tomos morgan, bbc news.en accused of the murder of the american journalist daniel pearl in 2002. the suspects, including a british born man, were acquitted last year, but the pakistani government and pearl's parents had attempted to have that decision overruled. this morning their appeal was dismissed. secunder kermani reports from islamabad. haunting images of daniel pearl after his abduction. the wall streetjournal reporter was in pakistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, working on a story about radical groups, he would become their victim. now, 19 years after they were originally found guilty, judges have acquitted four men of the murder, including omar sheikh, the british man accused of masterminding the kidnapping. there is not a single day that we don't miss our son. daniel pearl's family have described it as a travesty ofjustice. they released this statement last year. we are standing up forjustice, not only for our son but for all our dear friends in pakistan. so they can live in a society free

tomos morgan, thank ou. least march 8th. the first minister arlene foster said whether schools can open fully after that date will depend on the public health situation. emma vardy is in belfast. tell us more? well, i don't think it was any great _ tell us more? well, i don't think it was any great surprise _ tell us more? well, i don't think it was any great surprise that - tell us more? well, i don't think it| was any great surprise that schools were not going to be able to reopen just after february half—turn as planned, because although case numbers here have been falling and the r number has been coming down, because of the big spike after christmas, pressure on hospitals is very high and intensive care numbers reach their highest ever levels and ministers had told the public to expect hospital inpatient levels to remain very high for a number of weeks. in light of all that and the fact that the more transmissible variant is becoming more common in northern ireland, they had to take the decision to keep

tomos morgan reports.been at their highest _ of cold. the welsh ambulance service have been at their highest and - have been at their highest and rarest alert level since early december. this has been the most challenging period of the pandemic since it began according to those on the front line in wales. staff shortages, the need to risk assess everyjob, wearing ppe to each visit and normal winter pressures have created the perfect storm. paramedics luke and steve work in cardiff and theirfirst paramedics luke and steve work in cardiff and their first call out is to help cathy an 80—year—old women, one of the most at risk from the virus, who needs treatment after a fall. . , . ., , , the fall. the ambience opened up. the use of ppe — fall. the ambience opened up. the use of ppe makes _ fall. the ambience opened up. the use of ppe makes even _ fall. the ambience opened up. the use of ppe makes even the - fall. the ambience opened up. the | use of ppe makes even the simplest tasks for the team challenging f

tomos morgan, bbc news. julia winkless is an approved mental health practitioner., , with children, adults, or across the board? , ., . , ., ~' board? i predominantly work with adults, across _ board? i predominantly work with adults, across mental _ board? i predominantly work with adults, across mental health, i adults, across mental health, learning disability and autism. how has your work changed in the last year? as you have tried to meet the challenges of doing what you do during the pandemic? i think the biggest change is that the essence of what we do is social workers is different now. what we do is we build relationships with people, we meet them, we speak to them, we get to know them and we communicate with them. what we are having to do is take a step back, and a lot of the time the methods we would use to communicate with someone aren't available to us. so we are not as easily able to meet people in their homes and when we do see people our faces covered with a mask, and to communicate and connect on an emotional level when somebody can't see your face

tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. _ time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes.n the last couple of hours the met office have issued a new storm warning, storm christophe on the way, bringing heavy rain with flooding likely on wednesday and thursday. this cloud we are looking out on the satellite picture, the big problem is it will bring huge falls of rain and of particular concern is the rain going into the peaks and the pennines where we could see 150 or 200 millimetres of rain in the top of the hills. but rain in the top of the hills. but rain will fall down into the river catchments. where the met office amber weather warning is in force, there are a number of rivers that are already flowing at elevated levels, that is before the rain from christophe has even begun to arrive. as you can imagine we are quite likely to see some pretty big problems over the next few days. today we have some rain edging into the south—west, probably dry for eastern england until after dark, rainy presenters got owned and rain for northern scotland, went three for northern scotlan

tomos morgan reports. priority of call. the welsh ambulance service have been at their highest and rarest alert level since early december. this has been the most challenging period of the pandemic since it began, according to those on the front line in wales. staff shortages, the need to risk assess everyjob, wearing ppe to each visit and normal winter pressures have created the perfect storm. paramedics luke and steve work in cardiff and their first call—out is to help cathy, an 80—year—old women, one of the most at risk from the virus, who needs treatment after a fall. the ground just took me up that would _ the ground just took me up that would open up and took me with it. the use of ppe makes even the simplest tasks for the team challenging for both them and be patient. cathy can't see me smiling under here and sometimes a smile can put patients at ease so that is really difficult. at one stage during the festive period, 12% of staff were isolating or sick due to coronavirus. so to help the service, 8

our correspondent tomos morgan is in cardiff. right direction as well, the number of people vaccinated are starting to hit those targets, so the welsh government believes there is a case now to begin reopening schools. but what he did say is that that plan will have a caveat.— what he did say is that that plan will have a caveat. there are some rounds will have a caveat. there are some grounds for _ will have a caveat. there are some grounds for optimism _ will have a caveat. there are some grounds for optimism in _ will have a caveat. there are some grounds for optimism in wales, i will have a caveat. there are some| grounds for optimism in wales, the numbers— grounds for optimism in wales, the numbers of— grounds for optimism in wales, the numbers of people contracting coronavirus are fallen, we need to see that _ coronavirus are fallen, we need to see that sustained over the next few weeks _ see that sustained over the next few weeks and — see that sustained over the next few weeks. and if we do, there will be some _ weeks. and

