versus bbc news, i am so simmons. our top stories. a growing list of countries restrict travel to and from the uk because of the new variant of coronavirus. and if any lorry is turning up wanting to get gci’oss lorry is turning up wanting to get across the channel, they are being turned away. it's the same with passenger vehicles too. emergency meetings in london and brussels, as officials work out how to protect citizens and things moving again. so what is the new variant, and is it more dangerous? we will have the latest medical analysis. two men are found guilty of the manslaughter of 39 migrants found dead in the back ofa 39 migrants found dead in the back of a lorry in essex last year.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world, stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. european officials are meeting right now in brussels to stop the spread from britain of a new, more contagious form of covid—19. france is enforcing a 48—hour blockade of passengers and goods. that has caused long tailbacks of lorries in south—east england. many other countries have suspended flights. a total of 30 countries have now banned flights from the united kingdom. the number has been constantly rising. in the past few hours, jordan, india, hong kong, switzerland and russia have all suspended flights from the uk. spain has said it will cut flights if no european wide response is agreed. 0verall, across europe, 16 countries have imposed restrictions, including ireland, germany, france

and belgium. today, eu ambassadors are holding emergency talks to agree are holding emergency talks to agree a common strategy, and british prime minister borisjohnson a common strategy, and british prime minister boris johnson is a common strategy, and british prime minister borisjohnson is due to chairan minister borisjohnson is due to chair an emergency meeting later, to address the uk's growing isolation. simonjones reports address the uk's growing isolation. simon jones reports from address the uk's growing isolation. simonjones reports from dover. an unprecedented closure of the french borderfelt in dover, banning lorry drivers and passengers from crossing to france from anywhere in the uk for 48 hours with fears about the new strain of coronavirus. some british hauliers abandoned their crossings. i'm lucky enough, i've made it back to the yard and i only live 20 minutes away so i will be able to get home for christmas but a lot of these people sitting on the m20 will not get home for christmas. this is a hugely busy time for the port of dover in the run—up to christmas, normally 10,000 lorries would pass through here each day. some drivers are turning up trying to get in but are being sent away. for foreign lorry drivers and there was no immediate option to go home and this is set to be

the reality of the next two days for them, stuck in operation stack were part of the m20 becomes a giant lorry park. that french national road haulage federation described the situation is catastrophic, echoed by its uk counterpart. it's critical to understand if this will go on beyond 48 hours. i had that conversation with grant shapps this morning and he is confident of their ability to find a way through this, whether that is some sort of testing of drivers before they go back to europe, i think if it goes beyond 48 hours we will see some significant challenges. although supermarkets stress all products for christmas are already in the country,

there could be shortages of lettuce, cauliflower and some fruit if this goes on but the transport secretary hopes for a quick progress. i was on the phone to my opposite number in france last night, he is very keen to see this resolved as quickly as possible, especially the hauliers aspect, because it is primarily french and european goods which are exported, rather than british goods leaving the country, so it's in their interest to get it resolved as quickly as possible and i will be speaking to them again later. in a tweet, the french transport minister said in the coming hours he planned to set up a european wide mechanism to allow traffic with the uk to resume. that is what the boss of the port of dover is desperate to see. we don't know how long it will go on. we are hearing good indications from both sides, they are looking at what these new protocols will be so we hope it can be resolved swiftly. but for hauliers, the wait goes on.

simonjones, bbc news, dover. let's bring in our political correspondent rob watson whojoins us from oxford. ican i can already tell you what is coming from the downing street spokesman. it gives a sense of the message, and the first is to say that the uk is working with its international partners, downing street says, particularly with the french to try and ease the travel restrictions. the message is already going on to save shop normally, we think there are plenty of supplies, no need for panic buying. another couple of political messages if you like, one is that those calls that have been for the brexit transition period from leaving the european union to be extended beyond the end

