this is bbc news: i'm victoria fritz with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a hundred millionjabs by day 60 of his presidency, joe biden uses his first primetime address in office to set out a pathway out of the pandemic. if we do this together, byjuly the fourth, there is a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or 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. the british government warns that a british—iranian woman

needs urgent mental health treatment after being held in iran for five years. and, a piece of art that only exists digitally sells for a record—breaking $70 million at auction. hello and welcome. president biden has told america that better days lie ahead after a year of lockdown and loss following the coronovirus pandemic. in his first primetime televised address since his inauguration, mr biden said the country would have enough supplies to vaccinate the entire adult population by the end of may. he said he hoped people would be able to celebrate independence day onjuly 4th with theirfamilies.

but he also reminded people of the dark days behind them. i've told you before, i carry a card in my pocket with the number of americans who have died from covid to date. it's on the back of my schedule. as of now, total deaths in america, 527,726. that's more deaths than in world war i, world war ii, the vietnam war and 9/11 combined. here's the bbc�*s david willis. this was, as you mentioned, joe biden�*s first prime—time address since taking office just 50 days ago. it came from the east room of the white house, lasted less than 30 minutes and it came after the passage of the american rescue plan — this is this nearly $2 trillion

measure aimed at resuscitating the american economy, providing relief to those who have suffered because of this pandemic. and those who have suffered included, mr biden said, those who lost theirjobs, of course, those who have been evicted from their homes and those have been targeted because of his predecessor, donald trump's insistence on referring to the virus as a so—called china virus. vicious hate crimes against asian—americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated. at this very moment, so many of them, our fellow americans, they are on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives. and still — still — they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in america. it's wrong, it's unamerican and it must stop.

let's speak to professor michael genoveesa, president of the global policy institute. thank you very much forjoining me, professor. a prime—time address such as this by a president can be a piece of history. did this one in your view count as history? i think we are going to have to go back to that interview and just a moment when we can, i think we are suffering from some little technical gremlins this morning. we will be back, hopefully, speaking to him about that historic first prime—time address by the president. let's move on, shall we, and talk about vaccine news. the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine has been suspended in three european countries, after reports that some people who've had the jab had developed blood clots. the european medicine agency

has stressed the move was precautionary. norway and iceland announced their decisions after denmark stopped its rollout for two weeks. paul hawkins reports the ema's message is clear — there is no link between blood clots and the astrazeneca vaccine. the manufacturer says the drug's safety has been studied extensively in clinical trials. nevertheless, denmark, norway and iceland have temporarily suspended the rollout of the vaccine after two women in europe died after getting the jab, one of them in denmark itself. translation: in denmark, - more than 140,000 people have received the vaccine, so that alone would mean that there may be random things that would otherwise also happen, even if people had not been vaccinated. the suspensions are precautionary. the other death, also from the same batch, was in austria — one of six

countries that have stopped using that specific batch — again, as a precaution. the ema, meanwhile, say 30 people in total have developed clots out of 5 million europeans who have had the jab. because millions of people have got it, just by chance, many of them will have had different conditions happening soon after they got the vaccine, unfortunately. so this does not mean the vaccine caused it. suspending vaccine rollouts is the last thing europe needs. delivery delays mean vaccination rates across the continent are still way behind countries like the uk and now some reports suggest the single—dosejohnson & johnson vaccine, which was approved on thursday, may not arrive until april. most of the countries with the highest infection rises are in central and eastern europe. the czech republic, seen here, and slovakia have had to move covid hospital patients to other european countries,

while parts of estonia ran out of hospital beds this week, triggering another partial lockdown. the vaccine can't come soon enough. paul hawkins, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. a lesser, third—degree murder charge has been reinstated against derek chauvin, the white, former police officer accused of killing george floyd in minneapolis last may. prosecutors feel the new charge may make a conviction more likely than for the more serious charges the ex—policeman is also facing. the us house of representatives has approved two bills to strengthen gun laws. one would see expanded checks on anyone buying a gun online, at a gun show, or in some private sales. the other would give more time for background checks to be carried out on purchasers. they face an uphill battle in getting approved by the senate. the united nations food agency says that, ten years after the start of syria's civil war, the country is facing its worst

