disruption in dover — borders have reopened, but thousands of drivers are still waiting for covid tests, with two days to christmas. hauliers aren't allowed to travel to france without a negative result — it could take several days to clear the backlog. there have been scuffles between police and some lorry drivers who say they're getting little information. police from three days told us that testing will be starting soon but they don't know why. . .when. they don't know when, and that is the point of why the people are protesting because we just want to make a test and go straight home. we'll have the latest live from dover. also this lunchtime... more areas of england could be moved into tier 4 as early as boxing day because of the spread

of the new variant of coronavirus. and the rapid spread of the new strain has led to questions about how to best carry out the country's vaccination programme. empty ski slopes in italy — another covid surge hits the tourism industry, at the end of a year in which nearly 70,000 people have died. translation: someone like him deserved a funeral, something dignified instead of being thrown into a coffin in our house like a carcass. # have yourself a merry little christmas time... and special thanks at christmas — relatives of people living in a somerset care home praise the staff who moved in to look after their loved ones. coming up in the sport on bbc news later in the hour, after another defeat, mikel arteta admits arsenal will be in big trouble unless they can turn things around quickly.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. there's been disruption in dover this morning. borders have reopened, but thousands of drivers are facing more delays as they have to wait for covid tests. rail, air and sea services have resumed, after the french government eased its ban on people entering from the uk. but lorry drivers say the situation in kent remains chaotic — there were scuffles with police as some protested about the delays, and one man was arrested. some of the 3,000 hauliers who are stuck say they're simply not getting enough information. simonjones reports.

the border to france may have finally reopened but this morning angry drivers left the manston lorry park where they'd been sleeping in their cabs to vent their anger. they'd been stuck in the uk for days, they'd been promised a coronavirus tests. they say they still don't know when they will get out of here. the police are here now in numbers on the outskirts of manston airport but what they can't do is answer the one question that hauliers desperately want to know, and that is when they're going to get out of here and go home. police? police from three days told us that testing will be started soon but they don't know why. . .when. they don't know when and that's the point why the people are protesting because wejust want to make a test and go straight home. in one day, it's christmas. we are here three day,

we are very tired, we stay in the cars, we don't have a lot of food, no money... it's not very good. some may now face a longer wait to get home. this shows the scale of the problem — thousands of lorries parked up on a former runway half an hour from the port of dover. dover itself has reopened to traffic to france but only for travellers who can prove they are covid free. last night the uk and france reached an agreement which allows travel for urgent reasons, including hauliers, french citizens and british people who live in france. but in order to get across they will have to have a negative test result within the past 72 hours before departure. rapid lateral flow tests will be given to drivers which can give results in 30 minutes. if it is positive, they will be asked to isolate in local hotels. the government is warning it'll take several days before everyone is able to return home. groups representing drivers say it's

no wonder anger is growing. around about 4,000 trucks parked at manston airport, it is certainly full, and we can imagine that with that number of lorry drivers, toilet facilities, washing facilities, wherever they are, will be pretty overstretched and, frankly, inadequate. the government insists there are adequate toilets and catering facilities being provided to hauliers. we are providing hot meals for the drivers. sikh groups, including khalsaaid, with an escort from police, have arrived endeavour to help deliver food and water to stranded drivers. one thing that lifts people all over the world is a warm meal, so that was the aim, to see if we can reach out, provide a hot meal, to lift the spirits of these guys. they are prisoners in their cabs on the m20 without no services, no shops, no access to anything. the least we can give is a bit of human warmth and love.

although the uk is no longer cut off from the continent the queues continue to stack up. it's clear that the logistical scale of getting everyone tested mean some are going to be cut off from their families this christmas. simon jones, bbc news. bring us up to date on what is happening this lunchtime. testing is now under way but it is a huge operation because at this site there are lorries as far as the eye can see, 3800 parked up here. the site is now full, and there's also another 1200 parked up on the m20 motorway. so, the government is pleading with lorry drivers and hauliers don't come to kent because it'll make the situation worse. now, regarding testing, some of those who marched out of the site here demanding answers said they had heard earlier testing had been

delayed because some of the tests had got caught up in all the road disruption around dover. the department for transport says it is happening here now so we have officials going from lorry to lorry handing out these tests. 0ther people are being tested in hangers and people should get results back within 30 minutes but considering the number of lorries here, it is clear this is going to take several days to clear. and disruption, too, in dover where the entrance to the port has been blocked by police because there are so many protesters there, too. simon, thank you. let's get the view from brussels. gavin lee is in brussels. what is being said about this huge amount of disruption? the european commission first gave guidelines to say european nations didn't need to have a travel ban in place as long as they had testing or quarantine measures. there have been reports in the british press, including headlines in some newspaper

