hello, you're watching bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories: there's outrage after another atrocity in ukraine — at least fifty people are dead and hundreds more injured in a rocket attack on a train station. as you can see the station outside is empty, but this morning it was packed with people. many of them women and children trying to flee the city to safety. more help is on the way, with countries sending weapons including, for the first time, an air defence system. after hitting the comedian chris rock, the actor will smith is banned from the oscars for ten years. at least 12 people are killed following torrential rains and a landslide in a mining area of north—west colombia.

he can still pull a crowd, but will he get enough votes? emmanuel macron faces a tightening race ahead of the first round of the french presidential election. welcome to the programme, good to be with you. at least 50 people are now known to have been killed, including 5 children, after a rocket hit a railway station in the east of ukraine. the station, in the city of kramatorsk, had become a major hub for civilian evacuations from the donbas region, which is now the focal point of russia's offensive on ukraine. it's thought around 4,000 people were in the vicinity of the station when the attack happened — most of them women, children and the elderly. russia denies any involvement, and blames ukraine

for the attack. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale has this report, and a warning you may find some of it distressing. all they were trying to do was to flee their city for safety. but many never made it out. these were the scenes outside kramatorsk�*s train station soon after the explosion — killing dozens, including children, and injuring many more. the emergency services were soon on the scene, collecting the bodies and taking the wounded to hospital. among the bodies, their belongings, still scattered across the station — a mobile phone and a children's toy. translation: ijumped into the passage where there are walls. everyone was panicking. people were screaming and crying. then i saw a wounded woman. she was bleeding heavily. she was taken somewhere into a room.

there were also several wounded people there. i saw people lying in front of the building. i don't know whether they were wounded or dead. translation: people - were panicked and stressed. some of them were badly wounded and we tried to help them. the remains of a missile lay close by. painted on the casing — in russian — the words "for the children". but why? questions, too, as to why no crater and why so much was still intact. did it malfunction, or could it have been shot down? western officials still believe it's likely it was a russian missile fired indiscriminately. sirens wail in distance) with the sound of air raid warnings, this has been the scene at kramatorsk station over the past few days —

thousands of people trying to get out. they've been told to leave as russia steps up its offensive in the east. kramatorsk has already been targeted. as you can see, the station, outside it, it's empty. but this morning, it was packed with people, many of them women and children, trying to flee this city to safety. you can see the effects of the blast on these parked cars behind me, now burnt out. and on the pavement, you can see bags of food that they were taking for their journey to safety, along with dried blood that's smeared across the pavement. russia says it wasn't responsible — it even claims that it wasn't its missile. but ukraine's president has dismissed those denials. the region's governor believes this was a cluster munition designed to kill and maim over a wide area. if this was a deliberate attack on civilians, then the british government says it's another russian war crime. jonathan beale, bbc news, kramatorsk.

international efforts to step up pressure on russia are continuing. the uk's sending $130 million worth of military equipment to the ukrainian army, including surface—to—air missiles and anti—tank weapons. slovakia became the first country to donate a major air defence system to ukraine, with the us confirming it will replace the one donated by ukraine's neighbour. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. in bucha, a chance to ponder the brutal realities of this war. ursula von der leyen, president of the european commission, in the town where ukraine says hundreds of civilians were killed by russian troops. the whole world is mourning with the people of bucha, and they are the ones who are, as you said, defending the border of europe, defending humanity, defending democracy, and therefore, we stand with them. but how much more are ukraine's

friends willing to do to help? today, slovakia became the first country to send a major air defence system. with another russian offensive looming, this is the kind of equipment ukraine says it badly needs. in downing street, with germany's new chancellor by his side, borisjohnson said britain was also doing more. today, i can announce that the uk will send a further £100 million worth of high—grade military equipment to ukraine's armed forces, including more starstreak anti—aircraft missiles, which fly at three times the speed of sound, another 800 anti—tank missiles and precision munitions capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target. supplies are coming in from all over the world. the czech republic has sent a fleet of russian—made battle tanks. the ukrainians know the t—72 well and can use it with no extra training. russian military wreckage litters the roads where they've been and gone.

