this is bbc news, 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. and why exiled uighurs are in london to put pressure on the international community to act against china. portugal is removed from the uk's safe "green" travel list — a bitter blow for travellers hoping to get to one of the very few options for european holidays. with 50 days to go to the tokyo olympics, the head of the organising committee tells the bbc the games will definitely go ahead.

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 adviserjake 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. let's cross live to los angeles to speak to our correspondent david willis. david, the us has this massive surplus. how did it end up with that? well, the situation here is very encouraging and there are millions of doses of the vaccine that were ordered. situation so encouraging is the situation that nearly two thirds of americans have had at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and the country seems to be well on course to meeting joe biden�*s

goal by the 4th ofjuly, independence day, for 70% of the country to have received at least one jab. but of course the situation is much more dire in other parts of the world. there has been a surge in coronavirus cases in india. today, the world health organization spoke of concern over the situation in africa, where in some countries less than i% of the population has had a jab of the vaccine. that's because there is a shortage of it, and in response, the biden administration is now shipping an initial batch of 25 million doses all around the world. it has been said all along that nowhere in the world is safe until the whole world is safe from this virus. to get vaccines in the arms of people

in every country. this throws weight behind that suggestion from the world health organization. recognising the need to vaccinate others as well as their own. absolutely, and president _ well as their own. absolutely, and president biden _ well as their own. absolutely, and president biden made - well as their own. absolutely, i and president biden made the very same point a few weeks ago. although the us is using the vaccine distribution as some sort of diplomacy —— not doing this in the way that china and russia have been accused of doing. but some have said this is too little, too late as far as the united states is concerned. indeed covax itself, the who organisation involved in distribution of the vaccine worldwide, has made the point that it needs to billion doses by early next year. so far it's

been able to distribute just 18 million. so there is a huge shortfall there. —— 2 billion doses. and there will be growing pressure on the us to do much more.— do much more. david, thanks very much- — in a week s time, president biden will arrive in the uk as the leaders of the world's largest industrialised democracies gather for the g7 conference. one of the issues on the agenda is their relationships with china and ongoing concerns about beijing's alleged persecution of the country's uighur population. the us is among several countries to have accused china of committing genocide — china denies these accusations. this week, dozens of uighurs have come to london to put pressure on 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 in1993, 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 told 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. 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. the head of the international committee of the red cross has held talks with myanmar�*s military leader min aung hlaing, in a first meeting with a major global agency chief since february's coup. peter maurer said he made the case for better aid access and prison visits. he also raised the use of force against pro—democracy protesters.

one of the most famous lawyers in the united states, f lee bailey, has died at the age of 87. part of the defence team who worked for oj simpson in his murder trial, he was known for representing some of the country's most notorious defendants in court, including albert desalvo, otherwise known as the boston strangler. before coming to prominience as a lawyer, he was once a television presenter. us defense secretary llyod austin has reassured israeli defence minister benny gantz that the biden administration remains supportive of israel's secutiry in the aftermath of an 11—day conflict with hamas in gaza. the pair met on thursday. whilst currently serving in the netanyahu administration, mr gantz, as leader of the blue and white party, is part of a new coalition seeking to remove him from power. joining me now from chicago, dr sara hirschhorn, an assistant professor in israeli studies at northwestern university.

very good to have you with us, professor. give us your take on the latest developments. yesterday, a new change bloc coalition was formed in israel on a very narrow majority of 61 seats, the smallest possible majority in the israeli knesset. so far, it seems this coalition will hold. but netanyahu, who does not look to be one to go gently into the good night, has certainly made his objections to this new blogger known, claiming the new prime minister, naftali bennett, the leader of the yamina party, is betraying the ideals of israeli security and of the future by joining ideals of israeli security and of the future byjoining this coalition of left—wing and right—wing parties instead of joining netanyahu in a

right—wing bloc. —— to this new blogger known. right-wing bloc. -- to this new blogger known.— blogger known. this is a conversation _ blogger known. this is a conversation being - blogger known. this is a conversation being hadl blogger known. this is a - conversation being had with the current administration. do you get the sense of the biden administration will continue to be supportive in the same way they have been of the new administration? i they have been of the new administration?— they have been of the new administration? i think this coalition will _ administration? i think this coalition will be _ administration? i think this coalition will be a - administration? i think this coalition will be a welcome | coalition will be a welcome change for the biden administration. netanyahu has beenin administration. netanyahu has been in powerfor 12 years administration. netanyahu has been in power for 12 years and over that time there have been several escalations in the conflict. mostly slow periods with no return to a diplomatic process, so i think the biden administration will be looking towards a new government in israel that is more energetic, more broad—based and more invested in the future of israel, ratherthan invested in the future of israel, rather than the future political career of benjamin netanyahu, which is much of what israel has seen in its recent history. i

