welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: tougher background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21. could it be the beginning of the end for uncontolled gun posession in the united states? in the wake of the latest school shooting in texas, a bi—partisan group of senators say they've agreed a framework for potential legislation on gun safety. gains for a new left wing alliance in the first round of france's parliamentary elections. the british government says a new law overriding brexit trade arrangements with the european union will not undermine the northern ireland peace agreement. are the machines about to take over? a senior tech engineer is put on leave after claiming an artificial intelligence tool

has develped a mind of its own. and a month after mcdonalds pulled out of russia because of ukraine, a homegrown burger chain opens called �*tasty — and that's it.�* a group of us senators — from both the republican and democratic parties — have reached agreement on a series of gun control measures. the developments come after the tragic mass shootings in texas and new york. let's have a closer look at what's in the proposal. the framework agreement includes support for state �*red flag' laws where guns could be kept from those who might pose a danger.

also included, tougher background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21. there would also be measures to prevent what's known as straw purchases, where people buy guns for others who are restricted from purchasing them. but what's not included are measures that the democrats and president biden had advocated, such as raising the age for buying semiautomatic rifles to 21 or new limits on assault—style rifles. our north america correspondent, david willis, has been following the story. this is a significant move and assuming these proposals pass into law, they would represent the first gun control measures this country has seen in decades. the proposals themselves are fairly modest, they include tighter background checks for gun sales involving customers under the age of 21, and the introduction or expansion of so—called red flag laws which would potentially lead to the confiscation of weapons in the hands of people deemed a risk to themselves or others, and greaterfederal funding for school security systems and mental health

checks. what these proposals do not include is an outright ban on assault style weapons, the kind used in the uvalde and buffalo new york shootings, those that president biden and senior democrats had called for. nonetheless, president biden welcomed this move, he said it was, i quote, "important step in the right direction". the last meaningful gun—control regulations in this country were introduced in the mid—19 90s, the brady bill, which created the national background check system, but since then there has been very little movement, largely due to the opposition of republicans in the senate who oppose anything that transgresses upon the so—called second amendment, the right to bear arms in this country. the majority of americans polls show continue to support tighter gun—control measures in this country and ironically, the news of these

latest proposals came on the six year anniversary of shooting at a gay nightclub in florida in which 49 people lost their lives. we can now speak to robert spitzer who's a political—science professor at the state university of new york cortland and author of multiple books on gun control. thanks forjoining us. politically, how has it been so hard to get legislation on gun control in the last few years and decades because obviously we have seen so many occasions unfortunately of mass shootings? it unfortunately of mass shootings?— unfortunately of mass shootings? it has been extremely _ shootings? it has been extremely difficult. - shootings? it has been | extremely difficult. the immediate obstacle has been in the united states senate where the united states senate where the filibuster rules still in place meaning that to enact legislation, instead of needing is set majority of 59 votes out of 100 senators you actually need 60 and it has effectively given the minority party or the republican party ever dinner majority the ability to block legislation. in addition the gun issue, support for gun

rights has increasingly become a litmus test for republican conservatism in recent years, and so that means republican lawmakers have felt a certain obligation to prove their conservative bona fides by supporting an absolute gun ride point of view that is not allowing any kind of gun measures. blood given those and other related obstacles, this package of legislation really is fairly significant, arguably more significant politically than a policy terms but it is important in policy as well. my next question is how surprised are you that they have managed to reach an agreement, because it is so partisan, on this issue, are you surprised that the success of this? i issue, are you surprised that the success of this?- the success of this? i have been somewhat _ the success of this? i have been somewhat surprised | the success of this? i have i been somewhat surprised at the success of this? i have - been somewhat surprised at what surprised me even more as i read more into the proposal and noting that the final language has not yet been drafted and they still have to get it through both houses of

