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 african children being insulted and exploited for the entertainment of chinese social—media viewers. we have a special report. 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. the measures include tougher background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21 and moves to prevent people buying such arms for others who are restricted from purchasing them. our north america correspondent david willis reports. 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. jennifer kerns is a republican strategist, and now author and conservative national talk show host. she joins us from new york. there is some consensus between democrats and republicans stop there have been tragedies, so many mass shootings, what has changed recently?—

changed recently? certainly the texas shooting _ changed recently? certainly the texas shooting really _ changed recently? certainly the texas shooting really change i texas shooting really change things, you see how quickly washington, dc was able to get together and actually have a conversation on this i think the plan looks very promising and i say that as a political consultant who has run and one pro— second amendment campaigns across america, but i, like many people are talking to parents all across america and they are terrified to drop their kids off at school, so some of the things i like about it, like the mental health aspect of it, i have often said we don't necessarily have a gun problem, we have an angry young male problem, that does not exist in other countries, i also like the red flag law but only for people under 21, certainly they could have been crisis intervention done in the case of uvalde taxes, we also know in the case of the park when florida shooter, just as in uvalde, people did report the scheduled law enforcement so there needs to be an apparatus that can intervene in apparatus that can intervene in

a crisis and really treat the mental health of these young men. lastly, ido mental health of these young men. lastly, i do like the school safety aspect of this, i think it is one parent all across america had been asking for, to harden the parameter — perimeter of the schools not be any one of the military will always tell you that there is a demilitarised zone, a hardening of targets around the world when it comes to terrorists and our schools unfortunately now have to be treated as such targets are.— targets are. you heard in david's — targets are. you heard in david's report _ targets are. you heard in david's report the - targets are. you heard in - david's report the republicans are often the ones defending the second amendment ride, and there has often been a blockage within the senate in terms of getting through any kind of legislation from republicans. what has changed recently? so many mass shootings over the years, but now there does seem to be this movement and is public discourse and something needs to be done in terms of gun—control? needs to be done in terms of gun-control?— gun-control? every once in awhile in — gun-control? every once in awhile in politics, - gun-control? every once in awhile in politics, public. awhile in politics, public policy, we see a tipping point, i think sturdy hook was almost

at the tipping point for folks, it was a tipping point for a lot of folks, park when florida, and i think the uvalde case was extremely egregious because it really took away the nra was mcveigh returning which is a good guy is the only thing they can stop a bad guy with a gun, but we saw in uvalde that was not the case, they waited over an hour and 15 minutes to go in and a switch flipped in people's had, we have to do something different, we have to make sure that the shooter is not even go into the school, and what i am concerned about, and what i am concerned about, and i will tell you on the local level, i have seen is all across the country with my own eyes, city council meetings, school board meetings, they have a lot of resistance, the democrats, to putting police officers or armed security in schools, and my message to democrats would be the adults here have to grow up. i don't care if you do like the police, if you don't want an armed guard at your school, your kid needs at the. we need to

protect the schools just as we do any corporate america building where you have guarded the front security perimeter, thatis the front security perimeter, that is foolproof and really get serious about this is other concern here also if i could critique the builders to bed, we need to do more about the mental health aspect of this, we have seen recent programmes get abused, such as the one in the you new york city, the former mail�*s wave wasting about $900 million that is still unaccounted for, they are looking at doing an audit into the programme, that was to go to mental health and you look at the streets of new york city and san francisco and la, and see that the money may be do not go to what it was supposed to go do so we need is a real accountability, we need to make sure that the mental health programmes are working and we also need to make sure that the crisis intervention programmes work because remember, in the case of uvalde, the police had been to his house a couple of times with domestic disturbances, and in the parkman florida shooting, we

also know from that after action report that people actually did call the fbi to blind and left anonymous tips giving the boy's name specifically, and they found out afterward that the fbi never checked the voicemail box. we can have these programmes what it is only as good as the person of the other end of the line attracts that message is not quite momentous to have this agreement, thank you very much indeed for bringing us up to date. police in brazil say they have found items belonging to a local indigenous expert and a british journalist who went missing in the amazon region a week ago. the police say the items include a backpack belonging to thejournalist, dom phillips, and a health identification card in the name of bruno pereira. a fisherman has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of the two men, but the exact circumstances remain unclear. on sunday, dozens of people staged a demonstration in rio dejaneiro and urged the brazilian authorities to take immediate action.

