this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. another day of record infections and deaths in india. we have a special report looking atjust how badly this crisis is affecting rural health facilities in villages across the country. the us secretary of state says america stands shoulder—to—shoulder with ukraine. on a trip to the country, anthony blinken warns that america is monitoring russia's behaviour very closely. polls have closed across england, scotland and wales in the biggest test of opinion since the uk general election of 2019. as the us sees a record number of migrants crossing the southern border, we follow one family hoping for a better life.

hello and welcome. there's no end in sight to india's surging coronavirus cases. the country has seen yet another record rise in infections — more than 400,000 new covid cases in less than 2a hours. but that figure is almost certainly an underestimate. the virus has spread from india's cities to the countryside, where hospitals are poorly equipped. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye has travelled to varanasi, in uttar pradesh, and a warning, her report contains distressing footage and flashing images. in less than an hour, we saw 13 funerals here. the government says there were just seven in the whole day. and this is prime minister

modi's own constituency. the human cost is being suppressed. this is the reality all over india. we'll never know how many died of the virus in this country. india's hinterland is where most of its people live. amidst lockdowns in big cities, masses are returning to their homes in small towns and villages. the virus is spreading. rundown hospitals trying to cope with a crisis they've never been equipped for, conditions the government doesn't want people to see — so we filmed secretly. covid patients being treated amidst people with other illnesses, the sick being cared for by their own families for a lack of doctors. this is the intensive care unit. we saw toilets

overflowing on its floor. just outside, we met this man. "if she'd got the right medicines and treatment, she might have survived, but she didn't get it here." his wife was 35. this was the rural health centre she was first taken to, the only one for villages around. here, they didn't discover she had covid until she became severely ill. there were no resources to treat her. i asked each person standing in this queue what they're suffering from. most of them have told me it's fever or a cough, and they are waiting in line at a primary health centre, this is the first place that someone from the village would come to. they're waiting for the doctor who's inside to tell them

what is wrong with them. most of these people weren't tested for covid and haven't had the vaccine. we drove miles to reach the deceased woman's village. even getting to basic health care is out of reach for most here. her husband says their whole family had covid symptoms. she was the mother of two children. people here are angry. "the prime minister makes announcements on televisions, but nothing reaches us," a neighbour says. "there is little we can do," she says. "those who are lucky to survive, whoever has to die will die." yogita limaye, bbc news, uttar pradesh. so, the pandemic is continuing to ravage india, but it's also continuing to spread across much of the developing world. now, there is growing pressure on richer countries to share their vaccine stockpiles

with poorer nations, to bridge the scale of the vaccine gap. it's become a question of global concern: will countries waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines? the us president has backed a proposal to do so, and the european union is set to consider it too — but germany has now voiced opposition, as have some biotech firms, saying patent rules don't hinder production of the jabs. matthew kavanagh is an assistant professor from the o neill institute for national and global health law at georgetown university law center. firstly, thank you very much for being with us on bbc news. let me ask you the straightforward question first, if there is such a one, is the problem we are experiencing at the problem we are experiencing at the moment down to the protection of the moment down to the protection of the copyright of these vaccines? thank you for having me. the thousands of people at this point dying of covid are because we have a production problem. we simply are

not making enough vaccines to reach the people who are in need. the problem there is multifaceted. 0ne problem there is multifaceted. one part of the problem is patents and the intellectual property, it is not the intellectual property, it is not the only problem but a fundamental problem. countries around the world are trying to get access to more vaccines. what we need is far more of the factories around the world that could be making covid vaccine in the business of doing so and that is partly about intellectual property. it is also about companies sharing their technology with others and funding to do those. all three of those things are key but waving the pertinence is one part of that. it is interesting this is happening now because when the lister institute was involved in developing the vaccine back in the summer of last year, it's instinct is a kind of nonprofit organisation committed to improving people's medical outcomes was to say look, we will put the formula out there and anyone can go out there. it was advised

don't do that because the problem you will have is you can't guarantee the quality everywhere all at once because everyone will be doing it and they won't necessarily be doing in the conditions you set down. secondly, if you pair up with a big company, which is what they ended up doing, you immediately have all the advantages about logistics about transferring vast supplies and all the rest of it. were they wrong in going down that route? i am not blaming them but were they wrong, where they giving them a bum steer? i think they were. i think that was the wrong move. where we have ended up the wrong move. where we have ended up now is that we have a handful of companies that are the only producers of these vaccines and we have done this very strange thing while we talk all the time about vaccine equity and how best to allocate those vaccines, what is actually happening is which country gets how much vaccine on what timeline is completely controlled by a handful of companies, right? whereas had they initially shed the

technology from the start, had to be set up technology hubs which could have shown how to do those vaccines in various places, we could have production in africa, asia, latin america instead of the handful of companies we have right now. quality is a huge issue. we want high quality medicines and vaccines and we want high quality all the time so do people have confidence in these? but it's a mistake to think there are only companies in rich countries that can do that. if we look at india, south africa, thailand, brazil, there are billion dollar enterprises that are engaged in making and manufacturing fantastically high quality products. we need them in the game and so not having enabled those folks to do it, not having got them in from the start means we are now stuck in a monopoly system, where only a few companies get to control. that means every country in the world is depending on those of you. we have seen the bad outcomes of that with the serum institute when it shifted

its production to focus on india. we need to focus on that. brief question, if patented rules were waved, how quickly could it be achieved?— waved, how quickly could it be achieved? , ., , . , achieved? there will be two pieces. one, we achieved? there will be two pieces. one. we have _ achieved? there will be two pieces. one, we have to _ achieved? there will be two pieces. one, we have to the _ achieved? there will be two pieces. one, we have to the patent - achieved? there will be two pieces. one, we have to the patent rules i 0ne, we have to the patent rules waived quickly. in the past this has taken months to do but it could take weeks. then what we want is to rapidly move to a moment where we have production happening. that is down to do the companies themselves have to reverse engineer these drugs? the companies tomorrow, pfizer, madonna, astrazeneca, all of them could tomorrow share their technology with a handful of fantastic companies around the world and we could have production up within months. if they have to reverse engineer it, it could take longer but we will still be in a situation where we are no longer monopolised if we can pass this patents waiver but will everyone around the world agree? right now the uk is resisting, the eu we are not sure about but the us is backing and that is good news.—

and that is good news. matthew kavanagh. _ and that is good news. matthew kavanagh, thank _ and that is good news. matthew kavanagh, thank you _ and that is good news. matthew kavanagh, thank you so - and that is good news. matthew kavanagh, thank you so much. l the us secretary of state has urged russia to end what he called its reckless and aggressive actions towards ukraine. on a visit to kyiv, antony blinken said the us is looking at increasing security assistance to the country. russia last month amassed 100,000 troops on ukraine's borders, the biggest mobilisation since moscow seized crimea in 2014. those forces have begun to withdraw but many are still in place. moscow also continues to back a pro—russian insurgency in ukraine s east that has killed more than 13,000 people, according to the united nations. president zelenskiy wants ukraine tojoin nato for protection — but washington has been lukewarm and wants to see more progress on corruption. —— on anti—corruption. secretary blinken met president zelensky and assured him that the us stands with his country. the force of ukraine was tested again just weeks ago, this spring,

as russia pushed more forces to ukraine's forces than at any time since 2014 when it invaded. i can tell you, mr president, that we stand strongly with you, partners do as well. i heard the same thing when i was at nato a couple of weeks ago and we look to russia to cease reckless and aggressive actions. we will continue to strengthen our security partnership and close collaboration with you, to make sure that ukraine can defend itself against aggression. let s get some of the day s other news. in brazil, at least 25 people have been killed in a police operation against suspected drug traffickers. at least two people on a passing metro train were hit by stray bullets. the neighbourhood where the incident took place is considered a base for one of brazil's most powerful gangs, the red command. the former president of the maldives, mohammed nasheed, has been injured in an explosion in the capital male. his supporters say the blast took

place as he was about to get into a car parked in a narrow lane. mr nasheed has been taken to hospital and is understood to have had surgery. mr nasheed is currently speaker of parliament. the makers of the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine have agreed to supply theirjab to all athletes and delegations at the tokyo 0lympic and paralympic games, which start injuly. although it's not mandatory to have the vaccine, the international olympic committee is encouraging all athletes to take the jab ahead of the games. germany's lower house of parliament, the bundestag, has approved a relaxation of some coronavirus restrictions for those who've been fully vaccinated or who can prove they've recovered from covid—19. the move is expected to be approved on friday by the upper house too, so that it can come into effect from saturday night. damian mcguiness has more from berlin. people who have had two doses of the vaccine or who have recently recovered from covid—19 will no longer have to do mandatory tests to go to nonessential

shops, for example. they will also be exempt from the contact rules, which mean that you can only have a certain number of people meeting up and they also don't have to abide by quarantine rules. if, for example, they travel into germany from abroad. so, it's a big move forward to ease restrictions for those who have been vaccinated. this comes really, of course, after the vaccination campaign in germany has really sped up over the last few weeks, really. on wednesday, more than a million people were vaccinated and that's the second time that germany has hit that million target in a day. what we're seeing right now is almost a third of the population has had at least one dose. so that does mean there is a lot of people are reaching immunity and that's why pressure has really grown to ease restrictions for those people who are now seen to be at a low risk of either getting infected themselves or transmitting the virus onto others. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come:

