this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. in the aftermath of intense fighting in ukraine, the bbc uncovers evidence of civilian killings, that could amount to war crimes. this is more thanjust a collection of terrible deaths, this is a crime scene because under the laws of war, civilians are supposed to be protected. we report from the battle—scarred town of irpin, just 13 miles from kyiv , now a symbol of ukrainian resistance. this was a key battleground, and ukraine's victory here was critical. if the russians had been able to push through here, they would've been on that way to kyiv. covid—19 infections in the uk, hit a record high.

nearly five million had the virus last week. in other news: a state of emergency is declared in sri lanka, where an economic crisis has sparked violent protests. amazon will be forced to recognise a trade union for the first time after workers in new york vote to join up. hello, and welcome. we begin tonight in ukraine, where the bbc has found evidence that russian forces have been forced to pull back from positions they held at the start of their invasion, five weeks ago. russian armour has been heading west out of the capital kyiv, and a bbc team gained access to one area, just hours after their retreat. a stretch of the e—ao highway was where shocking images from the early days of the war emerged — showing russian troops firing on civilians

trying to escape. jeremy bowen and his team have now reached the scene of the attack, and found evidence that raises the possibility that war crimes may have occurred. a warning, his report contains some graphic and distressing images. on a stretch of road that runs between two villages with names that translate as "dream" and "sweetheart" is all the savagery and waste of war. ukrainian forces had just recaptured it, their troops moving in after a heavy bombardment from their artillery. this was only a few hours after the russian retreat. in the early hours of this morning, this was recaptured? absolutely correct. so, basically, around 2am today, our reconnaissance team report that they start to see movement. oleksandr, a ukrainian volunteer who is back home from england to fight, showed a position where a russian tank had been dug in.

so that is where the russian tank was and that is exactly where he... this is the line of fire, that's how they shoot. on the 7th of march, oleksandr's drone unit filmed the tank in action. the drone showed civilians trying to get to kyiv to escape the russians. and then, they saw the tank. one of the cars was forced to stop. the driver tried to show he was harmless. and the russians shot him dead. they also killed his wife. the dead couple were maksim and his wife, ksenya. they were travelling with their six—year—old son and a friend, who both survived. she said maksim had been shouting they were with a child when he was killed. almost four weeks later, maksim's badly burned body still lies next to the hulk of their car. ksenya's remains are inside. her mouth is open, as if in a scream.

the car and the back seat are riddled with bullets. the vehicle and their bodies were not burnt when they were killed. the hypothesis is that russian soldiers tried to destroy the evidence of what they had done. the drone operator who filmed their death said the russians must have known maksim's car was not a threat. so they were trying to say that they were civilians? yes, yes, they know it. you can see it, the whole car is civilians, not an army car, and they shoot it. in the woods near the road, there is evidence the russians left in a hurry. you can see the place where, in the trees, the russians were living. there is a dug—out. there's beer bottles. it's like the marie celeste, half—finished meals. they were here for a month. the camp is full of the soldiers�* rubbish. on a front line, that is usually the sign of an ill—disciplined unit.

they tried, unsuccessfully, to hide another tank in the trees. that was punished by the ukrainians, who destroyed it. a much bigger question is whether there will be a reckoning for what happened on the highway. maksim and ksenya were not the only ones who were killed near the tank, dug into the roadside. more bodies here? yes. one, two, three bodies, ithink. yes. you're absolutely right. in a couple of hundred yards, with oleksandr from the ukrainian army, we counted 11 other dead bodies. it's ukrainian. three were wearing recognisable ukrainian military uniform. the others wore civilian clothes. some of the dead were piled up and surrounded by tyres. they deliberately burned them. they set on fire to hide their... ..to hide what they did.

in the desolation are a mass of questions about who they were and how they were killed. it's hard to imagine the fear these people must have gone through in the last few moments of their lives or, indeed, the anguish survivors, families, must be feeling now. but this is more than just a collection of terrible deaths. it's a crime scene. because under the laws of war, civilians are supposed to be protected. we drove to the next village to confirm a ukrainian claim that they had destroyed more russian tanks. the russian armour was broken and, except for soldiers, the village was deserted and still. the russians could be redeploying to the eastern battlefields, butjust a few hours after they had left this strategic area close to the capital, it was clear they were being forced out. many civilians are mourning

