this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm samantha simmonds. as coronavirus infection rates rise across europe, tens of thousands take to the streets in austria protesting against a new lockdown and plans for mandatory vaccines. dutch politicians condemn the violent demonstrations against covid restrictions that have scarred the city of rotterdam. the world health organisation says it is very worried about the rise in covid cases in europe saying the disease is once again the continent's biggest killer success today does not mean success tomorrow, because no country is an island. we'll be discussing the challanges faced by europe to deal with the pandemic. also on the programme this hour... the us secretary of state warns there are "real concerns" about russian activities

at the border with ukraine. we don't know what president putin's attentions are, but we do know what has happened in the past. we do know the playbook. record numbers of migrants crossing the english channel prompt a review by the british government. and hundreds of tesla drivers are locked out of their vehicles, after the carmaker�*s app stopped working. and pressure mounts on ole gunnar solskjaer after another defeat for manchester united, thumped 4—1 at watford. we'll have all the day's sport. hello and welcome, whether you're watching in the uk or around the world. the world health organisation has called for an urgent tightening of measures across europe to halt spiralling covid transmission rates.

it's warning that half a million more deaths could be recorded by march unless urgent action is taken. the un body says, at the moment, one person is dying from the virus in europe every 15—to—20 minutes. the warning comesas demonstrations take place in a number of countries against coronavirus restrictions and compulsory vaccinations. tens of thousands of people gathered in vienna, after the austrian government announced a lockdown, and plans to make vaccination mandatory by february. and the mayor of the dutch city of rotterdam has condemned what he's called "an orgy of violence" after protestors took to the streets to demonstrate against coronavirus restrictions. our europe correspondent anna holligan reports. rotterdam, the netherlands second city. scarred by a night of rage. riot police came from across the country to try to quell the uprising. they fired warning shots, then live rounds.

in response to scenes condemned by rotterdam's mayor as an orgy of violence. translation: on several occasions, police officers had to draw— their weapons to defend themselves. some aimed shots were fired. at least seven were injured. restrictions in the netherlands began last saturday and will be in place for another two weeks at least. these streets are peaceful now but the atmosphere across the country remains volatile. the netherlands is battling record infection rates and the government is considering new restrictions targeting the unvaccinated. in austria today, supporters of the far right freedom party marched against mandatory coronavirus vaccines. a 20—day lockdown will start next week, working from home will be ordered and only essential shops will stay open. germany fears a national

health scare emergency. new measures are expected for those who haven't had theirjabs, a full lockdown is still on the cards. the uk is not yet seeing such a dramatic surge in cases. and these are some of the reasons why. many countries faced delta a bit later, so they're dealing with it now and some of them opened up later than we did~ _ and there is differences in vaccines. you have high levels of non—vaccine uptake in some populations in some european countries. high infection rates have pushed up immunity in the uk. the incentive for many, the avoidance of harsher rules like those enforced elsewhere. let's get more on the call by the who for countries to step up measures to curb the spread of the virus. dr hans kluge — the world health organisation's regional

directorfor europe — told us that while cases are high, the authorities know what action to take. we are definitely worried. but the good news is that we know what to do. let's look at the positive side — portugal, spain, where i have been recently, they are implementing what i call a vaccination plus pass. they are vaccinating, now they are boosting but also implementing the basic measures like masks. average 48% of the european population is wearing a mask indoors. any percentage above that will have an immediate effect. much more attention to be paid to ventilation. and, finally, two new treatment protocols which have to be standardised. we're joined now by virologist professor lawrence young

from the university of warwick. it isa it is a combination of them positioned vaccine uptake and the premature easing of restrictions in this country that has contributed to the surge and i think it tells us that with this virus, there is absolutely no room for complacency. and when you look at countries like austria introducing compulsory vaccinations from february, is that the way forward for countries that do have a low vaccination rate? i think this is a really difficult issue, isn't it? there is a high degree of vaccine hesitancy, some of this is about mistrusting the government and mixed messages from government, and i am not convinced that compelling people to get vaccinated in this way is going to be successful. we are already seeing quite a significant backlash, as we had seen in holland. so, i do wonder whether or not this is getting the message across, about the fact that vaccines are very effective, we had seenin

vaccines are very effective, we had seen in all these countries across europe that vaccine significantly weakens the link between infections and hospitalisations. and wejust need to get the message across. 50. need to get the message across. so, ou think need to get the message across. so, you think it — need to get the message across. so, you think it is about messaging, which clearly has been more successful in some countries and others, then? i successful in some countries and others. then?— others, then? i really do. and i think we have _ others, then? i really do. and i think we have to _ others, then? i really do. and i think we have to be _ others, then? i really do. and i think we have to be mindful- others, then? i really do. and i think we have to be mindful of| others, then? i really do. and i. think we have to be mindful of this in the uk. although we are slightly had of the curve because we had our surge of infections injuly and we then brought in boosterjabs and sadly these countries in europe are experiencing their surge now, compounded by the winter weather, more people indoors in poorly ventilated spaces, and also, what also has impacted this is degree to which different countries have started to vaccinate their 12 to is—year—olds, but is an important factor. 15-year-olds, but is an important factor, ., 15-year-olds, but is an important factor. ., factor. so, you are saying in the uk we are ahead _ factor. so, you are saying in the uk we are ahead at _ factor. so, you are saying in the uk we are ahead at the _ factor. so, you are saying in the uk we are ahead at the curve - factor. so, you are saying in the uk we are ahead at the curve because | factor. so, you are saying in the uk i we are ahead at the curve because we had our surge back in the summer. how is winter modelling looking now, going forward in the next few

months, especially with booster vaccines be made more available for younger groups? we vaccines be made more available for younger grows?— vaccines be made more available for younger groups?— younger groups? we are in an interesting — younger groups? we are in an interesting situation - younger groups? we are in an interesting situation in - younger groups? we are in an interesting situation in the - younger groups? we are in an| interesting situation in the uk, that doesn't mean there is room for complacency, we have seen a rise of about 10% in terms of case numbers over the last week but hospitalisations and deaths are starting to stabilise and possibly fall a bit in the uk. the booster jabs are starting to have an effect, there is no question about that, as are the vaccinations for 12 to is—year—olds. but i do think we, like other countries, should still be encouraging a cautious approach, including getting people to think very carefully about wearing facemasks in crowded spaces and increasing ventilation when you are indoors. it is not only about the covid—i9 virus, it is about other respiratory viruses putting undue pressure on health care systems across europe. 50. pressure on health care systems across europe.— across europe. so, do you think government _ across europe. so, do you think government messaging - across europe. so, do you think government messaging shouldl across europe. so, do you think- government messaging should change, when it comes to wearing facemasks? because any body who goes out and about at the moment, we'll see decreasing number of people wearing

facemasks, certainly on public transport here in the south—east of england, what is your view of that? i think we should do as much as possible to encourage people. it is difficult because when you release restrictions, the genie is out of the bottle and getting people to comply is tricky. we have seen real—world evidence in a study looking at 30 different studies around the world showing that facemasks are really effective and can reduce infection and the spread of infection by over 50%, so they do work. i think it is encouraging people to think about themselves and others in the way that facemasks can help along with the vaccines. vaccines do most of the heavy lifting but i think relying solely on vaccination is clearly not doing it in other parts of the world, including these countries in europe. 0k, including these countries in europe. ok, very good to get your thoughts, thank you for being with us. the us secretary of state antony blinken says his european allies

share "real concerns" about unusual russian military activity on its border with ukraine. mr blinken's remarks came as american reinforcements for ukraine's navy sailed into the gateway to the black sea. kyiv has raised fears that russia may be preparing an attack. russia's president vladimir putin has accused the west of escalating tensions. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent peter bowes. tell us about what antony blinken has said and how seriously his comments are being taken. he spoke about this almost _ comments are being taken. he spoke about this almost two _ comments are being taken. he spoke about this almost two weeks - comments are being taken. he spoke about this almost two weeks ago. - comments are being taken. he spoke about this almost two weeks ago. at | about this almost two weeks ago. at the state department. after a meeting with the ukrainian foreign minister when he also expressed concern, which we have heard repeated by other leaders around europe, that the russian authorities are building up their military hardware and troops along the border with ukraine, especially in a region of about 100 to 200 miles of the border. mr blank and is describing

this as unusual and of great concern. —— antony blinken is describing this as unusual. he is also concerned because of the president of history and what happened in 2014, the invasion by russia of crimea. antony blinken refers to this as a playbook, in other words, a routine that has been seen before, the accumulation of forces, troops, the hardware followed by an invasion. and the reason, then, being given, that essentially russian, russia was threatening, that it was a response. america is saying it has seen this before and that is why there is concern about it potentially happening again. find concern about it potentially happening again.— concern about it potentially hauenina aaain. �* ,, ., happening again. and has russian resonded happening again. and has russian resoonded at _ happening again. and has russian responded at all, _ happening again. and has russian responded at all, peter? - happening again. and has russian responded at all, peter? well, . happening again. and has russianj responded at all, peter? well, we have heard _ responded at all, peter? well, we have heard from _ responded at all, peter? well, we have heard from president - responded at all, peter? well, we have heard from president putin l responded at all, peter? well, we i have heard from president putin who has said that this is an escalation of tension by the western world. we have heard from others who have not

