this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughanjones with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden outlines gun control measures as a first step towards curbing mass shootings in the united states. gun violence in this country is an epidemic. and it is an international embarrassment. let me say it again. gun violence in this country is an academic and it's an international embarrassment. violence flares again in northern ireland, despite the british and irish prime ministers calling for calm. a medical expert tells the trial of the former us police officer derek chauvin that george floyd died from a lack of oxygen after being pinned down. the idyllic underwater world that could be wrecked

by deep sea mining. the stark warning from environmental campaigners. and the find of a lifetime. archaeologists unearth an ancient egyptian pompeii close to some of the world's best known monuments. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. we are going to start in the united states. president biden describing gun violence is an epidemic and an international embarrassment. on thursday he put forward a series of measures to try to tackle the problem. the president said there was widespread public support for stricter rules, despite the efforts of the gun lobby.

gun violence in this country is an epidemic. let me say it again. gun violence in this country is an epidemic. and it's an international embarrassment. they want to rein in the proliferation of so—called ghost guns. these are guns that are home—made, go from a kit, and include instructions on how to finish the firearm. you can go by the kit. they have no serial numbers. so when they show up at a crime scene they can't be traced. and the buyers aren't required to pass a background check to purchase the kit to make the gun. here are those gun control plans announced by president biden. thejustice department has been given 30 days to come up with a new rule on reducing the distribution of ghost guns. they've been given 60 days to come up with a rule on stabilising modifications, which, in effect, turn pistols into rifles. and 60 days again to propose a so—called �*red flag law�* for states that'll gives courts more to remove guns from people thought to pose a danger.

let's get an update from our north america editor jon sopel. there have already been 11,000 gun deaths so far this year in america. so 11,000 deaths at the hand of a gun injust over three months. now, you have to say that whatjoe biden has proposed is pretty cosmetic. he has said you should no longer be able to buy gun kids where there —— you can assemble a gun and there is no serial number and it is untraceable. an accessory for a revolver should be banned from cell. this is at the edges of the scale of the problem. injoe biden would consider. he was more far—reaching legislation. but what he can do byjust assigning a paper is very limited. he needs to get congress to act and he says they should act now, but they won't. there are the numbers that you get this legislation through. so the american public saying, for example, on whether anyone should have a

comprehensive background check before they are able to buy a gun,, well, the american public says yes they should, by the power of the gun lobby means that's not going to happen. the president is calling for action now. i think the chances of that happening a slide in the extreme. police in texas say a gunman has opened fire at a business site in the city of bryan. at least one person has been killed and several others wounded. the suspect, who's in custody, was an employee of the firm. it's unclear what the motive was. and in south carolina, a former nfl player has allegedly killed a prominent doctor, his wife, two grandchildren and another man, before turning the gun on himself. a sixth person who was working at the doctor's home was also shot and remains hospitalised with serious injuries. for a sixth night running there've been clashes between police and protesters in northern ireland,

in the worst violence seen there in years. in a largely roman catholic area of belfast, a crowd of mostly young people threw petrol—bombs, fireworks and stones at police, who responded with water cannon. rioters say they're angry about a number of issues, including the impact of brexit. a white house spokesperson said that the good friday agreement, protecting peace in northern ireland, must not become "a casualty" of brexit. here's our ireland correspondent emma vardy. on an already febrile situation, now more fuel on the fire. at one of belfast�*s peace lines last night the peace was broken. in the hands of teenagers, petrol—bombs, thrown in both directions over the wall.

each evening these gates are locked to keep the mainly catholic and protestant communities apart. now forced open, rammed by cars and battered closed by police, amidst a running battle. it is hard to control. when kids see one side doing it theyjoin in. who encourages it? the loyalist politicians, because they got brexit in and it is not working. it will take months to repair the damage to this community, if it is ever repaired. as the fighting continued, local priests tried to warn young people of the danger, themselves in harm's way. the to and fro attacks which lasted over an hour have been interrupted by the arrival of a police land rovers who have pushed the crowd back from this side of the wall.

