you're watching bbc news, very good to have you with us. i'm rich preston — our top stories: strong words from brussels after european union leaders meet for talks — saying astrazeneca must "catch up" on vaccine deliveries for the eu before sending them elsewhere. china levels sanctions against britain in retaliation for penalties imposed on chinese officials accused of human rights abuses against the uighur minority. joe biden holds his first presidential news conference, setting a new vaccination target and defending his gun control and immigration policies. as bangladesh marks 50 years since its independence, we compare how history is being remembered there, to what is taught in indian and pakistan. a painting by the iconic artist, vincent van gogh, not seen in public for

more than 100 years, sells at auction — twice. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has said that astrazeneca must "catch up" on vaccine deliveries for the eu before exporting vaccine supplies elsewhere. european leaders have been meeting to discuss the covid crisis. cases are rising across the continent, but miss von der leyen says astrazeneca has only delivered 30 million of the 90 million vaccines it promised, even as tens of millions are sent to other countries, including the uk. from brussels, here's our europe editor, katya adler. prague is remembering its dead — simply, painfully.

with one of the highest covid fatality rates in the world, the czech republic, like many other eu countries, is in the grip of a third wave. vaccines are in short supply. national rollouts like here in belgium in disrepute, the eu's credibility on the line. eu leaders have been meeting remotely today to discuss how to secure the eu's vaccine supply, ensuring companies deliverjabs promised and, controversially, potentially blocking vaccine exports to vaccine—producing countries like the uk, which have an already advanced rollout. we want to make sure that europe gets its fair share of vaccines, because we must be able to explain to our citizens that if companies export their vaccines to the whole world, it is because they are fully honouring

their commitments and it does not risk security of supply in the european union. what started as a health crisis now has political overtones here — especially after brexit. eu leaders are under huge pressure to act. their voters increasingly frustrated about a lack of vaccines and fearful because of a third wave of the virus. but not all of those leaders want vaccine export controls. tonight, the commission is trying to persuade them otherwise. it says since december the eu has exported 77 million jabs to wealthy countries. 20 million to the uk, i'vejust been told, without receiving one back in return. intentionally provocative, perhaps. the commission now insists brussels was key in making the uk's vaccine effort a success. some eu countries say they prefer never to use vaccine export controls for fear of disturbing

international relations or supply chains. france is more hardline. but today, president macron admitted the eu had made mistakes along the way. translation: we didn't go fast enough, strong enough, - it's absolutely true. we thought the vaccine would take time, but we are catching up. not a moment too soon for europeans languishing in lockdown, decimating their economies. bruce y lee is a professor of health policy and management at the city university of new york. give us a sense of the supply chain issues, what has gone wrong? chain issues, what has gone wron: ? , , chain issues, what has gone wronu? , , ., , chain issues, what has gone wronu? , , ., chain issues, what has gone wronu? ,, ., , wrong? this is really a result ofthe wrong? this is really a result of the fact, _ wrong? this is really a result of the fact, the _ wrong? this is really a result of the fact, the coordination |

of the fact, the coordination among the different countries around the world in terms of producing the vaccine and how it's going to be distributed, the supply chains, i think we are seeing the effects. if you recall throughout 2020, countries were making separate deals with different manufacturers, rather than coming together. that would have increased leveraged in negotiating when dealing with the manufacturers, to make sure they could hit their targets. and co—ordinating where those vaccines would go. and i think we are seeing the result of the lack of that planning.— lack of that planning. these are suwlied _ lack of that planning. these are supplied chain - lack of that planning. these are supplied chain issues i lack of that planning. these | are supplied chain issues are not unknown for astrazeneca, did they overpromise and are people going to die because of this? . ., people going to die because of this? . . , , ., this? the challenge is when you are negotiating _ this? the challenge is when you are negotiating with _ this? the challenge is when you are negotiating with different i are negotiating with different manufacturers, you need to set milestone payments and say, ok, if you promise that amount, what is behind the contract?

