this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 5. the coronavirus reproduction number — or r value — falls below 1 for the first time sincejuly — suggesting the spread of the disease is slowing across the uk. the number of infections is also falling. the uk economy shrank by nearly 10% last year — the biggest drop ever recorded. whilst there were some signs of resilience overwinter, what is clear is right now many families and businesses are experiencing hardship. this is live and capitol hill in washington where lawyers acting behalf of donald trump in his second impeachment trial are about to address the senate. the government insists new rules for travellers and quarantine hotels that start on monday will be in line with

restrictions in other countries. a serial sex offender who raped and murdered university student libby squire is jailed for at least 27 years at sheffield crown court. and coming up at 5:45 mark kermode takes a look at the newest releases — including tom hanks�*s latest feature, �*news of the world' good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the coronavirus reproduction number, or r value, across the uk has fallen below one for the first time since july last year. government experts say it is now estimated to be between 0.7 and 0.9 — meaning the spread of the disease is slowing. it's further welcome news on the same day figures show coronavirus infections are continuing to go down in almost

all parts of the country. the latest government figures shows another 758 people have died in the uk within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. just over 15,000 people tested positive for the virus and the number of people receiving their first vaccination is now over 1a million. ministers hope 15 million in the uk will have been offered their first dose by monday. in england, ministers have announced that people over the age of 65 will be invited to a vaccine appointment from next week. 0ur health correspondent katherine da costa reports. despite concerns of a fast spreading a new variant, lockdowns seem to be slowing the spread of the virus. a small survey by the office for national statistics suggests compliance remains high but behavioural experts say it more support is needed. if you look at those 0ns data, it also tells us that 47% of people are having to travel to work.

at the real problem is not people breaking the rules and choosing to go out, the real problem is people being forced to go out by rules and regulations which are too lax. the latest figures from the 0ns infection survey suggest rates fell across the uk in the first week of february. one in 80 had the virus in england put it was one in 85 in wales, one in 75 in northern ireland and one in 150 in scotland. we need to remember that vaccinating 20% of the population will not have a huge impact on transmission which is white all the vaccinations are hugely important as part of the strategy and we still need to focus efforts on reducing case numbers in parallel with vaccination because we don't expect vaccination to have an impact on that in the coming months. on monday, the government hopes to have hit its target for offering jabs to the top four priority groups. it will be a crucial week for the government as it scrutinises data ahead of announcing its road

map for easing restrictions. we are very much hoping that- on the 8th of march there is a date that i imagine parents _ across the country will be watching with great interest, _ which is when, if the data allows, and that is the caveat, _ if the data allows, the 8th of march is when we very much - want to start unlocking schools. it is likely to be a long road ahead, it may feel more like normal by the summer but some experts warn we may have to learn to live with the virus. in the longer term, once we hopefully get out of this lockdown and back to some sense of normalcy, we may need to think in those terms of, we are clearly not going to eradicate this so how are we going to live with it? and at what level of impact are we prepared to put up with it as a society? health leaders have warned of the risk of easing too soon when hospitals still have more covid patients now than in the first wave last spring. they say we are turning the corner but need to get cases right down, with the lower the infections, the lower the chances

of new variant is emerging. katherine da costa, bbc news. let's speak now to david spiegelhalter, professor of statistics at cambridge university. welcome. thank you very much for joining us again. we have talked before about the difficulty of comparing today's figures with yesterday's figures, it's a very short period of time. what's the length of time that you were looking at so that you can properly assess trends? i at so that you can properly assess trends? ., ., ~' at so that you can properly assess trends? ., ., ~ . ~ ., .,, trends? i looked back of the last few weeks _ trends? i looked back of the last few weeks rather _ trends? i looked back of the last few weeks rather than _ trends? i looked back of the last few weeks rather than single - trends? i looked back of the last i few weeks rather than single days, and actually all the trends are going in the right direction. cases are down to around the level they were back in early october. admissions less than half of what they were a month ago. vaccines, extraordinary roll out half a million done yesterday, and although still a very high level, five to 600 today, less than half of the deaths

they were a month ago. what today, less than half of the deaths they were a month ago. what about hosital they were a month ago. what about hospital admissions? _ they were a month ago. what about hospital admissions? because - they were a month ago. what about hospital admissions? because you | they were a month ago. what about i hospital admissions? because you can get some figures which look like they almost contradict others. hospital admissions or don't going down quite fast with a number of hospital goes down slower because people stay in hospital for some time. so the number of hospital —— number of people in hospital is dropping. the number of people in hospital is dro -|na. ., number of people in hospital is dronina. ., ., . ., dropping. the “oint council for vaccines and — dropping. the joint council for vaccines and immunisation - dropping. the joint council for vaccines and immunisation of| dropping. the joint council for - vaccines and immunisation of your provided expeditions for why they have prioritised and people for vaccines over others. talk to us about that. vaccines over others. talk to us about that-— vaccines over others. talk to us about that. it's very interesting. been absolutely _ about that. it's very interesting. been absolutely clear, - about that. it's very interesting. been absolutely clear, come - about that. it's very interesting. been absolutely clear, come up| about that. it's very interesting. - been absolutely clear, come up with to me they want to save the maximum number of lives. that's what they are aiming to do. and therefore they have prioritised groups in terms of the risk of hospitalised in serious illness and death. that's what they go for, and thus we are working through. by the time moved on the

first four orfive groups through. by the time moved on the first four or five groups got 99% of the deaths that could be prevented if everyone were vaccinated. and we could be seeing, i think, if everyone were vaccinated. and we could be seeing, ithink, some effect of that already. deaths in all groups are going down but the deaths and over 80 fives are going down faster than in younger people. and deaths in over 85 are nearly half every week, much faster than the under 65 is, notjust because of the under 65 is, notjust because of the vaccine, may be care homes are being a lot more cautious now or whatever, but it's a very encouraging sign because over 85 is are a huge proportion of the deaths. yes, and the risk factor is clearly age. 0ne yes, and the risk factor is clearly age. one final question. what's the data that you would like to see that you currently have not got your hands on? i you currently have not got your hands on?— you currently have not got your hands on? ., ., ., , ., hands on? i would love to see more detailed vaccine _ hands on? i would love to see more detailed vaccine data. _ hands on? i would love to see more detailed vaccine data. i _ hands on? i would love to see more detailed vaccine data. i think - hands on? i would love to see more detailed vaccine data. i think it's - detailed vaccine data. i think it's on its way, because we want to know about notjust on its way, because we want to know about not just the on its way, because we want to know about notjust the total numbers which are great, but in particular

areas or communities in which the vaccine has not been taken up properly. these groups will be particularly vulnerable, as we inevitably will open up and start relaxing slowly and gently, then people who are not protected are going to be vulnerable, and i think, you know, a lot more information on where those groups are, who they are, and the problems about the roll—out. are, and the problems about the roll-out. ., , ., roll-out. professor, from the university — roll-out. professor, from the university of _ roll-out. professor, from the university of cambridge - roll-out. professor, from the i university of cambridge always roll-out. professor, from the - university of cambridge always good to have your enthusiasm on the programme. thank you very much. the uk economy shrank last year by the largest amount ever recorded, due to the coronavirus pandemic. the office for national statistics said gross domestic product — which measures the value of goods and services produced in the country — dropped by 9.9% last year. the economy did grow slightly in december by 1.2% — as some restrictions were eased in the run up to christmas,

avoiding a so called �*double—dip' recession. the chancellor rishi sunak told the bbc the economy "experienced a significant shock", and the government would set out the next steps of the response to the pandemic in the budget next month. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity reports. 2020, the year that will be remembered not only for a pandemic, but for an unprecedented economic roller—coaster caused by the government's anti—virus measures. the figures today show the economy shrank faster than it had in 300 years and surged back in the summer then slow down again before christmas. labour say the 9.9% year on year drop in gross domestic product, was worse than other countries. we have had the worse than any other european country and we have also had the worst economic crises, crisis. we need public spending to be directed into the right places, not have this level of waste and mismanagement of public funds.