denied, in russia, that the country is building up these forces, but no real clear explanation is being given as to why. and that, it seems, is at the root of why the united states seems to some extent at the highest level to be perplexed in terms of how to respond to this, not knowing exactly what russia is doing. there could be perhaps a firmer response, you referred to the russian ship heading to the region, but equally the united states doesn't want to inflame tensions if this isjust doesn't want to inflame tensions if this is just another case of president putin and others in russia flexing their muscles with no intention of carrying out an invasion. so, at the moment, it seems to be a wait and see situation while, at the same time, expressing very serious concerns. here in the uk, there's to be a review into how to prevent migrants crossing the english channel from france. it follows months of pressure on the government over record numbers of people

making the journey. our uk political correspondent iain watson told us why this review is happening now. the government has got to be seen to be doing something, because so far this year there have been 24,000 crossings in the channel and that is three times higher than last year, so there is some political pressure on the government. they pledged, of course, to take back control of the border but only yesterday the labour leader was tweeking borisjohnson's tale over this, saying that he was promising but he cannot deliver. obviously there has to be a new initiative, but i am told that the prime minister himself, of course, is frustrated by the continuing crisis and what he wants to see is a cross—departmental focus on this issue, just like there is on tackling covid and he has nominated steve barclay as his problem solver. that might seem to be a bit of a poisoned chalice, but he is set to get to work, i am told, in the next week or so and talk to different departments to see what they can do, but also come up with some potential policy recommendations, if any more are needed. that said, i am not entirely convinced that they will be able

to do what some other big initiatives have failed to do so for. the £54 million deal with france, for example, that was meant to stop migrants from setting sail in the first place and the government said it stopped many thousands of potential crossings, but of course, as you mentioned, we are still having record numbers and they have also tried various other ideas which have not yet come to fruition, including perhaps processing people offshore, but what the critics are saying is what is really necessary is a much deeper dig into the reasons why people feel they have to migrate, why they are leaving their areas in the north and east africa and so on and coming to britain in the first place and it is not enough just to stop the boats, but we need to look at the reasons why people would be coming to these shores in the first place. the headlines on bbc news... as coronavirus infection rates rise across europe, people have taken to the streets in austria to protest against a new lockdown and plans for mandatory vaccines the world health organisation says

it is very worried about the rise in covid cases in europe —saying the disease is once again the continent's biggest killer. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's karthi gna nasegaram. hello and thanks forjoining us..... there are reports that manchester united are holding a board meeting to discuss ole gunnar solskjaer�*s future at old trafford. it follows united's 4—1 thrashing at watford this afternoon which made it four defeats in five league games for the united boss. they were 2—1 down when harry maguire was sent off. watford got two more goals in stoppage time. they're now 4 points clear of the relegation zone. united are seventh, 12 points off top spot. i never said or never going to that i feel safe. i work for the club, with the club as club as hard as i can with a great staff, the players are doing as well as they can. and any conversation between me in the club of course is not

for you and me, that is for us. it was embarrassing for me, to be honest the way we play today, very very poor. concede four goals in 45 minutes. for this club, the level of the players that we have, yeah, it is a nightmare. liverpool bounced back from their defeat to west ham before the international break with a comprehensive 4—nil win over arsenal at anfield. liverpool bossjurgen klopp and arsenal manager mikel arteta were both booked after a row during a feisty first half. sadio mane put the home side ahead after 39 minutes. diogojota, mo salah and substitute takumi minamino were also on the scoresheet as liverpool moved up to second in the table. despite liverpool's victory, cheslea are still four points clear at the top of the table after they beat leicester city 3—0 in the day's early kick off. antonio rudiger, former leicester

midfielder n'golo kante and substitute christian pulisic were on target for chelsea. and there was a great start for steven gerrard in his role as the new aston villa manager. there were high fives all round at full time. two goals in the final six minutes giving them a 2—0 victory over brighton. it was really good. it's what we drank though, if you live, perfect start for us. but now we got to back it up. really pleased with the clean sheet. i think we asked the player to do, they've done it. i think we deserve it because we finish the game, brighton had a lot of possession but in the areas we wanted them to have the ball was up really pleased with the players, really proud of them. but it's only a good start we need to going back it up now. norwich city's new manager dean smith also enjoyed a winning start. they beat southampton 2—1 to move