fresh research that shows how methane is playing a bigger role in global warning, than we first thought.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: another day of record infections and deaths in india. the crisis is now spreading from the towns and cities and affecting rural health facilities in villages across the country. the us secretary of state says america stands shoulder—to—shoulder with ukraine. on a trip to the country, anthony blinken warns that america is monitoring russia's behaviour very closely. in the first 100 days ofjoe biden s presidency, the us has experienced a record number of migrants crossing into the southern border. president biden has urged migrants not to attempt to travel to the us border — but with donald trump out of office, some believe immigration to the us

is now more possible. for many, that's not the case, and they get expelled back to mexico, but some seeking asylum get to stay. for some of those people, it makes their first stop the town of yuma, arizona. from there, patricia sulbaran reports. this is where a new life begins for some asylum seekers in the united states. border patrol has just released them from their custody in yuma, arizona. when they are released, they are tested, they're fed, they're screened. we're allowed to bring them and take them to a shelter which will assist the next step in the process to be able to get their families. country of origin — romania.

i don't need anything here, and then your signature. in the abscence of government action, this responsibility is taken on entirely by volunteers, who realised migrants were initially being dropped off on the streets without getting tested for covid, and with no shelter. we meet adrian and his family. just four of the thousands of migrants who have entered the us in recent months. originally from nicaragua, they are seeing asylum. their final destination is florida, where adrian's mother and sister live.

the us is the best option for families like adrian's, because they already have relatives here. they head to the airport before dawn.

despite reaching their family in florida, theirfuture is still uncertain. the mesa family face a fight in court to get their asylum case heard. patricia sulbaran, bbc news. polling stations have closed in england, scotland and wales, in what's been called a super thursday of elections. at stake are the devolved parliaments in scotland and wales, dozens of councils and 13 directly—elected mayors in england. all are allare upforgrabs. it's the biggest test of opinion since the general election of 2019. which borisjohnson�*s conservative government won by a significant margin. the results will be closely watched not only for the state of the parties and their leaders, but also for their potential impact on the future of the united kingdom.

let's go live to our political correspondentjessica parker. who is at westminster and is probably the quietest place, for once, in england, in political terms. , ., . ., , terms. yes, no, certainly. the activity has — terms. yes, no, certainly. the activity has been _ terms. yes, no, certainly. the activity has been going - terms. yes, no, certainly. the activity has been going on - terms. yes, no, certainly. the activity has been going on up i terms. yes, no, certainly. the i activity has been going on up and down the country. as you say, scotland, wales and england where we have seen this huge set of elections that we are going to be chewing over four days partly because of covid and the sheer number of elections going on and the way they have been organised. we will be talking about results coming in until monday, actually, when we will get the final set of police and crime commissioner elections. 0ne set of police and crime commissioner elections. one of the big moments expected to come around saturday afternoon, evening, as we get a fuller picture of what has happened in terms of the scottish parliament. particularly whether the snp, nicola sturgeon�*s party, has gained a majority and can therefore push

again for that referendum on independence. it wants a referendum that borisjohnson, the prime minister, has made it clear he will resist. so that is the sort of stage that has been set ahead of saturday. huge implications for saturday, huge implications for the united kingdom. indeed, some reports suggested it could be a situation where if you take other pro—independence parties into the mix as well as the snp, you could end up with two thirds of msps being pro independence. that obviously would lead to independence in itself but it would change the political calculation a lot in terms of the relationship between westminster and holyrood. in terms ofthe westminster and holyrood. in terms of the party — westminster and holyrood. in terms of the party is _ westminster and holyrood. in terms of the party is arguing _ westminster and holyrood. in terms of the party is arguing in _ westminster and holyrood. in terms of the party is arguing in favour- westminster and holyrood. in terms of the party is arguing in favour of. of the party is arguing in favour of independence, what they will point to, depending on the result that comes in, is the level to which they feel they have a mandate to pursue a further independence referendum. so it will be hugely important to see how those numbers shake down over

the coming days. then, of course, south of the border, you have the immediate focus is likely to be an early result that we will get is this hartlepool by—election. so that is a seat that the labour party, the labour opposition has held since 1974, since the seat was created. this will be a real test for the new —ish labour leader keir starmer who has been in the post for around a year. if he can hold onto the seat, he will want to show he can hold onto those labour heartlands and make progress after they serious significant defeat the labour party saw in 2019. if he can't, i think the murmurings and mumblings and grumblings about his leadership will grow louder and of course for boris johnson, the prime minister, who led the conservative party to victory in 2019's general election, if he takes that seat, it will be some level of further proof although by—elections

