dragon spacex, capture confirm. it's a milestone in a nearly £2.5 billion deal that nasa has signed with elon musk‘s aerospace company to develop, test and fly an astronaut taxi service. the astronauts on this flight, nasa's michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker, and the japanese space agency astronaut, soichi noguchi, will spend six months in space. and in another history—making moment, victor gloverjoined the international space station to become its first african—american crewmember. and here is victor glover. there are now seven people living and working on the station, tripling its capacity to carry out scientific research in microgravity. it was an amazing ride. i can't tell you how excited we were when that rocket lifted off the pad and then the last 27 hours has gone really smooth, actually. uk astronaut tim peake returned from his own six—month machine in 2016.

we were doing about 14 hour days, seven in the morning until seven at night and then we'd have a couple of hours preparation in the evening. and the majority of that is science activities. and then at the weekend, the crew willjust try and drop the tempo, because you are up there for six months, it's a marathon. you can't go all out all of the time. when this crew's marathon mission is done in 2021, their private space taxi will be waiting to bring them home. victoria gill, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's stav da naos. good afternoon. we are sticking with the mild fina can, very mild for the time of year across much of the country but it is quite breezy and rather cloudy. it is not completely dry, the weather front is bringing wet weather to western scotland, lots of ice about indicate that breeze, warm weather from the azores, hence it is so mild. you can

just about make out the outline of the british isles, lots of cloud, heavy rainfall western scotland, light rain for parts of wales. north—east parts of scotland and north—east england have some shelter from the south—east breeze, so it will be very mild, perhaps 17 or 18 degrees. most are around the mid—teens even where we have cloud. this evening and overnight, very wet for western scotland, that when tra nsfers for western scotland, that when transfers into northern scotland and the northern ireland by the end of the northern ireland by the end of the night, we could see some rain for western parts of northern ireland, perhaps the very far south—west, we are holding onto a relatively joint night, cloudy, breezy and very mild, these are daytime values or even higher than daytime values or even higher than daytime values or even higher than daytime values you would expect at this time of year. tomorrow this area of low pressure slowly pushes eastward, the cold front will spread eastward, the cold front will spread east with outbreaks of rain after a dry start it is. eventually the rain

will reach eastern areas, since in china showers behind pertaining much colder, staying cold, windy and very wet all day. miles across the site is that it will not last, close air six assessment during wednesday right across the uk and into thursday —— clothes and things has. another frontal system will bring changes on friday. it will start very windy with scales, northern and eastern areas and a much colder feel to all areas across scotland, where there will be a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. further south ridge of high pressure will settle things down, we could see a demented sunshine into the afternoon. it will be told, just about double figures in the south, low single digits in the north. —— it will be cold. those

temperatures recover thursday night into friday as it turns milder, wet and windy. take the liberty across scotla nd and windy. take the liberty across scotland and northern ireland over the weekend, but staying relatively mild elsewhere. a reminder of our top story. fears that england's scheduled lifting of coronavirus restrictions may not be possible — as new measures are about to be introduced in scotland. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me , and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. you're watching bbc news, the time is 1.34pm, i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre. two former umpires have accused the england and wales cricket board of "institutionalised racism". john holder, who retired 11 years ago, says it looked "more than suspicious" he had not received a reply from the ecb when offering to be a mentor at the organisation. ismail dawood, meanwhile, claims that racist language used in front of senior ecb staff, has gone unchallenged.

the pair have asked for an independent investigation from the equality and human rights commission. i have no reason to doubt that. the decision... the fact that a few non—white umpires, several non—white umpires have made enquiries about going on the first—class umpires panel or becoming a mentor or liaison officer or whatever, and none have progressed. that looks more than suspicious to me. an ecb spokesman told bbc sport: england's proposed tour to pakistan early next year won't go ahead.

they are also due to face india and sri lanka in the new year and couldn't gurantee being able to field a full strength team. england have arrived in south africa ahead of their first tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. they will play three t20 matches and three one—day internationals. the matches will be played in cape town and paarl with players again having to remain in biosecure bubbles. it's been a good day for the england captain heather knight in the women's big bash in australia. she made an unbeaten 58 off 32 balls, and hit a six off the last ball of the match, to help sydney thunder to an 8 wicket win over melbourne renegades. the victory lifts the thunder into a play off position. the international olympic committee president thomas bach has concluded his two—day trip to tokyo to inspect the facilities ahead of the games that will now be staged next summer. he visited the athletes' village and the main national stadium today in his first trip tojapan since the decision was made in march to postpone the olympics. the development of a covid—19

vaccine makes it more likely that the games will go ahead as normally as possible. although it won't be mandatory for the 11,000 atheltes to have a vaccination, the president is urging them to get one, if available. we will encourage athletes whenever possible that they have a vaccination. because it is better for their health, but it is also a demonstration of solidarity with their fellow athletes and with the japanese people. manchester united forward laurenjames has been called up for the england lionesses training camp. the 19—year—old has impressed for manchester united this season. it will be her first senior call—up. they were due to play norway, the

lioness is, at the beginning of december, but that was cancelled because of travel restrictions. they will now have a ten day training camp at saint georges park. scrum—half natasha hunt has returned to the england rugby union squad for saturday's rematch against france at twickenham. hunt missed england's grand slam—clinching win over italy at the start of november after testing positive for coronavirus. loughborough's abbie brown and hunt's club team—mate ellena perry have also been called up. they beat france in grenoble last weekend to go one up in that miniseries. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website including all the build up to tennis' atp finals. rafa nadal takes on dominic thiem from 2 o'clock, and you can watch it across the bbc. i will have an update for you in the next hour. thank you very much, see you later.

sweden's announced new limits on public gatherings after a surge in coronavirus cases. groups of more then eight people will not be allowed, and the public is being urged to cancel activities such as visits to the gym. but there are no plans to introduce the country's first lockdown, as sylvia lennan—spence reports. it's the country without lockdowns or facemasks. even when cases were surging in the summer, sweden followed a different path, opting instead for voluntary social distancing, washing hands, and public gatherings limited to 50 people. it was held up as a model of how to live with the pandemic by anti—lockdown campaigners around the world. but a sharp rise in cases means sweden is now tightening these restrictions, with public gatherings limited to a maximum of eight people. translation: we live in trying times now, it will get worse, do your duty, take your responsibility to stop the spread of the infections. don't go to the gym, don't go to the library. don't have dinner, don't have parties. cancel.

this is now the new normal for the whole society, for all sweden. sweden's cases per 100,000 are currently ten times higher than finland and four times higher than norway. last week, the hospital admissions rate here was growing faster than any other european country. translation: we need to go in with the stronger recommendations and restrictions, and i think it is starting to be time to consider a shutdown of society here and there in sweden. but the country's leader is sticking to the strategy. we don't believe in a total lockdown, we believe that the measures we've taken, the decisions that we're taking are appropriate. what we want to do at the national level now is to send this very clear, strong signal on the necessity of social distancing, on not spending time with people that you don't live with. sweden says its plan

is not herd immunity, where the vulnerable are protected and the virus is allowed to spread, thereby making everyone else immune, eventually. instead, the goal is to keep the economy open, slow the virus, and give hospitals a chance to cope. translation: in the first wave i was more worried because you did not know anything about how hard it could hit, so now it is a little better. now the health care has a little better control over how to treat it. this spring everything was so new that you did not understand the seriousness. now i take it more seriously. if they do not, then a lockdown looms ever larger. the danish government says it has reached an agreement with enough parties to pass legislation to permit a total cull of farm—raised mink. the move comes after a mutated form of coronavirus was found on mink farms. there will also be a temporary ban on mink farming until 2022.

brazil has the second highest coronavirus death toll in the world, after the us. with over 5 million confirmed cases and more than 150,000 deaths, it's been brought to its knees by the virus. but even in brazil, some groups have been affected more than others. some of the worst death rates have been among the country's indigenous people. camilla mota reports. the amazon rainforest, one of the world's most bio diverse and fertile regions. hundreds of indigenous groups live here, mainly in isolated villages reachable only by boat. but even here, people have not been safe from covid—19. this is the leader of one of the indigenous peoples. they are a group of 15,000 indigenous people who live near the border with peru. in may, the virus began to rip through his village.

we had to stayjust outside the village is because of the risk of transmitting disease to the people inside. many of those who died were elders in their community. this man was known as the human library for his knowledge of his people. he died aged 96. this woman reached the age of 106, but after a two—week battle with covid, she passed away, too. leaders here say they were not given medication to treat covid so they had to rely on traditional plants. many are angry at what they see as government neglect.

according to local organisations, more than one in eight indigenous people were infected in the amazon region. among those who caught the disease, the mortality rate was 150% higher than the brazilian average. but some communities have been organising their own defences. this is another group who live in villages near the brazil—peru border. they have managed to keep coronavirus out of their homes by strictly controlling who goes in and who goes out. so far, the measures have worked. we met leaders just outside the village who showed us how they order food, medicine and other supplies. the goods are brought from the city and unloaded by the river, minimising the risk of transmission. in a country where thousands have

already died from covid—19, it is not hard to see why some of brazil's indigenous people are taking matters into their own hands. hurricane iota has made landfall over nicaragua forcing thousands of people there and in neighbouring honduras to evacuate from coastal areas. the us national hurricane center says the category five storm has catastrophic winds of more than 250 km/h. paul hawkins has more. screaming. it's supposed to be the end of the north atlantic hurricane season, but this is what a category five hurricane looks like. 260 kilometre an hour winds pounding the colombian island of san andreas, bringing life—threatening storm surges and flooding inland. 90 kilometres away, one person died on another colombian island, providencia. it is the first time a category five

hurricane has hit columbia. translation: we are facing an event that has characteristics that have never been seen in our country. in a matter of hours, this climatic phenomenon went from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane. and it is not finished yet. the monster storm now making landfall in north—east nicaraguan. this city boarding up. storm surges of 15 to 20 feet are forecast. and 30 inches of rain. translation: the previous hurricane destroyed our house and we were left with nothing. now another one is approaching. we don't know what will happen. we fear for our lives. the lives of my children and of my mother, who is sick. next in iota's sight is honduras and then guatemala, only two weeks ago all three were hit by etta, a category four hurricane. iota, on the other hand,

is the strongest atlantic hurricane of the year. only the second november hurricane to reach category five, the last was in 1932. put simply, the hurricane season is getting longer and hurricanes more powerful, fuelled by the warm caribbean sea, a symptom of climate change. paul hawkins, bbc news. ethiopia's prime minister, abiy ahmed, has said a military operation in the northern region of tigray is entering its final phase. several hundred people have been killed and about 25,000 ethiopians have fled to sudan since the fighting began almost two weeks ago. prime minister abiy said a three—day ultimatum given to armed groups in tigray to surrender has now expired. writing on facebook, he said he would launch what he called a final act of law enforcement in the coming days. the bbc‘s kalkidan yibeltal is in the ethiopian capital addis ababa. he said that this can

only mean one thing, and that is this conflict is not ending soon. we are already working into its third week and it's likely that we are going to see more fighting in the coming days as well. the prime minister says that there are going to be critical and final stages of this law enforcement operation, that's what he called it, and we don't know what that going to be exactly, but what we know is this conflict is going to continue and we are not going to see the end of this clash soon. since the conflict began, we are seeing a huge influx of refugees from the ethiopian side, crossing the border to sudan, and we are hearing more and more reports of an increase in the number of refugees there. and we are going to see more... it is likely we are going to see more of this refugee displacement, even more casualties, even civilians. and now the prime minister is saying that if they return home, if they return to their country,

ethiopia is ready to receive and welcome them and reintegrate them, but it is not clear how that can be achieved when in fact the conflict is still active and ongoing. a british diplomat who dived into a river in china to save a student has denied being a hero. stephen ellison, who's the consul general in chongqing, was walking by the river when the woman fell into the water. footage showed stephen taking off his shoes before jumping in to save her. the pictures quickly went viral, prompting praise across social media. but this morning, the diplomat said he was happy to help. you know, the social media, like anywhere, but china's no different, things get communicated very quickly. i think it took a day and a half, i think, for it to really take off, but yeah, some very, very kind comments. but really it was... clearly i am pleased, i am so, so pleased that the young girl was ok.

that is the main thing. but other than that, you know, it was just a split second decision. we have exchanged wechat messages. in fact, i have met the young girl, who is very, very sweet, and she has invited me for lunch next weekend, which i will be delighted to do. i am just very, very happy that it has all ended so well. us president—electjoe biden is warning that "people may die" if his incoming administration continues to be impeded by incumbent donald trump. mr biden said co—ordination was needed to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. he described president trump's refusal to acknowledge he lost the election as "totally irresponsible". david willis reports. at this north dakota hospital, staff are overwhelmed. here, and in other parts of the country, they are running out of beds — such is the impact of

a virus that is spreading with breathtaking speed. joe biden has warned a dark winter lies ahead, but efforts by his team to come up with a plan to cope with it are being stymied by donald trump's stubborn refusal to concede. at risk — the swift distribution of a vaccine. if we have to wait untiljanuary 20th to start that planning, it puts us behind — over a month, a month and a half. and so it's important that it be done, that there be co—ordination — now. now or as rapidly as we can get that done. the president continues to deny that he lost the election, and has taken to twitter to accuse what he called "radical left democrats" of attempting to steal it. but his refusal to concede is also preventing the biden team from taking the advice of government experts such as dr anthony fauci. the virus is not going

to stop and call a timeout while things change — the virus isjust going to keep going. we want a smooth process for that, and the way you do that is by essentially having the two groups speak to each other and exchange information. among those urging the president to acknowledgejoe biden's victory is the former first lady michelle obama. on her instagram page, she called the seamless transfer of power one of the hallmarks of american democracy, adding, "this isn't a game." whilst hope is dimming that the current occupant of the white house will prioritise the threat of the virus, health experts are warning that another 200,000 americans could die in the time it takes forjoe biden to take office. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. now, this time round with the coronavirus lockdown, the big streaming hit has been the netflix show "the queen's gambit", a new series about an american chess prodigy during the cold war.

it appears to be sparking a renewed interest in the ancient game, with some online platforms reporting a surge in users. tim muffett reports. it's ten years since international chess master malcolm payne set up his charity, chess in schools & communities. the pandemic might have made it harder to teach the game in person, but its popularity seems to be rocketing. chess has had a sort of a double boost now. the first thing that happened was during lockdown — lots of people started playing more board games, and chess was one of those. and there was another explosion of the game online. chess has very rarely been on television — there hasn't been a television programme about chess or a chess tournament since 1993, when nigel short played garry kasparov, so i think it's getting its moment now. tell the readers of life how it feels to be a girl among all those men. i don't mind it. chess isn't always competitive.

chess can also be... ..beautiful. that's largely down to the queen's gambit — a huge hit on netflix. it's the story of beth harmon — a childhood chess prodigy. i think that the best thing about it, in a way, was the fact that it's a girl who beats all the boys, because if there's going to be a legacy from the queen's gambit, it's got to be that more parents will decide that this is a hobby choice for their daughters as well as their sons. now, your charity's worked in over a thousand schools across the uk to introduce chess. what impact does it have? what chess teaches children, above all, is that your actions have consequences. if you make a mistake in chess, you know, that mistake might be punished, and it's yourfault — it's nobody else's — you have to take responsibility for it, which i think is a very, very important life lesson. also, in the charity, we instill sportsmanship into all games, so children are taught to lose gracefully and win gracefully. the other thing that it also does

is it teaches children to plan, to think ahead, to think logically. now i'm going to show you how the queen moves. shreyas might be too young to watch the queen's gambit, but the 11—year—old is a phenomenal chess talent. i'm about top 15 in the world, top ten before lockdown happened. my father taught me how to play chess when i was around six. now, you're a bit young to watch the queen's gambit, but what do you make of the effect it's having on people who are getting interested in chess? it's always good to get more people into chess — especially girls, since there's not much girls. i'm supposed to go to russia, but what i want is a drink. i'm worried about you. chess for many still has an image problem, but cliches are blown apart in the queen's gambit — controversially at times, with money, alcohol and occasionally drug use part of the plot. a lot of people think of chess in a certain light. right, they think that chess is for boring people or nerds,

for example, but we see chess very differently. i speak to some of the top players every day, and they have big personalities — like in any other profession. you know, they have their own way of doing things. and there's a lot of eccentricity in chess, of course. as far as drug use and things like that, obviously, i can't really speak to any of that, but i will sayjust the general eccentricities of chess players themselves and just how interesting they are as people, how they see the world is certainly captured in the queen's gambit. nick, tell us about the changes you've noticed this year. we're onboarding about 100,000 new chess players per day. pretty much this time last year, we saw about 20,000 or so new members per day. so you're seeing almost a five—fold increase at this point. as captivating as ever, 1,500 years after chess was invented, there is no endgame in sight. tim muffett, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. for most of us today, it is a dry one. further north and west, though, we have got some rain around, particularly western scotland where it is very wet. through the course of the day, lasting into the overnight period. we could see some splashes of rain across western parts of england and wales, too. but for most it is mild and cloudy, but we have got azores air coming up from the south south—west. quite a few iosbars on the chart, hence it is quite breezy out there. this weather front will be lingering across western scotland to bring is across western scotland to bring is a pretty heavy persistent rain here. could see some issues with localised flooding. some splashes of rain, generally like rain and drizzle for western england and wales. we could see temperatures reach high teens given a little brightness. very mild for all despite it being quite breezy. through this evening and tonight, it will turn whiter, not just across northern and western scotland, but also for the northern

ireland. very wet for shipment. could see some rain in northern ireland and the far south—west. for most it is a mild and breezy night. all down to this area of low pressure. this is a cold front which will be spreading eastwards across the country. behind it, as the name suggest, it will be turning much colder. from wednesday, we started trying to use but in this band of rain starts to go eastwards through the course of the day. says very wet for shipment throughout the day. into the afternoon, it brightens up, but heavy in blustery showers and it will feel much cooler here. i had of that rain, it will still be quite mild. during wednesday night, we see a real plunge of cold article here move south across the country. very windy, too. some wintry showers. as we head into thursday, this ridge of high pressure will build, which will settle things down. this next weather system will arrive on friday to bring yet more rain and strong winds. on thursday, a much colder

day for all. start off with deals across the north and east. wintry showers across central and northern scotland. this ridge of high pressure builds on and it winds will ease for part two of the day. we should say some sunshine. temperatures will start to recover across the south. but it stays very cold across the north. as we head into friday, that next weather system will move into bring wet weather. it stays mild as we head into the weekend and we should see some sunshine, as well.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the scottish government is set to announce that the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. we'll have live coverage of that. the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution