this is bbc news, my name's mike embley. our top stories: in my view we've already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. we can't wait any longer. he calls it an existential threat — a warning from president biden as he signs a series of executive orders to make climate change a foreign policy and national security priority. european union officials attack astrazeneca over a shortfall in vaccine doses but fail to get the company to hand over supplies marked for the uk. how did the pandemic start? world health organization experts finally end their quarantine in wuhan, and prepare to investigate covid's origins. and how the shares in one struggling online game company have sparked a war with wall street hedge funders.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president biden has set out his plans to try to deal with climate change, describing it as an existential threat. he said the us had waited too long to confront the climate crisis, and must lead the global response. mr biden has signed a raft of executive orders, in sharp contrast with the policies of the trump administration. among them, a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public land and making climate considerations a focus of american foreign and national security policy. our chief environment correspondentjustin rowlatt reports. if ever america needed a warning of what climate change could mean for the country, it got it last year, with record wildfires and an unprecedented

series of hurricanes. there is no time to waste, president biden said today. we can't wait any longer. we see it with our own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones, and it's time to act. and by appointing one of the country's most senior politicians, john kerry, as his climate envoy, joe biden is demonstrating once more that tackling climate change will be at the heart of his presidency. it is clearly one of his very top priorities. it's why he rejoined the paris agreement within hours of being sworn in as president. it's why today he's issued executive orders, mobilising every department, every agency of the united states government to focus on climate. california has experienced record droughts, as well as record fires, in recent years — evidence that even one of the richest states in the richest nation on earth can't immunise itself against the kind of weather climate change is expected to bring.

heat, cold, all of these weather patterns aren't in and of themselves that strange. it's the frequency with which they're happening, and how unpredictable everything is, and it's very difficult for a farmer. john kerry was instrumental in negotiating the landmark global climate accord in paris in 2015, when he was president obama's secretary of state. he says a key objective now is to try and persuade other nations to raise their carbon—cutting game in the run—up to the big global climate summit glasgow will be hosting in november. glasgow will be extremely important. in fact, i would say in myjudgment it is the last best chance the world has to come together in order to do the things we need to do to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

the uk government, as host of the glasgow conference, will be hoping mr kerry's efforts pay off. in his first interview since becoming full—time president of the summit, alok sharma says having a us administration that's really engaged on the climate issue is good news indeed. i think it's great to have the us administration back at that table on the global fight against climate change. i think what's incredibly encouraging is that, within hours of the inauguration being completed, president biden, one of the first executive orders he signed was to rejoin the paris agreement. it is only a week since the new administration took power, and it has already taken big steps to reverse trump's policies on climate, but the agenda is ambitious, and bothjoe biden and john kerry know their efforts will have to overcome opposition from within the us. justin rowlatt, bbc news. senior officials from

the european union are saying the drug company astrazeneca should honour a contract to supply vaccines, by using its british factories to make up a shortfall. the european commission is angry that the company might provide the eu with up to 80 million fewer doses than it promised at first. mark lobel reports. the eu's rollout of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine it hopes to approve on friday is already in doubt. the bloc is fuming after suggestions it may only get around a third of what it expects. pharmaceutical companies, vaccine developers, have moral, societal and contractual responsibilities which they need to uphold. astrazeneca has reported production delays in the netherlands and belgium. the eu says these unaffected production sites in the uk should provide shortfall. the uk factories are part of our advance purchase agreements and this is why they have to deliver. but astrazeneca has other customers too,

including the uk. they could be affected in a tit—for—tat threat dubbed �*vaccine nationalism' if the eu restricts exports of other vaccines made in the bloc to deal with the shortfall. we're very confident in our supplies, we're very confident in our contracts and we're going ahead on that basis. astrazeneca denies eu claims it's backtracking on its commitments in order to sell its vaccines for profit elsewhere. but as this bitter row grows, the eu wants its contract with astrazeneca, which the pharmaceutical company says was signed three months after the uk agreed to theirs, to be made public. it may be that the uk has got favourable contractual terms, and actually, you know, has benefited from being first in line. and actually the eu has more of a, as we've heard, a sort of reasonable endeavours clause in the contract on the part of astrazeneca, such that it is not in such a tight contractual mechanism.