relatives and friends they say were killed by russian troops. as and when they retreat, they might leave behind more evidence that could add up to war crimes. jeremy bowen, bbc news, outside kyiv. well, just a few miles from the e—iio highway where jeremy was reporting, lies the town of irpin, 13 miles from the capital and also the scene of recent heavy fighting and terrible damage, as russian forces tried to encircle kyiv. now the ukrainians say it's been liberated, and our international correspondent, orla guerin has been there, with ukrainian troops. again, her report contains some upsetting images underforeboding skies, we entered the town of irpin. it now stands as a testament to ukrainian resilience and russian defeat. we travelled under armed escort. a tense journey along

a carefully chosen route. we were warned russian forces might still be in the forests on the outskirts. they occupied about a fifth of irpin and have left their mark. but ukrainian troops have driven them out and reclaimed the ruins. the damage here gives a sense of how fierce the fighting has been. this was a key battleground and ukraine's victory here was critical. if the russians had been able to push through here, they would have been on the way to kyiv. the capital is just a short drive down the road. where is the child who cherished this toy? and where are the families who were shelled, day and night? most had to flee, but irpin withstood the assault and has been given the honorary title hero city of ukraine. the troops here are savouring

their victory, but know the enemy may be back. "they need kyiv," says this man, "because putin will lose "if he doesn't take kyiv, so perhaps they will try. "but we are prepared, in case they come back." his dayjob is tv presenting. just up the road, in tree—lined suburbia, a powerful message to the russian leader. his losses are mounting here. his original battle plan has failed. well, you can see here what happened to this russian tank. it's been ripped to shreds. this is an example of the defeat that was inflicted on the russians, and they are gone for now, but in the future they may try to regroup and make another

push for the capital. now, irpin can begin to recover its dead, to reclaim bodies from the rubble. there could be no proper burials under shelling. the mayor says up to 300 civilians were killed here. as supplies are going in, bodies are coming out. some were targeted even as they tried to flee. cat meows. today, another trickle of civilians making the difficultjourney out. troops carrying what they could not leave behind, their much loved pets. all here are scarred — those who stayed and those who fought. how do you feel about the russians who did this? no obscenities?

no. i hate them, i hate them from the depths of my heart. i used to treat them normally. i had friends from russia, i don't believe i have any more. there are no excuses for this. an ambulance waits for a frail survivor of a merciless and failed russian attack. and ukrainian soldiers leave the battlefield with the swagger of victory. orla guerin, bbc news, irpin. a convoy of buses carrying residents of the besieged southern ukrainian city of mariupol has arrived in the nearby town of zaporyzhzhia. the buses took people from the occupied port of berdyansk, who'd been able to escape the shelling in mariupol. however, efforts by the red cross to bring in aid and evacuate

residents from mariupol were frustrated for a second day in a row. the regional governor accused russia of breaking its promises to allow a humanitarian corridor. a reminder if you want to keep up with the latest on the war in ukraine. just go to our website — you'll find a live page which is being constantly updated with the latest developments. that's all at bbc.com/news — or you can download the bbc app. here in the uk, new figures suggest covid—i9 infections have hit a record high. the office for national statistics, says it estimates nearly five million people had the virus, in the week ending the 26th of march. the new data comes as free covid testing ends, for most people in england. our health editor, hugh pym reports. the roll—out of fourth jabs for the most vulnerable is being stepped up, including for residents of this care home in surrey.

they have got some long—term conditions that make it difficult for them to move around the community, so us coming into the care home means they are less exposed to the outside world. christine is one resident who feels the latestjab provides more confidence about life with the virus. i think we should all settle down and get on with our lives now. it's definitely time. to just live with it, like we've lived with other things. but outside in local communities, levels of covid are relatively high. it's still spreading. the latest survey by the office for national statistics suggests that around 4.9 million people in the uk had the virus last week, the highest recorded yet. there were increases in england to one in 13 people, and wales, one in 1a with the virus. in scotland, where there were one in 12, and northern ireland with one in 15, the trend was said to be uncertain. this virus expert, who has been

a member of the sage committee, said the data underlined the importance of vaccination. although there's a huge amount of virus out there in the community, for most people who have received their full course of vaccines, they're catching the virus, they're getting a cold or a flu—like illness, but it's not making them severely ill. it's not causing the catastrophic rises in hospitalisations and indeed deaths that we saw in earlier waves. so there aren't the same pressures on the nhs and covid cases tend to be different. the number of covid hospital patients in england is close to january levels. yellow shows those being treated with other conditions who also have the virus. red shows those where covid is the primary illness and that proportion is lower. but even so, the outgoing chief inspector of hospitals in england told me life was still very difficult on the front line. if you're sick with a heart condition or diabetes or other long—term condition and you get covid on top of that, it may not be your primary problem,

but it does add to the problems and complications of treatment. remember, covid in hospitals affects the hospital's capacity because the hospital needs to segregate people with active covid from other people. restrictions and free lateral flow tests are being phased out around the uk, but that doesn't mean the virus is fading away. hugh pym, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the draw is announced for the 2022 world cup in qatar. we'll bring you news of the groups. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing.

