hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. the uk government tightens its advice for mixing of households, for christmas. a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas, and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. whatever the rules, whatever the guidance — leaders across the uk want us to exercise extereme caution. scotla nd scotland and wales however a re however are introducing tighter restrictions. germany has gone into another lockdown, almost 1000 dots are recorded there from the virus in a single day. in other news, according to france, they've given sentences to after 30 yea rs they've given sentences to after 30 years in prison for people linked to the hair attacks at the charlie hedbo and thejewish supermarket five years ago. a chinese spacecraft carrying rocks

from the moon is due to land back on earth. the first such landing for more than a0 years. governments across europe are having to make decisions about what to do about this first christmas since the pandemic began. in the uk, borisjohnson is calling for a smaller christmas — but he hasn't changed the plan to ease coronavirus restrictions for five days over christmas. three households will still be able to see cach other and stay overnight. some medical experts have warned the plan will cost lives. here's the prime minister earlier. we've decided that the overall situation is, alas, worse, 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, coming to 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. jonathan blake is in westminster and hejoins us now. jonathan, just so i've understood this correctly, they are planning to ease restrictions but simultaneously advise people not necessarily to make the most of those easing of restrictions. that's pretty much as. do the bare minimum possible. and although across the uk, the opportunity will exist for people over a five day period at christmas to meet in greater numbers than they normally would be able to do under the rules in place at the moment in various parts of the uk, that doesn't mean that people should

automatically do that. in fact, in a joint statement published tonight by the uk government as well as the scottish and welsh government only to form what's being described as a christmas bubble with up to three other households unless they believe they absolutely have to, and in wales, the government has gone further, changing the law to make it 110w further, changing the law to make it now only possible for up to two households to meet indoors over that five day period. so while broadly speaking, the rules are staying the same, the guidance has shifted significantly urging people to have what you heard the prime minister described there as a smaller and shorter safer christmas. is much as we have throughout the pandemic might sound like the formations are going to wales is changing to some degree, what about scotland, what is its position at the moment was illegally, things will not change and scotland, so the position there remains that if people all deemed it

necessary or feel they want to, they can mix up to three households indoors for up to that five—day period. there is a limitation on the numbers, it shouldn't be any more eight, excluding children, box, there has been some strong advice, strong guidance from the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, specifying that in her view, it should be no more than two households meeting during that five day period and people should do so for only one day, and along with the guidance from boris johnson, for only one day, and along with the guidance from borisjohnson, the prime minister said that people should not stay overnight that they u nless should not stay overnight that they unless they feel they absently have to. jonathan, thank you very much indeed. jonathan doing a very good job of taking us all thread, but if you do want more information, you can get it through official websites and through the bbc news website. so that's what's happening in the uk. meanwhile in mainland europe, coronavirus restrictions are tightening in the run up to christmas. let's start in germany — it's registered more than 950 covid—19 related deaths in the last 2a hours. that's its highest daily figure since the pandemic began.

in response, it's brought in its strictest measures yet — that includes schools and nonessential businesses closing tiljanuary ten. jenny hill is in berlin. there is little festive cheer, as germany prepares for a christmas in lockdown. as shops, schools and hairdressers closed this morning, another miserable milestone — more than 950 deaths recorded in a day. even taking into account statistical fluctuations, it's the worst death toll here since the pandemic began. yesterday, shoppers thronged the streets ahead of the lockdown. that did little to —— germany closed its bars, restaurants, arts and leisure facilities six weeks ago but that did little to stop the spread of infection. this country's health system may be robust but it's under real pressure. some hospitals have had to turn patients away. translation: if you ask me, it's absolutely the right

time to lockdown. hospitals here are at breaking point. we've already had to transfer patients because we don't have any more free beds. so what's gone wrong for the country which came so successfully through the first wave? scientists aren't sure, though some blame regional politicians who resisted angela merkel‘s calls for a tougher nationwide response earlier in the autumn. i assume that people do not follow all the regulations that we are told. i mean, we had to reduce our contacts by about 75% but i think that didn't work. there's frustration too. the vaccine developed by german scientists has been rolled out in other countries. here, they are still awaiting eu approvalfor use. it's hoped that will happen before the end of the year, but for now a country which loves its festive traditions has all but cancelled christmas. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. in the last few months, germany has successfully used contact tracing to limit the spread of the virus.

but that system is now under severe pressure. to explain that — this is a doctor at a leading institute on epidemiology. overall, it'sjust the sheer numbers of co nta ct overall, it'sjust the sheer numbers of contact tracing. evenif of contact tracing. even if you have 20—30,000 a case a day, it's difficult to consider getting contacts all registered all found out, all warned about what is happening in getting them into word eat. it's difficult and we're not really meeting that. next, denmark — its prime minister says it will completely shut down — besides food shops and pharmacies — from december 25th to january 3rd. that means danes can still celebrate christmas denmark has recorded more than 120,000 cases and almost 1,000 deaths. authorities fear january and february could become the worst months of the pandemic.

italy next — it's considering further tightening over christmas after 680 deaths were reported in the last 2a hours. that takes the country's overall total to close to 66,000 — the highest in europe. you'll remember that italy was the first country outside china to suffer a major covid outbreak — these pictures are from the city of bergamo in march — as the army transported coffins to neighbouring towns. mark lowen is back in bergamo. mark, how do you contrast the approach of the authorities now to the situation they were in in the spring? well, you will remember, ros, that italy became the first country in the world to oppose a national lockdown in early march. —— impose. this time, with the second wave, we have been much more cautious, mindful that the economic it is already expected to be 10% this year. so, what the government is trying is a regional tiered

approach, not a national lockdown but placing certain regions in red, orange and yellow zones, what they're trying to do at the moment is working out over christmas how many of those days between the 23rd and 24th of december on the fifth or 6th of january there will be a national red zone. there are discussions taking place at the moment between the prime minister in the heads of various coalition parties to decidejust the heads of various coalition parties to decide just how tight the restrictions will be, whether they stop all but essential movements, do they close all shops? to the close all restau ra nts ? they close all shops? to the close all restaurants? there's pressure from some politicians to go for stricter measures, there's pressure from some regional leaders to go for later measures, but either way, the second wave has been devastating for, as you set commits, highest death toll in europe, and this region, lombardi, which was hit in the first wave, which is again badly hit in the second wave, and accounts for a third of all the deaths in italy from the coronavirus, and a quarter of all cases. those

statistics are astonishing, mark. how can we explain that the part of italy you are in is being so disproportionately affected? there are various different explanations, various different theories, ros, ranging from the fact that we are in the heart of your peer, very interconnected region in northern italy, lombardi has the highest proportion of elderly people, of people in care homes in italy. the various different ideas as to why lombardi has been hit so hard, but there is criticism of the government that it has not moved as quickly as it should have done with the second wave that injuly and august when cases across the country were just about 100 today, there was a feeling of complacency and italy and ascends through away its gains from the summer through away its gains from the summerand through away its gains from the summer and being too slow to impose restriction in the autumn, so complacent summer has led to a horrific autumn, and these terrible scenes of hospitals filling up again

and, you know, hundreds and hundreds of deaths every day, which they thought they had left behind in march april and may, well it's come back to haunt this country. mark, thank you very much indeed. everything that mark describes and all of the other situations in the country as we've already looked at means there's more pressure than everfor the eu's drug regulator to approve the pfizer biontech vaccine. the european commission says approval and immediate distribution could come within a week. ursula von der leyen made the promise — even though regulators haven't met to take a decision. here's more of what she said. the commission has negotiated the broadest portfolio of vaccine candidates, and finally, within a week, the first vaccine will be authorised so that vaccinations can start immediately and more will follow in the new year. the european medicines agency is the body that approve vaccines — and its processes are different to the uk, canada and the us — which have all granted "emergenc" use' approval for the vaccine. that means the vaccine is still an unlicensed product —

it's just that temporary use is justified because of the exceptional circumstances. the european medicines agency though is using its standard procedure — all be it on an accelarated schedule. here's bbc health reporterjim reed. we do think now, this authorisation process is going to gather pace. the europeans's medicine 30, the organisation which regulates it the europeans's medicine authority, the organisation which regulates it said this week that it's bringing forward a special meeting from the 29th of december to the 21st of december, that's next monday, when we expect it to get approved. we then thought it would take a couple more days for the european commission to actually give it the green light, they have given it the green light into actually give the vaccination to people. it now looks like that process is going to be speeded up. a paris court has handed down guilty verdicts in the trial 01:14 people accused of providing logistical

support to the islamist attackers ——a french court has imposed jail terms of between four years and life imprisonment on a group of people accused of providing logistical support to the islamist attackers of the charlie hebdo magazine and a jewish supermarket in january 2015. 17 people were killed. these are pictures from outside the court earlier. the court dropped terrorism charges against some of the accused, on the grounds that they did not know what was being planned. well here's a reminder of what happened. the attacks took place over three days — and began with the murder of 12 people at the magazine. it had previously published cartoons of the prophet mohammed. that attack was followed by the murder of a french policewoman — and by the hostages being taken at the superrmarket. fourjewish men were killed. the attacks triggered a global outpouring of solidarity with france under the "i am charlie" slogan. all three of the perpetrators of the attacks were killed by police at the time — those charged in the trial were accused of helping to provide them with weapons and logistical support.

for us, it's a relief, we have been waiting for five years for this trial, for the child to take place respectfully coming to be normal, so that all the victims and families can grieve. hugh schofield is in paris and joins us now. can you help us understand what kind of logistical support these people offered? yes, getting guns, guns and other ammunition to... we often talk about this trial and shorthand as the charlie hedbo, much markham is the charlie hedbo, much markham is the jewish supermarket trial, because all the people, 14 were linked in this supermarket attack and not the brothers, had the brothers got their weapons is another story, and it was not really cove red another story, and it was not really covered in this trial. so the people could be put into two groups, some who were close to him and it's now

been asserted in the court that new about his plans, and others were further down the chain who were simply, i dunno, lowlifes from drugs and guns and got caught up in providing guns, and they are the ones who got lesser terms because the judge decided that the prosecution had not established the terrorist link in their minds. these people didn't really know what they we re people didn't really know what they were doing, theyjust did what they generally did, ferrying guns around and so on, and cannot therefore be accused of being part of a terrorist plot, others close to like this man they didn't know what he was about to come and therefore, got the much stiffer condemnation. so, if this is the completion, really, via investigation into what happened around the supermarkets, where we got to in of the investigation in terms of who support the brothers? we won't go anywhere, we want to get anywhere without. we know that the

brothers were linked because they exchanged messages, they probably met the day before, but what this investigation couldn't do because there wasjust no information was source the guns used by the brothers. quite possibly, they came from the same conduits, the same network that were on trial, but that was not part of the evidence commended was not part of what they we re commended was not part of what they were trying to prove in court. what they be proved in court was that this group of hoodlums or real conspirators so they could carry out at the jewish supermarket and passed onto the brothers, but that's not been established and there is still aof been established and there is still a of questions about both attacks regarding this question and how the brothers got their weapons for one, but also who actually was, who commanded it, who ordered it, if anyone did, because the brothers claimed allegiance to al-qaeda, and islamic states, but no source of

orders has ever been discovered or spoken about. so this is very important, this trial, particularly for the families, and they heard it was very cathartic to be able to hear it all explained and the eyewitness testimony to be given and for convictions to be made and due process, but there are some questions. thank you very much indeed. let's shift from paris to send a the us now — congress is reportedly close to agreeing a new covid—19 stimulus package. this bill is expected to provide $900 billion — which fund a range of things including extending unemployment benefits and providing help to small businesses. it is also said to include aid to state and local governments — something that had been a point of contention between democrats and republicans. gary 0'donoghue joins us now from washington. gary, how did they get over this disagreement, particularly around state aid? well, i think they both

had to compromise, actually. the democrats may not be getting the extend door the nature of the aid they were hoping for. it may come with strings attached. it may be that those states and cities won't be able to spend it in the particular way that they wanted and it may be quite significant controls on us, but of course, the republicans have also had to drop pa rt republicans have also had to drop part or all of one of their wishes which was a liability shield for businesses who were facing, they said, potential litigation on the basis of the pandemic, etc. so both sides have had to compromise. yes, there does seem like there will be pa rt there does seem like there will be part of this deal that will involve direct payments to americans. you remember last time, $1200, we are 110w remember last time, $1200, we are now to 160 million americans. we are not —— it's not good to be that much this time we are told, but the progressives and democrats and some republicans are arguing hard for at least something to go directly to

the american people in terms of a check. and disability to get up bipartisan deal done, gary, is that evidence of a shifting tone in washington, or reading too much into it? i think that might be going a bit far. i think there are some political issues and momentum around this for various reasons. one is that they do need to get a spending bill passed before christmas before friday night, in fact, otherwise there will be a government shutdown, imagine how well that would go down with the american people at this point in time. so that is one particular impetus for both parties, but i think there is some realisation that there is a real need out there, and things like unemployment insurance and the various programmes of support of businesses to pay their workers is basically running out of the end of the year, not just basically running out of the end of the year, notjust that's but rent supports other programmes that people have been relying on, millions of americans have been

relying on our coming to an end, and i think there's a sense that they really can't leave people in that kind of position given the nature of the pandemic at the moment. stay with me if you would come because while congress has been debating the new covid—19 stimulus package, there's been a lot of attention on one person's individual intervention. mackenzie scott is the ex—wife of amazon founderjeff bezos — and she's donated $4.2 billion dollars in the last four months to food banks and emergency relief funds. she says she wants to help americans during the pandemic. mackenzie scott is the world's 18th—richest person — and her wealth has recently risen from over $23 billion this year to over $60 billion — primarily because of sharp rises in amazon's stock value. we're told the donation is being split between 380 charities. one of them is called all our kin — it describes its work as supporting educators in connecticut and new york city. here's its ceo. we know the toll that this pandemic has taken on not only the health but economic stability of families.

