that vote expected later on saturday. a man has died after setting himself on fire outside the courtroom where donald trump is being tried. stay with us here on bbc news. we will have your headlines after this programme... i've been an opera fan for decades, and i want to share my passion with you. so i'm on a mission to find out how opera is trying to attract new audiences and reinvent itself. this time, i meet welsh bass—baritone sir bryn terfel, a giant in the opera world, both in achievements and physical stature. sir bryn terfel is an artist who's

just known all around the world. he's sung all the great opera roles. when he's on the stage, you cannot take your eyes off him. bryn has so many fans who follow him, both physically and emotionally, around the world. bryn sings he's taking us behind the scenes, not only at london's royal opera house, where he's a regular star performer, but right back to where it all started, here in his native wales at the welsh national opera in cardiff. bryn terfel is a passionate advocate of music and culture, and nurturing the next generation of talent. for any welsh singer, bryn�*s a massive inspiration, and he's still at the top of his game. what sir bryn terfel�*s long and stellar career tells us about how to make opera fit for the future. let me take you to the opera.

# bizzarra e in var la scena # verra il buon vecchio, il buon vecchio... sir bryn terfel has all the magic ingredients it takes to become a world—class opera star — incredible stage presence, amazing acting range from dramatic to comic and, of course, a rich bass—baritone voice that enthrals audiences wherever he performs. # sul maschio pie # sul fusto saldo... i'm invited backstage ahead of bryn�*s performance in the barber of seville, a comic masterpiece by the 19th—century italian composer rossini. # la calunnia

# e un venticello...# before getting into costume, bryn warms up his voice. # qualche favola che al pubblico # lo metta in male vista # we need you for make—up call. do you — now? yes. as if i'm not already fat enough, eh? he plays don basilio, a music teacher whose sole interest is in lining his own pockets. # ee—ee—ee—ee—ee—ee. hello, sir bryn terfel. are you here for a singing lesson? i wish. you know, i admire people like you who can sing, but ijust can't sing myself. i can sing, but i can't teach singing... zeinab chuckles ..so i'm glad you said no. that's good. well, excellent. excellent. so, here you are in the barber of seville. yes. and this is very much a comic role for you. yeah. imean... first of all, do you like all the getting into costume

and being made up and all the rest of it? it's a crescendo. in rehearsal process, you have the rehearsals in the rooms, then you go onto the stage, then you have your costume fittings, and all of a sudden you're in yourcostume and you're in your make—up and you are portraying a character. so that's when the fun really does begin. do you ever get nervous? i think we have... well, i certainly think i have a nervousness that takes me to a certain limit that will not hamper anything that i have to do on the stage. so the adrenaline is a good adrenaline, and it's a good nervousness. you know, we're all warming up in our dressing rooms and excited to go on the stage, really. and is there anything that can beat performing in a live opera in costume for you? well, funny enough, you can see my palette for the next week. i've got gianni schicchi, which i'm singing in liverpool in a couple of days. by puccini. this is tonight's, of course. and then i've got an album of sea shanties coming along. we'll be recording that in...in wales. in wales. just outside cardiff.

really looking forward to that. can i come along and listen to you do that? of course you could! yeah, yeah. oh, thank you! he speaks in welsh gweld chi yng nghymru. oh, what does that mean? i'll see you in wales. 0k, great. see you in wales. # nell'orecchie della gente # s'introduce s'introduce destramente # e le teste ed i cervelli e le teste ed i cervelli # fa stordire...# byrn�*s musical education at the guildhall school of music brought him to london for the first time. he won a coveted place there in 1984, and in his last year, he was awarded the school's top music prize — the gold medal. bryn vocalises hello, bryn. i made it to wales. croeso i gymru! come on!

say croeso i gymru. croeso i gymru. hello, chaps. we're in the middle of recording an album full of sea shanties. mm—hm! so, we're going to rehearse and record today one of wales's most famous tunes, fflat huw puw. mm—hm. most probably we'll do a little bit of drunken sailor, as well. oh, that will be a bit of fun. # what shall we do with the drunken sailor? # ear'ly in the mornin' # way hay and up she rises # way hay and up she rises # way hay and up she rises # ear'ly in the mornin'...# and what's the welsh song about? fflat huw puw? it's all about this wonderful ship that he's been cleaning and is making it look like his best parlour, and he's off to travel the world. but of course, he wants to come back home, as well. oh, but of course, to beautiful wales.

