they're living their lives, they don't have to worry because the police have no intention of following up and seeking to investigate them, and they continue to get away with murder. smart motorways — how the technology meant to keep drivers safe keeps on failing. a house with a door. and celebrating a century of schools broadcasts — we take a nostalgic journey through decades. and coming up on bbc news: the football association's investigating nottingham forest's post—match comments after the club accused the video assistant referee of being a luton fan following their loss at everton. good afternoon.

the prime minister says the first flight carrying asylum seekers to rwanda will leave in 10 to 12 weeks�* time "come what may". he says an airfield is on standby and charter planes are booked. rishi sunak had originally promised the first flight would take off this spring, but his timetable now suggests a delay until the summer. he says peers and mps will have to sit through the night tonight if necessary to pass the government's controversial rwanda legislation. our political correspondent, helen catt is in westminster. helen. new statistics out this morning show one of the reasons why rishi sunak might be so keen to get those flights off soon, last year parliament passed a law that said that some asylum cases could only be dealt with by being removed from the uk. but they can't go to rwanda because the supreme court ruled it

was unsafe and there are now nearly 52,000 asylum seekers whose claims simply can't be dealt with here. so what the government did to try and get around this last year was to sign a new treaty with rwanda and put this bill that is going back—and—forth in parliament which says that because of that treaty rewind is safe, in effect overruling the supreme court. so you can see why the government might want this to pass quickly. this morning rishi sunak was upping the pressure on the lords to back down. stopping small boat crossings is one of the prime minister's big pledges but parliament has been considering the bill he says will do it for months now. this morning he called a press conference to insist it will pass by the end of the day. enough is enou:h. pass by the end of the day. enough is enough- no _ pass by the end of the day. enough is enough. no more _ pass by the end of the day. enough is enough. no more prevarication, | pass by the end of the day. enough i is enough. no more prevarication, no more delay, parliament will sit there tonight and vote no matter how late it goes. no ifs, no buts of these flights are going to rwanda. but that means either the government or the lords backing down. and they

currently disagree over two things. the lords want an independent committee to say rwanda is sticking to the treaty and for there to be the ability to declare rwanda unsafe if needed. they also want a small boat migrants who have worked with uk armed forces to be exempt from being sent to rwanda. the prime minister has claimed labour is to blame for delays. labour says the government could have passed this bill soon and that it was mr sunak always looking for someone else to blame. and it's notjust labour peers were trying to make changes. crossbenchers who don't belong to any party are, too. we crossbenchers who don't belong to any party are. toe-— any party are, too. we are strong --eole any party are, too. we are strong people and — any party are, too. we are strong people and we — any party are, too. we are strong people and we will— any party are, too. we are strong people and we will keep - any party are, too. we are strong people and we will keep going . any party are, too. we are strong people and we will keep going as| people and we will keep going as long as is necessary. this is, in my view, the most inexpressible and insensitive day i've experienced in nearly a0 years in one or other house of parliament. nearly 40 years in one or other house of parliament.— house of parliament. other opposition _ house of parliament. other opposition parties - house of parliament. other opposition parties also - house of parliament. other| opposition parties also want amendments. —— magnix bookable. the conservatives could win this if all the conservatives turned up but fewer _ the conservatives turned up but fewer than half of their peers are turning _

