this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the queues are stretching as far as the eye can see — france and britain have struck a deal to get cross—border traffic moving again. now all travellers will need to show a negative covid test. we were hoping to go back to our homes for new year's with our family, to celebrate. but now it's not going to happen, not this year. the virus is changing — we look at the new variant of coronavirus that spreads more easily and how it could become the dominant strain of the virus. as lawmakers in the us pass a $900 billion covid relief bill, we'll check in with one new york restaurant owner to see how the news has been received. america's top medical adviser, anthony fauci, gets the coronavirus vaccine live on television to signal its safety.

plus, an executive order from the outgoing president — if you're constructing government buildings, make sure they're beautiful. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. an agreement has finally been reached between the uk and france to restart the flow of passengers and freight between the two countries. the french closed the border on sunday amid growing concern about a new variant of coronavirus spreading to all parts of the uk. there are now almost 3000 lorries stuck waiting for the green light to cross the english channel to france. 0ur transport correspondent caroline davies has more. parked nose to bumper, almost 3000 lorries stranded in kent. this is 0peration brock in action, a way of keeping kent's roads moving

by diverting lorries to an empty airstrip. this is manston airfield, and as you can see, there's just been a steady stream of lorries coming past me since i've been standing here. it's looking like over there, it's already filling up. some in the industry say there could be as many as 6000—7000 lorries heading to dover by the end of the day. along the route in, lorries are tucked into lay—bys or parking lots. well, this is just outside of canterbury. it's about 21 miles away from dover, and you can see lorries piled up here and across the road at the petrol station. by the side of the road, we meet hamid from turkey. he showed us his bread, yoghurt, eggs and tea he carries with him to keep him going. with a few words of english, he told us he's come from leeds and got stuck here on his way home. many of the drivers here now have empty lorries after dropping their food and goods off for christmas. these men arrived on sunday.

they're trying to get home to bosnia and italy. we were hoping to go back to our homes for new year's with our family, to celebrate. but now it's not going to happen, not this year. we don't have a bathroom. we don't have anything, you know? we are stuck here maybe for days. there are concerns for stranded drivers. and some have been there now for getting on 48 hours, and there's not been a huge amount in the way of welfare provision. what we're really, really hoping is that we get a solution to this as soon as possible, that we get the border open and that we can get freight flowing again. some in the industry have been angered by the government response, saying they are downplaying the situation. we need to seen an answer as quickly as possible, ideally today. if it happens tomorrow, that might still be ok.

but if we're carrying on into christmas itself without any of this freight moving, we're going to have severe sorts of problems with our supply chain into next week. so this makeshift camp of lorries continues to grow. caroline davies, bbc news. for more on this, i'm joined by the chief executive of the road haulage association, richard burnett. thank you so much forjoining us. france, we have heard, is about to ease restrictions. from what we understand about these new rules, does this mean that your drivers cannot cross the english channel as long as they have a negative test equipment my understanding and again we are... my understanding and we are waiting for clarity from the uk government, we understand this will probably lead to a covid test. we are hoping for a lateralflow probably lead to a covid test. we are hoping for a lateral flow test which is much quicker. a pcr test ta kes too which is much quicker. a pcr test takes too long. but even with a lateral flow tests, we have a sniffing a number of drivers we need to get back over to europe over the

next few days. i guess the point with this is it will take us probably into christmas day and boxing day to repatriate what we estimate will be more like 8000-10,000 estimate will be more like 8000—10,000 vehicles there we need to get back into europe over the next few days. that's the scale of the task. and to try and work out the task. and to try and work out the information you are getting, we heard from the french prime minister's office what they are saying and that they seem to be taking lateral flow antigen tests if they can detect the new variant. are you being told anything directly by the uk government or are you having to rely from what you hear it from the french or the media? we are awaiting from briefings from the uk government to give us clarity on how this will work. my understanding at the moment is it is likely to be a lateral flow test. if it is a positive task and with that driver within need to have a pcr test to clarify and if that was positive, then effectively the driver would be quarantined. and there is a whole lot of detail behind its ugly how

that process is going to work, where the drivers are going to go where the drivers are going to go where the vehicles are going to go, or the loads are going to go. we need to work to this detail over the next couple of hours to understand literally how this operation can work. do you think it can work? i think it definitely can work that we have to make it work. that is the point absolutely here. i think the challenge is a great, there has to bea challenge is a great, there has to be a level of realism here that we are not going to be able to repatriate all of these vehicles over today, tomorrow and thursday. it'll think it's probably into christmas day and boxing day and we are going to need to work towards operating over the those days where naturally the fairies and others would not properly operate to the same degree. that would be put into place as well. lori drivers we know are tough people. they're used to spending hours alone. how they were handling this? may been handling it

