and back at last after being delayed by the pandemic — we speak to the creator of line of duty about covid challenges and the brand—new series. and coming up on bbc news: as rachel blackmore makes history as leading jockey at the cheltenham festival, she is beaten by the horse she didn't choose in the gold cup, minella indo. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the leader of the scottish conservatives at holyrood, ruth davidson, has called for nicola sturgeon to resign as first minister, saying it was clear she misled parliament. a majority of the committee investigating the scottish government's handling of harassment claims against alex salmond is understood to have voted last night that she didn't give them accurate information. a spokesman for nicola sturgeon has accused the committee of peddling baseless smears. the final report is due to be published on tuesday. nicola sturgeon says she stands by every word of her evidence. our scotland editor sarah smith reports. facing calls for her resignation, nicola sturgeon is adamant she told the truth, dismissing leaks that say a hollywood committee has concluded the truth, dismissing leaks that say a holyrood committee has concluded she gave them an inaccurate account of a meeting with alex salmond. she may face a vote of no confidence next week. the opposition thinks she should go now. the parliament was misled by the first minister. now, that is, to me, a clear breach of the ministerial code. and i think that if she had a shred of integrity, nicola sturgeon will be considering her position. she has every opportunity to resign. a spokesperson for the first minister said... she first minister said... told the truth to the committl and she told the truth to the committee and stand by every word of her evidence. the committee appears to have resorted to baseless assertions, suppositions and smear. even the scottish government's daily covid briefing has become a battleground in this ongoing row. i do not believe the first minister should resign. i do not believe she has misled parliament. and i have absolute confidence in the veracity of what she said in those eight hours of evidence to that committee and in her integrity and in her professionalism. and i am not going to comment on unattributed briefings about a report which has not yet been published. the harassment committee report will not only say that nicola sturgeon was inaccurate in one part of her evidence but also that it's hard to believe she didn't know of concerns about inappropriate behaviour from alex salmond before november 2017. and that she should have reported meetings she had with him to the civil service much earlier than she did. on a visit to glasgow, keir starmer stopped short of demanding a resignation. if there is a finding _ that the first minister misled parliament, potentially was in breach of the i ministerial code, then i that is incredibly serious. obviously, all the attention is on nicola sturgeon, - but this goes to the integrityl of the office of first minister, the integrity of parliament. once close friends and now bitter foes, their different accounts of what happened on one of the last times they met is now putting nicola sturgeon under huge pressure. this deep divide within the snp now seems likely to dominate the upcoming election to the scottish parliament. there is also a divide within the committee, and each time they came to vote on any part of their report, which was critical of nicola sturgeon, the four snp members were outvoted by the five opposition msps, and now the snp members are tonight saying that the opposition didn't consider the evidence properly, that they railroaded through their prejudged assertion is based purely on political considerations. this close to an election were less —— we are less than seven weeks away from polling day, this was always going to get heated, but tonight, before it has even been published, this report has provoked a vicious row. sarah smith, thank you. a third wave of coronavirus is starting to sweep across the european union, much of it driven the uk variant. large parts of france are going into lockdown again tonight. switzerland is extending its restrictions. poland is going into partial lockdown. germans are being told not to travel at easter. the vaccine rollout across the eu has been slow, with around just 10% of the population vaccinated so far. confidence has been shaken after a number of governments suspended the rollout of astrazeneca over concerns about blood clots. but vaccinations are restarting, slowly, as our paris correspondent, lucy williamson, reports. never mind the prime minister, in france, it was the astrazeneca jab that needed a shot in the arm today. after weeks of shifting guidelines, the message was meant to be clear — it's safe and it works. but only an hour before he received it, france's health authority said that a possible link to blood clots in younger patients meant the jab should only be used for those over 55. last month, it said only those under 65 should take it. lucky for mr castex that he turned 55 last year. but whether his very public vaccination will reassure people is about as clear as france's position. with cases spiralling and paris scrambling to find intensive care beds, 20% of french surveyed this month said they didn't trust the astrazeneca jab. and after weeks of resisting