving late tonight and he will be arriving late tonight and we are hoping to meet him

tomorrow and to see how this gap of communication really happened because it is serious. and the information in this morning, tell me the detail you know. was it specific about easter sunday? wasn't specifically about suicide bombers? it clearly said there could be four acts, it said it could be suicide bombs or a weapon or a knife attack oi’ bombs or a weapon or a knife attack or even a truck attack. so these are mentioned and names have been mentioned and names have been mentioned as well. they have given a lot of details in this report, even phone numbers, so i myself am quite amused by the situation how do none of us knew about this, how come none of us knew about this, how come none of the government ministers or the prime minister knew about it? are

you telling us the information was stuck somewhere in the president's office and didn't get distributed somewhere in the prime minister's office? there has been a gap for sure. the said report is in document and now we have got it in our hands, the document, but how come the releva nt the document, but how come the relevant authorities have not informed and alerted, there should have been an emergency meeting to look into the situation. what this report clearly says as it needs investigating but to be mindful that this route attack could happen and mentions a few names as well. and mentions a few names as well. and mention names of organisations or individuals? individuals as well as their mentioned organisations as well. and do you know if it is those individuals who are among those arrested today? still the details are coming but i heard the

investigations are now going very well. they have got leads and they know where it came from so i am quite certain by tomorrow evening, by monday evening we should have a com plete by monday evening we should have a complete detail and know exactly what happened, how this was formulated, who was supporting and who was behind it. kieran arasaratnam who was staying at the shangri—la — one of the hotels affected. he told me he had a very lucky escape. i was pretty much 90 seconds away from death. i was in my room preparing to go to breakfast at nine o'clock. fortunately for me i left my debit card back in the room so i literally took a 92nd walk back to the room to get my card and then started to work towards the left and thatis started to work towards the left and that is when i heard the first blast. the first blast was inside the breakfast room and they coordinated any way that the second blast was beside the left so that

people running to it didn't escape, so people running to it didn't escape, so literally 90 seconds pretty much, andi so literally 90 seconds pretty much, and i am here talking to you. that is an extraordinary escape for you. what happens next? how did the authorities take care of you and other people staying? the shangri-la has been great. again, the period of peace for the last five years got eve ryo ne peace for the last five years got everyone confident and everyone is shocked. it is poor shop, initial shock. even inside the room with the first blast, the building shook. then the second blast and people started coming out of the rooms and wondering what was going on and that is when we realised something was seriously wrong and started running down the stairs, and as we came down,, we got to the first floor and we realised the blood and people being carried on shoulders to

ambulances, there was a mother who lost three kids in the last and she was covered in blood. she kept crying, pray for me. the go ahead. the shangri—la has been great, they took us to shelter, the fed us and have taken care of us. and the military and intelligence, they went through room by room and now we have been moved into another hotel. to spend the night. stay what i was on bbc world news today stops still to come. ukraine has a new president. a political newcomer , the comedian and actor volodymyr zelensky, wins a resounding victory

this is bbc world news today.

i'm martin stamford. the latest headlines. a wave of bomb attacks in sri lanka have killed more than 200 people — and injured hundreds more. a government minister tells us sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack 10 days ago — but the prime minister wasn't told. ukrainian comedian and tv star, volodymyr zelensky, looks set to win the country's presidential run—off election by a landslide. early indications show he received more than 70% of the vote. the incumbent, petro poroshenko, has conceded defeat but told supporters gathered in kiev that he will not leave politics. a jubilant mr zelensky thanked his supporters. we have done this together. to all ukrainians, who supported me and who made a different choice, i want to

thank all ukrainians, wherever they are. i promise i will never let you down. before i officially become president, i can say to all post—soviet countries, look at others. everything is possible. i spoke to the bbc‘sjonah fisher who is at zelensky‘s headquarters in kiev. there is no way there will be any way back from that. the camp have just been on stage now celebrating what is to be quite frank and extraordinary victory. a man with no political experience who is known here for making jokes and making television programmes, has come from nowhere to when ukraine's election bya nowhere to when ukraine's election by a landslide. a devastating rejection not just of

by a landslide. a devastating rejection notjust of the president but of the entire political system. and the ramifications could be severe, let's start with the economy. you say they could be severe but we will have to find out exactly what those ramifications are because throughout the campaign, and pa rt because throughout the campaign, and part of the reason they have done so well as they haven't spelt out what their policies are although they ‘ the have put that at the centre of the campaign when we have heard from them the desire to do more about tackling corruption. corruption is a huge problem on ‘word on - word and them to make good on their word and we will see something about that but really the onus is going to be on the zelensky team. having been very vague throughout the last few months, very soon they will be running this country are at least to the extent that the president has some powers, parliament has others.

