this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. tempers flare as truck drivers, stranded in southern england — are told they need a test and a negative result — before they can travel to france. england told me i have to test, and then i can go to france. but i don't see a test. president trump refuses to sign a $900 billion coronavirus relief package agreed by both sides of the us congress, described by him as a disgrace.

calls for more people to be vaccinated with a single dose, rather than fewer receiving the required two jabs. how much immunity would one dose give? and — with virtually no new daily cases, it looks as if coronavirus has been kept at bay in singapore — we look at how they did it. 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. rail, air and sea services between britain and france have restarted, after the french government agreed to ease its ban on people entering the country from the uk. after days of gridlock, lorry drivers are finally on the move, as long as they can show they have a negative covid test. but the backlog of lorries

will take days to clear and drivers are frustrated that they are neither getting enough information, or access to tests to be able to travel. this protest took place earlier, at a giant lorry park on an airfield where 3000 trucks are waiting to cross the channel. more countries are easing their travel restrictions with the uk — with the netherlands and bulgaria starting to allow travel from the uk with a negative covid test. but more than a0 countries still have restrictions in place and still more are following suit. the philippines, japan and south korea have become the latest countries to restrict british people from entering because of the new variant of coronavirus. with more on the lorry drivers trying to get to france, our correspondent simonjones has sent this report from dover. the border to france may have finally reopened, but this morning angry drivers let the lorry park with their been sleeping in their cabs

to vent their anger. they have been stuck in the uk for days, they had been promised coronavirus tests, but they say they still don't know when they will get out of here. the police are now here in numbers on the outskirts of the airport, but what they can't do is answer the one question that hauliers desperately want to know, and that is when they are going to get out of here and go home. police? police, for three days told us that it will start soon, but they don't know when. they don't know when and that is the point of why people are protesting, we just want to get the test and go straight home. in one day it is christmas. we are very tired, we stay in the cars, we don't have a lot of food, no money, it is 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 sl has reopened traffic to france, but only to travellers who can prove they are covid free. last night the uk and france recent agreement that allows travel for urgent reasons, including all layers, french citizens and british people who live in order to get in france there were like a cross, they will have to get a negative test 72 hours before departure. if it is positive they will be asked to isolate in local hotels. the government is warning it will take several days before everyone is able to return home, with some being asked to isolate in local hotels. around about 4000 trucks are parked, it is certainly full. we can imagine with that number of lorry drivers,

toilet facilities, washing facilities, wherever they are, will be pretty overstretched and frankly, inadequate. the government insist there are adequate toilets and catering facilities being provided to hauliers. this van is for hot meals for the drivers. groups with an escort from the police have arrived to deliver food and water to stranded drivers. the aim was to see if we could reach out and provide a hot meal to lift the spirits of these guys, who are in a prison in their cabs on the m20 without any services, no shops, no access to anything. at least we can give them some human warmth and love. although the uk is no longer cut off from the continent, the queues continue to stack up. it is clearly logistical scale of getting everyone tested means some are set to be cut off from families

this christmas. simonjones is at the manston airfield in kent for us. that location is some distance from the port, how easily our vehicle is now flowing between the two? to be honest, we haven't seen any lorries leave this manston airport site at the moment. we have seen an increase in activity, there are a lot of people in high vizjacket over there. we have seen lorry drivers walk towards a tent over there, possibly to begin the testing process. we also understand officials have been going to each lorry, handing out these lateral flow tests where results are due to come back within about 30 to a0 minutes. lorries as far as the eye can see. 3800 lorries stacked up on this site. on top of that, another

1200 this site. on top of that, another i200 lorries on the m20, where we understand more testing sites are being handed out. the reality is, this backlog will take a long time to shift and that is why there has been frustrations from the drivers here and protesters have been trying to block the entrance to the port. these are drivers who are fed up with the situation, the border is open and they want to get tested, they are saying, where are the tests. probably the same place as the hot meals will not last night. it has been a stressful time for the drivers, but it is more stressful because christmas is important for so because christmas is important for so many families, more so this year than most other years. also, the hauliers, as well as the port authorities are thinking, are we going to see more of this in a wea k‘s going to see more of this in a weak‘s time if there is no deal

between the uk and the european union? it is as extremely stressful time for the people caught up in this because in reality they will not be home in time for christmas. but with the end of the brexit transition period coming up, there is no deal being reached between the uk and the eu. whatever happens, if there is a deal or no deal, it is expected there will be disruption and delays at the border. there is going to be extra paperwork, need for customs clearance, extra checks. it is thought initially in the first weeks and months, lorry drivers may be getting used to the system and may turn up without the right paperwork and without the right permissions. that is why the site was already on standby as a lorry park in case there were problems on january the 1st. in a way, the authorities might be relieved because they have had a test run. it has come a week earlier than expected and it has caused a lot of

chaos and disruption. but they have put these contingency plans in place, parking the lorries on the manston airfield site, on the m20 and the run to dover. they have managed to keep things moving at least four people who want to get around kent. today it seems there has been a lot of congestion and disruption at the entrance to the port. that will be a concern, but certainly here, they are hoping they will get their test soon. simon jones, thank you so much. the netherlands has lifted its travel ban on the uk for those who can show a recent negative coronavirus test. i've been speaking to mark dijk, manager at the port of rotterdam. we have not experienced the same situation as dover, and that is due to the fact all the ships had been booked.

the government has said all the passenger ferries from two days ago are not allowed any more in the port of rotterdam. luckily this measure has been cancelled and now passengers, ferries from the uk, can enter rotterdam again with, of course, a negative covid—i9 test. we can now see the pictures from dover. you won't be able to see them, but you must be rather relieved you are not experiencing this kind of practical difficulty on this kind of scale, because you can imagine the people you see and almost a daily or weekly basis coming backwards and forwards through rotterdam, using that regular route to the uk, some of them, their equivalents in kent are really going to a very difficult time and may not be able to get back home in time to celebrate christmas. no, and that is really a terrible

situation indeed in rotterdam. now the goods transport, all the truckers and the company transport can go to the uk without a test and can come from the uk without a test, so we do hope also that the goods transport can seamlessly continue also during christmas and thereafter. my understanding with drivers using ports in the netherlands if they are coming from the uk they have to have a pcr test. presumably the facilities have to be provided on the british side? you don't have any way to allow the drivers to arrive physically at the port preventing them from entering the netherlands until they can be test equipment presumably that has to be done on the british site? yes, of course. if there is a test necessary it should be allowed. as far as the government has decided, in the netherlands now, is that truckers in a company transport using ferries to the port of rotterdam,

are exempted from this pcr test. in an expected move, president trump has blocked a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, which had been agreed by the us congress after months of wrangling. in a video released on twitter, mr trump denounced the bill as a disgrace and demanded changes to the payments americans are due to receive, to help them through the pandemic. and 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 to 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'm asking congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $a,000

for a couple. i'm 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 is a bad move. senator lindsey graham tweeted. democrats say they wanted americans to receive bigger lump sum payments all along.

house speaker nancy pelosi tweeted. .. it is 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. let's look at some of the day's other news a court in hong kong has granted bail to the billionaire newspaper owner and government critichmmy lai. the media mogul, who became the most high—profile activist arrested under the national security law in august,

has been in in custody under fraud charges since last month. the head of afghanistan's election monitoring watchdog, mohammad yousuf rasheed, has been shot dead in kabul — the latest in a series of assassinations in afghanistan, targeting government officials, journalists and human rights activists. an estranged husband has shot dead three police officers called by his wife to her house in the french hamlet of saint—just. the man opened fire on the officers, before setting the building alight. he was later found dead in his car. here in the uk a former head of immunisation at the department of health has urged the government to consider giving as many people as possible an initial dose of a coronavirus vaccine, rather than preserving stocks so there's enough for second jabs. the pfizer biontech and oxford university astrazeneca vaccines both require two doses to be fully effective. katharine da costa reports. 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 the spreading 50—70% more quickly, there have been calls to speed up the roll—out of vaccines by giving more people one dose rather than to. dose rather than two. given the circumstances we are facing, with the 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. 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 provided 52% protection after the first child. that rises to 91% after the second dose. and reaches 95% a week later, after the first jab.

the uk regulators approve the pfizer vaccine based on two doses so any changes we need to be reviewed. in the meantime the decision on the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is expected soon. the uk has pre—ordered 100 million doses. if approved around a00 million could be available straightaway. given it is easy to store and distribute, large community tuition centres like this one in epsom could begin operation. questions have been raised over whether the new variant in the uk will affect the impact of the vaccine. those behind the jabs are confident it will work, but if you tweaks can be made. we can start to engineer a vaccine that 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 advising the government 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 a relatively low infection rate, it would suggest, in my view, that the virus has been introduced into the great majority, if not more of european countries. we are likely to see a greater use of community mass testing. the uk regulator hasjust the uk regulator has just approved rapid tests which provide results in 30 minutes can be used by people at home, too. catherine da costa, bbc news. let's get the sports news now. the atletico madrid and england defender, kieran trippier has been banned for ten weeks and fined £70,000 for breaking the fa's

betting rules. he was charged in may in relation to seven breaches back injuly 2019, in relation to seven breaches back in july 2019, around in relation to seven breaches back injuly 2019, around the time of his move to spain from tottenham. he denied any wrongdoing but will be suspended from all football until the end of february. he will not miss any internationals but it will rule him out of a dozen matches with atletico, including the first leg of their champions league last 16 tie against chelsea. staying in spain, lionel messi has broken the record for the most goals ata broken the record for the most goals at a single cup, overtaking pele's of mac. he scored his 6aath goal for the club in his 17 season. perley scored 6a3 in 19 seasons at santos in brazil. the arsenal manager, mikel arteta, says they will be in big trouble u nless says they will be in big trouble unless they can turn things around quickly. they were beating a—1 by manchester city in the quarterfinals

of the league cup. that is a domestic league games without a win. arteta has been at the gun is just over a year since leaving city where he was pep guardiola's system for three years. he has backed out at come good saying arsenal would make a big mistake if they sacked him. come good saying arsenal would make a big mistake if they sacked himlj was with him for a long period, the most successful period our club had in its history. we cannot understand, he is an outstanding manager. he puts the club in front of any other decisions he has to make. the chief executive of the tokyo 0lympic organising committee says the opening and closing ceremonies will be simplified next year. the games, scheduled to start injuly were year. the games, scheduled to start in july were postponed for year. the games, scheduled to start injuly were postponed for a year because of the pandemic and the organisers admitted the ceremonies will not be done with grand

splendour that fans and athletes have become accustomed to. translation: there is no doubt that under covid—19 a simplified ceremony should be delivered. there are many reasons, the budget is tight and the risk of the spread of the virus. we can makea risk of the spread of the virus. we can make a lot of excuses. in the past, opening and closing ceremonies at the olympic games were always full of surprises. i enjoyed those extravagant ceremonies, but now that period is over. england's cricketers will be allowed to fly to sri lanka for next month's test series despite the country's ban on flights from uk at the moment. the entire party will be tested for covid—19 before and after theirflight on tested for covid—19 before and after their flight on a charter plane due to arrive in sri lanka on the 3rd of january. they will spend ten days in a secure bubble before the first of two matches starts on the 1ath. australia's opener, david warner, will miss the boxing day test against india on saturday. he has

left the bubble to seek treatment for a left the bubble to seek treatment fora groin injury left the bubble to seek treatment for a groin injury that kept him out of the first test. he will rejoin the squad ahead of the third test, which is scheduled to be held in syd ney which is scheduled to be held in sydney in january the 7th. that is all your support for now. 0lly foster at the bbc sport centre. singapore has had an amazingly successful war agains coronavirus with just 29 reported deaths. in april, there were more than 1000 cases a day. now, the daily rate is virtually zero. so what lessons can singapore offer the rest of the world? sura njana tewari has been finding out. 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 anytime soon. behind this mask is british expat fiona. during singapore's circuit—breaker, she was unable to run her tennis coaching

business. like most of the country, fiona's now back on herfeet but restrictions continue to change the way she works. we started, obviously, with a 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 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 has 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. what we need to do right now is reopen the economy and society. but do so with the presence of intensive contact tracing, regular testing, and maintaining the rules of social distancing.

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 wouldn't say all, but most of the people, actually understands 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 is more than five million people. even with the vaccinations, we will 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. just before we go, some say cute animal pictures shouldn't be making the news. well, i think even the hardest heart may meltjust a bit. the rangers who dressed up the newest additions to an australian zoo reckon we all need the chance to smile. all the animals who were seeing their first christmas received presents, with some even getting their own fetching festive outfits. and that is bbc world news. do stay

with us. goodbye. with me to answer your coronavirus questions, a clinical epidemiologist. thank you for your time this morning in answering our questions. the first one is for you doctor from wayne on twitter. in light of the increased transmissibility of the virus, why hasn't the wearing of masks been made mandatory? if people cannot wear one, shouldn't they wear a face

shield? yes, the high transmissibility of this virus is certainly a concern and it is true we might need more restrictive or stronger control measures to reduce transmission. i do think we need more widespread mask wearing in response to this. regarding face shields we know they are not effective as masks, but if a person cannot wear a mask, a face shield might have to do. we need more widespread mask wearing and a culture of mask wearing. this question for you from craig. we have a new variant of covid—19 that has been discovered, why is this coronavirus is being called a variant of covid—19 and not coded 20? how much does a virus have to mutate before it is a different virus? —— covid 20. mutate before it is a different virus? -- covid 20. the thing is, this virus is pretty big. it has

30,000 nucleotides, that makes the genetic material of this virus and we have noticed only 23 mutations so this means the vast majority of the virus is still the same. we call it a variant when it has different strains than the regular specs. it is not causing the severity of the disease or impact the vaccine efficacy. this will still remain within the same group of the viruses, even if it is changing. coming back to the point that how much viruses have to change to call ita much viruses have to change to call it a new disease or a new virus, it would have to change significantly before it becomes at the state of where we class them as a new virus oi' where we class them as a new virus or into any family of the virus. so

evenif or into any family of the virus. so even if this mutated any further it would still remain in the same family, it would still be called coronavirus. just to reiterate, this particular variant is essentially very, very similar to the original virus, that is why we believe, we certainly hope that vaccines will still be as effective on it as well? that is absolutely right. that is good to know, good to confirm. a question from someone who asked, do they know how many of yesterday's 37,000 positive cases contained the new variant? i certainly don't. one way to look at this is through the genomic surveillance were 10% of all samples are sequenced so we can observe whether these particular mutations exist or not. the other way we are able to pick this up is

through a phenomenal with regular testing which is called spike drop out. so the regular pcr test, the reading is slightly different with this virus because of certain mutations in a particular protein with the virus. a regular test, looking at the frequency of that change, what is called spike dropout, we can estimate what the frequency of this mutation may be. based on publicly available data, it appears it is south—east england, 60 to 70% of mutations, sorry of infections where being attributed to this virus and that is based on a random sample that was sequence. spike dropout at the moment, i don't think daily data has been released soi think daily data has been released so i couldn't tell you how many cases are attributed to this particular virus strain. a question asks, if antibodies protect people from coronavirus, why will the backs

and a people who already have them? should the vaccination only be given to people who don't have antibodies? interesting question. when we are infected with a virus, we produce antibody responses against them but we don't know if they are sufficient enough to neutralise the virus if it came across through the natural course of infection. it is important, even people who are initially infected and recover, to be vaccinated because the vaccine induces a very profound immune responses and more onto the logistical challenges, if somebody needs to be screened, we have 70 million people in the uk, if everybody need to be screened for antibodies and to determine if those antibodies and to determine if those antibodies are good enough to protect against infection, that is impossible and the simple and cheaper option is to vaccinate everybody and that is the current recommendation by public health england and the government, even

people who are infected before and re cove red, people who are infected before and recovered, they still need to be vaccinated. we have about a minute and a half left. brief answers. adam asks, we have had the vaccine will still protect against the new variant, but will there be any impact on the accuracy of testing? so, asi so, as i said before, with the usual testing used to confirm infection, we see a difference at readout but it doesn't affect accuracy. with lateral flow tests, we actually don't know at the moment and that is an area actively under investigation i believe. perica live, very concise was not mohammed, we are being told by cathy —— from cathy, we are told the new mutation is more transmissible, is it going to last longer on surfaces? we know of the two mutations are very important. therefore it is more transmissible because it enters into the body more frequently and therefore it is more

fitted to replicate. based on those mutations, the structure of the protein is not changed in such a way that it will make it more stable on surfaces, so therefore all the disinfectant we are using now would be applicable for the new variant. great to have us both —— you both. thank you very much, and thanks to you for sending in your questions.

this is bbc news. building up to the latest coronavirus briefing from the government, to day led by matt hancock. the government has coronavirus committee has met to decide whether to move more areas of england to the highest in tough areas of coronavirus restrictions. we will be going live to downing street for a news briefing around three o'clock led by the health secretary matt hancock. the rate at which the virus is reproducing has increased again to between 1.1 and 1.3. continued disruption in dover. the borders have reopened with france, but thousands of lorry drivers are still waiting for covid tests. scuffles have broken out as

frustration mounts about the delays, one man has been