And, it takes two to tandem on a journey right around the world. Hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. Were covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. First they dont get any bigger than facebook, amazon, google and apple. These giants of global tech wield huge power and influence the world over, nowhere more than in the us. And their role has come under scrutiny in a congressional inquiry, where they were accused of being too dominant in the market while their political leanings were also questioned. All four of them put their ceos up to defend their companies. Mark zuckerberg, jeff bezos, Sundar Pichai and tim cook have all been questioned. Our tech correspondent James Clayton has been watching the hearing. These four titans of tech run the companies that are worth nearly £4 trillion. Today they were grilled over whether their companies are too big, and whether they stifle competition. The richest man in the world, jeff bezos, runs amazon, which accounts for around 40 of Online Retail in the states. Mark zuckerberg is the boss of facebook, instagram and whatsapp, with more than 2 billion users worldwide. Google and youtube is run by this man Sundar Pichai. Around 90 of all internet searches are on google. And apple is run by tim cook, the most valuable of the big four and the Company Behind the iphone and its software. The big question is, do they own a bit too much of the internet . Thats what us legislators wanted to find out today. Zuckerberg thank you. Before i begin, i want to add my points. Zuckerberg on the hook first and asked whether rather than compete with competitors, they simply bought them, notably instagram. Zuckerberg accepted that they were a competitor. In the space of mobile photos and camera apps, which was growing, they were a competitor. I have been clear about that. Zuckerberg was also asked whether he, at one point, wanted to buy google. It will be a while before we can buy google. Do you recall writing that e mail . Congressman, i dont specifically, but it sounds like a joke. To apples tim cook, and some pretty pointed questions. That apple uses its position to hurt businesses. This was cooks defence. Sir, we do not retaliate or bully people. Its strongly against our company culture. Bezos i was born into. And the questions got harsher, at one pointjeff bezos amazons treatment of smaller businesses was compared to a drug dealer dealing with a drug addict. And you had to get your next fix, your next cheque. So, mr bezos, this is one of your partners. Why on earth would they compare your company to a drug dealer . Sir, i have Great Respect for you and this committee but i completely disagree with that characterisation. It was a yes or no question. In truth, there was a clear theme. Democrats went more on competition, republicans more on censoring and whether these tech platforms were biased against conservatives. This to googles Sundar Pichai. What im concerned about it youre helping joe biden over President Trump. We wont do any work to politically tilt anything one way or the other. Its against our core values. That political split at times boiled over. And id like to redirect your attention to anti trust law, rather than fringe conspiracy theories. Mr bezos, our investigation. Mr chairman, we have the e mail, there is no fringe. Chairman excuse me it is not your time you do not. What i want to know, is when somebody comes after my modus for asking questions, i get a chance to respond. The gentle lady is recognised. The committee so far hasnt landed any obvious knockouts. The share price of all the companies has in fact picked up since the start of the committee. James clayton, bbc news. Its beginning to feel a bit like the space race again who will be first to produce an effectivve vaccine against covid i9 . The russian government now says its on track to approve a Coronavirus Vaccine in august, well ahead of other countries, including the us, uk and china. But as Alanna Petroff reports, human safety trials for the vaccine have been very limited. In russia, researchers are racing for a Coronavirus Vaccine. Within just two months, the state recruited military volunteers and tried out their vaccine on 18 individuals. They say its safe. They say it works. Now, its being fast tracked for approval in august. Russias deputy Prime Minister presented her latest vaccine plans to president vladimir putin, saying two were very promising. The first was developed with the ministry of defence. Translation the vaccine state registration is planned in august 2020, and another clinical trialfor 1,600 people will be carried out after registration. The launch and production is expected in september 2020. A Second Russian vaccine developed in siberia will be approved in september, produced in october. Theres no doubt that developing, approving and producing a vaccine is the holy grail, but researchers outside russia have been taking longer as they conduct more trials. A vaccine being developed by the university of oxford is going through rigorous tests. The next phase will involve tens of thousands of people around the world. While russia says its leading the way forward, others have accused the state of hacking vaccine information. British, american and Canadian Security Services said this month a Hacking Group targeted organisations working on vaccines. The uk has said its almost certain that the russian state was responsible. Given that the world is trying to come together to find a vaccine for our own peoples, british people here in the uk, but