as the uk grapples with the new strain of coronavirus, there are now confirmed cases in france, spain and sweden. some eu countries begin vaccinations against covid—19, one day ahead of the planned co—ordinated rollout across the bloc. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died, aged 98, in moscow. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of the year from our world on a film on the impact of the coronavirus on two maids and one employer in sao paulo in brazil and exploring the relationship between employer and made in the intimacy they share. coronavirus has wreaked havoc on brazil. over 1.6 million have been infected and more than 65,000 have died. its people are suffering deep economic pain, with the country's millions of domestic maids

especially hard hit. many have lost theirjobs, forcing them to choose between eating and paying the rent. this is their story. neka is a maid. she is preparing to go to work for a family who live in one of sao paulo‘s wealthiest

neighborhoods. with a spike in deaths in may, sao paulo‘s population of 12 million has been put under a near—total lockdown. however, many have no choice but to work.

rosana is a lawyer. neka has worked for her family for over 20 years.

it is thought that the virus entered brazil with the wealthy returning from their holidays. spreading rapidly amongst their ranks, it became known as "the disease of the rich". but soon, the virus began

to spread to the poor in the city's vast favelas, such as paradise town. zeza is a maid and mother of seven children. as her wealthy clients locked down, she was sacked from all herjobs.

when the virus struck brazil, nearly a million informal cash—in—hand maids like zeza were immediately laid off without any pay. zeza misses one employer in particular.

with no work, she is now trapped with her seven children injust two small rented rooms. neka wasn't let go. she was paid to stay at home when the virus hit and rosana's family went into quarantine. but soon rosana had to go back to work.

brazil's president bolsonaro has tried to downplay the threat posed by the virus... ..and distance himself from its effects. he believes that the economy is being severely damaged by the lockdown.

defying social distancing rules, he has been campaigning for more people to follow in rosana and neca's footsteps. and even though bolsonaro has, himself, now contracted coronavirus... ..he remains opposed to people staying at home.

but the country is bitterly divided. believing he is responsible for unnecessary deaths, many have been expressing their anger with their president,

demanding his removalfrom power. many believe that the relationship between a maid and their employer exploits the lack of opportunities available to the poor.

in some homes, maids are treated as socially inferior and their work is seen as demeaning.

but with an abundance of unskilled labour in favelas like paradise town, maids like zeza are cheap to employ and easy to dismiss when crisis hits.

but the relationship between maids and their bosses is much more than just an economic one, often blurring work and affections. neca was invited to rosanna's wedding. in otherfamilies, she may well have been serving the guests.

neca has a very special bond with rosanna's daughter, joanna.

but neca became pregnant at 15 with the first of her four children, and her youth suddenly ended as she sought domestic work to make ends meet. miguel, her youngest child, is nearly the same age asjoanna.

but on her maid's wage, owning her own home remains a distant dream for neca. and with the brazilian economy still on its knees after its last recession, now dealt a further blow

by the pandemic and the lockdown, maids lives are even more precarious.

zeza has received a relief payment from bolsonaro's government, but it is barely enough to pay the rent, let alone feed the family.

every weekend, neca walks to her mother selma's house. she recently had a stroke and requires neca's constant attention. coronavirus has exposed just how insecure the lives of maids like zeza and neca can be.

it has also revealed that whilst the virus can infect anyone, the impact it has on rich and poor is profoundly unequal. hello. storm bella is upon us, bringing

some very wet and windy weather, southwards across the uk. this area of low pressure, named to raise awareness of the impacts from the rain and wind, with england and wales bearing the brunt as we go through the night. behind it, turning colder in scotland, northern ireland and northern england, the chance of icy patches and increasingly wintry showers as well. from storm bella, damaging gusts of wind, with the heavy rain bringing further flooding to areas already dealing with flooding overnight and into sunday. snow for some and icy conditions to follow. the strongest winds likely to be where the met office has an amber warning in force over the coast and hills of southern england, up to 80 mph. potentially damaging, certainly disruptive gusts of wind. the heaviest rain moving south overnight over england and wales. elsewhere, gusts of 50—60 mph. the rain bringing a risk of further flooding, and in the colder airfollowing it, icy, and turning wintry into the hills.

on sunday, behind the band of rain, the strong wind clearing the far south—east of england quickly in the morning. then sunshine and showers, very few reaching the east of england or scotland, but across the west, showers of rain, sleet, snow and hail, and prolonged snow in north—west scotland in the afternoon. not as windy as it will be overnight, but gusty winds making it feel even colder. temperatures in scotland close to freezing during the day. it is scotland, northern ireland, northern england and north wales may see some snow to quite low levels, bringing a few centimetres in places, turning it icy on sunday night into monday morning. on monday, low—pressure right across us and we expect from that some areas of rain, sleet, and cold enough for some snow, notjust on hills. some uncertainty about where it's going to be sitting on monday, so keep checking the forecast.

but certainly cold on monday, starting a cold week. back to storm bella, though, impacts from the wind, rain, snow and ice to follow. flood and weather warnings are in force. check out the details on our website.

this is bbc news. i am lukwesa burak. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. millions of people in the uk face tougher covid restrictions, as rule changes come into force. and canada confirms its first cases. some eu countries begin vaccinations against covid—i9, one day ahead of the planned co—ordinated rollout across the bloc. us federal agents searched the house on the outskirts of nashville as pa rt on the outskirts of nashville as part of their investigation into the christmas day explosion in the city. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died, aged 98, in moscow. a fast—food joint, roman—style — archaeologists unearth