this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines... at least 23 people have died as violent storms triggered by a tornado rip through the southern us state of mississippi. growing tension in france, riots today in the west after unrest in the capital. these are the dramatic scenes just a few mintues ago several tornadoes have killed at least 23 people in the us state of mississippi.

the authorities said the twisters left a trail of damage for more than 150 kilometres. trees and power lines were torn down, and tens of thousands of power outages reported. radar information indicated that at one point debris was being pulled more than six thousand metres into the sky. search and rescue operations are underway. our correspondent frances read is with us. you been a correspondence working in the us and on the west coast. talk us through exactly what has happened here. , , ., ., ., here. this is on the other coast, we are talking — here. this is on the other coast, we are talking about _ here. this is on the other coast, we are talking about the _ here. this is on the other coast, we i are talking about the south-eastern are talking about the south—eastern corner, or thereabouts. as you said, at least 23 people were killed, that his early estimates, expected to rise, unfortunately. a trail of destruction of 150 kilometres. as you said, somewhere —— some were

saying debris being thrown 13,000 feet into the air. whatever the official figures turn out to be, absolutely frightening for people going through that. at the moment, you can see from the picture is a total scene of destruction. trees uprooted, houses destroyed, towns destroyed. now, tens of thousands of people without power. we heard about hailstones the size of golf balls as well. their worries are, in natural disasters like this, you get people trapped under the rubble. it's very difficult to get help to where you need it in the timeframe that you need it in the timeframe that you need it. that is what is now going to be critical. all efforts are going on now to try to save as many lives as possible. you going on now to try to save as many lives as possible.— lives as possible. you mentioned that it must _ lives as possible. you mentioned that it must be _ lives as possible. you mentioned that it must be horrific— lives as possible. you mentioned that it must be horrific for- lives as possible. you mentioned | that it must be horrific for people over there. that it must be horrific for people overthere. 0n that it must be horrific for people over there. on top of that, it happened in the middle of the night. absolutely terrifying. by morning, local residents in some towns, there

is a small town called rolling fork, they were gone completely. they warned people to stay far away from damaged power lines, not to enter damaged power lines, not to enter damaged buildings, because there were concerns they could collapse. and not to walk through floodwaters, they had advised against that as well. some eyewitnesses described it as being eerily quiet and just before the tornado came in. they said despite the sky being dark, they could see it coming. and the mayor of rolling fork, the small town, he said of where he lives, it's gone, the community is in a situation that they never expected. they said some people had been taken to hospital, and others have been told to wait for first responders. for many, by the time they heard the warning, they were having to take shelter in their own homes. yes, some of the houses in the us have basements, others don't. with a tornado of that force, it depends on how structurally sound that is for people sheltering. like how structurally sound that is for people sheltering.— how structurally sound that is for people sheltering. like i mentioned at the beginning, _ people sheltering. like i mentioned at the beginning, you _ people sheltering. like i mentioned at the beginning, you worked - people sheltering. like i mentioned

at the beginning, you worked and i at the beginning, you worked and lived in the us. we talk about tornadoes in the united states. is this tornado season, do we see these tornadoes around this area? yes. this tornado season, do we see these tornadoes around this area?- tornadoes around this area? yes, we are entering — tornadoes around this area? yes, we are entering tornado _ tornadoes around this area? yes, we are entering tornado season - tornadoes around this area? yes, we are entering tornado season now, . tornadoes around this area? yes, we | are entering tornado season now, but normally we talk about a few weeks later. march until may is normally the time of year. you can see from satellite images the weather system moving in. we would normally expect something like this from next month onwards, where it occurs. and it does occur across those south—eastern states. of course, with the changes we are seeing from climate change, we are expecting to see more extreme weather events like this. we have seen on the other side of the country, wildfires in california. they are happening out of season now. it used to be that you would expect them in a certain period and now people that live there say there is no season for these kind of natural disasters any more. that is what is changing. in

