this you're watching bbc news at 9am with me, simon mccoy. the headlines. eight britons are among the 290 people now known to have died after a series of suicide bomb attacks across sri lanka. 2a suspects have been arrested following the worst day of violence in the country for more than a decade. a british aid worker has been killed by gunmen who stormed the holiday resort where she was staying in nigeria. a comedian who played the president of ukraine in a television satire has been elected to run the country. two teenagers arrested in connection with the murder of the journalist lyra mckee in londonderry have been released without charge. a week of climate change protests on waterloo bridge in london are brought to an end by police, who removed the final activists from the site late last night.

officials say eight british nationals are among the 290 people killed in a series of suicide bomb attacks in sri lanka. more than 500 others were injured in the blasts which targeted churches and luxury hotels on easter sunday. police say they've arrested 2a suspects. they've said they believe that most of those involved are part of one radical islamic group, operating locally. leigh milner reports. st anthony's shrine in colombo. this is where people had gathered to pray on easter sunday when a bomb exploded. a string of attacks ripped through the country within minutes of each other. six bombs targeted separate churches and hotels in colombo. two other explosions hit churches

in negombo and batticaloa. 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. hundreds rushed to hospitals looking for loved ones. for many, their search ended in heartbreak. it's been reported that at least five british people including the high commissioner for sri the high commissionerfor sri lanka has confirmed that at least eight british people, including a mother and her two children, are among those killed. it's not yet clear who is behind the attacks. security forces have raided houses and a number of people have been arrested. but now it's claimed there were warnings of the attack ten days ago. this particular report was not taken serious. this was sent on the 11th of april. it says there could be suicide bombs, it could be a weapon, or it could be a knife attack or it

could be even a truck. we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken in this respect. but first and foremost, we have to ensure that terrorism does not lift its head in sri lanka. an island—wide curfew has now been lifted, but security remains on high alert. leigh milner, bbc news. a short time ago the high commissioner for sri lanka to the uk, manisha gunasekera, said a curfew had been lifted and people should now feel reassured. more of a shock today than yesterday, because yesterday we had a lot of action and we need to be in action mode. 0ne a lot of action and we need to be in action mode. one of the target is looking at the safety of uk nationals who have visited sri lanka at this point. it is only now that the shock really sets in. do you know how many uk nationals have been caught up in this? i think as of may

there are eight nationals have lost their lives. —— as of now there is information that eight british nationals have lost their lives. there are numbers of other nationals, and also some foreign nationals, and also some foreign nationals who have been injured. we can speak now to doctor manesh gunasekera, director of the red cross in sri lanka. hejoins me from colombo. i suspect the sense of shock has not yet passed. how would you describe the atmosphere there? as you said earlier, the shock has not passed. still we are shocked and we are really sad. and the day today operations have not been that normal in the city. usually it would be a very busy day in the city but it looks very different. the country is really shocked. with so many injured

and dead, what aid are you able to offer? from the very beginning, when we heard this massive blasts coming on, and mass casualties, the red ci’oss on, and mass casualties, the red cross alerted our network. we knew that they would be in need of blood, so we that they would be in need of blood, so we cent hour blood donor network to go to the blood banks and donate blood. within a couple of hours, the blood. within a couple of hours, the blood bank said they had an adequate amount of blood. it was amazing to see how people turned up and donated blood. then what we did was basically, some trained volunteers who had been in the front line, they started to help people who are injured. and some of our units started supported transporting the

patients from hospital to hospital and from the hospital as well. the police then took charge of the situation. then we were able to provide information from people who are in the hospital, to their families, and connect them with people who have been waiting to get information sitting outside. 0ur volu nteers information sitting outside. 0ur volunteers connected these two dots and to information back and forth. —— took information back and forth. it enabled the their radical stuff to concentrate on their work. —— it enabled the medical staff to concentrate on their work. we were dealing with injuries like blast injuries, but you are used to dealing with them, the given country's past, presumably? yes,

yes, it was amazing to see, really, because the hospital has managed the situation. i was there in the national hospital, with the director of the national hospital. they have been manning the situation very well because they are used to dealing with such injuries because of the country's history, during the conflict. and a lot of people because it is a holiday season for us, last week we had a national new year holiday, the biggest celebration in the country, and this sunday was easter sunday. so people we re sunday was easter sunday. so people were on holiday, the surgeons, the plastic surgeons have been working outside the capital, they have been holidaying in the city, they have been calling into the hospital and volunteered. i didn't see any lapses

in the hospital, they managed the hospital situation very well. in the hospital, they managed the hospital situation very weltm in the hospital, they managed the hospital situation very well. it is the nature of horrific attacks like this that we see at once the worst of humanity, and as you have been describing, the best. we have seen people queueing up to donate blood and the work of the hospital staff. absolutely, yes. you must have tremendous pride in the work of your tea m tremendous pride in the work of your team in moments like this. absolutely. at the moment, what they're doing now, there's a lot of missing people, some have not been reunited with the families. our teams have been physically trained to do this kind of work, they have been working with them to try and reunite these families. restore the family links. foreigners as well as the local people. so tomorrow, onwards, funerals will be taking

place, i think we are expecting quite large crowds of these funerals so we are on quite large crowds of these funerals so we are on alert and stab by two provide to people —— we are on alert and we are on state to provide for people who are in need. the situation is still a bit fragile, and unclear, we are looking really to see what the longer term things that we need to do so the red cross will watch, slowly, speaking to these families and see what they have in longer term needs. doctor, thank you so much for sparing time to talk to us. sharanjit leyl is in colombo. we are getting a much clearer picture of what happened, what we don't know is who and why? absolutely. this is something the prime minister and the authorities here are trying to get to the brink

of, they are essentially the same 2a people have been arrested but they have not said where they are from. no group has claimed responsibility for this horrific tragedy. as he reported, eight blasts across a matter of hours here in colombo, and across sri lanka. i'm standing with some of the luxury hotels were hit. there was a curfew today today, people are going about their business, trying to get over their business, trying to get over the shock and horror of this attack, and four hours after took place. shock and anger you describe, i want to talk about the anger, there is it is to have been some sort of warning in circulation —— it appears that there was some sort of warning in circulation that was not passed on to those at the top? absolutely. this is something the prime minister

ranil wickremesinghe has talked about. we heard from the ministry of telecommunications telling the bbc a few hours ago that there was some sort of warning issued before these attacks took place, the authorities knew as early as april 11 that such an attack would take place, but the prime minister and his team said they were not informed. there was a lack of communication between the two sides. we are getting more details emerging about what might have happened. investigators saying that seven suicide bombers may well have been involved in some of these blasts. we also getting reports from local sources that fbi and interpol might be flying out to try and help the sri lankan authorities to investigate this, to get to the front of exactly what happened. what is crucial is some ten years since the end of the civil war here in sri lanka, this is a country which hasn't seen this scale of attack for a decade, they were due to celebrate

the end of that war next month in fa ct. the end of that war next month in fact. that was a war that ripped apart the country, it was ethnic strife between the tamil tigers and sinhalese ethnic groups. that war came to an end in 2009 and sri lanka has not seen this scale of attack so well organised since then. a british woman has been killed by gunmen who stormed the holiday resort where she was staying in nigeria. faye mooney, who was working for the aid organisation "mercy corps", and a nigerian citizen were shot dead on friday. the attackers also kidnapped three other people. two teenagers arrested in connection with the murder ofjournalist lyra mckee in londonderry, have been released without charge. the 29—year—old was shot during riots on thursday night. police said support from the community has been positive, but appealed for "tangible evidence". 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast.

