welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... us investigators say all nineteen schoolchildren murdered by a teenage gunman in texas were in the same classroom. minutes before the killings, he'd posted that he was going to attack an elementary school. in the town of uvalde, there's grief, shock, and anger. president biden says he's sick of the carnage caused by gun violence. the idea that an 18—year—old can walk into a store and buy weapons of war designed and marketed to kill is i think, just wrong. also in the headlines — britain's prime

minister borisjohnson says he will not resign after a highly—critical report into lockdown parties at his government offices. i mr speaker, i'm humbled and i have learned a lesson. the investigation blamed senior leadership for a series of alcohol—fuelled parties at downing street — which broke covid lockdown rules. and supermodel kate moss gives evidence in thejohnny depp, amber heard trial. she denies allegations that the actor pushed her down the stairs. it's seven in the morning in singapore, and six pm in texas where there's a profound sense

of loss and grief, after 21 people were killed yesterday during a shooting at an elementary school. it's the worst such attack in 10 years. 19 of the victims were children between the ages of 7 and 10. one was a 10—year—old boy who loved to dance. another was a girl who died while trying to call the police. the 18 year old gunman was shot dead at the scene. the attack took place in the town of uvalde in southern texas. our north america editor sarah smith is there and has been speaking to members of the community about how they're coping. she sent us this report. the heartbreak is painfully apparent for parents, families and neighbours. it must be the worst news anyone can hear — young children killed in their own classroom. as the police responded to the shooting, parents had to wait to discover if their children had survived or been shot dead. these are the faces of some

of the young victims. xavier lopez was ten years old. as was ellie garcia, and anne mariejo, also ten. eva mireles was one of the two teachers killed. children from other classrooms were evacuated by police while the shooter was still inside. this man's eight—year—old son was unharmed and he doesn't understand what happened yesterday. your son doesn't know that there was a shooting in the school? no, he'sjust acting like a regular day at school. how are you going to tell him what happened yesterday? well, only time, when the time comes... have friends of his being killed? yes. you will have to tell him that as well. yes. it will be heartbreaking for you as well as for him. exactly. the gunman, 18—year—old salvador ramos, lived locally. police have no idea why he did this or if it was pre—planned. he crashed his car outside the school, emerged wearing body armour and carrying

a semiautomatic rifle. unfortunately, the suspect managed to get inside one of the classrooms and barricaded himself, where he started to shoot not only at officers that were responding but also inside the classroom. all 21 victims have now been identified, and their remains removed from the school. what happened here in ulvade has reignited a nationwide political argument about gun control, and why powerful military style assault weapons are so readily available in places like texas, but the political response has served to illustrate how deeply divided america is over guns. gun ownership is common and widespread in texas, but questions are being asked about why an 18—year—old needs access to a military style rifle. the idea that an 18—year—old can walk into a store and buy weapons of war designed

and marketed to kill is, i think, just wrong — itjust violates common sense. the police are working to try to establish a motive for this shocking crime. the local community will never understand why this had to happen here. sarah smith, bbc news, uvalde, texas. the news, uvalde, texas. community trying to come t| terms the community trying to come to terms with what's happened. the community trying to come to terms with what's happened. our north america correspondent, nomia iqbal, is at the scene for us in uvalde with the latest. this is usually a very quiet neighbourhood, it's been completely torn apart by the horror of what happened in the school behind me. every now and again you see families with young children carrying teddy bears and balloons and flowers to give to the officers who are guarding the school to lay down on the grounds. this is a tight—knit community, everybody knows each other and they are now plunged into this deep grief. this is the eighth mass shooting, the 27th school

shooting in america, you ask yourself, does it still make headlines? do shootings like this to get national headlines? yes they do. there is a huge part of media here and that is because were talking about 19 children who barricaded inside my classroom with teacher and shot dead by the gunmen. there is something familiar that happens here. you get politicians who are united in their grief, their anger, they pray but they're also very quickly does not two divided by the politics of the you have once i president biden and islamic credit party who want meaningful and credit party who want meaningful legislation to stop this from ever happening again and on the other side of republicans as a any legislation is an infringement on american peoples rights to bear arms. the question is, will this lead to any change?

