i'm ros atkins. welcome to outside source. moderna is the second company to file for emergency approval of its coronavirus vaccine in the us. and the american health secretary is optimistic. we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before christmas. that news comes as ten million people in los angeles are facing tougher covid—19 restrictions as cases spike. we'll be live from la. also on outside source, there is outrage over a police beating in france, leading to a major u—turn.

four white police officers attacking a black music producer. that made france rewrite security laws. iranians have held a state funeral for one of the country's top nuclear scientists who was assassinated on friday. officials are vowing to avenge his death. translation: and the enemies should know this is their first defeat. if they aimed to kill our dear martyr so that his name would fade away, now his name is sung everywhere. and here in the uk, rita ora has apologised for having a birthday party at a restaurant in london which broke covid rules. let's begin with the latest on the covid vaccines. the us pharmaceutical company moderna has filed for both us and eu regulatory approval for its vaccine. it's the second to file for us approval — pfizer did that last week.

and the american health secretary, alex azar, is already saying he thinks the vaccines will be in use before christms. here he is speaking to cbs. pfizer submitted their application for emergency authorisation and then moderna today is going to be submitting. with pfizer, we at the fda announced an advisory committee for december 10 — and if everything is on track, if everything proves out what it appears to be, we could be looking at approval within days after that. moderna is basically one week behind that. and general perna has said, from operation warp speed, that we'll ship within 2a hours of fda authorisation, so we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before christmas. this is where we've got to with covid vaccines. large—scale trials found that the moderna and pfizer vaccines are more than 94% effective at stopping people from becoming ill with covid—19. they work by injecting part of the virus‘s genetic code, which then provokes an immune response. and both require two doses in order to be effective. well, despite the optimism

from the us health secretary, some leading doctors are being more cautious. here's one from stanford university. i hope we'll have it in some people's arms before christmas, but it's going to be a very small proportion of the united states, or any other country, in terms of number of people immunised before the winter break. and therefore, we've got to be vigilant. it's going to be several months before there can be massive deployment of a vaccine. we know that in the united states, between moderna and pfizer, i think they're hoping to deliver something like 40 million doses before the end of the calendar year. that is enough to make a significant progress in immunising the health care workforce. that's a small portion of the total population. we have to remain vigilant on the measures we know prevent transmission. so, some cautious optimism in terms of us regulatory approval, but what about the rest of the world?

here's the bbc health reporter michelle roberts. certainly, the world health organization is concerned that possibly richer nations will be at the front of the queue, leaving developing world and poorer nations to play catch—up with this. a lot of the stocks that are available at the moment have been bought up by the us, the uk, various european countries, but some are committed to a covax, this global group to get vaccines out to the developing world, so that should hopefully help. obviously, developing actual physical stocks of the vaccine takes time. there are lots of doses that are ready to go in the glass vials at the moment, but production will need to ramp up to get to the billions that we need for the world. from michelle here in the newsroom back to the us. the most populous county in the united states is los angeles county — over ten million people live in there — and it's now entered

what's being called a "safer at home" lockdown which will last for three weeks. the county has seen infection rates rise. on monday, the latest daily statistics reported 5,000 newly reported covid cases and 16 deaths. and now it has this new lockdown. this means a strict curfew from 10pm to 6am — and all gatherings with different households will be banned. peter bowes is there. peter, help me understand it a bit more detail what this lockdown will involve. it is certainly a response toa dire involve. it is certainly a response to a dire situation here, with a number of new infections quadruple in over the last few weeks, the number of people being taken to hospital, the number of deaths on a daily basis has tripled during the past few weeks as well, so officials are past few weeks as well, so officials a re really past few weeks as well, so officials are really taking the most extreme action that they can. perhaps not as extra as earlier in the year, and i think they've learned in terms of what works and what not work, so we have got the beaches still open this time of year —— still open— this

time of year —— still open— this time of year —— still open— this time of year, not tomb and people going to beaches. gyms open. what people cannot do from today is gather outside of their own household, private or public, with other people. they are at least restricted in terms of her they can go shopping. most stores, including grocery stores, will be restricted to one third of their usual capacity stop and you mentioned the night—time curfew. that is been force for a week or so now as welcome as it really does richer —— restrict people to come if they can, working at home, not to do any socialising and all the usual restrictions like wearing masks and social distancing can need to be enforced. as we talk, let's show people a live feed we have from los angeles, people being tested for covid—i9. when you look at that, three weeks is the length of time to

control before christmas comes along. yes, andjust looking control before christmas comes along. yes, and just looking at the numbers in terms of infections here, one in every 145 people here has the covid infection here, the positivity rate is 10% — way higher than health officials want to seek for us to get back to anything recently normal times. and this is a tough time of year to achieve that full to people attending to more inside homes, because it is even in california getting a bit colder here, and with the end of the thanksgiving holiday, people returning to california after visiting the families, even though that was something people said people ought not to do. many people still travelled. the great fear is that while we have very high numbers of infections now, the cost of that travelling, it could get worse over the next three weeks up to christmas. and peter, before that you go, our people being offered any financial support? a long time

