this is bbc news. the headlines at four: the cabinet meets this afternoon to agree a tougher three—tiered system of local restrictions to come into force in england, when the lockdown ends early next month. they'll also finalise a relaxation over christmas. pubs and restaurants in england could be allowed to stay open longer, with an easing of the 10pm curfew. scotla nd scotland wales and northern ireland are all being consulted on shared arrangements for the festive period. the nhs in england is to get an extra £3 billion, but the chancellor warns of tough times ahead for the economy, as the country deals with the consequences of the pandemic. the economy is experiencing significant stress. we've seen that particularly in the labour market and with people's jobs.

we know that 750,000 people have tragically already lost their jobs with forecasts of more to come. a usjudge has dismissed president trump's latest challenge to his election defeat as a "frankenstein's monster" of a case. and a moment she'll never forget. a baby elephant is rescued after falling down a well in india. 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. and talks continue between the governments of the home nations to come to a common agreement for the whole country on the easing of some restrictions over the christmas period. 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. 0ne 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 them 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. with me now is our deputy political editor vicki young. is there any pre—seasonal goodwill in terms of christmas, in terms of getting the home nations agreed on what people can do? it is a bit of christmas cheer, but not too much, seems to be the message. they are very keen across the four nations to make sure that there is a joint approach for obvious reasons, that people will be meeting up with family and friends in all those different countries. there have been meetings, there was one yesterday afternoon and they do seem to have made a lot of process. —— progress. we have had a joint statement put out here saying they do recognise the importance of allowing families and friends to see each other and they talk about doing that in a careful and limited way. while recognising that this will not be a normal festive period. recognising that this will not be a normalfestive period. they are talking about the limited additional household bubbling for a small number of days. my understanding, and this is from just one cabinet

source at the moment and it has not been signed off by the cabinets in wales and scotland, but it seems to be that it could be three households being allowed to meet up and over a number of days at maybe five days. there are all sorts of discussions around this, you can see the problems. if you said for example from the 23rd to the 27th of december you can meet up, does that mean everyone is december you can meet up, does that mean everyone is then travelling on the 22nd or 23rd and getting on to trains, the roads? you can see the problems they might be there. all of this is pretty difficult, but they do it very much want to try and do it as do it very much want to try and do itasa do it very much want to try and do it as a joint approach and they do seem it as a joint approach and they do seem to be heading in that direction. and uncertainty about which tias the country will be divided up into now, because the rates, the letter art numbers are very different around england. yes, they are, so what is happening here and this is england, we know national restrictions will buy come

to an end on the 2nd of december, so there is a big question and that is what the cabinet meeting to discuss in the next half—hour, is what is going to replace that and i think people should be not too optimistic that things are going to change hugely. there will be a difference, but it may not be that different for some people, so we know that scientists have been pretty unhappy. they do not feel the restrictions have been tight enough in some of the tiers, particularly tier i, which they feel has made no difference whatsoever, and they have also called for a beefing up of restrictions on tier 3, so that is what will be discussed now. what will they do about that, what will be open and what will not be? the chancellor seems to signal quite heavily today that nonessential retail would be open, the tempe cu rfew fur retail would be open, the tempe curfew fur pubs would go. of course, if the pubs are not open, that is slightly irrelevant. —— 10pm curfew for stock they are all sorts of questions to be answered for businesses and people knowing exactly what they will be able to do and where does each region go in all

of that? they will be told on thursday and i think the emphasis being on told, they will not be this negotiation that we saw with devolved administrations. and his own backbenchers for the government as well. the covid—i9 recovery group, it used to be the northern something great, now they want to have a cost benefit analysis of what these are new tier systems will be. does anyone have that information? if they do, they have not shed it and this is the problem and the criticism on a although the prime minister has talked a lot about weighing up the two things, saving lives and the economy. just because they have not shared this. and the other effects these restrictors have on peoples lives. conservative mps, 70 writing to the prime minister and saying we are not going to sanction these new restrictions unless you can these new restrictions unless you ca n prove these new restrictions unless you can prove that they actually work and that it is not outweighed by the down site, so that could cause a problem for the prime minister,

because he has promised mps there will be a vote on the new arrangements after the 2nd of december. he could end up having to rely on labour votes if they go along with it, up till now they have voted for tighter restrictions. thank you very much. so, what's 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, maybe 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 the recent restrictions, covid infection rates have stayed stubbornly high. i mean, look around you. you know, this is a market that, in a time of lockdown, people are desperate for connection, people 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's 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—i9 infections. in england, parts of the northwest and northeast, 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 level of restrictions until december the 11th. and northern ireland is facing another two weeks of lockdown from friday, having just reopened 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 that it's christmas. it will keep spreading, regardless. it's happened in canada, with canadian thanksgiving. we are going to see the same in the states with american thanksgiving. i think it's just telling people we know how the virus transmits, and how much risk are you willing to take at this point in time with your family and your 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 rishi sunak is set to announce an extra £3 billion of funding for the nhs next week, but has warned of tough times ahead for the economy. despite the boost to the health service, due to be pledged in the spending review on wednesday, today the chancellor said the impact of coronavirus on the economy must

