live from london. this is bbc news. another day, another protest. demonstrations continue in france over controversial plans to raise the country's pension age. thousands are taking to the streets here in paris — one of hundreds of protests taking place across the country. handshakes and history — joe biden meets the irish prime minister after earlier spending time with the country's president. and a potential �*world—changer�* in the fight against malaria. ghana becomes the first country to approve a promising new vaccine.

sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's kasa. bayern munich have suspended sadio mane from the club's match this saturday against hoffenheim for his �*misconduct�* after the 3—0 defeat to manchester city in the quarterfinals of the champions league on tuesday night. the 31—year—old former liverpool winger has also been given a fine by the bavarian side after reports of a changing room bust—up with team—mate leroy sane. the two players were seen arguing towards the end of the match. and german papers allege mane punched his team—mate in the face. in the pick of tonight's europa league quarter final ties, six—times champions sevilla travel to old trafford to face manchester united, who will be without in—form striker marcus rashford. the forward has scored

28 goals this season for the club, but is out due to groin strain. the man likely to replace him, anthony martial, and boss, ten hag praised the frenchman, saying he makes the side better. the 53—year—old is wary of sevilla's pedigree in the tournament. that is a magnificent record, so we have to be aware of that, because it is their target. we are 100% motivated to go again. if we want to beat them, we have to play our best football. premier league clubs have announced they will not have gambling sponsors on the front of their match day shirts from the start of the 2026—2027 season. it means the premier league will become the first sports league in the uk to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising. they'll still be allowed to carry logos on shirt sleeves and on ad boards in the ground.

eight top—flight clubs have gambling companies on the front of their shirts, worth an estimated £60 million per year. boxing federations from great britain and the united states are part of a group of nations to form a new world governing body that's hoping to keep boxing as part of the olympics. the sports future in the olympics from 2028 onwards has been in doubt after the international olympic committee previously criticised a lack of transparency and governance in boxing at the amateur level. the new federation will be called world boxing and the body now hopes to work with the ioc to try and rebuild relationships and bring it back into olympic plans. the womens tennis association will resume tournaments in china this year, having accepted a "full and transparent" investigation into the sexual assault allegations made by peng shuai will not be carried out by the chinese government. women's tennis tournaments

in the country — including the season ending wta finals — have been boycotted for 16 months after the former doubles world number one peng said she was "forced" into a sexual relationship with former china vice—premier zhang gaoli in november 2021. speaking to the bbc — the wta chief executive steve simon said a different approach is needed. hopefully, by returning, more progress can be made. at the monte carlo masters, second seed stefanos tsitsipas is safely into the last eight, completing a straight sets over nicolas jarry 6—3, 6—4. that's his 12th consecutive win at the event he's won for the last two years in a row. elsewhere, italy's janick sinner saved a match point in a tense second set tie break on his way to beating poland's hubert hurcasz. the seventh seed overcame windy conditions to setup a likely

meeting with novak djokovic in the quarter finals. elsewhere, andrey rublev and jan lennard struff are also through. irish world rally driver craig breen has died after a testing accident in croatia. he was 33. breen made 82 starts in the world rally championship, finishing second on six occasions. the incident occured while preparing for a croatia rally. his co—driverjames fulton was unharmed. his team hyundia said it sends its sincerest condolences to craig's family, friends and his many fans. and that's all the sport for now. let's return to ireland — where president biden is in the next hour expected to address a joint sitting of ireland's parliament, becoming the fourth us president to do so. he has been having a meeting with

the irish prime minister, lee of redcar, who was giving a press conference now. to redcar, who was giving a press conference now.— redcar, who was giving a press conference now. . . ., , ., conference now. to secure changes to the protocol _ conference now. to secure changes to the protocol and — conference now. to secure changes to the protocol and the _ conference now. to secure changes to the protocol and the windsor - the protocol and the windsor framework. full now, the british and irish governments need to work hand and glove to have a common strategy when it comes to making the good friday agreement work again, and getting institutions up and running. i think that is possible, i am speaking to prime ministers hudak, and we will be together next week. but that will perhaps be an opportunity to work on it. —— i'm speaking to prime minister rishi sunak. i know he is putting a great deal of work into making sure that we had the windsor framework and as changes to the protocol. i think that the next step now is the two governments coming together and is doing everything we can together to bring the five parties in northern ireland together, and have those institutions working on. as was envisaged by the good friday agreement. the american role as a supporting one. it is the five parties in northern ireland and the

