welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: on the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, the uk prime minister calls for power sharing to return to northern ireland — as president biden prepares to fly out to visit. but there are appeals for calm in londonderry — as missiles are hurled at the police during an illegal republican parade. china finishes three days of military drills around taiwan — using jets carrying live ammunition. the us investigates the leaking of dozens of intelligence documents, including details of training and weaponry for ukraine.

and — the new super mario film breaks box—office records, despite a series of terrible reviews. voiceover: live from our studio in singapore. _ voiceover: live from our studio in singapore, this _ voiceover: live from our studio in singapore, this is _ voiceover: live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc - voiceover: live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. l in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. preparations are in place in belfast to welcome the us presidentjoe biden on tuesday to mark 25 years since the signing of the northern ireland good friday agreement. the historic peace deal was signed by the then(tx the historic peace deal was signed by the then british prime minister tony blair and irish prime minister bertie ahern. the agreement played a major part, in bringing to an end, 30 years of conflict, known as the troubles. the current british prime minister, rishi sunak, says efforts must be intensified in northern

ireland, to restore the power—sharing government that was central to the deal. it collapsed in the fall out from brexit and now the political deadlock and security concerns, are threatening to to overshadow the historic milestone. our ireland correspondent, chris page, is at stormont, home of the northern ireland assembly. the easter holiday weekend has been a time of reflection and remembrance in northern ireland. it's a quarter of a century since the good friday agreement — the peace deal which ended the 30 years of violence which were known as the troubles. 3,500 people lost their lives. so, the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has paid tribute to the politicians who struck that deal, saying it required bravery, perseverance, and political imagination. there was one very obvious sign that the peace isn't perfect — the agreement set up a power—sharing devolved government between unionists who want northern ireland to stay in the uk and irish nationalists who ultimately want northern ireland to become part of the republic of ireland. so there should be a

power—sharing assembly based here at stormont on the outskirts of belfast, but the assembly hasn't been operating for more than a year — the result of the latest of many political crises we've seen over the last quarter of a century, the latest one being about unionists' concerns about brexit trading arrangements for northern ireland. but the focus has been on progress in the last few days — while political instability is continuing, political violence is now relatively rare. you can expect the british and irish governments to expect to keep that theme going as president biden prepares to fly in to northern ireland for a visit to mark the anniversary. the white house has said that the president feels a personal connection to the peace deal. he's a president who, perhaps more than any other in recent times, has spoken often of his irish roots, and he is said to be very excited to come and see for himself the benefits that the good friday agreement has brought to northern ireland.

we'll have more on president biden�*s visit in a moment. but as chris mentioned, political violence in northern ireland is now relatively rare. but there was a petrol bomb attack on police officers in londonderry during an illegal republican parade on monday. it was during events to mark the easter uprising against the british in 1916. a number of illegal republican parades went ahead over the weekend — police say there will now be an investigation into possible offences under the terrorism act. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy reports from the scene: it is no secret that street disorder is orchestrated and planned in derry on significant dates in the republic calendar — but those tasked with carrying it out were born long after the 30 years of conflict that this city endured in the past. while many events in northern ireland this easter are marking the anniversary of the good friday agreement — which largely ended the conflict — dissident

republicans stand against the agreement and the peace process. we'rejust agreement and the peace process. we're just following the parade here. there's crowds of young people with petrol bombs. lots of youngsters — they can't be much older than 12-13... this year, officers 12-13. .. this year, officers warned 12-13... this year, officers warned they had intelligence attacks were being planned in derry�*s craigan estate. police kept their presence low key, but became a target. those parading are from the group known as siru, which means "liberation". police say they have strong links, and a crossover in membership with the violent dissident republican group the new ira, who still make attempts to kill officers using guns and bombs. it will remain a revolution until the occupier leaves our lands! ,, . , until the occupier leaves our lands! ,, , ., lands! siru was accused of usin: lands! siru was accused of using events _ lands! siru was accused of using events like - lands! siru was accused of using events like this - lands! siru was accused of using events like this to l using events like this to encourage young people to take part in violence. what were you carrying? petrol bombs? there's

cameras everywhere, people watching you. you're not worried about getting arrested? nah not worried about getting in trouble? what does today mean to you? why all this? what's the significance? why do this? what if you get arrested? well, there you go. clearly a bit of fun for some people... definitely no fear of getting in trouble also, it seems. as president biden arrives in belfast tomorrow, the focus of the coming days will be the peace that has been achieved. but this serves as a reminder that the past can still be used to fan the flames of conflict for the so—called peace generation today. in terms of historical context,

american mediators played a central role, of course, in negotiating the good friday agreement. earlier, ispoke with mim mulvaney, a former us special envoy to northern ireland. he told me why this agreement is so important not just for the island of ireland. iit is i it is about peace and prosraerity _ i it is about peace and prosperity and - i it is about peace and | prosperity and stability i it is about peace and . prosperity and stability of i it is about peace and - prosperity and stability of two of our closest if i need to explain that, maybe we have bigger issues to talk about. we want to see northern ireland succeed, we want to see the republic of ireland suck see. we want to see the entirety of the uk succeed. this is our closest friends, ourfamily, closest friends, our family, people closest friends, ourfamily, people with whom we speak mostly the same language. we are invested in seeing it succeed. we are not a signatory to the agreement. i think a lot of folks in my country don't recognise that. we did, i think — i'd like to think — we helped get it created and get it signed. but we didn't sign it. we are here as an interested third party to try and make sure that communications continue to the extent we can be helpful, and moving towards

the goals of the good friday accords that the belfast agreement was to go ahead and cease the troubles and bring some political stability. if we can continue to do that, we will. can continue to do that, we will, . . can continue to do that, we will. ., ., , ., can continue to do that, we will. ., ., , . will. so what are you expecting joe biden will. so what are you expecting joe biden to — will. so what are you expecting joe biden to say _ will. so what are you expecting joe biden to say during - will. so what are you expecting joe biden to say during this - joe biden to say during this visit, orachieve joe biden to say during this visit, or achieve in terms of concrete themes, given the background you've just laid out? background you've 'ust laid out? ., . background you've 'ust laid out? w ., , out? the achievement would be - it's the right _ out? the achievement would be - it's the right thing _ out? the achievement would be - it's the right thing to _ out? the achievement would be - it's the right thing to go, - out? the achievement would be - it's the right thing to go, and - it's the right thing to go, and i applaud the administration for going. i think they made a really good decision on naming a special envoy injoseph a special envoy in joseph kennedy, a special envoy injoseph kennedy, a friend of mine who i've talked to a couple of times — i think he's going to be an excellent envoy, especially whether it comes to economic development. i applaud the administration for marking the administration for marking the 25th anniversary of the belfast good friday agreement because it is so important. it's not a big deal. joe biden is not going to earn any points here. it is not a big issue back home. it wouldn't crack the top 100. so to get the president of the united states to engage on something like this, i think, to engage on something like this, ithink, sends to engage on something like this, i think, sends the message to the irish and the british alike that this is an important issue to us. i plod

them for doing that. i hope that he's relatively well—managed. he had an unfortunate comparison from the irish to the palestinians the last time he spoke on the topic. we are not there to pick sides, to say this side is a winner or a loser — we are there to encourage dialogue and continued development and progress. so i hope the president — and i know the president, if well—staffed, will still wik those lines. just briefly —— within those lines. briefly if you don't mind, the british prime minister now saying there should be a return to power—sharing. how much do you think president biden�*s visit might help? i think president biden's visit might help?— might help? i hope a lot. because _ might help? i hope a lot. because it's _ might help? i hope a lot. because it's one - might help? i hope a lot. because it's one of- might help? i hope a lot. because it's one of those j because it's one of those things that i share. i know the trump administration was very interested in seeing stormont function properly. i can only imagine that biden's administration wants the same thing. i applaud the sunak government. i thought the agreement regarding the windsor agreement and the stormont veto was a good piece of work that should show that everybody is sort of aligned in terms of their interests and moving in

their interests and moving in the same direction. so i'm cautiously optimistic that things are making progress, and i hope, towards the restoration of the developed government, and i hope the biden trip, if nothing else, helps move those things in that direction as well. now — to the tensions around taiwan. president tsai ing—wen has accused china of staging instability in the region by having military drills around the island. writing on social media, president tsai said the national security team will stick to their posts and defend taiwan. the us navy says it has send a guided missile destroyer through contested waters claimed by china near the spratly islands to assert navigational passage rights. a show of force and fury. for a third day, china's military continued what it calls 0perationjoint sword — aerial and naval blockade drills to seal off the island.