like the character he's singing about, bryn travels around the world. # al capestro # l'altra fra le...# he's used to the dazzling glamour of top opera houses and the bright lights of the stage. but he prefers to live in the quiet of the welsh countryside. bryn grew up in rural north wales, where his father was a farmer, and his mother a special needs teacher who used music therapy in her work.

so it was a musical household. my grandfather, my great—grandfather, they all had the love of singing. and, yes, my parents have great voices that are most probably guided towards being a part of a choir. my mum's in a female choir. my dad's in a male voice choir. so there was constant learning going on in the kitchen, words on the cabinets. a little bit of rivalry, as well, which is quite healthy. # i am dreaming of the mountains...# and there's still plenty of music for bryn at home. his wife is hannah stone, the renowned welsh harpist. # where in childhood iwould roam...# when i met her, she was the royal harpist for prince charles, which was, of course, something that queen victoria had. and this position was held for four years. so i had seen hannah

play and i invited her for my christmas programme, and that's when we met. i guess it was love at first accompaniment. is it very special performing with her? zeinab, i don't have to tell you, i've sang with the harp since i was a young lad, so it's magnificent to have two musicians in the house. and i'm always intrigued by how these harpists can play that instrument of 47 strings and 7 pedals. it's dedication, hard work. and the hard work that she...sees does translate into me wanting to work harder, as well. # es weiss und rat es doch keiner # wie mir so wohl ist so wohl. ..# it was his beloved wales that set bryn onto the path of global success. in 1989, he won the song prize in the bbc cardiff

singer of the world contest. applause but i was really nervous in that competition. and within the days of competing, as well, i was doing an opera as a student in the guildhall school of music and drama. so it was maybe an insight into how one's career would develop in the future. but, yeah, undoubtedly cardiff singer of the world gave you those steps up the ladder much quicker than expected. and it was with the welsh national opera that bryn made his professional operatic debut in cosi fan tutte by mozart. this is a knock—about opera that owes as much to the pantomime tradition as it does to opera. aidan lang, currently the welsh national opera's general director, oversaw that performance more than 30 years ago. to entrust someone who was barely out of college with a title role at wno was... ..not a risk, but it was an adventure for the company to take. we saw him at cardiff

singer of world, and that's on an international platform. and being the welsh national opera, it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. i worked with the highly eminent conductor sir charles mackerras, who's world —famous for his work in mozart. and after about a minute of his singing, charles leant over to me and said, "i don't think we're going to have "any problems with this," he said. and we knew. the rest is history, really. though, before bryn made it onto the stage for the wno, he was thrown out. just before he did his first professional engagement with us singing in cosi fan tutte, he came in with a pal to watch some of his pal�*s rehearsals. i didn't know who he was, and all of our rehearsals are closed, and nobody who isn't within the company at the time is allowed. so i politely asked him to leave. it's caused a few giggles, subsequently, however. bryn has got such wonderful humanity and humility. i go back to that all the time.

they're his calling cards, if you like, in his persona. # gemma e gemma la pompa del tuo... # gemma e gemma la pompa del tuo~~~#_ it was the welsh national opera that launched bryn's career and catapulted him onto the world stage. it was here in cardiff that he first performed one of his most iconic roles — that of falstaff, the opera by verdi, based on the shakespearean comic character. you can see that he wore a fat suit underneath... oh, gosh. can i touch it? yeah. ..which is... oh, my. ..padded with wadding, and it's got netting to create all the sorts of leg and varying areas to build him up as a bigger man than he already is. but i mean, that looks terrifically hot, and you're under all those lights and singing. you had to pat his brow down and make sure all was well whilst we did the change. five minutes' worth of four people helping him as we go.

