The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglecd needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Laura im Laura Trevelyan and washington, d. C. And this is announcer bbc world news america. The number of coronavirus around the world passes 55 million. States impose new restrictions. 30,000 ethiopians have fled to neighboring sudan. Almost halare thought to be the n. Wants to know more about whats happening on the ground. They are needing avsperately to access unhindered, eunconditional access to refues. Laura plus, the taxis reached its destination as space x brings for astronauts safely toa the internatiospace station. Welcome to bbc world news america. The u. S. Is facing s the covid pandemic reeks fssther havoc ache nation. Each day the tracking ofovid cases gets darker and darker. More than 138,000 new cases on monday. To put that into perspective, one in every 378 americans tested positive for coronavirus in the last week. Exceeds 1000 deaths per day. There are still 14 states that dont have mask mandates. The republican led ones like iowa and north dakota have joined the call. 10 states have restrs on indoor dining. Kansas city mayor said new restrictions in hisity will be tough over the holidays but necessary. Every wedding, everythings giving, every large event is potential for a large spread. We have seen it time and time again. The boohoo did not intend to get sick or intend to get friend sick or coworkers sick. The people who did not intend to get relative sick or intend to get friendsick or coworkers ck. Laura what are you seeing that you have had to takese t drastic steps . The situation is dire we were able to t by with outdoor activities. The spread is nothing like what we saw inhe fall. Particularly as we have got into the cold and winter months. Ic capacity is limited. Hospital staff is limited. Inansas city we have had nurses and other workers flown in from new orleans, louisiana. We have had more people die inid thest of the United States. It is a significant challenge, and thats why we are taking the steps. Even though these are republican parts of the country where people have spoken of freedom and concernth. K its reality now that we all have to do something. Laura what advnge are you gio people with the thanksgiving holiday next week how are you suggestelg they shouldrate that safely, given the dire situation you described . They should celebrate it in the same way we are speaking now. A zoom and virtual meetings. Its just not worth it. Everyone who goes to a large event ends up saying, i thought it was a gd idea what then people fall ill. I think in man ways, much like the outbreak started ine, eur than in new york in the spring when Many Americans said its finally hit the middle of america, the southern of the United States. We thought it was a problem over rethere. Peopleeeing it is here, it is significant and they should court tail curtail the holiday season. Laura dr. Anthony fauci called today for a uniform approach across america. Of course its state by state and city by city at the moment. Youee any prospect of a uniform approach befcoe joe biden s president . Its a fascinating and beddling time in the united stat, where we have our current president still refusing tode con. So i guess the answer would be no. I ront see a uniform ah before president elect biden is sworn in. That is incredibly frustrating for us. As somebody who is trying to issue orders in just a city, but there are millions of people who surround me whoargely dont have any mask rules, certainly no restaurant restrictions, and are led by some folks who dont believe in the existence of covid19 at all that is problematic for us. It isoing to be where we continue to see this level of spread. Its hard to contain if you have this type of approach. Thas why youave not seen substantial change in the it has been done, just cant be done and wont be until biden is sworn in. Laura thank you for joining us. Turning overseas now. Brazil has the secondhighest number of coronavirus cases in the world after the u. S. , with more than 5 millionnf iections, 166,000 people have died there. Some of the worst fatality rates have been amongst the people in the amazon. The amazon rain forest, one of the worlds most bio diverse and for tall regions. Hundreds of indigenous groups live here in isolated villages, reachable only by boat but even here people have not been safe from covid19. You know as the leader of the people, there are 15,000 Indigenous People who live near the border with peru. In may t virus began to rip through his village. [speaking foreign language] we had to stay just outside the village is because of the risk of transmitting disease to the people inside. Thmany oe who died were elders and their community. He was known as the Human Library for his knowledge of his people. He died, age 96. So have reached the age of 106, but after a twoweek battle of covid, she passed away too. Leaders say they were not given medicati to treat covid, so they had to rely on traditional plants. Many are angry at what they see. [speakingoreign language] according to local organizations, more than one in eight Indigenous People were infected in the region. And among those who caughthe disease, the mortality rate was 150 higher than the brazilian average. But some communities have been organizing their own defenses. This is another group that lines in village the brazil peru they h managed to keep erder. Coronavirus out of their homes by stric we who goes in and who goes out. [speaking foreign language] so far, the measures have worked we met leaders just outside the village who showed us how they order food, medicines, and office supply. E goods are brought from the city and unloaded by the river, minimizing the risk of transmison. In a country where thousands have died from covid19, it not hard to see why some of brazils Indigenous People are taking mattershanto their own s. Laura covid affecting the amazon too, while the pentagon says it will sharply reduce the number o u. S. Forces in afghanistan from 4500 to 2500 by january. The