in the us, joe biden uses his first primetime address as president to set out what could be the country's pathway out of the pandemic. he's urged americans to get vaccinated saying they could be able to gather byjuly 4th. norway, iceland and denmark suspend use of the astrazeneca vaccine after reports that some people who were given it, went on to develop blood clots. around half a dozen other countries have stopped using doses from specific batches. but the eu's medicine's regulator says it is safe. a digital artwork has sold at auction for a record $69 million. the work is by an artist, known as beeple, and is a collage of 5,000 individual images, made over more than thirteen years. it was the first major auction of a piece of art that doesn't exist in physicalform.

now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello again, and welcome to the week in parliament — a week when borisjohnson found himself under pressure. on several fronts. i'd take the prime minister a little bit more seriously if he hadn't spent £2.6 million of taxpayers money on a downing street tv studio. but the prime minister hit back. we're increasing pay for nurses, we're massively increasing our investment in the nhs. he wasn't the only leader under pressure. this week has shown, again, that sexual harassment - complainants cannot. trust the ruling to deal with a complaint properly. and the problems could be mounting at the palace of westminster too. a major asbestos leak, sewage failure, or indeed, a devastating fire such

as we saw at notre dame. all that and more, but first, when news emerged that the government was recommending a 1%pay rise for nurses and most other nhs staff in england, ministers said it was all they could afford. other public sector workers would see their pay frozen. labour accused borisjohnson of cutting nurses pay — once you take inflation into account — a charge he dismissed. but after a week of constant pressure, could the prime minister now be paving the way for a u turn? the government's tone has certainly softened. this was a health minister's initial robust defence of the offer. nurses are well—paid for their job. they have a secure job and they have other benefits. my lords, there are many people in this country who look upon professionaljobs in the nhs with some envy, and we shouldn't forget the fact that some public sectorjobs are in fact

extremely well—paid. but the same day, tuesday, the head of nhs england confirmed to mps that it had budgeted for a larger increase. at the time, the working assumption was that there would be available 2.1% for the costs of the agenda for change pay group in 2021-22. 2a hours later, the issue dominated prime minister's questions. an mp made the offer for nhs workers personal. the prime minister has said l that he owes his life to them. he stood on the steps of- number ten and applauded them. so will the prime minister do more than pay lip service - and pay them the wage that they deserve? - prime minister. mr speaker, she is indeed right that we owe a huge amount to our nurses, an incalculable debt, and that's why i'm proud that we have delivered a 12.8% increase in the starting salary of nurses, and we are asking

the public pay book review body to look at increasing their pay, exceptionally of all the professions in the public sector. the prime minister's answer failed to satisfy the labour leader, sir keir starmer. frankly, i'd take the prime minister a little bit more seriously if he hadn't spent £2.6 million of taxpayers money on a downing street tv studio, or £200,000 on new wallpaper for his flat. mr speaker, they say charity starts at home, but i think the prime minister's taking that a little bit too literally. let me try something very simple. does the prime minister accept, does the prime minister accept that nhs staff will be hundreds of pounds worse off a year because of last week's budget? no, mr speaker, because of course, we will look at what the independent review body has to say, exceptionally about the nursing profession — whom we particularly value — but what he should also know, which he should reflect to the house is that under this government, we not only began

by a record increase in nhs funding, i think {33.9 billion, but because of the pandemic, we have put another £63 billion into supporting our nhs, mr speaker. could that reference to the independent pay review body offer the prime minister a way out of the problem? keir starmer piled on the pressure, saying nurses had been promised a bigger rise. mr speaker, my mum was a nurse, my sister was a nurse, my wife worked in the nhs. i know what it means to work for the nhs. when i clapped for carers, i meant it. he clapped for carers, then he shut the door in their face at the first opportunity. and the more you look at the prime minister's decision, the worse it gets — because it's notjust a pay cut, it's a broken promise too. the prime minister stuck to his script, record spending meant more doctors and nurses.

and we're going to go on, mr speaker, and we are going to deliver our promises, i can tell the right honourable gentlemen, we are going to go on and we are going to build 40 more hospitals and we're going to recruit 50,000 more nurses, and we're going to get on and deliver on our pledges to the british people, and we are going to do that because of our sound management of the economy and the fastest vaccine roll—out programme of any comparable country. keir starmer said even conservative mps thought the i% rise was mean... the mask really is slipping, and we can see what the conservative party now stands for. cutting pay for nurses, putting taxes up on families. he has had the opportunity to change course, but he's refused. so if he's so determined to cut nhs pay, will he at least show some courage and put it to a vote in this parliament? prime minister.

