a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the united kingdom is the first european state to record more than 100,000 deaths linked to the pandemic. 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 battle over covid vaccine supplies — as the european union threatens to impose export controls on any made within the bloc. the us senate sees off an attempt by republican rand paul to stop donald trump's second impeachment trial. shouting and clashes in delhi as thousands of farmers protesting against new

agriculture laws, break through police barricades, and scale the iconic red fort. hello to you. almost a year after the first cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in the uk, the number of people who've died with the disease has passed 100,000. it is a grim moment in the country's struggle against the pandemic, and britain is the first european nation to pass that landmark. only the us, brazil, india and mexico have reported greater loss of life. in downing street, borisjohnson promised lessons would be learnt. he said it was "hard to compute the sorrow" felt by the nation as a whole. on this day, i should just really repeat that 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. 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 minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very difficult crisis for our country and we will continue to do that. borisjohnson there. the virus was first detected in the city of wuhan, in china, 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 11 march. so, how does the uk death toll compare with the rest of the world? 0ur science editor, david shukman, reports. the pandemic has touched every nation. the virus, claiming lives as it has spread across the globe.

and despite the arrival of vaccines, the toll continues to be heavy. more than 2 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 10 deaths orfewer 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 was 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 head of the british—swedish drugs firm astrazeneca has

rejected eu criticism of delays in supplying its covid vaccine. it denied that vaccines were being taken away from the eu to be sold for a profit elsewhere. this from our europe correspondent, nick beake. 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 promised, tens of millions fewer. and tonight the boss of astrazeneca said this as a consequence of the eu signing its contract three months after the uk did. so, for example, they haven't had the same amount of time to iron out production problems at their european sites. 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 pfizer factory here in belgium, normally lots of those jabs would be going to non—eu countries, which now includes the united kingdom. boris johnson, though,

saying tonight he's fully confident in the supply of vaccines coming into the united kingdom and is urging all countries to work together. nick beake for us there. let's get some of the day's other news. italy's prime minister — giuseppe conte — has handed in his resignation after losing the upper house of parliament. a small party quit the coalition over the government's handling of the pandemic and the economic recession. it's not yet clear whether mr conte will have the numbers to form a new coalition government. but he made an impassioned appeal to leaders in the upper house or senate for their support. united nations officials are saying they've heard reports that traders are still planning to stop doing business with yemen, even though the us has frozen its sanctions on houthi rebels. with millions of yemenis at risk of starvation, the country really can't afford any disruption of food supplies. the dutch government says it will not lift a curfew, after several nights of violent protests against increased covid curbs across the netherlands.

shops in rotterdam and other cities were looted and more than 180 arrests have been made. 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 55 votes to a5. 0ur north american correspondent david willis has the details. you are absolutely right, mike, that vote to abandon the trial completely was rejected, despite having the support not only of rand paul but the former senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell. the vote went 55 to a5, so the impeachment trial, the second senate impeachment trial of donald trump, is set to go ahead in two weeks' time. but the implications are that it will be quite a battle for the democrats to secure donald trump's conviction on a trial of incitement of insurrection.

they need a two—thirds majority in the senate. that would mean that 17 senate republicans would have to, if you like, cross the aisle, and even joe biden last night said he thought that was unlikely. the republicans, many of them, are still very loyal to donald trump and he made clear last night in a statement, that he's going nowhere as far as his political influence in the republican party is concerned. so, a lot of people in the party don't want to upset him. just a quick footnote, though, by the way, mike, in regards to that vote today in the senate. a short while ago, it emerged that the most senior democrat in the senate, senator patrick leahy, he's the man who was due to preside over the impeachment trial of donald trump, was taken to hospital today, afterfalling ill in his office in the senate.

now, senator leahy is 80 years old, third in the line of succession, but there's been no formal word thus far about the state of his condition. david, just one other thing, as part of his round of calls with foreign leaders, mr biden — we're told — spoke to vladimir putin, the russian president, today. how did that go? i think famously, when mr biden met mr putin years ago, he looked into his eyes, concluded mr putin had no soul and then told him so. david chuckles absolutely, yes. and all indications are that first conversation took place today sincejoe biden was sworn in as president, between the two leaders, less cordial than the conversations that vladimir putin used to have with donald trump. the two leaders did agree to extend the last remaining us—russia arms control treaties

due to expire next month, but according to the white house readout of the conversation between the two men, mr biden got into the poisoning of the russian opposition activist, alexei navalny, russian interference in the us presidential campaign, and russian aggression against ukraine. now, the kremlin readout of this conversation does not mention those latter points at all. it says that conversation between the two men was frank and businesslike, but clearly, this is a whole new era in relations between the us and russia. david, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: three of my aunties and uncles have had the vaccine. my mother has had the _ have had the vaccine. my mother has had the vaccine. _ famous faces from british, asian and black communities have fronted a new video hoping to dispel myths around the covid vaccine.

