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 are warning of the possibility of public disorder linked to the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement over this easter weekend and into next week. events begin today, and wednesday sees the us presidentjoe biden visiting belfast. he won't address lawmakers there, as the government assembly is still suspended. so a quarter of a century after the agreement, political tensions and obstacles are still present, as emma vardy reports. news of the troubles in northern ireland became a nightly refrain during the decades of bloodshed. a huge ira bomb rocked central belfast. the aftermath of another bombing in northern ireland high street. 27 soldiers are still in hospital. i rememberjust being struck by the sense of tension in the city, with barbed wire everywhere and soldiers everywhere. when you went there, you felt the presence of conflict.

republican armed groups waged a campaign of violence to try to bring about the end of northern ireland as part of the uk, and loyalists attacked catholic communities, leading to a huge loss of life on both sides. there is no sign of any immediate end to ulster�*s violence. in 1997, tony blair, the newly elected british prime minister, vowed to make dealing with northern ireland a priority. i thought, here we are, we've been decades in this conflict. we're approaching the 21st century. this is not a conflict that has any place in the new millennium. the core of the problem is the british government's refusal to acknowledge sinn fein's electoral mandate. sinn fein, the political wing of the ira, wanted a way into peace talks, and much to the hatred of some unionists, gerry adams, the leader of sinn fein, was given a seat at the table. how are you doing? the ira leadership were intelligent and they grasped the opportunity for peace.

you can be talking to people, but will that stop violence? . but some unionists remained highly sceptical that violent paramilitaries would give up their weapons. there's no surrender! i had to satisfy the unionists that if we are going to be _ in an executive with - people, there's no threat of armed resistance - or leverage hanging over us. the prime ministers continue their marathon effort. the talks had reached the moment of truth. ifeel the hand of history upon our shoulder. the two governments and the political parties of northern ireland have reached agreement. when i went out to brief the media, ijust felt i was going to start crying. partly exhaustion, because we had been going days without that much sleep, butjust a sort of sense of... god, this looks like it's

actually happening. good evening. after 30 years of conflict, after thousands of violent deaths, northern ireland was given the chance of a new beginning. the agreement was hailed around the world. northern ireland today has the promise of a springtime of peace. but 25 years on, the question of whether to be part of the uk or ireland is still unresolved and there is currently no functioning government. the political battle between the two visions for northern ireland continues as ever today, and the fragile power—sharing partnership between unionists and nationalists set up here by the good friday agreement has often collapsed. the agreement wasn't a settlement. the agreement was an accord to bring an end to the conflict. now the stage is set to mark the historic turning point that changed northern ireland in ways once believed impossible. for some, this anniversary is a testament to those who led

northern ireland away from bombs and to the ballot box. this was an ugly conflict. it was brought to an end, and that peace is worth preserving. but in a divided society, questions remain over whether the agreement of the past is now in need of reform to help unlock the political paralysis of today. some breaking news now. a 12—year—old boy has been charged with the murder of a woman who died after being hit by a car in sheffield on wednesday. the boy, who is too young to be identified legally, will appear before sheffield youth court today, according to south yorkshire police. the woman who died was named as 60—year—old macia grant. herfamily said she was a woman, loving and dedicated mother, grandmother, sister and friend and the pillar of

her immunity. emergency crews were called to a report of a collision between a woman and a car in the greenhill area of sheffield on wednesday evening at 7.10 and miss grant was pronounced dead at the scene. a 12—year—old boy has now been charged with the murder of a woman who died after being hit by a car in sheffield, 60 or marcia grant. he will appear before sheffield youth court today. republican legislators in the us state of tennessee have voted to expel two democrat members from the regional house of representatives. it comes after they took part in a protest for stricter gun laws. justin jones and justin pearson were ousted, but a third democrat, gloria johnson, narrowly survived the vote. last week, hundreds of demonstrators marched to the state capitol after six people died in a school shooting in nashville. one of the expelled politicians has been speaking to bbc news about what happened. i'm here in my office, starting to pack up, because the republican

majority took the unprecedented and extreme move to expel the two youngest black lawmakers in tennessee. i represent a part of nashville where a week ago, we had a mass shooting that killed six people including three nine—year—olds. the first that my colleagues took were not to pass gun laws, but to ban us for standing with the thousands of young people who had been protesting for the past week, demanding a ban on these weapons of war on the streets of our community. justin, to make sure — streets of our community. justin, to make sure i — streets of our community. justin, to make sure i understand _ streets of our community. justin, to make sure i understand that - make sure i understand that correctly, expelled means you lose your seat, so you have to leave? i have to leave. they have shut off my id badge already. they shut off my access to the building. i had to get access to the building. i had to get a colleague to let me in. they shut off my e—mail access, so i am no longer a legislator. that means the 78,000 people from district 52 have no representation in tennessee. i represent the most diverse district in tennessee. i am here in nashville, district 52, and now they are left without a voice because of the decision of extreme republican

