this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. police in washington say they have intelligence of a possible plot by a militia group to breach the capitol building on thursday. the international criminal court is opening a formal investigation into war crimes in the palestinian territories. brazil registers a record covid death toll for the second day running, and it's expected to get worse in the coming weeks. and two rare pieces of armour, lost for a0 years, on display again in the louvre.

hello and welcome. just eight weeks after rioters stormed the us capitol, police say they have obtained intelligence showing there is a possible plot to breach the building again today. the plot is linked to a far—right militia group, and march fourth is the day that some qanon followers believe donald trump will return to take power once again. while extra security measures are being put in place, the house of representatives has decided not to convene on thursday. here's an fbi counter—terrorism official warning of the threats posed by extremists in the united states. looking forward, we assess the domestic violent extremists threat will continue to pose a threat of violence to the us, we expect racially or ethnically motivated violent

extremists and anti—government violent extremists will very likely pose the greatest terrorism threats throughout 2021 and in fact leading into 2022. let's speak to our north america correspondent david willis. david, they are preparing, this time, following january six. i would imagine there is a lot of nervousness about what could happen today. yes nervousness about what could happen today-— nervousness about what could happen today. yes there is and the are happen today. yes there is and they are taking _ happen today. yes there is and they are taking this _ happen today. yes there is and they are taking this threat - they are taking this threat seriously. officials talking about new and concerning information that a militia group, not saying which ones, is plotting to potentially take over the us capitol building and remove democrats from power. now this is, as you mentioned in your introduction, apparently all related to a conspiracy theory promoted by the right—wing group qanon that posits much fourth is the day that donald trump will rise up and assume power. march four is

significant because it was the date on which american politicians traditionally came to power before the laws here were changed back in 1933. now outlandish as all of that may sound, the capitol police department has said that it is prepared for any potential threats against members of congress, and fbi officials are checking hotels and incoming flights and so on. and as you mentioned, the house of representatives have suspended its setting for later today. although the senate will be in session to consider the covid—19 bill. while earlier, the former cia director and secretary of defence, leon panetta, told us that the threat from domestic terrorists was now potentially as great as the threat from those overseas. we've got to treat january six, the same — we've got to treat january six, the same way we treated 9/11. 9/11 was — the same way we treated 9/11. 9/11 was a _ 9/11 was a wake—up call that our— 9/11 was a wake—up call that our country was threatened by

foreign terrorists. generally sex is a wake—up call that the united — sex is a wake—up call that the united states is now threatened by domestic terrorists. and because _ by domestic terrorists. and because there were failings that— because there were failings that took place —— generally i think there are lessons that have — i think there are lessons that have now_ i think there are lessons that have now been learned from the intelligence from january six. a large national guard presence is on duty in the nation's capital and of course there is a very large fence around the building itself butjust a couple of days ago, the fbi director, christopher rae told lawmakers here, echoing essentially what leo panetta was just talking about having remade itself following the 9/11 attacks to face the potential threat from overseas. the fbi was increasingly having to focus its attention on threats from once a print �*s premises groups, anarchists, and so on. in other words, the

threat posed by white americans, sally. and of course. _ americans, sally. and of course, all— americans, sally. and of course, all of _ americans, sally. and of course, all of this - americans, sally. and of| course, all of this follows donald trump's speech in florida at the conservative political party action conference where you saw his supporters en masse and he was sounding, you know, very triumphant once again. that is ri . ht triumphant once again. that is riaht and triumphant once again. that is right and of— triumphant once again. that is right and of course, _ triumphant once again. that is right and of course, officials i right and of course, officials in the capital were ill—prepared for the number of donald trump supporters that descended on the capitol building on the sixth of january. five people died of course in that rioting. this time, they are beefing up security, beefing up manpower, and another thing that has changed since that seizure of the insurrection of the capital is that a lot of social media accounts that were being used by groups such as qanon have been shut down. indeed, twitter, alone has cancelled

the accounts of about 70,000 different people or groups. nonetheless, a couple of days ago, the head of the capitol police force told lawmakers that there has been a 90% increase, she said, over the last couple of months, in the number of threats against us lawmakers compared to the same period last year, sally. qm. lawmakers compared to the same period last year, sally.— period last year, sally. 0k, a lot to consider. _ period last year, sally. 0k, a lot to consider. david - period last year, sally. 0k, a lot to consider. david willis, | lot to consider. david willis, thank you. for the second day running, brazil has posted a record death toll from covid—19. in the past 2a hours, one thousand 910 people have died from the virus — the country also registered more than 70,000 new cases. after the us, brazil is the worst—hit country in the world with more than a 250,000 fatalities to date, and it's a situation that experts warn is going to get worse in the coming weeks. our south america correspondent katy watson now reports from sao paulo. brazil's gravediggers are on the frontline in this deepening crisis.

