this is bbc news with this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk the latest headlines. people arriving in england and around the world. from abroad will soon be able to cut donald trump accepts that a formal the quarantine period from m days transition of power can begin to five if they pay sojoe biden can take office — for a private covid test. but he says he'll continue to contest the election result. people arriving in england from abroad will soon be able to cut having consulted very extensively the quarantine period from 14 days to five, if they pay with medical experts, we believe the for a private covid test. size days plus is a very reliable having consulted very extensively with medical experts, we believe the test, it is sufficient time now to five days plus a very reliable test is sufficient time now to release people and the test capacity release people and the test capacity is there to do this now. talks between the four nations continue as they try and agree a uk is there to do this now. wide plan for christmas. and if you'd like to get in touch about travel quarantine, talks between the four nations continue as they try and agree a uk christmas plans or any of our other stories you can contact us wide plan for christmas. on @annita—mcveigh, #bbcyourquestions. donald trump accepts that a formal and if you'd like to get in touch transition of power can begin about any of our stories, you can

sojoe biden can take office — but he says he'll continue to contest the election result. an appeal is launched for help finding two missing notebooks written by charles darwin, which include his famous tree of life sketch. and coming up this hour, china launches a mission to try to bring back rock samples from the moon for the first time in more than a0 years. this morning and welcome to bbc news. people arriving in england from abroad will be soon able to reduce their quarantine period by more than half. the transport secretary, grant shapps, has announced that people will be able to pay for a coronavirus test,

to be taken five days after arrival. from the 15th of december, travellers will have to self—isolate forjust five days then take a test, and then end quarantine if the test comes back negative. but travellers won't be able to use an nhs test — they'll have to use an approved private provider. that could cost up to £120 per person. and the foreign office still advises against travelling to most places — so big holiday companies are unlikely to start travel to those regions, and it may not be straightforward getting insurance for your travel plans. and this is only for people travelling to england. the strict 1a day rules remain in the rest of the uk, although authorities in northern ireland and scotland told us they are looking into a similar system, but nothing is confirmed yet. this latest announcement follows the plans set out by borisjohnson to replace england's lockdown on december 2nd. a toughened three—tier system will be introduced — with details on which areas will be placed in which tier, expected on thursday.

shops, gyms and hairdressers will be allowed to reopen across the country. in tier1 — the lowest level of restrictions — groups of up to six people will be able to meet indoors or outdoors. pubs and restaurants can open, with last orders at 10pm and closing at 11pm. in tier 2, groups of up to six people will still be able to meet outdoors, but not indoors, unless in a support bubble. pubs can only reopen if they're operating as a restaurant, and alcohol can only be served with a substantial meal. and in the highest level of restrictions, pubs and restaurants will be takeaway only and there'll be no mixing of households, except up to six people in public outdoors. that is in tier 3. here's more from our political correspondent iain watson. the three—tier system of regional restrictions are set to be

reintroduced in england on december the 2nd. the good news is shops, gyms, swimming pools and hair salons will all reopen, but some rules will be tougher than before in tier 3, with pubs and restaurants closed except for takeaways and deliveries. in tier 2, pubs can only open if they serve substantial meals. and the really bad news? i should warn you now that many more places will be in higher tiers than, alas, was previously the case. so it won't be all over by christmas. but the still self—isolating prime minister is hopeful he can reach agreement very soon with the devolved administrations across the uk, to ease up a little over the festive season. but don't get the party hats out just yet. this is not the moment to let the virus rip for the sake of christmas parties. tis the season to be jolly, but tis also the season to be jolly careful. especially with elderly relatives.

and the medical advice? rules are for christmas, too. if people do all those things very seriously, we will have much less impact from christmas, whilst people still are being able to enjoy it, than if people choose to actually take a very much less public spirited approach to it, and go wild over that period. so, christmas might not be quite so festive this year. but with vaccines and rapid testing, normal life may well begin to be resurrected by easter. the prime minister said he could see an escape route from the pandemic, but it feels like there's still a long road ahead. iain watson, bbc news. meanwhile, from the 15th december, people arriving in england from abroad who are subject to quarantine rules will be able to significantly reduce their self—isolation period, if they pay for a covid test after five days and get a negative result. the transport secretary grant shapps

has been explaining the new policy. it is for anybody travels, we don't specify which group of people, and we changed the rules because at the moment it requires 14 days of self—isolation, quarantine. this will reduce it to size days, and having consulted very extensively with medical experts, we believe five days plus a very reliable test is sufficient time now to be able to release people and the test capacity is 32 there to do this now. we will be talking more about this with the chief executives of heathrow airport and ryanair in the next few hours, so stay with that. let's focus on the four nations and the effort to get a coordinated plan on restrictions around christmas. let's go straight to westminster and talk to our political correspondent helen catt.

