this is bbc world news. i'm ben bland. our top stories: president trump rallies his base at a meeting of the national rifle association and makes this vow. your second amendment right are under siege. but they will never, ever, be under siege as long as i'm your president. palestinian leader mahmoud abbas apologises for remarks he made aboutjewish people and the holocaust. he later insisted he condemned it as ‘the most heinous crime in history'. a volcanic eruption in hawaii forces hundreds of people to leave their homes. also in the programme, the swedish academy vows to reform after this year's nobel prize for literature is postponed over a sexual harassment scandal. hello and welcome to bbc news.

president trump has vowed to defend american‘s right to own guns in a speech at the national rifle association's convention in dallas, texas. he was back among his core supporters after a tumultuous week in which he's faced growing scrutiny about his alleged affair with stormy daniels, an adult film star. at the nra convention he seemed to dismiss the idea of tighter gun control laws after february's mass shooting at a high school in florida. gary o'donoghue reports from dallas. there he is. there is donald trump. travelling to the nra's convention is becoming an annual pilgrimage for president trump. but recent mass shootings have put the organisation on the back foot. today, the president remained staunch in his defence of them and their constitutional right to own a gun. your second amendment rights are under siege. but they will never, ever be under siege as long as i am president.

in parkland, florida on valentine's day, the mood has changed, with young people around the country keeping gun control at the forefront of the debate. my daughter has no voice. she was murdered last week. shortly after the shooting, the president seemed prepared to stand up to the organisation, though little action followed. let's talk about guns, shall we? but there was no such tough talk to the nra today. the president also suggesting that just having tight gun laws, like those in london, did not stop people being killed in other ways. of that in the united states. i recently read a story that in london, which has unbelievably

tough gun laws, a once very prestigious hospital is like a war zone for horrible stabbing wounds. yes, that's right. they don't have guns. they have knives. lindsay falcon was one of those close by, urging tighter controls. her nephew was one of four people killed in a waffle house shooting in tennessee last month. please stop calling us stupid for wanting to protect our children. this was an uncompromising speech by the president. and in a year of congressional elections, there is unlikely to be any more republican compromise. breaking news, a magnitude 5.7

earthquake has hit hawaii's big island. it struck on friday, just south of where the kilauea volcano has been spewing flows of lava into residential areas. we will have more on that for you in a moment. but for now, more details on the earthquake. the geological survey says the quake was very shallow, only four miles deep and centred ii was very shallow, only four miles deep and centred 11 miles south—east of fern forest. just to recap, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake has struck a hawaii's big island. we will keep across that and let you know any more developments as we get them. in the meantime, back to the kilauea volcano. hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes after the eruption of one of the world ‘s most active volcanoes. mt

kilauea has sent huge plumes of ash into the air along with dangerous gases. now they are waiting to see if further eruptions take place. sorry, out of here. the dangers are plain to see. fountains of lava spewing out of ground fissures here oi’ spewing out of ground fissures here or on big island. the temperatures can reach over iooodc. hawaii's governor has declared an emergency and activated military reservist from the national guard to help with evacuating 1700 people from local communities. we have to shelter set up communities. we have to shelter set up right now. one for pets at our gymnasium. people can stay with their pets through the night. there is another shelter set up inside, with cots and everything set up. the volcano has been erupting, almost continuously, for three decades. but

this latest activity follows a series of earthquakes on the island including a five magnitude tremor. you can feel the heat coming from the ground. yeah, there is heat coming out of those. there is lava there. there was a huge earthquake and now in the direction of kilauea there is a massive cloud of smoke coming up. leaving the area shaken, and still taken by surprise. my family and pets are safe. that is all i care about. the rest is just stop. when i ward here 1a years ago i knew this day would eventually come but it happened so fast. i knew this day would eventually come but it happened so fastm i knew this day would eventually come but it happened so fast. it is right there behind our house. we could hear the lava exploding from the house. now they must wait, not knowing what they may find on their return. earlier, i spoke to geophysicist, michael poland, from the us geological survey, and he gave me this update.

