civil lawsuit against him to be thrown out. they say he can't be sued, because of an agreement signed by his accuser, virginia giuffre. despite strict covid rules, novak djokovic will be allowed to defend his australian open title without being vaccinated as he's granted a medical exemption. and the science of climate change with temperatures in antarctica rising at three times the global average. we speak to a scientist on board a polar research ship. hello and welcome to the programme. it really doesn't get much tougher than this — the chinese city of yuzhou has been put into lockdown after recording just three cases of covid, all of them asymptomatic, as china shows its determination to continue with its zero—covid strategy. residents won't be allowed to leave their homes in this eastern chinese city of around 1.2 million people. the transport system has been shut down, as well as shops and entertainment venues. only food stores can stay open and only workers involved in epidemic prevention are allowed out. another city, xi'an, with a population of 13 million has been under lockdown for two weeks. our correspondent, robin brant, sent us this report. this is extreme, even by china's standards. a city shut down because ofjust three new cases with no symptoms. "everyone is prohibited from leaving the city," the sign says. a million—plus people are now in lockdown in yuzhou, the latest proof that china is very committed to its zero—covid strategy. translation: it doesn't bother me to do a covid test at midnight. it's for our own safety. 300 miles away and two weeks ahead of yuzhou is xi'an, a city famed for its terracotta warriors, where 13 million people have now been locked down since before christmas. what started out a fortnight ago with the late—night army of officials welding gates shut has led to this. some people banned from leaving their tower blocks have taken to bartering with their neighbours. cigarettes for vegetables, other goods for sanitary towels. this is what most of china looks like. it's busy. yes, you have to have a mask when you get on the metro and there's a temperature check, but the government says its zero—covid strategy has achieved this for about 18 months now. and that's a strategy that includes things like this — pop—up tents where you can get a booster on the way home and win prizes as well. but it also includes very, very harsh measures that can be imposed on a city in a matter of hours. harsh measures, brutal enforcement. it's been part of china's covid containment since the beginning. just last month, some cities were parading covid—spreading offenders in public. keeping cases at near zero is now even more important as china prepares to host another olympics. the winter games in beijing is just a month away. china's president, xijinping, saw for himself the final preparations on tuesday. on the brink of a third term in power, he wants and needs a smooth ride at the games. zero covid is central to that. robin brant, bbc news, shanghai. that's zero covid approach may seem pretty draconian. but the number of infections and the authorities�* response to it is in very stark contrast to other parts of the world, nowhere more so than the united states, which has just recorded more than 1 million cases of the omicron variant. that's the highest daily tally of anywhere in the world. speaking at the white house, president biden pleaded with the american people who haven't been vaccinated, to get the jab. let me be absolutely clear. we have in hand all the vaccines we need to get every american fully vaccinated, including the booster shot, so there's no excuse, no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated. this continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated. that is president biden. i'm joined now by drjorge salinas, associate professor of infectious diseases at stanford university. professor, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. it doesn't matter how many times president biden seems to say this, the figures still vaccination are pretty weak in the us. is there anything else that can be done? i the us. is there anything else that can be done?— the us. is there anything else that can be done? i think what we are seeing _ that can be done? i think what we are seeing is _ that can be done? i think what we are seeing is the _ that can be done? i think what we are seeing is the result - that can be done? i think what we are seeing is the result of. we are seeing is the result of a long—standing problem and an antiscience ribbon and anti—vaxxing movement that will take a big societal effort to persuade people to get vaccinated.— persuade people to get vaccinated. , ., , vaccinated. so, he is really hittin: vaccinated. so, he is really hitting his _ vaccinated. so, he is really hitting his head _ vaccinated. so, he is really hitting his head against - vaccinated. so, he is really hitting his head against a l hitting his head against a brick wall?— hitting his head against a brick wall? ., . _, . brick wall? correct, correct. i think the _ brick wall? correct, correct. i think the omicron _ brick wall? correct, correct. i think the omicron variant - brick wall? correct, correct. i| think the omicron variant gets distributed throughout the country, i think more people will get vaccinated. so far the east coast is impacted the most, but i expect soon other states in the heartland of america tend to be more resistant to vaccination will get affected and that will drive some increase in vaccination.