the new lockdown craze sweeping the globe. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. major trials of a new vaccine have shown it's effective against some new variants of covid—19, helping to reduce fears that they might prove resistant. novavax is an american jab but it's being produced in the uk. it's also easier to roll out than some previous vaccines since it doesn't need to be kept at ultra—low temperatures. the news came amid a deepening row between another vaccine—maker, astrazeneca, and the european union over shortages. our medical editor fergus walsh reports. once again, science has triumphed in the fight against coronavirus. the us firm novavax has released results of its british trial showing the first proven efficacy against the new, more contagious uk variant. there were more than 15,000 volunteers on the trail throughout the uk. over half the cases of covid recorded were the result of the new variant. the results showed the vaccine was 95% effective against the original covid strain and over 85% effective against the new uk variant, giving an overall efficacy of 89%. the former head of the uk vaccine taskforce said that in a separate trial in south africa, the vaccine had showed it protected against the variant of concern there. it's a fantastic result because it shows the novavax vaccine is effective against both the uk variant as well as the south african variant and has shown phenomenal efficacy, and it's made in teesside so not only have we trialled the vaccine to show that it's safe and effective but we're also making it too, so we'll be able to save lives in the uk. meanwhile, the biggest immunisation drive in the history of the nhs just keeps growing. this supermarket pharmacy near birmingham started offering covid jabs today to the over—75s, one of more than 1,400 vaccination sites in england alone. what a contrast in madrid, where supplies of vaccine have all but dried up. the spanish capital has cancelled all appointments for around two weeks. the eu were slow off the mark in ordering vaccine and now want some of the uk's supply of astrazeneca doses. in may, the uk government was the first to sign a deal with astrazeneca for 100 million doses of its covid vaccine. it wasn't until august, three months later, that the european union signed an agreement for up to 400 million doses. last month, the uk's mhra became the first regulator in the world to approve the oxford astrazeneca jab. tomorrow, the european medicines agency is meeting and is expected to approve the vaccine, but for the moment, it remains unlicensed in the eu. the astrazeneca vaccine is grown in bioreactors. i've seen how complex the process is at this site in oxford. by contrast, there have been poor yields at the main european site in belgium. the eu is threatening legal action to force astrazeneca to hand over some doses made here. we can and will get doses of the vaccine from the series of plants which are mentioned in the contract and, therefore, also including those in the united kingdom. and there's another twist — germany's vaccine committee has said the astrazeneca jab should, for now, not be given to people aged 65 and above. it cited insufficient evidence in how effective it is in older people. the government here firmly rejects that. our own authorities have made it very clear that they think the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine is very good and efficacious. they think that it is effective across all age groups and provides a good immune response across all age groups. there is limited evidence on how well the astrazeneca vaccine works in the over—65s, but leading scientists here say they are confident it will give strong protection. fergus walsh, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to vaccinologist dr peter hotez from the baylor college of medicine in houston. he welcomed novavax trial results. it looks like it's going to be another important vaccine. so now we've got the two mrna vaccines, we have the astrazeneca—oxford vaccine, we will hear thej&j vaccine soon, and the novavax, we have a recombinant and protein vaccine. and some people may ask why you need all these vaccines, well, there's limits in the capacity for production for any one of them, so the more we have the more shots on goal, the better globally we have a chance to beat this pandemic. and then in terms of the variants, where are we up to with knowing how much protection existing vaccines will provide against, for example, the variant that has been found in brazil and the one that has been found in south africa? yeah, the south african one is really worrying people because we are seeing diminished protection with both the pfizer and moderna mrna vaccine and we heard about the result today from the novavax vaccine which probably gives the highest virus neutralising antibody titres, which is kind of a surrogate marker or the protection of any of the vaccines and that is only doing 50—60%. so the real worry i'm thinking about, because we also have a recombinant protein vaccine and we are looking at how to modify or add the south african variant is how quickly we can vaccinate the world in order to raise ahead of the south african variant. it is putting enormous and everybody right now. the other announcement that came today was we know the virus variant, the south african variant, arose in north carolina in the eastern united states. so this is going to be a very stressful time, vaccinating with the existing vaccines, to slow transmission and prevent the widespread emergence of the south african vaccine while the vaccine developers now start adding efforts to specifically tailor vaccines specifically for south africa. and what you think, you mentioned the us, that is where you are, what you think the strategy that should be in order to most effectively use the vaccines that are now available? well, you know, when the biden administration got up they had to learn a lot. they didn't have a lot of advanced time and they put a plan in place that sounded reasonable, but now with the new variants are rising quickly, the centers for disease control are saying the uk variant may be significant by the spring and now the south african variant. so we are going to have to make adjustments and i have a piece that come out in the washington post this week that basically said the plans to do this by the fall may no longer be valid. we have got to find a way to do this by late spring or summer and people say, fine, how do you do that? and i believe a of it may depend on having the astrazeneca 0xford vaccine as soon as possible. dr peter hotez speaking to me a short time ago. let's get some of the day's other news. the speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has said that members face a security threat from within congress itself. us media is reporting that a republican member of the house, marjorie taylor greene, has expressed support for executing democrats in posts online, though she has subsequently said the posts do not represent her views. officials in the town of gainesville in the us state of georgia say a leak of liquid nitrogen at a poultry plant has killed six people. firefighters said around 130 workers from the prime pak foods plant were evacuated. there are reports that several firefighters were injured. the white house has said it's outraged by the pakistani supreme court's decision to release four men convicted of involvement in the killing of an american journalist, daniel pearl. the wall streetjournalist was kidnapped in the city of karachi in 2002 and later beheaded. spokeswomanjen psaki said the ruling was an affront to victims of terror everywhere. this weekend, british nationals in hong kong will be able to apply for a uk visa using a smart phone app to protect their privacy and security. the british home secretary, priti patel, told the bbc it was absolutely vital to give applicants some protection. the new visa comes into force on sunday. it's being introduced after china imposed a security law on hong kong. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale after months of protests from pro—democracy campaigners, beijing last year imposed tough new security laws. britain said this deal was broken as they tried to protect the territories autonomy. so ministers are offering a way out for those british nationals who want it. so for us in particular, you've made a promise to the people of hong kong when it comes to safeguarding and preserving liberties and freedoms. particularly as they are being restricted by the chinese government and this is one of a kind, they spoke to provide freedoms, safety, security. so who's eligible for the new visa? it's open to anyone registered with british national overseas 0r bno status before 1997 when hong kong was handed over to china. it also includes children, partners, and dependent relatives. that potentially includes up to 5.2 million hong kong citizens. that's more than two thirds of the entire population. so what does the visa do? well, it gives bnos the right to live, study and work for up to five years. they can then apply to settle permanently with the chance of citizenship after six years, they can use schools, the health service, but cannot claim welfare benefits. crucially, people can apply discreetly via a smartphone app, rather than going in person to a visa office where they could be identified by the authorities. the digitalisation of this process will obviously give people safeguards and protection and when they make these applications, clearly the environment is changing in hong kong and safeguarding the individuals freedoms, liberties and securities is absolutely vital for those individuals who go to this process. there are hurdles. applicants have to show they have enough cash to survive the six months and there's a £3,000 health surcharge. anywhere between 300,000 will come to britain over the next five years. china is furious and has already threatened retaliation. translation: the british side has violated its promises - and has repeatedly hyped the issue of british international passports, interfered in hong kong affairs and interfered in china and internal affairs. it will drop at its own feet in the end. but the british government is determined to offer a lifeline to those in hong kong that it believes it has a moral duty to help. james landale, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: russian opposition leader alexei navalny loses his appeal forfreedom, but says his detention won't intimidate him. 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 entire - 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: a trial shows us vaccine novavax offers strong protection against the new variants of coronavirus. meanwhile, the row over shortages in europe, sees the eu demanding supplies from uk factories. gamestop is a struggling us computer game retailer that, through no fault of its own, has delivered one of the biggest shocks to the stock market in years. city regulators have said they are monitoring the actions of a group of private investors who used online chat forums to drive up the price of certain shares. the value of gamestop has now fallen back but has grown hugely in recent days. we can now speak to jaime rogozinski who created the reddit forum which spearheaded the campaign to drive up gamestop shares in a battle against hedge fund short—sellers. did you ever foresee the plat form being used like this? first off, thank you for having me and no, absolutely not. i think this was beyond my wildest imagination, this is gone so far so quick, and it's fascinating to watch. the regulators _ fascinating to watch. the regulators are _ fascinating to watch. the regulators are concerned about the volatility, not only of the shares but the wider impact it's having on the market. what would you advise them to do? what do you think their next move should be as regulators? as well they should be worried, this market is doing some strange things but i don't envy their position. they have an impossible task. they are trying to protect innocent investors. there is surely going to be some innocent investors but a lot of the people involved with these are taking these really risky trades using stock options, not even stocks, which are required sometimes for these regulations as under that end, so they are trying to figure out a way to