mr speaker, the last time we put in a vote, he voted against it. as i said before, we're increasing pay for nurses, we're massively increasing our investment in the nhs. we are steering a steady course whereas he weaves and wobbles from one week to the next, mr speaker. we vaccinate, we get on with delivering for the people we vaccinate, he vacillates, mr speaker, and that's the difference. hear, hear! labour later complained to the speaker that the prime minister's claim that keir starmer had voted against a pay rise wasn't true. some recollections may vary, as someone said. in his response, sir lindsay hoyle quoted from the rules for ministers. the government's own ministerial code could not be clearer about what is expected of ministers. it says, "it is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to parliament, opportunity."

the speaker with some direct advice for the prime minister. at least the vaccination programmes continues to deliver good news, and that means borisjohnson�*s under pressure from conservative mps to lift england's lockdown earlier. but his government's chief medical adviser warned that easing restrictions too quickly would lead to a substantial surge in covid infections. professor chris whitty was appearing before mps on the science and technology committee. what we're going to see is as things are opening up, what all the models suggest at some point we will get a surge in the virus, and whether that happen, we it doesn't happen soon, but it might, for example, happen later in the summer if we open up gradually, or if there is a seasonal effect, it might happen over the next autumn and winter. but i think all of it suggests there is going to be a further surge, and that will find the people who either have not been vaccinated or where the vaccine has not worked. and some of them will end up

in hospital, and sadly, some of them will go on to die. he was asked if improved data could speed up the lifting of lockdown. zeroing in on particular numbers, every single number will be incorrect. what they are doing is giving an indication of general principles, and the first and most important principle that models demonstrate is if you open up too fast, a lot more people die, a lot more people die. a conservative mp looked ahead to the scheduled lifting of all restrictions injune. it's104 days until the 21st ofjune, and i understand your natural caution, but the lesson from last year is obviously not just that things can turn back quickly, but the idea of protecting the path of the virus 100 days ahead seems to be something of a fools errand. so, you know, i understand your natural caution, but are we really saying that 21st ofjune date is set in stone and there is no way we could possibly go quicker? chris whitty said it was

a decision for ministers, but he offered advice based on principles. do not try and quicken the five—week breaks because if you want it to be based on data, you will have to use those five weeks if you wish to give people a week's notice. there isn't...you simply cannot see the effect size any time that is shorter than that. the chief scientific adviser was equally cautious. the estimate is that - after three weeks, you can start to get a real handle on this and it is probably| between three and four weeks to really get a decent handle i on what is happening. and that is the week- that the ministers want to be able to alert businesses - and others to what will happen. i think if you truncate that, you are essentially flying . blind. you might feel, "i can smell it going in a certain direction - and looks like this" - but you really won't know. sir patrick and professor whitty co—chair sage the government's scientific advisory group on emergencies. but do ministers follow the science?

scientific advice on this issue and on previous occasions in terms of advising the government to go into lockdown in the first and second waves and to not lift restrictions too early and to implement a circuit breaker lockdown in september and again as people mixing over christmas, these pieces of advice have seemingly been ignored by the government. do you agree that the government has a track record of ignoring scientific advice or at least using it inconsistently? our advice is there for all to see. - our advice is clear. we have given it repeatedly and not always welcome - by all sorts of people - and when we give the advice of all sorts of different i parts of the community, but we give it as we see it and then of course it is up to others to try and interpret . that with the other information that have and the other. priorities they may have. sir patrick vallance. in scotland, nicola sturgeon confirmed that more pupils will return to schools during the coming days and restrictions on outdoor

gatherings are being eased. but at first minister's questions two days later, she was challenged over the impact of the covid pandemic on waiting times for cancer treatment. the scottish labour leader said cancer targets had been missed throughout nicola sturgeon�*s time in office. doesn't that show that we can't come through covid and go back to the old arguments? instead, we, in this parliament, should focus on what unites us as a country, rather than what divides us. shouldn't the focus of this parliament be a recovery and a catch—up plan for our nhs so that we never again, never again have to choose between treating a virus or treating cancer? in terms of cancer waiting times before covid, average waits in terms of the time between diagnosis and treatment starting are very short in scotland. we have recognised for a long time there is more to do to meet targets and to reduce waiting times further. covid has undoubtedly been

a serious difficulty because of the pause in many normal aspects of the nhs that it has necessitated. but that is why, through investment, through reforms to how treatments are being delivered and many of the actions i've set out, we are now focused on getting the nhs back to normal. she also faced yet more questions about her government's mishandling of sexual harassment allegations against her predecessor, alex salmond, who was cleared in court of criminal charges. presiding officer, at her committee appearance, | the first minister became very forgetful, and she seems- determined to forget - that it was her government who were the ones who failed these women so badly. - according to five people now — including a qc and a civil- servant — her government is responsible for leakingl a complainant's name to salmond's team. . but nobody's been sacked, or even reprimanded. - and despite all her protests, the flawed procedure — - the one that let these women i down — has never been changed.

