this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump is recorded on tape asking an election official to "find" him extra votes in georgia. borisjohnson warns that covid restrictions in england are "probably about to get tougher" — as the uk records more than 50,000 new cases. 0pposition politicians in india question the approval of a locally made coronavirus vaccine, saying it's premature and could be dangerous. # walk on, walk on... and gerry marsden, singer of you'll never walk alone, has died at the age of 78 after a short illness.

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. there's a new revelation aboutjust how far president trump is prepared to go with his attempts to overturn the election. it's reported that he phoned georgia's top election official on saturday and tried to persuade him to "find" enough votes to reverse the outcome in the state. a recording of the conversation has been published by the washington post. here's what mr trump said to georgia's secretary of state, brad raffensperger:

lebo diseko is in washington and told us more. this conversation, it is just jaw—dropping, i listened to it with my mouth open and i did not think i could be shocked any more about what has been happening in terms of donald trump's attempt to overturn joe biden‘s election win. this is a four and a half minute cutdown of what was around an hour—long conversation and donald trump can be heard repeatedly saying to brad raffensperger, the top election official, the secretary of state in georgia, that he needs these extra votes and at one point he even says exactly how many, i think 11,780, he says it's just one more thanjoe biden‘s election win.

at other points he sounds quite threatening, talking about the threat of criminal proceedings. also on the call is brad raffensperger‘s legal counsel, who is batting off allegations donald trump is making about electoral fraud, repetitions of some of the wildest allegations we have heard, none of which have been stood up and they have been taken to court and rejected numerous times across the country. it is extraordinary and the thing that was in my mind as i was listening to it is that you and i have reported on elections in other parts of the world, particularly on the african continent. if this was an african country and the president was on tape telling election officials to do something about the results of the elections, what would the world say? the fallout will be interesting, and certainly interesting to see what happens now in congress because we have those

republican senators saying they will challenge the vote — and joe biden‘s right to be president — later this week. does that change than doing this? it is very serious what you have heard on that tape? look, the effort by the republicans in congress to try to challenge the certification in congress of the electoral college votes is almost certain to fail, both chambers of the house would have to uphold any challenges and the democrats will not do that. but the key thing is those two senate run—offs in georgia on tuesday, how do republicans get their voters to cast their vote when the president and his allies are undermining the credibility of the election?

that motorcycle with initial reaction to the tape recording released by the washington post by president trump was heard speaking to an official in georgia about finding extra votes. we will speak toa finding extra votes. we will speak to a professor from finding extra votes. we will speak to a professorfrom new finding extra votes. we will speak to a professor from new york university later to find out more about the implications of what we have heard —— that is initial reaction to the tape—recording. the uk prime minister borisjohnson has warned that coronavirus restrictions in england are "probably about to get tougher" in order to bring the virus under control. there've been another 55,000 positive cases recorded in the uk, in the latest 2a hour—period, and a further a54 people have died. it's one of the worst affected countries in the world. 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 whereever 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—hours. let's not have the prime ministersaying, "i'm going to do it but not yet". that's the promise 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. joining me now is richard pildes, professor of constitutional law at new york university. he here to discuss what it means following the release of that tape in america of president trump asking a georgia official to find him extra votes. your initial reaction, professor? well, this is, i think, one of the most significant abuses of presidential power that we have had in our history, to be honest. i have listened to the call in full, the president is coercing or trying to coerce state officials into committing election fraud on his behalf so he could remain in office,

he implicitly suggests that they might be facing criminal red square sayjoan to his bidding. it is really quite horrific —— might be facing criminal risks sa do not do his bidding. it is good that this conversation has been exposed to the public because it is such a corrupt (inaudible) . the size you seem to have frozen for a minute. i will ask you a question because you might well be able to hear my audio. what does this mean? professor, can you hear me? yes. i will ask the question, considering the enormity of what you have just described, from a legal standpoint, what does this mean? 0k,

thatis standpoint, what does this mean? 0k, that is a shame. we will try to come back to professor pildes, a professor of constitutional law at new york university. very serious allegations is true in terms of the criminal nature of these veiled threats made in a film called by president trump to an election official, a senior election official in georgia, asking him to find those in order to overturn the results in the state, in president trump's favour. hopefully come back to that. in the meantime, let's return to events in india. 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 data on the safety and effectiveness of covaxin has not been fully reviewed. anbarasan ethirajan reports.

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, the drug regulator finally 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 covaxin jabs, 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 for 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. and understand, for example, working with, you know, opinion leaders within communities, religious, nonreligious social leaders, you know, people who have a lot of influence.