eventually be paid for. as you can see from this graph, public sector debt currently stands at over £2 trillion. you can see a sharp rise in that debt in 2020, as the government borrowed money to deal with the current crisis. 0n the andrew marr show this morning, the director of the institute for fiscal studies, pauljohnson, said that the level of borrowing this year was, as a fraction of national income, the highest ever outside of the two world wars. we have a huge reduction in economic output in the first half this yeah, probably the biggest in history, bounce back in the middle of the year which will have gone down now. it isa year which will have gone down now. it is a small now than it was a year ago, so it is a small now than it was a year ago, so one it is a small now than it was a year ago, so one of the biggest recessions in history. and we have borrowed an eye watering amount of

money to deal with the pandemic as well. at least 350 billion this year probably, depending on what the government does over the next few months. that would make it the most we have ever borrowed outside of the first and second world war. we thought what we saw in the financial crisis was big, but this is much bigger. so we cannot borrow ourselves out of this any further? we have to reduce borrowing at some point. at the moment, i think the government is right, clearly we need to support the economy, particularly whilst we have locked down, and that may well mean more borrowing this year. it will clearly mean more borrowing in the next few years, far more than we were expecting a year ago. that if we continue with the sort of levels of spending and tax we have at the moment, with a smaller economy into the medium run, not only will borrowing decline, but

the debt will be rising and it will become unsustainable at some point. the chancellor told the andrew marr show that the high level of spending was justified. now is the right time to focus on responding to the crisis, and that means, yes, we will be borrowing quite frankly an enormous sum this year to help us do that, but that is the right thing to do for the long—term health of the economy and public finances, and we are doing that to protect people's jobs, their livelihoods, support businesses, as we've talked about, but also provide the funds necessary to fight coronavirus, and that will be at the centre of the spending review next week. we'll be providing those funds, whether it's for testing, for vaccines, for the nhs, and that's the right thing to do now, and that is an approach that's been endorsed by the imf, the 0br, the bank of england and others. mr sunak is facing criticism following reports he might announce a pay freeze for millions of public sector workers at next week's spending review. shadow chancellor anneliese dodds explained her opposition to the idea to andrew marr.

what this measure would do is it would say to our firefighters, hospital porters, teaching assistants that they will have less spending power in the future. that means they won't be spending in our high streets, they won't be spending in our small businesses, and that's a very good way of knocking confidence out of our economy at a time when, as i said, the uk is an outlier. 0ur economic downturn has been deeper than that in the rest of the g7. what needs to be done now by government is to build economic confidence up, not shoot it down. i spoke to our business correspondent katy austin a little earlier and asked her whether the chancellor had given any indication how all this borrowing was going to be paid for in the long term. what we have got here is these two competing realities. in the immediate term, you have the chancellor saying look, we still need to be putting the money up to not just fight coronavirus if you like but to support

the businesses, protectjobs through it and also we need to be investing in the future, we need to be thinking about the money we are going to put towards these big infrastructure projects that will benefit the economy in the long term, enable a bigger recovery if you like, that the government likes to say build back better. that is one of their slogans around this. there is that aim that we need to be spending on important things, but there is just this reality that borrowing has got so high and the chancellor has talked about the need to make it more sustainable and make the public finances more sustainable. how might he do that? that is exactly the big question. he seems to be in interviews today saying that we are not going to go to austerity this week, that is not how we will approach this, certainly in the immediate term. there has also been speculation about tax rises. again, the chancellor has been signalling it is not the time for that, at least not now and that is really the big debate. there is going to have to be some sort of action to raise money, the question is how soon you can do that without it actually being counter—productive

and preventing a recovery. interest rates are incredibly low, as we all know, but is growth really the solution for this without tax rises? the issue with. .. it is not an issue at all actually, the situation around borrowing is that right now, it is basically quite cheap to borrow, because those interest rates are very low. the assumption is that we can carry on doing that for now. things would change if interest rates started going up and it became more expensive to borrow, so this is a really difficult judgment about how long do you keep doing that and exactly how and how fast or how severe the option of raising revenue to make up for the deficit and to improve the debt situation, how you do that. the headlines on bbc news... a tougher three—tiered system of local restrictions will come into force in england when the lockdown ends in ten days' time, but there'll be a relaxation over christmas.

