welcome to bbc news, i'm luis vonjones. our top stories: welcome to bbc news, i'm luis vonjones. ourtop stories: new lockdowns are in place in san francisco to help curb a surge in coronavirus cases. us president—electjoe biden calls for congress to act without delay to help americans who have lost jobs as delay to help americans who have lostjobs as a result of covid—19. hello and welcome to the programme. the us has recorded 14.1 million cases and 276,000 deaths from covid—19, highest of any country in the world. on

thursday it broke all records almost 3000 deaths recorded in almost 3000 deaths recorded in a single day. the equivalent of two deaths every minute. the mayor of san francisco along with political leaders across the bay area are imposing new lockdown orders and business restrictions to try to contain the surge of covid—19 infections, saying it is time for action. the measures we have tried so farsimply the measures we have tried so far simply have not bent the curve the way we needed to. we have to do everything we can to prevent this from being holiday season prevent this from being holiday season that we look back on as one of sickness and death, especially now when we have vaccinations that are really within sight. there is a light at the end of the tunnel. let's chat with the north american correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. hello. to start, let's talk is through, what are the new restrictions that will come into force. these stay at home orders are similarto these stay at home orders are similar to what we have seen

before but slightly different, slightly modified. some places will be staying open, open air recreational places like hikes and beaches and open air gyms, but the places that will be closed on many local businesses, small businesses especially restaurants for indoor and outdoor dining, the number of people allowed into stores which by and large will be staying open is going to be severely curtailed to 20% of capacity. generally, the message to people is stay at home unless you absolutely have to go out and certainly, all gatherings of people, whether it isa gatherings of people, whether it is a public or private gathering, are essentially van der most well with your own household group at home. so clearly these measures are being brought in to try to curb the surge there. how about things in the area? it is very bad and officials there think it is going to get much worse over the next few weeks, moving up over the next few weeks, moving up to christmas. they talk in

terms of people being hospitalised and ta ken terms of people being hospitalised and taken to hospitalised and taken to hospitalfor hospitalised and taken to hospital for treatment increasing threefold over the last few weeks. the number of cases have tripled. the numbers really are soaring, seemingly out of control. that is why this particular area is essentially deciding to go it alone, because the state guidelines are that when hospital emergency rooms, the number of emergency beds, availability gets to a certain level, that is when the restrictions come in but as far as san francisco and neighbouring counties are concerned, they don't want to wait for those thresholds and they would liken it to driving offa they would liken it to driving off a cliff and then putting the handbrake on. it is too late. and they just the handbrake on. it is too late. and theyjust want the handbrake on. it is too late. and they just want to the handbrake on. it is too late. and theyjust want to get a head start to try to get the curve to move downwards. so far it seems to have refused to do. thanks, peter. staying in the us, with president—electjoe biden calling for urgent bipartisan agreements on congress to help people who

have lost their jobs congress to help people who have lost theirjobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 2.3 million more people have become long—term unemployed over the past three months. mr bytedance has americans need help now, especially as many covid relief measures are set to expire at the end of the year. —— mr biden. 12 million americans will lose their unemployment benefits they rely on, merry christmas! unemployment benefits rely on keeping food on the table, to keeping food on the table, to keep the lights on in the heat on. their bills. emergency paid level and. a moratorium on evictions will expire. states will lose the vital tools they need to pay for covid testing and public health. president trump has ordered the withdrawal of nearly all american troops from somalia, where they have been conducting operations against al—shabaab

and islamic state militants. it follows the drawdowns of forces from afghanistan and iraq. somali officials say the us withdrawal would be a morale boost for terrorist. the pentagon says the us remains committed to counterterrorism operations. democrats in the us house of representatives have voted to decriminalise the use of cannabis. the first time the measure has succeeded in congress. the legislation would bring federal law in line with more than a dozen states but the bill stand little chance of passing if republicans managed to hold on to control of the senate in elections next month. you are watching bbc news. talks on a post—brexit trade deal have been temporarily halted without an agreement, less tha n halted without an agreement, less than one month before the transition period comes to an end. the lead negotiator david frost and his eu counterpart michel barnier have said significant divergences remain and negotiations were now paused and on saturday boris

