live from london. this is bbc news. the warmest of welcomes forjoe biden — he addresses the irish parliament, only the fourth us president to do so. we believe anything is possible we set her mind to it and we do it together. this is the united states of america and ireland, there's nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together. us media names the man they say leaked highly classified documents on the americas worst intelligence breaches. more protest, more protests with police as anger continues to raise france's pension age.

president biden has finished his address saying that the united kingdom should work more closely with the double government to support northern ireland. he said that political violence should never be allowed to take hold again. mr biden is on a tour of the republic of ireland having visited northern ireland on wednesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. when he entered the chamber he was met with a round of applause and open his speech by saying, when he is in ireland he feel he is at home. he said, his country was shaped by ireland highlighting the shared values

between the two nations before praising ireland's role in internationalforeign praising ireland's role in international foreign policy. praising ireland's role in internationalforeign policy. you international foreign policy. you are internationalforeign policy. you are still looking at those images, let's speak now to senator who was in the parliamentjoining us live now from dublin. thank you so much forjoining us here on the programme. tell me about your reaction when you started to hear joe biden�*s speech. my reaction when you started to hear joe biden's speech.— reaction when you started to hear joe biden's speech. my reaction was one of deeply _ joe biden's speech. my reaction was one of deeply emotional— joe biden's speech. my reaction was one of deeply emotional and - joe biden's speech. my reaction was one of deeply emotional and i - joe biden's speech. my reaction was one of deeply emotional and i think| one of deeply emotional and i think thatis one of deeply emotional and i think that is safe to say for everyone in the chamber as well. this was electric, highly charged and deeply personal and deeply emotional speech. from the 46th president of the right seats and i think that is because he holds such a love and a deep respect for our country. that that atmosphere existed. notjust from the president to ireland but in particular from from the president to ireland but in particularfrom ireland from the president to ireland but in particular from ireland to from the president to ireland but in particularfrom ireland to be president. so it really wasn't

something to be whole. joint savings similar to something to be whole. joint savings similarto your something to be whole. joint savings similar to your own house of commons and house of lords are very rare and as you mentioned, only for us presidents have had this onjf kennedy, ronald reagan, bill clinton and now indeed resident biden so this is a very special notjust for president biden but for the ireland of ireland as a whole. it president biden but for the ireland of ireland as a whole.— of ireland as a whole. it felt like it was incredibly _ of ireland as a whole. it felt like it was incredibly symbolic - of ireland as a whole. it felt like it was incredibly symbolic and i of ireland as a whole. it felt like| it was incredibly symbolic and an important moment for ireland as well. it was thrust on the international stage. well. it was thrust on the internationalstage. i well. it was thrust on the international stage. i think so because what _ international stage. i think so because what we _ international stage. i think so because what we have - international stage. i think so because what we have to - international stage. i think so - because what we have to remember about ireland is we are a small nation. we have a publishing of about 4-5,000,000 nation. we have a publishing of about 4—5,000,000 on the edge of european continent, but no doubt about it, the soft power that ireland wheels in terms of diplomacy around the world is really something to behold. it is something as a result of a lot of hard work that has gone into it. for over the last

100 years and the fact that we have such a long sustainable friendship, a deep friendship because our cultures are so intertwined between ourselves and the united states of america, i think really allows us to try and have the ability to promote not just ourselves try and have the ability to promote notjust ourselves but our culture, heritage, business, economy, everything about us to promote ireland on a huge international stage because of the steeper the ships that we have with the united states america. i ships that we have with the united states america.— ships that we have with the united states america. i know that you have to net states america. i know that you have to get away — states america. i know that you have to get away to _ states america. i know that you have to get away to the — states america. i know that you have to get away to the state _ states america. i know that you have to get away to the state banquet, - to get away to the state banquet, at dublin castle but i will try to squeeze in one more question. i have a few minutes. _ squeeze in one more question. i have a few minutes. as _ squeeze in one more question. i have a few minutes, as long _ squeeze in one more question. i have a few minutes, as long as _ squeeze in one more question. i have a few minutes, as long as you - squeeze in one more question. i have a few minutes, as long as you like. i a few minutes, as long as you like. thank you so much. the other thing deeply moving was his tribute to shamus heaney and his widow who was also sitting in the chamber. he noticed it was the birthday of the late irish poet who died about a decade ago and he said that he often quotes irish poets and speaking in

