hello, good afternoon. the government is finalising plans for a new, tougher tiered system of coronavirus restrictions when england emerges from lockdown on december the 2nd. the prime minister and the cabinet are meeting this afternoon and it is thought there could be tighter rules around household mixing, which is seen as a major cause of transmission. but the government is still hoping to be able to ease restrictions in time for christmas. here's our political correspondent, helen catt. it's confirmed.

england's nationwide lockdown will end on the 2nd of december. the regulations expire on that date, and the prime minister will be making a statement tomorrow and setting out further plans, but we will be going back into a more localised approach, a tiered system, which i think is enormously welcome. the new tiers will be tougher than before and more areas will be in higher levels. the government says it's to keep the gains made in lockdown. but 70 of borisjohnson‘s own mps have already written to tell him they won't vote for the system unless he can show it will save more lives from covid than it costs in other ways. maybe they want to re—evaluate the effects of some of the tiers, but they also need to look at the balance of the whole approach and see what the tiered approach means actually banning. and labour says it needs to see the detail. we really expect government needs to have learned from what has happened previously,

all the problems we have had previously. we did not have a clear system of restrictions, there was a huge amount of ambiguity. one measure that caused particular controversy was the 10pm kick—out time for pubs and restaurants. that looks set to be reviewed, where they are allowed to reopen. when we introduced the curfew, that was something that was in common with many other countries and cities around the world. but, as we've learned more, there are opportunities for us to look and refine things, and that is one of the things on our list. also on the list, christmas. the government has promised special arrangements to allow us to see loved ones and is trying to agree then with scotland, wales and northern ireland. the government may have its covid winter plan, but it could take more than seasonal goodwill to get it through. helen catt, bbc news. so what is the likely impact of a return to the tiered system when lockdown ends in england in ten days' time, and which areas of the country are likely to see themselves returning to the tightest levels of restrictions? here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. it's a busy sunday in hebden bridge in west yorkshire.

those who can are making the most of the chance to get out and about. but even as the christmas decorations are given a final touch, for some businesses, the days to come are filled with uncertainty. we can't plan anything, we can't think ahead about, "all right, in two weeks' time lockdown could be lifted, but there is also the chance it might not be." before this latest lockdown, the local council, calderdale, was poised to enter tier 3. but, despite recent restrictions, covid infection rates have stayed stubbornly high. i mean, look around you. you know, this is a market. in a time of lockdown, people are desperate for connection, they want to be out meeting each other. and we have to find a balance, i guess. ultimately we have got to look at the bigger picture. it is very easy to focus on christmas as the big family thing, and it is, but one christmas might not have as big a deal for less christmases in the future for some members of our families.

this map shows the areas with the highest rates of covid—19 infections. in england, parts of the north—west and north—east, east and west yorkshire, north lincolnshire and the east midlands could well find themselves back in tier 3. meanwhile, parts of west and central scotland are already in the country's highest levels of restrictions until december the 11th. and northern ireland is facing another two weeks of lockdown from friday, having just reopen some services. the uk government is in talks with the administrations in scotland, wales and northern ireland to try to agree a unified approach to covid restrictions over christmas. but scientists warn any easing will have consequences. the virus doesn't care it is christmas. it will keep happening. american thanksgiving, canadian thanksgiving. it is just telling people we know how the virus transmits, and how much risk are you willing to take at this time with yourfamily and willing to take at this time with your family and loved willing to take at this time with yourfamily and loved ones. willing to take at this time with your family and loved onesm willing to take at this time with your family and loved ones. it seems certain the tier restrictions in england will be toughened up. cabinet ministers will discuss the

