but in the south, still the north, but in the south, still warm in any sunshine. in the middle of the week, changes of the way, outbreaks of rain in scotland to northern ireland in particular. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines: a coronavirus vaccine being developed by oxford university is safe and triggers an immune response in early human trials. this response in early human trials. is promising news‘ us this is promising news and it brings us one this is promising news and it brings us one step closer to finding a vaccine that could potentially save lives all around the world. as china accuses britain of "brutal meddling" in its affairs, the uk suspends its extradition treaty with hong kong. we will protect our vital interests, we will stand up for our values and we will hold china to its international obligations. high street stores marks and spencer and ted baker announce major job cuts. in thejohnny depp libel case, amber heard says she was afraid her former husband

was going to kill her. and a warning from scientists that polar bears will be wiped out by the end of the century, unless we do more to tackle climate change. hello, good afternoon. preliminary results show a coronavirus vaccine developed by the university of oxford appears safe and triggers an immune response. the first phase of the trials involving just over 1,000 people showed the injection led to them making antibodies and white blood cells, or t—cells, that can fight covid—i9. the study shows 90% of people developed neutralising antibodies after one dose.

0nly ten people were given two doses and all of them produced neutralising antibodies. professor sarah gilbert from oxford university said... professor sarah gilbert from oxford university said... but she said... reacting to the news, the prime minister said on twitter... the health secretary told the house of commons that today's results are promising. today, 0xford published a very encouraging report in the lancet, showing that its phase one and two trials are proceeding well. i can report to the house that the trial shows that the oxford vaccine produces a strong immunity response in patients, in terms of both antibody production and t cell responses, and that no safety concerns have been identified. this is promising news and it takes

us one step closer to finding a vaccine that could potentially save lives all around the world. let's get more on this from the person who led the clinical trial, professor andrew pollard from the oxford vaccine group. thank you so much for being with us. just give us an idea of what this announcement today really means. can we call this a breakthrough? announcement today really means. can we call this a breakthrough7m announcement today really means. can we call this a breakthrough? it is an absolute milestone in vaccine, to show that in these early phase studies, we are able to make strong immune responses. even better, they are immune responses. even better, they a re exactly immune responses. even better, they are exactly the sort of human response and we were hoping for, because we think these are most likely to be associate with protection, but it is only a milestone on her past to establish whether or not it financially protect people. it is a milestone, an early milestone. just tell us what is on that at the head, what more do you need to do to establish whether this is a vaccine that can go into mass production and really

deal with coronavirus around the world 7 deal with coronavirus around the world? these immune responses we are seeing, we know with animal studies, with this taxi and other types of vaccines against coronavirus, are the sorts of immune response of the protected them and specifically the level of neutralising antibodies. but we don't know was how much of that we actually need in people to protect us when we meet coronavirus in the wild, and so the next phase of studies which are now under way, not just here but of studies which are now under way, notjust here but around the world, are trying to establish whether or not we can protect people from the disease, whether we can show that those who have got this vaccine don't get disease, when we compare with the group who did not get the vaccine. and how long do you estimate... i know it is almost impossible to say and i know you also get asked this all the time, but is your production on how long this next sort of stage is, the x trials are going to take? the real

difficulty here is this problem in the pandemic of predicting the future. we turn the clock back to where we were in march, we were absolutely sure based on the predictions coming from the modelling, the same modelling that advised that we would know the outcome by this time of the year, but lockdown was superbly effective in stopping transmission of the virus, and so now it is going to ta ke virus, and so now it is going to take long than we helped but we cannot really be sure because it depends on what happens next. if the virus transmits a lot more over the next few months, we'll know sooner thanif next few months, we'll know sooner than if it doesn't and the social distancing continues to be effective, and so a lot of that is uncertainty. 0ne effective, and so a lot of that is uncertainty. one thing we can be sure of is we eventually because this virus has not gone away. it is out there in the community and it is continuing to cause disease we have

an immunity across our populations. the other thing to say is we now have trials running in three countries, and that maximises our chance of picking up cases when they occur in these different sites. even in the uk, we are across 19 different sites in different cities. and you'rejust one different sites in different cities. and you're just one of a very many scientists around the world, working on different vaccine programmes, in different countries, including also at imperial in this country. this is not really a race between you—all, is it? to what extent is it collaborative? to what extent it competitive? it is hugely collaborative, because we are all facing the problems of vaccine development in a pandemic, lockdown, all those logistical exercises, as well as the scientific challenges we are sharing together. imperial are