they will be in charge and it is up to them to demonstrate they can put some specifics on the plans and begin to deliver on the vague commitments they made. and with no political hinterland to support this new president, that could be problematic? i think one way of putting it is people have effectively voted for a blank sheet of paper. they were offered the choice between an experienced politician and a comedian with some pretty vague ideas about change and how things could be different in the future. they voted overwhelmingly for change, it is a rejection of poroshenko and most people would see it as poroshenko and most people would see itasa poroshenko and most people would see it as a rejection of the way ukraine has done politics for the last few decades. people are deeply frustrated with the corrupt relationship between politicians and oligarchs and what we saw in this vote today was an overwhelming number of ukrainians simply saying,

we are fed up with the political classes. we don't really know what zele ns ky classes. we don't really know what zelensky stands for but things are so bad we will give him a chance. the leaders of the protests that led to the ousting of sudan's former president, omar al—bashir, say they have suspended talks and cooperation with the transitional military council that's running the country. addressing thousands of supporters gathered outside the army headquarters, they urged demonstrators to intensify their protests until a transition to a civilian government was achieved. a spokesman for the protest movement, called the military council an extension of the old regime and said they no longer recognised it. there's disagreement amongst climate change protesters in the uk over whether to pause the protests which have been going on in central london for a week. one organiser said they were considering a change in tactics, to move towards negotiation , but others insisted the direct action protest would go on.

almost 1,000 people have been arrested. jon donnison reports. for a seventh day, climate change protesters were making noise on the streets of london. some dressed for the weather, others not so much. all week, the atmosphere has been remarkably good—natu red. the people that are standing here today and that have been here for seven days are amazing, and without people standing up and speaking out loud and shouting, nobody will listen. on waterloo bridge, there were more arrests after demonstrators glued or locked themselves together to block the road. but around lunchtime, as protests continued, came news of a shift in a leaked e—mail sent to demonstrators, one organiser saying perhaps it was time for a pause with a transition from mass disruption to negotiations with political leaders. for some here, worth considering. this kind of action won't be needed if the government responds properly. i mean, you know, the demands, actually, are reasonable and so in line with the science.

it is an untenable position not for the government not to negotiate. this evolving movement has no real leaders, and the message that it is time to pause is by no means felt by everyone. we have spoken to one organiser who says that direct action, like the kind of thing we have seen over the past week, should and will continue in the coming days. the agreement that has been agreed is that we will carry on with a week of activities, we have got a whole week scheduled. while some protesters may think it is time for negotiation, others believe talks will only be successful alongside the pressure that direct action brings. jon donnison, bbc news, in central london. protesters in london have been hearing from the 16—year—old swedish activist greta thunberg, who gained international recognition for her school strike to demand action on climate change. she told the crowd that the world

is facing an existential crisis. we are now facing an existential crisis. a climate crisis, an ecological crisis. which has never been treated as a crisis before. they have been ignored for decades. and for way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotte n politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything at all to fight the climate crisis and the ecological crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer. applause. now the sport round—up with damian johnson. liverpool have gone back to the top of the english premier league — thanks to a 2—0 win away at cardiff. the result sees them go two points ahead of manchester city, though they have played a game more. they took the lead in the second half thanks to giorginio wijnaldum. his strike from a corner easing

the pressure onjurgen klopp's side. james milner‘s penalty sealed the win for liverpool. cardiff miss the chance to pull level with brighton — and they stay in the relegation places. we have to do it like we do it and we have been pushing the whole season. the boys try with all they have and i know that and so we speak only about the things we have to do and before the game how much we have to invest and the boys know that and their attitude is outstanding. it is a tough season but very positive as well so all good. manchester united were hammered 4—0 at goodison park, in the day's early kick off. it's their sixth defeat in the last eight games. goals from richarlison and gyfli sigurdsson put the home side two up in the first half. lucas digne and theo walcott made it four for marco silva's side. arsenal had a great chance to move above tottenham and into third. but they were beaten 3—2 at home by crystal palace. christian bentake got his first goal in a year as palace moved to 42

points to secure their place in the premier league next season. for arsenal though, a missed opportunity. in spain, karim benzema's hat—trick gave real madrid a 3—0 win against athletic bilbao at the bernabeu. the win takes them 4 points behind second place atletico madrid. jorge molina scored two, in a 3—0 victory for getafe over sevilla, with both sides reduced to 10 men. the result sees them leapfrog their opponents into 4th. dortmund are keeping up the pressure at the top in the bundesliga — with a 4—0 victory away to freiburg. jaden sancho, marco reus, mario gotze and paco alcacer with the goals. they're a point behind leaders bayern munich. the first legs of the women's champions league have finished — and holders lyon beat chelsea 2—1. but chelsea do have a crucial away goal — thanks to erin cuthbert. magdalena eriksson's own goal, and amandine henry had put the home side ahead —

lyon are aiming for a 6th title. and barcelona won i—o away to bayern. kheira hamrouai with their goal — as they take a one goal advantage back to spain. fabio fognini won his first masters 1000 title — with victory over dusan lajovic in the final in monte carlo. fognini won in straight sets injust over an hour and half, having come into the tournament without a win on clay so far this season. the italian had beaten ii—time champion rafael nadal in the semi finals. france and romania are fighting for a place in the fed cup semi—finals. the winners will meet australia, who made their first final in 26 years, with victory over belarus. it went all the way to the doubles. and eventually it was ashleigh barty and sam stosur, who came out on top — beating victoria azarenka and aryna sabalenka in the deciding set. and the first round of the world snooker championships continues in the uk city

of sheffield and the 2005 champion shaun murphy is in great form. he's on for a whitewash against china's luo honghao, murphy's 9—0 up in his first round match. there's only ever been one other whitewash at the crucible that was byjohn parrott back in 1992, but there's a chance of another in the next 2a hours. all the scores from the cricible are on the bbc website, that's bbc. com/sport. that's all the sport for now. the queen has attended an easter service in st george's chapel at windsor castle on the day she celebrates her 93rd birthday. she wasjoined by family members including the duke and duchess of cambridge and the duke of sussex. the duke of edinburgh, who has retired from public duties, and the duchess of sussex, who is expecting a baby in the next few weeks, did not attend.

and that's how it looks around the world so far this evening. thank you for watching. big weather changes on the way in the week ahead but before they start, going to squeeze out a fine end to this holiday weekend and what a weekend it has been. good friday in the sunshine, 2a celsius, 25 yesterday, and plenty more sunshine today. the temperature topping close today. the temperature topping close to 25 celsius, perhaps not the uk's warmest on record but it has been for scotland and northern ireland and wales, and more fine weather to come for easter monday. that means we shift the cloud away from north—west scotland and the western side of northern ireland. the western isles has seen some rain but the system pulls away westwards, losing the rain from the western isles overnight. most places dry and

clear about turning misty through parts and we see the lowest temperature, close to freezing, and the most prone rural spots. high cloud arriving toward southern area as monday begins. that drifts northwards turning the sun increasingly hazy but sunnier for north—west scotland and western northern ireland. could pick up an isolated shower to south wales and south—west england towards the end of the day so don't be surprised if something appears. the temperature in the high teens and low 20s and we could well see the warmest easter monday on record. as we look to the picture going into tuesday, drawing the airup more picture going into tuesday, drawing the air up more from the south, high clouds in that direction, and also saharan dust into the atmosphere so a fine sunrise and sunset on tuesday and while most will be fine with the hazy sunshine, the chance of one or two showers towards parts of wales

and south—west england. most places staying dry and it is still warm especially where you get the hazy sunshine, but whether changes take place going through the rest of the week, the warm start to the week with the feet of air from the continent but by the end of the week changing the direction and looking to the atlantic uncertainly next weekend feeling much cooler. as that happens, turning more and and mild midweek going to see more showers and thunderstorms spreading northwards and it will turn increasingly breezy and windy at times especially across southern parts of the uk.

this is bbc news, here are the headlines. more than 200 people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in sri lanka. worshippers and at least three churches were targeted as they gathered to celebrate easter mass. luxury hotels in the heart of colombo also came under attack. sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack ten days ago but the prime minister was not told. in ukraine, exit poll show the comedian and tv star exit poll show the comedian and tv staeradimir exit poll show the comedian and tv star vladimir zelenskiy has won the presidential election run—off. defeating the incumbent victor poroshenko. the protests in sudan say they have