this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden prepares for his first address to a joint—session of congress. and he's going big, setting out plans for trillions of dollars in government spending. here in the uk, prime minister borisjohnson feels the heat as a formal investigation is launched into the funding for refurbishing his downing street flat. india's covid crisis deepens — hospitals overwhelmed, record infections, and soaring death rates — we have a special report from delhi. and michael collins, one of the original members of the apollo 11 mission to the moon, has died, aged 90.

hello, welcome. in the next hour, presidentjoe biden is giving a prime—time address to a joint session of congress for the first time in his presidency. he'll lay out what he's achieved in his first 100 days in office and provide details on his american families plan. it's a $1.8 trillion plan to provide more free education, help with childcare costs, and paid family leave. this comes after the coronavirus relief bill, and a plan to spend over $2 trillion on traditional infrastructure — and republicans are already asking how america can possibly afford it. let's talk now to our washington correspondent, lebo diseko who's on capitol hill for us. we are expecting a light. what

we were initially thinking of as a traditional transitional president, he could potentially be transformational, a big, big announcement is coming up in the next hour.— the next hour. yes. i think that he — the next hour. yes. i think that he is _ the next hour. yes. i think that he is certainly - the next hour. yes. i think that he is certainly putting i the next hour. yes. i think. that he is certainly putting an ambitious plan forward. the two plans that will work together or proposals they work together is the americanjobs plan and the american families plan comes to about $4 trillion in spending. that is certainly more of a transitional president. once that is putting forward proposals that really will change the way the role of government here in america and change social spending here. this is going to be an evening of quite a few firsts. joe biden is the oldest president. somebody that old will never have taken this step before and also he will be flanked by two women for the first time. and of course, this is against the

backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and the insurrection that took place here just a few months ago. so all of those things will make up part of his speech. you will see them woven through. i think the message that he wants to get across is america is back, america is going to go from really crisis to opportunity. find going to go from really crisis to opportunity-— to opportunity. and when it comes to — to opportunity. and when it comes to the _ to opportunity. and when it comes to the figures, - to opportunity. and when it comes to the figures, they| to opportunity. and when it i comes to the figures, they are absolutely huge, as he touched upon. $1.8 trillion plan. republicans already questioning how americans can afford it. yes. some of the funding will come from the proposals, from increases to corporate tax and other funding will come from increases to the tax that people in the top 1% pay. republicans, as you said, say that they don't see how this will be able to be funded. they have called this essentially socialism. that has been what they have said throughoutjoe biden�*s presidency thus far.

they have responded to the draft of the address that he will give tonight and say that this is a socialist agenda, essentially.— this is a socialist agenda, essentiall . �* ., ., essentially. and head of the seech, essentially. and head of the speech. i — essentially. and head of the speech, i understand - essentially. and head of the speech, i understand he - essentially. and head of the speech, i understand he is l speech, i understand he is meeting congressional staff who are trapped in the building during the raid. and you're there at the time. this still highly emotive for so many who experienced it.— experienced it. absolutely, the security around _ experienced it. absolutely, the security around this _ experienced it. absolutely, the security around this building i security around this building and the capital complex reflects just that. he will also be meeting after his speech with bipartisan groups of lawmakers. again, joe biden came into his presidency saying that he wanted to work across the aisle to be a president who works for both sides of the political aisle. works for both sides of the politicalaisle. but works for both sides of the political aisle. but we have seen him prior to this when he needs to go it alone. the democrats pushed through the coronavirus spending bill through a special process

called budget reconciliation that meant that they didn't need the republicans. i think he has shown that he is willing to work with them but ready to go ahead without them. i know ou will you will be monitoring this piece for us and we will speak to you throughout the rest of the evening. the time being, our washington correspondent lebo disoko there. i'm joined now by aaron kall from the university of michigan who has written a book about presidential addresses to joint sessions of congress. we heard this being a speech of firsts. what is your initial expectation?— firsts. what is your initial expectation? yes, this is a uni . ue expectation? yes, this is a unique and _ expectation? yes, this is a unique and historical- expectation? yes, this is a i unique and historical address tonight. it is later than normal, it usually occurs in february. just the surroundings and the optics of only 200 people in the room, speaker nancy pelosi and vice president kamala harris behind. everyone wearing masks. a very subdued eventjust wearing masks. a very subdued event just the day wearing masks. a very subdued eventjust the day before the first hundred days of his

