month, fireworks lit up the sky around windsor as hindus, sikhs, and jains gathered to celebrate diwalis.e festival of light remarkably, a year that has kept people apart has, in many ways, brought us closer. across the commonwealth, my family and i have been inspired by stories of people volunteering in their communities, helping those in need. in the united kingdom and around the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year, and i'm so proud and moved by this quiet indomitable spirit. to our young people in particular i say thank you to the part you have played. this year we celebrated international nurses day on the 200th anniversary of the birth of florence nightingale. as with other nursing pioneers like mary ceco, florence nightingale shown a lamp of hope across the world. today, our frontline services still shine that lamp for us, supported by the amazing achievements of modern science. and we owe them a debt of gratitude. we continue to be inspired by the kindness of strangers and draw comfort that even on the darkest nights there is hope in the new dawn.

last month, fireworks lit up the sky around windsor as hindus, sikhs and jains celebrated diwali, thetival of lights, providing joyous moments of hope and unity despite social distancing. remarkably, a year that has necessarily kept people apart has in many ways brought us closer. across the commonwealth, my family and i have been inspired by stories of people volunteering in their communities, helping those in need. in the united kingdom, and around the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year, and i'm so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit. to our young people in particular, i say thank you for the part you have played. this year, we celebrated international nurses‘ day on the 200th anniversary of the birth of florence nightingale. as with other nursing pioneers like mary seacole, florence nightingale shone a lamp of hope across the world. today, our front—line services still shine that lamp for us, supported by the amazing achievements of modern science, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. we continue to be inspired by the kindness of stra

frequently, put our hopes and dreams on hold, while still celebrating different festivals such as heat, diwalirse for children across clear for and beyond comedy show must go on. other many are well aware even santa has been forced to adapt. itten social distance with his reindeers. he might be making masks. ikan stay—at—home, so christmas won't be as different as i thought it would be. people are doing all sorts of creative things this year and it is pushing back against the idea that this is a bleak midwinter into the idea that this can be something meaningful, we can do something together for a neighbours and ourselves, and make this a time of year where we look back and have positive memories as well as sadnesses. and so the strangeness and struggles of this year and fire many with a scaled—back christmas, but nevertheless a festive celebration to remember. now it's time for a look at the weather. good evening. after a weekend of sunshine and showers, there is a bit more rain in the forecast over the next couple of days. not great news for those parts of england and wales where flood warni

christmas, as indeed to all the other major religious festivals, chanukah at the moment, previously diwaliis, keep it small, keep it short, keep it local, and think of the most vulnerable people. keep it small, because the smaller the number of households that meet together over the festive season, the less transmission there will be. so smaller numbers in bubbles, smaller numbers that you meet in any other situation, all of this helps pull down the risk for your family, for your friends and the wider community. keep it short, because the shorter the period that people are together, the less risk there is of transmission occurring. keep it local, because people travelling from high incidence areas with a lot of transmission to lower incidence areas have the risk of actually passing on the virus, so wherever possible, keep it local. and in particular, think about people that you might meet, that your family might meet, all that one generation along people might meet, someone who knew me to then meet an elderly or medically vulnerable person who would, very soon, be protected but at the mome

♪ ♪ india's biggest automaker produces more than half the cars on india's roads, and the wally -- diwaliked. this year sales rose despite coronavirus. we had an exclusive interview with the chairman. thank you for joining us. let's take a look at the numbers in november and what you can take away from them, i suppose. >> [indiscernible] all the number of sales to the dealers. they don't give quite the correct picture because what you should be looking at is retail sales to the customers. reduction.t a retailmber we saw 167,000 cars, which was higher than november last year. in october, the sales were higher. , which was higher than last year. the retail figures are different from the wholesale figures. tellad: what does that you, if anything, about what is going to happen looking ahead? how is current demand and how do you see 2021? these are very basic questions about the outlook. december lookst, pretty good, because the number of pending orders with the dealers and the rate of inquiries coming in is pretty good. even after the festival period ended. this is a little surprising because

. —— diwali. it isa massively different. —— diwali. it is a huge festival.y. when the time comes when you are together, call that christmas day. what are your plans on christmas day? you are in tier 4. much restricted. much restricted. can't be with my beloved son and his wife and my granddaughters. but stephen and i will be here. and we will eat everything in sight! and watch the beautiful television and listen to the wireless and radio. 0ld person! just generally love it and be grateful. grateful we are alive, think of those who have gone and be determined not to be got down by it somehow. what's for christmas lunch in your house then? well, i'm a vegetarian, so my lunch, my favourite lunch would be cheese on toast, so to be slightly advanced from that tomorrow it will be brussel sprouts with walnuts. pretty unambitious. it will be gorgeous, whatever it is. i like all the bits around the edge. that is divine. during this whole period lockdown has given us an opportunity to go back and watch box sets. 0ne has given us an opportunity to go back and watch box

my family, the chinese new year has been very different, the hajj pilgrimage has been cancelled, diwalifrom tier 3 to tier zero and back to tier 3, and potentially another lockdown in january and february. january is the busiest time of the of the nhs, we know this for previous years. imagine this january if we got the nhs over one because of those five daysin nhs over one because of those five days in christmas. we saw in america the consequences of thanksgiving and the consequences of thanksgiving and the impact it had on the death rates. something else to talk to you about is the situation with schools. those who might be switching on this morning, greenwich council were talking about closing schools, the government said, you can't do that, we will take legal action against you. should greenwich council and the schools defy the government?” fully sympathise with council leaders who have to make tough calls, and the head teachers and governors. the evidence is quite clear. some schools are covid—safe because they have mass community testing so you can check with the children, teachers

otherfestivals have done it, passover, ramadan, diwali, so there is no reason to believe that christianse science will play into their personaljudgment, science? the science will play into their personal judgment, won't science? the science will play into their personaljudgment, won't it? the chief medical officer's opinion, he has pointed out the risks of bringing elderly members of the public together, the risks of hugging and to getting into close indoor spaces with people who might have particular vulnerabilities, so those are exactly the sorts of things that people should be weighing up, and i'm sure they are, right across the country this morning. when you read from the bmj and health servicejournal talking about the issues they see with the relaxation of things over christmas, i'll read you a quote, they say it is rash, they say it will cost many lives stop in the joint editorial, they say we will have people sitting in ambulances, we will have people in corridors. their suggestion is that the relaxation over christmas will cost many lives. are they scaremongering? i respect their

when we had that first lockdown, we had ramadan, diwali, eid.r faces, wash middle of a pandemic, we need to cover ourfaces, wash our middle of a pandemic, we need to cover our faces, wash our hands and keep space so we cannot transmit the virus. with the new variant, that is even more so. virus. with the new variant, that is even more so. the nature of viruses is they spread by touch and that is the one thing we cannot do. so many things to talk to you about and lovely to get your perspective. how can people look after the fact that mental —— of mental health in such a tough time? this is the time when we wa nt to tough time? this is the time when we want to go round. under tier 4 you cannot be in contact with anyone outside your immediate household. you can see one person outside. but it will be cold. the first thing i would say is, if disappointment is what you are feeling, that is fine. talk it through, write it down, talk to each other, send your nearest and dearest and loved ones and early morning message. you can still go for your daily wa