earlier, on the other side of the wall in loyalist shankill road a bus was hijacked and set alight. the disorder was at a scale that we have not seen in recent years in belfast or further afield. the fact it was sectarian violence and there was large groups on both sides of the gates is something we have not seen for a number of years. in loyalist communities who are staunchly british, there is a back lack over the brexit deal which sets northern ireland apart from the rest of the uk. when i got here... 19—year—old joel was arrested in a riot over easter and released without charge. he tells me he was looking out for a friend. but many who have become involved are even younger. why do you think this is happening? i don't think young people really understand the details in terms of the irish sea border, what they're being told

and seeing in the media is the sinn fein are winning, the republicans are winning and that our identity is under attack. when they hear those words, that stuff, and then they're told, the way you help is by going out and throwing bombs, sticks and stones at people, they're more than willing to do so. people will say, why were you there in the first place, wouldn't have been better to go home? the fact is, someone i cared about was in trouble and that is not something anyone can blame me for. or accused me for. political leaders gathered at stormont. there can be no place in our society for violence or the threat of violence and it must stop. what we saw last night i think was a very dangerous escalation of events. and it's utterly deplorable. in the past hour, police under attack again, have used water

cannons against large crowds on the nationalist side of the peace wall. there's concern the flood gates have opened on something more reminiscent of northern ireland's days of old. and may be difficult to close. emma vardy in belfast. let's get some of the day's other news. the united states says russia has deployed more troops on its border with ukraine than at any time since 2014, when russian forces seized control of crimea. the white house says discussions are taking place with nato allies about the troop movements. the united states has imposed sanctions on myanmar�*s state—run gem company — a key source of income for the country's military. myanmar is the world's largest producer of high qualityjade. the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, said the sanctions would send a message to the military to cease the violence. israel says it will tell the international criminal court that it won't co—operate with its investigation

into possible war crimes committed during the israeli—palestinian conflict. said his country would make clear that it didn't recognise the tribunal�*s authority. a medical expert in the trial of the former us police officer, derek chauvin, says george floyd died from a lack of oxygen, due to the way he was restrained. mr chauvin was filmed kneeling on george floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during his arrest last may. this is what dr martin tobin said in court. have you formed an opinion on mr floyd?— have you formed an opinion on mr flo d? , ., ~ mr floyd? yes, i have. mr floyd died from _ mr floyd? yes, i have. mr floyd died from a _ mr floyd? yes, i have. mr floyd died from a low _ mr floyd? yes, i have. mr floyd died from a low level— mr floyd? yes, i have. mr floyd died from a low level of- died from a low level of

oxygen. and this caused damage to his brain that we see and it also caused a pea arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop. professor tobin also rejected the suggestion that the drug fentanyl was in some way responsible for george floyd's death. you're familiar with the way people die from fentanyl? yes, very. do they or do they not go into a coma before they die from a fenta nyl overdose? yes, they will. was mr floyd ever in a coma? no. thank you, dr tobin. our correspondent larry madowo has been following he trial in minneapolis. doctor tobin's testimony today has left the defence's is looking weaker than probably did has at any point in the past two weeks. his testimony that george floyd died from oxygen deficiency, which led to his brain to stop was so significant because it's at the

centre what the prosecution is saying here. the three reasons for that, saying here. the three reasons forthat, he saying here. the three reasons for that, he says, saying here. the three reasons forthat, he says, is saying here. the three reasons for that, he says, is because he was lying flat on the conflict —— concrete, was lying flat, and he had several officers kneeling on him. he also calculated that from the moment george floyd stopped breathing there were three minutes and 27 seconds when the neck restraint continued. so doctor tobin, all through this testimony, was captivating, he was masterful, and his testimony is potentially devastating to the case, because the jury baited again and took notes. a£111" because the jury baited again and took notes.— because the jury baited again and took notes. our thanks to larry there- — stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the �*ancient egyptian pompeii' — unearthed close to some of the world's best known monuments. 25 years of hatred and rage as theyjump upon the statue. this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power,

the power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's i works were beautiful, they were intelligent and it's a sad loss - to everybody who loves art. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president biden outlines gun control measures — as a first step towards curbing mass shootings in the united states. violence flares again in northern ireland — despite the british and irish prime ministers calling for calm.

