this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. permanently banned — twitter says it's suspending president trump's account saying that allowing him to continue would risk further incitement to violence. house democrats are to introduce articles of impeachment against president trump on monday, the second time lawmakers have brought such charges against the outgoing president. the us president—elect says he's fine with donald trump not attending his inauguration in 12 days‘ time. joe biden also takes sharp aim at the man he's about to replace. he's been an embarrassment to the country, embarrassed us around the world, not worthy, not worthy to hold that office. we'll be examining

the mounting pressures on mr trump, and we'll to asia for the reaction there. in other news, the uk records its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. a major incident is declared in london as hospitals struggle to cope. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. in the last few minutes twitter has said it is permanently suspending donald trump's account. in a statement, it said that it took the decision after what it called a close review of recent tweets from mr trump. twitter said there was a risk of further incitement to violence if they allowed him to continue to use their platform. let's get more from our correspondent david willis in los angeles.

david. this has been breaking in the last few minutes, in the last half—hour or so. just bring us up—to—date with what on earth going on. welcome i have to say, if you go to his twitter account, you will now see just a bland twitter account, you will now seejust a bland message twitter account, you will now see just a bland message saying account suspended. this is an astonishing blow to president trump, who, of course, had 88 million followers on twitter. it was his preferred means of getting his message out, of course, to the faithful. and twitter is saying that it has permanently suspended his account fearing further incitement of violence. the twitter statement goes on. after close review of recent tweets from the donald trump account in the context around them, we are permanently suspending the account due to the risk of further incitement. now, of course, they have

flagged, as it were, numerous tweets in recent months from donald trump, basically questioning the veracity of the claims that have been made in those tweets. well, now, clearly in the fading days of the term presidency and the events, of course, on wednesday on capitol hill, the folks at twitter have decided enough is enough. they are closing down that vital mouthpiece for the president of the united states. and if you think, absolutely vital, 88.7 million followers that donald trump had on that account. this, of course, follows the recent suspension oi’ or the locking of his account for 12 hours. he's not had much luck with twitter at moment recently. no, he isn't, indeed. and it was very much, as i mentioned just now, his preferred platform, his preferred platform, his preferred means of communication for the simple

reason that he mistrusts what he calls the lame stream media. the conventional media, newspapers and tv networks here, because he believes that they do him a disservice. they don't adequately represent his views, and of course, they don't to lavish them with praise, which he believes he deserves. so, he is sought to go over the heads of the media here and basically take his message straight to his followers through the platform of twitter. it's something that he's been using on a very regular basis, and there are signs of course that it's benefited twitter enormously, and now the company believes there is more to be lost, if you like, by being associated with donald trump than it is to be gained. david, as always can thank you so much for bringing us thank you so much for bringing us up to date. interesting to see what he does next. david willis there. thank you. earlier, three democratic members of congress say they'll bring articles of impeachment against president trump on monday.

the lawmakers began draughting the measure as they sheltered in place during the riots on wednesday. the white house says any moves towards impeachment would @only serve to further divide our great country@. for his part, president trump says he won't attend joe biden‘s inauguration injust 12 days' time. ——would "only serve to further divide our great country". mr biden said today he's fine with that, calling the current president is an "embarrasment" to the office. here's our north america editorjon sopel. the words "horse" and "stable door" come to mind, as contractors are brought in to erect some proper security around the capitol hill complex. so alarmingly and easily breached by the trump supporting mob on wednesday night. and the repercussions are still being felt. last night, a chastened and tense president spoke words that had clearly been written for him. i would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack... the change of tone and substance in just 2a hours is startling, whiplash—inducing.

as they say on school essays, "compa re and contrast". we're going to walk down to the capitol... we have just been through an intense election and emotions are high, but now tempers must be cooled and calm restored. you'll never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength and you have to be strong. like all americans, i am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. the demonstrators who infiltrated the capitol have defiled the seat of american democracy. so, go home, we love you, you're very special... to those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction — you do not represent our country. we had an election that was stolen from us, it was a landslide election... a new administration will be

inaugurated on january 20th. my focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. this moment calls for healing and reconciliation. but from the reactivated presidential twitter account today, an unsurprising statement. not thatjoe biden is shedding any tears. that's what i am looking forward to — him leaving office. i was told that, on the way over here, that he indicated he wasn't going to show up at the inauguration. one of the few things he and i have ever agreed on. it's a good thing, him not showing up. in the wake of the riots and the president's incendiary words, he's faced multiple resignations and the threat of removalfrom office. that explains the astonishing volte—face from donald trump last night. he had no option.

and there's this. just before he spoke, it was confirmed that one of the capitol policemen, brian sicknick, had died from injuries he received while trying to hold the rioters at bay. today, it was ordered that flags should fly at half—mast in his honour, but they're also flying at half—staff for american democracy. that report byjon sopel. and jon joined us from the white house to provide further analysis of trump's position you can see already that the democrats are planning to draw up articles of impeachment, to impeach him a second time in the house. apparently, this is being planned when the raid on the congress was taking place. and they are going to accuse donald trump of intention to cause an insurrection. so that's that. there is also nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, she has been in touch with the commander of

the us military to say that the president should be stripped of the nuclear codes because he is not a reliable person. you have got the white house saying that this is going to sew further division. there are republicans saying he ought to go. so that is the next 12 days. we don't know what donald might do or say next. last night, he was on ottawa queue, he might let rip if not. last night, he was on auto cue,he might let rip if not. so there's a lot of uncertainty. so let's look at where we are right now. because this has been a week of turbulence in a way that american history has not seen before. yesterday, 4,000 people died and one day of covid—i9, the highest single total. today, the jobless totals have gone up. as well as that, we have seen the assault on congress, americans are divided. they are angry. this is donald trump's legacy. but it's alsojoe biden‘s inheritance. the uk has recorded the highest daily coronavirus death toll since the start of the pandemic.

1,325 more people have lost their lives. to add to that figure — a record number of new cases — more than 68,000 positive tests were recorded in the past 2a hours. hospitals across the uk are now under severe pressure — with some treating many more patients than during the first peak in april. here's our health editor, hugh pym. —— i have been speaking —— -- i have been speaking -- they talked about this is an iconic humiliation. it's clearly seeing these images as ones that are going to damage american prestige around the world. ——global times talked about this being an iconic humiliation for the us, its american democracy a waterloo moment. and so it's clearly saying the next scene these images as one that is going to damage american prestige around the world. the ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson called out what they say is hypocrisy by the us. now, of course, we might see the hong kong protests and what happened to the capitol hill

as very different. i think what it shows is that china is very, you know, has a real problem with criticism, and will look for double standards where ever it can see them. more generally, what this is going to be used as is part of china's narrative that democracy leads to chaos. and that, of course, is a strong narrative in a country that cares a lot about stability. i think we should expect other authoritarian regimes around the region to be signalling in similar ways. what about those other countries where united states, let's face it, has had a long history of telling them how democracy should be done. i'm thinking about thailand, myanmar, where does this leave us credibility when it comes to being this advocate of democrazy in the region? it hasn't helped the global brand of democracy. no question, for a lot of countries in the region that are democracies or us allies had different messages. for example, in india, the prime minister talked about the distressing scenes, similar injapan, it was about expressing concern. in other countries, in new zealand for example, it's about up for democracy and the importance of democracy

and condemning the rioters. so you have a lot of those messages as well. in some countries, such as south korea, have really just focused on the positive, that congress went back to sit and to confirm the results of the electoral college. so taiwan, for example, talks about us resilience and strength in its democracy. so you can use that positive frame. i think, like many things, these are events can be interpretive depending on outlook. if you want us leadership then you see the positive side, you see that institutions in the us have stood up to a pretty horrible assault under the trump administration. and what you are hoping is that the trump administration is a blip and the biden administration brings us back to normal. but on the other side, you are much more sceptical of us democracy. you look at this and you say, look, this is a fragile democracy where tens

of millions of people don't accept the word of their electoral officials and state and federal judiciaries. this is a country that's not what it was. of of perspective of how asian countries are seeing what is happening in the united states. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: in south africa, health care professionals say they're stretched to the limit. we'll look at how hospitals there are struggling to manage the influx of patients. 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, in spite 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 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 twitter has permanently suspended president donald trump, days before the end of his presidency saying that allowing him to continue would risk further incitement to violence. house democrats are to introduce articles of impeachment against president trump on monday,

the second time lawmakers have brought such charges against the outgoing president. so, we are within sight now of president—electjoe biden‘s inauguration. he'll not only face the daunting task of bringing a divided country together. he will also have to find a way to vaccinate hundreds of millions of american from the coronavirus, and fast. the us is now recording 4,000 daily deaths, the highest since the outbreak began. today, mr biden pledged to release nearly all available vaccines after he takes office. vaccines give us hope, but the roll—out has been a travesty. this will be the greatest operational challenge, the greatest operational challenge we will ever face as a nation. we are going to need billions of dollars to get the vaccine estimate from a vial into someone's arm for the vaccination of millions of americans.

the uk has recorded the highest daily coronavirus death toll since the start of the pandemic. 1,325 more people have lost their lives. to add to that figure — a record number of new cases — more than 68,000 positive tests were recorded in the past 24 hours. hospitals across the uk are now under severe pressure — with some treating many more patients than during the first peak in april. here's our health editor, hugh pym. two brothers enjoying a swim on a foreign holiday. exactly a year later, one of them died with covid—19. he was a big chap, there's no denying that but he could swim all day long. you know, he was running on christmas day. james remembers his brother david, who was 36. they both tested positive and were isolating but david's condition worsened overnight and he didn't survive. we were going to sit there and rough it out. well, it didn't work for us. my advice would be, i don't want to scaremonger people

and i don't want to be dramatic but i think people, if you are in that situation, if you are sat at home and you are starting to really struggle for breath, ring 111. a postmortem will try to establish whether there were otherfactors in david's death. as more lives are lost and case numbers increase, london's mayor has declared a major incident, with a call forfinancial support from the government. hospitals are so busy that ambulances are delayed handing over patients, with waiting times up 36% in the south—east in december, according to data leaked to bbc news. covid patient numbers are rising in other regions. extra staff have been drafted into this intensive care unit in wolverhampton, including dental specialists. i didn't really think about how hard it would be, in patient roles, to end—of—life. it's somebody‘s loved one.

and this nottinghamshire hospital says the pressure is intensifying. we are beginning to see that huge increase that london has seen. so we have got 160 patients with covid in our organisation, nearly double the number we saw in the first wave. critical care is exceptionally busy and the colleagues who work here are tired, they're fatigued and they are worn out. the latest survey of community infections by the office for national statistics suggests that last week in northern ireland, one in 200 people had the virus, with case rates no longer decreasing. in scotland, it was one in 115, with case numbers on the increase. in wales, one in 70, although case rates were coming down. in england, one in 50 had the virus, with case numbers on the increase. the worst affected area was london with one in 30. the latest r number range, 1—1.4, was higher than the previous estimate. anything above one suggests the virus is accelerating. vaccinations continue,

though there was a long queue and waits in the cold for people in priority groups invited to this clinic for theirjabs. it was confirmed that a third vaccine has been approved by regulators. it is made by the us company moderna, and the government has ordered 17 million doses, although they are unlikely to be available before the spring. right now, senior health officials are focused on the spread of the virus. they are worried there are more people out and about than during the first lockdown, and they think there could be more than 100,000 new infections per day, including those who have not been tested. hugh pym, bbc news. sweden's coronavirus strategy has always stood out from the crowd, because the country has never had a lockdown. but now, after becoming one of the european countries with the highest number of cases per person, sweden has passed a new pandemic law. from sunday, the government will be able to limit numbers on public transport

and have the power to close down venues including shops, gyms and cinemas. prime minister stefan lofven has already announced plans to limit numbers in certain public places. 0ur reporter maddy savage is in stockholm, and has more on the new laws. what we know so far, about how the government is putting to use those new powers, which come into force on sunday after this recent vote is that there will be a limit on the number of people entering public places including shops and gyms. managers will have to make sure that people have at least ten metres square around them, so ten metres squared per person in each venue. they have also announced that there's going to be fines for those who hold parties of more than eight people in private venues, including places like apartment block, rooms or reception venues, banquet halls and those kinds of venues. until now there's only been a ban on events that are considered public,

such as demonstrations, gigs or concerts. so we are starting to see, i of a shift towards tougher measures here in sweden. mattie savage there with the new laws in sweden. back to our breaking news that's been happening within the last hour. twitter has permanently suspended president donald trump, days before the end of his presidency saying that allowing him to continue would risk further incitement to violence. donald trump had millions of followers on twitter, 88.7 million followers. i'm sure we all know that it was one of his favourite ways of getting his message out there. he has now had that account permanently suspended due to the risk of further incitement to violence.

twitter says the decision was made after a close review of the recent tweets from the account, and the context around them. you will recall that earlier on, he had his account locked for 12 hours following his tweets after the situation after the riots that took place on capitol hill. twitter had said that it would ban mr term permanently if you breached the platforms rose again. and it looks like it has done so now. so that account of president trump, his private account with millions of followers permanently suspended. let's look at some of the day's other news iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, has banned the import of any us or british—made coronavirus vaccines. he said he didn't trust western injections, and praised efforts to develop a vaccine in iran — although that's not expected to become available for months. iran is the worst—affected country in the middle east. the european union has reached a deal with pfizer

and biontech for 300 million additional doses of its covid—19 vaccine — doubling the amount of doses from these producers. each recipient of the vaccine needs two doses for maximum efficacy. portugal and ukraine have become the latest european countries to tighten coronavirus restrictions. portugal has begun a fifteen—day state of emergency, banning domestic travel on weekends and extending a curfew to most of the country. in japan, a month—long state of emergency has been declared in tokyo, which includes an 8pm curfew. let's turn now to the situation in south africa, where hospitals are struggling to manage an influx of covid patients as cases continue to rise. morgues are also running out of space as bodies of coronavirus victims continue piling up. the bbc‘s phoebe hopson reports. a warning: some viewers may find some language in this report distressing.

scenes from the front line of the pandemic, medical professionals pushed to their full capacity treating those in a critical condition. a new more transmissible variant is believed to be behind the surge of cases. under mounting pressure, health workers say to get a bed, someone must die. nurses are demoralised. they are bent out and they are just dragging themselves, as they are the only person that we are currently relying on. doctors, nurses, health care support staff, all equally are really in a bad state. with the second wave that we are on, it doesn't even...the picture becomes gloomier. 0ur wards as i speak to you are full to capacity. in fact, it in the way that we have seen body bags on the floor. the arrival of 1.5 million

vaccines from the serum institute of india by the end of february offers some hope, and the government says vaccinating health workers will be a priority. i'm not happy with... in the meantime, those on the front line want their experiences fighting the virus to heed as a warning. 0ur communities must prepare to die and die in numbers. i've told my family, when you go to the hospital, be prepared to stay in that chair for three days, four days, five days. preliminary studies of the pfizer vaccine suggest it appears to work against the mutated virus, but for many, its arrival will be too late. phoebe hobpon, bbc news. ——phoebe hopson, bbc news. a reminder of our top story... twitter has permanently suspended donald trump days before the end of his presidency, saying that allowing him to continue would risk further incitement to violence. this is just days before the end of his presidency. so that

account now suspended. lots more on our website. thanks for watching. hello. a spell of cold wintry january weather will be gradually easing through the weekend and into next week as things turn a little bit milder. but certainly on friday, we had a lot more snow for some parts of northern england. this was of the picture in cumbria. north wales, as well, had a lot of lying snow. into saturday, still the odd flurry of snow around but most places largely dry, very cold and frosty with some freezing fog as well. look at these temperatures, first thing saturday morning at dawn around —11 degrees or so, could be —15 across some of the sheltered glens of scotland. so, widely subzero, we've got the freezing fog to contend with, particularly across parts of the midlands, central southern england and east wales as well. that should slowly tend to break up into low cloud with some sunshine coming through, but in places, it could linger all day. now, a lot of dry weather through the day on sunday, some sunshine for north wales, northern england,

eastern scotland, for instance, as well. but we have a front moving in from the northwest, that will bring some rain and some hill snow for the northwest of scotland. not as cold on saturday as it has been over recent days, with temperatures about 3—5 degrees for most. into saturday night now heading into the early hours of sunday morning, we have got that front bringing a bit more cloud further south, so not as cold across the north and northwest of uk. still, though, getting down to around —3 or —4 across the south of england first thing sunday. so it will start off chilly once again. we have got milder air gradually working in from the northwest. so a bit of a cloudier picture through the day on sunday. the best of any sunshine will be for central and and southern parts of england, eastern scotland should see a bit of sunshine as well. but towards the north and west, we have more cloud, and that will bring some outbreaks of rain, particularly to the west of scotland. it could be quite heavy, and as things are turning milder, some snowmelt could well lead to a little bit of flooding there. but for most of us, a largely dry picture, turning a bit milder as well. now, as we head through into

next week, we will keep low pressure to the north, higher pressure in the south, and this wedge of slightly milder air will work in across the country. still have cold air heading in from the northeast. so a bit of a mixed picture as we have through the course of next week. temperatures not as cold as they have been recently, but things are looking little bit unsettled, particularly through the middle part of the week. but all in all, as we head into next week, it won't be as cold as it has been. there will be rain around at times, some snow over the hills, and the driest conditions in south. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... twitter has said it is

permanently suspending donald trump's account. in a statement, it said that it took the decision after what it called a close review of recent tweets from mr trump. twitter said there was a risk of further incitement to violence if they allowed him to continue to use their platform. three democratic members of congress say they'll bring articles of impeachment against donald trump on monday. the lawmakers began draughting the measure as they sheltered in place during the riots on wednesday. the white house says any moves towards impeachment would "only serve to further divide our great country". the uk has recorded its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began — more than 1,300 deaths were reported. and a major incident has been declared in london, as hospitals across the uk struggle to cope. access to broadband is more important than ever now,