Transcripts For BBCNEWS Outside Source 20201210

But the Pfizer Vaccine could soon bring some protection, us regulators are meeting right now to consider its approval. We are also looking at a lawsuit of the facebook trying to bury its rivals. That dinner between borisjohnson and ursula von der leyen didnt crack the brexit trade talks, and so today the eu has set out its plans in case there is a no deal brexit on january the 1st. It has also said this needs to be decided one way or the other by sunday. Lets first of all hear from Boris Johnson. Were really not there yet at all. And what ive said to our negotiators is that weve got to keep going and well go the extra mile, and we will, and i will go to brussels, ill go to paris, ill go to berlin or wherever to try to get this home, get a deal. At the moment, the uk is in a transition period its left the eu but is following eu rules. That period ends at the end of the year, exactly three weeks away. And at the moment, theres no new deal to provide new terms for how the uk and the eu trade. Thats why borisjohnson went to brussels last night. Thats why negotiators kept talking today. And theres been lots of reaction to the point weve reached. The next person we will hear from is ursula von der leyen. I had a very long conversation yesterday night with the Prime Minister, borisjohnson. It was a good conversation, but it is difficult. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair. They have to be fair for our workers and for our companies, and this fine balance of fairness has not been achieved so far. 0ur negotiators are still working and we will take a decision on sunday. Thank you. Next, lets hear from pedro silva pereira, the Vice President of the European Parliament. This is his scathing assessment. The uk wants at the same time to have full access to the European Market with zero tariffs and zero quotas. That is something that no country in the world has under any trade agreement, any existing trade agreement. I believe that the borisjohnson government is having some difficulties to understand that this is the reality of things and that certain illusions of brexit simply cannot be delivered. The European Commission also put out a statement today. It says there is significant uncertainty that a deal will be in place by i january. And it adds. And here are the details on its continency plan if there is no deal. Contingency plan. Six months of basic air connectivity with the uk, so flights can continue if the uk does the same. Aviation security certificates will remain in force, so no planes will be grounded. Cars and lorries to travel between the eu and uk again, as long as the uk reciprocates. Crucially, fishing access to each others waters for up to a year, or until an agreement is reached. A downing street spokesman has responded. So it is not impressed with that idea. We know fishing is one of obstacles to a trade deal. Heres chris morris from reality check on why. Weve talked about it over and over again as one of the key sticking points in the trade talks. What theyre saying is they want to have mutual access to each others waters for up to a year, unless and until an agreement on fisheries is made. Now, the uk government keeps saying, you cant dictate to us your access to our waters. Thats the whole point of being independent. So i think it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. And in one sign of the way things could get very nasty if the talks break down acrimoniously, it could get quite poisonous the commission has warned Member States, in effect, dont be tempted to make Bilateral Agreements with the united kingdom. Its kind of all for one, one for all, we stick together, and these are the measures we need and no more. Next, lets understand better the eus contingency plans for a no deal brexit. Nick beake is in brussels. The European Commission says this is the responsible thing to do to give people an idea of what may happen on january the ist if there is no trade deal reached, but in truth, they resisted calls to publish this sort of detail. For the past few weeks or so, behind the scenes, youve had lots of ambassadors, diplomats, saying that they want to see this sort of certainty. And ive been told that, actually, Michel Barnier has told them, behind closed doors, to trust him that, really, they should wait longer before they put in the Public Domain this sort of information. Why is that . Well, i think there is a sense here that, through putting this out for everyone to see, it could maybe weaken their position, the fact that the british may look at it and think, hang about, that doesnt look too bad. We can deal with that. And would that maybe guide the uk towards a path towards no deal . Its very hard to tell. 0ne one thing we should be clear on. After 31 december, many things will change regardless of whether or not a deal is reached. The ft reports that travellers could be barred from entering the eu from the new year when travel rules around the pandemic associated with being aligned to the eu expire and pandemic restrictions may block entry. Were told visas might be requred for british people who plan to stay in the eu for more than three months. French ministers visited the eurostar terminal that links paris to london, where some of the 600 new customs officers have been recruited to deal with brexit. Heres the french minister for public accounts. Translation from january 1, the gare du nord becomes an exit point from the European Union, an exit point from Great Britain becomes a separate country. It means checks, air and Border Police controls, with the need to have a passport to cross this border. The bbcsjonathan blake is here. Jonathan, a huge motor pressure on both sides at the moment as we enter the final straight of these negotiations. Is mrjohnsons support in westminster, among his party, Holding Strong . It is, and have been indications in the last few days, as there have been throughout this process, that the majority of the conservative neck and peas, at least the most vocal among them, do not expect he promised her to give any ground at all promised her to give any ground at all conservative mps. 0r compromises in the narrowest terms and is made visible of uploading the uks