live from london, this is bbc news. big protests on the streets again in france over the change to the pension age. this is the scene live in paris as disruption continues to rock the capital dozens of officers at the uk's biggest police force are diverted from tackling terrorism and serious crimes to investigate wrongdoing within the metrpolitan police. almost a week since a prominent afghan girls�* education activist was arrested by the taliban, i talk to his brother.

more on those headlines in a moment. first, let's round up the sports news. what are fans making a chelsea of today's appointment? england's women have the chance of lifting more silverware later when they take on brazil in the finalissima, a match between the european and south american champions at a sold out wembley. our sports reporterjo currie is there for us now. the world cup will be with us before we know it, a big chance for thise england players to impreess sarina wiegman. after a ny after any major tournament the result was a freshening up of the squad and the likes of ellen white and jill scott are no longer around, there are big injuries to players

who are not available for these two games and there are players in the euro squad who have not been selected so there are opportunities for new players coming in to try to impress a sarina wiegman, heading out to australia this summer, but tonight will be a massive occasion, some players potentially making their debuts, we don't know the team yet but they will potentially be making their debut in front of a sell—out wembley crowd so it's about who can handle the pressure on these big occasions. what kind of threat will brazil pose? what kind of threat will brazil ose? ., ., ., ., ., pose? for england, apart from going back to last october _ pose? for england, apart from going back to last october when _ pose? for england, apart from going back to last october when they - pose? for england, apart from going back to last october when they face l back to last october when they face the usa here, this will be their biggest test since the euros last summer. they are playing the champions of south america, the number nine ranked team in the world. it's a great test for both teams three and a half months out from this world cup. there are absentees for brazil, including the

most experienced player, marta, others are also missing so it's going to be a rather inexperienced brazil side but there is a trophy at stake, a sell—out wembley crowd, both teams are going to be going for it. . ., both teams are going to be going for it. u, , ., , ., frank lampard says he's excted to get to work with chelsea's talented new squad and says helping them settle into the premier league is one of the reasons he took the job. their former midfielder has been reappointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season just over two years after he was sacked and replaced by thomas tuchel. pa rt part of thejob part of the job is to manage the situation and make every player feel included. in the short term, that a big thing for me because everyone can have a clean slate and show what they can do in training and be competitive which can cross onto the

pitch, the good thing about a squad is pushing each other on and i will try to manage that. after saturday's premier league game against wolves, cheslea go to spain to take on the holders real madrid in the quarterfinals of the champions league. olly kay, seniorfootball writer at the athletic, says the possibility of chelsea winning the competition just like they did under roberto di matteo and keeping frank lampard as manager is an unlikely one. it's a remote possibility, i don't think chelsea are going to win the champions league. they didn't when they appointed robert di matteo in 2012 as an interim and their champions league wins have generally come in seasons where you wouldn't have thought they would've happened, so i suppose there is that as an omen, but i can't see that see that happening. it would be a very nice position for them to be in and have that kind of choice but i can't see it happening.

let's bring you up to date witrh the the masters which is under way with the race for the greenjacket expected to be closely fought over the next four days. beautiful conditions in augusta right now but the weather is expected to take a turn for the worse as the tournament progresses. players will be hoping to get a good opening round under their belts before the anticipated rain. cameron young is three under par. six of them currently find themselves two under par including viktor hovland and xander schauffele. 2017 champion sergio garcia is also there at 2—under as isjustin thomas and adam scott among them. and that's all the sport for now. let's head back to paris. we saw charges by some of those police and there they are again as they attempt to clear parts of the central boulevards in the capital and the level of tension upping a little in the last ten or 15 minutes as we

watch. these protests and strikes have sprawled across two and a half months with the opposition widespread right across france to those changes pushed through by the french government to change the pension age from 62 to 64, and there is no vote on the floor of the house, they use a constitutional device being looked at by the constitutional council, that decision is due on the 14th of april but as we wait for that, they have been organising more of the protests to underline yet again their resistance. there were union meetings yesterday but absolute deadlock with the french government insisting france cannot afford to have the pension retirement age of 62 hence the change to 64. they plan to bring that in in the year 2030 so a long lead—in is how the government

