good afternoon. care home residents in england will be allowed to have a second regular visitor indoors from the 12th of april in a further relaxation of coronavirus restrictions. babies and young children won't be counted in the limit, meaning some residents will be allowed to see small groups of loved ones for the first time in months. daniela relph reports. locked down, kept apart from those they love. the anguish of care home residents

and their families began to ease last month as restrictions were gradually lifted. hello, mum. how are you? now more family members will be reunited as residents will be allowed a second, regular, indoorvisitor from the 12th of april. they will include babies and very young children, with those under the age of two not included in visitor numbers. visiting is one of the things that makes life worth living if you live in a care home. it's so important, both for the resident in the care home and also their family members and loved ones who want to visit them. we know that in care homes there may be grandparents or great—grandparents who haven't had a chance to see new arrivals to their family during the pandemic and this will be the chance for that to happen. the enforced family separations caused by covid restrictions in care homes has been agonising for so many. these slow, cautious changes are significant for everyone involved.

it is time for people to be let back in and the difference in my mother's mental health is huge, but not only that the difference in how i feel, you know, also as her daughter to be able to see her. the government says the increase in visitor numbers can go ahead because of a drop in community infection rates, as well as the extensive vaccine roll—out. in line with existing rules, visitors must provide a negative test result and wear ppe. for care homes it is a delicate balance between protecting residents and opening up to family visits. for those kept apart this change is especially meaningful. the full guidance will be published next week. daniela relph, bbc news. west midlands police say an 85—year—old woman who died yesterday after being attacked by two dogs suffered multiple injuries. the dogs did not belong

to the victim and the property remains sealed off by police. a man has been arrrested and released on bail. anisa kadri reports. flowers laid at the scene of the dog attack near dudley. police say two dogs from a neighbouring property managed to get into an 85—year—old woman's garden in lyme regis yesterday. neighbours raised the alarm but she was found with multiple injuries. our officers have attended, at which point the dogs had returned through a hole in the fence to the adjacent property and then, unfortunately, despite the best efforts of medical professionals and ourselves, that lady died at the scene. a man in his 40s has been arrested and bailed for further enquiries. police describe the dogs as large and said they were tranquilized and seized so tests could be carried out to establish their breed. police have not yet named the victim but continue to investigate the circumstances of the dog attack.

a postmortem is expected to determine the cause of her death on a bank holiday afternoon. anisa kadri, bbc news. clean up work is under way after huge crowds gathered in cardiff bay on friday evening, despite coronavirus restrictions still being in place. cardiff council said a significant amount of rubbish had been left by "large groups of people intent on breaking covid—19 restrictions". it follows similar scenes outside the senedd earlier in the week, when three police officers were injured. president biden has expressed his sorrow and the flag at the white house has been lowered to half mast following the murder of a police officer in the second attack on the us capitol in three months. william evans was killed when a car crashed into a security barrier before the driver approached officers with a knife. police then shot and killed the suspect. authorities said the attack did not appear to be terrorism related.

non—essential shops and leisure services in england which spent much of the winter closed are hoping the prime minister will confirm on monday that they can reopen from the 12th april. experts say independents fared better than chains in 2020 but still nearly 33,000 shut for good. small shop owners who have clung on are grappling with piles of unsold stock, and say they desperately need shoppers back in stores if they are to recover their pandemic losses. our business correspondent katy austin has more. mannequins are being re—dressed and window displays updated. gillian petersfield is putting away unsold winter clothes. some are sale, some i will pack away and i'll have to bring it out again for next winter. more online sales haven't made up for lost walk—in trade and with little spare cash to buy new summer stock much of last year's will reappear. not everything in town centres like this is closed. you can still buy a takeaway coffee,