the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. _ the eiffel tower's birthday- is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustav eiffeh — this is bbc news, the latest headlines... in ukraine, the bbc has uncovered evidence of civilian killings that could amount to war cimes. covid—19 infections in the uk have hit a record high —

the office of national statistics says one in every 13 people had the virus in the last week. in sri lanka, president rajapaksa has declared a state of emergency giving security forces sweeping powers after hundreds of people tried to storm his residence in colombo. the country is suffering an unprecedented economic crisis with acute shortages of essentials such food, power and medicines. the bbc�*s archana shukla has more on the latest protests from colombo. a day after they tried to strum the presidents house calling for his ouster, the president declared a state of emergency in the country today. protests on thursday quickly turned violent with multiple rounds of tier gas fired and stones thrown in retaliation. injuries on both

sides, but protests continued. it is very obvious. the people are here distressed. the people who actually can do something. and just leave the country. because it is enough. translation: people l are in the queue for gas, for milk powder, and for fuel. we have never been this unhappy. they chant. this is right outside president gotabaya rajapaksa's house. a crowd of about a thousand people have gathered here, protesting prolonged power cuts in the country, the economic crisis, rising prices, and demanding that the government stepped down. the desperation has been palpable, as sri lankans have spent their days on the street, in queues to buy life's daily essentials at sky—high prices. translation: i haven't had cooking gas for the last two weeks. - my husband is sick, i have to leave work to wait here. if i lose myjob, it is all over. i am so tired.

a dire shortage of food, fuel, and even medicines have caused prolonged power cuts and prices to skyrocket as the government, with negligible foreign reserves and a massive debt burden, is unable to pay for imports of even the essentials. vegetable prices have increased 2.5 times since december. rice now costs double, and milk powder is four times more expensive than before, forcing many families to even skip meals. the government has promised $17 per family for the new year's celebration next month. but with no supplies to buy, citizens are uncertain if the new year will be spent in another queue. archana shukla, bbc news, columbo, sri lanka. workers in new york have voted to form amazon's first union — in what's being called a major david verse goliath win. the company had vigorously fought the organisation of its workforce. the effort in staten island

could now pave the way for more syndicates at other warehouses in the country. the bbc�*s business correspondent michelle fleury has more. cheering. history in the making for american workers. this, the moment union organisers celebrated. to the first union in american history. cheering. after amazon workers in new york voted to unionise — the first successful attempt since the retail giant was founded in 1994. this will be the catalyst for the revolution. that's exactly what this is, y'all just witnessed that. an independent group just took on one of the world's biggest companies and won. 55% of workers at this staten island warehouse voted in favour of union of a union. chris smalls, the fired amazon worker leading the fight, had this message for the e—commerce giant. they'll have to negotiate with their workers now. you know, my message is that now we have a union they'll have to collectively bargain with.

this victory all the sweeter, after a second vote on a union in alabama appears headed for defeat. how does it feel to have made history? we showed the power, i guess, that individual workers can have when they come together and try to improve their working conditions. it's something that the company's spent millions and millions of dollars to stop because they know how powerful it is. yet amazon isn't about to give up. america's second—biggest employer said it was evaluating its options and implied it might not accept the results, citing what it perceives as the undue influence of the national labour relations board. those involved in the successful union effort here in new york hope this will embolden others to do the same. this was a call to action not just for amazon workers here, - but for amazon workers around the us. - and for workers around the us in the world to come _ together and take back what is actually ours i and what we deserve. but anotherfight awaits the amazon labour union. right now, they are savouring their historic win,

but perhaps their biggest challenge lies ahead — negotiating with amazon for better pay and conditions. cheering. after decades of decline, american unions are having a moment — and there's no bigger prize than amazon, given its size and impact. michelle fleury, bbc news, new york. ajudge in the united states has rejected a retrial for disgraced socialite ghislaine maxwell. the decision comes after she appealed her sex trafficking conviction over a juror failing to disclose that he was a victim of sexual abuse in advance of the trial. the 60—year—old was convicted in december for helping the late convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. the draw for this year's men's world cup has been made in doha, and it's thrown up some fascinating fixtures. england has drawn iran and the usa in group b — the other place could be scotland or wales.

