focus. more before two o clock. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. two doses of the main covid vaccines used in the uk are found to be highly effective against the indian variant of the virus. government ministers deny claims, by the former downing street adviser dominic cummings, that they pursued a policy of herd immunity in dealing with the coronavirus in the early part of last year. the former bbc journalist martin bashir defends his panaorama interview with princess diana, but apologises to princes william and harry. homes have been destroyed and at least five people have died, as thousands fled in panic after mount nyiragongo in the democratic republic of congo exploded. the un security council stresses that israel and the palestinians should fully adhere to the ceasefire as the pause in violence enters a third day. the queen visits the royal navy flagship, hms queen elizabeth, as it begins its first major deployment. and nul point for the uk at eurovision, as ital
more now on mr cummings giving evidence to a parliamentary committee in a year of disputes and controversies within government, one of the most talked about events during the first lockdown was dominic cummings infamous trip to barnard castle in county durham, the purpose of which, he claimed, was to test his eyesight. he admitted he hadn t told the whole story, he apologised for his handling of the matter, but said there were security reasons for the trip which he should have been more open about. our deputy political editor vicky young reports. we d all been told to stay at home, but dominic cummings didn t. he, in fact, travelled to his parents home in durham. before setting off, he was seen rushing out of downing street after discovering his wife had covid. weeks later, in the rose garden at downing street, he was forced to explain. i was worried that if my wife and i were both seriously ill, possibly hospitalised, there was nobody in london that we could reasonably a
hello and welcome. spain s prime minister, pedro sanchez, is set to take a big political gamble on tuesday and pardon nine catalan separatist leaders. they were jailed over their role in a failed bid for independence in 2017. polls show a majority of spaniards oppose freeing the politicians, but catalan leaders say they ll continue their mission to break free from madrid. courtney bembridge has this report. madrid has seen mass protests against the pardons, and polling suggest more than 60% of people in spain did not agree with them. this was the view on the streets of madrid on monday. view on the streets of madrid on monday- view on the streets of madrid on monda . ,, view on the streets of madrid on monda . ~ ,, ~ . on monday. translation: the way i see it, on monday. translation: the way i see it. they ve on monday. translation: the way i see it, they ve got on monday. translation: the way i see it, they ve got away on monday. translation: the way i see it, th
hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: germany bans almost all travellers from the uk because of the rise in cases of the indian variant of covid 19. the vaccine programme rolls on in england. more than a million 32 and 33 year olds can now book theirjabs. the first convoys of humanitarian aid have arrived in gaza, hours after a ceasefire between israel and palestinian militants came into effect. it s understood that ministers are to give the bbc a chance to introduce its own changes, in response to the damning report on how martin bashir obtained his panorama interview with princess diana more than 25 years ago. and get your best sequins out the final rehearsals are done and the pyrotechnics are ready the eurovision finalists compete tonight after a pandemic enforced break. now on bbc news. the travel show. lucy hedges looks back at some of the unique places the team have spent the night over the years like camping out inside a 13th century church. coming up this we
york might be surprised to find familiar problems waiting for them in the lone star state. i mean, austin. the capital city of austin is facing a crime problem, a drug problem, and a homeless problem. basically all the quality of life issues blue state transplants thought they were leaving behind. residents say they have never seen anything like this. but the city leadership run by democrats, well, except for the lone republican there, they are completely denying it. so i went to austin myself to see it. watch. you are down here, you are ready to party. it s a busy city. we come out to have some fun. it s a great time. everybody is safe. it s america. it s my home. lawrence: this used to be one of the crown jewels of austin. but, as can you see, another tent city. never been like this before. i m a democrat but i have learned my lesson. i m just freaked out. something needs to be done. lawrence: two years ago, the city council voted to get rid of a city