hello, i'm ros atkins. this is outside source. the uk has passed 60,000 daily new cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic as new lockdowns come in to effect for england and scotland. we have no choice. when the office of national statistics is telling us that more than 2% of the population is now infected, that's over 1 million people in england. and the issue of schools has been contentious in the uk. we look at how they went from being described as "safe" to "vectors of infection" within the space of 12 hours. voters in the state of georgia

are heading to the polls in the run—off for the two senate seats to determine who will have control of the upper house of congress. and a three—year dispute between qatar and its gulf neighbours appears to be over. the emir of qatar was warmly welcomed by the saudi crown prince ahead of a summit aimed at resolving the rift. we begin with some start covid—19 stats here in the uk. more than a million people in the uk are currently infected with coronavirus. in england, one in every 50 people had the virus in the week over christmas and new year. and all of the uk returned to lockdown today. the rules differ slightly from nation to nation, but the key message is the same everywhere — stay at home. here's the prime minister. when everybody looks at the position, people understand overwhelmingly that we have no choice.

when the office of national statistics is telling us that more than 2% of the population is now infected, that's over 1 million people in england. here's a reminder of the new lockdown rules in england. legally it begins at midnight, in a few hours‘ time. everyone must stay at home except for the following essential reasons. for any work or volunteering where it is "unreasonable" to work from home. for any medical appointments, childcare, education or training, though schools across england are closed. you can also leave home to do essential shopping such as for food or medicine. or to exercise outdoors only once a day, which can include meeting one person from another household. here's the prime minister again. i think obviously everybody, you all, want to be sure that we in government are now using every second of this lockdown to put that invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination and so to begin to bring

this crisis to an end. another period of lockdown was something the government's own health experts had been calling for, and so had the opposition labour party. now, with lockdown restrictions in place, 0pposition leader sir keir starmer has this message for the government and the british people. this is now a race between the virus and the vaccine. and if we pull together as a nation, we can win. i pledge to do everything i can to help in this national mission. we were the first country in the world to get the vaccine. let's be the first in the world to get our country vaccinated. we need a new contract between the government and the british people. the country stays at home, the government delivers the vaccine. let's talk to jessica parker, our political correspondent in westminster.

let's talk about the prime minister and his own party. is there an internal discussion about whether he is right to bring on lockdown and? funny you ask if there is an internal discussion is understand there is pretty much a discussion going on right now between the prime ministerand going on right now between the prime minister and his backbench mps. talking to the 1922 committee, a committee of backbench conservative mps via the internet. i think what has changed from the national lockdown last was a lot of tory mps we re lockdown last was a lot of tory mps were hugely frustrated and unhappy about what they saw as an endless cycle of lock schema lifting in then re—imposing them and then to be massive damage to the economy and no sign ofan massive damage to the economy and no sign of an exit strategy or needed to bea sign of an exit strategy or needed to be a clear one. this time around because of the vaccine, because of this loose timetable that we have in terms of the vaccines and their roll—out, i think some of that frustration abated a little bit. i

think in terms of any rebellion on a vote tomorrow. it will be smaller than what we have had previously seen but having said all of that, i think there will be a lot of focus notjust from think there will be a lot of focus not just from conservative think there will be a lot of focus notjust from conservative mps but across the house of commons and indeed the country to really try and hold the government to account on its vaccine roll—out. which boris johnson has said in terms of effectiveness does depend on a numberof effectiveness does depend on a number of potentially changeable factors. what about the schools? the latest in a number of sharp changes of direction by the government in the last few months. how has that gone down in westminster?” the last few months. how has that gone down in westminster? i think it is gone down badly including among some conservative mps who of course will have constituents who are frustrated and at schools in their local area who will be very unhappy at the fact that in some places you had primary schools opening for a day before they were told they would actually have to shutdown. except for a few vulnerable students and students of key workers. and on sunday you had borisjohnson

students of key workers. and on sunday you had boris johnson saying in the areas where primary schools we re in the areas where primary schools were let 'er rip and they should do that and in the following night making the announcement of a lock down. so there is a lot of frustration. with the government is obviously saying if things change quite fast. they said they have acted decisively and it was only yesterday that all four chief medical officers across the united kingdom raise the alert level to five which meant there was a risk, not a certainty but a risk that the nhs could be overwhelmed and boris johnson spoke about in a press co nfe re nce johnson spoke about in a press conference earlier today saying it had become clear that may be tier 4, they shortest level of measures, was not enough and they were always going to close schools as a last resort. 0ne going to close schools as a last resort. one thing that people really do agree on is a closing schools is huge and is damaging because for some children who perhaps will have access to technology to do lots of online learning. sol access to technology to do lots of online learning. so i think there will be quite a lot of scrutiny on the kind of provision that is given to children over the coming weeks. thank you very much indeed jessica

parker from westminster. while the entire uk is now entering lockdown, restrictions are different across the nations. in scotland, lockdown restrictions came into force at midnight. schools will close to most pupils until february. it is now illegal for many people to leave their homes, with some exemptions. other parts of the uk were already in lockdown. in wales, schools and colleges will continue with remote learning until at least the 18th of january. and northern ireland are putting its own stay—at—home message into law and extending the closure of schools. here's the view from scotland and wales. this is scotland's first day in lockdown. much tougher restrictions do to carry on until the end of the month but could continue even further as a number of cases continues to rise. now it means that all of mainland scotland and some island communities cannot leave their homes. they are under a strict

stay—at—home order. and it is illegal to leave your home unless for some social purposes. well has beena for some social purposes. well has been a national lockdown since december the 20th. for the last fortnight it is been legal requirement here for people to stay at home. unless they are going to exercise or to shop or if they have to leave their home for work. of course that means nonofficial shops closed in bars or restaurants are closed in bars or restaurants are closed and that means a question is will will will they be able to open ain? will will will they be able to open again? there is review at the end of this week but otherwise government already warns there is little headroom and many foresee the welsh lockdown staying in place until the end of january. lockdown staying in place until the end ofjanuary. northern ireland and isa end ofjanuary. northern ireland and is a six—week lot but now ministers are going further. 27 things up with the stay—at—home rule is put into law to make the restrictions more legally enforceable. pupils have been due to return to the classroom ina been due to return to the classroom in a staggered way this month. because of the dramatic spike in cases, i'iow

because of the dramatic spike in cases, now schools will be closed to most pupils with online learning taking place at home until around the february half term break. these lockdown measures are needed because the data shows that the outbreak in the uk is spiralling. the latest numbers show that more than 60,000 cases were recorded in the last 24—hour period, the highest figure since the pandemic began. a further 830 deaths were recorded on monday, too. it was clear before christmas the new variant was pushing up infection rates, and that trend has continued into the new year. hospital admissions are also increasing to a worrying degree. by christmas, they were already higher than the first peak. and since then, the number of covid—i9 patients in hospital has risen by a further 50%, enough to fill around 18 hospitals. here's professor chris whitty, england's chief medical officer. i don't think you need any modelling to see in what direction the number of hospitalised patients with covid is going, and this is going up very rapidly and of course we are still

in the middle of winter. one way to gauge the state of the outbreak is the r number. it indicates how quickly the virus is spreading. and here in the uk, it's on the rise again, as our science editor david shukman explains. lockdowns have worked before, but will they work again now? the virus can only spread through human interaction, and when that's reduced with scenes like this, the number of infections falls as well. but now there's the new variant, and its impact is still being investigated. we have no guarantee that the lockdown now announced will work. i think that's the challenge. we have seen in the last two weeks that cases in that critical age range, ii—to—18—year—olds, of the variant disease in places like london, the south east and the east of england, have started to come down. but the case numbers of the new variant in the adult population continue to rise. a key measure of what the new lockdown has got

to achieve is the r number. that's basically how easily the virus is spreading. last march, the number was three, meaning that if ten people were infected, they passed the virus to 30 others, who in turn would pass it to 90 more. so the disease was really escalating. now, the first lockdown last spring brought that right down to 0.6, meaning that if ten were infected, they would only infect six others. and whenever the r number is below one, it means the epidemic is shrinking. right now, we are back up to an estimated 1.3, and that's despite all the restrictions under the tier system, a measure of partly how infectious the new variant is. the uk government has tonight announced plans to introduce covid testing for people arriving in the uk from abroad. here's our transport correspondent caroline davies. some details we still don't have we

don't know whether this is just for foreign nationals or what sort of test will be used and also if this is where you can nationals coming back to the country. talking to aviation experts in the country today, there is a realfrustration. industry has been calling for testing from quite early on in the pandemic and many other countries already require a negative test before you were able to visit them. and we are here and what they would say it, and beginning of lockdown three and we are still discussing testing. of course or have already been steps taken to try to limit the impact of certain strains originating in other countries affecting us here. flights from south africa for instance have been banned to stop that the the government would also point to schemes like the travel court orders and test to release, saying that that has managed imported infection far. that has managed imported infection fa r. clearly that has managed imported infection far. clearly look now to go further. the balance of power in us congress for the next four years is being decided in the state of georgia today. joe biden won the state in the presidential election, but the two senate seats in georgia

both went to run—offs. and this is crucial. the democrats already control the house of representatives, the lower house of congress. if the democrat candidates can win both senate seats in georgia, that would make a 50—50 tie in the senate, and that in turn would give vice president kamala harris the deciding vote in the senate. in that scenario, it will be far easier for the biden administration to get major legislation through congress. but to win the two senate seats in georgia is a big ask. a democrat has not won a senate race there in 20 years, and the republican candidates are both incumbents. david perdue, on the left here, nearly won against his democratic rivaljon 0ssoff in november. he got 49.7% of the vote, just shy of the 50% mark needed to avoid a runoff. now david perdue has had to quarantine for the last few days so that has kept him off the campaign trail. but we've heard from jon 0ssoff today. georgia voters have never had more

power than you have today. that's the reason the whole world is watching us in georgia. that's the reason everybody needs to get out to the polls and make their voices heard. the second republican incumbent is kelly loeffler. she had fewer votes than the democratic candidate raphael warnock in november, but there were more candidates dividing the vote back then. now it is just her and warnock. we heard from her yesterday. make sure you get your friends and family out. this is about turnout. we are going to win if we turn out. roughly 3 million ballots had been cast before polls opened today, promising a substantial turnout. joe biden won georgia in november byjust under 12,000 votes, a very slim margin, and this political analyst says the two senate races are just as close. we had a final poll come out this morning which had at 49—49 in both races. now in the grouping of the latest polls in our average, we had

the democrats with a slight lead. ossoff is up one point and warnock is up1.3 points. ossoff is up one point and warnock is up 1.3 points. that is within the margin of errorand is up 1.3 points. that is within the margin of error and these are really toss—up races. larry madowo by atlanta. i'm interested to what degree the primary issues our local state issues and what are this is a washington calculation. i've been hearing from many voters who tell us they care about local georgia issues. however the race has become very nationalised. it is a joint ticket for the two democrats and republicans and the democrats have embraced the national leadership. they have been braced chuck schumer, leader of the senate, and nancy pelosi, speaker of the house. and on the other side, david perdue and and it met kelly loeffler have embraced

president trump. they have chosen to go along this effort to try and essentially turn the vote in his favour though he lost georgia and the election. and so that is what it is become such an important issue across the nation because it's not just georgia but will determine who controls congress and ifjoe biden has any chance at passing certificate legislation. if at least the republicans keep even one see, thatis the republicans keep even one see, that is all gone with a win. how we understand what is races or even in play. i mention for the last 20 yea rs play. i mention for the last 20 years republic is a one time and again it's an election so wise is even close this time? because of georgia state law, if no candidate gets more than 80% of the vote, he goes to a runoff. so when the case of david perdue, he beat 0ssoff by about 80,000 votes but he did not get that 50% marks that led to a runoff. the other senate seat, that is held by kelly loeffler, she was appointed that seat by the governor

of georgia after the previous senator resigned, and again in the general nine weeks ago, there were several republicans running for and thatis several republicans running for and that is why neither candidate got enough of the 50% needed for it. it's never happened there have been to senate seats coming up for runoff at the same time in georgia and every time that has happened at the state—wide runoff can republicans turn out more. 0lder, white voters tend to turn out more for these selections and democrats and you mention turnout is going to be where this lives or dies. if there is a turnout of 100,000 or above republicans likely take both seats. before let you go, tell us what we find out which way it is gone? we have asked that same question and the officials at the secretary of state's office are tired of telling us state's office are tired of telling us when that will happen but polls close at 7pm here which is about midnight in london. within half an hour, the counties will begin to upload the unofficial results and we should know by about 1230 gmt and with the trends are like. and we

hear that it should pretty much called for the rest of the evening so we called for the rest of the evening so we should have a sense of who wander are lost by after midnight gmt. thank you very much indeed. both donald trump and joe biden held rallies in georgia last night to try and help their parties‘ candidates. joe biden told his supporters that a democrat win in georgia would mean more money would be given to families hit by the pandemic. if you send jon and the river into washington, those two thought —— $2000 check will go out the door and restore hope it decency and honour for the so many who were struggling right now. and if you send senators david perdue and kelly loeffler back to washington and with those checks will never get there. it isjust that simple. the power is literally in your hands. donald trump was arriving as we all digested the tape of that phone call where he asked a top

official in georgia to help him find the votes so he could win the state. well, he began his rally by repeating his unsubstantiated claims that he actually won november's election. i want to thank you very much. hello, georgia. by the way, there is i'io hello, georgia. by the way, there is no way be lost georgia. there is no way. that was a rigged election. if you don't go invoking with the socialists, that marxists will be in charge of our country. if you don't fight to save your credit with everything you have, you will not have a country left. during that rally, donald trump also had a message for his vice president, mike pence, who will have to oversee tomorrow's senate session confirming joe biden as america's next president. i hope that our great vice president, our great vice president comes through for us. he is a great quy~ comes through for us. he is a great guy. of course if he does not come through, i won't like him quite as much. it is still uncertain whether donald trump will attend

joe biden‘s inauguration on 20th january, as is tradition. scotland's sunday post has reported donald trump was planning to travel to scotland to play golf at his turnberry resort on the 19th of january. however, scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said nonessential travel was not allowed and that applied to donald trump as much as anyone else, and she didn't view playing golf as an essential reason to travel. so that may not be an option for him after all. but we don't know his plans and they may be subject to change even if they are set at the moment. a group donald trump's supporters are gathering in washington tonight to demonstrate against the election result. they call themselves the 80% coalition, after some polls showed in the region of 80% of donald trump's supporters believe his unsubstantiated claims that the election was rigged. among the speakers at the event is roger stone, who was pardoned by the president after mr stone was found guilty of lying to congress during an inquiry into russian interference in the 2016 election, the one that brought donald trump into office.

a lot of analysis about whether his failed efforts to overturn the election result may or may not harm the republicans try to win in georgia. here's former democratic polling analyst, professor andra gillespie. they want to talk about having balance in government or divided government to make sure that all parties get their voices heard in congress. the problem this election cycle was that message off and got drowned out by the president possible prosecution of the november election and its continual litigation of the election results and its claims of voter fraud, which cast doubts in the minds of many republican voters about the overall integrity of the process. and in the case especially of the loeffler — warnock race come a lot of discussion of race and race baiting and undertones that took away some time from that message of their

needing to be a republican bulwark. against a unified democratic control of the legislative and executive branches. anthony is in washington. i'm keen to understand the device and the president and the senate. to what degree could a republican—controlled senate really get in the way the administration doing anything? the first and it comes down to is appointments. presidential appointments. presidential appointments. joe biden is going to make all these cabinet nominations once he is announced already and they will have to be confirmed by they will have to be confirmed by the us senate. the republicans control that chamber, then the votes oi'i control that chamber, then the votes on those confirmations can be delayed and if the republicans stick together, they can keep those people from taking office. same goes for it to sherry nominations and they can be blocked by republican majority. so right off the bat there will be ha rd so right off the bat there will be hard forjoe to make his mark on his owi'i hard forjoe to make his mark on his own administration and on the federal courts. then moving down the road, it also could see the house

representative control democrats passed legislation and then if republicans are in control of the agenda in the senate, they can choose just not to even hold votes oi'i choose just not to even hold votes on it. we saw for the past two years with democrats in control of the house we would seek for the next two years if rob could continue control of the senate. so it greatly cu rta ils of the senate. so it greatly curtails joe of the senate. so it greatly curtailsjoe biden of the senate. so it greatly curtails joe biden public of the senate. so it greatly curtailsjoe biden public a bit ability to make nominations and to enact any legislation. a separate point, we talked before about the degree to which nontribal influence relic in politics once he stops being president. we look at these pictures from washington of a protester of his supporters claiming the election was stolen. we are showing them because they are stark images from the capital city of america but to what degree, how do we understand how or presented of what we see here is of the country asa what we see here is of the country as a whole? i think we can see that donald trump at least will continue to have influence in the party simply by what has happened in

congress right now. where you could have more than 100 republican members of the house and at this moment about a dozen republicans in the senate all vote not to validate the senate all vote not to validate the results of the presidential election. that shows that they are more concerned about staying on donald trump's good seed come on stay on the side of his base because either they have long—term ambitions like someone like ted cruz or they are fearful of republican primary, a donald trump back primary because they are not limited support to the president in that shows that donald trump at least in their minds is going to continue to be an influence in public in politics. and last week order but the situation in georgia through the prism of washington most are democrats nervous?” through the prism of washington most are democrats nervous? i think everyone is are democrats nervous? i think everyone is nervous. are democrats nervous? i think everyone is nervous. this is obviously a very close race. and i don't think democrats feel confident at all the early voting looks good for them but i think i better not from publicans today could give it to the relic and party and i think republicans are nervous because this

should be erased they should win. and it is not. it is a tight race with some sort of like anyone knows what is going to happen tonight but i think no matter what, there will bea i think no matter what, there will be a very close race with the states met as high as they can get. thank you very much indeed and of course will you're watching on world news 01’ will you're watching on world news or bbc news channel in the uk, we will have updates for you on those crucial votes in georgia as and when the details come through as larry was saying from atlanta. we will start getting indications of which we re start getting indications of which were the voting was going soon after polls have close will not have the full picture as is normal in the case with elections for quite a few hours after that but as when we get those updates from really for all of us those updates from really for all of us watching because of the president of the us can and cannot do influences all of us and who controls the senate will have as anthony has been explaining demonstrable impact on what thejoe biden administration can get done. so play more to come in the next few hours on that and we will in a

couple of minutes talk about the closing of schools in england because of covid—19. hello there. the night remained frosty but there is the sign of something a little less chilly by day as we head into next week. we switch our winds to a more westerly direction coming off the atlantic and that will lift the temperature is closer we should be the time of year it was still cold. comparative will be having a moment where east 01’ will be having a moment where east or north easterly winds and bringing this plume of cold air that is still in place as we go through the day, tonight and into tomorrow. further outbreaks of ran across east anglia in the southeast and the channel islands tonight and we will see more wintry showers and certainly scotla nd wintry showers and certainly scotland a niche in england get a dusting of snow especially over the hills and some pretty icy conditions across eastern areas as well. for the west with clear skies and temperatures across on parts of central scotland is the western world ireland at —4 or minus six

degrees. a cold start to tomorrow. still got a run of easterly winds and two more sets but notice the lines opening up in the wind following a bit light in a subtle shift in wind direction so it means the early showers meets anglia and that of the sufficient channel i are confined to the coast will keep going with the channel islands however in the winter showers in northern england after an icy start will push their way southwards. and ifa will push their way southwards. and if a little bit. mostly afternoon with some sunshine. if you leaving popeye pages are central scotland with temperature start when you get above freezing here but wherever you are it is going to be another chilly day but for many a dry one. finish with a wet weather in the hebrides is that pushes into the cold air across male and scotland and northern ireland could see a covering of snow to take us through wes and northern ireland could see a covering of snow to take us through wednesday night into thursday morning and icy conditions as well with the renters below freezing still and minus evidence of the scotla nd still and minus evidence of the scotland and —6 to the west of wells ina scotland and —6 to the west of wells in a cold night here in a some western areas of illinois else we could see some dense patches of fog to start the day on thursday. so that would linger all day low inhibitor stay below freezing but most will have a dry bright day and

still some where showers in the far east of east anglia and snow showers return to northern scotland in the northerly breeze later on but much of scotla nd northerly breeze later on but much of scotland brightens up after that dusting of snow and ice conditions in the morning but snowed in today in the morning but snowed in today in the front of the family. that then all addresses way southwards with this leading weather front through the night and into friday. a few fla kes through the night and into friday. a few flakes of snow and a slight dusting here in their crossing window wells into the friday before that gradually declines away. and then through the rest of the week and it looks like most places will be dry and frosty by night and dry by day and turning milder but also better to the north and west into next week.

hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. people in the uk are once again being asked to stay at home as the uk has passed 60,000 daily new cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic... we have no choice. when the office of national statistics is telling us more than 2% of the population is now infected, that's over1 million people in england. and, the issue of schools has been contentious in the uk. we look at how they went from being described as 'safe' to 'vectors of infection' wihtin the space of 12 hours. voters in the state of georgia are heading to the polls in the run—off for the two senate seats to determine who will have control of the upper house of congress.

and a three year dispute between qatar and its gulf neighbours appears to be over. the emir of qatar was warmly welcomed by the saudi crown prince as talks continue to try and resolving the rift... let's take a few moments to look at the announcement that's had the most reaction, since england's lockdown was announced in that downing street address last night. when boris johnson announced that schools in england, would close, he made this point. pa rents parents whose children were in school today may reasonably ask why we did not take this decision sooner. given he went from seeing schools were safe to closing them all within one day, indeed many people were asking just that. as he

put it, hard to see when describing schools is vectors of infection... the government's justification is that the situation had changed. it is michael gove speaking earlier. we wanted to keep schools open as much as possible but the message from the chief medical officer as yesterday was clear and therefore with a heavy heart but with clear evidence we had to act. but couldn't this escalation have been foreseen? did the chaneg of tack have to wait til after the schools went back? let's go back to december. 0n the weekend before christmas, the health secretary was asked if the new variant of covid—19 was under control no, it is not the new variants is out of control, we need to bring it under control. this is graph shows daily infections — at the end of the chart infections spike, as december turns into january. and while the prime minister says he wanted to see if there was sign of improvement before closing schools — the direction of the infection rate is entirely in line with scientific expectations once the new strain was established. one member of the independent sage

group of scientists told me the esclation was predictable. in the face of rising pcs and hospitals being pushed at the brink and high number of deaths, something needed to be done. unfortunately as often seems to be the case with this, the action is coming quite late in the day. and this virologist told me it was clear in december from the data that a lockdown would be needed. all the top experts are saying that, sage, all the top epidemiologists have been faint not. i'm in agreement with them. but despite these indications in the second half of december — the government insisted schools would stay open — all be it, in an ever—evolving fashion. this is the timeline. on december 14, the government threatened legal action against a london borough which said it needed to shut schools. a week later, and after matt hancock had said the virus was out of control, the government said mass testing at schools would mean they could stay open. the

next day, december 22, the sage advsiory board said schools should be closed injanuary. now, boris johnson frequently says he's guided by the science — but he didn't take this guidance. 0n the other side of christmas, schools and children still thought they were going back. secondary schools were sending emails advising parents of preparations for mass testing. then on december 30 — the opening of secondary schools in england was delayed by two weeks. two days later — having said some london primary schools could open — they were told to close. but that primary schools in some other parts of england would open. on sunday — just two days ago — borisjohnson was asked by andrew marr, this question. very straightforward question should parents parents of primary school children in england and send them to school tomorrow morning? yes, absolutely they should in the areas where schools are open. and on monday morning the prime minister said this. schools are safe and as you know the risk to kids is

very, very small and the risk to teachers and with everything we can to protect teachers but the risk to teachers is no greater than it is to anybody else in any other line of work. hours later, he closed the schools. the lockdown is a response to to an escalation in the pandemic that was widely predicted — with measures that were widely advised. and this late change of policy will have consequences. many children and staff went to school and mixed — for one day. only to now return to their homes. and we know that multi—family groups mixing in confined areas is one of the main ways the virus spreads. a point made by this the teaching unions. we don't know how many new infections have been caused by this, this going back for one day. which everyone knew that schools were going to be closed but this constant brinkmanship of how long we have to go is terrible. it's terrible for teachers, it's terrible for parents and it's not that nice for children either. so there are onsequences for the risk of transmission.

consequences for teachers who were preparing for in class teaching — and then had to turn to online teaching with no notice. consequences for parents too, with many facing a sudden childcare crisis. here's one. nothing is easy about working at home schooling, in fact it is nearly impossible. i think to call it an inconvenience is insulting to the millions of parents who are going to have to rearrange their lives to try and make this work. there's the issue of inequality too. as my colleague lewis goodall points out"|t‘s really hard for a school to switch to online learning for a sustained period, especially in deprived areas. lots of kids still don't have tablets or computers and even if they don't have internet connections. kids end up using parents phones but they don't have enough data." it's a point echoed by the childrens commissioner for england. a lot of children still don't have laptops. they are surviving on broken phones. those children now that need to be seen as a priority to get into the classroom, deemed a vulnerable child. there's also the issue of the cost of data.

and of it this is something that tech companies and broadband companies really need to step up to now. we know that lockdowns increase education inequality. and we know that time for schools to prepare for lockdowns can ease that inequality. but look at this from a reporter at the website politics home. that was monday. today, tuesday, millions of teachers and children began homeschooling. also today, the prime minister tweeted. one solution being put forward to deal with the inequality that comes with online earning is addressing internet access — and one idea is to exclude certain education sites from data plans. this is matt hood who's head of the oak academy for online learning sot

the simple, universal solution is zero rating which means there's no charge for using education websites. and what we are calling for is all the tele companies to work with the government and others to put this solution in the place and to do it quickly. while schools are closed — it's a different situation for nurseries. they are being told to remain open. and providers are concerned about the risk to staff and the wider community. what the government must do immediately is to reassure parents and their staff in terms of their safety and these conditions but most importantly give them additional support but prioritise them for a vaccination. that's the only way key workers and those parents are going to be supported moving forward. to germany now, where the coronavirus lockdown has been

extended until the end of the month. tight restrictions have been in place since the middle of december, but have so far they appear to have had little effect. germany had managed to keep case numbers down throughout the first half of the year, but the situation has escalated since october — this graph from the oxford university website our world in data shows the trend in daily case numbers — as you can see it appears to have dropped from the peak but still remains high. in the last 24 hours there were almost 12,000 new cases and 944 deaths announced — bringing the total number to more than 35,000. last week, the country reported a record number of daily deaths — over a thousand. here's one german doctor. we started lockdown too late and with the so—called lockdown we did not see a success in bringing the numbers of infections down and now lockdown had started a

week before christmas and we do not see the advantage of the lockdown the number of hospital admitted covid—19 patients here. here'sjenny hill in berlin with the latest. angela merkel has announced that all the closures currently enforced we are talking schools, shops, restaurants, arts and leisure facilities and some nurseries will continue to stay closed until at least the end of this month. there are of course regional variations. each german states does things differently but this is an extension of the status quo. but actually if you look at it more closely it looks as though germany will be tightening some restrictions also. for example if you live in a part of germany where infection rates are particularly high and that means more than 200 infections per 100,000 residents over the course of seven days it will be confined to a 15 km radius

and around your home, you want to be able to travel farther than that on if you have a particularly pressing reason, work, going to the doctor, caring for an elderly relative and so on. she also said if you had to work in a factory, it's a big deal here in germany, now close. so there is a bit of a tightening going on. i think the most important thing and that merkel has said so far is that it's still not possible to tell what kind of impact restrictions which were brought in towards the end of last year had on the infection rates. we have seen case numbers here and deaths soaring in recent weeks. germany is suffering much, much worse in their second wave of the pandemic than anything in the first. scientists have already warned that the case is potentially going unreported over christmas, various administrative bodies having to play catch—up, it's not yet possible to tell despite a bit of a downward trend in case

that's why she said this extension was going to be put into force. coronavirus vaccines are probably the world's most valuable commodity right now, and countries are working out how to distribute them to the greatest effect. people receiving the pfizer vacccine need to have two doses, to complete the course. the uk advisory group sage has said it may space those doses out by as much as 12 weeks — longer than the manufacturers recommend — so that more people receive some vaccine, more quickly. other countries, including the usa, have criticised that approach. today the world health organization today, has commented. have a listen. sage recommends administration of two doses of these vaccines within 21—28 days. while we acknowledge the absence of data on safety and efficacy after one dose beyond the three, four—week study in the clinical

trials, sage made a provision for countries and exceptional circumstances of the vaccine supply constraints and availability of testing to delay the second dose for a few weeks in order to maximise the number of individuals benefiting from a first dose. imogen foulkes is in geneva. i'm listening to that and i'm still not entirely sure what the who is criticising the uk approach or not? it got more clear than that after questioning found the generalists including myself who attended that press co nfe re nce including myself who attended that press conference will stop what the who's press conference will stop what the who's independent group of scientists and i'm told this is a very robust discussion. what they have said is he cannot recommend something for which there is no data. we are only talking about the pfizer vaccine. not the others. this one was not tested with an aim of 12

weeks between doses or attested for really just one weeks between doses or attested for reallyjust one dose long—term. and so what the who scientists have said a three recommends an interval of three to four weeks or in exceptional circumstances and scientists will understand the challenges the uk is facing and a delay of maximum of six weeks. so not to 12 they uk is has suggested. you said does the who criticised the uk? that is not a who business to criticise, what he did do is get its expert scientist together and that that all the data and make a recommendation which is not a nine with this most recent proposal to have one dose and rate of the 12 weeks that has come from the uk. to be clear, the who role is to advise, it cannot do anything more than that? now, it cannot but i think it

is the worlds leading public health body and i'll tell you something. across europe i do sense some concern about they uk's decision. and not necessarily a willingness to follow that. i visit this place press co nfe re nce follow that. i visit this place press conference this afternoon and they are facing rising case phase and very high level of case is in fa ct and very high level of case is in fact i'm a high death rates. they also have a shortage of this pfizer vaccine but they said no, we will not be doing that because i wear regularly the authority approved this vaccine on the basis of all of those trials that were done and in none of those was a 12 week delay taking or access. there is no data for it and we base our decision on the data that's available. another vaccine story — yesterday on the programme we heard that a major manufacturer of oxford astrazeneca's vaccine in india — said the government there was preventing it from supplying the vaccine to other countries.

the head of that company — the serum institute — has now walked back on that. he tweeted this clarification, it turns out the regulations he'd been referring to a the other day, only cover the private market, they do allow indian companies to supply overseas governments' immunisation programmes. yogita limaye has more on the story. 0n on sunday in an interview to the news channel in india he had said that the conditions on emergency use approval in india were at that serum could not sell to the private market in india or overseas so what he's clarifying to me is what he meant by that comment is that serum institute of india is not allowed to sell the 0xford vaccine or overseas. they are allowed to exploit the vaccine to

government immunisation programmes outside of india. he also says that they read unaided commitments and they read unaided commitments and they have already made to countries such as bangladesh and and saudi arabia and also to the global vaccine alliance in the next few weeks and he does say india is the company's weeks and he does say india is the compa ny‘s first priority weeks and he does say india is the company's first priority being its home country. 50 million doses are already packed and ready to go and another 50 million have already been produced. stay with us on 0utside source. still to come, south korea has sent a destroyer carrying members of its anti—piracy unit to the strait of hormuz as part of efforts to free an oil tanker seized by iran. iranian revolutionary guards seized the vessel on monday, saying the oil tanker broke environmental rules. the uk chancellor is offering businesses in hospitality, retail and leisure new grants of up to nine thousand pounds to try to keep them afloat until spring. here's our business correspondent sarah corker.

no customers, no money coming in but bills still to pay. entire part of the economy are in shutdown again. here in clitheroe in lancashire, this business has already cancelled hundreds of weddings and events. 400 staff are on furlough. the stop—start process that we've been going through for ten months now is very, very difficult because you can't make any kind of plans, really. and a lot of reactions are very short—term, very, you know, you have 24—48 hours or whatever between the government saying one thing and then announcing something else. and that's been very, very challenging, i've got to say. and for the in—house brewery here, the ban on takeaway alcohol sales is another blow. there is, though, more government support to help firms to stay afloat. for businesses in the most affected sectors who were asked to close, they will receive up to £9000 in a one—off cash grant. it's important to remember that

comes on top of the existing monthly grants of £3000 that those businesses receive and the extension of furlough all the way through to april. the high streets are virtually empty once again. the economic resilience of retail and hospitality businesses is wafer—thin, and they say what they need from government is a clear long—term plan. this manchester bar and distillery supplies gin to other hospitality businesses. sales are down nearly 80%. there is extra financial support. how much will that help you? while it's a nice news story that they're giving extra £9000, it doesn't go nearly far enough. we need business rates relief again for another year. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is —

the uk has passed 60,000 daily new cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic as new lockdowns come in to effect for scotland and england. a three year dispute between qatar and its gulf neighbours appears to be over. this is the moment the emir of qatar embraced the saudi crown prince as he arrived in saudi arabia fora summitaimed at resolving the rift. already on monday night, saudi arabia reopened its border with qatar. the dispute dates back to may 2017 when, according to qatar, hackers broke in to the state—run qatar news agency and posted an article attributing fake quotes to the emir of qatar's emir. the story suggested he'd criticising donald trump and had praised iran as an "islamic power." in response, the media in the region began to publish a slew of negative stories about qatar — accusing it of supporting terror groups and working against us interests — all using the article as evidence.

those accusations already found favour in parts of the region, and injune 2017, some countries acted. saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and bahrain severed relations with qatar. they all gave qatari citizens 14 days to leave and banned their own citizens from travelling there. in addition, those countries closed their airspace to qatari aircraft and said foreign airlines would have to seek permission for overflights to and from qatar. now bear in mnd, qatar relied heavily on imports via its only land border with saudi arabia, and that was now closed. ships flying the qatari flag or those serving qatar were also banned from many ports. the blockading countries then issued 13 demands, including qatar losing its flagship television network aljazeera, cutting links to the muslim brotherhood organisation and downgrading ties with iran. fast—forward to today, and the the gulf cooperation council has welcomed qatar back. here's the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman.

