this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories... imran khan is removed as prime minister of pakistan — after losing a vote of confidence in parliament. armoured vehicles and new missiles — borisjohnson pledges more british support for ukraine after talks with president zelensky in kyiv. there is a huge amount to do to make sure that ukraine is successful, that ukraine wins and that putin must fail. medical staff in kramatorsk, eastern ukraine, battle to save the lives of people injured after a missile attack on its railway station on friday. at least 50 people died and dozens were wounded.

when you see our future being killed. — when you see our future being killed, the future of ukraine, you cannot control your emotions. you can see that when you look— emotions. you can see that when you look at— emotions. you can see that when you look at the bodies of the women — you look at the bodies of the women and children. campaigning ends in the first round of france's presidential election — polls are due to open in a few hours. commander tom marshall making his way down, and there we are. and mission accomplished — as the first all private astronaut team ever launched to the international space station completes docking. hello and welcome to the programme. imran khan has been removed as pakistan's prime minister, after losing a confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil. mr khan had earlier said he would not recognise

any new opposition government, claiming that there was a us—led conspiracy to remove him. the vote took place in dramatic circumstances — with parliament sitting in the early hours — after it initially appeared khan's party would not allow it to take place. the assembly will now meet on monday to choose a new prime minister. here's the moment the speaker of the house 174 members have recorded a vote in favour of the resolution. consequently, the resolution of a vote of no confidence against mr imran khan, the prime minister of islamic republic of pakistan, has been passed by a majority of the total membership of the national assembly. cheering our pakistan correspondent secunder kermani says the vote was an opportunistic move from his rivals. the forces of what used to be the opposition have been celebrating. you can perhaps hear them in the background.

for a while it looked as though this vote of no confidence against imran khan would not happen, his party would block it from taking place was second time despite an order from the supreme court, but instead after a day of delays in parliament and meandering speeches by imran khan's allies, shortly before midnight, mps from imran khan's party walked out of parliament and a new speaker of the house said that the voting would start, and once it was clear that the voting was going to begin, the result was a foregone conclusion, and that is because a number of imran khan's political coalition allies had already publicly deserted him, giving the opposition a majority in parliament. they will now get to select and nominate their own candidate as prime minister. that will happen for the next day or two, and he will face real challenges in government, not least from imran khan, because imran khan still insists he is the victim

of an international conspiracy, orchestrated by the united states in conjunction with his domestic political opponents, because of his foreign policy decisions, including a recent trip to russia. most analysts dismiss that. american officials and his political opponents deny there is any truth in the allegation but it is a narrative that is resonating with imran khan's voters. he says he will not accept any kind of imported government. he has called for his supporters to take to the streets in peaceful protest from sunday evening. michael kugelman is south asia senior associate at the wilson center. he's in washington. good to have you with us. as we are hearing, imran khan has gone, reluctantly as it was. secunder was telling us how many challenges remain, talk us through what happens now. it. the parliament to elect a new prime minister back that next

government will face major challenges, a major economic crisis, there have been a resurgence in terrorist attacks and imran khan will go back to the opposition, a role that he played for so long before becoming prime minister, and he will try to be disruptive, try to have his supporters come out in protest, will try to make life difficult for this next government, so i don't think we can rule out the possibility of early elections. we will see how far this next government gets but the honeymoon will not last long for the next government, that is for sure. it is sort of expected that the new prime minister will be shebaz sharif. is there much division within the opposition? he will likely be the choice, the next prime minister but what is important about shebaz sharif as of all of the major

opposition leaders, he has long had the full support of the pakistani military wit is very important in a country where the military is such a powerful political player. —— which is very important. political player. -- which is very important.— very important. but ma'or economicd very important. but ma'or economic woes, very important. but major economic woes, soaring l economic woes, soaring inflation, there is a lot to deal with. inflation, there is a lot to mum..— inflation, there is a lot to dealwith. , ., , deal with. yes, and this next government _ deal with. yes, and this next government will _ deal with. yes, and this next government will want - deal with. yes, and this next government will want to - deal with. yes, and this next| government will want to stick around until next november, when his term is up and the next government will be in a position to select the next army chief which is a key position but it is going to be a very tough ride for this next government, particularly with an angry opposition, it is going to be a very hyper partisan environment, and it will be very difficult for this next government. fix, will be very difficult for this next government. a difficult end to his — next government. a difficult end to his tenure, _ next government. a difficult end to his tenure, but - next government. a difficult| end to his tenure, but imran khan was brought in on a ticket of tackling corruption and dealing with the economy, wasn't he? what will his legacy be? how will he be remembered? he will be remembered for some