incredibly well but they've been treated incredibly poorly and what frustrates me is the length of time is taken to get facilities, food, to listen place. we have been reassured again that drivers would get hot food by tomorrow but this should have been in place yesterday. we've been planning for transition for some time and government really should have been able to press a button and ensure that the welfare of these drivers was taken care off. againa of these drivers was taken care off. again a clear lesson that government need to take away from this transition planning in the next few weeks is it is got to get better at this. thank you so much forjoining us. this. thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. let's stick with the subject. i'm joined now by ruth cadbury, the labour mp for brentford and isleworth and a member of the transport select committee. that you very much forjoining us. the french government is about to ease those restrictions. does that solve it? it does it solve it overnight but i'm pleased that the uk in the french government have come to some sort of agreement.

rachel rees was coming for testing la st rachel rees was coming for testing last night. and we have spent capacity in the uk covid—19 testing programme. so they really do need to provide answers to the questions richard was quite rightlyjust asking. the welfare of these drivers is as real concern. tonight will be i think the third night for many of them sleeping in their cabs, they have not had proper toilets or washing facilities, and although the home secretary said this morning there were welfare facilities at the airport, quite clearly looking at the news reports today, they are wholly inadequate facilities. we are really pleased to see the sikh community are providing hopping for many of the drivers tonight. 0f community are providing hopping for many of the drivers tonight. of the government did not plan for this. there was the 2015 french strike

where i think 4000 lorries were parked up in kent. and there were reports written and recommendations about what to do if a similar situation came again and they are not prepared and yet they should be prepared because january the 1st is only a few days away. what practical suggestions do you have? does a labour party have for making things easier at dover and other ports. we would not start as richard said to him that we could be a day or two ahead of this by now and have testing facilities available for the drivers already. i beg to suggest that many overseas hall ears with their loads back over the channel are probably pretty low risk because they have had very little contact with any uk people and they would've been taking precautions when they did stop. so it's quite a low risk

situation, but we have spare capacity with the covid tester situation, but also as richard said there are faster and around tests and ended it put in place because even for those who have not got a re ce nt even for those who have not got a recent test certificate or proof of a negative test, for those, if they go for the pcr test they may be waiting two days for their results and that takes them virtually to christmas day. we could get a lateral flow tests in place, that would be a lot better. standing back a bit, the government was transparent about disclosing the variant, as it is compelled to be so by international law. the restriction at the borders was the french decision, the british decision. that is true, although we are still trying to get to the bottom of when the government realised quite how potentially serious the situation is and they

naturally use a precautionary principle may be a little earlier, they could have wrapped things up... i'm sorry about disclosing it to the who. i'm sorry about disclosing it to the wuo. by i'm sorry about disclosing it to the who. by the same token, could they have disclosed it to the who earlier than they did? i can understand the concern of the french government, irish government and other governments about the situation. and it's obviously... i cannot buy the government for everything. it does not respect politics. but it's been organism of the government preparation and lack of concern and the prime minister saying there were only a fraction of the number of lorries parked up that there actually were in the home secretary saying that there were adequate

facilities at the airport where there clearly are not. thank you so much forjoining us. leading scientists say they have "high" confidence that the new variant of the virus is easier to transmit than other variants. but there are many unanswered questions about the characteristics of the new variant and how it's managed to become the dominant strain within a matter of months, as our science editor david shukman explains. it takes scientific detective work to discover the genetic clues about how the virus is changing. the uk does more of this than any other country. maybe that's why the new variant was spotted here first. in any event, scientists say it does seem to cause infection more easily, and it is now spreading. this map, based on the latest data, shows how the new variant has been found across most of the uk, and it's got to other countries, too — confirmed in the netherlands, denmark and italy — and it's probably in germany and further afield. australia has found it as well.

researchers say the new variant may become the dominant form of the virus. at the moment, the trajectory is clearly that this is increasing extremely rapidly, and we have seen this before, so we saw a variant which emerged injanuary becoming the dominant form in the earlier part of this year, and what we are seeing with this new variant is that it's actually increasing far more rapidly than that previous variant ever did. a crucial question is whether the vaccines can handle the new variant. everything so far suggests they will. the scientists behind the pfizer/biontech vaccine say tests on other mutations have proved that. we are confident that this will be the case, since in the past we have tested more than 20 virus variants with different types of mutations, and the result was always that the vaccine induces immune response which is so bold and attacks multiple positions in this virus protein.

