against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. sharp words exchanged at the first high—level meeting between america's new presidential administration and china. and coming up this hour... as part of our young reporter series, we hearfrom an apprentice footballer about the pressures of trying to make it as a professional. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. germany's health minister has warned there is not enough coronavirus vaccine to stop a third wave in europe. germany is facing further restrictions because the number of cases are rising rapidly. some eu countries — including germany — will resume the roll—out of the astrazeneca jab today, following a pause over safety concerns. the european medicines agency reviewed the jab and found that it was "not associated" with a higher risk of blood clots. france, germany and italy, along with cyprus, latvia and lithuania, are to restart use of the jab today while spain, portugal and the netherlands will do so next week. but norway, sweden and denmark have said they won't use the astrazeneca vaccine while they conduct their own independent reviews. in france, 35,000 new coronavirus infections have been recorded in the past 2a hours, and the country fears a third wave of coronavirus. so from midnight tonight, 21 million people across 16 areas of the country, including paris, will be placed under a new month—long lockdown. in the uk, the prime minister is due to receive the oxford astrazeneca vaccine today and has assured the public it is safe. borisjohnson has urged people to get vaccinated and says england's roadmap out of lockdown is on track, despite a drop in vaccine supply. here's our health correspondent katherine da costa. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is safe and effective at preventing covid with no increased risk of blood clots. that's the consensus among regulators and a message the prime minister hopes will be heard around the world. today, the european medicines agency has come to a clear scientific conclusion, and i quote, "this is a safe and effective vaccine". so the oxford jab is safe and the pfizerjab is safe. the thing that isn't safe is catching covid, which is why it's so important that we all get ourjabs as soon as oui’ turn comes. the european medicines regulator carried out a thorough review looking at data from 20 million vaccinated people. it looked in particular at rare blood clots in the brain and found 18 cases, including five in the uk. there is no evidence of a link to the vaccine, but they will continue to monitor this condition and are advising people with a number of symptoms including a persistent headache or unusual bruising to seek medical advice. it's very unfortunate there was the pause, for two reasons. firstly, it loses time, and bearing in mind in the eu there are currently over 2000 deaths per day from covid, so this is a very pressing public health emergency. the second aspect is public confidence. will people now be willing to get their vaccine as quickly as possible, because that's the way that these successive waves are going to be stamped out. italy and france are among the first to announce they will resume using the astrazeneca vaccine, and it can't come soon enough. they are among several european countries experiencing a third wave in new infections with further lockdown measures being introduced. katharine da costa, bbc news. as you've been hearing several european countries, including germany, france and italy will resume using the 0xford astrazeneca vaccine after regulators found no evidence it causes blood clots. it comes as the german health minister warns that there isn't enough vaccine in europe to stop a third wave. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels. i asked him about these claims. i think that's a very stark and worrying warning coming from germany this morning, the fact they believe there are not enough vaccines on the continent. it's a combination of factors, some really worrying factors. you mentioned france. tonight, paris and 15 other regions of the country will be put into much stricter lockdown measures because the number of people in intensive care in paris is higher than during the second wave back in november, so france is a concern. germany are clearly worried as well. central and eastern europe, rising cases. i have just looked at the latest figures for poland, a 30% rise in new cases in the past week. alongside this picture of the graphs going the wrong way with the number of cases going up, there are problems with vaccines and we know they haven't been getting the vaccines from britain, from astrazeneca, that they wanted. the european commission talking about 100 million fewer doses coming to the eu in the three months from april, so it's really a pretty bleak picture, i'm afraid. if we look at the stats, per 100 of the population, the uk has vaccinated almost a0. belgium, france, germany, all at 11 per 100 of the population or under, so it's a significant gap. does this all increase the potential of export bans coming from the eu to the uk? if you look at all the factors involved, ursula von der leyen, the head of the european commission, said this week that all options were available to the eu, so by that people assume she meant an export ban. they won't like me calling it that, but that's what it would be, restricting supplies, particularly the pfizerjab, made here in belgium, going towards the united kingdom. so you have the prospect of a disruption in the supply chain. all the while you have millions of vaccines across europe, some reports of 7 million vaccines of the astrazeneca jab, that are not being used because of a combination of factors. people are reluctant to take it and also we know there has been a pause in the use of it. yes, in places like france, germany and italy they will roll it out once again today. the french prime minister will be among those taking it. possibly prime minister mario draghi of italy will take it. this is to try to sway a sceptical public, but they are playing catch up. we have heard some eminent scientists say in the last couple of days that potentially, this lull, this pause in the roll—out of the astrazeneca vaccine could lead to the deaths of thousands of more people. playing catch up and notwithstanding supply issues, how much does vaccine hesitancy among the general population have to play at this point? i think it's a pretty crucial factor. france is somewhere where they are known for being pretty hesitant when it comes to taking some vaccines. here in belgium, i was at the biggest centre for giving out the vaccine a couple of days ago and we met some doctors and nurses there and they were not willing to take it, and these are scientific experts, it's what they do, and they say, yes, we know we have heard the regulator say there is no risk and this vaccine should be taken, but look at the swirl of disinformation and concern. going back to france, the prime minister may well be taking the astrazeneca vaccine today, but people in france are not daft. a few months ago, their president, emmanuel macron, mused openly that the astrazeneca vaccine may be quasi—ineffective, and it may not work in the older population. that's an assessment that the regulator in europe has never shared, but it makes an impression on people and sticks in their minds. thank you, nick beake in brussels. uk death rates have been overtaken by six other european countries in the autumn waves of covid—19. the uk experienced one of the worst rates of death in europe in the first half of the year. but in the second half of the year, six countries overtook the uk. let's talk to our head of statisitcs robert cuffe. taking our minds back to around june of last year, by then the uk had seen roughly 7% more deaths than we would expect, that's a huge deal. 7% is a once—in—a—lifetime increase in death rates and that's one of the worst figures we saw in europe. but things haven't changed very much overall in the uk, whereas they have got worse in some countries that were doing better at the time. we can show this analysis from the office for national statistics. we see how much worse than death rates are compared to what you would expect. the uk, in the middle of the year at around 7% but not getting much worse, the lying flat throughout the rest of europe until december. but countries like poland, who earlier in the epidemic looked a lot better than the uk, have had a really tough second wave and we see now that they are seeing death rates of more than 10% above expected levels for the whole of 2020, so a big change over the course of the year. these kinds of league tables are difficult because everyone is having a tough time but these show who is hardest hit.— having a tough time but these show who is hardest hit. when we think of auestions who is hardest hit. when we think of questions like. _ who is hardest hit. when we think of questions like, do _ who is hardest hit. when we think of questions like, do these _ who is hardest hit. when we think of questions like, do these tables - who is hardest hit. when we think of questions like, do these tables tell i questions like, do these tables tell the full story, of course they don't. , u, �* the full story, of course they don't. ,�* _ , , don't. they can't possibly because this is still very _ don't. they can't possibly because this is still very early _ don't. they can't possibly because this is still very early in _ don't. they can't possibly because this is still very early in the - this is still very early in the epidemic. if we think about deaths in the uk alone, covid deaths, around 89,020 20, and we have seen another 56,000 since then. this doesnt another 56,000 since then. this doesn't cover — another 56,000 since then. this doesn't cover all _ another 56,000 since then. this doesn't cover all the _ another 56,000 since then. this doesn't cover all the deaths at the begin of this year in the uk. this is 'ust begin of this year in the uk. this isiust 2020- _ begin of this year in the uk. this is just 2020. now— begin of this year in the uk. this isjust 2020. now in _ begin of this year in the uk. ti 3 is just 2020. now in the begin of this year in the uk. ti 3 isjust 2020. now in the uk begin of this year in the uk. t1151 isjust 2020. now in the uk cases is just 2020. now in the uk cases are coming down, but we are seeing much higher levels of infection in france with new lockdowns and vaccination rates are rolling out a different rates. if you are going to do this kind of analysis and with these league tables and the caveats we have mentioned, this is probably the best way to do it because it takes account of the different ages of populations and the different death rates so it's much better to look at these more sophisticated analyses than looking at daily figures every day to see who is doing best and worst. the story is not over yet but this is a good analysis to try to see who is having analysis to try to see who is having a tough time at the moment. robert cuffe, head — a tough time at the moment. robert cuffe. head of— a tough time at the moment. robert cuffe, head of statistics, _ a tough time at the moment. robert cuffe, head of statistics, thank - cuffe, head of statistics, thank you. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, is facing calls to resign, because a committee of msps concluded she misled them in their inquiry into the handling of harrassment claims against her predecessor, alex salmond. it's understood they voted five to four that she gave them an inaccurate account when she answered their questions two weeks ago.the first minister says she stands by what she said. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has this report. i solemnly, sincerely and truly declare... this is nicola sturgeon two weeks ago. giving evidence to the scottish parliament about how her government handled allegations of sexual harassment against alex salmond. it was a mammoth session, eight hours in total. but the committee has decided she misled them in the process. in a meeting last night, a narrow majority of the committee, five to four, made the decision. their full report will be published next week but opposition parties say ms sturgeon can no longer be trusted. it's absolutely, abundantly clear that nicola sturgeon has breached the ministerial code. as first minister, you cannot continue if you have been untruthful, if you have misled parliament, and you've misled the people of scotland. it is a resigning matter, pure and simple. the first minister has always denied misleading msps and last night, she stood by her evidence. she said... this committee has unfortunately experienced an awful lot of leaking and information coming out in ways that are neither helpful nor necessarily accurate. i think that this is more of the challenge that we see again here, and i will be waiting to hear from the actual report. in under a week, the scottish parliament will break up for the election. the coming days will be dominated by questions over whether ms sturgeon misled parliament. the election campaign may well be too. nick eardley, bbc news, glasgow. we can speak now to sirjohn curtice, who's professor of politics at the university of strathclyde. good to see you, as ever. 0ne analysis of all this is that it looks very partisan, the support absolutely, opposition to nicola sturgeon, absolutely divided along party lines. what are your thoughts so far? i party lines. what are your thoughts so far? ~' ., ., so far? i think in truth it looks like the committee _ so far? i think in truth it looks like the committee is - so far? i think in truth it looks like the committee is focusing so far? i think in truth it looks i like the committee is focusing in so far? i think in truth it looks - like the committee is focusing in on the area that perhaps most independent commentators would suggest was perhaps the greatest area of the first minister's evidence. but essentially what they are saying is we think you did suggest to mr alex salmond that you would help them out in a famous meeting at the begin of april, contrary to what she said, not in all her evidence, but in the written evidence, it sounds as though the committee is particularly concerned about that written evidence. it goes on to say, actually what you did after the meeting, perhaps you should have told the permanent secretary earlier and perhaps you shouldn't have taken more phone calls from alex salmond. in truth, this was always the grey area for nicola sturgeon. but let's be aware that so far at least we are not being told that the committee has concluded that nicola sturgeon was indeed party to a conspiracy to bring alex salmond down and along the way were seeking out complainants and that nicola sturgeon was part of that. there is another independent _ sturgeon was part of that. there is another independent report - sturgeon was part of that. there is another independent report on - sturgeon was part of that. there is another independent report on all| another independent report on all this that is due.— this that is due. there is. that's the second _ this that is due. there is. that's the second thing _ this that is due. there is. that's the second thing to _ this that is due. there is. that's the second thing to add, - this that is due. there is. that's the second thing to add, there i this that is due. there is. that's i the second thing to add, there will be an independent report from mr hamilton on, the lawyer from ireland, that we expect to come out. maybe he will make not to similar criticisms, but in the end the argument is about an error of judgment and about actually maybe you didn't quite remember things accurately. so long as it stays in that grey area, yes, some voters will be upset and unhappy but they will be upset and unhappy but they will be upset and unhappy but they will be predominantly people who would vote for the conservatives anyway. but she wants to avoid mr hamilton in particular coming to the conclusion that she knowingly misled parliament over her dealings with alex salmond. but that doesn't seem to be the conclusion of the committee.— to be the conclusion of the committee. ~ ., ., , ., , ., committee. what does all this mean for nicola sturgeon's _ committee. what does all this mean for nicola sturgeon's future - committee. what does all this mean for nicola sturgeon's future and - committee. what does all this mean for nicola sturgeon's future and the | for nicola sturgeon's future and the push for independence, with which she is absolutely connected? is the court of public opinion, ultimately will that be the biggest test for her? . ., ., will that be the biggest test for her? _, ., , , . will that be the biggest test for her? ., , , ., , her? the court of public opinion is the crucial — her? the court of public opinion is the crucial test _ her? the court of public opinion is the crucial test and _ her? the court of public opinion is the crucial test and the _ her? the court of public opinion is the crucial test and the polling - the crucial test and the polling evidence so far suggests that particularly that aspect of the court that matters, those people who voted for the snp in the past, they were more convinced by what nicola sturgeon said in her appearance than they were by alex salmond. that said, there is a small body, and it varies from question to question, but the question that asks people, do you believe what nicola sturgeon said, and who do you prefer out of nicola sturgeon and alex salmond, and has your confidence in the snp been undermined? somewhere between an eighth and a fifth of people who voted for the snp in 2019 say they are not sure. the snp doesn't have to lose that much support before their prospects of getting an overall majority in the holyrood election, and that now seems to be the benchmark that both unionists and the snp except the snp need to get if there is going to be a prospect of a second independence referendum, they don't need to lose a great deal before they are potentially troubled. 0n the other hand, one suspects that if indeed the opposition decides to fight the whole election campaign on nicola sturgeon and her role in office, well perhaps they need to bear in mind that the polls also suggest she is still much more popular than any of the opposition leaders, and if she retains that popularity in the wake of the report that's coming up, it won't necessarily be the most fruitful ground on which to fight. professor sirjohn curtis, thank you. you have been sending in your tweets on a number of subjects, including your memories on this time last year before the uk went into lockdown. jessica says, i remember a year ago i had to cancel my daughter's birthday and do an indoor party at home. i may have to do it this year as well. lots of parties and celebrations cancelled or taking place not in the way you had imagined or hope them too. the next one from and woolly. 0ne imagined or hope them too. the next one from and woolly. one year ago, at little wigan theatre, the production of alice in wonderland was abandoned as dress rehearsal ended before we went into the rabbit hole of lockdown. hopefully those reductions will be up and running before too long. kitty says before lockdown last year we met up in dublin, we travelled from wales and we met family from canada. a fantastic week, but after the laughter comes the tears, as the saying goes. we hope for better times ahead. neville says this time last year he had travelled back from berlin. he was due to travel to poland but they had closed the border. germany and poland went into lockdown and here we went and carried on as normal and it did not feel right. thank you for sending those in. interesting to hear those snippets of what was going on in your lives at this time last year. keep sending them in. you can do that on twitter. you will try to read some more of them out. the first high—level talks between the biden administration and china have got off to an ill tempered start, with us and chinese officials exchanging sharp rebukes. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, criticised china over cyber—attacks, economic coercion and human rights. china's top diplomat, yang jiechi, accused washington of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries. the meeting began with blunt words on both sides. today we will have an opportunity to discuss key priorities, both domestic and global, so that china can better understand our administration's intentions and approach. we will also discuss our deep concerns with actions by china, including in xinjiang, hong kong, taiwan, cyber attacks on the united states, economic coercion towards our allies. i've said the united states relationship with china will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be. translation: the people of the two i countries and the world are hoping i to see practical outcomes coming out of our dialogue. and for xinjiang, tibet and taiwan, they are inalienable parts of china's territory. china is firmly opposed to us interference in china's internal affairs. we have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference and we will take firm actions in response. the meetings are taking place in alaska. 