this is bbc news: i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. europe braces for a third wave of coronavirus infections — with fresh lockdowns in france and poland. the french prime minister gets the astrazeneca vaccine and urges others to do the same, as the eu resumes use of the jab. president biden visits atlanta after the murder of eight people this week, he calls for unity and an end to violence against asian americans. they've been attacked, blamed, scapegoated and harassed. they've been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed. tanzania swears in their first female president after the death ofjohn magufuli on wednesday.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — i'm kasia madera. a third wave of coronavirus is starting to sweep across the european union — much of it driven by the uk variant of the virus. a new lockdown has begun across large parts of france. switzerland is extending its restrictions and poland is closing most public venues from saturday. infections have surged, as europe's vaccine roll—out has continued to lag behind the pace ofjabs in the us and the uk. but it may begin to pick up again, as several political leaders have gone out of their way to demonstrate their support for the astrazenica vaccine, after fears that it might cause blood clots. our correspondent lucy williamson hs more from paris never mind the prime minister. in france, it was the astrazeneca jab that needed a shot in the arm today.

after weeks of shifting guidelines, the message was meant to be clear — it's safe and it works. but only an hour before he received it, france's health authority said a possible link to blood clots in younger patients meant the jab should only be used for those over 55. last month, it said only those under 65 should take it. lucky for mr castex that he turned 55 last year. but only 20% of french surveyed this month said they trusted the astrazeneca jab. as president macron held off announcing a new lockdown, cases spiralled, and paris hospitals are now scrambling to find space for patients who need intensive care. a lockdown lite has been imposed on the worst affected areas from tomorrow. translation: it's not because it's nice out, | because it's spring, that we put our lives in danger.

it's not over. we are still facing the variants, and people should realise the gravity of the disease. across the border in germany, angela merkel said she, too, would have the astrazeneca jab. germany had been hoping to lift some of its restrictions next week, but with infections soaring there, a warning from the health minister — public opinion is only half the problem. translation: there are not yet enough vaccines in europe - to stop the third wave through vaccination alone. even if deliveries of eu orders are now reliable, it will still take several weeks before the risk groups are fully vaccinated. only then can we talk about wider openings in society. poland is also facing a surge in cases with the british variant expected to account soon for 80% of infections. a partial lockdown will come into force there from tomorrow. shops, hotels and cultural and sporting venues will close. there is acceptance breaking across europe that it's facing a third wave of this pandemic.

hope that the vaccines might outpace the virus has been crushed by a grinding lack of momentum, supply and public trust. as europe prepares for more restrictions, criticisms are mounting along with costs. empty streets can help save patients, but delays in vaccines are expensive, and politicians could still pay the price. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. in an attempt to reassure the public that the astrazeneca vaccine is safe, british prime minister, borisjohnson, has received today the first dose of the jab. almost half of the british population has received at least one dose of the covid vaccine and the government is pushing to reach the goal of vaccinating the majority of adults before the summer. here's mrjohnson speaking after getting his jab — please be warned there is flash photography. i cannot recommend it too highly. everybody, when you do get your notification to go for a jab,

please go and get it. it is the best thing for you, the best thing for your family and for everybody else. don'tjust listen to me, listen to all the scientists will listen to what the european medicines agency have to say yesterday, to what the mhra has said. the risk is covid, this is a great thing to do. thank you all very much. thank you. but it's notjust about public confidence in vaccines — a bigger issue for most governments in europe is that they don't have enough doses, so the vaccine rollout is lagging behind and covid cases are surging again. in poland, infections have reached the highest levels since november, and — in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus — a partial lockdown has just come into force. earlier i spoke with daniel tilles — who's the editor in chief of notes from poland. even before tonight, poland already had fairly strict restrictions in place, so most children are learning online from home, restaurants

and cafes have been closed since the autumn, but what the government has done starting literally six minutes ago, it has just turned midnight here, is tough in those restrictions. the hotels which were allowed to reopen a few weeks ago now have to close, for swimming pools, cinemas, theatres have to close again and also the youngest three years of children in schools have been allowed to return to interesting teaching in february now have to go back to online learning again. in the uk we know that almost half the adult population have received the first dose, how does poland compare? poland has some from the same problems as the rest of the european union, the country has capacity to roll out vaccinations on a relatively fast scale, but the limiting factor has been production and delivery which have been delayed and smaller than promised.

