minister wickremesinghe has been kept out of meetingsgs since last year when ththe president t ousted him and t tro replplace him. he was reinstated after the supreme court intervened but the rift in the top echelons of gogovernment has never trulyly l -- yieield. wickremesinghe acknowledged the warnings in the memo had beenn circulated among policice officials in crgrge of vip securi. he has appointed a special committee to investigate the spectacular security breakdown. n president paid a visit to the targets of the jihadists. >> we are right o outside thehe. sebastian's c church, the site f the worst attack. estimates suggest 120eople died here alone. the roof w was completely blown of the stained-glass windows are shattered. service was h held this morningng. relatives just wakiking up from their own injuries s and startig to find out how deep their loss is. i spoke to a few i investigators and theyey told me they are stil cocollecting evidedence. there are bloodstaiains on the statueue of jesus christ. they expect f funerals in t this town which i is an overwhelmingl catholic t t

ranil wickremesinghe admitted there had been a serious breakdown within government.nde concert in manchester back to the uk. the recent fighting around tripoli, however, has put the process on hold. severe flood warnings have been issued in mozambique after cyclone kenneth — the second in as many months — hit the coast. there are fears that hundreds of thousands of people will need humanitarian aid

the prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, said the attacks would be fully investigated. but a government minister told the bbc that police were briefed about the threat ten days ago, but the prime minister wasn't informed. the comedian, volodymyr zelensky, has won a landslide victory in ukraine's presidential election. full results are not yet in, but exit polls show he's won about 70% of the vote. and this story is trending on bbc.com: queen elizabeth has celebrated her 93rd birthday. the world's longest reigning living monarch attended the traditional easter service at windsor castle. you're watching bbc news. and the top story in the uk: climate change protesters say they will hold a meeting tomorrow to decide whether to continue to disrupt central london for another week. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. a busy earnings week — we look at what to expect from the tech giants. cashing in on caffeine addiction — how dubai wants to reheat success with tea. hello and welcome to asia business report. let's begin with earnings in the united states

ranil wickremesinghe admitted there had been a serious breakdown within government. libya says it has agreed to extradite the brother of the suicide bomber who hit an ariana grande concert in manchester back to the uk. the recent fighting around tripoli, however, has put the process on hold. severe flood warnings have been issued in mozambique after cyclone kenneth — the second in as many months — hit the coast. there are fears that hundreds of thousands of people will need humanitarian aid the british and irish governments have announced that talks to break the political deadlock and restore the devolved government in stormont will resume, in the wake of the death ofjournalist lyra mckee. a group calling itself the new ira has admitted it was behind the attack. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. about a minute before the shots were fired that killed lyra mckee, three men are seen walking towards the rioting — one carrying a crate of petrol bombs. with him, a man wearing a camouflage face mask and what police think is the gunman. it's believed they're all

ranil wickremesinghe said he simply "wasn't in the loop" for a briefing on warnings of a possible terroristks before suicide bombers killed more than 250 people. the security operation across sri lanka has been continuing, with a large cache of bomb—making equipment found during a raid in the east of the country. clive myrie reports. in sand where nothing else will grow, wreaths blossom. no names yet, just numbers in this catholic graveyard. christian souls lost to suicide bombers on easter sunday. anil fernando was away working in cardiff when his sister died in the attack on the local church. he, like many, accuses the government of not doing enough to protect the public. if the prime minister was here in front of you now, what would you say? i don't want to talk this. you don't want to talk to him? no, that's it. thank you. can't explain it. i am so sad, that's the only thing i can say. thank you very much. we were given the chance to speak with the prime minister, who says he is grieving, too, despite public perceptions of a lack of empathy for those distressed in this nation's hour of

ranil wickremesinghe said he simply "wasn't in the loop" for a briefing on warnings of a possible terroristived two weeks before suicide bombers killed more than 250 people. the security operation across sri lanka meanwhile has been continuing, with a large cache of bomb—making equipment found during a raid in the east of the country. clive myrie has this report. in sand where nothing else will grow, wreaths blossom. no names yet, just numbers in this catholic graveyard. christian souls lost to suicide bombers on easter sunday. anil fernando was away working in cardiff when his sister died in the attack on the local church. he, like many, accuses the government of not doing enough to protect the public. if the prime minister was here in front of you now, what would you say? i don't want to talk about this. you don't want to talk to him? no, that's it. we were given the chance to speak with the prime minister, who says he is grieving, too. you have pain, but you know you have a job to do and you do thatjob. some people have to be here and handle the situation. on our travels in sri lanka, we

the prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, said the attacks would be fully investigated.ut the threat ten days ago but the prime minister wasn't informed. comedian volodymyr zelensky has won a landslide victory in ukraine's presidential election. full results are not yet in, but exit polls show he's won about 70 per cent of the vote. and this story is trending on bbc.com. queen elizabeth has celebrated her 93rd birthday. the world's longest reigning living monarch attended the traditional easter service at windsor castle, accompanied by members of her family, including prince william and prince harry.

as you saw in that report, the sri lankan prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, has been speaking aboutanslation: i see this as a serious situation aimed at destabilising the country and the economy. i strongly condemn this attack on religious institutions and hotels in the capital. joining me now is manisha gunasekera, sri lanka's high commissioner to the uk. thank you for coming in on this terrible day for sri lanka. what more does the government know about the attacks and what may be responsible? with regard to the multiple attacks carried out in greater colombo, i think at this moment we have information that seven suspects have been arrested and there is also information that these are related to suicide attacks, suicide bombings. security and colombo has been beefed up and also the government has declared a police emergency, so a police cu rfew. police emergency, so a police curfew. a curfew until 6am tomorrow, and all action is being taken by the government to conduct an unimpeded investigation to see who is responsible for these attacks, while of course ensuring the safety of th

but prime minister wickremesinghe and his office were not informed of this, so there is a lot of questionseen done, perhaps precautions could have been put in place, specifically at the luxury hotels. we are hearing from the hotels that they would have had their security and security personnel on high alert if some of this had been in place in effect. sharanjit leyl there. 0rganisers of the extinction rebellion protests are meeting this afternoon to decide whether the group will continue to disrupt central london for another week. police say more than 1,000 arrests have been made during climate change protests over the past seven days. 53 have been charged. dozens of firefighters are trying to control a moorland fire in marsden in west yorkshire. it's thought the blaze, which broke out last night, extends to over a square mile was started by a barbecue. it's the sixth fire in the area so far this year. sally hurst reports. this fire started last night and firefighters are very busy today trying to tackle it. we have just had, in the last hour, another flare—up on the ridge you can see behi

the prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, said the attacks would be fully investigated. but a government minister told the bbc that police were briefed about the threat ten days ago but the prime minister wasn't informed. comedian volodymyr zelensky has won a landslide victory in ukraine's presidential election. full results are not yet in, but exit polls show he's won about 70 per cent of the vote. and this story is trending on bbc.com. queen elizabeth has celebrated her 93rd birthday. the world's longest reigning living monarch attended the traditional easter service at windsor castle, accompanied by members of her family, including prince william and prince harry. now on bbc news it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. he is one of the giants of african and world literature, and he is also a passionate advocate and campaigner for human rights. my guest is the nobel literature laureate, nigerian professor wole soyinka. his country held a general election in february, which saw the incumbent muhammadu buhari re—elected as president. does wole soyinka believe that nigeria is

the sri lankan prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, has been speaking about the attacks.tion: i see this as a series situation aimed at destabilising the country and the economy. i strongly condemn this attack on religious institutions and hotels in the capital. the archbishop of colombo, cardinal ranjith, has condemned the attacks — comparing the perpetrators to animals. this morning, easter sunday, in two of my churches, saint anthony's church and saint sebastian's church, two bombs exploded, killing nearly 150 people. from the initial statistics that have come to me. so it is a very, very sad day for all of us. i wish to therefore express my deepest sorrow and sympathy to all those innocent families that have lost someone and also to those who have been injured and rendered destitute. i would like to call upon all to pray that all those who are injured may be healed soon and that all these families who have lost someone may be consoled. i condemn to the utmost of my capacity this act that has caused so much of death and suffering to the people. i would also like to ask

the prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, said the attacks would be fully investigated.n days ago, but the prime minister wasn't informed. the comedian, volodymyr zelensky, has won a landslide victory in ukraine's presidential election. full results are not yet in, but exit polls show he's won about 70% of the vote. and this story is trending on bbc.com: queen elizabeth has celebrated her 93rd birthday. the world's longest reigning living monarch attended the traditional easter service at windsor castle. you're watching bbc news. and the top story in the uk:

