Hello to you. Pm borisjohnson has warned the coming weeks will be the hardest yet as he announced another National Lockdown for england. The uk is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases and patient numbers, but the Prime Minister said he believed the country was entering the last phase of the struggle. Hes instructed people to stay at home, although there are some exceptions such as going out to medical appointments and for essential shopping. Our Political Editor Laura Kuennsberg reports. Since the pandemic began last year, the whole United Kingdom has been engaged in a Great National effort to fight covid. An effort that is not over, not even close, as Downing Street pointed the finger of blame at the new variant spreading fast. As i speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. With most of the country already under extreme measures, its clear that we need to do more. That means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. That includes children, who he said should go to school just this morning. Our Kitchen Tables or shared sofas become offices and classrooms again. Primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow, except for Vulnerable Children and the children of key workers. This might feel agonisingly familiar but there is one big difference. Were now rolling out the biggest Vaccination Programme in our history. By the middle of february, if things go well, and with a fair wind in our sails, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four top Priority Groups. Nearly 1a million offers planned to the most vulnerable and most elderly. The doors could be unlocked in about six weeks but there is a list of big ifs. If the roll out of the Vaccine Programme continues to be successful, if deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect, and critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then i hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the february half term and starting cautiously to move regions down the tiers. I want to say to everyone right across the uk that i know how tough this is. But now, more than ever, we must pull together. The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet, but i really do believe that were entering the last phase of the struggle, because with everyjab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people. So with the force of the law, most of life will retreat again behind closed doors. Chairs on tables, empty streets, silent dinner halls, corridors falling quiet in every corner of the uk. Good morning, everybody. This time, the hope a needle in millions of arms provides a way out of all of this, but the lockdown well live through first is far from being a quick sting. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. New curbs have also just come into force in scotland. The first minister, nicola sturgeon, has ordered people to stay at home, except for essential reasons, and schools to remain closed until next month. In new york, the Governor Andrew Cuomo has raised concerns over the Healthcare System there should the more infectious virus variant, first detected in the uk spread rapidly, as the first case has now been detected. Well have more on that story later in the bulletin. Donald trump and joe biden are campaigning in the state of georgia ahead of two crucial runoff votes for senate seats on tuesday. The democrats need to win both seats to control the senate, giving them overall control of congress. Lets hear what the President Elect had to say about the importance of these runoff elections. Unlike any time in my career, one state, one state can charge the course, not just one state, one state can charge the course, notjust for the next four years or for the next generation. By Electing John and the reference you can make and the reference you can make an immediate difference in your own lives, the lives of people all across this country because their election will put an end to the block in washington about 2000 stimulus check. But money that will go out the door immediately. Tell people who are in real trouble. President elect biden. Lets bring you some live pictures now from dalton in georgia where mr trump is holding a rally. 0ur Correspondent Nomia Iqbal has more from atlanta. Donald trump has called those races also illegal and invalid and thats worried some republicans because the logic goes if Republican Voters believe the president and think that their votes wont be accurately counted, will they turn out and vote . And that could hand an advantage to the Democratic Party because if their candidates when those senate seat, it means thatjoe bidens presidency is off to a powerful start. Nomia iqbalfor us there in atlanta. Two democrat congressmen have called on the fbi to investigate Donald Trumps phone call to the top election official in georgia. They say the president s request for enough votes to be found to overturnjoe bidens victory in the state broke election law. Georgias Secretary Of State says he only took a controversial call from mr trump because of pressure from the white house. The president had pressed Brad Raffensperger to find votes that would overturn joe bidens narrow victory there. The former us defence secretary, william cohen, gave this reaction to