hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. the bitter row over america's gun laws has resurfaced, with the pro—gun lobby group the national rifle association mounting a legal challenge to new gun control measures signed into law in florida. the legislation imposes a 21—year—old age limit and a three—day waiting period on all gun purchases. the move follows the parkland school shooting, north of miami, in which 17 people were killed. russell trott reports. a small, simple ceremony, at a welcome and a historic moment for the families of those shot dead last month, as florida governor rick scott signs new gun—control legislation into law. the bill raises the age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, and imposes a three—day waiting period on all gun sales. it

allows school personnel to be armed, subject to school district approval and specialist training. but most notably, the law doesn't include a ban on semiautomatic assault rifles, the kind that was used in the school shooting. as a father, as a governor, as a grandfather is we need to harden our schools, we need more mental health counselling, we need to make sure people that are going to do harm think about it. we know these people. it was one of the worst school shooting in us history. within the space of ten minutes, 17 teachers and students were gunned down at the high school, in parklands, florida. expelled former student nicholas cruz, who is 19, has been charged with murder and attempted murder. what do we want? gun—control. attempted murder. what do we want? gun-control. protesters took their campaignfor gun-control. protesters took their campaign for tighter gun control to washington, meeting president trump in the process. governor scott is

himself a member of the pro— gun lobby the nra. it has now filed a federal lawsuit claiming the bill violates the second amendment, the right to bear arms. he says the bill isa right to bear arms. he says the bill is a compromise, balancing individual rights with the need for public safety. there are mixed messages coming from the white house about what conditions need to be met before president trump can meet the north korean leader, kim jong—un. in a tweet in the last hour, mr trump said a deal is very much in the making, and would be a very good one for the world. earlier, his press secretary said there were conditions. we're not going to have this meeting take place ‘til we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of north korea. the announcement of possible talks follows something of a thaw in relations between north and south korea, that saw them march under a single flag at the winter olympics.

the south korean president, moonjae—in, says the planned meeting is like a miracle. but how has the news gone down in the capital, seoul? laura bicker has been finding out. for months, seoul wondered if it faced the prospect of war once again. today, it woke to better news. the prospect of a stunning trump—kim summit has turned an impending crisis into an opportunity. the horror of the korean war is not forgotten here. the fighting ended with no peace treaty. now, future generations hope these talks will prevent further confrontation. translation: i think this will be a turning point, and through this, our future children will benefit from living ina more free and peaceful world. translation: i think it is a good thing for both countries, and as a south korean citizen, it's good that the threat of war has

reduced, even by a little. translation: even if things turn out well, it won't benefit the people in north korea. in the past, when the south korean president provided aid to north korea, i heard almost none of it went to the common people. so i don't think it's going to turn out well. decades of distrust and suspicion divide north and south. people have learned that hope can be a bad thing. i'm told it is hard to tell what is real progress, and what is propaganda. a strong word of caution. the road ahead is very long, very complicated, very complex, and there's no guarantee that the north will ever give up its nuclear weapons easily, if at all. these talks are a huge political gamble. presidents moon and trump could be being played by pyongyang, or this peninsula could be on the verge of something it has

been searching for for nearly seven decades — a peace treaty. this statue portrays two brothers divided by the war, in a last, desperate embrace. there is a sense of cautious optimism that this unresolved conflict could now have a happier ending. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. stay with us here on bbc news. still to come: embracing the veil. why increasing numbers of young british muslim women are deciding to wear a headscarf. but first, let's get more on our top story this hour. chris buckler is in washington for us. so chris, just take us through, what is the nra's argument on this? well,