administration. so it's going to be an address like we have never seen in the middle of a once in a generation pandemic. yes, absolutely unprecedented time. when it comes to president wyden, he has got solid approval ratings. what is your expectation? it will be feeling confident, a lot of the things he pledged during the election he has already provided in terms of vaccinations. a confident approach to what we are expecting? approach to what we are “petting?— approach to what we are expecting? yes, i think of certain issues _ expecting? yes, i think of certain issues such - expecting? yes, i think of certain issues such as - expecting? yes, i think of certain issues such as the | certain issues such as the vaccine. his response to the pandemic is the number one thing that is really boosting his approval ratings. he has given 200 doses in the first hundred days, doubling the expectations with deaths and infections decreasing. there are vulnerabilities in the southern border and immigration problem, the china policy, race relations, bringing the country together which he pledged to do in his dress. approval ratings are on the low 50s, certainly

better than president trump during this time it in his first presidency in 2017. other presidents like bill clinton and barack obama were closer to the 60s. he deftly has worked to give, specially of independent voters and republicans. we will talk about their compliments from the first three months and then pivoted to jobs and families plans and additional spending of trillions of dollars because thatis of trillions of dollars because that is really important for both the economy, profits and democrats keeping control of the senate in the 2022 elections.— the senate in the 2022 elections. �* ., , , ., elections. and what is your readina elections. and what is your reading of— elections. and what is your reading of what _ elections. and what is your reading of what he - elections. and what is your reading of what he is - elections. and what is your reading of what he is like l elections. and what is your i reading of what he is like thus far because a lot of people, a lot of commentators were describing him as potentially a transitionary president but what we're going to hear is going be transformational for the us stop so very strong message to cumbria later on in the next hour or so.— the next hour or so. yes. i think it's _ the next hour or so. yes. i think it's a _ the next hour or so. yes. i think it's a bit _ the next hour or so. yes. i think it's a bit of _ the next hour or so. yes. i think it's a bit of a - the next hour or so. yes. i think it's a bit of a mixed l think it's a bit of a mixed bag. he might see himself as somebody like theodore roosevelt governing during the middle of a pandemic and in a war economy. the spending and

remaking of the economy. at the same time, his address during the campaign, he talked about being a bridge in the democratic party and bring the country together and uniting the country and the polarisation is just as the country and the polarisation isjust as bad if not worse than it has been in the past few years so a lot of ground to make up there. there has been a character of him created so he needs to do his best though he's pretty moderate in general and make sure that comes out and talk about his accomplishments and vision the future because he will need both. both for his party and some republicans potentially could get in the way in getting these major amendments passed in the next few months. it amendments passed in the next few months-_ few months. it will be fascinating _ few months. it will be fascinating to - few months. it will be fascinating to listen . few months. it will be | fascinating to listen to few months. it will be i fascinating to listen to this live. aaron kall who has written a book about congressional print, presidential speeches. stay with bbc news: there'll

be special coverage of president biden's speech, starting after this bulletin. my colleague, katty kay, will be live in washington, as the president gives his first address to a joint session of congress, to mark his first 100 days in office. that coming up right after this bulletin. there's to be an official investigation into the funding of renovation work on british prime minister boris johnson's flat in downing street. the inquiry will be carried out by the electoral commission, which says there's reason to believe the rules may not have been followed. mrjohnson insists that he paid for the work himself and has complied with the codes of conduct. but labour is accusing him of leading a government mired in sleaze. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more details. there's no place like home. are you worried about the investigation, prime minister? and there's been no fix quite like this for boris johnson before. who coughed up for the flat, sir? his flat had an expensive makeover. he won't say who first paid — a mystery that's now subject to a serious investigation.

