this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. our top stories... the ukrainian port city of odesa is struck by russian missiles — killing at least eight people and injuring many more. president zelensky says the us secretary of state will arrive in kyiv on sunday — the highest—level us visit since the war began. campaigning ends in france's presidential election — with emmanuel macron and marine le pen urging people to turn out and vote. a search is under way injapan for 26 passengers and crew of a tourist boat missing off the northern island of hokkaido. and a not—so—friendly welcome — anti—colonialist protests mar the latest royal tour of the carribean.

hello and welcome to bbc news. officials in ukraine say at least eight people have been killed in russian missile strikes on the black sea port of odesa. the dead include a three—month—old baby. 20 other people were injured in the attacks, on a military facility and two residential buildings. the ukrainian foreign minister says they were designed to "spread terror." it comes as russian troops are reported to be trying to storm the azovstal steel works in the city of mariupol, where ukraine's remaining forces in the city are still holding out. more on that in a moment, but first our correspondent, caroline davies, has

the latest from odesa. thick black smoke that cut through the calm of a saturday afternoon in odesa. this was the aftermath of a missile strike on the city. blown—out glass and rubble, cars crushed and burnt, floors collapsed. through the debris, the city's firefighters led those that can walk out to safety. vitalia and her son nikita were on the 12th floor when the missile hit. translation: there was a very strong explosion i directly on top of us. it broke all the windows in the apartment. i smelled smoke very strongly. we collected what we could and then we ran. when we reached the fourth and fifth floors, we wanted to turn around. it was impossible to breathe, and all the doors were blown out. translation: we were afraid that we would suffocate, - but in the end we broke through. i got burned, there was a car on fire and the flames hit me.

i didn't feel it at first, but then people told me. i was in a state of shock. while we were filming, the crowd was pushed back, told that to get too close would be dangerous. the ukrainian authorities have said that the missiles were launched from the caspian sea. despite anti—aircraft defences, two missiles hit a military facility. two hit residential buildings. at least eight people have died, 20 wounded, eight are in hospital. one of those killed was a three—month—old baby girl. at a press conference held in one of kyiv�*s metro stations, president zelensky spoke about the strike and those that have lost their lives. "a three—month—old child was killed," he says. "one month old when the war started. can you imagine what's going on? filthy scumbags. how else can they be called? there are no other words." odesa sits on ukraine's southern coast. while much of the fighting has focused in the east of the country, odesa had started to reduce its

curfew and remove some of its street defences. this has come as a shock to many people here in odesa. the city has been relatively quiet over the course of the last few weeks, and many people hoped that that could mean the start of some form of normal life. this shows that things can change in a moment. it's orthodox easter sunday, but few feel they'll find peace while the threat from russia hangs over the country. caroline davies, bbc news, odesa. president zelensky has announced that the us secretary of state, antony blinken, will visit kyiv on sunday, along with the us defense secretary. they're the most senior american officials to visit ukraine since the start of the conflict. our correspondent, anna foster, gave us this update from kyiv. highly unusual to find out about a high—profile visit like this before it's actually happened. normally this is the sort of thing that's released after the event, but he did tell everybody that the most senior us officials so far, since the war began, will be arriving here in kyiv tomorrow. that press conference

was the first that he's held since the war began surrounded byjournalists. as you know, he normally does one—on—one interviews in his highly secure bunker, but here he was deep below the streets of the city. he was animated. he was angry at times. he called for a meeting with president putin which he thought might help bring this war towards an end, and he also said that the fighters who are still holed up in mariupol were crucial when it came to a new round of peace talks. he said that if those fighters were killed by russian forces, then peace talks, which haven't happened for several weeks now, would not happen again. we've also seen a video today released by the azov brigade. that is the far—right volunteer force that was integrated into the ukrainian national guard back in 2014. that's very hard to verify, but we see their fighters seemingly in the bunkers below the azovstal steel plant. we see them meeting the civilians in there, children and women among them.

you see the conditions are cramped and crowded, and they're also handing out easter gifts to the children down there. in terms of evacuating civilians from mariupol, well, again, an evacuation corridor was planned, but failed. around 200 civilians, we're told, were gathered in the centre of mariupol hoping to leave on buses, but they were told by russian soldiers that if they didn't disperse, they might get shelled. that is the latest from our correspondent and foster in keith. ——that is the latest from our correspondent anna foster in kyiv. we can speak to military strategy expert, bill roggio — he's a senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies... depending on what day we're reporting depends on how we feel and how it seems it is going for the russians when it comes to the invasion or defence of ukraine. is your thinking? how do you think it is going for the ukrainians and

russians right now? ukrainians definitely achieved _ russians right now? ukrainians definitely achieved a _ russians right now? ukrainians definitely achieved a victory - definitely achieved a victory in the fight in and around gf but we have to keep in mind the russians did decide to withdraw there. they were not routed, they decided they were not going to take the capital survey left and reorganised for what i felt was the prime thrust of this russian invasion, to take over the south as well as the east. you know, the easter strategic plan for the russians. lots of russian speakers there. they want to create a buffer between nato and russia so it is important and there are entire historical regions there but the south would cut ukraine off from the sea and would stop it from the sea and would stop it from exporting grains and other key exports that ukrainians rely on. if you look at the odds steel factory, that makes up odds steel factory, that makes

up 4% of the ukrainian economy. there is a lot of industry there, ports, and that is strategic then for the russians. i think they are doing relatively well in the south and east at this moment. it is very difficult to assess how the ukrainians are doing or whether they will be able to get the supplies and reinforcement that they need. we've heard a lot about russian losses. i think some of that has been exaggerated. i don't discount that they faced losses but we have heard very little about what has happened to the ukrainian military during the spike. they certainly lost armour and artillery and air defence and aircraft and most importantly soldiers during the spike but it is extremely difficult to assess a ukrainian situation because the ukrainians are and, smartly so, very tight—lipped about this. when might ukraine, we know, are very reliant on supplies from their allies. is there a danger that supplies might stop? uk prime minister and danger that supplies might stop? uk prime ministerand in small suppliers will be sent

overfrom small suppliers will be sent over from the small suppliers will be sent overfrom the uk but small suppliers will be sent over from the uk but is the danger ukraine could run out or even western countries could run out of what they could give them? those go hand in hand so one thing is we are providing some of the former eastern bloc, warsaw pact nations, providing arms and munitions and that's what ukrainians use for fighting with. they fought with soviet weaponry just like eastern europeans have. there is a limited supply of that. these countries risk depleting their supplies and then the promised request for weapons, well, they have to redo their entire logistics and maintenance and training for others weapons, as have the ukrainians, and that is something ukrainians cannot do on the fly. they can do it with moss and ballistic weapons like stingers and anti—aircraft missiles and javelin missiles but tanks and artillery and what aircraft, these are weapon systems that are difficult to

transition from one type to another during peacetime. in the middle of a hot war when these weapons are needed yesterday, not four months from now, that is very dangerous for ukrainians and there has been reporting that the us and western countries have been depleting their stockpiles. the german said they have to consider what they are sending because they don't have any more to give. the us has donated one third of its javelin is. these weapons take a long time to manufacture and get to the front lines.— get to the front lines. many thanks for _ get to the front lines. many thanks for that _ get to the front lines. many thanks for that insight - get to the front lines. many thanks for that insight and l thanks for that insight and follow your analysis on the situation in ukraine. thank you. campaigning has ended in france, and now the wait begins on the eve of the presidential election run—off on sunday. incumbent emmanuel macron is facing off against far—right rival, marine le pen. ms le pen stayed away from the cameras on saturday — but mr macron spoke to the media on the beach near his home in le toucquet. some voting is already

taking place, in france's overseas constituencies. special polling stations have also been set up for french nationals in other countries, such as here, in new york. in all, around the world, 48.7 million people are eligible to vote in the french presidential election. my colleague reeta chakrabarti has been following the final days of the election from paris, to get a sense of what might unfold on sunday. well, just under 2a hours now before we find out the opinion, the final result of the election tomorrow evening. but, of course, people are chewing over the situation, which is quite a complex one. so, to discuss it, i'm joined now by the political analyst alex kouchner. alex, viewers will maybe remember your surname. yourfather served in successive french governments. you will then, therefore, have been watching french politics

