sarah corker reporting for us _ wider risk to public safety. sarah corker reporting for us there. . not everyone who needs it is getting the financial help they need during the pandemic. millions of taxpayers are unable to access assistance schemes. and the institute for fiscal studies, working with the bbc, has concluded there is "clear unfairness" in some of the exclusions. andy verity reports. we've had emotional days. my mental health has gone really low. to amanda richardson, who runs a business bringing animals to birthday parties, care homes and schools, the chancellor's word ten months ago have not proved true. you have not been forgotten. her limited company were set to make £100,000 in 2020 — enough to pay a dividend to support herfamily. government rules stopped her earning a living, and she won't be able to replace the dividends — and she cannot afford the rent. if we had to close, most of these animals would be on a death sentence, we would have to euthanise them. it would break me seeing the animals go. that would be my breaking point. there is clear unfairness he

our business correspondent sarah corker caught up with some of them. three people who all lost theirjobs because of the pandemic. 0lympia, rebecca, and heather were facing the toughestjobs market for a generation. we've got no money coming in, so we'll survive as long as we can. i first met 0lympia and herfamily back in may. she was touring as part of a circus troupe when the first lockdown restrictions came in and they were stranded on morecambe seafront for months. with no money coming in, it was a real struggle. it's fear. fear that... that i might not ever be able to do what i love again, which is perform, in the circus, because we might not recover. since then, things have got better. 0lympia's moved in with her mum in rotherham to save money, and wait until they‘ re allowed to perform again. financially it's been a big strain. it's been massive. like i say, we normally work from february to november, so about 85—90% of our shows were just cancelled. 0r postponed until next year. five months on morecambe prom, relying on the foodbank to feed y

sarah corker, bbc news. now, on bbc news. talking movies. hello and welcome to this special review of 2020 edition of talking movies. i'm tom brook. i don't have to tell you that 2020 was an extremely difficult year. a worldwide pandemic, economic meltdowns and, here in the united states, an extremely vitriolic presidential election campaign. obviously the movie industry was affected. amid all the mayhem, it was easy to lose sight of the fact that some excellent cinema did emerge during the year. instead of giving you our customary list of the top ten films of the year, we asked movie critics and movie journalists around the world to tell us what was for them the best film of the year. so, i'm going to kick things off and tell you that for me, the best movie of the year was a documentary that revolved around a very beautiful pig. gunda is a great observational documentary. set on a farmyard for much of its 90 minutes, the camera is trained mostly on gunda, a pig, and her many piglets. it's a film that manages to show animals as they really a

sarah corker, bbc news. some environmental groups are calling on the government to review the hs2 rail project in the light of the pandemic. the high—speed line was signed off by borisjohnson almost a year ago before travel ground to a halt as covid hit the uk. construction is underway, and the first phase between london and birmingham is due to open between 2029 and 2033. from today, the uk is introducing a visa system that will give millions of people from hong kong greater opportunities to live and work in the uk. the visa, which is open to holders of a british national 0verseas passport and their immediate dependents, will also offer a fast track to uk citizenship, but the chinese foreign ministry said it would no longer recognise the bno passport as a travel document. the uk government says its special status scheme is a response to beijing's imposition of a security law on hong kong last year. if your recycling bin is full of cardboard, it's no surprise. lockdowns mean that online shopping now accoun

sarah corker, bbc news, in clitheroe. the government has announced plans to introduce covid—19 testing for people arriving from abroad. how will this work? the idea is you would not be able to come into the uk without a negative covid—19 test but some of the details we don't have, so we don't know what sort of test might need to be used, whether this is just test might need to be used, whether this isjust for test might need to be used, whether this is just for foreign nationals also for uk nationals coming back to the country as well. speaking to aviation experts in the industry today, there are realfrustrations. the industry has been calling for covid—19 testing from early on in the pandemic and many other countries already require a negative test before you are able to visit them, and we are here, they would say, at the beginning of the third lockdown and we are still discussing testing. of course, there have already been steps taken to limit the impact of certain strains originating in other countries affecting

