hello, this is bbc news — with luxmy gopal. the headlines: russian forces have now fully withdrawn from northern ukraine, according to uk intelligence — but the eastern donbas region suffers heavy shelling and rocket fire overnight. violence inflicted by russian troops on one ukrainian town is descibed as "more horrific" than first reported — with claims civilians were held undergound. the chancellor, rishi sunak, describes reports about his wife's tax arrangements as a smear campaign — and insists no rules were broken. easter break travel disruption — thousands face significant delays at airports ahead of the big getaway. around 16,000 women are developing post—traumatic stress disorder after suffering

a miscarriage in the uk. sport — and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah. good morning. what a return it was for tiger woods, who is back at the masters after the car crash that appeared to have ended his career. the 15—time major winner said he wouldn't play unless he thought he could win — and from his opening round, it's clear he's not finished yet. andy swiss was watching. welcome back. 1a months after the car crash he said he was lucky to survive, the remarkable return of tiger woods. would he be up to it? well, how it is for an answer? that certainly got the crowd going. while there were inevitably mistakes,

there were inevitably mistakes, there was plenty more magic. a round of one under par is impressive in most circumstances. in his, it was astonishing. i’m most circumstances. in his, it was astonishing-— astonishing. i'm very lucky to do it. astonishing. i'm very lucky to do it- unlucky _ astonishing. i'm very lucky to do it- unlucky to — astonishing. i'm very lucky to do it. unlucky to have _ astonishing. i'm very lucky to do it. unlucky to have the - astonishing. i'm very lucky to do i it. unlucky to have the opportunity to build this play, not only that but to play in at the masters and to have this type of reception. the lace have this type of reception. the place was _ have this type of reception. the place was electric. as for rory mcilroy, it was a day at largely of frustration. yes, he had his moments. but not enough of them. mark roy, six shots off his pace. the best brit performer came from danny welbeck. but this is the man they are all chasing. a superb round on an intriguing and emotionalfirst day. andy swiss, bbc news. west ham manager david moyes said they were still in with a good shout of reaching their first european semi—final since 1976. they were down to ten men

by the time jarrod bowen put them ahead against lyon in the first leg of their europa league quarterfinal. the french side did equalise, though, so they're level going into the away leg next thursday. it's trickier for rangers — they lost 1—0 at sporting braga, thanks to an abel ruiz goal. and in the europa conference league, leicester drew 0—0 at home to psv eindhoven. formula one is back in australia for the first time since the race was cancelled at the start of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago — and once again, it's ferrari leading the way. charles leclerc set the quickest time of the day in second practice in melbourne. it's looking like it will be another tricky weekend for mercedes. lewis hamilton could only manage 13th in second practice, two places behind his team mate, george russell. it's day two of the aintree festival in horse—racing —

you can stay all the sports news on the bbc sport website. that is it from me for the moment. president biden has described evidence of russian troops killing, torturing and raping ukrainian civilians as an "outrage to humanity." ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has said the destruction in the town of borodianka, close to kyiv, is "more horrific" than what was uncovered in nearby bucha, where bodies were found in the streets. meanwhile, moscow has dismissed allegations of war crimes as a "monstrous forgery." for now, moscow seems to be focusing its attention on eastern ukraine, specifically the donbas region. the bbc has witnessed hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing that area, where separatists have been fighting for eight years. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports now from lysycha nsk. 21st—century combat on ukraine's eastern front can look

and sound more like something from the first world war. but they've been fighting russian—backed separatists this way for the past eight years. western officials say this is where ukraine has some of its best—trained and most battle—hardened troops. they're certainly not all young. from his dugout, 52—year—old anatoly says he can already see russian troops just 500 metres away. translation: if they try to take this position, i'll kill them. - if i don't kill them, they'll kill me. those are the rules of war. they know their enemy can be brutal. they've had little rest from the fighting. they can already hear the russian artillery getting closer. but they say morale is high. translation: without trenchesl to defend from, we would all die. but these trenches will protect us.

