this is 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. # ijust can't get enough...# founding member of pop band depeche mode, keyboard player andrew fletcher, has died. he was 60. and abba as you've never seen them before — a0 years after they last toured, digital technology takes them on the road again.

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 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. 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 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 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 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. earlier i spoke to javed ali who previously held senior positions at the the department of homeland security and the fbi. i asked what his assessment was of the police response to the attack. it a difficult situation and the facts have changed over the last 24—48 hours but the facts, if they're 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 officers, to finally then make entry and engage

the gunman and kill him. at the same time, the gunman, the officers who were 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 u nfortu nately. you said they weren't prepared for a gunman with weapons, but as we know, automatic weapons aren't uncommon in america. how should the police have responded? the training and protocols that have been developed over the last 20 plus years, even before 9/11, if viewers remember the columbine shooting in colorado, 1989, that changed the landscape of active shooter threats and mass shooter threats in the united states. part of those new protocols over the last 20 plus years were that first on—scene personnel would make entry

and neutralise the threat if they could. that's the question, if they could. the first on—scene officers in uvalde, did they have the capability to, as they took fire themselves, and we don't know the answer to that right now. the argument often put forward by the pro—gun rights lobby in the united states is that the only way to stop a bad guy 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 let down. absolutely. again, we don't yet know the facts why it took an hour for 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. as you said, we are learning more about what happened. what's the next step of the investigative 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 have already 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 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. 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 a0 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. 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. 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 world 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 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 embark, 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 copland. 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 personal jesus. 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 # wizard and fly as before and love and ijust and fly as before and love and i just can't seem to and fly as before and love and ijust can't seem to get enough.

# you are a personaljesus... # the music of depeche mode there. richard blade is a presenter at siriusxm 1st wave who knew andrew fletcher for decades. i asked him to explain how important andrew was to depeche mode. andrew's role in the band was huge. people always think of dave being the singer and frontman and martin being the songwriter, but andrew was the backbone of depeche mode. martin gore said to me one time that there would be no depeche mode without andrew fletcher — he was the one who would always get dave and martin and, at the time, alan wilder, together and say, "get in the studio. "let's work on a new album. ""let's get a tour together." and he said depeche mode would've 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'm so sad, words fail me" and he texted me right back and said — i don't know if you can see this — but says, "thank you. "so unexpected and tragic. "i have been a zombie all day." and a lot of people are saying 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've ever wanted would be the person to have torn them apart so i think in 2023, we'll see an album come out, dedicated to andy and hopefully, following that, another tour. depeche mode had a huge fan base — probably bigger than they ever imagined, even in their wildest dreams — so much so that i gather you almost started a riot inadvertently on one occasion? well, absolutely.

in march 20th of 1990 when violator was coming out, they got together with me and howie klein, who was 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, 17,500, according to the la police. they drove in from colorado, they drove in from arizona, oregon, washington state and they lined up for two days and camped out. the in—store lasted for about, i would say 11 minutes before

it was shut down by the police department. they issued 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 dispersed. but the repercussions were huge and suddenly, the album, violator, went straight to number one in the billboard charts and went multiplatinum. 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.

richard blade remembering the life of andrew fletcher, the front band member of depeche mode, who has died at age 67. it's more than a0 years since the swedish popstars abba went on tour. now, after a big build up and a new album, fans can see the group performing some of their greatest hits at a new show in london — all thanks to digital technology. our entertainment correspondent colin patterson was there for the opening night. the weighting was over. more than a0 years after the last abba concert, they returned to the stage last night albeit in digitalform looking like they did in the 1970s heyday. the uncanny life like avatars play 20 songs including sos and mama mia, kate moss are seen going to the dance floor surrounded by bouncers and the audience loved it. something you've never seen before and you'll be