news is not sitting well with Senior Republicans who fear it will hurt peace talks with lets go now to my colleague. The president is trying to fulfill his campaign pledgme of endingcas wars, but what kind of pushback is he getting . He is getti pushed even from people within his party. So people surprised to see y tch mcconnell speaking out about is stronsterday and today saying precipitous withdrawalir fro or afghanistan would be a mistake, and comparing the possible consequences to Barack Obamas withdrawal in 2011 from iraq. That was surprising. Hather been the sofretary genera nato warning that it could lead afghanistan to becom ace where International Terrorists are able to form and carry out their plans. They are also warning that isis could rebuild their caliphate from their. From there. This is not the first time the president has made a big decision such as this in the lameduck period. Given that donald trump has yet to recognize that there is a transiti happening, given that he has yet to even concede, i think it has been viewed as differently. There are some commentators saying he is doing these things just to undermine joe bidens presidency, but also some people saying it allows him to say that amhe has fulfilled hisign promises, if he decides to run again in 2024. People see it as a distinct possibility. Laura thank you for joining us. Now, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern ethiopia, with nearly 30,000 people fleeing the conflict since the start of november. Tensions between ethiopias federal government and authorities in its tigreegion of rapid weeks ago. Abrupt it weeks ago. It is fraught with great risk here. These are ethiopians from the northern region. Two weeks of fighting between the northern government and the National Army has forced them to flee. They are arriving in the thousands every day in sudan. We came with the close on our backs. I dont know where my husband is. I have been looking for him for five days. I dontno but there was heavy fighting and many people after that they told us to leave, so we fled. Everyone did. Y tont mind that the barren lands of Eastern Sudan have led to this. They built makeshift shelters in peace. They can finally sleep in aid is slow to come. The size of the arrivals is triggering the humanitarian response. Whoever is listening, a country like saddam, who already su n, who already has one million refugees, mrs. Hs shift this is a shift in the refugee numbers. These are some of the few pictures coming out of tigre. Tathe National Army has ng control of the western side. Hoitd what they said our celebr town. In one liberated with the comcations blackout there, its difficult to verify reports from the region. The government has rejected calls from mediation. We dont need mediation until we bring leaders to court. Any mediation would incentivi impunity and unruliness. So the onslaught continues. The federal government says its making the final push for the capital after a threeday deadline to surrender, but they doubt it could quickly subdue the rulers of ethiopia who govern tigre. As witevery conflict the real losers are theivians, whose life has been disrupted and threatened with no help coming their way. Laura s tensising in ethiopia. World, the heads of facebook and twitter have bein defending social media platforms. Republican senators attack them for what ty call censorship. President trump his allies join the u. S. Election. They have the spread of misinformation on social media. Benjamin netanyahu is said to have a warm conversation with president elect joe biden on tuesday. He said the two agreed to meet soon to discuss the aany issues th pending and reaffirm the need to strengthen the alliance between the United States and israel. Youre watching bbc world news america. Still to come on tonights program, bringing torrential rains to nicaraguas coast two weeks after another devastating storm. Ura police in berlin have arrested three people following the whose work was said to be incalculable. They are believed to be members of a notorious criminal Family Network based in the capital. The capital. Officers raided thiss a big development, which really shocked the country when it happened. Not because of the worth of what stolen, these historical treasures, it was said there worth was set at the time to be in measurable. But also because of the audacity of the crime. The thieves managed to create a the museum before ng theirut at way through a barred window and then into the green vault. They were hoping they might be able to recover some of the loot. It does not look as though they have recovered any of items. Ura there have been so many storms and hurricanes this year that the authorities have nearly run right through the alphabet in naming them. They have reached the ninth letter of the greek alphabet. Hurricane iota has forced thousands of people in nicaragua andonduras to move inland from the coast. Its supposed thebe the end of north atlantic Hurricane Season, but this is what a category five hurricane looks like. 260 kilometer in power wins sanding the home andreas. Bringing lifethreatening home surges of flood inland. One person died on another colombian island. Is the first time i category five hurricane has hit columbia. Has characteristics that have never been seen in our country. First, in m tter of hours, it went from a Tropical Storm to a category five hurricane. And its not finished. The monster storm making landfall in northeast nicaragua, this city is boarding up. I have t mo say thatt of the communities that are in daer of being washed away by the rains and by the winds have been ecuated totally to safer places. 15 to 20 feet of forecast and 30 ihes of rain. The previous hurricane destroyed our house and we were left with nothing. Now another one ispproaching. We dont know what will happen. We fear for our lives,he lives of o children, and of my mother who is sick. We dont want to die. It has been years since we faced ese things in nicaragua we must do things the way we should do them. Next in its sites is honduras and guatemala. All three were hit by eta, a category four hurricane. Iota is the strongest atlantic hurricane of the year. The second to reach category 5. The last was in 1932. The Hurricane Season is getting longer and hurricanes are more powerful. Cfueled by the warmibbean sea, is symptom of climate change. Laura lets go to scotland frere there is a growing movement to spli the u. K. Britains decision to leave the European Union despite a majority of scots imposing t i moveone factor while another is discontent. Our correspondent has been traveling around scotland and has this report. This river martw the border n scotland and england. The two nations joined forces three centuries ago. T the United Kingdom is under strain. From the bordee we meet a farmer who tells us brexit is driving up supporndfor scottishendence. I am terrified. I genuinely fear that from a scottishbe perspective, it wil the end of agriculture. Why . There will be trade deals, but that shortterm is the difference betweval or not. You are not worried about the prospect of a border . It would be naive to think that there wont be challens. Independent were it is not the land of milk and honey on day one. But brexit is a twoway street. This young entrepreneur and his family think it makes the union with england more important ever. What do you think would happen if scotland came into this . I think it would be a massive crash in the economy. We dont have the power that the u. K. Has because it has the bank of england and the pound. I think there is enough uncertainty at the moment. We have brexit to deal with, whether the deal is going to happen. The coronavirus has deliverey more uncer. With the u. K. Borrowing billions while it locked down cities and towns. I wish therebu was a magic on that we could push and things could get better. She was for independent six years ago, but now shes against it. We are in the middle of a global pandemic. We would have been very unstable at this point. Scotland has always maritime nation. Known for fishing, ship building, and in recent decades, for the riches beneath waters. For years, we talked about the economy in scotland we talked about oil, but these days its food and drink, which is a big deal, especially whiskey. The industry is with a fortune to scotland. 7 billion a year. Some distillers say it would mean higher taxes. The owner of this bar is not concerned, even in this time of crisis. What about the argument that du this pandemic is the u. K. Governmentnd the deep pockets of the u. K. Government that has helped keep scotland afloat . The deeple pockets are f with a lot of borrowed money from the financial markets. The u. K. As a whole includes scotlands renewables. Scotland is a comparatively wealthyountry. The case for scotland to stay in the union is to highlight stability and prosperity within the u. K. And risk with but that route has become trickier in these turbulent times. Laura from scotlands future to space. Docked at the internationalt has space station. Its the first time a private asspaceship has carrieonauts from earth to the station. Let us know when your review is complete d you are ready r docking. Cture confirmed. Docking sequence is complete. [applause] the end of a 27 hour taxi ride to space. And there they are, first off the ledge. For the first time, four astronauts arrive r their mission aboard the International Space station aboard the spacecraft. They will spend about six months living and working on the space station. It was an amazing ride. I cannot tellit you how e we were when that rocket lifted above thead and the last 27 hours has gone really smooth. 3, 2, 1, 0. Ignition. Sunday night launch marked a new erfor nasa. They had seats from a private aerospace company. A move the u. S. Says willave ns of dollars that it can invest in future missions to the moon and mars. Why is this flight such a big moment for Space Exploration . Is a very exciting time. Companies like space x are using so many parts of the rockets. It is reallyushing what we can do with our technology. Its bringing down the cost of access to space. For this crew, their mission is done in 2021 and a private space taxi will be waitg to bring them home. Laura before we go, a Christmas Tree is meant to be a symbol of hope, celebration and joy. The Rockefeller CenterChristmas Tree in new york city has been met with criticism. The branches appear to be something ali brown would pick out. Others said the perfect embodiment a blog post said goodord, i just got here, can you give me a minute to spruce up. Too funny, but look at those branches. I am laurau trevelyan, thank so much for watching bbc world news america. Have naor funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymond james. The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from nat the height of the conflict. M thank you. Into vietnam he beca single parent of two young children. We moved a lot. We slept in rest areas we slept in our car. I didnt realize thawe were actually homess. It makes your world ally small. T if we happenstay in a motel that happened to have a tv, it was really special. We loved nova. Especially when it would be about space. We would talk for hours about the universe. T watching nova, i fg, like, my mind was big, my ideas were big. The trajectory of my life changed. I could see a world outside of our poverty and i felt like things were going to get better. Pbs opened up a world i didnt know existed. Judy good evening. Im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight. Social media under fire the leaders of facebook and twitter face congressional questioning over alleged political bias on their platforms. En, essential work, the men and women of both parties who do the work at polling places across the countryonfront the condemnation of their service. Plus. One year later as the worldaw aits a vaccine for covid19, e are on the ground to se ere things stand at the virus epicenter. This behind me is whats left of the huanan wet market what many people lieve is the original source of covid19. There are no businesses operating inside aor