live from london. this is bbc news. president biden is to address the irish parliament in dublin — as he continues his visit of the republic of ireland. a man will appear in court after being extradited from pakistan charged with the murder of pc sharon besh—en—iv—sky in west yorkshire. the president of brazil hopes his visit to shanghai will smooth relations with its biggest trading partner china. the european space agency will launch its spacecraft towardsjupiter later in one of its most ambitious missions to date.

hello and welcome. president biden will address the irish parliament in dublin this afternoon, as he continues his visit to the island of ireland. today, he's expected to affirm the strong ties between the republic of ireland and the united states. our correspondent, charlotte gallagher, is in dublin. he is already here this morning, he is going to meet the irish president at his official residency. they are going to plant a tree together and then they will be in the city centre speaking to politicians at the irish parliament. only the fourth time a us president has been invited to do this so it is a huge honourforjoe biden who is incredibly proud of his irish roots. we saw yesterday he was meeting his family members and

locals there and at times, to be honest, it looked like he was on holiday, he was having such a good time. let's see what he got up to. an irish homecoming for a us president. joe biden, who describes himself as a proud irish—american, arrives in his ancestral home of county louth. coming here, it feels like coming home. it really does. the way every time i've come — the welcome from the people on the streets, they're so gracious to us. he flew into dublin from belfast on air force one and was greeted by the irish prime minister, leo varadkar. then on to carlingford and dundalk. cheering. despite the rain, crowds lined the streets to welcome one of the world's most powerful men. today it's back to business in dublin, meeting the irish president and then speaking in the parliament. he's only the fourth us president

to be invited to do so. then he's on the road again, meeting his cousins in county mayo, where us flags are already flying high. while his trip may be a symbolic and diplomatic one, it's also a personal one. charlotte gallagher, bbc news, dublin. and it seems these personal visits are enjoyed the most by him on this trip, he has brought his son, hunter, and his sister valerie because he said he wanted them to experience ireland themselves. tomorrow, we are going to see another big homecoming in county mayo for one of the very famous sons. , ., . ., , mayo for one of the very famous sons. , ., _, , ., mayo for one of the very famous sons. , ., , ., , ., sons. there is of course a strong tradition of— sons. there is of course a strong tradition of us _ sons. there is of course a strong tradition of us presidents - sons. there is of course a strong tradition of us presidents and i tradition of us presidents and ireland, when he does address parliament later, what is he likely to say in terms of us relations? i

think he is really going to emphasise the importance of those ties, the irish—american bond, the number of people who have gone and forth over the centuries stop i mean, that shows with the number of presidents who have irish roots, john f kennedy was incredibly proud of his irish history and he came here in the 1960s. people still talk about that. there is an incredibly strong relationship between ireland and america. that is going to be the main focus of his speech. perhaps, talking about future opportunities for both countries. this will play really well at home forjoe biden with the community in america that identifies as irish american, around 30 million of them. if he does decide to run the presidential election in 2024 which is looking like he is going to, they are going to be a really important base for him at the ballot box. no doubt he is thinking about them as well when he is making the speeches. thank you

ve much he is making the speeches. thank you very much indeed. _ lynne kelleher is an irish journalist and author of the green and white house, which looks at the relationships between american presidents and ireland. she's in limerick, ireland. welcome to the programme. how far back to these relations go? goad back to these relations go? good morninu. back to these relations go? good morning- they — back to these relations go? good morning- they go _ back to these relations go? good morning. they go back _ back to these relations go? good morning. they go back as - back to these relations go? good morning. they go back as far - back to these relations go? (emf. morning. they go back as far as andrew jackson, morning. they go back as far as andrewjackson, so he would have been the seventh president of the united states. his parents, his parents were both irish and the new james pope, the 46 us president have irish links, some as close as parents or grandparents and some might be five generations removed. does the irish heritage link to the irish people? is does the irish heritage link to the irish maple?— does the irish heritage link to the irish maple?— irish people? is very important. ireland would _ irish people? is very important. ireland would punch _ irish people? is very important. ireland would punch over - irish people? is very important. ireland would punch over its - irish people? is very important. | ireland would punch over its way hugely with the us. we have had

