♪ ♪ is provided by... for this presentation of this program woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vion to do most things in life. it'sxciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello. you are watching the context o bbc news. russian state media says the american journalist aaron gershkovich has been charged with espionage. to israeli citizens have been killed and attack in the occupied west bank. israel launched attacks calling it retaliation. 25 years ago, e good friday agreement was signed, marking an

end to the sectarian violence. police warn of potential attacks ahead of the anniversary. we start tonight with reports of russian state media that an american journalist has been charged with evan spy gershkovich was arrestd last week, taken to court and detained. the kremlin said he had been caught red-handed. he has denied he has done and anything wrong. bill browder told us why he thinks gershkovich has been charged. >> i think we should look beyond their legalistic explanations of this. he has been taken as a hostage. the russian government, vladimir putin needs high-value western hostages. evan gershkovich is a high-value

hostage. he works for the washington journal. he is a high-profile person. the reason putin wants to take these hostages is he has a bunch of people who have been arrested, spies and money launderers around e world. he wants to have currency to get those people traded back. after grinerit, the u.s. basketball player was so successfully swapped for viktor bout, the arms dealer, i think putin has developed a taste for this. >> let's speak to brett brown, director of global engagement in president obama's white house and a u.s. diplomat for 12 years. he runs the global situation room, a crisis management consultancy. thank you for joining me. this is a serious situation. what can you tell us about what will be happening behind the scenes? >> the american government is very actively involved with

their russian counterparts, also trying to communicate through our allies. in terms of what putin needs to do both to secure the release of is wall street journal, but also, perhaps more importantly, to end this practice of using high-profile americans to secure the release of russians who have been arrested overseas and additional concessions. >> you heard bill brown saying this is a hostage situation. he has been arrested on espionage charges, which he denies. is this a hostage situation? >> it is. it is what we saw with brittney griner and what whave seen with other cases where the russians engaged in this kind of practice. it is one biden and his team need to add additional costs to.

biden needs to tell putin to knock this off otherwise there will be additional sanctions, additional constraints put on putin and the kremlin. if not, it is going to be another american or swiss or britt who is held hostage. >> you say he needs to tell putin to knock this off. how do you do that? >> there are points of leverage. one is that we can expose some of the inner workings of the kremlin, the corruption, mismanagement. putin is in a difficult spot right now with the military, other politicians, and the russian public. that is leverage provided. >> presumably for the biden administration and other members of the media at the moment, how concerned would you be at the moment if you are a member of the media that might potentially be targeted? >> i would heed the advice of

the u.s. state department which is to get out. i don't think it is responsible at this stage for foreign media organizations to be sending journalists to russia. it is going to limit what we are able to rort on, but we have seen the russian government is willing not only to intimidate, threaten journalists, but detained them and trump up charges against them and use other practices, including the murder of dissidents and opposition figures. i think journalists should avoid pressure until further notice. >> doing know anything about the conditions evan might be kept in? how long could something like this play out? >> from brittney griner, paul whelan, we have information, and the american embassy will be in touch with evan and his attorney. i don't think insofar as the

conditions in which she is being he there is a high level of concern. what is a concern is that detention could extend as it has in the case ofaul whelan, the american who was detained, and the biden administration try to secure his release earlier. tin has a longer time limit. biden is under a lot of political pressure here in washington. i think he is going to try to get this release sooner rather than later. >> thank you for your insight. thank you for joining us. police in northern ireland have warned some dissident republicans could try to provoke street violence over the easter weekend. the country is marking the 25th anniversary since the signing of the good friday agreement, which ended 30 years of sectarian violence. hundreds of extra police have been brought in for events, which culminate in a visit to

belfast by u.s. president biden wednesday. a quarter-century after that agreement was struck, political tensions remain in northern ireland. mark simpson explains about the agreement. >> the agreement radically changed politics, and that is what it was designed to do. the first line talked about the need for a new beginning, starting with a new northern ireland assembly. power has to be shared. key decisions according to the agreement are taken on a cross community basis. built in were cross-border lengths. the northside ministerial council to bring politicians together on a regular basis, and a british-irish counsel to try to improve relations across the islands. the agreement was controversial. it allowed ira and loyalist prisoners out of jail within two years. it also included a review of policing, which led to the ruc

being replaced by the ps&i. the irish government agreed to change particles two and three of its constitution, removing its territorial claims in northern ireland. what did the agreement say about the possibility of a united ireland? it said it could happen, but only if a majority of people in northern ireland vote for it. there also needs to be approval in the republic. without that, it is the status quote. northern ireland remains part of the united kingdom. the agreement was drawn up by politicians in 1998. they made it clear the future will be decided by the people. >> mark simpson. ahead ofhe t anniversary, police in bfast have warned of potential disorder by dissident republicans. police say they have strong community intelligence that attacks were being planned in the city of londonderry.