for example, but many non—essential businesses, including hairdressers, have got to wait until the 12th of april to reopen. the same goes for clothes shops as well and they are really hoping people do come back to high streets after getting very used to shopping online. round the corner shirley hopes to shift left over stock by discounting and she is trying to reassure customers about safety. we will be restricting how many people we get into the shop again, asking people to wear masks and use hand sanitiser. we will be keeping the changing rooms open, but we might put in an extra step, for example quarantine the clothing for a little while. after the financial pain of the past year, some shop owners like ian do see cause for optimism. i think there will be big changes as well with people working from home and people then maybe rediscovering their high street. we could get some new customers this year as well, which would be fantastic. the trade body for independent shops warns few could survive another

lockdown and it says some are nervous about customer behaviour. we have seen reports from the central businesses that they have experienced an increase in verbal and physical abuse because staff have been reminding customers to wear face coverings. we do need customers to respect what is the law. some store owners want a shop out to help out scheme to entice customers, others want help to pay rent arrears. all say after their hardest ever year this spring and summer will be crucial. katie austen, bbc news. the mummies of 22 ancient egyptian rulers are being taken on an historic procession through the streets of cairo later today to be transferred to a new museum in the south of the city. crowds are expected to witness the lavish pharaohs�* golden parade of 18 kings and four queens being transported in gold coffins in chronological order of their reigns. security will be tight,

befitting their royal blood and status as national treasures. the procession will include queen hatshepsut and king ramses ii. with all the sport now, here's ben croucher at the bbc sport centre. a few parades hopefully before the end of proceedings with you? a few parades hopefully before the end of proceedings with you? good afternoon. england begin the defence of their women's six nations title today against scotland. it's a much changed tournament too owing to the pandemic. 0ur reporterjo currie is in doncaster. jo. that is right. this game has been some time coming for the players. the women's six nations is normally played in the same window as the men's competition, so it should have got under way at the beginning of february, but it has been pushed back to now because of the pandemic. for the women at least there is a change to their format. normally they mirror the men's turn a that all teams play each other once, but

this year there are two pools of three teams and each side plays a two group games and there is a final round of fixtures to determine the final placings. it means they will play less rugby this year. england are defending champions, grand slam back—to—back champions. they are favourites for the game which gets under way at 3pm, followed by france versus wales tonight. after a year away due to the pandemic the boat race between oxford and cambridge is back tomorrow. but for the first time since world war ii, it's being moved from london's river thames. the race will be closed to fans and held in the more remote surroundings of cambridgeshire and the river great 0use. mike bushell looks at how different it will look and sound. from the banks of the river thames, where before the pandemic the boats would race to the roar of 250,000 people... cheering. ..to the quite backwaters of rural cambridgeshire, in the shadow of ely cathedral and the river great 0use,

where it will be easier to keep spectators away due to coronavirus restrictions — they're be banned. footpaths will be closed and anyone straying onto the river banks during the race could face a £200 fine. they must not come — it is for their safety, it's for the safety of all of the people working on the event, the volunteers who are from the community, it's for the residents as well. this is a world away from the famous landmarks of london's bustling metropolis but it is not the first time the boat race has come here. back in 19114, towards the end of the second world war, as london was still considered too much of a risk and winston churchill wanted to stage a series of boat races to boost the nation's morale. crowds on one side, county officials and police on the other... so ely got their first taste of this great sporting tradition. the crews have been back here this week training on a course that is a mile shorter than the one on the thames, but it is slower because it does not have such strong currents. now, cambridge knows every inch

of this course like the back of their oars as they often practise here. but home advantage is not so relevant. it is a straight shot on this course, so the conditions will virtually be the same right the way from start to finish. 0n the thames, they are very variable so you may go around a bend and be hit by a massive headwind and have to adapt your rowing stroke to a different style. at least in the build—up this week the river has opened up again to local rowers after restrictions on outdoor sports were eased. the isle of ely rowing club is hoping a new generation will benefit from having the boat race back. you can watch on bbc one tomorrow from 3:00. just time to tell you it's currently chelsea 1 west brom 0 in the premier league. you can follow it all on the bbc sport website and app. sean. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5:25. bye for now.

