This is bbc news Donald Trumps top Law Enforcement officer says the us election was legitimate. The attorney general has not found evidence of widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the vote. Bill barrs statement is very much at odds with his boss, the president , who continues to say he was robbed of victory. The head of the food and Drug Administration is summoned to the white house mr trump is frustrated the covid vaccines arent getting approval quicker. Also in the programme. The the noes have it to the left, 78. Despite the biggest backbench rebellion of this parliament, borisjohnson has secured enough
support to introduce a new set of tiered covid restrictions in england. They come into placejust after midnight tonight. And, the second, large, mystery structure to go missing in recent days. Is nothing sacred anymore . Hello, i am katty kay in washington Christian Fraser is in london. We are in the midst of a crippling pandemic, a growing Health Crisis about which the president says very little. From his twitter account, it appears he spent much of his afternoon live tweeting a Committee Hearing in michigan, in which his personal attorney Rudi Giulliani was submitting further un subta ntiated claims about the election. The trouble is, around the same time as rudy was claiming fraud mr trumps own attorney general, bill barr was telling reporters the department ofjustice has found nothing to suggest the election
was rigged. Last month mr barr issued a directive to us attorneys across the country to pursue any substa ntial allegations. He is one of the president s most ardent supporters, but his patience appears to be wearing thin. Theres a growing tendency, he said to use the Trump Campaign issued an immediate rebuttal. Our senior north america reporter Anthony Zurcher is with us. Such a staunch ally of the president and a guess that is why we are all
taking notice of this. Will the Donald Trump Administration finally say ok, fairenough. Donald Trump Administration finally say ok, fair enough. It is doubtful, donald trump is not back down in the face of other evidence and legal decisions against him. So, why would he start when the bill says publicly. It is noteworthy that bill barr decided to speak out, he did not have to, he could have not said anything and they were not announcing any new evidence or any new charges speak for itself but he felt compelled to Say Something now hours before he had a previous scheduled appointment to go to the white house and i think it is noteworthy and it could be him trying to put some distance between the Justice Department and trying to put some distance between theJustice Department and some of these allegations that are being made by donald trump legal team. Because of the allegation that ballots are being changed by Voting Machines and saying they have not
seen machines and saying they have not seen any machines and saying they have not seen any evidence of that. So, i think it is bill deciding that he had to at least make some sort of public statement. Yes, but if bill is now separating himself in the timing is interesting just two months before donald trump leaves office, reading into that perhaps the bill barr is in the beginning of a cascade of support is the got to accept this . There is the possibility of this. Time could be running out for donald trump whether he likes it or not, whether he concedes formally or not. We have had key swing states and all of the ones we has filed charges, they have certified their Election Results and thatis certified their Election Results and that is the next step in the process to appointing the electors who will gather on the 14th to cast their votes in the state capital across the country as part of the electoral
couege the country as part of the Electoral College deciding the election. So, there is a very hard deadlines coming up here in the coming days and Donald Trumps team can continue to file legal challenges, but at least so far it has not gotten any traction with them and other the votes are being certified, think the bar is going higher and higherfor him and his legal team to overcome and so, it may be him deciding that he wanted to Say Something definitively now but whether there isa definitively now but whether there is a cascade now in the coming days, the reality is that by december 14, this is going to be in the books in the votes in the Electoral College will of been cast and all it is a matter of time before congress cou nts matter of time before Congress Counts those votes and that makes joe bidens victory official and start making plans for inauguration. Despite all of the evidence, the legal team are digging in and i watched a player clip of one of the lawyers on the president s team who
calls for the man that was in charge of election security, who was in charge of cybersecurity to be taken out and shot, have a listen. The trouble with that is it goes beyond the rough and tumble of everyday politics and weve seen where that leads in michigan with the Death Threats the governor face there the Death Threats that people face from the Republican Party in georgia. And i think it is symptomatic of how damaging and dangerous the president s campaign is becoming and who how long this is going to go on for. That is a very real concern, i think that has particular significance because he isa particular significance because he is a Legal Adviser and if you listen
to the commentators and conservative media, not necessarily fox news but people like oh aan and other outlets, are talking about donald trump needing to do more to, as one commentator said, trump needing to do more to, as one commentatorsaid, declare trump needing to do more to, as one commentator said, declare martial law and delay the certification, delay the Electoral College vote until there can be another election. This sort of rhetoric is so over the top as to be absurd but theres so many people they can listen to that and take this and say we have to do this by any means necessary and that it is time for the people to rise up against the government and perhaps decide to ta ke government and perhaps decide to take matters into their own hands good it could be an invitation to violence and hopefully people will not heed but it is dangerous to american politics and quite frankly to american lives. Stay with us, were going to getjoe biden