ranil wickremesinghe warned there's a possibility of further attacks by suspected radical islamists int more than 320 people dead. i've been speaking to shobhana xavier — she's an expert in global islam and assistant professor at queen's university's school of religion in canada. i asked her if she thought the so—called islamic state group was involved. as i've been following the news very closely and talking to people, it seems that is has made claims and taken responsibility for this. we haven't seen much further in terms of any of the individuals who are participating in these events. it's either claiming or, you know, pledging allegiance, as we have seen in other instances. so i think we are still waiting. but a lot of experts are thinking that because of the mass scale and the way it was organised, it is likely that there could have been individual actors that were localised that perhaps had some international or transnational connections, and we're waiting for more of that information to come out in the coming days. now, we know there are many communities here in sri lanka — of c

ranil wickremesinghe said he simply "wasn't in the loop" for a briefing on warnings of a possible terroristmyrie, says the public‘s trust in the government has been eroded. a number of people we have spoken to as we have been here over the past few days so they don't trust the government, they have a certain amount of faith in the security forces, they believe they are doing what they can to deal with the terror threat, but it is the politicians fiddling while the rome burns, not addressing their particular concerns. they have some in the muslim community fearful of christian reprisals, they don't feel safe, you have the christian committee saying they don't feel safe, is a real mess here on the ground, and that is because there is a vacuum at the top of the political leadership with different factions within the government vying for attention and vying for power. and thatis attention and vying for power. and that is why when that warning was given to the authorities here, two weeks before the attacks took place from indian intelligence officers, a very important strategic partner to —— str

the sri lankan prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, has been speaking about the attacks.as a serious situation aimed at destabilising the country and the economy. i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital. earlier i spoke to asela waidyalankara — he lives in colombo and can see the smoke from one of the blasts from his house. we were watching the news on the other explosions when we heard a loud explosion very close by. i climbed to my rooftop to see what was happening and i could see white belching smoke about 1 kilometre away from where i am. immediately afterwards, there were some helicopters that flew by and then we could hear ambulances and fire trucks coming. a little bit later, we saw another helicopter doing a flyby as well. what was the target of this seventh explosion? what we heard from local news sources it was a small hotel very close by to the national zoo. that seems to be the area of the seventh explosion. how are you getting your information? how easy is it, because i understand social media platforms ha

ranil wickremesinghe said he simply "wasn't in the loop" for a briefing on warnings of a possible terroristceived two weeks before suicide bombers killed more than 250 people. a number of people we've spoken to say they don't trust the government, they have a certain amount of faith and security forces and believe they are doing what they can to deal with the terror threat but it's a politician of the distance not having their ear to the ground and listening to the people and addressing their particular concerns. you've got people in the muslim community fearful of their appraisal after the easter sunday bombings. they don't feel safe, the christian community saying doesn't feel safe, it's a real mess on the ground and that's because as a vacuum at the top of the political leadership with different factions within the government vying for attention and vying for power. and that's why when that warning was given to the authorities here, two weeks before the attacks took base from indian intelligence officers, so from indian intelligence officers, $03 from indian intelligence officers, so a v

ranil wickremesinghe warned there's a possibility of further attacks by suspected radical islamists in than 320 people dead. for more on this i am joined now by shobhana xavier. she's an expert in global islam and assistant professor at queen's university's school of religion in canada. now, shobhana, we know the attacks we saw on easter sunday were very different from the kind of attacks that were waged during the civil war where it was ethnic strife essentially between tamil and senegalese groups. tell us what's changed. yes, i think the civil war when it ended in 2009, since then there has been relative stability, there has been relative stability, there has been tensions between some buddhist communities that tend to be more nationalistic and some anti— muslim sentiment, so we have seen a rise of that on the island, but we haven't historically seen an attack that has been this orchestrated, an attack that has targeted christian communities particularly, and though the majority of the centres that we re the majority of the centres that were attacked in columbo and batticaloa in the

