this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the first covid vaccine is being shipped around the us. mass immunisation begins on monday. talks about a post—brexit trade deal are extended. the uk and eu promise to "go the extra mile" to reach an agreement. tributes are being paid to the spy novelistjohn le carre, who's died aged 89. his began his working life as a secret agent. it really was as if the whole of my life had prepared me for this moment. and climb every mountain: the adventurer who's defying the odds to reach his own personal peak.

hello and welcome. the united states is about to begin its most ambitious vaccination campaign ever as millions of doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine arrive all over the country. the aim is to vaccinate 100 million people against the coronavirus by the end of march. the vaccine offers up to 95% protection against covid—19 and was deemed safe by the food and drug administration. on saturday, the us recorded a daily toll of 3,309 covid—related deaths. the figure is the highest total in a single day anywhere in the world. lebo diseko has more from washington. it's been a long and painful journey but finally, help is on its way. the first of nearly three million doses of the pfizer vaccine leave the firm's plant in michigan. packed on dry ice, they'll go out to distribution centres in all 50 states.

the first immunisation could take place as early as monday. applause. the government says it's aiming to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of the year, 100 million by the end of february. i never imagined that we would see a virus show up and have a vaccine available to fight it in less than a year. it truly is an extraordinary accomplishment for all the vaccine developers out there who have been working globally to tackle this problem with unprecedented speed and vigour. but now, the challenge is distribution because those vaccines don't do anyone any good until they're in the arms of the people who need them, and that's our big job ahead. but tweets like this from donald trump just hours before the fda's approval have heightened concerns about political pressure in this process. in it, mr trump tagged the head of the regulator, saying, "get those vaccines out now". add to that reports that the white house told dr stephen hahn to approve this

by the end of friday or resign — reports he told cnn's state of the union show were inaccurate. and what i can say is we've heard from a number of sources, including the white house, that there was a desire for us to move as quickly as possible. and, jake, we have, but our absolute obligation to the american people was to make sure that we did a thorough scientific review. we needed to ensure that our gold standard of assessing the safety and efficacy of the vaccine was done, and was done properly. we had to get this right, and i believe we did. that is something he is going to need americans to believe, too, as the vaccines start to arrive on the next leg of their journey. recent surveys show that willingness to take the vaccine has gone up, but it's still under the levels needed to achieve that all—important herd immunity. lebo diseko, bbc news, washington. dr robert amler is a dead at new york medical college

—— dr robert amler is a dean at new york medical college and former cdc epidemiologist. he told us about the problems that may be encountered with such a vast vaccine roll—out. this really is a very important moment in the history of this horrible virus that has killed so many millions of people around the world. finally, we have a tool that will be both safe and effective at stemming the tide of this terrible epidemic. what is the single biggest problem you can envisage in mass immunisation? you know, problems arise any time you're trying to get a product out quickly, to a lot of people as quickly as possible. there can be some wastage along the way either because some pallets are misplaced or lost. probably the biggest problem is temperature control, because we have heard that this is a vaccine that must be kept within very tight parameters of temperature in order to not lose its effectiveness.

everyone needs two shots. how does that complicate this effort? it really makes it complicated because we have to take very good records of who comes in, who gets the vaccine and how we can get them back, because it's a very common occurrence people come in, they get a dose and then they either forget about the second dose or they get busy doing something else and they get lost to follow—up, so that's essentially a wasted dose that someone else could have had so we have to do the follow—up and register people and be able to contact them and bring them back in when it's time for that all—importa nt second dose. and just to be clear then — if you get the first jab and not the second, it's a complete waste of time? it may not be a complete waste. there is probably some immunity

