this is bbc news. the headlines: the prime minister defends putting millions of people into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating for people who feel that they are in an area where, a high tier area where there is very little incidents in their village, i understand why people feel so frustrated. it comes as latest data shows that the r number now stands between 0.9 and one. shops and cafes are closed again, in another lockdown

in northern ireland, just a week after being allowed to reopen. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again following the "firebreak" lockdown. 13,000 jobs are at risk — the arcadia group, which owns topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse. the eu's chief negotiator proposes that eu fleets return some fish caught in british waters if a free trade deal is agreed, rte reports. his comments come ahead of brexit talks in london this weekend. a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer is trialled by the nhs.

the prime minister has been defending the decision to place large areas of england in high coronavirus tiers next week, after many of his own mps expressed anger that the restrictions aren't more locally targeted. some are now threatening to rebel in a vote in the commons on tuesday. damian green is a former cabinet minister and mp for kent, which will face the most severe measures. he's one of seven tory mps to write complaining that the restrictions are unfair and "risk undermining public support" — they say they've secured a meeting with the health secretary. boris johnson acknowledged this was "frustrating", but the country needs "simplicity and clarity" to help curb the disease. these maps show which areas of england are in which tiers before and after the current lockdown —

from next wednesday 32 million people will be living under tier 2 restrictions and 23 million under tier 3. tier 2 restrictions mean no socialising indoors, with people outside your household or support bubble. but you can meet up to six people outdoors. restaurants and pubs can open but only if they serve a substantial meal. in tier 3, the most severe restrictions, there is no mixing indoors, meeting outside is only permitted in a public space and restaurants and pubs can only provide takeaway or delivery services. in the last half hour, the uk's r or reproduction number has now fallen to 0.9 to i. here's our political correspondent iain watson. here's a riddle for you. tunbridge wells in kent has 109 covid cases per 100,000 people. next week, when the english lockdown

ends, it will be in tier 3 with the toughest restrictions. so, why is it that westminster, with 115 cases per 100,000 is only in tier 2? the answer is, if your town has a low level of virus, but you're in the same county as an area with a much greater level, you could end up in a high tier. some former cabinet ministers say unless the government signals a change, they'll rebel against the restrictions. unless somebody produces some new and convincing evidence i haven't seen yet, i'll vote against them. the point that i and others have been making consistently is that we should do it on a rational basis. so, instead of having these wide, county—based areas where people are put in tiers, we should do it on a borough basis. there's probably no better way of suggesting you are following the science than to be seen in a public health laboratory. the prime minister wants

more rapid covid tests, which he thinks will help get areas out of tier 3. but he rejected taking a more local approach to restrictions, insisting he was injecting clarity into the system. i know it's very frustrating for people who feel that they're in a high tier area, when there's very little incidence in their area. i totally understand why people feel so frustrated. but the difficulty is, if you did it any other way, first of all you would divide the country up into loads and loads of very complicated subdivisions. there's got to be some simplicity and some clarity. the government's medical advisers are warning you not to hug your granny this christmas. but, my goodness, borisjohnson‘s going to have to keep a tight grip on his own mps. because when they vote on new restrictions next week, rebels in his own ranks believe they can wipe out his parliamentary majority. the government hopes it can shrink the size of any rebellion.

but if the prime minister does need to rely on labour support to get his restrictions through, that will come at a price. we are not against tough restrictions, we're not against tiers. what we want is financial support for people. what we want is a proper, working test and trace system. what we want is proper support for people who need to isolate, people still don't get decent sick pay for isolation. these are testing times for the prime minister. vaccines are on their way, but the prospect of more restrictions this winter is proving politically toxic to some of his own mps. in a moment we'll speak to a scientist who is one of the many who advises government and we'll hear from a business in one of the areas due to go into tier 3 next week. but first, let's just remind

oursleves what the critera the government has been using to decide who goes into what tier is. first, the total number of cases. then case rates in people over the age of 60. the rate at which they are either rising or falling. the number of positive cases relative to the number of total tests. and finally the amount of pressure on the local nhs. theirs of pressure on the local nhs. are the issues that a looked theirs are the issues that are looked at and discussed before it is decided which part of the country goes into which tier. professorjohn edmunds is from the london school of hygiene & tropical medicine and a member of sage. that is a group of scientists advising the government. hello, good afternoon. you will be aware that there is quite a political row at there is quite a political row at the moment as to whether the tiers are right, whether they are too wide

ranging, the ones that come to england next week. as a scientist, do you feel that there was any alternative than to do what has been announced 7 alternative than to do what has been announced? we have to have restrictions in place, u nfortu nately. restrictions in place, unfortunately. the numbers of infections in the population is still relatively high, actually very high, about one in 85 of us in england are infected with the virus. that is a very high number. and so we do need to take quite stringent action to bring infection it down, so we do need restrictions, u nfortu nately. so we do need restrictions, unfortunately. and the fact that some of these that cover a very wide geographical areas, some of these that cover a very wide geographicalareas, certainly some of these that cover a very wide geographical areas, certainly cover that millions of people, to your mind, is that unfortunate but simply the way it has to be? yes, u nfortu nately. the way it has to be? yes, unfortunately. for the way it has to be? yes, u nfortu nately. for two the way it has to be? yes, unfortunately. for two reasons, three reasons, one i think the prime minister just three reasons, one i think the prime ministerjust mentioned in your clip. it is confusing when things

are done on a very local scale and you do not necessarily want that. bed from a scientific point of view, if you make the area is small, very small, then it could be that pubs are closed in your area, but they are closed in your area, but they are open itjust down the street and say that causes... it means that you canjust nip say that causes... it means that you can just nip down the road and say that causes... it means that you canjust nip down the road and enjoy your pint or whatever, but that means that it reduces the effectiveness of the intervention in your local area and there are equity issues that it might be deemed unfair. areas it needs to be relatively large in order to have an effect. finally, the lesson with epidemics and certainly in this epidemics and certainly in this epidemic is you have to do things harder and wider than you think you do and that is because the data that we have is always a bit behind the

epidemic and we do not record every case, so in fact, the level of infection is worse than we think it is, wider than we think it is, so we really do have to take measures that are wider than it you would like them to be and harsher than you would like them to be, really, in order to be guaranteed to be effective. right, and the fact these will be reviewed on december the 16th, how much scientific data will there be it by then that could shift there be it by then that could shift the dial on any of this? is that actually long enough to see any significant changes?” actually long enough to see any significant changes? i would not anticipate a large amount of significant changes by then. i'd expect cases to have continued to come down, but how much of that is due to the new tier system which will have only been in place a couple of weeks and how much is a residual effect of the lockdown will be difficult to pick. much will be the residual effect of the lockdown.

i think it will be hard to tell how effective the different tiers are doing at that point. i would anticipate that they are effective, certainly tier 2 and tier 3, but i think it would be hard to tell exactly how effective they are being. 0k, and in the last hour we have had an update in terms of the r numberand we are have had an update in terms of the r number and we are told that across the uk, it stands at between 0.9 and one. does that tell us that the restrictions that a lot of people have been living under is working? what does that tell you? yes, the restrictions have been working. three things that have come in place in relatively rapid order, first the tier system, the first version of it came in place in mid—october. probably tier 3 had been relatively effective. that has greatly helped by the half term that came in just after that for a week and subsequent

to that we have had the lockdown, so all of these things have happened in quite rapid succession and they have together brought the infection rate tos down. you canjust together brought the infection rate tos down. you can just start to see that with 0ns prevalence study and also with cases coming down and hospitalisations levelling and so on. just before i let you go, i have interviewed scientists this week who have expressed to me a bit of queasiness about the five—day break thatis queasiness about the five—day break that is being allowed for christmas. do you feel that is a nervous time? does that make you anxious, that decision? a little bit. i understand the reason for it and i think we all do need a bit of a break from all of this, but it carries a risk of course. and so i think it is up to individuals to manage that risk as

best they can, so if you have family members who are very vulnerable, very old and frail, then perhaps do not see them this christmas, perhaps wait until they have been vaccinated and see them at easter. very interesting to hear your perspective, thank you for your time. our next guest is in sleaford in lincolnshire — before we hear from them, a look at the situation there. the whole county of lincolnshire has been placed in tier 3 from next week. this is the changes in england from the 2nd of december. across the county as a whole the most recent data reports 307 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. the town of sleaford is in the local authority district of north kesteven. ido i do hope i am pronouncing that correctly, i apologise if you live there and i have got that wrong.

the latest data for the area reports 219 cases per 100,000 people, which is above the england average of 165. sam pavlou runs tiamo restaurant in sleaford, shejoins us now. good afternoon. goodness, your life must have been really tough since march. explain what your situation is now, where you are economically, how you are feeling right now. is now, where you are economically, how you are feeling right nowm is now, where you are economically, how you are feeling right now. it is emotional. it is very emotional at the moment. never did we anticipate taking ona the moment. never did we anticipate taking on a business that we were going to have the highs and lows that we have had in this year. it is crazy. it is absolutely crazy. 0bviously, starts back in march, but then we were able to open up again injuly. we then we were able to open up again in july. we had then we were able to open up again injuly. we had a fantastic summer.

0bviously, with all of the restrictions and the procedures that we put in place to be covid—19 secure throughout the summer, we still had a fantastic summer, so we we re still had a fantastic summer, so we were really on a high. and then obviously we are back in the situation where our beloved restau ra nt ca nnot situation where our beloved restaurant cannot open. it is horrible. it really is horrible. it is not just horrible. it really is horrible. it is notjust me, obviously. there are so many people around sleaford and other areas that are in this position and it is just awful, it is really awful. of course. goodness, i can hear it in your voice. how many people do you employ? have you been able to furlough them? what has happened in the terms of the people you are directly responsible for? within tiamo, we have 19 staff members. some of them have been fortu nate members. some of them have been fortunate and been able to be furloughed. 0thers fortunate and been able to be furloughed. others not so fortunate,

because they were on standby before the cut—off first furlough, which then meant that they were not entitled to the second round of furlough, unfortunately. so that has been a double blow for them. and yes, we arejust been a double blow for them. and yes, we are just trying to support everybody as much as we can. 0bviously, everybody as much as we can. obviously, we have not even received the money back for furlough at the moment, but we are still providing the wages as normal. they get paid ona the wages as normal. they get paid on a weekly basis and we would not ever push that any further. we are still finding the money to be able to pay them so that then they can still have an income coming in. so you have been paying your staff, but you have been paying your staff, but you are still waiting for all the money, the 80%... you are still waiting for all the money, the 8096. .. ? you are still waiting for all the money, the 80%... ? no, we got to be first round of furlough and we are just waiting for this round to start again, but obviously we have been in

there since the 11th of november, so we are still paying the staff's wagers each week, we just have not received that furlough back yet. so you are having to do that. do you have any thoughts at all about the five—day break over christmas or is that really a drop in the ocean in terms of how you run your business? i have got so many thoughts. it is a little bit of a kick in the teeth, i am not going to lie. it is hard, it is hard when we as businesses have spent thousands and thousands of pounds to become covid secure and we have got our procedures in place to keep people two metres apart, to have a one in, one out system through the door, to only allow one household round the table, to have a hand sanitisers, the list goes on, but we have followed everything by

the book and all the rules and then obviously i completely understand that it obviously i completely understand thatitis obviously i completely understand that it is christmas and people that wa nt to that it is christmas and people that want to see their families and things, but to then be told that the restrictions are all going to be relaxed for those five days over christmas, with none of those procedures in place in people's homes because they will not go to those kind of links within the home, is quite gut—wrenching. —— those kind of lengths within the home. we know we can provide those kind of things and yet we are still not allowed to open. thank you for being honest, because i think that is a point that will resonate with so many people watching, so it is really good to talk to you. i'm sorry it is such a tough time for you and sony business owners. thank you and sony business owners. thank you so much for speaking to us, we might all talk again in the coming months cut so many business owners.

and to find out which tier your area will be in, you can use the checker on the bbc news website. i appreciate this is the changes in england we are talking about here. just enter your postcode to see what the rules are. people in northern ireland have entered a two—week lockdown. nonessential shops have had to close, along with cafes, hairdressers and beauticians, just a week after they were allowed to re—open, following another period of restrictions. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports from belfast. where there's usually seasonal shopping, there's now a shutdown. the devolved government in northern ireland has told most shops to close because it's classified them as nonessential. last night, though, the belfast city centre seemed to be much busier than normal. shoppers rushed to buy gifts in store, while they still could. it'll not be long until they are opened up again. i think people are going crazy

at the minute, shopping. they think they're under pressure, but they are not. with the panic, everybody going in and out, people are running back and forward with no masks on and not sanitising themselves. retailers have criticised the timing of the lockdown. the owner of this jewellery shop says the closure couldn't have come at a worse point. we'd happily close from the 24th to the end of february. i wouldn't bat an eyelid on it. but to take away two weeks out of the four, pre—christmas, it's just a wrecking ball to retail. close contact services such as hairdressers were previously closed from mid—0ctober until last friday — after just seven days, they've shut again. i'm literally using my own savings that i've had, that i've used for future life, for everything to do with my daughter and my husband. but unfortunately, i have had to use it all now. so it's dwindling away. the leaders of the stormont

executive say the new measures are painful, but paramount. the next few weeks are really important. we are asking the community to make a huge sacrifice, and we recognise that. i think we all know that the run—up to christmas, ordinarily, is as exciting as the day itself. we have to put every effort in to bring the transmission down as low as we possibly can. that allows us the flexability to give families some relief at christmas time. we are asking people to comply and stay at home, that is the message for the next few weeks. people here are set for a difficult december, but there are some positive signs. several weeks ago, the virus was spreading faster in northern ireland than anywhere else in the uk. but the rate has been falling, and now it is lower than in england or wales. chris page, bbc news, belfast. restrictions are being reintroduced in wales next friday to tackle the recent rise in coronavirus cases.