humanitarian crisis yet. the world food programme says that a record 12.4 million people, nearly 60% of the population suffer from food insecurity and hunger. we're going to try again to speak to professor michael genoveesa, president of the global policy institute. let's speak about some of the fallout and thoughts of this very first prime—time address, will it go down in history as a good one?— will it go down in history as a good one? this was a chance, alon: good one? this was a chance, along with _ good one? this was a chance, along with the _ good one? this was a chance, along with the american - good one? this was a chance, | along with the american public to both grieve and celebrate. grieving the loss of half a million people and he was very explicit about the pain and loss that occurred, but also to offer hope that the cavalry is on the way and that, he offered

two very specific dates, may one when he said all adult americans will be eligible to receive the vaccination and the second one as your report earlier indicated, july four, our independence day, when people have barbecues and he says we're going to be able to that, so my wife and they are planning on that and victoria, you are invited.— you are invited. thank you, look forward _ you are invited. thank you, look forward to _ you are invited. thank you, look forward to it! - you are invited. thank you, | look forward to it! hopefully we will be allowed to travel by then. you mentioned, the messaging is quite tricky here. looking back and looking forward, and in some regards he has sort of court in the middle. regan was a great communicator, clinton felt everyone's pain, 0bama was quite professorial in the way that he spoke to the nation, how would you describe biden�*s presidential style? he’s how would you describe biden's presidential style?— presidential style? he's more medically _ presidential style? he's more medically and _ presidential style? he's more medically and his _ presidential style? he's more medically and his approach i presidential style? he's more | medically and his approach and his stale. he is not charismatic, is not warm and fuzzy the way clinton could be. he is not as erudite as they

0bama was, but it's managerial, can be a little bit technocratic, so you don't have the warm fuzzy but it's very effective in terms of being direct and resident biden has been unbelievably forthright and open about things. he says, we will make mistakes and we will own up to it and be honest with you and that is in contrast to president trump and his try to make a very direct contrast. i5 his try to make a very direct contrast-— his try to make a very direct contrast. is biden, therefore in our contrast. is biden, therefore in your view. _ contrast. is biden, therefore in your view, the _ contrast. is biden, therefore in your view, the president l in your view, the president that the rest of the world needs with yellow well, i don't know about the rest of the world. i think has been a real anecdote for what's been going on — make antidote for what's been going on the last four years in the united states, he is refreshingly frank, this crisis need you to put vaccines and people's arms, it is a huge project, massive. find and people's arms, it is a huge project, massive.— project, massive. and his turn this whole _ project, massive. and his turn this whole process _ project, massive. and his turn this whole process around. - project, massive. and his turn i this whole process around. when

he came and there was no plan, and so a kind of technocratic bureaucratic manager is a very good position to be and if you are president right now. qm. are president right now. 0k, thank you — are president right now. 0k, thank you very _ are president right now. 0k, thank you very much, - are president right now. 0k, thank you very much, professor. thank you so much for sticking with us and fighting through those gremlins, thank you. the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, is in urgent need of psychiatric treatment after her prison ordeal in iran. that's according to a medical report shared with the bbc and sent to the british foreign office. commissioned by the legal charity redress, it says she's suffering from serious and chronic post—traumatic stress disorder. ms zaghari—ratcliffe was released from house arrest earlier this week, but is due back in court on sunday. caroline hawley reports. show your nice hair. nazanin: love your hair! what a beautiful. my favourite part is when you brush your hair. a facetime call with tehran, a precious morning ritual. nazanin longs to be able to

brush gabriella's hair herself. the last five years have been a psychological torment, but with her daughter especially, she puts on a brave face. there she is! there she is. last weekend, her ankle tag was removed, at the end of her sentence. but relief is now turning to nerves as sunday's court hearing approaches. her biggest terror is returning to solitary confinement. it's a really horrific experience, and it's cumulative and it builds up. and, of course, most of it has been hidden away. she didn't talk about it when she came out. i don't talk to the media about some other stuff. she didn't talk about it with her mum and dad. we all have that instinct to protect our families from the things we've been through. the report contains distressing new details of interrogations to cooperate, and claims she'd been abandoned by her husband and would lose access to her daughter. it says she's suffering

