welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: coronavirus breakthrough — relief as an american pharmaceutical giant reveals a vaccine it says is more than 90% effective. i have never felt professionally, such a moment ofjoy, and professionally, such a moment of joy, and we professionally, such a moment ofjoy, and we werejumping up and down in the chairs, joyful humanity, joy over medical advances, to a name to this dreadful pandemic —— put an end. the armenian prime minister has signed a peace treaty to end six weeks of fighting in nagorno—karabakh. he called the agreement painful. as coronavirus cases in the us exceed 10 million, president—electjoe biden sets up a taskforce and tells americans to wear facemasks. donald trump is still claiming the election was stolen from him

and refusing to concede, despite a lack of evidence. now he's sacked his defence secretary. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. leading scientists are cautiously welcoming news of a new vaccine against coronavirus that's proved more than 90% effective in early results. the vaccine, developed by pharma giant pfizer and its partner biontech,has been tested on nearly a4,000 people in six countries, with no safety concerns being raised so far. some experts though point out that the announcement was made on the basis of very early analysis, with the vaccine not yet formally approved. our medical editor fergus walsh reports. this is a huge day for science, and perhaps the world.

for the first time, a covid—i9 vaccine has been shown to protect against the disease. plenty of caution is needed, but the preliminary results of the pfizer—biontech trial are highly promising. there were more than 43,000 volunteers on the trial, which began in july. half got the coronavirus vaccine, half a dummy, or placebo jab. interim results showed 94 of the volunteers fell ill with coronavirus — nearly all in the non—vaccinated group. as a result, pfizer says the vaccine is more than 90% effective. it's such a great day for science and humanity. you know, i've never felt, professionally, such a moment ofjoy. and we werejust jumping up and down with joy for humanity, joy for medical advances, to put an end to this dreadful pandemic. the vaccine uses a tiny amount

of the genetic sequence of the spike protein which sits on the surface of coronavirus. synthetic material, known as rna, is injected into muscle cells in the arm. this stimulates the creation of antibodies — y—shaped proteins, which should bind onto coronavirus, preventing future infections. killer t cells are also produced. these should identify and destroy cells which have become infected. scientists around the world have moved at an extraordinary pace to develop coronavirus vaccines. there are 47 in human trials. the uk government has advance orders for six of them, including a0 million doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine. that's enough to immunise 20 million people, as you need two doses. pfizer says by the end of the year, 50 million doses will be available globally, but only a minority

will come here, to the uk. the government's also ordered 100 million doses of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. we're still awaiting their results. it's thought around four million doses will be available here by the end of the year. at the number ten press briefing, there was a sense of cautious optimism. of a significant moment in the fight against covid. i have to say that this is really a very important scientific breakthrough. i'm certain of that. but the prime minister said there were several hurdles to clear before the vaccine could be used. and he urged people not to slacken their resolve. we cannot let our enthusiasm tonight run away with us, folks. i'm very sorry to say this. it's more vital than ever now that we follow the basics, that we wait and see whether this vaccine lives up to its promise, we continue with the measures

we have in place. and many scientists agree that we can't be sure yet if this vaccine is a game changer. these are very early results. what we really need to wait for is the longer term follow—up of all these participants in the trial to understand how effective this vaccine is say, four, six months after receiving the dose. pfizer will apply for emergency authorisation for the vaccine. if regulators give approval, the first doses could be used here before christmas. a small first step towards ending the pandemic. fergus walsh, bbc news. we can now speak to drjeremy faust, who's an emergency physician in the brigham and women's hospital in the division of health policy and public health and an instructor at harvard medical school. jeremy was among a group of leading scientists who previously urged pfizer to wait until at least late november before seeking emergency authorization for the vaccine.

how do you view this latest news? i have to say today is one of the best days we have had in the year 2020. i do await the science to come full circle and we await for the safety data which we absolutely insist upon, but a 90% number that we are hearing is exceeding the expectations that ihad. exceeding the expectations that i had. there are some big question marks on what that means, we will get into that but the top line is that this isa but the top line is that this is a great day for science and finally, a real reason for optimism. as you say that is so good to hearfor so many people, let's hear your question marks. they have to do with what this number, 90% means suddenly what they are telling us is 90% effective in preventing covid—i9, which is not the same thing as coronavirus infection. covid—i9 isa coronavirus infection. covid—i9 is a syndrome, it's like hiv positive and aids, they are not

the same thing, they are the virus and the syndrome. this data says that 90% effective against causing the syndrome, that's wonderful news. the issueis that's wonderful news. the issue is you could still get the virus and transmit it to others who could then maybe get it and others who could then maybe get itand die, others who could then maybe get it and die, we don't yet know what it means in terms of the infectivity, so in terms of our ability to go out and have people take their masks often resume oui’ people take their masks often resume our lives, we would not be encouraging that, even with this data. what we call sterilising immunity, the ability to not get infected at all, to not be in, contagious, thatis all, to not be in, contagious, that is the ultimate goal, but it looks like we prevent the syndrome, and it's a big step if that's true. are you concerned that it has to be given in two doses, i think some time apart, that it has to be stored at very low temperatures, and also possible side effects? i think one of the things that has been positive as we have not put all of our eggs positive as we have not put all of oureggs in positive as we have not put all of our eggs in one basket, so

some of the vaccines will have a wrapper of a safety profile in terms of the side—effects. some people may not be excited to have a vaccine that causes fevers for too long and other places may not have the ability to have the freezes to get this vaccine safely stored, so it will be interesting to see how the lock and key works, which places will have which vaccine, iwe places will have which vaccine, i we all going to get the 90% better vaccine, and some people will have an 85% vaccine? it will have an 85% vaccine? it will not have the freezes ready, so it will have to get there a few months in advance, so that's a big issue. safety is extremely important, we insisted on this in our letter to pfizer and the fbi, and the worst thing to happen is the safety not being there. we won't have any kind of authorisation until that data

is available, and we have waited this long, but we still have to wait longer before we open the champagne bottle, so to speak. fascinating to talk to speak. fascinating to talk to you, thank you so much. details of the new vaccine have boosted global financial markets. my colleague sharanjit leyl is in singapore. tell us more. they are really taking their cue from wall street which made big gains overnight after that large—scale coronavirus vaccine statement delivering the most promising results in the battle against the world's worst pandemic ina against the world's worst pandemic in a century. it has been a real shot in the arm for many markets, so we are seeing shares rising in all the major equity markets in asia, japan, hong kong, australia, and i should say that japan's nikkei surges to 25 year highs, is sign that after relief in the

elections, with joe biden projected that we know, or the buried mind that continues to be marred by president trump's legal proceedings, but this ultimately was a sign that investors were watching for all year, a potential return to normal life, so we are seeing big leaps in the shares of airlines, where shares of one regional budget was raging at about 20%, and these were all shares that were battered by the pandemic and the dramatic fall in travel due to lockdowns and quarantining measures around the world, and no surprise that shares of pfizer jumped over 7%, and surprise that shares of pfizer jumped over7%, and it surprise that shares of pfizer jumped over 7%, and it is really hailing the vaccine used as fantastic, especially in europe and the us, developing this vaccine alongside biontech, and some of the

countries that have been seeking the access to these technology companies, zoom, amazon, netflix, they have fallen back so we are watching the markets. let's get some of the day's other news. at least 50 people have died in honduras since storm eta hit central america last week. a relief operation is underway in the country's economic heartland in the sula valey. the storm left a trail of destruction through central america after it made landfall in nicaragua on tuesday. in guatemala, around 150 people died or are missing in landslides. myanmar‘s ruling party is claiming a resounding victory in the country's second parliamentary election since the end of its military rule. sunday's election was viewed as a referendum on its leader aung san suu kyi and her national league for democracy party. it remains popular at home, but has been highly critized overseas over accusations of genocide agains the rohingya muslim minority.

