good afternoon. a serving metropolitan police officer has appeared in court charged with the kidnap and murder of sarah everard. sarah, who was 33, disappeared whilst walking home in south london 10 days ago. her body was discovered in woodland in kent a week after she went missing. 48—year—old wayne couzens appeared before magistrates this morning. as our correspondent, helena wilkinson, reports. arriving at westminster magistrates�* court this morning, pc wayne couzens believed to be in this police van. the 48—year—old met police officer joined the force two years ago. today he appeared in the dock — charges of kidnap and murder were formally put to him. it's ten days since sarah everard disappeared in south london. her body was found here — in woodland, near ashford, in kent. extensive searches are continuing close to where her body was found. 13 miles away, the police officer's house in deal, in kent, is also a focus. and an old garage, in dover, where he used to work is being searched. in clapham, where sarah was last seen, a vigil has now been cancelled. organisers had hoped it was a chance for people to express their sorrow, but also send a broader message that many women feel unsafe alone on the streets. the group effectively lost a challenge, though, at the high court over covid—19 regulations. it doesn't end here by any stretch. we are encouraging people, as we said, to light a candle in their doorstep or in their street at 9:30pm to remember sarah everard and her life, but also the lives of so many women that we've lost to violence of this kind. what happened to sarah everard has started a national conversation about women's safety and has become a political issue. the government is seeking further views on how to tackle violence against women and girls. sadly, the messages coming from women have been very powerful, but the message i am giving back to government is do something, do something meaningful, or my committee will be holding your feet to the fire over why not. but for the family of sarah everard, what they are dealing with is unimaginable. they'll be wanting answers as to what happened to sarah — who they say was bright and beautiful, and a shining example. helena wilkinson, bbc news. shops, schools and restaurants will close across much of italy from monday after the prime minister, mario draghi, confirmed the country was now experiencing a fresh wave of coronavirus. cases have been rising steadily with more than 25,000 new infections now reported each day. 0ur rome correspondent, mark lowen, reports. it's just over a year since italy imposed the world's first national lockdown of the pandemic. now the first country in the west to be overwhelmed by covid is in a third wave. with cases rising for the past six weeks — exceeding 25,000 a day — italy is closing its doors again. from monday, schools, shops and restaurants will shut in more than half the country. for three days over easter, they will close nationwide. the new prime minister, mario draghi, said urgent action was needed. translation: i am aware that today's restrictions will have _ consequences on the education of your children and the economy and on everyone�*s mental health. but they are necessary to avoid a worsening of the situation that would require even stricter measures. it is a bleak situation in some other parts of europe, too. poland has seen its second highest daily number of cases since november, and germany is reporting a rapid rise among schoolchildren, with new variants to blame. the speed of vaccination programmes in most of the eu remains sluggish. italy has administered just over 6 millionjabs — about a quarter of the doses of the uk, with similar populations. austria's chancellor said vaccines weren't being fairly distributed among member states, with signs that some countries were striking side deals with manufacturers. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. here, wales has begun easing its lockdown restrictions. the stay—at—home rule has been replaced with a requirement to stay local. it means that, as in scotland, up to four people from two different households can now meet outdoors to socialise, including in private gardens. the irish foreign minister, simon coveney, has accused the uk of "perverse nationalism" for trying to get its own trade deal with the us. he said the eu, uk, us and canada should join together to reach a joint trade agreement rather than each racing to sign a deal. mr coveney has also called for talks to end the dispute over brexit border checks on goods going from britain to northern ireland. the eu wants to resolve these issues through negotiation, to listen to business leaders in northern ireland, to understand what the problems with the implementation of the protocol are, and to try and accommodate the concerns. that's what we all want to do. nobody wants disruption or rancour or division. we've had enough of that on brexit. eight people have been shot dead by the security forces in myanmar, as protests continue across the country against last month's military coup. images posted online show several severely injured people, including a buddhist monk. at least two men were killed in yangon, while a woman was shot dead in mandalay. earlier, we spoke tojonathan head, our south—east asia correspondent. he gave us more details on the situation in myanmar today. we now have a total of eight dead, three overnight, in different parts of yangon, with a lot of people seriously injured, and you could argue the circumstances are the same at night time, obviously a lot more chaotic. big rallies today in mandalay, it is a stronghold of anti—coup feeling, they had a general strike. they were going most of the day, and then towards the end of the protest, suddenly you heard this whiplash of high velocity bullets being fired into the crowd, and they are still basically assessing how many people have died and how many may well die later because of the severity of their injuries. essentially, the pattern is that wherever there is a confrontation with the security forces, without really any warning at some point the security forces will fire directly into the crowds using battlefield weapons. these are absolutely lethal. that was the pattern last night, in one case the residents had gone down to the police station to ask them to release three people they had detained, and the police just opened fire on them. another man was manning a barricade at night as a volunteer night guard because the army and the police are going into these neighbourhoods at night and terrorising the population, so they