tonight at 10:00: president biden makes a flying visit to northern ireland — and urges a return to power sharing here at stormont. 25 years after the good friday agreement, he addressed the younger generation at ulster univeristy and gave this advice for the future. as a friend, i hope it's not too presumptuous for me to say that i believe democratic institutions established in the good friday agreement remain critical to the future of northern ireland. crowds lined the streets in belfast as the president's cavalcade swept through, amid the tighest security. there's been such little political direction, you know, that a world leader's interested in us, i think it's, you know, a big endorsement for us.

can biden do anything to unlock the current political crisis? wouldn't that be amazing? laughter tonight, a change of tone as president biden crosses the border into the republic of ireland in search of his irish roots. the other top stories tonight... prince harry will attend his father's coronation next month but meghan, won't be leaving california. billionaire twitter owner elon musk sits down with the bbc. he defends sacking thousands of staff and summed up an eventful six months as boss. well, it's not been boring! it's been quite a roller—coaster. there's the shooting chance, it's in! and the european champions, real madrid, beat a ten—man chelsea in their quarterfinal first leg match. and coming up in sport, the uk and the republic of ireland submit theirjoint bid to host euro 2028, but two of the proposed

stadiums aren't even built yet. good evening from stormont, on the day that president biden has been in northern ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the good friday agreement. he used the moment to urge for a return to power sharing insisting that stable devolved government could deliver an economic windfall for northern ireland. there has not been a functioning government here since the democratic unionist party walked out over post—brexit arrangements 14 months ago. but he didn't stay long. by this afternoon the president had already crossed the border

into the republic of ireland where, for the next two days, he will go in search of his irish roots. 0urfirst report tonight is from our political editor chris mason on the day the presidential cavalcade swept through belfast. preparing for a president to pass by. every inch of the route accounted for. a sight worth getting up for. as the clock struck midday, the beast on belfast streets. president biden�*s heavily—armored limo, with no shortage of other cars in tow. here it is, quite a spectacle, the president's motorcade. always something of a rigmarole when a us ppresident is on the move. yes, it's about security. it's also a projection of power. the president was heading for ulster university, to reflect on northern ireland now and northern ireland then — before the good friday agreement. every person killed in the troubles left an empty chair at their dining room table, and a hole in the heart that was never filled

for the ones they lost. peace was not inevitable. we can't ever forget that. listening outside, the good friday agreement generation — born in an era of relative peace. but people here have been without devolved government, a key part of the agreement, for over a year. president biden told us what he thought about this. but listen to how carefully he weighted his words. as a friend, i hope it's not too presumptuous for me to say that i believe democratic institutions established through the good friday agreement remain critical to the future of northern ireland. an effective devolved government, that reflects the people of northern ireland and is accountable to them. a government that works to find ways through hard problems together, that's going to draw even greater opportunity in this region.

so i hope the assembly and the executive will soon be restored. that's a judgment for you to make, not me, but i hope it happens. and so does the prime minister. but it hasn't happened — at least yet. the president and rishi sunak met for 45 minutes of talks and tea. we spoke in particular about the incredible economic opportunities that are there in store for northern ireland. and we talked about the investment potential that is there, the companies that want to invest in northern ireland. i think that's incredibly exciting, it'll bring growth, jobs and prosperity to northern ireland. and i know he shares my ambition to see the institutions here back up and running. that's what people and businesses in northern ireland deserve. the prospect of this visit has been talked about for months but lasted only hours. there's no such thing as a low—key trip by an american president anywhere, but this feels like it's come pretty close. but the message was unmistakably clear — restoring devolved government here, absolutely essential to northern ireland's future.

by mid—afternoon, president biden�*s much cherished irish heritage had lured him to the republic. he was in dundalk, in county louth this evening, near the border, in a pub and reflecting on his sense of belonging. coming here feels like coming home. it really does. every time i've come, the welcome, the people on the streets, so gracious to us. there was time too for a walkabout in the street. his tour continues for the next few days. chris mason, bbc news, in belfast. well, joe biden is the fourth sitting us president to visit here in almost 30 years. he managed to miss this stormy weather, the wind and rain sweeping across the city tonight. despite the huge security, the crowds still came out onto the streets of belfast to welcome him.