two government that will need to sort this out in the end. i didn't, but i did see him, and will do at the state dinner. so i will have an opportunity to mention it. if power—sharing isn't restored, what role do you see your government playing? it role do you see your government -la in: ? , role do you see your government .la in. ? , ., ., role do you see your government -la inc? ,. . , ., playing? it is a valid question. probably not _ playing? it is a valid question. probably not one _ playing? it is a valid question. probably not one for— playing? it is a valid question. probably not one for today. i probably not one for today. definitely something that i need to speak to the prime minister about, before speaking in public, but plan a is the only plan we have at the moment. and that is to get the good friday agreement working as envisaged, having the five parties form an executive. four of them want to, one doesn't. i think it is possible to get the dup on board. not only crucially get the power—sharing institutions up and running, but also the north—south bodies, which are also very important. the problems people are facing in northern ireland, the budget deficit, the problems of the health service, the housing crisis, they can only be solved by having

they can only be solved by having the parties in northern ireland working together, and the government needs to come together to help make that happen. and to also help make sure that that executive is a success, and that requires financial and political support, and other things. what make a final question. inaudible he didn't go into any detail on that with me. but i think the what is envisaged is investment by the us private sector and american companies in northern ireland. we have benefited enormously in the republic from us investment. it has transformed our economy in the past 20 years. i think that if there is stability in northern ireland, if there is predict ability abuts trading arrangements and the political situation in there, northern ireland can benefit from that investment too. that means jobs

and higher incomes, it means more investment in public services, and i would love to see that happen. so, i think that is the kind of investment that you are likely to see from the us, if we can have stability, both political and in terms of trade in northern ireland. there will be financial support from the british government and the european union through a piece plus. we are also happy to talk as an irish government to see what we can do. the happy to talk as an irish government to see what we can do.— to see what we can do. the irish prime minister _ to see what we can do. the irish prime minister there _ to see what we can do. the irish prime minister there returning l to see what we can do. the irish - prime minister there returning back. just giving his recollections and thoughts having had a meeting with presidentjoe biden this afternoon. it will be followed by an address to the irish parliament. a significant day in the irish capital today. i'm joined now by mary e daly, professor of modern irish history at university college dublin.

thank you forjoining us, professor. call me mary. thank you for “oining us, professor. can me mary.— call me mary. give us your recollection. _ call me mary. give us your recollection. this - call me mary. give us your recollection. this has - call me mary. give us youri recollection. this has been call me mary. give us your. recollection. this has been a call me mary. give us your- recollection. this has been a warm and friendly visit between the president, particularly to the republic of ireland. how significant is it, these don't happen very often? i5 is it, these don't happen very often? , , ., g ., is it, these don't happen very often? , , ., �* often? is the visit that joe biden has said fulsome _ often? is the visit that joe biden has said fulsome time _ often? is the visit that joe biden has said fulsome time he - often? is the visit that joe biden has said fulsome time he was i has said fulsome time he was determined to do as president. he has been here before. i think that the timing was also very clear to people for a long time that it would, if possible, coincide with the 25th anniversary of the good friday belfast agreement. it is being used, just as biden said yesterday, to repair the agreement, to restate the achievements of that agreement. it is by no means perfect, but it has saved many lives

in northern ireland, and possibly in britain and ireland as well. so, it is a matter of reaffirming that the united states, which has a long history, dating back almost 50 years, of strong commitments to bringing a peaceful settlement to northern ireland, and that is something that has been worked on very intensively, over the decades. worked on by a succession of politicians and civil servants in ireland and the united states. starting with the latejohn hume, who very cleverly spotted that capitol hill and irish americans on capitol hill and irish americans on capitol hill and irish americans on capitol hill where the people that needed to be targeted, because the official american line in the early 70s, when the troubles broke out, are same as the official line in britain, was that northern ireland was a domestic matter to be resolved by britain. and that ireland has no

role in it, and or indeed, would somebody like the united states. the state department would certainly subscribe to that. you then had rather loose cannons, to use an unfortunate term, on capitol hill, parcelling resolutions of solidarity with the republican pump merit loose. —— passing resolutions of solidarity with the republican paramilitaries. almost encouraging fundraising for paramilitaries in northern ireland. the government was caught between those two extreme positions, so there was a lot of very hard work done, particularly starting in the 70s, setting up the friends of ireland in 1976, st patrick's day, bipartisan congressional resolutions, then tighter�*s role. that has also continued ever since. —— carter�*s

