this is bbc news, i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. britain announces plans to start mass immunisation against coronavirus from next week after uk regulators approved the pfizer and biontech vaccine in record quick time. the prime minister hails the achievment. we have been waiting and hoping for the day when the searchlights of science would pick out our invisible enemy and now the scientists have done it. a tough warning on climate change from the un secretary general. in a special bbc broadcast, antonio guterres says we face a moment of truth. the state of our planet is broken. immunity is waging war on nature. this is suicidal.

nature always strikes back and it is doing so with gathering force and fury. and valery giscard d'estaing, the french president who oversaw sweeping social reforms, has died at the age of ninety—four. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. just how britain plans to roll out a mass vaccination campaign against coronavirus in the next few weeks is becoming clearer, just hours after uk regulators announced they had approved one in record quick time. borisjohnson acknowledged it would be a massive logisitical exercise that has never been attempted before.

millions of doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine will arrive in the next few days. but the prime minister and his top medical advisers warned it would still take months to get the jab to everyone who wanted it and strict rules needed to stay in place. our medical editor fergus walsh reports. this is an historic moment. at last, there is a clear path out of this pandemic, thanks to vaccination. the uk is the first country in the world to approve the pfizer/biontech vaccine, seen here on the production line in belgium. the prime minister made clear the vaccine won't change life for now, but hope is on the horizon. prime minister, now we have a vaccine, how important is this moment? when you consider the damage that, as i was saying earlier, the damage that this virus has done to human life across the planet, the economic damage, the social damage, to say nothing of the cost in life and suffering,

it is a fantastic moment. more than 20,000 volunteers got two doses of the vaccine as part of the trials. it proved 95% effective at preventing covid, even among those in their 70s and 80s. side—effects were mostly mild. a small minority suffered headaches and fatigue. the independent medicines regulator, the mhra, began work on covid vaccines injune, and for the past two months has been reviewing more than 1,000 pages of data on pfizer's trials. no corners have been cut. our expert scientists and clinicians have worked round—the—clock, carefully, methodically, poring over tables and analyses and graphs on every single piece of data. creating a completely new vaccine usually takes at least ten years, from design and development through trials to regulatory review and production.

this has been compressed to less than a year. many stages were done in parallel, and pfizer began vaccine production at their own risk, even before they knew it worked. 800,000 doses of the vaccine should arrive in the uk within days. a0 million have been ordered in total, enough to immunise 20 million adults. but the vials have to be transported from belgium in special containers at an ultra low temperature. it's like a pizza box. they then get put into a thermal shipper, packed with dry ice, that then maintains the temperature at —70, if unopened, for ten days. the committee which advises the government on immunisation says the elderly and front—line health and care workers should be first in line. we are suggesting that vaccines

are offered in order to protect people who are most at risk of dying from covid—19, as well as to protect health and social care services, because by doing so, we also protect lives. age is by far the single most important factor in terms of risk from covid—19. getting rid of social distancing and other restrictions next year will depend on tens of millions of us being vaccinated. we need people to take it. this vaccine isn't going to help you if you don't take it. and you will need two doses of this vaccine, and most of the others, to have full protection. more covid vaccines could be approved within weeks. the goal then, to immunise not just the uk, but the world. fergus walsh, bbc news. both downing street and the uk medicines regulator appeared to contradict a claim

by matt hancock, the health secretary, that swift approval of the vaccine had been possible because of brexit. the mhra said the supply had been authorised, using provisions under existing european law, which are still in place until new years' day. rolling out the vaccine will be a huge logistical exercise, which could also be affected by a post—brexit deal, as the supplies will come from belgium. 0ur health editor hugh pym explains. the nhs is ready, though it has a huge task starting next week vaccinating first its staff, and other priority groups. and those likely to receive the jabs, including nurses who went through the first wave, know how important that is. working as an icu nurse, especially in the first search, a lot of the nurses were living away from home and were concerned about bringing it home to their families. if we do have the vaccine, it means we can get back to living a more normal life. life has not been normal for the past several months.

the official first phase priority list is headed by care home residents and carers, followed by the over 80s and front line health workers, then lower age groups and younger adults with health conditions. but it will be nhs and care staff and the over 80s who actually get it first. health leaders say hospitals will be the focal point next week. the idea for the first phase is that we concentrate on nhs hospitals delivering this vaccine, because of the particular requirements of the pfizer vaccine. but care homes are now wondering what all this means for their residents and why they don't now appear to be top of the list. it's really disappointing. and obviously there is potential applications for our residents as well, should we get another outbreak of covid. then they are more likely to suffer some serious consequences of that. one reason is the way the doses are packed. it's emerged that approval by regulators is still required to allow them to be broken down into smaller consignments, to be taken into care homes.

