congress agreeing. heather, thank you so much for being with us.eading to the increase in cases of. catherine reports on what we know about the mutation and how it happened. since the pandemic restarted we have learned a lot about coronavirus but it has been learning about us as well. it's had practice at dealing with our immune systems and has developed an extra way of fighting us. this new variant. it has changed 23 times, many differences are linked to the all important spiked protein, the part of the virus that lets it bind onto human cells, so the worry is this mutation could make it easierfor the virus to infect us. doctors think this new variant could spread up to 70% faster, although that figure is just an estimate. scientist advising the government also say it could increase the infection number which shows how the virus can spread between 0.4 and 0.9. when we find the virus, we are finding the virus in the nose and throat, and there are a higher amounts of virus, many people are more likely to be infectious and they would otherwise be and

in the us, congress ends months of wrangling to agree on a $900 billion financial relief package for spoke earlier to have a long, economics correspondent at the washington post. the other big part of the package goes for the unemployed, so about 12 million americans were set to lose unemployment aid at the end of the month, which would have been a very scary scenario. this extends most of that aid through mid—march and gives people who are jobless and extra $300 a week. the final big part of the package that is getting a lot of buzz is about 160 million americans will receive a $600 payment from the government. this is meant to help them cover their answers and make it through the winter. there is also money to help pay for vaccines, help schools reopen, public transit, so a big boost of aid and very much needed. is that enough? you mentioned unemployment numbers continuing to rise. $600, it's a lot when you spread it across the whole country but in someone's back when you are feeding a family perhaps still not enough? there is no doubt, it took congress five months to agree on this

is to raise objections in the us congress to the presidential election results. that will force both houses to debate claims of fraud before they can ratify joe biden's win. josh hawley is the first member of the upper house to back formal congressional attempts to dispute mr biden's victory. the missouri senator claims congress has failed to investigate voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections. he has not cited any specific examples of fraud, and the courts have already rejected dozens of allegations from the trump legal team. the development follows a move earlier this week by some republicans to sue vice president mike pence, who will oversee the congressional certification. they're demanding that he recognise sets of alternative, pro—trump electors sent of behalf of local republican party groups in swing states won by president—elect biden. i asked juliegrace brufke, staff writer at the hill, to break all this down for us. definitely january 06 is teeing up to be a crazy day. the conservatives in the house now have a senator on

after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have reached agreement on a $900 the deal includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments for millions of workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. announcing the agreement, the republican leader in the us senate mitch mcconnell said the american people should know they would not now be battling the crisis alone. we can finally report what our nation has needed to hearfor a very long time. more help is on the way. moments ago, in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the senate and the house finalised an agreement. it would be another major rescue package for the american people. chuck schumer, who leads the democrats in the senate, said this was a start — but only a start. this bill is a good bill. tonight is a good night. but it is not the end of the story, it is not the end of thejob. anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what's going on in america, does not look into the eyes of a small business owner who's losing his business. 0ur north america corresponden

trump has vetoed a seven— hundred— and— a0 billion dollar defence bill that was approved by the us congress sleeping outside in freezing temperatures in bosnia, after fire swept through the camp they were living in. officials say former residents set fire to tents and containers. there are no reports of any injuries. the un says the refugees are in dire need of humanitarian aid. let's get more from our balkans correspondent guy de launey. this particular centre which we've seen the fire up their is called lipo. it's near the city in northwestern bosnia. that city itself is quite close to the border with croatia, so it's a magnet for thousands of people coming up those balkan trails who want to get into the european union, over the borderfrom bosnia into croatia. the problem is at anyone time bosnia has something between seven and 10,000 people who are staying in the country prior to moving on. it doesn't have the means to accommodate them. what's more is you've got places where organisations like the international organisation for migration have set up emergency centers for these people. bu

after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have reached agreement on a $900coronavirus relief package. the deal includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments for millions of workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. announcing the agreement, the republican leader in the us senate, mitch mcconnell, said the american people should know they would not now be battling the crisis alone. we can finally report what our nation has needed to hearfor a very long time. more help is on the way. moments ago, in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the senate and the house finalised an agreement. there will be another major rescue package for the american people. peter bowes joins us live from washington. this could not have come any sooner this could not have come any sooner because things are so difficult in the us. it's been a long road to get here. it's incredibly difficult for so many americans. many would say it is almost too late. they've been waiting a very long time for this stimulus bill. the second largest stimulus bi