also for people around the world, im afraid its pretty egregious behaviour. Russia has denied responsibility. As coronavirus cases keep rising around the world, the race for a vaccine has never felt so urgent. The desire to be first has never felt so important. Alanna petroff, bbc news. The World Health Organization says that young people could be driving the resurgence of coronavirus in europe. Last month, the us Vice President said at least half the new covid i9 cases recorded in the us were adults under the age of 35. Doctor hans kluge, who director in europe, says more must be done to make sure young people understand the consequences of their behaviour. What we see, epidemiologically, is a shift in younger ages cohorts of new covid i9 infections. So not scientifically tested yet. But this is to do with behaviour, social interactions, so the key issue here, to take it positive, is that the observed trend justifies a reflection on how to harness the youth to push back the covid i9. Lets not make it easy for the virus. The United States is still struggling with covid i9. Latest stats from Johns HopkinsUniversity Show 61,700 new cases of covid 19 confirmed on tuesday. President trump claims that is because the United States is the world leader on testing. Most epidemiologists say thats wrong new cases and hospitalisations are rising faster than the nations testing capacity. In total, at least 11. 3 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the United States. And, in the past few hours, the american death toll has reached a new milestone, rising above 150,000. The bbcs katty kay has been speaking to Dr Anthony Fauci about where the United States goes from here and how President Trump has handled the outbreak. When the president , as he did again yesterday, re tweets things from people who say you dont need to wear a mask, how unhelpful is that from a medical perspective . You know, this issue of tweeting and re tweeting is something i have never understood or gotten involved but i can tell you, you would have to say it is not helpful if people get signals about not Wearing Masks when we are trying to get people to universally wear masks. So you would ask the president not to do that . That is not the way it works. I think my feeling about what we should do with masks is very clearly understood by everyone, including those in the white house. What about the drug hydroxychloroquine . It has come back in the news and the president said he believes in it and it is safe and again seem to be touting this drug. Is the president right . Again, it is not productive or helpful for me to be making judges on right or wrong, but what i can say is what i have said all along, that the overwhelming body of data from trials that were well run, randomised placebo controlled trials, indicate that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in treating coronavirus disease or covid 19. That was the doctor leading the us fight against coronavirus, Dr Anthony Fauci speaking to my colleague katty kay. Coronavirus has now claimed more than 150,000 lives in the United States as the worlds worst affected country battles raging infections in many states. The speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, is compelling lawmakers to wear face masks on the floor of the chamber. The bbcs david willisjoins me live from los angeles. Interesting, david, listening to anthony found she talking about President Trumps position on face masks. It is a political issue, let us recognise that first and foremost but nancy pelosi said she would feel very good grounds for a decision . Makes the rules if you like and she has ruled that members of the house will wear face masks apart from when they are called upon to speak. Should they refuse to do so she said they could be reported to the serjeant at arms could be reported to the serjea nt at arms and ejected from the chamber it all follows the news that a republican member of congress, louis go mad, tested positive the coronavirus today, due to fly with President Trump above air force one above home state of texas but everyone he flies with the president gets tested and he failed the test twice. He is something of a coronavirus denier, if you like, certainly a face mask denier and have had some unorthodox views on this and claimed after this that wearing a face mask as he has done intermittently over the last few weeks, begrudgingly, may have contributed towards his diagnosis today. Health experts, doctor fauci among them, continues to insist that wearing a facemask and social distancing are actually two of the best ways to combat contracting the virus. And as they hit those awful milestones and the numbers were died, that be honest, doesnt look as if it is about to recede. No, the death toll here by far anywhere the largest in the world, more than 150000 and indeed the number of deaths has risen every month for the last three months and we have also had word today that seven individual states have seen new records for the number of coronavirus cases within the course of 2a hours or so, including florida, texas, and california. There is some sign that the surge we saw in the Southern States is starting to level off but experts are saying it looks as though it could also be spreading north to the midwest states, away from the so called Southern Belt states who have been so badly affected over the last few months. David, thank you indeed. We will reflect on the gdp and last quarter late in the programme as well. The us expect pitfalls courtesy of the