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This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Valerie Sanderson. And at 14 hours GMT on Monday, the 14th of December, these are our main stories. The biggest ever inoculation program in U.S. history is getting underway as people prepare to get a coronaviruses jab still in America. President elect Joe Biden is due to be officially designated the next occupant of the White House by the U.S. Electoral College. There's still confusion about the fate of schoolchildren reportedly kidnapped by bandits in northwestern Nigeria. Also in this podcast, Britain and the EU begin new efforts to achieve a deal on what their relationship will be after Brexit.

And I'm worried about what will happen tomorrow. Sometimes I want to cry. I think about my children. What will I do for my children if they kick me out of here?

Tomorrow, we speak to one of the thousands of Spaniards facing the threat of eviction during the pandemic. Around 300000 people have died in the United States after catching coronavirus. But now, after months of being told a vaccine is on the way, a rollout has begun. Just days after it was approved by regulators in the U.S., batches of the Pfizer biotech job were shipped out of the Pfizer plant in Michigan. And they're now being transported by United Parcel Service UPS and FedEx from their depots in Tennessee and Kentucky.

These UPS workers say they feel privileged.

They just came up and said, hey, you're going to be one of the few people unloading vaccines for us. And that's pretty monumental for us. So I was pretty excited and happy to be helping out.

It feels like I can finally do something about these problems instead of just saying, oh, this is great.

No, it's very humbling. You know, I had the privilege years ago applying to factories in the United States Marine Corps and, you know, serving in the first Gulf War and other things. But now this is a different type of mission. You know, we're literally at war against this against this global pandemic. And so to finally have a solution out here that's literally going to help people and save lives, it's just very humbling.

It's a huge logistical operation as the vaccine must be kept at minus 70 Celsius to find out more about operation warp speed, as it's known. I spoke to our health correspondent, Naomi Grimly. I asked her what's the timeline for rolling out the vaccine and who'll be first to receive it?

Well, the key thing is that it's going to have to happen in phases because, of course, only at the moment do we have one vaccine that's been approved or emergency authorization has been given. Then that's the phase of vaccine. So this first phase will see 100 million doses of that rolled out over the first quarter of this coming year, basically. So that's enough for 50 million Americans. But of course, ultimately, the plan is to vaccinate the entire country, minus kids who at the moment won't be getting it.

And when it comes to priorities, we know that health care workers and those in care homes are top of the list. But a key fact here is that states have a lot of discretion and we're already seeing some states prioritizing care, home residents over health care workers, while others are doing the opposite.

And either some parts of the states that are harder to get the vaccine to because it's tricky, isn't it, to transport it? Yeah. I mean, we forget what a vast country the USA is, and particularly in rural areas, there are going to be problems because the hospitals there may not have these ultra low freezers that you need, ultra low temperatures that you need to keep the vaccine stored. So it may well be that rural communities do end up losing out.

And, you know, again, the problem at the moment is that not all states have got their, you know, ducks in a row on this. And there's also worries from the Centers for Disease Control that the whole program is essentially underfunded. But Congress hasn't released enough funds to make this work properly.

And there's so much skepticism about this vaccine in the U.S. There still is when you compare it to European countries.

If you look at a recent survey done by the Pew Research Center, it said about 60 percent of people were willing to take it. But in order to achieve herd immunity, you need between 70 and 80 percent of people to take it up. And the real problem for the United States is you have this hard core, about 20 percent of people who will not shift their view on the vaccine. They think it's not going to be safe and they're refusing to take it.

And that includes, we're told by Dr. Anthony Fauci, that includes some health care workers, believe it or not, Namee grimly.

And the vaccine is also being rolled out across Canada. One of the least understood and most controversial exercises in American democracy is taking place today when the Electoral College formally votes for the next U.S. president. Joe Biden won the popular vote in November and more importantly, 306 electoral votes, which were enough to beat Donald Trump. So who are the electors? Jane O'Brien went to meet two of them in the northeastern state of Maine. Eighteen year old Jay Philbrick is one of the youngest members of the Electoral College, a bewildering and increasingly controversial part of America's political system that holds little obvious appeal to a college student.

I'd say I'm naturally sort of sort of a nerd. I like math. I like science. And that's that's what really, really excites me. I mean, but I'm also someone who really cares about the people around me.

Jay was nominated by the Democratic Party in Maine to vote for Joe Biden, who won the state.

