this is bbc news. i'm tim willcox with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the covid pandemic has left some uk hospitals at breaking point. we have a special report from london where medical staff are stretched to the limit. i wasn't convinced we were going to have a second wave at all. and the huge numbers that have just absolutely slammed us, isjust — i never thought it would be possible. and we talk to some of those, whose lives have been torn apart, in this second wave of the pandemic. nobody wants to go through this. i wouldn't wish this on anybody. this really is...

..horrible. supporters of the jailed russian activist alexei navalny have been arrested — after he urged people to protest against president putin's government. the fbi vets all 25,000 national guard troops on duty in washington for wednesday's inauguration looking for possible right wing extremists. and risking temperatures of up to —70 to scale the world's second highest mountain, the nepalese mountaineers tell the bbc about their historic ascent. the head of the world health organization has said we're on the verge of a catastrophic moralfailure over the way covid vaccines

are being shared out. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus said the current approach would lead to hoarding and prolong the pandemic. he added the price of this moralfailure would be paid with lives in the world's poorest countries. the who director—general explained that more than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in higher—income countries. however, only 25 doses have been given in one lowest—income country. here in the uk, there are now more people being treated for covid in hospitals than at any point in the pandemic. ten hospital trusts across england have reported having no spare critical care beds. to illustrate the distressing reality of what's happening on the front line, the bbc�*s clive myrie visited the royal london hospital to see how staff and families of patients are coping.

there are those who must look into the abyss — to spare all of us. how many floors are taken up by covid patients here? we've got patients on the third floor, fourth floor, sixth floor, seventh floor, eighth floor... of 548 beds at the royal london hospital, 420 have covid patients. for ten days, we joined staff in one of the uk's biggest intensive care units... yes, still coming. go, go, go. ..at the peak of the second wave... he could die from this, by the way, i'm sorry. to have to say that. ..as a new variant of covid—19 forces a reckoning for our health service... sorry! so we're now going to run into a problem because we haven't got any beds. ..and a reckoning for us. nobody wants to go through this. - i wouldn't wish this on anybody. - this really is horrible.

as london sleeps, the night shift begins at the royal london hospital. nursing sister carleen kelly makes her way to a job that's crushing her, in the middle of the covid nightmare. sleep isn't what it used to be. there's anxiety when you wake up and you remember what you have to go into. we're fragile and, erm, angry. in the emergency department, consultant nick bunker is up

a new covid patient has been admitted for every hour he's been on shift. by sam, eight. so we're now going to run into a problem because we haven't got any beds. no beds? so, i had five beds to start the night. we've got two patients next door who need to come in. just down there. thank you. all right. and here's another. where will he go? just bring the back of the bed up. see if that helps. and is he on 100% now? yeah. in pressurised rooms, the patients receive oxygen through masks, their condition monitored, but who may need more sustained help from a ventilator? sats below 96. one man's breathing badly falters. just do it, just do it, just do it. he must be intubated, fast. and we watch as medics put him to sleep and push a long plastic tube down his throat, hooking him up to his new breathing machine. when he'll wake up, no—one knows.

soon he willjoin so many others here, oblivious to night and day. cared for by strangers like carlene who we spoke to in the first wave of the virus. backin the first wave of the virus. back in may. i've felt broken on many occasions. and i think a lot of my colleagues have. now the intensity of the second wave is even more frightening. i use how i feel but this time like i'm trapped in a cave in the waters of the rising and i'm barely keeping my head above water. it's scarier and it bigger and i was so nave the first time. i was not convinced we were going to have the second wave at all. and the huge numbers that have just absolutely slammed us is just... i never thought it would be possible to have this many intensive care patients. not at all.

