this is bbc news, i'm nancy kacungira with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. doctors advising the us food and drug administration endorse the pfizer—biontech vaccine — final approval is expected within days. supporters and opponents face off outside the argentine congress as ministers debate a controversial bill to legalise abortion. a last—minute appeal to the supreme court fails as brandon bernard becomes the first person to be executed during a presidential transition in more than a century. and the british actress barbara windsor — best known for her roles in eastenders and the carry on films — has died, aged 83.

medical experts advising the us food and drug administration have recommended emergency approvalfor the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine. the decision comes after a 23—member panel met to determine whether the drug's benefits outweigh the risks. the pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in four other countries including the uk and canada. nomia iqbal reports from washington. fda and the sponsor, we agreed... a day long, live streamed meeting involving health experts may not make for exciting viewing, but this group of researchers and physicians are the key to america's path back to normality. one question i have is, why... they are part of an independent

committee voting on whether the pfizer vaccine should be given to all americans. pfizer has applied for emergency authorization. the group has been analyzing the effectiveness of the vaccine and any potential side effects, including the allergic reactions experienced by two british health workers who received the pfizerjob this week. workers who received the pfizerjab this week. the vote came down to a single question — whether or not the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks for use in individuals 16 years of age and older. so if we could please close the vote and broadcast the results. in the end, 17 said yes, four said no. the next step is now for the united states food and drug administration to sign off the vaccine, this would then clear the way for the logistically complicated task of distributing it across all 50 states of america. but this is happening during a controversial transitional period. the incoming president says he wants to get 100 million people vaccinated in his first 100

days in office. whilst the outgoing president is more focused on overturning the election result, as well as criticizing the fda for not bringing out a vaccine earlier, but his administration insists, once that green light comes for the jabs, they are ready to roll them out. thanks to president trump's and vice president pence‘s leadership and 0peration warp speed and the historic mobilisation that has happened there, we expect to see 100 million vaccinations total by the end of february. however, health experts say it could take until spring next year for enough americans to receive a vaccination to end the surging pandemic. in a sense, it's the beginning of the end, but the end is going to last a really long time. every single day, we're shattering records for the number of new cases, hospitalisations and deaths.

many parts of the us are getting ready, though, and shipping in covid—19 vaccine kits, including syringes and personal protective equipment. all they need now is a vaccine. clinical trials of a covid—19 vaccine in australia have been abandoned, after participants returned false positive hiv test results. the developers of the vaccine — the university of queensland and the biotech firm csl — stressed there had been no serious safety concerns. it is one of four coronavirus vaccines which australia's government has committed to purchasing. prime minister scott morrison says it was not a wasted investment. every cent we have invested in getting the best and most early available and safe vaccines for australians in the middle of the covid—19 pandemic has been money well spent. every single cent. i mean, there are no guarantees when it comes to vaccine development and if you don't

put the investment in across a range of opportunities and options, then you don't get one come out the other end. and i think the expectation that there would be a 100% success rate across these is naive. it is just not true. australia's prime minister speaking there. time magazine has announced its person of the year for 2020 — the award has gone to president electjoe biden and his running mate kamala harris. the pair were chosen ahead of three other finalists — frontline health care workers and anthony fauci, the racialjustice movement, and president donald trump — whom mr biden defeated in november's election. for over 15 hours now, the congress in argentina has been debating a bill to legalise abortion in the country. the law, backed by the government, is expected to narrowly pass in the lower house before moving to the senate where a much

tighter vote is expected. it's been a lengthy debate on a highly contested issue. resulting in protests for and against the bill that would allow the legal termination of allow the legal termination of a pregnancy up to 1a weeks. it would also make argentina the largest latin american country to legalise abortion. the reform has the support of the president, and his ruling party. they believe it would help save lives, as every year almost 40,000 women in argentina are treated in hospital after botched illegal procedures. translation: this project offers a concrete response to a structural and public health problem that exists in our country. abortion in argentina is only allowed only in cases of rape or if the mother's health is in danger. at the d raft law health is in danger. at the draft law is opening a bitter debate that divided the country

two years ago when a similar bill was passed in congress but was then rejected in the senate. translation: we defend life. there is life in the womb and the strongest evidence is not legal or scientific or even ethical. the strongest evidence is the love of a mother and their child being carried inside. the many thousands of argentines who have protested in favour of this reform are hoping the president's backing will be decisive, but the experience from two years ago tells us that even if congress passes the law they cannot yet claim victory, with a long road ahead in the senate. a federal prison in the united states has carried out the execution of the convicted killer brandon bernard. the african—american man was part of a gang who abducted, robbed and murdered two white, youth ministers in 1999. he's the ninth federal inmate to have been put to death sincejuly. more federal prisoners have been executed in the us this

