welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. there are increasing doubts about the new coronavirus restrictions announced by britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, amid public anger over allegations his staff held parties in breach of lockdown rules last year. the new restrictions include that from monday, people in england will be encouraged to work from home wherever possible. but more immediately, from friday, facemasks will have to be worn in most public indoor venues. and the nhs covid pass will now be mandatory for nightclubs and other venues with large crowds. but the anger over the alleged christmas party last year, and the video of government advisers apparently mocking the restrictions, has led many mps to question the prime minister's credibility. laura kuenssberg reports. hemmed in, borisjohnson stuck with two ugly problems that are mashed together. what happened under his own roof which has sickened some of the public and what he reckons needs to happen now to push back the virus. the danger tonight is the fiasco of problem one which makes problem two much harder to solve. with the variant spreading at lightning speed, he and the country's most senior scientists were back on the platform. we cannot yet assume that omicron is less severe than previous variants. so, while the picture may get better and i sincerely hope that it will, we know that the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalisations and therefore, sadly, in deaths. and that is why it's the proportionate and the responsible thing to move to plan b in england. how can you stand at that lectern where some of your team laughed and joked about covid—19 rules and told people they must now follow your new instructions and are you really asking the public to believe that you had no idea what was going on under your own roof? the british public, notwithstanding the point that you make, can see the vital importance of the medical information that we are giving. the usually icy cool professor whitty seemed angry too, but pleaded with you to separate political shenanigans from protecting health. people get very angry, including colleagues and friends when they feel that it is unfair. and the prime minister said that in the house of commons and he said it today. that is quite different from people, ithink, wanting to actually know what's going on and then make decisions. and i think those two need to be separated. the reason for that outrage is apparent in toe—curling confirmation in a practice press conference that there was a party in downing street last christmas when socialising was banned for all. this fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced. one of the aids who was laughing, allegra stratton, emerged from her house today. those jokes turning to tears. denying the party won't have been her decision and she paid with herjob. my remarks seem to make light of the rules. people were doing everything to obey them. that was never my intention. i will regret those remarks for the rest of my days and i offer my profound apologise to all of those at home, all of you who lost loved ones and endured intolerable loneliness and struggled with your businesses, i am truly sorry. and this afternoon, i am offering my resignation to the prime minister. thank you for your time. no chance her exit would be the end of questions to borisjohnson. at lunchtime, he started with an apology and announced an investigation. i understand and share the anger up and down the country at seeing number ten staff seeming to make light of lockdown measures. and i can understand how infuriating it must be to think that the people who have been setting the rules have not been following the rules, mr speaker. because i was also furious to see that clip. and mr speaker, i apologise, i apologise unreservedly. i have asked the cabinet secretary to establish all the facts. the prime minister, the government spent the week telling the british public that there was no party. all guidance was followed completely. millions of people now think the prime minister was taking them for fools. and that they were lied to. and a moment to raise the agony of constituents who lost loved ones. she is devastated and appalled at recent revelations as to what has gone on in downing street. it is something i will never ever get over. she lost her father and her sister too. when i saw the video, it sickened me and was disgusted and thinking, how can a laugh when so many people are going through so much heart ache and pain? i'm finding it very hard to swallow, to take instruction from the government, especially after this. this is a miserable and dangerous moment for downing street. it's not just about whether a few dozen staff had drinks in there last year, but whether the truth has been told. whether you can put faith and what government says from day—to—day, or guidance or even demands from ministers for what you have to do. with the virus creeping back in tighter restrictions too, it is no time for authority to be draining away. the prime minister may be pushing the button on plan b to cope with the pandemic, but this christmas, borisjohnson may need a plan b for his leadership too. pfizer—biontech have said three doses of their covid—i9 vaccine have been able to neutralise the omicron variant in laboratory tests. the manufacturers say that while two doses offer lower protection against omicron, a third, booster dose increased the neutralising antibodies significantly. pfizer—biontech say