hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. us president donald trump has caused outrage in france by suggesting the 2015 attacks on paris could have been stopped by giving people guns. he mimicked gunmen summoning and shooting victims one by one, using his hand to imitate a gun being fired. the former french prime minister manuel valls called the comments ‘indecent.’ andrew plant reports. usa! it has become an annual event, president trump addressing america's national rifle association. but this year's speech has offended many in france when he claimed the terrorist attack in 2015 could have been prevented by arming civilians. nobody has guns in paris.

nobody. and we all remember the more than 130 people, tremendous numbers of people, that were horribly, horribly wounded. but if one employee orjust one patron had a gun, or if one person in this room had been there with a gun, the terrorists would have fled or been shot. 130 people died in november, 2015, when terrorists opened fire in a cafe and inside a music venue. former french president francois holland called mr trump's remarks shameful. the prime minister at the time, manuel valls, said "it was indecent and incompetent, what more can i say?" donald trump's speech had already made headlines in the uk

when he compared a london hospital to a warzone due to knife crime, comments a uk surgeon has called "completely absurd." mr trump and french president emmanuel macron have developed a close relationship over recent months. emmanuel macron is yet to respond to the comments made in the speech. andrew plant, bbc news. sir alex ferguson, the most successful manager in british football history, has undergone emergency surgery for a brain haemorrhage. his former team manchester united said the operation went "very well" but that he now needed a period of intensive care. our sports correspondent david 0rnstein reports. this was sir alex ferguson only last sunday, in high spirits and seemingly good health. but tonight news emerged that the 76—year—old had been admitted to hospital. a statement released by manchester united read: "sir alex ferguson has undergone emergency surgery today for a brain haemorrhage. the procedure has gone very well but he needs a period of intensive care to optimise his recovery."

speculation began when his son darren, manager of doncaster rovers, was absent from their match against wigan athletic today, with the club saying it was for family reasons. sir alex ferguson retired as manchester united manager in may, 2013, after winning an incredible 38 trophies in 26 years. the scott famously won the trebble of premier league, fa cup and champions league trophies in 1999, the same year he was knighted. gordon taylor, boss of the professional footballers association said: "all our thoughts and prayers are with you, sir alex, god bless", as messages of support poured in from across the football community.

i hope he is in good hands and i hope the operation is a major success, because as a personal friend, you know, i hope he has a full recovery. sir alex ferguson is one of the greatest figures the game has ever known. his success at old trafford earning him legendary status. the hope is he will win this battle off the pitch as he did so often on it. david 0rnstein, bbc news. for the first time in nine years, lebanese voters are choosing a new parliament. sunday's election will be held under a new voting system aimed at moving the country to a more proportionally representative government. the country is beset by sectarian and political divisions, and overshadowed by the conflict in syria which has led to a mass influx of refugees. afghan security forces say they have recaptured a district in the remote north—eastern province of badakhshan from taliban insurgents. the interior ministry told the bbc troops were now in full control of the kohistan district afterfighting in which many militants were killed. there has been no comment from the taliban. the group has stepped up attacks across the country in a so called spring offensive.

still to come, here on bbc news, the first proper look at prince louis — as photographs of the newest british royal are released. one of britain's most wanted men, arrested on friday in barcelona, has been denied bail, ahead of extradition proceedings. jamie acourt had evaded the police for two years. mr acourt, who's wanted for alleged drugs offences, was one of the original suspects in the murder of the teenager, stephen lawrence, 25 years ago. he's always denied involvement. from barcelona, tom burridge sent this report. he was a top target for spanish and british police. today, jamie acourt is finally in police custody. he was arrested at this gym in central barcelona. spanish police tell me that when officers moved in, mr acourt claimed he was an italian tourist. simon macdonald was at the gym.