johnson and the president of the eu ursula von der leyen will discuss next steps. nikki young reports. everything will soon be changing for this distribution company and thousands of others. injust four weeks, goods going back and forth across the border with the eu will need extra paperwork and checks. some fear that could lead to widespread disruption and congestion. it's difficult enough getting in and out of the uk at the moment with the delays at the border crossings and ferries. if you're adding eight, 16, 12 hours — whatever that may be going forward — who's going to pick up the costs? if our wheels aren't turning, in effect, we're not earning any money. in kent, they're preparing a park for 10,000 lorries. a trade deal with the eu would mean businesses can buy and sell goods without paying taxes or tariffs, but there will still be more checks whether there's a deal or not. reporter: will we get a deal? the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier has been in london all week.

important day. determination. but the uk has accused the eu of making last—minute demands. we want the eu to recognise that the uk is a sovereign and independent nation and it is on the basis of that that a deal will be done. it is tricky, but we are working hard. david frost and his team are working incredibly hard on this, in good faith, so let's see where we get to. but they didn't get very far. tonight, after another day of intensive talks, everything is on hold. a joint statement on behalf of chief negotiators lord frost and monsieur barnier said: there is a lot at stake, and the irish prime minister says he fervently hopes there will be a deal. given the enormous negative impact of covid—i9 on our economic and social life,

the last thing our citizens need now is a second shock of the kind that no—deal brexit would bring. for example, if the uk government wants to give financial help to tech firms, will it need permission from the eu? would there be a punishment if it went ahead anyway? this is all about businesses on one side not having an unfair advantage over their competitors — the so—called level playing field. and then there's fishing. eu countries want a guarantee that their boats can continue to operate in uk waters. if not, the eu might make it much harder for us to sell fish to them. translation: france, like all its partners, has a veto. we'll conduct our own evaluation of a deal, if one exists. that is normal. we owe it to the french. we owe it to our fishermen and to other economic sectors. tonight, discussions have stalled and no one is quite sure when the negotiators

will be back. katya adler gave us her assessment of this latest pause from brussels. like so much during the brexit negotiations, we can look at this as a glass half—full or glass half—empty kind of way. 0n the glass half—full side, both sides still say they want a deal and they want to work toward the deal, so it really depends what steps they now take and how willing they are on both sides to take a deal. don't forget, these compromises are difficult and political, so you could cynically say this crisis is quite useful for both sides to show to their domestic audience we have fought to the bitter end before they then agree a deal. 0n the glass half empty side though there are clearly very big differences. and it makes sense because the eu and uk have approached these trade talks from very different directions. the eu, the priority has always

been the single market. they worry about uk competition. they hope to bind the uk in a kind of common rule book, like on government subsidies, for example. but the uk after brexit wants to be competitive, doesn't its hands bound and wants to hold onto as much sovereignty as possible. this is a deal still possible, yes. but is it definite? no. one thing is definite, and that neither side will sign up to a deal unless they believe they can sell it back home as a victory. 0ur our thanks to katya adler. chief executive of the medicines regulator in the uk doctorjune rae says it should be possible to get the coronavirus vaccine into care homes within two weeks. it comes as the r number, the rate at which coronavirus reproduces, fell again between 0.8 and one, meaning that growth has slowed and the number of new cases is declining. hugh pym reports.

any allergies that you may have? no. in training for one of the biggest assignments in the history of the nhs — covid vaccinations for real — and starting next week in hospitals like this one in coventry. they say as well as preparing staff to do the jabs, they've had to work out complex storage plans. it's an unusual challenge for us in that this is a vaccine that needs to be stored at —70 and it's not the way we've had to handle a drug before. but in the hospital, we have handled other products in that way. so from the pharmacy‘s perspective, we've had to have a new freezer. so that was delivered a couple of weeks ago. it won'tjust be in hospitals. nhs england has said gps will start vaccinating at specially run clinics from december 14th. so when will care home residents be vaccinated? the scottish government said this will happen from mid—december — though in england, that wasn't so clear. the problem is the way doses are packed. they need to be broken down into smaller consignments — a complex task, but regulators say that shouldn't take too long.