the us senate for over 36 years. he said that he was not sure if he did it because of his irish ancestry but her brother because ireland has the best poets. he her brother because ireland has the best oets. ,., her brother because ireland has the best oets. ,. , her brother because ireland has the best oets. , g; ~ , ., , best poets. he sat in his 36 years in the united _ best poets. he sat in his 36 years in the united states _ best poets. he sat in his 36 years in the united states senate, - best poets. he sat in his 36 years in the united states senate, his l in the united states senate, his colleagues only said this cooks you're only irish american, he said no, it the best poets in the world are irish and he was one of the best poets that this country has ever produced. and it was wonderful to see president biden touch on that and his love of heaney and the works that he has written and that millions of people around the globe has had the leverage and will ever —— pleasure to read. and touching that the widow was here today as well and so important, the hold of president biden�*s heritage. he president biden's heritage. he touched on a wide range of issue from ukraine to climate change and of course his quick trip to belfast

but talked about the importance of how precious peace is in and of course he thanked ireland for the sport it has shown to ukrainian refugees. of course ireland has taken in at around 80,000 ukrainians who have fled the war. it taken in at around 80,000 ukrainians who have fled the war.— who have fled the war. it was a wide ran . e. who have fled the war. it was a wide range- key — who have fled the war. it was a wide range- key aspect — who have fled the war. it was a wide range. key aspect was _ who have fled the war. it was a wide range. key aspect was with - who have fled the war. it was a wide | range. key aspect was with the good friday agreement and the 25th anniversary one point that struck me when he came to that negotiation and he negotiated —— mentioned senator mitchell it was 700 days of failure but it only took one day to make sure that it succeeded in that resulted in a lasting feat that has not been easy, not successful, and why people of my generation, i am from augusta, that is why people of my generation have grown up in a peaceful ireland. dundalk. he talked

on issues of the green economy and how important it is to promote green economy and jobs and how climate change is the biggest existential crisis facing the world today. i think that was really important for them to mention. as you mentioned, this was particularly important as well, he acknowledged what we as a small island nation are doing against a barbaric war that is taking place on the european continent in ukraine. we have opened our communities to any thousands of ukrainians who are coming here to seek safety, to seek sanctuary and it is a real honour for us as an irish nation to play our role to make sure those ukrainian people that are curing our country are at home and say. ii that are curing our country are at home and say-— that are curing our country are at home and sa . i. ., ., . ., . home and say. if you do get a chance to seak home and say. if you do get a chance to speak to — home and say. if you do get a chance to speak to president _ home and say. if you do get a chance to speak to president biden - home and say. if you do get a chance to speak to president biden at - home and say. if you do get a chance to speak to president biden at the i to speak to president biden at the banquet tonight, what would you say to him? i banquet tonight, what would you say to him? , ., , banquet tonight, what would you say to him? ., , �* to him? i spoke to president biden last niuht.