—— a lockdown like this disrupt their ability to work. there are some financial incentives, and they are mostly on a federal level, to follow the rules and stay home as possible, but as we have been reporting for a number of weeks now, but everyone is waiting for, really, is congress to take further action in terms of support for those businesses, especially small businesses, especially small businesses that sibley cannot operate, and many are going out of business, and people continue to be made unemployed by the restrictions imposed on them. people are really holding her breath and hoping that perhaps with the turn of the new congress, there will be new federal measures to help people financially. 0k, measures to help people financially. ok, peter, thank you very much for that update from los angeles. staying in the us — and we've had more appointments confirmed for senior posts in president—elect joe biden's cabinet, including janet yellen, who's

going to be treasury secretary. here's the bbc‘s michelle fleury on the line—up. in some ways, they're very familiar, certainly in democratic circles. jared bernstein, for example, who is one of those who is going to be on biden's economic team, has been advising the democratic candidates for several years now and is well known. the same with neera tanden. i think there are couple of things that are particularly striking. one is the diversity. the sheer number of women in this team is something that stands out, people of colour, and so it's going to be an inspiring choice certainly for many in the community who look at this and say, "ok, i see myself reflected in this line—up." there are a couple of other things. janet yellen, she marks a first because she has been nominated to be us treasury secretary. she will be, if confirmed, the first woman to serve as us

treasury secretary, but also as the head of the us federal reserve previously and, under the clinton administration, she was also at the council of economic advisers — first person ever to hold all three of those roles at different points. these announcements are happening as joe biden adapts to having a fractured foot. we saw this over the weekend. on sunday, his team announced that he had injured himself while playing with one of his dogs. these are pictures show mr biden going to the clinic to get checked out. we're told he'll need to wear a supportive boot for several weeks. that is the condition mr biden is good to be when he receives one -- his —— his first presidential briefing today. one of the key issues will be afghanistan. a couple of weeks ago, president trump announced further reductions in the number of us troops there. remember, us forces have been in afghanistan since 2001 as part of a broader deployment of troops from nato countries. here's the nato secretary general, jens stoltenberg, speaking to the bbc about that. nato has already taken a moral burden.

first of all, us is part of nato, but european allies and partner nations now provide more than half of the troops in afghanistan. and we have to remember that the reason why we went into afghanistan was an attack on the united states, 9/11. what is new now is that there are peace talks and the us—taliban agreement that was signed earlier this year — i was in kabul when it was signed — states that all international troops, including nato troops, should be out of afghanistan by the 1st of may next year. and this is mr stoltenburg again, on the future of nato's deployment in afghanistan. nato will continue its training assistance advice mission in afghanistan, and the united states has made it clear that they will continue to provide logistical support to what we call "enablers" to the rest of the nato mission in afghanistan, the uk being one of many

allies with significant presence in afghanistan. at the same time, no ally wants to stay longer in afghanistan than necessary, and therefore we welcome the peace talks which are now taking place in doha between the afghan government and the taliban. they are fragile, but they are the best and the only path towards a lasting political solution. next on outside source, let's turn to friends. —— let's turn to france. the government have u—turned on a part of its new security law. the reason is connected to four police officers were put under formal investigation over the beating of black music producer michel zecler in paris — this is the french equivalent of being charged. the incident was caught on cctv and widely shared online. this is some of it. three police officers beat and kick michel zecler in the entrance to his studio.

then, after being forced out of the door by mr zecler‘s friends, a fourth officer releases a tear gas cannister into a small entrance area. michel zecler required stitches — and he claims the offices were using racial slurs, something they deny. well, two of them are now in custody. this is the reaction of one lawyer who has pursued many police brutality cases. the president is unhappy, but actually it's not about emotion. it's about rights. it's just exploding one of the big issues in france, which is how the state and systemic discrimination related to police. the four officers are accused of "intentional violence". they're also accused of forgery after filing a report claiming michel zecler wasn't wearing a mask and that "a strong smell of cannabis" emanated from him. hugh schofield has more. in their initial report, the one which was, it seems, falsified orfalse — because they've been placed under investigation for lying, basically — they said that they tried

to bring him in because he was walking down the road without a mask, without a covid mask. he was near his studio and they say he went into the studio to try and escape them. they came in after him, and it was in the very narrow confines of the entrance to his studio that the altercation took place, then claiming that he resisted, that there was some kind of struggle. and who knows? maybe there was. one imagines that there was something which preceded the incident. we just don't know what it was. but even they, the police, in this case, admit, have admitted — after being questioned by the prosecution — that their reaction, their beating of him, was not appropriate, was excessive and unjustified. now, as i mentioned, as well as raising broad issues about french policing, it's also prompted a government u—turn on one element of its new security legislation that passed the lower house of french parliament last week. this is all to do with something called article 24. if ratified, it would make it a criminal offence to publish images of on—duty police officers with the intent

to harm their "physical or psychological integrity". and offenders could face up to a year in prison and/or a fine of up to 45,000 euros — that's around $53,000. and some wanted that gone, especially after the michel zecler video. this was a protest against article 24 in paris on saturday. and as you can see, there were some clashes with riot police. well, the government has listened. the head of emmanuel macron's party in the national assembly spoke earlier. translation: i am now going to suggest a rewritten version of article 24. these last few days have shown how much freedom of expression needs to be protected. that decision has been welcomed. but that's not the end of the matter. this is the activist and journalist rhokayo diallo on the deeper issues within french policing. ever since you have a police officer involved in police brutality,

they don't face responsibility. france has been sentenced several times by the european court of human rights, by its own supreme court, also by the un, by amnesty international, for police brutality, racial bias. and there never been any national policies to prevent racism in the police, so i think that we need to draft a policy in order to make sure that no racism occurs in the police and that when it happens, there are consequences. and for now, it's not the case. some criticism of the police force is also coming from within. the bbc‘s been speaking to one officer in versaille who is resigning over what he says has been a lack of action from the police force when it comes to stamping out police brutality. translation: i am leaving the police force because i no longer have any hope of changing the system from within. those from lower down on the social ladder are targeted, including ethnic minorities, as there is racism in the police force and they're there is racism in the police force

and they‘ re not there is racism in the police force and they're not held accountable, because ministers will hold the same offices, including the bad ones. and while france considers some of the long—term challenges facing its police force, its new security law remains an immediate issue. here's hugh schofield on what comes next for article 24. president macron called the prime minister, the interior minister, the heads of both pro—government parties, to the palace this morning, and it looks like he read them the right act and said he was very unhappy with the ring that had gone wrong with this bill over the last two weeks or so. in the upshot is that, it's not been dropped completely, it's good to be rewritten. it will, we are told, find its way back into the slot or another law, but it is patent that president macron has said we cannot going on with this, we need to put up going on with this, we need to put upa united going on with this, we need to put up a united front, and i'm told he's very unhappy with the interior minister, who is really, as interior

minister, who is really, as interior minister, the person who has masterminded this clause from its inception. every day on outside source, we cover stories all over the world — from the us to france. now to iran. a state funeral has taken place for the country's top nuclear scientist. these are some of the latest pictures we have. mohsen fakhrizadeh was killed on friday — and speaking at the funeral, iran's defence minister that his death will be avenged. translation: and the enemies should know that this is their first defeat. if they aimed to kill our dear martyr so that his name would fade away, now his name is sung everywhere and he has become an idol for all who embark on the path to fight. iran blamed israel for this attack — something israeli officials have denied. we've long known that israel considered mohsen fakhrizadeh central to iran's nuclear programme. this article in the new york times quotes an anonymous senior israeli official who was involved in tracking mr fakhrizadeh. it reads...

this scientist was believed to have led project amad. that's the name of a covert programme that iran established in 1989 to carry out research on a potential nuclear bomb. the international atomic energy agency says that project was shut down in 2003, but israel has since claimed it was secretly continued. this is the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking in 2018. this is how dr mohsen fakhrizadeh put it — remember that name. and he says... but then he adds... special activities — you know what that is!

iran has insisted that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. it entered into a nuclear deal with the us and several european countries in 2015. that's the deal the trump administration withdrew from two yea rs administration withdrew from two years ago, but the deal is still in place. there's also been some speculation over the timing of the assassination. here's a tweet from a former adviser to president barack obama... president—elect biden has said he wanted to rejoin the deal. and last week, the foreign ministers of the uk, germany and france met to discuss a joint approach on reviving it. a israeli intelligence and security expert told the financial times that whoever carried out the attack... here's the bbc‘s paul adams. the fallout is very dangerous.

you've got also the people around the world, including interestingly today, a number of former eu and nato officials, urging the europeans do what they can to essentially limit the anonymous damage that might occur between now and the end of the trump presidency at the end of the trump presidency at the end of january —— the of the trump presidency at the end ofjanuary —— the amount of damage. there is a realfear in ofjanuary —— the amount of damage. there is a real fear in the ofjanuary —— the amount of damage. there is a realfear in the region and beyond that the connotation of donald trump's last weeks in office and whatever the israelis have up their sleeves can still create a very dangerous and volatile situation. meanwhile, a news agency in iran has claimed mr fakhrizadeh was killed with a remote—controlled machine gun and no human agents were involved. this hasn't been independently verified and is being questioned by analysts. this article from the iran wire website, a partner publication of the daily beast, reports that two retired iranian officials have said that version of events is "unbelieveable." there's also this from the atlantic council's holly dagres...

perhaps that won't happen tomorrow, but the issue it raises is very immediate. let's speak to rana rahimpour. we heard at the funeral lots of talk of taking vengeance against whoever was behind this. what options are available to iran? obviously, iran has many options, but the question is whether it is going to show for teaching patients, as many of the reigning officials have called for before. —— strategic patients. they can have operations, they can attack israeli targets in the region, but it does not seem that they are in a rush to do that, and as your other fundings mentioned, it is very sensitive period until president elect biden takes office and many other worried about repercussions, so iran seems to control his anger

for the moment and is waiting to see how the rest of the couple of weeks will unfold as. does that mean the iranian government is hopeful that a biting presidency might be an easier presidency to deal with —— biting presidency? they definitely do, and they are not wrong to think that full topping of president trump is very close to the israeli prime minister and the saudi officials who have been quiet so far, they have not condemned the attack, unlike some persian gulf arab countries. they have a very close relationship in iran is hoping under a biting presidency, that alliance will wea ken presidency, that alliance will weaken and there hoping they'll be some room for negotiation on that point —— ajoe biden presidency. some room for negotiation on that point -- ajoe biden presidency. we heard benjamin neta nyahu point -- ajoe biden presidency. we heard benjamin netanyahu mentioning the essential idea of the iran nuclear programme, but this establishes not one individual can prevented continuing. yes, and he

seems to... it is entered into us, as irani journalists, we have not heard much about mr fakhrizadeh, and many of us went back to mr benjamin netanyahu's benjamin neta nyahu's speech benjamin netanyahu's speech to do yea rs benjamin netanyahu's speech to do years ago to memory who he was. they said he was probably as important as general qasem soleimani, who was assassinated last december, two iran's nuclear programme. he can be replaced, but he was definitely influential. bbc persian is washed all around the world. i wonder how people outside of iran have reacted to this. many see this is a huge embarrassment for iran's intelligence officers. and as you mentioned, we do not have a clear picture of what exact we happened. there are so many conflicting stories. some say it was an

automatic weapon, some say it was an infiltration, but whatever it was, it shows that the iranian authorities have failed to protect one of the most important architects of the nuclear programme, and that has been a huge embarrassment. hence all this overall reaction of confusion. whatever happened, it happened on a radiance oil and the reigning authorities have failed to protect their nuclear scientist —— it happened on a radiance oil. people inside and outside have not stopped criticising iran's telling his officers. thank you very much. we always appreciate you coming on. if you speak farsi, i do not, but if you do, you can get more on this stories on bbc persian. in english, go to the bbc website. on the second half of the programme, we are going to update you on a number of

stories, including in australia and china. they were not kidding on very well, but it has escalated. you will see why. and i will see you in a minute. hello again. well, it's been another pretty grey day for most of us, but a big improvement in my book. at least we could see more than a few hundred metres. the mist and fog having cleared out of the way by patches of rain. that rain's been pushing southwards over recent hours, and you can just make out this little line of rain just coming into parts of merseyside on the radar picture. that's actually the cold front, and to the north of the cold front, that's where we had some proper sunshine working in across scotland, although there were plenty of showers here. we also had some sunshine, too, in the north east of england. overnight tonight, those clearer skies will continue to push southwards, so good parts of wales, most of england and much of eastern scotland having that clearer weather. it's going to be cold with some patches of frost developing in the countryside, but thicker cloud in northern ireland, where there'll be some drizzle,

and temperatures here mostly staying above freezing. tuesday, cold air in place, then, but eventually we'll see this warm sector, this milder air pushing into the north west, but quite late in the day. now, for eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of wales and most of england, there should be some sunshine around, but we'll have cold northerly winds and those temperatures around the east coast struggle. highs 5—7 degrees for some. turns milder in the north west, but with that a lot of low cloud and again probably some mist and fog over the high ground and certainly some patches of drizzle around. midweek, we've got a narrowing warm sector pushing across the uk. a cold front on the charts, colder air follows. and what all that means on wednesday is that it's going to be a cloudy day for england and wales with some patches of light rain and drizzle pushing southwards and eastwards. much brighter skies follow with some sunshine, but lots of blustery showers being blown in as well. those temperatures drop as colder air pushes in. temperatures across scotland and the far north of england about 5—6 degrees celsius. it gets even colder across the north on thursday, with the showers here turning increasingly to snow

above 300 metres' elevation or so. we've got heavy rain for wales and for parts of england, particularly in the south, with some strong winds working through the english channel. so it will be a blustery day, perhaps with some gales here as well. beyond that, towards the end of the week, low pressure takes up residence to the eastern side of the uk. colder air filtering in all the while across western areas. we may well see some of this rain turn to snow towards the end of the week, but for the most part, it looks to be over the high ground above 300 metres' elevation, so a few of you could wake up to scenes like this by the end of the week.

