those contracts to be delivered on. tanzania's president, john magufuli, has died at the age of 61. the vice president said he'd succumbed to complications related to a heart condition. how to stop the state backed bloodshed in myanmar — we'll be asking if the region can help end the violence. birdsong and the bird song that's almost become extinct. how the regent honey—eater has almost forgotten how to sing its own song. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. uncertainty over stocks of covid vaccines is causing growing tension between the uk and the european union. with around 25 million british citizens vaccinated, the nhs has warned that there'll be a significant reduction in vaccines available next month, urging providers not to take new appointments for april. meanwhile, the eu has warned that it might need to impose export limits on vaccines from european factories. our brussels correspondent nick beake has more. in prague, in paris, and once again in bergamo, northern italy, covid patients gasping for air. the nightmare prospect of a third wave in europe is now real. the continent is also facing a vaccination crisis. it is not getting the doses it ordered, and today a warning that the eu would do everything needed to get its fair share. all options are on the table. we are in the crisis of the century and i am not ruling out anything for now, because we have to make sure that europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible. officials in brussels have faced heavy criticism over their vaccine programme and have now come out fighting. the eu says it has sent millions of doses to the uk in recent weeks, but has seen little in return from astrazeneca. but, remarkably, 7 million of the company's jabs are sitting in fridges and its use has been suspended in most eu countries. it is still available here in belgium, but increasing numbers are saying they don't want the astrazeneca shot. i am not sure that it will be ok, if it is astra, for old people. that is why now i am afraid, everybody is afraid of this vaccine. the eu's medicine regulator is assessing the latest evidence from a very small number of cases of a possible link to blood clots. but it stresses the benefits outweigh the risks. a message amplified in today's downing street press conference. vaccines don't save lives if they are in fridges. they only save lives if they are in arms. and that is a really important fact. all medicines have side—effects and all medicines have benefits, and that is the whole point. that absolute confidence in the astrazeneca vaccine is now very hard to find in many european capital cities, but still the eu is adamant it should get all of the british—made doses it has ordered and has now raised the heat in this latest post—brexit row. and this evening, the government condemned the eu's action, saying it was wrong to threaten even tighter controls on vaccine exports. i am surprised we are having this conversation. it is normally what the uk and the eu team up with, to object when other countries with less democratic regimes than our own engage in that kind of brinkmanship. it is a deepening rift and will do nothing to ease europe's resurgent covid crisis. here in the uk, vaccine centres have been told not to take any new appointments from the 29th march, although people who've already got a date will not lose their slot. this is how the health secretary matt hancock explained the hold—up. we are making absolutely fantastic progress in the vaccination effort. i'm delighted we're able to open up to millions more people today. and of course, the future forecasts are always lumpy, sometimes they go up, and sometimes they go down, but we made these public commitments and i'm absolutely delighted with the team because we are on track to meet them. russia may be hit with new sanctions from the united states after american intelligence published a report saying rusdsia's president vladimir putin is likely to have authorised attempts to influence last year's us election in favour of donald trump. president biden has said vladimir putin would pay a price for the alleged interference. he also told america's abc news that he thought his russian counterpart was "a killer". we had a long talk, he and i. i know him relatively well. the conversation started off, i said, i know you and you know me. if i establish this occurred, then be prepared. you said you know he doesn't have a soul? i did say that to him, yes. and his response was, we understand one another. russia has recalled its us ambassador for consultations about future ties with america. a us intelligence report found that during the presidential campaign moscow spread "misleading or unsubsta ntiated" allegations aboutjoe biden with the aim of undermining the broader election process. the report also accuses iran of trying to weaken support for donald trump. and it alleges russian intelligence pushed anti—biden narratives to media outlets and to senior officials and allies of mr trump. here's more from anthony zurcher in washington. i think the contrast they want to try to draw with the trump administration, with donald trump in particular, is that you are not going to see joe biden stand there next to vladimir putin and undermine us intelligence conclusions. that sanctions will be used as a tool of diplomacy when necessary. and that if russia, in the american view, transgresses international norms, that they will be punished for it. biden was blunt in his language last night, and it's gotten a response from russia. but i think that's the new look you're going to see in american diplomacy with russia. the report concluded that russia has found that influencing and meddling in american elections is a manageable type of situation. that the potential punishments do not outweigh the benefits. so this is not going to be something that changes. and i think the biden administration has to come to grips with that. obviously sanctions are a tool in its diplomatic arsenal, but if russia concludes there is still benefit to doing it, this is not going to change and the united states has to find ways of hardening its electoral systems in order to avoid this sort of thing, so it is a difficult conundrum. the president of tanzania, john magufuli, has died at the age of 61. the vice—president said mr magufuli who was being treated in hospital in dar es salaam, had succumbed to complications related to a heart condition. he'd not been seen in public for more than two weeks. opposition politicians said last week that he had contracted covid—i9, but this has not been confirmed. the bbc�*s salim kikekejoins us now. so what do we know about the cause of the president's death?— of the president's death? that's the million dollar _ of the president's death? that's the million dollar question. _ of the president's death? that's the million dollar question. the - million dollar question. the government's line, the vice president announced this evening in tanzania, saying that he suffered from heart complications. that's what we know. he has had heart problems for the past ten years. he had such a gruelling campaign in the elections last year. so the government is saying that he suffered heart complications and that's what we know so far. what suffered heart complications and that's what we know so far. what was his stance when _ that's what we know so far. what was his stance when it _ that's what we know so far. what was his stance when it comes _ that's what we know so far. what was his stance when it comes to _ his stance when it comes to coronavirus in particular? he had quite an interesting line on it. he was quite an interesting line on it. he: was indeed. last year, when covid came into the world, i was in tanzania and the government, the president himself, at some point he asked the media to spread the word to ask the people to take precautions against covid—i9. that was during march and april. and then he asked for schools to be closed, colleges to be closed, and people take precautions. but by may, the government stopped publishing its coronavirus information, everything went back to normal. he encouraged people to use other remedies, like herbal remedies. and then it went on and on, and at some point he suggested that the company was covid free. but at the turn of this year, i was in tanzania and i went to speak to the spokesperson. he said, the government did not really declare tanzania to be covid free, because it has its borders open, people were coming in and going out, so covid incidents were bound to happen. and towards the end, the president himself came out and said, people should take precautions, people should take precautions, people should take precautions, people should wear facemasks. although he didn't really... he suggested he didn't want people to use face marks that were produced outside the country. —— facemasks. he wanted them to use masks produced locally in tanzania. so yes, it's very interesting. from the beginning, he took precautions, and then at some point he decided that covid wasn't there. and towards the end, he changed his mind. so it was an up and down scenario, really. three covid he was declared president in 2015 and he was hailed for his stance on anti—corruption. —— before covid. but he was also criticised for curtailing certain freedoms. criticised for curtailing certain freedom-— criticised for curtailing certain freedoms. , , freedoms. absolutely, people said he used his power. _ freedoms. absolutely, people said he used his power, as _ freedoms. absolutely, people said he used his power, as president - freedoms. absolutely, people said he used his power, as president he - freedoms. absolutely, people said he used his power, as president he has l used his power, as president he has absolute power, and after the elections in 2015 he came out and said, he stopped opposition parties... during the day—to—day business... he has also been accused of camping and stifling freedom of expression and freedom of the press. —— clamping and stifling. after the elections, he said we are done with politics, let's go back to work. his supporters claim that he... that is the stance, that's what the country needed, a president who was firm and strong and wanted things to be done. he was named the bulldozer. when he wanted things to be done, things were done. he could fire someone on the spot in public. and he could hire someone on the spot in public. he was that kind of person.- he was that kind of person. thank ou so he was that kind of person. thank you so much _ he was that kind of person. thank you so much for— he was that kind of person. thank you so much for talking _ he was that kind of person. thank you so much for talking us - he was that kind of person. thank| you so much for talking us through that. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a leading charity says many thousands of children in syria could lose access to education, if britain cuts its foreign aid. 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 was on a pedestal | in the middle of the cabinet here. | now, this was an international trophy, and we understand - now that the search for it has i become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the eu commission president has threaten to withold exports of covid vaccine to countries not supplying them, including to the uk. the british government has said it expects all signed contracts to be fulfilled. tanzania's president, john magufuli, has died at the age of 61. the vice president said he'd succumbed to complications related to a heart condition. the charity save the children has warned that planned reductions in british aid to syria could lead to hundreds of thousands of children losing their access to education. since the start of the conflict a decade ago, thousands of schools have been destroyed in what the un says is a deliberate ploy by president bashir al assad and his allies to terrorise communities — a charge the regime denies. the foreign office says no final decisions have been made, but it is warning there are tough decisions ahead because of the pandemic. our middle east correspondent quentin somerville reports. to be a parent in syria is to carry the world on your shoulders. forabu, his burden is constant vigilance. for years, he has watched the sun set and rise from this hilltop, waiting for the next attack. he is a flight spotter, a one—man early warning system, protecting the village below where his wife and five children live. at the end of another long shift, he calls home. he knows first—hand the fear and the fury the warplanes bring. the screams in this playground are of terror. these are schooldays in syria, an entire generation brutalised and traumatised, as bombs fall by the school gates. how do you break the opposition�*s will? target their children, their teachers, their schools. there have been thousands of attacks on schools since the war began. they are relentless in opposition areas and come mostly from regime and russian bombs. taken as a whole, it is a systematic terror campaign against children. in october 2016, a parachute bomb dropped steadily onto this school in hass. inside pupils as young as five years old. 36 were killed in a series of strikes that day. 21 of them were kids. five years later, with their parents�* permission, they told us what happened. the world has turned its back on these children. it is tired of the syrian conflict. the un does what it can, applying a sticking plaster to a haemorrhaging wound. countries are now looking away from syria. britain, for example, is contemplating a 67% cut in its aid to syria. what would that mean for the un? what would that mean for people on the ground in syria? well, we can only give aid to those 7.5 million people we reach every month if we get the money to do so. the un doesn't have a magic... 350,000 fewer kids in school if britain pulls the plug on that money? it will mean feeding fewer people, it will mean fewer kids in school, it will mean less medical services and it is the wrong thing to do to balance the books on the backs of these starving and suffering people. ten years of international failure has left syria a landscape in ruin. this was a normal school day just last week. until the aircraft early warning alarm sounds. carefully, the children pack up and evacuate the school. they know the drill only too well. for syria, this is not history, this is now. quentin sommerville, bbc news. a un team investigating war crimes in myanmar has asked people to collect evidence of atrocities by the military authorities, as fears of escalating violence increases ahead of a major holiday next week. the military seized control in a coup at the beginning of february — and could ramp up its crackdown on protesters ahead of armed forces day on march 27. the ten—member association of southeast asian nations or asean has already called on both sides to come to the negotiating table, amid fears that continuing instability could pose a threat to the organisation. let's talk to assistant professor yongwook ryu, from the lee kuan yew school of public policy at the national university of singapore. it is an incredibly difficult situation. we know that any sanctions from the unseem to full on deaf ears when it comes to the regime. —— from the un label seem to fall on deaf ears. asean should talk to both parties, which it has begun doing. because there is an interest in both parties, a range of possible outcomes that both parties can be happy with through negotiation. what happy with through negotiation. what kind of involvement have they had so far when it comes to myanmar? not just the situation since february but in previous disturbances and disruptions there? i’m but in previous disturbances and disruptions there?— but in previous disturbances and disruptions there? i'm sure you know the history. — disruptions there? i'm sure you know the history. right? — disruptions there? i'm sure you know the history, right? so _ disruptions there? i'm sure you know the history, right? so we _ disruptions there? i'm sure you know the history, right? so we can - disruptions there? i'm sure you know the history, right? so we can trace i the history, right? so we can trace back as far as the 1980s or 1990s, when there was a suppression of the pro—democracy movement by the military. there was a free election which gave a decisive democratic victory which the military didn't like and they initiated a coup. the election was held in november 2020 which gave a decisive victory yet again for democracy, the military didn't like itand again for democracy, the military didn't like it and there was a coup. asean maintains a noncommittal approach to the political situation in myanmar based on its principle of nonintervention, but as the situation unfolds, asean started discussing and then the foreign minister of myanmar had a meeting that involved the military. after that involved the military. after that there was a virtual meeting among the asean member states which produced a relatively short statement around march 3rd this year. that statement put forward tactical reconciliation, flexibility, restraint, constructive dialogue. my opinion is there is little point in reciting these principles and just calling for negotiations and reconciliation. i think it's time for asean to take some specific action, maybe a hardline approach towards the military if the military doesn't change its behaviour. professor, thanks so much _ change its behaviour. professor, thanks so much and _ change its behaviour. professor, thanks so much and let's - change its behaviour. professor, thanks so much and let's see - change its behaviour. professor, thanks so much and let's see if. change its behaviour. professor, . thanks so much and let's see if they are listening. a rare species of bird in australia has become so endangered it's forgetting how to sing its own song. there are only about 300 regent honeyeaters left in the wild, and because they rarely hear each other, some have started imitating the songs of other species. victoria gill reports. birdsong with only 300 left in the wild, the striking regent honeyeater and its song are disappearing from their native south australia. researchers had set outjust to find and monitor the remaining birds when they noticed that some honeyeaters no longer sang the right tune. some birds learn to sing in much the same way as humans learn to speak, listening to and copying others. what we're finding is the population is now so small and so sparsely distributed that some young males are actually unable to find other male regent honeyeaters to kind of learn their songs from. and so they are ending up just learning the songs of other species they hear in the landscape. with so much of the forest habitat destroyed to make way for agriculture, the researchers say that about 12% of regent honeyeaters have now completely lost their natural song. and it's vital for them to attract a mate and to breed. there is some conservation hope, though. in an effort to preserve the bird calls, the researchers are playing recordings of the most melodious wild honeyeaters to ca ptive—bred birds. reminding them how to sing properly before they are released into the wild could help them to find a mate and eventually make a tuneful recovery. victoria gill, bbc