this is bbc news. our top stories: president biden meets britain's prime minister ahead of the g7 in cornwall, using his first overseas trip to agree a new atlantic charter. britain and america also announce plans to deliver coronavirus vaccines to some of the world's poorest countries. president biden says the us will donate 500 million doses of the pfizer vaccine. america will be the arsenal of vaccines in our fight against global covid—19, just as they were the arsenal of democracy during world war ii. famine in northern ethiopia: the united nations humanitarian programme says months of conflict have had a devastating effect on the tigray region. and spectacular skies: the northern hemisphere sees

a partial eclipse of the sun. the end of a reality tv era as keeping up with the kardashians airs its final episode after 1a years. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the uk's prime minister boris johnson and president biden have announced an updated partnership agreement following their first face—to—face meeting. speaking after the talks, held in cornwall on the eve of the g7 summit, the prime minister also insisted there was common ground on the need to resolve post—brexit trade problems in northern ireland. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports.

quite the hello. the american president, the new mrsjohnson. the prime minister hosting this new quartet. no handshakes — the era doesn't allow — but a historic "bump" — the first lady's description. after a stroll on this exclusive cornish beach, the preamble before the politics. are you pleased to be here, mr president? i'm very pleased to be here. they have may roles scripted by their country's shared histories, but these pair seem determined to be friends. well, it's a great, great pleasure, mr president, to welcome you to cornwall. i told the prime minister we have something in common — we both married way above our station. i'm not going to dissent from that one! i'm not going to disagree with the president on that, or anything else. they want progress on policy, on covid, on climate, but more than anything to prove coming together counts. but there is clamour — american alarm over how brexit

is affecting northern ireland. so what was the verdict after the first encounter? clearly, you have high hopes for this relationship. how were the talks? they were great, and it's an incredibly important strategic relationship and the talks were very good and there's no question that under president biden, there is a massive amount that the new us administration wants to do together with the uk on everything from security, working together on all the issues of projecting our values around the world together, but also on climate change, so it's a big breath of fresh air. one of the things the us clearly wants you to do is sort out the problem with the northern ireland protocol. did president biden urge you to crack on with that? well, no, he didn't, but what i can say is that that the — america, the united states, washington, the uk, plus the european union, have one thing we absolutely

all want to do, and that is to uphold the good friday — the belfast good friday agreement. there will be tricky conversations to come, though, yet there is no question this summit by the sands marks a shift. the two leaders' partners barefoot on the beach, the start of something after the horror of the pandemic that washed over the world. a new american leader more interested in partnership than provocation, willing to lavish praise notjust on our two countries' shared past but to lay hope to what lies ahead. this is a crucial diplomatic outing for the guest as well as the host. prime minister winston churchill and president franklin roosevelt signed an agreement known as the atlantic charter. it was a statement of first principles — a promise that the united kingdom and the united states would meet the challenges of their age and they would meet it together. today, we build on that commitment. we discharged and discussed

a broad range of issues on which the united kingdom and the united states are working in very close cooperation. we affirmed the special relationship — it's not said lightly — the special relationship between our people. the prime minister even wants a new and improved phrase to describe that friendship, but today's diplomatic outing gives a firm foundation for an important week. any first meeting between a british prime minister and an american president would fill a page in our history and these two men have talked with conviction about the values that they share, but that's not the same as what their partnership might actually achieve, nor does it mask any areas where they might disagree. and even the warmest of warm—ups is just a start. other leaders are touching down tonight. there can be friction between friends, but meaningful agreement needs more than ambition to get everything in line. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, cornwall. thomas wright is the director of the center

on the united states and europe at the brookings institution. he says president biden was firm in his message on the northern ireland protocol. well, i think the message, as he communicated it today — and really, the message that the united states has been communicating for several years, including even under the trump administration — is that the good friday agreement and peace in northern ireland cannot be a victim of brexit and the divorce between great britain and the eu, and that part of that entails maintaining the protocol as agreed in the agreement. i don't think the president wants to intervene with details of who's right and who's wrong between the eu and the uk but i think he is making the point that the good friday agreement and the protocol must be honoured and upheld. i see. so a potential point of — if not disagreement but uncomfortableness

between the two leaders. of course they will be stressing the areas they want to together — climate change, for example, very important issues. but where else do you see potential strains? where you think in the next couple of days disagreements will emerge, especially from president biden�*s point of view? well, i thinkjust to finish on the northern ireland peace, while there may be a little bit of difference on it, it is not a surprise. you know, i mean, ithink everybody knew that this is a very important issue to president biden and to the united states for notjust months, but even years. so i don't think — it's been described in the press, maybe in rather sensationalist terms today as he arrived in the uk, but i don't think it will come as a surprise to the johnson government. i think the overarching theme of the president's visit, where i do think the prime minister really is trying to find common ground with the united states, is on the importance of showing

that democracy works, particularly vis—a—vis the challenge from authoritarianism, and that's what we saw today with the new atlantic charter. that will be one of the big themes of the g7 and that covers a wide range of issues on technology, on human rights, on values, on competing with china, and on the economic side as well. our thanks to thomas wright. let's get some of the day's other news. the human rights organisation amnesty international says china is committing crimes against humanity in xinjiang, the north—western region that is home to the uyghurs and other muslim minorities. in a report published on thursday, amnesty call on the un to investigate and say china has subjected uyghurs, kazakhs, and other muslims to mass detention, surveillance, and torture. the united states is offering a reward of up to $3 million for information on attacks on american troops in iraq.

the announcement follows an overnight drone strike on baghdad airport, where us personnel are based. the state department said there was no serious damage or casualties from wednesday's attack france is to scale down counter—terrorism operations in the sahel region of west africa after eight years. more than 5,000 troops are deployed in the area as part of operation barkhane, to fight a growing islamist insurgency. the remnants of the french force will be incorporated into a broader international mission. a new study has found that almost half the plastic polluting the seas comes from takeaway food and drinks. scientists from the university of cadiz in spain analysed i2 million pieces of litter found in waters across the world. they said they were surprised such a high proportion was made up of plastic bottles, knives, forks, food containers and wrappers. the united states was worst hit

by the pandemic in the g7 big western democracies over the first year of covid—i9. the analysis looking at updated excess death figures was done for the bbc by the health foundation. it measured deaths above expected levels for a normal year. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam explains. we can now use a whole year of data to compare what has happened in different major economies and countries, and it tells a very interesting story. have a look at the us data. per 100,000 of population, there has been over 200 excess deaths — that is, deaths over and above what would have been normal the last five years. that's one in 500 of the population. the uk, which was in that top spot after the first wave,

is now second, below the us, italy a little below that too. and then france, which is a bit below those top three countries — there was a better outcome in france, although still many people died. but then you get to germany, canada and japan, which are far lower — far fewer deaths there. asa as a point of comparison, even after one yearfor as a point of comparison, even after one year for those last three countries, the levels are still lower than what they reached in the first three months, the first wave, and the uk. professor peter hotez is the dean of the national school of tropical medicine at the baylor college of medicine and i asked him for his reaction to the figures. well, it is ascribing a number to what we have known. we've had a disastrous response to covid—i9 for 2020 and into the early part of 2021, and the way i break it down is we failed for each of our first four waves of covid—i9.

the first wave hit in march and april in new york city, predominantly and there, we had missed the entry of the virus in from southern europe because we were preoccupied with other things. and then the big differentiator from other countries is we did not learn from our mistakes. we let our guard down in the summer and allowed that mass insurgence of covid—i9 in our southern states here in texas, where i am, and other southern states. we insisted that the federal government could not lead the response and allowed the states to do this and the states were totally inept at handling covid—i9 and then we missed it again. we allowed a massive fall surge across the upper midwest and into the midwest, and then we allowed a january surge, and we paid dearly for the consequences, which is 600,000 americans who unnecessarily lost their lives from covid—i9. maybe you could understand the first wave, caught off guard, but after that, it was an epic fail

by our us government. 0ur our thanks to peter hotez. the un's humanitarian chief says there is a famine in northern ethiopia. un—backed analysis found that 350,000 people were living in "severe crisis" in and around the war—torn region, where government forces are fighting rebels. but the ethiopian government, which rejects the analysis, insists it's restoring order there. mark lobel reports. 14—year—old dana, one of hundreds of thousands in northern ethiopia court in what the un calls a catastrophic food situation. his uncle says he was as strong as a lion before this. translation: irate before this. translation: we were before this. translation: - were hiding and living in a cave for more than three months because of the war. we were only eating voice to bali. people died and we only agreed to bury them through the evening as it was impossible to do it during the day —— roasted

barley. this mother relies on food handouts since her home was destroyed. translation: there were _ was destroyed. translation: there were about _ was destroyed. translation: there were about 20 _ was destroyed. translation: there were about 20 of- was destroyed. translation: there were about 20 of them. | there were about 20 of them. they gathered around my house and thrashed all of my crops. i have nightmares of my house from before it was burned and we had to flee to another area. they kept getting closer, burning all of the harvested crops and straw. they burnt everything i had.— crops and straw. they burnt everything i had. food security anal sis everything i had. food security analysis shows _ everything i had. food security analysis shows ethiopian's - analysis shows ethiopian's wonton tigray and two neighbouring states has them highest number of people living in states of despair since somalia's crisis a few years ago. somalia's crisis a few years a i o, . , , somalia's crisis a few years auo. ., .,, ago. excess mortality. ethiopian's _ ago. excess mortality. l ethiopian's government ago. excess mortality. - ethiopian's government rejects that. it says it is restoring order across the region. it insists humanitarian access is being expanded. we insists humanitarian access is being expanded.— insists humanitarian access is being expanded. we don't have an food being expanded. we don't have

any food shortage. _ being expanded. we don't have any food shortage. but - being expanded. we don't have any food shortage. but the - any food shortage. but the world food _ any food shortage. but the world food programme . any food shortage. but the world food programme is| any food shortage. but the - world food programme is ramping up world food programme is ramping up its food distributions, to reach around 1.5 million people. the un's humanitarian chief mark lowe cox goes further. —— lowcock. it's a clear warning, if food insecurity exists than accessing those in need remains problematic and more starvation and death will follow. mark lobel, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: all over after 1a years: the final episode of the kardashians' reality tv series is broadcast around the world. there was a bomb in the city centre.

a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping - in his cot at home. early this evening, - the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments - in kensington palace. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: president biden meets with britain's prime minister ahead of the g7 in cornwall — using his first overseas trip to agree a new "atlantic charter." president biden also announces the us will donate 500 million doses of the pfizerjab to help poorer countries get their populations vaccinated. football: euro 2020 gets underway on friday, with italy playing turkey in rome. it's one of the 12 cities across europe that will host the tournament, delayed from last year due to the pandemic. here's our rome correspondent, mark lowen. welcome to piazza del popolo, here in the heart of rome, which has been transformed into one of the fan zones for euro 2020 that kicks off friday night. italy playing turkey hosted here in rome, one of 12 cities across europe that will be playing host to the euro 2020 championships. it was delayed from last year to this year due to the pandemic, a pandemic that's had a devastating impact

here in italy. it was the first country to be crushed by covid and now it's the first to host the euro 2020 tournament. that's a sign of how far italy has come since the dark days of last year. the pandemic has had a devastating impact here. italy has the second highest death toll in europe just behind the uk. but now the numbers have dropped considerably and most of the restrictions have been lifted and as of next week the evening curfew is being scrapped in most of the country, which will allow people to be able to come to these big screens and watch the evening matches. the spectators too will be able to get into the stadium at 25% maximum capacity for friday night, and that is still a good 16,000 people who will be allowed in and they will have to show either proof of covid—19 vaccination or of a covid—19 test. italy failed spectacularly to qualify for the 2018 world cup and it suffered the ignominy from not taking

