and, untouched by climate change. scientists discover a rare pristine coral reef off the coast of tahiti hello and welcome. the british prime minister, borisjohnson has insisted he will fight any challenge to his leadership of the conservative party. it follows a fiery day in the house of commons over the so—called partygate scandal — with one new mp defecting to the labour party, and a former cabinet minister calling for the prime minister to stand down. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. calm? not much of it around here. westminster is tense about a report into what party happened in downing street during lockdown and how long borisjohnson will remain prime minister. yesterday one conservative mp decided he had had enough. christian wafer joined the labour party. they publicly defecting on the floor of the house of commons. music to the ears of his new leader. can i start by warmly welcoming the honourable member of very self to his new post. and to the parliamentary labour party. mr speaker, like so many people up mr speaker, like so many people up and down the country he has concluded that the prime minister of the conservative party have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership in government this country deserves. a prime minister and a fire from his own side as well showing no signs he wants to go anywhere. as for berry self, as for barry south we will win again in barry south at the next election. but listen to this. from one of his own mps, a former brexit ally. i expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. yesterday he did the opposite of that. so i will remind him of a quotation you have sat there too long in the name of god, go. rumours are flying around here about whether the prime minister will face a confidence vote. the chances of that happening this week appear to have receded and some think it would be a bad idea. colleagues are coming out now strongly in supporting the prime minister is the right man to lead our country and he has got the core of all big decisions right it brexit or covid or growing the fastest economy in the g7. many conservatives are angry and some may move next week when the report into lockdown parties is published i think there is a real sense of stepping back and realising that the right thing to do is to wait for the report and to then question the prime minister as he has properly said he will come to the house of commons megastore and an answerfor it. some hope robert —— borisjohnson survives and others not so sure. the prime minister �*s future is far certain. nick early, abc news westminster. -- bbc —— bbc news. president biden has said he thinks russia will invade ukraine, but has warned that the us will impose severe costs and significant harm on moscow in response. but in a news conference marking his first full year in office, mr biden acknowledged that nato countries were not united on how to respond to the russian military action in ukraine. russia has around 100,000 troops deployed at the border but denies it's planning military action. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue reports ever since russia began its buildup of troops on the ukrainian border america has been threatening wide ranging economic sanctions, if vladimir putin went ahead with the invasion. now the us president is predicting that his russian counterpart will make a move on ukraine, testing the west and while us troops would not be involved, the president said the consequences would be deadly. the consequences would be deadl . w, ., the consequences would be deadl . ., ., ., deadly. the cost of going into ukraine in _ deadly. the cost of going into ukraine in terms _ deadly. the cost of going into ukraine in terms of— deadly. the cost of going into ukraine in terms of physical l ukraine in terms of physical loss of life for the russians, they will be able to prevail over time but it will be heavy. it will be real, it will be consequential. fist it will be real, it will be consequential. at home the administration's _ consequential. at home the administration's handling i consequential. at home the administration's handling of covid has been severely criticised, particularly for the slow response on testing. now a billion tests will be available for americans to take it home and the president promises no more lockdowns. i am not going to give up and accept things as they are now. some people may call what is happening now a new moment. i call it a job not yet finished. it will get better. we are moving towards a time when covid—i9 will not disrupt our daily lives. covid-19 will not disrupt our daily lives-_ daily lives. the president claimed _ daily lives. the president claimed credit _ daily lives. the president claimed credit for - daily lives. the presidentl claimed credit for bringing unemployment down and passing covid relief and infrastructure legislation. but with inflation hi and other bills being blocked he blamed republicans for not getting more done. i did not anticipate that there would be such a stall would effort to make sure that the most important thing was that president biden did not get anything done. jae president biden did not get anything done.— anything done. joe biden believes _ anything done. joe biden believes his _ anything done. joe biden believes his first - anything done. joe biden believes his first year - anything done. joe biden| believes his first year has seen important progress on the economy, on covid and on infrastructure. but with key parts of his legislative programme mired in congress and a looming crisis with russia, there are huge challenges ahead. not least those mid—term elections in november. let's get some of the day's other news. the peruvian government says an oil spill at a seaside refinery is the worst ecological disaster the area has seen in many years. the spill happened when a tanker offloading oil into a refinery was hit by waves generated by the tonga volcano eruption. peru says spanish energy company, repsol, must pay for the environmental damage and clean up the coastal area affected near the capital, lima. president biden has said that he's profoundly disappointed that his voting rights reforms have failed to pass in the us senate. the legislation was blocked by republicans, who argued that the democrats were trying to strip states of their powers. two democrats voted with the republicans to block the move. a major global study has found that more than a million people died in 2019 from infections caused by bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics. the researchers, writing in the lancet medicaljournal, say this is higher than the annual number who die from malaria or hiv/aids around the world. officials in the canadian city of toronto are warning it could take days to clear huge amounts of snow after a record breaking blizzard. more than 600 snow ploughs are working 2a hours a day to shift the snow. the authorities say up to 400 buses were stuck at one point. the first flight from new zealand carrying aid to tonga following saturday's volcanic eruption and tsunami has landed. aircraft from australia and japan are also on their way along with several ships. much of the tonga archipelago has suffered severe damage from the tsunami — many houses have been destroyed. estimates from new zealand suggest the main communications cable in tonga will now take around four weeks to repair. 0n the satellite phone we can now speak to mikaela vaka who works for one of the main radio stations in tonga and previously had to scramble to higher ground following the eruption over fears of being swept away by the tsunami. it is great to have you on the programme. can you tell us more about what you have experienced in the last few days?— in the last few days? thank ou, in the last few days? thank you. thank— in the last few days? thank you, thank you _ in the last few days? thank you, thank you very - in the last few days? thank you, thank you very much l in the last few days? thank i you, thank you very much for having us on. it is a privilege to be talking to the bbc. (lot of audio distortion) with... the eruption we haven't heard any sound like that and everybody started thinking that there would be a soon army and from then on everyone started to get to higher ground. and audio distortion and along the way... sorry, sorry to interrupt you but we are really struggling to hear clearly what you are saying. 0bviously hear clearly what you are saying. obviously the satellite link is extremely compromised at the moment but we will try again, we will persevere. for now we will say goodbye. michaela vacca there who, as we mentioned, works for one of the main radio stations in tonga. apologies if you could not hear clearly what she was saying but she was basically describing what she says is the work is the worst experience for the island nation, saying it was totally unexpected. i don't know if you could hear clearly, but the sound was quite astounding when it happened and therefore it has been very, very traumatising for people because it was unexpected. they were unprepared and people did panic. you can see some of the images we are receiving now and we mentioned that an air plane with aid has arrived and landed at the airport which was covered, the runway was covered in ash and there was a huge job to clear the runway so that aircraft could land. a real shame we could not hear michaela clearly and hear her account but we will try again later. south africa found itself at the forefront of the latest covid wave caused by the 0micron variant late last year, now scientists in the country are confident it is on the way out. but they also accuse the developed world of ignoring its advice that the variant was less harmful than feared, blaming western scepticism. and while the future of the virus still remains uncertain, the signs from south africa are good news for the rest of the world. 0ur africa correspondent, andrew harding sent this report from johannesburg. back to school and, perhaps, but to something like normality here in south africa. masks are still compulsory and public but the 0micron variant, first discovered in this region eight weeks ago, is already fading fast. and confidence is growing. fast. and confidence is growing-— fast. and confidence is curowin. , ., ., growing. let things go back to normal. growing. let things go back to normal- it _ growing. let things go back to normal. it is _ growing. let things go back to normal. it is time. _ growing. let things go back to normal. it is time. if- growing. let things go back to normal. it is time. if people . normal. it is time. if people can vaccinate i don't see any harm in this. i think things can go back to normal now. we did not see _ can go back to normal now. we did not see any increase in deaths _ did not see any increase in deaths comparable to the other waves — deaths comparable to the other waves. , . . deaths comparable to the other waves. ,. . , , , waves. the scientific consensus has been clear— waves. the scientific consensus has been clear for _ waves. the scientific consensus has been clear for weeks. - has been clearfor weeks. 0micron is highly contagious but its death toll has been tiny compared with past waves. 0micron was less severe than the previous variants. dramatically less. yes. it was more infectious _ dramatically less. yes. it was more infectious but _ dramatically less. yes. it was more infectious but less - dramatically less. yes. it was i more infectious but less severe and that is exactly what a virus wants to do. becoming more like — virus wants to do. becoming more like a _ virus wants to do. becoming more like a seasonal- virus wants to do. becoming more like a seasonal flu? i virus wants to do. becoming i more like a seasonal flu? yes. south african _ more like a seasonal flu? yes. south african scientists - south african scientists studying 0micron have been quick to share their analysis with the rest of the world. but has the world listen? to date, some of south africa's top scientists are speaking out in frustration, accusing wealthier western nations have been to believe bad news from the continent but far too slow to trust more positive evidence emerging about 0micron. i emerging about omicron. i thought that there was too much scepticism. the world was not willing to believe that this virus was somehow going to be less severe. everybody was expecting the worst and when they went seeing it they were questioning whether our observations were sufficiently scientifically? it observations were sufficiently scientifically?— scientifically? it seems high income countries _ scientifically? it seems high income countries are - scientifically? it seems high income countries are muchl scientifically? it seems high - income countries are much able to absorb— income countries are much able to absorb bad news that comes from _ to absorb bad news that comes from a — to absorb bad news that comes from a country such as south africa, — from a country such as south africa, but _ from a country such as south africa, but when we talk about omicron, _ africa, but when we talk about omicron, they shot the borders to south— omicron, they shot the borders to south africa and were keen to south africa and were keen to absorb _ to south africa and were keen to absorb that bad news when we provide _ to absorb that bad news when we provide good news all of a sudden _ provide good news all of a sudden there's a lot of scepticism. in sudden there's a lot of scepticism.— sudden there's a lot of sceticism. ., g ., . , , scepticism. in a johannesburg bar, business _ scepticism. in a johannesburg bar, business as _ scepticism. in a johannesburg bar, business as usual. - scepticism. in a johannesburg bar, business as usual. southj bar, business as usual. south africa has managed omicron without any new restrictions without any new restrictions with a push to increase vaccine rates. it with a push to increase vaccine rates. , ., ., , , rates. it is going to be better if more people _ rates. it is going to be better if more people get _ rates. it is going to be better. if more people get vaccinated. and then morejobs if more people get vaccinated. and then more jobs will be, there will be more jobs available and companies, people will come back.— will come back. south africa has been — will come back. south africa has been hit _ will come back. south africa has been hit hard _ will come back. south africa has been hit hard by - will come back. south africa l has been hit hard by covid-19. has been hit hard by covid—i9. harder than most. but its experience of omicron is giving many here cause for hope. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: thousands offer to adopt a hamster after authorities in hong kong order a cull because of worries they're spreading covid. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first. america first. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the 'butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as - close as possible to this spot. a tide of humanity- that's believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: britain's prime minister borisjohnson says he will challenge any fight to his leadership, as the row surrounding parties in downing street during lockdown intensifies. president biden has warned vladimir putin that the us will do significant harm to russia if he decides to invade ukraine. secondary school pupils in england will no longer need to wear face masks in classrooms from today, as the government's plan b measures are phased out. advice to work from home has also ended, and from next thursday, mandatory face coverings in public places and covid passports will both be axed. simonjones has the details. face—to—face learning but it will now be without the masks. from today face coverings in the classroom in england can come off, as though unions are warning that coronavirus remains a challenge with large numbers of staff and pupils absent. the government is keen for us to learn to live with covid. in england, people are no longer advised to work from home. from next thursday, face coverings will not be required legally in any setting that people are advised to wear them in crowded places. an covid password to get into nightclubs can be