this is bbc news. the headlines: final preparations are underway, asjoe biden heads to northern ireland to mark 25 years of the good friday agreement. the head of the uk's largest business lobby, tony danker, has been sacked over "misconduct" claims. a day after china wraps up military drills, the us and philippines start their biggestjoint exercises. ukraine says 174,000 square kilometres, that's roughly the same area as syria, has been contaminated by landmines since russia's full—scale invasion. most have been found

in the north—eastern kharkiv region and it's feared it will take "decades" to clear them completely. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse brought us this report. it reflects the size of the battlefield. the reality is, in areas where the russians initially advanced, where they occupied territory for a number of months on them. in the ukrainian counteroffensive, these areas where theissue counteroffensive, these areas where the issue of landmines is the most acute. these are also areas where people are looking to continue their lives and live an incredibly challenging conditions. we've been to a town in the east. we've been to a town in the east.

this is what you call a scratching of the surface, a sweep and a gentle prod for hidden killers. a job with very obvious occupational hazards. translation: my family calls me in the morning l and tells me to be careful, to watch where i trad. of course, they are worried, very much worried. before we would work with shells from world war two and now there are modern munitions, so we have to learn constantly because we find new kinds that we haven't encountered before. it's hard to describe this as anything other than random. this is a patch of land in the middle of balakliya. it's not a place, unlike other areas, that was once contested, where there was heavy fighting. but what these minesweepers are looking for are so—called �*butterfly�* mines. they are banned by international law. they don't look much, but the damage they can cause is severe.

this part of ukraine has been both occupied and liberated. in the area around the city of izium both sides have been accused of using butterfly mines, with kyiv denying it. for patients in the battered hospital, the results are the same. mikola stepped on one in the garden of his destroyed home. translation: everything was lost. i have no house, no cars, no cows, no property and i used to have it all. it all got burned down, ruined, made useless, impossible to rebuild. my grandchildren cannot visit because everything is mined. at a mine lecture there is an appetite to better understand this resident threat.

translation: i'm very cautious. i don't walk around much, but when i do, i use the same path because i'm scared. i have a 16—year—old son, and i'm really worried about him going out on his own. i tell him about the mines. i wish he was here to listen to this. back in balakliya, 0leksander�*s task reaches its crescendo. a hold a job likely to be replicated for decades. and that is the consensus, that it will be years before large swathes of territory in ukraine will be considered safe. to give you an idea, in the city used stop there, rescue teams have been uncovering explosives every month for the last 70 years since the second world war. now it is every day. we were out with them, they were finding hand

grenades, missiles that have impacted into buildings as well as landmines themselves. people call up asking for help and they go from street to street. it is a never—ending task that means whenever this conflict reaches some kind of conclusion, people will continue to suffer serious injury or worse because of this hidden threat. final preparations are being put in place in northern ireland forjoe biden�*s visit to mark the anniversary of the signing of the good friday agreement. he'll be landing in belfast later today. lucy hockings is there. hi, everyone. we are waiting for president biden to land later this evening here in belfast. a huge

security presence in place, lots of preparation still under way. it is an expectation around what president biden could say tomorrow when he makes that address at ulster university and if he could say anything that would influence the political stalemate here in northern ireland. he will be greeted by the prime minister, rishi sunak, when he arrives. he will be in ireland for four days. we will meet with some irish relatives. the only hint of what we got he would say was very generic. we understand the president tends to emphasise his country's commitment to preserving peace. let's take you to central belfast now. let's take you to central belfast now. live now to charlotte gallagher. i went for a walk this morning and saw the massive security operation in place. how many officers and secret service are we talking about?

there are hundreds of officers working on this operation, and others brought in from other parts of the uk and the us secret services here. they have been here four days checking the hotel he is going to stay on, the streets around, and around this building, the new of ulster university. this will be his only public event here in northern ireland. people come here tomorrow lunchtime to meet students and staff at the university, talking through their hopes for the future of northern ireland. this isn'tjust about the good friday agreement 25 years on, it is about what the future of this place looks like, and speaking to people who grew up at a time when there wasn't any violence, they grew up after the troubles. it'll be interesting for him to meet these young people from northern ireland. the road has not been closed yet. this one is still open. you mightjust be able to see that

there are some satellite trucks already here for his meeting tomorrow morning, lots of media organisations preparing for that. after that we think you will have a meeting with rishi sunak. high on the agenda for them is the political situation in northern ireland. there hasn't been a devolved government here for over a year. people here are thoroughly fed up with that situation. joe biden was invited to speak at stormont, but he declined. that is possibly because stormont at the moment is essentially mothballed. politicians are not working there. instead he will decide —— she decided to meet students staff here. he meets might have a quick meeting with the five political parties here, but it is doubted that that would be enough to kick—start power—sharing in this region. kick-start power-sharing in this reuion. ~ . , kick-start power-sharing in this reuion. . , ., , ., region. what is the terrorism threat level at the — region. what is the terrorism threat level at the moment _ region. what is the terrorism threat level at the moment in _ region. what is the terrorism threat level at the moment in northern - level at the moment in northern ireland? it

