will welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughanjones. our top stories: the us president—electjoe biden outlines a $1.9 trillion spending package to combat the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the economy. our rescue and recovery plan is a path forward with both seriousness of purpose and a clear plan with transparency and accountability. concern about brazil's new coronavirus variant prompts the uk to impose a ban on travellers arriving from south america and portugal. after repeated delays, a world health organization delegation arrives in the chinese city of wuhan to look into the origins of the coronavirus. and from heatwaves to wildfires, scientists from around the world agree the last decade

was the warmest on record. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the us president—electjoe biden has set out his plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and revive the country's economy with a huge stimulus package. in a speech in delaware, he promised a mass vaccination programme, and an extension of unemployment benefits to millions of americans. it's a spending package totalling $1.9 trillion. mr biden said the us cannot afford inaction — and the country needs a recovery plan that doesn't leave anyone behind. we not only have an economic imperative to act now, i believe we have

a moral obligation. in this pandemic, in america, we cannot let people go hungry. we cannot let people be evicted. we cannot watch nurses and educators lose theirjobs when we need them. we must act now and act decisively. my fellow americans, the decisions we make in the next few weeks and months will determine whether we thrive in a way that benefits all americans or whether we stay stuck in a place where those at the top do great and economic growth for almost everyone else is just a spectator sport and where american prospects dim, not brighten. these investments will determine whether we reassert american leadership and outcompete our competitors in the global economy. we are better equipped to do this than

any nation in the world. our north america correspondent, david willis, has more on the stimulus package announced by the us president—elect. joe biden in a remarkable speech spoke about the suffering of millions of americans. he said his stimulus plan could lead to 18 million well paying jobs and he said the health of the nation was at stake. and this is a country with more cases, more deaths from the coronavirus than any other in the world and there is no question it is hurting very badly the unemployment figures and figures recently bear that out. this $1.9 trillion stimulus plan would a sickly —— basically resuscitate the ailing american economy and ramp up coronavirus testing and vaccination. the measures include increasing stimulus payments to $2000 from the current $600, extending unemployment benefits

and increasing support for small business and he has also pledged more than $400 billion to tackling the coronavirus via a national vaccination programme, expanded testing and helping schools to reopen safely. mr biden was heavily critical of the trump administration's handling of the coronavirus and said its vaccination programme had been a dismalfailure. let's carry on with that theme there of donald trump. you watched a lot of his speeches around coronavirus over the past year. what do you make of the differences here not only in tone and style but in the substance? it is clear that the biden administration, the incoming administration is very serious about wanting to tackle the coronavirus problem which is huge here, as i mentioned. they have been in discussion with state governors, with local officials and there is a view, really, that the trump

administration has been somewhat asleep at the wheel as far as this is concerned. mr trump expressed a lot of interest and was quite vocal about the coronavirus at one point but then stopped attending the daily briefings and they more or less fizzled out leaving it all to the vice president, mike pence. joe biden wants to give the whole thing a shot in the arm, pardon the pun, and that means a more concerted effort to test people here, to vaccinate them and to basically get the country out of a considerable economic crisis that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. meanwhile the current us vice president has said he will ensure a safe inauguration of the new administration next week, as security is ramped up across the nation. mike pence�*s remarks followed a briefing

with the fbi director. president trump has issued an emergency declaration forwashington, running from monday until the ceremony on january 20th. mr pence says they will ensure a smooth transition of power. our aim here, that the american people can be confident and that we will ensure that we have a safe inauguration, that president—electjoe biden and vice president—elect kamala harris are sworn in as the new president and vice president of the united states in a manner consistent with our history and tradition and in a way that gives honour to the american people and to the united states. let's speak to janet napoletano, former secretary of homeland security in president 0bama's administration, at the university of california, in berkeley, from where shejoins me now. thank you for coming on the programme. there is always heightened security and extra measures around any inauguration but how different

is the one this year? presidential inauguration is our what are called national special security events. there is always heightened security but due to the events of last week, i think we have heightened security on steroids. a very large national guard presents, the access to the capital mall has been shut down. there is an early declaration of emergency and i am sure behind—the—scenes law enforcement is monitoring and surveilling the traffic on social media and on some of these bespoke social media site. �* ., ., .,~ these bespoke social media site. ., ., site. and what do you make of the fact that _ site. and what do you make of the fact that it _ site. and what do you make of the fact that it is _ site. and what do you make of the fact that it is the _ site. and what do you make of the fact that it is the vice - the fact that it is the vice president mike pence taking the lead here? the president mike pence taking the lead here? . , lead here? the vice president took the lead _ lead here? the vice president took the lead last _ lead here? the vice president took the lead last week - lead here? the vice president took the lead last week when | took the lead last week when the insurgents attack the capital. the president had incited the insurgents so it

was the vice president who called out the national guard last week and it is the vice president who will attend the inaugural. president trump has said that he will be nowhere to be seen and we assume he is going back to florida. so i think, hearing from the vice president in this circumstance is to be expected.— president in this circumstance is to be expected. what would be the kind — is to be expected. what would be the kind of— is to be expected. what would be the kind of information - is to be expected. what would be the kind of information and intelligence that you would be looking at now, given what happened in the capital last week? i happened in the capital last week? ., , ,, week? i would be paying special attention to _ week? i would be paying special attention to social— week? i would be paying special attention to social media - attention to social media traffic. i would be paying attention to air travel into the capitol region. paying attention to hotel reservations and who was coming in. air b&b

has cancelled their open in next week and the in the region but i would pay attention to who is coming and staying in hotels. and i would make sure that we had a good plan in place for the day preceding the inaugural, the day of the inaugural, the day of the inaugural and the day after, a plan a, b and plan c.- plan a, b and plan c. fingers crossed that _ plan a, b and plan c. fingers crossed that all _ plan a, b and plan c. fingers crossed that all of _ plan a, b and plan c. fingers crossed that all of those - plan a, b and plan c. fingers| crossed that all of those plans will lead to a peaceful transfer of power, that is what everyone around the world will be hoping for. thank you for talking us through that. we do appreciate that. the emergence of a new coronavirus variant in brazil has led britain to ban all arrivals from south america from friday. travel from portugal and cape verde is also being banned because of their close links with brazil. the country has the second highest death toll from the virus in the world, after the united states, but it's not in lockdown. brazil's health minister has

warned hospitals are close to collapse in one of the main cities, manaus. katy watson reports. manaus, say experts, is a city on the point of collapse. these images were filmed by members of the public and doctors, and given to us by the doctors union. evidence, they say, of the struggles manaus is going through. hospitals with patients lying next to a body bag. 0thers lying on the floor, waiting for treatment. a curfew has now been declared across the state and there are reports that oxygen is also running out. at the same time, scientists are working around the clock to understand the new variant. some of those mutations in the spike protein are quite similar to those found in uk and also in africa. we do not believe these variants came from england or uk, and in africa. it seems that this variant is evolving separately but showing the same mutations.

tests will take time to understand the new variant, but experts say that vaccines can always be altered to respond to changes in the virus. but it's a virus that seems to have been forgotten here — its peak summer, the beaches are packed and people are dropping their guard. "everyone's relaxed. "nobody cares about it any more," this woman tells me, "so i'm going with the flow. "of course i'm scared," this coconut seller says, "but we have "to continue working. "if we don't work, we don't eat." the traffic is back and so are the commuters. that's been the message from president bolsonaro all along, that brazil can't and shouldn't stop. a message that many people seem to have taken onboard. but in the past few weeks, scientists have been warning of the grave implications if nothing is done, with some even calling for a uk—style lockdown. the committee in the united kingdom was able to pressure

the prime minister enough so that he would accept lockdown. here we have to basically pressure not the government, because the government is not going to relinquish, i don't believe they are going to accept science because they have never in this ten months. with president bolsonaro still playing down the virus, and sowing unfounded doubts about the safety of vaccines, lockdown doesn't seem likely yet. katie watson, bbc news, in sao paulo. with me is our reporter paul hawkins. this variant is damaging and worrying in itself but it is not the only one.- worrying in itself but it is not the only one. there is also a south african and uk - all three carry the same mutation that makes them more adaptable to human cells. they are able to transmit between us, each of us more easily. easier to spread, that is the

one thing that all three have in common. the south african and the brazilian variant have two more mutations than the uk one. scientist think there is evidence to indicate that those two viruses are able to bypass the body's immune system which therefore makes the vaccines developed around the world less effective. not totally redundant but less effective. the good news about the virus that leads to covid is that out of the seven coronavirus is found in humans, it mutates the least amount. it is quite stable compared to something like influenza. that is good. the other thing that is good is that scientists when they develop vaccines and this type of coronavirus, when it mutates, they can tweak the vaccines to counter that mutation in a matter of weeks or months. that it is a constant cat and mouse game between scientists and the

virus. scientists investigating the origins of the coronavirus have finally landed in the city of wuhan, where it was first detected more than a year ago. two members of the world health organization mission were found to have contracted covid on the way there, and had to stay in singapore. the rest of the group will spend two weeks in quarantine. 0ur correspondent robin brant says there've been months of neogiations, raising suspicions that china may not be fully co—operating. the chinese authorities have resisted because theyjust don't think this is necessary. china doesn't want to look back and focus on mistakes made, it wants to look forward as what it sees as success in containing this virus. it sees the potential as well for more of a blame game led by a group of foreigners, and anyway, the chinese government has its official verdict on what happened — that paper was published in the middle of last year, and the verdict there was success in winning the war against this virus. nonetheless, there has been intense global pressure of course, to address

where this virus came from, and to answer that question about how it got into the human chain, because to make sure that there won't be a further fire, so to speak, going forward. so the team are here, they're going to be heavily reliant on their chinese hosts for access to public places, like that market a couple of miles over the river there in wuhan where we saw those first significant clusters of cases a year ago. heavily reliant as well on chinese counterparts for access to research that's been carried out over the last year. the man leading the investigation says he comes here with an open mind, no theories are off the table, but at the same time, we have a well established propaganda campaign here up and running, led by chinese state media, even questioning whether the whole thing began here in wuhan, did it begin in china at all? and that is designed to actually undermine the very reason that the team are here in the first place. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: an original painting of tintin by his belgian creator herge sells for a record amount

at an online auction in paris. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge part of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman says she had been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black. children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country'sl new multiracial government. and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play the mousetrap.

when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news. the main story this hour: the us president—elect joe biden has outlined a $1.9 trillion spending package to combat the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the economy. let's stay with that top story now and speak to the bbc�*s suranjana tewari, in singapore. good to see you. what has been the reaction there tojoe biden's speech? the reaction there to joe biden's speech?- the reaction there to joe biden's speech? the markets have reacted _ biden's speech? the markets have reacted quite _ biden's speech? the markets have reacted quite positively| have reacted quite positively to this stimulus, only slightly, so in the is —— investors factored in that

president—electjoe biden would implement some sort of economic plan as soon as he comes in and obviously, we know that in advance that is likely to come through, and investments have been looking forward to it and are encouraged by it but here in asia, they are really looking at what happens further down the line in the future and that came through in the second part of president—elect�*s hyden plan, which we will announce the coming weeks —— biden. talking about making products in america, jobs in america and making american manufacturing a leading sector in the world in the future and that is really something that we have heard a lot from president trump and not so from mr biden as of now so here in asia they are really going to be looking at what is likely to be president—elect biden's policies towards asia, where the supply chains are going to come from and what the

trade relations in the future are going to be.— trade relations in the future are going to be. thank you for that, are going to be. thank you for that. syringe _ are going to be. thank you for that, syringe r. _ are going to be. thank you for that, syringe r. -- _ are going to be. thank you for that, syringe r. -- suranjana. president hoerter one in turkey received his vaccination live on state tv and was given a vaccine developed by china which some experts say is less effective than previously thought. 0rla guerin has more from istanbul. coming through, precious cargo. climate—controlled. these vials not from western manufacturers, but from sinovac in china. turkey has agreed to buy 50 million doses. butjust before the roll—out here, clinical trials in brazil found this vaccine to be only 50.4% effective. even he's allowed to wince. i asked dr mehmet emin kalkan if he was concerned

about the data from brazil. speaks turkish. "no", he said, "clinicaltrials in our country are transparent, based on scientific research and statistically correct. we found this vaccine to be more than 90% effective". well, there's another vaccination about to happen here now. in this room alone, there are six people being vaccinated every hour. that's one every ten minutes, and there are 50 rooms like this in this hospital alone. the teams here will be working until midnight tonight. now that a vaccine is here, they don't want to lose a minute. covid has killed more than 23,000 people in turkey. doctors say the vaccine is now their best weapon, but there are fears that some here won't be willing to get it. do you think people are convinced that the vaccine

will work, because there has been some doubt about particular vaccine from china? yeah, they don't trust the chinese vaccine, yeah, that has been around turkey since the vaccine was introduced. but as far as i know, people will get used to it and in the end, they will do it, yes. staff here want the vaccine to be catching. in their long, brutal battle against covid—19, they say this is a day of hope for them and for turkey. 0rla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. world experts have confirmed that 2020 was one of the hottest years ever, bringing to a close the warmest decade yet recorded. here's our science editor david shukman. a desperate rescue in indonesia after torrential rain triggered landslides earlier this week, and scientists say that even heavier downpours are likely

in future as the world gets warmer. man: wow! in some countries, hotter, drier conditions are on the cards. the wildfires that struck australia last year are nothing new in themselves, but the more human activity releases the gases heating the atmosphere, the greater the risks of more violent conditions. and although the pandemic lockdowns have reduced traffic, they haven't made much difference to the carbon dioxide that keeps being added to the air. year on year, we're increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and, notwithstanding the pandemic, we still increased the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere by over two parts per million last year. and as long as that continues to happen, we are putting our foot on the accelerator of climate warming. over the past 170 years, the average global temperature has been monitored by teams

in britain, america and other countries, and although it's varied year by year, the recent trend has been really dramatic as the planet has heated up. the result — the most recent decade was the hottest on record, and we're also getting closer to an increase of1.5 degrees — an internationally agreed limit that climate scientists say would be dangerous to cross. the risk is more extremes the world over. this village in the vale of glamorgan was flooded over christmas after the heaviest rainfall there for 70 years. and as temperatures rise, heatwaves will become more common, like the one in the uk last summer. the met office says the latest records are part of a pattern. 2020, we're seeing temperatures that are, yet again, giving us one of the warmest years on record, despite some factors such as conditions in the tropical pacific that in 2020 would have normally suppressed temperatures.

