this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british government defend their plan to look at changing the law to allow agency staff to be brought in to cover for some striking rail workers, as the opposition party criticises the move we've got to look at every option out there and explore what we can do as a government to support people to get to work, to school, to hospital, wherever they need to get to in their everyday lives. this government is acting as arsonists rather than firefighters, it's grossly irresponsible. the confederation of british industry warns that they believe households in the uk will go in to recession this year

the consumption, spending that we all make on the high street and in discretionary goods is already in decline. fierce street fighting in eastern ukraine — president zelensky says his forces are "holding on", but warns troops are running low on ammunition. tens of thousands rally across the us to call for stricter gun laws, in the wake of recent mass shootings. and queen elizabeth ii becomes the world's second longest serving monarch — only louis xiv of france has ruled for longer. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the uk transport secretary grant shapps has said the government

is preparing to lift a ban on agency staff filling in for striking workers. the potential change in legislation could allow companies to hire temporary workers to cover roles to prevent disruption. if the plan goes ahead, it will not come in time to affect the planned walkout by 40,000 rail workers at the end of this month. speaking on the bbc�*s sunday morning programme, government minister brandon lewis told sophie raworth the government is working with the rail industry to stop the strikes the transport secretary has outlined he's not taking anything off the table, he wants to look at everything we can do to support the rail industry and support people to get to work. the median salary in the railway sector is about £46,000 a year already, let alone what they're asking for against an average wage in this country of £26,000, so it's a well rewarded sector

and i think it's important we look at everything we can do to keep the railways working. but for the opposition labour party, rachel reeves told sunday morning the government is sowing division. because people who need to get to work on the trains, people need to get to doctors and hospital appointments, businesses like tony danker from the cbi was just talking about who are desperate to help get the economy growing again, need our train service to be functioning properly. and so the government... do you support the strikes? i don't want to see strikes, but nor do people who work in the rail industry want to see strikes. they want to see the government working with the industry, working with trade unions to resolve this. but this government, as per usual, seem to be more interested in sowing chaos, in sowing division, than actually in resolving the issue. earlier, i spoke to our transport correspondent simon browning. he started by explaining the response from industry bodies to using agency staff to cover rail

workers' jobs during a strike. the suggestions are that there will be a change to secondary legislation which will not affect this coming strike but potential strikes later in the summer which would allow agency workers to fill the roles that effectively have been vacated by striking workers. there are 40,000 workers who are walking out from the railways during these strikes, enormous number. some of the people be been speaking to this morning, aslef and one of the senior rail sources, saying these suggestions are completely impractical, why? some of the railwayjobs in the network are hugely safety critical. signallers who run the signal boxes up and down the lines, control the flow and safety of trends, sources said there aren't signallers working for agencies who are available and other safety critical roles like station

staff, guards, others that deploy trends. while the government is obviously trying to come up with suggestions about keep services running, those in the industry think bringing in agency staff is not possible because there isn't the source of people working for agencies who have safety critical skills and are able to drop in when strikes happen. the skills and are able to drop in when strikes happen-— skills and are able to drop in when strikes happen. the unions are angry because they — strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see _ strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see this _ strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see this as _ strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see this as a _ strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see this as a way - strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see this as a way of- because they see this as a way of breaking strikes, effectively, bringing in agency staff to take their place?— bringing in agency staff to take their lace? , , ., ., their place? yes. there is a reason why these — their place? yes. there is a reason why these tracks _ their place? yes. there is a reason why these tracks are _ their place? yes. there is a reason why these tracks are happening, i their place? yes. there is a reason. why these tracks are happening, the rmt says it wants its workers to receive a pay rise linked to inflation because they say their workers have not had inflation linked pay rises for 2—3 years but the government says the railway network needs to modernise, it's spent 16 billion propping up the railways during the pandemic and the system needs to modernise, there are too many staff and it is a classic battle of workers' rights and the strikes are approaching. different suggestions coming on, we understand negotiations will continue and there will be suggestions coming to try

