welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america on pbs and around the world. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: several strong earthquakes shake parts of hawaii after a volcanic eruption. hundreds are forced to leave their homes. president trump rallies his base at a meeting of the national rifle association and makes this vow. your second amendment rights are under siege. but they will never, ever, be under siege as long as i'm your president. cheering chemical weapons inspectors say they've finished gathering samples at the site of an alleged chlorine attack in syria. ready for launch. the first nasa mission that will probe beneath the surface of mars prepares for lift—off. hello and welcome to bbc news.

several strong earthquakes have shaken parts of hawaii after the eruption of one of the world's most active volcanoes, mount kilauea. it's on hawaii's main island, where dramatic video showed fountains of lava bursting up under a road and streams of molten rock incinerating trees. 1,700 residents have been evacuated and a state of emergency has been declared. bill hayton reports. a roadblock, hawaii style. this neighbourhood is 2a miles from the crater of mt kilauea, but the ground cracked open on thursday and molten lava poured out. i smelt it and i ran into the corner and that is when i ran into a military officer,

who told me that it is smoking, and sure enough, take the turn and one of my favourite streets was on fire. dozens of small earthquakes left cracks in the roads. some residents described a feeling as if a giant snake was moving under the houses. you can feel the heat coming from the ground... yeah, there's heat coming out of there. there's laver there. and that wasn't the only danger. the air was filled with potentially toxic fumes. as a result, the state governor ordered an evacuation. there was little time to gather possessions. some escaped with what they could. residents are now waiting to see when they'll be allowed home. kilauea is spewing smoke from one of its side vents, but at the moment, scientists don't believe there's a major risk of an explosive eruption. lava's been flowing from the volcano crater and cracks on its slopes ever since it became active in 1983. but with earthquakes

getting stronger, no—one‘s relaxing just yet. bill hayton, bbc news. darrin carlson is a morning show radio announcer on the big island of hawaii, where the volcano is erupting, and hejoins us now from hilo. thank you forjoining us, those images that i've just been seeing are images that i've just been seeing a re pretty images that i've just been seeing are pretty dramatic, you are about an hour's drive from where that's happening? approximately, it's about 35 miles from where i'm at in hilo, i'm in hilo town, although that's far enough away so we are out of harm's way but at the same time we've been feeling some of the earthquakes you were mentioning. in fa ct, earthquakes you were mentioning. in fact, we felt a pretty significant 6.9 magnitude earthquake about an hour and 6.9 magnitude earthquake about an hourand a 6.9 magnitude earthquake about an hour and a half ago. in the area where all of the erupting is a caring, they are really dealing with the real reality of the situation,

whereas we in hilo and other parts of the island, we are feeling the effects but not to the degree those poor folks are. it's effects but not to the degree those poorfolks are. it's pretty effects but not to the degree those poor folks are. it's pretty crazy and the video is just as jarring for us and the video is just as jarring for us to watch as it is for you around the world. i can imagine, from where you are can you see anything? actually no, i am in hilo town, i normally watch everything through my computer but we have folks we sent out that way to cover it and get some live updates and that sort of thing. does that mean you'd only to worry? i suppose these things are affected by wind direction, right? the sulphur dioxide is the big concern here and there's been a lot of that. in one county they have been saying for folks that have breathing problems, old folks, young people, to be careful of that. we're not getting any of that, even with the strong wind, i don't think we

would get that in hilo but we do have a phenomena called vog, volcanic fog, we get on a regular basis, but it has been kept down in the puna area if you will. you guys are used to volcanoes and earthquakes in hawaii, but to an outsider like me, i'm looking at this thing with myjaw open. what are you guys feeling? we get a lot of calls from friends and family that might live on the mainland saying, are you guys 0k? its dramatic. but you're right, though, ina certain dramatic. but you're right, though, in a certain way sadly we're getting accustomed to it. about a0 years ago we had a lava flow that almost ran over a town nearby that is near where this is going on, and that was a big relief when it stopped at the foot of town. but hurricanes, lava flows, it is sort of our reality

