this is bbc news. the headlines... new guidance about who you see and what you do over christmas — and it's different from nation to nation. the prime minister said it would be inhuman to cancel christmas — but urged people to exercise "the greatest personal "responsibility" over the festive period. have yourselves a merry little christmas, i'm afraid this year, i do mean little. keep it small. keep it short. keep it local. and think of the most vulnerable people. the welsh government says only two households can now meet over christmas and the nation will go into full lockdown from december the 28th. people in scotland are being advised to meet for only one days over christmas.

as london goes into tier 3, other areas of england are hoping to be moved down — following a review today of covid restrictions. 9—year—old ella kissi—debrah died in 2013 — an inquest has found that air pollution did contribute to her death. a little light at the end of the covid tunnel — look what happened when a music teacher took her lessons online.

christmas isn't cancelled — but leaders across the uk want us all to be very careful. borisjohnson has urged people to think hard before meeting family and friends over the festive period, saying they should exercise "extreme caution". he told a news conference at downing street that the decision to ease covid restrictions for five days would remain in place, but added that the situation was more challenging than when the rules were first set. he said, a smaller christmas is going to be safer christmas and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. on a similar note, england's chief medical officer professor chris whitty said there were four things to think about in order to reduce the risk, keeping it small, short, local and to be thinking of the vulnerable. in wales the government will make it law that the christmas bubbles are restricted to two households, whereas the rest of the uk will keep it to a maximum of three.

we'll have more on how the advice differs from nation to nation in a moment, but first here's more of what the prime minister had to say earlier. having looked at the latest data with our colleagues in the devolved administrations — scotland, wales, northern ireland — we have decided that the overall situation is, alas, more challenging than we'd hoped when we first set the rules. so, while it would not be right, we think, to criminalise people who have made plans and simply want to spend time with their loved ones, we are collectively — across the uk, governments at every level — asking you to think hard and in detail about the days ahead, and whether you can do more to protect yourself and others.

we are keeping the laws the same, but we all want to send the same message — a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas, and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. england's chief medical officer chris whitty repeated the message to keep it small, short and local and urged people to think about the most vulnerable who might be receiving the vaccine soon. it's very important to situate the decisions that people are taking and the actions that people take over the next 2—3 weeks in the fact that we do have a vaccine that will be protecting the most vulnerable to a very high degree of protection in the next 2—3 months. and that subsequently, as the vaccine is rolled out to the general population, the risk of coronavirus circulating will begin to go down. so we are tantalizingly close to the stage where anybody who gets into trouble as a result of actions

this christmas would've been protected in the very near future. so it is very important people think about that when they make decisions over the next few weeks. our political correspondent, jonathan blake is at westminster for us now. we are already seeing divergences, jonathan, different rules depending where you live, labour and the last half—hour saying, here, he where you live, labour and the last half—hoursaying, here, he thinks borisjohnson half—hoursaying, here, he thinks boris johnson might have half—hoursaying, here, he thinks borisjohnson might have to go further. yes, jane, that consistency and clarity that we had from the decision by the government here at westminster and the devolved administrations around the uk last month to offer that five—day relaxation of the rules over christmas has frayed somewhat, and we are now hearing a much stronger, stricter message coming from the prime minister, boris johnson, stricter message coming from the prime minister, borisjohnson, as you heard there, and the

government's in wales and scotland and almost certainly in northern ireland, although, we haven't heard much detailfrom there ireland, although, we haven't heard much detail from there today. the laws will remain the same everywhere, it seems, except wales, which is moving too tighten them up and only allow two households to mix, plus one person in a support bubble with either of those two households, but borisjohnson said there about the laws would not change in england, but he urged people to treat the ability to meet up people to treat the ability to meet up with up to three households over those five days as maximums, not targets to aim for, and he urged people to think carefully about seeing elderly people and travelling from high to low prevalence of the virus areas as well as avoiding staying overnight where at all possible. now, this has come in the wa ke possible. now, this has come in the wake of criticism and pressure on the government to strengthen the

rules over christmas and change the approach, because as we have seen over the last few weeks, dramatic rises and coronavirus cases in some areas large parts of the country being put under tighter restrictions than they were previously, and calls for this christmas period to be rethought. the rules, as i say will stay largely the same, but never the less, labour are saying that the prime minister should have gone further and should have been clearer in his message. here is the shadow of secretary. welcome i think the prime minister was confusing this afternoon at his press conference , was confusing this afternoon at his press conference, seeming to say to the country that the five—day easing is staying in place, but don't take advantage of them. the last thing we needed was more confusion. we needed clarity today. sadly, the pharisees —— the virus is getting out of control again. we are not going into the christmas period with the buffer sewn, the headroom that we were

promised from the prime minister and matt hancock. a tiered system has not done enough to contain the virus to the extent to which they told us away. we'd still not got the tracing, the testing, the isolation regime in place that is necessary. we would have liked to have seen a toughening up today from the prime minister, perhaps something along the lines that we've seen in wales today around reducing the household mixing 22 households. the nhs is really worried, doctors and nurses oi'i really worried, doctors and nurses on our really worried, doctors and nurses on our words and our busy hospitals really, really worried, and i think the prime minister, i think he's going to have to go further in the coming days. so labour predicting that they may have to shift the guidance yet again, we will wait and see what happens, but thereof the government here at westminster and the devolved administrations around the devolved administrations around the uk have been treading a fine line, because there's been an a cce pta nce line, because there's been an acceptance throughout that people would've wanted the opportunity to meet with family over christmas after such a difficult year, and may

