this is bbc news, i'm lucy grey. our top stories: president biden and president putin agree to hold talks, as russia's military build—up on the ukrainian border sends tensions soaring. the uk becomes the latest country to tighten its travel rules, as the omicron variant spreads. from tuesday, all arrivals will need a pre—departure covid test. we are seeing a number of cases linked to travel and we always said we would act swiftly if we need to, if the changing data requires that and that is why we have decided to bring in this change on predeparture tests. the parents of a teenager suspected of a deadly school shooting have pleaded �*not guilty�* to involuntary manslaughter, after they were found hiding in a basement.

and, the us network cnn fires its leading anchor, chris cuomo, the brother of the former governor of new york. president biden is due to hold a video call next week with vladimir putin, amid growing fears that russia may be preparing to launch a full scale invasion of ukraine. tensions between russia and ukraine have been building for some time in the wake of russia's annexation of crimea. these are ukrainian troops stationed in the donietsk region on the russian border. on friday, ukraine warned that russia is massing more than 90,000 troops on the other side, it's saying its intelligence analysis points to a possible invasion at the end of january next year. bbc russian senior correspondent 0lga ivshina gave us an impression of what

to expect from these talks. ukraine is the heart of this matter, and what's interesting is that recently, mr putin, during one of his public speeches, actually gave a hint that in a way he's enjoying this tension, enjoying this build—up of pressure and he said, you know, "yes, we've seen that. there are a lot of intelligent reports from the western side, yes, we've seen that. there is lots of harsh rhetoric on the other side, but they should be worried. that's actually what we need." so, in a way, you know, he's enjoying this nervous situation in the west, but also, he needs it from an internal point of view, from the internal political point of view, because russia's economy is struggling, coronavirus cases are on the rise, so in order to distract attention from things which are going wrong inside the country, he definitely needs this international arena, these challenges on the international arena, just to show that, "listen, we have enemies outside. let's concentrate on that." it actually mirrors, in a way, russia's strategy back in 2007—08 in the russian—georgian war.

back then, russia gave a lot of passports to people who need them in georgian regions, and then when the tension started, they said, "we'rejust defending russian citizens. you know, we must do that." so russia is, in a way, repeating that trick currently in eastern ukraine, in the regions which are not controlled by kyiv at the moment. this gives them some changes economically because they need to pay them a pension, some social guarantees, but it gives them a lot of trumps on their sleeves in terms of foreign policy. the uk's health secretary, sajid javid, has announced a further tightening of travel restrictions in response to the 0micron variant of covid. anyone arriving in the uk, will require proof of a negative test, taken before departure. it means britain isjoining a long list of countries who are tightening restrictions, including the us,

which announced similiar rules last week. like the uk, all travellers, even if you're vaccinated will need to take a pre—departure test. 0ur political correspondent, ben wright, reports. travellers arriving into london on eurostar trains this evening did not need to take a covid test before boarding. but from 4am on tuesday morning, the rules change. everyone entering the uk will have to show proof of a negative test, whether they've been vaccinated or not. we're seeing an increasing number of cases linked to travel and we've always said we will act swiftly if we need to, if the changing data requires that — and that's why i've decided to bring in this change on predeparture tests. now i will stress these are temporary measures. we want to remove them as soon as we possibly can, but before we learn more about 0micron, it's right that we have these measures in place. passengers will have to take a pcr or lateral flow test

within 48 hours of getting on a train, boat, or plane. it's an abrupt change of tack by the government. earlier this week, downing street said any further restrictions would have a detrimental effect on the travel industry and passengers. labour had called for predeparture tests since tuesday. well, we know from the first wave and from the delta wave that the pandemic accelerates when you have lots and lots of different, new cases seeding here from abroad. and that's why we just need this basic, simple thing of a test before people get onto the aeroplane — and that's why it's reallyjust so disappointing that the government has left it until nearly two weeks after 0micron was first identified. i'm glad they have now u—turned, but they should move much faster on these covid border measures. the arrival of the 0micron variant had already prompted a change to travel rules, with passengers required to take a pcr test within two days of landing in the uk.

the latest move has caused dismay within the industry. i think it's a step too far. i think it will damage consumer confidence because, yet again, you've got another layer of complexity being added to travel. government—approved quarantine hotels are set to get busier, too. nigeria becomes the 11th country to be added to the growing travel red list. from early monday, uk and irish citizens arriving from nigeria must self—isolate for ten days at their own expense. while bolstering the borders might help slow the spread of the new variant, vaccines are the first line of defence. ben wright, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. scientists in botswana say the 0micron strain, which was first detected in a number of southern african countries more than a week ago, has probably been in circulation since september. health officials there, say it could already have spread widely around the world, before other countries started to impose travel bans.

