and it's going to be a nail biter... max verstappen beats lewis hamilton to pole position for sunday's formula one title decider in abu dhabi. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. president biden has promised federal aid, after tornadoes devastated at least five us states, flattening whole towns. the worst—hit state is kentucky, where the governor, andy beshear, says at least 70 people have been killed — many of them in a candle factory in the town of mayfield. there've been reports of deaths too in arkansaw , missouri, tennessee and illinois, where two amazon workers have been confirmed dead, after the roof of their warehouse collapsed. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. the scale of the destruction has been extraordinary. in the dead of night, dark funnel clouds rolled across six states in four hours at 220 mph, obliterated everything in their path. this small town of mayfield in kentucky has been hit hard. workers on christmas shifts up this candle factory were buried by several tornadoes that came hurtling in the dark. it is thought up to 110 people were inside, a0 have made it out. this has been the most devastating tornado event in our state's history, and for those who had seen it, it is indescribable. a state of emergency has been declared in kentucky as a huge rescue operation gets under way, but authorities face huge challenges. a police station in mayfield has been destroyed and firefighters have lost equipment. there is no power. nearly 200 national guard troops are helping and more than half of the population in this town are without electricity and water in one of the coldest months of the year. millions of americans knew extreme weather was coming, they have been issued with weather alerts for several weeks. this country is used to tornadoes, there was one in kentucky earlier in the week, but this warmer tornadoes has stunned people due to its speed and ferocity —— this swarm of tornadoes. a nursing home was badly damaged in the southern state of arkansas, killing at least one person, injuring several and trapping more than a dozen inside. in the midwest state of illinois, amazon warehouse was ripped apart after the roof partially collapsed. at least two people are dead. president biden has called it an unimaginable tragedy. we still don't know how many lives were lost on the full extent of the damage, but i want to emphasise what titled all the governors, the federal government will do everything, everything it can possibly do to help. forecasters say the storm has now weakened but americans are being urged to get whitey for more severe weather as the storms continue to sweep across the country —— get ready for more severe weather. amazon.com's ceo andy jassy has tweeted about the loss of workers from the company's warehouse in illinois. he said the company is closely monitoring the terrible situation in edwardsville, and is heartbroken over the loss of its team members. mrjassy says: "our thoughts are with their families at this difficult time." are with theirfamilies he also says as the situation continues to evolve, "we are working closely with local officials & first responders to support them". let's go live to los angeles and speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes. we last spoke a couple of hours ago mg made the point then that this was an evolving situation. since then, three hours ago, since then we have had a statement from the president. what more did we learn about the national effort that is me into action to support people in the affected states?— action to support people in the affected states? well, we learned that crucial _ affected states? well, we learned that crucial news _ affected states? well, we learned that crucial news from _ affected states? well, we learned that crucial news from the - affected states? well, we learned l that crucial news from the president that a state of emergency has been declared in kentucky and essentially the authorisation of all federal agencies to get involved in the recovery effort here. that in a big part is financial. a lot of money being provided for the local authorities and this will be an extremely expensive operation for them but also physical health as well in terms of heavy machinery thatis well in terms of heavy machinery that is crucially needed in the search area so it is the federal government offering assistance. which, was expected that the president would respond in this way. the president making a point that this is not a political situation, conservatives and liberals in a situation like this are coming together to do what is best for those local areas that have been really badly affected by this. the latest news that we are getting is not positive news and letters hope is fading now for those people lost in the candle factory which to have been the epicentre of these tornadoes. in fact, the state governor has said it will be a miracle if anyone else is found alive. we know that about a0 people did manage to escape from that building but many, many more do appear to have lost their lives. i tried one of the most unfortunate accident of timing. the governor was talking about how people would not normally expect tornadoes at this time of year in december. presumably the people working in that factory given candles are very popular in the festive period would have been working hard to make orders justice the guys and women at the amazon factory would have been working hard to complete orders, busy on a saturday. unfortunately busy in the path of a tornado. we saw pictures out of mayfield which are almost by, i mean, that's like the whole town has been razed to the ground. it is almost biblical, isn't it? the sheer scale of the devastation. we see city block after city block that is a pile of rubble now. it is mangled wreckage. you can only imagine the strength of those winds picking up vehicles, large trucks as if they were toys, crossing them in the air and they are now upside down in ditches by the streetside. it is just unbelievable what's, the power of these tornadoes has been. clearly, that is why this will be an extremely difficult operation to recover from where there are lots any people i found alive or not. it seems as though hopes are fading there but in terms of the logistics of getting people sheltered for tonight just of getting people sheltered for tonightjust to get them to the next few hours a lot of people don't have electricity. they don't have water. and it is december and although the weather has been unusually warm in that part of the word clearly the knights will be cold and that is the immediate concern. help for the many, many people who have been displaced because of this. essen many, many people who have been displaced because of this.