live from london, this is bbc news. on the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement being signed, the british prime minister calls for power—sharing to return to northern ireland. chinese military forces conduct drills around taiwan for a third day. the display of force is beijing's angry response to a visit by the taiwanese president to the us. elon musk says the bbc is "among the least biased news organisations". it's in response to the bbc�*s objections to being labelled as "government—funded media" on its main twitter account. a shorter procession route and an air—conditioned carriage — buckingham palace releases new details on king charles�* coronation.

welcome to bbc news. we begin in northern ireland — which is marking 25 years since the signing of the good friday agreement. the historic peace deal largely ended decades of violence in northern ireland. but prime minister rishi sunak says efforts must be intensified to restore the power—sharing government that was central to the deal. it collapsed in the fall out from brexit and now the political dysfunction and security concerns are threatening to to overshadow the historic milestone. from belfast, laura cullen reports. it took 22 months of talks to largely end three decades of conflict. through it all, these leaders kept their sense of purpose. and in the end, they delivered an agreement that's fair and balanced and offers hope for the people of northern ireland.

the agreement was based on the idea of cooperation between communities, and set up a new government representing both nationalists and unionists. a copy of it went to every household in northern ireland, and almost a million people voted in the referendum that followed. the result, as predicted, but definitive — northern ireland was ready for change. yes, 71.12%. cheering but the path has been far from smooth. the anniversary was officially marked last week in a stormont # light up, light up... the anniversary was officially marked last week in a stormont where the devolved executive and assembly aren't currently sitting. the democratic unionist party is refusing to go into government over brexit arrangements. the prime minister, though,

is looking forward. rishi sunak paid tribute to those who signed the agreement, saying... and he said... "it is a promise we must continue to fulfil," he said, "so we must get on with the business of governance." and there's a reminder that the threat from paramilitaries continues. there was some trouble at an annual dissident republican parade on easter monday last year. police have warned of the potential for more serious violence this year. very strong community intelligence specifically coming forward in respect of monday's events in derry/londonderry, and a real concern that there may be attempts to draw police in to serious public disorder, and to use that then as a platform to launch terrorist attacks on police as well. so going into our operation, that's something that is very clearly right at the forefront of my mind, the minds of the commanders that will be delivering it, and of course, our officers as well.

but after 25 years of relative peace, the focus is on a deal that started a work in progress. with the us government having played a key role in the good friday agreement talks, a visit to belfast tomorrow by presidentjoe biden will mark the anniversary. louise cullen, bbc news. this is what our news correspondent charlotte gallagher told us earlier about the political situation in northern ireland. there is no doubt that it is disappointing that on the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, such a landmark moment, there is not a functioning devolved government at stormont. if i went to stormont today, a ten minute drive from here, the building would be empty. the politicians who should be there debating every day, nothing is really happening. decisions are not being made. if you talk to people in northern ireland, they are thoroughly fed up with the situation. there has not been a functioning devolved government for months, and at the moment it doesn't

look like there is any sign of politicians going back there because of the stand—off about post—brexit trading arrangements. however, it is a time to celebrate. 25 years, and political violence, which was once all too common in northern ireland is now, thankfully very rare. thousands of people died, lives were marred, and now that violence is very rare, we don't really see it on the streets of belfast or the rest of northern ireland. if you walk around belfast today you meet tourist from all over the world, people enjoying a day out, shopping, going to bars and museums. it is a very different place. and of course tomorrow joe biden, the us president, is flying in for a tour of northern ireland, and the republic of ireland. he will be in belfast where he will go to a new university campus and meet uk prime minister rishi sunak and then onto the republic of ireland, he will visit dublin, and county mayo, county louth, and it will be a bit of a homecoming for the us president.

he describes himself as a proud irish american, proud irish catholic and when he goes to county mayo, he will meet with his cousins who sometimes go to the white house, they go for st patrick's day, and he will do a speech outside the cathedral in the town of ballina. in that town they have us flags out, there are murals painted on walls, and i think he has a real personal connection with ireland, and those moments when he's with his family and meeting people from across ireland, are the things he is really going to be looking forward to. he is keen to show how much he supports northern ireland and the republic. it is hard to overstate the important role the us played in the good friday agreement. i think, without the us around the table brokering the deal, the good friday agreement may not have happened at all. they played such a key role. and you saw after it was signed

when bill clinton came to northern ireland and the republic of ireland, the reception that us president got was immense. thousands of people lining the streets, wanting to hear him and see him. it was like a rock star moment here. so i thinkjoe biden will get a similar reception because there is that strong link between the us and the island of ireland. lots of us presidents talk about how important that relationship is. joe biden, certainly among them. he is very proud of his irish roots. charlotte gallagher in belfast. i'm joined now by freya mcclements, northern editor at the irish times. g row grow up in belfast during the troubles. can you tell us what it was like for you? the troubles. can you tell us what it was like for you?— troubles. can you tell us what it was like for you? the way to sum it u - , was like for you? the way to sum it u, it is was like for you? the way to sum it up. it is very _ was like for you? the way to sum it up, it is very similar— was like for you? the way to sum it up, it is very similar to _ was like for you? the way to sum it up, it is very similar to what - was like for you? the way to sum it up, it is very similar to what your. up, it is very similar to what your corresponded outline, it isjust completely different. i grew up in a

rural village in county derry. even though we were not in the heart of the city and the heart of the trouble is things like checkpoints and bombings, my own family's business was blown up in a bomb when i was 11, things like this were just part of everyday and it sounds strange and awful when you think back, but things like killing, bombings, shootings, were simply normal and as a child you didn't know any different. it is only now when you are older that you realise that this was very abnormal. so, if having any about the changes caused by the good friday agreement, and what has been achieved, the basic starting point that we have to go from is that that stopped and the violence thankfully nowadays is very rare and today's children are not familiar with that scenario. that was what the good friday agreement did and i was 17 when it was signed,

and even then i knew that this meant hope, that there was a chance of a different future, that my generation would have a different future to that which had gone before, and obviously that goes again a today's children. ., ., . , ., children. you wrote recently that ou had children. you wrote recently that you had been _ children. you wrote recently that you had been talking _ children. you wrote recently that you had been talking to - children. you wrote recently that you had been talking to your - children. you wrote recently that i you had been talking to your friends about their memories of the time, and that some of the conversations you had been having well for the first time, because you had not discussed your memories before. was that a feeling that people just want to move on very quickly and put that all behind them and not talk about it? it all behind them and not talk about it? ., , , , all behind them and not talk about it? , it? it was because it was so everyday. _ it? it was because it was so everyday. that _ it? it was because it was so everyday, that people - it? it was because it was so everyday, that people did l it? it was because it was so l everyday, that people did not it? it was because it was so - everyday, that people did not think of it as an unusual occurrence. which again, sounds awful, and i refer to my family's business being blown up, i write about this in the irish times at the weekend. my reaction to my mum coming in to say that this had happened was not a shock, it was just accepted because that was what happened here, as

nurses got blown up. another friend said to me the other day, it was the first time she —— businesses got blown up. a policeman had been shot dead, and she had been pulling a blanket over the face of the policeman and she had actually forgotten about it, because this was an everyday occurrence, if you like, and it is only now that the anniversary has prompted people of my generation who were teenagers when the good friday agreement was signed, to look back and again reflect on those changes. another friend spoke about being afraid to walk down a road in belfast, the murder mile, walk down a road in belfast, the murdermile, in walk down a road in belfast, the murder mile, in broad daylight, and now his children live in the same area and they walk along that road without a care in the world, and thatis without a care in the world, and that is the reality of the peace process, and the piece. [30