this is something the prime minister ranil wickremesinghe has talked about.of telecommunications telling the bbc a few hours ago that there was some sort of warning issued before these attacks took place, the authorities knew as early as april 11 that such an attack would take place, but the prime minister and his team said they were not informed. there was a lack of communication between the two sides. we are getting more details emerging about what might have happened. investigators saying that seven suicide bombers may well have been involved in some of these blasts. we also getting reports from local sources that fbi and interpol might be flying out to try and help the sri lankan authorities to investigate this, to get to the front of exactly what happened. what is crucial is some ten years since the end of the civil war here in sri lanka, this is a country which hasn't seen this scale of attack for a decade, they were due to celebrate the end of that war next month in fa ct. the end of that war next month in fact. that was a war that ripped apart the cou

ranil wickremesinghe said he had considered resigning in the wake of the easter sunday bomb attack.sri lanka continued, with a large cache of bomb—making equipment found during a raid in the east of the country. clive myrie is in colombo. yes, there has been intense police and security force activity throughout the evening culminating ina huge throughout the evening culminating in a huge gun battle of the country where the authorities discovered a vast gun making and weapons making factory. now, this is the result of intense intelligence being passed to the authorities, resulting in these raids. so far, no one has been arrested at no one, we understand, is in detention but it is a win for the authorities. a beleaguered government that has been accused of ignoring terror warnings in the run—up to the easter sunday bombings. in sand where nothing else will grow, wreaths blossom. no names yet, just numbers in this catholic graveyard. christian souls lost to suicide bombers on easter sunday. anil fernando was away working in cardiff when his sister died in the attack on the local church

11 but there was a miscommunication and this was not communicated to the prime minister ranil wickremesinghen as a result of that. so there is a lot of anger about that. we're also getting sense ofa about that. we're also getting sense of a city still morning because we are getting more details of the people who were killed, the victims, including three children of the danish billionaire who owns a major sta ke danish billionaire who owns a major stake in the fashion chain asos. it is confirmed three of his kids are killed. the family are asking for privacy. a sri lankan celebrity chef and her daughter were also killed. five political party members from india who also sitting down to brea kfast india who also sitting down to breakfast in one of the luxury hotels. the regional repercussions of this, to give you an idea, two children from my son's school in singapore were killed along with one of their parents, the headmaster of the school has confirmed this morning. two teenagers arrested in connection with the murder ofjournalist lyra mckee in londonderry, have been released without charge.

but prime minister wickremesinghe and his office were not informed of this, so there is a lot of questionsve been done, perhaps precautions could have been put in place, specifically at the luxury hotels. we are hearing from the hotels that they would have had their security and security personnel on high alert if some of this had been in place in effect. climate change protesters, who've staged a week of demonstrations in london and edinburgh, will meet this afternoon to discuss the next phase of their campaign. more than a thousand people have been arrested since the protests began. 0ur correspondent caroline davies, is at marble arch and sent us this update. as you can see behind me here, the main stage is in relatively full swing and there are crowds that are gathering. earlier today, there was ceilidh dancing out on the streets here and we also heard from the green mp caroline lucas. when we arrived first thing this morning, it was relatively quiet, but people have been staying overnight in tents over here. there's about 100 or so of them on the grass. we also spoke to people who said

but ranil wickremesinghe said he simply "wasn't in the loop" for a briefing on warnings of a possibleore than 250 people. today the security operation across sri lanka continued, with a large cache of bomb—making equipment found during a raid in the east of the country. from colombo, clive myrie reports. in sand where nothing else will grow, wreaths blossom. no names yet — just numbers. in this catholic graveyard. christian souls lost to suicide bombers on easter sunday. anil fernando was away working in cardiff when his sister died in the attack on the local church. he, like many, accuses the government of not doing enough to protect the public. if the prime minister was here in front of you know, what would you say? i don't want to talk about this. you don't want to talk? no, that's it. we were given the chance to speak with the prime minister, who says he is grieving too. you know you have a job to do. and you do thatjob. some people have to be here and handle the situation. on our travels in sri lanka, we've come across so many who say their government has been a disaster, and we