to him? i spoke to president biden last night. because _ to him? i spoke to president biden last night. because my _ to him? i spoke to president bidenl last night. because my constituency is county louth which is where his great grandfather left around during the famine in the 1840s so i spoke to him last night and i had an opportunity to really think him for his work with the good friday agreement and keeping ireland at all times to write his clinical korean presidency at the forefront in his mind. and also there as he's walking out of the chamber which is our national parliament, i was able to shake his hand once again and just to say it was nice to see him. shake his hand once again and 'ust to say it was nice to see him. thank ou so to say it was nice to see him. thank you so much. _ to say it was nice to see him. thank you so much, senator, _ to say it was nice to see him. thank you so much, senator, for- to say it was nice to see him. thank you so much, senator, for said - to say it was nice to see him. thank you so much, senator, for said that| you so much, senator, for said that sharing your thoughts and insights here on the programme. i hope you have a wonderful time at the banquet tonight. i am joined have a wonderful time at the banquet tonight. iamjoined by have a wonderful time at the banquet tonight. i am joined by irish and european for mark diplomat into departmental lecturer in diplomacy at the university of oxford. the queue so much forjoining us doctor, it has been quite a moving afternoon for all of those people in the

houses of parliament in ireland. and for all of those people watching. it was a highly charged, emotional speech from the us president. certainly. i am speech from the us president. certainly. iam in dublin speech from the us president. certainly. i am in dublin myself now. i heard john beforehand, my parents grew up in dundalk and my parents grew up in dundalk and my parents still live there and where joe biden and his ancestors came from and certainly after watching the speech just before, i came to speak to you, it certainly was a moving speech, notjust for people but for the president himself after he got the standing ovation. he was clearly moved and one thing, one sentence i notice that clearly demonstrated this, he noted at the end saying i may sound like a child now that i really wish my mother was here to see this. and i thought that was something that all of us,

somewhat dream of, if we have made it to a point in our career that we want to see how our parents react. i thought he was very moved by standing up in front of the houses both in front of his son and his sister and joe kennedy the third the special envoy to northern ireland. he acknowledged his mother almost as soon as he stepped foot up on the chamber, didn't he? he said to her, here i am, finally back home. he so unashamedly irish. he often talks about himself as the son of ireland. of course, 30 million americans do identify or trace their lineage back to ireland. , ., ., , to ireland. yes, not only in america. — to ireland. yes, not only in america, ireland _ to ireland. yes, not only in america, ireland has - to ireland. yes, not only in america, ireland has one l to ireland. yes, not only in| america, ireland has one of to ireland. yes, not only in - america, ireland has one of the largest diasporas in the world. we

have more people who claim even irish citizenship and have a susan sipple who live outside of the aisle and as opposed to living on the island. —— iron citizenship. a historicalfact that we island. —— iron citizenship. a historical fact that we cannot vote outside of ireland, we have to be physically present to vote on any referendum, is because of the amount of irish immigrants. there were on the east coast of the uk, excuse me of the us at the time. we were worried that they could possibly swing the election. they were so many irish citizens in the us. so the rule was made that gets to be physically present in the country. so yes, the irish diaspora in ireland, the lineage is huge and not to mention, those who have made it so far in the political sphere and also the economic sphere. and culturally. so it is no wonder

people claim the irish diaspora and we are lucky and happy to claim them as well. in we are lucky and happy to claim them as well. ., , we are lucky and happy to claim them as well. . , ._ , , ., we are lucky and happy to claim them as well. . , , , ., ., , as well. in many ways he is not only s-ueakin as well. in many ways he is not only speaking to — as well. in many ways he is not only speaking to the _ as well. in many ways he is not only speaking to the irish _ as well. in many ways he is not only speaking to the irish people, - as well. in many ways he is not only speaking to the irish people, the . speaking to the irish people, the international community, he is speaking to americans as well. he talked about the importance of the dignity and that is part of irishness. he has spoken about the importance of working hard and that really goes back to his sort of campaign messages, talks about being a kid who grew up in scranton pennsylvania and came from a working—class family and tracing his roots back to ireland. that is part of his campaign messaging and has been. ., , �* , ., , been. certainly. and you rightly mentioned _ been. certainly. and you rightly mentioned his _ been. certainly. and you rightly mentioned his beginnings - been. certainly. and you rightly mentioned his beginnings in - mentioned his beginnings in pennsylvania, or working hard and indeed, if we trace his ascent, political assent, indeed, if we trace his ascent, politicalassent, not indeed, if we trace his ascent, political assent, not only to his, some would say his extremely vibrant