and without any alternative sources the polish government has been limited by delivery schedules. so poland is more or less at the eu average in terms of vaccinations. engine initially at the beginning it was a bit faster than most eu countries, recently the rate has slowed of the last week or so but more or less at the european union average. and when it comes to willingness to take the vaccine i know that a month or so ago pollard was always quite low down deep holes when it came to people wanting to take the vaccine, it has that improved and is there a desire to take whichever vaccine it is? so they have changed a lot. you are absolutely right, last year a number of international poles and domestic ones in poland showed that they were up amongst the most sceptical of the vaccine anywhere in europe and the western world, but at the vaccine roll—out began those numbers

have changed and polls show people are more willing now to take the vaccine. ironically, some attribute it to a scandal that took place very early during the roll—out, number of celebrities managed to get privileged early access to the vaccine and some people have suggested that and encouraged others to want the vaccine even more. but in the last few days we have seen problems and doubts among the public about the astrazeneca vaccine given the news across europe. the polish government has strongly defended and has criticised other european union countries. so the government official who is in charge of the vaccine roll—out in poland accused other eu countries of giving into a media fuelled panic as he put it. but he's also reported that there have been large numbers of people scheduled to receive astrazeneca vaccine to have not been turning up for appointments. clearly the news in europe and around the world in the last few days has had an impact on polish

public opinion about that vaccine in particular. thank you so much for bringing us that perspective that we wish you the best of luck with the slate lockdown. us presidentjoe biden and vice president kamala harris, have been meeting members of the asian american community in georgia, following tuesday's mass shooting in which eight people were killed. the attacks targetted asian owned businesses, and six of the victims were women of asian ethnic origin. president biden�*s message was uncompromising. the conversation we had today with the aapi leaders and that we are hearing all across the country is that hate and violence often hide in plain sight. it's often met with silence, that's been true throughout our history. but that has to change. because our silence is complicity. we cannot be complicit. we have to speak out

and we have to act. everyone has the right to go to work, to go to school, to walk down the street and be safe. and also, the right to be recognised as an american. not as the other, not as them, but as us. a harm against anyone of us is a harm against all of us. the president and i will not be silent, we will not stand by, we will always speak out against violence, hate crimes, and discrimination wherever and whenever it occurs. our washington correspondent lebo diseko says it's been a moment of reckoning for many americans.

there have been many calls in the run up to that's from people in the asian—american community saying look, we are facing increased levels of violence, we are targets here. and i think this has been a moment of reckoning, a moment of stock—taking. in terms of the country there have been vigils countrywide this week with people and as in georgia as well and there have been vigils there too. flowers outside the businesses that have been affected. here in washington flags have been flying at half mast over the white house, that was at the instruction of the president. interestingly also it took a couple of days but we have had a strong reaction from the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell saying, condemning the attacks. his wife, elaine chao, the former transfer secretary is an asian—american herself saying these because are the very core of american society. when it comes to the reaction have their been any

comparisons with the previous administration? i think if you listen tojoe biden public words they were very different from, for example, if you think of donald trump after the charlottesville violence in which one woman died to was involving white supremacists and counter protesters there. joe biden today, president biden really making it clear that he will not stand for racism, he said that that is the value that all americans should be able to get behind. at the country does not stand for racism at all. interestingly, both kamala harris and president biden stop short of saying this is a hate crime. i think that part of the reckoning, part of the discussion that's happening at the moment is around the attribution of motive for this attack. let's bring you some live pictures now from a vigil

being held in new york for the victims of the attack. it's a peace vigil at the union square. it is being held by the asian—american federation in union square, and as we were hearing earlier, president biden has been calling for action against anti—asian violence in the wake of those deadly shootings in atlanta in which eight people were killed, six of them were women of asian descent who visited atlanta after traveling to meet members of the asian community and the president said hate can have no safe harbor in america. so we are watching the peace vigil at union square. in new york. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: one year on since the start of the pandemic we look at the role science has played in the development of a vaccine.

today, we have closed the book on apartheid, and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision. all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was - on a pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand - now that the search for it has i become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. europe braces for a third wave of coronavirus infections — with fresh lockdowns in france and poland. president biden appeals for unity during a visit to atlanta, where eight people were murdered this week,, six of them women of asian descent. the united nations has warned about a serious crisis in ethiopia, as an investigation has been launched into allegations of human rights abuses. a brutal conflict in the northern region of tigray began in november, with regional groups fighting against the ethiopian government forces, backed by eritrea. the bbc�*s kalkidan yibeltal gained rare access to the region, as has sent this report. the signs of violence and devastation dot

the landscape in tigray. the full story of the conflict hasn't yet been told. four months after fighting erupted, many have fled. we are on the road into shire, the centre of the displacement crisis. some of these areas in mountainous tigray, that we are passing through witnessed heavy fighting. particularly in november, during the height of the conflict. and the marks of the conflict can easily be seen and felt. this is where many people have come to, looking for safety and support. thousands of packed classrooms and school compounds. many walked here for days. one of them is this betel. her mother and grandmother were both killed in the fighting, and she lost both of her legs. her father spent his savings on her treatment, and now he says he's helpless.

