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. japan says north korea's latest missile test is outrageous and unacceptable, after it fired a suspected medium or long—range ballistic missile into the sea of japan. it prompted the japanese government to tell residents on the island of hokkaido to seek shelter, but the missile splashed down outside its territorial waters. jean makenzie has more from seoul. north korea has launched a suspected long—range missile this morning, potentially an intercontinental ballistic missile. so these are the missiles that can, in theory, reach all the way to the us mainland. it appeared for one moment this morning that it was going to touch down very close to japanese territory. or at least that's what the japanese government thought when they issued that warning to the residents on hokkaido. but, actually, north korea has done what it normally does when it fires these long—range missiles — it's fired it right up into space. but what this false alarm shows is that this region is now on high alert when it comes to north korea

and that's because north korea has now fired almost 30 missiles already this year and the rhetoric coming out of pyongyang is increasingly aggressive. we've heard it issue these veiled threats over the last couple of months that it is planning to fly a missile overjapan and into the pacific ocean to reach closer to the united states to prove that it can, if it wants to, hit the us mainland. now, we don't know exactly what missile they have launched yet but this is a big week for north korea. they're celebrating 11 years of kim jong—un�*s rule and we know that they like to use these anniversaries to showcase military progress. so it's quite possible that we'll see, in the coming hours or coming days, that they have tested a new model of missile, a more dangerous missile, potentially. because north korea is posing a greater and greater threat, not only to japan but to south korea and to the united states. it is developing weapons that are ever more sophisticated. south korea, japan and

the united states today have urged north korea to stop the missile tests and to come back to the negotiating table. but these diplomatic attempts to get north korea to talk, to get north korea to give up its nuclear weapons, have been stalled for many, many years, thus making the situation here on the peninsula more volatile. there is another thing that the government here in seoul is worried about today and that's for the past week, north korea has not been answering the phone to south korea. they have a military hotline that they use to touch in daily and that is to try and prevent any unintended clashes along the border here. don't forget, these countries are still technically at war. now, north korea tends to stop answering these calls when the relationship between the countries is particularly bad and this has led south korea to worry that this situation is deteriorating because of course when the two sides are communicating, there are ways to mitigate against misunderstandings, miscommunications and escalations. when that communication stops, things become more volatile.

jean makenzie. new figures from the nhs published in the last hour show a&e departments in england had their busiest winter on record. the society of acute medicine, which represents many hospital doctors, has warned this morning of extremely troubled times ahead in emergency care. our health reporterjim reed is in the newsroom to talk us through the latest figures. thank you. yes, every month the nhs in england publishes a lot of data telling us how the health service is performing across the whole of england. let's bring you the latest. it has been published in the last hour or so. it has been published in the last hour orso. first, we it has been published in the last hour or so. first, we start with accident and emergency, a&e. there is a target there to see, treat or discharge someone within four hours. the target is 95% and this is where we were in march, last month, 72%, well below target. actually that

number has been creeping up recently. interestingly, in march, a&e units across england had a very busy month indeed, busier in march thanit busy month indeed, busier in march than it was injanuary and february this year, which is unusualfor a winter. dealing with very high levels of demand. you can see that with what is going on in the ambulance service as well. category two ambulance call—outs, this is someone who may have a heart attack, a stroke. the target there is to reach someone within 18 minutes. again, in march, this is the data we have seen in the last hour, it was more than double that, a0 minutes. but that is a sharp improvement from where we were in december when it was taking those ambulances more than 90 minutes to reach people. then we have data on waiting lists. this is people waiting for an operation, a procedure on the nhs. 7.2 million people in england waiting for one of those procedures. that is roughly one in eight adults in england. but interestingly, the

nhs is having some success driving down the longest waits. these people waiting more than 18 months, that was down by a third in the month of february. these are figures for the end of february. those people waiting more than a year also a sharp reduction in people waiting a long time on waiting lists for treatment. finally, iwanted long time on waiting lists for treatment. finally, i wanted to talk about cancer waiting times. the target, if you go to a gp and they say you need an urgent referral for urgent cancer, you should then start treatment within 62 days. the target there is 85% of people should be treated within that time. the actual result for february was 58%. this is a pretty poorfigure, actually, one of the worst figures on record, well below target. although the nhs does point out it has had a lot of people, begin creative people coming forward since the pandemic with suspected cancer and has had some success at diagnosing people more

