the world health organization has urged countries to keep using the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine — france, italy, germany and spainjoined the list of countries who have halted injections. concerns were initially raised by norway — when a small number of people suffered blood clots. astrazeneca insists the vaccine is safe. the influential sister of north korea's leader — kimjong—un — has warned the us not to cause a stink — as the biden administration prepares to set out its korean policy. her comments come hours before america's top diplomat, anthony blinken is due to visit the region. the us senate has voted to confirm deb haaland to head the department of the interior — making her the first native american cabinet secretary. the congresswoman from new mexico is expected to have a key role in efforts to move the united states towards carbon neutrality. now on bbc news,

monday in parliament. hello again, and welcome to monday in parliament. "she was just walking home" — mps pay tribute to sarah everard, as the home secretary promises to listen to women and girls. too many of us have clutched our keys in our fists in case we need to defend ourselves, and that is not ok. but there's widepread criticism of the way a vigil for sarah was policed. what happened this weekend is a reminder of what happens when police try to completely bypass the views of the communities they serve. also in this programme, fares please — stand by for the age of the bus. buses are not just an industry, but they're almost _ like a social service _ and fundamentally they help us level up the country.

but first, the home secretary has told mps she understands public anger over sarah everard's death, but she warned against protests while covid restrictions are in place. priti patel confirmed that she's started a review into the policing of saturday's vigil on clapham common in south london. hundreds of people had gathered on the common to lay flowers and pay their respects to sarah, who'd gone missing while walking home from a friend's house. there was widespread criticism by mps of the police tactics after they tried to disperse the vigil, making four arrests. sarah's body was found in woodland in kent, and a police officer has been charged with her murder. in the commons, the home secretary led mps in expressing their condolences to sarah's family. mr speaker, i would like to take a moment to acknowledge why sarah's death has upset so many. my heartache and that of others can be summed up

in just five words — she was just walking home. too many of us have walked home from school or work alone only to hear footsteps uncomfortably close behind us. too many of us have pretended to be on the phone to a friend to scare someone off. too many of us have clutched our keys in our fists in case we need to defend ourselves, and that is not ok. she defended the covid restrictions approved by mps during a deadly pandemic. sadly, as of sunday the 14th of march, more than 125,500 lives have been lost to this horrible virus. it is for that reason that i'm continuing to urge everyone for as long as these regulations are in place not to participate in large gatherings or attend protests. laboursaid a time of national grief must become a time of change.

the reaction to sarah everard's death across the country has been extraordinarily powerful and moving, led by the passionate voices of women and girls who are rightly demanding action and change. and it cannot be right that so many women continue to fear for their safety on a daily basis, whether on the streets or at home. and whilst the event was a vigil, not a protest, the scenes from clapham should be a red warning light to the government that ministers should not be rushing through laws cracking down on protest. the truth is, mr speaker, this government is failing to address violence against women and girls, and ministers even want to curtail their right to protest about it. the public health crisis hasl made restrictions necessary and public gatheringsj unadvisable, so while the police face difficult decisions every day, l it's impossible to watch i the footage of the events at clapham common without shock and concern that the policing -

appeared heavy—handed and disproportionate. . this has been a difficult and demanding period for the police. the impact of coronavirus restrictions, and we know why they are in place as well. the mp whose constituency includes clapham common said her constituents were angry. what happened this weekend is a reminder of what happens when police try to completely bypass the views of the communities they serve. so, does the home secretary recognise the police's high—handed approach got the balance between public safety and the right to protest completely wrong? does the home secretary agree that the police's heavy— handed treatment of female protesters was wrong? priti patel said she understood the anger, but an independent investigation would look at what happened. other mps were just as angry. now, i acknowledge i the particular policing challenges at a time of covid restrictions, but the met - is still obliged to follow the human rights act i and execute its powers proportionately and -

only when necessary. and it's clear to everyone that they got it terribly. wrong on saturday night. mr speaker, the scenes of women being forced to the ground, restrained and arrested simply for holding a peaceful vigil in memory of sarah everard and in condemnation of violence against women and girls were utterly disgraceful. of course the met commissioner, cressida dick, must resign. mr speaker, i believe that it is highly regrettable that members of the opposition demand that the first female commissioner of the metropolitan police resign in this situation. what on earth were the - metropolitan police thinking? what on earth happened to police discretion? - to proportionality? to flexibility? to empathy? to any sense of self—awareness given the circumstances that i surrounded that hellish murder?

