live from london, this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock. vigils are held for the four people killed in a mass shooting at a 16th birthday party in alabama. four birthday party in alabama. lives were lost in a tragic four lives were lost in a tragic event that occurred here in dadeville. fighting between rival armed factions in sudan continues to spread with 97 people killed and hundreds injured this weekend. we have a special report from inside myanmar, where political activists tell the bbc they will never accept the country's dictatorship following a military coup two years ago. and elon musk�*s spacex gets the all—clear to launch its mammoth rocket starship as early as today.

hello and welcome. we begin today in the us. president biden has condemned the killing of four people at a birthday party in alabama this weekend as "outrageous" and "unacceptable". the country's latest mass shooting happened at a 16th birthday party in the town of dadeville. on sunday night, people gathered for a vigil to remember the victims of the shooting. 28 other people were injured, several critically. so far, there's been no information whether any suspect was killed or arrested. jessica parker reports from dadeville. what happened 7 confusion and fear — the almost routine eruption of gun violence in america —

but uniquely devastating for a small community in rural alabama after a shooter opened fire at a 16th birthday party. police tape quietly hiding what you then can hear, the sound of horror and grief. wailing. four lives were lost in the tragic event that occurred here in dadeville. as far as the injuries, there are 28 individuals that were injured during the course of the incident. this local dance hall was a place for young people to have fun. they were out to celebrate that rite of passage for girls, a sweet 16. it became a fatal crime scene. most of the victims, dead and wounded, it's believed, are teenagers. phil dowdell was a star athlete and senior in high school. local media says he's one of those to lose his life after bullets ripped through the night at his own sister's birthday party. our thoughts and prayers

are with all the families. there are just — there are no words to describe the emotions that we're all feelings. millions of firearms are in circulation in this country. for some, it's part of a nation's promise of freedom. for others, it's a kind of madness that's costing the lives of america's children. jessica parker, bbc news. faith in action alabama community organizer, muaath al—khattab, told the bbc how the shooting has impacted the state. my first thought was, i mean, this is a horrible tragedy, of course. i really felt for the victims and those people who were traumatised from the shooting in dadeville, and ijust felt really sad that this keeps happening and that they had to experience this at a time that it was supposed to be a celebration.

people are definitely shocked and traumatised and i think people are probably in a state of disbelief. and it also is possibly something that will bring the community together, the bond together, and try to lean on one another in this tragic time. i believe that really, what needs to happen is people need to come together, relationships need to be built and strengthened and there needs to be implementation of actual proven ways to reduce gun violence by intervening and interrupting that violence. our aim is really to reach the people. there are ways in which people who are either at risk of committing gun violence or at risk of being affected by gun violence can be redirected. there may be some cases where there are some behavioural issues, some mental issues, so i think

that is really what should be concentrated on in a way to reduce the shootings across the state and the nation. fighting between rival groups of sudanese soldiers is entering a third day, with doctors warning of increasingly desperate conditions in hospitals in the capital, khartoum. the army says it's taking back buildings seized by the rapid support forces on saturday. there've been multiple calls to end the violence which has killed at least 97 people so far. anne soy reports. a clash of forces. the sudanese army using its military might to crush a rival paramilitary unit. gunfire. the fighting was sparked by political fallout among the generals running the two units and governing the country. they've battled over

the control of the presidential palace, airports and key security installations over the last two days. locals and foreigners were caught unaware. katharina von schroeder from save the children had gone to school to pick up her child. the strongest explosions were this morning, when we also saw some air force being deployed, fighterjets, and we decided to go to the basement for around an hour. we, in total, are now nine adults and kids. with two heavily armed forces fighting, including in residential areas, it's virtually impossible for civilians to go out safely, and that's the advice to them — to shelter indoors. that has also affected some of our colleagues in khartoum and i've been speaking to one of them, mohamed osman, and asked him what he has been hearing. the fighting is to continue on this side, including at army headquarters, military base, still the fighting continues between the two parties.

