threaten the world's security and prosperity, in an exclusive interview with the bbc. we start in the us where, as you've been hearing, president biden has been giving his first televised address since taking office. before that though, he signed a record—breaking $1.9 trillion economic rescue package for the us into law, after it passed its final vote in congress on wednesday. the first direct payments of $1,400, which will benefit most americans, are expected to start arriving over the weekend. there's also bailout money for state and local governments and an increase in child and unemployment benefit, as welll as more funding for vaccination. the plan was unanimously opposed by house republicans, critics say it goes way beyond what's needed to tackle the pandemic fallout, and risks stoking inflation. so what are the long term implications? ed stringham is economics professor at trinity college in hartford, connecticut, and president of american institute for economic research, a free market think—tank. thanks very much forjoining me today. firstly, does it matter that president biden did not have bipartisan support for any of this? ~ ., , of this? well, it was interesting, - of this? well, it was interesting, he - of this? well, it was interesting, he did l of this? well, it was - interesting, he did campaign of this? well, it was _ interesting, he did campaign to say i am going to be appealing to lots of groups and his first major legislation was totally a partisan issue, so people and his party thought it was great, people on the other party said no, it's too big, it's wasteful, and so the fact that this is the way things are starting as a very interesting, maybe a preview of things to come. i maybe a preview of things to come. ., ., ., ., come. i do wonder about that. now, it is _ come. i do wonder about that. now, it is kind _ come. i do wonder about that. now, it is kind of— come. i do wonder about that. now, it is kind of a _ come. i do wonder about that. now, it is kind of a fiscal - now, it is kind of a fiscal rocket, isn't it, into an already pretty fiery policy mix overin already pretty fiery policy mix over in the united states, is it going to work? to over in the united states, is it going to work?— it going to work? to me, i'd “ust it going to work? to me, i'd just look— it going to work? to me, i'd just look at _ it going to work? to me, i'd just look at these _ it going to work? to me, i'd just look at these numbers | it going to work? to me, i'd i just look at these numbers and it is just like just look at these numbers and it isjust like mind—boggling, it is just like mind—boggling, the it isjust like mind—boggling, the amount of debt that we are adding to, all of these various packages, it's really going to start adding up stopping now, the good news is i think the economy has been showing signs of growth and that has been happening for the last few months. stock market has been on a steady rise, we did see it increased 1% or 3% today, based on what index you are looking at but this has been a steady trend, thejobs markets are getting better, and i think most americans arejust getting better, and i think most americans are just ready to get back to work, businesses are ready to move towards the future, and at least on that front, the president has been talking about how we need to get the economy back opening stopping the question is how fast, one can debate that. i would say we should go more fast but in terms of people looking towards the future, i think stock prices going up best indicator of future profitability of american businesses.— profitability of american businesses. , �* , ., ~ businesses. ok, but let's talk about what's _ businesses. ok, but let's talk about what's going _ businesses. ok, but let's talk about what's going on - businesses. ok, but let's talk about what's going on at - businesses. ok, but let's talk about what's going on at the l about what's going on at the other end of the scale here, of the income scale. unusually, for a rich country, lower income households are now sitting on quite a cash pile, many of them got a $600 check before from the last stimulus package. how likely is it that lower income households are gonna go out and spend the money that they have been given? you are right, there's a big disparity, and in most cases, many cases, the low income people are the ones harmed the most. they are not part of the zoom class, they don't have the ability to sit at home and watch their computer. many people, depending on the demographics, 20% of people, only 20% can actually work from home, 80% of people need to be out there, and all of those people, all those groups have been left behind by a lot of these policies, so, you know, manual workers, people working in the hospitality industry, restaurant industry, i think that those people have been really hurting and i feel bad for them, frankly. it’s really hurting and i feel bad for them, frankly.— for them, frankly. it's not their fault, _ for them, frankly. it's not their fault, and _ for them, frankly. it's not their fault, and so, - for them, frankly. it's not their fault, and so, you i for them, frankly. it's not - their fault, and so, you know, theirfault, and so, you know, some people call this policy a stimulus package, and other people call it a relief package to say look, you know, here's some money stopping now, should they be paying extra unemployment in addition to the standard federal unemployment insurance? that is something i think that a lot of economists will question that, but certainly, the lower income people, the most harmed by these lockdown policies. find these lockdown policies. and ho efull these lockdown policies. and hopefully will _ these lockdown policies. and hopefully will certainly benefit from the stimulus package. thanks very much ed stringham and america for us. us financial markets have been on a roll as that stimulus package was voted through and signed into law, both the dowjones and s&p 500 closing at new record highs. it was the second record close in a row for the dow. let's just show you the numbers. here as you can see, absolutely