— drive some increase in vaccination. beyond this extraordinary _ vaccination. beyond this extraordinary and - vaccination. beyond this - extraordinary and exponential spread of omicron, what are the measures that could be taken that mightjust persuade people and might make it indeed easier to start following the sort of guidelines that the administrations have been trying to lay out? i administrations have been trying to lay out?- administrations have been trying to lay out? i think that a strategy — trying to lay out? i think that a strategy that _ trying to lay out? i think that a strategy that is _ trying to lay out? i think that a strategy that is only - a strategy that is only based on vaccines is probably not going to work. i think we need to focus on the social determinant of health, we need to provide easier access to vaccines, to tests and to support people to get quarantine and isolated when needed. ., , quarantine and isolated when needed. , , ., needed. has it been better than this do you _ needed. has it been better than this do you think? _ needed. has it been better than this do you think? we _ needed. has it been better than this do you think? we are - this do you think? we are getting close to two years of coded now and admittedly each variant has its own particular character mystics —— covid—i9. do you think the way the us has managed or mismanaged this whole affair has been better thanit whole affair has been better than it is now? i whole affair has been better than it is now?— than it is now? i think there is still a _ than it is now? i think there is still a lot _ than it is now? i think there is still a lot of— than it is now? i think there is still a lot of room - than it is now? i think there is still a lot of room for- is still a lot of room for improvement. we still need to improvement. we still need to improve access to vaccines, the testing, masks, to support people to isolate and quarantine and improve ventilation in buildings. there is still a lot to do.— is still a lot to do. that is an interesting _ is still a lot to do. that is an interesting point - is still a lot to do. that is an interesting point and ij an interesting point and i thinkjoe biden wanted outjust how much money is spent on schools to do some of these things. it is slow progress, isn't it? thank you very much indeed. ., ~ , ., let's get some of the day's other news. the authorities in kazakhstan have declared a 2—week state of emergency in the main city, almaty, and in a western province as a wave of protests hit the country. they resulted from the authorities�* decision to lift price caps on vehicle fuel, causing prices to surge. a later government move to cancel the price rise apparently failed to calm the protesters. police in washington, dc have been outlining the security measures they've put in place ahead of the first anniversary of the attack on the us capitol. the police chief said the building's security team had implemented more than 90 recommendations following investigations into the intelligence and operationalfailures that led to the breach. south korea has reported the launch of what it called an unspecified projectile from north korea's east coast. the launch is the first of the new year for pyongyang. at a meeting of the north's ruling party last week, its leader, kimjong—un, vowed to continue to build up north korea's military capabilities despite the impact of international sanctions. in south africa, the man accused of torching the country's parliament building has appeared in court. zandile christmas mafe faces five charges including arson and possession of an explosive device. the man has denied all charges and his lawyer says that he's being made a scapegoat. prince andrew's lawyers have been trying to convince an american judge to dismiss the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him. they say his accuser, virginia giuffre, can't sue, because of damages she accepted in 2009, from the paedophile, jeffrey epstein, in return for dropping her claims against him and any other "potential defendant." prince andrew has consistently denied her allegations. our royal correspondent jonny dymond has the latest. she says she was sexually assaulted by prince andrew three times. he denies every allegation and says he can't remember meeting her. today, his lawyers argued the whole case should be dismissed. the civil case rests partly on this meeting in london, a night when virginia giuffre, here aged 17, says she was forced to have sex with prince andrew. when he spoke to the bbc in 2019, he denied the allegations again and again. you can say categorically that you don't recall meeting virginia roberts, dining with her... yep. ..dancing with her at tramp... yep. ..or going on to have sex with her... yes. ..in a bedroom in a house in belgravia? i can absolutely, categorically tell you it never happened. do you recall any kind of sexual contact with virginia roberts, then or at any other time? none...none whatsoever. today in new york, the lawyers battled in court for the first time. at the centre