mariko oi with a story we are clearly going to be coming back to. 007 fans are abuzz now details of the 25th officialjames bond film have finally been unveiled — the oscar—winning actor rami malek is to play the villain. details of the cast were revealed at ian fleming's goldeneye estate welcome to bbc news, injamaica, where he wrote broadcasting to viewers all the james bond books. in north america the movie, to be released next and around the globe. april, is still to get my name is mike embley. our top stories: an official title. officials in sri lanka lower the death toll from sunday's bombings — they say it's hard and finally, before we go we'd like to leave you with some pictures to identify how many were killed. of a cat who has adopted prince wiliam condemns four baby squirrels. the orphaned baby squirrels extremism as he meets victims were brought to a park in southern of the mosques attacks crimea by a visitor in new zealand. when they were just four weeks old. pusha the cat, who already had four the message from christchurch kittens, was cautious about adopting and the message from al noor them at first. and linwood mosques but they got used to one another could not be more clear. and now the cats and squirrels live the global ideology of hate together as one big, happy family. will fail to divide us. 31 years after his first run for the white house, joe biden enters a crowded field of democrats vying to take on president trump. and cyclone kenneth makes landfall that is it for now. thank you so much for watching. in northern mozambique — it's forecast to bring storm surges to a country already devastated by floods.

hello there. after the warm easter weather that we saw last weekend, it's been turning gradually cooler and also more unsettled over the past couple of days. and that unsettled theme continues for the next few days too. this amazing picture was taken as the sun set on thursday the sri lankan government has evening in salford. sharply lowered the number of people it says were killed in the easter sunday suicide bombings. the health ministry now believes 253 people died, that's at least 100 fewer you can see the big shower clouds that we had, the heavy downpours. than the previous figure. a similar picture on friday. there will be some sunshine around, police have carried out more raids equally some heavy showers and have issued photographs of 7 in the forecast too. people wanted in connection with the attacks. and things will start to feel cold clive myrie reports from colombo. over the next few days. you can see the blue colours, curfew in colombo. that is a colder air mass filtering in from the north—west. the warm weather that has been rain, the soldiers‘ only companion with us is now pushing further east across europe. on empty streets after dark, so for friday morning we have got as a nervous capital guards some clear skies for many eastern areas to start off the day. against more atrocities. more cloud already in the west, with some showery rain the authorities have released for northern ireland, wales, the south—west of england the names and pictures of several through the morning. suspects they want to question following easter sunday's massacres. foreign governments are now anxious

for their citizens here. and these suspects, on the run, that should then push its way eastwards into south—west scotland, are the reason why. northern england too, before the next bands of showers arrive from the west the city of galle is a magnet later in the afternoon. for visitors, but troops now greet so temperatures for the likes of belfast and cardiff, foreigners as well as guides. only around 11—12, but we could still see 17 degrees 8,000 britons are currently 01’ so across eastern holidaying in sri lanka, too late to heed foreign office parts of england. advice not to come. but some heavy showers almost i won't be coming back. anywhere on and off through the day. first and last time. into friday evening and saturday, that's when things turn particularly stormy. but the people are wonderful here. storm hannah moving its way in from the atlantic. that's going to be quite the sri lankan people a troublemaker, i think, are absolutely fabulous but, no... bringing a wet and a particularly no, we won't be coming back. windy start to saturday, wherever you are. so let's take a look at storm hannah. it's moving its way in from the atlantic through friday the bombers killed and damaged night and into the early hours of saturday. churches and hotels. so this developing area of low now tourism's been wounded, too. pressure has got a lot of isobars associated with it, particularly on the southern edge. several countries, including so it will be across ireland australia, the us and canada, have issued advisories urging that we see the very strong winds, only essential travel. but they're also going to push into for the moment, britons wales and the south—west of england. wanting to leave have widespread gales likely to make their own arrangements. here on saturday, with winds gusting around 60, even 70 mph. several people died