this region, impacted by tornadoes, they are used to seeing tornadoes, they are used to seeing tornadoes, they have been brought up with it, they have been brought up with it, they know what to do in a tornado, but nothing on this kind of scale. thank you, we will be following that story closely. security forces in france remain on high alert, after legislation to raise the state pension age caused massive protests. the dispute, and outbreaks of violence, forced the authorities to postpone a planned state visit by the british monarch, king charles. meanwhile there have been separate demonstrations in western france, linked to concerns over water usage by large—scale agricultural producers. bethany bell is in paris for us. just talk us through what is happening and what you are hearing at the moment.— at the moment. well, a little bit earlier this _ at the moment. well, a little bit earlier this afternoon _ at the moment. well, a little bit earlier this afternoon we - at the moment. well, a little bit earlier this afternoon we saw - at the moment. well, a little bit earlier this afternoon we saw in |

earlier this afternoon we saw in those separate protests in western france, some scenes where several police cars were on fire, where police cars were on fire, where police were clashing with protesters, tear gas was fired. it was a scene of some violence. we were also getting reports that there were also getting reports that there were injuries in those protests. that particular situation seems to be calming down for the moment. the organisers of the protests say that three of their people, the protesters, have been seriously injured and we are getting reports of some injuries of policeman. this, of some injuries of policeman. this, of course, a separate protest from the huge days of national action that had been called against president macron's plan for his pension reforms. all of this coming at a time of general social unrest.

people here are very much on high alert still, here in paris and around the country. tensions are very high- _ around the country. tensions are very high- you — around the country. tensions are very high. you mention - around the country. tensions are| very high. you mention president macron. a lot of people have been talking about the specific watch of his. talk us through that. i talking about the specific watch of his. talk us through that.- talking about the specific watch of his. talk us through that. i think a lot of peeple _ his. talk us through that. i think a lot of people here, _ his. talk us through that. i think a lot of people here, depending - his. talk us through that. i think a lot of people here, depending on | lot of people here, depending on which side you take in this argument, there was a clip of president macron removing an expensive watch, it appeared, when he was in a television interview. the government says that the watch was not so expensive and that he was taking it off because it was making a noise. 0ther taking it off because it was making a noise. other people said it was a symbol of just a noise. other people said it was a symbol ofjust how much out of touch president macron is. among many of the protesters that have been going out in recent weeks, there is a sense that president macron is a president for the rich, for the

wealthy. against that, president macron and his supporters say what they are doing with this pension age reform is necessary for france's economy, and that they need to do this, they need to increase the pension age by two yes, from 62—64, to get france's economy back on track. a complicated picture and we wait to see how things will evolve over the next few days.— wait to see how things will evolve over the next few days. thank you very much- _ over the next few days. thank you very much- we — over the next few days. thank you very much. we will _ over the next few days. thank you very much. we will keep - over the next few days. thank you very much. we will keep following those demonstrations very closely throughout the day. the indian opposition leader rahul gandhi has said his disqualification by parliament on friday is politically motivated. he says it's an attempt to distract from accusations he made against prime minister narendra modi over his relationship with the billionaire businessman, gautam adarni. mr ghandi also faces two years in prison after a court found him

guilty of criminal defamation for a comment made at a rally where he disparaged mr modi's surname. mr ghandi is a leading figure in the main opposition congress party. here he is speaking at a news conference on saturday. 0peration chiffon was the codename given to a top—secret british intelligence operation that eventually paved the way for the good friday agreement — bringing an end to more than 3 decades of violence in northern ireland. at the centre of it all was an undercover agent known as �*robert�*. journalist peter taylor has spent more than 20 years tracking him down, and in a new documentary, he explains what really happened. by the early 1990s, more than 3,000 people had been killed on all sides, in what was known as the troubles. the continuing violence was fed by one question —