quickly. so a mixed bag but certainly on cancer waiting times, still below target. back to you. thank you for breaking down those figures for us. we can take your life to france and we start off in the capital. this is one of the union reps. there are various out on the streets at the moment. this is day 12 of these organised nationwide strikes against pension reforms. it is quite a key moment in the reform plans that have been pushed through by president macron. they have gone as far as the constitutional court and they will be ruling on the legality of this draft pension law. just very quickly, i have been hearing that french unions have been calling out their workers walked off the job, in particular rubbish collectors. so today, the unions were telling

refuse collectors to walk off the job and join some of those protest rallies across the country. that is the scene in paris and is repeated. in fact, let me just show you... i was going to show you another scene but essentially, it is protesters out on the streets and it is everywhere. toulouse, marseille and there we have paris. i understand there we have paris. i understand there have been some protests that have been held at lyon, a very effective place to hold a strike because there is a major transport hub with some of the uk's eurostar trains going into that station. more on this as and when we get it. a man, who was extradited from pakistan, has appeared in court after being charged with the murder of a female police officer. pc sharon beshenivsky had only been in the force for nine months, when she was was shot dead

in bradford in 2005. piran ditta khan was charhged with her murder last night. live now to graham satchell, at westminster magistrates court. i wonder if you could update us on what has taken place today and also background to this case. yes. what has taken place today and also background to this case.— background to this case. yes, this was a very — background to this case. yes, this was a very short _ background to this case. yes, this was a very short hearing - background to this case. yes, this was a very short hearing this - was a very short hearing this morning at westminster magistrates�* court. piran ditta khan spoke only twice, to confirm his name in his date of birth, 0ctober19a8. he is a 7a—year—old man. he has been charged with six counts, the most serious of which is murder and he has also been charged with robbery and then four counts of possession of a firearm with an intent to endanger life. as you say, this goes back to november, 2005, and the murder of pc sharon beshenivsky. you may remember the case, she had been called to reports of a robbery at a travel agents with

another female colleague and was shot inside that travel agent. i should say that there have been a number of trials relating to this case. six men previously convicted, three of murder, two mansell turn one of robbery. an arrest warrant was made for mr khan in 2018 and he was made for mr khan in 2018 and he was arrested in pakistan in 2020. he was arrested in pakistan in 2020. he was extradited back to the uk earlier this week and he was remanded in custody and will appear again in the crown court here in london on monday next week. and of course, pc beshenivsky was a mother of three. she was a stepmother also with two other children. 0verthe stepmother also with two other children. over the last nearly 20 years, how have herfamily children. over the last nearly 20 years, how have her family handled this? there was shock across the nation when this took place. you are right. it was a completely

shocking murder because women police officers in particular are very rarely harmed in the line of duty. sharon beshenivsky is only the second female police officer to have been shot and killed, seven women in total. the west yorkshire police have been determined all the way through this case to follow it, as you can imagine, to the very end and thatis you can imagine, to the very end and that is why even now, 20 years on, they are still pursuing this case. it has been, as you say, absolutely terrible for the family of ms beshenivsky. she was actually shot and killed on the birthday, the four year birthday of one of her children and her husband routinely lays flowers at a memorial to her in bradford. devastating for the family, devastating for the city, devastating the west yorkshire police. we are seeing the continuation of that investigation here today. continuation of that investigation here toda . continuation of that investigation here today-— continuation of that investigation here toda . , ., ., . here today. 0k, graham satchell, thank ou here today. ok, graham satchell, thank you for— here today. 0k, graham satchell,

thank you for that. _ the european space agency is due to launch a spacecraft towards jupiter this lunchtime in search for signs of life on three of the planet�*s moons. the vessel is called thejupiter icy moons explorer, and is also referred to asjuice. it�*ll take eight years to reach the moons, which scientists think may have liquid oceans beneath the surface. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle reports. they�*re some of the largest moons in the solar system. 0rbiting jupiter, they�*re shrouded in thick layers of ice. but beneath, there are hints of vast liquid oceans, and scientists want to find out if they could support life. now, a european space agency mission could answer that question. the spacecraft is called juice, and it has an epicjourney ahead of more than a billion miles. it will study europa and callisto in close—up detail before getting into orbit around the biggest moon, ganymede. the uk has developed one of the instruments on the spacecraft.

