this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the government reveals there are 77 cases of the south african variant of covid in the country and issues a warning to those who have been vaccinated. they are under very close observation and we have enhanced contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop that from spreading. fines are handed out as more than 300 people attend an illegal rave in east london. police say organisers locked the doors from the inside to stop them getting in. severe weather warnings for snow and ice are in place across much of the uk amid fears of travel disruption. the snp will present its national assembly with what it's calling a roadmap to a new referendum

on scottish independence. a dramatic rescue in china as 11 gold miners who'd been trapped underground for two weeks are brought out alive. and captainjoe root hits 186 to keep england's hopes alive in sri lanka. hello. the health secretary matt hancock says 77 cases of the south african variant of covid have been found here in the uk. but all have links to international travel and there is no evidence to date that it is spreading in the community unchecked. matt hancock has also said we are a "long way" from restrictions being eased — as scientists warn people may still be able to pass on the virus even if they've been vaccinated.

our health reporter jim reed has more. the vaccination roll—out in the uk continues. hundreds of thousands of those most at risk are receiving theirjabs this weekend, but as we try and navigate our way out of this pandemic, scientists think new variants of coronavirus are a real concern. a mutation first found in cases from south africa is thought to spread faster. some worry it could also make a vaccine less effective, though that is not yet certain. speaking on the andrew marr programme, the health secretary said the government is monitoring it closely. there are 77 known cases of the south african variant here in the uk. they are under very close observation and we have enhanced contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop them from spreading. the majority of those have had contact with or come from south africa, and that's why we've got such stringent border measures in place.

the government has said all international travellers will need to show a negative covid test before arrival, but the opposition is calling on ministers to go further. on monday, we got this delayed announcement, yet again delayed. we would fully expect the government to bring in tougher quarantine measures, we would expect them to roll out a proper testing strategy and we would expect them to start checking up on people who are quarantined. only three out of every 100 people who are asked to quarantine when they arrive in the uk are actually facing any checks at all. that is simply not sufficient. 470,000 doses of the vaccine were given over the last day. ministers said three quarters of those over 80 have now had theirfirst dose. government scientists are warning those who have received theirjabs so far will not be fully protected and may still spread the disease. the message, then, is still for everyone to follow social distancing rules, probably for months to come. jim reed, bbc news.

police have issued more than £15,000 in fines after people were caught at a rave in east london — a breach of covid regulations. the meoplitan police say they deployed officers after receiving intelligence that an unlicensed music event might be taking place in hackney on saturday night. an estimated 300 people attended the event. police called it a "serious and blatant breach of the public health regulations". as high risk groups continue to be immunised, there are growing concerns that people with learning disabilities have been missed out. despite a recent public health england report warning they are six times more likely to die from coronavirus, as a group, they have not been prioritised for a vaccine. nikki fox reports. you know, you can't smell it, you can't see it. you can't hear it. it's like a silent killer. everyone here has a learning disability.

they meet up regularly to talk about and understand death and bereavement. it is scary at times. these chats have never been more important. all i keep thinking is, am i going to be next? you know, am i going to be the next one to die? i would hate to be in hospital and end up dying on my own. people with learning disabilities are up to six times more likely to die from coronavirus. that's according to analysis by public health england, which looked at the number of deaths during the first wave of the pandemic. however, only those with down�*s syndrome and severe learning disabilities are being prioritised for the vaccine. people adore her. tilly is one of those being prioritised. and it can't come soon enough. i get so fearful for her. historic inequalities in health care and the knowledge that even before covid people with learning disabilities had such a low life expectancy means, for many families, any visit to hospital is a worry. we have had too many incidences

where she's been refused treatment, because they can't work out how to treat somebody with a learning disability. for me to think about that happening, if she had the virus and she had to go into hospital, it's terrifying, absolutely terrifying. deciding who is eligible for priority access is not an easy task. the initial priority programme was based on the risk of hospitalisation and death. the committee which advises government examined a different set of data to public health england. it believes those with milder learning disabilities are not at such an increased risk. individuals with learning disabilities we recognise is a very disadvantaged group, so that's why we decided to make a clinical decision to prioritise those with profound and severe learning disabilities within our first six categories. with such conflicting figures, experts fear that by not immunising everyone with a learning disability as a priority... we need to protect this population.

..there will be many who will not get the vaccine in time. lots of people with learning disabilities have things like diabetes or heart problems, or lung problems. even before covid, more than four in ten people with a learning disability died of a lung condition like pneumonia. it is clear that, as a group of people, they really are at risk, and they should be prioritised. we are just as important as everybody else that should have a chance of having the vaccine. but we need it now, rather than later. death after death and crisis i after crisis, ijust can't cope... legal action on the grounds of discrimination is being taken against the government. however, the department of health and social care says it is working hard to vaccinate all those at risk. they should be on top of the list. but with learning disabilities being such a complex, often misunderstood condition, campaigners believe that, once again, this group of people are being forgotten. nikki fox, bbc news.

with a quarter of its population vaccinated, israel is leading the global immunisation race against the coronavirus. the israeli government bought large stocks of the jab in exchange for acting as the world's guinea pig and scientists are watching data shared by the country keenly. the israeli health minister yuli edelstein spoke to my colleague andrew marr about their findings so far. we are just in the beginning of the campaign. unfortunately, we do see cases after getting the first dose, people get sick, get the coronavirus. at the same time, there are some encouraging signs of less severe diseases, less people hospitalised after the first dose. so at this stage, it's very difficult to say. it's not a clinical trial yet. it's just our empiric data, and we sincerely hope we will have better information very soon. we still have a very small number of those

who we consider fully vaccinated, meaning a week after the second dose, according to pfizer instructions. so we still can't boast accurate data on that. we are collecting every piece of information. we hope to be able very soon to say the number of those hospitalised goes down. and one thing we are closely following, there's always been the situation where you have a rise in people who are infected, you have an immediate rise in hospitalised and severe cases. we hope that this graphic, this slide will change a little bit, and then we'll be able to talk about the influence of the vaccine. mr edelstein also responded to criticism that israel has excluded palestinians from its vaccine rollout. as far as the vaccination is concerned, i think israeli obligation first and foremost to its citizens.

they pay taxes for that, don't they? having said that, i do remember it's our interest, not our legal obligation, but it's our interest to make sure palestinians get the vaccine, that they will have the covid—i9 spreading. i understand that, but the palestinians have asked you for vaccines and you haven't given them some, and under the fourth geneva convention, israel is required to do so. article 56 says israel must adopt and supply the prophylactic and preventative measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics in co—operation with local authorities — that means the vaccine. so why aren't you giving them the vaccine? i would say first of all we can look into the so—called 0slo agreements, which says loud and clear that palestinians have to take care of their own health. i'm sorry to interrupt, but the united nations says international law should supersede the oslo agreements on this.

if it is the responsibility of the israeli health minister to take care of the palestinians, what exactly is the responsibility of the palestinian health minister? the palestinians turn to us in terms of helping them with their medical teams... i authorised vaccines to those medical teams who directly work with corona patients and the palestinian authority, and as you can hear, it's not because i think we have a legal obligation, it's because i understand that they are doctors and nurses and they don't get the vaccine at this stage. that was israel's health minister speaking to andrew marr. new zealand has reported its first case of covid—i9 outside of a quarantine facility in more than two months. health officials said a 56—year—old woman who had recently returned from europe tested positive 10 days after completing

a compulsory two—week period of managed isolation. contact tracing efforts are under way and authorities have published a list of locations the woman visited. officials in new zealand have been giving more details of the case. the case is a 56—year—old woman who has recently been through isolation at the pullman hotel in auckland, after returning from europe. she tested negative twice during her stay, and was released following that. we don't yet know the origin or the strain of the infection. it's important not to speculate on that until we have that information. it's also too early to speculate on what our possible response options may be, including things like alert levels. we are working on the assumption that this is a positive case and that it is a more transmissible variant — either the one identified first in south africa, or the uk, or potentially brazil, or another more transmissible variant.