should northern ireland remain in the united kingdom or become part of a united ireland? when peace finally came, with the good friday agreement, i was convinced that an m15 secret agent had played a vital role in helping to make it happen. he ran a top—secret back channel between the british government and the leadership of the ira. ifinally tracked him down, but following m15's rules, he lied to me and said he wasn't the man i was looking for. then astonishingly, in 2021, i received a letter. "dear mr taylor. you will no doubt be surprised to hearfrom me after so many years. for a variety of reasons, i could now give you some background, which might fill in some gaps." robert was due to meet senior republicans, but the government cancelled the meeting after ira bombs in warrington killed two children.

robert disobeyed orders, sensing that despite its campaign, the ira was looking for peace. at the meeting, he gave them an extraordinary prediction. "the final solution is union. it's going to happen anyway. this island will be as one." is that what you said? i must have done. that's what's in the... if they wrote it down, then i... yeah, it seems quite likely. but you had no authority to say that... no. ..and what you said flew directly in the face of what british government policy was. yes. those words were absolutely crucial because it appeared that behind the scenes, the british government was secretly working towards a united ireland, the ira's goal, but to unionists, treachery. but in the autumn of 1993, with no sign of the violence ending, robert's secret mission was exposed. he resigned from m15.

the operation looked like a failure. but that's not the end of the story. the ira still had a desire to carry on discussing a way forward, remembering robert's words, "the final solution is union, this island will be as one." i believe that robert's words helped pave the way for the ceasefire and, ultimately, the good friday agreement of 1998. it also meant that an uncountable number of lives were saved. looking back, it's a degree of pride that i've played a small part in history, done some good in the world. peter taylor, bbc news. uk audiences can see peter�*s full story on bbc 2 at 7pm tonight, at 9:50 in northern ireland — and it's also on the iplayer. and for international audiences there's full coverage on the bbc news website.

eight pallbearers who carried queen elizabeth ii's coffin at her funeral are among those to be recognised in a special honours list. king charles has honoured royal aides and military personnel for the roles they played during the period of national mourning. angela kelly, the queen's dresser, who worked with her for more than 25 years, was also received recognition. two teenage boys have appeared in court this morning charged with murdering a 16 year—old who was stabbed to death in northampton. rohan shand died in kingsthorpe on wednesday. 0ur correspondent angus crawford has more from northampton magisrates court. rohan shand wasjust 16 when he died. he was known to family and friends as fred. police say there was an incident in the kings thorpe area of the town at 3.30 on wednesday afternoon. they say that rohan received a single stab wound to the chest and died shortly afterwards.

we know since his death there has been an online fundraising campaign to support his family, which has raised almost £20,000 already. immediately after the incident, there were four arrests, two adults, two teenagers. the adults were released without charge, but the two teenagers, aged 1a and 16, were charged last night with rohan's murder. they appeared before northampton magistrates today, they were remanded and will appear again at northampton crown court on monday morning. the mayor of greater manchester has been fined for speeding after admitting driving at 78mph on a motorway where the limit had been reduced to 40mph. mr burnham has been ordered by a court to pay nearly £2,000 in fines, charges and costs — and given six penalty points on his licence.

in a statement, mr burnham said he acknowledged that he was "going too fast" and accepted the court's decision. the hollywood actor, gwyneth paltrow, has told a court in the us that she did not cause a skiing accident in 2016 — in which the man suing her was injured. terry sanderson, wants more than a quarter—of—a—million dollars in damages — claiming the oscar winner is to blame for the long—lasting brain injury he suffered. 0ur north america correspondent david willis reports. day four of this trial saw the oscar—winning actress take to the witness box to give her account of the ski slope collision she stands accused of causing. i was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart, and then, there was a body pressing against me and there was a very strange grunting noise. so, my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. ithought, "am i...? "is this a practicaljoke? "is someone, like, doing something perverted?