hello. this is bbc news with me, shaun ley. it is now won 13 pm. let's get more in our top story this lunchtime... care home residents in england will be allowed to have a second regular visitor indoors

from the 12th of april, in a further relaxation of coronavirus restrictions. babies and young children won't be counted in the limit, meaning some residents will be allowed to see small family groups of loved ones for the first time in months. earlier i spoke to mike padgham, chairman of industry body the independent care group, who said the move was a step in the right direction. we welcome the fact that we are being able to open up more to more visitors from the 12th of april because residents have waited a long time for this, so we can only welcome it, but as the minister said earlier, it is a cautious welcome. we have got to take it step—by—step and hopefully keep the virus at bay, but yes, for people's mental well—being — the visitors as well as the residents — it is fantastic news. what about the attention that has been brought to the continuing restriction on people going out? yes. so you can be in your care facility or care home or whatever other institution, you are protected there, but you are still prevented from going out for a trip with a family member or friend or even going out, dare i say it, because i know plenty of people do in care

homes, are still able to do this, going out for half an hour's walk on your own. yes, well, iwelcome the extra visitor coming in, but i would like the government to go a bit further and have the guidance reflect that we would be able to allow some residents to go outside if they would like to. i cannot see why, provided they have had their two jabs and they are not meeting groups of other people, large groups, why they can't have more freedom like the rest of the country. i would like to see people perhaps go out in a minibus and if they are people they already live with and there is fresh air, that that could be acceptable and also going for a walk because i think older people now deserve, like the rest of us, the freedom that is coming and i hope the government will have another look at that. i think the summer is a long time to wait, i would like to see it come earlier. guidance is one thing, what the actual statute said is another. is there discretion here and sufficient room for you as individual providers to look at the circumstances affecting

particular residents and make up your own mind on actually how to handle a case? yes, i think that you would do a risk assessment for each resident you have got. there is a lot of extra work in that, but i think it is necessary in each case on its merits and if there is a particular need, then i think you would be flexible. the issue for us is the government's very good at putting the care home provider in the middle and saying, "yes, you "determine what is best." if something goes wrong you get blamed and if you're not doing it you get blamed, so it is a very difficult balancing act, but i do think risk assessing each client and we should be flexible and give some people the benefit of outdoor activities and meeting other people. again, with the ppe and testing, it needs to be done, but i would like the guidance to be a bit firmerfor us when it comes out next week to allow some cautious visits externally. mike padgham from the independent care group talking to me a little earlier. epilepsy affects around 500,000 people in the uk.

it can cause body seizures and muscle spasms and, if left undiagnosed — especially in young children — it can be associated with learning disabilities. now a number of nhs trusts are piloting a new app, which helps parents show a child's symptoms to specialists to gain a quicker diagnosis. tim muffett reports. baby gurgles. archer was four weeks old when his unexplained body movements began. he started getting this spasm muscle movement, mostly when he was falling asleep. his eyes were moving slightly differently as well when it was happening. itjust progressively got worse as the days and the weeks went on. horrible, horrific. unbelievably hard. we were exhausted, we were worried sick. diagnosis proved difficult. the times it was happening, usually they weren't happening in front of any medical professionals. by this point, we had accumulated quite a lot of videos of these movements, trying to show doctors what was going on. thanks to a new secure digital platform, professor sameer zuberi at glasgow's royal hospital for children, was able to see them.

when i saw the videos i could see that they were a type of seizure called infantile spasms. they are one of the types of epilepsy that can be associated with learning problems if you don't treat rapidly enough, so archer was admitted to hospital, he was started on treatment and happily, since then his seizures have been controlled and he is developing welt _ epilepsy affects around 400,000 people in the uk. it is caused by unusual bursts of electrical activity in the brain. it can lead to someone having a seizure, experiencing sudden body movement or collapsing on the ground. epilepsy is sometimes misdiagnosed in about 25—50% of patients. so a number of hospitals across the uk are trialling the new vcreate neuro app. i can look at the videos and when the families upload the videos they also put a bit of information in as well, so as soon as i have viewed

the video i can contact the family and tell them exactly what needs to happen next. or maybe reassure them that the movements are nothing to worry about. clarity is key. there are certain types of epilepsy that begin in infancy, where epileptic seizures can be a sign of a very severe neurological problem, where if you don't treat the epilepsy it can be associated with long—term learning problems. mum... my daughter, lauren, is 32. she has a profound and multiple learning disability and she also has complex epilepsy. shortly after lauren was born, her mum noticed unusual body movements. when she was a baby, she wasn't reaching her developmental milestones, and so, we were really quite concerned about that and as well as that she was doing something really... it seemed something really weird with her arms. what she was having was infantile spasms, which is quite a severe form of epilepsy,

but it took us probably eight months from that point to actually persuade somebody to have a look at her. pat now chairs a charity called pamis, which supports people with profound learning disabilities. she wants other parents to embrace this new app and just wishes it had been around when lauren was young. it took me right back to 30 years ago, to how that actually felt and also the horrific realisation that because of the delay in her receiving a diagnosis, that that could well have meant a huge difference to her prognosis. with epilepsy, early diagnosis can be so important, as archer's family have discovered. tim muffett, bbc news. italy has entered a nationwide lockdown from today until the 5th of april. it means non—essential shops will be shut, restaurants and bars will not be able to serve customers

and people are required to stay at home — except for work, health or other essential reasons. here's our rome correspondent, mark lowen. well, when pope francis gave his urbi et 0rbi message on easter sunday to the city and the world a year ago to a deserted, locked—down st peter's square, few would have imagined that 12 months on, here we would be here again, but yes, indeed, we are. italy is in the grip of a third wave with about 20,000 coronavirus cases a day, and so the whole of italy is now in a red zone for this easter weekend. and of course, the vatican, too, is in lockdown. what does that mean? well, that restaurants are only offering takeaway service across the whole of the country and that nonessential businesses right across italy have had to close. there are movement restrictions as well. all arrivals into italy from european union countries are subject to a five—day quarantine as well. but in one concession to italians, who will be sitting down for their easter lunch or dinner

at home, they are allowed to invite up to two people from the same family to join them for this, which is an extremely important weekend and celebration for many italians. in terms of church services, well, they are still going ahead for the easter mass, but the faithful are being encouraged to go to the church closest to their homes and, of course, to observe strict social distancing measures when they're inside. pope francis will be holding mass this weekend. he will deliver that urbi et 0rbi message on sunday morning, which he hopes will, i'm sure, provide some solace to many people around the world for whom this has been an incredibly difficult year, and hoping above hope that with the vaccine roll—out slowly ramping up, that this time next year will finally look very different. mark lowen reporting from rome. you might call this the march on the

mummies, which is not some cheesy horrorfilm mummies, which is not some cheesy horror film title mummies, which is not some cheesy horrorfilm title for mummies, which is not some cheesy horror film title for the 1950s, it is actually what is going to be happening this afternoon. the mummies of 22 ancient egyptian rulers are being taken in an historic procession through the streets of cairo later on saturday to be transferred to a new museum in the south of the city. crowds are expected to witness the lavish pharaohs�* golden parade of 18 kings and four queens being transported in gold coffins, amid great fanfare, in chronological order of their reigns. these coffins also of course preserve the low temperatures that also ensure the remains don't deteriorate further during the course of this transfer. security will be tight, befitting their royal blood and status as national treasures. earlier i spoke with dr monica hanna, acting dean of the college of archaeology and cultural heritage at the arab academy in aswan. and i started by asking her whether this is the first time an event of this kind takes place.

i think it is the first time in the 21st—century, but they have been moved previously because they were discovered in luxor and then they took a boat to cairo. they were first at the bulaq museum. then they were moved to the giza museum. to a tomb and then the cairo museum in 1937, and now they are moved to hopefully their final destination at the national museum of egyptian civilisation. i can imagine it is going to be — both for egyptians who turn out and for those small number of people who are actually visiting egypt or are in egypt at the moment — quite a spectacle. in practical terms, though, how big a risk is it to move the remains of people that were buried thousands of years ago and presumably, even in the current museum, have had to be in quite strict temperature controls? i think they are still in temperature and climate control cases, they are being moved in the cases.