translation: these efforts helped us reach the agreement of the statement. that will be signed at the summit, where we affirm our gulf, arab and islamic solidarity and stability and strengthen the amicable relations between our countries in order to serve the interests of their people. so, what's changed? we don't have all the answers, but the bbc‘s sameer hashmi can tell us what we do know. this is quite significant given the bitter rivalry over the last 3.5 years. now it has not happened overnight. this deal has not happened overnight. the talks have been on for the last year, year and a half. the trump administration was involved and they have played an important role, but the new administration have also played a pivotal part in making sure this deal goes through. jared kushner, the senior adviser, was also quite active over the last few months. thus as many analysts have been saying that the trump administration played a key role, but the other factor, jey factor is also the victory forjoe biden during the presidential elections in november. now, his administration is expected

to adopt a much tougher stance against saudi arabia compared to the trump administration. so the saudis were keen to strike this deal to demonstrate to president—elect joe biden and his administration that they are willing to negotiate where it's possible and they are not going to hold onto their position. but interestingly, the other three countries which are part of the saudi alliance, the uae, egypt and bahrain, they were quite reluctant to strike this deal. and in fact, even now, there is a cross deficit even though they've publicly accepted and welcomed this deal. and it will be very important and interesting to see in the coming few days whether they would implement this deal and its full spirit because the saudis have already announced that they will be reopening the borders that were shutdown over the last 3.5 years, but we have not heard anything with regards to that from the uae, egypt or bahrain so that's something to watch out for the coming few days.

south korea has sent a destroyer carrying members of its anti—piracy unit to the strait of hormuz, as part of efforts to free an oil tanker seized by iran. iranian revolutionary guards seized the vessel on monday — saying the oil tanker broke environmental rules. iran is angry with south korea after it seized seven billion dollars of the iranian government's money. the funds were frozen, in south korean banks, because of us sanctions against iran. laura bicker has more on the story. there was discussion about whether or not iran was willing to barter to release those funds in return for some vaccines, for instance. however, there has been no headway, and the tension has increased. the deputy foreign minister here in seoul was due to fly to tehran on sunday. now we're not sure if that visit is going to go ahead. but they were scheduled to have talks on this issue. however, iran in the meantime

appears to have seized this tanker. the 20 crew on board, we're told five of whom are korean, are said to be safe. now when it comes to the tanker itself, iran says it's been seized not out of a political act, but purely because it was seen to be polluting the waters of the gulf. that is something that the operator, which is based in busan here in south korea, denies. in fact, he's made a number of statements to the reuters and the ap saying that the tanker was borded by iranian revolutionary guard and ordered to head to iran. he says there is no evidence of pollution. meanwhile, the south korean tanker remains with iran at the moment. we hear a korean consul in iran is going to try to see the vessel as soon as possible.

that means this condition an outside source. thank you for watching antibody. hello there. whilst the night remained frosty, there is the sign of something a little less chilly by day as we head into next week. we switch our winds into a more westerly direction coming off the atlantic, and that will lift temperatures back closer to where we should be for the time of year. a bit cold actually. compared to what we have at the a moment where east or north—easterly winds are bringing this plume of cold air, that's still in place as we go through the day, tonight and into tomorrow. further outbreaks of rain across east anglia, the south east and the channel islands tonight, and we will see more wintry showers. south east scotland, eastern england get a dusting of snow, particularly over the hills and some pretty icy conditions across eastern areas as well. further west, with some clearer skies, temperatures across some parts of central scotland and the west of northern ireland around —4 to —6 degrees. so a cold start to tomorrow. still got a run of easterly winds towards that south—east corner, but notice the lines opening up.

the winds falling a bit light and there'll be a subtle shift in wind direction, so it means the early showers in east anglia, the south east and the channel islands become confined to the coast. will keep going in the channel islands however. the wintry showers in northern england, after an icy start, will push their way southwards and fade a little bit. most of you actually dry wednesday afternoon with some sunshine. a few lingering fog patches for central scotland. temperature struggling to get above freezing here, but wherever you are, it is going to be another chilly day, but for many a dry one. finish with some wet weather in the hebrides. as that pushes into the cold air across mainland scotland and northern ireland, could see a covering of snow to take us through wednesday night into thursday morning. icy conditions, as well, with the temperatures below freezing still. —7 for scotland and the far north of england. —6 to the west of wales, a cold night here. and in some western areas of england and wales, we could see some dense patches of fog to start the day on thursday. some of that will

linger all day long. temperatures staying below freezing. most will have a dry and bright day. still some wintry showers in the far east of east anglia. snow showers return to northern scotland with a northerly breeze later on, but much of scotland brightens up after that dusting of snow and icy conditions in the morning. but a snow to end the day in the far north of england. that then all drifts its way southwards with this weakening weather front through the night and into friday. a few flakes of snow, a slight dusting here and there across england and wales into the friday before that gradually decays away. and then through the rest of the weekend, it looks like most places will be dry and frosty by night and dry by day, turning milder but also wetter to the north and west into next week.

this is bbc news, i'm james reynolds. the headlines at eight o'clock. the uk is back in lockdown — with the message to 'stay at home' — more than1 million people a re currently infected with coronavirus. if people don't take the stay at home seriously the risk at this point in time, the risk is extraordinarily high. the labour party calls for round the clock vaccinations as the prime minister says more than 1.3 million people have had their first dose and the government is doing all it can. we in government are now using every second of this lockdown to put that invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination.

we now