they have told officers to be prepared for all eventualities on monday. in order to respond to the threats, the chief counsel of the ps and i said shifts have been altered to move officers onto duty and hundreds of extra officers have been moved in. these warnings, weeks after mi5 raised the terror threat in northern ireland t severe, meaning an attack is likely. we are live to fenton o'toole, journalist at the irish times. thank you for joining us this evening. can i ask you to take us back 25 years? it is such a momentous anniversary this weekend. what are your memories? what do you remember about how it played t? >> the overwhelming sense of tension, it is easy in retrospect to think of course the deal was always going to be done, but it did not feel like

it at the time. the stars seem to be ning. you had an involved and engaged american administration with bill clinton. you had tony blair in his prime. you had a skilled negotiator in the irish republic. critically, you have the ira through sinn fein seeming to be willing to da deal. that did not mean a deal was going to be done. as mark simpson was just saying, it is very complex. you had to balance so many different factors, different interests between britain and ireland, the two parts of ireland, and within northern ireland itself. we really do need, in spite of all the qualifications and difficulties with the agreement, to look back and recognize that it was an astonishing achievement, one of which british, irish, and american

governments can be proud. >> i am struck by an article you have written today. talking about the good friday agreement, you said the irish question had to change from what are you willing to kill and die for two what can you live with? can you expand on that? >> if the question was is northern ireland in the united kingdom or should it be a united ireland, that is a zero-sum game. there was no middle way between those two questions. there still is not. you had to ask something else. what is ok for people to live with in the foreseeable future? maybe not forever. the future is going to be decided at some point by a referendum in northern ireland. that might be 20, 30 years on from 1998. it could be even longer.

the real question was was it possible to get the violence out of northern irish politics. what we have learned from so many previous attempts, so long as atrocities continued, no deal was going to hold. the men of violence could always break any political arrangements th might have been made. you had to bring them on board. that was not an easy thing to do. it is a difficult thing for a democracy to negotiate with people who have been using very violent methods to overthrow the democracy. that was the imagination that was involved, the courage that was involved. if forced those people themselves to think about what are your grievances. are any of those grievances actually worth taking a single human life? what the deal d in particular

in relation to the questions the ira was always asking, which was the self-determination of the people, the deal said let the irish people have their self-determination. let's vote on this deal. it was voted onoth north and south on the same day. 1990 eight gave us an expression of what the irish people want, which is not some kind of zero-sum game. it is compromise and negotiation and some sort of peaceful future. >> of course, it did t put an end to the factions between the political parties. would you describe it more as a chapter in the northern ireland, the story is still ongoing? >> the phrase i used was breathing space. it created breathing sce. 25 years ago maybe we hoped more advantage would be taken of that breathing space politically for northern ireland politics become less -- to become less travel.

that has not happened. i think we are at a stage, maybe with the brexit difficulties hopefully being behind us, the breathing space the agreement opened is still there to be occupied. there is still the possibility of using the agreement to remind ourselves that politics wks, democracy works, negotiation works, trying to see the other person's point of view actually works. that is the only future northern ireland has. the fact that itas a future is something we can look back on and say we are grateful for because this conflict could still have been going on. we still have a threat. we still have problems. they are not the problems we had in 1998. >> it has been interesting to hear your recollections. thank you for joining us this evening. around the world and across the

u.k., this is bbc news. >> i am going to startere with you. >> a student being open about mental health and supporting mental well-being is a key focus since the pandemic. a national school survey of 11 to 16-year-olds found girls were almost twice as likely as boys to experience highels of mental health symptoms. >> it does not have to be on screen. i find i am impacted when i spend lots o time not doing anything. >> the survey, which is carried out every two years, found between 2017 and 2021, fewer teenagers said they were exercising regularly. there was an increase in the amount that said they were looking at screens before bed. when it comes to diet, fewer said they ate breakfast on

weekdays before school. let's hope the findings of the latest survey will continue to influence changes in communities across wales. >> you are live with bbc news. let's turn now to the middle east. the u.k. goverent has confirmed two women shot dead in the occupied west bank today had dual british-israeli nationality. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has visited the scene. a third person has been seriously wounded in the incident. it comes as israel says it is calling up more military reservists after rocket attacks from lebanon. israel carried out airstrikes overnight across the lebanese border and in gaza. a spokesperson said the retaliation was over for now. tension is high after israeli police stormed the al-aqsa mosque this week.

breaking news in the past few minutes, there have been reports of a shooting in tel aviv. reports of a shooting in tel aviv. clearly this is a situation that is developing all the time. can you just bring us up on the latest, what you might know about what is happening with regard to these dual citizens and these latest attacks? >> on the latest attacks, the facts are still emerging. we understand several people have been wounded in a suspected shooting and car ramming attack closto the beach intel above -- in tel aviv. we are getting reports from police adding the attacker has been shot. this comes just hours after news broke about a shooting in the north of the occupied west bank in the north of the jordan valley close to a jewish settlement called hamra. the two killed were british israeli sisters, one in her