when a suicide bomber blew up the breakfast room of the kingsbury hotel. three days on, they are sprucing up so notjust the strength of the wind, but also some really the entrance for the reopening. heavy showery rain for many areas you know, it could have been close, i could have been there. through the day on saturday. you could have died? you don't know, i could have, you know, i could have, because i take my breakfast the heaviest of the showers in this restaurant in and the strongest of the winds pushing eastwards through the day the mornings, usually. across central and eastern you never know. parts of england. should dry up for northern ireland, north—west scotland, and the south—west of but, you know, ithink england later in the day. but it will feel cold, you should not think of that, with temperatures generally around because anything you do otherwise, you will question yourself, what if? 10—12 degrees on saturday. when you add on the windchill it's a view shared by many it is going to feel pretty chilly in the tourism industry here. and we could well see some disruption due to the strength giving into the fear psychosis of the wind. would not really make as that area of low pressure then any sense, because it's clears to the east into sunday we see a smaller ridge of high a beautiful destination. pressure building in. and, you know, it might be a small so sunday the quieter day of the weekend. island but it's a vast space of land not wall—to—wall sunshine, i think, and there are plenty of places quite a lot of cloud around still. perhaps one or two showers just for people to be safe. lingering in the east, but for the moment, this and then more showery rain moving on from the west later in the day. is a land still on edge. not as cold, though, as saturday, its streets pounded more with top temperatures for most of us around about 13 or 1a degrees. by troops than tourists. bye for now.

and you can keep up to date all with the latest on the aftermath to the explosion in sri lanka on the bbc website. you'll also find analysis on the tourism situation, reports on the victims of the attack and news from our correspondents on the ongoing situation in sri lanka. that's all at bbc.com/news. prince william has met survivors of the christchurch mosque attacks on the second day of his visit to new zealand. 50 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on worshippers in march. at the al noor mosque, the duke of cambridge paid tribute to the courage of the community. the message from christchurch and the message from al noor and linwood mosques could not be more clear. the global ideology of hate will fail to divide us. and just as new zealand is taking swift action to ban physical tools of violence, we must unite to reform the social technology that allowed basically there this is bbc news, the headlines: hateful propaganda to inspire the sri lankan government has lowered the number of people it says the murder of innocents. were killed in sunday's suicide bombings. officials now believe 253 people died. the bbc‘s phil mercer the uk government is advising

is in christchurch, against all but essential travel he was listening to to the country. prince william's message. the foreign office says terrorists prince william was are very likely to try to carry describing what he out indiscriminate attacks. described as the unspeakable hate that drove the gunman to murder 50 people here in christchurch six weeks after the christchurch exactly six weeks ago, mosque attacks — prince wiliam has delivered now worshippers are a powerful messsage gathering for friday prayers on defeating extremism. and it has been an hour or so since the prince left the duke of cambridge paid tribute the al noor mosque here. to the courage of the community at the al noor mosque — and praised new zealanders he said the government wanted to spread fear for their compassion and mistrust in the community, in the aftermath of the attack. and he said that new zealand had 31 years after his first challenge denied him that for the white house, opportunity because of its resilience. joe biden has declared a new presidential bid, putting an end to months of speculation. —— gunman. the former us vice—president said we have also spoken to some the core values of america's of the survivors who spoke with prince william democracy were at stake and they've been telling us how important it is under president trump. that he has come. we spoke to one man who suffered terrible wounds after being shot in the back of his leg. he spent many, many days recovering in hospital and he said that the prince's visit here

was like a ray of sunshine for him. prince william also clearly has strong feelings about social media. how's that going down? well, it ties into the approach of the new zealand prime minister, jacinda ardern, she has been asking facebook some pretty tough questions, given that for about 17 minutes, the gunman who perpetrated this atrocity in christchurch six weeks ago managed to live stream part of his attack for 17 minutes. it took a social media platform well over an hour to dismantle, take down that video afterwards. and the prime minister of new zealand is on a bit of a global crusade to make sure that sort of extremist material can never be propagated in the same way again. so prince william referring to that in his speech today, later this afternoon he travels to the other mosque that was attacked six weeks ago in christchurch, in the suburb of linwood.

the prince is meeting many survivors and crucially, hearing their stories. as you say, it's exactly six weeks since the attacks. is it possible to form any opinion on how it's changed the country? i think new zealand has, as a country and a society, has had to take a long hard look at itself in terms of its attitude to racism, to inclusion, to intolerance and i think that the prime minister's approach has been praised by many new zealanders. she has been very compassionate and understanding on one hand yet her swift action on gun control on the other hand, has marked her very strong reaction to this atrocity. the weapons used in the attacks here at the al noor mosque and further away at linwood in the middle of march, all those military style weapons are now being outlawed in new zealand.

and the prime minister says that it is imperative that that is the case in order to preventa similar atrocity happening in the future. phil in christchurch, thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news. hundreds of thousands have joined a mass rally on the streets of the sudanese capital, khartoum, to increase pressure on the military to give way to a civilian administration. it's two weeks since president 0mar al—bashir was toppled. it's reported north korea tried to bill the united states $2 million for the medical care of the american student 0tto warmbier, who was jailed

there in 2015. arrested during an organised tour, he spent 17 months in detention and died after being returned to the us in a coma, with brain damage. kimjong—un has told north korea's state media that peace and security in the korean peninsula depends entirely on the future attitude of the united states. he was speaking at the end of his first ever summit with president putin. the russian president said the north korean leader would need international security guarantees if he is to end his nuclear programme. it's understood the british and irish governments are planning fresh talks in early may, to try to restore a fully—functioning devolved government to northern ireland. there's been growing pressure for a return to power—sharing at stormaont, since the murder of the young journalist lyra mckee in londonderry a week ago. 31 years after his first challenge for the white house, joe biden has declared a new presidential bid, putting an end to months of speculation.

the former us vice—president said, under president trump, the core values of american democracy were at stake. but he enters an already overcrowded race for the democratic party's nomination for 2020 — as our north america editor jon sopel explains. the next president of the united states, joe biden! will it be third time lucky for former vice presidentjoe biden? this is him, 30 years ago, going for the democratic nomination. he tried again 20 years later, when he lost out to barack 0bama. now aged 76, he is giving it one last shot. unlike many of his competitors, who are trying to ignore donald trump, he is taking the fight straight to him. if we give donald trump eight years in the white house, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are. and i cannot stand by and watch that happen. but his pre—launch has been bumpy. accused by some women of making them feel uncomfortable with his touchy—feely

approach to politics, he has tried to make light of it. by the way, he gave me permission to touch him! but that backfired, with many saying this is no laughing matter. also, there are now 20 democrats vying for the nomination. they call me mayor pete. early momentum has been captured by this man, pete buttigieg, a mayor from small—town indiana, who is gay, a practising christian and afghan war veteran and multilingual. this was him after the notre—dame fire. nous partageons la douleur aujourd'hui, que la cathedrale notre—dame, c‘etait comme un cadeau a l‘espece humaine. and then there's the socialist, bernie sanders, who has raised a lot of money and wants to pull the democratic party to the left. the united states of america willjoin every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to all people as a right. lying in wait for all of them is donald trump. this morning, he tweeted this:

in the race for the white house, joe biden has instant name recognition. he won't have any trouble raising money. he will get big—name endorsements. he also appeals to blue—collar workers, the group that donald trump did so well with in 2016. but the president is not going to give up the keys to this place without a fight. it is going to be a long haul and it is going to be brutal. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the bbc‘s chris buckler is in washington. a short time ago i spoke to him aboutjoe biden‘s launch of his campaign. you got a sense of a man who was trying to say, i am different to donald trump. and i'm particularly different on moral grounds. the phrase that stuck out to me during all of this was the phrase that this is a battle for the soul of the nation, the 2020 election.