indoor entertainment venues and hospitality will be affected by the tightening of measures. the announcement was made today by the first minister of wales, mark drakeford. the cabinet has agreed to take further, specific and targeted action to reinforce the current national measures we have in place. we will focus on those places where we meet and where coronavirus thrives, drawing on the recent evidence from sage about those interventions that have the greatest impact on the virus. any additional actions we take will build on that sage advice, but will be designed to meet the unique circumstances we face here in our country. cinemas, bowling alleys and other indoor entertainment venues will now close. there will be new restrictions in the hospitality industry which will come into effect

on friday of next week. now, i knowjust how hard the sector has worked to put measures in place to protect the public and i know that this will be a worrying time for all those working in the industry. that is why over this weekend we will be working with partners to finalise the details of the new arrangements and to put in place a further major package of financial support to respond to the challenges and changes faced in that industry. mark drakeford mark dra keford talking mark drakeford talking about this restrictions that coming in a week's time. in terms of the impact of all of this in schools and colleges, to bring you some news just coming through from our education editor in the last few moments, we are

hearing... infact, this the last few moments, we are hearing... in fact, this is england only, schools and colleges will be able to ask for extra money to cover the cost of teacher absences because of the virus. it is only for this winter term, i think that is what is its saying. the second half of the winter term, in fact. its saying. the second half of the winterterm, infact. money its saying. the second half of the winter term, in fact. money can be backdated to november at the first. but essentially, schools will be able to ask for extra money to cover the cost of teacher absence. the department for education at saying there are no plans to close schools and early for christmas or to make the holidays any longer. so that is the holidays any longer. so that is the latest detail that in terms of schools and colleges in england. let's tent is a major business news. thus make a return to some major business news. sir philip green's retail empire arcadia, which operates chains including topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse,

putting 13,000 jobs at risk. in a statement, arcadia says it is working on "contingency options" to secure its future. our business correspondent katy austin told me more about the background. arcadia has avoided collapse before, but it has had to cutjobs and cut its number of stores. now it has about 13,000 employees and about 500 stores. of course, they have had to close for long periods of time this year because of the government's coronavirus restrictions. in a statement today, arcadia said that had a material impact on trading across its businesses. the group had been trying to secure £30 million of emergency funding, but it seems that hasn't worked out and administrators could be called in as early as monday. what does that mean in practice? it means the search would be on to find a buyer or buyers to try and rescue the brands that include, as you say, topshop and dorothy perkins, and of course save as many jobs as possible. we understand that shops would continue to trade. so customers wouldn't suddenly

see the shops closing while the administration process is going on. they would keep open, of course, where they are allowed to due to restrictions. eu sources have expressed surprise at a media report that their chief negotiator michel barnier will soon propose they give up between 15 and 18% of theirfishing quota in uk waters as part of a brexit trade deal. it's understood the uk has been insisting, for months, that it should be able to double its catch in its own waters, as a consequence of becoming an independent coastal state. 0ne diplomat said this percentage bracket was one of many discussed in the last two and a half weeks, and would be a "very high price to pay" for eu fishing countries. the oxford astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine has come a step closer to a possible roll—out, after the government asked the medicines regulator to assess

its safety and effectiveness. 100 million doses have been pre—ordered here in the uk. it's one of a number of vaccines being worked on around the world. 0ur health correspondent katharine da costa is here. in terms of the oxford vaccine, people watching might remember there has been a little bit of controversy in recent days, concerns about some of the data, the numbers, so where are we with the oxford vaccine right now? yes, you're a member on monday 0xford now? yes, you're a member on monday oxford and astrazeneca published three figures, 62% if two full doses we re three figures, 62% if two full doses were given a month apart. 90% of half a dose was followed by a full dose and 70% was at the overall effectiveness of preventing covid—19, so all above the 50% benchmark set by the who. around 3000 volunteers were given an initial half dose in error, that was spotted early on and was reported to the regulator and it was agreed that the regulator and it was agreed that the trial could continue. it looks like that approach might have been

more effective. but some have questioned the efficacy data. if it is 62% compared to madonna macri and pfizer with more than 90% protection, some say perhaps you should consider vaccines with high levels of protection it are those most at risk. —— moderna advisor. astrazeneca said it will continue to invest in the half dose and full dose approach as part of trial is ongoing in the us and that will involve 30,000 volunteers. we are still waiting for the full date and that will be submitted to the regulator and published. the regulator and published. the regulator now looking at all the results for both pfizer and oxford vaccines and they will look at safety, efficacy and quality. the government is saying that if it gets the green light, its plans to roll out the vaccine as soon as next month. 0k, a quick thought about the letter a rt month. 0k, a quick thought about the letter art number, because we have been reporting that it is down between norway nine and one, but i know that is a uk wide number. what

does it tell us? —— make route between 0.9 and one. it is all about the rate of growth and whether the epidemic is growing or shrinking and it has been coming down, so it is the first time since august that it has dipped just below one. it is down on last week and that is a good sign. it tells you how many infected person passes the virus on to, so anything over one means that the epidemic is growing, so here it is starting to dip, so it is going on the right direction and it follows the right direction and it follows the trend that we have been seeing of rates starting to level off and in some places are starting to come down. it mirrors what the results we re down. it mirrors what the results were released from the office for national statistics yesterday looking at the week to saturday the zist looking at the week to saturday the 21st of november where it said one in 85 in england had the virus. that was down from one and 18 the week before. we have seen rates falling in northern ireland and wales and just a slightly going up in scotland. but public health england,

which also carries out its own surveillance data, said this is encouraging that rates are going down in england, so there is some hope. won a doctor, the medical director of public health england, saying everyone's hard work is helping to bring it down. science advisers in the search committee have said you really need to get r below one and keep it there for a period of time if you are going to see a significant impact and that would mean bringing down hospital admissions and then in turn deaths, so things are going the direction, but the reason why lockdown is being replaced by tiers is to continue to slow the spread and not to see things levelling off and flattening, to actually bring a case is right down, keep them low enough, over the winter months, until we get a vaccine. all right, thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett.

a mixture of sunshine and fog today, still fog into the evening from gloucestershire, 0xfordshire, to the east midlands. it will lift because the cloud is moving north bringing some patchy rain. there could be a few pockets of mist and fog, frost around as well but much milder end further south where we have got the cloud. some sunshine to start the day further north but that will move north bringing patchy rain, we may get some brighter skies to the south—east but for many still quite cloudy. 10—12 in southern parts. best of the sunshine in scotland, temperatures only around five or six, still cold air. sunday looks great and misty, hill fog across much of the country, some sunshine in the north—east, west wales and far south of england, temperatures 8-10.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the prime minister defends putting millions of people into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating for people who feel that they are in a high—tier area where there is very little incidence in their village, i understand why people feel so frustrated. shops and cafes are closed again, in another lockdown in northern ireland, just a week after being allowed to reopen. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again following the "firebreak" lockdown. 13,000 jobs are at risk. the arcadia group, which owns top shop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse.

ahead of brexit talks this weekend, it's reported that the eu's chief negotiator is proposing that eu fleets return some fish caught in british waters, if a free trade deal is agreed. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. england's cricket tour of the netherlands next may has been put back a year. but their first overseas game since the pandemic does take place this afternoon. they are set to face south africa in cape town, the first of three 2020 internationals and a lot at stake according to england captain eoin morgan who has told his team mates that places in next years t20 world cup side are still up for grabs. the competition due to start in australia last month, was postponed by a year because of the pandemic.

i think we have a huge amount of, we have a group of players that both are very good batting in the top three but also want to bat in the top three and in reality we need extremely strong top seven in order to win or compete at a world cup. england have been given one of the top european seedings for the world cup in 2022 and that means they could be in a qualifying group with wales, and either northern ireland or scotland. england are in the top 10, along with the world's number one—ranked team belgium and reigning champions france. wales will be in pot two, with northern ireland and scotland in pot three, which also contains the republic of ireland. 55 teams will be split into 10 groups of five or six, when the draw is made on december the 7th. the northern league clubs have held an emergency meeting this morning, and they've decided to suspend the league for a further two weeks until 16th december, with all but four of the a0 clubs covered by tier 3 restrictions. supporters of teams outside tier 3 will be allowed back

in from next wednesday, and getting money in through the turnstiles is crucial for many. although some bigger clubs will still find themselves out of pocket, the return of fans is being seen as a positive move. we will lose more money unfortunately, but we see this as an important way to help build confidence with government, build confidence with fans, to test our systems and hopefully then be able to work to bring more fans back sooner. down the pyramid this is an important financial lifeline. it will not ever eradicate losses. but we have to start somewhere and this is a chance for us to build confidence. lewis hamilton was dominant on his return to the track, after becoming the most successful f1 driver in history. in first practice for the bahrain grand prix, he came home almost half a second

quicker than his mercedes team—mate valtteri bottas. it wasn't a hugely representative session as the teams spent some of it trying out new tyres and it was held in daylight, whereas p2, qualifying and the race itself will all be in the dark. after a rough old rugby league season, disrupted by covid 19 cases and matches called off, we still have a super league grand final tonight, with two of the sport's great rivals, smashing into each other. reigning champions st helens take on wigan warriors. it's too early for fans to be back, but the teams will still relish the occasion, and the chance to lift the big prize when they run out in hull. definitely more enjoyable playing in front of a packed stadium. it's definitely been missed by the boys. but i think we've got used to it. everyone's got their head around that, and, yeah, the final, the final definitely missed that atmosphere. but there's still a lot at stake and there's still a lot up for grabs. so i think when you look back, it might not be the most memorable game, but it's still pretty special to win a grand final.

the players, more than anyone, deserve all the credit that we can give them. they're the ones that have taken the risks i suppose, every week, in terms of going back to work when others weren't and going out and playing each other. they've done that without crowds, they've done that with all the restrictions and a lot of things put in place obviously for their protection, but it does add to the load, add to the mental load and the difficulty of what's already a tough season. they've done that really well. that's all the sport for now. let's get more on the prime minister defending putting millions of people into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. some tory mps are threatening to vote against the measures in the house of commons next tuesday. but our political correspondent, iain watson, says borisjohnson is likely to get his way.

i don't think, to be honest, that he is in any danger of failing to get his restrictions through next week. because i think, in the end, the majority labour mps will back them. but it will certainly be embarrassing for the prime minister, with an 80 seat majority, if he had to rely on opposition mps to get the measures through. as far as i am aware, three things are being done to try to limit the size of any rebellion in the conservative ranks. the first is to provide more information on how the decisions are taken. don't forget, it's not all about how many infections you have in your local area, but also about how the nhs is coping locally, and how many over—60s are infected. all of that determines the tiers. the second thing that the government is going to do is produce an economic assessment of its measures. this is a key demand of some of the potential rebels before that vote on tuesday. the third thing the government is saying is a review of these measures is going to be

meaningful, they say. that is a nod and a wink to some of their mps, that in effect they could get an early christmas present and see their area coming out of tier 3. pushing against that, the medical and scientific advisers are saying, hang on, hold your horses, let's wait and see the effects of relaxing some of the restrictions through the christmas period before taking big decisions. in the end, it is as simple as this. you can't keep politics out of a pandemic. one of the areas that is being placed in tier 3, with the toughest set of restrictions, is the city of hull. despite a dramatic fall in the number of coronavirus cases since last week, it still has the third highest covid infection rate in england. jayne mccubbin has been speaking to people there to find out how it'll affect them. radio: hull, the east riding, north and north east lincolnshire will all be put into tier 3. all quiet in hull at a time of year that should be bustling. boarded up shops are waiting

to reopen from wednesday. for some though, the wait has gone on far too long. tier 3, gareth. how do you feel about that? yeah, still worried, but happy at the same time. it's an awkward one. a lot of people don't believe covid is really true. still? yeah, still. gareth tells me five of his relatives have had the virus in a city which has one of the worst infection rates in the country. to help turn the corner, they now face the most severe tier 3 restrictions. across town, window cleaner paul tells me covid has knocked the stuffing out of him and his business. i've had three weeks in bed with the virus. it affects everybody different. i got the full monty, i got a good backside kicking. how much income do you think you've lost? i've lost about 25 to 30% of my business. it is what it is, and we've got to deal with it. there will be no christmas celebrations in any of these restaurants. tier 3 means takeaway only.

the lights in what was once the piper nightclub perfectly sum up what manager tom is hoping. it's time to check. he's about to find out which tier his city will be in, if his club, reimagined as a bar, can reopen. listen, before you do that, before you do that, just tell me the difference for you between it being tier 2 and tier 3. yeah, monumental. it's... ..it's the difference between it being very bad and catastrophic. we'd overcome quite a lot to get to this point. we'd been operating as a nightclub in march. we operated as a bar from july. and we were ready to take a bit of a plunge and operate as a restaurant from december. tier 3. tier 3 it is. devastating, really. after lockdown mark one, the government pledged schools would be spared shutdowns.

from the 2nd of december, hull city council will be in tier 3, very high alert. that's not a surprise to anybody in hull, i don't think, this morning. no. and that's probably necessary to keep our rates coming down, because the most important thing is that the rates fall away and everybody is safe. and the best place for children is to be in school. but with almost half of the school population spending two weeks in self—isolation this term, covid has still taken a hit. hi, mum, hi, dad! conversations like this between helen, mum iris and dad jack have taken place across england. lockdown is ending and you're not going to be able to see the kids. helen's husband works on the rigs and she has a toddler and a new lockdown baby matilda to look after on her own. the isolation is the hard part. so basically, my parents have bubbled with my grandma. it's mentally, emotionally hard. hopefully, next christmas, the family can have a proper christmas and be together, really.