crazy what's going on in the markets at the moment but also the nasdaq up as well, big boost for the stock markets for tech as well, boosting investor confidence and a bigger than expect that fall in jobless claims as well and that came on top of those very strong monthly employment figures that we saw at the end of last week. but some analysts are warning the us economy still has a very long way to go to restore all the jobs lost in the pandemic. take the weekly jobless take the weeklyjobless claims and add that to a lower number with bad weather during the month and say, how manyjobs do we need to create a month, do you think, to get back to pre— pandemic level, and if we were to take that 390,000 number from last friday and actually make it 700,000 jobs created, we would have to take that 700,000 jobs and do that, replicate that every month for almost two years, to get back to that pre— pandemic level, so while this incremental improvement is important, we are nowhere close to where we need to be to get full employment. kathleen brooks is founder & director of minerva analysis in london. thanks very much forjoining me this morning, good to see you. you know, in some ways it feels like we have been here before stopping more stimulus, tech stocks leading the way, is this just business as normal for the stock market? it just business as normal for the stock market?— just business as normal for the stock market? it has been, but this time last _ stock market? it has been, but this time last week _ stock market? it has been, but this time last week we - stock market? it has been, but this time last week we were i this time last week we were talking about correction territory for the nasdaq thomas though it has really injected quite a lot of volatility. talk about president biden�*s stimulus package has really unleashed some fears about inflation but i think your previous clip that you just showed does highlight how much spare capacity that is in the us economy. there will need to create a lot more jobs us economy. there will need to create a lot morejobs right now because the us economy lost 10 millionjobs over this pandemic and add into that, yes, the $1400 check that was mailed out to a lot of americans from the us from the white house in the next few weeks will be inflationary, probably only in the short—term. $1400 only go so far so what we are seeing is that when there is news about the economy, that because of the economy, that because of the bit of consternation in the financial markets, particularly around these tech stocks which are hypersensitive to changes in interest rates. when you get, for example, the confirmation of biden�*s stimulus package, we have also seen treasury yields rise a little, particularly yesterday, so that could make itjust a bit more bumpy as we move into the end of the weekend into the start of next week quite certainly trading valuation extremes at the moment, and they want to touch on what you were saying about the bond markets. it were saying about the bond markets. , , h, markets. it is interesting some ofthe markets. it is interesting some of the comments _ markets. it is interesting some of the comments we _ markets. it is interesting some of the comments we got - markets. it is interesting some of the comments we got from | markets. it is interesting some i of the comments we got from the european central bank about bond buying and saying we've got this, we've got the european economy, do you buy that? i european economy, do you buy that? 4' european economy, do you buy that? ~ ., , that? i think what is quite interesting _ that? i think what is quite interesting as _ that? i think what is quite interesting as they - that? i think what is quite interesting as they got. that? i think what is quite | interesting as they got the european economy but they don't have to speed up the pace of the bond buying. so they are going to have to try to artificially depress the increase in european yields and it's really worth remembering that german bond deals are still negative. they are not particularly concerned about germany, they are concerned about italy, spain, and portugal. they are a big concern but the european economy has a huge amount of problems and they are going to be buying bonds for a very long time if they just want to keep foreign costs low but that is really where the remit comes and is the physical side, as all of the governments in the european union working together that need to add some sort of stimulus akin to what president biden is doing. they are lagging massively behind on the fiscal stimulus side. the ecp is doing all of canada now has to pass the baton to the government and the european union. ., , , union. really interesting, thank you kathleen brooks in london for us. let's return to the subject of coronavirus vaccines, because they are going to be high on the agenda today for the quadrilateral security dialogue — that's a group comprising india, australia, japan and the us. the quad, as it's known, was set up to counterbalance the regional power of china. and it's holding its first leaders summit later vaccines from chinese firms have already been rolled out in countries such as pakistan, brazil, indonesia, turkey, and the united arab emirates. that's only added to growing concern about the rise of china's influence in the developing world. so the quad are looking at their own vaccine initiative for poorer countries, doses developed in the us, manufactured in india and financed by japan with the support of australia. so are we entering a phase of vaccine diplomacy? 