of their arguments, a deal struck between andrew's accuser and his formerfriend, jeffrey epstein. epstein paid virginia giuffre $500 million. their deal released any other person who could have been included as a potential defendant from further legal challenge by virginia giuffre. prince andrew's lawyers needed to persuade the judge that the 2009 deal covered the prince. it's unquestionable, the court heard, that prince andrew could have been sued in the 2009 florida action, but was not. he was a potential defendant. the prince's lawyers demanded detail of the allegations against their client, but they were slapped down by the judge. finally, questions were raised as to whether the prince could even use the 2009 deal. he is a third party the court heard. thejudge said... thejudge was quite aggressive in his questioning of prince andrew's attorneys as they raised technical argument after technical argument, trying to get virginia's case dismissed. the judge did not seem to be having any of it. even if this case is dismissed, prince andrew will, say veteran royal watchers, struggle to return to his previous public life. when it comes to the monarchy, the monarchy is obviously an institution that is big enough to rise above what has happened. but when it comes to prince andrew, one has to say that one can see no role in royal life for him in the immediate future or the intermediate future. just getting this far has damaged prince andrew. and if the case is not dismissed, it will hang over thisjubilee year. the queen's second son, threatened with having to testify in a new york courtroom. now, they wait. the judge in new york says a decision will come pretty soon. jonny dymond, bbc news. emily maitlis, who you saw in that report, has written this article on our website, she of course spoke to prince andrew two years ago for the bbc�*s newsnight. the presenter describes it as jaw—dropping and critical to the sexual assault case. head to bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we'll tell you why tennis star novak djokovic has come under fire for being allowed to play at the australian open. we shall explain. 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 in spite of protests and violence - from some black activist groups. i 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 died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a chinese city of more than 1 million people is under lockdown after three reported cases — under the government's zero covid strategy. as the us hits the highest number of daily infections ever recorded — anywhere in the world — president biden urges people to get vaccinated. every week at this time we take a look at stories with big implications for our planet's future. this week on climate critical, we focus on earth's southernmost continent — antarctica. antarctica's ice sheet covers 1a million square kilometres — much of it several kilometres thick. it's twice the size of australia. over 60% of the planet's fresh water is held in the antarctic. if it melted entirely, sea levels would rise nearly 60 metres. it also plays a crucial role in maintaining earth's temperatures — by reflecting incoming solar radiation. but climate changes are happening fastest at the poles — temperatures in antarctica rising at three times the global average. research in antarctica presents unique challenges. challenges that the polar research ship the sir david attenborough was designed to meet. it is currently on its maiden voyage, between signy island and the falklands in the southern atlantic ocean — we can now speak tojenna plank who is on board the ship and is part of the british antarctic survey team and the ship's doctor. thank you very much forjoining us. do you get that sense of remoteness where you are? hello, yes, certainlyi remoteness where you are? hello, yes, certainly i do. at the moment we are on a bumpy passage on our way to the falkland islands and we have beenin falkland islands and we have been in the middle of the passage for a couple of days now. so it is very right down here. and what are you hoping to do on this particular trip? it is the maiden voyage but much more thanjust it is the maiden voyage but much more than just a first trip out, isn't it? it is, yes. it is our maiden voyage so we are doing a mixture of ice trials when we leave the falklands in the middle of january we're going down towards the cape and will embark on some ice trials. and we are launching a vehicle to go under the ice shelf to judge ice thickness and the impact on the glaziers on see level rises. i am glad that you mentioned the peoples favourite boaty mcboatface, the submarine. how far down will it go? it can go for about three days a few kilometres deep so it is a huge capacity for research and generating knowledge for us. it is a useful tool. knowledge for us. it is a usefultool. it knowledge for us. it is a useful tool. it is unmanned and will be manned by people on the ship so huge potential.— ship so huge potential. maybe it is not that _ ship so huge potential. maybe it is not that evident _ ship so huge potential. maybe it is not that evident where . it is not that evident where you are at the moment but do any of your colleagues get a sense, yet, as to that sense of climate change? we talk about it all the time. is it something visual? it all the time. is it something visual? j it all the time. is it something visual? it all the time. is it somethin: visual? ., ., something visual? i am on the shi with something visual? i am on the ship with the _ something visual? i am on the ship with the crew, _ something visual? i am on the ship with the crew, some - something visual? i am on the ship with the crew, some of i ship with the crew, some of whom have been down here for many years and it is interesting talking to them when they go to ireland been to before and there is mentions about the difference in whether in the ice coverage. so i do think they feel there is a change in temperature around the amount of ice year on year. it may not be evident from one year to the next but certainly over the career span, for example, definitely. i over the career span, for example, definitely. i must ask ou and i example, definitely. i must ask you and i hate _ example, definitely. i must ask you and i hate to _ example, definitely. i must ask you and i hate to have - example, definitely. i must ask you and i hate to have to - example, definitely. i must ask you and i hate to have to ask. you and i hate to have to ask you and i hate to have to ask you but i do. it is a ship that can have a crew of up to 90, i understand. what happens if there is an outbreak of covid? we have a capacity of 90 in total. we have a crew of about 37 at the moment so we take passengers on top of that. we continue to go through a rigourous quarantine process to try and keep covid at bay. it is a 1k day individual isolation and pcr tests and after three negative pcr tests we then form a bubble on board. so to get through we have protocols in place, we have testing capabilities on board and pcr machine to perform tests on people who are infected in their contact so we have facilities there to try and contain an outbreak should there be one but most importantly we do everything we can to prevent covid getting on board and taking it down to the antarctic. aha, board and taking it down to the antarctic. �* , ,., ., antarctic. a very important oint. antarctic. a very important point- we _ antarctic. a very important point. we were _ antarctic. a very important point. we were talking - antarctic. a very important point. we were talking on | antarctic. a very important i point. we were talking on the phone rather than envision so you are way out there in the middle of nowhere and it is just past new year. i hope you had a good party. we just past new year. i hope you had a good party-— just past new year. i hope you had a good party. we did have a aood had a good party. we did have a good party- _ had a good party. we did have a good party- we _ had a good party. we did have a good party. we have _ had a good party. we did have a good party. we have a - had a good party. we did have a good party. we have a tradition| good party. we have a tradition on the ship where we have a bell on the bridge and the oldest person on board, one of our engineers, brings out the year and then the youngest person on board, one of our it people, they ring in the new year so we did that it gmt, uk new year and it was a good little party that we had. i little party that we had. i hope you get a lot of good work done as well. thank you very much for sparing few minutes. the newjames webb telescope has completed a crucial task, in its quest to observe some of the most distant objects in the universe. its controllers completed the deployment of the space observatory�*s giant kite—shaped sun shield, which is the size of a tennis court. the barrier will allow the telescope to detect signals deep in space, including from objects present during the formation of the first galaxies. tennis now and the men's world number one — novak djokovic — has received a medical exemption to enter australia, bypassing the strict rules that only allow people vaccinated against covid—19 to enter the country. the news means that djokovic — who has been critical of mandatory vacinations — can now compete in the australian open, which he is bidding to win for a record tenth time. on tuesday he tweeted this picture on the airport tarmac, bags packed. with the caption "happy new year... today i'm heading down under with an exemption permission. let's go 2022!" ben rothenberg is a tennis journalist and host of the �*no challenges remaining' podcast and earlier i asked how a player goes about getting a media exemption. you apply for one and you have to give a reason for it and we still don't know what djokovic's reason for this exemption was. the understanding is that they would only be given in acute major medical situations and cases and that is not something you would think a world number one athlete would have. there are reasons unknown to us and it is also possible there is a clause in their which would allow for a very recent covid case to exempt from vaccination requirements. we've not heard about djokovic catching covid again. it is possible but at this point there is a lot of speculation and not a lot of details which will have to come from him at some point. he's only person able to fill this given that he is looking to achieve something no other tennis player in the men's game has ever achieved, a 21st grand slam victory, you