and that will impact of course restaurants and cafes liquor stores and the wine industry in the western cape near cape town but the president saying it is needed it's we need hospital beds freedom now taken up by people that have been training tomorrow actually driving or got into fights and also our whole place in big rural in so-called super spreader events and now we're mainly young people have been partying and drinking and where we've seen a lot of transmission of the virus so he wants to stop all of those. time now for a quick look at some of the other business stories making news and and identify group of american philanthropists plans to spend 150000 doses of send them from biotech pfizer's vaccines to iran it's the worst hit in the middle east with over a 1000000 total patients officials in tehran claimed u.s. sanctions complicate the delivery and payment of shipments. the u.s. government has appealed a court ruling that blocked the commerce department from imposing restrictions on the world famous chinese tick-tock the trump administration wants to stop a video sharing app from bei

and that will impact of course restaurants and cafes liquor stores and the wine industry in the western cape near cape town but the present and saying it is needed it's we need hospital beds freedom now taken up by people that have been drinking too much and driving or got into fights and also our whole place in big rural in so-called super spreader events and now we're mainly young people have been partying and drinking and where we've seen a lot of transmission of the virus so he wants to stop all of those. time now for a quick look at some of the other business stories making news and and identified group of american philanthropists plans to spend 150000 doses sent them from biotech pfizer's vaccines to iran it's the worst hit in the middle east with over a 1000000 coated patients officials in tehran claimed u.s. sanctions complicate the delivery and payment of shipments. the u.s. government has appealed a court ruling that blocked the commerce department from imposing restrictions on the world famous chinese app to talk to trump administration wants to stop the video sharing app from bei

and that will impact of course restaurants and cafes liquor stores and the wine industry in the western cape near cape town but the present and saying it is needed it's we need hospital beds freedom now taken up by people that have been training too much and driving or got into fights and also al hope plays a big role in so-called super spreader events and now we're mainly young people have been partying and drinking and so we're missing a lot of transmission of the virus so he wants to stop all of those. time now for a quick look at some of the other business stories making news and and identified group of american from lathrop has plans to spend 150000 doses of send them from buying tech pfizer's vaccines to iran it's the worst hit in the middle east with over a 1000000 coated patients officials in tehran claim u.s. sanctions complicate the delivery and payment of shipments. the u.s. government has appealed a court ruling that blocked the commerce department from imposing restrictions on the world famous chinese app to talk to trump administration wants to stop the video sharing app from b

the global pandemic, but something like holding back hosting a serious —— series, we are in the western capehad a 40% increase in cases, this is a tourist hotspot, people from other parts of the country are coming here. maybe there could have been a rethink and also things like having the team going off to play golf about an hour away from the hotel. you know, i understand that recreational concerns need to be brought in, i know it's difficult spinning time in a bubble, but exactly how you manage all of that given that 0bama means you shouldn't really be leaving probably needs to be re—looked at. and when you think about re—looking at that's you know that sri lanka are due to be there for a very lucrative boxing day match, and then you look at australia, due to tour in early 2021. does that put those two tours now endowed? absolute. sri lanka cricket will be meeting imminently to discuss their options. 0ne meeting imminently to discuss their options. one thing trent dilley naturally collects up afterr in a position where they need to play, and south are due to play a reciprocal tournament en

authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape region are under severe pressure from aising number of coronavirus cases which are possibly linked to a new variant of covid-19. the country's expensingin a sure nfections, with more than 14,000 new cases reported on wednesday. theel l of coronavirus are continuing to rise, with one in 85 pple in england infected, according to official figures. london now has the highest percentage of people tting positive, more than 2%. in wales, the virus has infected one in 60 people, a sharp increase. infenion levels are also up northern ireland. in scotland, the percentage of people testing peaitive has ded. tcoronavirus has me that midnight mass in bethlehem is being celebrated rather differently than usual. it is taking place inside the 100,000--year-old see catholic church connects to the church of then nativity, builte sidebar christians believe jesus was born. it is normally attended by hundreds of believers for the this year the service is closed to t public due to covid-19 restrictions. our correspondent in bethlehem explains wh

report: they are severely under strain, particularly in two provinces, including the western cape androvince hewhere are at full capacity, some at 140%, but it is not just covid patients filling up those beds,tut i is also trauma cases, which are fueled by crime and alcohol and also road traffic accidents. the sale alcohol will be banned with immediate effect in south africa unt the middle of january next year. before, hasn't it? reporter: indeed, it has happened before, and it helped to free up beds for covid-19 patients when the pandem was first announced in march here in south afric e news has been widely accepted byy muth africans who are obviously shocked at the country has reached o million covid-19 cases, which, south africa being the hardest hit. anchor: how difficult to keep these restrictions over the christmas period? reporter: since christmas eve, ee50,000 cases have reported. that means a lot of people have not been complying with these covid-19 restrictions and that there have been a lot of gatherings where people have not be, you know, keeping a safe social distance, ha

>> they are severely under strain particular in the western cape and in a province where hospitals arell capacity. some by 140%. but it is not juscovid patients that are filling up beds, but it is trauma cases which are fueled by crimeannd alcoho also traffic accidents, which is why the president announced an hour ago that the -- the sale of alcohol will be banned until the middle of january next year. >> that has happened before? >> indeed, it happened before. in fact, it really helped to free up beds tha were much needed by covid-19 patients when the pandemic was first announced and the news has been widely accepted by many south africans who are beasley shockedhat the -- are obviously shocked the country had reached one million cases with south africa being the hardest hit on the african continent. >>av h south aicans done more to keep their distance over th y christmas ner period? >> since christmasve, 50,000 cases were reported, it means there have been a lot of people who have not been complying with these covid-19 restrictions in that there have been a lot of gatherings where pe

and that will impact of course restaurants and cafes liquor stores and the wine industry in the western cape near cape town but the president saying it is needed it's we need hospital beds freedom now taken up by people that have been trying to march and driving or got into fights and also our whole place is a big row in so-called super spreader events and now we're mainly young people have been partying and drinking and where we've seen a lot of transmission of the virus so he wants to stop all of those. time now for a quick look at some of the other business stories making news and and identified group of american philanthropists plans to spend 150000 doses of send them from buying tech pfizer's vaccines to iran it's the worst hit in the middle east with over a 1000000 coated patients officials in tehran claimed u.s. sanctions complicate the delivery in payment of shipments. the u.s. government has appealed a court ruling that the colors the pop and from imposing restrictions on the world famous chinese app to talk to trump administration wants to stop the video sharing app from being down

they are severely under strain, particularly in two provinces — the western cape and kwazulu—natal provincesome by up to 140%. but it's notjust covid patients that are filling up those beds, but it's also trauma cases which are fuelled by crime and alcohol and also road traffic accidents. so the sale of alcohol will be banned with immediate effect in south africa until the middle ofjanuary next year. it happened before. and in fact, it really helped to free up beds that were much needed by covid—19 patients when the pandemic was first announced in march here in south africa. and the news has been widely accepted by many south africans, who are obviously shocked that the country had reached 1 million covid—19 cases, with south africa being the hardest—hit on the african continent. if you look at the fact that, since christmas eve, 50,000 cases were reported, it means that there have been a lot of people who have not been complying with these covid—19 restrictions, and that there have been a lot of gatherings where people have not been, you know, keeping a safe social distance, have not been w

authorities in south africa, say hospitals in the western cape, are under severe pressure from a risingpossibly linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 111,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. and here in the uk, levels of covid—19 are still on the rise, with one in 85 people in england infected. while in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60, which is a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. 0ne one in 0ne infact one in fact did. while in wales, the virus is infecting one in the which is a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempt to increase direct covid payments to americans. the increase was demanded by president donald trump on tuesday but republicans in congress have blocked the change. midnight mass in bethlehem looks a little different this year ta nks little different this year tanks to the coronavirus pandemic. ——thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. but the celebrations went ahead, close to the 1,700

the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape are under severe pressure from a risinga new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 111,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise, with one in 85 people in england infected, according to officialfigures. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. we are going to stay with that story, as the uk reports another 39,036 new cases of covid—19 and 574 deaths in the past 2a hours. cases have been rising everywhere across the uk — except in scotland. here's our science editor, david shukman. just over a fortnight ago, the inspiring moment of the first vaccination. margaret keenan was delighted. and since then, right across the uk, more than 600,000 others have had their first doses as well. it's an optimistic start to a huge operation, but serious challenges live ahead. it is taking some real planning to make sure that we can scale up and deliver this vaccine at

the first cases were discovered in the eastern cape province but the virus has spread to the western capeot clear at this stage of these new variants are more deadly, they say more research is needed on this, as well as determining these variants —— determining whether these variants could make the virus any less effective? what to do in the meantime? what your hands, keep practising social distancing and wearing masks. they say so far prevention is the best method. the rapid spread of the new variant of coronavirus in south—east england has been blamed for the introduction of strict terror for blamed for the introduction of strict terrorfor mixing blamed for the introduction of strict terror for mixing rules for millions of people. —— tier 1l for millions of people. —— tier 4. it now accounts for the majority of cases in london and south—east england. the changes to the spike protein, this is the key the virus uses to unlock the door to our body's sales. some of those mutations already been shown in the lab to increase the virus' ability to increase the virus' ability to infect cells, al

the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape region are under severe pressure fromvariant of covid— 19. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than fourteen— thousand new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise with one in 85 people in england infected according to officialfigures. london now has the highest percentage of people testing positive — more than 2%. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. in scotland, the percentage of people testing positive has decreased. coronavirus has meant that midnight mass in bethlehem is being celebrated somewhat differently than usual. it‘s taking place inside inside the 1,700 —year—old inside the i,700—year—old saint catherine church, next door to the church of the nativity — built on the site where christians believe jesus was born. it‘s normally attended by hundred of believers, with the square outside busy with tourists. however, this year the service is closed to the public due to covid—i9

authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape, are under severe pressure from a risingariant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 111,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. and here in the uk — levels of covid—19 are still on the rise — with one in 85 people in england infected. while in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60, which is a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. midnight mass in bethlehem looks a little different this year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. but the celebrations went ahead, close to the 1,700—year—old church of the nativity — built on the site where christians believe jesus was born. but the service which is normally attended by thousands of local and foreign worshippers was closed to the public this year. 0ur correspondent yolande knell, is in bethlehem. this is a christmas eve unlike any that local people have ever seen before. not even when there have been the flare—ups in violence in the israel—palestinian conflict have the festivities been so muted. typically,

the dominant virus in many parts of the country but during the in the south and eastern cape the western cape and wasn't all provinces this is really become the major dominant strain as a says responsible really for a steep increase in cases in a 2nd wave professor many people in south africa have travelled and will be gathering groups over the christmas holiday how concerned are you about that in light of what you just say it you know this is a problem we actually were anticipating a 2nd wave later in the probably even january favors come. for 2 reasons one of them is or you had a big super spitting event in what's called the rage festivals when the students who finish the high school they have get togethers and many thousands of these jews get together and that's probably initiated the epidemic and now this new strategy actually employed fired it and this is really become now the dangerous as it is night and restrictions. you know all i have that i have increasing risk have increased some restrictions but you know it's a balancing act they've got a balance what's the people need for their l

they are severely under strain, particularly in two provinces, the western cape and one more, where hospitalsome by up to 140%. it's not just covid patients capacity, some by up to 140%. it's notjust covid patients that are filling up those beds, but also trauma cases, fuelled by crime and alcohol and road traffic accidents, which is why president ramaphosa announced about an hour ago that the sale of alcohol will be banned with immediate effect in south africa, until the middle of january. immediate effect in south africa, until the middle of january. that's happened before, hasn't it? yes, and it really helped to free up beds that were much needed by covid—19 patients when the pandemic was first announced in march here in south africa. the news has been widely accepted africa. the news has been widely a cce pted by africa. the news has been widely accepted by many south africans, who are obviously shocked that the country had reached 1 million covid—19 cases, the hardest hit on the african continent. have south africans done more to keep their distance over the christmas period? if you look

authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape, are under severe pressure from a rising possibly linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 111,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. and here in the uk, levels of covid—19 are still on the rise — with one in 85 people in england infected. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60, which is a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. democrats and republicans are blocking each other‘s attempts to amend a vital coronavirus stimulus package. president donald trump has urged congress to increase direct covid relief payments to americans from $600 to $2,000. republicans, however, are refusing the increase. but democrats in the house of representatives are against republican attempts to cut foreign aid from the federal spending bill. so what's the future for this bill? julia manchester, a political reporter at the hill, explained why so many republicans seem to be against president trump's demands. it was a very surprising turn of events e

they are severely under strain, particularly in two provinces — the western cape and kwazulu—natal provinces 140%. but it's notjust covid patients that are filling up those beds, but it's also trauma cases which are fuelled by crime and alcohol and also road traffic accidents. so the sale of alcohol will be banned with immediate effect in south africa until the middle ofjanuary next year. it happened before. in fact, it really helped to free up beds that were much needed by covid—19 patients when the pandemic was first announced in march here in south africa. and the news has been widely accepted by many south africans, who are obviously shocked that the country had reached 1 million covid—19 cases, with south africa being the hardest—hit on the african continent. if you look at the fact that, since christmas eve, 50,000 cases were reported, it means that there have been a lot of people who have not been complying with these covid—19 restrictions, and that there have been a lot of gatherings where people have not been, you know, keeping a safe social distance, have not been wearing masks, ha

first cases were discovered in the eastern cape province, but the virus has since spread to the western capeientists say it is not clear at this stage if these new variants are more deadly. they see more research is needed on this, as well as determining if these variants will make vaccines any less effective. so what's the medical advice in the meantime? well, there is saying to continue to wash hands, practice social distancing, and keep wearing masks. at this stage there are saying that prevention is still proving to be the best method. pumza fihlani, bbc news, johannesburg. the rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus has been blamed for the introduction of strict tierfor mixing blamed for the introduction of strict tier for mixing rules for millions. so why is it causing concern? firstly it is rapidly replacing other versions of the virus, and now accounts for the majority of cases in london and south—east england. there have been changes to the spike protein — this is the key the virus uses to unlock the doorway to our body's cells. some of those mutations have already been shown i

authorities in south africa, say hospitals in the western cape, are under severe pressure from a risingpossibly linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 1a,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. and here in the uk — levels of covid—19 are still on the rise — with one in 85 people in england infected. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — which is a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. democrats and republicans are blocking each other‘s attempts to amend a vital coronavirus stimulus package. president donald trump has urged congress to increase direct covid relief payments to americans from 600 dollars to $2,000. republicans, however, are refusing the increase. but democrats in the house of representatives are against republican attempts to cut foreign aid from the federal spending bill. so what's the future for this bill? julia manchester — a political reporter at the hill — explained why so many republicans seem to be against president trump's demands. it was a very surprising

the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape are under severe pressure from a risingriant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 14,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise, with one in 85 people in england infected, according to official figures. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. we are going to stay with that story, as the uk reports another 39,036 new cases of covid—i9 and 574 deaths in the past 2a hours. cases have been rising everywhere across the uk — except in scotland. with more, here's our science editor, david shukman. just over a fortnight ago, the inspiring moment of the first vaccination. margaret keenan was delighted. and since then, right across the uk, more than 600,000 others have had their first doses as well. it's an optimistic start to a huge operation, but serious challenges live ahead. it is taking some real planning to make sure that we can scale up and deliver this vaccine

cases were discovered in the eastern cape province, all but the virus has since spread to the western capets say it is not clear at this stage if these new variants are more deadly. they see more research is needed on this, as well as determining if these variants will make vaccines any less effective. so what's the medical advice in the meantime? well, there is saying to continue to wash hands, practice social distancing, and keep wearing masks. at this stage there are saying that prevention is still proving to be the best method. pumza fihlani, bbc news, johannesburg. the european union's medical regulator has approved the use of the pfizer—biontech vaccine, the first coronavirus vaccine it has cleared. the european medicines agency says the jab has demonstrated an efficacy of 95%, and can be used in people aged 16 and over. our news reporter, mark lobel came into the studio to give more details, starting with the timing of the announcement. despite the fact that britain, america and canada had approved the pfizer—biontech vaccine earlier this month, the european medicines agency is inst

first cases were discovered in the eastern cape province, but the virus has since spread to the western capentists say it is not clear at this stage if these new variants are more deadly. they see more research is needed on this, as well as determining if these variants will make vaccines any less effective. so what's the medical advice in the meantime? well, there is saying to continue to wash hands, practice social distancing, and keep wearing masks. at this stage there are saying that prevention is still proving to be the best method. pumza fihlani, bbc news, johannesburg. doctor syra madad is an epidemiologist from new york. she was featured in the netflix series pandemic. many people of course will know you from a tv series pandemic, but i know you have had a particularly busy day, you are about to roll off the pfizer biontech vaccine, so they could for staying with us. there is a difference between a screen and a variant, briefly if you can, and as clearly as possible, could you tell us the difference? these are two very different terms and they all go back to the nomenclature, so basi

and that will impact of course restaurants and cafes liquor stores and the wine industry in the western cape near cape town but the president saying it is needed it's we need hospital beds freedom now taken up by people that have been drinking too much and driving or got into fights and also alcohol plays a big role in so-called super spreader events and now we're mainly young people have been partying and drinking and where we seen a lot of transmission of the virus so he wants to stop all of those. time now for a quick look at some of the other business stories making news and and identified group of american from lathrop as plans to spend 150000 doses of send them from biotech fisons vaccines to iran it's the worst hit in the middle east with over a 1000000 coated patients officials in tehran claimed u.s. sanctions complicate the delivery and payment of shipments. the u.s. government has appealed a court ruling that blocked the colors the pop and from imposing restrictions on the world famous chinese app talk to trump administration wants to stop the video sharing app from being downloade

the dominant virus in many parts of the country but during the in the south and eastern cape the western cape and wasn't all provinces this is really become the major dominant strain as a says responsible really for a steep increase in cases in a 2nd wave professor many people in south africa have travelled and will be gathering cripps over the christmas holiday how concerned are you about that in light of what you have to say that you know this is a problem we actually were anticipating a 2nd wave later in the probably even january favors come. for 2 reasons one of them is or you had a big super spitting event in what's called the rage festivals when the students who finished high school they have get togethers and many thousands of these jews get together and that's probably initiated the epidemic and now this new strain is actually employed fired it and this is really become now the dangerous as it is not in restrictions you know all the have they have the increasing risk that have increased some restrictions but he does a balancing act they've got to balance what's the people need for the

are being invaded by the insects who've been feeding on grass and cereal on properties in the western cape northern cape and the free state. lots more still to come in this news hour including donald trump valves to intervene in the texas lawsuit a day after the supreme court rejected another republican effort to overturn the presidential election result in rio tinto restitution an australian inquiry finds the mining giant should pay for destroying sacred aboriginal drop shelters and sport will tell you why this football star just became $10000.00 poorer. will cold and wet saw dry pretty much sums up the weather across europe at the moment nothing great to speak about here that's why weather is further east we got high pressure blocking things off the west well that's for the west central parts of the mediterranean seeing more wet weather not a system pushing in from the atlantic that will introduce further clouds and rain that will stream across those western passes because through the next couple days of the temperatures sixes and sevens the glasgow for london paris at 7 celsius. just br

the first cases were discovered in the eastern province but the virus has sent spread to the western capeare more deadly. they say more research is needed on this as well as determining that these variants won't make vaccines any less effective. so what is the medical advice in the meantime? they are saying to continue to wash hands, practice social distancing and keep wearing masks stop at this stage they say that prevention is proving to be the best method. professor federico georgi is a senior researcher at the university of bologna's department of biotechnology. he has been studying the sequencing of the virus mutations and mapping the spread of these variations across the world. he joins us live now from bologna. tell us your analysis of what's happening in the uk with this variant. actually, we did discover and notice this variant in september. back then it was only detecta ble september. back then it was only detectable in 15 patients out of the 65,000 that were sequenced in the uk. sol 65,000 that were sequenced in the uk. so i might say thank you. the uk, idon't uk. so i might sa