this is bbc news. i'm lu kwesa i'm lukwesa

burak. the headlines at 3pm: police in sri lanka arrest 2a people as the government blames a local islamist extremist group for a series of co—ordinated bomb attacks. it's feared a mother and her child are among the eight british nationals now thought to be among the 290 people killed. police say more than a thousand people have been arrested after seven days of climate change protests. dozens of firefighters are trying to control a moorland fire in marsden in west yorkshire. gun salutes have taken place to mark her majesty the queen's 93rd birthday. and the travel show heads to madrid where a transport revolution is under way. that's in half an hour, here on bbc news.

good afternoon. the sri lankan high commissioner says eight british nationals are among the 290 people killed in a series of bomb attacks. more than 500 others were injured in the blasts which targeted churches and hotels on easter sunday. police say they've arrested 2a suspects and that the bombings were carried out with the support of an international network. the government has blamed a local radical islamist group, although no—one has yet admitted carrying out the attacks. there has been another explosion today in the sri lankan capital colombo, as security forces were defusing a bomb inside an abandoned van near a church. nick beake reports. the christians of colombo should have been celebrating rebirth this easter, but it's death, on an horrific scale, which has confronted them.

this was one of three churches bombed. shouts and screams rang out where there had been singing and prayers. they were victims of a carefully coordinated strike which has plunged hundreds of families into mourning. among them, a 36—year—old's relatives, his brother said he rushed him to hospital, but there was nothing that could be done. the scale of these attacks and the planning that went into them have stunned sri lanka. but already the prime minister has admitted that intelligence was received more than ten days ago about possible attacks on churches, so already some people are asking — could these bombers have been stopped? visiting one of the bomb sites, a senior official defended the authorities‘ actions. why you try to isolate this particular incident? what i have to say, it is very u nfortu nate, very u nfortu nate. at the shrine of saint anthony's in colombo, disbelief. more than 1,500 worshippers had packed into the easter sunday

service. the chief priest told us he had left his church to pick up some papers when the bomb ripped through his congregation and that it was a miracle he survived. how does that touch you this morning, knowing you have been saved and 300 others lost their lives? i don't understand it yet, he has saved me. many are on edge, with good reason. explosions. this device has just exploded near one of the churches targeted yesterday, as the bomb squad was moving in. still no group has yet admitted it was behind the attack, the perpetrators may remain in the shadows but the carnage they have wrought is painfully clear. nick beake, bbc news, colombo. it's been confirmed that three of the four children,

of the danish billionaire, anders holch povlsen were killed in the attacks. mr povlsen— who is denmark's wealthiest man — is a major shareholder in the online clothing retailer asos — and one of the uk's largest private landowners — confirmed that his family were visiting sri lanka over the easter period. the queen has sent a message to the president of sri lanka. she says: prince philip and i were deeply saddened to learn of the attacks in sri lanka and send our condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives. i pay tribute to the medical and emergency services who are providing support to those who have been injured. our thoughts and prayers are with all sri lankans at this difficult time. it is feared that a british mother and her children are amongst the people to have died. they were reported to have been dining in the hotel when the restaurant

was struck. her husband is thought to have survived. we have had those deadly explosions on sunday which we have been reporting on, but today there is still very much an active situation as we have seen explosions over the last few hours that we are told, where controlled detonations of devices that were found, particularly one that was found in the vicinity of saint anthony's shrine. we are told this is the van that was detonated that the suicide bombers used yesterday to target the shrine. there were yet more explosions, controlled we are told, taking place at a market nearby, and some 87 devices were found at one of the big bus stations here, and they were also detonated. so still very much an active situation. investigations continuing here in colombo into what caused this attack. and, of course, a lot of issues and questions being

asked around just how much the government and the authorities knew and when because it has since emerged that there was a memo put out that warned as early as april 11 that such an attack would be taking place. but prime minister wickremesinghe and his office were not informed of this, so there is a lot of questions about what could have been done, perhaps precautions could have been put in place, specifically at the luxury hotels. we are hearing from the hotels that they would have had their security and security personnel on high alert if some of this had been in place in effect. climate change protesters, who've staged a week of demonstrations in london and edinburgh, will meet this afternoon to discuss the next phase of their campaign. more than a thousand people have been arrested since the protests began. 0ur correspondent caroline davies, is at marble arch and sent us this update. as you can see behind me here, the main stage is in relatively full