in another part of the city, another camp with more people. in this town alone there are six camps, and according to estimates by aid agencies close to 200,000 displaced people with hundreds and sometimes more arriving each day. we can see a lot of children here and families as well. so, you know, seeing these and talking to those people, one gets the feeling how complex it's going to be to solve this issue. a lot more is going to be needed to address, particularly, the humanitarian side of this conflict. atsede mebrahtom had to run for her life when the conflict reached her hometown. with her were her children, their spouses, and her grandchildren. translation: people

were walking through | many people in shire's camps have their own tale of loss and tragedy. in four short months, their lives have been turned upside down, and no one knows when total peace will return to tigray. kalkidan yibeltal, bbc news, shire. tanzania has a new president — samia suluhu hassan, who's made history as the country's first female head of state. she was sworn in this morning by the chiefjustice following the death ofjohn magufuli on wednesday. ms hassan had served as his deputy. she called on tanzanians to move forward united — remarks that could be seen as an attempt to heal the divisions created by her predessor. the bbc�*s zuhura yunus reports from dar es saalam. samia suluhu hassan,

taking the oath to become tanzania's new president. she was sworn in in a brief ceremony at state house in the country's commercial capital dar es salaam. in front of dignitaries and lawmakers. translation: |, samia suluhu| hassan, do solemnly swear that i will do all my presidential duties for the united republic of tanzania faithfully. i will invest all my effort into fulfilling the duties of this office with all my heart. i will be fair to everyone according to the laws and traditions of the united republic of tanzania without fear, favor or discrimination. so help me god. the 61—year—old, who is the first female president of the east african country, takes over following the death ofjohn pombe magufuli, who died on wednesday. officials say he died of heart complications,

but there has been widespread speculation that he contracted covid—i9. walking down the streets in dar es salaam, you would not know today a president was sworn in. let alone what a historic moment it was for this country. it's first female leader. many tanzanians followed the ceremony on their radios and televisions. few have a doubt of how she will fare, but the majority are optimistic. the new president, who will serve out the term until 2025, also inspected troops at a military parade and received a gun salute. in her address, mama samia, as she is known in tanzania, called her former boss a great patriot and urged tanzanians to show each other love and unity and uphold tanzanian values. and then it was down to business, holding her first cabinet meeting and continuing the work of government. how her style of leadership will differfrom her

predecessor, time will tell. zuhura yunus, bbc news, dar es salaam. a year ago as the pandemic took hold, few would have imagined 12 months later covid vaccines would not only have been developed but also rolled out so fast in the uk, the us and elsewhere. science was always going to be the way out of this pandemic. our medical editor fergus walsh looks back at the role science has played throughout. and a warning, his report contains some flash photography. within days of the first reports of a new virus emerging in china, vaccine scientists around the world sprang into action. in oxford, their covid vaccine was designed over a single weekend, two months before a pandemic was declared. so, we took that information, that tiny bit of the sequence from the coronavirus, and used that to put into our platform vaccine technology.

this was only possible as they'd spent years researching the processes needed. in april, vaccine trials got underway in oxford. other groups around the world were following suit. developing vaccines can take five years or more. government and industry funding helped cut out delays, and manufacturing began even while trials were continuing, but no corners were cut on safety. the uk vaccine task force pre—ordered hundreds of millions of doses from seven different companies. we prioritised the vaccine landscape quickly, we approached the various companies and we were then the first to sign with oxford—astrazeneca, with pfizer biontech. in november came the first confirmation that a highly effective covid vaccine was coming. it's such a great day for science and humanity. soon, other impressive results followed, showing several vaccines were both safe and could prevent serious disease.

