Biden turns attention to climate crisis with new executive orders today – live updates

President, who has already cancelled Keystone XL pipeline, will address nation on the environment

4.07pm GMT

People watching the Covid-19 briefing may notice Joe Biden is not present. That is purposeful. The president has said, and Covid-19 task force coordinator Jeff Zients just emphasized, that the president wants Americans to hear directly from his scientific team.

4.05pm GMT

The Covid-19 briefing has started. Follow along with us here.

Coronavirus live news: Madrid suspends vaccinations after running out of doses; Cyprus eases lockdown

Madrid health authorities announce two-week pause after supply issues; Cyprus welcomes fall in number of new infections

3.59pm GMT

The Czech health ministry has recommended to halt new Covid-19 vaccinations for the next two weeks to prioritise giving second doses due to supply delays, a ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Ministry spokeswoman Barbora Peterová said the situation in each specific region must be primarily evaluated by the regional coordinator, the Czech News Agency reports.

3.44pm GMT

The Sun’s Nick Gutteridge has more on comments made by EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides about the row between the bloc and vaccine maker AstraZeneca.

She said on Wednesday that the EU’s contract with the company does not mention anywhere that any other country has priority because it has placed orders sooner, adding that AstraZeneca should have proposed including this in a specific clause.

EU health chief Stella Kyriakides: 'In our contract it is not specified any country, or the UK, has priority because it signed earlier. If this was the case AstraZeneca should've proposed a clause...acknowledging that they would prioritise for example deliveries to the UK.'

Each supply chain was developed with input and investment from specific countries or international organisations based on the supply agreements, including our agreement with the European Commission.

As each supply chain has been set up to meet the needs of a specific agreement, the vaccine produced from any supply chain is dedicated to the relevant countries or regions and makes use of local manufacturing wherever possible.

Biden reopening Obamacare enrollment during pandemic

Presidential order would offer help to millions of Americans who have lost health insurance during the outbreak.

WATCH: Biden's Coronavirus Team Gives First Briefing

The Biden Administration is holding the first press briefing of its COVID-19 Response Team, which it says will be the first of many. Dr. Anthony Fauci is among those participating.

Luck, foresight and science: How an unheralded team developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time

Credit for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine belongs in part to discoveries dating back 15 years. The team behind it was inspired by two infant deaths.
      

Coronavirus updates: Chicago halts in-class learning; Eli Lilly treatment cuts hospitalizations 70%; Paramedic of the Year arrested

Chicago Public Schools halted in-person learning for about 3,200 pre-K and special education students. Latest COVID-19 updates.
      

Politics live updates: Biden to unveil executive orders on climate change; Fauci to speak on COVID

Biden is set to issue more orders to combat climate change, while Fauci and the White House COVID team holds first news conference.
      

Hospital incursions by Covid deniers putting lives at risk, say leaders

Healthcare and police chiefs also say online activity is channelling hatred against NHS staff

Lives are being put at risk and the care of patients disrupted by a spate of hospital incursions from Covid-19 deniers whose online activity is channelling hatred against NHS staff, say healthcare and police chiefs.

In the latest example of a growing trend, a group of people were ejected by security from a Covid-19 ward last week as one of them filmed staff, claimed that the virus was a hoax and demanded that a seriously ill patient be sent home

Biden to sign major executive orders on climate change

Biden's climate actions include establishing climate change as a national security priority and conserving at least 30% of federal land and oceans by 2030.

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was an FBI informant

Extremist leader repeatedly worked undercover for investigators after his arrest in 2012, former prosecutor and court files reveal

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters.

In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Tarrio’s own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling.

Why has the EU been so slow to roll out a Covid vaccination programme? | Guntram Wolff

Europe was not prepared for the pandemic, but it must now learn lessons and use all its financial and political resources

For the European Union, the rapid rollout of Covid-19 vaccines is critical to save lives and prevent health services from being stretched beyond their limits, not to mention minimising the massive economic damage from lockdowns. Unfortunately, however, though vaccinations are under way, a rapid near-term increase in infections is likely as the British variant of the virus spreads across the continent.

The problem for the EU is compounded because its vaccination programme already trails Israel, the UK and the US. The best performing EU country, Denmark, has vaccinated a meagre 3.6 people per 100, compared with 45 in Israel and more than 10 in the UK. Germany and France are even further behind. More worryingly, there are no signs that the vaccination rate in the EU is accelerating, unlike in the UK and US, where daily vaccination rates have increased substantially in the past few weeks.

Donald Trump's final economic report card could be very underwhelming

Economists are grading on a curve. That's not a good thing if you're former President Donald Trump.

Melinda Gates discusses annual letter from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Philanthropist Melinda Gates sits down with Gayle King to discuss the themes and highlights of her foundation's traditional yearly letter. It comes as no surprise that this year, it focuses exclusively on the COVID-19 pandemic and the global response to it. It also looks ahead and recommends how to prepare for the next one.

Third of Americans say pandemic has made their faith stronger

Proportion who say religious faith has grown greater in US than in other countries, survey finds

Almost one in three Americans say the Covid-19 pandemic has made their religious faith stronger, a significantly higher proportion of people than in other countries, according to a report.

In the UK, one in 10 people said their faith had strengthened, a proportion that corresponds to the median across 14 countries surveyed by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

Florida county's 'Paramedic of the Year' arrested, charged with stealing COVID-19 vaccines

The 2020 "Paramedic of the Year" in Polk County, Florida, has been arrested and charged with stealing COVID-19 vaccines meant for first responders.
      

How worried should we be about the new Covid variants? | Sharon Peacock

Scientists are working to find out how to stop the transmission of mutations that started in England, South Africa and Brazil

The recent announcement that the Covid variant first detected in the south of England could be more deadly than its predecessor was alarming to everyone. In truth, without more evidence we can’t be absolutely certain of a direct, causal link between this variant and a higher risk of death. There are other explanations, including the limitations of the data used so far.But it would be unwise to make any assumptions about coronavirus.

Mutations are expected in any virus, and we know that the rate of mutation in Sars-CoV-2 (perhaps one or two in its genome a month) is low compared with other viruses, including flu. But what’s more important than the rate of mutation are the opportunities this virus has to mutate. The more humans become infected, the more opportunities the virus has to develop and change. Currently, about 100 million people have been infected with Covid-19 (the true number may be even higher because of asymptomatic infections). Each one of these people is another opportunity for mutations to occur. This is why we must do whatever it takes to reduce the transmission of Covid-19 and prevent it from spreading through the population.

Former Homeland Security secretary on Biden's calls to defeat domestic terror

President Biden is making defeating domestic terror and white supremacy a key priority for his administration in the wake of the Capitol attack. Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff weighs in on the keys to combating the threat and concerns about future attacks.

Watch Live: Federal health officials hold briefing on COVID-19 response

President Biden said his administration is "bringing back the pros to talk about COVID in an unvarnished way."

The filibuster may make it difficult for Joe Biden to pass his agenda - even in a Democratic Congress. Here's why

COVID efforts, $15 minimum wage and racial justice efforts will now need moderates in Congress.
      

Risky business: Donald Trump isn't alone in seeing his political fate tied to his impeachment trial

The upcoming impeachment trial features a complex set of political challenges for Republicans and Democrats as well as Donald Trump.
      

51 million Americans increased their credit card debt because of Covid

More than 50 million Americans increased their credit card balances since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Watch Live: President Biden rolls out new actions on climate change

Mr. Biden is building on the action he took on his first day in office.

Veterans in "disbelief" over executive order on toxic military base

In one of his last acts as commander-in-chief, President Trump signed an executive order that recognizes sick veterans who passed through a toxic military base after 9/11 known as K2. Catherine Herridge reports.

Trump signs executive order for K2 veterans

The order signed in President Trump's last day in office mandates a study of any health consequences related to toxic exposure at Karshi-Khanabad, known as K2.

Keep Covid rescue programmes or risk triggering stock market crash, warns IMF

International Monetary Fund says there are concerns about share price bubble

Governments and central banks must maintain their pandemic rescue programmes or risk triggering a stock market crash, the International Monetary Fund has said.

Warning that there were legitimate concerns about a share price bubble, the Washington-based organisation said that without continued low interest rates and government subsidies it was possible a “correction” in stock markets would occur.

Coronavirus World Map: We've Now Passed The 100 Million Mark For Infections

A map of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world. The respiratory disease has spread rapidly across six continents and has killed at least 2 million globally.

Facing back-to-back crises, Boeing posts a record loss

Boeing closed the books on its worst year ever, posting record losses and plunging sales on the backs of combined crises: the Covid-19 pandemic and the problems getting the 737 Max back in the air.

How Severe Is Your State's Coronavirus Outbreak?

View NPR's maps and graphics to see where COVID-19 is hitting hardest in the U.S., which state outbreaks are growing and which are leveling off.

Presiding senator in Trump impeachment trial hospitalized after senators sworn in as jurors

The Senate is preparing for an unprecedented second impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump. Nikole Killion reports on the developing events inside the chamber and if there is any likelihood to convict.

Biden administration boosts vaccine supply to states, aims to buy 200 million doses by end of summer

President Biden unveiled a plan Tuesday to boost the weekly COVID-19 vaccine distribution to states by 16% for at least the next three weeks, bringing the amount of weekly doses it will release from 8.6 million to around 10 million. The president also said the government plans to buy another 200 million vaccine doses by the end of the summer. Ed O'Keefe reports.

'Things are getting worse': Tunisia protests rage on as latest victim named

Police brutality and unemployment worsened by the pandemic continues to drive young protesters onto streets to demand reform

The latest victim of Tunisia’s current unrest has been named as Haykel Rachdi, from Sbeitla in Kasserine, near the Algerian border. He died of his injuries on Monday night after reportedly being struck on the head by a police teargas canister.

Protests were continuing on Wednesday, with police pushing back hundreds of mainly young demonstrators outside the country’s parliament in the capital, Tunis. One group had marched there from the working-class district of Hay Ettadhamen, in the north of the city. The protesters chanted refrains from the revolution of the winter of 2010–11 and anti-police slogans, while inside, politicians continued to debate whether to accept or reject a proposed new government, the fifth since 2019’s inconclusive elections.

The empty Nightingale hospitals show the cost of putting buildings before people | Susanna Rustin

The government spent £530m on showy infrastructure for healthcare – but failed to invest in the staff who provide it

“Up to 200 soldiers a day have been working alongside NHS and civilian contractors,” ran the breathless commentary as the Nightingale hospital at the ExCeL centre in London prepared to open last April. This was Britain’s first “coronavirus field hospital”, with space for 4,000 patients, put together in nine days. Morale was “amazing”, reported one nurse, who was brushing up on her knowledge of ventilators via e-learning modules in a nearby hotel.

Six other pop-up centres were meant to alleviate pressures around England as hospitalisations for Covid-19 cases rose rapidly. But while the Nightingales may have sent a “message of hope”, as Prince Charles said when he opened the first one, the overall scheme was a costly mistake. Manchester’s treated about 100 people with Covid; Exeter’s had 29 patients this month. Bristol and Harrogate have provided an overflow service for other patients and services. But Nightingales in Birmingham and Sunderland treated no one at all. In all, about £532m was spent for remarkably little gain.

Germany expected to tighten borders to control spread of Covid variants

Interior minister says danger posed by recent mutations ‘requires drastic measures’

The German government is expected to announce tighter border controls after warnings from leading virologists that the move is vital to control the spread in the country of more contagious variants of Covid-19.

Angela Merkel, the chancellor, is widely reported to have told a meeting of her CDU party colleagues that air travel in particular needed to be restricted “to the extent that you simply can’t get anywhere any more”.

Eye Opener: Biden vows to increase COVID-19 vaccine supply

The Biden administration has promised to ramp up the U.S. supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses. Also, Senator Patrick Leahy was hospitalized just hours after presiding over the opening of former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. All that and all that matters in today's Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.

Locked in a barracks with Covid running rampant. Is this any way to treat asylum seekers? | Jack Shenker

If the forced detention at Napier Barracks in Kent is Priti Patel’s vision of a ‘firm and fair’ system, it’s a dystopian one

For a place that lies at the centre of Britain’s fractious debates over migration, identity, and our post-Brexit role in the world, Napier Barracks – at first glance, at least – appears fairly unassuming. Its low-slung, redbrick accommodation blocks run alongside a public park on the western fringes of Folkestone, where teenagers smoke and dog walkers stroll and parents gather at the end of the day to pick up children from the adjacent preschool.

It’s only up close that you can make out the locked security gates, the coils of barbed wire installed atop 3 metre fences, and the privately employed guards on the other side, patrolling with walkie-talkies. “We died once already when we left our families, friends, homes and identities, so death is not something we are afraid of,” one of the more than 400 people locked up within the site told me in a text message last week. “But here we feel hopeless.”

$15 minimum wage a sticking point as Biden pushes COVID rescue plan

Most GOP lawmakers are balking at including the increase to $15 per hour in the president's COVID relief package.

Jayapal: Democracy was close to "being overthrown" in Capitol attack

Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said President Trump "incited an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol" on January 6.

DOJ rescinds memo used to justify separations of migrant families

To this day, advocates have been struggling to locate more than 600 migrant parents. President Biden has pledged to create a task force to help locate them.

Trump's national security failures and successes

On "Intelligence Matters" this week, Mike Morell talks with John Hannah and David Adesnik about Trump's foreign policy accomplishments and failures.

Senate rejects GOP motion challenging Trump impeachment trial

The former president faces a Senate trial on a single article of impeachment: incitement of insurrection.

Trump opens "Office of the Former President" in Florida

The office will be responsible for overseeing Mr. Trump's post-presidency activities.

'I am in the lucky group': Johanna Konta reflects on Australian Open quarantine

British No 1 grateful for being allowed out for practice timeFellow Briton Watson ‘is making best of tough situation’

Johanna Konta knows she is one of the lucky ones as the end of the British No 1’s quarantine period for the Australian Open comes into sight.

Players who arrived in Australia earlier this month have been undergoing a strict two-week quarantine to avoid the spread of coronavirus. Some, including Konta, have had it easier than others as they have been allowed to go out for five hours a day to practice, but 72 others, which includes fellow Briton Heather Watson, have been locked in their hotel rooms completely following positive Covid-19 cases on flights that had taken them to the country.

Big tech facilitated QAnon and the Capitol attack. It’s time to hold them accountable

Social media platforms have become information monopolies with runaway scale, an ideal place for conspiracy theories to fester

Donald Trump’s election lies and the 6 January attack on the US Capitol have highlighted how big tech has led our society down a path of conspiracies and radicalism by ignoring the mounting evidence that their products are dangerous.

But the spread of deadly misinformation on a global scale was enabled by the absence of antitrust enforcement by the federal government to rein in out-of-control monopolies such as Facebook and Google. And there is a real risk social media giants could sidestep accountability once again.

Milwaukee was already failing students of color. Covid made it worse

In a city where 55% of children live in poverty, teachers are struggling to fill in for services students have lost while schools are closed

School closures have been disruptive for students across the United States but, for many students of color in Milwaukee’s public school system, the immediate impacts have been downright alarming.

In the long run, educators fear, Covid and a long history of segregation and discrimination have formed a toxic cocktail that could reverberate for decades to come.

Here are five ways the government could have avoided 100,000 Covid deaths | Devi Sridhar

The UK needs to learn from the lessons of the past year and come up with a concrete plan to avert a disastrous third wave

Yesterday Britain passed a grim milestone. A further 1,631 deaths from Covid-19 were recorded, taking the official tally above 100,000, though data from the Office for National Statistics suggests the total number will now be nearer 120,000. In a briefing, Boris Johnson has said his government did everything it could to minimise the loss of life, but these deaths were far from inevitable. While the number of UK deaths has entered the hundreds of thousands, New Zealand has recorded only 25 deaths from Covid-19 so far. Taiwan has recorded seven, Australia 909, Finland 655, Norway 550 and Singapore 29. These countries have largely returned to normal daily life.

In the first year of the pandemic, the UK faced three big challenges. Our national government had no long-term strategy for suppressing the virus beyond a continual cycle of lockdowns. Even now we still don’t know what the government’s plans for the next six months are. In the early days of the pandemic, the UK treated Covid-19 like a bad flu. The government halted testing, and the initial plan seemed to be allow the virus to run unchecked through the population (the “herd immunity” approach). Finally, ministers have pitted the economy against public health, instead of realising that the health of the economy depends upon a healthy population.

