applause. and i am determined in my capacity as secretary of state to deepen and strengthen that vital relationship. the agreement�*s success can also be demonstrated by northern ireland emerging as a thriving centre of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. its screen and film production industry has hosted some of the world's most talented actors. queen's and ulster university boast world—leading research and development activity, enabling northern ireland to capitalise on the technologies and sectors of tomorrow. and northern ireland has a burgeoning and justified reputation for its fintech and cybersecurity sectors. together with over £600 million of uk government investment

in the city and growth deals, northern ireland is increasingly a byword for an economy on the cutting edge of technology, connection and innovation, but we cannot, we must not sit back thinking thejob is done. the abhorrent shooting of dci john caldwell, the disturbances over the easter weekend and the ongoing paramilitary activity in too many communities across this nation illustrates that a tiny minority seek to drag northern ireland back to its darkest days. but i know for every person who wants to drag northern ireland down, there are thousands determined to lift it up. applause.

to those who pursue violence i'll say only this — you'll never succeed. it's hopeless. not because i say so, though, or because the government says so, but because the wonderful, strong and proud people of northern ireland say so. they reject your violence, which has no place in this society and that so many have strived... the peace that so many have strived so hard to create. to safeguard this peace we must be willing to confront the challenges as well as the successes. the agreement explicitly recognized the importance of acknowledging and addressing the suffering of the victims of the violence. a workable way forward on this highly complex and sensitive issue has eluded successive uk governments, irish governments and northern ireland executives for 25 years, despite valiant attempts by many.

satisfactorily addressing the past is an absolutely key element in realising northern ireland's potential in a prosperous, peaceful and shared future and i'm determined to do so in a way that provides better outcomes for those most affected by the troubles. ofgem has announced prepayment meters will no longer be forcibly installed in the homes of people over 85 and households of vulnerable people.the watchdog's new rule comes after an invesitgation by the times, exposed the actions of agents for british gas breaking into the homes of vulnerable people to force—fit prepayment meters caused, public outcry. i am joined by citizens advice principal policy manager anne pardoe to tell us more on what it means for consumers.

this new code of practice represents a good step forward in protections for people in relation to prepayment meters for energy. we can't see our return to the really harmful practices that we saw last year and at the times investigation uncovered. this practice, this code of practice is a good step forward but i will only deliver on those protections if energy suppliers follow that code of practice so we need to see the regulator monitoring it really closely. also, this is currently a voluntary code of practice so we need to see this moved into regulation as soon as possible, which will allow the regulator to enforce it.- regulator to enforce it. some campaigners _ regulator to enforce it. some campaigners are _ regulator to enforce it. some campaigners are saying - regulator to enforce it. some campaigners are saying this i regulator to enforce it. some - campaigners are saying this change doesn't go far enough and tougher rules may be a step in the right direction but they want to see a complete ban on the installation of prepayment meters rather than just tougher criteria for when it can

happen. what is your failing maths? we know that some people really value prepayment meters as a way to budget their energy use and to make sure that they don't get into debt, so we wouldn't want to see them removed as an optional together. there are some circumstances that some people can afford to pay for their energy but don't pay, and forcing them onto your prepayment meter might be relevant. but forcing people into prepayment meters when they can't afford to pay, we have seen a huge amount of harm as a result. this code of practice does go a long way to result in some of those problems we have seen but it is only worth the paper it is written on if the energy suppliers follow it, so we need to make sure ofgem is monitoring them to make sure they are monitoring the code of practice and it is moved into

regulation. foranyone practice and it is moved into regulation. for anyone watching this where they have had a prepayment meter forcibly installed, what can they do, if anything?— they do, if anything? what is the situation as _ they do, if anything? what is the situation as far _ they do, if anything? what is the situation as far as _ they do, if anything? what is the situation as far as they _ they do, if anything? what is the situation as far as they are - situation as far as they are concerned? if situation as far as they are concerned?— concerned? if you are on a prepayment _ concerned? if you are on a prepayment meter - concerned? if you are on a prepayment meter at - concerned? if you are on a prepayment meter at the l concerned? if you are on a - prepayment meter at the moment concerned? if you are on a _ prepayment meter at the moment that was installed against your wishes and you are really struggling to top it up, you should contact your energy supplier. they have it up. you should contact your energy supplier. they have lots of support in place. the regulator has told energy suppliers and they have agreed that where prepayment meters have been fitted inappropriately that they would have put that right. maybe replacing the metre with a great image or providing additional support. the best course of action is to contact your energy supplier. ofgem have an open call for evidence in place so they are asking for people to give them their experiences are being forced onto a prepayment meter, and that is still available online. ofgem are keen to

factor those experiences into their ongoing investigation into what has been happening. ongoing investigation into what has been happening-— ongoing investigation into what has been happening. thank you very much for that. catching a train at a busy station can be a stressful experience for anyone, but for deaf travellers it can be particularly challenging to keep up with delays, cancellations and platform changes. leeds railway station has become the first in the uk to provide travel updates using sign language, on video screens. abi jaiyeola went to find out more. navigating your way through a busy train station can be daunting. but if you can't hear the announcements, it's even more challenging. translation: it can be difficult, yeah. . just because when you're on a platform, there's many a time it's occurred where i've been standing waiting for a train, or where i've got on a train ready to set off. it's gone the wrong way and i've not realised i'm on the wrong train.

