this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. concern about brazil's new coronavirus variant prompts the uk to impose a ban on travellers arriving from south america and portugal. heartbreaking decisions for doctors treating coronavirus patients in california's overwhelmed hospitals — choosing who should receive scarce oxygen supplies. one in five people tested are testing positive. that is four times the number doing so just two testing positive. that is four times the number doing sojust two months ago. public health officials are warning that he could get worse still. when hospitals already overflowing. doctors in the uk warn the virus is having a catastrophic impact on waiting lists for other conditions. and from heatwaves to wildfires, scientists from around the world agree the last decade

was the warmest on record. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. a ban on travellers coming to the uk from south america and portugal will come into force in a few hours from now, because of concerns about a new variant of coronavirus that's been discovered in brazil. with more than 200,000 dead, brazil has the second highest death toll from the virus in the world, after the united states, but it's not in lockdown. brazil's health minister has warned that hospitals are close to collapse in one of the main cities, manaus. katy watson reports. manaus, say experts, is a city on the point of collapse. these images were filmed by members

of the public and doctors, and given to us by the doctors union. evidence, they say, of the struggles manaus is going through. hospitals with patients lying next to a body bag. others lying on the floor, waiting for treatment. a curfew has now been declared across the state and there are reports that oxygen is also running out. at the same time, scientists are working around the clock to understand the new variant. some of those mutations in the spike protein are quite similar to those found in uk and also in africa. we do not believe these variants came from england or uk, and in africa. it seems that this variant is evolving separately but showing the same mutations. tests will take time to understand the new variant, but experts say that vaccines can always be altered to respond

to changes in the virus. but it's a virus that seems to have been forgotten here — its peak summer, the beaches are packed and people are dropping their guard. "everyone�*s relaxed. "nobody cares about it any more," this woman tells me, "so i'm going with the flow. "of course i'm scared," this coconut seller says, "but we have "to continue working. "if we don't work, we don't eat." the traffic is back and so are the commuters. that's been the message from president bolsonaro all along, that brazil can't and shouldn't stop. a message that many people seem to have taken onboard. but in the past few weeks, scientists have been warning of the grave implications if nothing is done, with some even calling for a uk—style lockdown. the committee in the united kingdom was able to pressure the prime minister enough so that he would accept lockdown. here we have to basically pressure not the government, because the government is not

going to relinquish, i don't believe they are going to accept science because they have never in this ten months. with president bolsonaro still playing down the virus, and sowing unfounded doubts about the safety of vaccines, lockdown doesn't seem likely yet. katie watson, bbc news, in sao paulo. latest figures from the us suggest that more than 200,000 new cases were confirmed in just 2a hours. the death rate is running at nearly 4,000 a day, a staggering number. in california, the coronavirus catastrophe has become a huge strain on the health care system. sophie long reports. the pressure on los angeles�* healthcare system has reached a new, dangerous and desperate levels. ambulance teams have been told not to take those unlikely to make it to hospital.

and doctors must decide who should receive the shrinking supplies of oxygen. heartbreaking choices for medical workers and for the families of the hundreds dying here every day. nurse bernie duran is both. covid claimed his father leo's life just after christmas. the hardest thing, seeing my father on facetime, that was really difficult. you see it on the news all the time, but when it happens to you, and you see the loved one that you can't help, you can't hold their hand, and just so that you know that you're there for them, that was very, very difficult. the risk of contracting the coronavirus here in los angeles has never been greater than it is now. one in five people tested are testing positive, that is four times the number doing so just two months ago.

and public health officials are warning that it could get worse still, when hospitals are already overflowing. people have been ordered to stay at home to stop that from happening. but more than 66,000 people in los angeles don't have a home. their lives are already a constant battle for survival. now, they must confront covid, too. this new, semipermanent structure was built to give shelter to more than 100 women. instead, it has become a makeshift covid ward. its intended occupants remain on the streets, where facemasks and sanitiser, protection from the pandemic, are luxuries few can afford. this is the most horrific battle we've ever been in in 130 years in our history. this is relentless, and every move we make, it gets overcome by covid, and then we have to make a new move. the national guard are now on the ground, here learning how to protect themselves as they assist medical workers, overwhelmed and exhausted by this