now. you wonder why anyone would live in hawaii when you see these pictures but it is so beautiful so who can blame you? this is the thing that got me thinking, there are some people who are not leaving, who have been asked to evacuate, but they are not leaving, that is nuts, isn't it? l0 it is crazy and the civil defence put out a report saying, hey, if you're going to stay in your house, we probably won't be able to get to you, it won't be saved to get in because as you saw on the previous video, the laver is 150 feet high. some people, you can't tell them what to do but by and most residents are abiding by the law and going to the different shelters they are keeping for the folks being evacuated. asking about the earthquake, the volcano is on a different part of the island so you're not affected, but the

earthquake, you feel that? you're not affected, but the earthquake, you feelthat? 0h, you're not affected, but the earthquake, you feelthat? oh, yeah! the last one we felt was 6.9 and then we had a a.2, i want to say, but the second one, it felt like it when for about 30 seconds to the point where afterwards you weren't sure if you were feeling dizzy or not because it really went for quite a while. we felt that, it was the biggest one we felt since this all began. thanks very much. morning show presenter in hawaii. i love the beatles crossing abbey road behind you. a brilliant picture. thanks very much! we are a rock ‘n‘ roll station, classic rock, so we've got to have the beatles, right? thanks very much. and for more on that story, head to the bbc news website, where as well as the latest updates on the earthquakes and volcano there are also eyewitness accounts of the moment lava erupted through the streets, and interviews with some residents who are refusing to leave evacuation areas. you'll find that and more

from bbc.com/news. president trump has vowed to defend the right of americans 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 convention he seemed to dismiss the idea of tighter gun control laws after february's mass shooting at a high school in florida. gary 0'donoghue reports from dallas. there he is. there's 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. though today, the president remained staunch in his defence of them and their right onstitutionally 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. but after the shooting of 17 students and teachers at a school 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 that shooting, the president seemed prepared to stand up to the organisation, though little action followed. let's talk about guns, shall we? cheering but there was no such tough talk for 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. even though britain's murder rate is a fraction 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, joe, 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 where there's congressional elections, there's unlikely to be any more republican compromise. donald trump and the south korean president, moonjae—in, will hold talks at the white house on may the 22nd. they're due to discuss the planned summit between mr trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—un, expected to take place

in late may orjune. earlier, president trump said the time and place for the summit had been set but gave no further details. let's get more from our correspondent in washington, chris buckler. fast becoming a korean peninsular expert. what else did they said today, what happened? you get the impression that donald trump is talking non—stop about this north korean summit, he seems very excited about meeting kim jong—un and korean summit, he seems very excited about meeting kimjong—un and again he keeps on laying out this idea that the summit is going to happen sometime soon, saying very clearly that a date and location has now been set and that it will be revealed very soon. there are a number of issues of course for the americans to look at, firstly they have to work out whether or not kim jong—un is really committed to denuclearisation and for the americans, that's about giving up nuclear weapons and as a result we

had a meeting today with the white house national security adviser and his opposite number in south korea. they were discussing what was discussed in that last summit, that historic moment whenever the north and south korean leaders met, and that's looking towards the next summit. you're hearing clearly from both south korea and the usa that as far as they're concerned, the two countries will remain very much in touch ahead of that meeting between mr kim and president trump. but already in those comments from donald trump, when he talked about a potential date and like nation, he was also making clear that there we re was also making clear that there were substantive conversations going on already with north korea. what that means we don't know, but certainly there are a number of issues to sort out here. for example, what exactly north korea wa nts example, what exactly north korea wants out of this, they certainly wa nt to wants out of this, they certainly want to improve their economy, but also american wants to see the release of three korean american citizens being held prisoner in north korea. certainly mr trump

again gave an indication today that there was some sort of advance on that. thanks very much, chris buckler, in washington. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. 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 aa protesters have been killed during the weeks of protest, marking 70 years since hundreds of thousands of palestinian arabs were expelled or fled from the new state of israel. israel has withdrawn its candidacy for its first ever seat on the un security council. elections will be held next month to appoint five new members to serve a two—year term starting injanuary. israel's mission at the un said it had decided to postpone its candidacy after consulting partners and friends. the former us president george hw bush has been discharged

from a hospital in the texan city of houston, where he'd stayed for nearly two weeks. he was admitted just a day after the funeral of his wife, barbara. the 93—year—old was being treated for an infection that spread to his blood. 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's now calm in badhera village. a miracle that more lives weren't lost.