that is the reality of the peace process, and the piece. do you feel now that your— process, and the piece. do you feel now that your hopes _ process, and the piece. do you feel now that your hopes and _ process, and the piece. do you feel now that your hopes and dreams i process, and the piece. do you feel i now that your hopes and dreams have been realised by the fact that northern ireland is such a different place now? northern ireland is such a different lace now? ~ , northern ireland is such a different place now?— northern ireland is such a different lacenow? , ~ ., place now? absolutely. what those stories show. _ place now? absolutely. what those stories show, and _ place now? absolutely. what those stories show, and the _ place now? absolutely. what those stories show, and the fact - place now? absolutely. what those stories show, and the fact that - place now? absolutely. what those stories show, and the fact that we | stories show, and the fact that we are reflecting on that now demonstrates the extent to which things have changed and if you look at today's teenagers, it is a completely different landscape, with a completely different perspective and again, you can reflect on the good friday agreement and look at what remains to be done again, your correspondent touched on some of these things. the fact that we have no sitting assembly, we have not had that for 40% of the time since it was set up following the good friday agreement. there is an awful lot of work to be done in terms of reconciliation. but absolutely the good friday agreement did bring peace to northern ireland. i can act thank you very much for sharing your

thoughts, freya mcclements, the northern editor of the irish times. now to the escalating tensions around taiwan — where chinese military forces are conducting drills for a third day. taiwan's defence ministry says it has detected 11 chinese warships and 59 aircraft around the island, 39 entered taiwan's air defence zones on monday morning. these are some of the latest images of the drills released by china's military and shown on the country's state television. the chinese display of force has added to tension between china and the united states. and the us navy says it has sailed a guided missile destroyer through contested waters claimed by china near the spratly islands — to assert navigational passage rights. with the latest, here's our asia pacific regional editor, celia hatton. in comparison to the drills we saw last august after the then us house speaker, nancy pelosi, actually visited taiwan, these drills are a little bit more measured. we're still seeing no disruption to flight patterns, to regular flight patterns, commercial planes, passenger planes. we're not seeing any

disruption to shipping routes. that vessel, the us naval vessel that you mentioned travelling through waters that beijing claims for itself in the south china sea, that actually happens kind of regularly. so, yes, these drills are taking place. many people are watching them carefully. but i don't really think there's cause for alarm at the moment. what we're seeing, though, that i think is really important, is we're seeing beijing play out over three days its threat, really, of how it would take taiwan. so, day one, we saw chinese forces practise seizing control by air, by sea, by force. day two, we saw them practising strikes. this is day three of three days of planned drills — we're seeing some live fire drills taking place quite close to the chinese mainland, so some in taipei say that those drills are taking

place in order to please a domestic mainland chinese audience. we're also, though, seeing what the chinese military says are practising sealing off taiwan, and that's really the ultimate threat, that that's how the chinese military would force taiwan into submission, by sealing it off. so we're seeing a lot of rhetoric. we are seeing a lot of rhetoric, and these drills take place. however, i think that both sides are seeing that this is happening. daily life is still going on as usual in taiwan. the us military is doing what it's been doing for quite some time, which is taking boats through waters that beijing claims as its own. so, yes, these drills are taking place, but i think tensions are at a level that we've been seeing for the past few months. 0k, talk to us about the taiwan government's response. because when i spoke to you a couple of days ago, they were saying they were going to react calmly to this. we're getting a slight change, in that they say

"we're going to defend ourselves and uphold our sovereignty, maintain our national security." what do you make of their response? yeah, i mean, ithink that they of course are watching this carefully. of course they're not very happy that these drills are taking place. but these drills were expected. i mean, they knew when the taiwanese leader, tsai ing—wen, travelled through the united states, this has happened before with past leaders in taiwan. we also should note that this is all happening against the backdrop of an upcoming taiwanese presidential election, which is really important. that election�*s going to be taking place injanuary. china's pushing for tsai ing—wen�*s opposition, the opposition to come into power. the nationalist kmt party. that's who they would like into power, and in fact, one of the former leaders of the kmt recently travelled for a ten—day visit to china where the red carpet was rolled out for him. so, this is all happening

