welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines... the us passes one million covid—related deaths. joe biden says each death is "an irreplaceable loss". this is "an irreplaceable loss". pandemic isn't over. toc mark this pandemic isn't over. today, we mark a tragic milestone here in the united states. as the us is hosting the second global covid—19 summit, i'll ask, are enough people getting their vaccines? also on the programme... police in the uk issue dozens more fines for downing street staff who broke covid rules. but the british prime minister isn't among them. the bbc sees evidence of alleged war crimes committed by russian forces in ukraine, with unarmed civilians

shot dead near kyiv. and the first—ever image of the monster black hole at the centre of our galaxy. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, and 6pm in washington — where the white house has announced that the united states has passed more than one million deaths from covid—19. it's the highest official total in the world — although the world health organization believes the true number may be higher in other countries. in a statement, president biden described it as a tragic milestone and said as a nation, we must not grow numb, to such sorrow. this pandemic isn't over.

today, we mark a tragic milestone here in the united states. one million covid deaths. one million empty chairs around the family dinner table. each irreplaceable. irreplaceable losses. young each leaving behind a family, a community young each leaving behind a family, a communi_ young each leaving behind a family, a communi a ., . ., , , a community forever changed because of this pandemic. _ a community forever changed because of this pandemic. my heart _ a community forever changed because of this pandemic. my heart goes - a community forever changed because of this pandemic. my heart goes out i of this pandemic. my heart goes out to all those who are struggling, asking themselves, "how do i go on without him? how old do i go on without him? how old do i go on without her? what will be due without her? what will be due without them?" it's grief shared by people across all of our nations. for more on this, i'm joined now by thomas bollyky. he is the director of the global health programme at the council on foreign relations. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. firstly, was this a failure of the us government? and if so, which government, trump or biden?

it's a tragic milestone and my heart goes out to the families and friends who have lost someone in this pandemic. it was a failure of the us government. both administrations. in the story really is told in two parts. we've had such a high death toll relative to other high—income countries. the first has been about prevention. from the outset the pandemic to late 2021, the us had an extraordinarily high number of infections. as part of a lancet study we did, we looked at these infections and compared across countries — and the us had the second—highest rate of any high income country in the number of infections. the us didn't do as poorly on treatment, but without many infections you'll have a high death toll. after the omicron wave,

the differences between countries in the differences between countries in the number infections they've had was not as large, lots of countries caught that virus and it spread widely. the big difference in the us at that point is its very low rate compared to other high income countries in vaccinations. thomas, stay with us, because i want to ask you more questions. but i want to take a moment to look at how the pandemic is affecting two countries here in asia, starting in china — where the government has announced that it will restrict citizens from leaving the country for nonessential reasons. there'll also be limits placed on the issue of new passports. in the capital beijing, there were rumours online that a strict lockdown was about to be imposed prompting people to panic buy. but daily cases in beijing remain in the dozens — much less than in shanghai, where millions of people remain under lockdown. meanwhile, in north korea, at least one person is confirmed to have died from covid—19 — a day after the country publicly

confirmed its first outbreak. the country's state media also reported that almost 190,000 people are currently being treated in isolation for what it calls a "fever of unidentified origin". pyongyang has refused international help with vaccinations, relying instead on trying to keep its borders closed, to prevent the virus taking hold. kim jong—un says the arrival of the omicron variant means his country now faces a "serious emergency". thomas bollyky is still with me. thomas, i want to ask you about china — it is a failure of another kind. the who has also told them that it's zero covid policy isn't working. in your view, what will it take for them to change their approach? 50 take for them to change their approach?— take for them to change their auroach? ~ �* , , approach? so i think it'll be very difficult. president _ approach? so i think it'll be very difficult. president xi _ approach? so i think it'll be very difficult. president xi jinping - approach? so i think it'll be veryj difficult. president xijinping has difficult. president xijinping has made it quite clear that he is