pa rt but since then roberto mancini has reenergized the team and they will be very much hoping to get off to a flying start against turkey in the opening match. the american reality tv show, keeping up with the kardashians, is airing its final episode on thursday, after 1a years and 20 series. it has made stars of the kardashian—jennerfamily and had an influence on fashion, beauty and social media. kim kardashian and kyliejenner are in the ten most followed accounts on instagram. all five sisters feature in the top 20. it seems there aren't many who can keep up with the kardashians. i asked tv host and pop culture commentatorjawm murray if this was the end of an era. listen, lewis, whether you love them or hate them, there's no denying that the kardashian family is a pop culture phenomenon.

you know, they had success in the most unorthodox way. there was once a time in our business if you had risque photos or a pornographic video it would ruin your career. but instead, kim kardashian got paid millions of dollars for a sex tape with her ex—boyfriend ray jay by vivid entertainment that released it and that was the springboard that helped mainstream this family. her momanager krisjenner capitalised off this momentum in the most incredible way. they don't like to talk about their beginnings in the business, the sex tapes, that khloe kardashian was once sued by rayjay�*s mum for credit card theft at their family boutique. but when you look at all they have achieved in all of the seasons and all of the years later it is like going and embrace the beginnings and talk about your new chapter because you have a bunch of billionaires in yourfamily and you have had great success along the way. great success along the way. the critics at the beginning of the show were aghast that it was a show of people not doing very much with no obvious kind of skills or talent adding to the world, but it is absolutely compulsive

viewing for millions of people and it went on and on and on. absolutely. they inspired a different type of entrepreneur. they showed you don't have to have a vast education or become a surgeon or a lawyer, although the kim is working on the latter now, to have great success. this isn't our first time seeing a family dynasty in the entertainment industry. we have had the jacksons and the arquettes, the wayans, and i guess osbournes would be considered the first family of reality tv, but the kardashians took it to another level. they blurred the lines between tv and social media and they added a brand element to it that just changed the business. they made it popular to do the pay for play aspect of being a social media influencer. so their contribution and elevation of the digital media platforms and how to make money off of it really impacted the business in a great way. that is really interesting. they did capitalise on social media and made a huge amount of money for themselves,

and it obviously had ripple effects for lots of other people that came in their wake. it is a remarkable legacy. i want to talk about some of the criticisms, again, not to be too down as they say goodbye to our screens, in this form at least... they paid a lot of money we can be a little down on them. you're right. parents, lots of parents bringing up young girls over the last 1a years have been trying to tell their daughters life is about more than big bums and your make up and being sexualised. there's more to life than that. and it hasn't been helped by the show and this family promoting that and taking up so much cultural bandwidth. you know, the kardashians airs on a network called e! and on the us version of e! they've been doing these flashbacks on a show i love called e!�*s daily pop, showing vignettes throughout the course of the season to prepare people for the final episode when i watch this i watch in amazement, because these women look so different from how they looked in the beginning seasons of this show.

it's like when i was a child and my aunt was babysitting me and i would watch the soap operas with the and they would say "the role of so—and—so will now be played by..." i feel like the kardashians look now like they have been recast in their own reality show, with the exception of kourtney, who still looks the same. there should be great concern about young girls who were watching these women with these ever morphing images and this unnatural beauty that they have got the cosmetic procedures. we know that young girls now want to go to doctors and get butts and noses and faces look like porcelain dolls like a lot of these sisters. but that's what the business of entertainment is. these girls are entertaining people. they're not trying to parent people. parents have to do the job of influencing the kids are not letting the kardashians raise them. large parts of the northern hemisphere have experienced a partial solar eclipse. the moon travelled directly in front of the sun,

