this is bbc news with the latest headlines. get out of my pub! dame barbara windsor — best known for her roles in eastenders and the carry on films — has died at the age of 83. her former co—stars pay tribute. she was larger—than—life, i will tell you that one. and everybody there dealt with her as if she were, you know, she was the head girl at eastenders, she was the one, you know, and everybody respected her. borisjohnson says there is a strong possibility the uk won't reach a brexit deal with the eu and that instead there will be what he calls an australian—style relationship. australia's former prime minister has a warning about that. be careful what you wish for. i mean, australia... australia's relationship

with the eu is not one, from a trade point of view that britain, i think, would want. what do you make of the australian—style option of not having a free trade deal with the eu? get in touch about that or any of this morning's other stories. i'm @annita—mcveigh on twitter, or use the hashtag #bbcyourquestions. mass coronavirus testing is to be rolled out to secondary schools in parts of london, kent and essex in an attempt to curb rising infections. scotland and northern ireland ease coronavirus restrictions — with non—essential retail able to re—open for the first time in weeks. the canary islands are removed from the travel corridor list — meaning from saturday, anyone returning to the uk from the islands will have to self—isolate for two weeks.

good morning and welcome to bbc news. dame barbara windsor, one of the country's best—loved actresses, has died at the age of 83. her husband, scott mitchell, said she passed away peacefully from alzheimer's at a care home in london last night. he spent the last seven days by her side. he said, she was best known for her work in eastenders and carry on films. david sillito looks back at her life. barbara giggles. that'll do, that'll do. all right, girls, get in the coach, and you get on with the loading. barbara windsor — a lift

10in national treasure. we were told to bring the minimum of clothing. now really let's see those chests come out! the tributes today a testament to a career going back 70 years. matron, take them away! among them, hoeegh centres co—stars. patsy palmer, i can hear that laugh now. danniella westbrook, my heart is broken. barbara ann deeks began acting as a teenager. born in shoreditch, in london, the daughter of a barrow boy, it was joan littlewood at a theatre workshop who saw her star quality. she won a bafta nomination for the film sparrows can't sing. movies and cabaret introduced her to glamour and some shady friends. at one point, she dated the gangster reggie kray. but it was the carry on films that made her a star. hi. her entrance always an excuse

for something slightly saucy. sorry. have you got a large one? i've had no complaints, so far. he cackles. especially if sid james was around — a relationship that carried on off—camera. quick, before somebody comes in. you 'aven't got any soap on that bit. # up to the west end! but after those nine carry on films, there were some lean years. until she found peggy. grant! mum. i heard you were back, i was going to give you a call. then why didn't you, you useless great lump? peggy micthell in eastenders, the new landlady of the queen vic, was a role made for her. you're unfit to be a father! don't you dare turn your back on me! 22 years on albert square. get outta my pub! which ended with barbara becoming dame barbara. dame babs sounds nice, doesn't it? my mum would have liked it to be dame barbara — she was a bit of a cockney snob, my mum. so she would be, "dame barbara."

god, what would she be thinking now? what would she be thinking? however, her farewell to walford was also her farewell to acting. she had been diagnosed with alzheimer's. oh, my dear friend. you'll never leave me will you? dame barbara windsor, talent, warmth... no, sweetheart. thank you. ..and a lifetime of cheeky fun. dame barbara windsor, who has died at the hr 83. -- dame barbara windsor, who has died at the hr 83. —— at the age of. actor larry lamb starred in eastenders with barbara windsor, playing her on—screen husband in 2008 — he spoke a little earlier about the first time they met in real life. well, the thing is, we had friends in common but we'd never actually met. i was sort of ushered into the presence to go and meet her, you know? because, really, the reason i was there was because she decided she wanted a new man in her life in the show, and i was the one,

i was the one that got chosen. and shejust... she looked at me, because she was such a tiny thing, i hadn't realised and she said, "oh, you are big, and you are tall. never mind, darling, we're all the same height lying down." she was just really... she was a tiny little thing. i mean, i remember doing scenes with her where i had to do this kind of groucho marx walk along and either get me on the road on the square, and she'd be on the pavement, we'd go along side by side and it sort of balanced it out. but she was tiny, a tiny little thing. she knew how to keep everybody together and make it a team, you know? she was... she was really special. and david sillitojoins me now. dosage, she was one of those actresses so familiar to us all. —— david, she was. you met her number

of times, what was she like?m david, she was. you met her number of times, what was she like? it was a children in need event, the public was on one side and many famous people walked past, they were waving and smiling, and when she arrived there was something different, it felt like a friend had walked in and she was chatting to everybody, immediately warm and open. couple of times i interviewed her, popped around to her house, you were chatted for a while and you realise the person you see on screen is remarkably similar to the person in real life. if anything, remarkably similar to the person in real life. ifanything, more remarkably similar to the person in real life. if anything, more open. there are stories i cannot relate. she would tell you anything about her life. she had had all sorts of ups and down before eastenders, she was in death, her career was going nowhere, eastenders saved her and you go back to the 1960s, there was certainly a shady background, the