sovereignty as an independent nation, having left the eu when the transition period comes to an end, we have had the strong as indication so we have had the strong as indication so farfrom we have had the strong as indication so far from Boris Johnson we have had the strong as indication so far from borisjohnson this evening that he now sees the outcome of this process to be one where there is no agreement with the eu, more likely that the outcome of a Free Trade Agreement. He has said in an interview this evening that there is now a very strong possibility that we will have a solution that is much more like the australian elation ship with the eu than the canadian relationship with the eu, as he puts it. That is another way of saying that after december 31, we will operate on wto terms rather than having a specific deal in place, but he says the uk was still prepared to do everything it possibly can to reach a deal. And this is all happening in the middle ofa this is all happening in the middle of a pandemic, for the government has had to borrow billions and billions of pounds to shore up the uk economy. Presumably it continues Detailed Planning for a scenario where it is both handling the economic consequent as of the pandemic, and essentially also handling the economic consequent is ofa handling the economic consequent is of a no deal brexit. Handling the economic consequent is of a nodeal brexit. It does. Or sometime come the government has been working to prepare the economy, businesses any public to an extent, for the outcomes of a no deal brexit with the eu, when we leave. For some time now, a Government Campaign in advertising has been running with the slogan that time was running out a people should check, change, go, urging businesses to get ready, but the pushback from business groups has been that the detail simply is not there terms of exactly what the businesses need to do. And in a sign that Boris Johnson businesses need to do. And in a sign that borisjohnson perhaps believes bilateral talks with maybe Angela Merkel or Emmanuel Macron may be able to unlock this process, he has set a night uk would do whatever it possibly can to stop he stands ready, he says, to talk to anybody, oui ready, he says, to talk to anybody, our friends ready, he says, to talk to anybody, ourfriends and ready, he says, to talk to anybody, our friends and partners ready, he says, to talk to anybody, ourfriends and partners in ready, he says, to talk to anybody, our friends and partners in the ready, he says, to talk to anybody, ourfriends and partners in the eu, whenever they want. At the moment, he has to say, in all candour, the treaty is not there yet. Jonathan, thank you very much. Difficult record coming in the us. They have recorded another Record Number of daily covid deaths. More than 3,100 were reported on wednesday. Thats the highest single day total anywhere in the world at any point during the pandemic. Bbcsjon sopel puts that in context. Overall, the us has a death toll close to 300,000. And there have been over 15 million confirmed cases. And as youd imagine, the strain on Health Care Workers is enormous. Lets hear from a doctor in texas and a nurse in minnesota. When you hear that every 30 seconds, an american is dying, you know that we are in big trouble. We may want to minimise it, we may want to show to the world that were minimising it, but the fact is that were having way too many deaths. Where is this light at the end of the tunnel . Id like to see it. Im hoping this vaccine, but. I mean, we just keep going day to day and this is our norm. Heres more analysis on the state of the pandemic in the us from cbs correspondent Debra Alfarone from washington, dc. 106,000 people in the hospital right now. Were looking at 288,000 people that weve lost from this so far. You know, those are the numbers that were talking about, but i also have some numbers for you that kind of demonstrate the rapid spread. Get this in the past week, the number of cases has risen 18 , and in the last week, deaths have actually risen almost 27 . It really is mind boggling. And one in three americans live in an area where there is a problem with the hospital is running critically short of intensive care unit beds, one in three. And depending on where you are, that number changes. So in el paso, for example, right now, were hearing that hospitals have only 13 out of 400 beds available, only 13. And if you go to fargo, north dakota, there arejust three beds available. And in albuquerque, there are zero. A huge amount of attention on vaccines, possibly offering a route out of this. A panel of us experts is meeting now to decide whether to approve the Pfizer Vaccine for use. The meeting has been going on for several hours and we are hearing the Advisory Panel is expected to approve that vaccine. Julia manchester is the political reporterfor the hill and joins me now from orlando, florida. That news will go down in the white house. President trump has been asking for that approval for several weeks now. Absolutely, President Trump has been very much try to get this vaccine on track, really ever since he created 0peration work seed, the model the white house use to fast track a vaccine here warp speed. We know it is coming at a critical time right now as we are seeing deaths and cases arise. We are starting to see the result of all that thanksgiving travel and gathering just two weeks ago, the exact trouble and gathering that a lot of Public Health officials were warring against. And bulbous Health Emergency is playing out, there is an associated economic emergency as well, are we getting any closer to a bipartisan deal that could provide Additional Support to the economy . It is hard to say. We do see democrats and republicans on capitol hill continue to be deadlocked. However, there could be some sort of a deal reached before Congress Goes on holiday break later this month, but is really down to the wire for them. We saw the first coronavirus stimulus package earlier this year passed very much as an emergency, a very wide ranging package, but now republicans and democrats are essentially battling over little pieces of the package. Whether it is not enough money to Small Businesses or local communities, whether it is too much money to bigger businesses. Theres definitely a lot of conflict there, so going forward, your sing republicans and democrats on capitol hill both under and airy amount of pressure to pass you are seeing. You are seeing. You are seeing. I wonder the change of the presidency, what effect that is happening. Is that impacting on how america can respond effectively to this pandemic . M impacting on how america can respond effectively to this pandemic . It is going to impact, i think potentially the vaccine distribution. Right now you have the Top Administration plan and then you have the Biden Administration plan, subtly different plan. Biden is calling for mickens to wear a mask for lease 100 days when he takes the presidency, 100 million vaccine doses in the first 100 days of his presidency, a quite conservative figure compared to the goal that the Top Administration has come and then biden is also calling on schools to reopen for the most part within the first 100 days of his presidency, so we know that there are some biden transition officials meeting with Trump Administration officials on this issue, but it will definitely bea this issue, but it will definitely be a change in pace once you go from a president who quite frankly, for the past month or past couple of weeks, has focused more on his election loss and trying to overturn that loss than acknowledging the fa ct that loss than acknowledging the fact that we are reaching historic horrible levels of coronavirus cases and deaths in this country. Julia, we always welcome you coming onto the programme. Speak to you soon, im sure. Thank you very much indeed. Well, if the food and Drug Administration does approve the Pfizer Biontech vaccine for emergency use. We are assuming it will be approved, it will be a shock if it is not. If it will be a shock if it is not. If it is. Will it be free . And will enough people take it . Bbc Global Health correspondent Smitha Mundasad explains. At the start, supplies of a vaccine are likely to be limited, so states have been putting plans in place to make sure those who need the vaccine most get it as quickly as possible. The ultimate decision rests with the governors of the various states. And i hope the governors make wise decisions, who will decide where the vaccines will go in their state and who will get them first. The centers for Disease Control and prevention say Health Care Workers, both paid and unpaid, and People Living in long term Residential Care should be near the top of the queue. States will be prioritising other groups too. Because this vaccine needs to be stored at ultralow temperatures, large hospitals and other centres capable of such specialists storage will be key to getting the vaccine out. As more vaccine becomes available, the goal is that everyone who wants a vaccine is able to get one in places like doctors offices, pharmacies and clinics. The Nations Health Protection Agency says that any vaccines purchased using us taxpayers money should be available to be American People at no cost, but people giving out the vaccines will be able to charge an administration fee. They can get this fee reimbursed through a patients insurance company, private or public. A recent poll suggests the majority of people are likely to take a jab when offered one, but a sizeable minority say theyll pass on the vaccine. Health experts are worried that this could compromise so called herd immunity. The idea is that around 60 or 70 of people would need to have a vaccine in order to protect the community. A highly efficacious vaccine does not mean much if we dont have the overwhelming majority of the people taking the vaccine, and thats going to be our task. At the moment, its likely the vaccine will be voluntary. Its unlikely that employers, for example, would force people to have the jab, but Health Experts will be working hard to reassure people that vaccination is likely to be the best way to turn the tide of this pandemic. So we are expecting the us authorities to approve the Pfizer Biontech vaccine for use. As you well know, the uk was the first country to do that, and already a huge Vaccination Programme is under way in the uk. But have a look at this being reported by bbcs sport editor dan roan. Wada is the world anti doping agency. Well, thats prompted a lot of anger from athletes. This is from tully kearney, a british paralympic swimmer. Well, we await more information from the world anti doping agency, but according to the uk agency. So hopefully that will get cleared up so hopefully that will get cleared up soon. Next, we turn to china. Its one year since the first cases of coronavirus were reported. That was in the city of wuhan, and it is now striving to return to normality. Thats helped by the fact that there havent been any locally transmitted cases for months. Heres vincent ni from bbc chinese on how life has changed there. Millions of people in wuhan lived under Strict Lockdown for 76 days. Nearly 4,000 people lost their lives to the virus. Six months after wuhans lockdown was lifted, the citys local government has launched an exhibition to mark the fight against the covid 19 pandemic. The three month exhibition hails the effort of the government, front line workers and volunteers. Xia quyan was among volunteers who fought against the pandemic by giving free haircuts to front line workers. Xias volunteer work has had an unexpected impact on his business. The recovery hasnt been as smooth for everyone. As we continue to cover the pandemic, from wuhan to the philippines. Restrictions have since been eased, but it did one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world. And one consequence of that is a baby boom. Howard johnson has more from manila. Waverleys baby will be one of an estimated two million lockdown babies delivered next year, according to a recent study by the university of the philippines. The country continues to have one of the highest fertility rates in southeast asia, despite a law eight years ago that provided state funding to make contraception more readily available. But even with continued opposition from the catholic church, the policy has been partially successful in bringing down the birth rate, but now experts are warning