this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the race for a coronavirus vaccine clears another hurdle. pfizer says its new vaccine is almost 95% effective. more than a quarter of a million americans have died from the virus. we'll hear from the man whose job it is to tackle the pandemic. we're working very hard to get those vaccines deployed so people can start benefiting from them. officials in the us state of georgia say they'll complete their presidential vote recountjust hours from now. we'll look at what effect that might have on the outcome. arrests at a hospital in kenya after the bbc uncovers a child trafficking network involving babies stolen from homeless mothers in nairobi.

there's more good news about the coronavirus vaccine being developed by pfizer and biontech. final trials show it is 95% effective in people over the age of 65. what's more, it has passed safety checks, making it ready for approval by authorities around the world. it's due to role out later this year. our medical editor fergus walsh reports. yet more good news on vaccines. last week, pfizer—biontech were the first to show their vaccine protected against covid. now we have more detail. pfizer says the vaccine is more than 94% effective among the over—65s and showed

the same consistent protection among volunteers from different ethnicities. there were 170 cases of covid—19 across more than 40,000 volunteers. 162 of those were among the volunteers who got dummy or placebo jabs, and only eight in the vaccinated group. there were no serious safety concerns, but a small minority of volunteers suffered significant headaches orfatigue. i think this is good news, and also very encouraging that the vaccine seems to show equal protection in elderly people. because that was a question we couldn't answer after the first announcement last week. 0ur immune system usually declines as we age, so it's highly significant that the vaccine protects the elderly who are most at risk from covid. the pfizer vaccine has to be stored at —70 degrees, which creates some logistical problems.

but it remains usable for a few days in a normalfridge. it's thought regulators could approve the vaccine by early december. nonetheless, it seems increasingly likely that some covid immunisation will begin before christmas. fergus walsh, bbc news. in the past two weeks, pfizer and biontech and moderna have announced hugely successful trials of their covid—19 vaccines. others are in development, while a third major trial, from belgian company janssen, is under way in the uk. according to the who's vaccine tracker, there are 155 vaccines around the world in pre—clinical trials. some of the leading contenders in the race for a vaccine are pfizer and biontech in germany, the university of oxford and astrazeneca vaccine in the uk, and in the united states, moderna and novavax. the oxford university/astrazeneca vaccine had a successful phase one and two testing period, while phase three testing is being carried out on participants

in countries including the uk, brazil and india. sinovac, the chinese pharmaceutical firm, says its vaccine is nearly ready and will be rolled out early next year. sinovac is one of the four chinese vaccines in last—stage human trials. in russia, vladimir putin announced that the country has approved the world's first coronavirus vaccine from the gamaleya research institute. the drug has not been tested in large numbers and not by the most rigorous of methods. let's hear now from america's top infectious disease expert, dr anthony fauci. he's been speaking to my colleagues christian fraser and laura trevelyan about the pandemic. it's a very serious situation because there are lagging indicators. for example, when you see cases, then a couple of weeks later you see hospitalisation, then a few weeks

later you see deaths. so when you see the massive increase in cases that we're seeing now, particularly as more and more people will be doing things indoors, which we know makes the risk even greaterfor surges, we're in a very difficult situation. we have to turn this around. you mentioned appropriately that there's light at the end of the tunnel in that we have at least two and likely more effective vaccines, but we've got to get people in united states, and i'm sure in the rest of the world including the uk, to continue to double down on some of the fundamental public health measures that we know work in mitigating against these type of surges. the universal wearing of masks, the physical distancing, the avoiding congregated or crowded sessions, particularly indoors, doing things outdoors preferentially over indoors, washing hands, they sound so simple

