Image source, Getty Images

Sky News presenter Kay Burley has apologised for an "error of judgment" after she "inadvertently broke the rules" around Covid-19 safety.

Posting on Twitter, the journalist said she had been celebrating her 60th birthday at a "Covid compliant" restaurant on Saturday.

She later "popped into another" venue to use the toilet. It's not clear what rule was broken through this action.

An internal review is now under way, Sky has confirmed.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Train services between Switzerland and Italy will be stopped from Thursday, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has said.

The SBB told Reuters news agency that the connections would be halted as it did not have the capacity to carry out the coronavirus checks required by Italian authorities, including temperature checks.

Instead, sevices will only travel to the Swiss border with Italy. It is unclear how long the suspension will last.

Italy, France and Germany have introduced new measures to prevent their nationals from travelling abroad to ski during the pandemic, but resorts remain open in Switzerland and Austria. Read more here.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says that many of us over the weeks ahead will face choices but everyone should remain cautious.

She says sticking to the rules remains the way in which we can protect the NHS and look after our loved ones.

Sturgeon finishes by saying that "better times lie ahead" in the spring.

The Scottish government has published papers, external on the allocation of levels to each local authority, setting out a summary of the reasons for changes.

The 11 local authorities which will move to level three from Friday are: City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, East and West Dunbartonshire, North and South Lanarkshire, East and South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also says that Inverclyde, Falkirk and Angus will move down from level three to level two.

However, she says Edinburgh will remain at level three despite a reduction in cases.

Both Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders have had consistently low levels of Covid for several weeks now, she says, and they will move from level two to level one from 18:00 GMT on Friday.

Image source, Reuters

A briefing document issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says there are "no specific safety concerns" with the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The document was published ahead of a meeting on Thursday, at which the FDA will decide whether to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation (EUA) in the US.

The Pfizer/ BioNTech jab, which is offered in two doses administered three weeks apart, is already being used in the UK's mass vaccination programme.

The FDA said studies "suggest a favorable safety profile, with no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance of an EUA".

It also found that serious reactions to the injection were rare, although many volunteers involved in studies reported side-effects including reactions where they were injected, fatigue or headaches.

The FDA is due to meet next week to consider emergency authorisation for another vaccine developed by Moderna.

The US has recorded almost 15 million cases of coronavirus, including more than 280,000 deaths, since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the prevalence of coronavirus has "fallen significantly" in all 11 areas in west and central Scotland in level four, but warned against complacency.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, she said: "In reaching decisions today, we have had to consider the potential overall impact of moving to a lower level of restrictions at the same time as the Christmas period begins in earnest.

"That has led us to a proportionate but still cautious set of conclusions."

The changes, which will take place from Friday, will allow non-essential retail and hospitality to reopen, two weeks ahead of Christmas.

Sturgeon said the move would be reviewed in future before determining if the areas can move down to level two.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon starts by saying that “we should allow ourselves a smile” with the vaccination programme starting in Scotland.

However she adds that “there are no grounds for complacency”.

She starts by looking at the latest cases, saying a further 692 people have tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 101,475.

A further 33 people have died after testing positive, taking the total by that measure to 3,950.

Sturgeon is now giving a statement on what level of restrictions each of Scotland's 32 councils will live under for the next week.

She confirmed that the 11 council areas subject to the highest tier of restrictions – level four - will all move into level three on Friday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has begun speaking in the Scottish Parliament.

She is going to give a statement setting out the details of a review of the latest coronavirus restrictions in Scotland.

London has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases, according to new figures, which show outer London now has a higher infection rate than some areas in England's top tier of restrictions.

The capital was placed in tier two of England's coronavirus restrictions when the national lockdown was lifted on 2 December.

Two-thirds of London's boroughs registered an increase in coronavirus cases in the week to 3 December, figures from Public Health England show.

Across London, more than 15,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the past week, the highest number for any region in the country.

But between London's boroughs there is a huge variation.

Taken together all of London's outer boroughs have an infection rate of 196 cases per 100,000. This is higher than the current rate in Leicestershire, Tees Valley or Bristol, all of which are in tier three restrictions.

Officials are due to meet on 16 December to review the tier system.

Image source, EPA

Pope Francis made a pre-dawn visit to a statue in central Rome to mark the Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception earlier today.

Thousands of people would normally have come to watch the pontiff pray near the city's famed Spanish Steps, but the Vatican cancelled this year's celebrations in light of the pandemic.

Instead, the pope wore a mask as he laid flowers at the base of the statue of the Virgin Mary, and prayed for all those in Rome and around the world who have been affected by coronavirus, according to a Vatican statement. He then held mass at a nearby basilica.

Italy has recorded more than 1.7 million cases of coronavirus and 60,606 deaths since the pandemic began, figures from Johns Hopkins University show.

A review of Scotland's Covid-19 levels system will be announced later.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already confirmed that the 11 council areas subject to the highest tier of restrictions will all move to lower levels on Friday.

The toughest restrictions were imposed to bring down case numbers in Scotland's Covid hotspots - but they came at a cost, with hospitality and non-essential shops required to close, among other measures.