the story, the gossip is that that there were actually police officers working out in the gym, to keep an eye on him, to make sure that he did not run away. undercover? undercover, yeah. he saw the police operation happen. so, what i saw was, a convergence of the different police officers. i guess, a pincer operation, to use the terminology and then the next minute they were escorting him out, with his hands behind his back, in handcuffs. was there any drama at all? no, no drama whatsoever. in fact, it was very silent, a little bit eerie. the gym is near the sagrada familia cathedral. police think he was living nearby. there are few places in spain better than central barcelona if you are a foreigner and you want to blend in. i am told by a senior spanish police source, that jamie acourt was using false names. he had protection and he was moving around spain, spending time in parts

of the country full of tourists. mr acourt was trying to keep a low profile in spain, obviously. he knew he was wanted and he has been trying to keep a low profile. we have been on his trail, using intelligence methods. jamie acourt was one of the original suspects in the murder of stephen lawrence. the teenager was stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack in 1993. five years later, mr acourt, seen here in a black suit and sunglasses, gave evidence at a public enquiry. he has always denied he was involved. tonight, jamie acourt is in custody in spain after he was denied bail. he is suspected of supplying drugs on a large scale. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, has been released from custody after being charged with organising a rally and resisting the police. he was among nearly 1,600 people

detained across russia while protesting against vladimir putin's forthcoming inauguration for a fourth term as president. steve rosenberg reports. in moscow, this was the reaction to a protest against the president. riot police pushed demonstrators off pushkin square. the protesters had been shouting, "down with the tsar!" and demanding that vladimir putin serves his fourth term as president injail. there were protests in dozens of russian towns. police detained more than 1,000 people. crowd chanting. "do we need a tsar?" asked opposition activist alexei navalny who had organised the protest. "no", they shouted. soon after, police dragged him away too. earlier in the square, russian nationalists supporting president putin vowed to prevent a ukraine style revolution in russia. the anti—government protesters shouted them down.

on paper at least, vladimir putin has little to fear from a street protest. a recent survey found that the vast majority of russians had no desire to take part in a political demonstrations. and yet, any public display of dissent makes the russian government nervous. that is because the kremlin has seen a people powerforce political change in countries on russia's doorstep. hence, this less than subtle hint from those in power here — that critics of the authorities can expect an even tougher time in president putin's fourth term in the kremlin. the british foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is travelling to washington as part of efforts to persuade president trump's administration not to abandon the iran nuclear deal. chris buckler reports from washington. in a series of visits

to the white house, leaders have been trying to get donald trump to listen to their concerns about his hardline stance on iran. despite the clear warmth with which he greeted the french president, emmanuel macron, and the time he gave the german chancellor, angela merkel, donald trump is still planning to abandon the international agreement to curb iran's nuclear programme. he believes the terms are far too lenient, and has said he will decide by saturday whether to change sanctions on iran. with the deadline fast approaching, borisjohnson is travelling to washington to test his powers of persuasion. he has met donald trump before, but currently he is not scheduled to meet with him directly in this trip. instead he will speak to vice president mike pence and a series of other white house officials. he will be very aware

it is the president's mind he needs to change. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. thousands of people have gathered in central paris for a protest march against the policies of president emmanuel macron— marking his one—year anniversary in the topjob. the rally was called by the main far—left party, ‘france unbowed' and was mostly peaceful. police were out in force to prevent a repeat of the violence that marred a may day demonstration earlier this week. virginia langeberg reports. what had been a largely peaceful protest saw tensions fly as some anti— macron demonstrators reached bastille square in the centre of paris. riot police dispersed the crowd with smoke bombs after a media van was attacked. earlier, it had been a party, of sorts, to mark emmanuel macron's first year in the presidential office. rather than celebrating the milestone, this was a rally against the french leader and his economic reforms which his opponent say favour the wealthy. translation: it's discontent and also personally i didn't vote for him and for his ideas,

which are significantly pro—rich. i am showing that we are young, us, the masses, the people, who won nothing or less than nothing, we are here and we will also fight for our rights. translation: people need to express themselves a bit and express the anger that they have inside them. the demonstrators turned out in droves, organisers estimate 160,000. police put the number at a quarter of that size, 40,000. security had been beefed up after separate rallies earlier in the week marking mayday had turned violent in places. the far left party which organised the latest rally says it is planning another demonstration in a few weeks. coincidentally, the month of may marks half a century since the 1968 protest movement which shook france. although it remains to be seen whether macron's opponents have the capacity to change the president's tune. virginia langeberg, bbc news. it's 200 years since

the birth of karl marx — the german philosopher who came up with the theory of communism. to mark the event — a statue of him was unveiled in his home town of trier. the huge bronze cast was a gift from china — whose leader xijinping has described marx as the greatest thinker of modern times. but as the bbc‘s tim allman reports — many in his hometown don't share that view. he was one of the most controversial, divisive, but arguably important thinkers of the 19th century. for some, he was a champion of the working classes. 0thers insist his was an ideology that would ultimately lead to the deaths of millions of people. either way, karl marx was honoured in his hometown of trier 200 years to the day after he was born.

