hello this is bbc news with maryam moshiri. the headlines. the government calls for a reset in relations with the eu — following a row over the supply of vaccines and the now—abandoned attempt to override part of the brexit agreement. i think the european union recognise that they made a mistake in triggering article 16, which would have meant the re—imposition of a border on the island of ireland. the prime minister publishes an open letter to parents, saying he's "in awe" of the way they're coping with home schooling. confusion over coronavirus rules in maternity wards — midwives warn a lack of clarity means some staff are being abused. five men have been arrested following a �*disturbance�* at a former military barracks in kent, being used to house

hundreds of asylum seekers. now on bbc news... from civil war to the pandemic, 2020 was a deadly year for the syrian province of idlib. our world follows two syrian doctors brought face—to—face with life and death. even before coronavirus, 2020 got off to a deadly start in the syrian province of idlib. but life continued for the millions of syrians trapped in the territory. as doctors, mohammed and zeina worked on the frontline of the humanitarian crisis. as coronavirus sweeps across the devastated region, where a third of the population live in refugee camps, the couple have to make a choice. to care for their patients or protect their growing family.

with their first child expected just as the outbreak reaches its peak, it is a choice that will force the family apart. and for longer than any of them expected.

mohammed and his family of four live in idlib, a province in the north—west corner of syria. it is the only territory still held by anti—government rebels and the start of 2020 saw some of the bloodiest violence as president bashar al—assad tried to regain control. hospitals were bombed, hundreds of civilians killed, and a million people forced from their homes. as doctors, both mohammed and his wife zeina were on the front lines of the crisis.

a ceasefire is announced at the start of march, six days later, the world health organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic. mohammed is appointed head of the coronavirus response team and with zeina's help, starts preparing the refugee camps for a possible outbreak.

with a third of idlib�*s population living in these cramped conditions with little access to clean water, mohammed fears the virus could spread quickly. surrounded by government forces and with little movement in and out of the territory, idlib manages to avoid an early outbreak. but another test result has come back positive.

but coronavirus does eventually come to idlib in earlyjuly when zeina is six months pregnant, and the first identified case is a doctor from the hospital where she works. her test results come back negative but with the outbreak spreading among hospital staff, she is becoming anxious about the health of her baby.

within weeks, mohammed's fears have come true. the virus has spread to idlib�*s refugee camps where a million people live in close proximity. with few health facilities, mohammed is sent to assess any suspected cases. officially, he has found 33 positive cases in the camps, but mohammed knows that most of them are going undetected.

and with the syrian currency in freefall following the introduction of new us sanctions injune, even those who want to take the virus seriously can barely afford to do so.

especially as the ceasefire between the syrian government, its russian allies, and turkish—backed rebels is starting to fall apart. explosion. zeina and mohammed decide that it's too dangerous for them to have their baby in idlib. but trapped within the besieged territory, their only other option is to give birth in neighbouring turkey, a country that closed its border with syria in 2015. as a doctor zeina is allowed in, but the children cannot go with her.

zeina makes a risky decision: to leave idlib with her children via an unofficial route. mohammed stays behind to work on the coronavirus response. it's october, and the number of positive cases in north—west syria has risen tenfold over the last month.

mohammed managed to reach zeina in turkey on the day she gave birth. but now she's out of the hospital, mohammed has to return to idlib, leaving the family in

turkey. explosion.

mohammed has been separated from the family for one week. during that time, dozens of people have been killed in a series of airstrikes, including four children. he's on his way to one of idlib�*s dedicated coronavirus hospitals. it's working at full capacity, and patients are being turned away.

the hospitals are also running low on oxygen.

to make matters worse, nearly 1,500 doctors and nurses have tested positive for the virus — 30% of the medical workforce in idlib.

three weeks after giving birth, zeina is trying to get back into syria to look after mohammed. but having entered turkey via an unofficial route, she is repeatedly turned away from the border.

but even with his symptoms, mohammed must continue to work. there are only 70 ventilators across the whole of idlib, and growing competition among the hospitals.

after four attempts, zeina and the children finally make it across the border, but it's not the homecoming mohammed was hoping for.

after ten days in quarantine, mohammed takes another

covid test. it's negative. it's the 1st of december, and one month since mohammed held his youngest child, aleen.

hello, it's been a chilly day, pretty much wherever you are, made worse by a brisk easterly wind for some of us. some sunny views from our weather watchers, albeit looking out onto snow—covered hills. a few wintry showers in scotland, another dose of heavy rain into parts of england and wales. that's why there are so many flood warnings in force at the moment. and notjust rain, some snow, particularly

to the higher ground in wales. notjust here, though, as this area of wet weather pushed in. into the colder air we saw some of that sleet and snow all fizzling out now as we get into the night and where it has been wet today, as temperatures drop, it is going to be turning icy. this area of low pressure that brought the wet weather is pulling away. there is another one heading our way tomorrow so, for some of us, more rain, but it's sleet and snow on the hills, although, for many, sunday's looking dry, as we'll see in a moment. and it will be turning dry where it's been wet today across southern parts. but again, as temperatures drop, it'll be getting icy. icy, too, in the northern isles where there will be further wintry showers around. a few freezing fog patches in scotland, and with a widespread hard frost, one of the coldest nights of the winter so far, with some spots in scotland dipping down into minus double figures as sunday begins. a few more of those wintry showers in the far north of scotland. for many of us, a lovely, crisp, sunny start to the day, some cloud increasing, sun turning hazy and some thicker clouds and outbreaks of rain pushing back into south west england and wales.

some sleet and snow to the higher ground here, turning damp and drizzly towards parts of south—east england later in the day as well. not quite as chilly in that breeze, which isn't quite as strong tomorrow as it's been today. and as we go on through sunday night and into monday morning, again, one or two wintry showers in scotland, not quite as cold here as it's going to be in the coming night. and for parts of england and wales, a damp night to come with patchy rain and, again, a little bit of sleet and snow to the hills, more especially in wales. tt tends to fizzle out as we go on through monday morning, though, a good deal of cloud across southern parts on a cold—feeling, damp day. there will be some sunny spells the further north you are you may catch an isolated shower and easier monday temperatures. then we're looking into the atlantic. well, first sign of it here and the more vigorous weather system coming our way going into tuesday, more rain where it's not needed. a freshening wind, as it meets the colder air pushing north some disruptive snow around during tuesday, lingering in parts of scotland into wednesday, too. so for some of us it will be turning briefly milder and then colder

again later in the week. that's your latest forecast, bye—bye.

the government calls for a reset in relations with the eu — following a row over the supply of vaccines. the european commission had

attempted to block vaccine exports to northern ireland — which could have led to checks