in colombo and the rest of the country and there's a such and rescue operation going on by i.d.f. holiday season all these motions sites that is the only information which the f.b.i. being at the moment the longest christian community was in particularly hard by these bombings during his easter mass in the vatican pope francis condemned the violence let's listen in. but it's still going to be said. in the piece is a good as i had with sadness the news of the horrendous attack which on easter sunday . and pain to some churches and other places in sri lanka. the seed of money. i would like to express my heart felt closeness to the christian community and. which was attacked while gathered in prayer. and to all victims of such a cruel act of violence. when i entrust to the lord. who so tragically died and i pray for the wounded and all those who are suffering because of this dramatic event we've been to. let's get back to jamil announcement in covering the story on the ground. we've heard about explosions at churches and hotels in residential areas that this attack have a clear targe

dozens were killed here at st anthony's shrine in colombo. this amateur video is believed to show the moment when the explosion occurred. translation: the moment when the explosion occurred. translationzlj the moment when the explosion occurred. translation: i heard the explosion and then the roof fell on us. explosion and then the roof fell on us. we took the children and ran out from the rear door but when i came to the hospital, i saw my brother—in—law and son on the ground. at around the same time an explosion took place here, in this catholic dominated town just north of the capital colombo at a church which isjust down of the capital colombo at a church which is just down this street. we are not allowed to go past this point right now because of security reasons but this is believed to have been the deadliest of all the bombings. a church in eastern sri la nka bombings. a church in eastern sri lanka was also attacked. families rushed to hospital is looking for loved ones. for hundreds, that search ended in heartbreak. sri la nka sea

from colombo thank you very much. let me bring you up to speed on the story we've been following for you this hour more than one hundred thirty people have been killed and four hundred injured in explosions of churches and hotels in sri lanka more blasts have been reported in the hours after an initial wave of attacks the first six explosions hit colombo as well as the town of not going well and in the east of the country a major church in colombo was one of the buildings hit other targets were five star hotels police have ordered an immediate curfew and shut down access to social media and messaging services. for watching t w news live from berlin coming up next world stories that week and reports from denver you can always get the latest news on our website at www dot com. thanks for watching. earth. forcing. those stories of creative people into projects around the world. to protect the climate and green energy solutions for a. series of global three goals and on d w.

the defense minister blamed religious extremists will get the latest from the sri lankan capital colombo. i would like to express my heartfelt closeness to the christian community attacked while gathering prayer. victims for such a cruel violence. at the vatican this easter sunday adding his voice to of course of condemnation. from world leaders reacting to the attacks also coming up. next president. today's runoff election incumbent president. faces. a comedian he played a president on television it's now a good. i'm michael okuda thanks for joining us sri lanka's defense minister says police have arrested seven suspects believed to be linked to the wave of bombings that killed at least two hundred seven people the first seven blasts targeted churches and luxury hotels in and around the capital colombo a church in the eastern town of but a cologne was also one of the suspects was arrested on the outskirts of colombo at the scene of an eight explosion that killed three police as a tempted to search the house most of the casualties came from the church bombings where worshipers were celeb

outside colombo and as you can see they're sort of. doing it in all the night. behind. you know and i. think christian big celebration as well as the the the size of religious worship one of the most popular sites and anthony's church which has also come to the. site of the ship in columbus and so i was. sent off. actually test. that incident last thing the shangri-la out back to back i mean it's a box. on a thirty five and then there was another one. with many victims for him and. this did it targeted the back to say we're on the third floor. and. you could see was actually the military responded immediately to get the ship that acts of the bakery headquarters right next to the shangri-la and while the question was going on and the people was using the stabbing to come out usually was actually moving inside to assist and help and so many. was that my parents were the victims and they said they foster mancow and. it's actually. no because you have to be exact i'm sure. where things are media reports that authorities man. identified. bo

the call just in colombo that we're hearing all this in the sort of heart of colombo very much the kind of tourists of me just five star hotels we have the shangri-la hotels a hotel called the kings breeze and what are called. the cinnamon grande now there have been on local television pictures of some of the way you find a lot of the foreign visitors the guests being ma sure the around the gathering point we've gone through all. of the casualties over this two year old the destruction of those just in the shows sort of reports and pictures that they're seen this show that the tourists seem to be far worse off for the attack than the what does but like i said at the speed until we see each of those occasions we don't know but obviously a disturbing factor because obviously with tourists and visitors having implications for the future in terms of the sri lanka economy as well that very much the heart of colombo down in the church than anthony's church or literally a kilometer or two away from these leading five star hotels or within a very close radius of each other down and. gumble expl

