live from washington, this is bbc news. the us investigates the leaking of dozens of intelligence documents, including details of training and weaponry for ukraine. one tennesee lawmaker reinstated days after he and a colleague were expelled for calling for stricter gun control laws. and taiwan hits back at china after it completes three days of military exercises around the island. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we begin here in washington, where us national security officials are trying to contain the fallout of a major document leak, including some top secret material. the documents first appeared

on online platforms such as twitter, lichan and telegram, as well on the messaging platform discord. the leak reveals information about the deployment and state of ukrainian and russian forces ahead of a ukrainian spring offensive and appear to outline us training and equipment being provided to ukraine ahead of that offensive. there are also suggestions that ukraine's air force may not be able to withstand more russian attacks. other leaked material included intelligence on other countries such as china, israel, and south korea. officials say they do not currently know the source of the leaks. the bbc�*s barbara plett usher has more. the pentagon says the us is still very much in the finding—out phase. we are told that this is a serious risk to us national security and that it is a matter of top priority. a number of government agencies are working together to try to find out how this happened and what the potential impact is. the secretary of defence is meeting every day with senior leaders and us officials are holding

high—level talks to try to reassure allies because a number of these documents mentioned us allies such as israel and south korea, including some very sensitive information but most of the documents referred to the status of the war in ukraine. the department of justice has opened up a criminal investigation. the americans do not know who is behind this or at least they are not saying. they also do not knoew the scope of it. they also do not know the scope of it. a spokesman for the national security council was asked whether the threat had been contained and he said, "well, we just do not know." these are not detailed ukraine battle plans, this is more like a us snapshot of the ukraine war but it could give the russians useful information. it could also put at risk some of the us intelligence sources and it is a diplomatic embarrassment. officials say these documents are for the most part real. but earlier, the white house's john kirby also said this. it does appear that at least in some cases,

the information posted online had been altered from what we think would be the original source, but there is just no way i could tell you with any granularity right now how that came to be. earlier, i spoke with the chairman of the us house intelligence committee, representative mike turner, who was briefed on the leak. i do think there is a way and we certainly are, through the department ofjustice and through the department of defence trying to track this down. certainly, the documents have limited circulation. they have been appearing in photographs, some of which of course have electronic signature aspects that can help us lead to where this leak may have occurred and where these documents may have come from. and of course our goal is to stop it. but you are absolutely right in your report, this is just a limited snapshot. it is a static image of the ukraine conflict, it is not at all something

that is dynamic. our ability to be flexible, ukraine's ability to be flexible in its attempts to rebuff the russian aggression against them is certainly not stopped by this. it is a static image but it does also reveals some important information about the war in ukraine. one of the revelations is that ukraine efforts may not be able to stand up to russia should they intensify air battles. we know that the biden administration has now promised another $2.6 billion aid package including some support for air defence. is that going to be enough? even that is static. you're referring to the document talking about the consumption rate of air defences and what the status would be over time for those but, again, that isjust

a period of time and we are continuing and the nato allies are supplying capabilities so russia should not by any means look at these documents and say that as of this date we now have freedom to be able to move in and about ukraine. that is not the case. i wasjust in ukraine and a meeting with our nato allies on both logistics and planning and training and a great deal of effort or support for ukraine in these documents show the extent of the continued cooperation and co—ordination but certainly would not be representative of all ability. we also saw the new york times reporting the russian mercenary group wagner group met with turkish contacts as part of a bid to expand their influence and also to search in part for more weapons. what do you make of them meeting with contacts from a nato state? i will not comment on that.

again, some of those documents have not being verified and i will not discuss on that. what is discussable is the russians out looking for weapons and that clearly is the case. we saw when president xi came to russia, they were looking around the world for weapons and that shows a greater vulnerability on the part of russia that they would prefer that people do not understand and that is they are running out of weapons and capabilities and certainly since they are not able to advance eastern frontline is showing failure on the part of the russian military. is it also showing that sanctions from the west are working? absolutely. that is an excellent point. the sanctions prevent them from having access to advanced technology that they can incorporate into additional weapons that they can manufacture themselves and also it lessens

their overall capital that they could apply to the manufacturing of weapon to capability. it also goes to the unbelievable consumption that is happening of their weapons system, the number of tanks they have lost is unbelievable and was not expected by vladimir putin. their weapons system, they are seeing they are much less effective than they had expected. another aspect of this, even though we're talking about the united states linking we're talking about the united states leaking of classified information, we have seen that russia, almost like deceived, vladimir putin must be sitting there looking to his left and right monitoring who his friends because coming out of russia is so actionable and have helped the ukraine and its ally the us. even though you have said this is a static shot of what is happening in ukraine, what is the impact of these lea ks? what can russian intelligence