for quite some time. how would you compare the situation now to what it was five years ago, because it's the same two people who are running for election? yes, round number two, but things have dramatically changed. five years ago, both candidates claimed they would change the system. they were challengers, if you will. now, emmanuel macron has a record. he's the sitting president. so he has to own to his own record, and marine le pen has to put behind her her very bad 2017 campaign, and what has shifted is french society. political parties are in disarray. the french society has cracks it has never seen before. we have had the gilets jaunes, then we've had covid, now we have the ukraine war, so, what you have today is a very tough political landscape for both candidates. we saw in the first round the traditional parties of the left and the right, the socialists and the

republicans, annhilated, an abysmal result. has that traditional left—right split gone out? well, party—wise, yes. as you say, they were all but written off. the socialist party, who has actually given us our last president before emmanuel macron, did 1.7%. that is dismal. and the conservative party are now under 6. they're all but written off nationally, but politically, you still have politics from the right and politics from the left. and actually french people still relate to that, and it's still a very strong markerfor them. this is marine le pen's third attempt at the presidency. how successfully has she managed to soften her image, would you say? well, it's quite the feat. and in that sense, she did have a very successful campaign. after all, she is, again, at the second round, and what has changed is her programme — or, actually, not her

programme, the way she presents it. she's been moving away from race and immigration and closer to wages and communities. this has softened her image. she was also very much helped by eric zemmour, an extreme right—wing polemicist with trumpian bravado, whose rants on immigration seem to have made her appear more poised, and actually she's no longer a fringe candidate. in that sense, she is very successful. if you look back 20 years ago, marine le pen's father was running in the second round. 82% of the french people voted against the front nacional, with 80% saying that party was a threat to democracy. in 2022, 47% of the french feel that marine le pen is the closest candidate to their worries. 51% think she is the one who changed things best, and we are now having debates on whether or not she is from the extreme right. hint — the answer is yes. the thing is, voters don't seem

to feel that way any more. my my colleague rita chuck the batty speaking to a political analyst in voting takes place on sunday in france, and we will have a special programme bringing you the result, starting at 17:30 gmt. that's 18:30 bst for viewers in the uk. join us for that — as france decides. with me to discuss is our news reporter azadeh moshiri. a search is under way injapan for 26 passengers and crew of a tourist boat that's missing off the northern island of hokkaido. the crew of the kazu one contacted the coastguard to say the boat was sinking. with me to discuss is our news reporter azadeh moshiri.

it is only been 2a hours. what more do we know that the passengers and crew missing? the bait has been missing 2a hours now and no survivors have been found. they had dispatched to aircraft and two patrol boats and also requested help from japan's self defence forces. the issue as temperatures get solo in that area they can zip as low as 0 celsius and in the night time especially it can be extremely dangerous for any potential survivors. eitherway, survivors. either way, authorities say survivors. eitherway, authorities say they are going to keep searching until the night and the prime minister say this is a prime comic poet injapan. in say this is a prime comic poet in ja an. . say this is a prime comic poet injaan. . in japan. in the crew contacted the coastguard _ in japan. in the crew contacted the coastguard and _ in japan. in the crew contacted the coastguard and there - in japan. in the crew contacted the coastguard and there is - in japan. in the crew contacted | the coastguard and there is any more information emerging about what may have happened? we know there were 26 _ what may have happened? we know there were 26 people _ what may have happened? we know there were 26 people on _ what may have happened? we know there were 26 people on board, - there were 26 people on board, as you mention. we believe there were two children and two crew members and it seems they were on a sightseeing tour of the peninsula which is an extremely popular tourist destination, unesco world heritage site known for its dramatic coastline and given japan's borders are mostly closed towards tourists it is likely that these were either

japanese residents or citizens. something clearly went wrong, though, because while they were high waves in the area at the crew sent out a distress signal, said that the boat was tipping at a 30 degrees angle, taking on water and sinking but they also mention that all these passengers and the crew did have life jackets. that's the last that authorities have there. ., , the last that authorities have there. . , . ., �* there. thanks very much. you're watchin: there. thanks very much. you're watching bbc— there. thanks very much. you're watching bbc news. _ you are watching bbc news. a reminder of the headlines... the ukrainian port city of odesa is struck by russian missiles — killing at least eight people and injuring many more. president zelensky says the us secretary of state will arrive in kyiv on sunday — the highest—level us visit since the war began. the earl and countess of wessex have encountered protests against british colonialism on the second leg of their carribean tour. edward and sophie are on a tour in the region to mark 70 years of the queen's reign.

they did receive a warm welcome on their visit to st vincent and the grenadines, but there was a small demonstration calling for compensation over slavery. the wessexes postponed a visit to grenada just shortly before arrving in the region. no explanation has been given for the decision. jerry edwin is an attorney activist. he's in st george's, grenada. many thanks for joining many thanks forjoining us, jerry. there are two things happening, aren't they, in the caribbean? there are calls for independence, for the queen to step down as head and and some caribbean countries we have already seen that happen already seen that happen already but there are also calls for the past to be addressed. we don't know why the early and countess of wessex postponed their trip to grenada at the last minute but we do know there are a lot things you would like the

royals today. can you just explain what you'd like to see the royal family explain what you'd like to see the royalfamily doing. it is the royalfamily doing. it is really--- — the royalfamily doing. it is really--- i— the royalfamily doing. it is really... i am _ the royalfamily doing. it is really... i am privileged - the royal family doing. it is really... i am privileged to be here and i don't know that i could really convince the royals but i want to say that from where we are in the southern most caribbean island of grenade and we want to say that we sympathise with the royals. to have inherited an institution that has treated persons who have been catholic, if i may forgive me, in their allegiance to everything vicious requires, i think, for the royals to recognise that pain, that the beneficiaries, people who look like me, scattered throughout the islands and london leads all over manchester the british world. what we want to see again is the soul of britain. the same country that said we

will not have enslaved persons on our soil. that was so comforting for people who fled the horror of 17th, 18th and 19th century slavery so we would like to see the soul of britain again and that is not to modify this relationship at all and that certainly would prolong something that is horrible, but we would like the royals to show us that they feel our pain, not really apologise for it. how would you like them to do that? we know there have demands on the british government, not the royal family to compensate for those who were affected by slavery or even died from slavery. is that what you would like to see? we have seen _ what you would like to see? - have seen schemes for reparations, for example when the kaiser compensated the namibians and we saw that

germanjews rightly so namibians and we saw that german jews rightly so deserved to be compensated for what they lost but we're not talking about a disparate vote and i don't think that, to this, saying that there is some pecuniary value to it. we would like to see things that are more tangible, meaningful. transfer the technology, the turn of... i wouldn't want to call them artefacts but participation, for example, in building museums and memorials, not london but at the scene of the horror. not that we want to live it, we want to look forward to continue to have the wonderful relationships that we have had in these islands with the british people. that have had in these islands with the british people.— the british people. that is interesting, _ the british people. that is interesting, so _ the british people. that is interesting, so for - the british people. that is interesting, so for the - the british people. that is| interesting, so for the past create a better future, interesting, so for the past create a betterfuture, a better relationship, better opportunities and that is interesting. they will be people sat here watching and we will be thinking hang on, isn't

this between you and the british government in wiping the royalfamily this the royal family this particular issue over slavery? i think to extricate the crown from britain is... it is trying to read to the gordian knot after it had been cut. they belong, they are married, the house of windsor is extremely british. i mean, if you look at the stateliness of queen elizabeth since the early 1950s when she ascended to the throne, the way in which she has not lead her country into unnecessary war, at least at any. she may not have objected to her countryjoining a few, a few, deadly wars, but england has remained over the last 70 years throughout the queen's

lane. england has remained still a beacon of hope for many people from the colonial world, the former colonial world, and we have great relationships and our people who have come to britain, the visitors from britain, the visitors from britain who have come to our islands and can speak to that relationship. we are saying it has to be cemented with a recognition that crimes have been committed. the recognition that crimes have been committed. the mostly be that there were _ been committed. the mostly be that there were many _ been committed. the mostly be that there were many thanks . been committed. the mostly be | that there were many thanks the speaking was heaven bbc news. let s get some of the day's other news. more than a hundred people have been killed in two explosions at an illegal oil refining depot in nigeria. officials said that the victims were burned beyond recognition in the blasts in imo state, south of the capital, abuja. more than 45 people have been rescued — but a child has died — after a boat sank off

the northern coast of lebanon. the vessel was carrying about 60 passengers when it capsized near the port of tripoli. the lebanese transport minister said they were still looking for the rest of the people on board, who included both lebanese and syrian citizens. rescuers looking for ten miners missing in southern poland have found four bodies. a tremor struck the zofiowka mine, releasing a large concentration of flammable methane gas. most of the 52 miners on shift were able to escape by themselves. supermarkets across the uk are limiting how much cooking oil customers are able to buy, with exports hit by the war in ukraine. the country is the uk's biggest supplier of sunflower oil. simon browning reports. the sunflower — the national symbol of ukraine, its bright shining star. yet this spectacular yellow flower is also a highly productive

major agricultural export. ukraine normally produces more sunflower oil than anywhere else in the world, but the war, like most things, has almost stopped sunflower farming and production and now food supply chains around the world are short. some supermarkets have now put limits on how much cooking oil customers can buy because demand's surged for alternatives like olive oil and rapeseed oil. tesco now has a limit of three bottles per customer. waitrose and morrisons — two, and the other supermarkets are watching the situation keenly as they monitor customer demand. the british retail consortium says the restrictions are temporary. most supermarkets in my understanding have, you know, solid supplies in their warehouses, but they don't want to see any risk of that running out if people go and buy more than they need so they put in these temporary measures while they ramp up production of oils and try and look for alternative sources

of sunflower oil. top story, ukrainian city of odesa has been struck by motion missiles. we will keep you updated. then go away. hello there. there are some changes on the way for next week, and i'll show you those a little later on. for much of the country. and warm, as well — in dorset, temperatures reached 20 celsius. different story in the far north of scotland, where we've still got a lot of this cloudy weather. temperatures were nearer 8—9 celsius in the afternoon. it was also cooler around those north sea coasts. the wind continues to come in off the north sea, where sea surface temperatures are only around nine degrees. we've still got those east—to—northeasterly winds on sunday, not as strong as on saturday. many places will be dry with some warm sunshine coming through, as well.

now, close to this area of low pressure, there could still be a bit of rain threatening the far south of england. still got high pressure to the north of the uk, keeping the run of east—to—northeasterly winds going. and these are the temperatures we start with on sunday morning. still a bit of rain there potentially in the far south west of england to move away. elsewhere, though, a generally dry and sunny start. we'll see some cloud building up, particularly in england and wales, and there could be 1—2 isolated showers popping off, but generally it's dry. similar story for northern ireland — more sunshine in the southwest of scotland, where it's a bit warmer, north—eastern parts of scotland cooler still with some of that low cloud. highest temperatures, southern england, south wales, 18—19 celsius. most of the wet weather on these weather system is getting steered to the south of the uk. high pressure is dominating, and it's centred all the way up there into greenland. now, we'll have lighter winds on monday. they're coming more from the north, so it'll be a bit cooler. and we'll find more clouds spreading out and increasing through the day, and the greater chance of catching 1—2 showers in england and wales.

should be dry in scotland and northern ireland, cloudy in northern parts of scotland, and generally it's cooler on monday, with highs around 1a celsius or so. and it could be a chilly start on tuesday, with cloudy skies across the north, and that northerly breeze will push the cloud further south, and temperatures will range from 16 in the southwest of england and south wales to only around nine celsius in northeast scotland and the northeast of england. so, these are the changes for next week — it'll be cooler, there'll be a lot more cloud around, but this generally dry theme is set to continue. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... government officials in ukraine say at least eight people have been killed in missile strikes on the southern port city of odesa. the dead include a three—month old baby. 20 other people were injured in the attacks. the ukrainian foreign minister says they were designed to "spread terror." ukraine's president zelensky has announced that the us secretary of state and us defence secretary will visit kyiv on sunday. they're the most senior us officials to visit ukraine since the start of the conflict. mr zelensky expressed his gratitude to the us for its provision of weapons. voting has begun in some french overseas territories in the second round of the presidential election.

the polls will open in france itself in a few hours' time.