live from london. this is bbc news. us presidentjoe biden is ian route to northern ireland for talks to mark the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. the imf has cut its forecast for global growth particularly for the uk and germany although it says most countries should avoid recession. pentagon officials warn the leak of classified, military documents is a national security risk that could offer moscow the chance to spread disinformation.

hello and welcome. ukraine says 174,000 square kilometres — that's roughly the same area as syria — has been contaminated by landmines since russia's invasion last february. most have been found in the north eastern kharkiv region. 0ur correspondent in ukraine james waterhouse reports. 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 tread. of course they're worried, very much worried. before, we would work with shells from world war ii, and now they 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're 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 izyum, both sides had been accused of using butterfly mines, with kyiv denying it. for patients in the battered hospital, the results are the same. mykola 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's 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, 0leksandr�*s task reaches its crescendo. a job likely to be replicated for decades. james waterhouse, bbc news, kharkiv region.

joining me live now is lou mcgrath in merseyside who is a founding member of the international campaign to ban landmines and adviser on post conflict, landmines & unexploded ordnance issues. thank you for being with us on bbc news. james was highlighting the real challenge now face to not only in tackling what is already there, but the clean—up which will inevitably have to get under way. this focuses on butterfly mines, the ones that are banned under international law, and yet seemingly are very active in ukraine. lau. international law, and yet seemingly are very active in ukraine.— are very active in ukraine. lau, in actualfact, _ are very active in ukraine. lau, in actual fact, what _ are very active in ukraine. lau, in actual fact, what is _ are very active in ukraine. lau, in actual fact, what is known - are very active in ukraine. lau, in actual fact, what is known as - are very active in ukraine. lau, in actual fact, what is known as a i actual fact, what is known as a butterfly mind, ipf one is actually a normal antipersonnel landmine will stop unfortunately, because of the nature of it, it's aerodynamics, it is attractive to children, but all

antipersonnel mines in ukraine a signature to the treaty, russia is not. they are all banned under international law, under that treaty. however, what we need to be looking at as well is not the preparation for the clearance which i know is i'm going now with many clearance agencies and much commitment from government, but in my experience, the big problem will be the victims over the next 30 years of landmines. we hear about our national health service not being able to keep up with the issues that normally people have. of course, when you get a country that has had ten years of war, we are now looking at all of this and go back are potentially victims of landmines, and that will go on for

the next 30 years and provision will need to be made for those who are left injured by the many thousands if not to millions of landmines that will have been laid by the end of this crisis. ., will have been laid by the end of this crisis-_ will have been laid by the end of this crisis-— this crisis. you are quite right to focus on those _ this crisis. you are quite right to focus on those issues. _ this crisis. you are quite right to focus on those issues. ukraine | focus on those issues. ukraine saying 724 people have already been blown up by russia mines since that invasion began. what is so stark about this is just how big an area in ukraine is affected. he said roughly the size of serie a to give you another example, an area of land larger than england wales combined. a huge swathe of land, people will be returning there at some .i would hope. what is the answer? you can to co—ordinate often make them no go areas, can you? co-ordinate often make them no go areas. can you?— areas, can you? unfortunately, the areas, can you? unfortunately, the areas where _ areas, can you? unfortunately, the areas where the _ areas, can you? unfortunately, the areas where the battles _ areas, can you? unfortunately, the areas where the battles have - areas, can you? unfortunately, the areas where the battles have been | areas where the battles have been

fought well be in the countryside where they rely heavily on agriculture in order to get the economy back within the towns and cities. it does notjust landmines but booby—traps and improvised explosive devices will be a major slowdown to any clearance. a long way ahead yet before we see people being able to return to any normality. being able to return to any normality-— being able to return to any normali . ., , ., normality. sarri to interrupt, and i wanted to ask— normality. sarri to interrupt, and i wanted to ask about _ normality. sarri to interrupt, and i wanted to ask about that, - normality. sarri to interrupt, and i wanted to ask about that, we - normality. sarri to interrupt, and i| wanted to ask about that, we were discussing this earlier about the time and cost and resources that will be involved in trying to clean up will be involved in trying to clean up these areas. give us a sense, evenif up these areas. give us a sense, even if there were where to finish tomorrow, this will take many, many years to fix, won't it? it tomorrow, this will take many, many years to fix, won't it?— years to fix, won't it? it well. if you take _ years to fix, won't it? it well. if you take the — years to fix, won't it? it well. if you take the case _ years to fix, won't it? it well. if you take the case of _ years to fix, won't it? it well. if you take the case of cambodia | years to fix, won't it? it well. if- you take the case of cambodia where clearance started in 1992, you said