how are those talks going? grant shapps incidentally was also certainly asked about plans to alleviate travel congestion around christmas, so what more can you tell us? ministers from the four nations are in discussion around christmas, they have agreed there should be some sort of relaxation over christmas to allow people to see that families and they had agreed they would like the rules and the relaxations to be the same across england, scotland, wales and northern ireland, frankly, to make life easierfor northern ireland, frankly, to make life easier for everybody. that is the aspiration. discussions have been ongoing because all four nations have slightly different rules about who could meet whom and where. they are starting from different points has even been discussion about what constitutes a household. they are looking at how long the relaxation should be in place, how many days, and the impact on public transport. if you imagine, lots of people needing around in a very short window of time. transport

secretary for england grant shapps spoke to us earlier and said part of managing that will be down to us. we have been a very close contact, i am forever in contact with my equivalent numbers in the four nations, and this issue of trying to tie it up, lots about her family in different parts of the united kingdom and it would make no sense if you had different days in which you could travel in different parts of the united kingdom, we want to resolve much, i of the united kingdom, we want to resolve much, lam of the united kingdom, we want to resolve much, i am sure of the united kingdom, we want to resolve much, lam sure it of the united kingdom, we want to resolve much, i am sure it be resolved. on thursday we expect to hear which areas are going into which tiers in england and there is a lot of anxiety in some areas that they might be placed in the toughest level, and the implications of that? i think this is when we will get a real sense of how borisjohnson‘s plan is going down in the comments when they allocate those areas on thursday. the government says they are waiting for the latest data to comment tomorrow and will decide

based on that. borisjohnson has said very clearly more areas will be in higher tiers this time around and the expectation is very few areas will be in tier i, but where most of the concern is focused is which areas will go into tier 3, those very high areas of restrictions. there is concern in many cities in the north of england where they will end up there. one place where the government have been clear that restrictions have been working as liverpool, and the mayor of the liverpool, and the mayor of the liverpool city region steve rotheram hopes that will be taken into account. we certainly hope we will not be going back into the highest tier, the progress we made since going into tier 3 has been remarkable, we had the infection rate of 750 per 100,002 four areas and today we're down to about 180 across the city region per 100,000,

so across the city region per 100,000, so huge progress to everybody that has taken part in the mass testing -- 750 has taken part in the mass testing —— 750 per has taken part in the mass testing -- 750 per 100,000. has taken part in the mass testing —— 750 per100,000. we hope the hard work will pay off when the tiers are announced. we will find out on thursday when the government to sites which areas going into its tier, that could be when we get the announcement on christmas, although it is possible that we'll plan anytime from today onwards. thank you, helen catt at westminster. and we'll be answering your questions on the science and the reasoning behind the new toughened three—tier restrictions in england here on the bbc news channel at 9:30. 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 9:30. you have 20 minutes to get those questions in, we will try to answer

as many as possible. let's get more on the news that people arriving in england will be soon able to reduce their quarantine period by more than half, if they pay for a covid test after five days. paul charles is the chief executive of travel consultancy the pc agency. very good to have you with us. the travel industry is obviously desperate for a solution, they had been disproportionately affected due to the nature of this virus over the past year. will this offer light at the end of the channel? it is a major leap forward, it enables more people to have more options to travel. obviously some people cannot quarantine for five days, many people perhaps concert to full protests that will be needed if they try to quarantine for five days and bad release —— perhaps can't afford the tests. but others might now have the tests. but others might now have the option to do that, which could meana the option to do that, which could mean a significant number of

bookings emerging for christmas, new year and 2021, and that is what is getting the travel sector little more excited, the fact bookings are coming through after many months of no income. michael o'leary of ryanair, who we will speak to an excel, has called it a figleaf that does not work, i think for the reasons you mention, people are still having to isolate for around seven days and the cost of the test, is the solution and is there a better solution? the airlines are suggesting that may be. the best solution is no quarantine. quarantine kennels travel, so we look forward to early in the new year when there will be better, accurate, faster, cheaper lateral flow testing introduced which will enable no quarantine and a series of daily tests, that is the elixir, if you like, that we look forward to, but in the short—term, phytate is better than 1a, and it can be five

days. the government will announce that they will allow some providers to offer quick tests within an hour, results within an hour, that will mean you can actually do four whole days of quarantine, have a test on the morning of day five and get your results back by the afternoon, that is much better than a 1k day quarantine. i think it is much better than departure testing, governments are not interesting and testing those who might have covid leaving the country, that is not whether methods will go, the efforts will go into those entering the uk who mail may not be carrying covid. that is the most important direction of travel, literally, when it comes to trying to stop transmission on any given country. let talk about travel around the festive christmas period, if lots of people are going to be on the trains, on the roads within a short window that they are

allowed, potentially, isay potentially again. what sort of difficulties will backwards? transport secretary grant shapps was asked about this and he said people should look at different routes, they should pre—book tickets, but what problems or challenges you envisage? let's be clear, given the option i think many people will want to see loved ones and friends over that period. the actual period the government announces will be critical. anything less than four or five days will lead to enormous congestion on roads, it will lead to most tickets that are available being sold out on trains and there isa cap being sold out on trains and there is a cap on the numbers who can travel by train at the moment so it will lead to a squeeze on the system, very infrastructure will find it difficult to cope that the government has to balance lengthening the festive period of travel with the need for not having too long a period to weird night virus in many areas. it is a very

difficult call for the government and on the face of it as travellers i think the best advice is to try and stay at home over the festive period if you can, unless you are going abroad and getting away from the squeeze on infrastructure, but it will be very hard for the current system to cope. paul charles, chief executive of the pc agency, thank you very much for your time. the headlines on bbc news... people arriving in england from abroad will soon be able to cut the quarantine period from 1a days to five — if they pay for a private covid test. talks between the four nations continue as they try and agree a uk wide plan for christmas. donald trump accepts that a formal transition of power can begin sojoe biden can take office — but he says he'll continue to contest the election result. sweden — which until now had avoided imposing a coronavirus national lockdown —

has been forced to introduce stricter measures following a surge in cases and deaths. a ban on public events of more than eight people is now in force. our correspondent in stockholm, maddy savage, told me more about the new measures a little earlier. there is definitely a tougher tone here. there's been a lot of criticism as you reflected on, of sweden keeping more of society open. than most european countries. despite having higher numbers of cases in proportion to its population size. that was at the start of the pandemic. over the summer here, august time, cases dropped a lot. we were seeing a couple of hundred a day and there was a lot of praise for sweden's strategy but now we are seeing several thousand cases a day and that has led the government to seek tougher action. there is a rule of eight for public events, so things like gigs, concerts, theatre performances, demonstrations, that has come in very recently, in the last few hours. from friday, there was also

an alcohol ban after 10pm. definitely more legal restrictions in contrast to the focus on voluntary guidelines which has basically been the focus for the government and the swedish public health agency since the start of the crisis. the post—brexit trade talks are entering what could be their final few days if a deal is to be done before the end of the year, when britain will leave the eu's single market and the customs union. one of the big outstanding issues remains what's known as the level playing field. earlier this month the eu negotiator michel barnier — who's now in self—isolation after a member of his staff contracted covid — tweeted a picture of himself in search of a solution. our reality check correspondent chris morris explains. i don't know if you so that, i am told we will be seeing it soon.

the last time the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier was in london he came to regent's park on a breakfrom london he came to regent's park on a break from intense london he came to regent's park on a breakfrom intense negotiations, looking for a level playing field. the only thing he continues, we can do —— anything he can do. here we are. what is the level playing field and why it hit so important in the brexit talks? joining me on our social distance playing field are two people who know the answer, bluebird's brexit correspondence and somebody who works for various german newspapers in london. joe, the level playing field, what is it about? creating the conditions for that competition between businesses in the uk and eu are not allowing either side to get an unfair advantage to weaker labour standards of environmental standards, tax policy or subsidies. why is it so important for the eu? the eu wants

to protected businesses, its market, it isa to protected businesses, its market, it is a well's largest single market and obviously the access to a market of 500 million people comes with some sort of conditions. there is a problem, the uk sees the whole thing rather differently? the uk thinks sovereignty is one of the most important benefits of brexit, anything that would mean being tight in anyway is anathema to this government so that is why they are sceptical of the talk of keeping to a level playing field. that is where we are stuck as his negotiations move into extra time, so the question as he was prepared to give ground and why? how much will the eu give ground on a level playing field? i don't think a lot, the single market is the biggest achievement of the eu. they fear the uk could undermine their standards and regulations in the future and then they have this huge competitor

on its doorstep and sol then they have this huge competitor on its doorstep and so i do not think they will give a lot. so how will we get this over the line? with the best will in the world there is a hard deadline coming up at the end of the year. what is the potential compromise on the level playing field? the uk may agree not to go below certain standards with the eu, say on environment and labour, which might be enough to assuage the eu because my concerns, and uncertainties, state aid, the uk might sign up to common principles, perhaps an independent regulator, which might contain ceu not to worry. so it might be enough. are you optimistic that a deal can be turned? cautiously optimistic, i would say. both sites would have to lose a lot if there is no deal and both sides have a lot to win if there is a deal. thank you both for joining us in regent's park. the goal of reaching a deal may seem

logical outcome, but on the level playing field both sides will have to give ground on some fundamental issues, that is why there is no guarantee that a deal will actually be done. the portage, a perfect place for a report on level playing fields! —— a football pitch, a perfect place. people arriving in england from abroad will be soon able to reduce their quarantine period by more than half if they pay for a covid test after five days. the government says the rules will come into force from the 15th of december, and the tests from private firms will cost between 65 and £120. the travel industry welcomed the policy but described it as "long overdue." with me is our business presenter ramzan karmali. ramzan, good to see you. there has been a broad welcome, i think it is fairto been a broad welcome, i think it is fair to say, from the travel industry, but you do not have to scratch far beneath the surface when

you see complaints and people picking holes in eight? michael o'leary has already complained. picking holes in eight? michael o'leary has already complainedlj will o'leary has already complained.” will be talking to him in the next hour. also there delay, we are talking about the 15th of december, many have asked for this to be in place way before then, by the time the latest lockdown in england and on the 2nd of december, you still have to wait another 13 days before the system comes into play. it is costly, 500 p could be added onto a holiday for a family of four. the onusis holiday for a family of four. the onus is on the traveller and whether that will be enforced is another question that people are asking about. we can speak to the posted heathrow airport, he was once the boss of the busiest airport in europe but now the second busiest, and that is down to the coronavirus. how did you react to this news? we welcome it, it is what we have called for four the last six months,

it has been a long time in coming budget is welcome, it is only a start, there is still a requirement for five days' quarantine, there is still a test that might be £60 or more per person. we have to move another principle has been established to a more frequent testing regime, rather like it's being in universities, also at uap departure testing regime where you are tested before you even get on a plane —— also a testing regime prior to departure. but let's celebrate at the government has finally made this happen, it has taken a lot of hard work from grant shapps, so credit to him for pushing this through, it will mean some people at least will get some winter sun around christmas time and businesses will start to be able to travel in confidence. in my introduction i said you were the busiest airport in europe, because it coronavirus you another second

busiest, that is to parish article, other airports are closing in on heathrow because they already had testing in place —— the other is paris charles de gaulle. why had heathrow been too slow in getting the testing procedure a punch running? it has been frustratingly government has taken such a long time to get to this point. they put in place the red, amber green risk—based in place the red, amber green risk— based approach in in place the red, amber green risk—based approach in the summer, so some countries risk—based approach in the summer, so some countries could open with no quarantine, that has helped some people to get away for some holidays, but increasingly other countries have fallen into the red category and there was no solution, thatis category and there was no solution, that is why we have proposed testing as an alternative and it is disappointing it took so long to get to this point but at least the government got on and made this happen. we are in line with competitors in france and germany, thatis competitors in france and germany, that is really important as we prepare for brexit that british businesses that rely upon aviation to get to the markets can travel on

a level playing field with rivals in the eating. financially it has been a massive burden on heathrow airport, i think you said you have lost about £1 billion because of the coronavirus impact, and he faces threat of strike action next month. how will you get to this period and when can you see the light at the end of the channel? this is a step in the right direction but it will not solve all the problems facing aviation. for that we will need a quickness disaster testing, testing before departure, and the vaccines coming in, but i think it will be several years before aviation gets back to where it was in 2018, but this is a stark and full credit to grant shapps for making it happen. for several years before the aviation industry is on its feet, the prime minister was talking about a happy easter, what you see in terms of travel in 2021, by easter

we might see signs of normality?” think that is the first time we will see demand picking up again, we are ina see demand picking up again, we are in a global hub airports, paramount, we rely on international travellers as well as travellers from the uk. —— parent mind, we rely on. we need similar testing regimes and vaccinations will to other countries we trade with, many of which are currently closed, so if you are a uk citizen you cannot fly to the united states at the moment, so we rely on lots of other countries to change their policies before we see the world getting back to normal, but the fact the uk has taken this step could be a role model for other countries to open bad borders and we think the uk government can take a real need to end establishing this testing regime prior to departure, it could become a common international standard for travel, they could arrange this with the

united states, our most important trading partner outside of the eu, it would show the government means what it says when it wants to be global britain. many thanks for your time, that is the chief executive of heathrow airport. thank you, sage, for the moment. —— thank you, ramzan karmali. donald trump has accepted that a formal transition of power can begin for president—electjoe biden to take office. in a tweet he said federal agencies should "do what needs to be done" for the handover to begin. but he's still not conceded that he lost the election. he refers to emily mercy, she is in charge of the organisation which basically facilitate that beginning

at the transition process —— emily mercy. that is releasing funds etc to the team of the president—elect so they can prepare to occupy the white house comejanuary, donald trump say she has been harassed, threatened and abused over her position, she is a trump appointee, a strong relationship between donald trump and emily mercy. let speak to pbs correspondence bofta yimman, do you think in reality we have the closest donald trump will get you admitting defeat? absolutely, and hello to everyone at home too. we wa nt to hello to everyone at home too. we want to tell you that it is the closest we have really seen, expressing that openness to moving forward with the transition process, andi forward with the transition process, and i would like to mention that the gsa, the agency which is not very

high profile beyond dc but has really received a lot of publicity in the past several months, because of everything going on that is so contentious and the delay in the past few weeks, but the gsa is so instrumental to the transition because they hold the purse strings to the transition for the biting camp. that totals more than $6 million in office space and administrative support under very important classified briefings that help us with national security. so when we say the transition process, we wa nt when we say the transition process, we want to make everyone at home and across the pond realised that that is critical to national security and to the biden completing forward in january after the inauguration. -- the biden camp moving forward. what has been the tipping point for donald trump saying the translation should go ahead —— the transition should go ahead —— the transition should go ahead —— the transition should go ahead? has it been defeated in his legal cases all have

