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This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Emilio Sampedro. And on Monday, the 21st of December, these are our main stories. European countries ban travel to and from Britain as fears grow about a new, more infectious variant of coronavirus. A new 900 billion dollar support package for U.S. citizens is edging closer to approval after months of deadlock. And the French film fueling conspiracy theories about the virus. Also in this podcast, we're just down to the credit cards now.

So we just need a card today to pay for things, but mostly credit cards.

Just to get by, you've had to sell the car. Yeah.

The Australians going broke due to quarantine rules.

European countries are introducing travel bans on the UK one by one in response to the new faster spreading variant of covid-19 spreading in London and the south of England. The Netherlands was the first to do so just hours after the British government announced restrictions to curb the spread of the variant, locking the South into a new restrictive tier tier for Italy. Ireland, Belgium and Germany are amongst those which say they'll follow suit. The latter also suspending air links with South Africa, where another variant of the virus has been found.

The Dutch Health Ministry has said the UK infection mutation is also more difficult to detect. I got more on the picture in the Netherlands and Europe from our correspondent Anna Holligan.

Let me just add a couple more countries to your list. We've heard that France will be barring entry for 48 hours from Sunday night. All people coming from the UK, including free carriers by Road Arcy or rail, that's from the prime minister's office. And that suspension is expected to take effect from 2300 GMT. Sweden also planning to ban inbound travel from the UK. A decision is expected there on Monday here in the Netherlands. They actually just broke their own daily infection record with more than 13000 new cases overnight.

But it's actually the new strain that everybody here is talking about. Top health officials have said there's no evidence it's more deadly or would react differently to vaccines, but it's proving to be 70 percent more transmissible. And, of course, that's causing a great deal of concern. Hence, the Dutch rapid reaction. They were the first to suspend flights and people rushing to find alternative ways to travel between the two countries. The Netherlands and the UK should be aware that tighter travel restrictions may be brought in on trains and ferries over the coming days before Christmas.

To do we know if this new variant is already spreading in Europe? To some degree, yes. It seems there's one known case in Denmark and the Dutch government confirmed one case of this same mutant variant was detected during sampling here in the Netherlands earlier this month. And they're now working with the local health authorities to try to ascertain who that individual is, where they might have contracted the virus and any contacts they might have had since then.

And do we know how long the bans will be for? They're very so here in the Netherlands, until at least New Year's Day, 1st of January, Belgium for France, it's at least 48 hours. But then we also just heard European Council officials confirmed that there have been conversations today between the European Council president, Charles Michel, and representatives of member states to discuss these latest developments in the U.K. covid strain. There will be a meeting tomorrow morning where they will be discussing coordinated response.

There is a chance the rest of the continent could soon be pulling up their collective drawbridges.

Two and a Holligan in The Hague. So how effective are the measures being taken by the UK and its neighbours likely to be and containing the new variant of the virus? A question for Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the Norwich Medical School of the University of East Anglia.

Sadly, I don't think it will be possible to to stop it spreading. I think the best that we can probably achieve is to reduce its its spread so it increases less dramatically when we look to those countries and the measures that they are taking these these travel bans, can those be effective?

Well, travel bans historically are never that effective. And for something that is infectious is this you only really need one or two cases to get into a community before you risk having widespread dissemination of that that infection. So at best, I think travel bans might delay the spread of the epidemic by some weeks. But we've already heard of cases now in Denmark, in Australia, in the Netherlands, and I believe also now in Italy. So the evidence is that actually the disease, the the new variant disease is already in Europe.

And and almost certainly in coming days, we'll find that it's probably far more widespread.

Professor Paul Hunter speaking to my colleague James Coomaraswamy as the coronavirus is spread around the world. So to have conspiracy theories. A French film called Hold Up that's been getting millions of views brings those theories together and suggests that governments may have ulterior motives. Lisa Louis reports from Paris.

This is one of the first demonstrations since the beginning of the pandemic here in France. Thousands of people have turned out today to protest against recent security legislation. But I can also see people in yellow vests holding signs saying things like stop the masks and France dictatorship. Many of them fear France and other countries are hiding something.

Yeah, and so the they don't.

On the unstimulated, there is a global coup d'etat led by companies such as Google.

They want to take control of humanity, not accidental.

No, I'm not going to get vaccinated. Bill Gates is testing a vaccine that will add some kind of technological equipment so that the government can see if a person has been vaccinated to vaccinate.

Conspiracy theories like these were recently on display in a French movie called Hold Up.

The film has been watched millions of times, its rejection by traditional media seems to have given it extra kudos. And Rudy Reichard says there has been a real build up to the movie.

He's the editor of Paris based website Conspiracy.

