tonight at ten — mps vote to extend wide—ranging coronavirus powers for another six months, amid warnings cases may rise again. learning to live with the virus — landlords say plans for vaccine passports to enter pubs are unworkable. i think it will drive people away from the local hospitality venues and even city centre ones, when what we need to be doing is bringing people back in. also on the programme... strong words from brussels, after eu leaders met for talks tonight — astrazeneca must "catch up" on vaccine deliveries for the eu before exporting elsewhere, says the president of the eu commission. contaminated blood, the biggest treatment disaster in nhs history — campaigners welcome government plans to review possible compensation. a teacher at a school

in west yorkshire is suspended after showing their class a cartoon of the prophet muhammad. on a night of world cup qualifiers for three home nations, england get their campaign under way with a resounding victory over san marino. these are the hands that touch us first... and a year after the first clap for carers, the author michael rosen, who nearly died from covid, reads his poem to thank the nhs. and coming up in sport on bbc news — england will be without captain eoin morgan for the final two one—day internationals of their series in india, due to a hand injury. good evening. mps have voted to extend emergency coronavirus powers in england until september, despite a large rebellion by backbench conservative mps against the plan. the government has refused to rule out extending

the wide—ranging powers in october. the health secretary matt hancock told the commons he expected people would continue to wear masks long after restrictions are lifted and warned cases could rise again. plans for so—called vaccine passports were raised by the prime minister yesterday to allow people back into pubs and other hospitality and entertainment venues. today, borisjohnson said the idea might only be viable once everybody in the uk had been offered a vaccine. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. eager to get to the bar? forget proving your age, what about proving you've had a jab or a negative test to get a pint? the bell and cross near stourbridge has already spent thousands to get ready to serve outside. ijust think it's a really, really bad idea. the checks we had to do anyway when we were open were extensive. it creates a huge amount of extra work, which meant an extra increase in the staff costs. also the stress of the staff,

because we were meticulous in following these instructions. borisjohnson paints himself a freedom lover, but regular covid checks are being considered as the government wrestles with how to safely open the economy. but it's not easy to grab onto straightforward solutions. i need to get a haircut. are you booked in for april the 12th? for the pub? yes. no, for the haircut! whether haircuts or this issue, pub passports, there's a lot to plan. you've got to be careful about how you do this. you might only be able to implement a thoroughgoing vaccination passport scheme, even if you wanted such a thing, in the context of when absolutely everybody had been offered a vaccine. so, there are complexities, moral complexities, ethical problems that need to be addressed. hang on though — this was only last month. what i don't think we will have in this country is, as it were, vaccination passports to allow

you to go to, say, the pub. that view is shifting, though. this is one of downing street's locals and, like everywhere else around the country, it hasn't seen a punter for months. the government isn't planning to make vaccines compulsory, or force you to do a test every time you leave the house. but they are looking at how pubs, restaurants, venues, football grounds or workplaces could use covid checks to help open up and let us back in. officials are considering if pubs and venues could stop social distancing if they carried out covid checks. but they'd leave the decision to do so up to individual firms. it's not really for the government to abdicate its responsibility and leave it to the private sector to decide the rules, and then take the flak for what may be very unpopular decisions. with so many doors still shut, this suggestion's riled a small but noisy group of tory mps, already unhappy that ministers asked them to extend

the government's sweeping powers. unless you fight for freedoms every day, they end up being taken away from you. after months of denial, now indeed it will be i the case that you will have - to provide your vaccination bona fides when you go to the pub. we, as conservatives, should be very careful not to constrain the private sector in how they choose what customers they have. covid checks wouldn't be used until everyone has been offered a vaccine and won't affect grand plans to reopen outdoor venues next month. but as restrictions roll back, thing is clear — the world won't look the same. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has said tonight that astrazeneca must "catch up" on vaccine deliveries for the eu before exporting its vaccine supplies elsewhere. european leaders have been meeting this evening to discuss tightening export controls on vaccines. the french president emmanuel macron

said all exports should be blocked when drug companies don't respect their contracts. from brussels, here's our europe editor, katya adler. prague is remembering its dead — simply, painfully. with one of the highest covid fatality rates in the world, the czech republic, like many other eu countries, is in the grip of a third wave. vaccines are in short supply. national roll—outs like here in belgium in disrepute, the eu's credibility on the line. eu leaders have been meeting remotely today to discuss how to secure the eu's vaccine supply, ensuring companies deliverjabs promised and, controversially, potentially blocking vaccine exports to vaccine—producing countries like the uk, which have an already advanced roll—out. we want to make sure that europe gets its fair share of vaccines,

because we must be able to explain to our citizens that if companies export their vaccines to the whole world, it is because they are fully honouring their commitments and it does not risk security of supply in the european union. what started as a health crisis now has political overtones here — especially after brexit. eu leaders are under huge pressure to act. their voters increasingly frustrated about a lack of vaccines and fearful because of a third wave of the virus. but not all of those leaders want vaccine export controls. tonight, the commission is trying to persuade them otherwise. it says since december the eu has exported 77 million jabs to wealthy countries. 20 million to the uk, i'vejust been told, without receiving one back in return. intentionally provocative, perhaps.

