were having a baby is becoming something of a lockdown trend. we begin in the us, where president biden has pledged to rebuild america's alliances and re—engage with the world, in his first major foreign policy speech. it's a markedly different tone to the "america first" approach of the trump administration. mr biden said solutions to problems such as armed conflicts and climate change could be solved only by working with other nations. we are stepping up our efforts to end the war in yemen. a wall which has created humanitarian and strategic catastrophe. —— war. i have asked my middle east team to ensure our support for the united nations—led initiative to impose a ceasefire, open humanitarian channels and restore long dormant piece talks. earlier on oh spoke to gerald thurston, senior vice president of the middle east institute. —— spoke to. they asked him how much involvement the us has had in yemen up until now.— in yemen up until now. since the beginning _ in yemen up until now. since the beginning of— in yemen up until now. since the beginning of the - in yemen up until now. since the beginning of the civil - in yemen up until now. sincei the beginning of the civil war and then the saudi intervention in early 2015, the us has supported both the legitimate government of yemen, and the saudi—led coalition and has provided limited technical and other kinds of support to the coalition in carrying out its military activities in yemen. and that of course is what the president has said he wants to end. . , ., end. the war in yemen is a rox end. the war in yemen is a proxy war _ end. the war in yemen is a proxy war and _ end. the war in yemen is a proxy war and the - end. the war in yemen is a | proxy war and the saudi-led proxy war and the saudi—led coalition, as he said, backing the officially recognised government, and iran backing the houthi rebels, what reaction is this un's announcement going to have? it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. president biden said, even on the campaign trail last year, that he was going to take this step if he were a lack did and so it was anticipated —— elected. and the secretary, in his confirmation hearings in the senate reiterated that the united states would take steps to end its support for the saudi military intervention —— secretary blinken. so that is something we expect to and the fact that he took the step todayis fact that he took the step today is not a surprise stop by the state department has also announced a new us envoy to yemen, a very experienced diplomat. what you make of that? of the two parts of the announcement, the cut—off for support for offensive saudi operations and the appointment of tim lander king as the un special envoy for yemen, the employment of tim is the more important step. it will hopefully help martyn griffiths to push forward on the political resolution on the conflict, something martin as you know has been working on for several years. we have a joint declaration that martin has been trying to negotiate with the houthis and the government which would call for, among other things, a ceasefire. if the us, by lending its way to the un effort, can help push that forward i think that is going to be an extremely important and positive step.— and positive step. and, finally. _ and positive step. and, finally, yemen - and positive step. and, finally, yemen has- and positive step. and, finally, yemen has this| and positive step. and, i finally, yemen has this -- and positive step. and, - finally, yemen has this -- be finally, yemen has this —— be described as their will�*s wurst humanitarian crisis. what can the us do now to help civilians in the country?— in the country? there are several — in the country? there are several things _ in the country? there are several things they - in the country? there are several things they can i in the country? there are | several things they can do immediately. 0ne several things they can do immediately. one is reverse a by the trump administration to end our support for humanitarian operations in the northern part of the country. the part of the country that is controlled by the houthis. we can also press the saudis and the amorosity is also to step forward and restore their assistance. and then the other extremely important step is to reverse an unfortunate decision by the trump administration at the very end of its tenure to impose sanctions on the houthis as a foreign terrorist organisation that has made it much more difficult and much more complicated to get humanitarian relief supplies into the part of the country where the vast majority of yemenis live. where the vast ma'ority of yemenis live._ yemenis live. gerald fyrstenberg, - yemenis live. gerald fyrstenberg, the - yemenis live. gerald . fyrstenberg, the former us ambassador to yemen speaking to me earlier. there was much more in the announcement. he also said he would formally end the planned withdrawal of us troops from germany that had been ordered last year by the donald trump administration. he said he would confront china on various fronts including human rights in the country and, speaking about the military coup in myanmar on monday, he said the military should relinquish its power. let's get some of the day's other newshour. donald trump has said he will not testify at his senate impeachment trial next week. a statement from his lawyers dismissed the request for him to appear as a public relations done. democrats accused the former president of inciting insurrection. the brazilian mining firm has agreed to pay $7 billion in compensation after the collapse of a dam two years ago. 270 people died when the dam gave way, unleashing a torrent of toxic mud. in southeast asia, residents in myanmar�*s bigger city have bank pots and pans for the third night in a row in support of aung san suu kyi who was ousted by the army on monday. literary rulers have also blocked access to facebook, the main source of online information for many in the country. there has been international condemnation of china after claims that women in the uyghur population are being put in red. they are now calling on beijing to allow independent investigators into the camps. china has denied the allegations and accused the bbc making a false report. matthew hill has spoken to several detainees. you may find some of the report distressing. two days ago, we broadcast the story of tu rsunay ziawudun. she described how she was held in this