ukraine's armed forces have fought tenaciously and with great skill, but most believe sterner tests lie ahead. will all the new equipment arrive in time, and will it be enough? and could the west do more on the economic front? the german chancellor facing difficult questions about his country's continued reliance on russian oil and gas. do you really think that germany has gone far enough, fast enough to move away from russian energy? i can give you the very clear answer, we are doing the strongest investments and we are doing the hardest activities feasible to get independent, and we will be successful. britain is also bolstering nato. the defence secretary, ben wallace, in romania today, offering two more raf typhoon jets. whoever wins the war in ukraine, nato's presence in eastern europe has been utterly transformed by this war. paul adams, bbc news.

the actor will smith has been banned from all academy events or programmes for 10 years after he hit the comedian chris rock at the oscars. it happened after mr rock made a joke about will smith's wife, jada pinkett smith. less than an hour after the incident, mr smith was given the best actor award. he has since apologised for his actions and has already resigned from the academy. we can now speak to clayton davis who's senior awards editor at variety. he joins us from los angeles. thank you for being with us. as we said, will smith has resigned from the academy, this ban imposed by the board lasts ten years, what does it mean in practice? in ten years, what does it mean in ractice? , . practice? in practice it doesn't _ practice? in practice it doesn't mean - practice? in practice it doesn't mean much. l practice? in practice it| doesn't mean much. in practice? in practice it - doesn't mean much. in terms practice? in practice it _ doesn't mean much. in terms of, he can't attend the academy award ceremony, can't go to any sponsored events, any screenings, can't receive any

screener however he can still be nominated, he can win an academy award over the next decade, so it hasn't really imposed anything too much in that regard. but there is still a lot of questions that surround the events of that evening, and how the academy and will smith have handled the situation. , ., ., situation. tell us more about that, this _ situation. tell us more about that, this action _ situation. tell us more about that, this action is _ situation. tell us more about that, this action is against i that, this action is against will smith but you mentioned there is criticism of the academy are not acting appropriately at the time. will it impose any actions on itself? i it impose any actions on itself? ., �* , . itself? i wouldn't expect them to impose _ itself? i wouldn't expect them to impose actions _ itself? i wouldn't expect them to impose actions in _ to impose actions in themselves, because that is not something that they do, they are looking to close this chapter, i really messed up part of their story. will smith has that on his legacy and it will follow him for a long time. but it is notjust the act of letting will smith speak on stage for about seven minutes following his slapping of chris rock, that went so poorly, it was unprecedented.

next to a streaker coming onto the stage and moonlight and lala land getting their envelopes mixed up, this was the biggest moment in 94 years of history. but why —— the academy handled after the fact, saying that will smith refused to leave, something multiple sources said was not the case and was not true, someone needs to speak up and talk to that part of the story, because that has made, it has darker points of this on will smith's legacy which wasn't warranted. figs of this on will smith's legacy which wasn't warranted. as you mentioned. _ which wasn't warranted. as you mentioned, an _ which wasn't warranted. as you mentioned, an assault - which wasn't warranted. as you mentioned, an assault live - which wasn't warranted. as you mentioned, an assault live on | mentioned, an assault live on stage in front of millions of people watching around the world, i believe you were even there yourself, does ten years go far enough, or is it too much, do you think? it really depends. _ much, do you think? it really depends. and _ much, do you think? it really depends, and what _ much, do you think? it really depends, and what the - much, do you think? it really . depends, and what the academy has right now is a consistency issue that they will need to address. that is why this chapter is not over. so will