and avert this and the impact of the strikes. joining me now is simon weller, assistant general secretary of aslef, uk train drivers�* union. thank you forjoining us. what is your reaction to these government proposals to look at bringing in agency staff to replace some railway workers in the future during strikes? , ., ., . , strikes? they have not really thou~ht strikes? they have not really thought about _ strikes? they have not really thought about it _ strikes? they have not really thought about it and - strikes? they have not really thought about it and it - strikes? they have not really thought about it and itjust . strikes? they have not really - thought about it and itjust seems thought about it and it just seems like it makes a nice headline for grant shapps, and for the rest of us, it seems like we are being governed by contestants in the apprentice. share governed by contestants in the apprentice-— governed by contestants in the a- rentice. �* ., apprentice. are you saying it would be dangerous _ apprentice. are you saying it would be dangerous or _ apprentice. are you saying it would be dangerous orjust _ apprentice. are you saying it would be dangerous orjust impractical? l be dangerous orjust impractical? it's nonsense. the argument, it's completely impractical, the key roles on the railways such as signallers, drivers, control staff, safety critical on board staff, where are they going to come from,

what agency is providing them? you cannotjust ship a load of signallers and train drivers, you cannot put an advert in the job centre at say wanted, train drivers because if they are not working for the railway now they are either not medically fit, they have either been dismissed or they don't want to do it any more. there is no other train drivers out there, no other signallers out there, no other staff so grant shapps is, it'sjust fantasy. it so grant shapps is, it's 'ust fantas . , fantasy. if there were those staff available, would _ fantasy. if there were those staff available, would it _ fantasy. if there were those staff available, would it be _ fantasy. if there were those staff available, would it be a - fantasy. if there were those staff available, would it be a workable solution end because what the government are saying come brandon lewis said today as we are not taking anything off the table because we want to have a look at everything we can possibly do to support the rail industry and support the rail industry and support people who want to use the railways and of course our viewers watching this now, they don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere because of a railway strike later on injune or later on this year? we

in june or later on this year? we don't want _ in june or later on this year? we don't want to — in june or later on this year? - don't want to be taking industrial action. actually, if grant shapps wants to sort this out he can come and talk to us and resolve the dispute rather than stomping about in his size nines, slopping petrol are bad. really, if he wants to resolve it, come and talk to us and let's get it resolved because he made a comment about the pay freezes over, well, he might as well want to tell our employers because when we have been in discussions over pay increase as are consistently telling us the department for transport is blocking any pay rise so perhaps we should start talking to the monkeys and start talking to the organ grinder? it seems to me the organ grinder? it seems to me the organ grinder isjust keen grinder? it seems to me the organ grinder is just keen on grinder? it seems to me the organ grinder isjust keen on mad grinder? it seems to me the organ grinder is just keen on mad schemes that are completely, completely impractical. that are completely, completely impractical-— that are completely, completely impractical. just explain why you think railway _ impractical. just explain why you think railway workers _ impractical. just explain why you think railway workers need - impractical. just explain why you think railway workers need a - impractical. just explain why you think railway workers need a payj think railway workers need a pay rise. but brandon lewis said today the government is the median salary in the railway sector is £46,000 per

year already. against an average wage in this country of closer to £26,000. some railway staff are earning up to £70,000. yes. £26,000. some railway staff are earning up to £70,000. yes, because i reresent earning up to £70,000. yes, because i represent train _ earning up to £70,000. yes, because i represent train drivers, _ earning up to £70,000. yes, because i represent train drivers, i _ earning up to £70,000. yes, because i represent train drivers, i was - earning up to £70,000. yes, because i represent train drivers, i was a - i represent train drivers, i was a train driver myself for 20 years and when we were privatised, we negotiated with private operators that wanted a new way of doing it, greater flexibility, greater productivity and as a trade union, we negotiated with them and we get them what they needed and wanted and what the railway needed, greater flexibility, productivity. with that came the salaries. what we are saying is it's not about an increase in the salary, it's so our current salaries and current terms and conditions maintain pace with the cost of living. we are not looking at increasing it, we are making sure our salaries maintain pace with the cost of living and not go backwards. we are grateful for your time, thank

you forjoining us. grant shapps says he wants to make sure people are getting a fair deal on fuel. he has treated... his comments came after the confederation of british industry downgraded its outlook for economic growth and called on the government to take vital action to avoid a recession. the cbi's director general tony danker issued this warning. well, i think the truth is households are going to go into recession this year. what do i mean by that? i mean that consumption, spending that we all make in the high streets and on discretionary goods, that is going to go negative