like a pit stop, everybody did their task, and then got him all dressed up to get back onstage. i mean, it really is very convincing, isn't it? judith chuckles gosh. i shall close this up and protect his modesty. what is it about the welsh and singing? i mean, you produce a nation of singers, it seems. what is it? mountains. the fresh sea air. the language, zaineb, is very important. we have seven vowels in welsh,

a, e, i, 0, u, w, y. the hymns of wales... people love to sing. it's the air that we breathe. the welsh tradition of eisteddfods, singing and recital competitions that take place across the country, encourage a love of singing from an early age. children's singing overlaps among sir bryn's many charitable initiatives is a scholarship to develop the most promising young performers who come up through these competitions. it's something that was an important part of bryn's own success. any given village in wales can have an eisteddfod every weekend. so, my poor parents paid a lot of petrol to drive me, you know, north, south, east and west to compete. but they knew they saw something in their son, in their child. they saw the passion that he had. he loved singing. so, i think that drove them

to encourage the singing that i had within me. so the eisteddfod is that wonderful shop window. so i've come to llangadog, a village just outside swansea, where the local eisteddfod attracts young singers from the area as well as from all across wales. so i've come to llangadog, a village just outside swansea, where the local eisteddfod attracts young singers from the area as well as from all across wales. he sings in welsh i like performing in eisteddfods because i really like music and my ambition is to go to the sydney opera house when i'm older. he sings in welsh

this is where it all starts for us welsh singers, we start in the local eisteddfods. this is where we learn the, sort of, the craft. and when we go to london to study, or to the conservatoires, you can see the difference between welsh singers. they've just got some sort of, i guess, confidence. he sings in welsh so watching you judging these voices, what do you look for in a voice? well, i think for me it is the tone quality, and how the vowel sounds that they create is one of the most key things for me, is how the voice, sort of, resonates, and also the way that the voice works with text. i think that's really, really important. and of course, that's what bryn terfel is fantastic at doing, as well. now, you know sir bryn terfel.

just describe his voice for us with your musical knowledge. what makes it so great? i think the resonance of that voice, and because he has such a large frame, i think that... it's like a beautiful double bass, isn't it? and then the sound that he generates is quite, quite incredible, but also — the control that he has on his voice. he can sing the most delicate pianissimo, as well. so, it's quite a unique voice, and he's very special. some of these young people are hoping they can achieve the fame and acclaim that sir bryn enjoys. however, he says success can also come at a cost. i've had injuries on the stage — my back has been a constant problem, especially with raked stages. so i've had to cancel some operas, and i've had some difficult patches with people talking about "should i have done this "or should i have not?" and people don't know the exact

whole story of certain things that happen to you. it is water off a duck's back, but maybe it's that given swan on that lake, as well, paddling like mad. i mean, you cope very well with pressure because it is a very pressured world... yeah. ..performing at your level. one very famous mezzo from america called me a mack truck once. it was one of these big trucks, you know, that can carry anything. that ploughs through everything, any challenge put on your plate. i thought she was pretty correct in her description. # wo ist brunnhild', wo die verbrecherin?# during bryn's illustrious career, he has tackled roles from across the operatic spectrum, like wotan, king of the gods in wagner's epic ring cycle. # wie ihren wert von sich sie warf!#

but, as much as sir bryn loves performing in the big opera houses, he's also passionate about reaching new audiences in concert halls. he's sung all the great opera roles, and also music theatre. but, to come and sing in a concert hall like the royal festival hall, well, that really is a special occasion, because you're somehow up close with this enormous musical presence. # ..behalten, doch auch nicht vergessen # und fass ich es ganz # kann ich�*s nicht messen! # doch wie soll ich auch fassen...#

music: god save the king bryn's status as a national icon means he was personally chosen by king charles to perform at his coronation. cheering bryn terfel�*s towering presence and booming voice is also effective offstage. he's a big champion of the arts and relishes bringing music to the public. i think we're in a time when lots of cultural institutions and classical music itself, perhaps, is being called into question. what's the value of it? is it too elitist? and a figure like bryn is what we need — somebody who symbolises, really, the power of communication and music. it's about showing people how important music is in all of our lives. he embodies that, and that is the most powerful advocacy he can perform for music. singing continues everything he does conveys

