Athletes take to the waves. It is one year late and has been beset by problems, but the olympics are finally formally starting in toyko. The opening ceremony injapan s national stadium will be three and a half hours long but has been described as sombre reflecting the mood of a nation which is having to host the biggest sporting event in the world during a pandemic. Our sports correspondent natalie pirks is inside the olympic stadium. We canjoin we can join her there. Talk us throu~h we can join her there. Talk us through what s we can join her there. Talk us through what s happened we can join her there. Talk us through what s happened so l we can join her there. Talk us i through what s happened so far. We can join her there. Talk us through what s happened so far. He joined me at the moment during the parade of nations. Apologies for the fact i am quite dark but we are not allowed by the authorities to turn any lights on. Parade of nations is when all the athletes from all the c
help gyms, pools, and sports centres survive the pandemic for the sake of the nation s health. and the famous wiltshire landmark which may have started life in wales. and coming up in sport on bbc news. as a snap five day lockdown begins in melbourne, fans at the australian open are asked to leave during novak djokovic s five set match in the third round. good evening. the uk economy shrank by 9.9% in 2020, according to officialfigures, more than in any other year on record. the contraction was more than twice as much as the previous largest recorded fall. but a recession was avoided, as growth did pick up towards the end of the year, when covid restrictions were loosened. with lockdown expected to stay in place until early spring, experts say the hit to the economy will continue at least until the effects of the vaccination programme kick in. our economics editor, faisal islam report from stevenage. cupid s arrow s being felt rather less than normal at what should be a bumpe
the head of the nhs in england says the target of offering a vaccine to all four priority groups by monday will be met in wales, it s already happened. lawyers for donald trump say it s a monstrous lie that he incited his supporters to storm the capitol building. after weeks of protests across russia, we report on the crackdown on president putin s critics in the country s far east. hello! and some end of term cheerfor the pupils of this primary school, after weeks of lockdown schooling. and coming up in sport, on bbc news. a big derby win for manchester city in the women s superleague, as luzy bronze helps them narrow the gap on the leaders chelsea to two points. good evening. the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country s finances was laid bare today as official figures show the economy saw its biggest drop since extreme weather wrecked economic activity 300 years ago. the office for national statistics said that in 2020 the total value of goods and services pr
government has been defending its hotel quarantine plans for people coming into england from high risk countries. those failing to comply with the rules will face fines of up to £10,000. there has been concern the system has not been as strict as those elsewhere in the world. as david shukman reports. despite every effort there have been coronavirus infections inside australia s 19 hotels and they have spread to the community, which is why melbourne is now back in lockdown for the third time. the australian open will continue, but not for spectators. they are bad for at least the next five days. if spectators. they are bad for at least the next five days.- least the next five days. if we wait for this least the next five days. if we wait for this theory least the next five days. if we wait for this theory that - least the next five days. if we wait for this theory that it - wait for this theory that it might be out there, there might be more cases than we know about, if
just one pound in five has been paid out in financial redress to postmasters wrongfully accused of theft and fraud is it time the post office is completely removed from delivering compensation? disarray at the top of the post office in full view at a hearing in front of mps today. the main scandal remains the snails pace of redress for postmasters. we ll talk live to this post office manager wrongfully accused of stealing £78,000 and jailed for six months, and this mp who s on the horizon compensation advisory board. also tonight. labour mp margaret hodge tells us she s written to the metropolitan police and the electoral commission to ask them to investigate whether the conservative party broke electoral law in taking £200,000 from the partner of a prominent donor. the chancellor said he wanted to get older workers off the golf course and back into employment but why have they really opted out of the workforce? in a dramatic hearing today, current and former post off