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 following the "firebreak" lockdown.

iran's foreign minister blames israel after one of the country's top nuclear scientists is assassinated near the capital tehran. 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. sir philip green's retail empire arcadia, which operates hello and 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...

patrick 0'brien who is a retail research director at data and analytics company globaldata, explained that arcadia's problems won't come as a suprise to many in retail. 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 what has the main problem been? 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 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, you will have to translate. sorry, that is a company voluntary agreement where it basically negotiates with its landlords to cut its rental bill. 0k, 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 stores. that has been all the way through since march. the clothing market is looking at being a quarter down, which is unprecedented. what do you think will happen to the individual brands within the group? 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. 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 targetted. 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 kerb 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 one, 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 incidents 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. let's speak to the conservative mp for sevenoaks in kent, laura trott — who's a member of the health select committee. good afternoon to you. how do you feel about kant being put into tier 3?i feel about kant being put into tier 3? i represent seven oaks which is in cantoni 3? i represent seven oaks which is in canton i was initially surprised and disappointed we were put into tier 3. we were tier1 before he went into the second like them. —— you can't. i spent the day yesterday talking to the chief executive the my local hospitals and it became clear to me reluctantly the need for tier 3. if i talk to you a bit about the situation they are in, i have to hospitals next to me kent is a very high incident right at the moment, swell and midway have some of the highest rates in the country and other result the hospitals they are under huge amount of strain, so my

local house would allow me to pick up local house would allow me to pick up some of the caseload was about a third of the critical are taken up by patients from elsewhere in kent. so although my area is prevalent is relatively low, it is not a very low, hundred and 50 per 100,000 which will put us from the interior two, it means we have no leeway in terms of a hospital capacity which is why i have reluctantly accepted that tier 3 is necessary where i am. —— from the tier 2. that tier 3 is necessary where i am. -- from the tier 2. one of the reasons put forward by ministers yesterday. local nhs capacity would be used to determine which tier you are in. what do you say, maybe you have got constituents coming up to you and saying why are we a tier 3? feeling confusion and anger and fear may be. about what will happen to their livelihoods was that what you say to them? absolutely right. we had a lot of people doing that because as i described to you, it is very surprising to go into a

national lockdown in tier 1 very surprising to go into a national lockdown in tier1 and come out of it tier 3. but i think the reason behind it is as described, every situation where by our insistence are still quite high in a hospital capacity is very low. under huge amount of pressure at the moment. ardern valley hospital has 15 intensive care beds in all full. this is very unfortunately necessary at the moment so we absorbed some of the capacity from everywhere and kent. i'm hoping we reach the right viewpoint in december 16, we can look at this once again on a district by district basis, the pressure on hospitals might reduce and we can hopefully come down. but for now, it is very difficult and will be very tough for a lot of my businesses but it is unfortunately necessary to preserve the hospital capacity. all talking to one of your collea g u es capacity. all talking to one of your colleagues in kent, craig mckinley, the mp for south bennett with the right is higher effect. that's all talking to one of your colleagues it was not necessarily arguing against being played in tier 3. his argument

was more the yo—yo effect of being in tears than being a lockdown that finding yourself in another tier and he was saying that people buy now, several months into this pandemic, know how to keep themselves safe and we ought to be able to just trust the public to know what to do. what would you say to him? craig is a brilliant mp. i have been arguing for a long pretty time a regional tier approach is the best way to manage the virus. what we stop before the most recent like that is actually that the tiered approach was slowing the rise of the virus we re was slowing the rise of the virus were not slowing it fast enough which is what we needed to go into a second national lockdown. i have asked the government to look again at why the original tiered approach was not enough to control the spread of the virus which is what they have done and we have come out of the other side of it with a tier approach which is good and i believe the right way forward but it is a lot tougher this time because they have recognised that the last time it was not quite enough to actually control the spread. when a hoping we

are in now is a tier approach which can be contained and looking to move people down in tears as i hope we'll be able to in my area locally rather than moving them up tears continually. i do think that is the right approach, as difficult as it is because i want to avoid a second national lockdown if at all possible. meanwhile, there's a halep pain from hospitality businesses from bars and restaurants and pubs in tier3 from bars and restaurants and pubs in tier 3 who say despite the government financial support a were desperately about their futures. absolutely. as you can imagine, i've been talking to a lot of my locally today and is incredibly difficult and sad. there are no good options here at the moment. it is the least worst path and it is good that we are taking a regional approach so we keep using as many views open as possible but in my area they are not able to. there is support from government and that is good and we can government and that is good and we ca n always government and that is good and we can always look at whether they should be more but their support coming through and i'm hoping it will be for a short period of time

and there will be a review on december 16 and will be able to come out confident that hospitals are able to cope with the infection rate in means that if you have a heart attack or car crash there will be capacity to treat you. get to talk to you. thank you very much. —— good to you. thank you very much. —— good to talk to you. some news inter milan correspondent emma vardy some news inter milan correspondent emma va rdy about some news inter milan correspondent emma vardy about the irish government agreed to reopen our retail outlets and hairdressers and museums. “— retail outlets and hairdressers and museums. —— some breaking news from our correspondent. people won't be allowed to leave the county that live in except for exceptional reasons such as work education or a medical appointment. reasons such as work education or a medicalappointment. but reasons such as work education or a medical appointment. but from friday december the 4th, more opening up in the restaurants and foods which and pubs which stored food will also reopen. this comes off the back of a lockdown that has lasted for nearly six weeks. a broadly similar to that which happened in the spring. and

also of interest, it is been agreed that from friday december the 18th, untiljanuary that from friday december the 18th, until january the 6th, that from friday december the 18th, untiljanuary the 6th, people will be allowed to travel island—wide to visit family and friends over the christmas holiday. which will of course have a huge impact on people living in northern ireland. but only three households can gather together. within talk of christmas, let us consider the government's health advisory group sage. the government's health advisory group sage has published advice on how to visit relatives safely over the christmas period. our health correspondent katharine da costa is here to tell us more. what do they say? and the documents just released, the adviser say that covert infections could double in just adviser say that covert infections could double injust a adviser say that covert infections could double in just a few days. —— kobe mack infections. and could spread further as newly infected people return to their usual lives. —— covid infection. they point to early research about how other respiratory diseases such as

pneumonia increase in older relatives when exposed during school holidays and that is why they say cases are set to rise. particularly in indoor gatherings, they say it is clear covid—19 is more risky when we gather with friends and family indoors for longer periods of time. that is because we let our guard down we might not be so get a social distancing. because we don't see our friends and family as dangerous. in terms that's what to do about it, they set out this ten point plan. some of the recommendations, can you postpone or do something of a resume or skype for example, could you celebrate outside where the risk of transmission is lower? —— zoom. minimise the people you do see it and keep it brief. and maintain social distancing, cleaning surfaces, keep your windows open to ventilate, rooms. if you have children, they suggest meeting where outside and talked about if you're staying overnight, children should share a room with parents rather than children from of the household. they also talk about the risk of

board games and shared pieces and passing on the virus. perhaps quizzes might be better they say. if you do will go ahead they have said that it you do will go ahead they have said thatitis you do will go ahead they have said that it is important that you drop an action plan with whoever you are saying and in particular, to involve women in the decision—making because they say they often carry the burden of caring for the elderly and children. but they say no single measure will help make christmas risk—free. some scientists have warned we may need another second break in january or warned we may need another second break injanuary or february if there is a surgeon cases. there has been this number that for every one day of relaxation you might need five days of tighter restrictions. that is an estimate and it really depends on how people behave over the christmas period. professorjohn edmonds who sits on the sage has told the bbc that was schools and businesses close over christmas, that could help keep transmissions down. although with the social interactions with elderly and family members that might mean more people

become seriously ill and need hospital treatment. leaders of all four nations have said they are urging caution and how to have agreed to relaxing the rules for five days of a christmas but what they have said is that some families may decide that it is still too much ofa may decide that it is still too much of a risk with the hope of vaccine just around the corner. thank you very much. a lot of detail there. quite difficult to think of a christmas scenario that didn't involve women in the decision—making but anyway we will leave that there. thank you very much catherine. 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. iran's foreign minister has condemned the killing "as an act of state terror". frank gardner is our

security correspondent. we can speak to him now. i'll talk into one of our colleagues from bbc persia a little early who says this man has been assassinated. —— i talk to. he kept a very low problem for a while and very little is known about him. he was extremely valuable to the iranian government. —— low profile. into the military nuclear programme. it was not only a nuclear physicist, he was a member of the iranian revolutionary guard corps and he was well guarded, this is why this is a huge blow. notjust for iran's nuclear industry but also for the security and intelligence establishment in iran. he had his own bodyguards and get he was ambushed and a remote road in a place called them of all, not far from tehran, the capital, there was an exchange of gunfire with his bodyguards come he was taken hospital where he bled out and died. the question is who has done this, hard—line voices in iran already suggest that israel could have been

behind this. certainly they have been believed to be behind assassinations between 2010 and 2012 with iranian scientists but israel is not saying anything. the pentagon is not saying anything. the pentagon is not saying anything. the pentagon is not saying anything. at the moment, it is still basically an open question as to who could've done this. even suspicion in some quarters that possibly iran's security establishment may have had a hand in it he try and sabotage any talks with the future joe a hand in it he try and sabotage any talks with the futurejoe biden administration but this is pure conjecture and nobody knows at the moment. we do have to leave it there. thank you so much. 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. our 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's happily close from the 24th to the end of february. i wouldn't bat an eyelid. 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—october 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 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 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. news just newsjust in news just in about a strike at heathrow airport in london. the airport says that a strike planned by the unite union is going to go ahead on december the 1st. next tuesday. protesting againstjob cuts as well as three higher bring on reduced pay. the strike is going to involve firefighters, engineers, campus security, baggage operations, operational and the airside workers, it will effectively close heathrow airport and a further tweet from heathrow airport saying that there will be further days of strike action which are planned for later in the month. you can see them plan for monday, thursday the 17th the 18th of december. 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. the first minister of wales speaking a couple of hours ago. 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 their fishing 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. one 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, oxfordshire, 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, the company behind some of the best known names on the high street, is close to 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. iran's foreign minister blames israel after one of the country's top nuclear scientists is assassinated near the capital tehran. 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, than 50 types of cancer is trialled by the nhs. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here is gavin. england are in action in their first overseas cricket since their abandonend tour of sri lanka in march. they won the toss and chose to put south africa into bat, and they had an early wicket in cape town, sam curran getting temba bavuma out in the first over. south african captain quinton de kock was next to go off the bowling of chrisjordan. the first of 32020 matches between the sides. —— three 2020 matches. champion jockey oisin 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 professional jockeys association. he says... golf's two biggest tours have joined forces, with the pga and european tours forming what they say is a ‘strategic alliance' in light of the challenges faced from coronavirus disruption. it's been described as an ‘historic moment for the sport', and we can get some reaction with our golf correspondent iain carter. what does this alliance actually mean, and where does the balance of power lie? gavin, i think it's fair to say the balance of power is still lies very

much in the united states, the pga tour is a massive organisation. it had the most money and it has the best players in the world playing on it, but this agreement, i think bolsters the european tour. what has become very, very interesting and the fallout of all of this is a disclosure that the rebel premier golf league were deep in talks with the european tour. that deal had gone through. that could potentially have been some kind of threat to the pga tour. so, was in the pga tour's interest of form some kind of alliance with the european tour. the balance of power is certainly very much overall in america. this does certainly boost the european tour. i think it makes them stronger going forward. do you think we're likely to see more of europe's big—name players computing over here. that is the big question. i think what this does provide for us, the opportunity

for us to have a more cohesive calendar so that the biggest tournaments on the europeans were are not up against the biggest tournaments on the pga tour. therefore, those players are able to play where is most appropriate —— most appropriate. i think the best players are going to be basing themselves in the united states, whether they're european themselves in the united states, whether they‘ re european or american. thank you very much indeed for that. 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. got a good run there, didn't he 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. there's commentary from that game on five live sports extra and the bbc sport website. kick off is at 8. highlights are on bbc two tomorrow evening at five o'clock. that's all from us, but chetan's here with more for you in sportsday at half past six. thank you so much, gavin. we've had some news just thank you so much, gavin. we've had some newsjust in thank you so much, gavin. we've had some news just in that a former great allman street porter has admitted sexual offences against six boys over 35 years. paul farrell, who is 55, pleaded guilty to 58 child sex offences between 1925 and 2020 -- matt child sex offences between 1925 and 2020 —— -- 1985 in 2020. the —— 1985 in 2020. the victims are aged between eight and a3. farrell held a number of positions, including working as a porter in

