hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. president biden�*s giant stimulus plan for the us economy is about to be approved by congress. these are the live pictures. the package is worth $1.9 trillion. the house of representatives is voting now. also, we'll go to brazil. brazil's former president describes brazil's current president as "an imbecile" for his record on coronavirus. lula da silva said jair bolsanaro was "failing to act like a president". we'll look at england's test and trace system for coronavirus,

which cost nearly £40 billion but mps says "hasn't had a clear impact". and the fallout from the royal interview continues. the tv presenter piers morgan says he stands by his criticism of meghan markle after he quit his own tv show — due to thousands of complaints. we begin in the us, where the house of representatives, the lower house of congress, is expected to pass a major stimulus package. it is worth $1.9 trillion. the plan was approved in the senate on saturday despite every republican voting against. here are the pictures from the house of representatives. it very much locate will pass on party lines. before the vote, there was a debate for several hours. this

is what we heard from one democratic congresswoman. this is a historic day. it is the beginning of the end of the great covid depression. it also marks the end of a decades—long successful battle by big corporations and the super—rich in this country for trickle—down economics. the idea that the rich getting richer will somehow make us all do better — wrong. the bill's aim is primarily to address the impact of covid on the us economy. but there are broader ambitions to tackle longer—term causes of poverty. here are some of the details. the so—called american rescue package will give one—off payments worth $1,400 to most americans. it allocates $350 billion to state and local governments and $130 billion to schools. it also provides $49 billion for expanded covid—19

testing and research, as well as $14 billion for vaccine distribution. and the bill extends unemployment benefits of $300 a week until september. millions of americans had been set to lose their benefits in the coming weeks — not any more. so a huge moment for the us economy and an important political moment for president biden. here's our business correspondent samira hussain in new york. remember that we're only at the very beginning of the biden administration. he only took office in late january, so it's really pretty incredible to see that the president has already been able to sort of wield some of his power to get such a spending package through congress. this is not the first stimulus package to support people through the pandemic. there were two last year. in march, congress passed the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill known as the cares act. then in december, there was a further $900 billion package.

that took us debt to $28 trillion. this new bill will increase that figure to almost $30 trillion. so, a lot of money into the economy and a lot of debt too. republicans say too much. here's one. this bill takes aggregate, so—called covid relief spending to $6 trillion to alleviate an estimated $300 billion in lost wages. this is 20 times the spending compared to the lost wages. what's next? this is not even the beginning of the end of the democrats�* insatiable desire to spend their citizens into financial ruin. only 9% of the 1.9 trillion is even related to covid relief, while 91% is for pet democrat projects. so democrats argue the spending is vital, republicans say it's too costly. here's samira hussain on how the stock markets have reacted. all of this money is being pumped into the us economy, so if you look at the stock market in the last few days, they've been touching record highs.

and a big part of that has to do with all of this money that's coming into the economy. that's going to speed up this economic recovery and that ultimately is good news for stocks across the board. 0nce once we get that final vote results in the house of representatives, it will then go tojoe biden�*s desk for the presidential signature. it's here from the white house press secretary on what is coming next. the president, the vice president, the first lady, the second gentleman, a number of members of the cabinet will be communicating directly with the american people and also need a clear message — help is on the way. 0ver and also need a clear message — help is on the way. over the next few weeks, we are going to swiftly put in place implementation plans, i have touched on a little bit of that, and plans to get aid to the people to the people who needed the most as quickly as possible. let’s most as quickly as possible. let's hear from — most as quickly as possible. let's hear from gary — most as quickly as possible. let's hear from gary o'donoghue on most as quickly as possible. let's hear from gary 0'donoghue on capitol hill for some give us your reading of where we have got to with this

and how it matters politically to the president. it and how it matters politically to the president.— the president. it matters enormously, _ the president. it matters enormously, i— the president. it matters enormously, i think, - the president. it matters enormously, ithink, it. the president. it matters enormously, i think, it is the president. it matters - enormously, ithink, it is his the president. it matters - enormously, i think, it is his first big legislative hurdle, isn't it? he put a lot of stock by getting it through. he wanted to do that in a bipartisan way and it doesn't look like he is going to be able to do that, looks like there will be no republican votes in either chamber, as things stand at the moment, but he has got it and it is an enormous meta— money, as you were saying, it does increase the debt. the american national dealt now well north of 100% of gdp. but these things, they argue, are vital, notjust for getting specific covid relief out such as vaccinations and research and all that kind of thing but also for getting americans, frankly, spending money again, spending money in the economy, to try and kick—start some kind of recovery and thatis kick—start some kind of recovery and that is why a lot of this money is being directed at perhaps power

households, partly because timecodes argue they need it, they are the most under pressure, but also they are the most likely to spend it. and, gary, iwas are the most likely to spend it. and, gary, i was mentioning this is now the third stimulus package in the last 12 months. is it the argument of the democrats that they think it will be the last one? it is funn , a think it will be the last one? it is funny. a lot _ think it will be the last one? it is funny. a lot of— think it will be the last one? it 3 funny, a lot of people have think it will be the last one? it 1 funny, a lot of people have been saying it is number six since this time last year, depending on how you count this thing and you're looking at $5.5 trillion help spent on the pandemic in total over the last year, and ask for a near amount of money. 0ne year, and ask for a near amount of money. one step put it in terms of... there is hope this will be perhaps the last big hall. democrats do want to move on to other things, particularly like infrastructure spending. there will be battling over that in particular, but i would be surprised if they want to revisit

