good afternoon. the government says it's "on track"

to ease the lockdown in england and deliver on its vaccination targets. the culture secretary, oliver dowden, says he's "confident" a further lockdown can be avoided, as long as people don't treat the easing of restrictions as a �*complete free—for—all�*. meanwhile, the first minister for wales, mark drakeford, revealed there had been high—level talks across the four nations about the idea of so—called "vaccine passports". here's our political correspondent, jessica parker. teeing off the next phase — outdoor sports facilities can open in england tomorrow. up to six people, or two households, can meet outdoors. this minister speaking of caution, but also confidence, that another lockdown can be avoided. ahead of each easing, we'll of course analyse the situation. we've set out these four key tests... so, they could be delayed. these things could be delayed.

well, of course they could be delayed if the situation deteriorates but, at the moment, we are on track. so, thanks to the work of the british people and the excellent vaccine roll—out, we are confident in going ahead with the easings from tomorrow and the next stages. shops that have been shut, it's hoped, can open from april 12th. pubs could welcome customers indoors from may 17th. all legal limits on social contact could be lifted afterjune 21st. just some of the hoped—for steps ahead, but an expectation cases may rise as rules are relaxed. the question is whether or not those increasing cases will translate into a large number of hospitalisations and deaths. now, i'm pretty optimistic about this. i think the readout on the performance of the vaccines is excellent and very encouraging, but we have to be careful. there's no question that some of the more pessimistic scenarios out there do allow for a significant third wave, so that's something we have to continue to guard against.

could getting these taps flowing again also include so—called vaccine passports? certification proving someone�*s had, say, a test or vaccine. as a review looks at the idea, high—level talks involving all four nations have been taking place. i think there are definitely prizes to be won through domestic vaccine certification, but there are some very big practical and ethical challenges to face as well. some further freedom in wales yesterday, as travel restrictions within its borders were lifted. but with concerns over rising cases in parts of the continent, that's one reason that the outlook is still, to some extent, uncertain. jessica parker, bbc news. over—50s who've not yet had their coronavirus vaccination are being urged to book their appointments this week, before a possible slowdown in vaccine availability after easter. our health correspondent naomi grimley is here. naomi. yes, the government wants to focus minds because take up the vaccines

has been phenomenalfor those over 70, but not so good for the 50 somethings and 60 somethings and it is happening against the backdrop of worries about supplies. we know a consignment from india was put on hold and that means that the government really once the over—50s to get theirjabs in before those issues become more serious. they will only depend pre—because the moderna vaccine will come in my next month. , , , . , month. given there is this temporary slowdown in — month. given there is this temporary slowdown in supply, _ month. given there is this temporary slowdown in supply, at _ month. given there is this temporary slowdown in supply, at least - month. given there is this temporary slowdown in supply, at least throughi slowdown in supply, at least through april, how can we have the squad yesterday from charities saying to the government, you need to do more to provide doses to some of the poorer countries in the world? weill. poorer countries in the world? well, this is charities _ poorer countries in the world? well, this is charities like _ poorer countries in the world? well, this is charities like save _ poorer countries in the world? well, this is charities like save the - this is charities like save the children and the wellcome trust, part of their argument is ethical, that you need to vaccinate healthcare workers in poorer countries, notjust everybody in richer countries. but they are also arguing that if you have large reservoirs of the virus, overseas in places like brazil, you will see more variants, it will be a bigger challenge for the vaccines and the

whole pandemic will be prolonged. naomi grimley, thank you very much. in other news. there's been widespread international condemnation of myanmar, after the military there shot and killed more than 100 of its own civilians. defence chiefs from 12 countries — including the us, britain and japan — have issued a joint statement saying armed forces should protect, rather than harm, the people they serve. yesterday was the deadliest since the military coup in myanmar eight weeks ago. 0ur correspondent laura bicker has been monitoring the situation from thailand and sent this report. the protests may be smaller in number, but the pro—democracy chants were just as defiant. chanting a few dozen people braved the march through this city in the south of myanmar — a remarkably peaceful demonstration, after a brutal 2a hours. chanting 0ver100 people lost

