this is bbc news. a very warm welcome to our viewers in the uk, on pbs in america, and around the world. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the us president—electjoe biden criticises his predecessor's vaccine rollout and pledges 100 million jabs in his first 100 days. this will take more time than anybody would like and more time than the promises from the trump administration have suggested. a court in china jails ten hong kong pro—democracy activists for up to three years. they fled the region by boat. anti and pro—abortion protests in argentina, before the senate holds an historic — and controversial — vote. newsreel: another leader of the fashion world in paris,

pierre cardin, takes the world by storm and reveals... 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 rollout of the vaccination programme. mr biden is promising to invoke the defense 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 again pledged to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. the trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind. we're grateful to the companies, the doctors, the scientists, the researchers, the clinical trial participants and operation 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 the 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 president—elect, of course. earlier, i spoke to boston emergency room doctor, jeremy faust, who edits the daily covid research and policy review, brief 19. i asked him his thought on mr biden‘s proposals. i thought that the message was a good balance of the reality that we find ourselves in. 0n the one hand, very difficult days ahead and it's 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 something to be feared, and he needs to strike the right note of reality as we enter the worst phase, and at the same time, we now have vaccines which can 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. the numbers are clearly bad but they are likely to get really bad. on that mask mandate, do you think he went far enough, or if he went further would he be stuck in legal battles? yeah, he has to thread the needle very carefully. he hasjurisdiction 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 defense production act. what more could mr biden do with it? well, the trump administration has used it, but not to its fullest extent by any means,

both in terms of the amount of personal protective equipment, for example, and drug shortages that have cropped up and we could have better testing on line. it has been used kicking and screaming. so to hear the president—elect say 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's literally a difference in how you look at whether or not you should wield the powers of the office. are there other areas where you think mr biden is not going far enough? he suggested that a lockdown is off the table. i would not take anything off the table because when you have a situation where you have overflowing hospitals, everything must be used 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 and so while i understand, i would also say that the worst case scenario is lockdowns. but we have seen bad scenarios so far. are there other areas where you say medics need to be more honest, for instance around the vaccine. i know you had the vaccine and you had bad side effects? i had bothersome side effects 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 who got a fever. i didn't feel well for the next day or 36 hours and then i bounced back just fine, and i am looking forward to the next dose. but it is important to tell people that this should be expected. that it could cause that level of discomfort and inconvenience.

so when i get vaccinated next month, that's my 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 bodyaches and the temporary fever which is responsive to fever—reducing drugs, and that's fine, that will be the very beginning of coronavirus. if i were to have the actual virus as opposed to the vaccine then i could expect up to days, week, or months of that 01’ oxygen or need for a ventilator or death or disability. so i am very willing to tell people that it could 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. happy to say that i survived that with flying colours and i am waiting happily for my next dose. doctorjeremy faust there. the vice—president—elect has received her vaccination for covid—19 — on live tv. kamala harris and her husband doug emhoff received the vaccine not long after high—profile figures such as mr biden himself and dr antony fauci — all televised in an effort to boost public confidence. the us has confirmed

its first case of the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus first discovered in the uk. a man in his 20s from colorado, who had not made any recent overseas trips is now said to be self—isolating. australian authorities are threatening to deport british tourists who flout covid rules. hundreds were seen partying at bronte beach, in sydney on christmas day. videos online suggest many in the crowd were from the uk. local health officials have called it "absolutely appalling" behaviour. some breaking news from china, where a court in shenzhen has sentenced ten hong kong activists to between ten months and three years in jail. they were caught trying to flee for taiwan. they were picked up in august by chinese authorities. the trial has attracted widespread international condemnation for the way it's mostly been held in secret. i spoke to him in the past hour. let's return to washington

and speak to sixtus ‘baggio‘ leung, a pro—hong kong independence activist who's now fled the city for the us. what do you make of the case and the sentencing?” what do you make of the case and the sentencing? i think the most important point that we all need to know is this is not all need to know is this is not afair all need to know is this is not a fair trial. china plasma communist party wouldn't dare to have an open court. if you are able to witness the trial, including the family, the lawyers that were hired by the families, and the state appointed lawyers disappeared, even though the councils are different —— from different countries... how could we believe this is a fair trial? i think the chinese communist party established that they are holding a secret trial for the trial of hong kongers, and that is not a fair one. there has been a lot of criticism of the generally chilling effect of the national security law. in this case, they seem to be charged with illegal border

