this is bbc news. i'm freya cole. our top stories: president biden warns the us economic crisis is deepening as he introduces his $2 trillion relief plan. articles of impeachment against donald trump will be delivered to the senate on monday. his trial begins early next month. new research suggests the uk—variant of covid—19 may be more deadly than the original virus. and one of the all—time greats of us baseball, hank aaron, dies at the age of 86.

welcome to bbc news. on his second day in office, president biden has declared the economic crisis in the united states is deepening. he says he will take action to help families struggling to afford food because of lost income due to the pandemic. mr biden wants to go much further — he's calling on congress to authorise a $1.9 trillion relief package. he says the time to act boldly is now. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. a nation's economy buckling under coronavirus, shuttered businesses and still rising unemployment. on his second day in office, the new president laid out his hand to confront the stark reality of covid—19's impact on people's lives. joe biden is promising swift action

to help americans who have been left without jobs and to help americans who have been left withoutjobs and some who are struggling to put food on the table. fix, are struggling to put food on the table-— are struggling to put food on the table. a lot of americans are hurting- _ the table. a lot of americans are hurting. the _ the table. a lot of americans are hurting. the virus - the table. a lot of americans are hurting. the virus is - are hurting. the virus is surging. we have 400,000 dead, expected to reach well over 600,000. families are going hungry. people are at risk of being evicted. job losses amounting again. we need to act. no matter how you look at it, we need to act. if we act now, our economy will be stronger in both the short and long run. mr stronger in both the short and ian: run. ~ �* stronger in both the short and lona run. ~ �* long run. mr biden said the government _ long run. mr biden said the government needed - long run. mr biden said the government needed to - long run. mr biden said the government needed to actl government needed to act decisively and boldly. the centrepiece of his plan, a $1.9 trillion relief package. the challenger had to get congress to agree to it. the challenger had to get congress to agree to it.— to agree to it. the covid-19 ackaue to agree to it. the covid-19 package that _ to agree to it. the covid-19 package that passed - to agree to it. the covid-19 package that passed in - to agree to it. the covid-19 - package that passed in december was the first step. as i said at the time, it was just a down payment. we need more action and we need to move fast. to

kickstart _ and we need to move fast. to kickstart the aid program, the president signed executive orders, wonder giving immediate help to low income families struggling to buy food. another to start the process of increasing the minimum wage for some government workers. taste increasing the minimum wage for some government workers. we are at a precarious — some government workers. we are at a precarious moment _ some government workers. we are at a precarious moment for- some government workers. we are at a precarious moment for the - at a precarious moment for the virus and the economy. without decisive action, the risk falling into a very serious economic hole, even more serious than the crisis we find ourselves in.— ourselves in. the sense of urgency — urgency is palpable but the senate has its hands full with another pressing matter. holding donald trump responsible for this, the insurrection of the us capital earlier this month. the impeachment trial of the former president is now scheduled to go ahead and just over two weeks. go ahead and 'ust over two weeks. ~ ., go ahead and 'ust over two weeks. ~ . ., ., , , weeks. we all want to put this awful chap _ weeks. we all want to put this awful chap in _ weeks. we all want to put this awful chap in our— weeks. we all want to put this awful chap in our nation's - awful chap in our nation's history behind us. but healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability, and that is

what this trial will provide. aha, what this trial will provide. a final chapter in the trump presidency but a huge distraction for congress. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. and we'll be taking a look at the top priorities of the biden administration's foreign policy agenda a little later. a curfew comes into force in the netherlands tonight as part of further measures to contain coronavirus. the stay at home order runs from 9pm at night to 4:30am in the morning. anyone outdoors will need a valid work reason, or it must be an emergency. anna holligan reports from the hague. this is a reflection of how serious dutch politicians see the threat posed by these mutated strains. they are now bringing in new rules they previously ruled out as too draconian and excessive for a rule—abiding nation. the curfew is designed to reduce social gatherings.