we have seen women who are forced to leave the workforce. we have seen that these are disproportionately black and brown women. we have also seen, again, how childcare providers often black and brown women whose labour has historically been undervalued have been asked to shoulder a burden in this pandemic that no one should be asked to take on, from jeopardising their own health to care for children to taking on personal debt to keep programmes going so that families have access to ca re. and, of course ,the context to all of this is covid—19 continues to sweep through the us. over 300,000 people have already died. and yesterday over 3000 further deaths were recorded. this graph from the financial times breaks the deaths down into regions, and across the country there was a severe uptick in deaths in recent weeks the route out of this situation is of course a vaccine. these are military and health care personnel receiving the newly approved pfizer—biontech jab. the aim is to get nearly

three million doses delivered by the end of the week — but it will be months before it's available to the general public. gary 0'donoghue joins us again from washington. is there any let up, any hope in these daily statistics in terms of these daily statistics in terms of the scale of the pandemic at the moment? no, there isn't, not in terms of the numbers at the moment. we saw more 3000 deaths yesterday. the numbers of infections are rising as well. now, of course, lots of people are being tested, but the number of people being hospitalised is going up, and that's well over 110,000 at the moment. that may be, we may be seeing some of the effect of thanksgiving and the fear that there would be a lot of spread of there would be a lot of spread of the virus during thanksgiving and people getting together, and of course, the fear now is that with christmas coming, that trend may get a supercharge from people getting together over the festive period as

well. the vaccine won't happen quick enough to puts a stop on that. though, by directing it towards nursing homes and front line health ca re nursing homes and front line health care workers, that may start to flatten the curve in terms of deaths, because disproportionately, the deaths have been in those kinds of institutions. gary, thank you very much for the moment. speak to tomorrow, no doubt. president electjoe biden has been nominated more members of his cabinet. his one time rival pete buttigieg was a centralfigure in the biden campagin — and is now his nominee for transportation secretary. if confirmed, pete buttigieg would be the first openly gay person to be approved for a cabinet post in the us. and at 38, he'll also be one of the youngest members ofjoe biden‘s cabinet, atjust 38. here he is accepting the nomination. travel in my mind is synonymous with growth, with adventure, even love, so much so that i proposed to my husband

in an airport terminal. don't let anyone tell you that 0'hare isn't romantic. and i want to take this chance to think and for every thing that he gives and everything that he sacrifices to support me in public service. with more on the history between joe biden and pete buttigieg, here's debra alfarone from cbs news. we are now pretty friendly, they get along pretty well, but there were sometimes on the campaign trail when they were both running on the democratic ticket for president when maybe they had butted heads, and in fact, one time, there was a campaign add that biden had put out there, that his campaign had put out there, that poked a little bit of fun at buttigieg's experience or lack thereof in that campaign add, of course. so, now, the two of them, they are certainly close, they are friendly, and this is going to be announced today. diversity is very important to president—elect joe biden, and as you can see by many of his picks, again, this is a milestone for the lgbtq community.

before we go — an extraordinary raid donald trump will still be present well into january, the back half of january when president—elect joe biden becomes president. now, just before we wrap up this are, here is, extraordinary raid for peru, lv helper who actually undercover police officers arrived equipped for a sledgehammer to tier down an alleged drug dealer because my friend draught of the suspect had been restrained, some handcuffs were quickly unwrapped to complete the arrest, followed by the discovery of cannabis, cocaine, and a handgun. i needed a fuller expiration is why they've dressed christmas as... and an elf, but it proved effective. if you would like to see that a second timer centre to summon ostomy combined that through our bbc news app or through the bbc news website. in the second half of the programme, we are going to bring you our daily update on the brexit trade talks.

there isn't a deal yet, but still plenty to talk about. hello there. the weather is remaining very unsettled. we've had another dose of wet and windy weather sweeping in from the atlantic today. now, that rain did clear away from the southwest in time to give us a lovely sunset here, for example, in bristol. but if we look out in the atlantic — where our weather is coming from — there is more cloud massing out towards the west, and that will come into some western areas later on tomorrow. that was the cloud that gave us the rain earlier on today. that weather front is taking that wet weather out into the north sea, and that low—pressure is moving away. so, the wet weather that we've seen across northern ireland and scotland is turning more showery. 0vernight, we will keep some showers across the western side of the uk in particular, some of them still heavy. but there will be some clearer spells developing as well, and it will be turning a bit cooler too. not that cold, really, for the time of year, but temperatures could be as low

as 3—4 degrees. now, tomorrow morning, it's really a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers, mostly showers in the west, particularly across western scotland. those showers, though, do tend to ease down through the day, because cloud will be moving in from the west, and we will see rain arriving in northern ireland in the afternoon. as that wetter weather starts to arrive, so we will start to see those winds picking up and turning rather blustery. further east, though, looks a decent day, actually, some sunshine continuing across eastern scotland and eastern parts of england. temperatures here about nine degrees, maybe a few degrees higher as you head further west into that cloud and eventually rain as well. that first weather front there will bring some wetter weather into the uk during tomorrow night. the rain then tends to peter out as it heads towards the southeast. the next one is hot on its heels. so we are just continuing this very unsettled theme. a lot of cloud around, a bit of dampness in eastern areas. it's in the west that we will see the more persistent rain, that's going to turn heavier over some of the hills in the southwest of england, south wales, threatening some further flooding. may have some brighter skies for a while in northeastern

