good evening and welcome to bbc news. more than 150,000 people in the uk have now died within 28 days of a positive covid test. another 313 deaths have been reported in the latest daily figures. the uk is the seventh country to pass this number of official deaths, afterthe us, brazil, india, russia, mexico and peru. 0ur health correspondent, katharine da costa, has been telling us about the significance of passing the milestone of 150,000 deaths in the uk. depends how you're measuring it, but looking at this measure within 28 days in a positive test, the uk is not a seventh —— within 28 days in a positive test, the uk is now the seventh country that has passed 150,000 reported deaths, joining the likes of the united states, brazil, india and russia. each one of those deaths is a tragedy, it leaves a grieving family. now, the uk hit 100,000 deaths injanuary of last year, so it's taken 12 months to get to 150,000, and that slow down is thanks in large part due to the vaccination programme, which is providing very high levels of protection against falling very seriously ill and dying from the virus. vaccines aren't100% effective, and even with new treatments, new antiviral drugs, it's inevitable there will be more deaths. so people will always carry on dying from covid, it's just hopefully the numbers are going to get smaller? they slow down. the link between dying, well, getting infected and dying has been weakened because of the vaccines. we've seen that the omicron variant emerged late november, early december, and we saw in the uk that cases were surging before christmas, and that lag between infections and people dying means that we are seeing daily deaths increasing. the week on week trend is up nearly a0%. now, the department of health says it shows that the pandemic is not over. the vaccination programme has worked, and it's urging people to come forward to still get your first and second doses, and very importantly, to get the boosterjab. campaigners say lessons need to be learned about the handling of the pandemic, and the government has said it is committed to a full public inquiry in the spring. as you say, we are the seventh country to pass this milestone, but if you look at the number of deaths compared to the size of population, we are kind of doing not as well as quite a lot of european countries, aren't we? we've lost a bigger proportion of people to it, and that is the sort of thing presumably that the inquiry will want to ask, why is that? yeah, the handling of the pandemic, the decisions that were made. you know, the government has always said it's prioritised, you know, it brought in ppe, you know, it fast tracked vaccines, drugs, things like that, it will always say it's done its best, but there are the critics that say more could be done. at the moment, there are those who call for tighter restrictions in england, for example, so, it will be interesting to see the evidence, the data that is brought up. interestingly, this country has decided not to bring in fourth doses. we have seen elsewhere in the world, israel for example, starting to bring in fourth boosterjabs, but here in the uk the vaccine experts have said, actually, that's not needed. the evidence shows protection from a booster after three months for those who are over 65 is still very high, about 90% protection from hospitalisation, so for now, they don't feel it's needed, but that will be monitored over time to see what happens when that vaccines do start to wane for that higher protection against hospitalisation. so, for now, it's not needed. maybe it becomes an annual jab, for example. we will be seen how that 150,000 figure reported on the front of the sunday newspapers, ourfirst figure reported on the front of the sunday newspapers, our first review of the newspapers at 10:30pm here on bbc news. the government is to pledge to "expose and pursue" companies responsible for fitting flamable cladding to some blocks of flats. it will announce that it's seeking four billion pounds from developers to cover remedial work on medium sized buildings; a compensation scheme for larger structures is already in place. up to half a million flat owners across the uk may no longer face the cost of replacing dangerous cladding on their properties. campaigners say they're sceptical firms will volunteeer the money — though one major house builder has told the bbc it will pay up. a little earlier i spoke to liam spender, who owns a flat affected by the cladding scandal. i live on a mixed height development, half of our buildings are over 18 metres, half are under 18 metres, the building i live in is 1a metres, it's five stories. so theoretically, this announcement helps, but i don't think we have the detail to know how much help, if any, it will actually be. indeed, i mean, in practicalterms, the government is saying it's going to somehow get the developers to offer money to produce. you are a lawyer, you know how things are usually done, is it that common people in the commerical world offer this kind of money in these circumstances? not unless you have the leverage, i mean to make you take the example of litigation, issuing a claim against someone gives you leverage because typically they want the claim to go away unless it is a point of principle, so no commercial organisation gives away money unless it has reason to. does the government have leverage? i think it does because it's taken away what appears to be taking away one of the industry's trump cards, which is if you take money off us, we cannot produce more housing and typically governments want there to be more housing, so the announcement seems to be saying, if they want to pay voluntarily, the government will saying, if they won't pay voluntarily, the government will shift its focus to building safety, so that gives them leverage, the threat of taxes and the threat of imposing a solution on them if they don't agree voluntarily, it also gives them leverage. whether that induces a settlement remains to be seen. in other words, we are still at quite a early stage