this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. concerns over relaxing uk restrictions over christmas as london and parts of the south—east of england enter the toughest measures of restrictions from midnight, and a warning that a new strain of coronavirus could be linked to a rise in infections. but ministers insist that plans to relax the rules at christmas will still go ahead. many families will want to come together over the christmas period but that does not mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly but we should trust people to do so. will you be changing your christmas plans? get in touch with me on twitter @reetacbbc or use the hashtag bbc your questions.

the netherlands enters a strict second lockdown, with schools and shops shut for at least five weeks. england's education secretary threatens legal action after a london council told schools to move to online teaching to halt the spread of the virus. joe biden praises the strength of american democracy, after his presidential victory is certified by the electoral college. our democracy, pushed, tested, threatened, proved to be resilient, true and strong. in the uk, hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. and coming up this hour... the show must not go on — why new covid restrictions could bring the curtain down on london's west end.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. from midnight tonight, 3a million people in england will be living with the highest level of restrictions in tier 3. new areas, including the whole of london, are being moved into the top tier because of a very sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infections. the measures were announced as ministers revealed that a new variant of the virus has been seen in the uk, but experts say they believe the new vaccine is effective against it. greater london and parts of essex and hertfordshire are to be placed in tier 3 from midnight, facing the most severe restrictions. there can be no socialising indoors with anyone other than the people you live with, or those in your support bubble. bars, pubs and restaurants will have to close, though they can provide takeaways and deliveries. but shops, gyms and hairdressers

will be able to stay open. this report byjon donnison. for many, christmas cheer is in short supply this year. the new tier 3 measures for greater london and parts of essex and hertfordshire mean that from midnight tonight, some 3a million people in england will be living under the highest level of restrictions. i recognise the problems it's going to cause for hospitality and other businesses, and the effect on mental health for a lot of people, as well. but i think, unfortunately, it is the right decision and i think, in the end, taking it earlier rather than waiting to do it on saturday is probably also going to prove to be the right decision. the health secretary, matt hancock, told the house of commons that in some areas of the south—east the number of cases was now doubling every seven days. we have seen early action can help prevent more damaging and longer lasting problems later. mr speaker, these restrictions

will come into force at midnight on wednesday morning. because when the virus moves quickly, we must move quickly, too. and we must take the actions that are not necessarily easy, but are effective. and there is also concern about a new, possibly faster spreading variant of the virus that has emerged. government scientists at the porton down laboratories in wiltshire are now trying to find out whether the new strain will have a different response to vaccines, although they say at this stage there is no reason to think it will. for the hospitality industry, the new restrictions in london and the south—east are another huge blow. just two weeks after reopening after a second national lockdown, pubs, bars and restaurants will be forced to close again, unless they offer takeaway service only. under tier 3, cinemas and theatres will also have to close their doors.

but the government says plans to ease restrictions for five days over christmas will go ahead. jon donnison, bbc news. our political correspondent jessica parker gave us this update. the current plan is for the christmas bubble, which is going to last five days, or six if you are travelling to and from northern ireland. it means that up to three households but no more than three can get together over the christmas period. but matt hancock, the health secretary, repeatedly faced questions last night after announcing that millions more people would go into the tightest level of restrictions, after announcing that a new strain of coronavirus had emerged. whether it was the right thing to do to still relax the rules over the coming week, over christmas. there have been questions raised including from the labour london mayor sadiq khan who has suggested this morning he thinks there should be a rethink along the lines of doing something, as he put it, that would make it

less unsafe in terms of relaxing the rules. these rules are not mandatory and one of my criticisms of the government is that it does not make sense to go from tier 2, to tier 3, tier zero and then tier 3 and a potentially genuine fabry have another lockdown if the virus spreads too fast. january is the busiest time of the year for the nhs, we know this from previous years. imagine thisjanuary, how we would feel if the nhs was overwhelmed because of those five days of christmas and you have seen in america, the consequences of thanksgiving and the impact it had on the death rates. of course, this was a "four nations" agreement so the governments across northern ireland, wales, scotland and england all agreed to the christmas bubble idea. a uk government source told me this morning there are no plans to review the christmas bubble for the next week and it has been an issue that has been put to the chief secretary to the treasury stephen barclay this morning.

we are not going from tier 3 to some kind of tier zero. what we are saying is in a limited sense, many families who have not been together all year, who will want to see each other, that three households can come together for that christmas period. it is not that all restrictions are being lifted. it is a recognition we don't want to criminalise families for seeing each other over the christmas period. one of the reasons the government has looked to do the relaxation was because of concerns that people who are really desperate to see their families and might break the rules anyway, over the christmas period, so they have made this provision and allowance but given what we heard yesterday, and given the plan to relax the rules next week, the government will still face charges of potentially confusing the public health message but as i say, no indication yet they are set to change their plans. jessica parker reporting from westminster. let's speak now to hugh pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at aberdeen university and he also spent many years at glasgow institute of virology.

good morning. we had from the health secretary about the mutation of the rise yesterday, how concentric would be? i don't think, unless the health secretary had said something really important like this was nasty virus, easier to kill people, but he did not say that. the implication is that it not say that. the implication is thatitis not say that. the implication is that it is not. we have been doing gene sequencing on covid—i9 for a long time in the uk, and we have looked at basically thousands of isolates of the virus, strains picked up by the pcr tests and we have found hundreds of variance. it was slightly surprising that he mentioned one because we have found hundreds of them. now many of them die out for reasons i can't even go into but that is the way the virus behaves. but some take off and some really get quite busy. the reason why that happens generally speaking, not always but generally speaking is

that there are super spread out events, where you have a large number of people coming together and one person spreads the virus and infects a whole heap of people and some of those people then go on to infect another whole set of people under similar circumstances. that is what i would be looking for in london to explain why this virus, this particular variant is so common, rather than worrying about the fact the variant itself is the reason why the virus has come. it is because people are not, basically, not to put too fine a point on it, behaving as they should, rather than a change in the virus that is responsible. so can ijustjump in, so are you responsible. so can ijustjump in, so are you sceptical about any suggestion that a variation in this virus might have made it more easily transmitted? yes, i am sceptical. the trouble is, it is going to be very difficult to prove. you can't really do lab tests to find out

whether it is more transmissible. what do you have to look at is, our people infected with this virus shedding more virus? it is possible to do that but it will take time. i would be rather sceptical that this is the case because after all, let's face it, the virus gets around extremely well to start with. all the variants get around extremely well anyway. it would be very peculiar if one suddenly got worse because it is bad enough to start with, let's put it like that. that isa with, let's put it like that. that is a common—sense with, let's put it like that. that is a common—sense view. but i think it is one that has a good deal of merit in it. i don't think the public should be concerned about variance appearing. we have seen this with other coronaviruses, and there is one good example which causes terrible disease in piglets and that has got variants and they are and that has got variants and they a re less nasty and that has got variants and they are less nasty than the original virus but that is just an example to show that if you have a variant, it does not necessarily mean the virus is going to be nastier or worse. i think what the variant doing is

giving us a way to identify viruses bya giving us a way to identify viruses by a sort of marker or fingerprint. then we have to go and find out why that virus has come through and my own guess is it is because the virus is finding it easy to spread because of super spreader events, people getting together more than they should be and that kind of thing. 0k, should be and that kind of thing. ok, so in one of the papers this morning, you have said if you were to be unkind to the health secretary, you would accuse him of having launched a new project via yesterday. just explain to people who have not seen the article what you meant. well, basically, reporting that london is going into another tier and that kind of thing, and then linking it to the variant... my first response was, thatis variant... my first response was, that is a bit naughty. it is sort of blaming the virus rather than how people are behaving and really, getting people worried there is a new variant, nastier, we have got to behave ourselves, we should be

behaving ourselves anyway without worrying about a variant. you think the connection is unproven? worrying about a variant. you think the connection is unproven7m worrying about a variant. you think the connection is unproven? it is an unproven connection at this moment, yes. it may well stay like that. i would be looking very carefully at the contact tracing results to see just how this virus is getting about and doing something about that rather than worrying about... there's nothing we can do about the new variant, if it is here, it is here. as i say, we have identified hundreds of them in the uk and we know using that kind of technology, that gene sequencing technology, we can find out that some of those, many of them, actually, have come from abroad as it did in the first place but some are spreading around in the uk and they are spreading in the uk generally because of this super spreading capability of the virus where one person can infect hundreds of people, at least tens, maybe hundreds of people, very easily, for reasons we don't understand too well. we can't identify the virus that does that. all we can do is identify the

pattern of behaviour that has helped it to do it. we are talking a lot about christmas today and the fact that areas of the country are going into tighter restrictions today, areas of england, whereas everything will be loosened up again next week for christmas. where do you stand on christmas and should we have a relaxation of the rules? well, i was surprised when five days was given as the relaxation. i thought, well, we will pay the price for that. i think many people and many scientists are saying that. you know, if we get together and we get together in a sort of old—fashioned kind of way, all gathered around the table on christmas day, and then we have the, you know, opening presents and all that kind of thing, the virus will love that. of course, the virus will love that. of course, the virus does not know it's christmas, it has no brain, but never mind. bringing people together, particularly if they are travelling about the country, to meet their

relatives and friends and all that kind of thing, the virus is going to spread more easily and we will pay a price for it injanuary and the big problem really is notjust that but that january is the best time for these viruses that spread like this to do that. we know that. the flu season really pea ks to do that. we know that. the flu season really peaks injanuary. it is expected it will be the same with this virus as well. and the nhs is a lwa ys this virus as well. and the nhs is always under pressure injanuary, two. you know, i don't think it was a good idea to have the relaxation, evenif a good idea to have the relaxation, even if they had thought, well, people are going to do it anyway, the advice should have been, basically, bad as it might have seemed, you know, put christmas off until february. but you know, it is too late now. we seem to be going down that route. 0k, good to talk to you as always. thank you forjoining us. professor hugh pennington, there. a deadline has just expired for greenwich council

to reverse its decision to send all children home for online learning because of a rise in coronavirus cases in recent days. the leader of the borough council wrote to all head teachers in the area advising them to shut from this evening. the education secretary said using legal powers is a last resort, but added that "continuity of education" was a national priority. this morning, the council doubled down on its position, issuing a new statement saying it made the decision based on public health information. the council said greenwich currently has seen the highest rates of coronavirus since march, with cases doubling every four days. it added cases were increasing amongst young people, with 817 children of school age testing positive for the virus. 4,262 children and 362 staff are also currently self—isolating in the borough, an increase of 640 people since friday. the netherlands has announced a five—week lockdown over christmas, the country's toughest coronavirus restrictions to date.

from today, nonessential shops, cinemas and museums will close, while cafes and restaurants will be restricted to a takeaway service. protesters gathered outside the prime minister's office as he made the announcement on national television. earlier i spoke to our correspondent anna holligan, who had the latest from the hague. those protesters really illustrating some of the divisions in dutch society over the scale and the strength of the lockdown that is needed at the moment. many people in the netherlands have been dreaming of a relatively relaxed christmas but then over the weekend, people were sharing photos of city centres crammed with christmas shoppers and the infection rate here at the moment is almost double the government's worst case scenario. so there is a sense of inevitability about this full—on lockdown, actually, compared to what has been in place here in the past. all nonessential shops are closed. museums, theatres, gyms, saunas, amusement parks, all shut down.

the restaurants and cafes and cannabis cafes will be allowed to continue serving takeaways as they are now. the hotels will stay open over the holidays, too, but they won't be allowed to serve food or drinks or even room service. from tomorrow, things go even further, a step the dutch prime minister, mark rutte, had said he had been determined to avoid. schools, secondary and primary, will be closed for an extended festive break, until the 19th of january. that is the point where we will find out whether these will be extended even further. and how do these restrictions compare to what is going on elsewhere in europe? it is really interesting, actually, and it kind of reveals some of the inconsistencies between countries because part of the reason the netherlands is bringing this in now is because there was a fear that german christmas shoppers would simply cross the border to buy their christmas gifts. in germany, it is a very similar situation. all nonessential shops are closed, and schools as well from tomorrow.