smith can't attend the ceremony but harvey weinstein and roman polanski, two convicted criminals that one academy awards, still had their 0scars, in theory of hubby one thing was released from prison tomorrow or roman polanski entered the country again and assuming he wasn't arrested, they could go to the oscars as somebody�*s plus one, but will smith can't. so they need to address some of those more problematic issues. i was expecting something more around a five year ban. 0nce expecting something more around a five year ban. once he resigned from the academy there was little recourse the academy could take, they can impose a sanction —— cannot impose sanctions, he is not a member anymore. i think the ten years was imposed —— forced on them because he is not a member anymore. if he was still a member he would have been one of the five people who have been expelled in history, and he would not have wanted that on his record, he already has a pretty gross one now. we on his record, he already has a pretty gross one now.- pretty gross one now. we will leave it there, _

pretty gross one now. we will leave it there, thank - pretty gross one now. we will leave it there, thank you - pretty gross one now. we will| leave it there, thank you davis —— thank you clayton davis for being with us. latest polling suggests the french president emmanuel macron is just two percentage points ahead of his main rival, the far—right candidate marine le pen, as france prepares to vote in the first round of its presidential election on sunday. there are nine candidates, with mr macron and ms le pen the favourites to win the most votes, and go through to a deciding run—off vote in two weeks' time. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson reports from the campaign trail. he won the presidency last time by standing out from the crowd. five years on, emmanuel macron, seen by many as arrogant and out of touch, is keen to show he is close to the people. a classic defence, when your far—right rival is right behind you in the polls. the message here in brittany, he's notjust a president for capitalists but for left—wing voters, too. translation: it's europe that allows us to reform excessive l and sometimes crazy capitalism. if we want to put social

and environmental concerns at the heart of the market economy, it's europe that allows us to act. left—wing territory like this backed mr macron five years ago against his far—right rival, marine le pen. many left—wing voters are more disillusioned now, but polls suggest that marine le pen is closer than ever to winning this election, and mr macron is hoping that's enough to get the left to vote again. down the road, in the local boulangerie, sophie said she voted for president macron five years ago because she was nervous about voting for marine le pen. not this time. translation: she's evolved. she learnt from her mistakes. she is very human. we understand her when she speaks. i think, this time, the right person will win. i hope so, because i made a bet with my customers. marine le pen has worked hard to soften her image. she still wants to ban muslim

headscarves in public places and give french nationals priority in benefits, housing and jobs. but her focus in this campaign has been rising prices, made worse by the war in ukraine. at a rally in the southern city of perpignan this week, 18—year—old anwar flores said le pen was right to focus on the things that matter to french people and less on security issues. mr macron still has the edge in this election, but he has warned that nothing is impossible. as the man who broke the political mould here five years ago, if anyone should know that, it's him. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. queen elizabeth has pulled out of attending the annual royal maundy day church service. buckingham palace said she would be represented for the first time by the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall.

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. i don't think it signifies any significant change in the health situation, she has been doing virtual audiences from windsor in the past few days. the maundy service is one of the fixtures in the royal and —— calendar, and it involves rather more participation, whereas the service of thanksgiving for the duke about right at westminster abbey, she was able to sit through the service. at the maundy service there is more standing, distributing the maundy money. a decision taken today she would not attend, her place will be taken by the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall. this is bbc news — our main headlines... condemnation after another atrocity in ukraine — at least 50 people are dead and hundreds more injured in a rocket attack on a train station. among those condemning that attack on the train station was the eu's foreign policy chiefjosep borrell. he's in kyiv, and gave his

reaction to the bbc�*s clive myrie. awful. to everybody who was travelling by train, as we have been doing. but it is clear another attempt to attack the morale of the ukrainian people by attacking civilians. the russian army is not able to win the war by fighting the ukrainian army, they have been repelled by kyiv, now they are killing people, killing innocent people.- killing people, killing innocent people. are they targeting _ innocent people. are they targeting civilians? - innocent people. are they targeting civilians? for i innocent people. are they i targeting civilians? for me, innocent people. are they - targeting civilians? for me, it is clear. targeting civilians? for me, it is clear- in — targeting civilians? for me, it is clear. in the _ targeting civilians? for me, it is clear. in the city, _ targeting civilians? for me, it is clear. in the city, bucha, i is clear. in the city, bucha, big buildings, bomb, bomb, bomb, it is clearly done on purpose. 50 bomb, it is clearly done on purpose-— bomb, it is clearly done on --urose. , ., purpose. so they are committing war crimes? _ purpose. so they are committing war crimes? that _ purpose. so they are committing war crimes? that is _ purpose. so they are committing war crimes? that is for _ purpose. so they are committing war crimes? that is for a - purpose. so they are committing war crimes? that is for a court i war crimes? that is for a court to decide _ war crimes? that is for a court to decide and _ war crimes? that is for a court to decide and we _ war crimes? that is for a court to decide and we are - war crimes? that is for a court to decide and we are going - to decide and we are going to support investigations. when you say a crime, you have to prove evidence, for me it is clear, but in front of a court you need concrete things, and we are going to support the

ukrainian public prosecutor to provide this proof, to provide evidence, which is evident when you see what is happening. but in front of a court you need evidence, you need proof, and it is clear for me that what is happening in ukraine as war crimes. ~ ., ., happening in ukraine as war crimes. ., ., ., crimes. what would you say to those peeple _ crimes. what would you say to those people who _ crimes. what would you say to those people who would - crimes. what would you say to those people who would arguej those people who would argue that the european union is funding vladimir putin's war machine, because it is buying oil and gas and coal? the members _ oil and gas and coal? the members of _ oil and gas and coal? the members of the - oil and gas and coal? tue: members of the european oil and gas and coal? tte: members of the european union have been buying oil and gas and paying for it before the war and they are still. but they have stopped kohler, and everything is on the table. on monday, the first ministers, they will go again to discuss how and when we can get rid of the oil and gas dependencies. how long a bow and what that take? , . ., , ., take? oil is much easier than as. take? oil is much easier than gas- gas _ take? oil is much easier than gas- gas is — take? oil is much easier than gas. gas is much _ take? oil is much easier than gas. gas is much difficult, . gas. gas is much difficult, because there the americans

will provide oil. sorry gas. oil is much easier but i cannot tell you a date. you cannot cancel a stronger tendency overnight but we will do it. at least 13 people have been killed following torrential rains and a landslide in a mining area of north—west colombia. the flooding surprised a group of miners as they were eating dinner on wednesday evening. shelley phelps reports. seen from above, the destruction and devastation caused by rain and flooding a mining camp in colombia's,, antioquia province. rescue workers began scouring for survivors and helping miners to evacuate. but the effort to recover the missing had to be delayed until friday morning, due to inclement weather. family and friends joined in a frantic search for missing loved ones, fearing the worst.

translation: as the hours go by, we, as family members, i get the idea that we may not find him alive. translation: ferney was approximately between 20 and 21 years old. he was a young man who liked to go out a lot. he liked to go out to pick coffee. ferney was a very good worker, a good guy. rains in antioquia have caused more than 100 deaths so far this year, according to authorities. translation: we have 12 rescued lifeless bodies, _ translation: we have 12 rescued lifeless bodies, ten _ translation: we have 12 rescued lifeless bodies, ten mail, - translation: we have 12 rescued lifeless bodies, ten mail, two - lifeless bodies, ten mail, two female — lifeless bodies, ten mail, two female on _ lifeless bodies, ten mail, two female. on wednesday - lifeless bodies, ten mail, two female. on wednesday at - lifeless bodies, ten mail, two. female. on wednesday at night we removed _ female. on wednesday at night we removed eight— female. on wednesday at night we removed eight injured - we removed eight injured pe0ple~ _ around 20 families were evacuated from a nearby town due to the risk of further flooding, with rivers threatening to burst their banks colombia's president ivan duque has expressed solidarity with the families of the victims. shelley phelps, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the prime minister of pakistan, imran khan, says, if he's ousted from power, he will not accept