Watch that fact checks far right and conspiracy theories.

But he looks looking at several Web sites have heated up public opinion for months with the idea that we are being manipulated by a small evil group. But actually, it's the movie that's highly manipulative and playing on people's fears. So they've taken all these theories on so to the school.

The film mixes up legitimate questions with less than coherent theories.

Equal opportunities with the perilous nature of this virus has been exaggerated by top level politicians to scare us.

Google Glass on their Gamaliel message. We are in a Third World War and like the Nazis did during World War two, Holocaust is being organized to eliminate the three point five billion poorest people on Earth. I mean, just until a million that legitimate claims for which the movie provides no evidence.

The directors of the movie have not responded to numerous requests for an interview with the BBC.

However, the popularity of such theories does have dangerous side effects.

The movie accuses the Institute Pasteur, a Paris based research organization specializing in infectious disease, to have created the virus.

The claim is based on false evidence in this case about the machine translation by its personnel spokesman and says that for the first time in its 130 year long history, the institute has pressed charges against the directors of the movie and other people spreading that claim online. Over the past few months, Pasdar staff have received numerous death threats before ATWA.

That theory is plain wrong and undermines the image of our institute, he told me. What's more, the movie has people doubt the effectiveness of vaccines and could therefore actually delay the solution of the current crisis.

Lisa Lui reporting from Paris. Just days after more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian school boys were returned home in the northwestern state of Katsina, there's news today of another mass release of abducted students in the area. The BBC's Chris Walker is in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

So these children or students, rather, they were actually returning from a festive celebration in their community. We're told that the celebration of the birthday of Prophet Mohammad was delayed. So they attended a celebration. And then on the way back, there were abducted by some gunmen. According to what the police told us in a statement after the abduction, there was an alarm raised. So vigilantes and some security forces now engaged the gunmen, the abductors in a gun battle.

And in the process, the gunmen reportedly fled into the bush, leaving behind the children they had intended to kidnap. And so that led to the rescue by security forces.

And as far as we know, are all the children are safe and well. Yes, that's what the police claimed in the statement. The police spokesman told journalists that 84 students and he said all of them are rescued and in safe hands in custody. But what is becoming a bit unclear is the fact that if they are made up of just students or that people are involved, that is one, too. We don't know what group this time around engaged in this act.

Right.

And as we've said just a couple of days after this other mass abduction, are the two incidents being linked?

There hasn't been any established link. The police said that the people who carried out this attack are a group of bandits, which is loosely translated here, although they are called bandits, but loosely, they are local outlaws, a local gang of outlaws. They have been engaging in acts of abduction, attacking villages and kidnapping people for ransom Kristie.

Walker in Abuja speaking there to James Coomaraswamy.

Still to come on the Global News podcast, I called them and said you need to go get ready.

You got a wedding to attend in a few hours. Never, ever was like you joking, you actually being serious.

And we're like, yeah, the couple who won in a race against time with London's new strict covid restrictions. US lawmakers are edging closer to a new economic support package estimated at nine hundred billion dollars a deal would be the second largest economic relief package in U.S. history, trailing only the two point two trillion dollar Carers Act, which was passed in March at the onset of the coronaviruses pandemic in the U.S., the stimulus package would provide additional payments to millions of Americans who've lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

Gnomeo Iqbal is our correspondent in Washington.

We're still waiting at the moment. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, did say a short while ago that the final deal could be nailed down and hours that Congress are still trying to reach a compromise in this last minute battle. But we're talking about a deal worth nearly a trillion dollars. And millions of Americans are on the brink of financial disaster. The number of coronavirus cases are increasing every day. And I think it's been really frustrating for so many people to see this stalling and this almost bickering going on between lawmakers for months now on a second relief package.

But if it is approved, we expect to be approved. It will give millions of Americans are one of six hundred dollar stimulus check. There'll be weekly employment benefits of 300 dollars. They'll be small business loans, food assistance, emergency rent will relief. There's also an expectation that the US airline industry could get about 15 billion dollars and that would be earmarked to pay. Workers said the industry would have to bring back to work the more than 30000 employees that were furloughed.

So a very dire, difficult situation there. Has it got worse in recent weeks for workers?

It's really bad. Just to give you a quote, our country can't wait until 2021. And those are words from this association that's come together to represent more than 300 organizations, which include restaurants, hotels, local governments. And they're really adding to this last minute push in Congress. It's called the covid Relief Now coalition. And basically they've said if we don't get a compromise before the end of the year, then the economic consequences will be catastrophic. So give you some numbers.