the nra has filed its legal complaint arguing that it is unfair on two grounds. they say that it reaches both the second amendment of the us constitution, and that is the right to bear arms, and also the 14th amendment of the us constitution, and that is really about equal protection. now, what they say there is basically if you are an adult who is over the age of 21, you are able to buy a gun. but someone 21, you are able to buy a gun. but someone who is also an adult, between 18 and 21, they aren't able to buy a gun under this law that has been put in place in florida. they say that is unfair and a breach of the constitution. the other, as we know, is that long held argument about the right to bear arms inside america. and they say, particularly in this argument, that it is unfair particularly to young women aged between 18 and 21, because it says they are of low risk of carrying out any violent crime, and it is unfair particularly to them. at this is a very, very hot debate here, one that

has really led to months and months of debates. but it is since that shooting at the high school, which has lent its name to this act, that has lent its name to this act, that has led florida to take action. and governor scott, in signing this into law today, made very clear that he has concerns about some of the things which are included in this law. but ultimately, raising the age at which people get access to guns is something that a lot of the relatives of the victims of that shooting support, and it is something they have been putting pressure on for action. chris, just give us a sense of how powerful this organisation, the national rifle association, is in the united states and in american politics. the national rifle association is an incredibly strong lobby organisation. they are really the gun lobby in the us, and they have a huge amount of support. and we have seen that support played out

politically over the last number of yea rs, politically over the last number of years, not politically over the last number of yea rs, not least politically over the last number of years, not least during the presidential election. whenever the nra came in very strongly behind president trump. president trump has said that he is not scared of the nra, although he has indicated that other members of his republican party are, but it still gives you an idea of the strength of the lobby that, shortly after president trump said he was determined to ensure that new, tighter gun laws were brought into place, he then met the nra, and the nra say that he gave them a very different message. so you get a sense thereof the national rifle association being an organisation that has notjust support but also it has political capital as well. it manages to put on pressure in washington, and ultimately that is where they are. they also have fundamental to make money, which is a fundamental thing about bringing any type of legal action, they are able to take this kind of action and challenge this law. in saying that, it is worth reflecting that the florida

governor, rick scott, is also a member himself of the nra. he feels that really something has to be done, though, in regards to the shootings which have taken place, and there is a building sent in america that something has to be done to tighten the laws, the access to guns. —— building cents. —— sense. an armed man has taken three people hostage at a care home in california. police were called to the yountville veteran's home in the napa valley at about 10:30am this morning local time. the area is currently under lockdown, with the gunman and hostages confined together in one room. law enforcement, including swat teams, the fbi and hostage negotiators, are on site. no—one is believed to be injured. 200 military personnel have arrived in salisbury, including specialist troops with training in chemical warfare. they will be working in the area where the former russian agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia collapsed on sunday. the home secretary will chair another meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee on saturday. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports from salisbury. it began with unprotected

police officers dealing with an unexplained medical emergency. this evening, the military was called in at salisbury hospital. troops, trained to tackle chemical warfare, supporting a british police investigation. their mission includes securing possibly contaminated evidence — painstaking work. the stakes are high. as the ministry of defence, we've been supporting the police in their investigations, through the work of military scientists at porton down. we'll continue to do that. another task — dealing with contaminated vehicles. this police car may have been driven to the hospital after the incident. 180 troops will be involved in this phase of the investigation. they have all the chemical agent monitors, they have the personal protective equipment, respirators etc, that

allow them to safely, and they'll probably take this kit to porton down or perhaps winterbourne gunner, where it can be decontaminated effectively. they are also expected to secure sergei skripal‘s car, and there are ambulances which may have traces of the nerve agent. across the city, scenes that might have come from a disaster movie. this isjust a graveyard, but it contains the graves of sergei skripal‘s wife, and his son alexander. he died last year. again, no official explanation for all this. the dates on alexander's grave may be relevant. last week, before the nerve agent attack, was the anniversary of his birth. did his father and sister visit the grave at some point? sergei skripal remains in a critical condition, his daughter yulia the same, but she is responding better to treatment. salisbury has become a multi—location crime scene, a city of disturbing images,

and unanswered questions. who wanted to kill them? why? how did they do it? what will happen next? tonight, the evidence is being gathered. tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. sergei skripal is still fighting for his life in hospital alongside his daughter yulia. he came to the uk in 2008 as part of a spy swap with russia. but what led him to seek refuge here? our correspondent has been given exclusive access to details and photographs from his past. the man behind the story. friends of sergei skripal have provided the bbc with the first detailed account of his life, including these personal pictures. here, skripal is in the centre with his daughter yulia, just after her birth in 1984. both are now fighting for their lives. skripal was born in kaliningrad.