you get certain milestone payments if you meet certain goals. you can set up those contracts when you have more negotiating power, when more countries come together and say, look, this is what we need. when you negotiate separately, you might have difficulty establishing those contracts. that is what might have happened.— contracts. that is what might have happened. european union officials are _ have happened. european union officials are talking _ have happened. european union officials are talking about - officials are talking about curbing vaccine export to keep the vaccines within europe. is that something that can help or is there an alternative to be looked at?— looked at? we should look long-term. _ looked at? we should look long-term, because - looked at? we should look long-term, because the i looked at? we should look. long-term, because the virus looked at? we should look- long-term, because the virus is long—term, because the virus is a global threat that doesn't respect borders, boundaries etc. if the virus is spreading rapidly in any part of the world, it is a threat to all different countries. so we need an organised strategy on how you will collectively make sure the people who need to get vaccines need to get them, and so we run into a situation where there are export controls and people say, ok, we aren't going to allow vaccines to go

out, without determining how that will affect things in the long—term, when it comes around when vaccines are needed in the future, we might run into problems. this needs to be co—ordinated and people need to think long—term. co-ordinated and people need to think long-term.— think long-term. hearing about the oxford _ think long-term. hearing about the oxford astrazeneca - think long-term. hearing about the oxford astrazeneca vaccine | the oxford astrazeneca vaccine when it comes to these problems, but what about the others, johnson, pfizer, moderna, are we expecting them to run into issues?— to run into issues? similar situations _ to run into issues? similar situations in _ to run into issues? similar situations in terms - to run into issues? similar situations in terms of - situations in terms of production. in the united states, production levels have not matched what was initially anticipated in terms of how quickly the vaccines would be produced and rolled out. similarly, all three suppliers, they have had issues. again, it points back to the fact that these things were not structured in ways that the manufacturers had to meet their milestones. manufacturers had to meet their milestones-_ milestones. professor, thank ou for milestones. professor, thank you for being _ milestones. professor, thank you for being with _ milestones. professor, thank you for being with us. -

poland's prime minister has warned that the country's health system is on the verge of being "overwhelmed" as it struggles with a surge in new coronavirus infections, with more than 3a,000 new cases on thursday alone. the government says tighter restrictions will mean pre—school childcare, diy stores and hairdressers will close for two weeks from saturday, but churches will remain open for easter, but with limited numbers. from sunday, anyone flying into germany will need to show a negative covid result before boarding. it comes after the spanish island of majorca was taken off germany's "high—risk" list last week and airlines scheduled hundreds of extra flights to cope with the surge in demand. germany is battling a sharp rise in infections, fuelled by new variants of the virus. china has imposed sanctions on four organisations and nine individuals in the uk over what it's called "lies and disinformation" about human rights abuses in the western xinjiang region.

those named will be prevented from entering chinese territory, and will be banned from deailing with chinese citizens and institutions. major brands have also cut ties with xinjiang, expressing concerns about the use of forced labour in the production of cotton. it's estimated that a million mostly muslim uighurs are detained in camps in the north—west region of xinjiang. bbc investigations have gathered first—hand testimony of forced labour, and evidence that detainees have been raped and tortured. china denies the claims and says the camps are vocational training schools. our world affairs editor john simpson reports. the stories about the uighur camps have spread around the world. after reports of forced labour in the cotton fields of xinjiang province, international companies like h&m and nike have all reacted strongly and that's brought an angry backlash from china, which says the accusations about the uighurs are lies.

today, in the turkish capital, ankara, the chinese foreign minister, wang yi, has come to talk to president erdogan. there were protests by uighur exiles. turkey has strong ethnic and cultural links to the uighurs and it's always given them refuge. a uighur woman who went to turkey to study, recently found that her entire family back in xinjiang had been arrested — father, mother and two brothers. when i asked them why, they said my family members think they might have an intention to attempt terrorist activities. 12 years ago, when china clamped down on rioting among the uighurs, the turkish leader, recep erdogan, called it "genocide". it's not a word he'd use today. china is pressurising turkey