but we will never really know now, and maybe eventually we will find out what happens to people who only get the first jab but the recommendation is two doses. if i were you, and for me, we're going to get those two doses. 0ne vaccine has been approved. how important is it to get other vaccines out there? more vaccine out there, the better it is going to be because we are talking about vaccinating not just thousands of people, notjust millions, but hundreds of millions and billions of people worldwide, so every manufacturer that can give us a worthwhile vaccine, we will appreciate and we'll go right to work making sure it gets distributed as quickly as possible. dr robert amler. meanwhile, the first freezer—packed covid—i9 vaccine vials have arrived in canada. ca nada's health regulator approved the vaccine made by pfizer and biontech last week. they're bound for 14 distribution sites

across the country. quebec is expected to be the first province to administer the jab. vaccination clinics run by family doctors will begin across england from monday. gp practices in more than 100 locations will have the approved pfizer—biontech vaccine delivered to them on monday with some offering vaccinations within hours. the majority will begin providing vaccination services to their local community from tuesday. moving on to brexit now. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier will brief eu ambassadors on monday after britain and the european union agreed to extend talks on a post—brexit trade deal. sunday was meant to have been the final deadline for the talks but as before, both sides have agreed to an extension. the british prime minister and the head of the european commission spoke on the phone on sunday. they said they would "go the extra mile" to try to find a solution. 0ur political correspondent iain watson has this report. are there still barriers in the way of a trade deal with brussels? today, the latest deadline

was discarded but the prime minister says some distance still remains between the two sides. as things stand, i'm afraid we're still very far apart on some key things. but where there's life, there's hope. we are going to keep talking to see what we can do. the uk certainly won't be walking away from the talks. and the eu commission president said both sides would make a last gasp effort to reach agreement. despite the exhaustion after almost one year of negotiations, and despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over, we both think that it is responsible at this point in time to go the extra mile. so why does a tangible gap remain between the two sides? well, there is still squabbling over what access eu fishing fleets would have to uk waters and over how any wider trade deal would be policed if the two sides adopt different rules in the future.

as well as talking to the eu commission president today, borisjohnson spoke to his cabinet colleagues. despite agreeing to more talks in brussels, he told them that no deal was still the more likely outcome. we have to get ready for wto terms. there is a clarity and a simplicity in that approach that, you know, has its own advantages. so, what are wto — or world trade — terms? well, it means tariffs or taxes would be imposed from january1 on goods going from our shores to the eu, and vice—versa, pushing up some prices in the process. but this could be avoided if a deal is struck soon. now, neither downing street nor brussels have set themselves yet another deadline — these tend to come and go, in any case — but i'm told informally that the question of deal or no deal needs to be settled in the next few days. and despite the apparent pessimism in there, it's important to note that detailed discussions are still continuing, so the prospect of a deal can't be completely ruled out.

in fact, the irish government believes a deal is within reach if both sides show willing... 97% of this deal has been negotiated across judicial, security, research, a whole range of areas, and it seems to me that the remaining 3% should not be beyond the capacity of both sides to bridge. ..and labour argues that there is no logic to no deal. morning, ed! what the government seems to be saying is we are willing to accept no deal, which would mean tariffs across the board, because some future, theoretical threat maybe some time in the future to have tariffs in relation to some products. now, that makes no sense at all. that's like saying "i'm worried my roof is going to leak in five years' time so let's bulldoze the house now". today, the negotiating teams have been given the green light to continue, but the direction of travel remains uncertain. iain watson, bbc

news, westminster. so what are the obstacles to reaching a deal and can they be overcome? 0ur europe editor, katya adler. the three main sticking points are still on the table, about agreeing eu fishing rights in uk waters after brexit, about competition regulations, the eu says that the uk cannot have preferential access to the single market unless it knows that the market and the eu businesses in it are protect it against what could be unfair competition, and then there is the governance of the deal. so if either side don't keep to their part of a deal, what could then, what punitive action could be taken? so that is where they are still stuck. there is enough of the two sides to keep talking, we hear that the talks are constructive, but the big political decisions still need to be taken. how easy is it to get a sense of what is going on in these negotiations because normally at european

