this is bbc news. our top stories: the bbc has obtained disturbing videos which appear to show the massacre of unarmed civilians in northern ethiopia. george floyd's former girlfriend reflects on his life and their battle with addiction on day four of ex—police officer derek chauvin�*s trial. police in belgium clash with thousands of people attending a hoax concert in brussels. and great news for eurovision fans as the dutch government will allow a live audience to watch the song contest in may.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we start in northern ethiopia and some disturbing videos obtained by the bbc. they appear to show the killing of unarmed civilians by people apparently dressed in ethiopian army uniform. in november the government launched a military campaign in the region of tigray. this was after an attack on an army base there thought to have been carried out by the rebel tigray people's liberation front. there have been accusations of serious abuses, by all sides in the conflict. our africa correspondent leila nathoo�*s report, contains images that some will find very disturbing. gunfire. armed men in uniform leading a group towards a cliff edge. gunfire.

bodies appear strewn across the ground. a man is urged to throw one off the cliff. these graphic videos, and others like it, were passed to the bbc and began circulating on social media last month. we have been able to match elements of the landscape shown to features visible on satellite images to identify the location — mahbere dego in ethiopian�*s northern tigray region. in november 2020, following an attack on a military base, the ethiopian army began an offensive in the region against the tigray people's liberation front, or tplf, who are challenging central government rule. troops from eritrea are also involved, backing the ethiopian government. the conflict has largely been hidden from view as access has been severely limited. the un is currently investigating numerous allegations of atrocities committed by all sides.

we can't say for sure when these videos were filmed, but the armed men are wearing uniforms that match those used by the ethiopian national defence force, or endf. they are heard speaking amharic, one of ethiopia's official languages. the victims are dressed in civilian clothing and are heard speaking the language of the tigray region. for those trying to piece together what is happening on the ground, this is more evidence of shocking violence. i mean, since the beginning of the conflict in the tigray region, we've documented a whole magnitude of very serious abuses, including extrajudicial executions by ethiopian government forces and their allies, and this is absolutely an incident which will require further investigation because what we are seeing here in the video could amount to war crimes. we put the videos and claims to the ethiopian government, who said they were open to independent investigations in the tigray region and said

social media posts and claims could not be taken as evidence. they added that investigations into allegations were welcome for remedial action and accountability. after months of darkness, slowly, a horrifying picture is beginning to emerge of the bloody events that have occurred there over the past five months. leila nathoo, bbc news, in nairobi. the girlfriend of george floyd, whose death in minneapolis last year sparked protests across the world, took the stand today in the trial of derek chauvin, the police officer accused of murdering him. courtney ross cried as she talked about how she first met mr floyd and described their struggle with opioid addiction. derek chauvin has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one of manslaughter. our north america correspondent lebo diseko has been watching the evidence and a warning her report contains some disturbing images.

a man who enjoyed food, exercise and taking dad selfies — george floyd's girlfriend of three years painting a picture of the man she loved. she told the court about the life that they'd shared, including their addiction. our story, it's... it's a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. we got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction, many times. the prosecution wanted to show mr floyd's addiction was not a reflection on his character, but the issue is central to mr chauvin�*s defence. for the majority of that time, mr floyd was clean, right? yes. and it was your belief that mr floyd started using again, about two weeks prior to his death, correct? i noticed a change in his behaviour, yes. the court heard that mr floyd had previously overdosed,

and that both the friends with him on the day he died had sold him drugs before. next on the stand, the paramedics who'd been called out to the scene. both testified that mr floyd was unresponsive when they arrived. in a living person, there should be a pulse there. i did not feel one. i suspected this patient to be dead. and at the moment that you're checking for this carotid pulse, are the officers still positioned on top of mr floyd? yes. for the first time, we heard medical evidence that suggested george floyd died at this spot, and while that was less emotional than the testimony heard at the start of the day, it was no less impactful. lebo diseko, bbc news, minneapolis. in mozambique, a ship carrying more than 1,000 survivors of a deadly insurgent attack has arrived at the port of pemba. armed isis—linked militants raided the coastal town of palma last week —

a hub for the country's natural gas industry. islamist insurgents have been increasingly active in the northern province of cabo delgado since 2017, they are fighting for. mark lobel has this report, which contains distressing stories. crying. finally safe, 250km south of where the attacks began over one week ago, escapees consoled one another but their pain is far from over. translation: i'm so tired. it was seven days in the bushes. i'm so tired. we crossed paths several times with evildoers. the situation is really bad. many dead, many dead. still in shock and searching for her son, this survivor says she heard the attackers were targeting the military.

