other states have coronavirus restrictions in schools and restaurants too. but from president trump, there‘s been nothing on the issue — even on his twitter feed, adding to the frustration of health experts. this is bbc news with the latest at what point do you say enough? headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. yeah, well, what i‘m doing and some the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have of my colleagues are, shown a ‘promising immune response‘ as much as we possibly can, in people aged over 60 — to being the voice of increasing hopes it can protect what needs to be done. those most at risk from the virus. and that‘s why i‘m here with you and that‘s why i‘ve been doing this all day, £4 billion a year for to get that message out. the next four years — dr fauci is urging americans the uk government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. to stomach the restrictions a little an investigation into the conduct of australian longer, and avoid what he calls special forces in afghanistan has covid fatigue with the prospect revealed evidence of dozens of a vaccine on the horizon. of unlawful killings. but getting to that stage may take a little longer. as president—electjoe biden australia's chief of the defence staff said some patrols complains, he‘s currently unable took the law into their own hands. to find out from donald trump‘s administration about the depth the number of coronavirus deaths of the vaccine stockpiles in the united states passes 250,000 — as many states and the distribution plan. struggle to contain the spread of the virus. unless it‘s made available soon,

we‘re going to be behind by weeks prince william has ‘tentatively or months being able to put together welcomed' an independent investigation by the bbc into how the whole initiative relating martin bashir secured to the biggest promise we have, an interview with his mother, princess diana in 1995. with two drug companies coming along and, the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, and finding 95% effectiveness, says he‘ll make a visit efficiency in the vaccines, which is an enormous promise. to the israeli—occupied golan heights, as both countries and how can we stop thanksgiving and christmas becoming super—spreader events? reaffirm their close ties. just ask yourself, at this time, is it really worth having an accumulation of people that would be coming from different parts of the country, going through crowded airports, on aeroplanes, coming into your home? hello and welcome if you‘re watching and to end on a sobering note, remember — at the moment, in the uk or around the world — these restrictions are for life, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. not just for christmas. mark lobel. i‘m annita mcveigh. the headlines on bbc news. there‘s further promising news this the team behind the oxford morning about a third vaccine — coronavirus vaccine says trials have the oxford coronavirus vaccine — shown a promising immune response

which shows a strong in people aged 60 and over, immune response in adults increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. in their 60s and 70s, raising hopes it can protect £4 billion a year for the next four years — age groups most at risk the uk government announces of illness from the virus. the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. an investigation into the conduct researchers say the phase two of australian special forces findings, based on 560 healthy adult in afghanistan has revealed evidence volunteers, are "encouraging". of dozens of ‘unlawful killings‘. australia‘s chief of the outcome of trials the defence staff said some patrols took the law into their own hands. into whether the vaccine actually stops people developing covid—i9 in larger, phase three trials is expected in the coming weeks. the uk has already ordered 100 million doses of the oxford vaccine, a0 million doses here in the uk, the largest military of the pfizer—biontech vaccine investment in 30 years will be announced by the prime minister and five million of the moderna later this morning. vaccine. if successful, the defence budget will increase the oxford vaccine is expected to be by £4 billion annually, easier to manufacture on a worldwide over the next four years, scale than the other two, and will partly be used to fund and oxford and astrazeneca say they are committed to making space and cyber defence projects. hundreds of millions of doses 0ur defence correspondent, available to the developing world. jonathan beale, reports. with more detail on what today‘s findings mean for the development the defence secretary has been of the oxford vaccine, here‘s our fighting hard for more money medical editor, fergus walsh. to modernise the armed forces and to break the cycle of the past over—ambitious but underfunded defence reviews.

it was detailed information last month ben wallace visited troops on salisbury plain published in a medicaljournal the to see some of the new equipment lancet about the immune response already being tested among 560 volunteers who had by the army — robots, received two doses of drones and autonomous systems, the oxford astrazeneca jab the future of warfare. and what that showed was it produced a robust immune response across all ages, the army has already set up a new unit to counter disinformation, an increase among all the volunteers, in the defence budget of £165 billion over the next four they produced what we call years which will also help to meet the new threats neutralising antibodies that in the domains of cyber and space. can block infection and they it‘s a 10% rise in the annual mod produced good t cell responses. budget of £40 billion. but it doesn‘t tell you, and it didn‘t tell with public finances tight, you whether the vaccine actually there‘s been a battle works, whether it protects against with the treasury, but ben wallace has found an ally in the disease, and for that we are the prime minister, who believes extra defence spending will bolster going to have to wait maybe a few britain‘s place in the world and revive the economy. more weeks for oxford and astrazeneca to release the results of their much bigger trial, what we at bae systems factory of the future in lancashire has call their efficacy phase three trial, which will tell us already begun work on tempest, the next fighter jet, whether the vaccine, like moderna‘s which will be flown and like pfizer‘s actually works. with or without a pilot in the cockpit. borisjohnson says projects like this could help create up

i‘ve been getting reaction to the news from drjennifer rohn, to 10,000 jobs a year. a cell biologist at the mod still has to make difficult university college london. decisions to cut some older equipment to fund the virus is still out there, the new, but the defence secretary says the extra cash it is gaining traction in the winter will now provide certainty for the armed forces, and we really need solutions faster even though it might mean savings elsewhere. there‘s already been so it is brilliant that the horse speculation that the aid budget could be cut. jonathan beale, bbc news. that the uk backs, 100 million doses, is recording safety and good immune response in people, notjust i can now speak to lord dannatt, young people but in all ages, that‘s great news. who was the british army chief talk to us about the significance of the findings so far of the general staff that this older age group, from 2006 to 2009. more susceptible to covid—i9, because we are getting suggestions lord dannat, thank you very much for that the oxford vaccine produces a similar immune response in older and younger adults, your time today. what do you think but is better tolerated by older adults. this increase means for the uk‘s yes, when you get side effects from vaccines they are often defence capabilities, first of all? i think first and foremost it gives from a robust immune response generally and older people are known the current defence chiefs some to have a weaker immune response, certainty in planning their so the fact that it is better expenditure over the next few years, tolerated is probably down in particular over the next four yea rs. to this but the good news in particular over the next four years. an extra £16.5 billion sounds like an awful lot of money but even is the specific response though it is an additional 10% on we are looking for is definitely

there and this is going along the defence budget, given the with some other good news that has historic underfunding of defence, it recently been shown that the immune will go a long way to filling in response to covid in general is much some of the really quite of deep longer than we thought it would be originally. we are seeing evidence of robust immune response potholes in the defence programme of people who have had covid, but will not answer all the so that means any vaccine that questions and solve all the works, it is likely that immunity problems. but it is a very welcome will last a bit longer than we had expected as well. i want to talk about what will start and put certainty in place for happen in phase three of the oxford vaccine trials. defence planning, particularly over before that, perhaps it would be the next four years. you refer to useful to compare this vaccine to what we know about the pfizer biontech the next four years. you refer to the report of the national audit and moderna vaccines. 0ffice well, i think the headline news the report of the national audit office which refers to the defence department carrying a legacy of a is that it is much easier to store. £13 billion black hole in equipment it is stable at refrigerator temperatures, much more this spending. does the focus on artificial intelligence and cyber warfare, is that the right direction of travel as far as you are than the other two vaccines. concerned in terms of how this money and also it is a more established should be spent? well, we have to way of making vaccines, the oxford version. maintain and develop further a whole the moderna and pfizer vaccines are brand—new strategies based on nucleic acid and it is a bit fiddly and might be more range of capabilities. we need to difficult to scale up. absolutely people are thinking make sure we fully fund our existing the oxford vaccine will be easier to make in large quantities. capabilities. but we live in an when you say it is a more evolving and developing world and established way of making a vaccine, therefore artificial intelligence, just explain a bit more about what you mean about that.

just explain a bit more robotics, venturing into space to a about what you mean by that. the moderna and pfizer vaccines degree, these are all important additional areas that we have got to are based on the genetic blueprint being directly injected think about and put money into. but into the person‘s muscle and this has never been done before, of course, when you broaden your there has never been a marketed vaccine that does this. range of capabilities, you whereas the oxford vaccine is a bit more of an established technique exacerbate your own problems. where you create an artificial although £16.5 billion is very virus, so you take a cold virus, welcome, they‘ve got to be very careful at the mod where the extra a common cold virus, and you stick in the covid—i9 bits, money is applied. it cannot all go so you are basically replicating into exciting new, albeit pressing a little bit of a more natural kind of vaccine, new capabilities, there are existing capabilities that need to be it looks more like a real virus, properly funded to keep us as a tier but it is easier to produce 1 defence nation. so it's about because we have done this kind of things before. looking after the basics as well as 0k. tell us what we can expect, looking after the basics as well as looking to the future? that's the this is the result of the phase two 0xford vaccine trials. theme of it. obviously there are what can we expect in phase three some programmes, some historic programmes that could be cut, and and what are the timescales we are looking at here in terms i‘m sure the defence chiefs will of potentially bringing this think very carefully about that. but to the point where we can all get these injections, the vast majority of our maritime, the manufacturing capabilities, and so on. land and air capabilities that we so the phase three is already under currently have need to be fully way and the difference between that funded before we spend too much of and phase two is the sheer

number of people. the additional cash in new and novel we are now looking at tens of thousands of people areas, as important as they might instead ofjust 500 or so. be. with a new president due to it is actually a really good time to test a vaccine now occu py be. with a new president due to occupy the white house as of because we are in the winter season and more people have it, january, with the end of the whereas in the summer transition period of brexit only a there were hardly any people around getting covid. we will know in a few weeks, matter of weeks away now, the defence secretary ben wallace has been talking about defence i think we will have interim results reported from the phase three, diplomacy, british defence diplomacy. i wonder what you think which would be brilliant, and the good news is the production this money means for britain‘s has already begun. so i think that most people believe influence in the sector abroad, that the oxford vaccine will be ready to receive much quicker especially when there is talk, and than the others, the other it is not confirmed yet, that money two you mentioned. might be taken out of, for example, the international aid budget. those so it could be as early spending in one area and a loss in as the end of winter. it really depends on the another area cancel out the impact logistics and everything. to some extent? this mustn't be allowed to become a zero—sum game. but it is looking very promising indeed for swifter access for this it isa allowed to become a zero—sum game. particular vaccine and we have 100 million doses of it, it is a fine thing that 0.7% of gdp which is good news. is being spent and has been spent in drjennifer rohn from university couege drjennifer rohn from university recent yea rs is being spent and has been spent in college london. recent years on our international development budget. because the key thing for the uk to recognise is and we‘ll be answering your

questions on covid vaccines on that we want to have real influence the bbc news channel this afternoon. do send your questions using the in the world, if we want to make hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email global britain more than just a them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. bumper sticker, is to harmonise the we‘ll be putting them totality of our defence spending, to our experts at 3.30pm. our diplomatic skills and the gmt. focused use of our international development money. this combination in australia, a long—awaited war of ha rd crimes report has found credible development money. this combination of hard power and soft power evidence that some of the country‘s elite soldiers murdered 39 together on a cohesive, collaborative basis is what will civilians and prisoners give the uk influence in the future. while serving in afghanistan. and it is particularly important now the head of australia‘s defence force said the investigation had that we are leaving the european uncovered a "shameful record" union that we can say to our of a "warrior culture" european partners, we might be by some soldiers. leaving the european union but we are not forsaking european defence 19 service personnel could face prosecution over the allegations. 0ur australia correspondent and we are not underplaying our part shaimaa khalil reports. in the overall world security. this the defence chief‘s language left us integration of hard power and soft in no doubt about how grave these alleged violations power is really important and i really hope that the chancellor will resist the temptation to rob the in afghanistan were. international defence budget, sorry, the international development budget in order to do much fun these general angus campbell used words like toxic, increases in defence spending. lord appalling and shameful when describing the actions dannat, good to get your thoughts of members of these special forces. this morning, lord dannat, former

and it wasn‘t just that these british army chief of the general alleged executions occurred, but it was also the culture of impunity in which they happened. these findings allege the most serious breaches of military conduct staff. —— in orderto and professional values. british army chief of the general staff. —— in order to fund these increases in defence spending. the duke of cambridge has the killing, the unlawful killing, tentatively welcomed a new investigation into how the bbc of civilians and prisoners secured an interview is never acceptable. with his mother in 1995. none of the alleged unlawful killings were described in a statement released last night, as being in the heat of battle. he said, "the independent investigation is a step in the right direction. it should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the bbc none were alleged to have occurred at the time." in circumstances in which the intent the corporation has promised to get to the truth of the perpetrator was unclear, about the events surrounding confused or mistaken. the panorama interview with 0ne picture stood out princess diana. lord dyson, one of the country‘s most senior retired judges, has been in general campbell‘s address. appointed to lead the inquiry. speaking to me earlier, our royal the moment he described the coercion correspondent, jonny dymond, of some junior soldiers to allegedly shoot unarmed civilians to get their first kill said a statement from the duke in a practice known as blooding. of cambridge wasn‘t common. i can‘t think of another time that there are also allegations that a senior member of the royal family has offered commentary or criticism, or whatever you want to call it, radios and weapons were planted about media coverage. it‘s just not what they do.