the chancellor disputed that claim. i think this point on our comparative economic performance is important to clear up. we calculate gdp in a different way to pretty much everybody else is important to clear up. we calculate gdp in a different way to pretty much everybody else and if you either correct for that different or look at it in a way that is more comparable with nominal gdp, what you find, as the bank of england and the office for national statistics have pointed out, is that our performance is very much in line comparable to other countries and in fact may be on the margin better than places like canada, some parts of the economy are now less than 4% down from pre—pandemic levels of activity. this high—tech manufacturer of metal parts for cars and fridges, based in shrewsbury, saw new orders drop in the spring. it adapted by shifting from supplying the car industry to the do—it—yourself market and sales recovered. we had to make some quite sweeping changes in terms of structure of the company in 2020, from march onwards, when our order book fell to 10% of what it should have been. but i see, certainly, from december onwards last year, there are green shoots coming, and i think once we get through this

first period of 2021, when we've got the impact of brexit, delays at the ports, i think 2021 can be a good year for this economy. while growth was slightly better than expected in the last three months of the year, up 1%, the economic pain was concentrated on sectors like accommodation and food which, after a devastating pre—christmas slump, saw activity drop by a third. all hopes now rest on the vaccine reopening the economy and consumers reopening their purses. the good news is that the third . lockdown will be much less painful for the economy than the previous i two, but we still expect to see that step down in january. and i think we're a bit more . optimistic later on in the year, as long as the vaccines continue to be rolled out fairly— quickly, provide protectionl against the various variants of the virus. the economy is expected to shrink again by 4% in the first quarter of this year which, outside of the pandemic, would count as one of the worst contractions in the past century. it's not expected to recover

to its pre—crisis level until well into next year. andy verity, bbc news. the snp are calling on the chancellor to extend furlough and other financial support — the party's treasury spokesperson, alison thewliss joins us from glasgow. welcome, thank you very much for joining us. how much longer do you believe government measures are going to be necessary to support businesses and individuals? it really depends on the course of the pandemic. through this pandemic is been threats of furlough stopping very suddenly at the end of the autumn last year, for example. with that resulted in was lots of people right across the uk losing their jobs as employers felt they could not keep them on. the chancellor has to signal now whether or not for that was going to be extended. find that was going to be extended. and

if it's not extended what is your prediction is that it will be much like it was of the end of last year when everyone thought that further was going to end, people will lose theirjobs and thus the very last thing we need in this stage of the pandemic. if we want to have people ready for that recovery we need to have jobs ready to go once the pandemic has, once it improves and once they go back out and spend the money in the economy again? was your estimate forjobs money in the economy again? was your estimate for jobs lost money in the economy again? was your estimate forjobs lost in scotland because of that uncertainty last time? because people did not think the furlough scheme was going to continue. it the furlough scheme was going to continue. . , ., ., , continue. it was a real depth, i don't have _ continue. it was a real depth, i don't have specific— continue. it was a real depth, i don't have specific numbers i continue. it was a real depth, i - don't have specific numbers because there's been various different studies but certainly evidence from the institute of personnel and others from the ending of the furlough scheme at the end of autumn did have the impact that employers said they could not hang on any longer, and if you look at employers from hospitality and tourism sectors

they've gone through a very difficult when were usually a winter is hard in that sector anyway but they've had very little if way of income, and are actually on their needs. if they are being expected to pay for their employees wages at a full rate when it comes to the budget where they are not going to be able to do that and make those decisions because they have to give people appropriate notice for that. the chancellor should be seeing how long furlough should be extended for and allowing people to plan for that in the months ahead. haifa and allowing people to plan for that in the months ahead.— and allowing people to plan for that in the months ahead. how much money is too much _ in the months ahead. how much money is too much money _ in the months ahead. how much money is too much money to _ in the months ahead. how much money is too much money to spend? _ in the months ahead. how much money is too much money to spend? well, - in the months ahead. how much money is too much money to spend? well, we| is too much money to spend? well, we have seen remarkable _ is too much money to spend? well, we have seen remarkable spending - is too much money to spend? well, we have seen remarkable spending by - have seen remarkable spending by this government, under president it's spending by this government to see us through the pandemic and that's been absolutely the right thing to do. if the chancellor decides to cut back now the recovery will be far more difficult to achieve. the uk also at the moment has the worst performance of any oecd country, and that's been because of this stop start and

uncertainty in a way that which the government has managed dependably generally. we've got 115,000 people dead, we cannot underplay the impact that that has had on people's lives. and the economy is dodgy how the government has manage the pandemic, the tories have not managed as well. the look at other countries and the weather what they have managed the pandemic they are doing far better than we are in terms of protecting the public and protecting the economies.— the public and protecting the economies. ., ., ., ., economies. you mentioned new zealand and submit peeple _ economies. you mentioned new zealand and submit people will— economies. you mentioned new zealand and submit people will say _ economies. you mentioned new zealand and submit people will say it's _ economies. you mentioned new zealand and submit people will say it's not - and submit people will say it's not relevant at all but we must leave it there. thank you very much for joining us. the headlines on bbc news. the coronavirus reproduction number — or r value — falls below 1 for the first time sincejuly — suggesting the spread of the disease is slowing across the uk. the number of infections is also falling. the uk economy shrank by nearly 10% last year — the biggest drop ever recorded. the government claims measures

being put in place for quarantine hotels in the uk will be in line with those in other countries — and not less strict. the government has been defending their hotel quarantine plans for people coming into england from high risk countries. the policy comes into force on monday. the government has secured 11,700 rooms at 16 hotels. people will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. and those failing to comply with the rules willl face fines of up to ten thousand pounds. but there has been criticism the system is not as strict as those in place elsewhere in the world as david shukman reports. arrivals from many countries are about to face 11 nights in a quarantine hotel like this one, but there are questions about the arrangements — notjust because the government's online booking system crashed soon after launching, but also because the hotels have been given instructions which, in some ways, are different to the rules applied in australia. quarantine hotels there have

operated for over a year now and lessons have been learned, including the need for better personal protective equipment because of the risk of the virus spreading in the air from people's rooms. enough particles could go into the air of the hall that if someone walked down the hall, say 20 minutes later, and inhaled, that's a potential source of transmission. so what are the differences between australia's policy and what is about to start here? are people allowed to leave their rooms? not in australia, but yes, here, to get fresh air, though not to smoke. are hotel staff tested? yes, for all of them, every day in australia. there are plans for that here, but it's not confirmed that they will start on monday. what about masks? in the state of victoria, they are now using high—grade masks. the advice here is to use

thinner, surgical ones. we saw from the 0ns figures as recently as december that hotel workers are some of the most at risk of dying from covid. security guards, for example, whether they be in hotels or not, they are being put at risk if they are having to accompany people and customers to and from their room. that is something that the government should absolutely be putting in its guidelines and instead what it is saying is that those workers should be put at unnecessary risk. but the government says the system of quarantine hotels will be carefully controlled. i think we have to look at our own measures in our own country. you know, the hotel will, of course, be adhering to all of the very strict measures that we have in place in relation to social distancing and facemasks and so on. allowing someone a gulp of fresh air, apart from anything else, we know that being outside is less

likely to transmit than being inside, but i think allowing someone a gulp of fresh air during a ten—day visit in a hotel, with all the very strict measures that we have, i think is reasonable. the test will be whether infections happen inside the hotels. despite all of australia's precautions, there are still outbreaks, so this will be a challenge. david shukman, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, said downing street remain confident that everything will be in place for the first set of arrivals, when the quarantine rules come into effect on monday. the government has been keen to stress that although there are some differences, the quarantine measures that it is putting in place for travellers coming back from that list of 33 countries, as it is at the moment, where particular variants of coronavirus are active, are in line with other countries who have taken this approach.

we were told by the department of health and social care earlier that people would not be allowed outside of their rooms to smoke. that still stands. downing street later said, though, that travellers would be allowed outside for exercise — with the permission from hotel staff. although the circumstances in which that will be allowed, i am told, will be quite limited. sources are emphasising that it is not a case of hotel staff allowing people to go outside to get some exercise whenever they fancy it, but it will be in line with strict guidance from the department of health and social care in very rare circumstances. whether we actually get to see what that agent is and what the exact criteria is given to hotel staff remains to be seen. so there is some uncertainty there, i think, about what grounds the hotel staff and security staff, who will be policing this to an extent, will have to allow people out. so that is one question. another around capacity.

