♪ >> hello and welcome back to the program. the time is now 10:00 p.m. here in paris and these -- these are the latest headlines for you this hour. he's promptsing a smooth transition but it's one that will come with a break with tradition. the u.s. president says he won't be attending joe biden's inauguration, this as democrats continues too push for donald trump's impeachment. paramedics under pressure, hospitals running out of beds and a scrires said to be out of control. the mayor of london declares a major incident in the british capital as the code covid infection rate and death toll

both reach record highs nationwide. we'll have more from our correspondent in the british capital. be -- with close to 20,000 fresh coronavirus infections on french soil, current infections are soiled to be wildened. "france 24" is supporting france's restaurant owners, struggling to keep their heads above water. ♪ 12 the u.s. president-elect joe biden has come out to say that donald trump's decision not to attend his stwaring-in ceremony later this month is a good thing. as the dust settles in washington, d.c. following wednesday's violence on capitol

hill, new battle lines are now being drawn as democrats gear up for a second round of impeachment proceedings against the currents resident of the white house for inciting the unrest which left five people dead. charlie james has more. reporter: in his latest snub to protocol, donald trump said friday he will not attend the inauguration of his successor joe biden. trump made the announcement on twitter, a platform he has returned to after his account was trailer locked following the capitol riots. just hours earlier, trump pledged a peaceful transfer. >> my focus turns to ensuring a smooth, ordererly and seamless transition of power. reporter: but he'll be the first president in 152 years to skim his successor's swearing in. the inauguration is an important symbol of american democracy, one that former president barack obama and

then-vice president joe biden fulfilled at trump's cemony in 2017. what trump plans to do with his final days in office is unclear but democrats are increasingly trying to limit his power. speaker of the house nancy pelosi says she spoke to the nation's top general on friday about preventing trump from accessing nuclear launch codes. congressional democrats are also holding u.s. ands -- discussions on whether to impeople trump for an unprecedented second time. junior for more on what's happening over a the atlanta in the final day of trump's white house, we speak to a constitutional lawyer from houston, texas. this is not the first time that u.s. dallas have sought to impeach donald trump. to do you think that the events of wevens in washington, d.c. have in any way changed opinion to make their bid more successful this time around.

>> i think there are two things to think about. impeachment is a two-step white house. first, our house of representatives must vote to charge the perspective. the second step is that our senate much a trial and 2/3 must vote to convict. it's possible the houseight vote to approve charges against trump the next 11 days or so. i think it's unlikely. i think it's impossible to have a trail or at least a ir trial in the next 10 days. at this point it would be a trial that stretches after the inauguration and at this point he would be owls -- out of office. most of this is political but there is a strong sense that trump's behavior on january 1 crossed a line and might warrant punishment from th congress. >> for thoughts that donald trump might even barden -- pardon himself for his words or

actions on wednesday. how historic or significant would that be? >> no one's ever tried it. in 225 years, we've had zero presidents who've pardonened themselves. e texts of the constitution doesn't give a clear answer. a pardon but not who he can give a pardon to. in nery, perhaps he can pardon mself. you can't ask a court for an opinion. what would happen is the next president would maybe try to charge president trump with crimes and then he would say you can't charge me, i've been pardonened by myself. we are in shaky, uncharted waters. there's no good answer to this question. >> we've also seen several members of the trump can -- camp resign following the

riots. who is in charge now? >> another thing you should learn about in your country is the 25th amendment. this is a provision of the constitution that is very important. majority of the cabinet members agree, they can removehe president from autopsy for some period of time. what i suspect happened is that there were some discussions of the 25th amendment. vice president pence didn't want to go along and at that point several cabinet nebs resigned in prozest -- protest. even though there are resignations, there are deputy step you must. but i think this is a last-minute review of president trump after the events of janel. >> josh blackman in texas, thank you very much. moving on, the british prime minister says that the covid-19 infection rates continues to bloom at an alarming rate in the u.k. boris johnson has also said the

kingdom's hospitals are under more pressure now than ever. in the heart of the capital, the london mayor has said a hospital bed will soon be hard to come by. >> the reason i've had to declaren emergency today is because i'm afraid in virus is out of conol. the inner chest at london is at risk are -- risk of being overwhelmed. the statue are working heroically but there's a real risk over theourse of the next couple of weeks. unless the virus reduces and fewer people need to go to hospital, we could run out of beds. >> our correspondents is following developments for us in a city now in crisis mold. benedict, it's a worsening picture across the u.k. but the capital is particularly hard hit. >> yes, london is partilarly hazzd hit. is clear underlines the

mayor, a crisis. has declared this incident, as we heard, because he says the virus is out of control. so to give y an idea, a picture, if you willle, currently, there are more than 7,000 peopl in hospital with covid-19 and that is a 35% increase compared to the previous peak and that was last april. that washe height, then, we thought of the pandemic. one in 30 lonleders, according tohe mayor are actually infected with covid-19. indeed in some areas says the mares ma -- mayor, it's one in 20 so clearly that is very worrying. the london ambulance service is currently taking up to 8,000 emergency calls when normally a busy time would be 5,500. that is what the mayor has told us and we know that the london fire brigade has said that more than 100 firefighters have been drafted in to drive ambulances

and i understand that some police officers will also. so this is a crisis point ced the mayor. if we do not take immediate action then the national seice could be overwhelmed, particularly in the capital. he'sppealing again for londoners to make huge sacrifices, imploringhem to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary for them to leave home. he asks them to stay at home to frequent themselves and he has written to the prime minister boris johns askg for more financial support for loonledeners, particularly and not able to work. particularly those on zero contracts who shall obliged to go to work. he's also asking for the closure, once againf places of worship and for facemasks to be worn outsi. that is not y obligatory.

as far as the u.k. is concerned, terribly grim figures again. 1,235 further depths today across the u.k. that's a record. today, 68053 new cases rorled and in total, that means it's just short of 80,000 depths since the beginning of the pandemic almost a year ago. >> despite those gloomy figures and that gloomy situation there have some positive news today coming out of the u.k. and that's the afrusme of a third coronavirus vaccine. >> yes, the vaccine is seen really as that game changer, that light at the end of the tunnel so while the minorities authorities and mayor are begging team -- people to stay at home, wash their hands, socially distance, there is this approval by the british regulator today of the moderna vaccine. this is the third covid vaccine

that has been thorsed for emergency approval for use in the u.k. doses have been preordered by the united kingdom. the trouble is i think those will take a few months to arrive. but the u.k. has been vaccinating for weeks now with the first one it authorize the pfizer-biontech that comes om belgium and the other one, the ox formed astrazeneca and we know from the prime minister 24 36 hours ago that already 1.5 million people have actuallyad at least the first dose of those vaccines and the ambitious target of the prime minister is that by mid february, 50 million amongst the four tom vulnerable categories in the u.k. will have been vaccinated. huge ambition there and huge home. >> thank you very much. now on this side of the english

channel, e.u. leaders will be locking on later this month for an online meeting to discuss the bloc's progress in controlling the coronavirus. the commission has announced this friday that a deal has been reached with the drug the de gives e.u. companies . half of the vaccine stocks o this yea that means an additional 3 million des will be supplied. we have more. >> as the coronavirus continues to spread with alarming speed across europe, the e.u. is racing to secure more doses of the vaccine. e.u. commission president ursula vanderlion confirming the bloc that is secured a deal to get 600 million doless of

the pfizer-biontech. >> we authorized a second vaccine, moderna. in means with these two authorized vaccines, we have already secured an amount of doses that we need to vaccination name 380 million europeans and this is more than 80% of the european population. >> meanwhile, the bloc's medical regulator says it could grant approval to a third vaccine from astrazeneca by the end of the mlb. >> two murt -- further vaccinings are undergoing review. we can tell you will that having just received some additional data, we' not -- now expecting the astrazeneca vile to be -- vial to be presented last week with a possible conclusion at the end of january. >> regulators there have just

approved the moderna vaccine. france's national health authority has also oked the moderna vaccine, with the first doses expected to arrive in the next few days. in the meantime the government has given approval to space out pfizer-biontech tees second shot to make more doses available immediately. >> france is well known for its love of food but since the coronavirus hit and with the nation enduring lockdowns and curfews, kitchens have very much laid quiet and to show our support to france's hospitality industry, "france 24" has do named a large chunk of today's programming to their cause. we met one man determined to keep his parrishian businesses open. >> tucked away in paris, one man is refusing to give into the pandemic. paul started his life as a

students in 1992. today's with his establishment and 250 staff, he's known as the king of pucks. since the start of the health crisis, his turnover has fallen by 60%. his doors are still open. before the first lockdown this puck was serving customers seven days a week. on the menu, a mix of international flavors. the frog also has its own brand of beer.

>> to avoid laying off his yuck employees, paul asks them to use social media to come up with createa takeout ideas. >> to be honest, being busy helping frog and seeing the changes, seeing how we're able to survive the times. that's always encouraging and inspiring for us.

as low a possible, a business like paul's costs 1200,000 euros a week to rub, whether it's open or closed. >> the frog pub's group pays $10 impact a year in taxes. paul and others like him are hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel. >> in other world news, japan has rejected the way the gavel fell in one south creanl courtroom this friday. judges there have ordered the government in tokyo to financially comment state 12 south korean so-called comfort women who were forced to work as sex slaves during the war in what the court has called a crime against humanity. they've stressed that all wartime cases were resolved under the terms of the 9 --

1965 treaty. we have more. >> it's long been a thorn in the side of japan's south korean ties. the tan comfort women is a euphemism for japanese nationalists. they were paid pros tutesd. south korean survivors say they were sex slaves. >> some hifpks estimate up to 200,000 korean women, many in their teens, were coerced or miliry-run brothels during world war ii. japan's colonial rule from 1910 to 1945 continues to haunts the two neighbors. tokyo insists that the issue of wartime reparations were settled in the treaty. some say the treaty did not

reflect the people's will as it was negotiated by the people's then-military dictatorship. five years ago another deal was reached which included a formal apology from tokyo and fund to help the women. but protests continued. in 2019, south korea's constitutional court rejected an appeal by a former sex slave to annul the twhivet agreement friday's ruling over a lower court said the pacs did not cover the plaintiff's right to accept compensation.

>> other issues, such as forced labor during the occupation have also strained diplomatic and trade between the two countries in recent years. >> you're watching live from paris here on "france 24." a reminder of ourainly headlines for you this hour. he's promising a smooth ansitionut it will come with a break with tradition. the u.s. president says he won't be attending joe biden's inauguration. this as democrats continues to push for donald trump's impeachment. par dem -- paramedics under pressure, hospitals running out of beds and a virus said to be out of control. the mayor of london declares a major incident in the british capital as the covid-19 infection rate and death toll both reach record highs nationwide. it's time now for a look at the day's business news with

katherine bennett from our business desk who joins me here in the studio. the u.s. president elect joe biden says he'll be laying out his economic plan for the u.s. next thursday but do we have any idea yet of the may have been points of that speech? >> we have an indication of his economic priorities. here's what we do know -- he's not going to be holding back. he says his relief package will be trillions of dollars, including uninsures and include the possibility to postpone rent payments. also direct relief throwing to families, including those $2,000 stimulus checks. his plan will focus on women and minority-owned businesses and he reiterated his desire to see the federal minimum wage, currently at 7:55 an hour to be

more than doubled, to $15 an hour. one thing that came out strongly is how urgent he sees the current economic situation. he wants to open u.s. coffers wild knowle. part of this comes from the latest u.s. jobs figures out today. they showed that the u.s. economy she would 140,000 jobs in december led by the hospitality. nearly 11 million are still out of work. biden says this jobs report is in many ways a report on the pandemic itself. >> in the midst of this pandemic, there are millions out of work, unable to pay their rent or their mortgage. they're waiting in line for hours to get food from a food bank. the bottom line is the job reports shows we need to provide more immediate relief

for working families and businesses now. now. >> in news gave a boost to the markets just before closing. u.s. stocks ended the first week of the year on a high mark. balancing the job report with the prospect of more fiscal support. it it made back losses from earlier in the night, up over hatch a percent and the nasdaq reached an all-time highing in trading today, finishing up over 1%. there's a time-honestlyored tradition of young french people crossing the challenge to go to the u.k. to pick up a job. working in the pub or au pair for a few months is a way to get money. but there could be an end to jobs like that. >> for many young people in france, it's an opportunity fading before their eyes.

jocks in the tourism sector at hotels and restaurants and for those who work as au pairs in the u.k., things got a lot more located. in heart of london at an upscale restaurant, this bartender arrived last september before the new rules went into effect. in just two weeks he found a job in spite of the pandemic. to get the same job after brexit, he would have to get a visa. it requires a fee of 700 euros and a two-month wait without any guarantees. nothing like when he arrived not that long ago. >> the u.k. work permit is now under a point system like in

australia. 70 points are needed. you get 10 points for speaking english well. 20 points for a job offer, an additional 20 for a job offer with an annual salary of more than 30,000 euros and 20 for a job in a sector where workers are needed. a number of employeers are hoping for a an emplings for the next few months. >> hundreds of british businesses have suspended ex ports to the e.u. as they trim over the fine points in the deal. it does not extend to cloing extend to made in brita,t seems. earlier this week we saw empty shelves at mark's and spencer's in paris as they struggled to wade through the paperwork required toet its products over the border. now they've warned that about a

third of its products in the food section could fails higher prices. they've suspended all deliveries for the time beings while it reviews its operations. not the most streamlined of trade. >> absolutely. one of my favorite shops, mark's and espner's. thank you very much. that brings amount 30 .of our program to a close but do stay with us here on "france 24." there's more world news coming up for you after the break.

today, our reporters are there. following a recent agreement the search has been renewed. the cron -- korean peninsula has decided to unearth its past, "the memories of war."

01/08/21 01/08/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i joined under calling on the vice president to remove this president. i immediately invoke the 25th amendment. if they don't act, the congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. amy: calls are growing for president trump to resign or be removed from office for inciting supporters to storm the pi