this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories. civilians flee the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol, but 160,000 people are estimated to be trapped inside. the red cross renew their evacuation attempts afterfailing on friday. we can facilitate the passage, the safe passage forcivilians, once both parties come to agreement. and, unfortunately, until now, this has not materialised. police in sri lanka declare a 36 hour curfew to try to head off anti—government protests. the country is in the midst of a major economic crisis. hollywood actor will smith resigns from the oscars academy after slapping the comedian chris

rock. today marks a0 years since the start of the falklands war, when argentina invaded and occupied disputed islands they call the malvinas. international red cross vehicles are on the move again in ukraine — in a third attempt to reach the besieged city of mariupol. an estimated 160,000 are still trapped there. the authorities are hoping six other safe corridors announced for today for eastern ukraine prove to be a smoother operation. however, a larger evacuation and aid convoy planned by the international committee of the red cross failed on friday. 0ur correspondent

anna foster is in lviv. shejoins us now, what is she joins us now, what is the latest anna, that you can tell us on the attempted evacuation of the citizens trapped inside mariupol? weill. attempted evacuation of the citizens trapped inside mariupol?_ trapped inside mariupol? well, as ou said trapped inside mariupol? well, as you said rightly. _ trapped inside mariupol? well, as you said rightly, this _ trapped inside mariupol? well, as you said rightly, this was - trapped inside mariupol? well, as you said rightly, this was planned | you said rightly, this was planned for yesterday, and it didn't go ahead so we were told it had been postponed for today, it is being led by the international committee of the red cross who are a neutral intermediary in this case. what they want to do is go into mariupol, of course with all the necessary agreements in place, the at a high level, that there would be a brief ceasing of fire from both sides, that they would be able to lead out this convoy, potentially of bus, of people in private car, there are still more than 150,000 people, we think, trapped inside mariupol. what they aren't doing is giving minute by minute progress but it is 4.00 in the afternoon now here in ukraine, it will be dark in the next two hour, if they haven't reached there

yet it would seem once again that it is unlikely that that operation would happen today. you have to remember to do something like that, in the daylight is dangerous enough but to do it in darkness, would really be far more dangerous for all concerned. so there is, i think, a chance as the day goes on and we don't hear any new, that perhaps that for a second day, may have failed but we don't know that for sure, we wait and watch for updates but for people who are living there, in mariupol, in the most terrible circumstances, without power, without water, and food, medical supplies and a city which has been in many places raised to the ground, every day this delays for them is another 24 hours spent in some of the worst circumstances any of us kos imagine. the worst circumstances any of us kos imagine-— the worst circumstances any of us kosimauine. ,, . , . , . kos imagine. russians have this vice like u-ri, if kos imagine. russians have this vice like grip. if you _ kos imagine. russians have this vice like grip, if you like _ kos imagine. russians have this vice like grip, if you like on _ kos imagine. russians have this vice like grip, if you like on some - kos imagine. russians have this vice like grip, if you like on some areas l like grip, if you like on some areas of ukraine but reports they are withdrawing from some other areas. are that we drawing? what is your

sense? ~ ., ,., , are that we drawing? what is your sense? ~ ., , ., sense? well, we do get reports that we they are — sense? well, we do get reports that we they are moving _ sense? well, we do get reports that we they are moving out _ sense? well, we do get reports that we they are moving out of— sense? well, we do get reports that we they are moving out of certain i we they are moving out of certain area, the uk ministry of defence said in their briefing this morning that i had reports that the russians had moved out of an airport north of kyiv, one of the key locations they targeted at the beginning of the conflict. we see the mayors of small towns round kyiv saying that the ukrainians are taking them back, what we don't know is how much of thatis what we don't know is how much of that is ukrainian push forward, and how much of it is russian pull back. but what we know is that russia have not managed to achieve what we think were many of their aims at the beginning of this confleck, they have no managed to capture the capital kyiv or large swathes of ukraine. they are focussing, they have said on the east of country, on the donbas region, that is where they are their focus is, where their firepower would be, it would appear from now on.