nearly 60 visits to the white house, way more than our strategic importance would suggest. jfk visit in 1960 was hugely symbolic. there was a reluctance by his advisers, they didn't think he should spend four days travelling around his ancestral home but he insisted. the four best days of his life. he played the footage over and over again. he said the blueprint, since then, eight sitting presidents have come to ireland and most of them have been artists ancestral. they are feel—good visit. great for tourism. there is a standing invitation every year for irish politicians to go to washington on st patrick's day and you get a full audience with the president. they are very, very strong ties. what are very, very strong ties. what about his _ are very, very strong ties. what about his comments _ are very, very strong ties. what about his comments are - are very, very strong ties. what about his comments are us - are very, very strong ties. what about his comments are us comments on the politics of ireland and of course of northern ireland? are such

comments welcome? his course of northern ireland? are such comments welcome?— course of northern ireland? are such comments welcome? his comments on the good friday — comments welcome? his comments on the good friday agreement, _ comments welcome? his comments on the good friday agreement, i - comments welcome? his comments on the good friday agreement, i mean, i the good friday agreement, i mean, the good friday agreement, i mean, the good friday agreement, i mean, the good friday agreement, it is generally agreed that it would not have happened without the us, without bill clinton and george mitcham. it is us diplomacy, their involvement essentially made it happen. i suppose homecoming, involvement essentially made it happen. isuppose homecoming, his comments the other day, he was suggesting that more us investment would happen if things move forward. he was... he did not overstate. titer? he was... he did not overstate. very ruickl he was... he did not overstate. very quickly and — he was... he did not overstate. very quickly and briefly, _ he was... he did not overstate. very quickly and briefly, a _ he was... he did not overstate. very quickly and briefly, a lot of the ties between the united states and of course ireland go back to the potato famine. was that war picked it off? it potato famine. was that war picked it off? ., , potato famine. was that war picked it off? . , , ., .,

it off? it was before then, it would have been the _ it off? it was before then, it would have been the ulster— it off? it was before then, it would have been the ulster scots - it off? it was before then, it would have been the ulster scots related to us presidents, 12 presidents beforejfk. i would have been the 17th and 18th century. there was a huge movement of people with the potato famine and they would be related to the more recent presidents, president obama, president biden and jfk, more related to post—famine. president biden and jfk, more related to post-famine.- president biden and jfk, more related to post-famine. very much. a 74—year—old man has been extradited from pakistan and charged with the murder of a policewoman in 2005. pc sharon beshenivsky was shot by an armed gang during a robbery in bradford. three people have previously been convicted of murder, in connection to this case. jon donnison reports. pc sharon beshenivsky wasjust nine months into the job when she was fatally shot in november 2005. she was 38 years old and a mother of three and stepmother to two children.

she and a colleague had been responding to an emergency call from this travel agency in bradford. hi, mr khan. the man charged with her murder is piran ditta khan, seen here arriving for a court hearing in pakistan. he's been in prison there since 2020, but was extradited back to the uk on tuesday and has now been remanded in custody. piran ditta khan is expected to appear here at westminster magistrates court later today. the crown prosecution service says he's been charged with sharon beshenivsky�*s murder, as well as robbery and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. jon donnison, bbc news in central london. brazil's president — luiz in cio lula da silva — is in shanghai for an official visit aimed at consolidating relations with china. ties worsened under his predecessor, jair bolsonaro. beijing is brazil's biggest trading partner.

bbc world service asia pacific editor, michael bristow, has more. the brazilian president was ill for some time but the fact that he is here now shortly after getting well shows just how much store he puts on this relationship with china. he is here for a couple of days. today, he is mainly looking at the economic aspects of the relationship. but he has already been to the new development bank. this is a bank set up by a group of countries, developing countries, including brazil, russia, china, india. and this bank essentially funds infrastructure projects and other kinds of projects in these developing economies and president lula has already commented that this offers an alternative to the more established banks and financial institutions, perhaps referring to the world bank

