welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: slow to react or caution in a siege situation? police criticised over the texas school mass shooting. ukraine warns russia's offensive in donbas could result in the region becoming uninhabited and moscow's actions genocide. the us insists china remains a bigger challenge to the world order than russia. as far back as i get a rambo, as far back as i geta rambo, i as far back as i get a rambo, i always wanted to be a gangster. the hollywood actor and star of fellers, ray liotta, has died at the age of 67.

—— good fellas. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. police in texas are being criticised for the way they responded to the mass shooting at a school in uvalde on tuesday. some parents say officers were too slow to confront the gunman, after he barricaded himself inside a classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers. he was eventually shot dead by police. our north america editor, sarah smith, reports from the scene. all of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed were in the same school class. this boys family had to wait 12 hours before they were told he was dead. this girl had been given a phone for her tenth birthday and she used it to try to call the police.

jackie had just celebrated her first communion and she died alongside her cousin, annabel. these pictures show the scene outside the school on tuesday. they had four children. what were you thinking as you waited in the classroom? firm were you thinking as you waited in the classroom?— in the classroom? am i gonna die? you _ in the classroom? am i gonna die? you will— in the classroom? am i gonna die? you will worry _ in the classroom? am i gonna die? you will worry that - in the classroom? am i gonna die? you will worry that he i die? you will worry that he miaht die? you will worry that he might come _ die? you will worry that he might come in _ die? you will worry that he might come in and - die? you will worry that he might come in and start i might come in and start shooting children in your classroom? mil shooting children in your classroom?— shooting children in your classroom? �* ~ ., , ., classroom? all i know is that he hurt my — classroom? all i know is that he hurt my teacher _ classroom? all i know is that he hurt my teacher and - classroom? all i know is that he hurt my teacher and my i he hurt my teacher and my friend. , ., ., g ., ., , friend. ten-year-old jaden was in a nearby _ friend. ten-year-old jaden was in a nearby classroom - friend. ten-year-old jaden was in a nearby classroom where i in a nearby classroom where they could hear gunshots which killed several of his friends. ever since, killed several of his friends. eversince, my killed several of his friends. ever since, my stomach has been hurting. it's been hurting to know that all these kids that died did not deserve any of this because we did nothing wrong. this because we did nothing wronu. , , ~ , this because we did nothing wronu. , , . , ., this because we did nothing wronu. , ,. h, , ., wrong. these pictures are show the scene _ wrong. these pictures are show the scene outside _ wrong. these pictures are show the scene outside the _ wrong. these pictures are show the scene outside the school i wrong. these pictures are show| the scene outside the school on tuesday. one man yells. "there's a shooting," one man yells. distraught parents pleading with police officers, being told to stay back. get back! holding on to each other, desperate to know what is

happening inside. we are learning more details about what was happening inside the school. the two teachers who were killed as they threw themselves in front of their students to try to save them from the gunmen and what the terrified children saw as he burst into the classroom. questions are now being raised about how long it took for the police to go into the school and tackle the gunman. he was inside a54 minutes before the police went in. officers were there, the initial officers received gunfire. they don't make entry initially because of the gunfire they are receiving. but we have offices calling for additional resources. we need speciality equipment, we need wadi armour, we need precision rifle man. —— body armour. the rifle man. -- body armour. the duchess _ rifle man. -- body armour. the duchess of— rifle man. -- body armour. the duchess of sussex _ rifle man. —— body armour. the duchess of sussex made an excited appearance, laying roses. across america, students walked out of the schools in

protest to demand action to keep schools safe. in uvalde, a small, grief—stricken town, 21 bereaved families are now starting to plan 21 funerals. north america corresponded sarah smith there. we can now speak to javed ali, who previously held senior positions at the the department of homeland security and the fbi, where he dealt with a numver of security threats faced by the us. mrali, thank mr ali, thank you for making the time for us. as we heard in sarah's report, complains about the police response of 5a minutes, what's your assessment? it minutes, what's your assessment?- minutes, what's your assessment? it a difficult situation _ assessment? it a difficult situation and _ assessment? it a difficult situation and the - assessment? it a difficult situation and the facts i assessment? it a difficult l situation and the facts have changed over the last 2a — 48 hours changed over the last 24 — 48 hours but the facts as we know them now are to ——if they are true, it's unsettling to hear that it took almost an hour for law—enforcement personnel who arrived on scene who weren't part of the initial set of offices, to finally then make