there have been protests in austria against the coronavirus lockdown, which has been extended until at least the 11th of december. unvaccinated people who break those rules now also face fines of up to 500 euros. the authorities in rio de janeiro have called off the city's famous new year celebrations on copacobana beach, after confirmation that the 0micron variant has reached brazil. the fireworks display normally attracts around two million people. but rio�*s mayor says he's reluctantly following the advice of scientists that it cannot go ahead. thousands of people have been evacuated from india's eastern 0disha and andruh pradesh states as a storm approaches. cyclone jawad is expected to make landfall on sunday. people have been told stay away from coastal areas. the woman who is set to become the first female president of honduras, xiomara castro, has said she will invite the un to oversee efforts to tackle corruption when she takes office next month.

with 80% of votes counted from sunday's election, she's leading by a wide margin. the parents of a 15—year—old boy accused of killing four fellow students in the us state of michigan, have pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. prosecutors say ethan crumbley carried out the shooting at his school on tuesday with a semi—automatic pistol, which had been bought by his father. peter bowes reports. in prison and up to a $7,500 fine, and mandatory dna. in court, via video, james and jennifer crumbley wept as the charges were read. four counts of involuntary manslaughter. earlier, the authorities offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the couple's arrest. they'd missed a scheduled court appearance, prompting a massive search by the authorities. they were found hiding in the basement of a warehouse after a tip—off from someone who saw their car. they were in a commercial

building, in a room. we were able to take them into custody without incident, however they were very distressed as they were walking out. prosecutors say the couple are culpable in the alleged crime of their teenage son because they ignored a sequence of events, including the concerns of teachers, that ethan crumbley might be about to use a gun. hours before the shooting, teachers raised the alarm after they spotted a drawing by the boy depicting a gun and a bloody scene with the words, "the thoughts won't stop, help me". in another section of the note was a drawing of a bullet with the following words above, "blood everywhere". this is an unusual case in a country that has wrestled with the scourge of school shootings for decades. ethan crumbley is accused of murdering four classmates — hannah saintjuliana wasjust 14, tate myre, 16, madison baldwin and justin schilling, both 17.

if found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life without parole. his parents could be sent to prison for up to 15 years. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. cnn says it has fired its news anchor chris cuomo because of the help he gave his brother, the former new york governor andrew cuomo, in fighting allegations of sexual misconduct. in a statement cnn said they had commissioned an independent review of chris cuomo�*s involvement with his brother's defence, and additional information had come to light, and they had terminated his contract, effective immediately. on twitter chris cuomo has posted, "this is not how i wanted my time at cnn to end but i have already told you why and how i helped my brother." he goes on to thank his team at cnn. jeremy barr is media reporter at the washington post, hejoins us live. thanks very much for coming on the programme.— thanks very much for coming on the programme. this happened a lot auicker the programme. this happened a lot quicker than _ the programme. this happened a lot quicker than people _ lot quicker than people expected, i suppose, lot quicker than people expected, isuppose, but lot quicker than people expected, i suppose, but as a

mentioned he did admit helping his brother in some way and originally, the executive that cnn stood by him but then things changed, talk us through it? , ., ., , , it? this whole thing has been very sudden. _ it? this whole thing has been very sudden, very _ it? this whole thing has been very sudden, very urgent - it? this whole thing has been | very sudden, very urgent stop you when you on tuesday that cnn had suspended cuomo which itself was very surprising, that basically for a few months this had been the sort of uncomfortable situation for cnn where he had admitted, chris cuomo had admitted that he had helped his brother in his defence on sexual misconduct allegations but then the network had sort of let it lie a bit and then on monday we got several hundred pages of new documents from this attorney general investigation that really showed in detail that his brother chris was very involved, that he was suggesting statements that his brother could issue, he was weighing in on media coverage, contacting journalists to basically try to get leads about possible negative stories. that was monday. the network has been need some time to review the matter on monday. 0n to review the matter on monday. on tuesday they suspended him indefinitely which was very

surprising, their biggest host at 9pm which is the biggest hour at american cable tv. right now you havejohn hannah dion fox, rachel maida vale, so he's a big guy at cnn and then four days after the suspension out of nowhere really the network announces that they have conducted an investigation using an outside law firm which we also did not know they are using an outside firm and that additional information came to light that required them to terminate him so very surprising development. it was interesting _ surprising development. it was interesting the _ surprising development. it was interesting the way _ surprising development. it was interesting the way they - interesting the way they phrased it initially, saying that they realised that it was, they understood the need to put his brother first before they understood the need to put his brotherfirst before his job, didn't they? that was a really strong backing. i think they liked — really strong backing. i think they liked having _ really strong backing. i think they liked having an - really strong backing. i think they liked having an anchor. really strong backing. i think i they liked having an anchor who was that connected to a big democratic politician that was very famous in the us, it made the show feel more relevant i think but it was also a huge ethical issue. cnn has been dealing with the controversy for a while, the network was

not happy about it but essentially the network felt that they had been misled about the extent of cuomo's participation, these documents on monday basically made cnn from my conversations with and feel that cuomo had not really set exactly what he had done and that it looked worse now and that it looked worse now and that it looked worse now and that they were made to look and that they were made to look a bit like a full four thought of having trusted that it was just sort of casual conversations between brothers. and there was pressure wasn't there from victims�* and there was pressure wasn�*t there from victims�* groups as well? there from victims' groups as well? ~ , ,., , ~' well? absolutely, i think it looks bad _ well? absolutely, i think it looks bad for _ well? absolutely, i think it looks bad for the - well? absolutely, i think it looks bad for the network. j well? absolutely, i think it. looks bad for the network. it was a distraction because cnn is a very legendaryjournalism brand known for impartiality more so than fox and msnbc, so having a host that had been intimately involved with pushing back on accusations of sexual misconduct, it was a bad look for the network but they were loyal to cuomo and they want to give them a second chance, really, and in this investigation happened and this additional information came out which the network has not said what that additional information as yet, but that

really is what this hinges on, what else did they find out during that very quick investigation?- during that very quick investigation? during that very quick investi . ation? ~ ., , investigation? right. we may see soon enough, _ investigation? right. we may see soon enough, mightn't i investigation? right. we may| see soon enough, mightn't we investigation? right. we may l see soon enough, mightn't we i see soon enough, mightn�*t we i suppose. thank you very much for coming on, jeremy bar. this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden and president putin have agreed to hold talks as russia�*s military build—up on the ukrainian border sends tensions soaring. the uk becomes the latest country to tighten its travel rules as the 0micron variant spreads. covid test. in uk, there�*s been a record rise in anti—semitic incidents during the first six months of this year, according to the community security trust, the charity which monitors anti—jewish hate. it says 2021 is likely to be "the worst year on record" for anti—semitism. 0ur reporter tom brada has more. i�*m tom, and i am a bbc journalist who also happens to be british and jewish. i�*m proud of who i am

but the past year has been complicated, and sometimes frightening. let�*s break that. he�*s bleepjewish! in the first six months of 2021, there was a record spike in anti—semitism. from controversy around the middle east to conspiracy theories and the toxic environment of social media, manyjewish people are questioning how safe it is to express who they are. i want to find out what�*s going on, and i�*m starting in burnley, where ashley was the victim of an extreme example of anti—semitism. in march 2020, ashley was attacked by three men just outside his home. the assault took place in front of his mum. they were going where that blue car is now, but it was a different—coloured car then, and started shouting, "dirtyjew! "look at that dirtyjew!" and then one of them came onto the driveway and then, he started attacking me. and i was full of blood and i was still with the adrenaline pumping. i mean, how long were you dealing with the physical injuries, and...?

about 3—4 week. and any mental injuries off the back of it? ptsd. it took me a while to go back outside again. quite a lot of people in burnley actually came to me aid and said, "are you 0k?, "do you need anything?", stuff like that. it was really heart—warming. what does yourjewish identity mean to you? everything. absolutely everything. it�*s my life, really. and how does it make you feel that something you hold clearly so dear to you, something you love about yourself, is something that other people use as a target? it hurts me a lot because, end of the day, what we all want is to just live our lives in peace. never gonna happen, though. 0ne harmful stereotype people hold aboutjews is that we�*re a monolithic group who think, feel and even look the same way, but that�*s far from the truth. i�*m meeting up with nadine, a blackjewish woman who, last year, confronted the grime artist wiley after he posted an anti—semitic rant on twitter. i just think itjust demonstrated the complexity