witnesses to the growing number of dead, with no sign of any let up. hospitals right across the country are struggling to contain the virus. some patients are being transferred to different states to get treatment. up and down brazil, intensive care units are full. most experts agree that brazil never really came out of its first wave but the numbers are spiking again, and much of the blame has been put on the new variant, so—called p1, originally found in the amazon, a variant that's since spread beyond brazil's orders. the president has remained largely silent, only speaking out to criticise the media for creating panic. he has shunned lockdown measures and said people would die of hunger or depression if they were made to stay at home. it's a view that many people here share. translation: i'm worried,

but we have a lot of - physical and psychological needs. we need to work, we need to go out on the street and make our money and earn our bread. with no leadership from the top, local politicians are taking measures to protect the people. from this weekend, sao paolo, the country's biggest and wealthiest state will partially shut down for two weeks, with only essential services remaining open. the governor made clear his disdain for the way the president is handling the pandemic. translation: it is not the media's fault but i the president, just as it is not the fault of the media, but not only are you incompetent in brazil, a pariah in the world, to have the humility to admit your failures, to admit to that brazilians were buried because you are not able to do your duty, defending the lives and health of brazilians. this pandemic has become

deeply political. not only that, but the combination of the new variant, a slow vaccination programme and no plan to steer the country out of crisis, means experts are warning the coming weeks are set to be even worse. chancellor angela merkel has said germany is changing its stance on the oxford—astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine, and will now recommend its use for people aged 65 and over. data from britain has shown the vaccine to be highly effective in protecting the elderly. france made the same change earlier this week. this comes as germany outlines it's plans to reduce coronavirus restrictions. with me is our reporter paul hawkins. paul, late into the day in germany. the regional leaders, angela merkel were talking about how to lift restrictions. i was the outcome?— i was the outcome? basically after nine — i was the outcome? basically after nine hours _ i was the outcome? basically after nine hours of _ i was the outcome? basically after nine hours of talks - i was the outcome? basically after nine hours of talks they j after nine hours of talks they have come up with a roadmap for germany to reopen. it includes

tersely from monday, up to five adults from two households can meet up. young children aren't counted so more reasons to socialise there. bookshops, florists and garden centres will reopen. some shops and public buildings can reopen in areas where the infection rate is less than 50 new infections per 100,000 over a 7—day period. so a gradual relaxation of those kind of restrictions but many still stay in place until march 28. as to the timing of this announcement, a recent u govs survey found 35% of german supported the current restrictions. that is way down from 73% at the start of the pandemic. and angela merkel is also under lots of political pressure because there are elections in germany several months away. she is of course stepping down. there is a lot of political pressure to try to reopen germany from within our own political party. as to why she is lifting these restrictions. publicly, she is

saying it is because germany is ramping up its programs when it comes to vaccinations and mass testing. translation: i can say today that the spring _ translation: i can say today that the spring of _ translation: i can say today that the spring of 2021 - translation: i can say today that the spring of 2021 will. translation: i can say today that the spring of 2021 will be | that the spring of 2021 will be different from the spring of a year ago. we are further ahead today in many respects and this is primarily due to two helpers that we have against the virus that we have against the virus that we have against the virus that we did not have in 2020. these two helpers are the different vaccines and the whole range of tests. i was really interrupting angela merkel therefore a momentjust to say angela merkel therefore a moment just to say that angela merkel therefore a momentjust to say that it is interesting they have changed their stance on the astrazeneca vaccine. .. , ., their stance on the astrazeneca vaccine. , ., ., vaccine. exactly. now on it will be made _ vaccine. exactly. now on it will be made available - vaccine. exactly. now on it will be made available to l vaccine. exactly. now on it. will be made available to over 65. they have done a u—turn, the same as france. initially celeste said there was not enough data to show the effectiveness of that oxford—astrazeneca jab for the over 60 fires but they say there is now. so more over 60 fires will be vaccinated in germany and they are generally going to ramp up the

vaccination rate. only 5% of germans have been vaccinated which is way behind places like the uk. they will speed up vaccinations. doctor surgeries will be able to vaccinate. at the moment only vaccination centres can do that. germans will soon be offered one three rapid test per week.— will soon be offered one three rapid test per week. thank you very much. _ rapid test per week. thank you very much, paul. _ rapid test per week. thank you very much, paul. -- _ rapid test per week. thank you very much, paul. -- free. - the international criminal court has opened a formal investigation into allegations of war crimes in the palestinian territories. it will look into events in the israeli—occupied west bank, eastjerusalem and gaza strip sincejune 2014. gail maclellan reports. is this a war crime? palestinian homes in the occupied west bank demolished by israel to make way for israeli homes, homes which the un say are legal. israel disagrees. the icc will now formally investigate if this is a war crime. so to israel's

