welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: the us president—electjoe biden criticises his predecessor's vaccine rollout and pledges 100 millio jabs in his first one hundred days. this is going to take more time than anybody would like and more than the promises from the trump administration have suggested. anti and pro—abortion protests in argentina before the senate holds an historic and controversial vote. we've a special report from iraq, and the british army interpreters facing death threats from pro—iranian militia. takes the town by storm. and tributes to one of the biggest names in fashion — pierre cardin — who's died aged 98.

hello. the us president—elect has been giving more detail on his plans to combat the coronavirus pandemic under his presidency. joe biden did congratulate president trump for finally signing the covid relief stimulus package, but criticised him for what he described as a slow roll—out of the vaccination programme. mr biden is promising to invoke the defence production act to boost vaccine supply. introduce a mask mandate for federal buildings and areas under federal jurisdiction, such as planes. and he said he would fight for congressional funding for schools to improve covid safety and allow them to reopen. the president—elect also once again pledged to deliver 100 million shots in his first one hundred days in office. the trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines

is falling behind, far behind. we are grateful to the companies, the doctors, the scientists, the researchers, the clinical trial participants and 0peration warp speed for developing the vaccines quickly. but as i long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should. a few weeks ago, the trump administration suggested that 20 million americans could be vaccinated by the end of december. with only a few days left in december, we have only vaccinated a few million so far and the pace of vaccination program is moving now, if it continues moving as it is now, is going to take years if not months to vaccinate the american people. i have directed my team to prepare a much more aggressive effort with more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track. we will find ways to boost the pace of vaccinations, but as doctor fauci and others have stated over the past few days,

this will take more time than anybody would like and more time than the promises from the trump administration have suggested. this is going to be the greatest operational challenge we have ever faced as a nation. the us has confirmed its first case of the new more infectious variant of coronavirus that was first discovered in the uk. a man in his 20s from colorado, who had not made any recent overseas trips is said to be self—isolating. drjeremy faust is a practising emergency room doctor at boston's brigham and women's hospital, and editor of ‘brief 19', a daily review of the latest covid research and policy developments. good to talk to you and thank you for your time full stop we know you have firsthand

experience of the er and you are pulling together a daily review. what did you feel about the president—elect was mike plans? i thought that the message was a good balance of the reality that we find ourselves in. on the one hand, difficult days ahead and it is sobering to hear that from the next leader of this country. but it is also something that we need to hear. too often we have heard the message that this will go away or it is not to be feared and he he needs to strike the right note of reality as we enter the west phase and at the same time we now have vaccines which can be the real thing to get us out of the real thing to get us out of the crisis. i thought he found that balance. some people are wondering if he was sober enough up the numbers are clearly bad but they are likely to get really bad. 0n clearly bad but they are likely to get really bad. on that mask mandate, do you think you went far enough or if he went further would he be stuck in legal battles? he has to tread the middle very carefully. he

has jurisdiction the middle very carefully. he hasjurisdiction over the middle very carefully. he has jurisdiction over some areas and clout to be carefully spent. living by example and doing what he can legally is prudent. to be fair to the trump administration they have already used the defence production act. what more could mr biden do with it? the trump administration has used but not to the fullest extent by any means, both in terms of the amount of personal protective equipment and drug shortages that have cropped up and we could have better testing online. it has been used for kicking and screaming. so to hear the president—elect say that that is one of the tools that that is one of the tools that he has at his disposal was actually newsworthy to me, to say that this is not something that they are willing to do but one thing they are looking forward to doing. it is literally a difference in how you look at whether or not you should wield the powers of the office. this perhaps we think mr biden is not going far enough. he suggested that a lockdown is off the table.

enough. he suggested that a lockdown is off the tablelj would not take anything off the table because when you have a situation where you have overflowing hospitals, everything must stop so we don't lose lives. i understand that the future president has to be political here and not say things he think will cost him dearly but in this crisis, nothing is off the table because we know that this thing can change on a dime. we have a new variant now and we don't know what that means in the terms of number of infections so while i understand i would also say that the worst case scenario is lockdowns but we have seen bad scenarios so far. either other areas where you say edit —— medics need to be more honest, for instance around the vaccine. i know you had the vaccine and you had bad side effect. i had bothersome side effect. i had bothersome side effect. i had bothersome side effect and most of my collea g u es side effect and most of my colleagues had none so i was looking forward to the moment and was thinking that the 15% number of people who got a fever, maybe that was overblown

but i was one of those fever that make who got a fever. i didn't feel well for 36 hours and then i bounced backjust fine andi and then i bounced backjust fine and i am looking forward to the next dose. but it is important to tell people that this should be expected. good cause that level of discomfort and inconvenience. i get vaccinated next month, my second dose and i know that as pa rt second dose and i know that as part of my planning, that i need to clear my schedule, so to speak. at the same time, be grateful that those body aches and the temporary fever which is responsive to fever reducing drugs, that will be the very beginning of coronavirus. if i we re beginning of coronavirus. if i were to have the actual virus as opposed to the vaccine then i could expect up to months of that or oxygen or need for a ventilator or death or disability. so i am very willing to tell people that would hit you hard for a little while and that is part of the balance that we have to think about but it is not close. hgppy about but it is not close. happy to say that i survived that with flying colours and i

am waiting happily for my next dose. thank you for your time, insights and honesty. the number of infections in the united kingdom reported in 2a hours has risen steeply to another record. 0ne senior medical officer has expressed ‘extreme concern‘ at the situation. official data puts the figure at 53,135 new coronavirus cases in the latest 24—hour period. and a14 deaths were reported. this report from our health correspondent catherine burns includes flash photography. we all wanted to have a few days off over christmas but instead have been asked to come back to work. this time, it's a wave. this time, we've seen a massive increase. if we continue with the current rate of admissions, we are very, very close to becoming overwhelmed. so it is affecting anyone and everyone. people are just beginning to be exhausted, it's been such a long year. doctors and nurses from the nhs

front line telling us what it‘s like to deal with a pandemic that, after months and months of hard work, is getting worse. queens hospital in romford today — 20 ambulances waiting outside, some on double yellow lines because the parking bays are all full. at one stage, you can see staff bringing hot drinks out to patients waiting in the ambulances. the hospital says they were being cared for safely but that it‘s under considerable pressure and is asking staff to take extra shifts. it‘s a similar picture across london and the south—east of england. i‘d say this is the most challenging extended period that i‘ve ever seen, and i‘d like to just take the opportunity to pay tribute to the staff who have worked phenomenally hard and well. more than 21,000 people are being treated in hospital for covid across the uk. in wales, they‘re dealing with their highest level of patients now. the patients coming to itu now are a degree sicker,

a lot of them are desperately unwell, and we‘ve seen a real reflection of that in the amount of patients that have died. in northern ireland, hospitals say they are under pressure but coping. and in scotland, people are being asked to stay at home over new year as cases hit a record high. this new surge in cases couldn‘t come at a worse time of year for the nhs. winter always brings extra pressures, with more respiratory illnesses as well as slips, trips and falls in icy weather. this year, on top of that and the pandemic, social distancing means hospitals need to keep patients further apart, and the nhs in england is operating with around 10% fewer beds than usual. in england, 2a million people are already living under tier four restrictions, the highest level. the government is about to decide if that‘s enough, and this warning from a scientific adviser — act now to avoid catastrophe in the new year.

in my view, if we don‘t introduce tougher restrictions in areas in the north and areas that are not currently in tier 4, they will rise to very high levels of disease and hospitalisations, similar to those seen in london. the nhs chief executive‘s annual thank—you message to staff acknowledges that this year has been the toughest that most can remember, but there‘s hope, too. by late spring, we think that with vaccine supply continuing to come on stream, we will have been able to offer all vulnerable people across this country this covid vaccination. three weeks ago, margaret keenan became the first person to have a covid vaccine outside of clinical trials. today, she‘s had her second booster dose. a real piece of good news. but now millions more need to be vaccinated, too. catherine burns, bbc news. senators in argentina are debating a bill which would

legalise abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy. the bill has already been approved by the chamber of deputies — but that debate lasted some 20 hours — and the senate discussion is expected to be even more heated. tanya dendrinos has more. as the debate began in argentina‘s polarised senate, the scenes outside werejust as divided. pro—choice activists chanting and hopeful. translation: we are going to be on the streets so that today it becomes law, and if approved, it is implemented in each and every one of the provinces so that no more women die from secret abortions. according to the government, each year close to 40,000 women require hospital treatment as a result of a dangerous abortion procedure carried out in secret. but this remains a deeply religious country and many still adamantly opposed the idea.

translation: the solution is there, the solution is always on the side of life. there are plenty of wonderful institutions that collaborate, that are willing to help. the problem is this bill prohibits help and offers abortion as the only solution. this isn‘t a new debate in argentina. the last attempt to pass abortion laws was defeated in 2018. this bill proposed by president alberto fernandez would permit abortions to be carried out up to the 14th week of pregnancy. they are currently only permitted in cases of rape or when the mother‘s health is at risk. i think the most important change since 2018 which was the last time we voted for this and when we lost in the senate, is that this time it was the government who started of the project. it is not the same, the last government allowed the project

to get to the senate. this government drafted the project itself. the president works towards the bill. if it passes, the bill would be groundbreaking for latin america — a region with one of the strictest abortion laws in the world. tanya dendrinos bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we look back on the life of the french designer who helped revolutionise high street fashion across the world. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we‘re going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we‘ll be in france, and again, it‘ll 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: the us president—electjoe biden criticises the vaccine rollout and pledges 100 millionjabs in his first 100 days. anti and pro—abortion protests in argentina, before the senate holds an historic and controversial vote later.

