hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the former us president, donald trump, has been acquitted inciting us capitol rioters following an historic senate trial. the respondent, donald john trump, former president of the united states, is not guilty as charged, in the articles of impeachment. here, the prime minister gives some new detail about his plans for a cautious easing of coronavirus restrictions in england. and the government says it's on track to meet its target of offering a first vaccine dose to the top four most vulnerable groups by monday. and a dramatic day in the six nations rugby. wales remain on top having narrowly

beaten scotland by 25 points to 24. good evening. the former us president donald trump has been cleared by the us senate of inciting a riot after last month's storming of the us capitol building. it is the second time the former president has been acquitted in an impeachment trial. tonight's senate vote fell short of the two—thirds majority needed to convict him on the single charge of incitement of insurrection. in a statement, mr trump said this had been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of america. our north america editor jon sopel has the latest. after jon sopel has the latest. four days of acrimonious hearings, after four days of acrimonious hearings, the second impeachment trial of donald trump came to a

close, and the vote, to convict or acquit. close, and the vote, to convict or ac uit. , ,, ., , close, and the vote, to convict or acauit. , ,, ., , ., acquit. these senate “udges have res - onded acquit. these senate “udges have responded «ah acquit. these senate 'udges have responded to donald _ acquit. these senate judges have responded to donald john - acquit. these senate judges have| responded to donald john trump, responded to donald john trump, former president of the estate is not guilty of the articles of impeachment.— not guilty of the articles of imeachment. ,, ., , , , impeachment. several republicans found him guilty — impeachment. several republicans found him guilty but _ impeachment. several republicans found him guilty but not _ impeachment. several republicans found him guilty but not enough i impeachment. several republicans found him guilty but not enough to j found him guilty but not enough to convict. the leader of the senate republicans voted to acquit, but then lunch a lacerating attack on donald trump and his behaviour. there is no question, none, that president trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. no question about it. the people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. the events ofjanuary the 6th, wendy events of january the 6th, wendy trump supporting mob marched on congress and ran amok after the former president told them to march there, i will never be forgotten.

closing arguments in this trial set out dramatically different versions of events. . ., ., , of events. the cold, hard truth is it would happen _ of events. the cold, hard truth is it would happen -- _ of events. the cold, hard truth is it would happen -- what - of events. the cold, hard truth is i it would happen -- what happened of events. the cold, hard truth is - it would happen -- what happened on it would happen —— what happened on january six could happen again. this impeachment _ january six could happen again. this impeachment has been a complete sherrard _ impeachment has been a complete sherrard from beginning to end, the entire _ sherrard from beginning to end, the entire spectacle has been nothing but the _ entire spectacle has been nothing but the unhinged pursuit of a long—standing political vendetta against — long—standing political vendetta against mr trump long—standing political vendetta against mrtrump by long—standing political vendetta against mr trump by the opposition party _ against mr trump by the opposition party. senators, please be seated. earlier there _ party. senators, please be seated. earlier there had _ party. senators, please be seated. earlier there had been _ party. senators, please be seated. earlier there had been a _ party. senators, please be seated. earlier there had been a mighty . earlier there had been a mighty kerfuffle over whether the democrats would call witnesses following a new disclosure about comments allegedly made by the president while the riot was going on. in made by the president while the riot was going on-_ was going on. in the middle of the insurrection. _ was going on. in the middle of the insurrection, when _ was going on. in the middle of the insurrection, when house - was going on. in the middle of the insurrection, when house minority leader kevin mccarty called the president to beg for help, president trump responded, and i quote "well, kevin, i guess these people are more upset about the election than you

are." , . , �* upset about the election than you are.“ , ,. , ~ are." this wasn't in the script. at times, the _ are." this wasn't in the script. at times, the exchanges _ are." this wasn't in the script. at times, the exchanges seem - are." this wasn't in the script. at times, the exchanges seem to i are." this wasn't in the script. at - times, the exchanges seem to belong to the school playground. rather than the senate floor. that to the school playground. rather than the senate floor.— than the senate floor. that civil rocess. than the senate floor. that civil process- i _ than the senate floor. that civil process. i don't _ than the senate floor. that civil process. i don't know— than the senate floor. that civil process. i don't know why - than the senate floor. that civil| process. i don't know why you're laughing. it is a civil process. that is the way lawyers do it. to have called witnesses with a prolonged trial and is probably the last thing joe biden once, holding up last thing joe biden once, holding up his plans to push through a covid the package, and it would make no difference to the trial outcome. the person most relieved by the vote today will be donald trump. he escaped conviction, but he will go down as the first us president in history to be impeached twice. let's pick up withjon now. a dramatic day. what now for donald trump and indeed for the republican party? there are those in the republican party who thought donald trump would go off to florida, play golf and never be heard of again. in the

statement he has issued tonight, he makes clear that he believes that the make america great again movement isjust the make america great again movement is just beginning. the make america great again movement isjust beginning. he has an awful lot more to say and will be saying those things over the coming months. that will disappoint an awful lot of republicans, even some of those who voted to acquit, you want a quieter life now for the party, but mitch mcconnell, who we heard from in that piece, has also said don't think donald trump has got away with anything, he still liable for everything he did while he was in office, but it is not for the criminaljustice system to look into that, and it does seem that there is the potential for into that, and it does seem that there is the potentialfor criminal investigation into various activities of the former president, but donald trump is still casting a long and very strong shadow over the republican party. jan. long and very strong shadow over the republican party-— the prime minister says he hopes to begin lifting lockdown restrictions in england from next month, beginning with schools, then non—essential shops, followed by pubs and restaurants. mrjohnson also said that

people will have to learn to live with coronavirus, echoing a suggestion by his health secretary that it could be managed like flu by the end of the year. some scientists have warned against easing restrictions too quickly even if the vaccination programme remains on target. here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. day by day, thousands more injections to vaccinate people against coronavirus. by monday, the government is confident it will have met its aim of offering 15 million people theirfirstjab. on a visit to a vaccine manufacturer in teesside today, the prime minister said he was cautiously optimistic about covid—i9 being contained long—term. new therapies are being discovered the whole time, which are enabling us to reduce mortality, improve our treatments of the disease, so, yes, i do think that, in due time, it will become something that we simply live with. effective vaccines are crucial to

allowing restrictions to be lifted. the government's promised a more detailed timeline soon. but borisjohnson gave some idea of the order in which things would open up. are starting with schools, we very much hope on march the 8th, that's got to be the priority, our children's education, our kids' education is our number one priority, but then, working forwards to getting non—essential 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. but, some advising the government warn that, even with effective vaccines, a resurgence in cases can't be ruled out. i don't believe anyone expects we are suddenly going to lift all the social restrictions. i don't think really anyone's thinking that way. that we are going to just immediately lift them and not care what happens. but, if for some reason we did choose to pretend itjust wasn't here any more some point, then, yes, there is the potential

to go back to a wave that is a similar size to the one that we are in now. a drink in the spring sunshine might feel a long way off, and downing street has dismissed as speculation talk that pubs and restaurants could be serving us outside in april, but the more people get vaccinated, and the more the government talks about living with coronavirus long—term, the more the pressure to get life back to normal will grow. if it is the same level as flu, we don't think for a second of locking down the country over flu. there will come a point when there will be a death rate from covid, but it's at a normal level, and we have to cope with that. obviously, we have to still try and prevent it, but we accept it. i think we have to. there is an acceptance in government that this lockdown must be the last in england, so, while ministers feel the frustration, they are proceeding with caution. jonathan blake, bbc news. the latest government figures show that there were 13,308 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period.

an average of 13,896 new cases were recorded per day in the last week. 23,341 people are in hospital with coronavirus across the uk. in the last 2a hours, 621 deaths have been recorded — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. 688 deaths were announced on average every day in the past week. the total number of people who have died is now 116,908. as for the vaccination programme, 544,603 people had a first dose of one of the three approved covid—19 vaccines in the latest 24—hour period. and more than 14.5 million people have now had their firstjab. as we've heard, the government says it's on track to meet its target of offering jabs to the four most vulnerable groups by monday. in a last push, ministers are urging anyone who hasn't had a jab

in those groups to come forward. here's our health correspondent katharine da costa. making sure no—one is left behind. this community bus was out in south—east london today taking vaccines to those who can't get to a vaccination centre, or who may be still unsure about having it. up and down the country, health care workers and local authorities are helping all communities to take up the offer. the more people we vaccinate, the more herd immunity we get and we reduce the chances of the majority of people getting unwell. it is also true to say that to say that the people that are less likely to take up the vaccine are often from the more deprived areas, and people from the bame communities, and we know that they have been adversely impacted by a covid—19. so, it's good for them individually and for the community. the government says take—up in some groups has exceeded their expectations, with around nine in ten over—70s coming forward. anyone who hasn't yet had a jab

in the top four priority groups, is now urged to book an appointment at any time. so who is next to be vaccinated? well, if age is the biggest risk factor, then the priority groups continue to be the over—65s, then everyone with underlying health conditions, continuing all the way down to the over 50s. the aim is to offer first doses to all of these groups by may as well as rolling out second booster shots and offering firstjabs to all remaining adults by september. we are on target to meet the goal by monday of offering the vaccine to everybody in groups 1—4, and then by may of offering vaccines to everybody in groups 1—9. we have a high degree of confidence in the supply we have got, to meet those goals. approved covid vaccines are safe and effective for adults, but what about for children? oxford university has launched a year—long study to test the safety and immune response of its vaccine in 6—17 —year—olds.

while most children are unlikely to fall seriously ill with covid, some may benefit from vaccination, and it may help overall efforts to stop the spread of the virus. katharine da costa, bbc news. surge testing for coronavirus is being expanded to parts of middlesbrough and walsall, and a postcode near basingstoke in hampshire. the rapid local testing programme is already taking place in parts of england to help monitor and suppress the south african variant of the virus. with all the sport now, here's karthi gnanasegaram at the bbc sport centre. kate, thank you. rugby union's six nations games certainly delivered drama today with an added touch of flair from johnny may as england beat italy by 41 points to 18. there was a topsy—turvy thriller between scotland and wales with wales just edging it 25 points to 24. patrick gearey has the details. everywhere in scotland, the advice

is to go slowly, steer carefully. everywhere bar one hole in the ice. for these scotsmen, speed is encouraged. ali price to darcy graham, a try threaded by scottish confidence. after all, they won in england last week. and when the captain, stuart hogg, steered into the skid, scotland led by 14. but in icy edinburgh, the match was about to u—turn. first lewis rees—zammit then liam williams pulled wales closer to scotland's bumper. and wales do have the try, and they are roaring back into this game. they were back within two when zander fagerson failed to touch the brakes. these days, contact with the head tends to mean red. scotland down a man, wales soon up three points, which made what happened here all the more incredible. hogg drove the scots back in front. try for scotland and the captain. but running through the history of welsh rugby players like rees—zammit, just 20, just brilliant. rees—zammit is going

to get it, what a try! what a try from this wonderful young man. —— winger. a try that deserved an audience, even hostile one. and welsh bonus points. but their lead only a point, vulnerable to one last scottish charge. time up, breathe out. having lost to scotland at home last week, within three minutes, england found themselves losing again, to italy. no masking the exasperation. but rusty wheels started to turn. england got level, picked up speed, thenjonny may took off. a twickenham touchdown befitting heathrow. fortunately, quarantine not necessary. england ran in six tries in all, two of them scored by anthony watson. they've never lost to italy, so in strange times, this result is the nearest this tournament has to a certainty. patrick gearey, bbc news. england and india played out a fascinating first day of their second test in chennai. rohit sharma hit a thoroughly entertaining 161 as india made 300 for 6 after winning the toss

and choosing to bat. there was a crowd in chennai, making it the first time in almost a year that the england men's team has played an international in front of spectators. it's time to pop out of the room if you don't want to know today's football results, as match of the day and sportscene follow soon on bbc one. manchester city have extended their lead at the top of the premier league to seven points after a comfortable 3—0 win over tottenham. it's a record 15th consecutive victory in all competitions now for pep guardiola's side. the liverpool manager, jurgen klopp, admitted the champions can't "close the gap" on the league leaders as they were beaten 3—1 by leicester city, who are in second place. burnley beat crystal palace 3—0. and brighton and aston villa drew 0—0. rangers have a 21—point lead at the top of the scottish premiership. a fabulous ryanjack goal gave them a 1—0 victory over kilmarnock. there were also wins for dundee united and hamilton

while aberdeen and st mirren drew 0—0. rafael nadal, chasing what would be a record in the men's game of a 21st grand slam title, is through to the fourth round of tennis's australian open. nadal beat british number three cameron norrie in straight sets on the first full day the tournament has had without fans. and in the next few hours, serena williams will start herfourth round match. you can keep up to date with the tennis, and races three and four in sailing's prada cup challenger series on the bbc sport website, kate. thank you. that's it for me for tonight. the foreign secretary dominic raab will be on the andrew marr show tomorrow at 9am on bbc one. goodnight.

hello. this is bbc news. let's return to the breaking news this evening — that former president donald trump has been found not guilty at his second impeachment trial in the us senate. 57 of the 100 senators voted "guilty" —— not enough for a conviction. in a statement, the former president denounced the trial as a "witch hunt". the republican — senate minority leader mitch mcconnell voted not guilty in the trial — but condemned the former president's actions on that day as a disgraceful dereliction of duty. there is no question, none. the president trump is morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. no question about it.

the people stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet earth. even as the mob wearing trump banners, beating cops and breaching perimeters, the president sent a further tweet attacking his own vice president. i've made my view of this episode very plain. but our system

of government gave the senate a specific task, the constitution gives us a particular role. this bodyis gives us a particular role. this body is not invited to act as the nations overarching moral tribunal. we are not free to work backwards from whether the accused party might personally deserve some kind of punishment are nation's first great constitutional scholar explained nearly 200 years ago, the process of impeachment and conviction is a narrow tool, a narrow tool for a narrow tool, a narrow tool for a narrow purpose. the story explained this limited tool exists to quote,

secure the state against crows official misdemeanors, and quote. that is to protect the country from government officers. if president trump were still in office, i would've carefully considered whether or not the house managers proved their specific charge. and later on —jamie raskin — the leader house impeachment manager gave his reaction to mcconnell�*s reasons for voting for not guilty. we convinced a big majority of our case and i'm very proud of the exceptional hard work of these managers who worked through the night, many nights over several weeks to make this case to the senate and to the union. as to, i

just want to say one more word about the thing about witnesses, we were able to get treated as live under oath testimony, the statement, we are able to get a stipulation to that and get it into evidence today by asking for her as a witness and if you listen to mitch mcconnell and the republicans who are now hurriedly explaining why they voted not to convict, all of them are hinging it on a legal argument jurisdictional or some other legal argument that could never be overcome by any of our witnesses. we could've had 5000 witnesses and mitch mcconnell would be making the same speech because what he is asserting is that the senate never has jurisdiction over a former president and for reasons i do not need to be laboured because the big part of the about this, we reject

that completely and it is totally at odds with her history and the blunt case, the constitution, the original intent of the constitution, the original understanding of the constitution, and so on, but in any event, the point is that no number of witnesses demonstrating the donald trump continuing to incite insurrectionist even after the invasion of the capital would convince them. they would not be convinced. there are hinging it on a matter of law, which we think we settled on tuesday when the senate elected to exercise jurisdiction into rejecting thatjurisdictional constitutional argument. but it is what it is in mitch mcconnell clearly feels the donald trump remains a huge problem for the republican party even if he has been disgraced in the eyes of the country and that is not myjurisdiction and i really don't have anything to say about that. they will have to deal

with the political dynamics within their own party. hello. it's been another bitterly cold day out there. especially in the wind and more snow for some of us. particularly in northern ireland. but it is the precursor. this latest weather system to milder air eventually about to move in. this is what we've seen so far today. the snow that's pushing east turning and increasingly light and patchy. it is rain now pushy and across northern ireland and extending into parts of scotland overnight. still some snow around but by the end of the night is turning more to rain or sleet at lower levels. the overnight a lot of clout and patchy rain, sleet, drizzle to be had. these are the temperatures it be had at the end of the night. particularly across northern england and scotland where we are seeing some either

patchy rain, sleet, snow. it could be very icy in places. especially where we have freezing rain. it is not going to be widespread but there is a chance of it and where it is it will be particularly nasty. if you do have to travel tomorrow do you have that at least in the back of your mind. we will continue with cloud and outbreaks of rain pushing east across the uk. tomorrow. and very windy, seacoast gusting 70 mph, may be higher than that around the western aisles later in the day. those could be disruptive wind. all the while milder air starting to pushing towards the west. all the while, milder air starting to pushing towards the west. not as cold as it's been but still a cold day across eastern parts again particularly in that wind. for england and wales going through sunday evening into the night further outbreaks of rain. will be clear elsewhere but they'll be a few showers moving in and particularly towards the northwest to stop these are the temperatures that we start off on monday morning. we'll be nowhere near that by day in the past week. so clearly on the south, south—westerly winds we are bringing in some much milder air right across the uk. and it's going to stick around

throughout the week ahead. but that milder air coming in around low pressure. it will be wet at times. outbreaks of rain through parts of eastern england early on monday clearing and then sunny spells, a few showers mostly towards the northwest of the uk. again, many of these double figure temperature not as windy as sunday. further spells of rain at times as we go through the week ahead. but it is staying much milder than it's been.

will be taking a look at tomorrow's headlines in the papers but first i had my eyes. the us finds former president donald trump not guilty and inciting writers following an historic senate trial.— and inciting writers following an historic senate trial. donald trump former president _ historic senate trial. donald trump former president of _ historic senate trial. donald trump former president of the _ historic senate trial. donald trump former president of the united - former president of the united states is not guilty as charged. the article of impeachment... here states is not guilty as charged. the article of impeachment. . ._ article of impeachment... here the prime minister _ article of impeachment... here the prime minister gives _ article of impeachment... here the prime minister gives some - article of impeachment... here the prime minister gives some new. article of impeachment... here the i prime minister gives some new detail about his plans for a conscious easing of coronavirus restriction in england. and the government says it's on track to meet its target of offering a first vaccine dose to the top four most bountiful people by monday. —— vulnerable. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.

with me are the broadcaster and psychotherapist, lucy beresford, and joe twyman who is the director of the polling organisation deltapoll. tomorrow's front pages, starting with... a look ahead to the easing of lockdown on the front page of the sunday telegraph. christopher hope reports that in england, we'll be allowed to meet a friend on a bench and to gather outdoors with our own household from the 8th of march — according to a senior government source. the paper also reports that primary schools should open on that same date, with secondary schools to follow a week later. but tim shipman's lead article for tomorrow's sunday times disagrees — saying that all children in england will return to school on 8th of march. a warning on the front of the observer as the government nears its target of offering the coronavirus vaccine to 15 million people by mid february a leading scientist behind developing the vaccine says

that the uk repeatedly failed to heed early warnings