this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden pledges to push through his covid relief package, potentially without republican help, warning that the us economy is still in trouble and americans are at �*breaking point�*. i believe the american people are looking right now to their government for help to do ourjob, to not let them down, so i'm going to act and i'm going to act fast. the uk government says it's on track to offer a coronavirus vaccine to everyone over 50 by may. as the new us administration backs the effort to return to the moon, we look at nasa's plan to make it happen. # edelweiss, edelweiss...

canadian actor christopher plummer, best known for his role as captain von trapp, in the sound of music, has died at the age of 91. hello and welcome whether you're watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. we start in the us, where president biden has warned that america's economy remains in trouble after weak monthly jobs figures highlighted the economic toll the pandemic is still taking. he said the data underscored the need for congress to act on his $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which would alleviate americans�* suffering. speaking with the treasury secretary, janet yellen,

and vice president kamala harris by his side, mr biden appealed to republicans to act urgently to turn his coronavirus relief measures into law. i see enormous pain in this country. a lot of folks out of work, a lot of folks going hungry, daring at the ceiling wondering what they will do tomorrow, a lot of folks trying to figure out how they'll keep their jobs and take care of the children. a lot of folks reaching the breaking point. suicides are up and are held neither increasing, violence against women and children is increasing, a lot of folks are losing hope. —— health needs are increasing. a lot of people are looking at the government to not let them down. so i'm going to act and i'm going to act fast. we can speak to our north america

correspondent, peter bowes. hi, peter. he is acting fast because this is being fast tracked. it is. this is being fast tracked. it is. the congressional— this is being fast tracked. it is. the congressional procedure . this is being fast tracked. it 3 the congressional procedure that we've seen unfold over the last 2a hours, both in the senate and the house, means that the president can at least move forward with the prospect of not necessarily needing republican support to eventually see his stimulus bill passed this almost $2 trillion. he is making some compromises and he would like to see that also from republicans. he's still courting their support, but as far as the procedure is concerned, and is complicated but it means that the bill now goes often to the committee to come back to the house, and the president reflecting he would like to see things move as quickly as possible, it is going to be immediate but at least it's on course to eventually being passed. in a large part, the president getting what he wants, and he

sticking to this $1400 that he'd like to see most americans, at least lower income, receive. the like to see most americans, at least lower income, receive.— like to see most americans, at least lower income, receive. the house has civen lower income, receive. the house has given approval— lower income, receive. the house has given approval for _ lower income, receive. the house has given approval for this _ lower income, receive. the house has given approval for this blueprint. - given approval for this blueprint. when is the money actually likely to enter the economy?— when is the money actually likely to enter the economy? well, it could be several weeks — enter the economy? well, it could be several weeks because _ enter the economy? well, it could be several weeks because it _ enter the economy? well, it could be several weeks because it goes - enter the economy? well, it could be several weeks because it goes into i several weeks because it goes into the committee stage, and that could be 15 days before the final consolidated bill comes back to the house. there is an amount of procedures to go through, but let's assume perhaps by march, americans are receiving those checks. of course, the big to base —— a debate from congress, many democrats believe that by giving people these $1400, giving it to the pockets of people, that's a good way to get it back into the local retail economy and get some small business owners,

large business owners, the shot that they need. the large business owners, the shot that the need. . . large business owners, the shot that the need. , , ., ., , they need. the debt is going to be hue and they need. the debt is going to be huge and many — they need. the debt is going to be huge and many republicans - they need. the debt is going to be huge and many republicans have. they need. the debt is going to be - huge and many republicans have made that case. how are americans reacting to this? businesses will be happy, but americans? i reacting to this? businesses will be happy, but americans?— happy, but americans? ithink americans— happy, but americans? ithink americans are _ happy, but americans? ithink americans are perhaps - happy, but americans? i think. americans are perhaps cautious happy, but americans? i think - americans are perhaps cautious about this. certainly, if you look at opinion polls, there's significant support for what the president is doing now, buti support for what the president is doing now, but i think a lot of americans might be saying, "we didn't need the januaryjobs report to tell us how bad things are." i was driving around the city this morning. remarkably quiet, and that is often a very good indicator as to how the local economy is doing. it really is in dire straits, and people are just really is in dire straits, and people arejust hoping really is in dire straits, and people are just hoping that this bill will eventually see the light of day and it will put money into the pockets of people that desperately need it. peter, thank ou so desperately need it. peter, thank

you so much- _ a row between the european union and russia over the treatment of the prominent opposition leader, alexei navalny, has escalated. russia has expelled three diplomats who it says took part in unauthorised protests in support of mr navalny who has been jailed for two and a half years for fraud. he was back in court today on a separate charge. from moscow, steve rosenberg reports. it's becoming a familiar sight — president putin's nemesis on trial. alexei navalny had already been sentenced to two—and—a—half years in prison this week, for a parole violation. slander was the charge now. he insists it's political persecution. i appeal for his release. across town, the eu's foreign policy chief was calling for mr navalny�*s release. it didn't go down well. first, russia's foreign minister called the eu an unreliable partner

and accused courts in the west of political verdicts. then his ministry expelled three eu diplomats, claiming they'd attended rallies in support of mr navalny. the eu condemned the move. moscow expected international outrage over the jailing of alexei navalny. there's talk in the west of possible measures that would target vladimir putin's inner circle. the kremlin, though, has long taken the view that sticks and stones may break its bones, but sanctions will never hurt it. meanwhile, mr navalny�*s supporters have decided to pause their protests until the spring. in the last two weeks, across russia, thousands of protesters have been detained. with police cells full in moscow, hundreds have been locked up in this deportation centre,

like dmitri and sergei, who we managed to contact. sergei, on the left, is a journalist. he wasn't at the protests, but he retweeted a post about them and was jailed for 25 days. "the authorities see journalists as part of the protest "movement now," sergei says. "we're coming under pressure." outside the makeshiftjail, people have been queueing for hours in the cold to deliver food parcels to their loved ones. "i used to vote for putin," says yulia, whose husband was arrested. "i never will again." the russian authorities can crack down on dissent. what they can't do is force people to stay loyal to the kremlin. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. let's get some of

the day's other news. the international criminal court has ruled that it has jurisdiction in the palestinian territories. the ruling paves the way for a possible investigation of alleged war crimes by israel, hamas and other armed palestinian groups. the us said it's concerned about the move, while israeli officials called it "fundamentally flawed". the us, france, germany, italy and britain have welcomed a vote at a un—led forum on libya for an interim government of unity, intended to help prepare the war—torn country for elections later this year. it's the latest step forward under united nations—sponsored moves to try to bring stability to a country devastated by years of chaos and violence. the spanish health authorities have limited the use of the 0xford—astrazeneca virus to those under the age of 55. —— austin

—— 0xford vaccine. the move echoes earlier decisions by a growing number of countries which have restricted the vaccine's distribution. that's despite the european medicines agency approving its use late last week for all adults. almost half the uk population — 32 million people — should receive their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by may. the government says it expects all adults over the age of 50, as well as the clinically vulnerable and those working in health and social care, to be offered their firstjab by then. almost 11 million people have now had their firstjab. the uk's medicines regulator says the latest research shows side effects from all the approved vaccines are minor and don't last long. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. this is an immunisation production line. at epsom racecourse in surrey, they're doing 1,000 covid jabs a day. the government is so confident it'll reach its target of giving a first

dose to the over—70s and front line health workers by mid—february, it's now looking to the future. my goal is i want us to be able to offer a vaccine to all over—50s — that's priority groups one to nine - by mav — there's a lot of things we have to get right in order to hit that goal, and obviously supply is the most difficult of all of those, but we're currently on track for that. you might get a sore arm for a couple of days. new data confirms that side effects from covid vaccines are mostly mild, which should reinforce public confidence. it will take about three weeks from today for your body to build up the immune response. the 70 and 80—somethings in epsom were taking it all in their stride. they said there may be some side effects, but i've never, _ ever had side—effects with any - vaccines so i'm not expecting any. my wife has had hers already, and she just had a 24—hour

soreness but that's all, and she was perfectly 0k afterwards, so i'm not concerned, no. it doesn't hurt and i feel so secure now. medical regulators are constantly monitoring covid vaccine safety. they've analysed 6.9 million doses given up to the 24th of january. there were 22,820 reports of suspected adverse reactions, which equates to about three per 1000 doses. the vast majority were mild and included sore arms, headache, tiredness or fever, that generally lasted a couple of days. there were no unexpected serious adverse reactions, so the benefits of the covid—19 vaccines far outweigh the risks, and anyone who gets that invitation to go along for a jab should not hesitate. you can be confident that these are very safe vaccines. all medicines, including vaccines,

can cause side effects. so the results of this safety monitoring are very reassuring — for those who've had their covid jab and for the tens of millions of us yet to get our invite. new research shows the oxford astrazeneca vaccine protects well against the more contagious kent variant, but new variants are inevitable. so the government has signed up with a german biotech to develop future covid vaccines to try to keep pace in the arms race against the virus. fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on news. still to come: the thoughts of the astronaut commander chris hadfield on the news that president biden is to stick with the trump administration plan to return to the moon.

german prosecutors have charged a 95—year—old woman with aiding and abetting the murder of more than 10,000 people at a nazi concentration camp in poland. she was a minor at the time and working as a secretary. damien mcguinness reports from berlin. the woman worked as the personal secretary to the camp commander in this concentration camp. she has given witness in previous trials in the �*50s and �*60s in germany, where she explained that she took down notes, she handled phone calls, she handled all the correspondences of this camp commander. now back then, she was a witness. the legal situation changed about ten years ago here in germany, when a former camp guard, john demjanjuk, was charged with not directly being involved in murders, but having aided and abetted murders. now, that changed the whole legal situation — what that meant was anyone who had performed any sort of function within these concentration camps

could then be charged. that's what's happened to this woman. this is bbc news. the latest headlines... president biden has warned that the us economy is still in trouble but is promising to "act fast" on covid relief as americans reach what he calls "breaking point". let's stay with that story. a little earlier, i spoke to thomas gift, associate professor of political science at university college london, who told me that the stimulus relief package may not be popular in all quarters of capitol hill. well, $1.9 trillion is a lot of money. and i think it's inevitable that there will be pushback from republicans. joe biden since the outset has said he wants to govern from the centre, that he wants to push through bipartisan legislation. and by starting right out the gates with a measure that is so strictly cut across party lines,

i do think he'll face some opposition and criticism. that said, democrats have control of both houses and the white house, and it's unsurprising that they'll use the numbers to their advantage. he's got a very full intro at the moment, hasn't he? how does this fit in, fixing the economy? how does that fit in with his pandemic response programme? well, there's no doubt that keeping the us economy afloat is at the very top of biden�*s list, and it's of course inextricably linked to covid—19. and the extent to which this administration is prioritising the economy is evidenced by the fact that biden and the democrats have been so willing to push hard on this $1.9 trillion figure, even despite a lack of bipartisan support. that's not winning the president any points with republican lawmakers, and biden is invariably expending scarce political capital here that he might otherwise want to keep in reserve to put through other legislative items. however, it really does seem like everything flows

from the economy forjoe biden. that has to come first, and if he wants to have any success on other bills — health care, climate change, infrastructure and so on — that won't be possible if the us economy is stagnating. i apologise if you've already mentioned of this, but what is the republicans' alternative plan if they don't agree with this? for those saying that there's a problem here with national debt? what's their alternative? well, they don't have much of an alternative, which is the thing. essentially all they're trying to get through right now is to lower that $1.9 trillion figure. one of the interesting things of all this is that republicans were much more supportive of this stimulus bill when donald trump was in office. but with a democrat in the white house, a lot of republicans remember that there are supposed to be fiscal hawks, they're supposed to care about the deficits, and so on. so they're really trying to drive home that message. but i think there's a fair amount of bipartisan support that

something needs to be done, and republicans are on board with some extent of stimulus. it's reallyjust that large number that they are concerned about. how do you think president biden has done so far? early days, but? well to this point, most of biden�*s focus has been on signing a slew of executive orders, pushing through these cabinet confirmations, and setting the groundwork for the covid relief package. on all those fronts, i think so far, so good. there haven't been any clear stumbling blocks out of the gates. but it's probably too early to make a very clear assessment because the real test will ultimately be how biden is able to navigate the landmines of partisan opposition in congress — and here again, republicans will clearly use the stimulus to criticise biden, to say that he's already backing away from the centre. ultimately though, governing is partisan and biden is facing pressures from within his own party to a usher in this large stimulus. i think it's unsurprising that they are driving pretty hard on this issue.

staying with president biden. he has endorsed the effort to return to the moon that was initiated under his predecessor, donald trump. the artemis programme plans to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024. chris hatfield is the former asked and are not of the international space station and he gave me his reaction —— former astronaut. i'm delighted and relieved. i think it was absolutely the right decision to make. there's support right through us politics for that programme, and there's huge international support, including canada. crews have been announced already to go to the moon, including two canadian astronauts who are slated to go to the moon, so i'm really pleased to see this new administration of the united states not drop this particular ball but support it. it's really going to open up a future for a lot of different people all around the world.

yeah, 2024 is the date slated, hopefully, for mission three, artemis three. what does it take to train? because you have first—hand experience. what's involved? well, gosh, it's huge. the challenges on the crew and all the engineers that are involved are enormous, but it's 2021. when kennedy made his announcement we'll be on the moon by the end of the decade, here we are at the start of another decade and we're talking about notjust trying to see if we can get there, but using all the latest technology and everything we've learned to actually get there and start to stay, and that's a pretty exciting development. but the number of things the astronauts have to train for, the women and men that are in the different astronaut courses, it's huge, but there's time to do that. we have to invent a few things, there's a lot of private companies involved. it's a really different time but i think it's a really exciting time. wow, that's a little tease there, isn't it? "we have to invent a few things."

what are you alluding to there? that sounds exciting. well, the ability to stay on the surface of the moon, the technology you need in order to be able to extract water that exists. we think there's 400 billion l of water on the moon, how are we going to extract that from the super—cold places it's in? just all the little problems that we're going to have to solve. it's sort of like they had to face back in the apollo programme — so many big problems to solve, but they did it then with much less capability, and now we can do it to stay and use that to go further on to mars eventually. to me, it's a wonderful, natural progression. i'm really pleased to see the recent support for it. now, i know that you were inspired by apollo 11. i believe i was around ten years old. what do you make of the progress from when you saw that to where we are now? you know, it wasn'tjust me butjeff bezos and elon musk were both usually inspired by that, and they have created these two rocket companies that

are going to be a big part of this. so, to me, that's been a huge continuum of it, is how people are inspired to then invent and organise and then do something that pushes the very edge of human capability. and we got so much further than when i was a kid watching apollo 11, we could just barely do that. apollo 13, they barely limped home and save their lives. we've learned so much. tributes have been paid to the actor christopher plummer who has died aged 91. born in canada, he was best known for his role as captain von trapp in the oscar—winning film the sound of music. 0ur arts editor will gompertz looks back at his career which spanned six decades. # these are a few of my favourite things # when the dog bites...# christopher plummer in 1965, as the fine, upstanding captain von trapp, playing opposite julie andrews�* maria in the sound of music. hello. fraulein, did i not tell you that

bedtime is to be strictly observed in this house? the versatile, charismatic actor said he only did the movie so he could sing, and therefore wasn�*t pleased when he found out his voice would be overdubbed. # edelweiss # every morning, you greet me...# it is the role for which he will always be remembered, but for such a long time, wished people would forget, making his disdain for the film clear by renaming it the sound of mucus. yes, i did say that, but so did we all. we alljoked about the sound of music. you have to, when you do something very delicate and sentimental and coy, in order to avoid being sentimental and coy, you have to joke about it and see the funny side of it. christopher plummer was born into a wealthy canadian family, his great—grandfather was the country�*s third prime minister. he considered becoming a concert pianist, but chose acting instead, making his name first on stage

