this is bbc news. our top stories. the french government is expected to announce plans to lift the cross—channel travel ban. around one and a half thousand lorry drivers sent a second night in their cabs waiting at dover. the us governmenttop medical adviser is preparing to be vaccinated against the virus within hours. we will speak to him alive. president trump wa nted speak to him alive. president trump wanted to build a wall, but will us immigration policy change underjoe biden? we report from the us — mexico border. it is one of the word's biggest lotteries, the winning tickets are drawn for spain isa winning tickets are drawn for spain is a laudable, or the fat one.

hello and welcome if you're watching the uk oraround hello and welcome if you're watching the uk or around the world. as they waited for the latest news and analysis across the globe. the french government says it will announce measures later that could allow transport links with britain to resume and trade to flow across the channel again. boris johnson and president macron spoke on monday following france's decision to close its border with the uk, due to a new, highly infectious coronavirus strain spreading in the uk. more than a0 countries have now banned flights from the united kingdom the number's been constantly rising. greece and cyprus are now the only countries in europe that have not banned flights from the uk.

germany extended their ban until the 6th of january. and germany extended their ban until the 6th ofjanuary. and in germany extended their ban until the 6th of january. and in the states, the governor of new york wants to stop flights from the uk entering new york state. today, the eu commission will release advise on how member states can best repatriate their nationals who are trying to get home. and as the lorry blockade continues to worsen at the uk—france border, prime minister boris johnson is under increasing pressure to impose a nationwide lockdown> seemingly endless queues of parked up lorries stretching for miles along the m20 this morning. there's simply nowhere for them to go. the french border remains closed, the eurotunnel terminal is shut and deserted and in dover, some traffic was coming in on ferries from france but nothing was going the other way. hundreds of trucks now sit in this giant lorry park, in what used to be manston airport, while others are waiting wherever

they can find space. this polish driver was among hundreds waiting for news. it's a disasterfor me, you know? it's the first time i'm here in the uk and, like a driver, and it's... it's terrible. as i said, if i knew one day before that... hey, guys, idon't know, europe, uk, border will close in one day — i would never have come here. do you think you'll get home for christmas? i don't know. i hope but i don't think so. it's not clear precisely how many lorries are now parked up around kent. concerns are growing about the welfare of the stranded drivers, forced to spend days confined to their cabs, farfrom home. the welfare of these drivers should be top of our minds at the moment. we should be treating them much better than we are because they are

essential workers that keep our supermarkets stacked, keep our manufacturing sector working. but also, get our british goods to market around the world, earning us pounds and getting us jobs here at home, in britain. the government says it is in talks with france to find a way of unblocking the border and developments are likely later today. the border was closed because of french concerns about a new and highly infectious variant of the coronavirus. any solution, the government says, is likely to involve testing the drivers. testing of some sort is part of the discussions that the transport secretary is having with his counterpart in france right now. getting those tests up and running, you know, can happen relatively quickly but in terms of the details of that, that is something that both the transport secretary and his counterpart will be discussing right now. so i don't want to speculate in terms of the nature of the tests and how soon that could be up and running.

what form those tests could take, though, is still not clear. the uk is known to favour so—called lateral flow tests, which are for rapid results. france prefers a lab—based test, which is slower but seen as more reliable. yet authorities in calais have made it clear they want an agreement quickly. i am very sad and i hope — i hope — that really in the next... since yesterday morning when i heard, in interviews, i said it's necessary if that is a condition for the hauliers to come back to france, please start as soon as possible the tests. haulage firms agree a solution needs to be found soon or all of these lorries will be left on the road to nowhere. theo leggett, bbc news. let's turn to dover again and talk to our correspondence. good to have you with us, sank it out. tell us

about what you are seeing their and what people are telling you.” arrived here about 20 minutes ago andi arrived here about 20 minutes ago and i had a quick word with some of the lorry drivers. behind me you can see the famous white cliffs of dover, but if you look down, you can see there is a roundabout and a whole line of lorries in traffic, all the way up, that is the road that will take you into dover, into the ports. a few of the truck drivers came out to talk to me earlier on and what they were saying is that many of them have been here since sunday night full stop they say that they have no access to to i lets, say that they have no access to toilets, they say they have barely eaten because they haven't been given any extra cash for food and nothing has been organised for them. they say their bosses have so far told them to do nothing but stay put. the news that they are getting

is from the bbc and other broadcasters and they have been asking me what the latest is. but as you well know, we are all waiting to find out the latest breaking line was over press association saying that the european commission is advising member states to lift the travel ban on uk arrivals via flights and via trains. what that means for the guys here is still not clear. i understand that it must be frustrating for the drivers that are there and as you mention, many of them hoping to get back for christmas, the clock is ticking, it seems testing might be part of that and we all know how long that could potentially take. thank you though andi potentially take. thank you though and i know you havejust arrived potentially take. thank you though and i know you have just arrived so we appreciate you coming on to speak with us. i want to turn to kevin connko with us. i want to turn to kevin connolly who is with us from brussels. we want to pick up on some of those lines that our reporter was

mentioning there. the eu is advising for member states to be able to lift some of the restrictions. kevin, what do you know? what has changed? some of the restrictions would be right. they're looking at different aspects of this and trying to fix where they can and of course, one of the guiding principles of the eu is freedom of movement. this is about getting people back to their country of residence, getting people home to their own countries, subject to requirements of testing or quarantine, the argument for the eu commission is that that process should begin now. there is a specific nine in their recommendation about movement between france and the uk. that critical economic artery between dover and calais, they are saying that the resumption of freedom of

movement as it applies to transport workers, they are saying that where the resumption of freedom of movement of lorry drivers requires a rapid antigen test, in the words of the eu commission, that should not create further delays. in other words, they want to get things moving, but we must remember that these are recommendations from the european commission yet to be discussed by member states, it is not at all clear that all of the member states are going to agree and of course critical in all this, is france and it is geography that puts france and it is geography that puts france of the centre of the issue. we were just hearing from our colleague in dover that the drivers watching the bbc are trying to figure out what the information is. iam say figure out what the information is. i am say they are glad that you have some of those details. it does raise the question of a timeline for one, would it be the testing facilities available? and two, they still has to be an agreement made. we are

coming into christmas day and closer to that day and many drivers want to get back onto their families. how does it look? the implication of this and if people are reading it and are waiting for the detail from us, let me just look down and check what i printed out. this is the bit that applies to people who are waiting on lorry cues now in dover. that is the base that talks about rapid antigen tests for transport workers and it says that it should not lead to disruption. in other words, the european commission hope in this document that we have printed from their website that is that it can be done quick quickly. rapid antigen tests are these tests whose accuracy is called into question sometimes, but which are speedy and relatively effective. the hopeis speedy and relatively effective. the hope is that those tests could be distributed, perhaps by the military by people waiting in lines on motorways or in truck parts. that looks as though the european commission thinks that the logjam

there can be broken with rapid antigen tests. but for other forms of movement, it looks as though there is still going to be a requirement, still going to be an appetite for the more sophisticated pcr tests, they are the tests which have to be sent to laboratories to be processed and that cost money and they can take 24 or 48 hours to get that done. for other forms of movement, other forms of testing would be work required but there is this idea from the commission that could break this logjam of lorries relatively quickly and that would be to distribute rapid tests among the drivers and that would clear those who test negative to get moving again. kevin, thank you so much and interesting details coming through from brussels. the united states continues to have the highest rates of infections and coronavirus related deaths in the world. president—electjoe biden warned of a dark winter even as the us approves two vaccines.