very different from the fighting that you've seen in kyiv, in urban areas. both sides well dug in. easier to defend, but of course the russians have significant firepower, and we know they're bringing more, too. the mass exodus of civilians from eastern ukraine is already under way. this, a 50—mile tailback of traffic heading west. the donbas is emptying fast. we enter the town of lysychansk, already being targeted by russian artillery. now a ghost town. this was a children's centre. books and clothes now strewn amongst the rubble. but down in the basement, we found a few seeking shelter — the poor, the frail and the old. even before this war started, russian—backed separatists were occupying part of the donbas,

and it soon became apparent that pro—russian sentiment hasn't died here, despite their bombs. translation: i'm sorry, | but it is my understanding that this land was sold. they're destroying our. donbas to give the land away to the americans. the americans bought it— to place their nuclear weapons here. back above ground, we did find one woman, valentina, who did blame president putin for the destruction of the town. translation: putin is to blame for the war. l he gathered this army here. why did he do this? but our guys did nothing. they said they were exercising. "exercises" my ours. the russian offensive around the capital kyiv may have failed, but here in the donbas, they're slowly taking ground. waging war by artillery, their tactics still seem the same. and once again, it's ukraine's civilian population that's

likely to suffer most. jonathan beale, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. we can go to duncan kennedy, our corresponding act even waning air base. ~ . , corresponding act even waning air baser ., , ., ,, corresponding act even waning air base. . ., , ., , , corresponding act even waning air base. ~ ., , ., ,, . base. what is happening there? we had at this base, _ base. what is happening there? we had at this base, which _ base. what is happening there? we had at this base, which is _ base. what is happening there? we had at this base, which is about - base. what is happening there? we had at this base, which is about teni had at this base, which is about ten miles or so from the black sea coast. in a sense, right in the thick of witless action is happening. it is a day they are officially calling an air policing unavailing day. that is nato terminology for a show of force by nato. we are at the space for various demonstrations by aircraft from the us, italy, romania, and also at the raf. the raf has 4— aircraft at the base. they are putting on a various displays to

talk about the policing of the ear, but what they actually mean is a nato to shoot or force. these aircraft, something like 130 aircraft, something like 130 aircraft, that in the skies at any one time from norway down to the mediterranean. nato is saying, as russia is re—gripping as forces in ukraine, it wants to put russia on notice that nato has this incredible force on nato boaters and is telling russia not to make a miscalculation. this is a show of force. the british defence secretary yet with various other dignitaries. the message is, not only does need to have the code, it also has the willpower to respond if necessary. the it also has the willpower to respond if necessary-— if necessary. the head of the air force has _ if necessary. the head of the air force has been _ if necessary. the head of the air force has been speaking, - if necessary. the head of the air force has been speaking, why i if necessary. the head of the air i force has been speaking, why has if necessary. the head of the air - force has been speaking, why has he been focusing on? we force has been speaking, why has he been focusing on?— been focusing on? we have been s-ueakin been focusing on? we have been speaking to _ been focusing on? we have been speaking to him, _ been focusing on? we have been speaking to him, he _ been focusing on? we have been speaking to him, he is _ been focusing on? we have been speaking to him, he is here - been focusing on? we have been speaking to him, he is here at i been focusing on? we have been | speaking to him, he is here at the same enemy today as well. he has been pretty blunt in his use of

language when describing what is going on in ukraine. he has described the whole situation there as murderess on the part of the russians and it said the russians were being barbaric in terms of what they are doing in ukraine. which is why he said the air force and all the armed forces here are, what he is saying, hold the line. they are not going to allow any russian excursions of this whole thing it circulates in ukraine. he is also suing not only do they have this 130 aircraft, they have literally hundreds of thousands of troops taking part in this general military build—up by nato to counter what russia is doing. he was insisting this was a defensive posture, he said that nato would hold the line. he also said that they believe in nato at that russia, in his terms, is going to come again in ukraine.

in other words, it is building up as forces and then it will tag ukraine enforces again, and nato has to be ready for that. he said as far as the raf are concerned, they are planning to be here for months, if not into next year. so a long term commitment on the part of the raf and the rest of nato. the home office says 110,900 uk visas for ukrainians have now been issued and a total of 12,000 people have arrived in the uk from ukraine. our home editor mark, easton, has been speaking to the home secretary, priti patel. i'll be very candid, it has taken time. any new scheme takes time. there is huge frustration out there. your refugees minister has apologised for unacceptable delays. will you? so, completely it's been frustrating. will you apologise? i apologise with frustration myself, and i've spoken about this previously too.