military occupation of gaza. this was 2015 when there were clashes on the border with israel. the icc will also look into alleged palestinian war crimes like hamas firing rockets into israel during the 2010 war. the icc�*s announcement comes at the end of a five year preliminary investigation. it says it has thejurisdiction investigation. it says it has the jurisdiction to investigate because the palestinian signed up because the palestinian signed up to the accord in 2015. it will now investigate events in the israeli—occupied west bank, eastjerusalem and gaza strip seven june 2014. eastjerusalem and gaza strip sevenjune 2014. we east jerusalem and gaza strip seven june 2014.— east jerusalem and gaza strip seven june 2014. we hope that the international _ seven june 2014. we hope that the international community i the international community will also co—operate rather than try to obstruct the investigation and interrogation against this fascist and racist

israeli policies against the palestinian people.- palestinian people. israel- however has never signed up to the court. its prime minister called the investigation answered and —— absurd and undiluted anti—semitism. without any jurisdiction, undiluted anti—semitism. without anyjurisdiction, they without any jurisdiction, they decided without anyjurisdiction, they decided that our brave soldiers who take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties against the worst terrorist in the world who deliberately target civilians, it is our solders were war criminals. privately however, it is understood israel is worried about the prospect of the rest of its officers or politicians if they travel abroad. behind concerned officials are working to limit its impact by showing israel can investigate itself. and to do that, it will need the support of its closest ally, the us, which fails to recognise the icc. brute ally, the us, which fails to recognise the icc. we firmly o - ose recognise the icc. we firmly oppose and _ recognise the icc. we firmly oppose and are _ recognise the icc. we firmly| oppose and are disappointed recognise the icc. we firmly . oppose and are disappointed by the icc prosecutor's announcement of an

investigation into the palestinian situation. the icc's chief _ palestinian situation. the icc's chief prosecutor - palestinian situation. the icc's chief prosecutor has promised the investigation will be independent, impartial and objective. but it is likely to be carried out by her successor, a british lawyer who replaces her injune. a big challenge for the new chief prosecutor. gail maclellan, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: signs of lockdowns easing — the joy of a haircut at reopened salons. 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. the latest headlines: police in washington say they have intelligence of a possible plot by a militia group to breach the capitol building on thursday. the international criminal court is opening a formal

investigation into war crimes in the palestinian territories. filipino journalist maria ressa, co—founder of the news website rappler, has testified at a manila court where she's charged with tax evasion. her supporters say the charges are politically motivated and retaliation for the website's critical coverage of philippine president rodrigo duterte and his controversial anti—drugs campaign. howard johnson is in manila for us. tell us more about it a's appearance. tell us more about it a's appearance-— tell us more about it a's appearance. well, this case noes appearance. well, this case goes back— appearance. well, this case goes back to _ appearance. well, this case goes back to 2015 _ appearance. well, this case goes back to 2015 and - appearance. well, this case goes back to 2015 and it - appearance. well, this case goes back to 2015 and it is i goes back to 2015 and it is brought by the bureau of revenue here. what they are looking into our claims that maria ressa and rappler gained $3 million in the sale of bombs. philippine depositary receipts to the network itself,

a philanthropic group that invested in companies around the world for social change was rappler so this is not the case. they apply the correct tax code and this was never a securities exchange deal, it was not about prophesying but helping out a fledgling media company —— profiting. when i went 21 to speak to her when she is up against fourjudges, some ten plusjudges she is up against fourjudges, some ten plus judges against rappler that she is experiencing at the moment, they asked her how she was feeling given the number of cases against and her company. it's surreal, you know, it's unbelievable. but you take it, right, — unbelievable. but you take it, right, it — unbelievable. but you take it, right, it is _ unbelievable. but you take it, right, it is doing journalism, unfortunately. and i hope that i will_ unfortunately. and i hope that i will hold the line and win. we will_ i will hold the line and win. we will win these cases. today is about tax — we will win these cases. today is about tax evasion. _ we will win these cases. today is about tax evasion. what - we will win these cases. today is about tax evasion. what you | is about tax evasion. what you say about that? it’s say about that? it's ridiculous. -

