petro poroshenko, at around 17 or 18% and yulia tymoshenko, the former prime minister, on about 14%. so, it seems, from these exit polls, if they are translated into real results, that volodymyr zelenskiy will be going through and will possibly be facing petro poroshenko and in the immediate aftermath of those exit polls, when they were coming through, i fought my way through to volodymyr zelenskiy and got his reaction. this is the first fight. i am very happy. this is not the final. so the final, we will see the result of the exit poll. i saw the result, mr president, petro poroshenko. .. and if you win, what will be your priority as president? corruption, of course. war. how do you say in english? immunity. immunity of politicians?

. —— yulia tymoshenko. 0n survivor but three. —— yulia tymoshenko.ch to qualify for a second round. it is quite a choice. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. president trump has used his first rally since the end of the investigation by the special counsel robert mueller to claim that his political opponents used the probe to try to illegally seize power. speaking to thousands of supporters in michigan, mr trump said what he called the the "collusion delusion" was over. the world meteorological 0rganization says that the physical and financial impacts of global warming are accelerating. their report comes in the same week as the international energy agency reported a surge in co2 in 2018. however, new data from the uk suggests britain is bucking the trend with emissions down by 3%. 300,000 women around the world — almost all of them in developing countries — are dying every year as a result of having caesarean sections. that's according to a new study in the lancet. researchers analysed data from twelve million pregnancies.

the other major alternative is yulia tymoshenko she's got experience as a former prime minister and instant name recognition as a heroine of the country's pro western movement but she spent years in jail on what her supporters say were politically motivated charges. so an outsider comedian and table tennis player who may not be an outsider versus the status quo president versus a compromised freedom fighter from the past no matter what the result ukrainians can't say they didn't have a choice. right now the japanese cars on an economy joins us now from kiev hynix over not to me is a landscape has been speaking in kid what's he said. whoa christine well he's come out with some fighting talk against the incumbent petro poroshenko reminding people here of recent corruption scandals and pushing those in a most circle he refuted pushing his allegations that he is a puppet of the ego of the only got ego. and this had come off. pretty loud intervention for shanker just a few hours ago when he said tomorrow first of april is april fool's day but essentially ukrainians he said should get a grip and

prime minister yulia tymoshenko is trying to reach she promises to cut household bills in half as soon as she's elected and do more to ensure ukrainians can find work at home both president poroshenko at the prime minister to have been around for decades and many ukrainians especially younger voters are hungry for change. one person who seems to fit the bill is actor and comedian polygamous lenski the forty one year old may have no previous political experience but he has played the president before and the hit series servant of the people the sitcom tells the story of a school teacher whose rant about the state of the country is caught on video by one of his pupils the video goes viral and the teacher suddenly finds himself catapulted to the top job delivering good morning mr president. mixing footage from the sitcom with his campaign ads zelinsky is now trying to convince ukrainians that he's the outside the country needs to shake up its corrupt politics his motto become president but stay with ordinary guy his critics argue that in reality he's no outsider launching a campaign calli

until recently, it was supposed to be a two-person battle between the current president and yulia tymoshenko, whose candidacy representseb remarkable cack. >> reporter: before the 2014 revolution, she serv as prime minister. but in 2011, she was imprisoned under ukraine's pro-russia president, viktor yanukovych, on dicharges of excee her authority in signing a gas supply deal with russia. she says the charges were polically motivated. >> tymoshenko! tymoshenko! >> reporter: but her message to ukrainian voters doesn't focus on the past president. it focuses on the alged corruption of the current president, poroshenko. sohis asates were recently accused of overcharging the nt to the tune of tens of millions of dollars worth of military equipment, and pocketing the proceeds. under the alleged scheme, a former director of a poroshenko- owned company was t in a government position that allowed him to approve purchases of components for military equipment. h intermediary company which sold the parts to state-owned defenme nufacturers at sometimes quadruple their market value. some of the parts wer

the old guard of ukraine's state ship seemed yulia tymoshenko fell from the political pantheon a long time ago after being thrown behind bars in an embezzlement case but now free she's taking her best shot at ukraine's top job. she's made social issues a cornerstone of her campaign promises like how offing gas prices have proposed her towards a place on the podium and finally the most unexpected entry in the race. that's right vladimir putin dragged into the picture by the incumbent president himself who is my opponent my opponent is putin couldn't name is not among the thirty nine on the ballot of course but clearly shows how heavily he weighs on the minds of some all of that and maybe see the civil war in the east of the country four in ten adults say it's a battle to put food on the table while a third are willing to move abroad for good ukraine votes. donald trump broke with fifty years of u.s. foreign policy on monday by formally recognizing the occupied golan heights a sovereign israeli territory the controversial announcement was made during a meeting with israel's prime minist

