hello. this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm annita mcveigh. our top stories... voting is under way in france — in the first round of the french presidential election, with president macron facing a strong challenge from marine le pen. marine le pen, this year, instead of focusing on immigration and in some, in the public discourse, it is still in the public discourse, it is still in her programme, has managed to focus on the cost of life. britain says there's further evidence that russian troops have a deliberate strategy of targeting civilians in ukraine. �*put the weapons down�* — pope francis calls for an easter truce in ukraine, and negotiations for peace. opposition parties in pakistan are preparing to form a new government, after the removal of imran khan in a late—night confidence vote.

our motivation is to conduct electoral reforms and move towards a more democratic pakistan. and in britain, the government launches an inquiry into how the tax arrangements of the chancellor's wife became public knowledge. hello and welcome. voters go to the polls today in the first round of the french presidential election. in what could be the closest contest in many years president emmanual macron is facing a strong challenge from the far right candidate marine le pen. 12 candidates are standing, with the top two — expected to be macron and le pen — going through to a run—off in a fortnight. from paris, nick beake reports.

it feels like a president macron has only just turned up to this selection. he's been spending much of his time on the war in ukraine, many french say he's been missing in action at home. the far right candidate marie le pen has been gaining ground in this, her third presidential race, honing a softer image this time. retired secretary janine tells us le pen is now ready for the highest office. i think she would be not so bad. not so bad as macron. many people coming here to vote today will have seen the very latest polls suggesting le pen is onlyjust behind macron now. and so more people asking the question whether france is on the verge of own brexit moment, or trump moment, in other words a political earthquake, something which has huge repercussions, not just in this country but across europe and beyond. but le pen appears less in cosmopolitan paris and emmanuel macron remains the frontrunner in the national polls.

he tells us he is voting for macron because he has proved himself on the world stage, dealt with covid and shown he is a president who rises to the challenge. in this first round, the french have many candidates to choose from. but only two go through, meaning lots of voters will have to think again in a fortnight�*s time. if the polls are right and it is between macron and le pen, then what do you do? just not living in france any more! seriously? yeah. no, really, the worst thing that can happen. did you vote for macron last time? yeah, yeah, but never more. so, can president macron hang on, as his appeal seems to wear thin. nick beake, bbc news, paris.

i'm joined now by our correspondent jess parker who is in paris. hello to you. i guess at this point all eyes on the exit due later to see whether the votes cast actually match what the opinion polls been suggesting. match what the opinion polls been su~aestina. , a match what the opinion polls been su~aestina. my , a match what the opinion polls been su~aestina. , suggesting. absolutely. as you said and as nick was _ suggesting. absolutely. as you said and as nick was reporting, - suggesting. absolutely. as you said and as nick was reporting, there . suggesting. absolutely. as you said and as nick was reporting, there is| and as nick was reporting, there is expectation based on the polling so far that it could be, as it was last time, emmanuel macron versus marine le pen. macron one very conversely last time but this time it could be a closer race. lots of factors to look at here. it isn'tjust about policies and politics but a lot of talk as well about voter apathy. we were just in a market talk as well about voter apathy. we werejust in a market in talk as well about voter apathy. we were just in a market in the north—east of paris and it was quite striking, actually, talking to people there. some saying they were going to vote white, not put their name next to any of the candidates.

one man told me he didn't feel represented by any of the people standing for the election this time around. at saying they probably weren't going to vote at all. there weren't going to vote at all. there were some level of enthusiasm for some candidates amongst others but the overall feeling was of apathy, a real lack of excitement about the selection. of course it is the first round, things really do get crystallised when they go into the second round when you have two candidates left and overnight we will find out who that will be. when we aet will find out who that will be. when we net to will find out who that will be. when we get to that _ will find out who that will be. when we get to that point, _ will find out who that will be. when we get to that point, what - will find out who that will be. when we get to that point, what is - will find out who that will be. when we get to that point, what is also going to be interesting is to see where potentially the votes of those candidates who don't make it through to the next round, whether voters will go. to the next round, whether voters will no. , , . to the next round, whether voters willao. , , ~ , will go. yes, exactly. will they direct their _ will go. yes, exactly. will they direct their voters _ will go. yes, exactly. will they direct their voters in _ will go. yes, exactly. will they direct their voters in any - direct their voters in any particular direction as well? that will be really important. i think as well the last week or so this race has really begun to hot up and i think you will see that going forward over the next two weeks. as nick was reporting, one of the issue