what he called an "imported government". he was speaking ahead of a no—confidence vote in parliament on saturday, which he is expected to lose. the wife of the british chancellor rishi sunak says she has volunteered to pay uk tax on her multimillion—pound income. akshata murty, who is exempt from paying uk tax, because of her status as a non—domiciled uk resident, has been criticised as the cost of living in the uk continues to rise. boris becker has been found guilty of concealing cash and property, following his bankruptcy in the uk in 2017. the former wimbledon champion was convicted of four offences, but cleared of twenty others in a london court. he'll be sentenced later this month and could face jail. now, many wish they looked younger. it's often the key selling point on cosmetic comemercials, selling people the hope of "younger—looking skin." well, scientists here in the uk say they've rejuvenated the skin cells taken from a 53—year—old women, making them equivalent to those of a 23—year—old. writing in thejournal, e—life,

researchers say they believe the technique could be applied to other tissues in the body. the eventual aim is to develop treatments for age—related diseases. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. the breakthrough was made at this lab in cambridge. they gill added chemicals to the skin cells of a 53—year—old woman. he could scarcely believe his eyes when he studied them under a microscope, 12 days later. t microscope, 12 days later. i remember the day when i actually got the results back, and i was basically in shock and i was basically in shock and didn't quite believe that some of these samples were 30 years younger than they were supposed to be. i literally double check that the labels were the right ones and spoke with people in the lab and it was a very exciting day. the technology _ was a very exciting day. the technology is _ was a very exciting day. the technology is based - was a very exciting day. the technology is based on techniques to create dolly the cloned sheep, more than 25 years ago. she was created from an adult cell that was rejuvenated all the way back

into an embryo. the aim at the time was to use cloning technology to turn cells taken from human patients into embryonic stem cells to combat many of the diseases of ageing, but it didn't really work out. those behind the latest research believe that they have now made a significant step forward. to now made a significant step forward. ., , . , now made a significant step forward. ., , ., , ., ., forward. to be able to now imagine — forward. to be able to now imagine that _ forward. to be able to now imagine that they - forward. to be able to now imagine that they could i forward. to be able to now imagine that they could be i imagine that they could be applications that could help you know, thousands and of people _ you know, thousands and of people out there with conditions, as we all know, many— conditions, as we all know, many common diseases in humans -et many common diseases in humans get worse — many common diseases in humans get worse with age, or a rise with— get worse with age, or a rise with age. _ get worse with age, or a rise with age, and to be able to think— with age, and to be able to think about helping people in this way— think about helping people in this way is very, very exciting.— this way is very, very excitina. �* , , ., exciting. but there is still a lona exciting. but there is still a long way — exciting. but there is still a long way to _ exciting. but there is still a long way to go- _ exciting. but there is still a long way to go. the i exciting. but there is still a i long way to go. the chemicals used in the rejuvenation process increase a risk of cancers, but now that the scientist know that age reversal is possible in

principle, they have a new way forward. halep goesch, bbc news. four astronauts have left earth on the first all—private mission to the international space station. the crew took off from florida's kennedy space center, on a spacex falcon rocket. they're expected to dock at the station on saturday, and will spend eight days on board. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. it's often been said, the business of america is business. the axiom one crew as they exit the suit—up room... and what typifies that more than a fully commercial mission to space? one pilot and three very wealthy men, each paying a reported $55 million to spend a week or so orbiting the earth. the earth. this is our first step. we're working with a commercial company to have them come to our international space station, and we're learning to work together and figuring out how to work together. and this is going to be an important step for us. three, two, one...

