this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. parents in england should send their children to primary school tomorrow, the prime minister says — but he warns that tougher measures may be needed in the weeks ahead, and refuses to rule out further school closures. it may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. i don't...| mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are reconciled to that. india's medicines regulator gives the go ahead for two coronavirus vaccines — as it starts one of the world's biggest vaccination programmes. the oxford jab will be used alongside a locally developed vaccine.

and israel leads the world with the highest rate of vaccinations — one in eight israelis gets a covid jab. 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. the uk prime minister boris johnson says restrictions in some parts of the country may get even tougher over the next few weeks. he also said that he believed primary schools in england are safe and insisted that it is sensible to keep them open in some areas despite rising infection rates. boris johnson was speaking to my colleague andrew marr, who asked him whether parents of primary school children in england should send them to school tomorrow. yes, absolutely they should,

in the areas where schools are open. what we're doing, clearly, is grappling with a new variant of the virus, which is surging — particularly in london and the south—east and that's why we have had to take exceptional measures for some parts, to close primary schools, keep primary schools closed temporarily. not something anybody wants to do. we've really fought very hard throughout this pandemic across the country to keep schools open. lots of reasons for that: schools are safe. very, very important to stress that. the threat to, the risk to kids, to young people, is really very, very, very small indeed, as the scientists continually attest. the risk to staff is very small. and, of course, the benefits of education are so huge. overwhelmingly, we want to keep our young people, keep kids in education because that's the best thing for them. so, that's why we've worked so hard to do it.

so i would advise all parents thinking about what to do, look at where your area is, overwhelmingly, you'll be in a part of the country where primary schools tomorrow will be open. our political correspondent jonathan blake told me that the prime minister seemed determined to resist calls from some councils and teaching unions in england for wider school closures. there's no change for now, i think is the summary of what heard the prime minister say this morning. as you suggest, they faced pressure, the government have faced pressure from teaching unions, who are lining up together to urge the government, to call for the government to keep primary schools closed to most children, all but vulnerable children and those of key workers, for at least another couple of weeks. you have some councils in england taking matters into their own hands and keeping primary schools closed for the next couple of weeks, as well. but as you heard the prime minister say there, his message was clear to parents — that they should send children to school where they are open. it was his belief, he said, that there is no doubt in his mind

that schools are safe and that remained the scientific advice to the government. but still uncertainty because he was very clear to say, as well, that the government would keep this under review and doesn't yet know the true impact of the new tier 4 measures in london and the south east and whether they will be enough to keep the virus at bay, given that the new variant is spreading more quickly, as we know. so, definitely keeping the door open to further school closures to come. yes, and keeping the door open for further restrictions generally? yes, that was the other headline from the prime minister's interview this morning. very clearly, i think, preparing the ground for tougher restrictions to come across the board in england. what i'm trying to get... the message i'm trying to get over to people is, i think, the same time i was on with you last time, in october. you said, how's it look? and i said, we were going to have a very bumpy period at christmas and beyond but i thought that by the spring, things would be better.

i stick to that. i think that's roughly how it's going to be. it may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. i don't... 0k. i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are reconciled to that because until... what might tougher be? until the vaccine really comes on stream in a massive way, we're fighting this virus with the same set of tools. later on, he added that things were probably about to get tougher. so, i think that's a very clear signalfrom the prime minister that even under the current conditions in tier 4 in england, which much of the country is under now, where you can only meet with one person outdoors, nonessential retail, leisure facilities, almost everything is closed, there could be further measures to come.

the prime minister's suggestion that restrictions could increase comes as leaders in liverpool call for another national lockdown to prevent what they call a "catastrophe". it's believed the new variant of the virus is beginning to move from the south to north — with cases in liverpool almost trebling in the past two weeks. the acting mayor of liverpool, councillor wendy simon, said the tier system wasn't working. i think the difficulty with this new strain of the virus is the speed at which it is actually infecting people. and certainly, what we've seen over the last few weeks is that the tier system hasn't worked with this particular strain of the virus. and people moving between tiers, as they have done — you know, we've been in tier 2 and then gone into tier 3, and still you're getting that movement of people between those tiers and then infecting people in those lower tier areas. so, for us, we feel before we get to crisis point in the city.

