this is bbc world news. i'm tim willcox. our top stories: in ukraine, 3 further 50 civilians are evacuated from the mariupol steelworks that's been under attack by russian forces. the white house announces a new $150 million package of military aid for ukraine, including artillery, munitions and radar. a huge explosion rips through an upmarket hotel in the colonial district of havana. at least 22 people are dead. macro translation you could see people shouting, dust rising — a disaster. it was like a horror film, a disaster. it was like a horrorfilm, really. a state of emergency is declared in sri lanka as thousands of protestors demand the resignation of both the president

and prime minister. chelsea football club accepts $5.2 billion bid from an american business group to buy the english premier league team. —— for billion pound. —— £4 billion. and why some controversial members of the british royal family won't be getting a place on the balcony at the queen'sjubilee. hello and welcome to bbc news. the united nations and the international red cross are continuing their efforts in ukraine to rescue more civilians from the besieged city of mariupol. on friday 50 more people, including children, were evacuated from a huge steel factory complex. these are the latest pictures of some of those who've got out. the azovstal plant is under siege by russian forces. dozens are still trapped inside. the city, in the country's

south, has been under constant shelling by the russian military. the steelworks has become the last holdout of ukrainian forces who are fighting to defend mariupol. our correspondent laura bicker has sent this report from dnipro. the russian attacks continue, despite promises of a ceasefire, according to this unverified footage released by the ukrainian azov unit. kremlin—backed troops are still firing on this vast steel plant, according to uk intelligence, while ukrainian soldiers and hundreds of civilians shelter inside. they've been using the sprawling network of tunnels as a refuge for more than two months, with very little food or water. around 100 women and children have already been rescued from the depths of the plant. there's a complex operation under way to free more civilians. but now comes a plea to save the troops, who have used the steelworks to try and make one last stand

for the city. svetlana's only son is there. she doesn't want to be identified to protect him. translation: it's horrible, | horrible to know that your son is fighting and has nothing left to fight with in a city that is completely razed to the ground and seized by the occupiers. i would give everything in exchange for him to survive, for everyone who is still there under the bombardment to survive. we beg — we beg all the world countries to help us and save our heroes. it's not them who are complaining and begging, it's us. svetlana was asked by her son to flee as the russian bombs levelled this once—thriving port. ukrainian officials claim that more than 20,000 people have been killed. the relatives of others still fighting can't bear to see these images. yaroslava's husband and her two sons—in—law are also in the ukrainian azov unit. translation: every image is a wound in my heart - and in my soul, every time. my wish is that they

would survive this. of course, they will keep fighting. they are holding on, they are doing the impossible. all sing in ukrainian. 0utnumbered and outgunned, this small defending force has become a potent symbol for ukraine. they may never surrender, but their families are praying they'll at least get a chance to leave alive. laura bicker, bbc news, dnipro. the white house has announced a new $150 million package of military aid for ukraine that will include artillery, munitions and radars. president biden said the existing funding for ukraine was "nearly exhausted" and urged us congress to pass his proposed assistance package worth $33 billion to, as he put it, "strengthen ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table".

earlier i spoke to veteran diplomat ambassador daniel fried. he helped lead the west's response to moscow's annexation of crimea in 2014 as sanctions coordinator in the 0bama administration. i asked him about the us lend lease bill and its importance to ukraine. the lend—lease bill has enormous symbolic significance and the fact that it passed congress overwhelmingly, with republicans and democrats uniting, is a very good sign for american leadership of this effort to push back on putin's aggression against ukraine. now, the $33 billion is necessary. the lend—lease bill provides some streamlining but it isn't, to be honest, quite the dramatic step forward that the original lend—lease bill was in 1941 because we're already able, under the law, to provide the arms to ukraine. but still, this is a symbolic