so, will anything be done? well, joe biden has promised that america will lead a big push to tackle climate change and china, for the first time, has committed to going carbon neutral. negotiations are due in glasgow later this year. there's a lot at stake. david shukman, bbc news. an original painting of tintin by his belgian creator herge has sold for a record amount at an online auction in paris. the illustration fetched $3.8 million, including commission — that's the highest ever price for comic book art. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. it is classic herge. the clean lines, the vivid colours. tintin and snowy coming face—to—face with danger. 0riginally intended for the front cover of his adventure the blue lotus, it was deemed

too expensive to reproduce. so instead, herge gave it as a gift to the seven year old son of his publisher. translation: it has of his publisher. translation: it has always — of his publisher. translation: it has always remained - of his publisher. translation: it has always remained in - of his publisher. translation: it has always remained in the i it has always remained in the same house. he folded it and stored it in a drawer to protect it. i asked him whether he wanted to sell it. he said no, i care about it very much! it is a gift from herge! and in the end, he kept it until his death. ., death. you could still see the creases as it _ death. you could still see the creases as it went _ death. you could still see the creases as it went up - death. you could still see the creases as it went up for - creases as it went up for auction in paris. speaks french. add on commission and the anonymous buyer forked out the anonymous buyer forked out the best of $4 million — a new record for comic book art. not bad for a plucky boy reporter and his best friend. tim allman, bbc news. that's it. get me on twitter. i'm lewis vaughanjones. this

is bbc news. goodbye. hello. the rain and snow that fell across many parts of the uk during thursday has been petering out. temperatures have been dropping away. surfaces are really wet out there. so with those wet surfaces and some cold conditions, ice could be a big problem on friday morning — fog patches as well. here's the frontal system that brought the rain and snow during thursday, but it has been squeezed out by high pressure. the winds have been falling light — that's allowed temperatures to drop. we've got some fog patches out there, quite widely scattered, actually, across the country, and some ice — especially for scotland, northern england, the midlands into east anglia and the south east — so if you do have to make an essentialjourney, it could be some pretty poor travelling conditions. through the day, most spots will see some sunshine. it is a drier day overall. the odd shower for kent, the odd shower for shetland and a few places across

scotland, north east england, the midlands will hold onto fog all day long. if that happens, you'll be pegged back to just one or two degrees. even in sunshine, it will be a chilly—feeling day. and then during friday night into saturday, rain will push in from the west. i say "rain" — as it bumps into cold air, we could well still see a spell of snow, especially over high ground in scotland in northern england, but even to lower levels, there could temporarily be a spell of sleet or snow, even as far south as east anglia and the south east through the first part of saturday morning as this frontal system works its way eastwards. but we will see some milder air working its way in, so any snow will be quite a transient feature, certainly at low levels it'll turn back to rain. and then even the rain will tend to clear away through the day with sunnier skies and just a scattering of showers following on behind. those temperatures climbing, particularly in western areas — nine degrees in liverpool, belfast, ten in cardiff and in plymouth. now, as we head out of saturday into sunday, that frontal system moves away. high pressure tries to build in towards the south —

that's where we'll see the driest weather on sunday. lower pressure to the north, so here we have a greater chance of seeing some showery rain, maybe some hill snow across parts of northern ireland, particularly scotland. whereas further south for england and wales, you can see largely fine conditions. patchy cloud and sunny spells, and temperatures for the most part between six and nine degrees. into next week, things look pretty changeable. there'll be some rain at times, but not all the time. it will turn a little bit milderfor a while. but how long that will last, we'll have to wait and see.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

the us president—elect joe biden has outlined a $1.9 trillion spending package to combat the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the economy. speaking in delaware, he described his proposals as a two step plan of "rescue and recovery." concern about brazil's new coronavirus variant has prompted the uk to impose a ban on travellers arriving from south america and portugal. the health system in the brazilian city of manaus is said to be close to collapse. scientists are still in the early stages of studying the variant, which may be more transmissible. the leader of a who mission investigating the origins of coronavirus says his team is embarking on a long journey. they've finally arrived in wuhan, where the pandemic began 13 months ago, after repeated delays, which have raised suspicions that china is not fully cooperating with international health authorities. now on bbc news: the week in parliament.