changes this afternoon, with an announcement due later this week. but many families will be determined to get together over christmas, whatever the government says. dominic hughes, bbc news. the chancellor rushi sunak has said he's in no rush to raise taxes in this week's spending review to help pay for extra borrowing during the pandemic. but he has suggested he's considering a pay freeze for public sector workers. our business correspondent katy austin is here. katy, the cost to the economy from coronavirus are pretty staggering. yeah, borrowing has soared, the deficit this year could reach a level not seen during peacetime, evenif level not seen during peacetime, even if you think about the global financial crisis. rishi sunak said the picture in the economy and public finances was very difficult, with more pain to come including job losses. this wiki is expected to announce tens of billions of pounds in investment in long—term

infrastructure project —— this week he is expected. and money for the nhs and mental health services. although there is a big question here about how and when to try to return the public finances to a more sta ble return the public finances to a more stable footing, rishi sunak says the priority, though, still providing funds to fight coronavirus and support businesses. has indicated we will not hear about a return to austerity this week, nor about tax rises just yet, however he did not rule out a public sector pay freeze in england, something the shadow chancellor anneliese dodds called irresponsible. she said it would hurt businesses because it would dampen spending confidences. katy, many thanks, katy austin, a business correspondent. —— our business correspondent. six people are being treated in hospital in cardiff after a violent disturbance in the city centre last night. one person is in a serious condition with head injuries and three of the injured are thought to have stab wounds. two people have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.

ajudge in pennsylvania has dismissed a lawsuit from the trump campaign that sought to invalidate millions of postal votes. judge matthew brann said the suit, which rested on allegations of voting irregularities, was "without merit". the move paves the way for pennsylvania to certinyoe biden's win — he leads by more than 80,000 votes. cancer research uk says some patients with rare cancers are struggling to get access to experimental drugs even if their doctors want to try them — a situation not helped by coronavirus. the drugs are not formally licensed by regulators but can be offered to patients on the advice of cancer consultants. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has been speaking to one 20—year—old patient. we have been trapped in this absolute horror film. when it all started i was just 19 years old. i'm now 20, and my whole life has been completely turned upside down. marsha has a rare form of cancer. at the start of the year

she went into hospital for extensive treatment, but then lockdown intervened. the hospital began shifting patients. she wasn't sure what would happen to her. literally a life and death situation... she spoke to me in march from her hospital bed. i'm unsure if there will be enough nurses that will be able to look after me, if i'll even be able to get my treatment. it is all very scary. shall i try sitting down now? the treatment did go ahead, funded by private health insurance. she had eight rounds of chemotherapy and major surgery to remove a tumour. she's having ongoing care, but she needs a vital drug, pembrolizumab, to give the best hope, and the health insurer won't pay because it hasn't been licensed or specifically cleared by the regulator nice for her cancer. to me this is purely about money, which essentially places my daughter's life on a scale with over £60,000.

how can we possibly let people die when there is treatment available? specialists at imperial college healthcare trust who have been treating masha said they recommended the drug would be the most appropriate next line of treatment, but the health insurer axa ppp healthcare said... amidst all this uncertainty, how does masha find the courage to keep going? if i'm not strong then... what other choice do i have? you know? you know, if you're not strong then do ijust... do i give up? do ijust curl up, and just let all of this happened to me? i can't. i still have so much to live for. # happy birthday to you...

#. masha and her staff have praised the staff who cared for her. she is now having the drug she needs. the charity has helped finance it, and the family has run afundraising campaign. they want to draw attention to the plight of those cancer patients who, for whatever reason, miss out on life—changing treatment. # hip, hip, hooray! # thank you so much! hugh pym, bbc news. that's it.

hello. you're watching the bbc news channel with tim willcox.

