this is bbc world news, the headlines. six european union states have complained to the european commission over a significant reduction in deliveries of the pfizer biontech coronavirus vaccine. pfizer has warned that modifications to its plant in belgium will lead to temporary fluctuations in production but will boost its capacity in the longer term. globally there have now been at least 2 million deaths from covid—19 — that's according to research from johns hopkins university — which also predicts more than 95 million people have contracted the virus. britain is tightening border controls to block new variants of covid—19. the new rules will come in from monday and anyone flying into the country from overseas will have to show proof

of a negative covid test before setting off. president—electjoe biden has been setting out his plans to vaccinate more americans against the virus. at ten o'clock, we will have a full round up of the days news. but first, for the first time a mass movement is openly calling for reform of the monarchy in thailand, shattering a taboo surrounding the royal institution's near—sacred status. a warning this programme contains some distressing images. thailand is in the grip of a youthful uprising. inspired by hong kong,

students armed with umbrellas and ideals have been taking on a military backed government and a once untouchable monarch. what we are seeing here is an epic battle between two competing visions for thailand. these youngsters are determined that their demands for reform of everything, including the monarchy, or both heard and acted on. and they are up against an establishment that is determined to keep thailand stable, conservative and with the monarchy and military at the very top.

over the 20 years i have been reporting from thailand, there have been to constance. an army that won't state of politics... ..and a revered monarchy whose actions cannot be questioned. even today, the laws here limit what we can safely say about the royal family. king vajiralongkorn, who came to the throne four years ago, is on paper a constitutional monarch. like britain's queen elizabeth. in reality, though, he has far more power. and he's been using it in alarming ways. some thais fear he wants to take the country back to the absolute monarchy of his forefathers when the king's word was the law.

palm is a 21—year—old student on her way to yet another protest in bangkok's old royal quarter. we have come to democracy monument, which marks the end of the absolute monarchy 88 years ago. the democracy it promised never took root here. this is an outspoken generation, informed and mobilized through social media.

taking the hunger games salute as their own symbol of defiance. they want the king's power to be accountable, and they want the freedom to speak out without the threat of reprisals. palm reminds the crowd of the incident which helped to unite these protests back in june. the abduction and presumed murder in cambodia of an exiled activist called wanchalearm. wanchalearm's sisterjen

is here too, trying to keep up the public interest in his case. jen was talking on the phone to her brother when he was dragged off the street and into a black suv. wanchalearm had fled to cambodia after the coup seven years ago, and kept up a barrage of cheeky social

media posts parodying thailand's military and rulers. he was the ninth exiled activist to disappear in the past four years. the mutilated bodies of two of them were discovered on the banks of the river mekong. all of them were known critics of the monarchy, driving home the dangers of speaking out on this issue.

thailand's rapid transformation into a modern, urban nation has brought impressive prosperity. but also created one of the world's most unequal societies. a bolder, more inquiring young generation is no questioning how and why their country has turned out like this. here, palm is leaving a letter writing campaign directed at the king. demanding that he accept limits on his wealth and power.

change, though, is not welcomed by all. royalism has many passionate adherents here. they are now mobilizing to take on the student movement. dressed in royal yellow, holding aloft portraits of the king and his much loved father. king bhumibol, or rama ix, reigned for 70 years. but achieved cult—like popularity with his modest lifestyle and a strong sense of duty. his son is a very different personality.

but in this crowd, respect for the institution endures. they can't accept all the accusations they've heard against the king. why don't you support their demand for a monarchy that's just a bit limited to, and then you will be giving them what they say they want?

that's not the only obstacle to the student's dreams of reform. beyond this barricade is thailand's parliament. it's packed with military loyalists. it is the only place where changes to the political system can happen, and right now they can't get there. well, these protesters are now trying to pull away at this concrete barricade to make a way through. and they are spraying... 0h! water cannons laced with chemicals. you can really smell the tear gas in it.

these protesters want to get through to parliament, because that's where the reforms they are demanding are supposed to be discussed. they are worried that in a parliament dominated by the military backed party, their reforms are just going to be swept aside. that's why they are staying put. and you can see how determined they are. but they are fighting a formidable establishment which has ruled thailand for most of the past century. how can they overcome such entrenched power? as they feared to come of the old man

as they feared, the old man of parliament, many of them on elected senators, threw out all but the mildest reforms. while outside it was chaos. the activists had brought up giant inflatable ducks to shield themselves from the water cannon and to ridicule the police. the ducks made another appearance outside thailand's largest bank.

the king is the main shareholder. palm was there too, sporting a new haircut. but in targeting the king so directly, they are taking a serious risk. not so much from the police who stayed well back this time, but behind them is the king and the thai army which is sworn to defend the monarchy above all else. that partnership is even tighter now. this monarch sees himself as a warrior king, and he's folded some of the best military units into his own personal royal guard. palm has not been

arrested yet, but many other protesters have the. palm has not been arrested yet, but many other protesters have the. she has come here tonight to meet one of them. who is also a bit of a hero, not just to her but to many young activists. hockey is founder member of the band rap against dictatorship.

tonight, he is reliving his arrest after he'd performed at a protest injuly. cheering. he makes light of it here, but the charge is sedition. that's up to seven years in jail. hockey is one of more than a0 activists charged

under this sweeping national security law. others are being prosecuted under the notorious lese majeste law, with its secret trials and even tougher sentences. most have been released on bail, but only to face even more charges. # yeah. music. these are the kinds of injustices rap against dictatorship featured in their first withering song prathet ku mi, what my country's got. which captured the rebellious mood of this generation. the song has been viewed more than 90 million times on youtube.

thai history, though, carries ominous warnings for today's students. especially here, one of the country's top universities.

the king has come here to hand out diplomas to graduates. keeping up a long tradition which helps build a bond between the monarchy and younger generations. but in this era of dissent, not everyone is following the official script. this innocuous little ceremony on the sidelines of the may graduation proceedings here is actually a pretty extraordinary act of defiance. something almost on thinkable even a year ago. the young people have been symbolically taking their departments from these cardboard cutouts who are of some of the most notorious anti—monarchy activists, many of them in exile. instead of taking it from the king. a harmless enough gesture you might think, but the sport field behind

them tells a different story. the assault began just after daybreak _ the assault began just after daybreak. all— the assault began just after daybreak. all sorts - the assault began just after daybreak. all sorts of- the assault began just after i daybreak. all sorts of weapons the assault began just after - daybreak. all sorts of weapons being used~ _ daybreak. all sorts of weapons being used~ mi _ daybreak. all sorts of weapons being used. , . , daybreak. all sorts of weapons being used. , ., ., . ., used. 44 years ago, police and vigilantes _ used. 44 years ago, police and vigilantes attacked _ used. 44 years ago, police and vigilantes attacked this - used. 44 years ago, police and | vigilantes attacked this campus used. 44 years ago, police and - vigilantes attacked this campus with savage force. after students have been accused of mocking the then crown prince. today's king. dozens died. some were horribly lynched. it's an episode that is imprinted on the minds of today's activists and in their songs. music.

the last absolute monarchy in thailand was crowned 95 years ago. he abdicated ten years later, his powers already limited. but some of

the trappings of absolute monarchy have been carried over even into this century. kings are seen as above criticism. so the unvarnished jokes and comments about the current king heard of the protest rallies have infuriated his supporters. the sudden wave of anti—royal sentiment over the past year caught royalists off guard. but the morale

has been lifted by the king's decision to be more visible in recent months after spending most of his reign living overseas in germany. the king has responded by abandoning his normally stiff and stern public persona and going on a series of very high—profile walkabouts like this one. allowing the thai people to get really close to him for the first time. they reach out to touch the royal couple for good luck. we are but dust under the feet of the king as the saying goes. this man gets a personal word of thanks from the martic for his pro—palace activism. he's now leading a campaign to get the draconian lese majeste law use more frugally against the protest

leaders. but that's just not true, because in britain you can say pretty much what you want about the queen, and you won't go to prison. it's very different from the situation here in thailand. music. these young thais don't care about

being appropriate. shocking their elders with their gestures and language, that's the point. they have already shattered a once unbreakable taboo against even discussing the monarchy.

this is a battle over what it even means to be tied. the king praises his loyalists for upholding what he calls true thai nest. the activists

say that nothing, not even his hallowed status, is sacred. by the end of last year, the protest subsided as thailand faced a resurgence of covid—i9. but the gulf between these two visions for thailand is impossibly wide. and for now it can't be bridged. hello. more rain and snow in the forecast overnight. and some of that snow is likely to be disruptive. it's rain we see initially piling in from the west. as it bumps into

the cold air that's going to mean further snow across scotland and northern england. then as the night wears on seeing some snow develop through parts of the east midlands but also through east anglia and then into southeast england for that while we got the rain is falling onto saturated ground to a number of flood warnings in place. also ice warnings ahead of that band of rain as temperatures fall below freezing. but temperatures actually starting to rise as a night wears on for supper we have an amber warning for the snow across east anglia. from five o'clock tomorrow morning until two in the afternoon. we could see five to ten cm in places so disruption is very likely. so the snow through the morning through parts of scotland, northern england, east anglia and southeast england. that was slowly clear away south and eastwards. behind it we got some sunshine although some further showers pushing into scotland northern england and for a time across northern ireland. but for most it won't be as cold a day tomorrow. goodbye.

tonight at 10: the uk is closing all travel corridors from monday amid fears about new variants of coronavirus. anyone arriving in the uk must show a negative test and will also have to self—isolate for up to ten days. more than 37,000 people are now in hospital with covid in the uk — a quarter of them are under the age of 55. in spite of all the efforts of our doctors and nurses and our medical staff, we're now seeing cancer treatments sadly postposted, ambulances queuing and intensive care units spilling over into adjacent wards. there is progress though — more than 3.2 million people have already been vaccinated. also tonight...

hope for tens of thousands of small businesses as the supreme court rules that insurance firms must issue pay—outs for losses suffered