the number of americans being immunised against covid—nineteen in the face of a sustained surge in cases and deaths. the president—elect — who takes office on wednesday — said the priority was to inoculate everyone over the age of sixty—five. countries in europe have reacted angrily to a warning by the drug company pfizer that it'll reduce the number of coronavirus vaccines it delivers from next week. pfizer says modifications to its plant in belgium will lead to a temporary drop in shipments — but will boost long—term capacity. the number of people around the world who have died with covid—nineteen has now passed the two million mark. that's more than the combined total of deaths for hiv, malaria, flu and cholera in the past year. after the united states, brazil and india are the worst affected countries. now on bbc news.

for the first time a mass movement is openly calling for reform of the monarchy in thailand, shattering a taboo surrounding the royal institution's near—sacred status. a warning this programme contains images some viewers may find upsetting. thailand is in the grip of a youthful uprising. inspired by hong kong, students armed with umbrellas and ideals have been taking on a military backed government and a once untouchable monarch.

what we are seeing here is an epic battle between two competing visions for thailand. these youngsters are determined that their demands for reform of everything, including the monarchy, or both heard and acted on. and they are up against an establishment that is determined to keep thailand stable, conservative and with the monarchy and military at the very top. over the 20 years i have been reporting from thailand, there have been to constants. an army that won't state of politics... ..and a revered monarchy whose actions cannot be questioned. even today, the laws here limit what we can safely say about the royal family.

king vajiralongkorn, who came to the throne four years ago, is on paper a constitutional monarch. like britain's queen elizabeth. in reality, though, he has far more power. and he's been using it in alarming ways. some thais fear he wants to take the country back to the absolute monarchy of his forefathers when the king's word was the law. palm is a 21—year—old student on her way to yet another protest in bangkok's old royal quarter.

we have come to democracy monument, which marks the end of the absolute monarchy 88 years ago. the democracy it promised never took root here. this is an outspoken generation, informed and mobilized through social media. taking the hunger games salute as their own symbol of defiance. they want the king's power to be accountable, and they want the freedom to speak out without the threat of reprisals.

palm reminds the crowd of the incident which helped to unite these protests back in june. the abduction and presumed murder in cambodia of an exiled activist called wanchalearm. wanchalearm's sisterjen is here too, trying to keep up the public interest in his case. jen was talking on the phone to her brother when he was

dragged off the street and into a black suv. wanchalearm had fled to cambodia after the coup seven years ago, and kept up a barrage of cheeky social media posts parodying thailand's military and rulers.

he was the ninth exiled activist to disappear in the past four years. the mutilated bodies of two of them were discovered on the banks of the river mekong. all of them were known critics of the monarchy, driving home the dangers of speaking out on this issue. thailand's rapid transformation into a modern, urban nation has brought impressive prosperity. but also created one of the world's most unequal societies. a bolder, more inquiring young generation is no questioning how and why their country has turned out like this.

here, palm is leaving a letter writing campaign directed at the king. demanding that he accept limits on his wealth and power. change, though, is not welcomed by all. royalism has many passionate adherents here.

they are now mobilizing to take on the student movement. dressed in royal yellow, holding aloft portraits of the king and his much loved father. king bhumibol, or rama ix, reigned for 70 years. and achieved cult—like popularity with his modest lifestyle and a strong sense of duty. his son is a very different personality. but in this crowd, respect for the institution endures. they can't accept all the accusations they've heard against the king.

why don't you support their demand for a monarchy that's just a bit limited to, and then you will be giving them what they say they want? that's not the only obstacle to the student's dreams of reform.

beyond this barricade is thailand's parliament. it's packed with military loyalists. it is the only place where changes to the political system can happen, and right now they can't get there. well, these protesters are now trying to pull away at this concrete barricade to make a way through. and they are spraying... 0h! water cannons laced with chemicals. you can really smell the tear gas in it. these protesters want to get through to parliament, because that's where the reforms they are demanding are supposed to be discussed. they are worried that in a parliament dominated by the military backed party, their reforms are just going to be swept aside. that's why they are staying put.

and you can see how determined they are. but they are fighting a formidable establishment which has ruled thailand for most of the past century. how can they overcome such entrenched power?

as they feared, the old man as they feared, the old man of parliament, many of them on elected senators, threw out all but the mildest reforms. while outside it was chaos. the activists had brought up giant inflatable ducks to shield themselves from the water cannon and to ridicule the police. the ducks made another appearance outside thailand's largest bank. the king is the main shareholder. palm was there too, sporting a new haircut.

but in targeting the king so directly, they are taking a serious risk. not so much from the police who stayed well back this time, but behind them is the king and the thai army which is sworn to defend the monarchy above all else. that partnership is even tighter now. this monarch sees himself as a warrior king, and he's folded some of the best military units into his own personal royal guard.

palm has not been arrested yet, but many other protesters have. she has come here tonight to meet one of them. who is also a bit of a hero, notjust to her, but to many young activists. hockey is founder member of the band rap against dictatorship. tonight, he is reliving his arrest after he'd performed at a protest in

july. cheering. he makes light of it here, but the charge is sedition. that's up to seven years injail. hockey is one of more than a0 activists charged under this sweeping national security law. others are being prosecuted under the notorious lese majeste law, with its secret trials and even tougher sentences. most have been released on bail, but only to face even more charges.

# yeah. these are the kinds of injustices rap against dictatorship featured in their first withering song prathet ku mi, what my country's got. which captured the rebellious mood of this generation. the song has been viewed more than 90 million times on youtube.

thai history, though, carries ominous warnings for today's students. especially here, one of the country's top universities. the king has come here to hand out diplomas to graduates. keeping up a long tradition which helps build a bond between the monarchy and younger generations. but in this era of dissent, not everyone is following

the official script. this innocuous little ceremony on the sidelines of the may graduation proceedings here is actually a pretty extraordinary act of defiance. something almost on thinkable even a year ago. the young people have been symbolically taking their departments from these cardboard cutouts who are of some of the most notorious anti—monarchy activists, many of them in exile. instead of taking it from the king. a harmless enough gesture you might think, but the sport field behind them tells a different story. the assault began i just after daybreak. all sorts of weapons being used. - 44 years ago, police and vigilantes attacked this campus with savage force.

after students have been accused of mocking the then crown prince. today's king. dozens died. some were horribly lynched. it's an episode that is imprinted on the minds of today's activists and in their songs.

the last absolute monarchy in thailand was crowned 95 years ago. he abdicated ten years later, his powers already limited. but some of the trappings of absolute monarchy have been carried over even into this century. kings are seen as above criticism. so the unvarnished jokes and comments about the current king heard of the protest rallies have infuriated his supporters.

the sudden wave of anti—royal sentiment over the past year caught royalists off guard. but the morale has been lifted by the king's decision to be more visible in recent months after spending most of his reign living overseas in germany. the king has responded by abandoning his normally stiff and stern public persona and going on a series of very high—profile walkabouts like this one. allowing the thai people

to get really close to him for the first time. they reach out to touch the royal couple for good luck. we are but dust under the feet of the king as the saying goes. this man gets a personal word of thanks from the martic this man gets a personal word of thanks from the monarch for his pro—palace activism. he's now leading a campaign to get the draconian lese majeste law used more frequently against the protest leaders. but that's just not true,

because in britain you can say pretty much what you want about the queen, and you won't go to prison. it's very different from the situation here in thailand. these young thais don't care about being appropriate. shocking their elders with their gestures and language, that's the point. they have already shattered a once unbreakable taboo against even discussing the monarchy.

these mainly young activists, proposing that this challenge untouchable institution is never faced untouchable institution is neverfaced before.

this is a battle over what it even means to be thai. the king praises his loyalists for upholding what he calls true thai nest. what he calls true thainess. the activists say that nothing, not even his hallowed status, is sacred. by the end of last year, the protest subsided as thailand faced a resurgence of covid—i9. but the gulf between these two visions for thailand is impossibly wide. and for now it can't

be bridged. fred it was but a low and the british isles in the we start saturday, at the met office of the need to issue an amber warning for snow across parts of east anglia. we have not seen snow significantly in recent days, five to ten cm possible as this with the feature drags a combination of rain and snow across many parts of the british isles, lingering in east anglia into the early afternoon. quitting the scene,

following up the north midlands and northwards, a sprinkling of showers and more than that i'm northern and western scotland and northern ireland too. chilly in the east and 4 degrees, some were mild or perhaps down towards the southwest at 11. a little ridge of high pressure tumbles in across england and wales and things very nicely. for the bursts of rain can be expected in northern ireland and southern parts of scotland and only preps the northeast of scotland escaping those conditions and temperatures widely in single figures.

hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. two million people worldwide have now died from covid—i9 and nearly 400,000 of those deaths were in the us. so far, just 11 million americans have been vaccinated against the virus. but the incoming presidentjoe biden is promising to vaccinate 100 million americans in his first hundred days. he set out his plan. the honest truth is this — things will get worse before they get better — i told you i will always level with you — and the policy changes that we will be making