welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston, our top stories. dozens of people and travel from britain as a new coronavirus strain leads to a record in daily confirmed cases. we will explain how the virus has mutated. a $900 billion shot against coronavirus, republicans and democrats and months of wrangling to agree on a financial relief package for americans. make no mistake about it, this agreement is far from perfect, but it will deliver emergency relief to a nation in the throes of a genuine emergency. i have seen this drug on the battlefields of iraq, syria, libya, but i have never seen it in these quantities before.

we're with italy's drugs squad as they burn a record haul of an amphetamine from syria. european nations have begun to apply travel bands with the uk after it reported a more for —— more infectious and out—of—control coronavirus variant. the european union ambassadors are said to meet for emergency talks on monday to work at a common strategy. separately, the borisjohnson a minister will chair a meeting also on monday to discuss international travel. in particular, the flow of freight in and out of britain. laurie is grounded, passengers are deleted. as europeans try

to present —— protect themselves from this variant. the netherlands with the first to ban all passenger flights from the uk until the first of january and now ferry passengers, too. elgin has suspended flights and train arrivals from the uk for 2h hours. —— belgium. ireland has announced a 48—hour ban on flights arriving from the uk. france has banned all travel routes, that is air, sea and road, including freight. germany has banned planes landing from the uk, as has switzerland. the czech republic and bulgaria has suspended flights to and from the uk until the 31st of january. in restless a nd until the 31st of january. in restless and ever—growing list, turkey has, too. as well as banning flights from denmark and the netherlands and south africa. for the travel industry, this is devastating. european countries are looking at their own health systems and the potential threat to those

health systems. uk government has to build confidence, with the travelling public and the travel industry. and there are even more countries likely to follow suit. italy's foreign minister says it is about to suspend flights from the uk. austria is planning a travel ban. the swedish government says it will introduce one as soon as possible. with estonia set to follow in lithuania. with norway considering restrictions on uk arrivals, to stop madrid says it is at strengthening tests at the airport since ports for uk arrivals. further afield, kuwait has banned flights arriving from the united kingdom, and officials and scientists in canada says they are considering what action to take. since the new virus variant was detected in the uk in september, it has also been detected in the netherlands,

denmark, italy and australia. this all comes at a bad time, not just for this all comes at a bad time, notjust for britain, days away from the end of its transition period with the eu, but the wider world, days after getting on the front foot with a vaccine rollout, now days later, that link to contain this sting in the tail. mark lobel this sting in the tail. mark lobel, bbc news. and in the last few moments, it has just been announced that canada will also now hold flights from the uk. after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress has reached an agreement on the $900 billion coronavirus relief package was not the deal includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus for billions of americans who are lost their jobs because of the pandemic put up announcing the agreement — the republican leader in the us senate, mitch mcconnell,

said the american people should know they would not now be battling the crisis alone. we can finally report what our nation has needed to hearfor a very long time. more help is on the way. moments ago, in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the senate and the house finalised an agreement. it would be another major rescue package for the american people... chuck schumer who leads the democrats in the senate said this was a start but only a start. this bill is a good bill, tonight is a good night, but it is not the end of the story, it is not the end of the job. anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what's going on in america, does not look into the eyes of a small business owner who's losing his business. peter bowes has more. this is desperately needed by so many americans, it is the seconds largest stimulus bill in american history, second only

to the one you just mentioned, that one that was passed in march which was eventually worth more than $2 trillion, so not quite as much money involved this time, but it does mean there will be extra payments to the unemployed, there will be fixed sums sent out to many, many americans, there will be help for students who can't pay their loans. there's be assistance for farmers and for schools and the list goes on. it really is quite wide in terms of the institutions, the small businesses and of course individuals that this is designed to help. this comes after weeks and months of back and forth. what's the rollout pattern for this stimulus package? it could be very quick. initially, of course, this is a bill, it has to be passed in the house under the senate. that could happen in the next 2a hours. it has to be signed by the president and we know that donald trump had been urging congress to reach an agreement so there is no indication that he would 0ur hold up things as far as signing the bill is concerned. and once it comes into law, it could just be a matter of days, perhaps as early as next week, before some of those payments

actually go out to people who really desperately need them, and of course we're going through christmas, we're going to a very difficult time as far as the pandemic is concerned, right across the country it is getting worse, and i'm in los angeles in california where some hospitals are reporting that they have no intensive care beds available. so problems on many fronts for americans but this is some positive news. and peter, this comes as the news that president—electjoe biden and doctorjill biden, his wife, are due to receive the coronavirus vaccine on monday. we've seen in the last few days a number of high—profile politicians having the jab, we had mike pence, the vice president, on friday, and as you said, joe biden and his wife this week will do the same. it's said that this is necessary because there is still a significant number of americans who are sceptical, who are nervous about taking the vaccine, having the vaccine, many on principle, they oppose all vaccines. and many people, including mr

biden, trying to get the message out that this is absolutely essential. if america can reach what's known as herd immunity where enough people are immune to the virus to eventually stop it. mrtrump mr trump suggested that china, not russia, was behind a major hacking attack on us government agencies will stop mr romney says the data breach was extraordinarily damaging and demanded a responsible top authorities in afghanistan say at least eight people have been killed and 15 injured in a car bombing in the capital couple. the interior ministry says women and children are among the victims. the blast targeted a member of the afghan

parliament who survived —— kabul. it caused significant damage in nearby buildings. several rockets have been fired into the heavy full fortified green zone in baghdad where several embassies and government buildings are located, causing minor damage to residential buildings at the us embassy. the iraqi military has blamed what it called and outlaw group for the attack and said that one iraqi soldier was injured. pope francis has complained that consumerism has kidnapped christmas. in his last sunday blessing before the 25th of december, he told a crowd in st peter's square that there was no consumerism in the manger in bethlehem, only reality, poverty and love. the italian authorities have destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the amphetamine captagon. seized when shipments from syria were intercepted. it was part of a coordinated effort against a trade in lucrative narcotics likely

to be run by the syrian regime and its allies. captagon is used recreationally across the middle east but is also taken by militants fighting on the frontlines. 0ur correspondent quentin sommerville, gained exclusive access to the operation in naples. syria's walkin feel 1 million miles away in europe but tonight in naples it intrudes once again. syria's war can seem a million miles away from europe but tonight, in naples, it intrudes once again. italy's financial crimes police are on a night—time mission that has been months in the making. earlier this summer, they seized 1 billion euros of amphetamines. initially, they thought they came from the islamic state group. well, they weren't right about that. but tonight, they're taking those drugs to be incinerated. the drugs, which came from the syrian port of latakia, are under heavy guard, on a nine—hour journey to destruction. inside, an unprecedented haul — 85 million pills. syria's criminal regime, and its ally, hezbollah,

are deep in the drugs trade. but these drugs weren't meant for european streets. italy was only a stopover on the pills' long journey to libya. captagon, the amphetamine, is wildly popular in the arab world. it's used recreationally and by fighters too. colonel danilo tommo tells me, "this is the biggest haul we've ever found. the biggest in the world of captagon. looking at the amount, we think it would have flooded the entire market." i've seen this drug on the battlefields of iraq, syria, libya, but i've never seen it in these quantities

before. captagon is produced in syrian regime and here, in rebel—held areas. abu abdu, a fighter—turned—smuggler, explains the drug's effects. translation: fighters use it. if you have doubts, it brings courage and helps detach you from reality. the pills give you power, make you feel like a hero, so you can enter battle and fight, and not be scared. it's been a bad year for syria's drug smugglers. there's been a succession of seizures of their cargo. millions of pills in the last month alone. these pictures are from egypt. there, they were hidden in waterfilters. captagon fuels conflict, but it also fills the coffers of bashar al—assad's heavily sanctioned state. the growing number of seizures from the narcos of the middle east is another front in an effort to stop the flow of illegal riches reaching the syrian regime. quentin somerville, bbc news, naples.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come... not so slick business. how olive oil producers are struggling for workers to help with the harvest. music and chanting. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre

in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. the latest headlines. dozens of governments around the globe ban travel to and from the uk after the country detects a new more infectious variant of coronavirus. in the us congress and is months of wrangling to announce a $900 billion relief package for those hit hardest by the pandemic. joining me from washington is heather long, the economic correspondence, thank you very much for being with us.

$900 billion, it's a lot of money, but where is it going? the money is going to small business relief, millions of small businesses have had to close again as the coronavirus gets worse in the united states, the other big part of the package goes for the unemployed, so about 12 million americans were sent to lose unemployment aid at the end of the month, which would have been a very scary scenario. this extends most of that aid through mid—march and it actually gives people who are jobless and extra $300 each week. the final big part of the package that is getting a lot of buzz is about 160 million americans will receive a $600 payment from the government. this is meant to help them cover their expenses and make it through the winter, so there isa it through the winter, so there is a lot to go around, there is money to help pay for vaccines, to help schools reopen, to help public transit, so a big boost ofaid and public transit, so a big boost of aid and very much needed. public transit, so a big boost of aid and very much neededm it enough? you mentioned