six—fold surge in admissions. but why is it happening, why here and why now? we've been too indecisive, we have too many what i call implementation bottlenecks, we know what we need to do but we can't get it out there. we're not creating solutions to very big problems. and so, i think all of that basically is and so, i think all of that basically is a confluence of badness, i call it, that is creating this surge that we're experiencing right now. disneyland and the la dodgers stadium are now being transformed into massive vaccination sites in the hope of stopping this super surge. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. injust over an hourfrom now, the us president elect is due to set out his plans to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, as infections continue to surge. he's expected to announce trillions of dollars of government spending. i'm joined now from boston by drjeremy faust. he's a physician in the emergency department of brigham and womens�* hospital in boston.

he's also editor of the emergency medicine podcast. get the emergency medicine podcast. of you to take ti| is get of you to take time out of what is i know a busy period for you. —— thank you to take time. what are you hoping to hearfrom president—elect joe biden? hoping to hear from president-elect joe biden? ~ ., ~' , , hoping to hear from president-elect joe biden? ~ . ~ , , joe biden? what i think everybody is lookin: for joe biden? what i think everybody is looking for is — joe biden? what i think everybody is looking for is a _ joe biden? what i think everybody is looking for is a portfolio _ joe biden? what i think everybody is looking for is a portfolio with - looking for is a portfolio with addresses that emergency situation we find ourselves in and a number of different ways. first of all you have to support the americans all across the country who have been financially hit by this. so a larger a package for the family so they don't have to make our decisions and dangerous decisions about whether or not they should keep their business up not they should keep their business up and running. —— aid package. or go to work in those situations. we want to see believe the dollars for testing also, so if really we have not performed to the highest level for testing and i truly believe from the beginning of this crisis that every dollar you spend on testing is actually saving you money downstream because it means you can actually

know where the problem is and open up know where the problem is and open up safely so we are looking for more than a $1 trillion to support both the effort on the scientific front and also vaccine roll—out, huge priority and coordination will be a big part of the message that i expect to hear tonight.- big part of the message that i expect to hear tonight. when it comes to the — expect to hear tonight. when it comes to the vaccine _ expect to hear tonight. when it comes to the vaccine roll-out l expect to hear tonight. when it i comes to the vaccine roll-out we comes to the vaccine roll—out we heard one person describe the implementation bottlenecks, what is your experience been of the fact you have been delays and a lack of supply when it comes to vaccinating americans? ~ ., supply when it comes to vaccinating americans?— supply when it comes to vaccinating americans? ~ . ., . ., americans? what we have encountered so far hasjust — americans? what we have encountered so far hasjust the _ americans? what we have encountered so far hasjust the been _ americans? what we have encountered so far hasjust the been the _ so far has just the been the beginning. we vaccinated around ten beginning. we vaccinated around ten begin people in the first way. we'll have to do 200 million people. that is a large difference. —— 10 million people. it will have to expand way outside the hospital and health care settings where most of this has been happening. we are talking about reaching hard—to—reach communities including play going to the pharmacy but people like me and my colleague here in boston write a memo to the joe biden transition team and they

were very receptive about the idea of using things like fire and ems services because these are professionals who are out in the community. they can go door—to—door for the people who can't get to places like a pharmacy or even a stadium. we are looking for an all hands on deck approach and the scaling up will have to be decentralised but it will have to be very creative and diverse. imilieu decentralised but it will have to be very creative and diverse. when we see the grim _ very creative and diverse. when we see the grim milestones _ very creative and diverse. when we see the grim milestones of - very creative and diverse. when we see the grim milestones of the - see the grim milestones of the deaths of the daily death toll, what can we expect from joe biden in terms of new rules? he spoke about 100 days of wearing a mask for his first 100 days. what else can we expect? i first 100 days. what else can we exect? ~ . , , expect? i think leadership will matter a lot. _ expect? i think leadership will matter a lot. one _ expect? i think leadership will matter a lot. one of _ expect? i think leadership will matter a lot. one of the - expect? i think leadership will| matter a lot. one of the things expect? i think leadership will- matter a lot. one of the things that has been so difficult this whole crisis is that we've had mixed messages from our leaders in various levels of government. now you will have the united states cdc being led by a very respected scientist and physician, my friend and colleague.