translation: some of them were cutting the throats - of people from there. it's been a traumaticjourney for many of the over 8000 the un estimates are displaced, including thousands of children, fleeing an enemy with unclear intentions, as yet undefeated by the army. gunfire. journalists visited the town of 75,000 people with operations still under way, witnessing troops battle to secure it. translation: we are in a stage of exploration . and consolidating the main areas. we are setting up our troops to control the perimeter of palma village. meanwhile, back at the port, the nervous wait for relatives continues. mark lobel, bbc news.

survived a vote of no confidence over his conduct during talks to build a governing coalition. the dutch parliament adopted a motion of disapproval, which notes that mr rutte had not told the truth about a move to sideline a troublesome mp. mr rutte says he will not resign following the vote. myanmar�*s detained civilian leader aung san suu kyi is facing another charge for violating the nation's official secrets act. this is the most serious charge she now faces and carries a possible jail term of 14 years. ms suu kyi hasn't been seen in public since she was ousted from power. it's been 2 months since the military takeover in myanmar. in the past 24—hours the un and the us has evacuated family members of its staff because of the worsening security situation. we're also hearing it's become difficult and dangerous

for foreign embassy staff, journalists and medical workers on the ground. myanmar authorities have ordered an internet shutdown until further notice. meanwhile, the questions about imposing sanctions on the country's military leaders remains. on wednesday china ruled out sanctions at a un security council meeting in conscious with the uk who have imposed restrictions on a large corporation in myanmar with close links to the military. gary hufbauer is a researcher from the peterson institute for international economics and has evaluated doznes of cases where sanctions are imposed. he says only a third have been found to have been effective. well, we have looked at more than 220 cases since the, well, since a century ago, very much loaded in recent decades and we would say that about a third

of those cases, say 70, 80, had some measure of success for the foreign policy goal, which was sought by the country imposing the sanctions. usually the us, the uk, sometimes the un, how do you mean that as a success rate? well, some people say sanctions never work, so compared to never work, 30% isn't bad. other people claim miracles for sanctions and that clearly is not the case. it is the case that you can inflict punishment on a country, especially a small country like myanmar. but that's what i wanted to come to, how effective do you think sanctions could be in a country like myanmar? well, they can impose

punishment on the target individual, these so—called specially dedicated nationals who are military officers, seize their assets if you can find them and deny their visas and so forth, but do those kind of sanctions change the policy of a country like burma? those leaders were never going to come to the us or the uk or paris. they are going to stay in their countries where they are well insulated from any of this kind of pressure. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why sir ian mckellen has chosen to take on one of the toughest roles in theatre at the age of 81.

the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: disturbing videos which appear to show the massacre of unarmed civilians in northern ethiopia have been obtained by the bbc. george floyd's former girlfriend reflects on his life and their battle with addiction on day four of ex—police officer derek chauvin�*s trial. police in belgium have dispersed a crowd of several thousand young people who'd turned out for a non—existent concert. tanya dendrinos has the details. it started as a joke on social media but this april fools' prank quickly gained traction, striking a nerve with a young crowd demanding freedom. all chant. translation: too many rules are imposed on us that really l deprive us of our freedom, even though we are aware

of the problem. we don't deny the existence of covid, we are careful, but we just need to be allowed to live a little. around 2,000 people attended the event in the belgian capital, ignoring warnings from police and prosecutors. those who showed up and violated health measures could face charges with outdoor gatherings limited to four people. police arrived on foot and on horseback. translation: | wasn't - here to protest or anything. i came here to say that we have the right to be here in a public place and we get gassed for absolutely no reason. we stayed in front, we made a chain. there were people behind who threw beer bottles. 0k, we said "stop doing it" but "police, you are with us. protect, serve. you're not here to punish us. stop." but scenes quickly descended into chaos. water cannons and tear gas were used to disperse the crowd. arrests were made and people

injured, including a number of police officers. investigations are under way to uncover those behind the event — a hoax invitation turned defiant mass gathering. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. a metropolitan police officer has been found guilty of belonging to a banned neo—nazi terror group and possessing extremist material. the 22—year—old is the first serving british police officer to be convicted of a terror offence. benjamin hannam was a member of the far—right extremist group national action, which was banned in 2016. he lied about his past when applying to join the met. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has the story. pc ben hannam, 22 years old, who today became the first police officer in britain to be convicted of terrorism. although he faces a certain jail term, he was released

