welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: harry, harry! the final countdown to the royal wedding — prince harry talks to the crowds outside windsor castle. good evening, miss markle. how are you feeling tonight? while meghan markle and her mum arrive at the country house hotel where they're spending the night. in other news: more than 100 people are feared dead after a plane crashes shortly after ta ke—off from havana. and ten people have been killed at a school shooting in texas. a 17—year—old pupil has been charged with murder. we'll be looking at a few other developing stories later

in this programme. but first, hundreds of people, hoping to grab a prime spot for prince harry's wedding to meghan markle, are camping overnight outside windsor castle. ms markle will be walked down part of the aisle by prince charles. her own father is unable to attend the ceremony following heart surgery. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell reports from windsor. the night before his wedding and harry, accompanied by his brother and best man, william, emerged from windsor castle to meet the crowds. good wishes were offered and hands were shaken. children in particular were singled out for attention. and then, what's this? a familiar face in the crowd had been spotted. a familiar face indeed, although not quite what it seemed. you would hardly find her in an ice cream parlour on windsor high street! harry and william said their farewells to the crowd — if there were any last—minute nerves, they certainly were not visible. and as the groom and his best man headed for their hotel, so the bride, meghan markle,

and her mother, doria ragland, arrived at theirs. good evening, ms markle. how are you doing tonight? it has been an at times bumpy week for the markle family, with the uncertainties and ultimate withdrawal from the service of meghan‘s father. but mother and daughter who both met the queen for tea seemed relaxed. the absence of mr markle means meghan‘s mother is the only member of her family who will be at the wedding. as windsor basked in the spring sunshine, the final pieces of the wedding jigsaw fitted into place with the announcement that prince charles would escort meghan markle to the altar. a statement from kensington palace said: this is how it will work.

ms markle will enter the chapel through the great west door. she will walk the first part of the aisle through the nave, accompanied by the ten bridesmaids and pageboys. then at the choir screen on the left of the picture, prince charles willjoin her and escort her through the most historic part of the chapel to where harry will be waiting for his bride. they will stand just there by the chapel‘s high altar. they will exchange their marriage vows and then the archbishop of canterbury will declare them to be husband and wife. there had been speculation that maybe meghan would ask her mother to escort her to the altar, and among the wedding watchers in windsor, there was some disappointment she had not done so. we would like to see her mum walk her down the aisle, or walk herself down the aisle. if it were me, i would be pleased with charles walking me. you know, it is the father figure, you know what i'm saying? and it means, hey meghan, i love you, you love my son, welcome to the royal family.

i think whatever her mother was comfortable with, if she wanted to, that would have been lovely, but if she prefers not to, i think it is wonderful that prince charles is doing it. so now it is just the finishing touches to be put to plans which have been worked on for months. windsor is preparing for crowds on a possibly unprecedented scale. police have launched one of the biggest security operations mounted by the thames valley force. the military who will be on parade are back in barracks getting ready. these are the household cavalry soldiers who will be escorting the newly married couple on the carriage procession. it is a royal wedding to be celebrated and enjoyed. and with just hours to go, a good many in windsor were settling down for the night, in readiness for harry and meghan‘s big day. there will be more on the royal

wedding shortly. now a look at other developing news. a plane with almost 120 people on board has crashed shortly after take—off from the cuban capital, havana. it's being reported thatjust three people survived and are critically injured. the boeing 737 was on a domestic flight to the eastern city of holguin. 0ur correspondent, will grant has the latest. 104 passengers, several crew members, just three survivors. it was immediately clear this was cuba's worst plane crash since the 1980s. the 737 had barely been in the air for a minute before it came down, crashing into a field outside havana's airport. children in a nearby school had a narrow escape. their screams and nervous laughter obvious on their mobile phone footage. local people came to offer what help they could and the emergency services arrived in their droves. in the end, though, there was little anyone could do.