One, experts put it at a minimum, 12 million Americans could lose unemployment insurance. And specifically the day after Christmas, families wouldn't be able to afford basic payments like food and rent. And basically, people would also just stop spending on things, services and goods that powers the US economy. And it could even, according to many reports, push people into homelessness. So it is a really dire situation.

And there are many who believe more relief measures will be needed and attempted to be pushed through once Joe Biden takes over.

That's right. We're in this odd period at the moment, the lame duck session where essentially President Trump is still president, but for exactly only four more weeks and then Joe Biden will take office. And pushing a package through this lame duck period is seen as a start and certainly by Joe Biden himself. But he could sign executive orders to offer some relief, which President Trump did back in August with the first relief package. But of course, Biden will need a full fledged stimulus plan to provide struggling Americans with the money they need.

And he says he has a plan ready to put in place.

Namir Iqbal in Washington. Australia has been praised for keeping covid cases relatively low, thanks to some of the strictest lockdowns in the world. But quarantine requirements and border controls have left as many as 30000 people stranded overseas for months on end. Henry Balo has been speaking to some of them.

What was meant to be a short holiday overseas has become a nightmare for Melbourne resident Jess. 10 months after leaving, she's now stuck in the UK, struggling financially and separated from loved ones over Christmas.

Oh, it's it's it's going to be heartbreaking. Yeah, it's going to be really hard.

The mother, who can't be identified for professional reasons, has no right to work in the UK. So accommodation and living costs have depleted her savings.

We're just down to the credit cards now. So we just need a car today to try and pay for things, but mostly credit cards just to get by.

You've had to sell the car. Yeah. Anyone returning to Australia must pay thousands of dollars to quarantine in a hotel room for two weeks. But the government has capped the number of citizens who can return. And some airlines are only accepting 30 people on each flight.

They are only taking the highest paying passengers.

That's David Jeffries, who flew to Canada to care for his mother, who has late stage cancer. His wife and son have had seven flight cancellations in nine months.

Australians are just being bumped off those flights. We fully expect that we will be out of pocket in excess of 50000 dollars.

Meanwhile, Jess has had six flight cancellations and with no job, she can no longer afford tickets for her son and partner. So she's planning to return alone next month so she can begin working and save for their flight.

In September, Australia's prime minister Scott Morrison said he hoped all stranded citizens like Jeff and David would be brought home by Christmas, but balancing the right to return with keeping covid cases low has been difficult. As the pandemic has worsened overseas, the number of people wanting to come home has increased.

We know you want to come home and you have every right to come home. You're in Australia and you're my first priority in terms of people coming back into the country.

Mr Morrison told Channel seven News that the majority of people stranded are in India or the UK looking to get you home as soon as we possibly can.

Many of those stranded are angry at the government for slowing their return home. But others, like Gess, are upset at a lack of sympathy from fellow Australians.

The amount of hatred that we're getting online is just something that's been really disheartening.

She's read comments wishing people would catch covid-19 and die because they didn't want them to return to Australia. Others blame them for leaving in the first place.

I think Australia forgets that it's a multicultural country. It is made up of people who have family all over the world and to say that they don't deserve to return back because they've got roots in other countries. I think it's just disgusting. That report by Henry Bellow.

The Republican senator, Mitt Romney, has accused President Trump of having a blind spot about Russia because of his failure to condemn Moscow for the massive cyber attack against U.S. government agencies and private companies. U.S. intelligence officials have blamed Russia for the attack. But Mr Trump has questioned that assessment. Mr Romney is urging retaliation.

I think we've come to recognize that the president has a blind spot when it comes to Russia. And the reality here is that the experts, the people who really understand how our systems work and how computers work and software and so forth, the thousands upon thousands of the CIA and the NSA and the Department of Defense have determined that this came from Russia and it is an extraordinary invasion of our cyberspace.

Mitt Romney, Palestinian Christians are getting ready to go ahead with Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem later this week, despite a surge in covid cases in the West Bank. Midnight mass at the Nativity Church on Christmas Eve is to take place with no congregation practice for the scout bands which lead festive processions has been disrupted by lockdowns. But Scouts told our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell that they still hope to bring a message of comfort and joy.

The Palestinian Christians, this is the sound of Christmas, Scotlands like this one, the six Silesian Scouts and Girl Guides troop always at the heart of Holyland celebrations, and they take that role very seriously. My name is Linda Komati.

I'm a drummer and I'm a nursing student in Bethlehem University. How important is it for you that the Christmas celebrations take place?

It's the tradition for every year for the Scouts to go out and spread the Christmas spirit around. But this year is a unique Christmas. Since there's no Christmas market, there's no activities that will happen. And the Nativity Square like every year. So we'll try our best to just try this Christmas spirit.