i'm shocked at the way in which saturday night's vigil was policed. the situation demanded sensitivity and compassion, something which was evidently lacking — but i'm also shocked that what started as a peaceful and important vigil turned into a protest with photographs showing acab science, which stands for "all cops are bastards". madam deputy speaker, i'm concerned that a young woman's murder could be hijacked by those who would seek to defund the police and destabilise our society, making it even harder for women to come forward and report assaults. she's made a very, very important point that a peaceful vigil on saturday turned into some pretty ugly scenes, so we'll wait for the report and there's no question that where there are lessons to be learned, they will be learned. a conservative critic of lockdown made a wider point. this house criminalisedj the freedom of protest. this house, us. not dame cressida, not thei metropolitan police, we did. we criminalised the freedom to protest collectively. -

we are up to our eyeballs in this. i he said now was the time to "de—criminalise" the freedom to protest. let's get people back- on the streets, let's allow people to get things i off their chests again. protest is a safety valve. there is a road map that has been laid out. we are still in a pandemic, and we are following with the guidance that has been put in place. and obviously this will be subject to debate over the next week or so. and i'm more than happy to discuss this with my colleagues. priti patel. mps then moved on to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. this wide—ranging legislation covers everything from attacks on emergency workers to unlawful traveller encampments, stop—and—search and dangerous driving, but it was the bits about protests and protections for women that attracted most attention. madam deputy speaker, this government was elected just over a year ago on a clear manifesto commitment to support the police and to keep our country safe.

it is vital that we continue to deliver on that promise to the british people. she worked her way through the different areas of the bill, setting out what the government planned to do. a labour mp intervened. this bill here is 300 pages long, barely mentions women or children. the explanatory notes do not mention women or girls once. so, will she get to her feet and apologise finally for missing this fantastic opportunity to put victims at the heart of our criminal justice system once and for all? she set out what the bill would do. rapists and other serious sexual predators sentenced to a standard determinate sentence of four years or more will henceforth serve at least two thirds of their sentence in custody. those rapists sentenced to life in prison will similarly serve longer in custody before they are considered for release on licence. turning to the provisions on protest, she said campaigners had changed their tactics in recent years to exploit gaps in the law.

she highlighted the extinction rebellion, orxr, campaign. last year, we saw xr blocking the passage of an ambulance on emergency calls, gluing themselves to trains during rush hour, blocking airport runways, preventing hundreds of hard—working people from going to work. and finally, i'd like to gently remind the house that on one day last year, many people across the country were prevented from reading their morning newspapers due to the tactics of some groups, a clear attempt to limit a free and fair press, a cornerstone of our democracy and society. this risks sending out- an awful lesson on the level of importance they attache to violent crime. _ the government wants a maximum penalty of ten years _ for damage to statues. now, no government should ever send out a signal- that the safety of a statue carries greater _ importance in our laws- than the safety of women. but as currently draughted, .

this bill would allow someone to receive a sentence . for attacking the statue of a slave trader of up to ten - years when rape sentences start at five years. that does not reflect - the priorities of the people! and this... i will happily give way! the shadow home secretary should well know and should honestly tell the house that the maximum sentence for rape is life! well, i mean, iasked- the home secretary earlier in the statement to tell me how many people convicted of rape i were actually sentenced to life inprisonment, - and she couldn't - answer the question. the answer is hardly any. a former prime minister and home secretary welcomed much of the bill, but warned of "unintended consequences in some areas", such as protests. i absolutely accept that the police have got certain challenges, for example when people glue themselves to vehicles or the gates of parliament. but freedom of speech is an important right in our democracy.