like, they're looking around everywhere. like, they're looking around everywhere-— like, they're looking around eve here. ., . everywhere. when the dancing queen was _ everywhere. when the dancing queen was spectacular. - everywhere. when the dancing queen was spectacular. it's . queen was spectacular. it's mind blowing. _ queen was spectacular. it's mind blowing. it _ queen was spectacular. it's mind blowing. it was so real i do like. — mind blowing. it was so real i do like, better than i expected. at the end, the members came and it was a dream come— members came and it was a dream come true — members came and it was a dream come true. so members came and it was a dream come true-— come true. so realistic, it really does. _ come true. so realistic, it really does. so _ come true. so realistic, it really does. so clear - come true. so realistic, it really does. so clear that| come true. so realistic, it. really does. so clear that the lighting — really does. so clear that the lighting is _ really does. so clear that the lighting is fantastic. - really does. so clear that the lighting is fantastic. it - really does. so clear that the lighting is fantastic. it was i lighting is fantastic. it was fantastic _ lighting is fantastic. it was fantastic. absolutely- lighting is fantastic. it was - fantastic. absolutely awesome. they _ fantastic. absolutely awesome. they were — fantastic. absolutely awesome. they were there. _ fantastic. absolutely awesome. they were there. the _ fantastic. absolutely awesome. they were there.— fantastic. absolutely awesome. they were there._ did | they were there. the best. did ou c ? they were there. the best. did you cry? i _ they were there. the best. did you cry? i cried _ they were there. the best. did you cry? i cried four _ they were there. the best. did you cry? i cried four times. - you cry? i cried four times. what got you? seeing her face. so a lot of happy punters and in the show abba sat two rows behind me. during dancing queen i turned around and saw frieda looking out over the audience with a huge smile. and earlier on the red carpet, i had spoken to the whole group. what made

you change your minds and decide to work with abba again? i dreamt of this for years. we love our music. we love to sing. we love the material that benny and bjorn right, excellent and it's a challenge. abba has never left us in my heart. in abba has never left us in my heart. ., ., , heart. in our hearts. so it was not so difficult _ heart. in our hearts. so it was not so difficult decision - not so difficult decision because the music is a part of us. ., because the music is a part of us. ., ., , because the music is a part of us. ., ., , , . because the music is a part of us. ., . , , . ., us. how was the experience for ou to us. how was the experience for you to see _ us. how was the experience for you to see yourself— us. how was the experience for you to see yourself as - us. how was the experience for you to see yourself as a - us. how was the experience for you to see yourself as a longer| you to see yourself as a longer self? �* , . . you to see yourself as a longer self? �*, . . , , self? it's amazing because, in a wa , self? it's amazing because, in a way. look — self? it's amazing because, in a way. look at _ self? it's amazing because, in a way, look at yourself - self? it's amazing because, in a way, look at yourself on - a way, look at yourself on stage. it so well done so you think it's real people standing up think it's real people standing up there and performing and then you see yourself watching yourself. it's a very extraordinary feeling, it's hard to describe. i extraordinary feeling, it's hard to describe.- extraordinary feeling, it's hard to describe. i think the only way — hard to describe. i think the only way to _ hard to describe. i think the only way to understand - hard to describe. i think the| only way to understand what this says, you have to come and

see it _ this says, you have to come and see it it's— this says, you have to come and see it it's a_ this says, you have to come and see it. it's a sort of a non— explainable, we've tried this for two _ explainable, we've tried this for two years. to explain what it is— for two years. to explain what it is and — for two years. to explain what it is and that's impossible. you — it is and that's impossible. you need _ it is and that's impossible. you need to see it. it�*s it is and that's impossible. you need to see it.- it is and that's impossible. you need to see it. it's a new exoerience — you need to see it. it's a new experience for _ you need to see it. it's a new experience for all _ you need to see it. it's a new experience for all of - you need to see it. it's a new experience for all of us - you need to see it. it's a new experience for all of us and i you need to see it. it's a new experience for all of us and it will be — experience for all of us and it will be so _ experience for all of us and it will be so exciting _ experience for all of us and it will be so exciting tonight - will be so exciting tonight because _ will be so exciting tonight because i— will be so exciting tonight because i haven't - will be so exciting tonight because i haven't seen i because i haven't seen anything _ because i haven't seen anything i— because i haven't seen anything-— because i haven't seen an hina. anything. i think you can safely say _ anything. i think you can safely say that _ anything. i think you can safely say that nobody . anything. i think you can i safely say that nobody has anything. i think you can - safely say that nobody has ever seen anything like this because this is a first, this is pushing boundaries. the first reviews and _ pushing boundaries. the first reviews and are _ pushing boundaries. the first reviews and are very - pushing boundaries. the first| reviews and are very positive. there is talk of applying for the show to run in london for at least three years. abba so they know of other major acts already thinking of copying their idea of copying themselves. colin paterson, bbc news,. 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 19a7. 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 canadians decided to celebrate queen elizabeth's 70 years

on the throne by throwing a parade of corgis. yes, people who share the queen's love for one of the world's most popular herding breeds wanted to get together. and these dressed—up corgis started off the festivities, parading in their tiaras, dresses and more! 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 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 latest 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.