lets return to our main story this hour and boris johnson will announce tomorrow what sort of covid—i9 restrictions may be in place over christmas and under what conditions people will be able to meet others. he'll also outline plans for a new, stricter system of tiers to replace the england—wide lockdown, which ends on the 2nd of december. cabinet members are meeting this afternoon to finalise the measures. dr richard vautrey is chair of the british medical association's gp committee in england. he says there are concerns about relaxing restrictions over christmas. sadly, the virus will not go away over christmas, so we need to work very hard over these next few weeks to push down the prevalence of infection, to try to minimise the risk of infection transmitting from one person to another, but then when we do potentially mix together in our family groupings over the christmas period we need

to be very mindful that we have done a lot of hard work over the last few months, particularly in trying to protect our loved ones and those who are most vulnerable, and we cannot let our guard down during those christmas days when potentially we introduce infection into people's houses, people who have been trying to limit that infection over the last few months. we are getting into quite an important time now, we have the hope of a vaccine coming in the next 2—3 months for most people, that will provide some degree of protection, but we need to keep up our guard over the rest of the winter. the government has confirmed it's considering getting rid of the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants. kate nicholls, chief executive for ukhospitality, welcomes the move, but says more help for the sector is needed. it's something we have been talking about with the government since they introduced the idea of a curfew, allowing a last orders approach with a dispersal brings us into line with most of the curfews across the world and certainly

across europe, and it allows for a gradual dispersal without making matters worse, so you have avoided some of the health harms that came with the curfew itself but on its own and coupled with a significant tightening of restrictions it is not a material enough change to give businesses greater scope to make money during december and to switch the dial from being unviable to viable, so we will need to look at those tiered systems carefully to see if there is any more that can be done. the biggest impact economically on our businesses is the ban on mixed household socialising, so a reintroduction of the rule of six in the same way we have had in wales will be absolutely critical to making sure that more businesses can survive over the new year period otherwise we fear that a large number of them will simply close their doors for good. the government is being urged to change the rules over who is eligible for financial support if they have to self—isolate.

people on low incomes in england can apply for a grant of £500 if they are contacted directly by track—and—trace staff, but those who only receive a message from the nhs app don't qualify. here's our political correspondent nick eardley. this is 0liver, who lives with his family of seven in dorset. and this is the message he got earlier this month telling him to self—isolate. but because it was through the nhs app, 0liver didn't qualify for support. after a lot of chasing around, it turns out that i'm not entitled to the financial support, and i want to follow their guidelines. but then they sort of leave me in the lurch a bit without the financial support. with a young family, and this time of year, let alone just christmas, it's a rough time of year for everybody and it's been a rough year for everybody. to have that financial burden put on top of us as well, ifeel a massive injustice with it.

the government does offer a grant of £500 for many people on low incomes who can't work because they've been told to stay at home by test & trace. but many people are falling through the gaps, like parents who are forced to stay at home while their children self—isolate and those using the app. we know that generally people want to do the right thing and that's why they come to us, to see what they are eligible for. but ultimately people are facing an impossible choice often. they're taking a big hit in their incomes if they can't work from home and if they do need to self—isolate, but they still have their bills to pay, they still have food shopping to do, they still have children they need to care for, and that's putting them in an incredibly difficult position. we would like the government to look again and see what else they can do to make sure people can do the right thing. ijust want to reach out to everybody... the prime minister is self—isolating just now himself. i know how frustrating it can be... here he is in a message released by number ten yesterday.

labour are calling for him to fix what they call a broken system and offer more support. 0ther charities have raised concerns, too, saying loopholes are making it harderfor people to do the right thing. good afternoon and welcome to today's downing street coronavirus briefing. on friday, the health secretary was asked about support for parents who had to stay at home to look after their children. and we have put in place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal credit then you can access a £500 support payment for the period that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app, but others want the support to go further. coronavirus cases in the united states continue to soar. there are more than 12 million confirmed infections, up byi million in less than a week.

california has introduced a state—wide overnight curfew to try to curb the surge there. officials in los angeles warn they are close to reaching the number of daily cases that means residents have to stay at home all the time. the us is setting new records each day for the number of new infections. 195,500 new cases were recorded on friday. the daily death toll linked to covid—i9 has passed 2,000 people for the first time since may. over the past week, there has been an average of more than 170,000 cases per day. that's an increase of 67%. and the covid tracking project reports more than 83,000 people are hospitalised across the country. here's our north america correspondent, david willis. california, america's most populous state, is reeling from a resurgence of the coronavirus and its health workers are struggling to cope.