and the imf, offering an alternative for developing nations. it seems already he is keen to put the line that developing nations, china, brazil, india have an outlook, a development path which is different to western nations. how will this visit be viewed by the united states? well, the brazilian president has a difficult balancing act. you mentioned there that china is brazil's biggest trading partner, the second one is the united states. the brazilian president has already been to washington and met president biden. so he is going to have to have, make a slight balancing act between these two giant nations. certainly, the brazilian leader believes in the relationship with china. over the last few years, under his

predecessor, their relationship waned slightly. he is keen to get it back on track and keen to push an alternative point of view. one of the things he is going to be discussing when he meets xijinping on friday is the ukraine war. that just gives you an indication he is not only here, the brazilian president, to talk about economics, he is also to talk about politics and presented brazil and china as kind of alternative voices in the world. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. good catch. back clowning around, coco the labrador cross. the two—year—old arrived at this animal shelter with canine friend georgie after their owner, believed to be a heavy drinker, died. the dogs�* health quickly deteriorated. staff soon realised the pets had become addicted to booze.

it could be just after, say, the owner has had a drink and is going to sleep, the dogs drank it. we just don't know. we do know they were very, very well loved. coco made a full recovery, but georgie, struggling with fits, didn't make it. the two—year—old is now available to adopt. he does need someone who is home quite a lot. he does suffer a little bit with anxiety when he is left. we believe he has never really been left. coming off alcohol almost killed coco, but now he is clear, healthy, and looking for a loving home. you're live with bbc news. new data shown to the bbc suggests that thousands of metric tonnes of oil have spilled routinely into uk waters from oil and gas production. the spills took place over five years and some of them hit areas meant to protect wildlife, the data shows.

and now we're joined by the executive director of energy campaign group uplift, tessa khan. welcome to the programme. first off, many people will be surprised that oil spills are still taking place. that's right, this is an industry that i think in the uk is used to operating out of sight and out of mind. that is why this data that we have published this morning which does show the shopping equivalent of 164,000 barrels of oil being leaked into uk seas over the last five years, including in marine protected areas, isjust one years, including in marine protected areas, is just one of the ways in which the oil and gas industry activities are causing harm to our incredibly precious bio diverse marine ecosystems. that is not only oil spills, marine ecosystems. that is not only oilspills, i marine ecosystems. that is not only oil spills, i should marine ecosystems. that is not only oil spills, ishould make marine ecosystems. that is not only oil spills, i should make clear, oil spills, ishould make clear, it is also the release, the constant sustained release of toxic

chemicals, micro—plastics, as well as incessant and really damaging noise pollution. ? was this data collected on site or was it something you had to apply for and if you had to do that, how forthcoming ready with information? indeed, this is data that is easily available, it is not transparent on government websites, we had to get to it using information request, and we have done that together with satellite imagery which shows there are oil slicks up to ten, commenters long and fragile marine environments including west of shetland. this long and fragile marine environments including west of shetland.— including west of shetland. this is, as i have including west of shetland. this is, as i have said. _ including west of shetland. this is, as i have said, information - including west of shetland. this is, as i have said, information that - as i have said, information that the industry does not want the public to see but i think those days are over and it comes at a time when the public is really starting to appreciate just how vital the seas we have in the uk are four species, and also for all of the ways they regulate the climate and environment for all of us.

regulate the climate and environment for all of us— for all of us. now you have the data, for all of us. now you have the data. what _ for all of us. now you have the data, what are _ for all of us. now you have the data, what are you _ for all of us. now you have the data, what are you going - for all of us. now you have the data, what are you going to . for all of us. now you have the data, what are you going to doj for all of us. now you have the - data, what are you going to do with it? . ., ~ data, what are you going to do with it? ~ ., ~ , ., , data, what are you going to do with it? what we think it shows is the wa the it? what we think it shows is the way the government _ it? what we think it shows is the way the government regulates . it? what we think it shows is the i way the government regulates the it? what we think it shows is the - way the government regulates the oil and gas industry in this country is not fit for purpose. they allow oil and gas drilling in marine protected areas which is shocking! we also think this underlines the need to stop approving new and oil gas developments in the uk. aside from the marine environmental harm this data reveals, we know we cannot have new oil and gas projects if we are going to stay with them globally agreed climate limits. this has got to be a wake—up call for us to stop the expansion of the oil and gas industry in the uk, to stop the industrialisation of our beautiful bio diverse seas with their hundreds of platforms, thousands of kilometres of pipelines, constant leakage of oil and other toxic chemicals into our wildlife. thank ou ve chemicals into our wildlife. thank you very much- —

ukraine's president has called on world leaders to react, after a video apparently showing a ukrainian soldier being beheaded by a russian serviceman, was released. here he is speaking about it. translation: everyone must react. every leader. don't expect it to be forgotten, that time will pass. we are not going to forget anything, neither are we going to forgive the murderers. earlier i was joined by our news correspondent in kyiv, hugo bachega. this is an extremely graphic video first posted in russian social media channels, we have not been able to verify it but from what we can see in the footage we believe it was found in the summer, it shows what appears to be a russian soldier beheading a ukrainian captive with a knife. there is another man also believed to be a russian soldier carrying a flakjacket that is

believed to belong to this ukrainian man. extremely graphic, and we have seen a strong reaction here in kyiv. president zelensky, we saw his reaction there, he said there would be responsibility, and this would not be forgotten and forgiven. he is urging the international community to react. now the authorities here have opened an investigation, they are treating it as a possible war crime, they are urging the international criminal court to also investigate this case. that is the reaction here from kyiv. yesterday, we had a reaction in moscow, a spokesman for the kremlin said the video was horrible, but that the authenticity of the footage needed to be checked. lots of questions surrounding this extremely graphic video. ,, , ., , surrounding this extremely graphic video. ,, , ., , ., ., , video. questions also about these leaks that have _ video. questions also about these

leaks that have surfaced. - video. questions also about these leaks that have surfaced. no - video. questions also about these| leaks that have surfaced. no today there are more reports based on these leaks. there are more reports based on these leaks-— there are more reports based on these leaks. interesting reports in some us newspapers, _ these leaks. interesting reports in some us newspapers, the - these leaks. interesting reports in some us newspapers, the new. these leaks. interesting reports in l some us newspapers, the new york times has documents from us officials that appear to confirm that there has been heavy deep infighting between russian government agencies. there has been some speculation about that for some time, and this document seems to confirm that. what is also interesting is that it shows the level of information that us intelligence agencies have been able to gather inside russia. the washington post has a different report saying us officials believe the war is likely to continue into 2024, and that there is no sign that any kind of negotiations can happen between the ukrainians and the russians. again, this document shows

that us officials do not believe the ukrainians are likely to make significant gains and a counter offensive. these leaks are happening, these reports are happening, these reports are happening as the ukrainians are planning a counteroffensive. we have seen that us officials have questioned the ability of the ukrainians to make major gains. there are questions about ammunition, also the weapon is the ukrainians have been given, about troops here in the country. it puts a lot of pressure on the ukrainians. they have been silent. they have not reacted to these latest revelations. i think at the beginning they tried to downplay significance of the leaks but it puts pressure on them as they are preparing what is expected to be a major offensive to try to take back territory that is now under occupation. i think the main questions remain, we still do not know who is behind these leaks. we still do not know what else has been leaked.

police in france are expecting hundreds of thousands of protesters on the 12th day of nation—wide strikes against pension reforms. the constitutional court is expected to rule on the legality of the draft pensions law which would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. security is on high alert across several cities. these are live pictures, right across the country, paris, toulouse, marseille. earlier i spoke to our correspondent in france, hugh schofield. he told me about the french public�*s mood as they prepare to continue protesting. i think there's a general sense of poor morale and a feeling that life is getting worse. and inflation is biting and all the rest of it. but the point of the whole thing from the start has been the pension reform. i don't think we should take our eyes completely off that. that is very much what this is about.

that's why tomorrow, with the report from the constitutional council, we'll see a kind of climax to this whole three month period because what happens tomorrow will very much determine the future of this movement. and what the council is going to do is rule on whether the law that was pushed through, as you were saying, is in conformity with the constitution. it's a kind of last hurdle and it can go one of about three different ways. they can either approve it in its entirety, the law, or they can reject it in its entirety, the law, or perhaps most likely find some bits of it which are not in conformity with the constitution and take them out. as a consequence of each of those possibilities, we will then see how the movement shapes up in the weeks ahead. hugh, mr macron was on a couple of world trips recently, and many people criticised the fact that he'd travel away and there was a lot of discontent at home. what's he said on this matter?