absolute partners in this enterprise. and around the world, there are a great collaborative spirit among the developers. 0ne there are a great collaborative spirit among the developers. one of the great things about this is if we have a hit on target, that it is very likely that will give a leg up to everyone else, and so that is one of the regions where working together. if we can find a vaccine that works, we can use the data from what we get, particular the laboratory what we get, particular the la boratory tests, what we get, particular the laboratory tests, to help bridge some of the other vaccines that might give the rest of the world supply in the future. people have said there might never be a vaccine. is it your best guess now, your hunch, that there is going to be a vaccine and a vaccine maybe we can have next year? i thinki am optimistic about that, because as i say, we are seeing the sort of immune responses that should relate to protections, but there are lots of hurdles ahead. we have to prove that in the clinical trials and that can be quite difficult to do. we

also have to manufacture to a huge scale to supply to the world, so it is not just a scale to supply to the world, so it is notjust a question of whether we can make the right immune responses. we've got to get these other bits right as well, so i'm optimistic, but we have to do the proper, rigorous clinical trials to prove it. 0ptimism is no good itself. professor andrew pollard from the 0xford vaccine group, good luck to you. thank you for talking to us. i know you're much indeed. —— busy. now we can speak to dr tom evans, the chief scientific officer of vaccitech, the firm that generated the funds used by scientists to develop the oxford vaccine. thank you for being with us. just explain your role in all of this and what you are trying to do. the company was set up to out licence the technology, using the... what you just heard about, what offered has just you just heard about, what offered hasjust done you just heard about, what offered has just done an astounding job of

advancing, and so we were spun out of the university in order to help basically take things forward through commercialisation and through commercialisation and through larger trials that require a lot more funding than you can usually generate by standard sort of academic pursuits, so when this arose, we worked collaboratively with the university and worked as well on the vaccine, focusing on other aspects. they were eventually ahead of us and we had the infrastructure take this forward , the infrastructure take this forward, and as we move forward, we decided it was going to be impossible for us to do anything on the scale that was going to be needed, so we licensed our vaccine back, our rights, back to oxford so they could work exclusively with astrazeneca. that is the point at the end of it, isn't it? it is all

very well and good for the scientists to be doing their work, but if this is to be successful, it has to be translated to hundreds of millions of vaccines to help the entire world's population? and andrew pollard, we were just talking to, if they get the breakthrough, do you think this will be mass—produced and pretty quickly? astrazeneca has taken a fast approach to large—scale manufacturers, including one of the largest in the world in india and in the us, so i think that, yes, they are well—positioned to supply hundreds of millions of doses in a very short period of time they have done a tremendousjob very short period of time they have done a tremendous job getting ready to do that. as dr pollard said, this is not a competitive situation, it is not a competitive situation, it isa is not a competitive situation, it is a collaborative situation. we will need other vaccines to work and step in order to make sure that the

7.8 billion people or whatever it is in the world do get access to the vaccine if they want to take it, so one of the big areas of focus of the university of oxford has been making sure this vaccine is widely available in the world and notjust people in the us and europe, and thatis people in the us and europe, and that is to be applauded from their standpoint, as well as from astrazeneca's. and we heard today that the british government is pre—ordering millions of vaccines from different programmes, almost as if it is kind of putting on several different horses in the race, if you like, and hoping one of them does come through. you absolutely need to preorder. you need to manufacture these things at risk. otherwise you can find out they work you are waiting four to five months to supply a vaccine to people who are really going to need it, especially the highest risk people, the health ca re the highest risk people, the health care workers and the elderly and the immunocompromised and the other

population we are identifying as being at risk or high transmitters, and so you do need to head your batch. the cost to the nhs of every case is going to be astounding, so the case you can prevent is going to end up being cost—effective, so spinning a few hundred million or even more to have a stockpile ready thatjitsu three to four months out in front of the epidemic is actually totally critical. so, yes, it is a totally critical. so, yes, it is a totally reasonable thing to do and it is reasonable, in any situation in life where things are critical, to hedge your bets and make sure you mitigate your risk by not betting on one horse. fascinating to talk to you. tom evans, thank you so much, chief scientific officer at vaccitech. the uk government has suspended their extradition treaty with hong kong, further increasing tensions with china after beijing's imposition of a controversial security law in the territory. china has accused the uk government

of "brutally meddling" in the country's internal affairs. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, also told mps an arms embargo on china will be extended to hong kong. mr speaker, as i said at the outset, we want a positive relationship with china. there is a huge amount to be gained for both countries, there are many areas where we can work productively, constructively, to mutual benefit together. for our part, the uk will work hard and in good faith towards that goal. but we will protect our vital interests, we will stand up for our values and we will hold china to its international obligations. the specific measures i have announced today are a reasonable and proportionate response to china's failure to live up to those international obligations with respect to hong kong. let's get reaction to this. we can speak to the conservative mp

and chair of the commons defence select committee, tobias ellwood. thanks very much for being with us. dominic raab they're saying a reasonable and proportionate response. do you accept that? reasonable and proportionate response. do you accept that7m reasonable and proportionate response. do you accept that? it is afar response. do you accept that? it is a far more robust response and i've heard for some time. china's incredible rise economically has coincided with the demise in west resolve, cohesion, what we believe m, resolve, cohesion, what we believe in, so it is good to see the foreign secretary speaking the way he has. for decades, he west has turned a blind eye to those human rights abuses you touched on, in the hope they would embrace western norms and standards. that has clearly not happen. they are pursuing a clearly different geopolitical agenda, and the aggression in hong kong, the manipulation of each south china sea, the digital world, it's abuses there, all pointing to a very different direction of travel. and i am asking myself, is this the

turning point? that they are no longer indifferent towards china, that we are willing to take a stand? my that we are willing to take a stand? my concern today is we heard some developments but not a strategic change in direction which i really wa nt to change in direction which i really want to encourage the secretary of state to consider. when you talk about people being indifferent, and pretence, are you talking but your previous party leader, david cameron and george osborne? they proclaimed this great golden era of a new relationship with china stop and you area relationship with china stop and you are a supporter of david cameron, of course. you are right. we come along with every other country, wanted china to advance. clearly, we have looked the other way. we did not stand up quickly enough, and there isa stand up quickly enough, and there is a big foreign policy reset that we now need to reconsider. ifear that we are still a little bit in denial. china has fought the west off for too long. we thought this

was a commonest party in name alone. it is not in the district to export its policies outside, and it is not just limited to china any more. where it is heading is towards another cold war, i'm afraid, on this current trajectory. countries being forced to take sides, from a geopolitical perspective as well as an economic one as well. china threatening universities and so forth and other companies, access to banks in hong kong, shows it was not just a commercial company trying to extend its footprint, this was actually part of a wider geopolitical chinese strategy to extend its influence well beyond its shores. but you say we may be heading for new cold war. we are already, some would say, in a cold war with russia. can we afford to be in these cold wars in a post brexit aravind, frankly, we need all the

friends we can get? the cold war... not able to hold china to account, because china has climbed the ladder and so many organisations and uses its veto to shut them down, so there's a real reset we need to do. we cannot do it alone. the secretary of state pompeo's visit tomorrow is critical as a starting point, in the same way the latin charter was created —— the atlantic charter was created, to set the joan created —— the atlantic charter was created, to set thejoan of how we should trade, support each other, provide our security. we need a big and very difficult discussion as to how we move forward, with china included, so it can step back from where it is now. on current trajectory, there is a cold war. different to the last one, because there will not be a build up from inside. it will be in the digital

sphere. i have not got much time, but let me ask you a couple of specific questions. would you go further? would you ban tiktok, for example, because people feel that is a security threat in the same way huawei could be? and would you impose sanctions on individual officials accused of human rights abuses? all really good questions and should all be part of a foreign policy reset. we cannot have companies put forward one after another as a security threat. whether it be telecoms or whatever. set all the perimeters to which companies can be invited to trade with us. don't forget, all companies that work here in the uk... we need a level playing field wherever, let

alone with secured measures as well. 0k, alone with secured measures as well. ok, thank you for being with us there, tobias ellwood. thank you for being with us on bbc news this afternoon. marks and spencer is the latest high street store to announce job cuts — with plans to make 950 posts redundant. m&s said in a statement that it has started collective consultation with its employee representative group and has set out its intention to first offer voluntary redundancy to affected colleagues. our business presenter ben thompson explained that m&s won't be the last retailer to announce job cuts. marks & spencer has been facing a long and arduous process to try to return to the sort of heyday it once enjoyed, and it was already in a three—year turnaround plan launched by boss steve rowe. and what they were trying to do was get the business in a better shape to cope with the change in the high street. all of that was thrown out of the window when many of those