since bars and restaurants closed last month, there's been a significant increase in the number of house parties and underground raves. flights are now banned from areas considered high risk where the new variants were first detected — so the uk, south africa and south america. this ban will stay in place for at least a month or until the law changes to make the ten—day quarantine period obligatory. there is one other exception to the curfew rule — people are allowed to walk their dogs on a leash... dog whines and barks. ..atany time. two million doses of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine have arrived in brazil as health authorities prepare for the rollout. the vaccines were transported from india's serum institute, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. brazil's regulator gave the green light to two vaccines, including

china's sinovac. brazil has the world's second—highest death toll from coronavirus and cases are rising again across the country. governments around the world are counting on the vaccination programme to get us out of lockdown. but there's one vital question that scientists can't yet answer. will people who've had the jab still be able to pass the virus on? our science editor david shukman looks at the current evidence surrounding transmission. rolling out the vaccines at a gathering pace marks the first big turning point in the pandemic, each one creating more protection against the disease. but there is something crucial we don't yet understand — if you've been vaccinated, can you still get infected? you'd be safe if that happened, but could you spread the virus to others? we don't know for sure at this moment in time whether, if an individual is infected after receiving the vaccine,

they can transmit that to others. so the best thing to do is to presume that it's possible. so if someone is pinged because they have been in contact with somebody who has infection, then they should self—isolate in the same way that they would have to if they had not had the vaccine. we do know from the trials that the injections work remarkably well. they boost the production of antibodies that flow through the bloodstream to provide a key form of defence. so if the coronavirus does get in, the antibodies should block from it entering any of our cells. in addition to that, what are called t cells should provide another layer of protection. but there's no guarantee that any of this will stop an infection in the upper airway, with the virus taking hold and you releasing it. there's nothing confirmed about these risks after vaccination but it is plausible you could still get an infection

without symptoms — that's when you don't feel ill, but still could be a carrier. in that case, you will probably have lower levels of the virus inside you than if you hadn't had the vaccine and a shorter infectious period when you're a risk to others. even so, it is still conceivable you could spread the virus in your household, for example, to people you're close to and spend most time with. the vaccines coming off the production lines were tested for how they keep people from getting ill, not whether they'll still be infectious, so the advice is to remain careful, even though there is a good chance of a positive effect. the most likely scenario is going to be that the vaccines will reduce how much virus is in a person, even if they get infected, and make it less likely the person would pass the virus on to anybody else. and this may be relevant to the lockdown, and when we get out of it. scientists who are trying

to predict the spread of the virus say it's vital to know if vaccination slows that down. if it has a significant impact on transmission, then we will be able to relax measures faster than if it doesn't. i'm hopeful that we will be able to see some relaxation — at least getting out of lockdown — in the march time frame, but it will be very much a gradual process from then through to the end of the year. so how the vaccine programme goes is crucial in so many ways — first, for saving lives, but also for helping to shape the future course of the pandemic. david shukman, bbc news. hong kong has implemented its first full lockdown after an outbreak in the south of the kowloon peninsula. from dawn, 10,000 people in the neighbourhood ofjordan have been ordered to stay home for two days. the government plans to test every resident. nearly 2,000 police have been deployed.

exactly one year ago the world saw its first coronavirus lockdown come into force in wuhan, the chinese city where the pandemic is believed to have started. the first cases of covid—19 were found at a market in the city, and our china correspondent robin brant has been back to visit. this is inside the building where it all started. a year on, the second—floor shops at huanan market are open. it looks like it's business as usual, but not everyone can get in. and there was very little sign of what happened beneath here on the ground floor. a cluster of the first cases were found here in december 2019. it was shut down, boarded up. investigators took samples, a clean—up quickly followed. what you see in there is a place frozen in time. it's boarded up on the ground floor and the sign over the entrance has been long ago taken down but somewhere

in there, around one of those old stalls, is a place where the world first came to know about �*the virus�*. exactly a year ago today, the cooking stopped. she was one of wuhan's 11 million locked down, the city shut off from the world. this place is now known for one thing, and that's never going to change, but a year on, some here are convinced by china's propaganda.