central london between 9a and 2020. you're watching bbc news. 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. non—essential 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. overall, 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

shops, which really need 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. bristol zoo has a closed its site in clifton tonight. the animals will be moved to the sister attraction a few miles away following the zoo ‘s most african period in its 185 history.

—— most important period. here we are at bristol zoo. it's been difficult in terms of covid here. this is one of the oldest zoos in the world. it's been here for 18a yea rs in the world. it's been here for 18a years and it really does have a firm place in the heart of many west country families who come here and paid visits over the years. that's why today's message supporters received telling them the site will be closing has come as quite a shock. it's going to move to merged with its sister site. here to tell us more is doctorjustin morris. why have you come to this decision? we've come to this decision because we've been facing some really persistent and fundamental challenges here at bristol zoo gardens for many years. chiefly

amongst those in increasing inability to meet the needs of some of the larger animal species and many families over the years who will have seen both number of large animals has really reduced quite significant leave over time. also, you mention the financial challenges of covid and actually, we've been suffering financially for some time as well. we made an operating loss in fourof the as well. we made an operating loss in four of the last six years and that's because visitor numbers to bristol zoo gardens have declined significantly, from over a million in its heyday down to just over 500,000 last year. perhaps this was already going to be on the cards, just move a lot faster because of covid? there's no question covid has caused us to have to pretty radically rethink our plans. of course a 200 radically rethink our plans. of course a zoo of 12 acres, which is what this is, isjust increasingly challenging now in terms of meeting the needs of the animals. with the new bristol zoo on the project site, we've actually got 136 acres of potential for the new bristol zoo to

expand and develop over time. as we said, this place is so firmly in the hearts of so many people. you can go back to black—and—white pictures in the old days. there were elephant rides which are very much a thing of the past. it's going to be quite a wrench for a lot of people. it's going to be very sad and sad for me also. i've had to tell my children and my family and my parents actually, i have my own memories of visiting as a child in the 70s and talking to my father about his memories when he was a child. for lots of bristol linz, that's going to be true, but what comes next is an opportunity to create new memories. a zoo that's really fit for purpose for the next hundred 84 years, we are really looking forward to welcoming many generations to the new zoo in the

future. i think now that the announcement has been made, the planning begins both to work out exactly what happens on this site. i'm told its going to be sold by for housing, but many of the elements will remain are the landscape here. and the move to the north of the city and the amalgamation of these two zoos into amalgamation of these two zoos into a zoo amalgamation of these two zoos into a zoo that can try to do with absolute best to become a zoo for the future. that was amanda reporting. the headlines on bbc news... 13,000 jobs are at risk. the arcadia group 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. it comes as the latest data shows the coronavirus r number in the uk is now between 0.9 and 1. now on bbc news, it's time for the film review. hello and welcome to the film review with me, mark kermode, rounding up the best movies available for viewing in cinemas and in the home. one of the most intriguing films at last month's bfi london film festival was possessor, the second feature from canadian writer—director brandon cronenberg.

set in an alternate 2008, this enjoyably squishy sci—fi thriller features andrea riseborough as tasya vos, an assassin working for a sinister industrial espionage company who transplant the consciousness of their agent into unwitting hosts to carry out covert hits, like a much nastier version of inception. for her latest assignment, vos possesses the body of colin tate, played by christopher abbott, effectively doing an impression of andrea riseborough doing an impression of christopher abbott. think of the 80s comedy all of me, in which steve martin's body is accidentally filled with the soul of lily tomlin. then try and imagine that movie directed not by carl reiner, who made knock about comedies like thejerk, but by the son of body horror maestro david cronenberg, who made such head—scrambling shockers as rapid, scanners and the fly. in his underrated first feature antiviral,