this week has shown again that. sexual harassment complainants cannot trust the ruling party to deal with a complaint - properly. first minister. firstly, can i say, the first allegation that ruth davidson made there is disputed, and i disputed it at committee last week. obviously, i wasn't party to the conversation that it is based on, and i'm limited in what i can say because of legal reasons. i want everything about this to be open and transparent because i do want to learn lessons. ruth davidson — perhaps belatedly, over recent days — has started to talk about the women, and i welcome that, because that is the issue right at the heart of this. i will be haunted for probably the rest of my life about the way in which the government, through an error made, i think, in good faith, but nevertheless, an error, that let down those women. i wasn't involved in the investigations, i wasn't aware of the error at the time, but as head of the scottish government, i take and ifeel responsibility for that.

nicola sturgeon. now, brexit may be in the rear—view mirror since we cut our ties injanuary, but tensions are rising between the uk and the eu. at stormont, northern ireland's first minister was asked about the practical problems that have followed new trading arrangements under what's known as the northern ireland protocol — and, in particular, checks on goods which arrive there from england, wales and scotland. the synagogue is in my constituency, thejewish community has been unable to get kosher meat and as we reach passover, this has become particularly acute. is the government aware of the scale and depth of this protocol is causing problems to people in northern ireland? this is not hiccup the teething problem as the prime minister might suggest. i thank the member for those very real and tangible examples of the impact on the protocol

and i have taken account of his comments regarding the jewish community which is very concerning. we have a very smalljewish community in northern ireland and the fact they can't access kosher meat is something that would cause me a great deal of concern. arlene foster wants the protocol scrapped. instead, the uk wants to give businesses more time to adapt by extending the so—called grace periods, a move that's prompted a threat of legal action by the eu. that didn't go down well on the conservative benches in the lords. the somewhat hysterical reaction of the eu demonstrates yet again their one—sided inability to recognise it legitimate unionist concerns and to see the belfast agreement to all of its strands. all sides need to be sensitive to social and political realities and the fact that the operation of the protocol rests on the confidence of both communities in northern ireland. i can reassure my noble friend we will consider very carefully any legal process launched by the eu, we will defend our position vigorously. in the commons, opposition mps

accused the government of provocation and belligerence. and it raises serious questions| about whether the government has a strategy at all to deal with the complex realities i facing northern ireland. provocation is not a strategy and a stop—gap is not - a solution. this is an extraordinary - position for a government to be in, having to break the law and trash britain's - international reputation to - remove checks that they claim but the northern ireland secretary insisted the actions taken were lawful. they are temporary operational easements when additional delivery time is needed, they don't change our legal obligations set out in the protocol and we will continue to set out protocol implementation in the committee. it is not the flow of goods at issue here but rather the provocative and belligerent manner in which the government seems determined to go about trying to achieve that.

mps in northern ireland were not persuaded by the government's approach. an extended grace period still leaves us with the reality that| 20% of all the checks taking place on all borders - across the european union are now taking place - in the irish sea, and thati will increase substantially beyond the grace period. last week, the secretary of state rushed out, sneaked out an announcement unilaterally on budget day that his government would once again break international law. given that governments across europe, politicians on capitol hill and in the white house are furious about this move, is the secretary of state at all concerned that this government's reputation is in tatters across the world? if the protocol is to be sustainable, we need to see a genuine partnership between the uk and the eu to fix problems, not for northern ireland to become a pawn in a war of attrition with the eu.