entry and engage the gunmen and kill him. at the same time, the gunmen, the officers who are on scene must have faced a very threatening situation. they probably weren't prepared to deal with a gunman with automatic weapons, as the spokesperson said, didn't have equipment either so they held back and waited and in the hour of waiting, that is on the carnage unfolded unfortunately. you said they were referred for a gunman with weapons but as we know —— word prepared, automatic weapons aren't uncommon in america. how should the police have responded? the trainin: the police have responded? the training and _ the police have responded? tue: training and protocols the police have responded? tte: training and protocols that have been developed over the last 20 plus years, even before 9/11, if viewers member the columbine shooting in colorado, 1989, that changed the landscape of active shooter threats and mass shooter threats and mass shooter threats in the dated states. part of those new protocols over the last when he plus

years worth of first on scene personnel to make entry and neutralise the threat if they could # united states. that's the question, if they could. the first on scene offices in uvalde, did they have the capability to, as they took fire themselves, and we don't know the answer to that right now. . ., , now. the argument often put forward by — now. the argument often put forward by the _ now. the argument often put forward by the pro-gun i now. the argument often put| forward by the pro-gun rights forward by the pro—gun rights lobby in the akrotiri is that the only way to stop a bad day with a gun is a good guy with a gun and as we've seen in the footage, there were lots of good guys with guns who did not stop this bad guy with a gun. people will feel angry and letdown. people will feel angry and letdown-— people will feel angry and letdown. , ~ ., letdown. absolutely. again, we don't et letdown. absolutely. again, we don't yet know _ letdown. absolutely. again, we don't yet know the _ letdown. absolutely. again, we don't yet know the facts - letdown. absolutely. again, we don't yet know the facts why i letdown. absolutely. again, we don't yet know the facts why it | don't yet know the facts why it took an hour for the don't yet know the facts why it took an hourfor the border patrol tactical officers to arrive on scene and make that entry and with the other officers who had arrived previously, what was the decision—making calculus not to do that? we just don't have that answer right now. going

back to the protocols and training and guidelines that i've talked about, that seems to be a deviation from those standards that we are set in place. at the same time, there is no federal mandate to do this, no law that says law—enforcement have to do this and it's treated on a case—by—case basis. tragically, it laid out with terrible results the last few days. this results the last few days. as ou results the last few days. as you said. — results the last few days. as you said, we are learning more about what happened. what the next step of investigative process and the learning process and the learning process for law—enforcement? hopefully we will keep gathering the facts of what happened and in the aftermath of looking at what did or didn't happen for law—enforcement in particular, will there be some kind of lessons learned, document or assessment put together that's then shared broadly for other law—enforcement agencies in the united states and around the world to learn from and to prepare for in the future? this

state is going to continue. we are unfortunately because of lots of issues that are body been talked about on your show and others, we are going to see these types of mass shooting events in the united states. they haven't stopped. whatever good it can come from this terrible tragedy, hopefully it's something like that and then prepare for the next one and stop it before it actually happens. and stop it before it actually ha ens. ., happens. 0k, we will leave it there. governor _ happens. 0k, we will leave it there. governor ali, - happens. 0k, we will leave it there. governor ali, thank i happens. 0k, we will leave it| there. governor ali, thank you forjoining us. there. governor ali, thank you forjoining us— —— javed ali. let's get some of the day's other news. the actor kevin spacey, is to be charged with sexual assault against three men in the uk. the offences are alleged to have occurred in london and gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013. mr spacey has consistently denied allegations against him. bbc world news, the corporation's international tv news service, the one you're watching right now, is to be merged with its domestic sister channel. it's one of a series of money—saving changes announced by the bbc�*s director—general, tim davie. he said the new single tv channel would maintain

the ability to divide its broadcasts depending on news developments in the uk and abroad. twitter shareholders are taking the billionaire elon musk to court, accusing him of manipulating the company's share price to reduce the cost of his plan to take over the social media platform. they accuse him of failing to disclose his own early purchases of twitter stock that has saved him over $150 million. there's been no response from mr musk so far. ukraine's government says fighting in the eastern donbas region has reached a new intensity, with russia attacking more than 40 towns and storming ukrainian positions in several areas. among the russian forces who've been fighting are two brothers whose mother has spoken to the bbc. she claims they were conscripted, despite president putin's assurance that only professional soldiers have been deployed. she spoke to our russia editor, steve rosenberg. this is how moscow portrays its soldiers in ukraine — as professionals.