supermajority, which is almost completely a white caucus, expelling the two youngest black lawmakers because we were demanding action on gun violence. you because we were demanding action on gun violence-— gun violence. you are expected republican _ gun violence. you are expected republican lawmakers - gun violence. you are expected republican lawmakers to - gun violence. you are expected republican lawmakers to take i gun violence. you are expected - republican lawmakers to take action. are you surprised that they voted to expel you and your fellow lawmaker? i think the nation in the world are surprised and should be shocked, because they have said democracy does not matter in tennessee. they took an extreme step. they have only been three expulsions in tennessee history, all involving crimes or unethical behaviour. this is the first expulsion of first amendment activity for a breach of decorum, they said we were violating decorum rules. even members who have been here that i have talked to, no one has heard of a breach of decorum rule resulting in expulsion. it's the most extreme measure because it doesn't only silence us, but it's about silencing our district. my district has 78,000 people who have no representation. that was what they did. let no representation. that was what the did. ., , ~ no representation. that was what the did. ., i. ., they did. let me ask you what republican — they did. let me ask you what republican lawmakers - they did. let me ask you what republican lawmakers have i they did. let me ask you what l republican lawmakers have said they did. let me ask you what - republican lawmakers have said they. they said you broke rules of decorum

and staged a mutiny. we have a clip from the house caucus chair. let me play that for you. we from the house caucus chair. let me play that for you-— play that for you. we have called them out- _ play that for you. we have called them out- we — play that for you. we have called them out. we have _ play that for you. we have called them out. we have called - play that for you. we have called them out. we have called them l play that for you. we have called i them out. we have called them out time and _ them out. we have called them out time and time again for grabbing the mic, sucking the air out of the room. — mic, sucking the air out of the room, making sure no other voice is heard _ room, making sure no other voice is heard and — room, making sure no other voice is heard. and finally, when they come and act _ heard. and finally, when they come and act so _ heard. and finally, when they come and act so foolish on the house floor. _ and act so foolish on the house floor. this — and act so foolish on the house floor, this is a sacred place that belongs — floor, this is a sacred place that belongs to— floor, this is a sacred place that belongs to everybody. they literally start looking up into the gallery with a _ start looking up into the gallery with a bullhorn, getting the protesters worked up into a frenzy. that is _ protesters worked up into a frenzy. that is incumbent on us to say, you have _ that is incumbent on us to say, you have gone — that is incumbent on us to say, you have gone a — that is incumbent on us to say, you have gone a step too far and we are going _ have gone a step too far and we are going to _ have gone a step too far and we are going to take steps to make sure that if— going to take steps to make sure that if you — going to take steps to make sure that if you ever do come back, if you get— that if you ever do come back, if you get re—elected, that you know it is a serious — you get re—elected, that you know it is a serious thing for tennessee. justin, _ is a serious thing for tennessee. justin, did — is a serious thing for tennessee. justin, did you and your fellow lawmaker take it a step too far? ha. lawmaker take it a step too far? no. we have spent _ lawmaker take it a step too far? iir>. we have spent the whole session in silence, not able to speak. what led to this point was that the whole week, again, i represent a nashville

community that is traumatised. we couldn't even talk about gun violence because this legislature was passing laws to arm teachers to make it easier to get a gun than it is for voters to get health care. this is a uniquely american problem, where we have constant mass shootings. at an elementary school in nashville, our caucus wouldn't even let us talk about gun violence. we said we are tired of moments of silence. so we spoke and the speaker because of our microphone. when i tried to stand with those protesting, he shut down my voting machine so i couldn't even vote for a while. this is an extreme reaction from a body that spent the whole session trying to silence any voice of opposition. if i didn't know that this had happened to me, i would not know this was america. this is autocracy, and it's scary that this republican supermajority has silenced our voters for standing up, not trying to call for violence, but the exact opposite, the end to gun violence. we were calling for action

