this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... voting is under way in france — in the first round of the french presidential election — president macron is facing a strong challenge from marine le pen. marine le pen, this year, instead of focusing on immigration and islam, in her public discourse, but because it is still in her programme, she is focusing on the cost of life. britain says there's further evidence that russian troops have a deliberate strategy of targeting civilians in ukraine. and in britain, the government launches an inquiry into how the tax arrangements of the chancellor's wife became public knowledge.

hello, 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. this man 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. the british ministry of defence says it's 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. meanwhile, ukraine's prosecutor

general has told a british broadcaster that more than 12 hundred bodies have been found around the capital, kyiv, since russian forces withdrew from the region. let's go live to ukraine and speak to danjohnson who is in lviv. tell us about this whole that has now risen to 1200. i5 tell us about this whole that has now risen to 1200.— now risen to 1200. is ukrainian officials are — now risen to 1200. is ukrainian officials are able _ now risen to 1200. is ukrainian officials are able to _ now risen to 1200. is ukrainian officials are able to examine i now risen to 1200. is ukrainian i officials are able to examine more officials are able to examine more of those areas that have been left behind by russian forces, they are mounting of the death toll and ukraine's prosecutor general says no more than 1200 bodies have been found in the areas around kyiv since a russian forces pulled back. the british ministry of defence said this morning that it had seen more evidence of civilians having being targeted in these areas, of hostages being used as human shields, and that there were mines and unexploded bombs left in some of those places

to target people who may be returning. there has been extensive damage to many of those villagers the infrastructure and potentially the infrastructure and potentially the lives of return ukrainians are also at risk until they can clear all of those minds, those unexploded bombs. we are also hearing that the russian offensive in the east is now likely to intensify and that is why so many people there have been told to evacuate to try to get further west, to try to reach safety as soon as possible. west, to try to reach safety as soon as possible-— as possible. what is being done to document who _ as possible. what is being done to document who these _ as possible. what is being done to document who these people - as possible. what is being done to document who these people are l as possible. what is being done to l document who these people are and how they died, in the event that there are charges brought at a later date? , , ., ., , there are charges brought at a later date? , , . . , . date? yes, it is a really tricky, delicate job- — date? yes, it is a really tricky, delicate job. there _ date? yes, it is a really tricky, delicate job. there are - date? yes, it is a really tricky, - delicate job. there are independent delicatejob. there are independent examination investigation teams at work but in the main it is for ukrainian officials to document what they find alongside journalists, to try to clear up, to try to make areas safe but to make sure that

evidence is preserved so that if there is a potential trial of some form of investigation process further down the line, thatjustice has the best chance of being done. but we know that is something that the russians are going to participate in. they are still denying responsibility for any of these alleged war crimes, even though the evidence seems to be mounting up. there was a report of another mass grave having being found in the village close to kyiv this morning, a report we have not been able to verify ourselves yet, but all the time there is more evidence, more grim discovery and more bad news for ukrainian families who had been hoping for the best from loved ones they maybe hadn't heard from the week's. you mention, down, that there _ heard from the week's. you mention, down, that there are _ heard from the week's. you mention, down, that there are more _ heard from the week's. you mention, down, that there are more people - down, that there are more people trying to get out of the eastern part of the country in the event of another greek group and bigger assault by —— another regroup and assault by —— another regroup and assault by —— another regroup and assault by russia. how those people being supported inside the country? they are being displaced and there are millions of them.—

are millions of them. absolutely. ukraine and _ are millions of them. absolutely. ukraine and neighbouring - are millions of them. absolutely. l ukraine and neighbouring countries have already dealt with a huge number of refugees over the weeks since this invasion and the expectation is now that they will be a fresh wave. people have been told to leave luhansk. extra trains have been laid on to take people for the western ukraine and the expectation is some people will go on to poland and other countries. there is extra support, money being made available to deal with the refugee effort and people in cities like this, lviv, volunteers and the main are bracing themselves, preparing, trying to find accommodation to house and look after those people but with the pressure having been on for so long now, the reality is that that is going to be a trickyjob to find everyone a safe place and one place to say. at the risk of making the journey has been underlined by what has happened to people trying to flee. there was an attempt yesterday to establish humanitarian corridors to establish humanitarian corridors to ten cities but we know that was

not successful in every case and there are still people trapped in facing now a potential renewal of the russian shelling in the east of the russian shelling in the east of the country. the russian shelling in the east of the country-— the russian shelling in the east of the count . ., ., the country. dam, for the moment, thank yom — the country. dam, for the moment, thank yon dan _ the country. dam, for the moment, thank you. dan johnson _ the country. dam, for the moment, thank you. dan johnson in - the country. dam, for the moment, thank you. dan johnson in lviv. - joining me from the city of kramatorsk, the mp kramatorsk was the target of that attack on friday. what is the situation like there now? kramatorsk is the capital — situation like there now? kramatorsk is the capital controlled _ situation like there now? kramatorsk is the capital controlled by _ situation like there now? kramatorsk is the capital controlled by ukraine i is the capital controlled by ukraine part of dom bess. the awful tragedy happened on friday. the number of killed people increased to 57 after five died this night because of wounds, including five children. it is awful. i have been in the place of the attack, i saw it with my own

eyes. russians used notjust a rocket, a missile, but a bomb which is forbidden for use by all conventions, even for use against soldiers. even for military targets. but against civilians, it is something so inhumane and so awful. that is why there were so big numbers of people who died. it is their network of educational centres of ukraine, they have volunteer hopes helping people so that is why we came there with humanitarian aid, trying to help people and also try and help people to escape from this place. and help people to escape from this lace. ., ., , place. you left odesa quite early on, i place. you left odesa quite early on. i think. _ place. you left odesa quite early on, ithink, because _ place. you left odesa quite early on, i think, because you - place. you left odesa quite early on, i think, because you wanted| place. you left odesa quite early l on, i think, because you wanted to be of use in other parts of the country. how likely is it that you will go back? do you feel that you are needed back in your home city?

certainly. when they are in danger of operations from russia and also when russian forces are approaching 0desa by land, i definitely was there in my home city with my constituency. forthe there in my home city with my constituency. for the moment, fortunately, and thanks to ukrainian army, russians, they can't make these attacks because they can't go through of the neighbouring region. and also activities in the sea decreased once ukraine really i want to say to the united kingdom, it really shows leadership in support of ukraine. i

think the uk understands what it is. 80 years ago, the uk was fighting against german nazis. now ukraine is fighting against nazis. this time russian nazis. we understand each other very good. there are people in the subway stations like in london in... i don't know how helpful the word nancy is in these circumstances. we are seeing atrocities committed, whoever they are by. it sounds as if you are saying that the idea of welfare at sea or an amphibious conflict is perhaps receded? you said whoever _ conflict is perhaps receded? you said whoever but _ conflict is perhaps receded? m. said whoever but i am sorry, it is russia who started the war. unjustified aggression. for the

moment, there is not any evidence of any war crimes committed by ukrainians. there is so much evidence of war crimes committed by russians, hundreds of people killed. i saw many... i have been to bucha myself and seen it with my own eyes. let me just say, you are right, there is much documentary evidence from monitors, from ukrainian officials, from journalists which support exactly what you are saying. thank you. speaking about 0desa, definitely we understand that it is still a big game for putin. it is probably the second most wanted city for putin after kyiv. putin lost the battle for kyiv so for him it would be a big revenge to have some success and to have success in

0desa. i think that they could not do this and i believe that they could not do this but certainly we will fight and the danger is very big. against us, it is the biggest army in continental europe. they are bigger, ten, 20 times the budget for army. certainly russia is a monster and it is a david and goliath story but we know who won in this story and we hope that we will.- but we know who won in this story and we hope that we will. thank you ve much and we hope that we will. thank you very much for— and we hope that we will. thank you very much for talking to _ and we hope that we will. thank you very much for talking to us. - and we hope that we will. thank you very much for talking to us. thank i very much for talking to us. thank ou. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. good afternoon. let's start with the premier league and a big game in the relegation battle — and bottom side norwich have beaten burnley 2—0 at carrow road for chance to keep their survival hopes alive pierre lees—melou put the hosts ahead in the ninth minute, before a late teemu pukki

doubled the lead. norwich's defence came under relentless pressure at times but withstood everything to record back—to—back clean sheets in the league for the first time since october. burnley stay third from bottom, but four points from safety. we're about 15 minutes away from the big game at the top of the table — manchester city hosting liverpool in a match that could go a long way to deciding the destination of the title. just one point seperates the side. liverpool captainjordan henderson is starting for the reds, one of three changes that jurgen klopp has made, diogojota and joel matip also starting. city also make three changes — kyle walker, gabrieljesus and phil foden all back in the starting line—up. you can follow the action live on the bbc sport website. kemar roofe hit a hat—trick as rangers won 4—0 at st mirren in the scottish premiership. the striker put his side in control of the match with headers at the beginning and end of the first half.

his third goal came soon after the break, but the pick of the bunch later came from joe aribo. rangers are six points behind leaders celtic. in the women's six nations, scotland were thrashed 28—8 by france in glasgow. laure sansus scored a first—half double, including this stunning solo try to give france an early lead. they are now level with england with maximum points from their three games, while scotland have only one. ireland face italy at five o'clock. it isa it is a busy day of sport and you can keep right across a toll on the bbc sport website, including that big game at the top of the premier league which is not long way. you can follow that on the bbc sport website. that is it from me. thank you very much. 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. 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.

0pinion 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.

secunder kermani in islamabad. bilawal bhutto zardari 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. earlier he told my colleague annita mcveigh 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. 0ur 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, notjust 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.

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. 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 many commentators have been saying over the last few days, that actually he has shown astonishing political naivety. however, it is against the law to leak someone's tax status, so from that point of view, you can see why. he is obviously furious because it is about his wife and he is obviously furious because it is against the law. there is a vague possibility,

i suppose, of some criminal proceedings following. my experience and i think both of us have been around long enough to have heard of umpteen leaks and what happens after them, not very much, with the notable exception of gavin williamson who was sacked by theresa may for a leakfrom the national security council 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 you 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 increased energy bills, our council tax bills,

are struggling to pay for fuel costs on the forecourts, the cost of living crisis is engulfing everybody, so to have this come out right now just feeds into the narrative that this is a chancellor who is completely out of touch and that, in turn, feeds into the notion that, along with party gate, which borisjohnson would love to go away, this is a government that is out of touch with ordinary people because it is one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us. political commentatorjo phillips. mexico have begun voting in a recall referendum on their controversial president, andres manuel lopez 0brador. supporters of the man mexicans call amlo credit him for social benefit programmes that have made a big difference to family incomes. but his critics say he is becoming increasingly autocratic and might use a victory in the referendum — which he proposed himself —

to extend his mandate beyond the single six—year term of the current constitution. 0ur mexico correspondent, will grant, reports from chiapas state. laura gomez has been making tamales for 25 years. her late mother's recipe for the corn—based staple handed down over the generations is at the centre of the household income. laura used at struggle to stay afloat but now the business receives a loan from the lopez 0brador government. in fact, the entire family has received some aid, including her daughter, a single mother with a disability. little wonder she will vote for amlo on sunday. "he has touched our hearts," laura explains. "at no time has he offered hand—outs in exchange for votes," refuting the idea mr lopez 0brador has bought her loyalty. translation: in the past, you would be threatened, l don't vote for this candidate or we will take your benefits away, or if you don't vote for that

person, you will lose your benefits. not any more. now the help comes in whoever you support. president lopez 0brador can count on rural communities like villaflores to drum up support before the upcoming referendum. some came in search of the same pension benefits already received by millions in mexico. the message being passed out was simple — more amlo. he is expected to win with ease on sunday. to the people attending this event, amlo can do no wrong. he speaks to them more than any other mexican president in the modern era. to his critics, though, this referendum isn't just a publicity stunt, they fear it is the start of an attempt by mr lopez 0brador to subvert the constitution to his own ends. mr lopez 0brador called his critics the urban elites and says they oppose him because he defends

the rights of mexico's paul. ——they oppose him because he defends the rights of mexico's poor. such a vision is simplistic but he does lack votes in the capital, mexico city, where he was once mayor. this group have called on people to boycott the referendum so it lacks legitimacy. they fear amlo will use it to stay in power. that would really be a very disruptive event here in mexico in which re—election is not allowed since the revolution in 1910. so, i think lopez 0brador will not search for re—election, which is prohibited in mexico, but he will use the result of the referendum to enhance his power during the final part of his administration. amlo's critics are many but more than halfway through his mandates, some 60% of voters still back him. as such, the result of sunday's referendum isn't in any real doubt and if he ever does try to put re—election on the ballot, plenty would support that too. will grant, bbc news, villaflores, chiapas.

p&0 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&0 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. it's a particular problem for companies transporting products 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&0 services between larne and cairnryan have now been