pallab ghosh.essers from wednesday as the country introduces harsher restrictions to counter rising covid case numbers. after talks with regional leaders this morning, angela merkel said that the current measures, which include the closure of bars, restaurants, leisure and arts facilities, were not sufficient. our berlin correspondent, jenny hill, sent this update. angela merkel has been fighting for this full sometimes. —— for some time. for months, she has been urging those regional leaders who have responsibility for imposing restrictions to get a tighter hold on this pandemic. germany, of course, came very successfully through the first wave but it's really struggling with the second. infections, deaths are reaching record numbers and they are still rising. angela merkel has been really trying to bang heads together and finally those regional leaders seem to be going into panic mode themselves. they have agreed to these new measures. in fact, some of these have agreed to imposing harsh restrict

pallab ghosh, bbc news.yweight boxing titles, after beating bulgarian kubrat pulev last night. a thousand fans were allowed to watch at wembley arena, asjoshua knocked his opponent off his feet several times over nine rounds, before the referee called time. his victory paves the way for a potential fight against britain's other heavyweight champion, tyson fury. adam wild reports. anthony. . .joshua! this was anthonyjoshua's moment. heavyweight champion of the world. but the man with it all had it all to lose. pressure, perhaps, or motivation. whatever it was, joshua cut a determined figure. kubrat pulev now looking to upset the odds. the fans were back, 1,000 of them, all instantly aware this was a real battle. joshua starting quickly, pulev taking it with a smile. but moments later, pulev was down, the end seemingly not far away. incredibly, pulev battled on until the ninth round. the finish, though, when it came, as swift as it was brutal. commanding, impressive, joshua back to his best, but he barely cele

pallab ghosh, bbc news.day, with restrictions in place over the festive period. schools and nonessential shops will close until at least the tenth of january, while new year's eve parties and fireworks will be banned. restrictions on meeting indoors will be eased slightly for three days over christmas. here's the german chancellor angela merkel. translation: we will be closing the shops from wednesday, the 16th of december, and will only keep open those selling essential daily products. we will also take care not to extend the sale of nonfood products in the shops that remain open, and the sale of pyrotechnic products will be prohibited before new year's eve. let's hearfrom our berlin correspondentjenny hill. angela merkel has been fighting for this for some time. she has been urging them to get a tighter hold on this pandemic. germany came very successfully through the first wave but is really struggling with the second, infections, deaths are reaching record numbers and they are still rising, so angela mer

pallab ghosh, bbc news.uthority in england to ask its schools to close and switch to remote learning for the last few days of term — because of rising covid cases. in a letter to parents the leader of the council apologised for the disruption but said "immediate action" was required. the department for education has said it's a priority for schools to stay upen until the end of term. germany is bringing in tough additional covid restrictions from this wednesday for at least 25 days — as it battles new infections that are three times that of the peak in the spring. schools and non essential shops will close and alcohol will be banned from sale in public places. from dresden, jenny hill reports. for a country which cherishes christmas, no joyful tidings. germany is struggling to contain the second wave, and the death toll is rising. this morning, angela merkel announced that, in addition to bars and restaurants, schools and shops must now close, too. "case numbers are rising exponentially," she said. "we are m

pallab ghosh, bbc news.ood—hughes at the bbc sport centre. thanks. good evening. antonyjoshua's victory over kubrat pulev last night has set up one of the biggest fights in british boxing history. it's hoped joshua will now take on tyson fury in may to unify all four heavyweight belts for the first time. our correspondent natalie pirks reports. he was back. and so were they. it has been a year out of the ring for ha, he was a man on a mission to prove there was no rust. i controlled performance, exploding into life in round three. remarkably, pulev and his granite chin look into a smile amidst the pounding. the uppercut was joshua's weapon of choice throughout. but in the ninth round it was the full force of his right hand that ended 10 three's night. while he was still taking a bow, britton‘s other heavyweight champion made it clear that the unification fight the world wa nts that the unification fight the world wants could soon be a reality.|j wa nt wants could soon be a reality.|j want the fight, i want t