"this is really, really strange." my mind was going very, very quickly. more used to the red carpet of hollywood premieres than the austere surroundings of a utah courtroom, gwyneth paltrow denies she was to blame for a collision on the slopes of the upmarket ski resort park city that left a 76—year—old retired optometrist, terry sanderson, suffering from brain damage and broken ribs. his lawyers maintain she was skiing recklessly and, asked what effect the accident had had on mr sanderson, his daughter, shae, had this to say. my dad is very insecure. he doesn't show it, but he doesn't trust his brain any more. gwyneth paltrow told the court she felt sorry for mr sanderson but maintained that he hit her, rather than the other way around. mr sanderson's lawyers claimed she was distracted by her children and fled without checking if he was hurt.

i think you have to keep in mind when you're the victim of a crash, right, your psychology is not necessarily thinking about the person who perpetrated it. so, the answer to my question is...? no. ..no, you did not inquire? i did not. terry sanderson is due to give evidence next week, along with gwyneth paltrow�*s children, moses and apple. david willis, bbc news, washington. travelling at 17,000 miles an hour, a massive asteroid dubbed the city killer, because of its size, is passing between the earth and the moon this weekend. experts say the asteroid will pass by safely and can be seen through binoculars and telescopes. here's richard galpin. it may look like a tiny dot, but this asteroid is 115 feet across and travelling at 17,000mph. it is coming comparatively close to our planet. if it were to hit our world, it could do significant damage. it's thought it could destroy a city. this is the moment when an asteroid hit russia back in 2013,

damaging buildings and frightening the local population. but, thankfully, this time scientists say there is nothing to worry about. it's just going to sail straight past us, so it's going to be moving really quite rapidly across the sky, so you'll see it move through lots of different constellations as the night progresses. but, yeah, this is not going to hit anything at all, it's just going to zip past between the earth and the moon. according to nasa, it is an important opportunity for astronomers to increase their knowledge of asteroids, in the event that a dangerous object were to be discovered with the potential to hit earth. all asteroids are kind of potato—shaped, they are irregular bits of rubble left over from the solar system's formation. but as this one comes closer, we'll be able to study it a bit more and maybe give a more realistic description of what it

might look like. that's important, because it may not be the last time this asteroid visits planet earth. this orbits the sun as well, and that means, because it crosses earth's orbit, it will actually cross over again, and so therefore we will see it in a few years' time. check the night sky this evening to see if you can spot it. richard galpin, bbc news. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's 0lly foster. the women's six nations championship is under way. wales are facing ireland at cardiff arms park. the home side have made a really strong start with four tries in the first half. so a bonus point already, kerin lake brushes off a couple of tackles before passing to captain hannahjones. 26-0. the irish are missing key players who are on sevens duty.

there's another match at a quarter to five, last years grand slam champions england start their title defence in newcastle against scotland who failed to win a single match last yearjo currie reports. the last time england stepped out onto a rugby pitch, they were running out for the world cup final. four months on from the shock defeat to new zealand, change is afoot, with captain sarah hunter retiring after the opening game. the most capped player bowing out, in the city of her birth.— in the city of her birth. when you come to the _ in the city of her birth. when you come to the end _ in the city of her birth. when you come to the end of _ in the city of her birth. when you come to the end of your- in the city of her birth. when you come to the end of your career, l in the city of her birth. when you i come to the end of your career, you think about when you wanted to end. for me, there didn't seem to be better possible way for that to happen, you know? istarted playing rugby in newcastle, and finishing, it feels like i have come full circle. �* , ., , .,

