this is bbc news — i'm shaun ley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden announces plans to share the first batch of its unused coronavirus vaccines — three quarters will go to the covax global programme. portugal is removed from the uk green list — a bitter blow for travellers hoping to get to one of the very few options for european holidays. and why exiled uyghurs are in london to put pressure on the international community to act against china. with 50 days to go to the tokyo olympics, the head of the organising committee tells the bbc the games will definitely go ahead.

hello and welcome. the biden administration has unveiled plans to share millions of unused covid vaccines with the rest of the world. they'll distribute 25 million doses immediately, with a goal of handing out 80 million by the end ofjune. of that initial batch, 19 million will be allocated to covax, the global facility designed to distribute vaccines fairly. the remaining six million doses will go directly to countries experiencing surges and to us neighbours. they include mexico, canada, south korea, and ukraine. president biden�*s national security adviser, jake sullivan, outlined the criteria for vaccine distribution. we've received requests from all over the world, and a number of important factors went into our decision about how to allocate these

first 25 million vaccines. these factors included achieving global coverage, responding to surges and other specific urgent situations and public health needs, and helping as many countries as possible who've requested vaccines. i've been speaking to our north america correspondent david willis. i asked him if this plan is contentious in the united states. well, this is the first batch, as you mentioned, of the 80 million doses of the united states has pledged to distribute worldwide within the space of this month. 25 million doses in this first tranche, and 75% of them, as you mentioned, going through the covax programme that is run by the world health organization — the priorities being south and central america — of course, brazil has been very badly affected by covid—19 — also south and southeast asia, which includes india — where they have seen a surge

of the virus in recent weeks — and africa, as well, with some being kept back for partner nations, including south korea, where, of course, the us has a big military presence. now, president biden was at pains to point out that this is not aimed at gaining some sort of leverage over the countries in question or seeking some sort of political advantage. he said it was being done in order to save lives and to bring an end to the pandemic. but to directly answer your question, this is a fairly modest commitment on the part of the united states. covax has said that it needs two billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine by early next year in order to treat the world's poorest nations. it's currently administered about 80 million, so there is a long way to go,

and there will be more calls for support, i'm sure, from the united states, given the fact that there is a surplus of the vaccine here. hundreds of uk holiday—makers — and would—be travellers — have had their plans thrown into disarray as quarantine for those returning from portugal is to be reintroduced. portugal had been the only mainstream european travel destination on the uk green list — but those returning from there after 4am on tuesday will now have to isolate for ten days and take two coronavirus tests. 0ur transport correspondent caroline davies reports. it was a brief moment in the sun. after three weeks, portugal is off the green list. for passengers heading out there today, the news came as a shock. gutted, really. but, anyway, it is what it is. i understand, but we can't quarantine when we come back. we've got to work. so we just had to cancel everything.

frustrating. it's not a problem for me, i'm retired. but my daughter was coming out with her friends on sunday. they've now had to cancel. so four of them are really disappointed, i guess. i definitely can't quarantine - for ten days when i come back, due to business commitments. so i probably... i will make a decision very shortly as to - whether i go at all. in portugal, beach bars and restaurants had been steadily filling up. uk visitors were surprised by the announcement. it's a little bit sad, really, because we're here, we're on holiday, and everything seems really safe. everyone�*s wearing their mask, probably a bit more protected than the uk. it's just sad that it's going onto the amber list. we travelled here because we didn't have to isolate on our return. so for tourism, i think it's going to be a big blow. the news was crushing for the seabrooks, who run this beachfront bar in the algarve. well, unfortunately, we've employed ten new staff

in the last week, and every single one of them is going to have to be made redundant. it's just terribly sad. and again, the suppliers, carriers, all of the testing centres for the travellers to get back efficiently without queues, it's just rubbish. there's no two ways about it. it's heartbreaking for us, we're going to have to let all these staff go again, and we don't know when — if — we'll be able to employ them again. no other countries have been added to the green list either, meaning portugaljoins spain, greece and france on the amber list. the small trickle of passengers back into uk airports over the course of the last few weeks hasn't been the restart that many in the industry wanted. but today's announcement is a very bitter blow. well, the uk has, essentially, with the decision that it's taken today, which i said was unjustifiable and completely irrational, cut itself off from europe — and from the world, for that matter.