to substantiate claims that the victims were enemies killed in action. instead, i think quite words are had with senior executives. general campbell said that a badly needed cultural instead we have had this very public change was under way. statement addressing a very hot he also addressed the afghan people. and controversial issue. to the people of afghanistan, so it is surprising, it is rare, on behalf of the australian defence i think it is pretty force, i sincerely and unreservedly much unprecedented. it is also worded in apologise for any wrongdoing a very careful way. by australian soldiers. you highlighted, annita, such alleged behaviour profoundly that his office described this as a tentative welcome. he himself, the prince, described it as a step disrespected the trust placed in us in the right direction. this isn‘t a kind of slap by the afghan people who had asked on the back and a well done boys. this is, "i‘ve got my eye on you, us to their country to help them. i‘m interested in this, it would have devastated the lives "i‘m keeping watch over of afghan families and communities, causing immeasurable what happens here." so it is very interesting, it is pretty much unprecedented pain and suffering. and it is very heavily qualified. a special investigator so what is the bbc saying about the investigation? what more are they saying will be appointed to look about when martin bashir himself might be available at the findings of the report, to answer questions? gather evidence and then present it because of course he has been ill. the investigation pretty to the public prosecutor. a process that will take years. the released version of this report is heavily redacted and there are no much started yesterday details of specific incidents

or specific individuals. but the information that we do have is enough to make for very uncomfortable reading. notjust for the military or the government, but also with the announcement, as you said, of lord dyson, this for the australian public. senior legalfigure, going to lead shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. 0ur afghanistan correspondent it, and the announcement that a senior legal firm would be doing a lot of the grunt work secunder kermani has been closely through the documents. watching reaction to the damning and now to some extent investigation from the bbc takes a back foot. neighbouring pakistan. he says afghan human rights groups it provides the documents that it hope to get in touch has to the investigation. with the families whose relatives were murdered. but it has sort of handed it over, responsibility has now been handed over. the details of this report we will have to wait and see are deeply, deeply disturbing. what the format and the duration the afghan president, of the investigation is, whether it is going to just be ashraf ghani, last night spoke a browse through documents, whether witnesses will be called, to the australian prime minister ahead of this report whether they will be called being made public. in public, we simply don‘t know anything about that yet. the reaction, i should say, as to martin bashir, it is a slightly more complicated story. from afghan officials to it the bbc, for some months now, has been saying martin bashir, has been rather muted. who is the bbc‘s religion editor, they‘ve noted the apologies is a seriously unwell. from the australians is seriously unwell. for what has happened. he had a brush with covid—19 and it‘s important to remember, of course, that australia has been a serious operation following that. an ally of the government but twice now he has been pictured in its fight against the taliban. there had been more vocal calls in various newspapers up from afghan civil society and about outside his home. groups calling forjustice

and for accountability. i was just speaking to one leading member of an organisation dedicated it‘s going to be up to him obviously to supporting victims when he decides he is well enough from across the conflict in afghanistan. to speak to the inquiry, presuming he is going to speak to the inquiry. he said that they had been in touch but various newspapers are clearly with the suspected victims of these having something of a field day in casting doubt as to quite how human rights abuses in the southern province of uruzgan, unwell he is. where many australian elite forces were stationed in 2009 and 2010 president donald trump is to seek a and 2012 and 2013, when these partial recount of votes in the alleged incidents took place. state of wisconsin which has rival joe biden is projected to win by he said because this is such a remote area, 20,000 votes. many of the families weren‘t really aware that this report hours before a wednesday deadline, was coming out, that information was being gathered, the trump campaign said it wanted but they are now in touch with them. a recount in the counties of milwaukee and dane, alleging irregularities. they‘re trying to obtain more and more information mr trump has been making unsubstantiated claims of fraud about the abuses, because, and refusing to initiate a handover. as shaimaa khalil said in her report, a lot of the details the trump campaign has also asked at this stage are redacted. judges in the state of pennsylvania to look again at their claims that we don‘t yet know the names republican observers were improperly blocked of the 39 individuals who were killed and who are... from watching the vote count. let‘s speak now to leslie vinjamuri, director of the us programme whose deaths have been at the think tank chatham house.

mentioned in this report. hello, thank you forjoining us. i but the afghan human rights groups are hoping that more details will emerge that will allow them can‘t really begin any conversation about the us without first of all to trace these families, get in touch with them. focusing on that death toll we have and so these families can be made heard today. sorry, i think we are aware of the process and receive some form ofjustice. having some problems with the line. secunder kermani. as the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states reaches u nfortu nately, we 250,000, the us department of health says two vaccines may be authorised and ready having some problems with the line. unfortunately, we cannot go over for distribution within weeks. just yet so we will go to another but health experts are concerned that current restrictions are causing "covid fatigue" among story in the meantime. americans, alongside president trump‘s apparent lack of urgency in tackling the virus. a "witch hunt" — that‘s how mark lobel takes a closer look. so how bad is the influential union leader situation in america? well, daily cases have climbed from under 50,000 in late august len mccluskey has described labour‘s decision not to allow jeremy corbyn to return to over 150,000 now — to the commons as a labour mp — a total of almost 11.5 million, even though he‘s been reinstated with more testing available. as a member of the party. mr corbyn was suspended because of his remarks about a critical report on anti to the saddest part, 2,000 people semitism in the party. if this is keir starmer‘s idea of were dying a day in april. unity, then he has a different now there‘s 1,700 deaths a day. perspective than i do. the reality

is that we were told that a process needed to be gone through. that over 250,000 people have died in america overall, process went through, through the most of any country, although some other nations have various stages, and an nec panel, a been proportionately harder hit. and worryingly, the number of americans in hospital 00:14:14,486 --> 2147483051:43:51,958 with covid—19 is higher 2147483051:43:51,958 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 than at any other time in unanimous nec panel of five individuals made a decision. and let mejust make individuals made a decision. and let me just make this clear, out of the five, in case there is only due piety, there are only two out of those five who could be described as corbyn supporters, yet it was a unanimous decision and now keir to have disregarded process and stepped in with this extraordinary decision. it looks to me very much like a witchhunt and persecution of a decent man. people can disagree with corbyn on a whole host of things but i think most people regard him as a decent, honest individual, and to be persecuted and witch hunted in this way is not the labour party way of

doing things. i would appeal to keir to try to resolve this. the british public do not like a divided party. i hope keir becomes our next prime minister, i genuinely do, but with a divided party that will never happen. and the other thing that the british public do not like is the persecution of an individual. so the whole situation needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a promising immune response in people aged 60 and over, increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. £4 billion a year for the next four years — the uk government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years.

an investigation into the conduct of australian special forces in afghanistan has revealed evidence of dozens of unlawful killings. australia‘s chief of the defence staff said some patrols took the law into their own hands. the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states passes a quarter of a million, as many states struggle to contain the spread of the virus. prince william has tentatively welcomed an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother princess diana in 1995. and the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says he‘ll make a visit to the israeli—occupied golan heights, as both countries reaffirm their close ties. let us return to the us now. president donald trump is to seek a partial recount

of votes in the state of wisconsin, which his rivaljoe biden is projected to win by 20,000 votes. mr trump has been making unsubstantiated claims of fraud and refusing to initiate a handover. the trump campaign has also asked judges in the state of pennsylvania to look again at their claims that republican observers were improperly blocked from watching the vote count. let‘s speak now to leslie vinjamuri, director of the us programme at the think tank chatham house. i hope we can! very good to have you with us. we cannot possibly begin a discussion about what is happening politically in the us without reflecting on the fact that the death toll from coronavirus has reached a quarter of a million. president—elect biden said donald trump‘s refusal to initiate a handover is costing american lives. in the middle of this, fair to say the president‘s poker seems to be on recou nts the president‘s poker seems to be on

recounts and legal action —— the president‘s focus. recounts and legal action —— the president's focus. a very dangerous situation in the us because the virus is spreading out of control in so many set dates —— so many states. 0ne so many set dates —— so many states. one week from the most important holiday in the us, thanksgiving, and having the clarity of message from the president is absolutely critical. instead we are seeing a president—electjoe biden and as you said president trump still contesting... not only significant behind in the electoral vote, 6 million votes behind in the popular votes a nd million votes behind in the popular votes and one of the largest turnouts in electoral history. he is looking at wisconsin. what is interesting is he has not asked for a recount across the entire state, looking at very heavily democratic areas, those surrounding milwaukee,

couege areas, those surrounding milwaukee, college town... the strategy seems to be to sow doubt, to lead republican voters to believe even if joe biden takes office that it is not a legitimate result. some poll so it is working with 77% of republicans, according to one poll, believing the final result but not believing the final result but not believing it is legitimate. this is destructive not only for america‘s democracy but destructive at a time when the new president could be listened to and be believed so that the pandemic can be brought under control. so the gravity of it cannot be understated. we have been repeating president trump is making unsubstantiated claims. have you seen among all of the allegations from the trump campaign anything

approaching evidence to back up any of the allegations? no, there isn't. we are hearing that very clearly from secretaries of state across the battleground states of which donald trump is trying to contest the results. simply saying the results are legitimate, the elections were conducted very thoroughly, international observers, local observers, double—checking. quite extraordinary, actually, given how many americans turned out to vote in the context of the pandemic quite has sophisticated and faddy elections have been. also quite extraordinary if you think of the 26 republican governors across the us, how many of them simply are avoiding recognising the result —— sophisticated and fair. they are subject to politics. the trump strategy is, what? to continue with

the narrative to allow him to accept the narrative to allow him to accept the white house while still claiming he actually never really lost, that there was some sort of foul play going on in his view? and as a platform for him to do whatever he plans to do next, whether that is continue in politics or whatever else? yes, because the voter turnout on the trump side was extraordinary also and part of that base turned out because of the kinds of politics we are seeing now. and that people have their eye on georgia, the two senate races running off onjanuary the two senate races running off on january defence and it will determine who controls the senate and keeping maybe things were unfair, to make sure people turn out for that vote. maybe it will work again like in the selection. back to covid, the death toll quarter of a million, number of americans hospitalised doubling in the last month. if the trump administration does not provide access to the

incoming administration, is there any mechanism that can really force their hand and allowjoe biden and his team to get their hands on the information, the material they need? well, america is incredibly decentralised and joe biden is a very experienced and has deep relationship so he is working with experts across the country, state level officials, and we are seeing a lot of measures... indistinct label in some cases such as michigan for example, the leaders of the state are calling for strict lockdown sunday are getting a lot of pushback —— strict lockdown is and they are getting a lot of pushback. the effort is grave but we have the best tea m effort is grave but we have the best

team you can imagine, given the level of experience and the depth of relationships, to manage a very difficult transition in the us right now. thank you very much, director of the us programme at chatham house. mike pompeo has confirmed that he will travel to the israeli—occupied golan heights later, the first such visit to the area by a us secretary of state. speaking in jerusalem alongside the israeli prime minister, mr pompeo said last year‘s decision by president trump to recognise mike pompeo has confirmed that he will travel to — as part of israel was a simple recognition of reality. mr pompeo and benjamin netanyahu were full of praise for each other. we have done incredible things. it‘s remarkable. you went through the list. whether it‘s the simple fact of recognising the reality ofjerusalem as the rightful, proper, true capital of israel. crazy that the united states hadn‘t done this for decades. israel has no better friend in the world than the united states of america.

and over the last four years, under president trump and his remarkable team, led by you and ambassador friedman, jared kushner and others, israel's alliance with the us has reached unprecedented heights. 0ur correspondent injerusalem, yolande knell, gave us her take on the press conference. well, it was extremely warm, wasn‘t it? and really underlined the close personal relationship between these two men, as well as the close relationship between the us administration, the trump administration, and mr netanyahu‘s government. it does make it look increasingly, this visit by the us secretary of state, like a sort of farewell visit, like it has got an eye on the legacy of the trump administration in this region.

there was that long list given by mr netanyahu of the many steps that this white house has taken, departing from in some cases decades of us foreign policy, to, for example, move the us embassy tojerusalem, something that president biden is not expected to reverse. but it remains to be seen what will happen in relation to some of the other points, in particular such things as recognising jewish settlements in the occupied west bank as being not necessarily illegal under international law. that‘s something the us secretary of state mike pompeo said a year ago. here in the uk, new figures from the office for national statistics show over one in ten businesses have little confidence they will survive the next three months. let‘s speak to our business correspondent, andy verity. is this all to do with the pandemic?

yes, it is. of course the pandemic and the restrictions that have come into full. this was taken for the two weeks at the end of october —— into force. after the circuit breaker began in wales and tier 3 restrictions in scotland but before the lockdown began in england. even before that began, businesses were saying, lots of fun, they had little or no confidence they would survive the next three months —— lots of fun. especially marked in the food and accommodation services sector because they are the ones where most businesses have had to close. 0nly 63% of those businesses are trading at the moment and 34% of businesses in food and accommodation believe they will not be able to survive or have little or no confidence they will survive the next three months. across all of industry, it is 14%. it may sound relatively low but it

is really serious. 10% of the uk‘s businesses is about half a million businesses, hundreds of thousands of businesses, hundreds of thousands of businesses which are telling official researchers they are not sure they will be able to survive. businesses also had the challenge of not knowing whether or not a trade deal will be done in time for the end of the brexit transition phase. for the businesses with little confidence they will survive the next three months, are they saying there was anything that can be done to turn around the situation for them? perhaps more financial support. although the furlough scheme has been very helpful to a lot of businesses in terms of covering employee costs and keeping unemployment much lower than it otherwise would have been, i still have other bills to pay like heating bills, rental payments, and over the next three months, the bill start falling and it gets harder and harder to put off paying them and the businesses are looking at the

cash the money coming in and going out, and the maths does not seem to add up. probably a lot of them, the british chambers of commerce and others, have argued for more support in spite of the furlough scheme being extended. in general, it is the very devastating effect at the new renewed restrictions have had on business confidence generally and the outlook. who wants to invest at a time like this? who wants to take people on when you are scrabbling around for your last drop of cash? it is very difficult trading the moment. thank you very much, andy verity, business correspondent. hundreds of young environmental activists from around the world are meeting virtually to call for greater action on climate change. with the international climate talks that were due to be held in glasgow this year delayed until november 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, young people have decided to create their own.

unlike the un summit, cop26, the youth—led mock cop is not based anywhere physical. workshops and talks are being hosted virtually across multiple time zones, reducing carbon emissions by 1,500 times that of previous cop events, according to organisers. let us talk to some of the organisers. joining me now is sonali, who is one of the orgainsers of mock cop 26. she is in bihar, in india. and mock cop26 organiser uchendu kelo, who is in enugu in nigeria. and mitzi jonelle tan, another organiser, who is in manila in the philippines. great to have you with us. at the very beginning of this year, i was in glasgow, i spent a day talking to lots of people involved in environmental projects and looking ahead to the cop 26 event which did not happen. but next year, really fascinated to hear about this mock cop. let's fascinated to hear about this mock cop. let‘s begin with you, how

challenge has it been to put the sieve together —— to put this event together? it was not challenging because every of us is very dedicated to make it happen. were so disappointed our leaders who were supposed to lead cop26 postponed it. we wa nted supposed to lead cop26 postponed it. we wanted something very serious, we wa nted we wanted something very serious, we wanted them to take us seriously. definitely disappointed us. because of this, many of the young people throughout the globe decided, ok, we need to do something. that is the passion among everyone of us to make a change in the society. you would have liked to have seen the event go ahead virtually, the full event go ahead virtually, the full event go ahead virtually, the full event go ahead virtually, is that what you are saying, sonali? yeah. 0k. ahead virtually, is that what you are saying, sonali? yeah. ok. you have taken this into your own hands.