and what does the new variant mean for when we'll get out of this crisis? well, one estimate for the most vulnerable people and health care workers may be immunised by the middle of next april, if everything goes according to plan. and 67% of the entire population by mid—july. that would achieve what is called herd immunity, basically when the virus can't spread much more. but because the new variant seems to infect people more easily, it could be that 80% of the population has to be vaccinated to achieve that herd immunity, and that would take longer, maybe running into next august. another concern is whether children are more at risk from the new variant. there is no firm evidence of that so far, but scientists are watching closely. and from the labs that found the variant, a message has been relayed by the world health organization to make sure that when every country tests for the virus, they can detect

the new version. david shukman, bbc news. the restaurant industry is up there with the sectors hardest—hit by the coronavirus crisis, especially in countries that have seen restrictions placed on their ability to operate. so when lawmakers in the us voted to approve a $900 billion covid relief package on monday night that included special provisions for independent restaurants, you can imagine the collective sigh of relief. but while the move is welcomed by some, many in the sector are warning that the relief will not be able to save them from the side effects of the pandemic. let's bring in amanda cohen. she's a chef and owner of the dirt candy restaurant in new york city and also sits on the independent restaurant coalition advisory committee, an organisation set up this year to lobby for the segment of the dining community worst affected by the pandemic. what will the stimulus package do for you as a restaurant owner? i'm

not sure if it is going to do anything for me. taking on a second loa n anything for me. taking on a second loan but that is a band—aid. this problem is so big and it's going to ta ke problem is so big and it's going to take so long to fix that we need a grant that will be able to keep us in business, and what they passed is another round of a real protection programme, which is fundamentally alone, we have already received the first time around. none of us have had it forgiven or very few people have had it forgiven yes so they are asking us to take on a lumber for our first asking us to take on a lumber for ourfirst one is been asking us to take on a lumber for our first one is been forgiven and it does not allow us to our business ina way it does not allow us to our business in a way that is viable to keep our doors open for the next year. it's a couple of weeks band—aid, ten weeks ofa couple of weeks band—aid, ten weeks of a band—aid. couple of weeks band—aid, ten weeks of a band-aid. what kind of cost do you have the cover? as a cover my rent, my payroll, my point cost of goods, my insurance, my outdoor patio i have built, a myriad of costs. some are covered in the new programme but not all of them and i

cannot take on those costs. right now my rent is higher than my payroll but they are asked me to spend more on my payroll than on my rent. what kind of measures then do you still need ? rent. what kind of measures then do you still need? we really need congress to pass the restaurant act. it isa congress to pass the restaurant act. it is a grant that gives restaurants the ability to recoup their revenue for the past year and will allow them to keep their doors open. it won't turn into a loan. then i can spend the money and what i need to spend the money and what i need to spend it on to keep operating, payroll and a rant and cost of goods, to him about the weight is allocated gives me a lot more say over it than the way that congress has set up the ppp. i cannot help but notice how empty it is behind you. i know that is a legal instruction which must be devastating for you. how much business are you allowed to do or are you able to do at the moment?” can do as much business as i possibly can outdoors on my patio in the middle of winter in new york and

takeout and delivery. every night we have a between people who braved the weather and come in and sit outside and then we have a couple of takeout and then we have a couple of takeout and delivery orders. it's not much. that's 20 this year. how many would it have been last year? anywhere between 90— hunter people a night. and when his number, especially $12,000 a night on a really good night and on a really bad night i would make $10,000 and now on a really good night i make $2000 in a really good night i make $2000 in a really bad night i make $500. amanda, thank you so much of feelings about your business and about how things are going and i hope you will be ok. thank you so much. thank you so much. the top us infectious disease scientist, anthony fauci, has become the latest public figure to get a covid—19 vaccine during a livestreamed event at the national institutes of health in maryland. he received the moderna jab, which was the second vaccine to be approved in america. just before getting the jab, dr fauci spoke to the bbc. 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 at the nih. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, a former us marine convicted by russia of spying for america speaks to the bbc about his detention ina labourcamp. first minister nicola sturgeon has addressed the scottish parliament with her review of scotland's tier system. she said the number of positive tests with a marker of the new covid variant is rising. however, this analysis suggests that in the week beginning 9th december, around 14% of positive cases

in scotland already had this s—gene drop out. this compares to just 5% at the end of november. and it's not unreasonable to assume that the proportion may be higher by now, and public health scotland is carrying out further analysis. now, 14% is, of course, still a significantly lower level than england, where it's thought that the new variant already accounts for 36% of cases and maybe even higher in london and the south east. however, 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 suppress the 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. this is bbc news. the latest headlines — the uk and france reach agreement to resolve the border crisis, but almost 3000 lorries are still stuck on roads and car parks in kent.