there are fissures that continue to openin there are fissures that continue to open in the subdivision. there are five fissures that have opened so far. it is low—level spattering activity. lava popping out of the ground. at least one home has been lost. in terms of this sort of volcanic activity, how hazardous is this situation this time? the hazard is not so much with the lava which is not so much with the lava which is easy enough to get out of the way from. the fissures before they arrived to give science. it gives us time to get out of the way. one of the big hazard is right now that is a little bit hard to track is sulphur dioxide gas. it can be quite toxic if you in encounter a large

quantity near event and that is one reason we urge people to leave. how long, potentially, could the disruption to these people ‘s lives go on for? that is a good question. hopefully this will continue to be a small spattering fissures die out. there is also the possibility that this eruption may tap a larger source of magma. that may be happening because the summit of the volcano is deflating. the pressure is decreasing at the summit. magma is decreasing at the summit. magma is being drawn from the summit into this eruption so it is possible that the eruption could last days or weeks. was this expected? was it about the time was expect it for this volcano to become active again? weather systems in place to assess the activity were they doing the job they should have done? in terms of they should have done? in terms of the monitoring network, the eruption had been ongoing since 1983, over three decades. throughout much of

march and april there were signs that things were about to change. the one that had been active since 1983 had been inflating like a balloon and there was pressure build up. something was going to happen. what that would be was difficult to forecast but we knew that the eruption was likely to change. u nfortu nately eruption was likely to change. unfortunately the magma was able to move underground quite quickly over the last several days. an update on that breaking news about the earthquake that has hit hawaii's big island. according to reuters, the magnitude has been upgraded to 6.9. i mentioned a moment ago that it was regarded as a 5.7 magnitude earthquake, now upgraded to 6.9. that is according to reuters, reporting the upgrade from the us geological survey. moron that as we get it. the palestinian leader mahmoud abbas has apologised for comments he made earlier this week that were widely criticised

as being anti—semitic. at a meeting in the west bank on monday, mr abbas suggested the historical persecution of europeanjews had been a reaction to their financial activities, not by their religion. in a statement today, he condemned anti—semitism and called the holocaust the "most heinous crime in history". 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell has more. already from the israeli defence minister there has been a rejection of this apology from mahmoud abbas. he called him, in aid message on twitter, a richard holocaust denier and said he had written a book on holocaust denial, published a document on the subject. this reference, as is often pointed out byjo wish groups, the doctorate thesis that mahmoud abbas wrote when he was in moscow in the 1980s, the title of his thesis was the secret

relationship between nazism and the zionist movement. this has really stirred up an unwanted debate for mahmoud abbas on what is already a very tense time. next week is when the us plans to move its embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem, breaking with decades of international consensus. since it recognised jerusalem as the capital last december, the palestinians have broken off their relations with the us. the remarks that mr mahmoud abbas made in a long and rambling speech at the palestinian national council, they attracted notjust criticism from israel but also from a lot of international figures as well. the european union said that these remarks were unacceptable. the un special envoy he said that they would deeply distressing and the us picked up on them as well. the ambassador to israel saying that they marked a new low for mahmoud

abbas. hundreds of palestinians have been demonstrating along the border fence with israel for the sixth consecutive friday. reports say a number of protesters have been wounded by live and rubber bullets fired by israeli troops. others have been treated for inhaling tear gas. israel says it uses force only to prevent damage to the fence or possible infiltrations. at least 44 protesters have been killed during the weeks of protest, dust storms whipped up by violent winds have destroyed homes and lives across a wide area of northern india. at least 125 people have been killed, though some reports suggest the figure is higher, as buildings collapsed in the intense storm. villages in agra near the taj mahal were the worst affected, and more bad weather is on the way. the bbc‘s salman ravi reports from agra. it is now calm in the village. a miracle that more lives were not lost. this is the place where i'm standing here. you can see the house is in the rubble now.

the family used to live here. and none of them are alive. and the local villagers had to perform the last rites. the women are in mourning and know it will be hard to rebuild. translation: suddenly, all the people were caught up in it. people say the speed was 150 kilometres per hour. it was a disaster. we helped one another. three people died in our village. translation: we were inside our house when it collapsed from the high winds. my father was killed. my niece and i were injured. translation: nobody has ever seen such a hurricane. we pray to god that we don't experience this again. all the farmers' crops have been ruined. translation: i was hiding behind the furniture in the room. the wind blew our wall down and i was stuck in the ruins with my whole family. the villagers say they should have had more notice. but government officials say the storm came out of nowhere.

it was the worst in 20 years. and more bad weather is forecast. salman ravi, bbc news, agra. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: may the fourth be with you. star wars fans are using today's date as a reason to celebrate. i. i, nelson mandela will hear by serve and swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and the french president. the tunnel are still not ready for passengers nor freight services to begin. for centuries,

christianity and islam struggle for supremacy. now the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in underfour first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes ina dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has told members of america's powerful gun lobby, the national rifle association, that he won't bow to calls for stricter controls. let's get more now on that speech. 0ur reporter in washington, anthony zurcher, says the way mr trump talked about guns almost made it sound like he was fighting an election again.