unemployment numbers continuing to rise, and in someone's back pocket when you are feeding a family, it is maybe not enough to get you through? no doubt it took congress five months to agree on this, a number of businesses have closed forever, they have already been hurt and as we reported last week 8 million americans have fallen into poverty since the summer, so there have been real ramifications here, this aid is coming late, but better late than never. i think going forward the big concern is the us, much like the uk, were trying to get these vaccines out as fast as possible but in a country as big as the united states it's probably unlikely that most of the population will be vaccinated until the summer, and a lot of this aid ends in march, or early april, so what happens in april and may andjune, so what happens in april and may and june, until people feel co mforta ble may and june, until people feel comfortable enough to go back to restaurants comfortable enough to go back to restau ra nts a nd comfortable enough to go back to restaurants and to travel ain? to restaurants and to travel again? you mention this runs until march, and by then we

will have a new president and administration in the white house, any hints as to how they will address the long—term economic problems? president—elect biden has been very clear that he sees there is 900 billion isjust a starter. he would like to do more aid in the spring but it's very to do that as long as the senate is controlled by republicans, and we will know in early january the results of two run—off elections in georgia which will determine rather republicans keep control of the us senate. that said, president biden can do a lot on his own, he has talked about extending an eviction moratorium, which prevents people being forced out of their homes, this latest bill would extend that through the end of january, and would extend that through the end ofjanuary, and he will more than likely extend out several more months. may be able to do what president trump did in august and put a little bit more money towards the unemployed in april and may, but at the end of the day, congress holds the purse strings and it's hard to do a lot more money without congress

agreeing. heather, thank you so much for being with us. the sharply increasing number of cases in the uk is leading to the increase in cases of. catherine reports on what we know about the mutation and how it happened. since the pandemic restarted we have learned a lot about coronavirus but it has been learning about us as well. it's had practice at dealing with our immune systems and has developed an extra way of fighting us. this new variant. it has changed 23 times, many differences are linked to the all important spiked protein, the part of the virus that lets it bind onto human cells, so the worry is this mutation could make it easierfor the virus to infect us. doctors think this new variant could spread up to 70% faster, although that figure is just an estimate. scientist advising

the government also say it could increase the infection number which shows how the virus can spread between 0.4 and 0.9. when we find the virus, we are finding the virus in the nose and throat, and there are a higher amounts of virus, many people are more likely to be infectious and they would otherwise be and that's jo this they would otherwise be and that'sjo this means we need to read reiterate the social distancing measures. one key question is will vaccines still work against this? the vaccine trains us to recognise and react to the spiked protein of the virus, but it has changed, but we are talking about weeks rather than huge differences. scientist think the vaccines are now more than ever, the key to getting this under control. another question is are more people more likely to become very sick or even die if they get infected with this? so far, there is no evidence to show that there is variant causes more severe illness than any one single person, but it is

thought that somewhere between one and 101 in 150 people who get coronavirus will die from it, and is there is variant is more infectious, it could cause more infectious, it could cause more cases, and so, more deaths. we have already seen ambulances queueing outside of hospitals, and some trusts are cancelling routine surgery as they struggle to cope with the pandemic and winter pressures. now, this is well. we have 11,000 beds if fewer than last year because of infection control and of the remaining beds, 16,000 of them are occupied by covid patients, that's 2000 more than eight days ago, so what chief executives are saying to us is it will be a nailbiting week to ten days while they see whether these new measures will have these new measures will have the desired impact. until enough of us have been vaccinated, best way to stop this virus spreading is to stick to social distancing, where our masks, wash our hands and to cut contact with other

people. the increased rate of infection has led to many parts of the uk being in a new lockdown, but will people observe the rules? joining me now is the professor of psychology and behavioural economics at duke university in north carolina. what is it that makes people act differently? so, there are act differently? so, there are a lot of reasons, first of all, if you ask the social scientists, what are we more surprised with, with the adherence to the rules or the lack of adherence? i would say we are more surprised with the adherents, that's remember that. the reality is that us following rules does not come from what is described to us, but what we see around us and what we experience, and if you think about the experience, personable, breezy politicians and celebrities and all kinds of people who are not wearing masks are not social

distancing, when people look at tv, it doesn't look like people on tva tv, it doesn't look like people on tv a social distancing and wearing masks, and on top of that, our experience, imaginative one day we don't wear a mask, we forgot for some reason, we went to coffee, and we are a little bit worried and the next day we find out that nothing bad happens. that reinforces the bad behaviour because we read in the paper, we listen to the news, we know the numbers are big but our daily experience, the experience in which we see people not wearing masks, not social distancing, and then we don't see anything bad happened to us. when that happens, how can governments try and influence, and inspire people than when there is this pattern of behaviour that people see, and the lack of repercussions? i work at the university here at the state called duke and when the epidemic started here, we look at the principle of

social science, and we started by reinforcing good behaviour, so we had people on watches, and then went around and if they saw somebody wearing a mask they gave them a voucher for a free coffee, they said thank you, we didn't punish the people who misbehave, we reinforce the good behaviour, and then on top of that we strengthen the sense of community. everything about what coronavirus is all about, it's all about us coming together and protecting the nhs, the healthca re together and protecting the nhs, the healthcare system and each other. each one of us is better off not adhering to the coronavirus rules, but all of us coronavirus rules, but all of us together are better off if we pay attention to the social good, and from the start, we freeze it not is be careful for yourself, but we as a community have to stay together. now, in many places this is a tough message. if you look at countries that are divided, like the us. i think we're running out of time so we will

have to cut it short there, but thank you very much for us, we appreciate it. the economic consequences of the pandemic have been felt almost everywhere, restaurants remain closed, planes are not flying and people are not working. the lack of movement means businesses that rely on casual labour are struggling more than most. that's particularly true for the olive farmers of greece who are desperate for whatever help they get. some call it green gold, olive trees stretching far into the distance in this part of greece. the country, is the fourth biggest producer of olive oil in the world, but then came the pandemic, and all that entailed. translation: because the border is closed, the workers could not come in time. we try to sort the paperwork, but they were blocked again at the borders. in previous years we had at

least 100 to 120 foreign labourers. this year, no more than 15. last month, greece closed its border with albania, the main source of its seasonal agricultural labour. a huge blow to these farmers, but some have fallen back on older traditions. translation: there are no workers to harvest the olives, we will do it on our own, we are four siblings, we will pick them by ourselves. but will that be enough? this is an industry very much in crisis, and after all, green gold is not much use when there is no—one left to harvest it. a reminder of our top story before i leave you, dozens of governments around the globe and travel to and from the uk after the country announce cases of a new, more infectious variant of coronavirus. that is

it from me for the time being, you can reach me on twitter,. hello. for most of us, the chances of a white christmas look pretty slim, but it's probably not going to be a particularly wet christmas either. drier, colder weather on the way by the end of this week. there is some more rain to get out of the way first, and on the earlier satellite picture, you can see this big hook of cloud. this is really going to provide wet weather across southern areas, particularly through the first half of this week. this first frontal system bringing rain, particularly across england and wales, up into northern ireland as well. something a little bit clearer but still with some showers further north. chilly air across northern areas with a wedge of really mild air working in towards the south. a very, very mild start to wednesday in southern areas, but a cloudy, wet start with outbreaks of rain pushing northwards

across england, wales. some heavy rain moving through northern ireland, getting into southern scotland for a time as well. something a little bit drier following on behind, but probably still quite cloudy. some further rain into southern counties of england. northern scotland will see some sunny spells, yes, but some showers, too, and some of these will be turning wintry at times over high ground through the afternoon. a rather chilly day in northern areas, a very mild one in the south with highs perhaps 15 degrees. as we go through monday night, you can see further pulses of rain pushing across southern areas up into wales, the midlands. further north, clear spells, still a few showers into northwest scotland. pretty mild down towards the south, a much colder night for the north — there could even be a touch of frost here and there. then into tuesday, cloudy, damp weather will continue across southern counties of england, maybe into south wales at times. further north, we'll see more in the way of sunshine, but again, a scattering of showers, especially across the northwest of scotland, some of these showers wintry over the hills and the mountains. temperatures, again, six or 7 degrees in the north,

12, maybe 13 down towards the south. now, an area of low pressure is set to bring more rain on wednesday, especially across southern areas, but as we head towards the end of the week, this area of high pressure is going to start to build its way in. so, through christmas eve and into christmas day, high pressure will take charge, but with that, some colder air working its way southwards. so, yes, temperatures dropping away by thursday and friday, christmas eve and christmas day, but by this stage, it should be mostly dry with just a few showers.

the headlines. dozens of countries are imposing travel bands to and from britain were a new fast spreading variant of coronavirus has led to the country's highest daily number of recorded cases. after months of recorded cases. after months of wrangling, republicans and democrats in the us congress have reached agreement on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package. the measure includes increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments are millions of workers who lost theirjobs millions of workers who lost their jobs because of millions of workers who lost theirjobs because of the pandemic. it will also provide funding for the mass vaccination campaign and to help schools reopen. still caught up on fish. uk and eu negotiators trying to agree the terms of a free trade deal between the two say they are still stuck on the issue of eu accessed uk's fishing waters. sources close say the decision on whether it is deal or no deal can be expected before christmas.

clement a very good monday morning to