firepower would be, it would appear from now om— from now on. reports a ukrainian hoto from now on. reports a ukrainian photo journalist _ from now on. reports a ukrainian photo journalist has _ from now on. reports a ukrainian photo journalist has been - from now on. reports a ukrainian photo journalist has been shot. from now on. reports a ukrainian i photo journalist has been shot dead, what are you hearing about that? well, believe that this is true, and it has been confirmed by the prosecutor—general�*s office here in ukraine, and also by the website he worked for, this is max levin, a very well—known photo journalist, war correspondent here in ukraine, he went missing on 15th march, he was reporting from a village just north of kyiv and his friends said his phone went out of service and they haven't heard from him. today we are told his body was found by police yesterday, that he had suffered two gunshot wounds, i have been talking to a friend and colleague of his, who had known him for about a decade and she talked about how committed he was to covering war, she talked about how when otherjournalists maybe left a conflict, he was still there, telling the stories of civilian, and soldiers, and veterans, he was very well—respected, very well liked. you

may well have seen his images they were used by big news agency by reuters and on the bbc as well. and his friend told me he leaves behind four young sons a they hope his family will get the support they need. ., ~ family will get the support they need. . ~ ,, family will get the support they need. . ~ ~ ., president zelensky says there's been a slow but noticeable withdrawal of russian forces in the north of the country. but last night cruise missiles were fired at the cities of dnipro and 0desa — further south. jonathan beale has sent this report from 0desa. city life, but not as we know it. 0desa may seem largely unscarred, but the war is still leaving its mark. it has been a safer haven for those fleeing the fighting. anastasia and her family have been forced to move home not once but twice by the russians.

most recently when a missile struck her block of flats in the city of mykolaiv. it has had a lasting impact on her young children. anastasia tells me, "after the missile strike "on our building, my boy asked me, mum, are we going to survive this? "and i was worried we wouldn't. "so that was when we decided to leave." many have now got used to the air raid warnings. most do not even flinch. but, look at the effect it has on seven—year—old kostya. the wail of the siren only brings tears. for him, it is the sound of danger, death and destruction. a sense of panic, to reach shelter quickly. like anastasia, 0desa is trying to put on a brave face. outside the station, local musicians perform a concert of patriotic songs.

a sense of panic, to reach shelter quickly. like anastasia, 0desa is trying to put on a brave face. in this war, music can also be a weapon uniting a city against the russian invasion. first of all, as musicians, we can make something special for people and, to make our world better, like for, with this. there are still reminders of more peaceful times in this black sea resort, but last night, the russians fired a salvo of cruise missiles towards the city. a fleet of russian warships are still waiting ominously somewhere over the horizon. the threat has not gone away. jonathan beale, bbc news, 0desa. more than ten million people have now fled their homes in ukraine, four million of them are refugees who have left the country, and many have found their way to poland.

kasia madera is at a volunteer centre in lublin. good to see you kasia. hello rebecca- _ good to see you kasia. hello rebecca- m _ good to see you kasia. hello rebecca. at the _ good to see you kasia. hello rebecca. at the start - good to see you kasia. hello rebecca. at the start of - good to see you kasia. hello rebecca. at the start of the l good to see you kasia. hello i rebecca. at the start of the war i was reporting from the very border between poland and ukraine itself and i witnessed as thousands people were fleeing that country. so now, a month on i wanted to see what is happening with those refugee, and i have been hearing a lot about lublin. lublinjust have been hearing a lot about lublin. lublin just five have been hearing a lot about lublin. lublinjust five hours have been hearing a lot about lublin. lublin just five hours after the start of this war had organised itself, local ngo groups, the government and lots... and created an emergency place where all the refugees were able to sleep. now, these beds, this used to be full of people at the start, these beds are now empty because although 40,000 refugees are in lublin, we are not farfrom the border, round 100 kilometre, all these people have been housed. they have been given