certain individuals had a word and he has listened to them?” certain individuals had a word and he has listened to them? i think it isa he has listened to them? i think it is a little bit of everything, you do not know what is going on in his mind when it relates to the legal challenges where he faces defeat, but the certification of the election result in michigan on the same day mentioning that the process should move forward and emily murphy, the head of the general services administration, saying she acted on her own but she is a trump appointee back in 2017 and has really held off and face a lot of bipartisan criticism, so it is likely a mixture but to say what is going on in donald trump's mind, i don't think anybody even in the white house would be able to tell us. white house would be able to tell us. i think the evidence of the last four years, it is fair to say he is a very idiosyncratic individual and likes to make his own mind up. briefly, joe biden is putting

together his cabinet, his administration, and by the looks of itself he will make good on the promise to appoint a really diverse team? absolutely. diverse, vast experience, many of them have worked alongside him, inside the barack obama administration, joe biden knows these people quite well, there are historic pics, including one representative being tipped as the head of the department of homeland security, if that goes through and the senate confirms the appointment, he would be the first latino and immigrant in the role. we have another representative tapped as the head of intelligence, national intelligence, securing this role, she would be the first woman to make

the role, significant pics. thank you for your input. time here is 9:31am. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. many of us today, fairly cloudy, for some of us going to be wet, especially across scotla nd to be wet, especially across scotland and also northern ireland where we have steady rain and at times that will clip cumbria. you see lots of cloud across wales and the southwest, thick enough for drizzle, the best chance of sunshine, parts of east anglia, the south—east, east anglia. gusty winds today through the roc and south—west scotland. through this evening and overnight the weather and continues to journey south, fragmenting as it does so, clear skies and showers behind it, head of it milder conditions but you see the colder air moving that bit further south and that will be the trend through tomorrow and the weekend.

eventually, the weather front bringing rain into the south—east. behind that for scotland, northern england, northern ireland, wales, we look at sunny skies, some showers, feeling colder than it has done. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines... people arriving in england from abroad will soon be able to cut the quarantine period from 1a days to five — if they pay for a private covid test. having consulted very extensively with medical experts, we believe the five days plus is a very reliable test, it is sufficient time now to release people and the test capacity is there to do this now. talks between the four nations continue as they try and agree a uk wide plan for christmas.

donald trump accepts that a formal transition of power can begin sojoe biden can take office — but he says he'll continue to contest the election result. now it is time for your questions answered. to answer all your questions, we'rejoined by professor sian griffiths, epidemic specialist and epidemiologist at the chinese university of hong kong and dr vharat pankhania, senior clinical lecturer at the university of exeter. an expert in communicable diseases also. thank you both for your time.

still quite a few planks to be filled in as governments decide what to do and how to respond to the latest virus figures but we will do our best to answer all your questions. the first question from mark in bexleyheath. he asks... is there any scientific evidence which suggests it's safe to have a five—day relief over the christmas period. people are anxious. mark, this isn't a matter of science, it isa this isn't a matter of science, it is a matter of politics or cultural belief, christmas in some calendars is just another five days but i think the general feeling is as a nation, we take a break at christmas and we all need a break so it's not the science driving the christmas break, it's the politics, the cultural need to have a break from the relentlessness of this viral infection. so that's why we keep

saying this is not going to be a usual christmas, it is going to be a christmas where we may be able to see a few of our close family if we choose to do so. clearly scientists and politicians want people to be careful but do you think in reality, when we look at people's behaviour, thatis when we look at people's behaviour, that is what everyone is going to be? and what advice would you give to anyone who is vulnerable and anxious about how they should protect themselves over the christmas period? i think they should be aware of vulnerable people in their network that they may be meeting up with and if they are meeting up with and if they are meeting up with vulnerable people before they get together on december the 25th or thereabouts, at least keep clear of parties and going out three weeks beforehand, at least three weeks beforehand, at least three weeks, so you give yourself a good margin and check that you are

actually fit and well and have got no signs and symptoms and hope for the best. really, the best strategy is keep it low profile, do not get infected, do not infect others, vaccines are almost around the corner, invest in the pane of 2020 because 2021 will pay you good dividends. i hope that answers your question, mark, and helps give you guidance. the next question from owen. little bit of crystal ball gazing but hopefully some science here as well in the answer. can you tell me if london will go into tiered three restrictions after lockdown? based on what we know already about figures in the london area, what do you think is going to happen? as you say, crystal ball gazing because different parts of london have different rates. we are told the tiered systems which will be announced on thursday, which tea are you going to will be based on