relationship with the krays, she talked about the premier for her breakthrough film in the east end, she was not expecting it, she was not a star at the time, but the krays had decided that she was one of theirs and everyone was going to go and cheer her. i grew up with the carry ons, and you see her in natural, that laugh, then you think, 0, what a lovely war, things ain't what they used to be the theatre workshop, she came out of that 60s discovery about theatre that is not about middle—class people in drawing rooms, real stories with real people. and we want people who feel and sound authentic. she was from

that generation, brian murphy, harry hq or beds. and what you saw on the screen was what you got if you met eireann person. it is that why so many people are reflecting and saying she had a national treasure? n was saying she had a national treasure? —— was what you got if you met her in person. there are lots of people you think are great stars that you can admire, but it is when you hear her talking, you think, i am seeing the real person, something authentic, i am seeing someone i like. she was open about her ups and down and her flaws, like. she was open about her ups and down and herflaws, and i think that made people like her even more. david silitto reflecting on the life of dame barbara windsor, who had died at the age of 83. non—essential shops across much of western scotland,

including glasgow, are reopening for the first time in three weeks. retailers in the ii council areas that had been been under the country's toughest lockdown rules were also able to welcome customers. but pubs and restaurants will have to remain closed until saturday. and in northern ireland, non—essential retail and some parts of the hospitality sector are now able to reopen. a two—week limited lockdown, which was imposed on 27th november, ended last night. we will have more on what is happening in scotland and northern ireland very soon. secondary school pupils in parts of london, essex and kent will be offered mass—testing in an effort to control the spread of coronavirus. it comes as secondary school students in wales prepare to take their classes online from the end of today, after a significant rise in infections there. anna o'neill has the story. out of an actual real gcse question... secondary school pupils in the classroom in wales, but not for long.

from monday until the new year, they will be doing their learning at home, online. the public health situation there is deteriorating, putting the nhs under pressure. one of the largest teaching unions in wales welcomed the news to keep students at home for now. a few days ago, there was a report by the technical advisory group, which effectively, when you boiled it down, was telling parents that if they wanted a christmas that was without self—isolation, they should take their children out of school. we have found from our members telling us that large numbers of parents were beginning to do that. cases among young people in the south—east of england are also on the rise. at last night's news conference, the health minister said he was particularly concerned about london, where rates are up in 3! out of 32 boroughs. we know from experience that a sharp rise in cases in younger people can lead to a rise amongst more vulnerable age groups later. we have seen that happen before. so we need to do everything we can to stop the spread amongst school—aged children

in london right now. in havering, there are 379 cases per 100,000 people. in waltham forest, it's 317. and 31! per 100,000 people in barking and dagenham. and so, last night, the government announced an immediate plan for testing all secondary school—aged children in the seven worst affected boroughs in london, as well as parts of essex that border it and parts of kent. the leader of barking and dagenham welcomed the news. we are looking forward to being able to use the additional resources we need to make sure we keep our young people as safe as possible. at the same time, we are also making sure that every teacher gets tested before they leave the term, which is good, and they will go home with a home test, which will allow them to test before they have to come back at the start of the new term. there are concerns that unless the rates in london start

to fall, the capital is heading for a move from tier two into tier three next week, just before the christmas relaxation of restrictions — something london's leaders are keen to avoid. anna o'neill, bbc news. let's pick up on the situation in scotla nd let's pick up on the situation in scotland and parts of northern ireland today. we will hear from andrew black in scotland soon, but first chris page is in northern ireland. bring us up to date with the situation, obviously concerns about how the reopening is managed alongside keeping transmission of coronavirus down? that's right, christmas shopping is returning this morning to the streets of belfast, just two weeks before christmas day. are going up around now, there has not been a rush back about the

crowds are very gradually building, there are queues outside some shops. as regards the situation for retailers, many of them had said it has been a very time for them to close, they had lost two of what is usually the four busiest weeks of the year, the four weeks before christmas. the hospitality industry has been hit very hard with pubs, restau ra nts a nd hotels has been hit very hard with pubs, restaurants and hotels shed since the middle of october, but pertinent restau ra nts the middle of october, but pertinent restaurants that serve food can reopen to customers again today, but that serve drinks only will have to stay close. —— elmar brok and restau ra nts stay close. —— elmar brok and restaurants that serve food. because contact services like hairdressers are reopening, services can resume in places of worship and gyms are reopening. that is being tempered by

health experts and members of the devolved government hear that the two week circuit breaker lockdown has not had as good an impact on the rate of infection as was hoped. the number of cases per day is numbering between 400 and 500, for a place with the population the size of northern ireland that is a high rate. so the warning is to take extra ca re if rate. so the warning is to take extra care if you are going out and about today, ovate all the public health guidelines. people are encouraged to go out and support local businesses at this key time for them but they are being urged to bearin for them but they are being urged to bear in mind that the infection rate is high and really northern ireland could be looking at further restrictions, perhaps even before the new year, certainly into january, if the infection may rises significantly. here in the centre of glasgow, shops had started to reopen this morning. some quite good news, shoppers have returned to the high

street, the nonessential outlets have been closed in glasgow and in a numberof other have been closed in glasgow and in a number of other local authority areas in the west of scotland for the last three weeks, those additional measures were put in place to deal with a spike in coronavirus cases. but this morning shops in the centre of glasgow started opening from around seven o'clock, there have been plenty of queues, the debenhams just o'clock, there have been plenty of queues, the debenhamsjust behind me opened just after nine o'clock and lots of bargain hunters waiting to get in. speaking to some of the shoppers, they are quite helpful coming back to the high street to do their christmas shopping, they are happy they will be safe —— they are quite full. there has been money spent to put safety procedures in, the scottish government has been careful to issue advice to people going out shopping to state socially distance, to wash their hands that i

face coverings and shops. there is a bit of trepidation in glasgow because even though nonessential retailers have been allowed to reopen their art still travel restrictions in place for the areas in level three restrictions, which glasgow is now in. given that glasgow is now in. given that glasgow high street is such a famous place, shoppers can from all across scotland to do christmas shopping, i think that might impact things. hospitality businesses are not due to open again until tomorrow and even so, in the level three area they cannot serve alcohol and they had to close at 6pm. all those factors are giving a bit of concern to retailers and the message seems to retailers and the message seems to be that even though they have been allowed to reopen and shoppers are happy to come back to the shops, retailers do not think that in the next couple of weeks they will be

able to make up the shortfall they would otherwise have made if shopping had been allowed to happen normally. andrew black in glasgow and chris page in belfast, thank you. the headlines on bbc news... dame barbara windsor — best known for her roles in eastenders and the carry on films — has died at the age of 83. borisjohnson says there is a strong possibility the uk won't reach a brexit deal with the eu and that instead there will be what he calls an australia—style relationship. mass coronavirus testing is to be rolled out to secondary schools in parts of london, kent and essex in an attempt to curb rising infections. long queues of lorries snaked into the port of dover yesterday — put down to the brexit stockpiling, pre—christmas build—up and transport of medical supplies for covid—i9 care.

freight traffic at ports is expected to worsen after the brexit transition period ends on january 1st. the prime minister said yesterday that a no—deal was a strong possibility with me now is our political correspondent iain watson. the prime minister and others in government has been talking up the prospect of what they call an australian style deal. we had a comment from one of the us saying it is misleading at best to suggest we will leave on an australian deal. australia is world trade organization 10% green, we will leave without these agreements so we will crash out and had to develop these agreements, doublespeak is bad for democracy. that was from mark. so why is the government talking up this idea so much? it looks less frightening, the australian economy is doing pretty well, it has

weathered various challenges, from the financial crisis to the covid crisis, so it would tend to back a boris johnson's view that you can prosper outside the eu without a formal free—trade agreement, you prosper outside the eu without a formalfree—trade agreement, you do not need to free trade agreement that canada has and he is seeking, but your viewer is absolutely correct on this, what australia has is something which is a little bit more than a no deal scenario, so there is mutual recognition of safety sta nda rds, there is mutual recognition of safety standards, for example, which cuts out a lot of bureaucracy, there isa cuts out a lot of bureaucracy, there is a deal on australian wine imports, some data—sharing predations, all of which the uk would still have to negotiate if we leave effectively at 11pm on december the 31st with no deal at the edge of the transition period. there are differences with australia, but even then, i thought it was very interesting that the former prime minister of australia,

the centre—right figure malcolm turnbull, said that australian want an awful lot more than its current arrangements in place with the eu and it is perhaps not a model that britain should follow. there are really some very large barriers to australian trade with europe, which we're seeking to address, as we negotiate a free—trade agreement with europe. but australians would not regard our trade relationship with europe as being a satisfactory one. i mean, we do have, it is our third biggest trading partner, i guess, collectively, because it is such a big economy. but there are very big barriers to australian exports of agricultural products in particular. there's a lot of friction in the system, in terms of services. so, there's a lot to aim for. and when i was prime minister, we started formal negotiations of a european—australia free—trade agreement, but that will take some time. so, be careful what you wish for. i mean, australia's relationship with the eu is not one, from a trade

point of view, that britain i think would want. interesting that a former australian prime minister says an australian side deal is not the type of deal he would want to see with the eu and by oppressing for a candidate ideal, they have had two years of negotiation so far to try to achieve that and have not got that —— and they are pressing for a canada ideal. whether you call it and australian style deal or, more accurately, a no deal, they say there are situations they cannot accept and even treating the uk differently from other countries where it negotiate free—trade deals, so they want to keep us locked into any further eu regulations in the future, not something the uk can do, they do not accept any automatic punishment from the eu from

