the duke and duchess of sussex have told the queen they will not be returning as working members of the royal family. buckingham palace says it is saddened by harry and meghan�*s decision, and that they remain much—loved members of the family. it means prince harry must lose his honorary military titles and patronages. we'll have the latest from our royal correspondent. also this lunchtime: borisjohnson will pledge to donate the most of the uk's surplus covid vaccines to developing countries, at the g7 summit. wales�*s stay at home rule may end in three weeks, says the first minister, and the youngest pupils will return to school on monday. the supreme court rules that uber drivers are employees,

not third party contractors, in a decision with wide implications for the gig economy. and why max the springer spaniel is getting an award after helping thousands of people cope with lockdown. max helped me from recovering from depression and if he can help others now, and our other dogs, if they make people smile, then i say, bring it on. and coming up bbc news, has taking the knee had its moment? the chair of football's anti—discrimination body agrees with crystal palace striker wilfried zaha saying the gesture has lost its meaning. good afternoon, and welcome to the bbc news at one.

the duke and duchess of sussex have confirmed to the queen that they will not be returning as working members of the royal family. as a result the couple will now no longer hold the honorary military appointments and royal patronages given to them by the queen. in a statement buckingham palace said that "in stepping away from the work of the royal family it would not be possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service. prince harry and meghan have committed to continue supporting the organisations they have represented saying "service is universal". andy moore reports. ever since harry and meghan moved to north america, their long—term role in the royalfamily north america, their long—term role in the royal family has north america, their long—term role in the royalfamily has been uncertain. as january, they announced they would step back a senior royals, and were to become financially independent. there was a period of reflection and assessment on both sides. now there is a

definite breach, harry and meghan will no longer be returning to work as members of the royalfamily. the news about their future comes ahead of an interview to be broadcast next month with oprah winfrey. and only days after the couple announced they were expecting a second child. a spokesperson for the duke and duchess of sussex said... prince harry served in the military and holds honorary military appointments but they will now be formally returned to the queen. and they will be distributed among other working members of the royalfamily.

the palace announcement said everyone was saddened by the decision of harry and meghan but they would remain much loved members of the family. andy moore, bbc news. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is with me now. so, is this final? to all intents and purposes, yes, the breach is complete and for the foreseeable future, it is final. and, you know, i sense a real sense of exasperation in these statements on both sides. the statement from buckingham palace issued at midday, after a conversation with the duke of sussex, the queen has written to confirm it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service. there is almost an unspoken sentence which doesn't appear in the statement after that, appear in the statement after that, a life of public service, like i have led, like my husband has lead at the age of nearly 100, like the rest of yourfamily at the age of nearly 100, like the rest of your family continue to lead

but which you have decided to opt out of. of course, they are saddened as the statement says, they are deeply disappointed i think that this is how matters have turned out and then this is the sickest statement which concludes with these phrases, we can live a life of service. service is universal. —— the statement from the sussexes. isn't there a sense of thumbing their noses, don't tell us how to lead our lives. and i think on both sides, harry, ithink lead our lives. and i think on both sides, harry, i think we'll perhaps finally realise the implications of the decision that they have taken. that it is not possible to do both, to have one foot in the royal family and another food outside. to have one foot in the royal family and anotherfood outside. that to have one foot in the royal family and another food outside. that is what the queen has insisted upon and thatis what the queen has insisted upon and that is what this statement from buckingham palace means. find that is what this statement from buckingham palace means. and a brief thou~ht buckingham palace means. and a brief thought about — buckingham palace means. and a brief thought about the _ buckingham palace means. and a brief thought about the future, _ buckingham palace means. and a brief thought about the future, they - buckingham palace means. and a brief thought about the future, they need i thought about the future, they need to be financially independent, do we assume they continue to live in california?— california? i'm sure they have bou~ht california? i'm sure they have bought the — california? i'm sure they have bought the house _ california? i'm sure they have bought the house there, - california? i'm sure they have bought the house there, i - california? i'm sure they have i bought the house there, i think california? i'm sure they have - bought the house there, i think they are well on their way to being

financially independent, we have the oprah winfrey interview, it's not clear whether that has been recorded yet, they had the netflix deal, i will imagine they will feel free to pursue other commercial arrangements. nick, thank you. the prime minister is to pledge later to donate the majority of the uk's surplus covid vaccines to developing countries. borisjohnson is chairing a virtual summit of the g7 nations where he'll encourage other leaders, including us presidentjoe biden, to follow suit. one anti—poverty pressure group says wealthy countries have secured more than three billion doses, a third more than they need to fully vaccinate their populations. our global health correspondent, naomi grimley reports. covid—19 vaccines are undertaking some tortuous journeys to get where they need to be. this is the northern brazilian state of para where health care workers have set up a makeshift clinic for the indigenous community here.