off the bottom of the table. newcastle are in that position now after a 3—3 draw with brentford. that was also the score between burnley and crystal palace. elsewhere wolves beat west ham 1—0. lewis hamilton's hopes of reducing the 14 point gap that championship leader max verstappen has, have been boosted after he claimed pole position for sunday's qatar grand prix. he was almost half a second quicker than the red bull of his title rival verstappen. his mercedes team mate valtteri bottas was third. it's the 102nd pole of hamilton's career, but his first since the hungarian grand prix back in august. i was here till midnight last night working with the engineers who also worked so late, they are such hard workers. and we found a lot of areas in which i can improve. made some changes for petrie and it seems to work and of course you've got to try to carry that through into qualifying but i am so grateful for

the timings that they put us out on track, we didn't have any traffic. and that last lap was beautiful. it was a really sweet lap. finally there have been some thrilling rugby union matches on saturday. england avenged their defeat in the 2019 world cup final by beating south africa 27 points to 26. wales also won byjust a single point overcoming wales 29 to 28. there were also victories for scotland and italy. france are currently 27 points to 23 ahead against new zealand that's all the sport for now. there have been calls for calm in the united states after yesterday's court verdict that cleared a teenager of murder.

18—year—old kyle rittenhouse had argued he was acting in self—defence when he shot dead two men and injured a third during unrest last year over a police shooting of a black man. the not—guilty verdict has divided the country, as our north america correspondent nomia iqbal now reports. hundreds of people marched in protest at that verdict. in the city of portland, a riot broke out after protesters smashed windows and rocks at police but nothing on the scale of lusty�*s unrest. after the verdict came out, kyle rittenhouse spoke to one america's most conservative talk show hosts, tucker carlson. the one america's most conservative talk show hosts, tucker carlson.— show hosts, tucker carlson. the “ury reached the — show hosts, tucker carlson. the “ury reached the correct i show hosts, tucker carlson. the “ury reached the correct verdict, �* show hosts, tucker carlson. the “ury reached the correct verdict, selfh reached the correct verdict, self defence is not illegal. i believe they came to the correct verdict and i'm glad everything went well. it has been a roughjourney i'm glad everything went well. it has been a rough journey but we i'm glad everything went well. it has been a roughjourney but we made it through it. we made it through the hard part. the it through it. we made it through the hard part-— it through it. we made it through the hard art. ., , , the hard part. the case goes beyond what happened _ the hard part. the case goes beyond what happened in — the hard part. the case goes beyond what happened in this _ the hard part. the case goes beyond what happened in this courthouse i the hard part. the case goes beyond what happened in this courthouse in| what happened in this courthouse in kenosha. for most republican politicians, kyle rittenhouse is a brave patriot who were simply

defending himself that night after being chased but many democrats are worried that by not being held accountable for killing two men and injuring a third, it sends a dangerous message. the vice president said the decision reflected poorly on the justice system. reflected poorly on the 'ustice s stem. . ., , reflected poorly on the 'ustice sstem. . ., , ,, system. the verdict really speaks for itself. as _ system. the verdict really speaks for itself. as many _ system. the verdict really speaks for itself. as many of— system. the verdict really speaks for itself. as many of you - system. the verdict really speaks for itself. as many of you know, l system. the verdict really speaks for itself. as many of you know, i had spent a majority of my career working to make the criminaljustice system more equitable and clearly there is a lot more work to do. president biden said he understood the anger and concern by some but struck a more measured tone. i stand b what struck a more measured tone. i stand by what the — struck a more measured tone. i stand by what the jury _ struck a more measured tone. i stand by what the jury has _ struck a more measured tone. i stand by what the jury has concluded. - struck a more measured tone. i stand by what the jury has concluded. the l by what the jury has concluded. the jury by what the jury has concluded. the jury system works and we have to stand by it. jury system works and we have to stand by it— jury system works and we have to standb it. , , ., stand by it. this case is exposed to so many divisions _ stand by it. this case is exposed to so many divisions that _ stand by it. this case is exposed to so many divisions that already - stand by it. this case is exposed to | so many divisions that already exist in america about gun laws, racism, and left versus right. the story of this teenager will do almost nothing to bring those sides together.