stores, like other retailers, were forced to close because of the coronavirus pandemic. at one point, their clothing sales down 86%, a huge shift in a market that was already struggling. you may remember food sales for m&s doing particularly well, but it was homeware and clothing that once again were struggling. they were trying to come up with a solution that already included laying off staff and closing stores. they say now those plans have changed and they have been forced to look at another 950 job losses and more store closures. so probably unsurprising that this has happened, but the detail we have today suggests it is management roles that will go rather than front line staff. they are hoping it will give it an opportunity to be more agile, more nimble, by giving more responsibility to individual store managers rather than a diktat coming from head office. but nonetheless, worrying times for all of those staff caught up in this, and of course there are no clear answers about how this plays out because we know that our shopping

habits have changed fundamentally in lockdown, and if you look at the statement from m&s, they say the after—shocks of this crisis will endure for the next year at least. some customer habits will return to normal. but some habits now have changed forever and that inevitably means that shift online. ben thompson, our business correspondent, there. the actress amber heard has begun giving three days of evidence atjohnny depp's libel trial at the high court. ms heard said the actor subjected her to verbal and physical abuse. johnny depp is suing the publishers of the sun for alleging he was a wife—beater — something he strongly denies. lizo mzimba is at the high court for us. just bring us up—to—date on what has been said in court. as you said, amber heard has been giving evidence in the witness box, the first day of the defence case, the sun newspaper

case again the allegations brought byjohnny depp, liable for labelling him a wife beater. amber heard was questioned on a number of topics. she was questioned on alcohol and drug use and she said that she is not a regular or heavy user of illegal drugs. the lawyer acting for johnny depp questioned her about that. she brought her attention to a nurse's report where she was said that amber heard had admitted to a history of drug abuse and addiction to cocaine. amber heard said, actually, this was a mistake. she never spoke and directed to the nurse in question, and this was a mistake on the nurse's part. she was also questioned about two incidences in particular, one in tokyo in 2015, amber heard said a row had escalated between her and johnny depp. he had ended up kneeling on her back and

hitting her on the back of the head. and another confrontation in may 2016 towards the end of their relationship, when she said johnny depp arrived under the influence of both drink and drugs at their apartment, and that a row escalated again and that it culminated in johnny depp grabbing her by the hair, yanking her head around, and then taking a phone and winding his arm up like a baseball picture, is how she described it in her witness statement, answering her phone at heart as he could at her head. there we re heart as he could at her head. there were a number of photographs taken, amber heard said, shortly after this incident. they were shown. it was put to her some of the photos did not show the injuries that amber heard says she sustained at intact byjohnny depp and it was put to her that she had used makeup to try and sort of actually bring out some of

these injuries, they did not actually exist. amber heard was absolutely adamant was —— these injuries happen. she is due to continued to give evidence tomorrow. lizo mzimba there at the high court. talks have resumed in brussels on a contentious coronavirus recovery package for the european union. the french president and the german chancellor say they are cautiously optimistic that the fourth day of negotiations will yield an agreement. gavin lee is in brussels for us. gavin, we have been talking about this for days now, haven't we, you and me? a lot of unseemly squabbling, and i see that the polish prime ministers accused the more frugal countries are being stingy and egotistical. this is really interesting. you and i have

spoke on this subject and many others, and i have to say, i've never experienced a summit quite like it in terms of the snipping of diplomacy, the name—calling. the dutch minister accused of being the policeman of europe, emmanuel macron at one point last night slamming his fist on the table out of frustration, and that we have the polish prime ministers talking about how the frugal four are holding the rest of the eu to ransom. this is the nuance, the main issue here, they want to drive down the grants that are being offered. the package of the recovery front is supposedly 500 billion in grants. they've loaded 23 75. they're waiting for a proposal from the european council

president of 390 billion euros and see if they can agree on that, but one issue about poland is that they have been talking about conditions, making sure if poland wants money, they sign—up to making or they are a carbon neutral by 2050. poland is 80% powered. that is not something, and avenue they want to go on —— 80% coal powered. the leaders were having a power nap. some of them we re having a power nap. some of them were coming back after a late lunch andi were coming back after a late lunch and i spoke to the finish prime minister. —— the finnish prime minister. it's a big negotiation. we have a lot of issues on the table. of course, the msf but also the recovery instrument. and of course, every country has its position, but i'm still hopeful that we can find solutions together and we still have such a number of big issues to be solved. and the issue that emmanuel macron apparently raised last night, and you can probably clarify, is that he said the frugal four, plus finland, are putting the future

of europe in danger by wanting it to be so strict on grants — not allowing 400 billion worth of grants. how do you see that? i don't see it that way. we need solutions, and we are all willing to come forward, to find compromises and to find consensus to get there, but of course everyone has national interests and i also have my country's interests that i need to make sure that be noticed here. so, we are all working for compromises, but we still need