fewer than half of their peers are turning up— fewer than half of their peers are turning up on voting because they don't _ turning up on voting because they don't like — turning up on voting because they don't like it either.— don't like it either. consistently all the way _ don't like it either. consistently all the way through _ don't like it either. consistently all the way through this - don't like it either. consistently all the way through this bill - don't like it either. consistently all the way through this bill we | all the way through this bill we have _ all the way through this bill we have backed _ all the way through this bill we have backed any _ all the way through this bill we have backed any amendmentsl all the way through this bill we l have backed any amendments to all the way through this bill we - have backed any amendments to try and mitigate — have backed any amendments to try and mitigate this— have backed any amendments to try and mitigate this dreadful— have backed any amendments to try and mitigate this dreadful bill, - have backed any amendments to try and mitigate this dreadful bill, we . and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose _ and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose it— and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose it in— and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose it in its— and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose it in its entirety— and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose it in its entirety and - and mitigate this dreadful bill, we oppose it in its entirety and we i oppose it in its entirety and we will put — oppose it in its entirety and we will put forward _ oppose it in its entirety and we will put forward amendments i oppose it in its entirety and we i will put forward amendments as oppose it in its entirety and we - will put forward amendments as we have done — will put forward amendments as we have done at— will put forward amendments as we have done at every— will put forward amendments as we have done at every stage _ will put forward amendments as we have done at every stage in - will put forward amendments as we have done at every stage in this - have done at every stage in this process — have done at every stage in this rocess. ~ , process. the prime minister said the first fli . ht process. the prime minister said the first flight would _ process. the prime minister said the first flight would go _ process. the prime minister said the first flight would go in _ process. the prime minister said the first flight would go in 10-12 - first flight would go in 10—12 weeks. first flight would go in 10-12 weeks. , . . , , first flight would go in 10-12 weeks. , .. , , ., first flight would go in 10-12 weeks. _. , weeks. the success of this deterrent doesnt weeks. the success of this deterrent doesn't rest — weeks. the success of this deterrent doesn't rest on _ weeks. the success of this deterrent doesn't rest on one _ weeks. the success of this deterrent doesn't rest on one flight _ weeks. the success of this deterrent doesn't rest on one flight alone. - weeks. the success of this deterrent doesn't rest on one flight alone. it . doesn't rest on one flight alone. it rests on the relentless continual process of successfully and permanently removing people to rwanda with a regular rhythm of multiple flights every month over the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped. that the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped.— the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped. that is aimed at critics in his — boats are stopped. that is aimed at critics in his own _ boats are stopped. that is aimed at critics in his own party _ boats are stopped. that is aimed at critics in his own party have - critics in his own party have suggested they have doubts the plan will work. the prime minister is insistent that it will. his hopes for delivering his promise depend on it. there are a couple of things to bearin it. there are a couple of things to bear in mind with all this talk of speed and delay. firstly, there have been some points in this process where the government itself could have sped things up a little bit. also, the lords are not

obliged to pass this bill in its current form. it wasn't in the conservative manifesto and i think that's why some of them feel that actually they feel more like they can dig in on this. in practice, they are not likely to take it to they are not likely to take it to the point where the entire bill gets scrapped. but i think certainly there is a feeling that they are likely to ask mps to think again at least once more. helen, thank you very much, helen catt, our political correspondent. the metropolitan police has apologised to the mother of murdered teenager stephen lawrence for breaking its promise to answer questions raised by a bbc investigation into his killing. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed to death in a racist attack in south london — 31 years ago today. last year the bbc named matthew white as the sixth suspect in the case. daniel de simone reports. the racist murder of stephen lawrence took place 31 years ago today at a south london bus stop. two of the original five prime

suspects were convicted almost 20 years after the murder. but the met�*s disastrous handling of the case means no—one else has been brought tojustice. last year, the bbc publicly identified a sixth suspect, matthew white, who died in 2021 and revealed multiple failures by the met to properly investigate him. now, stephen's mother, baroness doreen lawrence, gives her first interview about the new evidence and the met�*s response. we knew there was five, possibly six, and now we know that there was six and the one that's just passed away, he's probably the key one who probably caused steven's murder. who probably caused stephen's murder. and they did nothing about it. we showed not everything possible was done before the murder investigation was closed four years ago. baroness lawrence now has a personal message for the met commissioner, sir mark rowley. there's still lines of inquiries for them to follow up on. there's still three suspects out

there, and i'm sure there's witnesses that probably could help them, if they're interested. so i think that's what i'd like to see him do, is to instruct his team to follow up on the information, whatever is out there. because if you don't go and look, you're never going to find anything. the officer now responsible for the case, deputy assistant commissioner matt ward, promised baroness lawrence answers last year about the met�*s handling of the sixth suspect, but failed to provide them. he wrote to her injanuary to say he's ashamed and regretful, and then went silent. last week her lawyer wrote to the met commissioner himself to complain. now, in a statement to the bbc, sir mark says:

she says she won't settle for the met�*s failures. i don't think any mother would want to do that. and i'm no different. i think all mothers would want to make sure that they're there to support their child if something happened. it's to hold those accountable for what happened to that person. reporter: from the bbc. bleep three prime suspects, including brothers neil and jamie acourt, remain free. they've always denied murder. were you there when stephen lawrence was attacked? so would you like to see the investigation reopened? definitely so. she says the outstanding suspects are cheating justice. they're living their lives. they don't have to worry because the police have no intention of following up and seeking to investigate them. and they continue to get away with murder. daniel de simone, bbc news. well, the metropolitan police

are also facing pressure over their handling in london of pro—palestinian demonstrations. the met has twice had to apologise after an officer described the head of the campaign for anti—semitism as "openlyjewish". well, somejewish groups have been meeting the metropolitan police commissioner this morning. lucy manning is with us now. how did the meeting go? it was described to me by somebody who is there as positive. this all started from footage from one of the pro—palestinian demonstrations when the chief executive of the campaign against antisemitism tried to cross the road, he was wearing a head covering and as you say in a police officer told him we looked quite openlyjewish and therefore couldn't cross. in widerfootage, the officer does agree that he will escort him across the road but the met apologised for what happened and then they had to apologise for their apology because they appeared to say

