dirk: it is not just brexit.efore, the trend at the moment is really across industries and across regions, so it is not just driven by one single factor, but we are really seeing that in this environment, -- as to become more important. struggled to deliver the implied growth assumptions, and that is where m&a comes in. with m&a, we really have the chance to increase margins and your bottom line. that is irrespective of brexit, and that is why i think in the u.k. we will also continue to see a healthy m&a pipeline. francine: we are seeing various european dealmakers setting up now. are there enough targets in these vehicles to get to work? dirk: when you look at the u.s. ipo market, clearly the -- 2020 was the year of the spec. in november alone, we have seen 10 spec mergers. so far it has been all u.s., but i think your question is right. it is clearly the risk of a certain imbalance between supply and demand and that is why we are now seeing specs looking outside the u.s. for targets, and that is why in 2021, s

he'll play the winner of tonight's match between dirk van duijvenbode and glen durrant.g is also into the quarter—finals afterjust edging out ryan searle in a thrilling match. bunting led by two sets early on — searle staged a comeback but double top from the bullet sealed victory. he will take on poland's krzysztof ratajski for a place in the semi—finals on new year's day. new zealand wrapped up a dramatic win in the first test against pakistan to boost their hopes of reaching next year's world test championship final. new zealand had been favourites to win the game as the final day started with the tourists on 71—3 — but a century from fawad alam, 11 years after his last his last century, gave the tourists hope of a draw. he was eventually removed on 102, setting up a thrilling end with the hosts needing four wickets from the final 22 overs to secure victory. despite resistance from pakistan, new zealand finally got the last wicket with less than five overs remaining. there was a dramatic finish in the australian big bash league as hobart hurricanes beat brisbane heat

you think boy, that's a lot of lawsuits to be filed against doctors and nurses in hospitals, dirk let me tell you come out of the total number, 6000 lawsuits, only ten, ten nationwide have been filed for malpractice claims, medical malpractice claims. ten lawsuits. we ought to close the doors of the court to people who are seeking relief when so few lawsuits have been filed. makes no sense at all. how many personal injury suits come how many people have sued some person or entity or business saying on your premises i contracted this covid-19? well, outec of 13 million have been affected, you think the number would be enormous. 22. that's thebe number. 22 personal injury lawsuits have been filed. 110 of these additional number, have been filed by employees for workplace situations. out of all these lawsuits in the united states of america for malpractice personal injury and workplace complaints come we are 142 lawsuits nationwide. .. billion relief over this. you want to know where most of the lawsuits are being filed? they're being filed between businesses as well as businesses versus

time now for your questions about the coronavirus here is our science correspondent dirk williams. can we achieve her demeanor see if you can get me in fact it. there are plenty of questions about this pandemic where we still don't have really clear cut answers like when your immune memory of the virus wanes so much that you could catch it again that's happened to a few people but as far as we can tell not really very many so far and number of studies now indicate that at least in most of us the average amused response to sars cove 2 remains active for for at least 6 months which is positive because the average duration of immunity in individuals either after they've had copd 19 or have received a vaccine against it that will play a defining role and health fast we reach her to munity however even if we do begin seeing greater numbers of re infections relatively soon it would make herd immunity impossible to achieve just harder because it's going to take years though to pin down the average duration of immunity i'm discussing it now means that you have to make some assumptions if w

his medical dirk curry -- degree from lamy university. there is a story in the usa today about a survey of those front line workings -- workers saying only a panel of 13,000 nurses said they would voluntarily take the vaccine. another third said they would not, the rest said they were unsure. that was according to the american nurses association, is a doctor yourself, if i run a hospital or health care facility, how much leeway do i say to someone who works in those front line positions, you need to get a vaccine? shortages ofe real nursing personnel at the moment because of the large numbers of people infected. i would try to reassure them that this is a safe vaccine and i think physicians and hospital administrators can lead by example. i know i will get a vaccine, my wife is a physician, she would get a vaccine. -- anyic i have spoken colleague i've spoken to said they will get a vaccine. i think they need to pay more attention to the science here rather than the writer -- rhetoric that we went through with the election. this was targe

before lbj is done with this conversation, he turns the table son suggests that what dirk supportor him for lbj's on the dam. let's listen to lbj persuade his former colleague and very powerful republican figure in withngton to get on board a tax bill which was very much touch and go in the spring of 1964. let's listen to this. i just want to be sure -- >> are you going to beat me on excess taxes? >> we are going to come up with a recommendation one might -- one way or another? it, i cut thence deficit 50% under what kennedy had. if you screw me up on excise taxes, i will have hell. we have you for good fiscal prudence, and you know that the way to do this is through the they committee area without that you write a bill in the senate on taxes. take, take going to all your republicans? give me one or two of them and let them be prudence. >> you never talked that way when you were sitting in that >> i did. if my country was involved. >> you're a hard bargainer. >> no i'm not, you just take care of it. he is referring to lbj's. as the senate majority cedar, when he used to sit in that seat

number of cases determining no grounds for a criminal investigation into trump over the ukraine qu dirks proquo and punished perceived enemies. back in april of last year at his confirmation hearing, rosen was pressed by whether he'd push back on trump's demands. >> i'm going to do the right thing in accordance with the law and the rules and the ethical requirements at every junction to -- juncture. >> will you in fact, say no to the white house? >> if the appropriate answer is to say no to somebody, then i will say no. >> joining me is former acting solicitor general for the obama administration. we'll get to rose in a second, neal, but what is your take on barr's legacy here? >> i said last week on our network, one word and it was disgrace. i think that's the right word. he will go down as the worst attorney general in our lifetimes and perhaps ever, the most sacred duty you have as attorney general is to apply the law even handedly. when i walk into the supreme court, those words about the supreme court are equal justice under law. that's the most foundational american principle there

moment of the day at alexandra palace though came from dutchman dirk van duijvenbode.dam hunt 4—0. great debate rumbling in the football world at the moment. and finally, the footballing world has been congratulating lionel messi recently, for breaking brazilian legend pele's record of 6113 goals for one club. well, everyone except pele's former club santos. they've published a detailed account explaining why, in their view, messi has not broken the record at all. they say pele's goals in friendlies count towards his total and, as a result, the record stands at 1,091 goals — meaning messi still has another 4118 to go. let the debate continue. meaning lionel messi is some way short. more than 400 goals short. that is a long way to go. a huge amount. are they protecting his reputation, massively, of course. count up how many messi has scored in friendlies, surely? is brazilian rivalry going on there? possibly. brazilian legend, argentinian legend. messi will have to go some if he is to catch that record. thank you very much. time now to get the news, travel and weather w

rob cross, the winner two years ago, was knocked out in the second round by dirk van durvenbode and there he'll now face this year's premier league winner glen durrant. that's all the sport for now but there's more on the bbc sport website, including the news that rotherham's match at middlesbrough in the championship on boxing day has been postponed, after more covid—19 cases in the rotherham squad. let's bring you more on the situation in dover. there were some scuffles between the drivers and police earlier. frustration is beginning to boil over. 0ur correspondent, simonjones, beginning to boil over. 0ur correspondent, simon jones, is there. he spent the morning when many lorries are being held. we are just on the outskirts of an airport and there is a big police presence here. a large number of people have decided to leave the site where more than 2000 lorries have been packed up. they say facilities aren't good enough, they're up. they say facilities aren't good enough, they‘ re not up. they say facilities aren't good enough, they're not getting enough food, then aren't enough toilet