on bail until the sentence is passed. we had to chase him to talk to him because he ran from a side door of the court. why did you join a terrorist organisation and then join the police? ben, ben... his father keeping me from asking questions and whisking him away in a taxi. he'll be sentenced in three weeks. at his passing out parade three years ago, it was cressida dick, the head of the metropolitan police, who oversaw the ceremony and walked right past him as she welcomed the new recruits. just two years earlier, here he was taking part in propaganda for the banned neo—nazi terrorist group national action... let's go! ..doing fight training in the woods and daubing a nazi torch on a wall in swindon. traces of the graffiti ben hannam sprayed on that trip are still visible in swindon to this day. when he did it, he was still an active member of a banned

neo—nazi terrorist organisation. within weeks of doing it, he was applying to join london's metropolitan police. the propaganda video from the trip was posted on the internetjust days before he put in his application. this was the police raiding his home to seize phones and computers. it had taken two years to realise they had a nazi in the ranks. i've got... just point them out. don't touch them, if you can try and avoid it. yeah, yeah. no, it's fine. that phone, this apple watch... they only found him because the membership list of a neo—nazi internet forum had been leaked. on his bedroom wall, he still had pictures of german soldiers from world war ii. police also found indecent images of children. this is a unique case and never before has a serving police officer been prosecuted for being the member of a terrorist group. when we identified the person

we were looking at was a police officer, it was of course a shock, but we then moved very quickly to arrest ben hannam. in a diary, pc hannam noted that he joined national action — or na — in 2015, left in 2017, and joined the metropolitan police service - the mps - in 2018. other former national action members includejack renshaw, who admitted plotting to kill his mp, zack davies, who was found guilty of attempting to behead an asian dentist, and jack coulson, who made a pipe bomb. it seems incredible that a man who's been part of a group that has been banned as a terrorist organisation can go on and join the police, and the police not know anything about his background. we're not talking about a huge number of people here. seen here doing a nazi salute in a propaganda video, ben hannam had just ticked a box on two police forms... ..saying he'd never been a member of the bnp. the force never took a reference from the school he'd just left, where one teacher had been shocked

by his racism. daniel sandford, bbc news. the eurovision song contest has been given permission to let 3,500 fans watch the event in person as part of a trial by the dutch government. it will be staged at an arena in rotterdam in mid may and everyone attending will need a negative covid test. however, this event could be scaled down if there is a surge in coronavirus infections. the announcement follows a similar trial involving 1,500 fans at a music festival near amsterdam in march. i spoke to daniel pashley, a eurovision fan who said he is surprised this has been announced as he assumed it would go ahead without an audience. i must say, i was quite surprised — i actually received an e—mail today from the organisers — well, from the ticket sellers — letting me know about this news, because i was actually assuming that the contest was going to go ahead without an audience. most of the countries who are taking part held a national final to select

their song earlier this year and those all went ahead pretty much with no audiences and so, i think everyone was pretty much assuming that was going to happen with the eurovision itself as well. yeah, eurovision has been a pioneer of satellite feeds and delays. they were well ahead when it came to zoom call delays and all that thing — you you would have thought this is the perfect event that does not actually need the crowds there. that's a really good point, actually! there is — back in the �*90s, there were a couple of what looked like early zoom calls, where the producers of the show put together all of the jury spokesmen in, like, a grid on the screen. and so, yeah, in some ways, it has always been ahead of its time. but actually, it is a show which goes back to the 1950s and it is a really good example of television being at its absolutely most adventurous, you know? i'm sure we've all seen those clip shows where the presenter is saying "hello, copenhagen.

can you hear us?", you know, and obviously they cannot get through to thejury at the other end. and there are always those moments with the eurovision where it's trying new things and sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. yeah, as you say — rightly say, it is always more famous, in a way, for the times that it does not work. if the fans do not get let in, if there is a surge in cases, if there is a change of heart, do you think the show will still have the soul and the fun and rally people together as it usually does? um, i think so. i think the joy of the eurovision song contest is all about bringing people together wherever they may be in europe, and it attracts a television audience of hundreds of millions of people each year and it's always a big excuse for a party. i mean, in fact the majority of people watching the eurovision are, of course, not in the arena — there are many, many hundreds of millions all over the place —

and so for them, it probably will not be all that different whether there is an audience in the arena or not. but for those of us who do like to go, it is a wonderful experience to actually be there. it is a very, veryjoyful and fun occasion and it's certainly quite special. our thanks to daniel pashley. at the age of 81, the celebrated actor sir ian mckellen is taking on one of the toughest roles in theatre. he's playing hamlet, half a century after he first played the role. the curtain should go up injune, when restrictions on theatres here are finally eased. 0ur arts editor will gompertz has been talking to sir ian during rehearsals at the theatre royal windsor about the huge challenge ahead. of all occasions to inform against me and spur my dull revenge! the mode, these days, of casting people who don't necessarily look the part because it's the inner person