but away from the official images, some here tell a different story. marina — not her real name — has agreed to tell me her story. two of her sons are conscripts. the kremlin promised that conscripts wouldn't be sent to ukraine, but her sons were deployed close to the border. when russia invaded, she lost contact with them. translation: for me, time stopped. - i couldn't eat, i couldn't drink. i messaged mothers of other conscripts from the same unit. many of them had lost contact with their children too. i got into the car and started searching for my sons. on the phone, one of their commanders insisted they were on military exercises in the fields. i said, i've driven round all the fields where there are exercises, they are not there. please, don't lie to me. he hung up. fearing her sons were dead or injured,

marina went to a military hospital. no sign. translation: there wasn't l enough medicine or bandages. local residents supplied everything. the soldiers, they were cold and hungry. eventually, an admission from the military. her sons had gone into ukraine. translation: i was told the terrifying news, i your children have signed contracts to be professional soldiers, they are taking part in a special military operation. they will return as heroes. i said, what on earth are you talking about? they had no plans to sign a contract. they've been in the army for three months. they've only held a gun once. vladimir putin had said there wasn't a single russian conscript in ukraine. the authorities later backtracked. marina filed a complaint. it was upheld. her sons hadn't signed any military contract. they were brought back to russia.

translation: when my youngest son came out i called him - and said, son, i'm coming to get you. is there anything you need? he said, mum, i don't need anything, just you. when i saw him he looked like a total mess. the lads that came back from there were so thin, dirty and exhausted. their clothes were all torn. my son said, it's better that you don't know what happened there, but all that mattered to me was that he had come back alive. human rights groups say there are still russian conscripts in ukraine. the kremlin says it ordered an investigation into officials who allowed them to be sent there. translation: they lied to my face. officers lied, sergeants lied, but i'd like to believe that our president, the commander—in—chief, just isn't aware of the mess and chaos in the army. i want to tell him that not everything here is like they say it is on television.

marina says her sons came back different people. they've stopped believing in a bright future. steve rosenberg, bbc news, russia. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: at home with queen elizabeth — rare images being shared with the public for the first time. 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 4,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. has announced she's left the spice girls. argn — i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, girl power. _ not geri. why? - this is bbc news. our main headline: police in texas are facing mounting anger over the way they dealt with the mass school shooting in uvalde on tuesday. the us secretary of state antony blinken has said china remains the most serious threat to the international order, despite russia's invasion of ukraine. in a speech in washington,

he said underxijinping, china's ruling communist party had become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad. china is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do it. beijing's vision would move us away from the universal values that have sustained so much of the world's progress over the past 75 years. ivan kanapathy served on the white house's national security council as director for china, taiwan, and mongolia during the trump administration, and is now senior associate at the centre for stratgic and international studies. thank you for being with us. we have one world leader who is invading his neighbour, being accused of war crimes and yet mr blinken says that china is the country to be most

concerned about. t5 the country to be most concerned about. is that fair? to be fair. — concerned about. is that fair? to be fair, he _ concerned about. is that fair? to be fair, he does _ concerned about. is that fair? to be fair, he does say i concerned about. is that fair? to be fair, he does say it i concerned about. is that fair? to be fair, he does say it is i to be fair, he does say it is the greatest long—term concern and i think that is a true statement. if you look at gdp, china's is ten times that of russia and notwithstanding russia's nuclear arsenal, it is in most peoples view a declining power. mr blinken sa s we declining power. mr blinken says we are _ declining power. mr blinken says we are not _ declining power. mr blinken says we are not in _ declining power. mr blinken says we are not in a - declining power. mr blinken says we are not in a cold i declining power. mr blinken| says we are not in a cold war with china and do not want one, what do you make of that remark?— what do you make of that remark? ., , ., , remark? to be fair he says we do not want — remark? to be fair he says we do not want a _ remark? to be fair he says we do not want a conflict - remark? to be fair he says we do not want a conflict china, l remark? to be fair he says we do not want a conflict china, i | do not want a conflict china, i am not sure he said we do not want a cold war with china. they are not going to frame it as a cold war but it does bear as a cold war but it does bear a striking resemblance to the previous cold war we were in with the soviet union. lats previous cold war we were in with the soviet union. lots of focus on china's _

with the soviet union. lots of focus on china's influence i with the soviet union. lots of l focus on china's influence when it comes to pacific island nations and lots of around china and its interests in taiwan. how would people in these countries be feeling about this us speech? actually, i think about this us speech? actually, i think this _ about this us speech? actually, i think this will _ about this us speech? actually, i think this will be _ about this us speech? actually, i think this will be very - i think this will be very reassuring for a lot of our allies and partners in the pacific, indo pacific region. china tends to push a narrative that the us is in decline, in inexorable decline and does not that have the staying power the station does not have the same power in the pacific. these visions to asia by president biden to provide a degree of reassurance to our partners. china has tried to exert its influence over international organisations, the who, speaking generally, how can that kind of activity be counted?— that kind of activity be counted? . , ., . .,