translation: this is catastrophic. this should never happen. i never imagined something like this. translation: this is a terrible tragedy. imagine. we are very emotional. cubans, so used to turning to the castros in times of crisis, now have a new president. it fell to him to bear the bad news. translation: we have to wait. the news is not very promising because a lot of people seem to have died. that's why, in the name of the government and the party, i express our condolences. this was a domestic flight run by cuba's state aviation company with a plane leased from a mexican firm on its way to the eastern city of holguin when it came down. the communist—run government's fleet in cuba largely dates from the soviet era, much of it ageing and in poor condition. at this stage, though, there is no indication why so many families are now grieving, why a routine flight, a short hop across the island, ended in this tragedy. will grant, bbc news. a 17—year—old youth has been charged

with murder in the us state of texas after a school shooting in which ten people were killed. the teenager, dimitrios pagourtzis, who attended the school in the santa fe, is alleged to have used two firearms owned by his father. police have also detained a second student suspected of being an accomplice. they found explosives in the school and at nearby locations. a little earlier our correspondent gary 0'donoghue gave me this update. in the last couple of hours he has appeared in court and has had his rights taken appeared in court and has had his rights ta ken away appeared in court and has had his rights taken away from him and has beenin rights taken away from him and has been in court and not been offered any ale. being charged with crimes of capital murder, as you would expect. the federal authorities are potentially looking at other charges as well that he could face. in the meantime, the police are continuing to search here at the santa fe high

school and at two other locations to see if there are any more of these explosive devices that have come to light in the wake of the shooting. of course what we are getting is the traditional, the terrible traditional, the terrible traditional pattern continues after each and every one of these shootings with a community that is shocked, that has lost nine of its young people and their teacher as well, and is asking the inevitable question why? and is not getting much by way that at this point in time. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a political bloc led by muqtada al—sadr has won iraq's parliamentary election, according to the country's electoral commission. the populist cleric is a long—time adversary of the united states and the election puts him in position to pick iraq's prime minister. the united nations human rights commissioner says israel used completely disproportionate force against palestinians protesting the opening of the new us embassy in jerusalem. zeid ra'ad al—hussein was addressing a special session of the united nation's human rights council which had been requested

by arab states in response to the shootings. more now on our main news, the royal wedding which takes place in around nine hours' time. we are counting down. 0ur correspondent andy moore is spending the night in windsor and has been talking to people who've already bagged their space to watch the day's events. there certainly are a lot of people here. you can see the castle floodlit behind me in the distance. as you say, we are here on long walk, which has been renamed by some people here as long wait. there are a lot of people camping out tonight, fairly chilly this evening but people are bedding down and getting ready for the big day later on. let's talk to one family, three generations of royal watchers here. first of all, let's talk to grandma jill. this is nothing new to you — you have been to lots of royal weddings before? my mother took me to princess margaret's, and we camped out overnight

when our daughter was very little for andrew and fergie. then we had will and kate, seven years ago. and here we are with the children, for theirfirst time. you yourself have seen three generations of royals getting married ? three generations, absolutely, yes. i blame my mother, she dragged me to everything so i'm dragging them now! what's so special about it? why do you do it? there is such a buzz here today. it was the same when we were on the mall, the people are lovely, sharing things, it'sjust a real community spirit, and we love the royals as well. ok, let's just talk to karen. karen, what do you think of the atmosphere on an occasion like this? it can't be beaten. fabulously british, you make friends with people whom you will never meet again. this lady behind me, apparently we were on the mall together at william and kate's wedding a few yards from each other, but we didn't know. it's lovely and wonderful, making friends. some people might say, why would you go to all this effort when you will see the royal couple for maybe a few seconds? to experience the atmosphere and the fun and the buzz of it.

it's good to get excited about stuff, to find stuff that makes you happy. champagne cork pops off-screen. there's the bubbly going! i think that's important in life. you have to find fun stuff and celebrate things. i'm a great believer in celebrating marriage and i'm happy for harry and meghan. gracie, why are you here? are you looking forward to the wedding? yeah, i'm really looking forward to the wedding. what are you looking forward to? i'm looking forward to mostly everything, well, everything, really. but i'm really looking forward to seeing meghan's dress. do you think you will be able to get any sleep tonight? um, probably... maybe a tiny bit, not much. as we know, meghan markle starred in

suits. well, we can go live now to los angeles to talk to entertainment journalist, kj matthews. iamso i am so confused. you fought against king george iii. now you are obsessed with the royal family and the royal wedding. what is going on? let me tell you something, america is more obsessed with the royals than we are with hollywood celebrities. it is pure pandemonium here. we love the royal family. celebrities. it is pure pandemonium here. we love the royalfamily. we particularly lock meghan markle because she is a hometown girl. she was born and raised here in los angeles. naturally elated is elated, thrills, and beside themselves right 110w. thrills, and beside themselves right now. it will be 3am when the wedding is happening, will people be watching it? absolutely. in fact,