so we can stop our young people and children from being murdered and massacred. 50 children from being murdered and massacred-— children from being murdered and massacred. , ., . , ., ., massacred. so you and your fellow exelled massacred. so you and your fellow expelled lawmaker, _ massacred. so you and your fellow expelled lawmaker, justin - massacred. so you and your fellow| expelled lawmaker, justin pearson, you are two young black representatives. your fellow democrat member, gloria johnson, she also took part in this process. she was not expelled. republican legislators are saying this is not about race. what is your response? gloria said herself, the only difference is our skin colour. they expeued difference is our skin colour. they expelled the two youngest black lawmakers. their caucus of 75 members in tennessee has only one non—white member. in this whole session, they have made us feel unwelcome. they have said we should not talk about systemic racism, that we cannot be our full authentic selves and represent our districts. so this is clearly racism from the republican caucus and one speaker in particular, who was the force behind the expulsion. 50 particular, who was the force behind the emulsion-—

the expulsion. so you have now lost our seat the expulsion. so you have now lost your seat and _ the expulsion. so you have now lost your seat and you _ the expulsion. so you have now lost your seat and you are _ the expulsion. so you have now lost your seat and you are aimless - the expulsion. so you have now lost your seat and you are aimless to - your seat and you are aimless to achieve progress on gun reform. but are your plans now for achieving that reform now that you are out of office? we that reform now that you are out of office? ~ ., ., , ., office? we had thousands of young eo - le office? we had thousands of young peeple there _ office? we had thousands of young people there who _ office? we had thousands of young people there who are _ office? we had thousands of young people there who are going - office? we had thousands of young people there who are going to - office? we had thousands of young i people there who are going to return on monday. now i am going to stand with them and demand that my colleagues act, because we were calling for a ban on assault weapons, weapons of war. and they responded with an assault on democracy. that is shameful. in england, people can they cannot buy an ir 15, but in tennessee, it is easier to do that than to get health care. that is shameful. this is a uniquely american problem and this is something that has defined my generation, these school shootings from sandy hook to here in nashville. it is shameful and we in tennessee need to act, because we have done the opposite. they are beholden to special interest groups like the nra. they will not listen to young people and our constituents, and that is shameful.

you and your fellow expelled lawmaker, what happens for you next? do you have to run for your seats again? do you have to run for your seats auain? , ., do you have to run for your seats auain? _, , ,, again? there is a process where the council can — again? there is a process where the council can appoint _ again? there is a process where the council can appoint a _ again? there is a process where the council can appoint a special - council can appoint a special election. i think the mayor of nashville posted that they are calling a meeting on monday to try and reappoint me here. but the question is that the republican supermajority will try to usurp the will of our voters and my community. none of these people who voted for expulsion live in my community. they live in different districts and they have silenced the voices of district 50 78,000 people. they don't have a representative right now because of this attack on democracy. we have members of the legislature who have been guilty of sexual harassment and who were not expelled. but for standing with our constituents and calling for an end to the proliferation of gun laws, we have been expelled. share proliferation of gun laws, we have been expelled.— been expelled. are you going to ursue been expelled. are you going to pursue any _ been expelled. are you going to pursue any legal— been expelled. are you going to pursue any legal recourse - been expelled. are you going to pursue any legal recourse for i been expelled. are you going to. pursue any legal recourse for this expulsion? i pursue any legal recourse for this exulsion? .,

pursue any legal recourse for this emulsion?— expulsion? i am. i have talked to counsel before, _ expulsion? i am. i have talked to counsel before, because - expulsion? i am. i have talked to counsel before, because it - expulsion? i am. i have talked to counsel before, because it is - counsel before, because it is unconstitutional and there is a violation of process. there are so many constitutional concerns. that is why the nation in the world are looking at tennessee, because this is such an extreme measure that is unheard of. if it can happen in tennessee, it sends a signal that it could happen in other parts of america. justinjones, talking justin jones, talking to justinjones, talking to our washington presenter. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. so some of the most interesting stories that i've told the audiences, i can look back to the beginning of my career, junior reporter during 9/11. that was a huge story and it was so difficult to tell, particularly because i had to interview people who had lost colleagues and loved ones in those towers in new york. moving on, the economic crisis of 2008, that was a huge story, both in the uk and globally, and i talked to so many people whose lives had been turned upside down by the then banking crisis

and the subsequent economic fallout. i was a chief presenter during the covid pandemic and i was coming to work, trying to convey the story to viewers who were stuck at home doing lockdown not only in the uk, but across the world. more recently, i was sent to windsor to cover the funeral of prince philip, the duke of edinburgh. i was there, getting a real sense of loss and sadness is that there was a great honour for me to be sent there by the bbc to cover a story like that. more on the middle east now, where the israeli military says it has hit targets belonging to the palestinian militant group hamas in the gaza strip and lebanon. let's cross over to beirut to speak to an independent middle east analyst nadim shehadi. israel has blamed these rocket

