Iran has promised severe revenge for the assassination of its Top Nuclear Scientist blaming israel for his murder. Mohsen fakhrizadeh died in hospital after gunmen attacked his car outside tehran. Israel has previously accused him of masterminding a covert Nuclear Weapons programme, though it hasnt commented on his assassination. Our security correspondent Gordon Corera has more. The scene of an ambush. The highway where gunmen targeted a vehicle carrying one of the most important figures in Irans Nuclear programme. Mohsen fakhrizadeh was a scientist and Senior Defence official. But western Intelligence Services have long believed he was the Driving Force in irans quest for a nuclear bomb. Iran has always said its Nuclear Programme was peaceful but its been claimed fakhrizadeh was leading work on project amad to develop a weapon. In 2018, he was singled out by israels Prime Minister. This is how dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of project amad, put it remember that name, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. So here he is, right here. And he says, The General Aim is to announce the closure of project amad. But then, he adds, Special Activities you know what that is. Irans Foreign Minister quickly responded to his death with this tweet. Israel is widely assumed to have been responsible. But why now . Irans Nuclear Programme was constrained under an International Deal signed in 2015. But in 2018, donald trump pulled the us out of the deal and iran has been growing its stockpile of nuclear material. Mr trump is reported to have looked at and then decided against a Military Strike just two weeks ago. But israel may now be seeking to take advantage of the window whilst hes still in office. This is very clearly timed in order to impede restoration of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump has made it very clear hes wanted to kill the deal, he hasnt succeeded in four years, he has two months left. And this is an effort to do so in order to provoke irans own hardliners into resisting diplomacy. The killing is already causing anger in iran, but its not yet clear how it might retaliate and what that would mean for attempts to resurrect the International Deal. Iran has been under economic blockades for the last few years. It is a country of 80 Million People facing the most severe covid pandemic in the region under sanctions in which it cannot access basic medicines and health care, and medical equipment for its people. It is important to bear that in mind, and the iranian government surely is aware of the extreme pressures its facing at home. Emergency vehicles were still at the scene hours after fakhrizadehs death. The struggle over Irans Nuclear programme has been going on for close to two decades. But, in the midst of an american president ial transition, this looks set to be a moment of tension and uncertainty. Gordon corera, bbc news. The United States has now recorded more than 13 million cases of coronavirus just six days after the country reached 12 million infections. More than 264,000 americans have now died after contracting covid 19, and experts are warning that thanksgiving weekend could lead to a steep rise in cases over the coming days. Lets speak to our north america correspondent, david willis. Bring us up to date with what is happening in los angeles. They have issued what is called a safe at home order. This prohibits public and private gatherings with anybody outside of your immediate household, in response to an alarming growth in the number of coronavirus cases in la county. As well as the city of los angeles, the second largest city in the United States, la county also includes a population of around 10 Million People, the most populous county in the United States. It has seen an alarming rise in coronavirus cases and people here are very concerned. This new safer at home order comes into place on monday and was announced today just comes into place on monday and was announced todayjust a couple of days after officials here announced a ban on outdoor dining. So, restaurants can only offer takeout or delivery. Let us look at the approval of potential vaccines, how is that getting on in terms of approval and distribution . It is interesting because we have to wait until the 10th of december, a couple of weeks from now, before the Advisory Committee of the food and drug administration, the federal body which regulates such things, meets in order to consider whether to license and allow a ny consider whether to license and allow any of these vaccines. Assuming that they do, and there are three that are in contention for distribution here, then, it is likely the first doses could be administered in the month of december if not within a couple of weeks. So, the hope of medical experts here is about 70 of the American Population will be vaccinated by springtime, by the end of may. But that is a long way away and a lot can go wrong in the meantime. That is the hope. Let us turn to politics, donald trump lost the election, we all know that. From what we can understand, his Legal Campaign to overturn the result goes on. He has racked up another legal loss in pennsylvania is that right . A federal Appealsjudge Pennsylvania is that right . A federal appeals judge randy rejecting the contention by President Trumps legal team he was unfairly treated in Pennsylvania Kripps roundly. By 80,000 votes. Thejudge calling saying calling the unnatural and unfairdoes saying calling the unnatural and unfair does not make it so, charges require specific and we do not have that. That follows a lower courts rejection of the Trump Administration earlier lawsuit in pennsylvania in which the lawsuit was famously called a frankensteins monster of a case that had been haphazardly stitched together. The Trump Campaign is saying it will take this further to the United States supreme court, to the top. It is not over yet. Thank you. As europe battles a second wave of coronavirus infections, theres been some encouraging news for the uk. 0fficial estimates suggest the all important r number has fallen below one for the First Time Since august. But its a varied picture across the country. 0ur Health Editor hugh pym reports on some very different approaches to tackling the spread. Empty streets in belfast today, with Northern Ireland beginning a two week Circuit Breaker lockdown to try to stem the spread of covid 19. Nonessential shops are closed, apart from click and collect services. And pubs, restaurants and cafes can only do takeaway and deliveries. We are asking people, for two weeks, to please abide by the Public Health advice so that we can then come together in and around that window at christmas. As Northern Ireland enters a new lockdown, england prepares to leave one next week. And already, theres intense debate about the introduction of tiered restrictions. The government has set out how it decides which areas should go into which tiers. First of all, looking at case rates across all age groups, then rates amongst the over 60s, how rapidly are rates going up or coming down, and how many tests done come through positive. Finally, how much pressure is there on the nhs. But questions have been raised in some areas about the decisions. Newcastles in tier 3, for example. In northumberland, a local conservative mps had to respond to complaints from people about being lumped in with newcastle. In east sussex, which is in tier 2, Officials Say that with cases, the trend is increasing in several areas. But with local hospitals, things are fairly stable. In neighbouring kent, in tier 3, they say there have been big Case Rate Increases and those in people aged over 60 are a particular concern, and Hospital Admissions are increasing. For cumbria, in tier2, cases in some areas are said to be increasing, but some of this is likely due to a large school outbreak. And in neighbouring lancashire, which is in tier 3, Officials Say case rates in over 60s are very high, and there is still pressure on the nhs. At present, the levels of covid within the community is still very high. And that will drive admissions coming into hospital. If people are mixing in the community, that means that after christmas, if people dont follow the rules, we may see a further surge. In newcastle, a specialist Intensive Care Unit has been created for covid patients, though the latest r number for the north east of england, showing how much the virus is spreading, is, like the north west, below the overall uk figure. London and the south east are higher. Hugh pym, bbc news. A number of French Police officers are being held for questioning after a video showed them beating up a black music producer in paris. The footage has sparked outrage president macron says france has been shamed by the incident. The three officers identified in the video have been suspended. Mark lobel reports. Pursued by the police for not wearing a face mask, then, set upon in the Reception Room of his music studio he thought were meant to protect him. Caught on the cctv footage that has struck a nerve in france, The Black French music producer Michel Zeckler is brutally punched, kicked, hit and allegedly racially abused. The three officers seen here, two in uniform and one plainclothed, have been suspended and questioned in Police Custody. The violent scenes continued for around five minutes until michels colleagues emerged and pushed the police out. Frances president Emmanuel Macron said the images a shame on us, france must never allow racism to prosper. Those who applied the law must respect the law. I have asked the government to quickly make proposals to reaffirm the bond of trust between the french people and those who protect them, and to fight against discrimination more effectively. Anger at the treatment of the 41 year old who was released without charge after being held for 48 hours, was felt by several members of frances world cup squad. Kylian mbappe wrote this. Unbearable video, unacceptable violence, say no to racism. Antoine griezmann said this. My france hurts. And Benjamin Mendy asks, without the videos, what would have happened to michel . We would have preferred to believe the version of the police under oath . Ever since the death in us Police Custody of george floyd in may, and as the black lives Matter Movement