tonight at ten — any changes to the lockdown measures in england should be made in a "cautious but irreversible" way — says borisjohnson. while 15 million people have now received their first covid vaccine, infection rates are still far too high. according to experts. plans for easing restrictions in england will be set out next monday, including target dates for reopening certain sectors. we want this lockdown to be the last, and we want progress to be cautious, but also irreversible. and experts say the seven day average of covid deaths is still high, but below the peak of the first wave. also tonight... inside one of the hotel

rooms set aside for a 10—day quarantine for those entering england from covid high—risk countries. in yemen — we report on the horrific plight of children in the country's long—running civil war. you can go from building to building here, from family to family, and hear more stories of children that have been deliberately targeted by snipers. bill gates — the microsoft founder and philanthropist — talks to us about the innovation that's needed to tackle climate change. and in chennai, england are heading for defeat in the second test against india. and in sport the rest can push for champions league football next season continues after beating struggling sheffield united.

good evening. any changes to the lockdown measures in england should be made in a "cautious but irreversible" way, according to borisjohnson. the prime minister is hoping next monday to set out his plans for easing restrictions, including target dates for reopening certain sectors. but he warned there was no "cast—iron guarantee" that the plans wouldn't have to change. while 15 million people have now received their first covid vaccine, experts say infection rates are still far too high. we'll have more on the vaccine programme shortly, but first the latest on the restrictions from our political correspondent alex forsyth. it seems a while since school playgrounds were noisy. since these empty pubs were bustling. next week, we'll find out when and how some of this might start to return. for so many families, it's been a long wait. missing work, missing just

hugging people, really. driving instructor harvey's business has been parked. his daughter grace can't go to school, and they haven't seen parents and grandparents for months. really, it's been about a year since we've actually had them down here to stop. and nobody�*s getting any younger. so you just think, let's hope, but ijust don't want to rush it and be back in this position again. that's what he is trying to avoid, even with good vaccine news, urging caution. we want this lockdown to be the last, and we want progress to be cautious, but also irreversible. they're waiting for more data before decisions about opening up. crucial is the effect of the vaccine on the virus and death rates. i think the earliest indications would imply there's some effect, but i think it's too early to be able to put a number on that. obviously, israel is particularly far ahead in its vaccination

programme. and there there is some evidence of effects. when things do begin to relax, schools will be the priority. it's hoped they'll start back in three weeks in england. more outdoor meetings could come next, followed by some shops opening, then possibly pubs and restaurants. but there's no fixed timetable or firm plan yet. scotland and northern ireland are going at their own pace. and from wales, a warning — there can be no absolutes. prime minister, you say you want this to be the last lockdown, but can you really give that guarantee, given the unpredictable nature of this pandemic? no, i can't give that guarantee. of course not. people should be very, very much encouraged by what's going on at the moment. but we want to set out a timetable that is realistic, and that means one that is obviously cautious. all the time restrictions last, labour says there must be support. if we are to ease out of lockdown with caution,

you need to put these other measures in place to stop the spread of the virus, like paying people sick pay, like ventilating buildings. i think if you do that, then this can be the final lockdown and it has to be the final lockdown. with the fast roll out of vaccines, there's pressure from some tory mps to ease restrictions quickly by may. but the prime minister has been accused of getting people's hopes up, overpromising and under delivering at other points in this pandemic. downing street doesn't want to open up just to have to close down again. they know politically and for the sake of public health and confidence, they have to get this right. for holiday and hospitality businesses, it means no certainty just yet. this caravan park in cornwall has a backlog of bookings, but still isn't sure when people can come. we are now fully booked for easter, which is fantastic news. and that is 50 families desperate to come and have a holiday and have a respite. we will know more about

the possibilities next week, but for now, nothing is set in stone. so much still up in the air. the prime minister is expected to set up more details of his plan to ease restrictions next monday and it is thought that will include dates marking the starting point at which various sectors might be able to begin to open up but downing street keen to stress that nothing is definite and will depend on the progress of the virus. they will keep a close eye on the data but the prime minister was keen to stress a cautious note he also pointed to the advancesin cautious note he also pointed to the advances in science. the vaccine programme but also treatments in testing and even suggesting down the line that could be tests to get into things like nightclubs or theatres. so even when things start to open up again we could live with the effects of this virus for some time. the united kingdom has more