the challenge now is both curbing the spread of the virus while also vaccinating priority groups — health workers and the elderly — before vaccinating the population at large. we're joined now by dr anthony fauci, director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases, who is leading the us response to the coronavirus. i think most of our viewers will know that by now, doctor, and you're welcome to the programme. my understanding is you are getting the vaccine in about 45 minutes. have i got that right? that is correct, in about 45 minutes i will be getting the vaccine at our hospital at about a few hundred yards from where i am sitting now. how does that make you feel? it makes me feel good, for a couple of reasons. one, i want this to bea couple of reasons. one, i want this to be a symbol for the people in the united states to encourage them about the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine and to get them to be

enthusiastic when the time comes to be vaccinated. but also, especially for me and my group that this particular vaccine that i will be receiving is actually developed here. which vaccine is that you and your saving? i am receiving the modernity vaccine. that is coming up in 14th five minutes —— moderne. it comes at a time were in the uk and other countries are looking at this variant of the coronavirus over the past couple of days restrictions massively coming in that we have been talking about. how concerned about you about this variant. ?m been talking about. how concerned about you about this variant. ? it is something we absolutely need to take seriously and to follow it and to determine just what the functional impact of the mutation is. there is some suggestion a strong suggestion that it might be associated with an increase in efficiency of

transmission. we need to definitively prove that but let's assume that that is the case. it does not appear to be any impact on the virulence of the virus, meaning the virulence of the virus, meaning the seriousness of the disease that it causes. it doesn't seem to impact that. and there is no indication that. and there is no indication that it that. and there is no indication thatitis that. and there is no indication that it is escaping the protection that it is escaping the protection that you would get from the vaccines. the critical issue that seems to be occupying people's attention is that it is a virus that is spreading more efficiently. but we need to continue to follow it and definitely take it seriously. would you recommend that the united states and ban arrivals from the uk as at least 40 countries have done so far? at this point, i am not recommending that, i am at this point, i am not recommending that, iam not at this point, i am not recommending that, i am not sure exactly what the policy would be. i think that might bea policy would be. i think that might be a bit of an over reaction and our part. however, icertainly be a bit of an over reaction and our part. however, i certainly respect the other countries in their

decisions are what they are going to do. i think we should seriously consider the possibility of requiring pre—flight testing before people leave from the uk to the united states. that is something thatis united states. that is something that is on the table but i believe needs to be seriously considered rather than an out and out ban on all travel from the uk to the united states. let's see what happens with that. i look at the us figures every day and it is shocking. we are looking at over 319,000 deaths, over 18 million cases. what do you think happened is that it went so wrong in curbing the spread of this virus in the states? i believe it is a complex array of things that happened that led to this difficult situation we are in. one of them that i have identified and spoken about is that the response in the united states has not been a uniform response. 0ne united states has not been a uniform response. one of the things about

the united states is way of governing that is a positive thing, is that we are the united states of america, we have 50 states and right from the beginning of ourfounding fathers, the states were giving the power and opportunity to do things the way they feel it should be done specific to the individual state. it is called a federalist system. this system works well in a number of other issues. but when you are dealing with a pandemic that is involving the entire country, i believe it would have been better to have a more uniformity of response rather than have different states and doing things in different ways and doing things in different ways and you had surges in one part of the country, followed by surges in another part of the country and we area another part of the country and we are a very large country, we have 330 plus million people in the country and i believe it would have been better if we did things in a more uniform and consistent way when you are thinking about the implementation of public health practices. that is just one of the things that i think were a problem.

the other was a mixed messaging that we had. it has been much publicist despised, —— politicised. 0ne we had. it has been much publicist despised, —— politicised. one of the things we have noticed is the divisiveness in this country. there are think that take sides in kind of limitation of public health measures that they should or should not do. the bottom line is we were not inconsistent in our response. doctor faust chi, thank you for coming on. no doubt our viewers will be seeing some of those pictures of your vaccination later. thank you. thank you for having me. president trump came to power promising to build a big and beautiful wall. he told undocumented people in the states to be afraid. as the trump presidency

comes to an end, the wall still remains under construction, federal enforcement teams continue to arrest undocumented immigrants who have been living in the states for decades. as immigrant advocates countdown the days to the biden house, our west coast correspondent asks how much can or will change. we are in san diego, california. a worker was pulled over on his way to work. immigration activists live strea m work. immigration activists live stream and record and document an attempted arrest. the safety issue is here they are terrorising people, they are... immigration and customs enforcement are considered to be operating unlawfully. they can send us an operating unlawfully. they can send us an attempted kidnapping. even their president is trying to intimidate people here. they want these operations, which often remove pa rents these operations, which often remove parents from their children, to stop. they wanted to be abolished.

they are not hopeful thatjoe biden will deliver. if we take the last administration where he served vice president, it was the one most deported families. they privatised the detention of migrants. we don't have many hopes. after 40 minutes, theice have many hopes. after 40 minutes, the ice agents leave. without making an arrest. but not without reinforcing the deep felt fear here. there were no activists president the day francisco and ascender were arrested and detained for months. their four children arrested and detained for months. theirfour children left arrested and detained for months. their four children left to fend for themselves. not even being able to see my dad because he was in a separate area. it was just a very overwhelming feeling that we are alone. it was my worst nightmare. i didn't believe it. three years on and they still don't know if their pa rents and they still don't know if their parents will be deported. what you hope will happen now?”

parents will be deported. what you hope will happen now? i hope that people will be able to have more empathy and could be more compassionate, that there will be an easier pass to civil citizenship and not be confused what will happen. there is hope here and in neighbourhoods along this border that's the end of donald trump's presidency will mark a turning point. the dramatic differences of this level of fear has been risen and that is profound. for those of us and that is profound. for those of us working in the community, it has beena us working in the community, it has been a real terror for folks every day. so much damage has been done that there is also a reality check. halfway through donald trump's presidency, we filmed as a young mother and daughter walked around the end of the borderfence. you couldn't do that here now. where there was no barrier, there was

there was no barrier, there was there is to and construction continues. joe biden says he will put a stop to that. at the top, you have a five foot and pipeline plate. those are police the border say that the laws make it more difficult to ci’oss. the laws make it more difficult to cross. if you're going to put yourself on an 18 foot or 30 foot wall, any time you climb tall instructions, it is inherently dangerous and you risk fall and we are dealing with compound fractures in the fractured vertebrae and even deaths, unfortunately. whether you're claiming or whether you are making illegal entry, that is the place and as the front door of our country. for those and the families of those who survived and may be the ci’oss of those who survived and may be the cross this border in the years and decades gone by, the reduction in the fare they feel when donald trump leaves office may be instantaneous. mending a dysfunctional immigration system in a deeply divided country will not. so long, bbc news, united