this in any kind of enormous way. that is all with the proviso, of course, that the current trajectory of tackling the pandemic, of getting vaccines into people's arms, that is all providing that continuous. gary. all providing that continuous. gary, for the moment, _ all providing that continuous. gary, for the moment, thank _ all providing that continuous. gary, for the moment, thank you - all providing that continuous. gary, for the moment, thank you very - all providing that continuous. gary, for the moment, thank you very much indeed. we will be back with gary later on in the programme. let's turn now to brazil. it has the second highest death toll in the world from coronavirus behind the us. and the situation is worse than ever. deaths and cases are increasing rapidly. on tuesday, the health ministry recorded 1,972 new deaths and more than 70,764 new infections. and the outbreak is causing major issues for hospitals. according to the research institute fiocruz, more than 80% of intensive care unit beds are occupied in the capitals of 25 of brazil's 27 states. in 15 of brazil's largest cities, 90% of icu beds occupied. so, a very difficult situation in brazil, and the former

president luiz inacio lula da silva — who earlier this week had bribery charges against him quashed by the supreme court — is pointing the finger squarely at current presidentjair bolsonaro, who you might remember is refusing to take a vaccine. here is the former president speaking earlier today. translation: | want to i make my own propaganda, so that the brazilian people don't follow any imbecilic decisions by the president of the republic or the health minister. get vaccinated. get vaccinated because it is one of the only things that can free us from covid. let's bring in camilla mota, our correspondent in sao paulo. first of all, help me understand the president, the current president's view of the vaccination programme. why is he saying he will not have one? i, . ., why is he saying he will not have one? ., ., , why is he saying he will not have one? .,., , ., one? bolsonaro has been saying for months that — one? bolsonaro has been saying for months that he _ one? bolsonaro has been saying for months that he is _ one? bolsonaro has been saying for months that he is not _ one? bolsonaro has been saying for months that he is not taking - one? bolsonaro has been saying for months that he is not taking the - months that he is not taking the shot because he had covid back in july, he's not against vaccination

but he does not encourage people to take the jab and he keeps raising doubts about the vaccine, bringing up doubts about the vaccine, bringing up potential side effects when he actually should be encouraging people to take it. but actually should be encouraging people to take it.— actually should be encouraging --eole to take it. �* ., , , people to take it. but more broadly, hel me people to take it. but more broadly, help me understand _ people to take it. but more broadly, help me understand his _ people to take it. but more broadly, help me understand his approach i people to take it. but more broadly, help me understand his approach to| help me understand his approach to this worsening situation. is he talking about bringing in new restrictions or new measures to try and continue virus? figs restrictions or new measures to try and continue virus?— and continue virus? as the crisis has worsened — and continue virus? as the crisis has worsened and _ and continue virus? as the crisis has worsened and now - and continue virus? as the crisis has worsened and now we - and continue virus? as the crisis has worsened and now we are i and continue virus? as the crisis - has worsened and now we are seeing, after one year of the beginning the pandemic, we are at the worst point so far. different cities are toughening the social distancing measures. unfortunately, experts say that this is too little, too late. the scientific community here in brazil is in favour of a more strict lockdown but governors are really reticent to take further measures because of the potential economic fallout and the political burden. they are afraid of taking

this responsibility all by themselves since they don't have the support of federal government or the health ministry. find support of federal government or the health ministry.— health ministry. and while all that is auoin health ministry. and while all that is going on. _ health ministry. and while all that is going on. it _ health ministry. and while all that is going on, it looks _ health ministry. and while all that is going on, it looks like _ health ministry. and while all that is going on, it looks like we - health ministry. and while all that is going on, it looks like we have l is going on, it looks like we have got a major new political battle going on with lula da silva very much taking aim at the president. it seems like it lula spoke -- it —— it seems like it. lula spoke today for over an hour, and even if he said it is too early to speak about 2022, when presidential elections will he held here in brazil, he surely smuggling a candidate. he gives this conciliatory tone, he says he was not angry, that people should not be scared of him or of his left—wing ideologies, and that kind of divided the left here in brazil because some believe that lula should actually step down and open way for new leadership still emerge, because even though his name is popular among brazilians, he still carries a

lot of rejection because of the corruption cases linked to his workers party, but another part of the left is thrilled he regained his political rights and think he is up to the task of going against bolsonaro next year in the presidential elections. bulls have shown that if elections were held today, lula will be, would be, a competitive candidate but a lot can happen in a year, especially in a country like priscilla.— country like priscilla. certainly can. camilla, _ country like priscilla. certainly can. camilla, thank— country like priscilla. certainly can. camilla, thank you - country like priscilla. certainly can. camilla, thank you very l country like priscilla. certainly - can. camilla, thank you very much and as camilla was answering my final question there, we have some breaking news on the bbc, because that rescue package i was describing, $1.9 trillion going through congress, the house of representatives has passed that bill. that is after the senate, the upper house of congress, passed it at the weekend. these are the live pictures coming in from the house of representatives and that has just passed. the bill will now go to the

president's desk and joe biden will sign it. then that money will begin to be pumped into the us economy, bearing in mind this has been this political tussle between the democrats and republic is whether this, the extent of this spending about $1.9 trillion, is necessary. it will have to be paid back down the track, it is running up the national debt. democrats argue it is certainly necessary because of the pandemic and the extent of poverty in some parts of american society. republicans have resisted that argument, saying this is not an appropriate amount of money to borrow or to pump into the us economy. but it is going to happen because the democrats control the senate the house of representatives and they of course have the president as well, so a major political victory forjoe biden in the early weeks of his presidency. let's turn to central europe now and look at three countries struggling to contain outbreaks — hungary, poland and the czech republic. we'll start with hungary. it's experiencing a third wave

of the virus and it's the worst yet. in the past 24 hours, authorities recorded 5,653 new infections and 179 more deaths, surpassing the last peak in december. that's despite more than 10% of the population being vaccinated — the second most per population in the eu. remember, hungary has boosted its vaccine supplies by using the russian sputnik and chinese sinopharm vaccines — the eu hasn't approved eitherfor use. from hungary to poland now. it has also reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in more than three months. here's our warsaw correspondent adam easton with more. poland's health minister, adam niedzielski, says the third coronavirus wave has arrived in poland and it is starting to accelerate. the number of new cases over the past week has jumped back to levels not seen since the second wave peaked in november.

officials say they are concerned about the number of people being hospitalised and they've ordered the temporary hospitals set up during the second wave be readied to receive more patients. many restrictions remain in place. restaurants, cafes and schools — apart from for the youngest pupils — remain closed, but new heightened restrictions are being introduced to the two northern provinces with the highest growth rates. the model suggests that the number of new cases will rise throughout the month. poles who were hoping to celebrate the easter holiday with their extended family may be disappointed for a second year running. from poland to the czech republic. it now has the second highest total death toll in the world when population is taken into account. the only country worse is san marino with a population of 34,000. the infection rate in the czech republic also remains high, and a group of the country's leading scientists estimate that close

to 40% of the population have had covid they estimate that within a month or two — helped by vaccination — the czech republic will be among the first in the world to achieve herd immunity. that would be an important moment, we will see if it comes to pass. but with the outbreak still out of control, the prime minister and president are looking to speed up the vaccination process by ordering the russian sputnik vaccine to boost supplies. that plan is causing rifts in the government. 0ur prague correspondent rob cameron explains. the only man standing in the way of unilateral certification for the czech republic is the country's health minister, jan blatny. he refuses to do so, saying that as long as he's in the post, no vaccine will be administered in the czech republic without prior approval from the ema, and now the country's pro—moscow president, milos zeman, wants the prime minister to sack him and also sacked the head of the state body that controls medicines in the czech republic.

the question is, how much pressure can these officials withstand, especially as other countries in the region — such as slovakia and hungary — have given their approval to sputnik? will the czechs follow suit? next, we turn to the uk. in the spring of 2020, as england began to exit its first lockdown, borisjohnson made this promise. if we're to control this virus, then we must have a world—beating system for testing potential victims and for tracing their contacts. 10 months on, and with a £37 billion budget, this is the assessment of test and trace from the chair of the cross—party public accounts committee. it's an eye—watering sum of money that's been spent and for that we need to see better results and a clearer connection between testing and stemming the spread of the virus, and so far the data on that is not very strong.

here are the numbers. the budget for test and trace when it was first set up in may was £22 billion — $30 billion. in may was £22 billion. since then, it's been allocated a further £15 billion. that's more than the uk's transport budget. we're told 80% of the money is being spent on testing. we know 22 million people in england have been given at least one test during the pandemic. the current testing capacity is one of the highest in the world. 1.5 million tests were due on tuesday alone. then there the tracing. 20,000 contact tracers were recruited. and at the start, it sounded far less efficient. right now, i'm just sat scrolling through netflix. why would they set us up doing this if we're just sat around waiting? it's frustrating to know that i am sat idle when there's people that need contacting. i can't understand why

we haven't had any contacts. the target is to tell 80% of close contacts with people who test positive to isolate. that is now being consistently exceeded. but for weeks in the autumn, when the second wave was building, the system struggled to hit 60%. and, crucially, research referenced by the government's science advisers shows that only 15 to 30% of people contacted actually isolate for the ten days they're asked to. to put it another way, it's possible less than two in ten people who need to isolate are doing so properly. and the government's own analysis says that contact tracing alone reduces the r number — that's the ability for the virus to spread — byjust two to 5%. though, we should say, add testing into the equation, it's10—33%. let's go back to what the public accounts committee says — that test and trace cannot point to a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic.

some are scathing. this former senior civil servant, who's now a member of the house of lords, says... 0r there is anthony costello, professor of global health at university college london. he says... you won't be surprised that the government sees it differently. that report finding just defies logic. ask yourself this — had they not contacted 9.1 million people, told them that they'd been potentially exposed and asked them to quarantine or self—isolate, where would we have been without it? the issue here is not whether test and trace has made a difference — it has. the issue is how much of a difference given the billions spent since may. when it was launched, the health secretary said test and trace would mean being