that, if needed, they could deliver an omicron—specific vaccine by march. the results match a south africa study, but a laboratory analysis in frankfurt found a reduced antibody response to omicron even after three shots. we can now speak to saad omer who's director of the yale institute for global health. a very good evening to you there in connecticut. what do we know about how much protection the vaccines offer against this new variant? i must caution these are early data. these are very early days of us as scientists trying to figure out what would be the utility of three verses two doses. i expect even two doses to provide some addiction against severe disease but they also expect that three doses will have higher protection based on these very initial data. how much higher? i think it is an open question right now. i know that in this initial time there will be some initial time there will be some initial discrepant results but it's likely that a consensus will emerge fairly soon, in the next few weeks where we would have enough of an idea to inform actual policy. at this point the evidence suggests that it point the evidence suggests thatitis point the evidence suggests that it is entirely appropriate to recommend taking three booster doses as a precaution against this variant of the sales sales —— of the sales sales sars-covz. sars—cov2. these are very preliminary results that three doses would be needed of pretty much any combination. previous studies and some of them were very nicely done in the uk and there have been us studies as well, show that even combinations of vaccines are fairly effective, so i think the certainty we have is minimal at this point but the current emerging evidence is pointing towards three doses being needed for protection against the omicron variant. figs against the omicron variant. as vaccines are tweaked especially in response to new variants, how closely is the safety monitored and the frequency of things like adverse reactions? that's a really good question. i think this immunisation programme is unprecedented and so is the vaccine's safety monitoring programme that goes with that. so we have delivered over 8 billion doses according to a recent estimate of this vaccine so far and we have had vaccine so far and we have had vaccine safety systems, surveillance systems that have been upgraded to match the magnitude of this programme. so i think, the safety is being monitored and obviously, these signals, any signals are taken seriously, but what i would be reassured that this is not a novel vaccine any more. we have experience with the previous adverse events data, but also we know what to look for, where to look for in terms of risk groups et cetera.- to look for in terms of risk groups et cetera. 0k, professor saad omer. — groups et cetera. 0k, professor saad omer, we _ groups et cetera. 0k, professor saad omer, we will _ groups et cetera. 0k, professor saad omer, we will have - groups et cetera. 0k, professor saad omer, we will have to - saad omer, we will have to leave it there, thank you very much for being with us. my pleasure- _ germany's new chancellor, olaf scholz, leader of the social democrats, has been sworn in, bringing to an end angela merkel�*s 16 years as the head of government. he's just the fourth chancellor of germany in nearly forty years, as our correspondent jenny hill reports from berlin. in the powerful heart of europe, a new political era has begun. no pomp, little ceremony. olaf scholz isn't known for his charisma or stirring speeches, but the social democrat and former finance minister's style, his manner, his politics, remind many germans of angela merkel, and they like him for it. mr scholz had promised the country a new government for christmas. his other pledges, to create a fairer, more liberal society, and a climate friendly country, may be harder to keep. angela merkel has done a greatjob but i think now it was a time for something new, something more green. translation: now we have something different - but they have to prove themselves. that mr scholz managed to form a government at all is seen by some as nothing short of a miracle. he will have to hold to get an unusual coalition. the social democrats, the greens, and the business friendly free democrats are not natural bedfellows. this is an historic day for germany and there is a real sense of excitement at the political changes unfolding here. what the rest of the world wants to know is what does this mark a significant shift in germany's wider positions and policies? for now, it seems the answer is no. olaf scholz championed the eu, likes a multilateral approach. his government plans to spend more on defence and will stick to nato commitments. you might see some shift on russia and china, in tone at least, if not in substance. this man was once angela merkel�*s foreign policy adviser. the outside world will be surprised that there will be much more continuity and change. there are many people who like to have this type of stability in germany. after 16 years, the merkel era is over. earlier, she wished mr scholz luck. he will need it. germany is experiencing its worst covid wave to date. the chancellor's first task — to develop, like his predecessor, a reputation for managing a crisis. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: life as an icon, as part of our 100 women series, we talk to the nigerian writer chimamanda ngozi adichie about feminism and grief. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building, in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president i of the philippines, hasi gone on trial in manila. she's facing seven charges of tax evasion, estimated i at £120 million. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: new covid rules have been announced for england — but the prime minister's accused of trying to deflect attention from a political scandal. pharmaceutical giant pfizer says a three—jab course of their covid vaccine is effective against the omicron variant. the uk and canada are the latest countries to join a diplomatic boycott of the winter olympics in beijing next year, following australia and the us. they've all confirmed they won't send officials or politicians to the games. first the us, and australia, the uk and now canada joins a list of countries using the beijing winter games to make a point about china and accusations of human rights violations. accusations of human rights violations-— accusations of human rights violations. we are extremely concerned — violations. we are extremely concerned by _ violations. we are extremely concerned by repeated - violations. we are extremely. concerned by repeated human rights violations by the chinese government. that is why we are announcing today we will not be sending any diplomatic representation to the beijing paralympic games this winter. but this is not a sporting boycott. it is only diplomats who will stay away, despite calls from human rights campaigners, the athletes will still get to go to beijing in february. earlierthis still get to go to beijing in february. earlier this week, the us accused china of genocide in its oppression of the predominantly weaker minority in singeing problems. —— uyghur. speakto minority in singeing problems. —— uyghur. speak to the bbc, john kerry demanded the boycott,. john kerry demanded the boycott. -_ john kerry demanded the bo cott,. ~ ., . boycott,. we not lecturing. what we're _ boycott,. we not lecturing. what we're doing _ boycott,. we not lecturing. | what we're doing something boycott,. we not lecturing. - what we're doing something the us has always done, which is stand up for human rights. but china strongly denies the human rights abuse claims. it calls the boycott is a smear campaign and so the officials hadn't even been asked to come in the first place. even been asked to come in the first place-— first place. china has not invited any _ first place. china has not invited any australian . invited any australian government officials to attend the winter olympics, and no—one would care about whether they came or not. the australian politicians�* political posturing and hyping for their own political interests will have no impact whatsoever on beijing�*s successful hosting of the olympic games. find beijing's successful hosting of the olympic games.— the olympic games. and the international _ the olympic games. and the international olympic - the olympic games. and the - international olympic committee would prefer people to focus on athletes, not politics. irate would prefer people to focus on athletes, not politics.— athletes, not politics. we have been concerned, _ athletes, not politics. we have been concerned, would - athletes, not politics. we have been concerned, would be - been concerned, would be athletes, we welcome that they participate, that they are supported by their national government, and the rest is politics and our political neutrality, the principle is applied. neutrality, the principle is a - lied. �* ., applied. but with china threatening _ applied. but with china threatening to - applied. but with china j threatening to retaliate applied. but with china i threatening to retaliate in other countries considering whether to join the boycott, the ioc may not get its wish for the needs to take centre stage anytime soon. let�*s get some of the day�*s other news. donald trump�*s former chief of staff has filed a lawsuit against the congressional committee which has charged him with contempt over his refusal to testify in the investigation of the january capitol riots. mark meadows specifically names the democratic leader of the house of representatives nancy pelosi in his suit, alongside nine members of the panel. jo biden will speak to ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky on thursday, to discuss the russian military buildup near the ukrainian border. it follows the us president�*s video conference with russian leader vladimir putin on tuesday. the white house says mr biden will also convene a call with the leaders of the so—called bucharest nine group of eastern european nato allies. for many, the nigerian writer chimamanda ngozi adichie became famous when her tedtalk "we should all be feminist" was featured in beyonce�*s song flawless, but her books have been translated into over 30 different languages. in an exclusive interview for the bbc�*s 100 women series, the nigerian writer talks to catherine byaruhanga, about the responsibilities that come with being seen as an icon and also her newest book, which deals with the grief of losing her father last year. grieving is such a strange thing. and death itself is so final and so fundamentally on knowable that it feels like trying to make your way through this very dark, deep hole, and that desire to not feel alone. so i found it a bit confronting, and i have also found it confronting to hear about the stories of all the people who are grieving, it is just that feeling of not wanting to be utterly alone, like, this thing is horrible, but apparently it is a thing thatis but apparently it is a thing that is universal, there are people all over the world also going through this horrible thing and it makes you feel ever so slightly comforted. {line ever so slightly comforted. one ofthe ever so slightly comforted. one of the other— ever so slightly comforted. one of the other issues _ ever so slightly comforted. one of the other issues you've been of the other issues you�*ve been very passionate about recently is speaking about cancel culture, and toxicity on social media, and one of your latest essays, it is obscene, which you released injune or published injune, you talked about the wider issue of cancel culture, why do you consider the public space of social media to be obscene, as you wrote in the essay? irate media to be obscene, as you wrote in the essay?- media to be obscene, as you wrote in the essay? we live in a world where _ wrote in the essay? we live in a world where there _ wrote in the essay? we live in a world where there is - wrote in the essay? we live in a world where there is so - wrote in the essay? we live in l a world where there is so much quickness to think the worst of somebody, and to put the worst possible spin on what somebody has said stop the assumption, for example, that if you use the wrong language you are morally bad. it is not that you have made a mistake, it is that you are morally bad, and those moraljudgements sticks, and the next thing is somebody loses theirjob, that person needs to be fired from everything, i cannot help but think, where is this going to end? i think the one thing that really tipped me over, it is what made me write that essay, having my nephew called me and tell me there were people on social media saying that my parents had died and that it was good for me and it was punishment because i had refused to say that trans women are women. ijust refused to say that trans women are women. i just found refused to say that trans women are women. ijust found it refused to say that trans women are women. i just found it so inhumane. are women. i 'ust found it so inhumane.— inhumane. obviously a lot of this came — inhumane. obviously a lot of this came from _ inhumane. obviously a lot of this came from your- inhumane. obviously a lot of i this came from your comments inhumane. obviously a lot of - this came from your comments in 2017 from an interview where you talked about your feelings that trans women are trans women. you know, it is several years on, does this still reflects your views today? yes. i have reflects your views today? yes. i have never — reflects your views today? yes. i have never understood, - reflects your views today? yes. i have never understood, even| i have never understood, even being asked this question, why am i being asked this question. what is it about trans women are trans women that are offensive?— are trans women that are offensive? , , , . offensive? there is essence that by talking _ offensive? there is essence that by talking about - offensive? there is essence that by talking about trans i that by talking about trans women being trans women about being excluded from womanhood, and being othered. but being excluded from womanhood, and being othered.— and being othered. but in what wa ? and being othered. but in what way? there — and being othered. but in what way? there is— and being othered. but in what way? there is a _ and being othered. but in what way? there is a major- and being othered. but in what way? there is a major logical. way? there is a major logical fallacy to this, because on the one hand we say that we want to be inclusive, and the premise of the inclusivity is that there are differences between us. why then are we so unwilling to acknowledge those differences. of course, i have always been deeply supportive of difference in general, so when it comes to transgender people, i am deeply supportive of gender affirming care. so if there are countries in which trans people want to transition and are being deprived of their healthcare, i think that is immoral, right, but then to say that trans women and women have the same experiences just doesn�*t make sense, because i think in some ways as well, it is denying the trans—ness of trans people, which is fundamentally wrong. this is about language. if i think the language has a problem i will not participated. you cannot look at my history and my political positions and somehow credibly say that i want trans people dead. it is nonsense. i�*m completely supportive of trans rights, but i�*m just not going to participate in the second language but i think really mask the reality of different peoples. the nigerian writer chimamanda ngozi adichie talking to catherine byaruhanga. you can find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on the bbc 100 women list on the bbc news website. ajapanese billionaire has become the latest space tourist. yusaku maezawa was welcomed on board the international space station, along with his assistant and a russian cosmonaut. he�*s due to spend 12 days orbiting the earth, as the bbc�*s tim allman reports. for most of us, our holidays begin with us checking into our hotel and making sure that we have got our room key. things were a little more complicated for yusaku maezawa, who had to contend with a carefully co—ordinated docking 350 kilometres above the earth�*s surface. kilometres above the earth's surface. ., , surface. next to spaceflight participant _ surface. next to spaceflight participant yusaku - surface. next to spaceflight. participant