argues it but if you were listening 15, 20 minutes argues it but if you were listening 15,20 minutes ago, we were argues it but if you were listening 15, 20 minutes ago, we were talking to one union member, a train driver, insisting that there were people in society making profits, they didn't see as workers why they should have their pension age moved to 64 and insisting that those protests would continue in paris until the government backed down but no sign of the government backing down or conceding anything on this issue in the run—up to those meetings with unions. they had said they will talk about a number of things. that was the only thing the union wanted to talk about which was pretty much a snapshot of the deadlock between the two sides. president macron is currently in china away from these

scenes but this is in the capital, it is replicated in a variety of cities across france because this is notjust cities across france because this is not just an cities across france because this is notjust an issue there, it is causing widespread disturbances with protests, with strikes. we have seen a dip in opinion polls and support for the president but the government is absolutely insistent that they have to push ahead with these changes. you see the lines of police as they continue, large numbers of riot police on the streets, but no real sign of the sorts of violence that we have seen at different stages during the last two and a half months. these are some of the latest pictures coming into us from paris. as we have been throughout the programme, those pictures are coming in continuously so we will regularly dip in and bring you any

developments, any movement in paris. the sniggering started in 2003 at what was one of the first clubs of its kind in this country. they have laughed through landmarks and even giggled through a global pandemic. the bristol laughter club is still doing exactly what it says on the tin 20 years on.— tin 20 years on. when i started, this was so _ tin 20 years on. when i started, this was so left-field _ tin 20 years on. when i started, this was so left-field that - tin 20 years on. when i started, | this was so left-field that wasn't this was so left—field that wasn't even on the page. there are benefits through lateral practices like

relaxation, de—stressing and reducing anxiety. it’s relaxation, de-stressing and reducing anxiety.— reducing anxiety. it's 'ust infectious, i reducing anxiety. it's 'ust infectious, you i reducing anxiety. it's 'ust infectious, you are h reducing anxiety. it'sjust - infectious, you are surrounded by other_ infectious, you are surrounded by other people. you infectious, you are surrounded by other maple-— infectious, you are surrounded by other people-— infectious, you are surrounded by other people. you can come here in an mood other people. you can come here in any mood and _ other people. you can come here in any mood and feel _ other people. you can come here in any mood and feel different - any mood and feel different afterwards. _ any mood and feel different afterwards.— any mood and feel different afterwards. �* , ., ., afterwards. the bristol laughter club certainly _ afterwards. the bristol laughter club certainly hasn't _ afterwards. the bristol laughter club certainly hasn't had - afterwards. the bristol laughter club certainly hasn't had the - afterwards. the bristol laughter| club certainly hasn't had the last laugh quite yet. we'll keep an eye on what is happening in france but it is time for the business news with ben thompson. french president emmanuel macron has urged his chinese counterpart xi jinping to use his influence to help stop russia's war in ukraine. mr xi said their two countries had the "ability and responsibility" to safeguard world peace. the french leader is on a state visit to china, which has refused to condemn russia's invasion of ukraine. mr macron is joined on this visit by the european commission chief ursula von der leyen, as well as a large business delegation to try and bolster trade ties. there's good news for airbus, a

contract for about 100 of them, and edf and the chinese counterpart, the chinese nuclear company will collaborate to build offshore wind so that's cgn and edf who are old partners and have collaborated on things like hinkley point, the troubled nuclear plant in somerset thatis troubled nuclear plant in somerset that is under construction, so it's encouraging, it's not particularly new. airbus will be pleased to get some purchase in the market because the chinese aviation market is the biggest there is and airbus and boeing have been in competition for decades over who gets to dominate. boeing had its troubles in the last few years but the difficulty now is china is developing its own domestic fleet, its own domestic model so