. —— ranil wickremesinghe. security investigation, we know what happened but we are not sure who did it or why. we heard from the secretary of the cabinet earlier, talking about a small islamist radicalised group, unheard of really, very little known about them, they may have been linked to them, they may have been linked to the randomisation of some buddhist statues last year, which also led to a state of emergency then. —— vandalising of some buddhist statues. and some linked to an international network because it was such a coordinated attack that happened in the space of a few hours in colombo, other places in sri lanka. seven suicide bombers all local, we have been told, that somehow they had international connections. thank you very much. climate change protesters, who've staged a week of demonstrations in london and edinburgh, will meet this afternoon to discuss the next phase of their campaign. more than a thousand people have been arrested since the protests began. our correspondent caroline davies is

but prime minister wickremesinghe and his office were not informed of this, so there is a lot of questionsve been done, perhaps precautions could have been put in place, specifically at the luxury hotels. we are hearing from the hotels that they would have had their security and security personnel on high alert if some of this had been in place in effect. she was speaking to us earlier from colombo. she was speaking to us earlierfrom colombo. dozens of firefighters are trying to control a moorland fire in marsden in west yorkshire. it's thought the blaze, which broke out last night, extends to over a square mile was started by a barbecue. it's the sixth fire in the area so far this year. joining me now is our correspondent fiona trott. you can see that black scarring to your left. absolutely sell and down there on the left—hand side is easter gate, that is where a lot of families come. 0n bank holidays for picnicking. it is thought that this fire was started by a disposable barbecue. the fire started in that area. you can see this huge area, we think now around 400 hectares are now blacken

but ranil wickremesinghe said he simply "wasn't in the loop" for a briefing on warnings of a possiblety operation across sri lanka continued, with a large cache of bomb—making equipment found during a raid in the east of the country. from colombo, clive myrie reports. in sand, where nothing else will grow, wreaths blossom. no names yet — just numbers — in this catholic graveyard. christian souls lost to suicide bombers on easter sunday. anil fernando was away working in cardiff when his sister died in the attack on the local church. he, like many, accuses the government of not doing enough to protect the public. if the prime minister was here in front of you now, what would you say? i don't want to talk about this. you don't want to talk? no, that's it. we were given the chance to speak with the prime minister, who says he is grieving too. you have pain but you know you have a job to do, and you do thatjob. some people have to be here and handle the situation. on our travels in sri lanka, we've come across so many who say their government has been a disaster, and we wanted to put thei

lot of infighting between the president, maithripala sirisena, and the prime minister, ranil wickremesinghet in the fore when the minister was saying that we were not passed on information. some of the security forces, they come under the president. so there seems to be a divide between the president and the prime minister. you have, you know, two forms of government here. here in this country. you know, they wanted this and fighting to stop. in—fighting to stop. and some would even say that because of this somehow, this information was allowed to slip through. so there is a political blame game going on. that is not going to reflect well among the public here. emergency powers are now in place. this means the police and military can detain and interrogate suspects without any court orders. but sri lanka remains on edge. and with good reason. this happened in colombo today. yet another explosion near a church, just as a bomb squad was trying to defuse explosives in a vehicle used in the attacks. it's not clear if anyone was hurt in that incident. before we go any further, let's remind ourse

the prime minister ranil wickremesinghe said he was not invited to intelligence briefings so there isger and frustration among sri lankans that this has been allowed to happen. 0f course there is still a lot of grief and mourning in the three days after those easter sunday suicide attacks. we know of course that there was a day of mourning, massive funerals took place, and of course that toll, the number of people who died, that has risen now to 359 as some of the more than 500 people injured succumb to their injuries. so there is a great deal of anger and frustration — griefand great deal of anger and frustration — grief and mourning among so many people and also fear because the other thing we have heard from the press c0 nfe re nce other thing we have heard from the press conference yesterday is that there might be culprits out there, there might be culprits out there, there might be still be more terror attacks and they are still investigating. there were reports and concerns about a van filled with explosives that police have been looking for in colombo. so there is still this he

we have heard from the prime minister, ranil wickremesinghe, saying that the priority now is to get the are among the dead according to the ministry of foreign affa i rs according to the ministry of foreign affairs and this has impacted far and wide. i havejust learnt this morning that two children from my son's school in singapore were among those killed along with one of their pa rents. those killed along with one of their parents. i was on holiday here just a few days ago among the scores of others that have been hit by this. it was a festive time, the sinhalese and tamil new year had just been celebrated — it was a joyous mood. to come back here to cover this it is simply devastating to experience this terrible tragedy once again. thank you very much indeed for talking to us and for bringing a personal insight as well into what happened yesterday in colombo. first let's look at the front pages, which are dominated by the easter sunday explosions in sri lanka. the guardian quotes the country's muslim council, who said in a statement that "innocent lives" had been lost because of extr