where they believe a boeing 737 passenger plane crashed into the sea off the coast of the capital jakarta, shortly after take—off. the plane fell more than 3,000 metres in less than a minute before disappearing from radar screens. 62 people were on board. more than 80,000 people have died in the uk within 28 days of a positive covid test since the start of the pandemic, official figures have shown. it is the fourth day in a row that the uk has reported more than 1,000 daily deaths. us prosecutors say they've arrested three prominent figures in wednesday's riots at the us capitol. images of a shirtless man dressed in a bearskin headdress with horns, face paint and a spear were widely shared online. he was taken into custody today. the into custody today. fbi is calling on help from the

the fbi is calling on help from the public to identify the other perpetrators. now it's time for dateline london. hello and welcome to dateline london, the show bringing together bbc expertise with international correspondents filing around the world from here in london. for half a century, the debate on democracy focussed on growth as more and more countries joined the league of democratic nations. but since the turn of the century, there has been what the scholar larry diamond has called "a democratic recession". some believe the movement towards democracy around the world has gone into reverse. today, we look at one example, hong kong, which one might been thought to have been all along to be pretty fragile and another, the united states, which is among the most established democracies

in the world. with me to discuss whether trump and his supporters will go quietly as we look forward to the inauguration ofjoe biden on 20th january are bloomberg's stephanie baker political commentator steve richards and here in the studio, our diplomatic correspondent james landale. thanks to all of you. we start with an extraordinary week in american politics. for four years, the trump presidency has appeared to be waging a contest with the american constitution. this week, spurred by the president's invitation to march on the capitol, a band of trump supporters began a riot in washington dc. it was a desperate and rather forlorn attempt to reverse the result of the november election. but images flashed across the world of americans attacking their own democratic institutions and five people were killed. let me begin, stephanie baker, with you. how did you feel watching those images

and what do you feel is the threat to the trumpet will pose in the coming days? —— that trump will pose. obviously, i was embarrassed, sad and outraged. but in many ways i wasn't surprised — this is the logical conclusion of the trump presidency. he has spent the past four yea rs he has spent the past four years denigrating democratic institutions and lying so it is not entirely surprising. i think it will go down as one of the biggest national security failures after 9/11, and perhaps worse than 9/11 in many respects because there was a digital trail of evidence pointing that this would happen. so i think there will be some kind of 9/11—type of commission to investigate what went wrong, what exactly happened, what was trump's role exactly in preventing a greater law enforcement presence to respond to the rioters? and i think it obviously puts a

huge question mark over the next 11 days as to what might be possible. i am very worried about what might happen. obviously, there are efforts under way for impeaching him in the house. there is an article of impeachment that has already been drawn up. it looks like the democrats in the house are going to push forward with that next week. last night, the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell sent out a memo that indicated that the senate would not convene to consider that article of impeachment until january the 19th, the day beforejoe biden is due to be sworn in as the next president. but i don't think it's out of the question that they could pursue impeachment even after biden is sworn in and perhaps then bar trump from holding federal office again. and i think it looks unlikely that he would get 17

republicans — which is what you would need for a senate trial to succeed — you need two thirds of the senate to vote in support of it — however, you could argue it is in many of the republican senators‘ interests to make sure that he does not run again in 2024 and act as kingmaker in the republican party for the next four years. yes. so it remains to be seen how this will play out and whether indeed they push ahead with the impeachment. president—electjoe biden doesn't seem too eager to go down that route and is approaching a bipartisan approach. but i think people are angry and if they can't impeach trump over this, i think it sets a terrible precedent going forward and shows there is an something seriously wrong with the system. do you think it is politically wise for the democrats to go after trump in that way? or would it be betterfor him

to just effective exit as a result of the people's vote in the election last year? well, i can understand stephanie's view that given what happened, there has to be a response, arguably on the scale of impeachment, but i tend towards the latter view. it strikes me — i may be wholly wrong — but on one level, at least, this was a cathartic moment in the us. it was cinematic on so many levels. but one of the interesting cinematic qualities was the collapse of that relationship between trump and pence. what went through pence's mind, this ultra—loyal figure who recognised he to make the split when he refused to do trump's bidding in terms of stopping the biden transition. but it seems to me that the disowning of trump

at that level and the scale of what went on, that absurd but dangerous rally, is a moment where trump becomes more discredited. now i know that means he will still have ardent followers but i suspect he will not be a big figure in the republican candidacy — selection of the candidacy — for the next presidential election. he would be a figure on talk shows and phone—ins and give interviews. because of the scale of what went on and the fracturing of the party his influence will be always limited and very influential in the republican party. i think it might be better to let him disappear a defeated figure, rather than have the drama of impeachment.

i fully accept that the reading of what might happen next could be wholly wrong and stephanie might be right. things are on edge at the moment but that is what my view of what should happen is. absolutely and whether he will retain his position on a social media platform. james, looking at it here partly through the eyes of the foreign office and government, borisjohnson and theresa may reached out to trump and there's been a swift turn in the last few days, hasn't there? yeah, a colleague of mine tweeted in the past few says that that the road damascus has got some pretty heavy traffic at the moment. british politicians knew all along that there were certain cautionary notes to be struck here. they thought form of use of president trump were perhaps tempered by the reality and there are certain cautionary notes to be struck. i think, as the previous two, stephanie and steve have said, there is a division between what is happening immediately now, but also

a long—term prism that we must view the current events through — both in terms of the choices the republican party has to make in supporting trump in the future, how biden views this in terms of is a moment to take on trumpism or healing or whether they can heal fractures in american society. the same way, the uk and other allies have to work out what their relationship is with this thing called the the united states now. how has it changed over the last four years? this will linger long after the departure of donald trump. in terms of its attitude to the world and its view of democracy. the uk's view is it to bea democracy. the uk's view is it to be a supporter of democracy around the world and talking about forming a new alliance with a so—called d10 democracies in the world. how does it make this argument when it's one —— when one of its

biggest allies has caused such a period of chaotic democracy in the past week to cause lots of countries around the world to say hang on, is this what we want? so this is a difficult job for the british government, not just for conservatives trying to roebuck it's thoughts and saying borisjohnson and trump are similar because they like causing trouble and being different, maverick politicians. that is the easier bit. but the hard bit is where does this fit in? when the us is in an uncertain player in the field and we are about to see this biden presidency? stephanie, can biden heal this big divide? if trump is taken off stage, will this rallying call die down? just last night, twitter finally banned trump and his campaign handle as well — his campaign account. i mean, that will have huge

ramifications for trump. he will probably move onto another a right—wing site to rally the troops. but i think biden is facing an incredibly difficult situation. he's got a very slim majority in the senate, which makes it very hard for him to advance his agenda on a number of issues because of the senate filibuster. though at least he does have the senate, which was the whole point of wednesday, wasn't it, really? and that message kind of got drowned out because of what happened. exactly. and it is incredibly important that they have won the senate. however, the republican party remains deeply split between the moderate wing, which embraces decency and democratic principles and the maga far right supporters

and qanon conspiracy theorists who are following trump and who rank in the millions. so the republicans are captured by this trump base. and almost half of the republican party supported the violent insurrection against the capitol, which is astonishing. and so, this is — for biden to get his agenda passed on many things, even though they have this slim majority, they will need — unless it can get rid of the senate filibuster which requires 60 votes, he will need republicans on his side. and how will the republicans respond, given the splits within the party and given all of the events this week? hopefully, there will be some bipartisan consensus on figuring out what went wrong here but, you know trump remains, you know — with control over the republican party, just evidenced by the republican national committee meeting

this week with many of the members endorsing him and the republican party leader was re—elected and she is a close ally of trump. so how do they manage this? do they turn their backs on trump? they have every reason to do so since they lost the house in 2018 and now they have lost the senate and now the white house. so do they change tact, and can they? you follow the british left very closely, steve. there are always ties between the democratic party in the us and the british left. what is the optimism from people you speak to thatjoe biden can heal people across the us and that trump become a marginalised figure or will the republicans really combust now and who leads the right in the us? i think this is being analysed across the political spectrum in the united kingdom because of the perhaps exaggerated importance of this special relationship. an exaggerated sense

of importance which i think it an exaggerated sense of importance which i think raises many interesting questions in light of what is happening at the moment. as james pointed out. the answer is, i suggest at the end of my previous bit of analysis, people do not know. what this portends, for sure. there is optimism about biden. because, he is, i mean, just watching his reactions, the speeches he has made every now and again since wednesday, you are dealing with someone so different from trump. that there is bound to be an optimism that the united states will begin to engage again with the european union, with the uk, albeit his wariness ofjohnson is a factor i think in all of this. so, yeah, there is — in terms of the republicans, it's going to be fascinating.