sarah corker, bbc news, in bolton. three teenagers accused of murdering a 13—year—old boy who was stabbed to death have appeared in court in reading. two boys, aged 13 and 1a, and a 13—year—old girl have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. duncan kennedy reports. olly stevens died on sunday after being stabbed. he was 13 years old. he had been here, in the emmer green area of reading. thames valley police have carried out a widespread investigation in the surrounding area, and local people have brought flowers to show their respects. today three teenagers appeared at a youth court in reading in connection with the killing. the three appeared separately in the dock, the girl aged 13 and the two boys aged 13 and 1a. their identities can't be revealed because of their ages. all three were charged with murder, and all three charged with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm. the girl was also charged with perverting the course ofjustice. the three teenagers' mothers were also

our business correspondent sarah corker caught up with some of them. three people who all lost theirjobs because of the pandemic. 0lympia, rebecca and heather were facing the toughestjobs market for a generation. we've got no money coming in, so we'll survive as long as we can. i first met 0lympia and herfamily back in may. she was touring as part of a circus troupe when the first lockdown restrictions came in and they were stranded on morecambe seafront for months. with no money coming in, it was a real struggle. it's fear. fear that... that i might not ever be able to do what i love again, which is perform, in the circus, because we might not recover. since then, things have got better. 0lympia's moved in with her mum in rotherham to save money, and wait until they‘ re allowed to perform again. financially it's been a big strain. it's been massive. like i say, we normally work from february to november, so about 85—90% of our shows were just cancelled or stopped or postponed until next year. five months on morecambe prom, relying on the food bank

sarah corker, bbc news. now on bbc news, click. we've been live in the uk, in india and around the world. and this year, we went live in your living room, joined by click fans from across the globe and masterminded by a director... and his assistant. laughter. woman: keep the cat! i thought i prepared for everything but not... ..not for the cat! ..not for the cat. hello! i get real people? you're the first people i've seen in nine months! oh, my goodness! people! cheering and applause. it's lara lewington! hello! so normally at this time of year, we like to look back at our best bits from the last 12 months but around this summer, it became obvious that no—one's gonna want to look back at 2020 ever. so we're not gonna look back at 2020 because, fortunately, this is the year that click turned 20, so we thought we would look back at some of our fave moments ever. lara, of all of the places that you've got to go, is there — can you just say one place that really sticks out? is there — is it possible to have one place? yes! it's

sarah corker, bbc news. with all the sport now, here's gavin ra mjaun at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. fulham's premier league match at burnley tomorrow has been postponed, due to fresh covid—i9 cases at the london club. a statement said the welfare of their players, staff and their families were of paramount importance. fulham's game at tottenham on wednesday was also called off. tottenham are in action right now — more in a moment — but the club have condemned three of their players who were pictured at a large party over christmas, breaking coronavirus restrictions. erik lamela, sergio reguilon and giovani lo celso will all face disciplinary action. spurs are involved in today's early premier league game, and they are 1—0 up against leeds — harry kane scoring from the penalty spot. this is the first meeting between the sides, in any competition, for eight years. tottenham can go back into the top four with a win. the old firm derby is under way at ibrox, 50 years to the day since the stadium disaster in which 66 people lost their lives. our sports news corr

sarah corker, bbc news. if your recycling bin is full of cardboard it's no surprise. lockdowns mean that online shopping now accounts for a third of all retail sales. this increase in demand for packaging has led to a global shortage of paper, with supplies for packaging across europe falling by 20% at the end of last year. earlier i spoke to miles roberts, the group chief executive officer of ds smith, a multi—national packaging company and he told me seasonal pressures are behind much of the demand. demand for recycled corrugated packaging, which is the product we make, has been and the outlook is for it to remain very strong. how and where do you get your materials from, then? all our boxes are made from recycled materials. so we actually go and collect all the old used cardboard from right across europe, throughout the uk, we bring them back, we sort them, take that fibre and turn it into new paper. we have some of the world's leading paper mills to make recycled paper and it goes back into a box and it takes about 14 days to go round. the challenge for us, beca

sarah corker, bbc news. more now on the increased pressure on the uk government to keep schools across england closed for at least two weeks amid a surge in coronavirus cases. a number of teaching unions have supported a call for to move students to remote learning when teaching restarts on monday. and, tonight, the bbc has learned that brighton and hove council is advising primary schools in its area to switch to remote learning next week. the council says it is now awaiting a response from the department for education, but will advise primary headteachers in the meantime to move to remote learning for all pupils except vulnerable children and those of critical workers. the national union of head teachers have begun preliminary steps in legal proceedings against the uk government, asking them to publish the scientific evidence behind the decision to allow some schools to reopen on monday. its president is ruth davies. shejoins me now. hello to you. thank you very much indeed for being with us here on bbc ne

sarah corker, bbc news, sheffield. the scottish parliament is, for the first time, seeking to use legal powers to compel the country's prosecuting authority to hand over documents it wants in connection with its inquiry into the scottish government's handling of harassment complaints against the former first minister alex salmond. the documents include messages between an snp official, civil servants and advisers, relating to mr salmond's legal challenge to the complaints process. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 15—year—old in birmingham. keon lincoln was attacked in broad daylight in the handsworth area of the city yesterday afternoon. witnesses reported seeing a group of youths armed with knives and hearing gunshots. sian lloyd reports. keon lincoln, described as a beloved son, who was full of life. police said he was subjected to inconceivable violence. the 15—year—old was attacked yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. this mobile phone footage was recorded soon after.

sarah corker, bbc news. it's taken 36 years. but finally, wham's festive hit, last christmas, has made it to the uk's coveted number one slot. radio dj richard blade explained what wham's belated success means to him. # last christmas, i gave you my heart # but the very next day, you gave it away...# i mean, it's one of those tracks that people, when you hear it, you think about george, you think about wham, and you think about the time of year, it's the perfect track. # last christmas, i gave you my heart...# i was really shocked, actually, it had never been to number one on the uk charts before. it's one of those songs that people request all the time because they love wham, they love george. i was very, very lucky to know wham from their earliest days. when they first came over in 1982, i had them on my radio show. they did their first ever live gigs with me at the beginning of 1983. i took them to the 321 club in santa monica, california, and that was the first time they played live when they lip synced to young guns and bad

sarah corker, bbc news. let's take a look at some of today's other news and three teenagers accused of murdering 13—year—old 0lly stephens, who was stabbed to death in reading on sunday, have appeared in court. two boys, aged 13 and 1a, and a 13—year—old girl have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. the girl is also charged with perverting the course ofjusitce. all three have been remanded in custody. elon musk, the founder of tesla and spacex, has become the world's richest person. with a net worth of more than $188 billion. he was pushed into the top slot after tesla's share price increased. he takes the top spot from amazon founderjeff bezos, from amazon founderjeff bezos. japan has insited the cornonavirus delayed olympics will go ahead as planned this year despite the country's prime minister declaring a state of emergency today in tokyo because of a rise in new cases. japan recorded nearly two and a half thousand cases today — up around a thousand on yester

sarah corker, bbc news, in clitheroe. so england and scotland joined wales and northern ireland last night by introducing strict lockdown measures faced with rocketing numbers of new covid infections. in a moment, we'll be hearing from emma vardy in belfast and hywel griffith in cardiff, but first here's our scotland correspondent, james cook. scotland's lockdown is actually quite similar to england's, but there are a few key differences. for example, there is no limit here on individual or household outdoor exercise, and under—12s are allowed to play together outdoors. schools are shut here for most pupils, but so too are nurseries, although both will be open for the children of key workers and for vulnerable pupils. places of worship are closed in scotland — a decision that's been described by the country's catholic bishops as arbitrary and unfair. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, says she accepts it is distressing, but she insists it is necessary. and ms sturgeon has been giving an update on the num