of the year, no dice, let's carry on negotiating, time is short, and then the other that there will not be at this point a recall of parliament, as some mps have asked for, unless of course there is a brexit deal, so i think those are the messages. don't panic, and we're trying to sort this out with our international partners. that is very much the message, calm and carry on, but people will be anxious, won't they, about supply chains, whether or not supermarkets will be able to get access to the food that they need, again reiterated by supermarkets to encourage people to stay calm. do you think that messaging is getting through, though? it's interesting you should ask that, samantha. i remember listening over the weekend to somebody who specialises on this, also on the bbc, a behavioural psychologist saying that actually if you tell people not to panic, it normally has the absolute opposite effect, and i think it isjust human nature. i mean, if you hear things might be in short supply, the public

think to yourself, well, it'll probably 0k think to yourself, well, it'll probably ok but maybe i willjust p0p probably ok but maybe i willjust pop down the shops and get something for myself, and i guess that will be what retailers and of course the government will be worried about, that human nature if you like will just kick in. rob, as the brexit negotiations limped on, ten days to 90, negotiations limped on, ten days to go, thoughts possibly turning by some whether or not they can be extended. grant shapps, transport secretary of state, seeming to rule that out earlier. yes, and indeed downing street seemed to be rolling out the idea of a transition. i mean, of course, at this moment you got the classic sort of divide we now have in this country, that the culture war if you like over brexit, ina culture war if you like over brexit, in a moment like this, most of those who are on the remain side of the equation say this is just nuts, why would any government in its right mind keep all this misery, the misery of a no—deal brexit particularly, on top of the misery

of covid? itjust doesn't make any sense at all. that is certainly the view of many businesses. but then of course you have the government side and many of those on the leave side saying, no, no, no, wejust need to get on with this, everything will be fine. let's bring you some breaking news from brussels where the european union's medicines regulator the ema has now approved the use of the ema has now approved the use of the pfizer beyond tech vaccine. they we re the pfizer beyond tech vaccine. they were meeting to discuss it, it has been —— pfizer biontech, it is expected the vaccines will start to be rolled out across europe in the coming days. so no doubt that will be met with relief by many. let's just listen in. submitted a formal marketing application on the ist of december. 0ur marketing application on the ist of december. our experts have worked tirelessly to reach a robust, science —based consensus, which from the start of the rolling review until the final see hmp today has

been achieved in just 11 until the final see hmp today has been achieved injust 11 weeks, when we would usually expect to spend a year or more. but this time frame has been facilitated by the size of the trial, and the strength of the evidence, but also by the responsiveness of everyone involved, scientists, experts, project managers and of course the company itself. but let me say this very clearly... itself. but let me say this very clearly. . . that itself. but let me say this very clearly... that is the european union's medicines regulator just confirming the pfizer biontech vaccine has been approved for use in europe, and will start to be rolled out imminently. let's get more on this new variant of coronavirus, causing so many countries to ban travellers from the uk. in the last hour, downing street has confirmed that cases of the new variant have been found in gibraltar, denmark and australia. with me is our health correspondent, james gallagher. clearly this new variant is spreading quickly. is this what is to be expected now? we will see more

and more countries reporting this? yes, i think one of the things we are still grappling with is where it has come from and where it already is, because the uk trumpets many things. it says it has world beating places in many things, but one where it genuinely does is in genome sequencing. 0ne it genuinely does is in genome sequencing. one in ten of all cases in the uk of coronavirus they have had the full genetic code of the virus and analysed, you just don't get that level of detail in many other countries, so it has been seen in the rest of the —— it has been seenin in the rest of the —— it has been seen in the uk and other rest of the world is looking for it and they will start to see it too. will the new vaccines be less effective to this new variant? i think it is highly unlikely that there will be any impact on the vaccines, because the vaccines are trained to attack or different car parts of the virus, small parts of it mutate and change, —— attack all the different parts of the virus. today the answer is no, but in the longer term, now this could be several years away, it

raises the concern that actually this is a virus that can mutate, a virus that can change the important bits on it surface that the immune surface attacks, so in the future vaccines may become less effective and we may then need to switch the type of vaccine were used to one thatis type of vaccine were used to one that is better targeted against strains of the future. but if you're worried about this variant of the vaccine working, no, the vaccine are still the thing we all need to get as soon as possible. and it was expected this virus would mutate, thatis expected this virus would mutate, that is what viruses do. the fear amongst many is that it could be more dangerous. how soon before scientists know if that is the case or not? it is really difficult, and we are only seeing the very early stages at the moment of the scientific research. i will run through what we know then we can work out how dangerous it is full stop we know it seems to be displacing other viruses, it is spreading faster than other ones around. that is a sign it spreads a bit faster. it has mutations in bits of the virus we think are important,

and when we've analysed some of those mutations in the lab, then it does seem to infect cells more readily. so there's all the things coming together to make people concerned. there is still a nugget of doubt, because things can happen by random chance, viruses can spread more easilyjust by being on the right place at the right time. if i became a super spreader, if i started off a super spreading event then what i've got will affect a lot more people than somebody who just passes it to one person they live with. so random chance is a factor too. there is no suggestion so far that it too. there is no suggestion so far thatitis too. there is no suggestion so far that it is more deadly or anything like that, or the vaccines won't work, but if it does spread faster than that, that causes problems just on its own because if it affects more people more quickly, then more people end up in hospital and hospitals get overwhelmed just by spreading quickly. hence all these restrictions. james, thank you. two men have been found guilty of the manslaughter of all 39 migrants found ina manslaughter of all 39 migrants

found in a lorry in south—east england. they suffocated in a container. 0n the phone to the 999 operator, one of the people smugglers revealing the enormity of the tragedy. but mo robinson was lying about the true scale of the horror. the arriving police officers found the bodies of 39 vietnamese people. they had boarded what they had been promised was a vip service, among them a young couple, found holding hands as they died. and two cousins,

including an 18—year—old. in vietnam, the teenagers's father still prays for him daily. his mother told us they thought they we re mother told us they thought they were paying £10,000 for a safe route to england. translation: nobody knew that the journey to the uk was going to be like that. they all said they would travel in cars. if they had known, nobody would have let their children risk their lives on such a dangerous journey. the older cousin's father thinks he was tricked. translation: cousin's father thinks he was tricked. translationzlj cousin's father thinks he was tricked. translation: i don't know what happened, but something must have changed in their plan. either that, or he was scammed. among the eight women in the trailer was this lady, who died trying repeatedly to call herfamily. lady, who died trying repeatedly to call her family. she lady, who died trying repeatedly to call herfamily. she had only left vietnam a few days earlier, travelling via china. others used countries like russia, germany, hungary, romania, greece and poland. some had taken two years to work

their way through europe. many of them started the last stage of their journey in paris that morning. it began as a vip service, with a taxi ride to northern france, but then they were transferred into an airtight trailer, towed by eamonn ha, a young lorry driver from airtight trailer, towed by eamonn ha, a young lorry driverfrom county down in northern ireland. he took the trailer two is a burger, leaving it to be ferried unaccompanied across the north sea. but there were too many migrants in the airtight box, and slowly the oxygen ran out. this man left a message for his wife and children. police found dents on the ceiling of the trailer left by those inside trying desperately to escape.“ the trailer left by those inside trying desperately to escape. if you look at the method, the way they transported human beings, we wouldn't transport animals in that way. by the time the ferry sailed up

the thames estuary, the people had all died. the trailer was collected by another lorry driver, mo robinson from county armagh. his boss ronan hughes had sent him an urgent message. when he opened the doors, there was a puff of vapour, and a trailerfull there was a puff of vapour, and a trailer full of there was a puff of vapour, and a trailerfull of bodies. there was a puff of vapour, and a trailer full of bodies. the vip service had been a death trap. there is no vip service. these are the lies people are told to be exploited, and finding out at the very last minute and realising, as you die, the vip service was a terrible lie. the gang who killed the 39 were prolific, and they had possibly been an opportunity to stop them. just before the deaths, they had run two almost identical but successful smuggling trips, ending ona successful smuggling trips, ending on a country lane in essex. the lorry was unloaded in this muddy lay—by. a couple whose home overlooks the site saw around 15 people getting out of the truck and

into a people getting out of the truck and intoa group people getting out of the truck and into a group of waiting cars. they called the police, but the people smuggling gang wasn't identified, until after the 39 deaths, 12 days later. big ang's bosses were a british romanian from essex and ronan hughes, a haulierfrom county armagh, who organised the lorry drivers. here they are seen delivering a bag full of money tissues. charges are still being considered against another northern irish haulier. he was the boss of christopher kennedy, also from cou nty christopher kennedy, also from county armagh. the driver who had collected the trailer on the earlier successful smuggling runs. the bodies of the people who died on the fatal third run were flown back to vietnam. and the two cousins were buried side by side. daniel sandford, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come, how fishing

remained a sticking point in the brexit trade talks will stop we will get the perspective from europe.

this is bbc world news. our top story. more than 20 countries have banned flights from the united kingdom because of a variant of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70% more transmissible. and a reminder of the breaking news in the past few minutes. the ema have approved the use of the pfizer biontech coronavirus vaccine and could start rolling it out across europe in the next few days a week. a record 54 million americans may be going hungry this year after the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated old problems of income inequality. it may get worse next year with several

government protections due to expire. charities and government programmes offering free food or groceries so there has been a spike in demand. our north america correspondent met some of those asking for help. it is too cold and too miserable to be waiting in the rain this early in the morning, unless you have to. these are the people cast aside by coronavirus in arlington, virginia, one of america's most wealthy countries. one lost his job as a waiter, like millions of other people uprooted by the pandemic will stop did you ever imagined you would need this sort of help? believe me, at the beginning it was kind of embarrassing but you have to do what you have to do. why was it embarrassing? my situation was not that bad, i have a normal type of living, we can afford my groceries are my payments and all that. this food pantry has seen a 45% increase in traffic since the pandemic. they give a weak‘s worth of food, and people who have either lostjobs,

furloughed or having reduced hours, for them it is the only way they can feed theirfamilies. for them it is the only way they can feed their families. food for them it is the only way they can feed theirfamilies. food lines for them it is the only way they can feed their families. food lines are getting longerfrom feed their families. food lines are getting longer from coast to coast. an extra 17 million people have been struggling to get food in 2020, according to feeding america, the nation's largest hunger relief organisation. a quarter of all children in the united states are facing hunger. how much food you go through every week? we go through well through every week? we go through we ll over through every week? we go through well over £100,000 micro. food banks and pa ntries were well over £100,000 micro. food banks and pantries were already dealing with a surge in demand before the rush of the holidays. half of our families are the working poor, and what we've seen is more of those working poor are coming to us, and they're coming more often. donations are barely satisfying america's huge hunger problem. the thing tank food research and action says, only expanding federal food aid programmes can take care of everyone in need. we had a problem in this

country before covid started. covid has really shone a light very brightly on a lot of these problems, in terms of income inequality, structural racism, inadequate wages, and unsteady employment. america's income, inequality and unemployment crisis is especially acute in south washington, dc. this is where the city's most disadvantaged live. washington, dc. this is where the city's most disadvantaged livem is truly heartbreaking, knowing we are living in the political epicentre of the world, three miles away from the white house, from capitol hill. our people are in pain. wonder perkins is looking after her 11—day—old grandson, because her daughter is in hospital with covid. that day that one person walked by and didn't have anything to eat but you had a pocketful of money and you did not help that person, you are going to be held accountable for it. even if it was a dollar that you the pandemic drags

on, pushing more americans to the brink of hunger and homelessness. bbc news, washington. ireland's foreign minister today said both sides in the brexit trade talks need to deal with the tricky area of fishing to help conclude the negotiations. addressing the state of the talks, he said a very generous offer was made over the weekend and france, the netherlands, denmark and belgium, the countries most reliant on uk fisheries were unlikely to make a further offer. ken skau fischer is the ceo of danish fishermen's producers organisation. how reliant are you in denmark on fishing in the uk's waters for your industry? we are quite reliant. we fish every year for almost 40% of our catches are taken in uk waters. that is equivalent to one third of the total value of the catches in the total value of the catches in the danish fishery. and what in your

mind isa the danish fishery. and what in your mind is a fair dealfrom the danish fishery. and what in your mind is a fair deal from these negotiations? i think a fair deal is more or less keeping the present status quo, and when i do say that, i think we would like to continue to have access to uk waters. we have been fishing in those waters for many, been fishing in those waters for any been fishing in those waters for many, many years, and for that we will give access to the european market for uk fishers. and i think that would be important for them. you want to keep the status quo, but overall more than 60% of the tonnage landed from english waters is caught by foreign boats. you can appreciate how the uk fishing industry might not think that is fair. i can easily follow that. there is no doubt i expect, and i respect also that the uk wants to take control of their own waters, i definitely understand that, and i can assure that danish fishers would do the same if they we re fishers would do the same if they were in the same position. as i understand it, the uk wants to grant access but wants to look at this one access but wants to look at this one a year by year basis, and wouldn't

that be a sustainable way forward that be a sustainable way forward that would be fair for all?” that be a sustainable way forward that would be fair for all? i think, of course, you could argue things like this, but the fact is that fishing is an industry like almost all kinds of industries, you need to be able to make a business plan for your production, you need to be able to make a business plan that you can present to your bank for your investments, you need to have security that you actually do have this access and these possibilities of going and catching your fishing rights for a number of years. 0k, ken, thank you very much forjoining us ken, thank you very much forjoining us from denmark. just a reminder of the breaking news in the past half hour, the european medicines agency have now approved the pfizer biontech vaccine and it can the pfizer biontech vaccine and it ca n start the pfizer biontech vaccine and it can start to be rolled out within the next week. more on that coming up, stay with us, in the meantime

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @samanthatvnews thanks for watching. see you shortly. it was a drab start to monday, with a spell of wet weather gradually pushing steadily north and east. you move out of northern ireland this afternoon, and moving to scotland, where it will lingerfor afternoon, and moving to scotland, where it will linger for much of the day. behind a real cluster of shower sandwich to the south but the real contrast with the story today is the mild air pushing up from the south, in comparison to some cold air now just starting to nudge into the far north of scotland. the remainder of the afternoon sees that wet weather across the scottish borders into western scotland. behind, it stays overcast, drab and dreary with a scattering of sharp showers accompanied by some pretty brisk winds in the south but look at the temperatures, 13 to 15 degrees quite widely across england and wales. by

contrast in scotland and northern ireland, a maximum of seven or 8 degrees was not that cold air starting to push on. northerly winds will drag in cold air through the night, add a few showers will turn wintry to higher ground as we keep those clearer skies in scotland and northern ireland, but we keep quite a lot of cloud over england and wales and here are a relatively mild night with double figures perhaps into the south—east corner, temperatures in the north hovering close to freezing full stop we will start the day off with some sparkling sunshine. here are a few scattered showers set to continue through the day, but scotland, northern ireland, along with northern ireland, along with northern england, should stay dry and relatively sunny. we draw a line from mid wales down into the midlands, further south are that it stays rather cloudy, dreary, mild, with some drab bits and pieces of rain pushing into the south—west. we will see a more significant area of low pressure on wednesday pushing into the south—west, and that u nfortu nately could into the south—west, and that unfortunately could once again bring the potential for some localised flooding, so we will need to keep an eye on that, and weather warnings have been issued by the met office across south—west england in particular. it's mild here, but

drier, brighter but cooler in the north of scotland. now, that area of low pressure should move away first thing on thursday morning, and then we will see this high pressure tending to build the christmas eve. christmas eve and christmas day, we change gear, in terms of the feel of the weather and the type of weather. things will quieten down and cool down considerably for much of the country. i'm not sure we will see a white christmas in terms of snow, but certainly we could have a hard frost going into christmas day. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines... in the past 20 minutes, the eu regulator has approved the pfizer biontech vaccine for use in the european union. joel borders closed because of new variant of coronavirus. and if any lorries are wanting to get across the channel they are being turned away. it's a tame same with passenger verticals too. officials work out how to protect citizens and get things moving again.