this city stopped exactly a year ago. it was a brutal solution to what went on to become a global problem. no—one was allowed to leave. this is one of the main ways in and out of wuhan, it is hankou railway station. it's actually one of the prettier railway stations i have seen here. a year ago, though, this place was like a war zone. the barriers went up, the trains stopped running. but after 76 days, it worked. then wuhan showed the world this. dance music. to some, the huge pool party seemed insensitive but they couldn't hide their exuberance here. the lasting impact, though, on these people is probably incalculable. and a year on, the precise detail about what exactly happened behind these locked gates is still not clear. one of cinema's leading stuntman who appeared in six james bond films and

the italianjob, has died. remyjulienne spent a lifetime pulling off death—defying feats. he passed away at the age of 90 after contracting covid—19. paul hawkins takes a look back at his life chances are you won't know remyjulienne's face but you will know his work. horns blare. like this famous scene from the james bond film view to a kill with roger moore driving a renault 11 taxi through paris. orwas he? watch again. it's remyjulienne — a man who could make ordinary cars do extraordinary things. and it wasn'tjust cars. this is him, not timothy dalton, driving an oil tanker in another bond film, license to kill. translation: after the stuntman gil delamare died, it led me - to replace him to do stunts when i was not a stuntman, but that i learned to do by watching others do it.

tyres sqeual. in all, the french motocross champion worked on six bond films — part of a glittering career which started with the 1964 film fantomas, where he doubled for french actorjean marais, riding a motorbike. but his international reputation was forged with the italianjob and that famous car chase scene with the minis around turin, driven by remyjulienne. he once said during filming "fear is necessary before and after, but never during". i was always worried. the guy who knows everything in advance — so that wasn't me. i have always doubted and still doubt. but if there's no doubt, if there's no fear, if there's not something to worry about, it means you're unconscious and from that moment on, it's better to do something else. his career low point came during filming for the french film taxi 2 in 1999, when a cameraman was killed by a car that missed

its landing spot. julienne was given an initial 18 month suspended jail sentence for involuntary manslaughter and ordered to pay damages. but that aside, his illustrious career spanned over 1,400 films, tv shows and commercials. bond produces michael g wilson and barbara broccoli were some of many who paid tribute tojulienne, saying: and as for his favourite scene? it's this one from the italianjob. michael caine later saying he told remy "my heart was in my mouth," to which he replied "michael, it's mathematics". remyjulienne, who's died at the age of 90. this is bbc news. the headlines: president biden warns the us economic crisis is deepening as he introduces his relief plan. articles of impeachment against donald trump will be delivered to the senate on monday. his trial begins early next month.

us presidentjoe biden has held his first phone calls with world leaders — his neighboursjustin trudeau in canada and mexico's andres manuel lopez obrador. it marks the start of his foreign policy campaign as president. and while he has experience in this area, there are many challenges to overcome, as dr ronald granieri from the foreign policy research center explains. rhetorically at least, his main focus has been the idea of restoration — that he wants to restore relationships with america's allies. he wants to restore the american place in certain international organisations. and so that — he has wrapped himself in that notion of restoration, which is — fits in with a general mood in the country that wants to somehow go back to a pre—2016 day.

i'm not sure that that is actually going to be possible, but it is an understandable impulse. talk about restoring relationships with allies, but what about countries where the relationship with the us is currently very tense — like iran, for example? well, iran is going to be a serious challenge for the biden administration because while biden himself and his staff have talked about the desire to get back to the nuclear deal that was negotiated during the obama administration, it's not clear that it is going to be that simple to go back, in the sense that the damage or, let's say, damage could be too negative a word but the changes that have undergone in the relationship between the united states and iran during the trump administration have meant that it will be difficult to get them to come back to the negotiating table. and so, the biden team might want to restore some type of international cooperation about iran but it is going to take some significant work,

especially with our european partners and with our partners in the middle east, to get them to be willing to do the kind of heavy lifting and the negotiations that was possible in the 2015 joint comprehensive plan of action. the uk prime minister has said there is some evidence that the new variant of coronavirus spreading across the uk could be more deadly than the original strain. borisjohnson warned that restrictions in england won't be lifted until the vaccination programmes are working. with more, here's our health editor hugh pym. it's been another frantic week for hospitals like this one at clacton in essex. more covid beds have been set up to try to meet the surge in patient numbers. while most pull through, some don't. now, there's news that a new variant of the virus, which first spread in the south east of england, could be more deadly than the first strain.