"able to replace national lockdowns with individual isolation". but so far, that has not happened. since test and trace has began in may, the uk has had two more lockdowns and the dental has passed 125,000. as a proportion of population, that is the fifth highest in the world. —— the dental has passed. whether it has been world—class remains an open question.

of searches all day, police removing cars. he was part of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, but instead of protecting embassies, he's facing questions about a possible murder. a woman was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. about four o'clock in the morning, i heard car doors banging. i just assumed it was, like, night workers. you know, people going to bed, going to work, and then i just saw some activity with police down there. a week ago, sarah, a marketing executive, had been visiting a friend's house on leathwaite road, close to clapham common in south london. she left there at around 9pm in the evening to return to her home in brixton an hour away.

police believe she made her way across clapham common. this footage from a doorbell camera showed sarah on poynders road at around 9:30pm. it's the last time she was seen. for the past week, the search has been in south london, now in kent, very firmly focused on these fields. all day, there has been a stream of police vans, officers and equipment arriving here. the policeman arrested was, scotland yard said, off duty at the time of her disappearance, and it's not known if he was or wasn't connected in any way to the missing woman. amazing, lovely, fantastic — just a few ways her family describe sarah everard. and she still hasn't been found. i want to go back to washington quickly and the bbc�*s gary

0'donoghue, because, gary, the bill has gone through. it o'donoghue, because, gary, the bill has gone through.— has gone through. it has gone throu:h, has gone through. it has gone through, 220-211, _ has gone through. it has gone through, 220-211, so - has gone through. it has gone i through, 220-211, so reasonably through, 220—211, so reasonably comfortable in the end. 0ne democrat breaking ranks to vote against the bill, no republicans for we can see having supported. we expected all of that and it will go to the president's desk to be signed on friday afternoon. after that, he is planning a nationwide tour to sell the merits of the bill to ordinary americans, crisscrossing the country on air force one. in the meantime republicans saying this is a waste of money, this isjust funding a socialist agenda and effectively increasing entitlements when it was meant to be about covid relief. gary, thank you very much indeed, the republicans are far from happy but this is early progress for president biden — progress made a lot easier by the fact the democrats effectively control both houses of congress as well as, of course, having the presidency too. thanks for watching the first half. i will

you back with you in a couple minutes' time. hello. some very strong winds on the way for the uk in the next few days, but potentially a peak overnight tonight, with gales around western coasts and across the hills. some very stormy seas too. what we are seeing at the moment is an area of low pressure deepening heading our way from the atlantic, and we expect it to reach peak intensity, in terms of the strength of the gusty winds, sometime in the middle of the night — 3am to perhaps 6am across western reaches of wales and the southwest of england. into the small hours, though, there's more rain to push across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. further south, the rain, a little bit more showery, but nonetheless, here, we're anticipating the strongest of the winds and particularly for our western—facing coasts. the cloud, the wind and the rain mean a mild enough night,

no concerns with the overnight temperatures, but the wind will be strong enough, particularly i think across parts of wales and the southwest of england, to cause some damage and disruption and make for some very rough conditions through the irish sea. now, through thursday daytime, as we see the low centre pulling away to the east, the winds will ease back somewhat. actually, thursday daytime, in comparison to wednesday, could still actually feel when the year because it will be pretty gusty still across the board on into thursday afternoon. drier, brighter, yes, some sunshine, but quite a few showers coming in on the westerly wind and a chillierfeel to proceedings, temperatures in single figures. and we'll take a look at those gusts once again. you can see they're lower than they will be through the small hours of thursday, but they're still significant. even inland, 50 mph across parts of england and wales well on into thursday evening. and for friday, some changes but quite subtle. still low pressure driving our weather, still notable winds, some organised showers feeding

and across england and wales. the winds, though, in comparison to thursday, should be a little lighter, a little less gusty. but a breezy day, squally showers, perhaps increasingly wintry showers across the northern half of the uk, and we definitely can't rule out some hail and thunder mixed in with these. even on into the weekend, the picture still looks pretty windy. saturday, some further showers, perhaps some heavier ones for a time across england and wales. sunday, we should start to see the winds easing quite significantly, though. i think quite a bit of dry weather too.

hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. president biden's giant stimulus plan for the us economy is about to be approved by congress. the motion is adopted. they even danced a jig _ the motion is adopted. they even danced a jig when _ the motion is adopted. they even danced a jig when the _ the motion is adopted. they even danced a jig when the package - the motion is adopted. they even l danced a jig when the package went through. the package is worth 1.9 trillion dollars. the house of representatives is voting now. it will not go to president biden for his signature. we will talk more about that. also in the programme... brazil's former president describes brazil's current president as "an imbecile" for his record on coronavirus. lula da silva said jair bolsanaro was "failing to act like a president". trade between the uk and germany plummetted in january, accoridng to new figures, we'll discuss what role brexit played in that.