from serious and chronic post—traumatic stress disorder, major depression and obsessive—compulsive disorder. the continuous uncertainty about her fate contributed to this, and that without reunification with her family in the uk and effective treatment, hersymptoms and disorders won't resolve, and will become chronic and potentially worsen. in order to recover, it says, she needs to be in a safe environment. the examination was carried out online, over several hours, while nazanin was under house arrest. psychological torture is even more difficult to heal and more long—lasting than physical torture, and it leaves invisible scars. worrying about richard and gabriella is a source of great guilt for nazanin. she knows how much richard is carrying on his shoulders as he campaigns ceaselessly to get her home. nazanin used to love coming to this exact spot when gabriella was a baby but,

at six, she's not so interested in feeding ducks any more. she's growing up fast and her mother is missing it. all the time, time is passing. and all the time, her baby's getting bigger and she's not there. she's not there to protect her, she's not there to enjoy the good bits, not there for any of it. and even when she is back with them, this report makes clear that for the whole family, it's likely to be a long path to recovery. caroline hawley, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: $70 million for an artwork that doesn't physically exist. the digital art auction that's become a record—breaker. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this, the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times.

in less than 2a hours, then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, - sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, i travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. i paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — i've never been married before! this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

in the us, president biden gives a prime time address on the pathway out of the pandemic, saying americans could be able to gather byjuly 4th. the bbc has heard gruesome testimony of abductions and beheadings in mozambique. an islamist insurgency in the east african nation has driven more than 500,000 people from their homes in the past year. aid agencies are now calling it an urgent and neglected humanitarian crisis. in a world exclusive, a bbc team has reached a besieged town at the heart of the conflict — the first 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding has this report from palma, in the cabo delgado region of mozambique. it looks alluring but below us, northern mozambique is now a place of terror. we are flying

into palma, a small town under siege, although it is cut, the outskirts unnervingly empty. —— all roads cut. in town, we find traumatised families. these children have just fled the village on foot, seeking refuge here. translation: we village on foot, seeking refuge here. translation:— here. translation: we have nothina here. translation: we have nothing left — here. translation: we have nothing left now. _ here. translation: we have nothing left now. the - here. translation: we have nothing left now. the men - here. translation: we have| nothing left now. the men who attacked a village told us we kill as we please. we are al—shabaab. kill as we please. we are al-shabaab._ al-shabaab. and here is al-shabaab, a _ al—shabaab, a local islamist group with a taste for abductions and butchery. its fighters have swept through this region with bewildering speed. no wonder people in palma are close to panic. food supplies are running low. the situation here in palma really is very grim. you can see the

frustration and their desperation amongst local people because there is simply no food and what food there is is incredibly expensive. i am very angry- _ is incredibly expensive. i am very angry- i _ is incredibly expensive. i am very angry. i have _ is incredibly expensive. i am very angry. i have had - is incredibly expensive. i am very angry. i have had three| very angry. i have had three days without eating nothing. and i'm here but i don't get nothing. and i'm here but i don't get nothinu. �* . ., , and i'm here but i don't get nothinu. . ., , ., nothing. and palma is not the only place that struggling. we are heading to account for displaced families further south and in the past year al—shabaab has forced 100,000 people in this remote region to run for their lives. the conditions are bleak. so other stories that have carried with them. many children from our village i hear a loan. their mothers were abducted it. —— are here alone. they took my 14—year—old granddaughter. i can only guess what happened to her. against the militants, mozambique's army and police

struggling to put it politely. they have hired private security companies, frustration then south africa, to help out, with mixed results and much controversy. —— first russia then south africa. and still then south africa. and still the exodus continues, many fleeing by boat as a once tranquil corner of africa sinks into chaos and despair. andrew harding, bbc news. plenty more available on that story on the bbc website. get in touch with us on twitter as well. time for the sport. with europa league football, and manchester united have conceded a late equaliser against ac milan in the first leg of their round of 16 clash. the italians, minus the injured zlatan ibrahimovic, saw united go in front at old trafford through a well—worked piece

when amad diallo headed over the keeper — his first goal for the club. but in the second minute of stoppage time, the visitors picked up a vital away goal. the second leg will be at the san siro next thursday. of course we know we have to travel down there and score a goal and win the game so, or score two and draw so of course it makes it more difficult, always when you conceded home you never happy when you do. of course one minute before full—time it is also a disappointing time but we have to take that on the chin. and just travel down there next week and go for it. two late goals including a mohamed elneny thunderbolt from outside the box gave arsenal a 3—1win over 0lympiacos, while tottenham saw harry kane score both in their 2—0 home win over dinamo zagreb. manchester city are through to the quarter—finals of the women's champions league after thrashing fiorentina 5—0 for an 8—0 aggregate victory.