the commission now insists brussels was key in making the uk's vaccine effort a success. some eu countries say they prefer never to use vaccine export controls for fear of disturbing international relations or supply chains. france is more hardline. but today, president macron admitted the eu had made mistakes along the way. translation: we didn't go fast enough, strong enough, - it's absolutely true. we thought the vaccine would take time, but we are catching up. not a moment too soon for europeans languishing in lockdown, decimating their economies. its a two day summit but proceedings have now wrapped up for the night and what have we learned? well, that eu leaders have supported the commission and wanting to expand powers over controls over vaccine

exports leaving the bloc, in theory, but in practice what we are actually hearing from a lot of member states like the netherlands for example is they want to make it very difficult to actually use those controls, because they want to safeguard international relations and global supply chains. good news for the uk. the uk relies on the eu for the pfizer vaccine, so it didn't want those exports blocked, and another piece of good news in eu uk relations, we are being told tonight that possibly as soon as this weekend there could be some agreement between the two sides of how to better cooperate on vaccines going forward. katya adler, thank you. the latest government figures show there were 6,397 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means on average 5,489 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the latest figures show 5,122 people were in hospital across the uk. 63 deaths were reported

in the latest 2a hour period — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. on average in the past week 7a deaths were announced every day. the total number who have died is now 126,445. as for vaccinations, more than 330,000 people have had their first dose of a covid vaccine in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total to just under 29 million people. almost 2.8 million people have now had both doses of the vaccine. campaigners calling for compensation for people affected by contaminated blood transfusions in the 19705 and �*80s have given a cautious welcome to government plans to review the matter. up to 30,000 people were infected and thousands died as a result. it's been called the biggest treatment disaster in nhs history and so far there's been no government compensation, just limited financial support.

here's our health editor, hugh pym. jason evans watches home videos to remember the father he barely knew. he was just four when his dad jonathan died after being infected with hiv and hepatitis c as a result of treatment for his haemophilia. he's been campaigning to get to the truth of what happened and for the government to pay compensation. these are demonstrable losses that have occurred. people couldn't get life insurance, people lost their homes, they lost their careers. my mum was sacked from herjob based on the fact that it was known that my dad had aids, so there are real losses here that have occurred before we even talk about the emotional damage, the physical damage. a public inquiry into what's been called the worst disaster in nhs history is under way. inquiry staff have been trawling through hundreds of thousands of pages of official documents. at the hearings those who'd lost loved ones were encouraged to leave notes in bottles. more than 3000 people died

after they were treated with contaminated blood products, some of which were imported using blood from paid donors, including prisoners. victims and their families do get financial assistance, but campaigners say today marks a big change, with the government for the first time saying that compensation could be paid, depending on the outcome of the inquiry. the government have never previously acknowledged liability for this. they've always paid this money on the basis that it was support payments rather than compensation, so they have never actually acknowledged their liability and said they're responsible for this. just the word and the recognition that comes with that word compensation is hugely significant for our community. the inquiry chair, sir brian langstaff, had said that it was unfair that the uk's four nations were paying out different levels of financial support. today, he welcomed a new commitment to get those national schemes up to the same level. clair walton's husband bryan died with hiv and hepatitis c after being treated

with contaminated blood products. clair, who gave evidence at the inquiry, said today marked a step forward. i was 23 years old when this started and i'll be 60 this year. _ i've been turned from a wife into a carer, i from a wife into a widow, and it will be good - just to see the end. that's what compensation means to me. _ but families of those who died know there have been false dawns before. for certainty they'll have to await the findings of the inquiry next year. hugh pym, bbc news. £95 million is to be spent improving maternity care in england. the money from nhs england will be used to recruit hundreds of midwives and dozens of consultants and is in response to the maternity scandal at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. the move has been welcomed by bereaved parents as a "step in the right direction". president biden has held his first

news conference as president of the united states. the 78—year—old said he expected to run again in 2024. mr biden announced a doubling of his vaccination target in his first hundred days to 200 million doses, and defended his policies on immigration and gun control. here's our north america editor, jon sopel. no fanfare, no hail to the chief, no fight with journalists... please, please, sit down, thank you. no one even called another "beauty". this is about as different from the trump era as you could get, though the memory was there. my predecessor, oh, god, i miss him. he wanted to parade achievements — the speeding up of vaccine delivery, the boost to the economy from his stimulus package and a new tone for political debate. the third reason i said i was running was to unite the country, and generically speaking, all of you said, "no, you can't do that." well, i've not been able to unite the congress but i'm

uniting the country. but on the southern border, his problems are growing as quickly as the number of immigrants trying to cross into the us is swelling — the first real test for the president. the idea that i'm going to say, which i would never do, if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we'rejust going to let him starve to death and stay on the other side... no previous administration did either, except trump. i'm not going to do it. he's also talking tough over gun crime, where, in the last week, there have been two terrible mass shootings. but what can he do? not much, it would seem, given the votes in congress and that means on these big issues, he could look weak. abroad, he said that north korea was still the biggest problem. but i'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearisation. there would be no big changes on china policy.