0ur correspondent barbara plett—usher says both parties went into the talks with quite different agendas. it was quite a rare public sparring match. this is not the way you start, normally, a staid diplomatic meeting, and it went on for some time. it was extended even after the formal remarks, back and forths. you know, in public comments before the meeting, the biden administration had been quite blunt about its criticisms of china and they brought those same comments to the meeting, so the chinese must have known what was coming and they really came prepared to hit back in kind. one of the senior chinese officials basically said the us should stop pushing its own version of democracy, it's got its own problems, it's got its own domestic problems. that this is not a model, necessarily, for the world, to paraphrase. and many other comments like that. and as you mentioned, afterwards, after this sort of quite sparked beginning, they apparently had a serious and sustained conversation in private afterwards. i suppose there's always a bit of posturing involved but this was an unusual degree. i think the chinese might have been angry, really, by the way the biden administration had been talking about them beforehand, and also just a day before sanctions had been imposed on china over its actions against democracy activists in hong kong. so it all came to an atmosphere at the beginning that was quite unusually undiplomatic. figures out this morning show the government borrowed £19.1 billion last month — the highest figure for the month of february since records began — reflecting the cost of pandemic support measures. chancellor rishi sunak, who has overseen the treasury's response to the pandemic, said coronavirus has caused "one of the largest economic shocks this country has ever faced". the office for national statistics said that borrowing was £17.6 billion higher compared to february last year. a woman who argued that care—workers should be paid the national minimum wage when they have to sleep overnight at work in case they are needed, has lost her supreme court case. if claire tomlinson—blake had won the case, charities and care providers warned they would have faced an estimated £400 million bill for backpay, which they said they couldn't afford. let's get more on this from our reporter charlotte wright. it has been a long—running battle and this will be disappointing news for people who have taken it to the uk's highest court today as it didn't go their way. the case centred on the question of how much care as it should pay when they are on sleep in shifts. some care providers at the moment pay a flat fee for this kind of thing at the moment, but two care workers argued that the supreme court they should be paid an hourly minimum wage. 0ne be paid an hourly minimum wage. one of those is clare tomlinson lake, a support worker in yorkshire, who argued they should be paid that because she always has a listening ear out, she is always working even when she is asleep, she says. in 2017 she was told by a tribunal that she was entitled to an hourly minimum wage, which would have meant she would be paid £60 per shift instead of the 29.05 she was getting, so quite a significant difference. the following year in 2018 the court of appeal said sleepers in are characterised as available for work rather than actually working, and that was agreed with by the supreme court today. we agreed with by the supreme court toda . ~ ., , , today. we mentioned briefly in the introduction _ today. we mentioned briefly in the introduction that _ today. we mentioned briefly in the introduction that care _ today. we mentioned briefly in the introduction that care homes - today. we mentioned briefly in the introduction that care homes were | introduction that care homes were arguing that this was absolutely unaffordable to them if they had to pay these workers on this particular type of duty. i pay these workers on this particular type of duty-— type of duty. i think there was a real sense _ type of duty. i think there was a real sense of _ type of duty. i think there was a real sense of worry _ type of duty. i think there was a real sense of worry from - type of duty. i think there was a real sense of worry from the - type of duty. i think there was a i real sense of worry from the care sector around this. some of them said they could end up in insolvency if they had to pay a huge back pay and a huge amount of money moving forwards. they said they could be liable for next to —— an estimated £400 million in back pay. hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in ethiopia's tigray region, four months into a brutal and bloody conflict there. civilians have been caught between tigray militias and allied ethiopian and eritrean forces. the us state department has accused some armed groups of ethnic cleansing in the battle for control of the region. the bbc�*s kalkidan yibeltal gained rare access to meet the people who've been forced to flee their homes. classrooms in shire are packed but there is no school here. this is one of the town's many displacement camps. these are the victims of the conflict in tigray, forced to flee their homes and seek shelter wherever they find space. when the conflict in tigray reached her hometown, this woman had to run to save her life. translation: people were walking through here in the dark. _ people were thirsty. they were hungry. you wouldn't even think to eat something for yourself. we passed through a lot. we saw unburied bodies. we are lucky we are not dead. the roads around shire showjust a fraction of what she was running from. some of these areas in mountainous tigray that we are passing through witnessed heavy fighting, particularly in november, during the height of the conflict, and the marks of the conflict can easily be seen and felt. we saw a number of tanks and army trucks burnt out by the side of the road. across shire, another camp and more people. more than 200,000 in this city alone. the conflict is the result of long simmering tensions between prime minister abiy ahmed's administration and tigray�*s political elite. abiy was accused of a power grab when national posts were delayed last year. in november an ethiopian army base was attacked and open conflict began. these broken lives are the result. people are still arriving here, fleeing their homes. this man arrived three days ago. this man arrived a day ago. he travelled for more than a week with his family. this woman went into labour after she fled fighting near her home. she gave birth in the camp. she said she still hasn't been seen by a doctor. while some aid is arriving, people we met here say it's not enough. aid agencies warned the situation could worsen. tigray�*s interim administration says there are some 1.4 million displaced people in multiple towns and cities like shire across the region. translation: aid agencies - were asking to be granted access. now they are allowed to come in and help, now is the right time. we expect them to give us all the necessary aid and rescue our people. many people in shire camps have their own tale of loss and tragedy. in four short months their lives have been turned upside down. no—one knows when peace will return to tigray. but for some, the scars will last forever. some news coming in that a bbc burmese reporter has been taken away by unidentified men in the burmese capital. they were reporting outside a district court in the capital when a district court in the capital when a group of men in civilian clothes in an unmarked van arrived at approximately midday local time and demanded to see him. we are told he was then taken away alongside another reporter from the local newsgroup whose operating licence was revoked by the government earlier this month. he has been un—contactable since the stop the bbc has issued this statement saying... with many years of reporting experience and we know from the situation that since the military last month, 40 journalists have been arrested, 16 of them remain in detention and the military has revoked the licenses of five media companies, concerned now about the bbc burmese reporter aung thura and another reporter taken away in an arm at van by a group of people in civilian clothes. we will keep you updated on that situation if there is any more news. the headlines on bbc news... germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe — as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. the french prime minister says he'll be getting the astrazeneca jab to prove it's safe — as parts of france prepare for a new, month—long lockdown the uk prime minister will also be given the astrazeneca covid jab today — he's urging others to come forward for their vaccines. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the scottish first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. sharp words exchanged at the first high—level meeting between america's new presidential administration and china. with more than 35,000 new coronavirus cases recorded in france in the past 24 hours, hospitals are described as being close to crisis point. the lockdown means non—essential shops will be shut again, and travel from paris to 0ther regions is banned. tanya dend—rinos reports. patients fighting for life, nurses and doctors fighting to save them. 1200 people are currently in intensive care in paris, higher than at the peak of the second wave in november. and breaking point is in sight. translation: you can always go up, but the elastic is getting _ tighter and tighter. we are not at breaking point at the moment but we have come very close, so, yes, we have the impression the breaking point isn't far away. we always manage to adapt to all situations but the difficulty is we do so at the detriment of something else. the mounting pressure forcing the government to respond. from midnight on friday, the french capital go into a months long lockdown, along with 15 other regions. translation: facing an acceleration i of the virus and the pressure that'si increasing in our hospital systems, we owe it to ourselves. the time has come to go further and implement more demanding measures in the most critical departments and situations. nonessential businesses will be forced to shut but schools will remain open. the measure is not quite as strict as the previous lockdown, with people still allowed to exercise outdoors. meanwhile, the national curfew will remain in place but to begin an hour later. translation: if this lockdown allows us to move onto the next step, - to take advantage of this months to vaccinate, to prepare for the future, it's a good thing. translation: it's more like saying, but when is this going to end? - if in one year we haven't found a way out of this, in one year will we have lockdown number eight? that's what scares me. a relentless cycle in the battle against an unrelenting virus. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. as you just heard, there are concerns in france over a third wave of coronavirus — and this morning, germany's health minister has warned there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave in europe. we can speak now to anna marriott, 0xfam's health policy manager who joins me now from the isle of wight. thank you for talking to us today. what do you make about the issue of vaccine supply? we are obviously hearing concerns from many, many countries that they cannot get their hands on the sort of supply they would like to have. is there anything that can be done to sort that out beyond production facilities wrapping up production? —— ramping up? it is facilities wrapping up production? -- ramping up?— facilities wrapping up production? -- ramping up? it is very important to understand _ -- ramping up? it is very important to understand the _ -- ramping up? it is very important to understand the underlying - -- ramping up? it is very important. to understand the underlying reasons why we are seeing these searches and interruptions to vaccine supply in the eu, in the uk and other nations. quite simply, it is because we are relying on production from a small group of pharmaceutical corporations who simply, with the best well in the world, cannot make enough vaccines for the whole planet. despite these vaccines being funded by taxpayers money, these corporations are currently being allowed to treat the vaccine science as their own private property and are actually actively preventing other manufacturers around the world from producing them. this artificial rationing is hurting some rich countries, it is also hurting poorer nations who have not administered a single dose yet. we are never going to end this pandemic until we fix that supply problem. instead of the rich countries descending into squabbles amongst each other or taking vaccine supplies that are meant for developing countries, we need them to act now to insist that those pharmaceutical monopolies are broken and that the vaccine signs is shared more openly so that more manufacturers across the world who have the capacity, coming forward now with offers to make the sorry to interrupt, i think a lot of us would thought that those monopolies you refer to and the sharing of the signs, that the monopolies were being broken and the sharing of the signs was actually happening, but you are saying, if it is, it is not happening enough. you are riuht. is, it is not happening enough. mi. are right. everybody would be assuming right now that that technology and that science is being shared, but it's not. the intellectual property that protects this science and technology is being held by the pharmaceutical corporations. there is a proposal currently at the world trade organization supported by over 100 developing countries to waive those intellectual property rules right nowjust intellectual property rules right now just until we intellectual property rules right nowjust until we get to a global herd immunity and we can end the pandemic for all of us. currently, rich countries including the uk and the eu and the us are blocking those proposals. we really need to see a different approach. it is absurd that one year after the pandemic was declared, we do not have a global plan to get us to global herd we need governments to step up now, act together, break these monopolies of these incredibly powerful pharmaceutical corporations and get more manufacturers on board and as much capacity as we can to some of the countries are saying that they will go vaccine supplies to the covax programme now. that may not have happened yet, but i wonder what impact this issue of vaccine supply is having on that covax problem, the covax programme, to get vaccines to middle income and low income nations.— income nations. covax is a very welcome _ income nations. covax is a very welcome initiative _ income nations. covax is a very welcome initiative but - income nations. covax is a very welcome initiative but it - income nations. covax is a very welcome initiative but it is - income nations. covax is a very. welcome initiative but it is really struggling for the same reasons of insufficient supply across the world, it is struggling to compete with rich countries that are buying up with rich countries that are buying up the finite supply that we have and also covax only aims to reach 20% coverage in developing countries. we've got no plan to go beyond that. if we do not have a plan to go beyond that, what we are going to see is the rise of mutations of this virus that could come back and really impacts on the public health safety even in the uk are the eu where vaccination is happening. the vaccines that we've had could become redundant if we do not accelerate a global plan to reach global herd immunity and currently covax is not going to get us there. we need to break those monopolies now, share their vaccine science and get more manufacturers on thank you very much, really interesting to talk to you. i can tell from all the tweets, you. i can tell from all the tweets, you are reflecting back to last year just before the uk went into lockdown, let me read out some of your messages. wright macpherson said he had just returned from south africa on safari and there was no news and wondered what we had returned to. it took a while to grasp the facts. this person says they were in their third day of isolation this time last year which ended up of a month on a ventilator and two months in intensive care. i do not remember the beginning of lockdown. i hope you have recovered well. this person says my family gathered to celebrate my mums birthday and the next time i saw them was at my brother's funeral, them was at my brother's funeral, the following month he died from covid—19 aged 51. i am so sorry to hear that. many people will be thinking back to the all situations. this person says they were in hospital, ifelt this person says they were in hospital, i felt so lucky i had this person says they were in hospital, ifelt so lucky i had been diagnosed and operated just on time. one year own, thrilled to have made pottery for the chef on the great british diana says she remembered when she was told to stay—at—home and she turned over in bed and shed and she turned over in bed and shed a tear at the fearful thought of not seeing my gp grandson for a long time, it was two months until i did. —— baby grandson. i was at an adult ballet class and i was concerned but not fully understanding the real implications of the word lockdown. a year ago, shielding measures, second time around it has been much more difficult and the toll it has taken on mental and physical health, i have only left my house twice. i perform humanist weddings, this time last year all my couples have their weddings back a year and are now putting them back another year due to the uncertainty of this year. these are really interesting. pauline gardner, a year ago today i arrived in heathrow from new york and the atmosphere in heathrow was palpable. it was eerie and very strange. she is looking forward to planning another trip. i belong to a fabulous community acquire in devon, a year ago, the last session was held in plymouth before lot down. we made sure the choir continued on line and we are still singing. acquirers have to be online at the moment. i hope you can get back together and sing together very, very soon. one more, visiting family in australia and an lockdown there. in march, just days when we were due to fly home, our flight home was cancelled, countries were closing their borders and it was a very anxious and worrying time. really interesting to hear all your thoughts, it is a snapshot of what was going on around the uk and around the world as countries in third lockdown. what were your strongest memories of those time? you can really feel the emotion in those messages. you can send us more messages on twitter. during the first wave of the covid pandemic, russian officials regularly claimed that the death rate was significantly lower than in other countries. but data from russia's statistics agency shows a significant gap between the daily tally of deaths, and the number of people with covid on their death certificates. our correspondent sarah rainsford went to the city of perm, deep in the ural mountains — and sent this report. they are better protected now. the virus they are fighting is more familiar. but for russia's medics, all this is a daily reminder of the risk. here in perm, covid—19 hit hardest last autumn when the number of sick and dying suddenly surged. that's when this man began posting an online diary as his own condition got worse. he was calling for ambulances that never came. his last message before dying says he is finally in hospital but feels very bad. his son—in—law tells me his life might have been saved. but he says the health service, the authorities, were not ready for so many patients. the story is a hint that this pandemic has hit russia much harder than it likes to admit. if you take the official daily tally of covid deaths, then in 2020, here in russia, it's as if all the residents of 100 giant blocks of flats like these were all killed. but most people think a true account of the cost of covid is the number of excess deaths. and here in russia, that figure is some six times higher. that's the equivalent of a third of the population of a city this size being wiped out. many russians don't realise that. the data isn't a secret, itjust isn't mentioned by officials or state media. they talk of success instead in managing this pandemic. so life goes on in perm and across russia almost as normal. there has been no lockdown since spring. but these were the scenes here in autumn. queues of ambulances full of people with covid. and for three months the number of deaths in perm shot up. it was just terrible to see these patients. this man remembers leaving patients at home because hospitals had no space for them. i think the restrictions should be more tough. if it was done, i think we have less cases of illness and less number of deaths. the most vulnerable are now getting protected, though national roll—out of russia's sputnik v vaccine is slow. even so, the infection rate here is falling, and some think that's because so many people already had covid. but when i asked this senior doctor whether russia should have locked down tighter, he said no. translation: you can't leave people without work either. _ that's really bad. we always look for a reasonable balance. obviously the best protection would be to wear a spacesuit but you can't do that for a whole year. covid—19 has swept through russia like everywhere. here they say they have coped better, but that picture doesn't reflect the full cost of this pandemic in lost lives. sarah rainsford, bbc news, perm. a study suggests poor dental health is still a significant problem, despite it being largely preventable. a report from public heath england looks for the first time at how people's circumstances can have an impact, and says inequality is a major factor. jon donnison reports. this report says that while overall, dental and oral health is improving across england, much still depends on your socioeconomic background and where you live. this is especially the case for children. in 2019, five—year—olds from the most deprived areas of the country were more than three times as likely to have tooth decay as those from the least deprived. there is a similar imbalance in dental health amongst adults. public health england says barriers to nhs care, including cost and lack of available services, are partly responsible. it says that people from the south of england have significantly healthier teeth and mouths than those living in the midlands and the north. the research also says that women, who brush their teeth more often, consume less sugar and visit the dentist for checkups more frequently than men, unsurprisingly have fewer dental problems. jon donnison, bbc news. women in england diagnosed with ovarian cancer can — from today — become eligible for a drug that has shown to significantly reduce progression of the disease and death in those newly diagnosed with a particular form of the disease. ovarian cancer is one the most lethal cancers due to it often being detected it more advances stages. there are around 7,400 new ovarian cancer cases in the uk every year. between 2013 and 2017, about 35% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in england were predicted to survive their disease for ten years or more. about1 in 50 uk women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in their lifetime. i am joined now by dr susana banerjee — consultant medical oncologist at the royal marsden hospital in london and who is also team leader in gynaecological cancers at the institute of cancer research. good to have you with us. this new treatment is being described as a precision medicine combination. i'll come back to that in a moment. tell us more about what the treatment is and who it is suitable for. tiara us more about what the treatment is and who it is suitable for.— and who it is suitable for. two days amounts meant _ and who it is suitable for. two days amounts meant is _ and who it is suitable for. two days amounts meant is great _ and who it is suitable for. two days amounts meant is great news - and who it is suitable for. two days amounts meant is great news and i and who it is suitable for. two days i amounts meant is great news and it's an important milestone for two reasons. a drug which is a targeted cancer medicine when combined with another drug which attacks blood vessels which feed cancer, when it is given as part of first—line treatment, that is now a new option available in the nhs and represents available in the nhs and represents a new standard of care. what we saw clinical trial was that women with advanced ovarian cancer who had a positive marker, the left for more than three years without progression with addition of a combination compared to 17 months with the drug alone. this result is practice changing. it can make a significant difference to the lives of women with ovarian cancer. it is the first approved combination an ovarian cancer. ~ ., ~' approved combination an ovarian cancer. ~ . ~ ., ., cancer. when we talk about women newly diagnosed — cancer. when we talk about women newly diagnosed with _ cancer. when we talk about women newly diagnosed with ovarian - cancer. when we talk about women | newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer and testing positive with this particular marker, what percentage of cases would that be?— particular marker, what percentage of cases would that be? around one in two women _ of cases would that be? around one in two women with _ of cases would that be? around one in two women with advanced - in two women with advanced high—grade ovarian cancer have an hrd positive tumour. testing early on and on the cancer is essential to personalise first—line treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer because we can identify women who can benefit most from the addition with the drug in combination to substantially daily cancer relapse. this gives those patients a better prognosis than they might have expected prior to this point? absolutely. we know there has been substantial progress over the years in treatments of ovarian cancer, first it was for patients with relapsed disease and more recently over the last two years, bringing treatments forward to those that are diagnosed. so for far, treatments forward to those that are diagnosed. so forfar, we know that when cancer returned, it is not curable for most patients although it is treatable. if we treat earlier on for newly diagnosed patients, there is the hope of longer term remission and improving survival rates and the possibility of increasing cure rates for women with advanced ovarian cancer. imilieu advanced ovarian cancer. when hanu-u- advanced ovarian cancer. when hang-up spoken _ advanced ovarian cancer. when hang-up spoken to _ advanced ovarian cancer. when hang-up spoken to colleagues | advanced ovarian cancer. when i hang-up spoken to colleagues of hang—up spoken to colleagues of yours recently, they talk about part of their goal to give people precision medicine combination is, you've talked about personalisation, a bespoke treatment depending on the individual and the type of cancer they have, this fits in with that, doesn't it? we they have, this fits in with that, doesn't it?— they have, this fits in with that, doesn't it? ~ ., ., ., ., doesn't it? we know that a target enhanced medicine _ doesn't it? we know that a target enhanced medicine works - doesn't it? we know that a target enhanced medicine works by - enhanced medicine works by manipulating the dna repair process and as you mentioned a lot of that art originated from laboratories from the institute of cancer research and have been taken through to early feast and later phase trials at the royal marsden and we know that women with mutations now as well, patients with hrd can benefit most from the additional inhibitors. the important point is that around one in five women may have a mutation and therefore benefit from inhibitors but we now know that up to one in two women may have hrd sold more women could benefit from the addition of inhibitors compared to just limiting to mutations. it is good news all round. this is one of the people benefiting from this treatment. it is really good to see you. tell us about your story and when you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. i story and when you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer.— story and when you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian — with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian cancer— with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at _ with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the _ with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the end - with ovarian cancer. i was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the end of - with ovarian cancer at the end of 2017~ _ with ovarian cancer at the end of 2017~ i_ with ovarian cancer at the end of 2017~ i had — with ovarian cancer at the end of 2017. i had three lots of chemotherapy, carbo and another one, i had chemotherapy, carbo and another one, i had three _ chemotherapy, carbo and another one, i had three lots and then i had surgery. — i had three lots and then i had surgery, and then i had another three _ surgery, and then i had another three lots— surgery, and then i had another three lots of chemotherapy and then i was started on a... for 18 lots of chemotherapy which was every three weeks _ chemotherapy which was every three weeks i_ chemotherapy which was every three weeks. i finished that in march 2019. — weeks. i finished that in march 2019. and _ weeks. i finished that in march 2019, and i did not take anything else after— 2019, and i did not take anything else after that and i was cancer free then — else after that and i was cancer free then until december 2019 when it re—occurred. i was given more chemotherapy, i was not able to finish _ chemotherapy, i was not able to finish it— chemotherapy, i was not able to finish it because of covid—19. and then_ finish it because of covid—19. and then i_ finish it because of covid—19. and then i was— finish it because of covid—19. and then i was started again injune 2020 _ then i was started again injune 2020 and — then i was started again injune 2020 and i have been on it ever since _ 2020 and i have been on it ever since and — 2020 and i have been on it ever since and i_ 2020 and i have been on it ever since and i have been absolutely fine and — since and i have been absolutely fine and i— since and i have been absolutely fine and i have had no side effects and i_ fine and i have had no side effects and i have — fine and i have had no side effects and i have felt wonderful. this fine and i have had no side effects and i have felt wonderful.- and i have felt wonderful. this is one of the _ and i have felt wonderful. this is one of the drugs _ and i have felt wonderful. this is one of the drugs in _ and i have felt wonderful. this is one of the drugs in the _ and i have felt wonderful. this is one of the drugs in the new - one of the drugs in the new treatment that the doctor has been talking about. tell us how you have been feeling since she had this treatment? psychologically, how does it make you feel? it gives you a better prognosis, doesn't it? absolutely. apart from taking the tablets. _ absolutely. apart from taking the tablets. i— absolutely. apart from taking the tablets, i take two tablets in the morning — tablets, i take two tablets in the morning and two in the evening, 12 hours _ morning and two in the evening, 12 hours apart, — morning and two in the evening, 12 hours apart, excuse me, ifeel absolutely— hours apart, excuse me, ifeel absolutely fine. i have not forgotten that i had a diagnosis of cancer, _ forgotten that i had a diagnosis of cancer, but it has taken so much away, _ cancer, but it has taken so much away, it— cancer, but it has taken so much away, it is— cancer, but it has taken so much away, it is unbelievable, and ijust able to— away, it is unbelievable, and ijust able to do— away, it is unbelievable, and ijust able to do all the things that i could — able to do all the things that i could before. i can go for a thatis that is wonderful to hear. thank you for telling us your story, and thank you very much to the doctor of the royal marsden and institute of cancer research. now, matt taylor has the weather. hello there. not often i get to say this, but yesterday scotland and iceland were among the warmest parts of europe. we saw temperatures highest in the uk since october last year and in eastern parts of iceland. much of europe, though, in the chill, the reason is we've had high—pressure out towards the west of us. winds go round in a clockwise way, so we are dragging the air all the way from the mid—atlantic towards us. at the same time, for the east, dragging the airfrom scandinavia south towards the mediterranean. part of east anglia tapped into that cold yesterday, 7 degrees, but more sunshine today even though it feels chilly. sunshine in western scotland, but around the country, lots of cloud, some patchy rain or drizzle. even though we've got the sunshine in east anglia and the south—east, still going to be a chilly day, temperatures six, 7 degrees. same too in the channel islands where as you've got the sunshine in the west of scotland on the western side of the central belt, could get up to around 17 degrees. the likes of edinburgh, a bit cooler than yesterday with a bit more cloud later in the day. the rest of the country, though, under rather agree skies and patchy rain and drizzle through other parts of england and wales. temperatures are around where they should be, if not, a bit lower for the time of year. but winds are generally light across the country as they will be tonight. clear skies initially across the south of the uk, we could see a bit of patchy frost, some frost in western scotland and then eastern scotland later as the skies are clear here. for most of you, cloudy skies will dominate. still some spots of rain or drizzle through england and wales and temperatures well clear of reason for most as we start saturday morning. here we go into the weekend. rather grey skies for many. you can see the cloud on the imagery here. thick enough to bring some rain later across northern scotland before sunshine appears. there will be some sunny spells here and there across the country. most favoured will be south—east scotland towards north—east england. it is here where we could hit 15 or 16 degrees during saturday afternoon. then it's going to a saturday night, the current cloud with little bit of drizzle pushing its way across the eastern half of the country. not much, though, it cleared through into sunday, high—pressure still with us, a bit breezy across the far north of scotland. light winds elsewhere, and i'm optimistic on sunday there will be a few more sunny breaks for those of you who mist out over the next few days. temperatures still only around nine to 12 celsius for most, maybe 14, 15 south wales, south—west england. into next week, southern areas may stay dry with some sunny spells, but scotland and northern ireland turning increasingly cloudy, wet and windy at times. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11am: germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe, as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford—astrazeneca covid jab today. he's urging others to come forward after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. dozens of cigarette and tobacco products will no longer be sold in northern ireland because of different packaging rules in the eu and great britain. and coming up this hour — the mice infestation causing havoc for farmers in australia. locals say it's the worst in decades. the prime minister is due to receive the oxford astrazeneca vaccine today and has assured the public it is safe. it's after several leading european countries confirmed they will resume the roll—out of the jab following a pause over safety concerns. borisjohnson has urged people to get vaccinated and says england's road map out of lockdown is on track, despite a drop in vaccine supply. the roll—out of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine will resume in some eu countries today after regulators found no evidence it causes blood clots. the european medicines agency reviewed the jab and found that it was not associated with a higher risk of clots. france, germany and italy, along with cyprus, latvia and lithuania, are to restart use of the jab today, while spain, portugal and the netherlands will do so next week. but norway, sweden and denmark have said they won't use the astrazeneca vaccine while they conduct their own independent reviews. in france, 35,000 new coronavirus infections have been recorded in the past 24 hours and the country fears a third wave of coronavirus. so, from midnight tonight, 21 million people across 16 areas of the country, including paris, will be placed under a new month—long lockdown. more on the situation in the eu shortly, but first, here's our health correspondent, katherine da costa. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is safe and effective at preventing covid with no increased risk of blood clots. that's the consensus among regulators and a message the prime minister hopes will be heard around the world. today, the european medicines agency has come to a clear scientific conclusion, and i quote, "this is a safe and effective vaccine". so the oxford jab is safe and the pfizerjab is safe. the thing that isn't safe is catching covid, which is why it's so important that we all get ourjabs as soon as oui’ turn comes. the european medicines regulator carried out a thorough review looking at data from 20 million vaccinated people. it looked in particular at rare blood clots in the brain and found 18 cases, including five in the uk. there is no evidence of a link to the vaccine, but they will continue to monitor this condition and are advising people with a number of symptoms including a persistent headache or unusual bruising to seek medical advice. it's very unfortunate there was the pause, for two reasons. firstly, it loses time, and bearing in mind in the eu there are currently over 2000 deaths per day from covid, so this is a very pressing public health emergency. the second aspect is public confidence. will people now be willing to get their vaccine as quickly as possible, because that's the way that these successive waves are going to be stamped out. italy and france are among the first to announce they will resume using the astrazeneca vaccine, and it can't come soon enough. they are among several european countries experiencing a third wave in new infections with further lockdown measures being introduced. as we've been hearing, several european countries including germany, france and italy will resume using the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine after regulators found no evidence it causes blood clots. it comes as the german health minister warns that there isn't enough vaccine in europe to stop a third wave. our europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels. i think that's a very stark and worrying warning coming from germany this morning, the fact they believe there are not enough vaccines on the continent. it's a combination of factors, some really worrying factors. you mentioned france. tonight, paris and 15 other regions of the country will be put into much stricter lockdown measures because the number of people in intensive care in paris is higher than during the second wave back in november, so france is a concern. germany are clearly worried as well. central and eastern europe, rising cases. i have just looked at the latest figures for poland, a 30% rise in new cases in the past week. alongside this picture of the graphs going the wrong way, the number of cases going up, there are problems with vaccines, we know they haven't been getting the vaccines from britain, from astrazeneca, that they wanted. the european commission talking about 100 million fewer doses coming to the eu in the three months from april, so it's really a pretty bleak picture, i'm afraid. here, the culture secretary oliver dowden said the situation in europe could lead to a rise in cases here. i think what's going on in europe is a real_ i think what's going on in europe is a realwake—up i think what's going on in europe is a real wake—up call to us and a warning. — a real wake—up call to us and a warning, people say we could ease these _ warning, people say we could ease these restrictions sooner, we just need _ these restrictions sooner, we just need to— these restrictions sooner, we just need to look at what's happened in the past _ need to look at what's happened in the past. fry zines in europe have led to— the past. fry zines in europe have led to rises— the past. fry zines in europe have led to rises in the uk. i'm hopeful it wont— led to rises in the uk. i'm hopeful it won't happen this time, not least thanks— it won't happen this time, not least thanks to _ it won't happen this time, not least thanks to the vaccine, but we need to stick— thanks to the vaccine, but we need to stick by— thanks to the vaccine, but we need to stick by the rules to prevent that happening. uk death rates have been overtaken by six other european countries in the autumn waves of covid—19. the uk experienced one of the worst rates of death in europe in the first half of the year. but in the second half of the year, six countries overtook the uk . let's talk to our head of statisitcs, robert cuffe. tell us more about this. if we cast our minds — tell us more about this. if we cast our minds back— tell us more about this. if we cast our minds back to _ tell us more about this. if we cast our minds back to last _ tell us more about this. if we cast our minds back to last summer, i tell us more about this. if we cast i our minds back to last summer, the uk had seen it seven you are% more deaths than we would expect based on the age of the population and recent death rates. that is huge number, once in a generation comment at the time, the worst in europe. it hasn't changed much since then but it has in other countries in europe. we can show, if we bring up the graphic, that while the uk, that blue line across the middle of the screen, death rates around seven your% above average, there are other countries have had severe first waves in the autumn, like poland, that went from very low death rates and average to suddenly surpassing the uk and now for the whole of the year, they saw about 10% more deaths than you would expect. other countries have seen similar results, the uk is no longer a standout in europe. lip similar results, the uk is no longer a standout in europe.— a standout in europe. up while we look at these _ a standout in europe. up while we look at these numbers, _ a standout in europe. up while we look at these numbers, we - a standout in europe. up while we look at these numbers, we are - look at these numbers, we are talking about rates rather than absolute numbers? this talking about rates rather than absolute numbers? this business of comarin: absolute numbers? this business of comparing countries _ absolute numbers? this business of comparing countries has _ absolute numbers? this business of comparing countries has been - comparing countries has been difficult but this is the analysis you were to comet since the start of the epidemic, experts have said look at age—adjusted all caused mortality rates, and this is that analysis. so you would pay more attention to that rather than the daily numbers and going on websites and comparing one country against another. but doesn't tell the whole story because 2020 is at the whole epidemic. authority the covid deaths in the uk happened this year and we still have the vaccination roll—out to content with, the situation in france, and any possible future variance and there is still a long way to go. addresses a problem with looking for pandemic, it is a long event and sometimes are only likely to know after the fact which strategies by which countries with the most effective. in which countries with the most effective. ., , , which countries with the most effective. . , , effective. in a sense you can get into the finer— effective. in a sense you can get into the finer details _ effective. in a sense you can get into the finer details of- effective. in a sense you can get into the finer details of the - into the finer details of the differences between its 7.5 per sentence of 1.8%, there are countries have done very well and there are many countries in asia whether a successful test and trace in an isolation programme is, they had a betterfirst in an isolation programme is, they had a better first wave down the uk and that does suggest the kind of strategies you do take in order to minimise the effect of the second wave. it is more complicated now as vaccinations will drive differences in the 2021 and probably 2022 as well. it's a long way to go, we won't know the full story until the end but we can get indications on what actions we may need to take. thank you. in germany, covid case numbers are now rising exponentially, according to a government expert there. pressure is mounting on the government to reintroduce lockdown measures. let's speak to tobias kurth who's professor of public health and epidemiology at the charite university hospital in berlin. thank you forjoining us. tell us what you're seeing in germany at the moment? �* , ., , , moment? don't seeing a rise in cases aaain and moment? don't seeing a rise in cases again and it — moment? don't seeing a rise in cases again and it looks _ moment? don't seeing a rise in cases again and it looks like _ moment? don't seeing a rise in cases again and it looks like this _ moment? don't seeing a rise in cases again and it looks like this rise - moment? don't seeing a rise in cases again and it looks like this rise is - again and it looks like this rise is exponential as the second wave, so we are facing a third wave and these numbers are very alarming and i hope that everyone understands the importance of now really following the measures and reducing contacts, wearing facemasks and if available, getting a vaccine. can wearing facemasks and if available, getting a vaccine.— getting a vaccine. can you pinpoint wh this getting a vaccine. can you pinpoint why this has _ getting a vaccine. can you pinpoint why this has happened? _ getting a vaccine. can you pinpoint why this has happened? it - getting a vaccine. can you pinpoint why this has happened? it is - getting a vaccine. can you pinpoint why this has happened? it is a - getting a vaccine. can you pinpointl why this has happened? it is a good cuestion, why this has happened? it is a good question. a — why this has happened? it is a good question, a combination _ why this has happened? it is a good question, a combination of - why this has happened? it is a good question, a combination of dealingl question, a combination of dealing with the so—called uk mutants, which is more infectious. we are also rolling out more rapid antigen tests that will pick up more asymptomatic cases, as well as some relaxation in the measures so some shops opened in some regions and some people got less careful. so i think the competition are all of this leads to this increase.— competition are all of this leads to this increase. how much of an issue is the fact that _ this increase. how much of an issue is the fact that germany _ this increase. how much of an issue is the fact that germany doesn't - is the fact that germany doesn't have enough vaccine, like the rest of the eu? it’s have enough vaccine, like the rest ofthe eu? fl. ., , have enough vaccine, like the rest of the eu?— of the eu? it's certainly an issue that we hoped — of the eu? it's certainly an issue that we hoped to _ of the eu? it's certainly an issue that we hoped to have _ of the eu? it's certainly an issue that we hoped to have more - of the eu? it's certainly an issue i that we hoped to have more people vaccinated but we are far, far away from 60% or 70% of the people being vaccinated in most countries. some countries are for a long but others are not, and in europe, many countries are facing the same situation, so unfortunately, it is a long way to go with the vaccination but i hope we get more vaccines available on the markets, so as many as possible get a vaccine. the easter holidays _ as possible get a vaccine. the easter holidays are _ as possible get a vaccine. the easter holidays are not far away, that will create a concern as people want to mix more, so what's the message going it to be from experts? as much as i understand people would like to go on vacation and relax, it is unfortunate that we are now at the start of a third wave and ideally, everyone stays at home and spend time with the family at home that are usually spend time with are note going across the country or across europe to see friends and just being a little less careful overall. we have seen this over christmas and on other occasions, so travelling is not a good idea at this point. travelling is not a good idea at this point-— travelling is not a good idea at this oint. ., ~' , . travelling is not a good idea at this oint. ., ~ , . ., this point. thank you very much for our this point. thank you very much for your time- — scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon is facing calls to resign because a committee of msps concluded she misled them in their inquiry into the handling of harrassment claims against her predecessor, alex salmond. it's understood they voted five to four that she gave them an inaccurate account when she answered their questions two weeks ago. the first minister says she stands by what she said. our political correspondent nick eardley has this report. i solemnly, sincerely and truly declare... this is nicola sturgeon two weeks ago. giving evidence to the scottish parliament about how her government handled allegations of sexual harassment against alex salmond. it was a mammoth session, eight hours in total. but the committee has decided she misled them in the process. in a meeting last night, a narrow majority of the committee, five to four, made the decision. their full report will be published next week but opposition parties say ms sturgeon can no longer be trusted. it's absolutely, abundantly clear that nicola sturgeon has breached the ministerial code. as first minister, you cannot continue if you have been untruthful, if you have misled parliament, and you've misled the people of scotland. it is a resigning matter, pure and simple. the first minister has always denied misleading msps and last night, she stood by her evidence. she said... this committee has unfortunately experienced an awful lot of leaking and information coming out in ways that are neither helpful nor necessarily accurate. i think that this is more of the challenge that we see again here, and i will be waiting to hear from the actual report. in under a week, the scottish parliament will break up for the election. the coming days will be dominated by questions over whether ms sturgeon misled parliament. the election campaign may well be too. nick's been giving us an idea of what might come next. i think the pressure on nicola sturgeon this morning is significant. there are calls from the scottish conservatives, as you heard in the piece here, for her to resign. they have been making that call for a couple of weeks now. we've heard from the labour leader sir kier starmer this morning, saying he doesn't want to prejudge the report but if nicola sturgeon is found to have broken the ministerial code by misleading parliament, then that is a resignation matter. i've got to say, i think ms sturgeon, certainly on the committee's findings, is going to come out fighting. we know she thinks the process was partisan, that it had been prejudged before she even gave evidence. it's worth pointing out that the committee did split down party lines, so, the five opposition members think she misled them, the four snp members think she didn't. there is another process going on as well, the independent adviser on the ministerial code in scotland, a guy called james hamilton qc, is looking into whether ms sturgeon broke the code. we're expecting him to report any day now, probably next week, by the looks of things, but in truth, it could come at any point. and if he finds she's broken the ministerial code, that pressure, just before holyrood breaks up for the election, is going to be humongous. a humongous! the headlines on bbc news: germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe — as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford astrazeneca covid jab today — he's urging others to come forward, after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. a woman who argued that care—workers should be paid the national minimum wage when they have to sleep overnight at work, has claire tomlinson—blake was paid less than £30 for a sleep—in shift between 10pm and 7am. although she could sleep, she was expected to keep a "listening ear" out for the homes residents and provide them with support if needed during the night. if she had won the case, charities and care providers warned they would have faced an estimated £400 million bill for backpay, which they said they couldn't afford. people in cumbria, cornwall and northumberland will be among the first in england to get ultrafast broadband. it's part of the government's plan to roll out high speed broadband to the majority of homes across the uk by the end of 2025. work will begin next year, with more than a million homes in rural areas set to benefit from the first stage of the scheme. changing priorities brought on by the pandemic have led to increased demand for coastal properties — according to new data out today. the property website rightmove says cornwall has overtaken london as the most—searched for location this year. the analysis suggests a place by the sea, with a garden, and room to work indoors is the dream for many house—hunters. but there are signs of renters moving back to cities. the first high—level talks between the biden administration and china have got off to an ill—tempered start, with us and chinese officials exchanging sharp rebukes. the us secretary of state antony blinken criticised china over cyber attacks, economic coercion and human rights. china's top diplomat yang jiechi accused washington of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries. the meeting began with blunt words on both sides. today, we will have an opportunity to discuss key priorities, both domestic and global, so that china can better understand our administration's intentions and approach. we'll also discuss our deep concerns with actions by china, including in xinjiang, hong kong, taiwan, cyber attacks on the united states, economic coercion towards our allies. i've said that the united states' relationship with china will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be. translation: the people of the two i countries and the world are hoping i to see practical outcomes coming out of our dialogue. and for xinjiang, tibet and taiwan, they are an inalienable part of china's territory. china is firmly opposed to us interference in china's internal affairs. we have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference and we will take firm actions in response. the meetings are taking place in alaska. our correspondent barbara plett usher says both parties went into the talks with quite different agendas. it was quite a rare public sparring match. this is not the way you start, normally, a staid diplomatic meeting, and it went on for some time. it was extended even after the formal remarks, back and forths. you know, in public comments before the meeting, the biden administration had been quite blunt about its criticisms of china and they brought those same comments to the meeting, so the chinese must have known what was coming and they really came prepared to hit back in kind. one of the senior chinese officials basically said the us should stop pushing its own version of democracy, it's got its own problems, it's got its own domestic problems. that this is not a model, necessarily, for the world, to paraphrase. and many other comments like that. and as you mentioned, afterwards, after this sort of quite sparked beginning, they apparently had a serious and sustained conversation in private afterwards. i suppose there's always a bit of posturing involved but this was an unusual degree. i think the chinese might have been angry, really, by the way the biden administration had been talking about them beforehand, and also just a day before sanctions had been imposed on china over its actions against democracy activists in hong kong. so it all came to an atmosphere at the beginning that was quite unusually undiplomatic. the bbc has said it's extremely concerned about the bbc news burmese reporter, aung thura, who was taken away by unidentified men in the burmese capital, naypyidaw earlier on friday. the bbc says it's doing everything it can to find aung thura and that it takes the safety of all its staff in myanmar very seriously. it has called on the authorities to help locate him and confirm that he is safe. aung thura is an accredited bbc journalist with many years of reporting experience covering events in naypyidaw. a study suggests poor dental health is still a significant problem, despite it being largely preventable. a report from public heath england looks for the first time at how people's circumstances can have an impact, and says inequality is a major factor. jon donnison reports. this report says that while overall, dental and oral health is improving across england, much still depends on your socioeconomic background and where you live. this is especially the case for children. in 2019, five—year—olds from the most deprived areas of the country were more than three times as likely to have tooth decay as those from the least deprived. there is a similar imbalance in dental health amongst adults. public health england says barriers to nhs care, including cost and lack of available services, are partly responsible. it says that people from the south of england have significantly healthier teeth and mouths than those living in the midlands and the north. the research also says that women, who brush their teeth more often, consume less sugar and visit the dentist for checkups more frequently than men, unsurprisingly have fewer dental problems. dozens of cigarette and tobacco products are being withdrawn from northern ireland's shelves because of brexit and the northern ireland protocol. the move is the result of different packaging rules for goods sold in the eu and great britain. products in northern ireland must carry an eu health warning, which is different from the rest of the uk. we're joined now by our ireland correspondent, emma vardy. just how big a problem is this? depends if you are a smoker or not whether you describe it as a problem. this all comes down to the special arrangements brought about by the northern ireland protocol and they are that northern ireland remains abiding by the eu single market rules while the rest of the uk is outside of all that. what that means when it comes to cigarettes is that the eu requires certain health warnings on packets that abide by the eu rules and two of the big cigarette manufacturers have said it's going to cost too much to have one set of packaging for goods that we sell the rest of the uk and a different set for northern ireland, that means they aren't taking every project off the shelves, just some variations that they offer. we don't know exactly which ones this will effect yet but we do know bbc news northern ireland has seen a list that includes some well—known brands like salcoats, benson & hedges, condor, imperialtobacco like salcoats, benson & hedges, condor, imperial tobacco we understand some of the plans affected there will be things like super kings and lambert and butler and. sojust another super kings and lambert and butler and. so just another example of this special arrangements to other islands are starting to filter through and having an impact on some of the products on the shelves. had an one of the products on the shelves. had anyone foreseen that there is? of the products on the shelves. hadi anyone foreseen that there is? there are many predictions _ anyone foreseen that there is? there are many predictions about _ anyone foreseen that there is? fuse are many predictions about the arrangements for the northern ireland protocol and how that would affect products in reality, because the set of rules were one thing, they all got agreed just before christmas, but then how retailers and manufacturers were going to respond with a little different and what we're seeing now is just how some retailers are doing that. some of the other things we've see is brands in the uk on business and saying, we used to sell lots of stuff in northern ireland but because we now have to abide by a different set of rules, maybe won't sell so much northern ireland. others are saying it is ok, they've got to grips with the paperwork and trading is find. agreeing the rules is one thing but seeing her businesses respond as another and this today is just another part of that playing out. this today isjust another part of that playing out-— scientists have witnessed bonobo apes adopting infants who were born outside of their social group for the first time in the wild. researchers from durham university and the university of kyoto say the findings give us greater insight into the parental instincts of one of humans' closest relatives and could help to explain the emotional reason behind why people readily adopt children who they have had no previous connection with. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. not often i get to say this, but yesterday, scotland and iceland were among the warmest parts of europe. temperatures highest in the uk since october last year and higher than eastern parts in ais much of europe has high pressure towards the west of us. but at the same time, further east, dragging the air from scandinavia south towards the mediterranean. and parts of east anglia tapped into that cold yesterday. 