president trump describes a $900 billion coronavirus relief package agreed by us congress as a disgraceis ending 2020 as the country with the highest covid death toll in europe and the government has tightened measures over christmas, including closing ski resorts. italy was the first country in the west to be hard—hit by the virus with the city of big armour in the north particularly devastated. our correspondence has been back there to reflect on this tragedy. clearing the pixel nobody to use. high in the italian alps, this resort should be preparing for a bumper christmas season but it and all italian ski resorts have been shot by the government to slow coronavirus. it is in the province of bergamo, worst hit in italy by the pandemic. another is the financial shock. translation: at christmas, we make up half of our season, losing it causes irreparable damage that we will never make up and i imagine some businesses here won't survive. what we from bergamo lived through in march was very frightening. hearing the sound of ambulances. we must take ca re of ambulances. we must take care n

president trump refuses to sign a $900 billion coronavirus relief package agreed by the us congress,g it as a disgrace. in australia, authorities in sydney so in australia, authorities in sydney so restrictions will be eased for three days over christmas, even though the number of infections in the city continues to grow. and coming up this hour: after a year of many sacrifices, we meet the care home relatives singing for residents and staff. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. rail, air and sea services between britain and france have restarted, after the french government agreed to ease its ban on people entering the country from the uk. almost 3,000 lorry drivers stranded at dover, will be offered rapid lateral flow tests, after many spent a third night in their vehicles. under the new travel agreement between the uk and france, french citizens british nationals living in france and hauliers will be among those who can now travel, if they've tested negative for covid—i9. in other developments, more areas of england could be moved into tier 4 restric

president trump refuses to sign a $900 billion coronavirus relief package agreed by both sides of the us congressscribed by him as a disgrace. calls for more people to be vaccinated with a single dose, rather than fewer receiving the required two jabs. how much immunity would one dose give? and — with virtually no new daily cases, it looks as if coronavirus has been kept at bay in singapore — we look at how they did it. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. rail, air and sea services between britain and france have restarted, after the french government agreed to ease its ban on people entering the country from the uk. after days of gridlock, lorry drivers are finally on the move, as long as they can show they have a negative covid test. but the backlog of lorries will take days to clear and drivers are frustrated that they are neither getting enough information, or access to tests to be able to travel. this protest took place earlier, at a giant lorry park on an airfield where 3000 tr

that this is al jazeera and these are the headlines the us congress has passed a 900000000000 dollars stimulus package to help american businesses and families struggling joining the pandemic that comes as the number of recorded coronavirus cases that exceeds 18000000 caster has more from washington d.c. . this is the 2nd biggest economic stimulus ever passed by the u.s. government $900000000000.00 just for the coded element and this is much needed money in the form of checks to almost a to most americans of $600.00 this also includes extending unemployment benefits to mid march as well as assistance with the rent and with nutrition still many saying that this is only a beginning part particularly with president elect joe biden taking office next month he has called this simply a down payment saying that the pain that the u.s. economy is experiencing from coded cannot be addressed by justice but that more legislative action is to come more than $40.00 countries have closed their borders to flights and travelers from the u.k. due to concerns over mutated strain of the virus the british

after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have reached agreement on a $900lief package. the deal includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments for millions of workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. announcing the agreement — the republican leader in the us senate, mitch mcconnell, said the american people should know they would not now be battling the crisis alone. we can finally report what our nation has needed to hearfor a very long time. more help is on the way. moments ago in consultation with our committees of the four leaders of the senate and the house finalised an agreement. it would be another major rescue package for the american people. chuck schumer who leads the democrats in the senate said this was a start but only a start. this bill is a good bill, tonight is a good night, but it is not the end of the story, it is not the end of the job. anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what's going on in america, does not look into the eyes of a small business owner who is losing his business. al corresponden

you raise the ceiling a little bit, you can address that but in addition to that, congress needs to treat its workers using this practices from any corporation or nonprofit around the country, a number of them doing that. there are a number of things congress could do to fix the ceiling and entry to make working in congress something, a goal should be for people to spend a good chunk ten or 15 years that would go a long way to maintain that institutional knowledge. >> let me bring in audience question, we've got quite a number of them. they fall into a few categories, david asked about cause and effect, the lack of capacity causes congress to avoid big and hard choices for the members desire to avoid the hard choices and evade personal responsibility for them leads them to fail to provide themselves necessary capacity and think about establishing a system that lets congress focus on the most important issues. his capacity the cause or effect of the dysfunction we find in congress? >> i guess my answer would be yes. it can work both sides of the equation. it is indisputable that there are some choices that