well have taken it upon themselves to do that anyway and break whatever rules were in place. so there was a feeling that a relaxation of some sorts was needed, but it's clear that the situation is very different now to when that agreement was put in place. the prime minister, boris johnson, agreement was put in place. the prime minister, borisjohnson, the end of his news conference this evening, as he often likes to do, tried to offer some optimism inside that next christmas, things will be largely back to normal. it was back injuly that largely back to normal. it was back in july that he largely back to normal. it was back injuly that he said that we could expect a significant return to normality by this christmas and people will be able to decide for themselves whether that's turned out to be the case or not. jonathan blake, thank you very much for now. let's pick up with a lot of what we've been talking about, and particularly what we heard with our health correspondent, anna collinson whojoins me now. a lwa ys always interesting to listen to professor chris whitty at these conferences, and he was stressing come i thought it was interesting that he said, just because you can

do something doesn't mean that you should. and that was the sort of essence of what he was driving up this afternoon. absolutely. it was a real message of caution. we heard it on monday at the downing street briefing with chris whitty, and we heard it again today even more. yeah, they were really keen to get that across, and they wanted to get real advice. i mean, that across, and they wanted to get realadvice. i mean, ithink the thing that's what's happened is they have not been able to do a u—turn on the rules, so instead, what they're trying to do is provide people with the advice and tools that they can do to protect themselves and protect their loved ones, and chris whitty has asked people to keep gathering short and to keep them small. so small numbers of people for a short amount of time, not those five days, because both of those things can reduce the chance of transmission. there is still a risk. reduce the chance of transmission. there is stilla risk. he's reduce the chance of transmission. there is still a risk. he's also asked for people to try and keep it local if possible, because there are big concerns about people travelling from one end of the uk to another and potentially taking the virus with them. he's also asked people to ta ke with them. he's also asked people to take about the vulnerable, even if,

in your christmas bubble, there is fio in your christmas bubble, there is no one who is vulnerable, you may pass the virus on who they may pass the virus on to someone who is honourable, so we all have a role to play in this. and he's really sort of emphasising that point as we go in to the next week. i mean, it's only seven days until that window opens, and another thing that boris johnson added, was that if you are planning to carry on with your plans, you should start, you know, changing your behaviour now, reducing the amount of people you're coming into contact with. and we have heard from wales, the first minister, mark drakeford, saying it will be put into law that actually, the rules there are not three households can meet, but only two households can meet, but only two households can meet, and we know that part of the considerations here is how the nhs is faring in different parts of the country, so what do the figures tell us about the situation in wales? welcome at this update is particularly significant because there's been a big talk of the uk doing every thing together and working together, this isa together and working together, this is a real step away from that with wales saying, no, this is what we are going to do to apply to our country. actually, in the past

half— hour since that announcement has been made, we've had a look at the data. and if you take a look at the data. and if you take a look at the figures, the number of people in hospital in wales are actually higher now than they were at the first peak of the first wave in april, they are around 2000. now, when you add in nine covert patients, it means overall, nearly one in five beds are free, and that's much better than what you have in england, but as we know, the coronavirus is unpredictable, and also, these figures cover the whole of wales, they don't take into account problem areas, hotspots, where there is real pressure on services and we are seeing that in south wales, including areas like we nt south wales, including areas like went and newport. we have been told services in those areas and some services in those areas and some services anyway are under extreme pressure with limited numbers of beds, but also staff who are feeling the pressure and are tired after a really traumatic and difficult year. all right, anna, for now, you very much.

let's talk about those issues that we've been talking about there. as i say, the welsh government has changed the law to only allow two households to meet over the festive period. wales' first minister mark drakeford has said the rules will come into force on december 28, when the country goes into a full lockdown with restrictions applying to holiday accommodation and travel across wales. let's hear some of what he had to say. the situation we are facing is extremely serious, and i have to tell you today that the welsh government has made the decision that we must move to alert level four and tighten the restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus and save lives. this new set of higher—level restrictions will apply to the whole of wales. i am making this announcement today to give everybody the most notice we can of the changes that will follow.