the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word �*revolution'. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours passed. the new government is finally in control of the republic of. uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of their liberation. they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria, and relived their

horrifying experiences. 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. the european union is threatening to impose export controls on vaccines, made within the bloc, accusing astrazeneca of reneging on its promised supply of jabs. let's get more from the us now, asjoe biden reverses a flurry of trump—era policies during his first days in office. thejustice department has rescinded the �*zero tolerance' policy that led to family separations at the mexican border. it was ended in 2018 after international outcry; now it's been formally revoked. but lawyers are still unable

to reach the parents of over 600 children. this the american civil liberties union has led the court challenge to the family separation policy, and lee gelernt is the primary lawyer on the case, representing the families in an effort to unite them. hejoins me now. i know you are very busy and you have been waiting a while to come on air with us so thank you very much for that.- you very much for that. thanks for having _ you very much for that. thanks for having me. _ you very much for that. thanks for having me. do _ you very much for that. thanks for having me. do these - you very much for that. thanks l for having me. do these changes no far for having me. do these changes 90 far enough — for having me. do these changes go far enough and _ for having me. do these changes go far enough and if— for having me. do these changes go far enough and if not, - for having me. do these changes go far enough and if not, what i go far enough and if not, what more do you need to see? the? more do you need to see? they do not go _ more do you need to see? they do not go far— more do you need to see? they do not go far enough _ more do you need to see? they do not go far enough that - more do you need to see? tie: do not go far enough that we are expecting the biden administration to do more and we would be disappointed if they do not do more. we need all the families who have been deported to be reunited in the united states, we need them to be even legal status, a victim's front created so they have basic necessities and medical care, especially trauma related care, and we need transparency and accountability. we also need the biden administration to help us find the m—— remaining

600 families. i want to be clear, the 600 we haven't found are not the only ones are still separated. we have had hundreds of other families that the trump administration would not allow it to be re— united in the united states and will be looking to the biden administration to allow all of these families to come to the united states and be given some kind of legal status. help united states and be given some kind of legal status.— kind of legal status. help us understand _ kind of legal status. help us understand this _ kind of legal status. help us understand this picture - kind of legal status. help us understand this picture in i kind of legal status. help us understand this picture in a | understand this picture in a bit more detail. you have parents deported without their children, kids are still in the united states. i think many of them are underfive, under ten. there has to be a very good chance. i know you and your colleagues have been going house—to—house in some cases in central america there has to be some good chance that some of these families will never be reunited. these families will never be reunited-— these families will never be reunited. ~ ., ., , , . reunited. we remain optimistic. we remain _ reunited. we remain optimistic. we remain optimistic— reunited. we remain optimistic. we remain optimistic that - reunited. we remain optimistic. we remain optimistic that we i we remain optimistic that we will find every last parent and we are hoping the biden administration will do the right thing. we think they well. —— well. this has been an

historic thing in the united states. these are small children, these toddlers, ripped away from their parents were debating the biden administration wants to do the right thing and will do the right thing and will do the right thing, and they can do it easily by simply controlling all of these individuals back. there is a mechanism under us law. clinically it is a no—brainer, i have been doing this work and i've never seen such swiss —— swift condemnation across the ideological spectrum but most fundamentally, it is... it has been called flat out child abuse. we owe these families and these children more than just that we say we won't do it again in the future. it is harsh but _ again in the future. it is harsh but you _ again in the future. it is harsh but you know- again in the future. it is i harsh but you know there again in the future. it is harsh but you know there will be people more sympathetic to the trump administration's view on all of this saying at least for these families, the kids got to the states, it could have been worse, they may indeed be parents thinking that. we are separated but at least our kids are still in the states. ~ ~ ., .,

states. well, i think that what we saw is _ states. well, i think that what we saw is most _ states. well, i think that what we saw is most people - states. well, i think that what we saw is most people were l we saw is most people were repulsed by taking little children from their children for —— parents. people may have disagreements about macro immigration policy but the one thing that was really revolting to people was taking little children away from their parents. we saw conservative religious leaders come out, laura bush come out, the first lady, i think that there are people that are going to say well, maybe we need to, ultimately we need to do right by this that thousands of families because what we did here was far beyond the normal immigration policy.— immigration policy. lee, i 'ust want to ski immigration policy. lee, i 'ust want to ask you i immigration policy. lee, i 'ust want to ask you about i immigration policy. lee, ijust want to ask you about one - want to ask you about one development. the federal don't —— judge in texas has blocked the biden administration for enforcing a 100 day auditorium on most applications. that has to be a setback for the new administration's immigration policy. will it stand or do you think it will go to a higher