i think it's a grim expectation by any people that it will either lead to a little change or nothing at all. president biden has made a heartfelt appealfor america to "stand up to the gun lobby" and tighten restrictions, but america is as divided as ever about the stated right to bear arms. our correspondentjohn sudworth reports from newtown in connecticut — where a decade ago 20 children and 6 adults were killed in a mass shooting at sandy hook elementary school. the flag's at half mast, a gesture of empathy from one town, one of so many scarred by the tragedy of gun violence, but there's despair here, as well. almost a decade ago six—year—old dylan hockley was murdered in his school along with 25 others. his mother, nicole, set up the sandy hook promise foundation. with little hope of gun control, the focus is on trying to help schools identify potential killers in advance. your thoughts and prayers are meaningless unless there is something substantive behind it that backs it up, and a lot of these politicians, they can do all the thoughts and prayers in the world

but then they don't take any action whatsoever, so their words are meaningless. if you can't act on it, it doesn't matter. the recurrence of school shootings has left no shortage of national despair, as well. the problem which came to the awful conclusion you're facing is a demon we have to do more to fight. our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at virginia tech today. since i have been president this is the fourth time that we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings. as a nation, we have to ask, when in god's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? but the outrage hasn't affected gun sales. 42% of adult americans own a gun or live with someone who does, and they are buying more. last year almost 20 million

were sold, six new guns for every 100 americans. on average there are now more than 100 gun deaths per day in america, and although mass shootings account for a tiny fraction of the total, from sandy hook to columbine to virginia tech, they are seared into this country's consciousness, but with each one it is not change that appears increasingly inevitable, but the lack of it. while president biden was urging more regulation, others were defending lawful gun rights. you see democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law—abiding citizens, which doesn't work. it's not effective and it is not going to prevent crime. we know what does prevent crime which is going after felons and fugitives and those with serious mental illness. 0n the fire station roof there is a star for each school child or staff member killed here. "we can't tolerate this any more," president 0bama said

then, but ten years on, a solution seems as far away as ever. john sudworth, bbc news, sandy hook. i'm joined now by nick brodie, historian and author of �*under fire: how australia's violent history led to gun control�* — hejoins us from hobart in tasmania. great to get you on the programme. forthe great to get you on the programme. for the benefit of our audiences, just to give them history, you're in tasmania which in 1996 was the port arthur massacre, 35 divorced single person massacre in australia's history. talk us through how the change gun laws in australia. the through how the change gun laws in australia.— in australia. the massacre of effectively — in australia. the massacre of effectively galvanised - effectively galvanised australia after a period of lax. we had a gun regulation before that, we had a series of massacre before port arthur. but port arthur was on such a scale that it really

re—triggered the national government regulation conversation, effectively creating a new national framework. up until that point individual states had road and look to each other and modelled but there was a patchwork approach. there was overarching to how to deal with this problem. to how to deal with this problem-— to how to deal with this problem. to how to deal with this roblem,�* , ., ., 4' ., problem. just looking at the situation in _ problem. just looking at the situation in the _ problem. just looking at the situation in the united - problem. just looking at the l situation in the united states, obviously after something as tragic as this that debate always gets revived, doesn't it on both sides of the political spectrum? specifically in the australian case, what is the situation today with regards to gun deaths and mass shootings after the passing of those reforms?— after the passing of those reforms? ., ~ ., , reforms? port arthur was the last batter — reforms? port arthur was the last batter shooting - reforms? port arthur was the last batter shooting that - reforms? port arthur was the last batter shooting that a - last batter shooting that a left two australia has had on that scale for that we still have lots of guns, we have a gun culture a bit like the us, not quite the same scale but we simply don't have that level of gun violence that's largely because we don't have the

attachment to the idea of individualistic rights that everyone has a right to bear their own gun.— everyone has a right to bear their own gun. picking up on that historical _ their own gun. picking up on that historical root _ their own gun. picking up on that historical root of - their own gun. picking up on that historical root of all - their own gun. picking up on that historical root of all of l that historical root of all of this. i know you've done a lot of research on the colonial aspects of theirs. how have gun lobbies developed in ex—british colonies like the united states and australia? i5 colonies like the united states and australia?— and australia? is quite interesting, _ and australia? is quite interesting, the - and australia? is quite i interesting, the history of and australia? is quite - interesting, the history of the national rifle association is often forgotten. it's actually an english invention. the national rifle association was founded in britain in 1859. it's basically a mix between a gun club and the militia organisations and it grew out of it for an are two before professional armies were common. training people so they could shoot in terms of warfare. australian colonies pretty rapidly adopted that model and you'll see national rifle association is formed

here in the decades. of course the us followed suit in 1871 forming the national rifle association which we still have with us. what basically happens after long term is that while the british and australian racial associations decline as the need for those militias disappears, as the global situation changes. but the nra and america reconfigures its self as a political organisation geared towards defending gun rights basically because in alliance with the gun manufacturers. is because in alliance with the gun manufacturers.- because in alliance with the gun manufacturers. is that why nun gun manufacturers. is that why gun restrictions _ gun manufacturers. is that why gun restrictions are _ gun manufacturers. is that why gun restrictions are so - gun manufacturers. is that why gun restrictions are so much i gun restrictions are so much harder in the us than in a country like australia? i think that's a big — country like australia? i think that's a big part _ country like australia? i think that's a big part of— country like australia? i think that's a big part of it. - country like australia? i think that's a big part of it. one - country like australia? i think that's a big part of it. one of| that's a big part of it. one of the key differences in australia is that we could stop supply. even before port arthur we could start to slow assault rifles into australia through import controls. america being

