welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: president trump belatedly signs a huge bipartisan coronavirus relief and government spending bill into law. south africa registers more than a million cases of coronavirus. hospital admissions rise steeply as a new faster spreading variant is detected. the vaccine roll—out begins in european union countries. health workers and the elderly the first in the queue. and new york prepares to say a rousing, if virtual, farewell to 2020.

we begin with breaking news this hour — president trump has approved a $2 trillion government spending and coronavirus stimulus package days after objecting to elements of the bill. the new law will not only support people and businesses threatened by the pandemic, it will also ensure the government remains open. in a statement, mr trump said it was his "responsibility to protect americans from the economic devastation and ha rdship" caused by the coronavirus. he also said he is approving the covid package with a strong message that makes clear to congress that wasteful items need to be removed from the bill. daniel lippman is the white house reporter for politico. he says even though president trump may have signed the bill, he'll be farfrom happy. he said we should fight against hitech, which was in a statement full of typos, and he

said operation warp speed, the plan to develop vaccines, but has proven pretty successful, and so he was kind of kicked, dragging and screaming to sign the bill, being urged by allies like david perdue, the senator from georgia who is up for re—election in about a week, and lindsey graham from south carolina. he says he will send this back to congress, a red lined version. we have any idea what is redlined items or areas will be? he did not specify but i'm sure some of the money for foreign countries that was the larger government spending bill will be on chopping block. —— the chopping block. but it is up the chopping block. but it is up to congress to accept some of those changes from the president. and so this would be more of a symbolic thing that actually being carried out and so actually being carried out and soi actually being carried out and so i think washington is breathing a sigh of relief since they did not want to have

a government shutdown and they wa nt a government shutdown and they want these payments to go out to the millions of americans who are in desperate need of help, businesses are continuing to failand so help, businesses are continuing to fail and so they need this payment protection, pay check protection programme, and so this bill could have been approved months ago but democrats and republicans did not want to back down from their negotiating positions. realistically, how much more influence over this does mr trump have, given that in a matter of weeks, a new president will be sworn in? he doesn't have much influence anymore, republicans are not scared of him or else they might agree to his $2000 payment idea per adult. and so his influence is really waning and a lot of them don't think that he is a man of his word, given that his treasury secretary steven mnuchin said they are ok with a $600 per person and yet, trump was

huffing and puffing about it should be $2000 while democrats we re should be $2000 while democrats were saying why didn't you say that weeks or months ago? why did you just bring that on us at the last minute? daniel lippman from politico. south africa has recorded more than one million coronavirus cases since the first case was recorded in march. it comes days after the south african authorities confirmed that a new faster—spreading variant had been detected. around 26,700 people have died from covid—i9 related complications. mark lobel reports. you got it? you see how short of breath you are, hey? south africa's struggling to contain its battle with coronavirus. the average number of people dying has doubled in a fortnight. hospitals and medical centres are reporting rising admissions, straining resources and healthcare staff.

chuckles. it wasn't that bad? yeah, it wasn't. a million people have now tested positive here. 100,000 new cases were recorded in less than ten days with cases doubling in over two weeks. some hospitals have had to cancel some of their staffs leave. it is getting worse but the fear now is that the people, they are not trying to protect themselves. many people suspect a new coronavirus variant that's more easily transmitted is driving this surge. the variant, called 501.v2, was identified in the country's eastern cape province and is reportedly gaining dominance in the south and south—east. several countries have banned flights from south africa as a result. after one of the world's earliest and strictest lockdowns back in march, including an alcohol ban, tougher measures are now being reconsidered by president cyril ramaphosa.

vaccinations haven't yet reached these shores, although this one, developed in the netherlands, is being tested here. i'm really disappointed to see the world map of access so far and, you know, the whole of the african continent seems to have been left out. but right now, the country is preparing for other measures as it finds itself on the back foot. hopes now dashed that it had skipped the worst of the pandemic. mark lobel, bbc news. people across europe have started to receive the coronavirus vaccine after countries including france, spain and italy began the roll—out of their vaccination programmes. more than 14 million people have been infected and strict lockdown measures are currently in place in nearly all eu member states. damien mcguinness reports now from berlin. the european vaccine roll—out has begun. in berlin, mobile teams are taking the first vaccines

from this distribution centre to those who need it most — the elderly in nursing homes. this airport once provided a lifeline for west berlin at the height of the cold war. it was closed down in november to make way for a larger airport, and now it's been turned into a mass vaccination centre, providing yet again a lifeline for berliners, but this time in the fight against the pandemic. the first person in berlin to get the vaccine this morning was gertrude haase, 101 years old. translation: i told myself that i didn't have to be among the first. i wanted to see what it was like for the others. but a little later, i thought, "come on, i'll do it, too". in italy, where fatalities among healthcare workers have been particularly high, there was relief as doctors and nurses were among the first to get the jab. in denmark, a moment of vaccine humour. "let's hope it works",