given where we are in this global pandemic, the variants that are becoming more common are the ones that are more transmissible. italy has accused the pharmaceutical firms, pfizer and astrazeneca, of serious contract violations after the companies announced they would not be able to deliver their coronavirus vaccines as agreed. prime minister giuseppe conte said the delays were unacceptable. the two companies have said production problems have forced them to cut the amount of vaccine doses they can deliver. tim allman reports. salvation in a syringe. the covid vaccination programme is being rolled out across the world, millions of people have already had theirfirstjab. billions more awaiting their turn. but are enough doses being provided? in italy, the answer to that question is apparently no. the country's prime minister insists that is unacceptable. giuseppe conte said:

and it's notjust italy. belgium's vaccine task force says it will receive fewer than half the number of covid—i9 vaccines it had expected in the first three months of the year. pfizer and astrazeneca have warned they won't be able to deliver the amounts promised due to production problems. and in a new twist, the new york times is reporting that pfizer plans to provide fewer vials because they discovered they could extract an extra dose from each vial which was only supposed to contain five. at the end of the day it's important to recognise that pfizer and other large pharmaceutical companies are for—profit companies, and they have a responsibility

to their shareholders to try to extract as much profit as they can. the company insists it is fair as the contract is based on doses, not vials, and the lucky discovery means it can stretch the vaccine even further, meaning more doses reach more people. but until the majority are vaccinated, the fight against the virus will have to take other forms. in the netherlands, a night—time curfew has been introduced, the first nationwide curfew there since the second world war. the wait for a vaccine may mean more lives are being lost. four vaccination centres in wales have been closed after heavy snow. snow has fallen across much of england. this was the scene in sutton coldfield this morning. south west england and the midlands saw some early snowfall before it moved east to london and surrounding areas. moved east to london the snow has been welcomed with delight by many on social media, but there are weather warnings in place for much of the midlands and south of england, as well as wales,

scotland and northern ireland, until the end of the day. the headlines on bbc news... the government reveals there are 77 cases of the south african variant of covid in the country but says the cases are under "very close" observation. fines are handed out as more than 300 people attend an illegal rave in east london.police say organisers locked the doors from the inside to stop them getting in. severe weather warnings for snow and ice are in place across much of the uk amid fears of travel disruption. sport now. for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin ramjaun. there is some news of the cricket. there's been another outstanding innings from england captain joe root, who's kept his side in the second test against sri lanka in galle. at stumps on day three, england were 339—9 —

just 42 runs behind. here's our sports correspondent, joe wilson. here is one face of england cricket's face so far. to route with a smile. here is how the captain managed to make another 100 against sri lanka. there were lots of shot like that. he see his perfect timing when you slow it down. joe route takes the ball from butler. the ball was travelling, sri lanka could have used an extra field there. a decent turn of pace, not built to catch. sri lanka grab this chance to get rid of butler. replays revealed the ball bouncing from bat to boot. it did not hit the ground, so he was out for 55. england were six down. here is anotherface out for 55. england were six down. here is another face of the series. his happy. england depended on their captain, butjoe root was feeling the wear and tear after hours in the middle. who would help? england

gradually neared sri lanka pass mac score. with this shot, another celebration. his score to 150. batting from sunrise to sunset. almost. joe root kept improvising and scoring. the final minutes of the day. joe root forward. scrambling back. replay showed it coming off before the bat came off the crease. 186 and gutted. 0h, you've got to feel for him. in the early kick—off — chelsea have the lead against luton town. tammy abraham with two goals in the first 20 minutes, to put chelsea two up. the championship side pulled one back before half time —

goalkeeper kepa arrizabalaga might have done better here letting jordan clark's effort through. into the second half there. live on bbc one. the score is 2—1. later on, it's premier league leaders manchester united against liverpool. that's also live on bbc one, kick—off at five o'clock. these two clubs have lifted the fa cup 19 times between them, but liverpool have failed to score in their last four premier league games, including a goalless draw with in form united earlier this month. it's a different competition, so again, yes, we want to go through and for that we have play really well because united is obviously in a good moment. they get all the results they wanted so far and that's why we have to be ready, 100%. in a cup run, it can be... it can easily get, well, sometimes, you get to a final without really playing - any of the top ones, _ so this time around we've picked one of the favourites and of course we know this is a big one - if you want to go all the way.