that love of singing, and it's completely infectious. and the fact that he is passing that on to young singers makes total sense to me because it's an absolutely compelling vision of how to live a musical life. do you think we're getting younger audiences in to opera houses? definitely. undoubtedly. and these are the people that you see, after giving performances, in the stage door. we saw in the run of the barber of seville, we had the royal opera house in covent garden. you could see it. my first opera, i loved it. i thought it was really captivating. i think more young people should see operas. - i think it's a great experience. as well as being unbelievably gifted in both the musical and acting categories, he really exemplifies how fun it would be to sing at his level. yes, there is an interest there. they're hungry for entertainment and it's wonderful to be a part of that as well.

# wer meines speeres # spitze furchtet # durchschreite # das feuer nie!# applause bryn terfel is a welsh icon and a rare talent who cares not only about his own success, but also the future of opera — an art form which has brought him national as well as global recognition. and i'm really glad he's so optimistic about its enduring appeal.

applause if its warmth and sunshine you are after then the story is not straightforward because while it will be largely dry, it will be cloudy and consequentially quite chilly. high pressure is taking charge. that's why it will be largely dry. let me show you the position of the jet stream. the jets

well north to the uk and diving down towards continental europe. but it will bend back on itself and introducing cold air into the south and east of the country. talking of cold weather, saturday is getting off to a cold and in places frosty start. a bright start but more clout developing through the day. the coastal counties of england will keep a brisk breeze on one or two showers and also some patchy rain passing to the north of scotland. temperatures for the north sea coast, only 8—10 celsius, compared to 15 in northern ireland. moving into sunday, there is a dangling weather front, fly in the ointment, this band of cloud with some showery rain across eastern scotland and north—east england. if few showers into this area. sunshine out towards the west, and the western counties

of northern ireland could get all the way up to 18 celsius. some eastern counties of england may only get to 8—9 c. this weather front still with us as we move into sunday and monday. they will be quite a lot of cloud, outbreaks of rain particularly across central and eastern parts of england. some spells of sunshine around but across the uk, a cloudy story on monday. underneath this weather front, the temperatures will struggle, 8—9 c, maybe ten. disappointing that this time in april. monday night into tuesday, that dying weather front journey southward. cloud, showers into the south—east corner. i'm hoping we will see more sunshine further north but scotland will have the sunniest of the weather with temperatures up to 15—16 c. those temperatures up to 15—16 c. those

temperatures in the south recovering up temperatures in the south recovering up to 11—12, 13. areas of patchy cloud, largely dry and those temperatures for most of us in a range between 9—11; c. the area of high pressure will retreat and allow low pressure to take over but exactly how that transition to low pressure takes place is still open to a degree of uncertainty. with low pressure close by, it's likely we'll see showers on longer spells of rain so wet weather into the weekend. that low to the south of us means that temperatures may creep up a little bit. 11—15 c. that's how it is looking. goodbye for now.

live from london. this is bbc news. nine people reported killed, including at least four children, after israel strikes homes in southern gaza — where the un says the threat of disease is growing. ukraine hopes for more air defence systems in the war against russia, as us lawmakers prepare to vote on a military aid package. a warning from the head of the government's climate of the government's climate watchdog — chris stark says the prime minister has left the uk at risk of falling behind.

hello, i'm lauren taylor. we start in the middle east, where nine people including at least four children have reportedly been killed after israeli strikes hit homes in rafah in the southern gaza strip. israeli planes and tanks pounded various parts of the territory overnight. the israeli war cabinet has been planning a large offensive against hamas in rafah, which is where an estimated 1.5 million displaced palestinians are sheltering. the us and other allies have warned israel against a full—scale assault on the city. these are live shots of a refugee camp for displaced people in rafah. one of the main un agencies responsible for getting aid to palestinians, the united nations relief and works agency, is warning that the risk of disease is increasing across gaza because of the lack of sanitation and aid. live tojerusalem and our correspondent wyre davies. what more do we know about the

strikes on gaza overnight?