good things, including some major anti—poverty programmes and social welfare programmes that he put out. he tried to do a lot on the front of bringing more awareness to climate change but at the end of the day he will be remembered for his ability to address an economic crisis that just continue to get worse and worse and he will be remembered as a leader who burned a lot of bridges. he alienated members of his own party, he lost coalition partners, and he lost the support of the pakistani army chief so he burned all of these bridges at the moment he needed all the help he could get and there wasn't anyone to turn to, so that will be what lingers in terms of his legacy going forward.— going forward. thank you for our going forward. thank you for your time. — going forward. thank you for your time, michael, - going forward. thank you for - your time, michael, ??macr02. your time, michael, ? ?macr02. thank yourtime, michael, ??macr02. thank you. borisjohnson has become the latest western leader to hold face to face talks

with ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky. during the meeting, the british prime minister praised what he called the mr zelensky�*s "resolute leadership" and the "invincible heroism" of the ukrainian people. he also set out a new package of financial and military aid, including an offer of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti—ship missile systems, for the war with russia. our europe correspondent, mark lowen, has this report. how are you? little time for the niceties when you are a leader at war. volodymyr zelensky hosting boris johnson today. pressing the flesh of a key western backer. you are looking well. unbelievable considering which you have been through. you are strong. the strength of the underdog, ukraine's president battling for the survival of his country, welcoming and pleading for the outside world to fight russian aggression. the unannounced talks came as britain pledged 120 armoured vehicles and new anti—ship missile systems. the two men were keen to suggest ukraine is on the front foot, a walkabout in kyiv inconceivable a fortnight ago.

borisjohnson basking in praise for his support from the public and the president. translation: we have to exert pressure in the form of sanctions and i'm grateful to the united kingdom that continues and intensifies sanctions and also provides significant support to ukraine by reinforcing defence capacity. the other democratic western countries should follow the example of the united kingdom. from borisjohnson, arriving as horrors are announced from neighbouring towns, warm words for a leader he called a lion. i thank you for what you have been able to do. i think your leadership has been extraordinary. i think what putin has done in places like bucha and irpin, his war crimes have permanently polluted his reputation and the reputation of his government.

borisjohnson was long keen to come here to kyiv but was waiting for the security situation to stabilise following the withdrawal of russian troops in the area and while this city has calmed, the renewed offensive in the east has made ukraine push even harder for more military aid. russian tanks pushed on today as a governor in the east urged civilians to flee immediately, warning of troops massing nearby. bucha near kyiv, is now free of russian troops and shows what might lie in store elsewhere. 360 people are said to have died here. ukraine, david against goliath, is still crying out for help. mark lowen, bbc news, kyiv. in the east of the country, civilians have been urged to leave the area immediately, because russian forces are increasing their shelling and may be planning a mass assault.

two missiles hit a train station in the city of kramatorsk on friday, killing more than 50 people, trying to escape fighting in the area. at least four of the dead are children. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, has sent us this report. they were supposed to be taking a train to safety but instead they were leaving kramatorsk by ambulance. most of the severely injured in yesterday's missile attack had already been taken west to larger hospitals. these, the walking wounded. still needing surgery to remove the pieces of shrapnel from their bodies, and still clearly traumatised. translation: | heard a lot | of explosions and i fell down. when i got up a lot- of people were already dead. there was only me who stood up from the floor. _ it's a wonder. i god saved me. i have a penetrating

chest injury from i one side and my legs- are wounded, like everywhere. i got the shrapnel into my groin, into my artery. i fainted twice, lost a lot of blood. medical staff worked day and night to save the lives of the dozens injured. not all made it. six died before they had a chance to operate, including a young child. translation: there were life- threatening injuries, _ amputations, torn limbs, i torn feet, stomach wounds and brain injuries. _ those were the severe cases. it's surreal what's happened, itjust can't be explained. - i can't imagine what kindl of person takes a decision to launch a missile into a place where| civilians are gathering. screaming these were the chaotic scenes after the strike. thousands had gathered at kramatorsk station, hoping to get a train to safety. many of them women and children. they were among the dozens

of bodies lying on the ground. aleksei was still looking through the wreckage this morning. normally, he helps recover the bodies of ukrainian troops killed in battle. but, yesterday, he was having to gather the remains of unarmed civilians — the innocents of this war. translation: when you see our future being killed, _ the future of ukraine, you can't control your| emotions, you understand it's genocide and they are killing. usjust because we're - ukrainian and you see that when you look at the bodies of the women and children. | investigators were still examining the remains of a missile nearby. eyewitnesses say they saw multiple explosions, raising the possibility that it may have contained cluster munitions. it's still not clear what exactly happened here, whether this missile might have been shot down and that's why some of it is still intact,

but the state railway company says that a number of missiles were fired at the railway station, and despite russia's denials of responsibility, people here think it was a deliberate attack. jonathan beale, bbc news, kramatorsk. you are watching bbc news. the headlines... imran khan is removed as prime minister of pakistan after losing a vote of confidence in parliament. borisjohnson pledges more british support for ukraine after face—to—face talks with president zelensky in kyiv. thousands of people have gathered in the sri lankan capital, colombo, to protest against the country's deepening economic crisis. the demonstrators are calling for the president, gotabaya rajapaksa, to step down. so far, the president and his brother, the prime minister, mahinda rajapaksa, have refused to resign. our correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan was among the protests. thousands have gathered

here in the sri lankan capital colombo for a day of mass protest. there is a real strength of feeling here, lots of anger, almost all of it directed at sri lankan's government, in particular the country's president gotabaya rajapaksa. throughout the afternoon, protesters have been shouting, chanting, calling for him to step down. so far, the president and his brother, the prime minister, mahinda rajapaksa, are refusing to resign. they say that they will continue in government and get sri lanka through this crisis. but people here are not convinced, and that crisis is continuing to impact millions of people across this island nation. i talked to many families here today, middle—class families who have good jobs who say they are struggling to put food on the table for their children. they say the value of their salaries has gone down because prices have risen so much. and also they say that even when things are available and affordable, they are struggling

to get their hands on them because everything is in such short supply — food, fuel, gas, diesel, everything. and so they say this movement is going to continue. and it has brought this country together, people from all backgrounds, rich and poor, young and old, all united. they say they will not stop their protests until the rajapa ksa family leaves power. we'rejoined from sri lanka by human rights lawyer bhavani fonseka. we were just hearing about how bad things are for people in sri lanka. can you explain why it has got so bad and so many people are taking to the streets? it people are taking to the streets?— people are taking to the streets? , . , , ., streets? it is a big crisis and it has gotten _ streets? it is a big crisis and it has gotten worse - streets? it is a big crisis and it has gotten worse over - streets? it is a big crisis and it has gotten worse over the j it has gotten worse over the last few months. this is directly linked to the economic situation, where the government

is unable to purchase essential items, and there are basically long queues on the road to buy medicine, fuel, gas, and it has also resulted in violence and several deaths as well in the last few weeks. but, what you report it indicated yesterday was unprecedented, when many came out, in peaceful protest. one needs to recognise that ordinary citizens are facing similar hardships in different situations but they are coming to the streets because they want to be heard, and the situation is extremely dire at the moment on the ground. in terms of the president gotabaya rajapaksa himself, his entire cabinet resigned last week, and 40 cabinet resigned last week, and a0 politicians defected and yet he is refusing to go anywhere, isn't he? . , he is refusing to go anywhere, isn't he? ., , ,., .., isn't he? that is the political crisis,

isn't he? that is the political crisis. sri — isn't he? that is the political crisis, sri lanka _ isn't he? that is the political crisis, sri lanka is _ isn't he? that is the political crisis, sri lanka is facing - isn't he? that is the political crisis, sri lanka is facing a i crisis, sri lanka is facing a political crisis as well as an economic crisis. last sunday, the cabinet of ministers resigned. several members of parliament subsequently said they would sit independently in parliament. so the question is whether the president and the prime minister has a majority in parliament. and in that we also have the opposition raising questions in terms of whether the government is in control, there was a no—confidence motion, there are calls for the abolition of the presidency, so you see a lot of movement in the last few weeks as well at the political level but at the end of the day, many are coming out onto the streets with onecall, that this government, the president, needs to go, they need to resign, so that is going to remain, regardless of what happens at a political level. as you said, so far the protests have been largely peaceful. are you worried that things may escalate? the

protests _ things may escalate? the protests have _ things may escalate? the protests have been - things may escalate? tue: protests have been largely peaceful and we have been in the streets for the past few weeks. it is amazing to see how many have come out, united, in their calls for change. there have been a few incidences where there was violence, and that raised concerns. there is a worry. but, what happened yesterday, for nearly 20 miles, people had been protesting and saying they would not go home until the call is met, so the government, when you hear the cause of so many now, so many that have come to the streets, peacefully calling for change, and that needs to be seen. thank you for talking to us, we appreciate your time, bhavani fonseka, joining us from colombo. polls open in france on sunday

for the first round of the presidential elections. recent polls have shown a dramatic fall in president macron's lead over his main challenger, they are very close indeed, those two top contenders. there was one poll yesterday, it was the last day polls were allowed, which put them one point apart, macronjust one point ahead in the first round, just two points ahead of her in the second round. other polls putting them maybe a point or two further apart but it is really very close indeed. and what is seemed to have changed has coincided with the war in ukraine. president macron tied up with that war, tied up with talking to president putin, didn't start campaigning until about three weeks ago. his rival, the far right leader marine le pen, she has been campaigning for much longer than that, and she has been focusing on rising prices, that is something that is seen as really close to voters' hearts here and something that they are even more concerned about because of the war in ukraine. slightly strange because marine le pen has quite close ties to russia but she has been quite nimble in shifting her

position since the war began, and i think she has really gained from the fact that mr macron had a late start and also that her nationalist rival eric zemmour hasn't been as fast on his feet and he has lost a few votes that have now gone to her. all of this is a snapshot, of course, we won't really know the mood of france until the votes come in tomorrow. there are 12 candidates for the vote, people will cast their votes and the two top candidates will go through to a run—off vote in two weeks' time, and for a very long time, those two top candidates have been seen to be president macron and his far—right rival marine le pen, it is what almost all the polls have been saying. president macron promised five years ago to remake french politics. he certainly has done. lucy williamson there. now, a moment of space history — as the first all—private crew has arrived at the international space station. this is their arrival earlier. the all—male crew are called the axiom—1.

let's have a look at a few more details. the first all—private mission flight is being hailed as a milestone in the commercialisation of space flight. the four men are led by a former us space agency astronaut, michael lopez—alegria. passengers include a us real estate entrepreneur and aerobatic pilot larry connor, israeli investor eytan stibbe, and canadian entrepreneur mark pathy. the mission set off from florida kennedy space center and is expected to last eight days. and whilst on board the international space station — they'll undertake some scientific research as well as conduct a number of outreach projects. the firm is planning a series of similar missions to the iss. the next one, axiom—2, will take place either later this year or in early 2023 and will include a crew member chosen through a reality tv series. dr ariel ekblaw is director of the mit space exploration initiative. dr ekblaw's research project has been sent to the international space station as part of the private

ax—1 mission. that is very exciting. tell us about that, then. she may have just frozen. we will see if we can get the line back. but, no, we will see if we can get back to her. we willjust have one more try... hold on, we're going to try to go back to dr ariel ekblaw. you are moving, slightly, let me see if we can hear you! t slightly, let me see if we can hear you!— hear you! i can hear you, can ou hear you! i can hear you, can you hear— hear you! i can hear you, can you hear me? _ hear you! i can hear you, can you hear me? just _ hear you! i can hear you, can you hear me? just tell- hear you! i can hear you, can you hear me? just tell us - hear you! i can hear you, can i you hear me? just tell us about our you hear me? just tell us about your project _ you hear me? just tell us about your project that _ you hear me? just tell us about your project that has _ you hear me? just tell us about your project that has gone - you hear me? just tell us about your project that has gone up . your project that has gone up to the iss. your project that has gone up to the iss-— to the iss. this is a historic moment — to the iss. this is a historic moment for— to the iss. this is a historic moment for the _ to the iss. this is a historic - moment for the democratisation of space. we have witnessed a

fully private crew, no government astronauts, entering the international space station and without enter a new era of commercial space flight and we at mit are delighted to be part of this mission where we are testing technology for future space habitats, and what this looks like it is, how do we build the grand next—generation space architecture were more people can't participate in this future, and people see themselves moving away from space, and to do that we... and we will be self assembling... and we hope to send this prototype mission, ax—1. and we hope to send this prototype mission, ax-1. these are micro-robots _ prototype mission, ax-1. these are micro-robots that _ prototype mission, ax-1. these are micro-robots that would - are micro—robots that would assemble themselves in space, and what would they be trying to create?— and what would they be trying to create? :, ,, :, to create? you can think about them like _ to create? you can think about them like lego, _ to create? you can think about them like lego, but _ to create? you can think about them like lego, but with - them like lego, but with colourful magnets on the edges and they would snap themselves together and we would have

space habitats bigger than your largest available rocket available at the time so the structure they would create from this initial prototype would be like a glorified soccer ball, and we have these pentagons and hexagons and these robotic tiles that will float together and dock, and separate and undock, testing ability to build a future robotically assembled spacecraft.— robotically assembled sacecraft. , , , spacecraft. this is possible because spacecraft. this is possible beeause of— spacecraft. this is possible because of the _ spacecraft. this is possible because of the tourist - spacecraft. this is possible i because of the tourist dollar, isn't it, really? it because of the tourist dollar, isn't it, really?— isn't it, really? it is. and with the _ isn't it, really? it is. and with the rise _ isn't it, really? it is. and with the rise of - isn't it, really? it is. and with the rise of space - isn't it, really? it is. and- with the rise of space tourism, even though their high net worth individuals, they are opening the doorfor worth individuals, they are opening the door for science and for us to understand that no longer needs to be an astronaut who has dedicated your entire life to the government to participate. gill government to participate. all ri . ht, government to participate. all right, thank you, glad we to talk to you eventually, appreciate that, that was dr

ariel ekblaw. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lucyegrey thank you forjoining us. hello there. we've got a little ridge of high pressure moving in and that is killing off saturday's daytime showers, allowing those skies to clear and temperatures to fall away so do expect a frosty start to sunday, lots of blue sky and sunshine to begin with but quickly clouding over from the west. so here is that little ridge of high pressure moving over into europe and all eyes focused on this area of low out in the atlantic, this beautiful bass clef swirl of cloud which is going to gradually spill in cloud and eventually some rain from the west. so, enjoy the early morning sunshine, yes, a frosty start. unusual now for mid—april but as we push into the afternoon, the sunshine turning increasingly hazy, there will be showery outbreaks of rain into northern ireland, a bit more of a breeze here as well. highs in northern ireland, england and wales, ten to 13 degrees.

a little bit colder, still, in the far north—east of scotland and the northern isles. now, as we move through sunday evening and overnight, we will continue to see quite a lot of cloud pushing in. that low pressure is really taking its time before it brings in potentially heavy rain but nevertheless, that cloud acting like a blanket, preventing those temperatures from falling quite as far. so, monday morning won't be quite as chilly, we'll see overnight lows, generally, between three and seven degrees. so, a slightly greyer start to the day, and we will see some outbreaks of sharp showery rain pushing in from south—west england, wales, into northern ireland. some of these showers could be quite heavy, with the odd rumble of thunder mixed in there but if you dodged the showers and keep some sunshine around that low pressure, the wind direction coming from the south—easterly, so not quite as cold, highs of 17 degrees. we still keep the cold air in place into the far north of scotland but not for long because that southerly wind driving around that low pressure will push milder air a little bit further north as we go through

the next few days. so, on tuesday, yes, still the risk of some showery outbreaks of rain, again some of it heavy, possibly even thundery, but if you dodged those showers and you keep that sunshine, particularly across east anglia and south—east england, once again we could see 19, possibly 20 degrees. so, the rain, the dividing line between that slightly colder air sitting in the far north of scotland but it will head in your direction. and you can see, as we head towards the easter weekend, once that rain eases away, it will be drier and relatively milder in comparison to the last few days.

this is bbc news. the headlines: imran khan has been removed as prime minister of pakistan after losing a confidence vote. mr khan said he wouldn't recognise a new opposition government, after claiming that there was a us—led conspiracy to remove him. an assembly will meet on monday to choose a new leader. the british prime minister, borisjohnson has pledged more support for ukraine after holding face to face talks with president zelensky in kyiv. mrjohnson praised what he called the "invincible heroism" of the ukrainian people. mr zelensky urged other western allies to intensify the pressure on moscow. campaigning has ended in the first round of france's presidential election. president emmanuel macron's lead over his main challenger, the far—right leader marine le pen has fallen dramatically in recent weeks. the polls are due to open

in a few hours time// analysts expect many voters to boycott the election.