this is bbc news. the headlines: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. i broke into an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers. it really exceeded our best hopes and it is an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. on a day he hoped to "reframe" his premiership after days of in—fighting — boris johnson is instead self—isolating in downing street after meeting a tory mp who later tested positive for coronavirus. it doesn't matter that i'm as fit as a butcher's dog, i feel great, so many people do in my circumstances and it actually doesn't matter that i've had the disease and i'm bursting with antibodies. we've got to interrupt the spread of the disease. a warning from patients and staff —

at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rates in the country. the doubters out there who don't believe in it, it's here. and this is very busy, the nurses don't stop. i personally don't cope well in the lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it, but i'd be the first to say that our restrictions now are probably not tight enough because we're getting too many patients coming in. hopes that families will be allowed to visit residents in all care homes before christmas — after successful trials for rapid testing of visitors. a bbc investigation uncovers evidence of an underground network in kenya, that snatches babies from their mothers and sells them for a profit. three, two, one, zero. ignition. launch of the space taxi — a private rocket carries four astronauts to the space station... and saves nasa billions of dollars.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a second coronavirus vaccine has been found to be highly effective at preventing covid—i9 infections. interim results suggest it's 9a.5% effective at stopping symptomatic infections. the trial is ongoing and the us firm moderna plans to apply to regulators in the coming weeks to get approval for emergency use of the jab. the results come hot on the heels of similar results from pfizer, and add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. hot on the heels of last week's breakthrough, another promising candidate, this time from a us company called moderna which has announced the results of a trial involving 30,000 people. the company is reporting the vaccine

is nearly 95% effective. i broke into a grin when i heard the numbers, it exceeded our best hopes and it is an exciting moment for us as a company, as the world, as we develop tools to fight the virus. it is a moment only because we realise we have a lot of work to do but it is a great moment. the moderna vaccine is one of the number being tested around the world, there are now 48 in developing, iith in the final stage of testing. one of those is the pfizer vaccine announced last week with early results suggesting it can prevent more than 90% of infections. two others at final stage are also being trialled in the uk, the university of oxford vaccine and another. and a third uk trial forjanssen which aims to recruit 6,000 participants.

experts warn when it comes to a vaccine we need to keep options open. 0ne vaccine might not suit some parts of the population, one might be better for one age group, or one population diversity, it is important we develop the other vaccines because it is unlikely one size will fit all. one reason why the uk government has options to buy a total of 350 million doses of six different vaccines. negotiations to buy a significant number of moderna there is said to be at an advanced stage. ministers say preparations for running at the pfizer vaccine are well under way. we may be able to roll it out before christmas, but almost certainly the vast bulk of the roll out, if the safety data proves it is safe and that is still not known, we still do not have a vaccine, but even if we do, it is likely the bulk of the roll—out will be

in the new year. with alternate vaccines potentially coming on stream there will not be a choice over which we get, some may work better for different parts of the community. the committee has decided who will be the most prioritised and that starts with the elderly, people in care homes. but obviously if something comes up that a vaccine works differently in different age groups that may need to be modified. there are still many questions around all the vaccines produced so far, how long will immunity last, how will they work in older age groups, will they stop people falling ill and from spreading the virus? but still what we are seeing with development is remarkable, a process that normally takes years compressed down to months. our medical editor fergus walsh said this vaccine could suggest that, while we must remain cautious at this point, next year could be very different to where we are now as a reuslt of vaccines.

i spoke to him earlier. ifi if i could be, i am even more excited than last monday because now we have another covid vaccine which has also proved over 90% effective. ina way, has also proved over 90% effective. in a way, it is confirmation last week that result last week wasn't a freak. it's suggests science is going to find a path out of the pandemic for us and other vaccines, as dominic said in his report, are on the way so i am hopeful now, even more hopeful than i was last week that we are moving in the right direction. we do need to be cautious, we need safety data, there are cautious, we need safety data, there a re lots cautious, we need safety data, there are lots to look at but it is looking good. how quickly could we get it here? the moderna vaccine we don't have advance orders for that. but the company told me this morning

that they had been in discussions with the uk government and they hope to be able to supply doses here by spring 2021. we should not count on a vaccine to help us out really this winter. this is really for 2021, so for the next few months we are going to have to rely on all the things we have been relying on, social distancing, hand hygiene etc but 2021 could be very different as a result of vaccines to the current situation we are in now. dr muhammad munir is a virologist at lancaster university and joins me now. you share that sense of optimism? yes, ido you share that sense of optimism? yes, i do because this is really encouraging. as been said before, it has boosted our optimism and this is a good start we will have a vaccine because pfizer and madonna have the same technologies and they have been

performing at a comparative level. i am very excited to hear about the whole data. from what we know what are the main differences between those two vaccinations? both pfizer and madonna magazines are based on mrna vaccines. they take the genetic code into a carrier and injected into the cell and within the cell they produce the protein of the virus and that is what our body ta kes virus and that is what our body takes up and starts producing antibodies and t cells together to create resistance to infection. both are based on the same principle but they have some differences which make one vaccine more stable at a higher temperature. 0ne make one vaccine more stable at a higher temperature. one can be stored at —20 freezes which are common in gp surgeries and

pharmacies whereas pfizer's requires 80 celsius below zero, dry ice. two positive outcomes so far. where are we in total of all the trials going on? that is an important question. most of these vaccines, for example pfizer, moderna, astrazeneca, they started phase three clinical trials at the same time. itjust so pfizer and moderna, the number of people infected was done earlier so were able to conclude the data earlier. 0ther trials are moving along well. all in all, i am expecting that at least three more vaccines will be delivering data at the end of this month or next so we will have many choices to make. when can we make

those choices? when will we face the decision as to where we go and what job we get? that is important. what we are talking about is interim data. this is not concluded data. until we have that information, it is too early to see whether this would be something to really get approval. but even the optimism we have with the high efficacy, i am expecting that even if it is brought down to 70% efficacy, still it will be good enough to present to regulatory bodies. december will be a critical month where we could have two or three vaccines approved which means next year we will roll out to the field. is it possible to get one

thatis the field. is it possible to get one that is 99% effective? yes, it is possible. we have a vaccine currently being deployed. the measles vaccine is over 90% for efficacious. we have a handful of vaccines, chickenpox, measles, these provide protection for 90%. but this covid—19 vaccine, we didn't have any vaccine before. this is exceeding expectations. thank you very much for joining expectations. thank you very much forjoining us. the government is hoping to double the uk's daily coronavirus testing capacity by opening two new laboratories. known as "megalabs", the facilities are set to open early next year in scotland and leamington spa. they'll be able to process up to 600,000 tests per day. the latest data shows current capacity is 520,000 —

although the number actually processed each day is lower. and we'll have a special programme at 4:30 covering the downing street press conference led by health secretary matt hancock on bbc one and the bbc news channel. coming up at four fifteen we'll answer your questions on development, trials, delivery and impact of a covid—19 vaccine. we'll be joined by peter drobac from the university of oxford and 0ksana pyzik from university college london. you can get involved by sending your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. 0r tweeting us using the hash tag bbc your questions. borisjohnson has said he is feeling "fit as a butcher's dog" on his first working day self—isolating in downing street. the pm and several other tory mps have been told to isolate by nhs test and trace — after a meeting at downing street where one of the mps later tested positive for covid—19. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports.

this was last thursday morning, the prime minister had a meeting with some of his mps including the man on the right, lee anderson who the day after lost his sense of taste and later tested positive and so the prime minister is holed up in his downing street flat until a week on thursday. the good news is nhs test and trace is working ever more efficiently. the bad news is i have two self—isolate. it doesn't matter we are all doing social distancing, iam fit we are all doing social distancing, i am fit as we are all doing social distancing, iam fitasa we are all doing social distancing, i am fit as a butcher ‘s dog, feel great and it doesn't matter that i have had the disease and i am bursting with antibodies. we've got to interrupt the spread of the disease. his neighbours getting some fresh air though. the chancellor was in east london this morning. like all other business organisations, he has been learning to do things differently, doing meetings online,

the prime minister this morning, we are getting on and delivering people 's priorities. the prime minister is not the only one doing a stint of domestic incarceration. 0ther mps at the meeting with the instruction to stay at home will stop so boris johnson has to stay in here. on friday dominic cummings was told to get out. after the volcanic disputes and dysfunction in number ten recently, today was meant to be about a reset. still will be, i'm told but it will be a remote one. this is frustrating for the prime minister, i understand that. it is important he self isolates and we comply with the advice and guidance. the capacity of covid to cripple our plans strikes once again here at the heart of government. after the comings and goings the prime minister is now staying inside when he had really hoped to be out and about sweeping up the mess of the

last week. chris mason, bbc news at westminster. let's talk to helen catt, our political correspondent. those photographs, it looks to stretch social distancing so what. we do know a bit more about that meeting. it was last thursday, it was a breakfast meeting. as a result there are six conservative mps, the prime minister and two political aides all self isolating. downing street has said it is a covid secure workplace. if that's the case why are they having to isolate? they say things like social distancing were being practised but that it was the length of the meeting, 35 minutes long, that was one of the factors taken into long, that was one of the factors ta ken into account long, that was one of the factors taken into account by long, that was one of the factors ta ken into account by test long, that was one of the factors taken into account by test and traced in deciding whether they needed to isolate. you mentioned those photos that we saw there, having a snap with the boss is a

standard bit of an mp's life in non—covert times but there have been question asked about how covid secure where they and ten points to the fact they were standing side by side rather than face to face. if you are closing closer than two metres you are supposed to have mitigating measures. that was that meeting last week and you have the prime minister now having to self—isolate within downing street. he is not entirely confined to his flat. he is working from his office to fulfil his duties but we understand they found a way of him getting to the flat and office and back without meeting members of staff and the arrangements have been approved. frustrating for boris johnson who wanted to reset things after last week. absolutely. last week was pretty choppy. you saw there the pictures of one of his most senior aides leaving downing street with his desk in a box. this week was supposed to be the week

when you get the prime minister out there, reinforcing the priorities of his government, reinforcing him as the leader and we know things that we re the leader and we know things that were planned were a meeting with conservative mps who represent northern constituencies due today. we know there is a plan to publish a ten point plan for what downing street calls a green industrial revolution. as you heard rishi sunak say ministers still say these things can still go on that they have learned to work differently, that they can use things like zoom. that meeting with mps will go on later today virtually. there has been a request to see if borisjohnson can a nswer request to see if borisjohnson can answer questions on wednesday virtually also. the nuts and bolts of it certainly can be done but of course what they can't do is get borisjohnson out course what they can't do is get boris johnson out there, front course what they can't do is get borisjohnson out there, front and centre, fronting up this reset moment. and we have seen the tweet from borisjohnson.

moment. and we have seen the tweet from boris johnson. some moment. and we have seen the tweet from borisjohnson. some of the images he used are difficult to get out of 1's images he used are difficult to get out of1‘s mind. images he used are difficult to get out of 1's mind. he is bursting out with antibodies. yes, he has been tested for antibodies. he has been tested for antibodies. he has been tested and is understood more than once but we don't know when the most recent one of those took place but thatis recent one of those took place but that is quite an evocative image, isn't it? thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: another breakthrough in the battle against cornavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". a warning from patients and staff — at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rates in the country the supreme court is today starting to hear a test case to decide whether insurance companies should cover businesses for losses they incurred during the first uk—wide lockdown.