0livier wouters is assistant professor of health policy at the london school of economics and political science. he was the lead author of lead author of a recent study in the lancet about challenges in ensuring global access to covid—19 vaccines. thanks very much forjoining us, thank you for your time today. now, iwasjust us, thank you for your time today. now, i wasjust thinking of the influential business book, how to win friends and influence people. this sort of goes to the heart of it here. why are people so worried about china's influence in developing and distributing vaccines to the developing world? well, i'm not sure they — the developing world? well, i'm not sure they necessarily - not sure they necessarily should be. ithink not sure they necessarily should be. i think really the keyissueis should be. i think really the key issue is that we need global access to covid vaccines, and those may come from different parts of the world. so i think there is some concern about where other vaccines coming from, other from western developers or eu developers or chinese developers, but i think it's important to in mind here that we are trying to vaccinate 5 million — 7 billion people on earth and so we really need all the vaccines we can get as long as they have gone through rigourous clinical trial processes, so i think that is the key thing to bear in mind, i think. , , ., i think. there is very an equitable _ i think. there is very an equitable access - i think. there is very an l equitable access globally i think. there is very an - equitable access globally to vaccines, how does the world, in your view, best address that issue? i in your view, best address that issue? ~ �* , in your view, best address that issue? ~' �* , ., issue? i think there's two thins. issue? i think there's two things. one, _ issue? i think there's two things. one, a— issue? i think there's two things. one, a lot - issue? i think there's two things. one, a lot of - issue? i think there's two - things. one, a lot of wealthier countries have put themselves at the front of the queue. they've struck these deals with companies to secure adequate doses for their populations, which is in fact why a lot of countries are turning to chinese manufacturers and indian manufacturers to get any doses. the government has secured enough doses to vaccinate its population several times over in the uk and other rich countries so that an equity needs to be addressed and the key issue is production capacity. if we had enough doses to go around we would be less concerned about where countries are in the queue, citing the immediate priority is to ramp up production.— priority is to ramp up production. you think a financing _ production. you think a financing deal- production. you think a financing deal such - production. you think a financing deal such as i production. you think a i financing deal such as the production. you think a - financing deal such as the one thatis financing deal such as the one that is being proposed by the quad is a step in the right direction?— quad is a step in the right direction? absolutely. as i understand, _ direction? absolutely. as i understand, what - direction? absolutely. as i understand, what they - direction? absolutely. as i understand, what they are | direction? absolutely. as i - understand, what they are going to be announcing is a sort of finance deal where vaccines being developed byjohnson & johnson are going to be able to mmp johnson are going to be able to ramp up production in india and i think that is absolutely a step in the right direction. what we wanted is for companies to license their products more widely to engage with manufacturer's elsewhere to increase the amount of doses that can be produced in 2021, so i think that is absolutely a step in the right direction. all right, great. thank you very much for time today. it's known as the amazon of south korea. e—commerce company coupang has made the biggest stock market debut of the year in the us. shares jumped more than 40%, bringing the company's market valuation to $85 billion by the end of trade. it's a huge win for its founder, korean american businessman bom kim. but also for one of his key backers, japanese investment firm softbank, which has had a few high profile disasters over the past year or so. mariko 0i is following this for us in singapore. what do you make of all of this? ~ ., , , ., what do you make of all of this? ~ what do you make of all of this? ., , this? well, as you say, only one year— this? well, as you say, only one year ago _ this? well, as you say, only one year ago we _ this? well, as you say, only one year ago we were - this? well, as you say, onlyl one year ago we were talking about softbank�*s disastrous investments in companies like we work which really raised questions over the chief executive's midas touch. he was known to have invested very early in uber through his vision fun, but its investment and call partner definitely paid off, softbank report will pay about $3 billion for 37% stake in the company and the company's strong market debut meant that softbank shares have also been trading higher this morning in tokyo. shares of coupang opened 81% higherfrom the ipa price before closing with a 40% rally, and vision fun has actually been doing quite well lately, despite what it went through about a year ago. softbank said its third—quarter profit balloons more than 20 times thanks to its recovery, so for example it made about $11 billion on a blockbuster market launch of doordash in december, it also made gains on opendoor technologies initial public offering is. it also holds a large stake in china's biggest ride hailing company didi, so maybe after all, the midas touchis maybe after all, the midas touch is still intact.- touch is still intact. ok, thanks very _ touch is still intact. ok, thanks very much - touch is still intact. ok, | thanks very much mariko touch is still intact. ok, - thanks very much mariko oi. always with the midas touch. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: da vinci, van gogh... ..and beeple? a digital work sells for $69 million. is it the future of art or another investment bubble? the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this, the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours, then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, - sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, i travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. i paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — i've never been married before! this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: in the us, president biden gives a prime time address on the pathway out of the pandemic, saying americans could be able to gather by 4july. three european countries suspend use of the astrazeneca vaccine after reports that some people developed blood clots. countries must continue to work together or they risk facing poverty, instability, and conflict. that's the stark message from singapore's prime minister. globalisation has helped singapore transform from colonial trading port to financial powerhouse. but in an exclusive interview with the bbc, its prime minister, lee hsien loong, has been telling our asia business correspondent karishma vaswani that it's now under threat. globalisation will be under pressure and there will be tensions, tensions over security, tensions over competitiveness, who controls the technology. but you cannot avoid working with one another, because to go back to where you were, that way lies poverty and despair and probably instability and conflict. watto wanted to — instability and conflict. watto wanted to ask _ instability and conflict. watto wanted to ask you _ instability and conflict. watto wanted to ask you is - instability and conflict. watto wanted to ask you is how - wanted to ask you is how concerned you are with the direction that china is taking politically?— politically? well, we cannot 'udue politically? well, we cannot judge the — politically? well, we cannot judge the domestic - politically? well, we cannot i judge the domestic pressures which lead china to make the decisions it makes, but i think internationally the possession —— position it has taken, it has one and some friends, but at the same time it has led to tensions with major powers and i don't think that is in china's interests. what you think might _ china's interests. what you think might be _ china's interests. what you think might be a _ china's interests. what you think might be a better- think might be a better solution or a better way? i would hesitate to give advice to other countries' leaders. i think they make their own calculations. but what we would like to see is china being able to be a country where its prosperity and its development and its growing strength is welcomed by other countries in the world to see this as an opportunity for them to prosper together and to live in a stable world together. in the last 5— seven years, i think american business attitudes have shifted and they wanted to see a more open environment and one where they get a bigger bite of the cherry. i think it's understandable. china is a new position now. and you have you set a different balance in your relationship with the world. and what the world was prepared to grant you in an earlier phase now has to be reworked. and that's quite difficult for a country to accept. difficult for a country to acce t. difficult for a country to accet. ,, difficult for a country to acce t. ,, ~ ,, accept. do you think the us needs to — accept. do you think the us needs to accept _ accept. do you think the us needs to accept that - accept. do you think the us needs to accept that it - accept. do you think the us needs to accept that it is i accept. do you think the usj needs to accept that it is no longer number one? i think us is still number _ is still number one but number two is not that far behind and that is what is difficult for the us to accept. really interesting. _ for more on us—china tensions, threats to globalisation and other issues, watch our exclusive interview with singapore's prime minister on talking business asia at these times. finally, is this a turning point for the global art market? it is called everydays: the first 5000 days, it's entirely digital — as in it doesn't exist in a physicalform. you can't hang it on a wall. 0r store it in vault. but as you may have heard, it has just sold at christie's auctioneers for $69 million. the collage of 5000 individual images was produced over 13 years by cult american artist mike winkelmann, also known as beeple. the work itself is what's known as a non—fungible token or nft, which is a digital asset that uses blockchain technology to establish ownership. the buyer has not been identified. mr winkleman spoke to the bbc, and didn't seem overly fussed that he's now one of the highest valued living artists. honestly, it is one of those things where i did not make the work or money. they will continue making the work. this was made far before they even sort of had any inkling of selling stuff. and so the money to me is really what it is —— it is what it is. the market will do what it will do. i can't control this. it's crazy. do you think the next —— do i think the next one has to sell more? that's crazy. i don't know what the market will do. they will keep putting out work in the market will do what it will do. that is, to me, that's not my concern. it is certainly not a bad return on his investment in his 13 years of time. nadya ivanova is chief operating officer at l'atelier bnp paribas, a business forecasting company that looks at how digital tech is changing society. she's in paris. nadya, has the world gone mad? good morning, victoria. ithink we are both puzzled and amazed by what is going on, right. and everyone is asking what is going on? and we can say two things specifically about answer, the psychology of art ownership is not always logical. the second is that internet culture has gone quite far. and we are seeing the increasing virtualisation of our lives. people starting to and more time and money on virtual experiences and assets. the consequence of that is we are prescribing more value to digital assets than ever before. , .., digital assets than ever before. , before. ok, but can you really before. ok, but can you really be an art _ before. ok, but can you really be an art collector _ before. ok, but can you really be an art collector if _ before. ok, but can you really be an art collector if you - be an art collector if you don't actually own the art? you can if it is _ don't actually own the art? you can if it is a _ don't actually own the art? gm. can if it is a non—fungible token. i think we to define what they are. they are a way of creating unique digital assets. they could be a