gain from these documents? there is some information that could be concerning and viewed as strategic information but we have to be concerned with these again making certain that ukraine and its plans over the next couple of months is flexible. it has that versatility and weapons capability that nato and nato allies and the us provide, the german leopard tanks on the way are put to to their best use. as this information is out, certainly ukraine will have to modify look to its plans. again, this is a land war and a lot of things that happen on the ground is visible to russia and they will have some advanced notice of these events anyway but it does cause pause and a reconfiguration of perhaps the goals and objectives. and certainly a big intelligence leak. does there need to be a review of who has clearance and access these types of documents? it is very concerning these

documents would been leaked. there is an inventory of understanding of who has access to them. we are going to be working diligently to find who would have had these documents and who may have leaked them. certainly if this is espionage and if it turns out to be american, they are a traitor and will be held to justice. i want to also talk to you about china. in response to the taiwanese president meeting with the house speaker, china said it has successfully completed three days of military drills. what do you make of that? it continues to show that as an authoritarian regime, they are threatening taiwan which is a thriving democracy. it was startling to everyone that when china reacted to nancy pelosi as a speaker going to taiwan and now is reacting to the president

of taiwan meeting in the united states with the speaker of the us house and in the united states, clearly they see their reach and ability to have a fence or pretext for these exercises and provocative moves as threatening to them and clearly the freedom part of being able to be free and meet with whoever you want they certainly do not understand. that may be the case but if we see these types of provocative military drills, is there perhaps some room to reconsider these types of meetings if they are going to trigger this type of response from china? there is no triggering of china, they have been planning this for a long time. this is a pretext, certainly in the united states we can start saying people who are in the united states were not going to meet with them because we might offend china. that is not the issue.

china is an authoritarian regime and they will try to suppress democracies including actions in our own country. mike turner. turning to the state of tennessee where the nashville metropolitan council voted to reappointjustin jones to the tennessee house of representatives. he's one of two state lawmakers who were expelled from the republican—majority house last week, after participating in a gun control protest on the house floor. he's returning to his seat as an interim representative, until an election is held. a vote to reappoint justin pearson, the other expelled representative, will take place wednesday. i just spoke to nashville councilwoman kyonzte toombs. she voted to reinstate mrjones as an interim state representative a few hours ago. tell us about the environment inside and outside the council

chamber?— chamber? today it was pretty intense. they _ chamber? today it was pretty intense. they were _ chamber? today it was pretty| intense. they were thousands chamber? today it was pretty i intense. they were thousands of people gathered at the metropolitan house. as many people as could be fed into the council chamber and reporters from all over and everybody hopeful the council would do the right thing.— the right thing. what is your messa . e the right thing. what is your message to _ the right thing. what is your message to those _ the right thing. what is your message to those who - the right thing. what is your| message to those who voted the right thing. what is your i message to those who voted to expel your two colleagues? representative jones and pearson were expelled from the house, i so a lot of tweets on social media saying democracy is dead and i think the council voted today proves that democracy is still very much alive and the actions that happened last week were democratic and people have a right to representation. i want to ask about — right to representation. i want to ask about a _ right to representation. i want to ask about a statement - right to representation. i wantj to ask about a statement from republican leaders. it came in from leaders of the state

general assembly, republicans who said... would you encourage them to try and follow the rules to avoid this type of thing happening again? representative jones and representative pearson are activists. their constituents knew who they were, they wanted representatives who were unapologetic and speak for the people. i think they need to be and will be true to themselves. i do not think they need to change. everyone who watched last week knows the expulsion was an overreach and i think how they have been catapulted into the international and national stage proves they are doing the right thing and they are on the right track and wanting change. and they do not need to change

at all. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. tha nkfully thankfully on this occasion it is just a thankfully on this occasion it isjust a demonstration thankfully on this occasion it is just a demonstration of the rescue team. when they really need to rescue anyone injured in these hills that testing a much more efficient way of monitoring signs. we much more efficient way of monitoring signs.— much more efficient way of monitoring signs. we can use it in virtually _ monitoring signs. we can use it in virtually every _ monitoring signs. we can use it in virtually every situation - in virtually every situation which we could not before. it is cost—effective and it is portable. is cost-effective and it is portable-— is cost-effective and it is ortable. , , ., portable. the best thing about the whole _ portable. the best thing about the whole thing _ portable. the best thing about the whole thing is _ portable. the best thing about the whole thing is these - the whole thing is these details _ the whole thing is these details can be streamed live to the next — details can be streamed live to the next level of care, hospital or even a surgeon at a hospital— hospital or even a surgeon at a hospital who can see the stats in real—time. it hospital who can see the stats in real-time.— in real-time. it involves the simplest — in real-time. it involves the simplest of— in real-time. it involves the simplest of equipment - in real-time. it involves the simplest of equipment and | simplest of equipment and common sense. it simplest of equipment and common sense.— common sense. it is really auoin common sense. it is really going along _ common sense. it is really going along equipped, - common sense. it is really l going along equipped, spare clothing, hot drink and most importantly a map and a compass and know how to use them.