translation: i say it very clearly, in germany, we have this situation again and again, with difficult, complex personalities of history. we want to hide them in the woods. therefore it was a conscious act to bring karl marx into the city. we don't have to hide him. not everyone was so welcoming. protesters denouncing marx, calling him the father of all dictators. but there were others, condemning capitalism, still following his ideas. it is the mark of, in a way, the greatness of the thought, that generates enormous polarisations still. and there is a huge split in europe between east and west. this bronze statue honours trier‘s most famous son. a man who still inspires and still divides, even

in the 21st century. tim allman, bbc news. this is bbc news. lll l llll l lll l l l is in intensive care after suffering a brain haemorrhage. a nasa mission to study the learn more about what mars is made of has taken off from california and is beginning its six—month journey. the rocket is carrying a probe which is designed to help scientists find out about what lies beneath its crust. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. right on time, shrouded in fog, at 4:05am local time,

the atlas v rocket carrying nasa's mars insight lander launched from vandenberg air force base on the california coast. this, the us space agency says, is notjust another mission to the red planet, but a journey back in time, probing beneath the surface of mars for the first time, insight will aim to take the pulse of the planet to work out how it formed more than 11.5 once it has unfolded its vital solar panels, the robotic lander will carefully put down its own scientific instruments, which will map the deep structure of the planet. these will take the temperature of mars and analyse the structure of its core. 0ne instrument, a seismometer, will pick up signals from martian 2 li ;¥la:§§;§;;§l—lt i 7l l lt: w 77

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mars insight, but these little satellites which the engineers have nicknames eva and wall—e, after the characters from the animated movie, this is a test run, and if they work as expected, what they will do this time is they will allow us to monitor the spacecraft as it lands on mars. but in the future this could really be quite a new and exciting way of opening up the possibilities of who gets to explorer and what we get to do. ok, let's check out the core mission of this exploration, which is to check out the geophysics of mars itself. this sounds astonishing. there is so much to learn, it seems? yes, it is a somewhat subtle mission. it will not be a pretty pictures mission. the results will come back and they will really be much more about storytelling than about the visuals.

it is picking mars apart from the top to the bottom to understand how the planet was built, why it is so different from earth, what it was like in the different per —— distant past, and all the looking for life is not part of the primary mission here, in the course of understanding how the planet is constructive, they you know, the seismometer is going to be listening to the entire planet, listing to signs of water beneath the surface. in the past on the planet was warmer and when it was more dynamic, could it have been a good place for life? you have talked about this mission is a kind of time machine. it is a time machine not just of of time machine. it is a time machine notjust of geology but also of life, about whether mars might have been a living planet in the past. thank you. and apparently there is also going to be some deep drilling, imagine if they found oil. goodness me. commemorations have taken place on the scottish island of islay to mark the hundredth anniversary of two first world war troop ship disasters that took

the lives of hundreds of american soldiers. princess anne took part in events to mark the centenary of the sinking of the ss tuscania and wreck of hms 0tranto in 1918. hundreds of american troops drowned within sight of land. from islay, here's our correspondent, glenn campbell. as islay remembered the twin tragedies of 1918 at the american monument on the island, three warships from the uk, germany and the us patrol its coast. then able to be completed with a wreathlaying at sea. when the hms 0tranto went down off islay‘s west coast, 500 men we re down off islay‘s west coast, 500 men were thrown into the cold, heaving atlantic, india hurricane conditions. —— in near. the ship was badly damaged in a collision and torn to pieces on a reef. it was every man for themselves, but they harvested chance. 0nly every man for themselves, but they harvested chance. only 21 made it ashore alive. —— hardly stood a

chance. john roberts' father was among the lucky few, despite not being able to swim. he had his life vest on and ended up near the cliff over here. onshore, the macphee family saw the disaster unfolding in rushed to help. it was said that they went into the water seven times, and each time, they pulled out a man. and one of those men pulled to safety was 17—year—old private david roberts. 100 years on, his son has come to thank the family of his father's rescuer, for filling our long—held wish. —— fulfilling. this will be my last chance. i'm 88, going on 89. so i had to make it. this will be my last chance. i'm 88, going on 89. so i had to make itm isa going on 89. so i had to make itm is a great honour, to think that because of their acts, and how courageous they were, there are people alive today who would not be, had they not done the things they