can understand the attention on him. but are there other players also have a medical exemption that we know of? we tend to focus on djokovic. no other confirmed exemptions that we know. only a handful of exemptions that were given, probably about 26 applications and only a handful were granted and those include both players and support staff. we don't know about any other exemptions. there is one american player, tennys sandgren, he pulled out of the australian open citing vaccination rules. he is unvaccinated and does not want to be, but he did not apply for an exemption. djokovic did apply and it was granted. all of this takes place in melbourne, in victoria which has been through a lockdown hell, i think is how many people would describe it. how has this gone down? not well at all. it has created a great deal of bad will towards the tournament and djokovic and whoever else's perceived possible to make responsible for bending the rules. there is a great deal of frustration is a major covid spike is happening with hundreds of lines and people waiting around the city for tests and shortages of home tests and it is a tough time and itjust furthers the perception that there is different treatment for stars and celebrities than there is for the average australian. ben rosenberg they're preparing to endure, or enjoy the australian open. thailand has re— opened their famous australian open. thailand has re— opened theirfamous beach made phil must buy a the same name. the authorities close the area down over three years ago to enable the ecosystem there to enable the ecosystem there to recover from the impact of thousands of daily visitors. the beach lies on an island in the andaman sea and is only accessible by boat. under strict covid—19 conditions the number of visitors is limited to no more than 375 at any given time. no swimming allowed in the bay. clear restrictions but, nonetheless, access to the beachis but, nonetheless, access to the beach is back on again, to some extent. and that is bbc news. thank you for watching. hello there. winter has certainly staged a return after the very mild start we had to this year. temperatures over the last couple days have been dropping, and some places have seen a covering of snow. so, where we have snow on the ground and where we have seen wintry showers, there's the potential for ice to take us into wednesday morning. and with this little ridge of high pressure temporarily building in, well, that means wednesday's actually going to bring a lot of fine and dry weather. the greatest risk of ice will be across northern scotland and northern ireland through the first part of the morning. we will continue to see some wintry showers here, a few too into wales, the southwest of england, and a few grazing the east coast of england as well. but for most places, we go through the day and the showers become fewer and further in between, we will see more in the way of sunshine, the winds will slowly ease — but it will not be a warm day by any stretch, top temperatures between 3—9 celsius. now as we go through wednesday evening, still some showers grazing the east coast, some out west for a time. things generally will be dry with long, clear spells. cloud tending to increase across northern ireland later in the night — that will lift the temperatures a little bit here, but for most places, a very cold night, —8 likely in some sheltered rural spots in scotland. but after that cold start, we bring in this frontal system from the west on thursday. there is, associated with this, going to be a very narrow wedge of milder air. so, what we will see as this front moves in is initially a spell of snow, even to quite low levels across parts of scotland and northern england seeing the rain run into the cold air. some snow over high ground in wales, perhaps into the midlands as well. but any wintry weather tends to turn back to wet weather as we go through the day, as that little wedge of milder air starts to work its way in. and then, cold air will return from the west later. it will be windy, gusts of 50—60 mph or more in some exposed western spots. and temperatures still stuck between 4—9 celsius for the most part. and then, into friday, we're back into colder air again. we will see some sunshine, but we will see some showers, too, these falling as a wintry mix of rain, sleet, and snow. it'll be a fairly breezy day in many places — our top temperatures again between 3—9 celsius. that's all from me, bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: in china, a city of more than 1 million is under lockdown afterjust three reported cases under the government's zero covid strategy. residents of yuzhou are not allowed to leave their homes, the transport system has been shut down and only food stores can stay open. the united states has just recorded more than 1 million cases of the omicron variant. that's the highest daily tally of anywhere in the world. speaking at the white house, president biden has pleaded with the american people who haven't been vaccinated to get the jab. lawyers for prince andrew have argued for the first time in court that the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him should be thrown out. they say he can't be sued because of an agreement signed by his accuser, virginia giuffre.