their lives yesterday. trained security forces across the country turned their guns on unarmed civilians. some protesters appear to have constructed their own home—made weapons to retaliate. throughout the day, the death toll mounted, along with international condemnation. the us secretary of state said he was horrified, and that the courageous people of burma rejected the military�*s reign of terror. but the general who seized power last month, min aung hlaing, did not respond. his regime has already been hit by some sanctions, but now, there are calls for more coordinated action. so, just $1 billion alone each year go into the pockets of the generals from the oil and gas industry. if we were to stop that flow of oil and gas revenue into their pockets, that would make a big difference. un security council sanctions

would require russia's signature, and here is moscow's deputy defence minister with a front—row seat at yesterday's armed forces day parade. russia is an important source of their weapons. diplomats from eight other countries also attended, including from china. the general still has friends... but not amongst the vast majority of its people, who are determined to defy their military rulers. laura bicker, bbc news, bangkok. a second mp has defected from the snp to join the new pro—independence party launched by the former scottish first minister alex salmond. neale hanvey, who represents kirkcaldy and cowdenbeath in the westminster parliament, follows the formerjustice secretary kenny macaskill, who announced yesterday he would stand as a candidate for the alba party. police in manchester have arrested

18 people who blocked tramlines, as part of a protest against the government's police and crime bill. greater manchester police said the event was largely peaceful, but "significant disruption" was caused by demonstrators sitting on the metrolink line. protests were also held in bath, falmouth, nottingham, sheffield, brighton and cambridge. another attempt is being made later this afternoon to refloat the cargo ship which is still blocking the suez canal. with hundreds of vessels stuck either side of it, the egyptian president al—sisi has ordered preparations forcargo be lifted off the ever given. here's helena wilkinson. it's still stuck. this huge container vessel remains stubborn, refusing to move. 1a tug boats have been used to pull and push this 400—metre—long ship. they've managed a small victory, moving it 30 degrees. sand has also been dredged to try to dislodge it, and water has now started running underneath it. but at some point, probably soon, they may have to bring

in specialist equipment, including cranes, to start removing containers. the ever given got stuck on tuesday. this satellite image shows the wedged container ship and, around it, more than 300 cargo ships left waiting. 0ne boat's refusal to budge has crippled global supply chains, 12% of which pass through this canal. it is billions of trade held up every single day so it is a huge effect on the global economy and it is affecting a lot of different supply chains, so we do have fuel tankers there, a lot of oil going through the suez canal every single day and we have a lot of container vessels and we have bulk cargo, grains or coal, the sorts of things, so it does affect is very, very widely. the worry now is that if tug boats and dredging don't manage to shift this ship, a complex operation to remove

containers may be needed, an operation that could last weeks. helena wilkinson, bbc news. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5:30pm. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. sport, and full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning. england's cricketers fought back well to restrict india to 329 all out in the third and decisive one day international in another pitch perfect for batting india got off to a flying start before england's spinners made an impact — moeen ali dismissed the dangerous virat kohli. but risabh pant

and hardik pandya seized back the initiative with a rapid partnership of 99 it took a piece of outstanding wicketkeeping from jos buttler to dismiss pant — somehow managing to swoop one handed to cling onto this chance. and pandya followed soon after england continued to take wickets and eventually bowled india out with ten balls to spare. boxer dillian whyte kept alive his hopes of a heavyweight world title shot after gaining revenge over alexander povetkin last night. he lost when they met back in august, but whyte knocked povetkin out this time in the fourth round. 0nly anthonyjoshua and wladimir klitschko had previously beaten the russian in 39 fights. i'm a good boxer. i can box. but some times... i was boxing good last year, last year there was nothing wrong with the performance last year. there was a mistake, you know what i mean? heavyweight boxing, we have milliseconds to make five or six different decisions.