among the buildings hit the five star shangri-la hotel in colombo. many had been enjoying a special easter breakfast when the blast went off. it was one of several luxury hotels and a church targeted in the capital. another blast happened at a church in the town of mocambo north of the capital more than ninety people died here. then shortly afterwards the zion church in the eastern town of butter canola was devastated by another device. it's the worst act of violence in ten years since the end of the country's civil war the government has blamed truly just extremists and has warned of serious consequences for the nation. if you do the math i see this as a serious situation as destabilizing the country and the economy i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital and the back. in the aftermath of the carnage a number have arrests have been made and a curfew imposed on the government is back to hunt down all the perpetrators i let's cross over now to jamila national again editor of news in asia and journa

colombo was basically empty. we are quite vigilant but all the people and communities being vigilant, calm and patient and still then there are requests coming up, as the red cross, we are working with people who have been missing so we are looking at that today and now we will be working with people who have been affected had by providing them with support and looking at their longer term needs. things have been not very clear so we are just looking at how we are going forward really with their longer term needs. because we don't know who is for this attack but briefly, what would you say people in sri lanka need at the moment? what is the biggest need oi’ the moment? what is the biggest need or concern going forward? the moment? what is the biggest need or concern going forward ?|j the moment? what is the biggest need or concern going forward? i think going forward, i think my request and our request would be to be calm, quiet and patient. for the next couple of days. that's the biggest, be patient and be cal

is d w news live from berlin and sri lanka a wave of bombings has churches and hotels in the capital colombo and other locations more than one hundred eighty five people have been killed and hundreds more injured police believe suicide bombers carried out at least two of the attacks will get the latest from a witness at one of the targeted also coming up at a comic actor become ukraine's the next president voting stations are open in today's runoff election incumbent president petro poroshenko faces below the mirrors the lengthy a comedian who played a president on television now can you do it for real. i'm nichelle for life thanks for joining us more than one hundred eighty five people have been killed and some four hundred injured in explosions at churches and hotels and sri lanka in the last few minutes reports have come in of another blast close to the capital colombo previously six explosions have been reported in colombo as well as the town of negaunee bo and bus a coloe and the east of the country the earlier explosions went off simultaneously a church in colombo was one of the buildi

yogita limaye, bbc news, colombo. as we've heard, 8 people have been arrested, but we still don't know who was behind the attacks. sri lanka has seen a decade of relative calm since the brutal civil war which ended in may 2009. 0ur diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley looks at what might have led to these attacks. sri lanka's no stranger to violence, to civilian suffering, but this is completely different to anything it's seen before. christians now mourning en masse, after they'd come together to celebrate and pray. for almost three decades, the country was at war — a civil war between the government and tamil tigers, that killed tens of thousands of people. but ten years ago, that conflict came to an end and since then it's enjoyed a relative calm. this is how sri lanka would like to be known — for its beautiful beaches. tourism is vital to its economy, but there have been simmering political and intercommunal tensions. last year, buddhist mobs attacked muslim properties, and christians too have complained o

then they had working in colombo and i lodged. this and we identified it in a more case we had asked in the case of since her arrest since judging the gumball . it was much easier because most of the from the same village except a few people who came from i would say. three when they came into the church and they were. able to i need to fight him you enjoy but in the case of the. student there are some bodies that we have not been able to identify and we do know the hospital. so that was the situation we could go to the cash would use and in the control of those who. soft. we have made a good relationships with the thought of the forty legions between us we have. one fish in those bodies that meet and discuss issues. and have an understanding of the sort of such problems and the east danger if you doubt isis so because of that. we have had. quite easy for us to check the situation on peace and. all of those tensions with iran and the nation state is the community of us feeling a little bit nervous and. seemingly watery about the.

one is in technical colombo one he's in the outskirts and. so when these attacks did happen to me get the url my face must be all was that these attacks were targeting the police. in china. that's been just reading the shock than i've time back taxes sakharov put that several flingers have been deployed at that time after going that with two more attacks one of the did business in colombo and i'm not saying the housing complex all trying kumble one of the more thieves and they were exactly making it stated to be. three of the attacks were on churches have christians felt under threat prior to this particular event. the scene last sunday on palm sunday a. rabbit for the methodist church in on the lavatory in the central park attacked by a no clue who. had gone in and had a bash. and become one month had to come back then we need getting rest again. that was our same intensity in the contrary it wasn't that attack the pick me. x. on minority communities on and off so that the best promise on the attack was no surprise but what happened today ca