however, however annoying or uncomfortable sometimes that might be, and i know there will be people who have seen scenes of protests and will have said, "why isn't the government doing something?" to which the answer in many cases basically will be because we live in a democratic, free society. this bill, as introduced, will not achieve what the government says it wants to achieve, will seriously curtail the rights to protest, will criminalise the way of life of gypsy travellers, is likely to have a disproportionate negative impact on ethnic minority communities and women and will allow the ridiculous and unjust possibility of a tougherjail sentence for someone who topples over a statute than for someone who does the same thing to a living human being. this government has passedj lots of laws, but the number of people convicted of breaking them has fallen. _ we've had lots of changes to sentences, but fewer . criminals are actually getting sentenced in the first place. i and justice is not being done. and victims are being left out. and over the last five years,

the shocking truth is it has. got easier to be a criminal and harder to be a victim.| and we cannot let that stand. so, there is an important . debate about the measures in this bill, but i see nothing in them that will turn around those shocking figures. yvette cooper. you're watching monday in parliament with me, david cornock. still to come, more trouble for ministers in the house of lords. the defence secretary has announced that an raf unit is to be disbanded, following the release of a video appearing to show a man being sexually assaulted. a report in the daily mail claimed the footage showed the young airman being abused during an initiation ceremony. the raf police are investigating the incident and the victims have been offered our full support. the chief of the air staff and i had a discussion

about the incident over the weekend, and he has — with my support — acted quickly. he has removed officers from the immediate chain of command without prejudice, pending the findings of a police investigation, and the unit involved, the support weapons flight, will be disbanded with immediate effect. bullying, harassment and discrimination has no place in our armed forces, and i and neither will the chief of the air staff tolerate it. at defence questions, mps focused on the review of foreign and defence policy, due to be unveiled by borisjohnson on tuesday. labour argued the uk's armed forces were still 10,000 below the number the last defence review said was needed in 2015. he's rightly said before that our forces personnel will go to war alongside robots in the future, but robots don't seize and hold vital ground from the enemy, they don't keep the peace or rebuild broken societies and they don't give covid jabs. can i say to the secretary of state, size matters? and no government can secure the nations with understrength armed forces. ben wallace said that,

for decades, all governments had been overambitious while at the same time underfunding defence. the biggest problem is that we have been promising soldiers, men and women of the armed forces, equipment they never got or numbers games when just tying them up alongside. that's not the way to confront the enemy. the way to confront the enemy is invest in the people, give them the right equipment to take on the threat, make sure that they are active, busy and forward — and as a soldier, being active, busy and forward is what keeps you engaged and in them. ben wallace. the government's suffered a series of defeats in the house of lords over its domestic abuse bill. peers backed proposals for tougher supervision and monitoring of serial domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators. they've supported a change to the bill which would force the government to create a register of perpetrators and require ministers to deliver a comprehensive plan for managing them within a year. a former labour leader of the lords gave a shocking example. hollie gazzard was stalked and murdered by asher maslin in the hairdressing salon in which she worked. hollie reported

to police many times. there was no proactive investigation, risk assessment or risk management, despite the fact that maslin was involved in 2a previous violent offences, including three on hollie. she said since the bill had reached the lords injanuary, 30 women had been killed. ..until there's a coherent and coordinated national system and until those implementing the process have to do so by law. it is, for example, not good enough to rely on best practice. we know that doesn't work. there are some great examples of best practice, but this is rare. that's why we need a clear, consistent national approach, which must include proper identification, assessment and management of serious perpetrators. several speakers had direct experience of being stalked. and it's vital that police, prosecutors, probation, judges and magistrates are trained to understand stalking, including the risks and dangers of stalkers, as well as the stalking legislation which was

introduced in 2012, following the stalking law reform inquiry which i worked on with robert buckland. this assumes even more significance if there's to be a stalkers and serious perpetrators register database, which we're calling for in this amendment. we believe it is urgently needed now. noble lords will forgive me if i mention my own cousin once again. her name was christine burton. at 18, she had her whole life in front of her. instead, she was murdered by a complete stranger. i often reflect — if the police at the time of my cousin's murder had taken his harassment of young girls more seriously, if his behaviour had been called out as grossly un—acceptable by his peers or if he had been put on a perpetrator scheme like the ones we now know work, my cousinjust might have still been alive today. i would urge the noble lady the minister to listen- to the speeches tonight. a comprehensive perpetratorl strategy for domestic abusers and stalkers is essential.