diverging for the eu's orbit in the future. that seems to be a major sticking point, so although negotiations will continue until sunday it looks like the gap between the sites will be hard to bridge. ian, thank you. we can speak now to elmar brok, former representative of the european parliament, member of the board of the christian democrat party in germany. he also previously held the position of chairman of the european parliament committee on foreign affairs. elmar brok, very good to have you with us. give us a view about how german politicians feel now about... whether there is an appetite to make the compromises to get to that point? german politicians, the vast majority across the different parties, were unhappy that britain has left the european union, we hope

we can get an agreement for trade and other matters, but on the other side we have no special german agenda. it is a european agenda, germany will not go out of this european negotiation ground and they will support the brussels negotiations, it is not a major party —— there is not a major party, especially in government, that is favouring to go a different way. on that note, do you think the comments in recent days and weeks from a emmanuel macron in france have been helpful or not for the efforts to reach a deal? the french are playing pretty horrible, especially on fisheries? perhaps emmanuel macron and boris johnson are fisheries? perhaps emmanuel macron and borisjohnson are very similar. if borisjohnson plays hardball, why shouldn't europeans? is everyone

ready for a compromise? the lines are ready for a compromise? the lines a re clear ready for a compromise? the lines are clear and it is clear that the integrity of the internal market cannot be destroyed because it would not be good for us. if britain says we wa nt not be good for us. if britain says we want sovereignty back, we want to keep our sovereignty. i think it british politics they had to learn that if there is an agreement between countries or between the european union and countries, then you have to compromise, and such a compromise always means that you do not have any more fully the possibility of sovereign decisions, it is part of international agreements. i am interested for your ta ke agreements. i am interested for your take on the australian style deal the uk government has been speaking about, we run a clip from the former australian pm malcolm turnbull saint teresa uk, be careful what you wish for. from the european perspective, compare if you would an australian style deal to what the uk has had

during this transition period? there is no australian style deal. australia is wto, nothing else. plus some special agreements with the eu. there are certain special agreements, but not very important. not major. i was in australia this year before the pandemic and i had a feeling that they are more interested now to come to agreement with the european union, as mr turnbull search, especially because of the problems they have with china. the european union has done such free—trade agreements in months and years, south korea, japan and other parts of the world, mexico, we will continue to do so with other

parts of the world and also new zealand. so why did you think boris johnson is talking up this idea for a so—called australian style deal? there is no australian style deal, thatis there is no australian style deal, that is wto, so that is just a show again that there is no agreement, it is wto, there is nothing agreement, it is fulfilling the conditions of the wto, nothing else. so they should not tell the british population that there is a special deal possible. i know from the present australian government after my talk in canberra that they are not satisfied with the position, as mr turnbull just not satisfied with the position, as mr turnbulljust said too, please do not fall into that trap. elmar brok, good to get your thoughts, thank you. and i must really say mr johnson said that he had an open ready agreement in his manifesto, i do not see this oven ready

agreement. on that note, thank you very much, elmar brok, a former member of the brexit steering group and a former mep in germany. in nothern ireland, pubs, bars and restaurants are set to reopen from today after a two—week limited lockdown. tighter measures were put in place on 27th november to curb the spread of coronavirus. close contact services like hairdressers and barbers, as well as non—essential retail can also reopen. but pubs that don't serve food must remain shut. let's speak to lewis waterworth, who's a bar and restaurant owner and joins me now from donaghadee in northern ireland. thank you very much forjoining us. it has been a stop start year. many businesses. how are you feeling about reopening? i am delighted to be reopening, could not be happier, really looking forward to seeing my customers again. how are bookings looking? good, strong. obviously we

have had to cut back, we are down to around 60 or 70% occupancy but this weekend is looking strong. so how many weeks of trading have you lost up many weeks of trading have you lost up to this point this year? we have lost 24 in total. how important will be money that comes in over the christmas period beta the ongoing viability of your business? yes, we need three good weeks. the first lockdown came at a beauty bad time for us, we rna beautiful part of the world in donaghadee and we have a good summer world in donaghadee and we have a good summer season ‘— world in donaghadee and we have a good summer season “ we are world in donaghadee and we have a good summer season —— we are in a beautiful part of the well. so we missed out on a lot of big paydays like st patrick's day, easter, it came ata like st patrick's day, easter, it came at a bad time. fortunately the government support was phenomenal, the furlough scheme was helpful, the grand scheme was excellent, the bounce back loan worked well, but

this last lockdown has set us back, the government support is not as good this time around, the last eight weeks have been a wee bit expensive, we could do with cash flow is the truth of the matter. and you need transmission rates to go down, you need to vaccination programme to roll out to hopefully have a better year next year. health minister robin swann has been warning people not tojudge minister robin swann has been warning people not to judge and what he called a festive free so they can actually have a nice christmas and new year period with her family. how compatibility is reopening of business that idea? certainly in our case, we have two bar restaurants, and they're very much more food orientated, so in that environment, it is easier for us that environment, it is easier for us to keep a good space between our customers. we have gone the whole