year than than in the previous 56 years combined. lebo diseko has this report. brandon bernard had been on death row for the last 20 yea rs, death row for the last 20 years, and on thursday he became the first federal —— with hope to be executed during presidential transition. donald trump will have seen the deaths of 13 federal inmates since july this year, more than any president in over a century. the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988 but executions were rare. just three have taken place since then and none since 2003. but in thejuly then and none since 2003. but in the july administration resumed the practice after a 17 year hiatus. brandon bernard's case attracted the support of celebrities like kym kardashian west. the reality star and prison reform activist had

called at her followers to tweet donald trump to save brandon bernard. tomorrow another federal execution is scheduled at the same penitentiary in indiana. these executions come just weeks before joe executions come just weeks beforejoe biden executions come just weeks before joe biden takes executions come just weeks beforejoe biden takes office, and he has said he will seek to end the death penalty. the incumbent president would usually defer to his successor and let the president—elect the course, but donald trump's attorney general says he is just following the law. he says he owes it to the victims and theirfamilies to he owes it to the victims and their families to carry forward this sentence. let's get some of the day's other news the hong kong businessman jimmy lai has been charged under the territory's controversial national security law — on suspicion of having conspired with foreign forces to endanger national security. the media billionaire is the most high—profile person charged under the sweeping new law. mr lai founded the apple daily newspaper and is a fierce critic of beijing. the british prime minister borisjohnson says there's now a strong possibility of leaving the eu's single market

and customs union without a trade deal. mrjohnson says he's willing to talk to eu leaders at any time, but has warned the public and businesses to be prepared for a no—deal scenario. european union leaders have agreed to prepare sanctions against turkish individuals over ankara's exploration of gas reserves in greek and cypriot waters. but the bloc appears to have stopped short of imposing the measures straight away. it says it will continue to explore diplomatic solutions to the stand—off. cuba is getting rid of its dual currency system from the first of january. president miguel diaz—canel announced the news in a televised address to the nation. for nearly 30 years two currencies have circulated in cuba. most cubans use the traditional peso. the convertible peso is pegged to the us dollar and used in the tourist economy.

dame barbara windsor, one of britain's most beloved entertainment stars, has died aged 83. she was best known for her roles in the bbc soap eastenders and the carry on films. dame barbara was diagnosed with alzheimer's disease in 2014 and made the news public in 2018. her husband, scott mitchell, says she died on thursday night at a london care home. david sillito looks back at her life. barbara windsor — a 410" national treasure. we were told to bring the minimum of vlothing. we were told to bring the minimum of clothing. now really let's see those chests come out! and fling! funny, cheeky, slightly naughty. but there was a lot more to her then just carry on camping. thanjust carry on camping. matron, take them away! barabar anne deeks began acting as a teenager.

born in london, in shoreditch, and the daughter of a barrow boy, it wasjohn littlewood at the theatre workshop who saw her star quality. she won after nomination for this film sparrows can't sing. and a tony at 40 what a lovely war. movies and cabaret introduced her to claim her and some shady friends. at one point she dated the gangster reggie kray. but it was the carry on films that made her a star. hi. her entrance always an excuse for something slightly saucy. have you got a larger one? i've had no complaints so far. especially if sid james was around — a relationship that carried on off—camera. you 'aven't got any soap on that bit. # up to the west end! after the nine carry ons there were lean years. until she found peggy.

grant! mum. i heard you were back, i was going to give you a call. then why didn't you, you great lump? peggy micthell, the new landlady of the queen vic, was a role made for her. don't you dare turn your back on me! 22 years on albert square. get outta my pub! which ended with barbara becoming dame barbara. dame barbara sounds nice, my mum would like it to be dame barbara. she was a bit of a cockney snob. what would she be thinking now? what would she be thinking? but her farewell to walford was also her favourable to acting. she had been diagnosed with alzheimer's. oh, my dear friend. you'll never leave me will you? dame barbara windsor, talent, warmth and a lifetime of cheeky fun. no, sweetheart. thank you. dame barbara windsor, who has

died aged 83. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... could it be the beginning of end for the movies? disney becomes the lastest major studio to switch its focus from the cinema to streaming.