that those early gains will be all but wiped out. We will lose four years that they have been working on the programme, we will have more unplanned pregnancies right now, it is at the rate of three out of every ten are unplanned. It could be a size of probably half of the pregnancies next year. So four in a bed, as you can see. At drjose fabella hospital, this doctor inspects one of the worlds busiest maternity wards. Before the Reproductive Health act, up to 120 babies were born here every day, earning the hospital the title the baby factory. And were seeing, as you said four to two beds at the moment, what do you foresee when the baby boom hits . Well, during busy times, it can even reach five, six, seven patients in two beds altogether. Five, six or seven per double bed . Yes, because the maximum capacity, bed capacity of this hospital is just 408. Just for this year, we reached more than 600. The pandemic has driven the philippine economy into recession, and opportunities for those born at the bottom are blea ker than ever. Howard johnson, bbc news, manila. We have heard stories from the philippines, from china, from the uk, from the us. As we look at the coronavirus, lets head back to europe and france. Infections are rising across the continent and many countries are again tightening restrictions. France is the latest to provide an update. Prime Ministerjean Castex said daily case numbers are going up again, so measures wont be relaxed as originally hoped. Museums, theatres and cinemas will stay closed for an extra three weeks. But families will be allowed to travel to celebrate christmas together. Heres what the Prime Minister has said. Translation christmas occupies a special place in our lives and traditions. It is a time when all generations, children, parents, grandparents come together, a time when the youngest memories are forced. We will therefore authoress trouble for this travel, but i would like to remind you of the relay indicated last week. No more than six adults at a time. And i want to finish our look at the pandemic in brazil. Theres a woman in Belo Horizonte who always dresses up as mrs santa claus to give out presents to disadvantaged kids. Well, a pandemic isnt going to stop her. The presents and hugs are still going ahead, all with the help of a sanitised plastic curtain. And you get the impression the children arejust as pleased to see her. Translation i really liked mrs clauss hug. It was warm and nice. I liked it a lot. Translation i feel great as well. Because of the pandemic, today was the first time ive hugged someone since february. Bravo to mrs claus. I will see you in a couple of minutes. Hello there. Sunshine was in pretty short supply during today. Most of us got stuck with a lot of cloud. This was how it looked earlier on in abersoch in west wales, a fairly typical scene, i have to say. There was a little bit of brightness. That was the north east of scotland before the end of the day. But on the satellite picture, you can see extensive cloud and plenty more where that came from. And actually, this developing stripe of cloud here has been bringing some rain into western areas, and that rain will continue to push its way eastwards through the evening and overnight. Some of that rain will be pretty heavy. Behind it, still a lot of cloud, some clear spells, but also some heavy showers. These could even contain the odd rumble of thunder across parts of wales and south west england. Not a cold night, certainly not for the time of year, with lows of between 4 9 degrees. So, tomorrow morning, well start off with this band of rain across eastern areas. Across eastern england, the rain should tend to move away, but i think itll stay across the eastern side of scotland. Some quite persistent wet weather here with the risk of some disruption. Further west, again, a lot of cloud, but some brighter spells, some sunshine here and there, equally the chance of some heavy showers. Temperatures between 7 11 degrees. Now, as we head into the start of the weekend, this is when we might get to see a proper slice of sunshine. High pressure just trying to build its way in, a very temporary ridge of high pressure, but it will bring with it a zone of brighter weather. So after a cloudy and damp start, we should see sunshine working in from the west. I think there will still be some showers around at times. Those temperatures still in the range between 8 11 degrees. But into the second half of the weekend, well, things are going to cloud over once again because low pressure will be approaching from the west. This frontal system will bring some pretty heavy bursts of rain. Its going to be quite windy, but that windll be coming up from the south, so thats a mild wind direction, a wedge of mild air working its way across many parts of the country. But with a lot of cloud, with some outbreaks of rain, some of that rain will be heavy, maybe cold enough for some snow mixing in over the very highest hills of scotland. Those are the average wind speeds we can expect. Gusts will be stronger than that, particularly in exposed spots, but with those winds coming from the south, it will be mild. Temperatures as high as 13 degrees. Hello, im ros atkins, this is outside source. Borisjohnson says leaving the eu without a trade deal is now a strong possibility. Looking at where we are, i do think its vital that everybody now gets ready for that australian option. The australian option is not really having a trade deal. After failing to break the deadlock in brussels, the Prime Minister is telling the British Public to prepare for the hardest of brexits. Another story from brussels poland and hungary have dropped their protest over the eu budget they had been upset over measures tying the money to respect for the rule of law. Also coming up in the programme in the united states, a record 3000 people die from coronavirus in one day. But the Pfizer Vaccine could soon bring some protection. Us regulators are meeting right now to consider its approval. Well also look at how facebook is responding to a huge competition lawsuit from the Us Government alleging it seeks to buy or bury its rivals. Some breaking news from brussels in the past hour. No, not a brexit trade deal. They are not be any big shifts on that. Agreement instead on the eu budget amongst the 27 countries, including poland and hungary, who had been blocking the whole thing, 1. 9 trillion euros of it. Matina stevis gridneff is brussels correspondent from the New York Times. She is with us now. First of all, thank you forjoining us and tell us what has shifted, why have they changed their mind . Thanks for having me. Over the last few days there has been intense negotiation over a compromise that would allow hungary and poland and leaders to save face at home and even claim victory while maintaining the main demands of other eu Member States and the European Parliament and European Commission. For some conditions attached accessing those funds and that compromise was reached tonight and was agreed on seemingly by everyone. And so that very important funding now seems ready to start flowing to the countries that need it. But does it actually saw the core problem which is that poland and hungary are doing things the European Commission considers outside of it if it will behaviour from considers outside of it if it will behaviourfrom eu considers outside of it if it will behaviour from eu Member States . Considers outside of it if it will behaviour from eu member state57m is not necessarily solve that problem but that is a short answer. But it does turn out that he a bit on those countries. It gives the commission on additional tool to try and pressure them what we have seen over the past few years when the European Commission has brought court cases against the two countries is that they are incredibly labour intensive, very time consuming, they take years to go through the European Court of Justice System and sometimes those rulings come too late. And so as a result we have not really seen much impact on the ground and particularly in terms ofjudiciary independence which is a key concern for the European Commission. This compromise potentially gives the commission a new tool to use, but really the proof is in the pudding and we will see how they will be able to use in the future. And for viewers who dont follow the eu in detail, just explain how important this budget is to framing the next few years for the institution. This budget is to framing the next few years for the institutionm really does not get more important than that. Part of the 1. 9 euros trillion that you mentioned earlier is the regular budget for the European Union functioning, for all of its agencies and the joint work it does to continue operating, especially the equivalent of a shared state budget. But another pa rt shared state budget. But another part of it, 750 billion euros is particularly a stimulus package that is going to be targeting the weakest economies to help them recover it from the coronavirus effect on their economies and livelihoods of their citizens and thats incredibly important, in particular for those worst hit such as italy and spain but also for those European Countries that are poor and dont have as much budget as germany to spend on their domestic seamless packages. And so it really is all important and it will be crucial to the recovery of European Union economies in the post covid 19 era. Thank you very much indeed. For those watching him you can read her reporting on the New York Times website. Facebook has hit back over a Us Government lawsuit which accusing it of being a monopoly. This statement is on the facebook corporate website. It accuses regulators of trying to rewrite history and doing so by targeting mergers and takeovers that facebook used to grow its business years ago. And Mark Zuckerberg has told his employees, we disagree with the governments allegations and we plan to fight this in court. This the Rory Cellan Jones summarising the case against facebook. This is a hugely important action, probably the most significant by american regulators since they tried to break up microsoft in the mid 1990s. And that went on for many years. This is a lawsuit by more than 40 states and the federal trade commission. And they are accusing facebook of trying to stifle competition. They say over a long period, the company has a policy of what they describe as buy or bury. In other words, by up promising new arrivals at my eat into their market or kill them by imitating their products and basically putting them out of business. And they focused particularly on instagram and whatsapp. Im sure a lot of people probably dont realise just the extent of facebooks empire. Huge numbers of users across all these different products, instagram bought in 2012, whatsapp bought a couple of years later. And now this lawsuit can envisage those two companies being sold off by facebook. The social media giant effectively being split up to remedy the problem with competition. The us authorities are certainly stating their case with conviction. Heres new yorks attorney general. For nearly a decade, facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users. By using its vast troves of data and money, facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats. Theyve reduced choices for consumers, they stifled innovation and they degraded privacy protections for millions of americans. Heres one tech analyst on how facebook is likely to defend itself against those allegations. Facebook has a very interesting point to make in its defence, however, which is that the us regulator approved its acquisition of whatsapp and instagram a few years ago. So the case that they will make is can American Business ever have confidence when they do a merger and acquisition and its approved by the regulator that it wont be undone several years later if the government for whatever reason changes its mind . So the us regulator and these states are going to have to make a really compelling argument that they can force a company to break up something that was approved just a few years ago. Even this question of is facebook truly dominant is challenged at least from the social media perspective by the dozens of companies such as snapchat and tiktok, which are doing really well. Stephanie hare is clear she thinks facebook is a monopoly. And she says the us authorities have been trying for years to bring this case. I think the mood music has