seems to have been that since the war in ukraine, since the russian invasion, macron has really focused a lot of his time on international politics, being on the international stage, having those dialogues with president putin. some people have criticised him for doing that. i think those in favour think it is important to keep a dialogue open with president putin but all the while marine le pen, a veteran of french politics, very well known in france, has been crisscrossing the country and focusing on the cost of living issue, an issue that we talk about in the united kingdom, an issue facing many countries across the world and certainly one that french voters seem to be very concerned about. energy prices, food prices as well. i think you will see a realfocus prices as well. i think you will see a real focus on those issues, however the votes pan out over the next 2a hours was. for the moment, thank you very much. lip the british ministry of defence says it's uncovered more evidence that uncovered more evidence that russian forces have adopted a deliberate strategy of targeting civilians in ukraine.

it says there's clear evidence of mass graves and the fatal use of hostages as human shields. moscow denies the claims. ukraine has welcomed the uk's offer of extra weapons. as the russians regroup ahead of an expected attack on the east of the country — thousands continue to flee the disputed donbas region —many making their way to lviv from where danjohnson sent this report. elena has made it to safety but she isn't at rest. she left home in the east of ukraine two days ago, but not for the first time. the people of the donbas region have lived with conflict for years now. translation: in 2014 we had the first war and we were - forced to leave our home. it is really scary when you run under fire so i already knew what it was like eight years ago. she took a train with her daughter on friday and they onlyjust missed the rocket attack on kramatorsk station.

translation: maybe my town will be destroyed or not, - i don't know, but that's my home and i want to go back. lviv is a long way from the fighting, and normal life largely carries on here. but people are well aware of what's happening in the east, and they know it could well mean more refugees heading this way. russia's military is building up in the east, with a new command structure and more firepower in the air and on the ground. they are launching strikes from the black sea as well, claiming to target ukrainian armed forces. president zelensky has welcomed more weapons to defend against this sort of attack, but he warned the fight is notjust his country's. translation: russian aggression wasn't aimed only at ukraine - and the destruction of our freedom and our life. the whole european project is a target for russia.

elena is sheltering for now in a theatre. there is relief here for families deciding what to do next, and wondering what more fighting will mean for their hopes of going home. danjohnson, bbc news, lviv. the port city of odesa in southern ukraine is believed to be a key target for russia, it's come under attack several times so far forcing civilians to flee the city. earlier today i spoke to our correspondent catherine byaruhanga who is in odesa for us. what we are seeing on the streets today is there is nobody walking around. we are seeing a few cars passing by every now and again but the regional military administration has told residents in odesa to stay in their homes for 33 hours starting from yesterday evening. now, they say following that rocket attack in kramatorsk in the east

of the country that targeted a train station, they worry that something similar could happen here in odesa. so they are telling people to stay in their homes. up until now, since this invasion began, we understand from authorities that up to 50% of this city's population have left, they have gone to neighbouring countries such as moldova, romania, scared about a possible attack here in odesa. so far, there have been some rocket strikes but on the whole, the city has remained safe in the midst of a massive conflict in this country. tell us a little bit more about the strategic significance of odesa and what is the latest thinking on whether russia might attempt to launch an attack from the sea? so just a few minutes' walk in front of me is the black sea and what we understand from intelligence sources is that there are between 25 to 30 russian ships that are patrolling the sea.

there are some ukrainian ships that are trying to counter them, but these ships that russia can launch strikes, missile strikes, that hit different parts of ukraine, so that is a massive concern. there is also a concern that they could move on shore and land troops here to attack this crucial city like odesa. now, that is why we have seen the british government promising to send anti—missile systems to help ukraine protect this shoreline. but it is also important to note that the black sea is a crucial strategic location for so many countries, including nato countries like romania, bulgaria and turkey. and the presence of russian forces that threaten to control it is a massive worry not only for ukraine but the rest of nato as well. the bbc understands in inquiry into how the tax arrangements of the chancellor's wife, akshata murthy, became public is now underway.