scotland, northeast england. we will have a strong southerly wind, which is why we are seeing such high temperatures, and we could make 15 degrees in the northeast of wales. that very mild air probably won't last too much longer, mind you, because it will be swept away during saturday as we start to introduce a little bit cooler, not cold by any means, there will be some rain to clear away from eastern england first thing on saturday, and then the weekend is going to be a mixture of sunshine and showers, most of the showers in the west.

hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. the uk government tightens its advice for mixing of households, for christmas. a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas and a shorter christmas is a safer christmas. the prime minister urges people to "exercise extreme caution" — although he's not changing the actual rules for england. scotland and wales are however introducing tighter coronavirus restrictions. germany's gone into another lockdown, as almost 1,000 deaths are recorded there from the virus in a single day. the mayor of paris has been fined for breaching gender equality rules — it's because the city authority promoted too many women, to the leadership.

and my colleague rob watson's been asked about the brexit talks over and over here on the bbc — but it's all still an an enigma wrapped in a riddle. will there be a deal? we'll speak to the man with all the answers. i think it's a fool's error to judge the mood. i have absolutely no idea. he's just being modest. the eu now says there is a "path to a deal" and rob will fill us in. now to brexit trade talks. the messaging is becoming more positive. first from the eu's side here's ursula von der leyen. as things stand, i cannot tell you whether there will be a deal or not.

but i can tell you that there is a path to an agreement now. the path may be very narrow but the path is there. it is therefore our responsibility to continue trying. the good news is that we have found a way forward on most issues but this is now a case of us being so close and yet being so far away from each other. the deadline everybody is working towards is the 31st of december when the uk stops following most of the eu's rules and regulations. let's get a further update on brussels. ursula von der leyen says she sees a path to a deal. we don't know how long the parties. it doesn't look to be well lit. you can be sure there

are still some pitfalls along the way. but she did strike an optimistic note in some respects this morning, saying one of the three obstacles had now been overcome, and that the so—called governance of a future deal, policing a future deal. that leaves competition rules and fishing. 0n competition rules and fishing. 0n competition rules and fishing. 0n competition rules she said progress had been made, both sides promising not to go back on their current workers' rights or environmental or agricultural standards. but they don't know how both sides will operate independently in the future. when it comes to fishing, this is really difficult, she said. it may well be the case they are simply unable to resolve their differences. she said that out loud. clearly it's a message she wanted to send, we are in the middle of an intense negotiation. so in brussels they see it as one issue down, two to go. the uk government acknowledges progress but says it needs further compromise from brussels. here's borisjohnson. every hope i have that our friends and partners across the channel will

see sense and do a deal. for all that takes is for them to understand that takes is for them to understand that the uk has a natural right, like any other country, to want to be able to control its own laws and its own fishing grounds. given that both sides are more or less saying the same thing over and over, inevitably we all end up poring over any small differences in language to try to figure out what's really going on. on friday borisjohnson said: "it is looking very, very likely" there would be no deal. the talks were then extended beyond sunday. and much was read into a downing street spokesperson saying "no deal is a possible outcome" after that. then today the spokesperson is saying "it still remains the case that no trade deal is the most likely outcome" and this has been going on for months. guiding us through it all has been our ever present colleague rob watson. often i ask him to help me out, to highlight where this is going, to assess the chances of a deal. we noticed a pattern in his responses. we don't really know the answer to

that question. it is worth caveat in everything i have said or anybody else says that only a handful of people really know what's going on. any chance we will get wider things sorted out beyond the end of sunday? that's an easy one, i don't know. it's incredibly difficult to square that circle, whether that can be done over a meal, that circle, whether that can be done overa meal, i that circle, whether that can be done over a meal, i have no idea. it's a fool's to judge the mood until there is definitively a deal or "no deal". either is possible. 0nly or "no deal". either is possible. only one person to speak to now. rob watson. what can you answer on these brexit trade deals? chuckles you could answer which room you are in in your house. i've often thought the bbc and other organisations should do a lot more off—putting politicians, what they've said before, and confronting them with it. it's not quite so comfortable

when it is done to you as a journalist. monumental ignorance, and caution. ignorance isn't the problem. when you get to the final moments of a negotiation, both sides are saying things in public to try and influence the negotiations, and as such it becomes very difficult to discern where we have got to. absolutely. i guess that's why i've a lwa ys absolutely. i guess that's why i've always said in our chat is that one has to be very careful as to filter out all of the spin, and remind oneself that it is a bit like a night in vegas i want spent with my producer and a camera woman where we decided once we got to the roulette table, go red or black, because it is bound to be one of them, that's why i go back to my old chestnut that until those —— there is definitively a deal or "no deal", both outcomes are still possible. more positive messaging from the european union, talk of a path. how

do you see this possible landing zone working if there is a path? that's quite clear that both sides will have to give a bit. i imagine in the end it'll be the uk side that will have to give the most because it is ina will have to give the most because it is in a weaker position because of something we discussed before, which is the unity of the eu 27, which is the unity of the eu 27, which has surprised the uk government and the brexiteers. critics would say that's a miscalculation. no doubt the uk will have to accept that if it wants its sovereignty, and has to make it diversion from the eu rules and regulations, fair enough, but there will be a price for that. one suspects the eu will really have to give something on the fishing issue because obviously after the uk leaves the european union, leaves the transition, it will retain sovereignty over its waters. i mean, of course, the fish aren't aware of

that, neither are the people who eat it, but nonetheless i suspect that's the way it'll have to go. we will no doubt talk in the next few days as this story ebbs and flows. thanks very much. to nigeria — where schools across most of the north of the country have been closed. that's after hundreds of students were captured from a boarding school — with the islamist group, boko haram claiming responsibility. the abduction happened in katsina state, in the north—west of nigeria. around 800 students were at the all—boys seconday school when the attack happened. and at least 333 students are still missing. we're told discussions between the government and the kidnappers are happening. the bbc‘s mayenijones has the latest from katsina. the governor of katsina told us that pa rents of the governor of katsina told us that parents of one of the children were contacted once on monday since the kidnapping. the gun men demanded

money but they didn't say how much. they were also keen to stress that theissue they were also keen to stress that the issue of paying a ransom to these gun then was out of the question as it would only be an encouragement to them. this statement comes as schools across the north—west of the country are being shut down in response to the kidnapping. the teachers union in nigeria has also expressed its concern at the insecurity in schools. they say they will be going on strike if this situation isn't addressed. the mayor is on a personal visit in his neighbouring farm. it seems the strategy of the government at the moment is to deprive northern nigerian children ofan deprive northern nigerian children of an education rather than to protect the schools where they go. a chinese space capsule containing the first moon rocks collected in overfour decades has landed somewhere in inner mongolia.

the chang'e—5 probe spent three weeks in space, taking rocks and soil from the moon's "0cean of storms" — a vast lava plain. it's the first time fresh samples of moon rocks have been collected since the mid 1970's. science correspondent — jonathan amos. stay with us on 0utside source. quite an achievement. we were watching samples being back from an asteroid. we have delirious chinese scientists this evening. their capsule from chang'e—5 mission touchdown and inner mongolia a couple of hours ago. snow—covered grasslands, it was in the dark, but they eventually found the capsule. we first saw it on infrared cameras. then the ground teams could move in and set themselves around the capsule. they will be spending the

next few hours preparing to take that capsular wave to a laboratory where they will be able to open it up where they will be able to open it up and see what's inside. —— capsule away too. we are expecting two kilos of moon rock for the scientists to pore over. aside the technical achievement of getting to the moon and back with something from the service, what are the chinese hoping to learn with what they've brought back? well, this is a very complex mission. you have a series of elements that went in to getting the samples back, getting into lunar orbit, going down, landing, picking stuff up, then sending those back to lunar orbit, rendezvous in with an orbiter to bring the stuff back, and a return module in inner mongolia. those same steps is what you would use to bring people to and from the

moon safely. it's all very interesting. but the samples are also interesting because they are amongst the youngest samples we can expect to get back from the moon. the stuff the americans in particular with their apollo missions, they brought back to ancient examples, 3 billion, 4 billion years old, these materials we expect to be only1 billion years old. that gives us another data point as we try to understand the formation of the moon, it's sort of early history, the structure of the moon, what it looks like on the inside. i think everybody is going to be keen to see what in that capsule. thanks very much. more on that story on the bbc news website. stay with us on 0utside source. we will talk about a strange story from paris. the mayor has been fined for breaching gender equality rules after the city authority promoted to many women into leadership positions. —— too many.