what israel has seen in its recent history.— what israel has seen in its recent history. i suppose this coalition. _ recent history. i suppose this coalition, the _ recent history. i suppose this coalition, the confirmation i recent history. i suppose this coalition, the confirmation it| coalition, the confirmation it had been agreed only emerged yesterday, a bit like a newborn calf struggling to its feet, the first few steps are crucial. i supposed the first few steps are crucial. isupposed phone the first few steps are crucial. i supposed phone calls will be going on, conversations being had between mr netanyahu and others in his efforts to try and unpick it, and it could still come undone. it try and unpick it, and it could still come undone.— still come undone. it could. some very _ still come undone. it could. some very dangerous - still come undone. it could. - some very dangerous moments in the next several days as mr netanyahu continues to agitate to form his own right—wing bloc. as various members of the knesset may not get the political demands they hoped for and look to bargain for other possible benefits, if they are not met, they could withdraw from the coalition. remember this is a coalition with only 61 seats, so if any member of any of the eight

parties that signed this new broadchurch coalition could easily top of this fledgling government. we easily top of this fledgling government.— easily top of this fledgling covernment. ~ , ., government. we shall continue to watch with _ government. we shall continue to watch with great _ government. we shall continue to watch with great interest. i 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, our top story: 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 stay with that story. gavin yamey is the professor of global health and public policy at duke university, and joins me now from north carolina.

what do you make of this decision? would you like to see them go even further? it’s decision? would you like to see them go even further?— them go even further? it's a very good — them go even further? it's a very good start. _ them go even further? it's a very good start. covax, - them go even further? it's a very good start. covax, thel very good start. covax, the global sharing mechanism, very good start. covax, the globalsharing mechanism, has global sharing mechanism, has only globalsharing mechanism, has only distributed about 76 million doses so far to low income and lower middle income countries. this donation from president biden is a good first step. it's churlish to complain. on the other hand, its not commensurate with the size of the problem and the need. it's like putting a really tiny band—aid on a giant gaping bleeding wound. we really are going to need 11 billion doses in order to vaccinate 70% of the world. that's a proportion many scientists think would allow us

to reach vaccine herd immunity. it's an important step, a small one, and let's not forget the reason covax has so few doses is nations like the us, like the uk, like israel, new zealand, canada, they hoarded doses, they cleared the shelves and there were none left for covax. you have a nation like the us finally donating some doses. a few crumbs from a rich person's table, if you like. in which case, how do you make those vast numbers of doses available? is it waiving the intellectual property rights? making the manufacturing process, helping poorer countries set up to make their own vaccines?— countries set up to make their own vaccines? all of the above. look, own vaccines? all of the above. look. right _ own vaccines? all of the above. look, right now, _ own vaccines? all of the above. look, right now, rich _ own vaccines? all of the above. look, right now, rich countriesl look, right now, rich countries are sitting on around zoo-300,000,000 doses, are sitting on around 200—300,000,000 doses, sitting on fridges, not used, not

needed, ready to go. they should be shots in arms in lower middle income countries now. secondly, those countries have bought an additional 1.5 billion doses, advanced purchases, that they don't need. they need to free up those doses, they are not made yet but they will be soon, and give those to covax. and lastly, absolutely we need what is called a people's vaccine. we have to make sure that low and middle income countries are empowered to make vaccine doses themselves. no more trickle—down manufacturing where if you doses might make it down from the global north to the global south. waive the patent, transfer the technology. that is not going to make doses tomorrow. i'm not naive enough to think that. but it could, in six months�* time. and there are manufacturers in thailand, bangladesh, hungary,

ready to go. give them the i p, support them to manufacture doses. this pandemic will be with us for years to come, we have to globalise the manufacture. ., manufacture. professor, you s - eak manufacture. professor, you speak very — manufacture. professor, you speak very passionately, - manufacture. professor, you i speak very passionately, thank you very much forjoining us from north carolina. hundreds of uk holidaymakers 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. our 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. 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 21stjune. 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. 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. a fourth wave is gathering pace. a fourth wave of coronavirus is gathering pace in the west of the country, raising concerns that the games could become a super—spreader event. 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. as the first of the teams

touched down injapan, hashimoto didn�*t rule out those from high—risk countries being denied entry. the headaches for organisers continue. on wednesday, 10,000 volunteers quit amid concerns that the olympics 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. you can reach me on twitter — i�*m @benmboulos.

hello there, it was a bit cooler on thursday. a we still managed temperatures into the low 20s call on the 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 cloud. 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 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 squeeze out a few showers. a very low risk. 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 ofa ukrainian airliner last year. ukraine, britain, sweden and canada all had citizens aboard the plane. they want iran to officially take responsibility for what happened. the mother of a 14—year—old

boy who was stabbed to death in birmingham — broke down in tears this