let‘s turn to you, uchendu. give us a sense of how many people are taking part in the mock event and what you hope to achieve. what are your key aims? we received many applications from delegates from many countries and we selected delegates to participate to represent respective countries. the mock cop will look at giving them a platform to voice how they feel and at the end of the two weeks, we are hoping to come up with a high—level statement that will reflect the views... i think mock cop 26 has the

potential... let's pick up on that with mitzi in the philippines, why is it important for you to be involved in this event and do you hope the organisers of the postponed event due to take place next november, do you hope they will look very closely at what comes out of the talks you are having in this virtual mock cop? mock cop 26 is so important for me, especially because in the philippines we got hit by a massive typhoon, two massive typhoons, a week apart, one was the strongest typhoon in the planet this year and the other one pouring a months worth of rain and under 24—hour is. very clear to me someone who has to sit in the dark with no electricity, this is the climate crisis, it is real, we need real action, we need plans. we cannot

keep postponing things because we are on a deadline and that is why mock cop is so important because it gives vulnerable people, in the global south, most affected by the climate crisis, we are seen at the table, notjust climate crisis, we are seen at the table, not just anecdotes, climate crisis, we are seen at the table, notjust anecdotes, a keynote speaker, we are the ones involved in creating the policy and that is what we want mock cop leaders next year to do. —— we want cop26 leaders next year to do. we need the active participation of those most vulnerable. how can you make climate policy when you do not know how it feels to be afraid of drowning in your own bedroom? when you do not know how the climate crisis feels and william —— in real life? passionate advocate, mitzi. back to you, sonali, how will you make sure what comes out of this mock event feeds through to the event in

glasgow next november, all being well? we are going to contact all the representative respective countries. we are going to propose high—level statements after the event and we will make sure all the delegates work alongside with the representatives. uchendu, will you orany of your representatives. uchendu, will you or any of your colleagues taking pa rt or any of your colleagues taking part in the mock event be in glasgow next year to take part as i say hopefully post—pandemic in the cop26? yes, definitely, iwill be in glasgow next year. looking at giving tickets to ten delegates who participate in the mock cop 26 and also some of the delegates who are pa rt of also some of the delegates who are part of mock cop 26 are also part of

cop26 so part of mock cop 26 are also part of c0 p26 so hopefully part of mock cop 26 are also part of cop26 so hopefully most of them will still be able to secure a ticket for cop26 next year on there so we will be looking to meet again at cop26 next year to continue what we had started. really good to talk to all of you. sonali, uchendu and, hopefully see you in glasgow next year. that would be nice. —— and mitzi. the mock cop taking place to get the views of young environmentalists and hopefully feeding through to the really important meeting of world leaders in glasgow next year, cancelled of course because of the pandemic. it was supposed to be in november of this year. life in lockdown has led to isolation for many people and the bbc has been looking at its impact on people of all ages. our reporter elaine dunkley has been to visit a community of older people in walsall in the midlands, which is trying to tackle the problem. loneliness.

it is a killer, no doubt about it. it‘s a killer. when i lost doreen after 63 years of marriage, i don‘t know, it‘s like a curtain come down. i thought, "what am i going to do with myself now? "i never said goodbye to her." ron davies is 86. he lost his wife, a daughter and a grandson. a life of love and laughter replaced with loneliness and heartbreak. you think to yourself, "well, what else can happen to me?" i can talk about it now. when they say, she‘s at peace now, that doesn‘t excuse the fact she‘s not with you. how can you not miss somebody who‘s been there every day of your life, 63 years? and that loneliness, it is a killer, there is no doubt about it. it is a killer to people and i‘ve experienced this. and it will overtake you if you let it. clock watching all the while. you shut the door. you close the curtains at the windows and then

you‘re thinking, you‘re wishing your life away. i wish it was tomorrow. i wish it was next week. ron is not alone. millions of people are feeling increasing levels of loneliness during lockdown. social distancing has broken social bonds. in walsall, a group of volunteers are reaching out to the most vulnerable. it‘s called neighbourhood natters. a chat on the doorstep that can make all the difference. you 0k? i've brought you some parcels. 0k. angela is visiting 91—year—old adelaide with some shopping and for a much—needed catch up. it's lovely to see angela, she made my day. i really enjoyed it, yes. and i feel very proud and thankful for the things they're doing for me. i think it's lovely. is it quite upsetting sometimes when you get back into the car? no, i get in the car sometimes and sometimes... ifeel full up. you get in the car and you feel like it‘s pulling on your heartstrings, you know what i mean? they are lonely. i‘ve been to people worse

than adelaide and you don‘t even want to take... you want to put them in the car and them home with you and look after them. neighbourhood natters has changed ron‘s life and now he is a volunteer. every day he makes calls to people who are feeling lonely. hello, kath. 0h, hello, ron. are you all right? yes. yes, not too bad. oh, good. you sound a bit better. is everything ok? i‘ve got 16 people now. ten o‘clock in the morning, i can phone reg. two o‘clock in the afternoon, i can phone bryan at the home. i never thought that i would do this, never in a million years but i‘m thankful i‘ve done it now, and you can talk for ever. and you‘ve just met them. you know? then they look round and they say, "blooming hell, "that time‘s gone quick." we‘re not strangers now, we‘re all friends. it‘s ron. "it‘s all right, it‘s ron, your mate," when you get on the phone.

you know? you think to yourself, "well, that‘s ok then." it is a wonderful feeling, no doubt about it. i hope it lasts a lot longer. lovely story. lovely to see people helping each other so much in times of need. another lovely story... a doctor whose twins were delivered while she was in a coma with covid—19 says she struggled to believe they were hers when she awoke two weeks later. perpetual uke, who‘s a hospital consultant in birmingham, is now recovering at home with her baby son, pascal, and daughter, palmer. they were delivered by caesarean section atjust 26 weeks old in april. waking up two weeks after their delivery was so unbelievable.

we thank god we are strong and getting better as the day goes by. great to hear everyone is doing well. now, a little bit of cheer because christmas is on the way. or more specifically, the nation‘s tree is. yes, this is the tree, a norwegian spruce to be precise, that will go up in london‘s trafalgar square, being chopped down in norway. it‘s an annual gift from the country given as a thank you for british allies‘ efforts in world war 2. it‘s the 74th year of the tradition. but in the us, they‘re one step ahead. the tree outside new york‘s rockefeller center‘s been moved into place. it still needs its decorations, obviously, but some onlookers have commented on its still patchy appearance, some saying it sums up the year 2020. hopefully when the decorations go on, it will look really fine. you are watching bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather.

temperatures 5—10 down compared to yesterday but only briefly colder as iam about yesterday but only briefly colder as i am about to show you. along with the colder air, plenty of sunshine around, once we get rid of the showers many of us will see for a time in the first part of the day. a ridge of high pressure will settle things for the afternoon bringing plenty of sunshine. this is the next weather system coming in with more rain but lifting temperatures. this is the view going into the afternoon. many of us see a spell of showers in the morning. a lot of that clear south. most will have a dry afternoon with sunny spells. further showers peppering the north and north—east of scotland, wintry in places, quite a strong north—westerly wind, average speeds here, but the costs are higher, wind chill factor around today. —— the gusts of wind. in the wind, feeling

colder still, particularly where you will still seeing the showers in the north—east of scotland. clear skies, initially in the east of the uk, tonight a frost setting in. cloud increasing in most areas and in the west temperatures going up as the night goes on and outbreaks of rain moving into wales, western england, south—west scotland, quite a wait until a night south—west scotland, quite a wait untila night in south—west scotland, quite a wait until a night in northern ireland. the rain will gradually push east tomorrow with freshening wind is once again and behind it a good deal of cloud and further patchy light rain but temperatures gradually creeping back into double figures. we stay in milder air on the weekend. there is a weather front pushing through on saturday taking some showery rain south in the day. not a huge amount of rain on that. fairly narrow. but gradually moving south across england and wales on saturday. behind it, brighterskies,

blustery showers, could be hailed in north—west scotland, quite a strong wind here, wind gusts of up to 60 mph. staying blustery on sunday. the weather system clearing away. sunshine and a few showers. goodbye.

this is bbc news. iam martine i am martine croxall. the headlines at 11.00: the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a "promising immune response" in people aged 60 and over, increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. £4 billion a year for the next four years — the government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. prince william has "tentatively welcomed" an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother, princess diana, in 1995. the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states passes

250,000, as many states struggle to contain the spread of the virus. and the careers being stopped before they‘ve even begun — the number of apprentices made redundant during the pandemic was two thirds higher than in 2019. good morning, welcome to bbc news. there‘s further promising news this morning about a third vaccine — the oxford coronavirus vaccine — which shows a strong immune response in adults in their 60s and 70s, raising hopes that it can protect age groups most at risk of illness from the virus. the study lead at the university of oxford, professor andrew pollard, said he was "absolutely delighted" with early results showing a strong immune response, "even in those

over 70 years of age." the outcome of trials into whether the vaccine actually stops people developing covid—19 in larger, phase three trials is expected "before christmas." the uk has already ordered 100 million doses of the oxford vaccine, 40 million doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine and 5 million of the moderna vaccine. if successful, the oxford vaccine is expected to be easier to manufacture on a worldwide scale than the other two, and oxford and astrazeneca say they are committed to making hundreds of millions of doses available to the developing world. with more detail on what today‘s findings mean for the development of the oxford vaccine, here‘s our medical editor, fergus walsh. it was detailed information published in a medicaljournal the lancet about the immune response among 560 volunteers who had received two doses of the oxford astrazeneca jab and what that showed was it produced

a robust immune response across all ages, among all the volunteers, they produced what we call neutralising antibodies that can block infection and they produced good t cell responses. but it doesn‘t tell you, and it didn‘t tell you whether the vaccine actually works, whether it protects against the disease, and for that we are going to have to wait maybe a few more weeks for oxford and astrazeneca to release the results of their much bigger trial, what we call their efficacy phase three trial, which will tell us whether the vaccine, like moderna‘s and like pfizer‘s, actually works. our medical editor gar, fergus walsh. drjennifer rohn is a cell biologist at university college london and says the phase three trials involved a lot more volunteers who underwent the trial vaccine. phase three is already under way and the difference between that and phase two is the sheer

number of people. we are now looking at tens of thousands of people instead ofjust 500 or so. it is actually a really good time to test a vaccine now because we are in the winter season and more people have it, whereas in the summer there were hardly any people around getting covid. we will know in a few weeks, i think we will have interim results reported from the phase three, which would be brilliant, and the good news is the production has already begun. so i think that most people believe that the oxford vaccine will be ready to receive much quicker than the others, the other two you mentioned. so it could be as early as the end of winter. it really depends on the logistics and everything. but it is looking very promising indeed for swifter access for this particular vaccine and we have 100 million doses of it, which is good news. drjennifer rohn from university couege drjennifer rohn from university college london. and we‘ll be answering your questions on covid vaccines on the bbc news channel this afternoon. do send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email

them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. we‘ll be putting them to our experts at 3.30. the largest military investment in 30 years will be announced by the prime minister in the next hour. the defence budget will increase by £4 billion annually over the next four years and will partly be used to fund space and cyber defence projects. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports. the defence secretary has been fighting hard for more money to modernise the armed forces and to break the cycle of the past over ambitious and underfunded defence reviews. last month ben wallace visited troops on salisbury plain to see some of the new equipment already being tested by the army — robots, drones and autonomous systems, the future of warfare. the army has already set up a new unit to counter disinformation, an increase in the defence budget of £165 billion over the next four years will also

help to meet the new threats in the domains of cyber and space. it‘s a 10% rise in the annual mod budget of £40 billion. with public finances tight, there‘s been a battle with the treasury, but ben wallace has found an ally in the prime minister, who believes extra defence spending will bolster britain‘s place in the world and revive the economy. but bae systems factory of the future in lancashire has already begun work on tempest, the new fighter jet, which will be flown with or without a pilot in the cockpit. borisjohnson says projects like this could create up to 10,000 jobs a year. the mod still has to make difficult decisions to cut some older equipment to fund the new, but the defence secretary says the extra cash will now provide certainty for the armed forces, even though it might mean savings elsewhere. there‘s already been speculation that the aid budget could be cut. jonathan beale, bbc news.

i can discuss this further with sir lawrence freedman, who‘s a professor of war studies at king‘s college london. thank you very much forjoining us. it sounds like a huge amount of money, of course, but defences bending never comes cheaply. how significant is it? i think it is pretty significant. it is about what the conservatives were promising in the conservatives were promising in the manifesto. it allows them to do new things. it still has to cover a lot of underfunded commitments, there will still have to be cuts elsewhere in defence and it is suggested possibly room is going to be found in overall public spending, but the armed forces will be pretty happy today, i would have thought, about this announcement. which of the services in particular will benefit, do believe? the navy. the army will not be cut in... the

numbers will more or less stay the same, which are not as many as they would like because they struggle to recruit. the main benefit is going to be to the navy because you need the extra ships to go with the new carriers, sort of a maritime logic there that works, so i think that will be in terms of the jobs and industrial development as well, that will also be seen to be pretty important. how much wrangling if there going to be, though, over letting go of the old equipment that is deemed no longer required or not as important as the new types? is deemed no longer required or not as important as the new types7m is deemed no longer required or not as important as the new types? it is quite an important shift. which has been argued about, not only in the uk, but in the us as well as to whether there has to be a break from what we tend to call legacy systems, which are geared to battles which probably aren‘t being fought very much any more, or at least probably

not so much by the uk. tanks has become one of the systems that have limited focus because they are quite expensive to maintain and the uk doesn‘t have as big a land presence in europe any more as some of the other countries who could possibly provide the tanks. whereas if you are looking at drones or other autonomous systems, cyberspace, these are seen to be futuristic. now, whether they are as important in future conflict is yet to be seen because actually a lot of conflict, as we have seen, in the middle east and elsewhere, it is pretty basic stuff, it doesn‘t involve futuristic systems. but nonetheless, i think thatis systems. but nonetheless, i think that is the direction of travel stop also, i think it is also worth keeping in mind that if you are investing in some of these the wider benefits are pretty substantial, so

just taking the example of cyber, it is relevant to an armed conflict, but also relevant to everyday life these days, businesses under attack, government systems are often under attack, universities as well. and more cyber defences, therefore has releva nce more cyber defences, therefore has relevance well beyond the military scope. finally, and very briefly, what about the timing of this? a new president heading to the white house. what message is this government here trying to send? 0h, i think the armed forces should be grateful to joe i think the armed forces should be grateful tojoe biden i think the armed forces should be grateful to joe biden because i think the armed forces should be grateful tojoe biden because i think a large part of the timing of this is to show the incoming administration whatever doubts they have may have aboutjohnson or the uk, that it is still going to be a substantial military partner and i am sure that that is an important pa rt am sure that that is an important part of the timing and i feel that is also true for the green agenda announced yesterday, climate change isa announced yesterday, climate change is a big bag and priority as well, soi is a big bag and priority as well,