coronavirus. Expect big falls. Lets get some of the days other news the number of Rape Convictions in england and wales has fallen to a record low, according to figures seen by bbc news. It stands at around 1,400 suspects who were convicted of rape or other offences thats half the number of three years ago. The National PoliceChiefs Council say its getting harder to achieve the evidential standard required to take cases to court. The Crown Prosecution Service said it is working hard to reverse the trend. Italys senate is expected to vote later on thursday on whether Prime MinisterMatteo Salvini should be stripped of his parliamentary immunity so he can be tried for the second time for allegedly illegally detaining migrants at sea. Its alleged he prevented more than 80 migrants rescued in the mediterranean from disembarking from a charity ship. He has insisted the decision was collectively take by the Italian Government and was brokered with eu countries. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come what do we do with statues linked to slavery . In a quest for an answer, we speak to south african sculptor pitika ntuli. The Us Space Agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. The last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldiers lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. If one is on ones own in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i dont really see why all these people should wander in and say, you are doing something wrong. Six rare white lion clubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park and already theyve been met with a roar of approval from visitors. Theyre lovely, yeah, really sweet. Yeah, they were cute. This is bbc news. The latest headlines the heads of some of the worlds Biggest Tech Companies have appeared before washington lawmakers to defend their firms against claims they abuse their power to quash competitors. The appearance comes as Congress Considers tougher regulation. Russia has announced it will approve a Coronavirus Vaccine in august ahead of other countries. But there are concerns that the safety trials have been very limited. Brazil has reopened to foreign visitors arriving by plane despite reaching a new covid 19 milestone on wednesday with a Record Number of new daily cases, more than 69,000. Figures are rising right across latin america. Tanya dendrinos reports. 2. 5 million cases and more than 90,000 deaths. The latest staggering figures out of brazil after another record breaking day on wednesday. It was also the day president Jair Bolsonaro attended his First Official event after recovering from the virus. Bolivias interim president has also returned to work after contracting covid 19. The crisis, taking a clear toll on Emergency Services in the country, police struggling with a lack of protective equipment. Translation weve had bodies in homes and we didnt know they had covid, so our workers were carrying out this job without protection and some of them became infected. In cases where covid had been identified by the health service, we still didnt have the necessary protection to remove the bodies. So families were waiting with the bodies in their homes were three or four days. And as coronavirus cases continue to soar across latin america, the pandemic is driving a crisis of a different kind. Just in the areas where wfp have been in this region alone, we have seen a substantial increase in over 11 Million People that are marching towards the brink of starvation. So its devastating. It is why we must act. And we must act now. According to the wfp, the number of people facing severe Food Insecurity across latin america and the caribbean will soar to 16 million, up from 11. 3 million in 2019. It says inaction risks fuelling conflict and political unrest, and forcing vulnerable families to migrate. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. In a few hours, nasa is set to launch an Ambitious Mission to mars with the lift off of its next generation perseverance rover. When the robot lands on the red planet in february, it will not only search for evidence of life, but also package rock samples for return to earth. This will be the Third Mission heading to mars this month after launches by the uae and china. Rebecca morelle reports. Getting ready for mars, the final test for the most advanced rover that nasa has ever built before it heads to the red limit. It will be collecting samples of martian rocks from an area that was once a river bed. The hope is it will answer the key question, was there ever a life on mars . What we now know, mars had an enormous amount of water in its past. If ancient life was on mars, we have a good bet that we might be able to find it in these sediments. So this is really a life detection mission. The rock samples will be stored and brought back to earth on a future mission. But this mission is also taking Something Back to mars. A piece of martian meteorite from the Natural History museum plasma collection. It blasted off the surface of the red planet more than half a million years ago. Now it is heading home. We really know what meteorite is made from, we can use it to compare the meteorite with the new rocks, that unknown rocks we are looking at the first time on mars and see how similaror time on mars and see how similar or different they are. Also on board is a miniature Mars Helicopter that for the first time will attempt to fly in the extremely thin martian atmosphere. Nasa want to test this technology for future missions. American spacec