states and mexico border. amnesty international is calling for an investigation after the death of a pakistani activist who is living in canada. karima baloch who had been in canada since seeking asylum in 2015, was a vocal critic of the policies of the military and state in the western province of baluchistan, host to a long—running separatist insurgency. in 2016, she was named in the bbc‘s annual list of 100 inspirational women. first minister nicola sturgeon is addressing the scottish parliament in her weekly review of scotland was not here system. she said the number of positive tests of the new variant of positive tests of the new variant of the coronavirus is increasing. of positive tests of the new variant of the coronavirus is increasingm is not absolutely definitive that every case with this marker will be

the new variant. however, this analysis suggests that in the week beginning 9th of december, around 1496 beginning 9th of december, around 14% of positive cases already had this new variant. this compares to just 5% of the end of november. it is not unreasonable to assume that the proportion may be higher by now and public health scotland is carrying out further analysis. 14% is of course still lower level in england where it accounts for 36% of cases and may be even higher and london in the south—east. however, the very rapid spread in london and the very rapid spread in london and the south east serves as a warning of what we could face here if we do not take firm action to stem this virus. we have a real concern that without significant countermeasures, we could be facing another period of exponential growth as we enter the new year. nicola sturgeon continues to speak at the moment.

the winners of one of the world's biggest lotteries — spain's el gordo, or the fat 0ne — have been announced. the prize fund is nearly two point nine billion dollars. only a few minutes into the draw, a ball worth 60,000 euros was called. the largest prize, nearly 4 million dollars, was called for lucky numbers seven two eight nine seven. school children call out the winning numbers, continuing the tradition despite the pandemic. 0ur correspondent spoke to us earlier today about the significance of this lottery. we heard those children from a local school in madrid singing at the numbers of the winners and that is televised live. we all sit around and watch that ceremony. that is very much a christmas tradition here in spain.

people tune in that, many people have bought lottery tickets and the difference here this year is that there are no members of the public in the upper house to follow that ceremony. but still, people were tuning in. it is a very exciting ceremony, it is very much a part of christmas here partly because of the huge jackpot involved, you christmas here partly because of the hugejackpot involved, you mentioned there are a total of around $3 billion which is handed out with this lottery, the outdoor door lottery. there are extreme scenes in the country. maybe you want to pick up the country. maybe you want to pick up on this next story. it does have a happy ending. let's take a look. here are some pictures of a little elephant in thailand after a serious road accident. the cast had stopped breathing after it was struck by a motorcycle. the off duty rescue

worker there carried out cpr and the little animal is just fine. we are going to leave you with that on this edition of bbc news. hello, we are seeing contrasting conditions for the northern areas of the uk. we have seen plenty of sunshine. a beautiful day in cumbria and further south you are it has been grey and damp and it has been a fairly drizzly as well. in southern areas will see more in the way of rain. this chart shows where rainfall amounts would be accumulating, particularly in england and wales and in towards east anglia will see 40 to 70 millimetres of rain. and this will enhance the risk of flooding in the next few days. as we go through the rest of the tie, it will turn red and white towards west of england and white towards west of england and wales but there will be clear skies and the north. cloud will

increase across northern ireland and southern scotland into the night. further rain at times across england and wales and there will be some clear skies to but it is going to be another mild one for the south and temperatures will only be dropping a little bit from the daytime. there will be a frost for some into tomorrow morning. this is the chart wednesday bringing that intensification of rain is this area of low pressure. strong and gusty winds developing towards whales and the southwest. some heaviest rain in the southwest. some heaviest rain in the north wales and that zone from wales and the midlands towards east anglia could see some rumbles of thunder with it. there will be some a son in the south with temperatures of 12 or 13 a son in the south with temperatures of 12 or13 and a son in the south with temperatures of 12 or 13 and it will be increasingly chiller in the north are one 01’ increasingly chiller in the north are one or two increasingly chiller in the north are one 01’ two showers increasingly chiller in the north are one or two showers and wintry over higher ground. colder air will ta ke over higher ground. colder air will take place for all of us as we go through the rest of the week is an area of low pressure pushes through and northerly winds take us into a festive chill. let's take a look at

christmas eve. it's going to be a case of a few showers around and those will be mostly wintry in the hills but most places will have some dry and sunny weather with some strong winds on the eastern coast of england and will make it feel especially colder with an added wind—chill. four to 7 degrees the highs. into christmas day it is a festive frost rather than a white christmas for many. there will be some showers on the east coast and the odd flurry may be in the north york moors it will turn wetter in the northern scotland but elsewhere, actually christmas day.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the french government's expected to announce plans to lift the cross—channel travel ban — around one and a half thousand lorry drivers spent a second night in their cabs waiting at the uk port of dover. the us government's top medical adviser, dr anthony fauci, is preparing to be vaccinated against the virus within hours. and financial markets rally after the long—awaited us coronavirus aid package is approved by congress. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world

and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the raft of new travel restrictions placed on the uk have disrupted holiday travel plans for both people hoping to head to the uk, or return home abroad, and has created a great deal of uncertainty. that's not to mention the underlying threat of a new covid strain and its implications for the wider pandemic. well, we've been reaching out to hear which burning questions you need answers to most. it's time for your question's answered. a lot of you out there have questions about the new covid—19 strain, and the vaccine. our expert today to help answer some of them is prof cindy prins, who's

an infectious disease epidemiologist at the university of florida. you've also been sending in a lot of questions. we will get straight to it, let me begin with one that came in that said this morning the news said the strain had also been seen in the netherlands and denmark. is the new strain the one that mutated from minkfarms? strain the one that mutated from mink farms? what do we know about how it mutated ? mink farms? what do we know about how it mutated? right now, we do not know for sure how it mutated. we do know for sure how it mutated. we do know as it does not seem to be related to the transmission or the mutation that we saw in mink farms and it makes sense epidemiologically because you and it makes sense epidemiologically because you were and it makes sense epidemiologically because you were to have expected to have seen wider circulation of this strain, especially in denmark when we saw some of those other mutations arise from transmission through a mink, but right now, we do not know

for sure. it is expected that this could have arisen from infection of someone could have arisen from infection of someone who is immunocompromised, who had trouble fighting off the virus and was in fact a very long time and that can allow fair infections to then it's bad.” understand, so many questions have come in, i want to get her another one. “— come in, i want to get her another one. —— and then it has spread. is the covid—19 vaccine effective against this new strain? it is a great question and it is an important question to ask. what we know right now is it is believed that the vaccine should still be effective against this strain of covid—19. 0bviously, effective against this strain of covid—19. obviously, we will be keeping an eye on that. i think it is important to note that as people are starting to get vaccinated, after the first vaccine it is only about 50% efficacy, you could still see some infection, so seeing that does not mean that the vaccine is not working, it is only until you

have the second dose of the vaccine, plus some time to build up immunity, that you are actually protected and at that point we will be looking for whether people are getting infected with this new strain. but we do believe that the vaccine should still remain effective against it.” think that is positive news to take from this crazy week, i think a lot of would agree. the travel editor of the sun newspaper — lisa minot — joins us from hertfordshire. also so many questions about travel. let me time to portuguese news outlets which are talking about flights arriving from the uk that only portuguese citizens and residents in portugal will be allowed in and we'll all that need to present negative test results. but they are wondering how long might these measures continue? any idea? we do not have any idea how long the measures will continue, but

we are seeing indications, even from borisjohnson himself, that restrictions in the uk could last at least another few months. he was talking about perhaps being back to normality by easter, so i think the restrictions are going to go on for quite a long time yet. we have got to bear in mind that with the vaccines it is going to take the best part of a six to nine months to vaccinate the large majority of the population, so it is not going to be an overnight change and i think we will definitely see more of these tests being required for all types of travel. there is another one and i think so many of these are moving so quickly, but perhaps we can talk about what we do know and also perhaps what we do not. another one for you, lisa, what about british residents who are not in the uk right now but need to get back after the holidays. for someone in hamburg saying it is not clear what is happening with travel to the uk, i'm

visiting family and generally better and fearing i'm going to get stuck there for quite awhile. this did actually happen the first time, the first lockdown we did see the government itself having to repatriate people government itself having to re patriate people because government itself having to repatriate people because the flights literally shut down. i cannot see that being exactly the same at this time round, i think there still will be flights. there will not be as many as there have normally been, but there still will be flights coming back into the uk. the issue at the moment is that it is countries across the world are saying that they do not want anyone coming into their country. easyjet, one of the biggest low—cost airlines, have already said themselves that they aim to try to have as many flights coming back into the country as they can possibly run. and just taking a look at these various questions we have that have come in to the bbc, we are trying to answer as many as we can in at this time. we have professor cindy prins and also lisa, the travel editor of the sun. let me turn back to you, professor. let me

turn back to you, professor. let me turnit turn back to you, professor. let me turn it to this one, a little bit longer. it says the new covid—19 variant has a higher transmission rate than previous versions, also it appears or what the government is saying at the moment. surely this must apply it is more readily transmitted by airborne infection, does it mean it stays in the air longer than previous versions? should the recommended distance for social distancing of the increased? this is from robert in southampton. it isa this is from robert in southampton. it is a very important question. people think of transmission in two stages, there is transmission that goes through the air from one person to the next three droplets, either large or small droplets, when we cough, sneeze or talk and then there is actually the part of transmission where when the virus gets to the next person, how good is it at getting into that person's cells and setting up an infection? what you are looking up with this new variant is that there is really no reason to believe that there is a difference in how this spreads through the air.

we are looking at the second part of that chain which is when it gets into someone, how good is it at setting up infection? it seems it may be better at actually getting into our cells and causing infection. that was actually a question neal and halifax was asking, how does the new strain of covid spread more easily?m asking, how does the new strain of covid spread more easily? if you think about the covid virus, there isa think about the covid virus, there is a spike 13 on the outside of the virus and this is a sort of key and think of yourselves of being a lot and the key can get into the lock and the key can get into the lock and get into your cells and cause infection and it looks of this new variant may be making this a better key, making that spike 13 a much more efficient at getting into your cells and that's lock and getting in to cause infection. understand, 70 questions coming in. i think we know

the answer to this one, but i think what it does is illustrate the way people's minds are thinking at the moment. this is from georgia in italy who says i'm currently working in italy and need to get home. home at being the uk. if i fly to france and geta at being the uk. if i fly to france and get a flight from france, can i then get to england? people are trying to think is there a way around the uk arrivals that have been stopped? at the moment, at present, going via paris is not going to make any difference at all, because those at borders are also currently still shut. this is a very fluid situation and it can be a completely different outlook at the end of today, but there is no more advantage of flying to france to try to get back to england byjust flying back from italy itself. it willjust be a case of finding out which airlines are still running flight which airlines are still running flight and which are still getting people back to the uk. how has it been, lisa, ispoke

people back to the uk. how has it been, lisa, i spoke to a few guests on my programme on the weld service as well that will adjust finding it so difficult to get information yesterday from embassies or others and there seems to be flights that we re and there seems to be flights that were still being sold, how do you understand it? how difficult is it to know what you can and cannot do? it is similarto to know what you can and cannot do? it is similar to the start of this pandemic in that it was so unprecedented, we sought countries literally closing their borders at no notice at all, people being stranded abroad, sometimes for long periods of time, but i think this is a slightly different situation. there was a reaction by various different parts of the world saying this is a new strain, we do not know enough about it. we are closing our borders until we do know. we now have the eu coming out and said they wanted countries to now reopened borders and they want to supply chains to be able to continue to get essential goods, medical staff, into the country, but they are still advising against all but essential travel, so effectively saying we

have to keep the economy and freight going, but they do not really want people travelling in any great numbers to and from the uk at the moment. it is really quite something to get your head around, how everything just came to a standstill. i want to turn back to you, professor, again. a bit of a scary question that came in from as early will stop if the virus mutates after we have all been vaccinated, would this make the vaccine effective? —— came in from zoe. another great question and what we know is that coronavirus does not tend to mutate very quickly, so there is hope the vaccine can be in place and people can vet get vaccinated and we can reduce has mission without that happening quickly. it is possible that major mutations could happen after the vaccine gets rolled out and in that case, the nice thing about these vaccines is they are pretty flexible as being able to be revised in order

to address a new strain that may be is not going to respond as well to the older vaccine. i also want to say we have to think of vaccination in terms of it is not all or nothing but they could be changes in the virus that maybe it slightly less effective, but still this is a very effective, but still this is a very effective vaccine, so even a slight reduction in effectiveness would still result in a lot of people it being immune to covid—19. still result in a lot of people it being immune to covid-19. 0k, still result in a lot of people it being immune to covid-19. ok, so i suppose we also have to get the vaccination is rolled out as well which could be a number of months which could be a number of months which lots of people are also thinking about. let me turn back to you, lisa, as i try to fit in as many of the questions that our viewers have sent to us. what about, eve ryo ne viewers have sent to us. what about, everyone is trying to think of a way around this, what about heading to the uk from germany? from the 23rd of december, could we drive to the uk across the channel? we just do

not know at the moment, because again, it is all that down to that crucial sea border which is currently being closed, notjust with france but holland as well at the moment so there are no ferries going to holland or from holland into the uk or france into the uk, so into the uk or france into the uk, so driving into either of those countries will not make any difference. there needs to be a coordinated approach, the eu have said that they think these are borders that should open up again, but there does not seem to be any agreement yet from individual countries that they are going to follow these guidelines from the eu. let mejust turn follow these guidelines from the eu. let me just turn very briefly, lisa, to you, more not a question from the viewers back from me. can you see this ban continuing for much longer? i think while we still have the government in the uk saying they are not ruling out further restrictions and other parts of the uk moving