at the moment, the government has 4,600 hotel rooms booked under contract across 16 hotels. at the moment, about 1,700 travellers coming into the uk every week from these high—risk countries, so you can see how over time they might need to expand the number of rooms available. but assurances today from the government that they do have the ability to do that if need be. finally, the website, which people are able to book their quarantine package, if you like, coming back from one of these high—risk destinations, having gone through some teething troubles and coming off—line after it was launched, is now live and open for bookings. a serial sex offender who raped and murdered university student, libby squire, has been jailed for at least 27 yea rs. 26—year—old pawel relowicz attacked the 21—year—old while she was walking home in hull 2—years ago. he then dumped her body in a nearby river.

a little earlier i spoke to our correspondent in hulljo makel. she explained the background to the case. libby squire was a 21—year—old philosophy student at the university of hull. in 2019, on the 31st ofjanuary, she was on a night out with her friends, they had all been drinking, libby had had a bit too much and was refused entry to a club, and so herfriends put her in a taxi home, paid for the taxi, and hoped that was her home safe. unfortunately, libby wandered away from home and ended up on beverley road where she was targeted by pawel relowicz, who had that night been prowling the student area of hull, because he, as you say, was a serial sex offender. he had been committing, for two years prior to that, indecent acts, acts of voyeurism, burgling people's homes, taking underwear and personal items from women. he sought libby, took the opportunity to get her into his

car, took her to the oak road playing fields where he raped and killed her. thejudge, the honourable mrsjustice lambert, said she had taken into account both the murder and the rape in setting that minimum term, and also the aggravating features of the case, the fact that he took libby from a relatively safe place on a busy street to a very isolated spot, the oak road playing fields, and that following that rape, he put her either dead or dying into the river hull. now, the river hull is a tidal river that flows into the humber estuary, and we know in this area that when people have accidentally fallen into the river, bodies are very, very often not recovered. the fact that libby's body was discovered seven weeks later was, as the judge said, a matter of chance. thejudge paid tribute to what she called the quiet dignity of libby's family throughout this case.

we heard earlier this afternoon some very powerful statements from her family. i will read you what her mother, lisa squire, said. lisa said that, "knowing i wasn't there when she needed me will haunt me for the rest of my life. i now live in two worlds — as a mother, wife and employee, and in a dark and lonely world. i long to die so that i can be with my girl." and libby's father, russell, also had a statement read out by the prosecution counsel. he said, "i struggle to look at pictures and i can no longer look at her videos because of pain." mrs justice lambert said to pawel relowicz that he had condemned the family to a lifetime of anguish. the directors and former chief executive of the massive london children's charity, kids company, which collapsed in 2015, have been exonerated of wrongdoing. it's after a major court battle over whether they were fit to run an organisation.

a high courtjudge has ruled that the charity, which worked with hundreds of vulnerable children, may have financially survived to continue its work, had it not been for unfounded allegations of sexual assault which were later dropped by the met police. the ruling clears the charity's well—known former chief executive, camilla batmanghelidjh, and former directors, including alan yentob — menaing they can once again work as directors. in the run—up to its collapse, the charity was spending around £20m a year, up to quarter of which came from government. the judge said that while aspects of the charity's work were high—risk, the business model was not unsustainable." in a statement the former trustees of kids company said... earlier i spoke to

camila batmanghelidjh. i asked her if this is what she expected to hear from the high court. it has been nearly six years, and i am delighted that the justice system in this country paid attention to the facts and we had a highly intelligentjudge who, in the end, cleared us. it is so important because there were thousands of staff, volunteers and donors who created kids company over nearly 20 years, and i want thisjustice for them and i am happy that they can now hold up their head proudly because they did brilliant work for children. but when we look at the finances and how much support the charity had to have from the government — £112 million over 15 years — many people will wonder that the way the charity was set up and what you are trying to do was really workable?

