this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. five former police officers in the us plead not guilty to murdering the young black man, tyre nichols, last month. his mother demands justice. i want each and every one of those officers to look me in the face. they haven't done that yet, they couldn't even do that today. gunfire and explosions as police headquarters in karachi come under attack — pakistani officials say they've regained control — seven people have been killed. the ukrainian president urges world leaders gathered for a security conference in munich to speed

up their support for his country. there is no alternative to speed because it is the speed that the life depends on. delay has always been and still is a mistake. and a former security guard at the uk embassy in berlin is sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for russia. hello and welcome. we begin in memphis, tennessee — where five former police officers have pleaded not guilty to second—degree murder — and other charges — in the case of tyre nichols. mr nichols — a young black man — died after a police beating in memphis, tennessee last month. videos showed the officers

repeatedly kicking and punching nichols in a traffic stop close to his home. the five officers, all out on bail, entered their not—guilty pleas during an arraignment hearing in shelby county criminal court. tyre nichols�* mother made this statement outside the court. i know my son is gone. i know i will never see him again but we have to start this process ofjustice right now and i want each and every one of those police officers to be able to look me in the face. they haven't done that yet, they couldn't even do that today. they didn't have the courage to look at me and my face after what they did to my son. so they are going to see me at every court date. every one. exactly. until we getjustice for my son.

our us state department correspondent barbara plett usher was following the trial for us from washington. the lawyers of the five officers seem to believe that they can get a fair trial for their clients. they accompanied all five of them into the courtroom today for a very brief hearing. we didn't have a chance to see the expressions on the faces of the five because they were wearing masks. the masks used for covid. but all of the lawyers put in their pleas of not guilty. the lawyers, at least one of them has said that the public doesn't know the full picture. the public has seen quite a lot given that brutal video was released publicly but they haven't seen everything. so presumably there will be other evidence put forward. but thejudge, yes, did speak to the context of the case. urged patients he urged civility he said that this case could take quite a long time because there was a lot of evidence and because emotions were high he urged people to be patient and civil and said that the most

important thing at this stage is that everybody has the right to a fair trial. that is going to resume on the 1st of may but it does seem like something that is going to take some time to play out. and the mother of tyre nichols has said that she is going to be at every hearing, every trial session because she wants to be there to make sure that her son gets justice. so i think there is a strong feeling in the city and around the country that there should be accountability for what was seen on the video. but it is as the lawyers and the judge said it is the matter of everybody has the right to a fair trial. iamjoined i am joined now by the black rights advocate in memphis. reverend, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. what was your reaction to news of the not guilty plea?—

of the not guilty plea? well, thank ou for of the not guilty plea? well, thank you for having _ of the not guilty plea? well, thank you for having me. _ of the not guilty plea? well, thank you for having me. of _ of the not guilty plea? well, thank you for having me. of course - of the not guilty plea? well, thank you for having me. of course our l you for having me. of course our heart goes out to their family and i think i speak for most of the people in memphis and all around the country who felt like this was part for the course, if you look at other cases of similar stature then you generally have police officers even when evidence that is obvious and dyed them and convince them they still yield does not guilty plea so i expect them to try and do all they can to lean on the improprieties and equities in our criminal injustice system but i also expect, as they say the wheels ofjustice run slow but fine. we will continue to advocate for what should be right. we are going to believe our eyes are not the lies of anybody is in court. it's difficult, isn't it? thejudge has appealed to patients. we know this trial is going to take quite some time. how are you feeling and

how is your community feeling about having to endure such a lengthy trial? i having to endure such a lengthy trial? ~ ., having to endure such a lengthy trial? ~ . ., , trial? i think that we have been endurin: trial? i think that we have been enduring not — trial? i think that we have been enduring notjust _ trial? i think that we have been enduring not just this _ trial? i think that we have been enduring not just this trial - trial? i think that we have been enduring notjust this trial in i trial? i think that we have been l enduring notjust this trial in this particular instance but as we have said for weeks and years now this is a part of a larger system and structure of inequity and injustice in policing. it is not only memphis it happens all over the country. we would love for it to be much more expedient but we also understand some of the technicalities in the system. at the end of the day, as long as we know the truth will prevail i think we can remain confident. as far as patience is concern i think that the family, advocates, advocates and organisers have been extremely poised, passionate and patient in speaking and we will continue to see more of that. ., . that. the anti-crime unit, the scorpion _ scorpion unit, as it was known, that all of the suspects belong to has now been disbanded in the city of