0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, has been speaking to some of them. some statesmanship from stateside. a glimpse of the grandeur of the convoy alone was enough to attract the crowds. the chance to see a president doesn't come often, so... it's just really cool. everyone kind of coming out to see him. even as an american myself, it's not often that you get - to see such a leader. how big is the irish connection for americans? oh, boy. well, i'm from boston. so, quite big. you know, they like to call us plastic paddies back - there, which is fair. to keep this going... biden�*s message of hope for northern ireland, for some, was a welcome contrast to the pessimism that set in over a lack of government. there's been such a little political direction, you know, that a world leader is interested in us, i think it's a big endorsement for us. can biden do anything to unlock the current political crisis? that would be amazing. what you think the parties should do? get back in government and start talking,

get money out to the communities. and those with a seat inside felt the president's enthusiasm first hand. there was a great energy and real great, actually, optimism, i would say. so, what was your sense of biden�*s grasp of the situation in northern ireland? i feel like he certainly got the current context we are in politically. i think he made that very clear, and i think expressed that very well. do you feel any frustration with northern ireland's situation today? i think they're so much more that could be done, particularly for students. but we are in a bit of a stalemate at the moment and things are very difficult to progress. he only had one engagement, why do you think you chose the university? look where we are in this part of belfast, it has been- regenerated by our new campus that is in that space. _ 22,000 square metres of glass. could you have done that priorl to the good friday agreement? people are certainly soaking up the excitement of a presidential visit. while there is no great hope here he can shift the dial on the political situation, there is a sense of pride that northern ireland is in the spotlight. did you get a picture, there? yes, just a little picture, midway through the waves.

so i'm quite happy with that. you had a wave from the president? yes, that's a story. i took my b—reel, while he pointed at it. he's actually pointing out the window? yes, yeah. i'm not sure even we got that. behind the bullet—proof glass, there may be relief in that limo that he's made it swiftly through the politically thorny part of the trip. with family ties and a southern irish welcome ahead, that is likely to be the easier ride. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. the president is tonight in the republic of ireland — where he will stay until friday. 0ur north america editor, sarah smith, is travelling with him. and this a very different couple of days ahead from his time here in belfast? yes, you can see from his body language already how much more relaxed to the president is now that he is in the republic. he has already described it as feeling like he is coming home. this is the part of the trip he has been really looking forward to. already he's been saying to people that he

doesn't understand why anybody would ever leave ireland. by that, he is talking about his ancestors, who emigrated to america in the middle of the 19th century, and whose roots he has been exploring already this afternoon in county louth. tomorrow, he does have official engagements. you will be meeting the irish president, addressing the irish parliament and he will be dining with the taoiseach but a lot of this trip is quite personal. by friday he will be in county mayo, once again exploring some of his family history. and there is no great political significance to this, except to say mr biden is very well aware that the pictures of him embracing his celtic connections do play quite well with the over 30 million americans who, like him, identify themselves as being irish. sarah smith, thank you. let's get a final word

from our political editor chris mason. this visit to belfast was more low—key than expected — how successful has it been? the tonal difference is so striking, as sarah was reflecting. that sense that he was walking a political tightrope yet with the language that he had to use, and that he can sort ofjust relax a bit now that he has crossed the border. in terms of measuring the success year, it was curious. because it was so short. a very, very quick. and the prime minister's involvement was so minimal as well. not even going to the president's speech. the prime minister did go and seejohn caldwell, the police officer who was shot several times in county tyrone backin shot several times in county tyrone back in february. but maybe both of those appointments would have been possible. downing street made the point that it's not typical that a prime minister would follow a prime minister around on all of his visits. but the big question is,

ultimately, what difference it makes for and the potential re—establishment of power—sharing. that was never likely to happen very quickly. the views within the democratic unionist party, who have decided not to go back into power—sharing, are very mixed, from describing the president to anti—british, to others who were more warm in their tone. it's not likely to shift any time soon, with local elections here next month. there was a hope in downing street, as we now know there is in the white house, that it might happen eventually, maybe in the autumn, but for now the wait goes on. that's it from us at stormont — it's back to clive in the studio. sophie, thank you to you and the team. buckingham palace says prince harry will attend his father's coronation next month, but meghan, the duchess of sussex, won't be travelling from california. the prince willjoin more than 2,000 guests at westminster abbey on the 6th of may. as nicholas witchell reports, it'll be the first time he'll be seen with the royal family since the release of his memoir. they haven't met since the state