people who were opposed to the demonstrations were being provocative. some of the jewish community organisations, not the campaign against antisemitism, but others met with the commissioner today and others and they said it was a good meeting, that the met said they would take more account of the concerns of the jewish community, pay more attention to what their seniorjewish officers and telling them, be more culturally sensitive. but these jewish groups, like the campaign for anti—semitism, they're not calling for sir mark rowley to resign, but they are asking the police and the government to reduce the number of pro—palestinian demonstrations. the prime minister today said he still had confidence in sir mark rowley, but the met had to work harder to rebuild the trust of the jewish community. rebuild the trust of the jewish community-— rebuild the trust of the jewish communi . , ., ~' ,, , community. lucy, thank you very much indeed. the train drivers union aslef has announced another wave of rolling strikes and an overtime ban in its long—running pay dispute. disruption is expected from monday

6th may to saturday 11th may. the dispute has been deadlocked since aslef rejected the latest offer in april. in the last few minutes, the metropolitan police have charged two men with allegedly spying for china. christopher berry, who's 32, and christopher cash, who's 29, are accused of breaching the official secrets act. they will appear in court on friday when hamas fighters crossed into southern israel on 7th october, it was seen as israel's 9/11 — an attack the country's much vaunted intelligence agencies had completely failed to anticipate. well, now the head of israeli military intelligence, aharon haliva, has resigned — the first senior israeli official to step down over the attack in which 1,200 people were killed and hundreds more taken hostage. in his resignation letter he said he carries that black day with him day after day, night after night. our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports,

and a warning you may find some details of her piece distressing. the ferocious hamas attacks of 7th october were a huge shock to israel and the rest of the world. it soon became clear that there were glaring failures by israeli military and security leaders that could have prevented or limited the impact of the deadliest assault in the country's history. now major general aharon haliva is the highest ranking israeli official to have resigned as a result. the head of intelligence said his division hadn't lived up to the task it was untested with. the task it was untrusted with. he wrote, "i carry that black day with me ever since." for six months, as israel has waged its most intense ever war in gaza, targeting hamas, questions of accountability have largely been set aside. but public frustration has been growing with

renewed anti—government protests calling on the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to take his share of responsibility and resign. this major general departurecould lead to more departures and also pressure on benjamin netanyahu. he has sought to deflect blame on to security chiefs a full inquiry should wait until the war. in southern gaza, the numbers killed by israel's devastating offensive is now becoming clearer. since israeli troops withdrew from khan younis, seen as a stronghold of hamas earlier this month, dozens of bodies have been discovered in mass graves in the grounds of nasser hospital. the israeli military is yet to comment. one woman found her husband's remains. translation: we are following the news so that we _ could come, fetch the bodies and bury them. we found osama's body but not that of his brother mohammed. the fallout from 7th october and the fighting it triggered

continues to be deeply felt, with many questions about what happened before and since still unanswered. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. china has been hit by heavy rains, with flooding and landslides in parts of the country. 11 people have been reported missing and more than 60,000 have been evacuated from their homes in guangdong province, with a warning that river levels there could hit a once in a century peak. our china correspondent laura bicker reports. some almost managed to sleep through their rescue, cradled from the worst of the rising floodwaters. but others cried for help as their streets were submerged. rescuers had to navigate their boats through a flooded urban landscape. tens of thousands of people were evacuated across the province. delivery drivers found themselves stranded,

their chosen route disappearing in the deluge. roads became dangerous, fast—flowing rivers. and bridges couldn't withstand the force of the water. huang filmed as the floods crept closer to his home. "it was scary," he said. "this is how high the water came," he told the bbc in a video call. several provinces stayed on alert as water levels rose over the weekend, drowning dozens of rice paddies. guangdong is used to summer floods, but unusually powerful storms also brought hail and heavy rain, turning rivers into raging torrents. "the rainfall�*s started getting heavier in the last two years," he said. "in the past, the floods rarely rose beyond this point."

weather events in china have become more intense and unpredictable due to global warming. in guangdong, the clean—up can begin. officials will continue to monitor water levels in the hope that for now, the worst has passed. laura baker, bbc news, beijing. the time is 1.17. our top story this afternoon: the prime minister says the first flight carrying asylum seekers to rwanda will leave this summer in 10 to 12 weeks' time. still to come, the social media platforms selling deadly opioids which have been linked to 100 deaths across the uk. coming up on bbc news: the latest from the world snooker championship at the crucible — where the four—time champion mark selby is in danger of a shock first—round exit at the hands of debutantjoe o'connor.

