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.

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 7 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. now on bbc news: our world. under cover of covid, the amazon rainforest is under attack, with deforestation at levels not seen for more than a decade. under cover of covid, the amazon rainforest,

the greatest ecosystem on earth, is under attack. deforestation is at levels not seen for more than a decade. we meet the people on the frontline of the battle to save the forest... shouting. translation: the prospectors used to be scared of _ being caught by us. now they feel the president will protect them. ..and see the impact on the animals. the government is accused of encouraging the destruction. and i'm on a mission to contact some old friends — the members of the most threatened tribe in the world. their relatives have never had contact with civilisation.

are they safe? are their precious trees still standing? cheering. two years ago, a right—wing ex—army officer became the president of brazil. jair bolsonaro had a clear agenda for the amazon and its people.

this is the story of my attempt to find what his policy of opening up the amazon means for a tribe i first met a decade ago. this is a community that grew up a couple of decades ago, uncontacted. to go into the jungle and meet people who've onlyjust made contact with the modern world is quite extraordinary. katou! chuckles. katou! "katou" means hello, apparently. i thought there'd be a huge chasm, a kind of cultural gap between us, and that we'd struggle

to understand each other. emuka, emuka, emuka. that means "i'm happy". i'm here with the awa. the awa live deep in the amazon rainforest. they're some of the last people on earth who still try to live as traditional hunter—gatherers. wow, the village... i really felt that they welcomed me in. we felt like we had a real connection together. i'm not going to dress like that, no. laughter. pira'i was probably my best buddy in the village. he was the one that instigated most of the jokes. you know, towards the end, we went on this big hunt with them that took two or three hours. when we got back, everybody was really hot and sweaty and they got to this lovely waterhole. and i thought, "yeah, ok, i'll go swimming," and itjust seemed right to take my clothes off. laughter. then they played a trick on me and it became clear

that they were trying to, essentially, dress me like they dressed to hunt. laughter. you don't want to see it. laughter. it seemed they lived an idyllic life. but when i asked my new friend pira'i about what life was like when he was growing up, i learned just how traumatic things had been for the tribe. this community that, at that point, had had no contact with the outside world. the first contact was with loggers who'd come into the forest to cut their trees and were willing to shoot the community to get them out of the way.

you could occasionally hear chainsaws — that's how close the loggers were. all too soon, i had to leave my new friends. but this was a special time for the amazon. in 2012, the brazilian government made stopping the destruction of the rainforest a priority and rates of deforestation were falling dramatically. a few years later, i received an extraordinary invitation. well, after years of neglect, the brazilian government has finally decided to do something. we are flying into a base camp they've set up just outside the indigenous reserves, and that's where they're operating from, driving out the people who have gone into the forest. it was like flying into a kind of forward base

in afghanistan or something. you just thought, "hold on a second. "the brazilian government, it really means business "about protecting the awa." when we went back to the village, suddenly i started seeing all these familiar faces. katou? i think that's "hello." hey, hello. i remember you. katou. do you remember me? very good. yeah! but the best one was pira'i. no! we went into his house and he came out with a bit of string and waved it in front of me. not again! i've been tricked once, it's not happening again. laughter. so probably the most amazing moment of all for me was when 0peration awa decided they wanted to show the awa what they'd done. pira'i, who grew up uncontacted, now is flying in a helicopter.

pira'i and a friend watched as government bulldozers destroyed the homes of farmers who'd illegally occupied the tribe's land and cut hundreds of hectares of trees. dogs bark. back at home, they wanted to tell the others what they'd seen. it showed the brazilian government can protect the forest if it wants to. pira'i was hopeful for the future.

but that hope was short—lived. soon after i left, brazil entered a time of political turmoil. deforestation started to rise again. the most dramatic increase came two years ago, when president bolsonaro took power. as the coronavirus raged through brazil, killing tens of thousands of people, brazil's environment minister had other issues on his mind, as this recording of a cabinet meeting reveals. "we have the chance at this moment, when the media's "attention is almost exclusively on covid and not "the amazon," he says. "while things are quiet, let's do it all at once "and change all the rules." there was a media storm. minister salles subsequently

claimed what he wanted was to simplify the existing rules. but after that meeting, he withdrew protection from some of the forested areas of brazil. and president bolsonaro's government certainly appears to be dismantling some of the structures that had succeeded in holding back destruction in the amazon. the environmental police force, ibama, is on the front line of brazil's efforts to protect the forest. but some officers say they aren't getting the support from the president that they need. one of them agreed to speak to us anonymously. translation: i've never seen so many illegal goldmines. - the price of gold is higher than ever. but also, the prospectors used to be scared of being caught by us. now they feel the president will protect them. explosion.