but as eu countries suffer delays with other vaccines, the eu's health commissioner says this current row shouldn't come down to first—come, first—served. he says that logic may work in the butcher's shop but not for these advance purchase agreements. mark lobel, bbc news. a team of world health organization experts investigating the origins of the pandemic are preparing to begin work in wuhan. they've been isolating in the chinese city for the last two weeks. our china correspondent, stephen mcdonnell, looks at what the group of scientists will be doing in wuhan now they are out of quarantine. practically speaking, it means they can have some face—to—face meetings. they are saying they've already started having meetings via video link and the like, but they'll be able to come out of quarantine, move around the city. but i'm going to make a bit of a bold prediction

here and say that at the end of this visit, they are not going to come out and tell us they've discovered how the coronavirus started. that's because it's a very difficult thing to work out, and the who has already been stressing how much time is going to be required, how complex the task is. one of the things they won't be doing is even looking at the theory of a lab leak. well, if they are, it certainly isn't in any of the documents i have seen associated with this trip. it's more like examining the possibility that this virus jumped from some sort of animal, maybe via an intermediary animal, and then into humans. another thing they won't be doing is their own research. what it mostly is a trip looking at the work that's already been done by chinese scientists and then trying to map out where the holes might be to try and see, ok, what else needs to be done to get back to the origins of this coronavirus. they have even said that afterwuhan, naturally, it started here because this

is where the first clusters were, where the outbreak started. but actually, the scientists are saying, in theory, it could have come from somewhere else. so they are not ruling out the possibility that after this trip, they will go to another chinese city or even another country to try and get to the bottom of the origins of this virus. now that obviously makes the chinese government happy to hear language like that because that's the line that's being pushed quite a bit by the communist party. we've even had a foreign ministry spokesman here saying that it definitely came from overseas. either way, we've had politicians and government officials, especially from the us and china, throwing mud at each other over this issue, spreading conspiracy theories over the coronavirus. what many will be hoping though is that this group of scientists can somehow get above the clamour of the politics and find a way to discover what the real

origins of this debilitating virus have been. but really, it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be quick. stephen mcdonnell for us there. let's get some of the day's other news. there have been protests in cities across poland after the government said its controversial law introducing a near—total ban on abortions would come into force. terminations will now be allowed in poland only in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. the un's refugee agency has strongly condemned what it called systematic efforts by a growing number of european states to prevent migrants from seeking asylum. the unhcr said there were continuous reports of expulsions and of refugees being turned back at land and sea borders. un officials highlighted such practices in greece, italy, malta and croatia.

the international olympic committee says it's fully committed to holding the tokyo olympics this summer, despite the pandemic. ioc president, thomas bach, said no—one could know what the global health situation would be in a few months�* time, but efforts were being made to prepare for every possible scenario. the boeing 737 max has been approved to return to service by eu regulators. it's already flying again in the united states. the plane was grounded nearly two years ago, after flaws in its software and sensors caused two crashes, that killed 346 people. the us department of homeland security has issued a national terrorism bulletin, warning that the country will face a heightened threat of violence, from people angry at donald trump's election defeat, for several more weeks. the bulletin says the attack on the capitol building earlier this month could continue to inspire domestic extremists to attack other elected officials let's speak to our north amercia correspondent peter bowes. peter, this kind of bulletin

warning of this kind of threat is unusual, isn't it? it’s warning of this kind of threat is unusual, isn't it?— is unusual, isn't it? it's very unusual- — is unusual, isn't it? it's very unusual. when _ is unusual, isn't it? it's very unusual. when the - is unusual, isn't it? it's very unusual. when the issue - unusual. when the issue bulletin like this, it is usually concerning threats that are perceived to come from overseas, perhaps a foreign terrorist organisation. but what they are approaching or talking about here potential threats by domestic terrorists and they are suggesting that there will be groups that are emboldened by what happened at the capitol building a week before the inauguration ofjoe biden and that the threat of further violence persists. whether it is in washington, dc or indeed state capitals around the country. and mike, we saw the country. and mike, we saw the tremendous amount of security leading up to the inauguration, some 25,000 members of the national guard. those numbers have been reduced to around about 5000 but they will stay there for some time because this threat continues. and of course, we have the impeachment trial of donald trump happening in two weeks' time and that once again will raise many of the issues that

resulted in that violence. i’m resulted in that violence. i'm have to assume _ resulted in that violence. i'm have to assume that - resulted in that violence. i'm have to assume that the security services like keeping a close eye on social media, at least what they can see of it. i think already some people are facing charges relating to january six because of what they posted on social media but also thanks to their families. yes and it is emerging that some family members are reporting their loved ones, whether it be a spouse, parents, children, to the authorities having seen them at the capitol building in videos, and of course, this was televised around the world life as it happened. not only were those television cameras producing video —— live, but those individuals involved were filming themselves, taking selfies and live streaming the events as they happen. often, some of those streams went straight back to family members and there is at least one case of a man being arrested because his ex—wife of 18 years actually saw him on video and