restrictions are reviewed every two weeks. and infections are coming down here. but quick enough to turn the corner out of tier 3 and into tier 2 before christmas, hull has a tough road ahead. jayne mccubbin, bbc news. as we have been hearing, northern ireland has today gone into another circuit breaker lockdown for 1h days. close—contact services, such as hairdressers and beauty salons have to stay shut. it's one of the sectors which has borne the brunt of the changing restrictions to contain coronavirus. we can talk now to carly hoey who owns the bellaire hair and beauty salon in belfast. how are you doing? that is my, that is the main thing i want to know. how are you doing? that is my, that is the main thing i want to knowm was just a blow because we were working towards five weeks of closure then we prepared for an

opening which we thought would see us opening which we thought would see us through to christmas and they came back immediately and said another further to exclusion and i think for myself and a lot of people in the hospitality industry have to purchase produce and food is purchased on the 11th hour and being told they have to close, they are losing so much profit as it is and this is a further blow to them. i think myself i have got whiplash, closed open closed and i fully understand the virus, i would hate to bea understand the virus, i would hate to be a politician and i'm not an effort to neurologist but ijust... these constant lockdowns have so much —— epidemiologist. we need to look at a more viable way, businesses are already on their knees, i have friends in the industry who have yet to receive any funds in the last weeks. i know civil servants are working hard to make your everyone is getting funding but so many people are closed, it has just not happen quick

enough. do you feel it is smaller businesses or businesses run by people like you, individuals and families, who are taking the brunt of this? it is smaller businesses, beauty salons, hairdressers, independent book shops, so many categories, they are the ones taking the punishment. family run, small to medium—sized businesses are being hit massively, multinationals are still, even though northern ireland is in still, even though northern ireland isina still, even though northern ireland is in a locked down, they are still operating, big stores are national stores which in turn means people will rush out and purchase presence for those stores when you have small toy and book stores, salons like myself, people will not purchase from us because we're closed. it's devastating and the other side of it is the social aspect, the poverty, homelessness, there is so much to look at and as ici have a very, understand politicians have a tough

decision but we have had this virus since march, we cannot continue to lockdown like this. if we go into 2021 like this many businesses will not survive. if you could pick one thing to say to a politician right now about what would make it a bit easierfor now about what would make it a bit easier for your now about what would make it a bit easierfor your business now about what would make it a bit easier for your business to keep going and for you to keep employing the people you employ, what could be done? what could be done to help you? i don't have the answers, i wish i did, i'm notan epidemiologist, not a politician but ido epidemiologist, not a politician but i do see that we had five weeks of closure. we thought when this opens we are open till christmas, they should have closed the entire city down five weeks ago and let us have a christmas. it's financially what we depend on for next part of next year. many common companies depend on christmas to trade, we will not have, we have had 2.5 weeks trading since mid—0ctober and for myself and many trading companies it's

devastating. i don't want know what to say except to wish you all the very best. thank you very much. you may have noticed it's black friday, a day when many shoppers hope to find a sales bargain, and which many retailers see as a key trading date in the run—up to christmas. nonessential shops in england are still closed under the lockdown, so will the online giants take all the custom, making it a gloomy day for the high street? emma simpson reports. it's all go today for the online retailer very. they can process an order injust 30 minutes. this new warehouse opened just after lockdown, and they've been busy ever since. a business gearing up for record—breaking sales as spending has shifted online.

today, we expect to be selling a tv every ten seconds, and a tablet every 15 seconds. 0verall, by midnight tonight, we expect to have shipped not far off 500,000 products to our customers. but can the industry cope? the couriers have hired thousands of extra drivers, like sheila hunter in norfolk. this is what it's going to be like all the way up to christmas now. so, i'm ready. before the pandemic, sheila ran activities for children. that's on pause. now she is delivering amazon parcels. did you ever imagine you would be doing something like this? no, never in a million years. i was quite happy doing what i loved, running birthdays, holiday clubs. i would never have considered delivery driving if covid hadn't come along. we've had black friday deals since the start of the month, just as nonessential retail

was forced into lockdown. terrible timing for high street shops, which really needs the tills to be ringing. shirly runs a small boutique in petersfield. she says if she can't open, she can't compete. i was looking at my figures, earlier on today. and we are about 50% down on what we should be. it's really scary. we've got a lot of ground to cover now, in the next few weeks before christmas. just really worried for the future. next week, she'll be back in business as the high street tries to make up for lost time in what will be a crucial few weeks of festive trading. emma simpson, bbc news. 20 years ago today, the schoolboy damilola taylor was stabbed while walking home from a library in south london. the 10 —year—old was left to die in a stairwell.

the crime shocked the nation and is still painful today for his family and friends. adina campbell has been speaking to some of them. so, this specific path is the path that me and my brother took when we met damilola for the last time. grace boyega was one of the last people to see damilola taylor alive. i remember asking him if he wanted me to walk him home. but him being him, "oh, no, i'm fine. "i'm just going to go home with my grandma." he likes to run and skip. so we didn't see anything, you know, we didn't feel like anything would happen. the ten—year—old nigerian schoolboy had only been in the uk a few months before he was killed. grace says she and damilola quickly became best friends. their birthdays were just three days apart. almost every day, it was me and damilola in the playground, in class. after school, library times, and whatnot. it was me and damilola. this is the last place ten—year—old damilola taylor was seen on cctv

just before his death. he left the library here in peckham and moments later was attacked and stabbed in the leg, just a few hundred metres away from here. he never made it home. his life was brutally cut shortjust before his 11th birthday. his family and friends left devastated, with fear in the peckham community and a nation in shock. he collapsed and bled to death in this stairwell. two brothers, danny and ricky preddie, who werejust 12 and 13 at the time and part of a gang, were eventually convicted of manslaughter in 2006. 20 years on, his father says

the pain will never go away. i still break down, i still feel the pain. it's such a difficult situation that for the rest of my life i have to live with it, you know? and thenjust be at the cross, and then die with it. peckham now looks very different. new homes have replaced the dated tower blocks and the area continues to be regenerated. but grace says the same problems still exist. there's just too many memories that i feel like i have to just leave it here, and move on with my life. adina campbell, bbc news. the argentinian football legend diego maradona has been buried alongside his parents, at a private funeral on the outskirts of buenos aires. huge crowds had gathered in the last few days to pay their respects as his body lay in state. last night, players

at the italian club napoli, where he played for seven years, wore hisjersey, and there have been calls for the stadium there to be renamed in his honour. 0ur correspondent katy watson sent this report. followed to the end by his loyal fans, so many of whom couldn't believe or accept that the superstar footballer was dead. in the end, though, maradona, a man so often in the limelight, had a very private burial, laid to rest next to his beloved mum and dad. these past few days have been emotional in argentina. there's been a very public outpouring of grief for a man people saw notjust as the world's greatest footballer, but the country's finest ambassador as well. translation: it's a loss notjust for argentina but for the entire world. there won't be anyone like him ever again. as a kid, we all wanted

to be maradona. i was born in the same hospital as him. translation: for me, he's not dead, he's still alive. he'll be in my heart forever. it was such big news, i wanted to come here no matter what. i managed it and i'm really happy. sobbing. amid tears and sadness, there were lighter moments. chanting and singing to remember the good times. but as the day went on, emotions ran high as fans waited in line. at one point, they broke down the barrier and riot police were drafted in. the coffin had to be removed from public viewing to keep the peace. maradona wasn't perfect. he battled drug addiction, he had his flaws. but he came from nothing and neverforgot his roots. and argentinians say that he won't be forgotten either. katy watson, bbc news,

in buenos aires. we were talking earlier about black friday. it began in the us, so let's turn our attention there for a few moments. see how things are going. what is expected where you are or what has been happening given that a lot of people are shopping online? if you think in years past, you often associate black friday with people camping out the night before, sometimesjostling, sometimes violent scenes as the crowds rushing to stores to snap up bargains. the big rush is people getting into pyjamas and going online on their computer. we have seen already the rise of shopping online, but i think this year will kind of accelerate that because you are adding health concerns into the

mix. when you think about these big shopping days, social—distancing is not what comes to mind, so that's why the assumption is that a lot of this will take place online. the other big difference this year is that some of the sales typically don't startle thanksgiving, today, retailers brought them forward in pa rt retailers brought them forward in part in part because they are concerned delivery companies won't be able to handle the sheer volume of packages they are meant to make. the one thing i personally find astonishing is that if you look at the forecasts, this year is still meant to be a pretty good year despite the coronavirus for the retailers. there will be some that are better than others, but overall, the figures are meant to remain fairly consistent to the year before, why i find that amazing is that this is notjust a health crisis, it's an economic crisis, the number of people who cannot afford rent, it does not seem to have dented what we expect to see in

terms of the sheer number of retail sales. for now, thank you. hello there. we've seen a real mixture of weather today, areas of low cloud and fog, but also some parts seeing sunshine, many parts of wales earlier on. i showed you a snuny picture of bedford yesterday. this was bedford earlier on today stuck in fog. where it lingers, it's particularly chilly. into this evening, patches of fog all the way from gloucestershire, 0xfordshire into the east midlands. that will lift as the cloud moves northwards, bringing patchy rain, clearer skies into northern england, northern ireland, southern scotland. here may be the odd bit of mist and fog but also some frost, temperatures down to —2 or —3, milder further south as the cloud moves in. once it arrives, it sticks around this weekend, grey for many places, not as cold.

getting more of a breeze for the start of the weekend coming in from continental europe pushing the cold air northwards and lifting the temperatures further south. we will start with some sunshine across scotland. cloud moving northwards bringing rain, some patchy light rain or drizzle. brightening up a touch in the south east perhaps. the air milder across england and wales, even in the south where it is cloudy, temperatures 10—12. in scotland, where we are likely to get the best of the sunshine, here after the first the start, temperatures 5—6. over the second half of the weekend, the air stagnates, wind drops. the high pressure extending back across much of the uk. lots of low cloud, mist and some hill fog around as well. many places dry but cloudy. some sunshine perhaps, the breeze picking up in northern scotland, sunshine for west wales and the far south of england with temperatures 12 in plymouth, generally 8—10.

next week, the high pressure starts to decline as weather systems run around the top of it from the atlantic spilling down across the uk on the weaker weather front, breeze picking up from the west or the north—west through the day. cloud thickening, patchy rain coming down across scotland and northern ireland. further south, into england and wales where it is cloudy, not quite as misty. still on the mild side, highs of 9—10 c. vaccine. all right, thank you very much.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: the prime minister defends putting millions of people into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating for people who feel that they are in a high—tier area where there is very little incidence in their village, i understand why people feel so frustrated. it comes as the latest data shows the coronavirus r number in the uk is now between 0.9 and 1. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again following the "firebreak" lockdown. 13,000 jobs are at risk —

the arcadia group, which owns topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse. ahead of brexit talks in london this weekend, the eu's chief negotiator proposes that eu fleets return some fish caught in british waters if a free trade deal is agreed. a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer, is trialled by the nhs. hello, good afternoon. the prime minister has been defending the decision to place large areas of england in high

coronavirus tiers next week, after some of his own mps are threatening to rebel, amid anger that the restrictions aren't more locally targeted. damian green is a former cabinet minister. the mp for kent is one of seven tory mps to write complaining that the restrictions are unfair and "risk undermining public support". they've now secured a meeting with the health secretary. boris johnson acknowledged this was "frustrating", but said the country needs "simplicity and clarity" to help curb the disease. these maps show the changing face of england in terms of area restriction before and after the current lockdown. from next wednesday, 32 million people will be living under tier 2 restrictions and 23 million under the most severe tier 3. it comes as the uk's r or reproduction number has now fallen to 0.9 to 1, according to latest official figures from the department of health.

here's our political correspondent iain watson. here's a riddle for you. tunbridge wells in kent has 109 covid cases per 100,000 people. next week, when the english lockdown ends, it will be in tier 3 with the toughest restrictions. so, why is it that westminster, with 115 cases per 100,000 is only in tier 2? the answer is, if your town has a low level of virus, but you're in the same county as an area with a much greater level, you could end up in a high tier. some former cabinet ministers say unless the government signals a change, they'll rebel against the restrictions. unless somebody produces some new and convincing evidence i haven't seen yet, i'll vote against them. the point that i and others have been making consistently is that we should do it on a rational basis. so, instead of having these wide, county—based areas where people are put in tiers, we should do it

on a borough basis. there's probably no better way of suggesting you are following the science than to be seen in a public health laboratory. the prime minister wants more rapid covid tests, which he thinks will help get areas out of tier 3. but he rejected taking a more local approach to restrictions, insisting he was injecting clarity into the system. i know it's very frustrating for people who feel that they're in a high—tier area, when there's very little incidence in their area. i totally understand why people feel so frustrated. but the difficulty is, if you did it any other way, first of all you would divide the country up into loads and loads of very complicated subdivisions. there's got to be some simplicity and some clarity. the government's medical advisers are warning you not to hug your granny this christmas. but, my goodness, borisjohnson's going to have to keep a tight

grip on his own mps. because when they vote on new restrictions next week, rebels in his own ranks believe they can wipe out his parliamentary majority. the government hopes it can shrink the size of any rebellion. but if the prime minister does need to rely on labour support to get his restrictions through, that will come at a price. we are not against tough restrictions, we're not against tiers. what we want is financial support for people. what we want is a proper, working test and trace system. what we want is proper support for people who need to isolate, people still don't get decent sick pay for isolation. these are testing times for the prime minister. vaccines are on their way, but the prospect of more restrictions this winter is proving politically toxic to some of his own mps. our next guest is in lincoln. before we hearfrom them, a look

at the situation across the county. the whole county of lincolnshire has been placed in tier 3 from next week. across the county as a whole, the most recent data reports 307 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. the town of sleaford is in the local authority district of north kesteven. the latest data for the area reports 219 cases per 100,000 people. in a moment we will speak to the federation of small businesses, but first let's look at the impact on the county's hospitality industry. earlier i spoke to sam pavlou, who runs tiamo restaurant in sleaford, about being in tier 3 and the exemptions over christmas. it is a little bit of a kick in the teeth, i am not going to lie. it is hard, it is hard when we, as businesses, have spent thousands and thousands of pounds to become covid secure and we have got our procedures in place to keep

people two metres apart, to have a one in, one out system through the door, to only allow one household round the table, to have the hand sanitisers, the list goes on, but we have followed everything by the book and all the rules and then obviously i completely understand that it is christmas and people want to see their families and things, but to then be told that the restrictions are all going to be relaxed for those five days over christmas, with none of those procedures in place in people's homes because they will not go to those kind of lengths within the home, is quite gut—wrenching, if i'm honest. because we know we can provide those kind of things and we have been providing those kind of things and yet we are still not allowed to open.