and — the fallout from the royal interview continues. the tv presenter piers morgan says he stands by his criticism of meghan markle after he quit his own tv show — due to thousands of complaints it's been three days since 0prah winfrey's interview with prince harry and meghan was first broadcast — cbs says it's been watched by nearly 50 million people around the world. in response, buckingham palace released a 61 word statement on tuesday, saying the royal family was concerned, that some some recollections may vary and that family matters would be be addressed in private. but there are still a lot of un—answered questions. here's a reminder of some of the things meghan markle said to oprah winfrey.

so we have in tandem the conversation of, "he won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title." and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born. well let's look at those three issues... archie's secure the title and the discussions around the colour of his skin, welcome a fair amount of criticism that the royals didn't say more in their statement about race. this is the journalist afua adom. it was really a missed opportunity by the royal family to have a more diverse and inclusive family, and have meghan part of that, and to have a more representative view of the united kingdom by having this mixed race woman and ultimately mixed—race children in this family. but the royal family trashed that opportunity. so, yes, quite a lot of support for meghan and harry in this instance for them for speaking their truth and coming out and talking about what happened to them,

especially the issues of race. another issue a lot of people have been talking about, is why meghan and harry's baby archie — doesn't have a title. so what does royal protocol say? well the rules about who gets to be a prince and be referred to as his royal highness — come from a letter patent issued by king george the fifth. in the 1917 letter, king george declared that the great—grandchildren of the monarch would no longer be princes or princesses, except for the eldest son of the eldest son of the prince of wales. currently, that means that prince george, the eldest son of prince william, automatically became a prince, but not archie, even though they are both great—grandsons of the queen. under this protocol, charlotte and louis —

would not have received the title either. but in 2012, the queen issued a letter patent which said that all of prince william's children would be entitled to be princes or princesses and get the hrh title. according to the 1917 letter, archie is only entitled to become a prince when prince charles, the heir to the throne, but meghan claims she was told that... "they want to change the convention for archie" so he would not become a prince. although that has not been confirmed. the third issue meghan raised when talking about archie, was security... ken wharfe was a royal protection officer for princess diana for six years. here's what he has to say about the security of harry meghan and archie. to provide protection to a nonworking rail in a foreign land is just not... it's, you know, it's unacceptable, and it's certainly unprecedented. we saw this, and there is a parallel, and i said this, with what happened in 1936 with the application crisis, the

king at that time was insistent that the government gave him protection. he said, hang on, he was going to play for this. in the income i think initially, the monarch did make a contribution, but of course, finally, of course, there was no protection. meghan markle also spoke of her struggels with her mental health in the intrview with oprah winfrey. so were you thinking of harming yourself, were you having suicidal thoughts? yes, this was very, very clear. wow. very clear and very scary, and you know, i didn't know who to even turn to in that. there's also been criticism that not more was said on meghan and harry's accounts of their mental health. ——there's been criticism that the royal family haven't responded better to meghan and harry's accounts of their mental health. this is the commentator genelle aldred. many of us will suffer with mental ill health through the course of our life,

and many people are on that sliding spectrum of it. and so when someone says, "i didn't want to be alive any more, i went for help. i didn't get the help. "i was told actively to not get help because it wouldn't look good." and her reply to that was, "we didn't know how bad it was." i think that raises many more questions than answers and badly damages the fact that they have campaigned on this, and how with good conscience, the next time they do a campaign on mental health, can everyone look at that and say, "you genuinely believe this? "you are genuinely with people on this journey?" when it is ambiguous as to whether or not you actually helped somebody who themselves was having a mental health crisis. meanwhile british broadcaster piers morgan says he stands by his criticism of meghan markle, and his view that she did not in fact feel suicidal. he quit his breakfast television show on tuesday after a colleague took him to task on air, and he walked off set.

the british media watchdog received over 40,000 complaints, the mental health charity — mind spoke out against him, and we believe a complaint was also made by meghan markle herself. itv�*s royal correspondent chris ship said on twitter: here's what piers morgan had to say about it today... i don't believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth. i think the damage she's done to the british monarchy and to the queen at a time when prince philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible. so, if i have to fall on my sword

for expressing and honestly held opinion about meghan and that bilge that she came outwith, so be it. piers morgan has been a prolific meghan critic. in recent years he has routinely attacked meghan and harry. some of the headlines include "me—me—meghan markle is shamelessly hypocritical" and "super—woke" "if harry and meghan don't want negative press, they should stop behaving like whiny spoiled brats" and "meghan markle is a ruthless social climbing actress who has landed the role of her life and is determined to milk it for all she can". and piers morgan and meghan markle have a history. back in 2015 ,piers morgan followed the actress on twitter and she sent him a direct message saying "thanks for the follow. big fan of yours!" the pair apparently exchanged several messages before they met for a drink at a london pub in 2016. piers described her on his tv show in 2017 as "very beautiful and intelligent, and very suited to harry" but said he never heard from her again,

and that she "ghosted him". when the prince proposed he wrote "hearty congratulations, harry, you picked a real keeper — even if your romance did destroy my beautiful friendship with the amazing meghan markle." and in 2018 in the lead up to the wedding, piers morgan turned on meghan. dr shola moshog—bamimu is a lawyer and activist who's clashed with piers morgan on tv this week. here's her reaction. there is no denying that his malicious obsession of meghan is truly reprehensible. his irrational dislike of her has caused him or lead him to abuse his position as a host of one of the national platforms in the country. and that means he inevitably has plates and

