this is bbc news. the headlines: parents in england should send their children to primary school tomorrow, the prime minister says — but warns restrictions may have to be tightened in order to suppress the virus. 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, i mean, i don't like i'm fully, fully reconciled to that. there is no good the prime minister hinting that further restrictions are coming into place in a week or two or three. that delay has been the source of so many problems. so, isay, bring in those restrictions now, national restrictions, within the next 24 hours. opposition politicians in india question the approval of a locally made coronavirus vaccine, saying it's premature and could be dangerous.

civil war in america's republican party as some senators challenge the results of the us election. welcome. this is bbc news. the prime minister, borisjohnson, has warned that coronavirus restrictions in england are "probably about to get tougher" in order to bring the virus under control. but borisjohnson also insisted primary schools should open as planned this week — except in london and some areas of the south east where the new variant of coronavirus is rising rapidly. mrjohnson said there is "no doubt" in his mind that schools are safe. here's our political correspondent jonathan blake.

arriving in a hurry to deliver a difficult message. the prime minister gave his first interview of the year this morning and warned that life with coronavirus in england is likely to get worse before it gets better. he said the government may soon impose tighter restrictions in more areas. 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... i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are fully reconciled to that. under pressure over the return to school for children in england, the prime minister said there'd be no change and most primaries would open as planned tomorrow. 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 children, keep kids in education because that's the best thing for them. but teaching unions say the time is not yet right and want primaries open only to vulnerable and key—worker children, with the rest taught remotely for now. the levels of risk in school are heightened compared to other areas but we're not saying close schools down and keep teachers away. they've been working during any period of restricted access to keep education going and it's simply a short and determined period to get the new strategies and better strategies of control into schools, to make them covid—secure again. in wales and northern ireland, the return of primary schools is delayed for a week. in scotland, for two weeks. borisjohnson didn't rule out further closures in england. we will keep this under constant review, but we will be driven by public health considerations and by the massive importance of education. for parents like charlotte, it's a frustrating time. we are lurching from crisis to crisis, in that this isn't a feasible way forward every time

there is a surge in the virus rates. we cannot limp from school closure to school closure. whether schools are open or closed, most people in england are now living under the tightest level of restrictions. for how long and how many more willjoin them remains uncertain. the labour leader sir keir starmer is calling for new national restrictions in england to be brought in within 2a hours and said it is inevitable that more schools will have to close. the virus is clearly out of control, and there is no good the prime minister hinting that further restrictions are coming into place in a week, or two or three. that delay has been a source of so many problems, so i say, bring in those restrictions now, national restrictions, within the next 204i was.

——within the next 24 hours. that has to be the first step to controlling the virus. on schools, i don't want to add to the chaos that would be caused by having all schools closed tomorrow, and many will be closed. it is inevitable more schools are going to have to close, and the government needs to plan for children's learning, but also for working parents, so it is inevitable that more schools are going to close. many will be closed tomorrow morning. but the more important thing, in a way, is, national restrictions need to come in within the next 24 hours. let's not have the prime minister say, i'm going to do it but not yet. that's the problem he's made so many times. i've been speaking to our political correspondent, jonathan blake, and i asked him whether the prime minister would be willing to listen to keir starmer‘s request of a further national lockdown. i think what sir keir starmer is trying to do there is to get ahead of the government and sees clearly that this may be heading towards potentially something like a new national lockdown in england, and as you heard him say there, if that is what the government is intending to do, it should get on and do it rather than dropping hints at this point that it could happen further down the line. i have to say, i haven't picked up this afternoon that that is what the prime minister

was signalling in his interview this morning, saying that tougher restrictions may well be needed. the current tier 4 system was probably about to get tougher. i think we should probably interpret that as more areas of england coming under those tighter tier 4 restrictions, plus possibly the closure of schools along with that, depending on the impact of the restrictions as they are at the moment, and the practical situation around schools, as we've seen the debate playing into whether primary schools should open as planned tomorrow in most parts of england. but sir keir starmer upping the ante a bit and urging the government to take a national approach rather than the regional approach it is currently taking, although it is a regional approach, the vast majority of areas of england are under the highest tier 4 restrictions, about 78% of the population. and on the subject of primary schools, hugely debated at the moment. you've got the unions saying to teachers, don't go in if you don't feel it's safe.

you've got borisjohnson saying, if your primary school is open, continue to go in. what are we going to see tomorrow morning? is it local authorities making that decision now? well, local authorities, in most cases, don't have the power to order schools to stay closed, so what we've seen today is a couple of examples of local authorities asking the government, asking the department for education to step in and add their area to the list of schools that are recommended to stay closed. for example, the whole of london at the moment and other parts of south—east england, primary schools will be closed to most children, not all, tomorrow. but kent county council, cumbria, a couple of areas asking for the government to intervene there. that's one part of it, and another is the unions organising themselves together and urging the government to keep primary schools closed to most children for the time being, saying that it's not right, the time is not right and it's not safe to do so at this point, so if enough teachers decide that it simply isn't safe or isn't right

for them to go into school tomorrow, then that could have a big impact and potentially see more schools closed where otherwise they wouldn't have done. but the prime minister, for now, the government, for now, sticking to its plan, urging parents to send their children to school where they are open, and making the case that it's safe to do so. nicola sturgeon has recalled the scottish parliament tomorrow amid a rapid rise in covid infections. the first minister says the increase in virus cases in scotland is of ‘very serious concern‘ and warns of increasing pressure on the nhs. there were no new deaths reported today but there have been another 2,464 positive cases in the last 24 hours. by comparison, last sunday there were 740 new cases. our scotland political editor, glenn campbell, explained what further measures might be brought in to control the spread of coronavirus in scotland. the cabinet, when it meets tomorrow, will consider tightening these

level four restrictions, so that the lockdown is something closer to what we had last spring. so that the stay at home the message is firmed up and perhaps some people who might have been going back to work will be told that they shouldn't do so. the other area i think they will look at closely is the return of schools. in scotland, schools will not return fully until the week beginning the 11th of january, but at that point, children, pupils, will go back to online learning for that forthcoming week. i think it is likely that ministers will look again at that and put a further delay in place as to when schools will return, perhaps a delay of another 2—3 weeks, pushing the return into february. those are some of the options that will be considered.

they met yesterday, ministers who take part in the scottish government's emergency committee, they have sought new advice from the scientists, from the clinical advisors and that's what they will base their decisions on in the cabinet meeting in the morning. india's opposition congress party has warned that the government's decision to approve the emergency use of a locally developed coronavirus vaccine, covaxin, was premature and could be dangerous. another vaccine, developed by astrazeneca and oxford university, has also been approved. the jabs will kick off one of the world's biggest immunisation drives. anbarasan ethirajan reports from delhi this was the moment many in the world's second most populous nation were waiting for. after days of uncertainty over which coronavirus vaccine will be approved for emergency use, a drug regulatorfinally spoke. after adequate examination, the cdsco has decided to accept

the recommendations of the expert committee and accordingly vaccines of m/s serum and bharat biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situation and permission is being granted to m/s cadila healthcare for conduct of the phase iii clinical trials in india. with the approval of oxford university astrazeneca and the indian—made covaxinjabs, the roll—out can happen within weeks. astrazeneca has tied up with a local partner to produce the vaccine in india. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, expressed hisjoy over the fact that both the vaccines will be produced in india, but within hours of the approval of the two vaccines, controversy has erupted. the opposition raising concerns over the permission given to the locally made covaxin. critics argue that safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been reviewed.

but the drug regulatory authority said both the vaccines were safe to use. experts say the government needs to allay the fears over the vaccine. i think the way to deal with resistance is to have a very strong communication strategy. that needs to be developed. and also for the government to work very closely with communities, both in the kind of urban setting as well as the rural setting. approving the vaccine is only the first step. the challenge is a glitch—free campaign in the coming months. the world will watch and learn from how india rolls out one of the biggest vaccination exercises. in the us, members of congress are being sworn in today, kicking off an explosive week in washington as republican lawmakers vow to challenge joe biden's election win. the move, which has the backing of vice—president mike pence, is certain to fail as most senators

are expected to endorse mr biden when they meet to certify the election results onjanuary 6th. our washington correspondent, lebo diseko, joins me now. i'm wondering what these republican members are hoping to achieve if the evidence says that they are not going to win with what they are hoping to do. i think a lot of people are asking that very same question. i think a clue might be in the ambitions of the two senators that are really leading the charge, ted cruz leading that group of around a dozen senators and senators elect. they put out statement yesterday. you also havejosh hawley. both of those have ambitions in the 2024 election, possibly there eye on the presidency, so perhaps that gives a clue as to what they

might be trying to achieve. you will remember that donald trump has for the last few weeks really been pushing members of his party to make these kind of moves, and has suggested himself this might be one way to try and overturn the election results. senator ted cruz and his group say they are not trying to subvert the will of the people, but certainly, given the language of donald trump, and given everything that we've seen over the last few weeks, that is certainly how it is being viewed by many. we are talking about an explosive week in washington. talk us through what we can expect and those formalities. when we are talking about the congress accepting those electoral couege congress accepting those electoral college votes, they will be brought up college votes, they will be brought up to the congress on wednesday the 6th of january. essentially, up to the congress on wednesday the 6th ofjanuary. essentially, if they can geta 6th ofjanuary. essentially, if they can get a member of the house of representatives and a senator to sign on to a challenge of a

particular state, that can force a debate and a vote. it takes about two and a half hours, really. it seems that there are about six battleground states where there might be challenges brought. of course, there has to be a vote that passesin course, there has to be a vote that passes in both chambers, so the senate and the house of representatives, which is controlled by the democrats. as you say, that is pretty likely to fail. i can't see the democrats voting to not make joe biden president. i'm sure you will keep us posted as events get under way today. as we mentioned earlier — the uk has recorded over 50,000 new cases of coronavirus for the sixth day in a row. the number of patients in hospital with covid—i9 is rising rapidly, with a 33% increase in just eight days. london hospitals are particularly badly hit, with doctors warning the situation in the capital is dire. joining me now is dr emeka okorocha, a locum a&e doctor working at hospitals across london

and the kent border. thank you forjoining us. those are the figures, but talk us through the reality. what is it like on a day—to—day basis being a doctor in a london hospital with figures of that kind? honestly, it's a little bit difficult right now. i think that with everything going on, myself and my colleagues have already been through a lot, considering what's been going on the last year, but the reality is, it's very difficult for patients and their families. a lot of the time, these families are seeing patients, their family members come in, and they don't know what's going on, so we are in a situation where families can't visit the way they normally would, and a&e, so families are constantly trying to get through to us, asking how mum and dad are doing, how their

son is doing, etc, and it makes it difficult for us to then continue oui’ difficult for us to then continue our jobs, difficult for us to then continue ourjobs, because we do understand that people are worrying about their family members. i think a number of patients are scared for themselves, some are worried in terms of the treatment of what is going to happen. this increases the anxiety within the department. i think eve ryo ne within the department. i think everyone is trying their best to do what they can in terms of calming patients down, increasing patient flow, getting as many people in as possible and trying to discharge as many as possible. in a number of cases, it's just very difficult right now. listening to you, i am hearing the word patient over and over again, hearing the word patient over and overagain, and it hearing the word patient over and over again, and it is clear that your concern lies with them, as is clear in the medical world, but you and yourteam, clear in the medical world, but you and your team, how are you coping on and your team, how are you coping on a personal level almost with the resources you have, and also when it comes to your mental health? yes, i see you've picked up on that, so obviously we keep patients at the

forefront of everything that we are doing. as hard as it is for us as front line health care workers, we can only imagine what it could be for patients coming in, with everything they are going through. at least we are well at the time where we are treating them. for ourselves, we are just kind of getting on with it. for myself, i try and put it to the back of my mind, everything that's happened. after going through the first wave backin after going through the first wave back in spring last year, and the first lockdown, i configured my mind to go into work, do myjob and come back. i think, for a lot of my colleagues, it gets very difficult, especially those who are separated from family members and friends, and we do hear stories from people who couldn't go and see family members for christmas and are now back at home struggling their way through things. i think there will be a dark period, if i'm honest, in the next couple of months, i predict, but it's something we did predict could happen. we were hoping it wouldn't,

but it has, that is the reality at the moment. you touched on it there — you predicted that this would happen. do you feel lessons have been learnt within your profession when it comes to how to deal with this pandemic, at least on a day—to—day basis? this pandemic, at least on a day-to-day basis? 10096. there are a number of different things we were slow to the mark on when it first happened last year, because we just weren't used to it. we had to rearrange so many weren't used to it. we had to rearrange so many different departments. i've worked across london now, and if you go into departments, spatially, things have been rearranged for the fact that we have patients coming in with a deadly virus versus the regular patients we get at wintertime. it has made it different and difficult. ambulances come to different sides of the a&e bringing different kinds of the a&e bringing different kinds of patients, not something we had last year. we had a unilateral flow where everyone was coming through the front door. every department

will be split into a thing like major, covid minor and covid paediatric for the kids. it is something we have learned from previously, so it is working a bit better to get patient flow going now. so interesting speaking to you. thank you, doctor. we wish you and your team all the very best. stay well. thank you very much. let's return to our main story. the uk prime minister borisjohnson says he has "no doubt" schools in england are safe, despite the rapid spread of coronavirus. he said parents should send primary—age children back to classrooms this week, in areas where schools remain open. ian ward is the labour leader of birmingham city council. he's previously voiced his concerns about an increase in covid infections among 5 to 9 year—olds. despite being in tier 4, primary schools in birmingham have been told to open as normal. thank you forjoining us. talk us

through how you are feeling as schools are due to reopen in a matter of hours, tomorrow morning. that's correct. since the end of the second lockdown, we have seen case rates in birmingham rising. 358 per 100,000 of population and continuing to rise. the difference we are experiencing now is that in the 5—9 age group and the 10—14 age group, we are also seen age group and the 10—14 age group, we are also seen case rates age group and the 10—14 age group, we are also seen case rates rise, and we did not see that back in november. it indicates that we now have the new variant of the virus present here in birmingham, and we know from the london experience that once the virus is in school, it spreads. the advice we are giving to schools is to carry out a risk assessment tomorrow morning. if it indicates it is not safe to open a school, then we would stand with the teaching staff in support of that decision. lots of concern about what many people believe has been a lack of clarity from central government when it comes to the reopening of

schools. do you think this decision should have been put in the hands of local authorities? yes, i do. we on the ground are closer to the schools and parents and teaching staff, and we have a better idea of what the risks are. i can't for the life of me see how borisjohnson, set in london, can have no doubt it is safe to open schools. then again, this is a man who last march was openly bragging about going round hospitals and shaking hands with covid—19 patients. the truth is, parents cannot trust what he is saying. lots of lessons have been learnt over the past few months. what do you expect to happen tomorrow morning? do you believe teachers will go back to school and students will turn up? yes, i believe that staff will turn for work. i will begin carrying out a risk assessment to see if it is safer open school. we will wait to see what the reaction of parents is, whether they send children to school or not. i suspect that will be something of a mixture across the city as a whole. it is for head

teachers and staff to determine whether it is safer open schools, not for the prime minister set in london. no doubt you have had many conversations with teachers over the past few weeks — what have they been saying? teaching staff are increasingly concerned about opening schools tomorrow. they see what has happened in london and they have no wish to see the pupils they are teaching contract the virus, or indeed themselves and their families contract the virus, so they are very concerned. i'm also receiving lots of e—mailfrom concerned. i'm also receiving lots of e—mail from parents who are very worried about sending their children to school tomorrow, so i think for once the government need to look at what's going on here and get ahead of the curve, and make it a positive decision around primary schools for tomorrow, and end the confusion and chaos for all primary schools across all areas that are now in tier 4. ian ward, thank you very much for your insights there. rescue workers have uncovered a fourth body after a landslide buried homes in norway — 6 other

people are still missing. the hillside collapse happened in the town of ask — about 15 miles from the capital, oslo — on wednesday. frankie mccamley reports. candles lit to remember those who died in the landslide earlier this week, as rescue teams refuse to extinguish hope of finding more survivors. translation: we have to stick to the hope provided by the rescuers that it could still be possible to find someone alive, but it is, of course, terribly painful for the people close to it and for the relatives. for everyone affected by the situation. emergency workers continue to battle freezing temperatures in gjerdrum, a town around 45 kilometres north—east of oslo. six people are still missing, believed to include women and children. four have now been found dead. translation: it is, of course, with great sorrow we received this information about another death

in relation to the tragedy. the hillside collapsed in the early hours of wednesday morning, destroying more than 30 homes, with others left teetering on the edge. as many houses remain unsafe to return to and workers try to restore power to the area, questions are being raised over how and why this happened. frankie mccamley, bbc news. it's emerged that israel has given vaccinations against coronavirus to more than one million people, the highest rate in the world. it's achieved a rate of 12.5 doses per 100 people, followed by bahrain at 3.49 and the uk at 1.47, according to a tracking website affiliated with oxford university. china is celebrating a successful year of breeding pandas — and they've released some new footage of the animals at play. 44 giant pandas were bred in captivity in china in 2020, bringing the country's total panda

population to 633. you're watching bbc news. borisjohnson's suggestion that restrictions could increase comes as council 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. bitcoin is setting new highs, closing in on around £25,000 for the first time, with a rise of more than 16 percent in the last 24 hours. the rally began last october when the online payments firm, paypal, said it would allow customers to use the digital currency. shaun ley has been speaking to

bitcoin journalist, billy bambrough. many are expecting there to be a retail boom, so lots of people, just everyday people on the street who are now able to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through paypal, but along with that, happening alongside it, institutional investors are finally showing some real interest in the digital assets as well. we have seen roffer investment management, a british company, put about £500 billion into bitcoin. also square, which is a us payments company controlled by jack dorsey, who is also the ceo of twitter. he has bought about $50 million worth of bitcoin, so it is increasingly looking like an asset that companies and serious investors are willing to get involved in. and that, if it comes to pass and is sustained, will be a significant change in how it is regarded, isn't it? because there has always been a degree of scepticism about cryptocurrency, perhaps in what you might call more

traditional financial circles. yes, and for good reason, really, because they are not backed by anything in the real world. so most other assets, say, if you are buying gold, even if you're buying it online and are not actually physically buying the gold itself, you are still buying at least someone holding that gold for you. bitcoin doesn't have anything like that, it does exist entirely online and it's backed only really by the market — that is, what people are willing to pay for it — but also by the power of the bitcoin network, how many computers are plugged into it and generating its security. those two things are what gives bitcoin its perceived value and certainly over the last few weeks and months, investors seem to think it potentially does have much more value than they did previously. what about, given the light of paypal‘s decision, the reaction of central banks? because only recently the governor of the bank of england, andrew bailey, was warning investors about the risks of using

cryptocurrency for payments because of what everybody talked about as its volatility. in a sense, we are seeing that volatility at the moment — it's going up, but the fear will always be it will go down again. well, what goes up must go down. it is certainly worth remembering that if you are thinking about getting involved. but as you say, central bankers and regulators around the world have been very nervous about cryptocurrencies for a long time. china has gone to some lengths to try to prevent its citizens from using it and we have seen this with other countries as well, russia and iran, and there is no guarantee that couldn't happen as well in the uk, europe, the us and other countries. as different governments increasingly experiment with what is known as central bank digital currencies — largely just putting their traditional currencies online — they might be more keen to try to closely regulate the space and make sure that people are using their currencies and not these... not centrally controlled ones like bitcoin and even ones suggested

by social networks like facebook, which has begun to try to roll out its digital currency, which used to be called libra and has recently been renamed diem. hello. if you're waiting for the weather to turn a little bit milder, well, you are going to have to wait a little while. certainly through this coming week, it is going to stay cold, just as it has been so far in 2021. we will see some rain, sleet and snow at times but equally, some spells of sunshine. what we have to start monday is high pressure to the north, lower pressure to the south, that is driving a fairly keen north easterly breeze across particularly eastern england and wales. the strength of that breeze will make it feel chilly through the day. across parts of east anglia, the south—east and down into the channel islands, expect a band of cloud and rain which will be slow—moving. elsewhere, some spells of sunshine,

the best of that towards the north and the west of the uk. but also, some showers feeding in on this north—easterly breeze. some showers will be wintry. there was the wind gusts, we are looking at gusts of 30 to 40 mph in places, so when you consider that the temperatures at best will only be about four, five, 6 degrees, with that brisk wind, it is going to feel really chilly out there. through monday night, notice the way in which that band of rain continues to linger across parts of south—east england and the channel islands, some further wintry showers pushing in elsewhere with some snow, especially over high ground. mostly rain at low levels and it is a sunshine and showers day for most on tuesday, still with that keen wind crossing wales and still is a more persistent rain across the south—east and the channel islands. those temperatures still in that range between three and 6 degrees. subtle change as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, high—pressure slips away westwards and this area of low pressure to the north starts to take a bit more control. by this stage, confidence in our forecast does start to decrease.

there is uncertainty in just how quickly those changes will take place. it looks like quite late on wednesday we will see some outbreaks of rain and snow, into the north west of scotland. drier and brighter with slightly lighter winds elsewhere. through wednesday night and into thursday, the frontal system in the north—west will try to push its way south eastwards, taking some rain, sleet and snow with it. there may well be a little bit more in the way of wet and wintry weather then these graphics suggest, as the frontal system pushes down into england and wales, so just about anywhere, could see rain, sleet and snow. there could even be some snow to quite low levels. the winds at this stage coming down from the north rather than to the north—east, but still a cold wind direction so temperatures are pegged back to between three and 5 degrees. then to the end of the week, different computer weather models have very different ideas about how exactly this area of high pressure and this area of low

pressure will interact. it depends on how strongly the high is building. we could see a decent amount of dry weather, if low pressure is a bit closer, we could see some rain, sleet and snow, but one thing that is nailed on, pretty much, is that we will have a cold, northerly wind. so, another chilly day on friday but the amounts of rainfall, indeed the amount of sleet and snow, is very much open to question, it's worth staying in touch with the forecast, but those temperatures will be on the low side, perhaps just two to 5 degrees. as we look further ahead to next weekend and into the start of the following week, it may well be that temperatures start to climb just a little, but i will emphasise once again that there is a lot of uncertainty in the forecast as we look further ahead. we may see some rain, about sleet and snow at times, that will also be some drier interludes. we will keep you up—to—date on the forecast through the days ahead.

