this is bbc news. the headlines... ukraine's president — volodymyr zelensky — has been welcomed to the elysee palace by his french counterpart — emmanuel macron. mr zelensky�*s trip to paris is his third visit to a major european power this weekend. the two leaders are expected to discuss french military and humanitarian support for ukraine. millions of votes are being counted in turkey after elections to decide who will lead the country for the next five years. the presidential battle has been fierce — recep tayyip erdogan is seeking to prolong his 20 years in power against a stiff challenge from kemal. at least five people are reported to have died in myanmar — after a powerful cyclone hit the country. cyclone mocha is one of the strongest storms to hit

the bay of bengal in recent years. in bangladesh — hundreds of thousands of people were forced to take shelter. now on bbc news playing for ukraine. for over a month, we have been following a group of ukrainian refugees, all of them prominent actors and directors in their home country. actors and directors in their home count . a . ~ actors and directors in their home count . 1, . ~ ~ ., country. back in ukraine, iwas connected _ country. back in ukraine, iwas connected with _ country. back in ukraine, iwas connected with the _ country. back in ukraine, iwas connected with the theatre. . country. back in ukraine, i was. connected with the theatre. they faced unprecedented challenges fleeing their country to seek sanctuary overseas. i fleeing their country to seek sanctuary overseas.- fleeing their country to seek sanctuary overseas. i do find it hard because _ sanctuary overseas. i do find it hard because i _ sanctuary overseas. i do find it hard because i am _ sanctuary overseas. i do find it hard because i am worrying - sanctuary overseas. i do find it i hard because i am worrying about sanctuary overseas. i do find it - hard because i am worrying about my family— hard because i am worrying about my family like _ hard because i am worrying about my family like every minute. now, hard because i am worrying about my family like every minute.— family like every minute. now, a ear family like every minute. now, a year since _ family like every minute. now, a year since war— family like every minute. now, a year since war broke _ family like every minute. now, a year since war broke out, - family like every minute. now, a year since war broke out, they i family like every minute. now, a i year since war broke out, they head back to the professional theatre, many for the first time. iliiuiith

back to the professional theatre, many for the first time.— many for the first time. with a final rehearsal— many for the first time. with a final rehearsal today _ many for the first time. with a | final rehearsal today afternoon many for the first time. with a - final rehearsal today afternoon and then tonight it is sold out. after then tonight it is sold out. after fleein: then tonight it is sold out. after fleeing the _ then tonight it is sold out. after fleeing the violence _ then tonight it is sold out. after fleeing the violence of - then tonight it is sold out. after fleeing the violence of war, - then tonight it is sold out. after fleeing the violence of war, this group of actors have been brought together to put on maria, a plate like no other. it's day one of rehearsals and the actors are greeted by a welcome circle with staff from the unity theatre. their home for the next four weeks. theatre. their home for the next four weeks— theatre. their home for the next four weeks. ., ., ., , , four weeks. hello, i am an actress, and i will four weeks. hello, i am an actress, and i will play _ four weeks. hello, i am an actress, and i will play the _ four weeks. hello, i am an actress, and i will play the main _ four weeks. hello, i am an actress, and i will play the main role - four weeks. hello, i am an actress, and i will play the main role of - and i will play the main role of maria. �* ., , maria. all of the company were permanent _ maria. all of the company were permanent actors _ maria. all of the company were permanent actors and - maria. all of the company were permanent actors and directors maria. all of the company were i permanent actors and directors in their homeland, taking to the stage for the country's biggest venues as well as hit ukrainian films and tv shows. i well as hit ukrainian films and tv shows. ., ~'

well as hit ukrainian films and tv shows. ., ~ ., ., ., shows. i work in the national theatre- _ shows. i work in the national theatre- l— shows. i work in the national theatre. i pray _ shows. i work in the national theatre. i pray juliet. - shows. i work in the national theatre. i pray juliet. it - shows. i work in the national theatre. i pray juliet. it was l shows. i work in the national. theatre. i pray juliet. it was one theatre. i prayjuliet. it was one of my favourite roles. mi; theatre. i pray juliet. it was one of my favourite roles.— theatre. i pray juliet. it was one of my favourite roles. my name is sasha, of my favourite roles. my name is sasha. l'm _ of my favourite roles. my name is sasha. l'm going _ of my favourite roles. my name is sasha, i'm going to _ of my favourite roles. my name is sasha, i'm going to play - of my favourite roles. my name is sasha, i'm going to play one - of my favourite roles. my name is sasha, i'm going to play one of. of my favourite roles. my name is. sasha, i'm going to play one of the main _ sasha, i'm going to play one of the main characters in this play. i used to be _ main characters in this play. i used to be an _ main characters in this play. i used to be an actor at the national theatre. _ to be an actor at the national theatre, and it was very important and exciting. my theatre, and it was very important and exciting-— theatre, and it was very important and exciting. my name is victoria. i used to work _ and exciting. my name is victoria. i used to work with _ and exciting. my name is victoria. i used to work with vitamin - and exciting. my name is victoria. i used to work with vitamin zelinski i used to work with vitamin zelinski for several years, used to work with vitamin zelinski forseveralyears, he used to work with vitamin zelinski for several years, he was a great manager at that time, and he is quite a good manager now. a great manager. quite a good manager now. a great manauer. , . ., quite a good manager now. a great manauer. ,, . ., , ., manager. since war broke out, their lives have changed _ beyond recognition when missiles began to fall, survival took precedence over the stage.

shorena is married to director yurii. they'd just bought their first home, with daughter yana, when three months later bombs hit kyiv. we woke up at five o'clock because was explosions. we are very happy that our daughter was sleeping and she didn't hear these sounds. air raid siren sounds. orla guerin voiceover: the dawn of a frightening new era in europe. kyiv, a city of 3 million, awoke to sirens. it was frightened, frightened, because when we started - to drive for — from our house, we saw a lot of broken cars, i people and it was frightened, yeah. it was frightened.

oleksandr and viktoria are also a couple. they were on a birthday getaway to paris the day the war broke out, but all their family — including children — were in ukraine. i'm in paris, but now my mum, my sister is in kyiv, and there is bombing, and, like, a news about tanks nearby and it was, i mean — it was not — not the best experience in my life. so you went away for the weekend to paris? yeah. basically. and never returned. yet. yeah, so... around kyiv was russian occupation and we were very scared. and it is the thing when we play games, by video chat with my son, and he's sitting in the basement,

and i am sitting in the paris. it was very... i feel myself helpless. very helpless. but now we are together. my name is lavrentii and i am playing one of the two husbands of maria. i work up because my brother called me, and he said, "you need to run away because they're bombing — "everything's started, they're bombing military bases." and just in 15m from our window, it's a territory of military base. so we decided to go somewhere and we, after that we left to the west of ukraine, and after that abroad already.

i'm olena, and i play nadia, who is the daughter of maria. i went to university in kharkiv. we did our last performance in student theatre on 23rd of february and then we got home to our students campus, go back to sleep, then i remember 5am my friends were, like, running around the room, picking up clothes and everything. and i was like, "what are you doing?" and they're, "it started." i was like "what started?" "the war�*s started." russia is accused of killing hundreds of civilians in the ukrainian city of kharkiv. olena had one of the most difficult escapes, being trapped in kharkiv and gripped with a constant worry about her family.

so i've been there for, like, three weeks, i guess, in the metro station. and then we tried to escape from kharkiv to my sister's husband's family, in cherkasy. so we escaped, and i remember we spent two or three nights on different railway stations — without food, without water, without phones. and i remember my mum got in touch with me, like, every two weeks, and it was like the most, like, hardest time, because you don't have access to talk to your family, you don't know are they still alive. but the hardest thing, it was my father, because he is a soldier. not "together" — "to—gether" — sound it out.

yurii's job is to get the play from the rehearsal room and onto the stage injust four weeks. maria is the story of a woman, and her life was, like, 72 years. and this is story from the birth to the death and how russian occupants break her life — like, break ukraine. and this story will be about the hardest page of our history — i mean holodomor. the holodomor, literally translated by "to kill by hunger" was as soviet—engineered famine of the 1930s. being the largest grain producer in the soviet union, ukraine was subject to higher grain quotas than other regions, leading to fewer crops for ukrainians, and causing mass starvation

of the population. while estimates vary, academics put the death toll at a minimum of 3.5 million people. why stalin enforced this policy is a matter of contention. to some, it was merely a consequence of the industrialisation of the soviet union. others say stalin, fearing a growing cultural divergence from moscow, forced the famine as a way to further subdue ukraine. a shcho pidemo. taym—aut treba shchob bulo. hear my confession. forgive me... 0k? forgive me for what i did to you the day of... - ah, 0k. da. da, da, da. rehearsals are mostly in ukrainian, but the play will be performed in english, making learning lines a challenge for some of the cast. the main work is to teach yourself speak english —