a major rescue operation has been taking place in southern india where flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 30 people. in one incident, three buses were washed away. analysts say unpredictable and extreme weather across south asia is driven by climate change, exacerbated by damming and deforestation, along with excessive development. there's growing concern over the safety of chinese tennis star, peng shuai who made sexual assault allegations against a former chinese vice—premier, two weeks ago. she has not been seen since. photos have been posted on social media under her name with the caption "happy weekend" but there's scepticism about their authenticity. single—use plastics such as plates and cutlery, as well as polystyrene cups, could all be banned in england under plans being considered by the uk government. it's believed that only ten per cent of such items are recycled. according to estimates, the english alone get through 1.1 billion single—use plates every year.

in addition to that, 4.25 billion single use pieces of cutlery — the vast majority of which are plastic — are also used. disposable coffee cups have been a long standing problem — the uk throws away two and half billion of those every year. rob opsomer is from the ellen macarthur foundation, which aims to promote what it calls a 'circular�* economy. he explained how it works. so what we mean by circular economy, the easiest way to explain it is we look at our current economic model works. and how that works is we take resources out of the ground and we make products and we throw them away. and a circular economy is about taking that line and turning it into a circle by eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials and regenerating nature. we have seen, over the last couple of years, a tremendous amount of momentum building around that idea of the circular economy and we see lots of efforts by businesses, governments, individuals, but the key

is we need to do much more, we need to go much further, and i think that is why the announcement of today, that plan of the uk government to ban more single—use plastics is so important because it is where we need to start. we need to, rather than trying to manage the waste, manage pollution once it is there, we need to prevent it from being there in the first place, by eliminating some of those items that we really don't need our economy. tesla drivers have reported being locked out of their cars, after the electric carmaker�*s app went down. dozens of owners say an error message on the mobile app prevented them from connecting to their vehicles. it's used as a key by drivers to unlock and start their cars. tesla's chief executive, elon musk, apologised and said he would make sure the server error didn't happen again.

according to the outage tracking site, hundreds of people had problems. elon musk tweeted firstly that they were checking the system and secondly later tweeted that the system should be back online again. he apologised and said it wouldn't happen again. it is very important to emphasise it is notjust the app, thatis to emphasise it is notjust the app, that is not the only way you can open up tesla cars, you can also use a kick out of a fob to get into them but it is quite an interesting point when i spoke to an academic and it has let user, david bailey, he said tesla can sometimes be a victim of its own success. it advertises itself as a high—tech company, that itself as a high—tech company, that it has cutting—edge technology, that is why things many other uses appeal to them and why they would want to purchase a car in first place, and that become used to relying on the technology and maybe don't leave the house with the keys as well. just time to take you to california

after a highway was littered with cash after a minor accident involving a vehicle. there were chaotic scenes as drivers stopped to scoop up the cash. they have been appeals to for them to hand back the cash. good luck with that. we'll take a will —— a look at the front pages tomorrow later. now, time for a look at the weather. the cloud was at its thickest, not unusually, close to a weather front, which started the day across

scotland and northern ireland has made some progress down across the british isles. this feature has swung into the north of scotland, isobars are tightly packed and they are pointing towards the norwegian sea. it is down along those isobars that cold air will propagate ever further south so that sunday will be a much colder, fresher day than anything we have experienced over the past few days. that process starts tonight. once the weather front is away, the showers, and they will be plenty of them, get into the north of scotland and the north of england, too. one or two further west. in between the showers, the sky will clear and i think we will end up with a touch of frost anywhere in the heart of scotland, may be into the heart of england as well. so, we are off to for some, firstly start on sunday. plenty of sunshine around provided you are not getting bombarded by the showers. wintriness across the north

yorkshire moors. only the favoured few get into double figure temperatures. having had that shock to your system on sunday, we cut off the supply the northerly on monday with a high pressure beginning to nose in from the atlantic and just those isobars bending back towards a west or a northwesterly and the wind not as strong. so, it looks as though it is going to be a quieter, calmer sort of day, the best of the sunshine in southern scotland, parts of northern ireland and part —— across england but despite the presence of the sunshine, we are really struggling to get those temperatures up to the sort of values that we may well have enjoyed in recent days. and having said that scene of cooler weather, both by day and by night, that is the way we keep it coming. a lot of dry weather around as well. but it really will be much cooler than of late.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the world health organisation says it is very worried about the rise in covid cases in europe — saying the disease is once again the continent's biggest killer and warns the uk against complacency. success today does not mean success tomorrow, because no country is an island. in the netherlands more than 50 people have been arrested, after protests over new covid restrictions in rotterdam erupted into rioting last night. record numbers of migrants crossing the channel prompts a government review. missing chinese tennis star peng shuai has been seen in unverified 'new�* footage released by state media — dining with friends

and her coach in a restaurant.