we asked bbc news a response to that and they told us. we asked bbc news for a response to that and they told us: the use of prerecorded background footage on a green screen is not unusual. in fact we are using one right now because i am in a broom cupboard based studio. but while we're on the topic of abiding by covid—i9 guidelines, we have recorded your reactions to mp5 and generals being out and about without mask. some are annoyed that facemasks are not worn more often. others have problems when they are worn. sally lowe got in touch with us after watching this interview to say: at least one bbc reporter has found a solution to this problem. here is north of england correspondent dan johnson on air recently. the idea is that people across this city will be able to come get tested whenever they want. it is entirely voluntary, not mandatory, but whatever they wa nted mandatory, but whatever they wanted as they will be able to and get one. that appearance but with the approval of victoria palmer. she tweeted: the most high—profile wa

this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: president trump says he won't put the us into lockdown, despite a surge in covid—i9 — as he comes close to admitting he's leaving the white house next year. the uk prime minister's most senior adviser — dominic cummings — quits hisjob after days of turmoil within the government. at least 42 people have died and 20 others are missing after typhoon vamco made landfall in the philippines — and is now heading for vietnam. and we'll be looking at how families plan to light up their diwali celebrations during lockdown. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe

we asked bbc news for a response to that and they told us. the use of pre—recorded background footage on the green screen is not unusual. in fact, we're using one right now because i'm in a broom cupboard—sized studio but while on the topic of abiding by covid—19 related guidelines, we have mentioned before your reactions to bbc reporters and interviewees wearing or not wearing masks when being filmed out and about. some viewers are annoyed that face coverings are not used more often. others have problems when they are worn, as was the case in this report on monday's news. sally got in touch with us after watching that. at least one bbc reporter has found a solution to this problem. here is the north of england reporter danjohnson on recently. the idea is that people across the city will be able to come and get tested when they want, it is entirely voluntary but whenever they want their test, they will be able to come and get one. that appearance met with the approval of victoria who tweeted. the most high—profile way in which bbc new

katy austin, bbc news. at least eight people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in a series of rocket attacks in the afghan capital, kabul. the taliban has denied carrying out the attack which occurrred shortly before the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, was due to meet the group's negotiators in qatar. secunder kermani reports. it should have been an ordinary day at school. instead, panic and fear, as these children run for safety. cctv cameras captured the moment the rockets landed outside this popular bakery. translation: i was having breakfast when the rockets landed. 0ne hit a van belonging to a bakery. at least three people were wounded. they have been taken to hospital. a local resident filmed the rockets being fired from the street. this was the pick—up truck the attackers used. how they managed to get it inside the city is a major cause for concern. the taliban has denied responsibility, but violence has flaring across the country in recent weeks, despite ongoing but slow—movin

fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the island in a sea of mud — a ‘state of calamity‘ is declared for luzon in the philippines. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself into police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european anti—nuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: georgia's secretary of state has a

this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump is about to announce details of operation warp speed — a programme to speed up development of coronavirus vaccines and treatments — after the us reports another record day of infections. we will be live in the rose garden. some states are taking drastic action to slow the spread — one ofjoe biden‘s top pandemic advisers warns of a disaster as the thanksgiving holiday season begins. we have a fire raging across the nation and the holidays threaten to be gasoline poured on that fire. it comes asjoe biden wins the state of georgia — putting increasing pressure on mr trump to admit he lost

you're watching bbc news. us president—electjoe biden has warned that donald trump's refusal to begin the transition following his election defeat earlier this month could cost lives. he said president trump needs to work with the incoming team to co—ordinate vaccination programmes. mrtrump is continuing to insist, without evidence, that the presidential poll was rigged and has yet to concede. joe biden expressed his frustration at the politicisation of measures to deal with the covid—19 crisis, such as mask—wearing. does anybody understand why a governor would turn this into a political statement? it's about patriotism. it's about being patriotic. it's about saving life. for real. this is not hyperbole. it's about being patriotic. and i think you're seeing more and more, as this god—awful virus continues to spread, almost unabated, that governors are stepping up. lebo disekojoins me from washington. real frustration there from joe biden, and that stark warning that it will cost lives unless this tra

