this is bbc news. the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working — as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus, with clothing sales particularly hard hit. the japanese car maker nissan tells the bbc its plant in sunderland is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. and no time for release —

the latest bond film is delayed again, dealing another blow to ailing cinemas. we start with some breaking news this hour — the reproduction number, known as the r value of coronavirus transmission has fallen slightly. it's now estimated to be between 0.8 and one across the uk. that's according to the government office for science and the scientific advisory group for emergencies, or sage as they're better known. it's first time in over a month the r number has fallen below one

and means that on average every ten people infected will infect between eight and ten other people. it comes as official figures also show coronavirus infections are still high but are decreasing in most of the country. london and the north east still have the highest rates of infection. let's talk to robert cuffe, the bbc�*s head of statistics. good afternoon. the latter are has emerged in the last little while. a significant drop since the last time we had these figures. what are your thoughts? it is we had these figures. what are your thou . hts? , , thoughts? it is telling us the e - idemic thoughts? it is telling us the epidemic is _ thoughts? it is telling us the epidemic is probably - thoughts? it is telling us the i epidemic is probably shrinking thoughts? it is telling us the - epidemic is probably shrinking but it is shrinking slowly. the figures that are calculated, we reckon that the epidemic is shrinking by between a quarter and a third every

fortnight. in april and may in the harder lockdown when we went dealing with the new variant, figures were halving every fortnight. so it is a slower fall than we saw back in the first lockdown. using a different picture around the as well. the government offices are pretty confident that the r number is below one in the areas that hit tia for first. when you're moving to scotland, wales and northern ireland and northern england, there is a possibility that it is a little bit above one. the epidemic might be growing there but on balance it is hopefully moving down gradually. it is always interesting to talk about geographical variations with so many elements of coronavirus. you talk about the statistics out a couple of hours the office for national statistics. for example, we saw cases flattening out in wales,

scotland, but an in northern ireland. and we've talked so much but the very severe lockdown in northern ireland. it is but the very severe lockdown in northern ireland.— but the very severe lockdown in northern ireland. it is a very sharp rise in northern _ northern ireland. it is a very sharp rise in northern ireland. _ northern ireland. it is a very sharp rise in northern ireland. a- northern ireland. it is a very sharp rise in northern ireland. a couple l rise in northern ireland. a couple of weeks ago we were talking about less than half of people with coronavirus and now we are talking about numbers three times higher than that. the republic of ireland has also had a sharp increase of cases. in the virus to spread. they've also been under a lot of pressure because of the hospital system in northern ireland. not great news but the figures on infection reflect that pattern with r. they're coming down slowly but steadily in the bottom right—hand corner of england and flatter and may be hopefully coming down and the rest of the country. but the issue is the rate of decrease. we were reporting yesterday that may be a

third of hospitals in england have their critical care beds more than 95% fall despite laying on extra bags since november. in orderfor that pressure to be released, you don't want it to come down by a little bit every week, you wanted to come down quite quickly for the pressure to come off. we're not quite there yet with the numbers we are seeing. david spiegelhalter is professor of statistics at the university of cambridge. very good afternoon. there is an awful lot to unpick today. what stands out for you as a starting point as to whether we should see glimmers, should we? i point as to whether we should see glimmers, should we?— point as to whether we should see glimmers, should we? i think what ou have glimmers, should we? i think what you have been _ glimmers, should we? i think what you have been talking _ glimmers, should we? i think what you have been talking about, - glimmers, should we? i think what you have been talking about, the l you have been talking about, the fact that we're fairly confident thatis fact that we're fairly confident that is below one, that is good news. since cases piqued rant about

the new year, we have seen a decline. there's been a rather slow decline. there's been a rather slow decline but overall it looks like they are getting down to nearly half what they were three weeks ago. that is enormously helpful. but that change in infections follows through rather slowly to benefits from admissions. new admissions look like they have peaked now, they are starting to come down slowly, but the number of people in hospital with coronavirus that is may be reaching a plateau but there is no sign of that coming down yet. there were no signs of gas coming down yet. we won't see that probably until the end of the month —— there were no signs of death is coming down yet. but by next month we will start seeing the benefits of the vaccine. . �* , , , , vaccine. that's interesting because we've been — vaccine. that's interesting because we've been reflecting _ vaccine. that's interesting because we've been reflecting and - vaccine. that's interesting because| we've been reflecting and reporting all week from hospitals up and down

the uk. we know how many of them have their intensive care department at 95% capacity. it is have their intensive care department at 9596 capacity-— at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tou . h at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tough time _ at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tough time and _ at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tough time and it _ at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tough time and it will— at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tough time and it will stay - at 9596 capacity. it is an incredibly tough time and it will stay an - tough time and it will stay an incredibly tough time and unfortunately intensive care units will still have the longest and toughest time because the vaccine, it now looks like maybe two thirds of over 80s have had the vaccine already. that is a extraordinary achievement. but there is a high percentage of deaths in the over 80s. we will see the change in doubts by next month. however, most intensive care patients are under 70. they won't be getting the vaccine for a while. the intensive care unit city is the worst of cases. they will carry on having a very tough time for quite a long time. �* ., ., ., time. and i wonder whether all of this data makes _ time. and i wonder whether all of this data makes all _

time. and i wonder whether all of this data makes all this _ time. and i wonder whether all of | this data makes all this interesting politically. we have the vaccine, slight improvement in the r number. some people who haven't seen the reports in hospitals may be thinking why we're still in lockdown. they may be thinking, why aren't we released from all of this? there could be tension there.- released from all of this? there could be tension there. there could be tension there. _ could be tension there. there could be tension there. that's _ could be tension there. there could be tension there. that's an - be tension there. that's an understatement! 0ne be tension there. that's an understatement! one thing i can be confident about is that by net this time next month there will be a mother of all arguments because it is quite feasible that deaths will have come down feasibly. infections will have come down considerably. hospitals and intensive care will still be under a lot of pressure. there will be enormous pressure to loosen things up because of having protected very large proportions of the most vulnerable people. however, loosening it up would inevitably lead to an increase in cases, a resurgence of the pandemic among

younger groups. we conceive and that that does feed through to hospitalisations. it's going to be a real battle going on.— real battle going on. perhaps we will talk again _ real battle going on. perhaps we will talk again then _ real battle going on. perhaps we will talk again then at _ real battle going on. perhaps we will talk again then at that - real battle going on. perhaps we| will talk again then at that point. i'm quite sure we will. thank you for your thoughts as ever. later this afternoon we'll have live coverage of the latest downing street coronavirus briefing led by the prime minister. coverage begins at ii.30pm on bbc one and the bbc news channel. police have broken up a wedidng party attended by 400 guests in north london officers found the windows at the yesodey hatorah girls senior school, a charedi school in stamford hill, had been covered when they arrived at 9:15pm last night.

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds gave us this update from outside the school in stamford hill. this happened yesterday evening. police, in quite large numbers, were called to this school just after 9pm. and they found what they described as a wedding or event of some sorts taking place. of course, they shut it down straightaway. perhaps, as you would expect, the people who were at this event left as soon as the police arrived. but scotland yard said it has issued five fixed penalty fines of £200 and it is also recommended that the organisers of the event receive the full £10,000 fine for breaching coronavirus regulations. we made enquiries this morning and the school has given a statement. they said this, we are absolutely horrified about last night's event and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. now, the school says it leases the hall, which is here, to an external organisation and they tell me that this organisation has

the keys and therefore there would have been nobody at the school present last night. and they say this organisation manages all the lettings and the school have no knowledge of any event or wedding that was due to be taking place yesterday evening. the school says, we deplore the actions of anyone in any community, this is a jewish 0rthodox community, breaking the law and risking people's lives in any way. but clearly it is a pretty bad breach of the regulations on the face of it. the met has been very clear it is stepping up the use of fines in cases like this. the mayor of hackney, philip glanville said he was shocked and concerned that the wedding was able to take place. i can only echo what the police have said. it's a deeply disturbing incident at a time when in hackney we have seen the largest number of deaths reported since last april. a huge effort from the community and nhs to respond to the crisis. and incidents like this, while rare, i think are really disturbing for all of us,

and it's a clearly unlawful event. unfortunately, similar events have taken place, even at this venue before. and we need to be really clear how unacceptable it is, but also i think empower the community to say that people should be attending these events going forward. and i'm as disturbed as the police are. and we'll be speaking to a local gp whose practice is close to the school. police have named the 15 year old boy who died after being attacked by a group of youths in a residential street in birmingham. keon lincoln was attacked in the handsworth area yesterday afternoon and died later in hospital. a 14 year old boy has been arrested and is being held on suspicion of murder.

a collapse in demand for new clothes because of lockdown has seen the uk record its worst retail sales figures on record. fashion stores recorded a 25 percent fall in sales last year, and overall the number of transactions was down by nearly 2 percent compared with the year before. our business presenter ben thompson has more: 0xford oxford street and the host —— in the heart of london's west end is often full. howevershops heart of london's west end is often full. however shops here remain closed. 2020 is the worst year on record for retail. that is because in the final two weeks of december, the number of shoppers on our high streets was down by 50%. as more of us got used to click and collect and online shopping, the proportion of all sales that were done online hit 30%. the british retail consortium warned that 2020 was the worst year

on record for retail with nearly 180,000 jobs lost. but they also warned that things could get worse before they get better. debenhams, which is in administration, its flagship storejust which is in administration, its flagship store just round the corner from here is one of five which will not to reopen even when restrictions are eased. arcadia group which owns brands such as topshop, dorothy perkins, and burton, is struggling to find a buyer. next was one of the big names in the line to buy topshop, thejewel in big names in the line to buy topshop, the jewel in the crown of the arcadia empire, but it has pulled out of the race. they said it is too expensive. the warning that there may be many more thousands of jobs lost on our high street as many morejobs move online, there is a concern that 2021 could get much worse. the headlines on bbc news... hopes the epidemic is beginning to shrink —

as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month. police break up a wedding party with 400 guests — being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus — with clothing sales particularly hard hit. the us presidentjoe biden has said that a wartime effort is needed to tackle coronavirus — and he's warned americans that the worst is still to come. the new president is introducing stricter rules around face coverings, and is expanding testing and vaccinations, saying that the us death toll would pass the half a million mark next month. here's our north america correspondent, peter bowes. the day started with a prayer, a moment of reflection before the new president got down to work.

with a stack of executive orders to be signed, joe biden wasted no time in putting pen to paper. a signature is all it takes to reverse some of donald trump's key policies, and to reinvigorate a coronavirus effort that mr biden said had been a dismalfailure. the death toll will likely top 500,000 next month. the cases will continue to mount. we didn't get into this mess overnight, and it's going to take months for us to turn things around. but let me be equally clear — we will get through this. the plan is ambitious — according to mr biden, one of the greatest operational challenges america has ever undertaken — 100 million doses of the vaccine in 100 days. working alongsidejoe biden, a familiarface — dr anthony fauci, america's leading infectious disease expert, who was part of the trump administration's

coronavirus task force. he said mr biden�*s approach — with the federal government taking control of the vaccine roll—out — could see normal life returning by the autumn. the concern i have, and something we're working on, is getting people who have vaccine hesitancy, who don't want to get vaccinated, because many people are sceptical about that. so we really need to do a lot of good outreach for that. i don't know what the best case... the best case scenario for me is that we'd get 85% of the people vaccinated by the end of the summer. dr fauci also reflected on the sometimes awkward relationship he had with donald trump — especially when the former president said things that weren't based on scientific facts. the idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence...what the science is, and know that's it — let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling. the goal now, according to dr fauci,

is to rebuild the trust of americans as the war on the coronavirus moves into a new phase. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. the japanese car maker nissan says the future of its plant in sunderland is secure, as a result of the uk's post—brexit trade deal with the european union. borisjohnson says the announcement is a �*great vote of confidence'. earlier our business editor simonjack explained the future for nissan is looking good because battery production is being switched to the uk. all cars will be electric and you will need batteries, and so they are going to move that production right next door to their existing plant. and the big news, of course, is that that is great news for the 6,000 employees who work there, the tens of thousands of others in the supply chain, and marks a very different tone from nissan who, remember, said if we don't get a deal after brexit, then the future of this plant and all of those workers will be unsustainable. yesterday, i spoke to the chief operating officer. he had a very different message.