huge crowds came out in bolivia to welcome back the fomer president,evo morales, who crossed from argentina into bolivia almost a year after he went into exile. mr morales resigned and left bolivia in november 2019 after he was ousted, with mass protests breaking out over allegations of fraud, which mit researchers this year found no evidence of. borisjohnson suffered a heavy defeat on monday over a proposed law that would allow him to breach the terms of britain's european union exit treaty. the house of lords voted to remove a key clause which would give ministers the power to unilaterally override parts of the exit treaty relating to northern ireland. the armenian prime minister says he's signed a deal with the leaders of azerbaijan and russia to end the conflict in nagorno—karabakh. nikol pashinyan promised to disclose details in the coming days, but described the deal as inexpressibly painful.

russian peacekeepers are expected to be deployed to patrol the frontlines. a number of ceasefire agreements have failed to end the conflict. about a thousand people have been killed during six weeks of the fighting. bbc russian correspondent juri malo—veryan is in yerevan, the armenian capital. the crowd behind me is trying to storm the building of the government of armenia here in the centre of yerevan. the unrest started immediately after the statement on the end of the hostilities in nagorno—karabakh was made public. and the conditions in which armenia agreed to stop the hostilities, for many armenians, they consider it as a capitulation. many armenians believe we should have fought to the end. they didn't believe they were losing the war. and this belief was fed by often misleading statements by the military.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the bbc launches an independent investigation into claims made against the reporter responsible for the explosive interview with diana, princess of wales, in 1995. the bombastic establishment outsider donald trump has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died.

the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy when the ministers who'd long felt only begrudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcome. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the first effective coronavirus vaccine has been developed, capable of preventing more than 90% of people from getting covid—19, according to preliminary findings. but experts warn of logistical challenges ahead. the armenian prime minister says he's signed a deal with the leaders of azerbaijan and russia to end the conflict in nagorno—karabakh. he described the deal as inexpressibly painful.

us president—elect joe biden has started asembling his team to prepare for taking over the presidency at the end of january. he spent the day appointing members to his coronavirus taskforce. he said tackling the pandemic was key to rebuilding the us economy. the current occupant of the oval office, president trump, is still refusing to concede victory to mr biden. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. donald trump at his rallies repeatedly said that once the election was over, you'd not hear much more about covid. covid, covid! covid, covid, covid, covid! a plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. it's covid, covid, covid, covid. by the way, on november 4th, you won't hear about it any more. it's true. covid! fat chance. there's a fresh infection outbreak at the white house... because we follow the science... ..with his chief of staff and the person leading the legal fight against the results among those to have gone down with it. 10 million americans have now been infected. and from the president—elect today, a markedly

different message. it doesn't matter your party, your point of view. we could save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. not democrat or republican lives, american lives. shares in the us have soared on news from pfizer on the vaccine, an announcement welcomed byjoe biden and donald trump. but how the president must have wished it had come two weeks ago. the president spent the weekend playing golf, and while we know no more about his future, he today fired his defense secretary mark esper by tweet. well, not fired, he was terminated. donald trump hasn't spoken on camera since thursday, probably a record for this presidency. but his close aides are appearing, and to the question will he concede, this is the answer. that words not even in our vocabulary right now. we're going to go and pursue all of these legal means, all of the recount methods.

we're going to continue exposing and investigating all these instances of fraud or abuse and make sure, again, that the american public can have full confidence in these elections. as donald trump vows to explore all legal avenues to continue the fight, some around him are beginning to consider another option. it is that he eventually concedes, but then runs again in 202a. it's happened once before. in the late 19th century, president grover cleveland lost and fought again and won. with a crane appearing on the skyline today, it's perhaps confirmation that one way or another, donald trump is facing removal from the white house. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. joe biden's transition team has urged the general services administration, which is a federal us agency, to recognize biden's election victory over donald trump. they want this so a transition of power can take place and the federal funds allocated to the incoming team can be released.

