welcome to bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: a new martyr for myanmar: crowds pay their respects to mya thwe thwe khaing, who was shot during protests against the military coup. a three—month extension for un inspectors to access iran's —— remembering the victims of the christchurch earthquake: new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern leads a memorial service in the city devastated a decade ago. mapping the way out of england's lockdown, details on plans to ease measures as coronavirus cases fall. and much more than fun in the snow, meet the polish community rallying for a good cause.

hello and welcome. in myanmar, thousands of people have lined the streets for the funeral of a young woman shot during protests against the recent military coup. mya thwe thwe khaing died on friday. here's our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. this was the funeral of an ordinary young woman transformed into a show of political defiance for these extraordinary times. mya thwe thwe khaing was one of countless thousands in myanmar who came out to challenge the military�*s seizure of power... all chant. ..and she was the first to lose her life in its heavy—handed response to the protests. scenes of grief which must inflame public fury against the militaryjunta, but remind them, too, of the cost of resisting it. they had two more martyrs to mourn today, one a teenage boy. both were struck by live rounds fired by the police in the city of mandalay.

"we started this because we don't want a military dictatorship," said this woman, "and we'll fight to the end to make sure these lives weren't wasted". the plan now is to escalate this two—week—old protest movement into a nationwide general strike which will cripple the government, but must inevitably hurt ordinary people, too, in an economy already shattered by the covid pandemic. they dream of international intervention to help their cause. this rally is outside the us embassy. still a symbol of hope, but a fading one in a world which won't or can't act against generals who won't listen. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok.

to the uk now where, on monday — later on monday — the british prime minister will outline how and when restrictions in england will be relaxed. so here is what we understand may be announced later in the day. the first key date is the 8 march. on that date, all schools across england will reopen and children will be permitted to play sport when at school. one person can visit a care home resident. they will be able to meet indoors and hold hands, but visitors must wear ppe and be tested for covid beforehand. one—to—one social meetings outdoors from then, the rule of six will return for outdoor two households will be allowed to meet outside, even if they are more than six people in total. and all organised sport can return. non—essential shops and retail are expected to open after that. the uk's health secretary matt hancock says "early data" suggests there's a reduction in coronavirus transmission by people who've been vaccinated. but it's still unclear how the jabs work against

the south african mutation of covid—19. so what are the main factors to be considered in deciding when and how to ease the lockdown in england? here's our health correspondent sophie hutchinson. so, what is a safe way out of lockdown? scientists say it relies on a mix of low infection rates, coupled with high levels of vaccinations — that's why the government's so keen to drive up the numbers of people getting the jab. already, more than 17.5 million people have had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the uk. by mid—april, everyone aged over 50 and anyone who's younger with underlying health conditions will be offered the jab — that's around 32 million people. and by the end ofjuly, all adults in the uk — that's more than 50 million people — should've had their first dose of the vaccine. whether those who've had the vaccine can still catch and spread the virus is a key question,

but there's been some encouraging news from israel. it's started opening up again since almost half of the population has received a vaccine, and initial data suggests it may have reduced the spread. we have seen early data that there's a reduction in transmission from those who get the jab, but that is early data and there's more work that's being done. new variants are another concern. brentwood, in essex, is the latest place where residents will undergo testing after a case of the south africa variant was discovered there. scientists say it's vital infection levels are kept low. the more infections there are in the community, then the greater the risk of further mutations occurring. and so, it's certainly a risk if we allow high rates of infection in certain parts of the communities, younger individuals.

but the biggest test of all when it comes to lifting restrictions is the number of seriously ill people in hospital and those losing their lives to covid—19. ensuring there's no return to rising numbers and a third wave will be key to the safe unlocking of society. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. an investigation is underway after seven people died when a nigerian military aircraft crashed near the capital abuja. the plane was on a mission to support a rescue operation, as paul hawkins reports. the remains of the nigerian raf light aircraft. all seven people on board were killed. officials say the pilot reported engine failure and was bringing the plane back to abuja international airport, but it crashed just sort of the runway. —— but it crashed just short of the runway. as it was going down, it struggled to get back to the airport. at the end of the day, just crashed down there.

i saw it when the plane exploded. the plane was a bit slanted and the sound was so sharp we ran. some of us had a bike. some of us had time to rush to the police. the fire service at the airport were quick enough to respond but, lo and behold, it was not enough. the plane was heading for minna city, some 160 kilometres away. it was due to undertake a surveillance mission supporting a rescue operation. dozens of teachers and students had recently been abducted by gunmen from this school — the latest in a number of kidnappings to hit the north of the country. president muhammadu bahari has said he's deeply saddened by the crash. an investigation is under way. paul hawkins, bbc news. japan has asked all airlines using boeing 777 aircraft with pratt & whitney 4000 engines to avoid its airspace until further notice. an engine of the same type came off a united airlines plane on saturday, leaving debris near denver, colorado. an initial statement from the us national transportation safety board has revealed that two of its fan blades were fractured. an urgent directive has been issued requiring airlines to step—up inspections

of such planes. let's get some of the day's other news. in france, the mayor of nice is calling for a weekend lockdown to try and stop the flow of visitors to the mediterranean city amid a sharp spike in coronavirus infections. new weekly cases in nice are triple the national the mayor said tourists were still flocking to the area and this needed to be stopped, but without damaging the local economy. the israeli government is advising citizens to avoid all beaches on the mediterranean after much of the shoreline was covered with tar. the pollution has been described as one of the worst environmental disasters to hit israel in years. the cause is still unclear. thousands of volunteers have joined soldiers in efforts to clear the tar. in a change of policy, truck drivers in the uk who return to france will no longer need to have a coronavirus test if they have spent less than 48 hours in britain. france had demanded that drivers must carry a negative test result to reduce the spread of a more infectious coronavirus variant

detected in kent. got there in the end! iran and the un's nuclear watchdog, the iaea, say they have reached a deal which will allow un inspectors to carry on essential monitoring of iran's nuclear work, despite iran's threat to stop snap inspections from tuesday. the move buys time for efforts to try to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. bethany bell reports from vienna, where the international atomic energy agency is based. talks in iran to shore up access for un nuclear inspectors have ended with a temporary agreement. the head of the iaea rafael grossi flew there this weekend after tehran said it was significantly reducing cooperation with the agency unless the united states lifts sanctions. iran has been gradually breaching the terms of the nuclear deal since

former us president donald trump pulled out of the accord into thousand 18 and imposed crippling sanctions. in the latest move, tehran is planning to suspend the iaea's additional protocol, which allows the agency to carry out snap inspections. speaking on his return to vienna, mr grossi said the deal he had struck with iran was viable and salvaged the situation, for now. , , , salvaged the situation, for now. , ,, now. there is less access, let's face _ now. there is less access, let's face it. _ now. there is less access, let's face it. let's - now. there is less access, let's face it. let's face - now. there is less access, let's face it. let's face it, | let's face it. let's face it, there is less access. but still, we were able to retain the necessary degree of monitoring and verification work for what it is as it has been defined and as you will see and as you will read it again, as a temporary technical understanding. he again, as a temporary technical understanding.— understanding. he gave few details about _ understanding. he gave few details about the _ understanding. he gave few details about the changes . understanding. he gave few i details about the changes but said this was a solution that would be in place for up to

three months. the deal gives more time for diplomatic efforts to try to resolve the stand—off between iran and the us. under president biden, the us. under president biden, the us seems keen to return to the 2015 nuclear accord but says iran must return to compliance first. iran says the us must lift sanctions first. finding a compromise will be difficult but this agreement with the iaea creates a window of opportunity. bethany bell, bbc news, vienna. trita parsi is an author and the vice president of the washington—based quincy institute. he says the deal with the un nuclear watchdog is an important step. this is important because if this hadn't been done by tuesday, the iranians would have further reduced some

of their obligations and that would have created more of a problem in making sure that the united states came back into compliance with the agreement. it is important to keep in mind that the united states is outside of the deal and the mandate to lift sanctions is in order for the us to be in compliance with the deal. the us cannot have those sanctions on iran if it is part of the deal because the deal lifted those sanctions. so what the iea has done is give more time for diplomacy to be resolved and this is absolutely resolvable, itjust has to happen behind the scenes rather than through public statements that unfortunately tends to just push the two sides further away from each other. so both sides owe a lot to the iea right now to make sure more time is given for diplomacy. how is it resolvable? well, what could be done and should be done is that choreography will be put together, primarily through the help of the europeans to make sure that a mechanism is found so that both sides actually move at the same time. this has been done before in the negotiations where similar problems existing and they were never ever resolved from the podium, they were always resolved quietly behind the scenes. critics, including israel

and a number of arab states, might say iran will simply drag out the process while it improves its technologies and its ability potentially to break out and achieve nuclear weapons in the future. that's a rather nonsensical statement. it would be true if it was the iranians who pulled out of the deal but they did not, the iranians stayed inside of deal and are still inside the deal, and even the reduction of obligations didn't start until a full year after the us had been outside of the deal. so if that is a concern it would again be plausible... it has walked away from its obligations. it has walked away from some of its obligations which it is allowed to do according to article 36 of the agreement which says that if one side of the party's no longer performing, which is clearly the case with the us leaving the deal, then the other side can reduce its obligations. it is fundamentally different from what united states did under the trump administration — a move that the biden administration has been very critical of and that everyone is hoping, and i think the biden administration is intent on doing, is quickly

finding a way to reverse it. trita parsi. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: find out the heart—warming reason this polish community is braving the cold to build an army of 1,000 snowmen. music. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos�* sanctuary, malacanang — the name itself symbolising one of the cruelest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world - that the winner of best film was la la land. . the only trouble was it wasn't. the mistake was only put right in the middle of gushing - speeches by the team -

behind the modern musical. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope. very soon, for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: huge crowds have gathered in myanmar�*s capital to attend the funeral of a young woman killed in protests against the military coup — mya thwe thwe khaing was shot in the head just before her 20th birthday. the british prime minister, borisjohnson will outline how and when restrictions in england will be relaxed as coronavirus cases continue to fall.

the united nations human rights council begins its spring session in geneva on monday. britain and a core group of countries are expected to seek a new resolution, calling on sri lanka to hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account and deliverjustice to victims of the civil war that ended in 2009. tens of thousands of people, mostly tamils, were killed in the ethnic conflict. the bbc�*s south asia editor anbarasan ethirajan reports. sri lanka's devastating civil war lasted for nearly three decades. it ended with the defeat of tamil tiger rebels in may 2009. the un and other agencies estimate that more than 40,000 people, mostly tamil civilians, were killed in the conflict. thousands went missing, and the families of those disappeared have held protests demanding answers. following years of international pressure, the government in 2015 agreed to investigate rights abuses and disappearances. but it withdrew from the commitment months after gotabaya rajapaksa, who led the war effort, was elected as president in may 2019.

now, britain and other countries want to hold sri lanka accountable. the position of our government, gotabaya rajapaksa's mandate, on which i went to geneva last year and announced that we would withdraw from the core group, the then government of the day. we did not have a mandate to get into such engagement under the constitution. in a scathing report last month, the un human rights commissioner michelle bachelet accused the government of backtracking from its promises.

but the government is defiant. the ground situation is totally different to what the commissioner's report is. that's why sri lanka disagrees with her, with documents and evidence and detailed reports and answered her draft report, and we politely and we politely sad that we disagree and we reject. thousands of people from the minority tamil, muslim and christian communities held a rally earlier this month to highlight their grievances. muslim leaders are outraged by the forced cremation of muslim victims of the coronavirus. they say it's against their religious belief. but the government rejects accusations of bias. in the coming weeks, sri lanka will face intense scrutiny at the un meeting. anbarasan ethirajan, bbc news.

a rememberance ceremony has been held in christchurch to mark the tenth anniversary of a powerful earthquake that left the new zealand city in ruins and killed 185 people. prime ministerjacinda ardern was amongst those leading the service at the canterbury earthquake national memorial. ms ardern paid tribute to those who had passed, and those that have lived on with the trauma of that day. the toll could not have been more significant and daily reminders made it harder. a fractured landscape, after—shocks, struggling friends and neighbours, and children with deep and unseen scars. ten years on, there will be people still living their daily lives with the long shadow of that day. today, i want to take the opportunity to say to all those who may still feel overwhelmed, who may still feel uncertain, sad, tired, anxious, you survived an event

which by right should not occur in anyone's lifetime. i hope you find the space to be kind to yourself, as you've no doubt been to others who you knew were carrying the same burden. dan ohs is deputy chief executive of ambulance operations, for stjohn�*s ambulance, and was a first responder site commander 10 years ago. thanks forjoining us. how do you reflect ten years on from that day? it you reflect ten years on from that day?— you reflect ten years on from thatda? , , i, ., that day? it seems very surreal to these day- — that day? it seems very surreal to these day. one _ that day? it seems very surreal to these day. one moment - that day? it seems very surreal to these day. one moment youj to these day. one moment you are at home, as i was, and everything is normal and then you are called to work and in my case when michael came in, i did not realise how bad it was because my home was ok. and later, here i am in the city i grew up in, with collapse

buildings. it remains very surreal to this day and it is something that will be etched in my memory and those of my colleagues all of our lives. the prime minister talked about continuing trauma for those who survived and those like you, who were rescuers. how did you and your colleagues deal over the decade? we and your colleagues deal over the decade?— the decade? we put support frameworks _ the decade? we put support frameworks in _ the decade? we put support frameworks in place. - the decade? we put support frameworks in place. the i the decade? we put support i frameworks in place. the best support framework is actually talking to your colleagues and other people who went through the experience together. however, time definitely helps things like today helps. we had a lovely time today. we had our station formally participating in the formal memorial. and it was a beautiful time to reflect and remember and, was a beautiful time to reflect and rememberand, indeed, the service today gave us that opportunity and all of it was immensely helpful and having

people like jacinda acknowledging how difficult and acknowledging how difficult and acknowledging the trauma is ongoing really framed it as well. , ., , ., ongoing really framed it as well. , ., well. did any of your colleagues - well. did any of your colleagues think - well. did any of your| colleagues think they well. did any of your- colleagues think they would want to work in a differentjob afterwards? we want to work in a different 'ob aflemards?�* want to work in a different 'ob afterwards? ~ ., ., , ., afterwards? we had a number of --eole afterwards? we had a number of peeple who _ afterwards? we had a number of peeple who left _ afterwards? we had a number of people who left the _ afterwards? we had a number of people who left the ambulance l people who left the ambulance service directly following the earthquake and we did some research as to how to better support our people. a lot of research suggests that is the case. interestingly though, we have had a much greater volume of people who have moved into different roles of like me who have moved into managerial roles. reflecting on the people that day ten years ago and those now, we have had an 80% staff turnover staff going to other roles so clearly it does have an impact.— other roles so clearly it does have an impact. have you ever run into any —

have an impact. have you ever run into any of— have an impact. have you ever run into any of the _ have an impact. have you ever run into any of the people - have an impact. have you ever run into any of the people you| run into any of the people you helped that day? ida. helped that day? no, i have not- site i — helped that day? no, i have not. site i was _ helped that day? no, i have not. site i was at, _ helped that day? no, i have not. site i was at, i- helped that day? no, i have not. site i was at, i entered| not. site i was at, i entered the building one surprise and my primary role was to ensure the work environment for other people on the site was ok. for me, as people came out, my role was to either decide whether they went straight into an ambulance, whether we treated them on site or send them home stop if you are not injured, you do not want to tie up special resources. but the volume of people be dealt with and the speed in giving them help meant that i have not followed people through and maintain that connection. it has been really good to speak to you. thank you so much. the duke of edinburgh, is spending a sixth night in hospital in london.