already this year. and the only thing really stopping us from having a full blown recession this year is that at the moment, business investment levels are quite high. the risk is if business investment starts to fall, then the whole country could go into recession sooner than some are predicting, ie, next year. so i think that's why at the moment there's not a lot you can do about household spending when inflation is this high. but you do need to stabilise confidence amongst firms so that they don't stop spending too. the northern ireland secretary brandon lewis has insisted the government's bill to override parts of the northern ireland protocol will not breach international law. the legislation — published on monday — is designed to reduce checks on goods crossing the irish sea. britain agreed to the protocol in 2019 to allow britain to leave the eu's single market and customs union without controls being reimposed on the border between the irish republic and northern ireland. mr lewis outlined government plans for the northern ireland protocol.

people see the bill, they'll be able to see that this is working within international law, but we'll also set out the government's legal position on it. and i know people want to see our legal position, so we'll do that to make sure people see this is within international law. but let's not forget, even in 2019, the then attorney—general was very clear. the primacy has to be in, for us as a government, rightly, is on the belfast good friday agreement, in all three strands. and that's what we're going to focus on delivering. reports from eastern ukraine say there's a huge fire at a chemical plant in the town of severodonetsk where hundreds of people have been sheltering. the governor of the region says the azot plant had come under intense bombardment but is still under ukrainian control. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky says his troops are running low on ammunition and he's appealed again for more help from western powers. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent in kyiv, joe inwood about the latest on the fighting.

the main development overnight, it seems, is a huge fire at the azot chemical works. now, this is a big industrial complex in the centre of the city and it's one of the places that ukrainian forces have fallen back to, along with, we understand, 800 civilians who are taking shelter there as well. now, the whole city is under constant russian bombardment and in particular, this factory has been hit. and we understand there has been a huge fire and explosion there and many tonnes of oil have leaked out from radiators. we don't know the exact stages of the chemical plant exactly what the wider consequences could be. but of course, this is raising many fears for the safety of the soldiers inside, but particularly of the civilians as well. and we've heard so many pleas from ukraine for more weapons supplies from the west, but now they're saying in particular, they're running out of ammunition of shells. yeah. and the battle in severodonetsk is why this matters.

this whole fight for the eastern donbas region has become an artillery battle, big guns pounding each other, pounding enemy positions, but particularly trying to hit the enemy guns. and we know we've heard from a senior security official here that the russians are running out. they reckon they're outnumbered ten or 15 to one in terms of the number of guns they have. the russians are firing ten times as many shells a day, ten times as many rounds a day as the ukrainians can manage. and so it doesn't matter how accurate you are when you're coming under that level of fire, you just need to have more. and the problem they're having is that we've got a lot of promises from the western powers that they'll send more long range artillery, particularly precision missile, rocket artillery. but much of it isn't getting to the front lines. now, of course, that is partly because it needs training. this is different equipment to that which the ukrainians currently have and have used in the past. it's nato standard, not old soviet equipment, but that training, those delays are costing the ukrainians lives when it comes to the fight

for places like severodonetsk. yeah, i was talking to the ukrainian ambassador to london this week and he was talking about they're grateful, particularly to britain and to the united states for arms supplies, but less grateful really to countries like france and germany, which they feel are sort of dragging their feet, really, and making promises, as you say, but not necessarily delivering. yeah. there is quite a lot of controversy around this suggestion. and we should say these are always suggestions or always accusations, but the suggestions that the germans in particular are making promises, but they're not really following up on them and therefore giving hope to the ukrainians, giving the impression that they're getting the support they need. but then it's not actually being followed through on. we're seeing this diplomatically as well. there have been the beginning, the suggestions of splits start to emerge. a few days ago or maybe a week ago or so we saw 0laf schulz, chancellor of germany and president macron of france, having a call with president putin. the suggestion was that they were trying to find a diplomatic solution here.