all day, the queues were stretching for miles, waiting for the french border to reopen amid concerns about the new variant of coronavirus. paul whelan, the man convicted of being an american spy in russia, has called on his governments to do more to release him. the former us marine — who also has canadian, irish and british citizenship — is currently in a russian labour camp after being given a 16—year sentence in june. he's been speaking on the phone to the bbc‘s sarah rainsford. russia calls this man an american spy, but paul whelan has told me he is a political hostage. he's been phoning me from prison to relate his story in detail for the first time. why did you come to russia generally? four months, we followed every

custody hearing in court. each time, mr whelan would insist he was innocent. but the guards didn't want us to talk. he's now described directly how he was at this moscow hotel, getting ready for a wedding, when an old friend dropped by unexpectedly. moments later, at least eight fsb security officers burst into the room. a former us marine, paul whelan visited russia six times in all, and often posted pictures on social media. it was one of his russian friends who claimed he'd asked

for secret data on behalf of us military intelligence. that man works for the fsb, so we're obscuring his identity. the trial itself was closed, top secret. but we were there when paul whelan was sentenced to 16 years. so was the us ambassador, who's since driven eight hours to visit him in prison. there's nothing more that i would rather do than give him a hug and wish him a happy new year and send him home. ambassador sullivan has now confirmed to me that talks for a political deal are under way with the russian government. i have no higher priority in what's

left of the trump administration than to advocate for paul and to do all we possibly can to get him released. but we haven't been able to come to terms that would be reasonable for any us administration. so this man's fate is entangled in the dire state of relations between moscow and the west. in reality, they abducted mr bean on holiday... but paul whelan looks certain to spend christmas in custody, sewing clothes in his russian labour camp. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. he may be on his way out, but president trump wants a say in the future of how federal buildings look. the order? that they should be beautiful and preferably built

in a classical greek, roman or other traditional style. the president issued an order that mandates the buildings should look more like landmarks such as the capitol building and the white house. traditionalists have welcomed the initiative. the american institute of architects isn't so keen. firefighters in california have been called out to rescue father christmas after he got stuck in power lines. the sa nta—suited paraglider hit a pole, while coming in to land with a sack full of candy canes. the fan—powered glider was left dangling from the electricity lines for several hours before mr claus could be rescued. firefighters tweeted that santa is safe and well and they'll make sure he uses his reindeer when he heads out later this week. i thought he was meant to have gps. more on everything on the website. let me know how you are getting on

it. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @jamesbbcnews. please do stay with us. good evening. we'll all be in chilly air by the time we hit christmas, but for the time being tonight, bit of a north—south split continuing. where we saw the best of the brightness today across parts of scotland, northern ireland, this is where we'll see a frost develop for a while. head further south, the grey skies we saw in southern parts of england and wales, though cloudy conditions develop more widely, bringing rain. and it's rain which could become a problem again over the next 36 hours, particularly for england and wales, and in these areas marked in darker blue on our rainfall accumulation charts, maybe 40—70 mm of rain possible falling on saturated ground. river levels high. keep up—to—date with the latest flood and weather warnings on our website. and the rain will be hit and miss tonight for england and wales. certainly a lot of cloud could fringe into the borders and the south east of northern ireland, but much of scotland and northern ireland will be dry, partly clear skies and the chance of a frost. frost—free for england and wales and a mild night

the further south you are. but the rain that we see on wednesday will come courtesy of this area of low pressure. that's going to intensify the rain for some and make it more persistent for others. light winds to begin with across england and wales, rain coming and going, heavier bursts developing through the day. the odd rumble of thunder, too, but there will be gaps in the rain, as you can see, even a little bit of brightness at times. 13 degrees possible with that around the english channel. scotland, northern ireland by comparison, hazy sunshine to begin with. gradually will turn a bit sunnier through the day, but a cold day here. winds not too much of an issue to begin with across the country, but they will start to pick up across northern england, wales, the south west, and it's here where we could see gales develop as we head into the evening and overnight as our rain gradually starts to clear its way eastwards as that low pressure departs towards the east of us. as it does, follow the isobars back. they'll be coming down from the north. it's northerly winds which will then introduce much colder air for christmas eve and christmas day. now, we will even see a bit of snow, particularly on christmas eve, mixed in with some showers, they'll be very much hit and miss.

snow mainly over the hills, a lot of dry and bright weather. big improvement for england and wales as far as sunshine's concerned on thursday, but down those eastern coasts, 4 degrees, gale—force winds. it's going to feel subzero, a really raw feeling day down the eastern half of the country. and then, to take us into christmas morning, the sparkle of a widespread frost rather than snow on the ground. a lot of dry and bright weather to come, too, early showers in eastern england clearing, lots of sunshine. bright start in northern ireland and scotland, but wet and windy weather arriving in the north west later. see you soon.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. relief for french citiziens wanting to go home for christmas as the country's prime minister says people can enter france from wednesday, as long as they have a negative covid test. there are rumors of a brexit deal being close, but still not quite there yet. we'll be live in brussels for the latest. with president trump's border wall still unfinished — how will america's immigration policy change underjoe biden? we report from the us—mexico border. plus — how to deal with the tricky topic of conspiracy theories when sitting round the christmas dinner table.

