this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. our top stories: ukrainian fighters inside mariupol�*s azovstal steel plant say 20 women and children have been allowed to leave — but hundreds of civilians are still trapped inside. defending the black sea port of odesa — but fears grow after the airport runway is damaged by a russian missile strike. politicians in the uk welcome the resignation of conservative mp neil parish, who admits watching pornography in the house of commons twice. madness. total madness. i'm not

going to defend it, i'm also not going to defend it, i'm also not going to defend what i did. what i did was absolutely totally wrong. sir lindsey hoyle, calls for "radical action" to overhaul working practices in westminster. it's the first time a president is at this dinner in six years. the white house correspondents�* dinner returns to washington's political calendar hello and welcome to bbc news. the us speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, has visited the ukrainian capital kyiv on an unannounced trip in which she expressed support for president volodymyr zelensky. elsewhere, a small group of women and children have been allowed to leave the besieged steelworks in mariupol — the final part of the city still held

by ukrainian troops. both russia and ukraine are said to be respecting a local ceasefire and there are hopes more civilians can be freed. meanwhile, more airstrikes have hit homes in eastern ukraine, as tim muffett reports. this is a powerful signal of support from people in the united states. there are hopes that more people will be freed from the occupied steelworks. scenes that have become so familiar over the past nine weeks — another home destroyed, another family rescuing what they can from the aftermath

of a russian attack. dobropillia, in the donetsk region of eastern ukraine. seven civilians including three children were injured here, according to authorities. everything is destroyed, this man says. the house is, you can pretty much say, uninhabitable. so we are holding on. the lord will help us, and we will win. the azovstal steelworks in mariupol, the final part of the southern port city still under the control of ukrainian troops. sealed off more than a week ago under orders from president putin, it is thought around 20 civilians were able to leave the site yesterday. according to russian media, the group included six children under 14. it is not known where they were taken. earlier, an advisor to ukraine's defence minister pleaded for humanitarian corridors to be set up to allow others to escape the city. tens of thousands of people are still trapped there, and russian war criminals still are refusing to allow humanitarian evacuation corridors.

and this is a major problem, and the ukrainian authorities are saying on a daily basis that the international community must intervene with more force. in odesa, in the south—west of the country, preparations continue for a possible russian invasion from the sea. ukrainian officials said last night the runway of the city's airport was destroyed by a russian missile strike, although no—one was injured. as far as russia is concerned, this is all still part of the special military operation, but there is talk that president putin will officially declare it a war. if president putin, maybe using the parade on nine may, declares this a war then the russian legal position changes. so, for example, he can keep the conscripts that are currently serving, whose time is about up. he can keep them in and he can mobilise more reserves, more resources and more of russian industry.

but what it would indicate is that this is now a long war, it's not a special military operation. it's something that president putin will cast as an existential fight for russia, to protect all russian—speaking peoples. there was an unexpected visitor to ukraine yesterday. hollywood actress and un special envoy angelina jolie arrived in lviv. she met people who have been caught up in this conflict, and others too young to fully appreciate its true horrors. let's get more now on this nancy pelosi visit with our correspondent joe inwood who's in lviv. tell us a bit more about what nancy pelosi has been doing so, she met

president volodymyr zelensky. the visit president volodymyr zelensky. tue: visit happened president volodymyr zelensky. tte: visit happened yesterday. we were only told about it after she left the country for security reasons. firstly, this visit shows the ongoing support of the united states. tim was mentioning in his report, $33 billion. this signals that the united states is in for the long haul. it shows the level of support that they have. there is another important element to this, thatis another important element to this, that is that it shows high profile visitors are not afraid to come to kyiv. the united nations secretary—general visited last week and while he was here a russian cruise missile landed not two miles away from where he was. this was taken as a sign from moscow to people coming to visit kyiv. this is the response from the united states, showing they are not afraid to come. what is happening globally is that

there is a lot of support from the united states, lots of money, and from europe. other parts of the world, big players, china, india is in a different position, turkey, many other countries, there is not the same level of support for ukraine. what is the sense there of that? are people aware of the difference political levels of support around the world? t difference political levels of support around the world? i don't know whether _ support around the world? i don't know whether the _ support around the world? i don't know whether the population - support around the world? i don't know whether the population is. i j know whether the population is. i know whether the population is. i know politicians here will be aware of it. it has been a source of some disappointment that some countries they thought would have offered them support haven't done so. with china, but that is probably not a surprise. they have a close relationship with russia and the two presidents are very close. india and pakistan is an interesting area. there is some talk of them taking aspirin for line on

