Pressure is increasing for the uk government to revise its relaxation of covid restrictions from 23 27 of december. Talks with the devolved administrations will resume on wednesday to see if a four nation approach can be agreed. Its thought changes to the measures already announced are unlikely, but that there may be strengthened guidance to discourage excessive social mixing. Two of the uks leading medical journals published a joint editorial for the first time, calling for the government to stop any household mixing. They describe the current plan to allow three households to gather at christmas as a rash decision that will cost lives. Here are their editors. The real striking, stark truth of the matter is that our Health System is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue on top of the superspreader event that will be this five days of christmas. We are currently on course for around about 19,000 covid inpatients in english hospitals. At the start of the second wave, the number was 451. This is whats at issue in the uk. From the 23 27 of december, the current coronavirus restrictions will be relaxed. People will be able to mix with up to three households and stay overnight. Heres the british governments position. We should recognise it has been a very difficult year for many families. Many families will want to come together over the christmas period, but that doesnt mean all the restrictions are lifted. People will still need to continue to act responsibly, but we should trust people to do so. Steve barclay also advised people to do the minimum that is possible. Under the current restrictions, this would mean people in many parts of england not mixing households at all. But over christmas, as things stand, those rules would be loosened. The uk opposition wants the policy reviewed. I think doing nothing is not really viable. I think a responsible government is going to have to do something. There are a number of things they could do to toughen them up, and well look at what they say. But, you know, in a sense, i dont want to make this party political. We know people want to see each other, families want to see each other. This wont come as a pleasant surprise to families, so im saying to the government, do responsible thing, review, toughen up and we will support you support you if you do that. Our reporter paul hawkins is here. All this discussion for what is going to be happening injust over a week now as tier 3 is imposed on london and the southeast . Picking up on what the labour leader was say, they are calling for a review of the rules but i think it really the government sources are saying they admit the messaging has not been great and they could reinforce that messaging, do you really have to meet with that member of the family, with that member of the family, with that grandmother over christmas, someone you see very can we still maintain social distancing where youre going to be, is it big enough, you need to stay overnight . There will be a strengthening of those guidelines but in terms of changing the rules, very difficult to do. All four nations have been following different systems, so getting them to agree on the same rules for that five day period from december the 23rd been tricky and getting them to agree again even trickier and bear in mind that in england they have had to vote in parliament on those rules for social changing the rules for social changing the rules it would also require elementary approval. The consensus that was reached after a lot of negotiation a few weeks ago might not stand at the moment and cabinet minister michael gove is speaking to those leaders again inafew speaking to those leaders again in a few hours time to try and get some sort of unity. Trying to get some sort of it about how the guidance needs to be reinforced whether the rules are going to be changed. Very difficult. Because england has beenin difficult. Because england has been in lockdown for a long time in effect a lot of the country has been in lockdown of various phases of people really wa nt various phases of people really want to politically difficult and now they will be this window and then to roll back on that window is a families cannot meet up or should not meet up is very difficult literally to do. And the science seems to be quite unified on this that this will potentially lead to a new surge and theyre potentially lead to a new surge and they re looking potentially lead to a new surge and theyre looking at what is happening in the us for example with the thanksgiving weekend where cases rose steeply there because people travelled around the us to go meet family. Indeed. The editors of the british medicaljournal and indeed. The editors of the british medical journal and the Health Service journal says government is about to blunder into another major error that will cost many lives and they are even calling the current rules rash. And that is increasing demand on the hs and this new strain of coronavirus has introduced further potentialjeopardy has introduced further potential jeopardy concert has introduced further potentialjeopardy concert in the southeast of the country which is now moving a lot into tier 3. So they are saying that there is going to be a strain oii there is going to be a strain on the nhs even without this christmas window that is coming up christmas window that is coming up so the government really needs to Pay Attention to the data. 0k, paul, thank you very much. European countries are being forced to tighten restrictions ahead of christmas following record daily cases and deaths this month. The netherlands has announced a new five week lockdown, while germany will enter a hard lockdown from wednesday. The latest figures across europe and elsewhere are bleak. The First Western country hit by the virus, italy, reported 816 deaths on tuesday, while new infections rose to 14,844 from 12,030. Deaths in turkey rose to a record 235. The country also recording 32,102 new cases, ranking it third in the world in the highest number of daily cases behind the us and brazil. France has replaced its Second National lockdown with a night time curfew as the number of deaths on tuesday rose by 790. And in