places to stay, so they have somewhere to shelter, a lot of people of course, that had come into poland do move on, so even today, we were talking to a woman who had just crossed over the board, she wanted to get on to the czech republic. there is a transient population and it is hard to estimate how many people have stayed in poland itself. centres like these have been crucial in the welfare and the up keep of how these people are being handled because one has to remember they have experienced immense trauma and upset, given what is happening. many of them fleeing for their lives with a bag full of things they could just grab hold of to get to the border, to get into this country. all of this kind of up keep, all of these facilities they do cost a lot of money and the local government here is being financed by the national government, but also, by a lot of volunteers, and a lot of people donating, a lot of money to cover all of this. the local government

says they are getting the money back from the national government, and the national government is saying they have already spent over 2 billion euros on supporting refugees, now they are asking for more, they are asking for more from the eu and compare that to how much the eu and compare that to how much the eu and compare that to how much the eu is suggesting over 3 billion, but that is for all of the countries, around ukraine, who are taking in refugee, so bear in mind that poland is estimating it has already spent 2 billion. it is an expensive situation, so the country is calling to more money, and at the end of all of this, whenever that he will b because we don't know because of the volatility of the situation in ukraine, this country believes it will spend round 24 billion euros in the up keep and maintenance of the refugees that come here. there are a lot of really fantastic schemes in lublin itself, they talk about a cash for work scheme so we spoke to teachers who were being paid. primary school teachers who just a

month ago were teaching in ukraine, and now teaching in schools here, in this city, and they are being paid for their work, the translators that have been working tirelessly, in keeping up the discussion, the dialogue between ukrainians, and polish people, they are also going to be paid through this cash for work scheme, that is very unique here, they have been energised in getting the scheme up and run, we have been hearing from international based organisations, that have been supporting polish organisation, in providing a debit card scheme for the most vulnerable refugees so they get money they can use for themselves to buy the stuff that they need. ultimately with such a huge, huge number of refugees, who have come into this one country, the support is ongoing. it is continuous, they really desperately need it. the hospitals as well, we have been visiting a hospital today where we spoke to somebody who was very badly injured with her two

children. the hospitals as well need a lot of support. but this is ongoing across this country, until the situation in ukraine itself resolves its, until there is peace in ukraine, this country, the neighbouring countries round ukraine are expecting more people to cross into its borders.— into its borders. good to hear from ou into its borders. good to hear from you kasia- — let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. israeli security forces say they've killed three palestinian militants belonging to the islamichhad group in the occupied west bank. the israeli security service, shin bet, says the men were suspected of being on their way to carry out an attack. there's been no confirmation from the palestinians. president biden has welcomed a un—brokered truce in yemen as a long—awaited reprieve for the yemeni people. but he said the war must end. the two—month truce agreed between the saudi—led coalition and iranian—backed houthi rebels has now begun — on the first day of the muslim holy month of ramadan.

you are watching bbc news. shops have reopened under tight security in the sri lankan capital, colombo, a day after a state of emergency was delared. of emergency was declared. the city has spent two nights under curfew following unrest on thursday when hundreds of people attempted to storm the president's home. there's growing anger at shortages of fuel, medicine and other basics caused by the country running out of foreign currency to pay for imported goods. archana shukla has the latest from colombo. the state of emergency imposed in the country and the island nation is right 24 hours after they were violent protests outside the sri lankan president gotabaya rajapaksa's house and i'm standing at that location by now.

these protest that happened on thursday night turned violent with tear gas shells, water cannons, stone pelting from both sides and injuries on both sides of the party when angry citizens actually clashed with police forces. they wanted to storm inside the house of the president, demanding his ousting from the government. demanding his family to leave the... ..to leave the government. over the mismanagement of the economy. the angry citizens are not happy with how the country has been moved into an unprecedented economic crisis. the president came out and announced a state level emergency, which means that military has sweeping powers. the military can take actions in the name of restoring public order. already we are hearing, you know, inputs from local reporters about some social media activists being arrested. if they're putting posts against the government or against the president.