zero. ignition. liftoff. go, falcon, go, dragon. godspeed, axiom one. axiom space is the private company leading the mission, but it's elon musk�*s spacex that provided the rocket that took them into orbit. it's been stressed these men are not space tourists — they will carry out what's being called "meaningful research". and this could be the beginning of something big. we would like, by the early 20305, for us to be flipping the roles and have our professional astronauts going up and focusing on the research and technology we need for exploration, but allowing commercial providers to be doing the hard work of maintaining the laboratory. this is the laboratory they'll have to work out of for now — the international space station. axiom space are thinking big — someday soon, they want to build a station of their own. one small step for man, one giant leap for commercial space travel.

tim allman, bbc news. cough now. the second day of the masters in augusta has come to a close —— golf. scottie scheffler leading the way at eight under par. he was five underfor a second round eight under par. he was five under for a second round score of 67, giving him a three shot lead at the halfway stage. behind him as a group of four players, including ireland's shane lowry, all on three under for the tournament. and as for tiger woods and his big comeback event, he dropped a couple of shots and finished the day one over for the tournament. a reminder of course, much more coverage of all the day's news on the bbc news website, or you can download the bbc news app. there is also the ukraine work 24-7 there is also the ukraine work 24—7 updated live page. all of that —— ukraine war. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston.

drop me a note. we would love to hear from you. drop me a note. we would love to hearfrom you. for me and the rest of the team here in london, thank you very much for watching and we will see you next time, goodbye. today was not quite as cold as yesterday, because the wind wasn't as strong, but we have still ended the week with temperatures below par for the time of year. we take that chilly arctic air into the start of the weekend with us, however as we move into next week, a shift in the pattern. southerly winds delivering some warmer conditions across the uk. so, for this weekend, it will be chilly, particularly at first. some cold and frosty nights. often dry, just a few showers. next week, it will feel warm where we get some sunshine, but it won't be sunny all the time. there will also be some outbreaks of rain. talking of rain, whistles and heavy downpours across southern england and the channel islands during this morning. that clearing away. then some sunny

spells but also as you can see from the radar picture, lots of showers, some thunderstorms, some wintry showers, especially across northern areas. now, most of those showers will slowly fade as we head through the night. clear skies overhead. that will allow for quite a widespread frost, temperatures even in the towns and cities down around or below freezing, we could see loads of around —4 out of the countryside and parts of northern england. so into tomorrow, a cold, frosty, but bright and sunny start. through the day, we will see some showers once again but these most plentiful up towards the north and the east, where it will stay breezy. further south and west, lighter winds, will stay breezy. further south and west, lighterwinds, not will stay breezy. further south and west, lighter winds, not as many showers, more dry weather and plenty of sunshine. temperatures still a touch below the average for this point in april. seven votes 12 degrees. now, as we move through saturday night, this little ridge of high pressure topples its way eastwards again. that will allow it to get cold and frosty, but this frontal system pitching in from the west will start to introduce a little more cloud. so temperatures out west, in

belfast and plymouth for example, may stay above freezing. most places again having a cold start to sunday morning, but a having a cold start to sunday morning, buta bright having a cold start to sunday morning, but a bright start with plenty of sunshine through the day, is that whether system approaches, we will see more cloud building in from the west. the majority will stay driver stopped a bit of rain could just splash into parts of northern ireland later on, but the wind is starting to come up from the south, so temperatures will climb just a little. from the south, so temperatures will climbjust a little. a trend that will continue into next week. if we do get some sunshine, we could see highs of 18, 19, may be close to 20 degrees, but there will also be some rain at times, especially in the north and west.

wales and the duchess of cornwall.

this is bbc news, the headlines: ukraine says at least 50 people are dead and dozens wounded after a rocket hit a train station in the eastern city of kramatorsk. kramatorsk had become a major hub in the war for civilian evacuations from the donbas region. it's now the focal point of vladimir putin's war effort. slovakia has donated its entire s—300 surface—to—air missile system to ukraine. the country's prime minister said it would save many innocent lives from moscow's aggression. uk prime minister borisjohnson says his country will send another $130 million worth

of military equipment to help it resist russian attacks.