brazil, 964 deaths were registered on tuesday and 42,889 new cases. Anna holligan reports from the hague. The dutch had been dreaming of a relatively relaxed christmas, but over the weekend, photos of crowds cramming into city centres combined with an infection rate thats now almost double the dutch governments worst Case Scenario has meant theres a sense of inevitability about the christmas crackdown, which ironically means the dutch will be celebrating under what constitutes the countrys toughest lockdown yet. Translation im sad that it has to be done, but it is important. Yeah, i think that its necessary. Yeah, unfortunately. So, from today, all nonessential stores are closed, along with things like museums, cinemas, theaters and amusement parks. Restaurants, cafes and cannabis coffee shops can keep on serving takeaways only. And lots of these pink signs have been going up in protest from businesses that feel as though theyre being unjustly targeted without enough state support to keep them afloat. Traditional german Christmas Markets arent as busy this year. Most have already been cancelled, and a hard lockdown is coming into force as the number of deaths and infections has been surging. Nonessential shops and schools will close from the 16th of december until the 10th of january. After weeks of national lockdown, travel restrictions within france are being eased today, meaning families can get together over the festive break. The infection rate remains stubbornly high, though. A nationwide curfew will be in place from 8pm in the evening, which will be lifted on christmas eve, but not on new years eve. Italy is currently seeing the highest number of deaths since the end of march, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has told italians to expect a more sober christmas without gatherings, hugs and kisses. Therell be a travel ban in place between different regions, but he reassured people father christmas is exempt from all Global Travel restrictions. Until now, the netherlands has been reluctant to impose some of the stricter measures adopted by neighbouring nations. But with the number of covid related deaths now approaching 16,000, hospital admissions increasing, infections rising sharply and pressure on the Health Sector intensifying, a full blown lockdown comes in later than many had hoped. Anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. The us food and drug adminstration has opened the way for a second vaccine to be approved for use in america. The moderna jab makers claims it is safe and 94 effective have now been verified. Regulators will meet on thursday to discuss authorisation, and shipments could begin within 24 hours. The us has recorded more than 300,000 deaths from covid 19 and more than 16. 5 million infections. Dr robert amler is dean at the new York Medical College and an expert in public health. He told me that america is well prepared to distribute and use the vaccine. We have, of course, right now a race to the top with a lot of vaccines coming online, now more than one by the end of this week. Youre exactly right on the difficulties of distribution and transportation, of storage and handling along the way. But we are certainly up to the task. Theres a big worry about temperature control for the first vaccines, since were told it will only work when stored within a limited range of temperature, but everybody has been stocking up on 80 degree freezers in advance of this, anticipating the need. And in terms of the distribution, will the military be needed or are other avenues available . Its really all hands on deck. Everyone who can help is pitching in. The military, the governors, the state Health Departments and local Health Departments, and of course the cdc, the center for Disease Control in atlanta, as well as the fda, food and drug administration, just outside of washington. Everyone is working together on this. I dont know if you were able to hear our previous guestjust talking about vaccine hesitancy, or people who are vaccine sceptics. Is that more a problem in the United States than perhaps one would imagine . Honestly, its the same worldwide, whether youre below the equator or above the equator. My colleague in new zealand and i are 100 in agreement that hesitancy is a natural human phenomenon. After all, weve all learned to be cautious about this terrible virus. Its a big risk. But is there a risk for the vaccine . The answer is very minimal. And the risk pales in comparison to the risk of getting the virus, getting sick, passing it on to friends and loved ones who may even go on to die. But when people begin to understand the relative risk between taking the vaccine and getting the virus, passing it on to others, most reasonable people will go ahead and get vaccinated. What sort of nudging does that require, though, from the government and the new administration in terms of perhaps well known people identifiable celebrities, political leaders being seen to have this vaccine . Thats a great question. I would say the answer is not nudging, its listening. Understanding what it is people are concerned about, making sure they understand the risk of the virus. And celebrities have a role to play as well, as well as journalists in getting the word out. In the 1950s, we have a great picture of the great elvis getting the polio vaccine. And in the 1970s, when the measles vaccine became more widespread, we actually had a poster of r2dz and c3p0 from star wars saying, parents of earth, are your children immunised . So celebrities of every stripe can also join the effort. The Islamist Group boko haram says it abducted hundreds of schoolboys who were taken from a boarding school in Northern Nigeria on friday. This happened in Katsina State in the north west of nigeria. About 800 students were at the all boys Government Science Secondary School when the attack happened, and at least 333 students are still missing. One boy managed to escape byjumping out of a window, but he hasnt seen his twin brother since. Translation i was afraid, totally afraid. But what frightened me the most was that my brother would be in danger. When i looked for him, i couldnt see him. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come, one man, his very special guide dog and the christmas surprise hes planning for his four legged friend. Music. Chanting. Saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. The signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3. 5 years of conflict, conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. Before an audience of world leaders, the president s of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. The romanian border was sealed and silent today. Romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. From sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. This is bbc news. The latest headlines days before covid restrictions are relaxed in england over christmas, two leading medical journals say the move would be a mistake that could cost countless lives. Europe imposes some of the toughest restrictions yet ahead of the Christmas Holidays in a desperate bid to avoid more coronavirus infections. The republican leader of the us senate, Mitch Mcconnell, has formally acknowledged that joe biden won last months president ial election. Its the first sign of a split between the partys leadership and donald trump, who maintains, without any evidence, that he is the rightful winner of novembers vote. Heres mr mcconnell speaking on the senate floor on tuesday. So, today, iwant to congratulate president electjoe biden. The president elect is no stranger to the senate. Hes devoted himself to Public Service for many years. I also want to congratulate the Vice President elect, our colleague from california, senator harris. Beyond our differences, all americans can take pride that our nation has a female Vice President elect for the very first time. Mr biden has gone to the state of georgia to campaign for the democrats in next months senate run off elections. He gave a speech in atlanta. Two seats will be decided on the 5th of january, and if the democrats win them both, they will split the senate total 50 50. But as the Vice President , kamala harris, would have the casting vote in the event of a tie, the democrats would control all three of the white house, the senate and the house of representatives. Jon and raphael are running on the commitment to be senators for all georgians. Im asking you what youre already doing to support them, because if you do, the doors of promise and progress are going to open in washington. Were going to start to get done what we have to do, and more than anything, well make the lives of every georgian, the lives of every american better. Our north america correspondent david willis says Mitch Mcconnells statement is hugely significant. In saying that the Electoral College has spoken and in sending his congratulations tojoe biden and kamala harris, Mitch Mcconnell is saying to the republican party, a party thats been reluctant to fall out of line or out of favour with donald trump, that the time has come now to move on and to accept the result of the election following its endorsement by the Electoral College yesterday. And Mitch Mcconnell went further than that. He actually urged in a private meeting senators, republican senators, not to back any moves that might come from house members in challenging the Electoral College outcome when there is thatjoint session of congress in just about three weeks time, that session to formally count the votes of the Electoral College and sign off on the outcome. So Mitch Mcconnell very much sending this message the time has come to move on. Its not a message, of course, thats palatable even now to donald trump. Well, no, and despite what Mitch Mcconnell might be saying to other senators, donald trump still has quite significant influence over the republican party, doesnt he . He does, and hes not going down without a fight. As we know, tim, hes continuing to rail against the inequities as he sees it of the electoral system here on twitter, even going as far as to suggest that some Senior Republicans in the swing state of georgia, whichjoe biden won of course this time around, should even be sent to jail for not supporting him more actively, if you like. So donald trump is clearly not going to concede this despite the fact that members of his party are now falling in behind the official result. Just on the georgia vote, early votings already taking place. I think it began in the last 24 hours. That votes on the 5th of january and the results on the 6th, and that could change everything, couldnt it . How tight is that race . Its very tight, and it could absolutely change everything. Georgia, once a traditionally republican southern state, of course, tim, has now become a key battleground. Its a state thatjoe biden flipped at the last election, winning it back from the republicans, and the democrats have a lot of hopes going into this. They do need victory there in order to basically fulfil onjoe bidens aggressive agenda as far as climate change, unemployment and the coronavirus is concerned. And so there is much to play for there in the weeks that lie ahead, hence also weve seen both donald trump and the Vice President , mike pence, campaigning in georgia as well in recent weeks. Harry and meghan, the duke and duchess of sussex, will produce and host a string of podcasts for spotify, signing a multi year deal with the audio streaming giant. The couple will make their debut in a holiday special set to be released this monthjust in time for christmas. In a statement, spotify said that the couple will create content that uplifts and entertains audiences around the world. Heres a little of the promotional clip which the sussexes released to publicise their new venture. Should we. Should we start . No, ladies first . No, say it cos i think it sounds really nice with your accent. What, Archewell Audio . Yeah. Archewell audio. Imean. Really . Shall we . Yeah, lets do it. Hi, guys, im harry. And im meghan. One of the things my husband and i have always talked about is our passion for meeting people and hearing their stories. And no matter what the story, they usually offer you an understanding of where someone else is coming from. And at the same time, remind you in some way of a story about yourself. And thats what this project is all about, to bring forward