possible his latest moves in the second but there are millions of americans who do believe the president when he says the election was fraud and will carry a grievance about it but endorsing interestingly, around the country, some state officials, republicans, not here in washington very much where there is still a lot of silence going on, but around the country are seeing some state officials literally tuning the president out of the moment. Here is the governor of arizona who was in the governor of arizona who was in the process of certifying the results when his phone rings and we know that it is a phone call from the president because he has already told us in the past that the president s ring tone for him, he has said to hail to the chief. Listen to this move will listen to it again. That you have it. The phone goes, its hail to the chief, which means that its the president of the United States and what is the governor do, a republican, he takes it out of his pocket, oh, that is cold. That is harsh and that is what ido cold. That is harsh and that is what i do when you ring, christian and he puts it back on the table. Im impressed that help to achieve this for me on your phone. So, some people are turning out in summer literally sending voicemails of the moment. Joe biden has been introducing the members of his new economic team, the president elect says the First Priority will be putting together a generous stimulus package to drive the economic recovery. The team consists of high profile women, it will be led by the first female nominee for treasury secretary and the Senate Republicans will agree to and from all of these pix may be another
questions and make to address these urgent needs, as the lame duck session is at best just to be a start in my Transition Team is already working on what i would put forward in the next congress to address the multiple crisis we are facing, especially our economic and covid 19 crisis. That is of the president elect wants to do, will he be able to get it confirmed . I think she has shown that she has support across the board. She was the chairperson and the council of economic advisers. Heading the Treasury Department would be historic achievement for anyone in the triple crown for economists, if you will and i think theres considerable scorn among
republicans that she is an authoritative figure. Joe biden as nominee for the office of management budget is going to face a much more uphill climb and she is the daughter of indian immigrants and the person of indian immigrants and the person of colour in the first person of colour to manage the budget but she has read people wrong on the left with her criticisms of bernies standards and the progressives and also been outspoken on social media towards the right, including some members of the us and the republican members of the us and the republican members were going to be the ones deciding whether or not she is confirmed or not. Of all the economic employments, i think theyll be the most challenging and shes kind of become a lightning rod for criticism but it is a very narrowly decided senate and there still a possibility that democrats could take control of it if they win those two senate seats in georgia and they could still convince someone and they could still convince someone like susan collins, moderate republican to come over to vote to confirm. So, will be a fight on that one but i think as a whole, you look
at the economic nominees, pretty widely respected and is interesting to see them talk about the personal stories, rather than economic policies. Very Diverse Group representative of the face of the face of america today. A lot to talk about still in american politics and of course there is the pandemic. When you watch this presentation, they were all sitting there in mass, socially distant. It is notjust what theyre saying from the podium, it is the style as well. It is just very different. Socially distance, taking the pandemic very seriously, which they have to do. The us centers for Disease Control has been meeting today to hammer out who should get the first the us centers for Disease Control has been meeting today to hammer out who should get
the first doses of covid vaccine. Its a highly sensitive issue, since there wont be enough vaccines for everyone for months to come. Indeed, the white house is frustrated at how long it is taking to get Regulatory Approval for the first vaccines. This morning the head of the food and Drug Administration, dr stephen hahn was summoned to the west wing. Were joined now by New York Times reporter katie thomas she specializes in covering the health care industry. How much pressure are the under to put speed ahead of safety . how much pressure are the under to put speed ahead of safety . I think theyre under a put speed ahead of safety . I think they re under a lot put speed ahead of safety . I think theyre under a lot of pressure because of the tragedy of this pandemic to move as quickly as they can. They have said that they are not going to about any political
pressure but clearly, the public wa nts pressure but clearly, the public wants them to come to some sort of decision as quickly as possible. Picking up on this, i want to talk about what they have been deciding today, they been in this meeting, can we take a quick look at but we think will be the order. Will be in line to get this vaccine . Obviously will be the Health Care Workers dealing with covid i9 patients and then in january, we dealing with covid i9 patients and then injanuary, we are told the nursing home residents, they will be nextin nursing home residents, they will be next in line and in february, high risk adults and in march, people with pre existing conditions and then the critical workers and before we even get to the general population. How many people are we talking about before you get to a general roll out . Talking about before you get to a general rollout . You end up getting a big chunk of the American Public and there is about 21 million health
ca re and there is about 21 million Health Care Workers, there are 3 Million People who are in some sort of Long Term Care facilities and essential workers who are out there doing the work well and other people can social distance and work from home like me in there about 87 Million People and their people for over 65 people with pre existing medical conditions and that can be i believe a third of the American Public and so thats a dreary big chunk of the country and also the people that really are most at risk of being exposed or being harmed from the virus. We have seen the heart pounding hollywood movies that show the moment where vaccines can be distributed and they have armed guards and social unrest and people are trained to do everything they can to pull strings to jump to the front of the cube, are you confident