as soon as we have the regulatory sign off that we can do that, we can get the jabs to the care homes so that the gps and nurses can then arrive and give the care home residents that covid vaccination, we will do that. in northern ireland, officials have set aside a new hospital emergency department as one of seven designated vaccination sites. the scottish government also plans to prioritise health and care staff. the first vaccines against covid will be administered in scotland on tuesday the 8th of december. so, you can perhaps understand why i have probably smiled more in the last few minutes then you have seen me do in several months. there is now an accelerating drive to set up vaccination hubs for the wider population, including one at epsom racecourse. even a village hall in surrey is being prepared as a site for vaccinations in the local community. the new vaccine is on the way from pfizer's belgian plan. it's a shot in the arm

for ministers. they'll hope that brexit doesn't affect the continued smooth running of this vital supply chain in the new year. hugh pym, bbc news. earlier i spoke to paul duprex, director of the center for vaccine research at the university of pittsburgh. i asked him what he thought of the speedy authorisation of the vaccine in the uk. i think it is a testament to the hard work of the regulatory agencies and the individuals who have poured over these thousands of pages of documents. and looked at the data in great depth and done their absolute utmost to get all of the data reviewed carefully and and methodically as scientists do and get it to the point where the agency are happy to say "let's get this vaccine into the arms of individuals in the united kingdom."

is there a different from the way the uk's mhra would do that compared to the fda in the us? of course they are under immense pressure, not least from president trump, to get a vaccine approved. absolutely. all of the agencies are under immense pressure. but we have to remember that science is not politics and politics is not science. we have to disassociate those two things from the approval of this vaccine. that doesn't matter if it is in the united states or the united kingdom or elsewhere in europe. we have to take this off the political spectrum and put it into the hands of the regulatory, the agencies, that is important, and that is critical. we have a different way of doing it and the fda are looking at thousands of pages of data as well and that will come in due course and i think they will meet on december ten here, so we are a little bit behind but that is a matter of days not a matter of months.

do you think has anything to do with the fact the fda had been really criticised for granting emergency at authorisations to things like hydroxychloroquine and also convalescent plasma in effect they had to rescind the former authorisation, had they had their fingers burned and are now a little bit reticent to go forward as quickly? i do think the fda are a group of very professional and highly motivated individuals and not every decision is perfect. remember, we are in a global pandemic and i think what we have to remember that the regulatory agencies need to be considered as human beings as well. they might not have made the best decisions in the past and people do get the opportunity to change their minds, i hope that in this instance, we are able to follow what has happened in the united kingdom

and that the mhra vaccine will be improved in the united states before christmas. one of the most influential european politicians of the past half—century, the former president of france valery giscard d'estainghas died at the age of 94. his family say he died of complications linked to covid—i9. giscard d'estaing was president from 1974 to 1981, and his time in office included periods of economic crisis and industrial unrest. his greatest passion was building a greater european union. in 2013, he gave an interview to bbc‘s newsnight warning the of the problems the european union would face if it did not reform. things were going well more or less. until 1990.

we were 12, including britain, germany, france. we knew each other. we were in harder, similar positions, more or less identical. and then we had a wave of new mps who pushed us from 12 to 28. and we didn't change anything. the position, the way of taking decisons. .. so we adapted to the present. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come:as the un secretary general warns urgent action is needed to tackle climate change — we'll be in fiji where entire islands could be swallowed by rising sea levels.

it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i'm feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippy cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11:00 this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle and then a minerfrom calais was shaking hands and exchanging flags with his opposite number from dover.

this is bbc news, our main headline: the uk is the first country to approve the pfizer vaccine. prime minister boris johnson says it is a momentous moment tens of thousands of farmers are continuing their protest against planned government reforms of the sector in india. they've camped out for the past week on key highways leading to the capital delhi with tractors, trailers and food trucks. after an inconclusive round of talks earlier this week, farm leaders and the government are meeting again on thursday. the bbc‘s nitin srivastava reports. farmers in india are angry. tens of thousands have travelled hundreds of miles,

swarming the borders of india's capital and blocking highways. translation: i assure you, that we will die but not let our lands be taken. we don't care about winter. 0ur elders are strong and we have enough ration and medical supplies to support us in this crisis. protesting farmers want the government to withdraw a recent law allowing private players to buy their produce. they're also apprehensive because the existing government policy of guaranteeing a minimum price for selling crops is missing from the new law. violent clashes between farmers and police have now matured into a massive peaceful protest. they feel the government should have consulted each one of them before taking certain positions which affects their livelihoods, theirfamilies and their farmlands.

translation: if the local procurement system is abolished, the farming produce will rot. and there won't be any buyers. even if somebody offers to buy, the price offered will be far less. we will be left without any choice but to sell below cost. while the government insists that farming reforms will grant more freedom to farmers in selling the produce to private companies, including multinationals, its certain security remains. promise of the higher price for the farmer, the promise of getting vitamins in the market, the promise of linking you with the world value chain and getting you a better income in the long run. all these have not been able to impress the farming community in any form. the farming community instead, they have had very bitter lessons from such promises from government the last 25 to 20 years. earlier this week, canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau expressed support

for protesting farmers. the indian government reacted sharply, saying it is an internal matter. as the protests continue, finding a middle ground looks a daunting task. "0ur planet is broken — humanity is waging war on nature and nature is striking back with growing force and fury." that's the warning from the un secretary general anonio guterras in a special bbc broadcast. his words come as we learn that this year is one of the warmest on record, despite pandemic lockdowns. as part of his landmark address on the state of the planet the un secretary general said now is the time for urgent action if we are to bring the planet back from the point of no return. our environment correspondent justin rowlatt reports. as if suffering a pandemic wasn't enough, now we learn that 2020 is on track to be one of the three hottest years ever recorded, and that is not all. the past decade, obviously, is the warmest on record, and the last six years are the warmest

years on record. the bad news is even the covid—19 lockdowns haven't made a difference. the coronavirus restrictions imposed around the world may have shut down our cities and lead to a small reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but the world meteorological 0rganisation is saying today it hasn't been enough to stop the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from continuing to increase. the un chief, antonio guterres, told the bbc today global action is needed now. let's face facts, the state of our planet is broken. humanity is waging war on nature. this is suicidal. the science is clear. for example, unless the world cuts fossil fuel production by 6% every year between now and 2030, things will get worse, much worse. i've been talking about this for a long, long time... sir david attenborough joined him to warn time is running out.

young people are very impatient, and quite rightly so. for nothing to come out, except words, is very dispiriting. we need action. the un chief says the world now faces a moment of truth. he says the choice is very simple. start cutting carbon emissions now — or face disaster. justin rowlatt, bbc news. let's take you to the south pacific now and the threat to islands that could be swallowed by rising sea levels. in fiji, three villages have been forced to relocate and 80 more are waiting to be moved. here's the perspective of one activist, on the impact of climate change in oceania, and a question for the secretary general. my name is fenton lutunatabua and i'm from the fiji islands. the pacific islands' contribution to greenhouse gas emission in the atmosphere is negligible, but they suffer disproportionately the effects

of global warming. in my lifetime alone, i have seen seas rise much faster than the global average, warming oceans, more intense weather events. for a lot of villages that have to relocate because of sea level rise, it is very dramatic. it is very traumatic. there is a lot of culture loss and the sense of identity is at stake here. we keep pushing to tell the story that the pacific islanders are notjust mere victims of climate change. we are also innovative, driven, young people that are doing what we must to protect our island homes from runaway climate change. i, alongside many other pacific islanders, have been speaking out and fighting against climate change for years. unfortunately, we do not believe enough progress has been made internationally. in your opinion, what will it take for high carbon emitting countries to take action and defund the fossil fuel industry? so let's find out the un secretary general antonio

guterres‘ answer to fenton‘s question. what will it take to defund the fossil fuel industry? first of all, we need to stop fossilfuel subsidies. i have been asking for that since a long time ago, and the governments are still spending the taxpayers money, our money, to subsidise fossil fuels that then contribute to destroy the planet and it doesn't make any sense that our money is used to destroy our own planet. and so the first measure is stop fossil fuel subsidies. the second measure that is essential to stop the construction of coal—based power plants. and stop the financing of coal in the world. and i see there is progress but we still have many countries that are exporting coal power plants and financing them. and finally, it is important

also to redirect finance into renewable energies. i've been speaking to fenton who posed that question to the secretary general. he's the director of the climate activism organisation ‘350 pacific'. i asked him if he was satisfied with mr guterres‘ answer. i thought his response and overall call to action this morning is incredibly spot on. it is critical that high carbon emitting countries defund the fossil fuel industry, whether it is coal, oil or gas. it is imperative that the health of the people and the planet is always prioritised. at the minute, we are faced with the dual crisis of covid—19 and climate change. and as he so rightfully said, fossilfuel subsidies that forme the most carbon emissions that impact people and the planet must be stopped.

but you heard the secretary general talking about stopping fossil fuel subsidies and yet you have countries that are particularly in eastern europe who continue to use it and build new plants, coal mines, and yet your community faces the cost of that. are you not frustrated that this is continuing to happen yet we have known about this for so many years? absolutely. it is no secret that the group of pacific islands, one of pacific islands are one of the most vulnerable nations in the climate crisis, sea—level rise, on the oceans, intense weather events sea—level rise, warmer oceans, intense weather events like cyclones and droughts, already near reality for many of our people across the pacific. what he said this morning about the governments spending taxpayer money to destroy our planet really resonates with me and the work we do in the pacific. in fact right now, a network

of young pacific islanders calling themselves the pacific island warriors and and are working with partners across the region to stop any empowered giant from building a climate wrecking coal mine, the carmichael coal mine. this mine would be one of the biggest in the world and right now the state bank of india is poised to execute an australian $1 billion loan for this mine. if approved, the lifetime carbon emissions from this mine alone would be 20 times australia's current annual emissions. they are petitioning to stop that from happening. a lot more on the website. in a usual sequence on the website. in a usual sequence of numbers which were strong to south africa's national lottery. despite accusations of fraud after 20

people won a share of the jet part. the powerball lottery site numbers five, six, seven, eight, 9010 john and it is extremely rare to have so many people win. congratulations to them. hello. we've a much colder snap of weather on the way for the next couple of days, so there's a much greater risk of some ice and some snow. snow from these showers in the north through the course of today, and even perhaps in this band of more persistent rain in the south just on the hills because we got that cold airjust nudging further southwards, hanging around through today, hanging around through tomorrow as well. and look at this strengthening wind that will accentuate the chill. so, yes, we do have warnings out at the moment, especially across the northern half of the country, and the snow mainly on the hills and you can get the details on those warnings from our website. the showers are falling as snow on the hills in the north, but across scotland, even to lower levels with a slight covering. and here, with a widespread

frost, northern england, northwards, a risk of ice. some treacherous conditions potentially further south, there could be some patchy frost and a little bit of snow in this system as well across the welsh mountains, perhaps the moors of the southwest. as it edges its way northwards and eastwards, perhaps bringing some snow into the midlands as well, the showers further north still falling as snow over the hills. this, as you can see, slowly migrates eastwards through the day, giving way to showery weather further west, some hail and thunder here. whilst for scotland and northern ireland, the showers perhaps becoming fewer, more confined to the coasts with more sunshine, but it's cold for all of us, accentuated by the strengthening wind around that area of low pressure. and then those weatherfronts spiral their way around the low pressure overnight, so an increased risk as we go through into the coming night of snow potentially across northern and eastern areas, and a more widespread frost with the surface is damp even in the south. there's a risk of some ice as well. so, quite a difficult one on friday in terms of the details because we've got these weather systems spiralling around that

area of low pressure. certainly, it's going to be cold. it'll be windier as well with a risk of gales for the west coast of scotland and also through the irish sea, and these bands of rain pushing their way gradually westwards with some snow potentially. the lower levels on the western flank, and look at the temperatures, they are quite low. in the heavier bursts, that snow level comes down as well, could even be a smattering further south as well. certainly lots to keep our eye on at the moment for our first widespread taste of winter. the weekend sees things drying a little bit, but it stays pretty chilly, as you can see. the warnings, as i say, are on the website.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines...

britain announces plans to start mass immunisation against coronavirus from next week after uk regulators approved the pfizer and biontech vaccine in record quick time. speaking at downing street, prime minister boris johnson said it was a momentous moment. the united nations says 2020 is on course to be one of the hottest three years ever recorded. the un secretary general has told a special bbc climate programme that his key objective for next year is to reconcile humankind and nature. one of the most influential european politicians of the past half—century, the former president of france valery giscard d'estaing, has died at the age of 94. his family say he died of complications linked to covid—19. now on bbc news, in an interview recorded