the bbc has discovered alarming evidence about the safety of so—called smart motorways, which is when the hard shoulder is opened to traffic to increase capacity. data obtained by the panorama programme has revealed that in the last two years, equipment on smart motorways was hit by hundreds of power cuts, meaning there were times when signals, cameras and radar detection systems weren't working for days at a time. national highways says smart motorways are still the safest roads in britain. richard bilton reports. break down on a smart motorway and you could be in trouble. there are emergency lay—bys, is the government is building more, but if you can't make it, you're trapped in a live lane. what's supposed to keep you safe is technology — cameras, radar and signals — but it can't help you if it's not working. we found that on a regular basis,

much of the safety equipment just doesn't work. either no power or the kit itself is broken. so no vehicle detection, no cameras. it means the motorway�*s not smart any more and you're on your own. we put in a freedom of information request and found that betweenjune 2022 and february this year, power was lost on the smart motorway network 397 times. well, if we've got to the point where we can't necessarily rely on the cameras to be in the right position, we can't necessarily rely on the radar or the signs themselves or the power outages. you know, what exactly are we left with to rely on as motorists when we're in quite a high—risk situation on a smart motorway in the first place? some of the details are staggering. lastjuly, there were no safety devices working for nearly five days on a section of the m6. in february, there were no signals, signs, sensors or cameras

on one stretch of the m27 for more than a day. also in we spoke to someone inside national highways. he works on smart motorways and he says he no longer trusts the kit. happens all the time. sometimes it's faulty, sometimes they're repairing something and they'll turn it off. do you trust the radar? no. why? because i've seen it fail too many times. national highways says safety is its highest priority and there are well—rehearsed contingency plans to deal with power outages. our data shows they are needed. a network with hundreds of dangerous failures. richard bilton, bbc news. panorama's smart motorways: when technology fails is on bbc

iplayer now and on bbc one at 8pm tonight. a court in new york will begin hearing opening arguments this afternoon in the trial of donald trump for falsifying business records. the former us president is accused of covering up hush money payments to a porn star, which he denies. the death has been announced of the us journalist terry anderson, who was held by kidnappers for nearly seven years during lebanon's civil war. he was 76. terry anderson was chief middle east correspondent for the associated press news agency when he was abducted in beirut in 1985. he died at his home in new york following complications from heart surgery. a bbc investigation has found thousands of social media posts offering to sell deadly drugs known as nitazenes across major platforms, including x and the music platform soundcloud. the synthetic drugs have been linked

to a hundred deaths in the uk since june last year. colin campbell reports. 21—year—old southampton musician dylan rocha died after unknowingly taking synthetic opioids called nitazenes that were hidden in heroin. just really wanted to cuddle him, put my head on his chest, but really scared, because i didn't want my head on his chest because his heart wasn't beating any more. we've discovered the super—strength man—made drugs linked to more than 100 uk deaths are being openly advertised by chinese suppliers on major social media sites. on x, formerly twitter, we found more than 700 adverts for nitazenes. on the music sharing platform soundcloud, we found almost 3,000. finding adverts on this scale, hundreds, thousands of adverts, it is horrifying, with potentially a very significant risk to human life. posing as a drug dealer, we contacted suppliers in china and received a flood of offers,

videos of the labs where the drugs are supposedly made, and bags of powder ready to be shipped. do you have many customers from soundcloud? we contacted 35 suppliers. 30 said they could post nitazenes to the uk. you promise it is safe? after we contacted soundcloud, they removed all the posts. they say they were being targeted by bad actors for the purpose

of selling or trading illegal drugs. they say they use staff and software to moderate posts and promised to take every possible action to tackle the worldwide epidemic of drug trafficking. after contacting x, hundreds of posts were removed, but a month later, many remained on the platform. we asked if a failure to adequately moderate had allowed posts to remain online while the global trade of these dangerous drugs flourishes. they did not respond. the bbc didn't buy any nitazenes, and contacted all suppliers to ask why they were willing to provide illegal and dangerous products. only six responded, saying they'd never sent the drug to the uk and didn't know it was illegal here. the home office say amounts reaching the uk remain low and a recent tightening of the law means suppliers can now face life in prison. colin campbell, bbc news. you may remember these extraordinary

scenes back injanuary, when a tv station in ecuador was taken over by masked gunmen during a live broadcast. at the same time, powerful drug cartels set off explosions in several cities and there was widespread rioting inside ecuador�*s prisons. well now, in a referendum, ecuadoreans have voted in favour of letting troops patrol the streets to bolster security after a surge in gang violence. our south america correspondent ione wells sent this report from the capital, quito. ecuador�*s capital, quito, is bursting with life. but among the songs and smiles, clues that this is now the continent's most violent country. the bloodshed at this youth centre is just a sport. but on the streets, many young people are losing their lives at the hands of violent drug cartels. carmen's brother was killed by a gang member who wanted money when he wasjust 19. translation: the gang threatened us i at our house throwing stones at us .