from your reporting that systems have been put in place that this will be an orderly roll out with minimum social unrest . This is something that the Donald Trump Administration has been faulted for for not getting on top of testing and for not managing the pandemic but they have put all of their eggs into the vaccine basket and for months now, this collaboration of the operation warp speed which is between the department of health and Human Services and the department of defence have not only been trying to get a vaccine working to market, but also they have been practising and trying to develop systems for distributing once one is available. So, they say that behind the scenes, they have been doing these table top exercises. They been doing mock deliveries with empty boxes to try and make sure that they work out the
kinks ahead of time and there are a lot of unknowns. Ultimately it will be up to the state and local government to distribute these vaccines and to make the final decisions about who should get them first and a lot of governments and said they do not have enough to do all of this. So, we are going to have to see how it all plays out. Thank you very much. A lot of interest in who gets these vaccines first. Germany is preparing for the Pfizer Vaccine was developed jointly with German Company biontech and germany is preparing for when the vaccine will be approved. These are the Vaccination Centres the country is building are being replicated across the country to administer vaccinations nationwide. Here in the uk, all three vaccines that have released data have requested Regulatory Approval but its possible that the develeped on home soil at Oxford University will be quickest. Were joined now by one of the people involved in the making of that vaccine dr mark toshnerfrom cambridge university. Talking about the decisions and america, would be fair to say that the decisions they come too broadly speaking, will be replicated over here . It is difficult to say that, but before we do, can i clarify that i was not involved in the making of the vaccine. I minor investigator who ran one of the sites in cambridge and that is an important clarification. Tell me, broadly speaking, you get the data on some of these vaccines that you are asked to approve is that what youre saying . No, i ran the parks of the studies and the lead investigator and coordinated the enrolment and the volunteers administering the vaccine and the safety visits. Thank
you for clarifying that. Saying there that obviously there is a race to get the vaccines out and politically speaking, the uk government would love to be the first government in the west to get it out there given the problems we have had with testing. What you think theyll be once the bad . |j dont think we are. I think the regulatory authorities are taking exactly the amount of time they need to make us safe decision here and there will be independent of pressure in the uk wasnt a slightly less pressure from our political leaders and perhaps the states but i have every confidence that they played an absolute blinder throughout this pandemic with some really quick sensible decisions and the importance of these decisions, they would take as much time as they need. Are you confident the rollout
process in the uk, we are hearing about the potential problems in the us with states and they do not have enough money necessarily to roll this vaccine out as fast as possible, you confident that the uk has an of those issues that the roll out will be smooth we get the vaccine . Like your american commentator, the complexity of this cannot be underestimated and there area cannot be underestimated and there are a lot of things that we are going to have to learn about this, nobody should underestimate the challenge to the rolling out vaccines and its going to be more than one vaccine that is likely across the population, but we have a lot of very bright and capable people for spending day and thinking about this and im pretty confident that we will manage it but the question is, how we manage that process as we go along. Thank you very much forjoining clearly so
much interest in this vaccine and also we have to get to the issue of distributing this vaccines and thats going to have all its own particular hurdles and challenges in theissue particular hurdles and challenges in the issue of distributing this vaccines and thats going to have all its own particular hurdles and challenges and those you watching on bbc news, we will be right back. One of the oldest names on the high street debenhams is set to close, putting 12,000 jobs at risk. The company went into administration earlier this year and efforts to find a buyer have so far failed. I think you have to go back quite a long way into two things colliding, basically, one of which was an ever changing retail scene. And thats normal, but it probably changed more in the last ten years than ever before, obviously with the rise of the internet, value players and the sports brands. But then debenhams in particular got caught with a lot of excess space, a lot of stores on very long leases, which meant even if it wanted to change and it was doing lots of good things and doing well on its website couldnt get out of the old space
faster than it could build the new stuff, so it basically ran into the straitjacket of its debts and its long leases. The former chairman of debenhams, sir ian cheshire. Borisjohnson has seen off a backbench rebellion tonight securing enough support to implement a new tiered system of lockdown restrictions from midnight tonight. The Opposition Labour Party abstained. 55 conservative mps voted against the new restrictions. It might not matter tonight but in the weeks ahead there will be further votes and the tory rebellion might then be larger than the governments majority. In the debate that preceded the vote, there were appeals from the front bench for the mps to stay the couse. And this heartfelt contribution from the Health Secretary matt hancock. We talk a lot about the outbreak in
liverpool and how that great city has had a terrible outbreak and got it under control. This means more to me thani it under control. This means more to me than i can say. Because last month, my stepgrandfather derek caught covid 19 there and on the 18th of november, he died. And my family, as in so many others we have lost a loving husband, father, a grandfather to awful disease. I understand you abstained on the vote and i know you were opposed to these new tier systems. Why . |j vote and i know you were opposed to these new tier systems. Why . I was not opposed to the tear systems themselves, it is a natural transition that comes after lockdown and the concern that i have been many mps across the country have is the actual criteria that was