did. the sinking of the hms otranto tested the people of this island to their limits. but they were not without experience. just eight months before, another troop ship carrying american soldiers across the atlantic to the wall, the ss toscania, was torpedoed off islay with the loss of 200 lives. islay buried hundreds of men. american soldiers and british crew. all the victims were remembered in a ceremony attended by the princess royal and the us ambassador. tributes were also paid to the islanders who found the courage and compassion to cope when mass casualties swept their shores. i know, everybody has been shouting the correct pronunciation of islay in my year. i will know next time. pictures of the new royal baby prince louis' first days at home have been released

by his proud parents, the duke and duchess of cambridge. they have also thanked all those who have sent them kind messages following his birth last month. 0ur reporter simonjones has been taking a look at the photos. the newest member of the royal family, prince louis pictured when he was just three days old. and here, a tender moment with his sister, princess charlotte, on her third birthday. both photos taken by their mother. they are the first images of louis, who is fifth in line to the throne, since he was presented to the world last month. the pictures were taken here at kensington palace, the duke and duchess of cambridge said they were very pleased to share them and they thanked members of the public for all the kind messages they ‘ve received following the birth of prince louis. we showed the pictures to visitors to the palace. isn't he cute! yeah. that's the new baby. we're from the united states. yeah. he's handsome. he does look like other babies. i have just had two newborns in my family. lovely.

all children are very lovely and cute. like my dog. catherine, one of the world's most photographed people, is viewed as a talented amateur photographer herself. the next big event for the royals will be be married prince harry and meghan markle later this month. william and catherine will be there, but prince louis, who will then be less than four weeks old, will stay at home. now, how about this for a race which features competitors aiming for the top? it's a vertical race up the stairs of taiwan's 101 tower. the competitors have to make their way up 2,046 steps, or 90 floors. the winner of the men's race did it in just over eleven minutes, and the women's champion managed it in thirteen. the winners took home three thousand six hundred dollars in prize money — once they'd got their breath back. that is making me tired just reading

that story. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @nkem|fejika. now it is time for the weather. hello there. saturday was a glorious day for much of the country. we saw some fine sunsets up and down the uk, like this one here in wakefield in west yorkshire. not all areas, though, were sunny and warm. coastal parts along the irish sea were disappointing, around cornwall and devon and into western wales, south—western parts of scotland as well. this weather front has been plaguing the north—west corner of scotland, bringing strong winds and outbreaks of rain. as we start sunday morning, there should rarely be any rain here, just a bit of cloud. elsewhere it is a clear start, quite chilly across eastern parts of england. sunday promises to be another glorious day for much of the country once again. sunshine from the word go. a bit of cloud across scotland. i think we are looking at a better day through the central belt

on sunday afternoon. top temperatures reaching 2a or 25 celsius, so another warm day on the cards. even warmer air is imported off the continent on bank holiday monday. that will nudge temperatures into the upper 20s celsius, potentially being a record—breaking may bank holiday. we could still see a little bit of low cloud and some murk in the irish sea. maybe the odd shower across the northern half of scotland. that said, most places will be dry and sunny. a bit cool across the north—east of scotland. that cool air moving up towards aberdeen. this is likely to be the high temperature on bank holiday monday. it may very well break the last bank holiday record, achieved in 1999, that was 2a degrees in hampshire. tuesday, we start to see some subtle changes. this area of low pressure will bring cooler air into the western side of the uk. a weather front which will be very weak, bringing outbreaks of rain to northern ireland and western scotland. the eastern side of england, another warm day on the cards. we could be looking at 27, maybe one or two places seeing 28. a cooler and fresher feeling further north and west.

next area of low pressure moves in for wednesday. this one will have more to it, stronger winds, that will make things very wet in western ireland and northern scotland. still some sunshine across southern and eastern parts of england. a relatively fine day here. temperatures typically 20 degrees. but a much cooler and fresher feel out west. this is bbc news, the headlines. donald trump has caused outrage in france after telling the american nra gun lobby that the 2015 attacks in paris could've been stopped if civilians had been armed. former president hollande called it ‘shameful‘. mr trump also used the level of knife crime in london to defend us gun laws.

the most successful manager in british football, sir alex ferguson, has undergone emergency surgery after suffering a brain haemorrhage. his former club manchester united says the surgery went very well, but that the 76—year—old now needs a period of intensive ca re to recover.