7 degrees. but more sunshine today, even though it still feels chilly. but at the same time, further east, dragging the air from scandinavia south towards the mediterranean. but at the same time, further east, dragging the air from scandinavia there will be some patchy rain or drizzle. but even though you have got the sunshine in east anglia and the south—east, it is still going to be a chilly day. temperatures six, 7 degrees, the same too in the channel islands. whereas you have got the sunshine in western scotland around the western side of the central belt, it could get up to around 17 degrees. the likes of edinburgh bit cooler than yesterday with a bit more cloud later in the day. the rest of the country, though, under rather grey skies, as i said. patchy rain or drizzle through other parts of england and wales. temperatures around where they should be, if not a little bit lower for the time of year. but winds are generally lighter across the country, as they will be tonight. under clear skies initially, across the south of the uk, we could see a bit of patchy frost. some frost in western scotland. and then eastern scotland later, the skiess clearer here. but for most of you, cloudy skies will dominate. still some spots of rain or drizzle through england and wales and temperatures will clear of freezing foremost as we start saturday morning. so, here we go it into the weekend. rather grey skies for many. you can see the cloud, the extent of it on the imagery here. thick enough to bring some rain later on across the north of scotland before sunshine appears. but there will be some sunny spells here and there across the country. best favoured will be south—east scotland tours north—east england. it is here where we could hit 15 or 16 degrees during saturday afternoon. hit 15 or 16 degrees then, as we go into saturday night, thicker cloud with a little bit of light rain or drizzle pushing its way across the eastern half of the country. not much, though. it clears through into sunday. high—pressure still with us. a bit breezier across the far north of scotland. light winds elsewhere. and i am optimistic on sunday there will be a few more sunny breaks for those of you who miss out over the next few days. temperatures still only around nine to 12 celsius for most. maybe 14 or 15 in south wales and south—west england. into next week, southern areas may stay dry with some sunny spells, but scotland and northern ireland turning increasingly cloudy, wet and windy at times. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe — as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford—astrazeneca covid jab today — he's urging others to come forward after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. dozens of cigarette and tobacco products will no longer be sold in northern ireland because of different packaging rules in the eu and great britain. and coming up shortly — the mice infestation causing havoc for farmers in australia. locals say it's the worst in decades sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane dougal. good morning. uefa are investigating an alleged incident after rangers' europa league defeat to slavia prague at ibrox last night. during the game, midfielder glen kamara claimed he was racially abused by one of the visiting players. he said 0ndrej kudela whispered something in his ear, and the rangers players were clearly furious. slavia prague denied the accusation and accused kamara of assaulting kudela in the tunnel after the match. manager stephen gerrard later said he 100% trusted his player and backed him. the draw for the champions league quarter and semi finals has just taken place in switzerland. three english teams involved — liverpool, manchester city and chelsea. and there's a tough draw for liverpool — they'll face real madrid, in a repeat of the 2018 final. after losing that, liverpool went on to lift the trophy the following year, of course. first team out of the hat was manchester city — they've been drawn against borussia dortmund. earling haarland playing against the side his father played for. chelsea will take on porto, who knocked outjuventus. and defending champions bayern munich will play psg. the semi final draw also took place. bayern munich or psg will play against manchester city or dortmund. and the other one, real madrid or liverpool will play porto or chelsea. gemma grainger has been named as the new manager of wales women, on a four—year contract. she replaces jayne ludlow, who left the post in january by mutual consent. grainger was part of the england coaching staff for euro 2017, where they reached the quarterfinals. she's spent 11 years working across the development squads. her appointment is understood to have been well received by the players, who were disappointed at ludlow�*s departure after seven years in charge. the government is considering the use of covid certificates to enable fans to return to sporting events. culture minister oliver dowden said they were working to get as many supporters as possible into the semi—finals and the final of this summer's european championships. he added that the future of the sporting industry depended on fans filling seats. castleford tigers head coach daryl powell has announced he'll be leaving the club at the end of the season. he took over his boyhood side eight years ago, when they were bottom of the super league table and turned them into title contenders. they won the league leaders' shield in 2017 and reached a challenge cup final and a grand final under powell's leadership. he said it was the right time to step down for him and the club. it's the jewel in the crown forjump racing at the cheltenham festival this afternoon — the gold cup. rachael blackmore has been the story of the event so far with five wins, but can she make more history by becoming the first woman to win cheltenham's biggest prize? she's riding a plus tar which is joint—favourite with al— boum photo, who's going for a third successive win. the gold cup is the race that every jockey wants to win. i have an unbelievable chance with a plus tar. we will all be heading out there trying to beat al—boum photo and we will be giving it our best shot. and bryony frost, is also trying to become the first woman to win the gold cup, on board frodon, remember — they won the king george sixth chase on boxing day together. that's all the sport for now but there's more on the bbc sport website, incuding live coverage from badminton's all—england open. i'll be back with more later. thank you very much. at the peak of the pandemic — as cases climbed and hospital admissions increased — the nhs was at risk of being overwhelmed. but tens of thousands of nursing students stepped in to volunteer, with many of them working on the front line for the very first time. now many of those are preparing to graduate this year. we've been hearing from eight student nurses from across the uk to find out what it was like to train in the middle of a national emergency. i would probably sum it up as a roller—coaster. my student experience before covid was absolutely amazing. socialising a lot with all of my uni colleagues and things. _ you were allowed to make mistakes, you are allowed to sort of take time in learning but i think that changed with covid. so, i'm just on my way to a placement. it's 6:30am. we were out on placement in march last year when the first few cases started coming through. things were changing on a daily basis, so one day the rules were this, the next day, the rules were this. it was just such a feeling walking in and thinking, like, wow, all of these beds could have been filled with patients with covid—19. even wearing the ppe - was challenging, you know, you were sweating. it's definitely a completely different experience from what it was like before covid. it's been a really difficult time just now in the hospital for the patients, not only because they're ill but because they're not allowed to see family and have no visitors. you know, the elderly like to talk about their grandchildren a lot. the younger patients, they kind of like to talk about missing the pubs, and missing seeing their friends. but for myself personally, although there is a big change in the hospital, not being able to see my family has been really, really difficult. hello! my mum and dad are both working from home at the minute so i've been quite cautious about obviously not wanting to bring it home. so, i'm just going to put my uniform straight in the washing machine. i've got little sistersl who are four and six, and i have missed birthdays, i i've missed them growing up. we are always on video and i ring them and stuff so it's ok - but i would like to hug them at some point. _ a bit of a tough day, one of our patients passed away unfortunately today. so it's been quite upsetting for obviously all the staff and their family as well. there's no words you can to sayl to someone who's just lost mum and dad to the same virus. i just sat with that person and held their hand and i said, you know, "i know i'm not your family, you don't know me, but just know that you're not alone and i'll be here with you". i'm tired today. it's... it's sad going to all these people's houses that are completely isolated. i definitely struggled - during the first lockdown, with mental health. i spoke to my gp, because i wasjust finding it so difficult _ because you want to reach out and ask for support _ but this has never happened before to our generation. i when i was told i was going to the respiratory ward, i was very anxious, i was worried not for myself, i was worried about bringing something home to my family. try to keep positive, going for walks, watched a lot of stupid tv, just trying to lift my mood. it's also really good living with two other nursing students because the first thing we ask one another as we come home through the door is, how was your day? so everybody vents and tells their stories. and usually you end up laughing about it which is really nice, i'd rather laugh than cry. it's currently quarter to four in the morning, coming in for my break. say hello! you can definitely see there's light at the end of the tunnel. we've come out of it a lot stronger, a lot more positive. i'm definitely proud to say that i was a student nurse during the pandemicjust because, because we got through it, really. when i look at all my friends and fellow nursing students, i'm just so proud, you know. not only proud of myself, but proud of them. i'm so excited for everybody graduating, to start their proper nursing journey. i'm studying for an exam that we have in a couple of weeks, our last exam of the three years. i know, in my little tutorial group, we are always, every week, someone's saying, please, when this is all over, let's just go for dinner, drinks, and pretend life is normal. so, yeah, i think we're all looking forward to that. during the first wave of the covid pandemic, russian officials regularly claimed that the death rate was significantly lower than in other countries. but data from russia's statistics agency shows a significant gap between the daily tally of deaths and the number of people with covid on their death certificates. our correspondent sarah rainsford went to the city of perm, deep in the ural mountains, and sent this report. they are better protected now. the virus they are fighting is more familiar. but for russia's medics, all this is a daily reminder of the risk. here in perm, covid—19 hit hardest last autumn when the number of sick and dying suddenly surged. that's when this man began posting an online diary as his own condition got worse. he was calling for ambulances that never came. his last message before dying says he is finally in hospital but feels very bad. his son—in—law tells me his life might have been saved. but he says the health service, the authorities, were not ready for so many patients. the story is a hint that this pandemic has hit russia much harder than it likes to admit. if you take the official daily tally of covid deaths, then in 2020, here in russia, it's as if all the residents of 100 giant blocks of flats like these were all killed. but most people think a true account of the cost of covid is the number of excess deaths. and here in russia, that figure is some six times higher. that's the equivalent of a third of the population of a city this size being wiped out. many russians don't realise that. the data isn't a secret, itjust isn't mentioned by officials or state media. they talk of success instead in managing this pandemic. so life goes on in perm and across russia almost as normal. there has been no lockdown since spring. but these were the scenes here in autumn. queues of ambulances full of people with covid. and for three months the number of deaths in perm shot up. it was just terrible to see these patients. this man remembers leaving patients at home because hospitals had no space for them. i think the restrictions should be more tough. if it was done, i think we have less cases of illness and less number of deaths. the most vulnerable are now getting protected, though national roll—out of russia's sputnik v vaccine is slow. even so, the infection rate here is falling, and some think that's because so many people already had covid. but when i asked this senior doctor whether russia should have locked down tighter, he said no. translation: you can't leave people without work either. _ that's really bad. we always look for a reasonable balance. obviously the best protection would be to wear a spacesuit but you can't do that for a whole year. covid—19 has swept through russia like everywhere. here they say they have coped better, but that picture doesn't reflect the full cost of this pandemic in lost lives. sarah rainsford, bbc news, perm. farmers in australia are under attack by an infestation of mice. communities in regional areas are onlyjust recovering after years of drought. but the healthy crops have delivered more food — and more food, means more mice. the situation is now out of control. residents say they can't keep the mice out of their homes. shopkeepers say they can't keep their stores clean. and at least three people have been bitten in hospital. let's speak to phil mercer, who's in sydney. we ought to issue a warning about some of the pictures following because they really are quite unpleasant to look at. what is happening in? i’m unpleasant to look at. what is happening in?— unpleasant to look at. what is happening in? unpleasant to look at. what is hauenina in? �* ., , ., happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun _ happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun for— happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun for mice _ happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun for mice is. - happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun for mice is. is - happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun for mice is. is it - happening in? i'm not sure what the collective noun for mice is. is it a i collective noun for mice is. is it a miss cheap or a carpetbut some of images on social media shows farms have been overrun by thousands of mice. they are prolific breeders and there is a cruel irony in all of this. many of these farms have enjoyed years of doubt. that drought is mostly over and has delivered a bumper harvest, but as you say, where there is more grain and food, there are inevitably more mice and farmers say that in many parts of eastern australia, they have been inundated. it is notjust an agricultural problem. several people are in hospital and had been bitten and we are hearing that elderly residents have been powerless to stop mice rampaging through their homes. australia is a land well used to pests. we think of toads and feral cats, but here it is mice causing an almighty problem for many farmers and others. i am causing an almighty problem for many farmers and others.— farmers and others. i am told that the collective _ farmers and others. i am told that the collective noun _ farmers and others. i am told that the collective noun is _ farmers and others. i am told that the collective noun is a _ farmers and others. i am told that the collective noun is a miss - farmers and others. i am told that the collective noun is a miss chief| the collective noun is a miss chief of mice. but that makes rather light of mice. but that makes rather light of the situation. what will they do? there was a serious mouse plague in 1983 here in australia and that inflicted about £53 million worth of damage of australian agriculture. the decade before, in the 1980s, there were reports that one farmer took to a group of mice with a flame—thrower. pretty extreme measure taken back then. experts tell us that not such extreme conditions may well be enough to bring this plate to an end eventually. we are getting into the cooler time. eventually. we are getting into the coolertime. —— bring eventually. we are getting into the cooler time. —— bring this plague to an end. a cold snap or disease could see mice numbers plummet. in the meantime, australian farmers are crossing their fingers that that will happen sooner rather than later. watching those pictures on social media reminds me of a time i was away with my family and my wife woke up to find a mouse on her face. there will be people wincing and scratching these images on social media. ~ , ,., , scratching these images on social media. ~ , , ., ~ scratching these images on social media. ~ , . ~' media. absolutely right. thank you so much, media. absolutely right. thank you so much. i — media. absolutely right. thank you so much, i think! _ the headlines on bbc news... germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe, as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford—astrazeneca covid jab today. he's urging others to come forward after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. millions of people take a coach trip every year but there's a warning that the future of the industry that employs more than 40,000 people could be in doubt. our business correspondent sarah corker reports. out on the road again. driver roy has been taking people on coach holidays for the last four decades. after much of the last year on furlough, he is gearing up to get going again. what have you missed the most? i've missed meeting the people. they're like an extended family. we get christmas cards off them. you know them by name and ijust can't wait to get back to see them. where do you think will be most popular for people on the coaches? 0h, blackpool, definitely. you're biased towards blackpool, though, aren't you? well, no, i'm not biased! we get so many people who come back to this hotel year after year after year. but through the pandemic, it's been a bumpy ride for coach holiday providers. this lancashire firm has nearly 50 coaches and a network of hotels. a lot of our customers have already been vaccinated so they really are, just, we want to get going now. we want to get on holiday. most of the 750 staff here are still on furlough. the boss says there is huge pent—up demand but the sector will take time to recover. we should have a good summer but make no mistake, you know, we've lost probably five months of the year already so it's going to be probably '22 before we are actually all back to normal. only 14 more miles to scarborough, we will be there in no time. rewind to the golden age of coach travel, a staple for generations of holiday—makers. in the branch offices, you can buy five shilling holiday saving stamps. today, the sector feels it's being overlooked. there have been nationwide protests. operators in england say they are classed as transport, and not tourism. and so haven't had enough government help. we've never faced a set of circumstances like this. we have fallen between the cracks somewhere, because when the initial grants were discussed, they were for the leisure and hospitality industry. and we've been lobbying hard to make the government understand that we are a leisure industry. furlough and loans have helped and the government says it's working closely with the sector to understand the ongoing risks. it is big business. 23 million coach trips were made in 2019, giving the economy a £14 billion boost and jobs to over 42,000 people. it will be mid may at the earliest before they can welcome customers back. coach holidays are about more than just a trip to the seaside. for many, it's about the people you meet on the coaches, and it can be a social lifeline. i travel alone, but there's always going to be somebody you meet up with and become friends with. in freckleton on the lancashire coast, hilary is planning her next trip. she wants to go to ireland. i guess we all miss just being able to go away, it's something we took for granted, isn't it? you don't realise how much holidays mean to you until you can't have them. we had to cancel... just down the road in longridge, beryl, barbara, ian and kate are a support bubble and have been holidaying together for the last decade. how many holidays have you got booked? at the present moment we've got four, but more in the pipeline. where do you think is going to be the highlight for this year? eastbourne, because we've never been to eastbourne. getting out of not seeing your four walls, going somewhere different. can't wait. what do you think it will feel like when you step back on the coach after so long? 0h, fantastic! and since the road out of lockdown was unveiled, there's been a surge in bookings as holiday—makers look forward to exploring once again. all week we have been hearing stories sourced and produced by young people between the ages of 11 and 18 as part of the bbc young reporter competition. today we hear from 17—year—old ben, an apprentice footballer at burton albion. he tells us about the pressures of trying to make it as a professional. there has been a couple of lads recently who have been released by clubs who have taken their own lives. that should not be how it is. young people are often overshadowed on the mental side, you kind of see, you're playing football every day, what can be wrong with you? who knows what is going on inside? i am 17 years old and i play for burton albion football club. i am a first year scholar at the moment so it's my first year of two years. there's loads of pressures and different kinds of things going on. the football is kind of one hour and a half of your day. you are leaving school, you are leaving your mates, you are leaving your whole kind of last 12 years, almost, to come and play football. and if you don't get a pro at the end of it, it's a big step to make. yeah, ijust kind of wanted to highlight the importance of the mental health side of football. people think, you are a footballer, you are living life, but it's not that at all. you are going home, you are sore, you're aching, you've got to wake up the next morning, you've got to get through it and it's what you've got to do if you want to be a footballer. if you are not training well enough, you're out of the team. it is hard, you are going home, you're not playing a tournament for 90 minutes and thinking, what am i doing here? so, yeah, highlighting the importance of that side of the game is vital. an academy footballer, it's harder than people think. you are in there every day, monday to saturday, you've got training in the morning, you've got college, monday, wednesday, thursday, you've got tactical sessions, you've got video sessions, you've got extras at the end if you want to do that. getting up early, getting home late, it's hard. if you do not do your work, you're not playing in the team. there's loads of different assignments for different teachers. it's a big part of the scholarship, doing college work, yeah. yeah, it's not like anything else, i don't think. we're all mates but you are fighting with each other. if he is taking your place as a pro contract, then you are not going to be happy. so, yeah, it's a bit fake in a sense that you're mates, obviously, but you want to be better than them and you need to be better than them if you want to be a footballer. i have got plans if football doesn't work out. probably uni, i have been thinking of america and different kind of english ones, but, hopefully, get a pro contract. my whole life goal has been to be a footballer, so i am trying to work towards that. yes, doing everything i can to do it. that was ben. and if you've been enjoying the stories told by the winners of this year's bbc young reporter competition, join us at 8.30pm tonight for a special half hour programme showcasing their work. daniel craig, keira knightly and olivia colman are amongst those taking part in tonight's socially distant comic relief. the star—studded night on bbc one will raise money to tackle hunger, homelessness, domestic abuse and mental health stigma. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson has been finding out what will be in tonight's show. this is the first socially distanced comic relief. red nose day will be different this year. we know that it's hard financially for so many people right now. but we'd love you to join us, even if it's just to share a laugh. tonight's show will be shorter, only three hours, but the vicar of dibley returns with a special message. last year, i was sponsored £5 per villager if i could squeeze a whole granny smith into my mouth. job done. while david tennant and michael sheen take part in an historical version of their lockdown hit staged. i'm going to write about this. about the play? yeah. is that what people want? yes, they want social realism. do they? 0k. yeah. and catherine tate's nanjoins james bond for a secret briefing, so secret, all that's been released so far is this one photo. this is pretty funny. the money raised by comic relief will be used to support those who have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. but the night's other aim is to simply make people laugh. colin patterson, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello there. not often i get to say this, but yesterday, scotland and iceland were among the warmest parts of europe. we saw temperatures highest in the uk since october last year and higher in eastern parts of iceland. much of europe, though, in the chill, and the reason is, we've had high pressure out towards the west of us. winds go around that in a clockwise way, so we have been driving the air always from the mid—atlantic towards us. but at the same time, further east, dragging the airfrom scandinavia, south towards the mediterranean. and parts of east anglia tapped into that cold yesterday. 7 degrees. but more sunshine today, even though it still feels chilly. sunshine in western scotland, but around the country, lots of cloud. there will be some patchy rain or drizzle. but even though you have got the sunshine in east anglia and the south east, it is still going to be a chilly day. temperatures 6, 7 degrees, the same too in the channel islands. whereas where you have got the sunshine in western scotland, around the western side of the central belt, it could get up to around 17 degrees. the likes of edinburgh a bit cooler than yesterday with a bit more cloud later in the day. the rest of the country, though, under rather grey skies, as i said. patchy rain or drizzle through other parts of england and wales. temperatures around where they should be, if not a little bit lower for the time of year. but winds are generally lighter across the country, as they will be tonight. under clear skies initially, across the south of the uk, we could see a bit of patchy frost. some frost in western scotland and then eastern scotland later, as the skies clearer here. but for most of you, cloudy skies will dominate. still some spots of rain or drizzle through england and wales and temperatures well clear of freezing for most as we start saturday morning. so, here we go into the weekend. rather grey skies for many. you can see the cloud, the extent of it on the imagery here. thick enough to bring some rain later on across the north of scotland before sunshine appears. but there will be some sunny spells here and there across the country. best favoured will be south—east scotland towards north—east england. it is here where we could hit 15 or 16 degrees during saturday afternoon. then, as we go into saturday night, thicker cloud with a little bit of light rain or drizzle pushing its way across the eastern half of the country. not much, though. it clears through into sunday. high pressure still with us. a bit breezier across the far north of scotland. light winds elsewhere. and i am optimistic on sunday there will be a few more sunny breaks for those of you who miss out over the next few days. temperatures still only around nine to 12 celsius for most. maybe 14 or 15 in south wales and south—west england. into next week, southern areas may stay dry with some sunny spells, but scotland and northern ireland turning increasingly cloudy, wet and windy at times. this is bbc news. the headlines: germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe, as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford astrazeneca covid jab today. he's urging others to come forward, after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. the supreme court rules that care workers who have to sleep at their workplace in case they are needed are not entitled to the minimum wage for their whole shift. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. and coming up this hour — the mice infestation causing havoc for farmers in australia. locals say it's the worst in decades. our top story, fears of a third wave of coronavirus infections across the eu as germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop it. the country is facing further restrictions because the number of cases are rising rapidly. some eu countries, including germany, have resumed the roll—out of the astrazeneca jab today, following a pause over safety concerns. the european medicines agency reviewed the jab and found that it was not associated with a higher risk of blood clots. france, germany and italy, along with cyprus, latvia and lithuania, are to restart use of the jab today while spain, portugal and the netherlands will do so next week. but norway, sweden and denmark have said they won't use the astrazeneca vaccine while they conduct their own independent reviews. in france, 35,000 new coronavirus infections have been recorded in the past 24 hours. so, from midnight tonight, 21 million people across 16 areas of the country, including paris, will be placed under a new month—long lockdown. in the uk, the prime minister is due to receive the oxford astrazeneca vaccine today and has assured the public it is safe. borisjohnson has urged people to get vaccinated and says england's road map out of lockdown is on track, despite a drop in vaccine supply. here's our health correspondent, katherine da costa. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is safe and effective at preventing covid with no increased risk of blood clots. that's the consensus among regulators and a message the prime minister hopes will be heard around the world. today, the european medicines agency has come to a clear scientific conclusion, and i quote, "this is a safe and effective vaccine". so the oxford jab is safe and the pfizerjab is safe. the thing that isn't safe is catching covid, which is why it's so important that we all get ourjabs as soon as oui’ turn comes. the european medicines regulator carried out a thorough review looking at data from 20 million vaccinated people. it looked in particular at rare blood clots in the brain and found 18 cases, including five in the uk. there is no evidence of a link to the vaccine, but they will continue to monitor this condition and are advising people with a number of symptoms including a persistent headache or unusual bruising to seek medical advice. it's very unfortunate there was the pause, for two reasons. firstly, it loses time, and bearing in mind in the eu there are currently over 2000 deaths per day from covid, so this is a very pressing public health emergency. the second aspect is public confidence. will people now be willing to get their vaccine as quickly as possible, because that's the way that these successive waves are going to be stamped out. italy and france are among the first to announce they will resume using the astrazeneca vaccine, and it can't come soon enough. they are among several european countries experiencing a third wave in new infections with further lockdown measures being introduced. in germany, the health minister says case numbers are now rising exponentially, fuelled by outbreaks among younger people. just 8% of the population has received a first dose of vaccine. our europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels. that is a very stark and worrying warning coming from germany this morning, the fact they believe there are not enough vaccines on the continent. it's a combination of factors, some really worrying factors. you mentioned france. tonight, paris and 15 other regions of the country will be put into much stricter lockdown measures because the number of people in intensive care in paris is higher than during the second wave back in november, so france is a concern. germany are clearly worried as well. central and eastern europe, rising cases. i have just looked at the latest figures for poland, a 30% rise in new cases in the past week. alongside this picture of the graphs going the wrong way, the number of cases going up, there are problems with vaccines, we know they haven't been getting the vaccines from britain, from astrazeneca, that they wanted. the european commission talking about 100 million fewer doses coming to the eu in the three months from april, so it's really a pretty bleak picture, i'm afraid. more now on france, where 21 million people will be placed under a month—long lockdown from midnight tonight. meanwhile, the french prime minister jean castex will be vaccinated this afternoon in paris. hugh schofield joins us now. let's talk about the vaccine first, there were concerns in france amongst other places about the astrazeneca jab but they will start reusing it, with caveats? thei;r astrazeneca jab but they will start reusing it, with caveats?— reusing it, with caveats? they are startin: reusing it, with caveats? they are starting that _ reusing it, with caveats? they are starting that today _ reusing it, with caveats? they are starting that today and _ reusing it, with caveats? they are starting that today and as - reusing it, with caveats? they are starting that today and as you - reusing it, with caveats? they are| starting that today and as you say, jean castex will take the astrazeneca jab this afternoon. he's not in the age group, he's 54, but he isjumping the queue for good reasons, to show that it's fit for everyone and fit for use in the scepticism which is undoubtedly there towards this drug is unfounded. there has been a breaking story in the last few minutes on the wires that the french medical authorities are saying they recommend astrazeneca for only over 55 is. i don't know how to interpret that, because earlier the missing notes for over 65 is and then there was an upper age limits, now there are saying a lower age limit. i don't know whether that is on a medical reason that or they want to keep it for older people, i don't quite understand. interestingly, himself, jean castex is 54, so underneath the age limit, if they are saying 55 and up only, that needs clarification, this new line for over 55 is. needs clarification, this new line for over 55 is— needs clarification, this new line for over 55 is. there is no context to no for over 55 is. there is no context to go with — for over 55 is. there is no context to go with that — for over 55 is. there is no context to go with that announcement - for over 55 is. there is no context to go with that announcement at| for over 55 is. there is no context i to go with that announcement at the moment. talk about this moto—mac, who will it affect and the extent of it? it who will it affect and the extent of it? , ., ., . ' it? it is a third of the french, 21 million people. _ it? it is a third of the french, 21 million people. paris _ it? it is a third of the french, 21 million people. paris region, i it? it is a third of the french, 21| million people. paris region, and its larger sense, all the suburbs in different apartments, stretching into normandy and other departments and north to the contiguous departments through picardy and up to calais and also in the south around east. these are areas where a threshold has been reached of a large number of cases per hundred thousand meaning they have gone into this new zone that the government does not want national lockdowns, it's moved on from that, it prioritises territory by ze zhang, meaning in paris we are entering another lockdown. not quite as serious as previous lockdowns, but if you move around, from tomorrow, you will have to have a document or something on your phone to show to the police to justify the movement and it means you can travel outside the region for a month. it's a psychological blow but i don't think in practical terms, people's lives will change that much given they were already under curfew and night—time socialisation has already in theory, alex. night-time socialisation has already in theory. alem— in theory, alex. thank you very much. the culture secretary oliver dowden said the situation in europe could lead to a rise in cases here. i think what's going on in europe is a real wake—up call to us and a warning, people that say we could ease these restrictions sooner, we just need to look at what's happened in the past. rises in in europe have led to rises in the uk. i'm hopeful it won't happen this time, not least thanks to the vaccine, but we really do have to stick by the rules to prevent that happening. i'm joined by professor adam finn, a member of the government's joint committee on vaccination and immunisation. welcome. how significant is the disruption in vaccine supply? clearly significant enough for us to have got our attention. the roll—out of the phase one, we're may port will proceed as planned, significantly, people tend to the age of 50 will be offered doses by mid april and we'll also be moving forward with second doses for those coming due. that's the main strategy at the moment, which is all about reducing the pressure of the pandemic on hospitalisations, the nhs and deaths, those of the highest risk people. i think the slightly lower amount of astrazeneca vaccine that we're hearing about over the coming months will mean that the roll—out of the second phase, which is people under the age of 50 without risk factors, will go more slowly and even may be delayed in terms of its start. the impact of thatis terms of its start. the impact of that is really that the ability of the vaccine programme to drive down virus circulation in the wider population will be delayed to some extent because immunising that popularisation is as much about trying to drive down transmission of the virus as it is about individual protection of people at risk. so it will have an impact but i think it will have an impact but i think it will simply take us back to where we thought we would be before we got ahead of ourselves. but thought we would be before we got ahead of ourselves.