all of this means that all non—essential retail, including close contact services and all leisure and fitness centres, will close at the end of trading on christmas eve. all hospitality premises will close from 6pm on christmas day. and on december 28, at the end of the five—day christmas period, tighter restrictions for household mixing, staying at home, holiday accommodation and travel will come into force. we'll be speaking the wales economy minister ken skates just after 5:30pm. so that's coming up in a little while. as i say, scotland' first minister nicola sturgeon has issued fresh advice

for people meeting up at christmas. at her daily briefing, she said if people feel it is "essential" to meet with others indoors, she said this should be for as short as possible, preferably for one day only and not overnight. she also said her government intends to issue strengthened guidance on christmas coronavirus regulation relaxations later today. let's hear it some of what nicola sturgeon had to say. the safest way to spend christmas this year — for you and for those you love — is to stay within your own household and within your own home. and my strong recommendation is that this is what you should do, if at all possible. any interaction you do have with another household should — if at all possible — be outdoors, but if you do consider it essential to meet indoors with someone from another household, you should limit both the duration and the numbers as much as possible. and this point i want to stress in particular, the five day relaxation is a window of opportunity during

which you can meet. it's not a period that we think it is safe or sensible to get together for. you should see it as a maximum, not a target. my recommendation is that if you do form a bubble, you should not meet up with people in it any more than on one day over that period if possible, and you shouldn't stay overnight, unless it is unavoidable. you should also limit numbers as far as possible, three households is a maximum that tries to account for the fact that families come in all shapes and sizes, but two would be better. in short, if you have to form a bubble, keep it as small as possible. in scotland, we have already advised an overall limit of eight people. and i recommend you stay firmly in that. if you do feel you need to form a bubble, the smaller the better. lastly, we will recommend against travel from high prevalence to low prevalence areas of the uk and we will issue more detail on that shortly.

nicola sturgeon, we have been reflecting on the variations, depending on which part of the uk you live in, just to bring you a little bit of information coming through from northern ireland's health minister in the last little while, robin swan reiterating, essentially, borisjohnson‘s message that's, in fact, essentially, borisjohnson‘s message that's, infact, i essentially, borisjohnson‘s message that's, in fact, i think this is what chris whitty said, i think him ifi what chris whitty said, i think him if i was listening to the news conference accurately, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you can do something, doesn't mean you have to do it. chris whitty and certainly made comments along those lines. he urged people in northern ireland to simply walk away if something makes you feel uncomfortable when mixing with families this christmas. he says listen to the message that comes from our front—line workers who really need you to do what we are asking at this moment in time. so, i don't think from everything and reading there that there is any specifics that are different from what boris johnson specifics that are different from what borisjohnson has been outlining, but those are the latest m essa 9 es outlining, but those are the latest messages coming through from

northern ireland's health minister. so, asi northern ireland's health minister. so, as i keep saying, it does vary slightly depending which part of the uk you live in, but certainly come out that news conference with boris johnson in the last hour or two, there has certainly been a shift in tone and that emphasis on keeping christmas celebration small and short. let's discuss it all with linda who is professor of public health at the university of edinburgh. good afternoon. afternoon, jane. your thoughts about a shift in tone, at least, trying to remind people to keep things short and sweet. what do you think about that? well, i think this is really difficult. all the people that you've had on the programme from i think this afternoon have been saying similar things. and itjust shows what a difficult situation the uk is in, how badly handled in many ways this pandemic has been in terms of addressing it, buti pandemic has been in terms of addressing it, but i think now we arejust addressing it, but i think now we are just absolutely having to roll back, because the situation is much worse. they are recognising that this easing was not a good idea, but because it's so late now, jane, they

cannot penalise people for taking advantage of its, or i don't think that would be fair, so instead what you are getting is a very clear messaging, in other words, you may be allowed to do this, but actually, we are strongly of eyes laying against it. it's tricky though, is dipped, because of people were listening to that thought, well, i booked my train fare ticket three weeks ago in good faith and its cost mea weeks ago in good faith and its cost me a lot of money and i want to see my parents who i haven't seen for months, it's that's, well, it's a personal dilemma, isn't it? well, i think what we are hearing today has placed a huge... it's shifted from what the government is telling you what the government is telling you what to do to actually british public community to make your own decisions, that's what's happened. it's a huge wave of responsibility on the public now. you are spot on, that young professional whose booked his ticket to come from london back up his ticket to come from london back up to edinburgh, of course he will still want to come and i think many people will do that, but on the other hand, there will be some who may be haven't made decisions yet or are not planning to move around the

country, and those instances, i think, it's really important that those people make a decision not to mix particularly intergenerational he and you are going to hear so many of us just repeating that in the next few days because, you know, the real risk that we face to the nhs and also tougher restrictions potentially after christmas and in january, not just for wales, potentially after christmas and in january, notjust forwales, but across big parts took not parts of uk. i thought it was interesting that the prime minister reminded us of the briefing that one in three of everybody who is infected with covid actually doesn't have any symptoms. so, of course, you can spread accidentally, you don't realise. i wonder if that's a statistic we all need to hear a little more often. absolutely. i think that's why more a symptom addict of those tests aren't perfect, but they are hoping to find cases. i think we need to recognise that it is something that spreads and people are unaware of it. in relation to the christmas decisions, i think that's important for everyone to think about. there was a question of the briefing around care home visits, i think chris would explain very carefully why those are still incredibly

