this is bbc news — the headlines at eight. india begins a nation—wide drill to test its preparedness for mass immunisation against covid—19. in the uk — as virus cases increase — teaching unions demand a two week closure of primary and secondary schools in england. trump and the election — now 11 republican senators say they will support him and object to the official results. french police shut down an illegal rave, going since new year's eve — with more than two and a half thousand partygoers.

with the second highest number of coronavirus infections in the world, india has begun testing its plans for a huge vaccination programme. a full—scale rehearsal is now under way — involving tens of thousands of health workers and volunteers. our south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan has more from delhi. volunteers waiting for their turn in a massive rehearsal for the immunisation drive. it will be almost real, except that those standing here will not get the dose. the indian government wants to ensure a glitch—free coronavirus immunisation programme. this mammoth exercise is essential as the country wants to inoculate 300 million people by the middle of this year. so, if you have any health conditions, you will not be given the vaccine. so, a full verification if you are healthy and fit, you'll be sent for the vaccination. after vaccination, you will be sent to the observation room. in the observation room,

minimum 30 minutes you'll have to wait, to see if you'll have any complications or anything. an expert panel has recommended two vaccines, one by astrazeneca—oxford university and the second one jointly developed by an indian company and a state—run research body. both involve two doses, and the authorities want to keep enough vaccines at their disposal before the real exercise. but, both are cost—effective and locally manufactured. still, some are doubtful about the efficacy of the vaccines. translation: i'm not that comfortable taking the vaccine, but i get it — this could offer is the cure, but it's not yet confirmed. elsewhere, they're using the vaccine and there are still unsolved problems, so i think if people are getting better after they quarantine by staying at home, it's still the best option. the government says the aim of the trial immunisation drive is also to remove misconceptions

about the vaccine. it wants the country to get back to normal so that the economy can be revived. for that to happen, it is aware that it needs to conduct a successful vaccination programme. saturday's exercise will play a crucial role in achieving that goal. anbarasan ethirajan, bbc news, delhi. dr lipika nanda is from the public health foundation of india. she outlined some of the main challenges the authorities there are facing. well, it is going to be a mammoth task, that is no doubt about it. india has huge experience in vaccinating the paediatric population. we have...i'm sure you've heard of the universal immunisation programme of the government of india. but this is the first time adults are going to be vaccinated, so it's going to be, kind of, a really big exercise and you are aware that india has several states completely very

diverse from each other, with different levels of public health infrastructure, health systems, you know, in terms of how strong they are, so i think this is a really major effort, and i think it was absolutely necessary to do a drill of this vaccination administration. well, today the drill started in all the states, but i don't know whether you were aware, a week ago it has started in four states in india — punjab, gujarat, assam and andhra pradesh. and today it has happened in 116 districts in the entire country, so it's a huge but completely necessary exercise, to ensure that, you know, the kind of glitches, if any, are to be resolved. the plan is, byjuly 2021, at least 300 million people

should be vaccinated, and in batches and in levels of priority. in the us — 11 republican senators say they will raise objections this week to president—elect joe biden‘s victory. they'll do it — during a congressional review of the electoral college result. it won't be enough to alter the outcome. but it could force other republicans to take a side over mr trump's claims of fraud. 0ur washington correspondent lebo diseko has more. well, it's led by senator ted cruz, and it's a group of senators and senators—elect, so they're not all senators, and what they're talking about is basically, ceremonially — this is usually a ceremonial event where the senate and the house of representatives accept the results of the electoral college vote. you'll remember in december, that was when the electoral college was decided, so they'll accept those results next week. now, if a senator and a member

of the house of representatives raise an objection, then they can force a debate on that and a vote. basically, each objection would need, in both houses, for the vote to go to reject it, so it's very unlikely that this would go through because it would mean that the lower house, the lower chamber, which is the house of representatives, would need to vote to invalidate joe biden‘s win, which, as you can imagine, is unlikely to happen. i think that, whilst this is very unlikely to go through, what it does is it really indicates the splits within the republican party. the leader of the senate, the republicans in the senate, mitch mcconnell, and the number two republican in the senate, had last week urged senators, republican senators, not to do this because it's not going to succeed and it really could be quite damaging, and the fact that they've gone ahead and done it anyway is really indicative of, kind of, the schisms