here he is. nissan being the largest auto maker in the united kingdom, we are going to redefine the auto industry in the united kingdom because the brexit makes nissan competitive in the uk and outside of the uk when it comes to our exports. like i said, it is all going to be about batteries. so nissan thinks they can be self—sufficient in that because it is the heaviest, it is the most expensive, most important component of an electric car. but we make 1.5 million cars in this country, and all of them are going to need a big powerful battery at some point. and that is why in this good news is sort of wrapped a warning to the rest of the car industry saying we need to develop that battery capacity. we need to start building it here and we need to start building it now. i'm joined now by steve bush, national officer for automotive at the unite union. hello, good afternoon. good afternoon- — hello, good afternoon. good afternoon. good _ hello, good afternoon. good afternoon. good news? -

hello, good afternoon. good afternoon. good news? yes| hello, good afternoon. good . afternoon. good news? yes this hello, good afternoon. good - afternoon. good news? yes this is fantastic news. _ afternoon. good news? yes this is fantastic news. it _ afternoon. good news? yes this is fantastic news. it is _ afternoon. good news? yes this is fantastic news. it is absolutely - fantastic news. it is absolutely welcome news. but i have to heat with caution. i think it is the start of a long road moving into the translation for the next generation of vehicles in the uk.— of vehicles in the uk. what do you mean by the _ of vehicles in the uk. what do you mean by the start _ of vehicles in the uk. what do you mean by the start of— of vehicles in the uk. what do you mean by the start of a _ of vehicles in the uk. what do you mean by the start of a long - of vehicles in the uk. what do you mean by the start of a long road? | mean by the start of a long road? what are you pointing out specifically?— what are you pointing out specifically? what are you pointing out secificall ? �* ., specifically? i'm pointing at the transition into _ specifically? i'm pointing at the transition into the _ specifically? i'm pointing at the transition into the next - specifically? i'm pointing at the i transition into the next generation of vehicles. fully electrified vehicles. the capacity is minimal in nissan. that would need to be upscaled on a big scale. not only for nissan primarily but you've also got to look only need bigger factories built. we are behind the rest of europe now because of lack of investment. the last two or three years with everything that has been going on, we are now looking for the government to step up with an industrial strategy and show that they are serious with supporting

business in this role. so they are serious with supporting business in this role. 50 it they are serious with supporting business in this role.— business in this role. so it is investment _ business in this role. so it is investment that _ business in this role. so it is investment that is _ business in this role. so it is investment that is needed i business in this role. so it is| investment that is needed in business in this role. so it is - investment that is needed in your opinion? investment that is needed in your oinion? , , investment that is needed in your oinion? , ., , , ., opinion? yes, absolutely. ithink it is important _ opinion? yes, absolutely. ithink it is important now— opinion? yes, absolutely. ithink it is important now that _ opinion? yes, absolutely. ithink it is important now that government | opinion? yes, absolutely. i think it. is important now that government and business unions work together to bring jobs. business unions work together to bringjobs. not business unions work together to bring jobs. not only safeguarding for the immediate future, but safeguarding the future when things such as rules of origin kicked in with the brexit situation and the trade deal that has been struck. the government has been saying that this plan with nissan is a big endorsement and is good for confidence, which we know can drive business. is he right when he says that? do you not think this is a vote of confidence? at}! that? do you not think this is a vote of confidence?— that? do you not think this is a vote of confidence? of course, it is ositive vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news- _ vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news. it _ vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news. it has _ vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news. it has got _ vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news. it has got to - vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news. it has got to be - vote of confidence? of course, it is positive news. it has got to be a i positive news. it has got to be a vote of confidence in that sense. but i think moving forward there is a lot to do. we need to work with industry in the industry needs to work with government. we need to make sure there is strategy moving

forward. the government says, with regard to green investment, they will back uk businesses and they will back uk businesses and they will support it with smooth trade agreements and supply and so on. we've got big companies in the uk such as bmw which will need support as well. i think, yes, such as bmw which will need support as well. ithink, yes, it such as bmw which will need support as well. i think, yes, it is important news, but let's put our money where our mouth is and work together. money where our mouth is and work to . ether. ~ . money where our mouth is and work touether. ~ . ., ,., money where our mouth is and work touether. ~ . ., ., ~ ., . together. what about the work force? to we have the _ together. what about the work force? to we have the skills _ together. what about the work force? to we have the skills and _ together. what about the work force? to we have the skills and the - to we have the skills and the workforce to make that next generation that you are talking about. , , ., ., generation that you are talking about. ., ., �* about. this is part of what i'm sa in: about. this is part of what i'm saying about _ about. this is part of what i'm saying about infrastructure . about. this is part of what i'm| saying about infrastructure and moving forward with regards to investment. as we move into new era, we are going to have fully electrified vehicles and hopefully they will be built on mass and replace the current vehicles in the uk. we are going to use new skills —— we are going to need new skills. we are looking to work closely with

government and other societies and support with business to up scale and re—skill. we've got generations of hard—working people. they have made some of these plants are most successful in the world and that needs saying. that is up to members of unite. we certainly have the ability to do that.— of unite. we certainly have the ability to do that. thank you very much. it's been described as a race against time — the operation to vaccinate those most at risk from coronavirus. around two—thirds of elderly care home residents have now received their firstjab. but the number of covid—related deaths in english care homes has doubled in two—weeks. graham satchell reports.

we've had the vaccine today, everybody! the vaccine — a real cause for celebration in care homes. every shot in the arm a victory. but this is a race against time — the number of covid—related deaths in care homes has doubled in a fortnight in england. and while some parts of the uk are making good progress, it's not the same story everywhere. i just feel that we seem to have been forgotten in this area. you know, on the news the other day, slough had done all their care homes and they'd all had their vaccination. madeleine's mum, doreen, is 92. none of the residents in her care home in essex has had the jab yet. it is really scary — really scary. and we need to get on top of that, i think. soon as you get coronavirus in a care home, it goes through like a dose of salts — it's as simple as that. i feel abandoned — that's the word, i think, here. abandoned on behalf of this population of care home residents, yeah. after we'd spoken to doreen's

family, health officials in essex told us her care home will now be vaccinated today. nhs england has set the target for all care home residents to get their first dose by this sunday. the government's target is the end of the month. so where are we? in england, 63% of residents have now had at least one dose. in scotland, which has prioritised care homes, more than 90% have had theirfirstjab. northern ireland has vaccinated 75% of its care home residents with two doses. and in wales, so far, only 56.4% of residents have had their first injection. you just step on the mat there and scrub your feet, put your personal effects on the table. this is glyn williams care home in anglesey in wales — we first filmed here last april. getting in and out, a military operation. glyn's residents have just had their vaccinations. just can't put it into words, really. i mean, we seem to have gone

through the whole year fighting this thing and, finally, it feels like we're getting some help. the welsh government told us 70% of care homes would get the first dose by this weekend, but there is concern here. it's sad that we're a little bit behind in wales. it could be due to...the more rural settings within wales, perhaps. there appears to have been a little bit of a slow uptake on the resident side of things, certainly. residents and staff at a care home run by mha — the largest charity provider in the adult care sector. the majority of residents have had their firstjab, but there is now an uncomfortable wait for the second dose. i'm concerned that this is a lengthy gap now before the second vaccination takes place, and we are leaving people vulnerable in that space, and clearly the virus is not going away. we are seeing outbreaks in quite a number of our homes,

and those vary from just a few cases to, actually, quite a number of cases. and obviously, we are still, at times, seeing people losing their lives as a result of covid. the government in westminster says it will meet its target to give every care home resident in england their first dose by the end of the month. but as death rates continue to rise, there are now calls in the sector to reassess the strategy, to give residents their second dose much more quickly. graham satchell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben. flooding concerns remain after the weather we have had this week. the weekend does look drier as far as the weather goes. it is colder with some sunny spells on the chance for

some sunny spells on the chance for some snow. as through this evening and tonight we will see showers packing in from the west. this will turn to snow and in quite low levels widespread ice is likely. temperatures dropping down to minus degrees in many spots. a little bit of fog in the south. throughout the day, we will see further wintry showers streaming through england. away from these areas, largely dry with some sunny spells on what will be a cold day. many into cold air, that could give some snow across some southern areas, but there is a lot of uncertainty about the detail. stay tuned to the forecast.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working — as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first

time in over a month. the percentage of positive covid—19 cases has also fallen slightly in england — 1 person in 55 had the virus last week. police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus, with clothing sales particularly hard hit. the japanese car maker nissan tells the bbc its plant in sunderland is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. and no time for release — the latest bond film is delayed again, dealing another blow to ailing cinemas.

more to come on lots of those stories. we will talk about the latest with the flooding as well. but let's had to the bbc sports centre and join sarah. good afternoon. it was tough going for england's bowlers on the first day of the second and final test against sri lanka in galle. the hosts closed on 229 for 4, with angelo matthews on 107 not out and james anderson was once again england's star bowler, taking three wickets. joe wilson reports captain reddy on the field. superfine, present. up on the fort, gold again, and bowling, the eternal one. joe root, safe hands. rested in the first test. struck twice in the

opening minutes of this one. on! anderson again. shri langer were picking in a mess. the hero —— sri lanka. sri lanka had their own support on the fort. this is how he does it. anderson delivers and the batsmen just can't help himself. england had mark would bowling fast. shrill anchor —— sri lanka hands matthews. 0verall, beneath the beating sun, the day became placid. mark ward is 90 miles an hour. finally, after all that effort, reward. but the bat held sway. after 229 runs, sri lanka scored, matthews

made 107. days to come, but enough so far to make you glad he brought that flag. 0lympic organisers hope the covid—19 vaccine will mean the rescheduled tokyo games can take place injuly, despite a newspaper report on friday casting doubt on their going ahead. the international olympic committee and the international paralympic committee released a statement to say the report was categorically untrue. and the president of world athletics sebastian coe has also been speaking about the future of the games. i think we understand that the crystal ball has firmly gone from the window many months ago. this is not an exact science, but all i am saying is at this moment, there is a determination among the international federations, determination among the internationalfederations, the sports, the memberfederations, the key ingredients, the international

olympic committee, the governments ofjapan and the organising community to deliver these games. two of the premier league title contenders have suffered injury blows to key players. leicester strikerjamie vardy faces a spell out after undergoing surgery on a hernia, while manchester city will be without midfielder kevin de bruyne for up to six weeks due to a hamstring injury sustained during wednesday's 4—0 win against aston villa. de bruyne could miss up to 10 matches, including the champions league last—16 first—leg tie with borussia monchengladbach next month. tyrell hatton leads the way on 12 under par at the abu dhabi golf championship. he was through 13 holes on his second round, before play was stopped for bad light, as the event plays catch up from a fog delay on day one and he started fast with an eagle on the second, before a run of four birdies in a row from 7 to 10 sent him five shots clear of the pack. rory mcilroy started with a 1—shot lead, but has struggled today,

and he's two over for his round, through 14 — so he's dropped back 7 under. britain's elvin evans has the overall lead at the end of the second day of the monte carlo rally. he took the top spot after toyota team mate and world champion sebastien 0gier suffered a punctured tyre in the tricky conditions on the day's penultimate stage. evans lost time to the frenchman on the day's final stage, but he'll start tomorrow with a seven—second lead. that's all the sport for now. i will see you again in the next hour. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas in england and wales already hit hard by storm christoph. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of homes had to be evacuated in england and wales. the environment secretary george eustace says preparations are underway to shore up defences against further bad weather next week. danny savage is in york.

with the sun out, it looks beautiful, but it has been a difficult time. bring us up to date there. , , ., ., , ., ., there. the sunshine follows all of there. the sunshine follows all of the heavy rain — there. the sunshine follows all of the heavy rain when _ there. the sunshine follows all of the heavy rain when it _ there. the sunshine follows all of the heavy rain when it comes - there. the sunshine follows all of the heavy rain when it comes to l the heavy rain when it comes to winter flooding the heavy rain when it comes to winterflooding here in england. it looks very spectacular behind me on the river 0use. it this morning and is slowly going down, but it is quite a sight. quite a few people here on the bridge is taking pictures of the river 0use as it goes through the city. if you were to take to the air over yorkshire and the wider area of northern england, parts of wales, you would see an awful lot of flooding in the river valleys of this part of the country. but most of the water is where it should be in this sort of scenario. it is in the flood plains. we have had about 400 properties

flooded overall in england and wales over the last few days, but the environment agency say about 25,000 properties have already been protected by the flood defences that have been built in recent years. places to watch still, cheshire has a lot of flooding, places around warrington particularly bad and there is some concern about the river severn going into the weekend, going to bewdley and ironbridge as well, where could be flooding in the next 24 hours also. it has stopped raining at the weather has improved. those river levels will therefore drop over the next few days. but there is concern for the next week. more rain is forecast. look behind me, you can see there is so much water in the system already that if there is more rain next week, it won't take too much to cause more flooding, so there is more concern about the forecast. government ministers today saying they are keeping a close eye on it, and from

the middle of next week onwards, jane. a , the middle of next week onwards, jane. , . �* the middle of next week onwards, jane. , . ~ ., jane. many thanks. and a full weather forecast _ jane. many thanks. and a full weather forecast coming - jane. many thanks. and a full weather forecast coming just | jane. many thanks. and a full- weather forecast coming just before the top of the hour. nicola sturgeon has announced a new £500,000 fund for health boards and health and social care partnerships to provide "a little extra practical support" for staff on the front line in scotland. the first minister said earlier she hoped the funds would address issues raised by healthcare staff. throughout the pandemic, i think everybody would agree with this, our health and care workers have done a truly outstanding job in the most difficult and stressful circumstances that it is possible to imagine. and of course, the stress that they face, the pressure they face, it can be seen in figures that i'm reporting every day right now. it is severe and it is acute. and i am hugely grateful to each and every one of them, and i'm very confident that i say that on behalf of literally every person across the country. we have done what we can to support the well—being of health and social care staff as they have carried out their work.

