this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. germany's christian democrats have elected armin laschet as their new leader — a key moment in the race to succeed angela merkel as chancellor. a sanitation worker becomes the first person in india to receive a covid vaccine — as the country begins to vaccinate more than 1.3 billion people. president—electjoe biden sets out plans to speed up immunisations in the united states — promising to vaccinate 100 million people within his first 100 days in office. our plan is as clear as it is bold — get more people vaccinated for free. calls for more support for the uk's travel and tourism sector —

after the government imposes tougher restrictions on arrivals to keep out new strains of coronavirus. senior police officers in the uk says their investigations have been compromised — after hundreds of thousands of arrest records were deleted from the police national computer. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. in the last few minutes, germany's christian democrats have announced who's won the race to succeed angela merkel as party leader. he's armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. it places him in pole position to become germany next chancellor. angela merkel who's led

germany for 16 years, has said she plans to stand down this year. jenny hill is in berlin. much surprise at armin laschet�*s success? much surprise at armin laschet's success? ., ., _ much surprise at armin laschet's success? ., ., , success? hard to say. most people thou~ht it success? hard to say. most people thought it would _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as it _ success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as it was, - success? hard to say. most people thought it would be as it was, a - thought it would be as it was, a run—off between armin laschet and friedrich, who had come back into politics after a good decade away having been sidelined by angela merkel some time ago within the party. armin laschet is a popular choice. he is a popular chap. he leads germany's most populous state. he made much of the fact that of the three candidates he is the only one who is in government right now. he talked a lot about the day—to—day experience he has in dealing with all of the challenges all the three candidates were talking about. the

question now is whether the party will put him forward as their chancellor candidate in september. we will have to wait and see because they won't make a final decision on that person what about his politics? he was one of the most outspoken supporters of angela merkel when she came under such pressure. not least from some within the broader conservative family about her decision to allow many people to come into germany in that big wave of immigration into the country, particularly from countries like syria, in the middle of the decade. will that potentially cost him support in the federal elections? interesting question. he is known to be liberal. he is known, as you say, to have supported angela merkel during the refugee crisis back in 2015. he is also well known for, actually, his connections to

immigrant communities over many years, in fact. immigrant communities over many years, infact. his immigrant communities over many years, in fact. his supporters see that as a real advantage because many people say if the cdu is to move forward as a so—called people's party it is going to have to start really reaching out to more women, and also to more people with an immigrant background. many would say it's an advantage when it comes to the september election we will have to wait and see whether he is the candidate. there are two other politicians here who are also generally considered to be in the running. it's really hard to say what will happen. germany's health minister has enjoyed a high profile thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. he is supporting armin laschet in his bid for the leadership but he is well known to harbour ambitions for the position himself. he's handled things so far, so there is a big chance that he, jens spahn, will go

for it. and also the leader of the bavarian sister party, and if you look at opinion polls he is emerging as the public favourite to become the next german chancellor. it is very theoretical. we don't know if that will translate into votes. the party will have to make these decisions. armin laschet has won the leadership race. it's now the start of the battle for the next chancellor. he may not have won the war himself. it chancellor. he may not have won the war himself-— war himself. it is going to be quite a ear war himself. it is going to be quite a year with — war himself. it is going to be quite a year with those _ war himself. it is going to be quite a year with those elections - war himself. it is going to be quite a year with those elections coming up. for now, thank you very much. one of the world's biggest coronavirus vaccination campaigns hasjust begun in india. addressing a video conference earlier, prime minister narendra modi said such an ambitious project had never before been attempted. the huge inoculation programme aims to reach three hundred million people by august. 0ur correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports from a vaccination centre in delhi. it's a huge, logistical operation

rolling out this vaccine in this country of different terrains. i met one of over 3000 centres which has been set up. here and at the other centres they are hoping to vaccinate around 100 people a day. if you did the maths on that, that means today alone, if everything goes to plan, more than 300,000 indians could receive a coronavirus vaccine. health workers and front line workers are the top priority. then the priority goes to the over—50s and people with underlying health conditions. they have two vaccines. the oxford astrazeneca one is being manufactured here in the country. the second is an indian developed vaccine. there had been concerned about that one being rolled out

because it was approved for use before it was cleared for efficacy trials. that means officials still don't know how effective that particular vaccine is. that caused concern among health experts. but the government says it is a safe vaccine and it'll be administered under very safe supervision. these people are leaving now. everyone at this particular centre who has had a coronavirus vaccine is being given a red rose. this hospital here in delhi has treated thousands of covid patients since the start of the pandemic. here there is definitely a mood of optimism and hope now that india has begun rolling out the vaccine. the us president—electjoe biden has set out ambitious plans to vaccinate 100 million americans within his first 100 days in office. he made the pledge as his health chiefs warned that the covid variant first detected in the uk

could become the dominant strain in the us by march. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes sent this report. in a city where officials believe one in three of its population has been infected with covid—19 since the start of the pandemic, there's a sense of urgency. hospitals in los angeles are overwhelmed. here, someone is dying from the virus every eight minutes. it's rough to see people who are really sick and we have to tell them that there's not much we can do. we can take you to the hospital to sit on these gurneys, it is not comfy. the race is on to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. this is the car park at dodgers stadium — the baseball venue in los angeles that's been transformed into the largest vaccination site in america. by the middle of next week, officials say at least 12,000 people a day will receive the covid jab here. but it isn't enough.

we've got to increase the pace in distribution in the administration of these vaccines. the reality is we need to get these vaccines out of the freezer and we need to get them into people's arms. this is a scene that's playing out across the country, around the world, but america's so—called 0peration warp speed as failed to live up to its name, at least as far as distribution of the vaccine is concerned. joe biden says when he takes over from donald trump on wednesday, he'll launch an ambitious plan to roll it out fast. he said efforts so far had been a dismalfailure. our plan is as clear as it is bold, get more people vaccinated for free, create more places for them to get vaccinated. mobilise more medical teams to get the shots in people's arms. he's promising 100 million jabs in 100 days. 100 mass vaccination centres around the country, and mobile units to get into areas that are hard to reach. the president—elect also had a blunt

warning for americans — things, he said, would get worse before they get better. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. here in the uk, airports have warned that the uk's aviation sector urgently needs more government support if it is to survive another long period of coronavirus restrictions. from monday, all travel corridors to the uk will be closed to try to prevent the arrival of any new variants of covid. the change means anyone travelling to the uk will need proof of a negative covid test. they'll also need to isolate on arrival for at least five days. charlotte wright reports. another measure to tighten up travel. this week saw passengers from south america and portugal banned from flying into the uk to stop the spread of a new covid strain from brazil. but the government says it may be difficult to predict where new variants might come from and so further action is needed. to protect us against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains

we will also temporarily close all travel corridors from 01100 hours on monday. this latest announcement is not a travel ban. it introduces quarantine for passengers no matter where they have flown from in the world. it means from monday anyone travelling to the uk will have to show a negative covid test less than 72 hours before they depart. when they arrive, they must now self isolate for ten days, or pay for a covid test on the fifth day. if it is negative, they can leave quarantine early. the policy also applies to the eurostar and seaports, but not to those travelling within the uk or ireland or to some jobs, like hauliers. travel corridors were first introduced in the summer, allowing people to come to the uk from some countries with low covid rates without having to quarantine on arrival. described as a lifeline for the industry, they kept people going on holiday.

now many say they support the suspension so long as it can be lifted later in the year. we've had no revenue now for 12 months and people take a few months in the summer last year. if we're going to have an aviation sector coming out of this, we need to open up in the summer and we look forward to having conversations with the government about that, but for the here and now, we are absolutely clear that we will support the government. i think the government needs a longer term plan for the airline industry. they've been hit time and time again and they rightly have asked the support from the government. they were promised support months ago but the package hasn't been put into place. the government has said they have put in a comprehensive set of measures for the travel and tourism sector including extending the furlough scheme, business rates relief and tax deferrals. it says it is committed to bring the sector back to full strength as soon as it is safe to do so. charlotte wright, bbc news.