into tier4 in and other parts of the uk moving into tier 4 in the uk, and other parts of the uk moving into tier4 in the uk, i and other parts of the uk moving into tier 4 in the uk, i think it is necessary that we have to consider the fact that countries across the world a re the fact that countries across the world are going to continue to keep these borders closed. we have had them all say, every country is different, but it is everything from a couple of days up to two weeks with countries like turkey and i think what we will see more happening as once they do reopen those borders, anybody who wants to enter intoa those borders, anybody who wants to enter into a country coming from the uk to another country have to have a negative pcr test that has been taken up to 72 hours before they will be allowed into that country and that seems to be the way in most countries are going now. yes, silly testing would then need to be up to that particular speed as well for —— so the testing. i want to thank both of you. professor, you will have its way to some of the fears people have when they hear this talk of the

variant of covid—19 or coronavirus that causes covid—19. —— micro suede some of the fears. i think questions will keep coming, there are 70 people who are in a different place —— so people who are in a different place —— so many people who are in a different place to whether home is. but i want to thank both of you who have been able to answer your questions. let us turn to bennett with the business news. here are the latest business headlines. here are the latest the european commission calls on member states to scrap their uk bans, which have caused major disruption at uk ports, leaving british exporters in limbo. and the us congress approves the $900 billion coronavirus aid package, but the deal still needs to be signed off by president trump. within the last hour or so, european countries have been urged to lift their bans on travel

from the uk. the european commission said all cargo and other essential travel should be allowed. almost every eu member state has stopped arrivals from the uk because of fears about the new strain of coronavirus. that's caused major disruption at uk ports and left over 1,500 trucks stranded in kent in southern england. let's speak to our business correspondent theo leggett. at correspondent theo leggett. this stage, it is just a recommendation at this stage, it is just a recommendation from the european commission, is there any sign whether the countries will actually lift those bans? we can be pretty sure that france, for instance, is inafairly sure that france, for instance, is in a fairly close contact with the united kingdom about lifting that ban, because it is not in any one's interests to keep it going, it is an emergency measure, as you said, this recognition from the european commission isjust recognition from the european commission is just that, recognition from the european commission isjust that, it is up recognition from the european commission is just that, it is up to the individual states themselves to

decide what restrictions they want to put in place. their priority at the moment quite clearly is keeping this new variant of the virus out, hence the restrictions are in place and as we can see, in the uk in particular, that is having a very severe impact. and so, in terms of actually allowing cargo through, evenif actually allowing cargo through, even if the bans lifted, there is a huge backlog at the ports that has to be dealt with? absolutely, you mention 1500 lorries, that is likely to be an understatement. we know that there is about 1500 lorries that there is about 1500 lorries that are being parked in a mannish way, upper motorway in kent in the south—east of england in a special lorry park at an old airport so those are the ones that are being positioned deliberately. we know that there are ones across the cou nty that there are ones across the county that are parked in a very ad hoc manner and at some of the

lorries are claiming it could be as much as 4000. it is going to take time to clear that backlog, even once traffic starts moving again on the problem is traffic is unlikely to start moving again until there is some kind of testing regime in place and attests whether it is the lateral flow test that the british government favours which is relatively quick, or pcr tests in advance which art the lab —based tests that france once. either way, it will add an extra level of bureaucracy if you like to getting there is lorries across the border and therefore it will take time, time to clear the backlog and it will take longerfor time to clear the backlog and it will take longer for lorries to get three. just briefly, people will see theseit three. just briefly, people will see these it seems and worry about possible shortages in the supermarket. what is the latest on that? we are hearing that supermarkets in the uk are pretty well stocked for christmas, but there are increasingly loud warnings that certain products, fresh produce for example, could run at short from

december the 27th onwards, because basically, although freight can come from france into the uk, lorry drivers are unlikely to want to come here if they know they cannot be sure of getting back again. 0k, thank you very much. americans and businesses hit by the pandemic have been assured that "more help is on the way, immediately". those were the words of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell as us lawmakers agreed a $900 billion relief package. as soon as president trump signs it into law, the money can start going out to individuals and firms. samira hussain now joins us from new york. do we know exacting what form this help will take and how quickly it will get to people? people could be getting some of these stimulus checks as soon as next week, according to the treasury secretary. what they provided in this bill as they have extended the unemployment

benefits that were due to expire four americans right up to christmas. they have extended that for another two and a half months. in addition, there are going to be stimulus checks being sent to people who are earning some $5,000 or less and each check is going to be about and each check is going to be about a $600, so those are the checks that the treasury secretary was really talking about, that they can start coming as soon talking about, that they can start coming as soon as talking about, that they can start coming as soon as next week. the other thing that is also included in this bill is additional loans for small businesses, which as you rightly pointed out, small businesses have really been hurting in this pandemic. the trouble is that look, it is great that we are seeing this $900 billion being spent, but it is not nearly enough to save all these businesses. remember, there are still so many businesses that have already gone under, that have already gone out of business. there were not able to ta ke business. there were not able to take advantage of any of this money thatis take advantage of any of this money that is being put into this small business programme. it is not nearly

enough, the congress is certainly going to have to try and pass more stimulus packages in the new year. thank you very much. two young social media stars in india are finding fame in a multi—billion dollar industry. some of their creative content is even attracting lucrative endorsements from well—known brands. the bbc‘s devina gupta finds out more about the lives of these young stars. rehearsing for her weekly video, 11—year—old anantya is no stranger to fame. she began her online career at the age of five, and today she has her own youtube channel, mymissanand, which has over 9 million subscribers. anantya's channel is mostly a family affair, with her parents and aunt performing in some of the comedy videos. i have a lot of fun making videos and i like acting as a student and just playing different roles.

and as they get famous, top brands are willing to dish out an estimated 3000 to $6,000 to advertise with them. my husband and i plan that whatever we will earn, we will save for her. as she grows up we would like to send her to some good university where she can pursue her dreams. children as influencers are part of the digital advertising industry that is a big business. according to one estimate, this market will be worth $1.7 billion by next year. brands are catching up and in india, many are linking up with kid and teen influencers to promote their products to children who have the potential to sway the buying decisions in the family. but for brand managers, working with such young influencers is a delicate task. so, a lot of them do this for a hobby and they are not really used to how this works, so sometimes they turn around

and say i don't want to do this, i don't have time. you know, it is problems that they could kind of encounter. but there is a flip side to this early fame. this man started a youtube channel reviewing tech gadgets when he was 14, but then he found he could not cope in the race for likes and subscribers. i could not sleep at night because i was obsessing with each like and comment. i felt so anxious about my online channel that i started withdrawing myself from everyone. i was in a very negative space for a while and it took me time to find that balance. psychologists also warn of the intense pressure faced by children who try to gain a spotlight in the social media world. we don't realise that there is a lot of pressure that the child goes through within himself or herself, because they are all the time wanting to get validation and they are trying to earn money and trying to get a face value, so it is quite stressful for them in many ways.

and it does raise a question — whether india needs a regulatory framework for the influence industry so that children can enjoy their childhood with their early careers. devina gupta, bbc news, delhi. here are some other business stories. the uk will fail to get superfast broadband to reach 85% of the uk by 2025, according to mps. that was the target the government had set itself — nationwide coverage within five years. but targets were scaled back when it emerged that only a quarter of the promised £5 billion in funding would be available. uk government borrowing soared in november as it continued to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. the office for national statistics said borrowing hit £31.6 billion last month, the highest november figure on record. it was also the third—highest figure in any month since records began in 1993.

