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. and founding member of pop band depeche mode, keyboard player andrew fletcher, has died.

hello and a very warm welcome to the programme. very good to have you with us. 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 killed were in the same school class. ameriejo garza had just been given a phone for her 10th birthday. she used it to try and call the police. jackie cazares had just celebrated her first communion. she died alongside her cousin, annabelle guadalupe rodriguez. irma garcia was one the teachers killed. today, her husband, joe, died from a heart attack after visiting her memorial.

they had four children. what were you thinking as you waited in the classroom? am i gonna die? you were worried that he might come in and start shooting children in your classroom? all i know is that he hurt my teacher and my friend. ten—year—old jaden was in a nearby classroom where they could hear gunshots which 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. these pictures show the scene outside the school on tuesday. one man yells, �*there�*s shooting!�* 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 gunman and what the terrified children saw as he burst into their 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 for sa 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 body armour, we need precision riflemen. the duchess of sussex made an unexpected appearance in uvalde, laying white roses in the town square. across america, students walked out of the schools in protest to demand action to keep schools safe.

in uvalde, a small, grief—stricken town, 2! bereaved families are now starting to plan 2! funerals. the bbc�*s sarah smith with that report. ukraine's government says fighting in the eastern donbas region has reached a new intensity, with russia attacking more than forty 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, - 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.

we can now speak to angela stent who's director of the center for eurasian, russian and east european studies at georgetown university. she is also the author of putin's world. thank you for making the time for us. president zelenskyy has pushed back against the west in the last few hours, especially after the former us secretary of state henry kissinger said that perhaps ukraine may want to seed similar to russia to put an end to the war. what's your response to those remarks? i read mr kissinger�*s remarks carefully and what he said was in the next two months there should be negotiations to go back to the status quo, and he. he didn't specify what that meant but presumably it meant to position that russia and ukraine were in on heather reid 23 before the invasion. at the beginning of this war, talansky himself said that he could envisage negotiation with rust

donna crusher if they withdrew to where they were on 23 february but since then we've had the atrocities and bounedjah and other places in the behaviour of the russian military forces and that's led ukrainians to believe that they aren't interested in a piece. and what putin wants to do is conquer all of ukraine so the problem with mr kissinger�*s solution as it may last for a few weeks or months but the russians will probably read invade because after all, we had the situation on 23 february and for putin it would be difficult for him to agree to that and is russia would have gained nothing if it withdrew to where it was on 23 february. withdrew to where it was on 23 februa . ~ , , ., , february. when russia first invented — february. when russia first invented ukraine _ february. when russia first invented ukraine just - february. when russia first invented ukraine just over. february. when russia first l invented ukraine just over 90 odd days ago, there was a pretty swift, firm, co—ordinated response from the west and since then that's cause problems with fuel, problems with food prices around the world, do you think the west mobilising its confidence somewhat in how it stands up to mr putin is that

there are people arguing now in europe that it makes no economic sense for europe to keep using these sanctions because europe and us to a lesser extent are feeling the economic impact. find lesser extent are feeling the economic impact.— lesser extent are feeling the economic impact. and you have the green _ economic impact. and you have the green shortage and - economic impact. and you have the green shortage and that's l the green shortage and that's because russia has blocked ukraine from exporting its grain to the rest of the world. today mr putin suggests that russia might reconsider blocking the ports and allowing ukraine to export if the west begins to remove some of the sanctions. we will have to see what the reaction to that is but i can imagine that there will be some voices in europe in other parts of the world saying that maybe it's time to remove some of those stations. that would very much under the ukrainians and we will have to see whether the russians really would allow the ukrainians to exploit that sort of grain. russia has focused its military efforts on the donbas in the

last few days. how do you project this playing out over the coming week? the russians seem to be _ the coming week? the russians seem to be taking _ the coming week? the russians seem to be taking more - seem to be taking more territory there, taking them a long time, along, granting war of attrition but the ukrainians, as he sat at the start of the report, are now saying that the russians are making some progress there. ukraine desperately needs opens that the us is now promised to send. the president side legislation but it's going to take some time for those weapons to get there. the ukrainian army is out there and by the russian are me. i}!(. by the russian are me. 0k, anuela by the russian are me. 0k, angela stent, _ by the russian are me. 0k, angela stent, author - by the russian are me. 0k, angela stent, author of - by the russian are me. 0k, angela stent, author of putin's world, thank you for sharing your time with us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: at home with queen elizabeth — rare images being shared with the public for the very 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. geri halliwell, otherwise known as 'ginger spice',j 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 news. the main story this hour: 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. earlier, i spoke to former white house national security council china director ivan kapanathy about mr blinken's assessment that

china poses the greatest threat to us interests at a time when another country, russia, just invaded its neighbour. he does say it is the greatest long—term concern, and i think that is a true statement. if you lookjust at gdp, for example, china's is ten times that of russia's, and sort of notwithstanding russia's nuclear arsenal, it is, i think, in most people's views, a declining power. mr blinken says we are not in a cold war with china, we don't want a cold war with china. what do you make of that remark? so, i think, to be fair, he says we do not want a conflict with china — i am not sure that today he actually said "we do not want a cold war with china". they are not going to frame it — the us administration isn't going to frame it as a cold war but, i think, just reading through the speech, it does bear a striking resemblance

to sort of the previous cold war that we were in with the soviet union. there's been lots of focus on china's influence when it comes to pacific island nations. there's also been lots of talk around china and its interests in taiwan. how will people in these countries be feeling about this us speech? actually, 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 a decline, an inexorable decline, and that it does not have sort of the staying power to remain in the western pacific. and so, these types of speeches and the recent visit to asia by president biden do provide a degree of reassurance to our partners. china has, in recent years, tried to exert its influence over international organisations as well as countries — the who, the united nations, speaking generally. how can that kind of activity be countered?

