hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. in the uk, two medical journals warn — that easing covid restrictions at christmas is ‘rash and will cost lives‘. our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue out on top of this super spreader events that will be these five days of christmas. the netherlands begins five—weeks of restrictions, while germany goes into a hard lockdown on wednesday — after a record number of infections. also reporting from eight nigeria, boko haram says it abducted hundreds of schoolboys from a boarding school on friday.

a meeting between the four nations of the uk to discuss tightening coronavirus restrictions over christmas has broken up, without agreement. pressure has been growing on the government all day. here are two of the uk leading medical journals publishing a joint editorial calling for the government to stop any household mixing. they describe the current plan to allow three households to gather at christmas as a "rash decision that will cost lives". the journals also highlight the increase rate of here are their editors. 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 this super spreader events that will be these five days of christmas. we are currently on course for around 19,000 covid

patients in hospitals. at the start of the second wave number was 451. and bear in mind it was only yesterday that the government announced 3a million people in the uk will be living under the toughest rules — tier 3 — from midnight tonight, including london. so the level of controls is rising. but then — from 23rd to the 27th of december it'll be relaxed — people will be able to mix with up to three households — and stay overnight. there's an extra day either side for those travelling to and from northern ireland. then this morning, a government minister said this. we should recognise it has been a very difficult yearfor we should recognise it has been a very difficult year for many families. many families want to come together over the christmas period that does not mean all those restrictions are lifted, people will continue to act responsibly but we should trust people to do so. steve barclay also advised people to do ‘the minimum that is possible'. but this begs the question — what is the definition of ‘the minimum that is possible'?

the minimum that is possible under current restrictions in many parts of england is not mixing households at all. the government's appears to be saying what is possible at christmas is different. well the opposition wants the policy reviewed. here's the labour leader. i think doing nothing is not really viable. i think a responsible government is going to have to do something. there are a number of things they could do to toughen them up, and we will look at what they say. but, you know, and a sense i don't want to make this party political. we know people want to see each other. families want to see each other. this won't come as a pleasant surprise to families, so i'm saying to the government, do the responsible thing, review, toughen up and we will support you if you do that. the first minister of wales doesn't support tightening the christmas restrictions — he's reluctant to unpick the original arrangement negotiated between the four nations of the uk. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon however sees things differently. i think it's important that we have that discussion across the four nations given family patterns across the uk, but i do think it's a case for us looking at whether we tighten

flexibilities that were given any further, both in terms of duration and numbers of people meeting. and i will consider the views of the other nations. nick eardley is in westminster. we know about how this discussion went this afternoon? it was constructive, and it's worth 20 out that it was quite a big thing for the four nations of the uk to agree a common approach to christmas. because they have been going their separate ways on restrictions over the last few weeks and months. there we re the last few weeks and months. there were no firm decisions made on that call tonight, and they are going to reconvene tomorrow to try and thrash out some details, but let me tell you where i think the different nations are. in england, i don't think the regulations are going to change. that means that the law won't change, and legally people will still be allowed to meet and christmas bubbles with three households over those five days a christmas. i do think, however, that there's going to be a tightening of

there's going to be a tightening of the guidelines. i don't know exactly what that will entail, we know there's been a lot of discussion, for example, about travel and people potentially going from tier 3 areas which are facing the most strict restrictions to tier i areas which are the most flexible. in scotland i think the picture is slightly different, as you heard nicola sturgeon say they are, she thinks it should be discussion about the number of people that are allowed to meet, potentially the duration that are allowed to meet for. i think the thing we're going to see change most of the next few days as the four nations of the uk talking a lot more about the guidance, and saying to people please don't travel if you don't need to. don't think thatjust because you can you shed. at people should wear possible try and avoid this. those talks will come as i say, continue tomorrow morning moshe ina more say, continue tomorrow morning moshe in a more firm idea of what is going to happen exactly then. held the understand what kind of gotten its ticket issue can they say don't travel beyond a certain distance or

how would they offer us guidance on what to do because you are going to be honest and say i don't know because a lot of it has been discussed and there have not been any further decisions on that. his ideas floated about trying to get people who are in areas with a virus is spreading really quickly not to travel to those areas where it isn't. and it's pretty rare. one source was on the call that i was chatting to earlier today was saying that's their main concern, that people might travel from one part of the country to one part of the uk to the country to one part of the uk to the other or potentially move about once they're in a new place. at the moment we don't know exactly what those new guidelines might be. but i do expect we will have that firmer idea probably tomorrow morning. thank you very much indeed. many countries in europe are stepping up coronavirus restrictions. let's look at france first. it moves out of its second covid lockdown today — that means there will be more freedom of movement but theatres, cinemas, bars and restaurants