well, he hasn't said anything, really. his view is sort of presidential and olympian. his view is that his role is to set the general outlines of policy, which he's done, and let his government to get on with incrementing it. there is a government in the french constitution, which is the prime minister and her cabinet. certainly the president chairs the weekly cabinet meeting. but for the rest, it's the government that gets on with implementing policy. so he wouldn't see any inconsistency at all in his travelling around the world on trips to beijing and elsewhere and the netherlands this week and keeping an eye, from a distance, only on what's happening in the country. of course from the protesters' point of view, yes, they'll say he's running away, he is not really focusing on what he should be, his priority, which is domestic unrest.

just to show you some of those images, that is the coastal town of marseille, also has a very high population of migrant workers who have travelled into the city. these are the scenes that are being repeated across the country. fairly calm at the moment. you can see the various banners of the unions involved. there are a number of public sectors that are taking part in these strikes. this is paris, and i do know there are some strikes and there are some gatherings that are taking place. let's have a little dip in to hear what he is

he refers to some very important issues, in particular, the pension reform, i was trying to listen to the french. another union that is holding these protests. we heard hugh schofield speaking earlier and some scenes have been silent today, some scenes have been silent today, so far, the 12th day of these protests across the country, not only in the capital paris which is what you can see at the moment, it is right across france which is holding these 12 days of strike against president emmanuel macron�*s pension reforms. this is the scene in marseille. the protest, as you can see, is essentially closed the main route. the reform, just to remind you, is to raise the

retirement age from 62 to 64. the french are very proud of their personal and social benefits. hello again. as we go through the next few days, the weather is settling down. we still are looking at sunshine and showers and that certainly is the scenario that we have today. the northern half of the country seeing the most frequent showers, some of them merging to give some heavier downpours. there'll be wintry in the tops of the grampians and we'll see some thunder and lightning across eastern parts of england, maybe some hail as well. further south, the showers are fewer and farther between. temperatures today 9 to 13 degrees. with this morning's gusty winds with exposure in the west and the south continuing to ease. through this evening and overnight, there will still be some showers across northern areas. but we've got this next area of low pressure coming in across the south, bringing in some rain. some clear skies in between mean that we will see some pockets of frost, particularly northeast scotland, northern ireland,

northern england and the northeast midlands. so a cold start to the day tomorrow. we've got the low pressure bringing the rain into the southwest, pushing eastwards. but look at the lack of isobars on the chart. so just light breezes during the course of friday, the rain continuing to push from the west towards the east. and then it really is a day of sunshine and showers. not all of us catching a shower, of course, but some of them will be heavy and thundery with some hail. temperatures about 9 to 12 degrees. so cool for this stage in april. normally, we would expect roughly 10 to 14, north to south. as we head on into saturday, we do have this line of cloud here which is going to be drifting westwards. but as you can see, a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine. a weather front coming in later in the day will bring some cloud into northern ireland and later again, that will produce some drizzle. temperatures climbing, though we're looking at about nine to about 15 degrees. and then as we head on into sunday, well, that weather front that's

in the west makes a bit more progress eastwards, taking its cloud a bit of dampness to start with. but it will continue to break up. and again, there will be a lot of dry weather around and, if anything, the temperatures will be that little bit higher. so we're looking at a range from about 12 to say 16 degrees. but as we head into next week, high pressure really does establish itself across our shores. the weather remains fairly settled. might see the odd shower at times, but the temperature will rise, it will be warmer. and we're likely to see our first 20 of this year so far.

live from london, this is bbc news. president biden is to address the irish parliament in dublin, as he continues his visit of the republic of ireland. a man will appear in court after being extradited from pakistan, charged with the murder of pc sharon beshenivsky in west yorkshire. the president of brazil hopes his visit to shanghai will smooth relations with its biggest trading partner, china. the european space agency will launch its spacecraft towards jupiter later, in one of its most ambitious missions to date.

hello and welcome.