let's get more on how the tranfer of powers works in american politics. david marchick is the director of the center for presidential transition, a nonpartisan group that advises incoming administrations. dealing first of all with that question over emily murphy, the gsa administrator, i get that she needs to write a letter allowing the transition to go ahead and does not doing it, is that still the case? that's right, thank you for having me. general service administration which basically manages the real estate and procurement for the federal government also has the federal government also has the authority to start the transition process, and that process has not yet started, u nfortu nately process has not yet started, unfortunately stopping the standard for making that decision is whether there is a clear outcome to the election. the outcome to the election has been clear, president george w bush, a republican, said that

yesterday stopping all of the networks have declared the outcome, the election is not very close, so we should get on with the formal transition for the benefit of our country and our allies like the united kingdom. what implications does this have? if an incoming team doesn't have access to everything it needs, presumably those implications are national, not just those implications are national, notjust for the incoming administration. absolutely right. so, let's go back to the year 2000 when we had a shortened transition there because one state, florida, made the difference in the outcome of the election. 537 vote. eight months after george bush took office, two planes hit the world trade center and we were in our biggest crisis since pearl harbour. so when the 9/11 commission, a commission of wise people looked back at 911 and what happened, one of the things they found was that the shortened transition made it more difficult to get the right

officials in their seats and that compromised our readiness on 9/11. so it's absolutely critical, absolutely imperative to get people started, to the process going and to get the government ready forjanuary 20. in 70 days or so until president biden is inaugurated, there's the possibility for an awful lot of complications and lack of cooperation, isn't there? is there anyway this process ca n there? is there anyway this process can be forced? it's never been tested. what should happen is what has happened in the last 223 years, since george washington handed the keys tojohn george washington handed the keys to john adams. george washington handed the keys tojohn adams. we've a lwa ys keys tojohn adams. we've always had peaceful transitions of power. it's part of the democracy in the united states and its absolutely critical that the outgoing administration work with the incoming administration. for example, today we found that there was a breakthrough with a potential covid—19 vaccine.

it's critical that the outgoing administration and the incoming administration and the incoming administration work together to make sure that that vaccine is available not only for more than 300 million americans but also people across the world, including in the united kingdom, so they are truly international applications for this transition to go well. briefly if you could, how nitty—gritty is the stuff that the incoming administration is not being given access to? is it codes for office doors? how much are they not going? it goes well beyond that. there is briefings, national security briefings, national security briefings, briefings on operations, foreign policy briefings so that the incoming administration can find out what the state department is doing with the foreign office. there is information on our healthcare there is information on our healthca re programmes, there is information on our healthcare programmes, on education, there isjust a huge amount of collaboration that needs to happen between the outgoing and the incoming. it isa outgoing and the incoming. it is a very different system that

in the uk, with a transfer of power can happen in a day. here it isa power can happen in a day. here it is a two—month process and the new president needs to appoint 4000 political appointees and they need to get going fast to be ready on day one. really interesting to talk to you, thank you so much. thank you very much. the bbc has promised to launch an independent investigation into claims made by earl spencer, brother of the late diana, princess of wales, that he was deceived by the reporter martin bashir, ahead of the princess's explosive television interview in 1995. earl spencer says the former panorama reporter had used false bank statements as part of his attempts to encourage the princess to grant him an interview. the bbc‘s director—general says the corporation is taking the matter very seriously. 0ur correspondent jonny dymond reports. it was one of the biggest tv interviews of all time. princess diana laying bare her loveless marriage, her love for another man, her suffering. you always think you're prepared for anything, and you think you have the knowledge of what's coming ahead...

butjust how did martin bashir get the interview? diana's brother, charles spencer, says martin bashir showed him forged bank statements suggesting that one of his staff was selling secrets. it was a tumultuous time for diana. she thought she was being spied on, that her life might be in danger, that she was being briefed against by prince charles' staff. well, my husband's side were very busy. martin bashir‘s forged bank statements looked like evidence of dirty tricks. it was, her brother says, an attempt to win access to diana. and matt wiessler, the graphic artist that created those bank statements, has now spoken out. i got home from work and i got a phone call from martin bashir, and he wanted me to do a favour for him and it was really urgent and really important.

martin asked me to make up a couple of bank statements that he needed the following day, and he did say that they were just