so what we�*re looking at here is the flight bay of our instrument. the black box is the electronics box. that�*s where the data is sent through. and that�*s actually put into a vault on the main body of the spacecraft. it will help us to see if the oceans are there and whether they have the conditions that are right for life. we�*ve got volcanic thermal vents on the earth in the really deep oceans of the earth, where bacteria has been found. could easily be something similar, not like little green people running around the surface because on the surface, they�*d be killed by the radiation environment anyway. that radiation�*s going to be a challenge for the spacecraft, too. built in toulouse, in france, its electronics have been shielded to protect it from the harsh environment. it�*s been designed to study every aspect ofjupiter�*s moons. this spacecraft is packed full of instruments. this huge dish is a communications antenna to send messages back to earth.

up here at the top, these black poles are a radar that will be probing beneath the icy crust. just down here, this red circular instrument is a laser that will help them to build a 3d model of the surface. and just above that is a high definition camera that will give us our best ever views ofjupiter�*s moons. the pictures, the visible images are going to be absolutely incredible. so ganymede is covered in dark terrain and interesting impact craters and a sort of footprint of the activity that would have taken place early on when it was formed. being in orbit around ganymede will produce imaging resolution of a few metres, so we're going to be able to see exquisite detail in those pictures. it will take eight years to reach the outer solar system. but the mission scientists say the wait will be worth it. if these distant, seemingly inhospitable moons are found to be habitable, where else could life exist in the universe? rebecca morelle, bbc news.

bbc news is doing a live stream of the launch showing the rocket sending juice into space, that s from 12.30 bst — on the bbc news website. and we will be hosted by ben boulos. the bbc has learned that one of the two sea king helicopters britain has given to ukraine played a key role in the falklands conflict. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale has more. i�*ve just come back from ukraine and while i was there, i had the opportunity to fly on one of the two sea king helicopters that the uk has given to ukraine. and it was while i was up in the air that itjust struck me just how long these aircraft have been in service. so i did a bit of digging around to try and discover what had happened to this aircraft over the years and discovered that one of them had this rather extraordinary back history.

for years, this helicopter served the british navy. but now, it�*s flying new colours. one of two sea kings the uk has given ukraine. an iconic british aircraft — here to fetch and carry, to rescue and reconnoitre. we joined the crew on patrol in the skies of southern ukraine. this aircraft is not new. it can�*t fire any missiles, but it can play a key role moving troops and kit to where they need to be on the battlefield. it does it with some style. it�*s also been used to evacuate casualties and rescue pilots, who�*ve ejected behind enemy lines — a matter close to the crew�*s heart. translation: i like this helicopter because it's i incredibly good for flying. it�*s one of the best for combat operations, whether transporting equipment or carrying out search and rescue. it�*s easy to fly, even in difficult conditions.

these pictures are from the second helicopter britain�*s given and its pilots were not even born when it first saw combat in another conflict that began with an illegal invasion. for this aircraft is more than a0 years old and looked like this in the falklands in 1982. just one of many sea kings used by british forces to retake the islands in the south atlantic from invading argentine troops. it�*s a wonderful aircraft — a hugely flexible aircraft, great capability. you can do almost anything with it. the man who flew this helicopter in the falklands said it played an historic role, taking the british general to port stanley to accept the argentine surrender. quite an interesting operation, quite apart from the weather. well, the ceasefire hadn�*t been signed up to this stage, and so the aircraft was flying into stanley, competing not with just the weather, but also some still rather unfriendly argentines around. his old sea king here was even flown

in the falklands by prince andrew, then serving as a young naval pilot. they're doing the flight servicing. in a hangar in southern england, a third sea king is being prepared for war and ukrainian naval engineers have been trained to keep it flying. is this aircraft too old for combat? translation: they are old, but they've gone through - modernisation and we need them very much. i believe this is just the start of our work together. and he may be right. there are other sea kings in britain that could join this one if the government wants to send them. they�*d certainly be welcome. these aircraft are not going to change the balance of the war in ukraine, we are only talking about a couple. as i said, there is a third likely to be on the way shortly. and they are certainly not the fixed wing warplanes that ukraine has asked of britain and other western allies. but what struck me and the rest of my team when we were there

was just whenever we spoke to ukrainian pilots, engineers and crew, they were incredibly passionate about these aircraft and would certainly welcome more if they could get their hands on them. that was james landale. buckingham palace says prince harry is to attend his father�*s coronation next month — but his wife meghan will stay at home in california with the couple�*s children. it will be the first time that the duke of sussex has been seen with the royal family since his memoir was published. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell reports. they�*ve kept the royal family waiting but, finally, harry and meghan have replied to the palace�*s invitation. harry will be coming to the coronation but meghan will not. she�*s remaining in california for their son archie�*s fourth birthday. it means harry will have to face his family alone — a family that he hasn�*t seen since the state funeral of the late queen elizabeth last september. and relations, which weren�*t terribly good then, have taken a turn for the worse in the months since.