we've been informed today that in addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant — the variant that was first identified in london and the south east — may be associated with a higher degree of mortality. in the light of the new information, do you expect the daily reported death toll to carry on rising for longer than you'd first thought, and then fall more slowly? the death rate's awful and it's going to stay, i'm afraid, high for a little while before it starts coming down — that was always what was predicted from the shape of this, as chris has said — and i think the information about the new variant doesn't change that. he said there was still uncertainty about the death rate with the new variant, and more research was needed. she's all i had. my dad's already passed away and me and my mum, we were the closest. eleanor�*s mother sandra died with covid in hospital last week. she was 61 and had an existing health condition.

eleanor says her mum took every precaution. mum was doing everything she needed to do, you know? she wasn't going out unnecessarily, she was always sanitising and wearing her mask. i was one of them people that thought it wouldn't touch my family, but here i am, absolutely devastated and without my mum. so what's the outlook for new cases? a study by the office for national statistics does random testing and includes people who don't know they have the virus, as well as those with symptoms. the latest survey of community infections by the ons suggest that in england last week, one in 55 had the virus, with case rates having decreased. in wales, it was one in 70, with rates levelling off. in scotland, one in 100, again with case rates having levelled off. in northern ireland, one in 60 had the virus, with rates increasing. the r number range — anything above 1 suggests the virus is accelerating — was between 0.8 and 1, lower than the previous estimate.

this week, the government tightened border controls and quarantine rules to try and limit the risk of new variants getting into the uk. crowded scenes like this at heathrow today will no doubt fuel the debate on whether further measures are needed. a new government ad campaign launched this evening aims to ram home the message to the public of the extreme pressures on the nhs and the impact of the virus. hugh pym, bbc news. henry �*hank�* aaron, the man who broke babe ruth's major league home run record in the face of rampant racism, has died aged 86. aaron made his last public appearance just 2.5 weeks ago, when he received the covid—19 vaccine. eno sarris, a baseball writer for the athletic, told me more about his legacy.

what really kind of sums it up for him is that he was an all star 25 times — that is a record that may never be broken again. the average career in baseball lasts five years, so he was an all star five times in the time that an average player would even play in the league. he just combined athleticism with great contact and patience at the plate, and longevity — which in the face of all the racism he encountered is even more impressive. and do you think it was natural talent or was it a lot of training? you know, he had a lot of athleticism. he had one year where he hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases, so he was fast. he had triples, he was a good defender at first, but really what set him apart was that he had this ability to know what pitch was coming, know if it was a fast ball, he had really good selection at the plate, and i think that is something that he refined over time. he famously changed his batting stance and style

in the minor leagues. he said nobody watches for singles, they watch for homers, so he did make some adjustments along the way to hit for power and famously had the home run record for a long time before barry bonds broke it recently. the french parliament has passed a new law that aims to safeguard the sounds and smells of the countryside. senators voted in favour of the legislation, which it's hoped will protect what's being described as the country's �*sensory heritage'. it follows a famous court case where a french rooster was cleared of disturbing his neighbours. the bbc�*s tim allman has more. soft flute music. as countries go, france is, on the whole, pretty good—looking. renowned for its hills and pastures, fields and forests, it is truly a sight to behold.

but most people have ears, as well as eyes. cow moos. mooing... ducks quack. ..quacking, crowing as culturally important as any river or mountain — at least, that is according to french lawmakers. translation: this bill aims to recognise that the sounds| and smells characteristic of rural life comprise a sensory, intangible heritage that deserves to be recorded, studied and protected. it also aims to indirectly fight against abusivejudicial cases filed by those who view the countryside like an odourless, silent photograph. rooster crows. who might she be referring to, you may ask? perhaps the enemies of maurice the rooster. his case became something of a cause celebre, wherein the neighbours complained of his early morning cock—a—doodle—dooing. it all ended up in court, where a judge sided with maurice's owners.

sadly, he's no longer with us, but maybe his spirit was at large in the french senate, where the law was eventually passed. bell tolls. france, undoubtedly a beautiful vista, and it comes with quite a soundtrack. chickens cluck. tim allman, bbc news. a rare portrait by the renaissance artist botticelli is going up for auction with an estimated price of $100 million. it's called young man holding a roundel and it's one of only a dozen of his portraits known to be in existence. it was painted in the 15th century and will go on sale later this month in new york. a scottish butcher has been taking burns' night celebrations to new heights by sending a haggis into space — well, almost. simon howie attached a packet of his country's national dish to a weather balloon. it reached an altitude of more than 32km before falling back to earth. that's one small step for scottish cuisine and one giant leap

for a sheep's stomach. and on that note, that's all from me, but you can reach me on twitter at @freya?cole. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. we are staying firmly in the cold air mass this weekend, so it means we'll continue to see very cold nights, widespread frost, some ice. but by day, there should be quite a bit of sunshine around. however, there is some snow in the forecast on sunday across southern britain and this could lead to some disruption. stay tuned to the forecast — more on that in just a moment. for saturday, we have low pressure to the north of the uk that brings a run of north—westerly winds and feeding in lots of wintry showers. quite breezy across the north—west, less so further south. we start off with some showers from the word go across the north—west, a risk of ice, some early mist and fog clearing from the south, and then we'll continue with the showers western scotland, north—west england, running through the cheshire gap

into the midlands, perhaps running into parts of east anglia and the south east, where it will also be cloudier. but it will stay brighter with sunshine for the north—east and south—west, but it's going to a cold day wherever you are — temperatures 2—5 celsius. showers continue on for awhile through saturday evening and central areas, further showers for northern and western scotland, and then we turn our attention to this — this feature running into wales and the south—west of england during the early part of sunday to bring some rain, sleet and snow. but another very cold night to come for saturday night — watch out for. so for sunday then, we look at this feature running into the south—west — this weather front — which will bring the rain initially and then some snow to wales, south—west england and perhaps across into parts of the midlands, southern and south—eastern england as we move through the day. now, there's still some uncertainty to this but it does look like at this stage, we could be looking at some accumulations of snow to parts of central and southern england 1—5 cm in places, likely to cause disruption.

further north, it will be brighter, there'll be with further wintry showers across some western areas but it's going to be another really cold day, particularly where we have the lying snow across the south. into next week, it starts off cold monday but then watch this, through the week, the milder air starts to spread up from the south—west so it will be turning a lot milder across the board. but with that, mild, moisture—laden air will see weather systems pushing in, too, with strong winds. this is pretty bad news after all the rain which we've seen across the north and west of the country. this could cause some issues. so monday starts off cold, further wintry showers, then it gradually turns more unsettled, wetter and milder and windier as we move through the week, perhaps the risk of local flooding in places.

remyjulienne, who's died at the age of 90.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has introduced an economic relief plan worth $2 trillion to provide help to americans reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. speaking at the white house, mr biden said the government needed to act "decisively and boldly". democratic leaders in the us congress have said the articles of impeachment against former president donald trump will be delivered to the senate on monday. however the senate majority leader, chuck schumer, has said the trial will not begin until the second week of february. there is evidence that the new variant of coronavirus — which first emerged in england before christmas — could be more deadly than the original. the uk's chief scientific adviser said it could be 30—40% more deadly for men in their sixties. a couple who were both seriously ill in hospital