memphis. will that help? will that go towards solving the problem? towards reforming the police force in memphis? {iii towards reforming the police force in memphis?— towards reforming the police force in memhis? u, , , ., ., in memphis? of course it is going to take more than _ in memphis? of course it is going to take more than the _ in memphis? of course it is going to take more than the symbolic - in memphis? of course it is going to take more than the symbolic and - take more than the symbolic and superficial justice. take more than the symbolic and superficialjustice. that was superficial justice. that was definitely superficialjustice. that was definitely mood made by the city and the memphis police department to try and cover as much as that tale as they could. they also redirected and reissued, reassigned all of the other officers, i think it was 35 officers that were still remaining in that unit to other units. so if there was corruption in that unit in all likelihood they will be some culture and corruption extended further beyond. the only thing that would ultimately lead to the results that we need any information that we need is a pattern practice review by the department ofjustice. what you have right now is the city and the police department trying to offer

some tacit responses and surface and superficial changes that lets us know that they are not sincere about the structure and substance of changes that need to take place. then you for speaking to us reverend. when we think about the su of —— issue of corruption in the police, the police have not been accused of corruption in this case but we'll be following the story as it goes along. the authorities in the pakistani city of karachi say they've retaken control of the police headquarters, hours after it was stormed by militants. there are reports that seven people were killed when a pakistan taliban suicide squad stormed the compound. explosions the assault on the five—storey building began with a grenade attack; it was followed by a series of blasts and a fierce gun battle. pakistani officials say three militants were among those killed; and more than a dozen people were injured. huge explosions were heard —

take a look at this. explosions the building houses karachi's most senior police officials, on a strategic thoroughfare near naval offices and the city's army command. these pictures from the scene were sent in from our bbc cameraman — as you can see, there is a heavy police presence and ambulance vehicles on hand. the militant group, pakistan taliban, say they carried out the attack. a little earlier, i spoke to hunain ameen, who is a local journalist in karachi. he was at the scene of the attack until police cleared the area. since this attack started, i got there as a localjournalist and was reporting from... a pedestrian bridge that was right across the building. the scene of crime. i saw at least two explosions there,

and there was an area cordoned off as far as the eye could see. there was a blackout so any mobility could be hidden from the possible terrorist attack that could be launched from the building, because apparently, it was a five—story building and terrorists were on the top floors, the roof and 5th floor. the explosion that i heard were apparently, one of them was a person, an alleged terrorist etonating himself because they were wearing suicide jackets according to the security information that we have gathered. we're looking at some pictures of the building where the attack took place. i understand that you got a bit closer to the scene. yes, i was actually right across where it was happening. the other media person

since they got there earlier than i was they had a better visual, but they were at a safe distance, and so was i, but from a different angle. i was on top of a pedestrian bridge that is adjacent to the building, so i had an edge on visual there. hunain, tell me more about the location where this police headquarters is located. it's quite a sensitive location? yes, in every sense of the way, it was a very sensitive location. it is a smack in the middle of... it has so many important aspects to look at. first, it connects at least three districts of karachi, so is as important as a highway that connects two cities.

traffic was obviously moved from there. it was cordoned off. secondly, there are so many heavy senstive security installations there. there are so many offices there are sensitive in all sense of the ways. thirdly, it is close to the hotel where psl players are staying. psl aid is happening, it is hardly a two kilometre drive of where they are staying. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: ukrainian leader urges support to hurry up to his country.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines:

five former police officers in the us plead not guilty to murdering the young black man, tyre nichols, last month. his mother demands justice. gunfire and explosions as police headquarters in karachi come under attack — pakistani officials say they've regained control — seven people have been killed. here in the uk, a deal could be in the works. the british prime minister rishi sunak has met northern ireland's political parties. there's rising speculation the uk is close to reaching a new agreement with the european union on post—brexit trading arrangements. the northern ireland protocol, had allowed goods to travel over the border into the republic of ireland without checks on the northern side. that meant goods were inspected before reaching northern ireland, creating a border with the rest of the uk. but that's always angered unionists who are eager to protect northern ireland's ties with the rest of the united kingdom. they feel they've been cut off

from the rest of the uk. our ireland correpsondent emma vardy has the latest it's divided communities, while the dup collapse the government over it. the tensions over the northern ireland protocol have had consequences for everyday lives. today, i had positive conversations with parties in northern ireland about our ongoing discussions to resolve the northern ireland protocol. now, it's clear we need to find solutions to the practical problems the protocol is causing families and businesses in northern ireland, as well as address the democratic deficit. in belfast, rishi sunak met the parties privately. sinn fein, who support the protocol arrangements, were reassured by what he had to say. it's clear now that significant progress has been made and we're very heartened by that. we now want to see a speedy conclusion of matters and above all else, we want to see the institutions restored,