in places where we didn't have incidents in the past, now loggers, prospectors, squatters are rioting. last year, an officer was trying to seize a vehicle that was taking timber from indigenous land. he got hit with a bottle while the police that was meant to protect him just watched. the police are loyal to the president. in the past, the police would give us security during the operations. the brazilian government admits some local officials have withdrawn protection for environmental officers, but says this is not official policy. yelling. it has become guerrilla warfare. thejob is getting more and more risky. people are blocking the road to stop us from doing ourjob. they feel they have the support from the government. we have just landed the helicopter and the officers

are going over to the truck here, which clearly has been — you know, freshly cut logs on it. it is very different from how things used to work. over the years, i have been on a number ofjungle raids with the environmental police. the most impressive was we flew with this female officer... ..to raid an illegal sawmill. we found the account books. look at this... so they have the total value, a700 reals, and then, look, there's a fee here — 200 to pay the police, leaving them with 4500, so this is extraordinary. this book is like the diary

of the business and we've got payments to policemen, we've got how much money they are putting in the bank, and it is a lot of money. we're talking £20,000, $30,000 they are making here. it was obvious that the guy with the money had run and left the little guys behind. and i remember talking to one of the guys about what it was like. at then at the end i remember saying to her, "what are you going to do now?" and she said, "well, "we can't leave it like this." with fire. she is going to burn it down. it was obvious that ibama had the weight of law behind them. when we got to places where illegal activity was happening, people were genuinely frightened.

burning the equipment used for deforestation has always been a key tactic, says our whistle—blowing officer. the owners of the equipment normally escape when they hear the helicopter so we cannot prosecute them. over the years, we have seen that the most effective strategy to stop deforestation is to destroy their expensive equipment. not any more, according to the brazilian president.

despite what president bolsonaro says, when we asked the government, they said the rules on burning equipment have not changed, but funds have been cut. this year the environmental police received its lowest budget ever, and because deforestation is so high, germany and norway say they won't pay for its helicopters and vehicles any more. that and the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic explain why, when we spoke, there were no environmental police patrolling the amazon. it is a first time this has ever happened. none of us are out in the field. last year, 4200 square miles of forest was cleared. a 12—year high. those involved in illegal deforestation often believe the government

will pardon their actions. it is notjust the amazon that's under attack, the neighbouring wetland, the pantanal, is burning too. last year, 50,000 hectares of this unique ecosystem was lost in the biggest fires ever recorded there. juliana camargo heads a charity that tried to rescue wildlife during the fires.

a source in the environmental police told us the government ordered them not to attend the fires. the brazilian government describes these claims as lies.

once the trees have been cleared, the land is often used for farming. ibama has just caught red—handed this illegal deforestation, using chains. the chains destroyed the vegetation and killed the wildlife, especially the babies who do not have time to escape. there used to be a system where farmers caught in illegal activities like this would be blacklisted, making it harderfor them to sell their produce and to get loans. the farmers who were found

deforesting, their name would be put on an align system whereby buyers would be able to check if they are buying from an area which has strong evidence of illegal deforestation. but since last year, there's been some major changes that make it harder for people to be embargoed, so enter the blacklist. the government told this programme the system of fines and blacklisting is obsolete and ineffective and is being modernised. but it makes it hard for buyers to check that agricultural products are deforestation—free and, all the while, business has been booming for amazon farmers. but there is still some resistance to president bolsonaro. almost all my professional life, i was a legislative consultant in the chamber of deputies. suely araujo helped write the environmental laws that underpin brazil's efforts

to tackle deforestation. the brazilian government told the bbc it believes it is necessary to bring economic prosperity to the amazon. "poverty is the biggest enemy of the environment," a spokesperson told us. i cannot travel to the amazon because of the pandemic but i did manage to get in touch with my friend who sent me these pictures and recorded a message...

and experts worry the amazon ecosystem itself is changing. i'm very concerned. previous research have been understanding that the amazon was much more resilient and that our tipping point, leading to the decivilisation the large trenches of the forest would happen if about 40% of the amazon was lost and now recent research is pointing towards figures closer to 20%, and we already are at those figures.

it appears to be becoming less rainy and the fear is the forest could begin to give way to grassland. and the fortunes of the people who live in the jungle are also in the balance. to my astonishment, footage is released that shows some awa people still live uncontacted in the remaining islands of trees. a team of local people patrol the forest in an effort to protect them from the loggers.

the locals normally do not film out of respect. they decided to release this footage because the situation has become so critical, they want to highlight the danger these last remaining, uncontacted tribal people are in. this is an astonishing glimpse of one of the last people on earth who lives outside of what we call "civilisation." we will probably never know his name, but my friend pira'i told me what it was like when he lived like this. "it is a life," he told me, "of constant fear."

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 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. our top stories... president biden announces plans to share the first batch of its unused coronavirus vaccines — three quarters will go to the covax global programme. why exiled uyghurs are in london to put pressure on the international community to act against china. portugal is removed from the uk safe green travel list. a bitter blow for travellers hoping to get to one of the very few options for european holidays and twitter introduces a new subscription service — but will users want to pay?

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