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 biggest vaccination exercises. anbarasan ethirajan, bbc news, delhi. we heard earlier about the vaccine roll—out in india. many european countries and the united states have been criticised for a slow roll—out. and some poorer countries have yet to receive vaccines at all. so who's doing best? israel has already vaccinated over i2% of the population. that's a larger share than any other country. bahrain and the united kingdom come next. if you go by the total number, then china is still on top. around 4.5 million people there, have received the jab. that's followed closely by the united states — although the us is well behind its target. meanwhile, vaccinations are unlikely to begin in some african countries until the middle of this year.

that's according to the africa centres for disease control. and the covax scheme, a who initiative, aims to protect 20% of the populations from 92 low and middle income countries, by 2022. edouard mathieu is from our world in data, an online publication based at oxford university, which has been compiling coronavirus vaccination statistics. he explained why some nations were preforming better than others. 0bviously some of those rich countries in the west have much more infrastructure in place to roll out the vaccines much more quickly, so so the vaccines much more quickly, so so so, yes, we had seen a big fight between north america, russia, china and the rest of the world. the pace

generally has been quite slow, although some countries are showing although some countries are showing a much faster roll—out, including germany, denmark, but in countries like france and spain, as far as we know, only a few thousands of people have been vaccinated. there could be some reasons, some are obviously logistical and you could expect this period to seem all vaccines later, but there is also a sense that maybe the governments in those countries have not taken on vaccinating as many people as possible. (inaudible) they say they are sceptical, some governments including that in france, for example, are deliberately losing slower to display cautiousness in the roll—out of the vaccine, but they may be shooting themselves in the foot by

doing this because they are going very, very slowly and not vaccinating enough people while lights could be safe. edouard mathieu. let's return to our top story — the phone call in which president trump asked georgia state officials to ‘find' new votes in order to overturn the 2020 election. joining me now is richard pildes, professor of constitutional law at new york university. thank you for persisting, professor. your reaction to what you heard on that tape? yes, in my view eight is one of the most corrupt abuses of presidential power that we have had in our history. we are listening to the president of the united states attempting to coerce state election officials, even implicitly threatening prosecution if they will not commit election fraud in order

to enable him to stay in office, it is horrifying to listen to. so has he broken a law? is there a crime that has been committed? let me start by saying that i think it is somewhat a distraction to get too into debates about criminal law here because the fundamental fact staring us because the fundamental fact staring us in the face is that we have the president of the united states abusing his power in one of the most, as i said, corrupt ways imaginable, trying to steal an election to keep himself in office. there are various criminal statutes that could come into play, somewhat ironically many of these statutes require a knowing effort to connect election fraud. if the president is deluded enough into believing what he is saying in the school, it might be complicated as a criminal matter to prove he is knowingly committing

election fraud all extortion, which is another possibility, but there are certainly federal criminal laws which protect the integrity of the election process, they make it a crime to try to commit election fraud, change votes, conspire and manipulate the outcome of an election but the larger issue here is not the debate about whether this is not the debate about whether this is actually a crime and justice simple fact of the corruption involved in that phone call —— and just the simple fact. it is shocking. for many people on social media, which is president trump is my favourite form of communicating, they are saying things like it is jaw—dropping, surely something must happen now? if you are talking corruption, and abuse of presidential power, what next? i think this is what the public and the world are saying, 0k, think this is what the public and the world are saying, ok, so what next? surely it cannot be glossed

over? well, it will be interesting to see how the revelation of this phone call affect some of the republicans preparing to object to the votes from certain states and congress when congress receives the electoral votes in january to six, that would be the most immediate question, do selectors republican supporters of the president backed down in the face of what they ask you here? —— to some of those republican supporters? joe biden will be inaugurated president, nothing will happen between now and then, and the question about whether then, and the question about whether the president might be criminally prosecuted after leaving office involves a whole host of sensitive judgments made by the new administration, so what will happen as the presidential process will come to a conclusion as it should with the inauguration ofjoe biden

onjanuary with the inauguration ofjoe biden on january the 20th, and with the inauguration ofjoe biden onjanuary the 20th, and then what happens after that, there will be lots of political judgments happens after that, there will be lots of politicaljudgments involved in what actions follow from the revelation of today's phone call. you brought up what we are 32 c and congress and the senators saying they would challenge the election result —— we brought up what we are seeing in congress. some would say there is a civil war in the republican party, is it indicative of what is taking place within the larger party, and want again tuesday out of the way, what then? —— once we get tuesday out of the way? some people say they are playing to president trump's face. do they have that much power. i think they do right now, at least in the minds of a lot of sitting politicians who are worrying about their primary elections in the united states, we

have primaries, as you know, which are popular voting processes for choosing the nominees of the parties. in a republican primary in is very powerful. you also have tremendous divisions you are seeing come to the surface about how politicians are calculating where the future of the republican party lies and whether they want to present themselves as inherited of president trump or whether they want to separate themselves from view of the party and its future, and this is just the the party and its future, and this isjust the beginning of the party and its future, and this is just the beginning of the internal conflicts we will see in the republican party as they start lining upfor the republican party as they start lining up for the 2024 presidential election and the primary process that precedes it. professor richard pildes, it is a fascinating development and we will see what happens over the coming alison days. you are watching bbc news, we will