to ratify an extradition treaty, which would mean handing overany uighurs china wants returned. china isjust far too powerful economically and too many trader deals all came with the terms and conditions. so, effectively, china's bought off turkey? yeah. just like all the other countries, many arab countries and muslim countries, like pakistan. and they're not speaking up at all. turkey's economy has suffered badly from covid, which has brought a collapse in tourism, its biggest foreign currency earner, and since the west isn't doing much to help, mr erdogan has turned to china, which offers turkey everything from covid vaccines to weapons. the turkish embassy hasn't replied to our

questions about this. the fact is, turkey is really up against it. it's got its serious economic problems and it's moving away from its old friends in the west. china's only too happy to step in, but part of the price for that would be to keep quiet about the uighurs. i really want to see them again. i'm not sure if i can or not. they spent their whole life... to offer me a good education, to have a good life. there's no shortage of stories like this, but turkey doesn't seem to complain about them publicly any more. john simpson, bbc news. joe biden has held his first news conference since becoming president of the united states. mr biden announced a doubling of his vaccination target in his first hundred days

to 200 million doses, and defended his policies on immigration and gun control. the 78—year—old also said he expected to run again in 202a. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has this report. no fanfare, no hail to the chief, no fight with journalists... please, please, sit down, thank you. no—one even called another "beauty". this is about as different from the trump era as you could get, though the memory was there. my predecessor, oh, god, i miss him. he wanted to parade achievements — the speeding up of vaccine delivery, the boost to the economy from his stimulus package and a new tone for political debate. the third reason i said i was running was to unite the country, and generically speaking, all of you said, "no, you can't do that." well, i've not been able to unite the congress but i'm uniting the country. but on the southern border, his problems are growing as quickly as the number of immigrants trying to cross into the us is swelling —

the first real test for the president. the idea that i'm going to say, which i would never do, if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we're just going to let him starve to death and stay on the other side... no previous administration did either, except trump. i'm not going to do it. he's also talking tough over gun crime, where, in the last week, there have been two terrible mass shootings. but what can he do? not much, it would seem, given the votes in congress and that means on these big issues, he could look weak. abroad, he said that north korea was still the biggest problem. but i'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearisation. there would be no big changes on china policy. doesn't have a democratic with a small d bone in his body but he's a smart, smart guy. and would he be going along with donald trump's timetable for getting american troops

out of afghanistan? we will leave, the question is, when we leave. sir, do you believe, though, it's possible we could have i troops there next year? i...i can't picture that being the case. this news conference, in terms of style, represented a complete break with the donald trump era. but in terms of substance, say it quietly, not so much. 0n policies like the border, globalisation, china, afghanistan — it was all quite similar. it may not have been full—throated america first but there were strong hints of it. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. i'm joined by us political reporterjulia manchester from the hill news website. thank you for being with us, good evening in washington. a number of topics in president biden�*s press conference, what stood out for you? fix, biden's press conference, what stood out for you?— biden's press conference, what stood out for you? a number of thins,

stood out for you? a number of things. one _ stood out for you? a number of things. one of _ stood out for you? a number of things, one of the _ stood out for you? a number of things, one of the biggest - things, one of the biggest things, one of the biggest thing that stood out was not really talked about, and that was the global pandemic. we saw president biden started the conference by saying he was setting a new goal for his administration now that he has surpassed 100 million vaccine shots in less than 100 days of presidency, now he is going for 200 million. however, the reporter did not ask about coronavirus, instead the focus was on the border, gun violence and disunity and partisan clashes in congress. 0ne and disunity and partisan clashes in congress. one of the biggest pieces of news i would say is joe biggest pieces of news i would say isjoe biden said, as of now, he is planning to run again in 2024, something a lot of us were not sure about until today. of us were not sure about until toda . ., ., of us were not sure about until toda . . ., ., :: :: today. that new target of 200 million doses, _ today. that new target of 200 million doses, is _ today. that new target of 200 million doses, is it _ today. that new target of 200 million doses, is it an - today. that new target of 200 million doses, is it an easy . million doses, is it an easy target for the president to set himself? is he setting a low bar? , , ., ., , , , bar? he is, he should easily be able to hit _