labour has suggested that there may a conflict of interest between rishi sunak�*s role as chancellor and ms murthy�*s tax status, as a non—domiciled uk resident. they insist all laws were followed. our political correspondent, david wallace lockhart, has the latest. the chancellor's wife, akshata murthy, has non—dom status in the uk, which means she is not obliged to pay uk tax on any overseas income, and that is completely within the rules for her personal situation. she has said now, going forward, she is going to pay uk tax on that overseas income, but that isn't the end of this matter, because the chancellor himself wants to find out how this became public. whatever howell he has asked for a leak inquiry

into how that information got out. to try to establish how his wife's. whatever happens, though, there will be questions about how all of this got handled. as we've said, akshata murthy is now going to pay uk tax on her overseas income. that's something that a government minister, kit malthouse, was asked about this morning, speaking to the bbc. he said that he thinks she's now made the correct decision. the situation they had was perfectly legal and allowed. however, they have recognised that at this time and given his particularjob, as miss murthy said, it offended against a sense of british fair play and so they have changed the situation. some opposition parties are asking for more than that. the lib dems are saying they want any cabinet minister in the uk to have to reveal if they or a spouse has non—dom status when it comes to tax. they also want ministers to have to be clear if they have ever used tax havens. labour also not happy — they say there was a lack of transparency around the chancellor's personal financial circumstances throughout the saga. they say it's raised ethical questions. yvette cooper, labour shadow home secretary, spoke earlier to the bbc. the fact they have changed their tax arrangements now show they do recognise it is a problem but they wouldn't have done that

if it hadn't been public. political commentator, jo phillips, says launching an inquiry into how the information came out isn't a good move for the chancellor politically. it underlines what he has done. however, it is illegal to leak tax status. there is a vague possibility, i suppose, status. there is a vague possibility, isuppose, of status. there is a vague possibility, i suppose, of some criminal proceedings following. my experience and both of us might have been around long enough to have heard of umpteen leaks and what actually happened, not very much, with the notable exception of gavin williamson who was sacked by theresa may as defence secretary for a leak from the national security council in 2019. i think it probably would have been betterfor the in 2019. i think it probably would

have been better for the chancellor to let this go away. he has obviously been forced, he and his wife have been forced into a u—turn which is always embarrassing. there are two schools of thought in politics when something goes wrong. you either brazen it out or react quickly. what they did is the classic mistake of trying to brazen it out, then having to go on the back foot so the story has lasted longer. we know that his rating had already slipped after the spring statement and the timing of this could not be worse. as the rest of us are getting our increase energy bills, council tax bills, struggling to pay forfuel bills, council tax bills, struggling to pay for fuel costs, bills, council tax bills, struggling to pay forfuel costs, the bills, council tax bills, struggling to pay for fuel costs, the cost of living crisis is engulfing everybody, so to have this come out right nowjust everybody, so to have this come out right now just feeds everybody, so to have this come out right nowjust feeds into the narrative that this is a chancellor who is completely out of touch and that, in turn, feeds into the notion that, in turn, feeds into the notion that, along with party gate which borisjohnson would love to go away, this is a government which is out of

touch with ordinary people because it is one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us. members of pakistan's parliament are due to decide on monday who should succeed imran khan, who was ousted as prime minister in a late—night confidence vote after he was deserted by coalition partners. they blame him for a crumbling economy and failure to deliver on campaign promises. analysts say the new prime minister is almost certain to be the opposition leader, shehbaz sharif. mr khan has said he is the victim of an international conspiracy. shelley phelps reports. amongst the crowds gathered outside pakistan's parliament, there wasjoy and anguish at the news of imran khan's removal. it was a night of

intense political drama. this is the moment to speak of the house announced the results. 174 members l have recorded their votes in favourl of the resolution, consequently, the resolution for the 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 the opposition erupted. front runner as next prime minister, shehbaz sharif, is hailing the moment as a chance for a new beginning. translation: a new dawn has started, a new day is coming. _ allah has answered the prayers of millions. he blames the us conspiracy for his approval and says he will not recognise the new government. public opinion is divided. transition that we will fight back and make him prime minister again. we do know want these

thieves as politicians. this is a victory for democracy. pakistan— this is a victory for democracy. pakistan needs a chance for progress. pakistan needs a chance for progress-— pakistan needs a chance for ro~ress. ~ . i, , ., pakistan needs a chance for rouress. ~ y i, , ., ., progress. analysts warn it will not be easy for— progress. analysts warn it will not be easy for people... _ it will inherit a manger economic crisis, there has also been a resurgence in terrorist attacks and imran khan will go back to the opposition, a role that he played for so long, and he will try to be disruptive. pakistan's parliament will meet to vote for the country's new leader on monday. the bbc�*s secunder kermani has been following all the developments and has the latest now from islamabad. for much of the day, it seemed as if the vote of no confidence against imran khan would not be held, as if imran khan's party would prevent it, block it for a second time in spite of a supreme court order saying that it should go ahead.

