hello and welcome. uncertainty over stocks of covid vaccines is causing growing tension between the uk and the european union. with around 25 million britons vaccinated, authorities here are warning there'll be a significant reduction in available vaccines next month. astrazeneca and pfizer have both tried to play down those of vaccine produced in the uk and europe. another step closer to normality. gps like this one in lincolnshire, thousands have been given vaccines this week. in total, more than 25 million have now beenjabbed. for the next fortnight, there should be plenty of doses to go around. after that, there is more doubt. a letter sent by the nhs to local health services warned of a significant reduction in supply next month and said no further appointments for those should be ablated to booking systems in april.— systems in april. vaccine alwa s systems in april. vaccine always lumpy _ systems in april. vaccine always lumpy and - systems in april. vaccine always lumpy and we - systems in april. vaccine - always lumpy and we regularly send out technical letters to the nhs to explain the ups and downs of supply over the future weeks. , ., , ., weeks. his thoughts the late delivery of — weeks. his thoughts the late delivery of batches _ weeks. his thoughts the late delivery of batches of - weeks. his thoughts the late delivery of batches of the - delivery of batches of the astrazeneca vaccine, manufactured at a plant in india, are to blame for the short wall. nobody who has an appointment should lose their slot but this may delay the rollout to the next age group down, those in their 40s, by perhaps as much as a month. it comes as the european commission suggested it could block exports of the pfizer vaccine to the uk unless other jabs are sent back across the channel in return. meanwhile, 13 eu states have still suspended the use of the astrazeneca shot over concerns about rare blood clots. an investigation into by the eu medicines agencies due to report back this afternoon. keeping up the pace of vaccine supply is crucial if the government is going to stick to its roadmap out of lockdown. the recent fall in infections means that almost 4 million vulnerable people in england have now been told they no longer need to shield from next month. ., , ., �* ., month. the reason we've done that is because _ month. the reason we've done that is because the _ month. the reason we've done that is because the rates - month. the reason we've done that is because the rates of. that is because the rates of community infection have now dropped a long way and they've been sustained and we recognise that actually advising people to shield for more than about 12 weeks can be really quite damaging for their mental health, so good news going forward. figs health, so good news going forward. �* , ., health, so good news going forward. ~ , ., ., u forward. as for the vaccine programme. _ forward. as for the vaccine programme, the _ forward. as for the vaccine i programme, the government forward. as for the vaccine - programme, the government said supply of the jabs will vary over time but it remains on track to operate first goes to all over 50s in england by mid april and all adults by the end ofjuly. jim reed, bbc news. and with the eu medicines regulator ready to deliver it's verdict on the safety of the astrazeneca vaccine, stay with us because in the business news we will be looking at the german governments decision to to temporarily suspend its use and what the consequences of that might be. let's get some of the day's other news. masked protestors have raided a jail in the haitian capital, port—au—prince and freed four policemen. the jail break comes amid days of street protests by people angry about the government's handling of a surge in gang—led kidnappings and murders. the president declared a month—long state of emergency in part of the city. the creative head of the tokyo olympics has resigned, after making a derogatory comment about a female japanese entertainer. hiroshi sasaki, who was in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies has admitted making remarks about the entertainer naomi watanabe. last month, the formerjapanese prime minister yoshiro mori, stepped down from his role as president of the tokyo 2020 organising committee after saying women talk too much. conductorjames levine, who led new york's metropolitan opera for a0 years before being sacked over sexual abuse allegations, has died at the age of 77. the met dismissed mr levine in 2018 after an internal inquiry found "credible evidence" of historic sexual abuse against young male musicians. prior to the scandal, he was a much—celebrated maestro whose work and influence extended worldwide. north korea has called attempts by the new us administration to make contact with pyongyang a cheap trick to buy time. the first vice minister for foreign affairs, choe son—hui, said approaches by the united states would go i'll unanswered until it dropped its hostile policies. the statement came just hours before a news conference by the us secretary of state, antony blinken and the pentagon chief, lloyd austin, who've been meeting their south korean counterparts. they stressed their commitment to addressing the regional threat posed by pyongyang. we are engaged in a competency policy review. we