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. borisjohnson has ruled out extending the deadline for reaching a trade deal with the eu. he's been facing growing calls to buy more time — there are nowjust 9 days left for the uk and the eu to reach and ratify an agreement. but — failing to strike that deal — the prime minister says the country will ‘cope with any difficulties'. we are really in a crucial moment and we are giving at the final push. in ten days the uk will leave this single market, and i will continue to work in total transparency with the member states. and with the parliament. in a sign that differences can be overcome — the border between france and the uk is going to open again to citizens. french and eu nationals

will be allowed to enter france from britain — provided they have a negative covid test within the last 72 hours. i'm joined now by david hersenborn, politico's chief correspondent in brussels — and our own uk political correspondent in rob watson. i learned a new phrase today, i read ina paper. i learned a new phrase today, i read in a paper. when any eu talks to get to the crunch point a time called the tunnel with they really focus and negotiate. is that about right? we hear sometimes of the tunnel, we gather in the summer income of the go underground. there's lots of metaphors and unfortunately nothing changes the hard mask that michel barnierjust changes the hard mask that michel barnier just referred to changes the hard mask that michel barnierjust referred to commit december 31 the transition period ends, which of the chaos of the borders and no with the situation that's out of everyone's control with the coronavirus pandemic, just imagine this chaos unfolding in a situation is utterly preventable if

they could just get their heads together and reach a deal. one newspaper, the ft i think it was said the final haggling about fishing comes down to about £30 million which they stay with the price of a single relatively normal premiership footballer. price of a single relatively normal premiershipfootballer. in price of a single relatively normal premiership footballer. in the grand scheme of things it's not that much, is it? no it's not. and seeing from another planet, and greetings to david ntu, seen from another planet orjust from outside of europe, this would all look truly crazy. but of course on the produce side the vote leave campaign in 2016 made a lot of this idea of bridging taking back control of the waters around the islands which makes sense if you are thinking about island status. and of course for fishing communities here in the uk, even though they contributed to the economy is less than .2%. and for fishing

communities in european coastal states, it'sjust a big deal for them. in grand terms it would be utterly nuts of course for any deal to fall down over this. was a just andi to fall down over this. was a just and i read said it sues the uk government to delay a deal right the last minute so that it does not get unpacked by national parliaments, what you make of that? there's a risk there because the european parliament said that sunday was the deadline. this is putting its additional credibility on the line by demanding that they agreed to subserve provisional application which looks like what would be needed to prevent chaos onjanuary one without having a deal fully ratified. remember this is notjust fish. fish obviously i agree completely, it looks crazy when you thing about how small this issue is, and a lot of folks will say britain's felt even eat the fish they talking about but they're

talking about the last on the level playing field, future disputes of regulations any diversions they are. that's still a major sticking point and they have not resolved that, so between those two issues, the level playing field going forward, and the fish, there is still stuck. how would they solve it if they wanted to? that requires some side to give ground of the red lines, and it's not easy. borisjohnson and his team have tried to eliminate any reference to the european court of justice from this agreement. the e looking for guarantees, they are feeling very burned but what happened with the internal markets bill in the idea that an agreement was reached with the uk and boris johnson or any prime minister would seek to go back on an agreement that they had made. not a lot of trust here in that deficit of trust is the desire to know that there was some way to resolve these disputes going forward. all of it is solvable, but again the clock is running down so tight. you see the french president dealing with his own illness with

covid, the borders continuing on. a christmas holiday right upon us, you cannot imagine a crazy situation with everybody down to the wire. what kind of deal would allow both sides to say they one?” what kind of deal would allow both sides to say they one? i think that's going to be very difficult. 0ne can't help thinking that both sides are going to end up losing. i would imagine it's going to be more tricky for britain, because if you think about it, i don't know whether you recall the paradox and attention of brexit, that's her brexit to make any sense to the brexiteers and people who supported it, surely it means that you're going to make your own rules and regulations and diverge from the european union. 0n the other hand how are you are going to square that with getting full access to the european union. as could be rather tricky and none of that would matter were it not for the fact that the uk economy is just

