the mayor of san francisco says she and political leaders gci’oss she and political leaders across the bay area are imposing new lockdown restrictions to try to contain the surge of covid—19 infections. the us has recorded more than 1a million cases, the highest of any country in the world. trade talks between britain and the eu have been put on hold until prime minister borisjohnson put on hold until prime minister boris johnson and put on hold until prime minister borisjohnson and the commission president ursula von der leyen hold talks on saturday. they will try to bridge significant differences in three key areas, competition, governance and fisheries. the pentagons has president trump has ordered the withdrawal of nearly all american troops from somalia before he leaves office next month. some of the trips would be relocated to neighbouring countries, allowing for cross—border operations. officials say the few that remain will be in the somali capital mogadishu. now on bbc news,

the week in parliament. hello and welcome to the week in parliament — a week when boris johnson celebrated the arrival of a vaccine, lifted a lockdown and faced his biggest tory rebellion as prime minister. all we need to do now is hold our nerve until these vaccines are indeed in ourgrasp and are being injected into ourarms! a week when the economic crisis deepened with the collapse of debenhams and arcadia. that's put 25,000 jobs at risk and caused huge anxiety to families at the worst possible time. also in this programme, advice for tough times. in my day, something bad happened, you stayed home,

got drunk and bit on a shoe. laughter. i think that is quite a good metaphor for the times we live in. but first, boris johnson has had worst weeks as prime minister, britain's medicine regulator approved a coronavirus vaccine, — the first country in thr world to do so — england's four—week nationwide lockdown was lifted and mps approved new covid rules, are tough and system of regional tiers to replace that lockdown. the ayes to the right, 291. the noes to the left, 78. so the ayes have it. the ayes have it. unlock. but 53 of the 78 mps that voted against the government were conservatives. the snp and liberal dems did not vote. had labour mps also been told to abstain, the government could well have lost. the prime minister himself had opened the six—hour debate on the new rules. this is not another lockdown,

nor is this the renewal of existing measures in england. the tiers that i am proposing would mean that from tomorrow, everyone in england, including those in tier 3, will be free to leave their homes for any reason. and when they do, they will find the shops open for christmas, the hairdressers open, the nail bars open, gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools open. he was repeatedly interrupted by conservatives unhappy with the new system. more than 55 million people are now living under tier 2 and tier 3, which ban households mixing indoors. we went in tier1we've and come out in tier 2. my pubs and restaurants are in the worst of all worlds. i wonder if in asking me to support these regulations tonight would hope the prime minister can give to them. does he share my concern that people have just had enough and that the risk of non—compliance is very great

and that those who are compliant will then have the added frustration of watching those who will not comply doing whatever they want while they have to sit at home? will he commit to a more local tiering system so that the hard work of my constituents is rewarded? a labour mp said that a regional system had been promised. however, what the powers that be have done is they have placed little old slough in tier 3, despite the fact that we have been segregated from the wider region, and there are areas in neighbouring london and essex with higher covid transmission rates. so why does the prime minister hate slough? what are we done that has annoyed him so much? well, i mean, i love slough and i take that — but i understand what he is saying. and i appreciate people's feelings of people of injustice — and people do feel it,

there's no question. borisjohnson said that in future the government would look at how to reflect the situation on the ground. he ended on an upbeat note. all we need to do now, mr speaker, is hold our nerve until these vaccines are indeed in our grasp and indeed being injected into our arms! so i say to the house again, let us follow the guidance, let us roll—out mass testing, let's work to deliver testing to the people of our country and work together to control the virus. sir keir starmer explained labour's decision to abstain. i recognise the need for continuing restrictions and i do recognise that the tiers have been toughened, as it was obvious to everyone that the previous tiers were a one—way street to tier 3. but i am far from convinced by what the prime minister has said today. in particular, the economic package is nowhere near sufficient to support the communities most affected. a conservative took issue with that approach. we have choices to control this virus. we can have a lockdown,

we can have a tier system or no lockdown, where lives like john and ken — who we just recently lost in my family to this awful disease — have happened. why will the right honourable gentleman of the labour party not support these measures which are saving lives tonight? we have been here before. this is at least plan number five, and the first four have not worked, so i think everybody would forgive the british public for being sceptical about the fifth plan. we recognise the need for continued restrictions but it is not in the national interest to vote these restrictions down today, and we will allow these another wasted — well, we accept the case for restrictions and we want a plan that's going to work and we are on a plan five and it is full of holes! the snp have their own take on the prime minister's difficulties. scotland has passed similar but not identical regulations with a far greater degree of cross—party and intraparty consensus than seems to have been managed here in westminster.