tomos morgan is in cardiff for us. this will be music to the ears of many parents. yes, it will be. the uk were put into effectjust before christmas. wales, really, before christmas. wales, really, before christmas, had the worst transmission and case rates of all the uk nations. since then, since lockdown has been put in effect, we are starting to see the positive coming out of that. transmission rates in wales are now going down. the positivity rate, those testing positive across wales, is now coming down. there is a slight easing on the nhs and welsh hospitals, and also, interestingly, after a slow start, wales now leads the table when it comes to daily vaccination rates of the population across the uk. so all of those things together have come together, coupled together, really, to make way for this decision today by the first minister and the welsh government to allow schools to partially reopen on the 22nd on a phased return, as he mentions. it will be the youngest going back to school first, for two reasons. one, online e—learning is difficult for children of a younger age, f

tomos morgan reports.evel since early december. this has been the most challenging period of the pandemic since it began, according to those on the front line in wales. staff shortages, the need to risk assess everyjob, wearing ppe to each visit and normal winter pressures have created the perfect storm. paramedics luke and steve work in cardiff, and their first call out is to help cathy, an 80—year—old women, one of the most at risk from the virus, who needs treatment after a fall. the ground just opened up. the use of ppe makes even the simplest tasks for the team challenging for both them and the patient. cathy can't see me smiling under here and sometimes a smile can put patients at ease. that is really difficult. at one stage during the festive period, 12% of staff where isolating or sick due to coronavirus. so, to help the service, 80 soldiers have been assisting for the second time during the pandemic. the army have never had to help out the welsh ambulance service until covid—19 hit. the length of

tomos morgan is our wales correspndent. he has been following the story.ince the lockdown across the uk was put into effect just before christmas. now, wales, really, before christmas, had the worst case rates, transmission rates of all the uk nations. since then, since lockdown has been put into effect, now we're starting see the positive coming out of that. the transmission rates in wales are now going down, the positivity rate, those testing positive across wales, is now coming down. so, all of those things together, really, have come together, coupled together, to make way for this decision today by the first minister and the welsh government to allow schools to partially reopen on the 22nd, on a phased return, as you mention, there, will be the youngest going back to school for us, for two reasons, one, online learning is so much more difficult for children of younger age, for obvious reasons, and of course, as well, the transmission risk for passing on the virus at that age group is so much lower. but it is keen, as well, to try and get some high sch

our wales correspondent tomos morgan is in cardiff.e four uk nations, but now we are in a position where rates are coming down, the number of people testing positive is also coming down. the strain on the nhs is starting to ease. also, it appears as though wales is leading the way in terms of the vaccination stats of all the uk nations. this has meant that the first minister and the welsh government have made that decision, that schools will be able to reopen, a phased reopen, from after the half term. it will be the youngest pupils first, there is who the spread of infection is lowest and the threat is lowest to them. they will be consideration in them. they will be consideration in the coming weeks and when to introduce those exam grades, but the first minister did say in his press conference that this would be caveat it if the trends still go in this same direction. it it if the trends still go in this same direction.— same direction. if infections continue — same direction. if infections continue to _ same direction. if infections

our wales correspondent, tomos morgan, has the story.ike we are kind of cementing over the cracks but not actually getting to the foundation of what's really going on. minnyjackson, which isn't her real name, is a social worker that deals with children. she has real concerns that a higher workload coupled with social distancing measures that means that face—to—face visits are few and far between could be having a knock—on effect on her work. i think there is that constant worry that am i missing something? is there something here that i'm not seeing? and how can i actually do the meaningful work through a computer screen or through a mobile phone? a special survey released today by basw union has looked at the effect the pandemic has had on social workers. over two thirds of members working with children said that referrals or their caseload had increased after schools returned after lockdown last year. and the union fears that the workload may increase again after these latest set of restrictions are eased. and over three quarters of me

tomos morgan, bbc news. still won legions of new fans after making his first appearance online. xiao qiji was born in washington dc in august last year. during his debut appearance on the smithsonian national zoo�*s live web—stream, he played some tug—of—war with his keeper and polished off a plate of sweet potato — you might be able to hear him chomping away. no, he is a very polite. methodical, going about his business, no fuss. do you genuinely believe that the panda plan how to eat the food? yes, i do. now the weather with carol. good morning, everybody. if you are heading out today, these are the kind of temperatures we have seen recently. “4 in bell moral, but earlier in the night, it was —7 elsewhere in scotland. edinburgh three, bradford four, belfast six, and then enter the really mild air already ten in london and 11 in cardiff. we have also had a lot of rain moving northwards and eastwards, this is of course exacerbating the current flooding situation and we have had some hill snow as well across

o'clock news is coming up in a few moments were simon mccoy, but first time for a weather update on tomos morgang to push milder air in our direction, but notice parts of scotland and also of an england stilljust about in a cold air, so that does mean that when this weather front moves across the country, on tuesday, with the rain falling across southern and western areas, it is more likely to be snow across the pennines, yorkshire, maybe even in some towns and cities at lower ground, but also snow across the scottish mountains. to the south of that, a lot milder, we are talking about 10 degrees in plymouth, so you can see that weather front moving through and then eventually even across the pennines it will turn to rain, but i think the snow will continue across the highlands tomorrow evening. here is mid week. one weather front fizzles out, we have a repeat performance. this is the next one, so one on tuesday, the next weather front coming in late on wednesday. ahead of it, the weather is actually not too bad, some sunshine around, absolutely fine in scotland, with glasgow and edinburgh lookin