170,000 m2, well, that is actually the size of cambodia, and cambodia is still being cleared of landmines and unexploded ordinance to this day, and yet, it has had millions spent and there are still teams of people working day in and day out clearing the debris of that war. it is good to get your insight. thank you and as was touched on there, that area, 170 4000 km2 of ukraine currently contaminated by landmines. elsewhere today, the scope of the pentagon leaked documents appears to be widening by the day. pentagon officials have called the leak a serious risk to us national security. here are some of the key takeaways. the documents appear to detail the deployment and state

of ukrainian and russian forces ahead of ukraine's long awaited spring offensive. according to the washington post, one document expresses misgivings about ukraine's chances of success, saying it may only result in "modest territorial gains". some documents appear to outline us training and equipment being provided to ukraine ahead of the offensive, as well as when various ukrainian units will be ready, and the anticipated delivery time of military supplies. the washington post also obtained access to another document, where they found egypt had plans to produce 40,000 rockets for russia in secret. the documents also appear to reveal

a sensitive conversation between high level south korean officials on whether to send weapons to ukraine. about allies that showed that the us seems to have been spying on them, so trying to reach out to and reassure these allies as well. yes, and that's interesting because it gives us an insight into how this intelligent is gathered and the conversations that would normally go on behind closed doors. give me a sense of whether we've had any reaction

from those allies. well, two of the most sensitive issues were with israel and south korea. so, in terms of israel, one of the documents suggested that the israeli intelligence agency, mossad, had actually encouraged recent protests againstjudicial changes that have been proposed by the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. there has been a response from the israeli government — quite a sharp one — saying that is mendacious and that has no foundation whatsoever. the other one, south korea, which you according to these documents, americans were actually listening in on conversations between south korean officials talking about us pressure for them to supply ukraine with weapons, which is against their law. again, a response from the presidency, which has denied this, saying that these allegations of eavesdropping are not true. but the president is going to be visiting here in the next couple

of weeks, so no doubt this will come up then. in terms of nato and european countries, almost no public response. in the past, when there had been intelligence leaks, there have been anger expressed or irritation, but ultimately, allies continue sharing information with the us. oui’ our washington correspondent there. to get analysis on the impact of its leak, i also spoke to us national security analyst dr rebecca grant, and she told me these leaks are embarrassing but haven't changed washington's relationship with its allies. the revelations are embarrassing, but what strikes me is that so far, they have not needed at dent in the us relations with allies we have seen egypt, israel, south korea set that aside and that tells me that no matter what the embarrassing little details are that the us and our allies think it is nothing in comparison to what putin is doing in ukraine with china's backing. you mentioned _ ukraine with china's backing. you mentioned egypt there as well, and

thatis mentioned egypt there as well, and that is the important development. there are big questions about what these documents tell us and how much we can believe. how much are you beating into what we have heard about egypt and its possibility of providing rockets? in about egypt and its possibility of providing rockets?— about egypt and its possibility of providing rockets? in the case of e. t, providing rockets? in the case of egypt. you _ providing rockets? in the case of egypt. you know. _ providing rockets? in the case of egypt. you know. we _ providing rockets? in the case of egypt, you know, we know- providing rockets? in the case of egypt, you know, we know that. providing rockets? in the case of i egypt, you know, we know that our intelligence surveys, british intelligence surveys, british intelligence service is always paying attention to what partners and allies as well as adversaries are thinking. i'm very struck that each of�*s president has come out and flatly denied this, so what ever went down in that relationship, both egypt and the us now are saying no problem, nothing to see here, we are not going to disturb the ongoing military and diplomatic relations. that is far more important than that the allegation. in fact, the allegation may not have egypt and we know in cases like this, this is about an information whereas much as

it is a military work, and i want to, what narrative does this support to? who do these documents give most credence to? whose battle do they most throw weight behind? it's an information work, and put in has been losing the information where to ukraine and zelinski, so what is bad about this document fleet is the pentagon a all but sanctum look, there is some authentic documents here. —— information to ukraine and president zelensky. mixed in with that, russia is capitalising on the propaganda, they may have changed some documents, they may be clean things up, putting in false information. so russia is trying to score an information victory here, but it looks to me like they are not going to get too much out of this in terms of an information war. very heavy—handed by then. terms of an information war. very heavy-handed by then.— heavy-handed by then. does this chan . e heavy-handed by then. does this change anything _ heavy-handed by then. does this change anything on _ heavy-handed by then. does this change anything on the - heavy-handed by then. does this change anything on the ground . heavy-handed by then. does thisj change anything on the ground in ukraine? i change anything on the ground in ukraine? ., ., ,