what would you say in defence of taking that money? first of all, it is very important to realise that children who were being maltreated were seeking kids company and self referring. we raised hundred and 64 million, so there were a lot of philanthropists and the general public helped us, and together we did it because these children needed help. we shouldn't have had to carry that burden of child protection if the child protection system in this country was fit for purpose. as you know, it is not fit for purpose and there needs to be some change. kids company did its best at the time and everyone worked very hard to try and protect vulnerable children. how, though, looking back, might you have done things differently? i think a judge has already clearly said that we did our best, and it is very

unfortunate that misinformation generated by elements of the media and some political forces destroyed a really good charity. of course, when you run an organisation, you can always do things better, all of us can do that, but that is not the point. false sexual abuse allegations broadcast by newsnight destroyed a really good organisation. and they behaved irresponsibly, and because of that, a lot of children were left without support. there were of course concerns about interference with reporting of that story, and the metropolitan police, in the end, decided to drop the enquiry. where does this leave you now? clearly someone who is very committed to young people and feels that young people have been denied the services of kids company over the last six years.

first of all, let me make it clear that the sexual abuse allegations against kids company were entirely false and the police completely cleared us. not only that, they commended the organisation's child protection system. there was no valid allegation in the first place. in terms of what i am going to do next, i have spent the last six years trying to support the children who were left without help as a result of the organisation closing. i was very lucky that some philanthropists have continued to support that work. and of course i'm going to have to think about what i can do moving forward, but my commitment to the children did not change, i did not stop working one day. my commitment to delivering kindness was what kept me going throughout this period. camila batmanghelidjh, we appreciate you talking to us,

now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. cold day today, and it feels a bit colder given the strength of the wind, we still got some snow showers coming in off the north sea, mainly affecting eastern parts of scotland during the first part of the night before fading away. more significant changes, though, coming into the west with some thickening cloud, wetter weather coming in from the atlantic, hitting the cold air, of course, and there'll be a widespread frost overnight. it's not as cold as it has been of late, mind you. but we need to focus on the weather in northern ireland because it's going to be snowing here for most of the day, five to ten centimetres quite widely, blizzards and drifting in the hills as well. and that band of wetter weather will move very slowly eastwards. a mixture of rain and snow in the south west of england, some snow over the hills of wales, later into western scotland. although snow amounts here will be much less. further east, it's going to be dry, but increasingly cloudy for all areas. it's going to be a windy day and it will be a cold day as well. large parts of the country remaining below freezing all day. factor in the strength of the wind, it may well feel more like —6 or —7. windy again on sunday,

but turning milder. the coronavirus reproduction number — or r value — falls below 1 for the first time sincejuly — suggesting the spread of the disease is slowing across the uk. the number of infections is also falling. the uk economy shrank by nearly ten per cent last year —— the biggest drop ever recorded. there was some signs of resilience overwinter, what is clear is right now many families and businesses are experiencing the harsh end. this is the scene live on capitol hil in washington where lawyers acting on behalf of donald trump in his second impeachment trial are about to address the senate. the government insists new rules for travellers

and quarantine hotels that start on monday will be in line with restrictions in other countries. a serial sex offender who raped and murdered university student libby squire is jailed for at least 27 years at sheffield crown court. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, let's start with the scenes at the australian open — where fans had to leave their seats, with novak djokovic's match still ongoing, as a five day local lockdown came into force at midnight in melbourne. the new measures mean there will be no spectators allowed at the tournament until wednesday at the earliest, as the state of victoria deals with a new outbreak of coronavirus. tournament director craig tiley says the players wanted to continue to play. play will continue. the players will compete in an area not to similar to what they've been doing throughout

the year. this was the first defendant they played in front of crowds and not for the next five days, they will continue to play and continue to compete. well despite the small interuption to his match with fans leaving — the men's defending champion novak djokovic battled through an injury to beat american taylor fritz in five sets at the australian open. djokovic took the opening two sets before struggling with an injury to his right side — that really restricted his movement. the american won the next two sets — before the world number one dug in to clinch it. he was unsure how his fitness and injury will stand up. as he's due to play milos raonic next an easier progression for serena williams in her bid for a 24th grand slam title — through to the fourth round. she beat russia's anastasia pota—pova, in straight sets. england have made four

changes, to the squad for their second test against india, which starts tomorrow. jimmy anderson is rested after that starring role in the first test. jos buttler has returned home and jofra archer is injured. stuart broad and ben foakes come in, as does moeen ali in place of dom bess who's been dropped.... in my heart, we are leaning toward some playing but were looking at the big picture of this season and how important is english cricket. firing into the game gives ms the best chance of playing the last two and on the sidelines to get an opportunity, we feel that there is the players are there to come in and perform. meanwhile the india vice—captain ajinkya rahane expects a lot of movement early on in the chennai pitch tomorrow. he brushed aside concerns over his batting form. rahane was bowled out cheaply in both of india's innings in their defeat by england

it is all about the team. and my focus is completely on how i can contribute to the team. the last 15 matches, we will see some runs. i do not need to worry about what is happening it would happen in the first test match, it's a book with the team wants from me and i'm going to contribute. the rfu has announced there will be no relegation from the premiership this season... and instead the league will be expanded to 13 teams next term with one side promoted from the championship. the vote to suspend relegation was expected earlier this week but was postponed after reports the host broacaster was concerned that without potential relegation battles, too many matches would prove unattractive to viewers. however, the rfu council, with the approval of the premiership clubs, went ahead with their decision today. and hope powell has made history becoming the first woman

to win the lma's performance of the week award. her brighton and hove albion side ended chelsea's 33—game unbeaten record in the women's super league which lasted two years. thanks to goals from aileen whelan and megan connolly. we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. lawyers for the former us president donald trump have described his impeachment trial as an �*act of political vengeance'. the defence case began to be outlined at the senate hearing a short while ago. life instead of just life instead ofjust a moment, speaking of the last hour, donald trump slayer denounced this as an act of political vengeance. the

article of act of political vengeance. tue: article of impeachment act of political vengeance. tte: article of impeachment now act of political vengeance. tt2 article of impeachment now before the senate is an unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance. this appalling abuse of the constitution only further divides our nation when we should be trying to come together around shared priorities. like every other politically motivated witchhunt, the left as engaged with over the past four years, this impeachment is divorced from the facts, the evidence in the interests of the american people. the signature promptly and decisively rejected. no thinking person could seriously believe that the president's january six speech was in any way an incitement to violence or insurrection. the suggestion is patently absurd on its face. nothing

in the text could ever be construed as encouraging, condoning or enticing unlawful activity of any kind. farfrom promoting kind. far from promoting insurrection kind. farfrom promoting insurrection against the united states, the presidents remarks explicitly encourage those in attendance to exercise their rights peacefully and patriotically. peaceful and patriotic protests is the very antithesis of a violent assault on the nations capital. bruce castor. the proceedings are continuing in the senate and this is what is happening at the moment and keeping an eye on it for us is gary 0'donoghue in washington. what have you been hearing?

o'donoghue in washington. what have you been hearing?— you been hearing? another lawyer, he has come up — you been hearing? another lawyer, he has come up to _ you been hearing? another lawyer, he has come up to present _ you been hearing? another lawyer, he has come up to present his _ you been hearing? another lawyer, he has come up to present his case - you been hearing? another lawyer, he has come up to present his case and i has come up to present his case and he has really turned up the volume and turned up the temperature of the democrats. he is using some pretty explosive language and accusing them of hatred, vitriol, political opportunism. he is also accusing them of manipulating evidence, not just representing in a certain way but manipulating evidence and of self—selecting and selectively editing video and creating screenshots that didn't really exist. he sang in a frame this phrase, one point in the speech the donald trump would've gotten more due process fighting it traffic —— a traffic ticket. aha, due process fighting it traffic -- a traffic ticket.— traffic ticket. a new era, in the form of joe _ traffic ticket. a new era, in the form ofjoe biden _ traffic ticket. a new era, in the form ofjoe biden in _ traffic ticket. a new era, in the form ofjoe biden in the - traffic ticket. a new era, in the form ofjoe biden in the white| traffic ticket. a new era, in the - form ofjoe biden in the white house but the party political enmities are

still in full view of the senate. yes, there is a lot at stake. this is an impeachment trial. they don't come along very often and booth is a huge constitutional moment in some ways of donald trump were to be convicted, that would put them down the history books is the first president to be convicted by the senate. so there's a lot at stake here. his future political career, the direction of the republican party but we thought that there was going to be a bit of a lackluster performance for the president hospital's lawyers, which we the other day, they would be seeing and demonstrating that it won't happen. they've been playing a lot of video clips including democrats what they say are equally fiery phrases as the ones the president, the former president has accused of using on

january six. saying that this is normal political rhetoric. this will politicians do and say and have done and said for generations upon generations and that it is that the president can be accused of having sparked the insurrection in the riot that took place in these wholesome corridors onjanuary that took place in these wholesome corridors on january the that took place in these wholesome corridors onjanuary the 6th. {biden corridors on january the 6th. given the odds are _ corridors on january the 6th. given the odds are stacked _ corridors on january the 6th. given the odds are stacked against - corridors onjanuary the 6th. given the odds are stacked against the conviction, where the democrats persisting?— conviction, where the democrats ersistinu? , , ~ g persisting? because they think it's the riaht persisting? because they think it's the right thing _ persisting? because they think it's the right thing to _ persisting? because they think it's the right thing to do. _ persisting? because they think it's the right thing to do. their - the right thing to do. their argument is if you think and impeachable offence is taken place, you have to impeach and if you impeach, you have to go to a trial. they are of the view that in their creek to save, political process booth so you're not dealing with jurors who are completely open—minded, they are not. their oath suggests they have to be fair but these are politicians. there is

politics written throughout this trial and it is there and every decision and every moment of the proceedings. so, to persuade 17 republicans to convict is a huge political ask. republicans to convict is a huge political ask-— republicans to convict is a huge olitical ask. ., ~ , ., , . let's return now to our top story — the news that the coronavirus reproduction number, or r value, across the uk has fallen below 1 for the first time since july last year. experts say it is now estimated to be between 0.7 and 0.9 — meaning the spread of the disease is slowing. figures released today show coronavirus infections are continuing to go down in almost all parts of the country. professor tim spector is from king's college london, runs the zoe covid symptom study app. he said he's been seeing falling rate through the zoe app for the last five weeks. i spoke to him earlier. i think would look forward to the

next weeks with the data collected on the app where we did one to 2 million people reporting most weeks. we are seeing rates of been falling for the past five weeks and pretty much in line with the confirmed cases of the government and projections are ahead of some of the other surveys and so, we do get the data more in real time and perhaps a more optimistic picture of how fast the rates are dropping in every project ahead to the 8th of march where inferior, we should be able to release some of the schools, we're looking at rates of around three and thousand cases a day which is less than one 500 people with the virus, which i think with be acceptable to

start gently removing some of these restrictions. it does mean a total into those restrictions, but a gentler way out of this and those levels are similar to where we were at the beginning ofjune last year. so, the number of cases of covid—19 in hospitals, and now it is time to see deaths come down and relatives been very impressive and top groups will now start and wishing that one jab from our own data with the recording of the vaccines around 16 to 17% effective. it is all good news. ., ., , ., news. how important is that people are still vigilant. _ news. how important is that people are still vigilant. and _ news. how important is that people are still vigilant. and for _ news. how important is that people are still vigilant. and for the -

are still vigilant. and for the first few days after receiving the jab. tt first few days after receiving the 'ab. , ., , first few days after receiving the 'ab. , . , ., first few days after receiving the 'ab. , ., ., , jab. it is really vital. absolutely no effect for — jab. it is really vital. absolutely no effect for the _ jab. it is really vital. absolutely no effect for the first _ jab. it is really vital. absolutely no effect for the first 12 - jab. it is really vital. absolutely no effect for the first 12 days i jab. it is really vital. absolutely no effect for the first 12 days at| no effect for the first 12 days at all. and so, we did in some instances see an increase in rates as people relax and may have gotten infected and done and done seeing other people. if they're invincible after that and it's really important that hasn't got out there, really vulnerable for those to experience and after two weeks, you get half protection and after three weeks, up to 65 or 70% protection, but you're never get 100% protection anyways, so you should really change her behaviour and it is only when everybody has got that level of protection you can get these virus levels down. being vaccinated may give you little piece of mind but it