elfyn evans was unable to end britain's 53—year wait for a monte carlo rally winner. he'd already surrendered the lead yesterday to his toyota team mate and world champion sebastien 0hzhey. and the frenchman ran away with it today, winning three of the four stages to claim a record eighth victory in the event. evans finished runner up, 32 seconds behind. england's tyrrell hatton produced a stunning final round, to win the abu dhabi championship. it was extremely tight at the top of the leaderboard at the start of the day but hatton surged ahead with a six—under—par 66. 0vernight leader rory mcilroy finished five shots back. hatton said it was a big boost to win so early in the season, especially with ryder cup points at stake. three of today's women's super league games have fallen foul of the weather. but manchester united against birmingham is under way —

united leading 1—0 — you can follow it on the bbc sport website. i'll be back with more later. thank you very much, gavin. the snp will present its national assembly with what it's calling a roadmap to a new referendum on scottish independence. the plan sets up the possibility of a showdown in the courts with the westminster government over the legality of a fresh poll. borisjohnson opposes another referendum — even if the snp wins a majority in this year's scottish parliament elections. speaking on the andrew marr show, their leader said they would push ahead with the plans, even if the prime minister is against them. he is frightened of democracy. the polls now show a majority of people in scotland want independence. if the snp win the scottish election in a few months�* time on a proposition of giving the people that choice, then what democrat could rightly stand in the way of that? boris johnson clearly just fears the verdict and the will of the scottish people.

0ur scotland political editor glenn campbell says the snp have been buoyed by recent opinion polls. there is a trend now in opinion polling suggesting majority support for independence in scotland. a panel —based survey of 1200 people surveyed today, suggesting support at 52%, a little bit lower than the last time from the survey in november. the trend is consistently suggesting majority support for independence. no support that the snp want to try and capitalise on that and will go into the next holyrood election due in may with a promise to have a referendum promised. what they are doing now in setting up this road map, effectively setting out their plan a and plan b. first, they want to try and plan b. first, they want to try and win the election as convincingly as they can and hope that boris

johnson's opposition to it crumbles. if not, they say they will continue to legislate for a left for random —— legislate for a referendum and be prepared to take that to court to see if they can have a vote without the uk agreement. they said they would not go ahead with the referendum unless it was deemed legal and would not go ahead until after the pandemic. she legal and would not go ahead until after the pandemic.— after the pandemic. she was also asked about _ after the pandemic. she was also asked about the _ after the pandemic. she was also asked about the inquiry - after the pandemic. she was also asked about the inquiry into - after the pandemic. she was also asked about the inquiry into how| after the pandemic. she was also i asked about the inquiry into how the allegations into the former first minister was handled.— allegations into the former first minister was handled. yes, this was a big controversy — minister was handled. yes, this was a big controversy that _ minister was handled. yes, this was a big controversy that would - minister was handled. yes, this was a big controversy that would be - minister was handled. yes, this was l a big controversy that would be much more prominent if it were not for the pandemic. we are getting to a stage now where inquiries into the scottish government's handling of harassment complaints by alex

hammond are nearing an end. for background, al examined one more than half £1 million in fees against the government. he faced a criminal trial in which he was acquitted. what began with complaints about his behaviour has now morphed into something of a trial for his successor, nicola sturgeon. a political parliamentary trial. it all boils down to whether or not she has been candid in what she knew when about all of this. al examined's supporters would say she has not. they accuse her of misleading parliament, breaking the code of conduct. nicola sturgeon said in that interview, she insisted she has not misled parliament. and accuses the supporters of pursuing fake conspiracy theories and

insisting that when she appears before an inquiry she will give a full account of her role. that was glen campbell — full account of her role. that was glen campbell there. _ a year ago, the world saw its first coronavirus lockdown come into force in wuhan, the chinese city where the pandemic erupted. it proved to be a successful way to tackle the virus. earlier i spoke to drjonathan quick, managing director of pandemic prevention at the rockefeller foundation about the way to end a pandemic. it ends first of all when you have strong consistent leadership at a ll levels. so that you can mobilise for the kind of, i hate to use the word, but lockdowns. it ends when you listen to scientists and adopt safe living habits. you know, masking, ventilation, the distance. and it ends when you get the majority of the planet vaccinated. i refer to there to what the chinese authorities had done in wuhan, with