and former winners germany and spain have both been drawn together in group e withjapan. martin lipton is chief sports writer for the sun newspaper. the highlight from a domestic position in england is that they've got a fairly good draw in truth, the sort of dry he would probably picked not only in the initial phase, but also the likelihood of playing one of qatar, ecuador and senegal in the second round before they get serious in a matchup with france. the other games, interesting draw, the spain—germany one is quite a good one. portugal and uruguay who played in the knockout round of the last world cup when uruguay knocked portugal out in the same group. belgium in a difficult group as well as, you know, croatia is two of the last four semi finalists in the same group in the first round. but you do think that the timing

of the event will favour the bigger teams, that they will be less tired in the middle of the season down than at the end of the season, and it would be no surprise that seven of the last eight teams were indeed european again. but what does the draw mean for big south american teams like brazil and argentina? tim vickery is a south america footballjournalist based in rio. it's been 20 years since south america won the world cup. ever since brazil's won and 2002, every campaign has ended when they've come up against the western european site in the knockout stages. so, both brazil and argentina who are building towards this world cup with terrific confidence, they know that you don't win the world cup in the group stages. the group stages, what they are about, is just getting through. and certainly argentina have a very accessible dry, saudi arabia, mexico, poland, argentina will consider themselves the favourites in all three of those games.

brazil have two teams that they met four years ago in russia, serbia and switzerland, and one that they met eight years ago here in brazil, cameroon. they were held by switzerland, they beat serbia and cameroon in relative comfort and they will expect something pretty similar, although, that group could turn out to be stiffer than it looks on paper to the brazilian public. certainly brazil favourites to qualify from their group. argentina favourites to qualify from their group. but they know the real test will come afterwards against the western europeans in the knockout stages. a reminder of our top story. in ukraine, the bbc has found evidence that russian forces have been forced to pull back from positions they held at the start of their invasion, five weeks ago. there is also evidence that raises the possibility that war crimes may have occurred. you are up—to—date and you can keep up—to—date throughout the next few hours with us here on bbc news or

online at bbc thanks for your company. hello there. still a wintry look, particularly here in kent, mostly from the snow that we had much earlier in the day and from overnight. most of the showers have been following there hasn't been as much rain falling here today. of the house of western scotland and we can see a mixture of rain and snow coming into wales and the far southwest of england. still some showers for northern ireland. elsewhere, clear skies at the red shower is dying back towards north sea coasts where we could have some icy patches. scotland, much of england nowhere near as cold as it was last night for northern ireland and wales. here we should see the

back of that wet weather, and a fair bit of sunshine to start the day. we will see the cloud bubbling up again, and that will lead to a scattering of showers. most of those i think will be across england and wales, not as many as we had today, probably not as heavy either. —— and for much of scotland and northern ireland, it will be dry. the winds will be lighter everywhere, temperatures just sneaking up a little bit higher to around 9—10 celsius. now we're seeing fewer showers because we've got higher pressure across the uk, and it's changing the wind direction a bit, as well. that weather system, though, will change the weather for scotland and northern ireland. before that arrives, though, early sunday will start frosty widely, could be down to minus 11—5 in quite a few places. we'll see the cloud increasing in scotland and northern ireland, rain coming down from the north later on. cloud will tend to increase across england and wales, probably spread out a little bit. there could be 1—2 showers, but not as many showers on sunday. many places in england and wales will be dry with some sunshine at times, and those temperatures continuing to climb a little bit higher to around 10—11 celsius. that weather system, though, bringing the rain into scotland and northern ireland,

pushes south overnight. and on monday, we're in between those two fronts. we're in what we call a warm sector — that's warmer air, soft and cloudy air — and certainly looks cloudy on monday. we've got rain and drizzle at times, and it will be windy, winds could be touching gale force in scotland for a while. we should start frost—free, though, actually on monday morning, and temperatures are hovering at around 13—14 celsius for much of the day. looking further into next week, it's still not particularly warm, just not as cold as it has been. more unsettled, though, often windy with some rain or some showers.

this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines... in ukraine, the bbc has uncovered evidence of civilian killings that could amount to war cimes. russian forces have been forced to pull back from positions they held at the start of the invasion. a state of emergency has been declared in sri lanka after hundreds of people tried to storm the president's home in colombo. the country is suffering an unprecedented economic crisis. for the first time, workers at an amazon warehouse in the us have voted to set up a trade union. staff at the site in new york started to campaign for a union two years ago. the draw for this year's football world cup has taken place in the qatari capital, doha. as the hosts, qatar are among the top seeds — despite being the second—lowest ranked country.