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.

hello to you. 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 factoryjobs — often farfrom 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, officially, 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 2,000 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 sewed children's clothes and we were obliged to sing the chinese national anthem. they said, "the faster you work, the faster we 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's 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 in 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. the biden administration has announced sanctions on seven senior members of the russian government for the nerve agent attack on the leading opposition activist alexei navalny. the list includes russia's spymaster, the director of the fsb. export controls will also be tightened on 14 firms involved in the production of biological and chemical agents. officials in washington say russia was behind the poisoning. they're also calling for the release of mr navalny.

he's being held in a prison camp. his team have posted video about conditions there. this is some of the footage, showing the prison in pokrov, just outside moscow. it has a reputation for conditions akin to torture, used by the kremlin to break the spirit of detainees. here's the bbc�*s sarah rainsford in moscow. even by russian prison standards, it's a pretty brutal—sounding place. they've been speaking to former inmates to talk about punishment beatings, and really tough physical conditions there. and one form of political prisoner said when 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 package of new sanctions. they have specifically targeted individuals, senior officials in russia. they do not target the economy more broadly and do not do what the team of alexander

navalny asked for, to go after oligarchs, senior russian figures that are close to putin, they say they wanted them sanctioned. as further sanctions, the spokesperson for putin has dismissed the use of sanctions once again. he said that the west is addicted to applying restrictions. he said they should ask themselves one question, does it work? according to the kremlin spokesperson, it doesn't. sarah rainsford for us in moscow. ambassador daniel fried, former sanctions co—ordinator in the 0bama administration told me what he made of these new penalties. iam impressed. it's not all that's needed. but it is a first step, taken very soon after they came into office, so it, it hits the mark, and it leads the way for further action in the future. yes, you know there are supporters of navalny already saying it's not enough.

what is needed, do you think, and what are the chances of those other things happening? well, mr navalny�*s supporters had an interesting proposal, and said that the biden administration should go after russian oligarchs close to putin. now, that's actually a good idea, and they could do that, but taking such actions will take a lot of time and they want to do it fast, after mr navalny, as a first step, not a last step. what practical implications to the sanctions have? presumably anything that increases unhappiness on the inner circle of putin puts pressure on him? the biden administration shows one, that it is not going to ignore the repression of mr navalny or the russians who have demonstrated on his behalf, and two, that the biden administration, unlike his

predecessor, is going to be able to work with europe. this was a co—ordinated package. as i said, it's a first step only, but it is a good and sustainable step. navalny�*s people are right, more is going to have to be done, but the biden administration wanted to move fast, and i don't blame them. i think they are right to have moved quickly. president biden has claimed the united states is on course to produce enough coronavirus vaccine to inoculate every adult american by the end of may. at a white house press briefing, he announced two pharmaceutical giants, johnson &johnson and merck, will work together to mass produce the jabs. he said his administration was bringing in war—time strategies to fight the pandemic. this is a wartime effort, and every action has been on the table including putting together breakthrough approaches. and today, we're 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. the president also appealed again to americans to keep wearing masks. i want to conclude with this. we are making progress, we are

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. honest with you, this fight is farfrom over. i said i would tell you straight up from the beginning. and is make it worse again as new variants spread and we face new setbacks like recent midwinter storms in the midwest and south. 0ur administration will never take this public health threat lightly. there we celebrate the news of a third vaccine, i urge all americans please, keep washing your hands, socially distanced, where a mask, keep wearing them, get vaccinated when it is your turn. now is not the time to let up. i asked the country to wear masks for my first 100 days in office, now was not the time to let our guard down and. people's lives are at stake. we have already, we have already, and i carry this in my pocket, we have lost

as of today, we have lost more than 511,839 americans as of today. it has got to. —— it has got to stop. yesterday, we told you the story of 9—year—old ahmed in yemen. he and his friends attend school in the ruins of their classrooms close to the front—line fighting between the government and houthi rebels. ahmed is just one of millions of children suffering in the civil war there, now in its sixth year, and international aid has been decreasing. the uk government, which helps fund and arm the arab coalition fighting the rebels, plans to cut its aid to yemen by half. this report from our international correspondent, 0rla guerin. just a warning, you may find some of it 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. stay with us on bbc news if you can. still to come: # vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, # i'm begging of you please don't hesitate, # vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, dolly parton�*s plea to americans — get the vaccine before it's too late. first, the plates slid gently

off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and 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 their rights as citizens of the united i states, and they should be protected even in the right. to test them out, so that 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's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say.

