wa i’s wars are this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. the biden administration starts its first face—to—face talks with china — with both sides exchanging sharp words. the trial of a canadian man charged with spying in china begins today — a canadian embassy official claims he has been barred from entering the courtroom. italy, germany and france will re—start the roll—out of the astrazeneca vaccine — after europe's medicines regulator says the jab is safe and effective. in france — a new month—long lockdown for paris and surrounding areas — the prime minister warning the country is suffering

a third wave of coronavirus we start with those first top level meetings between the us and china sincejoe biden became us president. in the last half hour, us and chinese officials have begun a second round of talks. it's a chance to re—set relations between the world's two biggest economies. america's top diplomat antony blinken is meeting his opposite number yang gee—air chur against the snowy backdrop of alaska. beijing has said the "serious difficulties of the past" should not continue, but so far there's been no indication that things are improving from the turbulence of the trump years. and in their opening remarks, not too many warm words. (sots

today we will have an opportunity to discuss key priorities, both domestic and global, so that china can better understand our administration's intentions and approach. we will also discuss our deep concerns with actions by china including in hong kong, taiwan, attacks on the united states, economic coercion towards our allies. i said that the united states relationship will be competitive or should be, collaborative can be an adversarial work it must be. the people of the two countries in the world, they are hoping to see practical outcomes coming out of our dialogue and debate in taiwan are an inalienable part of china's territory. china's five firmly opposed to us interference in china's affairs. we have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference and we will take firm in response.

earlier i spoke to our state department correspondent barbara plett usher, who's in anchorage — where the meeting is taking place. she says both parties went into the meeting with quite different agendas. actually, the opening statements turned out to be rather a usually undiplomatic exchange because you had first of all very bluntly mr blinken saying what he had been telegraphing he would say because he had been saying it beforehand, talking about china's policies towards hong kong. things were not internal matters but issues that affect the system of rules that govern

global stability so there were issues concerning and they would raise them and the chinese shot back and say we follow the un rules and you should stop trying to advance your own system of democracy because it is not necessarily superior and you're dealing with your own problems of social unrest, so don't try to tell us what to do. that was the end of the formal comments and the two sides went back and forth for a bit, kind of having counter says and defend each other in the press was about to be dismissed and someone called them back and say i want to add this and so on. it was an unusual extended public sparring event and afterwards a senior official accused the chinese and in the opening session that he said we will continue to go ahead with business as planned in the session has now ended. they have two more to go. the trial of one of two canadians charged with spying in china is believed to have begun. both men were arrested two years ago shortly

after the detention in canada of huawei executive meng wangzhou on a us warrant. michael spavor�*s trial — this is thought to be him arriving at court — is believed to be in dandong today. the canadian embassy in china has said their official has not been allowed to enter the courtroom. michael kovrig's trial is due to begin on monday. our correspondent, robin brant, is in shanghai. alljust all just start by alljust start by clearing up what know about what is happening and what we don't know? �* . . �* happening and what we don't know? �* . ., �* ., ., know? i'm afraid i'm going to have to catch _ know? i'm afraid i'm going to have to catch this _ know? i'm afraid i'm going to have to catch this in - know? i'm afraid i'm going to have to catch this in some - have to catch this in some generality because it looks like his trial after over two years of detention is beginning but wejust don't years of detention is beginning but we just don't know because a group of foreign diplomats who gathered outside including

a senior canadian diplomat wanted access and they have been denied that. there were foreign reporters there not being allowed to go in. so it looks like his trial has begun but the truth is at the moment we just don't know. they don't have to wait for reports either from the officials all from chinese media may be allowed in to see the proceedings. what chinese media may be allowed in to see the proceedings.— to see the proceedings. what is the significance _ to see the proceedings. what is the significance of— to see the proceedings. what is the significance of these - to see the proceedings. what is the significance of these cases. the significance of these cases from the standpoint of international diplomacy? how lona international diplomacy? how long have _ international diplomacy? how long have you _ international diplomacy? how long have you got? _ international diplomacy? hm: long have you got? china has insisted repeatedly that this arrest in december 2018 is not linked at all to the detention some days earlier of the huawei executive who was detained by canadian authorities in vancouver. that is in relation to a us extradition warrant and subsequent fraud allegations. they say they were detained