re—education camp in xinjiang for months and was the victim of repeated rape. translation: they were three men. not one, but three. they did whatever evil their mind could think of. and they didn't spare any part of my body, biting it to the extent that it was disgusting to look at. they didn't just rape. they were barbaric. they had bitten all over my body. we also heard from gulzira, now living in the relative safety of istanbul, having fled china. she's a kazakh who says she was forced to be complicit in the rape that goes on in the camps. translation: my 0!) is to remove * their clothes completely and then handcuff them on their beds so they cannot move. reaction to our story has been global. the australian foreign minister says the united nations should be given immediate access to the region. the uk foreign office minister told lawmakers in parliament that the bbc�*s report was chilling and said china needed to be open about what's happening in xinjiang province. the evidence of the scale and the severity of these violations is now far—reaching. it paints a truly harrowing picture. if china wishes to dispute this evidence, then it must allow unfettered access to the region for the un high commissioner for human rights or another independent fact—finding body. and there's been this from the us state department... it's estimated that a million uighurs and other muslim minorities are held in camps in xinjiang. china has responded to our report insisting that its camps are vocational training centres, designed to stop muslims living in the region from turning to extremism. and it denounced the bbc report as lies and misinformation. translation: there is no so-called - systemic sexual assault and abuse against women. china is a country ruled by law. 0ur constitution guarantees and protects human rights, and it is embodied in our legal system and the government's work. now we can show you new testimony. a former inmate who describes how regular rape was in the camp she was in and how it was used as punishment. translation: one day, they assembled - many people in a large hall. then they brought a young girl, 20 or 21 years old. she was forced to confess a bogus crime in front of everyone. she pleaded guilty to the made—up crime in flood of tears in her speech, in which she was forced to confess. after that, in front of so many people, the police raped her in turns. despite the huge international outcry that these women's testimonies have provoked, it's unlikely that china will act and allow independent scrutiny of what's going on inside their re—education camps. matthew hill, bbc news. the us house of representatives has voted to remove the republican marjorie taylor greene from two influential committees. they argued she was not fit to serve after remarks she made before being elected, including calling for the us speaker to be assassinated and saying that september 11 was staged. at the start of the debate she said she regretted her past comments but stopped short of apologising. you see, school shootings are absolutely real. i also want to tell you 9/11 absolutely happened. i remember that day, crying all day long. these were words of the past, and these things do not represent me, they do not represent my district and they do not represent my values. anthony zurcher said taking away marjorie taylor greene's committee sees will reduce her ability to make policy.— ability to make policy. where legislation — ability to make policy. where legislation is _ ability to make policy. where legislation is introduced - ability to make policy. where legislation is introduced and | legislation is introduced and wrangled over and where legislators have input on the shape of legislation before it gets to a full vote in the house of representatives. so by stripping marjorie taylor greene of her committee seats, essentially taking away her ability to have any kind of influencing committee hearings and in mockups of bills,. the democrats have been pretty outspoken in their condemnations of her, earlier votes, procedural votes today indicated that the democrats were sticking together. i think they because of what happened in capitol hill on 6january with the insurrection i think her comments and likes on social media, threatening democratic politicians, i think that really hit home with them and it felt like they had to do something if the house republicans didn't police their own, essentially. house republicans, including kevin mcgovern, have said if we start going back and looking over past comments of this particular member of congress, what is that to stop us doing that with immigrants who may have said things controversial before they join the have said things controversial before theyjoin the house of representatives and going on over their previous career. it does set a dangerous precedent of that, as well as a precedent where a simple majority in the house of representatives can step in and tell the minority party, which traditionally has been able to decide who sits on committees as their representatives, tell them who and who not to have on those committees. and who not to have on those committees-_ and who not to have on those committees. that is as zurcher in washington. _ committees. that is as zurcher in washington. stay _ committees. that is as zurcher in washington. stay with - committees. that is as zurcher in washington. stay with us . committees. that is as zurcher in washington. stay with us on j in washington. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: special delivery, the uk street were having a baby is becoming something of a lot down trend. —— lockdown. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. a countdown - to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 - of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, l slashing the cost of a launch, l that makes this a breakthrough in the business| of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: in his first major foreign policy speech, president biden promises america will re—engage with the world, including stepping up efforts to end the war in yemen. the us and britain vow to take action after a bbc investigation reveals harrowing accounts of uighur women in chinese camps being tortured and raped. the european union has called on israel to halt any further demolition of palestinian property. nearly 20 eu and british diplomats visited an area in the west bank after is really forces in most homes there for the third time, in one of the biggest actions of its type in years. here is our middle east correspondent. we are here in thejordan valley in the west bank and here you can see a delegation of europeans and british heads of europeans and british heads of mission, they are effective really like ambassadors to the palestinian authority. we also had the palestinian prime minister here as well. they have come because what you can see here are these ten. this is where several palestinian families in our living —— tents. their living here because the structures they were living in were demolished and then seized by the israelis. mohammed's family have been around here for generations. translation: ., ., translation: imagine you are sittin: translation: imagine you are sitting safe _ translation: imagine you are sitting safe in — translation: imagine you are sitting safe in your— translation: imagine you are sitting safe in your house, - translation: imagine you are sitting safe in your house, and l sitting safe in your house, and they come suddenly. the trucks and the bulldozers and jeeps and the bulldozers and jeeps and a lot of security forces. they enter into your house and destroy in front your kids. they leave you out and escort you. our soul they leave you out and escort you. 0ursoulwas they leave you out and escort you. our soul was destroyed. but this is actually a return for the european and british diplomats, they had come in november after israel's biggest delegation in years. the country is then paid to rehouse people here. and other structures have been seized again. structures have been seized aaain. , , structures have been seized a.ain_ , , , again. this is occupied palestinian _ again. this is occupied palestinian territory, l again. this is occupied l palestinian territory, it's again. this is occupied - palestinian territory, it's not possible for people to get planning permission. this the largest or second—largest demolition since 2016. so, it has been a very large scale demolition in terms of structures and of people, which we think is very regrettable. soldiers watched on. israel's military says the village was built illegally on a firing range and was dangerous for people. it says the residents rejected their offer to move to the nearby area. as the palestinian prime ministers spoke, a show of solidarity from the europeans. i spoke, a show of solidarity from the europeans. i hope with the new administration - from the europeans. i hope with the new administration in - the new administration in washington, with this enthusiasm of our european limits you are present here, i think there would be things would be different.- think there would be things would be different. there is no american _ would be different. there is no american representative - would be different. there is no american representative herel american representative here today. american representative here toda . ~ ., today. well, due to some logistics. _ today. well, due to some logistics, they _ today. well, due to some logistics, they have - today. well, due to some logistics, they have said i today. well, due to some - logistics, they have said they will not be able to do it, but they promised they would be with us next time.— they promised they would be with us next time. there was a s - ikina with us next time. there was a spiking in demolitions - spiking in demolitions by izzo at the end of the trumpet years. but for people here today, things don't feel much different. israel says the residents had agreed to leave, but change their minds. tom bateman, bbc news, in the occupied west bank. famous names including rhianna and greta thunberg have show their support forfarmers in india demonstrating over new policy across the country. farmers are protesting against the new law that exists, even though the government insists farmers will be better off. fighting for their future — the people who help feed this nation. more than half of indians are farmers. tens of thousands have been camped here for months. a busy road into the capital... now, a place of resistance, as they protest new laws they fear will destroy their livelihoods. as this site has grown, so, too, the police presence. farmers accuse the government of trying to silence them. for two months, devilal has been sleeping on the back of this truck with seven others. translation: we are fighting for our land, we are fighting i for our rights. we won't go back until these laws are repealed, even if we have to give our lives for the cause. and he believes those new laws will drive him out of business. he took me to his farm to explain why. at 30 years old, he's the future of indian farming, but the government says that for farming to have a future, the industry needs to be reformed. it says its new laws will benefit farmers by allowing them to sell directly to supermarkets and online retailers. translation: we get a fixed price from the government. for our crops. i'm worried once the big corporations enter the market, we will have to sell at a price they want. passions are running high. last week, hundreds of police and protesters were injured after a march into delhi turned violent. demonstrators scaled the city's iconic red fort, leaving many wondering whether the country's prime minister has lost control on this issue. known as india's strongman, he has weakened his resolve, offering to suspend the laws for 18 months. what started here at the end of last year has now grown into a mass movement, one that has become about more than just the agriculture laws. many farmers i have spoken to here who voted for prime minister modi say they're now increasingly concerned about his government's handling of other issues, including freedom of speech, high unemployment and the right to protest. the farmers remained defiant, even after officials suspended internet access at protest sites, social media accounts were blocked and journalists were detained. the farmers say they're not going anywhere until the laws are scrapped. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. let's go to france now, where days of torrential rain have caused rivers across the country to burst their banks. some villages are underwater and many on high alert. areas in the south—west of the country other worst affected. south—western france submerged, riverbanks breached, vast waves up to 10 metres of water. translation: the fact j that the water has risen so high up on the trees like that, you don't realise it but it's really something. translation: in 34 years, i've never seen anything . like this, this is really exceptional. the deputy mayor surveys the damage the only way he can. some have nowhere to go. a shopfront now a waterfront. this tomato producing town normally hosts an internationally renowned pop festival, now it welcomes in rescuers to help overcome this road to nowhere. translation: no-one is missing or hurt and the residents - expect this kind of event. but this flood is actually exceptional as we haven't had one of this magnitude since 1981. because many people off guard as they evacuated homes. —— it caught. storm justine has sent rivers between this area between bordeaux and toulouse to levels not seen since the 1870s. paris was affected, too. the river seine burst its banks, proving quite an eyeful for even regular river watchers. mark lobel, bbc news. when the first lockdown came into force almost a year ago, there was speculation it could lead to a baby boom. there's no official data yet but it looks like lockdown may have had the reverse effect. however, one street in the uk is bucking the trend, as jon kay reports. first it was jenny. then catherine. then caroline. followed by victoria, then ellie, and now ailey. well, it started with just a couple and then we found out we were due and then i was speaking tojenny... maybe i started a trend. every time i speak to someone else, it was like, the number basically increased. there is something in the water! four and then five and then six. there are just women popping up every day it felt like. _ it's been fantastic. myjaw hit the floor! really? yeah, iwas, like, i can't believe it. this street, this little street. notjust on the same street but all on the same side of the street. i dared to ask how many are pregnant on the other side, if it matches this side! because we are all friends as well. everybody is feeling i a bit nervous i think, all the people - who aren't pregnant. the first lockdown, lots of people went out and got dogs! um... you didn't want a dog! we've been going running, we've been baking bread. and we've been making babies. you can't go out, you can't really see people as much so maybe it's time to settle down. we are kind of supporting one another. ailey set up a yoga class which is fantastic. it is so nice to connect - with other women who are going through a similar experience at the same time. _ particularly as a first—time mum, not having any of the kind of baby groups and things that would normally be happening. but so much for the rule of six. i can't give you any names, they don't want to go public yet, but there will be more announcements on this street very soon. but hang on — five? where'sjenny? well, tonight, some breaking news. jenny and rick have a baby daughter — summer. born this afternoon. the clouds hill baby boom is under way. jon kay, bbc news, bristol. thanks for your company. you can reach me on twitter. enjoy the rest of your day. bye—bye. hello. cold and snow on the way. for now, for many of us, it's just yet more rain with an ongoing risk of flooding. but as you know, in northern scotland, the snow has arrived. heavy snow, at that, where the met office has an amber warning in force throughout friday. still snowing here, and even into the weekend within that amber zone — so significant disruption as a result, as those snow totals mount. now all the wet weather, snow or rain, is from this area of low pressure only very slowly moving away over the weekend. as it does so, rain turns to snow as an increasingly strong and bitterly cold easterly wind sets and as that continues into next week, we will continue to see some snow coming in, particularly but not exclusively to eastern parts of the uk. this is how we start off on friday morning — most of us are above freezing. most of us seeing rain rather than snow, but the snow very much still there across northern scotland. wet, too, in northern ireland, especially to the eastern parts of northeast england — both areas with the risk of flooding from the persistent rain. showers moving into wales, southwest england, the west midlands as we go through the afternoon. east midlands, east anglia, southeast england, and parts of northern england away from that rain towards the far north—east. drier and brighterfor a time, a few sunny spells, and still that big range of temperatures from north to south across the uk. now, the overall pattern doesn't change very much as we go through friday night into saturday morning. still the showers or bands of rain circulating around an area of low pressure, and still very wet for some of us in north—east england, along the east coast of scotland with that snow further inland, and especially into the hills — still snowing, perhaps for some of us, even into the start of the weekend. for all this weekend, it turns much colder and that snow becomes more widespread. plenty of cloud around on saturday, showers or spells of rain especially in the east with the wind starting to pick up, as well. i think deeper on into saturday, more of that rain turning into snow in northern england initially on the hills. looks to be a drier day though in northern ireland. 0vernight and into sunday, the cold air really starts to dig in. rain turning to snow across eastern parts, could be a prolonged spell of snow across parts of east anglia and south—east england, then further snow showers in the east — some may push further west. regardless, though, for all of us, it is much colder by then. this is bbc news. the headlines: in his first major foreign policy speech, president biden has said it is necessary to engage with america's adversaries diplomatically — pointing to the extension of a nuclear arms control treaty with russia. he also said he would stop support for saudi arabia's offensive military campaign in yemen, the us house of representatives has voted to punish us state department has called for serious consequences for china after a previous investigation showed harrowing accounts of whig women in camps alleging rate. the bbc has been accused of making a false report. the us house of representatives has voted to punish a republican lawmaker over incendiary remarks she made — marjorie taylor greene had promoted baseless conspiracy theories and showed support for violence against democrats. 11 republicansjoined the entire democratic caucus in the vote. now on bbc news it's time to hardtalk.