in may, you might recall we launched a national well—being hub, which is there to provide online support for health care workers and their families. we have also established a 24/7 well—being helpline, again dedicated to health and care staff. today i am announcing a further measure which will give staff, i hope, a little bit extra practical support. we are allocating an additional £500,000 to health boards and health and social care partnerships. that money will be available to help address issues which have been raised directly by health and social care workers. for example, some of it could be used to help provide workers with free hot drinks and snacks when they are on shift. and i know that probably sounds like quite a small thing, and in some ways it is, but it has been flagged up to us as being important in helping workers to rest and recover during the break times that they get during shifts. and of course, sometimes

in all walks of life it can be the little things that help quite a lot. so i'm flagging this up todayjust as a way of underlining how much we owe our health and care workers, but also as an example of what we are trying to do to support them in practical ways while they continue to perform such an incredible service for all of us. i don't think we will ever be able to repay those on the front line of health and social care for everything they have done and everything they have suffered over the duration of this pandemic. but in every way we can, it's important to support them and to show our gratitude. earlier this afternoon the welsh first minister provided an update on the coronavirus situation in wales. mark drakeford said that more than 212,000 people have had their first vaccine and that as supplies of the vaccine increase in wales, the vaccination programme has really picked up speed.

two weeks ago, i set out our plans for increasing the number of mass vaccination centers and gp practices offering vaccination. since then, we have exceeded all those plans. we have more clinics than ever providing vaccinations, more gp practices are offering the 0xford—astrazeneca jab, and almost 1000 care home residents a day are being vaccinated in wales. and that is because vaccination is our number one priority. we are on target to hit our first milestone of offering vaccination to the first four priority groups by the middle of february. and there is, as you can imagine, a massive amount of work going on in wales to make this happen. and of course, i understand that everyone is eager to have theirjab, and not everybody will be vaccinated

in the first couple of weeks. for those who are waiting, i thank you for your patience. and if you haven't been vaccinated yet, you will soon hearfrom the nhs about your appointment if you are in one of those top priority groups. google says it could withdraw its search engine from australia if the country pushes ahead with attempts to make it pay media outlets for their news content. the government in canberra says the planned reforms will raise money for struggling publishers, so that they can continue to produce journalism in the public interest. but google and other tech giants believe such a law would set a dangerous precedent. the head of google in australia is mel silvia. if this version of the code were to become law, it would give us

no real choice but to stop making google search available in australia. in its current form, the code remains unworkable and if it became law, would hurt notjust google but small publishers, small businesses and millions of australians that use our services every day. google's approach drew a sharp reaction from australia's prime minister, scott morrison. australia makes our rules for things you can do in australia. that's done in our parliament, it is done by our government, and that is how things work here in australia. and people who want to work with that in australia, you are very welcome. but we don't respond to threats. 0ur correspondent in sydney shaimaa khalil has more on that proposed law. well, essentially, it is to bridge that gap between media outlets and the all—powerful tech giants

like google, like facebook. what the government wants is it wants google, facebook and other tech companies to acknowledge thejournalism of these media outlets and pay them for using it on their platform. the government argues that because these tech platforms gain millions of customers with people who go on it to read the news, billions of dollars in advertising revenue, that they should pay news outlets for their journalism. and this really is an essential and badly needed financial support avenue for news outlets that have essentially been haemorrhaging money, really, for decades. we have official reports that say the print media in australia, for example, have lost 75% of its advertising revenue, so the operators are becoming smaller, tighter, they are losing jobs. so this money in the proposed

law is hopefully going to support them going forward. but, of course, very strong resistance from google and from facebook as well. 0ur correspondent talking about google and its operations in australia. i think i canjust bring you some newsjust australia. i think i canjust bring you some news just coming through, some sentencing news coming through from the old bailey. we are just beginning to get the details of the sentences handed down to the men who were involved in that really horrific migrant smuggling case that i am sure you will remember. this is the case of the 39 vietnamese migrants who were found in a back of a lorry in essex in 2019. the sentencing was expected a little bit earlier today at the old bailey. we are just hearing that the longest sentence handed down is 27 years.

another of the men involved, 20 years. another sentence of 18 years. all the details are starting to come through from our correspondent two is at the old bailey, some of the key people involved in that appalling crime, some very long sentences being handed down there. we don't have any of the judge's comments from the old bailey, so we are very much keeping an eye on that, but 39 vietnamese migrants lost their lives, you will remember, when they were found in the back of a lorry that was parked in essex. and this is the picture of the 39 people who the court was told were trying to reach the uk to have a better life and to come here to work and send money home to their families. 39 families left breathed there, and a long prison sentences,

certainly, in some of the cases, with very long prison sentences being handed down. —— families bereaved. we will have more from the old bailey and we are expecting more from the police and crown prosecution service as well, so we will be back for the old bailey with more on that. some high street and luxury retailers in the uk could consider abandoning goods that eu customers want to return — with some even thinking of burning them because it is cheaper than bringing them home. retailers say the new eu trade deal has put costly duties on online returns, at a time when firms are already struggling. more details from our business reporter simon browning. scroll, choose, click, deliver. a seamless retail experience.

before january 1st, we could buy from anywhere in europe with ease and speed, and europeans could buy from our retailers too. but since the start of our new trading relationship, problems and delays are appearing. when shoppers in europe have bought goods from uk brands, lots of them have been hit with new customs charges on delivery. it's meant lots of shoppers have said simply, "i don't want it, take it away". and now uk brands and couriers are stuck with a growing mountain of online returns. the financials don't make any sense. companies have got no choice but to say, "just leave it with the courier company, and the courier companies don't have storage space. they don't know what to do with these goods, so they may end up being burnt or destroyed. goods being returned from europe to the uk are now subject to another layer of customs charges and checks. uk retailers have goods mounting in german, irish and belgian warehouses. 0ne retailer has been quoted £18,000 to get their returned goods

cleared and back to the uk. ulla runs a london based sustainable fashion brand. her sales with europe have grown every year since launch. for now, she has stopped exporting and trading with the eu because of the barriers of increased customs costs. it's been an absolute nightmare, to be honest. we started out the year cancelling orders, a lot of orders, actually, which was a really sad way of starting 2021. for those in retail, shipping and freight, they had just a week to adapt to the terms of our new relationship — lots of new customs procedures to learn. the government says it's working with industry to help them trade effectively under the new rules. but with parcels stuck and retailers believing it's easier to write them off than get them back, it's not the smoothest start to our new trading future. simon browning, bbc news.

we will return to the old bailey, because as i was saying, sentences have been handed down for the men involved in the people struggling. —— people smuggling. 39 vietnamese migrants found dead in the back of a lorry in essex. sentencing just taking place at the old bailey. let's go there and join our home affairs correspondent. some long sentences in this case. daniel, explain what has been happening. some extremely long sentences. for the men are in the dock today and have been convicted or pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter as part of a conspiracy to assist illegal immigration. it was clear that they were going to be facing some very long sentences. two of those found guilty of manslaughter had actually pleaded guilty to it,

so that meant that they got a one third discount off the sentence. because they had pleaded early. but all the same, the man who didn't pleads guilty, he is a british romanian man believed to be one of the organisers of this people smuggling organisation was given a 29 year sentence. he will serve two thirds of that. the full sentences 27 years. the man who did plead guilty to the offences of manslaughter and assist of illegal immigration after a discount of that but a sentence of 20 years. he will serve two thirds of that. the man who infamously actually picked up the trailer once all of the people inside had already died and then took 20 minutes before he called the police when he realised that the people he was supposed to be smuggling had all died, he got a discount rate guilty pn his final sentence was 13 years and four months. he will serve two months of

that. and the lorry driver on the continent, the man who picked up the migrants and then had driven them to the port before leaving the trailer there to travel unaccompanied on the channel, aware that there were 39 people inside that trailer, he didn't pleads guilty and he faces an 18 year sentence. three of those men are all from a small part of northern ireland. and christopher kennedy, another man from northern ireland, get seven years for his part in the conspiracy to assist illegal immigration. another man gets four years. he was a driver who picked up some of the illegal migrants at a farm in essex, and another gets four years. some very high sentences from those involved in the manslaughter. mrjustice sweeney saying he wanted to pass such high sentences because of the large number of people who died but

also as a deterrent because of the hype prevalence at the moment of people trying to smuggle people across the english channel —— high prevalence. we across the english channel -- high prevalence-— prevalence. we had about people t in: to prevalence. we had about people trying to come — prevalence. we had about people trying to come to _ prevalence. we had about people trying to come to this _ prevalence. we had about people trying to come to this country - prevalence. we had about people trying to come to this country to l trying to come to this country to work and find a better life. yes. work and find a better life. yes, the dynamics — work and find a better life. yes, the dynamics behind _ work and find a better life. yes, the dynamics behind this - work and find a better life. 1a: the dynamics behind this was that people, one as young as 15 years old, had made their way across europe with their families paying large amounts of money for them to get to western europe, either to france or belgium, and once they got there, there was then in the final leg of the journey, there, there was then in the final leg of thejourney, and there, there was then in the final leg of the journey, and the arrangement that these people made was that they were paying for what was that they were paying for what was described to them as a vip service. they were going to pay between 10,000 pounds and £13,000 for the safe delivery to the uk.

they didn't pay anything in advance, but theirfamilies had prepared to borrow what is a huge sum of money in vietnam to pay for that final leg across the channel. when they arrived, they were to be taken to a safe house flat in london where they would be held until theirfamilies had paid the final balance. but of course none of them made it. the jury course none of them made it. the jury heard incredibly distressing descriptions of how these 39 people had died. from the moment they were loaded into that sealed trailer, the temperature started to rise, reaching over 40 celsius at one point, because there were so many people in that sealed trailer. —— centigrade. the carbon dioxide levels went up, the oxygen levels went down, and the jury heard about the messages that those people had left for their families as they died in that trailer as it went across the channel. incredibly distressing images that the jury were shown, and

then incredibly distressing sounds that were then played to the judge when he was preparing sentencing of people recording their final messages for theirfamilies. and messages for their families. and before messages for theirfamilies. and before they even reached the port on the thames estuary, they died. you talk about the _ the thames estuary, they died. you talk about the judge handed down long sentences, partly as a deterrent, and, again, ithink during the case, you have mentioned some of the sums of money those people had paid, this was, in the minds of the convicted men, a lucrative business. than lucrative business. an extraordinarily - lucrative business. fifty extraordinarily lucrative business. this was quite a sophisticated operation and it was extremely profitable. the court heard that justin in that month of october, when the people died on the last shipment, this gang had been responsible for moving 80 people across the channel. —— just in that

month. that could have netted them £800,000, so it was a huge potential profit from the people smuggling gang, and in the end, it was said they got too greedy. they missed a shipment. 0ne shipment got stopped going into the channel tunnel and it seems that a decision was made to double up the number of migrants going on at the nextjourney. so instead of being about 20 inside that sealed trailer, this time there were 39 people inside that sealed trailer. these were people involved in the haulage business, they didn't know the science, they didn't know the medical science involved, and they had not realised by putting 39 people inside that trailer, they were effectively signing their death warrants. there was not going to be enough oxygen in there for them. the judge said he accepted that they didn't understand the extremely high risk they were taking with these people's lives, but nonetheless the 39 people died in the course of them

committing a very serious criminal offence, and for that they would have to get very high deterrent sentences at the very top end, 27 years. sentences at the very top end, 27 ears. �* , , , sentences at the very top end, 27 ears. h , , ., ., years. let's 'ust pause and take a look at the — years. let'sjust pause and take a look at the weather _ years. let'sjust pause and take a look at the weather prospects. it| years. let'sjust pause and take a l look at the weather prospects. it is a dryer and from what has been an exceptionally wet week. with that rain still working through the river systems, flood warnings will continue through the weekend. you can check those on the bbc weather website. the weather itself will be drier but colder. some sunny spells but also snow in the forecast. that has given us a few forecasting headaches. plenty of showers across western areas. some snow mixing in with these, especially of a high ground. the cluster of heavy showers moving on, thunder and hail mixing in with that. temperatures dropping

away quickly and they will continue to drop through tonight. still some showers around. the shower is increasingly turning wintry in a north—western areas. snow to come in places and widespread ice, with surfaces pretty wet out there, and temperatures getting down to freezing or below. we could get down to —9 across western scotland. tomorrow is a day of sunny spells and wintry showers. snow in low levels, pushing through western scotland, northern ireland, north—west wales, into the midlands and lincolnshire as well. elsewhere, we will see largely fine conditions with plenty of sunshine, but it will be cold, despite the winds being lighter than they are today. 2 degrees and 7 degrees or top temperatures. cold and frosty tonight, through the night, keeping a close eye out west on this weather feature here. that is what is giving us a forecasting headaches for sunday because as this runs into some cold air, it is likely to produce some snowfall, but exactly

how the weather front will behave is open to question. some computer weather models dive it away southwards quite quickly, but others allow it to work its way eastwards right across east anglia, and the south—east, giving a few centimetres of lying snow in places. that could even get into parts of northern england. northern ireland... sunshine with wintry showers, but whatever happens with the snowfall further south, whatever happens with the snowfall furthersouth, it whatever happens with the snowfall further south, it will be cold. that much is clear. 2 degrees to 60 days. that will change next week. temperatures will rise, —— six degrees. however, there will be some heavy rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working, as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month long jail sentences for the people smuggling gang convicted over the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus, with clothing sales particularly hard hit. and no time for release —

the latest bond film is delayed again, dealing another blow to ailing cinemas. we start with some breaking news this afternoon — the reproduction number, known as the r value of coronavirus transmission has fallen slightly. it's now estimated to be between 0.8 and one across the uk. that's according to the government office for science and the scientific advisory group for emergencies , or sage as they're better known. it's first time in over a month the r number has fallen below one and means that on average, every ten people infected will infect between eight and ten other people. as you can see from this chart

the spread of the virus has fallen the sharpest in london, the east of england and northern ireland. the reproduction of the virus is taking longer to slow in scotland, wales, the midlands and north west england. it comes as official figures also show coronavirus infections are still high but are decreasing in most parts of the country. figures from the office for national statistics estimate one in 35 people were infected with covid in the week ending the 16th january. over 5,000 armed forces personnel are helping out in hospitals and vaccination centres across the uk. the largest military resilience operation in peacetime. the bbc�*s head of statistics robert cuffe has been looking into the figures and explained what we can read into the falling r number

it is telling us the epidemic is probably shrinking but it is shrinking slowly. the figures that are calculated, we reckon that the epidemic is shrinking by between a quarter and a third every fortnight. in april and may in the harder lockdown when we went dealing with the new variant, figures were halving every fortnight. so it is a slower fall than we saw back in the first lockdown. we're seeing a different picture around the as well. the government offices are pretty confident that the r number is below one in london, south east england . when you're moving to scotland, wales and northern ireland and northern england, there is a possibility that it is a little bit above one. the epidemic might be growing there but on balance it is hopefully moving down gradually. it is always interesting

to talk about geographical variations with so many elements of coronavirus. you talk about the statistics out a couple of hours the office for national statistics. for example, we saw cases flattening out in wales, scotland, but an increase northern ireland. and we've talked so much but the very severe lockdown in northern ireland. it is a very sharp rise in northern ireland. a couple of weeks ago we were talking about less than half of people with coronavirus and now we are talking — 0.5% of people — about numbers three times higher than that. the republic of ireland has also had a sharp increase of cases. and the virus does spread. they've also been under a lot of pressure because of the hospital system in northern ireland.

not great news but the figures on infection reflect that pattern with r. they're coming down slowly but steadily in the bottom right—hand corner of england and flatter and may be hopefully coming down and the rest of the country. but the issue is the rate of decrease. we were reporting yesterday that may be a third of hospitals in england have their critical care beds more than 95% fall despite laying on extra bags since november. in order for that pressure to be released, you don't want it to come down by a little bit every week, you want it to come down quite quickly for the pressure to come off. we're not quite there yet with the numbers we are seeing. i've also been speaking to david speigelhalter — he's professor of statistics at the university of cambridge. he said that the fall in r number was a positive development.

it is very encouraging news. we've had a few weeks since cases peaked over new year. it's been quite a slow decline. but it is half what they were three weeks ago which is enormously helpful. but that change in infections follows through rather slowly to benefits from admissions. new admissions look like they have peaked now, they are starting to come down slowly. the number of people in hospital with coronavirus may be reaching a plateau but there is no sign of them coming down yet. and there is no sign of deaths coming down yet. we probably won't see that until the end of the month. this is a slog but it is getting there. but the vaccine well by next month, we will start seeing the benefits of the vaccine.- benefits of the vaccine. that's interesting- — benefits of the vaccine. that's interesting. we _ benefits of the vaccine. that's interesting. we have - benefits of the vaccine. that's interesting. we have been i benefits of the vaccine. that's i interesting. we have been reporting all week from hospitals in the uk

and we know how many have their eye departments at 95% capacity. —— their intensive care departments at 95% capacity. it is their intensive care departments at 95% capacity-— 9596 capacity. it is incredibly tough time and it will— 9596 capacity. it is incredibly tough time and it will stay _ 9596 capacity. it is incredibly tough time and it will stay a _ 9596 capacity. it is incredibly tough time and it will stay a tough - 9596 capacity. it is incredibly tough time and it will stay a tough time. | time and it will stay a tough time. care units are where there will be the longest and toughest time. 0ver the longest and toughest time. over two thirds of over have had the vaccine. extraordinary achievements. 0ver vaccine. extraordinary achievements. over 80s have had the vaccine. extraordinary achievements. early 80s at extraordinary achievements. early 805 at 60% extraordinary achievements. early 80s at 60% of deaths. we'll see that changing deaths by next month. however, most intensive care patients are below 70. so they will not be getting the vaccine for a while and the intensive care unit sees the worst of cases. they will carry on having a very tough time for quite a long time. i carry on having a very tough time for quite a long time.— for quite a long time. i wonder whether all— for quite a long time. i wonder whether all of— for quite a long time. i wonder whether all of this _ for quite a long time. i wonder whether all of this data - for quite a long time. i wonder whether all of this data makes| for quite a long time. i wonder- whether all of this data makes life interesting politically. we've got a

lot of rhetoric about the vaccine roll—out. we've got slight improvements in the r number. and therefore some people who may not have seen reports about problems in hospitals, why are we still in lockdown? shouldn't politicians be releasing us from all of this? there could be tension there.— releasing us from all of this? there could be tension there. there could be tension- — could be tension there. there could be tension. that's _ could be tension there. there could be tension. that's an _ be tension. that's an understatement! i don't like making predictions, but one thing i can be absolutely confident about is by this time next month, there will be a mother of all arguments because it is quite feasible that deaths will have come down considerably. infections should have come down considerably, intensive care units will still be under a lot of pressure. there will be enormous pressure. there will be enormous pressure to loosen things up because of having protected a very large proportion of the most vulnerable people. however, loosening it up would inevitably lead to an increase in cases, a resurgence of the

pandemic among younger groups. we can see then that that does feed through to hospitalisations. it's going to be a real battle going on. in the past hour, four men have been sentenced to at least 13 years in prison for their involvement in the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found in the back of a lorry in essex. the old bailey heard the victims suffered "excruciatingly painful" deaths having suffocated in the container bringing them to the uk from belgium in october 2019. sentencing has only taken place in the last hour or so. we are keeping an eye on our cameras there. we are expecting to hearfrom an eye on our cameras there. we are expecting to hear from the police and possibly others in the next few minutes. we are waiting for that

police statement. but lets talk more about these very long sentences that have been handed down this hour with our home affairs correspondent. daniel sandford is outside the old bailey for us. let's talk about the very long sentences that were handed down to some of the men involved in this. thejudge concluded that some of the men involved in this. the judge concluded that of the people before him in the dock, the most senior person was ronan hughes, a haulierfrom northern ireland. if he had not pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, then he would have had a 30 year sentence for the 39 counts of manslaughter. because he pleaded guilty, he had a third taken off that. his official sentence is 20 years in prison of which he will serve two thirds. the next senior person is a british romanian man from essex, he did not

plead guilty. he got no discount for a guilty plea, consequently you got the full 26 year sentence for his part in this conspiracy and the deaths of at least 39 people. again, he will serve two thirds of that sentence. moving on down the list of the man, the lorry driver who picked up the man, the lorry driver who picked up the trailer when the people inside were already dead and then failed to dial 999 for 20 minutes, he would have been given a sentence of 20 years in prison but again because he pleaded guilty, that was reduced to 13 years and four months in prison. he will serve two thirds of that. and the lorry driver on the continent, who was the last of the people to be found guilty on the 39 counts of manslaughter, he didn't plead guilty, so consequently, he will get the full sentence that was to be imposed. that is 18 years in his case for his part in this for

the deaths of 39 people. of that, he will serve two thirds. so extremely high sentences. ronan hughes could have got 30 years if he hadn't pleaded guilty. have got 30 years if he hadn't pleaded guilty-— have got 30 years if he hadn't pleaded guilty. have got 30 years if he hadn't leaded uuil . , , pleaded guilty. lets remember those who lost their — pleaded guilty. lets remember those who lost their lives, _ pleaded guilty. lets remember those who lost their lives, because - pleaded guilty. lets remember those who lost their lives, because these . who lost their lives, because these were people who, some of them were very young, and they wanted to come to this country to work, to have a better life. to this country to work, to have a better life-— better life. yes, indeed. some of them as young — better life. yes, indeed. some of them as young as _ better life. yes, indeed. some of them as young as 15 _ better life. yes, indeed. some of them as young as 15 years - better life. yes, indeed. some of them as young as 15 years old. i l them as young as 15 years old. i think the police press conference might be about to start... yes think the police press conference might be about to start. . .- might be about to start... yes it is. might be about to start... yes it is- these _ might be about to start... yes it is. these significant _ might be about to start... yes it is. these significant sentences l might be about to start... yes it l is. these significant sentences are a reflection _ is. these significant sentences are a reflection of _ is. these significant sentences are a reflection of the _ is. these significant sentences are a reflection of the serious - is. these significant sentences are a reflection of the serious nature l a reflection of the serious nature of the _ a reflection of the serious nature of the crimes. and of course the tregio— of the crimes. and of course the tragic circumstances of the case. the quality— tragic circumstances of the case. the quality of the evidence presented assured that all of the victims. — presented assured that all of the victims, all of the suspects, faced

justice _ victims, all of the suspects, faced justice. including those who refused to admit— justice. including those who refused to admit their guilt. of course, most _ to admit their guilt. of course, most significant of all of these, was one — most significant of all of these, was one who told lie after lie after lie in _ was one who told lie after lie after lie in the _ was one who told lie after lie after lie in the most despicable manner. the criminals in this case make their_ the criminals in this case make their money from misery. they knew what they— their money from misery. they knew what they were doing and they knew it was— what they were doing and they knew it was dangerous, but they did it anyway — it was dangerous, but they did it anyway. they treated the victims as anyway. they treated the victims as a commodity and they transported them _ a commodity and they transported them in _ a commodity and they transported them in ways that we would not transport — them in ways that we would not transport animals. i hope that the exposure — transport animals. i hope that the exposure of this case sends a strong

message _ exposure of this case sends a strong message to — exposure of this case sends a strong message to those involved in this type of— message to those involved in this type of crime and that message that we will_ type of crime and that message that we will find you, we will stop you, and you _ we will find you, we will stop you, and you will— we will find you, we will stop you, and you will face justice. essex police — and you will face justice. essex police are _ and you will face justice. essex police are ensuring that the victims of organised immigration crime are treated _ of organised immigration crime are treated as — of organised immigration crime are treated as victims. we are trailblazing changes to national protocol — trailblazing changes to national protocol and policy to ensure that this type — protocol and policy to ensure that this type of tragedy does not happen again _ this type of tragedy does not happen again we _ this type of tragedy does not happen again. we are working hand—in—hand with the _ again. we are working hand—in—hand with the haulage industry to prevent tragedies _ with the haulage industry to prevent tragedies like this. there were 39 people _ tragedies like this. there were 39 people who died in that trailer. two of them _ people who died in that trailer. two of them were just 15—year—old children _

of them were just 15—year—old children. all of the victims travelled thousands of miles to pursue — travelled thousands of miles to pursue a — travelled thousands of miles to pursue a false promise of a new life _ pursue a false promise of a new life they— pursue a false promise of a new life. they died in the most unimaginable ways. they died because of the _ unimaginable ways. they died because of the utter— unimaginable ways. they died because of the utter greed of the people involved — of the utter greed of the people involved. i hope that today's significant sentences brings some comfort— significant sentences brings some comfort to the families aren't friends — comfort to the families aren't friends of— comfort to the families aren't friends of the victims. it has been my pleasure to have led this investigation on their behalf. it has been — investigation on their behalf. it has been my pleasure to bring them the justice _ has been my pleasure to bring them the justice that they so richly deserve _ the justice that they so richly deserve. this is not a case for celebration. anyone involved in this investigation has felt the overwhelming sense of loss that it

brings _ overwhelming sense of loss that it brings with it. as always, the victims — brings with it. as always, the victims and their families in my thoughts — victims and their families in my thoughts and in our thoughts today and always. thank you. detective chief inspector of essex police, looking moved at the end of that long trial and sentencing. he talked about the significant sentences that have been handed down this afternoon. he said the ringleaders may be money from misery. they trip treated their victims as a commodity and you wouldn't treat animals in that fashion. 0ur wouldn't treat animals in that fashion. our home affairs correspondent has followed this trial throughout and has been there

at the old bailey. we were just talking about the 39 people who died and striking that the police that, reminding us that two of the people in that lorry were only 15 years old. ., ,., . ., ., old. for the police, from the moment that their ordinary _ old. for the police, from the moment that their ordinary response - that their ordinary response officers went into the trailer on that night and saw that really grisly scene of 39 people, many of them have stripped many of their clothes off as they were dying because they were so hot and gasping for air, they have been so aware of it from the moment they started to identify these people and realise that they were so young, some of them, but also that each of them had families who do police liaison officers then had to get in touch with in vietnam and to understand the terrible gaps that were left behind in these family's lives in

vietnam. the police have taken it extremely personally, as they do with any crime, but when dealing with any crime, but when dealing with 39 deaths, it's difficult not to be overwhelmed in that sense of loss for families who are trying to bring justice for. the essex police, and their partners on the continent and their partners on the continent and in vietnam and in northern ireland and the republic of ireland, this is not over. while it is believed that ronan hughes was the most senior of the people before him in the dock, there was at least one person above him in the chain, if the mysterious vietnamese man who has only been known in court by mysterious name. he was the contact in vietnam. he was the person who had a flat in south london where people on previous trips were held until families gave him people on previous trips were held untilfamilies gave him money. he wasn't on trial. it has never been arrested. he is someone the police

would clearly like to bring to justice. there are other players too. there are several files of the crown prosecution service at the moment is on whether to bring charges. they have been people already convicted in vietnam and that could be more convictions there. this huge international operation isn't yet over. but i think you could almost feel the burden listing on the police's shoulders and the pen convictions happens at the back end of last year and there was a grim satisfaction at the weight of the sentences that as they were being passed today. i think you'd get a sense of that from that statement just now.— that statement 'ust now. thank you ve much that statement 'ust now. thank you very much for— that statementjust now. thank you very much for now. _ that statementjust now. thank you very much for now. long _ that statementjust now. thank you very much for now. long sentencesj very much for now. long sentences handed down for those men involved in the death of 39 vietnamese man, women, and boys.

police have broken up a weddng party attended by 400 guests in north london officers found the windows at the yesodey hatorah girls senior school, a haredi school in stamford hill, had been covered when they arrived at nine 15 last night. let's get the latest now from our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. it is staggering in the current climate. tell us more about what the police are saying. the climate. tell us more about what the police are saying-— police are saying. the police said they arrived _ police are saying. the police said they arrived here _ police are saying. the police said they arrived here yesterday i police are saying. the police said i they arrived here yesterday evening. there had been reports of some sort of an event at the school. that turned out to be some sort of a wedding event. the school has a big hole that it wants out with capacity for about 400 people. police moved in. i am told by someone who lived nearby that they climbed over the fence. they went in and broke this event up. they handed out some fines and penalties for people who were

attending and they have passed on a recommendation that the organiser of the event is find the full £10,000 for breaching the coronavirus regulations. the school itself, this is a jewish girls school in an orthodox area of north london, says that it had no idea that this event was taking place. it is given a statement today which it says, we are absolutely horrified but last night's event and combine it in the strongest possible terms. we loose our haul out to an external organisation which manages all lettings and as such we had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place... ican add i can add to that, having spoken to

the school, the agency that lacks the school, the agency that lacks the hall here, they have their own key, and they would not have been anyone from the school likely to notice what was going on last night. clearly, it has caused enormous concern. as part of london has 625 cases per 100,000 people. that's in the last week. the average in england is 412. the concern among some people is that nobody quite knows what this event was. it has been suggested it might been something of a religious ceremony, but we don't have too much information at the moment. clearly, there will be some concern that this sort of area, we are having some trouble with some people who don't want to see are reporting the story, that this sort of story where the message of coronavirus is being missed. ., ., message of coronavirus is being missed. ., ,, , ., message of coronavirus is being missed. ., ~' . message of coronavirus is being missed. ., ,, . ., message of coronavirus is being missed. ., ~' . . , message of coronavirus is being missed. ., ,, . ., , . missed. thank you. we are very much auoin to missed. thank you. we are very much going to stay — missed. thank you. we are very much going to stay with _ missed. thank you. we are very much going to stay with this _ missed. thank you. we are very much going to stay with this and _ missed. thank you. we are very much going to stay with this and see - going to stay with this and see whether we can get a few more

answers and some reaction to what the police have been telling us about that case, because i'm joined by this gp, whose practice is very close to that school. i am also joined by this man from the board of representatives for british jewish people. i wonder if you have any more information, whether anyone has contacted you about this? do you know or understand what was going on here last night? i know or understand what was going on here last night?— here last night? i don't know exactly but _ here last night? i don't know exactly but i _ here last night? i don't know exactly but i have _ here last night? i don't know exactly but i have spoken i here last night? i don't know exactly but i have spoken to| here last night? i don't know- exactly but i have spoken to various leaders in the stamford hill community and they are shocked and appalled, as we all are. we condemn this reserve idli. across the country, 95,000 people have died. and thousands in thejewish community have died. 0ur and thousands in thejewish community have died. our community understands this. we condemn it. we

need to rally together. it's hard, but we need to do what we need to do. we need to stay at home and protect the nhs and save lives. find protect the nhs and save lives. and liam, ou protect the nhs and save lives. and liam. you are _ protect the nhs and save lives. and liam. you are a _ protect the nhs and save lives. and liam, you are a local gp. your thoughts when you heard about this? i think for us, as practice, we were disappointed. this is a very unique and close—knit community that care for each _ and close—knit community that care for each other and look out for each other _ for each other and look out for each other the — for each other and look out for each other. the vast majority that we know _ other. the vast majority that we know our— other. the vast majority that we know our following rules and being safe and _ know our following rules and being safe and careful. for us, it is disappointing that there is a small group _ disappointing that there is a small group of— disappointing that there is a small group of people who are behaving in such a _ group of people who are behaving in such a manner that they are increasing infections within our community in stamford hill. you use the word disappointing. _ community in stamford hill. you use the word disappointing. some - community in stamford hill. you use| the word disappointing. some people following this story today would say it is staggering. i can't really conceive of 400 people in the current climate, knowing everything we know about the hospital pressures, we think that that wasn't a dangerous thing to do. flit

pressures, we think that that wasn't a dangerous thing to do.— a dangerous thing to do. of course. we aaree a dangerous thing to do. of course. we agree that _ a dangerous thing to do. of course. we agree that as _ a dangerous thing to do. of course. we agree that as well. _ a dangerous thing to do. of course. we agree that as well. particularly. we agree that as well. particularly with hospital pressures. 0ur area in north-east — with hospital pressures. 0ur area in north—east london, our two local hospitals — north—east london, our two local hospitals are so overwhelmed at the moment— hospitals are so overwhelmed at the moment with increased infections. in our practice, — moment with increased infections. in our practice, we are seeing a huge number— our practice, we are seeing a huge number of— our practice, we are seeing a huge number of people testing positive as well as— number of people testing positive as well as people being hospitalised. sadly _ well as people being hospitalised. sadly of— well as people being hospitalised. sadly, of the last few weeks, we have _ sadly, of the last few weeks, we have quite — sadly, of the last few weeks, we have quite a number of deaths. they have quite a number of deaths. they have taken _ have quite a number of deaths. they have taken an emotional toll, not only on— have taken an emotional toll, not only on their practice, and on the families— only on their practice, and on the families of— only on their practice, and on the families of the patients who have died, _ families of the patients who have died. and — families of the patients who have died, and also on us, the clinicians, _ died, and also on us, the clinicians, who are providing health care for— clinicians, who are providing health care for these people. it's really upsetting — care for these people. it's really u ”settin. �* care for these people. it's really u-asettin. . i. care for these people. it's really upsetting-— care for these people. it's really u-asettin. ., ., ., ., , upsetting. are you aware of anything before during — upsetting. are you aware of anything before during the _ upsetting. are you aware of anything before during the previous _ upsetting. are you aware of anything | before during the previous lockdown? we've seen across the country instances of breaches and they should be condemned, as i said, we all got to play our part. i would like to convey my thanks to doctor barker and his colleagues. we need to pull together on this. i have

worked with communities in the orthodox community in thejewish 0rthodox community in thejewish communities across the country. we've got the message is translated into yiddish. the message needs to be at their loud and clear and i hope that anyone who is thinking of breaking the rules has seen this and realises just how serious it is. i’m realisesjust how serious it is. i'm interested — realisesjust how serious it is. i'm interested that you mention to translation. could more be done to explain the dangers in multiple languages? it doesn't matter who we're talking about. all the languages that make the uk, could more be done in that regard. it talked about that as an issue, for example, in relation to the vaccination programme. wonder if you feel as a public information message more could be done there, to? i’m more could be done there, to? i'm sure more — more could be done there, to? i�*m sure more could be done. we are talking about a part of the community who don't necessarily access traditional media in the way that many of us do. some of them don't have english as a first

language. we've been working with the government, and i must commend the government, and i must commend the government, and i must commend the government on this, and getting the government on this, and getting the message out in different formats, yiddish and so on. there is a was more we can do. we need to make sure that ever gets the message. clearly that is terrible, but we need to work on it so that everybody does. they need to be no doubt that that needs to happen in the circumstances. it is an international emergency and we'll need to play our part.

this evening and night, plenty of showers will increasingly turn to snow. widespread ice is likely as well, temperatures dropping down below freezing in many spots. magbe below freezing in many spots. maybe all the way down _ below freezing in many spots. maybe all the way down to _ below freezing in many spots. maybe all the way down to -9. _ below freezing in many spots. maybe all the way down to -9. a _ below freezing in many spots. maybe all the way down to -9. a cold - below freezing in many spots. maybe all the way down to -9. a cold start l all the way down to —9. a cold start to tomorrow morning. a little bit of a fog down towards the south, and through the day tomorrow, wintry showers streaming to northern ireland, western scotland, north—west england into lincolnshire. away from these areas, largely dry, with sunny spells in what will be a cold day. sunday, watching a weather feature pushing from the west. running into cold air, that could give some snow across southern areas, but a lot of uncertainty about the detail. stitching for the forecast.

hello, this is bbc news... the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working — as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month. long jail sentences for the people smuggling gang convicted over the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants. police break up a wedding party with 400 guests — being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus — with clothing sales particularly hard hit. and no time for release — the latest bond film is delayed again, dealing another blow to ailing cinemas.

sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. good afternoon. it was tough going for england's bowlers on the first day of the second and final test against sri lanka in galle. the hosts closed on 229 for 4, with angelo mathews on 107 not out and james anderson was once again england's star bowler, taking three wickets. joe wilson reports. captain ready on the field. super fan present up on the fort. galle again. and bowling, the eternal one. anderson. as taken, yes. good catch. kusal perera's rash shot, joe root�*s safe hands and james anderson celebrating. he was rested in the first test, he struck twice in the opening minutes of this one. gone. anderson again. sri lanka were quickly in a mess. resistance, revival.

lahiru thirimanne batting in front of a home crowd. well, at least sri lanka had their own support on the fort. thirimanne on 43. anderson's only 38. this is how he does it. anderson delivers and the batsman just cannot help himself. edged court gone. england had mark wood bowling fast. sri lanka had angelo mathews. this shot got him to 50. england had dom bess bowling slow. sri lanka had dinesh chandimal, their captain, building his innings. and overall, beneath the beating sun, the day became placid. mark wood is 90 miles an hour. chandimal given out lbw. finally, after all that effort, reward. but on balance, the bat held sway. of the 229 runs sri lanka scored, angelo mathew made 107. days to come, but enough so far to make you glad you brought that flag.

joe wilson, bbc news. two of the premier league title contenders have suffered injury blows to key players. leicester strikerjamie vardy faces a spell out after undergoing surgery on a hernia, while manchester city will be without midfielder kevin de bruyne for up to six weeks due to a hamstring injury sustained during wednesday's 4—0 win against aston villa. de bruyne could miss up to 10 matches, including the champions league last—16 first—leg tie with borussia monchengladbach next month. tyrell hatton leads the way on 12 under par at the abu dhabi golf championship — he was through 13 holes on his second round, before play was stopped for bad light, as the event plays catch up from a fog delay on day one. he started fast with an eagle on the second, before a run of four birdies in a row from 7 to 10 sent him five shots clear of the pack. rory mcilroy started with a one—shot lead, but has struggled today,

and he's two over for his round, through 14 — so he's dropped back 7 under. 0lympic organisers hope the covid—19 vaccine will mean the rescheduled tokyo games can take place injuly — despite a newspaper report casting doubt on their going ahead. the international olympic committee and the international paralympic committee released a statement to say the report was categorically untrue. and the president of world athletics sebastian coe has also been speaking about the future of the games. i think we understand that the crystal ball has firmly gone from the window many months ago. this is not an exact science, but all i am saying is, at this moment, there is a determination amongst the international federations, the sports, the memberfederations, the key ingredients, the international olympic committee, the government ofjapan and the organising committee to deliver these games. britain's elvin evans has

the overall lead at the end of the second day of the monte carlo rally. he took the top spot after toyota team mate and world champion sebastien 0gier suffered a punctured tyre in the tricky conditions on the day's penultimate stage. evans lost time to the frenchman on the day's final stage, but he'll start tomorrow with a seven second lead. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. you you in the next hour. can stay up to date using the bbc you can stay up to date using the bbc sport website. thank you very much, sarah. downing street has played down the idea that everyone in england who tests positive for the coronavirus could receive a payment of 500 pounds, to encourage them to self—isolate. 0ne senior source said the plan had been drawn up, but there were fears it could create

perverse incentives. but how do you get people to self—isolate, how can you possibly self—isolate, how can you possibly self—isolate in circumstances where you can't go to work, can't get paid? i'm joined now by dr billy palmer, senior research fellow at the health think tank, the nuffield trust. dr billy palmer has recently authored a report into international comparisons of self isolation and enforcement. i would like to start by saying, how do other countries do it and get it right, and i realise that is a big question. that it is an interesting area for debate, because if you are not going to get paid, even if you know it is the right thing to do to self—isolate, you might not do it, you have got to be a very special person if you do that, so is it any surprise to you at all that a notion of a payment has cropped up as a policy idea? it of a payment has cropped up as a policy idea?— policy idea? it is no surprise that we are talking — policy idea? it is no surprise that

we are talking about _ policy idea? it is no surprise that we are talking about income i policy idea? it is no surprise that i we are talking about income support here, partly because the research suggests that your economic losses or your inability to make income is one of the key reasons why people don't self—isolate. it is not the only one, but it is an important one, so it is good and welcome that they are talking about and discussing that. there are other measures as well. the provision of support and accommodation, the ability of people to take tests to prove whether or not you do have covid—19. monitoring, and also penalties and enforcements. this is an important one, and we have a different starting point to other countries there, so it is important that we are learning from that and we look elsewhere to see what practice is being used. something that comes _ practice is being used. something that comes up _ practice is being used. something that comes up quite _ practice is being used. something that comes up quite often - practice is being used. something that comes up quite often is i practice is being used. something i that comes up quite often is people saying we should provide temporary accommodation for someone who needs to self—isolate. sometimes you can't even do it within the confines of your own property. are there a lot of countries that have been doing that? because you would need an

awful lot of accommodation, wouldn't you? awful lot of accommodation, wouldn't ou? , , , , ~' awful lot of accommodation, wouldn't ou? ,,, ,~ you? yes. issues like providing accommodation, _ you? yes. issues like providing accommodation, those - you? yes. issues like providing accommodation, those tactics l you? yes. issues like providing i accommodation, those tactics are more suitable to use when you have quite small levels. denmark and canada are two examples where they are using the provision of accommodation to support self isolation. given the levels we currently have in this country at the moment, that can only possibly play a role as part of some of the tactics, but we do need to think of other measures like income support, like the monitoring and other support that we can give people. but the question you raised about accommodation is a really important one because we have an underlying issue where we have around 800,000 households who are living in overcrowded homes, so that is an issue, the accommodation. and we need to be thinking about how we support people. 50 need to be thinking about how we support people-— support people. so actually you could potentially _ support people. so actually you could potentially think - support people. so actually you could potentially think about i could potentially think about providing support for somewhere to go in that circumstance, if they cannot show that there flat is so

tiny they just can't cannot show that there flat is so tiny theyjust can't get cannot show that there flat is so tiny they just can't get away from other members of the family, maybe do it that way? that other members of the family, maybe do it that way?— do it that way? that is one way of doinu do it that way? that is one way of doin: it. do it that way? that is one way of doing it- that _ do it that way? that is one way of doing it. that is _ do it that way? that is one way of doing it. that is an _ do it that way? that is one way of doing it. that is an underlying i doing it. that is an underlying issue we have about housing, and therefore we need to think of what therefore we need to think of what the solution is. again on this income support, our underlying issue there is that the mandatory level or statutory level of sick pay is very low in this country compared to other high income countries. so we need to be thinking about what support we need to bring in place to bring ourselves to a similar level to what other countries are doing to support people economically to self—isolate. support people economically to self-isolate.— support people economically to self-isolate. . . , self-isolate. again, there may be eo - le self-isolate. again, there may be people listening _ self-isolate. again, there may be people listening to _ self-isolate. again, there may be people listening to this _ self-isolate. again, there may be people listening to this you i self-isolate. again, there may be people listening to this you are i people listening to this you are thinking this all started back in march. are there countries that did provide economic support or incentives or whatever we want to call it for people to self—isolate from a really quite early on in the pandemic?— from a really quite early on in the andemic? , ., , ,., pandemic? yes, there have been some examles pandemic? yes, there have been some examples of —

pandemic? yes, there have been some examples of other _ pandemic? yes, there have been some examples of other countries _ pandemic? yes, there have been some examples of other countries moving i examples of other countries moving very quickly on this, so france and belgium are examples of countries where people were offered additional income for self isolating. 0ther income for self isolating. other countries have done other things around monitoring. australia and portugal have done important tactics around that. denmark and canada around that. denmark and canada around accommodation. there are lots of different experiences of other countries moving. we welcome the fact that the government are clearly thinking about this now. of course, we have been living with the pandemic for a while so it is quite late in the day but that is no reason to stop them from thinking about it now and making the important policy decisions that are needed, because clearly this is an area we are struggling with. adherence, complying with the self isolation rules, it is quite low in this country, so we need to be thinking about how can we support people to self—isolate, particularly those of vulnerable and those on low incomes who are struggling more than most because of the nature of their jobs and their accommodation and

other factors. jobs and their accommodation and other factors-— other factors. that is really interesting _ other factors. that is really interesting that _ other factors. that is really interesting that you - other factors. that is really interesting that you say i other factors. that is really - interesting that you say compliance is quite low in this country. we know that already, do we? i wondered if it was only the history books and subsequent research that really show us why that is the case and what are the key driving factors behind that? there is no single directly comparable figures to compare country for a country in terms of self isolation, but what we do know is that our levels are currently far lower than the scientific advisory group have been advising government that we need, so we know it is not good enough, and we also know that other countries have brought in a range of different measures, so we need to be learning to achieve the measures that are own scientific advisory group have set us to try and control the transmission of this virus. , , ., w' and control the transmission of this virus. , . ., , ., virus. just a quick thought before i met ou virus. just a quick thought before i met you go- _ virus. just a quick thought before i met you go- it— virus. just a quick thought before i met you go- it is— virus. just a quick thought before i met you go. it is so _ virus. just a quick thought before i met you go. it is so interesting, i met you go. it is so interesting, but we do have to remember this is a really densely packed country in terms of population, and it is not

always fair or accurate to make comparisons with various countries. the uk is quite different in a lot of ways, in a demographic ways as well? ., ., , ., ' . , well? there are lots of differences in terms of — well? there are lots of differences in terms of our _ well? there are lots of differences in terms of our underlying - well? there are lots of differences in terms of our underlying living i in terms of our underlying living conditions, our underlying support for people, so mandatory sick pay. but also things like culturally, whether we follow government guidance or advice, it is not easy asjust guidance or advice, it is not easy as just looking at guidance or advice, it is not easy asjust looking at a guidance or advice, it is not easy as just looking at a single country and saying adopt those strategies, we need to think more broadly and make sure we learn from those and adapt them in a way that is suitable for our specific country and our specific needs.— for our specific country and our specific needs. very interesting to talk to you- _ specific needs. very interesting to talk to you. enqueue. _ specific needs. very interesting to talk to you. enqueue. -- - specific needs. very interesting to talk to you. enqueue. -- thank. specific needs. very interesting to i talk to you. enqueue. -- thank you. a collapse in demand for new clothes because of lockdown has seen the uk record its worst retail sales figures on record.

fashion stores recorded a 25 percent fall in sales last year, and overall the number of transactions was down by nearly 2% compared with the year before. our business presenter ben thompson has more: oxford street in the heart of london's west end is normally europe's busiest shopping street, but things are quiet here whilst nonessential retail remains closed. and it's a familiar picture up and down the country. in fact, 2020 has been the worst year on record for retail, and that's because in the final two weeks of december, the numbers of shoppers on our high streets was down by 50%. as more of us got used to click and collect and online shopping, the proportion of all sales that were done online hit 30%. the british retail consortium warned that 2020 was the worst year on record for retail, with nearly 180,000 jobs lost. but they've also warned that things could get worse before they get better. debenhams, which is in administration, its flagship store just around the corner from here is one of five that

will not reopen even when restrictions are eased. and arcadia group, which owns brands such as topshop, dorothy perkins and burton's, it's struggling to find a buyer. we heard just late last night that next, that was one of the big names in line to buy topshop, the jewel in the crown of the arcadia empire, has pulled out of the race. it says it's too expensive. and so the warning that there may be many more thousands ofjobs lost on our high streets as much more shopping moves online, there is a real concern that 2021 could get much worse. then thomson there. the headlines on bbc news... hopes the epidemic is beginning to shrink — as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month. long jail sentences for the people smuggling gang convicted over the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants.

police break up a wedding party with 400 guests — being held at a school in north london. the release of the latest james bond film no time to die has been delayed — again as the entertainment industry continues to be hit by the pandemic. daniel craig's final outing as 007 has been pushed back for a third time. it is now due to reach cinemas in october, rather than april. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. it's nearly two years since no time to die started filming, but fans still face a long wait for the film to be unveiled. bond films cost a huge amount, and to make their money back, they need to take a huge amount at the global box office. the past isn't dead. with so many cinemas around the world closed, and no firm date for when they might

reopen, the latest release date bond was aiming for, april of this year, was clearly becoming an impossible ask. it's disappointing for cinemas, who need films like bond as soon as possible, and for fans who have been waiting more than five years since the last 007 film. but it's not all bad news. there is also a confident message to be taken from this for the cinema industry, which is that the producers of bond have pushed the film back, they have not put it onto streaming or video on demand. they know that putting that film on the big screen is the best thing for audiences and for the future of the industry. today started out as i the best day of my life... other movies have taken the route of moving to streaming services. pixarfilm soul missed out on cinemas completely to debut instead on disney+. i did it, i got the gig! while wonder woman 1984 chose to make the film available on streaming services only days after its release in the limited number of cinemas that

were open over christmas. no time to die might be tempted, if a streaming service were to offer a massive sum of hundreds of millions of dollars, but elements like its complicated product placement deals make it much harder to make the switch from cinemas to streaming. 007 has saved the world many, many times. the cinema industry is still confident it can do the same for them, however long it might take. liza mzimba, bbc news. google says it could withdraw its search engine from australia if the country pushes ahead with attempts to make it pay media outlets for their news content. the government in canberra says the planned reforms will raise money for struggling publishers, so that they can continue to produce journalism in the public interest. google and other tech giants believe such a law would set a dangerous precedent. more rain and flooding could be

on the way for areas in england and wales already hit hard by storm christoph. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of homes had to be evacuated in england and wales. earlier i spoke to danny savage who's in york. as ever, the sunshine follows all the heavy rain when it comes to winterflooding here in northern england. it looks pretty spectacular behind me on the river 0use at the moment in the centre of york. it's been coming up and up over the last few days or so. but it finally peaked this morning. it is slowly going down again, but it is quite a sight. quite a few people on the bridges in the city here taking pictures of the river 0use as it floods through the city. not many houses affected here, but if you were to take to the air over north yorkshire and the wider area of northern england, parts of wales and the midlands as well, you would see an awful lot of flooding in the river valleys of this part of the country. by and large, most of the water is where it should be in this sort of scenario. it is in the flood plains. we have had about 400 properties

flooded overall across england and wales over the last few days. but the environment agency say about 25,000 properties have also been protected by the flood defences which have been built in recent years. places to watch still, though, cheshire has a lot of flooding. places around warrington particularly bad at the moment. there is some concern about the river severn going into the weekend, flowing down through bewdley and into ironbridge as well, where there could be some flooding over the next 24 hours also. but the weather has improved, it has stopped raining. those river levels will therefore drop over the next few days, but there is some concern for next week. more rain is forecast, and, you know, you just have to look behind me. you can see that there is so much water in the system already that if there is more rain next week, it won't take too much to cause more severe flooding, so there is some concern about the forecast. the government ministers saying today that they are keeping a very close eye on it, the middle of next week onwards, jane.

the environment secretary george eustice says preparations are under way to shore up defences against further bad weather next week. he's been visiting northwich in cheshire. the flood defences did theirjob. there was a £7 million scheme here in 2016. we had about 1.7 kilometres of raised levels, and it did actually protect northwich. 0ne of raised levels, and it did actually protect northwich. one of theissues actually protect northwich. one of the issues was had there was such high rainfall that water came back to the drainage system. we had some surface water issues, so that is why you can see pumps to get water back into the river. rainfall and heavy rainfall is becoming a more regular occurrence as we see climate change. this year, we have seen with stormy christoph moraine in 48—hour is that we would normally get in the hole in january. we are looking —— more than 48 hours. places eligible for more

funds to help address challenges that they have.— funds to help address challenges that they have. george eustice the environment _ that they have. george eustice the environment secretary. _ 0ur correspondent adam mcclean gave us this update from northwich. the clean—up operation is continuing here in northwich this morning. tractors have been towing huge water tankers in and out of the town centre every couple of minutes to take excess water away from this area. water is being pumped back towards the river behind me. the floodwater has caused devastation to properties and businesses here in northwich and the environment agency have been here since tuesday. dave brown is the flood risk manager for the environment agency. what is the situation at the minute? it is an improving situation right now. we have a situation where the high water levels we experienced yesterday, the highest levels ever recorded on the river weaver,

which we kept behind our flood defences, are on the way down, and effectively that is an improving situation but the problems brought with storm christoph were that the surface water infrastructure and the foul waste was unable to cope with that amount of rainfall falling on the catchment in that small space of time and we then had a problem of surface water rising on the other side of the defences which has caused problems to those businesses affected and the care home to be evacuated. practically speaking, how do you even begin to deal with this amount of water? what is taking place at the minute? at the moment, we are trying to overpump the surface water back to the river. when the river level is low, the surface water can drain to the river and when it is high, it gets blocked by a flap so it cannot come back but it means that cannot get away, which creates a problem and the rest of the infrastructure sometimes struggles, and with the amount of rainfall we have seen, that has caused this problem. all of the authorities combined,

the local authority and the water company are involved with over pumping that back. important to say we had contingency in place before the storm but the sheer scale of the rainfall and the amount of rainfall has caused that to be overwhelmed. is this out of the ordinary for this area? residents we have spoken to say this is not something that usually happens here. this is quite different, isn't it, in terms of the amount of water? yes, we've seen the highest river levels we have ever recorded over the last two days. we have been manning an operation here since tuesday and it has been a round—the—clock response from all those involved to try to mitigate it, and what you are seeing is that recovery phase, as we try to basically get the water out from the town centre, away from those businesses and properties, and allow people to return back to normal. people will understandably be nervous, many affected by all the flood warnings over the last 24 or 48 hours.

what can be done to prevent things like this happening? how can people be reassured that where they live will not fall victim to flooding like this? it is about preparation and the preparation we've done, everyone has done prior to this event has been very good, very large. we have cleared all the debris we can, we have undertaken to make sure contingency is in place, but sometimes the sheer scale of events and events themselves do cause problems and that is what we have seen. and if people want to find out their own risk, i would encourage them to look at our flood map which is available on our website. they can look for their postcode and see their risk and sign up to our floodline number to receive warnings prior to events happening to ensure they are mitigated where they live. sum up the scale of the response here. this is a picture taking place in towns across the country,

but how much goes into a clean—up operation like this? yes, that is what the authority are looking at now, we are all working together towards that. the pumping scenario you see behind me, the number of units on site, overpumping, are all trying to effectively get that surface water back into the river, away from those premises and properties that are flooded so that clean—up can begin and then it is around cleaning the infrastructure and all the public areas to make sure they are safe and people can return to some kind of normality. dave brown from the environment agency, thank you. as the flood water rose here, 48 people had to be evacuated. dozens of pensioners from a nearby retirement village had to be moved to safety by boat. as you can see, there is still so much work to do here. those people who have been affected by flooding will be keeping a very close eye on the situation over the coming days.

that takes us into the weather prospects. hello. it is a drier end to what has been an exceptionally wet week for many. and with all that rain water still working to the river systems, flood warnings will continue right through the weekend. you can always check those on the bbc weather website, but the weather itself will be drier, but colder. some sunny spells, but also some snow, and that is giving us a few forecasting headaches by the time we get into sunday. more on that to come. as far as the rest of today goes, we have plenty of showers packing in across western areas, some snow mixing in with these, especially over high ground. this cluster of heavy showers moving across south wales, southern england, some thunder and hail mixing in with that. temperatures dropping away quickly this evening, and those temperatures will continue to drop during tonight. still some showers around, those increasingly turning wintry across northwestern areas. a covering snow to come in places and widespread ice,

with surfaces pretty wet out there and temperatures getting down to freezing or below. in fact, we could get down to —9 across some parts of eastern scotland. tomorrow is a day of sunny spells and wintry showers, some snow, even to low levels in the showers pushing through western scotland, northern ireland, northwest england, north wales, into the midlands and lincolnshire as well. elsewhere we will see largely fine conditions with plenty of sunshine, but it will be cold, despite the winds being lighter than they are today. 2—7 , your top temperature. again saturday night, cold and frosty, and then through the night, we are keeping a close eye out west on this weather feature here. that is what is giving us a forecasting headache for sunday, because as this runs into some cold air, it is likely to produce some snowfall. exactly how this weather front will behave is still open to question. some computer weather models dive it away southwards quite quickly, others allow it to work its way eastwards right across the midlands into east anglia and the south east, giving a few centimetres of lying snow in place.

the snow could get up in the parts of northern england. for scotland and northern ireland through sunday afternoon should be largely fine with some sunshine and just a few wintry showers, but whatever happens with the snow fall further south, it will be cold. that much is clear, 2—6. but that will change during next week, temperatures will rise, it'll turn much milder, however, there will be some heavy rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working, as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month. long jail sentences for the people smuggling gang convicted over the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants. police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas in england and wales already hit hard by storm christoph. and no time for release — the latest bond film is delayed again, dealing another blow to ailing cinemas.

new figures released today show that the number of people with coronavirus is falling slightly across england, but remains high in all four nations. and the r number is now below one — meaning the number of new infections is now shrinking. it's now estimated to be between 0.8 and one across the uk. that's according to the government office for science and the scientific advisory group for emergencies , or sage as they're better known. it's the first time in over a month the r number has fallen below one and means that on average, every ten people who get the virus will infect between eight and ten other people. let's talk to robert cuffe —

the bbc�*s head of statistics. it feels, and i say this very cautiously, like good news. how would you characterise it? it is certainly better _ would you characterise it? it is certainly better than _ would you characterise it? it 3 certainly better than the alternative which is increasing numbers. but it is slow decline that we are seeing. the government office for science say you probably expect a pandemic to be shrinking by a quarter and a third every fortnight with these numbers. if we contrast that with the last lockdown in april and march, it was having every fortnight. so it was falling much faster. that is important. if we had to see the pressure decreasing on hospitals in the coming weeks, we need the cases to come down and then weeks after that we would see the severe pressure starting to full. maybe a third of hospitals in england are seeing the intensive care units more than 95% full. that is significant pressure. care units more than 9596 full. that is significant pressure.—

is significant pressure. there are variations across _ is significant pressure. there are variations across the _ is significant pressure. there are variations across the nation, i is significant pressure. there are variations across the nation, andj variations across the nation, and there? it variations across the nation, and there? ,, ., , ., there? it looks like the falls are bein: there? it looks like the falls are being driven — there? it looks like the falls are being driven by _ there? it looks like the falls are being driven by the _ there? it looks like the falls are being driven by the bottom i being driven by the bottom right—hand corner of england, london, and around that corner who went into tier 4 first. those are definitely areas which are below zero. but in the north of england or scotland or wales, in we have seeing figures that are hopefully below zero, probably edging below, but there is also the possibility that there is also the possibility that the epidemic could be growing there according to... you say the epidemic is shrinking, but slowly. can we put that down to the fact that this variant is more contagious than what we were working within the last year? we were working within the last ear? ., �* ., ., ., year? you've got four or five different _ year? you've got four or five different factors _ year? you've got four or five different factors all - year? you've got four or five different factors all at - year? you've got four or five different factors all at play i year? you've got four or five i different factors all at play here. we've got the variant which is more infectious, we've got some

suggestion that mac sorry, we've got the fact that this lockdown is less strict than the one that was imposed in the spring. people travelling and out and about every day. on the other side, we are starting to see the vaccination programme roll—out. we're also seeing people with recent infections and built up a little bit of immunity, and there may be some headwind for the virus. we've got all these factors playing together. it had to tell them apart. but if you are seeing the falls in the areas that locked down soonest, it does bring to the direction that the lockdown is doing some of the lifting. lockdown is doing some of the liftinu. ., , . four men have been sentenced to at least 13 years in prison for their involvement in the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found in the back of a lorry in essex. the old bailey heard the victims suffered "excruciatingly painful" deaths having suffocated in the container bringing them to the uk from belgium in october 2019.

daniel sandford is outside the old bailey for us. daniel, a horrifying story. that is reflected in the sentences for the defendants. these are some of the longest sentences ever received full smuggling offences that lead to death. for example, ronan hughes, who was described by the judge is the most senior of the conspirators, he was actually in the dark, could have faced a 30 year prison sentence on the 39 counts of manslaughter which he pleaded guilty to. because he pleaded guilty, that 30 year sentence was reduced to 20. gheorghe nica, another one of the ringleaders in the dock was sentenced to 27 years in prison because he hadn't pleaded guilty. maurice robinson,

the lorry driver who collected the trailer from the docks before opening it and realising that the people he was supposed to be smuggling into britain had all died. he pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 30 years and four months, after a discount for that guilty plea. but the lorry driver in the continent who picked up the 39 people and dropped the trailer off, he didn't plead guilty and consequently he got an 18 year prison sentence. 0ne consequently he got an 18 year prison sentence. one of those four men who were either found guilty of pleaded guilty to the manslaughter offences, will serve probably two thirds of the actual sentences. three other men were sentenced for their part in the wider conspiracy to assist illegal immigration. this was something that had been going on for years. was something that had been going on foryears. for example, was something that had been going on for years. for example, another lorry driving from northern ireland, got seven years. another got three

years, and never got four and a half years, and never got four and a half years in prison. igrate years, and never got four and a half years in prison-— years in prison. we had a little earlier from _ years in prison. we had a little earlier from the _ years in prison. we had a little earlier from the senior - years in prison. we had a little i earlier from the senior detective leading the investigation. his statement was striking about how emotional it was.— statement was striking about how emotional it was. yes, this has been a ve , emotional it was. yes, this has been a very. very — emotional it was. yes, this has been a very, very difficult _ emotional it was. yes, this has been a very, very difficult investigation i a very, very difficult investigation for essex police. ultimately a very successful investigation. if you think about the early hours of that morning when the bodies were discovered and response officers responded to a 999 call and went into the back of that trailer and realised there were 39 bodies in the trailer, people who had started to rip off their clothes as they asphyxiated in the back of a sealed lorry trailer and overheated in the same time, then to the victim identification teams, who have had to take take those bodies and the very limited amount of information about those bodies because most people went coming documentation,

and then find families in vietnam. they had to go to those families and tell them that their loved ones had died in the back of the trailer. this was a very, very powerfully emotional operation for essex police. i think that's why, after 15 months, they feel that they have had a successful operation but one that they have at least achieved some jewish dutch for the families of those 39 people who died. that said, i should say that the judge made it clear in court today that he believes there is one person more senior in the chain who is still at large. that's a vietnamese man of thejudge said was large. that's a vietnamese man of the judge said was above ronan hughes in the operation. he is the vietnamese man with too many of these people got in touch with when he tried to provide is a vip service, as it results them, to the uk. it was this man who was paying money to ronan hughes and gheorghe

nica when there were people successfully smuggled across the channel. and it was this vietnamese man who was holding people who are successfully smuggled in his flat until his —— until theirfamilies paid more than £10,000 for them to be released. it’s paid more than £10,000 for them to be released-— be released. it's that time of the afternoon where _ be released. it's that time of the afternoon where government i be released. it's that time of the | afternoon where government data relating to coronavirus begins to emerge. the number of coronavirus deaths reported today as 1401. that compares with 1290 yesterday. that is an increase of 111 in this 24—hour page weird. —— 24—hour period. there is better news on those who have received the vaccine. data shows that by today at million

and 380 3000 people have received their first dose of vaccine. yesterday, that figure was below 5 million. —— 5.38 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine. we will have more on the coronavirus situation at 5p and when borisjohnson is holding the press briefing from downing street. he will be joined this afternoon by the government's chief scientific adviser, chris whitty, the chief medical officer, and the chief scientific adviser. police have broken wedding party attended by 400 guests in north london. officers found the windows at the yesodey hatorah girls senior school, a haredi school in stamford hill, had been covered when they arrived at nine 15 last night. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has the latest. the police said they arrived

here yesterday evening. there had been reports of some sort of an event at the school. that turned out to be some sort of a wedding event. the school has a big hall that it rents out with capacity for about 400 people. police moved in. i am told by someone who lived nearby that they climbed over the fence. they went in and broke this event up. they handed out some fines and penalties for people who were attending and they have passed on a recommendation that the organiser of the event is find the full £10,000 for breaching the coronavirus regulations. the school itself, this is a jewish girls school in an orthodox area of north london, says that it had no idea that this event was taking place. it is given a statement today which it says, we are absolutely horrified about last night's event and combine it

in the strongest possible terms. i can add to that, having spoken to the school, the agency that lets the hall here, they have their own key, and they would not have been anyone from the school likely to notice what was going on last night. clearly, it has caused enormous concern. as part of london has 625 cases per 100,000 people. that's in the last week. the average in england is 412. the concern among some people is that nobody quite knows what this event was. it has been suggested it might been something of a religious ceremony, but we don't have too much

information at the moment. philip rosenberg is from the board of deputies of britishjews, which represents jewish organisations across britain, and said he and other community leaders condemned the actions taken by the haredi community in stamford hill last night. i've spoken to various leaders in stamford hill community and they are shocked and appalled, as i think we all are. we condemn this unreservedly. you know, across the country, 90,000 people have died. my team has the grim task of collecting the statistics from thejewish community. 740 jewish people have died. our community understands this. the local leadership condemns it, we condemn it. we need to rally together. it's hard, but we all need to do what we need do. stay at home, protect the nhs, and save lives. it's as simple as that, really. dr liam barker is a gp whose practice is next door to yesoday hatorah school where the wedding was held and said he was saddened to hear about the prohibited

wedding taking place. we were disappointed really. this is a very unique but close—knit community. they care for each other, they look out for each other, and the vast majority that we know are following rules. they've been safe, they've been careful. so for us it is just disappointing that a small group of people have behaved in such a manner that may increase infections within our community in stamford hill. the headlines on bbc news... hopes the pandemic is beginning to shrink — as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month. long jail sentences for the people smuggling gang convicted over the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants. police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london.

police have named the 15—year—old boy who died after being attacked by a group of youths in a residential street in birmingham. keon lincoln was attacked in the handsworth area yesterday afternoon and died later in hospital. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested and is being held on suspicion of murder. a collapse in demand for new clothes because of lockdown has seen the uk record its worst retail sales figures on record. fashion stores recorded a 25% fall in sales last year, and overall the number of transactions was down by nearly 2% compared with the year before. our business presenter ben thompson has more: oxford street in the heart of london's west end is normally europe's busiest shopping street, but things are quiet here whilst nonessential retail remains closed. and it's a familiar picture up and down the country. in fact, 2020 has been the worst year on record for retail, and that's because in the final two weeks of december, the numbers

of shoppers on our high streets was down by 50%. as more of us got used to click and collect and online shopping, the proportion of all sales that were done online hit 30%. the british retail consortium warned that 2020 was the worst year on record for retail, with nearly 180,000 jobs lost. but they've also warned that things could get worse before they get better. debenhams, which is in administration, its flagship store just around the corner from here is one of five that will not reopen even when restrictions are eased. and arcadia group, which owns brands such as topshop, dorothy perkins and burton's, it's struggling to find a buyer. we heard just late last night that next, that was one of the big names in line to buy topshop, the jewel in the crown of the arcadia empire, has pulled out of the race. it says it's too expensive. and so the warning that there may be

many more thousands ofjobs lost on our high streets as much more shopping moves online, there is a real concern that 2021 could get much worse. the japanese car maker nissan says the future of its plant in sunderland is secure, as a result of the uk's post—brexit trade deal with the european union. borisjohnson says the announcement is a �*great vote of confidence'. earlier our business editor simonjack explained the future for nissan is looking good because battery production is being switched to the uk. all cars will be electric and they will need batteries. that is great news for the employees who work there. and it is good for the tens of thousands of others in the supply chain. now nissan said that if we

didn't have a deal, it'd be very different. a big thing for nissan is positive and nissan being the largest auto—maker in the united kingdom will take this opportunity to redefine the auto industry of the united kingdom. this will make the uk competitive in the uk and outside of the uk. sign it's all about batteries. it is the happiest and most significant element of an electric car. we want to make one and a half million cars in this country. but in this good news there is a warning to the rest of the car industry, saying we need to develop that battery capacity. when you start building it here and we need to start building it now. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas in england and wales already hit hard by storm christoph. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of homes had to be evacuated in england and wales. earlier i spoke to danny

savage who's in york. as ever, the sunshine follows all the heavy rain when it comes to winterflooding here in northern england. it looks pretty spectacular behind me on the river 0use at the moment in the centre of york. it's been coming up and up over the last few days or so. but it finally peaked this morning. it is slowly going down, but it is quite a sight. quite a few people on the bridges in the city here taking pictures of the river 0use as it floods through the city. not many houses affected here, but if you were to take to the air over north yorkshire and the wider area of northern england, parts of wales and the midlands as well, you would see an awful lot of flooding in the river valleys of this part of the country. by and large, most of the water is where it should be in this sort of scenario. it is in the flood plains. we have had about 400 properties flooded overall across england and wales over the last few days. but the environment agency say about 25,000 properties have also been protected by the flood defences which have been built in recent yea rs. places to watch still, though,

cheshire has a lot of flooding. places around warrington particularly bad at the moment. there is some concern about the river severn going into the weekend, flowing down through bewdley and 90 ironbridge as well, where there could be some flooding over the next 24 hours also. but the weather has improved, it has stopped raining. those river levels will therefore drop over the next few days, but there is some concern for next week. more rain is forecast, and, you know, you just have to look behind me. you can see that there is so much water in the system already that if there is more rain next week, it won't take too much to cause more severe flooding, so there is more concern about the forecast. the government ministers saying today that they are keeping a very close eye on it, the middle of next week onwards, jane. the environment secretary george eustice has been in northwich — lets hear what he had to say. well, the flood defences did theirjob. there was a £7 million scheme here in 2016.

we had about 1.7 kilometres of raised levels. and it did actually protect northwich. one of the issues we had was that there was such high rainfall the water came back through the drainage system. we had some surface water issues and that is why, as you can see here, there has been a lot of pumps to get the water back on the river. rainfall and heavy rainfall is becoming a more regular occurrence, as we see climate change. this year, we have seen with storm christoph more rain in 48 hours than we would normally get in the entire month of january. so, yes, we are getting more of these high rainfall events. we are also looking at changing the funding formula so that it reflects frequency of flooding. so towns that have flooded more frequently, maybe three orfour times in a decade, will be eligible for more funds to address the challenges that they have. message from the page when saving your astons>#

the us presidentjoe biden has said that a wartime effort is needed to tackle coronavirus — and he's warned americans that the worst is still to come. the new president is introducing stricter rules around face coverings, and is expanding testing and vaccinations — saying that the us death toll would pass the half a million mark next month. here's our north america correspondent, peter bowes. the day started with a prayer, a moment of reflection before the new president got down to work. with a stack of executive orders to be signed, joe biden wasted no time in putting pen to paper. a signature is all it takes to reverse some of donald trump's key policies, and to reinvigorate a coronavirus effort that mr biden said had been a dismalfailure. the death toll will likely top 500,000 next month. the cases will continue to mount. we didn't get into this mess overnight, and it's going to take months for us to turn things around. but let me be equally clear — we will get through this. the plan is ambitious — according to mr biden,

one of the greatest operational challenges america has ever undertaken — 100 million doses of the vaccine in 100 days. working alongsidejoe biden, a familiarface — dr anthony fauci, america's leading infectious disease expert, who was part of the trump administration's coronavirus task force. he said mr biden's approach — with the federal government taking control of the vaccine roll—out — could see normal life returning by the autumn. the concern i have, and something we're working on, is getting people who have vaccine hesitancy, who don't want to get vaccinated, because many people are sceptical about that. so we really need to do a lot of good outreach for that. i don't know what the best case... the best case scenario for me is that we'd get 85% of the people vaccinated by the end of the summer. dr fauci also reflected on the sometimes awkward relationship he had with donald trump — especially when the former president said things that weren't based on scientific facts.

the idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence...what the science is, and know that's it — let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling. the goal now, according to dr fauci, is to rebuild the trust of americans as the war on the coronavirus moves into a new phase. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. and just to note, democrats in congress are talking about the impeachment of donald trump. the trial in the senate will begin potentially next week. this is according to democrats. they say the house of representatives will deliver the impeachment charge to the senate, triggering the trial process. we think that is potentially next monday but

republicans are arguing for a delay. any more news, we will bring straight to you. any more news, we will bring straight to you. google says it could withdraw its search engine from australia — if the country pushes ahead with attempts to make it pay media outlets for their news content. the government in canberra says the planned reforms will raise money for struggling publishers, so that they can continue to produce journalism in the public interest. google and other tech giants believe such a law would set a dangerous precedent. let's hear from the head of google in australia mel silvia. if this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making google search available in australia. in its current form, the code remains unavailable and if it became law, would hurt notjust google but small publishers, small businesses and millions of australians that use our services every day. the release of the latest james bond film �*no time to die' has been delayed — again; as the entertainment industry continues to be hit by the pandemic.

daniel craig's final outing as 007 has been pushed back for a third time. it is now due to reach cinemas in october, rather than april. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. it's nearly two years since no time to die started filming. there is still a long time to wait. bond films cost a huge amount to film and take the money back, they need to take the money back, they need to take the money in the global box office. with so many cinemas around the world closed, the release date of april this year was becoming an impossible task. it is disappointing for cinemas who need films like bond as soon as possible and fans who have been waiting more than five years since the last 007 film. but it's not all bad news.— it's not all bad news. there is a competent _ it's not all bad news. there is a competent message _

it's not all bad news. there is a competent message which i it's not all bad news. there is a competent message which is i it's not all bad news. there is a l competent message which is that it's not all bad news. there is a i competent message which is that the producers from the film have not put this on streaming. they know that putting the film on the big screen is the best thing for audiences and cinemas. that is the best thing for audiences and cinemas. �* ., , ., ., ,, cinemas. at the movies have taken the route of— cinemas. at the movies have taken the route of moving _ cinemas. at the movies have taken the route of moving to _ cinemas. at the movies have taken the route of moving to streaming l the route of moving to streaming services. pixarfilm, so, missed out on streaming completely and went to —— missed out on box office completely and went straight to streaming services. wonder woman also went straight to save or streaming. the bond film might be tempted if a streaming service were to fit hundreds of millions of dollars, but complicated placement deals makes it much harder to switch to streaming. james bond has saved the world many times. the cinema

industry are still confident he can do the same for them, however long it might take. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. flooding is still a concern. the weekend looks drier as the weather goes but colder with sunny spells and the chance for some snow. as we had with this evening and tonight there will be plenty of showers packing in from the west. it could turn to snow. widespread ice is also likely with temperatures dropping below 0 celsius in many spots. it could drop to minus nine celsius in parts of scotland. through the day tomorrow, we will see further wintry showers streaming across the midlands in lincolnshire and north—west scotland. 0ther midlands in lincolnshire and north—west scotland. other areas will be largely dry and it will be a cold day. sunday, we watch a weather feature pushing from the west. in

southern areas. there is uncertainty about the detail. stay tuned for the forecast.

this is bbc news. the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working — the uk's r numberfalls below one for the first time in over a month, while the percentage of positive covid cases has also fallen slightly in england. but the death toll continues to climb. a further 1,401 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus. police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. and retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus, with clothing sales particularly hard hit.