committed to the zero covid policy at all costs, and most do not expect that policy did shift until after the congress. the realfear that policy did shift until after the congress. the real fear in china is that we may see a repeat of what happened in hong kong. there are still 48 million people in china over the age of 60 who have gone unvaccinated. in the realfailure unvaccinated. in the real failure of the zero government policy is to use this time to vaccinate the most vulnerable, namely those older individuals. figs vulnerable, namely those older individuals.— vulnerable, namely those older individuals. ~ , ., ., ., ., individuals. as for north korea, i think it's fair _ individuals. as for north korea, i think it's fair to _ individuals. as for north korea, i think it's fair to say _ individuals. as for north korea, i think it's fair to say that - individuals. as for north korea, i think it's fair to say that many i think it's fair to say that many experts think this is not their first covid case. but they also rejected offers of millions of vaccines, first astrazeneca, then the chinese made vaccine. why did they do this and how bad could it get? they do this and how bad could it net? �* , ., ., they do this and how bad could it net? �*, ., ., they do this and how bad could it net? �*, ., , they do this and how bad could it net? �*, ., get? it's hard to say in terms of wh . get? it's hard to say in terms of why- north _ get? it's hard to say in terms of why. north korea _ get? it's hard to say in terms of why. north korea is—

get? it's hard to say in terms of why. north korea is one - get? it's hard to say in terms of why. north korea is one of - get? it's hard to say in terms of why. north korea is one of two | why. north korea is one of two countries in the world who has not had a covid—19 vaccine programme, the other being eritrea. it's an enormous risk, it could get quite bad. we're talking about a population that is naive to this virus, meaning it hasn't spread widely as far as we know prior to this, so they are unlikely to be their first case, as you said. and they are unvaccinated. so you could see enormous damage. in a way, talking about this in connection to the us — we are talking about a tragedy that's happening in one country, a much larger tragedy might be coming in north korea and china, as well. ., . , be coming in north korea and china, as well. ., ., , ., ~ be coming in north korea and china, as well. ., .,, ., ~ i. be coming in north korea and china, as well. ., .,, ., ~ ,, be coming in north korea and china, as well. ., ., ~ . as well. thomas, thank you so much for “oininu as well. thomas, thank you so much forjoining us— as well. thomas, thank you so much forjoining us on _ as well. thomas, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday _ as well. thomas, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday with - as well. thomas, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday with your. forjoining us on newsday with your analysis. much more about the pandemic on the special section of our website. just log on to bbc.com/news, or download the bbc app.

in the uk, police have issued 50 more fines after parties at downing street and other government buildings were found to have broken the rules on gatherings during the covid lockdown. neither prime minister boris johnson, nor the chancellor rishi sunak were involved — although both have already been fined for other gatherings. the main oppositon party, labour, says there is evidence of partying at the heart of government on an industrial scale. here's our political editor chris mason. it's long been suspected. today, further confirmation. covid lawbreaking was happening, involving loads of people, for months on end, right at the heart of the government led by boris johnson. the police offered few words, but they did have a big number — more than 100 fines. and they're not finished yet. the prime minister's been in staffordshire — happy to pose for pictures, less keen to talk about covid partying.

look, as soon as i have any more to say on this subject, i will make sure that you, sam, are amongst the very first to know. but what we're doing here in stoke is making sure that we focus on the thing that i think matters most to the people of this country right now, and that is getting us through the post—covid after—shock. this is a list of the potential post—covid political after—shocks, the events in and around downing street now under investigation. a christmas do on 18 december, 2020 is thought to have led to a big chunk of this latest batch of fines. there was a downing street christmas party on friday night. do you recognise those reports? i went home! it was a partyjoked about by downing street staff at the time in a mocked—up news conference, later leaked. this fictional party was a business meeting. and it was not socially distanced.

labour's leader keir starmer and his deputy are under police investigation themselves over beer and curry in an mp's office just over a year ago — but the party's still calling for the prime minister to resign. he's in a position of senior leadership at ten downing street, he has already been fined. keir starmer, in contrast, has already said that if he were to be fined, he would of course resign from his position as leader of the opposition. there's simply no comparison with the industrial scale partying that's been happening at number ten. crucially, too, this is not yet over. of the 12 gatherings the police are investigating, just four or so, we think, have led to fines so far, so there's plenty of potential for more to come, including for the prime minister. still to come a bit later in the programme: the first image of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. but first... let's turn to the war in ukraine now — and it's trigged one of russia's neighbours, finland, to make moves to apply to join nato. the country has traditionally taken a neutral stance, but is now expected to make a formal