There's a long history of scouting here stretching back to the British mandate times in the early 20th century, and there's a special affection for the bagpipes with their Scottish heritage.

I meet the pipers practicing their finger work at rehearsal.

My name is Bendek and I'm an architectural engineering student. I play bagpipes since 2016.

And why did you want to play the bagpipes?

In my childhood. I saw scouts play bagpipes and I was happy with their music. So it was my dream to be one of them.

When it comes to Christmas Eve processions here in Bethlehem, there's huge competition between the rival scout groups. They lead the patriarch arriving from Jerusalem to the Nativity Church this year, covid closure's have been making it hard to get together. But celebrations are definitely not canceled.

And these young drummers can't afford to miss a beat, I'm inspired by watching them, so I try to join in with Lynne.

OK, so it's time to test my musical abilities. So this is how we saw the Christmas march.

Oh, well, you can see why I was never in a band. I don't think I'm going to make the drama.

Is there anything else I can do? It can be I it. This is good as it gets. So it's definitely not a silent night in Bethlehem, and these scouts say that despite all the difficulties, they believe this year can end on a more hopeful note. Yolande, now in Bethlehem, as millions of people across Britain come to terms with tightening of lockdown down restrictions, including non-essential businesses closing and fresh travel restrictions, people have been rushing to stay ahead of the curve.

Many flooded train stations trying to get home in time for Christmas. And one couple from North London went even further. They rearranged their wedding in just two hours to ensure that they tied the knot before the capital went into tier. For Shavon, Lihi has the story.

Chloe and Jamie Collins have tried to get married three times already in 2020. They plan to have 130 guests watch them tie the knot at a country estate in September. But they were forced to change venues and move dates because of national lockdowns and restrictions on guest numbers. Finally, they had a date set they believed would work Sunday, the 20th of December.

But the night before, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced another lockdown will introduce new restrictions in the most affected areas, specifically those parts of London the size under the new guidelines, weddings, word from midnight that night only be allowed under exceptional circumstances, such as if one partner is seriously ill and is not expected to recover.

Chloe and Jamie's hearts sank. But then their rabbi, Rabbi Lyster from Edgeware United Synagogue in North London, had an idea. With Shabbat going out early that evening, could he make the wedding happen on the night?

I emailed bridegroom's, said, you know, do you fancy getting married tonight? And I wasn't sure what it said, but he said, yes, please, in any working stream. I was in three minutes. So, yes, please. So I told them to get the family and friends together. Our caretaker pulled out all the stops to prepare the special wedding canopy that we have for them to marry and that. And then I got another witness as well as myself to witness the Jewish side of things.

The couple then got to work calling the photographer, the florist, the hair and makeup artists, and most importantly, the 15 guests they would be allowed to have at their wedding. Here's Chloe. They were obviously just getting on with their lives.

And I called them and said, you need to go get ready. You got a wedding to attend in a few hours. And everyone was like, you joking? Are you actually being serious?

And we're like, yeah, we're being serious.

Get your clothes on. We got a wedding. And everyone was there and it was surreal. We stood under the huppah and looked at each other and we said, it's happening. We're here.

This is it. Now we're getting married. 100 more people watched the ceremony via zem, and Rabbi Lyster said it was a service he'll never forget.

I was I was really moved. You know, it was a beautiful, wonderful family when I told them it was the most meaningful wedding I'd ever done.

The couple described the wedding as a miracle. And in the last 24 hours, they've been inundated with messages of support on social media.

In this time, where every we're hearing is bad news, sad news, that it's nice to hear that sort of love does conquer, own and get through.

And it is about love.

In the end, having a wedding is is not about the hundred people, 200 people. What bands have you got? What dress is she wearing? You want to move on. You want to grow old together, as the saying goes. That report by Chevon Lee. And an update before we go on our U.S. covid relief story.

As we recorded the podcast, we received news that the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, has said that both houses of the U.S. Congress have now agreed on the 911 caller covid relief bill. There'll be more on that in the next edition of the podcast, but that's all from us for now. There'll be an updated version of the podcast later. And if you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.

The address is Global Podcast at BBC, Co, UK. And as we count down to our annual Happy News podcast coming out on the 25th of December, we've been asking our listeners to tell us about their 2020 highlights. Cat Woods lives in Melbourne, Australia, in the midst of the pandemic.

I bought my first home this year as a writer and a yoga teacher. I never thought that I would own my own home, but in syncytial kill them by the beach in Melbourne, Australia, I am now able to call just a little part of the city my own.

I'm Emilio Sampedro. The producer was Stephanie Prentice, a studio producer. Frank McQueeney, and the editor is Karen Martin. Until next time. Goodbye.