because they have been accused and subsequently charged with spying on behalf of a foreign entity. those two men have not been seen in public since december 2018. over two years now. they struggle to get access to officials in the canadian embassy and have communication with their families. china says the two things are unrelated and that is doubted by many in particular on the canadian side to see these arrests as an arbitrary retaliatory action following detention in the united states. china has links and some of its public declarations. the fate of these two men with the fate of the person allowed to stay in her house in vancouver. she can travel along that city freely with an electronic tag and yet michael who we think is in in

court today has been detained in separate jail somewhere in china. as i say, not seen when the outside world, not seen as much as they would have liked to been seen by consular officials or have contact with their families. officials or have contact with theirfamilies. we officials or have contact with their families.— officials or have contact with their families. we will be back with ou their families. we will be back with you if _ their families. we will be back with you if we _ their families. we will be back with you if we get _ their families. we will be back with you if we get any - their families. we will be back with you if we get any more i with you if we get any more details in the coming hours but thank you. details in the coming hours but thank you. let's get some of the day's other news north korea has announced that it will cut all diplomatic ties with malaysia for extraditing one of its nationals to the united states to face money laundering charges. the north korean is accused of supplying luxury goods from singapore to pyongyang. he could become the first north korean to stand trial for alleged sanctions—related crimes in the us. a woman has accused american actor armie hammer of raping her in 2017. the 24—year—old woman made the allegations during a virtual news conference — saying that throughout their relationship, which began in 2016,

he had abused her "mentally, emotionally and sexually". a statement from the actor's lawyer has rejected the claim, saying their relations were consensual. world athletics has allowed the return of russian track and field athletes competing under a neutralflag to international events, including the olympic games. their number will be limited to ten. the athletes will have to meet anti—doping criteria; and their participation will continue to depend on the russian athletics federation meeting certain targets in its reform programme. parts of france will re—enter lockdown on friday evening as the country fears a third wave of coronavirus infections. more than 35,000 new cases have been recorded in the past 2a hours and hospitals are nearing crisis point. tanya dendrinos reports. patients fighting for life. nurses and doctors

fighting to save them. 1200 people are currently in intensive care in paris, higher than at the peak of the second wave in november. breaking point is inside. translation: you can always go. the alert is getting tighter and tighter. we are not at breaking point at the moment that we have come very close oh, yes, we have the impression that the breaking point is not far away. we managed to adapt all situations but the is that we deserve the detriment of something else. the mounting pressure forcing the government to respond. from midnight on friday the french capital will go into month long lockdown along with 15 other regions. translation: facing an acceleration of the virus and the pressure that is increasing in our hospital systems, we owe it to ourselves. the time has come

to go further and implement more demanding measures in the most critical departments and situations. nonessential businesses will be forced to shut but skills will remain open. the measures are not quite as strict as the previous lockdown with people still allowed to exercise outdoors. meanwhile the national curfew will remain in place but begin an hour later. if this lockdown allows us to move onto the next step and take advantage of this month to vaccinate and prepare for future it is a good thing. it is more like saying that one is this going to end. one year we have not found a way out of this, in one year we have lockdown number eight? that is what scares me. a relentless cycle in the battle against the unrelenting virus. several leading eu states say they'll re—start the roll—out of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine after europe's medicines regulator

concluded the jab was "safe and effective". the european medicines agency has been conducting a review after 13 member states suspended use of the astrazeneca vaccine, over fears of a possible link with blood clots. now the ema is saying that while it cannot definitively rule out a connection, these cases are very rare , and the benefits of using the astrazeneca vaccine outweigh the risks. here's our medical editor fergus walsh every injection, every vaccine given is another person protected. half a million people a day here are getting immunised at present. many eu countries suspended using the oxford astrazeneca jab pending the outcome of today's safety review. in hull, there was no sign of vaccine hesitancy. i was waiting a long time. i'm in my 60s, and i've only just really got mine, so i was just happy it's finally done.

ijust took on board this is my appointment, this is what needs doing, this is keeping everyone safe so let's go ahead and get it done. the uk medicines regulator said after a rigorous review, there was no evidence that blood clots were caused by the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. it looked in particular at five cases of rare clots in the brain among 11 million people immunised by the nhs. all were men under 60, one of whom died. it said, given the link was unproven, the benefits of the vaccine far outweighed potential side effects. for those in their 40s, the risk of dying after covid infection is one in a thousand. as a precautionary measure, it's advising anyone with a headache that lasts more than four days after vaccination to seek medical attention. there is no difference that blood clots in veins are occurring more than would be expected in the absence

of vaccination, for either vaccine. the public can have every confidence in the thoroughness of our review. and in amsterdam, the european medicines agency has come to the same conclusion about the astrazeneca jab. this is a safe and effective vaccine. its benefits in protecting people from covid—19, with the associated risks of death and hospitalisation, outweigh the possible risks. the committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events, or blood clots. the prime minister, who's 56, will get his first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine tomorrow, and said all adults would be offered a jab by the end ofjuly.