christmas markets, most of them were already cancelled. and then in france, they are actually easing some of the travel restrictions so families will be able to meet over christmas. but the infection rate remains high, there, so a nationwide curfew will be in place from i think it is 8pm. and then italy is at the moment seeing the highest number of deaths since the end of march. the prime minister giuseppe conte has warned italians to expect a more sober christmas without hugs and kisses and that kind of thing. there will also be a curfew in place from 10pm until 6am there. and the evening curfew will be in place, probably not on christmas eve but definitely new year's eve. he did have a word of positivity, though, for the children watching. he said that father christmas would be exempt from the global

travel restrictions so there is a slice of good news in there. there was a collective sigh of relief in the studio. anna holligan reporting from the netherlands. let's take a look at the rules over christmas across the uk. three households can form a "christmas bubble" from 23rd december to the 27th. they can mix indoors in private homes — which includes overnight stays. no travel restrictions are in place in the five—day period. you can't go to a pub or restaurant with your bubble. if you have coronavirus sysmptoms or are self—isolating you cannotjoin a bubble. you can meet people outside your christmas bubble outdoors, but only in line with rules of the tier where you staying. america's top infectious disease expert, dr anthony fauci, has said he's in favour of a "cancel christmas" message, to try to prevent a spike in cases during the festive season. he said the situation in the united states had been made worse by the thanksgiving holiday last month. speaking to bbc newsnight, dr fauci warned people

against travelling over christmas and offered this advice for people in the uk. my advice would be something that i think is going to sadden people because everyone wants the family warmth and get—together that are so characteristic of the christmas season. but my recommendation would be to curtail travelling as much as you possibly can. visiting people, even though it's such an important part of the christmas spirit, keep the gatherings, the dinners, the indoor gatherings, to as few people as possible, preferably with people that are an integral part of the household and avoid the kind of congregate settings that have been so characteristic. i know that's so difficult to accept because people already have what we call covid fatigue, they are just tired of not leading a normal life and when you're telling them, in the christmas holidays, which traditionally is the time

of gathering together in the warmth of a family and friends atmosphere, we are saying, to the best of your possibility, do not do that, i know that's tough! but i believe that is the only way we will prevent an even greater surge than what we are seeing. joe biden has been confirmed as the next president of the united states, after the influential electoral college cast their votes. speaking after the announcement, mr biden said "the will of the people prevailed". our north america correspondent david willis reports. forjoseph r biden of delaware, a democrat, ayes — 55, noes — zero. applause. the momentjoe biden formally became this country's president—elect. california's electors awarding him the votes he needed to clear the 270 threshold in america's electoral college. and having held off condemning donald trump's unprecedented attempts to overturn the election result, now was

the time to hit back. the flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. we now know nothing, not even a pandemic, or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame. donald trump had warned that certifying the votes would amount to a severely punishable crime, in the light of what he claims was widespread voter fraud. but the claims are unsubstantiated and courts across the country have failed to support them, as has this man, the attorney general bill barr. it has now been announced that mr barr will be stepping down. "bill," said the president in a tweet, "will be leaving just before christmas to spend the holidays with his family." all this on a bittersweet day, as front line health care workers became the first in the country to receive the coronavirus vaccine at a time when many here have misgivings about its safety. it is no different than the majority of vaccines that you get on a yearly basis, that we give to our children,

that we have been getting since the ‘60s. at the end of the day, when we are worried about side effects, really, the truth is that everything has side effects. this has been shown to be safe, its effective, and, really, it's the best route for us to combat this horrible pandemic. but the most ambitious vaccination programme in us history couldn't come soon enough. as these crates were being unpacked came the news that the country had passed another grim milestone — 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. a total of 2,835 deaths registered in england and wales in the week ending december 4 mentioned covid—i9 on the death certificate, that's according to new data from the office for national statistics. this is down from 3,040 deaths in the week to november 27, the first week—on—week drop since the week to september 4. the bbc‘s head of statistics,

robert cuffe, has been looking at the latest data and joins me now. some relatively good news in the biggest to? covert matt gohdes dam, total debt down and excess deaths down, not a lot but starting to turn, hopefully. ithink down, not a lot but starting to turn, hopefully. i think we can show the figures to the audience now. you can see in the week up into the 4th of december, we saw a slight full in the total number of covid deaths across the uk, down from just under 3400, to 3200 and you can see that in the red area, so slightly down as isaid in the red area, so slightly down as i said but not moving very far at this point. that drives the total number of deaths down as well. normally moving into december, the colder weather, we expect to see deaths rising week on week but in fa ct, deaths rising week on week but in fact, the total number has come down but only by about i%. not very big shifts but hopeful signals that the epidemic certainly is not growing at the pace it was in october and november. how does this set of data

compare with the first wave? we zoomed in on the last chart to show you and we missed the size of the first wave and i think we can make the comparison now and show that to the comparison now and show that to the audience as well. you can see if you bring them together to give them the same starting point, it is very clear the first way peaked higher, and sooner than what we have seen in the second wave, which is that the deaths never really reached the same terrifying date —— rate they did in april but they kept on going for longer and longer. this one for we have seen in the last week, one swallow does not make a summer but we hope that is the direction of travel. given what you have shown us in terms of the trend, is it possible to anticipate what is coming down the line in terms of the statistics? the figures are always a bit out of date because of the deaths that were registered in the week to the 4th of december which reflects, they have to be registered and before that, somebody has to die, and they have to get infected

and sick so they reflect infections that happened in november. we know that happened in november. we know that since then, we saw the deaths announced every day have continued to full for about a week and then they have plateaued. there is not any sign that they are suddenly going to disappear in the course of the next few weeks and of course, we all know that they reflect infections in november that were falling and we have started to see infections rising again. so the issue when we move into winter has a lwa ys issue when we move into winter has always been, not that the epidemic will look as bad as it did in the peak in april but the level of debts we think about 3000 a week, 400 per day, is something that will continue to run through the winter. thank you for joining to run through the winter. thank you forjoining us. the pandemic is continuing to have a toll on the uk economy. more people were made redundant between august and october than at any time on record. the office for national statistics says 370,000 people lost theirjobs during that time. our business presenter ben thompson joins us now.

just go through the figures again with us, they are in figures and in a way that is perhaps no surprise. no, not at all. it really illustrates how much of an impact the pandemic is having on our work and our livelihoods. i want to show and our livelihoods. i want to show a grass, firstly, that shows the 370,000, and it puts it into stark contrast with what has happened previously. you will notice the spike at the end, the 370,000 jump in the number of redundancies. compare that to their spike that you can see towards 2008. that was the financial crisis of 2008 and so it tells you that the numbers ofjobs lost as a result of the pandemic is significantly greater than the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. if you take it in its entirety, 820,000 jobs have been lost since february, since the

pandemic began, taking the jobless rate to 4.9%. we had expected, some of the forecasts were that the jobless rate could be even higher, may be closer to 5.1%. it has actually come in a little lower than that but nonetheless, the 0br, the government spending watchdog, forecasting itself the unemployment rate could hit 7.5% by the middle of next year. that would mean 2.5 million people out of work. perhaps it is no great surprise because we know that business is not able to operate normally. for example, just this week, once again, you are talking about the capital entering tier 3 restrictions on the impact that has on things like hospitality and entertainment venues. we know many parts of the uk have already been under the most stringent restrictions and therefore, without those people able to get to work, thenit those people able to get to work, then it is suggested that more businesses were closed and therefore, the unemployment rate could rise even higher. it is worth bearing in mind, too, that the people who are on the government

furlough scheme, that is to say, having their wages subsidised by the taxpayer, they will not show up in the official figures. they are not officially classed as unemployed, and so when all of this has filtered through, we may get a truer sense of the impact of the pandemic and it is also worth bearing in mind over the past few weeks, we have had a big increase in unemployment from two big retailers in the uk, the colla pse big retailers in the uk, the collapse of debenhams, the big department store chain, and arcadia group, the high street favourites known for brands like topshop, dorothy perkins and miss selfridge, also facing financial difficulty, and so the job losses announced as a result of that collapse will not show up in the figures, nor indeed wield much of the second lockdown across the —— across england, and things like the firebreak restrictions in wales. therefore, it is fairto restrictions in wales. therefore, it is fair to say this will get worse before it gets better. 0k, thank you very much.

we have just had some news we havejust had some news in from the british medicaljournal and the health service journal they the british medicaljournal and the health servicejournal they have made a joint call for christmas guidelines to be tightened to avoid excessive pressure building on the nhs. they say with a number of hospital patients with covid—i9 again on the rise, and a third wave almost inevitable, the new year is likely to see nhs trusts facing a stark choice. the overwhelmed or stopped most elective and nonurgent work. rather than lifting restrictions over christmas as currently planned, the uk should follow the more cautious examples of germany, italy and the netherlands. and those countries have limited household mixing to a very few visits over two or three days. that information just send visits over two or three days. that informationjust send in visits over two or three days. that information just send in from our health editor, hugh pym, an urgent and quite stark intervention there from the british medicaljournal and

the health servicejournal, both of them saying christmas guidelines in them saying christmas guidelines in the uk should be tightened. i am sure we will hear much more about that during the course of the day. all nhs trusts in england have been ordered to implement immediate safety improvements in maternity care as a result of the scandal at the shrewsbury and telford trust. nhs england says there is "too much variation in outcomes for women and their families" and trusts have been told they must implement i2 "urgent clinical priorities" by monday. it comes after a report into care at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust found poor care had harmed dozens of women and their babies. the nigerian islamist group boko haram says it abducted hundreds of schoolboys from a boarding school in the north—west of the country on friday night. there's been no comment from the nigerian authorities, who have said they're negotiating with a group of gunmen, for the boys' safe return. more than 300 pupils from the all—boys

school in katsina state remain unaccounted for. it is not clear how many ran away during the attack and how many were abducted. technology giants including google and facebook could face multi—million pound fines if they fail to protect children from online harm. under new proposals — communication regulator 0fcom is set to gain the power to block access to online services that don't do enough to protect users. here's our media editor amol rajan. after years of debate about how to curb online harms whilst promoting the benefits of digital technology, the government has finally published a plan. the regulator 0fcom will have a range of new powers. the likes of facebook or google could face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover, whichever is higher. a new legal duty of care is intended to protect children from grooming, bullying or pornography. there are already laws banning sexual abuse, terrorist material and some suicide content, but these will now be enforced more strongly. the chief executive

of the children's charity the nspcc gave a cautious welcome. there are serious crimes being committed against children every single day. so this legislation hasn't come a moment too soon. at the same time, bad regulation is worse than no regulation. so it is important that the government's proposals are now properly scrutinised. a fortnight ago, a digital markets unit was announced to curb the monopolistic tendencies of big tech. these measures aim to mitigate social rather than economic ills. a new contract between democracy and the data giants is hesitantly emerging. amol rajan, bbc news. more now on our main story this hour and the tier 3 restrictions which are the highest level of coronavirus restrictions that will come into force in london, most of essex and parts of hertfordshire from midnight tonight. hospitality venues such as bars, pubs and restaurants must stay closed

except for delivery and takeaway. people cannot meet indoors, in private gardens or most outdoor venues, except with your household or bubble. you can meet in public spaces, such as parks — in up to a group of six. tim muffett has been in central london at the holborn dining rooms discussing the impact on the new restrictions for the hospitality industry in the area. many parts of england have already been under tier 3 for quite some time but the move of london and parts of essex and hertfordshire, from midnight tonight, into tier 3 is going to have a huge impact, especially on hospitality, as you say. we are at holborn dining room this morning, part of rosewood london hotel. michael is the managing director. do you think the hospitality industry is being treated fairly? we don't. you know, we really don't, and so many other sectors can be open in tier 3, all of retail is now open in tier 3. we really feel that hospitality, we need a specific minister,

actually, overseeing these restrictions right now. how worried are you about the impact on your business and your staff? very concerned. very, very concerned. most of our team will now go home as of tuesday evening. this is the most important week in the lead up to christmas and now to have this week cut short... this presumably needs to happen for the health of people? absolutely, we don't want to get in the way of health and safety of the public but at the same time, i really feel that the government should be working with the sector to make sure that we can stay open in these situations. you know, i don't quite understand how other sectors can be open and we can't be in hospitality. these decisions will be open to review on a weekly basis or so. what do you make of that? that is right. i think sadly that review each week may sound better, but of course, it...

you know, for christmas now, people won't know if they can have christmas lunch here or not because are you really going to wait until the 23rd to find out on the 25th what you can do? but you are able to furlough staff? we are, yes. the vast majority of our team will sadly not be here in holborn dining room, nor in our bar, and will at home. thanks very much indeed. best of luck. it really is a worrying time for so many people in the hospitality sector but from midnight tonight, bars, restau ra nts a nd cafes will not be able to open unless they offer takeaway service. it is going to be a very, very tough christmas. the hospitality industry will be ha rd the hospitality industry will be hard hit. another io—million people in england will be placed under strictest covid restrictions from wednesday when greater london, parts of essex and south hertfordshire move into tier 3, the toughest category. the hospitality industry will be hard hit with restaurants and pubs

only open for takeaways. theatres that had just re—opened for socially distanced performances will now have to close again. mark lobel reports. bleak news on a bleak night for london's west end. another io—million people in england will be placed under strictest covid bleak news on a bleak night for london's west end. it has been months of misery for the theatre industry and now this. it is disastrous news for the sector. theatres have been investing lots of effort and money into making their venues covid safe, rehearsing their cast in a safe way, and because at the moment it is impossible to get insurance for those productions, these are absolute losses that the theatres are going to incur. the government acknowledges the huge impact this will have but says rising cases are deeply concerning and that it must act quickly, bringing the curtain down from wednesday. the producer of this show in which henry viii's six wives command the stage for once to tell their stories, believes the sudden changes in rules hurts his industry acutely, with the finger of blame unfairly pointed at it. # we are six #. we see nonessential retail being allowed to open, we see, you know, various other services that are allowed to be

provided and while that is encouraging for them, you know, we can't quite understand why we have been singled out. now many in the industry predict financial ruin there and to the wider economy. we have had companies that we work with and were working with up until march of this year that have already disappeared and gone under. you know, we are going to lose a lot of people from the industry to non—theatrical work. it is a double whammy for an industry it was hoped would draw in tourists and offer some joy after a very tough year. so when could the kick—start come? here's theatre impresario andrew lloyd webber speaking earlier this month. i really, really do believe that we will certainly get back to normal by the middle of the summer, theatre wise. will there be an audience? i think there will be an audience in droves. but in the meantime, there will be no more of these

pantomimes this christmas, despite a recent royal boost and their crucial earnings for theatres. mark lobel, bbc news. the government has told a london council it must keep schools open or face legal action. greenwich council had written to head teachers asking all schools to move classes online from tuesday amid rising covid—i9 cases. on monday evening, education secretary gavin williamson ordered the south—east london council to keep schools open. let's get the view from across england now. joining me is jane girt, headteacher at carlton bolling community school in bradford. and gavin callaghan, the leader of basildon council

jane, your school is open, tell us what you've decided to do that? we area what you've decided to do that? we are a school of 1500 young people, ina very are a school of 1500 young people, in a very deprived area of bradford, an outstanding school and the reason we decided to remain open as lots of our students have missed up to three weeks because of the pandemic. we had a lot of hype staff absence and therefore we've had to have some year groups, the bubble, work remotely from home so we know every week our students miss guidance that divide between the advantaged and disadvantaged so when they are working from home we can do measured and planned work but unfortunately, we've not got enough digital appliances for the students to use. so if we send all our students home this week we would be saying to some of them, actually, you are not going to get response of teaching, outstanding teaching, some of you will have to do paper—based learning and we know learning is best when teachers can't respond to what a student has done, point out