among the buildings hit the five star shangri-la hotel in colombo. many had been enjoying a special easter break first when the blast went off. it was one of several luxury hotels and a church targeted in the capital. another blast happened at a church in the town of mocambo north of the capital more than ninety people died here. then shortly afterwards the zion church in the eastern town of batticaloa was devastated by another device. it's the worst act of violence in ten years since the end of the country's civil war the government has blamed truly just extremists and has warned of serious consequences for the nation. i see this as a serious situation as destabilizing the country and the economy i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital back. in the aftermath of the carnage a number have arrests have been made and a curfew imposed on the government is back to hunt down all the perpetrators i crossing over now to jamila nash maiden editor of news in asia and journalist in colombo sri lanka do we ha

it just explain the scene in colombo right now. you ultimately could not make your way there in downtown colombo. >> unfortunately, i was going to meet with some of your colleagues at a location near one of the sites which was attacked yesterday, just outside of colombo, saint anthony's church. your colleagues are there and i was on myy w w when the e second explosion happened. access to that area has been restricted and no one can actually go in. , locacaln local tv media, shows there was ann explicit device they found -- explosive device they found. as i said at the outset, it is a very dynamic s situation on the ground. curfew was enforced yesterday. it was lifted in the mororning. they n now have announced curfew will be imposed again in a a few hours time. so between curfew and emergegeny captures somein, of the security concerns. but the large issue, concerns as to how those would be handled and whether it would be a measured response or whether this would lead to fururther pac and confusion. amy: bhavani fonseka, thank you f

yogita limaye, bbc news, colombo. yogita limaye with that report from colombo, and we'll be hearing more from her in just a few minutes here on newsday. a few hours after the attack, a government minister, harin fernando, told my colleague martin stanford, that sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack 10 days ago, but the prime minister wasn't informed. the report from the ministry investigation department, the security commission, had these particular details. however it was not dealt properly and the pm was not informed. as you are aware, the law and order minister is the president, so therefore there was a problem of miscommunication, and this was raised by the cabinet ministers how this particular report was not taken seriously. the million—dollar question was, this was sent on the 11th of april and no proper government official actually had their hands on it. unfortunately, none of the government members of the cabinet are in the security council like the president. they are hoping to meet t

london colombo and london they got. there have been nor the ship statement regarding explosions and i said what is in colombo. and just bring us up to date as she can if you can about the casualty figures we were hearing that it was something in the region of about one hundred sixty yes or by three point eight five. that's the number of dead but in terms of the number of injured what are you hearing that's not the exact number but up to now it's all looking to. and where they taking i mean obviously if there are six different locations or quite a number of people who are injured and are casualties where are they talking about by up in the kitchens are incredibly sore all the injured people are being taken to a number national hospital. yes and what about what about the hotels that reportedly have been attacked as well do we know when exactly does entertains that you're doing what they're still. sorry as she could have said that again. there have been touch it even her tears that still and i just got reports from. being

yogita limaye, bbc news, colombo. yogita limaye with that report from colombo, and we'll be hearing more from her in just a few minutes here on newsday. a few hours after the attack, a government minister, harin fernando, told my colleague martin stanford that sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack 10 days ago but the prime minister wasn't informed. the report from the ministry investigation department, the security commission, had this political details. as you are aware, the law and order minister is the president, so therefore there was a problem of miscommunication, and this was raised by the cabinet ministers how this particular report was not taken seriously. the million—dollar question was, this was sent on the 11th of april and no proper government official actually had their hands on it. u nfortu nately, had their hands on it. unfortunately, none of the government members of the cabinet have security clearance like the president. they are hoping to meet the president tomorrow to see ho

as well as the town of now gone bow and in the east of the country a major church in colombo was one of the buildings hit other targets were five star hotels police ordered an immediate curfew and shut down access to social media and messaging service. sri lanka's prime minister has convened his top military officials in an emergency meeting to coordinate a response to the blasts he didn't stay attacks on twitter posting i strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today and call upon all sri lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation the government is taking immediate steps to contain the situation. for more details on this developing story i'm joined now by a song kara head of the institute of national security studies in colombo sri lanka

in colombo all of these things obviously part of the same sort of concerted attack and people just you know hunkering down urged not to flock to these places when within the last hour we've heard of yet another explosion the seventh explosion this time in a hotel or an eatery just near the national zoological gardens obviously a sunday a holiday easter weekend a popular deal. for families to visit the zoo and quite obviously the hotel opposite must have been doing brisk business so where we're not sure yet about further detail but by all reports that we're hearing potential to more fatalities there and more injured messenger the now the numbers are rising both casualties and the death toll how are the hospitals they're coping with all this. the hospital mechanism here is used to this they've been through the drill after twenty five years of civil war at a time when we used to have bomb blast suicide bomb attacks going off every day multiple blast sometimes on certain days this was during the civil war against a time of tigers but for the last ten years come april it's ten years since t

ina suburb colombo has confirmed these reports. in a suburb of colombo, another explosion went off. he shared some photos on his twitter account, you could see the devastation. we understand there are two casualties. we understand they were police officers. i am we understand they were police officers. iam not we understand they were police officers. i am not sure but that is what we are hearing, there are two casualties. it was in a hotel, opposite the zoo there we are told. 0bviously, sri lanka and a heightened state of alert as weird news of another explosion. another statement from the office of the prime minister seeing nine foreigners. —— nine foreigners have been injured, no foreigners had been injured during the civil war. the view of the government is that foreigners were the target. yes, indeed, in many senses there were two groups. you have the three attacks or explosions at the church this morning during easter service, before nine o'clock when the churches were packed with worshippers. that appears to be religiously targeted on christians. you also have three luxury

there is a protest in colombo on friday by the methodist church in colombo about those minor attacks that were taking place, but there seems to be something major, it seems to be something major, it seems to be co—ordinated and well—planned. it is early to say what is really behind it, but i think we will be getting to know very soon think we will be getting to know very soon who is really behind these things. thank you so much, thank you for bringing us up—to—date. 0f course, we are reporting there are several injured, the latest reports is 160 injured. there are reports from the local hospital that at least 25 dead bodies have been admitted there. he was standing outside saint anthony's church, and the devastation is catastrophic. we will keep you up—to—date. let's look at the papers. the mail on sunday leads on details of a survey which suggests that a0 per cent of conservative councillors are planning to vote for nigel farage's brexit party in next month's european elections, in protest over theresa may's failure to conclude the uk's exit from the eu. the brexit party

with us on al-jazeera well our correspondent in the nelson mandela's joins us now on the line from colombo now lots of developments and a very fast moving story talk a story the latest there details that you're hearing on the ground. you know. our little girl. actually sometimes. on. the. apology is there and it appears that mean elsin and as his line is is very bad we'll be coming back to her in a moment but for now let's speak to the news out harris chandra who's on the line also from colombo and she was there and witnessed the attack at the shangri-la hotel thanks for being with us on al-jazeera please tell us what you're seeing now and what you saw earlier this morning. so there's a lot of tonic i would suppose to be trying to line the board meeting i went and. there were bodies that were. people richard you've got you in the building up because of what appears to be an explosion at the sea. duty to spend a lot of time there was just a lot of chaos what ended up happening was i got dropped off a second location which was a hotel nearby which was the cinnamon grande and while i was ther

among the buildings hit the five star shangri-la hotel in colombo. many had been enjoying a special easter breakfast when the blast went off. it was one of several luxury hotels and a church targeted in the capital. another blast happened at a church in the town of the combo north of the capital more than ninety people died here. then shortly afterwards the zion church in the eastern town of butter canola was devastated by another device. it's the worst act of violence in ten years since the end of the country's civil war the government has blamed religious extremists and has warned of serious consequences for the nation. i see this as a serious situation as destabilizing the country and the economy i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital back. in the aftermath of the carnage a number have arrests have been made and a curfew imposed on the government is back to hunt down all the perpetrators. joining us now by phone jamila national an editor of news in asia and journalists in colombo sri lanka jam

among the buildings hit the five star shangri-la hotel in colombo. many had been enjoying a special easter break first when the blast went off. it was one of several luxury hotels and a church targeted in the capital. another blast happened at a church in the town of the combo north of the capital more than ninety people died here. then shortly afterwards the zion church in the eastern town of batticaloa was devastated by another device. it's the worst act of violence in ten years since the end of the country's civil war the government has blamed truly just extremists and has warned of serious consequences for the nation. i see this as a serious situation as destabilizing the country and the economy i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital back. in the aftermath of the carnage a number have arrests have been made and a curfew imposed on the government is back to hunt down all the perpetrators i let's get the latest now from sri lanka with jamil and us modine editor of news in asia and she is a jour

st anthony's shrine in colombo. this is where people had gathered to pray on easter sunday when a bomb exploded. a string of attacks ripped through the country within minutes of each other. six bombs targeted separate churches and hotels in colombo. two other explosions hit churches in negombo and batticaloa. translation: i heard the explosion and then the roof fell on us. we took the children and ran out from the rear door but when i came to the hospital, i saw my brother—in—law and son on the ground. hundreds rushed to hospitals looking for loved ones. for many, their search ended in heartbreak. one of our priorities is also looking into the safety of uk nationals who have visited sri lanka. do you know how many uk nationals have been caught up in this? as of now i think there is information on eight nationals who have lost their lives. it's not yet clear who is behind the attacks. security forces have raided houses and a number of people have been arrested. but now it's claimed there were warnings of the atta

journalist bring us the latest from colombo thank you very much thank you. france is honoring the victims of the sri lankan attacks by switching off the lights of the eiffel tower the landmark structure only shown to mouse in paris is of course known around the world and this was the scene just moments ago in the city of life that glowing tower which french government flicked the switch as a gesture of mourning and solidarity for those affected by the tree duncan. well exit polls from ukraine's presidential election points to a landslide victory for the comedian of a lot of mayors a lenski those polls show the challenger has won comfortably with over seventy percent of the vote that's well ahead of incumbent petro poroshenko who's already conceded defeat and congratulated the political novice on his big win. oh wow. he went from playing a president on t.v. to being one in real life this is the moment lot of years olinsky the new president elect of ukraine found out he had won on the world stage he's just the latest political novice with an affection for soci

the bbc‘s azzam ameen is in colombo, and we can speak to him now. they might, just talk us through the timeline of these explosions. around 845 local time, that is when we heard about the first attack that took place in anthony's church in colombo, one of the major churches. i went there about half an hour after that attack, it was utterly devastating, that were dead bodies all over. around 30 people were dead inside the church. after only two, three hours, they were allowed to ta ke three hours, they were allowed to take those bodies out because of suspected another explosive device inside. from that, we have heard of around eight attacks today, the last onejust one hour ago in around eight attacks today, the last one just one hour ago in another suburb area. police have arrested four people and that have been, we had no has been a conversation with the suspects, so the police have gone there on each tip and have arrested a few people. that is the first artists that have taken place during this whole day of attacks that have been taking place aroun

the bbc‘s azzam ameen is at the scene of one of the attacks in colombo. it's very early to say but even the police are not saying who is behind it. but they are just guessing whether there is an international organisation or a religious organisation behind this. it's still very early to say and they are just investigating the matter so even... i just spoke to a government minister who came to the scene and they say they have no clue and they were never expecting, they had no intelligence report of an attack like this. so president maithripala sirisena had ordered a special inquiry and he has requested people to stay calm because there has been a lot of rumours spreading about more attacks as we have seen thousands of police officers and security officers around the country now, in the roads, guarding the main places because they are fearing more attacks. akshat saraf was on the 25th floor of the shangri la hotel in colombo with his wife and child when the explosion happened. he told me what he heard. at that point my wife and myself were planning to go do

yogita limaye, bbc news, colombo. yogita limaye with that report from colombo. a few hours after the attack, a government minister told bbc world news that sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack 10 days ago, but the prime minister wasn't informed. the report from the military investigation department, the security commission, had these particular details. however it was not dealt properly and the pm was not informed. as you are aware, the law and order minister is the president, and the defence minister is also the president, so therefore there was a problem of miscommunication, and this was raised by the cabinet ministers how this particular report was not taken seriously. the million—dollar question was, this was sent on the 11th of april and no proper government official actually had their hands on it. unfortunately, none of the government members of the cabinet are in the security council except the president. they are hoping to meet the president tomorrow to see how this gap of communication really happened, because it is quite a ser

so very much the heart of colombo here i mean this is a sunday night usually there is a sea front over here to my right called the gold face anyone who has visited knows that on a sunday evening this is jam packed it's almost ending only because you have families you know spending the day and enjoying the. enjoying the fun. but it is. quiet here this evening thousands of worshippers turned out to join pope francis for easter mass in some peter's square where he talked about sri lanka on the sacred holiday which commemorates the resurrection of jesus christ after his crucifixion. dear brothers and sisters i heard with sadness news of the horrendous attacks which on this very day sunday have brought morning to churches and other places intra longer i would like to express my heartfelt closeness to the christian community attacked while gathered in prayer and to all the victims of such cruel acts of violence i entrust to the lord all who so tragically died and i pray for the rooted in all those who suffered because of this tragic event. polling booths a closed counting is underway and ukr

among the buildings hit the five star shangri-la hotel in colombo. many had been enjoying a special easter breakfast when the blast went off. it was one of several luxury hotels and a church targeted in the capital. another blast happened at a church in the town of the combo north of the capital more than ninety people died here. then shortly afterwards the zion church in the eastern town of batticaloa was devastated by another device. it's the worst act of violence in ten years since the end of the country's civil war the government has blamed religious extremists and has warned of serious consequences for the nation. i see this as a serious situation and as destabilizing the country and the economy i strongly condemn this attack aimed at religious institutions and some hotels in the capital . in the aftermath of the carnage a number have arrests have been made and a curfew imposed on the government has been to hunt down all the perpetrators i was given latest now from sri lanka with jamila national dean editor of news in asia and she is a journalis

armed patrols random searches the increased security can be seen everywhere on the streets of colombo as the hunt goes on for anyone involved in sunday's attacks it's not just the police and the army but the navy an ad for sa mobilized to a limited state of emergency has been enforced since tuesday giving security forces greater powers to detain and interrogate further details of those emergency powers are emerging among them is censorship of the media and internet and limiting the right of assembly the y. deposit given to authorities are reminiscent of what happened during twenty six years of civil war the fighting ended ten years ago but sri lanka is again on edge more arrests have been made and a bomb scare in the capital cost a lockdown at the central bank and the road leading to the airport was briefly closed a minor explosion was reported in the town of pagoda forty kilometers from colombo the blast was unlike the controlled detonations by bomb disposal squads in the last few days catholic churches in colombo will not hold sunday mosque this weekend because of security threat an

and a guest house in colombo as well as a house where three police officers were killed while trying to capture suspects eight suspects have been arrested the prime minister says the government was warned of an imminent attack or about manly as male. one blast so violent it ripped through the roof of this church in the heart of the capital. the floor covered in remains of the roof wood and blood was this video posted online shows the moment of the blast i sometimes these charges popular with locals and foreign tourists after the explosion shock and disbelief. oh my god i heard the explosion and then the roof fell on us we took the children and ran out from the rear door but when they came to the hospital i saw my brother in law and son on the ground. three separate churches bombed on easter sunday one of the major celebrations in the christian calendar but it wasn't just christians targeted so were many other people and tourists as part of a much wider operation they are the casualties we build them for them we transported them to their national hospital and then we have been advised

yogita limaye, bbc news, colombo. a few hours after the attack, a government minister told bbc news that sri lankan police were briefed about the threat of an attack 10 days ago, but the prime minister wasn't informed. the report from the military investigation department, the security commission, had these particular details. however it was not dealt properly and the pm was not informed. as you are aware, the law and order minister is the president, and the defence minister is also the president, so therefore there was a problem of miscommunication, and this was raised by the cabinet ministers how this particular report was not taken seriously. the million—dollar question was, this was sent on the 11th of april and no proper government official actually had their hands on it. unfortunately, none of the government members of the cabinet are in the security council except the president. they are hoping to meet the president tomorrow to see how this gap of communication really happened, because it is quite a serious o

yes, the first bomb blast is reported in colombo, ata bomb blast is reported in colombo, at a very prominent catholic church in cheryl ancor, so a lot of people attended in the morning for easter sunday. —— sri lanka. inaudible. there are three blasts in catholic churches in sri lanka, so we can confirm 400 people injured and around 50 people dead, and 50 people in the hospital. we can now confirm that three blasts have happened in colombo, so—so fathers of the things we can confirm. i can say that blasts in colombo and negombo happened at the same time, so there was some co—ordinating with both blasts. that is what we can say so far. we are grateful to you for talking to us. the line is not very good, it keeps dropping out, so we will leave it there, but we are very grateful to you for talking to us on bbc breakfast this morning. 0nly grateful to you for talking to us on bbc breakfast this morning. only a couple of hours those blasts have gone off, 8:45am local time, and as he said they seem to have been co—ordinated. 0ne he said they seem to have been co—ordinated. one in colom

or for the very latest now let's cross over to jamila nudged her dean in colombo she's the editor of news in a jamila the death toll from the bombings has risen massively from two hundred seven to two hundred ninety what's behind that jump. hi so basically we are hearing reports that the bitcoin is likely to go up even more than two hundred and ninety when i was at the colombo national house speaker today morning there most of the injured are being treated as i interviewed people in the area and the will to what degree management and they told me that for small sums were being conducted on the people who have died and it's on the wonderbook once the post-mortems are conducted and once they are being released that the their stories are being amended so this is the reason why did this story keeps changing on and off but it is likely to rise further today. as you say you've been talking to some of the survivors of these attacks what are they telling you about their experience with that and their feelings of of the threat these touch tone. well basically their general feeling which every

the archbishop of colombo. if your password is 123456, then you share it with more than 23 million people. that‘s according to a study published today by britain‘s cyber—security watchdog. use the word "password". it‘s urging people to make it harder for hackers to access their data by using three random but memorable words. joining me now from our salford studio is technology expert dan sodergren. you wonder how often we have to be told this before we listen? you wonder how often we have to be told this before we listen7m you wonder how often we have to be told this before we listen? it is a strange one. human beings are of course strange creatures. it is a bit like the green cross code, it is a message which gets repeated, this new idea of the internet is out there and we have to be digitally mindful of what we are doing. we must. this message has been thrown at us ever since must. this message has been thrown at us ever since we must. this message has been thrown at us ever since we have logged on. b