representation of anything you can imagine from a piece of art to real estate. think of them as digital passports are two things. the first one is they certify this is unique, so it contains distinguishing information this is distinct from everything else. and it could be copied, but there is only one original and this could be proven for everybody to see. and that is what brings it value. it is the difference between a mona lisa and the prince of a mona lisa. the second thing is it certifies who owns it. authenticated on the blockchain. that gives it value because when you own something you can do a lot of things with it, you can sell it or lose it to generate income, you can potentially even use it as collateral for a loan down the line. that gives quite a lot of value. right now we're seeing a surge in interest, particularly in art. in surge in interest, particularly in art. . , surge in interest, particularly inart. ., , ,. in art. in art but also music, means. _ in art. in art but also music, means, tweets, _ in art. in art but also music, means, tweets, you - in art. in art but also music, means, tweets, you name i in art. in art but also music, j means, tweets, you name it in art. in art but also music, - means, tweets, you name it and people are trying to flog it at the moment full up give me one good reason why investing in reproducible art that doesn't physically exist on a canvas or clay, for example, is a sensible idea. it clay, for example, is a sensible idea.- clay, for example, is a sensible idea. , sensible idea. it is if the nft is secured — sensible idea. it is if the nft is secured properly. - sensible idea. it is if the nft is secured properly. again, i is secured properly. again, what investors think about is this is original and scarce, it could be a good return on investment. the current way we are seeing, obviously everything is for sale right now and that is not sustainable, but we have been studying this market for two years, and nft assets have underlying utility that allows you to generate income from the line to build businesses on top of that. so we think in the long—term if the proper infrastructure is built around them and the proper legal framework is built around them, people will value them and profit from them. and they have the potential to be the virtual assets of the future.- assets of the future. three much, nadya. _ assets of the future. three much, nadya. -- - assets of the future. three much, nadya. -- thank- assets of the future. three | much, nadya. -- thank you assets of the future. three - much, nadya. -- thank you very much, nadya. —— thank you very much, nadya. —— thank you very much, nadya. hello. thursday felt like one of those days where someone up there was just playing with the taps — raining one minute, then dry, then rain, then dry. it was like that pretty much all day. and some of the storms pretty impressive. we brought some hail to the streets of carlisle. some of the storms dropped temperatures by up to 5 degrees celsius as they went through, and we had some of this spectacular mammatus cloud on the underside of some of the cumulonimbus thunder clouds — a sign of really vigorous storm clouds building. and more recently, well, some of those showers have started to turn to snow across parts of northern scotland, particularly in the high ground, so we've had a bit of everything really and we've got more of the same to come as well on through the course of friday. a risk of icy stretches, then, where we have this snow and those lower temperatures, particularly across the high ground in scotland. but there could be a bit of sleet or a bit of hail mixed in with the showers just about anywhere over the next few hours, and it's going to be a blustery old start to the day on friday. heavy rain for a time across wales and south west england, slowly pushing eastwards with some thunder mixed in with that. then we'll probably have a more generally showery kind of spell of weather for most areas of the uk. some sunshine, some hail mixed in with the showers, temperatures dropping sharply when those clouds go through. and then late in the day, another spell of more general rain is set to move in as the winds start to crank up again. yes, it's going to be a particularly blustery friday night and early part of saturday morning. now, temperatures, by the time we get to the first part of saturday morning, well, low enough to give us some frost and again, there will be some snow mixed in with those showers over parts of higher parts of scotland, so for some, a chilly start to the weekend. and the weekend, well it's dominated by low pressure. we're going to continue to see strong winds, showers or even a few lengthier outbreaks of rain diving across the uk. so on saturday, it is a day of sunshine and showers. again, some of the showers will have hail mixed in with them. still a bit of snow over some of the higher ground because yes, it is maybe just about cold enough for that. and again, when those showers come through, the temperatures will drop sharply by several degrees celsius, but these are the kind of maximum temperatures that you might expect to see — highs of about 7—10 degrees celsius — but perhaps feeling cooler, given the strength of the winds. for sunday, another weather system dives south—eastwards across the uk, bringing more general rain with it. probably the driest, brightest weather across northern scotland, and those temperatures coming up just an odd degree or so. that's your latest weather. good morning, welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today. "kind, thoughtful, caring and dependable." the family of sarah everard pay tribute as a police officer continues to be questioned over her murder. calls to "reclaim the streets" as the case sparks anger over the safety of women in the uk. i've never felt safe walking alone at night. as soon as the sun sets, it's a little bit scarier, a little bit more intense. he falls down, he gets right back up again — the former royal marine commando who lost three limbs in afghanistan takes on a gruelling charity run. sunday service — the royal mail says it will trial sunday