england striker ellen white, who was captain for the game, struck twice in the first half in italy. caroline weir added one from the penalty spot and sam mewis scored twice in the second half to complete the win. the draws for the quarter and semi—finals will be held in switzerland later on friday. 2a hours after beating british number one dan evans, roger federer has lost his second—round match at the qatar 0pen. the tournament in doha was federer�*s return after over a year out following two knee operations, but the 20—time major winner was defeated in three sets by georgia's world number 42 nikoloz basilashvili. new zealand's sonny bill williams has confirmed his retirement from both codes of rugby to restart his boxing career. williams won two rugby union world cups with the all blacks in 2011 and 2015, and was also part of the kiwis�* squad that reached the final of the 2013 rugby league world cup. he also won a super rugby title in union with the chiefs, and two nrl premiership titles

in league with the roosters and the bulldogs. williams now wants to resume a boxing career in which he's won seven fights out of seven so far and became new zealand heavyweight champion. sergio garcia holds a two—stroke lead heading into the second round of the players championship in florida later. he carded an opening round 7—under, dropping just one shot but finishing with this eagle at the 9th, which was the final hole of his round. it wasn't as enjoyable for his playing partner and defending champion rory mcilroy. this event was cancelled due to the covid—19 pandemic last year and the northern irishman may struggle to make the cut. he's 7 over. irish sprinter sam bennett took his second victory of this year's paris—nice as he won stage five on thursday. bennett was made to fight for position but took victory by a bike length while slovenia's primoz roglic retains the race leaders yellow jersey. —— retains the race

leader's yellow jersey. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the team, that is your sports news for now. a digital artwork by a relatively unknown american artist known as beeple has sold at christies for nearly $70 million. it's the first time a major auction house has ever sold a work that doesn't physically exist. a record 22 million people watched online as the piece, called "everydays: the first 5000 days", made beeple one of the top three most valuable living artists. will gompertz has more. so, here it is — the $69 million artwork which doesn't actually exist in the real world. it lives virtually, online, authenticated as unique by a digital certificate known as a non—fungible token, or a nft — the ownership of which caused a bidding otherwise known as beeple, who is now a very rich man. the money is crazy and awesome, and i think it will do a lot of good, and i will do a lot of good for the world with this too. how would you describe

the aesthetic and the look and the style? now again, like, now, it is like weird, gross sci—fi stuff, some of them are kind of a bit nasty, if i am being honest. how easy is it to make an nft? it is honestly not that hard. there is a bunch of sites out there where you can make them quite easy — it's sort of what that nft represents. it's kind of like — i look at it almost like it really is proof of ownership, proving you own some digitalfile, so it can be attached to anything. christie's began the bidding at a modest $100 before witnessing the price go up in $1 million increments. the kind of excitement in our bidding pool, right, was amazing to behold. this is the future. we are boldly stepping into it. i think that this past year, more than any year of my life, really did break down that kind of membrane between the virtual life and the real life.

nfts are the new kid on the auction block. the price paid today certainly surprised this art market expert. i think it's completely insane, quite frankly. absolutely bananas. but that being said, people wanted to buy it. it is beeple, who is extremely well known. in that particular field, there is an absolute frenzy about cryptocurrencies at the moment. encrypted digital art is today's investment craze. it might be tomorrow's burst bubble or the beginning of a new story in the history of art. if it is, this collage will appear on page one. will gompertz, bbc news. here, here. absolutely bonkers. let's crack on, shelby. —— let's crack on, shall we? barbie's famous beau ken has turned 60. toy company mattel is

celebrating the milestone with a return to ken's original look — sandals, swimming shorts and a carefully slung yellow towel. a senior designerfor the company says ken has gone through many fashion transformations, skin tones and careers. controversially, ken and barbie split up after 43 years of dating, but rekindled their relationship in 2011. 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 ground in scotland. 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 of the winds. 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.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered. president biden's $1.9 trillion relief package becomes law. believe this is historic legislation, and i think most people do as well. it is about rebuilding the backbone of this country. the seal of approval from wall street. the dow and s&p close at new record highs, as investors look to a post—pandemic future. also coming up: vaccine diplomacy. china builds influence in the developing world one needle at a time, but can the us and its allies do the same? plus, globalization under threat. singapore's prime minister warns of growing divisions that

threaten the world's security and prosperity,