let's get more from our correspondents on the restrictions across the uk over christmas. first, here's sian lloyd in cardiff. here in wales, tighter restrictions are on their way. nonessential shops and close contacts services such as hairdressers, together with fitness and leisure centres, must close from the end of trading on christmas eve. all hospitality venues must shut from six o'clock on christmas day. the five—day christmas covid—19 window which had already been agreed remains in place but the welsh government have told people here they can only form a christmas bubble of two households by law, although a single person can join them. from the 28th of december, wales goes into lockdown, which means people are expected to stay at home and public facilities will close. there is no end in sight to these restrictions but we are told they will be reviewed every few

weeks. here in scotland, the restrictions around christmas are already a little tighter than they are in other parts of the uk. only eight adults from three households should meet indoors, that total doesn't include children under 12, but the guidance today limit even more people are supposed to do. the scottish government says you should only meet on one of the five days of christmas. the amount of time, the number of people involved, should be as small as possible, and you should not stay in somebody else's house u nless not stay in somebody else's house unless it is absolutely necessary. also, travel between high—risk and low—risk areas should be avoided. the location of us in northern ireland means people have been given an extra couple of days for travelling over the christmas period. people told they may travel to and from northern ireland between the 22nd and the 28th of december. a narrower window, though, for that christmas bubble, people are allowed to meet up with other households

between the 23rd and the 27th of december, and it's up to three households that are able to form a christmas bubble. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is: the british government is telling people to keep christmas celebrations short and small to reduce the risk of spreading covid—19. the paris authorities are being fined 90,000 euros — that's over £109,000 — for promoting too many women to senior positions. the mayor of paris posted this video in reaction. translation: the city must pay a fine because it has appointed too many women into senior positions. 69% of the appointments went to women. 11 women and only five men.

the city of paris has all of a sudden become too feminist. this fine is clearly absurd. more than that, the fine is unfair, irresponsible, and dangerous. yes, we must vigorously and with determination promote more women because across france and there is still much inequality. so, yes, with the aim of one day reaching an equal number of women in senior positions as men, we must accelerate the promotion of women and make sure that more women than men are nominated to these positions. the fine was handed out because of a 2013 ruling that says no more than 60% of new appointments to management positions in public service should go to one sex. as you heard there from ms hidalgo, her recruitment drive saw 69% of the jobs go to women. france's public service minister amelie de mont—chalin also reacted: the cause of women deserves better!

we repealed this absurd provision in 2019. i want the fine paid by paris for 2018 to finance concrete actions to promote women in the public service. i invite you to the ministry to put these in place! and here's what the deputy mayor of paris said about paying the fine. translation: it will be an honour for all female workers in the city of paris to go and pay this fine. we will go together with the mayor. with all deputy mayers. and our male colleagues. we will go together to pay this fine, and we will be very proud to pay this fine. to put all this in context — currently across france, 25% of directors and heads of department are women. anne—elisabeth moutet is in paris.

are there people arguing that this fine is a good idea? know, everybody is in agreement that it is firstly ridiculous, and it is a huge, massive christmas present for the mayor who will be running for president in a year and a half, because it points her as being someone who actually did notjust promise women's equality, but did all sorts of things to try and batter the fate of —— better the fate of women in paris, especially putting women in areas of employment where there are historically few women, which is engineers and dustmen. but having this opportunity to go and pay this fine with her entire troops early in the year is a godsend for her. she is delighted. she said herself today, i am delirious with joy. so, she said herself today, i am delirious withjoy. so, it is

something... it is the french bureaucracy. it's very powerful. we have 40% of our gdp going to public servants. french bureaucrats have overshot themselves. the reason why the minister is now saying, please come along and we will launch something together, she was trying to sort of contain the political damage that had been caused by this mistake. and the mayor was happy about it, a political gift as you described it, but someone back in 2013 thought this was a good idea. was the original law designed to stop too many men being promoted, or was it actually designed to stop too many men or women being promoted? the unintended consequences of the

law is this. it was voted in for both the private and the public sector. i cannot think of a single company where there are more women executives than men because there are very executives than men because there are very often more executives than men because there are very often more women executives than men because there are very often more women in menial jobs as assistants, secretaries, service, you name it, you have women in it, but it was something that was aimed at executives within a company. putting this to the civil serva nts company. putting this to the civil servants might have been a mistake because mostly the french civil service, including the top reaches, you know, they come from one or two schools in france, and these have had a sort of equal intake of men and women for years. again, this is something that hadn't been thought through, but it had good intentions. some people might be surprised to hear me say at the beginning that only 25% of senior figures within public service in france are women. are there broader plans beyond the

law we are discussing, are there broader plans to address that urgently? in terms of the civil service, it's going to be a... it's a question of generations. really, you can see the directors, the administrations within the french civil service, that evenly spread. but if you look at the 440, i don't think there is a single woman in that area. there was a news magazine in france which has been publishing for years. in france which has been publishing for yea rs. every in france which has been publishing for years. every week the business page has something like, how does this company run. you will have women at the top, —— you will have one man at the top, followed by several men, then maybe a head of hr, but then men. having it the