many intensive care patients. not at all-— not at all. nikki checks on carlene and _ not at all. nikki checks on carlene and all— not at all. nikki checks on carlene and all the - not at all. nikki checks on carlene and all the staff . not at all. nikki checks on| carlene and all the staff as not at all. nikki checks on - carlene and all the staff as he helps monitor around 10030i see you patients. spread all of the hospital. there were little more than a0 intensive care beds before the pandemic. and he still needs more tonight. a few minutes later we find a porter with a priceless possession. we soon find out how he sadly came upon it. martin freeborn said he wanted to speak to us. my martin freeborn said he wanted to speak to us.— to speak to us. my wife lost her fight — to speak to us. my wife lost her fight for _ to speak to us. my wife lost her fight for life. _ to speak to us. my wife lost her fight for life. it - to speak to us. my wife lost her fight for life. it was - to speak to us. my wife lost her fight for life. it was a i her fight for life. it was a mixture _ her fight for life. it was a mixture of covid and infection. that_ mixture of covid and infection. that finally finished her off. and — that finally finished her off. and this _ that finally finished her off. and this is literally in the last few minutes?- and this is literally in the last few minutes? yeah, yeah, eah in last few minutes? yeah, yeah, yeah in the _ last few minutes? yeah, yeah, yeah in the last _ last few minutes? yeah, yeah, yeah in the last half _ last few minutes? yeah, yeah, yeah in the last half hour- last few minutes? yeah, yeah, yeah in the last half hour i've l yeah in the last half hour i've lost — yeah in the last half hour i've

lost her~ _ yeah in the last half hour i've lost her. . ., , lost her. her name was helen and she was _ lost her. her name was helen and she was 64. _ lost her. her name was helen and she was 64. what's - lost her. her name was helen and she was 64. what's yourl and she was 6a. what's your message to people watching this that perhaps feel that there is no covid, that there is no battle... it no covid, that there is no battle- - -_ no covid, that there is no battle... ., , battle... it makes you really an: . battle... it makes you really angry- nobody _ battle... it makes you really angry. nobody wants - battle... it makes you really angry. nobody wants to - battle... it makes you really angry. nobody wants to go i angry. nobody wants to go through— angry. nobody wants to go through this, i would not wish this on— through this, i would not wish this on anybody. this really is horrible, _ this on anybody. this really is horrible, it's real. and people really— horrible, it's real. and people really do _ horrible, it's real. and people really do need to look after themselves. and take care because _ themselves. and take care because you don't want this to happen, — because you don't want this to happen, i_ because you don't want this to happen, i would because you don't want this to happen, iwould not because you don't want this to happen, i would not wish this on anybody. yeah, please wake up. on anybody. yeah, please wake up and — on anybody. yeah, please wake up. and please be over careful. you _ up. and please be over careful. you cannot _ up. and please be over careful. you cannot do enough to keep yourself— you cannot do enough to keep yourself safe. don't end up like — yourself safe. don't end up like us _ yourself safe. don't end up like us. please. and that's the three — like us. please. and that's the three grandchildren and my three — three grandchildren and my three daughters. my wife in the

background looking on. she loved — background looking on. she loved being a grandmother. these — loved being a grandmother. these are letters from my daughter but unfortunately she went _ daughter but unfortunately she went on— daughter but unfortunately she went on the ventilator before she could see it. dearest mum, helen, — she could see it. dearest mum, helen, grandma. we love you so much _ helen, grandma. we love you so much and — helen, grandma. we love you so much and we miss you more than we can— much and we miss you more than we can sax — much and we miss you more than we can say. you are so strong and _ we can say. you are so strong and have — we can say. you are so strong and have been through so much. you are — and have been through so much. you are our— and have been through so much. you are our hero... gur you are our hero... our inspiration. _ you are our hero... our inspiration. our- you are our hero... our inspiration. our lay - you are our hero... our inspiration. our lay in l you are our hero... our. inspiration. our lay in this inspiration. 0ur lay in this darkness _ inspiration. our lay in this darkness.— inspiration. our lay in this darkness. until we see you arain, darkness. until we see you again. and _ darkness. until we see you again, and we _ darkness. until we see you again, and we will, - darkness. until we see you again, and we will, you - darkness. until we see you | again, and we will, you stay strong as always.— strong as always. our love forever- — strong as always. our love forever. that _ strong as always. our love forever. that would - strong as always. our love forever. that would be - strong as always. our love i forever. that would be laura, lindsay— forever. that would be laura, lindsay and megan. it's a sad story, — lindsay and megan. it's a sad story, isn't— lindsay and megan. it's a sad story, isn't it? clive myrie reporting, and we'll have more reports from clive, cameraman david mcilveen and producer sam piranty, at the royal london hospital, over the course