court? i think it will go to a higher court? ., ., ., court? i do not think it will ultimately _ court? i do not think it will ultimately stand. - court? i do not think it will ultimately stand. the - court? i do not think it will. ultimately stand. the decision is wrong, the administration clearly has discretion to decide what its priorities will be, that has always been the case. ultimately, idon't be, that has always been the case. ultimately, i don't think this decision will stand. thank ou so this decision will stand. thank you so much _ this decision will stand. thank you so much for— this decision will stand. thank you so much for your - this decision will stand. thank you so much for your time. i joe biden has signed four more executive orders aimed at increasing racial equity in the us. the actions which address housing discrimination and criminaljustice reform are seen as a move to fulfil a campaign promise that was made during the height of the race protests over the summer. the president said the killing of george floyd, an unarmed black man, by minnesota police, "opened the eyes of millions" and paved the way for change. he made an appeal to unite the country against systemic racism. the simple truth is, our soul will be troubled as long as systemic racism is allowed to persist. we can't eliminate it overnight, we can't eliminate everything but it's corrosive

and destructive and costly, it costs every american, not just who felt the sting of racial injustice, we are notjust a nation morally deprived because of systemic racism, we are also less prosperous, less successful, secure, so we change, and i know it's going to take time, but i know we can do it. 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 barricades. farmers fear, reforms to the agricultural industry, will damage their livelihoods. today's 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. 0fficers 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 that 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. 0n 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, they say they'll protest until the laws are repealed. they've got this far. they're not retreating. rajini vaidynathan, bbc news, dehli. an oil tanker stranded at sea for more than three years has run aground on a beach in the gulf. the mt iba specialised in trading oil products and was based in the united arab emirates. it has not docked in

port for 43 months. five crew members have remained on board. emirati authorities have not released any information regarding the ship. officials say the vessel will be towed soon. it's one year since one of sport's greatest athletes, basketball legend kobe bryant died. kobe died along with his daughter, gianna, and seven others when their helicopter crashed into a hillside near los angeles. fans of the star have honoured his memory near the stadium where he played. the death of kobe bryant, who won five championships in his 20 seasons with the lakers, stunned the sports world and led to an outpouring of emotion in the city. 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. piano music.

hello, namaste, sat sri akal, as—asalaamu �*alaykum. 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. it's why we have suchl immense pride when a family member becomes a doctor or a nurse. - there is no chip or tracker in the vaccine to keep watch on where you go, your mobile phone actually does a much betterjob of 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.

actress nina wadia who's in the video says 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. they're nervous, they're scared, and that's why we have got together to say, please, you know, we've had members of our family that 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, please listen to, you know, 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 other vaccines take so long to be made? 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 look, think about it as a community. that's the one thing the bame community is good at doing, we look out for each other. so we're pleading, on behalf of the scientists out there, on behalf of the nhs workers, on behalf of other people who just want to keep people alive, please, take the vaccine, save lives. vending machines are most often associated with food and drink but the pandemic has seen a need for diversification. soon, getting a covid test could be as easy as buying a snack, albeit a very expensive one. social enterprise, wellness for humanity has unveiled its new vending machine, offering at home test kits, in new york — a first of its kind in the united states. you purchase the pcr saliva test online for around $130 then scan a barcode on the machine to receive the test.

and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbc mike embley. thanks for watching. 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 south—west. with that, you can see a lot of cloud on our earlier satellite image, but the orange colour�*s 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 early rain, sleet and snow towards 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. through wednesday night, this band of heavy rain is going to work its way

north—eastwards, 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, we could see some quite significant snow. 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 for a good part of the day so that could cause some travel disruption, more likely rain and sleet at low levels. northern scotland seeing 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. the snow will be falling for quite some time across high ground of northern england and scotland. 15—30 centimetres of snow is possible — that could cause 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 and it will turn increasingly dry with some sunshine. still pretty chilly across the north and mild in the south with highs of 12 degrees.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk has passed 100,000, that's the highest in europe. prime minister borisjohnson said he was "deeply sorry" for every life lost and promised that lessons would be learnt. 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 mean 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 move was defeated by 55 votes to a5. it is about 3:30am in the morning, if you are checking. now on bbc news: panorama. if you're watching this, i'm probably dead. they were three boys from ordinary families. i'll show you the gun... glock 16. but they abandoned the uk to fight in syria. i know by allah this is the land ofjihad. i was at school and college with all three of them. everyone who travelled out to syria at that point was going to fight. there's just no question. i want to know why they became brutal extremists of the islamic state.

it's thought that this is nasser, picking a knife up