katy austin, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the annual 620 summit — hosted online by saudi arabia — opens with a call from king salman for coronavirus vaccines to be made available to everyone. a possible alternative to a covid—19 vaccine, for people without fully functioning immune systems, begins its final stage of trials. boris johnson faces renewed criticism for his decision to stand by the home secretary, priti patel, despite a report that found she had bullied staff. the government says mortgage lenders have agreed not to ask for an expensive fire risk survey when homeowners are putting their flats on the market — as long as the building doesn't have cladding. thousands of property sales have been held up by the requirement to obtain a survey, following the 6renfell tower fire. the government's also making available 700 thousand pounds to train more surveyors. we have got to tackle this issue where thousands of homeowners are finding themselves unable to sell or remortgage their properties. a terrible situation. s

bbc.co.uk/news and on the bbc news app. however long it takes. let's return now to our main story, and the new lockdown for england. how does it feel to face another "stay home" instruction in an area of england where the instances of the virus have been relatively low? the fairness of that was part of the reason the government had resisted a national lockdown. our correspondent duncan kennedy has been speaking to people in winchester in hampshire. it's home to 125,000 people. and is one more place that has endured covid. so when you ask people in winchester what they think of this week's new lockdown, the first thing you hear is resigned weariness. boring, boring. to go through it again? boring, yeah. but places like winchester in the south of england haven't seen the kinds of covid numbers areas in the north have experienced. here in winchester, the figure is running at about 135 cases per 100,000 people. but compare that to a town in the north of similar size, say, preston, and there, the figure is more like 464 cases pe

now on bbc news,

tom symonds, bbc news. the foreign secretary dominic raab has accused china of breaking its legal promises about hong kong, after four politicians were expelled from the territory's assembly. all 15 pro—democracy legislators announced their resignation yesterday, in solidarity with their colleagues, who beijing have deemed a threat to national security. the chinese government said that if the resignations were aimed at encouraging radical resistance, the attempt would fail. an investigation into equal pay at the bbc has found no unlawful acts of pay discrimination against women. the equality and human rights commission opened an inquiry last year after complaints about large differences between the salaries of male and female presenters. but the watchdog has made a number of recommendations, including a call for the bbc to improve transparency. david sillito reports. when the bbc was forced to publish the salaries of its highest paid stars, there was fury at the gap between many male and female presenters

david campanale, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: are india's tough new laws against rape having any effect? president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world — the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number ten to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor — easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning, following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war w

fergus walsh, bbc news. russia is deploying hundreds of peacekeeping troops to nagorno—karabakh and surrounding territories, after it brokered a peace deal between armenia and azerbaijan. over the past six weeks, more than 1,000 people have been killed — most of them were ethnic armenian fighters. more than 100,000 have been displaced. the region is internationally recognised as azerbaijan's, but it has been run by ethnic armenians since 1994. the deal triggered celebrations in azerbaijan, and angry scenes in armenia, where protesters called for the resignation of the prime minister. 0ur international correspondent, 0rla guerin, reports from the azerbaijani capital, baku. a nation buoyed up by victory. no social distancing in baku. for azerbaijanis, there is plenty to celebrate in the overnight peace deal signed, sealed and delivered by russia. and just look at the president, ilham aliyev. he's mocking the armenian prime minister, nikol pashinyan. "what has happened, pashinyan?", he asks. "this will prob

this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm: the prime minister appoints nadhim zahawi as minister for the deployment of coronavirus vaccines. a warning that hospitals in england could become overwhelmed with coronavirus cases if mps don't back new restrictions. iran's president rouhani blames israel for the assassination of a top nuclear scientist, saying his country won't be deterred from its nuclear ambitions. violent clashes in paris as thousands protest against a new law to restrict the sharing of images of police officers. it comes days after footage emerged of officers beating up a black man. a worrying weekend for 13,000 workers at some of the uk's biggest retail names — the group that owns top shop, dorothy perkins, and miss selfridge is on the brink of collapse. the perils of gambling addiction — we look at how covid and lockdown has created what experts call "a perfect storm" for problem gamblers. and coming up at 5:30pm, we'll be going behind the scenes of finland's coalition government —

frankie mccamley, bbc news. often we look to sport for examples of resilience— never more so than now. greg silvester, like so many athletes with a disability, lost his access to sport when covid began. but he improvised and used his street. now, as millions go into lockdown again, and sports facilities close once more, he's hoping to keep going. joe wilson reports. now the other way... if you can't go to the sport, bring the sport to you. when covid stopped greg silvester‘s regular indoor sessions he started coaching keep fit on his street, safe and distant. we filmed him on november the 3rd, a familiar sight in this corner of wolverhampton. i've been doing it for the very first time in... ..well, since the very first lockdown we had, since march. we all seem to enjoy it, you know. we get an atmosphere going and it's nice that we're doing it in the neighbourhood. straighten that leg and bend your other knee. greg silvester excelled in the special olympics as a gymnast. when he qualified as a mainstream coac

paul adams, bbc news. the ethiopian prime minister, abiy ahmed, and the army chief of staff have issued statements claiming that federal government troops are now in total control of mekelle, the capital of tigray province. there's been no independent confirmation of the claim with regional communications cut off. tigrayan leader has indicated his forces would fight on. mark lobel reports. a big military win trumpeted on ethiopian state tv. there's praise for the heroic national defence force on capturing tigray‘s capital in what is described as its peoples' liberation. but is it that simple? translation: our forces have freed more than 7000 members of our northern command and taken back control of our base. we have recovered tanks, armoured vehicles and heavy weapons that were looted. we are hunting anti—peace elements hidden in holes. but we only have one side's word for what is going on in the region, as tigray‘s phone lines and internet links are down. even if the capital mekelle has been taken,

lauren moss, bbc news. the latest government figures show there were 23,254 new coronavirus new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means that the average number of new cases reported per day, in the last week is now 23,016. 162 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it means, on average in the past week, 260 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 46,717. and tomorrow morning on the bbc news channel we'll be answering your questions on the national lockdown in england, and also restrictions in other parts of the uk. that's at 9:30 tomorrow morning. so send your questions to, hashtag, bbc your questions, or email them. even a one—month lockdown will cost the government billions of pounds in extra support for businesses and employees. our business correspondent katy austin has been analysing where the money will be spent and what impact it will have. when pubs and res

james landale, bbc news. other news now — and here in the uk, the queen led the remembrance sunday commemorations — as people around the country paid their respects to the fallen largely from home — because of coronavirus restrictions. this year's events come 75 years on from the end of the second world war — and the queen was joined by other members of the royal family and political leaders at the cenotaph in london. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell was watching. music: nimrod by elgar. the numbers were depleted, but for all that the massed bands and everyone else had to be socially distanced and the pavements were empty of crowds, the purpose was unchanged. 0n remembrance sunday, in a year when loss has been more keenly felt than most, the ceremony of remembrance at the cenotaph had a particular power and poignancy. as 11 o'clock approached, the queen took her place on a balcony, as the prince of wales led other senior members of the royal family to their places in readiness for the two mi

danny savage, bbc news, leeds. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says he won't put the us into lockdown, despite a surge in covid—19, as he comes close to admitting he's leaving the white house next year. the most senior advisor to the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has left downing street for the last time. dominic cummings was a key figure behind the successful brexit campaign. russian peacekeepers are deploying in the breakaway region of nagorno—karabakh, following a deal to end 6 weeks of war between azerbaijan and armenia. under the agreement, armenia will withdraw from districts held since 1994. azerbaijan will keep territory in nagorno—karabakh and the surrounding areas, retaken during the fighting. the enclave is internationally recognised as part of azerbaijan. but victory has come at a cost, as our international correspondent, orla guerin, reports from the city of terter in azerbaijan. "get up and let's go," lalazar begs. a mother's lament at the grave of her only son. 25—year—old mehdi join

