the very first line talked about the need for a new beginning starting with a new northern ireland assembly. israel launches airstrikes on gaza and lebanon, calling it retaliation for several dozen hamas rockets fired at israel. northern ireland on high alert. police warn republicans could provoke violence as the country marks 25 years of the good friday agreement. as emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen wrap up their trip to china, have they got what they wanted from xi jinping? and the biden white house releases a report blaming the chaotic afghanistan withdrawal on the trump administration. what the flock

hello and welcome. we begin in the middle east, where the israeli military says it has hit targets belonging to the palestinian militant group hamas in the gaza strip and lebanon. these are the latest images showing the aftermath. the airstrikes in gaza are the heaviest since last august and israel says they're in retaliation for a major rocket attack on israel launched from southern lebanon which the israelis blamed on hamas. our correspondent lucy williamson spoke to us from jerusalem. israel says it carried out a series of strikes over night against targets it says were linked to the palestinian militant group armas in both lebanon and in gaza. in gaza, it says it hit tunnels and also weapons manufacturing sites, and reports from southern lebanon describe explosions around the palestinian refugee camp there. in return, palestinian militants fired

dozens of rockets from gaza into israel over night. most were intercepted or landed in open ground, but one hit a house in the southern israeli town of sterot. speaking before a security meeting last night, benjamin netanyahu said any internal debate in israel would not prevent it from acting against its enemies, saying, we are all united in this stop but there are fears these sorts of tit—for—tat exchanges could escalate into a wider conflict as has happened in the past. this is a particular are particularly sensitive time, because you have holidays for muslims, dues and christians all converging, meaning any incidents around the holy sites injerusalem have the potential to trigger wider conflict. —— muslims, dues and christians. the peacekeeping force in lebanon has put out a complete saying the actions of the past 2a hours are dangerous and risk serious escalation. sebastian usher, middle east analyst for bbc world service radio, joins me from the newsroom.

good to see you. give us some wider context of these attacks in the past few hours. i think one of the things to look at is the way the conflict between israel and the palestinians has grown more intense in the past year, especially since the start of this year where we have seen almost daily rates by israel into the occupied west bank. we see a large number of palestinians, both fighters and civilians, killed during that. we have seen attacks by palestinian gunmen on israelis which have also wreaked a heavy price. this is always a simmering conflict, something which has been coming to the boil again, and as lucy was saying, this is a sensitive moment with the three religious holidays all converging. i think we need to look at the al—aqsa compound for what happens next. that has really been the trigger for what has happened in the past 2a hours. the

police raid by israel which were videoed and caused anger, notjust amongst palestinians, but across the arab and muslim world. i think they were very much the reason why the rocket attacks took place from lebanon and from gaza. if we see that sort of scene again over the next few days, i think then escalation will happen. if not, it is both sides sending messages to each other, israel and the palestinian militants, essentially saying that there are lines that should not be crossed. but they don't want to go beyond that. if the driving force behind it is not so intense, but it builds up its own momentum. this is the biggest single barrage from lebanon in 17 years from armas, barrage from lebanon in 17 years from armas.— from armas, based in southern lebanon- _ lebanon. —— hamas. we have heard from the idf saying they will not allow hamas to operate from lebanon, where they

have been for many years. yes. operate from lebanon, where they have been for many years.- operate from lebanon, where they have been for many years. yes, it is not 100% sure _ have been for many years. yes, it is not 100% sure that _ have been for many years. yes, it is not 10094. sure that it _ have been for many years. yes, it is not 100% sure that it is _ have been for many years. yes, it is not 100% sure that it is directly - not 100% sure that it is directly linked to hamas. it could islamicjihad. there are refugee camps that have been 11 on for many decades, and down in the south there is a camp where there is definitely militant activity. although the lebanese militant movement his brother and the lebanese government itself were not involved, at least, the lebanese government certainly not, it has no involvement, but was a bystander, but has wallow which controls the south of lebanon, nothing will happen in the south of lebanon without his brother knowing, so this is to some extent is also a message from his brother, though they have said nothing so far —— hezbollah. thank you for your analysis.

