welcome to bbc news — i'm rich preston. our top stories: it's been revealed that 19 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. as families in the town of uvalde try to come to terms with what took place, 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 thinkjust wrong. in other news: ukrainian officials collect and bury the bodies of russian soldiers left behind by the invading forces.

we have a special report. and britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, rejects calls for his resignation, after a highly—critical report into lockdown parties at downing street. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. let's go to the us first. president biden has pleaded americans to support reforms to gun laws, to make a fundamental impact on gun crime in america. officials in texas have now confirmed 19 primary school children and two teachers were killed in tuesday's attack in the city of uvalde in the south of the state. the youngest victim was just seven years old. the 18—year—old gunman was shot dead at the scene.

our north america editor sarah smith is in uvalde and has been speaking to members of the community. 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 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 semi—automatic 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 — - it just 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 shooting has — once again — restarted the debate in america about gun control. president biden called on americans to �*stand up to the gun lobby�*.

but the constitutional right to bear arms remains a deeply divisive topic. our correspondentjohn sudworth reports from newtown in connecticut, where a decade ago 20 children and six 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 here, 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. 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 aren't 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 whosel 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. on 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 obama said then, but ten years on, the solution seems as far away as ever. john sudworth, bbc

news, sandy hook. and it seems another potential shooting incident was prevented in texas. police say they arrested a student after being found with what was described as an "ak—47 style pistol" and a "replica ar—15 style" rifle. the arrest took place outside a high school in richardson, over 350 miles north of uvalde. let's get some of the day's other news. the us pharmaceutical firm pfizer has announced it'll no longer make a profit from selling its patented medicines to the world's poorest countries. pfizer was previously criticised for making a profit from its coronavirus vaccines. pfizer's chief executive, albert bourla, said 45 countries would benefit, covering a total of more than a billion people. rwanda will be one of the first countries involved. its president, paul kagame, said pfizer's scheme is an important step towards sustainable health in developing countries. senegal�*s president says 11 newborn babies have died in a fire at the neonatal

section of a regional hospital in the town of tivaouane, around 120 km east of the capital dakar. president sall, who posted the news on twitter, didn't give any further details about the fire. the governor of luhansk province in ukraine has described the situation in the eastern donbas region 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 50 can now enlist in the russian army. the change in legislation, passed by the parliament in moscow, is linked to efforts to recruit more troops as russian casualties in ukraine continue to mount. previously, russians could only enlist up to the age of 40, and foreigners up to age 30. let's go to ukraine now. it's just over 90 days since russian forces invaded the country. and weeks after they were pushed back from their attempt

to take the capital, kyiv, the bodies of many dead russian soldiers still lie abandoned. some have been buried by ukrainian villagers in shallow graves, others have been exhumed and are now stacking—up in refrigerated train carriages. a bbc team even found human remains by the side of a main road, weeks after the fighting there had stopped. ukraine says russia shows no interest in getting its bodies back, as our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford reports. and a warning: this report contains distressing images. in the woods around kyiv, they are still finding shallow graves. searching for the dead long after the fighting ended here. villagers called in this forensic team when their dogs began digging. but the body is not ukrainian, that is the hood of a russian soldier. the body was removed carefully for identification. one of the huge

number killed trying to seize ukraine's capital. russia has a slogan, we don't abandon our own. ukraine calls this proof that it does. translation: the bodies that we have found show. that they treat their people like rubbish as cannon fodder. they don't need their soldiers, they throw them here. retreat and leave the bodies. we don't know why this soldier was left behind. but we do know he was taken to a refrigerated train where the bodies are stacking up now. the aim is to identify the dead, put names to these numbers and then send them back to theirfamilies. though, ukraine says russia isn't interested. at least this one has a chance of going home, the man in charge says. badges and bank cards show the body in the woods was a young soldier from siberia.