moscow as might be expected because they have military supply links. the people and politicians of ukraine will be disappointed by some international reaction to this. but they have had such fulsome support from western europe, from nato, north america, that out matches it. they broadly feel that the international response they have got has been a positive one. for international response they have got has been a positive one.— has been a positive one. for now, thank yom _ in the uk, the speaker of the house of commons says "radical action" is needed to overhaul the working culture of the houses of parliament. sir lindsay hoyle's comments — in an article he's written for the observer newspaper — come a day after the resignation of the conservative mp neil parish, who admitted watching pornography twice in the house of commons. our political correspondent ben wright has the details. it's a bleak moment for parliament's reputation. claims of sexism and harassment have put a harsh spotlight on this place, and one mp caught up in sleaze has

now decided to quit. neil parish had hoped to tough it out, wait for a parliamentary investigation to do its work. but yesterday the tory mp admitted to watching pornography twice while in the house of commons. in the end, i can see that the furore, the damage i was causing my family and my constituency and association wasn't worth carrying on. a conservative mp since 2010, mr paris was suspended from the parliamentary party on friday after being named as the mp in the centre of the allegations. two female tory mps had witnessed the behaviour. apologising to them and his constituents, the former farmer explained what happened. funnily enough, it was tractors i was looking at, so i did get into another website that had a very similar

name, and i watched it for a bit, which i shouldn't have done. but my crime — biggest crime — is that on another occasion i went in a second time. mr parish said he deliberately looked at the material again while waiting to go into a commons voting lobby. and the one thing i wasn't doing, and which i will take to my grave as being true, is i was not actually making sure people could see it. in fact, i was trying to do quite the opposite. i was wrong, what i was doing, but this idea that i was there watching it and intimidating women, i mean, i have had 12 years in the parliament and have probably got one of the best reputations ever, or did have. neil parish wasn't a well—known mp, until now, but will be remembered for behaviour that caused shock and outrage across parliament. i think there is a great deal of work to do to make sure that the house of commons is a place where women are respected and appreciated and not merely tolerated. and i very much hope that this can

act as a watershed moment so we don't see another deluge of really prominent female parliamentarians coming forward to highlight the misogyny and the harassment that they've faced. there will now be a by—election in the normally rock—solid tory seat of tiverton and honiton in devon, where voters have been absorbing the abrupt resignation of their mp. especially if i was one of the women that saw it, i'd feel very uncomfortable. it's not appropriate, a bit degrading. as a young woman, yeah, i don't want someone like that representing us, really. i can't say it's very nice, but it is a bit of a silly thing to do in a place where he should be concentrating on helping run the country, but... you do it in the privacy of your own home, if that's what interests you. this you don't do it in the house of commons, so he deserves to step down. i think it's disgusting, personally. the scandal has increased calls for a culture change at westminster. the commons speaker, sir lindsey hoyle, said serious allegations have been made that had

to be tackled with radical action. i'm joined now by our political correspondent helen catt. it has been an extraordinary week in terms of people venting their fury, particularly from female mps in the house of commons, including conservatives. what is the reaction now to neil parish stepping down? tt now to neil parish stepping down? tit has been an extraordinarily grim week in the house of commons, this series of senior women coming out and talking about some fairly grim things that they say have happened to them. a cabinet minister talked about being pinned against a wall by about being pinned against a wall by a male colleague. the reaction to neil parish stepping down, i think there is a sense of, yes, it was sort of inevitable and they are pleased he has chosen to do this, and that has come from across the

opposition, some conservative mps, too, ratherthan opposition, some conservative mps, too, rather than push it to an investigation and prolong this, the fact he is gone now is welcome, although there are those in labour, the lib dems, they are saying that the lib dems, they are saying that the tories should have acted quicker on this, and some conservative mps saying that those in charge of party discipline should have acted more swiftly. we discipline should have acted more swiftl . ~ . , ., ~ swiftly. we are seeing one mp resiuned swiftly. we are seeing one mp resigned for — swiftly. we are seeing one mp resigned for wrong _ swiftly. we are seeing one mp resigned for wrong doing, - swiftly. we are seeing one mp. resigned for wrong doing, there swiftly. we are seeing one mp - resigned for wrong doing, there has been a call for others, including the prime minister, to resign over wrongdoing. this all comes ahead of local elections across the country where the public will get a chance to vote. tt where the public will get a chance to vote. ., , �* ., ., to vote. it doesn't matter what the o - inion to vote. it doesn't matter what the opinion polls _ to vote. it doesn't matter what the opinion polls say. _ to vote. it doesn't matter what the opinion polls say, it _ to vote. it doesn't matter what the opinion polls say, it is _ to vote. it doesn't matter what the opinion polls say, it is the - to vote. it doesn't matter what the opinion polls say, it is the polls - opinion polls say, it is the polls on the ground, this is the first set of elections that we have had for over a year where we might get a sense of how to stuff over the last year is playing out, how are voters