Overall, it is what determines our president and it's ultimately the most important thing we have. And yet so few people truly understand it. And so I wanted to get a chance to understand it, explain it to others and really make it transparent for people.

OK, here's your chance, explained the Electoral College in under 10 seconds.

Good question. It's once removed from the people, so the people vote for the president.

And then with some weird math from each state, our electoral vote comes out and sometimes it lines up with the with how the people voted as a whole and sometimes it doesn't. But it's a state by state approach to selecting the president.

If you didn't quite get that. Don't worry. You're not alone. The Electoral College has baffled most Americans ever since it was adopted in 1789.

I know it has to do with the states and each state has a number and that's how they end up getting their their count. But I don't really know more than that.

And I has to do with the voting. And I know it's to do with like each state, I believe, has certain people they get to pick. And I really think it's. Clerk You don't agree with it? I don't. Do you know who your electors are?

No, no, we don't know. I don't know if that's ever really made very public, to tell you the truth. No, I don't think it is.

Well, Peter Lavanya, who's approaching 80, is another of Maine's electors. He and his wife, Beverly, are staunch supporters of Donald Trump. And because Maine, unlike most states, splits its electoral votes, the Republican Party nominated Mr. Lavallière to cast his vote for the president.

I couldn't have asked for a better gift. And that's what it was, was a gift. I just please have a bunch of things they considered to be equal to the task.

This year, the electoral vote matches the popular vote. Joe Biden won both. But that's not always the case in 2016. Donald Trump lost the popular vote but still became president because he won the Electoral College. That fueled critics who say the system should be abolished.

But as it's already survived more than 700 attempts to change it, the Electoral College will likely be around until at least the next presidential election. Jane O'Brien, over the last few days on Global News, we've reported on the missing school children in northwest Nigeria who are believed to have been captured by bandits. Government troops have surrounded the area and cats in a state where gunmen are believed to be holding the children. But there are confusing and contradictory reports about exactly how many pupils were taken and how many are still missing.

Our Africa regional editor, Will Ross, give me the latest.

It is a confusing situation. There is still, we understand, quite a lot of anger and apprehension amongst, obviously, the parents of the missing children. And as you say, the numbers are completely extraordinary. We know that the school has more than 800 students and parents and people in the area are saying roughly half of that number are still unaccounted for, whereas we've had government officials or a presidential spokesman saying as few as 10 students are still missing. So completely conflicting information on that part of it.

But also when the government says, you know, we've surrounded the area where the gunmen are believed to be holding the students, we're talking about a vast forested area which has been pretty lawless for some years now. So it's not as though they've got them pinned down in a small, confined area. So it's still pretty unclear what the next move will be for the military, how many students are in captivity and how dangerous the situation is. But we do believe that this area where they were taken from is an area where usually people are kidnapped for ransom and not for any other reason.

This is Katsina state. That's right, Katsina state. But the criminality, which has really got completely out of hand in northwest Nigeria, originated really in Zamfara state in the northwest, and then has spread to Katsina and Kaduna. And there's a great deal of anger amongst communities there who feel that the government simply hasn't done enough despite so many promises. They just haven't done enough to stop what are effectively armed bandits that live in rural camps. They move around harassing villagers, abducting people, stealing large amounts of cattle.

And despite numerous promises from the government and the military saying a new operation is beginning and they're going to wipe them out and claims of success, these attacks simply have not ended, which is of great concern. Of course, President Buhari is under a lot of criticism because this is not the only problem of insecurity. There's also the north east of the country with the jihadist attacks and attacks in the Niger Delta. So a big problem for him with growing insecurity.

Well, Ross, there's been a row in the Malaysian parliament after three MPs who are supposed to be in coronavirus quarantine, including the health minister, were allowed to turn up and take part in a vote. Michael Bestir as the details.

The legislators were transported to parliament by ambulance in full protective clothing, including face masks and gowns. They waited in a special room and then took part in proceedings from an empty public gallery. There was anger because they were supposed to be isolated at home. After coming into contact with people with the virus, many opposition MPs walked out in protest before the budget vote, which was passed. The current Malaysian government has only a slender parliamentary majority and is holding on to power by its fingertips.

And so every vote matters.