hello, i'm ros atkins. this is outside source. moderna becomes the second company to file for emergency approval for a coronavirus vaccine in the us. and the health secretary is optimistic about roll—out. we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before christmas. the news comes as 10 million people in los angeles face tougher covid—19 restrictions as cases in america's second biggest city spike. reports from ethiopia say more than 4000 government soldiers held captive in tigray have been been released after the prime minister announced victory against tigray‘s local leaders.

translation: the defence forces never killed a single person in a single town. no soldier from any country could be more competent. we have disciplined and heroic soldiers. and another brexit deadline looms — the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is in london to try to agree a trade deal with the uk. let's update you on the conflict in ethiopia. prime minister abiy ahmed has declared victory in the government's conflict with forces in the region of tigray and has made the disputed claim that civilians have been spared. i've several clips to show you. this first is from the ethiopian parliament earlier. translation: the defence forces never killed a single person in a single town. no soldier from any country could be more competent. we have disciplined and heroic soldiers.

there was a lot of campaigning saying that we would demolish mekelle. mekelle is ours, built with our resources. why would we destroy it? no—one got in harm's way. the special forces have simply conducted a special surgery in mekelle. now to be clear, there are so many parts of this story that we're strugling to verify, in part because phone lines and the internet is largely cut off in mekelle. but let me take you through the statements and reporting that we have. over the weekend, the international committee of the red cross told us in mekelle's hospitals "80% of patients to be suffering from trauma injuries. the influx of wounded forced the hospital to suspend many other medical services. the hospital is also lacking in body bags for the deceased. food supplies are also low". they also posted this message on twitter. a message from mekelle, from the delegation of the international community

of the red cross and the ethiopian red cross society. shortly to explain some of what we're doing and what is happening. in the last two days, the red cross teams have been mobilised, all ambulances are moving within the city to support the wounded and the provisional hospitals facilities. we also have reports that hundreds, possibly thousands of civilians have died since the government began its offensive almost a month ago in tigray, though the level of casualties and who is to blame is fiercely contested. as is the dispute itself. regional forces called the tplf reject the accusation that they are seeking to destablise ethiopia. in fact, they agree on almost nothing. on saturday, the government said the capture of the regional capital mekelle completed its operation in the region. the tplf says it conitnues to fight what it calls the "the invaders".

here's the prime minister again. translation: we were on target, 99%. there was no collateral damage on 99% of the operation. we neverfired on uncertainties, for example, during the night, because what if children die, they are ours. the enemy assumed we use drones only for firing because they didn't know the capacity of the special forces and the air force. but we used drones in 90% of the cases to monitor their movements. certainly the idea that this is completely over would seem to overstate the clarity of the stuation. earlier, the tplf claimed to have retaken axum city. and said its forces have shot down a federal warplane in tigray and captured its pilot. that's denied by ethiopia's government. here's a spokesman reacting to that.

until each and every one of them are apprehended or until the rank and file would will be desperate and loose hope that there is no case to fight, then they'll keep on feeding that they would be hell— bent on keeping people fighting, but we will not allow that. and then there are pictures shown on ethiopian state media. we're told this is the discovery of 70 graves in a field a town called humera. the pictures emerged a day after the government said it had completed its operation there. it's not clear who the deceased are, how they died or who may be responsible. so many questions that are hard to answer. one thing we can be more clear on is that this is a region of 5 million people. and at least 43,000 have now crossed into neighbouring sudan because of the conflict. this is the um raquba camp 80 kilometres from the ethiopian border. it originally housed ethiopian refugees who fled famine in the 1980s and was reopened for a second time earlier this month.

well, in the last hour, we've had reports that more than 4000 government soldiers who had been held captive have been released. local officials said they were detained when tigrayan forces attacked a federal military base four weeks ago. beverly ochieng is from bbc monitoring in nairobi. first of all, where are you looking for good and helpful and reliable information on what is happening in tigray? the truth then is difficult to get accurate independent accounts on what is happening in mekelle, especially if the fighting is still ongoing with the status of the military operation is. but there is some information trickling in through regional tv. one prominent bulletin as we saw focused on the downing of a fighterjet plane and just moments ago, the tigray tv

seemed to operate a rocket launcher. the tplf is will arm so the fighting continues. some of the bulletins focus on the actions of the tplf now that mekelle has fallen. some state m e nts that mekelle has fallen. some statements from agency reports and unofficial twitter accounts in light of the conflict. so it sounds like the tplf at least once to give the impression the matter is not completed. in terms of the situation in the city itself, what can we learn beyond what the red cross was telling us about the situation in the hospitals? the tplf have said it will not give up fighting was up it seems as though there will still beat more possibility of casualties, whether it is civilian or even on the army side. yesterday they said federal authorities sent medics into tigray to look into the casualty cou nts tigray to look into the casualty counts and there have been some