the health secretary matt hancock has been at the centre of the fight against coronavirus. he wound up the debate with an unusually personal speech, focusing on efforts to control the virus in liverpool. my stepgrandfather derek caught covid there and on the 18th of november, he died. in my family, as in so many others, we have lost a loving husband, father, a grandfather to this awful disease. so from the bottom of my heart, i want to say thank you to everyone in liverpool for getting this awful virus under control. it is down by four fifths in liverpool. that is what we can do if we work together in a spirit of common humanity. a reflective matt hancock. less than 2a hours later, he was back in the commons to mark the regulator's approval of the pfizer—biontech vaccine. this is a monumental

step forward. it's no longer if there is going to be a vaccine, it's when. in our battle against the virus, help is on its way. today is a triumph for all those who believe in science, a triumph for ingenuity, a triumph for humanity and i want to thank everyone who has played their part in this achievement. the team at pfizer, the team of scientists at biontech, the volunteers who stepped up and took part in clinical trials, and to the mhra themselves who have made sure that this is a vaccine we could have faith in. we have rightly clapped carers throughout this crisis, mr speaker. i wonder if we should come together and applaud our scientists as well one evening. and it's also incumbent upon all of us across this house to reinforce the case that vaccination saves lives. and if it helps, i will stand alongside the secretary

of state — socially distanced of course — on any platform or in any television studio to show that we are united cross— party promoting vaccination. that news of a vaccine breakthrough also prompted a rare outbreak of consensus at prime minister's questions. i know that the whole house will want to join me in welcoming the fantastic news that the mhra has formally authorised the pfizer vaccine for covid—i9. it is the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get our economy moving again. this pandemic has caused so much grief and so much loss but we are now a big step closer to the end of the tunnel and like the prime minister, can i express my thanks and those of everyone in these benches and across the house to all the scientists who have worked on this and to everybody

who has taken part in the trials. this morning for the first time in months, people have woken up with a genuine sense of hope. the news of the vaccine approval was the news we have all been waiting for. that consensus did not last. the collapse of debenhams and the arcadia group, owner of topshop, prompted the labour leader to call for action. that has put 25,000 jobs at risk and obviously caused huge anxiety to many families at the worst possible time and threatens to rip the heart out of many high streets in our towns and cities. so can the prime minister tell the house what is he going to do now to protect the jobs and the pensions of all those affected by these closures? mr speaker, we are looking at what we can do to protect all the jobs that have been lost currently across the country and the secretary of state for business, enterprise and skills has written to the insolvency service to look at the conduct of the arcadia directors. borisjohnson said there

was also a fund to help high streets. i must say, i think it is a bit much that the right honourable gentleman should attack the economic consequences of the fight against coronavirus when last night, neither he, nor his troops, could be bothered to vote for measures — sensible, balanced measures — that would open up the economy and allow businesses to trade, mr speaker! how can he attack the economic consequences when he will not even support measures to open up the economy? mr speaker, when i abstain, i come to the house and explain. when the prime minister — when the prime minister abstains, he runs away to afghanistan! and gives the taxpayer a £20,000 bill. a reference to the vote on the expansion of heathrow airport that borisjohnson once seemed to have deliberately missed. keir starmer said he should now do more to help the 200,000 shop workers who have lost theirjobs this year. as well as providing

emergency support, will the prime minister work with us, with the trade unions and the sector, to finally bring forward a plan to save retailjobs and provide the sector with the much greater support it needs through this crisis? these are real people, prime minister, with realjobs and this family are facing the sack. they really need to hear from you. the prime minister said the government was supporting everyjob before again turning defence into attack. when it came to protecting the people of this country from coronavirus at this critical moment, he told his troops to abstain, mr speaker! captain hindsight is rising rapidly up the ranks and has become general indecision! the snp leader called for more help for self—employed people who have fallen through the covid support gap. we are now a little over three weeks from christmas and these people need help. will the prime minister commit to looking again at the support

