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. 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. 200 million doses of astrazeneca vaccine are expected to be sent to 142 countries by the end of may. they're delivered under the covax scheme, which provides poorer countries with free inoculations. a shipment of nearly four million coronavirus vaccines has already arrived in nigeria.

now on bbc news, tuesday in parliament. hello there, and welcome to tuesday in parliament. coming up in the next half hour, the hunt for the passenger who came to the uk with the brazilian variant of the coronavirus has been narrowed to a few hundred households. we do know that this variant has caused significant challenges in brazil. so we're doing all we can to stop the spread of this new variant the uk. there's condemnation of the government's decision to cut aid to yemen by more than half. this is not who we are. this is not how global britain acts. the outline of northern ireland's exit from lockdown is announced. and are summer schools the way to catch up children's lost education?

it's particularly difficult - to encourage disadvantaged young people to attend i those summer activities. but first, the health secretary has told mps that the search for the person with the brazilian coronavirus variant has been narrowed to 379 households in south east england. scientists say the strain appears more contagious and may evade immunity provided by past infection. matt hancock said five of the six people identified with the variant had quarantined at home as they were legally required to do. unfortunately, one of these six cases completed a test but didn't successfully complete the contact details. incidents like this are rare and only occur in around 0.1% of tests. i can update the house on the latest information in identifying this case. we've identified the batch of home test kits in question. our search has narrowed from the whole country down to 379 households in the south east of england, and we're

contacting each one. our current vaccines have not yet been studied against this variant, and we are working to understand what impact it might have. but we do know that this variant has caused significant challenges in brazil. so we're doing all we can to stop the spread of this new variant in the uk, to analyse its effects and to develop an updated vaccine that works on all these variants of concern. throughout history, epidemic after epidemic has exploited international travel. surely, it is obvious that tougher border controls should've been in place sooner. i welcome the progress that the secretary of state has made on identifying the batch, but can he tell us how on earth a test can be processed that doesn't collect the contact details? and what mechanisms will be put in place to fix this in the future? because £22 billion has been allocated to this system. it feels to me that as if somebody has vanished

into thin air, can he assure us that it won't happen again in? we are now sequencing a third of the positive tests in this country, and that means that although that isn't yet a full survey of all the positives — although we are working towards that — it does mean that we are able to spot these variants much more than anywhere else in the world. does he recognise that quarantining just 1%. of international arrivals does. not protect the uk from these variants, nor those which may evolve in the future in other l parts of the world? the honourable lady is completely wrong, and she knows it. there is a quarantine in place for 100% of arrivals as passengers in this country. and in fact, this episode in which all of those we have successfully contacted, all five, have fully isolated and quarantined at home as required, demonstrates that policy working.

so can the secretary of state explain why it is that the eye watering £22 billion that has been spent on the test and trace system, but it doesn't track each and every test that is sent out based on the unique code on every test? surely this would help close in the net on positive tests much quicker. not having the contact details happens in about 0.1% of tests. in this case, we think that the test was done as part of a home test kit, where, obviously, it's incumbent on the individual to set out those details, because home test kits can be both sent to your home, in which case, of course, we have the details of where it was sent, or in response to surges, they can be taken round by

the local authority teams and dropped off. matt hancock. meanwhile in the lords, labour said new research showed the brazilian variant was present in at least 15 countries not on the government's red list, meaning people arriving from those destinations were exempt from hotel quarantine rules. and its front bench warned that in any event, the list could quickly become out of date because of the time it takes to sequence covid tests. will the government review the red list and take urgent action to introduce a comprehensive hotel quarantine system that applies to all uk arrivals? the minister told her the red list was under constant review. the fact that we have a red list and we have a managed quarantine programme does make further expansion of the red list possible, and it puts our borders and our vaccine under a programme where we can control things, which is to be applauded.

how confident is the government that our vaccines will be able - to cope with the brazilian| variant of the covid virus, and that the passengerl from brazil, somewhere in south gloucestershire, will be traced? _ and what measures are now in place to ensure that - an incoming passenger is not lost again? - on the vaccine, we are uncertain. there is a huge amount of speculation, and i would recommend to noble lords that they take it with a pinch of salt, because we cannot know for sure how the virus will behave with those who have been vaccinated until we have much, much better and clearer data. could the government accept that viruses mutate and what we need is a strategy to deal with that, and constantly locking people up and extending the list of countries so that you can put more and more people into hotels is a self—defeating policy.