let's take a look at the us markets. it isa it is a sea of green, the markets all up. they have been propped up by apple on an exclusive report that it was a planning car and battery production. they were also boosted by news of that coronavirus stimulus package we are talking about earlier. turning now to markets in europe, which have been open a few hours. market suffered quite a bit yesterday but shares are up, rebounding from them and their losses. approval of the us stimulus package helped calm fears of a further dent to the global economy from a new coronavirus strain in the uk. banks led the rise in shares across europe, followed by retailers and tech stocks.

we and tech stocks. will have more business news for you we will have more business news for you later. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @benmbland. we have seen contrasting where the uk today for many northern areas of the uk, plenty of sunshine. a beautiful day earlier in cumbria where is the further south you are, it has been great, damp and fairly drizzly as well. southern areas we are more likely to see rain in the next 36 hours, this chart shows where rainfall amounts will be a key relating, particularly in and wales and a zone towards east anglia, here we see 40 to 70 millimetres of rain, could enhance the risk of flooding as we go through the coming days. as we go through the of today, it is going to turn wet across parts of wales, central southern england, mildest of the air here but into the evening, clear skies, mildest of the air here but into the evening, clearskies, northern england, scotland and northern ireland already turning cold quite

quickly. the cloud will increase across northern ireland and southern scotla nd across northern ireland and southern scotland into the night, further rain at times across england and wales, there will be some clear skies around as well but it will be another mild one further south, temperatures dropping a few degrees from a data values, northern england northwards though, chance of a frost into my money for stock this is a chart for wednesday, bringing that intense rain is this area of pressure, strong intense rain is this area of pressure, strong winds developing later on. heaviest rain in north—west wales and then in that zonein north—west wales and then in that zone in the midlands to east anglia, could see some rumbles of thunder. in the south skies could brighten for a in the south skies could brighten fora time, in the south skies could brighten for a time, tempted up to 13 or 14 but increasingly chilly a further delay macro further north. 0ne but increasingly chilly a further delay macro further north. one or two showers, wintry of a higher ground. colder air as at the area of low pressure pulls through, northerly winds take us into a festive chill. let's look at

christmas eve, it will be a case of seeing a few showers around, some will be wintry, particularly over hills, but most places will have a dry and sunny weather at times but strong winds down the eastern coast of england, making it feel especially cold with an added wind—chill, for to 70 degrees. a widespread frost that will take us into christmas day, so festive frost rather than a white christmas for many. —— four to seven degrees was not wet to north—west of scotland with some other air later, but bright christmas day.

this is bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: france is expected to announce plans to lift the cross—channel travel ban, after more than 1,500 lorry drivers spent a second day stuck in the uk port of dover a warning the new mutation of covid—19, is now "everywhere" and that more areas may need to have, tier 4 restrictions. america's top infectious diseases expert doctor anthony fauci is prepared to be vaccinated against coronavirus. i want this to be a symbol for the people in the united states to encourage them about the safety a nd states to encourage them about the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the french government says it will announce measures later that could allow transport links with britain to resume — and trade to flow across the channel again. borisjohnson and president macron spoke on monday following france's decision to close its border with the uk, due to a new, highly infectious coronavirus strain spreading in the uk. more than 40 countries have now banned flights from the united kingdom — the number's been constantly rising. greece and cyprus are now the only countries in europe that have not banned flights from the uk. today, germany extended its ban until six january. and in the us, the governor of new york, andrew cuomo,

wants to stop flights from the uk entering new york state. today, the eu commission will release advise on how member states can best repatriate their nationals who are trying to get home. and as the lorry blockade continues to worsen at the uk—france border, prime minister boris johnson is under increasing pressure to impose a nationwide lockdown. 0ur correspondent theo legget is at the port of dover. seemingly endless queues of parked up lorries stretching for miles along the m20 this morning. there's simply nowhere for them to go. the french border remains closed, the eurotunnel terminal is shut and deserted and in dover, some traffic was coming in on ferries from france but nothing was going the other way. hundreds of trucks now sit in this giant lorry park, in what used to be manston airport, while others are waiting wherever they can find space.

this polish driver was among hundreds waiting for news. it's a disasterfor me, you know? it's the first time i'm here in the uk and, like a driver, and it's... it's terrible. as i said, if i knew one day before that... hey, guys, idon't know, europe, uk, border will close in one day — i would never have come here. do you think you'll get home for christmas? i don't know. i hope but i don't think so. it's not clear precisely how many lorries are now parked up around kent. concerns are growing about the welfare of the stranded drivers, forced to spend days confined to their cabs, farfrom home. the welfare of these drivers should be top of our minds at the moment. we should be treating them much better than we are because they are essential workers that keep our supermarkets stacked, keep our manufacturing sector working.

but also, get our british goods to market around the world, earning us pounds and getting us jobs here at home, in britain. the government says it is in talks with france to find a way of unblocking the border and developments are likely later today. the border was closed because of french concerns about a new and highly infectious variant of the coronavirus. any solution, the government says, is likely to involve testing the drivers. testing of some sort is part of the discussions that the transport secretary is having with his counterpart in france right now. getting those tests up and running, you know, can happen relatively quickly but in terms of the details of that, that is something that both the transport secretary and his counterpart will be discussing right now. so i don't want to speculate in terms of the nature of the tests and how soon that could be up and running. what form those tests could take, though, is still not clear.

the uk is known to favour so—called lateral flow tests, which are for rapid results. france prefers a lab—based test, which is slower but seen as more reliable. yet authorities in calais have made it clear they want an agreement quickly. i am very sad and i hope — i hope — that really in the next... since yesterday morning when i heard, in interviews, i said it's necessary if that is a condition for the hauliers to come back to france, please start as soon as possible the tests. haulage firms agree a solution needs to be found soon or all of these lorries will be left on the road to nowhere. theo leggett, bbc news. let's go to dover now and talk to our correspondent sangita myska. 0k, talk us through the people who have not seen the scene, quite

something over the past couple of days, sangita. what are saying the people you are meeting? let me just talk you through where i am standing right now. behind me you can see that road, which is gridlocked with lorries on both sides. behind the camera is the port of dover. this is basically the last bit of road before these lorries would have normally driven into the port and then got into a ferry and then crossed over into france. that is obviously come to a standstill because there is not a single ferry going out of france at the moment due to the french ban. what you can see here is just due to the french ban. what you can see here isjust a due to the french ban. what you can see here is just a tiny fraction of the 1000 plus lorries that are now gridlocked in and around dover. for some of these lorries on this road here, if i was to take you round where i worked earlier today, you will then see lorries in the streets around there are also backed up and gridlocked. if you were to go

