welcome to bbc news, i'm freya cole, our top stories: democrats say they'll implement a huge covid relief package with or without republican support, as the us passes 25 million cases. more than 70 cases of the south african variant of covid are identified in the uk, amid concerns the vaccine may be less effective against it. dozens arrested as riot police clash with protesters demonstrating against new lockdown restrictions in the netherlands. relief, andjoy, in china, as eleven miners are rescued after two weeks trapped underground. and a new record has been set for the number of satellites launched into space on a single rocket.

hello and thanks forjoining us. we begin in the united states, which has now recorded more than 25 million coronavirus cases. that analysis from johns hopkins university means the us, is the hardest hit country in the world, with nearly a18,000 people dying with the virus so far. presidentjoe biden has signed executive orders to expand testing and vaccine the production of essential and guarantee unemployment benefits as part of his covid action plan to try get on top of the pandemic. our correspondent nomia iqbal is in washington with more on why tackling covid is the president's top priority. he has said he believes

that the pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better. orders you laid out to try and tackle the pandemic, especially now you have this grim milestone of 25 million cases, that comes days after more than 400,000 people have died. but there needs to be more done and he knows that. so one of the key things he will try to push through is a package which is worth more than $1 trillion through congress. among some of those things, as well as providing a one—off check to americans, increasing the rate at which americans are vaccinated. he wants 100 million to be vaccinated within the first 100 days and he needs money for that to happen. and the fear is that with the coronavirus, it could mutate into a strain that all these approved vaccinations so far could resist. so that is a huge concern. it is a bit of a race against time at the moment. as if there isn't enough to do

right now, of course, what biden and congress will have the us has begun to roll out the vaccine to priority groups, but significant gaps have begun to emerge between states, with some proving more successful at administering the doses they have recieved. it's largely rural counties that are leading the way. both north dakota and west virginia have administered 72% of doses in their the heavily affected state of california lags behind, with just 37% of the doses in their possession having been given to the public. west virginia was unique amongst us states, rallying on local, independent pharmacies to adminster the vaccine, rather than larger retail chains. earlier, i spoke to gretchen garofoli, clinical associate professor at west virgnia university, who was been directly involved in the program. it has been an amazing experience, the highlight of my career, truly, to be

involved with this effort. west virginia, like you mentioned, partnered with pharmacies throughout the state. so, we did not go with the federal plan, we followed our state plan, which included all pharmacies that wanted to be a part of it. so that was really the key to our success, was utilising everybody that we could to get out there and distribute the vaccines. and you've been working in aged care homes for the vaccine rollout, have you experienced any anti—vaccine sentiment? there is hesitancy with this vaccine as there are with any vaccines, so we have really utilised this to educate and provide that education to the staff at the nursing home. and most of the nursing home facilities that we have been in, most of the residents have decided to be vaccinated. where we are seeing some hesitancy has been with regards to the staff.

so we utilise that as an opportunity to answer any questions they may have, to help alleviate any hesitation they may have, and when we went back to do second dose clinics at the first nursing home that we vaccinated, we did have a lot more staff at that point in time that did decide to get vaccinated, which we considered a win. the uk has identified 77 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in south africa. the government says cases are linked to travellers arriving in the uk, rather than community transmission. 0ur science editor, david shukman reports. all kinds of surprising locations are now mobilised in the push for vaccination — even the black country living museum near birmingham. used as a set in the drama peaky blinders, this celebration of an earlier age is ready to offer the most modern of medicines, everything prepared for coronavirus vaccines.