other way round almost never happens. thank you. did you see earlier in the week, the investigative website bellingcat published a detailed account of how the russian state carried out the posioning of the opposition politician alexei navalny? well russia has dismissed that as "entertaining". that's the first official comment since the story came out three days ago. this is alexei navalny — he's an anti—corruption campaigner and a major critic of vladimir putin. and he was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok whilst boarding a flight in siberia in august. before that he's been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for leading anti—government protests. this is from a rally in moscow last year where he called for the release of political prisoners. well bellingcat‘s story says they've identified three operatives from the russina security service - the fsb. and it reports that they say travelled alongside alexei navalny repeatedly — eventually tailling him to the city

of tomsk where he was poisoned. and bellingcat has published the names and photographs of the fsb operatives. bellingcat says two are doctors. the bbc hasn't been able to put the allegations to these men ourselves. bellingcat says fsb operatives shadowed mr navalny on 30 flights in total. olga ivshina from bbc russian has more. this investigation was based on information that belling had got and it's information that belling had got and its partners who got from russian databases which were got from the black market. —— bellingcat got from its partners. you have to get this information and crosscheck it. the amount of data presented by bellingcat and its partners is quite sufficient and it gives you food for thought. they presented meta data from cell phones, and shows that there are around eight people who seem to be involved with the russian

security service, and they were following his troops around russia for the past four years. the kremlin hadn't responded. but russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was asked about the story during a trip to the czech republic. translation: all this news is funny to read. but the manner in which the news is presented says only one thing, that our western partners lack any ethical standards. it shows a lack of skills for normal diplomatic work, and an unwillingness to comply with international legal laws when it comes to establishing facts. alexei navalny received treatment in germany after the attack, and spent more than a month in hospital. his response to this story was to tweet "case closed". lets get more from olga ivshina on the reaction from russia. reaction of russian foreign minister was quite usual. he said it was a joke. he said this was a provocation. what is interesting, russia isn't presenting its own version of events. not only today or yesterday, but russian officials

prefer yesterday, but russian officials p refer to yesterday, but russian officials prefer to say may be he poisoned himself, maybe he was poisoned in germany, and vladimir putin said if the russian is not dead there is no need to open a criminal case. what's interesting is that this investigation is widely discussed on russian social media but points of view depend on whether they oppose or support the kremlin. pro—kremlin people say such an investigation is impossible without the participation of foreign security services, and if they did participate they could create whatever evidence they wanted, but a sufficient number of people were impressed by the evidence presented by bellingcat and their partners. what is interesting as they say it is amazing how much data it is and how easy it is to get it. thanks forjoining us. more information on all of the stories we cover on the bbc news app. i will

see you very cover on the bbc news app. i will see you very soon. cover on the bbc news app. i will see you very soon. goodbye. hello there. the weather is remaining very unsettled. we've had another dose of wet and windy weather sweeping in from the atlantic today. now, that rain did clear away from the southwest in time to give us a lovely sunset here, for example, in bristol. but if we look out in the atlantic — where our weather is coming from — there is more cloud massing out towards the west, and that will come into some western areas later on tomorrow. that was the cloud that gave us the rain earlier on today. that weather front is taking that wet weather out into the north sea, and that low—pressure is moving away. so, the wet weather that we've seen across northern ireland and scotland is turning more showery. overnight, we will keep some showers across the western side of the uk in particular, some of them still heavy. but there will be some clearer spells developing as well, and it will be turning a bit cooler too. not that cold, really, for the time of year, but temperatures could be as low

as 3—4 degrees. now, tomorrow morning, it's really a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers, mostly showers in the west, particularly across western scotland. those showers, though, do tend to ease down through the day, because cloud will be moving in from the west, and we will see rain arriving in northern ireland in the afternoon. as that wetter weather starts to arrive, so we will start to see those winds picking up and turning rather blustery. further east, though, looks a decent day, actually, some sunshine continuing across eastern scotland and eastern parts of england. temperatures here about nine degrees, maybe a few degrees higher as you head further west into that cloud and eventually rain as well. that first weather front there will bring some wetter weather into the uk during tomorrow night. the rain then tends to peter out as it heads towards the southeast. the next one is hot on its heels. so we are just continuing this very unsettled theme. a lot of cloud around, a bit of dampness in eastern areas. it's in the west that we will see the more persistent rain, that's going to turn heavier over some of the hills in the southwest

of england, south wales, threatening some further flooding. may have some brighter skies for a while in northeastern scotland, northeast england. we will have a strong southerly wind, which is why we are seeing such high temperatures, and we could make 15 degrees in the northeast of wales. that very mild air probably won't last too much longer, mind you, because it will be swept away during saturday as we start to introduce a little bit cooler, not cold by any means, there will be some rain to clear away from eastern england first thing on saturday, and then the weekend is going to be a mixture of sunshine and showers, most of the showers in the west.

this is bbc news, i'm kasia madera. the headlines at 8pm... 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. have yourselves a merry little christmas. i'm afraid this year, i do mean little. the welsh government says only two households can now meet over christmas, and the nation will go into full lockdown from 28 december. 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 of covid restrictions this evening.