in all of this. that must be hugely frustrating for you and all the other leaseholders there, because we are several years on from the terrible events at grenfell tower, and we have heard that people are having to do extra costs thankfully not in the lower level ones, but they are bigger ones have to employ a 2k hour fire safety check to end around and make red check to end around and make sure fire doesn't start. it must be very frustrating. enormously frustrating. there has been work done and the mental health affect this is having on people, this isn't about money, this is casting a pall over people's lives, and it's already gone on for we are approaching five years commit will be five years this year since grenfell. so i think it's gone on for far too long already. the uk surpasses 150,000 deaths from covid, the first country in europe to do so. vaccines and new treatments have significantly slowed the toll from covid — but many have had to endure tragedy. you wouldn't want to be in my shoes. no one would want to lose anybody. no one could come and see you. we were left to grieve on our own, really. band plays a serenade to novak djokovic who says he had a vaccine exemption to enter australia — because he had covid last month. a cautious welcome from campaigners to government plans for developers to pay — to remove unsafe cladding from lower—height buildings. and a day of action and drama in the third round of the fa cup. good evening. the uk has recorded more than 150,000 deaths from covid — that's within 28 days of a positive test — making it the first country in europe to reach that figure. it comes as the uk experiences its worst wave of coronavirus cases yet, as the highly—transmissible 0micron variant sweeps across much of the country. our health correspondent catherine burns takes a look now at the toll the pandemic has taken on our lives. how do you begin to imagine 150,000 people? it's almost the entire population of oxford, a city, like others, where the pandemic has caused so much pain. the first death within 28 days of a positive covid test was recorded in the uk on the 6th of march, 2020. five weeks later, more than 10,000 people had died. sabir—hussain mirza was 0xford's first muslim councillor. mostly, though, he was a family man — married with ten children. they relied on video calls when he went to hospital. we would be like, "come on, dad, get better quickly and come back." but one day sabir stopped answering his phone. he'd been put on a ventilator. after almost three weeks, doctors said some of the family could visit him for the last time. i said to him, "i love you, and i want you to know that "i will always love you, and i will never forget you." you just can't come to terms with someone actually telling you that your father's left this world. sabir was buried next to his younger brother. he'd died the day before in the same hospital, killed by the same disease. as the pandemic spread through society, the death toll rose rapidly, but scientists in this city were also working at speed, racing to find a vaccine, and by the end of april 2020 the oxford astrazeneca team was already testing it on volunteers in clinical trials, and as the year came to a close there was a real sense of optimism as both this and the pfizer vaccine were approved. january last year was a turning point — it saw more deaths than at any other time, over 32,000. but by the end of the month almost half a million people had had their first dose of a vaccine. she was looking forward to the vaccine coming along. traceyjones turned 50 in lockdown. she didn't make it to 51. she said to me, "i feel very, very ill." isaid, "i know, my darling, they're going to put you to sleep and you'll be better." she said to me, "look after stephen," and those were the last words i ever heard from her. neil and tracey were a team, caring for their son stephen who has special needs. i had to tell him, unfortunately, "mum has gone to heaven now," and he hugged me and cried. no one could come and see you. we were left to grieve on our own, really. it's very hard, especially when you have a special needs son, and you don't want him to see you crying, but sometimes you just had to go away and have a little cry. the pandemic has seen too many sad milestones. in november, 2020, the death toll stood at 50,000. just 11 weeks later, it reached 100,000. vaccines helped slow that pace right down and it's taken almost another year to get to this point. i'm so glad that he retired when he did, early. robin birchmore was 63 and his invitation for a vaccine came through two days after he died. in hospital, he had one last video call with his daughter. he kept saying, "i'm struggling, i'm struggling to breathe," and i said to him, "hurry up and get better," and he said, "i'm trying." that was the last time i spoke to him. camilla's nan had also died from covid. 0n the night after her funeral the call came, it was time to say goodbye to her dad, as well. it was horrendous, horrendous. the doctor said, "here's your dad," and i went, "that's not my dad." i didn't even recognise him because of all the tubes. you say your goodbyes and then you have to walk away from them. the uk has reported 150,000 deaths before any country in the eu. there is hope, though, that this pandemic will never again bring suffering on such a scale. catherine burns, bbc news. let's take a closer look at the latest official government figures — there were 146,390 new coronavirus infections, recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on average there were 175,327 new cases reported per day in the last week. there were 18,451; people in hospital being treated for coronavirus as of thursday. 313 deaths were reported in the latest 2a hour period, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. as you heard, it means the total number of people who've died with covid now stands at 150,057. on average in the past week, 182 deaths were announced every day. 0n vaccinations, over 35.2 million people have had a boosterjab, which means 61.3% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. and our health correspondent catherine burns is here now. 150,00 deaths — a grim milestone, put it into some context for us? it really is, and at moments like theseit it really is, and at moments like these it is important to look at the data and pause for thought. 