it takes time, mark. and i've made it quite clear as well, i've said that it takes time to start up a new route. i'm responsible for the surge in the staffing region as well. we've got hundreds of home office staff doing visa applications, processing on the ground, providing support, so... but people say it's not good enough. you boasted about a surge of staff to calais to support the ukrainian refugees who'd arrived there. i went there. it was two guys, a table and some crisps. so, mark... first of all, there's no boasting that's taking place. let me just be clear about that. we have a centre in france, set up as a bespoke centre... you talked about a surge, home secretary. so, that is our home office staff there. by the way, that's done in conjunction with the french government. people look at the numbers, and they say, 10,000 you reckon have arrived from ukraine? in germany, it's 300,000. in ireland, its 17,000. why is britain playing catch up? so, mark, if i may politelyjust

say, this isn't about catch up and this is not about comparing us to other countries. why? well, first and foremost, because we have an uncapped scheme. our scheme is unprecedented... but they're not coming, home secretary. people are frustrated because they want to bring people over. they have got their homes, they want to put people up. they can't make it happen. and they are blaming your home office system, the red tape. so, if i may, it's always easy to blame someone else. security checks are a problem, though, aren't they? they're not the problem, mark. it's absolutely right that we... we demand visas, other countries don't. so, that is because they're eu member state countries, where they have schengen. so, we've left the eu and it's right that we document people that come to our country. mark, i'm sure you... can't you suspend that for the crisis to make it quicker? if i may say so, mark, i'm pretty certain you may have reported on a previous scandal, which was windrush. because they had no documentation, effectively people tried to remove them. we want to make sure that people have notjust the visas are important, because they are documented. it gives them the right to work,

the right to establish themselves, to get their children into schools. it's slowing the process up, and these people are desperate. actually, it's not, mark, it's not slowing the process up. well, then why is germany able to accept 300,000, and we can only accept 10,000? it's not like for like, if i may say so. it is not like for like. as we've already said, germany is an eu country — they don't have visa checks, their borders are open. it's not like for like. we are an independent third country and we want to give people the status and security of coming to our country, along with the warm welcome. yes, we want to welcome people. we are welcoming people, over 40,000 visas being granted. over 10,000 people over a space of five weeks coming to the united kingdom. we have to ensure that they are protected and safeguarded in the united kingdom as well. your own backbenchers, home secretary, are making this point, are saying, look, how come that all these people can get over here in small boats and we apparently can do nothing about that? record numbers. and this ukrainian scheme, people are seeing three, four week delays. mark, they're not seeing delays.

we are processing. and as i've said, as well, i'm streamlining processes. i streamlined the family scheme in less than a week, and we simplified that and we changed the way certain checks are done. and also, i'm working to automate, automate where we can. i'm afraid many government systems, this is an untold story, are still legacy systems... is that why you can't increase the rate? because the new figures do not suggest there's been a big increase. so, mark, you will see changes. you will absolutely see changes in numbers. our home editor, mark easton, joins me in studio. you mentioned in the interview that they are that the uk is playing catch up compared to other countries. we have had the latest figures, 110,900 uk visas for ukrainians. figures, 40,900 uk visas for ukrainians.— figures, 40,900 uk visas for ukrainians. ., ., ukrainians. how does that compare? in terms of these _ ukrainians. how does that compare? in terms of these is, _ ukrainians. how does that compare? in terms of these is, of— ukrainians. how does that compare? in terms of these is, of course - in terms of these is, of course other european countries don't require them. that is why... they

are either roughing schengen countries, or as eu member state they don't have controls. that is why the uk is in a very different position. it is about the fact that we are not in the eu, it is a brexit question. forthe we are not in the eu, it is a brexit question. for the home secretary, is about controlling our borders, and we do decide who comes into our countries. the effect of that in terms of ukraine means there is that process that people have to go through. you mentioned the new figures. the home secretary suggested around 10,000 people have actually arrived from ukraine into the uk. the numbers today suggest a little bit more than that, 12,500. what is interesting about the figures, if you look at them across time you will see there has italy been no increase in the speed of issuing visas, despite all the assurances of the home secretary and others that they were ranting at the

whole process up. if you look at the ukraine family scheme, for instance. there has been operating at about 6000 visas a week. but the new data suggest in the most recent seven day period, that was over 4000, so that is actually slowing down. the other sponsorship scheme, that has seen quite a significant increase from around 4700 in the first freebies, to an increase of over housing and the latest seven days. so it is swings and roundabouts here. but when you look at what's happening in germany and ireland, where 20,000 ukrainians have already been welcomed, and atjust over 12,000 to the uk. figs welcomed, and at 'ust over 12,000 to the uk. �* , welcomed, and at 'ust over 12,000 to theuk. m ., welcomed, and at 'ust over 12,000 to theuk. a ., the uk. as it comparative when you look u- the uk. as it comparative when you look up and — the uk. as it comparative when you look up and head _ the uk. as it comparative when you look up and head of— the uk. as it comparative when you look up and head of population? . look up and head of population? obviously comparing the numbers on their own perhaps not as meaningful as when you calculate them as a percentage of the population. i don't think so. ireland obviously

has a much smaller population and the uk and has taken almost twice as many ukrainian refugees as the uk has done. i think the issue here, actually, is about the generosity of the british people. we have seen extraordinary numbers of people saying come to my home, i'll give you a bedroom. others wanting to help people unite with family and friends. we have seen the outpouring of generosity. but they are thwarted, really, by the bureaucracy of whitehall. but what the government would say is, you do need to have security, you do need to have checks, we need to make sure who is coming over here. there could be bad agents, russians who seek to harm others, are there issues around making sure that these are very vulnerable refugees are looked after properly when they come here. but when you dial all down, the reality is that these systems and the

processes are at odds with what people actually want to do, they are a bit for the war, and at the moment that remains quite a political problem. that remains quite a political roblem. . ~ that remains quite a political roblem. ., ~' ,, that remains quite a political roblem. ., ~ i. ., that remains quite a political roblem. ., ~ ., ., ., problem. thank you for that detail, mark easton, _ problem. thank you for that detail, mark easton, our— problem. thank you for that detail, mark easton, our home _ problem. thank you for that detail, mark easton, our home editor. - when emmanuel macron was first elected french president, he upset the political odds. five years on, could a far—right tv personality do the same? so, with the first round of voting taking place on sunday, how do voters feel ahead of going to the polls? david grossman has been finding out. a crowd is gathering outside this hall in aix—en—provence in the south of france. the headline speaker is marion marechal, a third—generation politician. her grandfather isjean—marie le pen, who founded the far—right front nacional. now called national rally and now led by marion marechal�*s

aunt, marine le pen — according to the polls, the main challenger to the current french president emmanuel macron. but even though they have similar views on many issues, marion isn't supporting her aunt. she is campaigning for eric zemmour, the right—wing anti—immigration writer and tv personality. in this new world, french voters have to navigate a confusing jumble of niche parties often with overlapping policies.

this is the place the marseillaises call la bonne mere, the basilica that overlooks the city is its good mother. macron has acknowledged that marseille has been overlooked by french politics and, last september, promised to spend hundreds of millions of euros on regeneration. back in 2017, macron won the presidency of france by convincing french voters, or at least enough of them, that he was an iconoclast — someone who was going to come in, take on and shake—up the paris—based elite. five years on and come to places like marseille and, to many voters now,

he is the paris—based elite. his remaining supporters now have pivoted to a new message — stability. emmanuel macron, they say, is the only person standing between france and extremist chaos. on the harbour front, macron supporters handing out leaflets acknowledge it is a much tougher sell than five years ago. but asking voters to pick macron because he is the least worst option doesn't quite have the same compelling idealism of five years ago. arthur leroux was an early macron supporter, rising to become marseille director for emmanuel macron's en marche party. he resigned injuly over vaccine passports and what he saw as a drift towards authoritarianism. now i am not any more convinced that he embodies what he embodied back in 2017. basically, he brought us towards a brighter future with a very optimistic view of society and with very ambitious views.