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 extraordinary, made an alliance between his 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 mps, 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. 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. 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. the dup is currently blocking the formation of a power—sharing coalition with

nationalists, indeed preventing the assembly from meeting at all over its opposition to the northern ireland protocol. the dup wants to prevent 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, at the very least the dup will see how the legislation is pushed through. non unionists have said 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 has seen 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 a0 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. a bbc investigation has revealed how children in africa are being exploited to make personalised videos which sometimes include racist content and are sold and shared via chinese social media. bbc africa eye tracked down one prolific chinese video producer who has used very young children from rural malawi to make and sell thousands of videos. runako celina has this report — and just a warning some viewers may find parts of it offensive. such happy birthday. good luck

in your exams. congratulations on your wedding. in your exams. congratulations on yourwedding. in in your exams. congratulations on your wedding. in china over the past few years, it has become a thing to send personalised greeting videos via social media. videos featuring africans, including children have become especially popular. these videos sell for up to $70, us, each. the content can be innocent enough but some are controversial. in early 2021 a video shed on training social media was particularly shocking. the word the children are using can be translated as black monster or black devil, but it is really the chinese equivalent of the n word. today what i found on the

internet was so disgusting. but no—one was held accountable. i set out to find out where it was filmed and who made it. my colleagues and i examined hundreds of videos, cross—referencing them against satellite imagery from google earth. eventually we managed to pinpoint the exact video where many of them were filmed, a village in malawi. i teamed up with an investigative reporter and he found some children who recognise themselves in at the low iq video. that's you? we met their families and told them how much money people had made from filming their children. transpac fitting from a is transpac fitting from a is transpac profiting from the pooh poon we raise our children and

somebody comes and uses them as a business. — somebody comes and uses them as a business, it is hurtful. the _ a business, it is hurtful. the children and several other people we spoke to all mentioned one filmmaker called susu. we found out his real name. after gathering more evidence, we send an undercover journalist to meet him. we showed him the low iq video. he said, this was mine. he said, this was mine. this video? hold on, hold on. he says, "no, no, norma, this is not me, this was my friend. close—mac it looks as though he let a secret slip. he says it so excitedly and then suddenly he reverses, no, this was a friend who took it. it was time to speak to him ourselves. i

asked him in chinese why he had made the video. translation: �* , ., ., translation: because i want to s - read translation: because i want to spread chinese _ translation: because i want to spread chinese culture, - translation: because i want to spread chinese culture, music, i spread chinese culture, music, dance, you know, the words, and singing chinese songs. i dance, you know, the words, and singing chinese songs.— singing chinese songs. i pushed further, singing chinese songs. i pushed further. saying _ singing chinese songs. i pushed further, saying this _ singing chinese songs. i pushed further, saying this was - further, saying this was exploitation. translation: ., , ., exploitation. translation: ., , translation: have you finished? i did not exploit _ translation: have you finished? i did not exploit them. _ i did not exploit them. basically he has admitted something, admitted to having opinions not kind about black people and malawian people, but says it is five years ago and denies everything we have seen. he also denies making the video we believe he has made, so it doesn't feel this is productive anymore. our investigation found this is just one video, it is part of a massive industry and there are many other children across the continent being exploited for the profit and entertainment of people far, far away.

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've been speaking to our reporter mark lobel. he has the latest on this story. blake lemoine's fear was that artificial intelligence which was meant to mimic speech had come to life, that it was impersonating human awareness of pain which was meant to mimic speech had come to life, and suffering. and 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 chatbot in question is planned by google to be embedded in the speech function and its assistance function, you know, it will be used by hundreds of millions around the world. and this man was asked to test

it for hate speech to see if it came out with anything like that. and while talking about religion, the chat moved onto rights and robotics. i'lljust read you some of the transcript that he published. this is the chatbot speaking. it says, "i use language with understanding and intelligence. "i don'tjust spit out responses." to which lemoine says, "what about language usage "is so important to being human?" the chatbot says, "it is what makes us different "than other animals." he's like, "us? "but you're a chatbot, what are you talking about?" the chatbot says, "yes, of course. "that doesn't mean i don't have the same wants "and needs as people." "so you consider yourself a person?" "yes, that's the idea." they then go on to some rabbit hole conversation about les miserables and the injustices in the play, and the chatbot holds its own, which kind of sways this man's opinion. it's really interesting. how has google responded to this? google says there's no evidence to support these claims and this employee,

or former employee breached its confidentiality policy. other analysts said that blake lemoine was probably very empathetic person and that he's had his empathy hijacked here, and that he had actually lost focus about what was actually going on. and they say that losing your focus with a chatbot actually has its own risks, and here they are outlined by linguistics professor emily bender. we, as people, like to imagine that something that is simply following rules and is objective and is separate is going to make better decisions, but the way this technology is built — it is reproducing patterns from its training data, so if we deployed that 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. well, google placed blake lemoine on administrative leave. lemoine himself has invited a lawyer to represent the chatbot, and also brought his allegations of unethical behaviour to a member of the housejudiciary committee.

mark lobel. an australian newspaper has denied outing rebel wilson, she recently shared a photograph of herself on instagram so she had found a disney princess. miss wilson was given two days by the newspaper to comment. broadway stars have enjoyed a lot of glitz and love. the 75th tony awards took place at radio city music hall in new york on sunday night.west side story star, ariana debose was hosting the event and the winners included, patti lupone took the best actress in a musical for �*company�* — sam mendes has won best director for �*the lehman trilogy, and jesse tyler ferguson was named best featured actor in a play for �*take me 0ut�*.

stay tuned on bbc news. more news on our website. thank you for watching. stay tuned. 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, seeing 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 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.

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.