says the doctor. "if it doesn't, i'll come back to haunt you", replies the 79—year—old. in some countries, there are worries that not enough people will want the vaccine, so to boost support, some european leaders have also gone first, including the czech prime ministerand, in greece, both the president and the prime minister. translation: i believe that every greek today is smiling underneath their mask. in getting vaccinated first, greece's political and state leaders want to send the message that the vaccine is safe and effective. across europe, elderly people have been isolated, afraid and vulnerable. now, they are the first to be protected. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. here in the uk, the ever—rising numbers of covid infections is putting a severe strain on the national health service. the london ambulance service says it has had its busiest 24—hour period since march.

in scotland, doctors say health services could be overwhelmed if the relaxation of covid restrictions for christmas triggers a surge in cases. but in wales, one health board has had a huge response after appealing for medical students to help out in intensive care wards. here's sangita myska. hospitals and other front line services are under mounting pressure tonight in some parts of the uk — that's the warning from the nhs. the bbc has learned that student paramedics and two other ambulance services outside the capital have been called in to assist after a sharp rise in calls. the london ambulance service says that yesterday, boxing day, was one of its busiest ever, with calls up by more than 50% compared to last year. i never want to say that the nhs is going to be overwhelmed, because we see the nhs being endlessly innovative and ingenious in how it can actually manage to spread an incredibly thin

resource, but i think it's worth remembering that things are incredibly challenging. meanwhile, the welsh government has described the nhs there as "stretched to the limit and working to full capacity". annual illnesses, staff shortages and the rapid spread of the new coronavirus variant yesterday led cardiff and vale university health board to tweet this stark appeal: the art of proning patients — and that is about moving patients when they're in intensive care from their backs on to their stomachs and vice—versa — and this process is quite heavy lifting, it involves five to seven individuals. medical students and others answered the call in large numbers, and the health board later tweeted that while staffing remained challenging, the critical care

unit remains open. in scotland, clinicians are issuing more warnings, this time that the nhs could be overwhelmed. mainland scotland is now in tier 4 restrictions. the new, faster—spreading variant, combined with the temporary easing of restrictions on christmas day could, they say, have created the perfect storm for an nhs that is already overstretched. dozens of syrian refugee families have had to leave a makeshift camp in lebanon after it was burnt to the ground on saturday night. aid officials say the tents were set alight after a dispute between refugees and local residents. at least three people were injured in the blaze. rhal ssan reports. imagine having so little and waking up to this. this makeshift refugee camp for syrians in northern lebanon

was set on fire late on saturday night. at least three people were injured in the blaze which left the entire camp burnt to the ground. more than 300 people live here. they've lost everything now. authorities say the fire broke out after a dispute between refugees and some local men turned violent. translation: the dispute started here. a lebanese man hit a syrian and his son fought back. then the lebanese man called his relatives to help him — that's when they all ended up in the streets and began fighting. lebanon's army said it has arrested six syrian nationals and two local men over the alleged dispute. although tensions are high, some residents nearby offered their homes to the fleeing refugees. translation: it's shameful to burn tents with children inside. if it wasn't for locals

from nearby villages taking them in, they would be sleeping on the streets or in the wreck of the camp. tensions have been rising between locals and refugees fuelled by a deep economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. despite having an estimated population of only 6.8 million, lebanon has almosti million syrian refugees registered with the un. most of them have fled the ongoing civil war in syria. it's unlikely that they will be able to return any time soon. rhal ssan, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a ban on entry by non—resident foreign nationals comes into force in japan in the country's battle against coronavirus. the most ambitious financial

and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we are going to use the money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france, and again it will be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. just good? no, fantastic! that's better! bells toll

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has approved a $2 trillion government spending and coronavirus stimulus package days after objecting to elements of the bill. emily moffett is one of the millions of americans whose unemployment benefits ended on saturday, when president trump resisted signing the relief bill. these payments will now be restored. we spoke to her as the news wasjust coming in. i mean, it's very exciting and i hope that it is true, so a lot of families can get, you know, stimulus and relief and a lot of people still struggling with unemployment don't have to deal with problems in the holidays and new year. what is the situation like for yourself? you were just holding down one job, you were holding down two jobs, but it all changed in march. what happened ? i was a barista and server

living in seattle at the time, and i lost both of myjobs when lockdown is hit. because when everything closes, how can you keep staff? and being part—time at two jobs, i was very quickly cut. so when that happened in march, i started trying to scrape together some sort of plan and unemployment was the first thing that i went to, so. what has been the direct financial implication? how do you struggle to pay bills, pay rent, buy groceries? absolutely. if it wasn't for being married, i have no idea how i would have gotten through this year. without someone else helping me, support, because there have been so many bills that have gone past due, there have been like, moments where i've had to pick between bills and save we need the car insurance more than we need, you know, internet, or, you know, you kind, how to prioritise and pick and choose those things.