circle. and it is not 'ust sarah hunter saying_ circle. and it is notjust sarah hunter saying goodbye. - circle. and it is notjust sarah l hunter saying goodbye. simon middleton will leave his position as head coach at the end of the tournament, not before he tries to lead the red roses to a fifth straight title. their first opposition, scotland, finished bottom last year, after they failed to win a game. it is something they are determined not to repeat. tactics are a massive one. hopefully you will see a slightly different style of play, is this six nations than you had before, and hopefully it will let us put more points on the board. 0bviously we've lost a lot of games from a really small margin, so we need to find a way to score more points, ultimately. it score more points, ultimately. it is exected score more points, ultimately. it is exnected it — score more points, ultimately. it is exnected it will _ score more points, ultimately. it is expected it will be england and france fighting it out for the title once more, with their clash taking place on the final weekend at twickenham, it is up to the chasing pack now to start closing the gap on the heavyweights as all six teams enter a professional era for the first time. scotland have started their european championship qualifying campaign. they are facing cyprus.

they are into the second half at hampden park, they lead thanks to a john mcginn goal. wales are up against croatia, that match kicks off this evening in super league, leeds rhinos ended catalans dragons' unbeaten start to the season, staging a great comeback to win 32—22 at headingley. the visitors started strongly and tom davies was the first to go over with this acrobatic effort, but despite building up a 1k point lead at the break, leeds fought back. harry newman sealing the victory with one of five second—half tries, touching down in—between the sticks late on to put the game beyond the reach of the dragons. that moves leeds up to seventh in the table lilah fear and lewis gibsonjust missed out on a medal at the figure skating world championships injapan. the european silver medalists were looking to claim the first british medal in the event since torvil and dean's gold in 1984, they secured a seasons best score for their free dance routine and they were in first but then had to watch as the american, italian and canadian, couples bettered their score

and they had to settle for 4th. i think it's been a combination of our whole season. we really wanted to skate our best performance here. we are so happy that we managed to make that happen injapan. irate we are so happy that we managed to make that happen in japan.— we are so happy that we managed to make that happen in japan. we had so much fun, make that happen in japan. we had so much fun. all— make that happen in japan. we had so much fun, all of— make that happen in japan. we had so much fun, all of the _ make that happen in japan. we had so much fun, all of the practices, - much fun, all of the practices, our goal— much fun, all of the practices, our goal was _ much fun, all of the practices, our goal was to— much fun, all of the practices, our goal was to soak it all in and enjoy it, goal was to soak it all in and enjoy it. because — goal was to soak it all in and enjoy it, because it is what we love to do, it, because it is what we love to do. where — it, because it is what we love to do, where we love to do it, here in japan _ do, where we love to do it, here in japan it_ do, where we love to do it, here in japan it was— do, where we love to do it, here in japan. it was so much fun, the whole time _ and that's all the sport for now. parthenon sculptures to greece, in a move that's been described as a "gesture of friendship". one is a chunk of a horse's head, anothr a bearded man,

and the third, a head of a boy. 0ur reporter shelley phelps has more . returning home. three more parthenon fragments are now being displayed at the acropolis museum in athens, alongside other ancient artefacts. there were smiles all round at the ceremony attended by representatives of pope francis and the greek orthodox church. the gifting of the fragments of the parthenon, which have been held in the vatican museums for more than two centuries shows itself as an ecclesial, cultural and social gesture of friendship and solidarity with the people of greece. the decision to return the fragments was announced by pope francis last year. translation: my personal heartfelt wish is that this initiative _ is mimicked by others. pope francis showed that this is possible and significant. greece hopes the move will spur other overseas institutions holding parthenon sculptures to return them. translation: the ceremony today,

l which completes the exceptionally l generous gesture by pope francis — similar to the gesture by the government of sicily and the republic of italy a few months ago — shows the road that we could follow, that everyone could follow, in order for the unity of the parthenon to be restored, in the place where this should happen. greece is continuing calls for britain to return marbles taken from the parthenon temple by lord elgin in the early—19th century. there's been speculation that the british museum, where they're held, could arrange a loan of the sculptures, but greek ministers say the country could never accept a loan of something they consider stolen. shelley phelps, bbc news. from the suburbs of paris to the cambridge university boat race crew — it's been quite the journey for 21 year old noam mouelle. on sunday, he'll become one of a very small number of non—white