in china, a court in shenzhen is due to hand down sentences to 10 hong kong pro—democracy activists who were caught while trying to escape to taiwan by boat in august last year. in the last hour we‘re hearing reports that court has ruled that two of the 12 who were underage will be sent back to hong kong. the remaining ten are awaiting verdicts following a trial that‘s attracted international condemnation for the way it‘s mostly been held in secret. let‘s cross to washington and speak to sixtus ‘baggio‘ leung, who‘s a former hong kong legislator and pro—independence activist but who has now fled the city to the us. good to talk to you, thanks for your time. what do you make of this? i think this is not a fair trial no matter how we perceive this is wec that the court was heavily guarded by barricades and police. no—one was able to witness the trial process. actually the defendant and family members gathered on

december 28, but without any opportunity to witness the trial process. what they could do isjust wait, desperately, and the lawyer hired by the family was barred from seeing the trial, and being warned not to enter the court. the state opponent lawyer was disappointed on that day of sentencing, and other countries we re sentencing, and other countries were banned from entering the court as well with an excuse with the court was full, which was definitely not the case so regardless of the outcome, the chinese communist party has demonstrated that they are holding a secret trial for the 12 hong kong is. many people will see this as part of the general chilling effect of the new national security law. is another case that in effect if trial in hong kong you are really being tried by the chinese state now, and of

course chinese courts hardly ever acquitted, the presumption of guilt is is pretty much absolute. yeah the hong kong situation is worsening, but i wa nt to situation is worsening, but i want to make it really clear, the treaty applies to all people, all hong kong is and people, all hong kong is and people outside of hong kong, they are subject to prosecution if there chinese operative suspect them of violating the national security law, so all people are at risk of being extradited to mainland china according to the article 35 of the national security law. given everything you have outlined, what would you say is the future for democracy in hong kong, if there is any future for democracy in hong kong? is a really tough, difficult war between hong kong

is and the dictatorship, but it is and the dictatorship, but it is not just about is and the dictatorship, but it is notjust about hong kong versus china, it is also the us and britain against china. this is the whole free world versus the tyranny that we are facing right now, so we urge the world to prevent bad things from happening, including implementing some programmes and schemes, and to add sanctions against the chinese communist party, or whatever they need to slow down the pressure. sixtus 'baggio' leung, thank you for talking to us. a group of interpreters who worked with the british army in iraq say their lives have become unbearable since the uk unit they worked for left the country in july. they say they‘re facing death threats from powerful militia which back iran, as nafiseh kohnavard reports from iraq.

over the past six years, the british army has trained more than 100,000 soldiers in iraq, as part of its mission to defeat so—called islamic state. such work is impossible without iraqi interpreters. but now eight of them live in fear. at any time, someone would knock on the door of my house and fire five bullets — one bullet for me, one bullet for my wife and three bullets for my three daughters. the security situation collapsed after the killing of top iranian general qasem soleimani. he was assassinated in a us drone attack in baghdad almost a year ago, angering pro—iran paramilitaries. they released a statement calling on all iraqis working with coalition forces to co—operate with them. there was a hidden message. "if you don't co—operate with us, we will consider you an enemy. "

as coronavirus hit iraq, the country went into lockdown. the coalition gave a list of the interpreters‘ names and id numbers to the iraqi security forces. this was supposed to help them pass through government checkpoints. but some armed groups linked to iran are also part of the iraqi security forces. the groups, which had already threatened the interpreters, now knew their names. i raised their case with the coalition. we protect their personal data, we do not pass that to checkpoints, we do not pass that to other organisations, including the iraqi security forces or government services. but the document i have seen is coming from the us embassy. it looks genuine, i checked. then i would have to look into that further. in a statement, the british

ministry of defence said it takes any breach of personal security extremely seriously and it is investigating the allegations. western troops, including the british army, then began leaving iraq. the interpreters were left, unemployed and unprotected. the last time the british left iraq in 2009, at least a0 interpreters were killed by militia groups. ahmed and ali say they don‘t want their names added to that list. nafiseh kohnavard, bbc news, iraq. rounding up some other menus for you. the boeing 37 has that lifted off after being grounded for two years. boeing has been

trying to reassure people about the plant‘s safety since the two fatal crashes in five months. russian state investigators have brought new charges against the opposition leader. the claim that he is convalescing in germany since he was poisoned, fraudulently spent public relations on his personal needs. he describes the case is a fabrication and hysterics from president putin. russia issued an ultimatum on monday to return to russia immediately face imprisonment. tributes have been paid to the french fashion designer, pierre cardin, who‘s died at the age of 98. he helped revolutionise fashion in the 1950s and 60s by bringing it to the masses, producing ready—to—wear collections and putting his name on everything from underwear to pens. 0ur correspondent daniela relph looks back at his life. newsreel: another leader of the fashion world in paris, pierre cardin, takes the town by storm and reveals to breathlessly excited womanhood what they simply must be wearing by easter.