nick beake, bbc news, colombo. it's been confirmed that three of the four children of the danish billionaire, anders holch povlsen were killed in the attacks. mr povlsen, who is denmark's wealthiest man, is a major shareholder in the online clothing retailer asos and one of the uk's largest private landowners, confirmed that his family were visiting sri lanka over the easter period. the queen has sent a message to the president of sri lanka. it says: prince philip and i were deeply saddened to learn of the attacks in sri lanka and send our condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives. i pay tribute to the medical and emergency services who are providing support to those who have been injured. our thoughts and prayers are with all sri lankans at this difficult time. my colleague simon mccoy, spoke to the journalist lisa fuller, who lives and works in colombo. she began by talking about the latest bomb explosion. the bomb was outside one of the churches that was bombed yesterday. it seem

armed patrols random searches the increased security can be seen everywhere on the streets of colombo as the hunt goes on for anyone involved in sunday's attacks it's not just the police and the army but the navy an air force are mobilized to the prime minister running . told al-jazeera that the extra security measures are necessary. but i've been taken in i'm sorry i cannot be you know the number but some are on the run and the third following them remain or the first is to round up the. intelligence services and the government has been criticized for not acting on warnings about possible attacks defense secretary hemisphere if anon was asked for his resignation by president major palace or a center has agreed to stand down a limited state of emergency has been enforced since tuesday giving security forces greater powers to detain and interrogate further details of those emergency powers are emerging among them a censorship of the media and internet and limiting the right of assembly the wider powers given to authorities are reminiscent of what happened during twenty six years of civ

basically it's a ways out again colombo because the police do the jink people to stay. to really understand you were at the hospital talking to some of the victims those who survived the attack and their families what have you heard from them. yes families have been devastated by what has happened. most people who i spoke to also find two artists away enjoying death time in dispute people like the band terrorists struck them. family. party was extremely scared better state that they'd be supplying. and now we are hearing reports that the intelligence agency is what you want informed us but if a terror attack but nothing was done that is a sense of panic. that message has spread right across the country and we are hearing reports that i'm talking to everybody thank you leave and then go back to safety jamila thank you very much for bringing us up to date there that was journalist jamila nudge modine the editor of news in asia speaking to us from the sri lankan capital colombo well the attacks in sri lanka overshadowed easter festivities at the vatican pope francis was ho

st anthony's shrine in colombo. this is where people had gathered to pray on easter sunday when a bomb exploded. a string of attacks ripped through the country within minutes of each other. six bombs targeted separate churches and hotels in colombo. two other explosions hit churches in negombo and batticaloa. translation: i heard the explosion and then the roof fell on us. we took the children and ran out from the rear door but when i came to the hospital, i saw my brother—in—law and son on the ground. hundreds rushed to hospitals looking for loved ones. for many, their search ended in heartbreak. the high commissionerfor sri lanka has confirmed that at least eight british people, including a mother and her two children, are among those killed. it's not yet clear who is behind the attacks. security forces have raided houses and a number of people have been arrested. but now it's claimed there were warnings of the attack ten days ago. this particular report was not taken serious. this was sent on the 11th of apri

journalist bring us the latest from colombo thank you very much thank you. well the world reacted with shock after the attacks in sri lanka and nicole reese joins me now with more on that nicole what can you tell us well social media today was dominated by these news on the hashtag sri lanka for example you could find it as a trending topic on twitter but they also went to instagram and facebook just to share their solidarity share their grief and their condolences and for example german chancellor angela merkel there were lots of world leaders who took to social media as well where she posted on instagram and condemned the terrible attacks she said that she was a sad and a shocked and add that as a last sentence that religious hatred and intolerance that have to come apparent today must not win so she's sending a very strong signal there as well on the other hand there is also donald trump who tweeted his condolences he's saying that they're standing ready to help clear message of support and the iranian foreign minister mohammed job out serif took to twitt

some of them multimillionaires some lived in this suburb in colombo the neighbors are in shock. over it suddens me that muslims who are my neighbors have done this it puts a black spot on all of us muslim sri lanka's police and security services are under pressure to arrest everyone involved in the easter sunday bombings prevent further attacks and clamp down on religious extremism florence louis al jazeera colombo well in an interview with with al-jazeera prime minister running on the committee says there will be a fair investigation into why prior intelligence about the attacks was not shared we have to admit the failure in intelligence the breakdown in the flow of information. and that's one of the matter that are being investigated. even in regard to the numbers of dead while the police have told it is three hundred fifty the health ministry said it's more about two hundred sixty so i was there to verify their numbers and let me know and i did to their shock i mean if not for the lapse many of them would be alive today and now what are the green teas that these failures will