britain will confirm in early may whether it will allow international travel to resume from 17 may and where countries will fall in its new traffic light system based on covid—19 risks. under the new system, countries will fall into red, amber and green categories. anyone travelling to the uk from "green" countries won't have to quarantine — although they will still need to take a test before they leave the uk and upon their return. those returning from "amber" countries will require all of these tests and be required to quarantine at home on arrivalfor ten days. if only uk residents will be allowed to return from "red" countries and they'll need to pay for quarantine at a hotel

as well as taking these tests. the government's global travel task force also said work was ongoing to develop a certification system, sometimes called "vaccine passports", for inbound and outbound travel. this was what the boss of easyjet had to say about the plan. mexico currently has the highest covid death rate in the world and its hospitals are at breaking point. the rollout of the vaccination programme, with its reliance on the sputnik vaccine, has been chaotic. hospitals have reached breaking point. our latin america correspondent will grant has more. ivan sanchez often takes his wife and children out to eat in a local cafe in mexico state. but these days someone is missing from their regular family lunches — ivan�*s father, mario. he fell ill from covid shortly after ivan got the disease. unwilling to go to hospital, he tried to ride out the virus at home — and died on this very sofa. ivan grapples with the grief and the guilt of having infected his father every day.

many thousands in mexico have died like mario — untested, under the radar, and not included in the official statistics. translation: after he died i asked a friend to help me l with the paperwork so his death wouldn't be registered as covid but as a respiratory collapse. we did it so we could give him a proper wake at home. as government data suggests a staggering 320,000 have died from coronavirus in mexico. public health experts believe cases like mario's mean the true picture is even worse. most families extra officially are arguing our number could be higher than that 320,000, that we may be about half a million dead. if such a dire estimate is true, mexico needs to vaccinate its people soon. in one of the worst hit municipalities, there was tentative hope and optimism as the most vulnerable

received their jabs. but nationally the criticism is there simply aren't enough doses to go round, and there has never been a proper strategy in place to cope with the scale of the problem in mexico. veronica saw her parents vaccinated — a huge relief after her brother recently died from coronavirus. veronica blames president manuel lopez obrador for underestimating the pandemic from the start. translation: with elections coming he doesn't care - about the virus. he just wants to keep the economy moving because shutting it down would turn even more people against him. but keeping tourism afloat has had deadly consequences and now a new spike is expected after the easter break. social distancing at prayer, face masks at mass. as mexico mourns its dead only the us and brazil may have lost more. yet the final figure here may never truly be known. will grant, bbc news, mexico.

as the world begins to move away from petrol and diesel—powered cars, there are questions over how the metals needed for batteries in electrical vehicles will be sourced. one possibility is to mine the deep ocean floor. a number of companies are lining up to exploit the minerals found there, but campaigners warn it could have a disastrous impact on the marine environment. here's our chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt. it is one of the most remote regions on earth, the vastness of the pacific ocean. but more than two miles beneath the surface lie incredible reserves of the metals needed to make electric vehicle batteries. so this is what the mining companies are after. this is a poly—metallic nodule. it's a kind of nugget of crucial battery metals, so in here you've got cobalt,

nickel, copper, manganese and there are hundreds of millions of these lying on the deep sea floor in some areas of ocean. we can dramatically reduce our environmental and social impact... the mining companies say sourcing metals from the deep ocean has a lower environmental impact than mining metals on land. and they just sit there like golf balls on a driving range. so we don't have to drill or blast to find them. also, they happen to sit in an environment where there are no forests, no plants, and we compare that it's a no—brainer where we should be getting our metals from. environmental campaigners disagree. they say mining will destroy fragile ecosystems that have developed over hundreds of millions of years. petrol. or electric. bmw, google, samsung and volvo trucks announced they would not be using any metals sourced from the deep ocean in their products.

at the natural history museum, zoologist adrian glover studies the creatures that live on the deep ocean floor. of course, james cameron was inspired by deep sea animals for all of his movies. he says the impact of mining will be profound. it means humanity faces a difficult decision. it will be a dramatic shift in the ecology of that environment. and that's something that you just have to accept. some areas of the planet will have to be impacted if humans are going to move forward in a zero—carbon future. the decision about whether to allow mining will be taken by the un body that controls exploitation of the deep ocean. but, as sales of electric vehicles increase, pressure to allow mining in the deep oceans is also likely to grow. justin rowlatt, bbc news. archaeologists have discovered — in their words — the �*ancient egyptian pompeii', near the city of luxor in

egypt. the large city is believed to have been built more than 3,000 years ago. it lies near some of egypt's best known monuments. peter lacovara is the director of the us—based ancient egyptian heritage and archaeology fund. thank you so much for coming on the programme. let's have a look firstly at what has been discovered. this city. we can hopefully see some pictures of it now and tell us what has been discovered and what is the significance? it been discovered and what is the significance?— significance? it is part of a hue significance? it is part of a huge city _ significance? it is part of a huge city that _ significance? it is part of a huge city that was - significance? it is part of a huge city that was built. significance? it is part of a j huge city that was built for the jubilee festival of amenhotep iii. just like thejubilee festival of amenhotep iii. just like the queen, egyptian kings had festivals to celebrate, in his case, the 30th year of his reign so he built a huge palace and the city to go along with it in orderfor that big celebration.

it in order for that big celebration.— it in order for that big celebration. ., , ., celebration. so the walls that we are seeing _ celebration. so the walls that we are seeing and _ celebration. so the walls that we are seeing and the - we are seeing and the corridors, this is a living city where people would have lived. it looks quite big from the photos. why are we only discovering it now?- the photos. why are we only discovering it now? parts have been excavated _ discovering it now? parts have been excavated for _ discovering it now? parts have been excavated for over - discovering it now? parts have been excavated for over 100 i been excavated for over 100 years but it is such a vast city spread out over ten kilometres and little bits of it have been picked up here and there over the years but it is just too big to excavate the entire extent of it. i just too big to excavate the entire extent of it.- just too big to excavate the entire extent of it. i think we have some — entire extent of it. i think we have some pictures - entire extent of it. i think we have some pictures here - entire extent of it. i think we l have some pictures here have other things they have recently unearthed. we have a skeleton. what is the significance of these findings. we see a pot there as well.— these findings. we see a pot there as well. there are later burials and — there as well. there are later burials and things _ there as well. there are later burials and things dug - there as well. there are later burials and things dug in - there as well. there are later burials and things dug in and | burials and things dug in and the whole city was, again, it was builtjust for the whole city was, again, it was built just for the jubilee so after the celebrations were over it was abandoned and parts

of it were dug into for later burials and things like that. what is unique about this discovery is that this part is incredibly well preserved. so buildings are preserved and objects are in situ, as they were left, grind stones and pottery and all the things. to celebrate the jubilee. and it celebrate thejubilee. and it will be up against some stiff competition when it comes to tours, it is not a part of the world that lacks incredible archaeological feats. where does this sit?— archaeological feats. where does this sit? this whole area is important _ does this sit? this whole area is important or— does this sit? this whole area is important or because - is important or because although we have many tombs and temples from egypt we do not have many cities in this is probably the largest and best preserved of these ancient cities in egypt. so it is important that we restore and preserve it for tourists and the future.—

preserve it for tourists and the future. ~ , ., the future. will there be more to discover— the future. will there be more to discover here? _ the future. will there be more to discover here? you - the future. will there be more to discover here? you say - the future. will there be more | to discover here? you say parts have been known and other parts not, do we know what is going on or will it be an ongoing project now to work out what life was that like there and what else is worried there? probably. it is so vast and only a little bit of it has been tapped. so it is a huge undertaking. we will leave it there, thank you _ undertaking. we will leave it there, thank you for - undertaking. we will leave it there, thank you for coming | undertaking. we will leave it i there, thank you for coming on and explaining it to us. a new mammal species from the dinosaur era has been discovered in chile. called the orretherium tzen, the species is believed to have existed about 7a million years ago and lived in the southern regions of chile. the fox—like species comes from an group of mammals that became extinct with no descendants today. scientists say that the discovery will help to fill in evolutionary gaps over different eras. and before we go, man's best friend has taken on a new form — meet the alphadog.

a chinese tech company has developed a robo—dog that obeys commands, and doesn't leave any unpleasant surprises on the floor. the high—tech hound uses sensors and artificial intelligence technology to hear and see its environment. it can even be taken for walks. it can do tricks, it seems. the alphadogs are quite popular. more than 1800 were sold in their first month alone. and they're not cheap, costing about $2,400. a quick reminder of our top story, president biden has announced his administration's first measures to limit done violence in the united states, describing the situation as an international embarrassment. that is it from me for this hour. i will be back in a couple of minutes with the

headlines. in the meantime, i can be found on social media. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. hello. in fact, we will stay with the colder air again into the weekend for many. there is certainly a chance of snow showers and possibly wet and windy weather in the south, we will come to that in a moment. this is the weather front assuring that cold air southwards and that will push to most parts by the end of the day today. we said, the brisk wind which has reached severe gale force in the north, slowly easing away, but cold air means widespread frost first thing and a risk of ice because here the showers have been coming through notjust for scotland through not just for scotland but through notjust for scotland

but for northern ireland in the northern fringes of england and wales as well. that weather front self is a slow—moving affair. slow—moving although they ease off, the great risk of snow piling up as northern scotland but the showers will come through thick and fast during the day. you could fall as rain, sleet, snow, hail, rumbles of thunder. further south we will have a weather front coming slow—moving. could be sleeting on high ground as the colder digs in but we will see crisp sunshine across the northern half of the uk through the day ahead and brightness and sunshine to the south of the weather front affording a sea level 12 degrees but if you are under the cloud all day, seven and eight is more likely. a transition day one that feels wintry for many. the book? the weekend is this area of cloud and rain, possible hills node and rain, possible hills node and a brisk and north—easterly wind during the course of saturday and into sunday. there is still quite a bit of uncertainty as to how far north

that will come but as i say it could be a spell of wet weather. a brisk north—east wind makes it feel cold and that could turn to snow over the hills. further north again the hills. further north again the crisp sunshine continues but even with the sunshine it will be cold with the risk of sleet and snow showers just about anywhere because we are into the arctic air. the same is true through saturday night and sunday that slowly works out of the way but that we have the air right across the uk and perhaps something more organised coming into the north—west later on sunday. plenty of detail to fill in and if you have plans stay tuned to the forecast. as ever, the forecast and the warnings are online.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president biden has announced his administration's first measures to limit gun violence in the united states after describing the situation as an international embarrassment. his executive orders include the tightening of regulations for guns that can't be traced by the authorities, because they're assembled at home. the uk and irish governments have condemned ongoing violence in northern ireland following the eighth night of unrest in belfast. police faced more assaults from, petrol—bombs, fireworks, and stones after protestors gathered on both sides of large gates separating loyalist and nationalist areas. the trial of the former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin has been told by a medical expert that george floyd floyd died from a lack of oxygen after officers held him down, in a vice hold, for more than nine minutes. mr chauvin denies a charge of murder.

now on bbc news — weather world.