say about that? it's ridiculous. the fact that they claim — ridiculous. the fact that they claim that we, our company is ideally— claim that we, our company is ideally insecurities? we are in use organisation. rappler organisation. a holding company for a _ organisation. a holding company for a news — for a news organisation. it is the — for a news organisation. it is the difference between investment and sales of stocks. we are not a stop progress. that— we are not a stop progress. that is— we are not a stop progress. that is what i will be testifying about. they will shut — testifying about. they will shut up _ testifying about. they will shut up now.— testifying about. they will shut up now. thank you for cominu shut up now. thank you for coming so _ shut up now. thank you for coming so early. _ shut up now. thank you for coming so early. critics - shut up now. thank you for coming so early. critics arej coming so early. critics are saying this is just proof of an attack on rappler to try to silence them for the critical reporting. we also saw the largest broker because of the philippines effectively shuttered last year by congress, which is applied to rodrigo duterte. he says it is just about applying the law. maria ressa says this is weaponisation of the law to bring down companies trying to do good for the country by exposing wrongdoing in the country like rappler so they have been doing since they set “p have been doing since they set up in 2012.

have been doing since they set up in 2011— up in 2012. 0k, thank you. howard — up in 2012. 0k, thank you. howard johnson _ up in 2012. 0k, thank you. howard johnson with - up in 2012. 0k, thank you. howard johnson with the l up in 2012. 0k, thank you. - howard johnson with the latest from manila. let's get some of the day's other news. three people have life—threatening injuries in the south of sweden, in what police are treating as a suspected terrorist attack. the assailant, a man in his 20s, stabbed his victims in the southern town of vetlanda. police shot and wounded the attacker before detaining him. in total eight people were injured. at least three people have been shot in nigeria as parents were reunited with their kidnapped daughters in the north—western town of jangebe. trouble started after parents were frustrated by the length of time the handover was taking and started throwing rocks at government officials. nearly 300 girls were kidnapped last week and have been in the custody of the state government since they were freed on tuesday. ajudge in canada has handed multiple murder convictions to a man who drove a van into pedestrians in toronto in 2018. alek minassian killed ten people and another 16 were injured. he faces a 25 yearjail term.

he'd argued that he was not criminally responsible for his actions, but lawyers failed to convince the judge that autism exonerated him. catherine riddell, who was injured in the attack, welcomed the verdict. it was the best i could hope for, i think. i think it was a fair decision and he can spend the rest of his life injail because he deserves it. i'm sorry, he took lives and he did not care and you just have to be accountable for what you do and he is going to have to be. now if you live in a country under lockdown there's probably one thing you're looking forward to when it's lifted — having a haircut. many people can't wait for a cut or colour including our correspondent, anna holligan, who hasjust been to her local salon in the netherlands.

i'm hoping you can fix this. yes, well, let's to the big reveal. ok. as long as you have hair on your head to change you can change anything. we see a loss of our regular clients coming back after lot down because, obviously, bless them they have been waiting for a long time to come in and have their hair done. when your hair isn't right you don't feel right inside, you know? when your hair is a mess you don't feel well. when my hair is a mess i feel a mess. you will see, i will but the highlights in. and in between the packets of the highlights i will apply semipermanent colour. some people like yourself, who would have tried a home hair colour, so we would have quite a few directions coming back also. but it's good. it's great to see everybody. it's not personal interaction that we miss a little bit, also the mask is a barrier for a miss a little bit, also the mask is a barrierfor a good reason, but you still feel that barrier so you have the distance from your clients. so just really looking forward to getting back to our days again.

so this is in between stage. i'm waiting for the colour to develop. and you can see there are lots of people who have booked in for appointments desperate to have their hair sorted out after months. you know, financially _ sorted out after months. you know, financially it's - sorted out after months. you know, financially it's been reaiiy _ know, financially it's been really difficult. i think sleepless nights. i'm really grateful to the government for giving — grateful to the government for giving us — grateful to the government for giving us a support stopic ourselves is quite lucky. we had — ourselves is quite lucky. we had savings, but the savings are ail— had savings, but the savings are all gone now. there isn't reaiiy— are all gone now. there isn't really anything left. so we needed _ really anything left. so we needed to start working. it needed to start working. [it does needed to start working. it does feel quite unusual to be inside a place where people are able to kind of talk and socialise a bit. you worry now about the increased risk you are facing because of this? you do aet are facing because of this? you do get people _ are facing because of this? you do get people like _ are facing because of this? gm. do get people like that who still think it is a conspiracy theory or still think it's, you know, something like that, which is quite scary. do you feel like _ feel like you have even more of a responsibility now to make people who are emerging from the lockdown feel good and

