coronavirus vaccine shot on live tv, to encourage people to have the injection. mr pence said he wanted to reassure the public, calling the vaccine "a medical miracle". it's confirmed that president—electjoe biden will receive his jab on monday. a damning report hasjust been published by the us senate, saying boeing officials "inappropriately coached" test pilots during re—certification tests after two fatal boeing 737 max crashes. the report also says boeing officials sought to cover up ‘important information‘ that contributed to the crashes. the spread of covid—19 is accelerating in the uk — with the crucial r number now back above one. health leaders are warning of significant pressure on the health service in the lead up to christmas and hospitals across the south east of england have begun cancelling non urgent operations. despite the rising number of covid infections,

on christmas day up to three households are being allowed to mix in england, scotland and northern ireland, with slightly tigher rules in wales. around half the population is planning to form a bubble with friends or relatives for christmas — according to research by the office for national statistics. our home editor mark easton reports. the season to be jolly, careful since the prime minister, how will britain celebrate christmas in the strangest of yea rs 7 christmas in the strangest of years? and what is peoples reactions to the decision to relax the regulations on festive get—togethers just as the pandemic threatens to overwhelm parts of the nhs? with the help of analysts, they have assembled a focus group of people from across the uk. seasons greetings to all, i'm interested to know how your

christmas plans have changed and specifically, how many people will you be sitting down with a christmas dinner. there will be seven. there will be six of us. six. five. four of us. by myself, so one. i work in the nhs, so i don't really want to put anybody at risk, so for that pure reason, i've decided that i want to spend christmas alone. that's very noble, i have to say. this year, there willjust be the two of us, and there's no point in getting a turkey for two, so we'll probably just have chicken. we are actually planning to have our christmas dinner outside, hoping that it doesn't rain. what, in the garden?! yes, so, our plan is to have two little tables outside, distanced, and have lots of blankets and maybe

a little fire. what do you all think about the government's plans to relax the restrictions so that family and friends can come together, albeit with this warning to be especially careful? i don't think it's a good thing. i think we will pay the price for it come january. natalie, you are nodding, i can see. i think they should have just left it down on lockdown through the whole of the christmas period, and then start up, like, 2021, a fresh year. if there had been a lockdown christmas, people would have just said, "no, to hell with it, it's christmas." at least this way, there's guidance. the vast majority of people will be responsible and mature about it, but you'll get that minority who think, "well, i can, so i'm going to." and if there were no rules in place, it would be anarchy. thisjust seems like another massive super spreader event that's been endorsed by the government. they don't want to be the people who cancel christmas. i think it's a big mistake. part of me‘s really looking forward to christmas, because i'm a big kid and i love christmas. i'm buzzing for it. honestly, the one thing that has been getting me through this entire year is, christmas is coming. well, thank you to all of you for your time and your opinions. however you celebrate, i wish you a peaceful, a merry, and of course,

a safe christmas. now, on bbc news it's time for italy's sunken city. the roman settlement of baiae was the las vegas of the roman empire. a place where the rich and powerful came to relax, party and carry out illicit affairs. lured by baiae‘s volcanic hot springs, the romans built opulent villas and baths here on the gulf of naples. today, it is still famed for its precious marbles, mosaics and sculptures. ancient authors wrote a lot about baiae and described baiae as a place for the holiday, grounded with the aristocracy and also with the young people, with people working on the beach, working on the sea, they were drinking wine.

a fun atmosphere, sounds like a party town. exactly. but over several centuries, the city slowly sunk beneath the sea. this is more dangerous than there. i wish yoy told me that when we were over there. why did you tell me that when we're here? the underwater site is a treasure trove of mosaics and marbles dating back 2000 years. but today, they are at risk. now, a team of archaeologists and engineers are developing some surprising new technologies to protect the underwater site forfuture generations.

we know baiae as the underwater city. baiae is not an underwater city, it is kilometres of the ancient waterfront that is now underwater because of the change of sea level. you can see underwater, the remains of the villas and also the remains of marble streets, shops. is there anything else like that in the world? i do not think that you can find other underwater archaeological sites like baiae. baiae on the gulf of naples is one of the most extraordinary ancient sites in italy. the romans came here for the same reasons we do. the sparkling mediterranean, the weather, the lush vegetation. they were also drawn to the areas thermal springs. the result of the volcanic activity beneath their feet.

as the roman republic lapsed into empire, baiae‘s reputation on the crew. in ad 39, caligula built a bridge made up of merchant ships linked together and then covered with earth and baiae to nearby pozzuoli. three miles long and rode over it in a chariot. and in ad 59, nero had his mother murdered in her villa here. the later emperor adrian would have a more peaceful end to his life, dying of natural causes in his baiae palace in ad 138. university of naples archaelogist michele stefanie showed me around. baiae was a luxury resort. with incredible architectures connected with the most eminent men of the imperial times. the ancient authors

wrote a lot about baiae and they described baiae as a place for the holiday, a place crowded with all the aristocracy, but also young people, people working on the beach and looking to the sea, people drinking wine. a fun atmosphere, it sounds like a party town. exactly. people like seneca decided to have his villa not in baiae but on a hill in that direction. just to stay a little bit away. it's too loud for him. exactly. and when did this whole area disappear? we know that after this, this part of the territory of the region was abandoned. how much to the water level rise? it depends on the part of baiae but somewhere between four and six metres. wow.