risky. i think if we think about mixing over christmas again because of the weight of responsibility is now back on the public to imagine that if we do see another the relative and we might pass and i'm com pletely relative and we might pass and i'm completely unaware when we are just a few months away from that relative being protected would be coming you know, really poor decision, i think. and when we have some of the really quite last—minute changes that we are having, for example, reflecting are having, for example, reflecting a lot today on wales's decision to put into law that can actually commute can only meet with two households over christmas now not three as people had originally been told they could plan for. does that sort of action help? well,... your reaction there suggests mu don't think it does. ijust reaction there suggests mu don't think it does. i just think it's difficult for the public. most of my work is in behaviour, and behavioural sciences, and i think all of the scientists have been saying throughout this, don't blame people, don't use appearance of approach, make sure there's care it's not just approach, make sure there's care it's notjust a stick, so i have no idea how the welsh government will enforce that, that's the first thing

i will say, the second thing i will say is that, you know, mixed m essa 9 es say is that, you know, mixed messages around the uk are difficult. so i think the best that government can do now given this really u nfortu nate government can do now given this really unfortunate situation that we are and is just to be very very clear and transparent with the public about what they are recommending and give people the information they need to make those decisions, and it think some of my collea g u es decisions, and it think some of my colleagues have suggested, which i think is a lovely idea, extra public holidays next year when we are through more of this to recognise the huge sacrifices people have made and to allow families to more safely then. really interesting. let's put that point about public holidays to some politicians later on. that's a good thought. thank you very much indeed. always good to talk to, thank you very much professor linda from edinburgh university, of course. this morning ten million people in london and some surrounding areas moved into tier 3 — the toughest level of restrictions in england — to try to tackle a recent spike in cases in the capital.

later today the government will review the tiered system elsewhere in england before announcing any changes tomorrow. one place hoping to move down from tier 3 restrictions is stratford—upon—avon from where phil mackie sent this report. this is stratford's most famous landmark, the royal shakespeare theatre. with very low infection rates in the town, they'd expected to be in tier 2 and open but because other towns and cities nearby had higher rates, it went into tier 3. it was really upsetting. we've obviously had a very tough year in the performing arts, it's been no exception here in stratford. we normally welcome 1,500 people a night to this amazing complex of theatres. we've lost 86% of our income, so actually to get to the end of the year, we were just about to open theatres again to audiences in person, and we had to cancel that. so we are going on with work that we can stream online but we haven't been able to have audiences in the building yet, which incredibly upsetting. there are more swans than people at the moment by the river avon.

prospects for the town look as bleak as the weather, unless there is an easing of restrictions. even on a cold, wet december day, stratford would normally have many thousands of visitors, either coming to the theatre or the town's many attractions, but because it's in tier 3, they can't open and the visitors haven't come which is having a massive effect on the town's economy. the pandemic never seems to end. at the arden hotel, they are getting ready in case they can reopen this weekend, but it may not be worth it, especially if tougher restrictions come back in injanuary. we need to be looking slightly more long—term, in terms of understanding what the strategy is for hospitality. we probably need a minister for hospitality to help us manage our way out of what will be a really tough position. the same concerns are being expressed across england. in manchester, they've endured restrictions longer than most. there is a strong case now for a substantial part of greater manchester to be in tier2.

and bear in mind, people here have been under restrictions for four and a half months and that has to be taken into consideration when these decisions are made. for now in stratford, everything remains on hold, but there is hope that restrictions will be eased by christmas. phil mackie, bbc news, stratford—upon—avon. the time is 25 past 5pm. let's turn toa the time is 25 past 5pm. let's turn to a few other stories away from coronavirus today, because a court in france has handed down jail sentences of up to 30 years in the trial of suspected accomplices of islamist militants who carried out deadly attacks on a jewish supermarket and the satirical magazine charlie hebdo in 2015seventeen let's get more from hugh schofield. explain what happened in court. let's just remind ourselves, let'sjust remind ourselves, this trial was of 14 people who are the kind of backroom allegedly of the

attacks which sort of shook france and the world injanuary 2015, the attack on charlie dove with the journalist and cartoonist killed, and then thejewish hostages killed at the supermarket. in this trial, they were trying to establish that this network of 1a people had been involved in providing logistical support, guns to the man who carried out the jewish supermarket attack. he was killed, as with the attackers in the charlie hedbo affair. what the court found at the end was yes, they were all guilty and one man in particular was found guilty of complicity. so he knew, he was part of the conspiracy and has got 30 yea rs of the conspiracy and has got 30 years injail. another man who of the conspiracy and has got 30 years in jail. another man who fled to syria around the time was given a life sentence, but it's unlikely he will be coming back because he's believed to have died. the widow of the man was also given 30 years and she's fled to syria as well, but some of the lesser figures, this is quite interesting, people who

shifted guns around, petty criminals in their own right with long criminal records but not for terrorism, the court decided that that was not enough evidence in their case to substantiate the prosecutions view that they were guilty of terrorism because they should've known what the guns were intended for. the court decided that they probably didn't know what they we re they probably didn't know what they were intended for, just doing what they normally did as petty criminals, and therefore, their sentences were reduced and the terrorism aspect of the charges against these seven were removed. all rights, hugh, thank you very much. you schofield there in paris. 9—year—old ella adoo—kissi—debrah is the first person in the uk to have air pollution exposure recorded as their medical cause of death. the coroner ruled that pollution made a material contribution as she suffered a fatal asthma attack in february 2013. her mother said her daughter finally got the justice "she so deserved". jon donnison reports.