thousands of firms believe they should receive pay—outs from their business interruption policies but insurers argue that the products were never intended to cover such unprecedented restrictions. the ruling will have a bearing on 370,000 policyholders and more than £1 billion in potential payments. we can speak now to our business correspondent, ben thompson. and ben, what's at stake? yes and you are right to highlight this all relates to business interruption insurance and as the name would suggest, that is an insurance policy that businesses, predominantly small businesses take out should they not be able to get into their business and operate as normal. and of course this covid pandemic has taught us that anything has been possible but in some cases in the midst of a lockdown they have not been able to operate, that meant in some cases laying off staff, not

being able to get into factories or premises and a lot of these businesses, about 370,000, say they are trying to claim on that insurance. the insurers say no, this was unprecedented, it was not covered by the policy. this went to the the high court covered 21 types of these policies, offered by all different insurers and they took the 21 most common types. the majority it said should have paid out. there are 13 under question and that will be subject to the supreme court review. because these are the ones that are now being appealed against. some that the high court said should pay out and the insurers are appealing against and some that the high court said should not pay—out and the businesses themselves are appealing against that. it is all a bit of a mess and we are expecting this case to take maybe four days to resolve, but as you touched on in

the introduction, 370,000 businesses are affected the introduction, 370,000 businesses a re affected by the introduction, 370,000 businesses are affected by this. pay—outs could total £1.2 billion. the firms themselves say they need this money just to operate as normal, they need the money to continue their business during what is an unprecedented downturn and it's also worth pointing out here that this only relates to older policies, once taken out relates to older policies, once ta ken out before relates to older policies, once taken out before the first lockdown. anything that a business has taken out since probably has the terms and conditions changed to account for something like a covid pandemic so this relates to old cases but nonetheless could be fascinating and could set a precedent for thousands of similar cases across the country. mike cherry is the national chairman of the federation of small businesses. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. many small businesses took out these policies, they believe they were protected but what

impact did the fact they were not at the time have on them? they believe that they were covered and clearly for any ordinary business, if you ta ke for any ordinary business, if you take out a business interruption insurance which says you are covered you believe yourself to be covered andi you believe yourself to be covered and i think it is hugely disappointing that the insurers are saying this was never the intent, because actually for the business is concerned, the hundreds of thousands who took out these policies, they believe they were concerned. it was the fca which took this to the high court and the high court found in the majority of the cases in the businesses favour by saying in these policies they should have been covered and for these businesses this is a lifeline in exactly the same way whether it is another issue, these businesses are believed they were covered, they need the money now and we hope the supreme court will quickly come up with its

a nswer to court will quickly come up with its answer to this problem so that the insurers can actually do the right thing. i have heard some insurers have already started to do that. have you heard that? yes, some have andi have you heard that? yes, some have and i think they should be commended for paying out to policyholders who believe they had got the cover in place and this has been honoured. is the other ones where it is the wording of the policy that is creating the problems and sometimes thatis creating the problems and sometimes that is down to, did you have a case within 25 miles? did you have a type of sars macro that was not sars macro one and businesses believed this was not covered. this is the problem that it is the actual detail insurers are not paying out and as you have heard from previously, insurers are quickly changing their policies to make sure that a covid pandemic is not included in current

insurances. insurance companies are businesses also and they say that nothing could have prepared anyone foran nothing could have prepared anyone for an unprecedented measure like a government imposed lockdown. that is absolutely right about where you ta ke absolutely right about where you take out a business interruption insurance policy, you read through the causes, you believe that you are covered and this is the problem that they are faced with. these businesses honestly genuinely believe they were covered, they have had cases as most of the country has within a 25 mile radius. they have been covered for sars and of course as we know covid—19 is a sars —type virus so for all intents and purposes, many of these businesses genuine believe they should be covered and should be paid out as a matter of urgency and that's the problem. the insurers are now taking this to the supreme court and as i say, we very much hope the supreme

court will give its deliberations in a quick time after the four day hearing that we believe is taking place. at the heart of this do you think it was a misreading of the small print orjust now a desperate attempt to rewrite it?|j small print orjust now a desperate attempt to rewrite it? i think you've got to bits here. there is a lwa ys you've got to bits here. there is always the case where it could be a misreading but i doubt that when businesses have actually gone through a third—party or indeed direct to the insurer, said i want a business interruption policy clause in there and believed that they had bought one. that is the problem, they believe they have bought it, they believe they have bought it, the insurers are saying, if you look at the small print, you are not covered. the intent was never meant to be this way and of course the businesses are left without the cash that it should be getting. like, good to see you again. thank you for your time. talks to thrash out a post—brexit trade agreement have resumed in brussels, with both sides calling for compromises to be made.

in a moment we'll be live in brussels — but first our reality check correspondent chris morris takes us through the key sticking points. any free trade deal agreed in the next few weeks won't be particularly ambitious. there hasn't been time for that. but even with fairly limited aims, negotiators are still struggling with some familiar themes. first — the level playing field — measures to ensure companies on one side don't have an unfair advantage over their competitors on the other. all trade agreements have them but the eu wants the uk to stick particularly closely to its rules on things like workers' rights, environmental regulations, and especially state aid or financial support for businesses. the uk, on the other hand, says the whole point of brexit was to break free from following common rules. second — fisheries. the eu is pushing for maximum access for its boats to continue fishing in uk waters. whereas british negotiators say the uk is now an independent coastal state, and its boats will get priority. if there is no agreement on fishing,

eu boats will lose out badly. but the uk won't get the access it wants to the eu markets where it sells most of its fish and many other things besides. then, there is the governance of any future agreement, that is partly about the overall structure of any deal, but also, how a new agreement would be enforced, and how disputes would be settled. another sensitive issue, implementing the brexit withdrawal agreement, signed last year, especially the protocol on northern ireland, and the land border which now divides the uk from the eu. the uk's internal market bill which could override parts of the northern ireland protocol has added to eu concerns that the uk may not live up to some of the commitments it has made. so, plenty of issues to resolve, and it normally takes years to do a trade deal. but this process only has a matter of weeks left. deadlines have already come and gone. any last—minute agreement needs to be added to hundreds of pages of legal text, and it all needs to be translated into all eu languages,

and ratified by parliaments on both sides before the end of next month. even with a deal, the uk's relationship with the eu will be very different outside the single market and the customs union. there will be far more bureaucracy for businesses that trade across the border. and free movement of people in both directions will come to an end. any agreement would do very little for the trade in services, but it would mean avoiding tariffs or taxes on goods crossing the border. is that enough to tip the balance? well, even at this very late stage, there are no guarantees. politicians on both sides need to make concessions on some pretty fundamental issues. but we may know more before the end of this week. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels and said that one thing the european side is looking at is whether there is a change in tone or content from the british side following dominic cumming's departure from number ten. i spoke to him earlier

these brexit deadline seem to come and go. the latest they had in mind was this thursday because a video call of the 27 eu leaders is taking place. it looks highly unlikely that will happen but there is this one deadline that is simply not going away, the six weeks until the end of the year, the transition phase ends then. britain's position in the transition period will be ending. 0ne transition period will be ending. one thing they are looking out from the european side, talking to a few people is whether there is a change in tone or content from the british side. now that dominic cummings has left downing street. he of course a key architect of the brexit project. if you look at the tweets that lord frost sent out in the last 2a hours orso, he said frost sent out in the last 2a hours or so, he said he would only sign up toa or so, he said he would only sign up to a deal if it took back control of british trade, british laws and british trade, british laws and british waters, who of course came

up british waters, who of course came up with that phrase? dominic cummings. the british say they are not shifting on this, it is a crucial, crucial week. let's catch up with the weather. it will be a mild and cloudy few days with heavy rain in western part of scotland. that develops over night. after a decent enough day to day, we will see rain arriving this evening but it gets much wetter through the islands in argyll with pockets of drizzle here and there. very mild, temperatures by the end of the night and by which point there will be a strong south—westerly wind. in general that will feed in a lot of clu b general that will feed in a lot of club tomorrow. may punch a few holes in the cloud where we have some shelter but wetter weather continuing heightening the risk of flooding. a very mild day on tuesday, widely 15 or 16 degrees. more sunshine to the east of high ground and temperatures could be

higher. the next couple of days we are seeing tropical air heading our way, hence those unusually high temperatures. by the time we get to thursday it's a northerly wind, it will be much colder. hello this is bbc news.

the headlines: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. i broke into an ear to a grin when i heard the numbers. it really exceeded our best hopes. it is an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and for the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. boris johnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". it doesn't matter that i'm fit, i feel great. it doesn't matter that i have had the disease and am bursting with antibodies. we have got to interrupt the spread of the disease. a warning from patients and staff at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rates in the country. there are those out there who don't

believe it. it is here. this is very busy. i personally don't cope well ina busy. i personally don't cope well in a lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it but i would be the first to say that the restrictions now are probably not tight enough because we are getting too many patients coming in. a bbc investigation uncovers evidence of an underground network in kenya that snatches babies from their mothers and sells them for a profit. three, two, one, ignition. launch of the space taxi — a private rocket carries four astronauts to the space station, and saves nasa billions of dollars. sport now, and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. mercedes team boss toto wolff says he wants to sit down with lewis hamilton

in the coming weeks to finalise a contract extension. it follows hamilton's record—equalling 7th world title at the turkish grand prix at the weekend. despite his success, some critics say it's due to hamilton having the best car, but 1996 world champion damon hill, says you don't get that opportunity at mercedes unless you are the best driver. ican i can understand people not really appreciating why it is so difficult if you have the best car. it is a lot easier if you have the best car, i will say that, but having had the best car at one time in my career, i don't think they give you the best carfor don't think they give you the best car for ever. don't think they give you the best carfor ever. in my case, i didn't stay with my team, they probably thought i wasn't worth giving the best car to. with lewis, they are tipping over themselves to keep him in the car. mercedes got him at the early start of their development as a team because they knew he was the

best driver, so the best drivers get the best equipment, and he has held onto that position because nobody can touch him. hollywood stars ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney are offocially to become the new owners of national league club wrexham. wrexham supporters trust members voted overwhelmingly to back the takeover with 98.6% of those who responded backing the bid. the takeover could lead to £2 million being invested in the club, which has been in fan ownership since 2011. the irish fa has confirmed defender matt doherty and forward james mcclean have tested positive for covid—19. it follows the republic of ireland's defeat to wales last night, with the irish squad and staff all tested before flying back to dublin. both players will now self—isolate for ten days and will miss their club matches for tottenham and stoke this weekend. novak djokovic is under way in his

first match at the atp tour finals in london. he is taking on diego schwartzman. this is live on bbc two at the moment. early stages in this one, and it is novak djokovic who leads 3—2 in that first set. he's aiming to win this title for a record—equalling sixth title, and for the first time since 2015. for schwartzmann, it's the first time he's played in this event 0lympics chief thomas bach has reiterated he's "very, very confident" spectators will be able to attend next year's tokyo 0lympics. bach, on his first trip to tokyo since the games were postponed in march, is hoping to convince athletes, japanese citizens and sponsors that the games can be held safely in 2021. we are putting a really huge tool box together in which we will put

all of the different measures we can imagine, so that next year at the appropriate time we will be able to ta ke appropriate time we will be able to take the right tools out of this tool box and apply them in order to ensure a safe environment. this also makes us very confident that we can have spectators then in the olympic stadiums next year, and also the spectators will enjoy a safe environment. ireland captain johnny sexton and robbie henshaw have been ruled out of this weekend's autumn nations cup game against england. sexton's had a scan on a hamstring injury that he sustained in friday's win over wales. it leaves head coach andy farrell with dilemmas surrounding the number 10 jersey and the captaincy. that's all the sport for now. let's return to the news that a second vaccine has shown to be