ina in a debate on international women's day, a labour mp reckoned the prime minister was more interested in building a bridge between scotland and northern ireland than taking responsibility for the barriers he's erected there. it tookjess phillips more than four minutes to read the list of more than 120 names. she ended with the name of sarah everard, who disappeared earlier this month. we have all prayed that the name of sarah everard would never be on any list. let's pray every day, and work every day, to make sure nobody's name ends up on this list again. the government has been defeated several times in the house of lords over its domestic abuse bill. peers overwhelmingly backed an amendment calling for more safeguards for children when they have supervised contact with a parent they don't live with. but the minister wasn't convinced there was a problem to solve. my lords, please ask yourselves, why would anyone who really cares about children not want to be fully trained

in child development and safeguarding? is it acceptable to leave children who are already traumatised by being victims, or watching abuse, to be in situations of increased risk? but the minister was not convinced there was a problem to solve. i do continue to question whether the statutory accreditation that is proposed in this amendment is required, or whether it would provide a more effective form of regulation than that which currently exists. the snp and others have criticised the replacement of the eu—funded erasmus student exchange programme, with a new uk scheme named after the mathematician alan turing. yesterday, the prime minister published his plans _ for an erasmus replacement without any consultation - or discussion with- devolved governments. the replacement scheme offers lower living support, _ no travel support, no tuition fee support. i why is this tory government taking opportunities away. from our young people? she is wrong about the

difference between the erasmus and the turing project because the turing scheme, unlike the erasmus scheme which overwhelmingly went to kids from better—off homes, the turing project is designed to help kids across the country, of all income groups, get to fantastic universities around the world. a senior executive at heathrow airport has described the queues for immigration there as �*unacceptable�*. the border is controlled by border force and managed by the home office. emma gilthorpe told the home affairs committee that before the pandemic, it was common to queue for up to two hours. now, it's not uncommon to see queues of three hours, and we have had queues extending out to nearly six hours on occasions. so, the extra layers that have been introduced are crippling the resourcing capability that border force has in place. emma gilthorpe, with another reason to stay at home this summer. mps have begun an inquiry

into the links between sport and long—term brain injury. it follows growing concern that professional footballers are far more likely to develop dementia than the general public. football has now introduced a system of concussion substitutes where a player with a suspected head injury can be replaced even if all other substitutes have been used. but an expert on rain injuries told the committee that the new system was a shambles. i think at last, football is at last introducing, you know, temporary substitutes, although it's way, way late in the day, isn't it? yeah. unfortunately, it's not temporary substitutes. i wish they were. football has a habit of, whenever it's faced with having to develop, of going out on their own and trying to develop something unique to everybody else, as if the problem never occurred before. mmm. what football has introduced is a shambles in 2021.

quite specifically the word shambles might sound absolutely catastmphic?_ catastrophic? it is because the medics and — catastrophic? it is because the medics and physios _ catastrophic? it is because the medics and physios are - catastrophic? it is because the medics and physios are given i catastrophic? it is because the i medics and physios are given no more _ medics and physios are given no more time, _ medics and physios are given no more time, no more opportunity, no more — more time, no more opportunity, no more tools or assistance to assess— no more tools or assistance to assess players with potentially complex brain injuries. so it hasn't — complex brain injuries. so it hasn't improve the assessment of players — hasn't improve the assessment of players with potential brain injuries — of players with potential brain injuries. what it has always done — injuries. what it has always done is _ injuries. what it has always done is perceived tactical disadvantage of allowing a player— disadvantage of allowing a player removed and once less on the pitch — player removed and once less on the pitch. in 2021, of all the ways— the pitch. in 2021, of all the ways a — the pitch. in 2021, of all the ways a sport might have addressed the issue of brain injury— addressed the issue of brain injury in_ injury in its game, i think that— injury in its game, i think that has_ injury in its game, i think that has been established. the former england _ that has been established. tie: former england strikerjeff are still is the first footballer known to have died of a brain condition from hitting the ball. , y condition from hitting the ball. , ,,

ball. geoff russell died in 2002, 19 _ ball. geoff russell died in 2002, 19 years _ ball. geoff russell died in 2002, 19 years ago, - ball. geoff russell died in 2002, 19 years ago, yet l ball. geoff russell died in i 2002, 19 years ago, yet here ball. geoff russell died in - 2002, 19 years ago, yet here we 2002,19 years ago, yet here we are talking about football protocols being a shambles. you said yourself that the majority of funding comes from the united states. why are we letting people down in this way, what is our problem in terms of our sporting bodies? i share with you the frustration that it's taken 20—odd years to get the point where we're sitting down discussing this today. is there any difference - between evidence to suggest heading has gotten less . dangerous over the years. in the 60s and 70s, the ball is very— in the 60s and 70s, the ball is very heavy, _ in the 60s and 70s, the ball is very heavy. had _ in the 60s and 70s, the ball is very heavy, had laces- in the 60s and 70s, the ball is very heavy, had laces and - in the 60s and 70s, the ball isj very heavy, had laces and now in the 60s and 70s, the ball is. very heavy, had laces and now a polyurethane _ very heavy, had laces and now a polyurethane in _ very heavy, had laces and now a polyurethane in different - polyurethane in different materials. _ polyurethane in different materials. is _ polyurethane in different materials. is there - polyurethane in different materials. is there any l materials. is there any evidence _ materials. is there any evidence to _ materials. is there any evidence to suggest i materials. is there any i evidence to suggest that changing _ evidence to suggest that changing technology - evidence to suggest that changing technology hasj evidence to suggest that - changing technology has had an effect? — changing technology has had an effect? ., ., effect? the weight of a ball robabl effect? the weight of a ball probably doesn't _ effect? the weight of a ball probably doesn't change . effect? the weight of a ball| probably doesn't change the impact that much and of course if you think of the modern ball