i would urge them to re—look into this, because there are so many families now who can't reunite that should be able to do so, and i think it's utterly confusing for british people. so, what's the justification? we've seen two things, really, which have caused concern. one is, the positivity rate has nearly doubled since the last review, in portugal. the other is that there's a sort of nepal mutation of the so—called indian variant which has been detected, and we just don't know the potential for that to be a vaccine—defeating mutation, and simply don't want to take the risk as we come up to 21st june. seven more countries were also added to the red list — afghanistan, bahrain, costa rica, egypt, sri lanka, sudan and trinidad and tobago. with concerns about new variants, some have argued that the government have made the right decision. to be cautious at this stage, it's, yes, an extreme measure, but it's a pandemic situation and you don't want more variants coming to the uk.

but many who were planning foreign trips, and the industry that was hoping to take them, will be bitterly disappointed by today's news and worried about the uncertain shadow it throws across the summer. caroline davies, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. four countries have started legal action against iran over the accidental shooting down of a ukrainian airliner near tehran last year. ukraine, britain, sweden and canada all had citizens aboard the plane. they're demanding that iran officially take responsibility for what happened. the ukrainian plane was mistakenly shot down by iranian forces during a period of very high tension between iran and us forces based in neighbouring iraq. a court in pakistan is reported to have overturned a death sentence handed down to a christian couple for blasphemy and ordered their release. shagufta kausar and her husband

shafqat emmanuel were convicted in 2014 of insulting the prophet muhammad. the couple's case attracted global attention. when the leaders of the world's largest industrialised nations gather in the uk for the g7 conference in a week's time, one of the issues on the agenda will be their relationship with china — and on—going concerns about beijing's alleged persecution of the country's uighur population. this week dozens of uighurs are in london to pressure the international community to act. caroline hawley reports. this man wants to tell the world his story. so does gulbaharjalilova, to speak out for their people. china's accused of mass atrocities against the uighurs, of incarcerating over a million people, of subjecting uighurs to forced labour and sterilisations — allegations it denies. but in this remote area of north—west china, wearing a headscarf or having a beard can put

you behind bars. gulbaharjalilova says she was arrested in 2017, accused of terrorism, and put in a cell with dozens of other women who were all given regular injections and pills that stopped their periods. once every ten days, she says, they were forced to strip naked. this man was accused by china of revealing state secrets ini993, and jailed. he now has asylum in norway, where he's active in the uighur community. but in 2017, he says he got a video call in which he could see his brother and sister hanging by their arms from a ceiling. he says a policeman called and stopped him to stop funding uighur groups in turkey, to stop mixing with other uighur exiles. he refused.

since then, he says his entire family — 30 people in all — have disappeared. it's impossible for us to verify their accounts. china prevents independent journalists and human rights organisations from operating freely in xinjiang, where most uighurs live. these pictures from state media show the region as a happy tourist destination. chinese officials call it a place of harmony. but the witnesses who've come to london to testify at a self—styled tribunal will tell a very different story. it has no government backing or legal force, and china has vehemently denounced everyone involved. translation: the so-called uighur special tribunal - is neither legal nor credible. it's just another anti—china farce,

concocted by a few people. the chinese authorities say that the witnesses to the tribunal are all acting, are actors, that this is a show. both say they've come to london to put the spotlight on the uighurs�* collective suffering, and china's efforts to erase their identity. caroline hawley, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... the head of the tokyo olympics says the games will definitely go ahead, but spectators might miss out. the queen and her husband began their royal progress to westminster.

the moment of crowning, in accordance with the order of service, via a signal given with the great guns of the tower. tributes have been paid around the world to muhammad ali who has died at the age of 7a. outspoken but rarely out—fought, ali transcended the sport of boxing of which he was three times world champion. he was a good fighter, he fought all the way to the end — even through his illness. yes, he did. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english clubs playing in europe. today is the 20th anniversary of the release of the beatles lp sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band, a record described as the album of the century.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines... president biden has announced plans for the us to start sharing millions of doses of covid vaccines with the rest of the world before the end of the month. let's get some reaction to that story now. i've been speaking to professor lawrence gostin, director of the world health organization center on national and global health law. i asked if he felt this was a significant move on the part of the united states. i think it's potentially transformational. i realise that 80 million doses is far from what we need, but i think president biden really is re—establishing the united states' leadership in this, and so i expect him to go to the g7 in london and urge other countries to step up their vaccine donations. he has already announced

that he has supported a waiver of intellectual property rights, so that countries like india can make the vaccine themselves. the most heartening thing to me is that he is not doing it for political advantage. i just got off a call with the white house and they made very clear to me that their decision—making was purely by public health professionals and not in a political range. so i am really pleased with what's happening. that accusation of political leverage has been made against countries like china and russia for their vaccine distributions, and in truth, nobody can know all the motives involved. i suppose, in a sense, we're all guilty of mixed motives on this. there is the desire to be philanthropic, but there is also the self—interested in knowing that if we don't stop this virus in other countries, it will mutate and could potentially be something we can't stop at all. there is no question that