ukraine's hotline for missing russian soldiers get threatening calls. the staff work from home now for safety, but at the start, this woman took dozens of calls an hour, mainly from worried women, hunting for their soldier husbands and sons. we told them what was actually happening here, she says. the number dying and being injured in this war and she says the russians listened, often in shock and tears. as russian tanks tried to advance on kyiv, they met fierce resistance here. at a village restaurant, everything except the aquarium is in pieces. amongst the ruins, we found leaflets, calling on the russian forces to surrender. no—one knows the true scale of the losses here on either side and ukrainian families have told us about their own struggle to get back

the bodies of their soldiers. but in this village, people say at least a dozen russians are still buried here and a sympathy for those troops is limited. translation: it is not humane to abandon a soldier, _ not to bury them, my wife felt sorry for them at first, but then we found out what they did here and no—one pities them any more. but with so much wreckage of war all around, the dead are still being discovered. right by the side of the road here, we have just spotted some human remains. there is a section of someone's spine and also a very charred piece of someone's foot. and when the wind drops here, the smell is really sickly sweet. now, this is probably the remains of another russian soldier, because there are wrecked russian tanks just across the road here.

there are carriages like this across ukraine. to those collecting the dead, these are enemy soldiers, but in russia, someone, somewhere must be looking for each one of them. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: and after a highly—critical report into lockdown parties at downing street, britain's prime minister borisjohnson says he has no intention of resigning. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletic 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 i the juventus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. i the whole world will mourn the 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 11,500 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, girl power. _ not geri. why? - this is bbc world news. our main headline: us investigators say all 19 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 have more on the texas school shooting. we can now speak to dr cassandra crifasi, who's deputy director of the center for gun violence prevention and policy, atjohns hopkins university. thank you very much for being with us. there is an article that the satirical website runs, the onion, with a headline, there is no way to prevent this says the only nation by this regularly happens. why does this keep happening in america? that happens. why does this keep happening in america? that is a really great _ happening in america? that is a really great question. _ happening in america? that is a really great question. we - happening in america? that is a really great question. we see i really great question. we see these terrible tragedies happen in some of our sensitive spaces like schools, grocery stores, and we continued to see the same thing happening which is nothing. our elected officials appeared to be more beholden to

the gun lobby than they are to their constituents and they continued to fail to act. it is not because _ continued to fail to act. it is not because of— continued to fail to act. it is not because of a _ continued to fail to act. it is not because of a lack- continued to fail to act. it is not because of a lack of - not because of a lack of information. this seems to be a political divide and gun ownership is on the rise? this issue really — ownership is on the rise? this issue really seems _ ownership is on the rise? this issue really seems to - ownership is on the rise? this issue really seems to be - ownership is on the rise? ti 3 issue really seems to be mostly political among politicians. we have a really strong evidence based on policy and programmes that are effective to prevent violence, in all its forms as well as mash shootings, and it has broad support among the public, including republicans and democrats, gun owners and non— gun owners. we have data on solutions that we know work but they continued to fail to act. ., ., ., but they continued to fail to act. ., ., , act. you are a public safety health expert _ act. you are a public safety health expert rather - act. you are a public safety health expert rather than l act. you are a public safety health expert rather than a j health expert rather than a criminologist. how can this be looked at as a public health

issue rather than as a series of isolated events?- issue rather than as a series of isolated events? when we think of this _ of isolated events? when we think of this as _ of isolated events? when we think of this as a _ of isolated events? when we think of this as a public- think of this as a public health problem, we're thinking about population level data and intervention so we think about defining and measuring the problem, identifying risks and protective factors, designing and implementing intervention and implementing intervention and evaluating those interventions to see if they work. think about all forms of violence, all victims and multiple levels of prevention to take a multifaceted approach. gun violence in the us is absolutely a public health problem. in 2020, the last year we have complete data, we have 35,000 unrelated deaths, the highest number ever recorded for that we need to take the tools in principle of public health to help us address this issue. arguments are ut address this issue. arguments are put forward _ address this issue. arguments are put forward often - address this issue. arguments are put forward often that - address this issue. arguments are put forward often that this| are put forward often that this is not about gun ownership but

mental health stop criminality, regardless of gun ownership. how important are these issues? we absolutely have to be thinking about a fair and equal access to mental health services and other kind of suppose they can help people deal with frustration, anger, job loss, whatever might be the case but we are one of the only countries where it is so easy for people to gain access to firearms that they can use to harm others. if you focus too much on these other elements, it distracts us from the unifying theme, that ties all of these pieces together, all of these pieces together, all of these pieces together, all of these incidents we are seeing across the country, and thatis seeing across the country, and that is gun. we need to have that is gun. we need to have that central to the conversation to talk about solutions.— conversation to talk about solutions. the bottom line about the _ solutions. the bottom line about the debate - solutions. the bottom line about the debate is - solutions. the bottom line about the debate is often l solutions. the bottom line - about the debate is often about the second amendment, the constitutional right to bear arms. is it possible to restrict arms without changing

that? ~ , , restrict arms without changing that? �* , ::::j~ restrict arms without changing that? �* , :: ::j~ ., that? absolutely. in 2008 a decision where _ that? absolutely. in 2008 a decision where individuals l that? absolutely. in 2008 a . decision where individuals were granted the right to gun ownership, that decision says nothing in this decision should cast doubt on long—standing provision and reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. —— prohibition. we have effective evidence—based policy like requiring a license or extremist protection orders they can temporarily separate someone from the farm during a time of crisis. —— fire arm. dr time of crisis. -- fire arm. dr cassandra — time of crisis. —— fire arm. dr cassandra crifasi, thank you very much forjoining us. very much for 'oining us. thank ou. here in the uk the prime minister, borisjohnson, has rejected calls for his resignation, after an official report blamed leadership failings for a series of parties in and around downing street at the height of coronavirus lockdowns. at the time, people in the uk were banned from socialising, or even attending funerals because of the pandemic.

our political editor, chris mason, has this report. it was the week before christmas this investigation began. today, its verdict 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. on 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 injanuary, 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. 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. reporter: talk to our viewer, convince our viewer that 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 that view appears to be substantiated by the fact that i wasn't fined. 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. that's it from us for now. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ rich preston.

much more on the news website. we will be back shortly. for now, thank you very much for watching. bye—bye. 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 degrees celsius. it was a lovely end to the day meanwhile in worcestershire. right now, the weather is quite quiet. we've got 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 you look at where the air is coming from, although across the uk we'll all pretty much 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 into northern scotland, so they'll be big temperature contrasts across the country, from north to south. now, we start off with our band

of rain thursday morning, in northern ireland, pushing eastward across northern england, and scraping into the far south of scotland, north wales, the north midlands, as well. the front itself weakens as it slowly trickles down towards lincolnshire, through the afternoon. brighter skies to the northwest. blistery showers in scotland. to the south, some sunny spells and feeling warm, with temperatures up to 21 degrees, but the air gets cooler and cooler the further north you go and so in stornoway and lerwickjust 11 degrees. there'll be some fairly brisk, blistery winds making it feel quite chilly. now, through friday, the winds turn to more of a northwesterly direction. those winds will bring plenty of showers to northern and western scotland. there'll be one or two for northern ireland, the northwest of both england and wales, but otherwise, most of you will see some spells of sunshine. in the sunshine, not feeling bad again for the southern areas of uk — 20 in cardiff, 21 in london, feeling warm in the sunshine, but across the far northwest, a little on the cool side once again. now, for the weekend, high pressure is influencing our weather, but it is moving to

the northwest of the uk, allowing these northerly winds to dive in. might well start off 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 the highest temperatures for southern parts of wales and southwest england, where we should get up to about 20 degrees, butjust 12 in aberdeen. cloud might be a bit thicker on sunday. perhaps one or two showers around and temperatures for the most part will be just dropping a few degrees. it will start to feel a little bit cooler. should still be a bit us sunshine around, but 11 in aberdeen, feeling on the chilly side, and just 1a in london.

this is bbc news. the headlines: investigators in the united states say that 19 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. president biden has pleaded with americans to support reforms to gun laws. ukrainian officials are collecting and burying the bodies of russian soldiers left behind by the invading forces. others have been exhumed and stacked—up in refrigerated train carriages. and some remains have even been found lying on the roadside. ukraine says russia shows no interest in getting its bodies back. and britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, rejects calls for his resignation, after a highly—critical report into lockdown parties at downing street.