the aviation minister robert courts said the government is committed to support the travel industry despite the introduction of tighter restrictions. clearly this isn't a step any of us wants to take. i accept it is bad news for the aviation industry and travel industry. i have regular engagement with all sectors. regular conversations. as do officials in the department. we are keen to work with them, we always have, we will continue to do so. as soon as we are able we will look to open up travel again in a safe manner. it's always what we've done in the past. may emphasise that because of the incredible vaccine roll—out have, because we are now vaccinated over 3.2 million people, more than france, germany, italy, and spain put together, there is a real promise now as we look forward and it is that which offers help to the —— hope to the travel industry. it has allowed people to travel again as safely as possible. rolling out the way we are, there is a prospect of that in the not too distant

future. it's a year since the coronavirus first emerged. and a grim milestone has been reached. as it is now estimated that more than two million people have died with covid—19. that's according to figures compiled byjohns hopkins university. 0ne organisation which has been helping efforts around the world and in the uk is the red cross, with 5,000 volunteers expected to be involved in the coming months. eleanor hevey is head of humanitarian policy at the british red cross. she told me how her organisation has been trying to maximise its impact, to help people cope. it is only, i mean, it's a really colossal collective loss for the world today as we pass over two million deaths. and it's really important to remember that, you know, behind the figures are individual people and grieving families and impacted communities. and the red cross is at the forefront of the response to this virus across the world, through our network of over

13.7 million volunteers. and as you say, here in the uk as well, trying to reach affected communities with food, with cash, emotional support and being involved in the vaccine roll—out. and in particular in the uk that will mean presumably also helping to kind of perhaps not the right word, but backfill to help fill some of the gaps that are inevitably created by the extra demands on health workers. actually, even in the hospital situations. the red cross has a long history of partnering with the nhs and we're working in supporting over 100 hospitals at the moment. so everything from helping to free up beds and help people get home from hospital to providing emotional support and care and providing mobility aids and also, as you say, supporting directly with the vaccine roll—out itself. how do you support the volunteers? it might sound a peculiar question,

but they are kind of dealing with people who are emotionally fragile, if not physically fragile at this stage. absolutely. and all of us, you know, including our staff and volunteers, i think there are very few of us in the country who haven't been directly or indirectly impacted by this virus. so the psychosocial support and the emotional support to our volunteers and staff is absolutely critical as it is to all front line key workers and also to all of the affected communities that we support as well. and what about for the red cross? i mean, so many of these organisations depend on voluntary contributions. they depend on charitable help. they depend on individual legacies and so on. is this an issue for the charity sector and for your organisation? not so much now, but worrying about the the coming months and years ahead. there's an unprecedented level of support needed to meet the humanitarian need, both here in the uk and across the world. so we're encouraging people

to donate to the british red cross global coronavirus appeal and to get involved as volunteers. and we've seen overwhelming support from the british public in support of this crisis at home and around the world. the headlines on bbc news... germany's christian democrats have elected armin laschet as their new leader — a key moment in the race to succeed angela merkel as chancellor. a sanitation worker becomes the first person in india to receive a covid vaccine — as the country begins to vaccinate more than 1.3 billion people. president—electjoe biden sets out plans to speed up immunisations in the united states — promising to vaccinate 100 million people within his first 100 days in office. scotland's covid restrictions are being tightened from today. takeaway food and drink outlets can

only serve customers via a hatch — and only shops selling essential items are allowed to offer click—and—collect. the changes are among six new rules announced by first minister nicola sturgeon earlier this week. earlier i spoke to our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie — i asked her how big a shift this is going to be, for people in scotland. it's not a massive shift, but it does come in the context of the number of cases remaining high. we had another 2000 orjust over 2000 new cases in scotland yesterday. and it seems to be sticking around that level despite the very tough restrictions, particularly on mainland scotland and on some of the islands which are all in lockdown. and those additional restrictions come on top of already being under lockdown. and these, as you mentioned, some of them there, there's click and collect, which has still been available. the restrictions there will be tightened, it's still available.

but the number of things that you can click and collect will be reduced. you can still have things like baby equipment or clothes, shoes, books, what was seen as essential homeware. so it's still possible to do that. but you won't be able to go and collect it just whenever you want. there will be a slot that you will have to stick to and that's to stop people congregating. another thing that's tightened up is your takeaway coffee. you won't be able to go in to the shop any more and you will get that through a hatch from today. police chiefs in the uk say that investigations have been compromised after thousands of fingerprint, dna and arrest records were accidentally deleted from the national computer. a letter sent by the national police chiefs council — and seen by bbc news — says the mistake might prevent officers from linking offenders to crime scenes. policing minister kit malthouse said officers are trying to recover the data. labour says the home secretary, priti patel will be responsible for criminals walking free .

this is extraordinarily serious. priti patel will be responsible for criminals walking free because we aren't going to be able to link suspects to crime scenes without the dna and without the fingerprint evidence. yesterday the home secretary was hiding, not giving explanation to the public, and she still hasn't done that. it's been a source of tension between britain and spain for centuries — but the border which separates gibraltarfrom the spanish mainland could be taken down this year as part of a post—brexit agreement. the deal — which will allow the free movement of people — is prompting some fears about the long—term future of the territory. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee reports. entering the rock of gibraltar, 15,000 workers from spain crossed the border here every day, show

their papers, and had to work. the fence, as they call it, is all they've ever known. after more than a century it is set to come down. it's better for us and everyone else here. , ,., ., , ., ., here. this border town is one of the oorest here. this border town is one of the poorest parts _ here. this border town is one of the poorest parts of _ here. this border town is one of the poorest parts of spain. _ here. this border town is one of the poorest parts of spain. a _ here. this border town is one of the poorest parts of spain. a third - here. this border town is one of the poorest parts of spain. a third of i poorest parts of spain. a third of people are unemployed. gibraltar relies on workers from here for catering and cleaning. for them the deal is a source of celebration. the uk and spain have agreed the border will go possibly within six months, but it first has to be made into a formal treaty with the eu. the single road that links both territories will be widened so people in cars can travel freely. and gibraltar will be linked to europe's passport free travel area. some infrastructure may remain. a few guards will stay on standby. instead, new arrivals will only be checkedif instead, new arrivals will only be checked if they enter by sea here at the port and by air. it'll mean for

the port and by air. it'll mean for the first time there will be gibraltar in guards and eu border guards checking passports one after the other. —— gibraltan guards. we the other. -- gibraltan guards. we will have the other. —— gibraltan guards. - will have primacy of control. these are two mega borders. ultimate control of our board in our hands. —— our border. we will never go to the other side. -- our border. we will never go to the other side.— the other side. spain's europe minister describes _ the other side. spain's europe minister describes the - the other side. spain's europe minister describes the czechs| the other side. spain's europel minister describes the czechs a different way. minister describes the czechs a different way-— minister describes the czechs a different wa . �* ., ., ., different way. both of them i would sa are different way. both of them i would say are equivalent. _ different way. both of them i would say are equivalent. -- _ different way. both of them i would say are equivalent. -- describes . different way. both of them i would | say are equivalent. -- describes the say are equivalent. —— describes the checks a different way. the uk is allowing gibraltar to participate in certain policies and programmes of the eu to which the uk is not participating. this is being possible because spain, as an eu

member state, wishes it to happen. both sides recognise that this is an experiment not without its risks. the hope is that with the border gone trust between the historically fractious neighbours can begin to grow. gavin lee, bbc news, gibraltar. more now on our lead story — that germany's christian democrats have announced who's won the race to succeed angela merkel as party leader. it is armin laschet, widely seen as the heir to mrs merkel�*s centrist brand of politics. professor andreas rodder is an historian atjohannes gutenberg university of mainz. hejoins me now. how important is this on the road map, as it were, to who will succeed angela merkel, who has dominated german politics for so long now? it is a crucial decision which has been taken today. the leader of the cdu is one of the strongest people to become chancellor candidate, and probably the success of angela

merkel as the chancellor in germany. if the new party chairman becomes... either the new chairman becomes chancellor or is just a party leader of the cdu, it will be a very centralfigure of german of the cdu, it will be a very central figure of german politics and a very important for german politics in the next decade. horse politics in the next decade. how im ortant politics in the next decade. how important is _ politics in the next decade. how important is key _ politics in the next decade. how important is key for _ politics in the next decade. how important is key for the christian democrats? they have paid a price for being in coalition among their supporters. they have come under huge criticism, not least from the right, overthe huge criticism, not least from the right, over the large—scale immigration, for example, which was a feature in the middle of the 20105. ~ ., ., , , ., ., 20105. what are the cdu standing for and what are — 20105. what are the cdu standing for and what are they _ 20105. what are the cdu standing for and what are they fighting _ 20105. what are the cdu standing for and what are they fighting for- 20105. what are the cdu standing for and what are they fighting for is - 20105. what are the cdu standing for and what are they fighting for is an i and what are they fighting for is an unresolved question for the people of germany. armin laschet's biggest rival would have been strong on this point. this isn't a strength of