success for years as vice president, under barack obama, this, his campaigns was built on this notion of irishness, working hard. not only work hard but working together. bear in mind this was also in the aftermath and to be after light of the clayton years and the good friday agreement and what ireland had demonstrated and also with the us had demonstrated —— bill clinton. that they had contributed to this notion of bringing communities together. so he certainly roots on that. and during that time there were a host of an older generation who have a huge affinity to irish and ireland and the diaspora. people talk about a possible running again and campaign but i would say that would be played less on and simply ijy would be played less on and simply by a result of the generations moving on and there would be more

focus on central america diaspora outside of the america diaspora and while the political, economic and social cultural relationships between the us and ireland remained very, very strong, i think regarding election and rise to power, i think the irish base is less as important as it would have been 40—50 years ago. that isjust looking as it would have been 40—50 years ago. that is just looking at us politics. ago. that is 'ust looking at us olitics. ., , ago. that is 'ust looking at us olitics. . , ., ., ~ politics. really fascinating talking to ou. politics. really fascinating talking to you- thank— politics. really fascinating talking to you. thank you _ politics. really fascinating talking to you. thank you so _ politics. really fascinating talking to you. thank you so much - politics. really fascinating talking to you. thank you so much for . to you. thank you so much for joining us here on the programme. doctor. around the world and across the uk this is bbc news. when you think of world heritage sites you might think of stonehenge or the taj mahal or the great barrier reef or hadrian's wall, but the east atlantic flyway is something a bit different. this is a motorway in the sky, if you like. a

passage for millions of migrating birds and this here at rspb is one of the stopping off points at a bidding for unesco world heritage stage. it's absolutely amazing. this is the most important site for water birds in the uk. what we don't realise, i think, and this is helping us to see this, is that these are an amazing, world—class spectacle. a decision on that special status could be many years away, but conservationists are hoping that, if granted, it could secure precious habitats like this one for future generations. you're live with bbc news. more now on the breaking news of the leaking of pentagon documents. irate leaking of pentagon documents. we are getting reports that the suspect

has been arrested in massachusetts he has been named as jack teixeira, we are expecting a news conference from the us department ofjustice shortly. and as soon as we get that we will be bringing that to you. but earlier we were hearing from brigadier general, pat writer, the pentagon press secretary who was answering questions from the press ——_ i answering questions from the press --. i would say that it is important to understand _ --. i would say that it is important to understand that _ --. i would say that it is important to understand that we _ --. i would say that it is important to understand that we do - --. i would say that it is important to understand that we do have - to understand that we do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified information. this was a deliberate criminal acts, a violation of those guidelines and so, again, ithink a violation of those guidelines and so, again, i think it is important to understand the stuff we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that people who have a need to to know when it comes to this kind of information, have access to that. we will always learn from every situation, but again, this is something that we will continue to look at. �* ., something that we will continue to look at. �* . , ., .,

look at. brigadier general pat writer. pentagon _ look at. brigadier general pat writer. pentagon press - look at. brigadier general pat i writer. pentagon press secretary speaking a little earlier talking on that breach following the leaked documents as we have been reporting here both the new york times and cbs has been reporting that the suspect has been reporting that the suspect has been reporting that the suspect has been named, jack teixeira. he is believed to be a 21—year—old and he actually, allegedly, league these documents onto an online gaming chat group. known as discord and we have been speaking on this programme to the reporter who first reported on this by tracing it back to discord. it is a gaming chat group cries we were saying in the fbi, we understand, has made an arrest and says it is continuing to conduct authorised law enforcement activity at a residence in massachusetts. that is made in the report of a suspect in the peak of classified