• What are the differences between Scotland's alert levels?

The Scottish government has referred many times to areas of Scotland showing "stubbornly" high rates of Covid-19 - and the level four restrictions were designed to bring these rates down.

Ministers use a number of measures when deciding which level a local authority should be in, including the pressure on local hospitals and the forecast growth in cases, but a key indicator is the weekly number of cases per 100,000 people.

So, have the restrictions succeeded in driving down rates of Covid-19 over the last three weeks?

Image source, Reuters

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced a fresh round of stimulus for the Japanese economy.

The 73.6tr yen ($708bn; £530bn) package is expected to include subsidies for green investment and spending on digitalisation.

The additional spending is aimed at pulling the country out of its coronavirus-induced economic slump.

Japan's economy has started to rebound in the third quarter after a dismal second quarter. But revised data released on Tuesday shows that it suffered its worst post-war contraction in the second quarter, shrinking by 8.2%.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The US' top expert in infectious diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, has warned that the country faces another wave of cases after Christmas and New Year.

Dr Fauci, who has been asked by President-elect Joe Biden to be his Covid chief medical adviser, told CNN his concerns for Christmas , externalwere the same as his concerns for Thanksgiving, "only this may be even more compounded because it's a longer holiday".

He said nobody wanted to modify or shut down the holiday season, but "we're at a very critical time... we've got to not walk away from the facts and the data. This is tough going for all of us".

Millions defied appeals from experts not to travel over the Thanksgiving period, and the effects are still to be fully felt.

The US is seeing peak infections of close to 200,000 a day on average with record numbers of people in hospital.

Most of California is under a strict new lockdown - which will cover the Christmas holiday - with other states announcing record increases in infections..

Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

There are 25 million people in the priority groups that ministers want to vaccinate by next spring – they’ll each need two doses spaced a month apart before maximum immunity sets in.

That’s 50 million doses.

The government currently has 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, though it expects to have several million more by the end of the year.

But manufacturing the rest, distributing and administering them to people twice, at the right interval, won’t be an easy task.

Experience with the MMR and other children’s vaccines suggests that there can be a drop off of up to 10% not receiving their second jab.

The job will be made simpler if the two other vaccines currently under review by the UK regulator, by Oxford University and Moderna, receive approval soon.

Even then, it will be some time before we know if the vaccines reduce transmission of the virus – which will be important to protect the unvaccinated - and how long their immunity lasts.

The health secretary continues to answer questions from MPs in the House of Commons about the Pfizer vaccine.

Matt Hancock is asked about what the government is doing to counter disinformation, ensure public trust in the vaccine and encourage its take up.

Hancock says “countering disinformation is incredibly important” and that is “best done with positive information” and explaining “objectively” why and how the vaccine is safe.

He calls on everyone in the House of Commons to talk about the benefits of the vaccine “for keeping you safe and keeping your community safe”.

Former Conservative health secretary and current Commons health select committee chairman Jeremy Hunt is next up to ask a question.

He congratulates the UK's scientists, Hancock, the vaccine taskforce and NHS staff.

He says the question on many people's minds is are they able to book a summer holiday.

If yes, is there any destination Hancock recommends, Hunt adds in jest.

Hancock says he is "very proud" the vaccination programme has started - "sooner than many people anticipated".

He says this has happened because of international scientists.

Hancock says he has "high confidence" next summer will be a "bright one" without the restrictions seen this year and adds that he has booked a holiday in Cornwall.

Heath Secretary Matt Hancock says the UK is starting by vaccinating in 70 locations across the country and that will be expanded “over the coming days”.

In response to Jonathan Ashworth's question about the vaccination hubs, he says today “we will set out the next tranche of hospital hubs including Leicester”, adding that vaccinations will start in Leicester “in the coming days”.

Hancock explains how the rollout will work, saying getting the vaccine out to the community and primary care settings is “one step more difficult” and that is “why we have started in hospitals and then we’ll get out to primary and community delivery”, followed by the vaccination centres after the new year.

The data of the number of vaccines that have been administered will be made available by the government, he adds.

Hancock ends his initial response to the urgent question by saying: "Help is on its way and the end is in sight, not just to this terrible pandemic but to the onerous restrictions that have made this year so hard for so many.

"But even while we can now see the route out, there is still a long march ahead. Let's not blow it now."

Hancock says in the future, as more vaccines are approved for use, potentially in the new year, vaccine centres will be offered in sports stadia and conference halls.

He says people will not need to apply for vaccination - the NHS will get in touch at the "appropriate time".

When it does, people will be asked to "please step forward for your country", he says.

Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth pays tribute to all the scientists and people “who have made today happen” in getting a vaccine ready.

He asks Matt Hancock about the places which don’t have a hospital hub to dispense the vaccine. He highlights his constituency of Leicester, asking when areas such as this will get the vaccine.

Ashworth also raises the issue of care homes, he asks whether all care homes will have access to the vaccination by Christmas?

He finishes by saying that “this is indeed a momentous day and we can all look forward to a much better 2021”.