this is the place where i'm standing here. you can see this house, it's in a rubble now. the family used to live here and none of them are alive and the local villagers, they 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 its speed was 150km/h. it was a disaster. we helped one another. three people died in our village. translation: we were inside our house when it collapsed with 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. chemical weapons inspectors say they've finished gathering samples at the site of an alleged chlorine attack in syria. a team from the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons spent almost two weeks in the city of douma, their samples will now be sent for analysis. syria's president bashar al—assad denies using the banned weapons. you may find some of the images in this report by andrew plant distressing. an announcement on state tv by the russian military, close allies of the syrian government, as the international community which are the result of test from the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack. translation: during their work the visitors attended the apartments we re visitors attended the apartments were toxic substances were a p pa re ntly were toxic substances were apparently used and took samples and also visited a laboratory is paul is also visited a laboratory is paul is a warehouse with chemical substances. we are now waiting to their report. these pictures from

their report. these pictures from the seventh of april, they were filmed by a syrian opposition group and they claim to show the aftermath the attack. people having chlorine washed from their skin. days afterwards, america and france said they had proof the syrian government had used a chemical weapon and they, with the uk, launched more than 100 cruise missiles at, they said, key targets in syria chemical weapons programme. this is where the alleged attack happened, 16 kilometres outside the capital, damascus, the city of douma, in a former rebel held area of the country. this —— export the chemical weapons inspectors have collected dozens of environmental samples and are seeking to collect biological tissue from the bodies of victims. analysing the samples could take one month. russia has claimed the attack was faked a opposition groups at the syrian regime has been suspected several times of using prohibited weapons of something it has

repeatedly denied. the chemical weapons inspectors say it could be several weeks before their results are made public. andhra plant on the bbc news. —— andrew plant, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: dressing down, why the kimono is falling out of favour injapan and why some are trying to revive it. i, nelson mandela, will hearby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterand. but the tunnel is still not ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled 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 minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax.

this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: several strong earthquakes shake parts of hawaii after the eruption of one of the world's most active volcanos, mount kilauea. 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. nasa's first lander to mars since 2012 is due to launch on saturday morning from vandenberg air force base in california. scientists say the mars insight

lander, that should land on mars on 26 november, will probe beneath the red planet's surface for the first time to uncover the secret of how it and other rocky planets formed. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill explains. admission to the red planet and the journey back in time. probing beneath the surface of mars, nasa's insight mission will take the pulse of the planet to work out how it formed more than a.5 billion years ago. 0nce formed more than a.5 billion years ago. once it is an it its vital solar panels, the robotic lander bill carefully put down its own scientific instruments which will map the deep structure of the planet. this will take the temperature of mars and analyse the structure of its core, one instrument and seismometers will pick up signals from ashun earthquakes and mars quakes. my previous missions, the most recent missions have been looking for water and habitability. this one is looking at how the planet it self is

made up, how it is built. earth and mars formed at the same time, probably by similar processes, so the mission could also shed light on why the two planets are so different. mars formed about the same time, a little bit further out from roughly similar materials but it is very different, it is now dead,it it is very different, it is now dead, it could have been alive 3.8 billion years ago. so we want to know why the similarities, why the differences, and particularly wide mars has ended up with not being a habitable place now. your day trip to mars, scientists say this is a mission to our solar system's past. peering beneath mars's surfers could also help us understand how earth, the moon and even if the x0 planets around other stars evolved. let's head to japan now, and the attempt to revitalise an ancient tradition. for centuries, the kimono has been a symbol of the nation. but sales are in decline and the market is shrinking. it seems the kimono is too expensive for every day use. but some people are trying to change that,