within the party at the moment. french police have shut down an illegal rave which had been going on since new year's eve in defiance of a coronavirus curfew. two and a half thousand people, some from the uk and spain, descended on a disused warehouse in the village of lieruon in brittany. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield reports. while the rest of france spent new year's eve under a nightly curfew, 2500 people danced for two nights and a day in abandoned warehouses in a village south of rien. they'd come from places all over france and, indeed, abroad. the possibility that they might be putting themselves and others at risk from covid, they said, was exaggerated. translation: everything's reopened. the shops have reopened because they wanted to make money over christmas, but that must have caused big gatherings of people everywhere, so is it any worse here than on the paris metro?

i don't think so. police decided not to intervene because they feared a riot. instead, they surrounded the premises, but when, 36 hours after the party started, the revellers began to leave, they booked them for breaches of covid rules. translation: the situation deteriorated very quickly. i had three officers injured, so i personally took the decision to disengage, at the risk of making the situation worse, to try and contain the area. elsewhere in france, the covid news is nothing to celebrate, with daily cases now at around 20,000 and the vaccination programme barely under way, the nightly curfew has been brought forward from eight to six o'clock in 15 departments of the east of the country. president macron has warned that the coming months will remain difficult. with restaurants shut across the country, only a lucky few on the riviera have been able to eat out — in monaco — but now even

that pleasure has been taken away. from tonight, only residents of the principality can book a table. hugh schofield, bbc news, in central france. you're watching bbc news. there's growing pressure on the government to keep all schools in england closed for the next two weeks, to help slow the spread of coronavirus. headteachers are now taking legal action against the department for education, to force ministers to reveal why they think it's safe to allow primaries outside london and parts of the south east to reopen on monday. teaching unions say moving lessons online is "the only sensible and credible option". here's our education correspondent, dan johnson. children and teachers were amongst those invited for tests at charlton's football ground today. one way to help keep the virus out of schools — but will it be enough? some think things are out of control and they want schools to stay closed. teaching unions say

staff are at risk. we know that members of our union got sick, some of them died over the christmas period, so there is the concern for our members. there's also the concern for parents and grandparents and we don't think it's safe. we think there should be a period of closure to get those cases down. london's primary school children will all stay off after a u—turn ended the patchwork of partial closures. so harrison's got a fortnight at home. we're not going back to school and we're going to have to do home—learning. what do you think about that? not very good because i want to see my friends. and mum and dad have the challenge of finding childcare. it all seems very last minute, really. it's all very confusing. they keep chopping and changing, which makes it very hard to plan. teachers are also being tested in liverpool, tier 3, where schools are due to open. although scientists advised closures could help reduce the spread of the virus, officials say there's no evidence

schools themselves aren't safe. i don't feel they should close because i feeljust as safe in school as i would do anywhere. ifeel the children have missed a lot of education as it is. the new strain has come out and what we're seeing happening in london, it was happening with us. you know, we had the extra testing brought in earlier on. london didn't, now they are closing. i think we should all be just doing the same. i don't feel like they should stay closed. 0ur r rate is a lot lower, isn't it, and the school i work at, the head teacher there, she's amazing and she's put everything in place to protect staff, parents and children. there is now a legal challenge to see the government's basis for reopening primary schools on monday. in wales and northern ireland, the return was already delayed a week. in scotland, it's two weeks. there is a lot for the government to consider here — the new strains, the rising transmission rates, the pressure on the nhs, and the demographics in different communities. it has always said keeping children

off school would be a last resort, but there is growing pressure to extend these closures beyond london and parts of the south—east, and teachers are calling for decisions to be made quickly but clearly. a phased return is planned for england's secondary schools, starting a week on monday, with the hope that mass testing will limit disruption and minimise online learning. despite the downsides of that, it's already a reality for many children, and possibly beyond the next two weeks. dan johnson, bbc news, in southeast london. geoff barton is the general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. thank you forjoining us. what is your message to the government, and why do you believe they need to take different action? these are extraordinary times. they are times that need to be kind of leadership that need to be kind of leadership that we can trust. and which can explain things really clearly. what

we have heard from the government, quite rightly, is that schools will stay open come what may. except that we have a raging pandemic around us and parents, as well as those who work in schools, are concerned that what we have not got its transparency. as a association representing head teachers, a legal challenge to the government is show us challenge to the government is show us the evidence. what is the evidence about primary children being in school next week and second—rate not. what is the evidence around some tea at four areas going back to school as normal and others not. and what is the evidence that this huge mass testing programme is based on science that is really reliable. if we were to have a nswers is really reliable. if we were to have answers to those questions, many of us, including parents, would be reassured it is safe for those young people, for those members of staff working in schools but also for their parents and grandparents but it really is safe to proceed. what is that you believe is being

hidden if you are calling for transparency? many public health officials across the country are saying that transmission among primary school pupils are still very limited. they are not passing it on to their peers or family. why is that not satisfactory to you? to their peers or family. why is that not satisfactory to you ?|j think the problem is, edgy report demonstrated it, it's different versions, different itus say different things. i think a couple of things have changed forjanuary compared to where we were three weeks ago. first of all, we know the virus is a different virus. it has transmitted and become more difficult and challenging. we know what that is doing to young people come up ability for young people to transmit that appears to have increased. i don't know about the signs but i read that. critically, what happened on new year's eve as the sage specialist who advised the government, showing a meeting on the 22nd and 23rd of december, said if

you want to bring the r rate below one, you would need to have schools close for two weeks at the beginning of january. i think that is close for two weeks at the beginning ofjanuary. i think that is a game changer because in a tier 4 area. we cannot go walking out with more than one or two other people outdoors yet from monday we are expecting primary teachers to go into classes with 30 young people who we know have higher transmission rates. that is why we say give us the transparency. if you asa say give us the transparency. if you as a minister or secretary of state no better than the scientists, show us no better than the scientists, show us your evidence. how long would you wa nt us your evidence. how long would you want schools to be closed why? we are told we are some time away from the peak of this new variant of the virus. the next thing we will be hearing is how damaged education has been for this generation. there is two points. first of all, in terms of the damage to young people, no one is saying that young people's education should end. we are seeing

vulnerable children and children of key workers, young people have exams next week, they need to be in schools and colleges normal. that would allow teachers to focus on high—quality online learning and remote learning for all the other young people. the first point which is how long should this last? i am an educator, so i can say is if the sage committee is recommending those two weeks, it would seem those two weeks in order to get the infection rate down you reduce the risk of community infection, that would seem to very sensible. if the government can provide evidence that there is a better plan than that, we would like to hear it. if you have a look at what wales and scotland are doing, particularly scotland, there is a sense that leadership is now making decisions and communicating and showing the evidence. that is all we are asking for. thank you for talking to us. a number of hospitals across the uk are now facing a worse situation than at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic last year that's

according to the president of the royal college of physicians. professor andrew goddard says hospital staff are braced for a difficult few months as a result of the new variant of the virus. christmas is going to have a big impact. the new variant is also going to have a big impact. we know that is more infectious, more transmissible, so i can see the large numbers we are seeing in the south—east, in london, in south wales is now going to be reflected over the next month, two months even, over the rest of the country, so i think most health care professionals, doctors, nurses, and our health care professionals are all very worried about what the next couple of months means. everybody is tired. we're really, really tired from the first and second waves and there is still a long to go. the headlines on bbc news... pressure grows to shut more schools. unions are demanding an immediate two week closure of all primaries and secondaries in england — as coronavirus cases surge. india begins a nation—wide mock drill to test its preparedness

for mass immunisation against covid—19. the chinese foreign minister, wang yi, has claimed the coronavirus pandemic began in multiple parts of the world, notjust in china. wuhan saw the first confirmed cases and the first major outbreak of the virus in early 2020. but china has been trying to cast doubt that it originated there. the claim that the virus had other places of origin has been repeated in china for some months... now, in an interview with state media mr wang has gone further, claiming there is "more and more research suggests that the pandemic was likely to have been caused by separate outbreaks in multiple places in the world." the minister also defended china's transparency during the outbreak, claiming it ‘sounded alarm bells across the world.‘ that message comes ahead of the arrival in wuhan by who investigators looking into the origins of the virus... bbc world service asia editor

michael bristow has been analyzing beijing's attempts to deflect blame. it's certainly unsurprising because over the last year since the outbreak began, china has been under a lot of international pressure, received fierce criticism, most noticeably from president trump, about its handling of the virus, particularly in those early weeks when it did cover up some information and underestimate the strength of this particular outbreak. for several months, it has been trying to fight back and chinese scientists and lower—level officials have been suggesting, actual fact, that this virus could have originated elsewhere and been brought to wuhan. now the foreign minister himself, the most senior official to say this kind of thing, has gone a little bit further, which you indicated. he said that there could have been outbreaks across the world

in different places, although he doesn't exactly where that would be. it is really china pushing back, trying to take control of the narrative because as people start getting vaccinations, as we heard there, over the last few reports, they are going to look again at the origins of this virus and the focus will once again be on china. new figures suggest israel has given vaccinations against coronavirus to more than1 million people, the highest rate in the world. according to a global tracking website affiliated with oxford university — israel has a rate of 11.55 vaccination doses per 100 people, followed by bahrain at 3.119 and the uk at 1.47. today marks the 50th anniversary of the ibrox disaster, when 66 people were crushed to death leaving a football match between rangers and celtic in glasgow. it was one of scotland's worst peacetime tragedies as andrew picken reports. 1971 was only two days old when

rangers met celtic at ibrox. the game was dull and many fans started leaving before late goals for either side during the last five minutes. commentator: that's as near as we'll get today! the day became infamous for the deadly crush which developed on a stairway at the rangers end of the stadium. among the victims were five teenagers from markinch in fife, who never came home. we were all together, just joking, having a wee bit of banter. there was no animosity because they were rangers supporters and we were celtic supporters, there was nothing like that. we were pals. celtic fans peter leigh and shane fenton were among those who left early that day. it wasn't until we got back to kincardine, where the supporters used to stop on the way back and the older boys would go into the pub for a pint or whatever, they came back out of the pub and onto the bus, telling us what they'd seen on the television,

there had been an incident at ibrox, there had been fatalities at the rangers end of the ground. that was the first of us knowing about anything happening at all. the boys were among the 66 dead and 145 injured. 50 years on, modern crowd science has given us a better understanding of what went wrong. in a crowd that's packed to the levels of density that eyewitnesses were commenting on at ibrox, and on a slope, then you get the gravitational force added to the fall, and as each person falls onto others then you get a cascade dynamic. in the wake of the disaster, rangers rebuilt the stadium, making it one of the safest in europe. across scotland on january 2nd, people will mark the 50th anniversary of the ibrox disaster. andrew picken, bbc news. the impact of coronavirus on the economy has been enormous —

an estimated 1.7 million people are out of work. our business correspondent sarah corker caught up with three women who lost theirjobs earlier in the pandemic three people who all lost theirjobs because of the pandemic. 0lympia, rebecca and heather were facing the toughestjobs market for a generation. we've got no money coming in. i first met 0lympia and herfamily back in may. she was touring as part of a circus troupe when the first lockdown restrictions came in and they were stranded on morecambe seafront for months. it's fear. fear that... that i might not ever be able to do what i love again, which is perform, in the circus, because we might not recover. since then, things have got better. 0lympia's moved in with her mum in rotherham to save money, and wait until they're allowed to perform again. financially it's been a big strain. it's been massive.

five months relying on the food bank to feed you guys, what was that experience like? it was really hard. coming to terms with the fact that i had to rely on other people to eat and to live. in west yorkshire, rebecca was finding competition for jobs fierce. she'd worked in communications at a high street bank for a decade when she was made redundant in the summer. with every application that goes out the door, it does kind of chip away at your confidence and how you feel. it's already dog eat dog. it's only going to get worse. three months on, she's now working for a shed company. and it's been really busy, hasn't it? it's completely booming at the minute, is the shed industry, yeah, believe it or not. it's a completely new world for me. it's a million miles away from banking. what's it like after, you know, so many months not working, finally having a regular wage again? it was a massive confidence boost. there's no shame in saying that, although, yes, you've got your friends and family and things, when you've got a job, you feel like you've got purpose,

so it felt like i had purpose again. some of those in their 50s and 60s, like heatherfrom prestwich near manchester, felt they were being overlooked. the best one is "you're overqualified , " which doesn't make any sense to me, because, you know, if you're qualified to this level, then you can do anyjob up until that level. heather is still on the job hunt but is enjoying having more time exercising in the local park. did you think it would take this long and that it would be this hard? um, yeah, basically. you know, i've been here before, in much better times, so. there are obviously a lot more people unemployed, and because there's more people unemployed, but then there's fewer jobs at the moment because a lot of people are on furlough still. so for some, the search for work continues, but the arrival of an effective vaccine has brought renewed optimism for 2021. sarah corker, bbc news.