UK aid cuts of up to 70% a 'gut punch' to world's poorest, experts say

Decision to reduce overseas aid represents a ‘major challenge’ to partner countries’ Covid responses, FCDO warned

The British government’s decision to slash at least 50% in overseas aid within the next few weeks has been called a “gut punch” to the world’s poorest.

Reacting to the news that diplomats had been ordered to cut billions in aid over the next six weeks, experts warned that many lives would be lost and the UK stood to lose its reputation as a global “force for good”.

Alberta leader says Biden's move to cancel Keystone pipeline a 'gut punch’

Environmental groups in Canada applaud decision, but country’s western provinces left in disbelief

Joe Biden’s move to cancel a controversial pipeline project has hit Canada like “like a gut punch”, according to one political leader, and left the country to weigh the future prospects of its ailing oil and gas industry.

On 20 January, one of the US president’s first executive orders was to reverse approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, making good on a campaign promise to kill the project as part of a broader strategy to address the climate crisis.

Justice Department Rescinds Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' Immigration Policy

The Trump-era immigration policy resulted in thousands of family separations at the U.S-Mexico border.

Wall Street Insider Turned Tough Market Cop: Biden's Pick To Head SEC

President Biden picked an unusual financial watchdog to run the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gary Gensler made a fortune at Goldman Sachs — then pushed through aggressive market reforms.

We need to pay key workers with more than just gratitude | Sarah Jaffe

The Covid pandemic is a sharp reminder that unpaid emotional labour is central to so many jobs

At the start of the pandemic, many of us gained a new appreciation for the workers who keep the world going. Customers thanked supermarket staff, applauded delivery vans and pasted rainbows in their windows to thank the NHS. But none of this recognition has yet translated into pay rises, extra holidays or extended sick pay. Instead, as people lined up to clap those who assumed the extra burden of emotional labour during this pandemic, healing us back to health and soothing our fears, many seemed to think the greatest reward for this kind of work was emotion itself.

Emotions are one of the most important sources of profit in the contemporary economy. Companies have long been profiting from our feelings – Facebook’s like button is perhaps the most obvious example. Our millions of likes are micro-units of labour. Click by click, they produce data that is worth billions. “Affect”, or our subjective emotional experiences, as the media scholar Marcus Gilroy-Ware recently pointed out, is a source of surplus value.

New Zealand: two new Covid cases emerge in people who had left quarantine

Two people had completed isolation at the same Auckland hotel as Sunday’s case, which was New Zealand’s first in months

Two more returnees who stayed at the same New Zealand hotel at the same time as Sunday’s coronavirus case have tested positive after finishing their quarantine.

The two people are asymptomatic and had already completed their managed isolation at Auckland’s Pullman hotel and returned two negative tests, the Department of Health said.

Covid lies cost lives – we have a duty to clamp down on them | George Monbiot

When governments fail to ban outright falsehoods that endanger their citizens, they are neglecting their primary duty

Why do we value lies more than lives? We know that certain falsehoods kill people. Some of those who believe such claims as “coronavirus doesn’t exist”, “it’s not the virus that makes people ill but 5G”, or “vaccines are used to inject us with microchips” fail to take precautions or refuse to be vaccinated, then contract and spread the virus. Yet we allow these lies to proliferate.

We have a right to speak freely. We also have a right to life. When malicious disinformation – claims that are known to be both false and dangerous – can spread without restraint, these two values collide head-on. One of them must give way, and the one we have chosen to sacrifice is human life. We treat free speech as sacred, but life as negotiable. When governments fail to ban outright lies that endanger people’s lives, I believe they make the wrong choice.

Google PAC won't give to lawmakers who objected to Electoral College

Nearly 150 Republican members of Congress voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

CBS Evening News, January 26, 2021

Biden unveils plan to boost COVID vaccine supply amid lagging rollout; Minnesota teacher never misses class, even from her hospital room

1/21: Red and Blue

Pres. Joe Biden's busy first full day in office; Amanda Gorman makes history at inauguration

1/24: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx

This week on "Face the Nation," President Biden takes office and is immediately faced with overwhelming challenges. His first priority: COVID-19.

1/22: CBSN AM

President Biden steps up effort to fight pandemic; Trump facing legal challenges post-presidency

Coronavirus updates: CDC researchers say schools can reopen safely; Dr. Anthony Fauci offers hope on variants; 100M global infections

Dr. Anthony Fauci believes vaccines have "enough cushion" to be effective against variants. Global deaths set record. Latest COVID-19 news.
      

Man charged after allegedly wearing varsity jacket during Capitol riot

Brian Gundersen, 26, was arrested after multiple people recognized the jacket from photos of the January 6 riot and contacted the FBI, according to court documents filed Monday.

Biden unveils plan to boost COVID vaccine supply amid lagging rollout

President Biden announced he's working to purchase 200 million more doses of the coronavirus vaccine. He said the additional doses should be available by summer. Nancy Cordes has the latest.

Biden says U.S. will have vaccines for 300 million Americans by end of summer

Biden promised it will be "this spring" when any American who wants a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one.

Vice President Kamala Harris receives her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

Vice President Kamala Harris received her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
      

Federal judge temporarily blocks Biden's pause on deportations after Texas challenge

A judge sided with Texas in its challenge of a Biden administration order temporarily freezing deportations.

Analysis: On immigration, Biden seeks a new approach to an old deadlock

President Joe Biden's early moves on immigration signal his determination to learn from past efforts to reform the system, but that doesn't mean he won't repeat their legacy of frustration.

President Biden jokes about phone call with Vladimir Putin

President Biden joked around when a reporter asked about his first phone call with Vladimir Putin.
      

Amid calls for unity, President Biden and Republicans don't agree what that looks like

Republicans say Biden's aggressive agenda doesn't reflect his unity talk. Biden says unity is more than just bipartisanship in Congress.
      

Net neutrality foe and Trump's former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stands by repeal as Democrats take over

Trump's FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, discussed his reflection on repealing net neutrality and his legacy at the agency less than a week after departing.

Senate confirms Antony Blinken as secretary of State

Blinken, a veteran diplomat, told lawmakers that he would focus on reengaging with America's allies in the wake of Trump's "America First" foreign policy.

Italy's power struggle raises fears over Covid and the economy

Italians struggle to fathom Giuseppe Conte’s resignation as prime minister and resulting political limbo

Italy’s political crisis has left the country in limbo in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears that a power struggle in the heart of government will hamper its economic recovery plan.

The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, resigned on Tuesday after weeks of feuding with former prime minister Matteo Renzi, who withdrew his small Italia Viva party from the ruling coalition following clashes over the handling of the pandemic and a spending plan for the €209bn (£185bn) Italy is due to receive from the EU’s economic recovery plan.

Ghislaine Maxwell asks judge to dismiss sex case, says Jeffrey Epstein plea deal covers her

The case of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a former friend of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, could affect whether Ghislaine Maxwell continues to be prosecuted.

Boris Johnson says government did everything it could to limit Covid deaths

PM says it is ‘hard to compute the sorrow’ after number of deaths passes 100,000

Boris Johnson has insisted his government “did everything we could” to limit coronavirus deaths and said he was “deeply sorry” after the UK toll exceeded 100,000 on nearly every metric.

But faced with questions over how Britain reached one of the world’s worst counts amid the pandemic, the prime minister refused to discuss the reasons it might be so high.

Haute couture goes for an MTV-style makeover

Chanel and Valentino enlist artists from music and film as couture adapts to Covid by going digital

The ultimate luxury for 2021? A joyful family party. That is what we want more than anything else this season, according to Chanel’s Virginie Viard.

Since luxury fashion is ultimately about what is aspirational – and with blockbuster catwalk shows being off the cards for the foreseeable – Viard put up a marquee, strung fairy lights between rose arbours, scattered petals on the floor and staged her spring haute couture collection as a family reunion.“I knew we couldn’t organise a big show … so I came up with the idea of a small cortège that would come down the stairs of the Grand Palais and pass between arches of flowers. Like a family celebration, or a wedding,” said Viard before the show.

India's Republic Day and the Delhi farmers' protest – in pictures

India’s annual 26 January Republic Day celebrations featured spectacular military and cultural pageantry, despite being curtailed by Covid restrictions, but in New Delhi thousands of protesting farmers threatened to overshadow the celebrations

Fact check: Hawley makes misleading denial

One of the few US senators who led the effort to object to the electoral college results on January 6, Josh Hawley is now claiming that he was never trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Vaccine hesitancy: what is behind the fears circulating in BAME communities?

Several national surveys suggest people from black, Asian and minority backgrounds are far more likely to reject having the Covid-19 vaccine than their white counterparts. Nazia Parveen and Annabel Sowemimo explain the root causes of this hesitancy

There are now more than 6 million people in the UK who have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as efforts to speed up the inoculations process continue to intensify. But as more of those in the highest risk age groups get their jabs, there are growing concerns in government about the rates of vaccine hesitancy in some black and minority ethnic communities.

The Guardian’s communities correspondent Nazia Parveen tells Rachel Humphreys that, despite evidence that those in minority groups were hit hardest by the first wave of Covid-19 last year, they are among the least likely to take up the offer of a vaccine. Misinformation circulating on social media including false rumours that the vaccine may contain alcohol or pork have spread widely and are proving difficult to counter. But perhaps more challengingly, there are structural, cultural and language barriers to overcome too.

UK Covid variant could be more deadly, says Boris Johnson – video

Boris Johnson said there was 'some evidence' that the new variant of the coronavirus first discovered in the south-east of England could be more lethal than the original. Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, said the data was 'not yet strong,' but that the variant could be up to 30% more deadly than other strains.

'The best is yet to come', says Trump in pre-recorded farewell address – video

The White House has released Donald Trump’s farewell address, a 20-minute pre-recorded video of the president touting his accomplishments in office. ‘I did not seek the path that would get the least criticism,' Trump said celebrating his controversy-laden presidency. ‘I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices’. The outgoing president also offered a message of encouragement to his successor, but avoided saying Joe Biden's name. He ended by hinting at a possible political future, even as he awaits the start of his second Senate impeachment trial. 'Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning’

'The mob was fed lies': McConnell blames Trump for Capitol attack – video

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, acknowledged the violent mob that attacked the Capitol earlier this month was 'provoked' by Donald Trump, going on to say that the inauguration of Joe Biden would be 'safe and successful'.  

Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell said: 'The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people'

'I feel wronged': US Capitol rioter asks Donald Trump for pardon after arrest – video

Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate broker who took a private jet to Washington to join the attack on the US Capitol, pleaded with Donald Trump to pardon her after she was arrested by federal authorities. Ryan said she thought she was following what her president ‘asked us to do’ and that she had been 'displaying my patriotism' in travelling to Washington DC, where she filmed herself entering the Capitol building. 'I'm facing a prison sentence,' she told CBS 11 News at her home in Dallas. 'I do not deserve that'

Moment Donald Trump becomes first US president to be impeached twice – video

The US House of Representatives voted by a margin of 232 to 197 to impeach Donald Trump on the charge of incitement of insurrection, making him the first president in history to have been impeached twice. Ten House Republicans voted in favour of the motion

'Domestic terrorists': Joe Biden condemns Capitol mob – video

Joe Biden condemned the 'unprecedented assault' on American democracy yesterday, as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol saying it was perpetrated by 'domestic terrorists' who should not be called protesters.

Biden also argued the event was very predictable, given Donald Trump’s attacks on the hallmarks of democracy, and he and Kamala Harris highlighted the racist implications of the police reaction

Wuhan a year after Covid struck: 'Everyone wants to reset 2020'

Wang Fan is a young craft beer brewer in Wuhan. When his city became the first in the world to enter lockdown, he volunteered to help support other residents, and documented the sudden and strict pandemic rules over that harsh winter. One year later, Wuhan is getting back to normality, and Wang Fan is even releasing a special beer to mark the recovery. He and other young people reflect on trying to get their lives back on track while much of the rest of the world struggles with the virus

Dr Fauci feels 'extreme confidence' in Covid vaccine as he gets jab – video

Dr Anthony Fauci was injected with his first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine and he said he hoped it would encourage millions of other Americans to do the same.

The top US infectious diseases expert said he felt 'extreme confidence of the safety and efficacy of this vaccine'