persistent street protests helped to topple the long serving leader omar al—bashir in 2019. generals he had been working with, including those implicated in war crimes committed in the western darfur region two decades ago, entered an uneasy governing arrangement with civilian leaders. the deal was to transfer power to civilians after two years but instead, the generals staged a coup. the man they ousted has called for peace. translation: we need - to at least reach a truce that will lead to establishing a humanitarian corridor that will allow civilians to have access to medicine, treatment and food. amid the uncertainty about sudan's future, global powers are calling for the de—escalation of tensions and a return to dialogue. the path to democracy from decades of military rule was never going to be easy.

a once—thriving economy is in dire straits, and it is the sudanese who continue to bear the brunt of this bumpy process. anne soy, bbc news. let's talk to our correspondent emmanuel igunza, who's in nairobi. it's been a really horrific weekend with many deaths. people as we heard in that report terrified, not wanting to go outside. tell us what this week lies ahead.- this week lies ahead. yes, indeed. — this week lies ahead. yes, indeed. it _ this week lies ahead. yes, indeed, it is _ this week lies ahead. yes, indeed, it is quite - this week lies ahead. yes, indeed, it is quite a - this week lies ahead. yes, | indeed, it is quite a terrible situation for many civilians who have been caught up, many of them by surprise by the fighting, in particularly the capital khartoum. the fighting between the rapid supports of bosses and the national army was happening in residential areas and within hearing reports from people that they have not been able to go outside, many of them have not

stocked up on food or water before rapid support forces. some of them in their homes have not been able to get medical attention and there was a truce broken by the un overnight but that was quickly collapsed and the fighting continued into a third day. today we expect that the regional leaders, countries who are neighbouring sudan will be heading to sudan. the president of kenya, south sudan and djibouti will try to bring about the parties to negotiate and so the situation remains really tense and we know the fighting has spread into other parts of sudan and this is the biggest worry, that now if the fighting between the military and the rapid support forces continue that this could turn into a civil war. figs continue that this could turn into a civil war.— into a civil war. as you say the real— into a civil war. as you say the real concern, - into a civil war. as you say the real concern, that - into a civil war. as you say the real concern, that this| the real concern, that this will escalate further with — it's difficult to see how

diplomatic negotiations will make some sort of headway at this point. make some sort of headway at this point-— this point. yes, it's very difficult _ this point. yes, it's very difficult to _ this point. yes, it's very difficult to see - this point. yes, it's very difficult to see whetherl this point. yes, it's very . difficult to see whether this mediation effort will bear any fruit. we know that the de facto leader of sudan al—burhan has said that he is not going to negotiate openly with the leaders of the rsf but on the other hand, dagalo, the second—in—command and the commander of the rapid support forces, is called the leader of sudan, the general, a criminal and it doesn't seem that there is any way that they can be able to reconcile from their huge differences, which we've seen over the past few weeks, to be able to sit down at a table and continue the talks which have stalled in terms of bringing the country back to civilian rule so the leaders who are heading into sudan will have a huge task in front of them, notjust in terms of stopping the fighting but also in terms of trying to bring

these leaders back to the negotiation table two bring the country to talks to end military rule which has been ongoing since 2019.- military rule which has been ongoing since 2019. thank you so much for— ongoing since 2019. thank you so much for the _ ongoing since 2019. thank you so much for the very latest - ongoing since 2019. thank you so much for the very latest on| so much for the very latest on the conflict, ongoing there, in sudan at the moment. let's get some of the day's other news. the chinese defence minister has said beijing is willing to work with russia to have close strategic communications between their militaries. during a meeting with president putin in moscow, li shangfu said the two countries could contribute to the maintenance of global security. ties have strengthened in recent years spurred by a joint distaste for the west. human rights watch has strongly criticised a british government scheme to compensate people wrongly accused of being illegal immigrants after travelling to britain from commonwealth countries decades ago. it said victims of the windrush scandal faced lengthy and complicated applications.