surrounded by those tear systems. My area, my constituency was placed in tier 2 and yet when we went to lockdown, we went in and went out with lower numbers and it was the concern of lack of consultation with local authorities and lack of data that was shared. Youre talking about these economic assessments are put out last night, the impact assessments. Everyone talks about this pandemic is tackling covid 19 or balancing that with the needs to support the economy, theres a third dimension to this and that is keeping the will of the people together and you do that by explaining the changes in detail and there were no explanations as to why people ended up in tier 1, two or three and that is so important. This comes up on three and that is so important. This comes up on the 60th of december 16th of december and they need more clarity and communication with the people and with parliament. Clarity and communication with the people and with parliamentm clarity and communication with the people and with parliament. Is their risk taking into the Christmas Season that people are going to want to loosen up to socialise more naturally the government needs to impose more restrictions . You been watching america youve seen over thanksgiving a lot of people travelling a lot of people socialising in it leads with spike. At the same happened in the uk and wouldnt that suggest you need tighter restrictions not less restrictions . Such an important point because thats make it clear, no one has a monopoly over the ideas we are in untested waters and no protocol for any government around the world really to follow and therefore the scrutiny of what the executive does in any country by that parliament is absolutely critical to make sure that you get this right. In the uk, where planning five days from the 23rd to the 27th of december and i raise the point in my speech today and we really wa nt point in my speech today and we really want to do that. The gains
that we had of her last year, do we wa nt to that we had of her last year, do we want to throw that away with a potential third wave injanuary or february . We are out of time and im sorry to interrupt you. Stay with us. Sorry to interrupt you. Stay with us. More to come. Hello there. We replaced november gloom with something a little bit more sparkling to start off the month of december. Yes, we had some sunshine across the country. It was a day beautiful in ashford, kent. Slightly different story further north and west there was quite a lot of cloud, and the cloud thick enough at times to produce some light drizzle. Now this is a weather front thats arriving, and it will continue to bring the potentialfor some rain a fairly narrow band as it moves its way into scotland and northern ireland. Down to the south east corner, we may well keep those clear skies, so temperatures here hovering close to freezing first thing. But it is the weather front thats the driving force behind the story over the next few days. Its a cold front and, as it sinks its way steadily south
and east, itll allow the flood gates to open to some bitterly cold air, and some strong and, at times, Gale Force Gusts of winds. So, a rash of showers expected on wednesday into the north west of scotland, some turning increasingly wintry, as well. Our weatherfront sinks its way into east anglia and the south east corner by then, a weak affair, with temperatures down on where they should be for the time of year, particularly feeling cold in scotland when you factor in the strength of the wind. Low pressure really dominates over the next few days. Therell be a frequent rash of further snow showers to come into the early hours of thursday morning and, at the same time, some wet weather into the south west. So we see some rain, some of it heavy at times, across south wales and southern england, accompanied by Gale Force Gusts of wind, as well. Best of the any sunshine further north, but again, its a cool feeling day for all, and well still continue to see a few showers. Top temperatures of 3 7 degrees. Moving out of thursday, that weather front should ease off into the near continent. But the low pressure staying close by, and it may well allow some wet weather to push
in off the north sea. As it pushes into colder air, theres the potential to see some snow even at lower levels through scotland during the day on friday, and some snow showers potentially across the Higher Ground of Northern England and north wales. We need to keep abreast of the forecast for that one. Wales and South West England seeing the best of any drier weather, but theres a lot of uncertainty for the detail on friday. But its certainly worth bearing in mind that, if you do have travel plans, theres a possibility of some snow particularly to the far north of scotland. Youre watching bbc news with me, katty kay, in washington. Christian fraser is in london. Our top stories separating fact from fiction there is rising concern that a tide of mis Information Online is turning people against the covid vaccines. We have a special report. The pandemic is changing behaviour and our language, but its now clear that some words are more effective in persuading us to take action. Also in the programme we report from france on president macrons latest moves to clamp down on radical islam is a charter of Republican Values the right way forward . And touchdown a Chinese Mission to the moon lands. They hope to send back the first samples in a0 years. Its worth remembering that the three covid vaccines that are soon to be made available were developed in just eight months. That was a major part of the battle. But the other sizeable challenge is ensuring it goes into enough arms. And so to that end, Health Officials are extremely worried about the mountain of misinformation that is already out there about vaccine safety. The sheer quantity of falsehoods that are circulating online could result in many people deciding not to get vaccinated. The World Health Organization says its fighting an infodemic. The bbcs Global Health correspondent Tulip Mazumdar reports. Ever since this pandemic started, we have all been faced with a barrage of information about covid 19. It can lead to confusion, distrust and, in some cases, protests against proven Public Health advice. Now with vaccines well on the way, there is a fresh push to separate fact from fiction. I spoke to trainee solicitor oscar, who is taking part in vaccine trials at Imperial College london, and production designer nina, who lives with her 82 year old grandmother about new covid vaccines. Making sense of all of the different scientific opinion and the results that are recently coming out is incredibly difficult. I think its quite convoluted at the moment. I think there are quite a lot of opinions flying around, over twitter, instagram, tiktok. I would like to be vaccinated because i think its one of the only ways out of this situation. I have mixed feelings. Im not sure how much i trust the vaccine yet because it has happened so quickly. We feel that many people actually currently they are making a decision