than met the vaccines target set six weeks ago — and the prime minister said today that if supplies held up — vaccinations would be offered to everyone in the top nine priority groups by the end of april, including those aged over 65 and younger people with underlying health conditions. but there's concern in some groups — people with asthma or those with learning difficulties for example — that they weren't included in the first phase. our health editor hugh pym has more details. thank you very much, good morning. visiting a vaccination centre today, the prime minister was keen to praise all those involved in getting more than 15 million people in the uk inoculated with a first dose. if you look at what's happened in the last few weeks, it's been an unbelievable effort by the nhs and the doctors and nurses, the gp surgeries, the hospitals. of course, the army's been fantastic, the pharmacists have done a greatjob. warehouse workers and logistics experts helped get the vaccines

to hospitals, doctors�* surgeries and other hubs. this company's drivers covered more than 200,000 miles in two months, delivering more than 5 million vaccines in england. people aged 70 and over, nhs and care staff and residents, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable were in the first target groups. on friday, the welsh government was the first in the uk to report that everyone in the top four priority groups had been offered a first dose of the vaccine. since then, ministers in england and scotland have also confirmed that target has been hit. in northern ireland, officials say everyone in those groups will have been offered it by the end of this month. from today, the next priority groups will be offered vaccinations, starting with the 65—69 age range, nearly 3 million people. then comes those under 65 with underlying health conditions, more than 7 million. next will be the 60—61i—year—olds, nearly 2 million. and then those in their 50s,

more than 5 million, with a target of more than 17 million in the uk by the end of april. some with asthma, like ellie, who has to use her inhaler four times a day, did not know whether they would be considered part of the priority group with health conditions. she says the communication�*s been poor. for me personally, it's just been the confusion over whether or not you qualify for the vaccine. it's been a pretty stressful couple of months. officials have said those with severe asthma will be offered jabs at this stage. others like ellie are deemed to be lower risk. come on, good boy. amanda, who has mild learning disabilities, said there was also confusion for her and others about getting the vaccine. i was told i couldn't have it to begin with. and then ijust kept ringing my gp, and i still got nowhere. and this morning, i rang and they said i could go

to the local town hall and have it done. all this means the latest phase could be more complex than before, with the added pressure of people from the first wave of vaccinations needing their second dose. hugh pym, bbc news. let's have a look at the latest government figures — and there were 9,765 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. an average of 12,580 new cases were recorded per day in the last week. 23,341 people are in hospital with covid across the uk. in the last 2a hours, 230 deaths have been recorded — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. 657 deaths were announced on average every day in the past week. the total number of people who've died is 117,396.

as for the latest vaccination numbers, 237,962 people had a first dose of one of the two available covid—19 vaccines in the latest 2a hour period. which takes the number of people who have now had their firstjab to 15,300,151. our medical editor fergus walsh is here. the prime minister said the number of infections is still too high but having said that there are lots of positive signs in the figures. the daily cases _ positive signs in the figures. the daily cases are _ positive signs in the figures. tue: daily cases are at positive signs in the figures. tte: daily cases are at their lowest level now since early october but on the flip side there are still the elite 3000 patients on ventilators and 1600 people per day being admitted to hospital with covid and still more patients in hospital than at the peak of last april. this time

around of course we have the vaccine and the first very tentative signs of the impact it may be having on reducing the risk of dying. mortality rates amongst the over 80s are falling much faster than among younger age groups and of course they were the first group to be immunised but the data is still very early and we need one or two weeks more of data to be sure about that. israel which is further ahead in its immunisation roll—out than even the uk where they're using the pfizer jab have shown that two doses seems to prevent nearly all symptomatic infection and severe illness which is really encouraging. scientists advising the government would like to see a very cautious approach to lifting restrictions with a three gap between each measure like opening schools which would then allow them to make sure the impact of that can be gauged because what everyone wants is for this to be the last lockdown.—

anyone who's arrived in england today after being in a covid high—risk country now has to quarantine in a government—approved hotel. the list of 33 countries includes portugal, brazil and south africa. the aim is to stop new covid variants from entering england. the government has secured just under 5,000 rooms in 16 hotels. people will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine for 10 days. anyone breaking the rules could face fines of up to £10,000. in scotland, the rule applies to travellers returning from all countries. 0ur transport correspondent caroline davies has been talking to some of the first travellers staying in the new quarantine hotels. a different arrival to the uk. some of the first passengers destined for quarantine hotels escorted out of the airport through photographers' flashes and on to their rooms.

coaches have been arriving throughout the course of the morning, bringing passengers from heathrow airport to the quarantine hotels. everybody on board will have declared that they've been in a red list country in the course of the last ten days. guests won't leave these walls for 11 nights or ten full days. but for those arriving today, there was some company outside their windows. how's the room? good, thanks. it's ok. this man flew from south africa via qatar. he's starting a newjob here in march, and his visa only started today. he says that passengers that travelled from red list countries and those that didn't were together on the flight and in the airport. i was probably about two seats from someone that doesn't come from a red list country. we're all in the same vicinity, breathing the same air. he split the room with a friend for the 11 nights. we're either going to come out as really good friends or we're

going to hate each other. so, i guess only time will tell. windows unfortunately don't open. it would have been nice to maybe get some fresh air in every now and then. i'm not particularly looking forward to the next 11 days, but, yeah, just hoping it goes by quickly. there are no internationalflights into northern ireland or wales at the moment, but those flying into scotland have to quarantine regardless of which international country they started from. this man and his eight—year—old daughter flew in from america this morning to be reunited with his wife after 16 months apart. i got my covid shot already. whatever it takes to make everybody safe, i'm all for it. they'll have to wait another ten days before all three can be together as a family again. there is a loophole for scottish arrivals. if they fly into england and they haven't come from a red list country, they're expected to isolate at home, not a hotel. the scottish government want them to be put up in english hotels. negotiations on that are ongoing. early indications suggest that the number of passengers flying into the uk today was low

and that the queues were relatively short. but there are concerns that new checks will mean delays, which could be a risk to passengers and staff. every additional check the officer i has to do slows up that transaction, increases the risk of infection to the officer and to - the traveller from the officer. and as those queues build, . of course the different planes mixing with one another, i that builds up and increases the risk from traveller to traveller that the virus willjust spread. - the government say that every step is taken to reduce risks and to minimise any potential for passenger interaction, and that some airports including heathrow have introduced additional measures to separate passengers from red list destinations before immigration. the policy doesn't have an end date, and the number of countries on the red list could still get longer. so these hotels may well see more passengers through their doors in the next few weeks and months. caroline davies, bbc news. in yemen, where the civil war has lasted six years, human rights workers say more

than 400 children have been targeted by sniper fire in just one city. taiz — underfire from the houthi rebel forces — is now one of the most dangerous places in the country and one of the most dangerous to be a child. the houthis deny targeting children. taiz — in the south west of yemen — is home to one of the longest—running battles of the conflict. it's under virtual siege, divided between government forces supported by coalition led by the saudis and backed by the uk and until recently the us and the houthis — backed by iran — who control most of the population. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin, cameraman goktay koraltan and producer claire read sent this report, which contains some distressing images. in taiz, city of snipers,

a family on the front line. ruwaydah saleh is eight years old. her big brother amri is ten. she probably owes him her life. here she lay last august after she was shot in the head. who took aim and pulled the trigger, herfamily have no doubt — a houthi sniper. it was amri who dragged her to safety. ruwaydah arrived in hospital unconscious and had to have brain surgery.

we reported on her story then, but couldn't reach her. now we have. she's still trapped in a city at war, and it's taking its toll, says herfather, saleh bin saleh. in front of the family's home, right where ruwaydah was shot, kids just want to be kids.

her attack caused outrage. since then, snipers have left the children alone on this street. under armed escort, we travelled to another front line area. human rights workers document every attack. they say houthi snipers have killed or injured more than a50 children in taiz. houthi officials say allegations of targeting children are completely false and come from their opponents. the makeshift barricades are to block the snipers' line of sight. well, we have to move carefully here and take cover in these front line districts. nowhere is safe and no one is spared — especially, it seems, the children. you can go from building to building here, from family to family, and hear more stories of children that have been deliberately targeted by snipers.

0ne father wanted to tell us his story, so we followed him to his home. he runs this risk every day. so do his children. this photo of 10—year—old saber was taken last april. days later, he was dead. abdu tells me saber was shot out of a tree after climbing to pick fruit. the bullet passed through his body. saber�*s younger brother mohammed was there and saw him die. he got shot in the stomach. the seven—year—old made it home and hid under a blanket, too scared to tell their mother they had climbed the tree.

while mohammed survived, he's deeply traumatised. his mother says when he's not happy, he tells her, "i'll go to the sniper so he can shoot me again." across yemen, the young are at risk from all sides, and death often comes from the skies. air strikes by the saudi—led coalition, which supports the yemeni government and is backed by the uk, kill many children. human rights workers here in taiz say the difference is, houthi snipers are systematically trying to kill them. back in ruwaydah�*s neighbourhood,

a young boy plays dead. hard to watch. too often here, it's not a game. 0rla guerin, bbc news, taiz. 0 rla 0rla with evidence of the plight of so many children in yemen's civil war. a high courtjudge is considering whether it was unlawful to award a government contract to a company with links to the prime minister's adviser at the time, dominic cummings. more than half a million pounds of taxpayers' money was paid to the firm public first at the start of the pandemic. mr cummings was a friend of the firm's bosses. lawyers for the government said mr cummings had recommended the company during a time of national emergency, but did not make the final decision on the contract. jaguar—land rover has announced that it will produce electric vehicles only from 2025.