he grew up listening to the world service on the radio. he joined the airborne troop. he became a championship army boxer. this was him a few years later with colleagues serving in central asia. when soviet troops went into afghanistan in 1979, he was among the first to go in. soon after, he was talent—spotted by the gru military intelligence. he served undercover in europe twice, in the ‘80s and the ‘90s. and it is during that time it is thought he was approached by british intelligence to spy for them. in 2004, he was arrested. friends say his shoulder was wrenched out of its socket in the process. he was sentenced to 13 years in a labour camp, but in 2010 he was released as part of a spy swap. he had dreamed of ice—cream,

and it was the first thing he asked for on his release. he was reunited with his wife, ludmila, pictured here on their wedding day, and they began to rebuild a life in salisbury. she grew roses, while he liked to barbecue sausages. it was short—lived. in 2012, she died of cancer. friends told the bbc he spent his time playing world war ii tank games on his computer, and visiting local military museums. the bbc understands from friends that, during his time in the labour camp, skripal would imagine being a home in his mind. they say they hope he will be using the same trick now, as he fights for his life. gordon corera, bbc news. this is bbc news. a reminder of the headlines: america's national rifle association is taking legal action against a gun safety bill in the state of florida which was signed into law earlier.

there are mixed messages coming from the white house about what conditions need to be met before president trump can meet the north korean leader, kim jong—un. the teenager accused of carrying out the london tube bombings at parsons green made no attempt to deny he was responsible when he was arrested the day after the attack, a court heard on friday. the prosecution claims ahmed hassan, who denies attempted murder, told a detective that he made the bomb. 30 people were injured in september last year when the bomb partially exploded in a tube carriage. june kelly was in court. ahmed hassan on his way to brighton, hours after leaving a bomb on an underground train in london. two years on from his arrival in the uk, the teenage asylum seeker had caused mayhem in its capital city. hassan later headed for dover, where he made for the port area. the jury at his trial has seen this cctv footage of his movements. 0n the run, he hung around this area until the following morning.

and it was here, 2a hours after the tube attack, the police identified him as a wanted man. in an initial interview with counter—terrorism detectives from scotland yard, hassan was asked, "who made the device?" and he replied, "i did." in response to further questions, he said there might be a few grams of the explosive tatp at his home address. hassan's device created a fireball when it partially exploded on an underground train at parsons green station in west london. the jury was told today the bomb was packed with shrapnel, including nuts, bolts, screws, drill bits and knives. and it contained 400 grams of the explosive tatp. to start next week.

june kelly, bbc news, at the old bailey. sirjohn sulston, who won the nobel prize for medicine for his work on the human genome project, has died. sirjohn's work in decoding the sequence of human dna, the building blocks of life, saw him awarded the prize in 2002. former us drug company executive martin shkreli has been sentenced to seven martin shkreli has been sentenced to seve n yea rs martin shkreli has been sentenced to seven years injailfor martin shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in jail for defrauding investors. shkreli was ordered to pay a fine of $75,000 in addition to a previous order that he forfeit more than $7 million. sophia tran—thomson has this report, and a warning, it does contain some flash photography. martin shkreli's familiar smirk has been making drug

