this is bbc news. the headlines: nasa has released remarkable images of its space rover perseverence landing on mars. it shows the final minutes of last week's tense descent with clouds of dust and grit being blown around, as the vehicle is lowered carefully on to the floor of one of the red planets craters. president biden has held a candle—lit ceremony at the white house to honour the half a million american lives lost to covid—19. the pandemic is still claiming 2000 americans every day and there has been widespread economic hardship. flags on federal buildings are to be flown at half mast as a mark of respect. hundreds of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers across myanmar — despite threats from the military that they could pay with their lives. the united states has imposed sanctions on two more members of the militaryjunta following the coup earlier this month.

all schools and further education colleges in england will be fully open from monday 8th march. secondary school students will be regularly tested, using rapid lateralflow tests, and until easter, face coverings will be compulsory in class, where social distancing is not possible. in scotland and wales, some younger primary school children started to return today. 0ur education editor branwen jeffreys reports from merseyside. it's about time. the kids need the routine. and if we don't start getting normal soon whole generation of children will have social problems that we are not going to be able to fix. ., ,. ., fix. from the school and bakery. _ fix. from the school and bakery, food _ fix. from the school and bakery, food deliveries i fix. from the school and l bakery, food deliveries for parents. first up is tracy.

ready for her son to go back. i think it would be betterfor the children. i think they need to be in school and mixing again. to be in school and mixing aaain. ~ ., to be in school and mixing a.ain_ . ., ., again. we need to get back to normality- _ again. we need to get back to normality. but _ again. we need to get back to normality. but joanne, - again. we need to get back to normality. but joanne, with l normality. butjoanne, with fora term, told me she is less certain. i fora term, told me she is less certain. ., . , certain. i would rather they sta ed certain. i would rather they stayed off _ certain. i would rather they stayed off if— certain. i would rather they stayed off if it's _ certain. i would rather they stayed off if it's not - certain. i would rather they stayed off if it's not safe. l stayed off if it's not safe. i'd rather keep them at home if the time is not right for them to go back. the time is not right for them to go back-— to go back. continued testing for staff to — to go back. continued testing for staff to keep _ to go back. continued testing for staff to keep schools - to go back. continued testing. for staff to keep schools open. secondary already testing staff are gearing up for pupils. we've desks ready for testing when the students come back. teenagers will have to do tests on return at school and at home. ~ ., ., :: home. we can do about 450 students — home. we can do about 450 students at _ home. we can do about 450 students at a _ home. we can do about 450 students at a maximum - home. we can do about 450 students at a maximum and i home. we can do about 450 i students at a maximum and it safely and properly. find

students at a maximum and it safely and properly.— safely and properly. and then from the prime _ safely and properly. and then from the prime minister, - safely and properly. and then l from the prime minister, more detailed for schools to take in. secondary pupils will be asked to test twice a week at home. i asked to test twice a week at home. ., asked to test twice a week at home. . _, . ,., asked to test twice a week at home. . . ,., ., home. i have concerns about how we ensure — home. i have concerns about how we ensure that _ home. i have concerns about how we ensure that the _ home. i have concerns about how we ensure that the tessa - home. i have concerns about how we ensure that the tessa demo i we ensure that the tessa demo been done effectively and efficiently. i also worry that it is not always easy to carry such a task outer tame by some parents are however going to guarantee that there is consistency of approach by everybody. consistency of approach by everybody-— consistency of approach by eve bod. , everybody. when these corridors start filling _ everybody. when these corridors start filling up — everybody. when these corridors start filling up it _ everybody. when these corridors start filling up it is _ everybody. when these corridors start filling up it is going - everybody. when these corridors start filling up it is going to - start filling up it is going to rely on a lot of trust. trust in teenagers to test themselves properly and to report the results because if they don't there is not in the school can do except appeal to their parents. teenagers will have to wear masks, notjust in corridors but in england's classrooms too, wherever they can distance. northern ireland has also advised masks and secondary classrooms. they start with primary pupils in two weeks. in wales the

youngest primary pupils were back today. in teenagers return a promise of testing. scotland's youngest also back today. across the uk, the first steps to get children's lives back to normal. now on bbc news: the travel show. lucy hedges takes a look back at some of the show�*s best journeys to south asia, including when henry golding tried to collect coconuts in kerala. this feels quite serious now.

hello from greenwich park in london. now while we all keep dreaming of the travel we will be doing when things return to normal, today we are taking a look back at some of our best trips to south asia. over the years we have had plenty of adventures and for me, personally, one of the highlights was a trip to the beautiful country of sri lanka in 2020. 0n the streets of its bustling capital city, colombo, the tuk—tuk is king of the road. numbers havejumped eightfold

in 15 years and i went there to see what impact it is having on the city and how tourists are now jumping in the driving seat. so there is actually overi million tuk—tuks here in sri lanka and it definitely shows because these things are everywhere. that's a pretty high number for a country ofjust over 20 million people. the prospect of good money has prompted many young people to become a driver here. and it is notjust the pros. driving a rented tuk—tuk is increasingly popular with tourists as well. tourists need a local driving licence to drive a tuk—tuk here, but also some practice. this definitely is not as straightforward as i thought it would be. i think i need some assistance! thushari has been a tuk—tuk driver for four years. female drivers remain a rare sight in sri lanka but times are changing.

so the horn is my friend? all right. so they are your top tips. i think i am ready for the road. thank you. you really feel the lack of suspension. and there are so many potholes here. once you reach that level of comfort with driving, the best thing about driving a tuk—tuk is that you can take in all the gorgeous scenery and on my left is the beautiful ocean. but the gentle ocean breeze

is not enough to disperse the emissions produced by the millions of vehicles on sri lanka's roads. air pollution in its capital city regularly exceeds levels recommended by the world health organization. ten years ago, the government banned the import of the most polluting rickshaws, the 2—stroke engines. but several hundreds of thousands remain on the roads. pollution definitely is not as bad as i thought it would be but it is definitely palpable. in fact i think ijust ate some. as part of the global fight against climate change, sri lanka has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. sasiranga de silva won a un reward for creating a simple kit that converts petrol tuk—tuk engines to electric. sri lanka is a beautiful country but recently we noticed the pollution levels are going and so the level of diseases are going high there so i thought, you know,

as an engineer, i would do my best to contribute to bringing emissions down in sri lanka. what do you think it would take to get your conversion kit up and running and produced on a mass scale? tuk—tuk is a low—cost product so the conversion price has to be as low as possible for the drivers to afford it. i have been doing so many research so i can downsize the battery and reduce the cost. the issue of affordability will decide whether electric tuk—tuks are ever developed on a mass scale. but who knows, the spirit of innovation and a smattering of political will may be just enough to clear the air in colombo. definitely fun but one thing i will be happy to leave

to the professionals in the future. that might also be what henry was thinking back in 2016 in india's coastal state of kerala when he got to find out the hard wayjust what goes into picking coconuts, something still done there mostly by hand. that was unbelievable! you are so strong. that was so good. how high is this? 30 metres. and he did it like it was a sunday stroll. he's been doing it 30 years, this one. he's 53 years old. so you are half or more of my age so i should be able to do this quicker than you i don't think that will be the case. how many coconuts does he normally collected a day? 40 a day. some homestays in kerala are now teaching tourists the art of coconut tree climbing. let's see if i am up to the challenge.

i want to hoist myself up, but my arms, they just will not obey. i think i am going to rip my pants! this is tough. the numbers of climbers like prasalan have fallen dramatically as the younger generation have gradually moved away from manual jobs. it is a bit of a marathon. you need to think of it as a marathon. you have about 20 good metres to climb and if you run out of strength halfway it will not be pretty. oh, i think that is it for me.

how does he do it?! my feet, i tell you, i think it is because i have soft everything. i am a wimp. you are much stronger than i am. the coconut industry is worth billions of dollars so the decline of manual climbers has called for modernisation of sorts. that looks so much easier than what i was doing. the state government has tried everything from competitions to prize money to find a machine that can entice people back into the job. this one invented by a localfarmer has proved relatively simple to operate. just right there? 0k. left there and here? on my way up.

it is definitely much easier. i may have spoken too soon. it is much tougher than it looks. left one, relax. you have much less stress on your toes and your hands themselves but getting the motion right makes it a little nervous... whoo! it does make it a little easier, i must say. but i would like to put it to the test. the old method versus the new one. what do you think? we try it? all right. over here we have the traditional coconut tree climbers who will be using their ropes that they have around their legs and whatnot. on this side we have the mechanically assisted.

let's find out who is fastest. three, two, one, go! they are pretty much neck and neck at the moment. mechanically assisted are going a little bit faster. he has caught up on the time, he has caught up on the time. there we go. and they are switching. he is not tired. he is doing well. yeah! to the winners go the spoils! there you are! is it good?

how does victory taste, boys? henry in southern india, back in 2016. now, we're heading to pakistan where, two years ago, we heard from two adventurers who had been to the country's mountainous northernmost region to experience this part of the country in a whole new way. and it was quite the journey. i am john rider. and i'm edmund le brun. and in 2018, we set out to raft down the length of the hunza valley in northern pakistan and as far as we can tell, nobody�*s done this before. the river passes through a really interesting part of pakistan, right up near the border of china. it is a very ancient trade corridor the passes north to south, the old silk road. a combination of mountains,

people, history, culture. it is a fascinating place. the trouble with rafting a river for the first time is that you really have to scout every hundred metres because you really don't know what's around the corner. there were many moments going down the river where we encountered sections that we knew that we couldn't navigate. we actually found out that they were too difficult to raft the hard way. that was quite scary, actually. once it's upturned, there was nothing for him to catch hold of. i lost my raft, just pfft! went all the way downriver, sped away. been tipped out of the boat. and the weird — current — the currents are doing really weird things. ok, i'm going to go chase it. soon as i set off injohn�*s

raft in pursuit of my own, i realised that that was a bad decision. the water was getting rougher and, sure enough, i hit a corner... 0h! ..losing the second raft. so i managed to swim to the bank and suddenly assess the situation and there we are, northern pakistan, and we have lost both our rafts, all our bags. i then didn't know wherejohn was. ok, this feels quite serious now. i haven't seen ed for almost 2.5 hours. i don't know what

condition he is in. so i've just got to the road. i've got — what's your name ahgain? azerdine. is helping me. but there's no sign ofjohn. people often assume that, you know, we felt was a security concern there? and actually, security was the furthest things from our mind. the key is always doing research before you go because some areas are incredibly dangerous and just five kilometres away, it is completely safe. so after i'd lost my raft, i did not find john forfive hours. yeah, a very tired john on the other side of the river. we found the rafts eventually. it took us — i think it was about four days in total. everyone we spoke to offered — offered to walk up and down the river or offered their car. it was really quite overwhelming, the amount of generosity that we received.

but what the rafts did give us was the sense of adventure and through that, we actually uncovered a side to pakistan which we really never see on the news. what an experience! now, still to come on the programme — ade tries his hands at conservation in the maldives. and rajan tests out his aim in india. now, backjust before the pandemic last year, ade went to visit the stunning maldives. officially the lowest nation on earth, its beautiful beaches are constantly under threat from climate change and the effects from tourism.

ade went there to find out what the local people, and some tourists, are doing to protect the natural world there. coral reefs do notjust look great in holiday photos, they also contain more biodiversity than any other ecosystem on the planet, so it is essential that they don't disappear. even though they cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, they are home to over a quarter of all the world's fish species. so here in the maldives, there is an ongoing programme to restock damaged reefs. so actually, coral is an animal. an animal? exactly. not a plant? no, actually it's related to jellyfish and anenomes in the oceans. so what we have — what we see here is a colony. it's many individuals called polyps, that they live

all together and they help each other to build this skeleton. what we actually do, we pick up some corals that are broken, because of any reason, and they are on the sand, so they will die because they will covered with sand. so what we will do is just keep this healthy part from the coral and put them back on our nursery. 0ur nursery is around 5—6m depth and with a sandy bottom, the best method is to use these ropes, hanging on metalframes. ok, i want to try to attach a piece then. so let's see. i will put it through here. hold, like this, and then fasten it? yep, as much as you can, so it will not fall. this mustjust take hours to do. well, no, actually the process is quite fast. and actually, we need to do it faster as well, because they need to be underwater. so basically, what you are doing here is replicating nature? exactly, we just help to make this progress faster. so not mother nature, sandra nature! exactly!

it is heartening to know that tourists are engaging with these conservation projects. and even if i never come back here again, it is good to know i have left a mark — hopefully in a positive way. wow, you're looking like a properaction woman, sandra. you're ready to go? yeah, everything is ready now. cool so what are you going to do, exactly? now i am bringing this rope onto the nursery. i will attach it over there and it is perfect conditions for them to grow properly, so we don't need to do much more. cool and i've noticed it says bbc travel show. yes, this will be your baby corals, your effort to help the maldives. let's go for it. let's go! see you later! yeah, take care. good luck!

what a beautiful place! finally, we are heading back to india where in 2017, rajan went to shillong in meghalaya to try his hand at a traditional local sport and see if he could hit the target. this is called teer, derived from the hindu word for �*arrow�*. a target is mounted and 50 archers have just a few minutes to hit it as many times as possible. the significance of the sport dates back to the early 1800s when khasi warriors defended their homelands not with guns or swords, but with bows and arrows. i am aiming for the target, obviously, which is, which one of them? the small one.

the small one there, 0k. now, why is it going to the ground like that? show me. get out the way, everyone. here we go. don't move! wow! now we are getting there! spectators get involved by taking bets on the number of arrows that hit the target. and crucially, it is only the last two numbers of the total score that matter. meghalaya became one of the few states to legalise gambling in 1982. people here are very superstitious? they'll dream about their dead family, a dog, a cat, and they will try to make

it into numbers. so i have 200 rupees of my hard—earned money here. i want to go and gamble. can you show me how to do it? yeah. come on then. so let's go to one of these counters. namaste, hello. hello to you, sir. i want to gamble on a lucky number, yeah? yeah. two digits, lucky number. i want to go for 39. 39? yeah. and i'm going to put... 100. ..100 rupees on 39. can you fix it so i win? all chuckle. it depends on your fortune number. it depends on my fortune? i had a dream last night. i had a dream that... you can dream anything. that a strange dog walked past me and that dog had the number 39 on it. is it the kind of

dreams people have? 0h, who knows. wish me luck! it's a tense moment as the numbers are counted... 310, 320... ..and my dream turns out to be a shaggy dog story. seven... 97 was the result. still, two of my lucky numbers — nine and seven. rajan in india, back in 2017. well, that's all for this week, but here's what's coming up next week. mike is off the coast of tanzania, exploring a coral reef that scientists say could be a game—changer for some endangered species. underwater was a magnificent. it was like a fantasy movie. do join us for that if you can. but for now, keep safe and keep inspired by following us in all the usual places on social media. so from me and the rest of the team here in london, it's goodbye.

hello, northern and western parts of the uk saw some of the best of the sunshine on monday. have a look at this picture from one of our weather watchers in cumbria. beautiful blue skies overhead but i think on tuesday it will look very different because this slice of sunshine is being replaced by a bank of cloud pushing in from the west in the cloud is going to bring a lot of rain across parts of northern ireland, wales, north—west england, some rain may be into the path south—west of england but the wettest weather is likely to be found across scotland where there is a met office and the warning in force across parts of the southern uplands and the southern grampians. we could see up to 120 millimetres of rain in the wettest places falling on already sodden ground, so a risk of flooding

and disruption and it will be a windy day where ever you are, particularly gusty for western areas with gusts up to 50 or 70 mph for exposed parts of northern ireland or scotland. very mild, ten or 14 degrees, may be 15 in the south—east but we should say dry with a bit of sunshine. through tuesday night and into sunday, the stripe of cloud and rain keeps coming, moving very slowly south—east and it is going to be a very, very mild night indeed and those are the minimum temperatures with cardiff and plymouth may be no lower than 12 degrees. we head on into wednesday and the winds are a little bit lighter, still fairly blustery out there and the frontal system will still be bringing rain across and western areas but to the south—east of the weather front we will be tapping into some very mild air indeed and given any lengthy spells of sunshine temperatures will shoot up to around 16 or 17 degrees across

parts of east anglia and the south—east. the band of cloud and rain still affecting south—west, into southern scotland with sunshine and showers to the north—west of that but as i mentioned, the temperature is 17 degrees possible in london but it is another mild day where ever you are. as we move out of wednesday into thursday, the frontal system will clear east and high pressure will start to building from the south and we may see weather fronts grazing the far north—west bringing a little bit of rain but for most of us it will be dried to end the week and there will be some sales of sunshine and still mild by day, but rather chilly at night.

this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories? images of a land far far away. the intrepid rover sends back previously unseen footage from the red planet. bells toll. washington cathedral bells toll and president biden holds a candle—lit ceremony at the white house — to honour the half a million american lives lost to covid—19. new data shows a single dose of pfizer's covid jab cuts deaths and serious illness in the uk by more than 75 per cent among over 80s. and as protestors take to the streets of myanmar in unprecedented numbers, the us imposes sanctions on two more members of the militaryjunta.