police in northern ireland have warned that some republicans could try to provoke street violence over the easter weekend as the country marks the 25th anniversary since the signing of the good friday agreement that largely ended 30 years of sectarian violence. hundreds of extra police have been brought in for events which culminate with a visit to belfast by us president biden on wednesday. vincent mcavinney reports. final preparations are under way in northern ireland for a weekend of notjust religious observation but also a commemoration of the end of this nation's darkest chapter. police in northern ireland have warned that some republicans events are being held to mark monday's 25th anniversary of the signing of the good friday agreement in 1998. the deal ended 30 years of violent conflict in northern ireland, known as the troubles, which cost the lives of more than 3,500 people. while there has been relative peace since the signing, the police service of northern ireland's chief constable simon byrne has warned of the potential for public disorder linked to dissident republicans. assistant chief constable bobby

singleton said the psni had very strong community intelligence that attacks were being planned in londonderry, and that officers had to be prepared for that and would be prepared for all eventualities on monday. mi5 recently raised northern ireland's terrorism threat level to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. the chief constable warned resources would be further challenged by the visits of us presidentjoe biden and former president bill clinton next week for the commemorations. in anticipation, psni has made temporary changes to shifts to put more officers on front line duties. mr byrne also warned of the problem posed by ongoing violence within loyalist groups, specifically the impact of a violent feud between criminal drug gangs which he said were previously linked to the ulster defence association, a loyalist parliamentary organisation. around 300 officers will be drafted

in from other uk forces to help out. the cost of the security operation around the presidential visit and anniversary events has been put at around £7 million. northern ireland has made huge progress in the decades since the good friday agreement signing, but it is still a post—conflict society which has seen old tensions rise again in recent years due to the impact of brexit. the message from psni is, they are prepared, though, for all eventualities on this historic weekend. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. passengers travelling through dover are being warned passengers travelling through dover are being warned they'll face delays as millions of travellers are expected make the crossing between france and the uk this weekend. contingency plans have been put in place to avoid a repeat of last week, which saw drivers waiting more than 111 hours. our transport correspondent,

katy austin, reports. the long easter weekend is here, and it's traditionally a big one for travel. at the port of dover last weekend, some coach passengers trying to get on ferries to france had to wait 12 hours or more. plans to make things go more smoothly now include spreading out some of today's coach travel to quieter times or to tomorrow. despite the measures in place, the port has warned there could be waits of a few hours at the busiest times today. it's also expected to be a busy few days on the roads, and taking the train instead won't be an option for everybody as a huge programme of engineering work is carried out on britain's railway. for example, there are no services between london euston and milton keynes until tuesday. easter is unique in that there is a four day window for us to be able to do work effectively. and of course, fewer people do travel than during the normal week. it's a really good opportunity for us to make improvements to the railway for the future. one estimate says two million brits are heading overseas this weekend.

the number of flights leaving uk airports remains below pre—pandemic levels, but is 11% up on last easter. industry bosses have insisted airlines and airports now have enough staff to cope with demand. but a series of strikes in france has been causing cancellations of some flights and eurostar services. whether it's by plane, train, car orferry, the advice is to plan ahead and prepare. katy austin, bbc news. and this is the seen live at the port of dover right now. we will go live two—hour correspond their in a moment to get a picture of the transport situation across the travel network. —— we will go live to our correspond that. french president emmanuel macron and the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen are wrapping up their trip to china.