aggravate ——there is no denying that his malicious obsession of meghan is truly reprehensible. and his irrational dislike of her has caused him or lead him to abuse his position as a host of one of the national platforms in the country, and that means he inevitably escalates and aggravates the bigoted, racist, sexist and misogynist attacks on meghan. hisjob should not his job should not be that he uses his job should not be that he uses his own personal dislike of someone to aggravate ongoing dislike against them. we need to understand that because of the society we live in, piers morgan leaving good for piers morgan, because we live in a society that caters to whiteness. we live in a society that rewards bad behaviourfrom white privileged men like piers morgan. if you think about the fact that piers morgan has brought up two forms of defence, his first defence is that this is freedom of speech, that's nonsense. no freedom of speech gives you the right to undermine the lived experiences of depression, of suicidal thoughts of other people. not everyone thinks piers morgan was out of line, though. here's news anchor and podcaster megyn kelly.

piers morgan has never been shy about expressing his opinion, - and he often takes controversial positions, and he's been - beating up on meghan _ and prince harry for a long time. so i think his brand _ is what they hired and he didn't really deviate from it this week. he was basically saying, "i don't buy it. - "i, having listened to the whole i interview and knowing this person, do not believe what she said." he is entitled to that belief. i don't think it's irresponsible for him to say, having - covered her now for years, i day in, day out, much more than the average person, - i have good reason to believe she's not a credible person in this i or many other things she says. i don't think it's unsound. for a commentator to say, "i'm not buying it, i think she's going for sympathy." _ it's not how i feel, - but i don't think people being offended, you know, - some faction of a huge audience being offended should cancel. somebody's right to speak out. and don't forget, for more on harry and meghan and all the reaction to that interview, you can always find more on our website.

it's been just over two months since the uk left the eu's single market and customs union. throughout the brexit process huge focus was given to whether leaving the eu would damage britain's trade. figures from germany today were pretty eye watering. imports from the uk were down a staggering 56% injanuary compared to the same month last year. and exports from germany to the uk also fell, by 29%. we should say, a number of things could have contributed to it. trade is down all over europe because of the covid pandemic. but the decline in germany's trade with the uk, was far bigger than with other countries. we also know a degree of stockpiling took place before the 1st of january, so that a dropoff afterwards was to be expected. borisjohnson signed the uk—eu trade dealjust two days before it came into effect.

companies in the uk and europe had almost no time to adjust to the new arrangements. (biv trade experts think during that period to the new arrangements. trade experts think during that period some companies may have decided to halt trading with the uk. the question is, whether that's temporary — or not. allie renison is head of trade policy at the institute of directors. thank you very much forjoining us. what is your reading of these figures, what are they saying to you? i figures, what are they saying to ou? ~ , figures, what are they saying to ou? ~' , ., ., , you? i think while they are to be exoected. _ you? i think while they are to be exoected. they _ you? i think while they are to be expected, they are _ you? i think while they are to be expected, they are quite - you? i think while they are to be i expected, they are quite significant commitment think interestingly, the discrepancy between the significant drop off of imports to germany from the uk, basically british exporters, compared to a much smaller decline of germany and german business experts, that reflects several things. i think actually even though there wasn't a lot of time left him as you mentioned in your report for businesses to adjust, you know, basically, the uk staggered some of its own import controls. it you didn't do that at all, it didn't leave them a grace period, so people

who are exporting to germany, german importers, had a lot less time to actually deal with all the changes. i think the second thing to bear in mind is, you know, the uk will have its own wider trade figures published forjanuary this coming friday. the question about whether it's temporary or permanent i think depends on whether you are looking at goods or services. think goods were hit a lot worse, particularly with the combined covert effect. i think the rebound for services is actually going to be a lot longer because of the travel restrictions on mobility. because of the travel restrictions on mobility-— because of the travel restrictions on mobili . ~ , on mobility. also, help me with the february and _ on mobility. also, help me with the february and the _ on mobility. also, help me with the february and the merge _ on mobility. also, help me with the | february and the merge information, because of course, we're looking at january here, the four weeks that followed that moment where the trade deal came into place, presumably, reasonable expectation that things may pick up to some degree in february and into march? i think that's the million-dollar - february and into march? i think i that's the million-dollar question, that's the million—dollar question, is a temporary or permanent? if you look at things like, for example, what percentage of trucks have been going back and forth empty or court

