this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm mark lobel. our top stories: europe braces for a third wave of coronavirus infections with fresh lockdowns in france and poland. president biden visits atlanta after the murder of eight people this week, he calls for unity and an end to violence against asian americans. tanzania swears in its first female president after the death ofjohn magufuli on wednesday. cleaning out to make some space — final preparations are under way for a mission to remove some of the dangerous debris in orbit.

a third wave of coronavirus is beginning to sweep across the european union. france and switzerland are extending restrictions from saturday, while polish health officials say the british variant of the virus is so rampant a three week lockdown is necessary. infections have surged, as europe's vaccine roll—out has continued to lag behind the pace ofjabs in the us and the uk. our correspondent lucy williamson has 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're still facing the variants, and people should realise the gravity of the disease. ja, ich werde mich mit astrazenica... 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 in 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. brazil's local coronavirus variant is spreading through the country as the nation recorded its second deadliest toll on friday. black brazil is second only to the united states. microbiologist thinks the death of a third senator this week may be a wake—up call to lawmakers. major olimpio dying i think has a greater impact not on brazilians but on the senate itself, because maybe it is how they finally realise that it can get to any one of them. it's a young man — he was only 58 — and he was against restrictions, he — indeed, he took part

in demonstrations against restrictions before he got ill, so i think it finally — it dawns into everyone's minds at the senate, at the congress, that this is real and that they can be next. so maybe now they realise how grave the situation is. indeed, so grave that it has got the second highest death toll in the country to america, as we mentioned. do you think, though, with all the focus turning to the vaccination programme — which is under way — that it's in a good place at the moment? well, we start to see a light at the end of the tunnel but it is actually too little, too late because the vaccines took a long time getting here — and that's mainly the fault of the government themselves. the ministry of health has not purchased vaccines in time to guarantee an impact this year. so we're glad that they finally closed deals with pfizer and johnson and we are finally getting doses in the next semester.

but for this semester, we are still in the same situation. we have very few doses and we have to rely on restriction measures like lockdowns, which the government is against. indeed, and just 5% of the population also vaccinated. with america sending 4 million astrazeneca doses to mexico and canada, would you like president bolsonaro to be asking for some from america too? yes, that would be nice, but it's very unlike him because president bolsonaro — he usually waits for the world to revolve around himself. that's what he — that's exactly what he did with the vaccines. he said "no—one offered me vaccines!" — which is a lie because several companies did offer. and now with president biden, i suppose it is going to be the same.

some months from now, you can bet that he is going to say "0h, president biden never offered me vaccines!" and he's not going to ask. natalia pasternak. us presidentjoe biden and vice president kamala harris, have met members of the asian american community in georgia, following tuesday's mass shooting in which eight people were killed. hundreds of people are attending vigils for the victims. the attacks targetted asian owned businesses, and six of the victims were women of asian ethnic origin. robert aaron long has been charged with eight counts of murder. our washington correspondent, lebo diseko says the president's comments contrasted with the first official responses to the shooting. there was a lot of backlash at the local sheriff's department, the department where these attacks took place. as you said, the spokesman saying that the suspect "had had a bad day". later on, it transpired that a facebook account which was in his name had posted anti—asian or anti—chinese pictures, so that spokesperson is no longer making comments or no longer speaking for the department in

relation to this case. when you look atjoe biden and kamala harris — of course, the first asian—american vice president — and their comments today, they really struck a tone of saying to the community that we hear you, we understand you and we're going to do something about this. the conversation we had today with the aapi leaders, and that we're 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 l recognised as an american — .

not as the other, not as them, but as us. a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. . the president and i will not be silent. l we will not stand by. we will always speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination, wherever and whenever it - occurs. lebo, what are asian—americans hoping for from this raised awareness of abuse to parts of their community over the past few years? well, in short, mark, i think it's that it will stop, that they will believe — will be believed, and that

something will be done about this. something i have heard time and time again this week from members of the asian—american community is that "we have been saying that this has been happening to us and we have not been believed" and that has an impact when it comes to, for example, the statistics around this. when people report attacks on them and there is a reluctance to ascribe this to race, it has an impact on the statistics that, for instance, the government might use. how do you address something when you don't have a record of how widespread, or not, it is? when you talk about this specific attack, that has actually come up again — law enforcement and even the fbi have been saying that this may not actually be racially motivated, it may be more to do with a sexual addiction that the suspect might have had. asian—american people here saying "look, we were the targets of this. the majority of people in this attack who died were asian—american. the businesses that were targeted were asian—american. what does this make this?" so it was interesting

to watch the vice president and the president try and walk this quite careful line of saying we are against racism and acknowledging that there has been a rise in attacks on the asian—american community, while kind of getting around actually ascribing what the intent or motivation of the attacker was. and on another note, president biden�*s journey to atlanta was not without incident. his critics have, in the past, criticised his stammer. now they are talking about his stumble? yeah, i think that there has been a lot of hay, as you would have expect, made of this on right—wing networks like fox news. also, i suppose twitter always loves a meme. i guess the narrative is really around joe biden and his faculties, really and, you know, to put it bluntly, he is the oldest american president. but in fairness, when donald trump took a fall, or was slightly unsteady on his feet last year,

the liberal networks also made hay out of it as well. so i think there is a bit of a tit—for—tat there going on and also, as i said, part of a kind of ongoing narrative around the president — his age and his ability to kind of function. the white house has said that he is fine and that it was just due to wind. and i think their focus and the focus of most of the american networks, certainly, today has been the tragedy that has been taking place in georgia. lebo diseko. tanzania has a new president, samia suluhu hassan, who's made history as the country's first female head of state. she called on tanzanians to move forward united — remarks which 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, favour 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. its 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 herfirst 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. this is bbc world news. europe braces for a third wave of coronavirus infections with fresh lockdowns in france and poland. covax is the international scheme which aims to ensure that coronavirus vaccines are shared fairly among all nations, rich and poor. it brings together governments, manufacturers, scientists, civil society and philanthropy to provide a global solution to the pandemic. the covax scheme has secured 3.5bn doses for middle and low income countries. but so far only 30.5 million doses have been supplied. that's less than i% of the total number of covax doses secured. richer countries with strong buying power have benefited and received the most vaccines. the us has had 115 million

doses delivered in total, china has received 65 million and india 39 million. but compare that to the african countries who have received the most — rwanda hasjust over 321,000, ghana 300,000 and south africa 177,275 in total. now on top of that supply problem, look at this. this is one of the difficult roads the vaccines would need to travel down. this is the delivery of another lot of medicine in south sudan by the international development company — as you can see, treacherous roads. fergus drake is the ceo of a large non—profit company called crownagents, a uk—based in—country distributor of vaccines on behalf of covax. he explains which countries he's managed to deliver to.

crown agents has been involved in the covid—i9 response for over a year now. firstly we were involved in distributing personal protective equipment to over 50 countries and overseas territories on behalf of the british government. we have also now focused on vaccines, so we have supplied over 200,000 vaccines to places like the falkland islands and st helena, and also to the ministry of health in ukraine. for covax we are working across africa, with a particular focus on zimbabwe and the challenges of south sudan that you have just mentioned. indeed, and we saw those pictures, what are the logistical and political challenges facing these types of deliveries? we have been working in these environments for over 180 years, and we currently work in 60 countries, but south sudan is the most challenging. we have driven over 100,000 kilometres on hardback roads

i have seen whole articulated lorries lost in some of these mud craters and you don't want to be camping in the bush in south sudan with armed groups close by. we use things like light aircraft and motorbikes to get to some of the most isolated communities across the country. we have seen only around i% of doses have been received so far — when do you think this game will get fully under way? well, it has been a slow start but it is great to hear that they are so many vaccines getting around the world. the vision of covax was to get two billion vaccines out across the world until the end of this year. now, thankfully over 30 countries in africa have already received those vaccines, which is great. but we are expecting a very big ramp—up injune. that gives us time to really invest in the infrastructure, things like community health workers, things like transport and supply chains, so we can really hit the ground running

when that second phase of vaccines arrives in the middle of the year. so next gear injune, but when do you think the whole world could be vaccinated by? there are lots of different predictions out there. i think if everything goes right we will be doing well if we get the world vaccinated by the end of 202a. but i think we all realise that covid—i9 is going to be with us for a long time, we're going to need jab top—ups, a bit like flu in the uk, but one of the things we are concerned about is covid—i9 becoming a residual pandemic, and so in the same we don't really talk about hiv/aids across western countries now, hiv/aids still kills 700,000 people across the world, and a lot of people in africa as well, and we can't allow covid—i9 to go down that route. the countdown is on for a mission to clean up space junk with magnets.

elsa—d, the world's first commercial space mission to start a debris removal system, and it will launch in a few hours' time from a cosmodrome in kazakhstan. the new technology has been developed by the japan—based company astroscale. with more satellites being launched, it's becoming increasingly important to declutter the space environment. here's mike lindsay, astroscale's chief technology officer, in tokyo explaining how the clean—up will work. we are very excited here in tokyo. we also have a campus in the uk doing mission operations, offices in the us and israel. we are all very excited, this is a very big day for us. can you take us through what is going to happen in this mission and why everyone needs to look out for a cat and mouse scenario? yeah, so the mission is the first demonstration of the end—to—end process of capturing debris and lowering that out of earth's orbit. it consists of a service spacecraft

and the client spacecraft, and if you can see my background, it is a depiction of the two spacecraft that will be flying together. the mission consists of sort of releasing the client and then catching it with the servicer, it is that cat and mouse that you mentioned. so the mission simulates a scenario where we would rendezvous with and dock with and capture a piece of debris that is free floating in space, and then we lower it such that it re—enters earth's atmosphere and stays out of the way of other spacecraft and operations. so a global tom and jerry, which will get crazier and crazier as it goes around. we have been reporting on a lot of satellite launches recently, and there has been a surge it seems like from jumbo jets and the spacex ones. but some people don't clean up their mess, their hardware. is that what space debris is? certainly space debris does originate from any human made objects launched into space and not disposed of properly. accidents do happen.