application next week. finland shares an 800—mile—long border with russia. moscow has reacted angrily, saying any nato expansion is a direct threat, and will be met with reciprocal steps. nato says it would welcome finland — a sentiment the white house has echoed. meanwhile, the fighting continues in ukraine, with ukrainian forces saying they have recaptured more territory in the north—east of the country. that's happened as the bbc has found clear evidence of war crimes alleged against russian soldiers — near the capital, kyiv. in shocking images caught on cctv, two unarmed civilians are shot in cold blood. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford has this report, which does contain some flashing images and some parts which you may find disturbing. these are russian soldiers on their way to loot and to kill. but their every move is caught

on multiple cameras. and so is leonid, the security guard, as he approaches them. the men talk, even smoke, and then the soldiers leave. but suddenly two turn back. they shoot leonid and a second man multiple times in their backs. leonid somehow survives. his boss dead, the guard staggers back to his hut and starts phoning for help. the russians drove a stolen van daubed with their v symbol and the words "russian tank special forces". and this is the man we saw shooting, now helping himself to a drink. he has no idea he's being filmed. no—one does until it's too late. and all this time, leonid is hiding in here, bleeding heavily. weeks later, we found his clothes and mattress bundled up outside.

he died before help could reach him. i met the men who'd tried to save leonid, sasha and kostya, who sold air conditioning before the war. translation: we tried to calm him down. - we said, "it's all ok, we're coming, you'll live." maybe it helped him — maybe. they show me how the nearby road looked in those days, with russian tanks rolling past their positions. it's notjust the burnt—out buildings and businesses along this road that you see, but things like this. two russian tanks just lodged in the forest. and you can see the vs painted on the front. and it's a really stark reminder of just how fierce the fighting was all along these roads into kyiv, and how terrified leonid must have been as he was lying there bleeding and calling for help. leonid's daughter shared this

image of her dad as she'd like him remembered. yulia is abroad now. she tells me she wants her father's killers to face justice. translation: they| killed a 65-year-old. what for? i'm not so much furious as full of grief and fear. these damn russians are so out of control that i'm afraid of what they might do next. leonid never returned to his home or his pets. another life stolen by russian troops, now notorious for their brutality. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kyiv. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the bumpy road of revolutionising transport in the new zealand city of auckland. we will hear about the city council's expensive plan to build cycle lanes across the city.

the pope was shot, the pope will live — that's the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that, as an italian television commentator put it, "terrorism had come to the vatican." the man they called the butcher of lille, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help - the victims of a powerful. earthquake, the worst to hit the country in 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, gary kasparov. it's the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match.

america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! cheering this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. our headlines... south east asian leaders are in washington for a two—day summit with presidentjoe biden. the talks will begin over dinner tonight with leaders from the eight nations including malaysia, singapore, cambodia and thailand. the group is known as asean, and it'll be their first meeting at the white house. the special summit comes before the us president's trip next week the white house is also announced on

hundred $50 million... which has surpassed the us as their largest trading partner. we'll have more on this for viewers who watch asia business report, in just a few minutes' time. after days of violent unrest, sri lanka has sworn in a new prime minister. he's a veteran politician who's served as prime minister five times before. protestors forced out mahinda rajapaksa on monday, blaming him for the economic collapse of the country. they're also demanding that his brother, the president, also resigns. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan reports from colombo. returning to the top of sri lankan politics, but what will ranil wickremesinghe offer to this troubled nation? ranil wickremesinghe is no stranger to sri lankan politics. he's held the role of prime minister on five previous occasions. this might be his biggest challenge yet, lifting this island nation out of its worst economic crisis.

sitting on the left of sri lankan politics, he's agreed to work with president gotabaya rajapaksa, a neutral choice for the president who is clinging onto power. he replaces mahinda rajapaksa — seen on the left — who quit as pm on monday. chanting but many say ranil wickremesinghe isn't the face of change they've been chanting for. ranil has been in politics since i was a child. it's a one—member party, and we have a person who has just one member in his party becoming the prime minister of the country and trying to convince the general public here that he is our saviour and solution. he's not our saviour and solution. in the centre of colombo, they're lining up for hand—outs of bread. as desperation deepens, the task ahead for the new prime minister gets even tougher. rajini vaidyanathan,

bbc news, sri lanka. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate from a swift—moving wildfire in southern california. it's burned down at least 20 mansions so far in orange county, south of los angeles. fire officials say it's grown to 199 acres since it began on wednesday. new york's police watchdog has recommended disciplinary action against 145 officers in connection with their conduct during the black lives matter protests in 2020. a review board said 88 of them should face formal charges. vets in the indian state of gujarat say thousands of dehydrated birds have been dropping out of the sky, as a heatwave dries out their sources of water. they say the number of animals that need rescuing has risen significantly this year. the extreme heat is also posing a danger to humans across the country.