doesn't have a democratic with a small d bone in his body but he's a smart, smart guy. and would he be going along with donald trump's timetable for getting american troops out of afghanistan? we will leave, the question is, when we leave. sir, do you believe, though, it's possible we could have i troops there next year? i...i can't picture that being the case. this news conference, in terms of style, represented a complete break with the donald trump era. but in terms of substance, say it quietly, not so much. on policies like the border, globalisation, china, afghanistan — it was all quite similar. it may not have been full—throated america first but there were strong hints of it. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. a teacher at a school in west yorkshire has been suspended after showing a class a cartoon of the prophet muhammad. the start of the day at batley grammar was delayed as some parents staged

a protest outside. the head teacher has apologised. tonight, the department for education said it was never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers and said that schools should be free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum. shabnam mahmood reports. videos posted online show an angry protest this morning outside a school in batley. parents calling for the sacking of a teacher who used an image of the prophet mohammad during a school lesson. by lunchtime, the teacher in question had been suspended, pending an independent formal investigation. the school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a recent religious studies lesson. it should not have been used. the member of staff has also relayed

their most sincere apologies. showing the image has offended the muslim community. batley grammar school is in a town with a high number of asian families. according to a 2015 ofsted report, three quarters of its pupils come from ethnic minorities. people i've spoken to outside the school say they're shocked by what's happened. overall, it's offensive. whether it was, it was, like i said, a family member, a friend, a teacher, it's offensive. the issue has been raised and flagged and dealt with. it should be laid to bed now. tonight, the department for education has issued a statement, urging parents not to protest and said... "it is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers." they said...

community leaders here say, although they're hurt by what happened, they will continue to work closely to resolve the issue. shabnam mahmood, bbc news, batley. nike and h&m are among major clothing retailers facing a backlash in china after expressing concern about allegations that uighurs are being used as forced labour in the production of cotton. the retailers — which made the statements last year — have found themselves at the centre of a growing row after sanctions were imposed on chinese officials by the uk and other western countries this week. it's estimated that nearly a million mostly muslim uighurs are detained in camps in the north—west region of xinjiang. bbc investigations have gathered first—hand testimony of forced labour, and allegations that detainees have been raped and tortured.

china denies the claims and says the camps are vocational training schools. our world affairs editor john simpson reports. the stories about the uighur camps have spread around the world. after reports of forced labour in the cotton fields of xinjiang province, international companies like h&m, nike and muji injapan have all reacted strongly and that's brought an angry backlash from china, which says the accusations about the uighurs are lies. today, in the turkish capital, ankara, the chinese foreign minister, wang yi, has come to talk to president erdogan. there were protests by uighur exiles. turkey has strong ethnic and cultural links to the uighurs and it's always given them refuge. a uighur woman who went to turkey to study, recently found

that her entire family back in xinjiang had been arrested — father, mother and two brothers. when i asked them why, they said my family members think they might have an intention to attempt terrorist activities. 12 years ago, when china clamped down on rioting among the uighurs, the turkish leader, recep erdogan, called it genocide. it's not a word he'd use today. china is pressurising turkey to ratify an extradition treaty, which would mean handing over any uighurs china wants returned. china isjust far too powerful economically and too many trader deals all came with the terms and conditions. so, effectively, china's bought off turkey? yeah. just like all the other countries,

many arab countries and muslim countries, like pakistan. and they're not speaking up at all. turkey's economy has suffered badly from covid, which has brought a collapse in tourism, its biggest foreign currency earner, and since the west isn't doing much to help, mr erdogan has turned to china, which offers turkey everything from covid vaccines to weapons. the turkish embassy hasn't replied to our questions about this. the fact is, turkey is really up against it. it's got its serious economic problems and it's moving away from its old friends in the west. china's only too happy to step in, but part of the price for that would be to keep quiet about the uighurs. i really want to see them again. i'm not sure if i can or not.

they spent their whole life... to offer me a good education, to have a good life. there's no shortage of stories like this, but turkey doesn't seem to complain about them publicly any more. john simpson, bbc news. the banking group santander is to close 111 branches in the uk by the end of the summer. the firm says it will also move its headquaters out of london to milton keynes in buckinghamshire. around 800 staff will be affected by the closures. the government say it is looking at all options to make sure the uk's third largest steel maker, liberty steel, does not collapse. concerns have grown for the company, which employs 5,000 people, after it's the main financial backer went into administration early this month. our business editor, simonjack, reports from rotherham. rotherham — one of the 12 towns and cities around the uk facing a new crisis in the steel industry.

they're all part of an industrial empire facing financial ruin. well, rotherham's a steel town. it's recognised as a steel town... chris williamson has worked there for 26 years, his father before him for 40. he explained what the impact would be on rotherham if the plant closed. it'd be devastating. rotherham would suffer vastly. what otherjobs is there going at the minute, what pay? if we go to wayside, the chains go as well. in the end, you just end up with a town full of shopkeepers and nobody to buy anything because they haven't got the income. down the road is rotherham's sister plant in stocksbridge. tracey runs a cafe right outside the gates, and she counts generations of workers among her customers. right from the young apprentices, which is actually trained here, all the way through to the retirees

that have worked here all their lives, it's actually the beating heart of the valley. this crisis started a long way from tracey�*s cafe. sanjeev gupta, once hailed the saviour of steel, was using tomorrow's money to pay today's bills, by selling invoices due for future payment to a company run by this australian sugar cane farmer turned banker, lex greensill, who would buy those invoices at a discount for ready cash. but greensill went bust. claims have since emerged that former prime minister and greensill employee david cameron personally lobbied the chancellor on greensill�*s behalf. this is a sadly familiar story. once again, a major uk steel maker finds itself in big financial trouble. it's one—time saviour, sanjeev gupta, who bought this plant and plants right across the uk, has essentially run out of cash. remember, it was only 18 months ago the government had to intervene to keep british steel going. once again, it finds itself having

to dust off plans to intervene in an industry it insists the uk still needs. the uk will need plenty of steel for transport and energy projects, so beyond another rescue, what could longer—term government support look like? that could mean supporting the industry through procurement, the same as the french government, through energy prices, the same as the german government do, but finding a way to help the industry to compete on a level playing field with other industries. liberty may yet succeed in finding a new backer but cash is tight and it's started asking customers to pay up front. the government insists it wants to buy more steel from british producers. its firstjob may be keeping one of them in business. simon jack, bbc news. the salvage company hired to free the huge container ship blocking the suez canal since tuesday has warned it could take days or even weeks to move the vessel. it's one of the worlds busiest trading routes — with more than 10% of global trade passing through the waterway that connects the red sea

to the mediterranean. from there, sally nabil reports. an ultra large vessel is blocking the suez canal. satellite images show the 400 metre long ever given stuck, bringing navigation to a standstill. tug boats and dredgers were dispatched to the area, but nothing has worked so far. the huge size of the ship and the heavy cargo on board are complicating rescue efforts. it's not clear exactly why the ship has run aground. official statements say it went off course due to bad weather. the suspension of navigation through the suez canal has created an atmosphere of uncertainty — no one knows when things can go back to normal. this incident has created congestion. dozens of ships are waiting to resume theirjourneys. a trafficjam of vessels is mounting up and some shipping companies

are already preparing to re—route ships around the cape of good hope. oil prices already rose as a result of this impasse, amid fears of extensive delays. the concern is that the longer the blockage lasts, the bigger the losses might be. sally nabil, bbc news. england, scotland and northern ireland all got their world cup campaigns under way this evening. natalie pirks watched the action. three home nations, two different approaches. two sets of players and the staff stand... one common problem. there is no room for racism. england's players decided to take the knee for the next three matches, in a week that will cement gareth southgate's euro squad. against the worst side in world football, he demanded england be ruthless, but entertaining.

by half—time, it was 3—0, captain sterling capitalising on a part—time defence. calvert—lewin claimed england's fourth before making way for ollie watkins, first cap, first shot, first goal. a comfortable 5—0 win then on the occasion of southgate's 50th match as england manager. the last time scotland played austria in a competitive match, it was during qualifying for france �*98. also the last time either side made it to a world cup. scotland were 1—0 down and needed a big response. but when they went behind again, the reply was even better. mcginn! sodden but spectacular, this 2—2 comeback at hamden deserved a crowd. northern ireland had the toughest task of the night, away to italy, who had never lost a home world cup qualifier. that wasn't about to change. ruthless!

for northern ireland to lick their wounds, here he is reading his poem about the nhs. the faces of front line workers we've spoken to over the past year. goodnight. i'd like to read a poem about the nhs that expresses my feelings that i have for everybody who works in the nhs. for all the people who saved my life and saved the lives of thousands of others. these are the hands that touch us first, feel your head, find the pulse, and make your bed. these are the hands that tap your back, test the skin,