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? hello and welcome.

let's get more on passengers travelling through dover being warned they'll face delays, as millions of travellers are expected to 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 1a hours. earlier i spoke to our correspondent simonjones, who started by telling us how things are looking in dover. it's already very busy this morning at the port of dover. we're 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, 1a 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. the port says it was preparing last weekend for around 650 coaches, but actually, around 800 turned up, and thatjust seemed 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 are 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 on the trains, roads, planes? yes, the warning is,

it is going to be a very busy day, whether you are 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 that the peak is likely to be probably early afternoon. let's return to the middle east, where the israeli military says it has hit targets belonging to the palestinian militant group hamas. the airstrikes hit areas of the gaza strip and lebanon. israel says they're in retaliation for a major rocket attack on israel launched from southern lebanon, which the israelis blamed on hamas. these are the latest images showing the aftermath of the attack in gaza. the airstrikes are the heaviest since last august. earlier, i spoke to nadim shehadi, an independent middle east analyst in beirut. well, nobody believes that the rockets were fired solely by hamas, because they were fired from hezbollah territory and hezbollah kept it ambiguous.

so i think israel is sort of sending the signal, maybe the wrong signal, that it cannot fight on two fronts at the same time. it sort of backed off from a confrontation in southern lebanon at the same time as it was having one in gaza. but we all breathed a huge sigh of relief because the last thing we want in this country is a war. explain the situation in southern lebanon, which is controlled largely by hezbollah. explain who hezbollah are, who hamas are, the relationship between them, and what their target is when it comes to israel? the linkage is what happened recently in jerusalem, the attack on the mosque. hamas 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 hamas sends rockets across as a message, mainly to its own population, but also to maintain its legitimacy. the last time this happened was in 2021, and hezbollah, who is hamas�*s partner in the region of resistance militias that are affiliated to iran, threatened 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, hezbollah has been participating in the war in syria, has been fighting in iraq and supporting houthis in 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 border

for gas and oil exploration. and hezbollah supported it, or let it go, because it was blocking it before. so there was a lot of criticism that hezbollah is fooling us, it is not a resistance movement, it isjust a drug 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 hamas, allows a bit of ambiguity, because the last thing hezbollah wants is a war. nadim, 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. middle east analyst nadim shehadi, talking to me earlier. 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 spokesmanjohn 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. 0ur 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. 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 state legislature, 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 step that my colleagues took was not to pass commonsense gun laws, but to ban us for standing with the thousands of young people who have been protesting for the past week, demanding a ban on these weapons of war on the streets of our community. justin, i just want to make sure i understand that correctly, expelled means you lose your seat, so you have to leave?

i have to leave. they've shut off my id badge already. access to the building. i had to get a former colleague to let me in. they shut off my e—mail access, so i'm 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'm here in nashville, district 52, and now they are left without a voice because of the decision of an 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 expected republican lawmakers to take action. are you surprised that they voted to expel you and your fellow lawmaker? i think the nation and the world are surprised and should be shocked, because they've said democracy does not matter in tennessee. they took an extreme step. there 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, former members 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 me ask you what republican lawmakers have said. 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've called them out. we have called them out time and time again for grabbing the mic, sucking the air out of the room, making sure no other voice is heard. and finally, when they come and act so foolish on the house floor, this is a sacred place that belongs to everybody. and literally start looking up into the gallery with a bullhorn, getting the protesters worked up into a frenzy, that is incumbent

that is incumbent on us to say, you've gone a step too far and we're going to take steps to make sure that if you ever do come back, if you get re—elected, that you know it is a serious thing for tennessee. justin, did you and your fellow lawmaker take it a step too far? no. we had 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 mourning and 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 these constant mass shootings. at an elementary school in nashville, and our caucus wouldn't even let us talk about gun violence. all they did was offer moments of silence. but we said we are tired of moments of silence.

so we spoke and the speaker cut off 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. 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 expelled the two youngest black lawmakers. their caucus of 75 members in tennessee has only one non—white member.

in this whole session, they've made us feel unwelcome. they've 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 speaker cameron sexton in particular, who was the force behind the expulsion. so you have now lost 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 had thousands of young 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's shameful.

in england, i don't think people can buy an ar—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've 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 lawmakerjustin pearson, what happens for you next? do you have to run for your seats again? there is a process where the 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 seat us back here. they are trying 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 the voices of district 52, 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've been expelled. are you going to pursue any legal recourse for this expulsion? iam. i've talked to counsel before, because it is unconstitutional and there is a violation of process. there are so many constitutional concerns. that's why the nation and the world are looking at tennessee, because this is such an extreme measure that's unheard of. if it can happen to tennessee, it sends a signal that it could happen in other parts of america. justinjones justin jones speaking to justinjones speaking to our bbc news presenter in washington. military personnel can find it hard to talk about any trauma they may have witnessed. but for some veterans in weymouth, art is helping them deal with everyday struggles. their work and stories

have been made available to the public in an exhibition held at a barber shop. anna varl has been to take a look. i find that if i'm painting or drawing or writing, that takes my mind off of all the problems i've got. ijoined the british army in 1965 in the royal corps of signals, where i was trained to intercept russian military communications in morse code. 12 years serving, regular servant in the army air corps, _ 1 regiment army air corps, predominantly. _ paul, clive and mike, each using the arts to recover from the scars of conflict or cope with the struggles of everyday life. paul, in painting. at my darkest times, i didn't want to leave my bedroom. but now with the artwork, i'm feeling much more... well, as you can see, i'm feeling much easier. clive, in poetry.

it's got rid of the worst effects of what i'd seen in bosnia. i express it on paper, and i know that i'm writing what many, many soldiers feel when i write my poems. and mike, who's still in the army, in extraordinary pieces of pop art. if it wasn't for them, i don't think... - i think i would have struggled, |and to be creative and actually and do what i wanted to do all this time. _ a barbershop may not be the first place you'd think to find these pieces of creativity, but for the next couple of weeks, this artwork will be on display here behind the cutting room chair. i run a project with dorset mental health forum on mondays, normally every other monday where we get people with mental health issues come into the shop when the shop's closed, and i've got a lot of wall space. so i thought it would work really well to put the exhibition in here as well.

every photo, painting and poem tells a story, from life in the forces to the therapy it now provides. we are proud we served our country, but to remember those we lost — for the freedom that we have today, they paid the awful cost. anna varle, bbc news, weymouth. 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, twenty and fifty 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 it's time for a look at 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. 0vernight and into monday, that rain moves south across all areas. look at the showers following behind. some of these will be heavy and thundery on a blustery day with stronger winds, with more wet weather to come next week.

live from london. this is bbc news. officials in israel say two israeli women have been killed in an attack in the occupied west bank. this happened after israel launched air strikes 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 jin—ping? translation: i made a choice to leave firstl to give you a better life. escaping north korea, we speak to a mum and daughter who are one of the few to have fled.