roads and railways between northern spain and southern france have had to be closed because of huge wildfires on both sides of the border. the worst—affected area is northern catalonia with huge plumes of smoke above the town of llanca. the area has seen little rainfall over the winter following on from last summer's drought. a usjudge has delayed the start of the highly anticipated defamation case brought by dominion voting systems against fox news by a day. no reason was given. dominion is suing for $1.6 billion, alleging that fox presenters knowingly spread false claims the last presidential election was rigged against donald trump. more than two years after the military seized power in myanmar, deposing the government led by aung san suu kyi, the country is trapped in a civil war. its economy is collapsing. the army is increasingly reliant on the air force to attack insurgent—held areas.

one such attack last week is believed to have killed at least 140 people. our south—east asia correspondentjonathan head has been allowed to visit myanmar for the first time since the coup. his movements were restricted to a limited number of places and he was barred from contacting anyone in the opposition. much of myanmar is off—limits to visitors these days. but the military government did allow us to come here much in the lake in xian state. in normal times, one of the country's most popular destinations. it is very quiet now. interviewing people directly is risky. you can be arrested for saying anything deemed negative. but the boatmen we met told us times have never been harder.

we never dreamt it would get this bad, they said. we used to have freedom, then it ended so suddenly. we've been to several places along the lake and so far, i've seen only three other foreigners. foran far, i've seen only three other foreigners. for an area that is so dependent on it, the collapse of tourism here has been catastrophic. the economy is in terrible shape. and it's worse than that for people living around here, because they say they have a deep abiding loyalty to aung san suu kyi. they did not like the military takeover although they don't say that openly, and they worry the armed groups resisting the military regime are operating closer and closer to the lake. what we need, said one of them, is peace. but, there is little piece in myanmar. south of the lake, and hiku insurgents were battling the army just two weeks hiku insurgents were battling the armyjust two weeks before we arrived. —— anti—coup. in

retaliation, more than 20 civilians were lined up against the walls of this monastery and shot. we were passing through a village called canton and we know that there was a clash between a volunteer militia here, and he military, and the armed forces earlier this year. in the number of people were arrested. it was the first time they had armed clashes in this pretty popular tourist area and it shows just how widespread this insurgency has become. no—one in the market wanted to talk about it, though. instead, they complained about rocketing inflation, of not enough people spending money. back in —— gang gajang, there is an area of more than —— normality. if tarah kayne surrounding the city hall hinted the underlying insecurity —— yangon. there is still occasional ambushes and assassination attempts.

thousands of political prisoners are still being held. many behind this gate at the prison. one of them, a veteran activist released last november, was the only person willing to speak to us openly. if the right to protest was restored today, people would feel the streets again tomorrow. from past experience, we know the people of myanmar will never accept any form of dictatorship. but to fulfil the streets. ~ streets. while the malay, we were taken — streets. while the malay, we were taken to _ streets. while the malay, we were taken to one _ streets. while the malay, we were taken to one of- streets. while the malay, we were taken to one of me's i streets. while the malay, we i were taken to one of me's most revered pagodas. in the past, it would have been packed with visitors praying for good fortune. the crowds are much thinner now. a woman approached me and want me to be careful. it's not safe since the coup, she said. we wish we could go back to how it was before. it's a forlorn hope. there military rulers keep telling them that there is no turning back. ——

there. jonathan head, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. inside mitchells auction house in cockermouth is an astonishing collection that's taken weeks to itemise and catalogue, ready for sale. this is one of the largest private collections of railway — model railway — stuff i've ever seen. it's really of national importance because collections like this do not come up very often. for the north of england, this is almost unique. and this all came out of a small terraced house. so extensive is it that many engines and accessories have never been out of their original boxes, making them more valuable. but there's more to it than that. this isn'tjust one man's astonishing collection, there is real

attention to detail here, the way that he has physically aged some of these models to make it even more authentic on the track. enthusiasts have travelled from across the country, hoping to add to their own collection. anything here that you've seen that you will be interested in having yourself? one or two things, yes! yes, definitely. you're live with bbc news. air pollution causes harm to people at all stages of life, including reducing sperm count and damaging foetal growth. that's according to research from imperial college london. they've reviewed 35,000 studies from the last ten years. our reporter graham satchell has more. scientists have known for decades that exhaust fumes' air pollution damages our health. today's study shows the harm particulate matter and other pollutants can cause from before we're born into old age. researchers at imperial college london found air pollution harms foetal development, can cause miscarriages, and a low