misconceptions and help them to learn. so therefore we have remained open. sorry to cut across you, i will bring gavin in in a moment but bradford is in tier 3 at the moment, just as greenwich is going into tier 3. so why is your school different from those in greenwich that are saying they should close? from those in greenwich that are saying they should close ?|j from those in greenwich that are saying they should close? i don't understand the rationale behind why they are closing, i have not been privy to that but i know as a head teacher of a school that has had a challenging term, we are really conscious of the fact that children learn best when they are with their teachers in school. we have shown through the deprivation that we are u nfortu nately, through the deprivation that we are unfortunately, due to no fault of their own, the families perhaps don't have language acquisition, they don't have their own educational experiences, not as good as it could have been. they don't have that aspirational input that they get from school and therefore, they get from school and therefore, the quality of the work they do at home means that we know it's nowhere near as good as the quality of work

they do in school. and therefore, we cannot give them a double whammy, of going home to work and missing learning in school and so we have decided it's best for our young people to get them as much teaching as we possibly can. we do have some working online because they are isolating but we are able to allow them to have live lessons because we lend them digital devices. but we haven't got enough to lend to everybody. these are very difficult decisions. gavin, leader of basildon district council which comes under essex county council, you have been calling for schools to close since the beginning of this month, why? we had known in basildon for about three and a half weeks now that around 40—45% of our confirmed cases are linked to our schools. we also know we have a huge issue in our borough with asymptomatic children who are still going to school but showing no symptoms at all. and that is helping to then spread this

around our community. i understand, no councillor wants to ever call for schools to close. everything jane says, i agree with but the issue for a counsellor and those of us who call ourselves leaders of councils is we have to determine what is in the greater public health interest andl the greater public health interest and i called for schools to close on friday the 11th because from my point of view, if we were to do that, it would have given a 10—12 day period between schools closing and christmas today, where we would have enabled young people to get the virus out of their system before they potentially affect the over 65 s. they potentially affect the over 65 s. in this borough, although our rate is high, it is predominantly higher amongst school—age children and the working age population. it is still not the case it is high in the over 65 is still not the case it is high in the over65 s, is still not the case it is high in the over 65 s, we have to protect that group during the five—day relaxation period which is why i called for schools to close on friday. the government has made it very clear it wants schools to stay open and i wonder what would you say

to schools, then, in your area, and this is a question to gavin, what should they do, they are getting conflicting advice? you tell them to close, the government says stay open. this has been part of the problem for months, this wishy—washy nonsense that comes out of white hope and actually what teachers want... i am going tojump in, i don't think it's wishy—washy, it's very clear, schools must stay open. but at the same time they are giving schools the opportunity to close or certain bubbles or year groups and it becomes incredibly confusing for many people. from our perspective, here in basildon, we know we have an issue, the previous item was about hospitality, from midnight tonight or hospitality sector closes, nothing to do with the infection rate in basildon, it has everything to do with our schools and our manual labour workplace and so the message to schools is clear. if you have outbreaks in your schools, then do the right thing by the basildon

population, the over 65 s and move to online learning as quickly as possible and that the secretary of state was as quick off the mark to sort out schools and the issues around digital exclusion does not all the rest of it as he was in the la st 24 all the rest of it as he was in the last 24 hours to start threatening labour councillors with legal action, we would not be in the mess our schools are currently in. jane, cani our schools are currently in. jane, can i come back to you? what her pa rents can i come back to you? what her parents said you, have they been co mforta ble parents said you, have they been comfortable with having their children coming to school, have you made any resistance? no, we haven't stopped we've been having to send stu d e nts stopped we've been having to send students home over a period of time and therefore, because the work is well planned, we have involved our pa rents well planned, we have involved our parents in our decision—making, they understand why we have to do that. they been behind us and every step of the way. they can get in touch with us if they are concerned with anything to do with welfare, get in touch with us if they are concerned about students learning, we had no kickback from parents at all but i do think it's about having time to

plan, it's about being organised, andi plan, it's about being organised, and i agree, we do have a part to play within this. educating our young people about what is good covid practice, you know, making sure we are socially distanced in school, washing their hands, all of that side of it that we have reinforced the parents are absolutely behind us. 0k. very good to talk to you both and thank you so much, jane and gavin. the deputy governor of kabul has been killed in a car bomb attack in the afghan capital. mohibullah mohammadi was travelling with his secretary, who was also killed. two security guards were injured by the blast. the explosion came as a magnetic bomb attached to his vehicle detonated. the country has seen a spate of targeted killings in recent months. no group has so far claimed responsibility. thousands of supporters of a new coalition of pakistan's

opposition parties have been attending large rallies across the country in recent weeks, demanding the resignation of the government — accusing the military of engineering previous elections. prime minister imran khan has dismissed the protests as attempts by rivals to pressure him into dropping ongoing corruption cases against them. secunder kermani reports from lahore. a show of force by pakistan's new opposition alliance. the large crowd here in lahore in spite of the coronavirus pandemic. underlining how divided the country is. even if calls for the government to resign look unlikely to succeed. many of the people here are angry about the poor state of the economy, about rising food prices. but fundamentally, this is fallout from the elections two years ago. the opposition politicians addressing this crowd accuse pakistan's powerful military of manipulating the result to bring imran khan's government into power.

the government says the opposition is simply rattled by investigations into their financial dealings. spearheading the protests via video link from london, former prime minister nawaz sharif. using unprecedentedly direct language, he accuses a group of generals of ousting him from power on the pretext of corruption charges. "the intelligence agencies must stop political engineering", he says. after being sentenced to seven years in jail, sharif was allowed to temporarily travel to london last year on medical grounds. now, he shows no sign of returning. the government says the protests are an attempt by nawaz sharif and his allies to evade justice. they are calling for britain to deport him. we are asking the british government to deport nawaz sharif because from our side, nawaz sharif is not

only violating the undertakings and the court orders that were given here, but he also is in violation of british immigration laws. he is a convict who has to serve and undergo the remaining of his sentence and he is required in many other cases of corruption and corrupt practices. this was the culmination of a series of rallies across the country. but with coronavirus cases spiking, and little social distancing, the government has accused the opposition of endangering lives. we are in the middle of a pandemic, many people would say it's irresponsible to hold rallies like this now, with clearly not much social distancing going on. how would you respond to that? we have a dilemma. on one side, there is individual security. 0n the other side, we also feel compelled the collective security of our state is in danger. 0pposition leaders are now threatening to march on the capital islamabad early next year.

pakistan's political tensions look set to rise further. secunder kermani, bbc news, lahore. it's been almost nine months since the first covid—19 case was confirmed in yemen. the bbc was the first international broadcaster to reach the country since the virus outbreak, and has closely followed how yemen — already facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis — is dealing with this global pandemic. bbc arabic special correspondent nawal al—maghafi reports. a wedding in yemen's capital city, sa naa. it is late may and coronavirus is peaking in the country. there are deaths in this very neighbourhood but with no official statistics from the authorities, the people are not aware of the danger. no one is using any protection. this is the story of a country that

tried to hide the coronavirus from its own people. days after the wedding, we discovered that more people are falling victim to the virus, including hassan's grandmother. translation: we took her to many hospitals. they said it is a corona case and there is no hope. we never thought she would die like that. but was there any awareness, i ask him? translation: barely any and it is the government's responsibility. in this divided country, northern yemen is controlled by the rebel houthis. the first covid case was reported here in april. at the time, this doctor was given the task of testing and contact tracing cases. translation: they did not know how many cases or deaths were out there. they did not announce any numbers. but videos were already surfacing on social media.

this one is from outside a hospital in sanaa. other videos showed armed men and houthi soldiers rounding up those suspected of having covid and taking them to isolation centres. this made the sick too scared to ask for help. translation: people felt stigmatised. they were treated as criminals are not sick people. there were even shootings in some cases. many people died at home. bodies were even dumped on the streets. phone footage shows the who see burying the dead at night. this is the man in charge of the houthis response to covid.

i asked him who is responsible for those who were kept in the dark about the virus and did not have any help. translation: no, it is not true. the hospitals were open and the medical staff were available. awareness was available, too. we don't have a problem with showing the numbers. the issue is simple. we don't want to create a state of fear among the yemeni people. and people have good reason to be scared. the public health system in the north is broken and dependent on foreign aid to survive. the virus swept through the entire country for months, but until today, no one knows how many people fell ill with covid or how many people died. nawalal—maghafi, bbc news, sanaa. you are watching bbc news. hundreds of thousands of people in southern chile and argentina

have been able to watch a total solar eclipse. the eclipse darkened the skies as the moon passed between the sun and the earth for around two minutes — although some were a little disappointed. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. this is not really eclipse weather, fog and heavy rain blocking the view for many in this region of chile. they may not have been able to see it but they knew it was happening, especially when things started getting dark. this, the middle of the day, but it may as well have been the middle of the night! a different story a little further east, ideal conditions in this part of argentina. there had been some concerns about the health consequences, people gathering together in the middle of a pandemic, so plenty of facemasks as well as protective eyewear. no obstructions here. the spectacular sight of a solar eclipse in full effect. over the course of several hours, the path of the moon obscured the sun — a rare and powerful moment. translation: it is a

special darkness because it is not night—time. the temperature dropped a lot. it felt very cold. the truth is, it is something very special. translation: it made me cry. in the moment of total darkness, it made me cry because it was a very strong feeling, after waiting so long for it. the next total eclipse will take place in december next year, but that will only be visible from antarctica. tim allman, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. some breaking news for you. we've been reporting all morning the london borough of greenwich had ordered it schools to close because of rising coronavirus cases. last night the education secretary in

england gavin williamson overruled that, saying schools should be opened and we got a statement from greenwich, from the council saying they will comply with the department for education request for schools to reopen. so they will send a covering letter this morning along with a letter this morning along with a letter from one of the education ministers, to make clear they will comply with the government request for schools to reopen. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol hello again. compared to the weather some of us had yesterday, today is going to be much quieter. it's going to be drier. it's not going to be as windy. now, having said all of that, we still have some showers in the forecast and some of those are still on the heavy side, but the winds will be lighter as well. so a lot of dry weather, bright skies or indeed, some sunshine. most of the showers are in the west. however, we will see some coming in across the english channel, some getting in across southern and central england, the odd one into the southeast, but drying up for time in northern ireland and also northern scotland, where temperatures, eight to about 12 degrees.

and as we go through the evening, we pick up this clump of showers which will continue to move northwards across scotland. many of the showers elsewhere will fade, a lot of dry weather and then the cloud will build as this next area of low pressure with rain wrapped around it comes in from the south west. and with this, we'll also see gusty winds, particularly so in exposure in the west. now, this is why we've got this area of low pressure, which tomorrow is going to be moving eastwards and northwards. one look at those isobars tells you it's going to be a windy day wherever you are. but again, the strongest winds will be out towards the west and especially across parts of northern ireland, south west england. and with a combination of the spring tides, some parts could well see some coastal flooding. to give you an idea of the kind of strength of gusts, here they are here in the black circles, so strongest across southwest england, through the irish sea, in towards northern ireland, the north channel. but at times, too, it will also be fairly gusty across eastern areas. and these are our temperatures, eight in the north

to 11 in the south. if you want something a bit quieter then for a time on thursday, we do have a transient ridge of high pressure across us, so there will still be a few showers knocking around. but having said that, there'll be a lot of dry weather. that's not necessarily going to last, though, because you can already see another area of low pressure coming into the west by the end of the afternoon. temperatures on thursday ranging from nine to about 13 degrees. as for the end of the week, well, during the course of thursday night and into friday, we see that band of rain move over towards the east. and for the weekend, we're back to that dizzy cocktail of sunshine and showers.

this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 11. calls for christmas coronavirus guidelines to be tightened as london and parts of the south—east of england prepare to enter the toughest measures of restrictions — and a warning that a new strain of coronavirus could be linked to a rise in infections. ministers insist that plans to relax the rules at christmas will still go ahead. many families will want to come together over the christmas period, but that doesn't mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly, but we should trust people to do so. a council in london says it will comply with a government order and instruct schools in greenwich to reopen — after previously telling them to move to online learning. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit as a record number of people are made redundant

and unemployment continues to rise. and coming up in half an hour, we'll be putting your questions on what tier 3 restrictions mean and the discovery of a new variant of the virus to a virologist and behavioural expert. send your questions to us using the hashtag bbc your questions on twitter. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the british medicaljournal and health servicejournal have made a joint call for christmas guidelines to be tightened — to avoid excessive pressure building on the nhs. at the moment, across the uk, from the 23rd of december — three households will be able to form a christmas bubble until the 27th. the journals says, ‘with the number of hospital patients

with covid—19 again on the rise, and a third wave almost inevitable, the new year is likely to see nhs trusts facing a stark choice: be overwhelmed or stop most elective and non—urgent work'. the warning comes as greater london and parts of essex and hertfordshire will be placed in tier 3 — the highest level of coronavirus restrictions from midnight tonight. 34 million people in england will now face the most severe restrictions. there can be no socialising indoors with anyone other than the people you live with, or those in your support bubble. bars, pubs and restaurants will have to close, though they can provide takeaways and deliveries. but shops, gyms and hairdressers will be able to stay open. this report byjon donnison. for many, christmas cheer is in short supply this year. the new tier 3 measures measures for greater london and parts of essex and hertfordshire mean that from midnight tonight, some 34 million people in england will be living under the highest level of restrictions.

i recognise the problem it's going to cause for hospitality and other businesses, and effect on mental health for a lot of people, as well. but i think, unfortunately, it is the right decision and i think, in the end, taking it earlier rather than waiting to do it on saturday is probably also going to prove to be the right decision. the health secretary, matt hancock, told the house of commons that, in some areas of the southeast, the number of cases was now doubling every seven days. we have seen early action can prevent more damaging and longer lasting problems later. mr speaker, these restrictions will come into force at midnight on wednesday morning. because when the virus moves quickly, we must move quickly, too. and we must take the actions that are not necessarily easy, but are effective. and there is also concern about a new possibly faster spreading variant of

the virus that has emerged. government scientists at the porton down laboratories in wiltshire are now trying to find out whether the new strain will have a different response to vaccines, although they say, at this stage, there is no reason to think it will. for the hospitality industry, the new restrictions in london and the south—east are another huge blow. just two weeks after reopening after a second national lockdown, pubs, bars and restaurants will be forced to close again, unless they offer takeaway service only. under tier 3, cinemas and theatres will also have to close their doors. but the government says plans to ease restrictions for five days over christmas will go ahead. jon donnison, bbc news. let's cross to westminster now and talk to our political correspondent, jess parker. we have just heard on the last hour

from two medicaljournals. they are saying that the government's plans to ease rules over christmas as a rash decision and cost many lives. this is british medicaljournal, they are saying that people might see the lifting of restrictions over christmas which are due to kick in next week as permission to drop theirguard. as many next week as permission to drop their guard. as many may know, from next week there is a five—day period for those in england, wales and scotland, and an extra day for those travelling to and from northern ireland, where people can mix with people from three households. there was a feeling that people may break to break the rules if the could not see their families. there has been pause for a rethink. amongst them the london mayor, he is suggesting there is a way to ease the rules in a safer way.