sometimes fuel tanks rupture, batteries explode. actually just a couple of days ago we saw an announcement that there was a satellite that had a debris event where several pieces of debris were found to be scattered, originated from one spacecraft. so yeah, anything from nuts and bolts and washers to paint flecks, all the way up to whole intact satellites that are no longer under control and that can no longer maneuver, they can represent space debris. you have chosen a niche industry. sometimes it is difficult for us to clean up our own houses. what do you two cleanups based debris? i was fascinated with space exploration as a child, and i was looking through telescopes when i could, but through my career i worked on a number of space endeavours

but with each mission i learned more about the concerns about sustainability and i became passionate about about making sure that future generations can have the opportunity to launch their spacecraft and explore, so to do that we need to make sure development and sustainability go hand—in—hand, and making sure to keep the orbits clean. mike lindsey there from astroscale. saturday is the united nations' annual international day of happiness, and to mark that, the un has released its world happiness report, which ranks the happiness of 149 countries. finland tops the list for the fourth year in a row. 0ur news reporter gareth barlow joins us for more on this. finland topped the list. who did well and who did badly? this is the ninth year now this un survey has been run. finland is topping the list for the fourth year on the trot, following on a lot of european countries. second place, denmark, third place, switzerland, then iceland and

the netherlands finishing out the netherlands finishing out the top five. in fact of the top ten new zealand is the only non— european nation to make the list. that's the top. now let's go all the way down to 149th place, afghanistan, at the bottom of that ranking, then zimbabwe and rwanda in 147, botswana under sue to completing the bottom five. —— lesotho. it's important that when you look at the list the wealthier, the more successful, the safer that country is, the higher up the list they are going to be, and the opposite thanis going to be, and the opposite than is true. the more poverty, instability and war, the lower down. 11 on, 123 — lots of economic mismanagement, then an economic mismanagement, then an economic crisis, then the blast in the port of beirut — a terrible year, all coming to a low ranking. terrible year, all coming to a low ranking-— low ranking. the actual criteria _ low ranking. the actual criteria used _ low ranking. the actual criteria used - - low ranking. the actuan criteria used - personal criteria used — personal freedoms, gdp, corruption and social security.— social security. lots of nationally _ social security. lots of nationally based - social security. lots of. nationally based statistics social security. lots of - nationally based statistics and measurements. like you say, gdp, social support,

corruption, and add in the human element, and that's the strength to this report. they get in touch with thousands of people in each country and ask them to evaluate their life, say how good it is at any given time. then they ask them to think about the day before, think about the day before, think about the day before, think about their positive emotions. how much do they smile or laugh with their family and friends? and the converse, how much were they worried &? converse, how much were they worried ti?— worried &? looking through this, i wanted _ worried &? looking through this, i wanted to _ worried &? looking through this, i wanted to look - worried &? looking through this, i wanted to look at - worried &? looking through| this, i wanted to look at last year and see what the impact of the pandemic would be. a third of countries said they had more negative emotions, which suggests on average there was not a decline in well—being during the pandemic. actually people preferred it.— people preferred it. some personally _ people preferred it. some personally dead. - people preferred it. some personally dead. in - people preferred it. somej personally dead. in china, people preferred it. some - personally dead. in china, they were 94th in the world in 2019. it went up to 84th in the world in 2020. very mixed messages, because if you look at those people who are unemployed, for example, their life ranking dropped by 12% on average. so

there is a complex picture, and at the end of the day emotions are complex, playing out not just on a personal level but an international level too.- international level too. thank ou. (pres) you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ mark lobel. 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 — north—east 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 north—east. it's all down to the wind direction, you see. these north—easterly winds

brought those low temperature to eastern england because they were travelling over these really cold seas. the temperature in the water just 6 degrees at the moment. but the winds today are changing direction in a big way. they are coming in from a north—westerly 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. 0n 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 north—east england, that's where the best of the sunshine is going to be,

and it's going to be a much warmer day across north—east england. in the warmest spots, temperatures reach 17 celsius. but those north—westerly winds bringing some cooler weather into north—west england and north wales as well. sunday, while a cold front will have moved across and 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 north—west.

this is bbc news, the headlines: countries across the european union are bracing themselves for a third wave of coronavirus infections. 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.