i mean with no problem to learn the lines, yeah, correctly. i would like to learn my text more, like, to be more confident, and i would like to create whole character — person. the thing i need to learn to play of the flute, - like, it's kind of ukrainian national instrument, - but it's quite difficult, l but we have oleksandr, and he's great musicians, and he will teach me — i he is my master. they have been together all their lives. today, i just got acquainted with my new partner, and i have lot of new lines. that's why we need to work, sorry. 0k. it's the start of week two, and the theatre is changing

all of its signage into ukrainian, ahead of the start of liverpool's eurovision festival. you know, the first big audience we want to bring into the theatre space is, of course, like, uk, liverpool audiences, because the story that's being told — particularly the story of maria — is one that we would never have learned. but there's also a really important need to get ukrainian creatives who've arrived in the uk, and so hopefully just this little touch for when they arrive, and you'll see around the building, makes them feel instantly that it is a place for them and notjust as guests for one week, but for the long term, as well. and as rehearsals intensify, there's a new cast member joining the company. my tse pohovorymo. tak tak. it will be good — good experience for me, because it will be the first time when i'll act in english.

it's a good opportunity to tell english people, british people, in their language about us, about our culture, about ukraine. he was in london, and now we are full team, it's important to have all actors in our rehearsals. vadym isn't the only change in the rehearsal room. in the last week, hoards of costumes and props have arrived from ukraine. lavrentii explained their significance. it's a man shirt in traditional colours, black and red. ladies, girls, they have a lot of things like this — and sometimes you can see a lot of different symbols and each symbol has their own meaning.

and have here some icons, so it's orthodox symbols. of maria, mother with son, and jesus christ. so the pair of them, it was traditional thing in every ukrainian home. there is small scene about how communist government came and they take — they took it. so it was real story. and they took things like this and just destroyed them, mostly. i can show you some one more crazy thing. it's this piece of history. but our custom designer, yulia, she found it. it's really crazy thing.

this is an old ussr flag. and the props and costumes are helping them embody their characters. we've got our costumes. yeah. and start to practise — to rehearse in costumes, with stuff. it's — you're going to feel differently because you've got, like — you can touch the history. it's really old, old costumes, old shirts, it was really, like... and a lot of ukrainian stuff. music plays. yurii, shorena, and their daughter have lived with a host family in derbyshire since arriving in the uk last year. keep more busy, town — you always need to run

somewhere, do something very fast, buy coffee and run, run. here it's more quiet. but every day we are missing our home and every day we are remembering everything and talking about ukraine, talking about our friends, and every day we check the news because it's like an important part of our life in this moment. we had a happy life, all ukrainians before the war had a happy life. and none of us, i mean ukrainians, wanted to be here. none of us wanted to learn a new language, found school for their children, and started looking for a job. it's like a big

experience and big... big stress. ..big stress for all ukrainians. as they get ready to leave for the theatre we spoke to their hosts, helen and chris. when we first saw the message from shorena it was "and i have a partner." that's fine, that's great, we can do that. "and we have a daughter." 0k, we can do that. and we have a dog! once we met them, it was just — i just felt for them straight away. there was an instant bond. and i think the important thing also we knew — once we looked to their background in ukraine we realised these guys had an amazing career, which was completely cut short, which we had no idea, about as professional actors. so we said to them, we want to support you with that, to actually get work

as actors, and something, you know, meaningful. so it's been amazing. incredibly proactive. they have not sat down for one second. they have never felt sorry for themselves. they have just got on with it and they've worked extremely hard. every day the couple to the three—hour round trip from derbyshire to liverpool. yeah, it's not easy, but it's ok, because we love it. with a week to go until opening night, the actors are now mostly without scripts and are connecting to the scenes in a more visceral way. but for some it can feel like art is imitating life. it's a hard materialfor us — for all of us, because when we

are in rehearsal it's really emotional, it's in here and i — evenjust go backstage and sometimesjust cry, because ijust — here. we have a couple of scenes when my dad, my scene dad, goes to the wall, and it's just the same feeling. ——goes to the war, and it's just the same feeling. i do find it hard because i'm worrying about my family like every minute. i worry about my father, my mother, my sisters. and it's just really hard. and it's taking a toll on almost everybody, including the newest cast member, vadim. it's difficult to be

here and enjoy the life 100%. it's impossible, because our parents, ourfriends are still in ukraine. i even have one line "we are going to live through this, one way or another." and i keep repeating it every day. the cast of maria are just hours away from debuting their play, their culture, their stories to audiences here in liverpool. and after escaping the ravages of war for a new life here in the uk this is the first time many of them have performed professionally

since exiting the stages and the film sets of ukraine. sasha has left. cemetery maxine, sasha has left. in a few minutes we will have first dress rehearsal. and it's a really important moment for us, because today we will have an audience and we have to be ready for the premiere and that's why olena was worried about it, because this is the first time when we can have to try everything. so it is important. we have final rehearsal today afternoon and after that our. opening night already, it's i sold out today and tomorrow. we are so, so nervous and excited and it's a lot of feelings inside.