and practising precision strikes on taiwanese targets. the chinese army showed this short video of simulated attacks on taiwan, with missiles fired from land, sea and air into the island's territory. it also confirmed that its aircraft carrier, the shandong, has taken part in monday's exercises. chinese officials said fighter planes, loaded with live ammunition, had carried out multiple waves of simulated strikes on important targets. these drills were expected. china is infuriated by the taiwanese president's visit to the us. this is beijing's promised robust response to what it says was a serious act of collusion. china sees the self—ruled island as part of its territory and insists it should be unified with the mainland — by force, if necessary. today, the chinese government reiterated its message. translation: the taiwan question is for china alone to decide. the biggest threat to peace in the taiwan strait

is taiwanese separatism and its support from foreign forces. in shanghai, residents voiced their support for the military exercises. translation: conducting these drills _ is a normal thing for china. we need to show the us that we are able to do this. what taiwan says or thinks isn't important. translation: we still need to deter - taiwanese separatists. we're also telling the international community that taiwan is a part of china. these operations are meaningful. as china displayed a wide array of weapons, the us navy said its guided missile destroyer milius performed what washington called a "freedom of navigation operation" in the south china sea, large parts of which are claimed by beijing. the chinese government's said the us illegally intruded in its waters. china said its military drills around taiwan have ended successfully, but there is no end

in sight for the tensions between beijing and washington. ..and an increasingly unstable indo—pacific. so while china finishes military drills around taiwan, the united states is about to kick off joint exercises with the philippines in the south china sea. this year's "balikatan" or �*shoulder—to—shoulder�* drills could be the largest ever between the two countries. lucio pitlo, research fellow at lucio pitlo, research fellow at theasia—pacific pathways to progress think—tank. how different will this year's drills be compared to previous years — especially given the timing of it? these are the end of three days of military drills around taiwan. and this is the biggest iteration of thejoint taiwan. and this is the biggest iteration of the joint military drills between the philippines and the us. in terms of scale and the types of activities that will be taking place, there are three designated exercise areas, one of which is close to taiwan. the other two sides are in

palawan and zimbalas provinces in theland facing the south china sea. these are very near flash point areas. of course, the beginning of these exercises also coincides with the two—plus—two ministerial meetings between the defence and foreign affairs secretaries of the philippines and the us in washington dc. this meeting is the first in seven years. so i think while — what are the conflicts of these drills? we see expanded military access granted by the philippines to the us just a week ago, and also there are reports of talks for potential joint patrols in the south china sea.— joint patrols in the south china sea. g , ., china sea. indeed... just to “um in china sea. indeed... just to jump in there. _ china sea. indeed. .. just to jump in there, how- china sea. indeed... just to jump in there, how are - china sea. indeed... just to jump in there, how are you| jump in there, how are you expecting beijing to respond to this? because, of course, we've already heard from the philippines, who've said that chinese actions around taiwan are what they call "aggressive" — do you see a sort of

splintering in relations between beijing and manila because of this? china already voiced concerns, especially in relation to the granting of military sites, especially three sites directly facing taiwan, so the flashpoint as we know is becoming more intense these days. us and china relations, because of the taiwan strait issues, is becoming more intense and the philippines may get caught in the middle of these two titans, us and china, which are important for the country for their security and economic rights. i'd expect that there would be increased pressure by china applied on the philippines in the south china sea at flashpoint where both manila and beijing have competing claims and other neighbours in southeast asia. i think there would be

potentially economic measures, but i think this would be hinged on the number of us troops that will be rotationally deployed in additional military sites granted to the us and more importantly the kind of equipment, especially, that could possibly put in the taiwan strait in range. that was lucio — taiwan strait in range. that was lucio pitlo, _ taiwan strait in range. that was lucio pitlo, research i was lucio pitlo, research fellow at the asia—pacific pathways to progress think tank speaking to me a little earlier. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. this what i love most about myjob or what makes it most unique the ability to tell stories about people from all over the world. give them a platform to be able to share their stories and i love doing it whether it's in the studio or out in the field. the focus of my story—telling throughout my career has been women and children.

those who have been impacted by conflict, by upheaval, i often find in my story—telling that the issues that concern a young woman in kabul is also something that young women here in london are also thinking about. so we are far more connected, our concerns, whether that's about child care or about the cost of living or about energy prices, it's something that is truly global and so to be able to bring uk audiences, those stories into their living rooms on their mobile phones, on their digital platforms, is so critical in the increasingly interconnected world. you're live with bbc news. the us state of tennessee has reinstated an expelled democratic lawmaker. justinjones received an unanimous decision in his favour and then returned to congress. he was among the two democratic representatives voted out by republicans as they were accused of bringing "disorder and dishonour to the house".

they led chants from the lectern on the house floor calling for stricter gun laws after the nashville school shooting killing six people, including three children. us presidentjoe biden slammed the expulsions as "shocking, undemocratic and without precedent". the pentagon says a leak of classified defence department documents poses a serious risk to national security. the documents appear to include sensitive information regarding the war in ukraine, as well as on china and us allies. it has been described as one of the largest public breaches of us intelligence information since the wikileaks saga. the us national security council spokesmanjohn kirby said action will be taken if needed. we are taking this very, very seriously. we are taking this very, very seriously-—