level at the moment in northern ireland? . , , level at the moment in northern ireland? , ., , ., . ireland? it has been raised. police are sa in: ireland? it has been raised. police are saying that _ ireland? it has been raised. police are saying that they _ ireland? it has been raised. police are saying that they felt _ ireland? it has been raised. police are saying that they felt there - ireland? it has been raised. police are saying that they felt there wasj are saying that they felt there was the chance that dissident republicans were planning some kind of attack over the easter weekend which is just past. of attack over the easter weekend which isjust past. thankfully, nothing of any real significance occurred. there were some issues in the city of derry, not too far from belfast, that is involved what looked like very young teenagers throwing petrol bombs at police officers and they set one of the land rover is on fire. that was sad for a lot of people because firstly it is the anniversary of the good friday agreement, secondly northern ireland is on the world stage at the moment and it was covered by international news organisations. thirdly, these people involved looked so young, they grew up at a time and are worth the troubles and they were meant to be the generation not affected by the political violence, yet they were involved in throwing petrol bombs at police officers. a lot of people were sad

to see that. walking around belfast today, although there is a police presence, it still feels very relaxed. people can come and go as they want. people can walk down the streets, lots of people gathering outside the hotel where he will be staying. it doesn't feel in your face. it is a relaxed, low key operation. when he arrives this evening it will ramp up significantly. i evening it will ramp up significantly.— evening it will ramp up significantly. evening it will ramp up sianificantl . . ., significantly. i have that feeling when i was _ significantly. i have that feeling when i was walking _ significantly. i have that feeling when i was walking around, - significantly. i have that feeling | when i was walking around, too. significantly. i have that feeling - when i was walking around, too. and the sense of expectation, people looking forward to his visit. we have plenty more for you on the website, as well. i have been reading interesting articles about why ireland is so important tojoe biden, it looks at his roots and his family, too. and the big question, is the good friday agreement actually working?

, lucy, thank you. the boss of one of the briish largest business groups, the cbi, has been fired after an investigation into complaints about his conduct at work. tony danker will leave the group with immediate effect. he apologised in the wake of the allegations over his behaviour towards a female employee. with more on this, here is our business correspondent emma simpson. hi, emma. what we know? this story has absolutely rocked the cbi. tony danker stepped aside last month as an investigation got under way, but the report into what happened hasn't been published. it was done by an independent legal firm. we don't know the full details. the cbi said todayit know the full details. the cbi said today it related to specific complaints about workplace and that it determined that his conduct fell short of that expected of the director general, so he has been sacked with immediate effect. he is

clearly not happy about it because he said on twitter this morning he was shocked to learn about his dismissal, instead of being invited to put forward his position sang many of the allegations against him had been distorted. he said that he recognised he unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable and he was truly sorry about that. of course, he is now out and he has been replaced swiftly by rain newton smith, its former chief economist, so somebody well—known to staff and its members. what economist, so somebody well-known to staff and its members.— staff and its members. what is the wider significance _ staff and its members. what is the wider significance of _ staff and its members. what is the wider significance of this, - staff and its members. what is the wider significance of this, do - staff and its members. what is the wider significance of this, do you i wider significance of this, do you think? ., wider significance of this, do you think? . ., , ., ., ,~ think? the new man has a huge task -- the new — think? the new man has a huge task -- the new woman _ think? the new man has a huge task -- the new woman who _ think? the new man has a huge task -- the new woman who has - think? the new man has a huge task -- the new woman who has been - —— the new woman who has been appointed has a huge task ahead of her. she needs to steer this organisation through our wider crisis. there are is other —— there

are other questions or need to be answered, including drug juice and a potential rate. the cbi described his allegations as devastating. an investigation into that is continuing, but it has been hugely damaging. meetings between the cbi and the government have been cancelled. the cbi has hit the pause button on its events, including its big annual dinner. it is still too early to say whether this investigation, plus its comment that it is promising to work with the police on these matters, it has launched a review of its culture and government, but whether this is enough to reassure its members that it can represent their interests, i think it is too early to say.

these are live pictures from the swiss parliament. we will have continuing coverage of that. these are live pictures. the stories there is about gps and credit suisse. switzerland's parliament has begun a three day emergency session debating and discussing the takeover of banking giant credit suisse by its rival ubs. 0ur correspondent imogen foulkes is in the capital, bern. she told me more about what we're likely to hear. the swiss government's position is this was the least worst option.