sperm count in men. in children, it can cause asthma and affect blood pressure. and in adults, it makes early death more likely through chronic illness, cancer, and strokes. air pollution affects the quality of individuals' lives and their susceptibility to disease throughout the life course. so we should target it as quickly as we can to actually prevent the accumulation as quickly as we can to actually prevent the accumulation of as quickly as we can to actually prevent the accumulation of disease as quickly as we can to actually prevent the accumulation of disease within our population. this accumulation of disease within our population.— our population. this study was commissioned _ our population. this study was commissioned by _ our population. this study was commissioned by the - our population. this study was commissioned by the greaterl commissioned by the greater london authority. the mayor of london, imran khan, is planning to expand the ules, or ultra—low—emission—zone in london. more polluting vehicles will be charged £12.50 a day to enter london. the plans have faced protests and legal challenges, with some angry at the cost and speed of the changes. there is now a considerable debate between the affordability of driving and protecting public health. graham satchel, bbc news.

an attempt will be made today to launch a rocket that's planned to eventually take people to the moon and mars. known as starship, it's the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. developed by spacex, it stands at 393 feet and it's attempting to fly to space for the first time. but the company's founder, elon musk, says it has a fifty—fifty chance of success. our science editor rebecca morelle reports. getting ready for its biggest test — this is starship, the tallest and most powerful rocket system ever built. and it's about to make its first attempt at flying to space. what makes starship special is, first of all, it's really big. laughs like, really big. we'll have about 17 million pounds of thrust — twice as big as the biggest rocket we've ever launched. the scale of the thing, with over 30 engines —

it's just gargantuan. built by elon musk�*s company spacex, starship has been in development for years. parts of the rocket have been tested, making short flights with attempted landings — not always successfully. but the idea is to be able to bring the entire launch system back to earth, making it fully reusable. forthis back to earth, making it fully reusable. for this test flight, starship will blast off from the spacex launch pad in texas. first, the lower part of the rocket will detach for a controlled splashdown in the ocean. the upper stage will carry on, aiming for almost a full orbit of earth before finally ending up in the pacific. there's a lot that could go wrong, and even elon musk admits there's only a 50% chanceit musk admits there's only a 50% chance it will work. if musk admits there's only a 50% chance it will work.— chance it will work. if they aet all chance it will work. if they get all the _ chance it will work. if they get all the way _ chance it will work. if they get all the way around - chance it will work. if they| get all the way around and chance it will work. if they i get all the way around and it splashes down just off hawaii, it might actually be a little bit surprised that they've been that successful. but that's just part of the process, part of the engineering development that they're doing. so we

should expect failure. it's quite probable there will be some failure along the way. that's why they're doing it. that's why they're doing it. that's why they want to learn from this. that's why they want to learn from this-— from this. this will be the first of many _ from this. this will be the first of many tests. - first of many tests. eventually, the plan is for starship to return astronauts to the lunar surface in a joint mission with nasa. spacex have then set their sights on mars. the first step, though, is to be able to launch — and land — to show this technology works. former nasa astronaut and chemical engineer leroy chiao gave us a sense of what to expect during the launch. i feel pretty confident that they're going to get this vehicle into orbit or into space, and it will complete almost one full orbit before splashing down. i think there's a pretty good chance it's going to work out. in any development programme — especially the first launch of a new vehicle — there's a much higher risk of having an incident, something go wrong that you hadn't

anticipated or hadn't checked out thoroughly. but they've gone through this methodically. you're right, there have been several prototypes of both the starship itself — which is the payload in this case — as well as the test firings of the falcon super—heavy booster 33 clustered engine. not a small deal — that's a huge deal. you can imaginejust the plumbing alone is kind of a nightmare. but all that has to work for it to successfully launch. so, you know, this is certainly not a sure thing by any means, but i'll be watching very excitedly. if this launch goes successfully, then that means this programme will continue forward, of course. even if it doesn't launch successfully, the programme will likely continue forward, since elon musk has personally got his mars mission in mind and it's going to take this rocket to get there. but it's really a huge deal, because this is the first all—reusable spacecraft system ever. that means the