but the electoral commission today said: with claims that tory donors might have picked up the tab, there's suspicion the rules were broken. �*initially�* is the key word here. who initially paid for the redecoration of his downing street flat? he should know that i paid for downing street refurbishment personally, mr speaker. any further declaration that i have to make, if any, i will be advised upon by lord geidt. lord geidt used to work for the queen, and he will now watch over ministers�* behaviour — but remember, the question isn't who stumped up in the end, it's who paid boris johnson's bills at the start? what do we get from this prime minister and this conservative government? dodgy contracts, jobs for their mates and cash for access, and who's at the heart of it? the prime minister,

major sleaze, sitting there. don't the british people deserve a prime minister they can trust and a government that isn't mired in sleaze, cronyism and scandal? week after week, the people of the country can see the difference between a labour party that twists and turns with the wind, that thinks of nothing except playing political games, whereas this party gets on with delivering on the people's priorities! this isn't about spending cash on cushions or curtains, it's about where the money came from to do so at the start. all politicians have to declare any money or loans they receive, so that we can all be absolutely sure precisely what's going on. the prime minister appears to be feeling the heat now on several fronts. angry denials down there were the order of the day. did the prime minister rage he'd rather see bodies pile up than lockdown again, as several sources familiar with the exchanges have told the bbc and other news organisations?

can the prime minister tell the house categorically, yes or no, did he make those remarks or remarks to that effect? no, mr speaker, and i think that, if he's going to repeat allegations like that, he should come to this house and substantiate those allegations. parliamentary rules stop me from saying that the prime i minister has repeatedly lied to the public over the last . week, but can i ask a question? are you a liar, prime minister? i didn't say those words. what i do believe is that a lockdown is a miserable, miserable thing, and i did everything i could to try and protect the british public throughout the pandemic, to protect them from lockdowns, but also to protect them from disease. yet the prime minister's opponents are trying to peck away at boris johnson's integrity and, at the very least, unanswered questions are a big distraction. if a serving government minister is found to have broken the rules on party

funding or even law, should they resign? given that this is a coronavirus press conference, you won't be surprised that i'm not going to add to the answers the prime minister's already given to very extensive questioning, thanks. but avoiding questions doesn't make them disappear. there are multiple inquiries now into exactly what happened. political reputations must be tended to with care. that tended to with care. was laura reporting there a. that was laura reporting there a. __ that was laura reporting there a. —— for us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: remembering the man who didn't walk on the moon — michael collins, the third member of the apollo 11 crew, dies at the age of 90. nothing, it seemed, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing.

internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they have taken the capital which they have been fighting for for so long. it was 7 o'clock in _ the morning when power began to pass from the minority- to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. i this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president biden is due to set out plans for trillions

of dollars in government spending, but the republicans are wary. a formal investigation has been launched into the funding for renovations to boris johnson's downing street flat. after a deceptive lull earlier this year, india is grappling with a devastating second wave of covid—19. the official death toll has now passed 200,000, and many fear that figure is a huge under—estimate. the health system is under enormous pressure, with acute shortages of hospital beds and oxygen supplies. our correspondent yogita limaye reports from delhi. years of training, but nothing could have prepared them for this. this woman, a nurse and the mother of three young children. every few minutes,

there's a new patient. oxygen mask! i need an oxygen cylinder! she's constantly scanning how others are holding up. treating as many as they can. translation: people say, "sister, - please save our loved one." they call us god. that makes us so emotional because we can only do so much. with resources so short, they're having to choose who they might save. decisions they should never have had to make. translation: at times, we break down. -

some nights i wake up crying, but i also feel a sense of satisfaction that i'm doing something to help. this is a hospital in a big city, better off than most others. weeks of toil lie ahead in a city that's overrun. everything needed to fight covid is in short supply. every morning in india, we're waking up to news that someone we know has died. through the day, there are frantic pleas for oxygen, hospital beds, medicines on the phone, online, even on the streets. and amidst all of that, we are also seeing people who wake up every morning, put on their protective gear and get down to business trying to help as many people as they can. this man is a volunteer trying to provide oxygen to critical patients.