not based on good information but based on some information they have seen on social media or elsewhere and they believe it is because they have not had access to the right information in the right format. So the who, along with governments, have teamed up with big social Media Companies to come up with better ways of getting Accurate Information to people, like this whatsapp feed, which anyone can sign up to. Facebook has introduced notification screens, flagging false information before People Choose to share it but it can still be shared. A number of studies looking at peoples attitudes towards a covid 19 vaccine are under way. Preliminary data from 17 countries suggest people in ethiopia, india and saudi arabia feel the most confident about taking one with at least 85 saying they would be immunised. There was more scepticism
in countries, including germany, france, the us and also in the drc, where fewer than 50 of people said they would take vaccine. The sciencey ones have more of a negative impact than the ones that are questioning motives of people. Professor heidi larson has been studying peoples attitudes to vaccines for more than two decades. What we need to focus on is building the resilience and filling that space. You cantjust take away pieces of misinformation. One of the big anxieties is safety, so we can talk about the fact that safety processes are being followed carefully. We are short cutting other parts of the Long Development process. Scientists are taking to social media themselves to try to get Accurate Information out there. The battle against covid cant be won in hospitals and science labs alone. Part of this fight needs to happen online. The United States is in the dire covid situation its in right now
because millions of americans stopped being careful between april and october. The number of people spending time indoors with those not from their immediate household doubled, going to restaurants tripled, going to work, gyms, churches, they were all way up. Mask wearing did increase but not by enough to offset the reduction in other safety practices, like social distancing. And, like everything in america, theres a big partistan divide. Democratic voters consistently scored higher than republicans on a scale used to measure overall pandemic behaviour. Theres even a partisan difference in the way people respond to the language used around the virus. A new study finds many of the terms being used by the government and the media to get people to behave better are actually causing americans to tune out. And thats especially true for republicans. Here to explain more of this research is republican pollster frank lu ntz, whos in washington. Frank, why is language so important . Because it tells us whether or not it affects us to know whether we agree to be impacted by it, whether we should follow it, whether we should believe it, and effects the reason why i agreed to do this bbc interview is because youve got more credit ability than any American Idiot source, so im going to take this segment and tweeted out and e mail it out and give her that i can to communicate because you have got to trust the people you are hearing from American Media source. Hearing from American Media source. The American People do not trust the politicians, the president , the people who have a partisan reason to gain. They do trust the medical profession, scientists and they trusted bbc. Im going to put on scream while we are talking some terms you that we should use the terms that we are while we do that, why do you not tell me about some of the terms we use that are self defeating . Tell me about some of the terms we use that are selfdefeating . For example, the media loves to use the
word the coronavirus. That is how they get links, that is how they get people to go to the articles, but in reality, the word pandemic is much more frightening and much more serious to the average individual. A similarexample, serious to the average individual. A similar example, this is really politicians get it wrong, is they talk about defeating or crushing or knocking out the virus. The problem with that is that that is military or that is so aggressive that you lose a segment of the population who simply wants to eliminate it or eradicate it. Physical distancing, i hear a lot of governors talk about, when social distancing is a more effective phrase, or probably the best example of the ideological difference, is that when you talk about orders or imperatives or decrees or anything about the government, you were going to have republicans ignoring it because they believe it is their right to go out without masks, they believe it is the right to behave badly when if you cultivate protocol or a stay at home order rather than a
government lockdown quality protocol. Stay at home government lockdown quality protocol. Stay at home order, government lockdown quality protocol. Stay at home order, it just tends like it is appropriate, like your dues on the positive, but a government lockdown, people feel like youre locking them in answering the way the key. The words and throwing away the key. Youve got it in the uk, i hope that Boris Johnson sees this, because dealing which politicians use determines whether the public followed. This is literally an issue of life and death. Frank, thank you very much for the play for the bbc. We will make sure our buses hear that. A lot of the language you have come up with that does not work here in the us seems to be around the idea of trust in government, and when we have spoken to epidemiologist during the course of this pandemic, the thing that they have said helps some countries is precisely when people do trust their government officials is it more than just language . Americansjust dont
is it more than just language . Americans just dont trust what is coming from their government generally and so whatever the language that is being used, we are not code of the same success as, say, singapore or new zealand . That is why you do things like personal response billeted. For democrats who dont like the white house, we talk about personal responsibility, it is they themselves taking an action they themselves taking an action they feel the white house is not taking, or for the republican who do not trust the government because they believe in smaller government, personal responsibility, comedic is that individuals reaction, behaviour, that government should not many but the individual can do things to make things safer, and one of the most powerful statements and ideasis of the most powerful statements and ideas is the concept that if you do not want to keep yourself safe, keep your parents safe, keep your kids safe, keep your friends safe and they would do the same for you, the idea we are all in this together. There is matching. I will give you one more example before we cut off,
which is front line workers. The problem is that you do not get the notion that they are essential to art economic process, which is laid call them essential workers was stop it doesnt really matter whether youre republican or democrat, there is lang which that works for people on the left and language that works for people on the right. Clearly, joe biden has recognised this, because he is trained to say this is not about politics, it is about our petro duty trying to say. Is that the sentiment that is going to work for republicans . The problem is that republicans have been so trained to ignore the democrats and vice versa and that republicans have been so trained to be so antigovernment, to complete not trust it, that you have to go above and beyond, and for them, it is who delivers the message. Rather than having a governor or a senator or a message. Rather than having a governor or a senator or a president deliver the message, it needs to come from medical professionals or a science professional, a researcher, because they are regarded as having
no politics, no ideology, there several possibilities to keep people safe, so the individual speaking is as important as the words they are using. And by the way,. The people who have discovered this lexicon and they going to apply this shortly to encourage people to take the vaccine, but is that too will save lives. Language is going to be key to that. Frank, thank you. Really interesting. And also you wonder, different language in different countries, different cultures have different sensibilities. We know americans dont trust government, they dont like the governments, so it makes sense that anything which like that, they may not like, but perhaps other countries where it is about federal mandates or laws come people might respond to, so youve got to get the leg which right in the country are
dealing with. The language right. And as frank said, it is ok having a covid Adviser Group stacked with democrats, but you need republicans too, you need people who appear on the public and media who they trust, any the public and media who they trust, a ny two the public and media who they trust, any two sides speaking with one voice. As frank says, otherwise, it is not going to work. Especially when it comes to the vaccine. Lets ta ke when it comes to the vaccine. Lets take a quick look at news around the world. In germany, at least four people including a young girl have been killed and several others injured after a car ploughed through a pedestrian area in the city of trier. Witnesses said people were thrown into the air as the vehicle was driven at high speed through a pedestrianised street. A 51 year old man has been arrested. A euro mp close to the Hungarian Prime Minister has resigned after reportedly trying to escape naked from what police described as a gay sex party. Jozsef szajer, a top official in mr Orbans Fidesz party, apologised for a personal failing. Its claimed he tried to flee by sliding down a drainpipe when the party was raided by police. Humankind for all its faults manages to do some pretty impressive stuff. Just look at the example of the chinese spacecraft thats just landed on the moon. Its aiming to collect rock samples, something thats not been done since the 70s. This footage shows the chang e 5 lander touching down in a volcanic area of the moon. Its going to now spend several days trying to scoop up around two kilograms of samples before heading back. Extraordinary. That is the simulation we are looking at, incidentally, not the life pictures, just so we are clear. That would be very nice to have those life pictures. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come well bring you the story of the missing monument thats
perplexing police in germany. Englands chief inspector of schools says the lack of monitoring of Vulnerable Children during the pandemic should be a matter of national concern. In her annual report, Amanda Spielman warns of a legacy of neglect as Elaine Dunkley reports. So weve had a few issues last week. For some of the most Vulnerable Children, school isntjust a place to learn, its a safety net. So are you happy that youve got some support now, and things are a little better . Schools are often where the first signs of abuse or neglect are picked up. Its the tension, a loss of love. But with more children away from classrooms because of the pandemic, theres concern that those at risk are not getting the help they need. Theres a range of different vulnerabilities going right from poverty, just through to not being safe at home due