in fact, we were getting reports that the supreme court was ready to open its doors at midnight, possibly to issue a contempt of court notice against imran khan's allies if they did not go ahead with that vote of no confidence. of course, it did, and the result was a foregone conclusion, because a number of imran khan's allies had already publicly deserted him. opinion here is really quite heavily polarised. if you are a supporter of imran khan, you are heartbroken. we were outside parliament late last night at around 3.00 in the morning, and a woman from a poor working class background came up to us, everyone else had pretty much left the scene at that point, and she just poured out her heart, saying that she thought imran khan was the best thing that had ever happened to pakistan, and she did not know how the country would continue without him. but if you are a supporter of the opposition, or what until now was the opposition, you see this as a great victory for democracy, and that imran khan was endangering the constitution of pakistan

by refusing to hold this vote of no confidence, refusing to accept the decision of parliament, and even now, as you heard in that report, he has said he will not accept any government that comes out of this process, and he has called for his supporters to come out into the streets after evening prayer later tonight and register their protest peacefully. i've been speaking to bilawal bhutto zardari who is the son of former prime minister, benazir bhutto, and former president, asif ali zardari. he's also been the chairperson of the opposition pakistan peoples party since the age of 19. he explained what he wants for his country's future. my party, the pakistan peoples party because will indeed support mr shehbaz sharif in his bid to be prime minister on monday. the reason party led the effort to bring a no—confidence motion

in parliament was notjust to elect mr shehbaz sharif. our motivation is to conduct electoral reforms and move towards a more democratic pakistan after suffering under three years of a government that we contend came to power through a rigged election. can you confirm you will be the next foreign minister if your plans come to fruition? no, i cannot confirm that. my goal in this struggle was to bring progress in pakistan's democracy, which ensures electoral reforms and undo the damage done to our constitution, our democratic systems, to human rights, to media freedoms, to economic rights over the last three years. imran khan would absolutely refute the suggestion he did come to power

in a rigged election. given the climate in which he was removed from office through this vote of no confidence and the difficulties facing the economy, which will persist no matter who is in power, can the people expect, as mr sharif said yesterday, that a government formed of two parties who have at times been bitter rivals will be able to put balm on the wounds of pakistan, as mr sharif said? i believe the answer to pakistan's problems is democracy, democracy and more democracy and while following the assassination of benazir bhutto in 2007, pakistan's democracy made immense progress for the preceding ten years. the last three years saw a fundamental undermining of the constitutional structure of not just the freedom, political freedoms but the freedoms of every single pakistani.

and we believe, unless you have political and democratic freedoms, we cannot progress and achieve the economic rights we do for our people. this was a very important first step to right the wrongs of the past, but we have a long way to go. i don't expect you to give me a full policy list, but what is your plan to deliver on rebooting the economy and helping the poorest? i believe prime minister shehbaz sharif�*s biggest challenge will be to address the economic disaster that mr khan has left for us. his priority has been to provide relief to those with means and putting the burden on the average pakistani, given the international climate

and the fact mr khan has already done his agreement with the imf, there are extreme difficulties, but what we have now is a government willing to form an inclusive policy, to talk to people. for the last three years, mr khan did not consult with his allies and did not consult the opposition informing policy. let's get some of the day s other news. the prime minister of australia, scott morrison, has called a general election for next month. speaking in canberra after asking the governor general to formally disolve the parliament, mr morrison emphasised his economic track record, saying his government had cut taxes and laid a strong foundation for australia to prosper. polls suggest that mr morrison will be defeated by his labor party rival, anthony albanese. mexicans are voting in an unprecedented referendum on whether their president, andres manuel lopez obrador, should stay in office. mr lopez obrador said it was vital to give voters a chance

to confirm his democratic mandate half way through his six year term. polls suggest he enjoys the support of the majority of mexicans but critics suspect he may use a victory to extend his mandate beyond the single six—year term, permitted by the constitution. the bestselling novelist known as jack higgins has died — he was 92. he wrote 85 novels but is best known for his 1975 book, the eagle has landed about a nazi plot to kidnap winston churchill during the second world war. it sold more than 50 million copies and was adapted into a film starring michael caine. p&o ferries says it won't resume services on the dover—to—calais route before good friday at the earliest — raising the prospect of more disruption on kent's roads. some vehicles are having to wait for a day or more to cross the channel. the trade body which represents meat producers is calling for lorries carrying perishable goods

to be given priority. here's simonjones. going nowhere fast. the m20 in kent has become a giant lorry park for hgvs waiting to cross the channel. businesses left counting the cost, drivers counting the hours they've been stuck. now, for about three hours, right now. but we are hoping we are going to get to ashford in the next nine hours. hopefully. and now p&o says services from dover will remain suspended until at least good friday. the company sacked 800 workers last month to replace them with cheaper agency staff. the ferries need to pass new safety checks. add in the get away ahead of easter, bad weather and it issues at customs, and it has been called a perfect storm. with a short shelf life. just how bad is the situation? we have had members with lorries stuck for up to two days, so it is really bad, and these are perishable goods on there, so we're

losing shelf life. so we really need the government to step in and start prioritising the perishable goods lorries. the department for transport says the traffic management measures are under regular review, but gave no indication of any changes. but there are fears it is affecting the uk's competitiveness we are getting a growing reputation for being a hassle to serve, and that creates problems for my members who are looking to book loads to come into the country and leave the country, and they can't find the hauliers to do it. and businesses based near the m20 say they are suffering too. i've been open for an hour, so, normally we're pretty busy, we have, you know, quite a steady stream of customers coming to and fro, but this morning not a soul. p&o services between larne and cairnryan have now been cleared to sail again. hauliers are waiting for the same to happen at dover. simon jones, bbc news. it's palm sunday today, which signals the beginning of holy week for christians across the world. a huge procession is under way

injerusalem, where worshippers began inside the holy church of the sepulchre and made their way to the mount of olives. palm sunday recalls an event in the new testament, when jesus entered into jerusalem and was greeted by the people waving palm branches. now it's time to take look at the weather, with darren bett. hello there. the weather is looking decent enough for many of us this afternoon. it was a little on the chilly side this morning and this afternoon won't be desperately one either but it is looking dry and bright today. tomorrow there is rain in the forecast. not everybody is going to get it. here is the satellite picture with the pressure map. you can see a weather front wrapping around this rather large area of low pressure. this weather front is approaching and that is why the skies will turn hazy and then cloudy across western parts of the uk, even the possibility of a few spots of rain in northern ireland in the

middle of the afternoon. the rest of the country should have a dry and bright day. 13 celsius in the south, 11 bright day. 13 celsius in the south, ii in newcastle, and eight in aberdeen. this evening, stays dry, they could beat clear skies across they could beat clear skies across the south and south—east but this weather front slowly approaches, winds blowing out of the south or south—east. with the wind and cloud, it won't be particularly cold tonight. perhaps a touch of frost in the highlands but for many it is around three to six celsius. one day, low pressure still away to the west but brushing western parts of the uk. watch these areas of rain moving into cornwall and devon, brushing parts of wales and then eventually the irish sea coast, perhaps in lancashire, cumbria, south—western parts of scotland and northern ireland stop many of us to the east and south getting away with a decent day. cloudy at times put up

to 17 celsius in the south. milder air spreading to 17 celsius in the south. milder airspreading in to 17 celsius in the south. milder air spreading in from the south but it won't quite reach everywhere. it looks as if it reaches scotland but because we will have a fair bit of cloud and outbreaks of rain through the course of tuesday and a south—easterly wind of the north sea, it could actually still be quite chilly in places like aberdeen. to the south, we have warmer air, sunny spells and higher temperatures, 18 or 19 celsius in london and norwich. a mixed bag for many on monday and tuesday. here is the outlook for the rest of the week. wednesday, thursday and friday, temperatures continuing to climb and the easter weekend at the moment is not looking bad at all with high pressure building. goodbye.