0ur progress along the road - to freedom continues unchecked. we remain on track to reclaim the things we love, _ to see our families and friends again, to return to our- local pubs, our gyms and sports facilities, | and, of course, our shops. all, of course, as long - as the data continue to go in the right direction, - and we meet our four tests. those in their 40s seem likely to have to wait until may to get their first vaccine, because older people will be getting their second shot, and there won't be enough extra doses to go around, due to supply issues caused by a delay in a delivery of vaccine from india and a batch here that needed retesting. half of all adults in the uk have now had a first dose of vaccine. the head of the nhs in england, sir simon stevens, got the astrazeneca jab at westminster abbey. safe and effective vaccines will answer all our prayers to be delivered from this pandemic. fergus walsh, bbc news.

the united states and china exchange sharp words in the first high level direct talks since president biden took office. (00v)the trial of a canadian man charged with spying the trial of a canadian man charged with spying in china begins today — more than two years after he and another man were detained. it's ten years this week since the start of the war in syria and the attempt to oust the regime of president bashar al—assad. in a once—prosperous nation, three quarters of the population are now in need of humanitarian aid. food prices are rocketing, leading to widespread malnutrition, particularly among children.

0ur middle east editorjeremy bowen — who's covered the conflict since the start — has been assessing the impact of the conflict a country destroyed, perhaps half a million people killed. 0ne estimate is that 22,000 of them were children. at the centre of too many tragedies to count are the decisions taken by president bashar al—assad. he says he saved syria. with the russian air force, the president saved his regime. zabadani, outside damascus, in the first year of the war. a taste of freedom. it became a war when the regime crushed peaceful demonstrations and protesters turned into armed rebels. the fighters i met that night were all killed.

allahu akbar! morale was high among recruits to the new rebel militias. these held the damascus suburb of eastern ghouta for seven years and were typical — young sunnis angry, often unemployed, ready to fight a vicious regime built around assad's own minority alawi sect. what do you think will happen to assad? killed. must be killed. this man, islam alloush, is now injail in france on war crimes charges. it became a dirty sectarian war. the regime's firepower meant it spilled most blood. aleppo, 2017. just after regime forces

besieged and starved out fighters and civilians using medieval tactics with modern weapons in the vaults of an ancient city. when bashar inherited the country from his father in 2000, he promised reform, and many syrians believed him. in wellington in new zealand, karan shah has political asylum and is building a new life. in aleppo, his hometown, he helped organise the first peaceful protests, hoping the president might risk elections instead of war. i think bashar al—assad would have won by a huge difference. he refused to do that. he was extremely arrogant. he did not want to give any concessions, fearing that minor concessions early on might tell the public that, well,

their protest actually worked, and that might get them to raise their demands. so you would say that he made a massive mistake? genuinely, i really think he did. bashar al—assad, against all the evidence, insists there were no peaceful protesters. instead, he claims syria faced a conspiracy hatched by the west, israel, saudi arabia, al-qaeda and islamic state. in a rare interview in 2015, he showed no remorse. did the president hint it might have been different? 0nly he knows. what keeps you awake at night? what keeps me awake at night? many reasons that could affect any human. life. could be personal, could be work. yourjob?