disruption from that's an interesting metric, but it's not a good metric, because that ultimately is the amount of product and service flowing between the two countries, and at the what we see at least with our members is one in five of them are saying, yes, because explicitly are saying, yes, because explicitly a brexit, they did see a halt to trade, but they are evenly split whether they think that's temporary and permanent. ithink whether they think that's temporary and permanent. i think february, march and it's also worth saying there are a few other grace periods from different areas, trading goods, for example, when and if free movement picks up or at the border restrictions these in the next few months, whether if uk ends up at a competitive disadvantage compared to its european counterparts will be an interesting thing to see. this its european counterparts will be an interesting thing to see.— interesting thing to see. as you are talkin: , interesting thing to see. as you are talking. viewers — interesting thing to see. as you are talking, viewers will— interesting thing to see. as you are talking, viewers will have _ interesting thing to see. as you are talking, viewers will have noticed i talking, viewers will have noticed that on the screen it says you are live from washington. what is your assessment of where we are with the new uk — us trade deal? assessment of where we are with the new uk - us trade deal?— new uk - us trade deal? well, we knew, for example _ new uk - us trade deal? well, we knew, for example to _ new uk - us trade deal? well, we knew, for example to meet - new uk - us trade deal? well, we knew, for example to meet her. new uk - us trade deal? well, we| knew, for example to meet her for new uk - us trade deal? well, we - knew, for example to meet her for my accent, that's ran from, but i'm sort of temporarily in the us at the moment, what we know is that the biden administration came in that trade deals are not going to be its biggest priority. i think that

potentially, negotiation of the uk might be a bit of an outlier because they were already ongoing. it's not a brand—new negotiation that starting, but want to be in terms of speed, the main priority, i think joe biden really wants to make an effort of showing he wants to do multilateral work, that means bringing in countries notjust the uk wing stuff with the wto, for example, ratherthan uk wing stuff with the wto, for example, rather than just doing uk wing stuff with the wto, for example, rather thanjust doing its country by country. example, rather than 'ust doing its country by country._ country by country. thank you, really appreciate _ country by country. thank you, really appreciate your - country by country. thank you, really appreciate your help. - country by country. thank you, | really appreciate your help. inc. you very much. staying with relations between the uk and eu — and the president of the european council has been rebuked by borisjohnson for getting his facts wrong over vaccines. charles michel wrote in a newsletter on tuesday... the british government took issue with that. it summoned an eu diplomat to the foreign office to discuss what it descibed as "incorrect assertions." at prime minister's questions boris johnson said he wished to "correct" the record.

let me be clear, we have not blocked the export of a single covid—19 vaccine or vaccine component. this pandemic has put us all on the same site in the battle for global health, we oppose vaccine nationalism in all its forms. the uk has been using pfizer vaccines manufactured at a plant in belgium — shown by the blue dot here — and astrazenca vaccines — made at plants in the uk — those are the red dots. but the eu aren't happy with the amount of vaccine flowing the other way. they say the uk's contract with astrazeneca requires the company to fulfil britain's order first. a uk government spokesman said "the movement of vaccines and their components into and out of the uk is driven by contractual obligations that vaccine suppliers have to their customers." charles michel returned to the issue today — instead of calling the uk's stance an "outright ban" he tweeted...

this is just the latest disagreement between london and brussels over vaccines — as nick beake can explain. the is the latest row that we've seen over the past few months or so, critics of the eu are saying it's a bit rich to make this sort of criticism of the united kingdom because if you remember, a few months ago, the eu was looking to override parts of the brexit divorce deal that was agreed because the eu was worried about vaccines made in the european union going to other countries, particularly to great britain. also, in the last few days, we have seen italy blocking the export of 250,000 doses of the astrazeneca jab, which, of course is a british swedish company. so there are accusations of double standards on the part of the eu here.

i think, you know, to sum things up, there is a feeling that this is, yes, another diplomatic row between the uk and the eu, they have got this trade deal on christmas eve last year, this christmas present that was served up to everyone, but the idea of a season of goodwill continuing into 2021, i think that sort of notion is long gone. stay with us on 0utside source. in myamar, a dozen burmese police officers flee to india after being told to shoot protestors. they have the spoken exclusively to the bbc. women have borne a bigger burden of childcare, home—schooling and housework than men over the course of the pandemic — according to new analysis of data from office for national statistics. it also suggests women have experienced significantly poorer levels of personal well—being and are more likely to have been furloughed. 0ur health correspondent, catherine burns, has been hearing from some women about the effect the pandemic has had on them. it's an experience that really allows feelings of anxiety, loneliness, to fester.

we've been having tojuggle home—schooling our five—year—old and looking after our 18—month—old. it was brutal, to be honest, i and definitely not sustainable. it's stressful for all of us, but we've just got to work through this. physically, we know covid is more of a risk for men. between march last year and january this year, the office for national statistics registered almost 64,000 deaths of men involving covid. over the same time, just over 53,000 women died. that's a difference of almost 18%. but the 0ns says men are less likely to worry about the impact of the pandemic on their life. lockdown seems to have hit women harder. they're more likely to say that they feel lonely and have consistently reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than men. sophie graduated university last summer. she loves her firstjob but has never met her team and finds working

from home hard on her mental health. it's just horrible, and then you lie awake at night, thinking. "oh, my goodness, is myjob even secure? "what if i've messed up too much?" this woman is back on the school run this week, but before this — like seven in ten women and five and ten men — she spent this term home—schooling. and she did it while running a company with her husband at the same time. i'm the one who tends to step back from the business a bit because my husband is more of the business—headed one, and i'll be doing most of the home—schooling with our little one. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is... president biden's 1.9 trillion dollar package to stimulate the us economy after coronavirus has been passed by democrats in congress. no republicans supported the bill, objecting to its price tag.

next, to the deteriorating situation in myanmar. it's over five weeks since the military coup — and the crackdown on protests is increasingly brutal. these are the latest scenes of the military action in yangon. and we also know that a dozen burmese police officers have fled across the border to india — they say they did so because they were told to shoot at protestors. rajini vaidyanathan has been talking exclusively to them. they fled the brutal crackdown in myanmar. these police men and women are now hiding in india. all in their 20s, their terrified. they say they were ordered by the military to use violence against their own people. now, for the first time, they're sharing their stories. "as protests were taking place, my boss ordered us to fire at the crowd. i refused to shoot them. isaid i'd rather

side with the people. later, i told him i was going to visit my family. that's when i ran away. the military�*s becoming more and more brutal," he said. ning, whose name we've changed for his safety, left behind his wife and two daughters. his youngest is just six months old. he's worried he may never see them again. the bbc couldn't independently verify the accounts of those we spoke to. as pro—democracy protests escalate, security forces in myanmar have been accused of killing dozens of people. some of the offices we met say they witnessed brutality first—hand. "we went out with the military, threatening to arrest peaceful protesters," this 22—year—old police man who fled told me. "people were beaten up. i had sleepless nights when i saw innocent people bleeding. my conscience wouldn't permit me to take part in such evil acts."

we travelled across the remote and mountainous state of mizoram, where more than 100 people have now taken refuge since the two. ——where more than 100 people have now taken refuge since the coup. this part of northeast india shares a 400 km border with myanmar. even though it's patrolled by security forces, people are still able to enter the country unhindered. well, i'm standing in the indian state of mizoram, but on the other side of the banks here is the country of myanmar. and this river makes up some of the border which separates the two countries, and it's across here that dozens of people have made thatjourney, fleeing the military crackdown and coming to india for safety. and we've been told that they are expecting many more to make a similarjourney. authorities in myanmar have asked india to return the defectors, to uphold friendly relations. the officers we met say they can't return. "they wanted us to arrest our friends," this policewoman told me. "if we continued to remain

in myanmar, our lives would be in danger. we want peace to come quickly to the country and for the military to be defeated." local politicians say they'll provide temporary help to those arriving from myanmar, but as people flee to this corner of india, the national government has yet to decide what happens to them next. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, mizoram. just before i leave you on this hour of outside source, a reminder that in the hour, we have had a really important development in washington, dc, the house of representatives, the lower house of congress has passed a bill supporting a $1.9 trillion rescue package for the us economy. it's primarily designed to address the consequences of covid, but democrats are also framing it as a new effort to address poverty in some communities within the us. the president will now sign the bill, which, of course, will happen, and

then the money will be injected into then the money will be injected into the us economy. thanks for watching, bye—bye. hello. some very strong winds on the way for the uk in the next few days, but potentially a peak overnight tonight, with gales around western coasts and across the hills. some very stormy seas too. what we are seeing at the moment is an area of low pressure deepening, heading our way from the atlantic, and we expect it to reach peak intensity, in terms of the strength of the gusty winds, sometime in the middle of the night — 3am to perhaps 6am across western reaches of wales and the southwest of england. into the small hours, though, there's more rain to push across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. further south, the rain, a little bit more showery, but nonetheless, here, we're anticipating the strongest of the winds and particularly for our western—facing coasts. the cloud, the wind and the rain mean a mild enough night,

no concerns with the overnight temperatures, but the wind will be strong enough, particularly i think across parts of wales and the southwest of england, to cause some damage and disruption and make for some very rough conditions through the irish sea. now, through thursday daytime, as we see the low centre pulling away to the east, the winds will ease back somewhat. actually, thursday daytime, in comparison to wednesday, could still actually feel when the year because it will be ——could still actually feel windier because it will be pretty gusty still across the board on into thursday afternoon. drier, brighter, yes, some sunshine, but quite a few showers coming in on the westerly wind and a chillierfeel to proceedings, temperatures in single figures. and we'll take a look at those gusts once again. you can see they're lower than they will be through the small hours of thursday, but they're still significant. even inland, 50 mph across parts of england and wales well on into thursday evening. and for friday, some changes but quite subtle. still low pressure driving our weather, still notable winds, some organised showers feeding

in across england and wales. the winds, though, in comparison to thursday, should be a little lighter, a little less gusty. but a breezy day, squally showers, perhaps increasingly wintry showers across the northern half of the uk, and we definitely can't rule out some hail and thunder mixed in with these. even on into the weekend, the picture still looks pretty windy. saturday, some further showers, perhaps some heavier ones for a time across england and wales. sunday, we should start to see the winds easing quite significantly, though. i think quite a bit of dry weather too.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 20:00. a serving police officer has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of sarah everard in south london two sites in kent are being searched after the police officer in his 40s — was held yesterday. this is the scene in new scotland yard — we're expecting an update from met police commissioner cressida dick in the next few minutes — we'll bring that to you live. the prime minister defends england's test and trace system — as mps heavily criticise its unimaginable spending. piers morgan says he stands by his criticism of the duchess of sussex after dramatically leaving itv�*s breakfast show yesterday. a clearer picture of the impact of covid—19 in england and wales —