borisjohnson warns of tighter coronavirus restrictions, as infections continue to rise. stronger measures aren't guaranteed, but labour says he must act now. it may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be

tougher in many parts of the country. so, i say bring in those restrictions now — national restrictions within the next 24—hours. that has to be the first step to controlling the virus. as some schools reopen tomorrow fears of staff shortages, with unions telling teachers it isn't safe. and, the oxford vaccine is rolled out tomorrow, amid concerns about the overrall pace of the programme. good evening. borisjohnson has warned that coronavirus restrictions in england may need to be tightened over the next few weeks, to cut the rising numbers of infections. he also says it's right that schools should stay open where they can.

but the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has responded, saying it's clear the government has lost control of the virus, and a new national lockdown should be announced within 24 hours. with the very latest, here's our political correspondent, chris mason. arriving in a hurry to deliver a difficult message. the prime minister gave his first interview of the year today. he warned that coronavirus restrctions in england are likely to get worse before they get better. 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... i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are fully reconciled to that. the prime minister's analysis of this pandemic from the very start has often contained splashes of optimism, but today felt different. vaccines and testing offer hope but borisjohnson struck a sombre

tone as he lent on downbeat language about the need to be realistic about the very difficult period ahead. but most primary schools in england are expected to reopen this week. in secondaries, there'll be a staggered start to the new term, with pupils expecting exams in the summer going back first. mrjohnson insisted schools in england must stay open where ever possible. schools are safe — very, very important to stress that. the threat, 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. but the signs of everyday life, like these in high wycombe, in buckinghamshire, are here to stay and labour this afternoon have gone a step further, calling for another england—wide lockdown. it is inevitable that more

schools are going to close, many will be closed tomorrow morning but the more important thing, in a way, is the national restrictions need to come in — in the next 24—hour is. let's not have the prime minister saying, "i'm going to do it but not yet". that's the problem he's made so many times. and so, 2021 begins as 2020 ended, shrouded in worry and uncertainty. the vaccines will allow us to turn a corner in tackling this pandemic but the rest of winter looks bleak. chris mason, bbc news. some schools will be reopening tomorrow after the christmas break, but there are concerns there won't be enough staff because of worries over the new variant of coronavirus. the biggest teaching union, the neu, is advising members only to hold classes for the children of key workers, or those from vulnerable backgrounds. with more, here's our education correspondent, dan johnson. can the virus be controlled if these

classrooms fill up again? it's a huge question with all kinds of complications and implications. i've had two parents already contact me over the weekend to say that they've got concerns about bringing their children back to school. in oxford, some parents are making their own decisions. and primary school head teachers like lynn are grappling with tricky issues ahead of children coming back here on tuesday. yes, the government are continually reviewing the situation but, actually, i want someone to say, no, we are going to close for two you're going to do something really well to make sure the children learn and that, to my mind, would be far more effective than just having this constant anxiety behind everyone's feelings. are we going to close, are we not going to close? but staying closed would mean childcare. it would mean learning from home and the risk that some kids miss out and fall behind. since he's started, he's learned to read and write. we wouldn't have been able to teach him that at home, so it's amazing he's had that opportunity, so i want it to continue. i hope the teachers

are prioritised for vaccinations, so that there is some element of safety in returning to schools, as it will benefit everyone, especially the young children. at the moment, i think it would be better if we didn't. i think it would be better if all the schools were closed, just till we got over this peak. there is pressure from teaching unions, councils and some local public health directors. some have already told their schools to stay closed. so the number of children who actually return from tomorrow isn't entirely in the government's hands now. some further closures do look inevitable, whether that is through decisions made by councils or the government having no other option and that could well last beyond these first two weeks. so the priority has always been to keep schools open as much as possible but there is an argument that taking some action now could help avoid further disruption in future. bradford schools are in tier 3 but staff here, like others, could vote with their feet after some teaching