price of the life—saving aids drug barrackroom live 5000% from $13 a pill to $750 in 2015. at the time he said he was using the profits to develop other life—saving drugs. there's a company that was selling an aston martin at the price of a bicycle and we bought that company and we asked to charge toyota prices, don't think that should be a crime. although the price hike had nothing to do with this trial. shkreli, who called himself a super villain, was also indicted for securities fraud charges in 2015. and in august last year, a jury found him guilty of defrauding investors in two hedge fund is he ran by sending them fake account state m e nts ran by sending them fake account statements and concealing huge losses. now shkreli has officially

been sentenced to seven years in jailfor been sentenced to seven years in jail for defrauding investors and ordered to pay a $75,000 fine. that's on top of the $7.3 million he had already been ordered to pay following his conviction. a normally smug martin shkreli broke down in tears in court. his attorney, who described him as a mildly autistic self—taught genius, said the sentence was too long. i'm disappointed. i thought the sentence should have been less than seven yea rs, should have been less than seven years, but, you know, martin's fine and he will be fine and obviously it could have been a lot worse. though thejudge said it could have been a lot worse. though the judge said it was justified because his crimes were not an isolated lapse in judgement because his crimes were not an isolated lapse injudgement but a passion of conduct. sophia tran—thomson, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the first aid convoy since monday has crossed into the besieged rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta in syria.

the red cross sent 13 trucks loaded with food but says its not nearly enough to feed the thousands of civilians there. they were also prevented from taking in medical supplies. the eu says it may challenge donald trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium. it claims they are in breach of world trade organization rules. the british government says, as a close ally of the united states, it would seek exemption from the tariffs. a visit to the uk by the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman has ended with the promise of a massive arms deal. the saudis have agreed in principle to buy forty—eight eurofighter typhoon fighter jets, in a deal worth several billion dollars. anti—war campaigners and human rights groups protested during the prince's three day visit. the opening ceremony of the winter paralympics has taken place in pyeongchang. north and south korea

did not march together under a unification flag, as they did at last month's winter olympic opening ceremony, because they failed to agree on which version to use. competition starts on saturday with 600 at leeds from 42 countries taking part. increasing numbers of young british muslim youth in our choosing to wear a headscarf, or hijab, but it's not without controversy. some women in countries like iran are campaigning against it as a symbol of oppression but here some women are taking the opposite view, seeing it as in powering, even a feminist statement. it's increasingly evident in the world of fashion and social media and a major modelling agency has just signed its first british catholic, catwalk model who wears a hijab. -- catholic, catwalk model who wears a hijab. —— british catwalk model. the spotlight is on the hijab. many muslim women choose to wear it proudly. for some, it's an act of modesty.

for others, in countries like iran, forced to wear it, it's a symbol to remove in protest. it may divide opinion, but hijab is going high fashion. 20—year—old model shahira yusuf has been signed up by storm, the agency that found supermodel kate moss. shahira is one of the first british models with a hijab taking to the catwalk. yeah, definitely don't want to be considered a token girl. i don't want these models like ethnic models or models from different religious backgrounds to just pave the way, i want the way to stay there, become the norm within society. because it is the norm outside of the modelling sphere. shahira is becoming the face of modest fashion. at the show in london, muslim designers have come from all over the world to promote their clothes. the market for modest fashion is on course to be worth billions. i grew up in a muslim family

and none of the the women in my family wore the hijab. none of my muslim friends wore it either. but now more and more young women are wearing it. the reason why i wear it is to number one, cover my hair. and number two, to be honest, i actually enjoy wearing the hijab, i enjoy covering my hair, i enjoy the hijabs i have today i feel like it makes a statement. it's part of who i am, it's my crown. the hijab to me is empowerment and it's feminism and it's taking control and ownership of what i choose to show to the world. being online has given some women a powerful platform. social media star, mariah idrissi, has a huge following on instagram. the hijab is a part of me, it's part of my career and its representation. you know, we shouldn't be ashamed or shy to represent who we are. if you are a model wearing a hijab, and you're on instagram and having thousands of people following you, aren't you doing the opposite of what the hijab is supposed to be about? the mainstream media,