pubs and restaurants in england could be allowed to stay open longer, with an easing of the 10pm curfew. the nhs in england is to get an extra £3 billion, but the chancellor warns of tough times ahead for the economy, as the country deals with the consequences of the pandemic. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jon watson. good afternoon. it's a big day in the premier league — the champions liverpool welcome leicester to anfield later. they'll be without their talisman mo salah who tested positive for coronavirus to add to a growing list of injury concerns. earlier, everton beat fulham 3—2 in an entertaining match at craven cottage to climb up to sixth. nick parrot was watching. after a run of four games without a win, everton would have relished the prospect of visiting craven cottage.

it's little surprise their poor run of form coincided with the three—match ban for richarlison. the brazilian quickly made up for his absence, setting up dominic calvert—lewin to put everton in front against fulham afterjust 42 seconds. the hosts recovered from that early setback when bobby decordova—reid found a way through. calvert—lewin went top of the premier league scoring charts as he put everton back in front and they should have cruised to victory, after abdoulaye doucoure scored his first goal since joining from watford. but fulham boss scott parker's the second half tactical change almost turned things around. his heart might have sank when ivan cavaleiro became the latest fulham player to miss a penalty. 83 seconds later though, they were back in contention. this time, fortune favouring ruben loftus—cheek as his shot was deflected in, but that failed to add momentum for fulham and everton held on to get their season back on track. nick parrott, bbc news.

sheffield united are still bottom of the table with just a single point from their opening nine games after another defeat, today's coming against west ham. sebastian haller got the game's only goal in a 1—0 win for david moyes‘ side. sheffield united are just the third side in premier league history to have so few points at this stage — both of those sides were relegated. arsenal and leeds kick off shortly, before leicester then take on the champions, a win would take them above tottenham at the top of the table. rangers have opened up an ii—point lead over second placed celtic at the top of the scottish premiership. they beat aberdeen 4—0, taking full advantage of celtic‘s dropped points yesterday. joe lynskey reports. rangers celebrate each win with just a fist bump and renewed focus. for nine years in a row, they have watched their rivals win the league. they know to be champions it has to be perfect.

but this is their best start to a top—flight season in 53 years. they have players full of confidence taking shots from 30 yards. ryan kent's brilliant strike was helped by a deflection, but rangers were dominant against the team third in the league. aberdeen had been depleted by injuries and covid. already this match looked settled with kemar roofe's strike for 2—0. rangers completed the job with two more second—half goals. after seeing celtic draw yesterday, this side has set a course to win a big. a penalty would set up rangers' 41st goal of the season, they have only let in three. and while they are still a long way to go, this side have set their standard and their lead at the top is 11 points. joe lynskey, bbc news. scotland are hoping to extend their winning run to six straight matches,

they're taking on france in their second match of rugby union's autumn nations cup. the two sides currently level at 12 points apiece at half time at murrayfield. -- 12 _-12_ -- 12 - 17. scotland know a win would guarantee their progress from the group stage. this france's first action of the tournament after their game with fiji was cancelled. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. 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. masha 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 in a chair? 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 family have praised the staff who cared for her. she is now having the drug she needs. a 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. ethiopia's military has warned people in the capital city of the northern tigray region that tanks might open fire as it attempts to overthrow the regional leaders in charge there. it's the third week of open conflict between the central government and regional leaders that has forced thousands from their homes. prime minister abiy ahmed has also said that he won't even allow african union envoys to travel to the region to hold talks with local leaders there.

in a tweet, mr ahmed warned that he would do "all that is necessary to ensure stability" in tigray. ethiopia's military plans to use tanks to encircle the capital of the area. over the last two weeks, it has bulldozed roads and destroyed bridges in its advance on the city, which is home to around half a million people. hundreds of people have been killed and more than 30,000 refugees have fled to sudan since fighting began. the prime minister's senior advisor, mamo mihretu, spoke to our correspondent catherine byaruhanga and said that negotiations with tigray were 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. 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. staying in the united states, the head of the government's vaccine development programme has said there are plans to have vaccines ready to distribute within 2a hours of approval being granted. the country has now passed 12 million confirmed infections and as cases surge, so do restrictions. in california, a state wide overnight curfew is now in place. 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. 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. just before the weather, let's show you some lovely pictures that have come to us involving a baby elephant. his years, when understand she is pretty young, she fell into this well. —— here she is. she went

down quickly, landed in water which broke herfall, but it took 12 hours to get her up feet first. she is well. it seems there are no lasting problems, although she might be a bit more careful when she is a foraging around in the bushes in that particular village in the future. 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.