funeral of the late queen elizabeth last september. even then, it was clear that the relationship between harry and his father — and in particular with his elder brother, william — was strained. and much has happened since then to make matters worse. first there was the netflix series in which harry and meghan set out their truth, their account of what they regarded as an unfeeling family and why they'd felt compelled to leave. we know the full truth. the institution knows the full truth. then there was harry's book, which revealed private family moments, including his claim that william had once pushed him to the ground. "harry: the interview". what an original name, huh? in a tv interview, harry said if he came to the coronation, he hoped there would be an opportunity for them to talk. there's a lot to be discussed, and i really hope that they're willing to sit down and talk about it. now harry says he is coming to the coronation to join the rest of his family,

though without meghan. she is staying at home in california. so, how will harry's family receive him? we know there are still tensions with his brother, william, who he has barely spoken to. and we've heard a lot from harry over the last few months with his book and his netflix documentary, so it's going to be tricky for william and the rest of the family. but i think, when all's said and done, the king will be really pleased, at the end of the day that his youngest son is going to be there by his side on coronation day. harry will have a ringside seat in westminster abbey. officials will be hoping that his presence doesn't become too much of a distraction. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the scottish government is to mount a legal challenge to westminster�*s decision to block its controversial gender recognition reforms. holyrood's proposed legislation simplifies and speeds up the process for trans people to legally change their gender. the uk government says the reforms could affect the equality act and protection of women. 0ur scotland editor, james cook,

takes a look at the issue. and the gender recognition reform scotland bill is passed. days before christmas, a moment ofjoy for trans rights campaigners. hailing a law which would remove legal and medical hurdles to changing sex on a birth certificate and reduce the age limit to do so from 18 to 16. but their celebrations were short lived. today, i will make an order under section 35 of the scotland act 1998 preventing the gender recognition reform scotland bill from proceeding to royal assent. in other words, westminster was overruling holyrood on the basis that the new scottish law would adversely affect british legislation. and now the scottish government is challenging that decision in court. the parliament has now spoken. we were willing to work with the uk government after this bill was passed. they've refused to do so. now, even if people disagree

with the bill, i would hope they would agree with the fact that we need to have a strong scottish parliament and a scottish government and a first minister willing to stand up for that parliament. the news was welcomed by this campaigner. the most important thing for us is that we want this bill to become law. we want trans men and women who are playing to update the sex on their birth certificate, to be able to go through a much fairer and simpler process. and they can at the moment, and it's used in many countries all around the world. but campaigners against the bill say its effects would be absurd. simply put, there can't be one definition of sex on one side of the border and another on the other side. when we have measures in law to protect people on that basis, it makes a mockery of the whole equality act. and the uk government says it will robustly defend its position. it was a decision that we made after taking very careful and considered advice and we had concerns, as the uk government secretary of state set this out at the time, concerns about how scotland's gender recognition act would interact

with reserve powers, about the operation of the equalities act, the protection of women, elsewhere in the uk as well. and that's why we took the decision to block the the gra. and obviously, if there's a court process, we will follow that through. this is hamza yousef�*s first big battle with the uk government as first minister of scotland. but his choice of topic makes it an especially risky strategy because, on the issue of gender, it's notjust the nation which is divided, but the snp too. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh. he's one of the world's richest men and owns spacex, tesla and twitter. so, when elon musk speaks, his words — well chosen or not — have the ability to move the money markets. he bought twitter forjust over £35 billion last october but said the company was losing money and he'd have need to cut staff. well, in an exclusive interview with the bbc, he confirmed that, of the 8,000 workers employed

when he took over the company, just 1,500 remain. he says sacking people wasn't easy, and he's described his time in charge so far as a "roller coaster". he's been speaking to our technology correspondent, james clayton, in san francisco. it's not every day you find yourself invited by one of the world's richest and most influential people to a sit—down interview, and a few minutes before it was due to take place, the inevitable cu rveball. we're about to go live, very surprisingly, we onlyjust found this out, on twitter. but that is elon musk. we didn't know about that. but you never know with elon musk. when he sat down, he was in the mood to chat. so, how do you think it's gone? well, it's not been boring.

it's been quite a roller coaster. the pain level of twitter has been extremely high. this hasn't been some sort of party. so it's been really quite a stressful situation. were there many mistakes made along the way? of course. when you put that initial bid in, you then had a wobble. you kind of said, "i actually don't want to buy twitter any more." then you changed your mind again and decided to buy it. did you do that because... i kind of had to. right, did you do that because you thought a court would make do that? yes. right! yes, that is the reason. so you were trying to get out of it, and you are advised by lawyers, look, you're going to have to buy this? yes. interesting. so you didn't actually want to purchase it even when you said you were going to? well, not at that price. almost immediately, you sacked a lot of twitter workers. and i spoke to them,

it was very easy to speak to them when it happened, and the way pretty much everyone said is that it felt quite haphazard. it was. and it felt a little bit uncaring. i wouldn't say uncaring. the issue was, the company is either going to go bankrupt, if you do not cut costs immediately. this is not a caring or uncaring situation. if the whole ship sinks, then nobody has a job. i know the bbc for example is not thrilled about being labelled a state—affiliated media. i was going to get to that later. let's got for it now. it's officially objected to that tag. do you want to respond to it? our goal is simply to be as truthful and accurate as possible, so i think we are adjusting the label to be "publicly funded," which i think is perhaps not too objectionable. we are trying to be accurate.

tiktok has also been in the news. there is talk of perhaps the biden administration wanting to potentially ban it or force a sale. what is your view of the situation? ijust don't know enough of what's going on there. i can't say i have a strong opinion on tiktok. you don't have an opinion on if it should be banned or not? you know, i'm generally against banning things. so i probably would not be in favour. it would help twitter, i suppose, if tiktok was banned, because then people would spend more time on twitter and less time on tiktok. but even if it would help twitter, i would be generally against the banning of things. you have said that you were going to stand down. i already have. as chief executive? 0k... i am not the ceo of twitter.

my dog is the ceo of twitter. after almost an hour of questions, he hung around to answer more questions on twitter. it was an unconventional end to an extraordinary evening. it really was an extra interview, surreal, bizarre, enlightening, and times. it was 90 minutes long and something i won't ever forget. times. it was 90 minutes long and something i won't everforget. 0ne something i won't everforget. one point of note, in the last few hours, that government funded label that elon musk had applied to the bbc twitter account, he has changed that to publicly funded, which will certainly please bbc bosses tonight. james clayton, in san francisco. and you can see the full interview with elon musk by going to bbc.co.uk/iplayer, or by using the iplayer app and searching for "elon musk talks to the bbc".

more than 100 people are now reported to have died in myanmar following airstrikes launched by the military regime on a village in the north—west of the country. survivors have told the bbc that attacks have continued, disrupting efforts to collect and count the dead. the military has increasingly used airstrikes against their opponents since seizing power two years ago. a7li—year—old man has been extradited from pakistan and shot with the murder of pc sharon beshenivsky, shot dead in bradford in 2005. he was arrested in pakistan in 2020 and is due to appear at westminster magistrates' court tomorrow. the former bbc radio 1 dj tim westwood has been questioned twice under police caution. in a statement, the metropolitan police confirmed it's now investigating five claims of sexual offences, which are alleged to have taken place between 1982 and 2016.

chi chi izundu has that story. detectives say they interviewed a 65—year—old man under caution on the 15th of march and the 11th of april this year. there's been no arrest. last august, police confirmed they were investigating a 64—year—old man over historic allegations of sexual offences. today, it's now been confirmed as five. this comes after bbc news and guardian investigations uncovered multiple allegations from 18 women of sexual misconduct and abuse by tim westwood from 1992 to 2017. they also accused him of abusing his position in the music industry. one woman told us she was only 1a when tim westwood first had sex with her. he denied those allegations and stepped down from his capital xtra radio show. last august, the bbc launched an external inquiry into what the corporation did and didn't know about tim westwood's