can be oddities, that he is eating into those old labour heartlands. so whilst by—elections have to be treated with a little bit of caution, undoubtedly it will be seen as something as a litmus test as to how the party leaders are doing. you have at least — how the party leaders are doing. you have at least given us an incentive for staying up a little longer. reducing methane emissions is far more important in tackling climate change in the short term than previously thought, according to a major united nations reportjust published. methane is a potent global warming gas produced when organic material decomposes. but the un says the good news is that rapid and significant reductions in the greenhouse gas are possible using cheap, existing technologies. here s our chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt. you are about to meet methane — the gas that fires your stove, seeps from rotting organic material, and bubbles from our stomachs and those of cows and sheep. butjust look what happens when

you add a little bit of pure oxygen. methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. each molecule has 120 times the effect, and the real difference between methane and carbon dioxide is that methane breaks down after about a decade. but carbon dioxide will be with us for thousands of years. methane concentrations in the atmosphere have been steadily increasing, but because it breaks down so quickly in the air, the un says if we can cut emissions, we can rapidly get rid of this powerful warming gas. that means urgently tackling the methane produced by the oil and gas industry, by agriculture, and in our waste. methane is second only to carbon dioxide when it comes to driving climate change, and the assessment shows that to put the world on a path that is consistent with the paris agreement

target of the 1.5 degrees, methane emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030. the report says the fossil fuel industry has the greatest potential to cut methane emissions cheaply by plugging leaks at oil and gas wells and at coal mines. but we can all do our bit to help. we can cut back on red meat and dairy, and if you get a compost collection, do always put your organic waste in it, because it's much easier for emissions to be controlled that way. and technology can help — a new network of high—resolution satellites can identify methane emissions from space. like the methane plume from this rubbish dump in the indonesian capital, jakarta. it's spewing methane equivalent to the c02 from 750,000 cars. justin rowlatt reporting there.

a p pa re ntly apparently it is the fact cows have two stomachs that they are a big contributor to methane gas. hello there. thursday bought another rash of showers and some significant snow. still cold with dill air with us for the day ahead. it will be a chilly start and further snow showers over the hills of scotland. but as we have gone through the evening and overnight, that showers have faded away. a lot of hail and thunder in eastern areas but under the starry skies, because it is cold air, temperatures freezing are a little below and given there is some dampness, it could be a bit icy in some spots. but an abundance of sunshine first thing. the shower already with us in some areas, as you see and become more widespread as the morning goes on. initially many parts of england and wales in

developing across scotland but then congregating on the east into the afternoon. hailand congregating on the east into the afternoon. hail and thunder and snow over the hills. again it will be chilly but temperature is probably a little higher than yesterday, up to 15 perhaps in the south. all change as we go through the coming night and into saturday. the next weather system comes in. defrost won't be as widespread saturday morning, more limited to the far north—east of scotland which is where we won't get the milder air scotland which is where we won't get the milderair in. scotland which is where we won't get the milder air in. it is this deep area of low pressure pulling itself in off the atlantic, giving us all a speu in off the atlantic, giving us all a spell of wet weather. looks quite wet in western areas and given we have the south—westerly wind coming in off the atlantic, it is bringing much milder air in off the atlantic, it is bringing much milderair in in off the atlantic, it is bringing much milder air in which means a lot of rain potentially in south—west england, wales, into the north of england. a wetter day for northern ireland that much of scotland. it may dry up in south—eastern areas later. the rain might not reach the far north of scotland and the milder air slow to arrive here, perhaps some wintry nets on the hills. we

could see 16 or 17 if it brightens in the south. 0vernight, the weather front dragging its heels, slow to move eastwards. we have one band of rain moving towards the north of scotland, showers following on behind. still the south—westerly wind into sunday so mild but plenty of showers merging together across north and west areas. it will be winding through the weekend as well but we could see 20 or 22 and possibly some late afternoon thunderstorms in south—eastern areas. quite a lot of uncertainty on the detailfor sunday areas. quite a lot of uncertainty on the detail for sunday but it looks a very unsettled weekend ahead. you can get more from the website.

this is bbc news, the headlines. india has once again reported a record number of cases and deaths. a new variant of coronavirus — discovered in india in march = may be linked to the massive surge. the us secretary of state has urged russia to end what he called its reckless and aggressive actions towards ukraine. antony blinken said the us is looking at increasing security assistance to the ukraine. in brazil, at least 25 people have been killed in a police operation against suspected drug traffickers. the neighbourhood where the incident took place is considered a base for one of brazil's most powerful gangs, the red command. and the united nations is calling for swift action to cut emissions of methane after new research showed that it's playing a bigger role in global warming than scientists originally thought.