now he is focused more towards classical right—wing style of government over the last two years. i am not really optimistic that this will be a good win for him. it will be a win, but a sour one, i think. and that is why some observers are predicting a very low turnout in this presidential election. many voters, it seems, are faced with a choice they don't want to make. ed sheeran has said his high court copyright case was not about money, but about standing up for what is right. it's after a judge ruled this week, that his song, shape of you, did not plagiarise the work of another artist. in an exclusive interview with bbc newsnight, the singer says he had no choice but to defend his work in court. anna collinson reports. sings shape of you.

this week, a lengthy battle over spotify�*s most streamed song reached a conclusion. while a judge cleared ed sheeran and fellow songwriter johnny mcdaid of plagiarism, the pair have exclusively told newsnight there has been little celebration. i'm happy it's over. i'm happy we can move on and get back to writing songs. yeah, all of it makes me sad. in the last year, it got really heavy and it was consuming. and the cost to our mental health and creativity was really tangible. i think lawsuits are, like, not fun for anyone involved. yeah, i think across all sides. like it was not a nice experience. i don't think anyone would contest that. it wasn't pleasant. shape of you became the focus

of a high court trial after the grime artist, sami chokri, accused the song writers of copying one of his tracks. ed sheeran and his team denied this and decided to fight for the song which the trial heard earned them around £5 million a year. but they say this was about so much more. the conversation around all of this is always about money. it is not about money. this is about honesty. integrity. yeah. it's not about... win or lose, we had to go to court. we had to stand up for what we thought was right. this isn't the first time ed sheeran has been accused of copyright. he has told newsnight he now films all of his songwriting sessions. i don't want to have this situation happen again so now i just film everything. everything is on film. we have had claims coming through on songs and then we go well, here's the footage, and you watch. you will see there is nothing there. two days ago, the high court ruled

ed sheeran and his team had neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied the track, oh why. the singer says he wants to get back to making music, but this lengthy lawsuit has scarred one of the uk and the world's biggest stars. i personally think the best feeling in the world, best feeling, is the euphoria around the first idea of writing a great song. like, the first spark where you go, "this is special. this is amazing." but that feeling has now turned into, "oh, wait, let's stand back for a minute. have we touched anything?" you find yourself in the moment second—guessing yourself. anna collinson, bbc news. you can see the full interview on newsnight tonight. now for someone who never played your right as anyone's work. it is matt with his own original forecast.

ido i do have someone else's photographed behind me. this is the highlands, a snow shower pushing into the valley. snow on the top of the house, it is no free for the south. but it is still wintry out there. the ice is starting to melt but plenty of showers to come. this big swell of cloud is storm diego, named by the french weather service, but it does have some influence for us and is found some pretty wet weather in the english channel this morning. starting to ease away from devon and cornwall, but push through the southern coastal counties for the southern coastal counties for the morning before it was eventually clear. elsewhere, is been a sunny and frosty start to the day, a few showers popping up here and there. showers must weaken in northern ireland and northern parts of

scotland, a mixture of sleet, hail, snow and even the odd rumble of thunder. the wind not as strong as yesterday. i don't feel quite as cold as yesterday. still some shows around this evening. ice risk into the morning. clear skies elsewhere. a widespread frost, not great news for the gardeners. a lovely crisp sunny start to the weekend for many. still some shows on two wheels, the north midlands. easing off in northern ireland. whilst the all—terrain shall will crop up through england and wales, more of you will spend the day dry on saturday. a cold night will follow, a frost in places. high pressure in charge, so light winds and a few patches of mist. maybe some patchy

rain and drizzle in ireland through the day. elsewhere, a sign and frosty start, but clouding over from the west. temperature starting to rise. it is an education, a big switch around in fortunes this weekend and next weekend. next week, much milder conditions. there will be some rain at times, so have some wet weather plans if you're on your easter break. he

this is bbc news ? these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. at least 30 people are feared to have been killed after two rockets struck a railway station in eastern ukraine. a local official has posted this picture from the scene. russian forces have now fully withdrawn from northern ukraine — according to uk intelligence — but the eastern donbas region suffers heavy shelling and rocket fire overnight. violence inflicted by russian troops on one ukrainian town is descibed as �*more horrific�* than first reported — with claims civilians were held undergound. the british chancellor rishi sunak describes reports about his wife's tax arrangements as a smear campaign — and insists no rules were broken. easter break travel disruption —

thousands face significant delays at uk airports ahead of the big getaway.