when you're doing that, it feels terrible, because five months ago, three months ago, you could pay for everything and you could show up like you felt like you needed to, but then all of a sudden you are choosing what is important. in the last few weeks, you have been watching the news of congress wrangling over this bill and then it being held up at the white house. how did that feel for you, seeing this being stalled, something out of your control? it feels very helpless, because you are not... itjust feels like you want someone to help and someone to care, and to see all of these snags that things hit and see all these roadblocks just happen, almost what feels like for the sake of happening, is so just heartbreaking. we are however many months into this now and we have all struggled so far and we have all made it work for a year, to get this close to having another — a little bit more to get there and how that shutdown was devastating.

emily, i hope things pick up for you in the very near future. a ban on entry by non—resident foreign nationals has come into force in japan. the precautionary measure follows confirmation of the country's first domestically transmitted case of a new, more virulent coronavirus variant. the ban will remain in place until at least the end of january. on thursday, japan closed its borders to travellers coming from the united kingdom, after the new strain was identified there. motoko rich is the tokyo bureau chief for the new york times. japan had a fairly firm, swift response to coronavirus when it first emerged. what is the country doing now? well, as you say, at the beginning, actually, japan was struck by the diamond princess cruise ship which was docked off the coast and had a very big out

breakdown and was blamed for not handling but particularly well, and then kind of righted itself and seems to be having itself and seems to be having it under control. but lately things have started to increase, close to 3000 cases every day and regular double—digit daily death records which although compared to the us and europe is nothing like the outbreaks in those countries, it is still significantly higher than over the spring and summer injapan. so there has definitely been an increase domestically. as you say, with the discovery of the new variant among people returning, coming back from britain, there have been eight identified cases of this new variant and the government has decided to close down the borders to all nonresidents until the end of january. internally, what new measures have authorities put in place to try to keep a lid on the virus? it is interesting, because public health experts are increasingly clamouring and saying, look, there's lots of domestic spread, what are we going to do to try to keep this under control? and the government has been very

resista nt government has been very resistant in some ways because they are very concerned about they are very concerned about the economy, rightly so, but there is also this concern about the rising infection rates, not being completely under control. so the most recent measure is to cancel subsidised travel, domestic travel programme which was put in place in the fall, in which residents and citizens were encouraged to travel on heavily subsidised airline tickets and to hotels, or subsidised by the government, and lots of people took advantage of that and the result —— as a result of the increasing cases they first withdrew big cities like tokyo, osaka and hiroshima from the programme, another have suspended the programme altogether until mid—january, so people are not being offered these steep discounts to travel domestically. they are not prevented from travelling, they arejust prevented from travelling, they are just not encouraged to do so. vaccines are are just not encouraged to do so. vaccines are on are just not encouraged to do so. vaccines are on the way, we are seeing them roll out here in europe. what ijapan's plans for a vaccine rollout? it is a bit slow here. the vaccines

which have been shown to be effective and which have rolled out in places like the us and the uk have yet to be regulatory approved here, reports say that will happen sometime in february, but that means the first tranche of medical workers and people over 65 may not get their vaccines until late february or early march and then of course others will get them after that. thanks very much for being with us. israel has entered its third national lockdown to combat the covid—i9 pandemic. tough restrictions are in place, with fines for those breaking the rules. businesses are concerned about the economic impact that the lockdown will have. rachel stanton reports. shutting up shop until who knows when. businesses have been closing as a new national lockdown comes into force. what was once a bustling area now remains deserted. the coronavirus pandemic has caused

uncertainty for many. people are concerned about what lies ahead. we lost a lot of money, we had to close the shop. turnover is less than 50% of what we used to earn, and now we don't know if we can keep on selling and regular shops because we don't know what will happen, we don't know if we we re happen, we don't know if we were close, open, you take a big risk on money, because you don't know how the government will help the businesses. we hope they will help them. with daily infection rates climbing it with more than 3000 cases per day for the last several days, the rules are strict. travelling more than 1000 metres from your home is forbidden, except in special circumstances. police officers will be deployed to make sure that no—one is breaking the lockdown, and restrictions are said to be in place for at