her high school, a catholic all girls high school, the immaculate heart, they will have a summer party. they have invited students to come in around one o'clock two o'clock in the morning and it is about 3:30am of forey and when it happens. they say they will stay up all night because they want to see their most famous alumni get married. they never thought someone from their high school would make it and bea from their high school would make it and be a member of the royalfamily. the girls say she is an inspiration and motivates them and let them know they can do anything and they can have a real impact on the world. in matt clark park is just thrilled. beside that, they're all these pubs in los angeles that are saying we are not closing. we will stay open all night, 180 and comes, we can watch it on various screens, all of the american networks will be broadcasting hours before the actual wedding. they are saengkham, have some beer, have some fish and chips,

hang out and watch the royal wedding with us —— they are saying. hang out and watch the royal wedding with us -- they are saying. fish and fries more like. this is what i find interesting. you have your own form of the royal family in the united states, kim kardashian, for example, the kardashians are like a royal family. it would not be the first time you have someone go from hollywood to a royal household in europe, but there are so special about this circular it absolutely is. people from her mother's community, it here in los angeles, which happens to be a predominantly african—american neighbourhood and community, they are re—elected. african—american neighbourhood and community, they are re-elected. they said they never thought in in the news that someone from their community would actually make it to become a member of the royal family. of course, she is by racial, she is divorced, she is just of course, she is by racial, she is divorced, she isjust reflecting of course, she is by racial, she is divorced, she is just reflecting the modern part of society that they a lwa ys modern part of society that they always hoped the royal family would follow winter. to have someone from their community to now be a member

of the royal family, their community to now be a member of the royalfamily, they their community to now be a member of the royal family, they are just exhilarated. thank you very much. that is k] matthews from los angeles with all the excitement. thank you for joining with all the excitement. thank you forjoining us. they will be awake watching, and so will we. among the guests arriving in the next few hours will be ordinary members of the public, more than 2000 selected from around uk, some of them for services to their community. adina campbell went to meet some of them. what better way to start this weekend's wedding celebrations than with a tea party? making the most of the sunny weather, the royal school, here in windsor, has been gearing up for the big day for months. some have even been invited. and what are you going to be wearing? er, we're going to be wearing our school uniforms. and somebody‘s ironed a nice badge on... 0n the school, erm... summer uniforms. and we're going to be wearing straw hats. and hats. and they have this advice for meghan. it's a very new world

to her because she used to live in america, now she's in the uk, in england, and it's going to be very different. she'll probably have to change her accent, i think, from american. yeah. and she needs to, like, fit in, but i think she's already doing that well. yeah. we need to talk about why, or how, prince harry and meghan, er, this force for good that i mentioned earlier on. yeah. up in bolton is 21—year—old saeed atcha. he's been running this young people's magazine for the last seven years and got the idea because he felt there was a lack of positive stories about teenagers. his work has also earned him an invite to windsor tomorrow. you never do what you do for recognition, you do it to change lives of young people. and when you get that kind of recognition, it was like, wow, 0k, someone's actually believing in what i'm doing! i think that meghan and prince harry are a power couple, absolutely. and i've seen them both speak at events before they were a couple, and meghan was talking about racial inequality and female empowerment, and i thought... i didn't know who she was and i thought, that's fantastic! are these for the wedding?

yes, this is especially for the wedding. and i'm hoping maybe to give a few away on that day to people who i think deserve to be given a handkerchief from studio 306... in north london, pamela anomneze is also getting ready for this weekend's nuptials. she runs this creative therapy workshop to improve people's mental health. tomorrow, she'll be taking her son, jude, as part of the day out, but says she was shocked when she received the invite last month. i believed this might be just an april fool prank. it's a joke. why would i be invited to a royal wedding?! oh, my gosh! i bless them a million times. i love both of them, actually. iwas, like, "well, prince harry's lucky! he's a lucky man!" now, the most important question — what are you going to be wearing?