a large gun manufacturer it sells and in exporter of such weapons would have a much more difficult task in implementing those sorts of controls. thank ou so those sorts of controls. thank you so much _ those sorts of controls. thank you so much for— those sorts of controls. thank you so much forjoining - those sorts of controls. thank you so much forjoining us - those sorts of controls. thank you so much forjoining us on | you so much forjoining us on the programme with your thoughts. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... thejohnny depp the johnny depp ever thejohnny depp ever heard trial, kate moss denies allegations he'd abused her. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and

into the juventus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the j tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of. the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than four and a half thousand episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she's left the spice girls. argh, i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri, why? this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani. in singapore, our main headline... us investigators say all nineteen schoolchildren murdered by a teenage gunman in texas were in the same classroom. minutes before the killings, he'd posted that he was going to attack an elementary school.

let's turn to the uk now — where the prime minister, borisjohnson, has rejected calls for his resignation after an official report blamed leadership failings — for a series of lockdown—breaking parties in and around downing street. the report revealed a culture of alcohol—fuelled parties — in government offices at a time when british people were banned from socialising, or even attending funerals because of the pandemic. 0ur political editor, chris mason, has more. it was the week before christmas this investigation began. today, its verdict is delivered. 37 pages and nine photos. and here it is. at party after party, when of course parties were banned, we read about wine and cheese, beer and pizza. 0n pages 15 and 16 an event with a karaoke machine,

excessive alcohol consumption, one person being sick. a minor altercation, a fight between two people. people leaving in the middle of the night. and on page 13 a reference to that do where people were encouraged to bring their own booze. the day after a senior official says, "we seem "to have got away with it. " sue gray concludes there were events that should not have been allowed to happen. she puts blame on senior leadership at the centre, who must bear responsibility for this culture. since her earlier report in january she accepts progress is being made in addressing the issues raised, but that we, the public, have the right to expect the highest standards of behaviour and what happened fell well short of this. she makes one final observation, that it is her firm belief that these events did not reflect the prevailing culture

in government at the time. the prime minister had a few hours to digest what the report said this morning before addressing mps at lunchtime. i take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch. sue gray's report has emphasised that it is up to the political leadership in number ten to take ultimate responsibility and, of course, i do. sue gray investigated 16 events. the police looked at 12. fines were issued at eight of them, the prime minister showed up at nine of them. for the first time we have pictures published today of the one both he and the chancellor were fined for, a mid afternoon gathering to mark mrjohnson�*s birthday injune 2020. the report also includes these images from a leaving do. the prime minister said turning up at events like this was an important part of hisjob.

i briefly attended such gatherings to thank them for their service, which i believe is one of the essential duties of leadership. sue gray was also told of multiple examples of officials being dismissive and rude towards some of the number ten staff. frankly, mr speaker, i have been appalled by some of the behaviour, particularly in the treatment of the security and the cleaning staff. and i would like to apologise to those members of staff. and he insisted he had changed his team and how they work and wanted to get on with governing. i am confident with the changes and new structures that are now in place, that we are humbled by the experience and we have learned our lesson. labour's leader,

himself alongside his deputy currently under police investigation for breaking covid rules, repeated that borisjohnson must resign. it's time to pack his bags. only then can the government function again. only then can the rot be carved out, only then can we restore the dignity of that great office and the democracy that it represents. and other party leaders also focused on the prime minister's character. truthfulness, honesty and transparency do not enter his vocabulary. it is just not part of his way of being and it speaks for the type of man that he is. can the prime minister look the british people in the eye and name one person, just one person, he cares about more than himself? and this conservative critic of mrjohnson posed

this thought for fellow tory mps. the question i humbly put to my colleagues is, are you willing, day in, day out, to defend this behaviour publicly? some did respond by saying "yes. " from the commons it was back to downing street for the prime minister and questions from reporters. talk to our viewer, convince our viewer you are not tempted or willing to lie to get out of a tight spot? i say to that person, "look, i've tried to explain as clearly "as i can what happened. " i believe that they were work events, they " were part of myjob, and that view appears to be " substantiated by the fact i wasn't fined. tonight, borisjohnson was back in parliament facing conservative mps in private. it is they who have

the power to decide whether he stays or goes. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... the governor of luhansk province in ukraine has described the situation in the donbas as exceptionally bad, with no let up in russian shelling. the cities of severodonetsk and lysychansk are under intense bombardment as russian forces try to encircle them. people up to the age of fifty can now enlist in the russian army. the law, passed by the parliament in moscow, is linked to efforts to recruit more troops as russian casualties in ukraine continue to mount. under current legislation, russians can enlist only up to the age of forty, and foreigners up to age thirty. pfizer has announced it will no longer make a profit from selling its patented medicines to the world's poorest countries, after being criticized for making a profit from its coronavirus vaccines.