contain this. i don't know how they can do it. there is no resident. all of the examples, nothing comes close to something like this. i wish them what, that's my advice? we should make it clear, even though you found the forum, you don't run it, and it must be something of a relief, given the decisions moderators are having to make of staying within the law must be a really tricky light. == within the law must be a really tricky light-— tricky light. -- line. it was a tricky light. -- line. it was a tricky line- _ tricky light. -- line. it was a tricky line. when _ tricky light. -- line. it was a tricky line. when i _ tricky light. -- line. it was a tricky line. when i was - tricky light. -- line. it was a tricky line. when i was a - tricky line. when i was a moderator like this, nothing happened. we had a situation that came close to this. and i stopped it, just because i didn't want to push the language. there is a lot of grey area in this language. i didn't feel like taking the coin flip to see where it would land. but the moderators that are currently on now, they have are currently on now, they have a different philosophy. i don't have any advice for them because they've already taken the actions they have taken. i don't envy their position either because they are obviously in the spotlight. one thing is for sure, obviously in the spotlight. one thing is forsure, i obviously in the spotlight. one thing is for sure, i would obviously in the spotlight. one thing is for sure, iwould be concerned, i would want to do myself what the addicts would be like if they themselves were involved in some of these trades, given they can actually control or influence the dialogue that takes place on the forum. dialogue that takes place on the forum-— dialogue that takes place on the forum. , , ., the forum. some users on the chat forum — the forum. some users on the chat forum are _ the forum. some users on the chat forum are very _ the forum. some users on the chat forum are very angry - the forum. some users on thej chat forum are very angry that but forms like robin hood for amateur traders and investors have suspended buying shares and following the decision, the share price has fallen quite dramatically. what is your reaction to some brokers saying no, stop, you can't trade any more. �* , , no, stop, you can't trade any more. ~ , , , ., more. as well they should be u set. more. as well they should be upset. because _ more. as well they should be upset. because the _ more. as well they should be upset. because the brokers l more. as well they should be l upset. because the brokers are causing some of these people to lose money. they are used to making these quick trades when they come in and out in the moment where they're able to get stuck, i don't know exactly what the mechanics of this block looks like but they have a right to be angry. i question why the brokers did this. maybe specifically robin hood because we have a different demographic. the company has a different profile, they go up to certain customers and users. they don't mind getting into hot water. except voluntarily taking away the ability for their users. it makes sense for some other brokers. i'm convinced there are other forces at play because they themselves are causing volatility, well now we see what happens when the brokers cut off the switch. it's complicated.- cut off the switch. it's complicated. cut off the switch. it's comlicated. , ,., complicated. 0k, there is so much that — complicated. 0k, there is so much that we _ complicated. 0k, there is so much that we could - complicated. ok, there is so much that we could ask- complicated. 0k, there is so much that we could ask but. much that we could ask but there is so much out of time. a russian court has rejected an appeal from the country's opposition leader, alexei navalny against his arrest. she he was detained for 30 days on 17 january when he returned to moscow from berlin. mr navalny calls his detention illegal — he suffered a near fatal nerve agent attack in russia last august, and was recovering in germany. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. from insidejail via video link, the kremlin�*s most ferocious critic demanded his freedom. alexei navalny told the court his arrest was illegal, an attempt to scare him and his supporters. it wouldn't work, he added, "we are the majority". the judge dismissed his appeal. more pressure. police raiding mr navalny�*s anti—corruption organisation. it had posted this video of mr navalny accusing vladimir putin of building himself a £1 billion palace with illicit money. the kremlin�*s denied it but the video's had nearly 100 million views in a week. palaces and political battles. what are russians making of all of this outside moscow? tver is 100 miles away. last weekend, there were protests here and across russia in support of mr navalny. and against president putin. police broke them up. among those detained was pavel. it was the first time he'd taken part in a protest. among those detained was pavel. it was the first time he'd taken part in a protest. a lot of people, pavel says, have watched that video about the palace and believe it. we did nothing wrong. we were protesting peacefully. protest sentiment was already on the rise here. an economic slowdown made worse by the pandemic has hit russians hard, and shaken people's faith in their president. "putin's not the leader he was," says yevgenya. "prices in the shops keep rising. "he must have something to do with this." "the president's losing popularity," says yuliana. "this won't end well for him." you can put a political opponent behind bars. one thing you can't do, though, is lock away, put out of sight the public mood. and the kremlin�*s problem is that with the economy here in difficulty, russians feel that life is getting tougher. and that means growing dissatisfaction with the authorities. but the kremlin has this warning — illegal protest brings chaos. the last thing russia needs, it says, is another russian revolution. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tver. protesters have torched the government building in tripoli, lebanon over the government's handling of the economy and the pandemic. the lebanese red cross is more than 100 people were injured. there are also angry demonstrations outside the home of tripoli politicians. protesters say the strip along down is compounding economic misery caused by the lebanon's financial crisis. the chinese authorities say they are expecting one—point—seven billion journeys to be made during the month—long lunar new year holiday despite a government campaign urging individuals to avoid travelling. local governments and employers are offering a variety of incentives to convince families to cancel their plans in order to limit the spread of covid—19, with limited success. people have been turning to hobbies old and new to pass the time in lockdown. one that has really caught on is roller skating. it's become so popular in the past year that there's now a worldwide shortage of skates as daniela relph reports. music. from total beginners to making a career out of it. the challenge, the joy and the frustration, as plotted on social media by newly—qualified doctor and new skater kelsey loveday. this is a hobby that gets me out moving my body, getting all those feel—good endorphins of active exercise, so i can almost switch off my medical brain, skate around and just let the, sort of, trauma of the pandemic and what i deal with at work just glide away. roller—skating google searches doubled in recent months, thanks in part to viral skaters like oumi janta from berlin. lastjune, she posted this. almost 3 million views later, she's given up herjob and made freestyle roller—skating her career. everything has no importance any more when it comes to skating. so you don't think about work, you don't think about money or whatever, you just skate. so this moment has such power, that moment, it's you and skating, it's amazing. but it's notjust a millennial craze. for mel blackwood, a small business at home in leeds with skate lessons from the kitchen is now a full—time job with a shop and staff. this time last year, we had a great week if we sold two or three pairs of skates, and now we can be doing ten pairs a day. we're finding our customers are often in their mid—to—late 30s, 40s and beyond, and they're coming and saying, "i used to do this as a child. but i've decided life's too short, and i want to have another go." huge demand for some brands of skates now means long waiting lists. the freedom of roller—skating has captivated so many in these restricted months. daniela relph, bbc news. i'v e i've only just mastered i've onlyjust mastered the whole running things, never mind rollerskates. you can reach me on the whole team on social media. on twitter, i'm @benmbland. hello there. it can be a fine line between rain and snow here in the uk, and the battle lines are certainly drawn over the next few days. cold air to the north—east of us, milderairto the south and west. on that dividing line, which this weekend pushes its way southwards, this is where we could see that rain—snow mix, particularly on saturday. this swirl of winds, a developing weather system, developing area of low pressure, which pushes into that cold air. and on the weather fronts that reach the cold air, we could see some significant snow, parts of wales and parts of southern england especially. stronger but milder winds across the south as well. here, we'll see some early showers across wales, south—west england, pushing across the southern half of england and wales. the odd rumble of thunder possible, brightening up later. some mist and fog around the midlands, northern england to begin with, brightening up but then clouding over as rain and eventually a little bit of hill sleet pushes in. brightening up, too, to parts of the northern half of scotland, compared with what we've seen. patchy rain and sleet into southern areas as we finish the day and that north—south contrast, as far as temperatures. the colder air on the move further southwards, then, as we go through friday night into saturday, and as this weather front approaches off the atlantic, initially, rain, and quite a bit of rain could cause some minorflooding towards the south—west and across some southern counties. temperatures here holding up, but a greater chance of some frost. —7 to start the weekend in northern scotland. but as that rain pushes into the cold air, the potential for not only some heavy snow, but with strong winds, blizzards over the welsh hills. at the moment, it looks like wales, into parts of the midlands, maybe south—east england could see some snow. how much, of course, that will depend on exactly where that weather front will lie. we'll keep you updated on that, and certainly worth watching the forecast. the further north you are, it does look like it should be a dry, bright, cold start to the weekend, but that frost will return with a vengeance as we go through saturday night into sunday. and as one weather system clears, another one will be approaching, so whilst it will be a frosty, bright and, in places, icy start to sunday, this next weather system, bringing rain initially to south—western areas, could turn to snow as it pushes across england, wales and northern ireland later in the day. keep checking your forecast here, though, on bbc news. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: trials of a new covid—19 vaccine have shown it's more than 89% effective against coronavirus. the jab, developed by the american firm novavax, also offers protection against the variants discovered in the uk and south africa. the argument in europe over a shortfall in vaccines has intensified with the authorities in belgium investigating a production site owned by astrazeneca. brussels wants to know why the firm won't be able to deliver all of the doses it promised. they're said to have ordered inspectors to find out whether stocks they bought have been sold elsewhere. more than five million residents of hong kong are to be offered a route to british citizenship from the weekend as the uk begins a visa programme promised in the wake of china's crackdown on the territory. applicants can use a special app to help protect their identities from local authorities. now it's time for a look back at the week in parliament.