dropped as a venue is can be dropped as a venue is can choose to keep using them. they represent a major milestone but it is not the end of the road. and we should not see this as the finish line because we cannot eradicate these virus and future variants. instead, we must learn to live with covid in the same way we have learnt to live with flu. ,, ., . same way we have learnt to live with flu. ., ., , ., with flu. some are wary of auoin with flu. some are wary of going too _ with flu. some are wary of going too fast _ with flu. some are wary of going too fast too - with flu. some are wary of going too fast too quickly. i with flu. some are wary of| going too fast too quickly. i think it is a bit too early because the numbers are high. it has been a long couple of years— it has been a long couple of years now. | it has been a long couple of years nova— it has been a long couple of ears now. ~ ., ~ , years now. i think i would keep it in transport and _ years now. i think i would keep it in transport and crowded - it in transport and crowded places. _ it in transport and crowded places. like— it in transport and crowded places, like shops. - it in transport and crowded places, like shops. the. it in transport and crowded places, like shops. the royal colleae places, like shops. the royal college of — places, like shops. the royal college of nursing _ places, like shops. the royal college of nursing is - places, like shops. the royal college of nursing is wanting | college of nursing is wanting that dropping plan b will do nothing to ease the pressure on the nhs but the government believes the booster programme has made a real difference and that the omicron wave has a pig- that the omicron wave has a pig. it will also look to enter the legal requirement for people who test positive to isolate and replace it guidance by the end of march. from next week many restrictions in hospitality in scotland would be lifted. in northern ireland, ministers set to consider relaxation. but long—term strategies are being looked at to live with the virus. simon jones, bbc news as covid cases mount up in hong kong, so do new restrictions. face—to—face teaching, already suspended in primary schools, will cease in secondary schools from monday. meanwhile, thousands of people there have volunteered to adopt hamsters. it's the reaction to a decision by the authorities to cull 2,000 of them overfears they are spreading covid—i9. mark lobel reports. a final farewell, surrendering their dear hamster, marshmallow, to the authorities, eventually. translation: i authorities, eventually. tuna/mom- authorities, eventually. translation: ~ ., ., translation: i did think of not turnin: it translation: i did think of not turning it in- _ translation: i did think of not turning it in. it— translation: i did think of not turning it in. it is— translation: i did think of not turning it in. it is very _ turning it in. it is very upsetting. it is meant to be joyful to bring one home for your child but now it feels like losing a lie. there is nothing we can do. it also worry times _ nothing we can do. it also worry times for _ nothing we can do. it also worry times for this - nothing we can do. it also i worry times for this hamster nothing we can do. it also - worry times for this hamster so shot by what is going on. translation: {lin shot by what is going on. translation:— shot by what is going on. translation: on the social media, translation: on the social media. it — translation: on the social media. it is _ translation: on the social media, it is reported - translation: on the social media, it is reported many l media, it is reported many hamsters have been abandoned, alongside kindhearted office to take them in. if needed, i will help those in need as well. this mass cull is part of a zero tolerance approach to maintain hong kong street zero covid policy inspired by beijing. triggered by an employee testing positive with the delta buried in a pet store that was then found to contain covid positive hamsters, fuelling suspicions amongst hong kong government that pets could be transmitting coronavirus to humans. the who is studying whether transmission can occur both ways. as a precaution, hundreds of hamsters are being removed, a decision that has shocked animal rights activists, with thousands petitioning for the decision to be reversed. i think it is unethical and it is not right to kill all of the hamsters. not right to kill all of the hamsters— not right to kill all of the hamsters. ., ., hamsters. health officials have also issued _ hamsters. health officials have also issued strict _ hamsters. health officials have also issued strict quarantine i also issued strict quarantine orders for dozens of pet shop customers and warehouse employees. covid closing the door on get another slice of life, for now. mark lobel, bbc news. a research mission led by unesco has discovered a giant, pristine coral reef off the coast of tahiti in french polynesia. the reef is 30 metres deep, which is unusual for a tropical reef and might explain its pristine condition. our science correspondent victoria gill reports. "magical" that was the word a veteran specialist diver who led this mission used to describe this view. some of these rose—shapes corals are more than two metres wide and the whole reef structure stretches three kilometres along the seabed. its depth and its distance from the coast is thought to be a key reason for