so i think this is very much part of trying to make sure the americans remember us while they are still looking at germany and france and others as well. sir lawrence freedman from king‘s college london, thank you very much for your time. we will hear a statement from the prime minister at around 11:40am on that defence spending. scientists advising the government on the early stages of the pandemic admit that they "never checked" how the disease could be spread by staff working at more than one care home. the researchers were speaking on a bbc documentary looking into the run—up to the first lockdown. the government said that as new evidence emerged, it had constantly adapted its approach and taken swift action to stop its spread. dr ian hall was one of the scientists who worked on the spi—m modelling group to forecast the epidemic. we realised that care homes were not isolated and shielded in the way that we thought they were, as modellers, but that there was some sort of external connection that was forcing the disease. so what made you think

they were shielded? we were... that‘s a good question. we never checked. clearly, whatever the policies were in place didn‘t work, you know. operationally. .. either mistakes were made or things didn‘t happen in the right way and, as a consequence. . . you know the consequence. doctor ian hall there. and you can see more on this story in lockdown 1.0 — following the science? that‘s tonight at 9 o‘clock on bbc two. a total of 167,369 people tested positive for covid—19 in england in the week ending november 11th, according to the latest test and trace figures. it‘s the highest weekly number since test and trace was launched at the end of may. i‘m joined now by our head

of statistics, robert cuffe. robert, how fast are tests coming back now? that is probably the bit of good news because the number of people going into nhs test and trace, that steady rise is not a good sign, but the tests do seem to be coming back a bit faster now, just under 40% of people who went to a walk—in centre or a drive through got the results back within 24 hours in the most recent week. that is a good bit better than the low point at the start of october when it was down 15%, but it is still probably not at the rate was in the middle of the summer, so going in the right direction but still not up at the levels we saw when it was doing its best. what about contact tracing? good news there or not so much?‘ mixed picture, ithink, so if good news there or not so much?‘ mixed picture, i think, so if you look at the number of infected people who have been reached by the system and asked to provide contact details of people they have been in touch with, that has been moving up steadily over the course of the last couple of weeks, so up to probably 85% now of those people who get into

who do get reached and that was in the mid—70s a couple of weeks ago, so moving in the right direction, but then when you look moving on to get to those contacts unfortunately that picture hasn‘t changed. they are still reaching a bit over half and that needs to move up significantly. it has been there a long time and there are no signs of a changing. other figures from the office for national statistics suggest that covid—19 was the third leading cause of death in october. what more can you tell us about that? these are monthly figures that come out and it gives us a bit of context to the covid—19 because we talk about everyday, so about 50,000 people per month die across the and in october covid—19 was the third leading cause behind alzheimer‘s and dementia that accounted forjust over 5000 deaths in england and wales. heart diseasejust over 5000 deaths in england and wales. heart disease just under 5000, covid-19 wales. heart disease just under 5000, covid—19just wales. heart disease just under 5000, covid—19 just over 3000, wales. heart disease just under 5000, covid—19just over 3000, so behind those two big causes, but i think the context here is covid—19 is changing. the other two look

quite like the average we have seen for the past two years. about a month ago, covid—19 was barely in the top 20 causes of deaths and the increase we have now seen has propelled it up to the top three and thatis propelled it up to the top three and that is the picture changing quite quickly and it will probably change more over the coming months as we continue to see covid—19 deaths rise. robert cuffe, thank you very much, i had a statistics there. the duke of cambridge has tentatively welcomed a new investigation into how the bbc secured an interview with his mother, princess diana, in 1995. in a statement released last night, he said, the bbc has promised to "get to the truth" about the events surrounding the panorama interview. lord dyson, one of the country‘s most senior retired judges has been most senior retired judges, has been appointed to lead the inquiry. our royal correspondent jonny dymond explained how unusual the statement is. it‘s very unusual. i can‘t think of another time that a senior member of the royal family has

offered commentary or criticism or whatever you want to call it about media coverage. it is just not what they do. instead, i think quiet words are had with senior executives. instead, we have had this very public statement addressing very hot and controversial issues, so it is surprising, it is rare, i think it is pretty much unprecedented. it is also worded in a very careful way. his office described this as a "tentative welcome." he himself, the prince, described it as, "a step in "the right direction." this isn‘t a kind of slap on the back and a, "well done, boys." this is, "i have got my eye on you. "i am interested in this. "i am keeping watch over what happens here." so it very interesting, it is pretty much unprecedented and it is heavily qualified. our royal correspondence, jonny dymond. the headlines on bbc news...

the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a ‘promising immune response‘ in people aged 60 and over — increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. £4 billion a year for the next four years — the uk government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. prince william has ‘tentatively welcomed‘ an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother, princess diana in 1995. as the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states reaches a quarter of a million, the us department of health says two vaccines may be authorised and ready for distribution within weeks. but health experts are concerned current restrictions are causing "covid fatigue" amongst americans alongside president trump‘s apparent lack of urgency in tackling the virus. mark lobel takes a closer look. so how bad is the situation in america? well, daily cases have climbed from under 50,000 in late august to over 150,000 now —

a total of almost 11.5 million, with more testing available. to the saddest part, 2,000 people were dying a day in april. now there‘s 1,700 deaths a day. over a quarter of a million people have died in america overall, the most of any country, although some other nations have been proportionately harder hit. and worryingly, the number of americans in hospital with covid—19 is higher than at any other time in the pandemic as we approach winter. so what‘s next? as we get deeper into the cooler months of the late fall and the colder months of the winter, it‘s a very serious situation because there are lagging indicators. for example, when you see cases, then a couple of weeks later you see hospitalisation, and a few weeks later you see deaths. 300,000 public school children in new york will be taught remotely from thursday after rates

of positive tests hit the 3% mark in the city. other states have coronavirus restrictions in schools and restaurants too. but from president trump, there‘s been nothing on the issue. even on his twitter feed, adding to the frustration of health experts. at what point do you say enough? yeah, well, what i‘m doing and some of my colleagues are, as much as we possibly can, to being the voice of what needs to be done. and that‘s why i‘m here with you and that‘s why i‘ve been doing this all day, to get that message out. dr fauci is urging americans to stomach the restrictions a little longer, and avoid what he calls "covid fatigue" with the prospect of a vaccine on the horizon. but getting to that stage may take a little longer. as president—electjoe biden complains, he‘s currently unable to find out from donald trump‘s administration about the depth of the vaccine stockpiles and the distribution plan. unless it‘s made available soon,

we‘re going to be behind by weeks or months being able to put together the whole initiative relating to the biggest promise we have, with two drug companies coming along and finding 95% effectiveness efficiency in the vaccines, which is an enormous promise. and how can we stop thanksgiving and christmas becoming super—spreader events? just ask yourself at this time, is it really worth having an accumulation of people that be coming from different parts of the country, going through crowded airports, on aeroplanes, coming into your home? and to end on a sobering note, remember — at the moment, these restrictions are for life, not just for christmas. mark lobel reporting from the united states. thousands of people across the uk rely on vital support from home care services,

but many of these services are at risk of closure, partly because of the extra financial cost of the pandemic. the sector as a whole reportedly has more than £100 million of debt, with more than a quarter at risk of going out of business. sam fenwick reports. when i wake up of the morning, you do wonder what‘s going to happen today. there has never been an easy day since we were first locked down. every day is a battle. katie has a long day ahead of her. she will visit more than 12 people. morning, john. helping them to dress, organising theirfood, and making sure they have all had their medication. we gave her a camera so that she can film her visits. is that comfy? john is nearly 90. a year ago he fell and now struggles to work. katie helps him with everyday chores. a year ago he fell and now struggles to walk. katie helps him with everyday chores. forjohn, these carers allow him to stay at home in the house he‘s

lived in for 70 years. it‘s all very relaxing and very family treatment, so you don‘t feel uncomfortable, and in your own house, that is where your memories and happiness are. this is a good lady here, she is like one of the family to me. after 20 minutes withjohn, katie is on her next visit. now we‘re off to see mr mannian, who lives in the whiston area. he is very ill, terminally ill, and it‘s very important for him and his family to keep him at home as long as possible. all the people katie cares for have different needs. there is end—of—life care, and there‘s people like phil. phil will not see anyone other than his carers today. without them i probably would feel lonely. the girls make sure i've got everything i need and they come back in the afternoon to give me my lunch. more than 500,000 people in the uk receive care at home. 80% of this is funded by local authorities, and each authority pays a different

amount for care. exclusive research for the bbc suggests more than a quarter of uk home care providers are now at risk of going out of business. they say it is because they don‘t get enough money from councils and now there are additional costs because of covid. each operator has on average £38,000 worth of debt. knowsley council pays one of the lowest rates. you are constantly working on a knife edge to ensure that not only can you provide that quality service, which is paramount, but also that you have that financial support to keep the business running. where are main costs for you of this pandemic? at the moment within this second wave we are seeing a lot higher rate of absence. knowsley council says the price they pay for care increased by 7% in april. they say it is costing them more than £400,000 a year. they are also helping businesses cover the cost of staff who are off sick or having to isolate

because of covid. at seven o‘clock, katie starts her evening calls. she‘ll work right through until 10:30pm. harry‘s just celebrated his 20th birthday. he lives in widnes with his mum and dad and younger brother and sister. we can‘t go under it... he isn‘t in palliative care or anything like that. harry needs it for his mental well—being. when they don't come it is very hard keeping harry's spirits lifted. they are like his friends, they are notjust his carers. as the evening progresses, katie‘s calls start to slip and by 9pm she is already running half an hour behind. you don‘t really get travel time, so trying to get here on time sometimes is a problem. the government in england says it is committed to finding a long—term solution for social care that puts the sector on a sustainable footing for the future.

in the meantime, it has made £4.5 billion available to local authorities to help deal with the pandemic. i‘m absolutely shattered, i‘m done in. back again at it tomorrow, 7am, so i had better go in and get some sleep. we can now speak to the chief executive of agincare, one of the largest care groups in england. thank you forjoining us. why are companies like yours and i know you are ina companies like yours and i know you are in a pretty good state of health, but why are companies like yours struggling at the moment?” think what we are seeing now is a combination of many years of persistent underfunding and a lack of attention to the home—care sector, and health care sector. so home—care has been raised to the

forefront of issues really and we got costs not only in a practical element that the government have given funding to the icf four, the infection—control fund, butjust given funding to the icf four, the infection—control fund, but just the management of risk and support and communication and managing the administration that goes with the funding from central government has been immense and i think it is the straw that breaks the camels back for a lot of people. you know, the rates paid by the councils across the country are largely simply not enough to cover and sustain a sustainable sector that can cope with these kinds of issues. on top of those long—standing problems, what are the extra pressures that the pandemic has put on businesses this year. ? as i said, the management of it, so we are dealing with very regular government guidance coming out and we have to interpret that as an employee, you have to put in the processes to manage it, risk assessment, changing

practices, obviously things like ppe, managing testing, helping people maintain social contacts that are important, often compensating for web other services may be withdrawn because of regulations and guidance, so i think it is an immense pressure and just daily management and sometimes my teams here say we just feel like we are managing covid—19 management every day. and this is with a big team of multiple people who can support each other and with a sustainable business model and a large spread of risk across our different services. your company, thankfully, doesn‘t have debt. and yet others, we are told, have quite a lot of it. so how have you managed to avoid getting into that sort of trouble?” have you managed to avoid getting into that sort of trouble? i think for us, it is a very complex sector, which is why people find it hard to relate and understand the issues full and for us we are a family owned company who have been going

for over 30 years, so we had got sustainable long—term strategy. my job as ceo is planning and making sure our organisation is there for the future for the second generation, so it is very much about a long—term sustainable model and we have always had a variety of services, which i think spreads that risk because you can focus and consolidate and grow in different areas, depending on risks presenting. and i think the home—care sector has debt in its structure because there are large organisations who are equity backed and they have debt structures that, you know, finances, plan and it doesn‘t mean they‘re going to fail, but you also have small providers who do borrow to coming to invest in an organisation and start to care and often for reasons of wanting to give a really high quality service and then they find that actually it is very hard to pay that debt back

and invest in their organisation and just meet daily costs and i think covid—19 has probably againjust push people into a state where they are having to may be borrowed to get through this period or they simply can‘t fulfil previous commitments. raina summerson from agincare, thank you very much for talking to us this morning. thank you. you can hear more on this story on radio 4‘s you and yours today, at 12:20pm. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with nick miller hello. colder today, but with brighter skies. it won‘t be long before the cloud comes back and the temperatures go up again. a fair few showers spreading southwards during the first part of today, but, for the afternoon, a lot of those have cleared away and we are left with plenty of sunshine. still the odd shower around and a peppering of showers running down across north—east scotland — wintry in nature. it will feel a bit colder than this in these very brisk north—westerly winds, though they are easing a bit through the afternoon. a frost setting in across eastern parts of the uk as we go

into the night whereas, to the west, cloud is going to increase and temperatures will head up as the night goes on. we‘ll get to see some outbreaks of rain moving in, particularly towards wales, western parts of england and in towards northern ireland, where it will be a wet end to the night and first part of tomorrow. outbreaks of rain continue to spread eastwards as we go through friday, so we will all see that at some stage, and even once we get rid of the persistent rain, we will keep a good deal of cloud, and it will be patchy light rain and drizzle and quite a windy day, especially in north—west scotland.

hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a "promising immune response" in people aged 60 and over, increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. £4 billion a year for the next four years — the government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. prince william has "tentatively welcomed" an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother, princess diana, in 1995. the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states passes a quarter of a million — as many states struggle to contain the spread of the virus. and the careers being stopped before they‘ve even begun — the number of apprentices made redundant during the pandemic was two thirds higher than in 2019.

as the unemployment rate rises, it appears to be young people who are being hit hardest by the job losses taking place. today, new figures seen by the bbc suggest apprentices are also losing out. between march and july, more than 1,000 people in england were withdrawn from apprenticeship programmes because they had been made redundant — nearly double the number in 2019. richard hamer is education and skills director at bae systems. richard, welcome. what has the approach been to apprentices by bae systems ? approach been to apprentices by bae systems? morning, martin. we have beenin systems? morning, martin. we have been ina systems? morning, martin. we have been in a fortunate position in terms of stability in the defence sector, and obviously some great announcements from the prime minister. we have taken on a record 800 apprentices across the uk, although 70% are in the north of

england and, indeed, about a quarter of those are in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country. the bulk of those are for young people, in fact, 90% of those, typically those with below 24. we are able, in our sector, to make a big contribution, and we have over 2500 young people in training. so it‘s a good place, bae systems, for young people and apprentices, and a good place to help reach out to support those who have been made disadvantaged. so we have got 20 apprentices that we are recruiting from other companies who u nfortu nately have from other companies who unfortunately have lost jobs from other companies who unfortunately have lostjobs with them. we are also taking on another 100 people from the wider workforce who have been made redundant. i am delighted by the fact in terms of the government‘s kickstart programme, it‘s a great vehicle to help offset some challenges, and we heard today that we have secured our

bid, so we will be taking on kickstart bid, so we will be taking on kicksta rt two next bid, so we will be taking on kickstart two next year, as well as probably taking on another record number of apprentices to support our business. that is linked to programmes like tempest dreadnought, which are driving employment prospects in our company. how difficult has it been to hold onto those apprentices quest among we are hearing that many have been let go and made redundant and companies can‘t afford to keep them. how have you managed to do so? groups we have very high completion rates, so over 90% of our apprentices complete their programmes, which is high in our sector, but we have to work their link to the programmes like tempest and dreadnought, national endeavours that we are supporting for the armed forces. that work is there for years to come. that‘s fantastic in terms of new technologies, in terms of engineering and manufacturing, but also project manager, data analysis,

also project manager, data analysis, a range of options. there are a lot of opportunities for young people in beige systems and in our defence sector to stop —— in bae systems. next week, through world skills uk, we are supporting and promoting opportunities available in our company. briefly, if you would, what problems our company is storing up for themselves if they haven‘t hold of their apprentices? apprenticeships are vital for our future skills, particularly in an engineering and manufacturing environment. we have complex technical skills which are difficult to recruit from from the market so, if there is a gap in terms of training, when you need those roles, you won‘t be able to recruit them externally, so you need that pipeline of talent, and the enable us to have that with the skills we need at the point where people complete, but also from a whole

range of organisations, so apprentices provide a vehicle for progression across the whole company. nice to have some good news. thank you very much. delighted to be on the show. one of the uk‘s biggest food retailers has said the abuse its staff are receiving from customers has reached a n "u na cce pta ble level". new figures from the co—op show attacks on workers have risen by 36% this year to nearly 40,000 incidents. our consumers affairs correspondent, sarah corker, reports. body camera footage from a co—op store in northamptonshire. the customer becomes aggressive. get out, right now. he repeatedly tries to rip off the facemask of the shop worker. take it off. the abuse against retail staff is escalating. this is what happened in surrey when a customer was asked to follow the shop‘s one—way system. shelves of wine destroyed and staff threatened.

the co—op says one in four of their front line staff have faced anti—social behaviour or been attacked this year. in manchester, store manager matthew says it is happening on a daily basis. there was a gentleman causing trouble because he was refusing to follow the social distancing measures and was approached by a member of staff and asked to leave the store and in doing so he spat at a member of staff several times. it puts the fear into you so you won‘t go near anyone or approach them. retailers have spent time and money making stores coronavirus secure. staff say some customers are growing increasingly frustrated with the rules and incidents of verbal and physical abuse are rising. and this level of violence is absolutely not acceptable. some of the uk‘s leading retailers are now calling for stronger penalties for those who abuse shop workers. tougher sentencing and legislation sends a really important reset message that this is not acceptable behaviour. people are coming to work to earn

money to support their families and they deserve to be treated with the same respect that we would all want to be treated with ourselves. reminding customers to wear a facemask or to observe social distancing can be triggers for abuse. julian owns two convenience stores and says tensions are rising. people are just becoming agitated about it and cannot see an end to it, are frustrated. from our perspective, when you look at our staff, they have now been working tirelessly for the best part of nine months in difficult circumstances. back in northamptonshire, this man was charged with common assault and fined. in surrey, this woman was given a caution for criminal damage. museums, galleries and historic houses across the uk are facing a crisis due to the impact of covid—19, according to a new survey by the art fund, the national charity for art. it has found that only a third

of closed museums think they will reopen in the coming months and over 60% of museum and gallery workers are worried about losing theirjob. let‘s speak to the director of art fund, jenny waldman. a very depressing picture, jenny. tell us what this year has been like. it's been a really tough year for everyone, but museums and galleries and historic houses had to close four months, and they open to successfully but with covid safety measures which meant they could only ta ke measures which meant they could only take in about 25% of their normal number of visitors, and now, of course, a lot of them are closed again, particularly in england with the lockdown. so it‘s been a real dance of in and out of lockdown measures, and the covid safety measures, and the covid safety measures altogether, they are about 25% of last year‘s visitor numbers, and museums rely on visitors for much of their income. where does the

rest of the income come from? museums, galleries and historic houses are a full range. some are really small charities run entirely by volunteers, others are big national museums, many funded by local authorities or universities, a rts local authorities or universities, arts council, dcms, so the funding comes from lots of different places. what we are really looking for now isa what we are really looking for now is a sustained funding through the next couple of years, because the long tail of covid for the arts will be really tough, and we are inviting people to contribute, to come together now for museums, to contribute and donate through together for museums and help museums get back on their feet.” together for museums and help museums get back on their feet. i am sure many of the organisations we have been talking about have been very innovative during this time for the what are some of the things that have come to your attention that they have been doing? it's been inspiring. we have been running our covid emergency funding, we have

given up £2 million so far, and the ideas arejust given up £2 million so far, and the ideas are just brilliant. museums are desperate to share their collections and their learning with people. museums in cumbria are taking their collections out to the public. others are devising brilliant digital means of sharing their collections, so the ideas are absolutely there, and what we want to do is to fund more of those ideas so that museums can adapt to the covid safety measures they need in order to reopen, but also to innovate and reimagine how they can share their collections with people and communities. how does the funding you are providing managed to keep people‘s job is funding you are providing managed to keep people‘sjob is so funding you are providing managed to keep people‘s job is so they have something to go back to when they are allowed to reopen properly? it's so important, and i think thurlow has been a real godsend to many museums and galleries across the uk. now, as they are coming out of lockdown, we hope, ourfunding will

enable them to create the kinds of projects and learning and engagement that employs people and also gets to schools and people delete families and communities. thank you very much for talking to us this morning. a "witchhunt" — that‘s how influential union leader len mccluskey has described labour‘s decision to not allow jeremy corbyn to return to the commons as a labour mp, even though he‘s been reinstated as a member of the party. mr corbyn was suspended because of his remarks about a critical report on anti—semitism in the party. here‘s mr mccluskey speaking a short time ago. if this is keir starmer‘s idea of unity, then he has a different perspective than i do. the reality is that we were told that a process needed to be gone through. that process went through, through various stages, and an nec panel, a unanimous nec panel of five individuals made a decision.

and, let me just make this clear, out of the five, in case there is any dubiety, there are only two out of those five who could be described as corbyn supporters, yet it was a unanimous decision and now, for keir to have disregarded process and stepped in with this extraordinary decision, it looks to me very much like a witchhunt and persecution of a decent man. people can disagree with corbyn on a whole host of things but i think most people regard him as a decent, honest individual, and to be persecuted and witch—hunted in this way is not the labour party way of doing things. i would appeal to keir to try to resolve this. the british public do not like a divided party. i hope keir becomes our next prime minister, i genuinely do,

but with a divided party that will never happen. and the other thing that the british public do not like is the persecution of an individual. so the whole situation needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. len mccluskey from the union unite. in australia, a long—awaited war crimes report has found credible evidence that some of the country‘s elite soldiers murdered 39 civilians and prisoners while serving in afghanistan. the head of australia‘s defence force said the investigation had uncovered a "shameful record" of a "warrior culture" by some soldiers and said 19 service personnel could face prosecution over the allegations. our australia correspondent, shaima khalil, reports. the defence chief‘s language left us in no doubt about how grave these alleged violations in afghanistan were. general angus campbell used words like toxic, appalling and shameful when describing the actions of members of these special forces.

and it wasn‘t just that these alleged executions occurred, but it was also the culture of impunity in which they happened. these findings allege the most serious breaches of military conduct and professional values. the killing, the unlawful killing, of civilians and prisoners is never acceptable. none of the alleged unlawful killings were described as being in the heat of battle. none were alleged to have occurred in circumstances in which the intent of the perpetrator was unclear, confused or mistaken. one picture stood out in general campbell‘s address. the moment he described the coercion of some junior soldiers to allegedly shoot unarmed civilians to get their first kill in a practice known as blooding. there are also allegations that radios and weapons were planted to substantiate claims

that the victims were enemies killed in action. general campbell said that a badly needed cultural change was under way. he also addressed the afghan people. to the people of afghanistan, on behalf of the australian defence force, i sincerely and unreservedly apologise for any wrongdoing by australian soldiers. such alleged behaviour profoundly disrespected the trust placed in us by the afghan people who had asked us to their country to help them. it would have devastated the lives of afghan families and communities, causing immeasurable pain and suffering. a special investigator will be appointed to look at the findings of the report, gather evidence and then present it to the public prosecutor. a process that will take years. the released version of this report is heavily redacted and there are no details of specific incidents

or specific individuals. but the information that we do have is enough to make for very uncomfortable reading. notjust for the military or the government, but also for the australian public. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. our afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani, has been closely watching reaction to the damning investigation from neighbouring pakistan. he says afghan human rights groups hope to get in touch with the families whose relatives were murdered. the details of this report are deeply, deeply disturbing. the afghan president, ashraf ghani, last night spoke to the australian prime minister ahead of this report being made public. the reaction, i should say, from afghan officials to it has been rather muted. they‘ve noted the apologies from the australians for what has happened. it‘s important to remember, of course, that australia has been an ally of the government in its fight against the taliban. there had been more vocal calls from afghan civil society

groups calling forjustice and for accountability. i was just speaking to one leading member of an organisation dedicated to supporting victims from across the conflict in afghanistan. he said that they had been in touch with the suspected victims of these human rights abuses in the southern province of uruzgan, where many australian elite forces were stationed in 2009 and 2010 and 2012 and 2013, when these alleged incidents took place. he said, because this is such a remote area, many of the families weren‘t really aware that this report was coming out, that information was being gathered, but they are now in touch with them. they‘re trying to obtain more and more information about the abuses, because, as shaimaa khalil said in her report, a lot of the details at this stage are redacted. we don‘t yet know the names of the 39 individuals who were killed and who are... whose deaths have been

mentioned in this report. but the afghan human rights groups are hoping that more details will emerge that will allow them to trace these families, get in touch with them. and so these families can be made aware of the process and receive some form ofjustice. the headlines on bbc news... the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a "promising immune response" in people aged 60 and over, increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. £4 billion a year for the next four years — the uk government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. prince william has "tentatively welcomed" an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother, princess diana, in 1995.

mike pompeo has confirmed that he will travel to the israeli—occupied golan heights later, the first such visit to the area by a us secretary of state. speaking in jerusalem alongside the israeli prime minister, mr pompeo said last year‘s decision by president trump to recognise the strategic region — captured from syria in the 1967 war — as part of israel was a simple recognition of reality. mr pompeo and benjamin netanyahu were full of praise for each other. we have done incredible things, whether it is the simple fact of recognising the reality ofjerusalem as the rightful, proper, true capital of israel. crazy that the united states hadn‘t done this for decades. israel has no better friend in the world than the united states of america. over the last four years, under president trump and his remarkable team, led by you and

ambassador friedman and gerard krishna and others, israel's alliance with the us has reached unprecedented heights. —— gerard krishna. our correspondent in jerusalem — yolande knell — gave us her take on the press conference. it really underlined the close relationship between these men as well as the close relationship between the trump administration and mr netanyahu‘s government. it makes it look increasingly, this visit by the us secretary of state, like a sort of farewell visit, like it has got and sort of farewell visit, like it has gotandi sort of farewell visit, like it has got and i on the legacy of the trump administration in this region. there was that long list given by mr netanyahu was that long list given by mr neta nyahu of the was that long list given by mr netanyahu of the many steps that this white house has taken, departing from, in some cases,

decades of us foreign policy, for example, to move the us embassy to jerusalem, something that president biden is not expected to reverse, but it remains to be seen what will happen in relation to some of those other points, in particular, such things as recognising jewish settle m e nts things as recognising jewish settlements in the occupied west bank as being not necessarily illegal under international law. that is something the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, said a year ago. life in lockdown has led to isolation for many people and the bbc has been looking at its impact on people of all ages. our reporter elaine dunkley has been to visit a community of older people in walsall in the midlands, which is trying to tackle the problem. loneliness. it is a killer, no doubt about it. it‘s a killer. when i lost doreen

after 63 years of marriage, i don‘t know, it‘s like a curtain come down. i thought, "what am i going to do with myself now? i never said goodbye to her." ron davies is 86. he lost his wife, a daughter and a grandson. a life of love and laughter replaced with loneliness and heartbreak. you think to yourself, "well, what else can happen to me?" i can talk about it now. when they say she‘s at peace now, that doesn‘t excuse the fact she‘s not with you. how can you not miss somebody who‘s been there every day of your life, 63 years? and that loneliness, it is a killer, there is no doubt about it. it is a killer to people and i‘ve experienced this. and it will overtake you if you let it. clock watching all the while. you shut the door. you close the curtains at the windows and then you‘re thinking, you‘re wishing your life away. i wish it was tomorrow. i wish it was next week. ron is not alone. millions of people are feeling increasing levels of loneliness during lockdown. social distancing has broken social bonds.

in walsall, a group of volunteers are reaching out to the most vulnerable. it‘s called neighbourhood natters. a chat on the doorstep that can make all the difference. you 0k? i've brought you some parcels. 0k. angela is visiting 91—year—old adelaide with some shopping and for a much—needed catch up. it's lovely to see angela, she made my day. i really enjoyed it, yes. and i feel very proud and thankful for the things they're doing for me. i think it's lovely. is it quite upsetting sometimes when you get back into the car? no, i get in the car sometimes and sometimes... ifeel full up. you get in the car and you feel like it‘s pulling on your heartstrings, you know what i mean? they are lonely. i‘ve been to people worse than adelaide and you don‘t even want to take... you want to put them in the car and them home with you and look after them. neighbourhood natters has changed ron‘s life and now he is a volunteer. every day he makes calls to people who are feeling lonely. hello, kath.

0h, hello, ron. are you all right? yes. yes, not too bad. oh, good. you sound a bit better. is everything ok? i‘ve got 16 people now. 10 o‘clock in the morning, i can phone reg. 2 o‘clock in the afternoon, i can found bryan at the home. i never thought that i would do this, never in a million years but i‘m thankful i‘ve done it now, and you can talk for ever. and you‘ve just met them. you know? then they look round and they say, "blooming hell, that time‘s gone quick. we‘re not strangers now, we‘re all friends. it‘s ron. it‘s all right, it‘s ron, your mate," when you get on the phone. you know? you think to yourself, "well, that‘s ok then." it is a wonderful feeling, no doubt about it. i hope it lasts a lot longer. a doctor whose twins were delivered while she was in a coma with covid—19 says she struggled

to believe they were hers when she awoke two weeks later. perpetual uke, who‘s a hospital consultant in birmingham, is now recovering at home with her baby son, pascal, and daughter, palmer. they were delivered by caesarean section atjust 26 weeks old in april. -- 20 —— 20 weeks old. i was iwas in i was in intensive care unit. i was ina coma i was in intensive care unit. i was in a coma when the kids were delivered, i didn‘t know. waking up two weeks after their delivery was so unbelievable. first of all — because i had horrible vivid dreams and i told thank god we are strong and getting better as the days go by. now — we‘ve all had times when we‘ve eaten too much...a feel shared by this doormouse. it could not believe its luck when it managed to squeeze inside a bird feeder for a feast — only to fall asleep and get

stuck. the nocturnal creature had been "plumping up for hibernation" on seed mix when it was spotted. the hampshire dormouse group advised the isle of wight resident to ease it out and release it into a hedgerow. we all need help like that from time to time, don‘t we? now it‘s time for a look at the weather with nick miller. temperatures five to 10 degrees down from yesterday, but it‘s only briefly colder. along with the colder air today, there will be plenty of sunshine around once we get rid of the showers many of us will see for a time during the first pa rt will see for a time during the first part of today. a ridge of high pressure will settle things for the afternoon, bringing plenty of sunshine. this is the next weather system coming in with more rain, but lifting the temperatures again. this is the view going into the afternoon, with many of us seeing a speu afternoon, with many of us seeing a spell of showers in the morning. a lot of that close a way to the south, so most of us will have a

afternoon with sunny spells. if you spells peppering the north and north—east of scotland, wintry in nature in places, and quite a strong north—westerly wind, average speed with guts higher, and there is a wind—chill factor today put up temperatures already five to 10 degrees down from yesterday but, in that winter, it will feel colder, particularly where you are still seeing showers running in towards north—east scotland. under clear skies, initially on the eastern side of the uk tonight, a frost setting in. cloud will increase in most areas and, in the west, temperatures increase as the night goes on, and we see outbreaks of rain moving into wales, western england, south—west scotland, and quite a wet end to the night in northern england. —— northern ireland. that rain gradually pushes east across all areas tomorrow, with a freshening wind. behind it, we keep a good deal of cloud and may be further patchy, rain, but temperatures gradually creeping back into double figures.

we stay in the milder air as we go through the weekend. a weather front will push through as we go through saturday, taking some showery rain southwards during the day. not a huge amount of rain on that, and it‘s a fairly narrow, but it will gradually move south across england and wales on saturday. behind it, brighter skies with a few blustery showers. there could be heel in those showers in north—west scotland, and wind gusts up to 60 mph. it will stay blustery on sunday. what is left on saturday‘s weather system clearing from southern england to sunshine and if you showers. most of these in northern and western scotland, northern ireland and north—west england.

this is bbc news. iam martine i am martine croxall. the headlines: the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a "promising immune response" in people aged 60 and over, increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. £4 billion a year for the next four years — the government announces the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. prince william has "tentatively welcomed" an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother, princess diana in 1995. the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states passes

a quarter of a million, as many states struggle to contain the spread of the virus. and the careers being stopped before they‘ve even begun — the number of apprentices made redundant during the pandemic was two thirds higher than in 2019. good afternoon, welcome to bbc news. there‘s further promising news this afternoon about a third vaccine — the oxford coronavirus vaccine — which shows a strong immune response in adults in their 60s and 70s, raising hopes that it can protect age groups most at risk of illness from the virus. the study lead at the university of oxford, professor andrew pollard, said he was "absolutely delighted" with early results showing a strong immune response, "even in those over "70 years of age." the outcome of trials into whether the vaccine

actually stops people developing covid—19 in larger, phase three trials is expected "before christmas." the uk has already ordered 100 million doses of the oxford vaccine, 40 million doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine and 5 million of the moderna vaccine. if successful, the oxford vaccine is expected to be easier to manufacture on a worldwide scale than the other two, and oxford and astrazeneca say they are committed to making hundreds of millions of doses available to the developing world. with more detail on what today‘s findings mean for the development of the oxford vaccine, here‘s our medical editor, fergus walsh. it was detailed information published in a medicaljournal, the among 560 volunteers who had received two doses of the oxford astrazeneca jab and what that showed was it produced a robust immune response across all ages, so among all the volunteers, they produced what we call

neutralising antibodies that can block infection and they produced good t cell responses. but it doesn‘t tell you, and it didn‘t tell you whether the vaccine actually works, whether it protects against the disease, and for that we are going to have to wait maybe a few more weeks for oxford and astrazeneca to release the results of their much bigger trial, what we call their efficacy phase three trial, which will tell us whether the vaccine, like moderna‘s and like pfizer‘s, actually works. fergus walsh. let‘s go to the house of commons now, when the prime minister is giving a statement on defence spending. security and defence spending. security and defence policy. our review will conclude early next year setting out the uk‘s international agenda, but i wa nt to the uk‘s international agenda, but i want to inform the house of its first outcome. for decades, the british government has trimmed our defence budget and if we go on like

this we risk waking up to discover that our armed forces, the pride of britain, have fallen below the minimum threshold of viability and once lost, they can never be regained. that outcome would not only be craven, it would jeopardise the security of the british people, amounting to a dereliction of duty for any prime minister, so i refuse to vindicate any pessimistic forecasts as there may have been by picking up the scalpel yet again. based on our assessment of the international situation and our fallen policy goals, —— international situation and our fallen policy goals, -- our international situation and our fallen policy goals, —— ourforeign policy goals, i have decided that the era of cutting our defence budget must end and it must end now. increasing the defence spending

budget by £20 billion over the next four years, that is £16 billion more than arc manifesto commitment, raising it by at least 2%... and investing at least £190 billion over the next four years. more than any other european country and any other nato ally, except the united states. the ministry of defence has received a multi—year settlement because equipping our armed forces requires a long—term investment and our national security in 20 years‘ time will depend on decisions we take today. i have done this in the teeth of the pandemic, amid every other demand on our resources because the defence of the realm and the safety of the british people must come first. i pay tribute to my right honourable friends, the chancellor and the defence secretary, who believe this as fervently as i do.

reviving our armed forces is one pillar of the government‘s ambition to safeguard britain‘s interests and values, by strengthening our global influence and reinforcing our ability tojoin influence and reinforcing our ability to join the united states and our other allies to defend free and our other allies to defend free and open societies. the international situation is now more perilous and intensely competitive than at any time since the cold war. everything we do in this country, everyjob, every business, even how we shop and what we eat, depend on a basic minimum of global security, a web of feedback, of oxygen pipes that must be kept open. shipping lanes, a functioning internet, safe air corridors, reliable undersea ca bles air corridors, reliable undersea cables and tranquillity in distant straits. this pandemic has offered a taste of what happens when our most

fundamental needs are suddenly in question. and we could take all this for granted, ignore the threat of terrorism, the ambitions of hostile states, hope for best. the we might get away with it for a while before calamity strikes, as it surely would. or we could accept that our lifelines must be protected, but we are lifelines must be protected, but we a re co nte nt lifelines must be protected, but we a re content to lifelines must be protected, but we are content to curl up on our island and leave the task to our friends. my and leave the task to our friends. my starting point is that either of those options would be an abdication of the first duty of government, to defend our people. my choice, and i hope it will carry every member of the house, is that britain must be true to our history, to stand alongside our allies, sharing the burden in bringing expertise to bear on the world‘s toughest problems. to achieve this, we need to upgrade our capabilities across the board. we have already united our international effort into a new

department, combining aid and diplomacy. we have lead with grit and purpose by my right honourable friend, the foreign and commonwealth and development secretary. next year will be a year of leadership in britain when we preside over the g7 and we host the cop26 in glasgow and the united nations general assembly in london. we are leading the world towards net zero, with our ten point plan for a green industrial revolution. and we are campaigning for our values, particularly freedom of religion and the media and think every girl in the world access to 12 yea rs of every girl in the world access to 12 years of quality education. but extending british influence requires a once in a generation modernisation of our armed forces. and now is the right time to press ahead because emerging technologies, visible on the horizon, will make the returns

for a defence investment infinitely greater. we have a chance to break free, whereby we ordered ever decreasing numbers of ever more expensive items of military hardware, squandering billions along the way. the latest advances will multiply the fighting power of every warship, aircraft and infantry unit many times over and the prizes will go to the swiftest and most agile nations, not necessarily the biggest. we can achieve as much is british ingenuity and expertise allow. we will need to act speedily to re m ove allow. we will need to act speedily to remove or reduce less relevant capabilities, and this will allow our new investment to be focused on the technologies that will revolutionise warfare. forging our military assets into a single network designed to overcome the enemy, so a single soldier in hostile territory act territory will

be alerted to a distant ambush by sensors or satellites or drones insta ntly sensors or satellites or drones instantly transmitting a warning, using artificial intelligence to devise the optimal response and offering an array of options, from summoning an airstrike offering an array of options, from summoning an air strike to ordering a swarm attack by drones or paralysing the enemy with cyber weapons. new advances will surmount the old limits of logistics. our warships and combat vehicles will carry directive energy weapons, destroying targets with inexhaustible lasers and for them, the phrase, out of ammunition, will become redundant. nations are racing to master this new adoption of wa rfa re to master this new adoption of warfare and our investment is designed to place britain among the winners. the returns will go far beyond our armed forces, from

aerospace to autonomous vehicles, these technologies have a vast array of civilian applications, opening up new vistas of economic progress, creating 10,000 jobs every year, 40,000 in total, levelling up across our country and reinforcing our union. we are going to use our extra defence spending to restore britain‘s position as the foremost naval power in europe, taking forward our plans for eight type 26 and five type 31 forgets and support ships to supply our carriers, we are going to develop the next generation of warships, including the type 32 frigates and this will start a renaissance of building across the uk, in glasgow, belfast, birkenhead and appledore, guaranteeing jobs and eliminating the benefits of the

union in the white light of the arc builder‘s torch. if there is one policy which strengthens the uk in every possible sense, it is building warships for the royal navy. once both of our carriers are operational in 2023, the uk will have a carrier strike group permanently available, routinely deployed globally and a lwa ys routinely deployed globally and always ready to fight alongside nato and other allies. next year, queen elizabeth will lead a british allied task group on our most ambitious deployment for two decades, encompassing the mediterranean, the indian ocean and east asia. we will deploy more of our global assets in the world‘s most vulnerable regions, protecting the shipping lanes that supply our mutation and we will press on with our nuclear deterrent and reshape our army in the age of network warfare, allowing better equip soldiers to deploy more quickly and strengthening the ability of our special forces to

operate effectively against almost formidable enemies. our security forces will be able to protect us from terrorism and new evolving threats. we will invest £1.5 billion in military research and development, designed to master the new technologies of warfare and we will establish a new centre dedicated to artificial intelligence and a new raf space command, launching bridges satellites and our first rocket from scotland in 2022. ican first rocket from scotland in 2022. i can announce that we have established a national cyber force, combining our intelligence agencies and service personnel, which is already operating in cyberspace against terrorism, organised crime and hostile state activity. and the raf will receive a new flight system, harnessing our growing technology to defeat any adversary

in aircombat. our technology to defeat any adversary in air combat. our plans will safeguard hundreds of thousands of jobs in the defence industry, protecting livelihoods across the uk and keeping the british people safe. the defence of the ram... wright you are watching bbc news. developed by clement attlee, helped to create nato and through the cold war. the wisdom and pragmatism of margaret thatcher found a path out of confrontation when she met gorbachev in19 94. confrontation when she met gorbachev in 19 94. -- 1984. confrontation when she met gorbachev in 19 94. "1984. in confrontation when she met gorbachev in 19 94. —— 1984. in each case, britain tipped the scales of history and did immense good for the world. now we have a chance to follow in this great tradition, to enter the error of retreat, to transform our global forces error of retreat, to transform our globalforces and error of retreat, to transform our global forces and bolster our international influence, level up

across our country and to protect our people and defend the free societies in which we fervently believe. mr speaker, i commend this statement to the house.” believe. mr speaker, i commend this statement to the house. i now call the leader of the opposition, the right honourable keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker, and can i think the prime ministerfor his you, mr speaker, and can i think the prime minister for his statement? under my leadership, national security will always be labour‘s top priority. britain must once again show global leadership and be a moralforce for good in show global leadership and be a moral force for good in the world, both in how we tackle present an emerging security threats, but also in how we build a fairer, greener and more secure world. so we welcome this additionalfunding and more secure world. so we welcome this additional funding for our defence and security forces and we agree that it is vital to end what the prime minister calls, i have to say with complete lack of awareness, an era of retreat. but mr speaker, this is a spending announcement without a strategy. the government

has yet again pushed back vital parts of the integrated video and there is no clarity over the government‘s strategic priorities. and then there‘s the of money. how will this announcement be paid for? such as the government‘s handling of this pandemic that the uk has the sharpest economic downturn of any g7 country. next week the chancellor will have to come here and set out the consequences of that, so can the prime minister tell us today will be commitments he has made require additional borrowing? or mean tax rises? if so, which once? will be money have to come from other departmental budgets? in particular? at the election last year there was a very clear conservative party ma nifesto a very clear conservative party manifesto too, i quote, spend not .7% of gni and international development. so a straight question, prime minister. is the government going to keep to that manifesto

commitment? he must know that if he brea ks commitment? he must know that if he breaks it, that will not only undermine public trust, but also hugely weaken us on the global stage. the prime minister spoke of an era of retreat. a really interesting phrase, after a decade of conservative government and underinvestment in our armed forces. cani underinvestment in our armed forces. can i remind the house that defence spending has fallen by over £8 billion in real terms over the last ten years? for the same period, uk regular forces have decreased by a quarter and on top of that the national audit office estimate there isa national audit office estimate there is a black hole of up to £13 billion in the mod equipment plan. so the additionalfunding in the mod equipment plan. so the additional funding today is on foundations that have been seriously weakened over the last ten years. and let me come to a point that is very important to our armed forces personnel. can the prime minister tell us will there be any further

cuts to the size of our armed forces over the period of the spending review? there are a number of other polls in the prime minister‘s plan, with less than six weeks to go to the end of the transition period there‘s still no clarity about the direction of our post brexit foreign policy the government has not yet rolled over existing trade agreements with 15 countries. that is deals worth up to £80 billion of trades per year. the prime minister speaks of tackling global security threats, improving cyber capability, and that is all welcome and we welcome it, but four months after the intelligent security committee published its report concluding that russia posed, in their words, an immediate and urgent threat to our national security, can be prime minister tell us why he has still not acted on this or follow through on the committee‘s recommendations? and when will he do so? to speak,

there was very little beyond warm words about how the uk will lead the global efforts against the biggest threat we face, the international climate emergency. the cop26 conference is a once in a generation opportunity, but the climate change community says that the uk‘s domestic measures, quote, are not making adequate progress in preparation for climate change. and yesterday‘s announcement, another press release without a strategy will do nothing to address this. mr speaker, this is a time of huge global uncertainty. it is time for britain to emerge from a decade of decline. i know the prime minister is always keen to talk about the bits of government he enjoys, big announcements, space programmes, moon shots, but this statement shows the government still lacks a clear strategy or a coherent vision for britain in the world or any idea how the promises the prime minister

makes will actually be delivered. thank you, mr speaker. minister. well, mr speaker, of all the humbug i have heard from the right honourable gentleman opposite, i think that really takes the cake. this was a man who campaigned until december last year to install in government a prime minister who would have wanted to scrap our armed services and pull out of nato, and his own record of support of our armed services is very, very thin indeed. indeed, mr speakeri armed services is very, very thin indeed. indeed, mr speaker i am glad that he now welcomes this package. i think the comments that he has made about it scarcely do itjustice. this is the biggest package of support for our armed services, as i say, since the end of the cold war and there‘s absolutely no relation to discussions about overseas aid

andi to discussions about overseas aid and i can say i think this house in this country should be incredibly proud of what britain does to support people around the world and under any view this country is and has been and will remain one of the biggest contributors to aid to any country —— lack of any country on this earth. and i‘m very proud of that and i am proud of the way this package will help deliver 40,000 jobs around the uk. this is the party, mr speaker, that fundamentally believes in the defence of the realm and supporting our armed forces and ensuring the country as a whole is strong and is able to project our strength around the world and it was very noticeable and that the government instituted such extra protections for our armed services as the wraparound childcare for armed services families, and by the way, mr speaker, protects our

vetera ns the way, mr speaker, protects our veterans and the families of vetera ns veterans and the families of veterans from the misery of continual prosecution, vexatious prosecution, by well—paid lawyers, mr speaker, long after the alleged crimes were committed and when no new evidence has been provided and it was the party opposite, mr speaker, under the leadership of the gentleman opposite, who refused to vote in favour of the overseas operations bill, which would have given veterans that protection and that reassurance, mr speaker. i don‘t think i have heard such phony stuff from the right honourable goodman in all the time that we have faced each other so far. this was a quy: faced each other so far. this was a guy, mr speaker, who campaigned actively to install somebody he wa nted actively to install somebody he wanted to break up our armed forces and pull out of nato. i don‘t know what he was thinking then. he never mentioned his support for the armed services then, and i don‘t touch, frankly, much credence to it now.

thank you very much, madam deputy speaker, can i welcome this commitment to significantly upgrade our defence spending? something he knows that i, the defence select committee and others in his house have been calling for for some time. and i also welcome the honesty from the prime minister and recognising that the uk and indeed the west have become too risk averse and standing up become too risk averse and standing up to some of the threats that we face. i recall my time and frustration as a foreign minister and defence minister in wanting britain to play a more assertive and proactive role on international stage, notjust proactive role on international stage, not just with proactive role on international stage, notjust with a hard power, soft power, but our thought leadership as well, but there was at the last appetite to do so, so i very much welcome the statement today. could my right honourable friend is surely how is that as we ta ke friend is surely how is that as we take on the presidency of the g7, we will work closely with our new us administration in boosting western resolve to confront a growing number

of hostile competitors, including china, who have for too long been allowed to pursue their own destabilising and competing agendas? well, i thank my right honourable friend for speaking like that and this package, i believe, will encourage and bolster our friends and our alliances around the world and our alliances around the world and it enables the uk to project global influence right to the future. that is why it is a multi—year package. and i don‘t think anybody around the world will be able to belt out from this —— to doubt from this announcement today from nato and the international alliance and friends around the world. ian blackford. thank you, madam deputy speaker, and can i thank the panellist for his statement? in the snp we support the

refocusing on the contemporary threats that we face. we need to readjust our defence capabilities for the modern world and it is especially important that a focus is given to issues such as cyber security. but what we do not accept is that the priorities of this government and the threat of the disbanding of historic regiments such as the black watch. disbanding the black watch show that the promises made to scotland during the scottish independence campaign have been broken, buried and forgotten by this government. we were promised 12.5 thousand personnel to be stationed permanently in scotland. the number remains well below 10,000. such broken promises not only mean fewer jobs 10,000. such broken promises not only mean fewerjobs in scotland, but also undermines scotland‘s security interests. madam deputy speaker, billions of pounds of taxpayers money are still being spent on trident nuclear weapons. scotla nd spent on trident nuclear weapons. scotland remains overwhelmingly

opposed to weapons of mass destruction on the clyde. we need to respond to today‘s challenges, rather than on vanity projects. madam deputy speaker, the snp is also has serious observations regarding such a windfall of defence spending during these unprecedented times of hardship for so many. this review will reportedly see the uk is europe‘s biggest defence spender, when just three weeks ago this government refused to provide free school meals for children during the holidays and we have learnt that the uk government is considering cutting the overseas aid budget by billions of pounds. madam deputy speaker, the prime minister may use the term, global britain, but on these benches we believe the prime minister has his priorities all wrong. the tories have closed dfid, one of the most successful departments of government in order to politicise instead of focusing it on sustainable develop

goals. in a submission to the integrated defence review, we have put forward sensible suggestions on how to meet the modern day for picture, but not to the detriment of our historic regiments in scotland. i asked the prime minister today, will he rule out scrapping the black watch and cuts to international aid spending? you know, madam deputy speaker, it is an absolute disgrace. in the face of the threat that we get the content that we see yet again this afternoon from the defence secretary and his colleagues on the tory benches! it is shameful! and he really ought to grab and show some respect to the regiments of scotland! deputy speaker, with independents scotland can have a foreign policy that reflects our values and interests, and a defence capability that matches capabilities to threats. with our submission to this review, we are looking to play a constructive role in forming a uk policy, but we will be setting out

how scotland can play a full role. a normal, law—abiding, independent country. well, mr speaker, i can certainly give the right honourable gentleman that guarantee and once again he seems to be a veritable geezer of indignation. of course we are going to guarantee the black watch stop the dle will remain in east kilbride, as long as he doesn‘t continue with his ambitions to break up continue with his ambitions to break up the united kingdom and even if he does it will probably remain in east kilbride. it is preposterous listening to the scottish national party talking about their desire to support defence spending when everybody knows fine well that it is thanks to the uk wide investment that we are able to deliver, not just the black watch and dle in east kilbride, but a fantastic

programme of shipbuilding in govan, in the side and under his plans it is not just in the side and under his plans it is notjust that in the side and under his plans it is not just that there will in the side and under his plans it is notjust that there will be no deterrent, there will be no shipbuilding, there will be no black watch, mr speaker, in the land of the snp. that is the reality. madam deputy speaker, can i say to my right honourable friend that this statement smacks, not only of promises kept, but promises exceeded? and promises kept, but promises exceeded ? and i promises kept, but promises exceeded? and i congratulate him for that. does he accept that in a nero when global cyber attacks threaten our entire way of life from the economy to the nhs that we need to spend more of our defence budget on assets that we cannot see, as well assets that we cannot see, as well as updating our core assets and this needs to be clearly explained to the british people? and in this war of the invisible enemy, does he believe that cyber doctrine has evolved to match our capabilities? especially on existential threats, in to

provide adequate deterrence? thank you, madam deputy speaker, my right honourable friend as an expert on what he is talking about and i can tell him that obviously the national cyber force is working on a doctrine thatis cyber force is working on a doctrine that is currently evolving, but we will deploy our cyber capabilities, i‘m sure he kneecapped his house would expect with in accordance with international law. and we will do it to protect we go to the leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. met an deputy speaker, we all owe an enormous debt to the brave men and women of our armed forces and security services for their work keeping our country safe, so we will give this review the study it merits, but can i immediately welcome the extra investment in cybersecurity? cheltenham‘s gchq and

the amazing people who work there, who continue to ensure the uk remains a world leader in this crucial aspect of modern defence. with data and cyber so important to modern defence, he will know that access for our security services and police to european crime databases is vital to keeping the british people safe, so can the prime minister guarantee we will retain direct, real—time access to all these european data bases direct, real—time access to all these european databases after january the 1st? prime minister. mr speaker, we will make sure that we have all the cooperation, and i thank the right honourable gentleman for his point, it‘s an important one, and! for his point, it‘s an important one, and i agree with what he says about gchq in cheltenham, but i am assured that we will be able to maintain all the cooperation and collaboration that we need to do to be able to protect our people and

citizens, not just with be able to protect our people and citizens, notjust with our european friends and partners but also with other allies and friends around the world. andrew mitchell. thank you. my world. andrew mitchell. thank you. my right honourable friend has delivered for our armed forces today, and he deserves the support of the whole house, particularly as he seeks to improve the procurement mechanisms of the ministry of defence as well. will he bear in mind the wise words of general matters, the former american defence secretary, who told donald trump, andi secretary, who told donald trump, and i quote, the more you cut aid, the more i have to spent on ammunition. britain‘s developed leadership and the standing by our promise to the poorest of the 0.7, which was a manifesto commitment, will stand, my right honourable friend, in very good stead as he assumed the chairmanship of the g7 onjanuary assumed the chairmanship of the g7 on january the 1st and, assumed the chairmanship of the g7 onjanuary the 1st and, for most,

the important values of global britain. —— and promotes the global valleys. i am grateful for my right honourable friend‘s points. he himself has done extraordinary work to champion the poorest and neediest around the world, and i think that this country can be very proud of our record in overseas aid, and we lead the world and will continue to lead the world and will continue to lead the world under this government. this review is about our defence and our security, and there is no read across to any other issue. this is driven by our need to protect the british public and keep the world safe, as we possibly can, and across our union with 40,000 morejobs. and across our union with 40,000 more jobs. i thank the prime minister for more jobs. i thank the prime ministerfor his more jobs. i thank the prime minister for his commitment to all the uk of great britain and northern ireland. would the prime minister

confirmed that, resilience, for the british armed forces to remain the best in the world, training of personnel must be the best priority to ensure that, whilst we are ready for technological warfare, we are also ready for physical forms of war, so will the review of recruitment procedures secure that goal? the right honourable gentleman mark makes an important point. the defence review will ensure we remain full—spectrum capable, i think that‘s the phrase to use. studio: that is where we will leave the house of commons, with the prime minister answering questions after that defence spending announcement of £4 billion a year for the next four years. the institute for fiscal studies says that the new money actually amounts to £7 billion. it

was already going to be £45 billion by 2024—25, and it‘s now going to be, in cash terms, £52 billion, a £7 billion increase. the prime minister saying that there is a need to extend britain‘s influence in the world and to do that there needs to bea world and to do that there needs to be a modernisation of our armed forces. scientists advising the government on the early stages of the pandemic admit that they "never checked" how the disease could be spread by staff working at more than one care home. the researchers were speaking on a bbc documentary looking into the run—up to the first lockdown. the government said that as new evidence emerged, it had constantly adapted its approach and taken swift action to stop its spread. dr ian hall was one of the scientists who worked on the spi—m modelling group to forecast the epidemic. we realised that care homes were not isolated and shielded in the way that we thought they were, as modellers, but that there was some sort of external connection

that was forcing the disease. so what made you think they were shielded? we were... that‘s a good question. we never checked. clearly, whatever the policies were in place didn‘t work, you know. operationally... either mistakes were made or things didn't happen in the right way and, as a consequence. . . you know the consequence. the duke of cambridge has tentatively welcomed a new investigation into how the bbc secured an interview with his mother princess diana in 1995. in a statement released last night he said, "the independent investigation is a step in the right direction. it should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the panorama

interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the bbc at the time." the bbc has promised to "get to the truth" about the events surrounding the panorama interview. lord dyson, one of the country‘s most senior retired judges has been appointed to lead the inquiry. our royal correspondent jonny dymond explained how unusual the statement is. it‘s very unusual. i can‘t think of another time that a senior member of the royal family has offered commentary or criticism or whatever you want to call it about media coverage. it is just not what they do. instead, i think quiet words are had with senior executives. instead, we have had this very public statement addressing very hot and controversial issues, so it is surprising, it is rare, i think it is pretty much unprecedented. it is also worded in a very careful way. his office described this as a "tentative welcome." he himself, the prince, described it as, "a step in "the right direction." this isn‘t a kind of slap on the back and a,

"well done, boys." this is, "i have got my eye on you. "i am interested in this. "i am keeping watch over what happens here." so it very interesting, it is pretty much unprecedented and it is heavily qualified. a total of 167,369 people tested positive for covid—19 in england in the week ending november 11th, according to the latest test and trace figures. it‘s the highest weekly number since test and trace was launched at the end of may. earlier our head of statistics, robert cuffe, had more on the figures. the number of people going into nhs test and trace, that steady rise is not a good sign, but the tests do seem to be coming back a bit faster now, just under 40% of people who went to a walk—in centre or a drive—through got the results back within 24 hours in the most recent week. that is a good bit better than the low point at the start of october, when it was down 15%, but it is still probably not

at the rate it was in the middle of the summer, so going in the right direction, but still not up at the levels we saw when it was doing its best. what about contact tracing? good news there or not so much? a mixed picture, i think, so if you look at the number of infected people who have been reached by the system and asked to provide contact details of people they have been in touch with, that has been moving up steadily over the course of the last couple of weeks, so up to probably 85% now of those people who get into the system do get reached and that was in the mid—70s a couple of weeks ago, so moving in the right direction, but then when you look moving on to get to those contacts unfortunately that picture hasn‘t changed. they are still reaching a bit over half and that needs to move up significantly. it has been there a long time and there are no signs of it changing. other figures from the office for national statistics suggest that covid—19 was the third leading cause of death in october. what more can you tell us about that? these are monthly figures that come

out and it gives us a bit of context to the covid—19 figures we talk about everyday, so about 50,000 people per month die across the and in october covid—19 was the third leading cause behind alzheimer‘s and dementia that accounted forjust over 5000 deaths in england and wales. heart disease just under 5000, covid—19just over 3000, so behind those two big causes, but i think the context here is covid—19 is changing. the other two look quite like the average we have seen for the past two years. about a month ago, covid—19 was barely in the top 20 causes of deaths and the increase we have now seen has propelled it up to the top three and that is the picture changing quite quickly and it will probably change more over the coming months as we continue to see covid—19 deaths rise. a bbc news investigation has uncovered failures in the diagnosis of serious medical issues during private baby scans. more than 200 studios across the uk

now sell ultrasound scans, with hundreds of thousands being carried out each year. but the bbc has uncovered evidence of women not being told about serious conditions and abnormalities. the care quality commission says there is good quality care in the industry but it has a "growing concern". rianna croxford reports. on our high streets, one business is booming. early in the pandemic, the nhs asked women not to bring partners to scans, leading some to turn elsewhere. but more than 200 businesses now offer a solution. reassurance scans. hope thought she had struggled to have children because of previous ill—health. she says it made her especially anxious when she became pregnant. i just couldn‘t believe it — it was like such a big gift and then i thought, what if this doesn‘t last? she is now six months pregnant and has had five private scans, costing between £60 and £100 each. it has been the most

relieving experience ever. i had the most sleepless night beforejust with pure worry, so when you come out of that and know everything is ok, you feel pretty relieved for maybe a good couple of days up to a week and then the cycle starts again. scans are carried out by sonographers. it is not a regulated profession like being a midwife. but the growing popular popularity of gender reveal parties is a big draw for many couples. we have spoken to one woman who attended a scan with window to the womb in salford to record her baby‘s genderfor a party and check its well—being. we have learned the company identified a serious abnormality incompatible with life. but rather than refer her to hospital immediately and provide a medical report, the woman was told the baby‘s head couldn‘t be fully seen and recommended to book an nhs anomaly scan. it was absolutely immoral, it was disgusting.

they let this poor girl leave and go to a gender reveal party, name the baby, open gifts and that baby couldn't live. the woman only found out when she showed the scan images to a family friend who is an experienced sonographer. i had to break the news that that baby couldn‘t live and i had to do that over the telephone, and they were hysterical. the company apologised at the time. it says the sonographer left shortly afterwards and the incident led to best practice being reinforced. but these leaked internal documents show that three spina bifida cases were also missed in a single week in may. the company‘s directors described the cases as a pattern of similar and serious errors. the company says it conducts more than 100,000 scans a year and human error can occur. some companies say they are not medical and do not diagnose problems. meet your miracle advertises reassurance scans, which

it says, visualise well—being. we have been passed these messages from the company‘s whatsapp group, which show sonographers and management sharing and discussing customer scans, sometimes during appointments. any ideas at all? i have asked her outside. one sonographer told the group she had to let a woman leave without informing her of a possible abnormality. i feel terrible at saying nothing. the company says its scans are largely recreational and under its registration it can‘t discuss any concerns unless they are relevant to the baby‘s heartbeat. it says it advises anyone reading or in pain to attend the nhs. the government says it is committed to appropriate staff working as radiographers and midwives will be regulated, so why does it matter? there is a massive

increase in these companies. if you said to most members of the public, do you realise some of the people scanning you don't have an easy way of demonstrating that expertise, i think the mums would be surprised. problems in pregnancy are rare, but women who experience them say its vital private scans don‘t lead to false reassurance. the headlines on bbc news... the team behind the oxford coronavirus vaccine says trials have shown a "promising immune response" in people aged 60 and over — increasing hopes it can protect those most at risk from the virus. the armed forces is to receive £7 billion of new money in the next four years, the biggest investment in the military in 30 years. prince william has "tentatively welcomed" an independent investigation by the bbc into how martin bashir secured an interview with his mother, princess diana, in 1995.

as the number of coronavirus deaths in the united states reaches a quarter of a million, the us department of health says two vaccines may be authorised and ready for distribution within weeks. but health experts are concerned current restrictions are causing "covid fatigue" amongst americans alongside president trump‘s apparent lack of urgency in tackling the virus. mark lobel takes a closer look. so how bad is the situation in america? well, daily cases have climbed from under 50,000 in late august to over 150,000 now — a total of almost 11.5 million, with more testing available. to the saddest part, 2,000 people were dying a day in april. now there‘s 1,700 deaths a day. over 250,000 people have died in america overall, the most of any country, although some other nations have been proportionately harder hit. and worryingly, the number of americans in hospital with covid—19 is higher than at any other time in

the pandemic, as we approach winter. so what‘s next? as we get deeper into the cooler months of the late fall and the colder months of the winter, it‘s a very serious situation because there are lagging indicators. for example, when you see cases, then a couple of weeks later you see hospitalisation, and a few weeks later you see deaths. 300,000 public school children in new york will be taught remotely from thursday after rates of positive tests hit the 3% mark in the city. other states have coronavirus restrictions in schools and restaurants too. but from president trump, there‘s been nothing on the issue — even on his twitter feed, adding to the frustration of health experts. at what point do you say enough? yeah, well, what i‘m doing and some of my colleagues are, as much as we possibly can, to being the voice of what needs to be done.

and that‘s why i‘m here with you and that‘s why i‘ve been doing this all day, to get that message out. dr fauci is urging americans to stomach the restrictions a little longer, and avoid what he calls covid fatigue with the prospect of a vaccine on the horizon. but getting to that stage may take a little longer. as president—electjoe biden complains, he‘s currently unable to find out from donald trump‘s administration about the depth of the vaccine stockpiles and the distribution plan. unless it‘s made available soon, we‘re going to be behind by weeks or months being able to put together the whole initiative relating to the biggest promise we have, with two drug companies coming along and finding 95% effectiveness, efficiency in the vaccines, which is an enormous promise. and how can we stop thanksgiving and christmas becoming super—spreader events? just ask yourself, at this time, is it really worth having

an accumulation of people that would be coming from different parts of the country, going through crowded airports, on aeroplanes, coming into your home? and to end on a sobering note, remember — at the moment, these restrictions are for life, not just for christmas. one of the uk‘s biggest food retailers has said the abuse its staff are receiving from customers has reached a n "u na cce pta ble level". new figures from the co—op show attacks on workers have risen by 36% this year to nearly 40,000 incidents. our consumers affairs correspondent, sarah corker, reports. bodycam footage from a co—op store in northamptonshire. the customer becomes aggressive. get out, right now. he repeatedly tries to rip off the facemask off the shop worker. take it off. the abuse against retail staff is escalating.

this is what happened in surrey when a customer was asked to follow the shop‘s one—way system. shelves of wine destroyed and staff threatened. the co—op says one in four of their front line staff have faced anti—social behaviour or been attacked this year. in manchester, store manager matthew says it is happening on a daily basis. there was a gentleman causing trouble because he was refusing to follow the social distancing measures and was approached by a member of staff and asked to leave the store and in doing so he spat at a member of staff several times. it puts the fear into you so you won‘t go near anyone or approach them. retailers have spent time and money making stores coronavirus secure. staff say some customers are growing increasingly frustrated with the rules and incidents of verbal and physical abuse are rising. and this level of violence is absolutely not acceptable. some of the uk‘s leading

retailers are now calling for stronger penalties for those who abuse shop workers. tougher sentencing and legislation sends a really important reset message that this is not acceptable behaviour. people are coming to work to earn money to support their families and they deserve to be treated with the same respect that we would all want to be treated with ourselves. reminding customers to wear a facemask or to observe social distancing can be triggers for abuse. julian owns two convenience stores and says tensions are rising. people are just becoming agitated about it and cannot see an end to it, are frustrated. from our perspective, when you look at our staff, they have now been working tirelessly for the best part of nine months in difficult circumstances. back in northamptonshire, this man was charged with common assault and fined. in surrey, this woman was given a caution for criminal damage.

life in lockdown has led to isolation for many people and the bbc has been looking at its impact on people of all ages. our reporter, elaine dunkley, has been to visit a community of older people in walsall in the midlands which is trying to tackle the problem. loneliness. it is a killer, no doubt about it. it‘s a killer. when i lost doreen after 63 years of marriage, i don‘t know, it‘s like a curtain come down. i thought, "what am i going to do with myself now? i never said goodbye to her." ron davies is 86. he lost his wife, a daughter and a grandson. a life of love and laughter replaced with loneliness and heartbreak. you think to yourself, "well, what else can happen to me?" i can talk about it now. when they say she‘s at peace now, that doesn‘t excuse the fact she‘s not with you. how can you not miss somebody who‘s been there every day of your life, 63 years?

and that loneliness, it is a killer, there is no doubt about it. it is a killer to people and i‘ve experienced this. and it will overtake you if you let it. clock watching all the while. you shut the door. you close the curtains at the windows and then you‘re thinking, you‘re wishing your life away. i wish it was tomorrow. i wish it was next week. ron is not alone. millions of people are feeling increasing levels of loneliness during lockdown. social distancing has broken social bonds. in walsall, a group of volunteers are reaching out to the most vulnerable. it‘s called neighbourhood natters. a chat on the doorstep that can make all the difference. you 0k? i've brought you some parcels. 0k. angela is visiting 91—year—old adelaide with some shopping and for a much—needed catch up. it's lovely to see angela, she made my day. i really enjoyed it, yes. and i feel very proud and thankful

for the things they're doing for me. i think it's lovely. is it quite upsetting sometimes when you get back into the car? no, i get in the car sometimes and sometimes... ifeel full up. you get in the car and you feel like it‘s pulling on your heartstrings, you know what i mean? they are lonely. i‘ve been to people worse than adelaide and you don‘t even want to take... you want to put them in the car and them home with you and look after them. neighbourhood natters has changed ron‘s life and now he is a volunteer. every day he makes calls to people who are feeling lonely. hello, kath. 0h, hello, ron. are you all right? yes. yes, not too bad. oh, good. you sound a bit better. is everything ok? i‘ve got 16 people now. 10 o‘clock in the morning, i can phone reg. 2 o‘clock in the afternoon, i can phone bryan at the home. i never thought that i would do this, never in a million years but i‘m thankful i‘ve done it now, and you can talk for ever. and you‘ve just met them. you know?

then they look round and they say, "blooming hell, that time‘s gone quick. we‘re not strangers now, we‘re all friends. it‘s ron. it‘s all right, it‘s ron, your mate," when you get on the phone. you know? you think to yourself, "well, that‘s ok then." it is a wonderful feeling, no doubt about it. i hope it lasts a lot longer. if you are affected by any of the issues in that report, you can go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline, where you‘ll find details of organisations which offer advice and support. a doctor whose twins were delivered while she was in a coma with covid—19 says she struggled to believe they were hers when she awoke two weeks later. perpetual uke, who‘s a hospital consultant in birmingham, is now recovering at home with her baby son, pascal, and daughter, palmer. they were delivered by caesarean section atjust 26 weeks old in april.

iwas... all through the period, i was on the intensive care unit. i didn‘t know when the kids were delivered on the 10th of april. i was in a coma — i didn‘t know. and waking up two weeks after their delivery was so unbelievable. we thank god we are strong and we are getting there and getting better as the days go by. now, we‘ve all had times when we‘ve eaten too much — a feeling shared by this dormouse. it could not believe its luck when it managed to squeeze inside a bird feeder for a feast, only to fall asleep and get stuck. i , come on, show us the dormouse! that‘s better. the nocturnal creature had been "plumping up for hibernation" on seed mix when it was spotted. the hampshire dormouse group advised

the isle of wight resident to ease it out and release it into a hedgerow. where it no doubt carried on is sleeping. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. we have a brief colder interlude in our weather before things turn mild and more changeable from tomorrow. today there is some blue sky with colder air around. today there is some blue sky with colderairaround. a today there is some blue sky with colder air around. a few shower clouds here and there and some snow showers over high ground of scotland early in the day but, for the rest of and evening, we keep that fairly cold winter. most of the showers will ease to leave a largely dry the day, because we have a ridge high pressure with us. waiting in the winds, the next walled front, introducing mild airfrom the winds, the next walled front, introducing mild air from the west tonight. for this afternoon and this evening, temperature is around three or4 evening, temperature is around three or 4 degrees for many of us, but feeling colder when you add on that wind chill, particularly in eastern parts and eastern england, dealing as cold as —3 in aberdeen.

temperatures will get quite quickly once the sun sets this evening and it will remain clear across central and eastern parts of the uk for the longest. the cloud increases from the west with some rain for northern ireland and the western fringes of england and wales and south—west scotla nd england and wales and south—west scotland first thing tomorrow put up under clear skies in the east, a cold night, and we can see a touch of frost and the odd icy stretch first thing tomorrow. fairly quickly that cloud and rain spreads across all parts of the uk, so some wet weather spreading west to east through the day. it should clear for northern ireland and wales through the afternoon, but still the odd light shower. milder air moving in, so temperatures return into double figures for many of it stays a cool in the east after a chilly start. as we move through the course of friday night and into saturday, quite a lot of isobars. it will be quite a windy speu of isobars. it will be quite a windy spell of weather, and that this cold front follows behind the warm front, bring a change for saturday. initially that cold front is using some rain. in scotland and northern

england. that heads south, so cloudy conditions with outbreaks of rain moving south across england and wales. scotland, northern ireland and northern england, we see the return of some sunshine, but some pressure conditions strong and gusty winds. temperatures on the mild side for the time of year. on sunday, we are likely to see a bit of cloud and perhaps the odd shower in the far south on that cold front, but for most of us, a day of sunny spells, scattered showers and quite blustery with temperatures around eight to 12.

more positive news about a coronavirus vaccine — the oxford team says its research is showing good results so far. the team has had a promising immune response in people over 60, offering hope to the age groups most at risk of the virus. what we‘ve demonstrated is that, in the lab, we can measure good immune responses in adults of all ages, including those over the age of 70. what we need to do next is to see whether or not this translates into actual protection from infection, so protection from getting the disease in the first place. we‘ll be asking how soon we might get results of those next crucial tests. also this lunchtime:

a boost to the defence budget — as the government announces the armed forces are to receive an extra £16.5 billion over