to circumstances that theyre living with within their household. The welfare and wellbeing aspect of it is huge, especially when students are at home. Here at Birchwood Community high school in warrington, this new centre opened in september, to help students with wellbeing and mental health. And there has also been a big increase in home visits. If we had a concern over a student wed just nip out in our cars and just stay in the garden and have a quick chat and just say, you know, were here for you if you need us. Were seeing a few rumbles in students who are struggling, and we know that. But i think, you know, once this pandemic is over for us, the aftermath will be clear and well have to deal with that. I think weve not seen the start of it yet. Every aspect of education has been impacted by the pandemic. The report by ofsted warns of a legacy of neglect for children most at risk. The department for education says local authorities have been provided with £3. 7 billion to meet additional demands, including within childrens services. Elaine dunkley, bbc news, in warrington. Frances Muslim Council is due to meet president Emmanuel Macron this week, after it was asked by the president to come up with a charter of Republican Values for imams in the country to sign. The council, which represents nine muslim associations, has reportedly been asked to include several declarations in the text, including recognition of frances Republican Values, rejection of islam as a political movement, and a ban on foreign influence. Our paris correspondent Lucy Williamson has more. Iman receives regular abuse from those she calls the haters hardline islamists who say her brand of scarves and turbans dont always cover a womans hair enough. President macron wants
to curb islamist influence, but requiring all imams to sign up to french values is wrong, iman says, when muslims are already seen by many as not fully french. We feel targeted, we feel like everything that you do, it wont be enough, you have to prove that youre real french you have to eat pork, you have to drink wine, you have to go out, you dont have to wear a hijab, you have to wear miniskirts and its completely ridiculous because we are losing what makes us special. The new charter is part of a much broader strategy to curb foreign influence, prevent violence and win back young people who feel forgotten by the state. Mr macron has emphasised that he is targeting islamists who reject frances laws and values, not muslims as a whole, but this is difficult territory in more ways than one. Public opinion is largely behind the government here but these reforms are sensitive. Frances cherished laws on state secularism mean that mr macron is trying to stop the spread of political islam without being seen to interfere in religious practice or single out any one faith. One of pariss leading imans, hassen chalghoumi, supports the idea of a charter. He spoke to us from hiding because of Death Threats hes received after calling for reform. Translation after the attacks, we are in the spotlight. We have to go the extra mile to show that we are well integrated, that we respect the law and want to live in harmony with others. This is the price we have to pay because of the extremists. The extreme right is also on the rise, as well as fear and racism. Recent attacks in the name of islam has increased pressure
on the government to act. But security and islam are also key themes for right wing parties here, where president macron is looking for votes. Iman was among those who voted for him in the last election. He was a real hope, she said, but now we just feel abandoned. Lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. Lets see if that works. There has been another huge blow to uk jobs just before christmas the Department Store chain debenhams is closing down after being business for over 200 years. It comes afterjd sports pulled out of a rescue deal to save the retailer. Across the country, debenhams has 124 stores and employs around 12,000 workers who are likely to lose theirjobs. The retailer will continue to trade to clear its current and contracted stocks, but it will then close if no offers are made for the business. Last night, another retail giant arcadia collapsed into adminstration threatening a further 13,000 jobs. Abigail ahern is a retailer and designer who has sold to debenhams for the last ten years and joins us now. Abigail, thanks very much for joining us. First of all, tell us what it was you did for debenhams. What was your business with them . have been with debenhams for ten yea rs have been with debenhams for ten years and had a licensing relation ship with them, so i would design a host of products and debenhams would then manufacture them, but image production and then put them in their stores. And how important for your business has that line in debenhams bin . In the beginning, it was amazing. It literally catapulted my brand, and as we got bigger, it has not such a huge part of my business anymore, but for at least six or seven business anymore, but for at least six or seven years, business anymore, but for at least six or seven years, it was literally amazing, and completely turned my business around because, suddenly, i was on every high street, i became a high street name. For me, today, its such a sad day. And im sure,
abigail, uniformed relationship with people in debenhams over the past few years, the buyers, the designers who are now in an awful position you formed relationships. My heart goes out to the teams who are so passionate, who i worked alongside for ten years, who are so passionate. Everybody involved in this huge iconic brand, i think its just a really sad day, and i think on another level, its just another example of the erosion of the high street. I am of you to learn i have a home story. And you just see when more and more brands drag with from the centre and shopping, it isjust a huge blow. You are right. We look at the names disappearing from the high street in just one week, these are the brands that we grew up with, the stores we also on our high
streets. Is there a common denominator . Is there something theyve all gone wrong . denominator . Is there something theyve all gone wrong . I think there is a bit of a common denominator, because for us, and other smaller businesses, we are doing exceedingly well and we have never been that busy. I think for the Department Stores, they are kind of. They have all these rising costs and they are locked into huge long leases and theres a lot of competition from online, and i think. How do you change that . What does the government to to support these companies . what does the government to to support these companies . I think the biggest thing is, debenhams had problems before covid, and covid in arcadia was another nail. I think unfortunately, with apartment source, if you are not bringing something unique to the table, if you are not selling a Compelling Store experience, it is really hard to get customers into your store with Department Stores. Everything is so easy now to get online. You
