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 as they're assembled at home. the uk and irish governments have condemned ongoing violence in northern ireland following a week 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 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, across the uk, covid—19 has claimed the lives of more than 126,000 people. behind each death of course is a very personal story of loss. the bbc�*s spotlight team heard from some of those grieving in northern ireland. a warning the programme has some content which some may find upsetting. the way ahead is hard and it is still true that many

lives will certainly be lost. my name isjoan fulton. i'm from northern ireland. i lost my brother billy to covid—19 last year on 23 march. thatjust happened to be the day that borisjohnson made the official lockdown. he went to england when he was about 17 and he joined the army and after he came out of the army he went to long distance lorry driving and absolutely loved it until later on he had

taken a heart attack, which left the heart quite damaged, and he then retired and he took up a hobby after that going to markets buying and selling. a bit like del boy maybe. we used to call him santa claus because he had white hair and a white beard. 0n the wednesday, 18 march, i took him down to island hill and i remember sitting on the hill and he was talking about going down there as kids for picnics. we talked about my mum and dad and the boys and my sister, and then we headed back home. i remember before bedtime he said he was very sleepy. "joan, i am very sleepy." iasked him if he remembered island hill on wednesday and he said he did.

isaid when i said when you get really sleeping and you can't open your— sleeping and you can't open your eyes any more, you think about— your eyes any more, you think about that _ your eyes any more, you think about that and just step into the water. he said it was beautiful. he said that is how i want you to remember me. i said that i would. those were his last words to me. "hey, joan. — i said a prayer for you today." i said, "did you?" he saidi he said i did. i said did you say— he said i did. i said did you save— he said i did. i said did you saya prayer he said i did. i said did you say a prayer for you. he said he said i did. i said did you saya prayerforyou. he said i say a prayer for you. he said i m _ i said i will see you later. last words. last words," see you _ last words. last words," see you taterf' _

but the difference with billy's journey and mine — billy went to the undertaker's and i got going home. my hope is that we learn to be a people who really look and say, "what was really important this year? what did we really miss?" i think it's company with each other, so maybe when we get the opportunity to together again, we will be kinder to each other and we will get past thinking of ourselves and just look after each other.

my name is noleen henry. i'm from ballymena. i began working in icu when i was 28. i'm from area hospital. ifirst remember hearing about an illness in china and i can remember the very day, i was doing community calls and i heard covid, corona. and then it literallyjust hit. the patients were admitted one after the other. the beds were filled. the only way i could describe it as is hell on earth. literally hell on earth. the patients were so ill. and from my experience, i have never come across any other patient with any other disease that i have nursed being so sick. people literally couldn't breathe. the worst thing was whenever the doctors were telling

the patients they were going to sleep and you were trying to reassure patients that they would wake up — most of them didn't. and you were literally the last person they saw and the last voice they heard before they went to sleep. after the first wave came and went there was just relief. we thought, "that's it. it's gone." my name is eugene and i am from here, derry city. i lost my father to covid, he was also eugene. he was 62.

he was from the victor craig institute~ _ he was from the victor craig institute. he was a baker most of his— institute. he was a baker most of his “to _ my mum, lorraine, they got together in 1979 and they married in 1984. he was a big man but he was a larger—than—life character. most of the photos he is in he is either dressed up or having a laugh with his friends. he was a bubbly person. everybody knew me daddy or else me daddy— everybody knew me daddy or else me daddy knew daddy knew them. it was not hisjob to be an entertainer but once the singer stopped in the bar that night, he was always encouraged to sing. people gradually brought their chairs closer to my father and named a song, he would give it a go. # falling in love... iremember him... the restrictions were lifting and it was 12am and he said he would go to the caravan.

he was like a big child at christmas day waiting for the restrictions to lift. coming into september, everybody was enjoying being back in the pubs. it was just after the eat out to help out and then we all contracted covid. 0n the thursday morning, the 29th, he woke my mum at 5:40am and he said he didn't feel good and he needed to go to hospital, do to the doctor's. he was carried out into the ambulance and he walked in perfectly fine but struggling with his breath. he said, "see you later, love". they needed to put him on a hood in the icu with full oxygen. once the hood was over his head he felt _ once the hood was over his head he felt like — once the hood was over his head he felt like a lot of pressure was — he felt like a lot of pressure was being put on him. he felt claustrophobic with the hood on him _

the last time i spoke to him was tuesday the third of november. he contacted us and he was cracking up because there was no good tv. he was missing homes underthe hammer. and then he asked me the results _ and then he asked me the results at the weekend because he couldn't get anything. he was cracking up because he could not get any normal tv like he was used to. it there is a scene at the end of armageddon speaking between the father and the daughter. that is how we said goodbye to my father. he wasn't responding. he was on the ventilator. we were told he had 'ust ventilator. we were told he had just passed. i go to his grave every day to have a conversation. i thank him for everything. it's mad because the day i had my first everjob interview, i was not going to go. he got me out of bed that day so i thanked him for that. i thanked him for everything,

particularly growing up. my name is julie. i am originally from the philippines but now i live in n donna cadee. i lost my mum, emma, in october 2020. she is a mother of three beautiful girls. my name is brendan. i am from belfast. i was her partner. my mum was 57 when she passed and the things i remember are definitely her signature smile. it would melt your heart.

we had just over ten years together. i loved every minute of it. she was a very loving person. i loved her to bits. my mum is originally from the philippines. for as long as i can remember she said to me that i am born as a nurse. for her, nursing is not a job. nursing is her passion. she is so proud to wear a uniform. i remember her saying, "one of my dreams is by the age of a0 i will be working as a nurse in a different country. wherever it may be". she actually arrived in county tyrone in november 2002 and moved

to the city hospital. my mum got a kidney transplant injuly 2020. we got a phone call from the hospital and they said that the operation would happen within 2a hours. we were so overjoyed. the kidney transplant for her was like a gift of life. that is how she referred to it. she was saying, "brendan, we are going to go..." travel the world. everyone, thank you for thinking of me and thank you for your prayers and your thoughts. that's amazing. on the first of october both of us were not feeling well and we got checked and

we were both positive. the ambulance came for me that night. it did not come for me necessarily. it was for one of the two of us. and she insisted that i get on first. that is her being a nurse, like. i went into the ambulance and that is the last time i saw emma alive. friday the ninth of october, they had to put her on the normal oxygen. the next day she said to me that she is really exhausted. she was saying to me, "i will do my best to fight but i cannot fight this."

i miss everything about her. we had great plans to get married. i miss herfood too. i miss herfood. i hate cooking for myself. believe me, you would not fancy it. the hardest thing the past few months has been to watch my son looking at all the photos, kissing them and him missing my mum, because they had such an amazing bond. a few days ago he heard my mum's voice and he was so excited and he saw that voice was coming from my mum's phone.

he put his hand on my lap and looked at me and i bursting to tears. that is one of the things that i am finding really, really difficult these past few months. my name is father james o'reilly. and i've been a priest coming up on five years. when covid—19 hit there was a loss of fear and confusion and initially it seems to be that nurses and doctors will go into the patients, but that's it. nobody else. things changed probably in mid april. father felix was the hospital chaplain for 17 years. he was the first patient that i attended with

covid—19. i anointed him with the last rites and he went to the lord a day or two later. and there was something spiritual and symbolic in that moment that i'm taking on the ministry that father felix has run for so long. little by little, as the pandemic increased, before i knew it, i was coming in and out of the hospital three and four times a day, seven days a week. and emotionally is incredibly challenging and patients who have administered the last rites and have subsequently gone to the lord, is easily 100, easily. i've had moments, at those times, where ijust needed to have a good cry. and ijust felt like i couldn't cope any more. that doesn't mean that you are weak, it means you are human. when i think of the last year,

part of me is wondering why? why is god allowing this to happen? but i'm also incredibly thankful, because i believe that there's always hope. i've seen hope in the lives and actions of the nurses and doctors in the hospital, the care workers, the healthcare assistants. i will never lose the hope that i have seen in those people i have encountered over the last year. covid has wrecked me professionally and personally. i'd lost my husband, alan, to covid. he was 63.

he passed away on six january this year. alan was from collybaggy, owned and managed pubs all of his life, so he was a very, very sociable man. we met when i was a student nurse, just on a normal night out, as student nurses did back then. he was slightly older than me, 1a years old, and i thought no, i need somebody my own age. but he wooed me, wined and dined me and that was it. we were together for 29 years. we have three lovely kids. he loved man united, much to my disgust. and on top of that then we just loved our holidays.

i got to speak to him a couple of times, but then he phoned and said the doctors were going to put the tube down his throat. and his last words to me "look after the family". even at that stage i thought he will be ok. he will be fine. so from one january then to the sixth, i sat with alan, but, unfortunately, from about the fourth his condition deteriorated. fatherjames, such a gracious man, and such a lovely person, came in and anointed alan. and although alan knew nothing about it, it settled me. it gave me great hope. it was just awful. because here was a woman, an incredible woman who has

served and fought this thing so faithfully and now she was on the receiving end, so to speak. it was really, really tough. my grandsonjack is nine. he has down syndrome. jack is non—verbal, but he has a few words and he would just, every now and then, ask "where grandad?" so he hasn't really got the grasp of it yet. they were like two peas in a pod. whenjack went, alan went, and where alan went, jack went. so how, for a nine—year—old child with special needs, because we can't understand it. the impact on me isjust emptiness. i've been told i have to try and find a new normal.

but i don't want to find a new normal. i was quite happy with my normal that i had. the kids still live with me so i've great distraction, but the problem is whenever they go to their beds and i'm left at night and the space that alan would have sat on along the sofa is empty. i'm robert mooney and i'm from north belfast. i was married to lisa, she was a1, she passed away on 22 february, 2021. and we have four children together. me and lisa, we met in 1994. basically teenagers. i was walking home with my cousin one night.

lisa approached me and says "you've beautiful eyes, i'm going to walk with you" and i'd say thank you. so i've kept talking. i was only 15, never had a girlfriend before. but ijust grabbed onto lisa and from there on in we were sweethearts. just so happy that i have so many memories of her. almost every photo you see of her she has a smile. and that is lisa all over, always happy, smiling, affectionate, and ijust want to hold her again. i look at the videos every night since she is gone. and you can see the smile. and that's my lisa. and i would give anything to do that again. anything.

i came home from workjust after four on wednesday 17 february. and she has got a temperature of 39. and that was a red flag right away to me. having covid myself back in november. ijust knew she had it. next morning, her birthday, 18 february, the positive test came back. i didn't think to send her to hospital because her breathing was fine. there were no signs that she was in any danger. the monday morning i walked in and she was... i knew she was gone. the 999 people were

on the phone telling me what to do to give her any chance, i had to do cpr on her. even though i knew she was gone. i continued for about five minutes, until the ambulance came. then the paramedic came into the room and he just said, "look, i'm not even going to do anything, son, she's gone. she's been gone a while." mother's day came 12 days after we laid her to rest, her funeral. it came too quick, to be honest. but the kids, they were given four wee heart urns with their mother's

ashes in them. lisa loved pink and she loved butterflies, so the hearts, metallic pink with the butterfly on them. it was just perfect. they are going to keep those for the rest of their lives. mum will always be with them, wherever they go. i'm going to miss her, being a mum to ourfour boys. i have no shame in saying she has done all the hard work. and ourfour boys are amazing children and that is to say her legacy lives in them. and that's going to get me through life now without her. my priority is those four. and i'm going to do my utmost keep bringing them up the way she wanted and that is myjourney now, going forward.

hello. although thursday was a little less cold for many, friday plunges us back into the arctic air. in fact, we will stay with the colder air again into the weekend for many. there is certainly a chance of those snow showers and possibly wet and windy weather in the south, we will come to that in a moment. this is the weather front ushering that cold air southwards and that will push to most parts by the end of the day today. with it 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 but for northern ireland, some northern fringes of england and wales as well. that weather front further

south is a slow—moving affair. still windy, although they are easing off, the great risk of snow piling up is in northern scotland but the showers will come through thick and fast during the day. they could fall as rain, sleet, snow, hail, rumbles of thunder. further south we will have a weather front becoming slow—moving. could be sleety on high ground with this weather system as the cold air 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 us perhaps 11 or 12 degrees but if you are stuck under the cloud all day, seven and eight is more likely. a transition day, one that feels wintry for many. the big question for the weekend is this area of cloud and rain, possible hill snow and a brisk 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 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 thn we have arctic 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.

welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: 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. let me say it again — gun violence in this country is an epidemic and it's an international embarrassment. violence flares again in northern ireland for a sixth consecutive night a medical witness says george floyd died from a lack of oxygen after being pinned down by the former policeman derek chauvin and not drugs as the defence claim. the us and nato discuss the build—up of russian troops near ukraine after a warning that moscow could intervene to help its citizens.