lockdown, the government is bringing in new restrictions for the worst affected areas, like paris. from midnight tonight, a new lockdown lite will come into force here. there'll be some travel restrictions at nonessential shops will close but schools will stay open and so will book shops, music shops and hairdressers. at his barber's shop in central paris, rafiq had a message from president macron today. translation: thank you for letting us stay open. - turnover has dropped by 70%, he says, we'd go bankrupt if we had to close again. his customer, damien, says the new restrictions are just window dressing. the only thing that matters is the vaccine. this is the only thing that is working for now. maybe we'll have something better in three months, but right now, it is the only thing that matters. germany had been hoping to lift some of its restrictions next week but with the virus also outpacing the vaccines there, there was a fresh warning from the health minister. translation: there are not yet enough vaccines in europe - to stop the third wave - through vaccination alone. even if deliveries of eui orders are now reliable, it will still take several weeks before the risk groups - are fully vaccinated. only then can we talk about wider openings in society. _ poland is also facing a surge in cases, with the british variant expected to soon account for 80% of infections. a partial lockdown will come into force from tomorrow, with shops, hotels and cultural and sporting venues to close. president macron has been counting on france getting vaccinated to avoid another lockdown. the bill for shuttered businesses has risen to over 7 billion euros a month. delays in vaccines can be expensive. trust in them is priceless. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. for weeks now covid—i9 infection rates have been falling across many parts of the uk. but there are some towns — mainly in the north of england and the midlands — that have bucked the trend, with infections remaining relatively high. this is particularly true of areas where the local economy relies on manufacturing, construction or food processing jobs. our health correspondent, dominic hughes, has been to rotherham in south yorkshire, where infection rates remain stubbornly high. we've had to learn as we go along what works, what doesn't work, how to keep people safe. this is a disease of inequalities and people have to go out to work in, they can't work from home. it's physically and mentally draining on people - just how alone they feel. this isn't the kind of work you can do from home. for nearly a0 years, this rotherham firm has manufactured springs for cars and vans and trains. it's hard, physical and hands—on, but the pandemic meant a rethink about how to keep the business going, while making sure staff stayed safe. this is old—fashioned sheffield metal bashing. we've got the guys who work on the shop floor, so we staggered our breaks, we staggered our start—finish times, so we can have smaller groups of two that buddy up and always work together. for months, many towns like rotherham have struggled to get infection rates down. even when they do fall, they do so slowly, a deadly combination of a virus that thrives on contacts and the type ofjobs the local economy depends on. we have a lot of people in low—skilled, low—wage jobs, have a lot of construction, a lot of manufacturing and jobs that people have to go out to work in, they can't work from home. with all of those structural factors just mean we will always have more people circulating and more people at risk of disease. the support of your employer, even if you have to isolate, is vital. neil is lucky, working throughout the pandemic in a warehouse, he knew he'd still get paid whatever happened. i mean, it is always on your mind and you do sort of worry that, - you know, what if that... if i do do a test and it - does come back positive? but we were always told if that were the case, i we would still get paid anyway. so that were always a bit of comfort and a bit of, i you know, reassurance, i suppose. but away from the workplace, there's also the fatigue of living through months of lockdowns and restrictions. claire has worked hard to keep her community going with virtual coffee mornings. but she knows people are wary of following the rules. ——weary of following the rules. well, we've had people who've said they actually feel like breaking the rules, going and seeing a friend, going and seen relatives that they've not seen for a year. if we continue people meeting and breaking the rules, it's just not going to happen. and we'll be looking at longer in lockdown. the danger is that as the rest of the country comes out of lockdown, towns like rotherham could still face high infection rates, meaning communities that were already struggling are left further behind. dominic hughes, bbc news, rotherham. the latest coronavirus figures show there were 4,802 new cases recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means, on average, the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 5,343. the number of patients in hospital with covid continues to fall — now down to some 6500. there were 101 deaths reported of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test, which means, on average, 98 deaths were reported every day in the past week from coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths so far to 126,026. the uptake for vaccinations remains high — more than 528,000 people had their first dose of a covid vaccine in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total close to 26.3 million — that's almost half the adult population. and just over two million have had both doses of the vaccine. our health editor, hugh pym, is with me now. millions of people now vaccinated, and cases do seem to be coming down. yes, if you look at the daily reported cases, they are down 9%, week on week, but the office for national statistics community infection survey, which takes in people who haven't come forward for a test, don't know that actually they do have the virus, gives us a slightly more mixed picture. case rates, says the survey, in england and wales, are continuing to fall but levelling off in northern ireland, and they have gone up slightly in scotland as of last week. that could relate to some scottish schoolchildren going back at the end of february and more mixing and local communities. it's a bit too early to say. health officials say generally things are still moving in the right direction, but one said the situation was fragile, and there was a bit of a vulnerability for the future. they'll be watching very closely the impact of opening of schools in england on the 8th of march, how that might feed into infections in the next couple of weeks. in a sense, it's bound to happen as more people mix. we should remember that, because of vaccination and the fact that that has rolled up quite extensively, the link with people getting seriously ill isn't there in the same way, and hospital admissions were down 23%, week on week. . ~ , ., the queen's official birthday parade, trooping the colour, won't go ahead in its traditional form, for the second year running. thousands of well wishers usually attend the annual celebration injune, as it passes through the streets of central london. last year, the queen viewed an alternative parade at windsor castle, due to the pandemic. buckingham palace says it's considering something similar again. the supreme court has ruled that care workers across the uk who have to sleep at their workplace in case they are needed are not entitled to the minimum wage for their whole shift. if the case had been successful, care providers would have faced a £400 million bill for backpay which they said they could not afford. unions say the ruling underlines the low pay that care staff get. our social affairs correspondent, alison holt, explains. 20—year—old georgia works with people who have learning disabilities. on this shift, she will sleep in overnight, just in case one of the residents needs help. we have a monitor beside our bed on a night and someone will support with medication. today's court case is about how much someone like georgia should be paid for a shift where the expectation is that she will sleep. she gets the minimum wage for being here. elsewhere, staff may only get a £30 flat rate. if our gentleman was to have a seizure, we'd have to jump straight out of bed, put our ppe on, and return to that professional mode of knowing how we deal with the seizures. the woman who brought today's cace says the court decision that care workers like her don't have to be paid the minimum wage for sleep ins was a blow. the health and social care workers do one of the most importantjobs that anyone could ever do, they look after other people. and it's the ultimate betrayal, because, basically, it's saying that they aren't undertaking work when they are doing these sleepover shifts. this supreme courtjudgment is very clear that the law provides an exemption that means people on sleep—in shifts are not entitled to the national minimum wage. nevertheless, this case highlights wider questions about care worker pay. the head of the charity mencap is relieved they won't now face a huge bill for backpay but says it's exposed the underfunding of care. this has to be a moment in time when we all unite together- and ask our government and those in power to seriously look - at the pay of the care workforce. i'm just about to put my ppe on... the government says it supports the vital work of staff like georgia and has provided billions in extra care funding during the pandemic. now it's time for me to try and get some sleep... alison holt, bbc news. ..goodnight. the time is 6:18pm. our top story this evening: scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, faces calls to resign after it's understood she misled the inquiry investigating her government's handling of allegations about alex salmond. and coming up, we speak to the creator of line of duty about covid challenges and the brand—new series. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: we look at exactly what wales have to do to win rugby union's six nations championship this weekend. a year ago, as the pandemic took hold, few would have imagined 12 months later covid vaccines would not only have been developed but also rolled out so fast across the uk. science was always going to be the way out of this pandemic. our medical editor, fergus walsh, looks back at the role science has played throughout. and a warning, his report contains some flash photography. within days of the first reports of a new virus emerging in china, vaccine scientists around the world sprang into action. in oxford, their covid vaccine was designed over a single weekend, two months before a pandemic was declared. so, we took that information, that tiny bit of the sequence from the coronavirus, and used that to put into our platform vaccine technology. this was only possible as they'd spent years researching the processes needed. in april, vaccine trials got underway in oxford. other groups around the world were following suit. developing vaccines can take five years or more. government and industry funding helped cut out delays, and manufacturing began even while trials were continuing, but no corners were cut on safety. the uk vaccine task force pre—ordered hundreds of millions of doses from seven different companies. we prioritised the vaccine landscape quickly, we approached the various companies and we were then the first to sign with oxford—astrazeneca, with pfizer biontech. in november came the first confirmation that a highly effective covid vaccine was coming. it's such a great day for science and humanity. soon, other impressive results followed, showing several vaccines were both safe and could prevent serious disease. medical regulators here were the first to approve the pfizer and oxford—astrazeneca vaccines, and in december, margaret keenan became the first person in the world to receive the pfizerjab outside of clinical trials. the vaccine roll—out here has been a huge success, although a slowdown next month will mean the under—50s may have to wait until may for their first dose. at every vaccination centre i've been to, there is the same spirit of gratitude and optimism from those receiving theirjab, me included. thank you, bruce. you're all done, sir. and, ultimately, it is science we have to thank for giving us this route out of the pandemic. preventing covid—i9 through vaccines is the ultimate goal, but effective treatments for those who fall ill are also vital. the nhs, more than any other health system in the world, has helped reveal which drugs work against covid. nearly 40,000 patients in 180 nhs hospitals have taken part in trials set up by a team at oxford university. injune, they discovered the first blockbuster drug against covid — dexamethasone, a cheap steroid which cuts the risk of dying by up to a third. it's now the standard hospital treatment across the world. as well as improving survival, it actually will decrease the number of people who need to come to intensive care. other repurposed treatments followed, like tocilizumab, normally used for arthritis. butjust as importantly, they ruled out drugs that didn't work. coronavirus is here to stay. mutations like the south african and brazilian variants will keep cropping up. we'll always be playing catch—up against the virus, but the uk is a world leader in gene sequencing, meaning the spread of mutations can be tracked in real—time. booster vaccines are being developed, which will be ready by the autumn, if needed. the goal of immunising all uk adults is now within reach, but vaccinating the world will be a far bigger challenge. fergus walsh, bbc news. the bbc says it's "extremely concerned" after one of its journalists, who's based in myanmar, was taken away by unidentified men. aung thura, who works for the bbc burmese service, has been reporting from the capital on the military coup. violence in the city has continued and elsewhere in myanmar today security forces are reported to have shot dead eight people in the town of aungban. sunday, for most of us, is census day, the once—in—a—decade, compulsory survey that aims to provide an up—to—date picture of people and households across the country. and this time, there's a new voluntary question on sexuality for over—16s. there's also one asking whether your gender identity matches your sex registered at birth. jessica parker reports. census 1951, this snapshot usually takes place every ten years. archive: thus, it will be possible to answer mechanically _ such varied questions as, how many married women are doing part—time work? running for over two centuries, things have moved on. thank you, babe. welcoming the new questions, keland lisa. we are counted now in a way that we haven't been previously. yes, it does feel that statistics have been guestimated, to some extent, but now are going to have, to some extent, but now we're going to have, hopefully, accurate representation. do you think it's a bit nosy? it'sjust representative of life in britain. yeah. it might feel nosy, but the census in itself is a nosy document, isn't it? yeah, how are those two new questions any different to anything else that�* on that census document? they're not. taking calls, a charity in brighton, offering advice to lgbt people and some reassurance. this is the first year - that the census is online. there's properly a little more anxiety as to where that - there's probably a little more anxiety as to where that - information is going. that kind of idea that - their information isjust kind of, you know, out in the big, wide world. j and it's specifically if you're not out to anybody or you're not. out to your household, - that can be really, really scary. the picture emerging won't be 100% accurate, although anyone not out to their household can ask for a private access code. overall, it is hoped this census will provide a clearer view. so, for the first time, sexuality and gender identity will be a matter of national record. what difference will