this is bbc news: i'm ben brown with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. my my husband, the president of the united states, joe biden. president biden holds a rally in georgia, the first stop on a tour to encourage americans to support his sweeping economic plans. gaunt and visibily diminished. alexei navalny in court via videolink — for his first appearance since his hunger strike — accusing president putin of stealing the country's riches. prime minister boris johnson plays down more questions about the refurbishment of his downing street flat — insisting there isn't "anything to see here". astonishment as a new gene therapy improves the vision

of some patients with a rare inherited eye condition. president biden has spoken at a rally in the us state of georgia to mark his 100th day in office. it's the first stop on a tour to urge americans to support his plans to spend trillions of dollars rebuilding the economy. during his opening remarks, the president was interrupted by hecklers objecting to prisoners being held in privately run detention centres. close the detention centres! close — close the detention centres! close the detention centres! close the detention centres! close the detention centres now! — now! i- now! i agree with now! — i agree with you. i'm working on it, man. give me another

five days. on it, man. give me another five dam-— folks, you all know what they are talking about. there should be no private prisons period, none, period. that's what they are talking about, private detention centres. they should not exist and we are working to close all of them. president biden dealing with those hecklers there. he went on to explain exactly how his multitrillion spending plans would be funded. it's about time the very wealthy and corporations start paying their fair share. it's about time. as simple as that. folks, i'm not going to bore you with the details, but i promise you, no one making under $400,000 a year is going to pay a single additional penny and tax, no one. as i

said last night, the middle—class and working people of this country are already paying enough in taxes. it's time for the richest 1% of americans in corporate america to start to do their part. we can cross live to georgia and our correspondent at the rally larry madowo. he's been listening to the president. a bit of a tricky start forjoe biden with that speech, hecklers and also coughing quite a lot, but essentially, his message was about his achievements in his first 100 days and why it's so necessary to have this economic recovery plan. that is correct. he didn't let the hecklers derailed him too much, this is getting america back on track to her, and this is the first stop. he is of the places to go to to try to sell this to the american people. he bets about his multitrillion dollarjobs and infrastructure plan is much more popular with the ordinary americans they may be the politicians in dc, and if he can bypass them and sell it directly to the american people, he can be successful.

this is already being characterised as a radical left wishlist of raising taxes and killing jobs, and that is why he has to underscore this point that this is going to create good well—paying jobs and many of them will not even need a couege of them will not even need a college degree. america has been devastated by the covert crisis, and he is saying the country is getting back on the move again, and that is what he is trying to do out here in georgia. is trying to do out here in georgia-— is trying to do out here in geornia. �* ., ,., , ., georgia. and also trying to outline his _ georgia. and also trying to outline his achievements l georgia. and also trying to | outline his achievements in those 100 days of his presidency. he did. he started off talking about, he set a plan when he was running up 100 million vaccines in 100 million —— hundred days something like 220 million shots in the first from hundred days and then quickly ramping up. he wanted to highlight that, talking about passing the stimulus package, this americanjobs plan passing the stimulus package, this american jobs plan which deliver $1400 checks to many americans, many of whom make less than $85,000 a year. he

wanted to highlight that. he wanted to highlight that. he wanted to highlight that. he wanted to reassure the american public of the country is back again after the last four years of haphazard leadership of president donald trump. america is getting its respect and back on the world stage. he's rejoined multilateral institutions and the adults are backin institutions and the adults are back in charge, essentially. that's the subtext of everything that he is saying that these rallies.— everything that he is saying that these rallies. there are a few rallies — that these rallies. there are a few rallies coming _ that these rallies. there are a few rallies coming up, - that these rallies. there are a| few rallies coming up, because he has been quite restricted in his travels since he became president because of the covert restrictions, but this isn't his only stop, is it?- restrictions, but this isn't his only stop, is it? no, this is not his— his only stop, is it? no, this is not his first _ his only stop, is it? no, this is not his first stop. - his only stop, is it? no, this is not his first stop. they're| is not his first stop. they're only 315 cars in the parking lot behind me, so not a whole lot behind me, so not a whole lot of people, and yet, joe biden is a retail politician, he excels when he deals directly with the people. he emotes much better than president from, and maybe even president 0bama. he can really connect with people. so he has beenin connect with people. so he has been in sales mode again this time with this rally and will

be doing it again in pennsylvania and other parts of the country. so in a way, he is missing that crowd. there were a few people back here celebrating him, a few from supporters as well who said thatjoe biden is lying and he is beholden to the chinese communist party, and this is going to killjobs. some people are still talking about 20/20 and he is not a legitimate president, even 100 days end. larry, good to see you. thank you so much. live in georgia. the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has appeared in court in moscow via videolink — the first time he has been seen in public since ending his 24 day hunger strike. he launched a scathing attack on president putin, calling him an emperor with no clothes whose crown was slipping. at the same time, another court in moscow was clamping down on mr navalny�*s supporters, as sarah rainsford reports. his head close shaven and face gaunt, this is the first glimpse of alexei navalny since his three—week hunger strike.