wilders have been, as i suggested it might have been, a cathartic moment, we are even republicans on the right who have worked with donald trump, who have tried to hail trump, have turned away in recent days. will this mean the republican party, which has had an identity crisis for a long time, before trump, will it become, to use that terrible term, an excuse or trigger for modernising the republican party? will it split? will be a trumpian right, as there was with the so—called tea party? these are questions being asked but i think the biden presidency is obviously a moment of relief. as biden himself said yesterday, if this was six months to go of the trump presidency, the scale of the crisis would be huge.

but it's not, so in that sense there's an optimism. what are you picking up for the next few days lots of different views of whether trump has the power to control nuclear activity, military action? the concern is not about some unilateral decision from nowhere on the military front, but a crisis that emerges. there is some clash in the gulf, some issue with iran, that some kind of military action is required from the white house and that escalates due to the political uncertainty in washington. that is a concern, i think. and you are slightly concerned about that as well. when there is a power vacuum in the us, will other nations take advantage of the next few days?

that is a real concern. it does appear that perhaps the threat of invoking the 25th ammendment and impeachment might force trump to toe the line and the threat of criminal prosecution over inciting this mob attack might temper him and prevent him from lighting another match. that is unclear to me. but the fact that there is a power vacuum in washington, it's an extraordinarily risky situation if anything else happens around the world or adversaries try to take advantage of that. i do think in the immediate term, trump will pursue pardons for his family, possibly for himself. i have thought for over a year now that the endgame would be that trump would resign and pence would become vice president at the very end and pardon him. that still could happen because he is facing so many legal threats.

the next 11 days will be fascinating. absolutely. from america, a nation that left british rule to become an independent democracy two centuries ago to a nation that became an independent democracy two decades ago, hong kong. the difference, of course, is hong kong's relationship with china which has regularly acted as if it were reneging on its pledge to respect democracy there. this week democracy campaigners were rounded up by the authorities and arbitrarily detained. britain and america have condemned the move but china's influence means perhaps global reaction has been more muted. so do commitments to democracy come with a price tag attached, james? i think what we saw in hong kong was extraordinary this week.

thus far the new national security law has been used sparingly. only about 30 people have actually been detained. what we saw this week was 1000 police officers raiding 76 premises, arresting 53 people, and many of them and notjust the usual suspects, their lecturers, people who were involved in organising democratic ballots. they are all involved with a process of choosing candidates for potential future elections. it was a massive event. what we saw this week was that sheer scale of the determination of the chinese and hong kong authorities to use this new law. the british government and us government were very fast to condemn, particularly british foreign secretary, saying this shows the world was misled by the chinese. they said these laws were there to detain serious threats to the chinese and hong kong state, criminals.

what you have seen, in the words of dominic grappa, ——in the words of dominic raab, it is been used to crush dissent. as a result, it is not a surprise. this has been foretold, this is what would happen. this has been a cranking up. to answer the question, there was an almost echoing silence across many european capitals when this came in because it came in immediately after the eu and the chinese had signed a big investment deal that had been a long time coming. it was widely seen in diplomatic circles that the chinese timed this crackdown to come after the deal.

about how they will work with systems that threaten democracy. and the situation in china will change due to what is happening in the us and that could change what happens in the uk too. but the chinese econonic might is vast and growing. you asked if democracy comes at a price or is it negotiable and i think it always has been and always will be. the pandemic and the economic hit that western democracies are taking now and will continue to take over the coming months, will make things more potent. the eu assigned this big investment deal with china. in the context of the economic collapse of those countries, they must have signed it with a degree of relief, whilst knowing the contentious nature of the relationship they were forming.

now, johnson, who began challenging trump over hawaii, he was keen on getting that hawaii deal into the uk and had to succumb to resistance from his backbenchers. i think it is something that the uk are now citing as a common bond with biden in their resolution to address some of the issues about hong kong and china. but the economic might of china in the context of declining economies around the west, i think will be the enduring dynamic. can i ask you very briefly, stephanie, your quick take on the contrast between hong kong and washington this week because it's been stark, in a way. it has. it really looks like beijing is trying to take advantage of the lack of us leadership and the political power vacuum in washington.

biden will probably follow a similar tough stance on china like trump did but with a less rough and tumble approach. i think we will try to focus on trying to build alliances to take on china on things like human rights abuses. it will be very difficult. the us no longer has that moral authority to lecture other countries on democracy due to events this week. i think that will take years to recover. it may not ever recover that again. finally, i want all our guests to give us something uplifting of the main agenda today. did you find anything, steve? took me ages. then i found it was brexit. it is still around. the christmas eve trade deal is still provisional. and for those of us who get masochistic enjoyment out of those twists and turns, the good news is, there will be twists and turns for years to come.

something to look forward to in this bleak weekend. yes, indeed. stephanie, did you find anything? what was overlooked this week was the senate runoffs in georgia. 75,000 people were registered to vote after the presidential election. this is an amazing turnout, showing that democracy is alive and well. more than half of those who registered to vote where african americans. many of whom were turned away in november because they had been purged from voter rolls. democracy is definitely not dead. if anythin, the trump era has sparked this incredible civic engagement. one other thing i want to say which is super positive, everyone is worried about the vaccine is not there were studies this week

that showed that the pfizer vaccine does appear to work against the new strain of the virus. that's very good news. small reshuffle this week. in the uk cabinet. we now have one person in charge of the environmental summit later this year. that will be seen by many diplomats as a good thing. the uk hopes this will give us some diplomatic leverage in the next few months. thank you all so much for your time this week in another big week. the news agenda doesn't really stop. for me and my family, our lockdown has been ameliorated a little bit

by watching the west wing, a softer, warmer, less dramatic version of american politics than what we have seen the few days. that's it for dateline london for this week. shaun ley is back next week at the same time. goodbye for now. hello again. saturday was another cold day, but it's the last of a run of cold days really. it is to be turning milder over the next few. there were some places across east anglia, cambridgeshire area where the fog lingered all day. temperatures didn't get above freezing. but where the sunshine came out, we had temperatures about 3—4 degrees, but either way, it was on the cold side for many of us. however, looking at the temperatures into sunday,

it is going to be quite a bit milder, with our temperatures much closer to average for the time of year. now, right now, partly due to this change to milder weather, we've got this weather front just sinking southwards from scotland, bringing some rain here across into the far north of england, too. fog patches across east anglia, southern counties of england. and where the skies clear behind that weather front, again it's going to be cold with some frost. notjust frost, there's an ice risk as well, in particular for eastern scotland, maybe the far north east of england as well. so a cold start here. fog further south—east, east anglia, southern counties of england. again could lingerfor a good part of the morning, but probably a better chance of clearing, really, as we head into the afternoon. some sunshine here. thickest cloud across north—western areas. some persistent rain for western scotland. damp weather at times for the north west of england and wales. the only real cold air is across the northern isles in shetland. two degrees in lerwick. there's likely to be some snow showers here and some accumulations of snow as well. now for monday, that milder air

gets even milder as we start to get these south—westerly winds blowing a bit more strongly across the uk. they will, though, be bringing some more persistent outbreaks of rain. combined with snow melt, well, there's a risk of some localised flooding across western scotland. but for the north of scotland, we've still got some cold air feeding in, so we may well still see some snow across the northern isles and perhaps across the hills of northern scotland as well. but otherwise it's mild, temperatures 7—9 degrees celsius. now, beyond that, as we head into tuesday, we get rid of these weather fronts. they move southwards, and we allow some cooler northerly winds to flow in again. cold, frosty, but sunny to start the day for many of us. there will, though, be a few wintry showers coming down the north sea coasts, and always a bit more in the way of cloud further west. temperatures, well, coming down a little bit across northern areas. 4—6 degrees celsius, but still maybe 9—10 in the cloudier south—west of the uk. beyond that, well, we've got a spell of rain that's going to come through on wednesday, and then after that clears, a lot of dry weather, really, with temperatures for some staying a little above average. that's your latest weather. bye for now.

welcome to bbc news, i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the indonesian navy says it's found the location where a boeing 737 passenger plane plummeted into the sea shortly after take—off with 62 people on board. just days before it hands over power, the trump administration is lifting long—standing restrictions governing the us relationship with taiwan. us prosecutors say they've made more than 80 arrests following wednesday's riots at the us capitol. one of those detained was a man whose image was circulated widely on social media. at least four people have died as spain is hit with its heaviest snowfall for 50 years.