and we know they can work. but there's a degree of what we're referring to, and i know you have in the uk also, of covid fatigue. the people just are worn out with these kinds of restrictions. we've got to get them to hang in there a bit longer because help is on the way and vaccines are coming. and they will be extremely helpful in our endeavour. i want to talk plenty about the vaccines, but i've got to address the politics because it's the elephant in the room. and i know it's very difficult for you at the moment, but the picture you just painted, if the death count is going to double, it's an uncomfortable comparison, but we're talking about one 9/11 every single day. and when you're in a conflict like that, the commander—in—chief has to lead from the front and should be leading from the front now. given that he's not talking to you and you're not allowed to talk to the incoming president—elect, at what point

do you say enough? yeah. well, what i'm doing and some of my colleagues as much as we possibly can, to being the voice of what needs to be done. and that's why i'm here with you and that's why i've been doing this all day, to get that message out. you do what you can do with what you have. this is what we have, and this is what we're trying to do. we're trying to get the message out on the one hand. on the other hand, we're working very hard to get those vaccines deployed so people can start benefiting from them. if the food and drug administration here in united states gives emergency use authorisation, how soon until health care workers get it here in america and how soon till the rest of us get it? well, the plan is that hopefully by the end of december, the first tier of people,

and that is going to be the recommendation of our centers for disease control and prevention, or at cdc, who get advice traditionally from an advisory committee on immunisation practices, plus also weighing in with the national academy of medicine. i don't know what their decision is yet. i don't want to get ahead of them, but almost certainly it's going to include health care workers in the first tier. but i'll leave that decision to them. by the end of december, they will start getting vaccinated. and then as we go throuthanuary, february, march, april, we hope that we get the people of the higher priority through so that by the time you get to the end of april and go into the spring, april, may, june, you can then get the bulk of the people who are not in any of those priorities, the 25—year—old woman who has no underlying condition who wants to get vaccinated. hopefully as we get into the second quarter of 2021, we will have

those people vaccinated. america's top infectious disease expert, dr anthony fauci, talking to my colleagues christian fraser and laura trevelyan. since that interview, the us has passed another grim coronavirus milestone. more than a quarter of a million americans are now confirmed to have died from the disease. the number of confirmed cases is fast approaching 11.5 million. both of those statistics are the highest numbers of any country, although some other nations have been proportionally harder hit. keeping focused on the us, it's now two weeks since the presidential election, and donald trump is still not conceding victory tojoe biden. he's still making unsubstantiated claims of "massive" voter fraud. in one of his tweets today, the president claimed that in detroit there were more votes than people and that he won the state of michigan. twitter added a warning pointing out that claims of election fraud are disputed. the trump campaign has also put up

$3 million for a partial recount in two heavily democratic areas of wisconsin. meanwhile, the time limit for georgia to carry out a manual recount of votes, which was triggered by the narrow margin of mr biden‘s victory, expires in just a few hours. to make sense of all this, let us cross live now to our correspondent will grant in washington. so let's start with georgia. a couple of the larger county still left but we are not expecting a change in the result there. no, we are not and i think that is really the key point that the donald trump campaign is continuing along this path. he pointed out that he is still making these unsubstantiated claims of election fraud on twitter. and these are something he will pursue to the bitter end. but it does almost begin to look like the bitter end is on its way. certainly

in wisconsin, in the two counties that they have paid to have the partial recount there, it is also admitted that it will not overturn the result. so that does eventually ta ke the result. so that does eventually take it closer. assuming that is the case, to a point where president trump looks extremely isolated in terms of continuing to deny thatjoe biden is the president—elect. terms of continuing to deny thatjoe biden is the president-elect. and yet he continues to insist electoral fraud on social media and twitter continues to underline that that is disputed. and of course we have just heard from anthony fauci on the real world consequences of doing that, the headaches it causes in a public emergency of health. there are real consequences to all of this and they are consequences which are making the american people very uneasy. they would like a smoother transition. i don't think there is any doubt about that in terms of certainly anybody who voted forjoe biden. and even a decent number of