the rates of disease, art the rates increasing, the positivity, how many positives there are, what percentage of positives there are, that helps to calculate the r number, other factors including how stretched the nhs is, how well it is coping with the rates of disease in a local area, but at the hospital admission rates... all these factors will be put together in the tiered decisions made. this will be a matter of looking across the piece and we understand it will probably be london wide rather than aber at a time because burris, it is quite difficult in london to dissociate errors and so there is quite strong feelings between places where rates are feelings between places where rates a re lower feelings between places where rates are lower and places where rates are higher so it will be a decision made by the government based on that information. doctor, the next question, from sophie in london who asks what new restrictions allow us

to travel overseas to spend christmas with family as we do not have family bubbles of relatives in the uk? very pertinent question today when we are talking so much about travel. yes, of course you can travel abroad but you need to be aware of risks and the pinch points always are at the airport, which ever port you are departing from and then at the arrivals place and you are then going into unknown territory abroad but having said all that, on your way back, you may be subject to restrictions and quarantine. we heard today that they are proposing that if you take a private test you may be absolved from quarantine measures. i am private test you may be absolved from quarantine measures. lam not fully convinced about it. therefore, i would say, a good public health measure would be when you are returning, it is better to be in quarantine especially if you are coming from a high incidence country. you look as if you want to

comment on that sian. my reading of regulations is if you are in tier 3, you are not supposed to travel, in tier 3 you're not supposed to travel either abroad or within the country and the other thing... either abroad or within the country and the other thing. .. if i could just interrupt you on that point. i was noticing simon calder has been tweeting about this, someone who we interviewed a lot about travel stories and he tweeted an hour ago, cana stories and he tweeted an hour ago, can a person in tier 3 legally go abroad from the 2nd of december? number ten told me last night categorically know the transport secretary has just told bbc radio 4 today programme yes, he said he was trying to find out and he subsequently tweeted ten minutes ago travelling abroad from england after lockdown will be legal whichever tiered system you are in although for tier 3 the government says avoid travelling out of the area other

than work necessary for work of education, but he has finally confirmed this is advice, not law. so, that has changed overnight. this is evolving, i think is the right word to use, all the time. yes, yes. i think you want to come back further on this. this makes the point it is so complicated and i am not surprised members of the public are anxious about what to do, in our own country, let alone going abroad and returning when you come back from other countries abroad. yes. the next question professor, from allen in sendai is on the subject of travel. what is to stop people travelling from a tier 3 area to a lower tier to get around restrictions. they could spread the virus. that is a sort of moral question, you know, if you are in a tier 3 area, question, you know, if you are in a tier3area, and question, you know, if you are in a tier 3 area, and you know you are,

you know what restrictions you should apply to your life. you can get round it but if you do, you risk spreading the disease further so i think that is an individual decision that you can choose to make or not, depending on how much you are abiding by the rules. presumably asking people to think very carefully who are they going to see, is an elderly, honourable come up with an underlying health condition? is it really worth the risk? is it worth the risk to the other people because you may be ok but you may be without symptoms, and you could be taking the disease with you if you travel out of your area so i think it is something we all have to decide for ourselves. doctor, this from jackie in newbridge who says i live alone with family in england, but i live in wales, there are very restrictions between the two, can i form a support bubble? obviously we

hear the four nations today still in talks about some coordinated plans or trying to get to a coordinated plan for the festive period but jackie is talking about forming a support bubble between wales and england? it's not going to be easy because again, it depends on what tiered restrictions a residences compared to her support bubble and the distance to travel between them. it's not that easy. there are imponderables, only time will tell if she can honestly form a bubble because how are you going to convince people that you are forming a bubble from your place in south wales, somewhere with another place in england which may, potentially, be ina in england which may, potentially, be in a tier 3 area? jackie really needs to look at that carefully for the latest advice from both governments. sharon in northampton, sian, asks what the government still test university students and send

them home at the start of december? the government does not want masses of people on the move within a few days of one another so this would be one way of getting significant numbers of people, students, hopefully, at home for the bread? yes. there is what is called a travel corridor that has been suggested that the university stick to so testing is available for stu d e nts to so testing is available for students from the 30th of november for one week. if you test negative you are free to go home, if you test positive you need to wait two weeks and then go home. this is an attempt to come as you say, space travelling home over christmas, many students will want to go home, the universities have all been in discussion with government, the test and trace system and there are lots of different arrangements for different universities which assure us, different universities which assure us, ensure you can get different universities which assure us, ensure you can get enough testing so i think, yes, students will be going home and they have options to be tested first before

they go. we have time for one more question. this is anonymous but asks pubs won't be allowed to open in tier 3 areas but households may be allowed to mix at christmas, why? doctor, pointing that one to you. allowed to mix at christmas, why? doctor, pointing that one to youm isa doctor, pointing that one to youm is a public health measure. the assumption is the pub will generate more cases compared to at smaller number ina more cases compared to at smaller number in a household. having said all of that, it is better tojust remain cautious and bide your time, 2021, can be better if you avoid mingling with too many people. with respect to the university students, ifi respect to the university students, if i may, this is really important, just because you have tested negative, that test is only negative on the date you are tested and therefore, when you go home, it is important that you are still aware and make sure you don't develop any signs and symptoms after your test. 0k. signs and symptoms after your test.