at the same time, there were multiple other demonstrations that were planned for today evening and tomorrow which is april 3rd and already, the government has announced a 36 hour nationwide curfew from 6pm until 4am on monday. and this, activists say, is a direct way to quell protests, to quell demonstrations, from angry citizens, civil society, ngos as well as even middle—class sri lankans, who are out on the street to protest about shortages of food, fuel, medicines. they have to stand in queues for hours together to get diesel, to get petrol, to get cooking gas. and their situation is not improving and that is why the outrage. however, in place of working to get out of the economic crisis, the government has, at the moment, decided to quell protests by putting on nationwide curfew

from 6am today to 4pm, 4am on monday morning. will smith has resigned from the academy of motion pictures, arts and sciences — the organisation that hands out the oscars. the actor described slapping the comedian, chris rock, at this year's ceremony as "shocking, painful and inexcusable". the academy have accepted his resignation, but are continuing with disciplinary proceedings. peter bowes reports from los angeles. oh, wow! this is the moment will smith will forever regret — retaliation for a joke by chris rock that he didn't like, a violent response that stunned the audience and almost had the actor thrown out of the theatre. now he's accepting the consequences for his conduct. days after the body that puts on the oscars launched

disciplinary proceedings, smith says he is leaving the organisation. speculation about how the academy would deal with smith had reached fever pitch in hollywood. it's the biggest controversy in the history of the oscars. resigning from the academy is a big deal — membership of this illustrious, invitation—only body is seen as a mark of achievement in itself. the academy was quick to respond.

the fallout from this saga continues to reverberate around the world of entertainment. chris rock, back on the comedy circuit, said he was still processing what happened. will smith will no longer be able to vote for the oscars. but it isn't known yet whether he'll face further consequences, whether he'll be allowed to keep his academy award, or whether he'll ever be invited back to take part in hollywood's biggest night. from this morning, parents and carers of five to 11—year—olds in england can book a low—dose covid vaccine for their children. it comes as new data suggests 4.9 million people were estimated to have coronavirus last week, according to the office for national statistics — the highest number since its survey began in april 2020. in england, it's estimated one in 13

people have the virus. in wales, it's one in 14. scotland was slightly higher, with one in 12, and in northern ireland it was one in 15. let's speak now with dr sarah pitt, virologist at the university of brighton and fellow of the institute of biomedical science. good to have you with us, thank you forjoining us on this saturday afternoon, in terms of vaccinating 5—11—year—olds how strong in your view is the case for vaccinating that age group? it view is the case for vaccinating that age group?— view is the case for vaccinating that age group? it is very strong, we know that _ that age group? it is very strong, we know that some _ that age group? it is very strong, we know that some children i that age group? it is very strong, we know that some children are l we know that some children are getting very seriously ill with covid, and some children have died. and i am sure that many of your viewers have experienced children being sick, you know, even if it is just a relatively mild illness but they have time off school. and we really don't know what the

consequences of infection are for children in the long—term, from long covid so the best thing to do is to give the children protection, and the vaccine is a good way of doing that. ., , , the vaccine is a good way of doing that. . , , , ., the vaccine is a good way of doing that. . , , h, i. that. that is interesting, so you are saying _ that. that is interesting, so you are saying there _ that. that is interesting, so you are saying there is _ that. that is interesting, so you are saying there is an _ that. that is interesting, so you are saying there is an intrinsic l are saying there is an intrinsic value, you are protecting the children and they are the notjust being vaccinated to protect other people? being vaccinated to protect other eo - le? , ., ., being vaccinated to protect other --eole? , . . ., people? yes, i mean we are doing it for both reasons, _ people? yes, i mean we are doing it for both reasons, we _ people? yes, i mean we are doing it for both reasons, we want _ people? yes, i mean we are doing it for both reasons, we want to - people? yes, i mean we are doing it for both reasons, we want to stop i for both reasons, we want to stop the children from getting this really rather nasty infectious disease, be we also need to try and do everything we can, to stop the virus spread, as you were saying there, the number of people, the amount of covid round at the moment is very very high, and the vaccine is very very high, and the vaccine is one of the tools we have in the box, to try and stop the spread of the virus. what the point is that the virus. what the point is that the 0micron variant of the covid—19 virus is so infectious, that we really need to vaccinate 90% of the population, in order that the vaccine will really help us bring it