medical regulators here were the first to approve the pfizer and oxford—astrazeneca vaccines, and in december, margaret keenan became the first person in the world to receive the pfizerjab outside of clinical trials. the vaccine roll—out here has been a huge success, although a slowdown next month will mean the under—50s may have to wait until may for their first dose. at every vaccination centre i've been to, there is the same spirit of gratitude and optimism from those receiving theirjab, me included. thank you, bruce. you're all done, sir. and, ultimately, it is science we have to thank for giving us this route out of the pandemic. preventing covid—i9 through vaccines is the ultimate goal, but effective treatments for those who fall ill are also vital. the nhs, more than any other

health system in the world, has helped reveal which drugs work against covid. nearly 40,000 patients in 180 nhs hospitals have taken part in trials set up by a team at oxford university. injune, they discovered the first blockbuster drug against covid — dexamethasone, a cheap steroid which cuts the risk of dying by up to a third. it's now the standard hospital treatment across the world. as well as improving survival, it actually will decrease the number of people who need to come to intensive care. other repurposed treatments followed, like tocilizumab, normally used for arthritis. butjust as importantly, they ruled out drugs that didn't work. coronavirus is here to stay. mutations like the south african and brazilian variants will keep cropping up. we'll always be playing catch—up against the virus,

but the uk is a world leader in gene sequencing, meaning the spread of mutations can be tracked in real—time. booster vaccines are being developed, which will be ready by the autumn, if needed. the goal of immunising all uk adults is now within reach, but vaccinating the world will be a far bigger challenge. fergus walsh, bbc news. whole section on our website about vaccines including an article about how we know vaccines are safe. and before we go, with spring just around the corner, greece is in full bloom. athen�*s hillsides are filled with poppies and daisies. in the northern part of the country, it's not the cherry trees that blossom — but the peach trees. the annual festival celebrating this was cancelled due to coronavirus — hopefully next year, everyone can enjoy the display.

but a nice way to end the programme. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbckasiamadera. hello there. for most of us, the weekend promises a fair amount of dry weather, the amount of cloud will vary a bit from place to place, and there will be somejumps around in temperatures as well, as we will see in a moment. this was the satellite picture then from friday showing we had some decent sunshine, particularly across parts of scotland. that was how the sunshine looked in the highlands. not far away from that, in sterlingshire, we have the highest temperature in the uk, up to 17 celsius, very mild for the time of year. but it wasn't like that everywhere, northeast england had a really chilly day on friday, just 6 celsius. a big jump upwards in temperatures, though, on the way later today. why the change? well, yesterday, we had the winds coming in from the northeast. it's all down to the wind direction, you see.

these northeasterly winds brought those low temperature to eastern england because they were travelling over these really cold seas. the temperature in the water just 6 celsius at the moment. but the winds today are changing direction in a big way. they are coming in from a northwesterly direction, hence that big jump upwards in temperatures widely across eastern areas of england. now, here's the weather picture over the next few hours. we've got cloud across england and wales, a few gaps in the cloud for scotland, slowly filtering into parts of northern england. and on account of the cloudy skies, it's not cold, temperatures around 6—7 celsius. on into saturday then, this weather front is going to go nowhere fast, staying across central england and wales all day. another cold front will push into the far north of the uk, bringing rain to northern scotland late in the day. could be an odd patch of drizzle as well from that slow—moving front across england and wales. that's why it's going to stay cloudy here, but we'll see some sunshine. central and southern scotland, and particularly northeast england, that's where the best of the sunshine is going to be, and it's going to be a much

warmer day across northeast england. in the warmest spots, temperatures reach 17 celsius. but those northwesterly winds bringing some cooler weather into northwest england and north wales as well. sunday, while a cold front will have moved across most of the uk bringing cloudy weather across england wales again, what that cold front is going to do, well, it's going to introduce cooler and fresher air. so sunday, temperature—wise, temperatures not quite as high, still, though, managing to reach double figures for most of us. what about next week? well, of the area of high—pressure bringing the settled weather is going to continue to influence our weather, but it will probably gradually turn a little more unsettled across the northwest.

this is bbc news, the headlines...

a third wave of coronavirus infections is starting to sweep across the european union. new lockdown measures have come into force in poland and across large parts of france including around the capital paris. switzerland is among other countries extending their restrictions. european leaders have shown support for the astrazeneca jab. the french prime minister, jean castex, received the vaccine and urged the public to do the same after eu regulators found it didn't cause blood clots. here in the uk, borisjohnson also received his first astrazeneca injection. president biden has appealed for unity during a visit to atlanta, saying many asian americans now live in fear. his comments came in the wake of a killing spree at massage parlours in atlanta which left eight people dead, six of them women of asian descent.

that's it for me, mark lobel will