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life well planned. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. welcome to outside sourc more areas of england will go under tighter controls. >> the best way for everyone to get out of this is to pull together, not just to follow the rules, but to do everything they can to stop the spread of the virus. host: parks and restaurants will

be closed through saturday. the king of sweden says he failed in his efforts to stop coronavirus. we report from nigeria where militants have kidnapped more than 300 schoolboys and released a video showing some of their captives. and we talk about chinese pop music -- this time with a message. breaking a taboo by singing about domestic violence. ♪ host: welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and to everyone else watching on bbc world news. more than two thirds of the population in england will soon be living under the toughest coronavirus restrictions. more than 38 million people will be living in what is called tier

three. later, we will look at how europe is dealing with the increased rise of infection rates, but first, let look at england. >> this is what tier three looks like, bars, pubs, and venues closed. it is what many areas of england have experienced for some time and now more of the southeast is moving into. the government said the tightening was required to bring cases down and help the nhs. >> yesterday, the welsh government made a decision to tighten restrictions across wales. no one wants these restrictions to last longer than necessary, but where they are necessary, we must put them in place to prevent the nhs from being overwhelmed. >> labour supports the move. health officials say virus case

rates in all age groups are increasing across most of the area. local people gave us their reaction to tighter restrictions. >> i think we should have put them in place sooner. >> portsmouth has quite a high rate of covid. i think we are only half that rate. we are so close, it must be awkward, but i think it would have been better to stay in tier two. >> pubs and restaurants will be closed for all but take away. that will be the case over christmas even though up to three households are allowed to mix during that time. more covid patients are arriving in hospitals every day and there are fewer beds tn normal because of social distancing measures. here is what has been happening inospitals in southeastern england. this is the seven-day rolling

average and you can see it has been rising steadily and is back where it was in late april just after the peak of the first wave. here is what has been happening in the northwest of england. admissions came down a bit but appear to have leveled off. >> a hospital system leader told me the christmas easing could create further problems. >> people need to exercise proper restraint. what you can see is large numbers of people coming into the hospital in january and the nhs finding it difficult to treat those patients. >> one area has moved down to tier one. that means up to six people can meet. >> it means coronavirus is not as bad here. especially near christmas. >> i still think we need to be very, very aware of the

siation. >> even here, health officials are worried. one said they were disappointed at the relaxing of rules just before christmas, which would inevitably result in more infections. >> a six week lockdown starting after christmas because of rising number of cases. the deputy first minister described the situation in northern ireland as quite dire. some hospitals there are close to being overwhelmed by the mber of patients. the northern ireland administration says the policy will be reviewed after four weeks. in france, president macron has become the latest world leader to test positive for covid-19. he is showing symptoms and will isolate for seven days while continuing to work remotely. this has consequences for a number of other high profile politicians because he has met with them. the prime minister is one of

those affected. the spanish prime minister, pedro sanchez is also affected. the head of the eu european council, the portuguese prime minister -- he met the french president on wednesday. he has tested negative but will isolate. the irish leader will also restrict his movements and have a covid test. we have more on this from paris. >> what they areaying privately in the press office is that he is well, he is fe. which suggests that whatever symptoms he has were not serious. there does n seem to be any kind of alarm and what he has communicated to us is that he will keep working. he will cancel a trip to lebanon

next week. we have heard from other people in the political world who met him in the course of their work. they will be in self-isolation, too. there's nothing ordinary about this, but there is no panic. >> next to italy. yesterday, we were talking about how it has the highest covid death rate in europe. today, some good news. officials expect to receive almost 2 million vaccinations from pfizer between now and the new year. but as with all eu countries, italy can only begin the program once the european medicines

agency approves the vaccine. until that happens, we cannot be sure. next, to sweden. the king says the country has failed in its effort to deal with the pandemic. since the start of this, sweden has attracted a huge amount of attention because it did not introduce a mandatory lockdown or mask mandate. instead, it relied on people to voluntarily social distance. in recent week the number of cases and deaths has risen sharply, calling for a change of course from the government. sweden's king barely gets into the news. it is even less common for him to say something controversial. here is what we know. >> i think we have failed. a large number of people have died. it's awful. it's something we all suffer from. we have not been able to help

them and it is sad, terribly sad. host: sweden's death rate is lower than some other countries in europe that instituted lockdowns. it's lower than italy, lower than the u.k., but those countries have much bigger populations. if you compared to countries with similar sized populations, sweden is in the middle of the pack. belgian is higher -- belgium is higher. greece is lower. but when you compare sweden with smaller immediate neighrs, you can see why the king may have felt the need to say something. let's move the map to scandinavia. sweden's death rate is far higher than denmark and roughly 10 times that of finland and norway. sweden changed its policy in november to ban gatherings of more than eight people. throughout, its approach has been led by the state

epidemiologist. he spoke to the cdc soon after that change of tack. >> we are trying to do exactly what many other countries are doing. we have learned that we can do a combination of legal measures and voluntary measures. and that's the best. host: let's hear from a virologist on whether or not sweden's approach has been a failure. >> several scientistsn sweden have been concerned from the beginning of the pandemic. that's because the swedish government has said they are following scientific strategy, but we feel that is not the case. they have not been acknowledging that people can spread the disease before developing symptoms.

we have not recommended face masks until this week. even though we have given recommendations, they have not been followed very well. there is nothing wrong with the strategy, but people are not following recommendations. it's a little unfair to the swedish people because they are following recommendations, but if we keep schools open, subways, metros, buses are full. it's difficult to live and follow these recommendations. so, it's a strategy that doesn't come with the daily life and it's not possible to follow these recommendations. this week, we had to close schools in stockholm, and i think that was absolutely necessary. students are coming back and forth between home and hanging out with her friends, playing sports.

i think it's a major problem in sweden. none of them are wearing face masks. i have been concerned already since the spng. we are trying to ask the government to act in a different way, but it has not worked out. >> just to be clear, you were critical of what was done initially. are you still critical now because the approach changed in november, didn't it? >> yes, but if you are not supposed to meet more than eight people or socialize with anyone but your family but you keep schools, restaurants, bars open, it's still a laissez-faire attitude. people don't realize how dangerous this can be for society, especially for the health care system that will not be able to take care of these people who get sick at the same time. host: every week on outside source we make a video looking at one of the big issues of the

week. this time, we are looking at the pandemic. this is not going to be christmas as we know it, and governments across europe are asking people to help contain the virus. >> it's about trying to reduce the contact and make sure everybody is as cautious and personally responsible as possible. host: but is rule breaking causing the covid-19 surge? is there a risk that rule breakers become a lightning rod for the upset this pandemic is understandably causing? we spoke to an epidemiolist, a data analyst, radio host. she often shares her frustration about people not wearing masks properly on public transport. >> the reason i hold people like that in genuine, bone deep contempt is i think we have a duty to one another as much as we have a duty to ourselves. >> it's a widespread concern,

but how can we address rule breaking? his advice is to not see this in black-and-white. wax -- >> if you are supposed to self isolate in your bedroom for 14 days, there are a variety of ways you cannot comply with that. you might go for a walk at night. you might go to starbucks. those are very different things. host: the u.k. sy looked at attitudes to quarantine after foreign holidays. some said they would not do it at all. 20% if they needed to work. 25% if they needed to care for someone. it's also clear that over time people struggle to stick to the guidelines. this is soho and london in september. in october, the government said it is easy to experience fatigue. this is boris johnson around the same time. >> everybody got a bit complacent. host: but not everybody agrees

with that analy this article from the guardian warns, don't blame the government for the spread. it caused -- it called inequality a bigger factor than selfish behavior. can we at least say rule breaking is increasing? one scientist says no. >> it has stayed pretty steady since the summer. despite people saying that they are fed up, board, ts is difficult, tough, what you see is that people still want to adhere and are by and large adhering. host: if that's the case, why is there so much attention on rule breakers? >> if you look at something and you are likely to get irritated by it, you will think there are many more people who are not adhering. host: nonetheless, rule breaking

is happening. an epidemiologist is clear, rule breaking matters. >> these things that might seem like minor transgressions at the individual level, added together at the population level, are the things really driving transmission and driving the pandemic. host: that is why it remain central to many governors messages -- governments messages this christmas. breaking news, very good news from nigeria. in northern nigeria, more than 300 schoolboys were kidnapped by militants. those boys have now been handed over to government security. their abduction was claimed by boko haram in an unverified audio recording. we are now told they are heading back to their loved ones. earlier, video emerged showing dozens of the boys in the forest

begging the nigerian military to opoking for them. boko haram claimed the boys -- to stop looking for them. boko haram claimed they were taken from the school on friday. the bbc will not release the video, but we can show you this large demonstration with people chanting bring back our boys and waving anti-boko haram posters. let's also remind ourselves what happened last friday. the abduction happened. around 800 students were at the school when it happened. 333 of them were missing until a few minutes ago. as we have just been saying, we are getting reports from local authorities that these boys have now been released or will be released. we are still waiting for full confirmation. authorities are saying this is going to be resolved very soon.

stay with me here on outside source. brexit talks are carrying on. two quite different accounts of the call have emerged. a french court has sentenced a moroccan man to life in prison for attempting to kill passengers on a high-speed train. the attack was five years ago. you might remember it. it was foiled by passengers including off-duty soldiers. here is the lawyer for the soldiers. >> it was very intense. there was a trial in paris this autumn. it is linked to the terror atta which occurred on november 13, 2015, which killed 131 people.

and the terrorists that came to europe to kill europeans first killed inside the train. that is why we want the courts to give this consideration. host: hello, i am ross atkins with outside source. we are here in the bbc news room. new coronavirus mandates in england, covering two thirds of the population on saturday. let's turn to china. one of the country's most popular singers has pushed the issue of domestic violence into th limelight with the release of this, her latest song. ♪

host: the song is named after a generic pseudonym that authorities give to victims of domeic violence. some of the most -- it also references some of the most notorious cases of domestic violence. 61% of men and 54% of women agree with the traditional chinese saying that men should be socially based and women should be family orientated. 10% of china's homicide cases involve domestic violence. we spoke with the author of several books on gender violence and inequality in china. here is her response. >> it really blew me away.

first of all, it is haunting music. they are startlingly vivid about violence for women. not only for china, but for any famous singer worldwide to produce a song like this is really remarkable. the thing about china is it is the world's most powerful authoritarian regime. there are gross human rights abuses. there is a huge crackdown happening on feminist activism and on civil society in general. there is widespread censorship. there is no press freedom. state media do not mention domestic violence very often. it is incredibly courageous for a singer to come out with such a

very bold, really startling song about domestic violence. anyone observing china will say that the statistics understate the severity of violence against women. but the thing yes, i don't think the problem per se is getting worse. china did pass this anti-domestic violence law. but what is striking is that there is much more awareness about misogyny, sexism, and violence against women in general. there is a feminist movement growing in momentum, particularly when you think about the hostile environment in china and how difficult it is to propel any social movement forward. host: we cannot talk about brex

it without talking about trade talks. the prime minister has spoken with the european commission on the phone in the last couple of hours. he had this to say. big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries. negotiations will continue tomorrow. i think you have thu.k. perspective. >> yes downing street. you might have note -- yes, we have a statementrom downing street. you might have noticed a splash of optimism. a downing street spokesperson said this is a serious situation, time is short, and

unless the position changes substantially -- there's the whole issue of the level playing field. downing street saying it is willing to accommodate what it describes as a reasonable eu quests, but there are some fundamental areas that remain difficult. still some issues around fishing , the british government saying it cannot accept a situation where it is the only sovereign country in the world not able to control access to its own wars. then it said if no agreement can be reached, they will use australian style terms, which is a euphemism for no deal. >> is it fair to say that statements at this stage of negotiations are not hugely help guides to where we are?

>> that's completely fair. in theegotiations are the details of a complex arrangement. and of course, we are not in the room. we rely on the readouts because that's as good as it gets, particularly at this stage. i think the key thing to take away from this is that the two sides want to do a deal if they can, and they are still talking. so even if the chance of a deal is less than 50%, while they are still talking, there istill chance of a breakthrough, although not much. host: some things may need to be pushed aside as considerations. >> i am pushing my diary for the last of 2020 into the shredder

as we have this conversation. host: i am sure you are. as you are watching, if you are ever confused by any aspect of the brexit story -- as we all are -- don't forget you can go to bbc.com/news or get the bbc news app on your smartphone. that's it for this week. thank you for watching. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. raymond james. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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♪ is provided by... dialogue and speech recognition technology to teach a new language. like spanish, french and russian. babbel is available in the app store or online at babbel.com. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life.