under control. so any dose of the abbes vaccine we can give, to any age group will really help us to get to that level and when i say 909 performances that is 909% of a full course of vaccine, no the first dose, but it is protecting children themselves from what is quite a nasty disease in some people. but that is despite the fact that most children who get covid suffer only mild symptom, don't they? but i say, we don't really _ mild symptom, don't they? but i say, we don't really know— mild symptom, don't they? but i say, we don't really know what _ mild symptom, don't they? but i say, we don't really know what the - we don't really know what the long—term consequence also be for children, and when you say mild, it's still not a very nice disease for people to have. it is also affecting their schooling, lots of children have had to have time off school. probably more than once in the last two years, so anything we can do to stop them getting covid at all is going to help. you can do to stop them getting covid at all is going to help.— all is going to help. you mention infection, they _ all is going to help. you mention infection, they are _ all is going to help. you mention infection, they are at _ all is going to help. you mention infection, they are at record i all is going to help. you mention i infection, they are at record level, we have seen a surge in number, give

us your view on what you think is happening here us your view on what you think is happening her— us your view on what you think is happening here there are several thins happening here there are several things going _ happening here there are several things going on. _ happening here there are several things going on, as _ happening here there are several things going on, as i _ happening here there are several things going on, as i said - happening here there are several things going on, as i said this i things going on, as i said this 0micron version of the virus is really, really infectious, on average somebody who has that, who is infectious and if you don't do anything the try and stop it, spreading round, can, someone can infect between 10 and 12 other people. it is really, really infectious h it is important to remember that, infectious h it is important to rememberthat, because infectious h it is important to remember that, because people are talking about let's live with it like the flu, but if you have flu on average you will infect one other person, o so it is much more infectious, we have taken away the measures we had to try and stop the spread of the virus. wears masks add i am finding going into shops is and going on trains, i am the only person that i can see wearing a mask. i always, person that i can see wearing a mask. ialways, we person that i can see wearing a mask. i always, we also know that one in three perhaps more, people

who have active infection don't have symptoms at all or have very mild symptoms at all or have very mild symptoms and so i suspect myself of being one of those people, and that is why i wear as mask and try and take care round people i don't normally mix with. we also have seen from yesterday, it is not going to be possible for most people to get free lateral flow test, and they were a good way of us helping to find out if we were one of those people that had infection but didn't have symptoms that would allow us to take precautions to try and protect people. it's a combination of we are not doing much to stop the spread and it is very infectious. you exlain and it is very infectious. you expiain that _ and it is very infectious. you explain that well. _ and it is very infectious. you explain that well. we i and it is very infectious. you explain that well. we are i and it is very infectious. you explain that well. we are short of time i am afraid, we must leave it there, good to talk to you. drivers heading for cross—channel services at the port of dover are reporting long queues and lengthy delays. p&0 ferries are suspended after they sacked most

of their staff and dfds are running a reduced number of crossings because one of its ships was damaged while docking in strong winds. earlier our correspondent simon browning described how the disruption was affecting travellers. there's substantial delays down at dover this morning. there is a cumulative amount of reasons why that has happened. you mentioned one of the main ones — p&0. they took their ships out of service more than a fortnight ago, and that has really hit capacity on that cross—channel strait dfds, one of the other operators across the channel, stepped in to take up some of their capacity, but unfortunately they have also two ships out of service this weekend, so with so much capacity out the channel, queues are backing up. here in the uk there has been an early start for some to the easter holidays, so we are starting to see passenger traffic return. people are heading back to the channel, they want to get back to the beaches where they have not been for the two years,