pierre cardin, the fashion world‘s supreme innovator. for decades, his designs ripped up convention and shocked the establishment. his thirst for the new and surprising was never satisfied. born in 1922, he left school at 1a to train in making cloth. a fortune teller told him he‘d be famous. he asked if she knew anyone who worked in fashion. she did. he moved to paris, clutching an address. he designed costumes forjean cocteau‘s film beauty and the beast in 19116 and was soon unnerving the fashion industry itself. his 1950‘s bubble dress took liberties with the female silhouette. he moved young men out of boxyjackets, creating a new look for the 1960s. the beatles, in their collarless cardin suits, said he was one step ahead of tomorrow. he irritated his fellow high—fashion designers, launching ready—to—wear collections

for the middle classes. and indulged in futuristic fantasies, inspired by the space age. some of it, impractical to wear. this was his proposed uniform for nurses. he was a savvy businessman, showing this 1970s collection in china, where fashion was set by chairman mao. but he spotted potential. i expect in the future, not for tomorrow but i‘m sure in10 years, china will become the most important country in the world. cardin established licensing agreements, putting his name on everything, from glasses to fancy carpets. it changed the way the industry worked. he bought a castle once owned by the marquis de sade, putting on shows there into his tenth decade. still experimenting, still innovating. pierre cardin, capturing the future before it exists.

fashion designer pierre cardin, who‘s died at the age of 98. that‘s it for now, thank you so much for watching. hello. winter is finally turning white for some of us. not all of us going to see the snow over the next few days. the potential is still there for a bit more to come our way, though. it‘s certainly staying cold enough, icy conditions where we‘re seeing some showers of rain, sleet, hail, yes, some snow, notjust on hills but at times to lower levels, with that risk of disruption. there are coming our way some fairly weak weather disturbances, but they‘re within a flow ofaircoming down from the north, which means the moisture out of these disturbances will be falling as rain but also sleet and snow in places. and we‘ll have had a few wintry showers overnight, into first thing in the morning. there‘s a sharp frost out there, maybe —9 in a few spots in scotland, icy conditions around and still some

of these showers falling as snow, maybe notjust on hills, into the north, northwest of scotland, northern ireland. a few of these wintry showers running down towards north wales, north—west england, the northwest midlands, and then we see an area of rain but turning to sleet and snow potentially for south wales, more especially running eastwards across parts of southern england during wednesday. some uncertainty about how far north it‘ll get, how much sleet and snow there will be within this. it‘ll be a cold day, yes, but much of the eastern side of the uk will stay dry and get to see a bit of sunshine. what rain, sleet and snow there is will continue to pull across parts of southern england overnight and into thursday morning before clearing. as thursday begins, we‘re getting some of these snow showers pushing in towards eastern parts of scotland, and it‘s those that are going to move further south during thursday, again giving the potential for some snow and ice in places, and notjust on hills, and the chance of some disruption as a result. so, this system will take its rain, sleet and snow showers out of scotland and into parts of england and wales as we go through thursday.

the tendency for a lot of that to turn back to rain if you are seeing some snow away from hills during thursday, and where you don‘t get to see any rain, sleet and snow, quite a bit of cloud, maybe a few sunny spells, but it‘ll be cold. that weather system still around overnight and into friday, new year‘s day, the start of 2021. it will tend to die out during friday but still with a good deal of cloud, especially through england and wales, and patchy rain, sleet and hill snow out of that. and little less cold on friday, but temperatures staying below average well into the start of 2021.

this is bbc news. the headlines: joe biden has criticised vaccine distribution under the trump administration. the president—elect claimed that at the present pace it would take years, not months, to vaccinate the entire american population. he again pledged to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. large crowds of campaigners for and against abortion have gathered outside the argentine congress in the capital, buenos aires, as the senate debates a bill to legalise terminations. it would allow voluntary abortions up to the fourteenth week and has already been approved by the lower house. interpreters who worked with the british army in iraq are saying their lives have become unbearable since their unit left the country to return to the uk injuly. they‘re receiving death threats from pro—iranian militia. more than 100,000 iraqi soldiers received british training in the past six years.