that was sam pavlou who runs a restau ra nt that was sam pavlou who runs a restaurant in sleaford. our next guest is in the city of lincoln, where the latest figures for the city show 329 cases per 100,000 people, which is above the england average of 165. katrina pierce is from the federation of small businesses in lincolnshire. good afternoon. goodness, what are you and your members are feeling as your county goes into tier 3 next week? yes, yesterday was a very difficult day. i think lots of us we re difficult day. i think lots of us were not naive about the facts that pa rt were not naive about the facts that part of the county might face tougher restrictions, but to get the news that the whole of the county, and an enormous county, the second largest in the country, city find out that the whole of the county will face those restrictions, of all the months of the year in the run—up to christmas, was extremely difficult. there an hospitality

sector, our members here, are heartbroken, frankly. yes, in terms of the reaction of people feed through to you, the balance between them perhaps possibly understanding them perhaps possibly understanding the need for restrictions on a scientific basis, but also saying how on earth am i meant to pay my staff, support my family, what sort of feedback have you been getting? absolutely that. these business owners are sensible people, they watch the news, they perfectly understand the situation we are in. the difficulty is in two parts, the fa ct the difficulty is in two parts, the fact that lincolnshire is a big cou nty fact that lincolnshire is a big county and it seems to be the area to the north—east that are having the most difficulty with the infection, so those in the centre, the south and the south—west are quite disappointed that we are grouped together and it has cut off a really lucrative period for them in the run—up to christmas. the other difficulty of the fact that yes, they know they have to work and keep staff on the books. the furlough scheme is there which is fantastic and has worked really

well, but a of people in hospitality, hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs particularly, make up to 20% of their annual rent in that they lived up to christmas, so to see that curtailed yesterday was really difficult. they are in limbo at the moment until we get this next review point on the 16th of december, which is only nine days before christmas, it is quite difficult. yes, and it is really striking that you reminded us that it is such a big county. are there those who say do you know what, this is such a wide geographical area it would have been a fairer if parts of the county perhaps with a lower rate are allowed to open a bit more, because of the crucial time of year? yes, that is exactly what i'm hearing. for those outside of the most difficult areas, for example one area which is in the opposite point of the county to those facing difficulty, they have been saying i really just wa nt difficulty, they have been saying i really just want to open, because they are near areas like peterborough, stanford and grantham, in the south—western parts of the cou nty in the south—western parts of the county and really are not seeing the

same numbers of infection, so they we re same numbers of infection, so they were really hoping there would be some district by district approach was obviously, that is not feasible yet, so there's particularly who are not facing the west of the infection, they are really disappointed that they cannot reopen as they had hoped to do so. you mentioned the review in mid—december. i do not want to be gloomy, but god forbid from your perspective, if there is no change with those few days left until christmas, people saying to you that they are worried they cannot get through this, despite the furlough scheme and so on, that ultimately there is just not enough financial support to keep a small business going? that is exacting what i'm hearing from some of those businesses. they are worried that this month could be the final nail in the coffin, after such a difficult year. yes, there has been funding in place, the latest round has not been as extensive as we would have hoped for some businesses it is just not enough to cover the rent, let alone overheads they have.

so this could be the final nail in the coffin for some. i hope that will not be the case, but it is looking worrying for some and they are dangling on a thread for that the coffins are bare after such a difficult year. it is difficult for morale to keep going. when the glimmer of hope of having a successful, busy christmas has been extinguished, it is really difficult time for them, really scary. of course. thank you very much for talking to us. and to find out which tier your area will be in, you can use the checker on the bbc news website. this is it just for this is itjust for england, appreciate, we will talk about other areas of the uk a moment. just enter your postcode to see what the rules are. people in northern ireland have

entered a two—week lockdown. nonessential shops have had to close, along with cafes, hairdressers and beauticians, just a week after they were allowed to reopen, following another period of restrictions. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports from belfast. where there's usually seasonal shopping, there's now a shutdown. the devolved government in northern ireland has told most shops to close because it's classified them as nonessential. last night, though, the belfast city centre seemed to be much busier than normal. shoppers rushed to buy gifts in store, while they still could. it'll not be long until they are opened up again. i think people are going crazy at the minute, shopping. they think they're under pressure, but they are not. with this panic, everybody going in and out, people are running back and forward with no masks on and not sanitising themselves. retailers have criticised the timing of the lockdown. the owner of this jewellery shop says the closure couldn't have come at a worse point.

we'd happily close from the 24th to the end of february. i wouldn't bat an eyelid on it. but to take away two weeks out of the four, pre—christmas, it's just a wrecking ball to retail. close contact services such as hairdressers were previously closed from mid—0ctober until last friday — afterjust seven days, they've shut again. i'm literally using my own savings that i've had, that i've used for future life, for everything to do with my daughter and my husband. but unfortunately, i have had to use it all now. so it's dwindling away. the leaders of the stormont executive say the new measures are painful, but paramount. the next two weeks are really important. we are asking the community to make a huge sacrifice, and we recognise that.

i think we all know that the run—up to christmas, ordinarily, is as exciting as the day itself. we have to put every effort in to bring the transmission down as low as we possibly can. that allows us the flexibility to give families some relief at christmas time. we are asking people to comply and stay at home, that is the message for the next few weeks. people here are set for a difficult december, but there are some positive signs. several weeks ago, the virus was spreading faster in northern ireland than anywhere else in the uk. but the rate has been falling, and now it is lower than in england or wales. chris page, bbc news, belfast. restrictions are being re—introduced in wales next friday to tackle a recent rise in coronavirus cases. indoor entertainment venues and hospitality will be affected. the first minister of wales, mark drakeford made the announcement earlier today: the cabinet has agreed to take further, specific and targeted action to reinforce the current

national measures we have in place. we will focus on those places where we meet and where coronavirus thrives, drawing on the recent evidence from sage about those interventions that have the greatest impact on the virus. any additional actions we take will build on that sage advice, but will be designed to meet the unique circumstances we face here in our country. cinemas, bowling alleys and other indoor entertainment venues will now close. there will be new restrictions in the hospitality industry which will come into effect on friday of next week. now, i knowjust how hard the sector has worked to put measures in place to protect the public and i know that this will be a worrying time for all those working in the industry.

that is why over this weekend we will be working with partners to finalise the details of the new arrangements and to put in place a further major package of financial support to respond to the challenges and changes faced in that industry. the first minister of wales speaking a couple of hours ago. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan is in cardiff. how much of this was expected?” think we were expecting to his summing on monday, the fact it has been put forward is the fact that the rates are starting to rise again. it was only three weeks or so ago we came out of our own lockdown, ifi ago we came out of our own lockdown, if i break, which lasted 17 days and it was at the start of the week the first minister wasn't saying it was a su ccess first minister wasn't saying it was a success that numbers had been coming down across the board was not —— a firebreak. numbers began to stag nate —— a firebreak. numbers began to stagnate and now they are rising again, the r is now at baum 1.11. the

first minister feeling something has to be done. questions will be asked of whether that firebreak was long enough, considering that in northern ireland it has been longer than that and in england it has been at least and in england it has been at least a month as well really. so, restrictions have to be put in place now, as mark drakeford said, to make sure that over the christmas period, when things are eased, the numbers do not escalate too far and it puts a huge strain on the nhs as well. he was also asked today whether or not restrictions, or tighter restrictions, or tighter restrictions, should have been put in place following the firebreak, something he said potentially they should have looked at closely. we do not know all the detail yet, we will find that out on monday, but we do know there will be certain restrictions on hospitality from the week today. that could be something along the lines of what we are seeing in scotland and in tier 2 or three in england, so potentially closing around 6pm or maybe only

allowed to go to these places to have a drink if you have food as well, that will be confirmed on monday, but they are urging cinemas and bowling alleys will be closed. but shops, gyms and leisure industries will be open. so some sectors we know will be open, but as you say, much more information coming through on monday. thank you very much for now. the oxford astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine has come a step closer to a possible roll—out, after the government asked the medicines regulator to assess its safety and effectiveness. 100 million doses have been pre—ordered here in the uk. it's one of a number of vaccines being worked on around the world. 0ur health correspondent katharine da costa explained to me earlier where we are with the 0cford vaccine. you'll remember on monday 0xford and astrazeneca published three figures for the effectiveness of the vaccine. 62% if two full doses

were given a month apart. 90% if half a dose was followed by a full dose and 70% was the overall effectiveness of preventing covid—19, so all above the 50% benchmark set by the who. around 3,000 volunteers were given an initial half dose in error, that was spotted early on, it was reported to the regulator and it was agreed that the trial could continue. and it looks like that approach might have been more effective. but some have questioned the efficacy data. if it is 62% compared to moderna and pfizer with more than 90% protection, some say perhaps you should consider giving vaccines that offer high levels of protection to those most at risk. astrazeneca said it will continue to investigate the half dose full dose approach as part of trials ongoing in the us and that will

involve 30,000 volunteers. we are still waiting for the full data, that will be submitted to the regulator and published. the regulator now looking at all the results for both pfizer and oxford vaccines and they will look at safety, efficacy and quality. the government is saying that if it gets the green light, it plans to roll out the vaccine as soon as next month. 0k, a quick thought about the r number, because we have been reporting that it is down between 0.9 and one, but i know that is a uk—wide number. what does it tell us? what do we know about regional variations? it is all about the rate of growth and whether the epidemic is growing or shrinking and it has been coming down, so it is the first time since august that it has dipped just below one. it is down on last week and that is a good sign. it tells you how many an infected person passes the virus on to, so anything over one means that the epidemic is growing, so here it is starting to dip, so it is going in the right direction and it follows the trend

that we have been seeing of rates starting to level off and in some places starting to come down. it mirrors what the results were, released from the office for national statistics yesterday, looking at the week to saturday the 21st of november where it said one in 85 in england had the virus. that was down from one in 80 the week before. we have seen rates falling in northern ireland and wales and just slightly going up in scotland. but public health england, which also carries out its own surveillance data, said this is encouraging that rates are going down in england, so there is some hope. 0ne doctor, the medical director of public health england, saying everyone's hard work is actually helping to bring it down. but science advisers on sage have said you really need to get r below one and keep it there for a period of time if you are going to see a significant impact and that would mean bringing down hospital admissions and then in turn deaths,

so things are going in the right direction, but the reason why lockdown is being replaced in england by tiers is to continue to slow the spread and notjust to see things levelling off and flattening, to actually bring cases right down, keep them low enough over the winter months, until we get a vaccine. 0ur health correspondent there. sir philip green's retail empire, arcadia, which operates chains including topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. in a statement, arcadia says it is working on "contingency options" to secure its future. our business correspondent katy austin told me more about the background. arcadia has avoided collapse before, but it has had to cutjobs and cut its number of stores. now it has about 13,000 employees and about 500 stores. of course, they have had to close for long periods of time this year because of the government's coronavirus restrictions.

in a statement today, arcadia said that had a material impact on trading across its businesses. the group had been trying to secure £30 million of emergency funding, but it seems that hasn't worked out and administrators could be called in as early as monday. what does that mean in practice? it means the search would be on to find a buyer or buyers to try and rescue the brands that include, as you say, topshop and dorothy perkins, and of course save as many jobs as possible. we understand that shops would continue to trade. so customers wouldn't suddenly see the shops closing while the administration process is going on. they would keep open, of course, where they are allowed to due to restrictions. 0ur our business corresponded talking about arcadia. eu sources have expressed surprise at a media report that their chief negotiator, michel barnier, will soon propose they give up between 15 and 18% of theirfishing quota in uk waters as part of a brexit trade deal. it's understood the uk has been insisting, for months, that it should be able to double its catch in its own

waters, as a consequence of becoming an independent coastal state. 0ne diplomat said this percentage bracket was one of many discussed in the last two and a half weeks, and would be a "very high price to pay" for eu fishing countries. a blood test designed to detect more than 50 types of cancer at an early stage is to be trialled by the nhs in england. 165,000 patients will be offered the tests from next year — officials say early detection has the potential to save many lives. jim reed reports. checks for many types of cancer currently mean this — an mri or ct scan to look for a tumour and then a biopsy. often though, that can mean treatment is left late, some diseases like pancreatic and ovarian cancer are typically diagnosed at stage three or four when the disease may have spread and options are limited. les maiden was 62 when she fell ill. it took almost a year

to diagnose her pancreatic cancer. she lost her life just months later. it's too late for my sister, but it is not too late for others. and i passionately believe that early diagnosis will make a difference to many people in the future. the nhs is now planning to try out a new test in england developed by the californian firm grail. it is designed to detect molecular changes in the blood caused by 50 types of cancer in people with no obvious symptoms. 165,000 participants aged between 50 and 79 will be asked to pilot the tests over the next three years. we want to be one of the first health services in the world to see whether this simple blood test can detect those cancers when treatment will make the biggest difference. some scientists are sceptical. they say the technology is unproven and that there are real questions

about the accuracy of blood tests for cancer. groups which represent patients though say better, early detection will save more lives. now is really the time to get the focus and to really move diagnosis on, because really, for decades, the survival and the diagnosis standards for pancreatic cancer have simply not changed. the nhs says that this blood testing pilot will run until 2023. if successful, it could be extended to another million people in england from the middle of this decade. jim reed, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello, there. it has been a mixture of sunshine and fog or low cloud today. still some fog into this evening all the way from gloucestershire, 0xfordshire, towards the east midlands. it will lift overnight because the cloud is moving north bringing with it some patchy rain. we will see clearer skies developing in northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland for a while. here, there could be a few pockets of mist and fog,

frost around as well but much milder end to the night further south where we have got all that cloud. some sunshine to start the day further north but that will move north bringing with it patchy rain, we may get some brighter skies to the south—east later but for many still quite cloudy. temperatures will be higher. 10—12 degrees across more southern parts in the uk. where we have the best of the sunshine in scotland, temperatures only around five or six, still in colder air. sunday looks grey and misty, hill fog across much of the country, some sunshine in the north—east of scotland, perhaps some in west wales and far south of england, temperatures typically 8—10 celsius.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the prime minister defends putting millions of people into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating

for people who feel that they are in a high—tier area where there is very little incidence in their village, i understand why people feel so frustrated. it comes as the latest data shows the coronavirus r number in the uk is now between 0.9 and 1. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again following the firebreak lockdown. 13,000 jobs are at risk. the arcadia group, which owns topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse. ahead of brexit talks in london this weekend, the eu's chief negotiator proposes that eu fleets return some fish caught in british waters if a free trade deal is agreed. a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer is trialled by the nhs.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. champion jockey 0isin murphy has been banned for three months after testing positive for cocaine. the 2,000 guineas winner failed a test at chantilly racecourse injuly, but denies taking the drug. the french racing authority held a medical commission last month and a disciplinary hearing earlier this week. england's cricket tour of the netherlands next may has been put back a year. but their first overseas game since the pandemic does take they are set to face south africa in cape town, the first of three twenty 20 internationals and a lot at stake according to england captain eoin morgan, who has told his team mates that places in next year's t20 world cup side are still up for grabs. the competition due to start in australia last month, was postponed by a year

because of the pandemic. i think we have a huge amount of, we have a group of players at the moment that both are very good batting three but also really want to bat in the top three, and in reality, we need extremely strong top seven in order to win or compete at a world cup. england or compete at a world cup. have won the toss and chosen england have won the toss and have chosen to field first. after a rough old rugby league season, disrupted by covid—19 cases and matches called off, we still have a super league grand final tonight, with two of the sport's great rivals, smashing into each other. reigning champions st helens take on wigan warriors. it's too early for fans to be back, but the teams will still relish the occasion, and the chance to lift the big prize when they run out in hull. definitely more enjoyable playing in front of a packed stadium. it's definitely been missed by the boys. but i think we've got used to it.

everyone's got their head around that, and, yeah, the final, the final definitely missed that atmosphere. but there's still a lot at stake and there's still a lot up for grabs. so i think when you look back, it might not be the most memorable game, but it's still pretty special to win a grand final. the players, more than anyone, deserve all the credit that we can give them. they're the ones that have taken the risks i suppose, every week, in terms of going back to work when others weren't and going out and playing each other. they've done that without crowds, they've done that with all the restrictions and a lot of things put in place obviously for their protection, but it does add to the load, add to the mental load and the difficulty of what's already a tough season. they've done that really well. jurgen klopp says more should have been done to help diego maradona. the liverpool manager was speaking about the argentine world cup winning captain who died from a heart attack aged 60 on wednesday.

i think his life shows how nice life can be when you are a world—class footballer and how difficult it can be as well. football will miss him, i will miss him and you can see the reactions all over the world, if we would have shown our love to him, without wanting to have a selfie, just if we had shown him the respect he deserves while he was still alive, i think year, we could have helped him. and just to mark your card, there's live football on bbc two later with tranmere rovers against brackley town in the second round of the fa cup. kick—off is at 7.55. the prize is a potential tie against one of the big clubs, who come in at the next round. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. let's get more on the prime minister defending putting millions of people into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted.

some tory mps are threatening to vote against the measures in the house of commons next tuesday. but our political correspondent, iain watson, says borisjohnson is likely to get his way. i don't think, to be honest, jane, that he is in any danger of failing to get his restrictions through next week. because i think, in the end, the majority labour mps will back them. but it would certainly be embarrassing for the prime minister, with an 80 seat majority, if he had to rely on opposition mps to get the measures through. so, as far as i am aware, three things are being done to try to limit the size of any rebellion in the conservative ranks. the first is to provide more information on how the decisions are taken. don't forget, it's not all aboutjust how many infections you have in your local area, but also about how the nhs is coping locally, also how many over—60s are infected. all of that determines the tiers. the second thing that the government is going to do is produce

an economic assessment of its measures. this is a key demand of some of the potential rebels before that vote on tuesday. the third thing the government is saying is a review of these measures is going to be meaningful, they say. that is a nod and a wink to some of their own mps, that in effect could get an early christmas present and see their area move out of tier 3. pushing against that, of course, the medical and scientific advisers are saying, hang on, hold your horses, let's wait and see the effects of relaxing some of the restrictions over the christmas period before taking big decisions. in the end, it is as simple as this. you can't keep politics out of a pandemic. across england, residents and businesses are coming to terms with what the new tiers will mean. 0ur reporter, piers hopkirk, is in groombridge, on the border between kent and east sussex. well, the mood, like the village, is divided.

in one half, there is a sense of anger and frustration, in the other half, there is a sense of relief. that is because groombridge is divided by a county line. where i am standing now is kent, and those tougher tier 3 restrictions. behind me, the crown inn, a pub that is forced to remain closed, to the disappointment of the landlord. if i take a short walk around here, i come into east sussex, with those lighter, tier 2 restrictions. a little further down the high street, thejunction inn, that is allowed to stay open. so i suppose we have an examplar of the strangeness of the tiered system, a place where one village pub is allowed to remain open, but the other must remain closed. a place where it is one rule for one, and one for others. professorjohn edmunds is from the london school of hygiene

& tropical medicine and a member of sage which advises the government. he explained why the new tier system was necessary. it is a bit confusing when things are done on a very local and you do not necessarily what restrictions you're under. but from a scientific point of view, if you make the areas small, very small, then it could be that pubs are closed in your area, but they are open itjust down the street and so that causes... it means that you can just go a bit down the road and enjoy your pint or whatever, but that means that it reduces the effectiveness of the intervention in your local area and causes some equity issues, that it might be deemed unfair.

areas need to be relatively large in order to have an effect. finally, the lesson with epidemics and certainly the lesson of this epidemic is you have to do things harder and wider than you think you do and that is because the data that we have is always a bit behind the epidemic, and we do not record every case, so in fact, the level of infection is worse than we think it is, it's wider than we think it is, so we really do have to take measures that are wider than you would like them to be and harsher than you would like them to be, really, in order to be guaranteed to be effective. right, and the fact these will be reviewed on december the 16th, how much scientific data will there be by then that could shift the dial on any of this? is that actually long enough to see any significant changes? i would not anticipate a large amount of significant changes by then. i'd expect cases to have continued to come down,

but how much of that is due to the new tier system, which will have only been in place a couple of weeks, and how much is a residual effect of the lockdown will be difficult to unpick. much will be the residual effect of the lockdown. so i think it will be hard to tell how effective the different tiers are doing at that point. i would anticipate that they are effective, certainly tier 2 and tier 3, but i think it would be hard to tell exactly how effective they are being. 0k, and in the last hour, we have had an update in terms of the r number and we are told that across the uk, it stands at between 0.9 and one. does that tell us that the restrictions that a lot of people have been living under is working? what does that tell you? yeah, i think the restrictions have been working. there's three things that have come in place in relatively rapid order,

first of all, the tier system, the first version of it came in place in mid—october. probably tier 3 had been relatively effective. that was greatly helped by the half term that came in just after that for a week, and subsequent to that, we have had the lockdown, so all of these things have happened in quite rapid succession and they have together brought the infection rates down. you can just start to see that with the 0ns prevalence study and also with cases coming down and hospitalisations levelling and so on. just before i let you go, i have interviewed scientists this week who have expressed to me a degree of queasiness about the five—day break that is being allowed for christmas. do you feel that is a nervous time? does that make you anxious, that decision? a little bit.

i think, i understand the reason for it, and i think we all do need a bit of a break from all of this, but it carries a risk of course. and so i think it is up to individuals to manage that risk as best they can. so if you have family members who are very vulnerable, very old and frail, then perhaps do not see them this christmas, perhaps wait until they have been vaccinated and see them at easter. there's been a dramatic increase in feelings of loneliness among parents of young children during the pandemic, according to new research commissioned by the duke and duchess of cambridge's royal foundation. it's surveyed more than half a million people about the challenges of bringing up children to the age of five. 0ur royal correspondent

daniela relph reports. some have tyres and some have tracks. some precious quiet time for becky and her son, 0llie, who's three. this preschool in peterborough has been a sanctuary, vital to the well—being of them both. run by the charity family action, the duchess of cambridge is its patron. it provides practical and emotional support to parents, from potty training to outdoor play, and has helped families manage the parenting challenges of lockdown. there was days where it was just, "do you know what? i can't be bothered today." "i'm not getting dressed today." but we got through it. and what lifts you on days when you feel like that? how do you get out of it? the stuff he comes outwith. it genuinely is him that pulls me out of it. like, i sit there thinking, "0h..." i struggle. i can't cope. and then he'lljust look at me

and he'll sayjust little things like, "are you all right, mummy?" and it changes the whole mood completely. the survey is a look at early childhood. 63% of people said they'd experienced loneliness, which had become significantly worse in lockdown. 70% described feeling judged by others. and only 10% of parents found time to look after their own well—being. being briefed on the research findings earlier this week, the duchess of cambridge has described the work as a landmark public survey. people often ask why i care so passionately about the early years. many mistakenly believe that my interest stems from having children of my own and while, of course, i care hugely about their start in life, this ultimately sells the issue short. parenthood is not a prerequisite for understanding the importance of the early years. if we only expect people to take an interest in the early years when they have children, we are not only too late for them, we are underestimating the huge role others can play in shaping our most formative years, too.

during the summer, the duchess of cambridge spoke to families about the strain of looking after young children. they included dad ryan, and his daughter, mia. particularly for first time dads, is it quite a daunting... ..daunting time? it's very scary. almost six months on, mia has taken her first steps. oh, my god, yes! and enjoyed herfirst birthday cake, as ryan continues to cope with the pressure of being a single dad. you shouldn't, like, judge someone, or make someone feel conscious about the way they're parenting, because not everyone is perfect. everyone has their own mistakes, makes their own mistakes. so, it's easier said than done, i know. the survey is a vast bank of data, the first—hand experience of parents, with the aim of improving the lives of young children and those looking after them. daniella relph, bbc news, peterborough. let's get more on this with kelly beaver,

she is the managing director of ipsos mori public affairs and dr xand van tulleken, who is associate professor of public health at university college london and hosted today's forum. warm welcome to you both. in terms of the findings of the survey, i wonder whether you were surprised by the level of anxiety it showed? all the level of anxiety it showed? all the findings that came through?” think the honesty from parents in responding to the survey was something that was incredibly welcome. i think because we had so many methods through which we were talking to parents observing their lives and doing the surveys before and during the pandemic, it meant we got a real snapshot of what it's like to have an under five—year—old in the uk and the volumes of stress, pa rents of in the uk and the volumes of stress, parents of young children are facing but also that judgment parents of young children are facing but also thatjudgment came out incredibly strongly in the results across all different methods.

incredibly strongly in the results across all different methodsm exacerbated by lockdownis that how we should be viewing it? is this something that is there any way but everything we have lived through has made it so much harder?” everything we have lived through has made it so much harder? i think the judgment issue has stood before and after but some issues have been exacerbated, parents feeling loneliness and isolation, that something which has increased significantly as a result of the pandemic and we see from our study, one in five parents has two or less people they can rely on for support and during a pandemic where they we re and during a pandemic where they were isolated from even those support networks, you can imagine a much more stressful environment. am i pronouncing your surname correctly? we have not met before. you can correctly? we have not met before. you can pronounce correctly? we have not met before. you can pronounce it how you want,

i'm surel you can pronounce it how you want, i'm sure i run. i am interested in your take on this and how it impacts in the wider sphere of public health. there is no more important place to spend money and to invest ca re place to spend money and to invest care and attention than in the early years. from conception to five years old. at the moment we spent huge amounts of money on older children and then later in life, all of that is massively important as well but if you want to return, you cannot find a better place than early years and that the moment in the uk, what came out in the survey was that everyone knows it's important, but i don't think people are aware how specifically important it is that your brain is developing from conception to five years old at a rate unparalleled that any other point in your life and if we can do things we already know how to do and build local structures of national support to foster this we will see an enormous change in a generation

which would be wonderful to see so the survey gave lots of points of optimism as well and a lot of that is care for parents. that's interesting, i was about to ask whether it's about the first five years than we have ever realised or given credit to, is this about stimulation for children? engagement at a very young age or... there are some very simple things you can encourage people to do. i use these as illustrations. the research is much wider in terms of supporting people with severe needs in communities who are deprived but even then looking at this work and working with the panellists today, one of them said to me you know an aduu one of them said to me you know an adult space is the best toy for a new baby? it is squarej and has bristly furry pets, smooth and shiny bits, —— and adult face. i had my

niece out a couple of days ago and was holding her in front of my face and she grabbed me. you do that very differently if you believe that is good for a child rather than being fun. so much of childhood is driven by measurements of success, indicators, height and weight, that is important but distract us from love and care and play which argued for the neurology and you will get better numbers if you do those slightly more vague things and i think the survey captured how much work we have to do to get there. you are nodding to some of that, does your work bear that out? that people are realising this is an important field that for whatever reason we have not talked about quite enough in the past? frankly, the study shows that people do not understand the importance of that period from conception to age five. 0nly the importance of that period from conception to age five. only a quarter of the public at large in general but also parents that i

identify that is the most important stage of life. it is that brain development happening in those first two years and we have found that because children are less communicative in that first period perhaps parents and wider salt society misunderstand how important thatis society misunderstand how important that is for development. and the fa ct that is for development. and the fact that the brain is developing at great pace between the ages of zero and two. so that is interesting, not enough people are realising so do you feel the forum you are working is perhaps sparking a much—needed conversation about all of this? it's a very, very unusual piece of work that was released today because it's both quantitative, al huge amount of ha rd both quantitative, al huge amount of hard data because the number of people that are, answered the survey, over half a million people, there has never been a survey this

big, it was qualitative, they looked at things in great detail, they followed families so it has a heft that allows conversation. conversation often sounds vague and woolly but very often prominent charities and foundations, especially with very, very well— known recognisable figureheads, they can go for low hanging fruit, a campaign and easy win and another that has been done here, there is the start of foundation to build something that will allow us as a country to change the way we think about this. the fact we're on the news talking about how important it is to play with a baby may be signs obvious, but actually having been, i was a parent and i listened in the tp showed, i was a single—parent when i was looking after my son, i never had time to play, ijust want to defeat him, change nappies, make sure he was surviving and getting enough sleep and i could finish my

work, we can shift our priorities so that we are able to look at those things and help communities, this is something everyone should be involved in. thank you both very much indeed. 20 years ago, the schoolboy damilola taylor was stabbed while walking home from a library in south london. the 10—year—old was left to die in a stairwell. the crime shocked the nation and is still painful today for his family and friends. adina campbell reports. so, this specific path is the path that me and my brother took when we met damilola for the last time. grace boyega was one of the last people to see damilola taylor alive. i remember asking him if he wanted me to walk him home. but him being him, "oh, no, i'm fine. "i'm just going to go home with my grandma." he likes to run and skip.