african and english design. so, you wait for that day, you will be so jealous of my beautiful outfit! the latest headlines: prince harry is greeted with shouts of good luck from well—wishers as he goes on a surprise walkabout in windsor on the eve of his wedding. meanwhile, meghan markle and her mother arrived ata meghan markle and her mother arrived at a nearby country hotel where they are spending the night. meghan markle said she was feeling wonderful. the former russian spy, sergei skripal, has been discharged from hospital. he was left critically ill for over ten weeks, following his exposure to a nerve agent in salisbury. his daughter yulia, who was also poisoned, was discharged last month. britain has accused russia of being behind the attack, something moscow denies. daniel sandford reports from salisbury. when they were first poisoned with a military—grade nerve agent almost 11 weeks ago, there were concerns they might not survive.

but now, 5.5 weeks after his daughter, sergei skripal has also been discharged from hospital. the staff here, when the skripals first came in, would have been dealing with something that, to be honest, no other clinicians in the world have seen before. and so they really did an incredible job in taking the unknown and working through treatment and maintaining life—saving therapy to get the result that we've seen today. i understand that sergei skripal has spoken at length with detectives now, and can walk, but he's not completely well and no—one knows what the long—term effects on his health will be. in russia, president putin said of the man who had spied for britain, "god grant him good health", and said that if a military—grade nerve agent had been used — as the british government claims — then the skripals would have died on the spot. the russian ambassador in london said embassy officials still want to see the skripals.

we want, er, just to understand how they feel, and we want them to tell personally what they want. sergei skripal‘s house, which police believe was the scene of the crime, remains abandoned. his front door has been taken away to the chemical weapons laboratory at porton down for examination. and counter—terrorism detectives have warned that their investigation could take many more months. the skripals are currently hidden in a safe location and police won't discuss their security arrangements. the motive for the attack, which left parts of salisbury resembling a disaster movie, remains unclear, but sergei skripal had continued to brief military and intelligence officers on russia. and this evening, small areas of the city he made his home are still cordoned off, awaiting a deep clean. daniel sandford, bbc news, salisbury. a brief look at some of the day's other news stories.

a team of british experts is being sent to the democratic republic of congo to help tackle the ebola outbreak. 25 people have thought to have died so far. the world health organisation believes more than 500 people have come into contact with the virus, and will need monitoring for symptoms. bmw is recalling an additional 88,000 cars in the uk due to a potential fire risk. it's in addition to a recall last week over faulty wiring connections which could cause vehicles to cut out while being driven. in total, nearly 400,000 bmw 3—series cars are affected. the department of health in northern ireland says more than 3,000 patients of the neurologist dr michael watt are being called to be reassessed, after concerns about potential misdiagnosis. the recall follows an independent review of his work. the number of patients being called back may still go up. downing street has said that theresa may regards as "unacceptable" remarks the speaker of the house of commons is alleged to have made

about a cabinet minister. john bercow is accused of swearing, and of calling the leader of the commons, andrea leadsom, a "stupid woman" on wednesday. the speaker's office said mr bercow treated his colleagues with respect. nasa has admitted a failed missions of sorts on the international space station. 0ne of sorts on the international space station. one of the crew ran into difficulties on a spacewalk, telling houston he had a problem. a view to remember 400km above planet earth. definitely one for the scrapbook. and after some routine maintenance on the international space station, time for this astronaut to reach for his camera. but plans to record the spacewalk for posterity hit a snag. houston, i have a question about the gopo real quick. we are all ears. go ahead. they are pushing the button and i see "no sd". that means, do we need that the record? the gopro, i am told if it has the card in that it should

have a red light if it is recording. and if it is no sd, what does that mean? i think that means no card. a very human mistake from an elite astronaut at the top of this field. facing a long trip home to collect another memory card, he was forced to admit defeat. well, we can put this one back in the bag, i guess. that sounds like a good plan. two us flight engineers are on the current iss mission. to spare his blushes, nasa hasn't said which was involved. the royal wedding isn't the only big date in the nation's diary. jose mourinho's manchester united will take on his old team, chelsea, at wembley in the fa cup final. and celtic play motherwell in the scottish cup final at hampden park. but who will get their hands on the prize? here's 0lly foster.