because the murder occurred next to my son. they said if the gang member goes to the prison, my son would be the next person to die. i think militarising the country is not the solution. instead of investing that, they should invest in the youth. a cocaine dealer known as el gato illustrates her point. translation: | started selling - and smoking when i was 14 years old. we went through financial problems. my mother was always working and never there for me. i was alone in the house, crying and screaming for my mom. then i met my friends — bad friends who introduced me to drugs. i believe that the country's economic crisis is what led to so much crime. surprisingly, he backed more security measures, saying he wanted a way out of this life and addiction. this vote was called in response to scenes like these — armed men holding a tv station hostage, prison riots, mass killings and kidnappings.

this led to a state of emergency where the military were brought in to fight gangs. the government hopes the result gives it a mandate for this to continue. translation: we need security. get rid of narco trafficking - and criminality to bring peace to this country. i'm voting no, because militarising ecuador won't be beneficial for ecuadorians. for example, during the protests, they brought out the military and that wasn't against narco traffickers, but against the people. this vote to increase police and military powers has had a mixed reaction here. those who have been victims of police brutality tell me they worry it could lead to more human rights abuses. but some of those who voted yes told me they think it could give them back another right — the right to go about their daily lives without a constant fear of violence. most people agree on one thing. they all want this nation to go back to being the relatively peaceful haven it once was, even if many think that might take a miracle. ione wells, bbc news, in quito.

it's a hundred years this month since the first bbc schools broadcast was aired, with the idea of educating children at home. over the last century, bbc education has evolved from radio programmes to interactive websites like bitesize, which offered lessons during lockdown. our reporter ricky boleto looks back. a house...with a door...windows, one... for many, this is the sound of their childhood. ready to play? what's the day? it's monday. we found your very first appearance on play school. it's even got the old clapperboard there at the front. oh, my goodness me. have a look at that. and this is floella. hello. one of play school's best—loved presenters, baroness floella benjamin,

first appeared in 1976. don't you look smart, big ted? so do you, little ted. it was terribly important that education should be fun, education should be fulfilling, education should be exciting. and that's what we used to do for the children — make them feel excited about learning. but in the early days, it was quite different. certainly not as colourful. in 1957, bbc television for schools began. the first of this afternoon's programmes for schools and colleges follows in one minute. and remember this voice? hello, word watchers. ha—ha! - i'm wordy. a—ha! oo—hoo! a—ha! i who are you? where did you spring from? i'm mr watch word, the word watcher. i think after a very short space of time, we realised that wordy was extremely popular with the children because of the feedback from the teachers and all the schools. but the most important

thing was that not only were they being entertained, but they were learning. the way that young people and children get their educational content from the bbc has definitely evolved with the times. as we race into the �*90s, technology transforms bbc education. bitesize, the online learning portal for young people, is launched. we've got a little page here. there we are. the gcse bitesize revision... becoming even more relevant during the covid—19 pandemic, as schools across the uk closed. the site attracted almost four million weekly users. this is the bbc light programme. from gathering around the wireless to live lesson streaming on smart boards, a lot has changed in the last 100 years. and it's time for us to go now. until tomorrow, bye—bye. ricky boleto, bbc news. some lovely memories. time for a look at the weather.

here's stav danaos. thanks very much, ben. good afternoon. we enjoyed some good, dry, much—needed dry weather this weekend. it was chilly, really cool for the time of year, for the rest of this week, we hold onto that chilly feeling air, our air source coming down from the north, mostly dry, but there will be outbreaks of rain. the best of sunshine towards the west. we hold onto this northerly airflow for the next few days, for most of this week, and the mildest air will stay in the atlantic. this is because we have this area of high pressure which has retreated westwards, meaning we are dragging down northerly winds. these weather fronts across the country today have brought some patchy rain. you can see the rain on the radar satellite here. affecting north—east of england, through the midlands and down into south—west and central areas. the best of sunshine across more south—eastern areas and across western scotland and northern ireland, where we will continue to see the driest of the weather and the best of the sunshine if any. we

held onto grey, damp weather through