that really tough lockdown in the very beginning. we have seen different countries responding in slightly different ways. what would you say about the differences in national strategies and their relative success or failures that we have seen around the world? well, it has been absolutely stunning the differences. asia, which had experienced this before, with earlier coronaviruses like singapore, korea, they knew they had to move quickly. they had the testing already, they have a fraction of the deaths per population that we see in europe and north america. the countries next door to each other, germany has half the death rate that france does. decisive leadership, tough action. canada has half the death rate that the us does. and the leadership here was chaotic. i mean, it is like

fighting a war except instead of thousands of troops, it is thousands of viruses and so you need one army, one battle and one battle leader. and that is where there was a lot of variation in the response. and if it is like fighting a war, is it the case that some leaders just aren't prepared for it? because they have not had to deal with this kind of thing before. i mean, you mentioned asian countries where they have had something similar in the past. well, even if you have not dealt with it before, it is listening to the scientist. if you take norway and sweden, right next door to each other. norway, they listened to the scientists, they made some tough decisions early on. sweden said, well, we will try kind of against scientific advice, we will try to just let it run wild and get natural immunity. so now has almost three times a death rate of norway. so even if you have not been there before, a good leader goes to the experts, gets their advice, understanding that with a new

pandemic, that advice is going to change as we get new information. but that is critical. leaders everywhere know that theirjob is to unify, mobilise, encourage. and if they are not doing that, then they are not fighting the battle. you speak of leaders and of course the united states has a new leader. donald trump ferociously criticised —— he was ferociously criticised for his handling. how much difference you thinkjoe biden and his strategy will make? . ., , you thinkjoe biden and his strategy will make? . ., ., ., will make? night and day. you have a leader who wants _ will make? night and day. you have a leader who wants to _ will make? night and day. you have a leader who wants to unify _ will make? night and day. you have a leader who wants to unify people, - leader who wants to unify people, get a single message, who has an expert team in charge. he is listening to the scientists. we have started a 100 days ramp up of masking and putting the resources in place. 0ne masking and putting the resources in place. one of several reasons why different states have had trouble

responding is because they have not had the resources. we have had gridlock with congress. with good leadership, we expect that the public health measures which we know work will be put into place faster and more effectively. that work will be put into place faster and more effectively.— and more effectively. that was doctor jonathan _ and more effectively. that was doctorjonathan quick - and more effectively. that was doctorjonathan quick talking l and more effectively. that was | doctorjonathan quick talking to and more effectively. that was - doctorjonathan quick talking to me earlier on. eleven gold miners trapped underground in china for two weeks have been rescued. a total of twenty two workers were trapped 600 metres below ground at the mine in shandong province following an explosion. it's not clear if others are still alive underground. 0ur correspondent steve mcdonell has more. the first miner came to the surface after two weeks trapped underground. rescuers cheered but he was barely conscious. he had been found by himself, caught in another part of the mine, separated from the main group. wearing a blindfold after being in the dark for so long, he was taken straight to an ambulance and then rushed to hospital for treatment.

soon, others were emerging. there were injuries, but many could walk with the assistance of rescuers who had been battling through freezing conditions, night after night, to reach them. the miners had been told it would take 1a more days translation: the critical patient comes first before the less serious ones. miners had been told it would take 1a days to dig a rescue tunnel. however, somehow a large ventilation shaft was cleared, which led all the way to the main group of ten. suddenly, the rescue was happening in hours rather than weeks. translation: the rescuers checked the miners to see if they had any - injuries and covered their eyes for protection. after lifting up the trapped miners, we will search for the missing ones. 0njanuary 10th, a blast caught 22 workers underground. initially, the accident wasn't reported for 30 hours, costing precious time. the local communist party secretary and mayor have both been sacked

because of the delay and will likely face more strict punishment.