but 130 countries have yet to administer a single jab at all. that's a far cry from the uk, which has now already vaccinated the majority of over 70—year—olds. britain has pre—ordered 400 million doses of vaccines in all. today, the prime minister will broach the issue of giving some of the uk's surplus vaccines to developing countries and suggest other industrialised nations do the same. we know that we are going to have surplus. we don't know exactly when and we can't say exactly how many because that will be dependent on which vaccines ultimately get the green light from the regulators, but it does mean that we will be able to both protect british people, which is our first duty, but also be a good player on the international stage, be a real force for good. new figures from the anti—poverty pressure group the one campaign revealed that australia, canada, japan, the uk,

the us and the eu have already secured more than 3 million doses, 1.2 billion more than they need to give their entire populations two shots. this is for our long—term safety. none of us is safe until all of us are safe, so it is in the interests of people in this country that we really accelerate global efforts to end this pandemic. the uk has given half a billion pounds to covax, the un—led programme to get vaccines out to poorer countries. but the project has been slow off the ground and even if it works, it will only cover 20% of each nation's population. many middle—income countries like argentina have looked to russia with its sputnik v shot to fill the gap. others have ordered the chinese vaccines. the big problem is uncertainty. will extra doses be required? will new vaccines need to be developed?

no country wants to give away its stocks until it's sure of what is happening at home. naomi grimley, bbc news. in wales, the first minister mark drakeford has been setting out plans for lifting lockdown restrictions. if covid cases continue to fall, the stay at home order could end in three weeks. the easing of restrictions will begin with schools, which will gradually reopen. younger primary children will return on monday, and older pupils could join them on march 15th if infections continue falling. here's our wales correspondent tomos morgan. with the lowest virus rate of all the uk nations and the most first dose vaccination is given, the pandemic in wales seems to now be going in the right direction. on monday, the youngest learners will be going back to the classroom. and today, the first minister has announced that the rest of primary school children over seven years old could return on the 15th of march along with exam grade pupils in high

schools. i’m along with exam grade pupils in high schools. �* , ., ., along with exam grade pupils in high schools. �* , . ., ., schools. i'm very glad and grateful to everyone _ schools. i'm very glad and grateful to everyone who's _ schools. i'm very glad and grateful to everyone who's been _ schools. i'm very glad and grateful to everyone who's been involved i schools. i'm very glad and grateful| to everyone who's been involved in this work to prepare for the return of face—to—face learning. getting children back into school remains the welsh government �*s top priority. the welsh government 's top riori . ~ ., , the welsh government 's top riori . , , priority. the r eight in wales is below one _ priority. the r eight in wales is below one which _ priority. the r eight in wales is below one which has _ priority. the r eight in wales is below one which has allowed i priority. the r eight in wales is l below one which has allowed the welsh government to continue opening nonessential shops and beauty parlours and hairdressers next month. it's a cautious welcome from those in the industry that will still probably not be able to recoup the full profits when they reopen. we are only going to be able to have limited capacity of possibly 50—70% and we are also going to be opening with more debt than we've ever had so when we combine that, i know after speaking to a lot of other salon owners it's whether or not it will be viable.— will be viable. while most of the hi . h will be viable. while most of the high street _ will be viable. while most of the high street prepares _ will be viable. while most of the high street prepares to - will be viable. while most of the high street prepares to reopen l will be viable. while most of the | high street prepares to reopen by the 15th of march, there is still no word or sign yet of the hospitality sector reopening in wales any time soon. if

sector reopening in wales any time soon. ., ., ., , ., ., , soon. if we are going to plan to be 0 enin: soon. if we are going to plan to be opening sometime _ soon. if we are going to plan to be opening sometime in _ soon. if we are going to plan to be opening sometime in the - soon. if we are going to plan to be opening sometime in the easter. opening sometime in the easter holidays or even in may orjune, then we need to prepare for that, it's notjust a case of give us a big �*s notice and open the doors. if big '5 notice and open the doors. if continues to go well the next phase of reopening will include self catering accommodation in the tourism industry in the run—up to easter. with a nod also to the potential end of stay at home rose. further information on those decisions will come in the next review in three weeks' time. but if 2020 has taught us anything, a lot can change injust a 2020 has taught us anything, a lot can change in just a few weeks during the pandemic. tomos morgan, bbc news. plans to begin an easing of lockdown in england are expected to be announced by the prime minister on monday. the government has said it'll be guided by data not dates — so what are the figures suggesting? our health correspondent katharine da costa is with me. what do we think? overall, the data is moving in the right direction, the ons survey suggests infections