for the first few years of her life, ella kissi—debrah had been a healthy and active young girl. but after a chest infection, she developed acute asthma. she was hospitalised around 30 times over three years. and died in 2013, just nine years old. the following year an inquest concluded she died of acute respiratory failure and severe asthma. but ella lived just yards from the busy south circular road in south london. she walked to school along it. her family have always believed air pollution directly contributed to her death. and after new medical evidence showed there was a direct link, the high court ordered a fresh inquest. her mother rosamond arrived in court this morning for the conclusion of that second inquest and finally she got what she had been hoping for. 7 million people around the world die every year courtesy of air pollution and this was about my daughter, getting air pollution on the death

certificate as we finally have and we have got the justice for her which she so deserved but also it is about other children as we walk around our cities still. the assistant coroner philip barlow concluded the official medical because of her death should be recorded as acute respiratory failure and severe asthma contributed to by excessive exposure to air pollution. the first time such a cause of death has been recorded. and this case could set a precedent, the inquest heard that air pollution is a contributing factor to tens of thousands of premature deaths in the uk each year. we have known for many years that air pollution is a huge cause of ill health but this really is a landmark ruling today because it is the very first time air pollution has been put on a death certificate. we think it should herald a seismic

shift in the action that government and clinicians and health professionals take to address the problem. addressing her mother to date the assistant coroner referred to a photograph of the young girl that had been displayed in court throughout the inquest. he remarked that she had very bright brown eyes and a smile go bigger than the photograph itself. jon donnison, bbc news in south london. hello this is bbc news with jane hill. the headlines: new guidance about who you see and what you do over christmas — the welsh government says only two

households will be allowed to meet over christmas and the nation will go intoa over christmas and the nation will go into a full lockdown from december 28. people in scotland are being advised to meet for only one day over christmas. as london goes into tier 3 other areas of england are hoping to be moved down — following a review today of covid restrictions nine year old ella kissi—debrah died in 2013 — an inquest has found that air pollution did contribute to her death. we will be talking about the changes to the rules, particularly in wales, over christmas, next half hour, and we will be talking about heathrow and a third runway, but first we have the sporting news.

we start with some breaking news — west brom have named sam allardyce as their new head coach, following the sacking of slaven bilic earlier today. the baggies become the eighth premier league club he's taken charge of, with over 500 premier league games the 66—year—old's agreed an 18 month contract and will take training tomorrow ahead of sunday's home game against aston villa. former west brom player peter odemwingie has been giving giving us his reaction in the last few minutes. sam is april the manager, he knows the game, and because he has been out of a job. along i am sure he has studied all the squads that have been struggling from the beginning of the season —— san is a proven manager. i think he has a plan right away, he must have convinced them that he can change things around. i am sure it was not an easy decision for west brom. sam allardyce will take west brom to liverpool next weekend — tottenham are the visitors to anfield tonight. only goal difference separates

the sides at the top of the table with liverpool's efforts to keep hold of their title hampered so far this season by injuries to several senior players. some have returned. others, like virgil van dijk, joe gomez, diego jota, thiago and james milner, haven't. but spurs bossjose mourinho says too much is being made of it. alison macro is not injured. alexander—arnold is not injured. joel matip, i believe is going to play. that e—mail is not injured. robertson is not injured. anderson is not injured, when belgium is not injured, mo salah is not injured, semi—new is not injured, mane is not injured. van dijk is injured, and van dijk is a very good player, of course, give me the liverpool list of injuries and compare that list of injuries with what is the best

liverpool team. trials of concussion substitues have been approved by football's lawmakers ifab this afternoon. it means from next month clubs could get an additional substitution for incidents like this. you might remember wolves striker rauljiminez suffered a fractured skull in a clash of heads with arsenal's david luiz, who carried on playing for a while, after being treated on the touchline. it's set to be introduced by the fa for its competitions from january — with the premier league voting on it tomorrow. it has been a long time coming. i think there has been a general reluctance, particularly with football in general and particularly the fa, to acknowledge there is even a problem, and i do not think they have done enough or acted quickly enough. and it took an horrific incident like this one to actually make them do something. sunderland have postponed their next three matches and close their training ——

training ground for three days following a coronavirus outbreak. the game at shrewsbury town and how much is against blackpool until 30 have been called off. eight players missed the draw with wimbledon last night, the game went ahead despite one player testing positive for covid—19 on monday but a further four cases have been confirmed amongst players and staff at the training base. and exeter‘s heineken champions cup match at toulouse on sunday has been cancelled because of a covid—19 outbreak at the chiefs. glasgow's home game against lyon on saturday is also off — because they played exeter last weekend. 20 warriors players are now self—isolating. our rugby union correspondent chris jones has been telling me european bosses are now going to meet to decide what happens next. because of the fixture congestion, very little to no chance against can be rearranged, so now a european cup panel will meet to decide how, whether and why 18 could all could not fulfil the fixture and therefore

how to allocate a match point, so more news on that in due course, what happens to the match points that would have been played for in these games, but confirmation that glasgow against lyon and toulouse against exeter have both been this weekend. —— both been cancelled. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. there will be more on the reaction to sam alla rdyce's there will be more on the reaction to sam allardyce's appointment and there will be more of that at 6:30pm too. so let's recap and look at what rules are in place over the christmas period. it depends where you live. the relaxation of rules allow three households to mix indoors — and they can be from different nations, regions or tiers. however the welsh government will make it law that only two households can mix,