reported the facts to the authorities. there is another case of a man who is accused of being involved who allegedly threatened his adult children because they didn't want him to report his activities from the day. these investigations are continuing around the country only fbi are focusing on those family members, loved ones and friends who might have some other video that hasn't otherwise been seen was wired and peter there was concern around the— and peter there was concern around the inauguration that eo - le around the inauguration that peeple might _ around the inauguration that people might not _ around the inauguration that people might not cause - around the inauguration that i people might not cause trouble during the inauguration because there were 25,000 national guard on the streets but there might be something later when security was lighter, and also other places around the country. what about these allegations of a plot to kidnap the governor of michigan? well, es, this the governor of michigan? well, yes, this happened, _ the governor of michigan? well, yes, this happened, the - allegations emerged, the conspiracy from last october. what we know now is that six people have been, six men, have

been charged and five have pleaded not guilty but one has pleaded not guilty but one has pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge will stop and he is now apparently cooperating with the authorities, with prosecutors, presumably providing evidence that could go against the other five and he has done that because it seems as if it is a deal to get a lighter sentence from the maximum he could have received which would have been life in prison.— life in prison. peter, thank ou life in prison. peter, thank you very — life in prison. peter, thank you very much. _ thank you to for being with us. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: in honour of international holocaust remembrance day, we'll look at how campaigners are fighting to prevent new genocides now and in the future. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands

of the demonstrators. they were using the word �*revolution�*. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours passed. the new government is finally in control of the entire - republic of uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of their liberation. they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria, and relived their horrifying experiences. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: president biden has signed a series of executive orders to tackle climate change,

which he's described as an existential threat. the eu has insisted that astrazeneca come up with a clear plan to deliver on their contractual obligations to supply covid vaccines. across the world comemmorations are taking place to mark holocaust memorial day. it's 76 years since the liberation of the auschwitz—birkenau death camp in poland and at a time when survivors are unable to come together due to lockdown, this year's theme asks people to �*be the light in the darkness'. fergal keane has been speaking to three survivors of the holocaust. auschwitz today. no rituals of remembrance in the time of the pandemic. violin plays. but for the survivors, a dwindling generation, commemoration is taking place in small groups. here, at a london

retirement home run by the charityjewish care. behold, god of abraham, god of mercy. open your eyes as you have opened mine. open your eyes and see what i've seen. singing. memory does not live within the boundaries of a single day. my father, who was not a religious man, he took me by the hands — i'll neverforget this, what he said to me. "god will protect you." so then i kissed my brother and they were already there with their bayonets trying to push us apart, and i saw them leaving. and you never saw your brother again? that was it. yeah.

holocaust memorial day remembers the dead, but it's also a warning for all times about the price of extremism, the bloody cost of promises built on hatred. after auschwitz, when we came back, people said, "we've learned our lesson. never again, auschwitz." that was the motto, but look around. i think there is more discrimination, more hatred than ever before. this is a day of great absences. it took me 50 years, 5—0. i kept on and on, "i want to see a photograph of my mother." i don't know what emotions i have, really. sad. especially on days like holocaust memorial day, when families are together, and i sit there alone. singing

genocide begins with the plans of powerful men, but always ends in the ruin of individual lives. millions upon millions of them. fergal keane, bbc news. tributes have been payed to the american television and film actress, cloris leachman, who's died at the age of 94. she won an oscar for best supporting actress for the last picture show and she's also remembered for her performance in the comedy horror young frankenstein, by mel brooks, who called her insanely talented. in a tweet mr brooks said she could make you laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. cloris leachman received 22 emmy nominations, she will also be remembered for playing the flamboyantly neurotic phyllis lyndstrom on �*the mary tyler moore show�* sitcom in the 1970s.

apple has hit another sales record with reported revenues of more than $110 billion in the last three months of 2020, a rise of 21% on the same period last year. the gains come as consumers are confined to their homes during the pandemic, driving work, shopping and leisure activities increasingly online. the new 5g—enabled iphone 12 also boosted sales. wall street became a battleground this week, with a fight between an army of small investors on social media versus the big hedge funds. the day traders connected on sites like reddit, realising that big—time investors had placed bets on the stocks of poorly performing companies, predicting they would lose their value a practice known as shorting. and that's where the video game retailer, game stop comes in. already suffering from the shift to online shopping , it's been badly hit by the pandemic, and it's closed 800 stores in the last two years. at the start of the year

it was an unlikely contender for hottest stock of 2021 — it was worth less than $20. this week as the reddit army piled in, the price is now well above $300. well earlier i spoke to michael goodman who's founder and president of wealthstream advisors and ask him if all this was little more than an attempt by some to play wall street at its own game. no doubt, no doubt. i'm sure the disparity of equality and wealth around the world is sort of spurring this a bit. wall street has been a bit of a punching bag for different reasons over many years, there is no question about that stop i think we have sort of two different scenarios here. what's going on in a fuelled engagement of fire right now and then of course, there are real day traders who actually do this on a regular basis and unfortunately we are also probably seeing some people who think they can get in on this and make some quick money. they might, but they might also lose a lot of money. it is scary for some. what are you staying to normal