highly effective in the fight against coronavirus, following interim results from testing. the vaccine made by moderna works in a similar way to the pfizer/biontech jab which it was revealed last week had shown positive results. dr stephen hoge is the company's president, he spoke to our medical editor, fergus walsh. 0bviously obviously we are thrilled. it has been a long year for many of us and for our company it is been a hard slog to get to the point where we now have clear evidence of efficacy of the vaccine to prevent cobit 19. of the vaccine to prevent cobit19. there was a moment of pretty intense relief. it has been a long and hard slog, as i said. now that we know the vaccine works, we have to get to work manufacturing it and dissipating it. clearly an important milestone and a great milestone for us asa milestone and a great milestone for us as a company. give me a global thought in terms of the importance

of these results and what it could mean for the world, and how exciting was it to be in the room when you got the results? when we got the news from the data and safety monitoring board, iwill admit news from the data and safety monitoring board, i will admit i broke character and grinned for a minute because i didn't expect, i don't think any of us hoped that the vaccine would be 94% effective at preventing covid—19. that was really a stunning realisation. the second thing that was probably more exciting is that it was very effective in preventing severe covid—19. none of the vaccine recipients had a severe covid—19. those facts mean that the vaccine really is a terrific tool. the pandemic and hopefully stopping the worst of the disease. when you combine it with the news of last week and pfizer's vaccine, we have

two vaccines that are over 90% effective, we now have the tools to beat this virus back. that is the best news of the day for all of us, that there are solutions in our hands and we need to deliver them to the people that will use them. it's been known for some months that black and south asian people have a greater risk of illness and death from coronavirus. that's provoked questions about whether some ethnic minority cohorts should be put in an early vaccine group, because of this vulnerability. let's speak to dr vanessa apea, she's the black, asian and minority ethnic clinical champion at clinical research network north thames. va nessa, vanessa, thank you forjoining us. this on the face of it is very positive news, particular given the fa ct positive news, particular given the fact that there is this disproportionate effect on black and ethnic minority people. definitely. i think having access to a vaccine and getting access to studies is so

important. i think that what we are really focused on is that, as black, asian and ethnic minority communities have been disproportionately affected, we need to make sure we engage them into discussions about trials and also about entering trials as well. they not being? no, they are, but i think that we are working to make sure that we are working to make sure that all communities are involved. ifa that all communities are involved. if a vaccine is to be effective, then everyone needs to be involved in the studies and also in taking up the vaccines. we are aware that from black and asian minority ethnic communities, there have been historical experiences in research. we are actively engaging communities to make sure that we are explaining that these are now safe, and encouraging their participation. that scepticism, particular when we are talking about vaccinations,

where does that come from? there are a number of examples through history in which patients have been entered into trials and their negative outcomes or concerns through them, if we think about a syphilis trials in america many years ago when patients were involved, but then we re patients were involved, but then were not aware of the fact they hadn't had access to the right treatment and were monitored with syphilis for all of those years. so there is evidence of poor practice previously. what we are focused on is explaining to people that we recognise this poor experience previously. things have changed and we wa nt previously. things have changed and we want to get that message out there. will you have a receptive audience? people ask about —— people who are sceptical about vaccines tend to stick to their guns, and are

difficult to sway, aren't they? but the key thing is acknowledging their concerns and talking through it. sometimes when we see people that are reluctant to engage, rather than engaging them, we may step back. but what we recognise is that for people to trust and engage in studies, we need to be actively working to engage them and explain how studies work, explain how this study will help, and then let them make their own decision. it is everyone's own decision but we want it to be an informed choice was with so many vaccines becoming able to fight this disease, we have two so far, it is almost harder to make a decision because they have to decide which one to go for. definitely. within each borough come within each area, they will be

calling people to come in and have their vaccinations, and i think what is important is that people want to know that the vaccine is safe, and safe for them. once we are able to assure people it is safe, we are able to encourage people to take up the vaccine. great to talk to you. thank you for your time this afternoon. the headlines on bbc news: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. boris johnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". a warning from patients and staff at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rates in the country. there's growing concern amongst health bosses in hull, as the area has become the worst—hit in the country by covid—19. the council's leader has described the local situation

as a "health emergency" and urged the prime minister to take more action. vickyjohnson reports from the hull royal infirmary stepping through to the sharp end of this pandemic. hull's intensive care unit. out on the street, people are getting tired of the restrictions. here on the front line, they are battle weary. it's overwhelming. i've never had a year like this in my whole career as a nurse. you have a sense of dread about what the next few months will be. during the first peak in the spring they had 112 patients at hull royal infirmary with coronavirus, today there are more than 150. they are expecting even more. it feels like it could rapidly escalate out of control. with nothing that we can really do to prevent it. we are getting busy and it's getting busier at an alarming rate. getting patient after patient. seeing a greater number of admissions than we saw last time.

laura isjust 31. she admits she never took the threat of the virus seriously. until now. i didn't wear a mask because of my mental health. i thought i wasn't going to get it. itjust proved me wrong. i've never really been ill. sharon has been in intensive care for a fortnight and admits she has been fighting for her life. very bad. yes. i maybe thought at one point, is it going to go too far, they can't do anything for me? and ray had this message to those who don't think things are that bad. for the doubters out there who don't believe in it, it is here. and this is very busy. the nurses don't stop. staff here tried so hard to keep other services going but now routine operations and appointments are having to be cancelled. staff who would normally work in operating theatres are going to be redeployed here to support the nurses

and doctors working here in intensive care. as in march, coronavirus is disrupting the whole functioning of the hospital. eight months into this pandemic, the doctors and nurses are quite simply running on empty. i've got nurses in there who have been here a lot longer than i have, they are starting to buckle, you rely on them staff. they are seeing it at home, work, there has been no let—up since the last time. does it take its toll? it does. i have two little ones at home and to have to come home from here, and i go home and i try and click into mum. but you've been here with infected patients. most of us are getting fed up with the restrictions on our lives but the nurses here think we could do more. i personally don't cope well in a lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it, but i would be the first to say restrictions now are probably not tight enough because we are getting too many patients coming in. sentiments echoed by

the trust's chief executive. today the leader of the city council has called the local situation a health emergency and has urged the government to take action to support the city. vickyjohnson, bbc news. women are serving long prison sentences for violent crimes they did not commit, that's according to new research from manchester metropolitan university. the report looked into convictions of what's called joint enterprise, where multiple people can be convicted of one offence, even if the role of the secondary people is marginal. researchers found that in 90% of the cases they investigated, women engaged in no violence at all, and in half of the cases they were not even present at the scene when a crime took place. becky clarke is a senior lecturer of sociology at manchester metropolitan university and also the co—author of the report. shejoins me now. what did you find? what struck you after this research?

we had previously done some research aboutjoint we had previously done some research about joint enterprise and we had previously done some research aboutjoint enterprise and its impact on the black community, so young people being convicted under the narrative of the gang. we have seen some women in those cases and we wa nted seen some women in those cases and we wanted to really ask the question about how many women were affected by these laws and convicted. i think what has been quite shocking is how many women had been convicted in the charging policy in the law, it is as secondary parties in these cases. it was how many have been gifted of murder and manslaughter, given that marginal participation in the events. not just convicted marginal participation in the events. notjust convicted but handed very long sentences? that's right. our research found across these cases the average was 15 years in prison, but half of these women are on life sentences, so mandatory minimum, and we have got women serving up to 30 years in prison.

minimum, and we have got women serving up to 30 years in prisonm is depressing because it would suggest that prejudices, the stereotypes of women are still very much alive and well. that's right. i think for me actually watching some of the media discussion over the weekend about the death of the yorkshire ripper and the ways in which a culture which was driven by misogyny and judgment of women in the police 30 years ago, we would hope that perhaps that had gone. but the same judgments are here in terms of view that particular women cannot bejudged because of of view that particular women cannot be judged because of what they have done but because of who they are of what they should have known. this is worrying because the supreme court ruled four years ago that the law had taken a wrong turn. that was in relation to this concept of foresight, or what people might be able to have judged a

foresight, or what people might be able to havejudged a —— ofjudged of what might happen. these types of prejudices are coming on strong across the research. there is something systemic here whereby prosecution teams in court are relying on stereotypes of women, that our class —based, they are about single mothers turned into feckless mothers. these are about jilted lovers. there is also a layer of racist stereotyping for black or asian women, or alternative lifestyles or cultures or gangs was not it is concerning that we are relying on these myths and stereotypes and prejudices to drive cases in the courtroom. how do you get the changes you think are necessary? is it as simple as saying that thejudicial necessary? is it as simple as saying that the judicial system is to mail? no. of course we want to look at representation of people in the

system, but i think the continuity about the ripper‘s case to today, the systemic nature about what we found in the research, these are not one of cases, and the cases are striking in their similarities. there is something striking about the way in which the system fails women in multiple ways with top half of the women in the research were experiencing long—standing domestic, coercion, control or exploitation. in many cases, related to co—defendants. yet that context was often silenced. so defence teams worried about women not being credible on the stand, advising them not to make reference to any of these issues. so actually understanding why a woman might have stood by when some thing happened in terms of violence or understanding what a woman made a phone call, these are the kinds of behaviours that landed women these long life

sentences. but if we understand that wider context, it may be helps us to understand what has happened here, but is very much silenced. so it is about wider issues in the justice system that are long—standing, and the way in which those lead to inequalities and injustice for women. good to talk to you. thank you for your time. they're calling it the "new normal" in space travel — nasa's first fully—fledged mission has launched using a privately—owned craft, which will act as a space taxi service in the coming years. four astronauts are on board the spacex rocket, 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. three, two, one, zero. ignition. a spectacular show, and a space exploration milestone. and resilience rises. not even gravity contains humanity when we explore as one for all.

the launch of this spacex dragon capsule with its four crew marks a new era, one in which the us space agency buys seats for its astronauts on privately—owned spacecraft. the space shuttle, retired almost a decade ago, was the last craft that was certified to fly nasa astronauts from american soil, but now the agency will work in partnership with spacex, taking crew to and from the international space station. that's inside crew dragon right now. 0ur crew—1 crew now coasting in low earth orbits... sunday's launch is the culmination of years of design and testing, but the demonstration flight back in may was the test that the world was watching, as spacex successfully transported two astronauts to the space station and brought them home safely. the four people on this first fully operational flight, nasa astronauts michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker, and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi, will bring the number of crew on the international

space station to seven. nasa says this will triple the amount of microgravity research that can be done. there are over 250 experiments that take place on the international space station at any one time, and they are in all sorts of different areas. a lot of the research that is done is involved in medicines, and in helping to understand how the human body works. it's a truly international endeavour, and the countries coming together is what we need in human exploration. this group will spend about six months in space, looking back on earth as the crisis of the pandemic continues to unfold. and in a nod to a mission accomplished during this most turbulent of years, they've called their ship resilience. victoria gill, bbc news. finally, a disco classic from 1977 has re—entered the charts — thanks to this.

