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. 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.

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 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. # 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... "we will celebrate those who took difficult decisions, accepted compromise, and showed leadership." and he said... the promise made in 1998 was one of economic opportunity, prosperity, and stability. "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. our correspondent charlotte gallagher has been telling us more about the current political situation in northern ireland. there's no doubt that it is disappointing that on the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, such a landmark moment, there isn't a functioning devolved government at stormont. if i went to stormont today, a ten—minute drive from here, the building would be empty. it's essentially mothballed. the politicians who should be there debating every day, nothing's really happening. decisions aren't being made. if you talk to people in northern ireland, they're thoroughly fed

up with the situation. there hasn't 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 tourists 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. yes, he is very keen to show how much he supports northern ireland and the republic. and it is hard to overstate the important role the us played in the good friday agreement. yes, 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 the 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. now to the 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 are 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 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 really are at a level that we've been seeing for the past few months. 0k, well, 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. now 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. so, we sort of have to take what's being released about these drills with a little bit of a grain of salt. our asia—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 a memorial for them and thousands of others who volunteered to serve. very good. and i hope people do take notice. lam proud, and i'm here for my comrades, you know? some's missing, obviously. bugle sounds you're live with bbc news. 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. the boat left a port in libya and is currently off the coast of malta. that's according to alarm phone, a hotline for boats in distress. for more, let's speak to bethany bell in vienna. what is the latest on this? well,

alarm phone. — what is the latest on this? well, alarm phone, this _ what is the latest on this? well, alarm phone, this group - what is the latest on this? well, alarm phone, this group that. what is the latest on this? -ii alarm phone, this group that aides boats that are in distress in the mediterranean, said that they have beenin mediterranean, said that they have been in touch with the people quite recently, they say there are around 400 people on board. they are saying that the captain left the ship and the people didn't know how to get out of the situation, that there were high waves, waterfilling out of the situation, that there were high waves, water filling the hold, and that there are a number of people on board the boat who are in need of medical assistance. a pregnant woman, alarm phone says, and a number of children. find pregnant woman, alarm phone says, and a number of children.— and a number of children. and so far, the authorities _ and a number of children. and so far, the authorities haven't - and a number of children. and so far, the authorities haven't tried | far, the authorities haven't tried to launch a rescue attempt. alarm phone says _ to launch a rescue attempt. alarm phone says it _ to launch a rescue attempt. alarm phone says it has _ to launch a rescue attempt. alarm phone says it has been _ to launch a rescue attempt. alarm phone says it has been appealing l to launch a rescue attempt. alarm i phone says it has been appealing for rescuers to come in and they say that at the moment, according to the most recent tweet from alarm phone, that the boat is in an area that

comes in the maltese and italian search and rescue zone. but so far, it seems, there hasn't been an attempt made to rescue. apparently, there were two large boats overnight that with there, one of them apparently gave fuel to this boat. but in terms of search and rescue, the charity is appealing for help. of course, this is something which of course, this is something which has been, many governments in the mediterranean have accused some charity groups of helping traffickers, helping people to cross the mediterranean to get into europe. those are accusations that the charity is very, very strongly deny. but it is a very fraught political situation as well because some of right—wing governments in countries like italy say that they want to discourage the number of people coming across. they have put the pressure on charity groups. they

are making it hard for charity groups to operate there. charity groups to operate there. charity groups saying they have to do these operations and that countries need to do these operations because too many lives are being lost in this very dangerous crossing from northern africa and countries like turkey to get into the eu.- turkey to get into the eu. thanks very much. _ turkey to get into the eu. thanks very much, bethany _ turkey to get into the eu. thanks very much, bethany bell, - turkey to get into the eu. thanks very much, bethany bell, we - turkey to get into the eu. thanks very much, bethany bell, we will| very much, bethany bell, we will bring you more details as and when we get them. 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. in the video, you can see the boy come forward to give a hug to dalai lama and kiss his cheek. but then, dalai lama kisses the boy on his lips and he is heard asking the boy to suck his tongue. his statement said: "his holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused. his holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. he regrets the incident."