to the north of colombo. and the government is blaming a little—known jihadi group which, it says, was helped by foreign militants. so far, 2a people have been arrested. there remain many pressing questions — one being, could it have been stopped? why was information about a bomb threat not passed on to the prime minister, or his cabinet? a spokesman for the defence ministry spoke to the bbc today. intelligence never indicated that it's going to be an attack of this magnitude. they were talking about isolated one or two incidents, not like this. and also, besides, there is no emergency in this country. we can't request the armed forces to come and assist us. we can only depend on the police. so we have informed the police. we have informed all the important departments of the police about this informant and information. according to the new york times, this confidential letter was sent to security officials about a threat. it contained names, addresses and phone numbers of suspects. it's dated the 11th of

on our panel now joining us from colombo on skype shihan pereira executive director of the national peace council a sherry longa from london charulata hogg associate fellow of the asia pacific program at chatham house and visiting michael de palma a fellow at the brilliant institute i'm from oxford going to tellico researcher at the on of our institute of human rights and legal director of verity research in sri lanka welcome to all of you to the program and i'm sorry it's under these these circumstances this is the worst violence that sri lanka has seen since going through a torrid terrible civil war so having said that. how do you think sri lankans are process and what is happening i think. things with the sense of this believe this is totally unexpected for ten years the experience nor why i know why it is of this scale not terrorism of this here are terrorism in any sense you know we. have been to and this country has been so free you can go into a hotel without any check are you even then you going to the airport there is hardly any. of course i think that we were to relax perhaps bu

spiritual aid for sri lanka the archbishop of colombo speaks out sends his help of every kind for the bombing victims. hello again peace it will be here in doha you are watching anxiously you're also coming up protesters in saddam come out in force again in concert taking part in a mass sit in to demand civilian rule. but the real piece of work that needs to be done is on the fundamental reason why the people of north korea the more than. giving them a reason to go home the u.n. addresses the needs of nearly a million working to refugees in bangladesh. no go for mexico refugees determined to defy donald trump can't escape. there is heavy security in sri lanka outside mosques and churches other places of religious worship two police say they're also hunting seventy people suspected of having links to ice or following sunday's wave of bomb attacks the death toll from the easter sunday suicide attacks has been revised to around two hundred sixty so about a hundred fewer than before the country remains on high alert with more bomb warnings in alpha and us now from colombo. sri lanka on hi

we are getting live images from colombo. let's cross to our correspondent in colombo. what is the latest? curfew was lifted this momorning. our teams haveveeen out. what s sri lankans arere tellin, this is unlike any otother mondy momorning they have witnessed. streets arere empty, schools are closed,, the stock exchange e is sususpended. people have never seen the ststreets thisis empty on a mony morning. we were down at the site of the firsrst blalast, saint anantho's church. we saw a community that is in mourning. officials were investigating. it is a community in mourning. it was moving to see them preparing for some of the funerals likely to take place tomorrow. what is a also becoming clear through ththe course of this day through the forensic investigigation, those behind te attack probably planned for it to be larger. there were detonators found at bus stotopsa blastst in a van nt far from s saint anthohony's ch. securititycials, officials contntinue to fifind and that morore attacks is creating panic. they have announced another cucurfew, which will go into fo

i'm sharanjit leyl in colombo. sri lanka grieves — with close to 300 people killed in sunday's bomb attacks, the first funerals are taking place. the shock and disbelief remain raw. outside, shattered glass everywhere, roof tiles that are broken. and all around, a strong smell of blood and death. as the government imposes emergency powers — it's facing more questions about its failure to act on intelligence ahead of the attacks. i'm ben bland in london. also in the programme: the us threatens sanctions on any country importing oilfrom iran after the first of may. tehran calls the move illegal. under the shadow of the skeleton of a blue whale — climate change activists take their protest inside london's natural history museum. it's 1:00am in london, and 5:30 in the morning in sri lanka, where there's growing concerns over a failure of communication in the leadup to sunday's devastating bomb attacks that killed at least 290 people and injured more than 500. a festering row within the government meant the prime

nick beake, bbc news, colombo. it's believed a british mother and her two children are amongst the eight british citizens to have died. 42—year—old anita nicholson, 11——year—old alex and his younger sister annabel are reported to have been dining in the shangri—la hotel when the bombs struck. her husband is thought to have survived. it's been confirmed that three of the four children, of the danish billionaire, anders holch povlsen were killed in the attacks. mr povlsen, who is denmark's wealthiest man, is a major shareholder in the online clothing retailer asos and one of the uk's largest private landowners. he confirmed that his family were visiting sri lanka over the easter period. the queen has sent a message to the president of sri lanka. it says: prince philip and i were deeply saddened to learn of the attacks in sri lanka and send our condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives. i pay tribute to the medical and emergency services who are providing support to those w