against the backdrop of an upcoming presidential campaign. tsai ing—wen won't be running again, but her party certainly will. so a lot of the language that's coming out around these drills is also looking forward to what's going to be happening injanuary. but if you look on social media, people in taiwan are alarmed, they're not happy about this, but life is continuing as normal. we sort of have to take what's being released about these drills with a little bit of a grain of salt. celia hatton, our asi pacific regional editor. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. there are people, both young and old, who simply do not know that people of colour fought and died

alongside their british counterparts in both world wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a generation who crossed oceans to help britain during world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service of these brave men who came all those thousand miles from the caribbean to help this country in its hour of need has been pretty much erased from the history books. glen's uncles came over from the caribbean to train with the raf. he wanted the memorial for them and thousands of others who volunteered to serve. very good, very moving and i hope people do think on this. iam proud, my god, lam proud, and i'm here_ for my comrades, you know? some's missing, obviously. bugle sounds you're live with bbc news. i'm lucy gray. a boat carrying 400 people

is feared to be at risk of sinking in the mediterranean. charities say the captain has left the boat, and now it's adrift and taking on water. this comes amid a sharp migrant boat crossings in the mediterranean from north africa. two bodies have been found in the rubble of a collapsed building in marseille in france, almost 2a hours after an explosion brought down two residential blocks. fire officers have worked through the night in difficult conditions searching for survivors — as investigators try to work out what caused the blast. aruna iyengar has the latest. thick smoke billows up from collapsed homes in the centre of marseille. there still could be people trapped. rescue work has been hampered by a fire that broke out and the partial collapse of neighbouring buildings. the cause of the explosion is not confirmed, but it may have been a gas explosion. michele devoluet has lived in the neighborhood since the 19705. translation: i heard a bang. i thought it was a bomb.

i thought they'd put a bomb somewhere under my window, because it was huge. i saw the house collapsing like a house of cards. i've never seen that before in my life, but it's awful. this was the scene in the early hours of sunday. the explosion took place in one building, causing a partial collapse of two others. residents from 30 buildings were told to grab their belongings and leave. five people were taken to hospital with serious injuries, two of these suffering from hearing problems as a result of the blast. although many buildings in this mediterranean port city are old and characterful, the ones that collapsed in the rue de tivoli were not known to have structural problems. aruna iyengar, bbc news. in the french alps, the search is resuming this morning for two missing skiers after an avalanche which left four skiers dead. nine people were injured in the avalanche which happened southwest of mont blanc.

twitter has added a label "government funded media" to the bbc�*s twitter account. the bbc has a number of accounts on twitter. the one in question — @bbc — has 2.2 million followers, and primarily shares updates that aren't related to news. the bbc objected to the label, saying it is independent, and funded by the british public through the licence fee. twitter owner elon musk emailed our north america technology reporterjames clayton. dame spoke about their conversation. when i saw twitter had added this label, i e—mailed elon musk, i'm a technology reporter and sometimes we reach out to twitter, and i thought i would e—mail him and say that the bbc was funded through the licence fee, paid for by the british public. and he responded. he responded first of all, saying, do you think this label is inaccurate, then he came up with

a suggestion himself, he said maybe the accounts themselves should link to the sourcing of funding. i pushed him on that and he gave me a much longer e—mail. he said... now, i think what you get an impression is that this is policy that is not defined yet. this is most certainly spitballing, it is policy on the hoof. he is thinking, being inquisitive about what to do with accounts like the bbc, what to do with them. the problem is the label has already being attached to one of the bbc�*s twitter accounts. and you have seen

this with other media organisations as well, so you have npr, radio, some days ago, that was labelled as state affiliated media akin to russia today. that has been taken down because that simply isn't true. what we are seeing once again is elon musk, riffing, making policy as he goes along. sometimes that can be effective in business, but what i would add to that is the problem we have in this case is that media organisations are being labelled. they are then being unlabelled, or labelled for something else and it all feels a little bit chaotic, frankly. you have organisations like npr and bbc who strenuously believe in impartiality and accuracy, being labelled in ways they simply don't trust or believe in or believe is accurate. so that is it in a nutshell. elon musk, he clearly seems

to like and trust the bbc, but you do have, very clearly, this slightly strange situation with elon musk, that you can kind of e—mail him and he will simply e—mail you back a response. our north america technology reporterjames clayton on his e—mail exchange with elon musk. in october 2022, brazil experienced a dramatically polarised election that was decided by a razor—thin margin of less than two percentage points. in october 2022, brazil experienced a dramatically polarised election of less than two percentage points. luiz inacio lula da silva, became head of state for the third time injanuary, 20 years after the start of his first presidential term. lula's administration today hits the 100—day mark. bbc�*s daniel gallas reports on how lula has been faring.

