this is bbc news. the headlines at a:00... senators in the us are expected to vote later in the second impeachment trial of the former president, donald trump. borisjohnson says he is optimistic about the easing of coronavirus restrictions in england next month — but warned he will have to be cautious. meanwhile, leading british scientists warn vaccines must be made available to poorer countries in order to bring the pandemic under control. also, we'll be looking at the reason behind the disappearance of south africa's great white sharks.

impeachment proceedings against donald trump have just resumed in the past hour in the us senate. mr trump is charged with inciting the violent attack on the capitol building by his supporters last month. in a dramatic twist in senators have voted to allow a debate on the calling of witnesses — a decision which could delay the outcome of whole process. a vote on whether to find mr trump guilty had been expected today, but that may not now happen. it comes after democrats decided they wanted to hear from a top congressional republican who was given details of a phone call between mr trump and the top house republican, kevin mccarthy, during the storming of the capitol. donald trump's attorney michael van der veen

accused the democrats of violating due process. he mentioned my client coming in to testify. that is not the way it's done. if he wanted to talk to donald trump, he should have put a subpoena down, like i am going to slap subpoenas on a good number of people. if witnesses are what is required here, for them to try to get their case back in order. which has failed, miserably, forfour reasons. there is nojurisdiction here. there has been no due process here. there has been no due process here. they have completely violated and ignored, and stepped on the constitution of the united states. they have trampled on it, like people who have no respect for it. and if this is about nothing else, it has to be about the respect of our country, our constitution and

all of the people that make it up. and so i ask, when considering or voting on this witness matter, and to be clear, this may be the time to do it but, again, and everybody needs to know, backroom politics, i'm not so much into it all. i'm not too adept at it, neither. but there was a stipulation, they felt pretty comfortable after des two, until their case was tested on day three. now is the time to end this. now is the time to hear the closing arguments. now is the time to vote your conscience. that was michael van der veen, part of donald trump's defence team.

the house impeachment manager jamie raskin asked to subpoena republicanjaime herrera beutler and her notes, believing there may be new evidence about a phone call between donald trump and house republican leader kevin mccarthy, while the capitol was under attack. here's what mr raskin had to say. last night, congresswoman jaime herrera last night, congresswomanjaime herrera beutler of washington state issued a statement confirming that, in the middle of the insurrection, when house minority leader kevin mccarthy called the president to beg for help, president trump responded, and i quote, well, kevin, i guess these people are more upset about these people are more upset about the election than you are. needless to say, this is an additional, critical piece of corroborating evidence, further confirming the charges before you, as well as the president's wilful dereliction of duty and desertion of duty, as

commander in chief of the united states, his state of mind, and his further incitement of the insurrection on january six. further incitement of the insurrection onjanuary six. for that reason, and because this is the proper time to do so under the resolution of the senate adopted to set the rules for the trial, we would like the opportunity to subpoena congresswoman herrera, regarding her conversations with kevin mccarthy, and two subpoenaed a contemporaneous notes over what president trump told kevin mccarthy in the middle of the insurrection. lets show you the scene live at capitol hill where proceedings are under way. it doesn't look like it, but they are on the way. since that vote of 55-45 in are on the way. since that vote of 55—45 in agreement of calling witnesses, the senate has now gone into quorum call. the definition of

this is a discussion, it is a brief delay which allows both teams to work out if senators they would like to speak to are available or if there is some difficulty. so, obviously a number of discussions taking place at the moment. but we will get you back to that as soon as things started to move again. let's ta ke let's take you through some of the latest coronavirus figures that have come to us here at bbc news. this is government figures. as far as people who have tested positive, that figure is currently 13,308. the number of people that have sadly died within 28 days of a positive testis died within 28 days of a positive test is today recorded at 621. and, of course, that vaccination roll—out is well under way. the government

want the target for monday to be 50 million. the figure on the website, which you can probably see, isjust over 40.5 million people who have received their first coronavirus vaccination. you will see that right at the top of the page, just below uk summary. all of this comes as people over the age of 70 who have not had a covid jab yet are being urged to come forward in a final push by ministers. the aim is to offer a jab to 15 million people in the most vulnerable categories by monday. the health secretary, matt hancock, said he hoped that covid—19 would become, by the end of this year, an illness the country could live with like flu. covid—19 surge testing is to be rolled out in several more areas of england in an attempt to curb the south african variant of the virus.

people living in middlesbrough, walsall and hampshire are now being strongly encouraged to take a coronavirus test, whether they are showing symptoms of the disease or not. here's our political correspondent, nick eardley. after a year in which optimism has been in short supply, a dose of hope. the vaccine roll—out continues here in epsom and across the uk this morning. ministers are confident that, by the end of the weekend, those most at risk from covid — 15 million people — will have been offered the first jab of the vaccine. we're on target to meet the goal by monday, of offering a vaccine to everybody in group 1—4, and then by may, offering the vaccine to everybody in groups 1—9. we have a high degree of confidence in the supply we've got to meet those goals, but, of course, the exact speed of the supply is the limiting factor on how quickly we can vaccinate

right across the uk. with the vaccine and better treatment for those who do fall ill, the health secretary has said covid could become like flu — still there, but manageable. but some experts advising the government warn that may take time. i'm not sure that covid settles down to look like flu quite so quickly, and i think there's quite a long way to go between now and next winter. so, i think, in some ways, it's not the right time to make that decision. we need to see how low we can get the prevalence of covid, the prevalence of the virus in the community, as we exit the summer. how to get streets like these moving again? the prime minister will set out his plan for england later this month. it's likely to be a gradual process, starting with schools, before opening other parts of society.

some of borisjohnson�*s mps hope that the vaccine can make shut downs a thing of the past. if it's the same level as flu, we don't think for a second of locking down the country over flu. there will come a point where there will be a death rate from covid, but it's at a normal level, and then we have to cope with that. obviously, we still try and prevent it, but we accept it. i think we have to. experts, though, warn the health service is still under real pressure and are urging ministers to be cautious. as the political pressure to reopen increases, the government has a lot to weigh up. speaking during a visit to the fujifilm plant in billingham, teesside, where the new novavax vaccine will be manufactured, the prime minister said he was "optimistic" he will be able to begin announcing the easing of restrictions when he sets out his "roadmap" out of lockdown in england on the 22nd of february.

we have made huge progress with the roll—out of the vaccines. that's great. but we've also got infections still running very high, as you know, throughout the country. levels which last year we would have thought were really very high indeed. still, sadly, a great many deaths in our hospitals, although the number is coming down. and perhaps starting to come down quite fast, though we need to look at the data very, very hard. so that's what we will be doing in the next few days. we will be saying more on monday about where we have got to do with thejcvi cohorts 1—4. and then on the 22nd, i will be setting out more of the road map about the way forward, starting with schools, we very much hope, on march the 8th. that's got to be the priority, our kids' education is the number one priority.

but then working forwards to getting nonessential retail open as well, and then, in due course, as and when we can, prudently and cautiously, of course we want to be opening hospitality as well. and i'll be trying to set out as much as i possibly can, in as much detail as i can give, always understanding that we have to be wary of the pattern of disease. and we don't want to be forced into any kind of retreat or reverse ferret, if you see what i mean. could we be drinking in pub gardens, as the papers suggested today, in april? if you don't mind, i am going to ask you to just wait a little bit longer. give us some more time to look at the data about what is happening. look at the way the numbers are coming down. they study also, i think very importantly, the efficacy of the vaccines. are they working on the way

that we hope they are? and making sure that they are really helping, along with the lockdown, to drive down the incidence. that is a key thing. you know, i'm optimistic. i won't hide it from you. i'm optimistic. but we have to be cautious. that was the prime minister, speaking earlier today at a fuji film plant in billingham in teesside. speaking to me a short while ago, our political correspondent, nick eardley, said downing street as certain to be cautious in its approach to the easing of any restrictions. yes, borisjohnson, yes, boris johnson, as yes, borisjohnson, as you heard him say, is optimistic. he thinks things are going well. but he's very reluctant to get into any of the detail just reluctant to get into any of the detailjust now. we have a lot of suggestions that potentially you start to see schools open in march, than other parts of society gradually opened, like outdoor

hospitality, potentially, in april, say some of the newspapers. downing street is saying it is too early to make any cast—iron predictions, simply because they haven't seen the data. so the next few days, boris johnson is going to get some figures that show what has happened with the vaccine roll—out, in its first phase, what is happening with hospitalisation, with deaths, with new cases. and it's on that basis that the government will make the decision as to what they are going to announce on the 22nd of february. but you can almost see it in boris johnson's face there that he wanted to give some good news. but there is a real sense and government that they are holding back on this because they don't want to be in a position again where they overpromise and have to roll back on some of the things that have been said. ~ . . , some of the things that have been said. ~ . ., , ., ,, ~ said. well, certainly groups like nhs medical— said. well, certainly groups like nhs medical people, _ said. well, certainly groups like nhs medical people, scientists| said. well, certainly groups like - nhs medical people, scientists also, have been warning, haven't they, as more and more discussion about easing restrictions has entered over

the last few weeks, one —— what are their main concerns? fine the last few weeks, one -- what are their main concerns?— their main concerns? one of the reasons we _ their main concerns? one of the reasons we are _ their main concerns? one of the reasons we are going _ their main concerns? one of the reasons we are going to - their main concerns? one of the reasons we are going to hear . their main concerns? one of the i reasons we are going to hear more and more about the easing of restrictions is that so many of boris johnson's restrictions is that so many of borisjohnson�*s backbenchers are desperate to get a plan to get the economy going again. they have been for some time. but we are hearing scientists saying you need to do this properly, and make sure you're not going too fast. we have been hearing that message from some of them this morning, saying the nhs is still under tremendous pressure, there are still a backlog of cases that are not covid related, that are still going to be tough to deal with, at the same time as you have some wards taken up by coronavirus patients. so there is very much that message from some scientists to the prime minister not to go too far, too quickly. so for the next ten days or so, is borisjohnson weighs up days or so, is borisjohnson weighs up what to do on the 22nd of february, although there is not natural optimism that you heard

about there, there is also some cautious messages coming forward. and many experts are saying to him, don't go too far. in and many experts are saying to him, don't go too far-— don't go too far. in the last hour we 'ust don't go too far. in the last hour we just had _ don't go too far. in the last hour we just had news _ don't go too far. in the last hour we just had news about - don't go too far. in the last hour we just had news about a - don't go too far. in the last hour we just had news about a new. don't go too far. in the last hour- we just had news about a new batch of search testing. what more can you tell us? we of search testing. what more can you tell us? ~ ~' ., of search testing. what more can you tell us? ~ ~ ., ., ., tell us? we know that part of the government _ tell us? we know that part of the government plan _ tell us? we know that part of the government plan to _ tell us? we know that part of the government plan to tackle - tell us? we know that part of the government plan to tackle new i government plan to tackle new variants of the virus that have not spread widely in the community in the uk so far is to have this search testing. particular postcodes, which see variance, they get mass testing quite quickly, and we can figure out quickly who has and hasn't got it. this is in relation to the south african variant, the one first found in south africa. we found out that part of middlesbrough, warsaw and parts of hampshire are going to see some of this search testing over the next few days. it is something that has been done elsewhere and has been fairly successful where it has been done so far. it is not necessarily something to worry about for anyone watching in those areas. but it is all designed to try and quickly find if people have the new variant, and if people have the new variant, and if so, to stop them spreading it.

the headlines on bbc news... new developments in the impeachment trial of former president donald trump as the senate votes to allow witnesses. borisjohnson says he is "optimistic" about the easing of coronavirus restrictions in england next month — but warned he will have to be cautious. meanwhile, leading british scientists warn vaccines must be made available to poorer countries in order to bring the pandemic under control. sport now. and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's chetan patak. good afternoon — first to the six nations where england have thrashed italy to get their first win of this year's championship. they won 41—18 at twickenham — running in six tries in total — jonny may with the pick of them just before half time. anthony watson also scored twice.

scotland wales getss going at 445. scotland wales gets going at 445. next to england's cricketers and an entertaining opening day of the second test in chennai. they took an impressive six wickets but could do little to stop a batting masterclass from rohit sharma, which has helped to leave india on top asjoe wilson reports: look who's back. welcome, spectators in chennai. a condition of attendance was to maintain social distance. well, look who's back for england, 0lly stone. shubman gill lbw and the fast bowler had quick success. jack leach was still spinning. cheteshwar pujara gone. well, stand by, england had also selected moeen ali. bowling to virat kohli. what, me, out for nought? yes, captain, it did happen. well, rohit sharma was moving. reviving india's innings and then dominating the day. if you bat first and you score big, especially in conditions like these, you can control the match.

rohit to 100 and india to 200 with this shot from ajinkya rahane — exactly what they'd come to see. from england's point of view, becoming one of those days. when rohit reached 161 and found the fielder, he couldn't believe it. well, now england's frustrations. here the ball bounces up, touches rahane's glove, is then caught. a replay the tv umpire did not look at despite england's review. well, he was soon dismissed unmistakably, fortunately. but india are 300—6 and rishabh pant�*s in, so watch out. joe wilson, bbc news. leicester city scored three goals in seven minutes as they came from behind to beat liverpool 3—1 and move up to second in the premier league. the defending champions took the lead in the second half, roberto firmino's back heel setting up mohamed salah for his 23rd goal of the season.

but then it all changed. leicester were awarded a penalty, var said it was a free kick and james maddison's scored — it was given offside. but var decided firmino's boot was playing leicester onside and the goal stood. and then another nightmare moment for alisson the liverpool keeper — a mix—up with defender ozan kabak making his debut allowed jamie vardy the simplest of chances to put leicester ahead, and harvey barnes added a third, making it three defeats in a row forjurgen klopp. to be honest, i was lost. i was absolutely lost. an anthony taylor was not filling me with much confidence, because i don't think he knew what was going on. i didn't know what signals he was getting. but i got the goal in the end. you go from getting a penalty, to it being outside, to it being a goal, to it being not a goal, and then back to a goal. and that's just var these days, you never kind of know. 0ne game currently under way, burnley are set to move 11 points

clear of the relegation zone, they are 2—0 up at crystal palace in the second half. manchester city can go seven points clear at the top if they beat tottenham in the 5:30 kick off, brighton face aston villa at eight. four games in the scottish premiership this afternoon, rangers on course to re—establish that 21 point lead at the top over celtic, ryanjack with the goal against kilmarnock. british hopes in the singles at the australian open tennis are over after cameron norrie was beaten in his third round match by rafa nadal in straight sets. second—seed nadal was able to see off norrie in straight sets 7—5 6—2 7—5 on an empty rod laver arena after melbourne entered lockdown yesterday. the 20—time grand slam champion will play italy's fabio fognini next. and sir ben ainslie's british sailing team has been in action in the prada cup overnight. this is the competition to decide who goes up against new zealand in the americas cup later this year. ainslie's ineos team uk are up against the italian luna rossa team, and they've now lost the first two races. still time though,

there are 11 races to go. that's all the sport for now. seven leading british scientists are warning that the pandemic will be prolonged — and might take years to bring under control — if the vaccines aren't made available to poorer countries. writing in the lancet, they say that billions of people might not get inoculated this year — which could allow the virus to mutate further and become resistant to vaccines. the experts say production needs to be ramped up worldwide and vaccines have to be priced affordably. earlier, the lead author from the london school of economics and political science, dr 0livier wouters, explained their concerns. if we don't treat this as a global problem and if the virus is allowed to continue to rage in some parts of the world, we might see continued risk of new mutations emerging is still there.

so even if we end up vaccinating the entire population in the uk, us, other richer countries, the new variants might undermine the efficacy of vaccines and it could cause problems in the uk. heathrow airport has expressed concern over the implementation of hotel quarantine plans, that are due to come into effect on monday. anyone arriving in england, from 33 high—risk countries, will be required to quarantine for 10 days. but the uk's busiest airport, says significant gaps remain in the government's plan, and it is yet to receive the necessary reassurances. the efficacy of the 0xford/astrazeneca vaccine in children is set to be tested in a new clinical trial. researchers will use 300 volunteers to assess whether the jab will produce a strong immune response, in children aged between 6 and 17. the university of oxford said, theirs was the first trial in the 6—17 age group. it said other trials had begun but only measure efficacy in those aged 16 and 17.

dr grace li, from the university of oxford, is involved with the clinical trials. she explained to my colleague shaun ley why they are starting trials for this age range. so, it's almost 12 months ago since the initial trials were started in adults. and it was always intended for trials to be conducted in children. and we are very happy to be able to start that this weekend. we know that the majority of admissions are of adults, and of older adults. there are a very small number of children who do get admitted who are very unwel. and it may be that a very select group of children would benefit from vaccination. yes, it's a great point. you're absolutely right. sadly, some children have died.

but, statistically, it is a very small number. which doesn't in any way diminish the awful impact for the families that have lost children or have had children seriously affected and are living with the consequences of the infection. but presumably getting to this stage is almost, in a sense, a good sign of your confidence in the vaccine itself? yes, you're absolutely right. the trial so far, conducted across several countries, have given us great safety and efficacy data. which gives us more confidence when we are heading into a trial in this younger age group. how do you find volunteers at that age? because, presumably, 16 and 17—year—olds are in a position to give informed consent. but a six—year—old can't. no. here at the oxford vaccine group, we have a lot of experience in handling trials with children of all ages. and there are very specific and recognised guidelines about how to obtain consent. in all cases we provide information that is age—appropriate of the children, so that they have as much understanding as possible, given their age, what is going to happen to them. we also make sure that the parents are fully informed as well. so it's a collaboration between both

the child and the parents. how long do you expect this particular trial is going to take before you have results that you can look on and feel that they give you a confident picture about the impact, if any, on children of that age? so, this trial is primarily looking at the immune responses. so, it's a relatively small trial compared to the adult trials. it's really looking at the responses in the blood. we are taking blood samples over the course of approximately one year. so, it will take us approximately one year to gain results. the great white shark has drawn tourists to south africa for decades, but numbers spotted off the coast of cape town have fallen drastically in recent times. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding has been investigating the reason for their disappearance. on a hillside overlooking false bay,

shark spotters are keeping a close watch on the waves. after all, this coastline near cape town has long been home to hundreds, if not thousands, of the world's most famous predator. until now. south africa's great white sharks — the stuff of nightmares and of nature documentaries — have gone mysteriously missing. wherever you go, if you put your feet into the water, you expect to encounter a white shark, but that's not the case no more. i don't even remember the last i've seen a shark. none at all? none at all. no white sharks in false bay. it's two years now since they vanished, and the economic impact has been devastating. the great white tourism industry has collapsed. unfortunately, we're suffering a lot. it's very, very difficult times.

for the whole town? the whole town, yes. the whole industry? yes. it is really, really sad. we miss these sharks a lot. but why did they disappear? this amateur footage shows the arrival of two suspects — a pair of orcas, killer whales. could they have scared off all those great whites? to us, the arrival of these orcas and then the reduction in shark| activity does all seem to be correlated. - it appears that the orcasi arrive and the sharks just are aware that they are no longer the apex predator anymore. - but here's another theory — localfishermen have been catching smaller sharks to export to fish and chip shops in australia. those sharks formed part of the great whites' diet. this quite simply meant that the bulk of their food was no longer available in false bay, so logic tells you, if your food's not available here, you go look elsewhere, and that's what a lot of us believe is what's actually happened. but other shark detectives see

a more complicated crime scene. dr sara andreotti used to study great whites here. now, she's using a harpoon to scrape dna from smaller species. now, we have to collect this very carefully. her view is that the great white population has been shrinking unnoticed for many years because of climate change, pollution, overfishing — a range of human activities. it is not, for us, just frustrating, it's the feeling that that happened under our watch, you know? we saw the sharks, we saw the numbers were not great and the work we did wasn't enough to get them the environment, better protected in a way, or maybe it was just too late. her conclusion is that the great whites didn't move elsewhere —

they simply died out, their turf taken over by these copper sharks. plenty of beautiful sharks down here, but no great whites, none at all, and so many theories about why they may have disappeared, but the real fear is that they may have gone for good. perhaps, but nothing in this great white mystery is certain — except the knowledge that we humans are, as usual, prime suspects. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello. we've seen some snowfall today particularly across the western side of the uk. northern ireland seen

some of the heavier snow. 0vernight some of the heavier snow. 0vernight some of the heavier snow. 0vernight some of that will