conduct during his nearly 20 years working for them. that inquiry is still ongoing. bbc news has attempted to contact mr westwood for comment. chi chi izundu reporting. doctors' leaders have asked the government to enter talks, facilitated by the conciliation service acas, to end their dispute over pay. today is the second of four days of strike action by thousands of junior doctors in england. the prime minister said he wanted to find a reasonable compromise, and the right outcome for patients and taxpayers. researchers say that, globally, fewer fossil fuels will be used this year to produce electricity, in what's being described as a "turning point" in the battle against climate change. last year, there was more carbon emitted than ever before in the generation of electricity, up by 1.3%. but this year, those emissions are expected to fall slightly because of the first ever annual

drop in the use of coal, oil and gas to produce power, outside of a global recession or pandemic. why the change? well, it's mainly down to the boom in renewable energy, led predominantly by china. here's our environment correspondent, matt mcgrath. from lighting to heating, cooling and transport, electricity has become the world's most important energy source. but the benefits of global electrification have come at a cost to the planet. making power is the single biggest contributor to global warming, responsible for over a third of energy—related carbon emissions in 2021. even with the cost of living crisis, demand for electricity is growing rapidly all over the world. most of that growth to date has been met by burning fossil fuels. but cleaner sources, including wind, solar, nuclear and hydro, are rapidly catching up, producing almost 40% in 2022. and this year will likely see the first fall in emissions from the use of coal,

oil and gas to make electricity outside of pandemic or global recession. we're doing all the right things. we just need to be doing them quicker. so we know that our route to decarbonising, notjust the power sector but the whole of the energy economy, is through clean power. what's making a big difference is china. despite being the world's biggest users of coal, china is also responsible for half the extra wind power. one in five solar panels added last year were on chinese rooftops. while britain has lagged behind the rest of the world when it comes to solar. where the uk has really made strides is in wind energy like here in the blowy south wales valleys, once famed for their production of coal. last year, electricity production from wind across the uk was up by 23%, thanks in part to turbines like these. climate change is becoming more visible all over the world. heatwaves like the one that the uk suffered last summer will likely become more common.

to avoid the worst climate impacts, scientists say fossil fuel use must peak now and drop rapidly over the next seven years. today's news is a critical first step on that path. matt mcgrath, bbc news. football, and chelsea have been playing in the champions league this evening. they were beaten by the reigning european champions, real madrid. the scores 2—0. frank lampard won everything as a player and carlo ancelotti was one of his chelsea managers, but they've been through a few in recent months. lampard, in his interim role, is chelsea's third in a chaotic season. what chance they can get past the greatest side in the history of the competition? joao felix had a great chance but fluffed his finish. karim benzema sunk chelsea at the same stage last season with an extra—time goal at the bernabeu. the real captain tapped in the opener. thibaut courtois won plenty of trophies in his time at stamford bridge, and the real keeper was at his best to prevent an equaliser.

thejob against his former side became a lot easier after the break — when ben chilwell pulled back rodrigo, the referee pulled out a red. and it didn't take long for real to make that extra man count. marco asensio doubled their lead. with a second leg to come next week, of course the blues will have hope, but it's the spaniards that have the goals that should see them through to the semifinals. 0lly foster, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. wild weather today. yes, all down to this storm. look at these enormous waves pummelling the coastline of west cornwall, thought to be eight metres high, the same height as two double—decker buses stacked on top of one another and we have been seeing some fairly big problems out and about with the weather, with destruction on the railways, problems on the roads and at airports and also the ferries. we have seen gusts well into the 70s,

even 96 mph on the other side of the channel, ferries battling winds gusting up to 82 mph. things will get a bit calmer overnight at the moment, still some winds gusting into the 50s for wales and south—west england, and there will be plenty of showers around, particularly for the northern half of the uk the dip overnight temperatures similar to recent nights. tomorrow, what's left of that storm is working out into the north sea and giving us a day of showers. the showers in scotland and north—west england will probably merge together to make longer spells of rain, some heavy with heel and thunder, but elsewhere, i think xiao is a bit more hit and miss in nature it up a bit on the cool side but not too badly no consumption. for friday, low pressure come off the atlantic, bringing more wet to parts of wales and england. further north, again, a showery type of day and some of those