he's been president before for two tersm. this is by far his biggest challenge because he has inherited a very divided country with a very tough economic, cost of living crisis as well, so yes, to unite the country and get the economy back together, very tough challenges for him. remember there were fierce riots in brasilia just a few days after he took power. and the supporters of the former president jair bolsonaro vowed they would not accept him as a leader and that they wanted him in jail. on the other hand he wanted to bring back to congress all of the people who can help him with economic reforms but he has not been able to even convince some of the members of his own party that his economic plan is viable. he has always been a very mistrusted figure among markets and businessmen as well. so a very fragmented country, and these have been 100 days of work for him. the final challenge for him is to get brazil on the international stage as well. he is going to china this week, and one of his main goals

in the long term is to get china, russia and different countries together to negotiate and broker a peace deal in ukraine, and get all of these parties that are not talking at the moment, like nato, russia and china, together. his aide was in russia last week and was received by vladimir putin, so he has some friendships abroad and he is trying to get this foreign policy as well. daniel gallas. tibetan spiritual leader dalai lama has apologised to a boy and his family, after a video clip purportedly showing the tibetan spiritual head asking him to suck his tongue sparked a row. in the video, the boy comes forward to give a hug to dalai lama and kisses his cheek. but then dalai lama kisses the boy on his lips and he is heard asking the boy to suck his tongue. his twitter statement said...

you're watching bbc news. hello again. this week will be much more unsettled than last week. yes there will be some sunshine but it will be wetter than last week and also windier. you can see where the met office has a yellow weather warning out for the strength of the winds, gusting 40—60 mph from tuesday afternoon, tuesday night and into wednesday. today's tree pollen levels are high or moderate and will remain like this as we go through the rest of this week. today, we also can see the back edge of that rain pushing away from the far south—east, lingering across

shetland, then we have two distinctive areas of showers. some of those will be heavy, thundery and prolonged and blustery as you can see from the average wind speeds. when either side of them there will be the odd shower and sunshine, up to about 15 sources. not feeling as cold along the north coast line as it has in the last few days. we have lost all of that cloud. this evening and overnight there will still be showers around and clear skies. it will be breezy. temperatures in some parts falling away to about three degrees. a cold start to the day tomorrow. tomorrow there will be a fair bit of sunshine around. a scattering of showers across parts of scotland, but it will not be long before the cloud gathers in the south—west and then we will see rain pushing into northern ireland, wales and the south—west of england, accompanied by strong winds. the head of it, some sunshine and temperatures up to about 1k celsius. the rain is coming on courtesy of this area of low pressure, pushing

northwards and eastwards, and you can see from the squeeze on their cebara is that it will be windy, of the strongest winds in the west and south. you can see snow above 400 and scotland with some wintry showers in the pennines, and also on the hills of wales, and the moors. these black circles represent the strength of the gusts of wind. if you are camping in a tent or caravan please bear that in mind. temperatures up to around 11—12, for most. heading into the outlet period for the rest of the week it remains unsettled. looks like it is turning a bit milderfor the unsettled. looks like it is turning a bit milder for the weekend.

live from london, this is bbc news. on the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement being signed — the british prime minister calls for power sharing to return to northern ireland. chinese military forces conduct drills around taiwan for a third day. the display of force is beijing's angry reponse to a visit by the taiwanese president to the us. migrant charities say they're concerned for the safety of around 400 people on a boat in the mediterranean that's taking on water. it's believed the vessel's captain has abandoned ship.