really changed in the united states, and particularly in washington, dc. I think Big Tech Companies got away with a lot of their monopolistic behaviour for a really long time possibly because it was not really understood what was happening as a conventional business, like big tech or a big tobacco or even big telecoms. Now Everybody Knows what is going on, everyone knows what is at stake, so i think this is chickens coming home to roost. Whats really interesting if we look at the fine print in this study, in these lawsuits, is they have mentioned privacy protections several times. So timing here is really interesting. They began investigating facebook for antitrust in 2019, right . Sojust last year, but they were doing that of the privacy violations for which they fined facebook a record fine. This goes back to the whole cambridge analytica, really dodgy, unsavoury we should say practices of taking peoples data without their consent, so what looks like an antitrust measure actually has its origins in a question about privacy and Data Protection and even democracy. A federal death row inmate is due to be executed in the us later on thursday. This is 40 year old brandon bernard. He was sentenced to death atjust 18 years old for his involvement in a 1999 murder in texas. Hell be the first of five executions slated before the end of Donald Trumps presidency. It marks a break with a 130 year old precedent of pausing executions during a president ial transition. President trump has signed orders for five federal prisoners to be executed beforejoe Biden Takes Office on january 20th. If they go ahead, the Trump Administration will have executed a total of 13 people. That will make mr trump the uss most prolific executions president in a century. Thats despite support for the Death Penalty waning in the us. 60 of americans preferred life imprisonment according to a 2019 gallup poll. The vast majority of execuations that take place in the us are state directed. Executions by the us federal government are rare. The last were in 2003 under george w bush. But the Trump Administration decided last year to resume them after a 16 year hiatus, drawing criticism from Rights Groups and senior democrats. They all take place at this federal prison complex in terre haute in indiana. Us attorney general william barr has defended the post election executions in an interview, saying. Ngozi ndulue is here. She is from a Nonprofit Organisation and is with us from washington. Do you think there is any hope from your perspective of managing to stop these executions that are planned for the next few weeks . There are several legal challenges under way, as well as campaigns for clemency for each of these individuals. So we really dont know, but we do know the federal government is really showing itself as an outlier here. Notjust in the history of the federal Death Penalty as you mentioned, if the federal government goes ahead with these next two executions, this is going to be the year with the most federal executions since 1896. Weve never beenin executions since 1896. Weve never been in the double digits since then. But also the federal government is an outlier with regards to state practices. We note that there is reduced support for the Death Penalty, that oppositions are at all time highs and we also know there has been a general trend towards less use of the Death Penalty. Lower death sentences and less execution. We are already going that way before the pandemic started. But in the pandemic, only two states have carried out executions. Missouri carried out one and texas carried out one. At the same time, the federal government carried out eight and is planning to have ten by the end of this year. That is exceptional because of the health and safety risks that have led the states to delay executions and put them off. If i led the states to delay executions and put them off. Ifi couldjump in there, i exit the points you make to there, i exit the points you make to the pandemic but outside of the pandemic, why do you think it is that Public Opinion i listed suggesting 50 of americans oppose the Death Penalty is not necessarily translating into it being stopped in america . What i would say is that the use of the Death Penalty is very limited in america and has gone down significantly. So we are at really near record lows in the use of death sentences and executions, notwithstanding the pandemic. And one of the reasons is that people have a look at the Death Penalty and have a look at the Death Penalty and have looked at the fact the Death Penalty does not really deter crime. They have looked at the costs and recognise the incredible costs associated with death sentencing and they have a look at alternatives and said that there are ways we can keep ourselves safe without using the Death Penalty and i think that that is something that has resonated both with liberals and conservatives and has not been politcised in a way that it has in the past. And we also see significant causes for concern with the Death Penalty. We have over 170 people who have been exonerated from death row because they were innocent. We have so many situations where we see miscarriages of justice, and they are sometimes remedied and sometimes go unlimited. Soi remedied and sometimes go unlimited. So i think that there have been several reasons why the public has gotten more and more concerned about the use of the Death Penalty and executions and this is what the federal government is really out of step with the practice across america, the practice historically federally and particularly at this moment in time. Afterjump in there was what we appreciate you joining us was what we appreciate you joining us but thank you very much indeed. Stay with us on bbc world news. Still to come, after a devastating explosion in beirut that killed 200 people, the investigating judge has charged the outgoing Prime Minister hassan diab with negligence. Lets end with some good news for europe. 