discussions like this, there are whispers and monitors but are whispers and monitors but are they keeping it under quite tight wraps? they are trying to lea k tight wraps? they are trying to leak as little as possible out of the talks. for the simple reason that as soon as the press 01’ reason that as soon as the press or opposition politicians, for example, get hold of those details, they could try to rip apart proposals before they actually become agreements so as much as possible, they want to keep a tight rap on things. but you know the parameters remain the same. for the eu, know the parameters remain the same. forthe eu, it wants know the parameters remain the same. for the eu, it wants this deal but its priority is protecting its single market and for the protecting its single market and forthe uk, protecting its single market and for the uk, it wants this deal but its priority is protecting national sovereignty after brexit. that is a difficult circle to square, if you like. and what sort of reaction has there been to the comments from the british prime minister within the last day or so, but it is looking more likely that there will be no deal? how is that going down in the eu? the eu is not surprised that the prime minister's comments and i thank you, you

know, one has to bear in mind it is part of a wider context, what he said in front of the television cameras is one thing and then there is also behind the scenes, isn't there? the negotiators behind closed doors in private conversations that the prime minister has with the european commission president and we are not privy to all of that and of course the prime minister also will be wanting to reassure the public, to reassure ardent supporters of brexit as well and also to be putting as much pressure as possible on the other side in these negotiations, the eu. katya adler, the european editor and you may have recognised, she was not speaking to me, she was speaking to me, she was speaking to me, she was speaking to ben bland, my predecessor in this chair. the british writerjohn le carre has died. le carre, the pen name for david cornwell, was the author of many spy novels, including tinker tailor soldier spy and the spy who came in from the cold. he sold over 60 million books. in a statement announcing his death mr le carre's agent paid tribute to his complex plots and beautiful prose saying "his like will never be

seen again and his loss will be felt by everyone interested in the human condition". lizo mzimba looks back at his life. so are you polyakov‘s agent? if polyakov‘s cover for meeting you people is that he is spying on the circus, then he must have a man on the inside, mustn't he? alec guinness in the television version of tinker tailor soldier spy, playing george smiley. the spy master, as sharp as he was shy, wasjohn le carre's most enduring and celebrated creation. please, i don't deserve this. who gave the message forjim prideaux to forget about tinker tailor? a 2011 film of tinker tailor won multiple 0scar nominations, including one for gary 0ldman's portrayal of the retired intelligence chief. you're just the messenger, running between them all. like smiley, le carre was something of an outsider and, like smiley, he'd been a spy. he had been fascinated by lies and duplicity since childhood.

his mother walked out when he was five, his father a con man who had affairs with a string of women. he was first recruited for intelligence work at university in switzerland, then at oxford, he spied on left—wing contemporaries. when the option was presented to me, it was immensely attractive. it really was as if the whole of my life had prepared me for this moment. it was entering the priesthood. the spy who came in from the cold, later filmed with richard burton, was le carre's breakthrough novel. it was written while he was working for mi6 at the british embassy in bonn, at the time the berlin wall went up and when the cold war was at its iciest. what the hell do you think spies are? moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of god or karl marx? they're not. so many of his stories explored the battles between the eastern and western blocs, but he wasn't deterred by the fall of the iron curtain. his first post—cold war novel... the night manager. ..another best—seller.

20 years later, for its tv adaptation, key locations were changed and a major male character became a woman. we've not been introduced. my name is angela burr. its themes of secrecy and betrayal remained. dickie roper. it was a global hit, the author even playing a rare cameo. i must apologise for my friend's misbehaviour. i think you bloody well should! le carre tried other types of book, but spy novels were what he did best. he believed authors and spies had much in common, both hiding their real selves in characters of their own creation. and stay with us on bbc news as we'll have more on john le carre's extraordinary life and work.

saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the first consignments of pfizer's covid vaccine are being shipped around the us ahead of a mass immunisation programme starting on monday. britain and the european union have decided to extend the brexit negotiations once more after a phone call between the two leaders. an official in katsina state in nigeria says that 321 school children are still missing after gunmen abducted them in the north of the country on friday night. security agencies are searching a vast forest area outside the town of kankara to try to locate them. at least ten children are reported to be held hostage by bandits. the school is talking to parents to establish how many students have returned home, and how many others could still be in hiding. let's hear from some of the parents. i had a call from somebody intimidating me that there is a problem at the school and he was there with my son, he has two classes,

and that was the senior one so he now transferred the phone to my son and said this is the situation so i could take off. i have been here since yesterday. translation: only the government can help us. they have the authority to rescue our children. may allah give the strength to reunite us. 0ur correspondent mayeni jones is in kano in nigeria. well, it's still a very murky situation on the ground. we're getting conflicting figures from the authorities. the presidential spokesperson spoke to the bbc earlier today and said there could be as little as ten boys still missing. but the state governor is saying there's over 300. regardless of the exact figure, what this illustrates is that insecurity in this part of the country is still a huge issue. you have bandits who often kidnap people for ransom, then target these soft targets like schools in order to get some sort of money. the president was elected

on the fact that he would be able to tackle that insecurity in nigeria. but increasingly, there's been dissatisfaction here amongst many nigerians who feel he's not living up to that promise. let's get some of the day's other news and one person is reported to have been shot after a gunman opened fire outside the stjohn the divine cathedral in harlem on the upper west side of manhattan in new york. law enforcement sources said the gunman, who was apprehended at the scene, had died. anti—government protesters have marched through the polish capital, warsaw, on the 39th anniversary of the communist authorities declaring martial law. around 1,000 demonstrators avoided several police cordons but were eventually blocked from reaching the home of the country's most powerful politician, the right—wing nationalist, jaroslaw kazcynski. new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern says her government has agreed — in principle — to establish a quarantine—free travel bubble with australia. it's expected to open early next year. the measure will be contingent on both the covid—19 levels in both counties remaining low and the deal being signed off by the australian government.

a french paralympian says he wants to climb three mountains in the pyrenees. david labarre — who has only around 10% sight — has already reached the summit of mont blanc. he now wants to cycle and climb up three more mountains in france and spain. the bbc‘s tim allman has his story. climbing a mountain is hardly easy for anyone. but imagine what it must be like for david labarre. visually impaired but always determined, he can only see shapes and spots. that will not stop him, though, even if he may not enjoy the full experience once he gets there. translation: of course there are people who climbed to see the view, but deep down i don't think they are really going for the view, they are going for something personal and the view was just a bonus.

david is used to overcoming obstacles. he is a paralympian, winning silver in 5—a—side football at the 2012 london games. he is also a cyclist and can often be seen on his mountain bike. it is almost as if he is not disabled at all. translation: as someone who works with david on a daily basis the word handicap does not really feature. from the first day i met him i thought that this guy must be lying because he does not seem disabled. i have never considered him to be disabled. one way that david prepares for his big climb is by pushing a 300 kilo hay bale. he hopes to reach the summit later next year. he may not be able to see it but he knows it is there. let's get more now on the passing of the acclaimed crime writerjohn le carre. the bbc‘s mark lobel has been looking at the tributes paid

to the author from around the world. stephen king summed up the mood saying that the terrible year has claimed a literary giant and humanitarian spirit. a prize thatjohn le carre was awarded earlier this year, $100,000, which he donated, for his role in exposing corporate greed and xenophobia in fashion. he did not accept literary awards, it was his film and tv adaptations that won most of the awards as it happened, but there was a nice tribute also from a brazilian writer who quoted one ofjohn le carre's books saying that by repetition each lie becomes an irreversible fact upon which other lies are constructed. le carre, not only a great writer but a visionary.