unions declared classrooms unsafe. whether we open or not depends on the number of staff that we have and it is not just the number of staff that we have and it is notjust teachers, there are other members of staff who have real genuine concerns as well, including kitchen staff. obviously, we would need to feed the children at lunchtime and if we don't have kitchen staff in school because of their concerns, that is another issue that i need to take into account when we make a decision. wales and northern ireland have delayed the return another week, scotland's schools won't fill up until the middle of the month. 20% of england's primary pupils face a fortnight of home learning and other areas are now saying fortnight of home learning and other areas are now saying their schools should join them. dan johnson, bbc news. and our political correspondent chris mason is here. the watchword seems to be uncertainty, uncertainty over greater restrictions on whether they will come in, uncertainty over schools reopening and uncertainty on the overall strategy in dealing with coronavirus? the nhs is struggling,

the economy is crippled and we've all been robbed of an ability to plan. if your local school is reopening tomorrow, you can't be certain it will be opening a week's time. if your school is closed tomorrow, you can't be certain it will reopen in a fortnight‘s time. the prime minister says he is still optimistic about how things can be bye optimistic about how things can be by e but easter is a long, long way away. labour are now saying the one place england wide lockdown. they are modelling that on what happened backin are modelling that on what happened back in march. they say the stay at home message that we got used to them should be emphasised again but they would want to see schools reopened where possible and support bubbles remaining in place. i think the reality is that we all felt the other night as we waved goodbye to 2020 that it was a good year to be putting to bed and leaving behind us. putting to bed and leaving behind us. the blunt truth is the next few months could feeljust as bad if not more bleak than the last few months of last year. chris, thank you.

chris mason, our political correspondent. the latest official figures show there were nearly 55,000 new coronavirus infections, recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is now 52,348. there were 454 deaths reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, but today's figures don't include scotland. that means, on average in the past week, 604 deaths were announced every day, taking the total across the uk to 75,024. the scottish parliament is being recalled tomorrow to consider if it needs to impose tougher restrictions in the battle against coronavirus. our correspondent, alexandra mackenzie is in glasgow. alexandra, what are we likely to hear tomorrow? well, there is real concern about the rise in the number of cases here. much of that is now due to the new variants. nicola sturgeon announced today that she

will meet with her cabinet tomorrow morning to discuss how best this virus can be suppressed and then parliament will be recalled in the afternoon and she will make a statement to parliament. now, we are expecting the restrictions to be tightened, possibly a move back toward strengthening that stay at home message that we had back further into lockdown in march. and then schools will also be discussed. currently, pupils are due to go back to classroom learning in the middle of the month but that could be postponed for another couple of weeks. 0k, postponed for another couple of weeks. ok, thanks, alexandra. from tomorrow, doctors across the uk will begin the roll out of half a million doses of the oxford coronavirus vaccine. but there are questions over the speed at which those most at risk across the country will receive theirjabs, and concerns over the government's decision to delay offering the public second doses, of both

the oxford and pfizer vaccines. here's our science editor, david shukman. it began with a blaze of publicity and now the vaccination programme moves up a gear, to and now the vaccination programme moves up a gear, to try to protect tens of millions of people now that a second type of vaccine is about to be deployed. i hear from particularly my general practice collea g u es particularly my general practice colleagues up and down the country that they are raring to go. they are really, really busy but they also know that this is the best thing they can do to protect their patients. so as supply allows, more sites will be able to offer the vaccine and that is exactly what we need to aim for. the big hope is the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is easy to handle. it doesn't need to be stored in extreme cold and the first doses are due to be given tomorrow. so, in the coming months, how will this mass programme take shape? the government because my ambition is that by easter, april the 4th, to have reached something like 30

million people. they are the most at risk, over 50s, health million people. they are the most at risk, over50s, health and million people. they are the most at risk, over 50s, health and social ca re risk, over 50s, health and social care workers and adults with difficulties. that involves 2 million injections every weekend for many people, that will be their first dose only. all of this depends on two key factors. production, can it be ramped up sufficiently questionable so delivery, will it be smooth in this massive operation? this comes as government advisers say it is better to delay giving second doses so that more people can quickly get a first dose and at least have some protection. but pfizer says this idea hasn't been tested for its vaccine and some leading scientists want more research. i think it is so important that with this decision that's been made that there are actually scientific studies that go on to look at the effect of delaying the second dose. i personally think that it may well produce as good or better in the response but we need

to study it. sites like this offer hope of a way out of the pandemic. the challenge now is making sure the vaccines get used as effectively as possible. david shukman, bbc news. let's take a brief look at some other news, and islamist militants have attacked two villages in the west african state of niger, killing at least 70 people. reports say the gunmen arrived on motorbikes. special forces have now been sent to the area, in the tillaberi region. there've been a number ofjihadist attacks there in recent months, by groups based across the border in mali. the former leader of the real ira, michael mckevitt, has died. he was 71 and had previously been diagnosed with cancer. he was one of four men found liable for the omagh bombing in 1998, which killed 29 people and unborn twins. it was the worst single atrocity of the troubles in northern ireland. rescue workers have recovered a fifth body, after a landslide buried homes in a village in southern norway on wednesday. it happened in ask, about 15 miles from the capital oslo. five other people are still missing.