26 animal species that were previously on the brink of extinction are no longer endangered, and the list includes this, the continents largest land mammal, the bison. Thats according to an updated extinction list which assesses animal and plant survival. Environmentalists are calling it a conservation success, but warn the list of extinct species globally continues to grow. Heres our environment correspondent helen briggs. Really interesting to hear about the european bison. This is an animal, our largest land mammal in europe, thats been roaming around for 100,000 years or more, and you see it depicted in ancient cave paintings. If you go back about a century, then nearly a century, then nearly all them had disappeared in the wild due to hunting and deforestation. There were a few left in zoos, so over the course of decades, theyd been reintroducing these bison. Theyd been taking him out of zoos and putting them into nature reserves, places like poland, germany, other European Countries have been monitoring them. A lot of really hard work in conservation terms and then if you go back to 2003, there were about 2000 of them in the wild in these nature reserves and now there are about 6000. And the important thing really is that the International Union for the conservation of nature does the official extinction list has deemed them to fish in number to go up a notch in extension terms. Theyre not out of the woods yet. They still need careful conservation work, but there is some hope here that these sorts of efforts, we hear them called rewilding efforts, you can save some animals in zoos and then you can try and reintroduce them back into the wild. Of course that depends on protecting these animals, protecting their natural habitat and lots of very careful science to preserve them. And of course there are winners and losers, and not many other animals are so lucky. This is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. Our lead story is borisjohnson says the uk leaving the transition period without a trade deal with the eu is now a strong possibility. Lebanon now, where theres Major Political fallout from the huge explosion in beiruts port. Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister and three former ministers have been charged with negligence. Youll remember these pictures from august. The explosion killed 200 people and destroyed the port area. The investigating judge says it was a caused by a huge amount of Ammonium Nitrate that was stored u nsafely for yea rs. And now hes charged this man, hassan diab, who at the time was Prime Minister. Such was the backlash after the explosion, he resigned and has been an interim Prime Minister ever since. The bbcs lina sinjab has more from beirut. Well, thejudge investigating the explosion in augustjust issued a warrant basically calling on questioning both caretaker Prime Minister, hassan diab, and three other ministers, including the finance minister and work minister as well. So, the statement came out to say that they were charged with acts of negligence towards the explosion and that several written letters had been sent to the government before the explosion warning of the explosive devices there that are dangerous and that action should be taken, but no one took any action. This is a big statement coming out today, and thejudge is asking for questioning the officials next week, tuesday, wednesday, but also some other sources say that he may refer them to trial after that. Just as were talking, a few minutes ago, the Prime Minister issued a statement saying that his hands are clean and that he is pretty sure of his actions that theres no wrongdoing in his government. Every week on outside source, we make a video for the bbc website looking at one of the big issues of the week. This time were turning back to a story weve covered extensively. The brexit trade talks are struggling. For the uk, any deal must involve being free of eu rules. This is not a trade deal. So this has ceased to be a trade deal right now, the discussion is about sovereignty. For the eu, both sides must follow the same rules. Translation we must have a level playing field, not only for today, but for the future. But is the eu treating the uk differently . Certainly theres a perception among brexit supporters that its not being fair. Listen to borisjohnson. I dont believe, mr speaker, that those are terms any Prime Minister of this country should accept. Or theres the conservative mp daniel kawczynski, who accuses the eu of acting in a highly irresponsible and wholly unreasonable way. But has the eu demanded more from the uk . In short, it has. The eu wants the uk to agree to shared rules on government subsidies, workers rights and environmental and food standards. And that it remains in synch in the future, too. The uk rejects that. And this does go beyond other trade deals the eu has struck with canada and japan. But the eu has itsjustification. One mep puts it this way. It would be economic suicide for the European Union to basically undermine not one of its pillars, but one of its foundations, the Single Market. The point being if a trade deal is done but the uk has different rules, potentially, its businesses benefit. And as the bbcs chris morris explains, that possibility connects to the eus approach. One of the reasons theyre being stricter and harsher is because the uk is a major Global Economy right on its doorstep, so it thinks it needs to be harsher because the uk has the potential to be a much bigger competitive threat. So those are the eus demands and the justification, but are they unusual . Does this happen in other major trade deals around the world . Well, not to this degree. Recently, these 15 countries created a vast trading bloc. They dont share regulations, though their level of free trade isnt the same as the eu and uk hope for. Or theres the recent free trade deal in north america. The us insisted on certain wage level in the car industry to stop mexico having an advantage, but theres nothing as wide ranging as the eus asking for. So this is different. The analyst anand menon argues. No doubt the eu is a huge economic force. But still the eu argues this defence is necessary. And back in 2017, the then Uk International trade secretary liam fox didnt foresee this approach. The agreement we have to come to with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history. Thats not come to pass. The eu is asking for a lot. But its Single Market is its greatest asset. And brexit rejects