are continuing to fall in all four uk nations, that survey looks at swabs from those with or without symptoms from a cross—section of the population and in the week to last friday it found in england, won in 115 had the virus, one in 125 in wales, one in 105 in northern ireland, in scotland the prevalence is lower at one in 180 with the virus. yesterday, the reactor survey suggested infections in england were falling fastest in london and the south—east and more slowly in the north but there still still large numbers of covid patients in hospitals across the uk. after a second peak in early january, patient numbers have fallen back to about 20,000 now. similarto patient numbers have fallen back to about 20,000 now. similar to the peak of the first wave last april, hospital leaders think they will continue to be under pressure for the next couple of months and that's despite the success so far of the vaccine roll—out, nearly 16 and a half million have had theirfirst dose. but there are early signs

vaccines are having effects on the number of people dying so deaths among the over 80s have fallen by 54% since the end of january, falling faster than younger age groups where they are down 45%. we expect to get much clearer evidence on the protection of vaccination in the coming weeks. the signs are encouraging but remember, nearly half of covid patients in hospitals are under 70 half of covid patients in hospitals are under70 and half of covid patients in hospitals are under 70 and those age groups are under 70 and those age groups are still to be immunised. lifting restrictions too quickly, health experts say, risks another surge in patients and no one wants to see another lockdown. katharine, thank you. the government borrowed £8.8 billion last month — the highestjanuary figure since records began in 1993. financial support given to businesses during the pandemic means government borrowing has reached £270 billion for this financial year — up 220 billion in a year. it's the first time in 10 years that more has been borrowed injanuary than collected through tax

and other income. the supreme court has ruled that uber drivers should be classed as employees, not independent third party contracters. the decision means tens of thousands of drivers could now be entitled to the minimum wage and holiday pay, and leaves the company facing a hefty compensation bill. it also has wider implications for the gig economy, as our business correspondent theo leggett reports. for years uber has been claiming it's a simple intermediary, a technology platform connecting self—employed drivers with potential passengers. but now the highest court in the land has ruled that isn't the case. it says those drivers are not independent contractors, but are workers acting directly on behalf of the company. as such, they should be entitled to benefits such as the minimum wage and holiday pay. the transportation service performed by drivers and offered to passengers through the uber app is very tightly

defined and controlled by uber. drivers are in a position of subordination and dependency in relation to uber, such that they have little or no ability to improve their economic position. the case was originally led by two drivers, yaseen aslam and james farrar. they took their claims to a london employment tribunal in 2016 and won. uber fought them through appeal after appeal until the two sides ended up before the supreme court. we have drivers working very long hours, taking home gross about £30 to £50 and that can't be right, especially for a company making a lot of money on the back of these workers with absolutely no liabilities and all the liability is shifted onto the worker. uber has 60,000 drivers working in the uk and lawyers say the case may set a precedent for thousands of other claims. but the company insists the ruling focused on a small number of drivers who used its app in 2016. it says since then it has made changes to its business, giving drivers more control over

what they earn and providing new protections, such as free insurance in case of sickness or injury. the question now is whether the case has implications beyond uber, potentially affecting millions of other people doing short—term or flexible work in the so—called gig economy. there needs to be taken into account the facts that are mentioned by the supreme court, have a look at their business model, work out what level of control they reasonably need over people using their platform and whether because of the level of control that is required that might mean these people are workers under law. this case clearly sets a legal landmark, but with the world of work changing so rapidly it's likely many questions remain unanswered. theo leggett, bbc news. severe winter storms are continuing to cause huge disruption in the southern united states. 13 million people in texas are now being warned to boil their tap water before drinking it, because power cuts have hit water treatment plants.

