this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm tim willcox. hundreds of thousands of uighurs in china transferred to factories — often farfrom home — we have an exclusive report. uk covid deaths fall by more than a quarter in a week — thanks to the mass vaccination programme and lockdown. president biden says the us will inoculate every adult by the end of may and directs two pharmaceutical giants to work together to mass produce the vaccine. us sanctions imposed on russia following the attempted killing of opposition leader alexei navalny.

hello and welcome to bbc news. a bbc investigation has found evidence that china's policy of transferring hundreds of thousands of uighurs, and other ethnic minorities, from north—west xinjiang, to factory jobs often far from home — is being used as a method of uprooting and assimilating the population. it's also uncovered possible connections between these workers and major international brands. china says transferring workers away from the region is a way of tackling rural poverty and unemployment. our china correspondent john sudworth has this report. at this factory, the uighur workers are clearly visible. more than 2000 miles from home, brought all the way to central china by a massive relocation scheme. now the bbc has found compelling evidence of how it works.

in this xinjiang village, the authorities need 100 people to send to jobs on the other side of the country. they set up a stall, but this 2017 state media report shows no one's interested. so they go house to house. "if you stay here," this official says, "you will be "married soon and never able to leave." "will you go?", he asks. "no", she says. but with a mixture of propaganda... ..and heavy persuasion, the young woman eventually agrees. "i'll go if others go", she says. the bbc has new evidence that this separation from family and culture is, in part at least, precisely the point. a chinese study produced

for senior officials says, "labour transfers help assimilate uighur minorities, "transform their thinking and reduce uighur population "density." the study was posted online in error. some of xinjiang's mainly muslim minorities are sent first to the giant re—education camps where china says it's fighting extremism, then to the factories. very few have managed to leave china after their release. translation: there were 200 workers in the factory. - we sold children's clothes and we are obliged to sing the chinese national anthem. they said, "the faster you work, the faster "we'll let you go." but most of those transferred to work have not been in the camps and are sent direct from poor villages. the study also outlines how they are transported in groups, accompanied by security guards

and put through political indoctrination. this is just an unprecedented authoritative source, written by really leading academics and former government officials, with unprecedented high level access in xinjiang itself. that drives home the implications of what is going on here. there are higher goals of manipulating population density and demographics that, in my opinion, are very concerning, and they really point us towards crimes against humanity. we found products that may contain yarn from this company on sale on amazon in the uk. the factory says it no longer employs uighurs, and amazon told us it doesn't tolerate forced labour. and this factory makes plastic mouldings for some major international brands. so we've spoken to one worker here, who has confirmed that as many as a few hundred uighurs are employed in this factory.

but, unlike the chinese staff, they are unable to leave the factory premises. in a statement, the chinese government said the study seen by the bbc reflects only the author's personal view, and much of its contents are not in line with the facts. but in large part it echoes government thinking. "some uighurs," it concludes, "are unwilling to leave "their homes, a problem that should be tackled "with strong guidance and persistent measures." john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. dr adrian zenz — who you just heard — is an anthropologist specialising in xinjiang re—education camps. he gave us his reaction to what the bbc has uncovered. the new evidence is really unprecedented. it's just incredible, both the video obtained by the bbc and the document and report compiled by a former senior official just talking about the securitised nature of the transfers and a key

piece of evidence in the report it serves to assimilate uighurs and to reduce their population density. now, i confidentially passed some of the evidence that i was able to obtain — both the report and other statements by chinese academics about the need to break up uighur society to a legal expert, a former senior adviser at the us holocaust museum and a legal analysis that was co—published with my report says these are crimes against humanity of forcible transfer as laid out in the rome statute. but injohn�*s report, we saw people being persuaded, really quite strongly persuaded to leave. but what evidence do we have of force? we have evidence that their recruitment is very coercive. people who resist local government directives are liable to be placed into internment camps. the report itself says that some of these workers are trained in facilities

in xinjiang that are guarded by security guards and one government official is assigned to each dormitory of these workers. the workers are then transferred in batches accompanied by supervising government officials and by police guards, and there's further security guards and government officials who monitor, survey, and manage them on—site in the factories in eastern china. dr adrian zenz. positive news from the uk. there's growing evidence that the national lockdown combined with the highly successful roll out of vaccines is leading to a sharp reduction in covid deaths. according to the latest figures from the office for national statistics the number of registered coronavirus deaths in england and wales has fallen by more than a quarter in a week, to the lowest level since the start of the year. here's our health editor, hugh pym. the streets may still look quiet, but we're on the road to recovery. that's the message from ministers in england today, with positive news

about the impact of vaccines on preventing serious illness and deaths. and the hunt for a missing person infected with a brazilian variant of coronavirus has been narrowed down to 379 households in the south—east of england. mr speaker... the health secretary, while warning of the need for caution, gave mps an upbeat assessment. the vaccine is working, reducing the number of deaths among those who were vaccinated first and preventing hospital admissions. this is real world evidence that the vaccine is protecting the nhs and saving lives. 0ne measure of the covid impact is the total number of excess deaths in the uk. this line shows the five—year weekly average for total reported deaths, and here's what's been happening since the start of 2020, where there was a sharp spike last april — largely because of covid. then the numbers fell back again before another steep increase at the end of last year and into january.

since then, the number has been falling back. this map shows cases per 100,000 people last week in different parts of the uk. light blue shows the lowest numbers. 0verall totals have been falling but there are still some hotspots, including in central and eastern england, shown here in red. the numbers are moving in the right direction but there's still intense strain on the front line of the nhs, with no sign of respite for hospital staff. as the cases come down, they are coming down from a really high level, and across our whole membership we are hearing from nhs leaders that covid—19 remains a major pressure. russell is normally fit and active but he's recovering from covid at home after leaving hospital last week. it's like drowning, it's horrible. he'd been in a ward where others did not pull through. his message is, don't think covid has gone away. it is so serious.

and i have seen people pass by. it's not very nice. people might think they are immune from it or they are scared of the vaccine. i wish i got the vaccine in may. it's a reminder that the vaccination programme has a way to go and that people are still getting very sick with covid. but the overall picture is looking brighter than it was. hugh pym, bbc news. that seems to be the situation in the states as well. speaking a short while ago, president biden said his administration was bringing in "wartime" strategies to fight the spread of coronavirus and boost its vaccination programme. this is a wartime effort, and every action has been on the table including putting together breakthrough approaches. and today, we are announcing a major step forward. two of the largest health care and pharmaceutical companies in the world, that are usually competitors, are working together on the vaccine. johnson &johnson and merck

will work together to expand the production ofjohnson & johnson's vaccine. this is the type of collaboration between companies we saw in world war ii. we'll also invoke the defense production act to equip two merck facilities to the standards necessary to safely manufacture the j&j vaccine, and with the urging and assistance of my administration, johnson & johnson is also taking additional new actions to safely accelerate vaccine production. johnson &johnson�*s vaccine manufacturing facilities will now begin to operate 21w. he also appealed again to americans to continue wearing masks for his first 100 days in office. i want to conclude with this. we're making progress from the mess we inherited. we're moving in the right direction. and today's announcements are a huge step in our effort

to beat this pandemic. but i have to be honest with you, this fight is far from over, i told you i'd be straight up with you from the beginning. as i've said many times, things may get worse again as new variants spread and as we face setbacks like recent winter storms in the midwest and south. but our administration will never take this public health threat lightly. though we celebrate the news of a third vaccine, i urge all americans — please keep washing your hands. stay socially distanced. wear masks, keep wearing them, get vaccinated when it's your turn. now�*s not the time to let up. i've asked the country to wear a mask for my first 100 days in office. now�*s not the time to let our guard down. people's lives are at stake. we have already, we have already and i carry this in my pocket, lost more — as of today, we've lost more than 511,839

americans as of today. the earlier executive orders. effective next wednesday, all businesses of any type are allowed to open 100%. applause that includes any type of entity in texas. also, i am ending the state—wide mask mandate. cheers and applause

now despite these changes, rememberthis. removing state mandates does not and personal responsibility. —— does not end. -- does not end. greg abbott. let's get some of the days other stories. scientists have discovered a group of people in the democratic republic of congo who are able to control the hiv infection they carry, in a natural way, without the need for drugs. researchers are hoping this could lead to a cure for aids. they hope the group, which makes up 4% of congo's hiv carriers, could help uncover links between natural virus suppression and future treatments. half of brazil's 26 governors say they are preparing to bypass the federal government and secure covid—19 vaccines for their own states because of delays in the national inoculation programme. only 3% of the population has

been vaccinated as vaccine supplies dwindle and hospitals reach capacity across brazil in the midst of a growing second wave of covid infections. the us government has announced sanctions on seven senior members of the russian government over the attack on the dissident alexei navalny. it includes the nation's top spy. washington says russia was behind the poisoning of my navalny and says it will tighten export controls on 1a firms involved in the production of biological and chemical agents. the us has also called for the release of mr navalny, who is being held in a russian prison camp. the opposition leader's team posted a video about the conditions in the camp, where he's believed to be held. this is footage showing the prison in pokrov, just outside moscow. the facility has a reputation

for torture—like conditions, that are used by the kremlin, to break the spirit of the detainees. here's sarah rainsford in moscow. even by russian prison standards, it's a pretty brutal sounding place. they've been speaking to former inmates who've talked about punishment beatings. they've talked about really tough physical conditions there. and one former political prisoner said for the entire time he was incarcerated, everyone was banned from speaking to him. now, the eu and the us have reacted today to mr navalny�*s treatment more broadly with a whole package of new sanctions. they're very specific, they target individuals, senior officials here in russia. they don't target the economy more broadly, and they don't do what mr navalny�*s team had asked for which is to go after oligarchs, senior figures here very close to vladimir putin. they gave a whole list to the us administration that they wanted sanctioned. now as for the kremlin�*s response, well, dmitry peskov — vladimir putin's spokesman, has dismissed the use of sanctions once again.

he says that the west is addicted to applying restrictions. he said, "they should ask themselves one question though. "does it work?" and according to the kremlin spokesman, itjust doesn't. stay with us on bbc news, still to come — sex workers in the netherlands lobby parliament to be treated like other professionals and — like hairdressers and driving instructors — be allowed to return to work this week. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully

tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier. and so my heart went bang, bang, bang. the constitutional rights of these marchers are l their rights as citizens of the united states, i and they should be protected| even in the right to test them out, so they don't - get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it is going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right at the end of the day. this is bbc news. the latest headlines. a bbc investigation has found evidence that china's policy of transferring hundreds of thousands of uighurs to factory jobs often far from home is being used

as a method of uprooting the population. and in the uk the mass vaccination programme is helping cut covid deaths which have fallen by a more than a quarter in a week. last night we told you the story of nine—year—old ahmed in yemen. he and his friends attend school in the ruins of their classrooms — close to front—line fighting between the government and houthi rebels. ahmed is just one of millions of children suffering from the brutal civil war there, now in its sixth year. and in a worrying trend, international aid has been decreasing. the uk government, for instance, plans to cut its donations to yemen by half. our international correspondent 0rla guerin sent this report, and a warning that viewers may find some elements of this story distressing. imagine if this was the school your child was going back to. the building and its pupils,

hanging by a thread. it's a snapshot of childhood in yemen. a country that will now get much less aid from the uk. this is ahmed, who touched many hearts in our story last night. he stands in when his teacher is absent. he's nine and was born blind. he's a beacon of hope and resilience. here in one of the world's poorest countries, the united nations says cuts

in aid will be a death sentence. the spectre of famine is hanging over this land. in ad dali province, mothers queue to have their children checked for signs of severe acute malnutrition. labour has accused the government of leaving children to starve. the foreign secretary says britain is doing its bit, and remains one of the top five donors to yemen. baby hamas is the latest to be diagnosed. nurse abdullah al khadri is pained by what he sees. it's already too late for saif hassan.

this video was taken the day before he died from hunger. his brother, abu bakr, was by his side. saif lies buried here. aid agencies warn cuts in funding will be measured in lives lost. 0rla guerin, bbc news, southern yemen. you are watching bbc news. plenty more on on that report on the website. now, something quite different. sex workers have gathered outside the dutch parliament, in protest that they are not being allowed to return to work when other contact professions can reopen

for business from wednesday. coronavirus infections in the netherlands have increased for the second week running, but the rise was partly the result of wider testing, according to the public health agency rivm's latest weekly update. 0ur correspondent in the hague, anna holligan, sent this report. from the 3rd of march, all content professions in the netherlands — beauticians, hairdressers, tattoo artists, can start seeing clients again. -- all —— all contact professions. but sex workers can't. this might not strike you as surprising. in many countries commit these trades are considered to be entirely different. but here in the netherlands, they usually enjoy equal status. prostitution was legalised more than two decades ago. sex workers pay taxes. the industry is highly regulated, which is why the sex workers like this woman feel as though they are now being discriminated against. we were using hand gels before it was cool. we are the original hygiene hipsters. the whole safety protocol and hygiene protocols,