package for the excluded to ensure that no—one but no—one is left behind? i know there are hard—to—reach people but they are also supported with the increases in universal credit and the many other means of support that are currently on offer, mr speaker. and i think when you look at the overall level of support this government has given to people across this country, it compares favourably with any other government around the world. the prime minister. now, is it a bold new green future for farming opposed post—brexit or the end of the family farm? the environment secretary george eustice outlined what is said to be the most significant change to farming policy in england for more than 50 years. the common agricultural policy is no more. subsidies will be phased out over seven years and replaced with payments to protect the environment. direct payments to farmers will be halved within three years, with the money saved to put towards a scheme to reward farmers for sustainable farming practices and creating new habitats. we know that this policy marks

a significant change and i am also conscious of the fact that many farm enterprises are dependent on the area—based subsidy payments to generate a profit and that without it, some mightjudge they would not be profitable. so we have created a seven—year transition period. we want this to be an evolution, not an overnight revolution. labour weren't persuaded. strip away the green coating and these proposals are a full throttle attack on english family farms. english — because scotland, welsh and northern ireland farmers are going in a different direction by maintaining support for small farmers for longer. under these proposals, many small farmers will lose up to half their current support payments within just three years, leaving many financially unviable. the landscape of the lake district and the yorkshire dales is shaped by centuries offamilyfarming. by accident the government could undo all of that in a few short years, even months.

george eustice told him what was wrong with the current basic payment scheme, or bps. the bps payment has inflated land rates and input costs, prevented people from retiring and also prevented new entrants from getting onto the land. that is why i believe there is a better way to pay and reward farmers in future. george eustice. time for a quick look at some other stories from the world of westminster. mps have given initial approval to a bill which stops telecoms equipment from the chinese firm huawei being installed in the uk's 5g mobile network from september. sooner than expected. it follows concerns over the firm's security and links to the chinese state, something huawei denies. the culture secretary told the commons the telecoms bill had broader aims. the point of this bill isn't just to tackle one high—risk offender. it raises the security bar across the board and it protects us against a whole range of threats.

according to the national cybersecurity centre, the past two years have seen malicious cyber activity from russia and china as well as north korea and iranian actors. on world aids day, december the 1st, the government welcomed a report from the hiv commission that recommends ministers introduce testing for hiv whenever blood is taken. the aim is to normalise testing and stop transmission. the news emerged during question time in the lords. will the government move to introduce a system of opt—out testing so that all people, including men and women from black and minority ethnic communities, can know their status and we can get sooner to the point where they can get treatment and stop transmission? we have learned a lot during the covid pandemic about opt—out testing. it is something i completely understand the value of and i will be taking that recommendation to the department to look at it

very closely indeed. the government has rejected calls to hold a public inquiry to probe state collusion in one of the most notorious murderers of the troubles in northern ireland. the killing in 1989 of the solicitor pat finucane. he was shot by paramilitaries from the ulster defence association. the decision comes after a long campaign and a supreme court ruling on the need for an independent investigation of the killing. the northern ireland secretary's decision has infuriated the finucane family and campaigners. this case, it has to be said, is sadlyjust one example of the violence and tragedy experienced by so many individuals and families across northern ireland, the rest of the united kingdom and, indeed, ireland during the troubles. that is why we as a government remain committed to dealing with the legacy of the past in its entirety. the british state murdered pat finucane and the secretary of state has failed miserably to do right by his family today. does he realise that he is sending out a very clear

message to all victims, and the message is this... if you want the truth about what happened to your loved ones, don't come looking for it here. clothing and beauty firms have insisted that they don't photoshop their advertising material, telling mps that grey hairs, scars and spots were all included. they were giving evidence to an inquiry into body image. the equalities committee is investigating whether advertisements containing images of beautiful, well—groomed and happy people can undermine people's self—confidence. we absolutely do not alter or retouch body image, skin tone, etc. we are allowed to retouch certain flyaway hairs or something like that but we follow the guidelines, which i believe are very comprehensive. caroline o'neill. the labour—run welsh government has introduced tough new nationwide covid restrictions. pubs have been banned from selling alcohol and ordered to shut at six o'clock in an attempt to contain the virus. but during first minister's questions in the senedd, the welsh conservative leader

warned of the possible economic consequences. here in wales, a pub will be open but won't be allowed to sell any alcohol, whether it is in cardiff or co nwy. and do you expect these businesses to survive on pop and pork scratchings? the first minister said welsh businesses would receive more generous help than those elsewhere in the uk. but mark drakeford was barracked by a former tory leader after quoting michael gove on the dangers of the nhs being overwhelmed. unless... i want to say this... this is the question from the party's reader. you don't need to be pointing fingers. i don't want fingers pointed, please, in this chamber. first minister to continue, please. the balance we strike is always between saving people's lives and attending to their livelihoods. and that is the balance that we have struck in the package that we have announced over the weekend and then on monday.

plaid cymru said people didn't understand the logic. how can four people from four different households having coffee together be safer than two people from the same household having a pint? why is alcoholic mulled wine served in the open air in a christmas market a danger? this lack of logic risks undermining adherence overall and there is a danger then that more people will be going into each other's homes as a result. there is no getting away from the fact that in the complex systems that we have to implement, there are always marginal things that can be pointed out and people can say, why is this allowed when that's not allowed? why can't i do this when the evidence for this is that it is safe? those anomalies are just unavoidable. mark drakeford. borisjohnson has warned of the immense logistical challenges in distributing the new vaccine, particularly to care homes. an issue also highlighted by the conservatives' leader in the scottish parliament.

residents and their families have suffered enough through this pandemic and the possibility that the promised vaccines could now be delayed is yet another blow. so what now is the plan for scotland's care home residents, who were promised that they would be first in the queue to receive this vaccine? if, for the first period, it is difficult to get the vaccine to care homes, obviously we will use these supplies for nhs and staff who work in care homes, even though this may not be possible for this vaccine to be moved to care homes immediately, i remain hopeful, based on the discussions that have happened to date, that that will become possible at an early stage after we start receiving those supplies, and i hope we will have greater clarity on that in the days to come. but just to be very clear, this is not something that is unique to scotland's vaccination programme. this is an issue that all four nations across the uk have to contend with. we all appreciate that the practicalities of the pfizer vaccine make the logistics especially challenging. but the government must have been working on this vaccination plan for months. the joint committee

on vaccination and immunisation believed care home residents should be vaccinated and vaccinated first as a matter of priority. we realise that this is difficult. but will the first minister commit to a priority programme vaccination for all care home staff and care home residents and their relatives? the first minister said her officials were talking to the regulator... to look at how we get this vaccine from the deployment centres and the ultra—low temperature fridges they have to be stored in to the care

homes where they are needed. i cannot say definitively right now when exactly that will happen but i am reasonably confident that we will find a way of doing that, and even if that is not immediate as of next tuesday, when the programme starts, that that will be, i hope, much sooner rather than later. nicola sturgeon. northern ireland remains in a two—week circuit breaker lockdown that is due to end at midnight next thursday. at stormont there was concern about what the covid restrictions might mean for one key worker who is normally rather busy at this time of year. can i ask the deputy first minister on behalf of younger and some other constituents to confirm that the executive guidelines will allow santa claus insofar as possible to deliver some presents to children this christmas? i think that is an excellent question and i'm quite sure that... i think it is an excellent question and i'm quite sure that all the little boys and girls out there who are really wanting to know the answer to that, so i can confirm that the elves have confirmed to the executive that santa is getting ready. that dancer, prancer

and rudolph are ready to go. that the presents are packed and that santa will be here, but they have also said that all the boys and girls need to be very, very good because 25 more sleeps and then santa is going to be here. michelle o'neill with a message of hope and a warning. now to the world's longest soap opera. not the houses of parliament, but coronation street, which is 60 years old this month. the itv drama set in fictional weatherfield has lasted more than 10,000 episodes. a labour mp who once drank in the rovers return as a cast member led a debate on corrie's diamond jubilee. tracy brabin found herself among fans. those famous cobbles have been the stage to storylines that have gripped our country. we have cried together, gasped together, laughed together and learned together. iconic storylines that caused the nation to take a breather from their busy lives, make a cuppa and pop corrie on the telly. and during the last few months of pain and frustration there will have been many times when i'm sure many of us would have found familiarity and comfort in these words from the legendary blanche, written by my good friend, damon rochford. she says, "in my day if summat bad happened, you stayed home, got drunk and bit on a shoe."