swing and there are crowds that are gathering. earlier today, there was ceilidh dancing out on the streets here and we also heard from the green mp caroline lucas. when we arrived first thing this morning, it was relatively quiet, but people have been staying overnight in tents over here. there's about 100 or so of them on the grass. we also spoke to people who said that they had been staying in their cars overnight and there are other people that have been arriving, there's been a steady stream of people arriving to protest in the sunshine. this extinction rebellion has been going for eight days now. it started last monday and we've heard from the police that there have been over 1,000 arrests, 1,065 so far with 53 people charged. among those people who have been arrested including the gold medal award winning 0lympic canoeist etienne stott. he spoke to me earlier. he was on waterloo bridge last night when he was arrested by police and put into the back of a van. he was released in the early hours of this morning and he came down here to address the crowds. the mayor of london, sadiq khan,

said yesterday that he wanted london to get back to business as usual. he says that this has caused immense disruption for businesses and for londoners and that 9,000 police have had to help with this operation and he wants it to end. however, we've spoken to organisers today and that doesn't seem to be a hugely likely prospect at the moment. they're planning a people's assembly later this afternoon, around three o'clock, where the crowds are expected to gather and then form into groups to come up with their own proposals about what should happen next. the exact decision about what those proposals might be isn't clear yet, but we've heard from the organisers they don't expect to be going home any time soon. dozens of firefighters are trying to control a moorland fire in marsden in west yorkshire. it's thought the blaze, which broke out last night, extends to over a square mile was started by a barbecue. it's the sixth fire in the area so far this year. sally hurst reports. this fire started last night

and firefighters are very busy today trying to tackle it. we have just had, in the last hour, another flare—up on the ridge you can see behind me. the helicopter has been going down to this reservoir nearby, scooping up water and dumping it on the fire in an attempt to stop it. i am here with craig best from the national trust. you have been here all night watching this, haven't you? it must be devastating to see the damage. yes, i have been on site since about one o'clock. the fire started at seven o'clock last night, and we believe it was through the use of a barbecue. in that time, it has spread quite rapidly from what was initially a very small fire to a scene that we see behind us which amounts to about 300 hectares in total. that is actually double the size of the previous fire you have already had this year. that is double the size of the fire we had at the end of february, but it is actually the sixth fire

that we have had this calendar year, which is exceptionally rare for this time of year. what about damage to wildlife? this is a key nesting time, isn't it? yes. this moorland is really important for ground nesting birds, and a number of those species of ground nesting birds are currently nesting, so there would have been some impact on birds‘ nests and also a whole range of small mammals and reptiles. and what about the financial cost as well to the national trust? we think of this landscape in the same way as a stately home. if a stately home catches fire, that is a significant asset that has effectively gone up in smoke. we have invested several hundred thousands of pounds in restoration to restore the moorland, make it wetter, improve it for wildlife and improve those peat soils, and we estimate around £200,000 of restoration has gone up in smoke. what will be happening for the rest of the

day? we will be working with the fire service and we will also continue to use the helicopter to put the fire out. but there is no doubt we are going to be with this fire for the next couple of days to ensure there are no flare—ups. 300 hectares of land is an awful lot for the fire service to tackle, to get on top of, so this command centre is going to be here for the next few days at least. that was sally hurst in west yorkshire. in northern ireland hundreds of holidaymakers in county down spent the night in emergency accommodation after a large hillside fire forced them from their caravan park. the wildfire happened in the mourne mountains above the seaside town of newcastle. they're now under control. chris page reports. 0n the mountainside, a fire a mile long threatened some houses as it burned through the gorse. eyewitnesses described it as a running wildfire. 50 fire fighters worked to bring the blaze under control. the flames came close to a caravan park. police went from one

