welcome to bbc news. my name's mike embley. our top stories: new national lockdowns in england and scotland as a surge in cases of the new coronavirus variant threatens to overwhelm the health systems. france speeds up its vaccination programme after a sluggish start draws an angry rebuke from president macron. back on the campaign trail, president trump and joe biden hold rallies in georgia ahead of runoffs that'll decide which party controls the senate. the us says it'll appeal against the uk's refusal to extraditejulian assange — a judge in london says the wikilea ks founder is at risk of suicide.

borisjohnson has warned the coming weeks will be the "hardest yet" as he announced another national lockdown for england. the uk is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases and patient numbers, but the prime minister said he believed the country was entering "the last phase of the struggle". he's instructed people to stay at home, although there are some exceptions such as going out to medical appointments and for essential shopping. our political editor laura kuennsberg reports. since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid. .. an effort that isn't over, not even close, as downing street pointed the finger of blame at the new variant spreading fast. as i speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. with most of the country already under extreme measures, it's clear that we need to do more.

that means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. that includes children, who he said should go to school just this morning. our kitchen tables or shared sofas become offices and classrooms again. primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. this might feel agonisingly familiar but there is one big difference. we're now rolling out the biggest vaccination programme in our history. by the middle of february, if things go well, and with a fair wind in our sails, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four top priority groups. nearly 1a million offers planned to the most vulnerable and most elderly. the doors could be unlocked in about six weeks but there is a list of big ifs. if the roll—out of the vaccine

programme continues to be successful, if deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect, and critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then i hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the february half term and starting cautiously to move regions down the tiers. i want to say to everyone right across the uk that i know how tough this is. but now, more than ever, we must pull together. the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but i really do believe that we're entering the last phase of the struggle, because with everyjab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people. so with the force of the law, most of life will retreat again

behind closed doors. chairs on tables, empty streets, silent dinner halls — corridors falling quiet in every corner of the uk. good morning, everybody. this time, the hope a needle in millions of arms provides a way out of all of this, but the lockdown we'll live through first is far from being a quick sting. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. new curbs have also just come into force in scotland. the first minister, nicola sturgeon, has ordered people to stay at home, except for essential reasons, and schools to remain closed until next month. democrats and republicans are making their last pitches to voters in georgia, where two runoff elections on tuesday will decide who controls the senate in washington. donald trump has just addressed supporters. he repeated false claims that he won georgia in last year's presidential election. mr trump said if democrats took the senate their party's policies would be

implemented unchecked. your vote tomorrow will decide which party controls the united states senate, the radical democrats are trying to capture georgia's senate seats, so they can wield unchecked, unrestrained, absolute power over every aspect of your lives. if the liberal democrats ta ke lives. if the liberal democrats take the senate and the white house, and they are not taking this white house, we are going to fight like hell, i will tell you right now. the democrats need to win both of the senate seats in georgia in order to control the senate, which would give them overall control of congress. let's hear what the president—elect had to say about the importance of these runoff elections. unlike any time in my career, one state, one state can change the course, not just for the next four years but for the next generation. by electing john and the reverend, you can make

an immediate difference in your own lives, the lives of people all across this country because their election will put an end to the block in washington of that $2000 stimulus check. that money that will go out the door immediately to people who are in real trouble. two democrat congressmen have called on the fbi to investigate donald trump's phone call to the top election official in georgia. they say the president's request to georgia's secretary of state, brad raffensperger, to find enough votes to overturn joe biden‘s victory in the state, broke election law. i've been speaking to anthony michael kreis who's a professor at the georgia state university college of law. under georgia state law, it is unlawful to make a demand of somebody to engage in something that is otherwise election fraud. so by asking the secretary of state to essentially falsify records and quote unquote, recalculate the election results, donald trump is essentially asking the secretary of state

to violate another provision of the georgia code. so there is a plausible theory that he himself committed what we would call solicitation to commit voter fraud here in the state of georgia. republicans who backed mr trump, as i'm sure you know, would say actually the president within the context of the call was just asking the secretary to look harderforfraud which the president believes is there. yes, so one key component of the statute is that the president has to be shown to have the intent to commit election fraud and from the call itself, it is very clear that the president actually believes a lot of the conspiracy theories that have been basically given to him from his circle at the white house. so there is an equally plausible claim that the president didn't violate the statute because he was unaware of what he was actually doing. i think that ultimately