he was saying very clearly as far as he is concerned, another four years of donald trump and the presidency could change america forever. but, what is worrying the white house and why donald trump is aware that joe biden could be a really significant competitor for him, is that he does appeal to some of those places in the midwest, in the likes of pennsylvania for instance whenjoe biden was launching his campaign today. for people who fundamentally did vote for donald trump in the last election, there is this chance potentially to bring some democrats back and to get them voting once again for the party. and that's whatjoe biden‘s message is for. and it's also why a lot of people are sitting up and taking notice. this has been a long held secret that he was going to be applying and running for nomination. but not a very well—kept secret. people have been waiting for this to happen. you get a sense that this battle to become the democratic candidate has really started today. and chris, as you say, he might well be a serious

challenger to donald trump but he has to beat the other democratic contenders first to win the party's nomination. this is a party that's moved quite a long way to the left and is also very supportive of the me too movement, which might be a problem forjoe biden. yeah, you've got to remember as well, there are 20 people now running to try to become the democratic candidate as well. it's an incredibly crowded field in whichjoe biden has to stand out. at the same time, he does have that name recognition, he is well known, he is respected in the party, and that works very well for him. but, you're right. there are things working against him. first of all, that idea that the democratic party has moved further to the left. bernie sanders when he ran against hillary clinton was putting forward ideas that perhaps were difficult people in the party, but the party has moved in that direction which has helped bernie sanders and others like elizabeth warren. whereasjoe biden is perhaps a little more conservative

with some of his ideas. and then there is a question of the me too movement, of course, because he has had these allegations of inappropriate behaviour. not allegations of sexual assault but inappropriate behaviour towards women which have captured a lot of headlines. beyond that, there is a feeling that the democratic party wants to be different going into 2020. they would like to see diversity in terms of their candidates. they would like to see more women coming to the forefront, and that means he is going to face challenges from the likes of amy klobuchar, kirsten gillibrand, kamala harris, all of these people. it's worth saying that with 20 candidates, the first time we will see them onstage together, they're having to divide it over two nights, just to fit them all in. it's two months until they take that stage and of course it's some months before we get to the stage where they're actually fighting to win that nomination to become the democratic candidate. you can be sure they will be talking and fighting from here on in. chris buckler in washington for us. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: president macron outlines plans to modernise the french economy and bring an end to weeks of protests, but will tax cuts be enough? nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government to build better government housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7 o'clock in the morning,

the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. welcome back. good to have you with us on welcome back. good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: officials in sri lanka lower the death toll from sunday's bombings, but the country remains on high alert. the uk is warning against travel to the country. prince william has delivered a powerful message on defeating extremism as he met victims of the mosques attacks in new zealand. for the second time in five weeks, mozambique has been hit by a powerful cyclone. the storm struck the north of mozambique around the pemba area bringing winds up to 200 kilometres an hour and torrential rain. mozambique is still recovering from last month's cyclone idai which killed hundreds of people. caroline rigby reports.

assessing the damage of cyclone kenneth. with category 4 hurricane—force winds the storm has already proven both destruct and deadly. authorities say at least three people were killed as it swept through the island nation of comoros to the east of the african mainland. for many there home is now an evacuation shelter. translation: we were up until 11 o'clock last night when things got out of hand. it was the neighbours who came to evacuate us. translation: we spent the night with fear in our stomachs. we couldn't sleep. we didn't know where to go in the dark. on thursday evening, cyclone kenneth made landfall in mozambique. with winds of more than 200 kilometres an hour it's the strongest and most northernmost system of this intensity every quarter to hit the country.

winds are now easing, but forecasters predict the worst is yet to come. this slow—moving system is expected to dump more than two—thirds of the region's annual rainfall of the coming week and this, combined with a storm surge, could lead to catastrophic flooding. the un warns that could trigger a humanitarian emergency on the scale of cyclone idai. last month, it hit further south, killing 900 people as it brought destruction to mozambique, malawi, and zimbabwe. but officials say they have learned lessons from cyclone idai. 30,000 people in the path of kenneth have already been evacuated. though more than 680,000 are thought to be at risk in a largely rural region where many live in basic homes, such as mud huts and shacks. the system is now slowly drifting north towards southern tanzania, where hundreds of people are already on the move in the hope of finding a safe place to ride out the storm. caroline rigby, bbc news. environmental protestors have targeted financial institutions across london on the 11th — and last — day of demonstrations

across the city. supporters of the protest group extinction rebellion blocked roads around the treasury and the london stock exchange. more than 1,100 people have been arrested since campaigners first blocked traffic on 15th april. france's president has signalled a shift in direction following months of nationwide protests by the giletjaunes, or yellow vest, movement. emmanuel macron outlined plans for significant tax cuts, together with higher pensions and political reform. andy beatt reports. five months of street protests, violence, and france's was a civil disorder in decades. what began as a demonstration against fuel prices $0011 demonstration against fuel prices soon became a national movement against social inequality and president macron‘s economic reforms. now in an eagerly awaited response at the elysee palace, he said he recognised the protestors‘

waegemans, alleging to change not just of policy, but approach. translation: i have kevin constant daughters, of being tough, sometimes unfair. my regret that. it is not what i'm like deep down. and they don't think it has helped my case. among his planned changes are lower taxes for the middle classes, to be paid for by people having to work longer, protecting low pensions against inflation, the introduction of proportional representation and some elections, and huge cuts in civil service jobs. some elections, and huge cuts in civil servicejobs. at some elections, and huge cuts in civil service jobs. at the same time, though, he vowed to push on with an even accelerate existing reforms. as france listens, some protesters said his speech changed nothing. translation: the yellow vest movement will carry on, because this speech doesn't give any concrete a nswe i’s speech doesn't give any concrete a nswers to speech doesn't give any concrete answers to our questions and demands. when i say nothing concrete, it means that citizens won't see anything different in

their wallets next month. translation: we won't call off any actions and meetings that are already planned. unfortunately, a few demonstrations, plan for the first of may, are going to be violent, very first of may, are going to be viole nt, very viole nt, first of may, are going to be violent, very violent, with many, many people. the protests have already cost lives and cause damage to the economy, totalling billions of euros. whether president macron‘s intervention will win over the french people or mark the start of a new wave of unrest remains to be seen. new wave of unrest remains to be seen. andy beatt, bbc news. the coming abdication of japanese emperor akihito next week has reignited debate on the country's male—only succession rule. although princess aiko is the only child of japan's crown prince naruhito, she will not ascend the throne because she is female. the bbc‘s mariko oi explains how the future of japan's imperial family, one of the oldest in the world, may be in doubt if the rule isn't changed. japan's about to get a new emperor, naruhito.

he's the eldest son of the outgoing emperor. but this person, naruhito's only child, isn't it next in line. it's his younger brother — then his nephew. that's because japan actually has a law where a woman can't be on the throne. and that's a problem for them, because the imperial family is running out of male heirs. recent polls have shown many japanese are fine with a female emperor. and there have been women on the throne in the past. in fact, there have been eight female emperors, the last one ruled about 250 years ago. so why doesn't japan change this rule? well, the same family has been on the throne for 2,500 years. the emperor was either worshipped as a god and soldiers would die for him. the monarchy has also been central to japanese identity. traditionalists believe that only a man can preserve this lineage. in 1889, japan's government put into a constitution that only a man can be on the throne. this was the start of a big problem for the imperial family.

why? because after world war ii japan introduced another law, saying the emperor could only come from this specific branch of the family. and that family just kept having girls. by the mid—2000s there were no male heirs in the youngest generation. so the japanese government sat down and prepared to change the law. but then this happened. prince hisahito was born. now he's the youngest person in line to the throne. unless he gets married and has a son japan will run out of emperors. the current government is pretty conservative, so it's unlikely to change the laws. 00:24:32,871 --> 2147483051:49:01,150 but in a few decades japan 2147483051:49:01,150 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 might not have a choice.