they should be in intensive care. desperation has brought them here. he offers a temporary reprieve, keeping people alive till they get hospital care. "when people's lives hang in the balance, we thought this is one thing we could do to try to save someone," he says. with each cylinder, they're trying to help as many as they can. once stabilised, the hunt begins again. "hundreds of people are coming here each day. if we had help from the government, we could do so much more," he says. ten days since delhi locked down, people wait by the side of a road for oxygen. this is india's capital city. yogita limaye, bbc news, delhi.

in northern ireland, arlene foster has resigned as the leader of the democratic unionist party, and as first minister. more than 20 dup assembly members at stormont, and four mps at westminster, signed a letter saying they have no confidence in her leadership. she became leader of the party in december 2015, and was the first woman and the youngest person to hold both jobs. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. a warning, it contains some flash photography. applause. in its 50—year history, arlene foster is only the third leader of the dup — a party known for its hard—line brand of unionism and staunch british identity, now at a rare crossroads. a short time ago, i called my party chairman to inform him that i intend to step down as leader of the democratic unionist party.

it has been the privilege of my life to serve the people of northern ireland as their first minister. mrs fosterformed her political ideals growing up during the years of violence in northern ireland. the ira tried to kill her father when she was a child, and a bomb exploded under her school bus in fermanagh in 1988. and i closed my eyes, cos ijust didn't know what was going on... as a law student, arlene foster joined the youth wing of the more moderate ulster unionists before defecting to the dup. i believe that the democratic unionist party is now the mainstream unionist party in northern ireland. she rose quickly through its ranks, becoming one of the party's most popular and unwavering politicians... when you think about bullying me, think again. ..before replacing peter robinson to become first minister in 2016. chanting.

it meant working alongside sinn fein's martin mcguinness, the former ira commander who became northern ireland's deputy first minister. until he resigned, causing a 3—year collapse in power—sharing over the dup�*s handling of a green energy scheme which wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers' money. tonight, arlene foster's current partner in the coalition at stormont had a message for her successor. you have to be committed to working together. it's about politics delivering for everybody, it's about progression, you know, it's about delivering for all citizens who live here. it was brexit which became arlene foster's biggest nemesis. her profile rose as the dup propped up theresa may's government through the confidence and supply agreement. when borisjohnson promised to protect the union, she championed him. he is a fabulous friend to the union. but when he agreed

a brexit deal which separated northern ireland in trading terms from the rest of the uk, it was damaging to the party and arlene foster's leadership. now, the anger among loyalist communities over brexit has raised the stakes. there is a sense that unionism in northern ireland is weakened and losing ground to nationalists. and now, arlene foster is paying the price. emma vardy, bbc news. us federal investigators have carried out searches at the home and offices of donald trump's former personal lawyer, rudy giuliani. they're trying to establish whether mr giuliani illegally lobbied the trump administration on behalf of the ukrainian government. mr giuliani's lawyer says his client did not break the law and has called the searches "legal thuggery".

michael collins, one of the three us astronauts who flew to the moon in 1969, has died at the age of 90. it was his job to keep the apollo 11 command module orbiting the moon, while his crewmates neil armstrong and buzz aldrin stepped onto the planet's surface for the very first time. our science correspondent jonathan amos has more. neil armstrong, buzz aldrin, and michael collins achieved something extraordinary that, even now, 52 years later, still stirs a sense of wonder. armstrong is no longer with us — he died in 2012. and now comes the news of the passing of another member of this remarkable apollo 11 trio, michael collins. his family and nasa have announce his death from cancer at the age of 90. collins was an integral part of the mission, but is often labelled the "forgotten man" because he didn't actually go down to the surface. he stayed in the command module circling the moon, while armstrong and aldrin made their boot marks in the lunar soil. that he missed out