it's taken 36 years. but finally, wham's festive hit, last christmas, has made it to the uk's coveted number one slot. radio dj richard blade explained what wham's belated success means to him. # last christmas, i gave you my heart # but the very next day, you gave it away...# i mean, it's one of those tracks that people, when you hear it, you think about george, you think about wham, and you think about the time of year, it's the perfect track. # last christmas, i gave you my heart...# i was really shocked, actually, it had never been to number one on the uk charts before. it's one of those songs that people request all the time because they love wham, they love george. i was very, very lucky to know wham from their earliest days. when they first came over in 1982, i had them on my radio show. they did their first ever live gigs

with me at the beginning of 1983. i took them to the 321 club in santa monica, california, and that was the first time they played live when they lip synced to young guns and bad boys. and then they did it the next night at the club i was doing in westwood. # well, it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me...# the uk charts, to be number one on the bbc at christmas is so important, and i think it could be starting a tradition because, i mean, they have got the movie behind it, last christmas, they've got the song, why not george michael and wham at number one? it should be a tradition. # last christmas, i gave you my heart # but the very next day, you gave it away. # don't pretend you don't know every single word. now it's time for a look

at the weather with helen willetts. it looks as if the cold weather is with us for a few days yet, which means that the showers, when they come along, are falling as snow. mostly over the hills, but at lower levels as well. and ice becomes more of an issue, of course, after dark and when the surfaces are below freezing. and they could well be quite damp the surfaces where we have seen the frequent showers today — across northern and eastern scotland, northern england, wales, the midlands, southern and western parts of england, too. but we'll start to pick up some showers elsewhere, as well, because temperatures have barely risen 3 or 4 degrees above freezing by day. 0bviously, overnight they will plunge below freezing quite quickly once again. and the showers just keep coming onto those surfaces, and so damp surfaces with temperatures below freezing means ice is a real risk. and it'll be another harsh frost under the clearer skies across north—western areas overnight. the frost a little less harsh further south, but nevertheless still a frost, still a cold start as we move into sunday. slight difference is that high pressure builds towards the north on sunday, so we pick up more of a north—easterly as opposed

to the more northerly wind we've had today so there will be a difference in the distribution of the showers. one or two may actually get across to western scotland, some getting across the higher ground in northern england, and more potentially for east anglia and the south—east — of rain and sleet mostly but some snow certainly possible over the hills because it is another cold day after a cold start. with more of a wind, quite a bracing wind starting to pick up through sunday and monday. so although temperatures will reach 3—5 degrees above freezing, it will feel colder, particularly in the south, with those winds. further north and west, more sunshine under that area of high pressure, but equally a hard frost, some patchy fog. as i say, that set—up stays with us through monday and tuesday. that strong east, north—easterly wind with us. in fact, something a little more prolonged, potentially, rain and sleet—wise across southern and eastern areas, the channel islands as well on monday. again, with the intensity, it could bring the snow down to relatively low levels. there'll be a scattering of snow showers or wintry showers elsewhere coming in off the north sea. so, the better, drier,

brighter weather will be further north and west, but it is going to feel cold even in that sunshine and notably so with that brisk wind in eastern and southern areas. but perhaps something a little bit more unsettled wednesday and thursday. that's one we're watching. as ever, the warnings are on the website. hello, this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines... in the uk, pressure grows to shut more schools. unions are demanding an immediate two—week closure of all primaries and secondaries in england, as coronavirus cases surge. this isn't about head teachers wanting to close schools. this is about head teachers wanting to open schools but in order to do that we need to have risk assessments that ensure that there is safe practice across our schools. president trump and the election — now 11 republican senators say they will support him and object