hog of measures. we have 60 art as in stations between the two venues, we've got our own masks in, staff training has been phenomenal. staff have really bought into the whole thing. i think it is going to be ok for the next three weeks, i am looking forward to it recall i presume, given your location, you have a lot of seafood on your menu is? yes, we do indeed. the reason i am asking is because obviously fisheries has been a big, big issue, fishing has been a big issue in the brexit trade deal talks, how are you now feeling with the prospect of no deal, which seems very, very real, when you look at your supply chains, how much of an impact you think there could be? the dreaded brexit question! i had to ask, louis! i know, but look, it is strange, i would rather talk about coronavirus, then brexit, but there you go. our supply chain a a local place, most of our stuff that we bring in, we pride ourselves on using local fish,

local meat, local produce. none of what we use is coming from very far away. and we are famous for our stea ks as away. and we are famous for our steaks as well as our fish, and our stea ks co m e steaks as well as our fish, and our steaks come from northern ireland, ourfish is steaks come from northern ireland, our fish is locally sourced. we are on theju this, we our fish is locally sourced. we are on the ju this, we are our fish is locally sourced. we are on theju this, we are not our fish is locally sourced. we are on the ju this, we are not that affected by it compared to many other business owners, they would say, it is lucky that you source everything so locally? yes, well, you might call it luck, but i mean, it is part of who we are, it is part of our business model. that is the whole point. when people travel to us whole point. when people travel to us and they come to us to dine, they wa nt to us and they come to us to dine, they want to experience local produce. so it's not really luck, it is part of our business model. well, i hope the christmas period goes well for you, thank you very much, lewis waterworth, in donaghadee. it is time now for a look at the weather forecast with matt taylor. how are things looking?

it is looking a bit damp this weekend but there will be some brighter moments. some of the brighter moments. some of the brighter spots will being between this zone and what is coming behind. like wins elsewhere. showers quite plentiful across the west and across the southern counties. temperatures will be getting up to about 11—12, for some, a bit higher than yesterday. showers across the south could come with the drummer love thunder. there could be some low cloud and mist and fog tonight. and there will be some further rain at times, scotland, england and wales especially. maybe a touch of frost into northern ireland at the start of tomorrow morning. at the weekend, brighter skies will come in across many western areas. by sunday, all of us will see cloud and rain and

some gusty winds. more details throughout the morning here on bbc news. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines... get out of my pub! dame barbara windsor, best known for her roles in eastenders and the carry on films, has died at the age of 83. her former co—stars pay tribute. she was larger—than—life, i'll tell you that one. and everybody there dealt with her as if she were, you know, she was the head girl at eastenders, she was the one, you know, and everybody respected her. borisjohnson says there is a strong possibility that the uk won't reach a brexit deal with the eu and that instead there will be what he calls an australian—style relationship. australia's former prime minister has a warning about that. be careful what you wish for. i mean, australia's relationship with the eu is not one,

from a trade point of view, that britain, i think, would want. mass coronavirus testing is to be rolled out to secondary schools in parts of london, kent and essex in an attempt to curb rising infections. scotland and northern ireland ease coronavirus restrictions, with non—essential retail able to re—open for the first time in weeks. the canary islands are removed from the travel corridor list, meaning from saturday, anyone returning to the uk from the islands will have to self—isolate for two weeks. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's mike. good morning. in the europa league last night, there was victory for all five british sides in action, and fourfinished top of their groups. celtic were already out. and there was a bit of bad feeling at the tottenham hotspur stadium,

where spurs beat royal antwerp 2—0. jose mourinho rested many of his star players, and dele alli was clearly unhappy with spending the entire match on the bench, heading for the dressing room before re—emerging, but mourinho said he couldn't keep everyone happy all the time. a player that is on the bench and realises that, with five changes, he is not one of the players, of course he is not a happy player and i would not expect him to be happy. but every player that is on the bench, or every player that leaves the pitch in cold weather, with me, they can go to the dressing room, and i even prefer if that happens. arsenal finished the group stage with a 100% record, mohamed, with a 100% record, mohamed elneny scoring a brilliant goal in their 4—2 win over irish side dundalk. leicester manager brendan rodgers said he couldn't ask for any more

after his side beat aek athens 2—0 to finish top of their group, with two goals in two minutes from cengiz under and harvey barnes. rangers will also be seeded in monday's draw, thanks to a 2—0 victory over lech poznan in poland. and there's a healthy financial reward for winning your group, a £900,000 bonus. we already knew that celtic wouldn't be going through to the next round, and they finished bottom of their group, a 3—2 win over lille the only thing they had to celebrate. laurie canter is one of the players in with a chance of winning the race to dubai. and the american amy olsen took the first—round lead at the final major of the year, the delayed women's us open, thanks in no small part to this hole—in—one at the 16th.

she's four under par, a shot clear of the field, with briton charley hull two off the pace. the world champion is back for this weekend's final race of the formula i season, the abu dhabi grand prix. lewis hamilton had to miss last weekend's race after his positive coronavirus test, and then 10 days in quarantine. he's now had two negative test results, and so can be back in his mercedes, with stand—in george russell returning to the williams team. the bobsleigh world cup event in austria this weekend will feature a british team for the first time this season. problems with injury and funding have meant they've missed the first two events. the team have removed all commercial sponsor branding from their sled for the year and are paying tribute to the nhs frontline staff for their work during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as displaying the logos of charities which are close to the hearts of the athletes. i've chosen pancreatic cancer uk. my dad passed away from the disease about six years ago,

just before i became a pilot in bobsleigh. he was a big inspiration for me in sport, so i'd like to give something back to them. we've also chosen our separate charity and included team charity, which is the nhs, as well, to support, to try and raise money and awareness and try to spread a bit of positivity through this year, as well. ronnie o'sullivan entertained us at the scottish open snooker, beating robbie williams to make the quarterfinals. williams could have no regrets, as o'sullivan reigned supreme, winning 4—i. he now plays ding junhui. and that robbie williams does not walk out at the snooker to the music of robbie williams, he says it is not his cup of tea!

medical experts advising the us food and drug administration have recommended emergency approval for the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine. the decision comes after a 23—member panel met to determine whether the drug's benefits outweigh the risks. the pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in four other countries including the uk and canada. nomia iqbal reports from washington. fda and the sponsor, we agreed... a day—long, live—streamed meeting involving health experts may not make for exciting viewing, but this group of researchers and physicians are the key to america's path back to normality. one question i have is, why... they are part of an independent committee voting on whether the pfizer—biontech vaccine should be given to all americans. pfizer has applied for emergency authorisation. the group has been analyzing the effectiveness of the vaccine and any potential side effects, including the allergic reactions experienced by two british health workers who received the pfizer jab this week. the vote came down to a single question, whether or not the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks

for use in individuals 16 years of age and older. so, if we could please close the vote and broadcast the results. in the end, 17 said yes, four said no. the next step is now for the united states food and drug administration to sign off the vaccine, this would then clear the way for the logistically complicated task of distributing it across all 50 states of america. but this is happening during a controversial transitional period. the incoming president says he wants to get 100 million people vaccinated in his first 100 days in office. whilst the outgoing president is more focused on overturning the election result, as well as criticising the fda for not bringing out a vaccine earlier, but his administration insists, once that green light comes for the jabs, they are ready to roll them out. thanks to president trump's and vice president pence's leadership and operation warp speed

and the historic mobilisation that has happened there, we expect to see 100 million vaccinations total by the end of february. however, health experts say it could take until spring next year for enough americans to receive a vaccination to end the surging pandemic. in a sense, it's the beginning of the end, but the end is going to last a really long time. every single day, we're shattering records for the number of new cases, hospitalisations and deaths. many parts of the us are getting ready, though, and shipping in covid—19 vaccine kits, including syringes and personal protective equipment. all they need now is a vaccine. let's more on the vaccines safety. our health correspondent james gallagher is here. mass vaccination for coronavirus is underway and eventually millions of us will be offered a jab.

so what do we know about its safety? i want you to hold this number in your mind. one in a thousand people in the uk have already died after being infected during the pandemic and this figure is rising daily. this is the known threat that any side—effects have to be balanced against. so, what are they? more than one in ten people can expect fatigue, fever or muscle pains as their body responds to the jab. but these are all mild. —— these tend to be mild and can be treated with paracetamol. around 20,000 people have been given the pfizer vaccine in trials, two have developed adverse events classified as severe. it is possible there are rare problems that affect, say, less than one in 100,000 people, that have not been

picked up in trials. but that is true every time a vaccine is approved. around one in 900,000 people have a severe allergic reaction to current vaccines, but we are now in the territory of incredibly rare events. however, scare stories and fake news are all too predictable in the months to come. here's the problem. if we just look at strokes. each of these icons represents 10 strokes. in total, there are more than 2,000 of them in an average week in the uk. when large numbers of people are immunised, it is possible that someone will be vaccinated one day and then have an unrelated health problem a few days later. there is a real danger of people falsely assuming events that happen by coincidence are caused by the vaccine. this is why we all need to keep our wits about us and why

the regulator will continue to closely monitor the data as vaccines are rolled out. and we have just received this news from our moscow correspondent sarah raynsford, with regards to the pharmaceutical company astrazeneca, and some co—operation with the russian institute that is producing the sputnik five vaccine. so, astrazeneca and the russian... astrazeneca and the russian... astrazeneca has announced that it is recruiting people aged 18 and over for trials combining both the astrazeneca oxford vaccine and russia's sputnik five to see if this helps to boost people's immune response and improve protection from the virus. it is not yet clear where these trials would be held or how many people would be involved but in a press release, astrazeneca saying scientific collaboration with the research institute is important to explore the potential of acting combinations. that news just in.