first, there was the netflix series in which harry and meghan set out their version of why they�*d felt driven out by a hostile media and an unfeeling family. we know the full truth. the institution has the full truth. and then there was harry�*s book, spare, which disclosed private family moments, including the claim that william had once pushed him to the ground, kate had been cold towards meghan and family members had leaked stories to the press. in a tv interview, harry said that if he came to the coronation, he hoped the family would face up to these issues. there�*s a lot to be discussed, and i really hope that they are willing to sit down and talk about it. now we know harry is coming to the coronation, though without meghan. and the question, how will the family respond to him? we know there are still tensions with his brother, william, who he's 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. let�*s ta ke let�*s take you back to france. there are nationwide protests being held today across the country. this is, we have been to marseille but let�*s take you to rennes, reminding you of some of those, why people have come out on the streets. president macron has pushed through a series of pension reforms, the main one is raising the pension, the retirement

age from 60 to to 6a. he pushed it through. there is still about to go on that to get it through parliament but essentially, that decision has now been taken to the constitutional court and they are expected to rule on the legality of the draft pensions law. so raising it from 62 to ga. a pensions law. so raising it from 62 to 6a. a lot of security across the country where these protests have been held. fairly calm at the moment. hasn�*t been so over the last few days and weeks. we have seen some violence but at the moment you can hear the drums beating, they are singing. we have also heard some of their speeches that have been said by the union leaders. just to remind you president macron was in the netherlands and whilst they are, whilst he was speaking, he was

heckled by protesters during that visit to the netherlands. a lot of criticism in fact whilst he has been travelling around the world on various trade trips to beijing, for example, the netherlands and protests and heckling that took place there. as far as he is concerned, he says that the decision is through, he is done with it, but we are awaiting the decision of the constitutional court on the legality of his reform. some of the refuse workers that had been on strike, they had gone back to work. there were horrendous scenes, vertically on the streets of paris, with the dirt that had been left had not collected. they also have been told to go, walk off the job, basically, and head back tojoin to go, walk off the job, basically, and head back to join those to go, walk off the job, basically, and head back tojoin those rallies are. so this is the coastal city of marseille and you can see the

banners of the various unions flying there. a beautiful day. unfortunately, i think for many cities, in particular some of the transport networks, will be affected by these protests. there have been reports of some of those protests also being held at gare de lyon, a key international transport hub. just to give you an idea on that, the uk�*s eurostar of course does take you straight to the gare de lyon but many of the public sector workers out on the streets. an ambulance there, just driving through one of those roads in marseille. that was marseille. there has been some violence, however, the scenes today are showing fairly calm

scenes. let�*s actuallyjust listen into some of that music, the singing. protestors sing. let�*s go, let�*s go, let�*s go, let�*s 90, let�*s go, let�*s go, let�*s go, let�*s go, some of the words they are singing there. earlier in past protests, they had also put banners up protests, they had also put banners up saying "we are here", basically posing the question, where are you, mr macron? so we have marseille, we have rennes. we have seen scenes from toulouse. there have also been protests in paris, the french capital, of course, and hoping for these workers that the retirement

age, that decision and that reform that president macron pushed through a number of weeks ago to raise the age of retirement from 62 to 6a. the constitutional court will be deciding at some point whether that ruling was legal or not. we will be watching these scenes. in the meantime, here is carol kirkwood with the weather. 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 1a, 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 will address the irish parliament in dublin, as he continues his visit of the republic of ireland. the president of brazil hopes his visit to shanghai will smooth relations with its biggest trading partner, china. a man will appear in court after being extradited from pakistan charged with the murder of pc sharon beshenivsky in west yorkshire in 2005. and the european space agency is sending its first ever mission tojupiter in one of its most ambitious missions to date.