has grown, tackling Police Conduct has been under the spotlight. I certainly think accountability would be a great first step to Rebuilding Trust in the community, when you first admit and acknowledge there is a problem, then, we need to next fix it, accountability. There should be a disciplinary process that is commensurate with the crime or misconduct conducted by police officers. Emmanuel macrons condemnation is also intended to quell ongoing protests across france. Demonstrators are critical of a Police Crackdown on migrants and proposed reforms to restrict Publishing Images of the police they sayjeopardises freedom of expression. After this latest incident, there will be less appetite among protesters for more anonymity in the police. Mark lobel, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come. We hearfrom the inuit women of the arctic and how Climate Change is threatening their survival this is bbc news, our main headline one of irans Top Nuclear Scientists, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, has been assassinated after gunmen opened fire on his car. Lets get more on that now. 0ur chief International Correspondent lyse doucet is in the region following developments in the saudi capital, riyadh. A very significant strike, and it comes nearly a year after irans leading commander of the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps Qasem Soleimani was killed. This time, as with the earlier killing, the question is how will iran respond. It comes at a very significant, delicate moment with only weeks left in the administration of president donald trump. We already know president elect joe biden has talked about rejoining the Iran Nuclear Deal that President Trump pulled out of in 2018. This move is being seen not just as an effort to strike a blow against Irans Nuclear programme. Iran emphasises it does not have a Nuclear Weapons programme. But Mohsen Fakhrizadeh for years now, particularly by israeli and american intelligence, was regarded as associated with the covert programme. And this kind of assassination, and we dont know yet who carried it out, but this kind of move could possibly complicate the efforts of the new Us Administration to try to open a new chapter with iran, as difficult as that was going to be without this assassination. Lets speak to michael 0hanlon senior fellow at the brookings institution. He specialises in defense and Foreign Policy issues thank you forjoining us. Was this scientist indispensable to irans ambitions . No, iam irans ambitions . No, i am afraid not. Irans ambitions . No, iam afraid not. I irans ambitions . No, i am afraid not. I think at this point the Iranian Nuclear capability is reasonably well developed and what we know about the nuclear bomb after 75 yea rs of its about the nuclear bomb after 75 years of its existence, it is not that complicated. You basically need to fashion a device with plutonium and iran already has the infrastructure to do that. To say he is indispensable is an overstatement and anybody who Isjumping Joyously Overstatement and anybody who is Jumping Joyously at his demise should probably restrain themselves. He is one of the key players but i would say when you lose him, you probably dont set back the iranians much at all. The biden administration, the incoming administration, from january, has wanted to focus on diplomacy with iran, how might this complicate that . Iam not this complicate that . I am not sure it does complicate it. It is still sorting itself out. Because iran is also aware, we will see how the world reacts, but i dont expect a whole lot of sympathy for iran or Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. In most quarters he will be recognised as someone he will be recognised as someone who was illicitly doing things iran has warned not to do under its obligations with the Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty. The question becomes has irans priorities changed. Iran has irans priorities changed. I ran has irans priorities changed. Iran iran has irans priorities changed. I ran iran specialises has irans priorities changed. Iran iran specialises in this kind of killing. There may be paid back but few people are surprised. They know how this back and what happens in International Politics and they will make their future calculations based on their own interests not on the style just for this individual or Qasem Soleimani or anyone else. It is interesting, at the start of this year, we were having plenty of conversations almost exactly plenty of conversations almost exa ctly o n plenty of conversations almost exactly on these lies after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, at the time everyone was wondering whether that would change the complexion of the middle east. Did it . No, in a nutshell, at least not yet. Let us acknowledge the iranians are patient and tragically they are good at what they do, others in the most corrupt and lethal parts of the infrastructure and they may be biding their time, they may be biding their time, they may be biding their time, they may do something in the months and years we do not like. Iran will has been