it sounded like campaign trump, talking about the second amendment and how they were going to take away people ‘s columns. it was a sharp contrast to just a couple of months ago in march where other politicians we re ago in march where other politicians were said to be afraid by the nra but they went the —— he would be controlled by them. —— people ‘s guns. the background checks seem to have gone by the way is a —— wayside and he was talking about knives —— knife violence in the uk and where people not having guns lead to more violence. it was a blast from the past. he was talking about poll ratings, talking about the economy, north korea, how kanye west is supporting him now and he is becoming more popular with black voters. there were calls for it

greater border security, immigration control. this was donald trump in classic form. you have to keep in mind that this speech and the reason why he sounds like an election speech is because he knows in november, the americans are going to the polls and at the moment, it looks like they may vote for democrats, dealing a big blow to his party. he needs to rally the base so that they can maintain control of congress. all of his agenda goes by the wayside otherwise. techie developing story, the earthquake that has hit hawaii's big island. ina earthquake that has hit hawaii's big island. in a further revision, the us geological survey is now ranked it as us geological survey is now ranked itasa us geological survey is now ranked it as a 5.8 magnitude quake that hit hawaii's big island, just south of where the volcano has been spewing

ash and laba into residential areas. its electien campaign. = tfi§§§§§§fllfifiél hsfifii " ”" "' "”"" thousands of party lawyer lets have tended to manifesto launch web president emmerson mnangagwa pledged to raise the standard of living for all zimbabweans. he has also promised to create a middle income country by 2030. by some accounts, this is a measured plan. he said his plan is hinged on opening up closed industries and reviving the economy. zimbabwe is in good hands. the theme

of this year's manifesto and campaign launch, unite, fight corruption, develop, re—engage and create jobs. it is a slick election campaign being launched here. dozens of billboards have been splashed across the country and just across from here, i rode a brand—new campaign cars are ready to go. even some of these have on the new regalia. all of these masks a deep problem within the ruling partly. —— party. zanu—pf‘s elections were held over the weekend and there was some surprise defeats including several ministers as well as war veterans. ruling party, in terms of primary elections, disgruntled. it is a paradox. the opposition party is trying to recover from the death of

morgan tsvangirai. emmerson mnangagwa must get down to the real work and that includes uniting disparate mentor party. —— uniting this party. for the first time since the second world war — this year there will be no nobel prize for literature. the swedish academy, which chooses who wins this most prestigious award — is caught up in a crisis over allegations of sexual assault by the husband of one of the academy's judges — and how those allegations were handled. the academy has now decided the damage to its credibility was so serious it had no choice but to cancel the awards. here's maddy savage in stockholm. churchill, steinbeck, dylan. for more than a century, the nobel literature prize has been amongst the most prestigious awards for authors from around the world. but the institution that hands out the literature award, the swedish academy, has been in turmoilfor months. it is all because of this french photographer. he ran a cultural project that got funding from the swedish academy. he is accused of sexually assaulting

at least 18 women and leaking information about prizes. he is married to katerina frostensen, who was a member of the academy when the allegations came out. she later resigned along with a handful of others amid deep internal rows about how the allegations were handled. it is a big dealfrom the swedish academy and not being able to cope with the scandal. but also the fact that they haven't expressed any remorse or regret about their behaviour in the public in the last few weeks. the swedish academy's decision to postpone the prize is an admission that it has lost credibility, both here in sweden and around the world. in a statement today, it said it will spend the next year looking at how to tackle conflict of interest and communication in future, as well as recruiting new members. this is a scandal that has notjust put the literary sphere in a span, but upset a lot of people across sweden. where sex assault allegations are taken seriously and the nobel awards are a source

of national pride. they haven't taken the questions seriously about the sexual harassment. it's such an honourable group of people, and acting like kids. i think it is bad for sweden because a lot of swedes think that the swedish academy are the good guys, the people who do good and want to do good. restoring public confidence in the academy and the prize won't be an easy assignment. maddy savage, bbc news, stockholm. more details have been released about the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle on may 19th in windsor. it's been announced that meghan markle's father will walk his daughter down the aisle at st. george's chapel. meghan markle, of course, is keen that both her parents should be involved on the big day, notwithstanding the fact that they were divorced when meghan was about six years old. they will be coming to this country a few days before the wedding, meeting the royal family,