attacks on hamas, who they say are firing out of southern lebanon. what is your analysis of where these rockets have come from and fired by whom? ~ ., ,., , rockets have come from and fired by whom? ~ ., , , , ., whom? well, nobody believes that the rockets were — whom? well, nobody believes that the rockets were fired _ whom? well, nobody believes that the rockets were fired solely _ whom? well, nobody believes that the rockets were fired solely by _ whom? well, nobody believes that the rockets were fired solely by hamas, i rockets were fired solely by hamas, because they were fired from hezbollah territory and hezbollah kept it ambiguous. israel is sort of sending the signal, maybe the wrong signal, that cannot fight on two fronts at the same time. so it sort of backed off from confrontation in southern lebanon at the same time as it was having one in gaza. we all breathed a huge sigh of relief because the last thing we want in this country is a war.—

this country is a war. explain the situation in _ this country is a war. explain the situation in southern _ this country is a war. explain the situation in southern lebanon, l this country is a war. explain the - situation in southern lebanon, which is controlled largely by hezbollah. explain who hezbollah are, who hamas are and the relationship between them, and what their target is when it comes to israel? the them, and what their target is when it comes to israel?— it comes to israel? the linkage is what happened — it comes to israel? the linkage is what happened recently - it comes to israel? the linkage is what happened recently in - it comes to israel? the linkage is - what happened recently in jerusalem, what happened recently injerusalem, the attack on the mosque. hamas takes this as an opportunity to show that it takes this as an opportunity to show thatitis takes this as an opportunity to show that it is the protector, that it is the resistance, that it is the only one confronting israel. so ham ascends rockets across as a message, mainly to its own population, also to maintain its legitimacy. the last time this happened was in 2021, and hezbollah, who is hammer �*s partner

in the region —— hamas is the partner and they threaten to attack, but they didn't. hezbollah this time is in desperate need to reassert its credentials as a resistance movement because hezbollah is largely blamed for the economic crisis in the country and the isolation of the economy. hezbollah's credibility as a resistance movement, especially in its own constituency, has been dented by almost 17 years of non—confrontation with israel. at the same time, they have been

supporting iraq and yemen. so hezbollah is looking more like an iranian proxy rather than a local resistance movement. recently, there was an agreement on the border about maritime borderfor gas was an agreement on the border about maritime border for gas and was an agreement on the border about maritime borderfor gas and oil exploration. and hezbollah supported it, or let it go. so there was a lot of criticism that hezbollah is fooling us, it is not a resistance movement, it isjust fooling us, it is not a resistance movement, it is just a fooling us, it is not a resistance movement, it isjust a cartel and a criminal organisation. so it desperately needed to re—establish those credentials. and doing it in a disguised manner, by saying it is hammer —— hamas, allows it a bit of credibility, because the last thing

hezbollah wants is a war. nadim, this is the biggest _ hezbollah wants is a war. nadim, this is the biggest rocket - hezbollah wants is a war. nadim, this is the biggest rocket attack i this is the biggest rocket attack since the war in 2006. israel have said they will not allow hamas to operate out of there. is there a risk of a huge conflagration now? there is always a risk of a huge confrontation. as we saw in 2006, it can be very destructive. the mood in lebanon is that we are hostage to hezbollah. ., lebanon is that we are hostage to hezbollah. . ,, ., . hezbollah. nadim shehadi in beirut, thank ou. let's ta ke let's take you live tojerusalem, where christians are marking the good friday procession along old

city? via de la rosa, which is thronged with christians marking the significant day in the christian calendar. a filipino toy maker has turned his hand to helping people grieving for their much loved pets. david tan has helped thousands by offering a service that creates replicas of them as soft toys. harry bligh has the details: david tan and his team at the pampanga teddy bear factory began making realistic replicas of pets after he lost his own dog, a golden retriever, in 2019. i loved her dearly and she passed away in 2019. since i was doing plush toys at the time, i asked my pattern maker, hey, as a way of remembering my beloved pet, can you try making a realistic clone of her? the company receives commissions from all over the world for various breeds of dogs, cats and smaller pets too, like rabbits and hamsters.