many were outraged at the behaviour of the 87—year—old, though some explained that sticking one's tongue out is a form of greeting in tibet. the us government's urgently investigating the leaking of dozens of intelligence documents on social media. the bbc�*s seen some of the documents, including detailed accounts of the training and equipment being provided to ukraine. some of those leaked are labelled "top secret". 0thers appear to suggest the us had intercepted official communications of an ally, south korea. the bbc�*s carl nasman is in washington with more details. these documents have been circulating online for several days now, but us officials clearly concerned about the impacts of them, especially when it comes to security. in the most recent statement from the pentagon, officials are saying that they're working to assess any potential impact on us security, as well as its partners and allies. they're also working to determine the veracity of these documents. but officials do say that they believe they contain classified

and highly sensitive materials. now, a criminal investigation has also been opened into this case, which is believed to be the biggest leak of classified information since edward snowden gave classified documents to journalists back in 2013. we still don't know who is behind this particular round of leaks, but us officials believe that it might have originated in the united states, just based on the breadth and depth of information contained within these documents. they have not, however, ruled out any involvement from russia or russian sympathisers. in terms of the documents themselves, there were actually two different rounds of lea ks. the first one happened back in march. this was a handful of documents, mostly pertaining to the war in ukraine. this was sensitive material, containing maps and photographs and timelines. and specifically, it did mention a potential spring offensive. so there are concerns that this

information could help russia to determine when any kind of counterattack by ukraine could be taking place. there are also concerns, according to the new york times, that one of these documents reveals that the air defence systems of ukraine could be running low, in terms of missiles and other elements that have been used to protect the skies and keep russian aircraft out of ukrainian airspace. that that defence system could be running low as soon as the month of may. interestingly, some of these documents also appear to have been altered to paint russia in a slightly better light, in terms of lowering the number of russian casualties and somewhat altering the number of ukrainian casualties to make those casualties appear to be higher. there was a second, much larger, leak of documents on friday, around 100 different documents. and this one could potentially be embarrassing for the united states. the documents appear to reveal that the country has been spying

on some of its closest allies — south korea and israel, for example. but this is being seen as a worrying development for a us spying operation that has been remarkably efficient and remarkably effective throughout the war in ukraine. 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 responded to an email from our north america technology reporterjames clayton about this — and james told us about their exchange. well, when i saw that twitter had added this label, i decided just to e—mail elon musk. i'm a technology reporter. sometimes, we do reach out to twitter. ijust thought i would e—mail elon musk and just say to him, look, this is actually how

the bbc is funded. it's funded through the licence fee. it's paid for by the british public. and he responded. he responded first of alljust saying, "0h, do you think this label is inaccurate? " and then he came up with a suggestion himself. he said, maybe the accounts themselves should link to the sourcing of funding. i then pushed him on that and he gave me a much sort of longer e—mail. he said, "we are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy, linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense. i do think media organisations should be self—aware and not falsely claim the complete absence of bias. all organisations have bias, some obviously, much more than others. i should note that i follow bbc news on twitter because i think it is among the least biased." now, i think what you get an impression of there is that this is policy that is not defined yet. this is most certainly spitballing. it is policy on the hoof. he is thinking, he is being

inquisitive about what to do with accounts like the bbc�*s. the problem is, the label has already been attached to the bbc�*s, one of the bbc�*s twitter accounts. and you've seen this with other media organisations as well. so you have npr, national public radio. a few days ago, that was labelled a "state—affiliated media", akin to russia today. now, that has now been taken down because that simply isn't true. but what you're seeing is, once again, elon musk sort of riffing, making policy up as he goes along. now, sometimes, that can be really 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're then being unlabelled, or they're being labelled as something else, and it all feels a little bit chaotic, frankly. and you've got organisations like npr and bbc, who absolutely strenuously believe in impartiality and accuracy, being labelled

in ways that they simply don't trust or believe in, or believe is accurate. so that's it, in a nutshell. elon musk, he clearly seems to like the bbc, he trusts the bbc. but you do have, very clearly, this sort of slightly strange situation with elon musk that you can kind of e—mail him and he will simply e—mail you back a response. james clayton. 0ur tech reporter, alasdair keane, is with us now. this is the way elon musk works, isn't it? he does something and he asks people what they think about it. but it is not policy yet, but he is already doing it.— it. but it is not policy yet, but he is already doing it. yes, it makes it uuite a is already doing it. yes, it makes it quite a hard — is already doing it. yes, it makes it quite a hard platform - is already doing it. yes, it makes it quite a hard platform for - is already doing it. yes, it makes it quite a hard platform for huge | it quite a hard platform for huge organisations to beyond. they are already being asked to start paying $1000 a month to keep their orange checkmark of verification. and if organisations start getting labels