i think that's quite a good metaphorfor the times we live in. there was a bit of competition and the speaker was mature over who was the biggest corrie super fun. i grew up in the 19605 watching coronation street on the huge tv we had in the corner. small screen but a big tv. all in black and white. laying on the floor, the haunting melody on a monday and wednesday. my father would close the shop early in order that he could watch coronation street early because he loved it so much. at home i have got the tray from newton and ridley that was off the set of coronation street. both myself and mr evans were on the politics show and we had to guess so many questions. guess who won? i got the tray! another shopkeeper‘s child, margaret thatcher, also visited the corrie set during her downing street years. and she was particularly keen to visit alf roberts' corner

shop because, of course, her own father was alfred roberts, who ran the grocer‘s shop in grantham. but she arrived on set and was very upset to see that alf roberts' corner shop had the sign "licensed to sell alcohol". and she said that certainly this would never have been allowed in her own father's shop, who would not have dreamt of selling alcohol! john whittingdale, culture minister and former aide to margaret thatcher. that was the week in parliament. thank you for watching. i hope you canjoin us on bbc parliament at 11 o'clock on monday evening for the latest from the commons and lords. until then, as they say in weatherfield — "ta—ra, chuck".

hello there. it's been a wintry scene for many parts of the uk. we started with some widespread snow in scotland. that then turned to rain and so the most of any snow that's falling right now is really over the higher ground. but, more recently, there has been some snow through the midlands, particularly over the peak district. but it's been a messy picture because we've had these bands of cloud bringing wet weather swirling around an area of low pressure together with some stronger winds. that low pressure, though, will tend to move down into france, so, for a start, the winds will ease and through the weekend we should be turning drier as well. but we're still in cold air. with some clearing skies by the morning across some parts the midlands, eastern england, we are likely to find a frost and likely to find some icy conditions as well. elsewhere across the uk, it won't be quite as chilly, not going to be as cold as last night in scotland. there's more cloud around, there's wetter weather too. and the wetter weather across wales, western england will become confined

to the south—west. we have a few showers breaking out, running into some eastern coasts of england but for many, it will be turning dry with some sunshine. the weather improving in northern ireland as well and those showers in scotland becoming fewer with sunshine especially in the south—west. another chilly day, not as windy as it was on friday but those temperatures 4—7 degrees. heading into the evening, clearer skies in the evening allowing those temperatures to fall quickly 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, probably more widely, and it brings the risk of some icy patches as well. not only that, but quite foggy by the morning and across the south—east of england, east anglia. that should tend to lift, perhaps only into low cloud, mind you. and we will still keep some cloud coming into the north—east of england, perhaps the midlands, bringing with it a few showers.

the odd shower around elsewhere but also some sunshine. probably the best temperatures will be in wales and the south—west, 8, maybe 9 degrees but in the cloud further east, it's going to be colder, around 4 celsius or so. early next week, we've got one area of low pressure running to the south—west of the uk, another one threatening to come in off the north sea. and that will bring some wetter weather probably on tuesday into parts of scotland, but early next week, genearlly it is going to be dry.

welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: new lockdown on the streets of san francisco — to help curb a surge in coronavirus cases. brexit trade talks are paused after eu and uk negotiators fail to reach agreement. president trump orders the withdrawal of nearly all us troops from somalia — officials there call it a morale boost for terrorists. and — a special report from beirut — four months after the explosion which killed more than 200 people. the government knew that the dangerous chemicals were being stored here, so did the judiciary, so, too, did the port authorities will stop it was only delivered his people that were being kept in the