documents and the fact that he has not been identified. we are also expecting the us attorney general, merrick garland to make a statement on the situation in the next few minutes. earlier, we were hearing from brigadier general pat ryder who answered questions from press sink there is an ongoing department of justice investigation that they want to make sure that investigation has continued before he could give more information, but we are hearing and have been hearing that in the last few minutes, the fbi has said that it has made an arrest and is continuing to conduct authorised law enforcement activity at a residence in massachusetts. we are expecting a press conference from the us attorney general merrick garland who will make a statement on the situation in the next few minutes. the new york times and cbs have both reported that the suspect�*s name is

jack teixeira and he is a 21—year—old. as soon as we have more information on that developing story, we will be bringing that to you. let's go to the rest of the days news now. to france now. there have been minor clashes with the police in a few places but much less violence so far than during some previous rallies. this was the scene at the constitutional court in paris earlier it will be considering he wants to raise the pension age from 62 to 64. it'll give it's ruling tomorrow on whether the reforms comply with the constitution but it's thought unlikely any major changes to the bill will be required. 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. bbc world service asia pacific editor, michael bristow, has more. brazilian president was ill for some time. but the fact that he's here now, shortly after getting well shows just how much store he puts on this relationship with china. he's there for a couple of days. today, he's mainly looking at economic aspects of the relationship. he's 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 mr lula da silva is already kind of commented that this offers an alternative to the more established banks

and financial institutions. perhaps referring to the world bank in the imf, offers something alternative for developing nations. so it seems already he's keen to push the line that developing nations china, brazil, india have an outlook, have a development path which is different to to western nations. the economy failed to grow in february despite hopes that it might expand slightly for stop new figures from the office of national statistics suggests that that in the uk services sector partly because of recent strikes offset what growth that there was which came in construction and retail. our business correspondent has the details. what we have here is a typical example of what a bride which is. it is a busy day at a

jewellery store in east london that caters for brides from the asian community. ramadan has brought a surge in trade but the owners is behind the scenes rising costs are hurting his business. 90% of the jewellery that we sell is made using brass metal as the base metal. and brass has in itself, as a raw material, increased 33% in the last seven, eight months. and that's a significant increase in our product costs. rising prices and rising interest rates to control them have been weighing on the economy. new figures from the office for national statistics show zero growth in february. some sectors of the economy have been performing better than others. the ons says that sales in shops, for example, have been pretty buoyant, especially in discount stores, and the construction sector too — that's been building up momentum. but those benefits were offset by strikes among teachers and civil

servants which weighed down on growth. and while shops may be getting busier and selling more, they are not necessarily making more money. the supermarket giant tesco says its sales rose 7% last year, but its day—to—day profits fell by a similar margin due to rising food prices. international forecasts suggest the economy will shrink by 0.3% this year. but that represents an improvement over predictions made just a few months ago. inflation has been running higher than wages, which means that people's incomes are falling in real terms and you'd expect that to translate into weaker consumption and weaker spending. and actually what we have seen is that uk households have been quite resilient to that. the government said the economic outlook was brighter than expected, while labour said the country was lagging behind on the global stage. but for business owners like sushil, the real issues are the price of his stock, whether his customers have money to spend, and whether they are willing to spend it.

theo leggett, bbc news. back to ireland and bring you up—to—date on presidentjoe biden's trip to the country, early he addressed the irish parliament becoming the fourth american leader to do so. we are just waiting for it president biden's official state banquet to begin. we understand it is at the dublin castle and earlier, i was listening to some of our commentators say that dublin castle really is the heart of historic dublin. it is one of the most important buildings in irish history. so i willjust bring in doctor cassidy. we have about a minute of talking but i will keep you there. just tell us about the significance of dublin castle. it’s significance of dublin castle. it's a hiuhl significance of dublin castle. it�*s a highly significant building. i

myself have held a number of events there while working for the irish foreign service. first of all, it was one of the main buildings during the aftermath of the 1916 rising, also during our war of independence, in 1919, also during our civil war and also it is the place where all of the referendums are held and also where our presidents are sworn in so it cannot be a more historic building for ireland. and it cannot be, have more symbolism, just auoin to be, have more symbolism, just going to interrupt you there. as we are going to say goodbye to our world audience. thank you for watching. you are watching bbc news. this is bbc news. you are looking at live pictures of dublin where presidentjoe biden is making an

official visit to the republic of ireland. we are just waiting for his official state banquet to begin at dublin castle and we were speaking to doctorjennifer cassidy who is giving us an overview of the historical significance of dublin castle. before i come back to you, doctor, i want to bring our audiences up—to—date on another developing story which of course, is those leaked pentagon documents will stop earlier in the suspect had been named by the new york times. saying that it was 21—year—old, jack teixeira, and cbs news was also reporting that we just heard from the us attorney general, merrick garland who said that the united states has arrested jack teixeira in connection with transmission of classified defence information as we were reporting earlier. it is were believed that he reveal those documents on an online gaming chat

group where those classified documents or elite, believed to be 21—year—old jack teixeira, you are looking at the image of the young man there. let's go back to our other story in ireland and speak to doctorjennifer cassidy. dublin castle. a seriously significant part of irish history and culture. i believe from about 1204 until 1922 it was the seat of english than british rule in ireland.- british rule in ireland. yes, it was the seat of _ british rule in ireland. yes, it was the seat of colonial _ british rule in ireland. yes, it was the seat of colonial rule _ british rule in ireland. yes, it was the seat of colonial rule up - the seat of colonial rule up until our independence was was just 100 years ago in 1922. it is not only the old relic of the old british rule and the old colonial rule but also where we formed our first, or

had ourfirst opening also where we formed our first, or had our first opening as an independent country. since then, it has been at the heart of every referendum whether it has passed or not. where every presidential election has been announced, where every president has been sworn in. so it is one of the most historic and most symbolic places in the heart of ireland regarding political social and indeed economic centres. it is truly one of the buildings at the heart of all people of ireland. so it is no surprise that these president of the united states, joe biden is being brought there for a visit. ., ., , , , biden is being brought there for a visit. ., . , , , , visit. for him, in many ways this is a state visit. _ visit. for him, in many ways this is a state visit, as _ visit. for him, in many ways this is a state visit, as us _ visit. for him, in many ways this is a state visit, as us president, - visit. for him, in many ways this is a state visit, as us president, butl a state visit, as us president, but also extremely personal. he is there with his son, hunter biden as well

his sister valerie, who he described as his best friend in the world. to really give them a taste and flavour of ireland. in fact he said, any american who has any kind of irish connection, dreams of coming to ireland. , ., , , ireland. yes, that is very true. there is always _ ireland. yes, that is very true. there is always an _ ireland. yes, that is very true. there is always an irish - ireland. yes, that is very true. there is always an irish joke i ireland. yes, that is very true. i there is always an irish joke that when irish people go to america, we will always be stopped and sang, i am part irish and we respond, how, well my great, great, great grandmother was once removed was irish, so everyone claims bit of irish, so everyone claims bit of irish heritage. we have so many irish heritage. we have so many irish tourists every year. indeed. doctorjennifer _ irish tourists every year. indeed. doctor jennifer cassidy. - doctorjennifer cassidy. unfortunately doctorjennifer cassidy. u nfortu nately we have doctorjennifer cassidy. unfortunately we have come to the end of the programme but thank you so much forjoining us here on the programme. we are going to leave you with these pictures of dublin castle. where that banquet is taking

place. forthe castle. where that banquet is taking place. for the us presidentjoe biden and of course we do have another developing story and christian will be bringing you up to date with that, of us air force employee jack teixeira being arrested on suspicion of leaking highly sensitive us documents. goodbye for now. hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. information nature of these lea ks until a bit later. hello, welcome to the programme.

and the last few minutes, the fbi agents have confirmed they