leaving just a thin sliver of sunlight visible. rebecca morelle reports now on the annular solar eclipse. an eclipse at sunrise in the united states. one of nature's most dazzling sights — the moon gliding in front of the sun, taking a bite from the shining disc. this was the view from canada, with the northernmost parts of the world treated to a full spectacle. it was a special kind of solar event known as an annular eclipse. an annular eclipse happens when the moon isjust a little further away from the earth, so it looks smaller in the sky. and what you will be able to see is a sort of ring around the moon. and so this is why annular solar eclipses are sometimes known as the ring of fire. they're incredibly beautiful eclipses to spot as well. the full eclipse began in ontario, canada, the moon casting its shadow across a narrow band of our planet's surface and ended in siberia. there was a partial eclipse in the uk, with up to 40% of the sun of obscured, and in edinburgh families had

a chance to catch a glimpse as our star emerged from the haze. across much of the country, though, the weather was overcast. this was the view from cambridge. but every now and again at the clouds parted. solar eclipses do happen roughly one or two times a year, but actually you've got to be in the right place at the right time to see them. and that's because the moon's shadow, which it casts on the earth, is rather small. so although they happen frequently enough we don't get to see them from the same country very often. london had a slightly better view this morning. but in the uk we will have to get used to partial eclipses for a while. our next total eclipse won't happen until 2090. but today's event has delighted many around the world, with a display of a true celestial wonder. rebecca morelle, bbc news.

that's it from me. i'm lewis vaughan—jones. this is bbc news. for the last couple of days, some of the coastal areas in the south and west have been plagued by fog. this was the picture in camberwell, on thursday, for example. equally, thursday had more cloud in the east but the sunshine broke through. a very similar set—up to the south of this weather front through the day ahead, but behind it we are going to introduce something a little bit fresher. we will notice the temperatures won't be quite as high and i don't think we will feel the effects of that before the end of this night. it will be warm and uncomfortable for sleeping for many of us. these are the night—time temperatures. now, as we go through friday, a lot of low cloud and hill fog around to this weather front. brightening up to the north.

a fair few showers just sweeping in across the north and west of scotland on the brisk breeze. sunshine developing to the south of the weather front but it will come and go as the cloudy zone sinks southwards, introducing the odd spot of rain and drizzle. the temperatures will be two or three degrees down on those of yesterday and still warm and muggy and with coastal fog across the south in the south—east. we should get a lot of play for the second day of the second test. butjust be aware that weather front is coming southwards. so it could just at times produce the odd spot of rain or drizzle. going into the weekend, high pressure building in again but our weather fronts will always be around northern and western areas, so it is here where we are likely to see more cloud and slightly lower temperatures. while with more sunshine materialising, we will have got rid of that weather front, that weak weather front with spots of rain, all that rain to start lifting our temperatures again. very similar, low 20s to mid 20s, at the high teens further north. come sunday, picking

up the southerly wind. it is pumping in cloud into northern and western parts of the uk but more sunshine with the drier air further south and east. and it's here that we are likely to see temperatures leaping up into the high 20s, pushing towards 30, but even east scotland gets very warm indeed. then as you can see for a selection of some of our towns and cities, the temperatures do tend to ebb away, particularly in the west as we go through into next week. very similar for the likes of reading, peaking on sunday and monday. as ever, there's more online.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

the british prime minister has said there is complete harmony on the need to solve post—brexit trade problems in northern ireland following his first face—to—face meeting with president biden. the two met in cornwall on the eve of the g7 summit. they also agreed a new atlantic charter. britain and the us have announced plans to deliver coronavirus vaccines to some of the world's poorest countries. president biden confirmed the us is buying 500 million doses of the pfizer vaccine to donate, while the uk said it would donate 100 million doses. the united states was worst hit by the pandemic amongst g7 democracies, over the first year of covid—19. the analysis, for the bbc by the health foundation, looked at updated excess death figures, by measuring deaths above expected levels for a normal year. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.