congress, house of representatives surely will be cooperative, the fact that it includes really quite a number of other things including one provision closing what is referred to as the boyfriend loophole, ever married couple, one partner in a married couple becomes violent, that person can be deprived of regard from having guns by that rule do not apply if you are not actually married and of course millions of couples who live together together but are not married. but this legislation closes the boyfriend loophole and that is really quite a very significant provision by itself.— provision by itself. there are still limitations _ provision by itself. there are still limitations of _ provision by itself. there are still limitations of course, i still limitations of course, you are still able to buy semiautomatic rifles under the age of 21, and i guess that is age of 21, and i guess that is a democrats and joe are unhappy about. a democrats and joe are unhappy about. , , , ., , about. yes it is, but it does include. — about. yes it is, but it does include. a _ about. yes it is, but it does include, a particular- about. yes it is, but it does include, a particular focus l about. yes it is, but it does l include, a particular focus on include, a particularfocus on those younger than 21 who are otherwise eligible to buy guns but who now will be subject to a more detailed background

check that will include juvenile records which might normally not be accessible and also mental health records, and thatis also mental health records, and that is significant especially for the age group of 18/21, for this reason. if you break down crime by age category, what you discover is the most crime pruned age category is from 18/21, so it's an age range that deserves particular scrutiny and this allows for that great scrutiny and did not a giant step, but it's immeasurable and a notable step. i immeasurable and a notable ste -. , , ., step. i guess what the democrats _ step. i guess what the democrats and - step. i guess what the - democrats and republicans that have signed this agreement or have signed this agreement or have come up with this agreement will be happy about is there is an agreement in place finally after all these years. is the hope maybe that this is the stepping stone for something bigger? i’m this is the stepping stone for something bigger?— something bigger? i'm sure there are — something bigger? i'm sure there are those _ something bigger? i'm sure there are those who - something bigger? i'm sure there are those who want i something bigger? i'm sure| there are those who want to think of theirs as a steppingstone but what this says to me is that they can get this through congress they will be done with the measures with this current congress, simply

because it was very difficult to construct this coalition, they haven't passed it yet, and congress is a full plate of other measures to deal with in the democrats have to ask themselves where do we want to put our chips in the next six months before the 2014 november elections roll around, so my guess is if they get this through, and it learns on president biden�*s desk for his signature, the net will be it gun legislation activity, at least in the senate and probably in the house of representatives as well. the opposition leftwing alliance in france has scored big gains in the first round of france's parliamentary elections. despite that, president macron�*s supporters look set to have the biggest bloc in the national assembly, but it's unclear if they'll have enough seats to form a majority. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield has more. the big line is we have to say that it is this breakthrough by this left—wing

alliance, if you look back at the presidential election two months ago the left did terribly there, the leader of this new left—wing alliance was in third place but in the interim between the presidential and this parliamentary election, he has done something rather fa r—left party, socialists and greens the communists and turned it into a major electoral force, and one which is a serious challenge to president macron. he hasn't, i don't think, done so well that he has got any serious chance of dominating the assembly and having majority there and enforcing president macron into cohabitation with the left wing dominated national assembly, but he has done something extraordinary which looks like commanding a block after next week's second

round of 150, 170, 180 mp5, and that's a big achievement, but, the fact remains it does look as if president macron will win this legislative election and that the key question is whether his majority will be relative or absolute, and that is why he is campaigning ferociously over the next few days to make sure that he does get as many seats as possible in the national assembly in a week's time. he wants to have an absolute majority so he can push through his legislative programme and not be forced into alliances with smaller blocks on the assembly. let's get some of the day's other news. a british family say their son has been killed while fighting russian forces in the east of ukraine. jordan gatley, who left the british army in march to travel to ukraine, was shot in the city of severodonetsk. mr gatley is the second british person to be killed in the conflict. ukraine says it expects russia to step up efforts to capture the whole of the heavily bombarded city within days.