zipping through the air because it comes off the foot, slightly faster, you could always argue that the problem is greater in modern football than an older football. the reality is we just do not know. willie stewart. finally, to the seemingly neverending saga of how to prevent the houses of parliament falling down. 0ne former leader of the commons is frustrated that plans for restoration and renewal seem to be making no progress. my right honourable friend must surely see that the risks of a major asbestos leak, a sewage failure or, indeed, a devastating fire such as we saw at notre—dame are very high and remain very high, and we have virtually no contingency for this place. now, my personal motto, mr speaker, isjfdi, and i would like to offer that to my right honourable friend, to gird his loins to make some progress. mr speaker, i always preferred the motto of queen elizabeth i, which was "semper eadem" —

always the same — which i think makes a very good motto. jacob rees—mogg had heard the works could cost more than £10 billion. he said they had to be value for money. yes we need to redo the wiring and ensure this place a secure but we — and ensure this place a secure but we must not turn this house of commons into disneyland. jacob rees—mogg, dashing hopes of a palace of westminster theme park. those of us hoping for a ride on the commons dodgems will have to wait. thanks for watching the week in parliament. i'll be back on bbc parliament at 11 o'clock, on monday evening, with the latest from the commons and the lords. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello. thursday felt like one of those days where someone up

there was just playing with the taps — raining one minute, then dry, then rain, then dry. it was like that pretty much all day. and some of the storms pretty impressive. we brought some hail to the streets of carlisle. some of the storms dropped temperatures by up to 5 degrees celsius as they went through, and we had some of this spectacular mammatus cloud on the underside of some of the cumulonimbus thunder clouds — a sign of really vigorous storm clouds building. and more recently, well, some of those showers have started to turn to snow across parts of northern scotland, particularly in the high ground, so we've had a bit of everything really and we've got more of the same to come as well on through the course of friday. a risk of icy stretches, then, where we have this snow and those lower temperatures, particularly across the high but there could be a bit of sleet or a bit of hail mixed in with the showers just about anywhere over the next few hours, and it's going to be a blustery old start to the day on friday. heavy rain for a time across wales and south west england, slowly pushing eastwards with some thunder mixed in with that. then we'll probably have a more generally showery kind of spell of weather for most areas of the uk.

some sunshine, some hail mixed in with the showers, temperatures dropping sharply when those clouds go through. and then late in the day, another spell of more general rain is set to move in as the winds start to crank up again. yes, it's going to be a particularly blustery friday night and early part of saturday morning. now, temperatures, by the time we get to the first part of saturday morning, well, low enough to give us some frost and again, there will be some snow mixed in with those showers over parts of higher parts of scotland, so for some, a chilly start to the weekend. and the weekend, well it's dominated by low pressure. we're going to continue to see strong winds, showers or even a few lengthier outbreaks of rain diving across the uk. so on saturday, it is a day of sunshine and showers. again, some of the showers will have hail mixed in with them. still a bit of snow over some of the higher ground because yes, it is maybe just about cold enough for that. and again, when those showers come through, the temperatures will drop

sharply by several degrees celsius, but these are the kind of maximum temperatures that you might expect to see — highs of about 7—10 degrees celsius — but perhaps feeling cooler, given the strength for sunday, another weather system dives south—eastwards across the uk, bringing more general rain with it. probably the driest, brightest weather across northern scotland, and those temperatures coming up just an odd degree or so. that's your latest weather.

welcome to bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: 100 millionjabs by day 60 of his presidency. joe biden uses his first primetime address in office to set out what could be his country's pathway out of the pandemic. if we do this together, byjuly 4, there's a good chance you, yourfamilies and friends, will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighbourhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate independence day. three european countries suspend use of the astrazeneca vaccine after reports that some people given it, went on to develop blood clots. and a piece of art that only exists digitally sells china tightens its control in

hong kong, saying that only probe ageing candidates