will remain shut. turkey says it will go into a four—day lockdown over the new year holidays. germany begins a partial lockdown from wednesday, with non—essential shops and schools closing. and the netherlands is going into a strict second lockdown — all schools and shops are shutting for at least five weeks. restaurants and bars will remain closed. here's what people there have been telling us. translation: i'm sad that it has to be done, but is important. yeah, i think that it's necessary. yeah. anna holligan is in the hague. many people here in the netherlands had been dreaming of a relatively relaxed christmas, but that over the weekend there were photos shared a people congregating in the chops come up christmas shoppers, and the figures are now almost double the worse case scenario figures are now almost double the worse case scenario protected by the government, so this christmas crackdown feels almost inevitable,

and actually these measures go further than the dutch have done in the past. it's the toughest crackdown yet in this country, so what are they actually involve? well all nonessential shops will be closed from today. is everything from garden centers to diy stories and through markets and groceries will be opened. theatres, museums, cinemas, amusement parks, they will all be closed. next — lets‘s get an update from germany. damien mcguinness is in berlin. this is the worst bit of the pandemic germany has seen so far. as we have talked about in the past, germany so far until very recently was thought to have done quite well. infection rates were relatively low in the death rate overall remained pretty low and certainly throughout the summer infection rates dwindled massively, but we seen over the past month are really alarming surge in numbers. so typically now at death rates, daily death rates might be

anywhere between three and almost 600 per day which is the highest that germany has ever seen, and that means that the overall death toll has risen very rapidly from 10,000 we re has risen very rapidly from 10,000 were it was stuck for quite a while, until very recently now to over 20,000 in rising pretty rapidly. probably because there's quite a few outbreaks in nursing homes and among elderly people, but also because the numbers overall, the daily infection rates have risen quite rapidly. a month and a half ago angela merkel predicted that if we don't act quickly will end up with over 20,000 new infections per day and will actually that was it under estimation. she was accused of that time of fear mongering and overreacting. in fact it seems if anything she was under reacting, and now we are talking daily infection rates of almost 30,000. so the mood has shifted here in germany, there isa has shifted here in germany, there is a sense of deep concern among officials. in paris, thousands of people have protested against the restrictions.

many of the protesters work in the arts, and said they had been let down by the government, since they are missing out on the a holiday season that provides them with a lot of their income. the french prime minister says extra financial aid will be provided to them. helen wimalarathna is an epidemiologist at the university of buckingham. she is live with us. thanks for joining us. how do you assess the government's current advice on restrictions to be eased for those five days? i've been nervous about this since it was first announced, andi this since it was first announced, and i think that many people working in the field are. the reason being that the virus is not going to go on holiday for five days, and i think it's really worrying that we are going to allow this increase of mixing ata going to allow this increase of mixing at a time when the lockdown has slightly decreased transmission what we've seen it rising up again, and we are really at a high level, so we are going to be going from bad

to terrible unfortunately i think. but when you look at the main drivers of the increase in the infection read where would you place household mixing? there's been a lot of debate about whether it's hospitality, whether it's indoor household mixing, whether it's schools. the fact is it is all of these. the verse thrives on contact between people. it will increase when contact between people increases. does doesn't matter what the venue for the contact is. we know when you are spending a prolonged period indoors, especially people with whom you're comfortable, then you are going to kill your behaviour is not going to be that which guards against the transmission. and there's not going to be enough air exchange to preclude transmission. so we know that that is a very dangerous environment stop by i was going to ask about that, because the government advice is yes you are able to have three households in one

home, but for people still to follow social distancing and not hug each other but would that not in some way counterbalance the increase in the risk? i think it's really a fantasy to think that people can get together at christmas, a few drinks, and they've not seen each other for and they've not seen each other for a long time, and grandparents will not hug their grandchildren. as a search is not that close combat face—to—face physical contact, and sharing a space, sharing air with each other and if we are talking about spending a couple of days in an overnight stay then undoubtedly the services are going to become contaminated by anyone carrying the virus, and the air will be contaminated. and transmission will u nfortu nately ta ke contaminated. and transmission will unfortunately take place. is there any solution here that you can offer people watching that would allow them to see their families and for them to see their families and for the risks to be managed? so this is really impossible, and i understand it's a difficult situation to be in.