mobile home to another, telling people to get out quickly. buses took around 200 holiday—makers to a leisure centre. it wasn't how expected to be spending their easter. very frightening. people were told to get in to their cars, move their cars. then you got in and you were told to get out of your cars and run to the front gates. the wind was blowing it towards the caravan site. once it hit one caravan, then they were worried about the gas bottles. once the gas bottles are hit, it would have made a chain reaction. they have now been allowed to go back to their caravans. the mourne mountains provide some of the most striking scenery in northern ireland. the hilltop scrubland adds to the rocky beauty. but when fires break out here, the wind and the terrain mean they spread rapidly. it isn't clear yet how this one began. but the emergency services have pointed out the vast majority of gorse fires are started deliberately, and pictures like these show how dangerous that can be. chris page, bbc

news. two teenagers arrested in connection with the murder of thejournalist, lyra mckee, have been released without charge. the 29—year—old was shot dead during violence in londonderry on thursday night. police said support from the community has been positive, but appealed for "tangible evidence". a british charity worker has been killed in northern nigeria. faye mooney was shot dead on friday, along with a nigerian man, when gunmen stormed a resort in kaduna state where she was visiting on holiday. three other people were also kidnapped. no—one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. older women are being exploited by some ivf clinics, who are trading on hope, that's according to the head of britain's fertility watchdog. sally cheshire, chairwoman of the human fertilisation and embryology authority, has accused some overseas private clinics of using selective success

rates to persuade middle—aged women to undergo treatment. the human fertilisation and embryology authority says that those undertaking ivf aged between a0 and 42 had a success rate ofjust 9%. those a year older saw their chances of getting pregnant fall significantly to 3%. and those aged 44 had a success rate of 1% that equates to just 2 live births. a short while ago i spoke to sally cheshire. we're concerned about are more of the foreign clinics who are coming to the uk who are investing here because there are returns to be made, who absolutely are not being honest with women, and the advent of social media and other outlets where people can find their information means that we can't always provide those patients with the right, accurate information that they have. i would encourage them to come to the hfea and to ask very searching questions of their clinic about the cost of treatment,

about any add—ons to basic ivf that may be offered to them and, as you pointed out, we have a traffic light system which rates the most common and suggests that, actually, there's no evidence that any of them are effective. what hopes do you have, then, of achieving this much tighter regulation that you're hoping for? 0n add—on treatments in particular and on prices, we're making lots of progress with all of the professional bodies and with the government so every person who works in the sector, all the stakeholders, professionals and ourselves, have signed a consensus statement recently about the way to offer add—on treatments ethically and we will do the same on price and we will do the same through media opportunities like this to get our message across. the queen's 93rd birthday has been marked with gun salutes in central london.

a 41 gun salute took place in hyde park at midday. and at one o'clock a 62 gun salute was performed at the tower of london. although her actual birthday was yesterday tradition dictates that the salutes never take place on a sunday. it is 3:16pm. the headlines on bbc news: police in sri lanka arrest 2a people — as the government blames a local islamist extremist group for a series of co—ordinated bomb attacks. it's believed a british mother and her two children are among the 290 people killed in the blasts. police say more than a thousand people have been arrested arrested after seven days of climate change protests. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton.

we will start with the football. norwich city could steal a promotion to the premier league this afternoon if they win at stoke and a few other real results go their way as well. they are currently five points clear of sheffield united and third placed leeds. let's take a look at the scores from this afternoon. the early kick—off, aston villa proving the hopes. there are nine other games currently under way. we are less tha n games currently under way. we are less than 20 minutes into those games. sheffield united have taken a 1-0 games. sheffield united have taken a 1—0 lead at hull city. as thing stands, norwich city won't be crowned champion this afternoon. but smith bolstered their bid for an automatic promotion spot from league 1coming automatic promotion spot from league 1 coming from behind to beat coventry 2—1. it has pushed them up

to second by the time being. ba rnsley to second by the time being. barnsley and sunderland can overtake them if they win their 3pm kick—offs. boxer ali has been banned and been signed for biting. he had his boxing licence suspended and his fight withdrawn after being disqualified in liverpool last month. he apologised after the fight saying his behaviour was not a true reflection of who i am. and the first round of the world snooker championship is continuing in sheffield this afternoon. let's go live just now. in the afternoon session, it is a five—time champion ronnie 0'sullivan taking onjames cahill. he is the first amateur player to reach the crucible and it was a 23 from black ball took the first frame. 0n the other table, john higgins starting his bid

to reach the final. he started his campaign against mark davies. higgins leading. you can watch the coverage on bbc do and bbc iplayer. -- bbc coverage on bbc do and bbc iplayer. —— bbc two. and three—time champion mark selby will have to do it the ha rd mark selby will have to do it the hard way if he is to progress beyond the first round. he trails 5—1 at one stage before taking the final two frames of the morning session. they will play to conclusion tonight. shaun murphy has completed only the second whitewash at the world snooker championship. the 2005 champion resumed this morning 9—0 up and rattled off the first frame to breeze through to the second round. john parrott was the first to com plete john parrott was the first to complete a 10—0 victory at the crucible back in 1992 against eddie charlton. murphy will face another former champion in the last 16.

snoop is a funny little game. really, you can only concentrate on yourself. i can only worry about my game. —— snooker is a funny game. i will make the most of the chances that come my way. if i make the most of them, it could be a classic. british cyclist has won the first stage of his hotel career on the opening day of the tour of the alps. the team sky rider was front and centre. he timed his sprint perfectly on those narrow streets to beat his team—mate chris broome who finished in sixth. i will have no spot for you in the next hour. thank you very much, holly. let's get more now on the series of bomb attacks which killed more than 290 people, including eight britons in sri lanka. the sri lankan intelligence services have come under fire after the prime minister admitted the government was made aware about possible

attacks on churches ten days ago. 0ur correspondent, nick beake has been speaking to the sri lankan defence minister, hemasiri fernando, who was on a visit to one of the bomb sites. very u nfortu nate very unfortunate thing has happened. sri lanka has become a peaceful and democratic country and suddenly it happened. it is very unfortunate. very u nfortu nate. happened. it is very unfortunate. very unfortunate. in other countries, so many peaceful countries, so many peaceful countries where security concerns are very much... for example, new zealand, it happened, very unexpected. we need to make sure that similar things will not take place in times to come. you say these things happen but there was a clear warning, intelligence that christians would be targeted, and that intelligence was not acted upon. the intelligence never indicated that it is going to be an attack of this magnitude. they were talking about isolated

one or two incidents. besides, we can't depend on the armed forces to protect us. we informed all important apartments of the police about this. about this information. is any action taken upon that one? no. again, that, you know... any intruder can get into any place. you can freely go in the bus, in the train, you can freely 90, bus, in the train, you can freely go, tell me how to do these things? it is very difficult. what is your message today to dare to say the sri lankan people have been failed? what would you say to this was an intelligence failing and innocent people have died in their thousands. this is not the first time a bomb

has gone off in this country. during the height of the war when the emergency regulations were in full and every two kilometres there was a roadblock and we were checking everybody, even then the bombs exploded in this country. why are you trying to isolate this particular incident? it is very u nfortu nate, very u nfortu nate. particular incident? it is very unfortunate, very unfortunate. what are you doing now? you met this morning the president and other key figures. we have had a number of meetings with the prime minister and we are doing everything possible to stop a similar thing happening in the time to come. are you confident... ? the time to come. are you confident. . . ? no the time to come. are you confident...? no country in the time to come. are you confident. . . ? no country in the world can say that it is not going to happen. we are trying our best. investigations are still on and we wa nt to investigations are still on and we want to find out everything. we have to do our best. your message to the people of show anchor today, should they remain on guard? become and

