welcome to bbc news. on was warned jones. our top stories: doctor anthony fauci tries to set the record straight after appearing to question the speed at which britain approved the coronavirus vaccine. i have a great deal of confidence in what the uk does both scientifically and for a regulatory standpoint. if i somehow come regulatory standpoint. if i somehow come across differently, i apologise for that. us president-elect joe biden says he will ask americans to wear masks his first 100 days in office to limit the spread the virus. film studio warner brothers is to strea m film studio warner brothers is to stream all of its films next year. at the same time that they are showing in cinemas. and the million—dollar teacher, the indian wins this year's bible teacher prize. —— global

teacher. hello and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we start with an apology from america's top infectious diseases expert doctor anthony fauci after he criticised uk regulators over the rapid approach shall —— rapid approval over a coronavirus vaccine. britain became the first country in the world to approve the fires of biontech vaccine for mass used. doctor fauci said the uk was not as vigorous as the us and its vaccine approval process but when he spoke to my collea g u es but when he spoke to my colleagues earlier on this channel, fauci backed up. the point i was really trying to make, andi point i was really trying to make, and i did not make it appropriately well, and that is the reason why i welcome the opportunity to get on your show

and say that i do have confidence. it came out wrong and that was not the way i meant it to be. in the united states there is such a considerable amount of tension, of pushing back on the credibility of the safety and of the efficacy that if we in the united states had done it as quickly as the uk did — and thatis as quickly as the uk did — and that is nojudgement as quickly as the uk did — and that is no judgement on the way the uk didn't — and even though my statements did come across that way, that if we had for example approved it yesterday or tomorrow, there likely would have been pushed back on already scrutinising society that has really, i think in some respects in the united states, too much scepticism about the process. so when we had conversations, and ijust had conversations, and ijust had a recent conversation with auk had a recent conversation with a uk station, the first thing they said is a—ha! beat you to

it! we won the race! i want to say there is not a race and one good one and one bad one on one winner. there is a bunch of companies and a bunch of countries trying as best as possible to get vaccine to their citizens as quickly and, as they could possibly. we're trying to do in the us but our process is one that takes more time than was taken with the uk. i spoke earlier to a washington correspondent lebo diseko and put it to her that he had been quite —— critical. he was but remember you have had senior government ministers and the secretaries in the uk saying that the uk scientists are the best in the world and better than belgium and france and the united states as well. soi and the united states as well. so i think the surprise was that dr fauci kind of got involved in that back and forth and there were concerns raised that this kind of vaccine

nationalism this we are better than you, we are first and back and forth is damaging when it comes to trust in the vaccines and certainly here in the us, around 60% of people now say they will take a coronavirus vaccine, up from what it was in september, 50%, but still short of the 70% needed to create herd immunity. and also at less than 40% of people want to be first, there is still a hesitancy around that so it does — what i think dr fauci has done is try to repair the damage and say look, we have different ways of doing this. but we're all going on the right direction. stay there for a second for us because president—electjoe biden says he will ask americans to wear face masks for his first 100 daysin face masks for his first 100 days in office. to limit the spread of coronavirus and in an interview with cnn to be broadcast shortly he also said he would order masks to be worn on all us government buildings and public transport. my

inclination is in the first day iam inclination is in the first day i am inaugurated to say that i will ask the public for 100 days to mask. just 100 days. to mask. not forever. 100 days. and i think we will see a significant reduction if we do that, but occurs with vaccinations and masking, drive down the numbers considerably. let's go back to lebo diseko. a pretty bold statement, considering how divisive masks have become in the us. well, it's a totally different approach from the current administration, isn't it? very different from donald trump's approach to wearing masks, certainly, that it is in line with whatjoe biden has been saying which is when he's president — or if he president —he president — or if he president — he would follow the science and what the scientific community told him to do. and we had a warning just yesterday

from the head of the cdc, but is the top health regulatory body here in the us, saying that we are in for a really terrible winter and that many, many more people could die. but if people wear masks, it could massively mitigate that so i think that what we are seeing, joe biden is really setting out how he plans to approach the coronavirus. dr fauci is also going to be his chief medical advisor as well so i think setting out how he means to go on there. and overall lebo, just briefly, pretty grim numbers coming out of the us. certainly, it also worldwide, pretty grim numbers. we have more than1.5 pretty grim numbers. we have more than 1.5 million people around the globe that have died from coronavirus. 20% of those orjust under 20% of those are in the united states. i suppose thatis in the united states. i suppose that is why it is so important that is why it is so important that everywhere around the world, there is this faith in

vaccine efforts and the efforts of governments to keep people safe and controlled the virus too. our thanks to lebo. some of the day's other news. talks between european and british negotiators are going on late into the night. this was food for them arriving a little earlier. urgent compromises are being sought in key areas including fishing rights and competition rules. it is expected the eu's lead negotiator michel barnier will go back to brussels on friday to brief leaders on the state of play. facebook is that it will remove false claims about covid—19 vaccines from its platforms over the coming weeks. it said it has already moved misinformation on facebook and instagram involving claims about the origin and the treatment of the virus. it is unclear whether similar post will be removed from its encrypted whatsapps service. there has been a fourth day of protests by farmworkers in peru, one person was killed in clashes between

demonstrators and police trying to clear roadblocks on the pan—american highway. the workers complain of low job security and bad treatment. more than 3000 ethiopian immigrants ofjewish descent have been airlifted to israel. the ethiopians are not recognised as jewish the ethiopians are not recognised asjewish under israel's religious laws but will allowed in under a family unification programme —— were allowed. it is estimated more than 7000 dues remain in ethiopia, some of whom who have been waiting for years to emigrate. now, the united states has recorded its highest ever daily death toll from coronavirus, more than 2800 people in a single day. 100,000 people in a single day. 100,000 people are in hospital being treated for the disease in a country which already has the highest global death toll. the governor of california has announced plans for stay at home orders in areas where intensive care units are filling up. gavin newsom gave a stark update on the state's

figures. hospitalisations now increased 86% just in the last 14 increased 86% just in the last 1a days. icu admissions, 67% over a similar period. we have seen death rate increase significantly over the course of the last number of weeks, just take a look at this slide. one month ago, november two, we reported, a tragic loss, 1a lives related to this pandemic. in the last 2a hours, similar to the previous 2a hours, we have reported back—to—back days with 113 deaths. just in the last 1a days, close to 1000 californians have lost their lives due to covid—19. californians have lost their lives due to covid-19. a los angeles correspondent sophie long has more on the governor's stay at home measures. you heard gavin newsom setting up those grim figures

and why he has had to take this decisive action and what is taught. short of today was imposing a statewide lot down which some people had been anticipating and what he has done is put in place regional stay at home orders in places where intensive care unit are more than 85% full so there is some limited relief perhaps too strong a word that there is not a statewide lockdown but people really resigned to the fact that this has to take place. those figures are grim and the fairies here they are only going to get worse. it was thanksgiving here in the united states, the most important holidays of the year, and those hospital admission figures do not yet reflect the travel and the gatherings that took place exactly the gatherings that took place exa ctly o ne the gatherings that took place exactly one week ago. we are expecting to see the impact of those this coming weekend. i think we have been speaking to some people who have been out and about in la today and here there was an emergency order with immediate effect put in locally last night by their

mayor eric garcetti and most people were very alarmed about that and when there is a 12 page order and lots of detail and when you look at the first few pages, it showed that perhaps you were not able to leave your house on foot by car or public transport. when you look at the long list of exceptions, it is not quite as severe but people are saying they understand the reasons why these restrictions have been put in place, they do not welcome them, something they are welcome them, something they a re necessary welcome them, something they are necessary and others think they are over the top but even people who thought they were necessary were out and about walking the dogs and with their children so not everyone is staying at home, they could. sophie long. stay with us. still to come: from belarus to georgia and onto armenia, whether seismic changes sweeping over old russian empire spell trouble in russia's backyard. 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 am 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 hippie cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11am 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. then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover.

this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the headlines: the us doctor leading the fight against coronavirus has apologised for appearing to question the speed with which britain approved a vaccine. us president—electjoe biden says he will ask americans to wear masks for his first 100 days in office, in order to limit the spread of coronavirus. 2020 has been a difficult year for the russian president, vladimir putin and notjust because of the pandemic. in recent months the kremlin has faced a series of challenges on its own doorstep, including mass protests in belarus, war in the south caucasus and a rise in pro—european sentiment in moldova. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg assesses what these dramatic events mean for russia's influence in its own back yard. across russia's former empire, we're seeing seismic change.

in belarus, people power is challenging a dictator who's being propped up by moscow. to the south, armenia and azerbaijan have been at war. add to that a revolution in kyrgyzstan and the new pro—europe president in moldova, and the result is one huge headache for the kremlin. vladimir putin still sees much of this part of the world as moscow's zone of influence, but is that influence ebbing away? well, here in the south caucasus, where russia has been the major power for 200 years, today, it has competition... ..from turkey. in the war over nagorno—karabakh, it was turkish support that helped azerbaijan defeat russia's traditional ally in the region, armenia. i think that what happened

in karabakh is truly a geopolitical catastrophe for moscow's influence not only in south caucasus, but across what remains of the post—soviet space. moscow's grip on the region is becoming weaker and weaker. we talked to the russian peacekeepers here. they seem wary of turkey's intentions. "traditionally, russia has guaranteed stability here," the peacekeeper says. "while other countries, i mean turkey, try to destabilise the situation, we try to improve things." and for moscow, the geopolitical challenges extend far beyond these hills. in moldova, a pro—western politician, maia sandu, has won the presidency, defeating the pro—russia

candidate. moldova is one of the europe's poorest countries, but the kremlin still wants it in russia's orbit. its soviet past and close proximity to romania make it a stage for east—west rivalry. russia has accused america of plotting revolution here. our objective is to get closer to the eu, and hopefully one day to become a member of the european union. but would russia let that happen, will russia let your country join the eu? it's our... it's our choice. in the end, it's the sovereign decision of our country. it's the decision of the republic of moldova. moscow can still find ways of slowing down change in its own backyard, and yet russia, too, is changing. it's having to. it's on a journey from empire to nation state. for a country with a superpower past,

that is a painful transition. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. china bbc news, moscow. is well under way to a full china is well under way to a full recovery year—round from its first coronavirus case. there are now fewer infections reported and restrictions on daily life have lessened significantly. two people with a very different journey and different things on their mind going forward. one is back in her tiny apartment after a trip which she was forced to stay with her parents. given it was started here with china, she is worried about what the world outside will think of her.

i hope next year i can get a new bar. before that, harassment, hassle and maybe even intimidation — that is what she is worried about. at the start of february shanghai was a ghost town. a city of 2a million people empty. not now though. this is what a return to normal looks like. despite the rain, pam is happy these days. some of her friends never came back to shanghai and opted instead for safer government jobs at home but she is in that flat on her way to a new bar job. china points to its official desktop, 4750, as evidenced it one what it called a waragainst evidenced it one what it called a war against the virus. it means normal life has pretty

much resume. economic recovery was quick. china people working by borrowing to build. yet again, people making a lot of stuff but not really buying a lot of stuff. when unemployment among migrant workers has been higher and when you look at the breakdown of consumption, certain items, expensive items, luxury cars for example consumption has grown quickly so consumption has grown quickly so it is very lopsided socially as well as in terms of supply versus demand. lopsided or not, as this is good. once again people want custom—made bags she crossed. her mother is in the communist party but she has been doing some soul—searching.

feeling sorry, mistakes made, it is very unusual to hear that language from someone here with party connection. she was on the front line back in february ina the front line back in february in a nearby village and has a certificate to prove it. same salary though is not something she thinks the chinese leader can do. and as to what those reasons might be, well, she did not say. the film industry has been impacted with cinemas forced to close their doors. warner brothers has announced its entire output for next year will be available on a streaming service at the same time it is released in theatres. the first wonder woman film made more than $800

million at the global box office so they were high hopes for its sequel. get used to it. then along came covid—19 and the movie was delayed. when a brother announced it would be released on a streaming service, hbo max. now the company has gone one step further, all its films to be released in 2021 will appear both in the cinemas and online. if you asked me a month ago, the answer would be no. if you asked me now, absolutely in the game. the number of movies that are going to hbo max, you would never would have seen on a streaming service before. disney has already tried something similar, releasing its live—action remake of milan although it did charge extra.

with hbo max, you will get all the films before they revert back to the big screen. potentially a big drop for a fledgling streaming service but likely to be bad news for cinemas who are already struggling to attract customers. how much harder will appear people can watch new releases from the comfort and safety of their homes. for warner brothers this is a gamble. for hollywood, this may well be the future. a politician named after adolf hitler says he has no plan for world nomination. he was elected as a councillor in northern namibia and insisted he had nothing to do with nazi ideology and has no plans to change his name. adolf is not an uncommon name in the country

which was once a german colony. a teacherfrom india, ranjit disale, has won this year's global teacher prize for his work transforming the life chances of young girls in a rural village. his win was announced virtually by stephen fry from london's natural history museum in the annual competition which is run by the varkey foundation, in partnership with unesco. mark lobel reports. from over 12,000 teachers nominated from more than 140 countries for this prestigious prize, top of the class went to... ranjit disale, from india. oh, and look, there's your whole extended family now. it's wonderful. oh my dear fellow. i can see how moved you are. thank you, i'm receiving this honour on behalf of millions and millions of students, teachers, those who are working hard in these hard

times of covid. ranjit went to incredible lengths for over a decade, turning around this girls' school in maharashtra state in western india. textbooks were translated into the local language. qr codes were inserted to open up a world of poems, lectures and stories. school attendance among the surrounding tribal community rose from 2% to 100%. 85% achieved a grades in recent exams. his teachings have impacted life beyond the classroom — an end to teenage marriages in the village, desertification in the drought—prone district reduced. ranjit's even built a science lab at home to share experiments with students in over 80 countries. he has also got young people talking between countries in conflict with one another, and has shared his tech skills with other teachers, too. in accepting the million—dollar prize, ranjit disale also made

this extraordinary and far—reaching pledge. 50% of the prize money will be equally shared with the rest of the nine top—ten finalists. together, we can make a difference and we can make this world a better place. that's over $50,000 for each of the other nine finalists, including teachers from brazil, south korea and nigeria. this year's prize has also come at a time when lockdowns have reminded us how important the inspiring and face—to—face role teachers carry out really is. mark lobel, bbc news. congratulations to him. a quick reminder of our top story, the us doctor leading the fight against coronavirus has apologised for appearing to question the speed with which

britain appeared to approve a vaccine. you can get me online. this is a busy news. bye—bye. -- bbc this is a busy news. bye—bye. —— bbc news. hello. the weather is giving us a real taste of winter. some places have already seen a bit of snow. there is some more in the forecast for friday. it's a the real mix for rain, sleet and snow that will be falling from the sky. it will be cold, it will be windy, and this big area of low pressure is really dominating the weather across western europe. bands of wet weather spiralling around it and some pretty cold air being sucked down from the north. so that combination of cold air and wet weather, that is why we are still seeing some sleet and some snow. across scotland, snow falling for a time to quite low levels. there could even be a brief covering of snow through the central belt. and over higher ground, 10—20cm of snow is possible. could be some real travel problems for the high—level routes, especially with some ice in western scotland.

some ice possible in northern ireland as well. a chilly start here but mainly dry. some showers through wales and the southwest, wintry over high ground. this band of rain could contain some sleet and wet snow over high ground across some parts of eastern england. and these various bands of wet weather will just continue to circulate around our area of low pressure. most of the snow becoming confined to the highest ground. rain at lower levels. a lot of rain piling into eastern scotland — that could cause one or two problems. something a little bit brighter down towards the south. it will be windy with gusts around the coast, particularly out west, of 50 mph or more and it will be cold with highs between four and seven degrees. and we will see further areas of wet weather with some sleet and snow mixed in over the hills as we go through friday night. but the weekend is a story of things very, very slowly calming down. it will turn drier but it will stay cold. on saturday, there will still be showers around which could, again, contain some sleet

and snow over high ground, particularly over the scottish mountains, but more dry weather developing through the day. some spells of sunshine. it is still going to chilly with temperatures of 5, 6 or 7 degrees but the winds will fall a little later. and those winds will continue to fall during saturday night and very light winds by sunday, there could well be some mist and fog around which could be quite slow to clear. it will stay dull in some places. many spots, though, will see some spells of sunshine. just a few showers by this stage. but still feeling cold with highs of 4—7 degrees.

this is bbc news. the headlines. the us doctor leading the fight against coronavirus has apologised for appearing to question the speed at which it an approved vaccine. doctor fauci says he had every confidence in the uk's medical regulator and had only intended to highlight the differences between the two countries processes. doctor fauci is due to meet president—electjoe biden's transition team for the first time to discuss the incoming administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. mr biden has said he would ask americans to wear masks 100 daysin americans to wear masks 100 days in order to curtail the spread of coronavirus. a teacher from india has spread of coronavirus. a teacherfrom india has won spread of coronavirus. a teacher from india has won this yea r‘s teacher from india has won this year's global teacher fires at a virtual ceremony mr disale was named as the million—dollar winner. he says he will share the money with his fellow finalists. now on bbc news,