sometimes, yeah, when i come to the train station, it is difficult. but it's the lack of communication. the staff here don't really sign, obviously, so i have to write down any communication to try and look at the information in english. and english isn't my first language, so i've gone to the wrong platforms before. lots of problems with access, not being able to hear- announcements, missing trains, delays, not being informed. - traditional notice boards don't help if you can't read, and people who are born deaf or have hearing impairments may have reading difficulties. bsl users tend to have quite a low reading age, and that's because when we learn to read using our hearing, we create a sort of voice in our head and we build them words using syllables like phonics, sort of how children learn now. so if you're hearing impaired, you don't actually have that inner voice in your head to be able

to formulate them words. network rail have installed new digital displays which give travel information in bsl — british sign language. it's the main means of communication for more than 150,000 deaf people across the country. there's totem screens that are placed around the station, and they'll have the customer information in bsl on them. and they'll be placed in prominent places around the station, underneath the customer information screens or on platforms to make sure that customers can find it and access that information easily. deaf passengers like ferdus, amanda, anthony and zara say it will transform the way they travel. translation: it improves confidence. i'm just really excited for the deaf community. and improve accessibility and you can travel more regularly and won't miss that important information. it'll be fantastic because i'll be able to prepare and take - in the information before i go onto the platform. _

if there's any changes - or if there's been no changes, it's a smootherjourney. oh, it's really valuable to us. yeah. more accessible. knowing where to go, full information, not needing to ask people to guide you. if something's wrong, then yeah, we can get in touch with staff, but really good. leeds is the first station to install the sign language screens, but other stations will soon follow. abijaiyeola, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello there. yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 21.2 in kinlochewe in highland scotland. the temperatures were particularly high here because of the scottish mountains. you see, for most of us, we had brisk winds, but those winds were blocked by the mountains and so with light winds here the sun's energy was concentrated, allowing those temperatures to climb into the low 20s. elsewhere, those brisk winds meant the sun's energy was spread

through a greater depth of atmosphere and so temperatures weren't quite so high. more of the same to come over the next few days thanks to this big area of high pressure and that means we've got more sunshine to look forward to once again. the highest temperatures are going to be across north—west scotland. we're already seeing temperatures into the low 20s and it could be that we beat yesterday's highest temperature, so it could be the warmest day of the year so far in the highlands, but across eastern areas, with the winds coming in from the chilly north sea, temperatures will be suppressed. highs more likely to be around ten or 11 degrees celsius. in the sunshine and out the breeze wherever you are, though, probably not feeling too bad. an outside chance for a light shower across south—east england this afternoon. the other thing to notice is we've got very high levels of pollen, particularly across western areas, so for those that suffer from tree pollen it could be quite a sneezy afternoon. 0vernight there is a chance of an odd light shower into south—west england, but the emphasis is still on a lot of dry weather. with clear skies, it turns chilly, particularly across northern areas, with temperatures dropping down into low single figures.

tomorrow, generally, there's going to be a bit more in the way of cloud for england and wales. we could see an odd light shower, but most of us having a dry day with increasingly sunny skies moving in through the afternoon. again, the highest temperatures will be across western areas with winds coming in again from an easterly direction. we're looking at highs of ii or 12 degrees around those eastern coasts. the air gets a little bit cooler on thursday, but mitigating that should be the fact that we see much more in the way of sunshine across the whole of the uk. again, it's probably the highlands that will see the day's highest temperatures, pushing well into the high teens here through the afternoon. 0n into friday and the weekend we do see a change in the weather pattern. low pressure starts to develop and push rain northwards across the uk, so expect rain at times in england and wales on friday and more generally for most of us into the weekend. next week it gets really quite chilly for april. �*bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. a court in moscow rejects an appeal by the american journalist, evan gershkovich, against his detention on spy charges. fighting in sudan is expected to post and then after rival generals agree a 24—hour ceasefire following four days of intense clashes. and in the us, police charge an 85—year—old white man for shooting a black teenager who mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell. physically, mornings are hard but his spirits are in a good place. he is in very good hands. abs, his spirits are in a good place. he is in very good hands. fix. $�*i his spirits are in a good place. he is in very good hands.— is in very good hands. a $1 billion or trial between _ is in very good hands. a $1 billion or trial between dominions, - is in very good hands. a $1 billion or trial between dominions, the i or trial between dominions, the voting firm, and fox news