yes, sir, i can boogie, i can sing a certain song. yes sir, i can boogie has become the unofficial anthem for scotland's men's football team after their celebrations for their win against serbia last week, which saw them clinch a place in next year's euros. it has now reached number three in the uk's commercial radio chart — higher than the likes of sam smith, miley cyrus and ariana grande. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello there. later this week, briefly we are all going to get a taste of something much colder, but for the next couple of days it is going to be mild. however, it will be quite cloudy. there is a lot of cloud streaming in from the atlantic and as that thickens up, so we are going to find some outbreaks of rain, initially coming in from the west on that weather front this evening and then that second weather front gets strung out in western scotland over the next few days and brings some heavy rain and the threat of some flooding. after a decent enough day for the eastern side of the uk,

we have got some patchy rain here this evening and overnight it stays very wet here actually over argyll, bute and into the highlands. some patchy drizzle around some other western hills as well. a lot of cloud overnight. these are the temperatures by the end of the night, so a very mild start to tuesday, 12—111. by this stage we will have a stronger south—westerly wind and hopefully that will punch a few holes in the cloud, where we have got some shelter from the hills, but on the whole it looks pretty cloudy on wednesday, a little drizzle here and there, more rain across western parts of scotland. that is going to continue to add up, bringing that increasing risk of flooding as well. but a very mild day, temperatures widely 15 or 16 degrees. could get a bit higher than that where we get any decent breaks in the cloud to the east of the hills. the weather, though, is going to change. for the next few days it is tropical air that is coming our way, hence those very high temperatures. but look what will happen by the time we get into thursday. by then we have got a northerly wind streaming our way, so it will feel much, much colder. wednesday is more of the transition

moving day, really, we have still got areas of low pressure, weather front as well. the wettest weather during the day will be across scotland, some light and patchy rain pushing its way eastwards across england and wales and ahead of that the last of the warm air before temperatures start to drop away from the west during the afternoon. but the colder air is yet to arrive. we've still got that area of low pressure, which is going to take some wet and increasingly windy weather across the uk on wednesday night, very windy and then that colder air comes in, and we'll find some snow across parts of north scotland and by this stage in the morning the windiest weather down those north sea coasts. we will have some sunshine, a few showers around as well, as we head into the afternoon and so the showers become fewer and there will be more sunshine and the winds start to drop a bit as well, but it will feel a lot colder, especially in the wind. 7 degrees through the central belt of scotla nd and a high of 9 celsius in east anglia.

this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: another breakthrough in the battle against cornavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. i broke into an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers. it really exceeded our best hopes and it is an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". 19 million nhs dental treatments have been mist since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march — according to figures seen by bbc news. a warning from patients and staff — at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rates in the country. the doubters out there who don't

believe in it, it's here. and this is very busy, the nurses don't stop. i personally don't cope well in the lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it, but i'd be the first to say that our restrictions now are probably not tight enough because we're getting too many patients coming in. a bbc investigation uncovers evidence of an underground network in kenya, that snatches babies from their mothers and sells them for a profit. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a second coronavirus vaccine has been found to be highly effective at preventing covid—19 infections. interim results suggest it's 9a.5% effective at stopping symptomatic infections. the trial is ongoing and the us firm moderna plans

to apply to regulators in the coming weeks to get approval for emergency use of the jab. the results come hot on the heels of similar results from pfizer, and add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. hot on the heels of last week's breakthrough, another promising candidate, this time from a us company called moderna which has announced the results of a trial involving more than 30,000 people. the company is reporting the vaccine is nearly 95% effective. i broke into a grin when i heard the numbers, it exceeded our best hopes and it is an exciting moment for us as a company, as the world, as we develop tools to fight the virus. it is a moment only because we realise we have a lot of work to do but it is a great moment. the moderna vaccine is one of the number being tested around the world, there are now 48

in developing, 11th in the final stage of testing. one of those is the pfizer vaccine announced last week with early results suggesting it can prevent more than 90% of infections. two others at final stage are also being trialled in the uk, the university of oxford vaccine and another. and a third uk trial forjanssen which aims to recruit 6,000 participants. experts warn when it comes to a vaccine we need to keep options open. 0ne vaccine might not suit some parts of the population, one might be better for one age group, or one population diversity, it is important we develop the other vaccines because it is unlikely one size will fit all. this is one reason why the uk government has options to buy a total

of 350 million doses of six different vaccines. negotiations to buy a significant number of moderna there is said to be at an advanced stage. ministers say preparations for rolling out the pfizer vaccine are well under way. we may be able to roll it out before christmas, but almost certainly the vast bulk of the roll out, if the safety data proves it is safe and that is still not known, we still do not have a vaccine, but even if we do, it is likely the bulk of the roll—out will be in the new year. with alternate vaccines potentially coming on stream there will not be a choice over which we get, some may work better for different parts of the community. the joint committee has decided who will be the most prioritised and that starts with the elderly, people in care homes. but obviously if something comes up that a vaccine works differently in different age groups that may need to be modified. there are still many questions around all the vaccines produced

so far, how long will immunity last, how will they work in older age groups, will they stop people falling ill and from spreading the virus? but still what we are seeing with development is remarkable, a process that normally takes years compressed down to months. our medical editor fergus walsh said this vaccine could suggest that, while we must remain cautious at this point, next year could be very different to where we are now as a reuslt of vaccines. i spoke to him earlier. if i could be, i am even more excited than i was last monday because now we have another covid vaccine using a very similar approach, which has also proved over 90% effective. in a way, it is confirmation that that result last week wasn't some kind of freak. it suggests that science is going to find a path out of the pandemic for us and other vaccines, as dominic said in his report, are on the way,

so i am really hopeful now, even more hopeful than i was last week, that we are moving in the right direction. we do need to be cautious, it is early data, we need safety data, there are lots of is to dot and ts to cross, but it is looking good. that said, how quickly could we get it here? the moderna vaccine, we don't have advance orders for that. but the company told me this morning that they have been in discussions with the uk government and they hope to be able to supply doses here by spring 2021. we should not count on a vaccine to help us out really this winter. this is really for 2021, so for the next few months we are going to have to rely on all the things we have been relying on — social distancing, hand hygiene etc — but 2021 could be very different as a result of vaccines to the current situation we are in now. coming up at 4.15, we'll

answer your questions on development, trials, delivery and impact of a covid—19 vaccine. we'll be joined by peter drobac, from the university of oxford, and 0ksana pyzik from university college london. you can get involved by sending your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk or tweeting us using #bbcyourquestions. borisjohnson has said he is feeling "fit as a butcher's dog" on his first working day self—isolating in downing street. the pm and several other tory mps have been told to isolate by nhs test and trace — after a meeting at downing street where one of the mps later tested positive for covid—19. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. this was last thursday morning, the prime minister had a breakfast meeting with some of his mps, including the man on the right, lee anderson, who the day after lost his sense of taste and later tested positive and so the prime minister is holed up in his downing street flat until a week on thursday.

the good news is nhs test and trace is working ever more efficiently. the bad news is that they've pinged me and i've got to self—isolate. it doesn't matter that we are all doing social distancing. it doesn't matter that i am fit as a butcher's dog, feel great, so many people do in my circumstances, and actually it doesn't matter that i have had the disease and i am bursting with antibodies. we've got to interrupt the spread of the disease. his neighbour's getting some fresh air though. the chancellor was in east london this morning. like all other business and organisations over the past few months, he has been learning to do things differently. we're doing a lot of meetings online, the prime minister this morning, you've seen the video that he's put out, we are getting on with delivering people's priorities. the prime minister is not the only one doing a stint of domestic incarceration. 0ther mps at the same meeting left with a beaming picture with the boss, with later instructions to stay at home. so borisjohnson has been told to stay in here.

on friday his chief advisor dominic cummings was told to get out. after the volcanic disputes and dysfunction in number ten recently, today was meant to be about a reset. it still will be, i'm told but it will be a remote one. this is frustrating for the prime minister, i understand that. it is important he self isolates, it's important to say that we've all got to comply with the advice and guidance. the capacity of covid to cripple our plans strikes once again here at the heart of government. after the comings and goings, the prime minister is now staying inside when he had really hoped to be out and about sweeping up the mess of the last week. chris mason, bbc news at westminster. let's talk to helen catt our political correspondent. this is frustrating for a prime minister who wanted to reset things

from today. absolutely. last week was a pretty choppy week for downing street. it ended with dominic cummings leaving downing street with his desk in a box so this was a week when the prime minister would have wa nted when the prime minister would have wanted to be out there and there are a lot of things scheduled over the next couple of weeks. we know he was planning to meet mps from northern constituencies today. we know he is planning to publish a ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, the idea being to put his stamp back and reinforce those priorities for the government. of course what he now got to do is stay inside number ten for that time, so he can't be out there front and centre in the way he would want to be following last week. it's all very well to say he is in covid secured downing street but this is where it happened. what happened ? street but this is where it happened. what happened? this was a

brea kfast happened. what happened? this was a breakfast meeting last thursday. as a result of which we have the prime minister, six conservative mps and two political aides self isolating. as you said, downing street says it isa as you said, downing street says it is a covid secure workplace. how come they're having to isolate? they said social distancing did happen but when test and trace looked at this meeting it looked at factors like how long it had gone on and it had lasted 35 minutes. there are also questions put to the pm's spokesman about those pictures with the bass in there. pretty standard in non—covert macro times but questions about what is it safe to do during coronavirus. the prime minister's spokesperson pointed to the fact that they are standing side by side, not facing one another, one of the mitigating measures mentioned in the guidance. those are the

questions i have been asked about it but downing street clear it is still covid secure and borisjohnson confined to downing street but not entirely to his flat. he is working from his office. they understand they have found a way of him walking to his office and the flat without meeting staff and medical experts have approved that. describe that journey, how does that work?|j have approved that. describe that journey, how does that work? i don't have a direct route for you, i'm afraid but what we are told is they have found a way because downing street is not only where the prime minister lives, they have found a way of him getting to the flat to the office without meeting anyone else on the way. he has talked about doing other work, those will continue so that meeting for example with the northern conservative mps, thatis with the northern conservative mps, that is still going ahead today but later this evening and that will be a virtual meeting. the commons

authorities have been contacted to ask if the prime minister can do prime minister's questions on wednesday, so there are ways being found for the pm to carry on working but the big thing is hejust can't get out and about an out there and fronting up these policies and in these ten days. we have the end of these ten days. we have the end of the brexit negotiations coming up quickly, we've got a couple of weeks until lockdown, moving towards the december two date, an awful lot to be looked at over the next two weeks while he is stuck inside. more pressure on his partner carrie symons because he cannot walk the dog. he can't, that's true. she will have to do that. thank you. and we'll have a special programme at 4:30 covering the downing street press conference led by health secretary matt hancock on bbc one and the bbc news channel. 19 million nhs dental

treatments have been missed since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in march, according to figures seen by bbc news. the british dental association has warned the health secretary that the drop in patient numbers could result in hundreds of dentists across the uk going bust over the next year. and it's notjust the dentists who are suffering — as dan johnson reports. the pain started to become excruciating. like i would imagine acid being poured in the eye. listen to what toothache did to tim, and imagine dealing with that much pain. a filling that fell out, and a tooth that had shattered into pieces. there was two or three teeth next to it that had all got together and formed one big infection that had gone right up that nerve into the sinuses, and around to the top of the eye, and was basically like having somebody pushing in your eye really, really hard. he was suffering with an abscess, starting to go blind, and despite many calls and even a visit to hospital, he couldn't see a dentist because he wasn't registered,

and treatment was restricted. i got the sense that they were all closed, and that if you were suffering, the best thing you could do was go home and suffer. after eight months in pain, friends covered the cost of private treatment here, but other patients are still reluctantly being turned away or kept waiting. tim's story made me cry. i know it touched the hearts of my team. it's not what you are trained to do as a hygienist that manages a practice, my dentists staff feel the same, my staff feel the same. it is heartbreaking. we're are going to see rising gum disease, rising mouth cancer, rising anxiety, rising mental health because people lose teeth, so it does not bode well for the future of dentistry. the wait to get in here only looks likely to get longer, because dentists are still restricted in the treatments they can offer and the number of patients they can see, so they are likely to suffer more, and dentists are wondering about their future prospects. and the question being asked is, what's the government's commitment here to the future

of dentistry? the department of health and social care told us priority access should be given to urgent care, and vulnerable patients. it says the nhs is working with the profession to make more treatment available. but there are questions about the way dentists will be paid in future, and what that will mean for waiting lists. here, leaving an hour between patients and the cost of mountains of protective equipment, is putting this practice and hundreds more at risk. before covid—19, we used to see about 20 to 30 patients a day, and we are now barely seeing ten. we arejust trying to help patients, we are open until almost 11 o'clock at night and we want to carry on doing that, but we are going to need some help. tim is now on the mend, but other patients are still struggling to get seen. if some dentists do not survive, that will only get worse. i would not recommend having this if you are poor or marginalised in any way. the difference between nhs and private could mean

the difference between suffering and not suffering. danjohnson, bbc news, brighton. the headlines on bbc news: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". nineteen million nhs dental treatments have been mist since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march — according to figures seen by bbc news. families should be allowed to visit residents in all care homes in england before christmas, after successful trials for rapid testing of visitors. the health secretary, matt hancock, says it is his goal to ensure testing is available at all homes. it comes as a pilot scheme begins today which would allow more contact between residents and their families. jayne mccubbin reports.