we have had that mass testing pilot where we saw our numbers come down significantly, so for us there needs to be three areas that we need to work on — so there is the lockdown to bring the numbers under control, that mass testing to continue, and for a community—led vaccination programme that is place—led within the city, to get that vaccine out as soon as possible, if we are to actually break the back of this virus over the next few weeks. that is the acting mayor of liverpool. in scotland... nicola sturgeon has asked the scottish parliament to be recalled tomorrow amid a rapid rise in covid infections. a spokesperson for the scottish government says the increase in covid cases in scotland is of very serious concern and warns of increasing pressure on the nhs. the first minister has requested the recall to make an urgent statement on further measures to supress transmission. let's return now to the issue of school closures. this morning, the uk prime minister

insisted that it is safe for english primary schools to remain open in most areas, despite rising infection rates. let's remind ourselves what's happening with schools in the rest of the uk. in northern ireland, face—to—face teaching is being postponed by at least a week. pupils will be taught remotely until schools start to fully re—open from january the 11th. many schools in wales are also opting for online learning until january 11th — although some are aiming to fully re—open from tuesday. and in scotland, pupils won't return to the classroom until at least january the 18th. most of them will be learning online from january 11th. charlotte clarke in east sussex has two primary school aged children. she says her experience of lockdown in the spring proved to her that school remains the best place for her children. i struggled mentally and emotionally. i work from home, and have

done since the first lockdown was announced. my employers are incredibly supportive of me working from home, and also the fact that i am a mum. but, as i've said to some of your colleagues before, i felt like i needed to split myself in three and be charlotte the mum, charlotte the solicitor, which is my job, and charlotte the teacher. and it did affect the relationship that i have with my children, because home is their safe place, this is where they can be who they want to be and not have to worry too much about school learning at this point in time, and that blurred the lines. and both of my children suffered quite greatly, mentally and emotionally. my youngest had onlyjust started primary school, and she stopped sleeping, she stopped eating, she lost weight. emotionally, the impact on her was quite huge. so i would not welcome further school closures. i think the children are actually being considered last in all of this argument.

that was charlotte clark, a mother in east sussex. councillors in brighton and hove have asked all primary schools to move teaching online, despite being one of the areas of england in which primaries are being kept open. paul shellard is secretary of the brighton and hove branch of the neu. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. schools, primary school is supposed to be reopening tomorrow but what is your view, you don't think they should? we certainly don't think they should. we think the government should be following the government should be following the advice of its own scientific advisers at sage and arguing school should only be open for the children of key workers and their vulnerable children, for at least a two week period, to allow the virus to be suppressed and to protect the school communities. i don't know if you can hear that clip of a mother we were just running before we spoke to you saying actually, it is damaging her children to be off school and

children to be off school and children are being thought of last in all of this. well, we certainly sympathise with that and our position is that we think the government should be doing far more to ensure that education is safe. if it was prepared to invest properly in the cleaning and hygiene arrangements, in providing the ict equipment necessary for continuing education, for making spaces available for reducing class sizes, for making sure that there is proper testing for staff. making sure teachers and other education staff are in line for the vaccine, then we would see the government taking it seriously. but unfortunately, they have given it a low priority and with gavin williamson, we are probably dealing with the most inept education secretary for a generation, who is taking reckless decisions and continually putting school leaders in a very difficult position. it is notjust his decision but the government's. the prime minister said only this

morning, he has no doubt classrooms are safe and the risk to young people is, quote, very, very small. it may be a small risk to children themselves but it certainly is a risk in terms of transmission to other members of their family and in the communities. if we look at the latest set of data, primary and secondary aged children are the largest groups, in terms of infection rates. how the prime minister can argue that households should not be mixing, which is absolutely right, but it is ok for classrooms with 30 plus children in them sometimes to be mixing and then people going back into the community beggars belief. you obviously feel very strongly about this. what are you saying to your members? are you telling teachers not to go to work tomorrow? in brighton and hove, the council has ta ken tomorrow? in brighton and hove, the council has taken the very sensible decision to advise schools that they should not or they should only open

for key worker and vulnerable children and we fully support that decision. throughout the rest of the country, the national education union is advising its members that they should exercise their individual right under the health and safety legislation not to attend work because it is not safe if schools are operating at full levels. we have argued for a long time that there should be proper rotor systems in schools and there should be a blended learning. some people attending school and some people attending school and some people doing it through remote learning. but the government is again refusing to accept that. paul shellard, thank you very much indeed, secretary of the brighton and hove branch of the national education union, many thanks. india's opposition congress party has warned that the government's decision to approve the emergency use of a locally developed coronavirus vaccine was premature and could be dangerous. it says the data on the safety and efficacy of covaxin had not been fully reviewed.