i love christmas, but i think we are talking about this at the end of the year when at least 65,000 people in the uk have already died from covid. it's kind of trivial talking about injuring a couple of days together. i think this year is one for reflection, and i hope next year is one for a celebration and coming together. we appreciate you joining us, thank you very much indeed. next we will turn to washington. senior republicans have finally broken ranks with donald trump — six weeks afterjoe biden's election win. the leader of the us senate mitch mcconnell has, formally acknowledged thatjoe biden won, on november the 3rd. that's despite donald trump also failed attempts to overturn the outcome. today i want to congratulate president—elect joe biden, the president—elect is no stranger to the senate. he's devoted himself to public service for many years. i also want to congratulate

the vice president elect our colleague from california, senator harris. beyond our differences all americans could take pride in our nation has a female vice president elect. for the very first time. i look forward to finishing out the next 36 days strong with president trump in our nation needs us to add another bipartisan chapter to this record. overtreatment. —— of achievement. integrity of our elections remains intact. and now it's time to turn the pages we have done throughout our history. to heal asa said done throughout our history. to heal as a said in this campaign. i will be president for all americans. gary is with us from washington, dc. mitch mcconnell got there in the end. yesjust a few hours after

vladimir putin got there. but this is the big moment, make no mistake about that. he's one of the most powerful republicans in the country. what he says matters, and i think we will see other senior republicans follow his lead to. we also know that he and joe biden have spoken on the phone in the last few hours. and we re the phone in the last few hours. and were perhaps last night, not entirely sure when that was but they've agreed to meet sooner rather than later as well. and in terms of the political consequences of mitch mcconnell saying this next, what does that fit into donald trump's approach of the next few weeks and months with it or leave them even more isolated, doesn't it? he was already pretty isolated, this is another huge key ally falling by the wayside. and i think it tells you that when congress meets in early january to tally the votes of the electoral college come the last

informal moment of the process, it means that really the senate republicans are not going to start trying to place some of the games of those republicans in the house want to play in terms of disputing individual states tallies. so i think that something that the president—elect will take some comfort from. the interesting thing i think will be level president trump do in of these runoff races for the senate in georgia? because because these two runoff races and at that matter a lot because if the democrats were to win both of those it would be 50—50 in the senate with a casting vote for the vice president harris. in the president still could have a significant influence over the republicans turnout in those two runoffs. as seen officials in the white house saying they are still planning litigation, i'm unclear where the president goes from here in

practical terms? is difficult. we cannot see any cases that are around an obvious sense, at the moment. we know that he's been rejected by the united states supreme court twice. a supreme court case that was in wisconsin has also been rejected a couple of days ago. i'm not sure whether his other bits of litigation currently a re whether his other bits of litigation currently are at the moment, but we will wait and see what he's planning. that's what the press secretary had to say a few moments ago, but we cannot find, or i can't find where these lawsuits are stop by if you do find them, let us know. thanks for talking to us, gary live with us from washington, dc. nigeria next. the islamist group boko haram says it abducted the hundreds of schoolboys who were taken from a boarding school on friday. this happened in katsina state, in the north—west of nigeria. about 800 students were at the all—boys

government science secondary school when the attack happened. an at least 333 students are still missing. one boy managed to escape byjumping out of a window — but he hasn't seen his twin brother since. translation: i was afraid to come and terribly afraid. what frightened me the most that might brother would be in danger. when you look for him, i could not see him. boko haram's claim of responsibility has not been confirmed. the state governor of katsina has tweeted. .. next let's hear from a former nigerian colonel on boko haram's movements. there is a fanning out from the northeast of boko haram or terrorist elements into other parts of the country. yes it is happening and we

are breeding to see the results. and that's where it very disturbing. our correspondent mayenijones is in kano — the capital of katsina state. the so—called leader of boko haram released this message, an audio message late last night. and in it he says that they carry out this attack because, it's un—islamic and there were to send a strong message that you do not support it. the reason why this attack is particularly significant is because this shows that boko haram's area of activity, if it's true that they carried out this can happen, is expanding. way beyond where they have traditionally been active in the northeast of the country. the first attack of its kind in this pa rt first attack of its kind in this part of nigeria. which is frankly quite a worrying trend. growing and strong criticism as to the president's performance when it comes to tackling security in the

country. if you remember he was elected in 2015 and the promise he would tackle the problem of security when it came to it she violence. earlier this year with protests in the northwest of the country because academic has been such a huge issue andi academic has been such a huge issue and i think this latest kidnapping, particularly the number of students involved, 300 of them and some as young as ten years old, is really a big blow to the administration and their performance on the security front. when this first happened on friday night the scale of it, the numbers of boys involved, 800 boys involved in the school and that report was that 600 may still be missing. what people are those huge numbers are reminded them of the girls were still unaccounted for. so it's bringing back to mind the memory of that in 2014, and the president's promise of the time that he would tackle it. a lot of frustration and parents were desperate to be reconnected with

their children. they never thought this would happen to them and they just want some answers. it begun in nigeria, the uk and the us and next return to yemen. 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. i waiting iwaiting in i waiting in yemen prospect capital city. a wedding. it's late may and coronavirus speaking in the country. there are debts and is very neighbourhood, but with no official statistics from the authorities that 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 come they say it's a corona case and there's no hope. we never thought she would die like that. but was there any awareness i asked him. translation: barely any and is the government responsibility. in this divided country, northern yemen is controlled by the rebels. the first covid case was reported here in april. at the time, doctor ahab was given the test of contact tracing cases. translation: they did not know how many cases were debts were out there. they did not announce any numbers. but videos are already surfacing on social media.