and one of the state's senators has been widely criticised after going on holiday to mexico during the crisis. cbs news correspondent omar villafranca is in dallas. bring us right up to date. the good news is power _ bring us right up to date. the good news is power is _ bring us right up to date. the good news is power is starting _ bring us right up to date. the good news is power is starting to - bring us right up to date. the good news is power is starting to come l news is power is starting to come back on over the state. the bad news is once people are turning on the lights they are seeing things like this, water mains are still bursting around the state. this apartment complex flooded down, everything in sight having to be thrown away. what people are paying attention to now is repairs and the shock from the electric bill. one woman in houston said her electric bill was £21,000, 3000 american dollars. you may ask why? when there is high demand there is a high price and when there is low demand it is a low price. the

demand went through the roof during this freeze and now she is unlucky, she will have to pay that bill and thatis she will have to pay that bill and that is something we are keeping an eye on here because as the lights come on people will still have to financially recover. come on people will still have to financially recover. omar villafranca, thank you. our top story this lunchtime. the duke and duchess of sussex have told the queen they will not be returning as working members of the royal family. and coming up... the united states is about to formally re—join the international effort to tackle global warming. coming up in sport on bbc news... daniil medvedev gets the better of stefanos tsitsipas in straight sets in melbourne to reach the final of the australian open where the world number one novak djokovic awaits. a nasa spacecraft has begun its mission to look for life on mars, after landing on the planet last night. the perseverance rover has been

sending back images of the crater where it touched down. it will spend the next two years drilling into rocks, to look for evidence of activity by micro—organisms, which would be proof of life. here's our science correspondent rebecca morelle, whose report contains flashing images. perseverance is going about one kilometre per second. a nerve—racking wait at mission control. perseverance is safely on the surface of mars. then celebrations as a signal is received from mars. it's touchdown for nasa's perseverance rover. and these are its first images, a view of its landing site. the rover has even started tweeting. iam i am safe on mars, perseverance will get you anywhere. i am safe on mars, perseverance will get you anywhere. there really is no good way to describe that moment when it's over, and you hear those words, touchdown confirmed. it's just a remarkable feeling of pride in the team, relief,

and, and reallyjoy, thinking forward to this remarkable service mission we have coming up. it survived a fiendishly difficult landing, burning through the atmosphere at the speed of a bullet, before a complex landing system brought it to the ground. the rover will now be seeking answers to a crucial question. this mission is all about finding signs of life. and the best place to do that is here, thejezero crater. today it's dry and dusty, but billions of years ago it was a huge lake, and you can clearly see a river running into it. this gives you an idea of what it would have looked like. if we zoom in a bit more, these green areas on the edge of the crater were once beaches on the lake's shore, and the hope is any microscopic creatures that once lived there are still preserved. perseverance is the most advanced rover that nasa has

ever built, and it's jam—packed with instruments. its robotic arm is equipped with a drill to collect rock samples. so what forms of life could they contain? i'm not talking about martian little green men. probably not even fish. we are looking for microbial life, maybe microbes that have made a little mat or a slime, the sorts that you might find on the bottom of a pond. those are the types of things that are likely to, well, they did exist on earth 3.5 billion years ago. the question is, did they exist on mars at the bottom of lakes? and in a first, nasa's mini mars helicopter will take off. it's a new way to view the planet. its test flight will be in a few weeks. but getting to the red planet is just the start. now the hard work begins on a mission that could transform our understanding of mars. rebecca morelle, bbc news. the united states is about to formally re—join the international effort to tackle global warming. president trump withdrew the us from the paris agreement,

saying the country had been given a bad deal. but president biden asked to be readmitted, and that formally happens later today. here's our environment analyst roger harrabin. as california burned last year, the presidential debate was also heating up, donald trump denying the influence of climate change, joe biden promising to tackle america's carbon emissions that are fuelling global heating. on day one i signed the paperwork to rejoin the paris climate agreement. we are taking steps, led by example, of mitigating climate objectives across all of our diplomacy. us emissions actually fell over the past year, partly because of the covid effect on the economy, partly because of previous energy efficiency standards on vehicles, and partly because of the plunging fall in the cost of renewables.

now the pressure is on president biden to deliver a $2 trillion clean energy package that he will have to get through congress and to formallyjoin other nations in pledging to reduce emissions to almost zero by 2050. rejoining the paris agreement is only a first step, but i think we are seeing some pretty clear signs from the biden administration already that they are very serious about this and prepared to go well beyond even the obama administration in terms of action. the usa will also need to put pressure on oil—producing nations such as saudi arabia to cut their emissions too. at the triumphant paris climate accord five years ago, the usa played the role of global enforcer, using its influence to corral reluctant nations into agreement. but time is short. some scientists warn that ice at the poles is melting faster