if there is a highly transmittable vaccine—escaping mutation, it would take us back to the beginning of this virus and this whole pandemic. that is why we've put in place the red list countries, that's why we've put in place managed quarantine, and that's why we are committed to project eagle and the efforts to track down those who are bringing variants of concern into this country. lord bethell. the government faced condemnation from all sides of the commons over its decision to halve aid to yemen. the situation in the country is widely considered to be the world's worst humanitarian crisis. the government said it would provide at least £87 million this year down from £161; million pledged last year. ministers have ditched their policy of spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid to help deal with the coronavirus crisis at home.

in november, the foreign secretary told this house that the humanitarian crisis was one of his priorities. yet he has cut funding to the largest humanitarian crisis in the world by 60%. clearly, the foreign secretary's commitments are worthless. does he agree that his government's actions have shown our allies and our detractors that his word cannot be trusted ? the obvious point to make is that under the last labour government, they never hit 0.7%, they only hit 0.5% twice, and over the last five years in relation to yemen, including for 2021, we've between the third and fifth highest donors. we will keep up that effort. we've provided more than £1 billion of funding to the humanitarian crisis in yemen since the conflict began, and of course, we fully support martin griffith, the un special envoy's efforts to find peace there. but the foreign office minister faced a sustained onslaught, much of it from his own side, when he came to the dispatch box to answer an urgent question on the matter. last night, he will have heard the united nations general. secretary tell him that i

foryemen, and i quote, "cutting aid - is a death sentence. "cutting it by 50%| is unconscionable." as a senior and respected official of the un said, . "millions of yemeni children will now continue the slow, i agonising and obscene process of starving to death." - my right honourable friend told this house just last month - that, and i quote, "yemen will remain a uk priority." i and yet the fifth richest - country in the world is cutting support by more than half- to one of the poorest countries in the world and during a global pandemic. - the minister defended the government's contribution to overseas aid or oda. we will remain both in absolute terms and percentage terms, one of the most generous oda donating countries in the world, and to yemen itself, we still remain one of the largest donors to that humanitarian crisis. but the attacks continued. save the children say that

already 400,000 children under the age of five are at risk of starving to death this year. so i ask the minister, how many deaths is he prepared, how many deaths is this tory government prepared to have on its conscience, because it certainly doesn't act in my name. you can't make a 50% cut - in this budget without cutting into the crisis and health care support, thereby putting - at least 100,000 - children's lives at risk. they're doing this, mr speaker, just weeks after announcing £1.36 billion in new arms sales to saudi arabia — the exact opposite of what the united states is doing. so i ask the minister, is this what we can now expect? the uk government shrinking away from its commitments, leaving other more compassionate countries to pick up the slack? i would also remind her and the house that we face unprecedented economic circumstances. and the quicker those are resolved, the quicker we can get back to being the generous international aid donor that we all wish to be.

it is not a moral decision to abandon yemen. - why has the government done this when, for example, - germany, which is also facing - the same unprecedented economic situation — to use his own- words — has managed to pledge twice as much as - the united kingdom? if the government is so reassured by its position, then i suggest it brings a vote to the house on this issue, and they can truly gauge the strength of feeling on this issue. the foreign secretary is looking at the legal requirements around the situation. i completely understand his passion, and i would remind him and the house that we remain one of the largest donors to the humanitarian crisis. james cleverly. now, are shorter summer holidays and longer school days the best way to help children in england catch up following the coronavirus pandemic? that was one of the questions that mps on the education committee put to a panel of experts including the man who has been dubbed the "catch up tsar".

i tend to think that right now is not a time for either/or. it is a time for all things being considered and being available. what is very important about the summer school approach this time around compared to this study you mention is that it is for schools to determine and target which children, if any, they want to bring to the summer schools. and the most important thing that will happen when the children go back, and the sooner they can go back the better in my view, the sooner they go back, schools will assess and meet and know that children to work out with different children need so the right children can be targeted for the summer schools. schools are right to call that and i think that will help with the attendance. but i can't overestimate the points being made about quality. we also said to schools with the covid premium that actually that is where you invest in making sure teachers have the support they need to do this, to make the curriculum adjustments and be supported to develop summer schools they might need to be with a broader range of children. so i don't think it is either/or at the moment. i think the need for some