sarah corker, bbc news. the footballer marcus rashford says he's been the target of online racist abuse. on twitter, he said he'd been subjected to "humanity and social media at its worst" on the platform, after his side's goalless draw with arsenal. greater manchester police are investigating. nesta mcgregor has the story. taking a knee, a unified protest for racial equality. it's a gesture we've become accustomed to, and last night, the latest example of why players continue to do so. manchester united striker marcus rashford, the latest high—profile target of racial abuse online. in reply, he posted... this week alone, rashford's team—mates anthony martial and axel tuanzebe, chelsea's reece james and west brom's romaine sawyers are the black footballers subjected to discrimination online. today, the duke of cambridge, who is also the president of the football association, condemned such online behavior. prince william said... there's no fear at the moment, is there? if you look at the amount of abuse

sarah corker, bbc news. back to our main story tonight. four years ago, at his inauguration, donald trump stood on capitol hill and vowed to make big changes to american politics. but now his term is ending in chaos after those violent scenes last night. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant considers what yesterday's shocking events could mean for mr trump's legacy, and for the future of american politics. so help me god. congratulations, mr president. from the moment that donald trump took the oath of office, it instantly became clear that he would change the presidency more than the presidency would change him. this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. but millions of voters had sent him to the white house precisely because he was prepared to say the unsayable. they loved his antiestablishment energy. they backed his trashing of behavioural norms. ahead of the election, he strongly signalled that he was even prepared to reject democratic conventions. he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. well, we

sarah corker, bbc news. if your recycling bin is full of cardboard, it's no surprise. lockdowns mean that online shopping now accounts for a third of all retail sales. this change in the way we shop, coupled with disruption to global shipping and problems with staffing and maintenance at paper mills, has created a perfect storm for the packaging industry. this increase in demand for packaging has led to a global shortage of paper with supplies for packaging across europe falling by 20% at the end of last year. he too, how serious a problem is this turning into?— this turning into? shoppers have noticed it, _ this turning into? shoppers have noticed it, when _ this turning into? shoppers have noticed it, when they _ this turning into? shoppers have noticed it, when they go - this turning into? shoppers have noticed it, when they go to - this turning into? shoppers have noticed it, when they go to the l noticed it, when they go to the supermarket, rather than buying their eggs in cardboard they are in plastic because retailers have been struggling to get the car but th

sarah corker, bbc news. the uk's largest umbrella organisation for muslim groups has elected a woman as its head for the first time. zara mohammed, who has a background in human rights law, said she hoped her election as secretary—general of the muslim council of britain would inspire more women and young people to come forward to leadership roles. not only is she the first woman in the role, she is also the youngest and the first scottish person to be secretary—general. a little earlier she explained what she was hoping to achieve in the role. grateful to be part of the organisation for two and a half years as a member of the leadership team, and i think what we are doing is continue to strengthen that diversity, to build a strong and an inclusive and diverse organisation. and that is in the work we do as well as the people that represent us. and i think, for me, at the forefront of that is getting young people and more women involved and making sure that the future, which is in their hands, they are fu

hayley tillot5on ending that report from our consumer affairs corre5pondent sarah corker. gamestop — it's an american high street 5hop 5elling video games and consoles. major hedge funds had bet billions of dollars that gamestop'5 5hare5 would fall. but over the past three days its share price 5uddenly 5oared, increasing by more than 700% inju5t a week. it was all down to social media as amateur investors were encouraged by posts on the popular onlnie forum reddit to buy up 5tock. but today the share place fell sharply. that's because trading platforms in the us placed restrictions on the stock. it'5 led to accusations that interests of wall street are being put before those of individual trader5. our new york bu5ine55 corre5pondent michelle flueryjoin5 me now. thi5 this has all cau5ed turmoil on the markets. it this has all caused turmoil on the markets. . . , this has all caused turmoil on the markets. . ., , markets. it certainly has. wall street has _ markets. it certainly has. wall street has been _ markets. it certainly has. wall street has been on _ markets. it ce

sarah corker, bbc news. we are all ordering more online and and as a consequence retailers are having to box everything up in a lot more packaging, but where is all the cardboard coming from? to tell me more is miles roberts, the group chief executive officer of ds smith. they are a multi—national packaging company. there is not enough cobbled, is there? ~ , ., there? we saw in the run-up to christmas _ there? we saw in the run-up to christmas unprecedented - there? we saw in the run-up to i christmas unprecedented demand there? we saw in the run-up to - christmas unprecedented demand is at so many customers made online and as we know, a lot of products sold online come in cardboard boxes, so we saw a tremendous increase in demand. all of our factories were working absolutely flat out, many of them are 2a hours a day, but in the run—up to christmas we did see how it lead times it did move out a bit, unfortunately, our priority customer service, but we sought the lead times without, but now we're into jan