this will be a decision for prosecutors as to whether they want to pursue an investigation or invest the time in the course of prosecuting him. and their case as you see it would be to accuse the president of asking the secretary to invent boats, create those that were not there. it's significant that you talk about georgia state law. there's a difference obviously with federal law. federal law also prohibits anybody from engaging in activities that would constitute kind of intimidation, or that would introduce fraudulent counting of ballots. so both federal law and state law wants to protect the democratic process from being tainted. we want to make sure that our state and local officials are not coerced into doing something that is unlawful because somebody in a greater position of power or authority is abusing that position in order to gain leverage, which is actually what is happening here. so yes, i think there is a real question about whether federal and state law has been violated here. it is plausible that there

is a case to be made against the president, and it is now a political question of whether prosecutors want to invest the capital to use their prosecutorial discretion to pursue these claims. and leaving aside the law itself, you could also argue that the spirit of it here has been broken and the democratic process further damaged. that's exactly right. you know, regardless of whether there has been a criminal violation here and i think there is room for folks to debate that, what is not debatable is that the president of states has demonstrated to be ill fitted to lead a modern democracy. he is calling into question and subverting the democratic process before our very eyes. georgia has had a tremendously wonderful, successful election process in the last few weeks. 0ur election in november as a triumph. we have people who are able to vote, vote more easily than they ever had before and the process has been transparent. we have tabulated our votes, not once, not twice but three

times to confirm they were accurate. we have even engaged in a signature audit. there has been a fourth investigation to make sure that the elections have been accurate and it's been a success story a reasonable time. the president's work here is really damaging to democracy, truly antidemocratic and our elected officials and people in georgia and across the united states needs to resist this efforts to undermine our electoral process and american democracy itself. france is accelerating its vaccination programme, after a slow initial roll—out which has drawn an angry rebuke from president macron. he's set a target for a million people to be innoculated by the end of the month, but efforts may be complicated by a skeptical public. courtney bembridge reports. front—page news and front of people's minds as the health minister visited a vaccination centre in paris. he was stopped by a doctor

who told him elderly patients were waiting to be vaccinated. translation: you can tell them it is soon. for the moment you are getting vaccinated because you have priority but soon it will be their turn and you will be able to protect them. france has been slow off the mark in the first week of the vaccination campaign, just over 500 people had the jab. regional leaders say there is too much red tape. translation: all the doctors wrote to me and tell me they are available, even on weekends, but we still do not have the directives to set up these logistics. the health minister says vaccinations have been ramped up this week and thousands more have now had the vaccine. translation: we are multiplying the number of centres by four which means that there will be about 100 hospitals that will offer vaccination. but the numbers are still low compared to more thani million in the uk and more than 200,000 in germany. the sluggish start has

irritated president emmanuel macron. the newspaper quoted him as saying the pace was like a family stroll which was not worthy of the moment nor of the french. emmanuel macron‘s target isi million people vaccinated by the end ofjanuary and the government says that many doses will be available by the end of the week. but the vaccine will not be mandatory and france is one of the most vaccine—sceptical countries in the world. a recent survey showed just 40% of french citizens would get the vaccine if it were available. translation: the french population has always been anti—vaccinations. we see that here when we do the flu jabs. every year it is a mess. it is up to us as doctors to convince them that here the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. that is clear. but some do not need any convincing. have you just been vaccinated? yes, i have been vaccinated. how did it go? very well. i get the vaccination

as soon as possible. i work in the health sector, i am an ambulance driver and i would like to be vaccinated. france is among europe's hardest hit countries. its death toll is above 65,000, just behind italy in the uk. and with an election looming next year, the stakes could not be higher for emmanuel macron. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: making headway on the moscow metro. women can now become train drivers, as dozens of professions once deemed too dangerous are opened up. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits.

the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow despite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star david bowie who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he had died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai, has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: new national lockdowns in england and scotland as a surge in cases of the new coronavirus variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

going down to the wire in georgia. president trump and joe biden hold rallies ahead of a run—off vote to control the senate. new york governor andrew cuomo says his state has found its first case of the more infectious virus variant first detected in the uk. it's raising concerns over the healthcare system should it spread rapidly in the state. mr cuomo has also told hospitals to speed up vaccinations or face a fine or loss of future supplies. any provider who does not use the vaccine could be fined up to $100,000 going forward. they have to use the allocation within seven days, otherwise they can be removed from future distribution. i don't want the vaccine in a refrigerator or freezer, i want it in somebody‘s arm. that is governor cuomo. i've been speaking to dr ashwin vasan, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at columbia university. i asked him how concerning it is for the health system in new york to have a confirmed

case of the new variant of the virus. it is certainly concerning, mike, that we have identified the new mutant strange here in new york. that means that it is very likely to be spreading around in the community and, therefore, as we know, 50—70 % more transmissible than the standard sars—cov—2 to virus and it will have a rapid increase in the number of cases and start to strain our healthcare system. thus far new york has been able to cope, in large measure because we have been through the worst of this in march and april of last year, but if this continues apace i fear that our healthcare systems will face the same sort of strain and the same sort of potential rationing of care seeing in places like la county and others. so very concerning. how practical is it to speed up the rate of vaccination and how helpful to have the kind of

punitive system the governor seems to be talking about, this idea that jabs seems to be talking about, this idea thatjabs should be administered within a week of supplies being received at the hospital or the system could face a fine or complete loss of supply? yeah, i think punitive measures are unlikely to relieve the kinds of roadblock and bottlenecks we are seeing in our vaccine delivery system. i think what you have is a lack ofa i think what you have is a lack of a real centralised vaccine distribution, mass vaccination campaign. we essentially have a vaccination campaign that is being run by hospitals and chain pharmacies, which is not any way to run a national mass vaccination campaign. so you have wide heterogeneity in who is doing what. some of the private hospitals here in new york city are using upwards of 90% of their allocation and our public safety net system in new york is using about 30% and,

you know, there are logistical reasons. people are struggling —— struggling to identify her to vaccine and get them 30 door. we are facing significant vaccine hesitancy, mistrust, and caution from the general public as well as health workers to get the vaccine. what we means is we need the central system, we need public health and our government to step in and identify where the wea k step in and identify where the weak spots are, redistribute the vaccine where it is needed to get it into arms as fast as possible. but i am not sure that a stick approach will lead to the results that the governor is hoping for. the epidemiologist dr ashwin vasan out there. much of the rapid spread of the virus in the uk is being put down to the new form of the coronavirus, which is far easier to catch. but it's not the only mutation which is causing concern. a variant found in south africa is also worrying virologists, as andrew harding reports from johannesburg. move! a strict new lockdown across south africa, complete with a night—time curfew with a total ban on the sale of alcohol.

the authorities here are struggling to contain an aggressive new variant of the virus. that variant, just like the one in britain, has made covid—19 far easier to catch and to transmit. you see how short of breath you are, eh? the result — hospitals are filling up fast, and precious oxygen supplies are running low. early evidence suggests the virus here is probably no more transmissible or more deadly than the british variant. but that's still being tested. so the jury is still out, we still don't have a definitive answer, but generally viruses evolve to become more transmissible but less virulent. hopefully, this virus will obey that same dictum. say ah... but there is another worry. while britain's virus has one significant mutation, south africa's has three, including one that might make the virus more resistant

to current vaccines. the concern in south africa is that a variant that has been identified has got at least three mutations, which could potentially impact on the antibody that is induced by the vaccine to neutralise the virus. so it's a serious concern. i think it is a theoretical concern at this point in time, and hopefully over the course of the next few weeks will have a clear answer. the good news is that south african scientists are now working fast to get that answer. the bad news is that there is a significant risk that the virus here has changed to give itself at least a partial resistance to the current vaccines. still, experts say adjusting those vaccines should be relatively easy. in the meantime, a second wave of infections continues to spread fast across south africa. andrew harding, bbc

news, johannesburg. america's department ofjustice says it is extremely disappointed by a british court ruling which prevents the wikileaks founderjulian assange from being extradited. the us wants him to stand trial for publishing classified documents. but a judge at the old bailey in london said concerns over his mental health meant the extradition could not proceed. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. free julian assange! julian assange has long attracted loyal supporters, and this was their reaction outside the old bailey as they heard the news. no extradition — yeah! for more than a decade, the wikileaks founder has resisted extradition, spending seven years holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london, before being removed almost two years ago and detained in belmarsh prison. the us authorities want him to face 18 charges, mostly of espionage, relating to his alleged role in the leaking

of thousands of secret military documents. many focused on the wars in afghanistan and iraq, including this video appearing to show a us helicopter firing on civilians in baghdad. to some, mr assange is a champion of free speech who revealed war crimes. to others, a law breaker who endangered the lives of us agents. and today, after years of legal battles, he was driven into court to hear his fate. from the dock, he listened as districtjudge vanessa baraitser dismissed his defence that the us charges were political and a threat to media freedom. but when it came to his mental health and depression, she ruled that, in a us high—security prison, "the risk that mr assange will commit suicide is a substantial one, and as such it would be oppressive to extradite him to the united states." 0n hearing the ruling, mr assange simply wiped his brow. his partner and mother of his two sons, stella morris, burst into tears.

we are pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness and inhumanity of what he has endured and what he faces. but let's not forget the indictment in the us has not been dropped. the us department ofjustice said it was extremely disappointed and would appeal against the ruling. mr assange was remanded in custody ahead of a bail application later this week. james landale, bbc news. this is looking like quite a breakthrough. the kuwaiti foreign minister is saying saudi arabia will reopen its airspace, and land and sea borders to qatar. there's been a long—running dispute between qatar and several of its gulf neighbours. saudi arabia led a coalition of countries in the gulf and beyond that cut ties with qatar injune 2017. an agreement aimed at ending the rift is to be signed in riyadh on tuesday, according to a white house official.

this is probably something of a breakthrough, although we shouldn't be, i guess. commuters in moscow had something of a surprise as they returned to work after the new year break. for the first time in decades, female drivers have been allowed on the city's metro system. a recent change in the law lets women take up dozens of professions, apparently up until nowjudged too dangerous. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. beneath the streets of moscow, a social revolution is taking place. the most shocking of sights for some, a woman at the controls of an underground train. one dozen female employees already worked on the city's rail network, now they are fully qualified drivers. translation: we believe that in this day and age everyone should have a choice to work wherever he or she wants, no matter their sex. we are happy that moscow metro has allowed an opportunity to the women who worked here to get a new profession. a new profession but an old one, too. women were actually allowed to drive underground trains

in moscow all the way back to the 1930s. but then the soviet union banned them from this and hundreds of other professions, said to be harmful or dangerous. now that has been overturned, they will notjust be train drivers. they can now drive lorries, tractors and serve on board ships. but there are still dozens ofjobs that are prohibited. so far, only internal candidates have been allowed to apply but moscow metro promises but soon the jobs will be open to anyone to do. these women are not just drivers. they are also pioneers. a reminder of our top story. england has started another coronavirus lockdown as it struggles with a rapidly rising number of cases. all schools will be closed, and people are being asked to stay at home. restrictions will last for at least seven weeks.

much more for you anytime on the bbc website and on our twitter feeds. thank you for watching. hello. well, let's see what the weather is up to on tuesday. and in summary, not an awful lot of change. it's going to stay pretty cold and in fact over the next few days, you can see that cold air sitting over europe. and the nagging north—to—north—easterly wind will keep things very chilly here in the uk. so, let's summarise the week ahead. got a lot of cold weather on the way, overnight frosts, additionally windy in the south and along the north sea coast, and on top of that, rain, sleet, a bit of snow, some ice around as well. as far as the rain's concerned, it looks as though the wettest place will be east anglia and the south east, and that's because of the wind direction. it'll be blowing out of the north—east and the showers

will keep coming to this same place. so, we could see 20—50 mm of rain over the next couple of days — so, some big puddles there. anyway, back to the here and now. so, here are the temperatures early in the morning — freezing or below in most towns and cities. here is that north—easterly wind blowing across the north sea, and you can see those showers affecting east anglia and the south east. can be quite grey and wet both in the morning and in the afternoon here. elsewhere, i think a mixture of sunshine, and occasional rain, and wintry showers. but the further west you are, the better the weather will be. belfast, ithink, swansea, plymouth in for some sunshine but chilly, 3—5 celsius briefly in the afternoon, and then very quickly, those temperatures will drop during the course of the late afternoon and evening. and you can see, that north—easterly wind continues through the course of tuesday and also into wednesday. and that weather pattern is pretty evident here. you can see the isobars pointing out at the north—east, due south—west, and that's how the wind blows. so, once again on wednesday, it's copycat conditions. again, that extreme south—eastern portion of the uk can be quite grey and wet at times

with those persistent showers. best of the weather will be in the west, but notice a weather front‘s approaching there, the far north—west of scotland. so, some rain there, i think, for our friends in stornoway. but still wednesday night, we're expecting another widespread frost across the uk. temperatures in many areas will be well below freezing, down to —5 even, in bigger towns and cities, and you can see how chilly it remains in some of the bigger cities over the next few days. that's it for me, bye—bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: england and scotland have been ordered into new lockdowns to contain a surge in virus cases threatening to overwhelm health systems. schools will be closed to most pupils, also non—essential retail and hospitality. borisjohnson says the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet, as a more infectious variant spreads. donald trump and joe biden are campaigning in georgia — ahead of two crucial runoff votes for the senate on tuesday. at an event in the city of dalton, mr trump said if democrats took the senate their radical politics would be unchecked. the us president—elect, joe biden, urged georgians to vote in record numbers. the us justice department is to appeal against the uk court decision not to extradite the wikileaks founder, julian assange. thejudge said there was a real risk of suicide in an american maximum security prison. julian assange is wanted on 18 charges relating to the release of half a million secret government files.