moving away from the internal combustion engine, the company said that by the end of the decade all of its cars — including land rover models — would be powered by electricity to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2039. it also said it had no plans to close any manufacturing facilities in the uk. in myanmar, the country formerly known as burma, military leaders have warned protesters that they could face up to 20 years in prison if they obstruct the armed forces. demonstrators are still taking to the streets after the army stepped in two weeks ago, rejecting the re—election of the civilian leader aung san suu kyi. tonight, the country is experiencing a near—total internet shutdown for a second night. 0ur correspondentjonathan head has the latest. gunfire. even for a country shocked at being back under military rule, it has been a stressful 2a hours.

rumours of a full—scale army operation were strong, and here in myitkyina, repeated bursts of gunfire from the security forces made people think it was already happening. most of the shots, though, were fired into the air. then, an eight—hour, nationwide internet blackout. for what purpose, we still aren't clear. this morning, the military was making itself visible in yangon and other cities. that didn't stop people from protesting again over their power grab, as they have for the past ten days. if anything, the soldiers provoked people to speak out even more over seeing their democracy crashed by the generals. this armoured vehicle found itself surrounded by hostile traffic, the drivers honking their anger. and here at the headquarters

of the party led by aung san suu kyi, more anger. "release our leaders," they shouted at the police surrounding the building. they haven't forgotten that they re—elected her by a landslide just three months ago. she's still in military custody, her detention extended today for who knows how long. the military�*s plans from now are hard to guess. the soldiers, though, are an ominous sign. these are combat units used to fight armed insurgents on myanmar�*s borders, and in previous unrest to shoot protesters. and they're back on the streets again. jonathan head, bbc news. bill gates, the founder of microsoft and one of the world's most prominent philanthropists, says that tackling the global pandemic will apear "very, very easy" compared

with the challenge posed by climate change. he says innovation will have a big role to play, but that governments around the world must send clear signals to industry that change has to come if net zero carbon emissions are to be achieved. mr gates has been speaking to our chief environment correspondentjustin rowlatt. shuttered shops and bankrupt businesses are one tragic legacy of the coronavirus pandemic. it's why governments around the world are talking about stimulus packages to kickstart their economies. and today, bill gates told the bbc he believes tackling climate change should be a key part of this effort to build back better. if you look in the history of the physical economy, we've never made a transition like we're talking about doing in the next 30 years. there is no precedent for this. and so if we don't do something amazing and surprising with all sorts of innovative policies, then we will not get there. 0ne policy could be to change the tax system, because at the moment it sends

some confusing signals. despite the government's drive to reduce emissions, you pay the same 20% vat if you buy an emission—free electric vehicle as if you buy the petrol or diesel equivalent. or how about this? you pay 20% vat on a solar panel, but only 5% vat if you buy polluting coal to heat your home. a green energy company is leading a campaign demanding the government introduces a zero vat rating for green products and services at the next budget. the uk hasjust left the eu and with that comes much more freedom on how we set our taxes. and we think the chancellor should use that freedom to remove vat on green products. we don't think families should be taxed for choosing green options and we think that green technology should be available to everyone. and that includes developing countries, says the new head of the world trade organisation. she says wealthy nations need to make good their promises to help finance decarbonisation.

so how do we use carbon taxes, for instance? and all these have to be done, bearing in mind that poor countries and developing countries that will need time to transition and also the resources they need to transition to low carbon emission economies has to be found. the challenges may be huge, but bill gates says he's optimistic that the world can succeed in avoiding a climate disaster. i'm hopeful, because young people care about natural ecosystems. they care about people's livelihoods. but it's not going to be easy. and my optimism requires every year that this be a huge priority, and that with the innovations, you know, we get a bit lucky and some of them really do solve the hard areas. ending the pandemic isn'tjust easy compared to fixing the climate, says bill gates.

it is very, very easy. that's why he believes if we do manage to solve global warming, it will be the most amazing thing humanity has ever done. justin rowlatt, bbc news. cricket — and england are heading for defeat in the second test against india in chennai. set a huge target of a82 to win — england lost early wickets to end the day on 53 for 3. 0ur correspondentjoe wilson was watching the play. batting in chennai was near impossible, the pitch near unplayable. remember, no one told those two. after a nought in the first innings, it was unthinkable that virat kohli would fail this time. well, certainly unthinkable for him. but who is this? what's that? ravichandran ashwin having out—bowled england was now out—batting them. born and bred in this city, spectators loved his 50.

well, hold something back.