and that had that deal not been forced through over the weekend, the markets would have opened on monday, shares would have fallen again, credit suisse would have gone bankrupt and that would have had massive implications, damage notjust to switzerland's economy but to the global economy. so i think today, what members of parliament are going to be saying is, "ok, maybe you're right, it was the only option but this must never happen again." i know that there will be a push for stricter, too—big—to—fail banking laws to ensure that big banks can't get into this situation. i think there will also be a push for a closer eye on how senior bankers operate, how much they get paid and that includes bonuses. so those are things that members of parliament will be asking. can they undo this deal? no. i think the main impetus now from the swiss parliament is, this was really, really bad, it should never have happened and it must never happen again because now we don't have two big global banks,

we just have one. we can't afford to lose that. the global economy is expected to grow a paltry 3% over the next five years — that's according to the head of the international monetary fund, kristalina geogieva. her comments were made ahead of the imf and world bank's spring meetings which kick—off today in washington. 0ur north america business correspondent samira hussain is there. high inflation continues to plague countries around the world. central bankers are raising interest rates to try and slow down those price increases. as a result, however, is we have some of the weakest growth projections by the international monetary fund since the 1990s. now, with the world's 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 already having an impact on poorer countries, pushing them further into financial distress. given the uncertain global economic outlook, the imf believes that many more countries will be looking to the imf for help. after a life dedicated to treating liver patients, alison is now a cancer patient, but she's still determined to improve liver health in staffordshire. 90% of liver disease is preventable if you pick it up early enough and that's why i feel it's so important to raise awareness. stoke—on—trent is the second highest area in the midlands for early death relating to liver disease. alison believes a second scanner could be a life—saver for many. she's even trying it out. it feels all right, actually, yes.

i've sent lots of patients for these scans. as a medical consultant, alison helped thousands of seriously ill patients during her career here at the royal stoke university hospital, where she's also receiving end—of—life care. it's safe to say alison isn't wasting any of the time she has left. yes, ifeel prepared for the future and i feel i've left something, well, still leaving something that's worthwhile. you're live with bbc news. the british government will announce new measures to reduce the number of smokers in the population to below 5%. one million smokers will be given a free vaping starter kit to encourage them to give up tobacco products, while pregnant women will also be offered up to £400 to stop smoking. the free vape policy, which is being called "swap to stop," would be the first of its kind in the world. vincent mcaviney reports. despite a raft of measures in recent years, like the indoor smoking ban, increased duties and plain packaging

with graphic health warnings, some smokers are still struggling to quit. but the government has set an ambitious target to make england smoke—free, meaning reducing rates to 5% or less, by 2030. currently, around 13% of people in england still smoke. so the government's latest idea to help kick the habit is to offer a million smokers vape starting kits in the hope they swap, whilst the 9% of women who still smoke during pregnancy will be offered behavioural support and up to £400 in vouchers to give up. it's hoped this will reduce the number of babies born underweight or underdeveloped, with health problems requiring neonatal and ongoing care, as well as reducing the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. the plans also include a crackdown on underage and illicit vape sales to stop the rising problem of children taking up the habit. the scheme is estimated to cost

around £45 million over two years and will be funded by the department of health and social care. campaigners have welcomed the measures as being a step in the right direction, but say they are nowhere near sufficient. tobacco remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death in england. up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking, and recent data shows one in four deaths from all cancers were estimated to be from smoking. with such a high cost of treatment to the nhs, it's hoped this direct approach to smokers might keep them from filling much needed hospital beds in the years to come. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. here in the uk, a 12 year old boy has appeared in court charged with the murder of a sheffield grandmother. 60 year old social worker marcia grant died when she was hit

by her own car in the greenhill area of the city last wednesday.the accused spoke only to say he understood what was happening. he's been remanded into youth detention accommodation. the 12—year—old is one of the youngest people to be charged with murder in the uk in the last 30 years. let's take a look at some headlines in brief. detectives in the us state of kentucky say a gunman who killed five people at a bank on monday streamed the attack live on social media. connor sturgeon, who was 25, worked at the bank and opened fire at his colleagues before being shot and killed by police at the scene in louisville. the us government has applied for an emergency stay on a ruling by a conservative texas judge suspending approval of the abortion pill, mifepristone. the us authorities say it's been used for more than twenty years and is safe. the chinese cyberspace regulator has unveiled draft measures to manage generative artificial intelligence services similar to chat gpt, after tech giant alibaba and others

released their models. "a dearfriend, a fun guy and a superb guitarist." abba has paid tribute to their guitarist, lasse, who has died at the age of 70. although work is being done to establish more equality in the music business, female artists are still under—represented when it comes to dance music. two female djs in lincolnshire are on a mission to change that — with their own dj masterclasses. they're hoping to support other women interested in becoming the next annie mac. simon spark has more. in a disco kitchen in louth, two dj friends are practising their latest set. we've always loved dance music. but we never dj—ed until ten, 12 years ago? i think it was about 12 years ago. now in their mid—forties, one is a supply teacher and the other a book—keeper, but they were introduced to dj at a local bar and thought, why not?

