this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. trump and the election — now more republican senators say they will support him and object to the official results. india holds a one day nation—wide drill to prepare for mass immunisation against covid—nineteen. but will people take it? translation: i'm not that comfortable taking the vaccine but i get it. this could offer us the cure. but it's not yet confirmed. in the uk — as virus cases increase, teaching unions demand a two week closure of primary and secondary schools in england. china's foreign minister claims the pandemic began in multiple parts of the world, despite the first cases being detected in wuhan.

french police shut down an illegal rave, going since new year's eve — with more than two and a half thousand partygoers. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. in the united states — 12 republican senators say they'll raise objections this week to president—elect joe biden‘s victory. they'll do it when congress meets to review the results of the electoral college vote. it won't be enough to alter the outcome. but it could force other republicans to take sides over mr trump's claims of election fraud. our washington correspondent lebo diseko explains how the republican strategy will work. it is a bit of a complex progress

but basically, congress will meet. that is both houses of congress the senate and also the house of representatives will meet and they will essentially receive the votes of the electoral college and certify them. during that process if any member of the house can get a senator to come along with them and object to a particular state results then it forces a discussion and then a vote on those particular result. now for an objection to be successful both the house of representatives and the senate have to vote in favour of that objection. the democrats control the house of representatives at the moment so you can see how unlikely it is that any of these objections will get through. there are six key states that are likely to have objections put through. they are the battleground states including michigan, pennsylvania also georgia as well.

which is going to be having a senate run off next week for them so very, very unlikely that this is going to be successful. but what it certainly means if you think two hours for every objection raised and that is just the discussion. that's not even the vote. it is going to draw out what is largely or generally kind of administrative or ceremonial event and make it quite dramatic and long. jennifer kerns is a republican strategist. she says... the senate has moved to challenge the result is justified. i think millions members of congress and millions of americans are concerned about potential that there was election fraud in the 2020 presidential elections. we have an interesting clashing of powers coming this week forjanuary six. which is states rights versus the federal election outcome result. that is four or five

states and questions in terms of their election integrity versus the rest of the country. the other 45 states that believe that there may have been voter fraud which affected the outcome of the presidential election. the last time we had members of congress looking into an election with a special commission was 1877 with the 1877 commission that was 150 years ago. there were five members of the us senate, five members of the house of representatives and oddly enough, five members of the united states supreme court which took up the matters of whether there was election fraud in the 1876 election. so this is certainly unique. this is a once in a century occurrence that will be happening this week coming onjanuary will be happening this week coming on january six. will be happening this week coming on january six. have these issues not already been settled? you say it's the states against the outcome.

but the courts in the states in question have already heard these matters and they are satisfied that there was no fraud. should the senator is not respect the decision of thejudges within senator is not respect the decision of the judges within their own states ? of the judges within their own states? well, that's where i think he gets a bit tricky. because as you know, there were four or five states in which president trump was not even given standing. a lot of the evidence that the trump campaign had of ballot stuffing, election day fraud was actually never heard by a court because the court decided and thejudges in those court because the court decided and the judges in those cases decided in some of thosejudges the judges in those cases decided in some of those judges are political appointees. i think we can't presume thejudges in this appointees. i think we can't presume the judges in this country are without politics. no but ifi point to one of the judges rulings without politics. no but ifi point to one of thejudges rulings in pennsylvania they said charges require specific allegations and improve. we neither here. when they are looking for evidence that's what it comes down to. if these lawmakers in congress want to object, surely

they need to put forward specific evidence that backs up their concerns. precisely. and that's what they intend to do. i spoke with two members of congress this morning. they said they are prepared to do a ten day audit that would take us through january 16. just four days before the new president, joe biden is expected to be sworn in. india has been rehearsing how it plans to vaccinate three hundred million people by the middle of this year. on saturday, tens of thousands of health workers and volunteers took part in a one day rehearsal for mass immunisation. a second coronavirus vaccine has now been recommended for emergency use in india. unlike the astrazeneca jab, it's being made by a localfirm. 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. as in other countries i think that is what has been decided by the government of india. that front—line workers are in the highest priority at this point of time. and then after that is done the next level is going to be the elderly population plus people with comorbidities. and so on plus people with comorbidities. and so on and so forth. here in the uk, hospitals have begun receiving stocks of the oxford — astrazeneca vaccine that's to be rolled out on monday.

more than half a million doses will be available for rollout. the body which advises the british government on immunisation, has been defending the decision to delay giving people their second dose of the pfizer vaccine, so that many more people can receive an initial jab. here in the uk, there's growing pressure on the uk government to keep all schools in england closed for the next two weeks, to help slow the spread of coronavirus. 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. we've had a sharp increase in cases. we've had a sharp increase in cases. we will be approaching 500 5000 evil in the next few days. and that's following the pattern of the places that have already been told that the primary schools should remain closed. there is now a legal challenge to see the governments basis for reopening primary schools on monday for some wales or northern

ireland that return was already delayed a week. in scotland it's two weeks. there is a lot for the government to consider here. the rising transmission rates the pressure on the nhs and the demographics in different communities. as 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 southeast. 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 minimize 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. the headlines on bbc news. trump and the election — now more republican senators say they will support him and object to the official results. india holds a one day nation—wide drill to prepare for mass

immunisation against covid—nineteen. 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 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.

professor yanzhong huang is senior fellow for global health at the council on foreign relations good to have you with us. what do you make of these claims by the chinese foreign minister?” you make of these claims by the chinese foreign minister? i think it's not surprising. and the way the minister said that this pandemic likely could have been caused by separate outbreaks in multiple places, it's just like an extension of his official narrative that the fleet not simply china, wealthy virus doesn't necessarily follow that it original point of the outbreak. but this is the first time i think from a top government official claiming that china is more likely not the origin point of the outbreak. i can understand why they wa nt to outbreak. i can understand why they want to hit back given how vociferously president trump in the us has repeatedly referred to it as

the china virus. but does the finger—pointing of where it actually originated do any good it all? giving that the world is in the grip ofa giving that the world is in the grip of a pandemic and that wherever it started everyone's got to deal with the situation as it is now. exactly. this is the problem, the origins of the outbreak had largely been politcised in a way in the us and china being engaged in a blame game. who's responsible to the outbreak. so when the situation became politcised at a meeting that china being the origin point of the outbreaks tantamount to admitting that china is responsible for causing the pandemic. so that certainly does not bode well for international cooperation to fight a common enemy. china has said again in this interview, the foreign minister said that china sounded alarm bells across the world and was transparent. but on the other hand,

we re transparent. but on the other hand, were doctors silenced or discouraged from speaking out when they first raised concerns in wuhan? well, that's the problem. it is true that china is the first country to report the cases to the world as the minister said. because the chinese is where there virus was first detected. we also know the doctors, whistle—blowers who sounded the warning bell as early as december. for doing that he was disciplined by the local police. when we have this visit by the who investigator is going to wuhan, what do you hope, what do you think they may discover that would be helpful?” what do you think they may discover that would be helpful? i think we should not actually have two high

expectations on the who investigation team to china. which is expected to embark the trip i think this week. i expect them, the investigation to build up on the preliminary research conducted by the chinese scientist was on the question is that, what kind of preliminary research they have already conducted? how thorough it is, whether the chinese government is, whether the chinese government is willing to share that data. so there are a lot of question marks. and we expect the who team to find out and interestingly, the minister did not say anything in the speech whether china will be accommodating 01’ whether china will be accommodating or cooperating in the who trip. thank you very much for your time. let's look at some of the day's other news.

in niger, suspected islamist militants have attacked a village close to the border with mali killing at least forty—seven people and wounding twenty others. the tillaberi region, has been under a state of emergency after repeated jihadi attacks. in a separate incident in neighbouring mali, two french soldiers have been killed. iran is accusing israel of trying to provoke war by attacking us forces in iraq. foreign minister mohammad javad zarif tweeted that intelligence from iraq indicates israeli agents are planning to attack americans — he warned president trump to be careful of a trap, saying any fireworks would backfire badly. five indian cricketers have been told to isolate after they were filmed eating in an australian restaurant. they've been ordered to stay away from their team mates ahead of the third test, due to start on thursday. an investigation‘s been launched into whether the five breached coronavirus restrictions in melbourne, which is trying to contain a cluster of cases.