sometimes you make the wrong one, and that's it. i went for the hook, and he come up the middle. but this time i didn't sit on the front foot. i stayed centre, and i was back and forth, with a bit of balance. so, yeah, easy adjustment. there was disappointment overnight for british number 0nejohanna konta she was beaten by the two time wimbledon champion petra kvitova in the third round of the miami 0pen. konta was on court forjust around an hour, and lost 6—1, 6—2. it's early days, but signs lewis hamilton might not be as dominant in formula one this season. for the first time in eight years there won't be a mercedes on pole at the opening race. that's because red bull's max verstappen has finally broken their stranglehold, taking top spot at today's bahrain grand prix. the dutchman was a third of a second faster than hamilton. valtteri bottas starts third in the other mercedes. i gave it everything. just at the end, i don't

know where that time came from that he did, but they clearly still have a good, good chunk of time on us. but still, to be there in the fight, we can still fight for second place. gareth southgate says he's considering a social media blackout during this summer's euros. thiery henry cancelled his accounts in response to the lack of action by social media companies in tackling abuse. ahead of tonight's world cup qualifier with albania the england manager says he'll leave it to his players to decide. i made a conscious decision to come off the social media when i took the under 21 job. i didn't think it was probably the right platform, and i didn't really want to read the sorts of messages that i know would be landing in my box. so, similarly, when i'm in camp, i tried to switch off from all external media, which is not great for keeping up with what's going on in the world, but the world is a happier place if i'm not getting that negativity.

so, i think that is something absolutely for our players to consider. after opening with a draw against austria, scotland face familiar opponents israel in tel aviv later. they played them three times last year — twice in the nations league and again in their euro 2020 play—off semifinal which they won on penalties. we've not qualified, so obviously that's hard. when you're winning games of football, it's easier to be confident. we've had, as i say, relative success recently. so we should be confident. i think we did get to grips with the game after the first 20 minutes the other night and played well at times. no, we will be confident against israel. as i say, it's a game we are looking to win. in the last few minutes britain's adam yates has won the tour of catalunya. belgium's thomas de gent won the final stage in barcelona. but yates finished in the main group to take the overall victory ahead of his ineos grenadier team mates richie porte and geraint thomas.

that's all the sport for now. lots of live action this sunday afternoon and you can follow it all on the bbc sport website. we will have lots more through the afternoon. let's get more now on the lifting of restrictions imposed to try to contain the covid—19 virus. professor mark woolhouse, from the university of edinburgh, is on the government's advisory body that models the pandemic. he told andrew marr earlier that some activities would need would need restrictions to continue beyond june. we have to now start thinking about, 0k, how do we make those activities safe? now, we've already made them a lot safer, for a lot of people, by the roll—out of the vaccine. but we may also need to have additional measures in place, as i said, social distancing, screens and so on, for those activities that can be made safe. a lot of workplaces can be made safer. a lot of retail, a lot

of hospitality can be made safer. for those sort of activities it's difficult to make really safe, i'm thinking of things like nightclubs, large concerts, mass gatherings and so on, that's where the passports come in. whether it's vaccine passports, testing, test negative passports, or even immunity passports that we were talking about a year ago. so, all of this is part of a package of measures designed to make activities safe, as an alternative to stopping us doing them altogether. the transport secretary grant shapps has confirmed that from the 6th of april, lorries visiting england from outside the uk for more than two days will need to take a covid test. drivers will have to take a test within 48hrs of arrival and then one every 72hrs after. mr shapps says this is to make sure the uk can keep track of any future variants of the virus of concern. earlier i spoke to rod mckenzie, managing director of policy at the road haulage association. he told me that the issues of covid test for hauliers had come up before.

if you cast your mind back to the days when we were talking about the big queues at dover over christmas, when we had the kent variant, and the french were very worried about that, so they imposed these tests on lorry drivers returning from france, and there was chaos to begin with because we didn't have an infrastructure yet. we have now got an infrastructure, those tests have continued up to now and it works well. what has happened is it is the french now that have got the problem, and, as a result, the british wanted to track all lorry drivers coming in. we are going to use the same infrastructure that is used the other way round, if you like. for your average lorry driver who is doing international work, this isn't anything new. he or she was having a test on the outbound journey, for the benefit of france, and that stopped. instead, they are having a test inbound for the benefit of the uk government.