that make? well, some organisations say the data could be very useful. both in terms of funding and for this youth homelessness charity, how best to focus support. as we expand our services, we would like to know where young people are that identify as lgbtq plus, so that we can target those areas and make our services go further. landmark buildings lit up in census purple ahead of this sunday, the day to base your answers on. in scotland, the census has been pushed back a year. in northern ireland, there is no question on gender identity. nevertheless, a hope it might all shine some sort of light on the society we live in. jessica parker, bbc news. the government is considering using so—called vaccine passports to enable large numbers of fans to attend sporting events this summer. with fans due to return to some stadiums in may, culture secretary oliver dowden said that ministers were reviewing the possibility of introducing a document providing proof that a person has either been vaccinated against the virus or tested negative. the 9/1 shot minella indo has won the cheltenham gold cup. ridden byjockey jack kennedy, minella indo finished ahead of rachael blackmore's a plus tard, and the 2019 and 2020 winner al boum photo. earlier, blackmore picked up her sixth win of the week on board ouilixios in the triumph hurdle. it has not been easy making new film and tv drama over the past year. productions were shut down as covid took hold. and then when restrictions loosened, sets had to be redesigned, the cast and crew had to live in bubbles with everyone being tested all the time. but it worked for the bbc hit drama line of duty. it's back on our screens this weekend. our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, has been speaking to its creatorjed mercurio. armed police! each new series of line of duty has gradually become a national event. mother of god. if i see a bent copper, - i'll go after him, irrespective of rank or political expedient. of rank or political expedience. jed mercurio's drama regular drawing in over 12 million viewers. oh, it's brilliant. i mean, we're so thrilled when the audience figures get up to those numbers. it's quite rare, now. but i think it does send a message that... that the audience is there, if the content is right and the timing is right. mercurio also wrote bodyguard, the most watched tv drama for almost 20 years. pleasure to meet you, ma'am... both series scrutinised public institutions with complex, twist—filled storylines. a perfect marriage for the modern internet era. i think we've really benefited from the fact that television is discussed much more, you know. through social media, through fan forums, you can create a really strong word—of—mouth. pandemic restrictions made filming this latest series a challenge. covid isn't referred to specifically, but many related issues are. the handling of the pandemic has raised questions that do relate to accountability in public office, and, so, it was... it was something that we tried to find a way to refer to. medical drama cardiac arrest, the start of mercurio's career. might he return to that territory to write about the pandemic? if there was the right way of telling it and the right backing for it, then it's something i would definitely consider. in the meantime, audience expectation for line of duty is huge. you will be treated fairly, with the full protection of the law... ..with millions expected to tune in on sunday. lizo mzimba, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. sophie, thank you. we are saying goodbye to winter because tomorrow is the spring equinox, in other words, the first day of spring, astronomical. the weather isn't going to change an awful lot because high pressure has been here for a few days, keeping things steady. you can see the wind is blowing around the high pressure, i suppose that makes it steady eddie. the clouds have been pretty varied across the uk, over the last few days especially in central and lots of scotland, eastern scotland we have had temperatures up to the high teens. again, clearer skies in some spots today. broadly speaking, if you look at the weather map, there is a lot of cloud. quite a cloudy high but some clear spells lasting through the night, for example in the south—east. here, a bit colder this time of the year where winds fall and the skies are clear. he is our steady eddie, as we head into saturday. just a hint of a light call front moving into northern parts of scotland, bringing some spits and spots to the highlands, the western isles and the northern isles and south, a lot of cloud. the best chance of prolonged sunny spells in eastern scotland and the east of the pennines, newcastle and hull around 14 degrees or so. we will do it all over again on sunday, again, high—pressure right over the uk. very little wind to push around the clouds, some places it will break but in others it won't. temperatures vary between 8 on the norfolk coast to around 13 degrees in cardiff. i was looking at this forecast yesterday. the weather symbols have till remained unchanged. you can see plenty of cloud on the horizon for cardiff with little change in the temperature. the weather will shift to something a lot more unsettled but that won't happen probably until around wednesday, thursday next week. sophie, overto you. around wednesday, thursday next week. sophie, over to you.-