Barricades, and scale the iconic red fort. Hello and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. Almost a year after the first cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in the uk, the number of people whove died with the disease has passed 100,000. It is a grim moment in the countrys struggle against the pandemic, and britain is the first european nation to pass that landmark. Only the us, brazil, india and mexico have reported greater loss of life. In downing street, borisjohnson promised lessons would be learned. He said it was hard to compute the sorrow felt by the nation as a whole. On this day, i should just really repeat that i am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as Prime Minister, i take full responsibility for everything that the government has done. What i can tell you is that we truly did everything we could and continue to do everything that we can to minimise loss of life and minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very difficult crisis for our country and we will continue to do that. The virus was first detected in the city of wuhan, in china, late in 2019. The outbreak spread quickly across the world in the first months of 2020 and was declared a Global Pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 march. So, how does the uk death toll compare with the rest of the world . 0ur science editor, david shukman, reports. The pandemic has touched every nation. The virus claiming lives as it has spread across the globe. And despite the arrival of vaccines, the toll continues to be heavy. More than 2 Million People around the world have now died of covid so far, but some countries have suffered far more than others, and the best way to measure that is to look at the number of deaths in relation to the size of the population. So, vietnam, new zealand, australia and norway have seen 10 deaths orfewer per 100,000 people. In fact, more than half the countries of the world have recorded losses at this relatively low level. Denmark, germany, poland and many others have lost more but brazil, the us, italy and the uk are among those with the greatest losses of all, at least 100 covid deaths for every 100,000 people. So, what might explain this . A key question is the government response and how fast it was. Some countries were quick to enforce social distancing and other measures, like masks, for example. And the results have been clear. There is a lot more virus per 100,000 population in the uk and the us, in my view, than there is in some of the east Asian Countries which have reacted more rapidly and robustly when the outbreak started. Planning for the pandemic is anotherfactor and how effective those preparations were. Countries hit by the sars virus back in 2003 learnt lessons and got ready. So did nations struck by ebola. Britain provided them with expertise and finance to help look out for the next disease. We financed those institutions that help to respond to outbreaks. Yet we really dont listen to our own advice, so we didnt listen to the institutions that we finance that then said to do this you need to implement effective track and trace and do that quickly, swiftly as possible. And then theres the controversial question of borders and were they closed . Many countries did shut their frontiers but the advice from the World Health Organization was to keep them open, because by then the virus would have slipped through anyway. But that guidance was often ignored. Some states did it. States such as new zealand, australia, they did it and it benefited them. In terms of minimising the risk of infection from those coming outside of the country. So, it really raises this question of was this advice around borders coming from the World Health Organization effective, and did it harm those countries that didnt close off its borders . How Different Countries have responded will be examined for years to come. But, right now, the struggle against the virus is far from over. David shukman, bbc news. The head of the british swedish drugs firm astrazeneca has rejected eu criticism of delays in supplying its covid vaccine. He denied that vaccines were being taken away from the eu to be sold for a profit elsewhere. This from our europe correspondent, nick beake. This International Health crisis became even more political today and thats because the eu is furious with the makers of the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine, who have told eu countries that in the coming weeks they will be receiving far fewer vaccines than promised, tens of millions fewer. And tonight the boss of astrazeneca said this as a consequence of the eu signing its contract three months after the uk did. So, for example, they havent had the same amount of time to iron out production problems at their european sites. The eu is simply not buying this, though, and its vowing to tighten the export of vaccines that are made within the eu. So you think of the big pfizer factory here in belgium, normally lots of those jabs would be going to non eu countries, which now includes the United Kingdom. Borisjohnson, though, saying tonight hes fully confident in the supply of vaccines coming into the United Kingdom and is urging all countries to work together. Nick beake for us there. The us senate has rejected an attempt to stop Donald Trumps impeachment trial. The republican, rand paul, argued the hearing would be unconstitutional because mr trump is no longer president. That move was defeated by 55 votes to a5. 0ur north american correspondent david willis has the details. Well, you are absolutely right, mike, that vote to abandon the trial completely was rejected, despite having the support not only of rand paul but the former Senate Majority leader, mitch mcconnell. The vote went 55 to a5, so the impeachment trial, the Second Senate impeachment trial of donald trump, is set to go ahead in two weeks� time. But the implications are that it will be quite a battle for the democrats to secure Donald Trumps conviction on a trial of incitement of insurrection. They need a two thirds majority in the senate. That would mean that 17 Senate Republicans would have to, if you like, cross the aisle, and evenjoe biden last night said he thought that was unlikely. The republicans, many of them, are still very loyal to donald trump and he made clear last night in a statement, that hes going nowhere as far as his political influence in the Republican Party is concerned. So, a lot of people in the party dont want to upset him. Just a quick footnote, though, by the way, mike, in regards to that vote today in the senate. A short while ago, it emerged that the most senior democrat in the senate, senator patrick leahy, hes the man who was due to preside over the impeachment trial of donald trump, was taken to hospital today, afterfalling ill in his office in the senate. Now, senator leahy is 80 years old, third in the line of succession, but theres been no formal word thus far about the state of his condition. David, just one other thing, as part of his round of calls with foreign leaders, mr biden were told spoke to Vladimir Putin, the russian president , today. How did that go . I think famously, when mr biden met mr putin years ago, he looked into his eyes, concluded mr putin had no soul and then told him so. David chuckles absolutely, yes. And all indications are that first conversation took place today sincejoe biden was sworn in as president , between the two leaders, less cordial than the conversations that Vladimir Putin used to have with donald trump, mike. The two leaders did agree to extend the last remaining us russia arms control treaties due to expire next month, but according to the white house readout of the conversation between the two men, mr biden got into the poisoning of the russian opposition activist, alexei navalny, russian interference in the us president ial campaign, and russian aggression against ukraine. Now, the kremlin readout of this conversation does not mention those latter points at all. It says that conversation between the two men was frank and businesslike, but clearly, this is a whole new era in relations between the us and russia. David willis there. The nigerian president , muhammadu buhari, has sacked all four of the countrys top military officials. Hes given no explanation, but security has been worsening across much of nigeria. Mark lobel reports. Rifle wielding kidnappers storm this orphanage on saturday, abducting eight children in nigerias capital, they� re demanding ra nsoms. The police are calling for calm. Its part of a worrying trend. Last month, over 300 boys were taken from this boarding school in the nigerian president s home state. And over 100 of the kidnapped chibok girls are still missing, despite global appeals for the release seven years ago. In a series of tweets, president buhari bowed to pressure from political allies and critics alike, to clear out his long serving top brass. In one fell swoop, replacing the heads of the army, navy, airforce, and his chief of defence. Its welcome news for these internally displaced nigerians in the countrys dangerous north east region, living in fear during a decade of terror, brought upon them by boko haram jihadists. What we want is not to repel boko haram, but to kill them. Translation may god almighty restore a lasting peace in ourdearstate. These four new military leaders will immediately face challenges on several fronts. Kidnappings for ransom, an 11 year boko haram insurgency, and ethnic tensions between cattle herders and farmers. Their other challenge is perhaps more simple. Nigerian troops are crying out for better equipment, funding and welfare, to be able to carry out theirjobs more effectively and improve strained relations with local communities. Getting the Country Security back in order will be essential in ensuring a Brighter Future for africas most populous country. Mark lobel, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come famous faces from British Asian and black communities have fronted a new video hoping to dispel myths around the covid vaccine. 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 republic of. Uganda. Survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of their they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria, and relived their horrifying experiences. This is bbc world news. The latest headlines uk Prime Minister borisjohnson has offered his deepest condolences to britons who have lost relatives to coronavirus, after official figures showed the number of dead now exceeds 100,000. The European Union is threatening to impose export controls on vaccines, made within the bloc, accusing astrazeneca of reneging on its promised supply of jabs. Lets get more from the us now, asjoe biden reverses a flurry of trump era policies during his first days in office. Thejustice department has rescinded the zero tolerance policy that led to family separations at the mexican border. It was ended in 2018 after international outcry; now its been formally revoked. The American Civil Liberties union has led the Court Challenge to the family separations, and lee gelernt is the primary lawyer on the case, representing the families. They are still unable to reach the parents of over 600 children. I asked him if these changes go far enough. They do not go far enough but we are expecting the Biden Administration to do more and we would be disappointed if they do not do more. We need all the families who have been deported to be reunited in the United States, we need them to be given legal status, a victims front created so they have basic necessities and medical care, especially trauma related care, and we need transparency and accountability. So we also need the Biden Administration to help us find the remaining 600 who are missing. I want to be clear, that those 600 we havent found are not the only ones are still separated. Weve had hundreds of other families that the Trump Administration would not allow it to re unite in the United States and well be looking to the Biden Administration to allow all of these families to come to the United States and be given some type of legal status. Help us understand this picture in a bit more detail. Youve got parents deported without their children, kids are still in the United States, i think many of them are under five, many more under ten. This there has to be a very good chance i know you and your colleagues have been going house to house in some cases in Central America there has to be a very good chance that some of these families will never be reunited. We remain optimistic. We have for the last three years remained optimistic that we will find every last parent and we are hoping the Biden Administration would do the right thing. We think they well. This has been an historic stain on the United States. These are little children, as you say, babies, toddlers, ripped away from their parents. I think the Biden Administration wants to do the right thing and will do the right thing, and they can do it easily by simply getting all of these individuals back. Theres a mechanism under us law. Politically its a no brainer, ive been doing this work for 30 years and ive never seen such swift condemnation across the ideological spectrum, but most fundamentally, its a moral issue. The American Academy of paediatrics here in United States called it flat out child abuse. We owe these families and these children more than just simply saying we wont do it again in the future. Its harsh but you know there will be people more sympathetic to the Trump Administrations view on all of this, saying, well, at least for these families, the kids got to the states, it could have been worse, there may indeed be parents thinking that. Were separated but at least our kids are now in the states. Well, i think that what we saw is most people were repulsed by taking little children from their parents. I think that people may have disagreements about macro immigration policy but the one thing that really was revolting to people is taking little children away from their parents. Will we saw the pope come out, conservative religious leaders laura bush come out, the first lady ijust think that there are people that are going to say, well, maybe we need to tinker with border policy, and that may be right, but ultimately, we need to do right by these thousands of families because what we did here was far beyond the normal immigration policy. Lee, ijust have to ask you about one development. Weve seen a federaljudge in texas has blocked the Biden Administration from enforcing a 100 day moratorium on most deportations. That has to be a setback for the new administrations immigration policy. Will it stand or do you think it will go to a higher court . I do not think it will ultimately stand. The decision is wrong, the administration clearly has discretion to decide what its priorities will be, that has always been the case. Ultimately, i dont think this decision will stand. Joe biden has signed four more executive orders aimed at increasing Racial Equity in the us. The actions, which address housing discrimination and criminaljustice reform, are seen as a move to fulfil a Campaign Promise that was made during the height of the race protests over the summer. The president said the killing of george floyd, an unarmed black man, by minnesota police, opened the eyes of millions and paved the way for change. He made an appeal to unite the country against systemic racism. The simple truth is, our soul will be troubled as long as systemic racism is allowed to persist. We cant eliminate it its not going to be overnight, we cant eliminate everything, but its corrosive, its destructive and its costly, it costs every american, not just who felt the sting of racial injustice. We are notjust a nation morally deprived because of systemic racism, were also less prosperous, were less successful, were less secure. So we must change, and i know its going to take time, but i know we can do it. To india, and police have clashed with farmers protesting in delhi after tens of thousands converged on the capital, to demonstrate against agriculture reforms. The mass protests turned violent after crowds broke through police baracades. Farmers fear, reforms to the agricultural industry, will damage their livelihoods. Todays protest is the biggest yet, and coincides with indias republic day celebrations. Rajini vaidynathan reports. Indias farmers arent backing down. As they advance to the capital in their thousands, barricades were breached. 0fficers fired tear gas, protesters and police were left injured. A Mass Movement against a law farmers fear will drive them out of business. And the biggest challenge yet for the countrys Prime Minister on a day meant to celebrate national pride. The mood is tense here as thousands of farmers try to make their way into delhi. They say they have been trying to get the government to listen to them for weeks. Now, they hope their voice is heard. The government says the reforms will benefit farmers by allowing them to sell directly to big business. But many like singh fear that once that happens the guaranteed prices they get for crops will eventually disappear. Translation these laws will have an effect on anyone who eats. If corporates are allowed to come in, they will buy from us at very low prices. And we will lose our livelihoods. Four in ten indians work in agriculture. Farmers are a powerful force. Despite multiple rounds of talks with the government, they are refusing to budge. And it has put the countrys Prime Minister on the back foot. On the other end of town, he hosted the annual republic day parade. Many say the populist leader misread this crisis. As hundreds of farmers forced their way into delhis historic red fort, they remained defiant, they say theyll protest until the laws are repealed. Theyve got this far. Theyre not retreating. Rajini vaidynathan, bbc news, dehli. Several British Asian celebrities such as adil ray, Shobna Gulati and nina wadia have joined forces to try and encourage people from minority backgrounds to get the covid 19 vaccine. Its after fake news about the vaccine, particularly in the south asian community, has led to concerns about uptake. Lets have a look at a bit of the video theyve put together and is on social media. Piano music. Hello, namaste, sat sri akal, as asalaamu � alaykum. This past year has been the most challenging for many of us. Weve suffered in unimaginable ways and many of us have lost our loved ones. But we will find our way through this, and we will be united once again with our friends and our families. Looking after others and serving our community is what we do. Will its how weve been brought up. Its why we have suchl immense pride when a Family Member becomes a doctor or a nurse. There is no chip or tracker in the vaccine to keep watch on where you go, your mobile phone actually does a much betterjob of that. Not only will you be saving your life, but youll be saving other lives too, and there can be no better gift than that. Thank you. Vending machines are most often associated with food and drink but the pandemic has created a need for diversification. Weve seen them offering masks and now the us isjoining the list of countries with vending machines selling covid tests. Tanya dendrinos reports. Its as simple as buying a snack, albeit a very expensive one. Chocolate and soft drinks replaced with a covid tests. Social enterprise wellness for humanity has unveiled its new vending machine in new york the first of its kind in the United States. It offers take home rt pcr saliva tests which have emergency use authorisation from the fda. The kit is purchased online for around 130 and released by scanning a barcode. It comes with a shipping label back so all you have to do is just drop it off at your local fedex and youre good to go. Results take anywhere from 24 48 hours, and something that we also will have in the future is expedited results, so that way, travellers or people in immediate need, can benefit from it. The plan is to roll out 1,000 vending machines across the country in the next six months to improve access to testing. Our whole solution with this machines is that we bring them into centralised locations such as subways, grocery stores, shopping malls or airports. And you could be walking by and you dont have to wait, long lines. Similar machines have already been installed in hong kong and the uk. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. And you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter im bbc mike embley. Much more than all the news, international and national any on the bbc news website. Big temperature contrasts in the forecast for the next few days. Many of us feeling the effects of a flow of mild air from the south west. With that, you can see a lot of cloud on our earlier satellite image, but the orange colour� s working in, showing that milder air. However, notice the blue colours up towards the north, cold air holds on, particularly across the northern half of scotland. A cold start to wednesday here, much milder down towards the south, but across southern england into southern and western wales, its going to be quite misty and murky, damp and drizzly for a good part of the day. From the midlands and east anglia northwards, we should see some spells of sunshine, any early rain, sleet and snow towards scotland should tend to fade. Best sunshine of all i think to be found across the far north of scotland, thats also where well have the lowest of the temperatures. Whereas, down to the south, highs of 11 or 12 degrees. Through wednesday night, this band of heavy rain is going to work its way north eastwards, could be enough rain to cause some flooding across parts of north wales and north west england. Remember, the ground here is still very wet. Quite an array of temperatures as we start thursday morning, and with our band of rain, working northwards into the cold air and then becoming very slow moving, we could see some quite significant snow. I think this will mostly be over the high ground, say above 200 metres in the pennines, up into the southern uplands, the south of the grampians as well, but where this snow does fall, its going to be falling for a good part of the day so that could cause some travel disruption, more likely rain and sleet at low levels. Northern scotland seeing brightness, but it will be very cold here, just two or three degrees. Down towards the south, if we see a little bit of sunshine, highs of 13 or 1a, exceptional for this time of year. The snow will be falling for quite some time across high ground of Northern England and scotland. 15 30 centimetres of snow is possible that could cause disruption on high level routes during thursday night. This next band of wet weather could well help to add to those snow totals, but, as we get on into friday, the wet and wintry weather should tend to ease away and it will turn increasingly dry with some sunshine. Still pretty chilly across the north and mild in the south with highs of 12 degrees. This is bbc news, the headlines the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk has passed 100,000, the highest in europe. Prime minister borisjohnson said he was deeply sorry for every life lost and promised that lessons would be learned. The country has been struggling to contain a new more contagious variant that emerged late last year. The European Commission president has warned producers of covid vaccines that they must deliver on their promises, as a row grows over the supply of the jabs within the eu. Two companies astrazeneca and Pfizer Biontech both said production problems meant deliveries were likely to be lower than expected. The us senate has rejected an attempt to stop Donald Trumps impeachment trial. The republican rand paul argued the hearing would be unconstitutional because mr trump is no longer president. But he was defeated by 55 votes to a5
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