the opposition politician transformed as a prisoner. this video link to court is now his only platform. the one official camera won't film his speech but audio does get out. and today navalny denounced vladimir putin as a president whose only care is clinging to power eternally. but since navalny�*s arrest, the pressure on his supporters has intensified. irina used to run his office in st petersburg. they've cleared out because the prosecutor now wants the whole navalny network banned as extremists. translation: the risks are high because we just don't know howl this law will be applied, how hard they want to crackdown. destroying our movement is already a huge thing. but they can still come after whoever they want, and that's frightening. the door here is shuttered,

the office is empty, it's as if alexei navalny�*s team were never even here. and it's the same story now right across this country, as a whole opposition movement, the most prominent, the most organised in russia, has suddenly vanished from sight. last august, alexei navalny nearly died on a flight from siberia, poisoned with a nerve agent. when he recovered and returned to russia defiant, he was arrested on arrival. since then his offices have been raided constantly, team members targeted with searches and arrests. despite it all, crowds took to the streets throughout russia once again last week demanding navalny�*s release. this was the response in st petersburg. history tutor alexander was one of more than 800 detained. a week later we returned to the spot. alexander told me the price of dissent is rising now. they punched me

with electro shock. navalny�*s supporters, he insists, though, want peaceful change. of course extremist for our government, for the putin's people who want to fight with him in political things. people like navalny, the man the kremlin wants silenced and forgotten, and any attempt to challenge that is obliterated. sarah rainsford, bbc news, st petersburg. let's get some of the day's coronavirus developments. turkey's first, full coronavirus lockdown came into effect earlier — imposed to try to curb a surge in infections and deaths. under the new restrictions, people will have to stay at home except for essential shopping trips and urgent medical treatment. alcohol sales will be limited and all travel between cities will require official approval. brazil has just announced that more than 400 thousand people have now died

with the coronavirus, as the country's health services continue to struggle. presidentjair bolsonaro has consistently rejected lockdown and social distancing measures. brazil has the second highest number of covid deaths in the world, after the united states. the indian government has welcomed international offers of help and medical supplies, to help the country tackle a huge surge in coronavirus infections. the number of deaths and new cases are reaching record levels on a daily basis. the united states has told its citizens to leave india as soon as possible —— describing access to medical care there as "severely limited". aid workers say shortages of oxygen and test kits in northeastern syria are jeopardising the region's fight against the coronavirus, just as cases there begin to surge. an international rescue committee statement said the only testing facility in the kurdish—controlled area of the country could run out of kits within a week.

seven centres treating patients have been forced to close for lack of funds, borisjohnson has sought to play down concerns about how the refurbishment of his downing street flat was paid for — insisting there isn't "anything to see here, or to worry about." he's made clear the conservative party will comply with the outcome of an electoral commission investigation, but has refused to say whether he will abide by the recommendations of his newly—appointed standards adviser. labour have said it's become a "ridiculous farce" that mrjohnson has so far failed to reveal who initially paid for the refit. chris mason reports. the apparently simple can sometimes take a while to work out. borisjohnson was asked again today about his downing street flat and who initially paid for its makeover. he was repeatedly dismissive of what he described

as a farrago of nonsense. i don't think there's anything to see here or to worry about. i don't think that this is the number one issue for the people of our country, indeed, by several orders of magnitude. the prime minister insists he paid what he owed for sprucing up the living quarters here and will declare what he needs to, but he won't say if he borrowed the money, and if so, from whom, and all of this is meant to be published. the matter is keeping a lot of people busy. earlier this week the country's top civil servant, simon case, told mps he was conducting a review at the request of the prime minister into how the refurb was paid for. the electoral commission, which regulates the money spent in politics, has launched a formal investigation, saying there were reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred. it has the power to issue fines or refer matters to the police.

and it's the first big job for lord geidt, newly appointed as the independent adviser on ministers' interests. he'll examine if the prime minister has received any donations he is required to declare. three separate inquiries into how the face—lift of the famous flat was funded. i think this is getting a bit farcical. i think the prime minister could actually deal with this very, very quickly. all he's got to do is answer a very simple question, which is who paid initially for the redecoration of your flat? and to furnish his point somewhat, sir keir decided to pay a visit to the department storejohn lewis today. playing political games, claimed the conservatives. lord geidt, the new independent adviser on ministers' interests, spent ten years working for the queen.