the very idea of the eu. This is a unique eu response to what it sees as a unique threat. Whether fair or not, none of this should come as a surprise. David henig is the uk director for the European Centre for International Political economy, a think tank dedicated to trade and International Economic policy issues. Hejoins me from london. You are the man to speak to on this matter. Help us understand this trip and you see happening if there is no agreement in the next few weeks. Essentially no agreement will mean tariffs. And tariffs have been steadily reducing globally for many yea rs. Steadily reducing globally for many years. They are hardly a factor at all except in food and drinks it would be very unusual for tariffs to be coming back between the uk in the eu and very high once potentially for be present on some foodstuffs and to present on cars. That will be the main part and the other part would be there is no real set of rules a bove would be there is no real set of rules above the wto to suit the huge trade between the uk in that eu, which is around £2 billion a day. So this is a huge trade float, second largest in the world. In terms of what the eu is asking for, this level of integration and in exchange for access and Single Market, are there any other equivalents around there any other equivalents around the world that you can think of . Your report mentioned the us demands with regard to mexican wage rates will be up to understand about the eu is this has not come out of nowhere. The you has been discussing for ten years under pressure from its own members of the European Parliament and organisations that need to be tougher on trade and theyve even appointed somebody called a chief trade enforcement officer. So the uk is possibly the wrong country at the wrong time because just as we are negotiating a deal, the eu wants to be as tough as possible and that is for their own reasons in protecting their Single Market but they are not single in the uk out. Expect all eu trade deals in the future to have tough conditions. And more broadly if you could step back for us to come on ta riffs could step back for us to come on tariffs and trade negotiations but art tariffs impediments to trade becoming less and less common around the world . Tariffs are becoming less ofan the world . Tariffs are becoming less of an issue. The issue in a modern trade is more about barriers to services and high tech services. Barriers to people moving and working. And barriers to different regulations in different countries. Now all of those to what extent will increase between the uk and the eu as well and that will be deal or no deal. So there will be quite a dramatic increase in barriers to trade between the uk in the eu whatever happens. David thank you very much. And though we have done our best across the last hour to explain all the different issues tied up in the brexit talks, of course there is much more information on the website. I will see you information on the website. I will see you soon. Information on the website. I will see you soon. Bye bye. Hello there. Sunshine was in pretty short supply during today. Most of us got stuck with a lot of cloud. This was how it looked earlier on in abersoch in west wales, a fairly typical scene, i have to say. There was a little bit of brightness. That was the north east of scotland before the end of the day. But on the satellite picture, you can see extensive cloud and plenty more where that came from. And actually, this developing stripe of cloud here has been bringing some rain into western areas, and that rain will continue to push its way eastwards through the evening and overnight. Some of that rain will be pretty heavy. Behind it, still a lot of cloud, some clear spells, but also some heavy showers. These could even contain the odd rumble of thunder across parts of wales and south west england. Not a cold night, certainly not for the time of year, with lows of between 4 9 degrees. So, tomorrow morning, well start off with this band of rain across eastern areas. Across eastern england, the rain should tend to move away, but i think itll stay across the eastern side of scotland. Some quite persistent wet weather here with the risk of some disruption. Further west, again, a lot of cloud, but some brighter spells, some sunshine here and there, equally the chance of some heavy showers. Temperatures between 7 11 degrees. Now, as we head into the start of the weekend, this is when we might get to see a proper slice of sunshine. High pressure just trying to build its way in, a very temporary ridge of high pressure, but it will bring with it a zone of brighter weather. So after a cloudy and damp start, we should see sunshine working in from the west. I think there will still be some showers around at times. Those temperatures still in the range between 8 11 degrees. But into the second half of the weekend, well, things are going to cloud over once again because low pressure will be approaching from the west. This frontal system will bring some pretty heavy bursts of rain. Its going to be quite windy, but that windll be coming up from the south, so thats a mild wind direction, a wedge of mild air working its way across many parts of the country. But with a lot of cloud, with some outbreaks of rain, some of that rain will be heavy, maybe cold enough for some snow mixing in over the very highest hills of scotland. Those are the average wind speeds we can expect. Gusts will be stronger than that, particularly in exposed spots, but with those winds coming from the south, it will be mild. Temperatures as high as 13 degrees. This is bbc news. Im kasia madera. The headlines at eight. Borisjohnson says leaving the eu without a trade deal is now a strong possibilty. The Prime Minister tells the cabinet and public to prepare in case the uk fails to reach a Free Trade Agreement with the eu looking at where we are, i do think it is vital that everybody now gets ready for that australian option. Two of the babies who died at a scandal hit nhs trust a review now looking at more than 18 hundred cases finds some mothers were blamed for their babies dying. Reading this report, it really hammers home the depth and scale of the horror. We dont want any families to go