january is a busy time of the year for the nhs, we know this from previous years. imagine this january how we would feel if the nhs was overwhelmed because of those five days of christmas. you have seen in america the consequence of thanksgiving. this issue came up la st thanksgiving. this issue came up last night at downing street press conference. the sort of things they we re conference. the sort of things they were saying is that people don't have to follow these rules, they don't have to go further relaxation and in fact urging people to be cautious. chris whitty was saying that people do not need to push this to the limit. they do not need to push the full license of the relaxation and it has been echoed this morning by other ministers. many families will want to come together over the christmas period, but that doesn't mean

all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly, but we should trust people to do so. this plan was agreed across the four nations, across all governments from northern ireland, scotland, wales and westminster. there is great need today because millions of people are going to go into a tighter level of restrictions because of that news yesterday beat that there was a new strain of coronavirus. questions being raised as to whether it is wise to ease restrictions —— titan restrictions. there are no plans to tie —— review the christmas bubble. schools in greenwich say they will comply with the department for education requests for schools to open. it follows a warning from the government that they would face legal action if they moved their teaching online. let's speak to our news correspondent andy moore. this has been resolved quickly in

the end. talk us through the latest developments. the latest development as you say is that the london borough of this place has backed down. the government one they had to send their children back to school. they said they did not agree with that decision but did not have the money to fight in courts. they will be writing to schools today to tell them they will have to reopen again tomorrow. very, very confusing picture for any parent here in greenwich. we were talking to some this morning. some who had brought their children to school by mistake because they did not know if the school was open or not. this school isa school was open or not. this school is a free school, it has remained open and other schools and primary schools have closed down. they were open on monday, told the parents they would be closing today. they are closed today. they now have to

tell the parents that they will be reopening tomorrow for perhaps one or two days before the end of term. a real tassle of wells here between the local council who say coronavirus levels are very high here and they have to close the schools on the grounds of public safety. the government, the department for education saying that education is an absolute priority and that they are in control of schools and they will decide when they open and when they close. talk us through the picture with covid cases in the schools in greenwich. you mention that skill behind you stayed open because they did not have a positive case of covid since october. that is right. this one said they had not had a case since october, they say they have 96 attendance rates here. greenwich like other london boroughs is seeing an increase in rates. the reason the council said it chose to close the

schools was because rates had gone up schools was because rates had gone up by schools was because rates had gone up by 60% in one week to a figure of 248 per 100,000 people. that is high but there are other parts of the country with much higher rates and their skills are remaining open. it is also not just their skills are remaining open. it is also notjust greenwich, there are other london boroughs affected by this who have decided to close their skills presumably they may have to reverse their decisions. we know there are schools in basildon in essex that have been closed for some time. basildon was certainly one of the hotspots. those schools have been closed for some time, a week or so ago they closed. as far asiam week or so ago they closed. as far as i am aware they have not been served an injunction. so certainly across the country it is a pretty confusing picture. thank you very much. a total of 2,835 deaths registered in england and wales in the week ending december 4 mentioned covid—19 on the death

certificate, that's according to new data from the office for national statistics. this is down from 3,040 deaths in the week to november 27 — the first week—on—week drop since the week to september 4. the bbc‘s head of statistics explain the significance of the figures. you can see that in the week up until the 4th of december we saw a slight fall in the total number of covid deaths across the uk, down from just under 3400 to 3200. you can see that in the red area in this chart here. so slightly down as i said, but not moving very far at this point. and that drives the total number of deaths down as well. normally, moving into december, the colder weather, we expect to see deaths rising week on week. but in fact that total number has come down but only by about 1%, so not very big shifts there. but hopeful signals that the epidemic certainly isn't growing at the pace that it was in october and november.

if you kind of bring the two waves together to give them the same starting point. it is very clear that the first wave peaked higher and peaked sooner and what we have seen in the second wave is that the deaths never really reach that same terrifying rate that they did in april. but they have kept on growing for a longer and this one fall that we have seen in the last week, well, one swallow doesn't make a summer, but we know hope that that is the direction of travel. the pandemic is continuing to have a toll on the uk economy — more people were made redundant between august and october than at any time on record. the office for national statistics says 370,000 people lost theirjobs during that time. our business presenter ben thompson joins us now. that is a bleak figure. yes, you are right. it does illustrate the impact that this is happening on ourjobs market and that it will probably get worse before it gets better. let me

show you on the graph that 370,000 because it does put it into a bit of context when you see it over the past few years. you may notice that last bike is the 370,000 we have seenin last bike is the 370,000 we have seen in today's figure, but the one before that comes in 2008 in the month immediately after the 2008 financial crisis. you will see that spike today is more significant than that and even by the government's own estimates that will get worse, rising more significantly in the middle of next year as a true extent of this pandemic as well. since february, since this crisis began to now, 830,000 jobs have been lost. some expect that that job now, 830,000 jobs have been lost. some expect that thatjob swagger will get worse into next year. the jobless rate could hit seven point 596 jobless rate could hit seven point 5% with 2.5 million people out of work. where are the job cuts coming? let me show you on the second graph.

they come in sector, no great surprise it is hospitality that is bearing the brunt. we have been discussing the capital moving into tier 3 restrictions. let's not forget many of the country in the most stringent of restrictions, hospitality bearing the brunt, many of thejobs there. hospitality bearing the brunt, many of the jobs there. retail and wholesale faring badly as well. health and social work creating jobs and telling the story of this pandemic. it is also worth bearing in mind that people are on the furlough scheme, having their salary subsidised by the government, will not show up in these figures. they are not classed as unemployed. many expecting this to get worse before it gets better as the true extent of this crisis makes itself felt in the jobs market. thank you. we were visualising beautiful graphs when you were speaking. unfortunately we could not see them. you describe them very well. i have a low—tech

version here. hold them out next time. that would be great. thank you! technology! the headlines on bbc news: calls for christmas coronavirus guidelines to be tightened, amid worries a relaxation of the rules will case a surge in covid cases. a council in south—east london has said it will comply with a government demand and withdraw a letter ordering all its schools to close and move to online teaching. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit, as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. the netherlands has announced a five—week lockdown over christmas — the country's toughest coronavirus restrictions to date. from today, non—essential shops, cinemas and museums will close, while cafes and restaurants will be restricted to a takeaway service. protesters gathered outside the prime minister's office as he made the announcement

on national television. earlier our correspondent anna holligan had the latest from the hague. those protesters really illustrating some of the divisions in dutch society over the scale, the strength of the lockdown that is needed at the moment. so many people here in the netherlands have been dreaming of a relatively relaxed christmas. but then over the weekend people were sharing photos of city centres crammed with christmas shoppers and the infection rate here at the moment is almost double the government's worst case scenario. so there is a sense of inevitability about this full on lockdown, actually, compared to what has been in place here in the past. so all nonessential shops are closed, museums, theatres, gyms, saunas, amusement parks — all shut down. restaurants and cafes and cannabis cafes will be allowed to continue

serving takeaway is as they are now. hotels will stay open over the holidays, too, but they won't be allowed to serve food or drink, so even room service. so from tomorrow, things go even further, a step that the dutch prime minister, said that he had been determined to avoid. schools, secondary and primary will be closed for an extended festive break until the 19th ofjanuary, which is the point where we will find out whether these extended even further. and how are these restrictions compare to those going on elsewhere in europe? it's really interesting, actually, retail. actually, reeta. it kind of reveals some of the inconsistencies between countries. because part of the reason the netherlands is bringing this is now is because there was a fear that german christmas shoppers would simply cross the border to buy their christmas gift. so in germany, it is a very similar situation. all nonessential shops are closed, schools as well, from tomorrow. christmas markets, most of them were already cancelled. and then in france, they are actually easing some of the travel restrictions,

so families will be able to meet over christmas. but the infection rate remains high there, so a nationwide curfew will be in place from i think it is eight o'clock in the evening. and then italy is at the moment seeing the highest number of deaths since the end of march. the prime minister giuseppe conte has warned italians to expect a more sober christmas without hugs and kisses and that kind of thing. there too there will be curfews in place from ten o'clock in the evening until six o'clock in the morning, and the evening curfew will be in place probably not on christmas eve, but definitely new year's eve. but he did have a word of positivity for the children watching. he said that father christmas would be exempt from the global travel restrictions, so there is a slice of good news in there. america's top infectious

disease expert, dr anthony fauci, has said he's in favour of a "cancel christmas" message to try to prevent a spike in cases during the festive season. he said the situation in the united states had been made worse by the thanksgiving holiday last month. speaking to bbc newsnight, dr fauci warned people against travelling over christmas and offered this advice for people in the uk. my my advice would be something that i think will sadden people because every wa rra nty think will sadden people because every warranty once family to get together that is so characteristic of the christmas season. my recommendation would be to curtail travelling as much as you possibly can. visiting people, even though it is in important part of the christmas spirit, keep the gatherings, their dinners and end our gatherings to as few people as possible, preferably to people that an integral part of the household and avoid the kind of congregate settings that have been so characteristic. i know that is so difficult to accept because people

already have what we call covid fatigue. they arejust already have what we call covid fatigue. they are just tired of not leading a normal life and we are telling them in the christmas holidays, which traditionally is the time of gathering together in the warmth of our family and friends atmosphere, we are saying to the best of your possibility don't do that. i know that is tough but i believe that is the only way we're going to prevent an even greater surge and we are already seeing. joe biden has been confirmed as the next president of the united states — after the influential electoral college cast their votes. speaking after the announcement, mr biden said ‘the will of the people prevailed'. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. forjoseph r biden of delaware, a democrat, ayes — 55, noes — zero.

the momentjoe biden formally became this country's president—elect. california's electors awarding him the votes he needed to clear the 270 threshold in america's electoral college. and having held off condemning donald trump's unprecedented attempts to overturn the election result, now was the time to hit back. the flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. we now know nothing, not even a pandemic, or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame. donald trump had warned that certifying the votes would amount to a severely punishable crime, in the light of what he claims was widespread voter fraud. but the claims are unsubstantiated and courts across the country have failed to support them, as has this man, the attorney general bill barr. it has now been announced that mr barr will be stepping down. "bill," said the president in a tweet, "will be leaving just before christmas to spend the holidays with his family." all this on a bittersweet day, as front line health care workers became the first in the country

to receive the coronavirus vaccine at a time when many here have misgivings about its safety. it is no different than the majority of vaccines that you get on a yearly basis, that we give to our children, that we have been getting since the ‘60s. at the end of the day, when we are worried about side effects, really, the truth is that everything has side effects. this has been shown to be safe, its effective, and, really, it's the best route for us to combat this horrible pandemic. but the most ambitious vaccination programme in us history couldn't come soon enough. as these crates were being unpacked came the news that the country had passed another grim milestone — 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. technology giants including google and facebook could face multi—million pound fines if they fail to protect children from online harm. under new proposals — communication regulator ofcom is set to gain the power to block access to online services that don't do enough to protect users.

here's our media editor amol rajan. after years of debate about how to curb online harms whilst promoting the benefits of digital technology, the government has finally published a plan. the regulator 0fcom will have a range of new powers. the likes of facebook or google could face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover, whichever is higher. a new legal duty of care is intended to protect children from grooming, bullying or pornography. there are already laws banning sexual abuse, terrorist material and some suicide content, but these will now be enforced more strongly. the chief executive of the children's charity the nspcc gave a cautious welcome. there are serious crimes being committed against children every single day. so this legislation hasn't come a moment too soon. at the same time, bad regulation is worse than no regulation. so it is important that the government's proposals are now

properly scrutinised. a fortnight ago, a digital markets unit was announced to curb the monopolistic tendencies of big tech. these measures aim to mitigate social rather than economic ills. a new contract between democracy and the data giants is hesitantly emerging. amol rajan, bbc news. hundreds of thousands of people in southern chile and argentina have been able to watch a total solar eclipse. the eclipse darkened the skies as the moon passed between the sun and the earth for around two minutes — although some were a little disappointed. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. this is not really eclipse weather, fog and heavy rain blocking the view for many in this region of chile. they may not enable to see it but they knew it was happening,

especially when things started getting dark. this, the middle of the day, but it may as well have been the middle of the night! a different story a little further east, ideal conditions in this part of argentina. there had been some concerns about the health consequences, people gathering together in the middle of a pandemic, so plenty of facemasks as well as protective eyewear. no obstructions here. the spectacular sight of a solar eclipse in full effect. over the course of several hours, the path of the moon obscured the sun — a rare and powerful moment. translation: it is a special darkness because it is not night—time. the temperature dropped a lot. it felt very cold. the truth is, it is something very special. translation: it made me cry. in the moment of total darkness, it made me cry because it was a very strong feeling, after waiting so long for it. the next total eclipse will take place in december next year, but that will only be visible from antarctica.

tim allman, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello, again. compared to the weather some of us had yesterday, today is going to be much quieter. it's going to be drier. it's not going to be as windy. now, having said all of that, we still have some showers in the forecast and some of those are still on the heavy side, but the winds will be lighter as well. so a lot of dry weather, bright skies or indeed, some sunshine. most of the showers are in the west. however, we will see some coming in across the english channel,

some getting in across southern and central england, the odd one into the southeast, but drying up for time in northern ireland and also northern scotland, where temperatures, eight to about 12 degrees. and as we go through the evening, we pick up this clump of showers which will continue to move northwards across scotland. many of the showers elsewhere will fade, a lot of dry weather and then the cloud will build as this next area of low pressure with rain wrapped around it comes in from the south west. and with this, we'll also see gusty winds, particularly so in exposure in the west. now, this is why we've got this area of low pressure, which tomorrow is going to be moving eastwards and northwards. one look at thse isobars tells you it's going to be a windy day wherever you are. but again, the strongest winds will be out towards the west and especially across parts of northern ireland, south west england. and with a combination of the spring tides, some parts could well see some coastal flooding. to give you an idea of the kind of strength of gusts, here they are here in the black circles, so strongest across southwest england, through the irish sea, in towards northern ireland, the north channel. but at times, too, it will also be fairly gusty across eastern areas. and these are our temperatures, eight in the north to 11 in the south. if you want something a bit quieter

then for a time on thursday, we do have a transient ridge of high pressure across us, so there will still be a few showers knocking around. but having said that, there'll be a lot of dry weather. that's not necessarily going to last, though, because you can already see another area of low pressure coming into the west by the end of the afternoon. temperatures on thursday ranging from nine to about 13 degrees. as for the end of the week, well, during the course of thursday night and into friday, we see that band of rain move over towards the east. and for the weekend, we're back to that dizzy cocktail of sunshine and showers.

hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: calls for christmas coronavirus guidelines to be tightened, as london and parts of the south—east of england prepare to enter the toughest measures of restrictions. also, a warning that a new strain of coronavirus could be linked to a rise in infections. but ministers insist that plans to relax the rules at christmas will still go ahead. many families will want to come together over that christmas period, but that doesn't mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly, but we should trust people to do so. a council in london says it

will comply with a government order and instruct schools in greenwich to reopen, after previously telling them to move to online learning. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit, as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. here's holly. with the new restrictions putting london into a higher tier, that mean no spectators at the world darts championship, which gets under way tonight. plans for 1,000 fans to attend each session at alexandra palace for the biggest darts tournament of the year have had to be be scrapped at the last minute. chairman of the professional darts corporation, barry hearn, says it is a huge blow. i'm gutted to lose the fans because they are an integral part of live sport, there is no doubt. no more so than at the world darts championships, which, as you know, starts today. creates a brilliant atmosphere.

but these are unusual times and we have to do the bestjob we can. as usual with us, whatever happens, we carry on. so without fans, the event continues, but behind closed doors, and we keep our fingers crossed that, on the next review day, on the 23rd of december, perhaps we can go back to where we thought we were today. those restrictions also mean football fans in the capital won't be able to attend games from tomorrow, but chelsea manager frank lampard wants the government to rethink that move. 2,000 fans were at their last two matches at stamford bridge and he believes football has proved it can keep that number of fans safe. we are making it up as we go along and that is not to sound critical, but the fact we have not been in this position before. when you talk about if you can control the situation, i think clubs have shown so far they can. i would like to have thought there could be something to be done

to make it exempt where we can get the 2,000 number in, but that goes above my station. i'm just saying what i think. jurgen klopp has described gerard houllier as a "true liverpool legend" as he paid tribute to the club's former manager. houllier, who died yesterday, at the age of 73, transformed liverpool in his six years in charge. he was one of the first foreign managers to make a real impact in english football, credited with unearthing new players, changing their diets, even revamping the club's training facilities. klopp says he had a huge influence on the club and on the game. he's a true liverpool legend and he's a true coaching legend, if you want. he was really influential in the game. a great coach, but a human being with a really warm... a really warm feeling when you were around him. so, yeah, for all of us, it's a big

loss and a really sad day. england's women will begin the defence of their cricket world cup title against australia in 2022. they will meet in hamilton on 5th of march. england took the crown on home soil in 2017 with victory over india. the 50—overs competition was moved back a year due to the covid—19 pandemic, with the same six venues in new zealand hosting the 31 matches. posing for a selfie is proved costly for england's new call—up dan lawrence and brisbane heat captain chris lynn. they have been fined over £5,000 each for breaching their big bash bio—bubble after agreeing to a photograph with a fan. what a debut it was for south korea's a—lim kim at the us women's open golf in houston. she began the day five shots off the pace, but finished with three straight birdies in a brilliant round of 67 to win by one shot for her first major victory. kim went in as the world number 94,

but she's rocketed up to number 30. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. a generation of children and young people risk worsening health and shorter lives post—covid—19 pandemic. that's according to professor sir michael marmot, director of the ucl institute of health equity in his new landmark report, published today. the build back fairer report says that despite england having a higher excess death rate than any other european country, the pandemic containment measures like lockdowns, the tier systems and social isolation have harmed children and young people's well—being and has damaged everyone's prospect for better long—term health. here with us to discuss those findings now sir michael marmot — professor of epidemiology

from university college london. can you put more impact on the health of children and young people because of the pandemic? coming into the pandemic we had high rates of child poverty. in britain we had closed 1,000 sure start children's centres over the last ten years, so the situation for young children was not good coming in. then, of course, the poor response to the pandemic nationally meant that lockdown, coming in and out of severity of lockdown, was necessary, u nfortu nately, lockdown, was necessary, unfortunately, and that harm to poorer children more. if parents could not work from home and schools and early learning centres, children

fell behind in development. because early learning centres were closed, the children who still had access to them, they continue to flourish. in them, they continue to flourish. in the first lockdown when the school is closed, the evidence shows clearly that children in more disadvantaged areas fell behind much more than did children in less disadvantaged areas, so the educational divide opened up. then food insecurity, people literally could not afford to feed their children. it took a young footballer to get the nation aware of this problem, but all those things were damaging the lives of children, and will continue to do so unless we ta ke will continue to do so unless we take the action needed. that is the pa rt take the action needed. that is the part i want to talk to you more

about, the ongoing damage to believe there will be. it is obvious these things have an immediate impact, but you talk about the long—term, including shorter lives. why do you believe that would be so? our analysis shows, the report we published in february this year supported it, that good health sta rts supported it, that good health starts at the beginning of life, preconception... pre—birth, and the early years are critical. children who flourish in the early years and have higher readiness for school do better in the school system, and children do better in the school system then are more likely to get training, qualifications, geta betterjob, higher training, qualifications, geta better job, higher income, training, qualifications, geta betterjob, higher income, live in betterjob, higher income, live in better circumstances and have healthier lives. it all starts in those early years. so focusing on

the early years and education can make a real difference to lifelong health and health inequalities. it is this cohort that has been scarred by the pandemic. they will remain scarred. if we don't take the remedial action it will damage their life chances throughout the rest of their lives. thank you very much. in response to the findings in sir michael marmot's report, a government spokesperson said: "this is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have been working tirelessly, taking the right steps at the right time, to deliver a strategy to protect our nhs and save lives and livelihoods. we are absolutely committed to supporting the mental wellbeing of children and young people — nhs mental health services have remained open and we've launched a new tailored every mind matters campaign with tips and advice to promote mental wellbeing. let's get more now on the situation in schools and that instruction from the government that they are to stay open.

greenwich has responded to the prospect of legal action from the government by saying they will now instruct their schools to reopen after being told they needed to reopen last night. after being told they needed to reopen last night. joining me now is the labour mp for hampstead and kilburn, tulip siddiq. is that the right decision by greenwich as far as you're concerned? our policy in the labour party is to keep schools open throughout. if you look at the impact from the first lockdown of when schools were closed except for obviously children of key workers and vulnerable children, the impact by dyer. ofsted laid bare at the consequences of what happened when children fell behind in terms of literacy and numeracy. i was listening to professor marmont talking about his reports. the department for education showed the

attainment gap when schools were closed between children who are better off and children who were poorer increased by 75%. we can take the risk again in schools. yes, i do support school staying open. as somebody who is a school governor and who has two small children, i have seen first—hand the impact on children? learning, and also on mental health. the reason that greenwich council took the decision it it is because of the increasing numbers of cases, and london along with other areas has going into tier 3 tonight. it is focusing now discussion on what should happen over christmas. what did you think, is opening up of a christmas compatible with the situation we are in now in terms of the figures? the first thing i would say is i understand greenwich council were desperate, which is why they took

this action, they obviously saw the rapid increase in cases and felt they had no choice but to make the decision, but obviously they have now had to reverse that decision because of the threat of legal action from the government. i feel gavin williamson could have handled this a lot better. i understand what you're saying about schools, but what i want to know is what you think of christmas? the four nations decided that the christmas rush will be different, that household could mix within the five days. that decision was made at a time when the circumstances were different. we did not anticipate that the government would lose control of the virus and that the infection rates would be so high. in my opinion, and i am personally quite conflicted about what to do, whether i can see my elderly in—laws or not, but i think the government has to be responsible

and lay out the risks, even if you are within the rules and you do go and see people, what the risks are. i think people willjust have to be sensible and make their own decisions. it has been a really difficult year and i understand that people are looking forward to christmas, but the fact is because the rates are increasing so rapidly, and there are such a high number of deaths at the moment, we can have to go deaths at the moment, we can have to 9° -- deaths at the moment, we can have to go —— we have had to go into tier 3 in london, i think the risks need to be highlighted more by the government. isn't the government doing exactly what you have just described? chris whitty has been saying for days, just because you can doesn't mean you should come and the risks are very clear and the example frequently cited as it is what happened in the united states after thanksgiving, with cases up so dramatically since then?|j after thanksgiving, with cases up so dramatically since then? i think they could do it more. what would

you say, what would you want them to say? i would want them to say that these are the rules, you can go, but bearin these are the rules, you can go, but bear in mind if you have elderly grandparents with underlying health conditions, that this is what the situation will be, that you could be putting your family at risk and in the end the decision is obviously up to people. at the school gates today i heard a lot of people talking about how they had regretfully made the decision not to go and see elderly grandparents just because they feel it is not a risk worth taking. ithink they feel it is not a risk worth taking. i think people will have to come to their own conclusions. i just don't understand why the government has lost control of the virus in this manner, why they haven't sorted out the test and trace system, why they haven't sorted out the isolating system. i am getting e—mails from people saying i can't afford to isolate because i don't meet the criteria for the financial support from the government, so i am making a choice

between isolating and putting food on the table. i have we come from this ten days away from christmas and we are having this discussion as and we are having this discussion as a nation. why didn't they sort this out before? why didn't they sort out mass testing in secondary schools? joining m now is ruth davies, president of the national association of head teachers. greenwich is now set it will fight the government in closing, what is your response on that? administrations have put our members in an invidious position. they complied as they have done right the way through from march and adapted their settings from monday morning. schools can be opened and closed at the flick of a switch. there are things like school lunches, transport and so for the need to be contended with. schools now find

themselves in a position, a day later, having to reverse their decision and arrangements and having to put himself in a position where they now have two reopen their schools, and in the middle of all this we have our learners got right in the middle. do you think it is the right decision to have schools open? i think the information that is coming out of the capital suggest that it was probably we need to act with caution, but it isn't for us to make that decision. it is for the public health officials to make that decision ever school leaders to comply and to ensure that their schools are providing safe settings for learners. we are complying, we have done so since march, but moving forward we need clarity and to be freed of being caught in the middle of the wrangling going on between local and national governments. after christmas we are going to have the relaxation over christmas, there is pressure on the government to

look at that, so whether a change or not at this point we are not entirely sure, but if cases are on the upwards trajectory after christmas, would you think that perhaps school should go back a little later, or would you like to see them go back as they currently are supposed to? we share the minister's aspiration to maintain the continuity of education. children are best settled into school in term time. school leaders need to respond to the medical information and guidance confronting them in january. information and guidance confronting them injanuary. we will comply, but we need to be clear that in order to provide a safe setting we need clarity from government, we need transparent information with regards to the most up—to—date medical evidence and the right scientific research we are able to provide settings that are conducive to education, but also ones that are also safe. thank you very much, ruth davis, from the national association

of head teachers. now it's time for your questions answered. we'll be answering your questions on the move into the toughest covid restrictions for millions of people in england, plus the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus. we can talk now to dr naomi forrester—soto, a virologist at keele university. i'm also joined by professor robert west, professor of health psychology at university college london and a member of the sage subcommittee on behaviour. we have lots of questions to get through, so if i could ask people to be relatively concise we can gather as many we can. coming to you first, naomi, paul asked where did the new genetic covid variant originate and how was it detected? that is a really good question. what we do

know at the moment is where it originated. wejust know at the moment is where it originated. we just know that it is around. we don't know if it originated in this country or whether it was brought in. it was detected because the uk has a really good sequencing capacity and a sequence a lot of these viral strains so they can keep a really good tab on what virus sequences are running around the country. robert, to follow up on that, how worried should we be about this new variant? well, these mutations are expected. at the moment we don't know if the mutation is responsible for the increased infection rates, so we always need to be cautious, but at the moment there is no particular cause for alarm. robert, a question for you from sarah, and it is a question a lot of people are asking. i will go into a tier 3 area, my daughter lives in a tier 2 area, can

to visit for christmas? under the current tier rules, no. but obviously the government is going to set out potentially a relaxation over the christmas period and there may be some scope for it in that. as things stand at the moment, it is not advisable. another question on the new variant. chris asks is the new variant in england this same strain as that found in denmark connected to mink farming or is it yet another variant of corona? if it is another variant, the possibility of covid being a never—ending fight, similarto of covid being a never—ending fight, similar to the fight against flu, is an issue. luckily for us, coronavirus are much more stable than flu so they don't mutate as rapidly, which means they do mutate all the time like the flu does.