bar? he is, he should easily be able to hit the _ bar? he is, he should easily be able to hit the mark. _ bar? he is, he should easily be able to hit the mark. some - able to hit the mark. some critics have said he set a higher bar, his administration is purposely doing this. we have seen the vaccine roll—out in the united states varies from state to state and it has not been perfect. i think there are definitely some thoughts in that regard, but we do know that regard, but we do know that biden wanted to be talking more about the pandemic because he has been meeting these goals. we saw him get frustrated when he was pressed on the situation at the border. let's talk about gun control, something president biden has tackled head on in previous roles. what has he said in this press conference off the back of two mass shootings? he is very much — of two mass shootings? he is very much pressing _ of two mass shootings? he is very much pressing congress| of two mass shootings? he is l very much pressing congress to take action. it is a repeat of what he said before, he is vowing to fight republicans on this issue. but this goes back to the other issue i was

talking about, disunity in congress. democrats control the house and the senate, but in the senate it's a very narrow majority with kamala harris the vice president serving out the tie—breaker. so it's actually pretty difficult for democrats to get over that hurdle, and i would also say not all democrats are on board with some of these background checks joe biden is proposing. remember, in the united states, the second amendment is very important to certain americans, and they feel any restriction on the issue of guns is somehow a restriction of their own personal freedom. a restriction of their own personalfreedom. so a restriction of their own personal freedom. so that's something joe biden is going to have to cross as president if he wants to really stop these mass shootings, there is clearly a partisan divide right now. ., , clearly a partisan divide right now. . , . ., , now. thanks very much for being with us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. van gogh goes under the hammer — a painting by the iconic

artist fetches a hefty sum after being auctioned — twice. and the company in charge of dislodging the container in the suez canal says it may take two more weeks. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition. chanting

streaking across the sky, - the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from i onlookers on fiji. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. a virtual summit has ended with european union leaders emphasising their wish to make sure the eu gets its fair share of coronavirus vaccines. china has imposed sanctions against britain in retaliation for penalties imposed on chinese officials accused of human rights abuses against the uighur minority. the salvage company hired to free the huge container ship that's been blocking the suez canal since tuesday says it could take days or even weeks to move the vessel. the suez canal is one

of the busiest trading routes in the world — more than 10% of global trade passes through the waterway which connects the red sea to the mediterranean. from there, sally nabil reports. an ultra large vessel is blocking the suez canal. satellite images show the 400 metre long ever given stuck, bringing navigation to a standstill. tug boats and dredgers were dispatched to the area, but nothing has worked so far. the huge size of the ship and the heavy cargo on board are complicating rescue efforts. it's not clear exactly why the ship has run aground. 0fficial statements say it went off course due to bad weather. the suspension of navigation through the suez canal has created an atmosphere of uncertainty — no—one knows when things can go back to normal. this incident has created congestion. dozens of ships are waiting

to resume theirjourneys. a traffic jam of vessels is mounting up and some shipping companies are already preparing to re—route ships around the cape of good hope. oil prices already rose as a result of this impasse, amid fears of extensive delays. the concern is that the longer the blockage lasts, the bigger the losses might be. sally nabil, bbc news. mexico's health ministry says the number of people who have died from coronavirus has passed more than 200,000. it means mexico becomes only the third country in the world to register that many deaths — behind the united states and brazil. more than 2 million people in mexico are estimated to have contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic. in the us, a series

of tornadoes have torn through alabama, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others. there's been extensive damage to homes, downed trees and power lines. officials are warning residents to remain on high alert, with a warning that there could be more severe weather to come. a painting by vincent van gogh that had been held in a private family home for more than 100 years has been sold at auction for more than 13 million euros — more than $15 million. street scene in montmartre was painted by the artist in 1887 while he was living in paris. it captures the social changes taking place in the area at the time. 0ur paris correspondent lucy williamson has been to see the painting, and was watching today's auction. and now we have arrived at lot six... after more than a century hidden from public view, this painting was sold twice today. the first bid won by an online buyer whose offer came in just as the hammer fell.