prince philip who's 99, was admitted last tuesday for a period of observation and rest, afterfeeling unwell at windsor castle. the exact reason for his admission hasn't been disclosed, however, his stay isn't related to coronavirus. much of europe is still recovering from recent severe weather. many countries across the continent were deluged in a blanket of snow. what happens when tons of the white stuff fall from the sky? well, some people make snowmen. but in eastern poland they were making lots of snowmen and all for a good cause. tim allman explains. across the fields of korycin, an army gathers its forces but not just any army, mind you, an army of snowmen, proud and true. dozens upon dozens of them, in fact. a lot of carrots, a lot of cold and more than a few scarves. and this is an army that knows exactly what its mission is. translation: a thousand snowmen for bartek. - we have to do something crazy

to draw your attention to this little boy who has a heart defect, and needs surgery urgently. we are running out of time. the surgery is planned for april and we still need a lot of money. funds are being raised to try and send a local boy abroad. he desperately needs an operation but poland does not have the right kind of surgeon. the whole community, young and old, is doing its best to help. "i was making a snowman by myself," said this boy, "it is not very big, it is not finished yet but it is for bartek from my heart." time is of the essence, if the two—year—old child is to get his lifesaving operation. soon enough these snowmen will melt away and disappear. the commitment these people are showing never will. tim allman, bbc news. more on all the stories on our

website, where you will find continuing coverage of events in myanmar. do stay with us. hello there. it's felt very mild over the weekend, almost springlike. and in fact, the temperatures are going to rise even more as we move through this new week, particularly tuesday and wednesday. this is the temperature anomaly map. you can see the temperatures well above the seasonal average, especially for parts of england and wales. but with this very mild air will come a lot of moisture, and it's going to pour down, in fact, across many western areas for tuesday and wednesday. some parts of western scotland, perhaps north—west england could see over 100 mm of rain, with a risk of localised flooding. eastern areas of the uk will actually be drier than average.

for the start of the new week, though, it looks mainly dry with plenty of sunshine, but we still have some rain around thanks to this weather front which will be affecting northern and western parts of england, eastern wales, to start the day. it will transfer towards the eastern side of england and tend to fizzle out, leaving a legacy of cloud here, with other areas brightening up. so, quite a fine afternoon for many. plenty of sunshine for scotland and northern ireland and mild, 10 to maybe 1a degrees. that front clears away. underneath clear skies, it will turn a little bit cooler, in fact, but then this next area of low pressure will move in to bring wet and windy weather to northern and western areas. and those temperatures will range from around 2 or 3 across eastern areas, 7 or 8 in the west. now, this area of low pressure is here to stick around, i think, for much of tuesday and wednesday, and expecting to bring some very wet weather with this weather front, which will become almost stationary across the north and west of the country. lots of isobars on the charts, so it will be windy as well. dragging this air up, though, from the subtropical regions, which is why it's going to be extremely mild. so we start off dry. central, southern and eastern areas, it'll stay dry through the day, but lots of rain across scotland, northern ireland, perhaps

north—west england, the north and west of wales, and gales up the irish sea coasts and in towards western scotland. despite the wet and windy weather here, it's going to be mild. double figure values for all, but we could see 1a or 15 across the south and the east given some brightness. it'll stay very wet and windy across the north and the west on wednesday, extremely mild across the south east, 17 or 18 celsius. and then there's signs of it calming down a little bit as we end the week and head—on into the weekend, as high pressure builds in. so, for this upcoming week, it's going to be very mild for a time, but wet and windy across northern and western areas, with the risk of localised flooding, and then signs of it drying up for many of us by the end of the week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: huge crowds have gathered in myanmar�*s capital to attend the funeral of a young woman killed in protests against the military coup — mya thwe thwe khaing was shot in the head just before her 20th birthday. two other protesters were killed in mandalay on saturday when the security forces opened fire. mapping the way out of lockdown: on monday, the british prime minister borisjohnson will outline how and when restrictions in england will be relaxed as coronavirus cases continue to fall. it's believed schools will reopen on 8 march. and remembering the victims of the christchurch earthquake: new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern leads a memorial service in the city devastated ten years ago. 185 people lost their lives and thousands more were injured, the community spending the past decade rebuilding. now on bbc news, click.