was something he never complained about. i did not have the best seat of the three on apollo 11. but i can say, in all honesty, i was thrilled with the seat that i did have. i knew that i had somehow lucked into being one third of the team that was going to do this wonderful thing — and my function suited me fine. i mean, yeah, sure, iwould've preferred to walk on the moon, but that really seemed a trivial distinction at the time. i was very pleased with my responsibilities on the flight. his responsibilities on that mission included making sure armstrong and aldrin could get home. if something had gone wrong during the ascent from the lunar surface, collins would be their only help. when the three men returned to earth, they all had to deal with the adulation in their own way. like armstrong, collins didn't particularly like the limelight and rejected the idea they were celebrities. he saw the moon missions

as a great collective effort. i remember so vividly the trip that the three of us took after the flight of apollo 11. and we were surprised that, everywhere we went, every city we visited, we were not greeted with, "oh, well, you americans finally did it." we were greeted with, "we did it! we, humanity, we human beings have put ourselves, our talents together and we've done it." michael collins left nasa very soon after coming home, although he continued in public service. his death comesjust as the us space agency plans a return to the lunar surface with new rockets and space capsules. a new generation of astronauts will soon walk in apollo's footsteps. whether they can ever recreate quite the aura that surrounded michael collins and his crewmates, though, is open to question. jonathan amos, bbc news. remembering michael, who has passed away at the age of 90.

don't go away because katty kay and the team will have a special programme ahead ofjoe biden's speech. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @bbckasiamadera. it took till the end of the month before they started to make an appearance, but april showers feature quite heavily in the forecast through the rest of this week and into the weekend. and don't expect things to warm up as we see april out and go into may. it is going to be on the chilly side. area of low pressure with this weather front, which brought rain to end wednesday across southern counties. continues to push away eastwards, opening the door to north to north—easterly winds for all, all the way from the arctic. the blue colours indicating that cold air in place, and once again this morning, a fairly widespread frost away from the towns and city centres. that makes it every day in april so far, somewhere in the uk has seen a frost.

lovely bright start, though, for many. 1—2 early showers, wales and the southwest, but the bulk of the showers will be north—east england, eastern scotland, northern ireland. some of these could be heavy with hail and thunder. just watch how they develop through the day — become a bit more widespread, pushing a bit further southwards. now, it is going to be a day where some of you stay completely dry. southern counties, maybe along some eastern coasts, too, but all will be in that north to northeasterly airflow for all. temperatures will be down on where we should be. should be around 12 in aberdeen, just eight. should be 15 in london, just 12, as we go through the second half of the day. now, into the evening and through thursday night into friday, we will see clear skies return once again. a few showers to continue through the night, but another frosty night to see the last morning of the month. just about anywhere again away from towns and city centres. could have a bit of ice, too. we've seen some overnight showers and, like thursday, showers will start to develop, becoming heavy with hail and thunder. more, though, compared with thursday across parts of wales, central and southern england, particularly southernmost counties, and it will still stay chilly even though the breeze is not desperately strong. and that breeze becomes even less

of a feature as we go through friday night into saturday. notice how the isobars aligned, opening out, fairly light winds across the uk, and that does mean as the showers develop through the day after a sunny — in places, frosty — start, where you do catch some, they will be slow moving. most prone towards the south and southwest of the uk, western scotland and northern ireland. temperatures still down on where we should be for the time of year. fewer showers potentially on sunday, butjust watch what happens as we head into a bank holiday monday. deep area of low pressure pushes its way towards us, could be bringing, after a bright start, some heavy rain and strong winds. we'll keep you updated.

welcome to bbc news — i'm katty kay. our top stories: we're about 30 minutes from president biden's first major address to a joint—session of congress. he's due to lay out an ambitious spending plan, worth trillions of dollars. republicans are wary, to put it mildly. one of the biggest proposals involves child tax credits. in plain english, that would mean thousands of dollars per child, for american families. republican tim scott will deliver his party's response. the well—respected senator is due to say the covid rollout, and the economy, were already in good shape before mr biden took office.