republicans. some of the top of the parties now are calling on president trump to sort of move on this. i think he is still not likely to come and not perhaps even until the day that he has to leave office, but certainly as these legal challenges gradually fall down and the recounts don't make any difference necessarily to the overall result, i think eventually he will be pushed in that direction. as always, thank you so much, coming in from washington. in spite of the results, many of donald trump's supporters are convinced that the election has been stolen. our correspondent aleem maqbool reports from donald trump's heartlands in the south. in the trump—supporting heartlands, they're keeping the faith and almost daily taking their passion for their president to the streets in sheer disbelief he could possibly have lost. there's more people for donald trump, and you can see that through donald trump's rallies that he's had. the amount of people that showed to those versusjoe biden rallies,

it's a huge difference. thousands and thousands of people difference. in the rural south, it's sometimes hard even to imagine a world outside where donald trump is loathed. what you hear is that he fought for real americans, the people just like them. well, there are parts of this country that felt forgotten before donald trump, feel that he represented them and fear that they'll be forgotten again once he's gone, which is part of the reason they're clinging on to the hope that somehow he'll stay in office. and so everywhere you go, they'll repeat the conspiracy theories about how the election was stolen. i think the majority of it's a lie, because ballots were brought in unnoticed in the back rooms, through the backdoors, people that have died years ago are still voting. # in america # in the divided states of...

# ..america.# through his music, jim white has chronicled the culture of the south and of his country, one he now says is riddled with the kind of division no president can cure. he says discussion about civil war is commonplace. it's not a possibility, it's happening. it's happening. it is a virtual civil war. people are turning against each other, you know, brother against brother. i talk to people that go to family reunions, they can't talk to half of their family. beyond the smiles, many told us they'd never accept this election was anything but rigged. the history of the south tells us when people feel, rightly or wrongly, they're being silenced, they will fight back. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the florida panhandle.

much more on our website. let's get some of the day's other news. the uk, australia, canada, new zealand and the us have issued a joint statement accusing china of trying to silence critical voices in hong kong. they've called on beijing to reinstate elected members of the territory's legislature after they were dismissed without apparent cause last week. the group of five nations say this was a clear breach of china's legally—binding commitments to protect freedoms in hong kong. in the us, safety regulators have cleared boeing's 737—max plane to fly again, lifting the grounding orders put in place in march last year after two deadly accidents. pilots will get extra safety training and modifications will be made to existing aircraft. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, the uk's four nations are trying to agree a common approach to the covid pandemic, but will it be enough to let everyone have a normal christmas?

music. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself into police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european antinuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling

the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds' worth of damage. this is bbc news. the latest headlines — the race for a coronavirus vaccine clears another hurdle. pfizer says its new vaccine is almost 95% effective. all four nations in the united kingdom are trying to agree on a plan that would allow families across the uk to be able to celebrate christmas together. but it all depends on the rates of infection in the coming weeks. our health editor hugh pym reports. will it be a christmas nightmare or a dream come true? a question being widely asked as people look beyond the current lockdown in england, due to end in early december. those we spoke to in manchester were hoping the rules would allow some form of celebration. it would be nice if everyone

could get together and get back to some sort of normality. i mean, it would be amazing, and i think, like many families, we've had a bereavement as well, so it would mean a huge amount to be able to spend the time together. senior officials stressed that ministers would decide, but they were open to the idea of a christmas relaxation. we are very keen that we have a christmas as close to normal as possible. that requires all of us to make every effort over this national restriction period and even in early december. so is some sort of christmas possible, do you think? so, i think it is. coming into christmas, we need to be very careful about the number of contacts that we have, to reduce transmission. once we have got past the christmas period, if there's been a release and some socialisation, we will all have to be very responsible and reduce those contacts again. scotland's first minister set out her position on the christmas issue. we are all desperate for some normality at christmas, and i absolutely include myself in that, and the scottish

government right now is working very closely and well with the other uk nations to try to agree a way for that to happen. allowing a limited mixing of households is one thing, but deciding what'll be permitted for pubs, bars a nd restau ra nts is another matter. it's normally their busiest time of the year in the run—up to christmas, but health officials are concerned that a full reopening will see a further spread of the virus. trade—offs and difficult decisions will be needed on what exactly will open up over christmas and for how long, and what will have to stay closed. the australian defence force is due to release a long—awaited report detailing allegations that its special forces committed war crimes during multiple deployments to afghanistan. the report follows a four—year inquiry with claims that civilians were unlawfully killed. our correspondent in sydney, shaimaa khalil, is following this. this has been a highly

anticipated report and took years. what can we expect? long-awaited and also highly secretive. we anticipate the findings will be quite disturbing not just the findings will be quite disturbing notjust for the military 01’ disturbing notjust for the military or veteran communities but for the whole of australia, according to the prime minister. forfour years now, the attorney general of the australian defence force has looked into allegations that special forces, a group of special forces, have violated the rules of war in afghanistan. we know that the justice has been looking into it 55 separate incidents between 2005—2016 and have spoken to more than 300 witnesses. we also know that the inquiry did not focus on things that happened in the heat of battle, if you will come us and not people who died as collateral damage in combat, but rather people who were unlawfully killed allegedly while they were unarmed. so the alleged

killing of unarmed afghan civilians and the mistreatment alleged of prisoners of war. we already know the primary report has been handed to the government and to the military as well. and a redacted version is due to be released but whatever details it we get are going to make for some very uncomfortable reading indeed and we also know the prime minister, scott morrison, has already called the afghan president to apologise for the misconduct by some of the australian troops in afghanistan. so once we get the findings, what happens next? the prime minister announced last week that a special investigator will be appointed and that they will have the powers to take the findings from the powers to take the findings from the australian defence force report because this was an internal investigation. whateverfindings because this was an internal investigation. whatever findings we have, they would not be admissible toa criminal have, they would not be admissible to a criminal court. so the special investigator will have the power to pursue the findings, pursue more

evidence and then refer to that to the public prosecution, who can then ta ke the public prosecution, who can then take this to a criminal court. the issue of course is this could take yea rs issue of course is this could take years and the prime minister did acknowledge that. he said there are many incidents that need to be investigated further and the process is going to be lengthy and is going to be very complicated, but he said that this will ensure justice which is something that he also mentioned to the afghan president when he spoke to him. he said that whatever investigations are going to be will ensure justice for the afghans. thank you very much. police have arrested three senior medical officers in the kenyan capital, nairobi, for allegedly running a child—trafficking syndicate following a year—long undercover investigation by the bbc africa eye team into the theft and sale of babies. the arrests come just two days after the report was first broadcast. from nairobi, the bbc‘s ferdinand omondi has the latest.

two days after a bbc investigation into child trafficking in kenya, these suspects were arraigned in court. prosecution said they were being investigated for possible links with child trafficking in nairobi. the court will rule on thursday on an application to have them detained to aid with the ongoing investigations. the court appearance came a few hours after the inspector general of police had announced that three medical officers in a public hospital were under arrest on suspicion of colluding with child traffickers. after bbc africa eye exposed an illegal trafficking ring in kenya, the interior secretary, fred matiang'i, has thanked the media for exposing the rot. he has also expressed his satisfaction with the pace at which the inspector general of police has taken action to ensure the crime is ended. police say that local public hospitals and children's homes within nairobi are involved. i am happy that the members of the public, and i want to thank you very sincerely, those who have

volunteered information to us on that crime. and i thank the media for exposing these and for bringing it out. thank you very much. we don't blame you when you ask questions and when you bring information like this out. the inspector general has done a good job in moving and rounding up these people. i am satisfied with what he has done, and i support the speed at which he's moving to ensure that everyone who was involved in this crime is brought to book. police commanders have been ordered to investigate both public and private hospitals, as well as children's homes in their areas ofjurisdiction. these actions were triggered following this bbc africa eye documentary, which uncovered a series of illegal networks in which children were stolen from homeless mothers and sold on the streets for as little as $450 us. they also uncovered evidence of newborn babies offered for sale in illegal private clinics, as well as at a public hospital in nairobi.