after trilateral talks on thursday, they will again meet president xi jingping in the coming hours for a lunch in before heading back to europe. our asia pacific regional editor, celia hatton, joins me from the newsroom. hello. what can we expect for the last few hours of this pretty significant meeting? well, really, this part of the trip focuses on the personal relationship between emmanuel macron and the leader of china, xijinping. they will be going to guangjo, where mr xi is at the moment. this is a really important hub in the south of china, and the state media is billing this as a charm offensive, a bit of an honour extended to emmanuel macron to travel to guangjo, a city that represents a fifth of all trade between china and france and this is really where xi jinping will get to talk about what he wants to talk about, which are

trade ties between china and france. he's very eager to revitalise the chinese economy after years of strict covid restrictions, and so thatis strict covid restrictions, and so that is really being billed as a very special thing being extended to emmanuel macron, the fact that xi jinping is willing to travel to a second city with beyond beijing. really, no talk at the moment of ursula von der leyen, highlighting this divide that china has been trying to play up between wanting to really extend a lot of honours to emmanuel macron while leaving ursula von der leyen really isolated. they don't like the things she has been saying, northe don't like the things she has been saying, nor the fact she been highlighting a lot of human rights concerns before and during her trip. and a key focus for macron has been to pressure xijinping into increasing its pressure on russia to bring an end to its invasion of ukraine. what is your analysis of what progress president macon has made? there has been some criticism he has achieved very little.

yes, some have said that they think he has really failed in this regard. i don't know if i share that, really, because i think we just don't know at the moment whether xi jinping has really digested the message from emmanuel macron. of course, he knew that it was coming. emmanuel macron said that long before he even left for beijing, this is what he wanted to push for. i think it really comes down to whether we are going to see a phone call between xijinping whether we are going to see a phone call between xi jinping and volodymyr zelensky, the leader of ukraine. we thought that this phone call was going to happen shortly after xijinping went to call was going to happen shortly after xi jinping went to russia to meet with vladimir putin. it was rumoured he was going to make a phone call to mr zelensky, which would be his first phone call since the russian invasion of ukraine. that call has not been made yet, so i think that will be tangible proof as to whether xijinping i think that will be tangible proof as to whether xi jinping is opening up as to whether xi jinping is opening up a little bit, whether he really wants to engage notjust russia, but whether he really wants to be a bit of a statesman, and really wants to

extend chinese ties to ukraine as well. celia, what is your analysis of what xi jinping actually wants out of this visit? xi jinping this visit? xijinping comes out of this visit? xi jinping comes out of this trip, this visit from emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen, looking pretty good, i think. ursula von der leyen, looking pretty good, ithink. he is ursula von der leyen, looking pretty good, i think. he is really trying to push china's role in what china wants to think of as a new world order, with china at the centre. china's relationships with russia, with saudi arabia, really being key as well. just during the past couple of days, the past day, really, we have seen talks also happening in beijing between saudi arabia and iran, the first direct talks in a very long time. so really, at the moment, beijing looks to be the place where countries go to get things done. xijinping really looks like a very important statesman on the heels of the strip. celia hatton, thank you very much for your analysis.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. what do i like about myjob? everything. i love the fact that i work in a place full of so many interesting, intelligent and innovative people. i love the fact that when i come into work, i know that i'm going to tell a story, or many stories, to viewers both in the uk and around the globe, and i know how important that is in the age that we're living in. i also love the fact that i get to speak to so many different people every day and get them to tell me their stories. as a chief presenter here at the bbc, it's myjob to be across what's happening. so in the morning, i get up and the first thing i do is look at what's happening in the papers digitally. i come into work and i talk everything through with my team. through the day, i'm listening to podcasts, listening to what's happening on the radio and watching, i have to say, some of the competition as well sometimes. i think it's important for people like us to be across what is happening

in the news, because we're the ones who you are relying on to give you the full facts. you're live with bbc news. let's get more on the uk easter travel situation across the country, particularly for those attempting to get across the channel. live now to our dover to speak to our correspondent simonjones. how are things looking? it's already very busy this morning at the port of dover. we are told traffic turning up at the moment will face a wait of around 90 minutes to get through french passport controls that take place here on uk soil. also some issues on the other side of the channel. coach traffic there is facing a wait of around two hours to try and get back to the uk. but overall, the port is hoping for a much better situation than we saw last weekend, when some coach passengers talked of delays of

12, 13, 14 coach passengers talked of delays of 12, 13, 111 hours to try and coach passengers talked of delays of 12,13,111 hours to try and get on board ferries. the port insists it is much better prepared this weekend. it says it has set up a new area in the port, a marquee, where additional passport checks can take place for coach passengers. it was coach passengers who were particularly affected a week ago because in a post—brexit world, everyone on a coach now has to get off that coach to have their passports looked at and stamped. in the port says it was preparing last weekend for around 650 coaches, but actually, around 800 turned up, and thatjust actually, around 800 turned up, and that just seem to actually, around 800 turned up, and thatjust seem to be too much for the port to be able to cope with. so now it says it has got additional resources in place. but some questioning why it didn't better prepare for last weekend and why it has taken a week to put those additional measures in place. but at least it is looking better today than as you say, last weekend. what about the wider travel picture across the uk, and the trains, roads, plains?

yes, the warning as it is going to be a very busy day, whether you are heading here to the port of dover or heading here to the port of dover or heading in other directions, particularly on the roads, because motoring organisations are predicting there could be up to 17 million leisure journeys over the next four days. and the sun has just come out, and when the sun comes out, there will obviously be people heading towards the coast in this part of the world, and that means some motorways may become very, very busy. if you are thinking of getting the train instead, the warning here in the uk is to check before you travel, because network rail, which oversees the infrastructure of the rail network, says that there are around 300 engineering projects taking place this weekend. they choose this weekend because there are traditionally fewer passengers needing to travel for work reasons, so they feel they can get that engineering work done, but for example, london euston, one of the busiest railway stations here in the

uk, it is going to be closed all weekend. so here in dover, the traffic is busy in building up, but not the chaotic scenes yet, but the warning is the peak is likely to be probably early afternoon. assignment in dover, thank you. the white house has released a report about the decisions made regarding the 2021 chaotic american withdrawal from afghanistan. the 12—page report by the national security council largely blames former president donald trump's administration for the problems that unfolded as us troops were leaving. but the report admits that the us should have begun evacuating kabul earlier. let's hear more about the report from national security council spokesman john kirby. while it was always the president's intent to end that war, it is also undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him. transitions matter. that's the first

lesson learned here. and the incoming administration wasn't afforded much of one. our north america correspondent david willis has more from washington. this is a 12—page summary of a classified report that basically casts the blame for america's disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan in two directions — the former administration of donald trump, and the failures of the us intelligence service. basically, it concludes that the outgoing administration of donald trump left the incoming administration ofjoe biden in an impossible position. having set a date for the withdrawal of us troops from afghanistan, there was no plan, no design as to how that should be brought about. donald trump, of course, in february of 2020, agreed with the taliban for the withdrawal of all us troops from afghanistan by may of the final following year. joe biden managed to push that deadline back a bit, but he still had to adhere to it. by the time the biden administration had taken office, the previous force of about 10,000

us soldiers on the ground in afghanistan had dwindled to as few as 2,500, and thousands of taliban prisoners had been released from jail. that put the taliban in the strongest position it had been since the american invasion 20 years previously. this report also blames us intelligence for failures including its assessment, as early as 2021, that it would be a year or two before kabul fell to the taliban. as we all know, that in fact happened within a matter of days. david willis. escaping from north korea has always been perilous. but the country's leader kim jong—un made it harder during the covid made it harder during the covid outbreak by all but sealing the country's borders. hence the number of people making it to south korea has plunged

from around 1,000 a year to just 67 last year. our correspondentjean mackenzie spoke one of the last known people to escape before the border was closed. there are days songmi still doesn't believe she is living with her mother. what she has endured to be here made it seem like this day would never come. songmi was four years old when her mother tried to escape north korea with her strapped to her chest. her mother was caught and sent to prison. when she was released, she decided to escape again, this time alone. songmi was left with her grandparents, but shortly after, they died, leaving songmi to fend for herself. translation: i made a living by forging for herbs _

by foraging for herbs in the mountains and selling them. i was just trying to survive for the day without starving to death. it would take years before songmi's mother was able to arrange her daughter's own treacherous escape across the river to china. translation: before you cross the river, you're supposed to be scared. the river is deep and the current is strong. i could have died. but the thought of getting to my mother felt like i was throwing away a heavy burden and flying away. after 111 years apart, the pair have reunited in south korea. but songmi has never asked her mother why she left, until now. translation: l was nine - when you came back from prison. why did you escape then? translation: i wanted to bring you with me at first, _ but the broker said, no children.

if we got caught, both of us would have suffered again. so i asked your grandparents to watch you for a year. but much more time has passed. i see. i knew the morning she left, i rememberjust lying in bed, crying. what would you like to say to your daughter? what would you like her to know? translation: i want to say that i didn't abandon you. _ i made a choice to leave first to give you a better life. this choice might seem unthinkable, but these are the lengths people must go to to escape north korea, and it's only getting tougher.

we will be live withjean in south korea in an hour. nasa has successfully launched a falcon 9 rocket from florida. it's carrying a new device that can track air pollution over north america down to the neighbourhood level. two... one... ignition... the spacex mission transported to high orbit what's known as a tempo spectrometer. it's designed to monitor air pollutants and their emission sources. the device, about the size of a washing machine, can send hourly air quality updates that will be made available to the public online. tempo will also be able to track pollution caused by wildfires. climate change has made these are increasingly common and damaging. that's just show you the seen live injerusalem, where good friday is

being marked, of course. this is a scene in the old city's via della rosa. hello. it may have been a chilly start to this easter weekend, we have plenty of fine weather to come over the next few days. changes late on sunday, turning wet in the west, that rain pushing south across the uk overnight and into monday, showers following on behind. until then, monday, showers following on behind. untilthen, high monday, showers following on behind. until then, high holds on, keeping atlantic weather systems at bay, which means they will be plenty of fine weather and some sunshine, the best of it in the west. until late sunday, when this weather system moves on, you can see it turning wet overnight and into monday. that's the big picture. let's look at the detailfor the the big picture. let's look at the detail for the rest of today. we will see cloud increasing towards eastern coastal parts of scotland and north—east england, so fairly grey this afternoon, may be some drizzle on the rather chilly day.

and one or two light showers are possible across south—eastern parts of england. otherwise, some patchy cloud here and there, most places stay dry, and could see some sunshine, and highs mainly in the range of 11 —— in the range of 11-15. range of 11 —— in the range of 11—15. parts of northern scotland and north—east even with the cloud here may not get into double figures. cloud becoming more widespread across eastern areas overnight and into the morning. patchy mist and fog as possible here and there. not quite as chilly into saturday morning, but the coldest spots in the countryside will be close to freezing, so a touch of frost as possible. we will see often quite large amounts of cloud towards eastern coastal parts of the uk during saturday, whereas further inland, you see sunny spells. the odd spot of drizzle can't be ruled out, and another fairly chilly day, the cloud is thickest, and elsewhere, perhaps breezy, and a touch of sunny weather on the way. high—pressure tries to hold on into sunday, but this weather system in the west will start to move in, and

whilst there is still something to play for in the timing of the arrival of the rain, looks like northern ireland and scotland will be first to see that moving on, and other areas later in the evening. ahead of that, some areas of cloud, sunny spells too, and temperatures warmer, so more places in the range of 15-17. warmer, so more places in the range of 15—17. overnight and into monday, the rain move south across all areas. look at the showers following behind. some will be heavy, possibly thundery, on a blustery day, and stronger winds with more wet weather to come next week.

live from london, this is bbc news. israel launches air strikes on gaza and lebanon, calling it retaliation for several dozen hamas rockets fired at israel. northern ireland on high alert — police warn that republicans could provoke violence as the country marks 25 years of the good friday agreement. as emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen wrap up their trip to china, have they got what they wanted from xi jin—ping? and the biden white house releases a report blaming the chaotic afghanistan withdrawal on the trump administration.

more now on one of our top stories — and police in northern ireland