counted? that is a much longer term challenge _ counted? that is a much longer term challenge because - counted? that is a much longer term challenge because it i counted? that is a much longer term challenge because it is i term challenge because it is actually a problem that has been developed over a long—term as we, western countries, basically not only allowed but encouraged china to increase its influence, personnel and capabilities to exert itself through these international organisations and it is only in recent years that there has been a turnaround and a real understanding of what is at stake by having china have too much control over those organisation so it would be a while before we can turn that around. ., , while before we can turn that around. . , ., around. finally, how might china react _ around. finally, how might china react to _ around. finally, how might china react to mr _ around. finally, how might china react to mr blinken's| china react to mr blinken's comments? t china react to mr blinken's comments?— china react to mr blinken's comments? i think china is probably — comments? i think china is probably not _ comments? i think china is probably not too _ comments? i think china is probably not too surprised. they will react vocally, as they typically do through that propaganda organs but there is no groundbreaking information in the speech although it does collect a lot of ideas from the administration together and aligns in one coherent strategy

for folks to be able to follow it more closely.— for folks to be able to follow it more closely. thank you very much for _ it more closely. thank you very much forjoining _ it more closely. thank you very much forjoining us. _ the hollywood actor ray liotta has died at the age of 67. he's perhaps best known for his role as henry hill, in martin scorsese's 1990 mafia movie, goodfellas. as far back as i can remember, i always wanted to be a gangster. i always wanted to be a gangster-— i always wanted to be a unanster. ~ ., ., m ray liotta was working on a film in the dominican republic, when he died. he'll also be remembered for field of dreams and copland. we can now speak to sandro monetti, who's editor in chief of hollywood international filmmaker magazine. thank you very much for being with us. he played a number of roles but it really was this gangster movie role he was remembered for, why is that? he was remembered for, why is that? the: was such a mercurial actor who could go from both to manus

just like that and that is what made goodfellas the most memorable of all his performances but i think that ray liotta was really underappreciated. he was so much more thanjust underappreciated. he was so much more than just a tough quy- much more than just a tough guy. he had real skills as well. if we could all do but he did we would all be movie stars. he was happy with his place in the business. he did say, if you could have one movie you are remembered for, thatis movie you are remembered for, that is great, if you have two that is great, if you have two thatis that is great, if you have two that is great. — — that is fantastic. he had three best picture nominations he was in but goodfellas was his legacy and what a legacy.— but goodfellas was his legacy and what a legacy. how did his career sat _ and what a legacy. how did his career sat out? _ and what a legacy. how did his career sat out? he _ and what a legacy. how did his career sat out? he only - and what a legacy. how did his career sat out? he only went l career sat out? he only went into acting — career sat out? he only went into acting to — career sat out? he only went into acting to impress - career sat out? he only went into acting to impress a i career sat out? he only went into acting to impress a gal. | into acting to impress a gal. he was set up in a career in construction — that ever since then he has been wowing

audiences for decades. he had a breakthrough in 1986, getting a golden globe nomination for something wild, and then with field of dreams and goodfellas and after goodfellas he played so many of those tough guy roles, whether they were shady cops or shady gangsters, he had the perfect face for it. those great eyes as well. but as i said at the start, he had a brooding intensity and a great talent and he was never out of work. he was working right up until the end. when ray liotta was in a movie, you always knew you were in for something fun. they were not all as good as goodfellas but they were fun. how was innate in hollywood? like everyone else it pays a

tough guy, something of a softy. sometimes the ones who play the scariest characters are the most likeable and that comes through in all the tributes. everyone from martin scorsese, kevin costner, jamie curtis, robert de niro, remembering a great talent and a nice guy. remembering a great talent and a nice guy-— a nice guy. sandro monetti, thank you- _ one of the founding members of the electronic pop band depeche mode, andrew fletcher, has died at the age of 60. they had a string of hits in the 1980s, including just can't get enough, enjoy the silence and personaljesus. in a statement on social media, the band said he had a true heart of gold and was always there when you needed support, a lively conversation, a good laugh or a cold pint. let's listen now to some of their hit songs. # ijust # i just can't # ijust can't get enough, i just can't get enough. ijust can't seem to get enough... #.