the number of new infections here has more than doubled in the last two weeks, prompting an overnight curfew. this is not really surprising. i think this was sort of expected. i think there's this kind of restriction fatigue or lockdown fatigue, a pandemic fatigue that is taking place, so many of the people are not adhering to what the public health people are really recommending. a total of around 37 million people are subject to california's new stay at home order which prohibits nonessential activity outside the home during the hours of darkness. lawmakers hope the move will curb the sudden surge in positive test results. the coronavirus turned the g20 summit in riyadh into a sort of vip webinar, one in which president trump briefly participated, but he missed a sideline event at the conference devoted to pandemic preparedness in favour

of heading for the golf course, pursuing what has become a weekend routine since the election of golfing and tweeting, making this claim about how joe biden would deal with developing a vaccine. yet last week's white house coronavirus press briefing was the first in months and the head of the task force, vice president mike pence, left without taking questions. president—elect biden, seen here attending church near his home, says tackling the coronavirus will be his number one priority but the longer the transition process is delayed the longer it will take him and his team to obtain the briefings they need. until the general services administration ascertains

the results of the election, which would allow the transition from the trump administration to the biden administration to proceed, until that happens, our hands are really tied, we're handcuffed. with discussions over another economic stimulus plan stalled and congress in recess, the forthcoming holiday season promises to be a bleak one for many. long lines have formed at food banks here and around the country and the coronavirus is promising to make this year's thanksgiving celebration unlike any other. away from a coronavirus. the archbishop of canterbury will take a sabbatical next year, for "reflection, prayer, and spiritual renewal". justin welby will begin his break in may 2021 and isn't expected back at work before september. lambeth palace said it was "normal practice" for archbishops to take

time off from their official duties. in the middle of a coronavirus lockdown, french police have clashed with anti—government demonstrators protesting against a bill that could make it an offence to film or photograph police officers. 0fficers used water cannon in paris and tear gas in the south—eastern city of lyon. paul hawkins reports. saturday night in the french capital, and some protesters were still on the streets. rights activists, trade unionists and journalists, just some of the several thousand demonstrators who had spent the day voicing their opposition to a new law. the piece of legislation would make it a crime to circulate an image of a police officer's face with the intention they should be harmed. translation: what this government is trying to do is for us to stop carrying out this vigilance. for citizens, whistle—blowers, forjournalists in possession or not of a press card.

to be more and more hindered in revealing the failings of the state. and if that happens, it is the end of democracy. translation: we know that police officers are victims of violence, yes. but when police are out on theirjob, they represent the french republic, they are not there as individuals. they represent the state, and so there is a kind of wide impunity and it is very serious so we can't just shut up and allow this. the new law comes after a summer of mass public protests against police brutality and accusations of systemic racism sparked by the death of george floyd in the us. activists have alleged police brutality was responsible for the killing of adama traore, a frenchman of malian origin who died after his arrest in the paris suburbs in 2016. a private autopsy said he died of asphyxiation. injune, the official health report said he died of heart failure, clearing three police

officers of responsibility. they also point to cedric chouviat, a delivery driver in paris. he suffered a heart attack and died in january after police put him in a chokehold. but supporters of the new law say police officers and their families need protection from harassment, both online and in person when off duty. those caught would get a maximum penalty of one year injail and a $53,000 fine. in light of the protests, the government has amended the law to add the phrase, "without prejudice to the right to inform". prime ministerjean castex said this would remove any ambiguity on the intention to guarantee respect for public freedoms while better protecting those police and gendarmes who ensure the protection of the population. freedom to report versus freedom from harassment. the government says both are possible. paul hawkins, bbc news. ethiopia's prime minister, abiy ahmed, has rejected efforts by the african union to mediate