trumps phone call. It isa it is a continuation of who he is and who he has been, namely he uses intimidation, rate of lawsuits, anything he can to bend people to his will, even breaking the law. He did this, an example of it, was with the president of the ukraine, zelensky. And he has done it here which is so outrageous in terms of going to the Secretary Of State and saying, by the way, this election was fraudulent, therefore you know it and you might be a conspirator in a fraudulent Accident Dummy Action and you will be held liable. I believe it isa will be held liable. I believe it is a criminal act in making that allegation or suggestion to involve a Secretary Of State to involve a Secretary Of State to commitan to involve a Secretary Of State to commit an act in of itself would be a crime. So this is not only bizarre but highly, i would say impeachable if we we re would say impeachable if we were still at that stage but it is highly unethical and its an abuse of power that we havent seen before in this level. That is what William Cullen thinks. A republican who served under a democratic president. Cohen. We can now speak to Anthony Michael kreis, whos a professor at the Georgia State University College of law. He joins us from atlanta. What do you make of this call . Under Georgia State law, it is unlawful to make a demand of somebody to engage in something thatis somebody to engage in something that is otherwise Election Fraud. So by asking the Secretary Of State to essentially falsify records and quote unquote, recalculate the election results, donald trump is essentially asking the Secretary Of State to violate another provision of the georgia code. So there is a plausible theory that he himself committed what we would call solicitation to commit voter fraud here call solicitation to commit voterfraud here in the call solicitation to commit voter fraud here in the state of georgia. Republicans who backed mr trump, as im sure you know, would say actually be president within the context of the call was just asking the secretary to look harder for fraud which the president believes is there . Yes, so wonder key component of the statute is that the president has to be shown to have the intent to commit Election Fraud and from the call itself, it is very clear that the president actually believes a lot of the Conspiracy Theories that have been basically given to him from his circle at the white house. So there is an equally plausible claim that the president didnt violate the statute because he was unaware of what he was actually doing. I think that ultimately this will be a decision for prosecutors as to whether they wa nt to prosecutors as to whether they want to pursue an Investigation Oi want to pursue an investigation or invest the time in the course of prosecuting him. And their case as you see it would be to accuse the president of asking the secretary to invent boats, create those that were not there. Its significant that you talk about Georgia State law. Theres a difference obviously with federal law. Federal law also prohibits anybody from engaging in activities that would constitute kind of intimidation, or that constitute kind of intimidation, orthat would introduce fraudulent counting of ballots. So by federal law and state law wants to protect the democratic process from being tainted. We want to make sure that our state and local officials are not coerced into doing something that is unlawful because somebody in a greater position of power or authority is abusing that position in order to gain leverage, which is actually what is happening here. So yes, i think there is a real question about whether federal and state law has been violated here. It is plausible that there is a case to be made against the president , and it is now a political question of whether prosecutors want to invest the capital to use their prosecutorial discretion to pursue these claims. And leaving aside the law itself, you could also argue that the spirit of it here has been broken and the democratic process further damaged. Thats exactly right. You know, regardless of whether there has been a criminal violation here andi been a criminal violation here and i think there is room for folks to debate that, what is not debatable is that the president of states has demonstrated to be ill fitted to lead a modern democracy. He is calling into question and subverting the democratic process before our very eyes. Georgia has had a tremendously wonderful, successful Election Process in the last few weeks. 0ur election in november as a triumph. We have people who are able to vote, vote more easily than they ever had before and the process has been transparent. We have tabulated oui transparent. We have tabulated our votes, not once, transparent. We have tabulated ourvotes, not once, not transparent. We have tabulated our votes, not once, not twice but three times to confirm they we re but three times to confirm they were accurate. We have even engaged in a signature audit. There has been a fourth investigation to make sure that the elections have been accurate and its been a success accurate and its been a Success Story a reasonable time. The president s work here is really damaging to democracy, truly antidemocratic and our elected officials and people in georgia and across the United States needs to resist this efforts to undermine our electoral process and american democracy itself. Professor, very interesting to talk to you. Thank you very much. Think having me. Thank you for having me. While announcing the new lockdown in england, borisjohnson was keen to stress how large scale vaccination is the key to easing the measures. On monday, the uk saw its first doses of the Oxford Astrazeneca jab administered. Half a million doses are expected to be given this week. We should warn you, this report from our medical editor fergus walsh contains some flashing images. Another key moment in the fightback against coronavirus. 82 year old brian pinker became the first person in the world to receive the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine since it was approved. He has dialysis three times a week and so is clinically vulnerable. The vaccine means everything to me. To my mind, its the only way of getting back to a bit of normal life. You know, this virus is terrible, isnt it . It was here in oxford that this vaccine was created and where trials began in april last year so fitting that it should be one of six Hospital Trusts in england to begin administering the jab. It was a huge privilege, every single patient that we vaccinated over the last couple of weeks has their own personal stories to the difference it is going to make them so no different with our first two patients. The queue to get a vaccine is a reforming here. There is huge Public Interest in the rollout of this vaccine. The government has ordered 100 million doses. The key question is how quickly can be Priority Groups be immunised. There are 31 Million People in those Priority Groups. Top of the list are care home residents and workers. The aim is to have immunised all of them by the end of the month. The over 80s and Frontline Health workers are also in the first wave. Then, in descending age groups from 75 plus down to the over 50s. 0ther from 75 plus down to the over 50s. Other key groups are clinically extremely Vulnerable People and those with Underlying Health conditions. We have already delivered over a million vaccines of the pfizer jab and now a million vaccines of the pfizerjab and now we have the astrazeneca one. We aim to get it into peoples arms as quickly as a supply to us. If we get two windows as they were, ouraim is we get two windows as they were, our aim is to get 2 million doses into the arms of those Priority Groups. Also among the first to be immunised was the doctor who led the global trials of the oxford jab. He emphasised the importance of mass vaccination. Fantastic getting it myself. Anyone who is eligible and offered the vaccine, forward and be vaccinated because we have to have a massive rollout over the next few months, and we need speed to do that. The Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine can be stored in a fridge a key advantage over the pfizer vaccine, which has to be transported at 70. It will also play a key role in global immunisation. Three billion doses are set to be distributed worldwide this year. Fergus walsh for us there. We report from south africa where sciences for a new variant there could be resista nt to variant there could be resistant to vaccines. The japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. Thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. Good grief after half a century of delighting fans around the world, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. The singer paul simon starts his tour of south Africa Tomorrow despite protests and violence from some black activist groups. They Say International artists should continue to boycott south africa until Majority Rule is established. Around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star david bowie who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. His family announced overnight that he had died of cancer at the age of 69. The worlds tallest skyscraper opens later today. The burj dubai, has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. This is bbc news, our top story new National Lockdowns in england and scotland as a surge in cases of the new Coronavirus Variant threatens to overwhelm the Health System. New york Governor Andrew Cuomo says his state has found its first case of the more infectious virus variant, first detected in the uk. Its raising concerns over the Healthcare System should it spread rapidly in the state. Any provider who does not use the vaccine could be fined up to 100,000 and Going Forward they must use the allocation within seven days otherwise they can be, they can be removed from future distribution. I dont want the vaccine in a refrigerator or freezer, i wanted vaccine in a refrigerator or freezer, iwanted in vaccine in a refrigerator or freezer, i wanted in someones arm. We can now speak to dr ashwin vasan whos an epidemiologist and Assistant Professor at columbia universitys Mailman School of Public Health. Good to talk to you and thank you for your time. I guess new york knows what it is like to have its Health System stretched to the limit. How close you feel that is again . It is concerning that we have identified the new mutant strain here in new york meaning that it strain here in new york meaning Thatitis Strain here in new york meaning that it is likely to be spreading in the community and therefore, as we know, 70 more transmissible than the standard covid 19 virus and that will have a rapid increase in the number of cases and start to strain our Healthcare System. Thus far new york has been able to cope, in large measure because we have been through the worst of this in march and april last year but if this continues apace, i fear that oui continues apace, i fear that our Healthcare System will face the same sort of strain and the same sort of Potential Rationing of care that we see in places like la county and others. So it is quite concerning. How possible is it to speed up the rate of vaccination and how helpful to have the kind of punitive system that the governor seems to be talking about, the idea that a jab should be administered within one week of supplies being received all the system could face a fine or a loss of supply . I think that punitive measures are unlikely to relieve the kinds of roadblocks and bottlenecks that we see in our vaccine delivery system. What we have is a lack ofa system. What we have is a lack of a centralised vaccine distribution, mass Vaccination Campaign. Essentially we have a Vaccination Campaign that is being run by hospitals and Chain Pharmacies which is no way to run a National Mass Vaccination Campaign. So you have wide differences in who is doing well and not. Some private hospitals are using upwards of 90 of their allocation and there Public Safety net system here in new york is using about 30 and there are logistical reasons. People are struggling to identify her to vaccinate, to get them through the door and of course we are facing significant vaccine hesitancy, mistrust and miss information and cautioned by the public as well as Health Workers to get the vaccine and that means we need a central system, we need Public Health and our government to step in to identify whether weak spots are, to redistribute the vaccine is needed to get it into arms as quickly as possible but i dont think that a Stick Approach will lead to the results that the governor is hoping that make hoping for. Id love to talk for longer but this time we can, i hope we can soon. this time we can, i hope we can soon. This time we cannot. Much of the rapid spread of the virus in the uk is being put down to the new form of the coronavirus, which is far easier to catch. But its not the only mutation which is causing concern. A variant found in south africa is also worrying virologists as Andrew Harding reports from johannesburg. Move a strict new lockdown across south africa, complete with a night time curfew with a total ban on the sale of alcohol. The authorities here are struggling to contain an aggressive new variant of the virus. That variant, just like the one in britain, has made covid 19 far easier to catch and to transmit. You see how short of breath you are, eh . The Result Hospitals are filling up fast, and precious Oxygen Supplies are running low. Early evidence suggests the virus here is probably no more transmissible or more deadly than the british variant. But thats still being tested. So the jury is still out, we still dont have a definitive answer, but generally viruses evolve to become more transmissible but less virulent. Hopefully, this virus will obey that same dictum. Say ah. But there is another worry. While britains virus has one significant mutation, south africas has three, including one that might make the virus more resistant to current vaccines. The concern in south africa is that a variant that has been identified the concern in south africa is that a variant that has been identified has got at least three mutations, which could potentially impact on the antibody that is induced by the vaccine to neutralise the virus. So its a serious concern. I think it is a theoretical concern at this point in time, and hopefully over the course of the next few weeks will have a clear answer. The good news is that south african scientists are now working fast to get that answer. The bad news is that there is a significant risk that the virus here has changed to give itself at least a partial resistance to the current vaccines. Still, experts say adjusting those vaccines should be relatively easy. In the meantime, a second wave of infections continues to spread fast across south africa. Andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. The Kuwaiti Foreign minister has said that saudi arabia will reopen its airspace, and land and sea borders, to qatar in a major breakthrough in the long running dispute between qatar and several of its gulf neighbours. Saudi arabia led a coalition of countries in the gulf and beyond that cut ties with qatar injune 2017. An agreement aimed at ending the rift is to be signed in riyadh on tuesday, according to a white house official. Americas Department Ofjustice says it is extremely disappointed by a British Court ruling which prevents the wikileaks founderJulian Assange from being extradited. The us wants him to stand trial for publishing classified documents. But a judge at the old bailey in london said concerns over his Mental Health meant the extradition could not proceed. 