good afternoon. sri lanka's security forces have said 15 people were killed in an explosion and gun battle with suspected islamist militants. six children were among the dead. the search is continuing for the bombers who carried out a series of attacks on easter sunday. in colombo and other cities. from sri lanka, our correspondent

yogita limaye reports. the search continues for those behind sri lanka's horror. police have been carrying out raids across the country. on friday, they followed a tip—off to this house in the eastern city. armed gunman were inside he set off an explosion. a gun battle followed and the house burned down. more than a dozen died. six are believed to have been linked to the bombings. several children we re to the bombings. several children were also caught up in the violence. in another house in the same city, police found a huge —— of bomb—making material. a discovery that shows how grave the threat of more attacks still is. this ban of the islamic state group, which has claimed responsibility for the easter sunday attacks, was also found. not far is the town where

this man left, zahran hashim, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, believed to have been one of the suicide bombers himself. several suspects are still at large. these photos were released by the government earlier this week. perhaps the most inhuman of the bombings was at this church in batticaloa, because children with a target. young boys and girls who we re target. young boys and girls who were attending sunday school. —— where the target. the bbc‘s tamil service spoke to a pastor who recalled seeing the bummer. he was wearing shoulder bag and a camera bag. i wasn't aware of his purpose at that time. many children were drinking water in the entrance of the church after their sunday school class. people and children are entering, that is when the bomb went off. workers have begun to clear trail of destruction. and most of those who died have been made to rest. but

fear remains. —— laid to rest. more than 90 labour politicians — including some shadow ministers — have signed a letter demanding the party campaigns during the european elections on a promise to hold another referendum on any brexit deal. those elections — due on may 23rd — are also proving difficult for the conservatives, with many grassroots activists reluctant to campaign. our political correspondent, susanna mendonca, is here. a testing time for the two largest political parties? yes, you have mps and meps who have written to the labour party's ruling body who say they want a commitment toa body who say they want a commitment to a confirmatory vote under brexit deal so another referendum. they say most labour party members support that and they want the party to tow that and they want the party to tow that line. it follows concern early in the week about a draft election leaflet which came out which didn't mention another referendum. it is an issue for labour because there are those within the labour party who

think labour could lose out on votes in key brexit heartland if they were too vocal about that. that is certainly an issue for labour and the conservatives have a problem with this potential european election because the prime minister is still hoping she will be able to avoid elections and get a deal through, but if she doesn't, activists have already indicated that they will not campaign and there are suggestions they would not be getting as much funding as they usually would expect because donors have suggested they will not contribute. and also, we are not clear whether there will be a conservative party manifesto at all and whether there will be a ma nifesto and whether there will be a manifesto launch, so a challenging time for both the parties, at a time of course when you have smaller parties that are hoping that they will be able to monopolise on the struggles of the bigger parties. and of course, if anybody wants a list of course, if anybody wants a list of the candidates and who is standing in their region of the uk, they can find out on the bbc‘s website. thank you very much. a formal investigation has begun into a decision by the home office decision to accuse more than 30,000

international students of cheating in english language tests. there are claims now that many of the accusations were unfair. many students had their visas revoked — and more than a thousand were removed from the uk — after evidence of cheating was uncovered by the bbc‘s panorama programme. the national audit office will conduct an inquiry. a powerful cyclone has smashed into mozambique, flattening thousands of homes and flooding low—lying areas. cyclone kenneth struck with winds of 140mph, barely a month after a previous cyclone killed hundreds and devastated large areas. authorities have advised people to move to higher ground, amid concern that thousands may be trapped by flooding. here, clinics offering cosmetic surgery — such as botox and fillers — have said they will introduce new checks to ensure vulnerable people are not sold unnecessary or damaging treatment. it follows a warning, from the nhs director of mental health services that the cosmetic industry is doing too little to stop those with body

image obsession undergoing potentially harmful treatment. richard galpin reports. cosmetic procedures like botox injections and fillers are popular and easily available — notjust in clinics, but also in high street outlets. the nhs is concerned there's a link between young people's mental health and these kinds of procedures. 25% of youngsters are worried about their appearance. 50% are worried about their weight. and we know that the evidence is, if you've got those concerns, if you are feeling pressure or bombarded around idealised body image, that you're more likely to seek procedures, but you're also then more likely to be dissatisfied with the outcome of those procedures. to try to tackle this, the nhs wants all those providing cosmetic procedures to sign up to an online training programme, teaching them how to recognise the signs and symptoms of vulnerability and mental ill

health, and ensuring they tell customers where to get help if they show signs of being vulnerable. but the course is voluntary and, so far, only 10% of providers have signed up for the training. richard galpin, bbc news. a busy afternoon of sport. with all the sport now, here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. tottenham are trying to strengthen their grip on third place in the premier league, in the day's early kick—off at home, against west ham. spurs might have their champions league semi—final against ajax in the back of their minds, but they will be keen to ensure their place in next year's competition, by finishing in the top four. and it's goalless. after 37 minutes. and in scotland, celtic are hoping to edge closer to the title with victory against kilmarnock, who themselves are chasing a top—three place and entry into europe next season. it's goalless. after 35. bolton have now been told that they must complete their two outstanding championship fixtures

by the english football league. today's match with brentford was called off last night after bolton's players said they would not play again until they received outstanding wages. bolton have been relegated to league one, and they have been told to rearrange that game at the earliest opportunity. ferrari's charles leclerc is fastest after practice for this weekend's azerbaijan grand prix. loose manhole covers caused havoc and meant first practice had to be cancelled after george russell's williams car was damaged. around 300 manhole covers have since been checked and russell has been back on the track today in his repaired car. mercedes drivers lewis hamilton and valtteri bottas are first and second in the championship, after three consecutive one—twos at the start of the season. it's the london marathon tomorrow and, in the men's wheelchair race, he's looking for a record ninth course victory, but keep an eye on team matejohnboy

smith. he's an upcoming wheelchair racer, whose life was changed in a split second as a teenager. kate grey has been to meet him at his training base in richmond. johnboy smith is one of britain's rising stars on the wheelchair racing circuit, but he never set out to be. his life changed at the age of 16, in a tragic case of mistaken identity. i stumbled upon the wrong farm, at the wrong time, mistaken for a poacher, i was accused of poaching and everything like that. the farmer fired a warning shot at me, instead of asking questions — "were you poaching? were you here before?", whatever. fired a warning shot, me and my friends ran back to our car. the gun the farmer shot with was a rifle. it shot through the back of the car, through the seat and into my spine. that's the less gory, short story. and that was it? that was it, instantly, total paralysis. before his injury, he was a keen amateur boxer in his traveller community. that was clearly no longer an option, so during his five months of rehab at stoke mandeville hospital,

he had to come to terms with his new way of life. my mum was pushing me around the hospital in a wheelchair and i was thinking, one, i'm not going to let her do that, because that's going to get her down and, two, i'm a 16—year—old boy and i need some dignity. that sort of inspired me to be better, be stronger, physically and mentally. and, yeah, itjust all snowballed from there, really. over time, johnboy tried out a number of different sports and eventually found his calling as a marathon racer. it's going to be silver and bronze for england. success soon followed, winning silver at last yea r‘s commonwealth games. the best moment in his wheelchair racing career so far. but ultimately, it's not about the medals forjohnboy. he wants to be a role model in his community and prove that anything is possible. you can have the worst news in the world, you've lost the use of your legs, you can't box any more, you can't have a normaljob. i just wanted to show that there's life after disability, there's life after tragedy. i'm just a local lad from kent and itjust so happens i'm very good at wheelchair racing.

what an inspiring story! good luck if you are doing the marathon yourselves tomorrow. mark williams and mark selby, are in second round action at the world snooker championship in sheffield. selby started the day trailing gary wilson nine frames to seven, but got the best of the early session, levelling the match at ten—all. it's the first to 13 frames, and selby is behind again — he trails io—ii. the defending champion, williams, is also behind, 7—9. that's all the sport for now. it is back to you. thank you very much, mike. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. and there will be a full round—up of all the day's news on bbc one at 6:40 this evening. bye for now.

hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. we can get more detail now on cyclone kenneth, the second powerful storm to hit mozambique in the last two months. rescue teams are attempting to reach remote villages in the north of the country, where thousands of people may be trapped. the cyclone built up in the indian ocean, killing three people on the comoros islands as it headed towards the african coast. it made landfall on thursday in the northern cabo delgado region of mozambique. with heavy rain expected over the next few days, there's a high risk of flooding and landslides, as the country continues to recover from cyclone idai, which killed hundreds further south last

month. our correspondent pumza fihlani is watching from the capital, maputo. it is the worst storm in this part of mozambique has seen. people here were unprepared. days after cyclone kenneth hit, many are still shocked at the force of mother nature. heavy wind of up to 200 kilometres ripped through northern mozambique, destroying homes and uprooting trees. the people of mozambique had barely recovered from another cyclone, which hit the port town of beira just over a month ago, causing death and destruction. the authorities this time around want to move faster. they're desperate to get their hands on resources which will make it possible for them to get help to where it's needed most. the operation is dependent on how nimble they are on the ground. torrential rains are expected here over the next few days.

this means there is a high risk of flooding and landslides. there are fears thousands of people could be left trapped in remote villages. there are nearly 20,000 people in displacement centres — schools and churches that survived the impact. but as a clearer picture emerges of the destruction, more may be needed, local authorities have said. the worst—hit areas include pemba. teams have been deployed. officials say this will get help to where it is needed most. one death has been confirmed but there are fears that figure will rise over the next few days. but for some, life now has become the search for the next meal. they are relying on aid efforts. it's a desperate time for survivors. rebuilding their lives will be slow and daunting for many people of this poor country.

thousands of homes in ireland and hundreds in wales have been left without power, as storm hannah brought winds of over 80 miles per hour and heavy rain overnight. the met office has warned of traffic disruption and further power cuts in wales and central and southern england, as the storm moves across the uk. the catholic priest father martin magill who criticised northern ireland's political leaders at the funeral of the journalist lyra mckee has told the bbc that people want results from new talks, next month, to restore power—sharing at stormont. power—sharing broke down more than two years ago. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. at lyra mckee's funeral, the words of father martin magill received a standing ovation when he shamed politicians for failing to reconcile their differences to restore devolution. why, in god's name, does it take the death of a 29—year—old woman with her whole life in front of her...

applause in his first interview since the address, he urged politicians to listen to the people. i get the sense that people want our politicians to move and they want them to move now, and by that i mean in terms of entering into those talks and in a way that will actually bring a positive result at the end of them. political adversaries in northern ireland have been brought together by the death of the journalist who was shot during rioting in londonderry. more than two years since power—sharing collapsed in northern ireland, yesterday, the british and irish governments announced that in the wake of lyra's death, there would be fresh discussions to try to reach a new power—sharing agreement, beginning after the local elections next week. and we will work with all the parties to help them do that. but repeated rounds of talks have previously failed, and big sticking points between the parties remain. emma vardy, bbc news. let's get more now on the warnings about clinics that offer non—surgical cosmetic treatments,

and the fears that some customers may have mental health issues. earlier i spoke to ashton collins, the director of save face, which is a national register of accredited practitioners who provide non—surgical cosmetic treatments. as a voluntary register ourselves, we wholeheartedly feel that more needs to be done to help vulnerable people and recognise the signs early on and channel them to appropriate professionals. we are launching a series of face—to—face training which will comprise of a full day for our staff to tackle the signs and symptoms, what are the referral channels for patients, and what are the sort of behaviour that these patients display? so that we can recognise that early on and make sure they are signposted to the appropriate channels. you mentioned you are having face—to—face training. i think under the proposal that has been agreed, the government and nhs have agreed,

it can be done online. yes, there is a certain amount that can be done online but what we are doing is looking at the whole spectrum of mental health but with a particular focus on body dysmorphia, and we are using a tried and tested body dysmorphia training course but with a specific focus on aesthetic practice, and we feel face—to—face is important because it allows those practitioners to engage with mental health, lecturers to role—play scenarios about what these specific behavioural problems are, and then how to have that difficult conversation to perhaps suggest that they should perhaps seek mental health help. and it is a difficult conversation in any environment, particularly one where the client isn't ready yet to acknowledge their problems. i was talking to the doctor powis about this earlier and given the fact that the vast majority

of people who carry these treatments out aren't registered with you or thejoint council for cosmetic procedures, isn't there a risk that all that happens is the patient sees a potential delay when you suggest they need a referral, and theyjust go to another practitioner who isn't registered and isn't so worried about the ethics of it? absolutely, and that is why in tandem with our training course roll—out programme, we will be providing a series of patient workshops and consumer focused education campaigns to educate the public around... maybe whether to consider if you have got these symptoms and seek help from a mental health care professional, but you are right, there is a ways the danger that an unethical practitioner will receive a visit from the patient. have you found yourself

in a situation where someone is keen for the procedure and you have had to either say to them, i'm sorry, we can't do it for these reasons, or you have done it but with reservations? i'm not a practitioner myself, i'm just a director of the register, but we have over 650 practitioners on our registers who go through the process of being accredited and they often reported that they have had to decline treatment on the basis that the person isn't suitable because there could be underlying mental health problems, and we also deal with patients directly who have had negative experiences elsewhere, and come to us for help, and unfortunately a lot of them do display symptoms of underlying mental health issues, and so there is appropriate channels for them to be referred to their gp or cognitive behavioural therapists, but yes, it is an issue that is growing. thank you.

in the uk, around half a million people have a debilitating form of heart failure that doctors know very little about. the condition stops the heart from relaxing, meaning the muscles become too stiff to function properly. now researchers at four british universities are looking into how to diagnose and treat the condition. here's our science correspondent richard westcott. around 500,000 people have a type of heart failure we know very little about. it's called hfpef and this is a new study to find out what makes it tick. i didn't realise i had a heart condition and i thought, why, i'm so fit? i can't be — i've been a dancer, done so much, gardening, etc, i can't believe it. so you are quite good at walking on the flat but not the inclines? definitely. as well as the physical tests, they will be asking patients about their lives.

if i said, could you walk to the shop and back again? i couldn't. this is an interesting patient group that are pretty much left to their own devices, there are not any evidence—based treatment therapies for them so it's really interesting to try to find out what would help them. it wasn't long ago that some clinicians doubted hfpef even existed. it might be common, but it's hard to recognise. symptoms can be similar to more well—known types of heart failure or evern other conditions, but there is a key difference. a normal heart muscle needs to be able to expand and contract so it can pump the blood. around half the people with heart failure have a muscle that's too loose but they know how to diagnose that and treat it. the other half have a muscle that's gone thick and goes too tight and that is the one they need to find out a lot more about. this is one of the more obvious signs we see. this blue jet you see here is blood leaking back because this

valve should be closing, but it's not, and that can occur because the heart muscle has become thickened. we know that there are things that we can do for this group of patients and it's just ensuring that there's a systematic way of diagnosing and managing, that people are more aware of it, and they know, right, if we get the blood pressure controlled, if we control their diabetes, if perhaps we make sure they are doing more physical activity, then we can actually improve them. researchers will study around 200 patients for a year. well, i hope they find the reason why we go downhill like we are and i'm quite pleased, actually, that i had that call from faye last year, when she asked if i would come and participate in research, because it must help the future. they will then recommend new ways to identify and look after the hundreds of thousands who suffer. richard westcott, bbc news.

a group of radicalfeminists in spain have disrupted a far—right rally — ahead of tomorrow's fiercely—contested elections. the women ran topless onto the stage as speeches were being made at a gathering of the controversial far—right vox party. vox is threatening to shake up spanish politics, but critics say its divisive message could set the country back decades. andy beatt reports. spain's third general election injust four years. with as many as 40% of voters still undecided ahead of sunday's vote, politicians of all colours have been campaigning hard. among them, the far—right populist party vox, enjoying a surge of support and hoping to upstage their rivals. but in madrid, activists from feminist group femen, written across their bodies, "this isn't patriotism, it is fascism."

and "they shall not pass." anti—immigration, anti—separatist, and anti—women's rights, vox is one of five parties with a chance of entering government. if it does it, would become the first far—right group to sit in parliament for nearly a0 years. its leader though is keen to brush aside links with spain's fascist past. translation: vox is the only party capable of defending national unity and the freedoms for spaniards that are under attack from socialism, communism and separatism. the party's rise, dubbed an earthquake in spanish politics has clearly shaken that country's socialist prime minister. translation: i ask you all to unite around the only party that can guarantee spain looks to the future and does not go back 40 years, as the right would have it.

political tremors have also unsettled the centre—right. led by the main opposition people's party, they are likely to lose votes to vox, or end up depending on them to hold onto power. after the convulsions of the campaign, saturday has been set aside as a day of reflection. but with results expected to be close, and followed by lengthy coalition talks, the calm is not likely to last. it's being claimed that some fitness trackers from leading brands are so inaccurate, they can be out by up to 11 miles when logging the distance of a marathon. the consumer group which? has published analysis of some of the most popular devices from big names in the market. the watchdog used a calibrated treadmill to compare different trackers logging the number of steps and distance travelled. it's warning some simply can't be relied upon.

in washington, dc, a benefit concert has been held to raise money for the reconstruction of paris' notre dame. it took place at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception. nearly a billion dollars has already poured into the fund from donors around the world, since the cathedral was devastated by a fire 12 days ago. it's time for a look at the weather with tomas shafernaker. very windy out there at the moment because storm hanna is still leaving the country. this is what it will look like around the end of the afternoon. still quite a few showers

around and a strong wind blowing out west across the irish sea. into the midlands, too. but by the end of the night most of us should have dry weather. by the end of the night most of us will dip down into four celsius in the coldest towns and cities. tomorrow it will be warmer with more sunshine. in some areas it will be a little cloudy but there will be a little cloudy but there will be a little cloudy but there will be more sun. the wind will be quite a bit lighter as well. goodbye.

hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: 15 bodies — including those of six children — are found by sri lankan security forces after a gun battle with islamist militants.