please, please come and get your vaccine. we are here and we are ready and we are waiting for you. it is vitally important that people protect themselves, protect their families and protect one another. we do know that the injections offer good protection. they boost antibodies in the bloodstream and keep people from getting ill. but it's not clear if that stops the virus causing infections that can then spread to others. as we understand more and more about this virus that anybody, really, with a variety of underlying health conditions or perfectly healthy can still get severe covid, so it is important we still maintain our social distancing and wear masks and the other procedures we are experiencing, because the risk of passing the infection could still be considerable. and another concern is how the virus is changing. a variant in south africa is one of several being checked to see how effective the vaccines are against it. 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 is why we've got such stringent border measures in place. so, a big question is how to manage the uk's borders. many countries require travellers to quarantine in hotels. there's pressure on the government for 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 as well to start checking up on the people who are quarantining. only three out of every hundred people who are asked to quarantine when they arrive in the uk actually faces any checks at all.

that's just simply not sufficient. and meanwhile, not everyone is getting the message. the police broke up an illegal rave in east london in the early hours and they issued fines totalling £15,000. david shukman, bbc news. in france, the top scientific adviser says the country probably needs a third coronavirus lockdown. jean—francois delrassy says the situation will be extremely difficult by mid—march if authorities fail to contain new covid variants. earlier this month, france brought forward the start of its nightly curfew to 6pm, but since then, the average number of new infections has increased from 18,000 per day to more than 20,000. dutch police have deployed water canons and tear gas on anti—lockdown protesters in the southern city of eindhoven. there were smaller demonstrations in the capital amsterdam too. more than a hundred people have been arrested. burning bicycles were built as a barricade. in eindhoven, they wore facemasks to avoid detection, and hurled rocks to

repel the riot police who eventually used tear gas to clear the streets. families stopped to stare, while others steered clear. the roads were blocked and supermarkets looted as frustration turned to opportunism. the netherlands has just entered its toughest lockdown since the start of the pandemic. while the number of daily covid—19 cases have generally been falling, there are considerable concerns about the risks posed by the new variants. first detected in the uk, south africa, south america. on saturday, all flights from these places were banned. there is resentment, too. this liberal nation that enjoyed a relatively relaxed lockdown during the first wave has been forced to change its tune and is now facing one of the toughest in the world. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. let's get some of the day's other news.

calculations by 0xfam suggest the combined wealth of ten of the world's richest men has increased during the coronavirus pandemic by 400 billion pounds. the charity says that's enough to pay for every single person in the world to be vaccinated. it's called the situation shameful and says the richest people need to be taxed more fairly. boeing's troubled 737 max aircraft is expected to be approved for flying by regulators in europe this week. the plane returned to us skies last month for the first time since march 2019 when it was grounded worldwide after two deadly crashes. portugal's conservative president, marcelo rebelo de sousa, has secured a second term in office, winning the presidential election with 61% of the vote. he inflicted a heavy defeat on his left—wing rival, ana gomes, who secured only 13%, and the far—right populist, andre ventura, who got about 12%.

the scottish national party has set itself on a collision course with the uk government, saying it will press ahead with planning another independence vote if it wins a majority in the scottish elections in may. and it's warned that it will fight downing street in court if ministers refuse to allow the vote. rescuers in china have freed 11 miners, who were trapped 600 metres underground for two weeks. an explosion at a gold mine in shandong province caused the collapse of its entrance tunnel, while a total of 22 miners were below ground. stephen mcdonell has the latest. after two weeks trapped underground, he took his first breath of air above the mine. his eyes masked against the glaring light, his gratitude to be alive overwhelming. one of 11 miners rescued today, after a dramatic change in fortune. the first miner out prompted cheers.

he was barely conscious, after being found still alive but separated from the main group, which had been receiving food and medicine. soon, others were emerging. there were injuries, but many could walk, with the assistance of those who'd been battling through freezing conditions night after night to reach them. translation: the rescuers checked the miners to see l if they had any injuries and covered their eyes for protection. after lifting up all the trapped miners, we'll go on with the search for the missing ones. 22 workers were on shift on the 10th of january when the blast hit the shandong gold mine. 11 miners were trapped together. one, 50 metres below them, ten others missing. an initial delay of 30 hours in reporting the accident led to the sacking of local officials. then a week later, miners were discovered alive, and a long, thin communication tunnel meant emergency deliveries, even prompting a request for sausages.

one of the main group died from his head injuries and they lost contact with their colleague, trapped below. with underground water rising, it was looking grim when officials said it would take 1a more days to dig a rescue tunnel through 600 metres of granite. but somehow, a large ventilation shaft was cleared which led all the way to them and, within hours, they were being rescued and on their way to hospital. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: lauched into the record books, spacex sends 143 satellites into orbit on a single rocket flight. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after left off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them were believed to have been killed. bi;

all of them were believed to have been killed.— have been killed. by the evening. _ have been killed. by the evening, the _ have been killed. by the evening, the heart - have been killed. by the evening, the heart of. have been killed. by the - evening, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of demonstrators. they were using the word revolution. the earthquake _ the word revolution. the earthquake singled - the word revolution. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any— in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the — increasing desperation about it as the hours passed. a increasing desperation about it as the hours passed.— as the hours passed. a new government _ as the hours passed. a new government is _ as the hours passed. a new government is finally - as the hours passed. a new government is finally in - government is finally in control_ government is finally in control of— government is finally in control of the _ government is finally in control of the republicl government is finally in i control of the republic of uganda _ control of the republic of uaanda. . ., , control of the republic of uganda-— uganda. survivors of the auschwitz _ uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration | uganda. survivors of the - auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of the liberation. they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria and relived their horrifying experiences. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: democrats in the us congress say they'll implement a huge

covid—19 relief package with or without republican support, as the country passes 25 million cases of the virus. more than 70 cases of the south african variant are identified in the uk, amid concerns the vaccine may be less effective against it. there are few public holidays around the world that are as controversial as australia day. it's held onjanuary 26th and every year. there is emotive and often tense debate about the significance of the date. january 26 was coined australia day in 1935, but it was made a national public holiday in 1994. it marks the arrival of the first british convict ships in 1788, when captain arthur phillip proclaimed british sovereignty. indigenous people say the date marks the genocide of their people, and have declared it a day of national mourning, not a day of national pride and celebration. prime minister scott morrison is a staunch supporter of australia day

remaining onjanuary 26. he had this to say earlier this week. 0n australia day, it's all about acknowledging how far we have come. you know, when those 12 ships turned up in sydney, all those years ago, it wasn't all those years ago, it wasn't a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels either, and i think what that day, to this, demonstrate is how far we have come as a country, and that's why i think it is important we market in that way. it's not about that day so much, it's about how far we have come together since that day. you can'tjust airbrush things that have happened in the past. i'm joined now by gunai and gunditjmara woman, meriki 0nus — an indigenous activist based in melbourne. thank you so much forjoining us. tell us, and tell our viewers around the world, how australia day is currently marked, and what it means for

indigenous australians. currently, it is a public holiday, most australians call it australia day, but in recent times, there has been a huge push back from indigenous people and our allies on what the day really means for our indigenous brothers and sisters across the nation. it represents a day of dispossession and genocide, and it's not a day that we celebrate, its not a day that we like to participate in, it is very similar to christopher columbus day in the us, so it's just really telling when the two different versions of australia that the settlers are experiencing and also the indigenous people here. you mentioned — indigenous people here. you mentioned the _ indigenous people here. you mentioned the two - indigenous people here. you mentioned the two different versions of australia, there are of course indigenous federal politicians in federal parliament to think the data should stay onjanuary parliament to think the data should stay on january 26, parliament to think the data should stay onjanuary 26, but when you see the rallies around

the country, there are a lot of young people in attendance. is there a generational divide? it's not entirely true that indigenous politicians are saying that the day should stay the same, it's the liberal party who are currently in government saying that the day should stay the same, so there's one indigenous politician in parliament in the party, but there are other indigenous politicians who say something different, so it's notjust something different, so it's not just a something different, so it's notjust a generational thing, this comes from our grandparents, parents, wejust grandparents, parents, we just have grandparents, parents, wejust have the opportunity to be a lot more outspoken, we have access to things like social media, we write these opinions ourselves, so we're breaking through the barriers to put our position forward, which is often heard.— position forward, which is often heard. and rallies are lanned often heard. and rallies are planned to _ often heard. and rallies are planned to change - often heard. and rallies are planned to change the - often heard. and rallies are planned to change the date j planned to change the date around australia for tuesday. how will they look this year, given the pandemic? the rallies

are to abolish _ given the pandemic? the rallies are to abolish australia - given the pandemic? the rallies are to abolish australia day, - are to abolish australia day, and that narrative is not often told, and a lot of people who are marching and the reasons they are marching, is to abolish the day until australia can have their postcolonial moment, and we can figure out a day that is worth celebrating. what was the last part of your question? what let's move on to a final thought for you about how you would like to see the final future of australia in terms of unity. i final future of australia in terms of unity.— terms of unity. i think australia _ terms of unity. i think australia has - terms of unity. i think australia has to - terms of unity. i think australia has to come| terms of unity. i think i australia has to come to terms of unity. i think - australia has to come to terms with its past. we want to postcolonial moment, we want is truth and justice, something similar to that of the war crimes commission that the jewish people experienced, went through after world war ii. there are many different ways, a lot of aboriginal people talk about a treaty, but it is definitely time to face the dark past of this country and stop pretending it is not there. ~ ., , . ., stop pretending it is not there. ~ ~' , ., there. meriki onus, thank you so much for— there. meriki onus, thank you so much for your _ there. meriki onus, thank you

so much for your time. - the us company spacex has had a new world record for the number of satellites launched on a single rocket. 143 payloads were on board the falcon rocket which launched from florida. it beats the previous record of 104 satellites set by an indian mission four years ago. earlier i spoke tojonathan mcdowell, he is an astronomer at the harvard smithsonian center for astrophysics and i asked him to paint a picture ofjust how busy space is now. right, there are now over 3,000 working satellites in orbit. the number of satellites launched last year, over 1,200, is twice as many in any previous year, and the one launched today, that is how many you would launch it's getting really crowded out there. it's notjust the number of satellites but the number of players. the small satellites are affordable for start—up companies, for universities, so there are many more different layers involved in space right now. it sound so busy, what are the majority of the satellites being used for?

well, this launch is a good example. there were 64 of the satellites that went up today for communications of some sort. it is a really growing sector, communications between iot, internet of things devices relaying data back to their home companies, and so on. 50 of them were for imaging the earth, a new growing sector's radar satellites which can see through clouds and take pictures even during bad weather. so that is good for british imaging. what are some of the biggest dangers of having too many satellites in space? all of their satellites are going on all different directions at 18,000 miles an hour so you can see what the problem might be. even though space is big right, it is getting crowded enough that there is a serious risk of collisions.

and these modern satellites are all manoeuvring and changing somewhat unpredictably in their orbits so it is a real challenge because no—one is really in charge of, like with our planes with an air traffic control, telling each satellite where to go. that brings me to my next question, do you think there needs to be more regulation in this area? yes i think so. a lot of what we have in space goes back to the 1967 outer space treaty which was very much cast in terms of the us and the soviet union superpowers owning the satellites then. and it is really, you know, showing its age. so i think there really needs to be new standards, new controls and a really international approach to how we manage the traffic in outer space. and how would you go about an international approach satellites up into space? well, right now, every

satellite, a government has to be responsible for it, even if it is owned by a private company or a university. but it is very tenuous. so i think there really needs to be a move towards, for a start, easier registration of satellites for small companies. one thing that is really interesting is that today's flight shows, is that there are actually about six companies that were not launching satellites themselves but bundling other people's satellites to sort of interface between them and spacex. so there is a whole middle layer of companies that really are representative now of a complex economy in space. and so i think that those sort of companies can help in organising things. that astronomerjonathan mcdowell. severe weather warnings are in place across much of britain after

widespread heavy snowfall. travel has been disrupted and several vaccinees in centres were shut but some have been out enjoying the snow as simon jones reports. on your marks, get set, go! a race to get out into the open air, after weeks cooped up inside during lockdown. ijust think it's so important for the soul to get out, enjoy the outdoors when you can. it means literally the world to me because coronavirus has been really hard for people now. these hills in surrey resembled a ski resort, as families came out for their permitted daily exercise. some police forces were quick to remind people to maintain social distancing with dangerous conditions underfoot. and on the roads. in many places, there have been treacherous driving conditions. the snow has fallen on ground that was already freezing and, in many cases, saturated after days of rainfall. it's meant that many people have come up here by foot. a gritting lorry overturned

in devon, as drivers were warned only to travel if absolutely necessary. the flakes came down thick and fast across large swathes of the uk. this was a snowy scene in newport. four coronavirus vaccination centres in south wales were forced to shut. in hampshire, some residents said they were woken up by thundersnow when thunder and lightning combined with the heavy showers. while in worcester, people already reeling from a recent torrential rainfall found they had the snow to add to their concerns. the snow may now largely have blown through but there are further warnings in place for icy conditions tomorrow as temperatures plummet overnight. simon jones, bbc news. a reminder of our top story. the democrat leader in the us senate says president baden's multibillion—dollar covid relief plan will be implemented with or without support from the republican party. you can reach me on twitter, i'm at freya?cole.

stay with us, the news headlines are coming up. hello. monday will start with widespread frost and ice after a wintry weekend which, of course, brought some significant snow in places. it won't be the last covid—secure snowman we see sent in to us this winter and, hopefully, sunday's weather did bring a bit of fun at least. but of course, more people have to be out in the morning, and so that does mean some difficult conditions on untreated roads because it will be icy in places with that widespread frost. after further wintry showers overnight and into the morning across parts of scotland, rain and sleet on the coasts, some snow inland and into the hills. maybe the odd shower into northern ireland and northern england but, actually, monday is one of the better weather days of the week. most places will be dry, variable cloud, decent amount of sunshine and it will feel a bit less cold than it did

over the weekend. into monday night, still some showers, wintry in nature, particularly to hills, affecting parts of scotland, northern ireland and northern england. still frosty and icy, although temperatures start to come up across western areas as we see another system heading our way. and that's going to spread its rain and a bit of hill snow northwards during tuesday. it brings a bit more rain, as do others that follow this week, so if you are in a flood—affected area, certainly worth keeping across conditions near you. not as much rain as last week, but more rain isn't necessarily what you want. we see some rain spreading further north and east during tuesday, into the colder air. at least hill snow into parts of northern england and scotland, and the chance as tuesday comes to an end, especially in scotland, some snow even to low levels here. whereas further south, it turns a bit more milder, but of course, it is wetter. as we go into wednesday, the next weather system will start to move in. looks like it's a pretty slow affair, bringing its rain to the south—west initially,

and it is of course the source of milderair coming in from the atlantic. but running into that cold air towards the north and east, it does set up a bit of a battle, and as that battle takes place during wednesday, again as the wet weather starts to move in, as it moves further north and east, there's the chance of seeing some snow out of that, particularly as we get into wednesday night. although some parts are turning milder this week, it isn't going to last because by the end of the week and into the weekend, the colder air will come south again and there is the chance again next weekend of some parts seeing a bit of snow. that's the forecast.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: the democrat leader in the us senate, chuck schumer, says president biden's multi—billion dollar covid—19 relief plan will be implemented, with or without support from the republican party. the number of coronavirus cases in the us has now exceeded 25 million. the uk has identified 77 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in south africacases have been linked —— first detected in south africa. cases have been linked to travellers arriving in the uk, rather than community transmission. ministers are due to meet on monday to consider imposing tougher restrictions on people arriving from abroad. riot police in the netherlands have used water cannons demonstrators in the city of eindhoven had gathered in defiance of a 9:00pm curfew. some threw fireworks and looted supermarkets.