you're going after, and if i can rake around inside and discover the young man in me, then hopefully it'll be all right. strikes me that the biggest challenge is the physicality, is the movement. well, what am i to do? but i can feel that i'm 20. it is going to be an 80—year—old man playing a man 50 years younger. i have played gandalf, who was over 7,000 years old. no—one said i was too young! you first played hamlet as a child when you had your toy theatre, didn't you? yes, yes, i'd be about ten or 11. my parents gave me a pollock's toy theatre, which was a theatre that you have to cut up and reassemble cardboard. and behind a tea towel, i was saying the words. i did a shortened version of hamletjust after christmas lunch! and you cannot have imagined then that you would be playing

it, what, 70 years later? no, of course not, no. i thought i'd be playing polonius, if not the skull, by this time — yorick�*s skull. chuckles. there will be people who come to collect this hamlet. i remember when i played it in 1971, two old gentleman came round to see me afterwards and said, "congratulations! you're our 73rd hamlet!" how do you think theatre's going to respond to what's happened in the last 12 months? it's been pretty devastating. during my lifetime, the theatres in london were closed for longish periods during the second world war, but always sprang back. sir ian mckellen once again plays the prince, undimmed by the whips and scorns of time. will gompertz, bbc news. that is about it from me. remember, you can get me any time online on social media if you want. i'm lewis vaughan jones, this is bbc news.

goodbye. hello there. temperatures have been coming down day by day and it's going to stay chilly now into the easter period but with high pressure nearby, we should see quite a bit of sunshine around, though it'll be cold with overnight frost so gardeners and growers, beware. and then as we head on into easter monday, a significant cold, arctic blast will bring us a mixture of sunshine and also wintry showers. so for good friday, we've got high pressure building in, some slightly cooler air around it, and it will be breezier across northern and eastern areas. here's where we'll see most of the cloud — northern—eastern scotland, eastern england, maybe the odd light shower around through the morning. through the day, it looks like eastern air in parts of england will stay rather cloudy and breezy and cool. further west, the best of the sunshine, and it's here from northern ireland down through wales and the south west where we could make 13 or 1a degrees, otherwise, a lot cooler across northern and eastern areas. as we head through good friday

night and into saturday morning, it'll stay quite breezy and cloudy across the eastern half of the country. clearer skies and lighter winds further north and west so here, we'll see a widespread frost versus lows of 3—5 degrees further east. 0ur area of high pressure still with us then as we head through saturday and, indeed, into sunday but it starts to retreat away and that's where we start to see the floodgates open to the arctic through sunday night into easter monday. saturday then, another dry day, thanks to high pressure. best of the sunshine across northern and western areas with lighter winds. more cloud, though, for central and eastern england, more of a breeze, so quite chilly here. temperatures reaching highs of around 12 or 13 degrees in the sunnier spots, so not too bad — pretty much temperatures what we should be looking at for early april. for easter sunday, it looks like we'll have another fine day but as our area of high pressure retreats away, it'll allow wetter and windier weather and colder weather to arrive across the north of the uk. but further south, england and wales dry with some sunshine but quite mild with highs of 1a or 15 degrees. then it's all change through sunday into easter

monday — we open the floodgates to the arctic, weather front sinks southwards, lots of isobars on the charts, so it's going to be very windy. a cold and strong northerly wind feeding in plenty of hail, sleet and snow showers pretty much anywhere. there will be some sunshine in between but we could see some significant accumulations of snow over the hills across northern scotland. so with that cold arctic wind, it's going to feel much colder than what we expect at 4—8 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a series of disturbing videos have been obtained by the bbc which appear to show the killing of unarmed civilians in ethiopia's northern tigray region, by people wearing ethiopian army uniforms. ethiopia's government says it's open to independent investigations but added that social media posts and claims cannot be taken as evidence. george floyd's girlfriend has described how they both struggled with opioid addiction. her testimony came as the murder trial of former police officer derek chauvin entered it's fourth day. he denies charges of murder and manslaughter. chauvin�*s defence team say mr floyd died because of ill—health and drug overuse. belgian police on horses and using water cannon charged a crowd of up to 2,000 people gathered in a brussels park. the revellers had descended on the park for a fake concert announced on social media as an april fool's day prank

now on bbc news,