pfizer�*s chief executive, albert bourla, said forty— five countries would benefit, covering a total of more than a billion people. rwanda will be one of the first countries involved and its president said pfizer's scheme was an important step towards sustainable health in developing countries. the supermodel kate moss has given evidence in the defamation case between actorsjohnny depp and amber heard. she told the court via video—link that she'd never been pushed down the stairs by the actor — a rumour which had been referred to by ms heard, his former wife. mr depp is suing ms heard — following an article in which she said he was violent and she is countersuing. here's david sillito. would you please state your full name for the record? kate moss. kate moss testifying by video in what is week six of this libel case betweenjohnny depp and his former wife amber heard. and the reason? to address a rumour

mentioned by amber heard that kate moss had been pushed down some stairs during a holiday injamaica when she and johnny depp were a couple. what if anything happened when you were injamaica with mr depp? we were leaving the room and johnny left the room before i did and there had been a rainstorm and as i left the room i slid down the stairs and i hurt my back. did mr depp push you in any way down the stairs? no. during the course of the relationship did he ever push you down any stairs. you down any stairs? no. he never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs. johnny depp returned to the witness stand to himself address amber heard's allegations. one of the questions about his alleged drug use.

have you ever consumed eight through ten and mdma pills at once? no i have not. and why is that? because i'd be dead, i'm pretty sure i'd be dead. final arguments are scheduled for friday. david sillitoe, bbc news, fairfax, virginia. and before we go back to our main story the school shooting in texas. there's been an outpouring of grief in the us. but in addition to vigils there've been tributes to the victims happening around the globe. this is the scene at a vigil being held in northern india, at the punjabi city of amritsar, honoring the victims in texas. students at this secondary school created signs and lit candles in rememberance of those who'd died. that's all for now —

stay with bbc world news. hello again. i think it's fair to say eastern england had the best of wednesday's weather. durham was the sunniest place, eight hours of sunshine. and the warmest spot was holbeach in lincolnshire with 20 c. it was a lovely end to the day meanwhile in worchestershire. right now, the weather is quite quiet, a few showers for the northwest of scotland but thickening cloud moving into northern ireland starting to bring outbreaks of rain. it's mild for the most part, but quite chilly air with us in scotland today, and if we look at where the air is coming from, although across the uk we will all have westerly winds. in the south, the air is coming from a long way south, whereas in the north, the air is coming around past iceland, so from polar regions eventually working northern scotland,

so they'll be big temperature contrasts across the country from north to south. we start off with a band of rain thursday morning in northern ireland, pushing eastward across northern england, scraping into the far south of scotland, north wales, the north midlands as well. the front itself weakens it as it slowly trickles down towards lincolnshire through the afternoon, brighter skies through the afternoon. to the northwest, blustery showers in northwest scotland. this blustery spells and feeling warmer, temperatures 21 degrees by the year gets cooler and cooler the further north you go and in stornoway just 11 degrees. you go and in stornoway some fairly brisk blustery winds making it feel quite chilly. through friday, the winds turned to more of a northwesterly direction, those winds will bring plenty of showers to northern and western scotland, one or two for northern ireland, the northwest of both england and wales, but otherwise, most of you will see spells of sunshine. in the sunshine not feeling bad for the southern areas of uk, 20 in cardiff, 21 in london, warm in the sunshine but across the far northwest, a little on the cool side once again. for the weekend, high

pressure is influencing our weather, but it is moving to the northwest of the uk allowing these winds to dive in. might well start of sunny where you are and a cold start to the day but the cloud is likely to build up particularly for northern and eastern areas, the best of the sunshine and highest temperatures for southeast wales and england, we should get up to about 20 degrees, just 12 in aberdeen. cloud may be a bit thicker on sunday, perhaps one or two showers around and temperatures for the most part will be dropping a few degrees, so it will start to feel a little bit cooler. should be a bit us sunshine around. but 11 in aberdeen and just 1a and london. this is bbc news.

we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. what can be done to help the children of ukraine? two thirds of them have been forced to flee from their homes. many have reportedly been subjected to physical abuse. some unaccompanied minors are being sent abroad by desperate parents, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers. my guest is the ceo of the charity save

the children international, inger ashing. what is her organisation doing?