are engaged in a competency policy review— policy review. what is significant _ policy review. what is significant about - policy review. what is significant about the i policy review. what is - significant about the review it's being done in very close consultation with the republic of korea, with japan, with other allies. we have a shared concern, shared interest in having a strong affective and co—ordinated policy and proceeding together in lockstep. we are focused on reducing the threat to the united states, to our allies posed by north korea's nuclear programme, its missal programmes, and to improving lives of people. let's get more on this from our correspondent, laura bicker in seoul. is it fair to say the current south korean administration has tiptoed around issues like north korea's human rights violations and chinese aggression? i think it was interesting during the press conference when you listen to both sides. i'm a south korean perspective, they talked about very much trying to keep on track with regards to the alliance, but when it came to north korea, they did not mention the word denuclearisation or the phrase denuclearisation or the phrase denuclearisation of north korea. where is the secretary of state did. when it comes to that kind of policy, the reason we highlighted is because it does seem the united states right now, with the language they are using, is focusing on getting north korea to give up its nuclear weapons rather than looking at an overall arms control strategy. the policy review being made by the biden illustration is still under way and we will not know what the administration thanks for the next few weeks but when you look at what they are saying right now, they are talking once again about engagement with china, china has a large role to play but from south korea's perspective, they would like a policy of engagement and it's not what we heard from the united states. they said engagement or pressure. is it engagement or pressure. is it fair to say — engagement or pressure. is it fair to say the _ engagement or pressure. is it fair to say the current - engagement or pressure. is it fair to say the current south korea administration has tiptoed around issues like north korea's human rights violations and china aggression? i violations and china aggression?- violations and china a: aression? ~ aggression? i think when it comes to — aggression? i think when it comes to the _ aggression? i think when it comes to the human - aggression? i think when it comes to the human rights| comes to the human rights violations, a lot of people have accused the president of not taking north korea's human rights seriously and when it comes to the abuse is taking place in north korea, it is incredibly serious. i hearfrom a number of defectors, people smuggle mobile phones out that we get information from in the country and we know there are large prison camps, we know people are forced into labour, there is no freedom of expression and it's not something you will hear from seoul but the reason, sol says —— seoul says, there are times to address human rights, and once north korea is engaged, you then have to talk about human rights. the argument seoul makes is that when you start talking about human rights, pyongyang won't make it to the negotiation table. and then with china, there is an issue with south korea and china, it is its biggest trading partner and it might be difficult for south korea to contain china in any way without fuelling any repercussions butjust a few years ago back in 2017, the us placed a missile defence system here and china then ordered its tourists no longer to come to south korea, billions and billions of pounds was lost when it came to that policy so i think south korea has been stung before, it will tread carefully once again. laura, thank you- _ the dutch prime minister, mark rutte, has thanked voters, after exit polls suggested his centre—right liberal party had won the most seats in parliament. the election campaign was dominated by discussions about how best to handle the pandemic. an anti—lockdown party appears to have performed better than predicted and it looks as though the anti—immigration freedom party of geert wilders has been pushed into third place. anna holligan reports from the hague. once again, the dutch have invested their trust in the man who has already governed for a decade. mark rutte promised to fix the covid crisis. the voters _ fix the covid crisis. the voters of _ fix the covid crisis. the voters of the _ fix the covid crisis. the i voters of the netherlands fix the covid crisis. tue: voters of the netherlands have given my party, an overwhelming vote of confidence and it is humbling, and it is also forcing us to do everything we can to make a success out of it. not everything has gone well in the last ten years. the main issue a loss on the table for the next year is how to rebuild the country going forward after corona. the interest d 66 _ forward after corona. the interest d 66 party - forward after corona. the interest d 66 party won l interest d 66 party won a substantial share of the vote. foreign minister in mark rutte's last cabinet, she appears to have galvanised voters on the left behind to inclusive approach. she says the result show the country is ready to come together. translation: in recent months i had the growing feeling that people are ready for optimism and vision. i've always believed, and this evening it's been confirmed, that the dutch are not extremists, but are moderate-— moderate. but the far right or in the democracy _ in the democracy gained support. opposing lockdown measures, they were the only party to hold rallies during this campaign. management of the pandemic was a decisive issue for voters and there was a high turnout of more than 80%. mark rutte now faces the challenge of building a coalition that doesn't force him to compromise too many of his political priorities. is far short of the majority on this 150- far short of the majority on this 150— seat parliament. the negotiation process can sometimes go on for months but with the pandemic far from over, the dutch are craving stability. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: chelsea reaches the quarter—finals of the champions league after winning over atletico madrid.. we'll bring you the latest sport news. today we have closed the book on apartheid, and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision, all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself is on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. this was an international trophy and we understand now the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph of the christian democrats i of the west, after- reunification as quickly as possible, and that's. what the voters wanted. this is bbc news. the latest headlines for you: the european union has threatened to halt exports of coronavirus vaccines amid a shortage of doses. britain has denied it's blocking shipments. tanzania's president, john magufuli, has died at the age of 61. staying with that story. the former president of afghanistan, hamid karzai, has told the bbc he welcomes us proposals for the creation of a new temporary, power—sharing government in the country, which would include the taliban. so far though, the current president has resisted the idea, whilst the taliban say they're still studying the proposals. it comes as senior delegates from the opposing sides meet in moscow along with american, chinese and pakistani representatives. every day in afghanistan brings fresh tragedy. this was a bus filled with government employees. meanwhile, in qatar, negotiations between taliban and afghan officials are yet to make any real progress. so the us is pushing a new proposal, leading american diplomat has been discussing the creation of a new temporary power—sharing government that would incorporate the taliban. it has found support across many afghan political figures, including the former president. it can only come to a situation if the taliban side want to end hostilities. there are only two ways so that: one is that the taliban choose to join the afghan government, and the other only option is a transition arrangements to be ashraf ghani says he will only hand power over to an elected government, not one drafted in a deal. and if that doesn't happen, do we allow the country to keep staying in this very unfortunate conflict? no! find unfortunate conflict? no! and once you _ unfortunate conflict? no! and once you step _ unfortunate conflict? no! and once you step away _ unfortunate conflict? no! and once you step away from transition by—elections, you don't know when you are going to sit again? the don't know when you are going to sit again?— to sit again? the afghan community _ to sit again? the afghan community won't - to sit again? the afghan| community won't answer to sit again? the afghan - community won't answer is. we are talking of a period in which an arrangement can be made for all of the afghan sides to get together and form unity. and through that unity, eventually order to take us to the next democratic level. there seems no indication the taliban are willing to accept democratic elections, whether it is now into —— in two years. others believe the taliban have no genuine interest in sharing power and want to create their islamic and of the 1990s. the group says it is examining the proposals i'm in the process of making that decision now as when the... in interview yesterday, president biden said it would be tough to pull are all remaining us troops by may one, the deadline agreed by the trump administration. many fear the consequences prior to progress. tt the consequences prior to progress-— progress. if they want progress. _ progress. if they want progress, they - progress. if they want progress, they must l progress. if they want - progress, they must make sure there is no chaos. if they want to stay in afghanistan in any form, that too must be responsible.— form, that too must be resonsible. , ., ., , responsible. everyone agrees there are _ responsible. everyone agrees there are no _ responsible. everyone agrees there are no easy _ responsible. everyone agrees there are no easy options - responsible. everyone agrees there are no easy options in l there are no easy options in afghanistan. secunder kermani, bbc news. fourteen days of national mourning have been declared in tanzania to mark the death of presidentjohn magufuli, who has died at the age of 61. the vice president announced his death on state television. fellow citizens. it is with deep regret our inform you today on march 17, 2021, at 6pm, we lost our brave leader, the president of the republic of tanzania, who has died of a heart condition, at the hospital where he was being treated. funeral arrangements have been made and you will be notified. our country will be in a mourning period for ia days and flags will fly at half mask. the bbc�*s salim kikeke joins us now. the president had not been seen in public for the last two weeks, and over that time, rumours had been circulating about his health. why would it be seen as controversial if the president had contracted covid—i9 as opposition politicians complain? covid-19 as opposition politicians complain? hello, victoria. — politicians complain? hello, victoria, it's _ politicians complain? hello, victoria, it's difficult - politicians complain? hello, victoria, it's difficult to - victoria, it's difficult to confirm he passed away with covid—i9, but he was a coronavirus sceptic. when coronavirus sceptic. when coronavirus was first declared in march of last year, in the early days, he asked tanzanians to take precautions such as social distancing as well as using face masks. he went further to close schools as well as colleges and universities. to max —— two months on he opened up schools, sports was back as usual, and he suggested to say that tanzania is free of coronavirus. it went on throughout the half of last year, and it was early this year, and it was early this year, just last month that the first vice president of zanzibar, who is close to the government, who had gone to his village to see him, passed away. his political party announced he had passed away with covid—i9. although the government did not confirm that, another close person died recently, although it was not confirmed that he died of the virus. but a lot of reports were suggesting that it may be the case. so, it was difficult. in a statement, the opposition claimed he may have contracted covid—i9, but the line that has been put forward by the vice president, who is interested in the presidency, is mr magufuli died of a chronic heart condition.— died of a chronic heart condition. . ., ., condition. he did cultivate an imaie of condition. he did cultivate an image of an _ condition. he did cultivate an image of an action _ condition. he did cultivate an image of an action man - condition. he did cultivate an i image of an action man figure, it being rambunctious. is that how he will be remembered? mani; how he will be remembered? many tanzanians will _ how he will be remembered? many tanzanians will remember - how he will be remembered? titan; tanzanians will remember him in that image. he was seen by his supporters as a nurse on sense —— no—nonsense person, they nicknamed him the bulldozer. ivar wood to fight against corruption and fired public officials on live television —— he vowed to fight corruption. he was an action person, a man of the people, and his supporters that he cared for the week and whereas. —— cared for the week, although detractors accused him of suppressing democracy. some opposition leaders had to flee the country during the election campaign in 2015 for fear of their lives. so, quite a mixed opinion, really, but he will be remembered for his no—nonsense approach. remembered for his no-nonsense a- roach. ., ~ remembered for his no-nonsense a- roach. ., ,, i. , remembered for his no-nonsense a- roach. ., ,, , . approach. thank you very much for our approach. thank you very much for your time — approach. thank you very much for your time this _ approach. thank you very much for your time this morning. - time now for the latest sport. hello i'm tulsen tollett and this your sports news, where we start with football. and holders bayern munich are through to the champions league quarterfinals after a 6—2 aggregate win over lazio. the germans went into the second leg with a a—i advantage, and the tie was all but over when robert lewandowski scored the first from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute. chelsea join them in the last eight draw after they overcame atletico madrid. thomas tuchel�*s side won 2—0 on the night and 3—0 on aggregate, meaning he's now unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions since taking charge as manager. we have moments where we are excellent with the ball, but we never, ever lose intensity against the ball, we played a very brave and courageous defence and adapt to any system the opponents played today. so it was a deserved win, and a big win because it is the quarterfinal. and, yeah, iam super happy all my players. —— for my players. manchester united head into europa league action later in the second leg of their last 16 tie, away to ac milan with it level at 1—1. united conceded a late equaliser in the opening leg at old trafford last week, but despite this, marcus rashford says they're going all—out to win the trophy they last collected back in 2017. from when we unfortunately got kicked out of the champions league, the focus was doing the europa league, and i know the team and the staff were not going to be happy with anything less than that. so we're going to do our absolute best to win the tournament. all of indonesia's badminton players and coaching staff have been forced to withdraw from the all england open after being contacted by the national health service's