(music playing). # your own personaljesus... #. (music playing). # your own personaljesus. .. #._ personaljesus... #. some of the music— personaljesus... #. some of the music of— personaljesus... #. some of the music of depeche - personaljesus... #. some of the music of depeche mode. | buckingham palace has released rare images from home movies and items from the queen's private family albums, ahead of her platinum jubilee next week. the films have never been seen in public before and show her throughout her childhood and then later as monarch. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has been taking a look. balmoral is a place one looks forward to very much. she has been filmed throughout her life but for the queen, these images have a special place. they are from her private collection of home movies. the queen herself explains why

they are so special. cameras have always been a part of our lives. i think there's a difference to watching a home movie when you know who it is on the other side of the lens holding the camera. it adds to the sense of intimacy. some of these sequences were shot as the then princess elizabeth and her sister, margaret, travelled with their father, king george vi, and their mother, to south africa, in the early months of 1947. elizabeth was by then secretly engaged to prince philip. this is a previously unseen photograph of her with her engagement ring. the voyage to south africa aboard a royal navy battleship was elizabeth's firstjourney outside the united kingdom. it gave the family moments to themselves and opportunities to relax.

five years after these home movies were taken, the course of elizabeth's life changed with the unexpected death of her beloved father. the young woman, who is so carefree in these images, was queen. the long reign of queen elizabeth ii had begun. nicholas witchell, bbc news. before we go, let's turn to ottawa where they have decided to celebrate queen elizabeth's 70 years on the front by throwing a parade of... you have got it, corgis. what better way to celebrate the queen. next month the platinum jubilee will have four days of pageantry and celebrations and these corgis started the celebrations. that is it from us. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ richpreston.

much more on the bbc news website. thank you for your company and we will see you next time. bye—bye. hello, there. we'll be developing a north—south split across the country into friday, that's because we've got higher pressure building in across southern areas. so, that will bring in quite a long sunshine around, far more sunshine across the south than we had on thursday, but we maintain the windy, blustery theme across the north with further showers. that's because it's closer to this area of low pressure. but this area of high pressure will continue to push its way northwards, dominating the weather scene across much of the midlands, southwards, and in towards wales. there will be some sunshine for northern ireland, southern scotland, too, but here it will be windier and at times could see a few light showers. but most of the showers will be across the north and west of scotland, some though will be quite heavy and they will be blustery, as the winds will be quite a feature here once again.

the winds will be lighter further south, with more sunshine — we could see 21 degrees again, otherwise, it's the low to mid teens across the north. through friday night, the showers continue for a while across scotland. the winds begin to back more northerly as we head through the night. that will feed in a few more showers across the far north of scotland, but much of the country will be dry. but it will be a cooler air mass, temperatures in the single digits, i think, for most places. so, it's a coolerfeel into the weekend. it will be turning cooler still, thanks to these northerly winds. and by sunday, we could even see a few showers around, with limited spells of sunshine. saturday though probably looking like being the brightest day of the weekend. but even then, there will be quite a bit of cloud being pushed down on this northerly wind across central, northern and eastern areas. i think the best of the sunshine, southwest england and wales, northern ireland, it's here where we'll see the best temperatures, perhaps 20 degrees in cardiff. otherwise, it's cooler across more northern and eastern areas, where we will have more cloud as well. as we move into sunday, you can see the blue hue trickling further southwards across the country.

it will be turning cooler as our area of high pressure begins to drift in towards iceland. so, northerly winds, quite a lot of cloud around on sunday. that wind will be quite stiff across northern and eastern areas, and the cloud thick enough for some scattered showers, a swell. so, sunshine will be pretty limited. probably the best of it again will be in the southwest, where we could see 16 or 17 degrees. but distinctly chilly for the time of year across more northern and eastern areas, where we hold onto the cloud, as well. into next week, i think we will have a very weak area of low pressure nearby. that will bring further sunshine but also the risk of some showers, some of which will be on the heavy side.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the police in texas are being criticised for the way they responded to the mass shooting at a school in uvalde on tuesday. some parents say officers were too slow to confront the gunman, after he barricaded himself inside a classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers. ukraine's government says fighting in the eastern donbas region has reached a new intensity, with russia attacking more than 40 towns and storming ukrainian positions in several areas. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, says the region could become uninhabited and moscow seemed intent on reducing cities to ashes. the hollywood actor ray liotta has died at the age of 67. he's perhaps best known for his role as henry hill,

in martin scorsese's1990 mafia movie, goodfellas.