when the ukrainians say at the moment, given that the invasion is still in full swing, there really is no diplomatic solution here. so we are seeing some criticism of those two powers. but as you say, a lot of gratitude, particularly to the british and the americans, for the amount of support that they are giving. we have just had an update from the intelligence from the british defence ministry about what is going on on the ground in ukraine, talking especially about russian forces gaining the upper hand in and around severodonetsk in the east of ukraine. russia they say using their over match in force, ratio and artillery to gradually seize territory in and around severodonetsk in eastern ukraine. and also talking about how russia will probably have to rely on new

recruits or mobilised reservists to deploy more units to ukraine. mcdonalds in russia has reopened under a new name, and new ownership today. the new restaurant chain is called vkusno & tochka, meaning "delicious, full stop". the russian chain is scheduled to reopen 15 restaurants this weekend with a revised menu. mcdonald's temporarily halted its business in russia in march, later deciding to sell up in russia altogether. the headlines on bbc news... the british government is looking at plans to change the law to allow agency staff to be brought in to cover for some striking workers. fierce street fighting in eastern ukraine — president zelensky says his forces are "holding on", but warns troops are running low on ammunition

and queen elizabeth ii becomes the world's second longest serving monarch — only louis the 14th of france has ruled for longer. on tuesday, it will be exactly five years since one of the uk's worst disasters of modern times — the grenfell tower fire, which killed 72 people. with a public inquiry and police investigation still underway — and nobody charged with any offence — many survivors and relatives of the dead say the long wait forjustice is hindering their ability to heal. ayshea buksh reports. pain and sadness. anger and disbelief. chanting: we wantjustice! no—one from the council at all. no—one has seen anyone, ask anyone, no—one has seen anyone from the council. the fire at grenfell tower created much personal and collective trauma. and, five years on, the public

inquiry into what happened is still ongoing and there have been no arrests nor criminal charges. damel carayol lost two members of his family, his cousin, mary mendy, and her daughter, khadija saye. from day one, we suspected that we would be on a long road, because of what happened, what led up to it, what the response was — we knew it would be a fight. and since it began, he's been closely following the evidence being presented in the inquiry. how has that impacted on you and your family? well, as the process has gone on, it feels like salt has been poured on our wounds. the results of the cladding being tested failed the fire test, and they were falsified. i'm not saying this, this is a matter of public record. they were falsified. and is this evidence or not? but, no, it can't be used. i mean, that's a painful, painful thing to happen. with the requirements of the building regulation... ed daffarn survived the fire. as part of the residents' group,

he warned kensington and chelsea council their refurbishment plans were a potentialfire risk. this play is based on those predictions. the fact that we're here discussing issues around cladding still being on so many buildings, so little progress on the white paper on social housing, and changes to people who live in social housing, the complete lack of progress on phase one recommendations makes moving on really difficult. and five years on, many people are realising the path tojustice is taking much longer than they expected. the word is even embedded now in the local streets. for over four years, acava arts group and the al manaar mosque have been creating mosaics. these say �*justice' in the 35 different languages spoken by the people who died. they now line the route of the community remembrance known as the silent walk. there are 72 gold flecks to

represent each life that was lost, and so it's powerful that we've now also been able to memorialise things that were important to the local community. you know, the silent walk, and it has now become part of our local history and our legacy. the community walk gathers at hope gardens, which are cultivated by marcia robinson and the local community. she says many here feel disillusioned yet still maintain their dignity and pride. i can only say i'm so proud of our younger generation around here. they never lived up to none of the very bad press that they was getting. so there wasn't no attacks on the police or the fire brigade, there wasn't no riots. we walked in dignity and we have done forfive years. as the grenfell community near this milestone of their fight forjustice, there's determination yet scepticism. and for the families whose loved ones are gone, patience amid their pain,

waiting forjustice and change. we have to learn certain lessons, you know, from everything that went wrong before, during, and after and try to fix things, you know. in their memory we carry on, we carry on fighting, really, and carry on living. ayshea buksh, bbc news. tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating across the united states, demanding stricter gun laws in response to a series of mass shootings. president biden encouraged the protesters to keep marching, and called on congress to pass common sense gun safety legislation. the democrat—controlled house of representatives passed a package of gun reforms last week, but republicans in the senate are likely to block them. barbara plett usher reports. another march against gun violence banging on the doors of the nation's capital. this is a movement powered by young people, demanding the country's