cases, they are being moved in the cases. the bodies are not interacting with the atmosphere. they have also levelled the roads, so they would not have any bumps or any problems going around and again this is not the first move for the royal bodies. for the royal mummies. they have moved before and even we have the mummy of king ramesses ii travelled to france because it needed conservation labs there, so it is not impossible to move them. it is... ..the first time we do itjust in the 21st—century. and in terms of the condition those mummies are in now, they have been preserved and protected for so long, presumably the actual process of transferring them is being fairly rigidly observed and monitored because no one wants to be responsible for dropping one of these coffins or damaging something that is simply irreplaceable. i think they are put in climate—controlled cases, they are not in their original coffins,

so that they are protected from the atmosphere and i believe... i have full trust in the egyptian conservatists, that they have done theirjob. this is not a job that was done now. the mummies were being conserved throughout the different years and the last time was at the end of the 1990s and in the early 2000s, and i believe that they are quite stable at the moment. we have obviously this concern about trying to revive tourism for many countries, egypt being run at them. egypt being one of them. how important is egypt's cultural heritage to its success in modern times, would you say? how much has its attraction as a tourist destination, as a place indeed where people want to go and study because of that remarkable heritage? i think that the remarkable event of today is first attracting more egyptians

than international community. i do understand how important tourism is for the egyptian economy, but i think the success of today's parade is in the general interest of the egyptian public in their past. that is dr monica hanna at aswan in egypt. mummies may be important for tourism in egypt, but weather is crucial for tourism in the west country. then rich is, like me, a west country boy at heart. jiras up and tell us that although you are might be stuck out here in the east in the cold and loud, it is bright and sunnier addressed. you know what? i may as well not here because it is sunnier at rest today and this picture, conveniently enough, and we have discussed this, is an overhead view ofjuror in cornwall, where it has been a pretty decent day today. some other pictures around the country, fort william in the highlands of

scotland, beautiful blue skies overhead, but have a look at cleethorpes on the east coast, claudia and as a consequence colder so far today. this is confirmation, if you like, the satellite picture. you can see all that cloud towards the east, brighter skies north and west, although the final. and staying pretty cloudy and breezy for the afternoon and some of those eastern coastal counties of england as well where we keep the cloud and breeze, it is going to feel quite chilly, maybe seven or 8 degrees. the best of the sunshine in northern ireland and parts of scotland, 13-16 , bad ireland and parts of scotland, 13—16, bad going and will be a thing of the past by the end of this weekend. through tonight, where we keep those clear starry skies it is going to be pretty chilly out there, with a touch of frost for some. temperatures in towns and cities close to freezing, down to freezing in birmingham and down to the countryside may be getting down just below, could be some mist patches first thing is well and a bit of fog. he's not looking too bad actually with sunny spells across

eastern england and wales, northern ireland guarding overfrom the north and more cloud coming into scotland, with some rain coming into northern scotland. this rain band is quite important for a weather story by the end of the easter weekend because behind that rain band the winds change direction to normal use and things start to turn quite a lot colder. that band of rain is associated with a cold front, which will be working southwards as we get into easter monday and behind it northerly winds and snow showers. yes, you're not mistaken. some snow in the forecast for the end of the easter weekend, those cold northerly winds coming all the way from the arctic, an unusually chilly feel for this point in april, so yes, some spells of sunshine on easter monday, but some showers especially because northern scotland, high ground could see up to 15 centimetres of snow here, but even at low levels even if you see some showers further south don't be surprised if there are some wintry things mixing in. wind gusts, 60 or 70 mph possible in north—east scotland, so when you factor in the

temperatures will be between 2—9 with those strong winds and this is what is going to feel like on easter monday. in some spots, northern and eastern scotland, for example, it will feel sub zero and it looks like staying very chilly throughout the coming week. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines...

new rules for care home visits in england.