i've waited for this feeling for so long. is this the first time you have been on the stage? yeah, yeah, since february. so it's 1.5 years almost. with the dress rehearsal and tech checks completed the actors are making the final preparations before curtains up. a programme in ukrainian. and in english. music plays. speaks ukrainian.

how did the fire start? it's the interval and the cast are energised. it is good energy between the audience and actors. there was so, you know, something like this, yeah, ijust — i can't believe it's happening like right now. it's the show already. do you think you're getting a good response from the audience? yeah, yeah, definitely. and we are feeling the ukrainian people. i think they understand some humour or something. yeah. music plays.

no—one has the strength to remain silent any longer. applause. for the audience, which included lots of local ukrainians, it was a poignant evening. it was very powerful and at the same time it was very touching, because, for my opinion, holodomor is one of the most terrible parts of ukrainian history. when i found out that we could get tickets to it i was at what it was all about and i couldn't believe that i had never heard of this atrocity before. and i thought it was tremendous. i thought it was really moving. i thought it was

incredibly dramatic. i think it is very important- to say about it, what happened about before and during all of our life to have these i strange neighbours like this country. . so this play, for me, it's about history. i for all of us to be back on the stage, it's amazing, it really is. just this special energy, you are changing with the audience. it's the best. and i think our purpose, that all countries will recognise this holodomor — like genocide. it is our grand—grandparents, our relatives for all of us. i and we lost a lot of i things from our culture.

it's been an intense five weeks for this company of performers juggling jobs as well as rehearsals and travelling great distances to do both. the steadfast commitment to their craft, be it acting or directing, stands as a beacon to the power of artistry and creativity. so it's remarkable then that a group of refugees navigating a new land can be brought together to tell their new neighbours powerful stories of hope. applause.

hello there. it's a pretty quiet weather story indeed for the upcoming week and beyond because high pressure looks to be dominating the scene quite a while. so it's going to be mostly dry. there will be a few showers around, mostly across the north of the uk. could be quite cool as well to start this new week, certainly monday and tuesday both by day and by night, but it will warm up slightly towards the end of the week. now, the game changer has been this weather front, a cold front with some rain on it that's been spreading southwards and eastwards across the country through today. be lying across the south—east by the end of tonight. so a mild—ish night here, but further north—west and the clear skies, quite a chilly one to come. could even see a touch of frost or temperatures down to freezing, i should say. some of the sheltered glens across scotland. so chilly start to the day and you can see why we're in this chilly air mass for monday. still high pressure with us, so it's going to be mostly fine and dry.

now we lose that weather front from the south—east. it'll take the rain with it and then it's bright for many from monday, sunshine and showers, order of play for the afternoon. most of the showers, scotland, northern ireland, northern and eastern england. quite a keen breeze there. and again across the north of scotland, probably best of the drier weather wales in the south—west where we could see 16 degrees, but for most it's the low to mid—teens that is quite cool for this time of year. and then as we move through monday night, largely clear skies, light winds, that cooler air mass is going to turn chilly once again. could see some mist and fog developing here and there. so into tuesday, we've still got high pressure with us, fewer isobars, i think for many of the winds will be light away from the north of scotland, which we'll also see this weak, weather front that could enhance the cloud and shower activity for the northern half of scotland. we could see the odd shower into northern ireland, perhaps northern england too, but the southern half of britain should tend to stay dry after that cool start. should see quite a bit of sunshine, a bit of fair weather, cloud, top temperatures, maybe up to 17 degrees. it's the low to mid—teens

again in the north. and then as we move out to tuesday into wednesday, our area of high pressure topples a little bit further eastwards. that will start to bring some slightly milder air off the atlantic. you can see the blue tinge there just fading away as the yellows take over. so it's not going to be a heat wave by any means, but the temperatures will tend to climb a little bit towards the end of the week and there should be quite a bit of sunshine around. it should be mostly dry, all thanks to high pressure.

live from london, this is bbc news. early results are expected shortly in turkey's presidential election. could the country be heading for a run—off vote? president zelensky is in paris to discuss humanitarian and military support with his french counterpart, emmanuel macron. at least five people are believed to have died in myanmar as a powerful cyclone crashes into the country. and kate winslet is among the winners at the baftas — the awards ceremony that honours british television. hello, i'm lucy grey. we start in turkey where a closely fought election to decide

if president recep tayyip erdogan should remain in power after 20