this one is from outside a hospital. other videos showed arm demand and soldiers rounding up leaves suspected of having covid and taking them to isolation centers. this made them to isolation centers. this made the sick too scared to ask for help. translation: people felt stigmatized, they were treated as criminals and not six people. they we re eve n criminals and not six people. they were even shootings in some cases. many people died at home. bodies we re eve n many people died at home. bodies were even dumped on the streets. phone footage shows bearings that night. this is the man in charge of

the response to covid. i ask him who is responsible for those kept in the dark about the virus did not have any help. translation: no it's not true. the hospitals were open, the medical staff were available. awareness was available too. we don't have a problem with the numbers. the issue is simple. we don't want to create a state of fear among the many people. people have good reason to be scared. the public health system in the north is broken and dependent on foreign aid to survive. late last year, they decided to tax foreign donations. in response to my international donors including the uk cut millions of pounds with of aid meant for yemen. asked his mother whether she heard her coronavirus. so many people in the village died with it, terrified of the illness and fear for our families and the children. the virus

for the entire country for months. but until today no one knows how many people fell ill with covid or how many died. we share these pictures coming in from the afp news agency of paris. it's very, very quiet. night—time curfew replaces partial that means we can go on the evenings is particularly restricted. on top of that remember that theatres, and galleries are going to have to continue to be close, so the set up is changing in paris and elsewhere in france but it's a long, long way from a normal evening in the middle of the to christmas as you can imagine. that's paris at the moment, if you want a full rundown of the restrictions across europe remember you can find that on the bbc news website. i will see you in a couple of minutes it

will speak to tony where we have got to with the brexit trade talks. unsettled and mild are the two words that sum up the weather for this week. we had showers around to say and this is how we ended the day in york with patchy cloud here and there. through tonight things will turn increasingly wet and windy from the west. some easter parts stay dry throughout the course of tonight. captors going down into single figures but milder with the cloud rain and wind was up here is that rain pushing in across the south west of england, wales, northern ireland into the south west scotland strengthening the gusty southerly winds as well. further east to get clear skies for the course of tonight. the scriptures will fall into mid to low single figures for some. toward the west, 6—10 the overnight lows. through the course of one say

the weather dominated by this area of low pressure with is associated with the fronts slowly working eat words of pumping at the higher pressure sitting across europe so they're not moving through in a hurry. very heavy rain across western parts of britain and northern ireland, gusty southerly winds. east anga and the south—east likely to stay dry for part of the day but the rain arriving to the course of the afternoon. there will be some sunshine for parts of scotland into northern ireland send wales, southwestern england but also scattered blustery showers. wind gust up to 60 miles power through expose parts of the irish sea. 30 mile proper gusts further east. it will be a plus sort of day. around about 9—11 degrees feeling cool within it did on to say when you add a strength of the wind and the outbreaks of rain around as well. moving through wednesday night into thursday there is a brief ridge of higher pressure and that will squeeze away most of the showers but with low pressure still to the north, scattered showers will affect parts of scotland at times, a few showers possible

for the south—east. for much of the uk thursday is predominantly dry before the next area of cloud, rain, and when move in from the west later on in the afternoon. temperature is about 9—13 associates, average for the time of year, heading towards the end of the weekend, scattered showers around, still mild on friday, gradually cooler as we head through the weekend. sunday probably the dry day of the weekend for most. bye—bye.

hello, i'm ros atkins. this is outside source. in the uk, there's growing pressure on the government to stop people mixing with family at christmas. two medicaljournals have warned that easing coronavirus restrictions at christmas is "rash and will cost lives". our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue out on top of the superspread event that will be these five days of christmas. the netherlands begins five—weeks of restrictions, while germany goes into a hard lockdown on wednesday after a record number of infections. brexit trade deal negotiations are continuing in brussels as the uk we'll speak to the irish journalist tony connelly about what sort

of deal might emerge. and in nigeria, islamist group boko haram says it abducted hundreds of schoolboys from a boarding school. no brexit trade deal yet — but the uk and the eu are still talking. there is still a couple of weeks ago. i said this yesterday but it's worth re—iterating. anything said by either side at this stage about the chances of a deal are not necessarily going to a useful guide to where we are. both sides have negotiating positions to bolster and narratives to hone. and there's no deal until there is one. but for what it's worth borisjohnson is warning it's likely that the talks will not end in a deal. but here's the uk's chief negotiator david frost returning to the british embassy in brussels. mrjohnson had also told his cabinet that he wants to strike a deal, but not at any cost. the eu says the same thing. and so the talks go on. if there is a deal — we already some idea of what it might like look like.