this is bbc news — the latest headlines. doctors advising the us food and drug administration endorse the pfizer—biontech vaccine. final approval is expected within days. supporters and opponents face—off outside the argentine congress as ministers debate a controversial bill to legalise abortion. as the coronavirus vaccine begins to roll out across the uk and gets closer to being a reality in the us too, many other countries are wondering when they'll

start to see a vaccine. campaigners claim that a handful of countries are hoarding the world's supply, when many countries will need hundreds of millions of doses to tackle the virus. the bbc‘s population correspondent stephanie hegarty reports. in a big week for vaccine science, these scientists in pakistan are running trials for a chinese firm, cansino bio. but not everyone is excited. this woman is worried. we see ourselves as really at the back of the queue. because of the country where i'm sitting i have no idea when i will get a vaccine for covid. if i get infected today, i might even die from covid. she is involved with a group that's calling for rich countries to stop hoarding vaccines. as someone who works in hiv prevention in zimbabwe,

she sees parallels to a time when life—saving medication was too expensive for most people. eventually, when they, you know, the privileged do decide that it's time to save the poor people, that's when we are going to get the vaccine. by paying up front before the vaccines are ready, a handful of countries have secured more doses than their population needs. i know that there are countries that have pre—purchased doses enough for seven or eight or ten times the inhabitants that they have, and we cannot do that. but there is one far—reaching initiative that could help. covax is a plan backed by the who and several other international public health groups. so far, 189 countries are involved. 92 are lower/middle income and they'll have their vaccines paid for by donors. the rest will have to pay for vaccines, but they're likely to get better deals

than they might have if they'd negotiated on their own. they've secured deals with three different vaccines so far. but covax will only cover 20% of what a low—income country needs. it's a start, but it's by no means enough. everybody is going for a finite pie. and so the pie is fixed for now and everybody wants a slice of it. and there's obviously going to be some jostling and pushing. how much politics is involved in negotiating these vaccines? vaccine diplomacy? it certainly is in play and has been in play for many months now. i think. covid vaccines are finally rolling out... but for most of the world, it's still a waiting game. disney is the latest major studio to divert its focus from cinema to streaming. it's just announced plans for several new television series based in the star wars universe. disney plus, which was launched just over a year ago,

now has nearly 87 million subscribers — a figure far exceeding its own predictions for customer growth. with me is our news correspondent paul hawkins. good correspondent paul hawkins. to see you. these lot like good to see you. these look like a really good numbers for disney. yeah, and in only one year they have got 87 million subscribers and if we look at the figures more broadly in the context of all of the streaming services will stop netflix are still top on 195 million, but they have been around streaming for 13 years. and prime are next with 150 million and disney+, only around for a year, 87 million subscribers. apple have got some catching up to do. they are on 34 million and have been around for a year, as well. a lot of their subscriptions are given away free with iphones and macbooks.

so it is difficult to say how authentic that 34 million figure is. with all this growth of streaming platforms, it's not looking very good for cinema. it's not. last week we heard that warner brothers, all of theirfilm heard that warner brothers, all of their film releases for next year will be streamed on hbo max, their streaming service, and now disney say that next year peter pan and wendy and pinocchio, featuring tom hanks, they will go straight to disney+, not the cinema first. more bad news for the cinemas which have been empty through the pandemic, and although i suppose it could have been worse, disney could say all of their films, worse, disney could say all of theirfilms, like warner brothers, it will be on disney+ next year, but they will just put two of them on there. when we look at the amount of content that these streaming services need to produce, is that part of what is driving disney's expansion in terms of the franchises it holds? massively, massively. and driving that is star wars. ten

new star wars tv series spin offs . new star wars tv series spin offs. a lot of growth has been driven by the mandalorian. there will be a two mandalorian spin off series. one featuring the smuggler in the films, donald glover will play him. another tv series, kenobe, with hayden christiansen returning as darth vader. one new star wa rs as darth vader. one new star wars film rogue squadron come out in 2023, with the same director as the recent wonder woman film. we should also mention a new indiana jones film confirmed for 2022, featuring harrison ford, who by then will be 80 years young. that's a lot. i don't know how many subscriptions you have but mine just many subscriptions you have but minejust seem to many subscriptions you have but mine just seem to keep adding up. there is a question about

just how many subscriptions can people sign up to? as there a saturation point? it is a good point, it would be interesting to know from these figures how many people have multiple subscriptions. some of us do, we don'tjust subscriptions. some of us do, we don't just sign subscriptions. some of us do, we don'tjust sign up to one service. that would be an interesting figure to know but it can all add up. paul, thank you very much. time now for the latest sports news. hello there, this is your friday sport briefing, where we start with the news that american amy olson leads by a stroke on four under par after the opening round the final women's golf major of the year, the us open in houston. women's british open championship sophia popov is two shots off the lead on two under, while defending champion lee jeongeun is two over. olson's lead was largely due to this hole in one on the par—three 16th, and she leads a group of three chasing on three under. this tottenham finish top of their europa league group after a 2—0 win at home to antwerp. both goals against the belgians came after the break forjose mourinho's side, while fellow north londoners arsenal were already through, but they made a perfect six