of what it can be like being a jewish black person. it is a more — a lot easier to recognise if someone calls me the n—word or someone says something derogatory about my skin colour to know that it�*s racist, versus, you know, if someone makes a comment like, "oh, you know, jews run the media". it is not as overt, in some ways, but i also think they manifest themselves differently. ithink, you know, in the 21st century, you do not have the structural socio—economic intergenerational inequality that you see within black communities as in the same in thejewish community, but that does not mean that, you know, the threat levels aren�*t serious. see, ijust don�*t think people have a very solid understanding of what anti—semitism is because i don�*t think we are taught about it very well. there are many elements behind what drives racism, and specifically anti—semitism, but there�*s also a familiar pattern that whenever israel is in the news, there�*s a spike in anti—semitism here in the uk. it all happened very quickly.

obviously, it�*s petrifying. i don�*t think that, whatever is going on in the world in terms of the fighting and the — you know, "do you believe in this side?", "do you believe in that side?" shouldn�*t affect anyone�*s medical care that�*s happening and i would never use someone�*s beliefs or religion or ethnicity or anything to decide how i am going to treat them. tom brada reporting there. 0ne one person has died and dozens injured on indonesia�*s java island after active account —— volcano erupted. video circulating in social media show people running away from a thick, giant volcanic ash. nearby villages are covered in debris.

according to witnesses, it�*s pitch dark due to the ashes from the volcano. a bridge which connects two regencies in east of java has been completely cut off due to the flow of hot lava from mount semeru. this 100m—long bridge was destroyed by hot clouds flowing through a river. the event prompted the disaster management agency to warn residents to stay away from river channels or valleys that originate from mount semeru, given the large number of volcanic materials that flow through the river. from indonesia, astudestra ajengrastri. the killing of two young women in england, sarah everard and sabina nessa, brought to public focus the safety of women on uk streets.

their deaths have prompted a group of women to set up a movement to help walkers feel safe going out after dark. safety in numbers now has nearly 100 members, as emily anderson reports. a cold winter�*s night, it is only 5pm but already very dark here in woodhouse eaves. tonight the grip of walking up beacon hill together. safety in numbers were set up by dog walker katie hopkinson just less than a month ago. she is passionate about making women feel safe enough to go out when it is dark. it is so important for our mental health to get out in the countryside and enjoy the benefits of the countryside but doing it in a way that does not leave you feeling really anxious and i think certainly with high—profile cases such as sarah everard, i think it touched a lot of women�*s hearts and made them feel like being in alone in the dark is not an option. we�*re at the top of beacon hill now, which is the second highest point in leicestershire at 248 metres. ok, so you don�*t get those beautiful

panoramic views of leicestershire that you would get in the day but i tell you what you do get — a real sense of achievement getting to this peak in the dark. i�*ve been here a million times but never at this time of night, and never up here, so this is a first for me. so do you feel safe when you�*re out with this group? absolutely, yeah, no anxiety at all, and sometimes, that does creep up on you when you�*re walking on your own and somewhere remote. you sort of think "i should not be here. "this is not very clever." but here, i do it with the group and i have not thought about the fact. it does not even occur to you. overwhelmingly what would feel really terrifying on your own - is sort of a primitive fear, isn't it? - when we are in a group, there is no fear, we are laughing - and having fun. it's, you know, it's turned out to be a real buzz. - the group hope what started as an idea on social media will expand into a network of safety in numbers walking groups. emily anderson, bbc news.

in recent years, numerous small and medium—sized abattoirs have closed, and there are concerns more may follow. as our correspondent gareth barlow — himself a former slaughterman — reports, there are warnings that if more are lost, there may be significant consequences for rural economies. the north york moors. it�*s a landscape with agriculture at its heart. but for farmers like peter mawson, that�*s under threat. the majority of it is grazing land. he had to stop raising livestock after his local abattoir closed. the pigs went for good reason. there has to be a purpose — where you�*re making money, looking after the livestock, producing things that customers will buy and be happy with. but it reaches a point where when it�*s too difficult to do that, you must stop. many smaller slaughterhouses struggle to stay open and for some farmers, the lack of abattoirs able to slaughter and butcher their animals is undermining their business.

