this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a team from the world health organization visits the chinese lab at the centre of claims over the source of the coronavirus pandemic — we'll be live in wuhan. new research suggests a single dose of the astrazeneca vaccine may stop the spread of coronavirus — full details coming up. president biden takes the first steps to reverse some of the trump administration's hardline anti—immigration rules. he's one of the world's richest men — jeff bezos is to step down as chief

executive of amazon. and the hero who inspired a nation - queen elizabeth leads the tributes to captain sir tom moore, who's died at 100. we look at his legacy. a very warm welcome to the programme. scientists from the world health organization have visited a virology institute in the chinese city of wuhan which some us officials have said may have been the source of the coronavirus global pandemic. subsequent checks indicated that none of the gene sequences of covid—19 match the viruses held by the institute. live now to wuhan, and our correspondent, stephen mcdonnell. tell us about this visit and what has been going on? 50.

what has been going on? so, this visit to _ what has been going on? so, this visit to the _ what has been going on? srr, this visit to the wuhan institute of virology is probably the most contentious part of the who to china because the previous us government, the trump administration had said that perhaps the coronavirus had escaped from a lab inside this facility. it is a facility, that, for example, for years has stored samples about viruses stopping for that reason, there was a wide collection of reporters and cameramen as the cars pulled up here this morning. and kind of chaotic scenes as the who team came into the wuhan institute of virology and reporters were trying to ask students of them. the reason for this is it is one of the only chances we have to ask them anything, because they are kept in a bit of a bubble, a health bubble, away from the rest of us. so when we

get a chance to throw them a question, that is what we do. i should add, despite the fact that no less than the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, the former us secretary of state had said the coronavirus may have leaked from this lab, we have seen no proof of this, no hard evidence to study however, apart from this sort of conspiracy theory, i guess you could put it, at this stage, the main reason that he would want to come here is that they have been studying that viruses and the way in which they can jump into humans and even found in one location in yunnan province that people there seemed to have developed a resistance to a type of coronavirus which came from that. now, given that this team has said the most likely origin of the coronavirus still is that the virus jumped from animals into human beings, possibly via an intermediary animal, of course, they would have a lot of questions to ask

year. one of the team members, peter, with his window wound down, said all of the questions would be asked on this visit. so, we willjust have to wait and see what comes out of their final report in terms of what they have been able to glean from this visit. of course the team has another whole week here in wuhan, any more meetings to have. even at the end of that, we're not really expecting them to come out and say, there is, the origin of the coronavirus, have bounded, this could take a long time. maybe even years for them to get to the bottom of it.- get to the bottom of it. thank ou, get to the bottom of it. thank you. stephen _ get to the bottom of it. thank you, stephen mcdonnell- get to the bottom of it. thank you, stephen mcdonnell in i get to the bottom of it. thank - you, stephen mcdonnell in wuhan for us. a new study says the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine not only protects from severe disease also but reduces transmission of the virus significantly. joining us is our reporter mark lobel. you have been looking into this for us. mark, talk us through what these findings are and how relevant they are? this what these findings are and how

relevant they are?— relevant they are? this is more aood relevant they are? this is more good news. _ relevant they are? this is more good news, andy, _ relevant they are? this is more good news, andy, last- relevant they are? this is more good news, andy, last year- good news, andy, last year there were human trials and several coronavirus vaccines to find out if they could prevent the disease and they were found to be very effective, essentially if you had the jab, you yourself would be protected from the worst cases of the disease. the big question was whether you would be directly helping other people by stopping the spread of the virus. we have ourfirst stopping the spread of the virus. we have our first answer from the makers of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine, they have found if do have the jab you are less likely to test positive for coronavirus, in short, if you do not have the virus, you cannot pass it on. and they found that out by testing weekly, with weekly swabs of uk volunteers that took part in their trial. after they had their first those they found two—thirds did not then test positive for coronavirus, some very good news, and from quite a large group there. here is the head of the oxford trial. ~ ., ., , ., ,

trial. we found there was a big reduction _ trial. we found there was a big reduction in — trial. we found there was a big reduction in people _ trial. we found there was a big reduction in people being - reduction in people being infected with coronavirus, and because — infected with coronavirus, and because they were not infected, they cannot go on and transmit to other— they cannot go on and transmit to other people. so that is really— to other people. so that is really important in potentially curbing — really important in potentially curbing the pandemic.- curbing the pandemic. well, it's worth — curbing the pandemic. well, it's worth mentioning - curbing the pandemic. well, it's worth mentioning these | it's worth mentioning these findings are still under review, but professor pollard went on to say in that interview with the bbc that he is sure these findings will be translated to the other vaccines, to.— translated to the other vaccines, to. and if that is the case. _ vaccines, to. and if that is the case, could _ vaccines, to. and if that is the case, could this - vaccines, to. and if that is the case, could this be - vaccines, to. and if that is the case, could this be a l vaccines, to. and if that is - the case, could this be a game changer? this the case, could this be a game chanaer? a ., , the case, could this be a game changer?— changer? as professor pollard was saying. — changer? as professor pollard was saying. it _ changer? as professor pollard was saying, it is _ changer? as professor pollard was saying, it is certainly - was saying, it is certainly going to curb the spread of the vaccine, of the virus, which is obviously great news. it will buy time, it certainly helps prevent it, but it's not the cure everybody needs. it is a good weapon in the battle but if you look at the wider war on the virus, what you really need to focus on is the ingredients in the vaccines themselves, they need to put them into the arms of the most vulnerable. if it buys time, that most certainly helps get the vaccine

to the most vulnerable before the virus can reach them, and also with that other developing story that we are all following, the mutation of the virus that is concerning many governments around the world, this will buy time in that battle as well. and by not spreading the virus as fast, it means that concerns such as if the virus can somehow hide itself from antibodies in the future, which is concerning governments around the world, people will have more time to catch up with it and inject people with the vaccine, because speed is of course of the essence. because speed is of course of the essence-— because speed is of course of the essence. thank you, mark lobel, the essence. thank you, mark lobel. and — the essence. thank you, mark lobel, and of _ the essence. thank you, mark lobel, and of course - the essence. thank you, mark lobel, and of course we - the essence. thank you, mark lobel, and of course we will i lobel, and of course we will have a little bit more on that later in our programme as well. let's get some of the day's other news. the russian authorities have detained a further 1,200 protesters in moscow and st petersburg during demonstrations on tuesday in support of the prominent russian opposition activist, alexei navalny. he has now been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. women in china's so—called re—education camps have been systematically raped and tortured — according to first hand accounts

obtained by the bbc. it's estimated at least a million men and women have been detained in the camps. china claims they are simply centres to de—radicalise uighurs and other muslim minorities. the united nations security council has failed to agree a joint statement condemning the military takeover in myanmar, after china objected. the un special envoy on myanmar had urged the security council to send a clear signal in support of democracy by condemning the actions of the military. talks to rebuild italy's coalition government have collapsed and the president, sergio mattarella, is trying to set up a new administration. he's summoned the former governor of the european central bank, mario draghi, for talks on wednesday — probably about leading the new government.

now, president biden has taken the first steps to reverse some of the trump administration's hardline anti—immigration rules. he announced the creation of a task force to reunite migrant families who were separated at the us border with mexico during donald trump's zero—tolerance strategy. after signing new executive orders in the oval office, mr biden took aim at his predecessor's hardline immigration policies. we're going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children's from the arms of theirfamilies, the mothers and fathers at the border, and with no plan, none whatsoever, reunify the children who are still in custody, and their parents. well, let's talk to our north america correspondent, peter bowes, whojoins me now. peter, tell me more about his reversal of some of the trump administration's policies? well, this is the beginning of the process, signing three

executive orders, and he has focused in on the separation of children from their parents at the southern border with united states. it was one of the most controversial areas of the trump administration's immigration policy. and what he is pledging to do essentially trying to reunite those children and their parents, some six to 700 children, they are worried about whether it is entirely clear, actually bringing the parents and children together is going to be a long process. that is what he is pledging to do. also, one of the other executive orders, he is saying he will have a wide—ranging review of all of the trump administration's policies as they apply to immigration. that has brought some criticism of president trump with some people think he should have gone further at this stage to reverse some of those very controversial policies. those very controversial policies-_

those very controversial olicies. �* , , policies. and, peter, bring us u . policies. and, peter, bring us u- to policies. and, peter, bring us up to speed _ policies. and, peter, bring us up to speed on _ policies. and, peter, bring us up to speed on the _ policies. and, peter, bring us up to speed on the second . up to speed on the second impeachment of the former president?— impeachment of the former president? yes, 'ust a week away now. _ president? yes, 'ust a week away now. we _ president? yes, just a week away now, we now - president? yes, just a week away now, we now know- president? yes, just a week| away now, we now know the policy of both sides as far as the democrats are concerned and the democrats are concerned and the prosecutors in terms of the impeachment of former president trump, they say he was to blame for the insurrection, the riot at the capitol building, president trump's lawyers have spoken and they say that this impeachment effort is unconstitutional, they say it is not possible within the constitution to impeach a former president, who is now a private citizen. now, most colours of the constitution disagree with that and they see this process does actually apply to the end of a president's term. it doesn't essentially act as a free, get out of jail essentially act as a free, get out ofjail card, you can do anything you like in your last few weeks because impeachment will take place after you leave office. they say that is not

the case, and democrats agree with that, it is just a small number, well, actually a large number, well, actually a large number of republicans. we saw this last week, they agree with the former president's lawyers that this entire process is unconstitutional. perhaps that is the biggest indicator yet that the very likely outcome of all of this is that the president will be found not guilty. the will not have the two—thirds vote necessary to convict him. two-thirds vote necessary to convict him.— two-thirds vote necessary to convict him. �* ., , ., ~ convict him. peter bowes, thank ou. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: france's top health advisory body approves the use of oxford—astrazeneca vaccine but says it should not be used for people over 65 without further study. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps

of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. a countdown - to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 - of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, l slashing the cost of a launch, l that makes this a breakthrough in the business| of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

a team from the world health organization has visited the chinese lab at the centre of claims over the source of the coronavirus pandemic. latest research suggests a single dose of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine could lower the rate of coronavirus transmission. the health regulator in france has said that the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine should not be used for people over 65 without further study. the recommendation confirms reservations expressed by president macron at the weekend. 0ur correspondent, lucy williamson, sent this report from paris. risk isn'tjust a matter for vaccine regulators. daniel has not been out with his wife since she was vaccinated last month. she couldn't bear the thought that she may survive the virus and he would not, he

told us. but daniel could have been waiting much longer for a date with his wife. this hospital clinic saw their supply of vaccines dropped by half last month. demand in the area is high, but appointments area is high, but appointments are now closed to anyone who hasn't already had their first jab. translation: can potentially dribble the _ translation: can potentially dribble the numbers _ translation: can potentially dribble the numbers in - translation: can potentially dribble the numbers in the - dribble the numbers in the centre. we have three reception desks, three doctors for consultation, three nurses for injections. we will have no problem to meeting demand here, when these extra vaccines arrive. ., ., , arrive. you have the capacity but not arrive. you have the capacity but rrot the _ arrive. you have the capacity but not the vaccines, - arrive. you have the capacity but not the vaccines, i - arrive. you have the capacity but not the vaccines, i asked him? .,. , but not the vaccines, i asked him?- the _ but not the vaccines, i asked him?- the new - him? exactly. the new astrazeneca _ him? exactly. the new astrazeneca vaccine i him? exactly. the new astrazeneca vaccine is| him? exactly. the new. astrazeneca vaccine is due him? exactly. the new- astrazeneca vaccine is due to arrive in france by next week but it is not the silver bullet it may have been for clinics like this one. france was expecting the astrazeneca jab two double its delivery of vaccines this month, but with delays in the vaccine and the

existing pfizerjab, france has scaled back vaccination targets, even as questions grow over the slow pace of the programme. now their health regulation for france has recommended that the astrazeneca jab not be used for people over the age of 65 in france, saying that not enough data is available. translation: , data is available. translation: france is cautious a . roach translation: france is cautious approach to _ translation: france is cautious approach to vaccination _ translation: france is cautious approach to vaccination has - translation: france is cautious approach to vaccination has but i approach to vaccination has but the government under pressure. the europe minister said on french radio this week that the uk was taking more risks then france was prepared to by using the jab for older people, by facing the two doses so widely. the eu's centralised system has also come under fire for being too slow. launching its vaccine programme weeks after the uk. this claim that brexit helped the uk go faster in the

process, may be, but at the same time, it is a worldwide disease and just playing solo in this global fight is probably not the wisest decision, long—term, so europe has decided to be united against the virus. it was a political decision, no doubt. president macron ended the day on tuesday by meeting vaccine produces he didn't discuss ways of boosting supply promising that, by the summer, everyone who wanted a vaccine would have one. in a country of vaccine sceptics and vaccine shortages, political risks follow close behind the medical ones. jeff bezos is to step down as chief executive of amazon, the company he founded nearly 30 years ago. he will be replaced by a senior amazon executive, andy jassy, but mr bezos will continue his involvement with the online retail giant, becoming executive chairman. sarah miller from the american economic liberties project had this to say about the timing

of the announcement. i think one thing to note and i'm sure your viewers are aware of is that amazon is under increasing legal and regulatory scrutiny at the moment in the us. there are two anti—trust investigations, at least, that are ongoing. there is a powerful union drive happening in alabama right now for the first time, which we hope will be successful. i think as attitudes are changing here in washington and there will be more scrutiny on amazon as a corporation, its practices in the marketplace towards competitors and the way it treats its workers, better for somebody else to be in the hot seat. not thatjeff bezos can't be called to testify or engage with policy makers in other ways but he really doesn't like to serve that role. you might remember last summer he was called to testify in front of congress and he resisted strongly, trying to send subordinates and tried to wriggle out of it, and was really quite petulant before being forced to do so. part of that is to shift those

responsibilities to somebody else and try to protect his reputation, which is increasingly, i would say, problematic. we would discuss that in detail in our business coverage as well. time for the sport. hello, i'm sarah mulkerrins with your wednesday sport briefing. we start with some record—equalling action in the premier league as manchester united have moved level on points with manchester city at the top of the table, after thrashing southampton 9—0 at old trafford. that matches their record margin of victory over ipswich in 1995 and southampton�*s margin on defeat against leicester just 16 months ago. anthony martial scored twice for united. danieljames completed the rout. southampton weren't helped, had two men sent off — the first after just 80 seconds — so manchester united join manchester city on 44 points but city have two games in hand.

you have to take your chances in tight games, open games, because you never know what may be the deciding factor. we know more than anyone, probably, what goal difference can do to you. in a bad way, because we have lost the lead on goal difference here, so it was about displaying as well as you can. in italy, it's "advantagejuventus" after the first leg of their coppa italia semi—final against inter milan at the san siro. lautaro martinez put the home side in front after only nine minutes but they were unable to build on that. instead, cristiano ronaldo scored twice to turn the tie in juve's favour. they'll take a 2—1 lead into next tuesday's 2nd leg in turin. meanwhile, borussia dortmund are through to the quarterfinals of the german cup but they needed extra time to see off second division paderborn. erling braut haaland got the winner in a 3—2 victory to seal dortmund's place in the last eight.

the super bowl is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event in town this week but i guarantee i'll be making time to watch the puppy bowl ahead of sunday's final. it's an annual tradition to encourage animal adoptions and not even covid could stop it this year as it was filmed away from the usual studio and crowds. there's two teams, red and blue, and the puppies chase soft toys and each other around a toy football field during the 3—hour event. that is a marathon for them! i think they enjoyed that! what a way to end the sports briefing for this wednesday. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. a great way to enter the sports briefing, actually. talking about the news that is dominating today. queen elizabeth ii prime minister borisjohnson have been leading the way in leading the tribute

to the charity fundraiser and captain sirtom. the to the charity fundraiser and captain sir tom. the world war ii veteran died on tuesday, age 100. the �*captain tom effect�* was positive in so many ways. he gave the british hope and a much—needed smile. for young and old alike, he was a source of inspiration. tim muffett has been looking back at some of those who decided to follow captain sir tom's lead by taking on their own fundraising challenge. 95 years apart in age, tony felt drawn to the efforts of captain sir tom and inspired by them. ., , ., captain sir tom and inspired by them. . , . ., captain sir tom and inspired by them. . , ., ., ., ., them. captain tom made me do it. i saw them. captain tom made me do it- i saw on _ them. captain tom made me do it- i saw on tv — them. captain tom made me do it. i saw on tv walking - them. captain tom made me do it. i saw on tv walking the - it. i saw on tv walking the other day and i said that i could do that.— other day and i said that i could do that. ., , ., , ., could do that. tony raised more than £1 million _ could do that. tony raised more than £1 million for— could do that. tony raised more than £1 million for the _ than £1 million for the hospital that treated him by walking ten kilometres on his prosthetic legs. he walking ten kilometres on his prosthetic legs.— walking ten kilometres on his prosthetic legs. he was my hero and i will never _ prosthetic legs. he was my hero and i will never forget _ prosthetic legs. he was my hero and i will never forget him. -

and i will neverforget him. i will never, ever, ever give up. 90—year—old margaret payne took to her staircase to climb the equivalent height, more than 700 metres, which she climbed aged 15. i 700 metres, which she climbed aued15. ., �* ~' 700 metres, which she climbed aued15. g a, , aged 15. i don't think anybody will ever raise _ aged 15. i don't think anybody will ever raise this _ aged 15. i don't think anybody will ever raise this sort - aged 15. i don't think anybody will ever raise this sort of- will ever raise this sort of money— will ever raise this sort of money that captain sir tom raised. _ money that captain sir tom raised, everagain. ithink that— raised, everagain. ithink that 53— raised, everagain. ithink that £33 million is absolutely astounding amount of money. how is that? _ astounding amount of money. how is that? a ., astounding amount of money. how is that? . ., , ., is that? margaret raised more than £300,000 _ is that? margaret raised more than £300,000 for _ is that? margaret raised more than £300,000 for charity. i is that? margaret raised more than £300,000 for charity. | | than £300,000 for charity. i think he is altogether an incredible person and inspires other— incredible person and inspires other people, as well as me. another— other people, as well as me. another century and was inspired to walk 100 laps of his garden. daryl chowdhury completed his challenge well fasting for ramadan.- fasting for ramadan. captain sir tom, fasting for ramadan. captain sir tom. you _ fasting for ramadan. captain sir tom, you are _ fasting for ramadan. captain sir tom, you are walking, . fasting for ramadan. captain | sir tom, you are walking, and fasting for ramadan. captain i sir tom, you are walking, and i sirtom, you are walking, and i questioned _ sirtom, you are walking, and i questioned my— sirtom, you are walking, and i questioned my son, _ sirtom, you are walking, and i questioned my son, i— sirtom, you are walking, and i questioned my son, i can - sirtom, you are walking, and i questioned my son, i can walkl questioned my son, i can walk as well! —

questioned my son, i can walk as well! ., , questioned my son, i can walk as well! . , ., as well! he raised almost £400,000 _ as well! he raised almost £400,000 and _ as well! he raised almost £400,000 and was - as well! he raised almost. £400,000 and was awarded as well! he raised almost - £400,000 and was awarded an as well! he raised almost _ £400,000 and was awarded an obe in recognition. lily blackburn has cerebral palsy and autism. she walked 15 kilometres. captain tom, she said, had inspired her to help others less fortunate than herself. i less fortunate than herself. i wanted to do 15 kilometres and help some children. it will be a really, really big challenge for me. if you set your mind, you can do anything and you can achieve something. extraordinary fundraising efforts, inspired by an extraordinary man. and if you look at the front pages today, all the newspapers have captain sir tom on the front pages. as i say, tribute to been pouring in. now, let's talk about spacex, it launched another spaceship prototype and

once again, failed to pull off the landing this time. the starship sn9 blew up on its final descent as it tried to right itself before reaching the ground, you can see it there. in december, the sn8 model met a similar fate, making impact with the ground. nonetheless, spacex said engineers will press on with their programme. and the businessman elon musk and his rivaljeff bezos is stepping down to focus on one of his passions, which is getting to space with his company. this week has been absolutely packed with big companies around the

world telling us how they are doing in terms of the money they are making, et cetera, so we will fill in with all you need to know. stay with us. hello there. tuesday brought us some very heavy snow across parts of scotland, but more especially in northern england. and that caused significant transport disruption — at one stage, the m62 was completely shut, along with the snake pass. and that's the main road link between manchester and sheffield. the boundary between the mild air we have in the south and the cold air in the north is heading into scotland. and it's here where the risk of snow will stay really through the rest of this week. heavy snow across the high ground with significant accumulations. there is still the scope of transport disruption — but the risk of disruption will increase towards the end of the week. why do i say that? because at lower elevations over the next few days, temperatures will be dropping by a couple of degrees celsius, tipping the balance from rain more to snowfall at lower levels — hence the risk

of disruption is more likely to increase later in the week. right now across the central lowlands, we've got rain, a bit of sleet coming through as well. the snow mainly confined to the high ground here, also across the very high ground and across the far north of england, too. delving into this zone, as we go through wednesday, we will continue to see that rain, a bit of sleet at times across the central belt, so probably nothing in the way of snow settling. if you go into the hills, yes, above 100 metres elevation, you're more likely to see snow, settling snow above 200 metres elevation, 10—20 cm over the next 48 hours. elsewhere, we've got some bright skies in the west, but heavy rain across southern england — very heavy at times in the london area, and it'll turn wet as well throughout much of east anglia. mild in the south, but obviously where we've got the snow falling, particularly in the hills, temperatures struggling to get much above freezing at all in scotland. through wednesday night, we'll continue to see that mucky mixture, really, in scotland. there might be a bit more in the way of snow starting to come down to some slightly lower levels across the north of the country, as those temperatures just start to edge downwards just a little bit — might be enough to tip the balance, perhaps a little bit of snow across the high

ground of northern england, as well. for thursday, again, as the air gets colder, we've got a tendency to see a bit more snow getting down to some of those lower levels. in the south, we've got some rain, a few brighter spells for wales and the midlands, still mild in the south, still cold into scotland. and then beyond that, as we look at the forecast through friday and into the weekend beyond, there is a tendency for the weather to turn colder, and we may see it some snowfall more widely into next week. that's your latest weather.

hello again. this is bbc news, with the latest headlines and business stories. new king of thejungle — amazon bossjeff bezos steps aside as the online giant's chief executive — so, who is taking over? and win—win for google — its owner alphabet reveals a massivejump in online sales during lockdown helps to boost its profits. and an indian celebrity fashion designer says people will still splash out on fancy, pricey wedding outfits, no matter what the economy.