ukraine? i imagine there have been some small — ukraine? i imagine there have been some small changes. _ ukraine? i imagine there have been some small changes. so, _ ukraine? i imagine there have been| some small changes. so, remember ukraine? i imagine there have been - some small changes. so, remember the some small changes. so, rememberthe operational information that came out, that gets stale, it was for march and february. if there was a ukrainian unit mentioned in the document, you can be sure that unit is not there any more. there will be additional operational security measures taken. the key is to make sure that us uk, all the 54 nations continue to get the supplies to ukraine to see if they can change the dynamics on the ground. i don't think the document to leak will affect that. i think this leak is very much aimed at supporting russia at roiling us public opinion, and thatis at roiling us public opinion, and that isjust not at roiling us public opinion, and that is just not going to happen. they are not going to get a gain out of that. , , ., ._ they are not going to get a gain out ofthat. , , , . of that. interesting you say public oinion. of that. interesting you say public opinion- in _ of that. interesting you say public opinion. in your _ of that. interesting you say public opinion. in your assessment, - of that. interesting you say public opinion. in your assessment, this j of that. interesting you say public l opinion. in your assessment, this is about a public information campaign as much as it is about any of the politics behind this?— as much as it is about any of the politics behind this? yes, because if the “ust politics behind this? yes, because if they just wanted, _ politics behind this? yes, because if they just wanted, say _ politics behind this? yes, because if they just wanted, say the - if they just wanted, say the russians wanted the information on the battlefield in ukraine, no need to make it public. it strikes me,

one time it was coincidental, the release with the joining of thin mints coming into nato, and, of course, we see russia trying so hard to push the doubts in us public opinion to try to divide allies, to do anything to get nato partners to stop supporting ukraine and deposing russia's brutal invasion. they would do anything to do that in the information campaign. and i think what we are seeing here is a serious breach and the pentagon has got to figure out how it happened. this is basically trying to benefit russia's campaign and we cannot let that happen. l115 campaign and we cannot let that hauen. ,, ., ., ., campaign and we cannot let that hauen_ ,, ., ., ., , . , happen. us national security anal st, happen. us national security analyst, rebecca _ happen. us national security analyst, rebecca grant, - happen. us national security - analyst, rebecca grant, speaking to me a little earlier. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

it started in a pub. as often these things do a bit of banter between three men and they were arguing about who was fitter than who. and they said, "well, get a bag of coal on your back and i'll raise you from the royal oak to the maple green."

the us and the philippines are holding their largest everjoint military drills a day after china concluded large scale concluded large—scale exercises around taiwan. beijing simulated attacks on taiwan, in response to the island's leader meeting the us house speaker last week. plans for the joint exercises between the us and philippines, predated china's activities, but won't do anything to calm already simmering tensions in the region. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil has more details. we've had three days of military exercises, chinese military exercises around taiwan, 0perationjoint sword, where china simulated or practised, precision attacks on taiwanese targets, simulated surrounding taiwan. but also we've had jets flying into taiwan at taiwanese airspace to taiwan's east. and this dramatic animated animation video that showed china attacking taiwan by sea air and hitting some targets in taiwan with with explosions. so quite dramatic exercises there. a day after that, another set

of drills, this time between the us and the philippines. the philippines, the bali curtain exercises, they announced that they're going to be their biggest ever. they're going to involve 17,000 troops and a live fire exercise on a sunken chip ship in the south china sea. now, we knew these were going to happen. they happened. they were agreed on after the us secured a defence deal with the philippines earlier this year. so we knew they were happening. we knew that they were going to be big. but this large scale, if you will, display of american air power in the region could not have come at a more sensitive time in the in the indo—pacific. we know that they're going to happen around philippine, philippine waters, but also the south china sea. two things you need to know about this. this area — it's very... well, three, it's tense. it is a very, very busy trading route and it's highly

contested by china. and already, beijing has expressed that it's not happy, even though manila has reassured them that this is to bolster the country's military military capabilities. so, you've got two sets of drills happening, one after another at an increasingly tense time here in the region, increasingly heightened tension between the us and china as those two powers are trying to bolster their military power here in the indo—pacific. now, sometimes, a brand name becomes so huge it actually becomes we wa nt to ta ke want to take you live to amsterdam. you can just see you canjust see his you can just see his left—hand side, and his wife bridget macron. he's been talking about economic interests against a growing threat from china. interventionalists industrial policies. he said europe

needed to follow suit. president macron caught up in a row at home about raising the state of pension age to 64 from 62. so, we do not have translation of those comments. president macron addressing the royal palace in amsterdam, cracking a joke, addressing the royal palace in amsterdam, cracking ajoke, by addressing the royal palace in amsterdam, cracking a joke, by the looks of him. king alexander very welcoming of that. relating to the growing power protecting its interests. to some degree, protectionism was needed. he said things like strategic assets no longer should be sold off to the highest bidder. as i said, there continued back home for president macron to deal with, not least

