with me this week are uk newspaper columnist yasmin alibhai brown, henry chu who's deputy news editor at the los angeles times. and here in the studio, at a suitable distance in this age of pandemic, the bbc‘s asia pacific editor, celia hatton. forget the weekjust ended, and a year many are glad is done. this is the week to look ahead. to january 20th, when joe biden becomes president of the united states, to september when the european union's longest—serving leader angela merkel is replaced, and to november when nations agree, or are supposed to agree, how they'll make each other actually meet the promises they've made to cut the emissions heating the planet. a year of possibilities, then. but recall too, that, ten years ago this weekend, mohamed bouazizi, died after setting himself alight in despair of the world in which he lived. it was mr bouazizi who ignited the arab spring. yasmin, that seems a good enough place to start as any as we look ahead to 2021. potentially a changing middle east, not least because of the diminishing political influence of oil producing nations. what do

with me are the author and journalist, yasmin alibhai—brown and the executive chairman of the communicationsro, iain anderson. welcome both. according to the sunday telegraph, britain stands ready to help the eu with its vaccination crisis after brussels abandoned its threat to block supplies at the border. the mail on sunday says borisjohnson forced the eu into a double climb—down during a dramatic late—night intervention to protect the uk'svaccine rollout. the uk's vaccine rollout. the observer reports the eu's threat to impose a vaccine border between northern ireland and the republic risked reigniting one of brexit�*s bitterest disputes, while the sunday people's take on the row is to label it �*vaccine victory�*, as they also report that experts sayjab is working. the sunday mirror takes a trip to the hospital fronline as medics battle with the pandemic. the sunday express reports the uk is preparing to cash in on one of the world's biggest trade deals, with trade secretary liz truss on the verge of requesting to join a trans—pacific trading block. while the sunday times says gambling l

few minutes when we'll be taking an in—depth look at tomorrow's front pages with our reviewers yasmin alibhai—brownf to a cold start, a very cold start in parts of scotland, where temperatures in the coldest spots will be down to minus double figures. frosty, icy in places. for many, though, sunday will stay dry. some sunshine but turning increasingly hazy, but not all will be dry. there's another atlantic weather system heading our way, and that's going to bring in some further outbreaks of rain, sleet and some snow across some western areas, which we'll see in a moment. now, these are the starting temperatures. away from those very cold spots in highland scotland, that's all below freezing, so a widespread frost, icy where we've had wintry showers overnight in the northern isles and where you saw some of saturday's wet weather. a few lingering fog patches and parts of scotland, many, though, a sunny start, some turning hazy. thicker cloud to southwest england, wales and northern ireland, bringing in some outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow. snow mostly on hills, but perhaps some low levels for a ti

with me this week are uk newspaper columnist yasmin alibhai brown, henry chu who's deputy news editor pandemic, the bbc‘s asia pacific editor, celia hatton. forget the weekjust ended, and a year many are glad is done. this is the week to look ahead. to january 20th, when joe biden becomes president of the united states, to september when the european union's longest—serving leader angela merkel is replaced, and to november when nations agree, or are supposed to agree, how they'll make each other actually meet the promises they've made

we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers are the author and journalist, yasmin alibhai—brownr with nick. 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 t

and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are the author &journalist, yasmin alibhai—brown cicero, iain anderson. germany and france have tightened their border controls, over fears that new coronavirus variants might spread in europe. berlin says most visitors from britain, ireland, portugal, brazil and south africa will be banned from saturday. most non—eu nationals will be excluded from france from sunday. the european union remains opposed to a blanket travel ban. today is the anniversary of the world health organization first declaring the covid—19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. its director—general — tedros adhanom ghebreyesus — has warned countries against �*vaccine nationalism', saying drugs should be prioritised for use for those most in need around the globe. vaccines are giving us another window of opportunity to bring the pandemic under control and we must not squander it. the pandemic has exposed and exploited the inequalities of our world. there is now a real danger that the very tools that could help to end the pandemic, vaccines

11.30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining us tonight are the author and journalist yasmin alibhai—brownp, cicero, iain anderson. the prime minister has published an open letter to parents, saying he is "in awe" of how they are coping. he also promises "hundreds of millions "of pounds" will be spent on a national education catch—up programme after the pandemic. here's our education editor branwen jeffreys. it's tough for millions of parents right now, trying to help children learn at home. schools in england are mainly closed until march. today, borisjohnson said he couldn't thank parents enough. he said they are buying time for vaccination and that is saving lives. only a few children are still learning in school. parents and teachers are worried about lost learning. there is a promise in the letter of hundreds of millions of pounds for catch—up but it's going to be a big job. one of the schools i have responsibility for, fantastic place, serves a very deprived community, only 30% of those families have access to broadband in that area. only 30%. this is digital poverty in a really extr