another vaccine, developed by astrazeneca and oxford university, has also been approved. the approval will kick off one of the world's biggest vaccination drives in coming days in the country of 1.3 billion people. the country's drug regulator said both vaccines were safe and provided a robust immune response. after adequate examination, the cdsco has decided to accept the recommendations of the expert committee and accordingly, vaccines of serum and bharat biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situation and permission is being granted to cadila healthcare for conduct of the phase iii clinical trial in india. from delhi, here is our south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan.

they are talking about inoculating 300 million people in what is described as one of the biggest immunisation drives in the world, it will not happen in a very short span of time, it will take several months. in fact, more than eight or nine months to achieve the target. but this has come as a big relief for the medical community and health care workers because india is among the first developing countries to approve these vaccines, the two vaccines, and they want to have enough stock of doses so they can start this programme. first is the oxford university astrazeneca vaccine and the second one is the bharat biotech, which is an indian made vaccine, the first indian vaccine for the coronavirus to be recommended and after britain's approval, it became very clear because this one is very cost effective

and it can be stored in a fridge and it suits india and most importantly the astrazeneca vaccine is being made locally in india in the western part of india by serum institute, so this is easily available for india. there are questions over the second one, bharat biotech, there have been opposition politicians questioning on twitter about whether enough trials were conducted, what is the efficacy of this particular vaccine? we still don't know about that, but the drug regulator was categorical in saying that we will not approve anything without considering safety in our mind. and when does the roll—out of the vaccines begin and who is the priority, which population groups get it first? the government held a mass drill on saturday to check the gaps in the distribution network — and india is a huge country,

if they want to distribute and supply these vaccines, they need to have a system in place. and the government has already promised that in the coming week, they should be able to start this vaccination drive. first, they need to sign contracts with these two companies to source the doses and second, they have to be distributed to different parts of the country. indian authorities are also looking at what's happening in britain because after the first dose, there seems to be a shortage... ..struggling to find a way to give the second dose. and here, both vaccines, astrazeneca and the bharat biotech, they involve two doses. so, the government wants to keep enough stock before they start rolling out. but this has been eagerly anticipated and there are people who are questioning how far these vaccines may be effective. there are some people saying we do not want to vaccine, but overall, what the people want to know, is an assurance from the government and health experts these vaccines are really, really effective so people can take it and the economy can be revived. 0ur south asia editor reporting from delhi. supplies of a coronavirus jab

produced by oxford university and astrazeneca are being distributed around britain, in preparation for vaccinations to begin tomorrow. 530,000 doses of the vaccine will be available from tomorrow. nhs england say the jab will be rolled out at a small number of hospitals for the first few days before the bulk of supplies are sent to gp—led services. meanwhile, a group of more than a0 mps have written to the health secretary matt hancock with concerns about the roll—out of the coroanvirus vaccines in the uk — in particular about new guidance which means that patients will wait up to three months for their second dose of the vaccine, as opposed to the recommended three weeks, in order to innoculate as many people as possible. labour mp for sheffield hallam, 0livia blake, is one of the signatories of the letter, and says it's not intended to frustrate the vaccination programme. all the members of parliament who signed that letter absolutely welcome the vaccination programme

and recognise that the vaccination will save many lives and we're not trying to discourage people from taking up the vaccine. but we are concerned about some of the narrative that has been developing over the last few days, about two issues to do with the vaccination programme. the 12 week wait that has been introduced, but also the changing guidance about what a last resort mix and match of different types of vaccines would be. so, really, we wanted to get clarity on those key issues, to make sure that this programme was as transparent as possible, so people will continue to have public confidence in it. but it does make sense, doesn't it, to give people firstjabs and then delay the second jabs, if by doing that you can vaccinate more people, more quickly? the deputy chief medical officer, jonathan van—tam, he has an analogy where he says if you've got two elderly grandparents, there are two vaccines available, it's better to give both 89% protection than to give one 95% protection, with two quick doses,

and the other no protection at all. that makes logical sense, doesn't it? yes, it does, but i also think that you have to understand that people need to have confidence if they're going to take up both vaccines. i've been contacted by a couple of 80—year—olds in my constituency who were promised a second dose of the vaccine and have had their appointment cancelled. so, really, we just want to get clearer advice and understanding of the scientific advice that the government has received to make these changes. if it's there — that's brilliant — publish it so we can all have confidence in the programme. i suppose some people might say there are already some who doubt the vaccine, who are hesitant about having the vaccine. by putting out a letter like you've done, you might create more doubt about the vaccine and whether it's actually safe. 0h, absolutely, this isn't

about safety, this is about making sure that we have the best take—up of the vaccine and we also have the best efficacy of the vaccine. we have seen conflicting reports from different organisations, from the bma, the doctors' association, actually the people who made, manufactured the vaccine in the first place, questioning some of the changes. so, we just want to get that clarity and those simple questions answered, so that we can reassure our constituents that this is the best way of this programme rolling out and actually being a success, which we all want it to be. 0livia blake, labour mp for sheffield hallam, it's emerged that israel has given vaccinations against coronavirus to more thani million people, the highest rate in the world. it's achieved a rate of 12.5 doses per 100 people, followed by bahrain at 3.119 and the uk at 1.47, according to a tracking website affiliated with oxford university. tom bateman has more. it has been a success story

for the israeli government, both in terms of the procurement of the vaccine from pfizer biontech, but also in terms of its delivery. and on that front, there are some natural elements that make it easierfor israel. it is a geographically small country with a small population — around 8 to 9 million people. it is also very practised in mass vaccinations and that has allowed it to get the vials out quickly and at those extra cold temperatures. israel has a universal health care system where people by law have to be registered with a medical insurer, so it has a really good database of people in it and has found that has been the way it has been able to contact people really quickly and get the jabs going in that way. and as you say, israel says the millionth dose, the first does of the jab, delivered on friday. but in terms of the procurement, i mean, israel has paid its way here. the israeli media reports that israel has paid up to three times the amount that some other countries

have paid to pfizer for those jabs. the israeli government won't confirm that, but ministers have said that smaller countries do have to pay a higher price and obviously i think the calculation will be that it is a price worth paying in terms of protecting lives and trying to free up israel's economy. and the prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said that could happen as early as february, or at least well into the spring. well, the 5 million or so palestinians in the occupied west bank and the gaza strip have been having, of late, a very tough time with the pandemic. we have seen rates surge and lockdowns in both territories because of that. the palestinians, particularly in gaza, had an extremely fragile and ill—resourced health care system, so there have been throughout these concerns aboutjust how well it would be able to respond. and in terms of the vaccinations, well, the palestinian authority had said that it was trying to procure a vaccine, firstly the russian

vaccine, although it appears that is now off the table. its health minister said last week that he expects the vaccines could start to become available in the next couple of weeks, although that doesn't really seem to quite tally with what international aid organisations are saying. the world health organization, for one, says it could be many months before vaccines are available. the palestinian health minister has not mentioned which companies they were talking to. and there have been around 15 or so human rights and aid organisations who have called on israel, as the occupying power, to do more to make sure that vaccines are available for palestinians under its control. tom bateman reporting from israel. michael mckevitt — the former real ira leader who was found liable for the 0magh bombing in 1998 — has died. the 71—year—old had been diagnosed with terminal cancer a number of years ago. he was one of four men found liable for the bombing, which killed 29 people. he was released from prison in 2016,

after serving a 20—year sentence for directing terrorism and membership of an illegal organisation. mass protests are taking place in iraq, and across the middle east, to mark the anniversary of the assassination of the iranian general, qasem soleimani. a night—time vigil was held near baghdad airport where general soleimani was killed, along with nine others, including iraqi shia militia leader, abu mahdi al—muhandis. washington accused him of masterminding attacks on us forces in the region. at least ten coal miners have been murdered in an attack by militants in western pakistan, prompting large protests in the hazara communities. jihadist groups and separatist rebels have been active in the area. the prime minister imran khan has condemned what he termed an "inhumane act of terrorism" and promised those responsible would be apprehended. a group of us senators say they will refuse to certify joe biden's election victory — unless a commission is set up to investigate alleged voter fraud.

the 11 senators and senators—elect, led by ted cruz, want a ten—day delay to audit the unsubstantiated allegations. you're watching bbc news. during last year's lockdowns, many of us developed new passions, or found ourselves revisiting old ones, and for eight—year—old amari from south lanarkshire that meant celebrating her love of poetry. amy irons has been back to catch up with her, as she looks ahead to what 2021 might bring. i'll tell yous all something to yous fae wee me. i've been telt to stay in and i'm no longerfree. but when the lockdown is lifted and staying in isnae a must i'll tell you something, petal you'll no' see me for dust. so that was amari six months ago, really summing up a lot of our feelings in 2020. now i've come back to see how she's getting on.

hi, amy! how are you doing? i'm good, how are you? i'm good. i'd ask you to come in but because of the coronvarius, nobody‘s allowed in each other‘s houses. i know! i'll get my mum to open the window. just wait a wee minute. 0k! so, i've not seen you in over six months. tell me, what's it been like? i'd say it's been the absolutely worst! and why‘s it been the worst? because we can't step out the house. i've missed family, missed going out places with my family. missed my friends, missed my world. you miss your world? cos the world's different, isn't it? yeah. and what do you think 2021 is going to be like? you said 2020's been the worst. it'll be better and then everything would be back to normal. the vaccine's coming

in easter, i think. because i heard it was coming on easter and then they have, theyjust need to get some more for everybody to get some. well, that was 2020 and i don't think it was great. i'll tell yous i did plenty — just as well i'm only eight! tell me something, sunshine, just what's that all about? one minute it was fine, then i'm telt no' to go oot! my ma just kept on saying, we don't want people sick. so just keep doing what you're doing and it'll be back to normal quick. so i'm getting my bike ready to head out without fear cos once the vaccine's ready, well, 2021's going to be my year! let's hope it is her year, let's hopeifs let's hope it is her year, let's hope it's everybody‘s year. let's ta ke hope it's everybody‘s year. let's take a look at the weather now. hello there. yesterday, we had some fresh snowfall across parts

of east scotland, northern england in particular. this was one of our weather watcher pictures from yesterday showing the scene. i think this is etherow country park, near romiley in the stockport area. now, today, the air is a tiny bit less cold. you won't be able to feel the difference, but it does make a difference to the showers. many of today's showers will be falling more as rain with just a little bit of sleet mixed in. there will be some snow around too, but it is mostly going to be on fairly high elevations above, say, 300 or 400 metres elevation for the most part, across the grampians, the southern uplands, the pennines and the high ground in wales as well. so, as i say, for most of us, when these showers come through, it's more likely that you see rain. those showers are going to be extensive, then, for eastern scotland, coming right away across england and to wales too. best of the sunshine today, northern ireland, northern and western areas of scotland. but it stays cold wherever you are and feeling cold, particularly where we have these brisk onshore winds. now, overnight, we're going to start to grab some colder airfrom scandinavia. so those showers are going to tend to switch a little bit more to a wintry mix. so, a little bit more snow mixed

in with them over high ground, maybe a little bit getting down to the lower levels, frosty with a risk of icy stretches. and, again, temperatures probably getting down to about minus eight in the highlands of scotland. monday sees the same area of high pressure continuing to steer in these brisk and cold north—easterly winds. now, the air‘s a little bit colder through monday, so, again, you're more likely to see a bit more of a mixture of rain, some sleet and some snow in the showers. but there'll be some showers streams as well. this line looks to be particularly persistent in kent, so it looks like it'll be quite wet for some here. and there'll be another line of persistent showers going in across parts of yorkshire where over the high ground, the eastern side of the pennines, very locally, we could see some fairly significant falls of snow. and with that shower line lasting through monday night and into tuesday. again, there is a risk of some snow and some ice here. aside from those shower streams, though, there will be some dry and bright weather with some sunshine. but again, certainly a frosty start with a risk of icy stretches. and it stays cold throughout, temperatures three to five

celsius on tuesday.