the uk has recorded a hugejump in deaths from coronavirus, with 981 confirmed on wednesday. but the spread of the virus could soon be slowed by a second vaccine from astrazeneca, which the uk has approved. ireland's prime minister has announced a return to lockdown during january, with the re—opening of schools delayed. ireland has extended a ban on travel from britain, blaming increased cases of covid—19 on the new variant first identified in the uk. boris johnson has signed britain's post—brexit trade agreement with the european union. in brussels, ursula von der leyen signed the deal on behalf of the eu. the agreement also won the backing of british mps in the house of commons. rescuers in norway are still searching for people missing following a landslide. i'll be back at ten o'clock.

now on bbc news, our world. in india, every eight minutes, a child disappears. rajini vaidya nathan investigates the problem of child trafficking in the country, meets its victims and those who are trying to help. this is what it feels like when your child disappears. in india, a nationwide trade is separating children from theirfamilies. every eight minutes, a child goes missing in this country, and they are often trafficked. thousands of children robbed of their innocence.

we uncover a complex child trafficking network in india, and ask, "how can this be happening?" midday in a suburb of north—west delhi, and we are on a raid. searching forjust some of the 10 million children in forced labour in india. we have had a tip—off that dozens of kids are working in bakeries here.

we've been told that some children already escaped from one of the premises, but we've got a lead for another place, so we're just going there now. this operation is being led by a child protection agency, who rescue thousands of children from slavery every year, working alongside the police. after 20 minutes, the first children emerge. one of them is a 15—year—old boy, who we're calling ahmed. ahmed's been doing 18—hour days in one of the bakeries here, and he's been working in factories like these since he was just 12. after two hours, 16 young boys have been rescued. but thousands of others in child slavery in india

aren't as fortunate. in my time covering this country, one shocking figure stuck in my mind. every year in india, around 70,000 children are reported missing. it's thought the actual number is higher, as many cases aren't registered. young lives lost and never found. almost every time i pick up a newspaper in india, i find an ad for a missing child. the problem is staring this country in the face, but there is very little public outrage. i've been investigating the networks behind this huge trafficking industry and meeting the children it exploits into the sex trade, domestic slavery and, like ahmed,

who we saw freed in the raid, into child labour. ahmed and the other boys have been taken to mukti ashram, a rehabilitation centre just outside delhi. here, they are given an education and a fresh start. ahmed was sent to work thousands of miles from home after a trafficker promised his parents he'd give him a better life. how did you get through every single day?

and how did your boss treat you? ahmed was rescued by arshad mehdi, who has been fighting child slavery and traffickers for decades, but the task isn't getting any easier.

this is jharkhand, 1,000 kilometres east of delhi. the majority of child trafficking victims come from the poorest, most remote parts of the country like here. poonam toppo has dedicated her life to fighting india's child trade. there is no work? no work.

in the region of khunti, where prospects are poor and poverty is high, child abduction has become a painful part of everyday life. poonam's brought us to jarro, a village ofjust 20 families, where 14 children are currently missing. she knows many of the parents. so, everyone in this village pretty much knows of someone who has gone missing?

the family members themselves are sometimes involved when a child initially goes missing. amrita, not her real name, was traded by traffickers at the age of nine to a family she'd never met. herjob was to look after two children, aged five and three.

for five years, amrita was treated like a slave. by the time she finally returned home, her mother had died. her childhood shaped by labour, not love. thanks to poonam's support launching a criminal investigation, amrita's uncle is now injail.

but that's rare. fewer than i% of trafficking cases in india end with a conviction. despite attempts by the government to fight the trade, it's thriving. in a nearby village, we meet another family who fell prey to traffickers. munsi and suggi's daughter sunita was just 12 when a couple befriended the family, promising a better future for their child.

after a month, munsi went to see how his daughter was getting on. it's been a decade since munsi and suggi have seen their daughter. how much do you miss her? and what might seem surprising

is that munsi has, over the years, run into the couple who initially trafficked her. why didn't you go to the police? according to poonam, traffickers, like the couple who took sunita, can earn up to $300 per child. it's a well—organised multi—million dollar system, luring children into slave labour and prostitution. but the traffickers are just middlemen with no control over what happens next.

those affected by trafficking often don't have a voice. they're from poor, tribal communities where they feel powerless. poonam often talks to young girls in villages to

encourage them to speak up. this group is where she first heard about sunita's case. it's a safe space to share stories. most of these girls know others who have been trafficked and they started a campaign warning young people of the dangers. but as poonam and others try to fight this crime,

they're faced with a new frontier. social media. i've come to meet a girl we're going to call seema. two years ago, she began chatting to someone who randomly added her to a facebook group for teenagers. after a few months of messages, he invited her to meet him in a city 100 kilometres away. at that point, how did you feel?