— displaced because of this. even the news out of — displaced because of this. even the news out of the _ displaced because of this. even the news out of the can _ displaced because of this. even the news out of the can a _ displaced because of this. even the news out of the can a factory - displaced because of this. even the news out of the can a factory and i news out of the can a factory and elsewhere presumably there's a great deal of pessimism and whether that figure will state 7a casualties now. yes. people are very concerned about that and almost expecting that number to rise not only in kentucky but we have been hearing about the devastation and several other states as well. it is not looking good in terms of the final death toll and thatis terms of the final death toll and that is something the president said as well the dub at this stage still don't know the full extent of this awful tragedy. don't know the full extent of this awful tragedy. let's hear now from our bbc weather presenter nick miller — he explains in more detail why the storms were so unusual. the tragedy that has unfolded in the usa with these tornadoes was born into this area of low pressure and particularly this trailing weather front from it from warmer east. drawing energy to create severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. this is how it looked on the radar picture from the midwest down towards the south. this line formed and moved east and one particular tornado, reports that lasted over 200 miles and moved in multiple states. of course we have seen very damaging deadly tornadoes and this weather system is continuing to move its way eastwards and leaving through saturday and saturday night into sunday particularly in the southern side of this we could see further severe thunderstorms for a time. snow on the northern flank of the system and even rain into quebec in canada butjust a closer look at this system draped down which will eventually clear away as we go on to sunday into monday. did eventually clear away as we go on to sunday into monday.— sunday into monday. did keep followin: sunday into monday. did keep following reports _ sunday into monday. did keep following reports online - sunday into monday. did keep following reports online as - sunday into monday. did keep| following reports online as well sunday into monday. did keep - following reports online as well as here in our news because they will keep you up—to—date with further development in the region. health officials here in the uk have renewed their call for everyone eligible to come forward for a covid boosterjab — as new modelling suggests that without further restrictions, the uk is facing a bigger wave of infections injanuary. the omicron variant is thought to be spreading quickly, however scientists say there is huge uncertainty about how many people may need hospital care, and how much pressure will be put on the nhs. here's our health correspondent katharine da costa. at vaccine centres around the uk, the race is on to get even more jabs into arms and boost our defences against what may become the biggest wave of covid infections we've seen so far. people were lining up to get their shots at this vaccine centre in grimsby. it's more worrying, i think, because we don't know exactly what's going to happen, so it's betterjust to be safe. ijust want to protect people as well that i'm going to be in contact with. the new variant omicron is spreading fast, doubling every two and a half days. new modelling has looked at what that might mean for hospital —— for how things might turn out in england under plan b, which sets out a range for possible outcomes. what does that mean for cases? researchers expect a substantial weight, bigger than last winter when daily cases picked up more than 50,000. there is still a lot of uncertainty about how many mate and up in hospital because we do not know whether omicron causes more severe illness. many people are fully vaccinated, which should help. by the and of april deaths may range from 25,000 to 75,000 depending on how well vaccines perform, that scientists hope they will still provide good protection against serious disease. the research also looked at the impact of introducing new restrictions. working from home was enough to reduce the impact of omicron in the most optimistic scenario, but in the most pessimistic edge with tape lockdown with schools open to prevent intense pressure on hospitals. we know very stringent restrictions have their own downsides, they can be devastating for individuals, families and businesses especially in the leadership to christmas so policymakers have very difficult decisions to make. government focus now is on bumping up the booster campaign to half a millionjabs per day with more age groups expected to be invited to. scientists say three doses are needed to protect against omicron infection. we know the booster doses give very effective protection, we do not know how long it will last, it may not be long lasting, but the booster doses will be crucial. it we cannotjust rely on the vaccine campaign to control those, we must work masks undo all the other things we have learned to do too. health officials say the small contagion variant could cause more significant pressure for the health service. the scottish government is considering further restrictions from next week, the westminster government says current measures in england remain proportionate but it will take further action if needed to protect lives and the nhs. katharine da costa, bbc news. the uk and us have expressed "deep concern" that russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops at the ukraine border. british foreign secretary liz truss discussed the threat during talks with g7 foreign ministers in liverpool today. from liverpool here's our diplomatic corresondent james landale. russian forces on manoeuvre near the border with ukraine. at least according to the russian government which says this is all just regular training. western governments are not so sure. they estimate more than 100,000 russian troops are now massed on the border, enough, they claim, for an invasion. that is something these ministers say they are to eternity prevent. the foreign secretary and her g7 counterparts wanted to act together and put on a show of unity that russian aggression would be wrong and come at a high price. it would be extremely serious if russia were to take that action. it would be a strategic mistake and there would be severe