responding to these accusations, to what happened around joining street parties? this is the percent of voters going to the polls and showing what they think. it is always worth remembering that these are local elections, so you can put too much of national view on it, but people are voting on local issues. ewan murrie is in mr parish�*s constituency of tiverton, in devon. there will be a by—election fare. what is your sense of the reaction on the ground?— on the ground? there is a broad sense of agreement _ on the ground? there is a broad sense of agreement from - on the ground? there is a broad| sense of agreement from people on the ground? there is a broad - sense of agreement from people here that neil parish has probably done the right thing and resigning. i have been here in the constituency all weekends and people are saying you can't have mps watching pornography in the house of commons, something that neil parish has

admitted doing twice, once as a mistake at the second time deliberately. a lot of people are pretty surprised at how quickly he did a u—turn after initially taking in his heels on friday saying he was going to wait for the outcome of an investigation, but that very quickly changed yesterday afternoon. at the same time, i certain amount of sympathy for the period —— for the predicament he has put himself in. he has been the mp here since 2010, is well known and generally well respected and hasn't been in too much trouble in the past. it even some of his most loyal supporters are saying that his position was growing increasingly untenable. i was chatting to a man in the street a moment ago who said that he wrote an e—mail to a moment ago who said that he wrote an e—mailto him a moment ago who said that he wrote an e—mail to him last night to thank him for his service. again, it wasn't on, people are saying, they put the area on the map for the

wrong reasons. it will stay in the limelight because his resignation triggers a by—election. it is the second difficult by—election ongoing for the conservatives at the moment. they are defending our former red bull labour seat up in wakefield. tiverton and honiton is generally considered safe tory. neil parish had a 211,000 vote majority, but so were chesham and amersham in north shropshire, and the lib dems clinched two seats. i have been chatting to local lib dems overnight and ifancy chatting to local lib dems overnight and i fancy their chances, chatting to local lib dems overnight and ifancy their chances, but labour are actually second here and the local party say there will be putting everything into this. the by—election will probably be in june. the sri lankan government has firmly ruled out the resignation

of president gotabaya rajapaksa which is being demanded by thousands of protesters who accuse him of mismanaging the economy. however the media minister, nalaka godahewa, admitted that the government had failed to foresee the crippling foreign exchange reserve crisis which has led to a shortage of essential items like food and fuel. joining me now is sri lankan social activist and actor peter d almeida. what is your reaction to the fact that president is still refusing to step down, calm that position still hold? t step down, calm that position still hold? ., �* ~ , ., ., , hold? i don't think it is a tenable osition hold? i don't think it is a tenable position because _ hold? i don't think it is a tenable position because the _ hold? i don't think it is a tenable position because the struggle . hold? i don't think it is a tenable position because the struggle onj hold? i don't think it is a tenable - position because the struggle on the streets is really widening and i think he isjust streets is really widening and i think he is just barely holding it together. t5 think he is 'ust barely holding it touether. , ., . ., ., together. is the anchor from the eo - le together. is the anchor from the people focused _ together. is the anchor from the people focused on _ together. is the anchor from the people focused on the _ together. is the anchor from the people focused on the fact - together. is the anchor from the people focused on the fact that. people focused on the fact that their basic living standards have become so difficult? tt