various centres involved in breaking down the packs are involved now in doing that at the very cold temperatures that are necessary. and of course, putting a day on it might be variable, but i would say definitely within the next two weeks. the vaccine has arrived just as case numbers are falling in most parts of the uk — largely as a result of the various local lockdown restrictions. the latest survey of community infections by the office for national statistics suggests that in england last week, one in 105 people had the virus, with the case rate coming down. in scotland, it was one in 130, with the rate starting to fall. in wales, one in 170 with the virus, with the case rate no longer falling. in northern ireland, it was one in 190, with the rate continuing to come down. the r number, which shows whether the virus is accelerating or receding, was a range of 0.8 to 1, slightly down on last week. so what might that mean

for the type of restrictions which may still be needed into the new year? i think the sort of message perhaps from a policy perspective is that, unfortunately, if we're going to keep infection rates low throughout the whole winter, we are going to continue to have some restrictions and quite what the sweet spot is, it's not entirely obvious from the data around the uk. for now, the focus is on next week's vaccine roll—out around the uk, with clinics like this being prepared for patients who are 80 or over and others likely to be the first to receive the jabs. hugh pym, bbc news. the latest government figures show new infections continuing to fall. there were 16,298 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 14,448. 1368 people

have been admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to november 30. in 504 deaths were reported. that is people who died within 28 days ofa people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week, 438 deaths were announced every day. takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 60,617. this is bbc news. the headlines: new lockdown orders and restrictions are imposed in san francisco to help curb a surgeon coronavirus cases. brexit trade talks have been temporarily put on hold without agreement. the lead negotiators say the eu president and the british prime minister will talk directly on saturday. tough new coronavirus restrictions have come into force in wales this evening. pubs, bars and restaurants have

to close at 6pm and can't sell alcohol on the premises. the first minister —— first minister says wales is experiencing an unmistakable rise in infections again with a record number of covid related patients in hospital. 0ur wales correspondent hywel griffith reports. pints and profits down the drain. for this pub in cardiff, a dry december isn't viable, and so it will close. like many brewers and landlords around wales, simon doesn't accept that pubs are the place where the virus is spreading. he says the new restrictions don't make sense. how can it be right and safe to open to serve food in pubs but not alcohol? it defies logic. why is 6pm the bewitching hour as opposed to 10pm? in these difficult times, and in the month of december particularly, the lost revenue is significant.

boozy lunches are off the menu for at least a fortnight, when the restrictions will be reviewed. for now, the first minister says the strain on the nhs is too great. hospitals in some parts of wales are now so full of patients with coronavirus that it simply wasn't possible for our ambulance service to attend to other people's emergencies. shops are staying open — the real ones, at least — but this play centre's having to shut, like all other indoor entertainment venues. it's the fourth timejoanne has had to close this year. it's just the stopping and starting all the time and not knowing where we are, and obviously people don't know if we are open, if we are closed, when we are going to be open. they're asking, are we going to do christmas events? at the minute, we'rejust saying we don't know. we don't know. in the background, the vaccine provides hope. the firstjab in wales will be given on tuesday but, for the weeks ahead, simple pleasures will remain off—limits. hwyel griffith,

bbc news, cardiff. councils in greater manchester have become the latest to pause rapid testing for care home visitors because of concerns the tests don't detect enough infections. diggers suggest lateral flow tests which can produce a result within 30 minutes miss about a third of the most infectious cases picked up by conventional laboratory picked up by conventional la boratory tests. picked up by conventional laboratory tests. the government says rapid testing isa government says rapid testing is a way of reducing rather than eliminating risk and can quickly identify people who are carrying the virus. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has more. at 96 years old, barbara has had enough of the coronavirus. do you find it annoying? well, it is a bit irritating. it's not a life, it's a bloody existence. sorry for the language! measures introduced in march to stop the spread of the virus at a care home means she's been missing the human touch. impossible! awful.