government restored here in the north. his last and longest meeting of the day was with the dup. remove the barriers to trade . within the uk internal markets. there's been scepticism over whether any deal would go far enough to reassure the most staunch unionists that northern ireland's trading position within the uk has been fully restored. i want to hear that brussels l will stretch itself to recognise the concerns that we have - as unionists and that this process will correct the wrongs. of the last negotiations. i do not believe that anyone should be led by a calendar. _ i am fundamentally focused on getting this right. - the prime minister may use today's talks to strengthen his hand in getting any final concessions from brussels, but his presence here shows we're at the end game. so, what do we know about what's likely to be on the deal? an area of conflict has been the role of the european court ofjustice for resolving disputes. the uk government wants

it at arms length. there's expected to be some form of green and red lanes, so goods staying in northern ireland from great britain can face less checks. businesses are hoping it will mean much less paperwork for getting goods over the irish sea, but it's not yet clear how it would all work in practice. while for some companies, the protocol brings advantages, getting changes matters to businesses like this one. they've been unable to get certain ingredients overfrom britain because suppliers don't want to deal with the red tape created by the protocol. so, the northern ireland menu is different to the smoothie menu in london? yes. because you can't get the same goods out here? yes, yes. it's very frustrating because what it means is we've got to have a different menu than almost the entirely smoothie factory international business. but there are businesses like our own where itjust doesn't quite work for. this is a big moment for northern ireland for more than just trade. having no government

affects many areas of life. there's no guarantee one would be restored quickly, but getting a new deal on the brexit arrangement is seen as a first step. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. at least 18 people have been found dead in an abandoned truck near bulgaria's capital, sofia. the government says the vehicle appeared to have been illegally transporting about a0 migrants. 12 survivors have been taken to hospital; they were hiding under some timber. the health minister said the vicitms had died from lack of oxygen. a syrian monitoring group says 53 people have been killed by suspected islamic state fighters in a central region of the country. the syrian observatory for human rights says those who died the country's state media have confirmed that the attack took place in the palmyra area near homs. some of the pickers are reported

to have escaped but dozens are said to have been kidnapped. a bankerfrom qatar has confirmed a bid to buy the english premier league football club manchester united. sheikh jassim bin hamad al thani will lead a consortium that wants to purchase the club outright. the qataris are the second group to put in a bid; the first was the british businessmanjim ratcliffe, a lifelong united fan. the club is currently owned by the glazer family, which says it's "exploring strategic alternatives." the ukrainian president has urged world leaders to speed up their support for ukraine. volodymyr zelensky has been addressing the munich security conference, where delegates are focusing on global security issues. for the first time, russia has not been invited to attend. president zelensky said the speed of action was crucial — and that there is no alternative to ukrainian victory. my freedom been the subject of compromise — no, and it's a rock—solid no. i'm confident that we can gain victory not only over putin,

but also over putins, not only over putins in russia, but all around the world. wouldn't this be a proof of that power of the idea of freedom? it will definitely be. let's hear more on this from justin crump — he's the chief executive of the intelligence company sibylline — and a former british army tank commander. and it's not a new message for us to hearfrom ukraine. of course, zelensky has always been making this call. we need more, better weapons. we need them now. and it's always been a slow process because you have international diplomatic factors. you have domestic political factors, particularly in germany, and then you have the military factors. of course, militaries don't want to give up their current weapons because they feel they might need them in this time of crisis. and then on top of that, we have the actual supply base, which certainly in europe, to a lesser extent, the united states, that, of course, since the end of the cold war has wound down from large scale munitions production, large scale weapons production. so it's overcoming all

of these challenges. and actually what's amazing really is quite how much the community has pulled together to deliver what it has done. so although ukraine wants more, they have received a lot and will receive a lot more. can we just go back to that point you made the supply base. i mean, this production has had to ramp up. can you can you put it into context for us? what were they making before? how many more times that are they making now? you know, it's such a big change. so in the time of the cold war, of course, we were preparing for a lamb war in europe. huge consumption of ammunition as we've seen in ukraine. you think the fighting in ukraine is a fraction of the front line we might have seen in germany in the 1980s. so the stockpiles you can still see the remains of in germany and ammo compounds and things were huge. but of course, after 1990, we weren't really firing artillery ammunition in those sorts of volumes at all. and so the focus became a different sort of warfare, small numbers of vehicles, counterinsurgency, things like that. so it was a change of mission. it was a change the way we need to use equipment. we had stockpiles from 1990 onwards.