from six as they beat irish side dundalk 4—2 in dublin, while young boys of switzerland scored two late goals at home to cluj, taking them through to the knockout phase. but it was tottenham where most interest was after england international dele alli's hasty exit down the tunnel when not used as a sub. let's not run away from the reality. a player that is on the bench and realises that, with five changes, is not one of the players, of course is not a happy player and i wouldn't expect him to be happy. but every player that is on the bench, or every player that leaves the pitch in cold weathers with me, they can go to the dressing room and i even prefer if that happens. ulsan hyundai are through to the semi—finals of the asian champions league after the south korean won 2—0 in their last match, both goals coming in the first half, and the 2012 winners

will play japanese side vissel kobe for a place in the final following their victory over suwon bluewings. penalties after of the match after it finished 1—1 at the end of extra time. the leading players head out shortly in the second round of the db tour in dubai. france's victor perez leads by a stroke on five under, ——round of the dp tour in dubai. france's victor perez leads by a stroke on five under, while tommy fleetwood is three under. patrick reed is a stroke adrift that as he looks to become the first american to win the european tour's race to dubai title. and finally, practice at the abu dhabi grand prix starts shortly, and lewis hamilton will be there. the world champion has tested negative for covid, and is fit to drive at the final race of the season. hamilton missed last week's race in bahrain after a positive test the week before. and get all the latest sports

news on our website, of course — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the team, that is your friday sport briefing. visual treat for you now. an ice cave which forms naturally on a high—altitude glacier in the swiss alps has been accessible for the first time this winter. the natural cave which is known as the ice cathedral forms through a siphon effect. each spring and summer, the cavity fills with water from the snow melt, forming a lake. in autumn, the plug disappears and the water drains, leaving the cave. its ceiling is five metres thick and the whole cave is more than 20 metres long. each year it attracts thousands of photographers trying to make the most of its blue light which creates spectacular effects. certainly good to look at. you can let me know what you think

of our stories. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @kacungira. hello again. skies across the uk on thursday were almost uniformly grey and drab, but skies like these overhead in larne lough and were pretty commonplace across the country. there were however big contrasts in temperatures. in the west is a milder atlantic air moving in, but in central and eastern england along with the whole of scotland, much colder continental air. in the west, temperatures reached double figures, quite mild, ten or 11 degrees. central and eastern england and scotland, temperatures more typically around five or six celsius, only four in dalwhinnie in the highlands of scotland. big contrasts, driven by this where the front, that has been bringing rain eastwards over recent hours and it has been

one of those nights where the milderair one of those nights where the milder air has pushed in. temperatures must have been rising through the night. for most of us, friday will get off toa most of us, friday will get off to a relatively mild note but across eastern england, east scotland, still some rain, which will linger in aberdeenshire pretty much all day, with the risk of localised flick. i suspect there will for a time in the morning below cloud for north—east england at eastern scotland with hill fog patches around. skies try to brighten from the west but there will be plenty of showers coming through and later in the day, the milder air pushing into pretty much all of the uk as we head towards the afternoon. temperatures will lift across those in central and eastern areas. the weekend, still low pressure loitering on the weather chart, that will continue to bring rain for a time across scotland, the rain slow to ease across eastern areas of england, not particularly happy. later in the day we will see a ridge of high pressure building it from the west, meaning we should see more in the way of sunshine for northern ireland, wales,

western and central and southern areas of england. that sunshine will not hang around too long because the rich will move away to be replaced by the second half of this weekend by low pressure. the low pressure will bring south—westerly winds, so we should see some milderair winds, so we should see some milder air sloshing in across the uk. sunday promises to be windy day, even gales for a time across western coasts. a lot of rain around, and even as the rain cleared showers will follow on. temperatures on the mild side, reaching a high to the south—west of 13 degrees. that is your weather.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. no deal is a 'strong possibility‘ warns prime minister boris johnson as britain and the eu remain deadlocked on post—brexit trade. plus, more than two trillion dollars to boost europe's struggling economy as leaders finally sign off a pandemic rescue plan. we start with brexit, because uk prime minister boris johnson has warned businesses and the public to prepare

for a 'no—deal‘ outcome