0ur Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale reports. Free Julian Assange Julian Assange has long attracted loyal supporters, and this was their reaction outside the old bailey as they heard the news. No extradition yeah for more than a decade, the Wikilea Ks Founder has resisted extradition, spending seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in london, before being removed almost two years ago and detained in belmarsh prison. The us authorities want him to face 18 charges, mostly of espionage, relating to his alleged role in the leaking of thousands of secret military documents. Many focused on the wars in afghanistan and iraq, including this video appearing to show a Us Helicopter firing on civilians in baghdad. To some, mr assange is a champion of free speech who revealed war crimes. To others, a law breaker who endangered the lives of us agents. And today, after years of legal battles, he was driven into court to hear his fate. From the dock, he listened as districtjudge Vanessa Baraitser dismissed his defence that the us charges were political and a threat to media freedom. But when it came to his Mental Health and depression, she ruled that, in a us high security prison, the risk that mr assange will commit suicide is a substantial one, and as such it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States. 0n hearing the ruling, mr assange simply wiped his brow. His partner and mother of his two sons, stella morris, burst into tears. We are pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness and inhumanity of what he has endured and what he faces. But lets not forget the indictment in the us has not been dropped. The Us Department ofjustice said it was extremely disappointed and would appeal against the ruling. Mr assange was remanded in custody ahead of a bail application later this week. James landale, bbc news. And you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter im bbcmikeembley. Hello. Well, lets see what the weather is up to on tuesday. And in summary, not an awful lot of change. Its going to stay pretty cold and in fact over the next few days, you can see that cold air sitting over europe. And the nagging north to north easterly wind will keep things very chilly here in the uk. So, lets summarise the week ahead. Got a lot of cold weather on the way, overnight frosts, additionally windy in the south and along the north sea coast, and on top of that, rain, sleet, a bit of snow, some ice around as well. As far as the rains concerned, it looks as though the wettest place will be east anglia and the south east, and thats because of the wind direction. Itll be blowing out of the north east and the showers will keep coming to this same place. So, we could see 20 50 mm of rain over the next couple of days so, some big puddles there. Anyway, back to the here and now. So, here are the temperatures early in the Morning Freezing or below in most towns and cities. Here is that north easterly wind blowing across the north sea, and you can see those showers affecting east anglia and the south east. Can be quite grey and wet both in the morning and in the afternoon here. Elsewhere, i think a mixture of sunshine, and occasional rain, and wintry showers. But the further west you are, the better the weather will be. Belfast, ithink, swansea, plymouth in for some sunshine but chilly, 3 5 celsius briefly in the afternoon, and then very quickly, those temperatures will drop during the course of the Late Afternoon and evening. And you can see, that north easterly wind continues through the course of tuesday and also into wednesday. And that Weather Pattern is pretty evident here. You can see the isobars pointing out at the north east, due south west, and thats how the wind blows. So, once again on wednesday, its copycat conditions. Again, that extreme south eastern portion of the uk can be quite grey and wet at times with those persistent showers. Best of the weather will be in the west, but notice a weather fronts approaching there, the far north west of scotland. So, some rain there, i think, for our friends in stornoway. But still wednesday night, were expecting another widespread frost across the uk. Temperatures in many areas will be well below freezing, down to 5 even, in bigger towns and cities, and you can see how chilly it remains in some of the bigger cities over the next few days. Thats it for me, bye bye. This is bbc news, the headlines england and scotland are ordered into new lockdowns to contain a surge in covid 19 cases threatening to overwhelm the Health Systems. Schools will be closed to most pupils as well as non essential retail and hospitality. Borisjohnson said the weeks ahead would be the hardest yet, as a more infectious variant of the virus spreads across the country. Donald trump and joe biden are campaigning in the state of georgia ahead of two crucial runoff votes for senate seats on tuesday. The democrats need to win both seats to control the senate, giving them overall control of congress. The Usjustice Department says it will appeal after a court in the uk refused to extradite wikileaks founder, Julian Assange. Thejudge said there was a real risk of suicide. Mr assange is wanted on 18 charges relating to the release of half a million secret government files. All schools in england will close to most pupils