of the week. russia's most prominent opposition figure — alexei navalny — has urged people to take to the streets "for the future of russia" after he was arrested on returning to moscow for the first time since being poisoned last year. mr navalny was speaking at a court hearing which took place inside a police station. he'll be detained for 30 days and another hearing at the end of the month could result in a lengthy prison sentence. from moscow, our correspondent steve rosenberg reports. chanting. "we're for navalny," it says. "alexei, alexei" they shout. mr navalny�*s supporters came to the police station where he was being held. a makeshift court room had been set up inside. it would rule on whether the kremlin critic should be sent to jail. in a freezing cold russian

winter, piping hot tea was a welcome relief. it's bitterly cold here. it's -20. but supporters of mr navalny are waiting for the result of the court hearing and shouting, "let him go." in a video message from the court room, mr navalny denounced the hearing as a mockery of justice. after he was ordered to be kept in custody for 30 days, he called on russians to take to the streets and not stay silent. alexei navalny is the russian opposition leader most capable of organising large—scale anti—government protests. it's why the kremlin sees him as a threat. navalny was and is danger number one for vladimir putin in russia. it's very difficult to fight against massive

public protests. mr navalny is convinced it was the kremlin that ordered his poisoning by nerve agent. the russian authorities deny any connection. but the decision to contain him will have been taken at the very top. for now, he's going to jailfor a month. that could turn into years. and if it does, the authorities risk turning alexei navalny into a political martyr. something the kremlin always wanted to avoid. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news, still to come — we speak to the former british special forces officer who led a nepalese mountaineers to a place in history. donald trump is now the a5th president of the united states.

he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first. america first. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altman is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans went to expedite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity that's believed by officials to have broken all records.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines. the covid pandemic has left some uk hospitals at breaking point. medical staff say they're being stretched to the limit. 25,000 national guard troops on duty in washington the russian activist alexei navalny is detained for 30 days — he's urged people to protest against president putin's government. two days ahead of the inauguration ofjoe biden as the a6th us president the tightest security measures in recent memory are in place in washington. officials are determined to prevent any repeat of the events of january sixth, when the capitol was stormed by a pro—trump mob in a failed bid to prevent mr biden's victory from being certified. already huge sectors of the capitol have been shut down. —— january the 6th. this entire area — highlighted in red — is closed to traffic.

and non—scalable fencing has been put around the us capitol and national mall. —— some seven feet tall with razor wire. in the blocks beyond — highlighted in green — only vehicles belonging to local residents and businesses are permitted. all 25,000 members of the national guard, who'll be deployed for the event, are being vetted by the fbi, over fears of the risk of "insider attacks". colin p clarke is a terrorism expert and the director of policy and research at the soufan centre. he says we're moving towards much closer scrutiny of people's ties to extremist groups. i asked him whether this was much more closer scrutiny of national guard members and their links to extremist groups than would normally have taken place. certainly upon entering the national guard, each one of these individuals would have been vetted and likely screened, had their tattoos screened to look for extremist insignias — neo—nazi, white supremacist or others, their social media would have likely been observed.

that doesn't preclude them going to more fringe sites where we know many people do engage in conversations. but i think while the fbi�*s scrutiny might be more intense, you are talking about 25,000 national guard members in a really short amount of time. so, in my mind, it can only really be a cursory review at best. and anyone who is smart about it will have kept quite a low profile for the last six months, year or longer. yeah, i was trying to explain this the other day to somebody and i said growing up in my neighborhood, the guys we feared the most were the ones that weren't talking, not running their mouths. i think the same applies here, you're talking about people if they were truly determined to attack and they're even just a little bit smart, they are not going to be talking about this and putting it out there on social media. they are going to carry out their plans. they are likely trained in tradecraft and operation security and those are the people we have to

worry about the most. they're also the most difficult to detect. and we saw a few days ago a reservist and white supremacist has been arrested for attending that riot. when you look at the militias involved in the capitol riot and you look at people on the national guard, they are effectively reservists and will be trained to the sort of limits and levels, won't they, as the police who are part of the police capitol squad there. is there this fear that in terms of knowledge of equipment and body armour and weapons, you have got potentially two almost equally matched sides? two almost equally matched sides and if you consider the fact that the united states has been in were at iraq and afghanistan for the last 20 years, you're talking about guardsmen and women with combat experience that have deployed and have actually thought.