oarsmen to take part in the historic annual contest on the river thames. he's been speaking to our sports reporter, james burridge. je m'appelle noam mouelle, etje prepare la boat race avec cambridge. it's quite something, i would say, it's very challenging. there is a lot of pressure, obviously. i've never been that stressed, stressed out about rowing in my entire life. noam mouelle's mum wanted him to do an outdoor sport. little did she know how far that sport would take him — from the suburbs of paris to the wild and lonely great 0use, for one of rowing's biggest endeavours, the boat race. when you tell people in france, so people who don't do rowing, that you're doing the oxford—cambridge boat race, it's a bit like... it's hard for them to imagine, right? because it's something that seems

very old—school and very uk—based, and seems like almost a glitch in the matrix that a french guy could do this thing. while the boat race has always had an international flavour — it attracts many rowers from around the world — it doesn't have a great reputation when it comes to diversity. in fact, noam is that rare exception this year. across the board, when you look at rowing clubs in this country, just 6% of its members come from diverse backgrounds. people in the uk mostly learn to row in schools, and for your school to have enough money, let's say, to have good rowing equipment and so on, you need to be in a private school. and it's only a certain demographic which goes into private schools, which is why maybe you have a bit less diversity here in rowing, at least. but that's really not the case in france. people are just rowing in rowing clubs. and so, for example, you will have people who row for their school, but they use the facilities... so rowing—club facilities, which makes the sport definitely noticeably more diverse.

british rowing say they're increasing the number of outreach programmes in under—represented communities and want to change the make—up of gb rowing. noam doesn't want to be a trailblazer, but is hopeful he can encourage more people into the sport. if someone feels like rowing is not for them because people who row are different from them, right? and if that person sees that i'm doing the boat race, let's say, or anyone else, and they think, "0h, maybe, maybe i could try, maybe i could give it a shot in my local club or in my school or whatever," well, yeah, definitely, i would say, in that case, i'm happy. and if you were to win, what will the reaction be like in france? it will be pretty special. so they're getting a big screen to put in the rowing club, so that people can watch. so, like, all of the kids, some of the kids and the older people are going to watch this race live on the 26th. my parents are going to be there.

many friends are going to be watching online as well. so i think if i win, yes, that would be... that would be very, very special. now on bbc news the weather with alina jenkins. hello, it is an afternoon sunshine and showers across the uk. the showers most frequent for a time through northern ireland, western scotland, northern england coming to the midlands and east anglia. they will be gradually pulling away. further south, will be gradually pulling away. furthersouth, many will be gradually pulling away. further south, many showers but a band of cloud and rain arriving from the south—west. cold across scotland with perhaps wintry showers in the north. milderfurther with perhaps wintry showers in the north. milder further south. 10-14 c. this north. milder further south. 10—14 c. this zonal showers and longer spells of rain will ease off over the evening and overnight, a more persistent spell of rain arriving from the south—west into south—western gwent, wales, the midlands, centraland south—western gwent, wales, the midlands, central and southern england, into east anglia. here, a mild night. further north, milder skies and wintry showers for northern scotland. temperatures here

at or below freezing full stop don't forget that the clocks move forward one hour in the early hours of sunday morning full stop a wet start to sunday across the southern part of the uk. this rain will move gradually eastwards, leaving a lot of cloud in its wake. the best of the sunshine at the further north you are, still wintry showers for north—east scotland and northern england, across the uk, a cold feeling day. this is bbc news. the headlines: continued tensions in france — there were violent scenes in sant—soline in the west of the country — where security forces clashed with protesters wanting to stop the construction of a reservoir for the agricultural industry. several tornadoes have killed at least 23 people in the us state of mississippi. the authorities said the twisters left a trail of damage for more than 150 kilometres. trees and power lines were torn down, and tens of thousands of power outages reported.