we already used those before covid even existed. as a dominatrix, i can get really creative by avoiding the full face contact thing, and i canjust whip them from the side instead of full frontal. so, you can do different positions that don't do the face—to—face thing. and also, you don't kiss. for people who aren't allowed to make their living in this way as they have done for more than two decades, what are the risks? there are several risks at the moment because a lot of people are not getting financial support. so, people are actually forced to work — but without being actually legal. so, when something goes wrong, we cannot call the police because we will get arrested. and that's why they're here with a peep show outside parliament and a plea for the politicians to allow them to get back to business. public figures have been getting their covid vaccinations in an effort to boost trust in the vaccine programme, and one music legend

has just added her name to the cause. country music singer—songwriter, dolly parton has taken to social media saying "dolly gets a dose of her own medicine". she was given a dose of the moderna vaccine — after she donated money towards its research. she's also encouraged others to get theirjab... take a listen. vaccine, vaccine, vaccine. # i'm begging of you please don't hesitate to # vaccine, vaccine, vaccine # vaccine, vaccine, vaccine # because once you do, that's a bit too late. i know i'm trying to be funny now but i'm dead serious about the vaccine. emir; serious about the vaccine. only doll can serious about the vaccine. only dolly can do — serious about the vaccine. only dolly can do it _ serious about the vaccine. only dolly can do it that _ serious about the vaccine. only dolly can do it that way. - serious about the vaccine. only dolly can do it that way. from me and the team here in london, thatisit me and the team here in london, that is it for this edition of bbc news. hope to see you soon.

hello there. a week ago we were seeing temperatures of 17, even 18 degrees in the sunshine. this wednesday, though, will be a lot cooler across the uk than it was last wednesday. mainly because there's a lot of cloud around. this was the scene in pennine areas of west yorkshire where temperatures were only two or three degrees on tuesday afternoon. it was a lot warmer in the sunshine out towards the west with more shelter, and the north—west of wales in particular. and the reason for those differences, really, is high pressure to the east of the uk and easterly wind drawing in all of that moisture. and two things are happening overnight, that low cloud is becoming more extensive so there's more mist and fog, and towards the south—west this cloud is thickening to bring some showers. now with a lot of cloud by the end of the night for most places it will be a few degrees above freezing. where we have some clear skies

and parts of scotland, north west england, there will be a frost. there could be some sunshine around, though, on wednesday morning. it's the fog, though, that's more of an issue. it will gradually tend to lift. many places, though, will stay dull and cloudy. it may well brighten up a bit in northern ireland, but the showers in the south west will spill into wales, and then into the midlands, the south east of england in the afternoon. ahead of the showers in the south east, if it does brighten up a bit, those temperatures will get a boost, but across eastern scotland and the north east of england with the low cloud, going to be four or five degrees. the showers that do develop will continue into the evening. some of them heavy and possibly with the odd rumble of thunder before becoming confined to the south east and east anglia by the end of the night. and as we head into thursday we see another area of high pressure. this one is moving down from iceland, and it's bringing with it colder air and a north—easterly breeze. there will still be some showers towards the south—east early on thursday. those will move away. then we have got this line of mostly light rain or drizzle. early snow over higher parts of scotland, and it's behind

that that the colder north—easterly wind comes in. as you can see, a lot of cloud around on thursday, so it's going to be a cold day with temperatures typically 5—8 degrees. let's look ahead to friday and saturday, and temperatures aren't going to change very much by day. could be a bit colder in the mornings with some clear skies. the cloud tending to bubble up and developed more widely during the course of the day. but high pressure is going to be in charge on friday. perhaps into saturday as well, but there are signs of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic, and that signals a change as we head into next week.

this is bbc news, the headlines. a bbc investigation has found evidence that china's policy of transferring hundreds of thousands of uighurs — and other ethnic minorities — from north—west xinjiang — to factory jobs often far from home — is being used as a method of uprooting and assimilating the population. president biden says the united states is on course to produce enough coronavirus vaccine to inoculate every adult in the country by the end of may. he said his administration directed two of the country's pharmaceutical giants, johnson and johnson and merck, to work together to mass produce the jabs. the biden administration has imposed its first sanctions on russia over what it says was moscow's attempt to kill opposition leader alexei navalny. the us targeted seven russian officials — including the head of their secret service — and more than a dozen businesses, some connected with biological and chemical materials.

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