i want to grab them and... grr! ifeel like i am isolated. nobody to hug me or hold me, or me to hold somebody. i'd even hug you if this bloody thing wasn't here. now care homes have been offering testing kits that can provide a result in 30 minutes, known as lateral flow tests, to allow visitors to have that vital contact with their loved ones. but local councils in greater manchester, as well as sheffield, have advised that rapid testing for visitors is paused. care homes have to decide whose advice to follow. we will go with the national government guidelines. why? because these things have been put in place. it's not been made up. we're working with public health england, the world health organization, and for us, it's not a case of bring somebody in, have a test and they can go and kiss. we're still following our robust infection control procedures. the government says that overall, lateral flow tests

are more than 76% accurate when carried out by lab staff, but that isn't always the case. when they were used in a pilot project in liverpool, the tests were just 50% accurate when compared to the more standard swab test, and they only picked up 70% of the very infectious cases that would have been detected by the standard test. and experts warn that mass testing in liverpool exposed serious shortcomings. you will be telling just as many people with infection that they're all clear and they may well lower their guard, transmit more than they otherwise would have done, so that could wipe out any potential benefit that you would get. and then the other consequence is it consumes a huge amount of resources. trials of testing are under way in scotland and wales and plans are progressing in northern ireland. and these tests are meant to help students return home safely for christmas. the government says they can play an important role

in identifying people who are infected but showing no symptoms, and help stop the spread of the virus. dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester. four people have been killed in an explosion at waste treatment works near the store. they include a 16—year—old boy who had been working at the plant as an apprentice. the blast involved one mechanical tanks at the site. police said a fifth person was injured. the exact cause of the explosion is still being investigated. the mayor available pulled joe anderson has been arrested on suspicion to commit bribery and intimidation. he was one of five people arrested as part of a year—long police investigation into the awarding of building contracts in the city. liverpool city council said that it is cooperating with merseyside police but would not comment on matters relating to individuals. now, by the end of this decade, the uk plasma carbon emissions should be at least 68% less than they were back in 1990. that is the goal the prime minister has set the country

and its more ambitious than any other major economy. nearly a fifth of carbon emissions come from households, mainly gas or heating and cooking, and even watching your favourite film can have carbon consequences if you watch in high definition on your phone for example, it generates about eight times more emissions than if you watch in standard definition. 0ur correspondent sian lloyd reports. highbury road — typical of many. but if these new targets are to be met, it's unlikely that homes like these can stay the same. decarbonisation plans for heating, transport and industry will have to move at a faster pace, which could mean families like the trubys looking for new ways to heat their home. gas boilers may be replaced by cleaner heat pumps, which are more expensive. it's something we've really wanted to see for a while happening, but i think we have a lot of questions still about what support householders will get, for example, in making changes to our house to sort of decarbonise.

yes, the actions of this family, that matters, and the actions of all these other families matter, but what about business and what about local councils and law? how do we get there? i don't see that yet. so, how much will our lives have to change if we are to meet these climate targets? well, so far, the uk has reduced emissions by 45% compared to 1990 levels, but that hasn't required much involvement from the public. to hit zero emissions by 2050, scientists estimate over 60% of the reduction will require some degree of change — for example, driving an electric car or installing a heat pump. around 10% of that is driven by the choices we can make in our diets, how often we fly, and buying long lasting products. today's new targets have been welcomed by many who want to tackle climate change but there are questions around the practicalities of achieving them. providing leadership is good. the big problem, of course, is sort of the lack of data

as to how this is going to work on the ground. what will it mean for sort of industry, energy providers and individuals? we need to know more about that. and, of course, where will the money come from? it's recognised that transport has an important part to play in cutting carbon emissions, as does business. this global company based in the west midlands is using electric buses. it has promised to eradicate diesel from the fleet here by 2030. the only real way that we're going to meet these targets in this country is for everyone to change their behaviour a little bit. it is to catch public transport a bit more, it is to walk and cycle a bit more, so if we are asking people to do that, it's really important that our fleet is the most low carbon that it possibly can be. the nations have their own targets to secure a cleaner, greener future. achieving the 68% cut announced by the prime minister today will need a huge push. efforts must be increased by around half again on current levels. sian lloyd, bbc news, birmingham. police in edinburgh received

hundreds of calls earlier this morning from worried people had been woken up by they thought was an explosion with a loud bang they heard was actually just whether, a phenomenon known as under snow. here is our scotland correspondent james shaw. a flash of light, and then... rumbling. ..a long, low boom. shaking windows and waking people up all around edinburgh and north into fife. but what had shattered the calm ? was it an explosion? a collapsing building? no, it was thundersnow. this couple were woken around 5:00 this morning. so, woke up with this loud bang, andjumped up, opened the curtains and saw that it was snowing. i thought "it can't be thunder" and spoke to my husband. he said, "yeah, it will be thunder".

and i thought, looked it up on google and found this phenomenon called thundersnow. snow and rain in scotland — not something to write home but thundersnow? that's a phenomenon that most of us had not even heard of, let alone been woken up by it in the middle of the night. thundersnow is quite simply a thunderstorm with snow, and like the storms we see in the summer, it's caused by instability in the atmosphere and lots of energy. the difference with last night is that we had cold air and that's why we saw snow and not rain. and winter has onlyjust begun. plenty more time for another blast of thundersnow. james shaw, bbc news, glasgow. that's it from me. you can get me on line on twitter @lvaughanjones, i am me on line on twitter @lvaughanjones, iam lewis

vaughan—jones. it's been a wintry scene in much of the uk. we started with widespread snow in scotland. that then turn to rain and most of snow that's falling right now is really over the high ground. particularly over the peak district. it's been a messy picture because we've had these bands of cloud bringing wet weather around an area of low pressure with some stronger winds. that will tend to move down into france, so for a start, the winds will ease and that we can should be we should be turning drier as well. but still in cold air. clearing skies across parts the midlands, eastern england where we are likely to find a frost and some icy conditions as well. elsewhere across the uk it won't be quite as chilly or cold as last night in scotland. more cloud around, wetter weather too. wet weather will be confined to the south—west.

but for many, it will be turning dry with some sunshine. the weather improving in northern ireland as well and those showers becoming pure with sunshine especially in the south—west. another chilly day, not as windy as it was on friday but those temperatures 4—7 degrees. into the evening, clearer skies in the evening but we are likely to find some cloud and wetter weather just running into the far east of scotland and into the north—east of england as well. that'll keep the temperatures up here, perhaps, but elsewhere we're likely to find frost more widely, and it brings the risk of icy patches as well. not only that, but quite foggy here, by the morning and across the southeast —— of some icy patches. we will still keep some cloud coming into the northeast with a few showers. cloud around, but also some sunshine, the best temperatures probably in wales and the south—west, 8, maybe 9

degrees but in the cloud further east, it's going to be colder, around four celsius or so. early next week, one area of low pressure running to the southwest of the uk, another one threatening to come in off the north sea. that will bring some wetter weather across... next week is going to be dry generally. it is going to be cold and could be quite great with some patches of fog.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the mayor of san francisco says she and political leaders across the bay area are imposing new lockdown orders and business restrictions to try to contain a surge in covid—19 infections. the us has recorded more than

14 million cases, highest of any country in the world. trade talks between britain and the european union have been put on hold until a minister boris johnson and the commission president ursula von der leyen hold direct talks on saturday. they will try to bridge significant differences in three key areas, competition, governance and fisheries. the us president—electjoe biden has called for urgent bipartisan agreement in congress to help people who have lost jobs as congress to help people who have lostjobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. he said americans needed help now. new figures show the jobs market continues to grow although at a slowing rate. now on bbc news, it's click. this week: hands, face... there are people, yeah, got them.