although a single person can form a bubble with two other homes. in scotland, the number of people within the bubble has been limited to eight — but children under 12 do not count toward that number. this measures will be place for five days over the festive period, between the 23rd and 27th of december. although the scottish government is recommending that people should only meet other households on one of those days. nicola sturgeon said to keep it short if you possibly can. and people in northern ireland get an extra day either side of the five, to allow for travel time. i hope you were taking notes, it is

quite complicated and hard to keep up. you are forgiven if you cannot remember it all. we have heard from the first minister of wales this afternoon, let's now speak to wales' ministers of the economy, ken skates. a very good evening. changes in wales, tighter rules, only two households, not three, for example, and the lockdown from the 28th, my goodness. you are minister for the economy, you must be concerned about the impact? of course, there are many homes we are seeing through the course of this pandemic. economic harm included. that is why the welsh government has made available more than £2 billion in addition to the uk governmentjob than £2 billion in addition to the uk government job retention than £2 billion in addition to the uk governmentjob retention and employment support schemes, to get through these crises, the most comprehensive and generous support for businesses anywhere in the uk, including during this period of restrictions alone more than £3110

million of support for businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector. later this week we will announce further support for businesses that will be effected during the forthcoming logjam, including crucially the retail sector, but we are doing all we can to ensure economic harm is unlimited during the terrible pandemic —— during the terrible pandemic —— during the terrible pandemic —— during the forthcoming lockdown. when you say there will be further announcements later in the week, are you promising extra funding on top of what businesses can already apply for? because i am sure you know the welsh retail consortium says that gru nts welsh retail consortium says that grunts are helpful but they do not make upfor grunts are helpful but they do not make up for lost sales, the maths just does not add up. that is why we will be making available a significant sum of money, equally we are asking businesses and citizens to put off some of the activities they would normally undertake just after christmas until hopefully later in january or a after christmas until hopefully later injanuary or a little later

than that, depending on the three—week with you. in the meantime, we will support businesses without significant sum of money we will announce this week. is there a risk that, sadly, despite the effo rts risk that, sadly, despite the efforts he will be talking about in coming days, some businesses simply will not be able to weather this, another lockdown from the 28, their business model does not add up, they will fold, meaning peoples jobs business model does not add up, they will fold, meaning peoplesjobs and livelihoods? we do not underestimate the terrible strain that business owners and leaders say to right now. at the start of the pandemic we said we we re at the start of the pandemic we said we were dual because you make sure it you had a good job all good business in 2019, you would have it in 2021-- business in 2019, you would have it in 2021—— we said we would business in 2019, you would have it in 2021 —— we said we would try to make sure that if you had. that is why we have put in the extra money to what the uk government is doing with the job to what the uk government is doing with thejob retention scheme etc. there is a possibility that some

businesses will bail as a consequence but we are trying to do everything to provide a safe wright through to 2021, to the springtime where we hope vaccination will be rolled out, enabling us to resume something of normality. what do you say to people who had said that throughout this we have done the right thing, maybe someone who runs a cafe or a small local shop, we have put measures in place and carried out every safety measure you could imagine, we havejournalled the right things and we are still being penalised, and in the run—up to christmas and into the january sales ? to christmas and into the january sales? people who had everything right? businesses have responded incredibly well, there has been unheroic efforts across wales and all of the uk in responding to the pandemic, but the fact is that infection rates continue to write —— there has been some heroic efforts.

there is an equivalent of five general hospitals. people with covid symptoms, a record number of people in intensive care in the second weight so we must reduce the prospects of people mixing where the infection can be passed on, meaning u nfortu nately we had infection can be passed on, meaning unfortunately we had to make difficult decisions. but we make than in the full knowledge that financial resource and support must be made available, and that is why we are offering the most general and comprehensive support package to businesses anywhere in the united kingdom. perhaps we will speak about that later in the week, thank you, ken skates, ministerfor the economy for wales. we said we would talk about heathrow and a potential third runway too. the supreme court has ruled that plans to build a third runway at heathrow airport are lawful. the scheme had been blocked by the appeal court, which said the government's airports strategy didn't meet up—to—date uk climate targets. the firm behind heathrow can now seek permission to go

ahead with the runway. i will be sticking to one guest with 18 interesting days in the next you minutes. but first they support from our transport correspondent caroline davies. it is just over there where that tall tree without leaves on is... justine bailey has lived on the border of heathrow airport for 25 years. the proposed third runway would be opposite her house. the runway would be about where the bungalows, you can see some chimneys at the end of the road. that is literally where the runway would be. so you wouldn't be able to stand here without ear defenders on if they were using the runway. today's judgment was not what she was hoping for. it won't be possible to go on living here because the air will be far too polluted. it will be far too noisy. most of my neighbours will have had their houses bulldozed and will have had to move. protesters gathered outside the supreme court before this morning's verdict. today's result is a setback for environmental campaigners as well as residential groups. well, it is very disappointing, and very disappointing