gesture and the $33 billion request is not symbolism — that's real money — and it's needed. it could be signed into law byjoe biden on the ninth which, of course, is symbolic as well because that coincides with the victory day... oh, yeah! ..in the great patriotic war that putin will be celebrating in moscow on red square. could it bring about a speedier end to this conflict, do you think, bearing in mind how much weaponry will be going into ukraine? the task now for all of us — the uk, us, europe — is to lean forward, to provide the ukrainians the arms they need to defend themselves and intensify the sanctions on russia. do it right now. may ninth, as you suggest, is apt to be an important day symbolically — and maybe not just symbolically if putin uses the occasion to make

some announcements. but we need to make clear to him that he's not going to win this war and we need to back the ukrainians — and, by the way, it is not fanciful anymore to think of the ukrainians actually succeeding in blocking the russian offensive. they've been doing an awfully good job of it. and this is — this is a success which is not inevitable, but it's possible. you mentioned sanctions — the eu recently discussed the oil sanctions first of all, before the gas sanctions which affect so many — and of which so many european countries are reliant — but do the oil sanctions go far enough? and when you've got exemptions for slovakia and hungary, and there's some suggestion that russia can actually whether the impact of these oil sanctions. every new sanction helps. if you asked me whether we should be doing more, the answer's pretty much always gonna be yes. but the oil sanctions may not

be 100% effective but every dollar and every pound, every euro that we take out of putin's war machine is good, and don't look at the oil sanctions as zero or 100, think of it as another bite out of putin's war bucket. i'd like to see the eu announce a final deal and if there is an exception for hungary, you know, an exemption for a limited period of time, i'll live with that. policy—making isn't for purists. i want to get the best possible results. an explosion at a luxury hotel in the cuban capital havana has killed at least 22 people. the blast tore through several floors of the hotel saratoga. the cuban president, miguel diaz canel, said the explosion had resulted from what he called a gas

accident, though investigations were underway. more than 60 people have been injured. 0ur correspondent will grant reports. the saratoga hotel, a landmark in havana, reduced to rubble. its facade ripped clean off, the rooms of the 5—star hotel were exposed and its ornate lobby left a twisted pile of metal, marble and concrete. a gas tanker outside the building was quickly identified as the cause of the blast. for local residents, it was a horrific, surreal moment. they can scarcely believe the saratoga, once a favourite among visiting celebrities, has been left in ruins. translation: you could see people shouting, dust - rising, the disaster. it was like a horror film, really. translation: i felt the clear explosion, a single boom, - and i saw crystals cracking and falling and a white cloud of dust that would not go away. but i managed to close the door and i managed to get away

in the opposite direction from danger, over here. siren wails the authorities were quickly on the scene, ferrying the injured to local hospitals and searching the rubble for survivors, havana's overstretched emergency services being tested to their limits. the president, miguel diaz—canel, also appeared to offer support and condolences. for some, the explosion brought back memories of the early 1990s, when radical anti—castro groups from florida bombed a number of cuban hotels. however, the president was quick to dismiss rumours that the blast was anything other than an accident. translation: in no case case was this a bomb or an attack. l it's just a very unfortunate accident, and it seems to be around the gas tank. the truth is the explosion could've been worse. the hotel was closed for refurbishments and was due to reopen next week.

furthermore, a nearby school was unscathed, the children safely evacuated. nevertheless, this explosion comes at a difficult time for cuba. its tourism sector has been all but shut down amid the covid—19 pandemic, and only this year was beginning to pick up again. for an island whose economy now largely revolves around tourism, the past two years have been brutal — especially when combined with tough us sanctions and the state's economic mismanagement. this explosion could set back that recovery even further. however, for now, most minds in cuba are simply focused on the families of those caught up in this tragic blast and those still fighting for their lives in hospital. will grant, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the italian government has

impounded a $700 million vessel known locally as "putin's yacht", saying investigations showed that its owner had ties to "prominent elements of the russian government" targeted by eu sanctions. the six—deck scheherazade has two helipads, a swimming pool and a movie theatre. us health officials say they are investigating 109 cases of severe hepatitis in children, including five reported deaths. it follows reports by the world health organization of at least 228 probable cases across the globe. deforestation in the brazilian amazon last month shattered the record for april, usually a slower logging month because of rain. just over 1,000 square kilometres of the world's biggest tropical rainforest was felled, nearly double the area cleared last year. the president of sri lanka, gotabaya rajapaksa, has declared a new state of emergency as demands grow for his government to resign. earlier, police fired tear gas at protesters outside parliament in colombo.