maybe for the pandemic, but most importantly a lot of people want to get back to see family. earlier this morning i spoke to mateus muller. he was heading back to a small town outside cologne in germany with his wife and two children, to see his parents and parents in law, the kids hadn't seen their grandparents for more than two years, and they arrived in dover, on a side street and stuck in a queue. i am in brookfield place in dover, we left london this morning at 5am, to be the first to change our p&0 ticket into a dfds ticket. we have been stuck here for the last two hours, and you can see the queues. this is dover. i am here with my family, we are going to germany, to see my parents for the first time in two years — i am an nhs nurse, i work in school age immunisation in london. we thought this would be an early start to the easter holidays.

you can see it has come to a stand still, it has been for a while. i told my parents we are not going to be there before the evening. it is probably true, but i know dover has nice places and also has good little guest houses, so we have food enough. any way, we are still in a good mood, but dover is not moving at the moment. that is matthias being perkier than what some of the other drivers are, and it is notjust cars and passengers, it is freight as well. obviously the channel route is a major trade hotspot for crossings, for trade between the uk and europe. 0ne hgv business has told me this morning they are expecting 15 hours of queues for some of their drivers who are stuck on motorways round there. bigger organisations, logistics uk insist that trade is still moving, albeit slowly, and it is not a cause for concern because we are expecting the ships to come back in to operation and capacity hopefully to be restored next week, subject to those p&0 vessels being inspected. so problems at the ports, but we are also hearing reports

of problems at airport, what can you tell us about that? airports are busy. as i have said, people are wanting to return to travel here in the united kingdom. the uk government has dropped pretty much all of our coronavirus restrictions that have been in place for more than two years. the travel industry has called them onerous and it is really dented travel confidence. here we are, easter, two years later, and people want to travel again, but unfortunately during the pandemic, so many of those travel businesses had to cut thousands of staff just to save themselves. as we are rushing back to airport and wanting to travel again there are staff shortages. british airways at heathrow this morning says it's a very busy morning. there has been a small number of cancellations and manchester airport is seeing much longer queues than normal. they have had a tough time in the last few weeks, people queueing for up to four hours to get through to security. so yes, very busy and we are only at the start of that easter break.

now the weather. well, the sun is getting stronger, but that wind has sent shivers down our spines in the last couple of days. today the wind won't be quite as cold. it will be a little lighter, but we have showers in the forecast, some of them wintry, still a lot of cold air, notjust across the uk, but across many parts of western and central europe, even down to the north coast of africa there and plenty of snow across the alps and eastern parts of europe. but high pressure over us, so that means generally bright weather. here's the forecast for this afternoon, the wind is still blowing out of the north—east around the coasts of east anglia, kent and sussex too, inland sunny spells, occasional showers, perhaps wintry across the high ground, and top temperatures towards the west around 10 degrees. crucially, the winds tonight fall very light and with the clear skies it really does mean temperatures will drop like a stone. these are the temperatures

in city centres. in rural spots, it could be as low as minus seven celsius, even across southern parts of england, so i think scenes like this, particularly in the countryside, early on sunday morning, but the frost should melt away very quickly. that sun is very strong and then we are in for a fine, sunny start to the day, perhaps a bit of cloud building up in the afternoon across england and wales and certainly in northern ireland and western scotland and clearly, you can see here outbreaks of rain to come for places like stornoway, perhaps reaching glasgow later in the day on sunday. that is the weather fronts weeping off the atlantic and spreading across the uk sunday night into monday, sitting on top of us on monday. you can see the winds are blowing out of the west, north—west, a milder direction, but a lot of cloud with that — outbreaks of rain as well. temperatures will be higher, and despite the cloud and rain we will still get up to 14 in london, around 12 or 13 for glasgow and also for newcastle. there is that change in wind direction over the next few days, so monday, tuesday, wednesday onwards you can see that cold air being pushed to the north, and this milder air on the more southern climes.

winds all the way from the azores spreading