suggesting it is emmanuel macron making this hard but the french have said all along the 48 hours, they we re said all along the 48 hours, they were the ones putting for the recommendations, they wanted to see mass testing in place and had it been anywhere else, and the eu commission asking if this happens anywhere else in the next few days, that if there is an outbreak in france, they will put in the same measures as well, to close borders around them. it isn'tjust france loosening restrictions will be up for the french residents, the dutch are going by the playbook of the european commission and opening up for passengers and ferries and flights but you need a pcr test, the longer test, to prove you are negative for covid. the belgian, italian, eurostar running again. the other 22 members not now, latvia and lithuania are putting out a repatriation flight next monday at 5:30am for those wanting to return home. thank you very much, gather leave. more areas of england could be moved into tier 4,

possibly as early as boxing day, because of the spread of the new variant of coronavirus. the communities secretary robert jenrick has said the strain is is now prevalent outside the southeast of the country, and more action may be needed. iain watson reports. have yourself a merry little christmas, says the prime minister. that is, if you don't live in a tier 4 area in england where households aren't allowed to mix indoors, even on december the 25th. the government is unlikely to impose new restrictions before christmas for areas in tiers one to three. but any festive fun could be short lived as there could be changes as soon as boxing day. on monday the chief scientific adviser warned that more areas could face tougher restrictions in due course. just 48 hours later, ministers have been meeting to discuss the next move. we will be looking at the number of cases in all parts of the country and in particular what the variant is doing. we know it is very concentrated in london and the south—east but it is also now prevalent to a lesser extent in other parts

of the country as well. and so a judgment needs to be made as to whether the tiered system is strong enough. london and much of the south—east is already in tier 4, with the highest level of restrictions, and now the neighbouring areas are at risk of moving up the tiers in coming days. this could potentially include parts of east anglia as well as hampshire and west sussex and other areas where the new variant of the virus has been identified could face more restrictions, too. government ministers have been keen to avoid or at least delay another national lockdown across england. but there have been discussions about whether even the toughest set of restrictions in tier 4 will be enough to get on top of the virus. and with hospital admissions heading towards their previous peak, if you think things are grim now, think again. the whole of wales has already entered another lockdown and if you live in mainland scotland or northern ireland, you will face tougher restrictions from boxing day.

labour is urging the prime minister to act swiftly on scientific advice. if hisjudgment if his judgment is we need a lockdown, he should outline it. if his judgement, or the scientific judgment, is that it's not necessary but we need tougher restrictions in part of the country, he needs to outline it. we just need to know where we stand as a country. the festive season in most parts of the country has already been reduced to a single day. and, as it will take time to roll out the vaccines, resilience is likely to be required well into the new year. iain watson, bbc news. the rapid spread of a new strain of coronavirus has led to questions about how the uk carries out its vaccination programme. the pfizer/biontech vaccine requires two doses to be fully effective — but a former head of immunisation at the department of health suggests the initial dose should now be given to as many people as possible, rather than preserving stocks so that there's enough for the second jab for a smaller number of people. katharine da costa reports. sharp scratch...

more than half a million people have so far received their first dose of the pfizer/biontech vaccine. but with concern about a new variant of coronavirus spreading 50 to 70% more quickly, there have been calls to speed up the roll—out of vaccines by giving more people one dose rather than two. given the circumstances that we are facing with a rapidly expanding number of cases spreading through the country, we have to do what we can to save as many lives as we possibly can as quickly as we can. and therefore giving second doses only gives a marginal benefit compared with the benefit you get from giving more people first doses. trials found the vaccine gave 52% protection after the first jab. that rises to 91% after the second dose and reaches 95% efficacy a week later. professor salisbury‘s argument is most of the protection comes

from the first dose. the uk regulators approved the pfizer vaccine based on two doses, so any changes would need to be reviewed. in the meantime a decision on the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is expected very soon. the uk has pre—ordered 100 million doses. if approved, around 4 million doses could be available straightaway. and given it is easier to store and distribute, vaccination centres like this one in epsom could begin operation. questions have been raised over whether the new variant in the uk will impact the effectiveness of vaccines. those behind the pfizerjab are confident it will work but a few tweaks could be made if necessary. we can directly start to engineer a vaccine which completely mimics this new mutation. and we could be able to provide a new vaccine technically within six weeks. further research into

the new variant is still ongoing. some experts are advising the government and think it could be much more widespread than first thought after ten cases were picked up in denmark. in a country as small as denmark with a relatively low infection rate, it would suggest in my view that there virus has been introduced into the great majority if not all of european countries at the current time. while we wait for the vaccination programme to be ramped up, we are likely to see a greater use of community mass testing to help control the virus. the uk regulators have just approved rapid tests that provide results in 30 minutes and can now be used by people at home, too. katharine da costa, bbc news. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has told the scottish parliament that the new variant of coronavirus has caused renewed concern about the pandemic — and is why such tough restrictions are needed. alexandra mackenzie was listening .