raising that age from 62 to 64. new opinion polls show the majority of french voters oppose that reform and back of the protests unions. they have planned protest on thursday against those changes. mr macron very keen to move discussion on that, but he's on that state visit to amsterdam, as you can see, addressing the dinner there at the royal palace and the city. nonetheless, many issues for him to tackle. we will stay across that if there are any developments. the business lobby group, the cbi, has sacked its director general, after an investigation into workplace misconduct. the allegations involve a female employee. tony danker described the claims against him as "distorted," but says he recognised he unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable. our business editor,

simonjack, has the latest. 0ur director—general, tony danker. tony danker was the head of a group representing 190,000 firms, employing millions of people, but his own employment came to us and then this morning following an investigation into his conduct towards a female employee. the cbi board said tony danker was dismissed with immediate effect following the independent investigation into specific complaints of workplace misconduct against him. the board has determined that his conduct fell short of that expected of the director—general. mr danker responded on social media saying this... the exact findings of the report remain unpublished, but this brew in suffolk said it was renewing its membership.

it is a medium size business that employs around 500 people are more than half are female. how would i have been able to have said we will remain members of the cbi in that situation? it was right, i think, that we reviewed it, but it is also right that we give the organisation a chance to put its house back in order. the cbi also announced three other employees had been suspended, pending further investigation with police involvement into allegations of serious sexual misconduct, unconnected to mr danker and predating his time in office. it promised a root and branch review of culture, governance and processes and appointed a new director—general, forber cbi chief economist, mr newton smith, now charged with fixing a reputation in crisis. this is a wake up to all of us in business to look in our own organisations and make sure that such inappropriate behaviour, as clearly has been happening in the cbi, can't happen in our organisations and are rooted

out once and for all. the cbi exists to do two main things — lobby people, mainly the element and its interests of 2000 memberfirms, and promote and spread legs practice within those companies. despite the changes into allegations, it's not in a position to do either —— spread best practice. cbi events like the one this year were a key interface between government and business but it said it would extend the pause in dealing with an organisation that describes as the most effective and influential voice for business. of of our christian has the context with you, here is the weather. hello there.

very windy weather expected tonight and into tomorrow across large parts of the country. what's going on is an area of low pressure finds itself right in the heart of this powerful atlantic jet stream. and it's deepening very quickly, pressure dropping by over 30 millibars, or hectopascals, in a space of 24 hours. low pressures like these are sometimes referred to as weather bombs.

now, they will be bringing some very strong winds tonight initially across western parts of england and wales as well. gusts reaching 50—70mph, potentially bringing some disruption. outbreaks of rain will be blown northwards and eastwards across the country, and even as the rain starts to ease off, we are looking at plenty of heavy, blustery showers the winds start to ease off a little bit on thursday as the low pressure works out into the north sea. but we've got further outbreaks of rain at times for scotland and into parts of northeastern england. elsewhere, sunshine and heavy showers. temperatures still below par for this time of april. ——so, all in all, a blustery day, cold enough for some snow in the high ground in scotland, above 400 metres elevation. so hill walkers need to take note of that. and a cold day, temperatures 7—12 celsius, but feeling colder given those blustery winds. the winds start to ease off a little bit on thursday as the low pressure works out into the north sea. but we've got further outbreaks of rain at times for scotland and into parts of northeastern england. elsewhere, sunshine and heavy showers. temperatures still below par for this time of april. we've got more rain to come on friday, particularly across england and wales, showers further north. but through the weekend, the weather gradually becomes a little bit drier, and it starts to get a little bit milder as well, indeed, into next week,

if you're fed up with all this rain and talk of strong winds, it's a lot calmer. temperatures for the first time this year will likely reach the low 20s in the warmest spots. bye for now.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. what is your top priority on this trip? what is your top priority on this tri - ? a ~ , what is your top priority on this tri n ? ~ ., ~' , , what is your top priority on this trip? make sure the irish acquired in winter agreement _ trip? make sure the irish acquired in winter agreement stays - trip? make sure the irish acquired in winter agreement stays in - trip? make sure the irish acquired. in winter agreement stays in place. keep— in winter agreement stays in place. keep the _ in winter agreement stays in place. keep the main thing looks like you need _ keep the main thing looks like you need to— keep the main thing looks like you need to keep your fingers crossed. the british— need to keep your fingers crossed. the british government and the americans, politicians are trying to deal with them. in fairness to the people of northern ireland, they deserve working institutions. this stretch of the _ deserve working institutions. ti 3 stretch of the road, you only watch the length. somebody died here. people died for all the

contingencies.