you're live with bbc news. let's get more on taiwan now. its president says china's military exercises have caused instability, and are not the responsible attitude of a major country. china just completed three days of military drills around the island, though the taiwan defence minister says there are still eight military ships operating in waters around the island. taiwan is a self—ruled island off the coast of china, which beijing sees as part of its own territory. china called these drills a "stern warning", after the taiwanese president, tsai ing wen, visited the us, and met house speaker kevin mccarthy. let's get more on taiwan — live now to tokyo and our correspondent shaimaa khalil. good to see you. we heard that taiwanese defence minister say there are still eight chinese ships in the waters around taiwan. tell us what is happening. taiwan. tell us what is happening-—

taiwan. tell us what is haueninu. ,, ., , happening. well, essentially the military _ happening. well, essentially the military exercises - happening. well, essentially the military exercises have l the military exercises have ended but as you said this basically indicates that the chinese presence in the waters hasn't. china announced that the military drills, what they called operation joy and the military drills, what they called operationjoy and sort, have ended successfully three days from saturday until monday and in that china's military practice precision strikes on taiwanese targets, essentially practised sealing off the island by naval and aerial blockade and there was also that dramatic video that the chinese army released of an animated film showing attacks on taiwan bjerre, sea and land, and these explosions on two targets. we also understand that the shandong, the chinese aircraft carrier, took part in those exercises. the japanese defence ministry actually, japan of course which in this very closely, has confirmed that in those three days at

least 120 take—offs and least 120 ta ke—offs and landings least 120 take—offs and landings happened of aircraft and helicopters on that aircraft carrier. so all of thatis aircraft carrier. so all of that is happening and now we are hearing from the taiwanese leader tsai ing wen calling this irresponsible and also being defiant in saying i represent my country to the world, but as a wisp in the case, that's not new, and the taiwanese people expect this. we know that japan is watching this closely. you were there in tokyo, we have herjapan urging china to maintain peace and keep ships out of japanese waters. how worried is japan about an escalation?- waters. how worried is japan about an escalation? oak, quite worried. anything _ about an escalation? oak, quite worried. anything that - about an escalation? oak, quite worried. anything that happens| worried. anything that happens in taiwan will no doubt affect japan. japan are very concerned about any kind of escalation. remember when nancy pelosi visited taiwan, that infuriated

china, and the reaction there was escalation, military drills, but also firing missiles and rockets, and some of them landed quite near japanese water. the okinawa region is very close to taiwan and essentially japan sees it as a possible front line, if something happens, if a military escalation happens in taiwan. sojapan military escalation happens in taiwan. so japan is watching this very closely but i would say as well what has happened in the last three days, what's happening between the us and the philippines with the first military drills, all of that is ratcheting up tension. the chinese us tension has been happening for a while, it has been bubbling for a while, but you see the translation of that happening in the region within the past three days but also continuing. the past three days but also continuing-— the past three days but also continuinu. ., ., continuing. you mentioned the philippines. — continuing. you mentioned the philippines, we _ continuing. you mentioned the philippines, we are _ continuing. you mentioned the philippines, we are seeing - continuing. you mentioned the philippines, we are seeing the | philippines, we are seeing the us and the philippines carrying out their biggestjoint exercises ever. why are we seeing this now?— exercises ever. why are we

seeing this now? this has been lanned, seeing this now? this has been planned. and — seeing this now? this has been planned, and you _ seeing this now? this has been planned, and you mention - seeing this now? this has beenl planned, and you mention those drills, they will involve about 1760 military personnel, they will involve live fire drills, including a boat sinking rocket including a boat sinking rocket in waters across the south china sea, and that proximity is likely to infuriate beijing but again it is a show of power. this is america saying we have a strong presence here and that we are going to continue these exercises. and also experts see the philippines as a potential location for rockets and missile launchers.- missile launchers. our correspondent - missile launchers. our| correspondent shaimaa missile launchers. our correspondent shaimaa khalil, thank you very much, it looks like image hasjust dropped out but thank you for reporting from tokyo. here in washington, the world bank and the international monetary fund are hosting their spring meetings this week. the state of the global economy will be front—and—centre of those talks, which involve

finance ministers from around the world, and the war in ukraine will also be high on the agenda. samira hussain has been covering the meetings and has this report. around the world, central bankers are raising interest rates to try and slow down those price increases. as a result, however, we have some of the weakest growth projections by the international monetary fund since the 1990s. what the world finance ministers and central bankers all meeting in washington this week, the increasingly fragile global economy will certainly be the focus, along with ways for countries to try and mitigate some of the negative impacts of those interest rate rises. now the high inflation however is orally having an impact on poorer countries, pushing them further into financial distress. given the uncertain global economic output, —— outlook, the imf believes many more countries will be looking to the imf for help. in israel, the mother of two british—israeli sisters, who were killed in a gun attack