further out of dover, you then see great locks on the whole of the entry route on the m 20, the main highway route into the port gridlocked there. there is also an airfield called manston airfield thatis airfield called manston airfield that is now being used as a temporary lorry park and we have got 800 or so plus lorries over there. i have just been talking to the police officers who have been keeping order here and they say that they have genuinely never seen anything like it. we do sometimes in the summers see a bit gridlock over the summer due to the weight of traffic, but this time, they are saying they have never seen this time, they are saying they have never seen anything like it. you can see a bit of traffic movement behind me, don't be fooled. that is not lorries going to border ferries. me, don't be fooled. that is not lorries going to borderferries. it is at freight park that they have created on the other side of the white cliffs which are over to my left and what they are now allowing some of the lorries to do, if they

can take the containers off the back of their cabs, they are saying that you can go through and leave your containers there and drive back. the problem really is that the lorry drivers, they obviously can't take the goods out and leave them in abandon them. i have been talking to some of the lorry drivers here. most of them are continental drivers, they are trying to get back to the continent. even if their english is fairly limited, what is very clear as the following. there are no toilets are set up for them, they are having to sleep in their lorries and their cabs. that is the front pa rt and their cabs. that is the front part of the lorry. while there used to that, how long is this going to go on for? there is nowhere they can wash and let's forget, we are in the middle let's not forget that they are in the middle of a panic and they have to keep clean. as for food, it's whatever they can go and buy. i don't have extra cash. some of them have to lock up and take

money out in town. some of them are being paid by mileage. if they are not actually driving anywhere, they are not getting paid any extra. let's not forget, these lorry drivers, many, many of them want to get back in time to be at home with theirfamilies at get back in time to be at home with their families at christmas. there is hardly any time to go. the uk government is saying that the gridlock will be broken probably with the use of mass testing. but the question is, how and when is that going to be rolled out? how quickly will they get the results? and what does it mean if they have to quarantine? where will they do that? lots of questions today but really very few answers. we appreciate, sangita, what people are telling you there. the picture is absolutely phenomenal to give that amount of lorries. let's hope they get some answers pretty soon and managed to get home to their families. sangita, thank you very

much. the united states continues to have the highest rates of infections and coronavirus—related deaths in the world. president—electjoe biden has warned of a dark winter even as the us approves two vaccines. the challenge now is trying to limit the spread of the virus and vaccinate priority groups — health workers and the elderly — before vaccinating the population at large. dr anthony fauci, director of the us institute of allergy and infectious diseases, is set to get his vaccine on live tv this afternoon to encourage americans to do likewise. joining us a short while ago, he told me what he thought about the new strain, how the us has coped and how he will get immunised. it makes me feel good for a couple of reasons, number one, i want this to be a symbol for the people in the united states to encourage them about the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine and to get them to be enthusiastic when their time comes to get vaccinated. but also, especially for me and my group, that this particular vaccine that

i will be receiving was actually developed here. there is no indication that the new variant is escaping the protection of the vaccine. the critical issue that seems to be occupying people's attention is is it a virus that is spread more efficiently? we need to continue to follow it and definitely ta ke continue to follow it and definitely take it seriously. i believe it's a complex array of things that happened that led to this difficult situation we are in. we are a very large country, we have 330 plus million people in the country and i believe it would have been better if we did things in a more uniform and consistent way when you are thinking about the implementation

of public health practices. that is just one of the things that i think were a problem. the other thing was mixed messaging that we have had. it has been much politically politicised. there have been in the situation that i think everybody realises there is a great deal of divisiveness in this country. and there are people that take sides as to what kind of implementation of public health measures they should or should not do. the bottom line is we were inconsistent in our response. let's look at some of the day's other news. russia has expanded its response to eu sanctions over the poisoning of the anti—corruption campaigner alexei navalny. moscow has informed french, german and swedish diplomats of countermeasures its taking against eu travel bans targeting russian officials. meanwhile, mr navalny says he tricked a russian agent into confessing to state involvement in an attack on him last august. russia's security agency, the fsb, has called his taped phone call a fake. police in canada have said they do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances around

the death of a dissident pakistani activist in toronto. karima baloch was a well—known critic of the military and state's policies in the western province of baluchistan. she went missing on sunday afternoon. she had sought asylum in canada in 2015, and in 2016 was named in the bbc‘s annual list of 100 inspirational women. the first direct commercial flight from israel to morocco has landed, carrying a joint israeli—us delegation. it was made possible by a recent us—brokered agreement to re—establish diplomatic ties. the visiting delegation will sign a series of travel and other deals that'll help cement the relationship. in recent months, several arab countries have moved closer to normalising ties with israel. the process has bitterly disappointed the palestinians, who wanted any such nomalisation to wait until after their dispute with the israelis had been resolved. president trump came to power promising to build a "big beautiful wall" along the country's southern

border with mexico and told undocumented people living in the us to be afraid. as the trump presidency comes to an end, the wall remains under construction and federal enforcement teams continue to arrest undocumented immigrants who've lived in the country peacefully for decades. as immigrant advocates count down the days to the biden white house , our west coast correspondent sophie long asks, how much can or will change?. we were in san diego, california, for ice agents pulled over a worker on his way to work... immigration activists live stream, record and document the safety issue is ice here, they are terrorising our people, they are separating families... they believe ice, or immigration and customs enforcement, operate unlawfully, and consider this attempted kidnapping. there is a violation of state law right now, even their presence, trying to intimidate people here.

they want these operations, which often remove parents from their children, to stop. and ice to be abolished. they are not hopeful joe biden will deliver. if we take the last administration where he served as vice president, it was the administration that most reported migrant families, , deported migrant families, who separated, who created the detention centres on the border, who privatised the detention of migrants, and so we don't have any hopes. after 40 minutes, the ice agents and police officers leave, without making an arrest but not without reinforcing the deep felt fear here. there were no activists present the day these two people were arrested and detained for months. theirfour children left to fend for themselves. seeing my mum handcuffed, not even being able to see my dad because he was in a separate area, it was just a very overwhelming feeling that we are alone. it was like my worst nightmare came to be. i didn't really believe it.

three years on, and they still don't know if their parents will be deported. what do you hope will happen now? i hope that people will have more empathy, will be more compassionate, that there will be an easier pass tell a path to citizenship instead of us being confused and not knowing what will happen. there is hope here and in neighbourhoods along this border that the end of donald trump's presidency will mark a turning point. the dramatic difference is that this level of fear has been lifted from the immigrant community, and i think that that is profound, for those of us working in the community, there hasjust been a real terror for folks every day. but so much damage has been done that there is also a reality check, we know that this is going to take time. halfway through donald trump's presidency, we filmed as a young mother and her daughter walked around the end of the border fence.

you couldn't do that here now. where there was no barrier, there are now two, and construction continues. joe biden says he will put a stop to that. at the top you've got a five foot, what we call, anti—climb plate. but those that police the border say the wall‘s made it much more difficult to cross. if you're going to put yourself on an 18 foot or 30 foot wall, any time you climb a tall structure is inherently dangerous. you risk falling, which does happen. they are dealing with compound fractures, fractured vertebrae, and even deaths, unfortunately. the port of entry is the place you are supposed to cross a border, whether you are claiming asylum or whether you are making a legal entry with a visa. that is the front door of a country, is the port of entry. for those and the families of those who survived and made it across this border in the years and decades gone

by, the reduction in the theatre, the reduction in the fear. they feel when donald trump leaves office may be instantaneous. mending a dysfunctional immigration system in a deeply divided country will not. let's return to our top story — where talks are continuing to try and end the french ban on people coming from the uk. it follows the weekend's announcement about the spread of new coronavirus variant. the ban on freight between the uk and france has hit hauliers across europe. i want to bring the managing director of euro quality lands. you have lorries set to go to in justice band. what are you hearing about the people out there? it has been a very

difficult situation for all. we had four lorries on the road at the time the ban was announced. thankfully, three of them managed to get through before the curfew and one of them had to be urgently re—routed through the netherlands and got their 24 hours later. but as a business, we had planned to have five extra loads going this week and we haven't been able to do that. i mentioned that you work with euro quality lamb, is that all lands in these lorries i'm thinking about food spoiling? yes, these are lamb carcasses that we supply to wholesalers in france and they passed them onto the retail shops over there. each lorry we have has approximately 1000 carcasses and this is a time of year that a lot of

british lamb, may be 40%, is exported. but this time of the year it isa exported. but this time of the year it is a greater amount of ram exported because people are celebrating christmas etc are wanting our great reputation of lamb. it couldn't happen at a worse time for us. how hopeful are you that the uk and france can come to a suitable solution for you ? that the uk and france can come to a suitable solution for you? the leaders have been making noises that they're trying to find a solution. we have taken, we were trying to get five lorries this week and we had planned for it, we have taken a risk of trying to send one because we expect that there will be a pragmatic solution to this in time for the 11pm, open again for the lorries are there. we are hoping for pragmatism to prevail in this.” understand. we were saying with my

colleague, sangita, that some of the drivers and many of them are there without cleaning facilities and food. let's see what will happen to them. thank you for speaking to us. the uk prime minister borisjohnson is facing intense pressure to impose a nationwide lockdown to try to curb the spread of a new coronavirus variant that's thought to be up to 70% more infectious than the original. government scientific advisors have warned that inaction over the new strain could costs tens of thousands of lives. we can speak now to dr gabriel scally, visiting professor of public health at the university of bristol and a member of independent sage. wonderful to have you with us. i think so many people have questions about this variant. i think the first thing, are you convinced that it is more infectious than the original virus? variance appear all the time in viruses. what is

different this time is that there are quitea different this time is that there are quite a few differences and it comes on the back of a period where there has been really a lot of spread in london and in kent in particular and in the south—east of england. the scientists who are analysing the virus have found that they think that the pattern of changes they have found are consistent with very rapid spread and anything up to twice as fast as the virus strains that we have had before. that is not definitely proved yet. as ever, in these issues of major public health threats, moving early and moving fast and ha rd moving early and moving fast and hard possibly the best way to prevent something until you know for sure what you are dealing with. the thing is though, people have been moving before this and many are thinking that this variant must

already be in other countries and should have draconian measures introduced. what would you say? should have draconian measures introduced. what would you sawm has appeared in other countries, in very small numbers and many countries are now checking and looking forward to see how far it has spread. it will take a little bit of time to find out how infectious it is. in terms of the measures that were taken, transport, interfering with the passage of the virus and this particular variant, this is a sensible and wise thing to do. iam this is a sensible and wise thing to do. i am not so convinced that interfering with freight movement is absolutely necessary at this point. both airfreight and lorry freight are moved quite freely during the pandemic and it is not really reported to any large scale that freight movement has been associated with outbreaks of the virus or the spread of the virus to any

significant degree. much more important are people making personal journeys passing through airports and train stations etc and on ferries. that is the real travel but i think should be restricted. within the country, within the uk, i think it is wise for wales and for scotla nd it is wise for wales and for scotland to limit movement in and out. and with a should do this until we know what this virus is like. the $6 million question is when that will be. but we thank you for your analysis. the winners of one of the world's biggest lotteries — spain's el gordo, or the fat 0ne — have been announced. the prize fund is nearly $2.9 billion. only a few minutes into the draw, a ball worth 60,000 euros. the largest prize,

nearly $4 million, was called for lucky numbers seven two eight nine. school children call out the winning numbers, continuing the tradition despite the pandemic. you probably know that singing has been banned in many places when it comes to the pandemic, but in spain they decided that to let the kids go ahead and do that. to let the kids go ahead and do that. 0ur correspondent guy hedgecoe spoke to us earlier today about the significance of el gordo. sa nta cla us santa claus got stuck in power lines. he got caught when coming

into land with a sack full of candy canes. i'm going to leave you on those pictures when all turned out fine in the end. for many northern areas we have seen plenty of sunshine and a beautiful day in cumbria, but further south it has been grey, damp and drizzly as well. southern areas we are likely to see more rain in the next 36 hours. this chart shows were rainfall amounts will be accumulating in england and wales and especially in east anglia. we can see 40 to 70 millimetres of rain. this enhances the risk of flooding as we go into the coming days. as we go to the rest of the day, everything is turning wet across wales and central and southern england, the mildest area here. northern england and scotland and northern ireland are already

churning cold quickly. cloud will increase in northern ireland and scotla nd increase in northern ireland and scotland into the night, further rain towns across england and wales and there will be some clear skies around also, but it is meant to be another mild one. temperatures will be dropping a few degrees. northern england northwards and chance of a frost for some into tomorrow morning. this is the chart for wednesday,. this morning. this is the chart for wednesday, . this intense morning. this is the chart for wednesday,. this intense area of low pressure will bring strong and gusty winds in wales and the southwest. some of the heaviest rain in north—west in that zone from to ease east anglia and could see thunder with it. the skies could brighten a times and the temperatures will be up times and the temperatures will be up to 12 or13 times and the temperatures will be up to 12 or 13 degrees and it will be chilly further north with scotla nd be chilly further north with scotland being the best sunshine. colder air will take place for all of us as we go through the rest of the week. that area of low pressure pushes through and northerly winds ta ke pushes through and northerly winds take us into a bit of a festive

chill. let's check christmas eve. it's going to be a case of a few showers around. those will be wintry. most places will have some dry and sunny weather at times and some strong winds down the eastern coast of england this will make it feel especially cold without added wind chill. 47 degrees are the highs. a widespread frost will take us highs. a widespread frost will take us into christmas day. some festive frost rather than white christmas. 0ne frost rather than white christmas. one or two showers on the east coast and we can't rule out the odd flurry in the york north york moors. now air later in the york north york moors. now airlater in in the york north york moors. now air later in scotland but chilly for christmas day.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the french government is expected to announce plans to lift the cross—channel travel ban. around one and a half thousand lorry drivers spent the night waiting at the port of dover. amnesty international is causing further investigation after the death of a pakistani activist who was living in canada. she was a vocal critic of military and state policies. spain has maintained one of its christmas rituals, despite the pandemic. getting kids to sing out the winning numbers in one of the world's biggest lotteries. l gordo, or the fact one. —— fat one.