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 lieron 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 offices 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. from july 2019 to march 2020 australia witnessed its most intense bushfire season on record. blazes swept across 2a million hectares of land, affecting every australian state, destroying more than 3,000 homes and killing or displacing nearly three billion animals. at least 33 people died in what is now known as australia's black summer. one year on — the bbc‘s australia correspondent shaimaa khalil has returned to some of the worst affected areas. wow! it was the bushfire season australians had feared. conditions were dry for months and the heat was soaring. but nothing prepared them for the catastrophic blazes they faced. australia's black summer shocked the nation and the world. a year ago i met russell scholes, a volunteer firefighter in the town of balmoral. his house was burned to the ground

while he was helping his next—door neighbour. he and his wife now live in a converted garage on the same land. it will be many months until their new property is built. our living conditions are better than what they were, but they're still pretty harsh. all the dead trees around us remind you of the fire. you can't get away from it. it is there and it's there to remind us. if we get hot days and huge winds, that really starts to make the hairs on your back stand on end. itjust makes you feel — not again. you know, we don't want that again. last summer's bushfires were unprecedented in their ferocity and the huge destruction that they caused. most scientists agree that climate change played a big part in creating the catastrophic fire conditions and a royal commission enquiry now says that further global warming is inevitable within the next 20 years and that australians should prepare for more extreme weather.

new year's eve was a defining moment of the bushfire season. oh, my god! this was the town of rosedale in new south wales on the day. holiday—makers and locals sheltering on the beach, watching in horror. oh, my god! two—thirds of the homes here were destroyed. i felt very focused onjust staying alive. and, secondly, doing what they could with our defences to save our property. but ultimately that wasn't possible. the radiant heat wasjust too strong. jack egan survived after taking shelter in a fire bunker. it was a life changing moment. he quit his job and focused full—time on campaigning for more action on climate change. we're a canary in a coal mine here. we have to play our part as the canary that broadcasts to the world "watch out, it's coming for you and it's coming fast!" but the climate debate is politically divisive here.

fossil fuels, especially coal and gas, are among australia's most valuable exports and the government has so far resisted pressure to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. our policies won't be set in the united kingdom, they won't be set in brussels, they won't be set in any part of the world other than here, because it's australians' jobs and it's australia's economy of australia's recovery from the covid—19 recession that matters to me and my cabinet the decisions we take. in areas battered by the bushfires there are now signs of life. but most experts say that unless something is done quickly to address the climate crisis in australia and around the world this level of devastation it will become the norm. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, new south wales. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas.

hello, there. it's been a cold wintry start to 2021. temperature is still below average. this was the picture on saturday afternoon. quite a lot of snow around for many parts of northern england, scotland into wales, western england the midlands as well. over the next few days is going to stay cold with further wintry showers at times. certainly we re wintry showers at times. certainly were all can be some ice or frost around. a cold start to your sunday morning with subzero temperatures from many areas. as low as —5 or six across parts of the western scotland first thing for them after that cold frosty start the weather is looking generally settled. high pressure in charge of our weather. but we will have the breeze coming in from the north easterly direction. as it blows over the north sea is going to be bringing some showers. they showers will be across parts of england scotland, northeast england as well. one or two for the south into wales and midlands. maybe sleet and snow confined to higher ground.

largely rain at low levels. southeast of england and east anglia some heavy rain showers here. also for the channel islands we are likely to be seeing some rain on and off to the day up although chet took my temperatures will reach four to 6 degrees it will feel colder with the window. the breeze making it feel closer to freezing. during sunday afternoon for many of us. heading through into monday and high pressure still with us. sitting to the north of the uk we still got that northeasterly breeze into monday. many places looking to write with a giant but there will be some wintry showers and parts of southern scotla nd wintry showers and parts of southern scotland perhaps northern england. perhaps northern ireland and wales. the south east of england once again could see rain showers for supper a good into sleet and snow over the high ground with any of the heavier bars. again temperatures only four to6 bars. again temperatures only four to 6 degrees. but feeling closer to freezing once again. when you add on the effect of that wind chill on monday for them a very similar day into tuesday. we still got eight northeasterly breathe some rain showers for the southeast oven on

for that one or two wintry flurries elsewhere. a lot of dried butter on the cards for some sunshine still feeling cold with temperatures only about three to 5 degrees at that warmest on tuesday for top looking ahead through the remainder of the coming week it stays cold. temperature still below freezing. some sunshine and things looking like they are turning more unsettled later in the week. bye—bye.

hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment — first 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 is not about teachers wanting to close,