reports of casualties as well in parts of eritrea. there are hundreds of soldiers who are looking for treatment in hospitals there. there has been a lot of silence from the media and officials in every tree of whether the conflict is reached the country or what the extent of the casualty count is. and this is difficult given how much regulation there is and how much is broadcast in the front line with the government and the tplf narratives are on casualties and the extent of the conflict. beverly, thank you very much indeed. please come back soon very much indeed. please come back soon to help us with this story. not for the first time, it's a big week for brexit. i have said it a few times over the yea rs. the focus is on trying to agree a trade deal between the eu and the uk, and time is running down. this is the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier in london this morning. asked whether there was reason for optimism, he told reporters... "there are reasons

for determination." now, the uk left the eu earlier this year, but it remains in a transition period where it largely follows eu rules. that ends on the 31st of december, and at the moment, there is no trading agreement to take its place. there are are a number of stumbing blocks. they're largely the ones that have been there all along. let's start with fishing rights. here's foreign secretary dominic raab speaking to the bbc at the weekend. we're down to really two basic issues, but i think in particular the issue around fisheries. and we need the eu to accept the point of principle that through the transition period, it's a fact of leaving the eu that we take back sovereignty and control over our own coastal, as a coastal state, control over our own waters and our own fisheries. sovereignty is a crucial word to people who support brexit, and fishing has become a test case for many brexiteers. they believe the uk should be able to catch the fish within its waters.

but it's complicated. this is why. the quota system used by the eu rests on a deal that was done in the 1970s and which the uk signed up to. it gave each country a certain volume of quotas. then in the 1990s, some british fishermen sold their quotas as they were entitled to do. but the sale of some quotas means more than half the value of england's quotas is foreign—owned. the same is true for wales, though in scotland and northern ireland, the figure is much lower. the uk says it wants much more access to the fish in its waters. it says a trade deal shouldn't be scuppered by that demand. the eu counters that many communities rest on the existing arrangements and they cannot have their livelihoods removed overnight. so fishing is one issue. a second is how to avoid border checks between the republic of ireland and northern ireland, with one in the eu's single market and one outside of it. the third is what's called "the level playing field" or "state aid". the eu wants commitments that the uk won't subsidise certain industries

in a way that gives it a competitive advantage, but the uk wants to freedom to invest how it chooses free of eu guidelines. and so no deal remains a possibility, if not the most likely outcome. here are angela merkel‘s thoughts on the point we've reached. translation: it's clear that some member states are starting to get impatient. there is not a lot of time left, and these negotiations are tough. however, we don't need an agreement at any price. we have made that clear. let's go to rob watson, our uk political correspondent, in oxford. i will get into the practicalities in the moment but first let's talk about the politics of it. is it possible for boris johnson about the politics of it. is it possible for borisjohnson and his government to end up in a no deal scenario and event to be political he viable? the first thing i should

say is not try to be nice but honestly your mastery of the detail is pretty impressive. you should consider offering your services to the negotiations. but to answer your question, this is all about politics. economically and will medically it makes sense for both the european union and the uk to do a deal. i don't think anyone disagrees with that but the real problem is politics and pick early for borisjohnson. the problem is politics and pick early for boris johnson. the way i would answer your question is by saying it seems to me he faces to the rather unpalatable choices. one is to go for a no deal praxis and all the government itself forecasts that would bring an tremendous economic shock. 0r would bring an tremendous economic shock. or go for a deal but then face the problem of having the pro brexit purists in his own party saying there is been too much compromise with the eu. so it's a difficult choice which ever way borisjohnsonjumps. difficult choice which ever way boris johnson jumps. and difficult choice which ever way boris johnsonjumps. and i guess that choice was always coming at some point because there is tension

between the desire to continue trading closely with the european union and the desire to have more sovereignty. again, the nail on the head. that's always what this is been about. if you see it from the eu point of view, their take on it has always been the uk is essentially from the moment of the referendum wanted everything that it liked about membership of the club, thatis liked about membership of the club, that is free trade, lots of movement of financial services, skills, all the things it likes with the kid did not want the things he did not like such as being part of the political clu b such as being part of the political club and having to pull some sovereignty. in a way we talked about this so often, that essentially has been the dynamic sense june 24,2016. essentially has been the dynamic sense june 24, 2016. if that's the politics, let's go back to the practicalities. do we have any idea with the negotiators sometimes called the landing zones, though they may be able to resolve some of

these most gnarly issues. they may be able to resolve some of these most gnarly issueslj they may be able to resolve some of these most gnarly issues. i think we do but it would have to be some give from the uk on the fishing front. and the uk would have to give something on this whole idea of the level playing field. that is given the european union reassurances the uk was not going to turn into some sort of singapore on the thames offshore competition for the eu. it has to be something to do with those two issues. thank you very much indeed. we will talk to the week i suspect. robert live from oxford. if you want more background, get it on the website. stay with us on outside source.