michelle will get out there and every day say the consistent message that we all need to hear, no matter how painful it is too many times referred this summer will, this will go away or some new thing will make this all go away. people like doctor galinsky and other people i expect you tell us the truth and say this is where we are at and we need to ban together to confront the reality, denying the reality doesn't really help anybody and i think this new administration will be willing to say the things that we have to hear even if it is uncomfortable. we will hear what president—elect albright have to say and in our time. thank you for your time, doctor. —— president—electjoe biden. after repeated delays, the scientists investigating the origins of the coronavirus have finally landed in the city of wuhan, where the virus was first detected more than a year ago. two members of the world health organisation mission contracted covid on the way there and had

to stay in singapore. the rest of the group will spend two—weeks in quarantine in a hotel. our correspondent robin brant says there've been months of neogiations, raising suspicions that china may not be fully co—operating. the chinese authorities have resisted because they don't think this is necessary, china doesn't want to look back and focus on mistakes made, it wants to look forward as what it sees as success in containing this virus. it sees the potential for more of a blame game led by a group of foreigners and the chinese government has its official verdict on what happened, that paper was published in the middle of last year and the verdict there was success in winning the war against this virus. nonetheless, there has been intense global pressure of course, to address where this virus came from, and to answer that question about how it got into the human chain, because to make sure that there won't be a further fire, so to speak, going forward. so the team are here, they are going to be heavily reliant

on their chinese hosts for access to public places like that market, a couple of miles over the river there in wuhan where we saw the first significant cluster, heavily reliant on chinese counterparts for access to research that has been carried out over the last year, the man leading the investigation says he comes here with an open mind, no theories are off the table but at the same time we have a well established propaganda up and running, questioning whether the whole thing began in wuhan, that is designed to undermine the very reason that the team are here in the first place. here in the uk, as more than 1200 deaths were reported in the past 2a hours, doctors from the royal college of surgeons say covid is having a calamitous impact on the nhs. a record number of patients, nearly four and a half million, are on waiting lists for non covid surgery such as hip replacement.

but some cancer patients are also now having to wait. here's our health editor hugh pym. the consequences of coronavirus are becoming clearer. queen elizabeth hospital in birmingham temporarily halted its kidney transplantation programme because of the surge in covid patient numbers. other hospitals are also postponing non—covid work. paul and his wife diane are both living with cancer. her treatment is going well, but he needs specialist radiation therapy for a rare tumour in his chest. i used to run a lot, but now i get out of breath just going up the stairs. he was set to have it last week, but was told because of covid pressure at the hospital it had been cancelled. i was devastated. i couldn't speak for ten seconds when they told me on the phone. you know, it's notjust devastating for me, it's my family and friends. they've been rooting for me for the last 12 months. i've got this tumour and i've had it for at least 12 months.

it's frightening, it's frightening. cancer charities say that sort of cancellation isn't happening yet at most hospitals, but they're worried it could do. there was a huge effort made to restore cancer services to pre—pandemic levels. massive effort's gone into that. but we are concerned now, in this lockdown, that there's going to be increased pressure on services and we fear more treatments will be cancelled. for routine hospital treatments such as hip and knee replacements, in england in november more than 192,000 were waiting. to give a sense of scale, that's about three times the capacity of london stadium, home of west ham and where the olympics were staged. by contrast, in february, just before the pandemic, the figure was only about 1,600. that's below the capacity of non—league margate football club's stadium.

nhs england said that unlike the first wave millions of people were being treated in hospitals for non—covid health problems. government sources said waiting lists were still a lot lower than some earlier predictions. but there's no doubting the covid pressure on the front line, including here, at york hospital. i'm worried that we're getting very close to the kind of scenarios that we're already seeing down in london, where hospitals have breached their capacity even for the surgical capacity for covid. the hope is that widespread vaccination will reduce patient in hospitals and from today, jabs are being delivered in some pharmacies in england, adding to gp hubs and other sites. so, how has the vaccine roll—out in england been going? up until last sunday, around 46% of the 80 and over age group in the north—east and yorkshire had had theirfirst dose. in the north—west, it was 38%. in other regions, a little bit below that.