its pristine condition. the researchers say it shows no signs of damage from pollution orfrom warming ocean temperature, something that poses a major threat to swallower reefs. it looks beautiful but scientifically, how important is this as a discovery? it might be today one of the largest coral reefs in the world that actually lies at that sort of depth of more than 30 metres so from that perspective, this is opening a new insight in science. this could suggest that we have many more large reefs in our ocean at depths beyond 30 minutes which we simply do not know about. it is often said we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the ocean floor. only about a fifth of it has so far been mapped. this discovery is part of a larger mission to fill in those gaps in our ocean knowledge. and coral reefs like this are the sea floor hotspots for marine life. about one quarter of known ocean species can be found around these living ecosystems. the team is now planning more investigative dives to work out what lives here and, crucially, how their remarkable newly discovered habitats can be protected. victoria gill, bbc news. nigeria and egypt sealed their places in the knockouts of the africa cup of nations. as bbc africa's ian williams explains from yaounde, cameroon. all the action in a group d at the african cup of nations. nigeria have become of the facade and indeed the only such to score a hat—trick of victories in the new stage beating guinea—bissau 2—0. the goal coming from a player making his debut. and also the skipper, with a goal as well. at yaounde each of guaranteed progress with victory over the done. those other side that will go through. guinea—bissau anderson done will be going home. —— and suzanne. the result very important. —— sudan. it gets quite complicated. but good news for gambia and mali. they also will be going through to the last 16 and what an achievement it is for gambia, at the very first ever african cup of nations, guaranteed to be through the knockout stages. exciting. i will be back the business stories. hello there. we've got a much colder day of weather coming up today. it was yesterday that we had a cold front bring a bit of patchy rain southwards. as that cleared, we had a fine end to the day in hampshire — a lovely sunset here. for northern scotland, though, it was quite a turbulent day. gusty winds, and those winds have been bringing in some snow showers to shetland, we've seen some in orkney and, more recently, across the north of the mainland as well. that will leave a risk of some icy patches here as we get into the first part of thursday morning with the frost otherwise pretty widespread. for many of us, though, the skies will be clear. now, any showers in northern scotland very quickly will lose their wintriness and turn back to rain. some very slightly less cold air works in here. and for most of the uk, although a cold and frosty start, there will be sunshine pretty much from dawn till dusk. it's going to be a lovely, if somewhat chilly, winter's day. now, there will be some showers coming down the north sea. they'll be affecting eastern parts of scotland. and with the winds blowing more or less parallel to the eastern coasts of england, most of the showers will stay offshore. the greatest risk of a shower will be across norfolk. you might see one or two coming into the north york moors as well. another cold night to come on thursday night — if anything, even colder across parts of england and wales, plumbing the depths. temperatures could get down to about —5, —6 degrees in the coldest spots but it will be turning milder in the north—west — that's because we've got some thicker cloud here. that'll probably give us quite a nice sunrise for some but the best of the sunshine through the day will be across eastern wales, central and eastern england, eastern scotland, probably eastern counties of northern ireland, whereas in the west, you're likely to see some of the higher temperatures but you will also see the thickest of the cloud, perhaps with some mist and fog patches developing around the coasts and the hills at times. little overall change, really, into the weekend. high pressure stays firmly with us — the same one that's been with us for ages now — and for the most part, that will keep weather fronts at bay — this one just skirting into northern scotland but it will be a weak affair. so, for saturday, mist and fog and some frost patches around first thing in the morning. again, it's western areas that will keep the thickest cloud. and here's our weak weather front, bringing a little bit of light rain or drizzle — no great amounts. for the western isles and the highlands, temperatures could reach double figures here but otherwise, still quite chilly across the south—east — 5 or 6 celsius here. and, to be honest, looking at the long—range forecast through the rest of the week and most of next week, the weatherjust stays dry, thanks to that same area of high pressure. this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. back to the office! staff in england no longer advised to work from home as plan b restrictions are abandoned. a tough first year for biden — as he faces the worst ratings on the economy of any president sincejimmy carter. tech correction! the nasdaq's now down 10% from its peak as investors look to a post—pandemic world. plus, keeping tags. why apple's latest gadgets have been accused of aiding stalkers