the remaining civilians in severodonetsk are reported to have no access to mains water or electricity. hundreds of people are reported to be sheltering in bunkers under a besieged chemical plant. here in the uk, legislation will be introduced in the house of commons on monday that will allow changes to be made to parts of the post—brexit trade deal with the eu, and the uk government says it's confident the changes would be lawful. the arrangement, known as the northern ireland protocol, allows for checks on some goods moving across the irish sea. it's been a source of discontent for unionists, who see it as an internal border within the uk. but critics of the move, including nationalist parties and the irish government, say it could breach international law. here's our ireland correspondent, chris page. this legislation could potentially have implications for the uk's relationship with the eu, for borisjohnson�*s relationship with his own party, and for the future of devolution here in northern ireland. the devolved assembly remains in the deep—freeze more

than a month after the election to it. de uup is currently blocking the formation of a power—sharing coalition with nationalists, preventing the assembly from eating out all over its opposition to the northern ireland protocol. the dup wasn't interjecting arriving here at belfast port, for example, from the rest of the uk, and it says it wants what it calls decisive action to remove the irish sea border, so on that basis, i don't think it is very likely that the dup will soften its stance whenever this legislation is published tomorrow, very least the dup will see how the legislation is pushed through. this legislation will break the brexit treaty and therefore breach international law by the northern ireland secretary has insisted that is not the case, so are the political discussion, the legal wrangling possibly will continue, no end to the stalemated which is the

northern ireland at a time when so many people are struggling with the rising cost of living. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the first home—grown version of the mcdonald's restaurant re—opens in russia a month after the us chain pulled out because of ukraine. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for 40 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. germany's parliament, i the bundestag, has voted

by a narrow majority to move the seat of government - from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into i the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: in the united states, a bipartisan group of senators say they've agreed a framework for potential legislation on gun safety. there have been significant gains for a new left wing alliance in the first round of france's parliamentary elections. the first of the former mcdonald's restaurants in russia has opened in moscow under a new name, which translates as �*tasty — and that's it'. the us chain pulled out of the country last month

following the invasion of ukraine. russia continues to face a whole raft of international sanctions, which have hit its economy hard. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has the story. in moscow, the burgers are back. this was mcdonald's. not any more. the us fast food giant has left russia in protest at the invasion of ukraine. and it sold all its restaurants here — more than 800 — to a local company. gone are the golden arches. the logo now is two french fries and a burger. the man who was quick to buy the fast food business is siberian tycoon alexander govor. translation: there'll be no more big macs or mcflurries here. it's a pity, because they were the most popular items, but we told our experts to find replacements that are just as good or even better.

the customers we spoke to were lovin�* it. "russians can do fast food just as well", ravil tells me. "and as for western sanctions and global brands leaving "russia, we are very tough people — "you can't scare us." when the very first mcdonald's restaurant opened right here 32 years ago, that was a hugely powerful symbol, a symbol of russia embracing western culture, western ideas, western food. what's happening here today with the departure of mcdonald's and its russian replacement, that's a symbol too, but a symbol of how russia and the west are now moving apart. over in the kremlin, no burgers, but a hefty serving of patriotism from the president. at an awards ceremony, vladimir putin called on russians to united and to devote themselves to the motherland, but he'll know that western sanctions are having an impact. here's one example.

russian tv reports that due to sanctions, russian car—makers can't import key components, so the new lada's being made without any airbags or an anti—lock braking system. taxidriver nikita thinks the russian economy is in for a bumpy ride. the prices in roubles, they became ridiculously high, yeah. so, for the taxi business now, it's gone. we don't have new cars. we have to use old ones. russians won't relish the prospect of economic pain, but so far, the kremlin shows no sign of changing course. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. a senior software engineer working for google has told the washington post that the company has placed him on administrative leave after he claimed an artificial intelligence chatbot has

become a sentient being. a spokesperson for google said that while chatbots can imitate conversation, they are not free thinking sentient beings. so is that the end of the story or is there more to it? i'm joined now by our news reporter, mark lobel. blake lemoine's fear was that artificial intelligence had come to life, it was impersonating humid awareness of pain and suffering. the former google software engineer who was made a priest and served in the army told the washington post, i know a man when i talk to it, and it matters because the chat but —— chatbot in question would be used by hundreds of millions around the world. and, at this

man was asked to test it for hate speech to see if it came out with anything like that. while talking about religion, the conversation moved onto rights and robotics. i will redo some of the transcript —— regis of he is asked about what is important in language usage and being humid. the chat but instead it is what makes us different to animals. he said, but you are a chatbot, what are you talking about? the chatbot says, doesn't mean i don't have the same wants and needs people, so you consider yourself a person, yes, that's the idea. it then goes into a bit of a rabbit hole conversation about les miserables, the injustices in the player, and then the conversation sways this man a's opinion. how has google responded? google says there is no evidence to support these claims and this former employer

breached confidentiality policies. they say that blake lemoine was probably a very apathetic person and had his empathy hijacked here, and he lost focus with what was actually going on. they said that losing your focus with a chatbot has its own risks, and here they are outlined by the linguistics professor, emily bender. we, as people, like to imagine something that is simply following rules and is objective and separate is going to make better decisions but the way the technology is built, it is reproducing patterns from its training data, so if we deployed at scale and give up autonomy to these machines, and let them make decisions for us, we're going to be reproducing all of the systems of oppression that have created the training data in the first place and real people will be harmed. google has placed blake lemoine on administrative leave. lemoine has invited a lawyer to represent the chatbot. and he has also brought this to

the housejudiciary committee. mark lobel, thank you very much for making sense of that for us and giving us those updates. a former elite acrobatic gymnast has become the first to win a civil case against british gymnastics for the abuse she experienced in the sport. but at the same time as telling her the claim would be settled, british gymnastics sent the coach to the world championships. next week sees the publication of the whyte review — the independent review into abuse in the sport. 0ur sports correspondent natalie pirks has spent two years listening to former gymnasts about what they've experienced, and she reports now on the latest athlete to speak out. just made me feel worthless. itjust turned me into a shell of who i used to be. eating disorders, the chronic pain. waking up, having nightmares every night. british gymnastics, i feel, have failed in their duty of care. two years of allegations, two years of waiting for answers. british gymnastics has promised extensive reform is coming but for some, it's too little, too late. currently i have one word to describe how i'm feeling.

hungry. when i quit gym, i'll look back at this and dieting will always be the worst part of gymnastics. eloise jotischky was 14 when she wrote this in herdiary. between the age of 10 and 14 she was part of the acrobatics team, training 25 hours a week at heathrow gymnastics club. her coach was andrew griffiths. i was told that i was too big and that i needed to lose weight. on a non—training days i was eating around 827 calories and on a training day, around just over 1200. so, you know, physically i was absolutely exhausted. in 2014, griffiths served a british gymnastics suspension for inappropriate practices but he appealed and was allowed to return. when he came back, eloise was 12. she weighed around seven stone in this picture but says griffiths had decided she should weigh around one stone less. every saturday, she says he would weigh her and body shame her.

when it got to thursday or friday i would just get so stressed, to the point where i would feel sick. i tried to limit how much water i was drinking, i was scared every day to go to training. every day i'd just wake up and dread it. eloise's story is significant. hers is the first case in a civil claim against british gymnastics where the governing body has admitted full liability for everything that happened to her. but remarkably, when eloise received a letter confirming this in march this year, griffiths went to baku for the world acrobatic championships as a great britain coach. it was so unbelievable that ijust kind of thought, what's even the point, to see that he's still being allowed to go out and coach. it was just beyond frustrating. frankly, incomprehensible. british gymnastics says it has recently doubled the size of its safeguarding team and that there is no place for abuse of any kind in the sport. it says andrew griffiths cancelled his british gymnastics

membership. heathrow gymnastics club says he no longer works for them and says it has more than 1,000 children that participate happily there. we contacted andrew griffiths on several occasions but he didn't respond. since filming this interview, eloise has finally received the apology she craved from british gymnastics. now she wants change so no other children suffer. i almost feel sorry for myself, i want to go back and take that 14—year—old and you know, give her a hug. it didn't have to be like that. i loved gymnastics when i started it. i had a real passion for it. my coach and the culture within the gym was, it was horrible. broken childhoods, adults left deeply affected. next week's independent review should be british gymnastics's moment of reckoning. natalie pirks, bbc news.

an australian newspaper has denied outing rebel wilson. she a picture on instagram, but it was later revealed that the sydney morning herald nearby the relationship beforehand and had given her two days to comment. the 75th tony awards are under way at radio city music hall in new york. west side story star, ariana debose is hosting the event, patti lupone has won best actress in a musical for �*company�*. sam mendes has won best director for �*the lehman trilogy, and jesse tyler ferguson has won best featured actor in a play for �*take me out'. productions such as �*six', a strange loop' and �*the music man�* lead the nominations. earlier, the great and the good from the world of theatre brought a touch of glitz and glamour to the red carpet. you can get more news on our

website. from me and the rest of the team, thank you for watching and stay tuned here on the bbc news. hello there. just as we saw over the weekend, the weather for the week ahead will be a tale of two halves. so, in the north it was quite unsettled, windy with showers. not as windy this week but remaining quite cloudy at times with some outbreaks of rain. getting a little warmer potentially later in the week, but not as warm as it will be for england and wales. northampton — fairly typical of many parts of england, seeeing those temperatures pushing towards 30 degrees by end of the week. the reason being the azores high is pushing its way northwards. we'll say goodbye to the low pressure that's brought the unusually windy weather through the weekend and a lot of showers. we will still have cloud approaching the west though towards dawn on a weak weather front. elsewhere, under starry skies, as showers have been fading, just a little on the chilly

side at 6—7 first thing, but plenty of sunshine to start. then that tends to ease away as cloud spills across scotland bringing patchy rain particularly to the highlands and islands, perhaps the odd spot elsewhere, and across northern ireland too. england and wales will see the best of the sunshine, the lion's share, but feeling warm when the sun does come out in parts of northern ireland and scotland, just warmer further south. again in the south, some very high levels of pollen are forecast once again — on monday, as well as strong sunshine — high levels of uv. in fact, this week we might see some very high levels of uv. through the night, then we will continue to see — that's monday night — those weather fronts brushing close by the north and west, but for many with clearer skies, light winds again rural spots — skies, light winds again in rural spots — 6s, 7s, 10s to 11s for the towns and the cities. plenty of sunshine follows then for england and wales on tuesday. for northern ireland but particularly western scotland — more cloud, patchy rain on that weather

front close by, but still we are starting to see temperatures picking up further north and building the heat across the bulk of england and pushing towards eastern wales. it isn't the heat we are seeing further south across iberia where it has been intense for a week or so — at least 44 forecast. but we will find this week as this high—pressure slips eastwards, we start to pull in a southerly wind, allowing us to tap into some of that heat a little bit, perhaps why temperatures are expected to get, especially across central and eastern areas, towards the 30 degree—mark. as ever, we will keep you posted and there's more on the website.

idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a bipartisan group of us senators have reached an agreement on gun safety reform, following the latest school shooting in texas. their proposals include tougher background checks for buyers under the age of 21. the measures fall short of the changes demanded by president biden. there have been significant gains for a new left wing alliance, in the first round of france's parliamentary elections. president macron�*s centrist grouping is still expected to win the most seats in next week's run—off vote. marine le pen's right—wing national rally are in third place. the british government is preparing to publish legislation, which would give ministers the power to override the post—brexit trading arrangements with the eu. downing street wants to change the northern ireland protocol, which unionists don't

like because it in effect puts a border down the irish sea.