high—income countries like the united states, the uk, european union countries, have a strong national security interest in donating vaccines. the reason, obviously, is that with widely circulating sars—cov 2 in india and many other places around the world, there will be dangerous variants that will seed themselves in these high—income countries and we will find ourselves back where we started. so it is in our interest. also the international monetary fund has said that the world could save trillions of dollars by a more equitable vaccine roll—out, and most of that economic benefit would fall to the benefit of high—income countries. let me ask you briefly, if i may, professor gostin — how important is the g7 as an opportunity to kind of galvanise, to kind of give this process an extra kick start? because there is this very ambitious agenda — two billion doses through covax

in the course of this year. i think biden really has to twist arms of the g7. i expect that he will face friendly allies who will appreciate the fact that we need to do this. i think this is just the beginning, and i would expect the g7 to come out with some really major pledges — they really need to do that. here in london the high court has ruled that the uk government acted unlawfully by housing migrants in a former army barracks, where 200 of them caught coronavirus. six asylum seekers brought the case, claiming that napier barracks in folkestone were unsafe. our legal correspondent dominic casciani has the details. a former and rundown army base less than a mile from the english channel — a temporary home for asylum seekers arriving in dinghies and lorries, asking for britain

to take them in. this is napier barracks. for months, campaigners have called for its closure, saying it's unfit for human habitation. hundreds of men in limbo, waiting for a decision on whether they can stay, or must leave the uk. men like these, from iran, kuwait and elsewhere, who, from behind wire, tell me they've spent years moving through europe, looking for a future. what's it like in there? there's no room. no, no, no, no room. like...line, and the animal is sleeping, one beside one. and this is why they say conditions are harsh. a blaze ripped through one of the dorms injanuary, as protests grew over conditions. injust two months, almost 200 men were infected with covid, as the virus swept through the packed dormitories and shared facilities. some tried to run away, fearing for their lives. today, mrjustice linden ruled that it was inevitable there would be a major outbreak of covid—19. he said that led to actual

bodily harm of the residents and, as a result, the mental health of the claimants deteriorated. today, residents say they're still desperate to leave. we not have hot water. we not have internet, we not have electricity. we have just one douche for 100 person, and live in this military base for 100 people. you understand ? if you need food — bad food. same food, notjust bad. and everything, my friend, is bad here. the home office today said it was disappointed with the ruling, but it hasn't said whether it's going to appeal — and it's go no plans, either, to close the facility. that's because it now believes it's safer — there's more covid testing, there's recreation for the men who are living here, and the barbed wire is gone. charities say the home secretary priti patel can't be trusted, that ministers need a solution to this now daily occurrence.

more small boats across the english channel — around 100 people a day this week. as the summer hots up, expect more, and expect greater political and legal pressure on ministers to find a solution. dominic casciani, bbc news, folkestone, in kent. officials in sri lanka are desperately trying to contain a potentially devastating oil leak from a sinking cargo ship. the ship caught fire nearly two weeks ago, and debris and oil have already spread onto the coast, sparking fears of an environmental disaster. the bbc�*s secunder kermani has more. an environmental disaster that only looks to be getting worse. after a fire broke out around two weeks ago, this huge ship, the x—press pearl, is sinking. desperate efforts to tow it further away from sri lanka's western coastline have failed, with part of the boat striking against the sea bed.

millions of plastic pellets that were being transported have already contaminated sri lanka's beaches. clean—up operations are under way, but the tiny pellets used to manufacture everyday products are often mistaken for food by marine life. the fear now is of a possible huge oil spill. around 350 tonnes were on board. it's not known how much has been burnt off. this is by far the worst marine environmental disaster sri lanka has ever seen, because if there's oil spills, it's going to be adding onto the plastic pellets and on top of the chemicals and the toxins, and the environmental disaster is going to quadruple. at the main fish market in the city of negombo, local fishermen know this could be a devastating blow to their livelihoods. the pandemic means any clean—up is likely to take even longer.