in the north—west, it was 38%. in other regions, a little bit below that. in london, it was closer to 30%. and in the east of england, it was a bit lower than that. as a percentage of the whole population, northern ireland is ahead of the rest of the uk, with more than 5% having jabs. wales has the lowest so far at about 3.5%. but these are early days. hugh pym, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: tight security in washington as the us prepares forjoe biden�*s inauguration next week. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry and one of its biggest.

but the industry is nervous of this report, and how it may tend to that stop people smoking cigarettes. there is not in industry that is unaffected. demolished buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no advice from the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. i tens of thousands of black childrenl in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new new multiracial— government and enrolled l at formerly white schools. it's the 9610th performance of her long—running play. after hearing of her death, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would've been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. concern about brazil's new coronavirus variant prompts the uk to impose a ban on travellers arriving from south america and portugal. doctors in the uk have warned

the virus is having a catastrophic impact on waiting lists for other conditions. security concerns are growing ahead of next week's inaguration ceremony for incoming us presidentjoe biden. the fbi is warning that militia groups may stage protests in all 50 us capitals. airlines are planning to stop passengers checking—in weapons. delta and alaska airlines have banned firearms on flights to washington. the bbc�*s david willis joins us from la. security also being ground up across the whole of the country. that security also being ground up across the whole of the country.— the whole of the country. that is riuht. in the whole of the country. that is right- in the _ the whole of the country. that is right. in the words _ the whole of the country. that is right. in the words of— the whole of the country. that is right. in the words of one - right. in the words of one commentator, the capitol complex resembles the green zone in baghdad. it is a shrouded in a seven foot high fence, metal detectors have been brought in and security personnel are everywhere. we learn today that the national mall,

traditionally the key vantage point for visitors to dc hoping to observe the inauguration proceedings will actually be close on the day of the inauguration itself. by then, 21,000 armed national guard officers are expected to be on duty in washington, dc. there will be more troops on the ground we are told in the us currently has in iraq and afghanistan combined. staggering when ou afghanistan combined. staggering when you out _ afghanistan combined. staggering when you out it — afghanistan combined. staggering when you put it like _ afghanistan combined. staggering when you put it like that. - afghanistan combined. staggering when you put it like that. in - afghanistan combined. staggering when you put it like that. in termsj when you put it like that. in terms of the warnings that authorities are getting. we're also thinking back to what happened with the building but what happened with the building but what are authorities afraid of? the concern is arm _ what are authorities afraid of? tue: concern is arm protest what are authorities afraid of? tte: concern is arm protest not what are authorities afraid of? tt2 concern is arm protest notjust as you mention in washington, dc, the nation's capital, but also in state capitals across the country and indeed it this morning the fbi director christopher rady reiterated his concern about agents picking up what he called concerning unaligned

chatter and the fear is that last week's terrible a model of violence in washington, dc rather than deterring people from going to the capital next week may actually have emboldened some to attempt to do so and to cause similar damage. thank ou for and to cause similar damage. thank you for keeping _ and to cause similar damage. thank you for keeping us _ and to cause similar damage. thank you for keeping us up-to-date. - scientists from five key agencies around the world — have confirmed that 2020 was one of the hottest years ever and brought to an end the warmest decade yet recorded. here's our science editor david shukman. a desperate rescue in indonesia after torrential rain triggered landslides earlier this week. scientists say even heavier downpours are likely in future as the world gets warmer. wow! in some countries hotter, drier conditions are on the cards. the wildfires that struck

in australia last year are nothing new in themselves, but the more human activity releases the gases heating the atmosphere, the greater the risks of more violent conditions. and although the pandemic lockdowns have reduced traffic, they haven't made much difference to the carbon dioxide that keeps being added to the air. year on year, we're increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and notwithstanding the pandemic we still increased the carbon dioxide levels by over two parts per million last year. as long as that continues to happen, we are putting our foot on the accelerator of climate warming. over the past 170 years, the average global temperature has been monitored by teams in britain, america and other countries, and although it has varied year by year, the recent trend has been really dramatic as the planet has heated up. the result, the most recent decade was the hottest on record, and we're also getting closer

to an increase of 1.5 degrees — an internationally agreed limit that scientists say would be dangerous to cross. the risk is more extremes the world over. this village in the vale of glamorgan was flooded over christmas after the heaviest rainfall there for 70 years. and, as temperatures rise, heatwaves will become more common, like the one in the uk last summer. the met office says the latest records are part of a pattern. 2020, we are seeing temperatures that are, yet again, giving us one of the warmest years on record, despite some factors such as conditions in the tropical pacific that in 2020 would have normally suppressed temperatures. so, will anything be done? well, joe biden has promised that america will lead a big push to tackle climate change, and china, for the first time, has committed to going carbon neutral.