been criticized for failing to implement reforms and fight corruption another familiar face yulia tymoshenko she's a two time prime minister she's also pro europe and was part of the two thousand and four orange revolution against corruption the person who could turn ukrainian politics upside down is this man blogger mia zelinsky bold so them ski he's a comedian and actor famous for playing the president in a popular t.v. show and according to opinion polls he's got a good chance of becoming president for real. good morning mr president he's. an ordinary man taken by surprise catapulted into the top job by a string of coincidences that's the story of the ukrainian city servant of the people now its lead balloon team is alinsky is poised to become ukraine's president the second time. this time it could be the real polls consistently put him ahead of both incumbent president petro poroshenko and ex prime minister yulia timoshenko and there's the rub where both his closest rivals have been at the forefront of ukrainian politics for decades as a blank page he's never previously been involved in

for the first time since coming to power in twenty fourteen he's up against opposition leader yulia tymoshenko a former prime minister popular amongst older voters she's promising a three fold increase in pensions the wild card though is this man a lot of ms lewinsky is a comedian who plays a fictional president in a popular t.v. series he's tapped into growing discontent over corruption and he appears to be leading in the polls the winning candidate will need at least fifty percent of the votes to avoid a run. for all this is happening against the backdrop of the conflict in the east with russian backed fighters now in its fifth year the war has hurt ukraine's most economically important region drain public resources and exhausted voters and there's no end in sight al-jazeera has journal reports in the city of mariupol but the conflict is never far away. crane's war zone a new breed of entrepreneurs. alexi used his disability payout as an injured veteran to set up a pizza business. being given to much of it people are happy to spend their money rather than save it because they know anything c

the big loserfrom today looks to be yulia tymoshenko, the darling of revolutions passed, this will bemately wins will be confronted with the ukraine very serious problems. not not least relations with russia and a war in the east that has killed 13,000 people. this election isn't over yet, there is still a second round to come, but tonight here in ukraine, it feels like a little earthquake. voters rejecting the old in favour of something new, entertaining and almost completely undefined. jonah fisher, bbc news, kiev. with all the sport now, here's chris mitchell at the bbc sport centre. good evening. an important day in the premier league — more on that shortly — but it was also a key day in the scottish premiership, where the old firm match was, as usual, a tempestuous game. celtic beat their glasgow rivals rangers 2—1 to move closer to retaining the league title. adam wild reports. they say there is always calm before the storm. not on old firm days in glasgow. few derbies anywhere provoke such passion and rivalry. victory would all but secure yet another league title for celtic — a

able to find some better mode of relations with moscow and of course the third place candidate yulia tymoshenko has also been talking that way hinting in that way i should say i just want to ask you about that because unlike previous ukrainian elections where there had been foreign influences influential figures brought in from abroad to help in the campaign it hasn't really been that much of that this time around has there been more support for one particular candidate especially in the u.s. . well i think we can see the. the international republican institute serves who include the widow of the late senator mccain who was very much a prominent supporter a portion of her before his death had been giving a very positive coverage and emphasizing the desire for a western or interrogation of ukraine into nato and to the e.u. but i think also perhaps wiser heads a portion coup doesn't want to be tainted with being associated with foreign influences because a lot of his domestic unpopularity comes from people who say you're doing what the international monetary fund wants to do more european union o

in third place the former prime minister yulia tymoshenko. she will now be eliminated.ng because he is actually a comedian. volodymyr zelensky. he is even more than just a comedian. comedian. volodymyr zelensky. he is even more thanjust a comedian. he is actually a man who made his name playing a man who accidentally becomes president, would you believe. and now he is running for president. he wants to be president and as you can see, he is ten points ahead in the polls. this result depends on what happens to all the other percentages from the other 20 plus candidates, nearly 30 who will be eliminated. where their votes of the second time around. he will obviously pick up some of them. so will mr poroshenko. not beyond the bounds of possibility that mr poroshenko pulls through around two. nothing less that is an impressive showing by mr volodymyr zelensky, who is very much caught the nation. caught some of that rather satirical, disrespectfulfeeling towards politics in ukraine which have been messy to the saviour meets in recent years. you may recall because five years

about 30% and they are putting the current president, petro poroshenko, at around 17 or 18% and yulia tymoshenkoformer prime minister, on about 14%. so, it seems, from these exit polls, if they are translated into real results, that volodymyr zelenskiy will be going through and will possibly be facing petro poroshenko and in the immediate aftermath of those exit polls, when they were coming through, i fought my way through to volodymyr zelenskiy and got his reaction. this is the first fight. i am very happy. this is not the final. so the final, we will see the result of the exit poll. i saw the result, mr president, petro poroshenko. .. and if you win, what will be your priority as president? corruption, of course. war. how do you say in english? immunity. immunity of politicians? yes. so, we are expecting the counting to go on through tonight and into tomorrow and it may be at some point tomorrow that we will say with some certainty exactly which two candidates have made it through into the second round which will take place on april the 21st. there are obviously a lot of votes up for grabs. th