yusaku maezawa. surface. next to spaceflight - participant yusaku maezawa. he certainly got a friendly welcome as he floated on board the international space station. �* the international space station-— the international space station._ a | the international space i station._ a few station. and lift off. a few hours earlier, _ station. and lift off. a few hours earlier, he - station. and lift off. a few hours earlier, he had - station. and lift off. a few i hours earlier, he had blasted off from the baikonur cosmodrome, the first tourist rush had taken displays in more than a decade. the exact price for the trip remained a secret, but some speculate he may have spent somewhere in the region of $50 million for his high altitude holiday. space tourism is a relatively new business. it was in 2001 russia through the first tourist into space, the first tourist into space, the russian entrepreneur or dennis tito. ten years later nasa retired its shuttle programme and needed to use russian rockets to reach the space station, which meant there was no room for any cosmic tourists. but in 2020, would be successful docking of elon musk�*s spacex dragon capsule, nasa could ferry its own astronauts to the iss and russia once again could offer wealthy holidaymakers a trip to the stars. but there is competition out of his tourist dollars. jeff bezos and sir richard branson launching their own rival businesses, although they do not go as far as the international space station. as for yusaku maezawa, he had the opportunity to speak to family and friends back home. once this trip is complete, he says he wants to fly around the moon. tim allman, bbc news. but is it from us for now. you can get more stories on the bbc news website and news on mac. from the address of the team in london, thanks for watching. goodbye for now. hello again. storm barra of course has been dominating our weather picture over the last couple of days with strong winds, heavy rain and some upland snow as well. but look at these big rocks. the seas have been chucking them onto the coastline of west wales. you know the seas are pretty angry when they throw brick sized lumps of rocks at you. there is barra, it continues to feel it�*s getting less intense. we do have a window of slightly clearer weather that�*s set to come in during thursday. that means we�*ll see these showers that we got at the moment fading away over the next few hours. but it�*s going to be quite chilly for those heading out across northern england and scotland, temperatures as low as —2, —3 c as you perhaps head outside the door first thing in the morning. but for many, a fine start to the day. in fact for some of you, it should be a lovely sunrise. the early rising sun illuminating this lump of cloud, the next weather system not taking long to move its way in and bringing rain back to northern ireland, west england and wales. but also eventually bringing some milder air into the southwest where temperatures reach around 11 through the afternoon. still for most of us, it�*s another fairly chilly run with 6 or 7 c, more typical temperatures. as we head into friday, that area of rain, perhaps with a little bit of mountain snow clears out of the way. we�*ll be left with these north westerly winds. those northwesterly winds bringing a lot of sunshine, sparkling visibility but also a number of showers. the showers will always be most frequent across the northwest, they will be some that reach right across the midlands, perhaps down towards even parts of southern england. temeratures, well, similar to recent days, still quite chilly around six or 7 c. but the weather is set to change as we head into the weekend. another area of low pressure responsible for the change, this one is going to be bringing south—westerly winds in, particularly across parts of england and wales. could be some mist and fog patches first thing in the morning. so for some it could be quite a murky start and it�*s not entirely dry, we�*ve got outbreaks of rain piling and particularly through western areas of the country. although probably not a huge amount of rain across eastern most areas. temperatures rising through the day, 12 toward southwest england and heading into sunday, that milder air will continue to push its way eastwards and northwards. by the time we get to sunday afternoon most of you will see temperatures into double figures and the milder spots on sunday you could see temperatures as high as 14. then it looks like it will stay quite mild into next week. this is bbc news. the headlines: britain�*s prime minister, borisjohnson, is facing questions over the effectiveness of his latest coronavirus restrictions. there�*s growing public anger over mrjohnson�*s failure to fully explain how a christmas party for his own staff last year did not breach lockdown rules in place at the time. pharmaceutical giant pfizer—biontech have said three doses of their covid—19 vaccine have been able to neutralise the omicron variant in laboratory tests. the manufacturers say that while two doses offer lower protection against omicron, a third booster dose of the vaccine increased the neutralising antibodies significantly. germany�*s new centre—left chancellor, olaf scholz, has thanked his predecessor, angela merkel, and promised to build on her achievements. the two politicians who�*ve worked together in the last coalition held a warm handover ceremony at the chancellery in berlin. theatres and cinemas in england are gearing up for mandatory mask wearing from friday.