here's marc ostwald, the chief economist for adm investor services. the prospective always was that whatever deal that was going to come was going to be a very narrow one, and we still seem to be on balance headed in that direction. i think the problem, really, is going to be revealed in the new year when we see what isn't covered. we know certain areas definitely aren't covered — like financial services — which will be a problem. but i think it's in both sides interest to get there. sojust a reminder, here's what was promised during the referendum campaign four years ago. this is michael gove who was a co—convener of the leave campaign. we would be part of a free—trade zone that extends from iceland to the russian border that includes all the nations of the european landmass apart from russia and belarus. by being part of that free—trade zone, we would have full access to the european art to make a market, but we would be freed from eu regulation. -- full —— full access to the european

market. but some are sceptical of what kind of deal the uk might end up with. this article from the uk in a changing europe'sjill rutter looks at this issue — here's what she says... we are not at the great revealed stage yet but let's speak to tony connelly, rte europe editor. tony great to have you on outside source, thanks for your time. we hear people talking about the possibly of a narrow or thin deal. what is that a reference to?|j possibly of a narrow or thin deal. what is that a reference to? i guess a straightforward free—trade agreement meaning there will be zero ta riffs agreement meaning there will be zero tariffs and zero quotas but beyond that, there will be... it will be patchy when it comes to services, when it comes to a whole range of activities that typically the uk can do and businesses can do at the

moment in the single market. there will be limited periods of time for architects say for example to work in another eu country and so on. it is going to be if you like, a fairly bare—bones free—trade agreement and alongside that, there will be regulatory requirements as well as customs. so if you are exporting food into the european union, you to comply with your food standards. if they do get a free—trade agreement over the line and there is a fairly amicable arrangement at the end of this grueling process, there is nothing to stop both sides reaching further agreements in the years to come that might make the relationship a little bit more fluent and functioning but for the moment, i suppose because of the uk's own redlines about being com plete uk's own redlines about being co m plete we uk's own redlines about being complete we outside the single market and the customs union, their reservations on some of the services requirements, it is going to be a

pretty straightforward thin free—trade agreement as they are calling it. and if we do end up with a straightforward bare—bones free—trade agreement, how would that compared to the description that we heard michael gove giving four years ago? i'm not entirely clear what michael gove was referring to four yea rs michael gove was referring to four years ago. there are various trading entities, there is the european union but then there is the european economic area which takes in countries like switzerland, iceland, norway, liechtenstein and when you combine this with the eu, then you've got the european free—trade area but those are very specific arrangements and they do require fairly rigorous alignments with single market rules and the uk has chosen not to do that. so, they are ona chosen not to do that. so, they are on a completely different trajectory if you like. and let's get back to the negotiations at hand, tony. what are you hearing about the point that we have reached this tuesday evening? well, i think there has

been significant movement on this really troubling question of the level playing field. put simply, the european union wants to make sure that if the uk has access to the single market but if it did purchase from eu standards, then british firms could be at an advantage over european ones and obviously the eu would intend to tighten or strengthen or raise its standards over time if the uk doesn't keep up with those standards, then again does that mean will uk firms be an unfair advantage of her eu once? the eu had always been pushing for this idea of being able to retaliate automatically with tariffs or some other trade measures if they felt that there was a trade distortion if the uk diversions from its standards. the uk refuse to accept this but it appears the uk now has accepted the prince with that the eu

could take remedial action. the eu has accepted they cannot do it automatically and that there must be some kind of consultation with the uk first. so they are trying to work out how that whole architecture might function but one encouraging thing is it seems to have pushed people off the curve of high politics. so we're now kind of in the realm of technical fixes and legal fixes. i am told that it is still grueling, painstaking work because you have to work out precisely where would the trade distortion happen? if the uk decided to say have lighter regulation on pa rental leave to say have lighter regulation on parental leave or something like that, how would you crystallise that into a real competitive threat to european companies? so they are trying to work out an arbitration system that will function but it seems that it is a fairly grueling work and they're still at it. so it