so the fact that the uk economy is just so hugely plugged in to the european economy after 40 years in the single market. so it's good to be tricky for pretend to both claim back its sovereignty but without taking any hit. for the europeans itjust initiates whatever way you look at this, it's not great to have a leading member states leaving and evenif leading member states leaving and even if they leave on good terms it'sjust not ideal. rob and david, thank you so much. 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, ice agents just pulled over a worker on his way to work. immigration activists live—stream, record and document an attempted arrest. the safety issue is ice — they are terrorising our people, they are separating families. they believe ice, immigration and customs enforcement, operate unlawfully and consider this attempted kidnapping. they are in violation of state law right now. even the president is trying to intimidate people here. they want these operations, which often remove parents from children, to stop. they want ice to be abolished. they are not hopeful that joe biden will deliver. if you take the last administration where he served as vice president, it was the administration that most deported migrant families, who separated, created the detention centres on the border, privatised the detention of migrants, so, we don't have many hopes. after 40 minutes the ice

agents and police leave. without making an arrest, but not without reinforcing the deep felt fear, here. there were no activist president the day that this couple were arrested and detained for months. theirfour children left to fend for themselves. to see my mum handcuffed, not being able to see my dad, because of that, it was an overwhelming feeling that we are alone. it was my worst nightmare came to be. three years on, they still don't know if their parents will be deported. what do you hope will happen now? i hope that people will be able to have more empathy and will be more compassionate, that there will be easier path to citizenship instead of confusion, not knowing what will happen. there is hope here and in neighbourhoods along the border, that the end of the donald trump presidency will

mark a turning point. the dramatic difference is that this level of fear has been lifted from the immigrant community, and that is profound, for those of us working in the community, that has been a real terror for folks, every day. so much damage has been done, but 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 borderfence. 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 have a five foot anticline plate. those who police the border say that the war has made it more difficult to cross. if you're going to push yourself on an 18—30 football, the whole structure is inherently dangerous, you risk falling, which does happen,

we are dealing with compound fractures, fractured vertebrae and even deaths, u nfortu nately. whether you are crossing to make illegal entry or claim asylum, with a visa, that is the place, that is the front door of our country, the port of entry. for those and the families of those who survive and made it across the border in the years gone by, 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. sophie long, bbc news, on the us—mexico border. how do you talk to people about conspiracy theories without causing a ruckus? it's a topic many of us will be broaching in a few days as we sit down to tuck into christmas dinner perhaps over zoom , and find

ourselves grappling with theories advanced by family and relatives, that the vaccine will be used to inject microchips that will track or control us. to inject microchips that yes, some of the claims are outlandish, but the reality is that many people genuinely believe them. alistair coleman from bbc monitoring is here to help guide us through the dos and dont‘s of negotiating the murky waters of conspiracy. what are you meant to do when over the brussels sprouts someone you only see once a year tells you that the coronavirus jab has a microchip and it? well that's a real problem. very close family or friends can be don't want to start a huge fight over christmas dinner. so you have to tell them that they are making a mistake but you don't want to start a fight either. so how do you do it? you keep calm, you don't dismiss them straightaway. get them to see things from your point of view rather than trying to lecture them. it's really difficult, and it could have a big family fallout. if

someone have a big family fallout. if someone keeps coming out with outlandish theory after outlandish theory, the temptation is surely simply to say you are wrong, you got it wrong. what planet are you living on? that's actually right. he got to recognise that these views are really deeply entrenched, that have been probably falling into them for the whole year, and you're not going to change their mind over christmas dinner. where conspiracy theories, particularly over coronavirus, where they so tempting for people to believe in because most people know of or believe at least one or two harmless conspiracy theories like roswell or ufo crashes or moon landings. we know people have believed harmful is receipt there is an hedged family members die of coronavirus, it's a real problem.

people are living in a very topic at a time. coronavirus is not a straightforward thing. if you're looking for easy ways out, a simple solution in which which will fit into their worldview. that's why they're finding simple answers on social media so was so attractive. do facts work? they do come yes. we we re do facts work? they do come yes. we were working very hard for the last year getting facts out on coronavirus, and we do get some e—mails and communication from people thanking us for what we do. but also we get some quite nasty feedback as well from people who think that we are part of a media plot. at the facts to get through to people, and we do get thanked for that. would if you are the actual fit conspiracy theorists in turns out no one is listening to you and your brilliant series? this christmas if you are that the rest should you just keep quiet? you

should you just keep quiet? you should do, but if you are, if you're that deeply down the rabbit hole probably shout and stomp off, i off, i know i probably would. probably shout and stomp off, i off, i knowl probably would. thank probably shout and stomp off, i off, i know i probably would. thank you so much forjoining us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. singing. we'll find out how to sing safely this holiday season — with a little bit of help from scientists. the prince of wales has sent a christmas message to the members of the armed forces, thanking service personnel for their "continued service, dedication to duty and sacrifice". prince charles also paid tribute to the efforts of servicemen and women who've supported the fight against covid—19. the prince, who himself contracted coronavirus in march, said no—one had been "unaffected by this pernicious disease". at the moment, more than 1300 military personnel are deployed with the vaccine task force to deliver community testing.

let's have a listen to what he said. the global spread of coronavirus has tested us all in different ways. indeed, no one has remained unaffected by this pernicious disease. whilst our medical professions, key workers and emergency services have been at the forefront of this particular campaign

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the uk and france reach agreement to resolve the border crisis, but almost 3000 lorries are still stuck on roads and car parks in kent. all day the queues were stretching for miles, waiting for the french border to reopen amid concerns about the new variant of coronavirus.

church services will be much quieter than usual this christmas — notjust because of restrictions on movement — but also because worshippers of all religions have been asked not to sing — to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. but a team of scientists from university college london is using lasers and high—speed cameras to try to see if wearing a face covering — could make singing safer. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns takes up the story. singing a sign of the times. the words are more than a thousand years old but with the 2020 twist... ..a facemask. but what does that have to do with this? la. religion and science, two parts of professor lawrence lovett‘s life. he says that most of the evidence on face covering looks at coughing and sneezing. he wants to know what difference they make to singing. i think that singing in communal worship is incredibly important, it's an absolutely central

part of worship. and if it's safe to do, then i will be the first person to do it. if it's not safe to do, i'm for certain not going to do it. this is where the choir stands in this synagogue. they are still allowed, but must be socially distanced. so they've limited the amount of music during the services here. across england, government guidelines for churches, mosques and temples say that the rest of worshippers cannot join in singing or chanting. i don't think any church leader ever thought they'd be in the position of standing in front of their congregation and saying, "don'tjoin in, please don't sing". sarah hunter is a church of england lay minister and choir director and one of the volunteers taking part in this study. coronavirus is mostly spread through droplets from coughs,

sneezes and people talking. so, sarah has to breathe, speak and sing... la. ..with and without a facemask. it's normally filmed in the dark with a high—speed camera and a laser to show up the droplets. hello. these pictures are slowed down 100 times less than reality. a volunteer singing a note without a mask. you can see lots of droplets swirling around. but the researchers say when someone wears a surgical—type facemask, either singing or speaking, there are almost no droplets at all and any that do get through travel more slowly and so can't spread as far. most of the volunteers so far have been christian and jewish, but the team wants other faiths to take part, too. i'm hoping that we can get as many people as possible to get involved in the trial. especially when i think there's been such an emphasis on physical health, but spiritual help has been largely ignored. the study hopes to influence government policy on worship and will also look at how volume effects droplets.

so maybe worshippers will be able to sing together, but quietly. catherine burns, bbc news. the world heavyweight boxing champion anthonyjoshua has warned that the next generation of boxing stars could be lost to the sport — if it fails to be supported financially during the pandemic. he said he was making a substantial donation to help amateur clubs — many of which were forced to close during lockdown. it follows his recent successful world title defence — which has paved the way for an all—british title fight — against tyson fury next year. he's been speaking to our sports editor dan roan. he may be on top of the boxing world, but anthonyjoshua is now fighting for those starting out. the heavyweight champion making what he has called a substantial donation to boxing governing bodies to help amateur club survive. in the finchley gym where it began for him, he told me why such places needed help.

i am a professional now, but i am so close to the grassroots sport. in the next ten to 15 years you will see the next leaders of tomorrow coming through. it's not going to be ten to 15, it is going to be 20 to 30 years due to this period of a lost generation and that is why it is important to keep these gyms open. joshua stepped in when the government left boxing out of £350 million rescue package. we want to raise the eyebrows of people in power to somehow think in the future, if there is an opportunity to invest in sports again, include boxing. 300 million is a substantial amount. even £3000 to boxing gym makes a massive difference. without grassroots there is no tyson fury, there is no anthonyjoshua. the news was welcomed here at salford which tries to tackle anti—social behaviour through boxing and like many gyms, is in a deprived area. everyone is frightened of coronavirus. lots of people sit inside

and just watch the tv. you need to stay healthy and keep active. boxing is a massive part of the community and it is needed. what anthony joshua is doing now, is amazing. a lot of the money doesn't filter down to these gyms. joshua's next target is this man, tyson fury, as long as a defining unification mega— fight can be agreed for next summer. me and him are competitive, it is massive. but for the world, the boxing show will be one of the biggest events in the uk since the world cup. it is going to boost the economy, boost the morale of the people. let's get behind boxing. how confident are you it will happen next year? i am certain, keen and ready. we can do it back at finchley if we have to. i want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion, that is the legacy.