added to their account that they perhaps don't agree with, i think it will make some people consider whether it is a platform they want to be on at all. we have seen that happen already with advertisers, when elon musk first took over the company, they started to build their advertising spending from the platform. so it is a very confusing place for people to be a part. elon musk says this change is around bringing in these labels, it is to bringing in these labels, it is to bring more transparency so that users can see exactly who they are following and what it links to. but when you click on that ban of government funded accounts, it takes you through to the page that explains it and it talks about state affiliated media, which is something totally different. that is the kind of media we see examples of in russia and china, where the governments have sometimes control of the message that is on those platforms. so once again, a confusing situation. and once again, elon musk having to try and defend what he is doing in real time, as it

happens. what he is doing in realtime, as it ha ens. ., ., ., what he is doing in realtime, as it ha ens. ., . ., . happens. how have the other media organisations _ happens. how have the other media organisations reacted _ happens. how have the other media organisations reacted to _ happens. how have the other media organisations reacted to this - happens. how have the other media organisations reacted to this you - organisations reacted to this you have had their label changed for them? , ., ., ., , . them? yes, npr, the national public radio in the — them? yes, npr, the national public radio in the united _ them? yes, npr, the national public radio in the united states, _ them? yes, npr, the national public radio in the united states, they - them? yes, npr, the national public radio in the united states, they had | radio in the united states, they had their label changed to state affiliated media. they complained about that and said they wouldn't be posting anything else on the platform until that label disappeared. it has now changed to government funded media. although they still don't seem to have posted anything. but elon musk was asked by anything. but elon musk was asked by a user on twitter if cbc, the canadian broadcasting corporation commission also have a label. and he said there was granularity detail needed to be added to the label that was being rolled out, suggesting, as we heard from james clayton in his e—mail exchanges, that elon musk doesn't think this is totally correct, that he wants to add more information into the mix and that is something he is looking to do. thanks very much, alasdair keane.

breaking news, china says the drills it has been carrying out around taiwan have been successfully completed. they have been going on for the last three days. you are watching bbc news. hello again. it has been a pretty wet start to the day. the rain slowly clearing from the east for most of us through the course of the afternoon. it will be followed by showers. and this week is looking much more unsettled than last week. yes, there will be some sunshine, but it is going to be wetter than last week and also windier. you can see where the met office has a yellow warning out for the strength of the wind, gusting 40 to 60 mph from tuesday afternoon, tuesday night and also into wednesday. today's pollen levels, and we're talking tree pollen, are high or moderate and are going to 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 for a time

across shetland, and then we've got two distinctive areas of showers. some of those will be heavy and thundery and prolonged and blustery — as you can see, these are the average wind speeds. 0n either side of them, there will be the odd shower. and a fair bit of sunshine, with highs up to about 15 degrees. not feeling as cold along the north sea coastline as it has done in the last few days. we've lost all that cloud. through this evening and overnight, there will still be some showers around. there will be clear skies. it will still be breezy. temperatures in some parts of the country falling away to about three degrees. so a cold start to the day tomorrow. tomorrow, there will be a fair bit of sunshine around as well. still a scattering of showers across parts of scotland, but it will not be too long before the cloud gathers in the south—west and then we see rain pushing into northern ireland, wales and also the south—west of england, accompanied by strong winds. ahead of it, some sunshine, but temperatures are up to about 14 degrees. the rain is coming in courtesy of this area of low pressure,

which is pushing northwards and eastwards. and you can see from the squeeze on the isobars, it is going to be windy. the strongest winds in the west and south. we could even see some snow above 400 metres in scotland and some wintry showers in the pennines, also the hills of wales and the moors. but these black circles represent the strength of the gusts of wind. if you're camping, maybe in a tent or a caravan, do bear that in mind. temperatures up to 11 or 12 for most. then, as we head into the outlook period for the rest of the week, it remains unsettled, but it looks like it is turning a bit milderfor the weekend.

tesla bets big on china, with plans to build a new factory in shanghai to produce thousands of lithium batteries. and paw patrol — we meet the professionals quitting the 9—5 to walk dogs — and they're earning more than ever before. welcome to world business report, i'm ben thompson. the electric car giant tesla has announced plans to build a new huge factory in shanghai. it will make thousands of lithium battery packs every year.

china is the world's largest car market, and whilst tesla generates