positive about life as matt well, i'm in, there is the old saying that your hair is your crowning glory and if your hair looks good you feel good. so crowning glory and if your hair looks good you feel good. sui looks good you feel good. so i think is a _ looks good you feel good. so i think is a huge _ looks good you feel good. so i think is a huge role _ looks good you feel good. sr i think is a huge role us looks good you feel good. 5r i think is a huge role us as hairdressers to help our clients feel good about themselves again again. they have it, anna _ themselves again again. they have it, anna holligan - themselves again again. they have it, anna holligan having a haircut. i am jealous. have it, anna holligan having a haircut. iamjealous. —— have it, anna holligan having a haircut. i am jealous. —— there you have it. two exceptional pieces of armour dating back to the 16th century have been returned to the louvre in paris. they were stolen in the early 1980s. the helmet and breast—plate, thought to be worth around half a million euros, were found by an auctioneer in bordeaux. the bbc�*s tim allman has the story. back where they belong nearly 40 years after they first vanished. exquisitely ornate, inlaid with gold and silver, some of the finest examples of the renaissance. translation: today, the central office for. cultural property is presenting the louvre with two pieces of italian renaissance armament — a helmet and a breastplate. these are quite exceptional pieces that date back to the 16th century.

objects of pomp and circumstance. the two pieces of armour were donated to the louvre in 1922, part of a collection owned by the baroness de rothschild. how they went missing still remains something of a mystery. how they were recovered, not so much. translation: an expert in military antiquities - in bordeaux has been asked to examine these two objects. he has doubts about them and contacted the authorities. they checked and found out that these objects had been stolen in 1983. the louvre is still closed of course as the pandemic continues, but eventually, restrictions will ease, the museum will reopen, and after nearly four decades, these exceptional objects will be back on display. tim allman, bbc news.

for those of you watching in the uk, it is the morning after the uk, it is the morning after the budget. we will have analysis next. see you soon. hello there. wednesday was a cloudy day and over the next few days, sunshine is going to be at a premium. now, we've still got colder air sitting across the uk. for most of the time, it is going to be dry but there will be a lot of cloud, and the cloud was thick enough on wednesday to give quite a few showers for england and wales, some heavy bursts of rain for a time as well. now at the moment, those showers are becoming confined more to the south east of england and east anglia on that weather front there. at the same time we have another weak weather front moving down into scotland. now, behind that we're going to pick up more of a north—easterly breeze. that will push its way down across the uk and just continue to feed in that chilly airfrom the north. now, there's a lot of cloud around at the moment. misty weather, too. not as much fog, mind you. and temperatures by the morning should be just a few degrees the right side of freezing. but there's some showers to

clear away from the south east and east anglia in the morning. we've got on that weather front in the north some light rain or drizzle. and in scotland, perhaps even a bit of snow over the highest ground. that damp weather moves down into northern england in the afternoon allowing something a bit brighter in scotland, some sunshine in the west. for many parts of the uk, it's going to be cloudy again, particularly dull towards the south west. temperature's not quite as high here on thursday. and generally, those temperatures will be around 6—7 degrees. as we head into the evening, a little bit of drizzle for a while for northern ireland moving into wales, the midlands, down towards the south east. as that moves through, so the cloud will tend to break up a little bit more overnight. we've got high pressure moving down — this time, coming down from iceland bringing with it that colder air but bringing with it a lot of dry weather and the winds will be lighter on friday, as well. could start a bit chilly, though, with some clearer skies overnight. so, a risk of frost in the morning and whilst there could be some sunshine at times on friday, we'll tend to find the cloud tending to build and spread out a bit more through the day. that's not going to help the temperatures, of course. and again, those temperatures will be around 6—8 celsius.

now, let's head into the weekend and for many, it's more of this quiet, dry, fairly cloudy sort of weather. we may find temperatures sneaking up a degree or so as the weekend goes on. and by sunday, there's more of a west to south—westerly wind picking up. over the weekend, there's still the chance of seeing some rain across northern ireland and western scotland, particularly on sunday as weather fronts start to come in from the atlantic, and that's a sign of something more unsettled but not quite as cold as we head into next week.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. give now, take later. more support for the uk economy and the biggest business tax rises in decades. just as it would be irresponsible to withdraw support too soon, it would also be irresponsible to allow our future borrowing and debt to rise unchecked. glass half full — the hospitality industry welcomes more government aid but until pubs, clubs, hotels and attractions are allowed to reopen, theirfuture remains in doubt. also in business: china's new five year plan — beijing wants to cut its reliance on foreign technology. plus, the hunt

for the next klarna —