least two weeks, and could be extended for an additional two weeks if morbidity rates do not decrease significantly. officials in israel are hoping that this is a final national lockdown. it was just last week when prime minister benjamin netanyahu when prime minister benjamin neta nyahu received when prime minister benjamin netanyahu received his first dose on tv. across the country, more than 260,000 people have received the vaccine. we should be lucky that this process has been as fast as it has. and the fear of serious illness should be what people are concerned about, not the vaccine. stopping the virus in its tracks is no easy task, and the long—term impact of the virus remains unclear. but with lockdown in place and vaccines at the ready, it is hoped that the harm caused by the pandemic will eventually subside. rachel sta nton, will eventually subside. rachel stanton, bbc news. the new year is rapidly approaching, with the

coronavirus pandemic continuing to cause misery all around the world. social distancing and other restrictions means normal new year's eve celebrations will have to be curtailed. but in new york, they insist the show will go on — as much as possible. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. the more things change, the more they stay the same. workers finishing preparations to the giant crystal ball that will see out the old and see in the new. it weighs six tonnes, has a diameter of more than 3.5 metres, and is clad in thousands of waterford crystal triangles. a very big ball for a very big night. this year's new year's eve is the most anticipated since the millennium, and the tradition remains the same. this beautiful waterford crystal ball will drop at midnight, the entire world will count down with us here in new york, as we celebrate the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. newsreel: millions down broadway, and the great white way is swinging it!

they've been celebrating the new year at times square for more than a century. but don't expect scenes like this as 2020 draws to a close. covid—19 and all it entails has put something of a dampener on proceedings. so, this year, thanks to our pandemic, it's a live broadcast closed to the public, but you can watch, you can watch online at timessquareball. net, you can watch on tv, you can watch online, you can watch on the virtual new year's eve app. there's very many ways to celebrate with us here at times square. they're calling the design of this year's crystal ball "the gift of happiness." the people of new york, and notjust new york, hoping that will turn out to be an omen. tim allman, bbc news. a reminder of our top story. president trump has approved a $2 trillion government spending and coronavirus stimulus package days after objecting to elements of the bell. the new law will not only support

people and businesses threatened by the pandemic, it will also ensure the government remains open. that's it for me for now. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @richpreston. the weather is taking on a decidedly wintry complexion as we head through the final days of 2020. the satellite picture shows this big stripe of cloud that brought very wet and windy weather through the early parts of sunday courtesy of storm bella, but now we've got these speckled clouds working in from the north, some shower clouds, those showers turning wintry as well with some really cold air digging its way down. and we stick with this northerly air flow right through the coming week. so, yes, it will be cold by day and by night. there will be a mixture of rain, sleet and snow at times, amidst all of that, some spells of sunshine. certainly a very chilly start to monday morning with temperatures widely below freezing, several degrees below freezing in places. that could well give rise to some icy stretches, and also notice this area of rain, sleet and snow across parts of wales, the midlands, down into southern england. this is going to be moving very slowly through the day, he could give some snow certainly over high ground,

but even to low levels don't be surprised if you get a brief covering of snow. elsewhere, some wintry showers continuing in eastern coastal counties. northern ireland, western scotland keeping a lot of cloud. a mix of rain, sleet and snow here. it will be windy in the west, not as windy further east, but even if you get sunshine through the day it will feel chilly. top temperatures between 2—7 degrees. now, as we had through monday night western areas particularly will see further cloud and epics of rain. some sleet and snow. some wintry showers for eastern coasts as well. elsewhere, we keep some clear spells, again a touch of frost and some icy stretches with temperatures for many dipping well below freezing. so as we go on into tuesday, low pressure will be sitting just to the east of the british isles. high pressure a long way out to the west, but that will be driving a feed of northerly winds once again. another fairly windy day across the west, where we will see showers of rain, sleet and snow. some wintry showers for northern and eastern coasts. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather and some spells of sunshine to come with those temperatures

still struggling below average for the time of year. three, four, five, six celsius in most places. and we stick with that very cold weather throughout the rest of the week. a lot of dry weather around, but some showers, some of which will still be wintry.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: president trump has belatedly signed a coronavirus relief and government spending bill into law. republican and democratic party lawmakers had been pleading with him to sign it before the deadline of midnight on monday. millions of americans temporarily lost unemployment benefits and emergency top—up payments because of the delay. south africa has registered more than a million cases of covid—19, just a few days after the south african authorities confirmed a new faster spreading coronavirus variant had been detected. some hospitals and medical centres have reported a severe rise in admissions, placing a heavy strain on resources. european leaders have hailed the start of coronavirus vaccinations across the eu as a turning point in the fight against the pandemic. the first in line to receive the vaccine are the elderly and health workers, and the eu aims to vaccinate just over 6 million people by the end of the year. the fbi says that dna recovered

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