the release of these two teenagers is the latest development? yes, that's right. the two teenagers as you say, aged 18 or 19, they were arrested early on saturday morning and now they have been released without charge. the police officer who has been leading the investigation, detective superintendent jason murphy, has said that the police have received positive support from the community in the creggan area of derry which is where lyra mckee was shot dead on thursday night, but they need to convert that it support into what he calls tangible evidence. so he says he wants to meet with local community representatives in creggan, with the creggan, with hope community representatives in creggan, with hope that they can help him to unlock the evidence, as help him to unlock the evidence, as he calls it. police say they know there are people in creggan who know exact what happened and who was involved, and they have acknowledged

that in situations like this when dissident republicans are involved, it's thought that new ira, the largest dissident group, carried out the murder of lyra mckee. they know that there is sometimes a reticence 01’ that there is sometimes a reticence orfear in that there is sometimes a reticence or fear in communities for people to come forward to the police and bring evidence. police are working with millers of the community and leaders in the community, with clergyman, and local politicians, so that they can break down that fear and encourage witnesses to come forward and give statements. the police investigation is continuing, in the meantime preparation is also now made for lyra mckee's funeral which will be held in belfast, where she grew up, will be held in belfast, where she grew up, on will be held in belfast, where she grew up, on wednesday. thank you very much. a comedian, who has never held political office, has won ukraine's presidential election. exit polls suggest that volodymyr zelenskiy took nearly three quarters of the vote. the incumbent, petro poroshenko, has conceded defeat. mr zelensky is best known for starring in a satirical television series in which his character accidentally becomes

ukrainian president. we're joined now by our kiev correspondent, jonah fisher. this isn't a joke and it wasn't even close. it's pretty mind-bending stuff. fact close. it's pretty mind-bending stuff. fa ct has close. it's pretty mind-bending stuff. fact has followed fiction here in ukraine, and as you say, it's a landslide for this comedian with no political experience, volodymyr zelenskiy. it looks like he will get 75% of the vote also with the incumbent, the man who has been present here in ukraine, just getting 25%. —— president in ukraine, just getting 25%. extraordinary developers, were facing the prospect in a couple of weeks when mr zelenskiy becomes president, we will have the tv show airing in the evening where we have the fictional president and during the fictional president and during the daytime mr zelenskiy will be doing thejob for the daytime mr zelenskiy will be doing the job for real. yourjoking! it's crazy! that's the sort of

warped reality we have to deal with at the moment, simon. warped reality we have to deal with at the moment, simonlj warped reality we have to deal with at the moment, simon. i know, but! don't think ukraine is in that. he didn't do any serious interviews on the lead up to this, just a few light—hearted comments on social media? he almost ran an anti—campaign in this election. he didn't do rallies or political speeches, interviews he did, he came off as you would expect as a comedian, a bit lightweight and lightweight and jokey and lacking in real political substance. his team worked hard to keep them away from politics and mainly campaign on social media. the less he talked, the more popular he became. so it was a formula which worked, but clearly it's not a formula which will work in government because his tea m will work in government because his team have now got a few weeks before the inauguration to try and put together some concrete policies and work out what he really stands for beyond broadly being about something

new and different and changing the way that things were. and he's got some serious stuff to deal with including a waron some serious stuff to deal with including a war on the eastern front. being the president of ukraine is not a joking matter, there has been a war going on against russian forces, 13,000 people have died in that war over the last five years. ukraine has some pretty serious economic problems, it is usually corrupt country, one of the most —— are hugely corrupt country, one of the most corrupt in europe. when he gets into office, mr zelenskiy will have a very serious injury and he will have to start getting to grips —— a very serious in tray. and he has to get to grips with the reality of being president for real. good to talk to you. the headlines on bbc news. eight britons are among the 290 people known to have died after a series of suicide bomb

attacks across sri lanka. a british aid worker has been killed by gunmen who stormed the holiday resort where she was staying in nigeria. a comedian who played the president of ukraine in a television satire has been elected to run the country. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's 0lly. good morning. jurgen klopp says his team is motivated by their supporters, not the "holy grail" of a first league title since 1990. liverpool lead manchester city by two points after beating cardiff 2—0. in the race for a top four finish, there was a shock defeat for manchester united and arsenal slipped up as well. joe lynskey rounds up yesterday's premier league results. at this stage of the season, every point and every goal now means more. for liverpool, this was the joy after an hour of growing tension. to break cardiff down, they needed a thunderbolt.

commentator: ohh, rattled into the roof of the net by georginio wijnaldum! look at the relief! look at the elation! a flash in a match that sees liverpool rise back to the top but this was a day when cardiff made things uncomfortable. somehow sean morrison missed their best chance of the game. a leap that timed better might have changed the whole picture. as it is, morrison got back to his feet and brought mo salah down. a liverpool penalty and 2—0 through james milner. in this relentless title race, they now have 88 points. that's liverpool's best tally since the 80s. we were prepared for a proper banana skin. we knew that so the boys were unbelievable. their attitude is outstanding. it's a tough season but a very positive one as well. the contrast of full—time feeling with that at manchester united. they lost 4—0 against everton, a fifth away defeat in a row

and for all the quality in blue, this was a day for united of difficult questions. former players think they should strip the squad and rebuild completely. right now, the side aren't celebrating but saying sorry. i think everyone here can say, with hands on their heart, that's nowhere near good enough, that's not the man united team. and we apologise again to the fans. we know it's a big task and work to be done. we've got to do it together. in north london, arsenal gave united an easter reprieve. the gunners lost 3—2 at home to crystal palace, missing the chance to move clear in the top four. right now, goals like this have implications and one mistake can change a season. joe lynskey, bbc news. chelsea women scored what could be a precious away goal against the best team in europe, lyon, although they lost 2—1 in the first leg of their champions league semi—final. and they didn't make life easy for themselves, first scoring an own goal and then

conceding after being unable to defend a corner. they also had a fran kirby penalty saved but erin cuthbert‘s fantastic strike gave them a hope. the second leg is next sunday at kingsmeadow. i'm disappointed we haven't got a better result here, because i thought we, today, we were the better team. and i thought we played with the courage and the conviction that i'd asked the players, and getting the away goal means that the tie is very much alive. but i expect that it will be even more difficult at home, because of leon have the quality as we know, but i'm very proud of my team. the other semifinal saw barcelona take one nil lead against by 0lejnik. —— bayern munich. great britain are into

the fed cup world group for the first time in 26 years. they beat kazakhastan to secure promotion. johanna konta won the first of two rubbers they needed at the copper box arena, leaving katie boulter with a chance to claim victory for britain against zarina dyas. she needed three sets, but that secures a place in the eight team second tier of the world group. the rugby champions cup final will be between two time winners saracens and the champions leinster. the irish beat toulouse, running in three tries in a 30 points to 12 win at the aviva stadium in dublin. they'll bid for a record fifth european title. the final against saracens is at newcastle's st james park next month. that's all the sport for now. more from the bbc sport centre at 11.15am. don't forget about the website. actually, i will be back after 10am. i have no idea what day and what time it is!

a week of climate change protests on waterloo bridge in london has been brought to an end by police, who removed the final activists from the site late last night. more than 960 people have been arrested in connection with the demonstrations. simon jones has more. as night fell, officers moved in to remove the last of the protesters who'd glued themselves to waterloo bridge. with police patience and resources stretched, the only approved place for protest remains marble arch. chanting: we love you! there, a 16—year—old swedish schoolgirl received a rapturous welcome as she took to the stage. greta thunberg's protest outside the swedish parliament calling for action on climate change is credited with inspiring demonstrations worldwide. we are the ones making a difference. it shouldn't be like that but since no—one else is doing anything, we will have to do so. she was undoubtedly preaching to the converted. i think she's right. yeah, that's really all that i want to say, but she is right and people need to listen to her. she's going to be very welcome here,

isn't she, because she is one of the first people who spoke out and drew attention to all of this. i wish that at 16 i would have had the guts to do what she's doing now. but police say the disruption has been unacceptable. hundreds of people have been arrested. the protests are now entering their second week but there is some discussion about the best way in which they should be taken forward with many people having differing views. activists will meet today to consider whether direct action should be paused in favour of dialogue with politicians. as waterloo bridge reopens, the direction of travel is far from clear. simon jones, bbc news. hundreds of holiday—makers in county down, northern ireland, have spent the night in emergency accommodation, after a large hillside fire forced them from their caravan park. more than 50 firefighters worked through the night to bring the blaze on the mourne mountains in newcastle under control. declan harvey reports. too close for comfort.

at around 7:00 yesterday evening, smoke was spotted rising from the forest above picturesque newcastle. eyewitnesses were shocked at how quickly it took hold. at its height, the flames were a mile wide. on one of the busiest weekends of the year here, bonnys caravan park was evacuated as sea winds fuelled the flames. many including a pregnant woman and young children were bussed to this community centre where they spent the night. very frightening. people were told to get into their cars, move their cars and then get into their cars and then you were told to get out of the cars and run to the front gates. i was like, well, this is really serious... if we have to evacuate. so ijust got really scared and, yeah...

by the early hours, the fire appeared under control. the fire service is expected to give details of what may have caused the fire and the extent of the damage later today. declan harvey, bbc news, in newcastle, county down. in just under two weeks, millions of people across england and northern ireland will cast their vote in the local elections. they matter because the councillors we elect make spending decisions on the things that effect our daily lives, like roads, health and council tax. however, since 2010 councils in england have had their central budgets cut by almost half. turnout for these elections are also notoriously low. last yearjust over a third of people registered to vote, did so. nina warhurst has been to hartlepool, where last year's turnout was the lowest in the country. hartlepool council has a job on its hands. how can it get the proud population of this diverse community more interested in what it does?

160 million is being spent on regeneration, but generating interest in these elections is proving tricky. have you ever voted in a local election? no. do you know what they do, local councillors? no, i have no clue whatsoever. this is dyke hill, in the 2% of most deprived areas in the uk. the council can count on callum, the cleaner and part—time youth worker wants to make sure that he is heard. just when the councillors were coming in and they were explaining what they want to do, i was thinking, well, that one vote could be vital, so i might as well use it and then i have used it every year since. so local elections matter? yes, definitely. since 2010 this council has lost almost two—thirds of its budget, and that hasn't gone unnoticed by nora. there are so many things being cut back in this town,

it's like a ghost town. vital services we need, the magistrates‘ court, hospitals. doesn't make you think, i will vote, or not bother? my father always said, if you've got a vote, use it. in hartlepool, more than twice as many people voted in the last general election as the council election, so what is it about the locals that leaves the electorate cold ? we have made councils less important, taking power away from them, and they have less and less money to spend, so if we want to get people excited about local governments again, about devolution and who their local council is, we need to trust local councils to do a lot more. but they did get excited about brexit. seven out of ten voted to leave. and at sasha's community centre—cum—polling station, he said he saw dozens voting for the first time in decades. the "take back control" resonated massively with people who felt they didn't have any control in their lives. how do you think people feel now that hasn't happened?

i think there's a disillusionment with politics and politicians. so, queues around the block injune 2016 — queues round the block in may 2019? very unlikely. 0n the next street, georgia says brexit has made her think more about the value of voting. it sparked an interest in politics that wasn't there before. do you think because of brexit you'd be more likely to vote this time around? yeah, i think i am going to think about it and go and vote. because of brexit? yeah. brexit chaos, council cuts, local loyalties and party splits — will they combine to engage hartlepool as never before, or send it the other way? we find out next week. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hello there. easter sunday was a warm and sunny one, we saw a top temperature of 25 celsius during the afternoon.

now for today, easter monday, is also looking warm with some sunshine but that sunshine tending to turn quite hazy particularly across england and wales through the day. and there is also a slim chance of an isolated shower developing across the channel islands into the south—west of england later on as well. quite a breeze blowing in from the south—east, cool around the coasts. top temperatures reaching the low to mid 20s celsius once again. as we head into tonight, it looks like most places will stay dry, a little bit of cloud here and there, increasing chance of some showers and thunderstorms in the west quadrant of the country, this that could be a little bit milder. some cooler spots further north—east. tuesday is looking like being another dry and largely warm one, with plenty of sunshine around but still the chance of some showers and storms developing across southern and western areas through the day. it will remain quite breezy but cooler by the coast, top temperatures 22, or 23.