wales is to ban pubs, restaurants and cafes from serving alcohol from friday in its latest effort to combat coronavirus. the first minister, mark drakeford, said without the new restrictions, there could be up to 1700 preventable deaths over the winter. hywel grifith reports. in pubs and restaurants, the festive spirit will have to be alcohol—free. all hospitality venues must close their doors at 6pm. it leaves nick wondering whether it's worth opening at all. of course we can open, but a pub with no alcohol is not a pub any more. we've come through one long lockdown, through the firebreak. it doesn't seem to have worked. you've got to say from their own standards, they've failed. help has been promised for hospitality. the first minister says it will be the most generous package in the uk. he insists the virus is a problem in pubs, something the industry disputes. the evidence, i'm

afraid, isjust there. when we get together in that way, whether it's in our own homes or in a hospitality setting, the virus thrives. and the cases rise and we end up with the position we see in wales today. but the position around wales varies a lot. here in llandudno, they're in the county with the lowest case rate, just 27 per 100,000. the seaside hotels here aren't being told to shut, but fear the wales—wide measures will keep customers away. guests won't come if it means they're not able to go out, because it's part of the overall experience. and given the time of the year this is being imposed on us, ijust think it's a really cruel blow. this thing is very much a one size fits all approach and it's cost us dearly in the long run. this pandemic is far more than a numbers game. lives and livelihoods are always in the balance. the gamble now is whether these measures will get the virus

back under control. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is — moderna has become the second company to file for emergency approval for a coronavirus vaccine in the us. if approved, the first doses could be administered before christmas. relations between china and australia were already bad, and they've got worse in a row that's escalated really fast over a doctored image sent by the deputy director of china's foreign ministry on twitter. we've pixellated it, but this is the image. it shows a man in an australian soldier's uniform holding a knife to an afghan child's throat. twitter put a warning of sensitive content on the tweet. it's notjust sensitive, it's not real. the tweet refers to a recent report

which found what it called "credible information" that 25 australian soldiers were involved in the murders of 39 afghan civilians and prisoners between 2009—2013. now, the australian government has appointed a special investigator to consider prosecutions based on that report. but prime minister scott morrison wants this tweet deleted and wants an apology. here's more from him. a post made on an official chinese government twitter account, posted by the deputy director general of the ministry of foreign affairs, is truly repugnant. it is deeply offensive to every australian. beijing, though, is doubling down. here's a spokesperson for the foreign ministry. translation: the australian side is reacting so strongly to my colleague's twitter.

does that mean they think the cold—blooded murder of innocent afghan civilians is justified while other people's condemnation of such crimes are not justified? afghan lives matter. the australian government should do some soul—searching and bring the culprits tojustice and offer an official apology to the afghan people. two more tweets to show you, both of which help us put this into context. the first is from abc australia's china correspondent bill birtles, who isn't in china because he was kicked out. he's tweeted. .. and then this from the editor—in—chief of china's global times...

well, the bbc‘s stephen mcdonell is based in beijing, and he was at the foreign ministry press co nfe re nce . i did ask the spokeswoman at one point, well, this does seem to mark a bit of a change in beijing's position because china is always saying we don't get involved in other people's internal affairs and so therefore you should not be getting involved in our internal affairs. now obviously this does not have anything to do with china. it's australia and afghanistan. and so i asked maybe if this represents a change in beijing's approach. well, the spokeswoman was actually sort of, in a way, quite upset almost by this line of questioning, suggesting that it was not worthy of the bbc to be asking this and wondering whether it was because i was an australian citizen or perhaps i was seeking to divert people's attention from the issues at hand. and i reassured herthat, no,

in fact it was a genuine question because it does seem to represent a shift in beijing's thinking. if it's going to start making statements about all these events all over the world which don't involve china. let's get more on australia's view of china's behaviour here. alexander downer is a former foreign minister. aggression is not worthy of a major power during the 21st century. it is childish, it's abusive and ultimately it's going to be very counterproductive. and it's a shocking thing that a country like the people's republic of china should descend into this sort of behaviour. shaimaa khalil has more from sydney. we're in a very, very tense relationship and i know we keep saying that, we keep saying it's getting worse, but that's because it is. every time now there is a headline with australia and china relations,

we almost know immediately it's going to be bad news. the fact that this image was used by a chinese official foreign ministry spokesperson, used on an official chinese government twitter account, this in a very sensitive time for australia. the country, the military, even the public and the government, they are still reeling from the findings of that report. the fact that 90 sas soldiers could be facing court charges, could be facing prosecution because of those murders, all of all of this makes for a very bad picture. the fact this comes at a very heightened tensions, not just politically and diplomatically, but also trade tensions between the two countries, all of that makes for a very bleak picture in the relation between china and australia.

i will say this, it's worth noting that despite the open fury by scott morrison, he still left a little bit of room for automatic manoeuvring. he said that he hopes that this will inspire a reset and relations and relations with them, he said that he hopes there is still room for a dialogue but judging by china's tone by china's rhetoric, i don't think he's getting one anytime soon. the singer rita ora has apologised for holding a 30th birthday party celebration at a restaurant in west london on saturday with a group of friends in breach of coronavirus restrictions. she posted the following pictures online. you can't see how many people were there, but meeting up with people outside your household, inside a restaurant, is currently against the rules. and this was the police responding today at the casa cruz restaurant in notting hill. they said they were investigating a potential breach of the regulations. that could mean a fine for the restaurant and possibly the singer as well. david sillito, our arts correspondent, has more. that will be down, i think, to exactly what a small group of friends actually means. the scale of the party, that's not been clear at all. but we know that meeting any more than one person outside of a home at the moment is against the rules

at the moment, against the law because of the lockdown rules. of course, the police do have powers to bring about fines if they believe that a breach has actually happened. so certainly once its front page news and we know this is something that she is deeply apologising for at the moment. here's the statement rita ora released also on instagram... she described it as a "serious and inexcusable error of judgement". this all comes during england's second lockdown for coronavirus, which has been a tough time for many people. corrine sweet is a psychologist who's been councilling clients throughout the period. she says examples set by celebrities do have an impact. people are feeling lockdown fatigue like never before. people are feeling very frustrated,

especially young people who feel that they are being unfairly sort of at a disadvantage. and so suddenly for people who are revered like rita ora to be flouting the regulations is incredibly hard because i think people are feeling very frustrated with christmas coming. lots of people are confused, worried about the new tier regulations. and there's a real feeling of this is not fair. there is an us and them situation. if you've got money, if you are a celeb, you can break the rules and i really think that's very unfortunate. the national lockdown in england is ending later on this week. los angeles has gone into a second lockdown, against covid—19. these are people attending testing facilities. the number of cases and

deaths from cofinancing have been going up in los angeles county for the new lockdown is being brought in. thanks for watching. hello again. well, it's been another pretty grey day for most of us, but a big improvement in my book. at least we could see more than a few hundred metres. the mist and fog having cleared out of the way by patches of rain. that rain's been pushing southwards over recent hours, and you can just make out this little line of rain just coming into parts of merseyside on the radar picture. that's actually the cold front, and to the north of the cold front, that's where we had some proper sunshine working in across scotland, although there were plenty of showers here. we also had some sunshine, too, in the north east of england. overnight tonight, those clearer skies will continue to push southwards, so good parts of wales, most of england and much of eastern scotland having that clearer weather. it's going to be cold with some patches of frost developing in the countryside, but thicker cloud in northern ireland, where there'll be some drizzle, and temperatures here mostly

staying above freezing. tuesday, cold air in place, then, but eventually we'll see this warm sector, this milder air pushing into the north west, but quite late in the day. now, for eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of wales and most of england, there should be some sunshine around, but we'll have cold northerly winds and those temperatures around the east coast struggle. highs 5—7 degrees for some. turns milder in the north west, but with that a lot of low cloud and again probably some mist and fog over the high ground and certainly some patches of drizzle around. midweek, we've got a narrowing warm sector pushing across the uk. a cold front on the charts, colder air follows. and what all that means on wednesday is that it's going to be a cloudy day for england and wales with some patches of light rain and drizzle pushing southwards and eastwards. much brighter skies follow with some sunshine, but lots of blustery showers being blown in as well. those temperatures drop as colder air pushes in. temperatures across scotland and the far north of england about 5—6 degrees celsius. it gets even colder across the north on thursday, with the showers here turning increasingly to snow above 300 metres' elevation or so.

we've got heavy rain for wales and for parts of england, particularly in the south, with some strong winds working through the english channel. so it will be a blustery day, perhaps with some gales here as well. beyond that, towards the end of the week, low pressure takes up residence to the eastern side of the uk. colder air filtering in all the while across western areas. we may well see some of this rain turn to snow towards the end of the week, but for the most part, it looks to be over the high ground above 300 metres' elevation, so a few of you could wake up to scenes like this by the end of the week.

you're watching bbc news with me tim willcox. the headlines at 8pm. on the eve of the debate over england's new tiered system, does new data convince mps to back the decision, as the health secretary says he believes coronavirus is "back under control". threw everything that people have sacrificed, we have reduced pressures on the nhs, we've brought down the number of coronavirus cases, we got this virus back under control. the labour leader sir keir starmer says his party will abstain on voting on the proposed restrictions in the house of commons tomorrow. wales is imposing stricter coronavirus measures — with all pubs and restaurants closing from six o'clock every evening. of course we can open, but a pub with no alcohol we have serious misgivings about the scheme, about whether it's strong

enough.