test and trace system. it follows a positive test for a traveller who was on board their inbound flight to the uk. men's doubles world champions mohammad ahsan and hendra setiawan came through their opening match on wednesday in birmingham. but now, along with the rest of their team, they will have to self isolate for ten days from the date of their inbound flight. india and england face off in the fourth t20 of their five—match series later on thursday, with no crowd again in ahmedebad due to a spike in covid cases in the state of gujarat. england won the last match on tuesday and lead 2—1, meaning they'll wrap up the series with victory, but bowler mark wood says it does affect the team playing in front of no fans. there are positives and negatives, both ways. a do miss the crowd to have people in the stadiums, and you know, that buzz and it gives you that adrenaline rush but at the same time it is important. and hitting a few runs, didn't quite have that same age, maybe it was a bit more relaxed —— same edge. from a young age, we've all been warned of the dangers of kidding around but not these goats in south america, apparently — who found themselves up a roof without a ladder. they were tucking into food on the top of the roof, apparently. this was in north colombia. some of them were carried away after rescuers arrived. some made their own way down. rescuers reported all of the animals returns of the wild without injuries. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @vfritznews. we can keep the conversation going there. and we're going to be talking about cycling, it is a cycling today, my gtn, and humans have consumed more of the earth's resources in the last 50 years than of prior histories to be so, what do about it? i'll see you soon. —— about it? i'll see you soon. —— a cycling day today, march 18. hello there. there's going to be very little change with the weather for the end of the week and into the weekend and indeed into next week. high pressure will hold on to bring pretty benign weather. thursday looks generally cloudy, i think, for much of the country, and we'll have some patchy rain across more eastern parts of england. high—pressure sits to the west of the uk, bringing northerly winds to most areas, north or north—easterly winds, that is. a lot of cloud around generally. limited spells of brightness. early showers will clear from the south—east, but more rain will arrive across eastern england, east anglia and the south—east through the afternoon. probably the best of the sunshine will be through the central belt of scotland, where we could see 15 celsius. some sunshine for south wales, south—west england, highs of ia celsius. but elsewhere, 10—11 celsius, and cooler along north sea coast of england, where we have that area of rain and onshore breeze. it will stay damp through thursday night. a few spots of drizzle here and there but because of the cloud cover, it won't to be too cold anywhere. lows of a to around 7 or 8 celsius. so into friday, similar story — high pressure dominating the scene. but we will start to tap into some colder air across the near continent in the south—east, so here, with that cooler air, it will actually be drier air, so we should see the clouds breaking up to allow some sunshine here. but elsewhere, another rather cloudy day. some spots of light rain or drizzle, particularly into northern england through the midlands, up towards the south—west. and it will feel cooler as well across the south—east, despite the sunshine. that onshore north—easterly breeze will peck temperatures back to around 7 or 8 celsius. you will have to head further west to see slightly higher values. again, a bit of brightness through the central belt, 13 degrees, i think 10—11 celsius will be the high for most areas, which is around the seasonal average. as we move out of friday into the weekend, we still have high pressure with us, but we will see this weather front move into the north of the uk. that could bring some stronger winds across shetland later on on saturday, and outbreaks of rain. we could see some rain pushing into the north and west of scotland later on, but elsewhere, it's generally, again, a dry day with some spots of drizzle. quite a bit of cloud around, limited sunshine, and those temperatures around the seasonal average, 11—12 celsius will be the high. it's a similar story on sunday. in fact, as we head on into next week, we dominate the weather scene with high pressure, generally light winds, quite a lot of cloud around, and temperatures around the seasonal average. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. back with a bang. the us economy is recovering much faster than expected, says america's central bank. but it promises to keep interest rates close to zero until the job is done. monitor of policy will continue to deliver powerful support to the economy until the recovery is complete. that reassurance sent us shares to new record highs, the dow closing above 33,000 for the first time ever and still trading blows? the biden administration meets chinese officials for the first time — will it mean a reboot in relations or more tensions? plus, not currently recycled. the world's dumping more than 2 billion tonnes of waste a year and rising. so what can consumers and business do to stop the spiral?