consequences for russia. what we are giving this weekend is working with like—minded allies to spell that out. the options these ministers are considering are mainly economic sanctions against russia, sanctions diplomats described as being of a completely different order. so could they threaten to stop this, the new gas pipeline between russia and germany? funny late but yet to open. abandoning this would hit russia hard but here at�*s economy would suffer too. tomorrow the g7 foreign ministers are expected to issue what is described as a forceful statement warning against russian aggression. they will not spell out specific sanctions but diplomats say all options are on the table. certainly today the message was as united as the greeting was safe. today, the great democracies that have been gathering here had sent a strong message of support to ukraine. of course we are all very concerned with the military build up at the _ ukrainian border, that is why we are calling for the escalation. they are all, one minister said, in deterrent mode. the question is whether the messages being heard in moscow. on that, much depends. james landale, news, liverpool. speaking to reporters in his home town of wilmington delaware, presidentjoe biden stressed that he has warned vladimir putin of the consequences of invading ukraine i have made it absolutely clear to president putin and this is the last thing i will say, that, if he moves in ukraine, the economic consequences for his economy are going to be devastating. devastating. number one. numbertwo, devastating. number one. number two, we devastating. number one. numbertwo, we will find it required that we will have to send more american and nato troops into the eastern flanks and all those nato countries where we have a sacred obligation to defend them against any attack by russia. and number three, the impact of all of that on russia and its attitude to the rest of the world and the view of russia will change markedly. you'll pay a terrible price. and so, and we are going to continue to provide for and we will provide for that capacity is for the training people. provide for that capacity is for the training people. we have some updates, i am afraid, in illinois. the amazon warehouse fire. the fire chief is saying that they do not expect any survivors. it is confirmed that six people are known to have died but a lot more people were working in the warehouse at the time and the governor of illinois says he has spoken to amazon and has implored them to send assistance. amazon and has implored them to send assistance. the headlines on bbc news... president biden has pledged federal aid after tornadoes devastated a string of us states, flattening whole towns and killing at least 70 people: foreign ministers from the g7 wealthy countries have been meeting and are said to be "unified" in their concern over russia's military build up on its border with ukraine. the prime minister's office has acknowledged that borisjohnson briefly took part in a quiz in downing street a year ago, saying the event was to thank staff for their hard work during the pandemic. the sunday mirror has published a story including a picture in which borisjohnson can be seen sitting near two colleagues. labour have accused him of ignoring covid rules. with me is our political correspondent, chris mason. for our many viewers around the world who will be completely unaware of the story, can you summarise why the british prime minister is under such pressure over the festivities taking place in downing street, the office building for him and his colleagues a year ago? because of the covert restrictions _ colleagues a year ago? because of the covert restrictions in _ colleagues a year ago? because of the covert restrictions in the - colleagues a year ago? because of the covert restrictions in the uk i the covert restrictions in the uk but most particularly in london, social gatherings between people who did not live together where banned. for the last couple of weeks or ten days or so there has been story after story after story relating to galleries that take place in downing street and the broader british government which have raised questions about whether they were within the or even the letter of the rules. the latest incarnation of this, the sunday mirrorjust been published in the last hour or so and in particular a picture. the bbc was reporting there had been a quiz taking face organised by number ten with some people taking part virtually and others physically in the building. what is striking about the building. what is striking about the development in the last hour, the development in the last hour, the picture we can see there. the prime minister popped into this room in downing street staff and host a round of this quiz. you can see there is a gentleman to his right, a picture on the left, who has tinsel wrapped around his neck. i am told neither the tea people you can see in the picture, someonejust neither the tea people you can see in the picture, someone just to the prime minister was michael left, to the right of the screen, we had zoomed in. there's people i am told members of his closest rfid came in to help them with the technology and the business of zoom or whatever they were using as major contributors. there were other teams and groups of staff and the different departments of downing street, i am told, they did take part in the building but were doing so, i am told, from their own desks. this was not the party that caused the resignation of one of the staff when video emerged the then practising with the question and answer session about whether they will make your bite about whether the rules are broken foot of a different party. you'll make a different party. you'll make a different party. you'll make a different party. the party that the press conference rehearsal was apparently talking about took place on friday the 18th of december. the press conference that never saw the light of day until last week and was a mock thing was done on the following tuesday, the 22nd. this quiz that the prime minister is pictured being involved in was three days prior to the party. it was on the 15th of december. still in a period when restrictions applied. tier 2 restrictions in london and lots of elements to those rules. you cannot have a party or a social occasion involving people you did not live with and this was a social occasion. ., ~ , ., , . thank you very much. now it's time for sport with my colleague olly foster. the formula 1 championship will be decided on sunday. on the front row will be lewis hamilton and his rival. they are level on points but we