armin laschet, his strength is the integration of the party. he will have to integrate particularly the liberal conservative wing of the party, and what he does in duffell dorff as prime minister, he does have a team around him. —— dusseldorf is prime minister. it is his task to integrate the party, including the liberal conservative wing. the question is, will he be able to manage this on a federal level or not? this is the great question for the cdu and for the development of this party. i question for the cdu and for the development of this party. i wish we could talk more. _ development of this party. i wish we could talk more. i _ development of this party. i wish we could talk more. i know— development of this party. i wish we could talk more. i know we - development of this party. i wish we could talk more. i know we will- could talk more. i know we will speak to you again about this over the coming months. those important elections are coming up in september. for now, thank you so much for being with us. mr; september. for now, thank you so much for being with us. my pleasure. thank you- — let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather

prospects. you are watching bbc news. now, look at the weather. hello. there was some early morning snow across eastern england but it is a changing weather story through the day. across norfolk we have seen a little bit of lying snow and that has brought a winter wonderland for many children hoping to see some this season. however, it was a different story further west. milder air and temperatures around 8 degrees in somerset. cloudy skies but the rain has cleared away. this is the story as we have been through the morning. we had seen leading edge snow moving eastwards. behind it significant rain but that has already started to sweep its way steadily east and into the afternoon, it could be a case of sunny spells and just some scattered showers, chiefly to the far north—west. the weather front that has brought all of this cloud and rain continues to push its way east. 0n the leading edge, there

is the risk of further snow for a time but that eases as we go into the afternoon. you can see the clearance behind. there will be some decent sunny spells. some scattered showers, chiefly into scotland and maybe drifting down into north—west england. we could see gale force gusts of winds on exposed areas of scotland. for the remainder, a relatively quiet afternoon. bright and breezy for many. temperatures will pick up from nine to 11 degrees, notably cooler across norfolk. as we go through this evening, we keep that quiet story as a ridge of high pressure looks likely to build in from the west for sunday. it is going to be a quiet start. not too cold. temperatures are low single figures but they should stay above freezing for many. it'll be a dry story on sunday with sunshine coming through. it will be a lovely day. we run the risk of some

showers driven on by a westerly wind in scotland, clipping the far north of northern ireland, but on the whole dry and settled with some sunshine coming through and highs of 6—8 degrees. we change gear once again. no two days are the same. another area of low pressure brings wet and windy weather moving its way north during monday and tuesday. that means there is a risk at the start of a new week of seeing more of an unsettled theme to come. there will be some spells of heavy rain and some gale—force gusts of wind.

hello. i'm shaun ley. welcome to a programme that brings together some of the uk's leading columnists, bbc specialists, and foreign correspondents who file their stories for audiences back home from the dateline �*london'. this week: a dickens of a programme with an election past, an election present and an election still to come — which may be sooner than we think. we've a spirited panel even though they're not a panel of spirits. polly toynbee's column appears every week in the guardian, a liberal newspaper in the uk.

jonathan sacerdoti is a political commentator, explaining the uk and europe to audiences in the middle east. he also campaigns against anti—semitism. with me in the studio, hugh pym who, as the bbc�*s health editor, has been guiding audiences through the pandemic — as well as all of us in bbc news who rely on the specialist knowledge of hugh and his team. during the four years following the referendum here, in which the uk voted to leave the european union, we used tojoke on dateline that we couldn't wait for the day when we could talk about something other than brexit. more fool us. coronavirus — or covid—19, a label which tags it with the year it first emerged — is a global health pandemic, has triggered an economic crisis and is a challenge to politicians that will enhance the reputation of some, and destroy others. here in the uk, what are known as excess deaths is at a rate not seen since the end of the second world war. some who survive the virus are stuck with life—changing effects on their body. as for people with other conditions, in england the number of patients