of course, preserving or stuffing dead animals has been around for hundreds of years. but david tan is clear that this is different. one of the things i like to say is that we're not taxidermy, so it removes that ick factor, right? like, we're not using the real skin of the pet. this is 100% genuinely a stuffed toy. so basically, it's the same fabric we use for making teddy bears, but it looks realistic. here's how it works. customers send in photos and videos of their pets from when they were alive, as well as some measurements like the pet's height and length. then the team create a silhouette of the animal using cardboard and begin creating an outer shell that is then filled with stuffing. after a suitable synthetic fur is found and applied, it is airbrushed by an artist to recreate the pet's colours and markings. each one takes around two days to make, and costs in the region of $65. this woman is one of those who had

her dog recreated by the company. translation: every time i see it, especially when i touch it, the memories flash back to me. i remember thejoy i felt when he was still with us. thousands of other people have since turned to the toy factory to memorialise their much loved pets. millions of new banknotes featuring the image of king charles are being made — and the bbc has been given exclusive access to the printing process. the portrait is the only change to existing designs of the bank of england's five, ten, 20 and 50 pound notes. but there's still a year or more to wait before they enter circulation. and questions remain over the convenience, or otherwise, of cash. here's our cost of living correspondent, kevin peachey. here's your change.

a new monarch means a new portrait on new banknotes. on this day alone, six million tenners carrying the image of king charles are being printed for the bank of england in this highly secure site. they're ready to begin replacing nearly five billion notes out there featuring the queen, but only as the older ones become worn or damaged. up until now, she's been the one and only monarch shown on the bank's circulating notes. portrait of her majesty the queen. currency which will still be accepted in the shops. the king is already on 50p coins, but the monarch doesn't appear on banknotes issued by banks in scotland and northern ireland. and these look but aren't quite ready to go out. you may not be lucky enough to have a wad of cash like this, that's £50,000. but even to just get one of these notes, you're going to have to wait until the middle of next year when the king charles notes enter circulation. the bank's chief cashier, whose signature is on these notes,

says there's plenty to prepare in the next 12 months. there's a huge amount that has to happen just to make sure that people can use their bank notes. there are thousands of machines up and down the country that take bank notes — things like self—service checkouts in supermarkets, and they all have to be updated to recognise the new designs. but do we still use cash to pay? where better tojudge than at the king's head? a site with its own rich history said to have once hosted james ii. i think we know it's the biggest change during covid, when people didn't want to be touching cash and theyjust started using their phones more, their watches, their credit cards. how did you pay? did you use these? this is this. it's so much faster, - it's a lot easier, a lot quicker and you keep control. so, yeah, i think as- a dinosaur, we've moved on and evolved and you go, that's the future, isn't it? l is there anything you use cash for these days? parking, you know, the pound meters, that is literally... and car washes,

that is literally it. so cash may no longer be king, but in time and for some time to come, kings will be on our cash. kevin peachey, bbc news. now, here's the weather with nick miller. hello. it may have been a chilly start to this easter weekend, but we've got plenty of fine weather to come over the next few days. changes late on sunday, turning wetter in the west, and that rain pushing south across the uk overnight and into monday, with showers following behind. until then, it's high pressure holding on, keeping atlantic weather systems at bay. that means there's going to be plenty of fine weather and some sunshine, the best of the sunshine in the west until late sunday, when this weather system moves in and you can see it turning wetter overnight and into monday. let's look at the detail for the rest of today. we are going to see cloud increasing towards eastern coastal parts of scotland and north—east england, so turning grey this afternoon, maybe some drizzle and

a rather chilly day here. just one or two light showers are possible across the south—eastern parts of england. other than that, there will be patchy cloud here and there. most places will stay dry, we'll get to see some sunshine. but those coastal parts of eastern scotland and north—east england with the cloud here may not get into double figures. the cloud is becoming a bit more widespread across eastern areas overnight and into the morning, and some patchy mist and fog is possible here and there. not quite as chilly going into saturday morning, but the coldest spots in the countryside will be close to freezing, so a touch of frost is possible. we are going to see often quite large amounts of cloud towards eastern coastal parts of the uk during saturday, whereas further inland, you get to see some sunny spells. the odd spot of drizzle can't be ruled out and another fairly chilly day where the cloud is thickest. but elsewhere, a touch breezier, but there will be plenty of dry and sunny weather on the way. the high pressure is trying to hold on going into sunday, but this weather system in the west

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

live from london, this is bbc news. 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? translation: i made a choice to leave first to _ translation: i made a choice to leave first to give _ translation: i made a choice to leave first to give you _ translation: i made a choice to leave first to give you a _ translation: i made a choice to leave first to give you a better - leave first to give you a better life. escaping north korea. we speak to a mum and daughter who are two of the few to have fled.