think while cobit is always the been tough, this is not really a covid story, seems to what youre saying . For sure. Debenhams had problems at least 18 months ago because a number of their stores were incredibly successful, but there was about 25 of them really were not, and that is also as we all know with rates and long leases and a huge rent and more and more people shopping online, so ido and more people shopping online, so i do think that with the Department Stores, it is a very difficult position that they are in, because they dont want to be unique and they dont want to be unique and they want to sell as many known brands as possible, but we can all find those known brands online, so it is quite difficult for Department Stores, i think. It is quite difficult for Department Stores, ithink. Abigail, it is quite difficult for Department Stores, i think. Abigail, thank you and good luck with your business now that you dont have debenhams, u nfortu nately that you dont have debenhams, unfortunately anymore, but good luck anyway. Thank you. Its been a week of unusual disappearances. First, we had this
tall metal structure known as the monolith that went missing from the desert in utah. We dont where it came from or where it went. But now there is news that another sculpture has vanished this time but now there is news that another sculpture has vanished this time from bavaria. See if you can work out what it looks like. Anyway, this two meter tall statue had stood for years on the grunten mountain, south west of munich, but it was apparently chopped down over the weekend. And now, all that remains of the monument is a small stump. But. Iam but. I am not going to read this. But who carved it . Someone put a different word here, i am not going to read it. How was a monument weighing 200kg hauled up the mountain . So many questions. Like . Who wrote that . Who wrote that script . It is a mystery. Fancy it
disappearing like that. Maybe it was the cold weather. Anyway. disappearing like that. Maybe it was the cold weather. Anyway. I will leave that to you. We will see you tomorrow. We will have Something Else tomorrow, something better, something more edifying. Hello there. A new month brought a change of fortunes to our weather. We lost that november gloom and we start a december with some lovely spells of winter sunshine. Take a look at ashford in kent and in actual fact across east anglia and the south east, we may well keep those clear skies, which means its going to be a chilly start to wednesday morning. Further north and west, therell be a lot of cloud around and theres a weather front bringing some rain. Now this weather front, as it continues to sink its way south and east, thats going to open the door to much colder air and stronger northerly winds, which will really play a part in the weather story over the next few days. So Gale Force Gusts across the extreme north west, plenty of showers turning increasingly wintry in scotland and northern ireland. Our weather front weakening as it
moves its way into central and south eastern england, but quite cold right across the country, particularly in scotland, particularly when you factor in the strength and direction of the wind. Low pressure then takes over as we head into thursday and well see quite a few snow showers being driven in to the far north west. So that means that well see some accumulations and at the same time, theres a weather front toppling in across the bottom of that low which could bring some rain, some of it heavy, across southern wales and southern england as well. So a bit of a north south divide on thursday. The best of the sunshine in the north, but cold with it. Further south, itll be cloudy and with that rain it really will feel pretty horrible if youre going to be out and about. Bit of a messy one on friday. The low pressure drifts into the south east and weve got these weather fronts toppling across that low. Now when you introduce moisture into this very cold air mass that weve got by the end of the week, we are going to see some wintry precipitation rain, sleet or snow. And look at the temperatures first thing on friday,
below freezing, so, yes, well see snow even at lower levels potentially for scotland for friday morning. And there is a risk of maybe some sleet or snow showers across the Higher Ground of england and north wales as well. Thats friday. Again, its another cool feel to the day. Now theres a lot of uncertainty about the detail for friday, so you really need to keep abreast of the forecast if you do have outdoor plans, particularly if youre travelling, but it does look as though there is a possibility of snow and particularly for scotland, we could see some disruption on minor roads. Now as we move into the weekend, weve still got low pressure with us. It is slowly starting to fill and sink its way steadily southwards, so an improving picture as we go through this weekend. It means saturday plenty of showers a bit like washing in a washing machine spiralling around that low pressure, so sunny spells, scattered showers and a cold northerly wind. So, again, if youre caught in those showers, its going to feel quite raw. As we move into sunday, there should be fewer showers around and that will be good news. Therell also be lighter winds as well, so potentially sunday is the better of the two days through the weekend, but still those temperatures a little bit disappointing for the first week of december. Now, looking further ahead, we need to take a look at whats happening with the jet stream. Weve got this blocking pattern, this almost horseshoe shape developing and weve got High Pressure both the west and to the east of that and that is just preventing low pressure from going anywhere except across the united kingdom. So, it basically means that for us it stays unsettled with low pressure likely to dominate over the next few days and with northerly winds still disappointingly cool for the time of year. Thats it. Take care. Tonight at ten. The efforts to save debenhams, one of the biggest names on the british high street, have failed. The liquidators will start work tomorrow and unless theres a very last minute offer, 12,000 jobs will go, and 124 stores will close. We wont have any Shopping Centres left, well have no town centres left. Its not really kept up with the Online Development and its competitors. It really puts it into perspective how much covid is affecting everybody. Its the second major blow to the Retail Sector in 2a hours, after yesterdays news that the owner of topshop has gone into administration. The tough trading conditions during the pandemic have dealt the final blow for both retail groups, which employ more than 25,000 people between them. Also tonight. The england lockdown ends at midnight, after which more than 20 Million People will be
placed in the highest
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