children summer schools can be extremely supportive, particularly if you are in year seven. you going to your secondary school and you want a couple weeks before you get there. i can see the value of that. but i think the key thing is schools target and schools know which children benefit the most and those perhaps summer school is in the right thing for them and it is not to be called centrally. there is benefit of course and just sort of summer activity tomorrow for well—being as we have been hearing, and if you want to see academic progress made, that needs to be very targeted and led by well—qualified teachers and so forth. it is very expensive and of course we are balancing the issues around teacher burn—out and expectations for both pupils and teachers over the summer. and additionally, you have the issue that has been consistently found both in our own rct research and in the international evidence that it has been particularly difficult to encourage disadvantaged young people to attend

the summer activities. you're watching tuesday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. northern ireland's deputy first minister has set out its blueprint for easing the coronavirus lockdown describing it as "cautious and hopeful". unlike england, there's no specific dates or timetable. the plan focuses on nine areas: retail, hospitality, education, work, culture, leisure, travel and tourism, religious events, home and community. each will emerge from lockdown in stages with a gradual lifting of restrictions. first and foremost, our approach is risk—based. it will be driven by health, community and economic data and analysis.

we will not be driven by hard dates. we recognise that everybody will be looking for certainty but we do not want to set potentially unachievable dates that will only disappoint. our commitment is that we will keep restrictions in place only as long as needed, and as and when we build headroom to open a sector, we will certainly take that opportunity. as i understand it, the executive office pathway has nine streams with five stages moving at different speeds, meaning there are 45 variables moving at different paces for people to engage with. i can see that causing confusion for people and it not being that easy to follow. boris johnson made a very clear commitment, we will not go - that once we've gone forward to a phase, that there is no going back? . the virus is still among us, it is still spreading, it is still too high a rate. there are new variants. but what we have done today and what we are trying to achieve with this plan is that if we do this

in a gradual way, in a very considered way, if we work our way through it gradually, and be cautious and take the right decisions at the right times, that mitigates against the risk of going backwards. today, we have light at the end of the tunnel. we have a society, who, for over a year have been struggling, so at least we have something. but one member said it wasn't much of a sat nav if it didn't tell you the route or when you expected to get there. people wanted answers. when can we get our kids permanently back in the school? not on some hokey—cokey basis. when can we get our businesses open? when can we get our kids back to playing sport? when can families again engage in recreation and use their caravans or whatever? those are the questions people want answered. all we have today is a "maybe, maybe." it's not good enough. well, michelle o'neill told him kids would be back in school and businesses would reopen

whenever it was safe. meanwhile, scotland's first minister has said that all secondary school pupils will return to classrooms part—time from 15 march. it had previously been announced that some would not return to school until april. but nicola sturgeon said all secondary pupils will now get some in—school time before the easter holidays. students in the senior phase of secondary school, that's of course years 4—6, who are taking national qualifications or have priority for face—to—face lessons in school, this will ensure they can have their hard work fully recognised with qualifications under the alternative certification model. however, although years four to six may have priority, we expect all children in secondary school or receive some in school education each week up until the easter break and then return full time following that. this will allow people to get used to being back in school and allow them to start seeing friends again and i'm sure everyone will agree that this is important for the wellbeing

of young people as well as for education. nicola sturgeon. to wales now, where first minister's questions in the virtual senedd had a pre—election air about it, with party leaders rehearsing some of the lines they'll be using in the run up to polling day in may. plaid cymru's leader clashed with the labour first minister over wales's future. mark drakeford told the national newspaper he wants more powers for wales within the uk home rule. adam price wants independence. you described independence today in the national, first minister, as a 19th century response to a 21st century problem, going on to propose home rule instead, an idea from the 1880s. the problem is that home rule will never solve the fundamental problem in the welsh democratic deficit. we've never voted tory in wales, yet we had tory governments two thirds of the time. is there any reason to think that will be different in the future? well, what i see different in the future is the entrenchment of the current settlement, so that it cannot be rolled back unilaterally by any

government at westminster. i want a new settlement for the union so that wales' place in it is fully respected and the decisions that are made on a four—nation basis are made on the basis of equality of participation. i know one player can outvote or out — use its authority to impose itself on others. what the bulk of the welsh population is in favour of is home rule in the sense that the decisions that are made into wales, about wales, are made only here in wales, but that we do not cut ourselves off from everything that we can achieve together by a four nation voluntary association across the uk. a conservative leader said the welsh government should use its share of extra money from westminster to freeze council tax bills.

there is a cost—of—living crisis developing now with this covid crisis, hitting the economy really hard. one measure you could do to help council tax is freeze it in wales, to help families the length and breadth of wales, will you commit to using the powers that you have to freeze council tax and use the consequentials to fund the funding gap? what i am committed to is waiting until tomorrow's budget is out of the way and we are certain on how much money we have available to us here in wales, to use next year and we will then consider the purposes for which it could be applied. i think last week the member was urging me to use that money to support businesses here in a wales. today he wants me to freeze the council tax. i understand why he wants to do that, because the largest council tax rise in wales last year of course was imposed by conservative controlled conway council. so if he is asking me

to protect council tax payers in wales for the conservative party, i will think about that very carefully. mark drakeford. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has said the cultural sector, employing some 700,000 people, will be a "significant driver" in any post—pandemic recovery. he's expected to use the budget to put an extra £300 million into the one and a £1.5 billion culture recovery fund. england's museums and cultural bodies are also expected to receive a further boost. but in a debate in the commons, mps called for him to do more. the culture minister agreed that the arts had suffered an extremely challenging year. covid—i9 has placed unprecedented pressures on organisations and individuals across the economy. but entertainment and culture have been particularly hard—hit, relying as they so often do on social interaction and close contact. but she said there were now grounds for optimism with the vaccination programme. the road map sets out a clear and cautious route to return to normality.

throughout the pandemic, protecting public has been our top priority and we will continue to work very closely with our sectors to support them to reopen as soon it's safe and sustainable to do so. the shadow minister back for the first time since recovering from covid—i9 was the first to criticise the lack of financial help for freelancers, artists and technical staff. no—one should be excluded because they are engaged to work outside of permanent employment contracts. the rich patchwork of creative talent in this country is built on freelancers. people who work across different projects or genres and it is that cross—pollination of ideas that makes it so rich. but because they don't fit the chancellor's model, this government has excluded them from support. even speaking about the cultural and creative sectors as if they were people exercising their hobbies, rather than world—class skills. in pre—covid—19 times, the cultural and entertainment

sector not only brought huge benefits to the economy, but also gave the countries of the uk international acclaim. it is vital that we ensure that every one of these workers comes back into the industry, so that whenever this pandemic is over, the sector thrives again. there's been immense i frustration too at the lack of recognition of the supplyl chains in our cultural sector, many technicians and technical supplies companies have beenj left out of plans to help. without grants, recovery funds, furlough, iciss, many workers i in the cultural sector have had absolutely no support. - insurance, clarity on venue testing and continued financial support were all crucial, according to a former cabinet minister. three steps to prevent another summer of cancellations, three steps to save our summer, and i urge the ministers to put them into action. there were cross—party calls too for government—sponsored insurance for events

like music festivals. it's necessary that the industry has a support mechanism in place. the cultural and entertainment sectors and all those who rely on them for work cannot risk losing a summer season for a second year in a row. they need their chance to be able to safely plan for the return of audiences. germany has set a 2.5 billion guarantee fund. and germany is nowhere near along the same road as we are in terms of vaccinations. if this is not the right time, madam deputy speaker, for an insurance intervention, then there never will be an intervention from the treasury. this is typical treasury orthodox thinking. now is the time for an insurance intervention to make sure we can have live back this summer. one mp taking part was a former member of the ban runrig. quite simply, music is the discourse of the soul. of all the industries and endeavours impacted by prohibiting human beings coming together, live music was always going to

be the most heavily impacted. my heart goes out to this generation of musicians who are having to come from so muchjust to bring pleasure to us all. the government has the tools. please now use them. help this sector out. and that's it from me for another day, but dojoin me at the same time tomorrow, as the chancellor, rishi sunak, unveils his budget, and borisjohnson faces keir starmer at prime minister's questions. but for now for me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. 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, an 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 clearer skies, in 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 into the afternoon. ahead of the showers in the southeast, 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 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. that we have got this line of mostly light rain or drizzle. early snow over higher parts of scotland, and then next behind 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 five to eight 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 the cloud tending to bubble up and develop 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.

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: hundreds of thousands of uighurs in china are transferred by the authorities to factories, often farfrom home. we have an exclusive report. the us imposes sanctions on russia for the attempted killing of leading opposition activist alexei navalny. more countries around the world receive vaccines under the covax scheme, as 4 million doses arrive in nigeria. and president biden promises the us will inoculate every adult by the end of may, two drugs giants will work together to mass produce vaccines.