so we didn't see anything, you know, we didn't feel like anything would happen. the ten—year—old nigerian schoolboy had only been in the uk a few months before he was killed. grace says she and damilola quickly became best friends. their birthdays were just three days apart. almost every day, it was me and damilola in the playground, in class. after school, library times, and whatnot. it was me and damilola. this is the last place ten—year—old damilola taylor was seen on cctv just before his death. he left the library here in peckham and moments later was attacked and stabbed in the leg, just a few hundred metres away from here. he never made it home.

his life was brutally cut shortjust before his 11th birthday. his family and friends left devastated, with fear in the peckham community and a nation in shock. he collapsed and bled to death in this stairwell. two brothers, danny and ricky preddie, who werejust 12 and 13 at the time and part of a gang, were eventually convicted of manslaughter in 2006. 20 years on, his father says the pain will never go away. i still break down, i still feel the pain. it's such a difficult situation that for the rest of my life i have to live with it, you know? and thenjust be at a cross, and then die with it. peckham now looks very different. new homes have replaced the dated tower blocks and the area

continues to be regenerated. but grace says the same problems still exist. there's just too many memories that i feel like i have to just leave it here, and move on with my life. adina campbell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. we've seen a real mixture of weather today, areas of low cloud and fog, but also some parts seeing sunshine, many parts of wales earlier on. i showed you a sunny picture of bedford yesterday. this was bedford earlier on today, stuck in fog. where it lingers, it's particularly chilly. into this evening, there could be patches of fog all the way from gloucestershire, 0xfordshire into the east midlands. that will lift as the cloud moves northwards, bringing patchy rain, we get clearer skies into northern england, northern ireland, southern scotland. here there may be the odd bit

of mist and fog but also some frost, temperatures down to —2 or —3, milder further south as the cloud moves in. once it arrives, it sticks around this weekend, it could be grey for many places, at least it won't be not as cold. getting more of a breeze for the start of the weekend coming in from continental europe pushing the cold air northwards and lifting the temperatures further south. we will start with some sunshine across scotland. cloud moving northwards bringing rain, some patchy light rain or drizzle. brightening up a touch in the south east perhaps. the air milder across england and wales, even in the south where it is cloudy, temperatures 10—12. in scotland, where we are likely to get the best of the sunshine, here after the first the start, temperatures 5—6. over the second half of the weekend, the air stagnates, wind drops. the high pressure extending back across much of the uk. lots of low cloud, mist and some hill fog around as well.

many places dry but cloudy. some sunshine perhaps, the breeze picking up in northern scotland, sunshine for west wales and the far south of england with temperatures 12 in plymouth, generally 8—10. next week, the high pressure starts to decline as weather systems run around the top of it from the atlantic air spilling around the top of it from the atlantic spilling down across the uk on the weaker weather front, breeze picking up from the west or the north—west through the day. we'll see cloud thickening, patchy rain coming down across scotland and northern ireland. further south, into england and wales where it is going to cloudy, not quite as misty. still on the mild side, highs of 9—10.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: 13,000 jobs are at risk — the arcadia group, which owns topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse. the prime minister defends putting millions of people in england into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating for people who feel that they are in a high—tier area where there is very little incidence in their village or area. i totally understand why people feel so frustrated. it comes as the latest data shows the coronavirus r number in the uk is now between 0.9 and 1. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again following the "firebreak" lockdown.

ahead of brexit talks in london this weekend, the eu's chief negotiator proposes that eu fleets return some fish caught in british waters if a free trade deal is agreed. a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer is trialled by the nhs. hello, good afternoon. sir philip green's retail empire, arcadia, which operates chains including topshop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. in a statement, arcadia says...

i'm joined now by patrick 0'brien, uk retail research director at globaldata, a data and analytics company. good afternoon to do. how much of a surprise as this? not a surprise at all really, the only —— as anyone who has been watching the market will know arcadia has been struggling for a number of years and covid—19 has really accelerated its decline. may be a little bit of a surprise that it might go into administration before christmas, when they should be getting a bit of a cash flow boost, but really this was just a matter of time. and a cash flow boost, but really this wasjust a matter of time. and what has the main problem being? has it been high street stores suffering because of online trade? that is

undoubtably a part of it, but what you have got here is a bunch of brands under the arcadia banner, none of which have been invested in properly and which have really lost their resonance with the core target market that it is addressing. so those people have been moving on to more digitally savvy brands who are dealing things with sunni like social media and engaging with their target market much better than arcadia's brands has been doing. so they have really lost touch and have not invested and they have had too many stores, they had a cva to try and deal with that issue last year, but it was too little too late. a cva , but it was too little too late. a cva, you will have to translate. sorry, that is a company voluntary agreement where it basically negotiates with its landlords to cut its rental bill. ok, thank you. is the timing of this interesting? we

are coming up to christmas, england coming out of lockdown next week, might you have suspected that arcadia would try to struggle on a little bits, given that one would assume that trade will go up over the next few weeks? indeed. you would have thought it might have made it through till christmas, but lets's not forget that really what you have had is extremely difficult trading for all the fashion outlets, especially those that are reliant upon physical is. that has been all the way through since march. —— micro physical stores. the clothing market is looking at being a quarter down, which is president of put up you think will happen to the individual brands within the group? -- it is individual brands within the group? —— it is unprecedented. individual brands within the group? -- it is unprecedented. taking on the stores is a growing concern, what is much more likely is we will see some of those are digital brands

perhaps looking to pick up those brands, especially perhaps topshop, which is something that might be able to be resuscitated in its online form. but it is very difficult to see anyone really coming in to take on all the real estate. ok, good to talk to you. thank you very much. the prime minister has been defending the decision to place large areas of england in high coronavirus tiers next week, after some of his own mps are threatening to rebel, amid anger that the restrictions aren't more locally targeted. damian green is a former cabinet minister. the mp for kent is one of seven tory mps to write complaining that the restrictions are unfair and "risk undermining public support". they've now secured a meeting with the health secretary. boris johnson acknowledged this was "frustrating", but said the country needs "simplicity and clarity" to help curb the disease. these maps show the changing face of england in terms

of area restriction before and after the current lockdown. from next wednesday, 32 million people will be living under tier 2 restrictions and 23 million under most severe tier 3. it comes as the uk's r or reproduction number has now fallen to 0.9 to 1, according to latest official figures from the department of health. here's our political correspondent iain watson. here's a riddle for you. tunbridge wells in kent has 109 covid cases per 100,000 people. next week, when the english lockdown ends, it will be in tier 3 with the toughest restrictions. so, why is it that westminster, with 115 cases per 100,000 is only in tier 2? the answer is, if your town has a low level of virus, but you're in the same county as an area with a much greater level, you could end up in a high tier. some former cabinet ministers say unless the government signals a change, they'll rebel against the restrictions.

unless somebody produces some new and convincing evidence i haven't seen yet, i'll vote against them. the point that i and others have been making consistently is that we should do it on a rational basis. so, instead of having these wide, county—based areas where people are put in tiers, we should do it on a borough basis. there's probably no better way of suggesting you are following the science than to be seen in a public health laboratory. the prime minister wants more rapid covid tests, which he thinks will help get areas out of tier 3. but he rejected taking a more local approach to restrictions, insisting he was injecting clarity into the system. i know it's very frustrating for people who feel that they're in a high—tier area, when there's very little incidence in their area. i totally understand why people feel so frustrated. but the difficulty is,

if you did it any other way, first of all you would divide the country up into loads and loads of very complicated subdivisions. there's got to be some simplicity and some clarity. the government's medical advisers are warning you not to hug your granny this christmas. but, my goodness, borisjohnson's going to have to keep a tight grip on his own mps. because when they vote on new restrictions next week, rebels in his own ranks believe they can wipe out his parliamentary majority. the government hopes it can shrink the size of any rebellion. but if the prime minister does need to rely on labour support to get his restrictions through, that will come at a price. we are not against tough restrictions, we're not against tiers. what we want is financial support for people. what we want is a proper, working test and trace system. what we want is proper support for people who need to isolate, people still don't get decent sick pay for isolation.

these are testing times for the prime minister. vaccines are on their way, but the prospect of more restrictions this winter is proving politically toxic to some of his own mps. ijust i just have ijust have some i just have some figures to ijust have some figures to bring you, the daily government figures on coronavirus. the latest figures show that there were 16,022 new covid—19 cases on friday, that is compared with 17,555 a day earlier stock that is down by well over a thousand. and in terms of deaths, the reported number is 521 new covid—19 deaths on friday and that is compared with 498 a day earlier. so the number of deaths is up fractionally within that 24—hour period. now, back to

the story about the tiers in england. the south thanet mp craig mackinlay says he's unhappy that the whole of kent has been lumped together. hejoins me now. good afternoon. tell me more about why you are unhappy with the present system. i'm not unhappy because of the same reasons that some collea g u es the same reasons that some colleagues across kent are, i can understand their frustration that sevenoaks understand their frustration that sevenoa ks and ashford understand their frustration that sevenoaks and ashford and tunbridge wells all have a very low figures that are lower than neighbouring boroughs in sussex uncertainly in london that are in a lower tier, so normal activity, a bit more normality in the economy, can actually take place in those places, soi actually take place in those places, so i can understand their frustration. i'm frustrated that we are seeing changes to the plan, we had three tier system last month that has not, in my view, been

effective, we had seen that the liverpool effect had been effective, we have answered that and went into a full lockdown. there were lots of rough edges about nonessential shops having to close, where some of the big shops that sell all the same things, the bans on gyms and worship and all that, so tier 3 is better in that point of view because some of those rough edges have been ironed out. but we have to start considering amongst ourselves, are these lockdowns actually working? the first one obviously works, because it was new, we were all very compliant and fearful, but we have learned a lot since then. i think we are learning the lessons of keeping safe s pa ces are learning the lessons of keeping safe spaces and using hand sanitiser gel and all of that good stuff. remain now unconvinced that full lockdowns are effectives as effective as they once were. but into the part of the lockdown, we

are not considering adequately the other health effects, a report i saw just yesterday, is that there are 40,000 less cancer diagnosis is this year than they were last year. that is not to say there are 40,000 less cancers round, what it means people are not coming forward, getting the help they need, some parts of the health service not actually being available to them, that will result inafew available to them, that will result in a few months' time, next year perhaps, in more aggressive cancers and treatments and more expensive treatments being required and of course, deaths. all of these factors need adding into the mix as well. cani need adding into the mix as well. can ijustjump in? so what would you like to be seen to be done? a lifting of the tier system?” honestly think... south than it is a mixture of some part thanet and some at dover, dover levels are not quite so bad, thanet are bad,

at dover, dover levels are not quite so bad, thanetare bad, up at dover, dover levels are not quite so bad, thanet are bad, up to the top five in the country, but dropping very nicely this week. we have had a drop of over 40%, so this is an effect of pre—lockdown, because we were told at the effect of lockdown would not really be seen until now, but we are seeing the plateauing week and a half ago and now it is coming down quite nicely, without any lockdown effects. perhaps just the very knowledge that numbers were high has made those activities, being good, wearing a mask, doing all of that stuff, staying clear of people, actually had an effect on its own, without that dramatic sledgehammer of closing down businesses, closing down particularly pubs, restaurants and hospitality, which is very important in south thanet and we had from the chancellor just important in south thanet and we had from the chancellorjust this week that even under those mid—levels of the office of budget response ability, we are likely to see a permanent 3% scarring of the

economy, are ye forever. i'm trying to understand what it is you would like to see. are you arguing essentially that we should leave it to people's common sense and people have now acquired that because we know about coronavirus and we know about the measures we need to take to protect ourselves? is that your argument? my argument is that coronavirus is not the only lives in town. there are other lives that are likely to be lost because of other health conditions going undiagnosed. there are massive problems in the economy, mental health of people, people have created businesses over generations it now lying in ashes because of these lockdown measures. we are going to have to live with this virus a bit longer until the vaccine, which thankfully there is very good news on that, three potential back since hopefully to be rolled out shortly once they have passed the mhra approval, butjust to yo—yo between lockdown, out of

lockdown, it is not a way forward is. we have to live with this and yes, you're right, my belief is that we have learnt a lot. we are quite capable of looking after ourselves ina very capable of looking after ourselves in a very responsible manner. the numbers end up speaking for themselves and making compliant behaviour, which seems to have a dramatic effect. it will do half of thejob on its own. i'm concerned about the whole of kent, the permanent scarring on our economy, very concerned about what is happening around coastal towns, south thanet, my constituency, in particular. you are due to vote on the government's plans for england in the commons next tuesday. what are you minded to do?” in the commons next tuesday. what are you minded to do? i am minded to vote against, because there are still too many rough edges. is this actually the formula that works? is the cure looking worse than the disease? so yes, i am the cure looking worse than the disease? so yes, iam minded the cure looking worse than the disease? so yes, i am minded to vote against at the moment, but myself and many other colleagues have been

asking for a long time, show us the data. why is it that the hospitality sector, which seems to be getting so badly hit, is going to have to remain closed broadly in a tier 2, almost absolutely in a tier 3, whereas it has been deemed a cce pta ble whereas it has been deemed acceptable and safe for the hairdressers and the beauty salons and all of those type of personal services, good luck to them, it actually now be open? show is the data, prove it to us, because what we are being asked to vote on tuesdayis we are being asked to vote on tuesday is not just we are being asked to vote on tuesday is notjust a measure for another month and we return to it, this is potentially, so i am hearing, a four months measure, with two weekly reviews and what has been said is regularly thereafter. no parliamentary involvement in the future, just one shot of the dice on tuesday and we could be stuck in this first four months, it really just based on a hope and a prayer that the professionals come up with the type of answers we are looking

for. i'm so sorry to interrupt, a four—month measure where people seem to be looking to the middle of january, but not four months? as i understand, there will be no reversion back to parliament to have another look at these measures first four months. that is my fear. this is something that we need democratic oversight in. we are restricting people's liberties, destroying businesses effectively, casting huge amounts of debt into the economy, to be paid for in generations ahead. this needs mps to be at the heart of this decision—making, so open up the data, prove your point and we will support you, but if you cannot, i'm afraid too much doubt remains and myself particularly will be very doubtful. thank you very much.