are trying to keep them out so people can have some kind of sleep. again, someone opened fire from the security forces side, killed this man. mandalay was a massacre. we have seen in mandalay, there are reports of people being killed in another town today. you never know where it will be. there are protests in multiple cities almost every day, and in those cities the police and army who work together on this either decide they will use tear gas or rubber bullets or they decide they will shoot in the crowd and kill a few people. there is no particular obvious objective to it except to terrorise people, and one presumes the strategy is the hope that the sight of these dreadful, dreadful injuries of people hit by these bullets will eventually put them off, but it has not yet. people are very angry and that anger is nationwide. this has all the hallmarks of a civil war, but it is not really a civil war because only one side is armed. new york's governor, andrew cuomo, says he will not bow to what he calls "cancel culture" and resign. there are growing calls for him to step down after allegations of sexual misconduct. us democratic senators, chuck schumer and kirsten gillibrand, have joined the list of politicians saying he should go. paul hawkins reports. andrew cuomo, new york governor — but for how much longer? 0nce widely praised for his leadership during the first wave of coronavirus, he's now fighting for his political life. i did not do what has been alleged, period. there are often many motivations for making an allegation. seven women have now come forward making allegations against him, including sexual misconduct and assault. politicians who don't know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and an opinion are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous. the latest of those politicians includes chuck schumer, one of the most senior democrats in congress and the senate majority leader. along with fellow new york senator kirsten gillibrand, they released a statement, saying... but, they add... already, more than 55 democratic legislators in new york have signed a letter calling on him to step down. the city's mayor, bill de blasio, says he should go. so, too, some democrats in congress, including alexandra 0casio—cortez. and as for the white house... the president believes that every woman who has come forward deserves to have her voice heard, should be treated with respect, and should be able to tell her story. there also is an independent investigation that is ongoing, of course, in the state, with subpoena power overseen by the attorney general, and he certainly supports that moving forward. andrew cuomo says he'll wait for the outcome of that investigation before deciding whether to step down. people know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth. i'm not going to resign. but there's also another investigation, a federal one, into claims the state undercounted the true covid death toll in care homes. the pressure for him to go now could be too much. paul hawkins, bbc news. now to the american city of minneapolis, and one of the largest pre—trial settlements in us history, $27 million, to the family of george floyd. he's the african—american man who died while being restrained by police officers in may last year. lawyers for his family say the city has agreed to settle in the civil case for damages. seperately, a former minneapolis police officer, derek chauvin, is standing trial on criminal charges, including third degree murder, following the incident. here's the floyd family lawyer, ben crump. the financial compensation most directly impacts george floyd and his family, the future of their family. but it is the policy reforms that affects all of us. today marks the one—year anniversary of the killing by police of breonna taylor in her apartment in the us. the police shot 26—year—old ms taylor eight times — and no criminal charges have ever been brought over her death. her death sparked protests in her home city of louisville, kentucky, and across the country — and it became part of the wider black lives matter movement. kehinde andrews is professor of black studies at the university of birmingham. he spoke to us about both george floyd and breonna taylor, and said the experiences of many people suggests things haven't changed in the past year. it's a good a lot that has been a settlement in the george floyd case, but we have seen it before with these high profile thing. but actually with _ these high profile thing. elf actually with the day—to—day things you have seen mick many more people like people killed since last year and the treatment of breonna taylor and the treatment of breonna taylor and herfamily and the treatment of breonna taylor and her family show that nothing has changed at all. you see this again and again in the united states, allowing police to get away with wanton violence. if a settlement doesn't change that i'm afraid. in the uk, police don't kill as many people because they don't carry guns, but you're still more likely to die in custody, more likely to be arrested, charged, etc. there was a lot of talk of everything changing, and then a year later and i'm not sure it is any different. in fact, were now we talk about race were things like the royal family and we have kind of lost focus on the real issues that matter. the headlines on bbc news: a serving metropolitan police officer has appeared before magistrates. 48—year—old wayne couzens is charged with the kidnap and murder of sarah everard. an event to remember sarah in south london has been cancelled, and replaced with a doorstep vigil. new coronavirus restrictions in italy to stop the number of new cases — schools, shops and restaurants will close from monday. the murder of sarah everard has prompted women to share stories online, and put a campaign to change behaviour and attitudes in the spotlight. some women have turned to an online campaign called everyone's invited to, anonymously, share their experiences of sexual harrasment and abuse in the hope that speaking out will change policy and education and make the world safer for women. we can now speak to soma sara — founder of the everyone's invited movement. thank you forjoining us here, it's good to have you with us. can you start by telling us a little bit more about the campaign and how it came about? i more about the campaign and how it came about?