be peaceful. let the armed forces and the police and the gunmen take care of the situation. do you think you have arrested all of the perpetrators? some 23, 2a people in custody now. i don't know. i don't know. the president, the prime minister and the government are concerned about the current situation and we want things to get back to normal as soon as possible. we are trying our best. it is an u nfortu nate we are trying our best. it is an unfortunate incident. should sri lankans unfortunate incident. should sri lanka ns have faith unfortunate incident. should sri lankans have faith in intelligence services to protect them in the future? i refused to comment on that. you can't give them that we assurance? sorry? you can't give them that we're assurance? no, there are certain things i can't. that was the sri lankan defence minister speaking

in colombo. in ukraine, a comedian, volodymyr zelensky, has been elected the country's next president in a landslide victory against the incumbent petro poroshenko. he won 73% of the vote with no previous experience in politics, though he does star in a ukrainian television show as a fictional president. the european union says he can count on its strong support to fight corruption. from ukraine's capital kiev, here's our correspondentjonah fisher. this was the first time volodymyr zelensky was told he'd become president. it was three years ago and the first episode of his television show. servant of the people. last night, fiction became fact and the music from the tv show was played as volodymyr zelensky was told for the second time.

this time for real, that he was ukraine's next president. translation: to all former soviet countries, look at us. everything is possible. across town, president poroshenko conceded while muttering darkly that the kremlin would be celebrating the comedian‘s win. ukraine could be quickly returned to the russia orbit. relations with russia will now be the key issue for the soon to be president zelensky. can we expect any change in ukraine's relationship with russia? the population is pretty decided upon towards what russia is. the vast majority sees it as an aggressor. so there's no real scope for president zelensky to try to strike some sort of deal over the conflict in the east or

it negotiate over crimea, for example. he may try to do that but at the same time i think it would create a public outcry. what of the activists? from the street revolution. what do they make of ukraine's comic turn? when i'm looking at this from the angle of the change in the elite, ukrainians wanted change. and if only zelensky happened to be someone who can deliver this change... so we should work with what we have. it's a step in the right direction, you think? i would say this is a step and we have to make it right! there are still plenty of unanswered questions about mr zelensky, not least his relationship with a controversial oligarch. but for now it's important to reflect on a peaceful campaign, a fair vote, and what

looks set to be a smooth transfer of power. the world may be laughing at ukraine's comic choice of leader, but this country has lots to be proud of, too. under rules being finalised by the eu, new vehicles will have to be fitted with speed limiters from 2022. but how will they actually work? theo leggett has been finding out. speed limits — they're a fact of life and they will soon become even harder to ignore. from 2022, all new cars are due to be fitted with intelligent speed assistance systems. basically, on—board speed limiters designed to prevent you from breaking the law. now, that might all sound a bit futuristic, possibly a bit big brother as well, but you might be surprised to learn that lots of modern cars, including these two, already have intelligent

speed assistance systems fitted as standard. so the best way to find out how they work is to use them, and i'm going to start with this ford. so this car has a fairly basic speed assistance system fitted. it relies mainly on a camera up here, which looks at the road ahead and tries to pick out speed limit signs and respond to them. there's the a0 limit sign now. just going past it and i can see the car's recognised it. it's on my dashboard and the car is slowing down as well. so we're not breaking the law. and now i'm approaching a 30 mile an hour limit. let's see if the same happens. just going past the sign now. i can see on my dashboard the car has recognised it and now i am doing 30 miles an hour. i can go faster if i really want to by stamping on the accelerator, but given that we're going through a village, there may be children around — there's a school over there — probably not such a good idea. that is one form of intelligent speed assistance. there are others.

let's try what this car has to offer. now this car's a little bit different. it does have a camera, but it also relies on gps data, so it knows when limits are coming up. and right now i'm doing 50, i'm approaching a a0 zone and the car's already warned me of what to expect. and in fact it has now told me that there is a 30 zone coming up, so i can slow down in advance. i don't need to risk speeding. if i get it wrong, the system is there to help me out and help me avoid a speeding ticket. most people want to stick to the speed limit, but they need help in understanding what is the speed for any particular road. these systems help them do that. but the systems are not infallible. systems like these won't stop determined speeders. there's an off switch, after all. they do make you more aware of what you're doing. so if you get a speeding fine, you probably deserve it. theo leggett, bbc news.