that market may be coming to an end but for now they've got it in a hold so that will encourage the businessmen with emmanuel macron on this trip. this businessmen with emmanuel macron on this tri -. , , businessmen with emmanuel macron on thistri. , , ., , , this trip. this is important because at the moment _ this trip. this is important because at the moment the _ this trip. this is important because at the moment the trade _ this trip. this is important because at the moment the trade deficit. at the moment the trade deficit between the two countries is tilted in china's favour. it between the two countries is tilted in china's favour.— in china's favour. it certainly is and particularly _ in china's favour. it certainly is and particularly during - in china's favour. it certainly is and particularly during the - in china's favour. it certainly is - and particularly during the pandemic because there was a tremendous demand for chinese goods during the pandemic and it was exporting very little to china but it is a chronic condition, except for germany which is the only country in europe that maintains a positive trade balance with china, everybody else is in deficit so the more trade you do, in a way, the more trade you get —— the more trade deficit you get. the chinese want to revive the comprehensive agreement on investment which was very, very much investment which was very, very much in the freezer after an exchange of sanctions. but emmanuel macron�*s companion on this trip, ursula von der leyen, pretty much pronounced

that dead although the chinese ambassador to europe has proposed that if they each dropped the sanctions at the same time they could resume conversations. i think a generalfeeling could resume conversations. i think a general feeling that three years in, that agreement is looking pretty tired and old, and is not likely to be revived any time soon. fox corporation executives rupert murdoch and lachlan murdoch could testify live in the $1.6 billion defamation suit against fox news and fox corp — that's according to a delaware judge. dominion, which makes electronic voting technology, has accused fox of knowingly broadcasting falsehoods about the company's software and linking it to voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. fox has denied the accusations. the trial is scheduled to begin on april 17. let's speak to michelle in new york. we could hear potentially some

testimony from some of the key players at fox news.— testimony from some of the key players at fox news. that's right, ou're players at fox news. that's right, you're talking _ players at fox news. that's right, you're talking about _ players at fox news. that's right, you're talking about the - players at fox news. that's right, you're talking about the top - players at fox news. that's right, you're talking about the top man | players at fox news. that's right, i you're talking about the top man at the company, rupert murdoch. if he were called to testify, the judge said he would not object. we could hear from said he would not object. we could hearfrom his said he would not object. we could hear from his son, said he would not object. we could hearfrom his son, lachlan, but also the top talent at fox news like laura ingram and tucker carlson. it's been a tough week for news corp because firstly you had a decision from the judge because firstly you had a decision from thejudge eric because firstly you had a decision from the judge eric davis saying dominion's lawsuit could go to trial and thejudge saying dominion's lawsuit could go to trial and the judge saying he would not impose important witnesses like rupert murdoch being called. trial is set to start on the 17th, not this monday but the following week, and we will see if it gets to trial or if they reach a financial settlement before then. remind us the background _ settlement before then. remind us the background to _ settlement before then. remind us the background to this _ settlement before then. remind us the background to this case - settlement before then. remind us| the background to this case because

it relates to dominion who make electronic voting technology but there were serious accusations broadcast on fox news about the veracity and reliability of that machine. ., �* , veracity and reliability of that machine. . �* , ., ., , ., machine. that's right, that was one ofthe machine. that's right, that was one of the claims _ machine. that's right, that was one of the claims made _ machine. that's right, that was one of the claims made for _ machine. that's right, that was one of the claims made for saying - machine. that's right, that was one of the claims made for saying it - machine. that's right, that was one | of the claims made for saying it was rigged, which donald trump supporters have repeated frequently on air. the company say we have provided plenty of evidence to show that was not the case but fox news repeat baseless claims. there was a significant repetition of that kind of falsehood to warrant the trial going ahead. they are going for defamation and in america, the standards of that are very high. you have to prove that there was malicious intent and that is a high bar and that is what this trial will centre on. if dominion are able to prove that, then they basically

stand a shot at winning but that is pretty difficult and all along, fox news have said that this case is about protecting the first amendment, protecting journalism and interestingly, lachlan murdoch was at an investor conference recently where he said this was political. that trial will be one to watch, starting on april 17. thank you, michelle. the travel industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic and many airlines are now ramping up capacity to cope with the return of air travel. sri lankan airlines is no exception, but it's facing some challenges, not least the crippling economic crisis in sri lanka and privatisation plans. we caught up with richard nuttall, chief executive at the carrier who told us what a change in ownership could mean for the airline. there's a lot of energy around privatising. the first thing that we need to do if we are going to