Michael Bristow, she was born in a refugee camp and adult book, is the first woman from South Sudan to play in the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association, the top league in the world. Her journey to the West began after her parents fled fighting in their African country, later moving with their family to Canada. Now Black has announced that she's turned down a chance to play for Angola, who offered her citizenship and a salary. She told the BBC's James Copnall why salary doesn't really mean much to me.

And also, what if one day we could have a South Sudan team and I was to face them in competition, like I will not be able to handle that. And so that is what I knew I wanted, was to help become a pioneer for a potential South Sudan national team.

Why is it a potential team? You know, we've talked about the South Sudanese men's team, which has been doing extremely well. Why isn't there a women's team as well?

I had already had my sights on some type of way to start South Sudanese women's national team, but I just didn't know how.

I didn't have the resources and I had connected with another girl who had the same type of vision.

And then as time progressed, we were able to make enough noise. And then it was just timely that we started a new federation with the men's program. And so there's been a lot of upsides just from raising that conversation has really brought light to the situation that our women really want a national team and will be heard and will one day be put on that stage.

And what's it going to mean to you when you pull on that South Sudan shirt for the first time?

I don't think it's going to be a describable feeling. I have played at every level possible in basketball except for the Olympics. And although that's still a ways away, just because we don't have a national team yet, just to be able to say that I represented South Sudan at some point in my career would just be just the biggest honor. I take a lot of pride in my nation, and that's just something that would pretty much be the cherry on top of my career.

When you think about your career, your life, the WNBA, the pinnacle of the game, along perhaps with that South Sudanese national one day and those beginnings in a refugee camp, do you sometimes marvel at how far you've come?

Yeah, it's very surreal to me, but it's just a testament to not only me, but plenty of other refugees who have made it out of being born in a refugee camp and going on to doing extraordinary things in their lifetime.

And so it's not something that I ever imagined that I would be a professional athlete. It just kind of found something that I loved.

Basketball player and former refugee added bukkake speaking there to James Cottonelle.

Still to come in this edition of our podcast, the idea was to find books that absolutely were produced as literature, but completely break out sort of conceptions of what a book can be, why a British writer has spent 10 years collecting weird books from around the world, some of them very weird indeed.

When Joe Biden enters the White House next month, he'll face numerous foreign policy challenges and one of the most pressing is whether or not to pull American troops out of Afghanistan 19 years after the US led invasion to overthrow the Taliban. President Trump has promised to withdraw all remaining two and a half thousand U.S. soldiers by next May. But Mr. Biden has said he'd consider keeping a small American counterterrorism force in Afghanistan. The Taliban has told the BBC that if that happens, they'll resume attacks on US troops.

I heard more from our correspondent in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, Secunda Kamani.

So these two senior Taliban figures have been speaking to the BBC and we asked them, what would they do if President elect Joe Biden, when he assumes office, deviates from this withdrawal timetable that has been laid out by the Trump administration, according to which all American troops will be pulled out from Afghanistan by next May? And these Taliban figures said that they don't believe that Joe Biden will deviate from that schedule. They hope that he won't. But they said if even one foreign soldier is left within Afghanistan after May, they will resume attacks on international forces because they regard them as occupying forces.

And that's something that they haven't done ever since the US Taliban agreement signed back in February. So that would be a severe escalation of the conflict once again.

But there have been ongoing Taliban attacks, haven't there? Yeah, that's right. It's key to remember that this US Taliban agreement signed by the Trump administration in Doha back in February that set out this timetable for the withdrawal of all American forces by next May in exchange for security guarantees from the Taliban or not allowing groups like al-Qaeda to operate in their territory. But the Taliban never agreed to stop carrying out attacks on the Afghan government. And that's what we've seen over the last year.

Lots of attacks on Afghan government forces, lots of civilian deaths. So it's this strange dichotomy that doesn't make sense to many Afghans. Why the Taliban, who have always said that their main opposition has been the American forces, have stopped attacking the Americans but have continued killing other Afghans. But that's what we've seen over the past few months.

And I suppose the Afghan government is desperate for some kind of US presence because they're being attacked at the moment, even though this so-called peace deal has been agreed.

That's exactly right. American air support is key to preventing more and more areas and potentially even large cities in Afghanistan falling to the Taliban. There is a big fear amongst many in Afghanistan that were all American troops to be withdrawn by next May, assuming there's no substantive peace deal that's been done between the government and the Taliban by then, which seems very, very unlikely that the country could then fall to the Taliban. There could be some kind of military victory for the Taliban.

So there's a lot of concern in Afghanistan. Even NATO, the secretary general, has expressed concerns about a hasty withdrawal, warning of the dangers of that and what it could mean for Afghanistan in the rolling back of the fragile progress that's been made in the country over the past few decades since the Taliban were overthrown.

Candidates are going to Kamani. Sunday's deadline came and went. And as we record this podcast, negotiators from the EU and UK are beginning a new push to reach agreement on their future relationship after deciding to carry on trying to resolve their differences. The EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has been updating ambassadors from the 27 EU member states in Brussels and the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has been answering questions on the UK's position at a virtual OECD summit.

Here's some of what she had to say.

Well, first of all, there is movement that is good. The transition period ends. So we're talking about a new beginning with old friends. But we should also be clear from the 1st of January on, this is in three weeks, the UK will be a third country to the European Union. And what we have sorted out such a package already in the agreement that what is essential now to finalize the one and only important question, that is if the UK wants a seamless access to the single market and the single market of the European Union is the largest one and the whole world, they are welcome.

But they either have to play by our rules because this is a matter of fairness for companies in the single market. Or the other choice is there is a price on it and the price is for and tariffs.

We are on the very last mile to go, but it's an essential one. And we want a level playing field. We want a level playing field not only at the start but also over time. And this is the architecture we are building and we are fine about the architecture itself, but the details in it, do they really fit? And these are crucial points because again, it's a.

Matter of fairness, it's a matter of fair competition, and we want to ensure that every Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission next to Spain, where the issue of evictions during the pandemic has reached the highest level of government. The left wing coalition partner, Podemos, have been putting pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to introduce more effective policies to stop vulnerable people being evicted during the covid-19 crisis. The government had pledged that evictions would be put on pause, but that hasn't been the full story.

As Tim Smith reports with this good afternoon.

That Asilomar like it's Thursday evening in Ciotat Meridiani, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Barcelona. Over the years, this place has been given the unfortunate nickname in the local press of eviction town due to the high number of home repossessions that happen here.

Every week, the residents come together to discuss a range of local matters, and evictions are always on the agenda.

I'm one of those who stands up to tell her story this week is Cecilia, who's been told that she will soon lose her home.

This is the flat where she's been living for four years with her partner, Carlos, the eight year old daughter, four year old twins, pet dogs and birds.

It's a busy household, so they've been paying rent to the owner of the property until one day he disappeared and stopped paying his mortgage.

They've now been told they'll be evicted tomorrow morning.

Men and. You know, I get such a nervous stomach, I can't go to the toilet. I'm worried about what will happen tomorrow. Sometimes I want to cry. I think about my children. What would I do for my children if they kick me out of here tomorrow? I feel nervous at night. I can't sleep because I'm going over it in my head. What's going to happen? We're not asking to live for free, but we're asking is for social housing where I can live in peace with my children to have this constant worry that I have today.

And the next day, Cecilia was told that the eviction had been postponed, a relief, but only a temporary one. The threat of being made homeless still hangs over the family. Thousands across Spain are in the same position, with protests happening daily across the country.

Citizens are angry that evictions are continuing during the pandemic after the government passed a law in March to supposedly suspend evictions. So why are people still being removed from homes in the midst of this public health crisis? Javier Crespo is a representative of Palm Madrid, a grassroots organization fighting against evictions.

Well, the government at the beginning of the pandemic make a new law and they say to the media, OK, from now on, evictions are forbidden and the media will leave the message. I don't know how many people read the law because the law is not. All evictions are forbidden and being were forbidden only for vulnerable families. Consequence of the pandemic is very difficult for the courts who know why you are vulnerable in this moment.

Spain's housing crisis goes well back beyond the start of the pandemic. It's estimated that social housing in Spain represents just 2.5 percent of primary residences. That compares to 30 percent in the Netherlands, 18 percent in the U.K. and 17 percent in France. An Amnesty International report from 2019 said that this scarcity of social housing in Spain has had a devastating impact on low income families.

Tim Smith reporting from Barcelona. In January, Dr. Jill Biden will become the first wife of a U.S. president to continue her day job, leaving the White House to teach English at a community college. She may have a Ph.D. in education, but that's apparently not enough for one American professor who's written an entire newspaper article that questions Jill Biden's use of the title. Dr Charlotte Galica reports.