role. as the highest point, you saw it with bill clinton and the good friday agreement. bill clinton stayed up most of the night, and was on the phone to nudge some of the republicans, to nudge various people in one direction or another during that. to in one direction or another during that. ., , , , ., ., , that. to bring us up-to-date, it is 25 ears that. to bring us up-to-date, it is 25 years on. _ that. to bring us up-to-date, it is 25 years on. you _ that. to bring us up-to-date, it is 25 years on, you are _ that. to bring us up-to-date, it is 25 years on, you are talking - that. to bring us up-to-date, it isj 25 years on, you are talking about the nudging that the us has been able to do in the past. our important is that it had, in terms of nudging an hour, and returning to power—sharing? —— how important is it. power-sharing? -- how important is it. ~ power-sharing? -- how important is it. . power-sharing? -- how important is it. where you can most effectively see the american's _ it. where you can most effectively see the american's involvement . it. where you can most effectivelyj see the american's involvement in recent times is the statement, in terms of what to do with the windsor framework, because the united states will have 30 britain, if they want a trade agreement post—brexit, the northern ireland issues in terms of trade had to be resolved. so with the windsor framework in place, biden felt free to come, and to give

what moral support you can, and practical support to british by minister rishi sunak, and to those in northern ireland. he spent a long time talking to vice president harris yesterday, which i thought was interesting. so it is that us is backing the windsor framework and rishi sunak�*s sustained efforts to bring back power—sharing in northern ireland, and emphasising that with power—sharing, with the democratic structures back in northern ireland, biden believes that you rinse investment will follow. —— wrote that us investment will follow. i was just listening to the press conference, they will almost certainly be private investment. there are ways that the united states can facilitate an nudge that ahead, but while there isn't a firm quid pro quo, and biden was making sure to get out of that space, i

think the messages are that the united states is still actively interested in helping northern ireland. ., ., ., ireland. fascinating to hear your thouuhts ireland. fascinating to hear your thoughts on _ ireland. fascinating to hear your thoughts on this. _ ireland. fascinating to hear your thoughts on this. that _ ireland. fascinating to hear your thoughts on this. that is - ireland. fascinating to hear your thoughts on this. that is mary i ireland. fascinating to hear your thoughts on this. that is mary e | thoughts on this. that is mary e daly, professor of modern irish history at university college dublin. thank you forjoining us. i will take you back to france. there are widespread protests across paris and other parts of france also. you will remember that there have been a long—running protests, and this is the 12th day of protests. it is to do with pension reform, that a president of akron has pushed through. that has raised the pension age from 62 to 64. —— president macron. unions are out on the street there. we will try to see

what that was, just off camera, there was potentially a flare. it is difficult with protests like this, to work out how widespread they are. we think there are around 250 across france at the moment. it is a big day tomorrow, so this is the final day tomorrow, so this is the final day of protest before the constitutional court takes potentially a very significant decision tomorrow as to the legality of president macron�*s decision to push through these reforms, if they decide illegal, then perhaps, these protests stop. but as you heard from an elected union official, here on bbc news in the last half hour, if that council, that court comes back with a decision that those pension reforms can go ahead, then potentially, she said that these protests can carry on. 12 days so far, potentially, more to come.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. wow, look! it's, like, really weird that loads of people are going to see my art alongside all of these other artworks. it was crazy, like, seeing it in a frame and having the little thing beside it with, like, the name and my description that i wrote. atjust 14, chloe has won the rare chance to have a piece of her artwork displayed at the tate modern in london. she was named britain's best young artist after she beat 26 other talented youngsters in the cbbc series of the same name. the winning piece is a self—portrait showing chloe wrapping her arms around her home in gateshead. i've lived in this house my whole life so i was like, "oh, well, my house makes me me, i grew up in my house — i learned how to draw in my house." in the painting, it's me hugging my european house.

and in the background, it's the african savannah, showing my african heritage. her work is on display at tate modern until the end of the month. you're live with bbc news. brazil's president, luiz inacio 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. michael bristow, asia pacific editor for the bbc world service, 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, called the brics nations, 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. residents of australia's northwestern coats are bracing for the arrival of a fierce storm.

warnings have been issued for tropical cyclone ilsa, with officials predicting that the wind and heavy rain could cause considerable damage. michelle stanley, a journalist with abc in western australia gave us this update we are in the remote north—west of western australia and we have a number of cyclones that form every year. we say the season is usually until about may, but saying that, we don't have many that form in april. there was one a couple of years ago, in april, but we haven't seen one this time of year for quite some time. the other aspect to this storm is its intensity. we haven't had a category five system across the coast of australia, i believe, in about a decade. that is the most intense cyclone of its kind. this is particularly out of the ordinary given its intensity and also being relatively late in the cyclone season. for this part of the world, it is something we do see every

year, people here are pretty well—versed in that area of the coast, the cattle stations that are expecting the main impact, we actually call it cyclone alley. so that gives you a bit of an understanding of how frequently this area sees them. they are very well—versed in these kinds of storms. the bbc has learned that one of the two sea king helicopters that britain has given to ukraine to help in the fight against russia was used during the falklands conflict in 1982. despite the age of the aircraft, ukrainian forces say they're still able to use them to transport troops and airlift casualties. our diplomatic correspondent james landale has had exclusive access to the helicopters on duty in ukraine. 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 reconnoiter. 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 being 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 40

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 could 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. 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. james landale, bbc news, in southern ukraine. new york city has appointed its first "rat czar". kathleen corradi beat 900 applicants to become the city's director of rodent mitigation. (tx 00v)she said she would take on the city's estimated two million rats by tackling litter and food waste and using new products to exterminate the rodents. ms corradi said rats were a symptom of broader problems facing new york — including sanitation,

health and housing. let's turn now to the developing story in france, where hundreds of thousands of protesters are gathering on what is the 12th day of nationwide strikes against pension reforms. the constitutional council 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 as over 250 protests are happening throughout the country. pictures there of the process happening on the streets of paris, as they are happening on the streets of many other cities across france. the 12th day of protests to do with pension reforms. a very significant day potentially tomorrow, when the constitutional court is due to

decide on the legality of president macron�*s plans. we will bring you any updates on those protests. for the moment, thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. hello, after the stormy weather that some of us had to endure yesterday, today things are a little calmer. storm noa, you can see here on our earlier satellite picture tending to break apart, but still some shower clouds left behind. there are some heavy showers out there, some of which will contain some hail and some thunder. some spells of sunshine in between. still quite breezy for some, particularly through parts of northern ireland, northern england, into the midlands and east anglia. but not as windy as yesterday. still feeling chilly, though. 9—13 degrees. and then as we head through this evening and tonight, we will continue to see some showers, bands of showers, particularly drifting across scotland and northern ireland. and the odd shower into wales ahead of this rain band into the south—west of england, holding temperatures up to around 7

degrees there in plymouth. further north, ones, twos and threes — there will be a touch of frost for some. tomorrow, low pressure still in charge. this frontal system running across the south of the uk will bring some outbreaks of rain, particularly through southern counties of england, clipping into south wales, the south midlands. some rain for a time in the channel islands — and some brisk winds. further north, sunny spells and showers once again. but during the afternoon, we may well see some more persistent rain developing across parts of the midlands and up into parts of yorkshire and lincolnshire as well. temperature—wise, ten, 11, 12 degrees. no great shakes for this point in april. now, as we head through the weekend, things begin to change. because high pressure is going to tend to build, and that will give more in the way of dry weather. it will give some spells of sunshine. and temperatures will start to pick up a little bit. so a slightly warmer feel to the weather. so this is saturday. there could be some early mist and fog patches around. some patchy cloud as well, but some spells of sunshine. more cloud generally rolling into northern ireland, may be some rain here late

in the day. but those temperatures starting to lift a little bit. 11-15 . and then as we head into sunday — well, split fortunes. there will be a lot of cloud for northern ireland, parts of scotland, maybe the odd shower. but some sunny spells across england and wales. and also some sunny spells in north—east scotland, which could lift temperatures to 17 degrees. and elsewhere, highs of 14—17. so, a much warmerfeeling day then we have been used to of late, and that theme continues into the start of the new week. temperatures likely to be in the mid to high teens, perhaps the low 20s for some — with some spells of sunshine.

live from london, this is bbc news. handshakes handsha kes and history, handshakes and history, president biden continues his visit to ireland where he is expected to address the parliament shortly. ongoing anger in france over plans to raise the pension age. thousands are taking to the streets here in paris, one of hundreds of protests taking place across the country. and mary quant, the revolutionary fashion designer, has died.