is grueling work, difficult work of course and there is not very much time to do it. we have had a number of notes from listeners and viewers to the bbc saying what's the real deadline here given that this needs to be ratified ? deadline here given that this needs to be ratified? there is a couple of things to say about that in that the ultimate deadline is the 31st of december because at 11pm uk time, eu boat will cease to function in the uk. so if there is no agreement by then, you will have a no—deal exit. but if they do get an agreement then, there is a series of procedural steps that the european side has to go through that has to be ratified with the european parliament and the european permit can't ratify it until it is been endorsed by member states and all that takes time, the text itself, the treaty once there is a handshake or whatever the fist bump, whenever thatis or whatever the fist bump, whenever that is done, the legal test which will run to about 800 pages, it has to be gone through by legal analysts

to be gone through by legal analysts to make sure that it is coherent, that it flows the way that it should. and then potentially it has to be translated although they may just skip that process. i think they would do everything they can if they get a deal in the coming days to make sure it can be ratified by the end of december but if they can't, they may have to go for what is called provisional application. in other words, the treaty comes into force on the 1st of january but it is only ratified waiter. both sides would have to agree to that. —— ratified waiter. but even then provisional application, you have to roll that out as well, and that intern tapes time, there procedural steps. it is not like you put the pens down in the next day follow the treaty is in force. tony we always appreciate you guiding us through this. that is tony connelly from rge. let's turn back to the pandemic. the world health organization has warned it needs more funding so developing countries can access covid—19 treatments and vaccines.

it says it has a $28 billion shortfall for what's called the access to covid—19 tools accelerator. dr bruce aylward is the co—ordinator of the accelerator — and he says... "right now financing is what stands between us and getting out of this the who is now looking at new ways to raise this money, including loans and bonds. suerie moon is the co—director at the global health centre in geneva. good to have you back on outside source. to some extent this feels reasonably predict but that there might bea reasonably predict but that there might be a shortfall for this kind offunding. might be a shortfall for this kind of funding. it is understandable because a lot of governments are having a hard economic time domestically but if we think about what $28 billion is in the big picture, it's reallyjust pennies. and i think it is true with many of the projections have said that this isa the projections have said that this is a great investment. we are talking about huge returns in terms

of getting the global economy moving again, in terms of strengthening the medical relations and of course saving lives and ended the pandemic soonerfor some it saving lives and ended the pandemic sooner for some it makes a saving lives and ended the pandemic soonerfor some it makes a lot saving lives and ended the pandemic sooner for some it makes a lot of sense for governments to put money on the table and say we can afford $28 billion in order to put an end to this pandemic. but unfortunately we have not seen the money follow the rhetoric. so it's a really u nfortu nate the rhetoric. so it's a really unfortunate position to be in right now and december 2020. but isn't it true that some of the richest countries in the world have already put in significant funds into programmes like this? indeed there have been generous contributions but it is just not enough. 20 have been generous contributions but it isjust not enough. 20 pain dollars is a lot of money, it is more than countries are use to in investing global health but this is not a normal emergency, this is a once ina not a normal emergency, this is a once in a century event that we are seeing. —— $28 billion. if we are think about some of the sums that can be saved, i think the scale of investment comes into focus. for example we have had one corporation

estimate that you can have one join dollars more of gdp if you can get the whole world vaccinated. —— $1.2 trillion more. if you invest 20 pain dollars today, we could have $100 billion in gdp coming into countries every single year. if somebody made you an offer like that, give me $20 a day you an offer like that, give me $20 adayi you an offer like that, give me $20 a day i would give you $100 a year for the rest your life you would ta ke for the rest your life you would take it. you are right that does sound persuasive. help me understand the counterargument, why is it that these wealthier countries in the world a re these wealthier countries in the world are not persuaded by what you just said? i think what we need to see from the wealthy countries is more political leadership and of course lots of countries are understandably quite concerned about the pandemic that is happening in their own backyards in terms of getting their own economies moving but we really need politicians to be looking beyond their own terms and beyond their own borders and also how their own economic welfare is

tied up with the economic welfare of the world and i think we have not seen that level of political leadership left. i think we could also see much more in terms of contributions coming from some of the emerging powers. china for example committed back in may to make $2 billion available to help countries afford drugs and vaccines but the contribution that they had made multilateralfunds but the contribution that they had made multilateral funds are but the contribution that they had made multilateralfunds are really quite small. so there is a lot of country that could really step up to the plate but at the end of the day we are facing a huge gap for a relatively small ask. suerie moon, thank you for your time. stay with us on outside source — still to come... australia's diplomatic rift with china may have a big impact on its fossil fuel industry, after chinese media report new restrictions on australian coal. england's children's commissioner says the poorest children have been hit hardest by school disruption this term. the comments come as greenwich