their basic living standards have become so difficult?— become so difficult? it is, but it is more than — become so difficult? it is, but it is more than that. _ become so difficult? it is, but it is more than that. the - become so difficult? it is, but it. is more than that. the constitution of sri lanka says that's the people can exercise their sovereignty through the institutions of the presidency and parliament. while these two institutions were functioning that the system collapsed. we are facing bankruptcy today. they have completely lost faith in these two institutions and have decided to take sovereignty into their own hands. that is what you're saying. in other words, you are actually saying, they do use this word carelessly, you are seeing a social revolution, because they are fed up with what is going on and just want a complete change. they want the president to go, the prime minister to go, and they want a completely new system. it is not just the fact that food prices have gone up, although that will be a serious problem today and in the coming years. tt serious problem today and in the coming years-— serious problem today and in the coming years. if you try to change the political _ coming years. if you try to change the political system, _ coming years. if you try to change the political system, is _ coming years. if you try to change the political system, is that - coming years. if you try to change the political system, is that a - the political system, is that a practical thing you can tree in the

middle of this economic crisis? sometimes a crisis needs a real change, doesn't it? the fact that they have changed governments and tried all the stuff at the ballot, it doesn't seem to have worked. the point is, you are right, but if you have no faith in the people who are there, how can the people who cost there, how can the people who cost the state of destitution save us from this misery? we have the former justice minister has now been appointed finance minister presided over this complete failure of government. he is leading the delegation to the imf talks. how can even be possible? how can he make sure our are served? the imf is not set up... it is set up to preserve the globalfinancial set up... it is set up to preserve the global financial system. when you go to them bankrupts, as

beggars... you need to have someone who can have those tough negotiations. we are in a really difficult situation.— difficult situation. there is also obviously some _ difficult situation. there is also obviously some thought - difficult situation. there is also obviously some thought that i difficult situation. there is also . obviously some thought that china difficult situation. there is also - obviously some thought that china is not necessary supportive of the sri lankan government going to the imf, and sri lanka has taken a lot of financial and political backing in recent years from china. how could any governments untangle these conflicting demands?— any governments untangle these conflicting demands? these are very tou~h conflicting demands? these are very tough times- — conflicting demands? these are very tough times- it _ conflicting demands? these are very tough times. it is _ conflicting demands? these are very tough times. it is unprecedented. i conflicting demands? these are very| tough times. it is unprecedented. we don't have many options to choose from. as far as china is concerned, they will look to us as a creditor and i will come after their money. the former finance minister of greece said, in a comment about sri

lanka, he makes the point that the creditors don't need their money, that want our resources. they put us in this difficult situation. they are going to come back for our loans, they are going to want our resources. we are going to shed valuable assets to china and india. we are really caught in a bind here. it will be very difficult. i'm hopeful with the kind of change we are anticipating, something you will come up. that is why college revolution.

canadian police are bracing themselves for more unrest. israel's ministry have said they have arrested two palestinians suspected of shooting dead a security guard on friday. they carried out a series of raids across the west bank on saturday. tensions have been running high over access to the mosque injerusalem and an israeli military comes on in the west bank and a series of pallet initiative —— palestinian attacks on israel in recent weeks. a longstanding political event has returned in washington — the white house correspondents association dinner. it is the first in—person event in two years because of covid—19. trevor noah from the late show hosted the event — and president biden was the first sitting president who attended since the obama administration — as president trump famously refused to go. this is the first time a president has attempted this dinner in six

years. applause. it is understandable, we had a horrible plague, followed by two years of covid. . , plague, followed by two years of covid. ., , , ., covid. can i 'ust say, everyone will auree covid. can i 'ust say, everyone will aaree it covid. can i 'ust say, everyone will agree it is — covid. can ijust say, everyone will agree it is nice _ covid. can ijust say, everyone will agree it is nice once _ covid. can ijust say, everyone will agree it is nice once again - covid. can ijust say, everyone will agree it is nice once again to - covid. can ijust say, everyone will agree it is nice once again to have| agree it is nice once again to have agree it is nice once again to have a president— agree it is nice once again to have a president who is not afraid to come _ a president who is not afraid to come to— a president who is not afraid to come to the white house correspondence dinner and hearjokes correspondence dinner and hear jokes about— correspondence dinner and hearjokes about himself. i will be honest, if you didn't — about himself. i will be honest, if you didn't come, i totally would have _ you didn't come, i totally would have understood, because these people _ have understood, because these people have been so hard on you, which _ people have been so hard on you, which i _ people have been so hard on you, which i don't get. ever since you have _ which i don't get. ever since you have come — which i don't get. ever since you have come into office things are really— have come into office things are really looking up. gas is up, went to sub, _ really looking up. gas is up, went to sub, for— really looking up. gas is up, went to sub, for it— really looking up. gas is up, went to sub, for it it really has been a tough _ to sub, for it it really has been a tough first— to sub, for it it really has been a tough first year for you, mr president. as you all know, president. as you all know, president biden's lack of a filter does _ president biden's lack of a filter does get — president biden's lack of a filter does get him into hot water sometimes. last month because the hu-e sometimes. last month because the huge international incident saying that vladimir putin should be removed _ that vladimir putin should be removed from power. it was very,