on a clear day, you can see wembley‘s arch from miles away. even windsor. contesting the 137th fa cup final are two clubs who know all about the competition. manchester united are looking to lift the trophy for a joint record 13th time. and, in their 13th appearance in the final, seven—time winners chelsea. chelsea lift the fa cup for the very first time at wembley! chelsea were runners—up to arsenal last year. the blues, though, had just won the league. tomorrow's final has more riding on it. for us, this game is very important, because we have had a difficult season, to finish the season with a trophy, and as you know very well, it's always important for the players. and so will manchester united. they haven't won anything, either. the fa cup is also their last chance. we want to enjoy, to play and stuff like that, you can enjoy the football and stuff.

but if you don't win a title, it's. .. well, it's good for the eyes, that's what we say, it's good for the eyes. but it doesn't make you win anything, you know? the royal box tomorrow will be short of royals. the duke of cambridge, who's the fa president, has skipped the trophy presentation because of his best man duties. that honour is going to fall to jackie wilkins, the widow of the late ray — the former england captain who died last month. he also played for chelsea and manchester united. in scotland, celtic are on a roll. can they achieve the double—treble? a clean sweep last season. beat motherwell at hampden, and they'll do it again. it gives you a chance, and an opportunity, to write another chapter in the wonderful history of this club. toasting the end of the domestic season, they'll be raising a cup at hampden and wembley tomorrow. 0lly foster, bbc news. now the weather, with stav danaos. hello there. we ended the week on a lovely note,

thanks to this big area of high pressure which will still be with us during the weekend and for many of us into next week as well. weather watcher photos pouring through of the glorious sunset up and down the uk. you can see how beautiful the skies were to end friday. as we head on into the weekend we are going to see more of the same for many of us, strong sunshine and a bit warmer as well. as we head into the early hours of saturday there will be a bit more cloud across northern and western parts of scotland. more of a breeze here as well. not too bad with temperatures around double figures, i think, for most. further south, particularly in eastern areas, it is going to be another chilly start to saturday, maybe even a touch of grass frost in places and also a bit of mist and fog too. there is a big area of high pressure with us to start the weekend. keeping these weather fronts at bay for now, until we reach sunday. a glorious—looking day for the royal wedding in windsor. a bit of cloud around, temperatures should rise with plenty of strong sunshine around. it's looking pretty good for the scottish cup final and the fa cup final, with temperatures reaching 19 or 20

celsius. this is the picture for saturday. you can see there is plenty of cloud in the sky to start the day across england, wales and southern scotland. high cloud developing here and there which could make the sunshine hazy at times. across the north—west corner of scotland is where we will see the thickest of the cloud, so temperatures will be 15 or 16 at best. eastern scotland, 20 degrees, england and wales looking at 21 or 22. that area of high pressure shifts further east. it will influence the weather across much of england and wales, but these weather fronts will be allowed to push in across northern ireland and much of scotland. we will see more of a breeze and outbreaks of rain, particularly across north—western scotland. the north—east of scotland shouldn't be too bad, with some sunshine. elsewhere across the country, another fine—looking day, with top temperatures of 22 or maybe 23 degrees, and lots of low cloud across the far south—east, but that should burn up as you go north up the coast. on monday, this weather front across parts of northern ireland and northern and western scotland will stay put.

persistent rain there. elsewhere, a fine day once again. good sunny spells, but a few sharp showers or thunderstorms developing across southern areas later on in the day as temperatures reach highs of 23 or maybe 2a celsius. that weather front will continue to plague much of scotland and northern ireland for the week ahead. high pressure will dominate the scene elsewhere. plenty of warm sunshine but always the threat of heavy showers. this is bbc news. the headlines: prince harry has been meeting well—wishers outside windsor castle where he will be marrying meghan markle in just where he will be marrying meghan markle injust a where he will be marrying meghan markle in just a few hours. the american actress and her mother have arrived at the hotel where they have spent the night. the couple will wed at noon local time at st george ‘s chapel in the castle. more than 100 people have died in a plane crash near havana's people have died in a plane crash near hava na's international airport.

three people have survived and are seriously injured. witnesses say the boeing 737 ran into problems shortly after ta keoff boeing 737 ran into problems shortly after takeoff and placed into agricultural land next to the airport, catching fire on impact. and a shooting at a high school in texas has left ten people dead and ten others wounded. the suspect, a 17—year—old student at the school in sa nta 17—year—old student at the school in santa fe, has been arrested and charged with murder. he allegedly used a shotgun and a revolver from his father, who legally owned the weapons. coming up in around ten minutes' time news watch, but first on bbc news, click.