04/05/2014 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. Northern Ireland's First Minister, Peter Robinson, has

accused Sinn Fein of attempting to blackmail the police over the arrest

of Gerry Adams. Mr Adams has spent a fourth night in police custody in

connection with the murder of Jean McConville in 1972. He denies any

involvement in the mother of ten's death. Our correspondent Jon Brain

is in Antrim. Jon, what's the latest?

Well, Maxine, we've just seen the first sign of activity for quite

some time here. Gerry Kelly, a senior Sinn Fein figure, has just

gone inside the jail. He is going to try to speak to the investigating

officer to find out what exactly is happening, because the longer Gerry

Adams is held here, the angrier Sinn Fein are becoming. They of course

claim that the arrest is politically motivated, coming just three weeks

before the European elections. But there's been a forthright response

from First Minister Peter Robinson today, he's accused Sinn Fein of

crossing the line with their protests over this, and he's

particularly enraged by their hint that they could review their support

for policing in Northern Ireland if Mr Adams is charged. That support is

a crucial plank of the peace process here. He says that there be a beer

is a threat which is despicable, thuggish and an attempt at

blackmail. -- behaviour. Detectives can question Gerry Adams until eight

o'clock this evening about the murder of Jean McConville, a murder

he denies any involvement in, if they want more time, they'll have to

go to a court to apply for that. Maxine.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, says there needs to be an independent

assessment of whether a takeover of the British drug company AstraZeneca

by its American rival Pfizer is in the country's national interest. He

said David Cameron appeared to be cheerleading for the bid. Downing

Street says the Government is fighting for British jobs and

British science. Our politics correspondent Chris Mason reports.

If Pfizer swallows up AstraZeneca, it would be the biggest takeover

ever of a UK company by a foreign firm - good news for Britain or not?

Labour leader Ed Miliband is worried and has written to David Cameron to

argue he needs to take a closer look at the proposed deal. If I was Prime

Minister, I'd be bringing in a new public interest test which says that

widening the scope of the current public interest test, the largest

takeover in British history with all of the implications it has for its

assigned space, there's got to be an independent assessment of the

implications of this for our national interest. Small test tubes

are big business in Britain. AstraZeneca employs nearly 7000

people in the UK. Pfizer 2500. The Government says it is talking to

both companies about any deal. Far from being a cheerleader, it says it

is neutral. We will have tests that will ensure this get-together

becomes a great Anglo-American Project or it doesn't happen. The

Miliband approach is to be anti-business, anti-jobs and

anti-job security that the families in this country want. Here is

something you probably never seen before, these two men sharing a

sofa. With the next general election a year away, will David Cameron

debate with UKIP's Nigel Farage? I don't think he's got any intention

of allowing me into any debate. We want general election debates, and

frankly I think we need to get David Cameron to the debates. Two people

could be Prime Minister after the next election, I want to David

Cameron at those debates. If the broadcasters want to invite Nigel,

that's fine with me. This was one of the party leader debates before the

last general election. Downing Street says it does not want to

start negotiating rules for future debates until the autumn. There were

new hints that David Cameron is up for it. He knows, after the

president last time, wriggling out of debates will be rather tricky.

Ukraine's interim Prime Minister has blamed the country's security

services for failing to prevent the deaths of more than 40 pro-Russian

protesters in the southern port of Odessa on Friday. It comes as

tensions remain high in parts of eastern Ukraine. Emily Buchanan

reports. Pro-Russian separatists are filled

with renewed fury. This is Donetsk, and these are revenge attacks on

government buildings after the deaths of over 40 people on Friday.

The masked men met little was a stance as they stormed the offices.

-- little resistance. Later, the leaders of the self-proclaimed

Donetsk people of Calais rally, calling on people to join the

insurgency. -- held a rally. This woman says, what happened in Odessa

cannot be excused, now I hate our government, I just can't access

this. In Odessa itself, people are still in shock, reeling from the

blaze which killed mostly pro-Russian separatists. They had

come under attack after barricading themselves inside this building.

Police had failed to intervene, and the government is blaming them for

the tragedy. These security forces are inefficient, and they violated

the law. The prosecutor's office has started an investigation, and I

believe that the prosecutor needs to investigate everyone. Government

forces are now pushing forward with attempts to take control in the

east. There have been clashes in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. In

Kramatorsk, after a long stand-off, the army rolled in. They are now

thought to have reclaimed the television tower seized by

pro-Russian separatists. The centre of Sloviansk looks peaceful, but

it's a city under siege as the army fights to take rebel held

checkpoints. Residents have been stocking up on supplies while the

separatists hunker down behind their defences.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has defended the Church of

England's role in educating children, insisting Anglican schools

are consistently popular. Speaking to the BBC, Archbishop Welby also

expressed support for the Prime Minister's view that Britain's

underlying values were based on Christianity. This report by

religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggot does contain flashing

images. Archbishop Welby at St Paul's

Cathedral yesterday for a service celebrating women priests leads a

church with a declining influence in British society. However, he says

it's Christian heritage still influences national life. In recent

weeks, David Cameron has spoken repeatedly about the value of

Christianity to Britain and said it should be confident in its status as

a Christian country. He was criticised last week by 50 leading

secularists who accused him of fostering division and sectarianism.

Now Archbishop Welby has weighed into the debate on the priming is

the's side, saying Christian values underpin Britain's national life. --

on the Prime Minister's side. The basic way we look at the nature of

the human being, the essential dignity of the human being reflects

the values of Jesus Christ. We are a deeply Christian country in that

way. Anglican schools educate almost 1 million children in an

increasingly secular country. Archbishop Welby I acknowledged that

only a minority of people went to church, but insisted that the

popularity of church schools told its own story. People seem to choose

the schools in large numbers, they are often in some of the poorest

parts of the country, and we seek to love and serve people, as we

should, through the schools, and we have done for hundreds of years. And

I think that's a very good expression of social capital.

Archbishop Welby also gave his support to the Church of England's

position as the established, or state church. He rejected the

suggestion by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, that the

church would thrive were it not longer in a bid to buy its official

role. -- inherited - inhibited.

A street in Bristol has been turned into a giant water slide using

plastic sheets and hay bales. Thousands of people applied to take

part in the event, which is the work of artist Luke Jerram. Andrew

Plant's been to take a look. Shooting down one of Bristol's

mainstream, it is also one of the steepest in the city. Closed to cars

since early this morning and converted into a giant water slide.

It is all the idea of one local artist. I suppose I'm interested in

getting people to think about the city in a new way. Imagine if they

were permanent slides installed as a way of commuting to work, wouldn't

it be fun to my the key ingredient is the washing up liquid, they have

been adding more to the slide all morning. It was really good, because

I am like I went quite fast, and I didn't hit the size or anything. It

feels faster than it looks, it is pretty good fun. The first Sunday in

every month in Bristol will see the centre closed to traffic, and there

are plenty more ideas for more imaginative ways to move around.

Andrew Plant, BBC News, in Bristol. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. The next news on BBC One is at 6:35. Bye

for now. It is proving to be a fairly mixed

holiday weekend. Sunny for some, damp for others and would keep the

variety in the week ahead. There will be a blustery wind at time with

some