please change it every year, bat coronavirus don't eat it as rapidly, which means that although variants arise, they will not arise at the same degree and it will probably stay more close to the original strain that first emerged in wuhan. i don't know if it is connected to the minkfarming i don't know if it is connected to the mink farming because i haven't seen the details, but my suspicion is not because otherwise i think it would have been mentioned that this was the same mutation found in the mink. this is a new variant, suggesting it is new, that this mutation has not been seen before, thatis mutation has not been seen before, that is how i would interpret what we have been told so far. can you explain the difference between the terms strain and variance? they are not interchangeable, although people do use them like that. variant describes a novel mutation within the virus that are circulating at the virus that are circulating at the moment. as strain has some significant differences, either it

causes a slightly different disease or it is isolated geographically. at the moment it is very difficult to know whether or not we are seeing lots of different variants or if any of them will evolve into a strain. i don't think we are there with strains yet. robert, why does the government think leaving shopping centres "spread the virus? shopping centres "spread the virus? shopping centres are operating at full capacity. is it not a good idea to reduce trading hours to restrain the virus? unfortunately, the government does think that shopping centres will increase to spread, but it is making a judgment that the increase of spread caused by bad won't be so great as to offset the commercial and economic factors. i'm afraid it will increase the spread, there is no question about that. as you

rightly say, people are not necessarily follow and social distancing rules. the issue of whether to go shopping centres early orto limit whether to go shopping centres early or to limit the trading hours is a tricky one, because it could just increase the congestion within those hours. i haven't seen the modelling on this, but i would be surprised if you could make a significant difference by changing the trading hours. nicky asked can you get a new variant of coronavirus if you have already had covid—19? variant of coronavirus if you have already had covid-19? it doesn't matter whether you have had the old variant or the new variant of coronavirus. it looks like people can be reinfected with coronavirus and they may be different or the same, we are not quite sure yet. there haven't been that many cases documented. it is possible to get reinfected, and we are not quite sure at what frequency that will happen. it may start happening more

over the next couple of months, u nfortu nately. over the next couple of months, unfortunately. another question about christmas. bethan says she lives with my partner, if ijoin my pa rents lives with my partner, if ijoin my parents christmas bubble while he joins his parents christmas bubble, cani joins his parents christmas bubble, can i see him over christmas? this is quite a common one. if you live together you are a household. it depends on the relaxation to the rules. they are probably going to allow mixing with three households. lam not allow mixing with three households. i am not sure i would advise it, to be honest. we are all going to have to make difficult choices and if i was due i would make a choice, i can't say how to do it, it is so hard, but make a choice between one or the other. everyone wants to know

about this new variant. i know it is ha rd to about this new variant. i know it is hard to answer this question because it is so new. does the new variant spread more rapidly? we don't have any firm information on how rapidly it spreads compare to those already circulating in the uk. we do know that it has been found in a lot of people recently so it looks like it's becoming the predominant strain. until there has been lab work to confirm how quickly it spreads, we can save that is faster or slower. we just have to wait and see, really, until that lab or slower. we just have to wait and see, really, untilthat lab work or slower. we just have to wait and see, really, until that lab work has been completed. i live in a tier 3 area, my relatives in a tier 2 error. the home is now offering visits after a lateral load test. cani visits after a lateral load test. can i travel to tier 3 to visit my relatives? not really. you are

allowed to travel if you have caring responsibilities, but visiting someone would not count probably. with those travelling rules it is important to bear in mind, i don't think they are set in law. they are advisory. i do think that they probably would not be advisable. the lateral flow test is not really very good at detecting whether you haven't been infected. it is quite good at... the false negative test on the lateral flow test is between 30% and 50%. you could probably do a numberof 30% and 50%. you could probably do a number of tests over a period of time and isolate in between. the whole principle of it really is to avoid transmitting the virus, so it sounds really, really tough, but i probably would avoid it. joe says, is it possible keeping borders open, especially to air travel, has enabled this mutated virus to enter the population? how would that be

impacted by allowing high value travellers not to quarantine? we have had variance and to the uk before from travel. the one from spain in the summer happened. so it is possible that this has happened, but it is also equally as possible that it just arose but it is also equally as possible that itjust arose by chance in the and for some reason, either through red —— random chance or that it is better at replicating than other variants, it is starting to emerge in the population. it is very difficult to know. with regard to the isolation question and the quarantine, anytime that you eliminate anybody from that need to quarantine due to increase the risk ofa quarantine due to increase the risk of a new virus variant coming in from abroad, so yes, that might be possible, but how much that will impact given our high case numbers at the moment i am not sure. robert, another question a lot of people are asking about similar versions of

this. i live in plymouth in devon, three days a week i work in london andi three days a week i work in london and i rents a room in a family home during this time. is that still allowed ? during this time. is that still allowed? in principle you are allowed? in principle you are allowed to travel across tiers for essential purposes, and workers counted on that. i think that probably would be allowed. obviously, i would take every possible precaution that you can in terms of making sure that when you stay and this other accommodation, you maintain as much isolation as possible within that household. naomi, a question from christine. is ita naomi, a question from christine. is it a possibility that the new covid variant cubicles by the winter weather? it is an interesting possibility, but it turns out probably not because viruses mutate all the time, they produce new variants every time they replicate. admittedly, coronavirus fewer than most, but they do still do that. it

is just most, but they do still do that. it isjust a most, but they do still do that. it is just a matter of the virus replicating. the fact that we have more people infected then more viruses replicate and there is more likelihood of these new variants are rising, so potentially yes with the winter weather, potentially more variance, but it is not a direct consequence of the winter weather. thank you both. good to have you put sharing your knowledge. dr naomi forrester—soto, and professor robert west, thank you. hello again. the weather today is much quieter than it was yesterday particularly so in the west.

some of those could still be heavy and at times, we will see some showers coming in across the english channel into parts of southern and central england. but for most it will be a dry day with lighter wind, and temperatures between about 9—11 degrees. we start off with the rain moving northwards across scotland overnight. some clear skies but then the cloud builds ahead of this band of rain wrapped around an area of low pressure coming our way and with it, we will see strengthening winds, especially with exposure in the west. through the course of tomorrow, that band of rain is going to continue to move eastwards and northwards. most of us will see some rain from it. it is going to be a gusty day wherever you are but the strongest winds will be out towards the west once again, with exposure, and our temperature range, 8—11.

this is bbc news the headlines: calls for christmas coronavirus restrictions to be tightened as london and parts of the south—east of england prepare to enter the toughest measures — and a warning about a new variant of coronavirus. but ministers insist that plans to relax the rules at christmas will still go ahead. many families will want to come together over the christmas period, but that doesn't mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly, but we should trust people to do so. a council in london says it will comply with a government order and instruct schools in greenwich to reopen — after previously telling them to move to online learning. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the british medicaljournal and health servicejournal have made a joint call for christmas guidelines to be tightened — to avoid excessive pressure building on the nhs. at the moment, across the uk, from the 23rd of december — three households will be able to form a christmas bubble until the 27th. the journals says, ‘with the number of hospital patients with covid—19 again on the rise, and a third wave almost inevitable, the new year is likely to see nhs trusts facing a stark choice: be overwhelmed or stop most elective and non—urgent work'. so what are the rules across the uk for the christmas period. three households can form a ‘christmas bubble' from 23rd december to the 27th — but that's limited to 8 people in scotland — not including children under 12,

and there are two extra days in northern ireland. they can mix indoors in private homes — which includes overnight stays. no travel restrictions are in place in the five—day period. you can't go to a pub or restaurant with your bubble. if you have coronavirus symptoms or are self—isolating you cannotjoin a bubble. you can meet people outside your christmas bubble outdoors, but only in line with rules of the tier where you staying. well hugh pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at aberdeen university, gave us his assessment on the relaxtion of the rules over christmas. well, i was surprised when five days came as the sort of relaxation. i thought, well, we'll pay the price for that. and i think many people, many scientists are saying that, that you know, if we get together and we get together in a sort of... you know, old—fashioned sort of way,

all gathered around the table on christmas day and we have the, you know, opening of the presents and all that kind of stuff, the virus will, it will love that. of course the virus doesn't know it's christmas, it has no brains. but never mind. bringing people together, particularly if they are travelling about the country, to meet their relatives and friends and all of that kind of thing, the virus is going to spread more easily and we will pay a price for it in january. and the big problem really is, notjust that. but january is the best time for these viruses that are spread by respiratory, to do that. we know that. you know, the flu season really peaks injanuary. it is expected that it will be the same with this virus as well. and the nhs is always under pressure injanuary, too. so, you know, i don't think it was a good idea to have this relaxation, even if they thought well, people are going to do it anyway. the advice should have been, basically, as bad as it might have seemed, you know,

put christmas off till february. but, you know, it's too late now. we seem to be going down that route. the foreign secretary dominic raab has also been defending the christmas rules. he's been speaking on a visit to india. obviously, we have gone from the national lockdown to the tiered approach. we have another review point, wednesday has already been i think foreseen in the media. and we have made it clear are going to make sure we have got a very tight grip of the virus going into christmas. i do think it's important for people to be able to have, over that five—day period, the opportunity to spend time with some loved ones. and we have built—in the slack around christmas to our wider approach, both in terms of the tiered approach, but also the community testing. so we are bearing down on the virus, we need to see ourselves through to the spring when we have, we hope, that we will have a vaccine in place to change the whole nature

in which we address the virus. but i do think it is important for people to be able to spend time with their loved ones over christmas. the labour mp for hampstead and kilburn, tulip siddiq, said that the government could be doing much more to emphasise the risk of seeing elderly or vulnerable family members this christmas. i understand it has been a difficult year and i understand it has been a difficult yearandi i understand it has been a difficult year and i understand people are looking forward to christmas but the fa ct looking forward to christmas but the fact is because the rates are increasing so rapidly and there is such a number of deaths at the moment, we have to go into tier 3 in london. ifeel the moment, we have to go into tier 3 in london. i feel the risks moment, we have to go into tier 3 in london. ifeel the risks need to be highlighted a bit more by the government. but to keep repeating the fact that you can mix, you can visit. .. the fact that you can mix, you can visit... sorry to interrupt, but isn't the government doing what you have described. chris whitty has described four days, just because you can and the risks are clear, what has been cited that has happened in the united states after thanksgiving with rates up so high

since then. i think they could do it a bit more. sorry, what would you say, what would you want them to say? i want them to say that these are the rules. you can go but bear in mind that if you have elderly grandparents with underlying health conditions, that this is what the situation will be, that you could be putting your family at risk and in the end they decision is up to the people. at the school gates today i have heard a lot of people hearing that they have regretfully made the decision not to seek elderly grandparents because they feel it is not a risk worth taking. so i think people would find comfort in those conclusions. ijust people would find comfort in those conclusions. i just don't people would find comfort in those conclusions. ijust don't understand why the government has lost control of the virus in this manner, why they have not sorted out the test entry system. why they have not sorted out the isolating system. i am getting e—mails from people saying i cannot afford to isolate because i do not meet the criteria

for the financial support from the government. so i am making a choice between isolating and putting food on the table. how have we got to this, ten days from christmas. i did they not sort this out before? we can speak now to fiona godlee, the editor of the british medicaljournal — one of those publications that's made a call for tighter restrictions. welcome, thank you forjoining us. what do you think the restriction should be over christmas?m what do you think the restriction should be over christmas? it is obviously a time when people want to get together but i think there is confusion and worry in the rise in rates and hospital admissions and the pressure on the nhs which. people getting the care they need whether they have covid or non—covid conditions. the call that we are making in this editorial is for the tier system to continue over the five days of christmas and that the government should review the tier system is because they are not succeeding in suppressing the virus. that would be a dramatic change from

their position where we are. other countries are doing it differently. the government is making the point that it doesn't want to criminalise people over christmas and there's fatigue. it has been a long haul. what would you say to that? it has been a long haul, we have to take into a fact all the other factors, mental health and the sheer loss of i°y mental health and the sheer loss of joy that christmas normally brings. but i think the real striking, stark truth of the matter is that our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue out on top of the super spread event that will be this five days of christmas with three or more households meeting. people will find it hard to stick to those rules and clarity on this will be important for people. it is not their choice, it is something the government will ask them to do. without that we are looking at a very bleakjanuary. can

you paint the picture foreigners that you are envisaging as the worst case scenario that has led you to make this call? if you project the figures at the current tick since the middle of the beginning of december and you project those on the end of the 31st of december, new year's eve. you reach a number of in—hospital patience that is equivalent at the peak of the first wave, about 19,000 patients in hospital with covid. there is the other people in hospital with other conditions. back in the summer, spring and summer, it was spring and summer, there were not so many other pressures . summer, there were not so many other pressures. we are heading into the normal winter pressures that will add the weight to the nhs and into what there are 10% fewer beds because there are restrictions imposed to make hospital safer places for people to come in to. there are a whole host of elements here if you add in a super spread

event, you will see the number of in—hospital patients going up even further. you will see intensive care beds under great pressure, you will see people having to cancel, trusts having to cancel non—covid care. the awful scenario we want others to avoid is patients and ambulances not being able to admitted it, patients in corridors and people not able to get the care they receive whether they come in with covid or non—covid conditions. when we talk about the nhs, it is not to protect it as an institution, it is direct to it so it can provide the care for all the people of this country. -- protect it. one of the things that was done to address the issue of capacity was the nightingale hospital. they have never seen patients. what is your view of whether that was the right

approach, whether they were used, could they still be used? the nightingale hospitals is a great idea in principle. it means additional intensive care beds by those beds have to be staffed and so our bed is reallyjust a physical bed. the real test is whether you can provide the necessary staff. that will be the issue across the whole of the nhs. we can be 100% capacity, those are issues around whether you need one, two or three nursing staff to care for a patient in intensive care one—to—one is ideal. sometimes we are stretching one to 2,123 patients per those sort of levels of having to be stretched at the moment. that does diminish the quality of care that people can get. —— one nurse 23. people are very tired. the nhs staff, for many of them the most difficult nine months of their professional lives.