these are the images that have marked a long eight months of isolation and separation for so many. today, a very small number of care homes will finally open their doors, with regular testing for relatives. here's our lovely bunch. wave, everybody! this is meadway in winchester. the best home north of the south pole. jayne laughs. and one of the luckiest, because it's one of only 20 homes taking part in this pilot, and residents like john are so excited. you're going to be able to have visits with your daughters, and you're going to be able to give them a hug and hold their hand for the first time in eight months. hugs? i'm not sure. am i going to be able to hug them? that's what i've been longing to do since christmas. yeah. 0h, it'll be marvellous! it's made possible through the use of lateral flow tests, the kind of tests being used in liverpool's mass screening right now.

up to two relatives or friends can have regular tests to facilitate the kind of visit that hasn't been possible since early march. do you remember that visit? i do, yes. i had afternoon tea with my friend in my room. it was lovely. how much have you missed that? oh, yes, indeed. there's nothing like the one—to—one contact. yes, the hug gives you something, doesn't it, the hug? this was the first time simon saw his 98—year—old mum marjorie after lockdown mk i. since then, visits have been restricted to video conference calls, or at a distance in the garden. today, that all changes. i think the advantage, if it all comes off, is it opens up all possibilities. when i see mum, i can talk with her, i can hug her, i can hold her. it'sjust going to be great. but all of this will have to be in full ppe.

masks and gloves are still essential, and will still be a barrier to communication. it's very hard for these new tests to perform very well. they're very simple technologies. they're not going to be able to detect virus like the pcr test does. they give you a very immediate assessment of whether you have a lot of virus right now, but it doesn't mean you're going to be clear of the virus and safe. for those homes not included, the wait has been unbearable. for those lucky few, it is the first tentative step towards the normality they have been longing for. jayne mccubbin, bbc news. the government is hoping to double the uk's daily coronavirus testing capacity by opening two new laboratories. known as "megalabs", the facilities are set to open early next year at an unconfirmed site in scotland and in leamington spa. they'll be able to process up to 600—thousand tests per day.

the latest data shows current capacity is 520—thousand — although the number actually processed each day is lower. let's speak now to allan wilson who is president of the institute of biomedical science. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. the fact we don't know where in scotland this is going to be suggest we have a way to go. that's one of the interesting points. we still need some clarification. it's a rather challenging timescale and they say the lab will be up and running early in 2021 and we don't know where as yet and the equipment. what makes a laba yet and the equipment. what makes a lab a mega lab? i presume as long as we are getting larger and some of the larger ones we have recently created our very large labs, they

essentially use the word mega, but it is essentially use the word mega, but itisi essentially use the word mega, but it is i think particularly used in this context of a industrialisation ofa this context of a industrialisation of a single test and that's unusual in this country. you mention staff, are there enough people with the required skills to stop something that big? no, we don't think so and that big? no, we don't think so and thatis that big? no, we don't think so and that is one of the issues here. the current white house laboratories, the nhs laboratories, private sector, we are all looking for staff with a specific skill set and are in short supply and that is the other risk here is we have another lab like this, we might end up destabilising the current testing system by attracting staff to make this lab run and that creates issues in the other labs running at the moment within the nhs and lighthouse in the private sector. we have seen trainee doctors used from

universities. is there something you would consider? yes. there are two groups of staff we are looking for. we need stuff at the front and to receive samples, get them ready. we do not necessarily need intensive sciences, we can train them relatively quickly. the people in short supply ensure the tests and results at the other and are to ape appropriate standard. they are the ones that are in short supply because they are in demand for all the various lab set up and not many of them and they take years to train. if this wasn't such a horrible virus, if we weren't talking about such a dire time in our history, he would be fair to say that this is something of a boom

time for your industry. to a certain extent yes. i think what it has done is raised a lid of diagnostics in the uk. laboratories are often a black box and you don't hear much from us and do something has gone wrong. this illustrates the key nature of diagnostic testing within the health care sector and yes, it would be nice to think one of the possible silver lining is to this is this will increase the interest in science and the posts available to graduates and will lead to an increase in the manufacturing base of testing within this country that has fallen behind other european countries. alan wilson, president of the institute of biomedical science, thank you for all your work and thank you for all your work and thank you for your time this afternoon. talks to thrash out a post—brexit trade agreement have resumed in brussels, with both sides calling for compromises to be made. in a moment we'll be live in brussels, but first our reality check correspondent

chris morris takes us through the key sticking points. any free trade deal agreed in the next few weeks won't be particularly ambitious. there hasn't been time for that. but even with fairly limited aims, negotiators are still struggling with some familiar themes. first — the level playing field — measures to ensure companies on one side don't have an unfair advantage over their competitors on the other. all trade agreements have them but the eu wants the uk to stick particularly closely to its rules on things like workers' rights, environmental regulations, and especially state aid or financial support for businesses. the uk, on the other hand, says the whole point of brexit was to break free from following common rules. second — fisheries. the eu is pushing for maximum access for its boats to continue fishing in uk waters. whereas british negotiators say the uk is now an independent coastal state, and its boats will get priority. if there is no agreement on fishing, eu boats will lose out badly. but the uk won't get the access it wants to the eu markets where it

sells most of its fish and many other things besides. then, there is the governance of any future agreement, that is partly about the overall structure of any deal, but also, how a new agreement would be enforced, and how disputes would be settled. another sensitive issue, implementing the brexit withdrawal agreement, signed last year, especially the protocol on northern ireland, and the land border which now divides the uk from the eu. the uk's internal market bill which could override parts of the northern ireland protocol has added to eu concerns that the uk may not live up to some of the commitments it has made. so, plenty of issues to resolve, and it normally takes years to do a trade deal. but this process only has a matter of weeks left. deadlines have already come and gone. any last—minute agreement needs to be added to hundreds of pages of legal text, and it all needs to be translated into all eu languages, and ratified by parliaments on both sides before the end of next month.

even with a deal, the uk's relationship with the eu will be very different outside the single market and the customs union. there will be far more bureaucracy for businesses that trade across the border. and free movement of people in both directions will come to an end. any agreement would do very little for the trade in services, but it would mean avoiding tariffs or taxes on goods crossing the border. is that enough to tip the balance? well, even at this very late stage, there are no guarantees. politicians on both sides need to make concessions on some pretty fundamental issues. but we may know more before the end of this week. 0ur europe correspondent, nick beake, is in brussels and said that one thing the european side is looking at is whether there is a change in tone or content from the british side following dominic cumming's departure from number ten. i spoke to him earlier. these brexit deadlines seem to come and go. the latest they had in mind was this thursday because a video call

of the 27 eu leaders is taking place. it looks highly unlikely that will happen but there is this one deadline that is simply not going away, the six weeks until the end of the year, the transition phase ends then, britain's position in the transition period will be ending. one thing they are looking out from the european side, talking to a few people, is whether there is a change in tone or content from the british side now that dominic cummings has left downing street. he, of course, a key architect of the brexit project. if you look at the tweets that lord frost sent out in the last 24 hours or so, he said he would only sign up to a deal if it took back control of british trade, british laws and british waters. who of course came up with that phrase? dominic cummings. the british say they are not shifting on this. it is a crucial, crucial week.

they're calling it the ‘new normal‘ in space travel — nasa's first fully—fledged mission has launched using a privately—owned craft, which will act as a space taxi service in the coming years. four astronauts are on board the spacex rocket — on their way to the international space station. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. three, two, one, zero. ignition. a spectacular show, and a space exploration milestone. and resilience rises. not even gravity contains humanity when we explore as one for all. the launch of this spacex dragon capsule with its four crew marks a new era, one in which the us space agency buys seats for its astronauts on privately—owned spacecraft. the space shuttle, retired almost a decade ago, was the last craft that was certified to fly nasa astronauts from american soil, but now the agency will work

in partnership with spacex, taking crew to and from the international space station. that's inside crew dragon right now. 0ur crew—1 crew now coasting in low earth orbits... sunday's launch is the culmination of years of design and testing, but the demonstration flight back in may was the test that the world was watching, as spacex successfully transported two astronauts to the space station and brought them home safely. the four people on this first fully operational flight, nasa astronauts michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker, and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi, will bring the number of crew on the international space station to seven. nasa says this will triple the amount of microgravity research that can be done. there are over 250 experiments that take place on the international space station at any one time, and they are in all sorts of different areas. a lot of the research that is done is involved in medicines,

and in helping to understand how the human body works. it's a truly international endeavour, and the countries coming together is what we need in human exploration. this group will spend about six months in space, looking back on earth as the crisis of the pandemic continues to unfold. and in a nod to a mission accomplished during this most turbulent of years, they've called their ship resilience. victoria gill, bbc news. back on earth, it is looking a bit windy and grim. let's catch up with the weather. it will be a mild and cloudy few days with heavy rain in western parts of scotland. that develops over night. after a decent enough day today, for eastern areas, we will see rain arriving this evening but it gets much wetter through the highlands and argyll with pockets of drizzle here and there, a lot of cloud. very mild, temperatures by the end of the night

and by which point there will be a strong south—westerly wind. in general that will feed in a lot of cloud tomorrow. may punch a few holes in the cloud where we have some shelter but wetter weather continuing in western parts of scotland, heightening the risk of flooding. a very mild day on tuesday, widely 15 or 16 degrees. more sunshine to the east of high ground and those temperatures could be higher. the next couple of days we are seeing tropical air heading ourway, hence those unusually high temperatures. by the time we get to thursday it's a northerly wind, it will be much colder. hello, this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. i broke into an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers. it really exceeded our best hopes and it is an incredibly exciting

moment for us as a company and the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". 19 million nhs dental treatments have been missed since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march, according to figures seen by bbc news. a warning from patients and staff at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rates in the country. the doubters out there who don't believe in it, it's here. and this is very busy, the nurses don't stop. i personally don't cope well in the lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it, but i'd be the first to say that our restrictions now are probably not tight enough because we're getting too many patients coming in. a bbc investigation uncovers evidence of an underground network in kenya that snatches babies

from their mothers and sells them for a profit. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. good afternoon. if you're on twitter this afternoon, you will see tweets from the world's most successful formula 1 driver. the world's most successful formula 1 driver lewis hamilton has been tweeting this afternoon, saying he woke up today feeling so blessed and grateful. it follows his record—equalling seventh world title at the turkish grand prix at the weekend. despite his success, some critics say it's due to hamilton having the best car, but 1996 world champion damon hill, says you don't get that opportunity at mercedes unless you are the best driver. i can understand people not really appreciating why it is so difficult if you have the best car. it is a lot easier if you have the best car, i will say that, but having had the best car at one time in my career, i don't think they give you the best car forever.