than previously thought likely. it is not clear yet if politicians can respond fast enough, whether the us is part of the climate accord or not. roger harrabin, bbc news. with schools closed to many pupils around the world, there are continued fears about the impact of the pandemic on millions of children. ros atkins looks at what role schools play in the transmission of covid—19, and how they could safely re—open. hundreds of millions of children around the world are not at school. the un's children's charity unicef estimates that at the start of the pandemic 1.6 million children in 192 countries were sent home. by december one in five schoolchildren, 320 million, were still out of school, but how to get the schools open is connected to how we understand this virus. the world health organization says the way covid—19 spreads inside schools is directly connected to how it is spreading in the community. there are many countries around

the world in which schools are reopening successfully and safely because countries have dealt with the real problem, community transmission. in other words, its community transmission that sets the risk level, not schools. then there is whether children may pass the virus on to others, including teachers. that varies according to a child's age. there appear to be differences in transmission among the youngest children transmitting less to each other, compared to teenage children, which appear to transmit at the same rate that adults do. every decision around schools is part of a broader calculation. scotland is currently in lockdown, but some of its schools are about to go back. being able to get children back to education it may mean the rest of us living with some other restrictions for longer. these are all calculations, judgments, and part of that equation is using measures in schools to reduce the risk for teachers and children. part of it is the cost

of not opening schools. we need to do everything we can to be safe, but there could be an epidemic of educational poverty, a growing digital divide, and a safeguarding crisis with vulnerable children being affected by mental health. the push to get schools open again is on because while there are many elements of this pandemic we don't fully understand, the detrimental consequences of closing schools are already in plain sight around the world. new evidence suggests that some people who have had covid19 could go on to develop diabetes. initial research into the longterm health of covid patients in england has shown that as many as 1 in 5 have developed the condition. olivia sopel has been speaking to one man who's been affected. first step is taking my blood sugar... this isjordan charles's daily routine. after contracting covid—19 last year, he developed type 2 diabetes, which went undiagnosed for months and resulted in a 23—day

hospital stay. a normal blood sugar is between, kind of, five and seven. they will usually say you have diabetes if you have a blood sugar of between, like, 15 and 20. when i went into hospital, my blood sugar was 127. they said that if i had waited another hour before i went into hospital, that i wouldn't have made it. jordan's case is just one experience, and there is still much scientists don't know about what triggers the condition. professor francesco rubino has been studying the connections between covid—19 and diabetes and has established a global registry for medical professionals to track cases. the coronavirus that causes covid—19, can bind to cells not only in the airways, where it could cause typical pneumonia and other problems, but also to cells in other tissues, including the pancreas, the liver, even the gut or the adipose tissue. and of course, those organs are so crucial for sugar metabolism.

in england, as many as 5% of people hospitalised with severe covid have developed type 1 or type 2 diabetes. although it's a serious condition affecting 4 million people in the uk, around one in eight are thought to be undiagnosed, and this was the case forjordan. i had to be put on a ventilator, i had pancreatitis, i had an acute kidney injury, all of this had come from this diagnosis that i didn't know i had, which was diabetes. we have heard that people can live for up to ten years without being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. and what that means is that they are more at risk of being diagnosed when they have complications already. diabetes is a condition... experts like professor rubino are continuing to study the connection between covid—19 and diabetes, and research into the links between the two diseases is still in the early stages. in the meantime, anyone concerned they have symptoms of diabetes is advised to ask their gp for a test.

olivia sopel, bbc news. dogs have helped millions of us to get through the last year or so, but you don't necessarily have to own one to feel the calming benefits of man's, and woman's, best friend. max the springer spaniel has been sharing his walks with the world via social media. and now he's become the first pet dog to receive a very special award. tim muffett has the story. max lives with his owner in the lake district, but has fans across the world. the 13—year—old springer spaniel belongs to kerry irving who's been live streaming their walks during lockdown. maxie. we started doing live feeds on our daily walks because we've got the lake district here, this is our home, this is where we can walk and exercise, but some people are trapped in cities, tower blocks.

max's walks with fellow springer spaniels paddy and harry have brought comfort to hundreds of thousands of people and max's companionship to kerry has been life changing. following a road traffic accident 15 years ago he was suffering from severe depression. the anxiety it caused me to walk out of the door on my own and not have somebody with me was for me a terrifying experience. every step i took max was with me and every time i stopped and faulted he stopped with me too. the pdsa order of merit rewards animals that show outstanding contribution to society. you can see how max has not only had a massive impact on kerry's life, but his activities, all those kerry but his activities, all that kerry has been filming with them, have reached the lives of hundreds of thousands of people right across the world.

four—year—old evelyn is one of them. # happy birthday to max...#.