20's, one in her teens. the mother was critically injured. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu went to the scene. he said violent terrorists murdered two young sisters. we have not been able to get names of those who have been killed. we spoke to the mayor of another settlement where this family was from. he confirmed the family were from the u.k., he thought from london. he said they were on their way to the north of israel using this road i have used myself, on their way to a passover holiday. >> the latest from a foreign office spokesman said we are sad hear about the death of two british israeli citizens. the u.k. calls for all parties across theegion to de-escalate tensions. situation changing all the time.

i know you have been following the latest developments. let's take a look back at what has happened up until now. >> when it came, israel's promised retaliation hit the gaza strip hard. the military says it struck targets linked to the palestinian militant group hamas . it saysyesterday's barraget i m lebanon. overnight, there were more rockets, most intercepted by israel's defense system. this morning after the marmot, palestinians spoke of a frightening night. >> my daughters were crying. one fainted. that is what happened. i looked around and everything was destroyed. i checked my vehicle, and it was destroyed. >> in lebanon, locals inspected the damage after three israeli strikes near a palestinian

refugee camp. this was one of over 30 rockets fired from lebanon a day ago. israel has been wary of drawing and powerful lebanese militants. >> it is a multidimensional threat. we are focused on our enemy. we don't wanto escalate with them at this point. we were focused on hamas. >> violent scenes inside of jerusalem's al-aqs mosque caused outrage ding the islamic holy month of ramadan. israeli police said they rated the prayer hall after they said agitators barricaded themselves inside. palestinians through fireworks. distressing videos emerged on soal media showing officers beating people in the mosque. today, thousands of muslims headed to friday prayers.

it is often a flashpoint for troubles. the third holiest place in islam is also the holiest place for jews, who call it temple mount and celebrate passover this week. nearby in the old cy, christians from around the world join the easter good friday procession. as the three religions which hold this ancient city sacred market their own holidays, tensions remain dangerously high. once again, there has been proof that what happens here can quickly have an impact across the wider region. for now, all eyes remain fixed on jerusalem. >> really interesting to see out and about there. i wonder what the feeling is on the streets. our people feeling tense? people are still traveling to the area. how is everyone feeling? >> i was in the old city for

quite some time earlier. it was quite hectic. you had thousands and thousands of palestinian muslims coming in, some of them coming from the occupied west bank into jerusalem, some of them citizens of israel, jerusalem residents making their way into the center of jerusalem. at the same time there were palestinian christians. many more international christians were joining the good friday walk along the via del la rosa. there are lots of jewish israelis in town. there was a band playing as part of the passover holiday. on the one hand, as a journalist you are conscious of everything that is going on across israel, what has happened in the last 24 hours. there were people who were

trying just to enjoy their holidays in the way you would expect, to go to prayers. >> it is worth pointing out this is an incribly important weekend. it is the easter weekend, ramadan, passover. it is as busy the as it will ever be. >> it is the second time in three decades we have had the overlapping holidays for muslims and jews, ramadan and passover. that is significant because of the site in jerusalem, the al-aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in islam. for jews, this is the holiest place in judaism. they kw the hilltop site as the temple mount, revere it as the site of two biblical temples long ago destroyed.

you have the muslim visitors, also jews who want to go there israeli police very present today in the old city. they control access to that site. that is one of the real points of contention, when they escort jewish visitors to that site and demand that there should be a clearing of courtyards that palestinian muslim worshipers should be moved away. we have seen two nights this week in which it became very violent inside the al-aqsa mosque compound in which israeli police rated the mosque. they said they were acting against agitators barricaded inside. they through fireworks as we could see in that report. for the palestinians, there has been widespread outrage about the pictures that have emerged. >> i wonder how easy it is for

you to travel around. there are lots of things happening in various parts of the country and city. how easy is it for you to get a handle on what is happening? >> one of the journalists in jerusalem i am friends with was commenting today you don't know where to go. should you head north or south or wait in jerusalem, and as we have seen there have been these incidents in the occupied west bank and tel aviv as well. we rely on all different kinds of sources, whether it is social media reports initially fgging things, also we have to use cial media footage because you are relying on people who fd themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time for pictures of rocket launches or airstrikes. some of those pictures from gaza, within israel, lebanese footage we managed to get authenticated. we have our own colleagues in

the gaza strip and in the bbc beirut office. >> thank you for giving us that update from jerusalem. once again, there has been a shooting in tel aviv. at least two people have been wounded this evening. we will be back in a moment. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live youlife. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.