0ne data and pause for thought. one thing that is striking is how the pace of deaths has changed, and at the end of january last year we were reporting on another grim milestone, 100,000 deaths, and we were seeing daily figures then of 1000 people dying every day, and if it had continued at that pace we would have hit this mark, 150,000, at the start of march last year, but that did not happen. lockdown plays a part there but we can say this is a victory for the vaccines. even so, covid killed at least a couple of people every single day last year, and the government has put out the statement and it says every single one of those deaths is a tragedy and it is reminding us that the pandemic is not over and it says if people have not over and it says if people have not had a vaccine or a booster, please come forward. it is important that we take this moment as well to remember the people, more than a million across the uk, who have died since the pandemic started of other reasons, because their loved ones will be grieving, with everything that means, whether or not being able to visit their loved ones in hospital, social distancing, restricted numbers in funerals, and bereavement charity is warning it could be a tsunami of grief. thanks for “oininu could be a tsunami of grief. thanks forjoining us- _ lawyers for the tennis star novak djokovic say he had a vaccine exemption to enter australia because of a covid infection last month. djokovic was denied entry after landing in melbourne this week to play in the australian open. he's currently in an immigration detention centre, ahead of an appeal hearing on monday. a second player, renata voracova from the czech republic, has now left australia after having her visa cancelled. shaimaa khalil reports from melbourne. the world's top tennis player is spending the weekend in an immigration detention hotel. and his supporters have turned up for a third day. this is novak djokovic arriving in melbourne on wednesday. the documents his legal team presented to the court state he'd received the exemption from tennis australia, with a follow—up letter from the home affairs department, saying he was allowed into the country. his legal team added that onjanuary 1st djokovic received a document from home affairs, telling him his responses indicated he met the requirements for a quarantine—free arrival into australia. what's becoming clear is a breakdown in communication among those making the decisions, and what the judge has to look at and examine is exactly which rules apply. is it state government rules or federal government rules? and until a decision is made about whether novak djokovic can remain in australia, the world no1 is still stuck in this immigration detention hotel, and in the middle of a huge controversy. this particular set of incidents, the victorian government's not briefed on the matter. in terms of how people got into the country, that's a matter for the federal government. last night his mother offered some reassurance. he said he's ok, but i'm not so sure. but he's mentally very stable, and he's waiting. the tennis tournament is only a few days away, and what's normally one of the biggest highlights here is turning into a political and a diplomatic embarrassment for australia. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. in pakistan, army bulldozers are clearing snow from roads around the resort of murree, where at least 21 people have died in their cars during a blizzard. some people froze to death, and others are believed to have been poisoned by exhaust fumes while trying to keep warm. the military is attempting to rescue those still trapped. up to half—a—million people living in flats in england may no longer face the cost of paying to replace dangerous cladding on their properties, under new government proposals. the plans, set to be announced on monday, would instead ask developers to pay for work on buildings of around four to six storeys high. 0ur political correspondent ben wright reports. for around half a million homeowners living in potentially unsafe and unsellable flats, the fall—out from the grenfell tower fire has been traumatic and costly. leaseholders having to take out loans to strip out cladding and repair medium sized blocks of flats. me and my neighbours know we're living in unsafe clad flats so the main cost has been sleepless nights, worrying about that, but also worrying about the potential bill that is going to land on our doorstep of tens of thousands of pounds. but on monday the minister responsible for housing, michael gove, is expected to say the government will expose and pursue companies responsible for the crisis and ease the unfair burden placed on leaseholders. until now, the government's approach was for dangerous cladding removal to be paid for by the building safety fund. it was only for buildings more than 18.5 metres in height. everything else was to be covered by developers paying or via a loans scheme for leaseholders. but next week the government will tell developers they have to pay, up to £4 billion, to cover the cost of fixing or removing cladding from buildings between 11 and 18.5 metres in height. developers will be threatened with a change to the law if they don't pay up. we should not still be here, so many years after grenfell, arguing about this. for us, it has been that desire to resolve the issue for customers, that has set out our stall, but actually we will cover these costs. the industry as a whole does need to come to grips with that. it does need to be an industrywide solution and everybody needs to play their part. michael gove is also expected to outline changes that will make it easier for leaseholders to sell their homes. ministers have been under intense pressure to act from campaigners and mps on both sides of the commons, and it seems the treasury will not be stumping up extra taxpayers money for this. labour said impacted leaseholders should be legally protected from the cost of fixing any historic faults to their buildings. for hundreds of thousands of people, next week's announcement may rebuild some confidence that there will be a solution to their ongoing housing crisis. ben wright, bbc news. with all the sport now, here's sarah mulkerrin at the bbc sport centre. good evening, reeta. there was plenty of drama in the third round of the fa cup — match of the day follows the news, so if you don't want to know what happened, then look away now. everton survived a scare to make it through to the next round — but they needed extra time to beat championship side hull city. ben croucher reports. watch your step in the fa cup third round, premier league teams must tread carefully, trouble lurks around every corner, and free kick... everton�*s blues deepen against hull, but the premier league team had demarai gray on their side, pressure, what pressure? just ask the manager, rafael benitez. could they find some respite from their woeful league form? andre gomes with his first goal in two years would help. but then this great goal equalised, time for a replay, well, not this year, straight to extra time, which meant andros townsend could do this. commentator: a wicked swerving shot. a goal worthy of winning any tie, a step in the right direction for everton. ben croucher, bbc news. the big upset of the day came at newcastle united. they were knocked out of the competition by cambridge united of league one. joe ironside scored the only goal of the game, much to the delight of his team and the 5,000 travelling fans. holders leicester are safely through, they beat watord. chelsea had an easy win over non league side chesterfield. burnley were beaten by championship side huddersfield. big result for kidderminster harriers, the lowest—ranked team left in the competition beat reading. and boreham wood of the national league reached the fourth round for the first time in their history, beating wimbledon. there was a thriller in rugby union's premiership, as harlequins beat 1a man exeter by 14—12. quins were behind with just two minutes to go, before andre esterhuizen scored this superb try. england star marcus smith then kicked the conversion to seal the win. snowboarder charlotte bankes continues to mark herself out as a big medal contenderfor next month's winter olympics. the briton won the world cup snowboard cross race in russia. this was her second world cup win of the season following success last month in austria. she's also the world champion in the event. and you can follow the final day of the fourth ashes test in sydney on the bbc sport website. play gets underway shortly with england needing to bat well to get something from the test. that's it from me. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel and tomorrow on the sunday morning programme at 9am — sophie raworth will be joined by guests including the education secretary, nadhim zahawi. goodnight. hello again. it was quite a wet and windy start to the weekend. saturday brought widespread outbreaks of rain. the wettest place, northwest wales, picking up 3a milimetres of rain. the strong winds towards the isle of wight pushing the waves into the coastline here. towards the end of the day, we had a lovely sunset in dumfries and galloway in west scotland. now, the driving area of low pressure that brought the wet and windy weather on saturday is here, and it's still on the charts through sunday. what's going to happen is it's going to weaken significantly as it moves its way across scotland. however, it will still be bringing a little bit of rain with that across parts of scotland and northern england as well. now, for the time being, we've still got some fairly brisk winds blowing in there, bringing scattered showers across western areas. there is a little bit of sleet mixed in with some of these across the high ground, scotland, northern england, northern ireland as well, with temperatures close to freezing but on the whole, just staying above except in northern scotland, where temperatures could get down to about —5 in the deeper valleys in aberdeenshire. now, for many, it's going to be a fine start to the day, but that area of low pressure is going to push this band of rain across scotland, northern ireland, and though the afternoon, the rain moves its way across northern england. it will turn lighter and patchier, perhaps reaching the north of wales late in the day. still across the midlands, east anglia, most of southern england, a lot of dry weather. we end the day but this band of light patchy rain pushing into cornwall. well, that is associated with this warm front, and that warm front is going to picket its way into the uk as we go through monday. now, with that, yes, will come mild air, but there will be a lot of cloud around, mist and fog patches quite common around the coasts and hills. it will be quite damp at times with a bit of light rain and drizzle, bit of heavier rain into western scotland where a cold front will begin to move in late in the day. temperatures — the mildest across western areas of the uk just ahead of this front. in the east, a little bit cooler, highs of around seven celsius or so. now, by tuesday, this is our cold front now pushing its way southwards across england and wales. that will clear outbreaks of rain southwards. a mixture of bright spells and showers for scotland. a lot of dry weather in between for northern ireland, northern england and north wales as well. you will notice the cooler air is starting to move back in from the north and west. temperatures here around 7—8 celsius, the mildest air in the south. now, beyond that, high pressure is going to build into the south of the uk. and that may increase in the week ahead the weather will become fine and dry with some sunny spells. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment