this is bbc news i'm tim willcox with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the united kingdom is the first european state to record more than 100 thousand deaths linked to the pandemic. prime minister borisjohnson says he takes responsibility. i am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost. and of course as prime minister i take full responsibility for everything that the government has done. a life—or—death battle over covid supplies as the european union — threatens to impose export controls on vaccines, made within the bloc. the us senate sees off an attempt by republican rand paul to stop donald trump's second impeachment trial.

and clashes in delhi as thousands of farmers — protesting against new agriculture laws, break through police barricades, and scale the iconic red fort. soon we will be reunited with our friends and family provided we do once upon thing. take the vaccine. and some of the british asian community's best known celebrities have released a video to help address hesitancy around taking the covid—19 vaccine. more than a hundred thousand people in the uk have now died with covid—19, the highest number in europe. the prime minister boris johnson said he was deeply sorry for every death.

he acknowledged there were lessons to learn but insisted his government had done everything it could to save lives. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. a strange and frightening drumbeat first emerged. there have now been four deaths from coronavirus in the uk... then a horrible and familiar rhythm. 759 have sadly died... 5,300. 16,600... 39,728 have now died. the soundtrack of a crisis nearly a year in the making, a terrible crescendo towards today. i'm sorry to have to tell you that today, the number of deaths recorded from covid in the uk has surpassed 100,000. and it's hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic. around a third of those who've fallen victim to the disease are among the most vulnerable, the most elderly, in care homes, cut off from the outside. twice patients came into ty�*s homes with covid without

a test, bringing the worst. this thing came in mercilessly... seven residents died in a week. these people aren't numbers, they're family, they are people we look after, we care for. i'm sorry, i get emotional about it, but it's just devastating. what's it been like foryou, personally? stopping's not an option, is it? i mean, you know, we're dealing with people's lives here, you do whatever it takes, you don't stop. and the cost of the close—down to try to slow the spread of the disease has broken all the wrong records. anna in essex was first, one of millions put on furlough, then redundant, now on the search for a job, sometimes competing with 200 others. it was frightening. you know, i went from sort of hero to zero overnight. i this time last year, l we might have been sitting planning what. .. where we were going to go on holiday. - now, i'm worried about

putting the heating on, | you know, it's a real... real worrying times. the pandemic�*s absorbed almost all the government's time and focus, but whether on adequate equipment, testing or lockdown itself, ministers have been accused again and again of being too slow at the start. there is a strong sense, i think, that our government has been behind the curve at every stage. that there has been, if you like, a reluctance to take tough decisions when they needed to be taken. no government's ever grappled with a problem quite like this, but hoping for the best, the country's experiences are near the worst. prime minister, near the start the hope in government was to contain the numbers to 20,000. it's now five times that. what went so wrong? i'm deeply sorry for every life that has been lost. and, of course, as prime minister, i take full responsibility for everything that the government has done. what i can tell you is that we

truly did everything we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise loss of life, and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult... ..stage. .. and a very, very difficult crisis for our country. the appearances in downing street, the announcements of the daily toll, may feel like a terrible routine. but right now, in these dark days, how the government is run and how we live is hardly normal. not normal at all. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. later news, westminster. in the programme will be hearing later in the programme will be hearing from some of the families who have lost relatives in the pandemic. the virus was first detected in the city of wuhan in china, a little over a year ago, late in 2019. the outbreak spread quickly across the world in the first months of 2020 and was declared a global pandemic by the world health organization

on the 11th march. so how does the uk death toll compare with the rest of the world? and as the number of global cases rises to over 100 million, what can explain why some countries have been hit so much harder than others? our science editor david shukman reports. the pandemic has touched every nation. the virus claiming lives as it has spread across the globe. despite the arrival of vaccines, the toll continues to be heavy. more than two million people around the world have now died of covid so far but some countries have suffered far more than others and the best way to measure that is to look at the number of deaths in relation to the size of the population. so, vietnam, new zealand, australia and norway have seen ten deaths or fewer per 100,000 people. in fact, more than half the countries of the world have recorded losses at this relatively low level. denmark, germany, poland

and many others have lost more but brazil, the us, italy and the uk are among those with the greatest losses of all, at least 100 covid deaths for every 100,000 people. so, what might explain this? a key question is the government response and how fast it was. some countries were quick to enforce social distancing and other measures, like masks, for example. and the results have been clear. there is a lot more virus per 100,000 population in the uk and the us, in my view, than there is in some of the east asian countries which have reacted more rapidly and robustly when the outbreak started. planning for the pandemic is anotherfactor and how effective those preparations were. countries hit by the sars virus back in 2003 learnt lessons and got ready. so did nations struck by ebola.

britain provided them with expertise and finance to help look out for the next disease. we financed those institutions that help to respond to outbreaks. yet we really don't listen to our own advice so we didn't listen to the institutions that we finance that then said to do this you need to implement effective track and trace and do that quickly, swiftly as possible. and then there's the controversial question of borders and were they closed. many countries did shut their frontiers but the advice from the world health organization was to keep them open because by then the virus would have slipped through anyway. but that guidance was often ignored. some states did it. states such as new zealand, australia, they did it and it benefited them. in terms of minimising the risk of infection from those coming outside of the country. so, it really raises this question of what this advice around borders coming from the world health organization effective and did

it harm those countries that didn't close off its borders? how different countries have responded will be examined for years to come but, right now, the struggle against the virus is far from over. david shukman, bbc news. the supply of coronavirus vaccines is a critical issue — and the eu is angry — because it says, it's not getting its fair share. it's threatened to impose controls on the export of vaccines made within the bloc — and that could affect the supply of the pfizer/biontech jab to other countries. our europe correspondent nick beake explains. this international health crisis became even more political today. and that's because the eu is furious with the makers of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine who have told eu countries that in the coming weeks they will be receiving far fewer vaccines than promise. tens of millions fewer. and tonight the boss of astrazeneca said this

is a consequence of the eu signing its contract three months after the uk did. for example, they haven't had the same amount of time to iron out production problems on their european site. the eu is simply not buying this though. and it's vowing to tighten the export of vaccines that are made within the eu. so you think of the big phizer factory here in belgium. normally lots of those jobs would be going to non—eu countries. which of course now includes the united kingdom. borisjohnson saying tonight that he is fully confident in the supply of vaccines coming into the united kingdom and is urging all countries to work together. the us senate has rejected an attempt to stop donald trump's impeachment trial. the republican rand paul argued the hearing would be unconstitutional because mr trump is no longer president. but he was defeated by fifty— five votes to forty— five. democrats need to gain the support of seventeen republicans to convict mr trump.

he stands accused of inciting insurrection after his supporters stormed congress earlier this month. our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal gave this update. 45 senators voted to stop this trial from going ahead led by rand paul who is a huge trump ally. mitch mcconnell back to him, the motion was dismissed by a vote of 45 to 55 which means the trial can go ahead on february the 8th. it will be a real uphill battle for the democrats to get those numbers. even president biden said early in the week he didn't think a conviction would happen. they need a two thirds majority. that basically means all the democrats and 17 republicans to back them. they say that they want to convict mr trump because what happened on january the 6th cannot go unpunished. also ultimately it's about stopping him from running for office again because under

the constitution he can run for another term for that mr trump announced yesterday that he has opened an office. these calls at the office of the former president for top showing that he's not going anywhere. he still plans to stick around and be a real influence in politics and still command that control of the republican party. many republicans know that he is still around, he still influential because he has millions of people who support him. so they don't really want to turn their back on him. that is likely why many of them and are coming out to say that trying it would be unconstitutional. to india and police have clashed with farmers protesting in delhi — after tens of thousands converged on the capital, to demonstrate against agriculture reforms. the mass protests turned violent after crowds broke through police baracades. farmers fear reforms to the agricultural industry, will damage their livelihoods. todays protest, is the biggest yet and coincides with india's — republic day celebrations.rajini vaidynathan reports. india's farmers aren't backing down.

as they advance to the capital in their thousands, barricades were breached. officers fired tear gas, protesters and police were left injured. a mass movement against a law farmers fear will drive them out of business. and the biggest challenge yet for the country's prime minister on a day meant to celebrate national pride. the mood is tense here as thousands of farmers try to make their way into delhi. they say they have been trying to get the government to listen to them for weeks. now, they hope their voice is heard. the government says the reforms will benefit farmers by allowing them to sell directly to big business. but many like singh fear that once this happens the guaranteed prices they get for crops will eventually disappear. translation: these laws will have an effect - on anyone who eats. if corporates are allowed

to come in, they will buy from us at very low prices. and we will lose our livelihoods. four in ten indians work in agriculture. farmers are a powerful force. despite multiple rounds of talks with the government, they are refusing to budge. and it has put the country's prime minister on the back foot. on the other end of town, he hosted the annual republic day parade. many say the populist leader misread this crisis. as hundreds of farmers forced their way into delhi's historic red fort, they remained defiant and say they will protest historic red fort, they remained defiant and say they will protest until the laws are repealed. they have got this far. they are not retreating. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: famous faces from british asian and black

communities have fronted a new video hoping to dispel myths around the covid vaccine. three of my aunties and one of my uncles_ three of my aunties and one of my uncles have had the vaccine. my mum — my uncles have had the vaccine. my mum has had the vaccine. my father my mum has had the vaccine. father who my mum has had the vaccine. my father who is 80 had it. my father who is 80 had it. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman schoolteacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, at the square the heart of official cairo, the demonstrators. they were using the word revolution. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought - them down in seconds. tonight the search for anyl survivors has an increasing desperation about it| as the hours passed. the new government is firmly

in control of the entire republic of uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of the liberation. they toured the gas chambers and crematoria and relived their horrifying experience. this is bbc news, the latest headlines uk prime minister borisjohnson has offered his "deepest condolences" to britons who have lost relatives to coronavirus, after official figures showed the number of dead now exceeds 100,000. behind the numbers and that 100,000 figure are the people. and the families still trying to come to terms with what has happened. our health correspondent catherine burns has been talking to some of them. richard nabieu died on april tenth.

he was a nurse who worked with elderly people. his daughter, jamie, hated not being able to visit him in hospital. i called him the morning of the day he passed away and waved, and he said, "bye, jamie," and i said, "bye, "daddy, speak to you later, i'll call you in the evening." and the evening never came. i never thought he wouldn't come home. something that i've struggled with is the fact that he was alone, you know. i find comfort in the fact that every day he knew how loved he was, yeah. by the time richard died, the death toll was more than 13,000, but the first wave had peaked. the number of people dying every day began to fall, slowly and gradually. by the start ofjune, more than 38,000 people had died. in reality, the death toll would have been higher. in the early stages of the pandemic the figures only included people who tested positive in hospital.

as summer continued, there was some semblance of normality. packed beaches, foreign holidays, people were encouraged to eat out to help out. every single day, though, there were covid deaths. the numbers were much lower. on septemberfirst, three people died. but, once again, that number started to climb. there were over 700 deaths in september and more than 5,000 in october. across the uk, there were new restrictions, but the death rate stayed stubbornly high in november, around a month before christmas, we were told that we'd be able to have festive bubbles, but the increase in deaths was still speeding up. by december 12th, covid had claimed more than 65,000 lives. mum! # happy birthday to you!# including 50—year—old madula sarwar. she and her husband both caught covid at the same time. the day that mum went into the icu, so the day that mum went on a ventilator, dad was also admitted. my wife was there in the same building, you know, on another floor.

and she wasjust fighting for her life. and you think of all the things... i'm 0k. you think of all the things that, like, you're going to miss. sarwar recovered, but his wife was critically ill for weeks. i had a diary of every day, every day, morning and afternoon, you know? everything isjust written here. including the day medics said sarwar, rasheeq, and his 14—year—old brother could come and say goodbye. "the doctor was very sorry to say that the time has now come to an end." that was the last time i saw her. and she was so beautiful. she was so pretty. she was so beautiful, the way she was looking when she came to my life, 31 years back. so, that's the most precious memory i have. by new year's eve, the death toll had reached 76,000.

now, it's taken just a few more weeks to get to 100,000. and this is not over yet. several british asian celebrities such as adil ray, shobna gulati and nina wadia have joined forces to try and encourage people from minority backgrounds to get the covid—19 vaccine. it's after fake news about the vaccine, particularly in the south asian community, has led to concerns about uptake. let's have a look at a bit of the video they've put together and is on social media. hello. namaste. this past year has been the most challenging for many of us. we've suffered in unimaginable ways. and many of us have lost our loved ones.

but we will find our way through this. and we will be united once again with our friends and our families. looking after others - and serving our community is what we do. it's how we've been brought up. that's why we have such immense pride when a family member- becomes a doctor or a nurse. there is no chip or tracker to keep watching where you're going. your mobile phone does a much betterjob than that. not only will you be saving your life but you'll be saving other lives too. and there can be no better gift than that. thank you. i've been speaking to the actress nina wadia, who's in the video, and she told me everyone has their reasons for deciding if they do or don't want the vaccine, but the message is that it is safe and it will save lives. everyone has their reasons for deciding one way or the other. what we can do is we can stress the fact that the vaccine is safe and, currently,

it is the only way out of this pandemic. it's been trialed on people from all different ethnic backgrounds and there's been no significant negative reactions from anyone from the ethnic backgrounds. the message we want to get out there is that it is safe and it will save lives. so, please, please ignore the nonsense that's out there that says otherwise. if we all band together, we can all look after each other, and the bame community in particular, we are suffering in greater percentages than other communities, and so we need to do this. the trouble is that fake news believers, conspiracy theorists, won't accept that, will they? they'll say, "no, but you've got that wrong. of course you would say that!" and, again, without going into too much scientific detail, presumably, the reason behind this video is to use established figures like yourself, people who are trusted, who are role models, to try to push

this message home. but again, beneath that, though, if you look at, for example, engagement with health services in various communities, is this a product of that as well, do you think? it must be a product of many years of feeling let down. and now, when the community needs to be brought together, they're nervous, they're scared, and that's why we've got to get together and say, please... we've had members of ourfamily who have been vaccinated... i can't wait to get vaccinated, i'm waiting my turn, unfortunately, but genuinely, i think it is the only way forward, and if you look at the scientific facts... please do that. the professor you spoke to earlier, they speak sense. these are people who are answering all the questions, all the reasons that there's concerns. i know that one of the big

concerns is, "how did they get the vaccine out so quickly when all the vaccines takes so long to be made?" and those questions have been answered. there are enablers out there who have made sure that regardless of the funding that was needed, regardless of anything, they've got together and found something that actually works, that will significantly reduce you passing it on to someone else if you take it. and think about it as a community. that's the one thing that the bame community are good at doing. we look after each other. we are pleading on behalf of the scientists out there, nhs workers and others who just want to keep people alive. please, take the vaccine, save lives. and one argument to debunk the myths is that the scientists behind the pfizerjab were of muslim faith themselves. just a final point. do you think the government and the nhs should have done more about this? it's been picked up by various newspapers and bloggers as a campaign, but do you think the government needs to do more?

i don't know how much more the government can do. i do believe they are, at this point, doing as much as they can possibly do. i know the messages are getting out there and, yes, i guess i could join the bandwagon and say they could've done more about it, but at this point, let's not look backwards, let's look forwards and say, "if they don't do what they need to do, we're getting together as a community and saying, please save lives, get the vaccine done. it is safe." we are all getting it done, we just need to push that out there. please, please, please stop listening to fake news and absolute rubbish that is out there. go onto proper websites and actually get the information that you need. watch the bbc, please! we would agree with that. about that video encouraging people to take the vaccine. plenty more on that story and all the others of course on the

website. that's it from me. hello there. big temperature contrasts in the forecast for the next few days. many of us feeling the effects of a flow of mild air from the southwest. with that, you can see a lot of cloud on our earlier satellite image, but the orange colours working in, showing that milder air. however, notice the blue colours up towards the north. cold air holds on, particularly across the northern half of scotland — a cold start to wednesday here. much milder down towards the south, but across southern england, into southern and western wales, it's going to be quite misty and murky, damp and drizzly for a good part of the day. from the midlands and east anglia northwards, we should see some spells of sunshine. any rain, sleet and snow showers across southern scotland should tend to fade. best sunshine of all,

i think, to be found across the far north of scotland. that's also where we'll have the lowest of the temperatures, whereas down to the south, highs of 11 or 12 degrees. now, through wednesday night, this band of rain, heavy rain, is going to work its way northeastwards. could be enough rain to cause some flooding across parts of north wales and north west england. remember, the ground here is still very wet. quite an array of temperatures as we start thursday morning. and with our band of rain working northwards into the cold air and then becoming very slow—moving, well, we could well see some quite significant snow. now, i think this will mostly be over the high ground, say, above 200 metres, in the pennines, up into the southern uplands, the south of the grampians as well, but where this snow does fall, it's going to be falling through a good part of the day, so that could cause some travel disruption. more likely, rain and sleet at low levels. northern scotland seeing some brightness, but it will be very cold here, just two or three degrees. down towards the south, if we see a little bit

of sunshine, highs of 13 or 1a. exceptional for this time of year. now, the snow will be falling for quite some time across high ground of northern england and scotland. 15 to 30 cm of snow is possible. that could cause some disruption on high—level routes during thursday night. this next band of wet weather could well help to add to those snow totals, but as we get on into friday, the wet and wintry weather should tend to ease away. it will turn increasingly dry with some sunshine. still pretty chilly across the north and mild in the south, with highs of 12 degrees.

you're watching bbc news. the headlines: the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk has passed 100,000 — the highest in europe. prime minister borisjohnson said he was "deeply sorry" for every life lost and promised that lessons would be learned. the country has been struggling to contain a new more contagious variant that emerged late last year. the european commission president has warned producers of covid vaccines that they must deliver on their promises, as a row grows over the supply of the jabs within the eu. two companies — astrazeneca and pfizer—biontech — both said production problems meant deliveries were likely to be lower than expected. the us senate has rejected an attempt to stop donald trump's impeachment trial. the republican rand paul argued the hearing would be unconstitutional because mr trump is no longer president,

that is it.