privatise is restructure the old debts that are out there. in round numbers, we make $1 billion of revenue a year, we have $1 billion of debt, some of it local, some of it owed to creditors and we are paying 100 million on servicing it so if we can structure that debt, a large part of what we are paying in interest comes back and can be used to run the airline and it means an outside investor can come in and basically not pay for the sins of the past. i think the first lesson for me is don't ever go and be a ceo in covid. afterwards, you can come for the upswing and not deal with the difficulties. we have learned that we are really lousy at forecasting. everybody thought covid would last three weeks, then three months, then a year, then it was two years, and for some big markets it was three years, so what it has

actually done is historically in this business you used to plan for the year ahead and say we will have 10% growth, add a bit of capacity they are, where is a new market that fits in with the scheme of things and do things organically. i think what has happened is we have all had to challenge ourselves and be much more agile and at the moment, we have a long—term view on where we think the airline should be and what the network should look like. every week, we look at every flight and what it is delivering, per hour and where can we best put our assets. we will look at what is working on what is not and we will switch capacity and look at putting a little more here and a little less they are. it's an industry with low margins and it's very competitive. if you are number one in a market, you can make money. if you are number two, maybe you can break even. if you're

number three, forget it. you need to know what your usp is and what can you dominate in, then build around that and the rest is may filler traffic. if you look at sri lanka, the things we can all was be number one or number two on is the sri lankan diaspora, tourism to sri lankan diaspora, tourism to sri lanka and connecting traffic from secondary indian cities particularly going east. west, we are competing with big middle eastern hubs that have cost advantages we cannot compete with, so those are the three things for us but it doesn't matter who you are as an airline, who can you be number one for, that's what you be number one for, that's what you should try and concentrate on. switzerland has ordered the bonuses of top executives at credit suisse to be cut following the forced merger with its banking rival ubs. the combined bonuses have a value of over $55 million. the move follows a public backlash and will affect the top three levels of management.

for those who have already received the money well, the swiss government is looking into recovering the sum paid out. the world economy is facing years of slow growth. that's a warning from the managing director of the imf who was speaking in washington ahead of the world bank and imf meetings next week. she said the world economy would expand at an average annual rate of 3% over the next five years. that's well below the average 3.8% forecast of the past two decades. it's the weakest outlook for growth since 1990. coaches due to leave dover on good friday will be staggered over three days in a bid to avoid long delays. the port of dover said it has decided to spread coach traffic across thursday, friday and saturday after talks with ferry operators. one of the world's biggest criminal marketplaces used by online fraudsters to buy passwords has been shut down after a global police investigation. known as genesis market, the site sold login details

and other personal data, allowing criminals to log into people's bank accounts and other services. two mllion people may have fallen victim to the fraudsters around the world. that's the latest from business. you're watching bbc news. lets turn to afghanistan — it's almost a week since a prominent activist for girls education — was arrested by the taliban. mattiullah wesa, is the founder of the pen path charity — which has worked to get girls and boys into school — concentrating especially in rural areas of the country. he was arrested after friday prayers last week — the latest sign of the taliban tightening thier clampdown on any of protest against their ban on girls and women attending school or universities. his brother attaulla spoke to me earlier and described the moment of the arrest.

translation: my brother was at evening prayer - at 5pm and campbell. —— 5pm kabul time. he came out of the mosque and there were taliban intelligence men. they were waiting for him. they wanted to arrest him as he came out of the mosque. my other brother reached the scene and wanted to know why he was being taken but they didn't explain anything, it was a very hurtful moment for us, for my brother who saw it. they had a little argument but it came to a point where the taliban took him by force, put him in the car and took him away. it was almost like an abduction — he wasn't taken away, he was abducted. do you know where he is now? has there been any contact? how worried are you? i haven't spoken to him at all since he was taken but he had a very short conversation with my mother where he asked for some clothes