—— at war in iraq and afghanistan. —— actually fought. in that respect, actually more experience than many of the police. we're talking about a real challenge here in washington but i just want to point out as well as the capitol in dc has hardened as a target, we also should be wary of what goes on at the state capitals in places like virginia and pennsylvania where i live, in michigan and elsewhere. and indeed the right to bear arms in some of those states as well. just briefly, if you are a member of qanon for example or another group which of course president trump, the proud boys has acknowledged, standby, stand down, is that something with which will get you thrown out of the national guard now? i think we are moving toward really much closer scrutiny of people's ties to some of these existing extremist groups. you've also got the 0ath

keepers, the three percenters, the domestic far—right extremist scene in the united states is quite broad, and it is growing exponentially. terrorism expert colin p clarke. now let's turn to foreign policy. when president—elect biden is sworn in on wednesday, many leaders in asia will be asking what the change of american leadership and a biden presidency will mean for the region. melissa conley tyler is research fellow at the asia institute at the university of melbourne. i asked her what the main push and focus will be after he had sorted out his domestic problems with covid. the immediate focus of the biden administration is going to have to be domestic and on healing, literally healing a country that has been ravaged by covid but also metaphorically healing a deeply divided party and i think that means foreign policy will be something

of a luxury item. it might be more responding to events than pushing an agenda. the exception to that is climate change and the biden administration has made very clear that on day one it is going to rejoin the paris accord. within 100 days it's going to host a summit to put pressure on carbon—emitting countries to have higher aspirations and that will be really exciting to see the us instead of all being about getting a better deal for america, taking the big common global challenge of our time and showing leadership. china has committed to some pretty ruthless emissions reductions as well by the year 2060 but focusing on china and its increasing assertiveness, militarily and trade wise, what do you think will happen there? i think on china—us relations it will be pretty much a continuation of what we have seen. there is a bipartisan

consensus in washington about the contestation with china, whole of society contestation. i don't think biden is going to bring particularly a new approach to that. what he will do is manage diplomacy in what i see as a more conventional or normal way and if you look at his picks for various positions, they are the sort of people that are experienced and knowledgeable and the sort of people who used to be put in those roles and who are now back running things. but i expect a lot of continuity rather than change. but will the trade war continue as aggressively or will there be a more multilateral trade policy perhaps with the rest of the region? i think some of the elements of the trump trade war will be relaxed a bit and that could be part of the way that china tries to build its relationship with the biden administration to talk about the things where it can collaborate

on for example dealing with climate change or on global health and use that to try to roll back some of the more extreme trump trade measures. i want to come to north korea in a moment butjust in terms of the regional architecture, so the transpacific partnership is gone, america has lost out on so many things that trump didn't even go to an asian summit. presumably biden will and will he try to get back into some of those business groupings? i think we will see under the biden administration a much more normal us approach to foreign policy which relies on building relationships and building relationships with allies and partners. that can be done multilaterally but also bilaterally. by contrast the trump administration was very negative about allies and partners, essentially accused them all of being freeloaders and tried to change the basic relationship. so if you look at for example

japan or south korea, they are going to find a very different approach, much more traditional approach of trying to build up relationships with allies and partners. melissa conley tyler. a team of nepalese climbers has safely descended after becoming the first ever to reach the top of the world's second highest mountain k2 in winter. k2, along the pakistan—china border, is notoriously challenging with hurricane—strong winds and sub—zero temperatures. one of the leading members of the team is a former gurkha and british special forces soldier and he's been speaking to our correspondent, secunder kermani. conquering the so—called savage mountain in the depth of winter. for decades, it defied the world's toughest climbers. now, this former gurkha and british special forces soldier... this is my team here in the tent, hello! ..along with a team of other nepalese mountaineers has made history. it was super cold, and every

step we climbed was an effort. so, you know, when we got to the summit, what we did was just ten metres before the summit, the whole team stopped together and, yeah, we sing the national anthem of nepal, and we made it to the summit together. some of the, obviously, team members were very emotional as well, including myself. there are ia mountains in the world higher than 8,000 metres. k2 was the only one yet to be scaled in winter, because it's so challenging. dozens have lost their lives on the mountain. k2 is super steep, you know. either you have to go through, you know, blue ice or rock, so it's very technical. on top of that, if you add, you know, the temperature, up to —65 degrees, you know, even —70. what kept everyone going was, everybody wanted this to their bone. the men began as members

of different teams but banded together to reach the summit. a huge success for nepal, whose mountaineers have often worked out of the spotlight supporting western climbers. secunder kermani, bbc news, islamabad. many congratulations to all of them. when is a $20 bill worth $57,000? all it takes is a banana sticker, apparently. this is the del monte note from the us treasury�*s 1996 design series. it's unique because the sticker found its way onto the bill between stages of the printing process. as you can see, it has the official seal and the note's serial number printed over it. current bidding for the note is at $57,500. but it's not the first time it's been up for sale, in 2003, the note sold on ebay for $10,000, and it went under the hammer a few years later, that time going for over $25,000.

it will make a lot more now. i hope you have either got it or find another one. goodbye. hello there. storm christoph has been named by the met office and it will bring a double whammy of severe weather and disruption in the next few days. first up is the rain and flooding. this is rain accumulating in the next three days, and the bright colours show where we are expecting the heaviest of the rain. it will be very wet in the welsh hills, but the main concern is the amount of rain expected in the southern pennines and northern peak district. we have an amber rain warning here that has been extended into the midlands, and parts of eastern england as well. river levels already very high, and the ground is very wet as well. we've got rain developing at the moment across much of england and wales. keeping it mild as the wind picks up. further north, though, it's much colder. frost and some icy patches in northern scotland. but the rain is still around during tuesday, and it will rain all day, pretty much, across northern

england and northern ireland. further south across england and wales, after the overnight rain it should be dryer for a while but we will see more rain coming in, especially across wales and the south west. some of that rain pushing into southern scotland bringing the threat of sleet and snow in the southern uplands. it is certainly colder across scotland with a few showers and some sunshine in the north. much milderfor much of england and wales. 11 or 12 degrees with some wind and, of course, some rain. that rain continues, actually, on tuesday evening, tuesday night and into wednesday as well. particularly across england and wales. it should dry off a bit across northern ireland. more wet weather coming into some southern and south eastern parts of scotland threatening some more snow over the high ground as well. again, it's quite cold across scotland and northern ireland, much milderfor england and wales with more rain on the way. that rain coming from storm christoph, that's the centre of the storm there. it is actually going to strengthen during wednesday night. the winds are really going to pick up as it moves northwards into the colder air there will be more snow

falling overnight and into thursday morning. especially in scotland, could be a0 cm of snow and perhaps as much as that over the high grounds, some snow over other hills of scotland and the northern pennines. drier further south, but it will be colder, and it will feel colder in the wind as well. so two main areas of concern, really, the wet weather in the next few days bringing flooding. especially across parts of northern england, the midlands and eastern england. and then as if that was not enough we've got this increasing risk of snow, particularly in scotland with some blizzards and drifting of the snow in the hills.

this is bbc news, the headlines. russian opposition leader — alexei navalny — has been remanded into custody for 30 days. he was arrested hours after returning to moscow for the first time since being poisoned last year. mr navalny has called for people to protest against the putin government. the rate of coronavirus infection is beginning to fall in the united kingdon. in the last 2a hours there have been less than a0,000 new cases — the first time that has happened this year. however hospitals are still battling against rising admissions. the fbi is vetting all 25 thousand national guard troops in washington providing security for wednesday's inauguration ofjoe biden. they're looking for possible right wing extremists who may be plotting an insider attack. supporters of donald trump stormed the capitol earlier this month — five people died in those protests.