in what is fast becoming a civil war. his government forces have been battling with forces from the northern tigray region for the last three weeks. yesterday, mr ahmed, in a tweet, warned that he would do "all that is necessary to ensure stability" in tigray. since fighting began, hundreds of people have been killed and more than 30,000 refugees have fled to sudan. and in the latest development, ethiopia's military has warned people in tigray‘s capital, mekelle, that it is encircling the city with tanks, which may open fire. the prime minister's senior advisor, mamo mihretu, spoke to our correspondent catherine byaru hanga and said negations with tigray was not an option. we don't negotiate with criminals. when it comes to criminals, we bring them to justice, not to a negotiation table, and this has been the declared stated position of the government. i think our african brothers and sisters would play the most

significant role if they put pressure on the tplf to surrender. if the envoys are not able to travel to tigray to meet with the tplf, how will they be convinced to surrender? so, just going back to that point, can they travel, once they come to addis and meet with the prime minister, can they also go to tigray? tigray is currently under military occupation. we believe that the military operation will come to an end soon. if the tplf wants to put an end to the current conflict, all they have to do is surrender and, for that, nobody needs to go to tigray or to mekelle to make that point clear to them. latex gloves have been, quite literally, a life—saver during this pandemic. but they also pose a serious environmental problem. standard latex takes around

100 years to decompose. now a team of scientists believe they have come up with a solution, as our science correspondent richard westcott reports. the world pulls on 150 billion pairs of protective latex gloves every year. most are synthetic and end up in landfill for decades. it's a huge environmental problem and covid's making it worse, which is why scientists at cra nfield university in bedfordshire are developing a new type of natural latex that's better for the planet. this is synthetic latex. made from petroleum, it biodegrades in about 100 years. this is natural latex from rubber trees, still hangs around for a couple of years. this is the new kind of rubber latex they're developing in this lab, and they say it could biodegrade in a matter of weeks. it's a version of natural latex, but without the allergens so people

won't be allergic to them. they'll also be much quicker to make, but the biggest benefit could be to our carbon footprint. there is a fantastic opportunity, richard. if we go into natural latex, which is produced by rubber trees, from carbon dioxide, water and sun energy, we will be able to have a real impact on the environment. approximately 50% of the excessive carbon, atmospheric carbon, could be turned into rubber gloves. that's staggering, that's a staggering figure. half of the excess carbon potentially taken out of the atmosphere if we just swapped over to these gloves? yes, but we would have to turn it into natural rubber gloves, and that means quite a lot of latex to produce and deliver from the plantations. the project is funded by a big medical company about to start producing

the new gloves in malaysia. it hopes to open a uk factory next year. some more good news as well. a baby elephant has been rescued after it fell down a well in india. that is quite a drop. the female calf had to be sedated and lifted out by a crane, which took more than 12 hours. she is now said to be "healthy and active". she landed on herfeet in some shallow water. officials said she is well, in the tamil nadu state in the south of the country. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. a pleasant end to the weekend, weather—wise, with most of us getting to see some sunshine at some stage of today. still had a few showers around.

western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england. they'll continue into the night and become few and far between by the end of the night. a thicker cloud we've seen towards the south coast off england, some of it will push further north again across more of southern england into parts of wales. capable of delivering the odd spot of rain. where we've got clear spells it will be cold enough for a patch of frost going into monday morning. a day that starts with a decent amount of sunshine. we'll keep sunny spells across eastern areas whereas in the west, the cloud increases. we'll see some outbreaks of rain in northern ireland, especially western scotland. looking very wet here for the afternoon. the wind picking up as well, some gusts in the western isles getting back to around 50, 60 mph. we may see some showery rain pushing into parts of wales and west england later today. milder in the west, still quite chilly to the east. quieter weather for the second half of the week ahead as high pressure builds in again. a chance for overnight frost. morning fog. most places dry. hello this is bbc news.