the public spending watchdog has strongly criticised the coronavirus test and trace service in england, which has a budget of £22 billion. the national audit office said in the early stages of the programme, some contact tracers were busy for only 1% of their paid hours. the government said more recent performance figures had improved, as jim reed reports. this report covers the time up to the start of november, as england entered a second wave of the pandemic. on testing, it says plans were not in place to deal with a spike in cases as schools and universities reopened. at a drive—in site like this, the aim was to return results in 24 hours. but by early november, just 38% of tests met that target. then there was a second key task, to trace anyone an infected person had been in contact with and tell them to self—isolate. here again, the report is critical, saying too few people were called by tracers and it took too long

to find those who were. test and trace had a target for in—person tests in the community to get all of them back within 24 hours. in the period we looked out from may to october, it only managed to get 41% back within that timeframe, so it needs to look at the speed of what it's doing. more recent figures do appear to show the system is improving, but there have been changes in the way some data are recorded, making comparisons difficult. the government says it now plans to work more closely with local council teams to stop clusters of cases growing into outbreaks. the budget for test and trace this year is £22 billion, or £950 for each household. the watchdog says it must do more to justify that at a time when cases are rising across the country. jim reed, bbc news. joining me now is the labour mp olivia blake, who sits on the public accounts

committee. good morning to you, thanks for your time today. this report, to begin with, points to the fact that more than 70% of early contracts, based on their value, were directly awarded, without competition, under the emergency measures which were brought in, has it been possible to compare how common that approach was with other countries during the pandemic? well, i think that is a really important question, and this is obviously a very unusual way of contracting out this sort of work. so, this is one area that is a public accounts committee, we have been looking at across the board in terms of what the government has been doing. but within track and trace, i think it is highly unusual, and one question that we are definitely going to be having is, why the government chose this approach, rather than using and utilising what was already in place of. yes, it points out the fact that

outsourcing for testing in other countries is quite common, but less common is the outsourcing of the tracing infrastructure, which we have seen here. how significant do you think that is as an avenue to explore? because from the early days of the pandemic, i have been talking to people in local authorities are saying, we are desperate to be involved in tracing at a local level? absolutely, and this report is quite critical of that. and i think that the lessons that need to be learned, local authorities were not being listened to throughout the process so not being listened to throughout the process so it is quite clear that we have seen increasing involvement of local government and local authorities throughout this, and that has increased the performance, which are to me doesn't seem like rocket science, given the expertise that we have in local government. why wasn't it done in the first place? do you know what, there is no kind of analysis of that, really, in the business case that they brought forward on this. i think that is a very good question and one that i

will certainly be putting two officials when we have them before the public accounts committee. and looking in a bit more detail at the test and trace infrastructure, in the introduction to the report, we mentioned that the nao said in the early stages of the programme, some contact tracers were busy for only 196 contact tracers were busy for only 1% of their paid hours. now, is it possible, do you think, to get to the bottom of why that was happening? well, i think that we heard at the time anecdotal evidence of people sitting in front of their computers not having had adequate training, literally not doing any work, essentially, and this report changes that anecdote into actual statistics, which are very, very shocking. and also in the report you can see the drop—off in the number of staff in the national system, from 18,000 down to 10,000, which is another shocking statistic because you would think, is the service got more established, you might see a

levelling off of those numbers as well. so clearly people were sat there with no work to do, or the system just was not robust enough to get people contacting people that they needed to. i don't know weather it will ever be possible retrospectively to work out what difference it could have made if a greater percentage of those tracers we re greater percentage of those tracers were occupied especially in those early days, but do you think more broadly that some of the early lessons from this have been learned and that changes and tweaks have been made? i certainly hope so, and we have seen that. the report acknowledges that as well. but i think it is quite clear that local communities know how to contact people best and the government should have been much quicker off the mark with that and it is really important even though we do have the vaccine that the government continue to improve performance on these contracts and make sure that we are contacting everyone that needs to be

contacted, because without hitting that critical 80%, it is basically a system that is not good enough. olivia blake mp, from the public accou nts olivia blake mp, from the public accounts committee, thank you very much. and the department of health and social care has issued a statement in relation to this report from the national audit office. it says... because the government rapidly scaled up the testing capacity and launch test and trace, millions of people have discovered weather they have covid—19 and weather they have covid—19 and weather they have covid—19 and weather they should self—isolate. the statement goes on... we know there is more to do and yesterday we published the nhs business plan setting out the next phase of improvement for the service and how we will increase the speed and reach of testing and tracing even further. ouraim is to of testing and tracing even further. our aim is to maximise the impact of testing, contact tracing and self—isolation hand—in—hand with targeted local restrictions and preventative behaviour like hands, face and space. travellers returning to the uk from spain's canary islands

from saturday morning must self—isolate for two weeks after the government removed the area from the safe travel corridor list. it's another blow to holiday firms after a year of difficulties. our correspondent ben thompson is at london's stansted airport for us to find out more. good morning to you from stansted airport, where there is a lot of uncertainty once again for passengers this morning. news that the travel corridors have changed once again, this time removing the canary islands from that list of so—called safe destinations. it means that passengers who are returning from there from tomorrow will have to isolate for 14 days. lots of uncertainty, too, ahead of the brexit date, when the uk officially ends the transition period with the european union. so, it means there could be changes coming further down the line for us being able to travel overseas. let's get the details with simon calder, who is with me. let's talk first of all,

