Welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe after increased pressure the Biden Administration says it supports removing Patent Protections for covid 19 vaccines. The move aims to make it easier to ramp up production of vaccines and make them more widely available for poorer countries. Us Trade Representative Katherine Tie said in a statement well this was welcomed by the Director General of the World Health Organization, who said this was a monumental moment in the fight against covid 19. A Vaccine Patent Waiver makes it harder for Vaccine Manufacturers to make money out of their products. Shares in a number of the companies tumbled on the news. The International Federation of pharmaceutical manufacturers and associations says the plan is a red herring when it comes to improving the distribution of vaccines. The decision by the Us Administration is disappointing, but it doesnt change that its a wrong answer to complex problem. Year you are its a wrong but simple answer to a complex problem because it disrupts, it distracts from tackling the real challenges, which are trade barriers, including from the us, disrupting supply chains. It prevents the immediate tackling of the bottlenecks in the supply chain, the scarcity of raw materials, where you really need full partnership. And it also prevents a fast move because what we need now, looking at the dramatic situation in india, is rich countries starting rapidly to share their doses with poor countries. It is unfair to see that we have countries where 20 year old healthy young people vaccinated, and most of africa, basically, doesnt get any vaccine now that india is in such a dramatic situation. Professor George Contreras is a professor of law at the University Of Utah and says while addressing intellectual Property Rights is important, its only one piece of the puzzle. Its a really surprising and unprecedented move by the Us Department of state and the us government, which has usually been quite protective of intellectual Property Rights. Ok, so where does this leave us . What are the implications of it . You know, as many have said, this is a necessary but not sufficient step to distributing a Covid Vaccine on a worldwide basis. Intellectual Property Rights are there, theyre important, but there are a lot of other pieces to the puzzle, including supply and manufacturing, regulatory approval, safety. Breaking news from hong kong where Activistjoshua Wong has been sentenced for participating in Illegal Assembly injuly participating in Illegal Assembly in july last year. We can cross to our correspondent martin yip who is at the courthouse. The District Court here in hong courthouse. The District Court here in hong kong has courthouse. The District Court here in hong kong has the here in hong kong has the sentencing for four defendants in this tiananmen massacre vigil, what we know isjoshua has been given ten months in jail and another well known Young Activist has been given six months. Tiffany yuen Got Anotherfour months. Six months. Tiffany yuen got another four months. Also, another four months. Also, another activist, janelle lau, got four months in prison. We dont know if they are appealing for the sentence but presumably we just have to wait and see what is going on in the courtroom. They have pleaded guilty to the case but they could in theory appealed to the sentences. We are yet to hear from that. But we know that for joshua wong, tiffany yuen and lester shum will be sentenced. Two of them are under detention for the democratic primary case under the National Security law of subversion. The focus now would be what janelle of subversion. The focus now would be Whatjanelle Leung will do with her sentence. Joshua wong was already in jail. Reminders of the background to him and what role he plays there. Background to him and what role he plays there he plays there. Joshua wong is seen as a he plays there. Joshua wong is seen as a major he plays there. Joshua wong is seen as a major figurehead seen as a major figurehead among the young people but the song young people, hes been seen as kind of a hope that could lead them to renew or sort of reform the Democracy Movement and also to beijing, they see him as a big evil character that they want to punish in the harshest terms, as harsh as possible, but to an even Younger Generation of protesters, hes been seen as old school and that is why we saw rather violent protests back in 2019 against Extradition Law or even earlier, back in 2014 with the 0ccupy central, what we call the Umbrella Movement protest. Especially because the failure of the 2040 protest, fighting the universal suffrage. Joshua was one of the leaders. It sort of the beginning of the divide of the beginning of the divide of hong kongs Democracy Movement from that point. We will keep you up to date with events in hong kong there. Facebook says it will continue to stop donald trump from directly using its platforms. The social media giants new Oversight Board ruled the former president had broken its standards and rules by appearing to sympathise with januarys attack on the us capitol. But the Oversight Board told facebook to re consider whether the ban should be indefinite. James clayton has more. Trumps use of social media is almost impossible to disentangle with trumpism itself. It was his way of communicating directly with americans, bypassing the Mainstream Media that he so loathed. But did he also use that platform to radicalise . Were his posts, in part, responsible for these deadly riots . Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg thought trumps posts could lead to further violence and suspended donald trump indefinitely the day after the riots. Twitter went one step further, and banned mr trump forever. Hell never be allowed back onto that platform. However, facebook asked its decision to be reviewed by its newly formed Oversight Board, which it claims is independent. Its designed to make difficult moderation decisions, and their decision today was complex. It said that the Oversight Board has upheld facebook� s decision to suspend mr trumps access to post content on facebook and instagram. However, its also said that facebook couldnt ban trump indefinitely. The company must reassess this penalty, it said, within six months of the decision. Thejudgment does leave a way back for trump back on facebook, but for now, the door is firmly closed. And that is a huge problem for donald trump and his hopes of a political return. In a statement, the former president lashed out, saying facebook has been essential to mr trump. His campaign used it to raise money and micro target voerts. He spent more than 200 million in 2020 between his campaign and his pac on his facebook so its notjust an opinion that facebook was an essential part of this political power. It was actually one of the few places where he was putting his money where his mouth was. Mr trump yesterday released his own communications platform, but its really no replacement for being on twitter or facebook. At the click of a button, mr trump could beam himself onto the computers and phones of tens of millions of americans. That button has now gone, perhaps forever. James clayton, bbc news. Britain is sending two Royal Navy Patrol vessels to the Island Ofjersey, in the English Channel, to monitor the situation after a row erupted with france over post brexit Fishing Rights. The french government threatened to cut off Power Supplies to the Channel Island in a dispute over a new Licensing System for french fishing vessels. Butjersey� s government says a more imminent danger is a blockade by Fishing Boats of st helier the islands main entry point for goods. 0ur correspondent robert hall reports from the island. This is where the one of the many boats that have been here and they think by the time they reachjosie there will be 50 100 small boats on the fishermen say they will protest peacefully, they got no plans to blockade the port. They wont even be fishing. They will show their presence to show how upset and angry they are they didnt see this coming, they didnt think they were going to have their rights or ability to fish injersey waters impacted by brexit. Theyve been fishing in these waters most of them their whole lives. Many of these fishermen catch more than 50 of their fish from josies waters. Under the brexit deal, they still have the right to fish, but now they need licenses. Theyve got their licenses back and they say there are whole load of conditions attached these licenses which mean they cannot fish as much as they want to is as much as they need to. Its that they are protesting. Theyre these licenses to be considered and to be able to fish more freely like they used to be able to. The entire indian delegation to the g7 summit of leading economies in london is self isolating after two members tested positive for covid 19. The news came as Foreign Ministers re convened for the last day of the talks. 0ur Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale reports. tx borisjohnson, dropping by the g7 talks this afternoon, determined to Show Confidence in an International Meeting hit by a covid scare, determined to show that face to face diplomacy is possible in a pandemic. I had a very good meeting with secretary blinken. Indias foreign minister, a guest at the talks, has spent the last few days in london meeting counterparts from the United States and south africa, even the home secretary, priti patel. But then this morning, this. In a tweet, he said that he was made aware yesterday evening of his exposure to possible covid positive cases. As a measure of abundant caution, i decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. India has suffered grievously in recent weeks, and it appears two junior officials may have travelled while infected. The Foreign Office has imposed tight covid rules at Lancaster House and the indian delegation had yet to attend any meetings here, but the cases were picked up by mandatory daily tests. The Foreign Secretary said the problem had been managed and it was vital for essential diplomacy to continue. Weve done this in a very secure way but weve got to get governments together, leaders together and countries together if were going to solve what is clearly notjust a Global Pandemic but a global plan for recovery. So, today, The Indian Ministerjoined the meeting in the now traditional way. Officials say the discovery of these two cases shows the effectiveness of the tight regulations they put in place. But it will surely raise questions about whether its too early for face to face diplomacy like this and whether future, planned International Meetings should go ahead in person as planned. As it happened, the pandemic was top of todays agenda. Ministers agreed to produce more vaccines, share them more fairly, but there was no promise to spend more money doing so. James landale, bbc news. 29 students abducted by gunmen in march from a Forestry College in nigeria have been released. The students were brought by police to a Police Station in the North Western city of kaduna. Reports say a ransom was paid to the kidnappers. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come a look at how rangers in south africa are going to extreme measures to tackle the problem of Rhino Poaching. I, Nelson Rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. After six years of construction and numerous delays, the Channel Tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterand. The tunnel is not yet ready for passengers and Freight Services to begin. For centuries, christianity and i islam struggled for supremacy. Now the popes visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. Roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in underfour minutes. Memories of victory as the Ve Celebrations reach their climax. This night is dedicated i to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You the money this is bbc world news. The latest headlines the United States backs an initiative to waive Intellectual Property protections for coronavirus vaccines. Facebook upholds its suspension of donald trump, ruling that the former president broke its rules. Lets stay with that story now. Alan rusbridger is a member of facebook� s Oversight Board, and we asked him why no clear decision was made on whether donald trump can ever return to facebook. I think it was a clear answer. I think that we said they were both right and wrong, they were right to take the stuff down, they were right to stop him because he was a Clear And Present Danger at a time of great volatility in the United States, but it was wrong then to go on and say, well, you are banned indefinitely because indefinitely is not a word that appears anywhere on facebook� s own rulebook, and it is an arbitrary thing, and so weve just gone back and said, you know, well done forgetting the original decision right, but can you think more carefully about defining what what this period of ban is, and why . Ive been speaking to evan greer whos a Digital Rights activist and i asked her what she made of the decision made by the facebook Oversight Board. I think when we focus on these individual moderation decisions, especially ones about high profile individuals like former president trump, we are missing the point which is that facebook� s Business Model of harvesting our data and using it to Algorithmically Amplify and suppress certain content is fundamentally incompatible with democracy. We can go back and forth all day about whether or not he should have been banned, how long he should be banned for but in the end that is not going to solve that fundamental problem. We need comprehensive policies to address the harms of big tech. But given all that you have to make decisions and just wishing them away by saying that we need stronger oversight or whatever, in the here and now, decisions have to be made about whether or not donald trump is allowed back on. Thats certainly right and i think it makes sense that were having this conversation and donald trump is a repugnant human being that has used facebook and other platforms to espouse racism and other harmful ideologies. And so, i certainly understand the ground swell of outrage and the desire for him to be removed from these platforms but again i think we need to look at the Bigger Picture because even if we do kick trump off of all of these platforms we still have a real problem on our hands, which is that these companies that are harvesting our data and amplifying some of the worst content on the internet in pursuit of advertising dollars are actually building the foundation that brought Us Donald Trump in the first place. And so even if we never hear his name again, were not to address these concerns that are undermining democracy and human rights and civil rights until we get those policies in place, get that oversight in place of these companies, Notjust Facebook but all of these Surveillance Companies amazon, google and youtube as well. Facebook is saying, this isnt a perfect answer and they introduced this Oversight Board in the absence of any government regulation. They said it is a fairly unprecedented move they took to try to get some consistency in these decisions. They themselves admit it is not perfect but it is better than what is out there at the moment. What do you make of the Oversight Board and how it is working . I think the most important thing that came out of this Oversight Board decision today is the fact that facebook refused to give the oversight this allegedly independent Oversight Board requested information from facebook about how its algorithms operate and whether its algorithms were amplifying Donald Trumps racist and harmful content. Facebook refused to give their own Oversight Board that information. And again to me that points to the fact that this is not about some partisan bickering back and forth about whether this content should be up or down, this is a broader problem, a problem of this Business Model and one that can only be addressed through robust anti trust enforcement, privacy legislation and more. Our thanks to evan greerfor us there. Lets get some of the days other news. A court in romes sentenced two american tourists to life in prison for the murder of a police officer. The friends from california had been on holiday in the italian Capital Injuly 2019 when they were stopped on suspicion of drugs offences. An Undercover Officer was stabbed in the altercation. The men said they had acted in self defence. In a growing Power Struggle within south africas governing African National congress, its secretary general, ace Macka Shoolay, has refused to comply with his suspension after being charged with corruption. Mr Macka Shoolay denies the charges and called the move unconstitutional. Israels president has asked Opposition Leader yair lapid to form new government after Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition. Mr netanyahu had been unable to secure a majority in the 120 seat parliament. Now, to an extremely rare pregnancy and a possible world record. A 25 year old woman from mali has given birth to nine babies at once. Two more than she expected. The babies were born premature, and weigh less than a kilogram each. Courtney bembridge has the details. 0ne. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. And nine. Halima cisse gave birth to five girls and four boys. The babies are all well and, if there are no complications, the family will set a new world record. Nonuplets are extremely rare and risky. Doctors in mali were worried, so the government intervened and the mother was flown to morocco. Translation she was 25 weeks pregnant so we tried to make the pregnancy go longer until she reached 30 weeks. She gave birth eventually with the help of a cesarean operation. We were surprised to find nine babies. Nadya suleman came to International Attention when she had octuplets in 2009, and she holds the current world record for most babies born in a single birth to survive. Courtney bembridge, bbc news. 0ne unexpected consequence of the coronavirus pandemic was a dramatic reduction in the poaching of wild rhinos. The figure fell by around a third last year the lowest level in nearly a decade. But as lockdown restrictions ease, that number is creeping up again. Rangers in south africa are going to extreme measures to tackle the problem. You may find some of the images in tim allman� s report distressing. By air, and by land, the battle against the poachers rages on. Here at the Balule Nature Reserve they hunt down and sedate a giant rhino. What they do next may strike you as rather gruesome. We have decided to de horn the entire population because of our high level of threat. Were going to de horn every rhino and even rhinos with calves. De horning can be controversial, critics say it can leave the animals defenceless. It is designed to deter poachers. Why hunt a rhino for its horn when it has already been removed 7 some say it is a relatively short term fix and the horns do eventually grow back but something needs to be done. Rhino numbers in this area fell by two thirds between 2008 and 2019. Lockdowns slowed that decline but then the lockdown was eased. Since november, december, last year and into 2021, this landscape, and in particular Kruger National park, has been experiencing serious numbers of Rhino Poaching incidents. South africa is at the centre of a poaching crisis. Local hunters supplying a lucrative international trade. This may seem like a cruel solution but the poachers will simply let these rhinos die. Tim allman, bbc news. You can reach me on twitter im lvaughanjones. Hello there. The weather is set to change a bit this weekend as the wind direction changes. At the moment, though, weve still got that cool northerly airflow and that means more showers, heavy showers again during thursday. Certainly a dramatic day on wednesday, lots of downpours, hail and some thunder in there as well. A lot of those showers have faded away, so weve got a cold start. May be a frosty start in places on thursday morning. Not as cold in the southwest where there is more cloud moving in. Thats going to bring a bit of rain and drizzle that will run its way along the south coast through the English Channel for a while. But could be a bit snowy to start with in scotland. Snow levels will tend to rise, but these heavy showers will move across scotland into northern england. Fewer showers for northern ireland, while some may see some sharp showers in the southeast corner of england for a while, there should be fewer showers through the midlands, wales and southern england. Temperatures still only 9 12 degrees. Another chilly feeling day despite some sunshine. As we head into the evening we will see those showers continuing to move their way southwards, fading away for most inland areas overnight. That means temperatures are going to fall away. Its going to be another cold night. There is a risk of a frost, but may not be quite as cold by friday morning. Plenty of sunshine to start the day. We will see the cloud developing, and a few showers breaking out as we head into the afternoon. Most of those heavier and perhaps thundery showers with hail confined to Eastern Scotland and some Eastern Parts of england, turning drier further west. Temperatures should be a little bit higher on friday, but still no better than 14, maybe 15 degrees. Now into the weekend, the changes i promised. Weve got another area of low pressure. That is going to strengthen the wind and these Weather Fronts will bring some rain up from the southwest. Looks like its going to be a southerly wind that brings that rain and eventually that will introduce some warmer air, especially during the second half of the weekend. Wet weather, though, i think for england and wales on saturday and for a while in northern ireland, the rain moves slowly northwards into scotland where its going to be a cold day here. Temperatures across england and wales away from the north should get up to 14 or 15 degrees. Maybe a touch warmer than that in the southeast if it brightens up as the rain clears later in the day. We should be turning more showery, i think, during sunday and with that warmer air across most areas, 19 or 20 as possible in the southeast. It cools on monday, but the showers will continue. This is bbc news, the headlines the us will support a plan to remove Patent Protections on Covid Vaccines. The move would make it easier for more companies to produce vaccines, making them more widely available for developing countries. The World Health Organization calls it a monumental moment in the fight against covid 19. Your old in hong kong, 24 year old joshua wong has been given a 10 month processed for his part in a tenormin massacre vigil. He is one of many activists charged under the citys sweeping National Security laws. French britain is sending two Royal Navy Patrol vessels to the Island Ofjersey to monitor the situation in the English Channel after the french government threatened to cut off Power Supplies to the Channel Island, over disputed post brexit Fishing Rights in the lucrative fishing area. Now on bbc news, hardtalk