seema was held captive for more than two years. she was forced to marry her rapist by his mother, who also lived with them, and she gave birth to a boy. you were trapped in this house, i mean, did you think

you would ever get any help? but seema did escape. one day, when the gate was left open, she ran for it. seema is now safely home with her family. she left her child behind with the father.

sunita's father, munsi, has decided to take action. he and poonam are on the way to the police station.

sunita had told herfather she was near delhi, but he had no money or means to go and find her. do you think there's a good chance of finding her, sir? i will try, i will try. why does it take so long for people to come forward?

some children are able to find their families again. it's been a week since the raid releasing ahmed and the other boys, and the shelter‘s arranged for his mother to come and collect him. but the reunion itself is awkward. it was ahmed's family who'd sent him away to work. living in poverty, they felt it was their only option.

do you regret ever sending him away to work? what's the first thing you'll do when you both get home? it's hard to keep children like ahmed from being sent back to work, but the centre's ensured that his parents receive state support and has a stern warning for the future. ahmed's story has come

to a happy ending — for now. police tried to track sunita down in delhi. they believe she may be working overseas for a family. as traffickers continue to exploit vulnerable families it's hard to see families, it's hard to see a way out of this trade. for the vast majority of india's missing children, rescue remains a distant dream.

hello there. snow showers are becoming thick and fast across northern and western scotland on wednesday. we've seen significant falls of snow here, whereas further south for much of england and wales after that very cold, frosty start, it's been mainly dry with variable cloud and some spells of wintry sunshine. for the rest of this week, we'll hold on to the threat of further rain, sleet and snow in places, and that combined with ice overnight could cause some disruption. you can see the blue colours completely enveloping the whole of the uk, so staying underneath that cold pool of air, and we'll see further rain, sleet and snow on thursday, new year's eve, affecting much of scotland. certainly snow over the high ground, mainly rain close to the coast, and there will be wintry showers affecting northern ireland, perhaps western parts of wales, into southwest england. but it's central, southern, eastern england which will stay dry after a very cold start. perhaps a little bit of mist and fog around. we should see some sunshine,

but it's going to be a cold day wherever you are. now, through thursday night, we hold on to the threat of further wintry showers across the north. they'll be pushing southwards into england and wales. so, where we have the cloud, they're not quite as cold as where skies will be clearest across southern britain and then behind the front across northern scotland. into friday, which, of course, is new year's day, ist ofjanuary, this weather front will be lined across large parts of england and wales. it may be thick enough to produce the odd spot of light rain or drizzle, could be wintry over the higher ground. we continue with those northerly winds and for scotland, northern ireland and then late in the day, far north of england, it should be dry and bright with some sunshine. further wintry showers, though, affecting northern coasts. it's going to be a cold day, temperatures of 4—6 for most. as we move out of new year's day into the first weekend of january 2021, we'll lose that weather front and we should see quite a bit of dry weather on saturday. further wintry showers affecting coastal areas, but as we head through saturday, we'll start to see the winds turning

a little bit more northeasterly. so, it's eastern scotland, eastern england which will start to see most of the showers. further west, should tend to be dry with some sunshine, and those temperatures 2—7 . as we move into part two of the weekend, this area of high pressure starts to build in to try and settle across the north of the uk, whereas lower pressure will be towards the near continent. that'll start to bring in more of an east or northeasterly wind, feeding in wintry showers to north sea coasts, and some of them could be quite heavy. i think mainly rain close to the coast, some wintriness over the higher ground, but it could be further west you go, a bit more sheltered from that east—northeast breeze, so the best of the drier and the brighter weather. but it's going to be cold, particularly cold along north sea coasts with the wind being strong. as we move into the start of next week, we'll see those winds pick up even further. as that high pressure establishes itself to the north, low pressure over the near continent, a stronger easterly wind and a weatherfront will bring thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain in off the north sea.

some of this will be turning wintry, especially over the higher ground, and some of it getting in towards the west as well. so, stay tuned for that, could cause some disruption. so, as we move through next week, it stays cold and then we could be looking at a new area of low pressure that, as it bumped into the cold air, could bring a spell of sleet and snow before temperatures perhaps lifting a little bit. but the outlook for much of the first week of january is staying cold, those temperatures a little below the seasonal average and mainly dry. there is that threat of some sleet and snow showers, especially across eastern coasts.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government extends the toughest restrictions to three quarters of england's population, as deaths from coronavirus soar to 981, confirmed on wednesday. but — light at the end of the tunnel. the uk gives approval for the astra zeneca vaccine — with the firstjabs due to begin, next week. it's a moment to celebrate and have some optimism about where we've got to today and moving forward. the uk and eu sign an historic trade agreement — after british mps give overwhelming backing to boris johnsons‘ brexit deal. and rescuers search for people missing, after a landslide sweeps through a village in norway.