catch up with all the sporting news withjohn watson. we start in the english premier league with manchester city just four points off the top of the table after a ruthless, attacking display saw them beat chelsea 3—1 at stamford bridge and increase the pressure on frank lampard. pep guardiola's side were without a number of first—team players following an outbreak of coronavirus at the club, but stunned chelsea with three goals in the space of 16 first—half minutes. first ilkay gundogan, phil foden, and then kevin de bruyne got his name on the scoresheet. so city depleted but emphatic — extending their unbeaten run to eleven matches, and in the hunt for another league title, behind the current leaders liverpool and manchester united. a disappointing afternoon for frank lampard, not though for leicester manager brendan rodgers who watched his side beat newcastle 2—1 at st james' park to move above spurs into third — just a point behind the top two. all the goals coming in the second half —

youri tielemans and james maddison putting leicester two up, before andy carroll gave newcastle some hope. in spain atletico madrid leapfroged city rivals real at the top of la liga on sunday, beating alaves 2—i. barcelona will be looking to return to winning ways in spain's top flight when they continue their campaign away to struggling huesca. a short time ago they were leading i—0, thanks to frenkie dejong. the catalan giants will climb to fifth with a win. bayern munich kicked off the new year with a win and move back to the top of the german bundesliga with a 5—2 defeat of mainz. a robert lewandowski double after the break ensured it was a happy return that stretches their unbeaten run in germany's top flight to 12 games. england wingerjadon sancho set up the opener and scored his first goal of the season as borussia dortmund beat wolfsburg. that's all the sport for now.

thank you, john. the gerry and the pacemakers singer, gerry marsden, has died at the age of 78. he's perhaps best known for his hit "you'll never walk alone," — which has been sung by liverpool football fans for decades. daniela relph looks back at his life. # walk on, walk on...#. gerry marsden... # with hope in your heart...#. ..with one unforgettable anthem. # and you'll never walk...#. he was as much a part of liverpool's story as the mersey ferry and the anfield kop. # alone...#. girls scream. born in toxteth, his career began at the legendary cavern club in the early ‘60s. gerry and his band, the pacemakers, were spotted by beatles manager, brian epstein. he gave them a song that had been turned down by the fab four and adam faith. # how do you do what you to me...#. how do you do it was a huge hit on both sides of the atlantic.

we'd never heard ourselves on tape before and it got to number one and we were very pleased. the beatles were upset and so was adam, i think. he chuckles. newsreel archive: the girls are at the top of their screaming form, if the reception they give to gerry and the pacemakers is anything to go by. # i like it, i like it...#. more followed, as the mersey beat swept the world. # the funny feeling being here with you. # and i like it more with every day. # and i like it always hearing you say you're liking it too...#. # so, ferry, cross the mersey...#. but it was as a singer of gentle ballads for which he'll be remembered. ferry across the mersey was a nostalgic expression of his love for liverpool. # walk on, walk on...#. and then, with a song from a rodgers and hammerstein musical, gerry marsden struck a chord with fans at his beloved anfield.

the band may have split up in 1966, but as he proved nearly gerry marsden, who's died at the age of 78. you are watching bbc news, john szkudro away. —— don't go away. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. some fairly heavy rain showers further south in to the coming week, no great changes in the general theme, staying cold with rain, sleet, snow and sunshine thrown into the mix, especially further north. this evening and tonight we have some showers in eastern scotland and eastern england, seven icy stretches in the notice. rain showers for east

anglia and the south—east, where it stays cloudy overnight, temperatures a couple of degrees above freezing cold at the further north—west you are. we have this feature on monday bringing some rain showers to east anglia and the south—east, particularly towards the channel islands, it is blown on a brisk north—easterly wind, but away from the south and east, the day will brighten up, sunshine developing, one of two wintry flurries, clodius further south and the strongest of the avintia too, 40 mph or higher gusts around the coast of east anglia and the english challenge. temperatures four to six but feeling cold air where you are exposed to the brisk wind. monday overnight into tuesday, more showers, some icy stretches likely over the higher

ground. in the south—east on tuesday, this rain will be quite stubborn, wet weather fog and towards the channel islands, dry weather further north, towards the channel islands, dry weatherfurther north, only towards the channel islands, dry weather further north, only three to 6 degrees and a wind—chill on tuesday. into wednesday and this pressure is his towards the west, so we will be in between weather systems into wednesday, dry weather with sunshine, stubborn showers just lingering for kent and the channel islands, sunny spells elsewhere but fairly heavy snow into the north—west of scotland later in the day, remaining cold, 304 degrees. goodbye. —— three or four.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson warns covid restrictions in england could get tougher in the coming weeks — but labour says action is needed immediately.

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. 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 i say bring in those restrictions now, national restrictions within the next 24 hours. president trump is recorded on tape asking an election official to find him extra votes in georgia. gerry marsden, singer of you'll never walk alone, has died at the age of 78 after a short illness. now on bbc news, robert chelsea was hit by a drunk driver sustaining