that's a much longer—term challenge because it's 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, its personnel and its sort of capabilities to exert itself through these international organisations. it's only in very recent years that there's been a turnaround and a real understanding of what's at stake by having china have too much control over those organisations, so it'll be a while before we are able to really turn that around. and finally, how might china react to mr blinken's comments? well, i think china is probably not too surprised. they'll react sort of vocally, as they typically do, through their propaganda organs, but there isn't any groundbreaking information in the speech — although it does collect... ivan ka na pathy. 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. taiwanese authorities have raided ten chinese companies they suspect have illegally tried to poach engineers and other staff from computer chip manufacturers. companies such as tsmc have made taiwan the world's leading manufacturer but china is trying to increase its own manufacturing capacity amid a global shortage. the chips are used in everything from smartphones to cars. 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. and 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. one of the founding members of the electronic pop band depeche mode, andrew fletcher, has died at the age of 60. the band 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 can't get enough. # we slip and slide as we fall in love # and ijust can't

seem to get enough... enjoy the silence plays. # your own personaljesus # someone to hear your prayers... let's go now to richard blade, presenter of siriusxm's first wave. he's in los angeles and knew andrew for many years. richard, very good to see you and i am so sorry it is under such circumstances. tell us a bit more about andrew and the role he played in the band. andrew's role in the band was huge. people always think of dave being the singer and front man, martin being the

songwriter but andrew was the backbone of the pet mode, martin gorza to one time that there would be no depeche mode without andrew fletcher, he was one who would always get dave and martin and alan welded together and say get in the studio, let's work on a new album, let's get a tour together —— martin gore. he said depeche mode would have fallen apart a long time ago. i got a text from martin while i was waiting to come on the air here on my phone and martin, i texted martin and said i am so sad, words fail me. and he texted me right back and said, i don't know if you can see, thank you. so unexpected and tragic. i have been a zombie all day. a lot of people are saying well, depeche mode —— will depeche mode continue? i think they will in andrew's spirit because andy fletcher was the glue that kept them together and the last thing he would have ever wanted would be a person to have torn them

apart so ——he would have wanted to be was the person to have gone them apart so i think we will see an album, dedicated to andy and hopefully following that another tour.— andy and hopefully following that another tour. depeche mode had a huge _ that another tour. depeche mode had a huge fan — that another tour. depeche mode had a huge fan base, _ that another tour. depeche mode had a huge fan base, probably i had a huge fan base, probably bigger than they ever imagined evenin bigger than they ever imagined even in their wildest dreams does make so much so i gather you almost started a riot inadvertently on one occasion? absolutely. in march 20, i990 absolutely. in march 20, 1990 when violator was coming out, they got together with me and how we climb, a record company executive, and we sat in the building at warner brothers and said how can we make a statement? we said let's do an in—store and at the time depeche mode in southern california were as big — and i'm not exaggerating he as the beatles in southern california. ridiculously big. and we did this in—store at the warehouse at the beverly centre and we were expecting five or 6000 people to turn up which would

have been huge, bigger than van halen at tower records and 17,500, according to the la police —— beverley centre. they drove in from colorado, they drove in from colorado, they drove in from arizona, oregon, washington state and they lined up washington state and they lined up for two days and camped out. in—store lasted for about, i would say 11 minutes before it was shot down by the police department. but you should what's called a tactical alert and sent in three divisions of police, helicopter units, mounted police but thank goodness, depeche mode fans are not like heavy metal fans. there was no fighting or battling with the police. they disbursed. but the repercussions were huge and suddenly, the album went straight to number one in the billboard charts and went multiplatinum —— dispersed. behind me, you can see one of their platinum albums that they sent me. this entire wall is depeche mode albums. it was

just the most incredible and sad thing because the band wanted to sign autographs for all of the fans and instead, they released a free album, depeche mode at the warehouse, that was distributed through warehouse stores throughout america for the fans that stood in line and could not get to meet the guys. we in line and could not get to meet the guys.— in line and could not get to meet the guys. we will have to leave it there, _ meet the guys. we will have to leave it there, richard - leave it there, richard remembering andy fletcher from depeche mode. sorry for your loss but thank you for making time for us.— time for us. thank you for talkin: time for us. thank you for talking about _ time for us. thank you for talking about depeche - time for us. thank you for i talking about depeche mode time for us. thank you for - talking about depeche mode and andy fletcher. 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. ray liotta was working on a film in the dominican republic when he died. he'll also be remembered for field of dreams and cop land. 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 the 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 19117. 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. that's it from us for now. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @richpreston. from me and all of us here in

london, thanks for watching and we will see you next time. goodbye. 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 lot of 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 of them will be quite heavy and they'll 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'll 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'll 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 south west england, 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'll have more cloud as well. as we move into sunday, you can see the blue hue

there trickling ever 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 as well, so sunshine will be pretty limited. probably the best of it again will be in the south—west, 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'll have a very weak area of low pressure nearby. that'll 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 a0 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 american actor kevin spacey is facing five charges of sexual assault against three men. the allegations date back to when he was in the uk