western media isn't representing muslims on tv, in fashion, anywhere. the only time we are represented is for something bad. i just saw this as, you know, i'm going on the news and i'm talking about something that's not about terrorism, not about women being oppressed, i'm talking about fashion. some campaigners for muslim womens' rights think the hijab's popularity is a political statement. they feel uneasy about its use as an expression of identity. modest does not mean you need to wear the hijab. modesty goes beyond that in your behaviour and your way of dressing. i don't need to prove to anybody what i am, but in the hijab, you are singling yourself and proving something unnecessary, especially in the western world. the hijab means different things to different people. shahira believes you can wear it and be a successful model. herdream? the cover of british vogue, wearing her hijab. nomia iqbal, bbc news. now, we want to end the programme

with this story out of california. you may remember these pictures from earlier in the week of flippy the burger flipping earlier in the week of flippy the burgerflipping robot earlier in the week of flippy the burger flipping robot serving customers at a restaurant in pasadena. the idea of course was to replace human cooks but afterjust one day on the job, he has replace human cooks but afterjust one day on thejob, he has been forced to take a break. the reason? because he was too slow. his human helpers are getting some more training so the robot can keep up with our burger demands. that's the way it's looking this hour. i'm duncan golestani. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @duncangolestani the weather now with stav danaos. hello there. a different feel to the weather this weekend. it looks like we will see very mild conditions for most of us compared to what

we had last weekend. a big area of low pressure moving up from the south—west, feeding in the mild air. but a lot of cloud and also a lot of rain, too. rain continues to move north during the overnight period. not really reaching the northern half of scotland. so here it will remain chilly. but much milder airfeeding into england and wales. by saturday morning, 10—11 degrees the overnight low here. further north, again, cold across central and northern scotland, with frosty start to the day. mild start to both saturday and sunday for all of us. that mild air spreads into scotland as well. it will be cloudy with some rain. but given sunshine, you will feel the mild weather. 0ne front will be followed by another following later in the day. a messy picture to start saturday. the rain will lie across northern ireland, northern england, pushing north into scotland. snow in the high ground where it encounters the cold air. central parts of the country will see some dry weather before this next rain comes from the south. for 0rkney and shetland here it will be a cool day. temperatures in single figures was sunshine across the far north to scotland.

through the afternoon, it will be turning much wetter for the scottish mainland into northern ireland and northern england as well. the showery band of rain will move north. notice the temperatures — 14—15 degrees. you could even see 16 celsius given some prolonged sunny spells. now, the drier weather across the south—west will continue to advance northwards during saturday night. not a bad end to the night on saturday. into sunday, it looks like it will be a cloudy, damp start. but there will be brightness across the northern half of the country. further the south, showers developing. some could be heavy, maybe even thundery. again, it could be mild. 12—13 degrees in the south. even for scotland, double figure values of ten or 11 celsius.

lerwick, of ten or 11 celsius. still single figures. this is the pressure chart into monday. this area of pressure will bring some showery rain into the southern half of the country, with strong winds at times, too. so some heavy rain for england and wales. showery bursts for england and wales. a little bit of brightness into the afternoon, the best of the dry and bright in northern ireland and parts of scotland. temperatures mild, double figures for most, with a high of 12 or 13 across the south. mild for most of the week. this is bbc news. the headlines: the american pro—gun lobby group the national rifle association has filed a federal lawsuit over gun control legislation that had just been signed into law in florida. the nra says the law, which raises the legal age to buy guns, violates the second amendment, the right to bear arms. donald trump's spokeswoman has said a proposed meeting between the american president and the north korean leader,

kimjong—un, will not happen unless washington sees concrete steps or actions by pyongyang. military personnel with chemical weapons expertise have been deployed in salisbury, to help with the police investigation into the poisoning of a former russian double agent and his daughter. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition after being exposed to a nerve agent. now on bbc news, it is time for click.