on the west bank on friday, has died of wounds she sustained in the attack. the family has released pictures of lucy dee, seen here with her two daughters, maia and rina. the three of them were travelling in a car, when a gunman opened fire on them. lucy williamson has this update on the conflict in israel. the past week has seen a real rise in tension, a series of rocket attacks on multiple fronts from gaza, from south lebanon and also from syria. israel responding with air strikes in those areas and a lot of the rise in tension has been attributed to the actions of israeli police at the al—aqsa mosque here injerusalem. there were scenes of the police going in to clear the mosque of people who were barricading themselves inside and confrontations between the two inside the mosque. today, in the last couple of days, it seems the israeli police have taken a slightly different approach. there have been religious visits byjewish worshippers to the same compound, and that was the reason

the israeli police gave for trying to clear the mosque in the first place. but in the last couple of days, they've taken a slightly different tactic. they've allowed people to stay inside the mosque and have simply increased security between the two groups of people as thosejewish visitors crossed over the compound. they've also made efforts to keep young men out of the mosque at the same time. so i think we've seen a reduction in tensions in the al—aqsa compound itself over the past couple of days. but in terms of the wider region, the tensions are still fairly high. in just a few hours, joe biden will be arriving in northern ireland for the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. the agreement ended decades of conflict there, known as the troubles. there were bombings, shootings, and more than 3,500 people died. unionists wanted northern ireland to stay within the uk, while nationalists wanted it to become part of the republic of ireland. the good friday agreement

was signed on april 10th, 1998, and approved by public votes in northern ireland and the republic of ireland. it resulted in a new government for northern ireland, representing both nationalists and unionists. but it's not all peaceful there now. ealier, police vehicles were attacked with petrol bombs in londonderry, during events marking the easter uprising against the british in 1916. emma vardy reports from the scene. it is no secret that street disorder is orchestrated and planned in derry on significant dates in the republican 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'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 warned they had intelligence attacks were being planned in derry�*s craeggan estate. police keep their presence low key, but became a target. explosions. those parading are from the group known as saoradh, 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 as the unfinished revolution until the occupier leaves our lands! applause saoradh was accused of 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?

as long as they can't see my face, i'm grand. what does today mean to you? just another day for me,. 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. emma vardy, bbc news, dairy. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello. tuesday will be a day which some of you will have to make the most of the morning weather, because it'll be a day in which conditions will be rapidly deteriorating, with wet weather spreading to many areas from the south and west, and by the end of the day will be increasingly windy, especially around some western coasts and hills. an area of low pressure approaching now, but in the night into the morning got a brief ridge of high pressure, quite a shallow one, so still a few showers into the morning, but a lot of dry and clear weather and a colder start of the morning as well. even a touch of frost through sheltered scottish glens. but whilst there will be some cloud in scotland, one or two showers, many start fine and bright. lots of sunshine around. make the most of it.

south—west england, south—west wales and south—west northern ireland deteriorate rapidly through the morning, that rain spreading to the rest of northern ireland, wales and western england for the end of the afternoon with strengthening winds. temperatures down a bit on today but given the strength of the wind and the rain spreading in, it will feel cooler. the winds will be strongest into the first part of the night around these irish sea coasts and hills. that could cause damage and disruption, particularly in coastal parts, easing later in the night. rain swept across all areas, lingering in the morning to parts of northern scotland with snow on the hills. here is that area of low pressure as we go into wednesday, slowly pushing eastward, will maintain a windy spell of weather. after a brief lull, if you can call it that, the winds will strengthen from the west through the day, some eastern areas, actually, not a bad morning with sunshine around, a few showers here later in the afternoon but frequent showers, longer spells of rain in the west, and the wind restrengthening through the day, so another bout of strong winds especially

across parts of wales and southern england, 50—60 mile—an—hour gusts possible again. and believe it or not, some will struggle to get seven or eight degrees. it will feel chilly out there, some wintriness on the tops of the hills. an area of low pressure gradually migrate further east into thursday, becomes less potent, still a breezy day, especially across the south, here fewer showers, but plenty of showers elsewhere to begin with, someone longer spells of rain in parts of scotland and northern england and temperatures recovering just a touch but overall another fairly cool day. more wet weather and windy weather to come on friday, signs of something warmer into the weekend into next week. take care.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. hello, welcome to global questions. we are in rio dejaneiro in a country which like most countries these days is confronting many crises at home. few national policies have such global consequences as the fate of the amazon. it's the world's largest tropical rainforest, covering much of northern brazil. it's under growing threat, from deforestation, large—scale farming and ranching and mining.

newly elected president lula has pledged to undo