"the authorities need to stop environmental damage happening," says this fisherman. "they should have sunk the ship as soon as the fire started. it's not officials who will pay the price for this. it's us." 25 tonnes of nitric acid were also on board the ship. a leak in one of those containers likely caused the fire. port officials in both qatar and india had earlier refused to allow the chemical to be unloaded there. an investigation is under way, but for now, the focus is on preventing even more environmental damage. secunder kermani, bbc news. the president of the committee organising the tokyo olympics, seiko hashimoto, has told the bbc that the games will go ahead as planned — despite mounting opposition in her country. with 50 days to go until the opening ceremony — and with the first athletes arriving injapan — 10,000 volunteers have quit, citing safety fears. here's our sports

correspondent, laura scott. from a state of emergency to the biggest event on earth. that's the shift japan will need to undergo in just 50 days, but the woman at the helm is confident the show will go on. translation: i believe the possibility of these l games happening is 100%. despite her determination, as the countdown to tokyo 2020 ticks on, there is still overwhelming public opposition injapan — recent polls suggesting 80% want the games cancelled. a fourth wave of the virus is leaving intensive care wards struggling to cope, and less than 3% of the population have been vaccinated so far. but hashimoto says reassurance should be taken from restrictions like the ban on overseas fans. translation: it is my - conviction that when people

understand there are no firmer measures we could be taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus, attitudes will change to say it is ok to have the games. how will you deal with any outbreak of coronavirus during the games? translation: if an outbreak. should happen during the games that amounts to a crisis or an emergency situation, then i believe we must be prepared to have these games without any spectators. she didn't rule out those being denied entries. the headaches for organisers continue. on wednesday 10,000 volunteers wednesday 10 , 000 volunteers quit wednesday 10,000 volunteers quit amid concerns the other bits will become a super spreader. translation: still, - there are loud voices saying we are not doing enough. and of course, the ioc could still say maybe we shouldn't be holding the games. in that case, even though we have very little time, we would put all their efforts

into finding areas where we could improve and make our best efforts to put on the games. for many injapan, these games pose an unwanted risk, but hashimoto is adamant that next month, athletes from around the world will be stepping onto these podiums, celebrating victory against all the odds. laura scott, bbc news. and before we go tonight, the statue of liberty, surely the iconic landmark here in new york city, is getting a new sister this summer. a french museum is donating this replica of lady liberty to the us, to rekindle the relationship between the two countries. this new version is 16 times smaller than the original — i don't know what that tells you about the changing relationships between the nations. and it will be here in new york

to mark us independence day, france sent the first statue of liberty to the us in 1886 also as a gift of friendship. you can keep up—to—date on our website. hello there. it was a bit cooler on thursday. we still managed temperatures into the low 20s in northern scotland. highest temperatures were across east anglia and the south—east — 25 degrees in suffolk. you may not find temperatures quite as high as that in the next couple of days but for many it will still be dry and there will be warm spells of sunshine, as well. the fly in the ointment is all this cloud we have kept a close eye on moving up from northern parts of spain across france and threatening to bring some showers across east anglia and the south—east we have seen more cloud coming in across eastern parts of england for a while, hence the higher temperatures early in the morning. some clear skies for many other areas, quite a cool start for wales and the south—west. for many on friday, it will be dry with some sunshine, the threat of these showers coming up as the cloud

thickens to east anglia and the south—east and already more cloud coming into northern ireland — that will be spilling its way into western parts of scotland. it could bring one or two showers towards the highlands. not as warm as it was thursday for northern scotland. much of the country dry with sunny spells, top temperature of 19 degrees. a couple of degrees lower in northern ireland and already more cloudy. it will be brighter towards the east. a good deal of sunshine for many parts of england and wales — strong sunshine and high uv — but more cloud for east anglia and the south—east for a time through the day and a threat of some showers and wetter weather towards kent and the east sussex. a chance we could see a little rain in london during the cricket at lord's but it looks dry on saturday and sunday with some sunshine, as well. that threat of showers pulls away overnight and the cloud will break early on saturday morning. then we look into the atlantic and this is where our weather is slowly coming from for the weekend. that weak weather front will bring more cloud to western parts of the uk, it could deliver some heavy

showers in the afternoon across northern ireland and western parts of scotland. drier elsewhere with more in the way of sunshine towards the south east, and temperatures climbing up to around 23 celsius or so. heading into the second half of the weekend, probably starting sunny in many areas, temperatures rising and bubbling up a little bit of cloud, could produce a few showers. the sunniest skies likely to be continuing around coastal areas and temperatures on sunday similar to those of saturday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the biden administration has unveiled plans to share millions of unused covid vaccines with the rest of the world. they'll distribute 25 million doses immediately, with a goal of handing out 80—million by the end ofjune. of that initial batch, 19 million will be allocated to covax. portugal will be removed from the uk's green travel list from tuesday, amid rising coronavirus cases and concern over variants. it willjoin the amber list, meaning holidaymakers should not visit and returnees must isolate for 10 days. seven new countries and territories will be added to the red list. four countries have started legal action against iran over the accidental shooting down of a ukrainian airliner last year. ukraine, britain, sweden and canada all had citizens aboard the plane. they want iran to officially take responsibility