the big loserfrom today looks to be yulia tymoshenko, the darling of revolutions past, this will be thewhoever ultimately wins will be confronted with ukraine's very serious problems. not least relations with russia and a war in the east that has killed 13,000 people. this election isn't over yet and there is still a second round to come, but tonight here in ukraine, it feels like a political earthquake. voters rejecting the old in favour of something new, entertaining and almost completely undefined. jonah fisher, bbc news, in kiev. in turkey's local elections, the opposition has made some big gains, taking ankara. this is the first time in 25 years that president erdogan‘s ak party has lost control of the turkish capital. in turkey's largest city, istanbul, mr erdogan‘s party was leading by fewer than 3,000 votes when the official tally by the state news agency was stopped. the bbc‘s mark lowen has the latets from istanbul. president erdogan has lost control of ankara for the first time in a quarter of a century. here in istanbul and unbelievably close race. fewer than 3000 votes stan

time they've had in office and it's time perhaps for an absolute change at petro poroshenko and yulia tymoshenko battling it out for second and third place according to these partial results it is likely well he's certain almost now that this election will go into a second round let me bring in my guest peter my of works for the razor democracy initiative thanks very much for joining us peter does this man zelinsky have the answers do you think and if so what are they as he's not telling anyone well it's a million dollar question he certainly has the appearances and you know he's been playing for several years now the role of a successful a bit quirky president you know and has been able to blur the line between art and life in the minds of many of the electorate who seem to be very enthusiastic about him as far as the answers go not so fast he has made certain. noises as two of the below the dish of the russian versus ukrainian language he's been playing you know favorites with the south eastern part of the electorate the russian speakers he is much less of a nationalist than the other candidat

a desperate fight for second place with another member of ukraine's political establishment, yulia tymoshenkoy much undefined. jonah fisher, bbc news, kiev. the husband of a british—iranian woman who is currently in prison in iran has delivered a mother's day card to the steps of the iranian embassy, as part of his campaign for her release. nazanin zaghari ratcliffe was jailed for five years in 2016 on spying charges, which she denies. football, and celtic have moved closer to retaining the scottish premiership. the league leaders beat second—placed rangers 2—1 in an ill—tempered game to move 13 points clear of their glasgow rivals at the top of the table, as adam wild reports. they say there is always calm before the storm. not on old firm days in glasgow. few derbies anywhere provoke such passion and rivalry. victory would all but secure yet another league title for celtic — as if any greater incentive was needed. when odsonne edouard darted through the rangers defence, celtic fans sensed this was their day to get one over on the neighbours. such occasions don't need any extra spark, but it

opinion polls and trailing him our current president petro poroshenko and former prime minister yulia tymoshenko who are neck and neck in the race to make it to a runoff china has more from kiev. is the only expected from drama in the race to become ukraine's next president give me as illin skewers an actor and comedian whose campaign appearances are stand up comedy act. what he lacks in actual policy or political experience he makes up for with his on screen persona in a popular television series as a teacher blows the whistle on corruption suddenly finding himself yes president of ukraine that's the great. wealth is famous for one thing young people see him as an anti establishment outsider figure which they like and this sort of thing. i like this personality but it seems even he isn't sure if you can be president or not we don't know we just want to believe that he's a better option previous presidents with businessmen politicians and law is maybe a comedian can make a difference for ukraine many feel the political zelinsky could hardly do worse than the current president petro poroshenko he

the first time since coming to power in twenty fourteen he's up against the opposition leader yulia tymoshenkoformer prime minister popular among older voters she is promising a three fold increase in pensions and then you've got valda me as the lenski who's a comedian who plays a fictional president in a popular t.v. series he's tapped into the growing discontent over corruption and actually appears to be leading in the polls the winning candidate will need at least fifty percent of the votes to avoid a runoff and this is all happening against the backdrop of the conflict in the east with russian backed fighters that's now into its fifth year the war has hurt ukraine's most economically important region it's drained public resources and it's exhausted the voters journal reports now from the city of mariupol where the conflict is never far away. in ukraine's war zone a new breed of entrepreneurs. alexi used his disability payout as an injured veteran to set up a pizza business. being given a motivator in war people are happy to spend their money rather than save it because they know anything c

yulia's not the only tymoshenko in this race. l be right next to yulia volodymyrivna. yulia tymoshenko does not find it funny. she's accused president poroshenko offunding yurii as part of a dirty tricks campaign. lots of people are saying that you are what's known as a clone candidate, and that some people will make a mistake and vote for you instead of yulia tymoshenko. yurii has declared an annual income of less than $10,000 per year. so, this cost you $92,000. laughing are you crazy?! yurii tells me he borrowed the money and will eventually pay it back. 0k, and will you be inviting yulia tymoshenko as well? even if yurii getsjust 1%, it could be curtains for yulia. president poroshenko has denied any involvement in yurii's candidacy. the polls suggest the oligarch is in a desperate battle for survival. the chocolate king has proved a steady hand in the conflict against russian—backed rebels in the east and turned the country decisively towards europe, but his record on fighting corruption is decidedly mixed. after the previous