in terms of how the behaviour of lorry drivers has had to change, and other haulage stuff, because of this, can you talk us through a bit? presumably, they have changed the way they operate anyway, so it is different now if a lorry driver arrives here than how it might have been 18 months ago? it was chaotic at christmas. certainly a few months ago, we were used to completely frictionless travel for reasons to do with brexit. the six letter word we don't use much nowadays. the world has changed in so many ways. but lorry drivers are very adaptable, haulage is very adaptable. they have got used to this. it is a pain, they would rather not have things stuck up their nose and these lateral flow tests. but they have got used to the fact that they have to do it. really, it has just switched to the british asking for it from the 6th of april. so, in terms of what we are worried about, which is the supply chain, when we get stuff coming in,

we are not seeing this as a problem. also, there is good infrastructure now for dealing with positive tests. obviously there is a lateral flow test to start with, a second test if they are positive, and then a period of isolation during which time their load is picked up and taken to its destination by a different tractor unit, the front end of a lorry. can i ask you briefly, when we talk about every 72 hours, in truth, what kind of proportion of drivers coming to the uk would be here that long? well, a lot of them, you're quite right, they do straight in and out. it's very quick. but some of them will be on longerjourneys. it's difficult to quantify. one of the things we have

to do keep an eye on, we will have to see how it works. we can't see why it wouldn't work and why there would be disruption. we understand the viewpoint on this. what we need to do is keep an eye on the practicalities, day—to—day, and see if there are unforeseen issues which crop up which we need to flag up and complain about. rod mckenzie of the royal —— road haulage association. more now on the situation in myanmar. as we've been hearing, the united nations has led international condemnation of the country's rulers over the killing yesterday of dozens of people protesting against the recent military coup. the us secretary of state antony blinken said washingon was horrified by what he called the "reign of terror", while the foreign secretary dominc raab said the killings "marked a new low". tom andrews is the un's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in myanmar.

the difficulty for him is that he is within the un organisation, but it does not mean that the un security council act on his recommendations. china and russia could veto any action. he said condemnation will ring hollow unless there is concrete action. it seems particularly if you are in myanmar, words of condemnation are beginning to ring hollow. i think what the people of myanmar would like and desperately need is for the international community to notjust condemn but to also take action and hold this brutal military fully accountable. there are many things that can be done that have not been done and should be done. let's start with the united nations security council, that is why the security council exists, to deal with such crises. this has not come before the security council for a debate and a resolution and a vote. it should, that is what they are there for. if the security council cannot act for whatever reason,

i think it is important for those countries willing to take action to work together, coordinate a full range of options including tough focus sanctions, that working together can have an accumulative impact, a real power punch. there has to be an emergency summit of countries willing to take action if the security council cannot take action. what we have to do, there are dozens of various sanctions regimes around the world. we need to coordinate them into one coherent whole and focus them together so they have the strongest possible punch and direct themselves to the source of revenue that is flowing into the pockets of this regime and empowering its brutality. people have predicted if it comes to a vote, russia and china would veto. china has been making some statements recently. they have condemned the violence at least. they have called for the release of political prisoners, so i am not sure how they would vote if it happened.

nor do i know how russia would vote, but that is the point, it has not been before the security council and a vote has not been taken. i think china, russia and the members of the security council should stand up and be counted. the key to this are the people in myanmar, it is extraordinary what they are doing, the civil disobedience movement is growing, it is tenacious and that is where successful come. but they rely upon the support of the international community. $1 billion alone each year going into the pockets of the generals from the oil and gas industry. if we were to stop that flow of oil and gas revenue into their pockets, that would make a big difference, as well as cutting of revenue in the various businesses and conglomerates they have control over. by itself, it is not going to end this brutality, but taken together we have a real shot at making a big dent on what is going on here

and changing the trajectory of this horrible, horrible nightmare. a number of drivers for meal delivery company deliveroo are planning to go on strike — to protest against the way they are employed. it comes as the company prepares to float on the london stock exchange. our business correspondent katie prescott reports. a business cooked up in the uk, making takeaway meals accessible around the world. deliveroo is a home—grown success story. its launch on the london stock market is a huge event, but this is being overshadowed by criticism of how the company employs its delivery drivers as independent contractors, not entitled to benefits or the minimum wage. some investors say that's putting them off. deliveroo has contractors rather than employees. and as with the uber ruling, there is a significant chance that in due course people who bicycle for deliveroo as contractors will be given the rights of employees and therefore this will impact the long—term profitability of deliveroo.