labour say he should have more power, such as being able to launch his own investigations and not just do ones asked for by the prime minister. he will publish his findings into borisjohnson, but mrjohnson has refused to say if he will abide by those conclusions. there now could be a fourth investigation into what's going on. labour mps have asked the parliamentary commissioner for standards to look into it. there is every prospect there are more revelations to come. chris mason, bbc news, in downing street. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: its liftoff for the first pass of china's permanent space station. the last will follow in instalments. nothing, it seems, 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've taken the capital which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7am in the morning - on the day when power began to pass from the minority- to the majority — when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. - this is bbc news, the latest headlines...

president biden holds a drive—through rally in georgia, the first stop on a tour to promote his economic plans to the american public. the kremlin critic has been seen for the first time since ending his hunger strike. he's accused president boudin of turning russians into slaves. northern ireland's democratic unionist party has begun the search for a new leader after arlene foster announced she was standing down at the end of may. unrest in the party over her position on brexit has prompted her departure. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. we say never! never! reverberating through the decades, the party's uncompromising brand of unionism. democracy was done to death in downing street. defending northern ireland's place as part of the uk... when you think about bullying me, think again.

..while sharing power with diametrically opposed adversaries. it is a difficult balancing act. to be the next dup leader you have to appear hard line but you also have to be pragmatic, because loveless marriage or not, you have to do business with sinn fein. i'm a proud northern ireland man, i love its people... - the next first minister could be this man. edwin poots, first to officially declare he is running. the current agricultural minister, he is seen as even more socially conservative than arlene foster, with a track record of vehemently opposing gay marriage, same—sex adoption and abortion. westminster mp sirjeffrey donaldson and gavin robinson are also believed to be contenders. getting things done here depends on political partnership between unionists and nationalists. the dup's recent tactics of standing in the way

of brexit arrangements and other things has already angered the nationalist parties, so there's uncertainty here about what approach a new leader might take to the tricky business of power—sharing. critics of arlene foster felt she should have defended the dup's core ideals more strongly. unionists feel undermined by the new brexit arrangements, a trade border separating northern ireland from the rest of the uk. i think there's a feeling that the party has moved away from its traditional roots. i think there is a desire for the dup to take a stronger stance on the protocol. i think they want the dup to be a bit more aggressive with the protocol, maybe be disruptive. but a harder line approach risks losing more moderate unionist voters. elise is 18. i come from a very unionist background and so there would be no other party that i would feel would be able to represent me. what do you think about the idea of edwin poots being the next first minister? he is very kind of olden times and would not maybe appeal to younger voters such

as myself who would be more inclined to vote for someone a wee bit more open and, like, less religious. whoever succeeds arlene foster, the tensions over brexit remain. how they deal with them will be the first test for the new leader of unionism in northern ireland, with implications for the whole of the uk. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. patients with a rare inherited eye condition, which causes gradual sight loss — have said they are astonished and delighted by the success of a new form of gene therapy. the treatment is intended to halt further loss of sight, but has actually improved their vision as well. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh has more — and just a warning — his report includes images of the operation. jake has been gradually losing his sight since birth but no longer — thanks to a ground—breaking gene therapy. i've just been able to see

facial features on my own face. it's something that i never used to be able to do. jake, from county durham, has a rare inherited condition which means his central vision is largely a blur. since his rate eye was treated a year ago his peripheral vision has improved. i'm in the best place i've probably been in 24 years of life. last year for a lot of people was a dark and miserable year but for me it was probably the best year of my life. after a year's delay due to covid, jake has now had his other eye treated at moorfields eye hospital in london — which it is hoped may further stabilise and perhaps improve his vision. the one—off gene therapy, called luxturna, is delivered via injection. it costs £600,000 but the nhs has agreed a discounted price with the manufacturer novartis. the injection delivers working copies of a faulty gene, rpe65, into the retina at the back of the eye. the dna is encased in a harmless virus which breaks into the retinal cells.

once inside the nucleus of the eye the replacement gene kick—starts production of the rpe65 protein essential for healthy vision. this is really transformational. it provides an opportunity, hope for people, not only with the specific condition, but people with other similar conditions hope that they can protect their sight in the long term. i keep noticing subtle improvements. i noticed one today coming into this park. i noticed that there are railings above the entrance to the gate. matthew from london has the same rare inherited condition and has had one eye treated. the second operation is next month. aged 48, his vision had already deteriorated much further than jake's. i lost my central vision about ten years ago and it had a really severe impact on how

i live and who i am. if the treatment means that it puts off another decline like that then that's going to be amazing. matthew's wife has noticed he is more independent. he doesn't have to ask me every little thing. is this on the right setting? the washing machine, the coffee machine — you know — those things that are just everyday people take for granted matthew can now do himself. around a dozen people in the uk have received the gene therapy, including several children — who stand to benefit most, as it may halt their sight loss before permanent damage is done. fergus walsh, bbc news. bafta has suspended the actor noel clarke just weeks after he received one of its top awards — following newspaper allegations of sexual harassment. he denies the allegations. in a statement, bafta said it made the decision "in light of the allegations of serious misconduct" in the british

newspaper, the guardian. the doctor who actor was presented with the outstanding british contribution to cinema award this month. 0ur correspondent tim muffett has more. bafta has issued a statement. it says, that in the light of allegations of serious misconduct regarding noel clarke in the guardian, bafta has taken the decision to suspend his membership and the outstanding british contribution to cinema award immediately and until further notice. now, this comes following a series of allegations in the guardian concerning the actor's behaviour. noel clarke has said he denies any allegations. he has said in a statement that "in a 20 year career, i've put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and have never had a complaint against me." five people have been arrested over the theft of lady gaga's dogs in los angeles. the singer's french bulldogs were returned two days after being stolen at gunpoint in february.

the woman who said she'd found the dogs was one of those arrested. lady gaga was filming in rome at the time and her dog—walker, ryan fischer, was badly injured and taken to hospital after being shot in the robbery. china has launched the first module for its new space station — as part of the country's ambitious space programme. a rocket blasted off from the wenchang launch facility on an island off china's southern coast. it's carrying a module which houses life support systems and living space for the space station's crew. the facility is expected to be fully operational by next year. earlier i asked fred watson, author and australian government astronomer—at—large, what the significance was of this chinese venture into space. it's a great first step towards arrival international space station. the chinese space issue won't be as big as the international space station, perhaps one fifth of the mass,

but it will be independent from it will be a fully operational station with a permanent crew of three eventually, living quarter module, which has just been launched, and two liberatory modules that will be attached as well. it's a big entity. when you say arrival, what will it do potentially that the american space station can't do? it won't do anything that the american space station can't do. it will certainly complement the kind of science that's been done, it's not the american space station it's the international space station, their are five major space agencies involved with that, including russia. the work that needs to be done in space, there is plenty of research on astronomy, and space physics, microgravity, on human health and space. all of those things need work on the research front, so the new chinese space station and welcome as i said, complement that. it will assisted.

you can reach me you can reach me on you can reach me on twitter. you are watching bbc news. hello. april will continue to try to make amends with a bit more rain before the month is done during friday in the form of showers that will continue into the first weekend of may. it will stay on the cool side with a risk of frost at night. and then for the bank holiday, look at this area of low pressure, a long way away, but it's coming for us on monday. until then, we find ourselves in the wake of low pressure. unstable air, meaning showers and the flow of air coming in from the northeast. cool direction temperatures, below average for the time of year. and another frost out there for many as we start the day friday morning. rather patchy in nature, more likely in the countryside than in town and city centres, but it will be chilly. there'll be plenty of sunshine,

already a few showers running in towards the north sea coastal areas. but after the early sunshine elsewhere, some cloud is going to build, and the showers break—out more widely, some heavy, perhaps with hail and thunder. not everyone will catch them, though, and as for temperatures, it is quite cool, particularly along north sea coasts. many of us just in the range of 9—12 celsius. perhaps fewer showers in northern ireland compared with thursday, so, more in the way of dry, sunny weather. as ever, the showers, not everybody�*s going to catch them. they will tend to fade away after dark overnight and into saturday morning. and with another chilly start with another patchy frost, a lot of sunshine to start the weekend, to start saturday. but, wait for it, it all happens again. the shower clouds build, the showers break—out, some heavy with hail and thunder, they will be wintry too over the higher hills and mountains, particularly in scotland. maybe temperatures a degree or so higher on saturday. the winds are light, so if you are in some sunshine, it will feel reasonable, as it will again on sunday after a chilly start, but the showers will get

going once again. more cloud gathering out to our west. that's the area of low pressure i showed you coming in for the bank holiday. now, there is still something to play for in the timing of the arrival of this wet and windy weather moving in from the atlantic on monday. it may well be that the far north of scotland, the far southeast of england stay dry for a large part of the day before the rain gets in. but if you think rain is coming on the bank holiday, the winds are going to be picking up as well and it is going to still be on the cool side for the time of year, you won't go far wrong.

hello, you're watching bbc news with me, ben brown. president biden has held a rally in georgia told mark is 100 day in office. he wanted the wealthy and corporations to pay their share of tax. he's the first to urge americans to support... alexia navalny was launched a scathing attack on president putin, accusing him of stealing the country's riches. it's the first time he's been seen since his hunger strike. noel clarke has been suspended. it follows counsel sexual harassment cement which he decides —— denies.