could be yourjob, could be personal. iam human. what could any human be affected by? i am affected by the same factors. millions blame bashar al—assad for their suffering and would like to see him dead. but without some real supporters prepared to give their own lives, assad would not have survived. this was the funeral of a soldier from his own alawi heartland. the years of killing have left syria broken, divided and dangerous. what price victory? jeremy bowen, bbc news. the us house of representatives has passed two immigration bills to provide

legal status for millions of undocumentated migrants. if approved by the senate, it would offer a path to citizenship for undocumented young people known as "dreamers" who were brought to the united states as children. the leader of the house, nancy pelosi, said immigrants strengthen and enoble the united states. ronald reagan said, if we ever close the door to new americans, our leadership in the world would be lost. it has always been a pleasure for me to sing the praises of our dreamers. they make us so proud. they have, in so many ways, as the distinguished chair has indicated. so, for us, this is a day of not only passing legislation, but a cause for celebration. we humans may be tired of video calls, socialising on a screen and streamed performances, but chimps at two czech zoos have just started to enjoy their new daily zoom calls. to compensate for lack of interaction with visitors since the start of the pandemic,

staff at two wildlife parks in the czech republic launched a project which allows primates it is feeding time at the dvur kralove safari park and these chimps are enjoying their meal with some online company. to keep these social animals entertain, keepers set up big screens to link them up with potential friends in another zoo on another side of the country. at first, they were reluctant to come closer to the screens, but now they have got used to them. they have even adopted some human behaviours, such as grabbing goodies to chew on while watching the action. translation: for the first hours and days, i they were surprised and they were very interested in looking at the screens. then they realised that it was a kind of transmission, that these were not real animals and they started watching, just like we watch tv or movies when we are in the cinema. the sound is off, so no danger of mute button disasters,

but there has been plenty of interest in what these chimps are up to since the project got under way. wildlife experts believe this project will ensure the well—being of these intelligent animals. translation: the project - created here aims to enhance, enrich the lives of these animals, to offer them a greater source of entertainment to keep them occupied. there isn't going to be much chance for human visitors entertaining the chimps until the zoo can open. but in the meantime, they are really enjoying watching one another and they are not as fed up with zoom meetings as we are. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones

hello there. we saw plenty of sunshine across scotland on thursday. that pushed temperatures up to 19 celsius in edinburgh, making it the warmest day of the year so far. for most, though, it was rather cool and cloudy, and that's how it's going to be today. in fact, the southeast quadrant is going to be quite chilly, as we tap into some colder air from the near continent. so another chilly day here like we saw on thursday. elsewhere, plenty of cloud around, the odd spot of light rain or drizzle, but again, sunshine will develop through central, western scotland, northern ireland, perhaps western wales too, and plenty of sunshine across the southeast, as this colder air will be drier air,

but it's going to feel particularly chilly, especially close to the coast, temperatures struggling to get much above 7—9 celsius. but in the sunnier spots, though, through central scotland, we could make 15 celsius, not as warm as thursday, and could see 12—13 celsius in some of the warmer spots, the sunnier spots elsewhere. so as we head through friday night, it stays chilly and clear across the southeast. elsewhere, quite a bit of cloud around, just the odd clear spell here and there, the odd spot of light rain and drizzle too. temperatures range from 4—7 celsius particularly where we have the cloud. but under clearer skies, lower than that, particularly in the southeast. so, this is saturday's picture, then, starts off mostly cloudy, again, but through the day, we will start to see some cloud break, some sunshine, eastern sctoland, northeast england, and this weather front will move into the northern isles and northern scotland to bring stronger winds here and outbreaks of rain. so a little bit cooler here because of the wind, but where we have the sunshine for eastern scotland, northeast england, we could see 13—14 celsius, but for most, 10—12 celsius. on into sunday, our area of high pressure's still with us, so winds for most will be light away from the north and east,

a bit of an onshore breeze here, and then signs of the cloud tending to break up more on sunday. so we could see increasing amounts of sunny spells here and there, but some areas may stay grey all day. again, those temperatures 10—12 celsius, maybe 13 celsius in any brighter spots, but chillier along north sea coasts. then into next week, our area of high pressure eventually breaks down and moves towards the near continent and allows weather fronts to move in from the atlantic, starting to pick up more of a west—south—westerly airflow, so it begins to turn more unsettled. so a generally fine, settled, benign week, rather cloudy, before it starts to turn more unsettled by the end of the week. there are signs that the temperatures are beginning to creep up.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says he won't shy away from raising issues such as china's actions in hong kong — in the first high—level direct talks between the biden administration and beijing. in response, china said the us must stay out of its internal affairs. the first court appearance of a canadian man charged with spying in china has taken place — this is thought to be him arriving at court. canadian diplomats say they have been denied access. michael spavor was detained along with fellow canadian michael kovrig two years ago. several leading eu states have said they'll re—start the roll—out of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine after a review concluded the jab was "safe and effective". now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.