and supplying direct to consumers is often far more profitable. to give you an overview idea, it might be three times as much income. now, it depends who i sell to, how i sell the carcass, so parts of it going to a restaurant would earn you less than all of it going to consumers. i�*ve become the price—maker as opposed to the price—taker. in the 1970s, there were just over 1,100 red meat abattoirs in the uk. last year, that figure was down to just over 200. this is one of the uk�*s small abattoirs — it�*s the abattoir that i used to work in. it�*s obviously closed now. this is where the livestock would have arrived. they would have come through then into here. this unit�*s closed, and so are three more within 20 miles of here, all of their services lost from the rural economy. across the sector, abattoir owners point to finding staff,

conforming to what they say are outdated regulations and just remaining profitable as constant challenges. but despite that, opportunities remain. abattoirs might have closed, but not all of those businesses have closed. they�*re still there. they�*re now cutting plants, using the other abattoirs to do their processing for them, so it�*s quite a complex picture. so we've got a range of different... smaller abattoirs often provide services larger sites can�*t offer, enabling producers to have carcasses butchered and delivered to other businesses. and with the government�*s financial support for farmers reducing, for many farms, being able to supply direct to buyers and maximise profit will be increasingly vital for their survival. farmers have diversified and they�*ve got burger bars, farm shops, farmers�* markets, box schemes — a whole range of rural businesses are dependent on having this service from us.

abattoirs are often overlooked. they�*re the unglamorous part of the food supply chain. but without them and without smaller units that support local economies, there�*s a real risk that farms and the countryside may be forced into significant change. gareth barlow, bbc news. now, just in case you�*re struggling to feel christmassy, take a look at these pictures. they�*re from manger square in bethlehem. with three weeks to go until christmas day, this was the moment that the town�*s christmas tree lights were switched on. the festive season actually began there last weekend with a christmas market and a service at the church of nativity. three christian denominations — the armenians, roman catholics and greek orthodox — share control of the church in the west bank town. better go shopping! you can reach me on twitter.

i�*m @lucyegrey. thank you for your company. hello there. it�*s been very cold everywhere across the uk on saturday. we�*ve seen increasing amounts of snow across southern south east scotland and across northern england, mainly over the pennines. sunday is also going to be another cold day — maybe not quite as cold because the winds won�*t be as strong as saturday — and there will be further rain, most of the rain towards the eastern side of the country. we�*ve still got that cold air mass across the uk but, like i mentioned, the winds won�*t be quite as strong across northern and western areas, thanks to this ridge of high pressure. these weather fronts across the east and certainly the north—east will bring further rain, so it could be quite wet again across south east scotland into the north east of england. that rain continues through the day — some localised flooding in places and further wintriness over the high ground. further south, i think most of the showers will slowly ease down through the day but leave a legacy of cloud.

the winds quite strong across the eastern side of the country. but apart from the odd shower further north and west, there should be quite a bit of sunshine around here with lighter winds. shouldn�*t feel too bad — top temperatures 9 or 10 degrees across the far south—west and into the channel islands. looks like that rain will eventually ease away for a time through sunday night but then we look to the west — a new frontal system will work its way in to bring another band of rain and, again, we�*ll see some sleet and snow over the pennines and across the scottish hills as it bumps into the cold air, but the east of england will stay dry until later in the morning. so, this frontal system will work its way eastwards across the country through monday, then it turns colder again with a run of west—north—westerly winds, which will be quite strong, feeding in plenty of showers. so, quite wet across much of the country through monday morning. that rain eventually clears off into the north sea, taking the mountain snow with it. and then it�*s a brighter afternoon for many with some blustery showers — some of these will be heavy and frequent across the north—west and turning increasingly wintry once again. it�*s a blustery day.

those are mean wind speeds. gusts will be high, particularly around some irish sea coasts. and it will feel chilly again — temperatures of 3—8 celsius. then we look to the atlantic. the potential of this deep area of low pressure to develop and hurtle in towards ireland, and then the uk as we push through tuesday and wednesday. still some uncertainty to its track but i think we�*re pretty sure they could bring some wet and very windy weather on tuesday and wednesday, so do stay tuned to the forecast.

covid test.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden and the russian leader vladimir putin have agreed to hold talks after weeks of rising tension over ukraine. the discussions will take place via video call on tuesday. russia has recently boosted its military presence near ukraine�*s border but denied that it�*s preparing an attack. the british health secretary, has announced tighter travel restrictions because of rising cases of the new omicron covid variant. people travelling to the uk will once again have to take a pre—departure, pcr or lateral flow test. the measure will come into force on tuesday. the parents of a teenager accused of killing four fellow students in the us state of michigan have pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. their son ethan, is accused of carrying out the high school shooting, with a semi—automatic pistol bought by his father. people in around 9,000 homes are facing a second weekend

without power in parts of scotland and northern