there've been weeks of demonstrations against the sri lankan government for its handling of the worst economic crisis in decades. gareth barlow reports. all chant protests — the new soundtrack of sri lanka's streets. for weeks, people have demonstrated as the worst economic crisis in decades grips the country. translation: when the | government failed to solve the problems faced by the people, people took to the streets asking the president, prime minister and the government to go home. but instead of going home, the government changed its line—up in parliament in order to safeguard their power. the state of emergency, the second in five weeks, gives the authorities additional powers and comes at the end of a day where police fired tear gas and water cannon into the crowds. the economic and political crisis has gripped this nation,

famed for its emerald hills and green teas, for weeks now. food, power and medicines often run short and what is available how ever more expensive. translation: what we earn is not enough to eat, - let alone for other expenses. we can only eat one meal. i get paid $2.50 every day i work. if we are to eat a piece of roti, then we have to cope with the rising price of wheat, flour and rice. everything has gone up in price. as families go hungry, they are calling on president gotabaya rajapaksa and the prime minister, his brother, to step down. all chant but despite pressure from opposition parties, despite scores of mps resigning from the government, and despite pressure from the people, the president and the prime minister are refusing to back down. gareth barlow, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: a further 50 civilians have been evacuated from the mariupol steelworks in ukraine that's been under attack by russian forces.

the white house has announced a new $150 million package of military aid for ukraine, including artillery, munitions and radar. here in the uk, local council elections have resulted in the conservatives losing nearly 500 seats. the scottish nationalists remain the biggest party in scotland, while there've been gains for plaid cymru in wales. but it's northern ireland where the result could bring seismic change if the main nationalist party, sinn fein, wins more seats than the unionists. our ireland correspondent emma vardy has the latest. and a warning — this report contains flashing images. cheering and applause. heading towards a new future. sinn fein are hoping this is the moment that marks an end to the domination of unionism in northern ireland for a century. today is a good day. it's about change, it's about progress and it's about partnership in what is, we believe, the election of a generation.

sinn fein is known as the harder—line nationalist party in the assembly but ultimately wants to leave the uk and become a united ireland. kelly, gerry — sinn fein... cheering and applause. but instead, the party fought its campaign on the challenges facing working—class families. we have got very good results. we're very happy with them. we went to the people and, as we had said before, this six—week campaign started on the issues. it's the cost of living, it's health, it's all of that. but even if sinn fein win the most seats, they must share power at the top with the dup, who recently walked out of that arrangement. what if the dup won't go into government with you? this is a democratic election. so we're saying very clearly that needs everybody, including the dup. so the dup have to answer why they would be against that. even after all the votes are counted here, there is little chance of a properly functioning government. the dup has said it will block full power sharing unless there are changes to the brexit arrangements — that new trade border down the irish sea.

i think you'll see, in a majority of our seats we will retain, that people want us to be in a government that works and they want to see good government in northern ireland. so, until the government and the european commission resolve the protocol, i'm afraid there is going to be an impact on the emergence or the reformation of an executive in the short term. the elections brought success for the alliance party, neither unionist nor nationalist, showing an increasing number of people don't want to be dominated by the issue of whether northern ireland should remain part of the uk. but for now, a sinn fein victory would be a new milestone in the decades—old struggle over what northern ireland wants to be. emma vardy. chelsea football club says terms have been agreed for its purchase by a consortium led by the american businessman todd boehly, who's a co—owner of the los angeles dodgers. the london club was put up for sale by its former russian

owner roman abramovich, shortly before he was sanctioned because of his links to vladimir putin. a little earlier, our news reporter simonjones outlined the details of the deal. we're told the bid is around $5 billion. so chelsea, one of the biggest football clubs in the world and it comes with a big price tag. now, we've had a statement released by chelsea in the early hours of this morning here in the uk and in that, it says around $3 billion will go towards buying shares in the club and then, that money will be put in a frozen bank account. and the idea is, ultimately, it's going to be released to give money to charity, to support victims of the war in ukraine and also, an additional $2 billion, we're told, will be used for improvements in the club such as at stamford bridge, chelsea's ground, also the women's team and also the academy. so that may be some relief for the chelsea fans wondering about the very future of their club.