— thought we would be before we got ahead of ourselves. but what impact miaht this ahead of ourselves. but what impact might this have _ ahead of ourselves. but what impact might this have on _ ahead of ourselves. but what impact might this have on the _ ahead of ourselves. but what impact might this have on the number- ahead of ourselves. but what impact might this have on the number of. might this have on the number of hospital admissions, when we've thankfully seen those falling? i think we're hopeful that won't be affected because most hospitalisations are in people in high—risk groups, either by virtue of age or because of comorbidities. the protection of those groups should be going forward exactly according to plan so i'm hoping we won't see a spike up in hospitalisations which would happen if there was a big increase in circulation of virus. as your previous speaker just said, circulation of virus. as your previous speakerjust said, it is important we do maintain adherence to the rules and not allow that to happen in the meantime. haifa to the rules and not allow that to happen in the meantime. how much better our uptake _ happen in the meantime. how much better our uptake rates _ happen in the meantime. how much better our uptake rates in _ happen in the meantime. how much better our uptake rates in the - happen in the meantime. how much better our uptake rates in the uk . happen in the meantime. how much better our uptake rates in the uk of| better our uptake rates in the uk of the vaccine? there is a persistence for some people and the fear there is something dangerous about having them. the is something dangerous about having them. , ., ~ is something dangerous about having them. , . ~ ., , them. the uptake rates in the uk have been _ them. the uptake rates in the uk have been exceptionally - them. the uptake rates in the uk have been exceptionally high - have been exceptionally high overall, with the different groups as they come through and have time to get theirfirst as they come through and have time to get their first doses well above 90%, which is fantastic. of course, we would like it to be 100%. some people who have not come forward and the evenness of the coverage is not perfect. so there are some places, london has lower coverage than other parts of the country. what i lived on in the south west, coverage is very high and there are certain communities and ethnic groups who are less willing to come forward and be immunised. that unevenness does create a vulnerability because it means transmission of the virus can go on and we might see more cases in those groups. we've got to work hard to give people the information they needin to give people the information they need in those groups to make the right decision. the decision is very clearly in favour of having the vaccine. on a personal level, your risks of serious ill—health or even death from covid are much reduced if you take the vaccine than if you don't. and pointed to concerns around side effects are absolutely overshadowed and completely negligible compared to the benefits we know the vaccine provides. brute we know the vaccine provides. we tend in this country to talk about the pfizer vaccine and the oxford astrazeneca one as well, how likely are we to see more vaccines become available from other parts of the world? we available from other parts of the world? ~ ., available from other parts of the world? ~ . ., ., , available from other parts of the world? ~ ., . . , ., world? we have already got authorisation _ world? we have already got authorisation for _ world? we have already got authorisation for some - world? we have already got. authorisation for some doses world? we have already got - authorisation for some doses of the moderna vaccine, which i believe will be arriving in the next month, although not such large numbers of doses of that vaccine as we've been able to obtain the pfizer and astrazeneca vaccine is. further down the line, there are several other vaccines coming through, are vaccine similar to the oxford one from a company called jansen and also another vaccine from a company called novavax farm, a slightly different vaccine from the ones we have been using. there will be supplies of those coming through at some point but probably later in the summer. ., ~' some point but probably later in the summer. . ~ , ., scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon is facing calls to resign because a committee of msps concluded she misled them in their inquiry into the handling of harrassment claims against her predecessor, alex salmond. it's understood they voted five to four that she gave them an inaccurate account when she answered their questions two weeks ago. the first minister says she stands by what she said. our political correspondent nick eardley has this report. i solemnly, sincerely and truly declare... this is nicola sturgeon two weeks ago, giving evidence to the scottish parliament about how her government handled allegations of sexual harassment against alex salmond. it was a mammoth session, eight hours in total. but the committee has decided she misled them in the process. in a meeting last night, a narrow majority of the committee, five to four, made the decision. their full report will be published next week but opposition parties say ms sturgeon can no longer be trusted. it's absolutely, abundantly clear that nicola sturgeon has breached the ministerial code. as first minister, you cannot continue if you have been untruthful, if you have misled parliament, and you've misled the people of scotland. it is a resigning matter, pure and simple. the first minister has always denied misleading msps and last night, she stood by her evidence. she said... this committee has unfortunately experienced an awful lot of leaking and information coming out in ways that are neither helpful nor necessarily accurate. i think that this is more of the challenge that we see again here, and i will be waiting to hear from the actual report. in under a week, the scottish parliament will break up for the election. the coming days will be dominated by questions over whether ms sturgeon misled parliament. the election campaign may well be too. nick's been giving us an idea of what might come next. i think the pressure on nicola sturgeon this morning is significant. there are calls from the scottish conservatives, as you heard in the piece there, for her to resign. they have been making that call for a couple of weeks now. we've heard from the labour leader sir kier starmer this morning, saying he doesn't want to prejudge the report but if nicola sturgeon is found to have broken the ministerial code by misleading parliament, then that is a resignation matter. i've got to say, i think ms sturgeon, certainly on the committee's findings, is going to come out fighting. we know she thinks the process was partisan, that it had been prejudged before she even gave evidence. it's worth pointing out that the committee did split down party lines, so the five opposition members think she misled them, the four snp members think she didn't. there is another process going on as well, the independent adviser on the ministerial code in scotland, a guy called james hamilton qc, is looking into whether ms sturgeon broke the code. we're expecting him to report any day now, probably next week, by the looks of things, but in truth, it could come at any point. and if he finds she's broken the ministerial code, that pressure, just before holyrood breaks up for the election, is going to be humongous. people in cumbria, cornwall and northumberland will be among the first in england to get ultrafast broadband. it's part of the government's plan to roll out high—speed broadband to the majority of homes across the uk by the end of 2025. work will begin next year, with more than a million homes in rural areas set to benefit from the first stage of the scheme. well, i'm very confident we will deliver on this. this is a programme to make sure the whole country benefits from the fastest broadband on the planet. we've gone from about 9% coverage in 2019 to 40% now. it will be 60% by the end of the year. what we are now announcing is that in the last 20%, the really tricky bit that needs subsidy, everywhere from hartlepool to durham, cumbria to cornwall, will get that really, really fast broadband that will end things like the pizza wheel of doom or the battle over the bandwidth. this will equip us for the next generation. figures out this morning show the government borrowed £19.1 billion last month, the highest figure for the month of february since records began, reflecting the cost of pandemic support measures. chancellor rishi sunak, who has overseen the treasury's response to the pandemic, said coronavirus has caused one of the largest economic shocks this country has ever faced. the office for national statistics said that borrowing was £17.6 billion higher compared to february last year. the headlines on bbc news: germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop using the astrazeneca jab. a third wave of coronavirus in europe, as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford astrazeneca covid jab today. he's urging others to come forward after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. the supreme court rules care workers who have to sleep at their workplace in case they are needed are not entitled to the minimum wage for their whole shift. got some breaking news now from the office for national statistics. the latest figures from the ons infection survey suggest that infections have continued to decrease across england and wales and have levelled off in northern ireland but increased in scotland in the week to the 13th of march. estimates from the survey suggest about 192,300 people in the uk would test positive for coronavirus, 0.3% of the population at or one in 335 people, down from 280 people last week. there is a breakdown on the website of how the different nations are faring. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane. good afternoon. uefa are investigating several alleged incidents after rangers' europa league defeat to slavia prague at ibrox last night. during the game, midfielder glen kamara claimed he was racially abused by one of the visiting players — he said 0ndrej kudela whispered something in his ear — and the rangers players were clearly furious. slavia prague denied the accusation and claimed kamara assaulted kudela in the tunnel after the match. manager stephen gerrard said he 100% trusted his player and backed him. the draw for the champions league quarter and semifinals has just taken place in switzerland. three english teams involved, liverpool, manchester city and chelsea. and there's a tough draw for liverpool — they'll face the 13—time winners real madrid, in a repeat of the 2018 final. after losing that, liverpool went on to lift the trophy the following year, of course. manchester city were drawn against borussia dortmund — earling haarland playing against the side his father played for. chelsea will take on porto, who knocked outjuventus. and defending champions bayern munich will play psg. the semifinal draw also took place. the winner of manchester city's tie will take on bayern munich or psg, and we could see liverpool up against chelsea. gemma grainger has been named as the new manager of wales women, on a four—year contract. she replaces jayne ludlow, who left the post in january by mutual consent. grainger was part of the england coaching staff for euro 2017, where they reached the quarterfinals. she's spent 11 years working across the development squads. her appointment is understood to have been well received by the players, who were disappointed at ludlow�*s departure after seven years in charge. it's the jewel in the crown forjump racing at the cheltenham festival this afternoon — the gold cup. rachael blackmore has been the story of the event so far with five wins, but can she make more history by becoming the first woman to win cheltenham's biggest prize? she's riding ah plu tar which is joint—favourite with al— boum photo, who's going for a third successive win. the gold cup is the race that every jockey wants to win. i have an unbelievable chance with a plus tar. we will all be heading out there trying to beat al—boum photo and we will be giving it our best shot. and we've just had the draw for the quarterfinals of the europa league. arsenal will face slavia prague and manchester united take on granada. more details are on the bbc sport website. a woman who argued that care—workers in england should be paid the national minimum wage when they have to sleep overnight at work has lost her supreme court case. claire tomlinson—blake was paid less than £30 for a sleep—in shift between 10pm and 7am. although she could sleep, she was expected to provide support to patients if needed during the night. if she had won the case, charities and care providers warned they would have faced an estimated £400 million bill for backpay, which they said they couldn't afford. let's get more on this from our reporter charlotte wright. can be no more in the background, first? , , ., first? this case looked at whether --eole first? this case looked at whether people should _ first? this case looked at whether people should be _ first? this case looked at whether people should be paid _ first? this case looked at whether people should be paid an - first? this case looked at whether people should be paid an hourly l people should be paid an hourly minimum wage for so—called sleep in shifts, these shifts in places for people with autism and learning disabilities. player tomlinson—blake disabilities. player tomlinson—bla ke are good disabilities. player tomlinson—blake are good they should, she was one of three people who took this case to the supreme court and she said, even when she was asleep, she was working because she always had to have a listening ear out, she was always on, as it were. if she had been paid that hourly minimum wage, she would receive more than double what she did for a shift, £60 for one of these shifts, rather than the one to £9.05 she was getting. in 2019, the supreme court decided these shifts are available for work rather than actually working, so these people weren't entitled to the hourly minimum wage. this is something the supreme court agreed with today. if the supreme court hadn't agreed with this, it could have been hugely costly for the care sector with that massive amount in back payments but also moving forwards in the future. what is a reaction being?— what is a reaction being? speaking after the judgments, _ what is a reaction being? speaking after the judgments, claire - afterthejudgments, claire tomlinson—blake said it was never about the money it is about the principle of treating staff fairly. the trade union gmb said it was a shame, a chance to redress one of the sources of low pay for care workers. the association of care homes welcomed the ruling. dozens of cigarette and tobacco products are being withdrawn from northern ireland's shelves because of brexit and the ni protocol. the move is the result of different packaging rules for goods sold in the eu and great britain. products in northern ireland must carry an eu health warning, which is different from the rest of the uk. our ireland correspondent is emma vardy. this all comes down to those special arrangements brought about by the northern ireland protocol, and they are that northern ireland remains abiding by the eu single market rules while the rest of the uk is outside of all that. and what that means when it comes to cigarettes is that the eu requires certain health warnings on packets that abide by the eu rules and two other big cigarette manufacturers, jti and imperial, have said, look, it's just going to cost too much to have one set of packaging for goods that we sell in the rest of the uk and a different one in northern ireland. that doesn't mean they are taking everything off the shelves. they are just taking certain variations of some of their products that they manufacture off. they are saying that will be a bit easier. now, we do not know exactly which ones this will affectjust yet, but we do know bbc news northern ireland has seen a list that includes some of the well—known brands like silk cut, benson & hedges, condor tobacco, imperial tobacco. we understand some of the brands affected there will be things like superkings and lambert & butler. so, really, it isjust anotherfacet, really, of those special arrangements to northern ireland that are starting to filter through and are having an impact on some of the products on the shelves. had anybody foreseen this? well, there were many, many predictions about the arrangements for the northern ireland protocol and how that would actually affect products in reality. because, of course, the set of rules were one thing that all got agreed just before christmas. but then how retailers and manufacturers and companies were going to respond was a little bit different. and what we're seeing now is just how some retailers are doing that. now, some of the other things we have seen, of course, is some brands in the uk, some businesses saying, well, we used to sell lots of stuff in northern ireland, but actually, because now we have got to abide by a second set of rules over there — those new checks over the irish sea — maybe we won't sell so much to northern ireland either. others are saying, it is ok. we have got to grips with the new paperwork and we are trading over the irish sea fine. so, agreeing the rules was one thing, but seeing how businesses respond is another. and the news that the cigarettes today is just another part of that playing out. latest figures from the ons infection survey suggest that infections have "continued to decrease" across england and wales and have "levelled off" in northern ireland and increased in scotland in the week to 13th march 2021 let's talk to our head of statistics robert cuffe. can be set of numbers? it must be number stay! can be set of numbers? it must be numberstay! numbers can be set of numbers? it must be number stay! numbers continue to fall, not barrelling down on the way they were a couple of weeks ago but falling all the same. you can see, across the whole of the uk, the number of people who the office for national statistics say is around one in 330 people, went on in a couple of months ago. a little higher in england, a little lower in wales, scotland and northern ireland. the falls are probably being driven by falls in parts of england and in wales, so in the west midlands, and the east still flat. and the rest of the and northern ireland, a hint of rises in scotland and actually in the east midlands as well. �* ,., , well. are some interesting statistics _ well. are some interesting statistics as _ well. are some interesting statistics as well _ well. are some interesting statistics as well and - well. are some interesting statistics as well and how. well. are some interesting - statistics as well and how people's behaviour might change after the pandemic? the behaviour might change after the andemic? ,, ., ,~' , ., , behaviour might change after the andemic? ,, ., , .,, ., pandemic? the ons asked people how the find the pandemic? the ons asked people how they find the pandemic _ pandemic? the ons asked people how they find the pandemic and _ pandemic? the ons asked people how they find the pandemic and what - pandemic? the ons asked people how they find the pandemic and what will i they find the pandemic and what will change, and a third of people said their behaviour is probably going to change in that they will avoid crowded space is more, they will work from home or, shop online more. about a quarter said they hope to work from home or. another reminder that the fund the mental restructuring on society the pandemic has had on the effects will continue to be felt for a long time. hopefully hand washing as well! thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. a change into the weekend, for most of us, cloudy though some spots in scotland have been sunny and warm recently. these are the evening temperatures, tonight, a fair amount of cloud across the uk with a few clear spells here and there are, not particularly cold, overnight temperatures hovering around six celsius. saturday, the first day of the spring equinox, another cloudy day but the best of the sunshine on saturday it may be an easter in scotland of the pennines and also once any rain clears earlier in the day in the north of scotland, there should be sunshine too. again, around 13 celsius. little change expected into sunday, the weather eventually changing but not until later next week. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of coronavirus in europe, as countries resume using the astrazeneca jab. borisjohnson will be given the oxford—astrazeneca covid jab today — he's urging others to come forward after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. the supreme court rules that care workers who have to sleep at their workplace in case they are needed are not entitled to the minimum wage for their whole shift. msps investigating nicola sturgeon's handling of accusations against alex salmond say the first minister misled them while giving evidence this month. as we heard earlier, in germany, covid case numbers are now rising exponentially, according to a government expert there. pressure is mounting on the government to reintroduce lockdown measures. earlier i spoke to tobias kurth, who's professor of public health and epidemiology at the charite university hospital in berlin. yeah, we are seeing, unfortunately, a rise in cases again. and it looks like this rise is as exponential as the second wave, so we are facing the third wave and these numbers are very alarming and i hope that everyone understands the importance of now really, really following the measures and reducing contacts, wearing facemasks and, if available, get a vaccine. can you pinpoint why this has happened? it is a good question. it is a combination of dealing with the so—called uk mutant, which is more infectious. we are also rolling out more rapid antigen tests which will pick up more asymptomatic cases. as well as that, there was some relaxations in the measures so that some shops opened in the regions and some people got less careful. so i think the combination of all of this leads to this increase. how much of an issue is the fact that germany doesn't have enough vaccine, like the rest of the eu? it is certainly an issue that we hope to have more people vaccinated, but we have to understand that we are far, far away from 60% or 70% of the people being vaccinated in most countries. some countries are pretty good and far along, but others are not. and in europe, many countries are facing the same situation, so unfortunately it is a very long way to go with the vaccination. but i hope, really, that we will be getting more vaccines available and more vaccines on the market so as many as possible get the vaccine. obviously the easter holidays are not far away. that will create a concern as people want to mix more. so what is the message going to be from experts? well, as much as i understand people would like to go on vacation and relax a little bit, it is very unfortunate that we are now at the start of a third wave. ideally, everybody stays put, stays home and spends time with family at home, with family they usually spend time with, and not going across the country or across europe and seeing friends and just being a little bit less careful overall. so we have seen this over christmas, we have seen this on other occasions, so travelling is not a good idea at this point. during the first wave of the covid pandemic, breaking news from the medical dishes tribunal service and they have decided to strike off the medical register, the former british cycling doctor richard freeman. he will be struck off the register permanently. yesterday, the tribunal service had