this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. as americans are asked to stay home for thanksgiving, joe biden says president trump is refusing to co—operate. it will be another incident where he will go down in history as being one of the most irresponsible presidents in american history. president trump's lawyer sets out wild conspiracy theories in his latest claims of election fraud. a draft report into claims the british home secretary bullied staff concluded she broke rules on ministerial behaviour. shuggie bain, by douglas stuart. and douglas stuart's novel about growing up in glasgow wins the international booker prize for fiction. hello and welcome. it's a sign ofjust how serious the coronavirus pandemic has become. the us center for disease control has urged americans not to travel during next week's thanksgiving holiday, america's most important family holiday of the year. the number of patients hospitalized with covid—19 in the un

this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. our top stories: the us reports another record day of infections, as the coronavirus continues its surge across the country. some states take drastic action to slow the spread — one ofjoe biden‘s top pandemic advisors warns of a disaster as the thanksgiving holiday season begins. we have a fire raging across the nation and fellow holidays threatened to be definitely imported on that fire. in the next hour president trump will give an update on the so—called ‘0peration warp speed' programme, which aims to speed up development of vaccines and treatments. cummings going — the uk prime minister's most senior adviser — dominic cummings — leaves hisjob in downing street. and we'll be looking at how families plan to celebrate diwali during lockdown. in the united states, the number of new coronavirus infections recorded each day has doubled in just three weeks. latest records show 150,000 new coronavirus cases — that's a one day record. with the thanksgivin

fergus walsh, bbc news. i'm joined now by dr paul duprex, who's been working on a vaccine for the virus at the university of pittsburgh. thanks forjoining us here on bbc news. where are you on the optimism ladder? i think what you heard and it isa ladder? i think what you heard and it is a very good way to phrase this, we should be cautiously optimistic. but isn't it wonderful that we can be optimistic? because vaccine development is hard. vaccine development is slow. but vaccine development is slow. but vaccine development is slow. but vaccine development is beset by many, many hurdles and what we have today is interim early results from a vaccine modality that has never ever been licenced before. so i think cautious optimism is a really good phrase that we use for where we are today. it's great to see the world's vaccine community to come together and develop these creative novel ways to deal with what is the scourge ways to deal with what is the scourge of humanity at the moment, covid—i9. scourge of hu

paul hawkins, bbc news. you are watching bbc news, the headlines. california is beginning a night—time curfew, in an attempt to curb a surge in coronavirus cases — the number of confirmed cases in the us has now exceeded 12 million. ajudge in pennsylvania has thrown out an attempt by donald trump's campaign to block the state's certification of its election result. in what's been described as a scathing opinion, judge matthew brann said the trump campaign presented "strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unsupported by evidence". it's a further defeat of the trump campaign's legal challenges tojoe biden‘s victory in the presidential election. aiming to deal another blow is a lawsuit against the president, which alleges his attempt to overturn the result in michigan disenfranchises black voters. samuel spital, one of the lawyers leading the suit, told me more about what it contains. 0ur court case is based on the voting rights act of 1965 which is one of our nation's most important civil rights laws. one of the prov

anne soy, bbc news. archaeologists in norway are racing against the onset of mould to dig up the first viking ship in more than a century. discovered in gjellestad, in the south—east of the country, two years ago, the 20 metre ship is being excavated because of its poor condition. a race against time now because of the mould. experts say the site has been disturbed many times and that precious relics may have been plundered. that is it. i'm lewis wanderings. this is bbc news. —— lewis vaughan jones. hello there. today is shaping up to be not too bad a day. we should see quite a bit of sunshine around once we lose the morning rain. that band of rain has been spreading its way east slowly during the overnight period and followed by blustery showers which will be running into scotland and northern ireland. so this is the rain i'm talking about, lying on the cold front, some slightly fresher air behind it. it will be working its way eastwards and ahead of it, it'll be cloudy, breezy and mild. there wil

anne soy, bbc news. it's understood the uk prime minister's senior aid, dominic cummings, is expected to leave the government by the end of the year. he told the bbc tonight that his position hasn't changed since the start of the year, when he wrote that he wanted to make himself "largely redundant" by the end of the 2020. our political correspondent, jessica parker, has more. there seem to be a power struggle behind the doors of number10, struggle behind the doors of number 10, then the cane would be leaving downing street at the end of the year. the cane, a close ally of dominic cummings, and while he is an important figure —— lee cain, dominic cummings is a very centralfigure in downing street, the prime minister's chief aid, a man who really has the ear of boris johnson. chief aid, a man who really has the ear of borisjohnson. and if you remember, there was a huge controversy earlier in the year when mr huge controversy earlier in the yearwhen mrcummings huge controversy earlier in the year when

stay with us on bbc news. still to come, we'll be getting more on the us elections from the key swing state of pennsylvania. we've also heard this evening from joe biden. the democratic presidential candidate headed to his childhood home in scranton before going to philadelphia, the state capital of pennsylvania. let's take a listen to what he had to say there. i want everybody to understand. the people have figured it out. we are going to rebuild the middle class! applause and by the way, the middle class built this country and unions built the middle class! applause and thirdly, i promise you this, although i'm running as a proud democrat, if you elect me, i'm going to be an american president. it will be no red states or blue states, just the united states of america! let's stay with the us presidential election, as we've been hearing, an unprecedented number of people have voted early, most of them by post. that's been contentious, with donald trump saying without evidence that the process is open to fraud

rajeev gupta, bbc news. that's how you dance! you've been watching bbc news. don't forget there is plenty more coming up on our website as well. in the meantime, you can get a hold of me on twitter. i'm @ lukwesa burak. see you shortly. hello there. we ended the working week on a fine note. we saw quite a bit of sunshine on friday, but that won't be the case this weekend — it'll be a lot more unsettled thanks to low pressure. it'll be windy for most of us, and there will be spells of heavy rain at times — all courtesy of this new area of low pressure, which will stick around both saturday and sunday, bringing strongest winds to the southern and western areas through the day on saturday, and there'll be bands of rain spreading from south to north across the country. so the rain can be quite heavy in places, maybe a rumble of thunder for england and wales, and very windy around the southwest, around irish sea coasts, up to 55 mph. probably the best of any dryer interludes will be across central northern scotland and northeast england for a time. but a milder

jim reed, bbc news. now, they're notorious for being silent assassins and skilled at espionage and deception. but many ninjas were actually japanese farmers who lived in rural areas and learned to be self—sufficient. so, could learning the life of a ninja help us stay safe during the pandemic? here are the thoughts of ganishi mitsuhashi, who has a masters degree in ninja studies. ijust i just love that idea. there have been scuffles in taiwan's parliament over an easing of us pork imports. members of the main opposition party, kmt, threw pig guts and exchanged punches with politicians from the governing democratic progressive party. the confrontation was over the government's announcement in august that it would allow imports of us pork containing ractopamine. that's an additive which makes the meat tender, but is banned in europe and china. the kmt party says the decision was rushed through and the pork is a threat to public health. a reminder of our top story: iran's most senior nuclear scientist has

peter bowes, bbc news. onto the pandemic now and the world health organisation has issued a warning saying: "we may be tired of covid 19 — but it is not tired of us." many countries are in their second wave of infections and are seeing the number of hospitalisations or new cases reaching figures not seen since the start of the pandemic. in some countries the outbreak is worse than its ever been. the us has seen a record number of new cases in a single 2a hour period, with more than 142,000 people being diagnosed with covid—19. and while cases are dropping in france, the number of people in hospital is now at an all time high of 32,638. in the uk, there's been a record rise, with 33,470 new infections and the second day since may where deaths exceeded 500. with more, here's simonjones. schoolchildren in liverpool and north—west england get tested as part of a citywide trial offering checks to everyone to try and stop the spread of the virus. definitely worth doing. 0bviously virus. definitely worth doi