as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. yuichi hirose is a master craftsman. his work is detailed, meticulous, using techniques that date back to the 17th century. but he knows this is an industry that desperately needs to move with the times. translation: the kimono has become something that is very far removed from our daily lives, and very few people wear them on a daily basis. a0 years ago, sales of the kimono were worth around $17 billion a year. by 2016, that figure had fallen to less than $3 billion. expensive to make, difficult to wear, almost impossible to clean. companies are now trying to use cheaper materials like cotton, wool, or even polyester. their aim, to create kimonos that are both affordable and wearable. translation: we need to make kimonos which are really part of people's

wardrobe, an outfit in which they can express themselves. and there are high hopes tourism might boost sales, particularly with the tokyo 0lympics only two years away. ancient and modern. traditional dress revolutionised for the 21st century. tim allman, bbc news. make kimono cheap began! it is still friday. well, if it is, you may not know that the date is one which star wa rs know that the date is one which star wars fa ns know that the date is one which star wars fans eagerly awaits this year, when able to utter the phrase, you have probably already heard it, may the fourth, yes, the force, be with you. in a galaxy far, far away, or rather, on twitter today,

star wars fans far and wide have been celebrating. from sports teams to some fuzzier celebrities. may the fourth be with you. everyone has been having a little fun with this clever play on words. if you found yourself at london's heathrow airport today, you might have found some stellar destinations on the departures board. even the franchise's stars haven't been able to resist. hi, um, i was wondering if you would remind me what the date is. i know what you're doing, 0k, very clever. i don't think so. but, if you could just say what, just say what the date is. just tell, i can't...|‘m having a really hard time remembering. i'm not not going to give you the phrase but i will say the day because i don't want to hear the phrase. 0k. may the fourth. be with you! 0h! and while it took mark hamill, aka luke skywalker, a bit of time to warm up, he is fully embracing

may the fourth and is clearly hoping you do too. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @nkem|fejika. bbc news, you have been watching. goodbye. hello again. 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. notjust in york but far and wide. there will be more to come this weekend. apart from the far north—west of scotland at times been some rain. it should be dry. it is getting warmer and warmer. high pressure is in charge of our weather. we are drawing in warmth from the near continent. as that builds, it keeps the weather

fronts almost at bay. 0ccasionally 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. if anything, temperatures at bit higher than they were on friday. getting up to 20 degrees in north—eastern scotland. 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 isles and peters out. still misty across the irish sea. it could lap up onto the coast again. generally clear skies. chilly 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 rain away, once again. more sunshine. and, northern ireland, increasing amount of sunshine for england and wales. some 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.

and more sunshine to come on monday, too. again, some stronger winds in the far north—west. a few spots of rain not far away. but generally, a lovely day. not quite as warm in the north—east of scotland and in the north—east of england on monday but inland elsewhere, temperatures at least around 20—23 degrees or so. and 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. now, things will start to change after monday. high pressure that has been drawing in this atlantic influence retreats to scandinavia. things start to turn in from the atlantic with pressure falling. we get weaker weather fronts approaching into western parts of the uk. but further east, it will still be dry on tuesday. there will be sunshine and still very warm across the midlands and eastern parts of england. those temperatures into the mid 20s or so. cooling off a little further north and further west. and with the atlantic winds pushing in across the uk, there won't be much rain, apart from in the north—west

of the uk. temperatures will be on the slide. this is bbc news, the headlines: dozens of people in hawaii have taken shelter from ash, toxic gas and lava flows from the mount kilauea volcano. at least two homes were destroyed when lava bubbled up through fissures in a residential area. several strong earthquakes have shaken the southeastern region of hawaii's big island. president trump has addressed the national rifle association and vowed not to tighten us firearms laws despite suggesting after the florida school shooting that he was prepared to take on the gun lobby. he again called for teachers to be armed, saying any gun—free zone was an invitation to shooters. chemical weapons inspectors say they have finished gathering samples at the site of an alleged chlorine attack in syria last month. a team from the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons spent almost two weeks in the city of douma. their samples will now be sent for analysis. now on bbc news,

the week in parliament