we have to be conscious of the fact that they are putting additional burden on the nhs which could be avoided by government action at this stage. it is not safe and it could be considered to be reckless. stage. it is not safe and it could be considered to be recklessm there a practical way of getting through christmas for people to get tested as much as they possibly can. there is capacity within the nhs, there is also, if people can afford it, private options if they want to do that to protect being able to see their loved ones. would you see that potentially is a way through? testing has its place. there are concerns there about the accuracy of these rapid tests. they have been found to be inadequate for the purposes they are being put to. so they can find a positive case, false positives. importa ntly there they can find a positive case, false positives. importantly there are false negatives. about half of the people who test negative will have a 50% chance of being positive. it is not actually a very good safety

measure and vast amounts of money have been spent on lateral flow tests for asymptomatic people in universities and here in liverpool, plans to extend that elsewhere. my view and the view of many people i talk to is that is not a good use of money and the lateral flow tests have not proved far per —— fit for purpose. the other test could be more useful and take longer. it is too late to be of much use. briefly, you want the government to change its stance. currently the government is saying that it will not change. do you think there will be an inevitable change here? do you think there will be an inevitable change here ?|j do you think there will be an inevitable change here? i think the government will find this very hard. they have gone strong on this, they have talked about it in positive terms as a gift to the public which i understand. i think it will take a really important leadership position if they did do this. i think the

public we thank them in the long run. thank you very much indeed for joining us. and thank you for your company to date. if you're watching on bbc two, goodbye. see you soon. schools in greenwich say they will comply with the department for education requests for schools to open. it follows a warning from the government that they would face legal action if they moved their teaching online. andy moore has the latest. the latest development, as you say is that the london borough of greenwich and its labour leader have effectively back down. schools in greenwich say they will comply with the department of greenwich and its labour leader have effectively backed down. the government warned them that they had to send their children back to school. they said they don't agree with that decision but they haven't got the money to fight it in the courts. so they say they will be writing to schools today and tell them that they will have to reopen again tomorrow.

so a very, very confusing picture for any parent here in greenwich. we were talking to some this morning. some who had brought their children to school by mistake because they didn't know whether the school was open or not. this school, by the way, is a free school, it has remained open and will remain open. other schools, primary schools have closed down. they were open on monday, told the parents that they would be closing today. they are closed today. they now have to tell the parents that they will be reopening tomorrow for perhaps one or two days before the end of term. a real tussle of wills here between the local council who say coronavirus levels are very high here and they have to close the schools on the grounds of public safety. and the government, the department for education who say that education is an absolute priority and that they are in control of schools and they will decide when they open and when they close. the headlines on bbc news... calls for christmas coronavirus

guidelines to be tightened amid worries a relaxation of the rules will case a surge in covid cases. a council in south—east london has said it will comply with a government demand and withdraw a letter ordering all its schools to close and move to online teaching. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. some breaking news coming in about exams in northern ireland. sorry... secondary school students will have to sit fewer exams next summer under these plans. a more generous grading system will be used to reflect the disruption to learning caused by the pandemic. gcse, asn a—level students will be assessed on reduced curriculum content. northern

ireland's education minister is saying we are not cancelling exams but they want the students to know they are facing... they know the stu d e nts they are facing... they know the students are facing unprecedented disruption to their learning and thatis disruption to their learning and that is why the qualifications will be different next year. let me also tell you that we have had news from the department for england on what is going to happen with coronavirus testing. it was promised by the government. now there is some detail on what will be happening. every secondary school and college in england as well as special schools and alternative provision will have access to rapid coronavirus testing from january. lateral flow tests will be deployed to all secondary schools and colleges to help detect asymptomatic cases and chains of transmission. staff will be tested weekly and staff and students will be tasted —— like tested daily if

identified as a close contact. the government have made keeping skills and national priority and keeping children and young people in education. that is from january. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly. plans for 1000 fans to attend the tournament have had to be scrapped with a last minute with the capital living into tier 3. the chairman said this is a huge blow.|j living into tier 3. the chairman said this is a huge blow. i am gutted to lose the fans because they are an integral part of live sport. no more so than in the live darts championship which starts today, creates a brilliant atmosphere. but these are unusual times and we have to do the bestjob we can. as usual

with us, what have happen is we carry on. without fans the event continues but behind closed doors and we keep ourfingers continues but behind closed doors and we keep our fingers crossed that on the next review on the 23rd of december, perhaps we could go back to where we thought we were today. juergen klopp has described jerry tilly as a true liverpool legend as he paid tribute to the former manager. he died yesterday at the age of 73. he transformed liverpool ina six age of 73. he transformed liverpool in a six years in charge. one of the first foreign manager is to make an impact on english football, credited with earning new players, changing their diets and revamping the training facilities. he had a huge influence on the club and on the game. he is a true liverpool legend and he is a true coaching legend if you want. he was really influential in the game. and a great coach, but

a human being with a really warm feeling when you are around him. so for all of us, it is a big loss and a really sad day. england's women will begin the defence of their cricket world cup title against australia in 2022. they meet in hamilton on the 5th of march. england took the crown on home soil in 2017 with victory over india. it was moved back a year due to the pandemic with the same six venues in new zealand hosting the 31 matches. that is all your support for now. i will have more for you right throughout the afternoon. a total of 2,835 deaths registered in england and wales in the week ending december 4 mentioned covid—19 on the death certificate, that's according to new data from the office for national statistics. this is down from 3,040 deaths in the week to november 27 — the first week—on—week drop since the week to september 4.

the bbc‘s head of statistics explain the significance of the figures. you can see that in the week up until the 4th of december we saw a slight fall in the total number of covid deaths across the uk, down from just under 3400 to 3200. you can see that in the red area in this chart here. so slightly down as i said, but not moving very far at this point. and that drives the total number of deaths down as well. normally, moving into december, the colder weather, we expect to see deaths rising week on week. but in fact that total number has come down but only by about 1%, so not very big shifts there. but hopeful signals that the epidemic certainly isn't growing at the pace that it was in october and november. if you kind of bring the two waves together to give them the same starting point. it is very clear that the first wave

peaked higher and peaked sooner and what we have seen in the second wave is that the deaths never really reach that same terrifying rate that they did in april. but they have kept on growing for a longer and this one fall that we have seen in the last week, well, one swallow doesn't make a summer, but we know hope that that is the direction of travel. the pandemic is continuing to have a toll on the uk economy — more people were made redundant between august and october than at any time on record. the office for national statistics says 370,000 people lost theirjobs during that time. our business presenter ben thompson explained a little earlier how significant these new figures are — and why it looks like they will get worse before they get better. it does illustrate the impact that this is happening on ourjobs market and that it will probably get worse before it gets better. let me show you on the graph that 370,000 because it does put it into a bit of context when you see it over the past few years.

you may notice that last spike is the 370,000 we have seen in today's figure, but the one before that comes in 2008 in the months immediately after the 2008 financial crisis. you will see that spike today is more significant than that and even by the government's own estimates that will get worse, rising more significantly in the middle of next year as a true extent of this pandemic is felt. since february, since this crisis began to now, 820,000 jobs have been lost. some expect that that figure will get worse into next year. thejobless rate could hit 7.5% with 2.5 million people out of work. where are the job cuts coming? let me show you on the second graph. they come in sectors, no great surprise it is hospitality that is bearing the brunt.

we have been discussing the capital moving into tier 3 restrictions. let's not forget many of the country in the most stringent of restrictions, hospitality bearing the brunt, manyjob losses there. retail and wholesale faring badly as well. health and social work creating jobs and telling the story of this pandemic. it is also worth bearing in mind that people are on the furlough scheme, having their salary subsidised by the government, will not show up in these figures. they are not classed as unemployed. many expecting this to get worse before it gets better as the true extent of this crisis makes itself felt in the jobs market. america's top infectious disease expert, dr anthony fauci, has said he's in favour of a "cancel christmas" message to try to prevent a spike in cases during the festive season. he said the situation in the united states had been made worse by the thanksgiving holiday last month. speaking to bbc newsnight, dr fauci warned people against travelling over christmas and offered this advice

for people in the uk. my advice would be something that i think is going to sadden people because everyone wants the family warmth and get togethers that are so characteristic of the christmas season. but my recommendation would be to curtail travelling as much as you possibly can. visiting people, even though it's such an important part of the christmas spirit, keep the gatherings, the dinners, the indoor gatherings, to as few people as possible, preferably with people that are an integral part of the household and avoid the kind of congregate settings that have been so characteristic. i know that so difficult to accept because people already, have what we call covid fatigue, they are just tired of not leading a normal life and we are telling them, in the christmas holidays, which traditionally is the time of gathering together in the warmth of a family and friends atmosphere, we are saying to the best of your possibility,

do not do that. i know that's tough! but i believe that is the only way we will prevent an even greater surge than what we are seeing. joe biden has been confirmed as the next president of the united states — after the influential electoral college cast their votes. speaking after the announcement, mr biden said ‘the will of the people prevailed'. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. forjoseph r biden of delaware, a democrat, ayes — 55, noes — zero. the momentjoe biden formally became this country's president—elect. california's electors awarding him the votes he needed to clear the 270 threshold in america's electoral college. and having held off condemning donald trump's unprecedented attempts to overturn the election result, now was the time to hit back. the flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago.

we now know nothing, not even a pandemic, or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame. donald trump had warned that certifying the votes would amount to a severely punishable crime, in the light of what he claims was widespread voter fraud. but the claims are unsubstantiated and courts across the country have failed to support them, as has this man, the attorney general bill barr. it has now been announced that mr barr will be stepping down. "bill," said the president in a tweet, "will be leaving just before christmas to spend the holidays with his family." all this on a bittersweet day, as front line health care workers became the first in the country to receive the coronavirus vaccine at a time when many here have misgivings about its safety. it is no different than the majority of vaccines that you get on a yearly basis, that we give to our children, that we have been getting since the ‘60s.

effects, really, the truth is that everything has side effects. this has been shown to be safe, its effective, and, really, it's the best route for us to combat this horrible pandemic. but the most ambitious vaccination programme in us history couldn't come soon enough. as these crates were being unpacked came the news that the country had passed another grim milestone — 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. now for a weather update with carol. hello again. the weather today is much quieter than it was yesterday

and also much brighter. more of us seeing bright or sunny skies. but there still are some showers in the forecast, particularly so in the west. some of those could still be heavy and at times, we will see some showers coming in across the english channel into parts of southern and central england. but for most it will be a dry day with lighter wind, and temperatures between about 9—11 degrees. we start off with the rain moving northwards across scotland overnight. some clear skies but then the cloud builds ahead of this band of rain wrapped around an area of low pressure coming our way and with it, we will see strengthening winds, especially with exposure in the west. through the course of tomorrow, that band of rain is going to continue

hello this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: calls for christmas coronavirus guidelines to be tightened amid worries a relaxation of the rules will case a surge in covid cases. ministers insist that plans to relax the rules at christmas will still go ahead. many families will want to come

together over that christmas period, but that doesn't mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly, but we should trust people to do so. a council in london says it will comply with a government order and instruct schools in greenwich to reopen, after previously telling them to move to online learning. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. more now on our main story this hour and the tier 3 restrictions, which are the highest level of coronavirus restrictions, that will come in to force in london most of essex and parts of hertfordshire from midnight tonight. hospitality venues, such as bars, pubs and restaurants, must stay closed except for delivery and takeaway. people cannot meet indoors, in private gardens or most outdoor venues, except with your household or bubble. you can meet in public spaces, such as parks, in up to a group of six. tim muffett has been

in central london at the holborn dining rooms discussing the impact on the new restrictions for the hospitality industry in the area. many parts of england have already been under tier 3 for quite some time but the move for london and parts of essex and hertfordshire, from midnight tonight, into tier 3 is going to have a huge impact, especially on hospitality, as you say. we are at holborn dining room this morning, part of rosewood london hotel. michael is the managing director. do you think the hospitality industry is being treated fairly? we don't. you know, we really don't and so many other sectors can be open in tier 3, all of retail is now open in tier 3. we really feel that hospitality, we need a specific minister, actually, overseeing these restrictions right now. how worried are you about the impact on your business and your staff? very concerned. very, very concerned. most of our team will now go home as of tuesday evening. this is the most important week

in the lead up to christmas and now to have this week cut short... this presumably needs to happen for the health of people? absolutely, we don't want to get in the way of health and safety of the public but at the same time, i really feel that the government should be working with the sector to make sure that we can stay open in these situations. you know, i don't quite understand how other sectors can be open and we can't be in hospitality. these decisions will be open to review on a weekly basis or so. what do you make of that? that is right. i think sadly that review each week may sound better, but of course, it... you know, for christmas now, people won't know if they can have christmas lunch here or not because are you really going to wait until the 23rd to find out on the 25th what you can do? but you are able to furlough staff? we are, yes. the vast majority of our team will sadly not be here

at holborn dining room, nor in our bar, and will at home. thanks very much indeed. best of luck. it really is a worrying time for so many people in the hospitality sector but from midnight tonight, bars, restau ra nts a nd cafes will not be able to open unless they offer takeaway service. it is going to be a very, very tough christmas. the hospitality industry will be hard hit with restaurants and pubs only open for takeaways. theatres that had just reopened for socially distanced performances will now have to close again. mark lobel reports. bleak news on a bleak night for london's west end. it has been months of misery for the theatre industry and now this. it is disastrous news for the sector. theatres have been investing lots of effort and money into making their venues covid safe, rehearsing their cast in a safe way, and because at the moment it is impossible to get insurance for those productions, these are absolute losses that the theatres are going to incur.

the government acknowledges the huge impact this will have but says rising cases are deeply concerning and that it must act quickly, bringing the curtain down from wednesday. it is disastrous news for the sector. the producer of this show in which henry viii's six wives command the stage for once to tell their stories, believes their sudden changes in rules hurts his industry acutely, with the finger of blame unfairly pointed at it. # we are six #. we see nonessential retail being allowed to open, we see, you know, various other services that are allowed to be provided and while that is encouraging for them, you know, we can't quite understand why we have been singled out. now many in the industry predict financial ruin there and to the wider economy. we have had companies that we work with and where working with up until march of this year that have already disappeared and gone under.