but there was a problem with the sale, and the auction had to be rerun. she speaks french the painting finally went to a buyer in london forjust over 13 million euros, several million lower than the first time around, but still one of the highest prices ever paid for work from van gogh�*s paris period. the artist only lived here for a couple of years, during which time he painted many scenes from around montmartre, then in transition from a sleepy rural area outside the city to a vibrant bohemian suburb. the painting, hidden away in a private collection for 100 years, shows a couple walking along a rural lane in front of a windmill. nearby, the top of a fairground carousel peeks through the trees. but this picture also tells the story of van gogh�*s own artistic transition — his colours becoming brighter

and his tell—tale brush strokes beginning to appear. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. johnny depp has lost a bid to overturn a damning high court ruling in london which concluded he assaulted his ex—wife amber heard and left her in fear for her life. thejudge said mr depp had no real prospect of success and therefore refused permission to against the ruling given last year in his libel case against the publishers of the sun. the renowned french film director bertrand tavernier has died, aged 79. his work was prolific in range and output, and was always infused with his great love of france and its culture. he's probably best known for his film set in the jazz scene called round midnight — it went on to win an academy award. he also garnered a bafta win and several cesar awards for his 1989 film life and nothing but.

stay tuned, more to come and on the website of course. hello there. the weather will be turning much colder today. we look at the temperatures we got to yesterday, in the warmer spots we had highs of around 15 celsius, for example, in sheffield. today, those temperatures quite widely across the uk down by about five celsius. from 15 to about 10 later this afternoon. the change is brought about by an area of low pressure, this one here, and there are a couple of weather fronts on it. the first, an impostor bringing in a little rain eastwards. the second is the cold front, and it's behind that that the colder air will spread its way in across the uk. over the next few hours, ourfirst band of rain moves from wales across into central and eastern england. our main band of rain, our cold front, will be bringing wet weather and gusty winds to scotland, western parts of wales

and northern ireland as well. through friday morning, this band of rain will push eastwards and only really reaching east anglia and southeast england in the afternoon. so there will be a bit of sunshine for a time. behind that, some sunny skies but also plenty of showers. the showers have hail and thunder mixed in across northwestern areas, where it'll feel particularly cold. highs of seven celsius, and factor in the brisk wind and it will feel colder than that. in fact, through the weekend, i think it will stay on the windy side, rain around as well. we start off with a risk of icy stretches across higher parts of scotland and northern england because there may well be some snow showers here through friday night. so, icy conditions. sunshine for a time, but further west the cloud building in and eventually outbreaks of rain spread in to northern ireland, perhaps western scotland towards the end of the day. blustery and still quite cool, temperatures about 9—10 celsius through saturday afternoon. into saturday night, more outbreaks of rain, particularly across northern

areas of the uk with the rain turning heavy at times. the weather front slow—moving somewhere across northern ireland, northern england and north wales. to the north, cold air in scotland, so sunshine and a few showers, and to the south across southern parts of england and wales, temperatures will not be quite so low — highs of 13 or 14 celsius. and that trend to slightly milder conditions continues into monday. for many of us it will be a much milder day, with temperatures as high as 18 celsius, but there will still be rain around across the north and west uk. that is your weather.

costs this is bbc news.

the headlines: the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has said that astrazeneca must "catch up" on vaccine deliveries for the eu before exporting its vaccine supplies elsewhere. the eu has not received anything like the number of vaccines it has ordered. china has imposed sanctions on nine britons, including five mps, in retaliation for british measures taken against chinese officials accused of human rights abuses against the uighur minority in xinjiang province. the chinese foreign ministry has accused those it has penalised of spreading "lies and disinformation". in his first news conference as president, joe biden has doubled his goal for coronavirus vaccinations — saying 200 million will be delivered in his administration's first 100 days. he also dismissed suggestions of an immigration crisis at the southern border.

now on bbc news, christa larwood looks back at some