ok. very good advice from both of you, as ok. very good advice from both of you , as ever. ok. very good advice from both of you, as ever. thank you. and thank you, as ever. thank you. and thank you to you for sending them in! i think we will be answering lots more of your questions during this week especially as we find out whether the four nations have agreed on measures for the festive season andindeed on measures for the festive season and indeed on thursday when we find out about england and which areas will be in which tiered restrictions. we will probably be doing i think it's fair to say some more of your questions during the course of the week. a really interesting story now. cambridge university library has announced that two notebooks written by charles darwin, worth many millions of pounds, have been missing for twenty years. one of them contains the nineteenth century scientist's famous tree of life sketch, exploring the evolutionary relationship between species. following a number of intensive searches, curators have now

concluded they have probably been stolen and they've launched a public appeal for help in trying to find them. our arts correspondent rebecca jones has this exclusive report. imagine losing something in here. cambridge university library is vast. 200 kilometres of shelving, 10 million books, maps and manuscripts and amongst it all, two missing notebooks by charles darwin. each of these notebooks which are the same as the ones we are looking for, are about the size of a postcard. they are written in landscape so across the page and they have, of course, darwin's writing. the notebooks have been digitised but the originals have not been seen since november 2000 when they were taken to be photographed in a temporary studio in the university's grounds. it wasn't until two months later that librarians realised they were missing. they assume they'd been put back on a different shelf and there were a number of extensive searches. now, a new team thinks they got it wrong.

i have reluctantly come to the conclusion that these notebooks have probably been stolen. that is heartbreaking for me, heartbroken this has happened, i have spent my whole career devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage and i will spend all my time here trying to determine the possibility of recovery of these items. in 1837, a young charles darwin had recently returned from the galapagos islands aboard hms beagle. in his notebooks, he is working through scientific ideas inspired by his trip. and in one of them, he sketches the tree of life. these notebooks really are darwin's attempt to pose to himself the question about where two species come from? what is the origin of species? it is almost like being inside darwin's head when you are looking at these notebooks. they are jottings of all sorts of information he is writing down. to have such an iconic object go missing is really a tragedy. your help could be critical in seeing the notebooks safely returned.

the library has launched an appeal calling for help from the public, former staff and researchers, in locating the notebooks by one of the best—known scientists of all time. it will take another five years to complete a full search of the building here so it is still possible the notebooks could turn up. in the meantime, their disappearance has been reported to cambridgeshire police. and if you have any information about where they might be, the library would love to hear from you. rebecca jones, bbc news, cambridge. there were nearly 3,000 covid—19 deaths in the week of 13 november according to the office for national statistics. 13,972 deaths in the uk in the week of 13 november, up by 542 on the previous week and 19% above the five year average for this week. our head of statistics,

robert cuffe is here to explain. give us a view on what is happening with deaths related to covid—19. 600 up with deaths related to covid—19. 600 up on the previous week, between a quarter and a third up, the numbers continuing to rise. they are rising more slowly than they had been in the week before and if we look forward , the week before and if we look forward, since the 13th, may be some positive news. these official deaths that involve coronavirus, the ones mentioned on the death certificate, behaving very differently to the first wave. in the first wave they ca ptu red first wave. in the first wave they captured an awful lot of deaths that we re captured an awful lot of deaths that were not being captured by the figures we hear about everyday, people testing positive but the numbers are looking very similar and we get the daily deaths, we know what is happening, we know on sunday they reached 3000 deaths in a week for the first time but they hadn't really been growing at all, are very slowly, over the preceding weeks so there are hopes when i come back to

you ina there are hopes when i come back to you in a week or fortnight the numbers may have stabilised at around 3000 per week, hopefully reaching the peak in deaths but still at the moment, rising. really great news when you think about the number. it also, as you say, some suggestions that maybe things are stabilising. what do these latest figures do to the number of deaths overall? we have been looking at this periodically and looking at excess deaths so the number of deaths, for example, we would expect over and above what one would expect for this time of year. they are continuing to push that figure above the average and that gap is getting bigger and bigger every week. this week, as you said, we are almost 20% above what the number of deaths we would expect to see at this time of year, we saw just would expect to see at this time of year, we sawjust under 14,000, you would expect may be just over 12, i think, but again, that gap is not as big as the number of covid deaths, it has to be said. it's very hard to

set the expectations for the number of deaths we should see at this stage in the year when we've had a huge global pandemic and as we move into the influenza season, the impacts of flu will probably be reduced by the impacts we take against coronavirus, it's hard to say whether the five year average or what's happened over the last five yea rs what's happened over the last five years applies now but it is clear that the number of covid deaths we see continues to push in the hope the total number of deaths above the average, the hope is as they flatten out, the pattern start to flatten as well. we probably aren't seeing any sign of these coming down, we are in for weeks and may be months of deaths above average levels, we have been advised to buckle in but hopefully the news will not continue to get any worse. robert, thank you. china has launched a mission to try to retrieve rock samples from the moon using a robotic spacecraft which blasted off last night. it's more than 40 years since the americans and the soviets brought home lunar rock

and soil for analysis. our science correspondent jonathan amos reports. another lunar mission for china. the country's already sent four highly successful space projects to the moon. two that circled the body to take pictures, and two that landed and released small—wheeled vehicles. but chinese engineers know this latest endeavour will be by far their most challenging, because the chang'e—5 spacecraft is going to try to pick up rocks off the moon's surface and bring them home. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. it's more than 40 years since the apollo astronauts hopped across the lunar terrain. they collected more than 300 kilos of rock to analyse in earth laboratories. from those samples, we learned a lot about when and how the moon might have formed, as well as other key events in the early history of the solar system. the new chang'e—5 rocks should

fill out that story. we visited the moon nine times before, six times with human beings and three times with robotic landers. from those places we visited, most of them were across the equator of the moon. but chang'e—5 is going through a completely new region. it's visiting a lava—field area in the north western region of the moon. china has been steadily building its skill with space robotics, but it's also now launching astronauts. these men and women are working initially in space modules in orbit around the earth. china hopes soon to have its own permanent space station this decade. the ambition, however, is to venture further afield, and the chang'e—5 sample return mission employs basically the same technical concepts you'd use to put chinese astronauts on the moon, and then bring them home safely. jonathan amos, bbc news. some dogs are good boys —

but this dog is a very good boy. his name is kuno — the hero military dog — who later will be getting the animal equivalent of the victoria cross. it's for saving soldiers' lives in afghanistan. quite the achievement for a four—year—old. tim muffett has more on this incredible dog. kuno was supporting uk forces in afghanistan last year as they targeted al-qaeda extremists. pinned down under heavy attack, kuno was instructed to tackle an enemy gunman. fantastic dog as he was, he absolutely took that moment and, despite being hit by a couple of gunshot wounds, he managed to achieve what he set out to do, and he broke the deadlock and saved lives. the ministry of defence have asked that kuno's handler remains anonymous. i moved over to him and he was hobbling around and he was clearly in a bad way. his paw was all mangled up, it didn't look good. so we bandaged that up.

he had what's called a through and through on his thigh, so the bullet has gone straight through his thigh and out the other side. kuno is being awarded the pdsa dickin medal. introduced in 1943, it's the highest award in animal can receive while serving in military conflict. as well as dogs, horses, pigeons and even a cat have previously been honoured. it's in commemoration of trying to honour that bond that society recognises it has with its animals, and the reliance it has on its animals. now thriving in retirement, kuno became the first military working dog to be fitted with custom—made prosthetic limbs. kuno receiving this medaljust makes me feel massively proud of him, and i think he just completely deserves it and it's welljustified, and it's really good to see his efforts and his courage recognised.

that is kuno! now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. for many of us today, fairly cloudy, little bit of sunshine in the south—east, east anglia, the channel islands, we also have rain in the forecast. low pressure to the north of us come its attendant weather fronts introducing the rain and the squeeze in isobars across the irish sea and south—west scotland, here we have gusty winds. the rain continues, notjust in scotla nd the rain continues, notjust in scotland and northern ireland but also a across parts of cumbria, the cloud can up in wales and the south—west for drizzle and we have sunny breaks coming in across east anglia, the south—east and channel islands with temperatures up to about 13 degrees. as we head through the evening and overnight weather front start to move slowly south eastwards, eventually clearing western parts of northern ireland, western parts of northern ireland, western scotland, with clear skies

following behind and a few showers. ahead of it we have a fair bit of cloud coming our way, it is still mild but already we start to see the colder air filtering south, behind that very same cold front. the cold front that very same cold front. the cold fro nt m oves that very same cold front. the cold front moves south on wednesday, the isobars slide, gusty winds across the northern and western isles but the northern and western isles but the milder air the northern and western isles but the milderair hanging the northern and western isles but the milder air hanging on in the south—east represented by the yellow, the blue, colderfollowing behind this fragmented band of rain. eventually the rain gets into the fat south—east, clearer skies in south—west england, wales, northern ireland, scotland, with some showers in the north the temperature rise, 8-10 in the north the temperature rise, 8—10 for many of us, 12 or 13 in the south—east. all of us feel the cooler air coming our way during thursday as the weather front moves away, a ridge of high pressure building, not much in the way of wind so we start with some frost,

widespread on thursday. some fog overnight, lifting into low cloud, you see we have cloud across parts of scotland, north—west england, northern ireland but there will be a lot of dry weather around, temperature range six to maybe 11 or 12. the remnants of the weather front across southern areas in the english channel. as we head through friday, through the weekend to the early pa rt friday, through the weekend to the early part of next week, there will bea early part of next week, there will be a lot of dry weather, quite settled, increasing amounts of 00:59:28,452 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 plant, feeling chilly.