this is bbc news. the headlines: missiles have struck the ukrainian capital kyiv, just as the un secretary general was on a visit for talks with president zelensky. during the trip, antonio guterres saw for himself some of the places near kyiv where there have been accusations of war crimes carried out by russian troops. meanwhile, presidentjoe biden has asked the us congress for $33 billion in extra funding for ukraine. he said the money was designed to defend ukraine, giving military, economic, and humanitarian assistance, rather than attack russia. mr biden said it was critical for us lawmakers to approve the deal. the world health organization and unicef say producers of baby milk formula are using unethical and aggressive social media marketing practices,

in violation of international commitments to protect breastfeeding. new research found the industry was using apps and social media influencers to promote infant formula. a very good friday morning to you. now on bbc news, our world. a people's army made up of unlikely soldiers. they're sacrificing everything to fight for democracy in myanmar. their enemy is general min aung hlaing, who seized power in a coup, ousting and jailing the country's top elected leaders. what started as a protest movement is now an armed uprising.

we follow a mother and student as they become soldiers in this new civil war. as the death toll mounts, and the world looks away, can they restore democracy? whistle blows deep in the jungles of myanmar, hundreds of protesters are being turned into soldiers

here in this rebel army camp. chanting among them is 20—year—old myo. he just finished high school when the military seized power in february last year. he arrived here four months after the coup.

he's undergoing intensive training. we've been given rare access to film. in the central plains of myanmar, 800km away, another unit is in training. this is an all—female fighting force.

mahura used to run a village store. now she's one of the unit's leaders. she asked us not to show her face or use her real name. joining the resistance meant saying goodbye to her boys, who are just five and eight.

they are part of the people defence forces, or pdf. a loose network of civilian militia groups. it was born out of the ashes of the spring revolution, triggered by the military coup. a mass uprising demanding democracy be restored. myo and mahura were part of the movement.

tens of thousands of civilians havejoined the pdf�*s ranks. they clash with the military almost daily. one month into his training, myo is struggling.

he's being trained by the ethnic karenni army. they've been fighting the military for decades for greater autonomy have and formed an alliance with the people's defence forces. nablei used to be a police officer. she defected after the military seized power.

mahura has been camping out here for months now.

mahura helped set up this unit so that women could take an active role. the people's defence forces are largely funded

by public donations. resources are tight. in myo�*s camp, there are not enough weapons, so they have to improvise. it's only now in his final weeks of training that he's picking up a gun.

in mahura's camp, the women make bombs with whatever they can buy. diana is 21 and the group's key bomb—maker. explosives made here are used to target police stations and destroy military infrastructure.

ming aung hlaing commands a powerful army. russia and china are supplying him weapons. he vows to crush the people's defence forces, who he calls terrorists. his forces are bombing villages and carrying out brutal raids.

the military are relying on local informers to tip them off. now mahura has been told one is living nearby. she prepares her team to raid their house. they say they've already sent a number of warning letters.

they find a house empty. after completing his training, myo is on his first mission against the myanmar military.

radio crackles rapid gunfire his unit is ambushing a remote military outpost. gunfire continues

the raid has taken the military forces by surprise. yelling in own language they're not in uniform. myo�*s unit takes five soldiers captive.

during the battle, myo�*s friend was badly injured.

bell rings twice

bell rings it's been six months since she's seen her boys.

myo, too, is longing for loved ones. it's been eight months since he left home.

two months after losing his friend, myo is being sent back into battle.

hello there. the month of april has been an exceptionally dry month up and down the country. that's because we've had high pressure dominating the weather scene. last year we had a big change in transformations, one extreme to another, the ground turning wetter. it actually turned out to be our fourth wettest on record last may. there is some rain in the forecast, but not enough to cause that sort of transformation. although high pressure is still around for friday and it into the start of the weekend, low pressure looks to be moving into scotland and

northern ireland. yes, some rain moving in so we will pick up rain moving in so we will pick up more before the month is done, we will look at that in just a moment. friday though as some of the largely dry day, just a few showers popping up amongst eastern scotland. a lot of cloud hanging onto east anglia through much of the day, clearing later. elsewhere looks to be a brighter, sunny day compared to thursday, and temperatures will be a bit higher as a result. into the high—pressure, again, and we will look at this weather system moving initially on saturday to northern ireland and scotland, some rain, we have had decent rental northern ireland at least into western scotland. clouding a chance of rain for northern england and was later. still a few sunny spells on the south—east, where we will see higher temperatures. into sunday, the weather system moves southwards, it will be weakening as it does so. some rain is associated with it, but increasingly late, patchy or showery on a sunday, and all

that gradually clearing away, probably south—west woods. keeping a could undercard by matt, i'm older warmer taken away it will feel cooler in wales and england. going into the bank holiday, pressure is high, as that system now clears away. there will be a fair amount of cloud around. it will break to allow for some sunny spells to come through. a chance for the odd shower here and there, though most places will stay dry, so i mainly settled bank holiday. pleasant enough when the sun makes an appearance. some outbreaks of rain was northern scotland later in the day, another weather system that will move through particularly as we go through particularly as we go through tuesday and then on into wednesday. this weather system will have — it is kind of a messy picture but some outbreaks of rain pushing south, with showers and a fair amount of cloud. they will be a variation of rain totals in one

place to the next. temperatures around the mid teens. beyond that, high—pressure will be moving in from the south—west, it may still allow weather system to skirt around it, at least to scotland with mainly some rain at times, but it has been dry in comparison. the high—pressure will keep things largely dry. before we get to that, this is the next five days, rainfall. there are some weather systems moving through and, yes, this is some rain, but the key here, pardon the pun, is this key — these numbers aren't on the wetter and of the scale, they are the drier and, and of the scale, they are the drierand, particularthese figuresjust drierand, particularthese figures just represented a splash of rain here and there, especially parts of england. no sign yet of that big transformation that we had last yearin transformation that we had last year in at the dry april to the wet may.

this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: missiles strike the ukrainian capital kyiv, just as the un secretary general is on a visit for talks with president zelensky. i was shocked to be informed that two rockets exploded in the city where i am, so this is a dramatic wall and we absolutely need to end this war. president biden asks congress for $33 billion in extra support for ukraine. senior ministers in the uk say some men in parliament behave like animals. it follows claims that an mp watched pornography in the commons. there is a broader point here that the reputation

of politics is dragged into the gutter.