for our membership across london and the south—east. and the government advisers on the implementation of our carbon commitments has stated that were heathrow to expand, it would almost certainly mean restrictions in aviation activity in other parts of the country. possibly even the closure of some regional airports. the village of harmondsworth has lived with the threat of partial demolition for years. opponents of the third runway say that climate change concerns and even covid have weakened the argument for it. others disagree. as we come out of covid we are going to have to re—establish international trading connections across the world. and having a major airport which can actually reach every capital city, everywhere in the globe, is going to be crucial to london's advantage. and in a post brexit world we are going to have to do that even more. while heathrow say today's judgment is the right result for the country, labour has argued the proposals don't pass their tests on air quality, noise pollution and delivering countrywide economic benefits.

the government has said they are seriously considering the court'sjudgement. today's decision is not the end of the process and both sides have said they will fight on. caroline davies, bbc news. let's speak to surinder arora, who owns a string of airport hotels including the renaissance at heathrow. he's also part of heathrow west — one of the groups looking to lead any expansion of the airport. good afternoon. did afternoon. because it will presumably inspire today ‘s willing? i am very pleased, i think last year everyone was very disappointed at the decision by the court of appeal and they thought it was wrong, thankfully the supreme court has given the right decision, except, i would say, we are now in a com pletely except, i would say, we are now in a completely different world to where

we we re completely different world to where we were in 2019 or early 2020. well, aren't we? to you think there is even the new canal for it? legally it can happen but is there even the media any more? —— do you think there is even the need for it any more? i was always saying that we should always be world leaders to make sure that we are top of the world from a capacity point of view, service and delivery, but after the horrid year we have had, i really believe that the days are gone for another surge when date —— runway, certainly for at least a decade, probably in my lifetime. i cannot see a third runway happening. there are ways we can make the airport more efficient, even heathrow airport themselves had said that when they built terminal four on the south of the southern runway it was

built in the wrong place, so any time an aircraft has to use the noted runway they have to cross the live runway, which reduces the number of slots. that is where we came up last year, in the last three orfour came up last year, in the last three or four years came up last year, in the last three orfour years we said came up last year, in the last three or four years we said heathrow, which is mainly now and by the spanish, chinese and the qataris, heathrow really needs competition. it isa heathrow really needs competition. it is a huge business and we will be coming in and saying we think it is a completely different world now, we can be more efficient, we can still build our new terminal that we previously proposed for a0 million passengers to the west of p5, heathrow west, but now the numbers should be more like 18 to 20 million, and it is at heathrow to decide whether they want to continue with terminal four decide whether they want to continue with terminalfour or put decide whether they want to continue with terminal four or put other use intimate and that would make a big difference for the airlines, the

passengers. i have always said that competition is a good thing and i never had a problem if someone wants to build an hotel next to mine, because competition is good for the consumer, for the airline and for the nation. it is really interesting to talk to you, i apologise hugely but we are out of time, i apologise because we have not really fully disgusted, but thank you for your time, surinder arora, disgusted, but thank you for your time, surinderarora, good to disgusted, but thank you for your time, surinder arora, good to talk to you and apologies for that —— we have not really fully discussed it. much more to talk about to do with heathrow, very different times we are living in, as surinder arora said. the foreign secretary dominic raab has conceded that a post brexit free—trade agreement with india could take many years, but said the mutual benefits of securing one would be "enormous". in an interview with the bbc, during a three day trip to india he also said the uk government wouldn't be afraid of raising human rights concerns relating to india,

but said the government wouldn't allow that to "eclipse broader co—operation." mr raab met with the indian pm narendra modi today, and also announced a new vaccine partnership with the country. he was speaking to our south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan. well, there is a huge amount of collaboration we are doing together, and from our research right the way through to the international level we wa nt through to the international level we want to be cooperating with india to make sure we can vaccinate our own people in india and the uk and also so we can expand and ensure global equitable access to the vaccine for the most vulnerable countries around the world. as you know, the oxford vaccine is being mass produced by an indian —based institute. have you turn a deal with them to secure a supply of vaccines for the them to secure a supply of vaccines forthe uk? them to secure a supply of vaccines for the uk? we are constantly discussing the question of supply, as you probably know we had seven secured supplies at the moment as of now which will secure 315 million

vaccines within the uk, but particularly with our indian friends we're always to cf we can go further. not there yet? we are collaborating carefully making sure all of our needs, as well as those of india, are catered for. trade is a big subject, foreign secretary. the british public was told that leaving the eu would free the uk to secure free trade deals around the world, with countries like india, but did your government oversell how easy it would be to do those deals? i think we express it exactly as you have, there is an opportunity but opportunities need to be grasped. one of the things i have spoken with the prime minister about it today and the foreign minister today was the road map, the milestones to liberalising and deepening our trade in the interest of both indian and