you know, we are going to lose a lot of people from the industry to non—theatrical work. it is a double whammy for an industry it was hoped would draw in tourists and offer some joy after a very tough year. so when could the kick—start come? here's theatre impresario andrew lloyd webber speaking earlier this month. i really, really do believe that we will certainly get back to normal by the middle of the summer, theatre—wise. will there be an audience? i think there will be an audience in droves. but in the meantime, there will be no more of these pantomimes this christmas, despite a recent royal boost and their crucial earnings for theatres. mark lobel, bbc news. a generation of children and young people risk worsening health and shorter lives post covid—19 pandemic. that's according to professor sir michael marmot, director of the ucl institute of health equity in his new landmark

report, published today. the build back fairer report says that despite england having a higher excess death rate than any other european country, the pandemic containment measures like lockdowns, the tier systems and social isolation have harmed children and young people's well—being and has damaged everyone's prospect for better long—term health. sir michael marmot — professor of epidemiology from university college londonexplained a little earlier how the pandemic has seen inequality in society worsen. coming into the pandemic we had high rates of child poverty. in britain we had closed 1,000 sure start children's centres over the last ten yea rs, children's centres over the last ten years, so the situation for young children was not good coming in. then, of course, the poor response to the pandemic nationally meant

that coming in out of severity of lockdown was a necessity and that harmed her children more. if parents couldn't work from home and schools and early years settings were closed, the poorer children fell behind in preschool development. and because early years centres were closed, they were not getting the input. the children who continued with early years settings to get input and they continue to flourish. with education, we saw an opening up of the educational divide. in the first lockdown went to school is closed, the evidence shows clearly that children in more disadvantaged areas fell behind much more than ten children and less disadvantaged areas, so the educational divide opened up. through the insecurity, people literally couldn't afford to feed their children. it took a young

footballer to get the nation aware of this problem, but all of those things are damaging the lives of children and will continue to do so in the future unless we take the urgent action needed. that is the interesting part i want to talk to you more about, the ongoing damage that you believe there will be because it is obvious these things have an immediate impact, but you talk about the long—term, including shorter lives. why do you believe that would be so? our analysis show, the report be published in february this year, supported it, that good health through life start at the beginning of life, at birth, pre—birth, and the early years are critical. children who flourish in the early years and have higher readiness for school to better in the school system. children do

better in the school system are more likely to get training, qualifications, get a betterjob, higher income, live in better circumstances and have healthier lives. it all starts in those early yea rs. lives. it all starts in those early years. so focusing on the early yea rs years. so focusing on the early years and education can make a real difference to lifelong health and health inequalities. it is this cohort that has been scarred by the pandemic, they remain scarred and if we don't take the remedial action it will damage their life chances throughout the rest of their lives. it has been almost nine months since the first covid—19 case was confirmed in yemen. the bbc was the first international broadcaster to reach the country since the virus outbreak and has closely followed how yemen, already facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis, is dealing with this global pandemic. bbc arabic special correspondent nawal al—maghafi reports.

a wedding in yemen's capital city, sa naa. it is late may and coronavirus is peaking in the country. there are deaths in this very neighbourhood but with no official statistics from the authorities, the people are not aware of the danger. no—one is using any protection. this is the story of a country that tried to hide the coronavirus from its own people. days after the wedding, we discovered that more people are falling victim to the virus, including hassan's grandmother. translation: we took her to many hospitals. they said it is a corona case and there is no hope. we never thought she would die like that. but was there any awareness, i ask him? translation: barely any and it is the government's responsibility. in this divided country, northern yemen is controlled by the rebel houthis. the first covid case

was reported here in april. at the time, this doctor was given the task of testing and contact tracing cases. translation: they did not know how many cases or deaths were out there. let's gho live to the house of commons where the leader of the house — conservative mpjacob rees—mogg — is making a statement. followed by, a motion relating to the appointment of board members to the appointment of board members to the independent parliamentary standards authority. the business for thursday remains unchanged and is as previously announced. for those members wishing to participate in the debate tomorrow on the trade disclosure of information bill, mr speaker has made arrangements for it to stay open until three o'clock today.

just a couple of sure questions. firstly it is absolutely wonderful to see that the treadmill is still alive. can the leader confirmed that it is coming back to the house and, if so, when? yes, the trade bill is with their lordships and is at report stage in the other place. it will come back when it is completed consideration. the bit that we are bringing forward tomorrow has already passed through this house unamended. i wonder if this is what the leader of the house has campaigned for over these years, if this is what parliamentary sovereignty as supposed to look like in taking back control? legislative chaos, pointing started out without any notice whatsoever. the

government can't get its business done despite the majority of 80. he has to include restoration of the right of all members of this house to ta ke right of all members of this house to take part in business remotely. the health secretary did at the dispatch box yesterday and said there was a new strain of covid—19 and people should not travel to tier 3 areas to a room full of people who had donejust 3 areas to a room full of people who had done just that. 3 areas to a room full of people who had donejust that. there has to be virtual participation. the reason we dived into that coverage of the house of commons is that we expected him to say that the house would sit for two extra days next week in the event of there being an uk— eu deal in orderfor the house to scrutinise it. he didn't mention that, as far as i heard. he was talking about the trade deal coming back. we will keep you updated. technology giants including google and facebook could face

multi—million pound fines if they fail to protect children from online harm. under new proposals, communication regulator ofcom is set to gain the power to block access to online services that don't do enough to protect users. here's our media editor amol rajan. after years of debate about how to curb online harms whilst promoting the benefits of digital technology, the government has finally published a plan. the regulator 0fcom will have a range of new powers. the likes of facebook or google could face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover, whichever is higher. a new legal duty of care is intended to protect children from grooming, bullying or pornography. there are already laws banning sexual abuse, terrorist material and some suicide content, but these will now be enforced more strongly. the chief executive of the children's charity the nspcc gave a cautious welcome. there are serious crimes being committed against children every single day. so this legislation hasn't come a moment too soon. it at the same time, bad regulation

is worse than no regulation. so it is important that the government's proposals are now properly scrutinised. a fortnight ago, a digital markets unit was announced to curb the monopolistic tendencies of big tech. these measures aim to mitigate social rather than economic ills. a new contract between democracy and the data giants is hesitantly emerging. amol rajan, bbc news. the aston villa and england footballer, jack grealish, has been banned from driving for nine months. he had previously admitted two counts of driving without due care and attention after crashing his range rover during the march lockdown. he was also fined £82,500. there were 1,264 drug—related deaths in scotland last year, which is a higher rate than in any country in the european

union. most of those who died were men, and two thirds were aged between 35 and 54. the figures show that heroin and morphine were implicated in the majority of deaths. the headlines on bbc news: calls for christmas coronavirus guidelines to be tightened amid worries a relaxation of the rules will case a surge in covid cases. a council in south—east london has said it will comply with a government demand and withdraw a letter ordering all its schools to close and move to online teaching. hospitality and retail sectors are the hardest hit as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. the nigerian islamist group boko haram says it abducted hundreds of schoolboys from a boarding school in the north—west of the country on friday night. there has been no comment from the nigerian authorities, who have said they are negotiating with a group of gunmen for the boys' safe return. more than 300 pupils from the all—boys school in katsina state remain unaccounted for. it is not clear how many ran

away during the attack and how many were abducted. from kano, our correspondent mayeni jones sent this report. the bbc has heard a four—minute recording of abubakar shekau, the leader of boko haram, and he is claiming responsibility for the attack that happened on friday night in the neighbouring state of katsina, where hundreds of boys were taken by armed gunmen. it was initially thought that attack had been carried out by kidnappers for ransom. boko haram are now saying that they are responsible and that they carried out the attack because they are opposed to western education. they say it's un—islamic. boko haram has traditionally been more active in the north—east of the country. viewers will remember the kidnapping of the chibok girls in 2014, which caused international outrage and got support from a number of prominent figures, including the then first lady, michelle obama. now it seems that their influence is spreading to another part of the country, to the north—west. injuly, they released a video

claiming that they were now active in the north—west of nigeria. if this attack has indeed been carried out by them, it's a worrying sign that their influence is spreading. it is particularly interesting because this has happened in president buhari's home state of katsina. when he was voted in in 2015 he said he would tackle the menace of boko haram within months. he was coming off the back of the kidnapping of the chibok girls and he said that these types of attacks would not happen under his watch. six years later they are still happening and it's not clear whether the government has the situation under control. the deputy governor of kabul has been killed in a car bomb attack in the afghan capital. mahboobullah mohebi was travelling with his secretary, who was also killed. two security guards were injured in the blast. the explosion came as a magnetic bomb attached to his vehicle detonated. the country has seen a spate of targeted killings in recent months. no group has so far claimed responsibility.

thousands of supporters of a new coalition of pakistan's opposition parties have been attending large rallies across the country in recent weeks demanding the resignation of the government, accusing the military of engineering previous elections. prime minister imran khan has dismissed the protests as attempts by rivals to pressure him into dropping ongoing corruption cases against them. secunder kermani reports from lahore. a show of force by pakistan's new opposition alliance. the large crowd here in lahore in spite of the coronavirus pandemic. underlining how divided the country is. even if calls for the government to resign look unlikely to succeed. many of the people here are angry about the poor state of the economy, about rising food prices. but fundamentally, this is a fallout from the elections two years ago. the opposition politicians addressing this crowd accuse pakistan's powerful military of manipulating the result to bring

imran khan's government into power. the government says the opposition is simply rattled by investigations into their financial dealings. spearheading the protests via video link from london, former prime minister nawaz sharif. using unprecedentedly direct language, he accuses a group of generals of ousting him from power on the pretext of corruption charges. "the intelligence agencies must stop political engineering", he says. after being sentenced to seven years in jail, sharif was allowed to temporarily travel to london last year on medical grounds. now, he shows no sign of returning. the government says the protests are an attempt by nawaz sharif and his allies to evade justice. they are calling for britain to deport him. we are asking the british government to deport nawaz sharif because from our side,

nawaz sharif is not only violating the undertakings in the court orders that were given here, but he also is in violation of british immigration laws. he is a convict who has to serve and undergo the remaining of his sentence and he is required in many other cases of corruption and corrupt practices. this was the culmination of a series of rallies across the country. but with coronavirus cases spiking and little social distancing, the government has accused the opposition of endangering lives. we are in the middle of a pandemic, many people would say it's irresponsible to hold rallies like this now, with clearly not much social distancing going on. how would you respond to that? we have a dilemma. on one side, there is individual security. on the other side, we also feel compelled the collective security of our state is in danger.

opposition leaders are now threatening to march on the capital islamabad early next year. pakistan's political tensions look set to rise further. secunder kermani, bbc news, lahore. the australian government has labelled reports from chinese state media confirming that beijing has blocked australian coal imports as "deeply disturbing and concerning". australia's trade minister, simon birmingham says if true, the actions could constitute a breach of china's world trade organization membership, in addition to its free trade agreement with australia. cumulative series of actions has prompted us to call it out and to raise our concerns publicly here in australia, directly, of course, with china through all of our diplomatic channels available to us, and ultimately to already do so at the world trade organisation. we intend to continue to pursue every avenue to defend the rights of australian businesses,

to trade in a manner consistent with the undertakings china has made to australia and to the rest of the world. our correspondent in sydney, shaima khalil, explained the significance of the issue well, this is in response to an article that appeared in the china state owned newspaper, the global times, and in it, it reported that the country's top economic planner, the national development and reform commission, has approved that power plants are now able to import coal, clearance restrictions free from several countries with the exception of australia. so clearly singling australia out here. the big speculation now is whether australian coal is now directly targeted by the chinese authorities. it also quoted a senior academic who made that connection with diplomatic ties. so he's the head of the institute of energy and economy at the chinese academy of social sciences. his name is wang yong xiong. and he said, as the relationship between china and australia deteriorates, australia is gradually

losing its chinese market and that the gap with the australian coal can be met, if you will, from countries like russia, like indonesia, like mongolia. we haven't heard an official confirmation from beijing yet. australia, as we heard there from simon birmingham, the trade minister, he has urged beijing for clarity and for it to rule out this report by the global times. he also said that even though he doesn't believe everything he reads on chinese media, this is consistent with china's behaviour. if you remember, in october, china has unofficially put a freeze on australian coal. we had dozens of carriers that were stranded offshore. mind you, this was coal that was already bought and paid for. the prime minister has also commented, he says until he gets confirmation from beijing, he's going to treat this like speculation. but he says if this is confirmed, it's going to be a lose—lose situation for both countries.

and of course, this is one of the biggest exports from australia to china, 14 billion australian dollars, just about 10.5 billion us dollars. so you can imagine the level of anxiety and nervousness in canberra about this potential move from china. now it's time for a look at the weather. we do have showers around. further east, fewer showers and temperatures between eight and 12 degrees. into

this evening, we will start to see some of those heavier showers perching north eastwards across parts of scotland, few daughter to run parts of scotland, few daughter to ru n towards parts of scotland, few daughter to run towards of ascites. many people having a quiet, dryer and to the day before this next batch of rain moves in from the west. it will turn wet and windy wednesday morning. further east, you should start wednesday on a dry note. this area of low pressure will move its way eastwards, bringing to strengthening winds, lots of cloud and outbreaks of rain which will push east right across the uk. east anglia and the south—east keeping the dry weather for a good part of the day and rain eventually arriving here through the afternoon. there will be some clearer, drier intervals and parts of the south—west of england, into wales, pa rt of of the south—west of england, into wales, part of eastern scotland, but the wind gusts a real feature of weather. 60 miles an hour gusts around exposed coasts and the irish

sea. 30 miles an hourfurther east. a blustery day with that area of removing eastwards. temperatures similarto removing eastwards. temperatures similar to what we have had today, between nine and 11 degrees, but feeling cooler with the wind and rain. into thursday, a quieter day. sunny spells, breezy, but not as windy as wednesday. showers in the west, then the next spell of wet and windy weather arrives later on in the day. further east you should stay dry for a key part of the date and temperatures between nine and 13 degrees. still mouth at this time of year. looking towards fighting on the weekend, unsettled, further showers around, still mouth on friday but things are turning a little bit cooler so we are back into single figures for most of us by the time we get to sunday. goodbye for now.

pressure mounts for a rethink of plans for easing covid restrictions at christmas two influential medicaljournals say relaxing rules on household mixing is a "rash decision that will cost lives." our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue, on top of the superspreader event which will be these five days of christmas. the government says no changes are planned — urging us to "do the minimum that is necessary" when mixing at christmas. many families will want to come together over the christmas period but that doesn't mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly but we should trust people to do so. as labour add their voice to those calling for plans to be reconsidered — will the government change its mind? we'll be live in westminster. also this lunchtime...