me saudi regime and we think comments from the french and german government, the government and us congressphy and a number of senators and within congress there has been a concerted effort to speak out and the murder of jamal khashoggi and the men of loujain al—hathloul. the problem is the trump administration has done nothing to hold them accountable and the crown prince for all their human rights violations and until that changes, it has been a problem. we are hopeful with any biden administration coming in in a few weeks and a few positive statements from his advisor today, that situation may change and we were the concerted efforts but without a change in the us administration, it has been a very very difficult process so farand we are very very difficult process so far and we are hoping for some more push on human rights issues from the saudis and making more political, economic cooperation and engagement on greater respect for human rights and releasing people u njustly rights and releasing people unjustly held in saudi jails. he very much. —— thank you very much. a major 5—year stud

me saudi regime and we think comments from the french and german government, the government and us congressnumber of senators and within congress there has been a concerted effort to speak out about the murder ofjamal khashoggi and the jailing of loujain al—hathloul. the problem is the trump administration has done nothing to hold them accountable and the crown prince for all their human rights violations and until that changes, it has been a problem. we are hopeful with any biden administration coming in in a few weeks and a few positive statements from his advisor today, that situation may change and we were the concerted efforts but without a change in the us administration, it has been a very very difficult process so far and we are hoping for some more push on human rights issues from the saudis and making more political, economic cooperation and engagement on greater respect for human rights and releasing people unjustly held in saudi jails. thank you very much. a major study of the atlantic ocean, which has taken five years to complete, has discovered species previously unknown to sc

as us congress passes a coronavirus relief package, president electjoe biden warns the worst is yet to

us. congress was extremely supportive of our election and that moneyes was put to good use. won, i president had suspect that chris would have been parade down pennsylvania venue and we would be pointing to him saying this was a legitimate election. ways.ts both the president didn't win re-election, but the security was what it was. kara: let's talk about one of the things that you pushed for and not umor control just the foreign interference, but the uses of our own u.s. for domestic disinformation is much more complicated. rumor control t and why you took it on. obviously it's not just security incursions, abuse of technologies and things but it's actual just words and ways to influence. about that andit what role do you see the social edia companies having in combating domestic disinformation, they have sort f done a stutter step toward some action and i think low bar s what i think of most of the time. matt: well, go back to when i which was early 2018, the 2016 election was everyone's minds and right then, the next target as protecting the 2018 midterms. a great lly des

us artie's killer martin. we've got a situation where not only are people dying on a daily basis but people's jobs are in jeopardy unemployment numbers are rising however members of the u.s. congress are reassuring us that they have put together a relief package help is on the way moments ago in consultation with our committees the 4 leaders of the son of. sam laws are in agreement to the millions of small business owners who are worried their businesses would go on their help is on the way to families struggling with less money. direct payments mean help is on the way the stimulus package will inject $900000000000.00 into the u.s. economy and for average americans that translates to a check of $600.00 now keep in mind that 6 $100.00 will be lessened for people who make more than $75000.00 per year now there will also be a $300.00 boost to federal unemployment benefits now this might sound like a lot for some but many americans look at this and say this is completely underwhelming and are quite disappointed $600.00 is a slap in the face no one should be proud of making people so desperate that they're reduced to sing think you for a crumb 600 dollars 11000000000 dollars for a bord

to the us now our congress has passed the spending bill including nearly a trillion dollars in covert $1000.00 economic stimulus money to keep the federal government running this is the 2nd cove in $1000.00 release deal since the start of the pandemic the 1st was the sweeping care is act signed into law in march it was the largest stimulus package in american history at $2.00 trillion dollars that's 10 percent of the country's g.d.p. it was unprecedented in size and scope but some benefits including a boost to weekly unemployment and months ago let's bring in shihab rattansi he's joining us from washington d.c. so talk us through what's in this bill and what isn't. i think what isn't in the bill is what is really needed to help the enormous economic pain that so many are feeling right now in the u.s. despite these enormous numbers when you drill down into into the thousands of pages what you find is an extra $600.00 a check or one off check for those earning less than 75000 dollars 600 dollars it was $1200.00 in the last package and that extra $300.00 a week in unemployment insurance

the us congress votes to increase pandemic relief payments and donald trump's veto on a defense bill. many of the agencies that are critical to our security kurt enormous damage. president elect joe biden warns america's ability to protect itself has been seriously weakened by the trumpet ministration. you're watching i'll just throw my from a headquarters in doha i'm daddy navigator also coming up.

after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have reached an agreement on900 billion coronavirus relief package. the measuring —— includes unemployment benefits and stimulus payments from millions of workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. it will also provide funding for the mass vaccination campaign and to help schools reopen. still caught up on fish, uk and eu negotiators are trying to agree the terms of a free—trade deal between the two say they are still stuck on access to the uk public fishing waters. sources close say it is too ha rd to sources close say it is too hard to say whether deal or no deal can be expected before christmas. more on those brexit trade negotiations continuing in brussels now. the end of the transition period and therefore the uk's current arrangements is now only 11 days away. 0ur europe editor catcher adler has been watching developments from brussels. it isa it is a case of so near and yet so it is a case of so near and yet so far. the negotiating team continued all over the weekend but it seems they are stuck.

decides to use it. congressuses that clause to pass the military reconstruction acts up to five different military districts, and says that the governments civilian government has put in place under andrew -- under the after the war, were not republican inform. the way they treat african americans, and unionists meant that the states were not republican, and that there needed to be federal control and cook until they could establish those republican forms of government. so johnson, vetoed surprisingly not surprisingly. military construction reconstruction bill. and said that he felt this was he felt that the military reconstruction act was an unconstitutional federal power, and state jurisdiction. and would lead to despotism. and his veto message to congress, he says i submit to congress whether this measure is not in its holy character scope and object without precedent and without authority in palpable conflict with the plainest provisions of the constitution. and invasion instruction insurrection rebellion an

democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempt to increase direct covid relief payments forincrease was demanded by president trump on tuesday but republicans in congress have blocked the change. president trump has refused to say if he will sign the bill if the payments are not increased. the former japanese not increased. the formerjapanese prime minister has apologised to parliament. ——the former japanese prime minister shinzo abe has apologised to parliament over a political funding scandal that saw his secretary charged on thursday. mr abe has faced allegations that his office improperly topped up money for lavish dinners held for his supporters. prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to charge him. politicians injapan are barred from giving gifts to supporters. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has addressed farmers across the country today, as pressure mounts on his government to scrap controversial farming reforms. this follows weeks of protests over the contentious new laws which will loosen the rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm items. j

now, in a new twist, democrats in the us congress are trying to increase the relief payments to $2,000m in rare alignment with donald trump. let's go to north carolina and speak to taylor griffin, a republican strategist, who worked in the white house under president george w bush. good to have you with us. i am fascinated by republican reaction to donald trump's last minute objections to this bill. it was a big surprise. these are provisions that the president's negotiators and republicans, especially in the senate, had been opposing all along because of the high price tag of a $2000 check. president trump did not raise objections at the time that a $600 check. it was surprising, after the bill was passed and the president's advisers and cabinet members were celebrating it as a huge triumph, president trump turned around and said, no, he was opposed to it and was going to veto it. it's ha rd to read to it and was going to veto it. it's hard to read donald trump's mind, but what do you think was behind that? on the surface, i think president trump is asserting himself asa president tru

now in a new twist, democrats in the us congress are trying to increase the relief payments to 2 thousandch puts them in rare alignment with donald trump. speaker nancy pelosi has just said she believes the house will pass a bill to that end today — however it's unlikely the republican controlled senate will concur. taylor griffin is a republican strategist who worked in the white house under president george w bush — i asked him about republican reactions to president trump's attempt to derail the bill. it was a big surprise. these are provisions that the president's own negotiators and republicans, especially in the senate, had been opposing all along because of the high price tag of a $2000 check. president trump did not raise objections at the time of the $600 check, so it was surprising, after the bill was passed, and the president's advisers and cabinet members were celebrating it as a huge triumph, that president trump turned around and said, no, he was opposed to it and was going to veto it. it's hard to reach donald trump's mind, but what do you think was behind it? on the surfac

now, in a new twist, democrats in the us congress are trying to increase the relief payments to $2,000them in rare alignment with donald trump. daniel lippman is the white house reporter for politico. he joins us from washington. good to see you. mr trump not siding with his own party on this. trump is a populist and, despite his efforts before not to lift a finger to make these payments are possible, changed his mind at the last minute, blindside in his own party, and is now pushing for this $2000 figure, and so democrats are saying, where we re and so democrats are saying, where were you months ago when help from your administration could have pushed this and maybe got it to $1200, instead of only $600, which is not enough for many american families during this holiday season. evenif families during this holiday season. even if the democrats and donald trump are in alignment, and i can't believe i have said that, as a higher payment likely to get through? there is virtually zero chance a higher payment would get through, at least in the next week or two, because republicans in the se