our next guest is in stamford. before we hear from them, a look at the situation across the county. the whole county of lincolnshire has been placed in tier 3 from next week. across the county as a whole, the most recent data reports 307 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. the town of sleaford is in the local authority district of north kesteven. the lastet data for the area reports 219 cases per 100,000 people. in a moment we will speak to the federation of small businesses lincoln's katrina pierce, but first let's look at the impact on the county's hospitality industry. earlier we spoke to sam pavlou, who runs tiamo restaurant in sleaford, about being in tier 3 and the exemptions over christmas. it is a little bit of a kick in the teeth, i am not going to lie. it is hard, it is hard when we, as businesses, have spent thousands and thousands of pounds to become covid secure and we have got our procedures in place to keep

people two metres apart, to have a one in, one out system through the door, to only allow one household round the table, to have the hand sanitisers, the list goes on, but we have followed everything by the book and all the rules and then obviously i completely understand that it is christmas and people want to see their families and things, but to then be told that the restrictions are all going to be relaxed for those five days over christmas, with none of those procedures in place in people's homes because they will not go to those kind of lengths within the home, is quite gut—wrenching, if i'm honest. because we know we can provide those kind of things and we have been providing those kind of things and yet we are still not allowed to open. our next guest is in stamford,

which is in south kesteven district, where the latest figures show 180 cases per 100,000 people, which is above the england average of 165. stamford's in tier 3, which means all pubs have to shut, and can only serve takeaway food and beer. steve alcock is the landlord of the king's head, a pub more than 300 years old, in the middle of town. good afternoon. so, you are going into tier 3 next week. what will that mean for your pub? do you serve food? because you are able to do ta ke food? because you are able to do take away if you serve food. that is right, so for the last few weeks, we have been running a beer dispensary of sorts and doing a certain food offence like a burger at night and a sunday roast rap on a sunday as well, which seems really popular with our local customers. —— burger

wrap. what the situation next week when you go into tier 3? we will continue doing what we're doing, there is no change. we love to have been open, stanford is a small with lots of little pubs, historical pubs, and the effort we have put in to getting it ready for christmas in terms of the decor, getting the staff all back and fit it all to be put on a stop is quite heartbreaking, really. yes, it must be. how have you been able to operate? just wondering in terms of the numbers of customers you are attracting, how does it compare to you running on the way you would like to be able to run? before lockdown, we could fit about 40, 45 people in the pub and once we reopened, that was cut down to about 20. so we were looking at about 50% revenue and then now running as a

beer dispensary we are looking at ten to 15% of what our historical weekly ten to 15% of what our historical wee kly ta ke ten to 15% of what our historical weekly take would have been. that is very difficult. yes, it is tough. but we will plough on. we will keep going. we ain't giving up and sta nford going. we ain't giving up and stanford is a small town in the local community here, thankfully, it really supports us well and supports everyone. it is just confusing really, because we are right at the bottom of lincolnshire. we are surrounded by tier 2 areas now, so come next friday, it is all going to bea come next friday, it is all going to be a bit confusing. we are sort of locked down in our own little space, really. because we have little villages you can walk to that a tier 2, but we cannot go to them and technically then cannot come to us, but it is just bizarre. i tried to make sense of yes today and i just

can't. it must be difficult. -- try to make sense of it yesterday. you have to plough on, your pub has been there for 300 years, it must be unthinkable that you might not still be there in many a time. yes, with the history of the place and the town, you feel like a custodian of the building and want to do right by it. a lot of emotion at the moment. what about the help you are getting from government? you must have staff furloughed presumably and you will be eligible for a certain amount of financial help. yes, that is right. the latest round of grantss came out, which we have applied for and i think they say about five working days for that to come in, so it will help, but it is just like a small plaster on a gaping wound really.

there is other financial implications. the last four years we have had this place, we have built a business and a lot of the goodwill has gone, back to square one. that we set up a craft beer delivery business, online based and that was good as a secondary source of income and we have been looking at developing that while this is kind ofan developing that while this is kind of an hiatus really. hopefully come the 16th, when it gets reviewed, our local mp and the local community will champion us getting back into tier 2. we wish you a very good luck with everything that is to come. thank you very much for your time today. and to find out which tier your area will be in, you can use the checker on the bbc news website.

just enter your postcode to see what the rules are. some news that has just been breaking in the last few minutes. iran's most senior nuclear scientist, mohsen fakhrizadeh, has been assassinated near the capital tehran, the country's defence ministry has confirmed. fakhrizadeh died in hospital after an attack in absard, in damavand county. that is the scene now as you can see. we are being told by the iranian government that the killing is being viewed as an act of state terror. what we know about the man who has been killed, mohsen fakhrizadeh, is that western intelligence agencies saw him as being behind iran's convert nuclear weapons programme. 0ne western

diplomat has told reuters a short while ago that if iran ever chose to weapon while ago that if iran ever chose to wea po n eyes while ago that if iran ever chose to weapon eyes nuclear material, then set be known as the father of the iranian war. the news of the killing comes among fresh concern about the increasing amounts of uranium that iran is producing an enriched uranium isa iran is producing an enriched uranium is a vital component both first civil nuclear power and military nuclear weapons, so as you can tell, that's news just coming military nuclear weapons, so as you can tell, that's newsjust coming in now and we will bring you more on it as soon as we have it. people in northern ireland have entered a two—week lockdown. nonessential shops have had to close, along with cafes, hairdressers and beauticians, just a week after they were allowed to reopen, following another period of restrictions. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports from belfast. where there's usually seasonal

shopping, there's now a shutdown. the devolved government in northern ireland has told most shops to close because it's classified them as nonessential. last night, though, belfast city centre seemed to be much busier than normal. shoppers rushed to buy gifts in store, while they still could. it'll not be long until they are opened up again. i think people are going crazy at the minute, shopping. they think they're under pressure, but they are not. with this panic, everybody going in and out, people are running back and forward with no masks on and not sanitising themselves. retailers have criticised the timing of the lockdown. the owner of this jewellery shop says the closure couldn't have come at a worse point. we'd happily close from the 24th to the end of february. i wouldn't bat an eyelid on it. but to take away two weeks out of the four, pre—christmas, it's just a wrecking ball to retail.

close contact services such as hairdressers were previously closed from mid—0ctober until last friday — afterjust seven days, they've shut again. i'm literally using my own savings that i've had, that i've used for future life, for everything to do with my daughter and my husband. but unfortunately, i have had to use it all now. so it's dwindling away. the leaders of the stormont executive say the new measures are painful, but paramount. the next two weeks are really important. we are asking the community to make a huge sacrifice, and we recognise that. i think we all know that the run—up to christmas, ordinarily, is as exciting as the day itself. we have to put every effort in to bring the transmission down as low as we possibly can. that allows us the flexibility to give families some relief at christmas time. we are asking people to comply and stay at home, that is the message for the next few weeks. people here are set for a difficult december,

but there are some positive signs. several weeks ago, the virus was spreading faster in northern ireland than anywhere else in the uk. but the rate has been falling, and now it is lower than in england or wales. chris page, bbc news, belfast. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello, there. it has been a mixture of sunshine and fog or low cloud today. still some fog into this evening all the way from gloucestershire, 0xfordshire, towards the east midlands. it will lift overnight because the cloud is moving north, bringing with it some patchy rain. we will see clearer skies developing in northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland for a while. here, there could be a few pockets of mist and fog, frost around as well, but a much milder end to the night further south where we have got all that cloud. some sunshine to start the day further north, but that will move north, bringing with it patchy rain. we may get some brighter skies to the south—east later but for many still quite cloudy. temperatures will be higher. 10—12 degrees across more southern parts in the uk.

where we have the best of the sunshine in scotland, temperatures only around five or six, still in colder air. sunday looks grey and misty, hill fog across much of the country, some sunshine in the north—east of scotland, perhaps some in west wales and far south of england, temperatures typically 8—10 celsius.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... 13,000 jobs are at risk. the arcadia group, which owns top shop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse. the prime minister defends putting millions of people in england into high coronavirus tiers next week, after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating for people who feel that they are in a high—tier area

where there is very little incidence in their village or area. i totally understand why people feel so frustrated. it comes as the latest data shows the coronavirus r number in the uk is now between 0.9 and 1. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again following the firebreak lockdown. ahead of brexit talks in london this weekend, the eu's chief negotiator proposes that eu fleets return some fish caught in british waters if a free trade deal is agreed. iran's foreign minister blames israel, after one of the country's top nuclear scientists is assassinated near the capital tehran. a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer, is trialled by the nhs. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon.

england won the toss and put south africa into bat in cape town in their first overseas cricket since their abandoned tour of sri lanka in march. and they have an early wicket. england's sam curran taking temba bavuma in the first over. but south africa have found some rhythm. currently 54—1. this, the first of three 2020 matches between the sides. champion jockey 0isin murphy says he won't appeal the decision to ban him for three months for testing positive for cocaine. the 2,000 guineas winner failed a test at chantilly racecourse injuly, but denies taking the drug, believing he failed because of contamination. murphy provided evidence from subsequent hair tests that found no trace of the substance. previous offenders have faced a six month ban. murphy has released a statement through the professionaljockeys he says: "i regretfully put myself in a situation whereby

he says... jurgen klopp says more should have been done to help diego maradona. the liverpool manager was speaking about the argentine world cup winning captain who died from a heart attack aged 60 on wednesday. i think his life shows how nice life can be when you are a world—class footballer, and how difficult it can be, as well. football will miss him, i will miss him and you can see with all the reactions all over the world, if we would shown our love for him without wanting to have a selfie, just if we had shown him the respect he deserves while he was still alive, i think, yeah, we could have helped him. newly crowned seven—time f1 world champion lewis hamilton was fastest in both practice sessions ahead of this weekend's bahrain grand prix.

the second had to be stopped twice, first when alex albon crashed and then when a dog found its way onto the sakhir international circuit. thankfully no drivers or pooches were harmed. after a season disruption from covid—19 cases and matches called off, super league's showdown, the grand final takes place tonight. two of the sport's great rivals, will go head to head. reigning champions st helens take on wigan warriors. it's too early for fans to be back, but the teams will still relish the occasion and the chance to lift the big prize when they run out in hull. definitely more enjoyable playing in front of a packed stadium. it's definitely been missed by the boys. but i think we've got used to it. everyone's got their head around that, and, yeah, the final, the final definitely missed that atmosphere. but there's still a lot at stake and there's still a lot up for grabs. so i think when you look back, it might not be the most memorable game, but it's still pretty special to win a grand final.

the players, more than anyone, deserve all the credit that we can give them. they're the ones that have taken the risks i suppose, every week, in terms of going back to work when others weren't and going out and playing each other. they've done that without crowds, they've done that with all the restrictions and a lot of things put in place obviously for their protection, but it does add to the load, add to the mental load and the difficulty of what's already a tough season. they've done that really well. there's commentary from that game on fivelive sports extra and the bbc sport website. highlights are on bbc two tomorrow evening at 5. that's all the sport for now. iran's defence ministry has confirmed that one of the country's top nuclear scientists has been assassinated. iranian media outlets say mohsen fakhrizadeh died of his wounds after gunmen fired on his car.

he has long been regarded by israel and western intelligence agencies as the mastermind behind the country's covert nuclear weapons programme. of state terror". with me is majid afshar from the bbc persian service. tell us about this man. we don't know much about him. we have heard his name a lot, the number of pictures we have got from him are so limited that these are one of the pictures we have and there is another one, benjamin netanyahu used in his press conference to years ago when he said, "hear his name, you will hear this name a lot, remember his name." and then we hear about him being assassinated today. iran has civilian nuclear programme going on for two or three decades and at the same time, and at the same time it has a missile programme going on

for two decades as well. if iran and only if iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, there is a missing link here. it has always been thought and alleged that mohsen fakhrizadeh was the missing link. he was the man who was working on how iran can make a bomb and that is why his name appeared on reports and at the same time, in 2007, has name was put on a un security council sanctions list. the iaea always said that if you're to confirm the iran programme is civilian, we need to interview the sky. he has never been seenin interview the sky. he has never been seen in public in iran and now today we hear he was assassinated. 0bviously, security forces in iran tonight have two answer very tough questions as to why and how they

could let this happen. interesting. the international atomic energy agency, what do we know about the circumstances of this? for the first hour, the iranians state news agencies denied it and then videos came out and then we realised that as far as we know, a truck or a pick—up truck was used, which was bomb laden, there was an explosion and then local people say they heard lots of gunshots and their pictures are coming out of his car, we see it has been riddled with bullets and we see blood all over the place. so definitely, this was planned, this was something that was done with prior planning and this is something very unprecedented in iran. so we

know that israel and western intelligence agencies as you have said have felt he was key in terms of the country's covert nuclear weapons programme, if there is one. who would you think one points the finger at at the moment, given what we know? we know israel has got a policy of not confirming and not denying, and now the iranians officials are pointing the fingers at tel aviv. two months ago, we now know from a new york times report, is really forces —— is really forces assassinated al-qaeda's number two in iran. this was a major news story two months ago. british officials confirmed this was the israelis. to learn security forces are so strong

they can assassinate al-qaeda's number two and then mohsen fakhrizadeh, the top guy in iran, if they were behind it and if what they iranians forces, and officials are saying, because we can see in the tweet the iranians foreign minister tweeted a few, and our ago, he clearly points to finger at the israelis, so i think everyone would say it is israeli officials, they have to come up and see whether they we re have to come up and see whether they were behind this or not, but chances are very low that we hear a confirmation from them, this has been their policy for a long time, asi been their policy for a long time, as i said before, this man has been on their target list for years and yea rs on their target list for years and years and we have heard benjamin netanyahu years and we have heard benjamin neta nyahu repeatedly say years and we have heard benjamin netanyahu repeatedly say his name as the mastermind of iran's nuclear programme and also he was known as

you know, the man who gave it prominence, who used all this information to build, to somehow divert iran's nuclear programme towards making a bomb, so all these allegations there, but do we get a confirmation? i am allegations there, but do we get a confirmation? iam not allegations there, but do we get a confirmation? i am not sure about that. thank you very much indeed. restrictions are being re—introduced in wales next friday to tackle the recent rise in coronavirus cases. indoor entertainment venues and hospitality will be affected by the tightening of measures. the announcement was made today by the first minister of wales, mark drakeford. the cabinet has agreed to take further, specific and targeted action to reinforce the current national measures we have in place. we will focus on those places where we meet and where coronavirus thrives, drawing on the recent evidence from sage about those interventions that have the greatest impact on the virus.

any additional actions we take will build on that sage advice, but will be designed to meet the unique circumstances we face here in our country. cinemas, bowling alleys and other indoor entertainment venues will now close. there will be new restrictions in the hospitality industry which will come into effect on friday of next week. now, i knowjust how hard the sector has worked to put measures in place to protect the public and i know that this will be a worrying time for all those working in the industry. that is why over this weekend we will be working with partners to finalise the details of the new arrangements and to put in place a further major package of financial support to respond to the challenges and changes

faced in that industry. so how are businesses who normally rely on the festive trading period coping? well we can speak now to stephen davies, chief executive of the penderyn whisky distillery. good afternoon. we have still to find out more details, the first minister they're talking about new restrictions on hospitality, we don't know what they are but dust must have a knock—on effect for you? it does not sound good from the announcement today. we need to hear more details after the weekend. as an independent distillery, we are pa rt an independent distillery, we are part of the hospitality trade, we are part of the tourism business in wales as well and we have had a very stop and start hear from both of those perspectives. so yes, it's a very challenging time and we're trying to work out ways we can maybe change the business model.

0rdinarily, presumably christmas would be a very busy time for what impact has the whole pandemic crisis had on you? it's actually quite a mixed picture because we are quite well distributed in uk supermarkets, that has helpless greatly as well as some of the online business. speciality, single mode whiskey people, we benefited in those areas, but in other areas we have struggled. we have moved some tasting experiences online which has been helpful because the basics of what we do is talking and texting and reaching out to people so they can appreciate —— tasting. appreciate the context in which we make them. we have done a lot of work online, that has been quite good fun to be honest, interesting. we send out taster packs and people... was going to ask! how do you do a taser online but that is how. and

then you talk it is more challenging abroad but in the uk we do single multi whiskey tasting, whiskey and rum, we have a new brand of rum, depending on different experiences for tastes and palates and it lasts about 90 minutes and you have a glass in your hand as soon as you start but we are teaching people to appreciate the balance of the spirits we make. has that made up for some of the business you have lost?” that made up for some of the business you have lost? i think it helps in terms of keeping the profile in the marketplace. in terms of the hospitality trade is desperate times and i don't think anything will make up for that. for us in terms of keeping the brand name in peoples minds and especially close to christmas, it has been really helpful and we have done quite a lot of tastings now. since august, we have done two or three a week. i assume in other ways things must be difficult in terms of attending trade shows, markets,

events, all these things where you are restricted now? yes and we have are restricted now? yes and we have a team people who would normally be doing shows around the world this time of year. it's a very seasonal business, the time of year we would be doing a lot of that work, and you simply cannot do it. so it is a mixed picture and we are dealing with it, we are in the process of building a new distillery which will open next year and the worry is where we be able to do that? it's a very uncertain time. i suppose christmas, i am always buying a bottle of whiskey or two for usually male relatives. are you able to promote your brand and have as much ofa promote your brand and have as much of a presence on the christmas present market as usual? we are quite well distributed in the uk which has helped, what i would say is whiskey is not our mail drink any more, a lot of ladies are drinking

whiskey and a lot of a lot of younger people are scratching people, drinking less but drinking better quality, so i think it's an excellent christmas gift. and yes, it isa excellent christmas gift. and yes, it is a good time of year i think for penderyn, and distilleries in general. many thanks. thank you. a bbc investigation has discovered that british clinics are offering so—called "virginity tests" which have been condemned by the world health organization and the united nations. the investigation was carried out by bbc newsbeat as part of our 100 women series. critics say the controversial tests are unscientific as they cannot prove whether someone is a virgin or not, and are intrusive and can be a form of abuse. rachel stonehouse's report discusses the issue frankly, and may be upsetting for some viewers. virginity testing involves the vaginal examination to check if a woman's hymen is intact.

it's common in certain middle wastern and african countries, like morocco, egypt and iraq. but it is also going on here in the uk. i had a very emotionally abusive relationship with my parents, who wanted me to have an arranged marriage. they tried to isolate me from my friends, and when i wore the clothes i wanted to, they would say i brought shame on this family. this is one woman's story, which has been re—voiced by an actress to protect her identity. one day, an elder from the community saw me out with my friends and said to my mum that one of the boys in the group was my boyfriend. there were lots of rumours in that community about it. my parents and the family of the man they wanted me to marry said i had to have a virginity test to prove that i was still a virgin so the marriage could go ahead. i was scared and i really did not understand what it meant. i felt like running away was my only option, so that's what i did. virginity testing is unscientific and considered a violation of human rights, but it is not illegal in this country. the charity karma nirvana supports

victims of honour—based abuse and forced marriage. so, we have received calls on the helpline from victims that are concerned about this, and it might be that they are worried that their families have found out that perhaps they have been in a relationship or that they are not a virgin. how does virginity testing feed into the wider context of honour—based abuse? many victims have, you know, in very extreme circumstances, been killed and been victims of honour killings. but for other victims, it might be that they are disowned by family. for some women, the fear of trying to prove they are a virgin can lead many victims have, you know, in very extreme circumstances, been killed and been victims of honour killings. but for other victims, it might be that they are disowned by family. for some women, the fear of trying to prove they are a virgin can lead them to extreme measures. so, i've ordered this hymen repair kit from amazon. my immediate reaction is that you do not get a lot for your money. this kit cost over £100. it looks like a pair of tweezers

and then some gel, which i think is the vagina tightening gel. i have no idea what this is going to be. i'm guessing it is meant to be fake blood that you insert with the tweezers. if i had ordered this with the intention of using it, i would be so disappointed at what has arrived. especially without any instructions whatsoever. there have been 69 hymen repair surgeries carried out on the nhs in the past five years. a quick search on google and i have easily found about 20 clinics offering it privately. none of them advertise virginity testing online, but when called, almost half of them said they could do it. i don't understand why it is not illegal in the uk. the whole idea that the absence of part of the hymen means that you are not a virgin, that idea... that is wrong, first of all. it can be torn for various reasons.

then if i said, "this is torn, i need to repair it a little bit," then i can give you a certificate. that means actually i am giving a false certificate. despite international calls for an end to a virginity testing, it continues to go on, with those offering it continuing to make money from a practice which campaigners say violates a woman's human rights. rachel stonehouse, bbc news. a blood test designed to detect more than 50 types of cancer at an early stage, is to be trialled by the nhs in england. 165,000 patients will be offered the tests from next year. officials say early detection has the potential to save many lives. jim reed reports. checks for many types of cancer currently mean this — an mri or ct scan to look for a tumour and then a biopsy. often though, that can mean treatment is left late, some diseases like pancreatic and ovarian cancer are typically

diagnosed at stage three or four when the disease may have spread and options are limited. les maiden was 62 when she fell ill. it took almost a year to diagnose her pancreatic cancer. she lost her life just months later. it's too late for my sister, but it is not too late for others. and i passionately believe that early diagnosis will make a difference to many people in the future. the nhs is now planning to try out a new test in england developed by the californian firm grail. it is designed to detect molecular changes in the blood caused by 50 types of cancer in people with no obvious symptoms. 165,000 participants aged between 50 and 79 will be asked to pilot the tests over the next three years. we want to be one of the first health services in the world to see whether this simple blood test can detect those cancers when treatment will make the biggest difference.

some scientists are sceptical. they say the technology is unproven and that there are real questions about the accuracy of blood tests for cancer. groups which represent patients though say better, early detection will save more lives. now is really the time to get the focus and to really move diagnosis on, because really, for decades, the survival and the diagnosis standards for pancreatic cancer have simply not changed. the nhs says that this blood testing pilot will run until 2023. if successful, it could be extended to another million people in england from the middle of this decade. jim reed, bbc news. the argentinian football legend diego maradona has been buried alongside his parents at a private funeral on the outskirts of buenos aires. huge crowds had gathered in the last few days to pay their respects as his body lay in state. last night, players at the italian club napoli, where he played for seven years, wore hisjersey, and there have

been calls for the stadium there to be renamed in his honour. 0ur correspondent katy watson sent this report. followed to the end by his loyal fans, so many of whom couldn't believe or accept that the superstar footballer was dead. in the end, though, maradona, a man so often in the limelight, had a very private burial, laid to rest next to his beloved mum and dad. these past few days have been emotional in argentina. there's been a very public outpouring of grief for a man people saw notjust as the world's greatest footballer, but the country's finest ambassador as well. translation: it's a loss notjust for argentina, but for the entire world. there won't be anyone like him ever again. as a kid, we all wanted to be maradona. i was born in the same hospital as him. translation: for me,

he's not dead, he's still alive. he'll be in my heart forever. it was such big news, i wanted to come here no matter what. i managed it and i'm really happy. sobbing. amid tears and sadness, there were lighter moments. chanting and singing to remember the good times. but as the day went on, emotions ran high as fans waited in line. at one point, they broke down the barrier and riot police were drafted in. the coffin had to be removed from public viewing to keep the peace. maradona wasn't perfect. he battled drug addiction, he had his flaws. but he came from nothing and neverforgot his roots. and argentinians say that he won't be forgotten either. katy watson, bbc news, in buenos aires. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello there.

we've seen a real mixture of weather today, some areas of low cloud and fog, but also some parts seeing sunshine, in many parts of wales earlier on. i showed you a sunny picture of bedford yesterday. this was bedford earlier on today, stuck in fog. where fog lingers, it's particularly chilly. into this evening, there could be patches of fog all the way from gloucestershire, 0xfordshire into the east midlands. that will lift as the cloud moves northwards, bringing patchy rain, we get clearer skies pushing into northern england, northern ireland, southern scotland, as well. here there may be the odd bit of mist and fog but also some frost, temperatures down to —2 or —3, milder further south as the cloud moves in. once it arrives, it sticks around this weekend, it could be grey for many places, at least it won't be not as cold. it could be grey for many places, at least it won't be as cold. getting more of a breeze for the start of the weekend coming in from continental europe pushing the cold air northwards and lifting the temperatures further south.

we will start with some sunshine across scotland. cloud moving northwards bringing rain, some patchy light rain or drizzle. brightening up a touch in the south east perhaps. the air milder across england and wales, even in the south where it is cloudy, temperatures 10—12. in scotland, where we are likely to get the best of the sunshine, here after the first the start, temperatures 5—6. over the second half of the weekend, the air stagnates, wind drops. the high pressure extending back across much of the uk. lots of low cloud, mist and some hill fog around as well. many places dry but cloudy. some sunshine perhaps, the breeze picking up in northern scotland, sunshine for west wales and the far south of england with temperatures 12 in plymouth, generally 8—10. next week, the high pressure starts to decline as weather systems run around the top of it from the atlantic air spilling around the top of it from the atlantic spilling down across the uk on the weaker weather front, breeze picking up from the west or the north—west through the day.

we'll see cloud thickening, patchy rain coming down across scotland and northern ireland. further south, into england and wales where it is going to cloudy, not quite as misty. still on the mild side, highs of 9—10.

this is bbc news. the headlines: 13,000 jobs are at risk — the arcadia group, which owns top shop and dorothy perkins, is on the brink of collapse. the prime minister defends putting millions of people in england into high coronavirus tiers next week — after conservative mps criticise the restrictions for not being more locally targeted. i know it is very frustrating for people who feel that they are in a high—tier area where there is very little incidence in their village or area. i totally understand why people feel so frustrated. it comes as the latest data shows the coronavirus r number in the uk is now between 0.9 and one. the first minister of wales announces new covid restrictions will come into force next friday, as cases rise again