as you have mentioned, and then on the big day itself, both have roles. meghan's mother, doria ragland, will accompany meghan as she makes her way from her overnight accommodation by car to windsor castle and then at st george's chapel, her father, thomas markle will take her up the aisle, as the father of the bride, to give her away. he will bring her up to the high altar where harry and his best man, william, will be waiting. they will have made their way down by foot from the private quarters at windsor castle, through the grounds of the castle, where the invited guests will have a chance to see them, as they make their way to the chapel. one other touch, harry, we learn, has been particularly keen to involve the family of his late mother, diana, princess of wales, in the service, so diana's two sisters and her brother will be in the congregation and indeed, diana's eldest sister, lady jane fellowes will be giving one of the readings. no news yet about bridesmaids and pages of honour and all that sort of thing. we will get that a few days before the service, but we have learned that meghan markle is not

having a maid of honour. friday's date is one which star wars fans eagerly await all year. it's all about being able to utter the phrase — far away or on twitter today, star wars fans far and wide have been celebrating. from sports teams to some celebrities. may the fourth be with you. everybody has been having a little bit of fun with this clever play on words. if you found yourself at london's e threat airport today, you might have found some stellar destinations on the departures board. even a franchise's stars haven't been able to resist. hike i

was wondering if you would remind me what the date is. i know what you are doing, 0k, very clever. i don't think so. if you could just say what the date is. just tell it, i'm having a hard time remembering. the date is. just tell it, i'm having a hard time rememberinglj will having a hard time remembering.” will not give you the phrase but they will say the date because i don't want to say it. made a fourth —— made a fourth... don't want to say it. made a fourth -- made a fourth... be witty! he is fully embracing it and is hoping you will too. —— be with you! don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @ benmbland. good morning. don't expect too much

and you won't be disappointed. that's normally what most people say about the bank holiday weekend weather. this weekend, though, could be very different. we saw a fair bit of sunshine around on friday. not just in new york but far and wide. there will be more to come this weekend. —— not just there will be more to come this weekend. —— notjust in that york. it is getting warmer and warmer. high pressure is in charge of our weather. we are drawing in warm from the near continent. as that builds, it keeps the weather fronts almost at bay. occasionally brushing the far north—west of scotland and the outer isles as well. some patchy cloud across scotland, northern ireland and into england and wales. there will be sunny spells, too. temperatures at bit higher than they we re temperatures at bit higher than they were on friday. getting up to 20 degrees in north—eastern scotland. the low 20s in the south—east of england. there is the rain in the

far north—west of scotland. it runs away towards the northern ireland and peters out. —— northern isles. it could lap up onto the coast again. generally clear skies. it could lap up onto the coast again. generally clearskies. chile in the south—east of england, generally eight or nine degrees. warming up in the sunshine on sunday. again, stronger winds in the north—west of scotland. pushing the way ina north—west of scotland. pushing the way in a way, once again. more sunshine. and, northern ireland, increasing amount of sunshine for england and wales will stop mistiness through the irish sea that could be heading up towards the channel. temperatures continuing to rise and getting into the low and perhaps even mid— 20s at best. more sunshine to come on monday, too. again, stronger winds in the far north—west and a few spots of rain not far away. generally a lovely day. inland, elsewhere, temperatures at least around 20— 23 degrees or so. we could get 27 to the north—west of london on bank holiday monday. that would make it the hottest early bank holiday monday on

record. rings will start to change after monday. high pressure that has been drawing in this atlantic influenced retreats to scandinavia and things start to turn in from the atla ntic and things start to turn in from the atlantic with pressure falling and we get weaker weather fronts approaching into western parts of the uk. further east, it will still be dry on tuesday. they will still be dry on tuesday. they will still be sunshine and are still very warm across the midlands and eastern parts of england. the temperatures into the mid— 20s. cooling off further north and west. with the atla ntic further north and west. with the atlantic wind pushing across the uk, they won't be much rain apart from in the far north—west. temperatures will be on the slide. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has addressed the national rifle association and vowed not

to tighten us firearms laws, despite suggesting after the florida school shooting in february that he was prepared to take on the gun lobby. mr trump any gun—free zone was an invitation to shooters. hawaii's big island, where kilauea volcano has been spewing lava into residential areas, has been hit by a series of earthquakes which are getting stronger and stronger. the civil defense agency said there were fissures on three streets and told any remaining residents to evacuate. there are warnings that more powerful storms across northern india are likely over the coming days and over a wider area. at least 125 people are now thought to have died the nobel prize for literature will not be awarded this year after the swedish academy found itself embroiled in a sexual assault scandal. six members resigned from the body over its handling of the allegations. now on bbc news, sam poling investigates the series of crises to have hit police scotland, five years after the creation of the national force.