found his fitness to practice was impaired by reason of his misconduct. the general medical council, you may recall recently, found him guilty of ordering bandit testosterone in 2011 as the medical director for british cycling and team sky. —— bandit testosterone. he has now been penalty struck off the medical register by the medical practitioners tribunal service. during the first wave of the covid pandemic, russian officials regularly claimed that the death rate was significantly lower than in other countries. but data from russia's statistics agency shows a significant gap between the daily tally of deaths and the number of people with covid on their death certificates. our correspondent sarah rainsford went to the city of perm, deep in the ural mountains, and sent this report. they are better protected now. the virus they are fighting is more familiar. but for russia's medics, all this is a daily reminder of the risk. here in perm, covid—19 hit hardest last autumn when the number of sick and dying suddenly surged. that's when this man began posting an online diary as his own condition got worse. he was calling for ambulances that never came. his last message before dying says he is finally in hospital but feels very bad. his son—in—law tells me his life might have been saved. but he says the health service, the authorities, were not ready for so many patients. the story is a hint that this pandemic has hit russia much harder than it likes to admit. if you take the official daily tally of covid deaths, then in 2020, here in russia, it's as if all the residents of 100 giant blocks of flats like these were all killed. but most people think a true account of the cost of covid is the number of excess deaths. and here in russia, that figure is some six times higher. that's the equivalent of a third of the population of a city this size being wiped out. many russians don't realise that. the data isn't a secret, itjust isn't mentioned by officials or state media. they talk of success instead in managing this pandemic. so life goes on in perm and across russia almost as normal. there has been no lockdown since spring. but these were the scenes here in autumn. queues of ambulances full of people with covid. and for three months the number of deaths in perm shot up. it was just terrible to see these patients. this man remembers leaving patients at home because hospitals had no space for them. i think the restrictions should be more tough. if it was done, i think we have less cases of illness and less number of deaths. the most vulnerable are now getting protected, though national roll—out of russia's sputnik v vaccine is slow. even so, the infection rate here is falling, and some think that's because so many people already had covid. but when i asked this senior doctor whether russia should have locked down tighter, he said no. translation: you can't leave people without work either. _ that's really bad. we always look for a reasonable balance. obviously the best protection would be to wear a spacesuit but you can't do that for a whole year. covid—19 has swept through russia like everywhere. here they say they have coped better, but that picture doesn't reflect the full cost of this pandemic in lost lives. sarah rainsford, bbc news, perm. at the peak of the pandemic — as cases climbed and hospital admissions increased — the nhs was at risk of being overwhelmed. but tens of thousands of nursing students stepped in to volunteer, with many of them working on the front line for the very first time. now, many of those are preparing to graduate this year. we've been hearing from eight student nurses from across the uk, to find out what it was like to train in the middle of a national emergency. i would probably sum it up as a roller—coaster. my student experience before covid was absolutely amazing. socialising a lot with all of my uni colleagues and things. _ you were allowed to make mistakes, you are allowed to sort of take time in learning but i think that changed with covid. so, i'm just on my way to a placement. it's 6:30am. we were out on placement in march last year when the first few cases started coming through. things were changing on a daily basis, so one day the rules were this, the next day, the rules were this. it was just such a feeling walking in and thinking, like, wow, all of these beds could have been filled with patients with covid—19. even wearing the ppe - was challenging, you know, you were sweating. it's definitely a completely different experience from what it was like before covid. it's been a really difficult time just now in the hospital for the patients, not only because they're ill but because they're not allowed to see family and have no visitors. you know, the elderly like to talk about their grandchildren a lot. the younger patients, they kind of like to talk about missing the pubs, and missing seeing their friends. but for myself personally, although there is a big change in the hospital, not being able to see my family has been really, really difficult. hello! my mum and dad are both working from home at the minute so i've been quite cautious about obviously not wanting to bring it home. so, i'm just going to put my uniform straight in the washing machine. i've got little sistersl who are four and six, and i have missed birthdays, i i've missed them growing up. we are always on video and i ring them and stuff so it's ok - but i would like to hug them at some point. _ a bit of a tough day, one of our patients passed away unfortunately today. so it's been quite upsetting for obviously all the staff and their family as well. there's no words you can to sayl to someone who's just lost mum and dad to the same virus. i just sat with that person and held their hand and i said, you know, "i know i'm not your family, you don't know me, but just know that you're not alone and i'll be here with you". i'm tired today. it's... it's sad going to all these people's houses that are completely isolated. i definitely struggled - during the first lockdown, with mental health. i spoke to my gp, because i wasjust finding it so difficult _ because you want to reach out and ask for support _ but this has never happened before to our generation. i when i was told i was going to the respiratory ward, i was very anxious, i was worried not for myself, i was worried about bringing something home to my family. trying to keep positive, going for walks, watched a lot of stupid tv, just trying to lift my mood. it's also really good living with two other nursing students because the first thing we ask one another as we come home through the door is, how was your day? so everybody vents and tells their stories. and usually you end up laughing about it which is really nice, i'd rather laugh than cry. it's currently quarter to four in the morning, coming in for my break. say hello! you can definitely see there's light at the end of the tunnel. we've come out of it a lot stronger, a lot more positive. i'm definitely proud to say that i was a student nurse during the pandemicjust because, because we got through it, really. when i look at all my friends and fellow nursing students, i'm just so proud, you know. not even proud of myself, but proud of them. i'm so excited for everybody graduating, to start their proper nursing journey. i've been studying for an exam that we have in a couple of weeks, our last exam of the three years. i know, in my little tutorial group, we are always, every week, someone's saying, please, when this is all over, let's just go for dinner, drinks, and pretend life is normal. so, yeah, i think we're all looking forward to that. the bbc has said it's extremely concerned about the bbc news burmese reporter aung thura, who was taken away by unidentified men in the burmese capital, naypyidaw, earlier on friday. the bbc says it's doing everything it can to find aung thura and that it takes the safety of all its staff in myanmar very seriously. it has called on the authorities to help locate him and confirm that he is safe. aung thura is an accredited bbc journalist with many years of reporting experience covering events in naypyidaw. the first high—level talks between the biden administration and china have got off to an ill—tempered start, with us and chinese officials exchanging sharp rebukes. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, criticised china over cyber—attacks, economic coercion and human rights. china's top diplomat yang gir chur, accused washington of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries. the meeting began with blunt words on both sides. today, we will have an opportunity to discuss key priorities, both domestic and global, so that china can better understand our administration's intentions and approach. we'll also discuss our deep concerns with actions by china, including in xinjiang, hong kong, taiwan, cyber attacks on the united states, economic coercion towards our allies. i've said that the united states' relationship with china will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be. translation: the people of the two i countries and the world are hoping i to see practical outcomes coming out of our dialogue. and for xinjiang, tibet and taiwan, they are inalienable parts of china's territory. china is firmly opposed to us interference in china's internal affairs. we have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference and we will take firm actions in response. the meetings are taking place in alaska. our correspondent barbara plett usher says both parties went into the talks with quite different agendas. it was quite a rare public sparring match. this is not the way you start, normally, a staid diplomatic meeting, and it went on for some time. it was extended even after the formal remarks, back and forths. you know, in public comments before the meeting, the biden administration had been quite blunt about its criticisms of china and they brought those same comments to the meeting, so the chinese must have known what was coming and they really came prepared to hit back in kind. one of the senior chinese officials basically said the us should stop pushing its own version of democracy, it's got its own problems, it's got its own domestic problems. that this is not a model, necessarily, for the world, to paraphrase. and many other comments like that. and as you mentioned, afterwards, after this sort of quite sparked beginning, they apparently had a serious and sustained conversation in private afterwards. i suppose there's always a bit of posturing involved but this was an unusual degree. i think the chinese might have been angry, really, by the way the biden administration had been talking about them beforehand, and also just a day before sanctions had been imposed on china over its actions against democracy activists in hong kong. so it all came to an atmosphere at the beginning that was quite unusually undiplomatic. all week we have been hearing stories sourced and produced by young people between the ages of 11 and 18 as part of the bbc young reporter competition. today we hear from 17—year—old ben, an apprentice footballer at burton albion. he tells us about the pressures of trying to make it as a professional. there has been a couple of lads recently who have been released by clubs who have taken their own lives. that should not be how it is. young people are often overshadowed on the mental side, you kind of see, you're playing football every day, what can be wrong with you? who knows what is going on inside? i am 17 years old and i play for burton albion football club. i am a first year scholar at the moment, so it's my first year of two years. there's loads of pressures and different kinds of things going on. the football is kind of one hour and a half of your day. you are leaving school, you are leaving your mates, you are leaving your whole kind of last 12 years, almost, to come and play football. and if you don't get a pro at the end of it, it's a big step to make. yeah, ijust kind of wanted to highlight the importance of the mental health side of football. people think, you are a footballer, you are living life, but it's not that at all. you are going home, you are sore, you're aching, you've got to wake up the next morning, you've got to get through it and it's what you've got to do if you want to be a footballer. if you are not training well enough, you're out of the team. it is hard, you are going home, you're not playing at all for 90 minutes and thinking, what am i doing here? so, yeah, highlighting the importance of that side of the game is vital. an academy footballer, it's harder than people think. you are in there every day, monday to saturday, you've got gym training in the morning, you've got college, monday, wednesday, thursday, you've got tactical sessions, you've got video sessions, you've got extras at the end if you want to do that. getting up early, getting home late, it's hard. if you do not do your work, you're not playing in the team. there's loads of different assignments for different teachers. it's a big part of the scholarship, doing college work, yeah. yeah, it's not like anything else, i don't think. we're all mates but you are fighting with each other. if he is taking your place as a pro contract, then you are not going to be happy. so, yeah, it's a bit fake in a sense that you're mates, obviously, but you want to be better than them and you need to be better than them if you want to be a footballer. i have got plans if football doesn't work out. probably uni, i have been thinking of america and different english ones, but, hopefully, get a pro contract. my whole life goal has been to be a footballer, so i am trying to work towards that. yes, doing everything i can to do it. that was ben. and if you've been enjoying the stories told by the winners of this year's bbc young reporter competition, join us at 8.30pm tonight for a special half hour programme showcasing their work. i cannot look at what is happening up i cannot look at what is happening up next. i cannot look at what is happening up next. farmers in eastern australia are asking the government for help in dealing with a plague of mice. in 1993, australia's worst—ever mouse plague damaged crops and property valued at milions of dollars. again, this year, the end of a long drought has delivered a bumper harvest but with so much food, the rodents have thrived. it's notjust an agricultural problem. hospital patients have been bitten and elderly residents have been helpless to stop rampaging mice invading their homes. our correspondent phil mercer is in sydney for us, he updated me on the situation. some of the images on social media show that farms have been overrun by thousands of mice. they are prolific breeders and there is a cruel irony in all of this, many of these farms have endured years of droughts. that drought is mostly over, it's delivered a bumper harvest but, as you say, where there's more grain, where there's more food, there are inevitably more mice and farmers say that, in many parts of eastern australia, they have been inundated. and it's notjust an agricultural problem, several people in hospital have been bitten and also we're hearing that elderly residents have been powerless to stop mice rampaging through their homes. so, australia is a land well used to pests — we think of cane toads and feral cats — but here are mice causing an almighty problem for many, many farmers and others. i'm told by one of our colleagues that the collective noun is a mischief of mice, but that seems to be making rather light the situation. what are they going to try and do? there was a very serious mouse plague here in australia in 1993, that inflicted about £53 million worth of damage on australian agriculture. the decade before, in the 1980s, there were reports that one farmer took to a mischief of mice with a flame—thrower, so pretty extreme measures were taken back then. experts tell us that not such extreme conditions may well be enough to bring this plague to an end eventually. we're getting into the cooler time of the year here in australia, autumn now. a cold snap, very heavy rainfall or perhaps disease could see mice numbers plummet. so, in the meantime, australian farmers are crossing their fingers that will happen sooner rather than later. but watching those pictures on social media does remind me of a time i was away with my family and my wife woke up to find a mouse on herface, so there are some people who will be wincing and scratching viewing these images on social media. thank you for sharing! daniel craig, keira knightly and olivia colman are amongst those taking part in tonight's socially distant comic relief. the star—studded night on bbc one will raise money to tackle hunger, homelessness, domestic abuse and mental health stigma. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson has been finding out what will be in tonight's show. this is the first socially distanced comic relief. red nose day will be different this year. we know that it's hard financially for so many people right now. but we'd love you to join us, even if it's just to share a laugh. tonight's show will be shorter, only three hours, but the vicar of dibley returns with a special message. last year, i was sponsored £5 per villager if i could squeeze a whole granny smith into my mouth. job done. while david tennant and michael sheen take part in an historical version of their lockdown hit staged. i'm going to write about this. about the play? yeah. is that what people want? yes, they want social realism. do they? 0k. yeah. and catherine tate's nanjoins james bond for a secret briefing, so secret, all that's been released so far is this one photo. this is pretty funny. the money raised by comic relief will be used to support those who have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. but the night's other aim is to simply make people laugh. colin patterson, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. for most of us, not much change on the weather front since yesterday. a fair amount of cloud across the uk and that's how it's going to stay into the weekend. however, the seasons are changing. in fact, today, the last day of astronomical winter, tomorrow is the spring equinox. and the high pressure which is here today will be with us tomorrow and into next week as well, so hence, very little change on the weather front. here's the jet stream pattern — you can see the jet stream to the north of us, but notice how the jet stream goes around this area of higher and slightly milder air. it's actually quite cold over europe at the moment, a real nip in the air, barely above freezing in some areas. so, scotland has recently been one of the warmest places in europe, believe it or not. through tonight, clear spells mean temperatures will dip down to 4 degrees in glasgow, maybe 3 in the southeast of england and east anglia as well. but generally speaking, another cloudy evening and night to come. tomorrow, high pressure still with us, so light winds, variable amounts of cloud floating around the uk. this is what it looks like early in the morning. notice just a suggestion of a weak weather front getting into scotland, so probably some rain there in the north of the highlands and the western isles. temperatures could get up to 14 degrees in the northeast of england, maybe around hull, this is where we're expecting the best of the sunny breaks. i mention how chilly it is in europe at the moment, take a look at these temperatures — berlin around 4 celsius, warsaw, just a couple of degrees above freezing. helsinki, similar weather, the same for moscow. it is not particularly warm across parts of the mediterranean as well. unsettled weather there around turkey and greece and even in rome and barcelona, around 13 or 14 degrees, so about as mild as it has been currently in scotland. here's the forecast for sunday. the high pressure still with us, light winds, some sunshine around but the temperatures, nothing spectacular, around 8 to 13 celsius. here's the outlook into next week. by the time we get to tuesday night into wednesday, the weather will start turning in the northwest of the uk and by thursday, it will be windier and more unsettled throughout. the astrazeneca covid jab is being used in again in eu countries, after regulators ruled it is safe. but as france prepares for another lockdown, germany's health minister warns there's not enough vaccine to stop a third wave of the virus. translation: unfortunately, the | increase in the number of new cases has increased in the past few days. it's now very clearly exponential. we'll be getting the latest on developments across europe from our correspondent in brussels. also this lunchtime... borisjohnson will be given the astrazeneca covid jab today, after reassuring the public the vaccine is safe. calls for first minister nicola sturgeon to resign, as reports say msps have concluded the first minister misled the committee investigating the handling of allegations against her predecessor alex salmond.