at the time, we were using cds, weren't we? he just gave us the opportunity. he was like, give it a go and we were like, 0k. and it was really good fun, it was brilliant. and so mothership was born, and their sets have seen them at local festivals and meeting annie mac, one of the most famous female djs in the uk. it was at a gig in birmingham, wasn't it? and wejust managed to meet her backstage. so that was great. she'd recently had her first kid and we were talking about being mums and i do remember, what did she say? the phrase was, "it's nice to meet some more mummy djs". in fact, lindsey was pregnant for a while while dj—ing, so i remember trying to fit the bump behind the decks. we had to factor that in, trying to fit the bump in behind the deck. but now they think it's time for more women djs like themselves, and so have begun mothership dj classes. so i kind of advertised it

as for women and friends, so the nontraditional view of a dj. i would just love to see there be more women just out there having a go and doing it. i think it's reallyjust access. if you don't have a friend who's got decks, how do you get into it, how do you practise, how do you know it's for you? it's so important to support more women into djing. this dancey duo are championing more women to get into the dj mix. i want to show you some dramatic images from russia, where a volcano erupted on tuesday releasing a 10 kilometre cloud of smoke and ash into the sky. the volcano is located in the far east of russia in the kamchatka peninsula. nearby areas were smothered in a thick layer of ash, with almost 10 centimetres of volcanic dust coating some villages. lava flows tumbled from the volcano, melting snow and prompting a warning of mud flows along a nearby highway.

so far, no casualties have been reported. i want to show you some beautiful pictures from the galapagos islands, where at least 86 captive—bred giant tortoises were released last month. the hatchlings were bred and raised in captivity on santa cruz island as part of a species conservation programme which has bred some 3,000 giant tortoises in captivity over the past 50 years. before the turtles were released they were dewormed and fitted with an identification microchip so they can be monitored as they navigate their new home.

hello there. we've got some very windy weather on the way tonight and into wednesday. right. this is causing the pressure to drop explosively. well, these areas of low pressure sometimes referred to as weather bombs, it will certainly be bringing some strong winds our way over the next 24 hours. now today we've already had the best of the sunny weather through the afternoon. outbreaks of rain will be encroaching from the west with the winds picking up as well. that said, we'll hold on to the dry and sunny weather for the northeast of scotland all day. it's overnight tonight that we start to get some strong winds. the first bout of windy weather really affecting wales and western england.

gust of wind 50 to 70, maybe even over 70 miles an hour in the most exposed locations could bring some areas of localised disruption. meanwhile, overnight we'll see rain blow northwards and eastwards across the country. the winds becoming blustery everywhere and showers will be following to western areas later in the night. temperatures will be similar to those of last night's lows of between two and six degrees celsius. tomorrow, a very unsettled day. blustery winds for all of us. outbreaks of rain and plenty of showers around, too. but we'll see some further zones of strong winds. southern wales and southern areas of england could see gusts of wind up to 70 miles an hour in places strong enough to bring some disruption. and the winds will get very gusty as well for northern ireland. again, strong enough to bring one or two issues here. aside from the very windy weather, we'll have outbreaks of rain, some thunder mixed in, pushing eastwards across all parts of the country. it'll be cold enough even for a bit of snow mixed in, particularly across the high ground in northern scotland, mostly above 400 metres elevation. a cold day, temperatures

seven to 12 degrees, but feeling even colder than that given the strength of the winds. by the time we get to thursday, the area of low pressure will be working out into the north sea. still close enough to bring plenty of showers. some of these heavy and thundery, maybe even a bit wintry, still over the highest ground in scotland. and temperatures continue to struggle eight to 14 degrees — below par for the time of year. we have more unsettled weather to come then through friday and the weekend with rain and showers around. but gradually through sunday and monday it becomes drier and eventually warmer. the first 20 of the year on the charts in london into monday.

today at one — junior doctors in england start a four day strike in their dispute over pay. # full pay restoration! they want a 35% rise — dismissed by the government as unaffordable — but they say their pay has fallen behind for 15 years. i didn't choose this career to upset anybody. i came to help people and i want to be able to do that with the support of my colleagues and i want to be paid appropriately for that. i deeply regret these strikes and in particular the timing, which have been timed deliberately coming straight after easter. we'll bring you the latest — and we'll be asking what you should do if you need medical attention during the strike. also this lunchtime... tony danker, the boss of the business group the cbi, is sacked over complaints about his behaviour at work.