whatever happens, joshua will hope he has helped others to follow in his footsteps in the sport he is close to conquering. dan roan, bbc news. before we go — check out this amazing footage of a baby elephant — struck by a motorbike while crossing a road in thailand — that ended up surviving after it was revived by an off—duty rescue worker. mana srivate told reuters he had performed dozens of resuscitation attempts in his career — but never on an elephant. in this video that's gone viral online — you can see him giving two—handed compressions to the elephant lying on its side in the middle of a dark road. the elephant stood up after 10 minutes. there is hope out there people. more on our website, bbc dot com slash news. if you have any

christmas plans at all you can get in touch with the on twitter. of the team on twitter — i'm @jamesbbcnews hello there. snow features in our weather for the week ahead tonight. will it be on christmas day, though? all will be revealed. in a short time, though, it's rain rather than snow that could cause us a few issues. this chart shows how rainfall totals will be totting up through wednesday. where you see the blue colours, where the rain will fall, and the darker blues, where the heaviest of the rain and the greatest chance of some minorflooding will be, given the fact we've got some saturated ground out there and river levels high. this is the area of low pressure responsible. strong winds on the western flank of it. that will be pushing its way eastwards. to begin with, though, england and wales, lighter winds, but it's here we'll see a fairly cloudy day, outbreaks of rain coming and going, wetter for some rather than others, as i said. and where we see the heavier bursts, there could be the odd flash of lightning, rumble of thunder, too. some drier moments possible,

maybe 13 degrees in any brighter spells towards the south. the best of the brightness after early morning cloud will be across scotland, northern ireland, but a chilly day here, and turning chilly for all of us as the winds strengthen through the day. gales if not 50 mph gusts or more possible to west wales and cornwall as we go into the evening and overnight as that area of low pressure and rain gradually clears away. but as we go into christmas eve, as that clears away, we start to draw our air from the north. those northerly winds bringing colder conditions for all to take us through that crucial festive spell. and, yes, there will be a little bit of snow in the form of wintry showers across the country on christmas eve. the snow, though, most likely over hills anywhere from wales, the peak district northwards, very much hit and miss. a lot of dry and bright weather on thursday, but boy it will feel cold, particularly down those eastern areas where we'll see gale—force winds giving us subzero wind—chill. and for all of us, a cold night will follow. widespread frost denoted by the blue colours, so it will be the sparkle of frost on the ground on christmas day that gives the white christmas rather than a snowy one. a few early showers in eastern england clear through. much of england and wales having a dry and bright day, same, too, to eastern scotland.

western scotland, northern ireland clouding over with outbreaks of rain later, turning a little bit milder here, but for most it will be a crisp and bright christmas day. and then as we go into boxing day, strengthening jet stream across the north atlantic is going to fire up quite a nasty area of low pressure. that's going to dominate our weather as we go into the weekend. it does initially bring westerly winds, so temperatures actually compared to christmas eve, christmas day will lift a little bit. a reasonably bright start for england and wales. fair bit of cloud, though, with some showers around. but it will turn increasingly wet, windy out towards the west as we go through boxing day. the rain preceded by a little bit of snow across the scottish hills, but notice the temperatures are up, 6—9 degrees as we finish boxing day. then into the night, this is where it could be quite a wild night through saturday night into sunday. gale—force winds quite widely, maybe severe gales for some. rain spreading its way southwards and eastwards. that heavy rain clearing away from the south east as we go into sunday morning,

leaving much brighter conditions. we're back to sunshine and showers on sunday, winds a little bit lighter through the day, but they're coming in from the north. note the temperatures. glasgow, newcastle — three degrees, and that gives us a hint of what's to come next week. those northerly winds on the western edge of an area of low pressure which will dominate to the east of us into next week. and around that, we're going to start to see various weather fronts, even little smaller areas of low pressure bringing a bit of moisture at times. and as those bands of moisture push into the colder air which will be in place, yes, we could see some more significant snow. not everywhere, but it could be disruptive where we see snow next week to see out 2020, and overall a colder than average week, too. take care.

tonight at ten: the uk and france reach agreement to resolve the border crisis, but thousands of lorries are still stuck on roads and car parks in kent. the queues are stretching for miles — ministers say part of the solution to clear the backlog is to introduce mass covid testing for lorry drivers. this will take two or three days for things to be cleared and before that hauliers should not move themselves to kent, it will not speed things up for you. you're better off waiting where you are and waiting for further instructions. the backlog kept building all day — some drivers had spent two nights in their vehicles, many waiting to get home to their families. well, i'm very frustrated. i'm stuck here for two days.