and this one from the scottish crime writer, ian rankine. terribly sad, an extraordinary writer who brought literally insight to the spy yarn. the thing was that the fact he was a spy upset a few former intelligence officers because they saw intelligence fact and intelligence fiction mixed into his work. he was asked about that and said he just wants to make great stories, which is a bit like the drama we are currently having about the crown. what about the people who knew him? very sad tributes from his literary agent who said we will not see his like again. and he sums up his most famous work where he said he became the most famous spy writer in the world with his third novel, the spy who came in from the cold. that book was written in five weeks, and that is extraordinary, but also whilejohn le carre was still a spy and that was why he could not use his real name. david he could not use his real name. cornwell. that was something that simon sharma was

excited about, saying that that book blew him away and everyone knows what a supreme writer he was. a gem—like controlled burn. what a great phrase. some people read his books and others saw the films and tv series. which one did you do? i was a watcher. the constant gardener and the night manager with tom hiddlestone and olivia coleman and hugh laurie and, funnily enough, that was trending on twitter in the wake of his passing so it tells you where different generations are. mark lobel there. and/or the many tributes paid to the writer. a reminder of main story. united states is about to begin its most important vaccination program ever. it's going to be distributing the pfizer vaccine across the country, hoping that people will line up to take the two different doses of vaccine. more on that story on website. do let me know how you're

getting on. i am on twitter. do stay with us. hello there. it was a wet day across the country on sunday, and there's more unsettled weather to come over the week ahead as well. the more persistent rain, that has been sweeping away out into the north sea and instead, we are seeing more showery sort of airstream filtering into the uk. that's coming in around that area of low pressure, and that's not going to move very far over the next few days. so lots of showers, actually, coming in at the moment, particularly across western areas. but because we've got a blustery southerly wind, it's a very mild start to monday. temperatures have been rising, actually, in scotland and the north—east of england. those temperature probably won't change much through the day. good start though with some wetter weather in scotland, and we will continue to feed in quite a lot of showers, maybe even longer spells of rain into some western areas of the uk. those showers will get pushed in land, but there will be

some sunny spells too. probably not too many showers for northern ireland and showers becoming fewer in scotland. but there will be brisk and gusty south to south—westerly wind, particularly near those heavy showers, but it does mean it's going to be a mild day. temperatures higher in scotland and the north—east of england then they were yesterday, and the highest temperature this time is likely to be in the south—east, 13 degrees here. there will be some heavy showers, though in the south—east and east anglia during the evening, those showers continuing further west as well. 0vernight, the showers do tend to ease, skies will tend to clear, and we could well start a little cooler on tuesday. still a mixture of sunshine and showers on tuesday, mostly showers around western and southern coasts. more areas will have a dry day, there will be fewer showers, the winds won't be quite as strong and temperatures still above average for the time of year, so 9—11 celsius. things get interesting around the middle part of the week because this area of low pressure arrives. it's going to be deepening, not only will be bringing some wetter weather again on wednesday, it will bring some stronger winds. and by the morning, we could be gusting 50—60 mph in the south—west approaches, and those gales will push up through the irish sea and across the north channel as well. so western areas in

particular will be windy. we will see a spell of rain pushing its way eastwards and we keep some wetter weather going in northern ireland, perhaps into western areas of scotland. some more rain, stronger winds in the west. again, it's a southerly wind, so those temperatures are 9—11 celsius. really, through the rest of the week, it does stay mild, but it does stay unsettled. a quieter day probably on thursday before we see the cloud thickening, the wind and rain, again, pushing in from the atlantic on friday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us public will start receiving the pfizer—biontech vaccine from monday after it was authorised for emergency use. there have been almost 300,000 virus related deaths in the country. the vaccine offers up to 95% protection against covid—19. the brexit trade talks are continuing beyond sunday's deadline after the uk and the eu agreed their negotiators should keep talking. major issues are still unresolved but after a telephone call, boris johnson and ursula von der leyen they said they would go the extra mile. one of britain's best—known novelists, john le carre, has died. he was 89. a former secret agent, le carre drew on his own experiences to create ha rd—edged psychological thrillers. many became films and tv series, including ‘tinker tailor sailor spy‘, ‘the constant gardener‘ and ‘the night manager'. now on bbc news, hardtalk.