Madam First Lady, Mrs. Biden, Jill KEDO. A bit of advice begins a piece in The Wall Street Journal. Its writer, Joseph Epstein, isn't happy, complaining that Dr. Jill Biden sounds, in his words, fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. His reasoning is that the soon to be first lady isn't a medical doctor and claims that people should only call themselves a doctor if they've delivered a baby. Joseph Epstein spends a lot of time listing his own career highs and argues that PhDs aren't as good as they used to be.

He's been heavily criticized for the piece, which has been called sexist, patronizing and elitist. Doug Imhoff, who's married to the vice president elect Kamala Harris, said the article would never be written about a man.

Dr. Jill Biden hasn't addressed the remarks directly, but tweeted together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated rather than diminished. Joseph Epstein is also being ostracized by the academic world. Northwestern University, where he used to teach, has described his views as misogynistic. His profile has also been removed from the website. Perhaps he'll listen to another prominent woman in politics, Hillary Clinton, who said her name is Dr. Jill Biden. Get used to it.

Charlotte Gallaher, the British author Edward Brooke Hitching, has spent 10 years searching for the weirdest books in the world. The definitely not in the traditional paperback or hardback styles that most of us are familiar with. And he's now actually written a book all about his quest. It's just been published and it's called The Madman's Library. James Copnall asked him about some of the most unusual items in his collection.

The only thing was to look for books that you don't traditionally read about in literary histories. And then gradually, as you put them together, these chapters emerged. So there are books of anthropic opportunity which is explaining it's well, it's this tradition going back to at least a 12th century of finding books in human skin and looking at the evolution of that practice, how it changed from a kind of very obvious deterrence and punishment to buying records of highwayman crimes. And it's also used to buying medical curiosities.

Doctors would sort of take a little sample from the subject that they were writing about to find the report to the work. And then it becomes this sort of romantic metaphor for the romance of literature to sort of find a book in that skin.

Same way that soul is bound by asking about one person's romance is another's horror, at least in this continued to the 19th century.

Is that right? Yeah, exactly. I mean, it was it was as horrifying as it is today. It was it was also, you know, a great thing shot at parties and one of the most famous stories with the author, Camille Samarian, who was approached by a young countess who was a great fan. He complimented on her skin. And the next thing he knew, there was a knock at the door. It turned out she'd been dying of a disease and the surgeon was standing there with a parcel.

And her last wish had been for Marilyn to have his latest novel bound in her skin.

Gosh, he also turned up books. Well, a millimeter by a millimeter. Is that a book or is it a figment of your imagination?

It was looking for how far we sort of. The boundaries of spectacular size, so miniature books is a great tradition in collecting traditionally it's about sort of three or three inches, but obviously people have gone for the record book by just try and show off their skill and then it just becomes ridiculous. And microscopic books have been attempted with nanotechnology. So it's quite funny looking for books that you literally can't see with the human eye. Yeah.

What about the books that double up as an offensive weapon? I mentioned one that a Bible that contained a pistol.

Yes. You do find in several museums there are books. There's one made for Francesco Morosini, the Duke of Venice, who died around 60 in 94. And it looks like it's just for personal protection. It wasn't for an assassin, but it's hidden inside a book. And you find this pistol by tugging on the little silk bookmark so you could fire it with the book closed. Wow, that's incredibly ingenious.

When you look through all these weird and wonderful books, can you read these books or are they just objects in a sense?

Well, the idea was to to find books that absolutely were produced as literature. These are all different forms of literature, but completely break all sort of conceptions of what a book can be.

The author, Edward Brooke Hitching.

And that's it from us for now. But there'll be an updated version of the Global News podcast later if you want to comment on this edition or any of the topics we've covered in it. Send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC Dot Dot.

UK studio manager is Ben Andrew's producer, Rajasthani editor Karen Martin and Valerie Saunderson until next time. Bye bye.

It's now 50 years since the body of an unidentified woman was discovered in East Harlem or Death Valley in Norway. She died in horrific circumstances. Police tried but failed to find out who she was. She'd been using different names. There were suitcases containing weeks. The labels had been cut off some of her clothes and items. My name is Margaret. Take it off. And I've done my best to investigate what happened to her and who was she. Listen to my podcast.

I've been helping to unravel the mystery half a century on. Why not see what you think about death in my family from the BBC World Service and no ways. And I can't search for death in a smelly wherever you get your podcasts.