investors, steer clear? that is the most important message and yes, steer clear. if you're a long—term investor, stay far away from this because this is not investing. i don't even know if it's called gambling. you just don't know, it's like trying to catch the falling knife and what you want to do here if you are a long—term investor, stated course in your diversified portfolio, holding thousands of stock, just a handful of very volatile small stock. i know that shorting is always a high—risk game. are some of the big hitters taking about it, getting a bloodied nose? we saw one big hedge fund that had to get bailed out recently so it seems quite real, it's almost shocking to see this be able to happen. and that is a scary game but a lot of these hedge funds, they have the ability to make lots of money so it doesn't surprise me that it's possible that they would lose money. we've seen this happen in the past with long—term capital management and other sort of respectable hedge funds get beat up maybe

not because of something by this but markets moving quickly in another direction. all of this is unlikely to end with gamestop, isn't it? do you see echoes of the tech bubble in 2000? it's funny, back and then there were different things going on, we didn't have the ability to trade stocks the way we can today with an app on the phone and $10 but i do feel that things are a little bit 1999, there are some familiarity is and i would say most of the familiarity is come from individuals. you have individuals that never owned individual stocks, maybe not gamestop, maybe some bigger companies, those getting into the mix that historically would never want to do that and some are just wanting to enjoy the race and the excitement of what is going on but this is not where you would take your retirement account and long—term family money

or kids through college. strong winds have caused chaos in north west turkey. these cctv pictures show parts of metal stoves along with chairs flying through the air at a foundry in the city of bursa. the owner of the foundry said the gust of wind lasted barely 20 seconds. at least one person was injured. just a reminder of our main news, president biden has allowed his plans to tackle climate change, he said it was an existential threat and it will be put at the heart of american foreign and national security policy. he set up the measures in a series of new executive orders, including a freeze on gas and oil extraction on public and property land, and an end of subsidies forfossilfuels subsidies for fossil fuels wherever possible. subsidies forfossilfuels wherever possible. he will also help developing countries implement measures to reduce

emissions. much more news for you at any time on the bbc news website. thank for watching. hello there. a bit of the weather tussle going on in the skies above the uk of the next few days between cold air to the north and east of us in milder air to the south and west. during the next 2a hours, it's the milder air which will win through for many but on this dividing line we are going to see quite an active weather system and that's going to produce on one side pretty heavy rainfall. northern ireland, north—west england of greatest concern where we could see 1 or 2 inches of rain, adding to the flood concern. on the colder side of our weather system the hills of northern england, southern scotland and into central and northern scotland we could see significant snow which could have an impact on some of the higher road. it's here where we start the day start coldest of all. maybe temperatures as low as —6 degrees compared to 10 or 11

in parts of cornwall. big north—south contrast. there is the dividing line, that area of rain, sleet and hill snow, through the morning rush hour pushing its way northwards. drying up and brightening up to the south quite misty and murky underneath that weather front but you can see that it's on these higher sites were more likely to see the snow. that rain—sleet—snow mix is going to hang around across parts of central scotland, moving into northern scotland as we go through the day. it does allow skies to brighten in england and wales but stays mostly misty and murky in the north but with sunnier skies and a bit of a breeze, it will stay incredibly mild average is up to 1a degrees compared to just 4 in aberdeen, 2 in lerwick where it should stay dry and bright through much of the day. should stay dry and brighter much of the day for another batch of rain comes through thursday evening for that rain rather than snow. milder air snow continues to fall in northern parts of scotland. some heavy, thundery showers into the first part of friday morning across the south. we've still got those north—south contrast as far as temperatures are concerned.

widespread frost in the far north of scotland where you've got some snow and some icy conditions to start friday. that will still be there on friday morning. rain across southern scotland, northern england fizzling out. a few heavy, maybe thundery showers across the south but a better chance of sunshine winning through friday. temperatures still in double figures in the south but the colder air starting to fight its way back. and it will continue to try and push back as we go into the weekend. notice how it's pushing its way southwards. this swirl here is an indication of a weather system which could bring another mix of rain, sleet and snow on saturday across england and wales ahead of a potentially another one late on sunday. that fight goes on into next week too.

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this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has signed a series of executive orders to try to reduce the impact of climate change. he's called it an existential threat. he's said climate considerations should be a focus of american foreign and national security policy, and said the us must lead the global response. among the measures announced is a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public land. the row between the pharmaceutical company astrazeneca and the european union over a shortage of coronavirus vaccines has escalated. the eu's health commissioner has insisted that astrazeneca come up with a clear plan to deliver on their contractual obligations to supply vaccines. a team of world health organisation experts in wuhan are to begin investigating the origins of the pandemic. they've been isolating in the chinese city for the last two weeks — and will study research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the initial outbreak.