council in london backed down over its advice to local schools to move learning online. our education editor branwenjeffreys has more. greenwich council in london advised schools to teach online, faced with legal action by the government, a reluctant public climb—down. we have to recognise we cannot continue to run the pandemic response entirely from whitehall and my responsibility in looking at the data i have for greenwich shows clearly is on the rise and we are rising exponentially and immediate action is required to address that. greenwich is not alone. with cases rising, two at councils have issued similar advice. others telling schools to make their own decisions. south east england now hit hard as the north west has been. look at this map of secondary pupil attendance this term. in the darker, red areas, it dropped as low as 50% in some places. schools in the north and midlands badly hit. now new analysis shows the poorest

communities have lost the most time in school. a warning that this could widen further the gap in exam results. those children now are in a situation where they have been falling behind, they need more support to be able to get to the point where they are on a par with others but really, the differentials in their learning and their time out of school really needs to be recognised in the exam system as we go forward. rapid tests like these are part of the government response. today promised weekly for staff in england schools from january and for pupils in close contact with a case but research has questioned their reliability. branwynjeffreys, bbc news.

this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is a meeting between the four nations of the uk to discuss tightening coronavirus restrictions over christmas has broken up, without agreement. the chinese government has denied allegations it is forcing hundreds of thousands of people from ethnic minorities — including the uighur communty — to pick cotton. china's cotton crop makes up a fifth of the world's total supply. the allegations centre on the cotton fields of xinjiang. here'sjohn sudowrth. the bbc has seen evidence that shows uighurs being sent en masse into the cotton fields. one day my family will disappear... mahmut, not his real name, left xianjing three years ago but his family still lives there.

my mom told me she is picking the cotton for the government officers. it is almost like a duty to do to do that work. they were just work because they are just so afraid of being taken to jail or something else. newly uncovered documents show the scale — 150,000 pickers sent to one area, almost as many again organised for another. they are given ideological education. and "the lazy" the authorities say, are being taught "the glories of work". the evidence suggests that the real intention here in xianjing is the dismantling of an entire culture, and its rebuilding through the total control of people's families, their faith, their thoughts, and on a massive scale across the fields and factories of this region, in the work that they do. china claims this programme is part of a massive campaign to alleviate poverty. this is from its foreign ministry. translation: workers of all ethnicities in xinjiang sign labour contracts with enterprises

based on their own voluntary choice of occupation and on a voluntary, equal basis, in accordance with the law. they do not suffer any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or religious differences. but the bbc‘s investigation has found connections between china's cotton industry and huge complexes china calls re—education camps, where large sections of china's uighur muslim population are being held. here's more from john sudworth. we are turned back at checkpoints. stopped from filming... ..questioned, and followed. this is one site we are trying to get to, a giant re—education camp. but more recently, something else has been built next door, a textile factory. days after its completion, a large group of people could be seen being moved between the camp and the factory. wow, and this is a factory here, its extraordinary...

from the ground, it's clear the factory and accommodation blocks are all now one single site plastered with communist party slogans but where we get out to film... man speaks chinese we are entitled to film in public, anywhere in china. china says these places are simply about creating jobs. but everywhere we go, there's this extra effort to stop us documenting any of it. in xianjing, a whole culture is under suspicion. more than a million uighurs and other traditionally muslim minorities are thought to have been swept into the camps. viewed by china as potential islamist separatists. but each year, more than 2 million others are being gathered for something else.

giant new factories and textile mills, hundreds of them, where they face strict controls and political indoctrination. "the first thing our workers have to learn is to love "the communist party," this factory boss says. yet more animosity between australia and china. australia has called a reported chinese ban on its coal exports as "deeply disturbing and concerning" and says it's a breach of world trade organization rules. here's the australian trade minister. this 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 wto. 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. the two countries have a huge trading relationship but it's become increasingly strained. and for a number of reasons. for one, australia has called for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic. there are other reasons too. australia has been among those countries criticising china's treatment of uighur muslims — we had john sudworths' report on that issue a moment ago. ausrtalia has also been a vocal critic of china's security law in hong kong. and it was the first country to ban the chinese tech company huawai from its 5g network on security grounds. here's how china has responded to the claims that it's blocking australia's coal imports. translation: some people in australia regard themselves as the so—called victims, and continue to insinuate and accuse china which is confusing the public and putting the blame on the victim. china is not going to accept this. here's our correspondent in sydney, shaima khalil. well this is in response

to an article that appeared in the china state—owned newspaper the global times. in it, it reported that the country's top economic planner, the national development and reform commission has approved the power plants are now able to import coal, clearing 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. he's the head of the institute of energy and economy at the chinese academy of social sciences. 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. whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, austria needs to decide what to do next. here's former prime minister kevin rudd on what he thinks australia should do next. when you end up in a situation, as we are at present, where 40% of this country's experts go to one country, namely the people's republic of china, that's not balanced. the task for australian governments is therefore to diversify the economy domestically, but secondly also to do so internationally. there are other many emerging markets around the world, china of course is the biggest. i think there's a further point at play in this as well. witches of the political temperature in both beijing and canberra to be taken down several notches. —— which is for... the world's largest iceberg is in danger of colliding with an island. here it is. the iceberg has the name a—68—a, and it broke off from an antarctic ice shelf in 2017. not a particularly inspiring name.