the expose that i've seen, as i said before, all the government agencies involved in children protection are being mobilised and they'll get to the bottom of this issue. and no efforts will be spared in ensuring that we protect our children and ensure all our children and mothers their safety. there are no reliable statistics on child trafficking in kenya. however, a nongovernmental organisation which tracks missing children, missing child kenya, has recorded almost 600 cases in the past three years. it's a highly secretive and lucrative trade which leaves behind widespread trauma and painful memories to mothers who may never see their children again. ferdinand omondi, bbc news, nairobi. the full hour long investigation from bbc is on youtube. lots more on all of our stories on our website. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbckasiamadera. would be lovely to hear from you.

bye— bye would be lovely to hear from you. bye — bye for would be lovely to hear from you. bye—bye for now. hello there. much colder today than it has been of late thanks to an arctic blast, but this arctic blast is going to be quite brief because milder air looms in the atlantic and will arrive on friday for many areas. so today, cold. it will be windy as well to start with, and we'll have a mixture of sunshine and showers. the pressure chart shows why it's windy — northerly winds, lots of isobars across northern and eastern areas, hence the gales — but this ridge of high pressure will continue to nudge in through the course of the day, so the winds becomes lighter and will also kill off many of the showers, too. behind me there is that milder air with the frontal system that will start to make inroads on friday. so, today starts cold, windy, gales across northern and eastern areas, wintry showers continuing across scotland. these will tend to ease down. and we'll have some showers across england and wales,

these becoming confined towards the south east. many places seeing a lot of sunshine into the afternoon. the cloud will start to thicken up, though, across northern ireland ahead of this next frontal system. a chilly day to come, much colder than of late. temperatures are 4—10 degrees, but when you factor in the wind, certainly across northern and eastern areas, it's going to feel much colder than those values suggest, perhaps even subzero across central and eastern scotland. now, as we head on into tonight, it turns cold across central and eastern areas with a touch of frost. rain will start to push in to western areas. could see a few showers moving in ahead of it. and these will be wintry with some snow over the scottish hills as it bumps into the cold air. temperatures slowly recovering out west with the rain, but it stays quite chilly further east. but that cold air gets pushed out of the way as we head through friday, as the milder west to south—westerly winds move in off the atlantic. so it's a chilly start across northern and eastern areas, dry, too, but the rain out west will slowly spill its way eastwards. could see some transient snow over the scottish mountains as it moves its way eastwards. behind it, it turns a little bit drier for northern ireland,

for wales and the south west of england by the end of the day. and here, at the end of the day, it'll be much milder — 12—13 degrees. still fairly chilly across the east — 9—11 degrees. now, as we head on into the weekend, it stays pretty unsettled. low pressure to the north of the uk, higher pressure to the south. across the north, it's going to be windy with gales on saturday across scotland with some showers, but lighter winds for england and wales, perhaps one or two showers on sunday. i think it's going to be mild for many of us on saturday. turns colder, though, across the north of the uk on sunday.

hello, welcome. you're watching bbc news. our main headlines... more data from pfizer and biontech say their coronavirus vaccine is over 94% effective in the over—65s and works equally well in people of all ages and ethnicities. biontech's ceo says they hope to get approval for use as early as mid—december. the us death toll from covid—19 has passed 250,000. it comes as new york city says it's temporarily closing public schools again from thursday over fears of a second wave. a recount in the state of georgia — which is due to be completed in the next few hours — is not likely to change the result that gave the president—electjoe biden victory there, according to an offical in charge of the count. the us regulator has cleared the boeing 737—max to fly again. it comes more than 18 months after it was grounded after two