very upsetting to russia, until someone _ very upsetting to russia, until someone explained to them that none of the _ someone explained to them that none of the stuff— someone explained to them that none of the stuff bout once actually gets done _ much more online if you want to catch more on that. much more online if you want to catch more on that. plant a tree for the jubilee. that's the message from the prince of wales today as he invites nature—lovers to mark queen elizabeth's 70—year reign. it's part of a scheme called "the queen's green canopy", which will also dedicate 70 ancient woodlands to her majesty. here's more from our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. newsreel: after the spade work, a good watering ensured - that the seedling got a proper start in life. she has, over the 70 years of her reign, planted many a tree to mark a visit by the monarch. buckingham palace estimates it must be something like 1,500. but the planting of trees has much more than a merely symbolic significance. they are, of course, vital to the environment. so plant a tree for the jubilee, is the message being pushed today

by the prince of wales, no mean tree—planter himself. to launch the queen's green canopy, 70 of the oldest trees and most ancient woodlands around the united kingdom have been identified. one of the ancient trees is at dumfries house in ayrshire. i am delighted, therefore, to have the opportunity to launch this project in the grounds of dumfries house under the majestic branches of this old sycamore, which predates the very house itself, having grown from seed more than 420 years ago. planted in 1599, or thereabouts, during the reigns of queen elizabeth i and king james vi, it is remarkable that this ancient tree is as old as shakespeare's hamlet and caravaggio's david and goliath. this the purpose of the project, said the prince, was to conserve the united kingdom's natural

heritage, to protect ancient woodlands and to plant many thousands of new trees in celebration of the queen's 70 years on the throne. backin back ina back in a few minutes. bye for now. bye for now. hello there. a change of fortunes for many today but not for all. i have managed to find a few glimpses of sunshine, not a bad start in parts of the highlands of scotland, particularly in comparison to saturday where we had an inch of rain falling on one or two areas but most of us have been waking up to skies like this so for the remainder of the day we keep quite a lot of low, grey cloud and at times we will see some outbreaks of rain is this area of low pressure continues to push its way steadily southwards squeezing the high out of away. so the rain so far has been moving out of scotland and northern

ireland into the north west of england and parts of wales. it is starting to weaken a little as it bumps into that high pressure, so we will see some showery bits of rain for central and southern england but a rather grey, gloomy damperfor yourfollowing on behind for wales and through the irish sea. the best of the breaks in the cloud, the best of the glimpses of sunshine looks likely to continue to be the further north and west with highs of 16 or 17 degrees. now, as we move through sunday evening, that rain still yet to clear. it will do so, it leaves a legacy of cloud and its wake, the cloud preventing the temperatures from falling away so that there's been a relatively mild start to our bank holiday monday, temperatures holding up, seven to ten degrees. but a rather grey and gloomy start to bank holiday monday as well. now, there will be a good deal of drier weather in the forecast over the next couple of days. still the risk of a few isolated showers down through the borders, across the pennines as well. hopefully, the cloud will break in places for allowing glimpses of sunshine so in

the south we could see highs of 17 degrees but a brisk northerly breeze in scotland willjust take the edge off the temperatures here in the far north and east, seven to 11 celsius the highs. as we move out of monday into tuesday and wednesday, we have got a series of weather fronts that's just going to enhance some shower activity. some of them possibly heavy and thundery, but then behind those fronts an area of high pressure building. it is the azores high, so with the wind direction swinging in a clockwise direction that means the warmer south—westerly flow is set to return, the air coming all away up from western africa, so a slight dip in the feel of the weather and may be some sharp thundery downpours, but then towards the end of the week getting noticeably warmer and drier.

guru—murthy this is bbc news. the headlines: the speaker of the us house of representatives has met the ukrainian president in kyiv. she said ukraine was fighting for everyone's freedom — and us support would continue "until the fight is done." around 20 women and children have been able to leave the azovstal steelworks in mariupol — the only part of the southern port city still under ukraine's control. president putin ordered area to be sealed off last week. the house of commons speaker, sir lindsey hoyle,

has called for "radical action" to overhaul working