david shukman, bbc news. voting is under way in one of the most divisive us presidential elections in decades, pitting incumbent republican donald trump against his democratic challenger, joe biden. nearly 100 million people have already cast their ballots in early voting, putting the country on course for its highest turnout in a century. we'll be reporting from right across america, but first, here's our north america editor, jon sopel. jon. george, thank you very much. if you area george, thank you very much. if you are a lover of democracy, it is hard not to celebrate the fact that so many people want to line up and go and vote. it is extraordinary the level of turnout. but the joy of voting is also being matched by a serious trepidation about what might come next. it is a fragile moment, a pivotal moment for america, a divided nation. those issues, those arguments will probably rumble on for days. today, though, it is about getting out the vote. a pandemic, a president hospitalised in the midst of the ca

andy swiss, bbc news. in rugby union's autumn nations cup, scotland had a scare in italy but won 28—17. it was far more straightforward for england, 40—0 winners against georgia at twickenham. ben croucher reports. rugby at twickenham in 2020 looks a bit different. england are playing in blue for starters. the kits and players may change, the form has stayed constant, with jack willis on debut opening his international account for the six nations champions. it's a competition georgia harbour hopes ofjoining, but three more first—half tries demonstrated the gulf between them. jamie george had already scored two tries like this when he became the first english hooker to score a hat—trick. the close range tactic worked for dan robson, as well. georgia's first visit to twickenham was a pointless one. there has been a change in the air in scottish sport of late. their male footballers are on a roll. their rugby counterparts are on their best run this century. it was a tepid start in tuscany as italy fou

simon jones, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. our top headline: clashes between police and protesters in paris during demonstrations against a proposed security law. turkey has condemned the assassination of iran's top nuclear scientist. iran's president hasan rouhani has blamed israel for the killing of mohsen fakhrizadeh, who was shot dead when gunmen ambushed his car on friday. here's our diplomatic correspondent paul adams. angry protests once more on the streets of the iranian capital, people here in no doubt about who was behind friday's killing. the father of iran's nuclear programme is now being treated like a martyr, his assassination the subject of headlines and debate. attacks like this have happened before. ten years ago, israel carried out a campaign which killed four other nuclear scientists. but the death of mohsen fakhrizadeh poses a dilemma for iran's leadership — retaliate or bide their time? the supreme leader ali khamenei said the perpetrators, and those who commanded them, will be pursued and punished. but

will ross, bbc news. central america was hit by hurricane eta just two weeks ago, and is still dealing with destruction caused by mudslides and floods. now a new storm is approaching, named iota, currently a tropical storm, but it's feared that it'll have strengthened to a hurricane by the time it makes landfall in nicaragua and honduras on monday. earlier i spoke with jeff ernst, a journalist in san pedro sula in northern honduras, about the preparations being made ahead of the storms arrival. right now, people are evacuating a lot of the flood zones, particularly the zones that flooded with eta, but there's widespread confusion, widespread panic. and people really don't know what to do. the government isn't giving clear information and that's just causing more chaos. and so, there is tons of traffic out of the city, people are going, trying to find higher land and trying to find anywhere they can that they feel is safer. all this of course has been made much worse by hurricane eta, can you explain how t

fergus walsh, bbc news. the number of people who have died in the uk due to covid—i9 is now over 50,000. in the latest 24—hour period 595 deaths were reported. that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. it means on average in the past week 375 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 50,365. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns has been speaking to some of those who have lost loved ones in the second wave of the pandemic. peter davies and steve forceful lived less than 40 miles from each other and died 11 days apart, both in the second wave of coronavirus. that has been the hardest thing, not being able to hug people. my dad was 79 but i believe he had a lot of years left. peter was a family man, he died the week before his 52nd wedding anniversary. he was a brilliant dad who doted on his grandchildren. he was healthy until he went into hospital with a water infection. it was not an ill man, he was not a frail man, he died

faisal islam, bbc news. an investigation by the bbc has found that staff at the safety watchdog felt they were leaned on by the government to make factually incorrect statements about protective equipment for nhs staff treating coronavirus patients. the government has been spending billions of pounds to replenish ppe stocks. 0ne company was given a contract to supply what are called isolation suits, but the firm was not given the correct safety specification. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. as coronavirus peaked in hospitals and care homes, there was a rush to buy more protective equipment. in the summer, we revealed how the government had wasted £150 million on masks the nhs couldn't use. now we reveal more — isolation suits that hadn't passed nhs safety tests and allegations of political pressure to hide that failure. pestfix, the small family—run pest control firm, won contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to supply ppe to the nhs. the government is being taken to court to ex

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the first effective coronavirus vaccine has been developed, initial tests suggest it is capable of preventing more than 90% of people from getting covid—19, according to preliminary findings. but experts warn of logistical challenges ahead. the armenian prime minister says he's signed a deal with the leaders of azerbaijan and russia to end the conflict in nagorno—karabakh. he described the deal as "inexpressibly painful". more now on the news that president trump has dismissed his defence secretary, mark esper. mr trump's announcement, on twitter, gave no reasons. during the summer, the two clashed over the president's suggestion that the military could be used to end the widespread protests against racial discrimination and injustice, although mark esper himself referred to american cities as "battlespaces" and said protesters needed "dominating". he's now been replaced by christopher miller who currently serves as director of the national counterterrorism c

dan johnson, bbc news. sir philip green's retail empire arcadia is likely to call in administrators today, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. sources at the company — which owns retailers including topshop, burton and dorothy perkins — say they don't expect a last—minute rescue deal. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. in liverpool, shop workers arrive early, wondering what the future holds. the arcadia brand is run so many high streets and town centres, like here in hull and cheshire, and lockdowns have hit this business hard, but it was failing long before the pandemic. topshop, though, which was the jewel in the crown, has struggled to survive against disruptors like struggled to survive against disru ptors like online struggled to survive against disruptors like online boo—hoo group, and on the high street, primark have come in with different offers, more value lead office and a better conversation with the consumer of today. 0vershadowed by online rivals with boo—hoo already snapping u

this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. the headlines at 8pm — the number of people in england waiting more than a year for hospital treatment hits a 12—year high as nhs staff battle the second wave of the pandemic some hospitals are once again cancelling non—urgent treatments. i'm in quite a lot of pain. some days are worse than others. sometimes ijust go into a spasm. you are just left in a wasteland with no idea what's going on. the uk economy's roller coaster ride a big rebound over the summer, but signs of another dip as the second lockdown bites. baby deaths at the countess of chester hospital — a maternity ward nurse is charged with murdering eight children. separated by a screen — the nottingham care home that's hoping rapid covid tests could make face—to—face visits possible again. the government gives the go—ahead for a controversial new road tunnel alongside stonehenge. and the olympic boxer nicola adams has to pull out of strictly after her dance partner katya jones tests positi

gordon corera, bbc news. to coronavirus now — and the uk, like other european countries, has been battling a second wave of infections. on friday, a rare piece of good news. the r numberfor covid—19 — which measures the disease's ability to spread — has fallen below 1 for the first time since august. but it is a varied picture across the country. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports on the different approaches to fighting the spread. empty streets in belfast today, with northern ireland beginning a two—week circuit breaker lockdown to try to stem the spread of covid—19. nonessential shops are closed, apart from click—and—collect services. and pubs, restaurants and cafes can only do takeaway and deliveries. we are asking people, for two weeks, to please abide by the public health advice so that we can then come together in and around that window at christmas. as northern ireland enters a new lockdown, england prepares to leave one next week. and already, there's intense debate about the introduct

hello, good morning and welcome to bbc news. and we begin this morning with the news which has just emerged in the last few minutes, which we brought you in the headlines, that the duchess of sussex has revealed she has had a miscarriage. she revealed the news in an article she has written for the new york times. christine bedford e—mailed us to say... later in the day, the news channel had something else new to report. the newsjust coming in, in the last few moments, that the argentinian football legend, diego maradona, has died. jan riddle was less than impressed with the coverage that followed, asking... thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news, on tv, radio, online, and social media, e—mail... or you can find us on twitter. you can call us on... and to have a look at our website. that's all from us. we will be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello there. it's been a cold day today where that fog linger

to stay with bbc news. —— do stay with bbc news. hello there. there was some sunshine around on sunday across south wales, south—west england. some areas saw temperatures of 15 degrees. for many, though, it was another one those dull and gloomy sort of days. but the weather is changing and that's happening now. these weather fronts coming down from the north—west, bringing patchy rain southwards on monday, the breeze picking up and blowing away that area of high pressure that's brought all the gloom during recent days. so, a frost—free start, but still quite gloomy in the south. the mist and fog are lifting as that patchy rain heads its way southwards. the rain affecting the hills in the west, little rain or no rain across southern parts of england. and in the afternoon, we get some sunshine after the rain in scotland and one or two showers. here, those temperatures start to drop away, mind you, but elsewhere, we stay in the mild air. temperatures 9, 10 or 11 degrees. that patchy rain continues to work its way southwards during monday even

this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories. iran promises revenge for the assassination of its top nuclear scientist — and blames israel for his murder. new figures reveal a million more americans caught covid in less than a week — 1500 are now dying every day — as emergency teams struggle to cope. shameful for france — president macron condemns the beating of a black man by police officers. and after the anger in argentina at funeral staff taking selfies next to diego maradona's open coffin — we speak to those who knew him best. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. iran has promised severe revenge for the assassination of its top nuclear scientist — blaming israel for his murder. mohsen fakhrizadeh died in hospital after gunmen attacked his car outside tehran. israel has previously accused him of masterminding a covert nuclear weapons programme, though it hasn't commented on his assassination. our security correspondent gordon corera has more. the scene

lucy manning, bbc news. a 74—year—old woman and her two sons from the rhondda in south wales have died of coronavirus within five days of each other. gladys lewis and her sons dean and darren, both in theirforties, lived in the same block of flats in treorchy. 0ur reporter stephen fairclough has been speaking to dean's widow claire, who's now self—isolating. eight days ago, gladys lewis lost her fight against covid. the following day, her oldest son dean died at his home. his youngest brother darren, who had down syndrome, died on monday. they all lived in different flats on this blog in treorchy. dean's wife claire is devastated. my father—in—law is broken. he's lost his wife and his two children. and he keeps on saying to us, "it should have been me, "it should have been me." it's so difficult to try and help him. and hold me and my children together. because my children are absolutely devastated. and my sister—in—law, she doesn't know what to do with herself, she is the baby of the family. s

paul adams, bbc news. more than 2.5 million vulnerable people in england will be offered free vitamin d this winter. this follows the lead of scotland, which is also providing free supplements to some people. the vitamin helps to keep bones, teeth and muscle healthy, but a new clinical trial has just started looking at whether it can also protect against coronavirus. our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. a dose of sunshine, helping us to make vitamin d, which is essential for our health. but at this time of year, the sun's in short supply. from october to march, people in the uk are advised to take vitamin d, and now in england people in care homes and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable will get a free supply too. we know that with things like lockdown measures, people staying indoors much more often, maybe not going out as much because they're shielding, or they're housebound, here i think supplementation is, you know, a relatively easy and affordable way to sort of protect the

jonathan blake, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: desperate measures in denmark — i7—million mink culled in the battle against coronavirus. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world. the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war,

this is bbc news. our main headline: spacex's first operational crewed flight is on its way to the international space station after launching successfully from cape canaveral in florida. the united states has denounced attacks by ethiopia's tigrye region on neighbouring eritrea. in a statement, the us state department's top diplomat for africa urged "immediate action to protect civilians and restore peace. " the attacks widen the conflict which erupted between the ethiopian government and the regional governing party in tigrye last week. leaders in tigray have accused eritrea of siding with ethiopia. 0ur africa regional editor, will ross, reports. 0n the 12th day of the conflict, refugees continue to pour over the sudanese border in their thousands. they've been forced to abandon their homes in ethiopia as the fighting intensifies. these are arduous journeys for young and old. many have witnessed appalling violence. translation: there is no food, there is looting. we lost our belongings, i lost my sib