in the last few minutes, it has been announced the gerry and the pacemakers front man has died. he was 78. perhaps best known for his hit you'll never walk alone which has been sung by liverpool football fa ns has been sung by liverpool football fans on the terraces for decades. # walked on, walk on... gerry marsden, with one unforgettable and them. he was a much a part of liverpool a's story as the anfield kop. born in toxteth, his career began at the cavern club in the 60s. jerry and his band the pacemakers

we re jerry and his band the pacemakers were spotted by the manager of the beatles. he gave them a song that was turned down by the fab four and adam faith. how do you do it was a huge hit on both sides of the atlantic. never heard ourselves on tape before and it got to number one and we were very pleased. the wheel was set and so was adam. the girls are the top of their screaming form. # i like it, i like it... more followed as the mersey beat swept the world. # and the world. #and| the world. # and i like it more with every day # and i like it more with every day # and i like it more with every day #and| # and i like it more with every day # and i like it more with every day # and i like it more with every day # and i like it always hearing you say you're liking it to... #so say you're liking it to... # so ferry cross the mersey... but it was as a singer of gentle ballads he will be remembered. ferry across the mersey was in the style jake expression of his love for liverpool. # walked on, walk on... and then,

gerry marsden struck a chord with his beloved aid fans at anfield. his band may have broke up in 1966 but at the 25th anniversary of the hillsborough disaster, musically and emotionally, he will always be a pa rt emotionally, he will always be a part of the heart and soul of the club. gerry marsden who has died at the age of 78. and that is it, i will be back with the late news at ten o'clock. now time for the news where you are.

hello. this is bbc news. during last year's lockdowns many of us developed new passions, or found ourselves revisiting old ones, and for 8—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 aw 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! hello there. if you're waiting for the weather to turn a little bit milder, you are going to have to wait a little while. no sign of any end to this current cold spell, certainly not in the week ahead. it is going to stay pretty chilly, with some rain, sleet and snow at times, but also some spells of sunshine. we've got high pressure to the north, low pressure to the south. that is driving quite a brisk north—easterly wind

across the british isles. it feels really chilly in that wind and the breeze also bringing quite a few showers in across eastern and central areas particularly. those falling as a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. certainly through tonight, there's the potentialfor some ice across parts of north—east england and eastern scotland. some more general cloud and rain. i think this will mainly be rain pushing into east anglia and the south—east later in the night. a little bit milder here, temperatures just above freezing, whereas for northern ireland, and particularly scotland, we'll see temperatures well below freezing. then into tomorrow, northern ireland and scotland seeing the best of the sunshine but there will be some wintry showers here as well. for england and wales, quite a lot of cloud around, particularly the further south and east you are and through parts of essex, into kent and sussex and also the channel islands. here, we're likely to see outbreaks of rain continuing for a good part of the day. the winds pretty gusty, particularly across england and wales. so, when you look at top temperatures of just four or five degrees and you factor in the strength of the wind, well, it's going to feel pretty cold out there.

through monday night, we will see further showers drifting in from the north—east. still that persistent rain across parts of south—east england into the channel islands. that line of wet weather sticking around for a good part of tuesday, as well. further north, it's another sunshine and showers day. quite a few showers, i think, across eastern and north—eastern parts. some of those showers, again, will be wintry and temperatures pegged back to between 3—6 degrees. now, a subtle change as we move out of tuesday into wednesday. our area of high pressure starts to slip away westwards and this low up to the north is going to start to take a bit more control of our weather. most places on wednesday still seeing some spells of sunshine. one or two wintry showers, not as windy by this stage, but cloud, rain and snow will move into the north west of scotland as the day wears on. that is likely to push south—eastwards towards the end of the week, so the chance of some sleet and snow just about anywhere. some sunshine as well, but it will stay on the cold side.

this is bbc news, broadcasting around the world and here in the uk. opposition politicians in india question the approval of a locally made coronavirus vaccine, saying it's premature and could be dangerous. borisjohnson warns that covid restrictions in england are "probably about to get tougher" as the uk records more than 50,000 new cases. 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, i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that. civil war in america's republican party as some senators challenge the results of the us election. and the fashion industry may have been hit hard by the pandemic, but there's been a boom in vintage clothing.