simon, about the canaries, simon, about the canaries, some big changes this morning and perhaps one of the few places we might have been able to go, until tomorrow, to get a bit of winter sun? yes, seven weeks ago the transport secretary, grant shapps, said, it is all right, you can all go to the ccanaries now, you can all go to the canaries now, that is fantastic news, because november, december, january, february, march, a wonderful destination, normally, millions of british people would be taking advantage of that, and many people did book trips, only to find, to their great dismay, that a couple of weeks before christmas, it has been put on the no—go list, at least in terms of quarantine, which means that people coming back from 4am tomorrow are going to have to quarantine for two weeks in england, scotland and northern ireland, ten days in wales. there is this test to release scheme coming into effect on tuesday which could reduce the time for people in england. but an absolute mess, not least because the foreign office, which normally says, "ok,

don't go to the canaries, as soon as it has been put on the quarantine list," hasn't done that. and so, the biggest holiday company, tui, is saying, actually, until it does warn against travel there, we're going to continue to run our trips. so, you can't have a full refund, the trip is still going ahead, we will let you book onto ant alternative holiday. onto an alternative holiday. so, much confusion. and also, hand—in—hand with changes that will come into force into force on 1st january, explain what we need to know first of all on the covid element, we may not be able to go at all? there is a lot of confusion about this. the general european commission policy is to say to all the eu countries and their hangers—on, so that is norway, switzerland, lichtenstein, iceland, and at the moment, the uk, you can all have travel within that area, but we really don't want anybody from outside, apart from a few countries, australia, new zealand, japan, where we have got a really good record. that is only advice. every country can make up its own mind. so for instance norway are saying, that's it,

1st ofjanuary, no british people except in extreme circumstances. whereas i've been in touch with the tourist authorities in cyprus and malta, and they say, we've decided to let brits in, with some testing requirements. so hard to know where we can go and when we can go. and also the paperwork required, what do we need to know about that? so, very briefly, your european health insurance card, mine says it expires in 2024, it probably won't last than three weeks so you're going to have to take steps for insurance there. your passport, at the moment you can go to any eu country up to and including the expiry date. from 1st january, you're going to have to have at least six months remaining on your passport, and crucially it can't have been issued more than nine years, six months ago. and on top of that if you're going driving, there is a very good chance that you will need an international driving permit, and if you're going to spain as well as france, you will need

two different ones. clear as mud! simon, really nice to see you, thank you very much. simon calder, shedding a bit of light on some of the changes that will come into force at the end of the year but also it is worth bearing in mind those changes to the travel corridor for the ca nary islands, that change comes into force at 4am tomorrow, so be prepared. have a back. a little bit of sunshine for some of you today, but for most of you this weekend the rain will not be too far away. the worst of the wet weather this morning was this front which lingered across eastern england for a while and it is still there in the north—east of scotland, accompanied by stronger winds. it will continue to bring rain and some minor flooding is possible. lighter winds elsewhere. the showers in the west will keep going, some of them will be heavy issue. some heavy thundery

showers in the english channel. in between, some of you will stay dry with some sunshine. temperatures just upa with some sunshine. temperatures just up a little bit on yesterday. this evening and overnight, there will be some mist and fog, particularly over the hills. and there will be some further rain. further west, in northern ireland, clearer skies of tomorrow morning, and this is where there could be a touch of frost to get their weekend underway. for the weekend, touch of frost to get their weekend underway. forthe weekend, low pressure is still with us, it is not particularly potent so the rain is fairly showery. a misty and murky start in these areas, but further west, sunnier conditions are developing. the best day of the weekend will be saturday, in the western half of the country. temperatures may be down a bit but there will be a bit of sunshine. a bit damp across eastern areas. this

is where we will start brightest on sunday, however. further west, is where we will start brightest on sunday, however. furtherwest, low pressure coming in, bringing strengthening winds, the winds coming in from the south or south—west later on will bring slightly milder air about much more rain across the country. some snow across the very tops of the scottish hills. the rain will be heavy at times, working northwards and eastwards. strong winds, touching gale force in places. probably the driest weather throughout the day will be the north—east of scotland, but even here there will be a few showers. moving into next week a fairly changeable picture, rain at times, and some strong winds, too.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the eu says a no—deal brexit is now more likely than not — but australia's former prime minister has warned against the australian—style option of the uk not having a free trade deal with the eu. be careful what you wish for. i mean, australia... australia's relationship with the eu is not one, from a trade point of view that britain, i think, would want. dame barbara windsor — best known for her roles in eastenders and the carry on films — has died at the age of 83. the hong kong media tycoon and democracy campaignerjimmy lai has been charged under the territory's controversial