so pressure on the company about this employment model is mounting, as others such as uber make their drivers officially workers, entitled to benefits. deliveroo drivers from one union plan to go on strike over the issue. you'd think business is booming, you'd think these guys would be getting more money as people are starting to rely more and more on deliveries to their homes. but what they're actually seeing for the couriers working out there, is over hiring, money going down, conditions getting worse. but these strikers make up a tiny fraction of the workforce and deliveroo says... "deliveroo riders have the complete freedom to choose when and where to work. 50,000 riders choose to work with deliveroo and thousands more people apply to work with us every week. 0ur way of working is designed around what riders tell us what matters to them most — flexibility." as deliveroo gears up for its share sale, it's not yet clear whether this issue will affect demand. katie prescott, bbc news.

a couple from birmingham have struck up an unlikely friendship — with the man who burgled their home. it's come about thanks to a restorativejustice programme which brings criminals face to face with their victims in an effort to stop them re—offending. giles latcham went to see how it works. like i said, you'd both come from up there... in erdington, north birmingham, socially distanced catch—up between anne and neil, as were calling him, who's popped round to do some gardening. i'll sort that out for you, don't worry. two years ago, he popped round to burgle her home, stealing £500 and electrical goods. isn't it funny, you tell somebody that somebody's burgled your house and yet you've all become the best of friends, nobody would believe you! even a fairy tale story couldn't end like this, could it? neil, who we're not identifying, was a prolific burglar, addicted to crack cocaine, in and out of prison.

and he'd be back injail know if he hadn't agreed to meet his victims and try to make amends. it was very hard to see the person that you've hurt and it destroys you inside but it rebuilds you, too, if you get what i mean. yeah, it helps. more than prison. anne's partner, terry, has had to quit work because of ill health, and doing the garden is now beyond him. i'm grateful for him. you know, it's his wayl of saying sorry, and for that, iappreciate it. i'm in no condition... .to do stuff. neil's been supervised throughout by a police officer watchful for any hint of reoffending. 20 burglars have taken part in the scheme, between them responsible for 830 offences and of those 20, 1a have succeeded in steering clear of crime.

the police say the project has helped reduce burglaries in the west midlands by 16% compared with three years ago. neil's off drugs and in work. he and anne exchanged gifts at christmas. i put it on and have never took it off, i thought it was so sweet. police concede theirs is an exceptional story but they're convinced this is a scheme that works. for more than a week now a volcano near the icelandic capital of reyjkavik has been throwing lava and gas into the air and attracting thousands of visitors. the eruption is the first of its kind there in more than 800 years and has become the country's hottest attraction. tim allman reports. mother nature can provide the most astonishing of spectacle. but for there to truly be a spectacle, you have to have spectators.

this audience, rapt with attention, marvelling at the jaw—dropping sight on display. it seems more like woodstock or glastonbury than a geological event. it feels so nice! it feels like a music festival here, to have so many people around! yeah. i love it! i love how many people are here. amazing, like, incredible. i've been here, this is my third time, and it's changing so severely every single time i come. they have literally queued up to see this. a line of cars parked nearby now a common sight. the authorities have set up a hiking trail and are patrolling the area to prevent people from straying too close to dangerous volcanic gases. all this, quite the diversion after a year of viruses and lockdowns. i think for myself and for so many other people, it'sjust like a really nice experience to get to have this kind of social vibe,

really, and just kind of get out. it really makes you forget about the whole pandemic and everything that has been going on. volcanologists say they have no idea how long this eruption will last. it could be over in days or it may go on for decades. 0nly mother nature knows. tim allman, bbc news. 0ur director david this afternoon has been helping pronounce it. i won't risk it. i won't even ask matt taylor. of course, you could. we don't need to hear you do it. the weather we have to look forward to presumably will be a lot more temperate. some of you will be digging out your summer shorts in the next few days. much sunday sunshine around. here it is in the channel islands. north—east of scotland as well. for most it is cloudy, and it has been

raining in north—west wales and north—west england.