to change into. we know that he is with the taliban intelligence and so far no contact has been made, nothing has been explained to us. we are all very worried, especially me, i was his buddy, he's my brother, he's been working in 34 provinces of afghanistan for the nation, for education, we've always been together, we've campaigned together. i'm so worried that i can't taste my food, i've lost sleep, we don't know where he is, he's an innocent man. he's worked for the country and the people very, very hard in the past years. amnesty said that your brother could have left afghanistan but decided to stay, despite the risks. why was he determined to stay with the obvious threats? amnesty and other international organisations all new that

mattiullah had a chance to go out. he'd spoken to me about this on a few occasions because i'm his buddy of the pen path organisation we have created and he said, "if people like us leave, what will happen to the country?" because he felt so responsible for the education, for the nation and he felt responsible, that we need to, we are the people that need to make the people who are in charge of the country know that these things are important for a nation like education. he chose to stay, he knew it was risky and he could take asylum in any country. he was in europe but he went back to afghanistan because he wanted to work for the people, for the country. you've worked for so many years with communities and tribal elders to bring education to girls.

what has it been like to see all of that simply swept away in an instant? we are campaigners, we are activists, we will continue our work. you know that the whole of the afghan nation stood by wesa when he was arrested, they showed so much reaction reaction on social media. it was the youth of the country that made the world aware of his abduction. but mentally, it's very, very hard to cope with the sudden abduction or suddenly being taken away and seeing your work all gone because people don't agree with you. i heard one campaigner say only last week it feels like the country is being held hostage. these arrests, these bans, they're always condemned, but is there enough international pressure?

i thank all the nations for the support they have shown to me and to my brother, to my family, and i thank the international community for the support they showed to mattiullah but i don't think it's enough because we are fighting for the rights of a nation. they need to do more in making the people in charge understand that there is abuse of human rights in the country. for example, banning girls from education, this is a human rights violation and it does feel like the country has been taken hostage, so we urge the people running the country to look at the rights issues of the women and people in the country, of the young generation in the country, it's the future of the country that is at stake at the moment and this is what we need to work towards — to make these people understand that

you have to work in a framework that everyone everyone is happy who is living in the country. the un, the eu and amnesty are demanding his release and more details about where he actually is. we'll have the headlines after the weather. hello. it may be hard to believe that there will be a frost across many parts of the country overnight. it follows the cloud and rain we have had over the past couple of days. the rain from yesterday just clearing from the east of england, followed by showers, but this ridge of high pressure build, killing off the showers, giving us clearer skies and dropping temperatures. these are the temperatures as we head towards the early part of the evening, nothing to write home about, still some showers around especially in the east of the uk and a lot of those will fade but we will keep some cloud pushing down some of the eastern coasts into east anglia.

that will keep the temperatures here higher but elsewhere, clear skies and light winds so further west especially in northern ireland we will have a slight frost, temperatures —2 or perhaps —3. a chilly start to good friday, starting sunny in most places but lightly as the temperatures rise it will generate some cloud especially across eastern parts of england with cloud coming in off the north sea. one or two spots of rain in the far north—east of england and temperatures typically around 11—13, near normal for the time of year. into the weekend, the high pressure will keep these weather fronts at bay for the time being, the second push will be more significant as we head towards easter monday but for saturday, i think we'll start chilly, there will be some sunshine, probably more cloud developing through the day. and probably more of a southerly breeze especially in the west of the uk. the temperatures aren't changing a great deal, could make 14 in glasgow and

a top of 15 in london. easter sunday, we start dry with a good deal of sunshine, again we see some cloud developing through the day and maybe some rain coming towards northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. it could be easter sunday is the warmest of the next few days with temperatures around 15—17. for easter monday, the rain we have coming into northern ireland pushes eastwards, it may hang on across east anglia and the south—east of england for a while but otherwise, it's followed by sunshine but also some showers, a breezier day and temperatures likely to be a little bit lower.

live from london. this is bbc news. more protests in france — over the change to the pension age. this is the scene live in paris — and there have been big protests in other cities, including marseille and nantes. elsewhere, the french president urges his chinese counterpart to help stop the war in ukraine and �*bring russia to its senses�*. and dozens of officers at the uk's biggest police force are diverted from tackling terrorism and serious crimes to investigate wrongdoing within the metrpolitan police.