we can let them run down. so that's been the big change. russia, on the other hand, sort of maintained its base because it was old fashioned. it never really changed in the cold war. i see. 0k. let's just focus for a minute on what's going on inside ukraine on the front line, particularly in the city of bakhmut. i know that we have a map that we can we can refer to. can you update us on the status of this key city, particularly as we get close to the anniversary, the one year anniversary of the invasion? and this is really key because putin is giving a speech on the 21st next week. and the belief is that he's hoping to be able to celebrate the final capture of bakhmut. but it is not a significant city. there's been fighting over it because it's taken on this iconic status. the russians have been attacking it for six months plus. it's always been about to be captured by them. they have inched towards it. but ukraine, i think, determined to hold on to it past that point where putin can announce this victoryjust to deny him that. so i think that's the big focus now.

but definitely it's approaching a time when the russians will probably gain control finally. 0k. just very briefly, anything else we should look towards for this anniversary? i just think there will be an increase in attacks across ukraine, particularly from the air and missiles, as well as intensification on the ground from russia against the ukrainians. and they'lljust hope to be able to absorb that shock, hold the line from ukraine and then build up and strike back with these weapons in a month or two to time. a former security guard at the uk embassy in berlin has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for russia. david ballantyne smith admitted passing secret information to the russian authorities, after being caught in an undercover sting operation. tom symonds reports. secretly filmed, david smith, the embassy security guard with an access all areas pass, stealing secrets for the russians. scottish, married but separated, a lover of military memorabilia, the court found he hated britain and felt sympathy for vladimir putin. sentencing him, thejudge said there was no doubt he'd handed over sensitive material. you were fully aware that you should not have copied any of these documents and were equally aware

that where these documents to get into the wrong hands, they might harm british interests or pose a threat to the safety of people working at the embassy. investigators found in may 2020, smith used embassy notepaper to write to the russian embassy offering details of british officials in berlin, security passes and documents. to gather more evidence, mi5 set up a sting operation involving two russian speakers whose real names have not been disclosed. smith was told that a mysterious russian called dimitry was coming to the embassy for a meeting. he was asked to photo copy some documents. it seems as though a russian defector was about to spill his country's secrets to the uk. but dimitry was working for the met and mi5 and smith fell for it. those supposedly secret documents,

they were nothing of the sort, were later found in smith's locker. a covid camera captured smith taking pictures of the visitor on the cctv system. he seemed to hope the russians knew who dmitry was. then another hidden camera captured smith meeting the second fake russian, also sent by mi5. irena wanted his help identifying the factors. they met the next day. he was arrested in august 2021 in potsdam, close to berlin. police found documents and videos filmed inside the embassy. smith was motivated by anti—uk, pro—russian views. he understood that the information he was collecting was damaging to british interests, probably understood he was likely to put people at risk of harm and yet he shared it with the russians anyway. and with hundreds of euros found in his flat, police are also sure he did it for money.

that's all from us. goodbye. hello there. storm 0tto dominated our weather during today across the north of the uk, north east england and scotland we saw some very strong and gusty winds. a gust of 83 miles per hour in aberdeenshire. pershore in worcestershire, though, further south saw a top temperature of 17 degrees celsius. a very mild day, certainly temperatures above where we would expect at this time of year. 0n the satellite picture, this curl of cloud, that was storm 0tto moving away eastwards. there is another weather system now working its way in this one less potent, but it will continue to bring some outbreaks of rain, a band of rain pushing southwards and eastwards across england and wales. this area of wet weather in scotland

turning to snow over high ground and giving rise to some ice as we head into saturday morning. quite a chilly night across northern scotland, but further south, very mild indeed. double digit temperatures from birmingham to cardiff as to london into tomorrow. then a band of cloud and patchy rain pushing across the south of england, another band of cloud affecting central and southern parts of scotland, parts of northern ireland and the far north of england, bringing some outbreaks of rain. but in between those various rain bands and to the north of scotland, we should see some spells of sunshine. just one or two showers. and temperatures seven degrees for aberdeen, but 15 the high in norwich. into saturday evening, we will continue to see some splashes of rain for central and southern parts of scotland and into north east england. but broadly speaking, saturday night will be quiet with this ridge of high pressure and the high pressure will hold on in the south into sunday, whereas further north this weather system will work its way in and that will bring cloud and some outbreaks of rain across scotland, some quite heavy rain over high ground in the northwest of scotland. some patchy rain perhaps for northern ireland

and the far north of england. further south, though, some spells of sunshine, a breezy day, in fact, a windy day up towards the north of scotland, although not as windy as it has been today, and temperatures between ten and 1a degrees. so it is going to be another very mild feeling day and it stays mild as we head into the start of the new week. frontal systems up to the north. so some rain at times in the north of scotland, but to the south of that will be in a wedge of mild air. so temperatures to start the new week widely into double digits. it does look like turning a little more unsettled and perhaps a little chillier later in the week.