pallab ghosh, bbc news.ith restrictions in place over the festive period. schools and non—essential shops will close until at least the tenth of january, while new year's eve parties and fireworks will be banned. restrictions on meeting indoors will be eased slightly for three days over christmas. it also says lithuania has announced similar restrictions, essentially locked down for the next three weeks. police in lincolnshire have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of murder after the discovery a school boy's body. it was found on common land in the village of fishtoft near boston yesterday morning. a boy aged 14 and a 19—year—old man are in custody. 0ur correspondentjake zuckerman has this update from the scene. police were called here yesterday morning after a body, initially believed to be that of a man in his 305, was found on the grassy area just off the street behind me. now today officers have said that the victim, although yet to be formally identified, is now believed to be a boy of secondary scho

pallab ghosh, bbc news.hile, germany will close shops, schools and hairdressers from wednesday as the country introduces harsher restrictions to counter rising covid case numbers. after talks with regional leaders this morning, angela merkel said that the current measures — which include the closure of bars, restaurants, leisure and arts facilities — were not sufficient. 0ur berlin correspondent jenny hill sent this update. angela merkel has been fighting for this for some time. for months, she has been urging those regional leaders who have responsibility for imposing restrictions to get a tighter hold on this pandemic. germany, of course, came very successfully through the first wave but it is really struggling in the second wave. deaths are reaching record numbers and they are still rising. so, angela merkel has really been trying to ban heads together. finally, those regional leaders seem to be going into panic mode themselves and they have agreed to these new measures. in fact, some states will be impos

pallab ghosh, bbc news. chair of the royal college of gps, said surgeries are confident they have the resources and training to make the roll—out successful. there is going to be about 100 practices and at the first instance only on this week, expanding to more practices later in the week. the number of practices involved is partly based on just making sure we get it right from the start, so we don't use too many, whilst we get the system up and running. it also on the event ability of the vaccine as well. so it's likely that as you describe, each group of practice that has come together will deliver nearly a thousand vaccines over three days. that is to start with. then we will see what other supplies come our way. so you say it will be ioo come our way. so you say it will be 100 to 200 to start with. there are about 1200 eventually that you hope will be charged with delivering this vaccine. how does that work? do the gp surgeries volunteer themselves? are they chosen? are they chosen in terms of having eno

pallab ghosh, bbc news.essor martin marshall, chair of the royal college of gps good morning. how extensive is this vaccination scheme going to be? how many people do gps and surgeries have to vaccinate in the coming weeks? good morning. this is such an important day, the next stage of the covid vaccination programme, where we get out into the communities and into ca re we get out into the communities and into care homes where the vaccination is most needed. so there is going to be about 100 batters in the first cases. expanding to more practices later in the week. the number of practices involved is partly based on making sure we get it right from the start, so we don't use too many, whilst we get our systems up and running. but also on the available of the of the vaccine as well. so it's likely, that as you describe, each group of practice that has come together would be delivering nearly 1000 vaccines over a three—day period to start off with, then we will see what other supplies come our way. so you say

here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh.o immunise those most at risk by easter. this would allow a gradual easing of restrictions across the country. professor sarah gilbert led efforts to develop the oxford university vaccine currently being assessed for approval by the uk regulator. she warned people's behaviour in the coming weeks could delay progress in tackling the virus. what we've seen in the us is that after thanksgiving, when people were travelling and mixing, there has been a big surge in infections, and they are seeing 3,000 deaths a day now. the highest rate there's ever been in any country. if we have that kind of thing happening over the christmas holidays in this country, with very high transmission rates then possible injanuary, it'll take so much longer to get things back to normal because, partly, all the vaccination clinics will be disrupted. a 73—year—old man had to wait more than 19 hours in an ambulance outside grange university hospital in monmouthshire because of pressure on its services because of c

pallab ghosh, bbc news. vaccinations will also begin in care homes in scotland today.demic. schools in the london borough of greenwich have been asked to close from this evening, because of a rise in coronavirus cases in the capital. the council's labour leader wrote to all head teachers and parents in the area suggesting that teaching moves online. the department for education said keeping schools open was a national priority. negotiations will continue today between the uk and the eu, after both sides agreed to go the extra mile to secure a post—brexit deal. london and brussels have said enough progress has been made for the talks to carry on, although the prime minister maintained that the most likely outcome is still no deal. we'll get the latest from our brussels correspondent nick beake in just a moment, but first let's go to downing street where our political correspondent jessica parker is this morning. has there been progress? there is a suggestion i think from those close to the british side that if there had been no progress, things would have stalled yester