what more did nicola sturgeon say? the first minister's leading first minister's questions at the moment but before that got under way properly she did have to issue an apology. a photograph had appeared of her in the scottish sun this morning at a funeral wake without wearing a face covering. she was talking to people, she was a distance but she was standing up and it was in a pub so she should have been wearing a face covering, as she tells everyone else too. she did issue an apology, she said she was sorry for the breach of rules and she asks everyone to follow every day. she said she was wrong, she said there were no excuses and the rules applied to her as they do to eve ryo ne rules applied to her as they do to everyone else. before drawing a line under it, she said that with an enormous amount of humility she wa nted enormous amount of humility she wanted to remind people how important it was to wear face coverings. after that, a line was

drawn under it and they moved on to other business. the first minister welcomed the news that france had lifted its ban on unaccompanied freight. she also added that important challenges remain, including the backlog and she called for the priority to be perishable goods, including salmon. thank you. it is1:16pm. our top story this lunchtime. disruption in dover — borders have reopened, but thousands of drivers are still waiting for covid tests , scuffles have broken out as frustration over delays mounts clear the backlog. still to come... how has singapore managed to maintain such low coronavirus rates all year? coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, there is another record for lionel messi overtaking pele with a 644th barcelona goal, the most by a player at a single club.

the first western country to be hit hard by coronavirus was italy, and now it also has the highest number of covid related deaths in europe. the city of bergamo in the alps was particularly badly affected. as the italian government tightens measures again to try to bring cases under control, the country's skiing resorts are seeing their income vanish — as mark lowen reports. clearing the pistes for no one to use. high in the italian alps, foppolo should be preparing for a bumper christmas season. but it, and all italian ski resorts, have been shut by the government to slow coronavirus. it's in the province of bergamo, worst hit in italy by the pandemic. and now there's the financial shock. translation: at christmas, we make up half of our season. losing it causes irreparable damage that we'll never make up.

and i imagine some businesses here won't survive. what we from bergamo lived through in march was very frightening, hearing the sound of ambulances. we must take care not to relive it, but the mountains can be enjoyed safely. and this is not a fair decision. the first wave of the virus closed these pistes on march 8th, having to shut down again is a devastating blow for resorts that make up 11 billion euros of the italian economy. but there's always a trade off between economic damage and halting the virus. and losing this christmas on the pistes is a sacrifice the government feels it has to make. desperate measures to stop a repeat of march when deaths in bergamo were more than five times previous years. christmas won't ease the pain of a city whose despair became a symbol of italy's agony. azia marquez‘s father, sirio, was one of the first to die at home,

the kindly face of the local santa. his body stayed in their living room for two and a half days before the overwhelmed authorities could retrieve it. translation: someone like him deserved a funeral, something dignified, instead of being thrown into a coffin in our house like a carcass. there'll be an empty place at the table this christmas. he was the life and soul of the party. i'm angry, too, with the authorities who didn't close down bergamo fast enough. they put the economy ahead of human lives. the scenes in march of bergamo's main hospital, short of beds and oxygen, woke the west up to what it would face. today, it's quieter, numbers are lower. so many cases here has created some herd immunity. but psychologists say the mental scars run deep. translation: patients told me of their dreams of being in a room on fire,

needing someone to save them. bergamo has always been a very lively city, full of people and light. suddenly, it became a wounded city, ground to a halt, silenced. i, too, needed psychological help, and i think we will see more patients for years to come. in a year of hospital heroes, the building itself has become a christmas nativity scene here, with memories of the horrors of 2020 and dreams of a medical miracle to come. mark lowen, bbc news, bergamo. donald trump has blocked a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, which was agreed by the us congress after months of wrangling. the deal would see most american people receive a one—off payment of $600, about £450, but the outgoing president wants that amount substantially increased. peter bowes reports.

without objection. a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. they thought it was a done deal. after months of wrangling, democrats and republicans in congress finally agreed a $900 billion package of measures to help americans through the pandemic. all it needed was the signature of donald trump. but not so fast. the president doesn't like the bill. he says a lump sum payment that most americans would receive isn't enough. i am asking congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. i am also asking congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a covid relief package. and maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done. if he refuses to sign the bill the us government will shut down

next week and the emergency economic aid will be put on hold. even the president's most loyal supporters say it's a bad move. senator lindsey graham tweeted... the covid—19 package, while imperfect, will save jobs and lives. the sooner the bill becomes law, the better. it'll allow millions of businesses to avoid bankruptcy, deliver vaccines even faster, help those unemployed and provide money for families who are struggling. democrats say they wanted americans to receive bigger lump sum payments all along. at last the president has agreed to $2,000, tweeted the house speaker, nancy pelosi. democrats are ready to bring this to the floor this week by unanimous consent. let's do it. but it's far from clear whether a christmas eve session in the house of representatives will resolve the matter. president trump, who has less than a month remaining in office, wasn't involved in negotiations over the bill. his last minute objections have stunned washington and leave the country in limbo.