for many years, scientists have known about the existence of a huge black hole at the centre of our galaxy. now, for the first time, they know exactly what it looks like. it's called sagittarius a — and its four million times the mass of our own sun. but, because no light can escape from a black hole, capturing images of it has always been impossible. that is, until now — as pallab ghosh reports. for decades, astronomers have been on a quest, searching the skies and into the very heart of our galaxy for a mysterious and elusive black hole. now they've found it and taken this picture. the black hole is at the centre of the image. it's revealed by swirling hot matter pulled in by powerful gravitational forces. it's dark, you're not meant to see a black hole, it traps light. and yet here we are, capturing something that's

meant to be invisible, seeing at the literal edge of space and time. i think that's truly remarkable. a black hole is created by a dead star collapsing in on itself. more than half a million computer simulations have been run and compared to the actual image. scientists believe that this video reconstruction is the closest to what the black hole in our galaxy looks like. no single telescope can see the object, so several have been linked together to create a giant observatory on earth. here, high in the mountains of southern spain, scientists have been part of that search. we're in the heart of a telescope that's 40 years old... inside is a man who came up with the idea of photographing a black hole when he was a student in the 1990s. it's a fulfillment of a dream and the beginning of a new chapter, actually. studying black holes in great detail. they�* re no longer fantasy. we can test all our

understanding and our models. we can do precision astrophysics. how does it make you feel now that you've finally produced this image? it's... you know, it's wonderful. for researchers, this is just the beginning. theory has now become reality, and they can now kick on to find out how this black hole really works and even how our own galaxy came to be. pallab ghosh, bbc news. the new zealand city of auckland is planning a transport revolution by building amsterdam—style cycle lanes across the city. but the plan has been met with opposition in the city, with many pointing to the costs put forward for the scheme. aukland council has already spent almost $200 million towards the plans, and transport planners argue another $1 billion will be needed. for more on this, i'm joined by councillor angela dalton in auckland, who's expressed her

support for the plan. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. firstly, why is it costing this much money?— newsday. firstly, why is it costing this much money? well, we've had little investment _ this much money? well, we've had little investment in _ this much money? well, we've had little investment in cycle _ this much money? well, we've had little investment in cycle ways - this much money? well, we've had little investment in cycle ways in i little investment in cycle ways in auckland for many, many years. and also, i think the key point is safety. so if we're going to build cycle lanes, they need to be separated from road traffic to make sure that people are able to get to where they need to go to safely. that's the cost. but where they need to go to safely. that's the cost.— where they need to go to safely. that's the cost. but you also have a taruet that's the cost. but you also have a tar: et of that's the cost. but you also have a target of 7% — that's the cost. but you also have a target of 7% of _ that's the cost. but you also have a target of 7% of trips _ that's the cost. but you also have a target of 7% of trips being - target of 7% of trips being completed on bikes — but doesn't it take a big adjustment to change people's mindset? because new zealand does have one of the highest numbers of cars per population in the world. , ., . , , numbers of cars per population in theworld. , ., . , , ., the world. yes, our city is in for uuite a the world. yes, our city is in for quite a shift- — the world. yes, our city is in for quite a shift. it's _ the world. yes, our city is in for quite a shift. it's not _ the world. yes, our city is in for quite a shift. it's notjust - the world. yes, our city is in for| quite a shift. it's notjust cycling — congestion is costing us too much, our economy is suffering from freight and service vehicles, and people trying to get to work sitting

in traffic. moving cycling for people who choose to move to cycling is a small part of it. so 7% is the ten year ambition, so it's a slow hall, but we need to make that shift the public transport and getting people who need to use cars moving more efficiently. this people who need to use cars moving more efficiently.— more efficiently. this has caused a lot of division _ more efficiently. this has caused a lot of division locally, _ more efficiently. this has caused a lot of division locally, after - lot of division locally, after spending quite a lot of money already. do you actually expect this to work out? i already. do you actually expect this to work out?— to work out? i do - i think what has happened is — to work out? i do - i think what has happened is that — to work out? i do - i think what has happened is that we _ to work out? i do - i think what has happened is that we have _ to work out? i do - i think what has happened is that we have not - happened is that we have not provided good options for people, particularly in our suburbs. we do have a love of cars, as you can see, it's because there are no other options. if the council, alongside our government, can provide transport like cycles and other options, then we will transition. and the response to the central

government legislation and policy, we have to begin this transition. so we have to begin this transition. so we will be looking at a very different auckland 2030—50. you different auckland 2030-50. you mentioned the _ different auckland 2030—50. you mentioned the central government, is there anything you expect them, or hope they would do to address this issue? . ., ., issue? the central government will be announcing _ issue? the central government will be announcing their— issue? the central government will be announcing their budget - issue? the central government will be announcing their budget next i be announcing their budget next week, and part of it will be the emission reduction plan. there is an expectation there'll be something in there to help cities that need to make this transition to reducing emissions that is part the goal, as well as getting transport moving and reducing congestion, and providing options. so my expectation is the government will be partners with us in council. �* ., government will be partners with us in council. �* . ., . in council. angela, thanks so much for “oininu in council. angela, thanks so much forjoining us- _ that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

hello again. we're looking at a fairly windy day today across northern areas of the country, and there's a bit of rain around, as well. this is where the rain's been over recent hours, it's been quite wet in northern ireland. a few splashes from northern england, north wales, but the majority of the rain has been working its way across scotland. it will continue to move its way eastwards over the next few hours, the rain ending to become confined, really, to northwestern areas of scotland, where it will be quite heavy at times, quite windy, as well. these are kind of temperatures as we head into the first part of friday morning. so it is a mild start to the day, 9—11 celsius. then for many of us, it's a bright enough start as well. some sunshine to come for england and wales, but a different story for scotland, where low pressure will be pushing this band of rain, particularly across northern and western areas. through the day, there should be an improvement with a bit of sunshine coming

through across eastern and southern scotland, but perhaps staying quite damp across northern areas, particularly for the northern isles. the rain reluctant to push away. in the sunshine across england and wales, the winds a little bit later to the south, and there will be a bit more of that sunshine, so warmer — temperatures reaching 22 celsius or so, but quite cool underneath those windier conditions in scotland with that rain, as well. well, into the weekend weather prospects, well, we have some thundery showers that we are watching to come up from the south. however, on saturday, should be a largely dry day with sunshine for the majority of the country, given those brighter skies are working in across scotland, and to a degree northern england and northern ireland as well, we'll see those temperatures climbing a little bit here. 17 celsius or so for glasgow, 17—18 in parts of northern ireland. but it's in eastern england that we will see that day's highest temperatures — up to 22—23 celsius. saturday night time, there probably will be some thunderstorms coming up from the south. now, these are going to be hit or miss in nature. the first batch of thundery showers

probably not bringing a huge amount of rain, but could bring lots of lightning, but, as we get into sunday and then monday as well, there is a greater chance of seeing some heavier downpours develop over time. still on sunday, there will be some places that stay dry with some hazy spells of sunshine. it will start to feel a little bit more humid in the south compared with recent days. 19 celsius in glasgow, still into the low 20s across parts of the south and east, but then monday, we've got rain or thundery showers that will break out a little bit more widely. some of the rain quite heavy.

this is bbc news. the headlines... finland's leaders announce that they will apply for nato membership "without delay", as a result of russia's invasion of ukraine. the russian foreign ministry said nato was seeking to create another flank for the military threat to russia. moscow has accused western countries of using the un human rights council to demonise russia. earlier the un human rights council voted in favour of launching an inquiry into alleged war crimes by russian troops. the white house has announced that the united states has passed more than one million deaths from covid 19. it's the highest official total in the world. president biden described it as "a tragic milestone". after days of violent unrest, sri lanka has sworn in a new prime minister.

he's a veteran politician who served as prime ministerfive times before.