i would argue that it's - needed with more urgency than a year from now, but it must help - identification, assessment- and management of perpetrators. and we must focus on. perpetrators' behaviour and not blame the victims. we must support the victims. it's time to eradicate misogyny and sexism from our criminal justice system. it's time these dangerous domestic abusers and stalkers are registered and monitored in the same way as sex offenders and that the victim's right to safety and to live free of fear is realised and prioritised over an abuser�*s right to freedom. but the minister said work was already under way to improve the existing multi agency public protection arrangements — or mappa — and warned the amendment could undermine it. we would be making a large group of offenders not defined by specific offences automatically eligible for mappa.

this would risk creating a level of complexity not reflected in the current legislation that will distract resources and could overwhelm the current system. earlier, peers inflicted two further defeats on the government, demanding steps to ensure migrant women are not deterred from reporting domestic abuse. but it does seem that the moral imperative here is absolutely overwhelming. for these extremely vulnerable women to face continued abuse and criminal acts against them, in order to help the home office get some information about some other people, is surely not right. the issue is about process. without a firewall, some, quite a lot of women — and some men too — won't even get to square one of victims first and foremost. we will engage with domestic abuse organisations- to understand those concerns i and to assess what more we can do to allay those fears.

we welcome the input of all. noble lords as we conduct that research, but in conclusion, - my lords, whilst we understand the concerns which lie behind it, we respectfully believe . that this is the wrong amendment and at. the wrong time. lord parkinson. now, in a few days�* time, the commission on race and ethnic disparities is due to present its findings to the prime minister. it's been looking at inequality across the uk, focusing on areas such as poverty, education, employment, health and the criminal justice system. an independent peer said the pandemic had laid bare structural inequalities. does the minister agree with me that when the commission for racial disparity reports in a few days�* time, it must include a covid—19 race equality strategy to comprehensively deal with inequalities in health, employment, education and housing? on the 26th of february, we released a second report

on the progress being made to tackle covid—19 disparities experienced by individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, and i'm sure it will be part of the outcomes of the commission that the prime minister will shortly receive. peers used the opportunity to highlight different forms of racism and inequality. isn't it time to abandon the unaccountable notion of operational independence and direct the police to abandon racist practices, notably stop and search? black women are still four. times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy- or childbirth in the uk and 85% of black people are not - confident they would be treated the same as a whitel person by the police. the commission will bring all these things together and we will look at moving this work forward, on the back of all those reviews that we've had in the past and taking them all into account. bigotry againstjews and israel is rampant in our universities, from the top administration, through the academics, to the students — as evidenced by the community security trust. the problem is institutional — for example at bristol university right now. the minister replied that she would ensure that the office for students brings forward plans to address anti—semitism on campus.

bigotry againstjews and israel is rampant in our universities, from the top administration, through the academics, to the students — as evidenced by the community security trust. the problem is institutional — for example at bristol university right now. the minister replied that she would ensure that the office for students brings forward plans to address anti—semitism on campus. the prime minister's been touring the national express bus depot in coventry as he launched a new bus strategy for england. the government's promised that buses will be more frequent, cheaper and greener, with local councils expected to work with bus companies to create "turn up and go" services. the transport secretary, grant shapps, said he wanted buses to be a "natural choice for everyone". what covid has shown is that buses provide britain with far more than just a means of travel. they are a lifeline for millions. in normal times, they help students get to college, they help those without work attend job interviews, they help the elderly get

to the shops, they help us all get about. they're crucial for the survival of our high streets, for rural businesses and for the planet, too. and for many disabled people, they can be an accessible way to stay mobile. in all these ways, buses are notjust an industry, but they're almost like a social service and, fundamentally, they help us level up the country. but buses can and should also be the transport of choice, in my view. we expect councils and operators to bring in simple, cheap, flat fares, with contactless payment, by card or by phone. up—to—date information should be available immediately on our phones, on board the buses, at the bus stops themselves. and we want closer integration of services and ticketing across all forms of public transport. he insisted that the strategy marked a "new beginning for buses". we won'tjust stop the decline, which has been going on historically for decade

after decade. we want to reverse it, by making buses a natural choice for everyone — not just for those without any other travel options. this strategy should have been used to revolutionise the bus industry, but i'm afraid it lacks ambition and it doesn't even touch the sides of the cuts and rocketing prices witnessed over the last decade by passengers. it should have been used to ensure that funds were properly directed to deliver a radical transition to a zero—emission fleet, something the prime minister promised now over a year ago. and it should have been used to create new green jobs in the bus and coach sector, to give operators and manufacturers the boost they so badly need. it's been a year since we were promised a transport revolution and a year of re—announcements. while the pandemic can be held to blame for some of the passenger fall in numbers that we have seen, the transport secretary knows full well that the last decade have really weakened the foundations of bus services in this country.

can i warmly welcome - the national bus strategy today as part of another key spoke of the levelling up agenda, i alongside lifelong learning, the levelling up fund - and transport more generally? this is really about delivery, i not dogma, and i'm particularly glad to see there's options . available for local authorities and particularly also - the integrated and social nature of some of - the funding available. the north east has suffered underinvestment in transport for too long. in 2019, it was revealed that over £3,600 of spend was planned per head for london and just over £500 per head for the north east. the prime minister has said this strategy was an act of levelling up. we know this phrase is a smoke screen for gifting money to areas that don't need it but happen to have a tory mp, so can the secretary of state tell us what criteria will be applied to ensure this £3 billion is shared fairly amongst our regions? well, madam deputy speaker, first of all, i agree, and ijust said london has been getting a very nice bite of the cherry with its buses

and we want the rest of the country to get the same. that's the point of launching this, but i'm afraid i don't recognise the second point she made. and she may be getting confused with the fact that hard—working, great mps who lobby for their local areas mayjust end up being successful in bringing services there. i've no doubt she willjoin her area to that list as well. one labour mp looked back to the conservatives�* strategy on buses in the 1980s. can i welcome many aspects i of this statement today and say to the secretary of state he's effectively delivered - the obituary for the failed deregulation of bus - services outside london? the transport secretary replied that he wanted to talk about the future. well, that was monday in parliament. thank you for watching. i do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for tuesday in parliament. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now.

hello there. in comparison to this time last week, it is a much quieter weather story to tell. but i suspect we will be chasing cloud amounts around over the next few days, just like we had on monday. in cornwall, it was a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine, similar story for northern ireland. but further north and west, cloud gathered as we went through the day, rather threatening looking skies, indication of what's to come. yes, we have some weather fronts bringing some rain into the far northwest. high—pressure is trying to build in from the southwest, but some of this rain will be heavy through the night. isobars squeezing together as well, strengthening winds particularly in the far north of scotland. now, the rain will sink its way south and east, a lot of cloud across the country, so a relatively mild night for many. so as we start off tuesday, there will still be some heavy rain to come, particularly across scotland accompanied by some strong gusty winds from the northwest. widely, we could see gusts in excess of 30 mph first

thing, but in the far north, 40—115 mph not out of the question. that strong wind will help push the rain south and east as we go through the day, quite a clearance, the winds will fall light, the sunshine will come through. the only exception, perhaps, across east anglia, essex and kent, it may well stay cloudy for much of the day. top temperatures though through the afternoon, generally around 10—15 celsius — not bad. now, high—pressure will anchor itself across northern ireland. a little bit more of a breeze always around the periphery of the high, and that is going to continue to drag in cloud amounts, hence the reason that we will be chasing cloud from time to time. so on wednesday, there will be quite cloudy skies with the odd light shower into the far north and some cloud coming in off the north sea, so sheltered westerns parts of england and wales seeing the best of the sunshine potentially. now, as we move into the end

of the week, the high—pressure just moves a little bit further west again, and that allows more of a northeasterly flow, a cooler source, particularly across east anglia and southeast england. so what that will do is it potentially breaks up the cloud to allow more sunshine to come through, but it means that it might feel just that little bit cooler the further south and east you are by the end of the week. further west, it stays largely dry, but there is always the risk of a little more cloud. that's it, take care.

we've this is bbc news — my name's mike embley — our top stories. the world health organisation urges countries to keep using the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine — as a growing list of european nations suspend injections. the influential sister of north korea's leader, says the us must avoid causing a stink if it wants peace — as america's top diplomat heads to the region. the un's secretary general says he's appalled by the escalating violence in myanmar, at the hands of the military. making history: deb haaland is confirmed as us secretary of the interior — becoming the first native american to lead a cabinet agency. it's a moment that each of these nominees will never forget. and — the nominations are out for this year's delayed oscars — the most ethnically diverse, in the history of the academy

awards.