leaders take action after yet another school shooting — a horrific massacre in uvalde, texas. if our government can't do anything to stop 19 kids from being killed and slaughtered in their own school, and decapitated, it's time to change who is in government! all: vote them out! again! vote them out! for years, congress has failed to pass gun safety measures, blocked by opposition from the gun lobby and the republican party. but people here feel now is the right time to renew their campaign. rallies took place in hundreds of cities across the country — in new york, where a gunman recently killed ten people in a racist attack, and in florida, where a school shooting four years ago launched this movement. the theme of these rallies is this time will be different, meaning this time, there will be action on gun control. many of these people have been fighting for this for a long time.

some have told me they feel more hopeful, rather than optimistic, but this is a time when the issue has captured the national attention in a very visceral way — we have to keep our kids safe. protesters have pushed through gun restrictions at the state level, but they want national action. do you feel that there is a bit of momentum around this issue? i think so, definitely, for our generation. this is one of our biggest pushes because we're the ones dying in schools, in movie theatres. it's been happening since before i can remember. something has to change. we can't keep letting our children die like this. but even here, a few minutes of panic. there was a disruption onstage and people ran. the fear of a gun attack is alive and everywhere. earlier this week, a young survivor of the texas shooting described her terrifying experience to lawmakers. emotional testimony from the families brought the pain and horror to capitol hill. gavel bangs. hours later, the house passed gun

control legislation, but republican senators will almost certainly reject it. some are working on a very modest compromise — that may have a chance. the nays are 204 — the bill is passed. the president told the marchers to keep up the pressure. keep marching. it's important. look, this has to become an election issue. the way people listen — senators, congresspeople — is when people say, "i'm gonna — this is gonna affect my vote". too many people are dying needlessly. and what's even being proposed in the house and senate is marginal. i mean, it's important, but it's not all that needs to be done. in uvalde, another vigilfor the dead. in public opinion, at least, the mood is shifting — americans agree the killing of children has to stop. more and more say that should involve national gun controls. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. the queen is now the second longest serving monarch in world history.

as of today, her majesty has been on the throne for 70 years and 127 days. 0nly louis xiv of france has ruled for longer. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. we have some warm spells of sunshine to look forward to today. however, as the week goes by it's going to get really quite hot towards thursday and friday. temperatures peaking at 30, the hottest weather we've seen so far this year. today, it's not so hot. in the north of the uk we've got a number of showers, staying quite blustery with gusts of wind up to 32 mph. across most of england and wales a dry day with sunny spells. in the sunshine feeling warm with temperatures probably peaking at 23.

0vernight, a few more spots of rain to the north—west of scotland but otherwise a dry night with overnight lows 8—11. tomorrow, this rain across the highlands and western isles works towards 0rkney and shetland later in the day. 0therwise dry. tomorrow with sunny spells breaking through the cloud and with lighter winds it should feel a bit warmer for scotland and northern ireland with highs of 17. again, warm in the sunshine across england and wales.

the headlines. the headlines. the government is looking at plans to change the law to allow agency staff to come in to cover for some striking workers. the cbi warns that it believes

households in the uk will go into what it calls a recession, this year. fierce fighting has continued in eastern ukraine. president zelensky says his forces are holding on, but once they are running low on ammunition. tens of thousands of demonstrators have been staging rallies across the united states, calling for stricter gun laws in the wake of recent mass shootings. queen elizabeth ii becomes the second longest serving monarch, only louis xiv of france served longer. now on bbc news, click investigates the new therapies being developed to help with brain repair. plus, we explore the future of air travel.

this week, how a digital dolphin can help restore body and brain. i never imagined intense rehab to be games. up the reds! and then the blues, and the greens — 0mar�*s using light therapy to sharpen his shooting. 0h! that was legit. i'm sure it was, i'm sure it was. and the tiktoker astronaut asking the big questions from the final frontier. what would the moon taste like? maybe the moon would taste like almonds. hey, welcome, welcome, i hope you are well. now it's often said we don't appreciate our health until we lose it. and if someone suffers a life changing injury, it might be necessary for them to retrain their brain to learn how to use their body again, maybe in a different way than before.

there's a new idea called neuro—animation,