hayley tillotson ending that report from our consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker. most pupils in northern ireland will not return to school until monday 8th march at the earliest, the stormont executive has agreed. first minister arlene foster said the ongoing public health situation meant remote learning must continue. it may also be the case that only some year groups go back to school on 8th march, if a return then is possible. two men who organised a mass snowball fight during the latest coronavirus lockdown have each been fined £10,000. hundreds gathered in a leeds park when heavy snow carpeted the city earlier this month. the pair, in their 20s, were tracked down after footage emerged on social media. west yorkshire police said they put those who took part at "a significant and completely unnecessary risk". scotland's spending plans for the coming year have been outlined in the scottish parliament today. workers will pay less income tax according to the draft budget and extra cash will be given to local authorities. the budget includes £1.1 billion of spend

sarah corker, bbc news. it's taken 36 years. but finally, wham's festive hit, last christmas, has made it

sarah corker, bbc news, sheffield. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas in england and wales that were already hit hard by storm christoph. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of homes had to be evacuated in england and wales — with around 400 properties being flooded so far. accoridng to the environemnt agency over 27,000 properties in greater manchester, merseyside and cheshire have already been protected from flooding. figures out today show britain's debt reached an all—time high last month, as the economy continues to reel from coronavirus. government borrowing reached just over £34 billion in december, after public sector bodies borrowed 2.5 billion more in december than the month before. it means that the public sector has now borrowed £270.8 billion since the beginning of the financial year in april. public sector debt keeps rising. by the end of december it had reached £2.13 trillion — an all—time record. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a

sarah corker, bbc news. it's taken 36 years. but finally, wham's festive hit, last christmas, has made it to the uk's coveted number one slot. despite its enduring popularity, the song was held off the top spot in 1984, by band aid's do they know it's christmas. radio dj richard blade explained what wham's belated success means to him. # last christmas, i gave you my heart # but the very next day, you gave it away...# i mean, it's one of those tracks that people, when you hear it, you think about george, you think about wham, and you think about the time of year, it's the perfect track. # last christmas, i gave you my heart...# i was really shocked, actually, it had never been to number one on the uk charts before. it's one of those songs that people request all the time because they love wham, they love george. i was very, very lucky to know wham from their earliest days. when they first came over in 1982, i had them on my radio show. they did their first ever live gigs with me at the beginning of 1983. i took them to the 321 c

sarah corker, bbc news. that's it from the lunchtime team. the next news on bbc one is at 5.35 — bye for now. good afternoon. the first of the day's premier league fixtures is under way. chelsea lead burnley at stamford bridge thanks to a goal from cesar azpilicueta. there could be a lot of movement in the top four across the afternoon. leicester will go second if they beat leeds. if they slip up liverpool would move to third with a win at west ham or if they lose the hammers willjump above them. sixth placed spurs are at brighton later. it's so tight at the top, manchester city will be top by at least two points with a game in hand whatever happens. city could run they are in a good position with one game in hand. playing good football again, these kind of things, so i don't know. i don't know how many points there are still there to get. we will see that as well. what we see is it's a difficult season for all teams, may apart from west ham and leicester looked pretty good as well. a lot of teams are good but we all have our ups and downs.

sarah corker, bbc news, in clitheroe. the government has announced plans to introduce covid testing for people arriving in the uk from abroad. 0ur transport correspondent caroline davies says it's unclear as yet how it will work: some of the details we still don't have, so we don't know what sort of test might need to be used, whether this is just forforeign nationals, were also for uk nationals coming back to the country too. speaking to aviation experts in the industry today, there are some real frustrations. the industry has been calling for covid testing from quite early on in the course of the pandemic, and many other countries already require a negative test before you are able to visit them, and we are here, they would say, at the beginning of the third lockdown and we are still discussing testing. of course, there have already been steps taken to try and limit the impact of certain strains originating in other countries affecting us here. flights from south africa, for instance, have been banned to stop that parti

hayley tillotson ending that report from our consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker. most pupils in northern ireland will not return to school until monday eight march at the earliest, the stormont executive has agreed. first minister arlene foster said the ongoing public health situation meant remote learning must continue. it may also be the case that only some year groups go back to school on eight march, if a return then is possible. two men who organised a mass snowball fight during the latest coronavirus lockdown have each been fined £10,000. hundreds gathered in a leeds park when heavy snowfcarpeted the city earlier this month. the pair in their 20s were tracked down after footage emerged on social media. west yorkshire police said they put people at "a significant and completely unnecessary risk". scotland's spending plans for the coming year have been outlined in the scottish parliament today. workers will pay less income tax according to the draught budget and extra cash will be given to local authorities. the budget includes 1.1 billion pounds of spending

our business correspondent sarah corker caught up with some of them. three people who all lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

our business correspondent sarah corker caught up with some of them. three people who all lost theirjobs because of the pandemic. 0lympia, rebecca, and heather were facing the toughestjobs market for a generation. we've got no money coming in, so we'll survive as long as we can.

sarah corker, bbc news, in bolton. the haulage industry in northern ireland is calling for extra government support — warning it‘s being "overwhelmed" by new paperwork requirements for shipments from great britain, which kicked in last week. a representative of freight firms told assembly members at stormont that shipments were days behind schedule. so many people rely on grassroot sports to keep their minds and bodies active but another national lockdown means that yet again sport and other activities go on hold. laura scott reports on the impact this can have on those affected. at a time of year when people are starting their health kick, new lockdown rules have made that more challenging for many. one of the biggest shifts is that under—18 sport is no longer allowed. some prominent sporting figures are worried about the impact. i just want to look after the well—being of the kids and make sure that their minds are triggered towards being active, being able to get outside if they possibly can. i just feel tha

sarah corker, bbc news, sheffield. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas in england and wales that were already hit hard by storm christoph. flood warnings remain in place after thousands of homes had to be evacuated in england and wales, with around 400 properties being flooded so far. but the environment agency says over 27,000 properties in greater manchester, merseyside and cheshire were protected from flooding. retail sales saw the largest annual fall on record last year. official figures show sales fell by 1.9% in 2020 compared with the previous year. the pandemic hit clothing sales hardest, with a record fall of more than 25%. the release of the latest james bond film no time to die has been delayed again as the entertainment industry continues to be hit by the pandemic. daniel craig's final outing as 007 has been pushed back for a third time. it is now due to reach cinemas in october rather than april. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. it's nearly two years since no time to die

sarah corker reports. in retail, we are always at risk, we never know what's going to happen because you know, it is struggling in recent years because of the rise of online. �* , , in recent years because of the rise of online. �* ,, .,, ., in recent years because of the rise of online. ~ , _ .,, ., ., of online. abby was made redundant in september _ of online. abby was made redundant in september when _ of online. abby was made redundant in september when american - of online. abby was made redundant | in september when american fashion brandj crew pulled out of the uk. i would say i've probably sent 30 or 40 would say i've probably sent 30 or a0 applications in the last six months, the majority of which it just goes into the abyss. today's fi . ures just goes into the abyss. today's figures for _ just goes into the abyss. today's figures for the _ just goes into the abyss. today's figures for the three _ just goes into the abyss. today's figures for the three months i just goes into the abyss. toda

here's our business correspondent sarah corker. no customers, no money coming in but bills still to pay. entire part of the economy are in shutdown again. here in clitheroe in lancashire, this business has already cancelled hundreds of weddings and events. 400 staff are on furlough. the stop—start process that we've been going through for ten months now is very, very difficult because you can't make any kind of plans, really. and a lot of reactions are very short—term, very, you know, you have 24—48 hours or whatever between the government saying one thing and then announcing something else. and that's been very, very challenging, i've got to say. and for the in—house brewery here, the ban on takeaway alcohol sales is another blow. there is, though, more government support to help firms to stay afloat. for businesses in the most affected sectors who were asked to close, they will receive up to £9000 in a one—off cash grant. it's important to remember that comes on top of the existing monthly grants of £3000 that those b

sarah corker, bbc news. we wish them ahead. it has gone 9:50am. this time last year, australia was in the middle of its most intense bushfire season on record, in which 33 people lost their lives. since then, two major inquiries have found that climate change had exacerbated the conditions which caused the fires. our australia correspondent shaimaa khalil reports. it was the bushfire season australians had feared. conditions were dry for months and the heat was soaring. but nothing prepared them for the catastrophic blazes they faced. australia's black summer shocked the nation and the world. a year ago i met russell scholes, a volunteer firefighter in the town of balmoral. his house was burned to the ground while he was helping his next—door neighbour. he and his wife now live in a converted garage on the same land. it will be many months until their new property is built. our living conditions are better than what they were, but they're still pretty harsh. all the dead trees around us remind you of the fire. you can't get away from it. it is t

sarah corker reports. in retail, we are always at risk, we never know what's going to happen because, you know, it is struggling in recent years because of the rise of online. abby was made redundant in september when american fashion brandj crew pulled out of the uk. i would say i've probably sent off 30 or 40 applications in the last six months, the majority of which, itjust goes into the abyss. today's figures for the three months to november showed unemployment rose to 5%, with more than 1.7 million people out of work, the highest level in five years, and the number of people claiming benefits hit 2.6 million in december. it would have been significantly worse without the furlough scheme. just to put it into context, over the last 20 years, the unemployment rate on average was 5.7%. hospitality and retail continue to be the hardest hit sectors. the high street was already struggling, but the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards online shopping, and in 2020, nearly 180,000 retailjobs in the uk wer

sarah corker, bbc news. and we know that in december there was a huge jump in the number of people furloughed. estimates are now that more than ten million jobs have gone on the scheme. some of them will survive, many of them won't. analysts say the worst is yet to come. if you think about it, they were the months before christmas. at that point, the r number started to creep up point, the r number started to creep up and we went into that big lockdown. the vaccine is being rolled out which is great that we do not know when the economy will start to open up to the west is yet to come. —— so the worst is yet to come. for most of us, the prospect of going abroad again is a long way off. people are currently only allowed to travel for a limited number of reasons. but british nationals arriving back in england could soon be required to quarantine in a hotel under plans being considered by the government. travel restrictions have changed a lot over the course of the pandemic. here's a reminder of the differen

our correspondent sarah corker told us why the vaccine site is so important. it is part of the fill and finish process, _ it is part of the fill and finish process, so they put the vaccine into viats~ — process, so they put the vaccine into vials. now, production was halted — into vials. now, production was halted earlier today while a police investigation was under way, and a spokesperson for the company has set a short— spokesperson for the company has set a short stoppage of a couple of hours — a short stoppage of a couple of hours went have a huge impact on production. — hours went have a huge impact on production, but it was only last week— production, but it was only last week that _ production, but it was only last week that emergency services were deployed _ week that emergency services were deployed to this industrial estate to protect vaccine supplies because of concerns — to protect vaccine supplies because of concerns over flooding. now north wates— of concerns over flooding. now north wales police have asked the public to avoid _ w

sarah corker has this report. in retail, we're always at risk, we never know what is going to happen because it is struggling in recent years because of the rise of online. abby was made redundant in september when american fashion brand, j crew, pulled out of the uk. she has worked in retail management in london since graduating five years ago, and has seen huge changes on the high street. what's that process been like? trying tojob hunt in the middle of lockdown? i'd say i have probably sent around 30—40 applications in the last six months, the majority of which just goes into the abyss and you never hear a word, not even a "we got your application" e—mail. i imagine there's just so many hundreds of applications for people to be going through and it's just so competitive. the high street was already struggling before the pandemic, but lockdowns and restrictions appear to have turbo—charged that decline, with many big name brand now in trouble. across the uk, around 3 million people work in the retail secto