playing lead roles such as shakespeare�*s henry v, for which he gained comparisons to laurence olivier. and upon this charge, cry... "god for harry! england!" and st george! he brought weight and humanity to the role of rudyard kipling in the man who would be king. a character actor of rare skill, he reached new heights when he entered his 80s. where did you get these? and he became the oldest 0scar acting nominee when he replaced kevin spacey asjohn paul getty in ridley scott�*s film all the money in the world. the great struggle in life is coming to grips with what that price is. christopher comes with this inordinate charm, a smile and his twinkle, the twinkle and smile somehow make him that much more effective. it makes him quite lethal,

but in a charming way. julie andrews said of christopher plummer tonight, "the world has lost a consummate actor today, and i have lost a cherished friend." the actor christopher plummer, who�*s died at the age of 91. a border collie from wales has smashed the record for the world�*s most expensive sheepdog after being sold for over 37,000 dollars. twelve—month—old kim, who was trained near the town of aberystwyth, was sold at an online auction. the sale has beaten the previous record set by a border collie named henna, which sold for under 28,000 dollars. many people would say man�*s best

friend is priceless. don�*t forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i�*m @lukwesaburak. good evening. we�*ve seen heavy snowfall over recent days across the northern half of scotland, and more of us are going to be seeing that wintry weather arriving through the weekend. it is going to be turning colder across the board. we�*re going to see low pressure becoming established down to the south east of the uk. that�*s going to open the doors for these really cold easterly winds to be driving in. so, bringing not only some disruptive snowfall in the east, but also a significant wind chill. look, it�*s going to feel around about —6 or —7 degrees through sunday and into monday as well. for the here and now, we�*ve still got an amber warning for heavy snow across the northern half of scotland, mainly over higher ground, but increasingly that snow will start to fall to lower levels, too. there�*s also a lot of heavy rain across the south east of scotland, north east england, too. elsewhere across england and wales, some heavy showers continuing through the course of tonight.

could be some hail mixed in with some of those heavy downpours, too. clearing skies and light winds down towards the south west of england and wales, so some mists and fog and also some icy stretches forming here through the course of tonight into early saturday. so, let�*s take a look at saturday. quite a bit of dry weather for northern ireland, perhaps one or two lighter showers, a bit of sunshine, too, for parts of southern and south west england and wales. we�*ll continue to see rain showers in parts of eastern, north—eastern england. heavy snow again over the higher ground of scotland falling to lower levels later on, and some of that snow also pushing over the higher ground of northern england. so, the pennines, for instance, seeing a fair bit of snow through saturday. but it�*s not until the overnight period that we see the really cold air moving in across the board, these cold easterly winds, and that�*s going to drive in some very persistent and heavy snowfall for parts of east anglia and the south east moving through the day on sunday, too. temperature wise, at best only about 2—4 degrees, but feeling subzero when you add on that wind chill. and we�*ve got an amber warning in force from the met office from parts of norfolk down towards

kent for that heavy snowfall. widely 5—10 centimetres expected, could be as much as 20 centimetres, and it�*ll be blowing in on that brisk easterly wind, so blizzard conditions possible. into monday, a similar sort of day. again, that easterly wind driving in some heavy snow showers to parts of eastern england and eastern scotland. further west, you should stay mostly dry if somewhat cloudy, but it�*s going to be a very cold day once again on monday. temperatures a degree or two either side of freezing, but feeling much colder than that when you add on the wind chill. all the warnings are on our website. bye— bye.

this is bbc world news, the headlines... president biden warns that the us economy is still in trouble, but promises to take swift action on covid relief as americans reach what he calls "breaking point". the uk government says it�*s on track to offer a coronavirus vaccine to everyone over 50 by may. as the new us administration backs the effort to return to the moon, we look at nasa�*s plan to make it happen. canadian actor, christopher plummer, best known for his role as captain von trapp, in the sound of music, has died at the age of 91. you�*re watching bbc world news.