in my case, i didn't stay with my team, they probably thought i wasn't worth giving the best car to. with lewis, they are tripping over themselves to keep him in the car. mercedes got him at the early start of their development as a team because they knew he was the best driver, so the best drivers get the best equipment, and he has held onto that position because nobody can touch him. hollywood stars ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney are officially to become the new owners of national league club wrexham. wrexham supporters trust members voted overwhelmingly to back the takeover with 98.6% of those who responded backing the bid. the takeover could lead to £2 million being invested in the club, which has been in fan ownership since 2011. the new owners elect have released this video on the wrexham twitter page. to the wrexham supporters trust, thank you for your faith and trust

in us. we are humbled, we are already getting to work. this is really happening. yes, it is. the irish fa has confirmed defender matt doherty and forward james mcclean have tested positive for covid—19. it follows the republic of ireland's defeat to wales last night, with the irish squad and staff all tested before flying back to dublin. both players will now self—isolate for ten days and will miss their club matches for tottenham and stoke this weekend. 0lympics chief thomas bach has reiterated he's "very, very confident" spectators will be able to attend next year's tokyo 0lympics. bach, on his first trip to tokyo since the games were postponed in march, is hoping to convince athletes, japanese citizens and sponsors that the games can be held safely in 2021. we are putting a really huge tool box together in which we will put all of the different measures we can imagine, so that next year

at the appropriate time we will be able to take the right tools out of this tool box and apply them in order to ensure a safe environment. this also makes us very confident that we can have spectators then in the olympic stadiums next year, and also the spectators will enjoy a safe environment. world number one novak djokovic has made a winning start at the atp finals in london in the last few minutes. djokovic easing his way to victory at the o2 arena in straight sets against diego schwartzman of argentina. the victory puts djokovic top of his group as he looks to win the event for a record equalling sixth time. ireland captain johnny sexton and robbie henshaw have been ruled out of this weekend's autumn nations cup game against england. sexton's had a scan on a hamstring

injury that he sustained in friday's win over wales. it leaves head coach andy farrell with dilemmas surrounding the number ten jersey and the captaincy. that's all the sport for now. simon. the supreme court is today starting to hear a test case to decide whether insurance companies should cover businesses for losses they incurred during the first uk—wide lockdown. thousands of firms believe they should receive pay—outs from their business interruption policies but insurers argue that the products were never intended to cover such unprecedented restrictions. the ruling will have a bearing on more than a billion pounds in potential pay—outs. business correspondent ben thompson explained that around 370,000 companies are trying to claim on this insurance. i spoke to him earlier. as the name would suggest, that is an insurance policy that businesses predominantly small businesses, take out should they not be able to get into their business and operate as a

normal. of course, this covid—19 pandemic has taught us that anything has been possible, but in some cases, in the midst of a lockdown, has not been able to operate. that meant in some cases laying off staff, not being able to get to factories or their premises and therefore a lot of these businesses, about 370,000 of them, say that they are trying to claim on that insurance. the insurers for their pa rt insurance. the insurers for their part to say no, this was unprecedented. it is not covered by the policy. you are right to say that this went to the high court covered 21 types of this policy. 0ffered covered 21 types of this policy. offered by all sorts of different insurers. they took the 21 are most common types. the majority said they should have paid out, so there are now 13 under question and that will be subject to this supreme court to review, because these are the ones that are now being appealed against. some that the high court said it should pay out the insurers are

appealing against and some at the high court said it should not pay out and the businesses themselves are appealing against that. it is all a bit of a mess and we are expecting this case to take maybe for back route days to resolve, but as you touched on in the introduction, 370,000 businesses are affected by this. —— four days to resolve. pay—outs could be £1.2 billion. the fans themselves said they need this moneyjust to operate as normal. they need the money to continue their business during what is an unprecedented downturn. it is also worth pointing out here that this relates to policies that were taken up before the first lockdown. anything that a business has taken out since robbie has the terms and conditions changed to account of the something like the covid pandemic, something like the covid pandemic, so this just relates to those cases but could be fascinating and set a precedent for thousands of similar cases across the country.

mike cherry, the national chairman of the federation of small businesses says many businesses believed they were covered by their policies. if you take out insurance that says you are covered, you believe you are covered, and i think it is hugely disappointing that the insurers are saying this was never the intent, because actually, for the business is concerned, hundreds and thousands who took out these policies, they believe they were concerned, so it was taken to the high court and the high court found in the majority of cases in the businesses favour by saying that in some policies these should have meant they were covered. for these businesses, this is an absolute lifeline in exactly the same way, whether it is a fire or other issue around flooding, these businesses believe they were covered, they desperately need the money now that we are in a second lockdown and we hope that the supreme court will quickly come up with its answer to this problem so

that the insurers that can actually do the right thing. i have heard of some insurers have already started to do that, have you heard that? yes, some have and they should be commended for paying out to policyholders who believed they had the cover in place and this has been honoured. it is the other ones where it is the wedding policy that is creating the problems and sometimes thatis creating the problems and sometimes that is down to did you have a case that is down to did you have a case that within a 25 miles? did you have a type of sars that has not size one and businesses believe it was still covered ? —— and businesses believe it was still covered? —— that was not sars one. it is the actual detail that the insurers are fighting about, rather than doing the right thing and saying yes, we are going to pay out in good faith and as you have already heard from previously, insurers have very quickly changed their policies now to make sure a covid pandemic is not included in current insurances.

there's growing concern amongst health bosses in hull, as the area has become the worst hit in the country by covid—19. the council's leader has described the local situation as a "health emergency" and urged the prime minister to take more action, calling for more support for local hospitals and more flexibility to impose restrictions on schools. vickyjohnson reports from the hull royal infirmary. stepping through to the sharp end of this pandemic. hull's intensive care unit. out on the street, people are getting tired of the restrictions. here on the front line, they are battle weary. it's overwhelming. i've never had a year like this in my whole career as a nurse. you have a sense of dread about what the next few months will be. during the first peak in the spring they had 112 patients at hull royal infirmary with coronavirus, today there are more than 150. they are expecting even more. it feels like it could rapidly escalate out of control.

with nothing that we can really do to prevent it. we are getting busy and it's getting busier at an alarming rate. getting patient after patient. seeing a greater number of admissions than we saw last time. laura isjust 31. she admits she never took the threat of the virus seriously. until now. i didn't wear a mask because of my mental health. i thought i wasn't going to get it. itjust proved me wrong. i've never really been ill. sharon has been in intensive care for a fortnight and admits she has been fighting for her life. very bad. yes. i maybe thought at one point, is it going to go too far, they can't do anything for me? and ray had this message to those who don't think things are that bad. for the doubters out there who don't believe in it, it is here. and this is very busy. the nurses don't stop.

staff here tried so hard to keep other services going but now routine operations and appointments are having to be cancelled. staff who would normally work in operating theatres are going to be redeployed here to support the nurses and doctors working here in intensive care. as in march, coronavirus is disrupting the whole functioning of the hospital. eight months into this pandemic, the doctors and nurses are quite simply running on empty. i've got nurses in there who have been here a lot longer than i have, they are starting to buckle, you rely on them staff. they are seeing it at home, work, there has been no let—up since the last time. does it take its toll? it does. i have two little ones at home and to have to come home from here, and i go home and i try and click into mum. but you've been here with infected patients. most of us are getting fed up with the restrictions on our lives but the nurses here think

we could do more. i personally don't cope well in a lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it, but i would be the first to say restrictions now are probably not tight enough because we are getting too many patients coming in. sentiments echoed by the trust's chief executive. today the leader of the city council has called the local situation a health emergency and has urged the government to take action to support the city. vickyjohnson, bbc news. the university of manchester has suspended security officers who were accused of "racially profiling" a student. it comes after footage posted online showed first—year student zac adan held up against a wall by security guards who demanded to see his id card. give as your card. record this! i'm a university of manchester student. racial profiling.

speaking to the bbc, mr adan, who's 19 and studying french and linguistics, said he was returning to his halls after going to the shops when he was stopped. he said he was accused of "looking like a drug dealer" by staff and its left him traumatised. i have not slept since friday night. i have not slept since friday night. i have been awake for 48 hours. i have not been able to do any work. it is just really sad. i'm so far away from home to come here and have been told to stay indoors and follow protocol and to be approached by three security guards and we told you do not look like you belong here, just because i was black or wearing a tracksuit, it was really disgusting. i'm really embarrassed. and just a normal student who wants a university experience. i want to be able to live in peace and enter my flat in peace and not be stopped

and be abused by the people whom we are paying to protect us. in a statement the university of manchester said... the headlines on bbc news: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — a vaccine which data suggests is nearly 95% effective. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". 19 million nhs dental treatments have been missed since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march, according to figures seen by bbc news. a year long investigation by bbc africa eye has uncovered damning evidence of a thriving underground network in kenya that snatches

babies from their mothers and sells them for a profit. the secretive and highly lucrative trade preys on the country's most vulnerable, stealing children from homeless mothers. njeri mwangi reports. an estimated 60,000 children live on the streets of nairobi. they have become prime targets for child traffickers. rebecca has been homeless for years. her first—born child was stolen from her as she slept, and has never been seen since. we were approached by an informant, who claimed to know an active child trafficker targeting homeless mothers. she agreed to speak, on condition that we hide her identity.

at great risk, she agrees to go undercover. anita calls our informant to a meeting. to her horror, she finds that anita has just stolen a baby. anita claims she has a buyer lined up who is prepared to pay around $450 us. in a desperate attempt to stop her from selling the child, our informant tells her she knows a buyer who is willing to pay over $700. a child's life is in immediate danger, so we reported the case to the police,

who agreed to try to arrest anita. i pose as the buyer and meet anita in downtown nairobi. to my dismay, there was no sign of the baby. anita agreed to return with a child later that day. anita never returns. we heard she sold the baby to a higher bidder. anita has disappeared into the shadows and never responds to our allegations. the police are still looking for her. the scenes that i have witnessed in the making of this investigation have shocked me to my core. as a woman, as a mother, as a kenyan. traffickers are operating in plain sight. hundreds, perhaps thousands, of our children have been sold like cattle, stripped of their identity, of their roots. it is a national tragedy.

tonight, thousands of children will sleep on the streets of nairobi. and those who prey on them are watching. waiting for their moment to pounce. njeri mwangi, bbc news, nairobi. more on coronavirus now, and nicola sturgeon has given the strongest indication so far that parts of the west of scotland could be put under level four coronavirus restrictions, which are close to a full lockdown. in today's coronavirus briefing the scottish first minister said that there wasn't yet enough certainty that current levels of the virus wouldn't lead to the health service being overwhelmed. one of the issues we are looking at very closely is whether current restrictions are reducing covid rates quickly enough in some areas, particularly in parts of the west of scotland, these areas that have stable but still stubbornly prevalence of the virus. a stubbornly high prevalence causes

us concern for a number of reasons, two in particular that i want to highlightjust now. firstly, it means that we don't have enough assurance or as much assurance as we would want to have that our hospital and intensive care services are able to cope as we go deeper into the winter. we know that winter always brings additional pressures on the nhs and ensuring that it can cope with those pressures as well as covid is absolutely crucial. and that is why regional hospital and intensive care capacity are important factors in our decision—making when we consider what level of restrictions will be assigned to each area. the second reason i want to highlight is this one. stubbornly high prevalence means that we might have less flexibility to offer some limited and careful easing of restrictions over the christmas period, which we are very keen to do and i am sure all of you are very keen for us to do as well. so moving to level four restrictions

for a limited period in some areas, while not a decision we will ever take likely because of the wider economic and social impacts, would help us to address both of these concerns. more generally, and this is something we should all bear in mind at any level of restrictions, especially as we all get more and more fed up of them, is that every time we stop someone, especially someone who is older or more vulnerable, becoming infected with covid, we give them a chance of living into the era which is now firmly on the horizon, when better therapies, vaccines, testing and treatments will be available, and i think that motivation for all of us as we are living under these restrictions right now is important to bear in mind. the end is not quite with us, but we can see hope on the horizon now that perhaps we couldn'tjust a few weeks ago. so these issues are ones we are currently considering very closely, especially in relation to lanarkshire, glasgow and some surrounding parts

of the west of scotland. the government's final decision will be taken by the cabinet tomorrow morning and then i will set that out to parliament tomorrow afternoon. cases of coronavirus continue to fall in wales following the country's firebreak lockdown. the country's health minister vaughan gething says these are very positive signs. this downward trend is continuing. the seven—day incidence rate for wales is now around 160 cases per 100,000 people, a reduction of 70 from this time last week. in both the area with the highest rates in the area with the highest rates in the ukjust the area with the highest rates in the uk just over a week ago, the rate has more than halved to around 330 cases per 100,000. and in other parts of the south wales valleys, where we also saw a very high rates, the incidence rate is now less than 300 cases per 100,000 people.

finally, a disco classic from 1977 has re—entered the charts thanks to this. "yes sir, i can boogie" has become the unofficial anthem for scotland's men's football team after their celebrations for their win against serbia last week, which saw them clinch a place in next year's euros. it has now reached number three in the uk's commercial radio chart, higher than the likes of sam smith, miley cyrus and ariana grande. ben brown has just ben brown hasjust put ben brown has just put his elbow out. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren. hello there. later this week, briefly we are all going to get a taste of something much colder, but for the next couple of days it is going to be mild. however, it will be quite cloudy. there is a lot of cloud streaming in from the atlantic and as that thickens up, so we are going to find some outbreaks of rain, initially coming in from the west on that weather front this evening and then that second weather front gets strung out in western scotland

over the next few days and brings some heavy rain and the threat of some flooding. after a decent enough day for the eastern side of the uk, we have got some patchy rain here this evening and overnight it stays very wet actually over argyll, bute and into the highlands. some patchy drizzle around some other western hills as well. a lot of cloud overnight. these are the temperatures by the end of the night, so a very mild start to tuesday, 12 to 14 degrees. by this stage we will have a stronger south—westerly wind and hopefully that will punch a few holes in the cloud, where we have got some shelter from the hills, but on the whole it looks pretty cloudy on wednesday, a little drizzle here and there, more rain across western parts of scotland. that is going to continue to add up, bringing that increasing risk of flooding as well. but a very mild day, temperatures widely 15 or 16 degrees. could get a bit higher than that where we get any decent breaks in the cloud to the east of the hills. the weather, though, is going to change. for the next few days it is tropical air that is coming our way, hence those very high temperatures. but look what will happen by the time we get into thursday. by then we have got a northerly wind streaming our way, so it will feel much, much colder. wednesday is more of the transition

moving day, really, we have still got areas of low pressure, weather front as well. the wettest weather during the day will be across scotland, some light and patchy rain pushing its way eastwards across england and wales and ahead of that the last of the warm air before temperatures start to drop away from the west during the afternoon. but the colder air is yet to arrive. we've still got that area of low pressure, which is going to take some wet and increasingly windy weather across the uk on wednesday night, very windy and then that colder air comes in, and we'll find some snow across parts of north scotland and by this stage in the morning the windiest weather down those north sea coasts. we will have some sunshine, a few showers around as well, as we head into the afternoon and so the showers become fewer and there will be more sunshine and the winds start to drop a bit as well, but it will feel a lot colder, especially in the wind. 7 degrees through the central belt of scotland and a high of 9 celsius in east anglia.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines: another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus — an american vaccine said to be nearly 95% effective. i broke into an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers. it really exceeded our best hopes and it is an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". 19 million nhs dental treatments have been missed since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march — according to figures seen by bbc news. the leader of hull city council has asked the prime minister

for more freedom to put local restrictions in place, to tackle the rising coronavirus infection rate there — including deciding whether schools might close. talks to thrash out a post—brexit trade deal resume in brussels, with both sides calling for compromise. good afternoon. a second coronavirus vaccine has been found to be highly effective at preventing covid—19 infections. after last stage trials in the united states — its makers, moderna, describe the discovery as a crucial milestone. the interim results suggest it's 94.5% effective at stopping symptomatic infections.

the uk government has not pre—ordered stocks of the vaccine yet but is said to be in advanced talks to get hold of the vaccine once it passes the necessary safety stage. here in the uk, six thousand volunteers are being recruited across the uk to test another potential coronavirus vaccine. the vaccine has been created by the belgian company, janssen. the pm is self isolating — after a meeting with an mp who later tested positive for covid—19. families should be allowed to visit residents in all care homes in england before christmas — after successful trials for rapid testing of visitors. and worrying news from dentists. nineteen million nhs dental treatments have been mist since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in march — according to figures seen by bbc news. the vaccine made by moderna works in a similar way to the pfizer—biontech jab, which it was revealed last week had shown positive results. dr stephen hoge is the company's

president, he spoke to our medical editor, fergus walsh. obviously we are thrilled. it's been a long year for many of us and for our company it has been a long, hard slog to get to the point where we now have clear evidence of the efficacy of the vaccine to prevent covid—19 disease. there was a moment of pretty intense relief. it has been a long, hard strive, as i said, but that quickly passed. after about a minute it became a realisation that now that we know the vaccine works we have to get busy to work, manufacturing it and distributing it, but clearly an important milestone and a great milestone for us as a company and hopefully for us more generally as we fight this pandemic. just give me a global thought in terms of the importance of these results and just what it could mean for the world and just how exciting was it to be in the room when you got the results? yeah, when we got the news from the data and safety monitoring

board, i'll admit i broke character and grinned ear to earfor a minute because i didn't expect and i don't think any of us really hoped that the vaccine would be 94% effective at preventing covid—19 disease. that was really a stunning realisation. but the second thing that was perhaps even more exciting was that it was 100% effective, apparently, at preventing severe covid—19 disease. there were 11 cases of severe disease, but all 11 were on placebo. none of the vaccine recipients had had severe covid—19. and those combinations of facts means the vaccine really is a terrific tool for stopping the pandemic and hopefully stopping the worst of the disease that people are facing. when you combine it with the news last week of pfizer's vaccine, you now have two vaccines that are over 90% effective. it really means i think we have the tools necessary to finally beat this virus back. i think that is probably the best news of the day for all of us, is that there really are now solutions in our hands and we need to deliver them

to the people who can use them. and fergus walsh also said this vaccine could suggest that, while we must remain cautious at this point, next year could be very different to where we are now. if i could be, i am even more excited than i was last monday because now we have another covid vaccine using a very similar approach, which has also proved over 90% effective. in a way, it is confirmation that that result last week wasn't some kind of freak. it suggests that science is going to find a path out of the pandemic for us and other vaccines, as dominic said in his report, are on the way, so i am really hopeful now, even more hopeful than i was last week, that we are moving in the right direction. we do need to be cautious, it is early data, we need safety data, there are lots of is to dot and ts to cross, but it is looking good.

the moderna vaccine, we don't have advance orders for that. but the company told me this morning that they have been in discussions with the uk government and they hope to be able to supply doses here by spring 2021. we should not count on a vaccine to help us out really this winter. this is really for 2021, so for the next few months we are going to have to rely on all the things we have been relying on — social distancing, hand hygiene etc — but 2021 could be very different as a result of vaccines to the current situation we are in now. borisjohnson has said he is feeling "fit as a butcher's dog" on his first working day self—isolating in downing street. the pm and several other tory mps have been told to isolate by nhs test and trace, after a meeting at downing street where one of the mps later tested positive for covid—19.

0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. this was last thursday morning, the prime minister had a breakfast meeting with some of his mps, including the man on the right, lee anderson, who the day after lost his sense of taste and later tested positive and so the prime minister is holed up in his downing street flat until a week on thursday. the good news is nhs test and trace is working ever more efficiently. the bad news is that they've pinged me and i've got to self—isolate. it doesn't matter that we are all doing social distancing. it doesn't matter that i am fit as a butcher's dog, feel great, so many people do in my circumstances, and actually it doesn't matter that i have had the disease and i am bursting with antibodies. we've got to interrupt the spread of the disease. his neighbour's getting some fresh air though. the chancellor was in east london this morning. like all other business and organisations over the past few months, he has been learning to do things differently.

we're doing a lot of meetings online, the prime minister this morning, you've seen the video that he's put out, we are getting on with delivering people's priorities. the prime minister is not the only one doing a stint of domestic incarceration. 0ther mps at the same meeting left with a beaming picture with the boss, and a later instruction to stay at home. so borisjohnson has been told to stay in here. on friday his chief advisor dominic cummings was told to get out. after the volcanic disputes and dysfunction in number ten recently, today was meant to be about a reset. it still will be, i'm told but it will be a remote one. this is frustrating for the prime minister, i understand that. it is important he self isolates, it's important to say that we've all got to comply with the advice and guidance. the capacity of covid to cripple our plans strikes once again here at the heart of government. after the comings and goings, the prime minister is now staying inside when he had really hoped to be out and about sweeping up

the mess of the last week. chris mason, bbc news at westminster. and in a few minutes, coming up at four fifteen we'll answer your questions on development, trials, delivery and impact of a covid—19 vaccine. we'll be joined by peter drobac from the university of oxford and 0ksana pyzik from university college london. you can get involved by sending your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk or tweeting us using the hash tag bbc your questions. and we'll have a special programme at 4:30 covering the downing street press conference led by health secretary matt hancock on bbc one and the bbc news channel. talks to thrash out a post—brexit trade agreement have resumed in brussels, with both sides calling

for compromises to be made. in a moment we'll be live in brussels, but first our reality check correspondent chris morris takes us through the key sticking points. any free trade deal agreed in the next few weeks won't be particularly ambitious. there hasn't been time for that. but even with fairly limited aims, negotiators are still struggling with some familiar themes. first — the level playing field — measures to ensure companies on one side don't have an unfair advantage over their competitors on the other. all trade agreements have them but the eu wants the uk to stick particularly closely to its rules on things like workers' rights, environmental regulations, and especially state aid or financial support for businesses. the uk, on the other hand, says the whole point of brexit was to break free from following common rules. second — fisheries. the eu is pushing for maximum access for its boats to continue fishing in uk waters. whereas british negotiators say the uk is now an independent coastal

state, and its boats will get priority. if there is no agreement on fishing, eu boats will lose out badly. but the uk won't get the access it wants to the eu markets where it sells most of its fish and many other things besides. then, there is the governance of any future agreement, that is partly about the overall structure of any deal, but also, how a new agreement would be enforced, and how disputes would be settled. another sensitive issue, implementing the brexit withdrawal agreement, signed last year, especially the protocol on northern ireland, and the land border which now divides the uk from the eu. the uk's internal market bill which could override parts of the northern ireland protocol has added to eu concerns that the uk may not live up to some of the commitments it has made. so, plenty of issues to resolve, and it normally takes years to do a trade deal. but this process only has a matter of weeks left. deadlines have already come and gone. any last—minute agreement needs to be added to hundreds

of pages of legal text, and it all needs to be translated into all eu languages, and ratified by parliaments on both sides before the end of next month. even with a deal, the uk's relationship with the eu will be very different outside the single market and the customs union. there will be far more bureaucracy for businesses that trade across the border. and free movement of people in both directions will come to an end. any agreement would do very little for the trade in services, but it would mean avoiding tariffs or taxes on goods crossing the border. is that enough to tip the balance? well, even at this very late stage, there are no guarantees. politicians on both sides need to make concessions on some pretty fundamental issues. but we may know more before the end of this week. the supreme court is today starting to hear a test case to decide whether insurance companies should cover businesses for losses they incurred during

the first uk—wide lockdown. thousands of firms believe they should receive payouts from their business interruption policies but insurers argue that the products were never intended to cover such unprecedented restrictions. the ruling will have a bearing on more than £1 billion in potential payouts. business correspondent ben thompson explained that around 370,000 companies are trying to claim on this insurance. i spoke to him earlier. as the name would suggest, that is an insurance policy that businesses, predominantly small businesses, take out should they not be able to get into their business and operate as normal. of course, this covid pandemic has taught us that anything has been possible, but in some cases, in the midst of a lockdown, they have not been able to operate. that meant in some cases laying off staff, not being able to get into factories or their premises and therefore a lot of these businesses, about 370,000 of them,

say that they are trying to claim on that insurance. the insurers for their part say no, this was unprecedented. it is not covered by the policy. you are right to say this went to the high court and the high court covered 21 types of this policy, offered by all sorts of different insurers. they took the 21 most common types. the majority they said should have paid out. there are here now 13 under question and that will be subject to this supreme court review, because these are the ones that are now being appealed against. some that the high court said should pay out the insurers are appealing against and some that the high court said should not pay out and the businesses themselves are appealing against that. it is all a bit of a mess and we are expecting this case to take maybe four days days to resolve, but as you touched on in the introduction, 370,000 businesses are affected by this. pay—outs could total £1.2 billion.

the firms themselves said they need this moneyjust to operate as normal. they need the money to continue their business during what is an unprecedented downturn. it is also worth pointing out here too that this only relates to older policies, ones that were taken out before the first lockdown. anything that a business has taken out since probably has the terms and conditions changed to account for something like the covid pandemic, so this just relates to old cases but nonetheless could be fascinating and could set a precedent for thousands of similar cases across the country. mike cherry, from the national chairman of the federation of small businesses, says many businesses believed they were covered by their policies. clearly for a ny clearly for any ordinary business, if you take out a business interruption insurance which says

you are covered, you believe yourself covered and it is hugely disappointing that the insurers are saying this was never the intent because actually, for the business is concerned, the hundreds of thousands who took out these policies, they believe they were concerned and so the fca took this to the high court and the high court found in the majority of cases in the businesses favour by saying in some policies they should have meant they were covered. for these businesses this is a lifeline in exactly the same way whether it is a fire or other issue, these businesses believe they were covered, they desperately need the money now but we are into a second lockdown and we hope the supreme court will come up with its answer to this problem so that the insurers can actually do the right thing. the headlines on bbc news: another breakthrough in the battle against cornoavirus — a vaccine which data suggests

is nearly 95% effective. the prime minister is self—isolating after meeting an mp who's tested positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has no symptoms, but says "the rules are the rules". 19 million nhs dental treatments have been missed since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march — according to figures seen by bbc news. now on bbc news, your questions answered. with me is the infectious disease specialist we are focusing now on the news of vaccines. with me is the infectious disease specialist from the university of oxford, peter drobac, and the 0utbreak expert from university college london, 0ksana pysik.

thank you both very much for being with us. loads of questions coming in about the moderna vaccine and the pfizer one we heard about the other day. peter, this is from stephen clarke, what is the difference between a recovery from covid with a small chance of reinfection and a vaccine that is around 95% effective? there are two questions, one, how do you get immunity and how long does immunity last? there are two ways to get immunity, you get infected and recover or get a vaccine and a 95% effective vaccine means the risk of getting symptomatic infections could be reduced to 90%, that still means there is a small chance you could get infected. we don't know yet how com plete get infected. we don't know yet how complete that immunity is and how long it lasts. there have been a few cases where people can get re—unaffected so it is not complete immunity. the big question is going

to be does the immunity last six months, one year, two years and the jury months, one year, two years and the jury is still out. peter, how excited are you by this news from the united states about the moderna vaccine? i try not to get excited about scientific news by press release but in this case it's quite exciting. the reason is this, the moderna vaccine and the pfizer vaccines work with similar modalities, messenger rna which has never been done before and the fact they are both getting similarly positive results even though it is preliminary really does validate the promise of these vaccines. this is a question from allen, if wearing a mask is mandatory why is the virus still spreading so much and were a vaccine make a difference? a facemask is not a silver bullet. it is one tool we know helps reduce transmission and break these chains

of transmission but we need social distancing and other interventions alongside this, including hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene in order for, to reduce the spread. a facemask on its own is not the answer and even when a vaccine does become available, we will have to carry on with some of these public health interventions because really in history, we've never had a mass vaccination campaign on this scale before. just in terms of the reach as well as the number of people and the timeframe in which this will occur. not everyone will be able to get it immediately and the government has already released a prioritisation system and so we will need to carry on with wearing facemasks and other types of ways to protect our health and the health of others until everyone is able to

receive the vaccine. there is still a long road ahead and we shouldn't expect this to be overnight and into the pandemic. this is from sj, now the pandemic. this is from sj, now the pfizer vaccine is safe and effective, although i don't think it has been definitively ruled as safe, will any of these other vaccines including the oxford vaccine be approved and will be safe also?” hope so and it's not because i am rooting for the oxford vaccine is because i'm rooting for all the vaccines. we need to vaccinate literally billions of people and that will require a manufacturing and distribution capacity that is unheard of. it's also possible that some vaccines will work whether than others in specific populations and so what we want right now is for hopefully as many of these vaccines is possible to get over the

so—called finish line of demonstrating safety and efficacy and getting out into circulation. we expect to see preliminary results from the oxford vaccine phase three trial by the end of this year and we are seeing now several of these trials that were started about the same time, the results are beginning to trickle out. i am optimistic we will see more candidate vaccines with the chance of getting approved in early 2021. 0ksana, this is from david, if the vaccine is successful and vaccination begins, how will i know if people around me in a public place have been vaccinated? we won't know. there will not be a clear way forward in terms of identifying this. it will be in people's individual immunisation records but it's not something you will be able to telljust by walking down the street. there was conversation previously around something like an immunity passport but that was also

highly problematic and not really realistic to implement. so in this sense, going back to the public health message and, once the vaccine is available, we will still have to be cautious because we won't be able to tell who are around us how to receive the vaccine or not. thank you. peter, this is about the safety of the vaccine. do we know what actually is in the vaccine? the moderna and pfizer vaccines are similar, they both use something called messenger rna, a nucleic acid that codes for the spike protein of the coronavirus and so what happens is that goes into the body encapsulated in a lipid and it goes into cells and t cells that make the spike protein, that trains up the immune system so there is no live coronavirus or any other virus in

the vaccine. in that sense it should be safe. 0f the vaccine. in that sense it should be safe. of course there are other kinds of adverse effects that we would want to watch out for with any new vaccine and this technology is new. there is no approved vaccine using mrna. the early indications are promising but we will need to see the full phase three results and even continue to follow for safety even continue to follow for safety even once this vaccine gets out into circulation. this is a question about what the vaccine could do. brian grimshaw says, will this vaccine prevent transmission? do any of the vaccines in fact prevent transmission? currently if we take a look at the results, we see that it reduces the severity of the symptoms. essentially it is too soon to say whether it will be able to prevent transmission. again as peter had said, we will help to have

access to larger trials, most of these medicines will also be over a two—year period also so they will be monitored and sometimes trial results don't reflect the same way in the real world. it would certainly from a public health perspective be beneficial for it to also prevent transmission, but at this stage it is too soon to say. what we can say is it is very effective in reducing severity of the disease and we hope the outcome will be it can prevent it as well. so many questions, only two or three minutes left so we will have two rush through a couple of the last ones because we have the downing street press briefing. denise wants to know, will people who have received an organ transplant be able to receive the vaccine and is the vaccine considered live? organ transplant patients would be considered one of the high risk groups so we hope so. they don't a lwa ys groups so we hope so. they don't always mount an immune response to vaccines and we would have questions

about safety. i doubt that transplant patients were included amongst these early trials and so there is going to be a probably early on a risk—benefit calculation that patients will need to make with their doctors. timothy atkinson says, as the government says younger people are the main spreaders why not vaccinate young people first in order to halt the spread of covid? what we see in terms of health outcomes and fatality rates is this is predominately amongst the elderly and high—risk groups. so despite the fa ct and high—risk groups. so despite the fact that yes, we have high rates of transmissions amongst young people, what we want to do is protect against the severity of the symptoms and the people who will have the worst health outcomes. so the strategy is to ensure the most vulnerable receive it first because most people who are younger will

have a less severe symptoms or no symptoms at all. peter, last one to you, from nick martin, he wants to know will it be a live vaccine and if it is, will it be suitable for people currently advised not to have live vaccines? none of the vaccine candidates have life coronavirus. some of them use a vector of other viruses that are typically harmless in humans as a way of carrying in a protein from the coronavirus. those are common and generally safe in most populations. the good news is because we have such a diverse portfolio of vaccines, it's likely we will have options and we can find some of them will be safe for all populations. peter and oksana, great to have you with us on a day with a bit of good news for once. thank you

so much for being with us. in a moment we'll be joined by viewers on bbc one ahead of a news conference by the health secretary, matt hancock. but first it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. it will be a mild and cloudy few days with heavy rain in western parts of scotland. that develops over night. after a decent enough day today, for eastern areas, we will see rain arriving this evening but it gets much wetter through the highlands and argyll with pockets of drizzle here and there, a lot of cloud. very mild, temperatures by the end of the night and by which point there will be a strong south—westerly wind. in general that will feed in a lot of cloud tomorrow. may punch a few holes in the cloud where we have some shelter but wetter weather continuing in western parts of scotland, heightening the risk of flooding.

a very mild day on tuesday, widely 15 or 16 degrees. more sunshine to the east of high ground and those temperatures could be higher. the next couple of days we are seeing tropical air heading ourway, hence those unusually high temperatures. by the time we get to thursday it's a northerly wind, it will be much colder.

good afternoon to you, this is bbc news with me ben brown. 0ur good afternoon to you, this is bbc news with me ben brown. our latest headlines. another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus, a vaccine which is said to be nearly 95% effective. i broke in to an ear to eargrin when 95% effective. i broke in to an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers, it exceeded our best hopes. and it is an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and for the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. the prime minister a self isolating after meeting an mp who has tested positive for coronavirus. boris johnson says he doesn't have any symptoms but he says the rules are the rules. hopes that families will be allowed

to visit residents in all