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 president biden promises the us will inoculate every adult by the end of may. two drugs giants will work together to mass produce vaccines. someone not hearing that message and singing a very different tune is the governor of texas. despite a worrying rise in covid variants, he is brushing off covid concerns, re—opening the state and ending the mask mandate. here's some of greg abbott's announcement. i'm issuing a new executive order that rescinds most of 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 end personal responsibility. deliveries of coronavirus vaccines have begun around the world under the covax scheme which provides lower income nations with the much—needed jabs. in nigeria, the most heavily populated country on the african continent, nearly 4 million doses of the 0xford—astrazeneca jab arrived tuesday. manufactured in india,

they are the first of 16 million doses to be delivered to nigeria in the coming months. there were also deliveries to ghana, where the vaccination campaign kicked off tuesday. the government hopes to vaccinate 20 million, more than 66% of the nation, by the end of the year. 0ur correspondent, thomas naadi, was in the capital, accra, as people queued outside health centres. i'm in one of the covid—19 vaccination centres in the capital, accra, where people have been queuing all morning to get the jab. i spoke to some of the staff earlier and they are excited to get started. they are prioritising the most vulnerable, including frontline health workers, people with underlying health conditions, and the elderly, aged 60 and above. it is like any other vaccination, a little heaviness in the arm, nothing else.

people should be encouraged to take the jab because if you thinking there is a risk with it, there is also a risk with you not taking it. - there has been a lot of scepticism about the jab, with rumours circulating it can cause infertility, or change dna and other conspiracy theories, so to ease these concerns, president akufo—addo yesterday took his jab on live television. the initial target is to vaccinate about 20 million people before the end of the year but pregnant women and children under 18 years will not be vaccinated as authorities do not have enough data about the possible side effects for these groups. scientists have already approved the russian vaccine sputnik v and authorities are hoping to purchase about 10 million doses. the scientists are also involved in research to develop further vaccines. thomas naadi, bbc news.

vaccinations also began this week in ivory coast, and in the democratic republic of the congo also in neighbouring angola, and in kenya. 0ur correspondent, rhoda 0dhiambo was at the airport as the vaccines arrived. kenya has finally received the covid—19 vaccines from the covax facility. the 1.2 million doses of the 0xford—astrazeneca vaccines will be distributed among 500,000 kenyans in the first phase. health minister mutahi kagwe, who was at the airport to receive the vaccines, says frontline health workers will receive the vaccines first. after that, we're going to go to people with other infections and people who have other diseases, so that we can also protect them. only then, are we then going to rolling it out to the rest of the population.

given this is an anxious time for the country, looking at how the surge of covid—19 cases have been going up, many are sceptical as to whether the vaccines will reach their intended populations. they are hoping the government will be transparent about how the vaccines will be distributed amongst different cities, ensuring that every person who is intended to get the vaccine, gets it. let's get some of the days other stories. scientists have discovered a group of people in the democratic republic of the congo who seem to be able to control the hiv infection they carry without the need for drugs. researchers hope the group, which makes up 4% of people carrying hiv in the country, could help uncover links between natural virus suppression and future treatments. half of brazil's 26 governors are preparing to bypass the federal government and secure covid—19 vaccines for their own states because of delays in the national programme. only 3% of the population has been vaccinated as supplies dwindle and hospitals

reach capacity. brazil is in the midst of a second wave of covid infections. officials in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad say at least three young female employees of a popular tv station have been shot dead by gunmen. no group has admitted responsibility for what appears to be a series of targeted killings of activists, officials and journalists. in december, the so—called islamic state group said it had murdered another woman journalist from the same tv channel. public figures have been getting their covid vaccinations in an effort to boost trust in the programme and one music legend hasjust added her arm to the cause. dolly parton took to social media saying, "dolly gets a dose of her own medicine". she was given the moderna vaccine. she donated about a million dollars towards researching it. she also encouraged everyone else to get theirs. singing # vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, # i'm begging of you please don't hesitate, # vaccine, vaccine, vaccine,

# because once you're dead, then that's a bit too late #. laughs i know i'm trying to be funny now but i'm dead serious about the vaccine. i think we all want to get back to normal, whatever that is, and that would be a great shot in the arm, wouldn't it? if we could get back to that. but anyhow, i just wanted to encourage everybody, �*cause the sooner we get to feelin�* better, the sooner we are gonna get back to bein�* normal, so ijust wanted to say to all of you cowards out there — don't be such a chicken squat, get out there and get your shot! thousands of flamingos migrate to lakes and wetlands of western india to find food and better nesting grounds. the annual spectacle in navi mumbai city draws a crowd. bird watchers say the growing number of flamingos is a good sign but they want authorities to do more to ensure the annual migration pattern isn't disturbed.

instrumental music. if not normal to see flamingos like this so when it is their migratory period, it is special to see and i need a friend to see it because i love animals in general is that when i see something like this, it is really magical, you could say. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter —

i'm @bbc mike embley. 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 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 some clearer skies. 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.

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. 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. two hundred 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,

global questions. covid—19 slammed the brakes on global tourism.