have not had that in the final grand prix of the season since 197a. hamilton is going for eight titles, verstappen is first, and a straight face to the line between the two ended both failed to finish or out of the points then verstappen will clinch the title because of his nine race wins over hamilton was make eight. manchester city reading liverpool with a point chelsea one point further back. that is after all three of them all thanks to penalties. city made hard work of it. sterling scored his 100th premier league goal after a debatable handball decision. wills played her match with ten men. steven gerrard was given a grade work on his first return to anfield. he has 17 years as a liverpool player but it was his old side who came out on top. just the one goal from a penalty there as well. to penalties for chelsea including the 9ath minute winner as they beat leeds 3—2. arsenal were missing their captain. left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons. manchester united 11—0 at norwich thanks to a penalty. by a munich extended lead at the top to six points after coming from behind to win. the second phase dropped points during one all game. in spain, these are the results. we are madrid's lead is down to five points. australia have won the first ashes test by nine wickets. they snuffed out england's faint hopes by lunch on the day in brisbane. england were hoping to build on a brilliant partnership. both players were gone in a matter of a few overs from the start. england added just 77 runs before they were bowled out for 297 that left australia needing just 20 runs to win. they reach that with these to win. they reach that with these to go one up in the series. exceptionally proud. so many different stories within the game. i said, make, forget about it, you never get your a00 so it was nice he got that done this morning. i said maybe make some about really happy for him. he bowled really well yesterday. bitterly disappointing because we had put a lot of good work in last night and built that big partnership. it was really on me to make the most of that opportunity this morning and credit to australia.— this morning and credit to australia. . , ., , , australia. that is all your support for now. that is all your support for now. now — let's bring you some pictures of a special moment in the us. the daughter of the first american astronaut, alan shepard, has made a trip to the edge of space , 60 years after her late father's pioneering flight. laura shepard churchley , who's 7a , was one of six people aboard the blue origin commercial spacecraft that made a ten minute trip from rural texas. it reached an altitude ofjust over a hundred kilometres before descending back to earth. the spacecraft is named after alan shepard who made his flight in 1961. finally long queues formed here in england as limited—edition t—shirts made by the street artist banksy went on sale. the bristol—born artist announced on friday night that the shirts would go on sale at locations in the city. he said they had been created to show support for the four people about to go on trial accused of pulling down the statue of slave trader edward colston. the shirts quickly began appearing for resale online, with one seller asking for nine thousand pounds — that's11,9a5 us dollars. in fact, that is probably a bargain. now it's time for a look at the weather. the second half of the weekend is going to remain very unsettled. you will notice in england and wales it is going to be very mild indeed. further north there will be outbreaks of rain. tying in this area of low pressure. keeping a watch because it is going to deepen as it skirts pass the of the uk to bring some severe gales to the far north—west but it will bring some rain to the north and the west and skip up very mild air across much of the country particularly for england and wales. we start sunday in a rather cloudy note. some missed and low cloud, bit of drizzle. brightness sneaking through into the afternoon particularly across eastern areas. a rain band pushing across the irish sea and pushing into central parts of scotland by the end of the day. north of here to the end of the day. north of here to the far north—east of scotland it will be quite cool but very mild for the time of year. the south could see 1a or 15 degrees. sunday night we see this deepening though the swathe of heavy rain to the far north and west of northern ireland. we will see the strongest of the wins in the hebrides. it pushed the north of scotland by the end of the night and leave a legacy of blustery showers and cooler air. england and wales will to see this weather fund be outbreaks of rain particularly in towards the south—west. it is going towards the south—west. it is going to be mild. coolerfurther north. from monday we start the new week on a brighter note across the northern half of the country. blustery showers on the heels. england and wales played by this weather fund. it could be quite cloudy and wet for parts of wales into northern england. the south—east quadrant could be a bit drier with a little bit of brightness and it will be mild generally and a bit fresher further north. that well event clears away from england and wales into tuesday. high pressure building on across the south that you will notice low pressure to the north of the uk which bring wet and windy weather for a the uk which bring wet and windy weatherfor a time but the uk which bring wet and windy weather for a time but after wednesday thursday and friday that area of low pressure when out, push northwards and clear the wet and windy weather away from the uk. we will be in the mild air. this upcoming week is that if a team of the time of year. we will start off unsettled in the north and then it will settle down. as the winds are light it is likely to be cloudy with limited sunshine and mist and fog overnight. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. we'll be looking at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first, the headlines. unless the government puts further restrictions in place, the uk faces a substantial wave of omicron infections next month that might overwhelm the nhs. that's the stark warning from scientists. another 633 omicron cases are recorded in the last 2a hours, the uk's biggest dailyjump in omicron infections so far. new rules on face masks, self—isolation and vaccine passports will be voted on by mps in the commons on tuesday, according to government sources. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me arejoe mayes, uk politics reporter at bloomberg and ros altmann, former pensions minister. and a conservative peer.