british businesses and consumers. free—trade negotiations are always a haggle, we would expect that to take place on both sides, but looking at thejoint mutual place on both sides, but looking at the joint mutual benefits up to a ten, 20 or 30 year period, they are enormous. a free-trade agreement with india could take as long as a decade? a free-trade agreement is really important that there are milestones to reaching that, sometimes it can take as long as you suggested but i think with political will, and my senses there is political will on both sides, we can try to get it much, much quicker. moving on to the issue of democratic values, international human rights groups are greatly concerned that indian does not policies have put minority groups, especially muslims, under increasing pressure. —— indian policies. we are talking about brutal crackdowns against government

critics, arbitrary shutdowns, increased media censorship and a decline in press freedom. how much does that concern you? in a big picture context, india is the biggest democracy in the world with a vibrant culture of debate, protest, we have seen much recently and in many ways it is an example to the world. there are always cases of human rights issues, we know about them, they are reported to me, we had domestic constituencies that raise them, i had a candid conversation with officials in the indian government this week. but equally we recognise that the democratic... depth and breadth of india is pretty much unrivalled in this region and i think it is important to set against that context. you just met prime minister modi, did you raise any of these

concerns? as you would expect, i have raised the human rights issues and concerns, that is myjob, you would expect that you take place at a professional level, i discuss them with the foreign minister yesterday and we will continue to waste those issues. if it has not been raised with the prime minister, one might say is that because it is sensitive to bring up when you are trying to strike a trade? with a close when one partner you can have candid conversations about difficult issues and we will not shrink from doing that —— with a close friend or partner. but we will not allow that to eclipse the broader cooperation and bilateral agreements. but we do not deny there are issues. foreign secretary dominic raab on his trip to india. one more story before the weather. teaching children music has been a life passion for emma hutchinson. so when lockdown was announced her shift to online teaching —

and the impact this had on her children — was stark. her efforts to draw out something positive from the experience led to her writing a christmas song — that to her surprise has gone global. here's emma's story. # la, la, la—la, la, la... # when lockdown was announced, i was at home, in devon. our whole professional world turned around overnight to zoom lessons. it's lovely to see you here today. are you ready to roll? # something is tapping in my box...# a lot of families said, oh, this is good fun, let's all have a go at doing the digital thing. but i think, after several weeks, you could get a sense of screen fatigue. smash! over the nine months, we noticed that many of our children are more reserved. they're less responsive to engaging with each other. language delay is becoming more evidenced. # christmas is here again,

all around the world...# i was thinking, how can i make this a positive experience? how can i write something that is going to look forward to the future? i wrote four christmas songs. candles are hot, you cannot touch them but a light permeates. in the same way that music is heard, but you cannot touch music. that was the seat of the sun. —— the seed of the song. i gave my song to moonbug entertainment as part of a collective of christmas songs for children to enjoy. and then they got back in touch

and said, thank you very much, we'd like to use christmas is here again as our christmas single. # christmas bells are ring, ring ringing # everyone is sing, sing, singing... i was surprised but alighted, because the sun holds a lot of poignancy for me. —— surprised but delighted. being deaf, i have to say, has been initially a nightmare. and then it became quite funny. having a mask on, suddenly i couldn't see their face. and i rely a lot on lip—reading. # love and peace, as my candle burns # singing my christmas song. # if we can hold a candle up together on christmas eve, wouldn't that make a difference? just so they know they are not alone. # everyone is sing, sing, singing # whoever you are, wherever you roam

# ringa—ringa, ring, ding, ding. # hello, there. the weather is remaining very u nsettled, the weather is remaining very unsettled, wet and windy weather swept in from the atlantic. the rain cleared from the south—west to get a say lovely sunset in bristol, but if we look at the atlantic, there is more cloud towards the west, that will commence in some western areas later. that cloud gave us the rain earlier, that weather front is taking that weather into the note three and the low pressure is moving away. the wet weather we saw across northern ireland and scotland is turning showery. some showers across the western side of the uk particularly, but clearer spells will develop and it will turn cooler too. not that cold for the time of year, temperatures could be as low

as 30a. tomorrow morning it is a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers, most showers in the west, particularly western scotland. those showers is through the day, we will see rain arriving in northern ireland in the afternoon. as the wetter weather arrives we will see those winds picking up and turning rather blustery. further is to, a decent day, sunshine across eastern scotla nd day, sunshine across eastern scotland and eastern england —— further east, a decent day. that first weather front will bring wet weather into the uk tomorrow night. the rain will peter out towards the south—east and the next one is hot on its hills, so continuing the u nsettled on its hills, so continuing the unsettled theme, dampness in eastern areas, more persistent rain in the west, turning heavier over the hills in the south—west of england. some brighter skies for a while perhaps

in north—eastern scotland and north—eastern england, a strong southerly wind, we could make 15 degrees in the north—east of wales. very mild air probably will not last too much longer because it will be swept away during saturday. we start to introduce something cooler. not cold by any means, and there will be rain to clear away from eastern england. a mixture of sunshine and showers for the weekend, most of the showers for the weekend, most of the showers in the west.

today at six — the message gets tougher on who you see and what you do over christmas whatever the rules, whatever the guidance — leaders across the uk want us to exercise extereme caution. we all want to send the same message. a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas, and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. what does it mean for you and your family as you plan for a covid christmas? a festive season like no other. it isa it is a bit risky giving five days. we had three pesos together but it willjust be as now.