booster comes back, the starship itself will come back. tomorrow's launch, neither one of these things are coming back. but it's really the first full system test of the entire rocket and payload, or the spacecraft, i should say. but in the future, that means at a stage in the future, both will fully be recovered, which brings the economics of launching large things into space way down — and it really is more revolutionary than i think most people realise. it's happening around 1200 gmt today. join us on bbc news as we watch that take place. after a record—breaking 35—year run, the curtain has come down on the broadway production of the phantom of the opera. the show opened injanuary 1988 and has been watched on broadway alone by 20 million people and has grossed around $1.11 billion. the andrew lloyd webber musical is based on the classic novel about a 19th century

aspiring opera singer. amongst the stars who appeared in the show are michael crawford and sarah brightman. after the final curtain call, sir andrewjoined the cast on stage. it's just amazing, really, it'sjust amazing, really, what has happened. i mean, in the last few months, i don't think anybody — any of us — thought that the phantom would go out quite with the bang it has. laughter and so it may come back — you never know! laughter but what i would love to say, though, is that it couldn't have gone out with a better performance. i thought it was one of the greatest performances i've seen. cheering and applause sir andrew lloyd webber there on broadway, marking the end of the phantom of the opera — an end of an era, one might say. we have all the top business stories here next, including the fact that wall street feels they're on the edge of a fiscal

cliff — what on earth does that mean? we will explain all in a moment. i will see you soon. hello. it was a drier weekend for many. still quite a bit of cloud around, but in the sunshine we saw temperatures reached just about 19 degrees celsius in northern ireland. that's the warmest day of the year so far. and we could see the high teens again during the day on monday, the start of the week, certainly a little warmer with some sunshine. and on the whole, it's a drier week ahead, but there will be some showers around. and as this high pressurejust drifts a little bit further northwards, we introduce more isobars, tightly packed lines here, stronger winds and one or two showers as well. and that keen easterly wind coming off the chilly north sea will be noticeable, particularly across the eastern half of the country. but as we go through the remainder of the night, its low cloud, mist and fog with generally light winds

and a few showers here and there. so largely frost free, just a little bit chilly where we keep the clear skies and they could, as i say, could well be some fog around first thing on monday morning with some fog over the hills as well as that. so generally quite leaden skies, but brightening — the april sunshine strong now, pushing the showers away, breaking the cloud up, butjust enough still for the odd shower here and there. but where we see the lengthy spells of sunshine, 17 or 18 on the cards, again, perhaps central and eastern areas up towards northern scotland, northern ireland once again. but as we go through the evening and overnight, we start to pick up a bit more of an easterly breeze, as you can see, coming off the north sea, just ushering in some lower clouds, some sea air and fret on the east coast and foggy conditions around first thing on tuesday morning under this slack ridge of high pressure in the north. and it's the north, scotland, northern ireland, where we keep that high pressure for longest. in the south, we've got this little weather front starting to make its way across from the low countries to increase

the risk of cloud on tuesday showers on wednesday, but it's that keen north wind, sorry, that keen east wind coming off the north sea that we are going to notice because at this time of year our sea temperatures are about as low as they get. so while inland, we'll see temperatures getting up into the mid possibly high teens, you can seejust on the coast, they'll be pegged back because of those cold waters of the north sea. into wednesday, we've still got these tightly packed bars, brisk winds pushing in, a few showers as well. and that risk continues, particularly across the southern half of england, wales through the rest of the week. so after warmish start, still a lot of dry weather, but temperatures just tapering off a little. more online.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm sally bundock. wall street on edge: investors' anxiety intensifies as the deadline looms to raise the us debt ceiling. can a compromise be found? grain drain: the eu blasts as "unacceptable" a ban from poland and hungary on ukrainian grain imports to protect their farming sectors. auf wiedersehen to nuclear: as germany closes its last nuclear power stations, what does this mean for the country's transition to greener energy? and beauty in the digital age: how cosmetic brands are embracing technology to immerse customers in their products.