it's ovcer 4,000 square kms — that's roughly the size of jamaica. for over three years it has drifted up the south atlantic ocean, but instead of breaking up as some hoped, it is now on a collision course with the island of south georgia. that has very very few people on it and millions of seabirds, penguins, and seals. the british antarctic survey is sending a team there to study the impact this could have. the mission will be lead by oceanographer dr paul abrahamsen. this iceberg is about 200 metres thick, so it goes almost 200 metres into the sea. and we are concerned that as it gets closer to the island, it may well come onto the sheu island, it may well come onto the shelf and ground there. so we are travelling down to the falklands in january and should be able to set off at the very end of the month towards south georgia and this will

be on the james cook operated by the national oceanography centre in southampton and we are planning to do measurements from the ship what we are in the area but also release these two little robotic gliders to carry on further measurements even after we have left. concern about the creatures that live on the sea bed because they could get damaged or killed by the iceberg itself ploughing into the sea floor. but as it comes to rest on the shelf, it will be melting and releasing a lot of fresh water into the ocean into the area and also cooling down the ocean and for very highly adapted creatures like we see in the oceans around antarctica and around south georgia, this could be quite bad for the plankton at the very bottom of the plankton at the very bottom of the food chain. we will keep an eye on the story in the coming weeks or months. thank you for watching. you

can get more on bbc online and i will see you soon. —— more on what is being reported. good evening. unsettled and mild are the two words that sum up the weather really for the rest of this week. we've had some showers around through the day on tuesday and this is how we ended the day in york — bit of patchy cloud here and there. through the course of tonight, things are going to be turning increasingly wet and windy from the west. some eastern parts will stay dry throughout the course of tonight. temperatures getting down into single figures in the east but milder with the cloud, the rain, and the wind in the west. so, here's that area of rain pushing in across the south west of england, wales, northern ireland into the south west scotland as well, strengthening gusty southerly winds as well. further east, you've got clearer skies through the course of tonight. so, it's here that those temperatures will fall into mid to low single figures for some. but towards the west, 6—10 celsius the overnight lows. so, through the course of wednesday, then, the weather dominated by this

area of low pressure with its associated weather front slowly working eastwards bumping into higher pressure sitting across europe, though. so, they're not moving through in a hurry those weather fronts. so, some fairly heavy rain across western parts of britain and northern ireland, gusty southerly winds. east anglia and the south—east likely to stay dry for quite a good part of the day but the rain arriving here through the course of the afternoon, too. there will be some sunshine for parts of scotland, northern ireland into wales, the south west of england, too, later in the afternoon but also scattered blustery showers. gusts of wind up to about 60 mph through exposed parts of the irish sea. 30 mph gusts though further east. so, wherever you are, it's going to be a blustery sort of day. still mild with temperatures around about 9—11 celsius feeling a little bit cooler than it did on tuesday when you add strength of the wind and the outbreaks of rain around as well. now, moving through wednesday night into thursday, there's a brief ridge of higher pressure and that's going to be squeezing away most of the showers but with low pressure still to the north, scattered

showers will affect parts of scotland at times, a few showers possible for the south—east, too. but for much of the uk, thursday predominantly dry day before the next area of cloud, rain, and wind move in from the west later on in the afternoon. ahead of that, temperatures between about 9—13 celsius. so, still above average for this time of year. heading towards the end of the week into the weekend, then, scattered showers around, still mild on friday, gradually a little bit cooler as we head through the weekend. sunday probably the drier day of the weekend for most. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with me, tim willcox. the headlines at 8pm: growing pressure on ministers to change their minds about relaxing covid rules for christmas, as two medicaljournals say mixing households "will cost lives". our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue, on top of the super spread event that will be these five days of christmas. greenwich council backs down and tells schools they should stay open, after the government threatens legal action. but the council says its original decision was the right one. we're not interested in a legal argument with the government about who is right and who is wrong, because i know that, presented with the information that i had in front of me, from talking to greenwich head teachers, greenwich families and children who were in schools, this would have been