with many americans preparing for a bleak holiday period, broke and unable to see their families because of the coronavirus, it simply means more uncertainty. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. three police officers in france have been shot dead after responding to a report of domestic violence. a fourth officer was wounded. they were trying to rescue a woman who was trapped on the roof of a house in the village of saintjust in central france. officials say the suspected gunman has been found dead. israel is to hold its fourth election in two years, after the coalition government collapsed because of its failure to agree a budget. voters will go to the polls in march, when the prime minister benjamin netanyahu is expected to be on trial, accused of corruption. it's been described as the gold standard in pandemic control — singapore, which has a similar size population to scotland, has reduced its daily rate of coronavirus cases to almost zero. in the entire pandemic,

singapore has had just 29 covid—related deaths. sura njana tewari resports. a sea of masks for more than seven months now. singapore seems to have conquered the coronavirus, and yet the restrictions aren't going away any time soon. behind this mask is british expat fiona 0h. during singapore's circuit breaker, she was unable to run her tennis coaching business. like most of the country, fiona's now back on her feet. but restrictions continue to change the way she works. we started, obviously, with the full lockdown. then, as everybody was complying to all of that, then they allowed the measures to be relaxed. there are restrictions, but those restrictions do become really your new normal. these tracing tokens are part of that new normal. they help track down people who have

come into contact with someone who's tested positive for covid—19. the idea is to get at least 70% of the population into the system, so that contact tracing can be carried out quickly. our strategy right now is to be open, the economy and society. but to do so with the presence of intensive contact tracing, regular testing, especially of groups who are vulnerable, and maintaining the rules on social distancing and mask wearing. targeted testing of specific groups in the community, like taxi drivers and teachers, are a big part of getting back on track. but there are still strict laws around social distancing. this aggressive, yet effective approach has largely worked because of consistent communication to the public. but in many ways, singapore's plan has succeeded because of its political and social culture. we enforce the rules and at the same time we issue warnings,

as well as penalties, for people who repeatedly flout the rules. so when we implement a rule like mandatory mask wearing, most of the people, i won't say all, but most of the people actually understand the rationale and is willing to comply with it. singapore plans to vaccinate the entire adult population living here on a voluntary basis, and for free. that's more than five million people. but even with the vaccinations, we'll be wearing masks well into next year, possibly longer and safe distancing rules remain in place. people here are willing to accept those restrictions, though, because opening up slowly and carefully allows them more control over their lives, while keeping the virus under control. suranjana tewari, bbc news. many have made sacrifices this year to keep their loved ones safe — none more so than staff at a care home in somerset. they left their families and moved

into the home for several months, to care for those who live there. now the residents' families want to say thank you this christmas. fiona lamdin reports. # through the years we all will be together... #. happy christmas! and a huge, huge hug. hello, mum. just to wish you a very happy christmas, mum. these are just some of the families who won't be together this christmas. i miss you loads and i really, really would like to see you this christmas, but unfortunately, due to the covid rules, i'm not able to. christmas is a time to say thank you. and for those at this care home, their thanks is more heartfelt than most. as the pandemic began, staff at court house in somerset moved in, to keep covid out. 84 days away from their families, to keep the people who lived here safe. for tina, it meant

sleeping in the stockroom. we've got no washing facilities, we've just got a ladies‘ down the corridor, which is our bathroom and our toilet. so we have a little wash in the sink. injuly, staff were reunited with theirfamilies. and since then, while residents have been able to see their families, with a vaccination on the horizon, they say they'll wait for a hug until they think it's safe. staff and residents' families, singing side by side. residents have just been watching the staff christmas panto. and they have no idea that we are in here. we've put up these screens and we are so excited to show them the court house christmas choir. # have yourself a merry little christmas. # make the yuletide gay.

# from now on our troubles will be miles away... #. merry christmas, nana. love you. happy christmas, mum! merry christmas! # through the years, we all will be together. # if the fates allow. # hang a shining star upon the highest bough. # and have yourself a merry little christmas now! #. wow!

it brought tears to our eyes. i'm someone who cries easily. my son would say to me, oh, turn the waterworks off, mother! this really made me cry. and made me realise that, actually, just how different this year is. it really hit home to me. # and have yourself a merry little christmas now! #. time for a look at the weather, here's sarah keith lucas. as we edge closer to christmas day the weather is eventually turning colder and drier but for today mixed

fortunes,