crossing, what does that say to you? i think it is clear the hong kong situation is worsening. the law applies to all people including hong kongers and people outside hong kong, which simply means anywhere in the world, if hong kong or china's authorities suspect them of breaking the law, having them extradited to mainland china. according to article 38.5 of the so—called national security law. and the two youngest, we are told, not being charged, they are being sent back. how do you react to that? of course the two youngest are the lucky ones who can get back to hong kong right 110w. can get back to hong kong right now. but i think the case is

that the ten are not facing a fair trial. and china's legal system is not trustworthy by us. system is not trustworthy by us. and we can see that the idea for the trial of the youth 01’ idea for the trial of the youth or the idea that they are facing fair treatment... or the idea that they are facing fair treatment. .. we are seeing some photos, it seems they may go into a live press conference. there has been so little access to the proceedings here. you think there is much the rest of the world can do about the situation in hong kong, or is china so powerful now it can't be touched? i would like to ta ke be touched? i would like to take this opportunity to again call for attention for those hong kongers who have been out

in incommunicado detention for over a hundred days, and to the experience of political prisoners in china. hong kong will only be safe with continued awareness from the international community. we can only stop tyranny, doing bad things, only through proper action by the courts. we urge the free world to defend against ccp repression from happening, including implementing adopting financial sanctioning or whatever works to slow down ccp repression. good to speak to you. another story developing.

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, and 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. —— the heavenly —— vehemently oppose 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 the project. it is not the same, the last government allowed the project to get to the senate. this government drafted the project itself. 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 world news. the latest headlines: the us president—electjoe biden criticises the vaccine rollout and pledges one hundred millionjabs in his first one hundred days. anti and pro—abortion protests in argentina, before the senate holds an historic and controversial vote later. at least seven people have been killed and 20 others injured

following an earthquake in croatia. the tremor, with a magnitude of 6.4 destroyed many buildings in the central town of petrinja. the effects were felt in the capital zagreb, where there were power cuts — and more than 100 miles away in neighbouring slovenia. 0ur correspondent keith doyle reports. a man is rescued from a crushed car. he is reunited with his child, who had already been pulled free. it was a little after midday when the 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit, the strongest to hit croatia in decades. the town of petrinja took the full force. half of its buildings have been destroyed, according to the mayor, who was talking to reporters when the quake struck.

a 12—year—old girl died. these women were able to walk away from the collapsed town hall. others were moved to safety however they could be. rescuers from all across croatia searched amongst the rubble for survivors. this man said, "i don't have anything left. " everything crumbled." in the nearby city of sisak, the mayor was holding a news conference when the tremors started. the main hospital here was badly damaged. it was also felt hundreds of miles away in the slovenian parliament building. the town of petrinja was almost destroyed during the brutal civil war in the 1990s. today's outbreak has brought devastation once again. keith doyle, bbc news. 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 40 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. 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 14 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 1946 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 boxy jackets, 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 in 10 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. the duke and duchess of sussex have launched their new spotify podcast series by paying tribute to healthcare and frontline workers for their sacrifices in 2020. harry and meghan's star studded podcast debut included chats with eltonjohn, james corden and tennis star naomi 0saka, as they remembered those who have lived through "uncertainty and unthinkable loss" during the coronavirus pandemic. but the limelight was stolen by a very special guest, harry and meghan's son archie, whojoined mum and dad to utter his first words in public. take a listen. harry: after me, ready? happy. archie: happy. meghan: new. harry: new.

archie: new. year. harry giggles meghan: yay! archie giggles all giggle and finally, fowl news for the residents of albany in california. a group of nearly a dozen wild turkeys are roaming the streets and frequently blocking traffic showing little fear for cars or concern for their own safety. the turkeys have also been venturing into people's gardens, flying onto roofs and roosting in trees. the turkeys have become unofficial city mascots, with photos of a flock featured on the home page of the city's website. a chinese court has jailed ten hong kong pro—democracy activist trying to escape taiwan by both last year. two others who are under age will be sent back to hong kong. the

trial has gained international condemnation. that's it for now, thanks 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, but that frosty sharp frost at times overnight, 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 show 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. a chinese court has jailed 10 hong kong pro—democracy activists who were trying to escape to taiwan by boat last year. two others — who were underage — will be sent back to hong kong. the trial attracted international condemnation for the way it's mostly been held in secret. now on bbc news — it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.