different perspectives and voices that perhaps you havent heard before. The pandemic has thrown up some very specific challenges for dave kent, whos visually impaired, and his guide dog chad. Relying on touch is a big part of how he gets around, and the concept of social distancing isnt something chads trained for. But as a difficult year draws to a close, daves optimistic about what lays ahead, and hes got a special christmas surprise for chad. Im dave kent, i was born with a vision impairment. This is my guide dog of some five and a half years now. His name is chad. Good lad, and off we go. We were in toronto in canada when the covid thing was really building up. And we arrived back just in time. I remember being glued to the radio thinking, how am i going to get back . Well, ironically, i arrived back on the 23rd, which was the day of lockdown. I knew that covid was going to present problems both to myself and to other vision impaired people, but i did not expect, kind of, what the severity of the problems were. Chad has no real concept of social distancing. Hes trying to guide. He has no concept of a queue, and that can be both quite funny, but can upset some people as well. I have not been going out as much as i normally would, and interacting with people. When times are tough ive always got this beautiful animal to kind of, you know, soak up my tears or have a game in the garden and play. Hes my world, hes everything. And, yeah, i love him. Its christmas and youre by my side were going to run, have fun. I was involved with the Community Project that produced a track to celebrate the relationship with chad and myself, but also to give people a christmas hug in what has been, for many of us, a pretty awful year. Its going to be a little different this year, i know. And i will be spending christmas at home with just a couple of friends in my social bubble, eating lots of lovely food. And allowing chad to have some nice gravy on his dinner. That will be good. He looks forward to that for christmas. Dave kent and his guide dog, chad. Many people will be hoping for a visit from father christmas in the next couple of weeks, but his visit came a little too early for one man in perus capital, lima. This father christmas, and his little helper, are actually Undercover Police officers. Rather than the traditional entry down the chimney, this pair came equipped with a sledgehammer which made short work of an alleged drug dealers front door. After the suspect had been restrained, some handcuffs were quickly unwrapped to complete the arrest, followed by the discovery of cannabis, cocaine and a handgun. Hello there. Tuesday night started on a dry note, but its turned increasingly wet and windy during the early hours of wednesday courtesy of this deep area of low pressure moving up from the south, the centre of it moving across the republic of ireland. A swathe of rain and gales spreading across much of wales, western england, Northern Ireland and into scotland. So, wednesdays going to certainly start very windy, with gales at times. But the winds will slowly ease down through today. And there will be heavy rain for many of us. Now, the heaviest of the rain will be across northern and Western Areas through the morning, pushing northwards across scotland. Meanwhile, this band of rain will spread eastwards, exiting wales and western england and arriving towards the eastern side of england late in the day, although not reaching the far south east and east anglia probably until after dark. A windy day for all, though not as windy as how the day will start. Well see plenty of showers pushing into Northern Ireland and western scotland. Some of these will be heavy. Temperature, on the face of it, 9 11 degrees, which is fairly mild for the time of year, but when you factor in the wind, it might not feel quite as mild. Now, that rain eventually reaches the far south east during wednesday night. It clears away and then were into clear spells and blustery showers. Some of these will be heavier across some Western Areas. But because of the strength of the wind and the showers around, its going to be a largely frost free night, with those lows of 5 7 degrees for many of us. So thats wednesdays low to the north of the uk. Were in between weather systems for thursday, so a brief respite before the next system arrives later on thursday and into friday. So, for thursday, we should see quite a bit of sunshine around, some areas staying dry altogether across eastern scotland, eastern england. Most of the showers will tend to be across Western Areas and they could pep up to produce longer spells of rain later in the day, particularly in the far west, as this frontal system arrives. And it will be quite mild here, generally mild, but those values a little bit lower across scotland and eastern england. Then as we head on into friday, you can see plenty of isobars and active weather fronts right across the country. Its going to be very wet indeed with some heavy rain in places, and very mild, too, though as we head on into the weekend, slightly cooler air will push in from the west. So friday is very mild, very wet and windy, the risk of flooding in places. Well see sunshine and showers as we head on into the weekend. Itll start to turn cooler, particularly on sunday. This is bbc news, the headlines pressure is increasing for the uk government to revise its relaxation of covid restrictions in england over christmas. Days before the changes, two leading medicaljournals say the move would be a mistake that could cost countless lives in the light of rising infection rates. European natiions are imposing some of the toughest restrictions yet, ahead of the Christmas Holidays in a desperate bid to avoid more coronavirus infections. The moves come after record daily cases and deaths in december. The netherlands has already announced a new five week lockdown. Mitch mcconnell the most powerful us republican, after the president has finally broken ranks with donald trump and congratulated joe biden on winning the president ial election. Mr mcconnell also urged fellow republicans not to object to the result when congress meets to ratify it
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