yes, it has all happened quite quickly, though, hasn't it? will there be a few disappointed runners—up, though, in this bidding process? i think there will because there had been a lot of interest, because it's not often one of the world's biggest football clubs gets put on sale like this. but certainly, you're going to have to dig deep in your pockets. and one of those who expressed a last—minute interest was britain's richest man, sirjim ratcliffe. now, he said earlier this week that he had been thinking about it, he had been pondering. he said actually he was a manchester united fan, so maybe that put him off a little bit, but he said he wanted to put a bid in. but i think it may well be too late because what we're told — if all goes according to plan, then this bid should go through by the end of this month. but it has to be approved by the uk government and also by the premier league. because it has been the most extraordinary saga, hasn't it? you know, this club hit by sanctions, really severely restricting what it could do in the games following that decision. yes, this all really started back in march when the owner,

roman abramovich, said he was going to put the club up for sale. he said he was doing it with a heavy heart but he had been under some pressure due to russia's invasion of ukraine. but then after that, the uk government actually imposed sanctions on mr abramovich, saying that ultimately, they didn't feel his links with president putin meant that he could actually do business in this country. so then, we have had this sale period and now, it looks like that may well be completed by the end of this month. but there had been restrictions on chelsea, such as they cannot buy players at the moment, so it was potentially going to have severe implications for them on the field as well as off the field. simonjones they simon jones they are. —— simon jones there. this summer marks queen elizabeth's platinumjubilee — 70 years on the british throne. a key moment is a royal appearance on the balcony at buckingham palace. but the queen has decided that prince harry and meghan, along with prince andrew, won't be allowed to appear on the balcony during

trooping the colour. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. an appearance on the palace balcony is a centrepiece of any major royal celebration but for the platinum jubilee, there are sensitivities around some family members, so the queen has decided that only working royals willjoin her on the balcony. so cancelled, in balcony terms, are the duke of york and the sussexes. harry and meghan say they are coming to thejubilee but they won't be on the balcony. the big question, of course, is how visible will the queen be throughout the four days of the jubilee celebrations? it all begins on thursday 2 june with trooping the colour, at the culmination of which the royal family makes that balcony appearance. according to the palace, the queen plans to attend trooping, but a final decision will be taken on the day. on friday 3june, there will be a service of thanksgiving at st paul's cathedral. again, all the palace will say is that the queen plans to attend.

on saturday 4june, after the derby, there will be the platinum party at the palace, produced by the bbc, on a stage being built right in front of the palace. will the queen be there? it will be decided on the day. and then finally, on sunday 5 june, the gold state coach will be one of the main features in a jubilee pageant on the mall — though the queen will not be riding in it. so, it is clearly the queen's intention to be at trooping the colour and the service of thanksgiving, and at the other events if she can. nicholas witchell, bbc news. four passengers have had a narrow escape after a plane crashed into a garden in texas. the aircraft had taken off from hobby airport in houston but within minutes, the pilot reported engine problems. he was trying to return to the airport when the plane came down just behind a row houses. —— came downjust

behind a row of houses. no—one on the ground was injured and the pilot has been praised for avoiding the homes as the plane came down. all over the world, people are generating help for ukraine and the refugees who've lost their homes, families and livelihood. now, the biggest brewery in the world has come up with a project that's basically a donation in a can. wendy urquhart explains. this isn'tjust any old beer — this is ukrainian beer. cans are rolling off the conveyor belt at the speed of 90,000 per hour, and anheuser—busch inbev is hoping the money will roll in just as fast, because all of the profits will be used to help victims of the war. ab inbev dominates the global beer market and produces 500 brands of beer including budweiser, bud light and the ukrainian favourite, chernigivske. the company has three breweries in ukraine and, since the russian invasion, it has been evacuating as many

employees as possible. 160 of them have now started a new life in belgium and the brewery is footing the bill for their accommodation. oleksandr used to be a project developer at one of the ukrainian factories. i am very proud that we can produce this beer in europe and across the world to give some assistance for ourfamilies, for all people of ukraine. it would help in the sense that people drinking chernigivske —— it would help in a symbolic meaning, in the sense that people drinking chernigivske will think about the city which was attacked by the russians and which resisted the russian invasion. they will think about ukraine, which is fighting for its freedom, for its interests, but also for freedom and democracy in europe. it can't have been easy to leave everything and everyone they knew in ukraine, but at least these ukrainians have each other and can now look forward to a bright future in brussels.

wendy urquhart, bbc news. two historic cooling towers at the la robla coal—fired power plant in leon in spain have been demolished. the power station was built in 1971 and will be replaced by a hydrogen power plant. it's formed part of the landscape of the mountains of the valle del alba region for decades but it tookjust seven seconds to be reduced to rubble. and before we go, a new study has sparked a little hope for the world's rarest sea mammal. there are only about 10 vaquita porpoises left in the world. just ten. some scientists had given up on saving the species, thinking that even if they could be protected from fishing pressures, the health effects of in—breeding would wipe them out. but dna tests from a new study show the population should be

able to bounce back from near extinction if its habitat is fully protected. good news to end with! that's it. see you soon. hello there. we've got some rain moving its way southwards through the rest of the night. but ahead of that, during the day on friday, temperatures nudge to 23 degrees celsius in a couple of spots. that won't be repeated this weekend — i think generally temperatures into the high teens, possibly 20, because there will be some sunshine but a few showers as well. as i say, that rain's been making its way southwards on this weather front here. some quite heavy rain for a time before it starts to clear away and the azores high spreads drier weather across most of the uk. but still a watering for the gardens on that weather front. some misty, low cloud and rather grey weather. behind it as well, we're seeing some mist and some fog — low—level fog — forming and it's turned quite chilly, particularly in the glens of scotland, perhaps a touch of frost here. so, a bright, chilly start for some in the morning.

best of the sunshine, i think, in the west today. but still some drizzly rain in south—eastern areas, and as that cloud breaks up, it will be moist enough for a few showers to form — not just across east anglia and the south—east, but possibly in other areas. as i say, west is best for the sunshine. 16—20 potentially in areas here where we see some sunshine, but there'll be rather cool breezes on the north sea coast. a little bit more cloud here at times as well during the day. now, that azores high pressure continues to drift a little bit further eastwards into sunday, allowing these weather systems to come into the north and west. so the main change — again, mist and fog first thing, a little bit on the cool side, but then some fair—weather cloud coming and going. a lot of dry weather for england and wales, fewer showers. but instead, we pick up a bit of a breeze from the south across northern ireland and scotland to bring in some cloud and perhaps some patchy rain later in the day, but perhaps not as chilly for the north sea coasts. then, taking it further ahead into monday, we keep that north—west/south—east split, at least on monday, with the best of the drier, brighter weather across parts of england and wales.

the strong sunshine, as we'll see this weekend when it comes out, but perhaps something heavier rain—wise coming into scotland and to northern ireland. so, it's still looking unsettled as we head into next week, and why? that's because we've got low pressure dominating towards the north. even further south, some of these weather fronts could brush in some rain from time to time. the detail is uncertain, but it looks as if it will be wetter further north and windier, potentially, with the driest weather further south. but even here, we might see a little bit of rain as well. as ever, you can keep up to date on the website.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a further 50 civilians have been evacuated from the azovstal steelworks in the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol. the figure was confirmed separately by the ukrainian deputy prime minister and russia's ministry of defence, which said women, the elderly and 11 children were among those rescued. the white house has announced a new $150 million package of us military aid for ukraine, including artillery, munitions and radar. the ukrainian president has urged western allies to send additional heavy weaponry to help kyiv stave off the russian offensive in the eastern donbas region. an explosion at a luxury hotel

in the cuban capital, havana, has killed at least 22