us president donald trump has rejected a new coronavirus relief bill passed by congress on monday calling it a quote unquote disgrace called for more money for individuals and small businesses the 900000000000 bipartisan bill was passed after months of wrangling between democrats and republicans and. israel is set to have its 4th election in 2 years after parliament failed to meet a deadline to pass a budget. prime minister benjamin netanyahu forms his current unity government with centrist politician benny gantz in may after 3 inconclusive elections this is g.w. news from berlin follow us on twitter on instagram and t w news or visit our website that's d w dot com. or . he's been arrested beaten up poisoned and tried to run against vladimir putin for the russian presidency alexina valley's latest a trick is to dupe the spies he says try to kill him into telling him how they did it russia denies this of course indeed president putin recently said that if you had tried to kill him the valley would be dead so who is the next move i'm phil gayle in berlin and this is the day. period high is

us. congress was extremely supportive of our election security mission. i think that money was put to good use. if the president had one, i suspect chris would have been paraded down pennsylvania avenue and pointing to him saying it was a legitimate election. but it cuts both ways. the president did not win reelection, but the security was what it was. >> one of the things you pushed for was the rumor control. not just the foreign interference, but the uses of our own u.s. companies for domestic disinformation is much more complicated. let's talk about rumor control and why you took it on. obviously, it's not just incursions, security incursions, abuse of technologies and things like that, but it's actual just words and ways to influence people. talk a little bit about that and what role do you see the social media companies having in combatting disinformation? they've sort of done a stutter step towards some action. i think low bar is the word i think of most of the time. >> let me go back to when i came into cisa, which was early 2018. the 2016 election

and he does hate the way congress decides to use it. congress uses that clause to pass in 1867 the military reconstruction acts. divides the former confederacy to five different military districts, puts generals in charge and said that the government -- civilian governments put in place under andrew johnson after the war were not republican in form. that the way they were treating african-americans and unionists meant that these states weren't republican and that there needed to be federal control until they could establish those republican forms of government. johnson vetoed, not surprisingly, military reconstruction bill. and he said that he felt -- this is according to the andrew johnson site in greenville, tennessee. felt the military reconstruction act was an unconstitutional extension of federal power into areas of state jurisdiction. and that this would lead to despotism. his veto message to congress, he says i submit to congress, whether this measure is not in its wholly character, scope and object without precedent, keeping this

and also visa restrictions however right before restarted work we started over the weekend the us congress approved an expanded sanctions bill willis targets insurance firms for avoiding service is the companies supplying equipment and or stream to comes in addition to the already existing north stream pipeline which also runs through the baltic sea it will be able to pump 55000000000 cubic meters of natural gas from russia to germany every year and then on to the rest of europe journalist thomas fassbender shared his thoughts on the project's future. as we see today both sides the germans the russians and also the european union they are basically committed to finish this project now it's 94 percent complete it would be simply so silly to. dump almost 10000000000 euros in the in the baltic sea for nothing but of course the u.s. also already has u.s. administration. continues to or pressure approach to pressure the participants pressure the government's own wisdom by an it's a very difficult choice the new american president will have to follow it really follow the old policy of his previo

we're in congress. tell us about the freedom force and your reaction to her reaction? >> look, we're in congress, i'm little older than her so i have been out of high school for a long time but i will fight her ideas and the squad's idea ideas. we have a group of newly elected congress people from the republican party that feel very much of the same. we are antisocialist. we are pro-business. we are pro-police. we are pro-life. and so we will fight that and fight those ideas of the squad to the end. so, if we're called the force, whatever we are called, we are just a group of newly elected republican in congress men and women that are diametrically opposed to what the squad wants to do to this country. the squad wants to fundamentally change this country. we love this country. we wants to make it better but not fundamentally change it and so, you know, we -- just about everything that they stand for, i stand against. and that's one of the reasons that i ran for congress.

democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempts to increase direct covid relief payments to$600 the increase was demanded by president donald trump on tuesday but republicans in congress have blocked the change. the president has refused to say if he will sign the bill if the payments are not increased. india's prime minister andrew modi has announced around $2.11 billion of benefits for farmers in has announced around $2.11 billion of benefits forfarmers in its ongoing protest around reforms a decade. he just that is if i was virtually and claims the opposition have been misleading them around new laws which loosen the rules around sale, pricing, and storage of farm items. the first concert to be held inside notre dame cathedral in paris since it was partially destroyed by fire last year has been broadcast on french tv. there was no audience for the concert, and socially distanced singers war hard hats and boiler suits because it is still a construction site. they performed pieces by mozart and schubert as well as more light—hearted songs like jingle bells. # bells # bells

freezes on transactions and also visa restrictions over right before work restarted last weekend the us congress approved a bill that includes expanded sanctions against the pipeline now they range from measures against companies providing insurance to firms that provide the quit meant just to give a recap the north rim 2 is an extension of the already existing nord stream pipeline which also goes through the baltic sea now it will be able to hold 55000000000 cubic meters of russian gas that will come from russia the germany been from germany to other european countries every year so what about its future well we've got the views of journalist thomas hospital. as we see today both sides the germans the russians and also the european union they are basically committed to finish this project now it's 94 percent complete it would be simply silly to. dump almost 10000000000 euro in the baltic sea for nothing but of course the u.s. authorities the u.s. administration. continues to or pressure approach to pressure up disciplines pressure the governments but mr biden it's a very difficult choice the ne

after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have reached agreement on a $900on coronavirus relief package. the measure includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments for millions of workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. it will also provide funding for the mass vaccination campaign and to help schools reopen. still caught up on fish — uk and eu negotiators trying to agree the terms of a free trade deal between the two say they're still stuck on the issue of eu access to the uk's fishing waters. sources close to the talks say a decision on whether it's deal or no deal can be expected before christmas. now on bbc news, dateline london. hello, i'm shaun ley. welcome to the programme that brings together leading columnists in the uk, bbc specialists, and the foreign correspondents who send their stories to audiences back home from the dateline london. this week — the eu and uk agree to keep on talking. the us supreme court declines to hear. and borisjohnson sees no covid crisis because of christmas — provided it's a little one. joini

after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have finalised agreement on as relief package. the measure includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments for millions of workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. it will also provide funding for the mass vaccination campaign and to help schools reopen. joining me now is russ mould, investment director, aj bell they have been fighting and wrangling over this for months, the second largest stimulus package ever. take us through some of the details. you have all you mentioned the vaccine distribution bailout, airlines, 600 dollars per adult, down from 1200 earlier on this year but still nevertheless a direct cash injection and support for welfare programmes so it is broad ranging and worth around 496 broad ranging and worth around 4% of american gdp. broad ranging and worth around 496 of american gdp. very welcome by millions of americans are struggling right now but it is only for the next few months, isn't it? that is correct and interesting, mitch mcconnell, the leader of the senate, t

democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempt to increase direct covid payments to americansdonald trump on tuesday but republicans in congress have blocked the change. midnight mass in bethlehem looks a little different this year ta nks little different this year tanks to the coronavirus pandemic. ——thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. but the celebrations went ahead, close to the 1,700—year—old church of the nativity, built on the site where christians believejesus was born. but the service which is normally attended by thousands of local and foreign worshippers was closed to the public this year. 0ur correspondent yolande knell, is in bethlehem. this is a christmas eve unlike any that local people have ever seen before. not even when there have been the flare—ups in violence in the israel—palestinian conflict have the festivities been so muted. typically, this would be the busiest night of the year for bethlehem, with no rooms at its hotels. inevitably, that is not the case this year, and that is just devastating to a place that is so reliant on tourism. meanwhile, in the v

democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempt to increase direct covid relief payments to on tuesday, but republicans in congress have blocked the change. mrtrump has mr trump has refused to say if he will sign the bill if those payments are not increased. the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape are under severe pressure from a rising number of covid—19 cases, which are possibly linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 111,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise, with one in 85 people in england infected, according to officialfigures. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. we are going to stay with that story, as the uk reports another 39,036 new cases of covid—19 and 574 deaths in the past 2a hours. cases have been rising everywhere across the uk — except in scotland. here's our science editor, david shukman. just over a fortnight ago, the inspiring moment o

donald trump has blocked a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, which was agreed by the us congressdeal would see most american people receive a one—off payment of $600, about £450, but the outgoing president wants that amount substantially increased. peter bowes reports. without objection. a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. they thought it was a done deal. after months of wrangling, democrats and republicans in congress finally agreed a $900 billion package of measures to help americans through the pandemic. all it needed was the signature of donald trump. but not so fast. the president doesn't like the bill. he says a lump sum payment that most americans would receive isn't enough. i am asking congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. i am also asking congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a covid relief package. and maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it d