yes, very big change. that is why you can see underwater, not only the floors, but also the sites in the world for this concentration from the roman times underwater. so, you can ride on the water and read the mystery about 5 or 6 centuries long. tell me what happened how did it get submerged? the history of the change of the sea level in this territory is connected with the volcanic activity. most of us have heard of mount vesuvius. but it turns out there is another volcanic zone near naples. this area is more dangerous than... i wish you told me that when we were over there. why are you telling me that we were here?

this area is still active. it is also why baiae is now underwater. the movement of magma underground actually sank the ancient cities ground. campi flegrei is one of the 29th super

campi flegrei is one of the 20 known super volcanoes on the planet. capable of corrupting with the volume thousands of times stronger than an average volcano. vincenzo tells me that if it were to blow at maximum capacity today, it would make

the ad79 eruption of mount vesuvius that destroyed pompeii look like a puppies sneeze.

carmine minopoli is a researcher at the national institute of geophysics and volcanology.

he walked me through how the monitoring system works, but before he did, we spoke in one of the stranger places i've ever done an interview. inside a building that had been abandoned because of the heat and gases caused by the volcanic vents beneath it.

all of that volcanic activity remains today. but it is also what put baiae underwater 5000 but it is also what put baiae underwater 1500 years ago. the water has helped preserve the artefacts, but it can also damage them. barbara, director of the unit of underwater archaeology at italy's high institute for conservation and restoration, has been working at baiae since 1993. so 1500 years it's been underwater. what does the sea water do? to artefacts over such a long period of time? archaeologically, we are protected under the water, thanks to the sea. but if they are on the sea

bed, open, so not covered by the sand, they are attacked by marine organisms. we call bio erosion. there are sponges and bacteria, also bivalve animals, organisms, so there is a big variety. some artefacts that a re recovered from the sea are completely destroyed or partially destroyed or sometimes we have found that the net income of destroyed or sometimes we have found that the neck or the head, the hand is lost. and all the portion of the statues that are covered by sand are in good condition. concerning the mosaics for example, we can see some that are old don't look so dangerous for the artefacts,

but if we analyse with a microscope these holes, we will see that inside the stone, the hole is not small but is big, large. and the monitoring of the site is the solution of this. at the archaeological museum of campi flegrei, one piece of artwork shows the damage animals can do. while it is common to see ancient statues missing arms or heads, the items in this collection are different. a veiled woman has been covered with what almost look like pock marks. a base with a dedication to emperor hadrian loses all shape at the top, like a half melted candle. this 7a cm statue of zeus on his throne dating to the first century bc is covered

with what looks like white scrawlings. the remnants of marine and crustaceans. but these organisms were not his only challenge. the zeus was likely stolen from the sea by looters. he wound up in the collection of the] paul getty museum in los angeles, acquired by a curator later indicted for conspiracy to traffic in illegal antiquities. he was returned to the campi flegrei museum in 2018. the other sculptures in the museum are now safe from marine organisms. but the artefacts that remain below the sea, including the precious largest collection of underwater roman mosaics in the world, remain at risk. finally it was time for me to go down and see it for myself. i was invited to join the team testing new technologies to help better monitor the erosion, but also

to help the public engage with the site in new ways. she is professor of computer science at the university of rome. and the interdisciplinary project site coordinator. she is behind one of the more ambitious aspects of this. it's underwater wireless sensory networks. so, what are the technologies you are testing here this week? this week, we are testing underwater drones supporting archaeologists in discovering the site. we are testing underwater wireless sensor networks that allow real—time data on the conservation status of the site. the water quality, the c02 because here we have very active volcanic activity and is important to know what's happening there. and also images that we can transmit in

real time compressed through algorithms from the underwater environment. these innovations represent a major change from how things were done in the past. they mean that information and pictures about any problems with the site, like erosion or even looting, can be communicated much more quickly. not only can underwater archaeologists communicate while they are diving, but we can get data in a time about the site, even when archaeologists are not there. so, we have also developed a system for divers. 0n the other hand, we are able to localise and we have developed a way to represent how these underwater sites were in the past using virtual reality so you can actually have an enhanced experience visiting the site. and you can also track in a whatsapp like matter with the rest of the divers and once

on the other side of the planet and exchange images or exchange your feelings even when you are diving. the way this is being done is through an underwater internet. that's more difficult than it sounds. wi—fi, for example, does not travel far underwater. instead, the team came up with the idea of using acoustics inspired by marine mammals. so, you have to use a different way of communicating for very short range, a few metres, which is short range in this environment, you can use wireless optical. but mostly you have to use the way of communicating marine mammals, so you need to use acoustic communication. and this is challenging because the sea parameters may change. the temperature and salinity change. and this affects the way communication works.

and it's also a ship passing by, like, we have now or water motorbike, this affects the ability to communicate. even the wind rising so that changes the communication and there are no longer able to communicate. so, it's very complex, but we came up with an idea. let's have mesh networks, like multi—networks, and less huge artificial intelligence techniques to keep changing, the product we use some of the route the information flow has to go through, the parameters of our communication system. and we came up with some fundamental understanding and it works. what was not possible before is now possible in terms of performance, presenting even more information like images, in terms of real ability of communicating. and this is a gorgeous application in underwater archaeology and this is going to change actually whatever we are able to do in terms of exploring and

understanding these environments across the world. under the water, a whole world opens up. the sculpture here are replicas. the real ones are safe above ground in near archaeological museum. but the other artefacts, from the walls to mosaics, are original. as we swam, statues began to appear out of the water. this was the nymphaian of emperor claudius, a place where the first century ruler would have strolled and admired his sculptures. i pressed a button on my tablet and held it up. a 3d version of how the nymphaian would've looked appeared on screen. this is one of the other main goals. to help divers understand and

appreciate the ruins they are looking at. but the best was yet to come. my dive guide stopped on the sea floor and started to push the sand around. with each sweep of his hand, more of the mosaic revealed itself until we were hovering over on intricate patterns of circles and hexagons. this was once the floor of a room just off the atrium of a magnificent villa dating to the second century. there is nothing quite like seeing ancient ruins like this. for one thing, there's the eerie silence of being underwater. hearing only your own breathing. for another, there is the intimacy. forget the crowds at sites like the colosseum, down here, where only scuba divers can go, you can experience this ancient

landscape almost alone. and knowing that it's being protected for future generations could not be a better feeling. the team install the monitoring system at baiae permanently in summer2020. the project is also being unrolled elsewhere, including at an ancient underwater site in puglia. it's a privilege to see it all in person and to learn how these innovations could dramatically improve the way the site is preserved and archaeologists and experienced by travellers.

hello. friday brought us another wet and windy day. the rainfall was particularly heavy and persistent in the west. river levels have been rising across parts of wales, south west england, scotland, too. this was the picture in ceredigion. we've had plenty of flood warnings around, and there could still be a bit of disruption with flooding as we head into the weekend

because there's a bit more rain in the forecast. it won't be persistent. there will be scattered showers and some sunshine in between as well. so, friday's rainfall was courtesy of this cold front, which is going to be clearing away towards the east. low pressure to the north—west of the uk, so showers rotating around that area of low pressure. and the winds coming in from a slightly cooler direction, so the bluer colours returning to the map. still mild for the time of year, but not as mild as it has been. so we start saturday, then, the early hours, some rain across eastern england which slowly pushes out of the way, and then a return to sunnier skies and plenty of scattered, blustery showers blowing in. always most frequent in the west and along the south coast as well. gusts of wind around about 30—a0 mph for some of us, perhaps touching 50 mph around those exposed coasts in the south west. a blustery sort of day. again, mild but not as mild as it has been, with temperatures about 10—11 degrees for most of us, could see 12 celsius there down towards the south east. there could be some hail and some thunder mixed in with some of the scattered, blustery showers as they rattle through on that brisk breeze.

they're going to continue overnight, so clear spells and scattered showers moving through into sunday. it is going to be a slightly cooler night than we've seen recently, still frost—free, really, across the board with temperatures getting down to around about 5—7 degrees first thing sunday morning. through the day on sunday, pretty similar to what we'll see on saturday. again, some sunshine, some scattered showers, perhaps fewer showers compared to saturday and it looks like they will tend to fade away later on in the afternoon. a touch cooler as well, temperatures around about 8—11 degrees on sunday. the next patch of rain waiting there in the wings. moving on into monday, looks like this area of rain, a low pressure system, will move its way in from the west. some uncertainty about exactly how far north that gets as we head into the middle part of the coming week, but it is looking unsettled to start this coming week, certainly some rain, some blustery conditions to come around about wednesday. headed towards christmas eve and christmas day, things turn a little bit drier and a little bit cooler, too. there could be a bit more flooding for the first part of this coming week, and then cooler and drier conditions by the time we get to christmas. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: italy imposes a nationwide lockdown over christmas and new year as it tries to halt the sharp rise in coronavirus infections. we must intervene. but i assure you, this is not an easy decision. a warning from doctors in the uk as the spread of covid—i9 accelerates with the crucial r number now back above one. more than 300 schoolboys freed from their kidnappers in nigeria are now reunited with theirfamilies. a us senate report finds that boeing officials "inappropriately coached" test pilots during a review of the 737 max aircraft after two fatal crashes. sony halts the worldwide sale of one of the most highly

anticipated video games of all time, cyberpunk 2077,