— more about the campaign and how it came about? , ., , ., came about? i started this movement in the summer. _ came about? i started this movement in the summer, actually, _ came about? i started this movement in the summer, actually, after- came about? i started this movement in the summer, actually, after my - in the summer, actually, after my friends and i spoke about how we actually shared really disturbing experiences of rape culture growing up. when speaking more, we realise how common it really was. in response to that, i actually posted on my instagram and i reviewed some of my own experiences of rape culture and i was completely overwhelmed by the response i received. so many people reached out to me — the friends, family, old friends — notjust expressing their own testimonials was up in response to that, i really felt it was important to great a more permanent platform to give survivors a safe space. that's kind of what i have done. this week, i have asked survivors to resubmit their testimonies, and it has gone viral. tell us a little bit more what you mean exactly when you use the phrase rape culture — what sort of behaviour are we talking about? rape culture is a phrase _ behaviour are we talking about? it”? culture is a phrase which can be explained by when attitudes, thoughts and beliefs all kind of have the effect of normalising and trivialising sexual violence. these can be behaviours such as public sexual harassment, revenge porn, sexual harassment, revenge porn, sexual coercion. it can just be coercion in general, misogynistic bullying, and right of course. yes, it's about how all of these attitudes and behaviours and experiences are interconnected. d0 experiences are interconnected. do you mind how tell me about some of the things that you experience. perhaps you can give me a more general view of what other people have been saying? i general view of what other people have been saying?— general view of what other people have been saying? i would prefer to not focus in — have been saying? i would prefer to not focus in on _ have been saying? i would prefer to not focus in on one _ have been saying? i would prefer to not focus in on one experience, - have been saying? i would prefer to not focus in on one experience, but| not focus in on one experience, but really emphasised that platform of multiple women and the thousands of survivors who have come forward to me. they have described having nudes being shared on google about young people, being coerced into having sex at parties. these are devastating testimonies from people talking about experiences from the age of ten to about 25. this trauma is lifelong and survivors have to learn to live with it, and that is absolutely devastating.- learn to live with it, and that is absolutely devastating. have you got an sense absolutely devastating. have you got any sense as — absolutely devastating. have you got any sense as to _ absolutely devastating. have you got any sense as to whether _ absolutely devastating. have you got any sense as to whether any - absolutely devastating. have you got any sense as to whether any of - absolutely devastating. have you got any sense as to whether any of this l any sense as to whether any of this behaviour it was reported, perhaps, to parents or teachers, and what sort of response young women were getting? i sort of response young women were caettin ? ., ., ., getting? i get the idea that no, it was not reported. _ getting? i get the idea that no, it was not reported. that _ getting? i get the idea that no, it was not reported. that is - getting? i get the idea that no, it was not reported. that is due - getting? i get the idea that no, it was not reported. that is due to. getting? i get the idea that no, it i was not reported. that is due to the general wider environment that we exist in, of shining and victim blaming and the segmentation of sexual violence. so people feel they are not able to report these things, because they are often a victim blind and shamed.— because they are often a victim blind and shamed. clearly, a lot of women and _ blind and shamed. clearly, a lot of women and grills _ blind and shamed. clearly, a lot of women and grills have _ blind and shamed. clearly, a lot of women and grills have expressed i blind and shamed. clearly, a lot of. women and grills have expressed to you and on your platform about their experiences. what does all this say about the culture in which we live today more generally?— today more generally? religious emphasises _ today more generally? religious emphasises how _ today more generally? religious emphasises how this _ today more generally? religious emphasises how this rape - today more generally? religious| emphasises how this rape culture today more generally? religious i emphasises how this rape culture is a global issue. we cannot point the finger at an institution or one demographic or one individual. if we do that, we risk making all of these cases seem like anomalies or the actions of a few bad apples, as they say. but really it is so pervasive, is completely endemic, and everyone is completely endemic, and everyone is complicit in some form or another. so, everyone really has a responsibility to take action, to recognise their shortcomings, and to do everything they can to expose first and then eradicate this culture. i first and then eradicate this culture. ., ., , ., _ , culture. i hear what you say, but what else _ culture. i hear what you say, but what else could _ culture. i hear what you say, but what else could make _ culture. i hear what you say, but what else could make a - culture. i hear what you say, but what else could make a real - what else could make a real difference? what needs to change? i guess i would say, first and foremost, it's important for as many people as possible, all the demographics and genders and ages, tojust read the demographics and genders and ages, to just read the survivor testimonies of everyone's invited. i think they provide ironing incredibly comprehensive education on a new complex and pervasive reality of rape culture and sexual assault. it's so important that teachers and parents are able to learn how to communicate with the children and talk about these issues, and that we are able to be open and just raise awareness as much as possible. so that this culture cannot prevail. just much as possible. so that this culture cannot prevail.- much as possible. so that this culture cannot prevail. just a final cuestion. culture cannot prevail. just a final question. what _ culture cannot prevail. just a final question. what would _ culture cannot prevail. just a final question. what would you - culture cannot prevail. just a final question. what would you say - culture cannot prevail. just a final question. what