negotiations are due in glasgow later this year. there's a lot at stake. david shukman, bbc news. and parliamentary elections — with logistical hiccups delaying voting in some areas. the incumbent — president museveni — is one of africa's longest serving leaders — he's hoping to extend his 35 years in office. but there's a challenge from — 38—year—old pop star — known by his stage name bobi wine —— who says he represents the country's younger generation. the internet has been mostly shut down and there's tight security in kampala. catherine baru—hanga has been taking a closer look at the process. i'v e i've been to some stations in the capital of the day and although people did come and start queuing up before the polls open at seven a:m., the electoral commission, took them ages to put out the voting materials in some cases for the ballot boxes

to be delivered. and in some cases, you had polling beginning every three to four hours after it was meant to begin. but generally the day has gone about peacefully and most people are able to cast their votes and if there is a delay, there should be allowed to continue voting even beyond the close of polling. one of the other issues has been at the photo identification by metric system. this is a small box where people place their finger and their identity is confirmed. in some places it is been working ok and others that has not. this could be because of the internet shutdown that we have seen in the country today. according to the constitution, the commission has 48 hours to release results and that will be difficult with an internet shutdown and the current pandemic but the officials say they are keen to make sure while they do have two meet this deadline. a lot more on our website. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @bbckasiamadera hello. the rain and snow that fell across many parts of the uk during thursday has been petering out. temperatures have been dropping away. surfaces are really wet out there. so with those wet surfaces and cold conditions ice could be a big problem on friday morning. fog patches as well. here is the frontal system that bring the rain and snow during thursday. but it has been squeezed out by high pressure. the winds have been falling light. that's allowed temperatures to drop. we've got fog patches out there, quite widely scattered actually across the country. and some ice especially for scotland, northern england, the midlands into east anglia and the southeast with snow. if you do have to make an essentialjourney could be some pretty poor traveling conditions. through the day most spots will see some sunshine. it is a drier day overall.

odd shower for shetland and a few places across scotland, north east england, the midlands will hold onto fog all day long. if that happens you'll be pegged back to just one o 2 degrees. pegged back tojust one or 2 degrees. even in sunshine it will be a chilly feeling day. and during friday night, into saturday rain will push in from the west. i say rain because it bumps into cold air we could still see a spell of snow. especially of the high ground in scotland in northern england. but even to lower levels they could temporarily be a spell of sleet or snow. even as far south as east anglia and the southeast through the first part of saturday morning. as this frontal system works its way eastward. we will see some milder air working its way and any snow will be quite a transient feature. certainly at low levels. it will turn back to rain. even the rain will tend to clear away through the day just a scattering of showers behind. those temperatures climb in particular and western areas. 9 degrees in liverpool, belfast, ten in cardiff and in plymouth. as we head out of saturday

into sunday that frontal system moves away. high pressure tries to build in towards the south. that's where we'll see the driest weather on sunday. lower pressure to the north so here we have a greater chance of seeing showers rain, maybe some hills so across parts of northern ireland. particularly scotland. further south for england and wales, we'll see largely fine conditions. cloud and sunny spells and temperatures for the most part tween six and 9 degrees. into next week things look pretty changeable. there'll be rain at times but not all the time. it will turn a bit milderfor a while. but how long that will last? we will have to wait and see.

this is bbc world news,

the headlines concern about brazil's new coronavirus variant has prompted the uk to impose a ban on travellers arriving from south america and portugal. the health system in the brazilian city of manaus is said to be close to collapse. doctors in the uk are warning that the virus is having a catastrophic impact on the health service. almost four—and—a—half million patients are on waiting lists for non—covid treatment including for cancer. president—electjoe biden is set to unveil an economic stimulus package designed to jump—start the us economy during the coronavirus pandemic. it's reported to have a price tag of 1—point—9 trillion dollars. scientists from around the world have confirmed that the last decade was the warmest on record. un chief antonio guterres says the planet is on course for a catastrophic rise in temperatures this century.