this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines: theresa may tells her fellow eu leaders she believes a route can be found for her brexit deal to be approved by the house of commons. here is the scene in brussels as donald tusk and jean—claude juncker hold a joint news conference. ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this press c0 nfe re nce and gentlemen, and welcome to this press conference following the european council in both its information, article 50 on brexit. donald tusk takes the floor. good evening. i will start with brexit. today prime minister may informed the leaders about the difficulties with the ratifying the deal in london and asked for further assurances about the ratification

process in the house of commons. after discussing the prime minister's intervention amongst 27 leaders and bring in my dow full respect for the parliamentary process in the united kingdom, we have agreed the following. —— and with full respect. the european council reconfirms its conclusions of the 25th of november 2018, in which it endorsed the withdrawal agreement and approved the political declaration. the union stands by this agreement and intends to proceed with its certification. it is not open for renegotiation. two, the european council reiterates the situation to establish as close as possible a partnership with the united kingdom the future. it stands ready to embark on preparations

immediately after the signatures on the agreement to ensure that negotiations can start as soon as possible after the uk's withdrawal. three, the european council underlines that the backstop is intended as an insurance policy to prevent a hard border on the island of ireland. and ensure the integrity of ireland. and ensure the integrity of the single market. it is the union's firm determination to work ona union's firm determination to work on a subsequent agreement that establishes by the 315t of december 2020 alternative arrangements so that the backstop will not need to be triggered. four, the european council also underlines that if the backstop were nevertheless to be triggered, it would apply it temporarily, unless and until it is

superseded by a subsequent agreement that insures that a hard border is avoided. in such a case of the union would use its best endeavours to negotiate and conclude expeditiously a subsequent agreement that would replace the backstop and would expect the same of the united kingdom. so that the backstop would only be in place for as long as is strictly necessary. and, five, the european council calls for work on preparing as at all levels for the consequences of the united kingdom's withdrawal to be intensified, taking into account all possible outcomes —— prep airiness. on foreign policy we discussed the recent issues in the sea. european council is united in the conviction that there is no justification for the use of

military force by russia. therefore, we request the immediate release of all detained ukrainian seamen. russia must not limit the freedom through the strait. while the eu continues to follow developments in the sea of as, we will give additional assistant to the affected regions. chancellor merkel and president macron also presented a state of implementation of the minsk agreement and decided to renew our economic sanctions against russia, given that no progress has been made. we also discuss the ongoing preparations for the first stage of the summit to take place next february in it. thank you. now presidentjean—claude juncker of the european commission. translation: i don't have anything

to add to what has been said by a president brexit, except to eight that's we think, having listened to all the colleagues, that the commission and michel barnier have done a good job —— our president on breakfast. intensity future relationship, our uk friends need to say what they want, instead of asking us to say what we want. and so we would like, within a few weeks, al uk friends to set out their expectations for us, because this debate is sometimes nebulous and imprecise. —— our u. and i would like clarifications. as we don't

know what the collective reactions will be, the commission on the 19th of december will publish all the information that is genuinely useful for the preparation of a no deal. this is preparing us. we are prepared for preparing this. —— preparedness. we have discussed other subjects to day, apart from brexit. brexitise uplink of the past but we also need to look to the future —— brexit is something of the past. i want to congratulate the president of the european parliament is to have managed, along with the council and

the commission, to agree the civil protection mechanism for europe. we never protection mechanism for europe. we never talk about our points of agreement, we talk about disagreements are lot. but the commission at the instigation of our greek friends looked at forest fires in portugal, italy, we had earthquakes, and we have done a lot of work to improve our civil protection in terms of preparation and reactions and we have had agreement on these points. and i am very pleased to flag up the fact that this commission proposal was adopted in record time. and sol that this commission proposal was adopted in record time. and so i am very pleased to see the conclusion of those negotiations. the european

parliament ratified the trade agreement with japan in yesterday. —— withjapan agreement with japan in yesterday. — — with japan yesterday. agreement with japan in yesterday. —— withjapan yesterday. one week after it had been approved by the japanese parliament. we negotiated with the japanese for years. i put my heart into this task. this was to ensure that we had as broad a trade agreement as has ever been seen on the planet thus far, because our agreement with japan covers 635 million inhabitants, which is going to allow europe to increase its exports to japan by an order of magnitude around 13 billion euros per year, magnitude around 13 billion euros peryear, and we magnitude around 13 billion euros per year, and we will have agricultural exports to japan as well, a round 200% above the current volumes of turnover at the moment. —— at around. as for the rest, back

to brexit, i am still of the opinion that mrs me is fighting hard and bravely, but we have not seen results —— mrs may. as the president said, we would like it is for relationship with the uk for years to come. but in particular, we don't think the yuat —— widow of the uk to think the yuat —— widow of the uk to think can be any form of renegotiation whatsoever — — think can be any form of renegotiation whatsoever —— we don't wa nt renegotiation whatsoever —— we don't want the uk to think. that is crystal clear. we can add some clarifications. there will be no renegotiations. thank you very much. translation: i'm sorry for not having been quite so brief. we are

opening the floorfor having been quite so brief. we are opening the floor for some questions. faisal islam, sky news. mrs may asked for some reassurances. . . amir. mrs may asked for some reassurances. .. amir. hello. mrs may asked for some reassurances... amir. hello. -- i am here. in the us, the us president is dealing with the press in a very polite manner. they have two stand out. but be seated. thank you, 0k. —— they have to stand up. mrs may asked for some reassurances. it looks like you could not give her any further reassurances. can i clarify one bit of detail, will be new visa waiver scheme, where uk citizens may have two pay 8 euros and fill in forms in 2021, will that apply to the united kingdom after brexit? no. this is part of the negotiations. we have two start. as

faras negotiations. we have two start. as far as the negotiations, the future relations are concerned, i want to be clear. i would like to start the negotiations on the future relations immediately after the approval by westminster and by the european parliament, not only after the signature, but immediately because we have to prepare these negotiations. i want to prove to be members of the house that we are taking this seriously. we will start immediately after the double approval by the two parliaments to prepare this negotiation, and after the signature we will launch the negotiations. i tried to tell our british friends that, of course, we need diyas of the house of commons, but we need also, the yes of the

european parliament. one is continental, one is insular. —— we need at the yass. they both have the same relevance. iwould not need at the yass. they both have the same relevance. i would not like to give the impression to those who are very reluctant in the house, because it is not the best basis for the future negotiations that we are dealing with this issue in a very serious way. we will speed up the process when it comes to future relations. thank you. we will take one more question. the gentleman in the fifth row, new york. translation: a question for presidentjuncker. translation: a question for president juncker. following up translation: a question for presidentjuncker. following up on what you said. you said in the next four weeks you would like to see some results. you are saying that in the next four weeks you want to hear what the british expectations are,

but that is somewhat equivocal. we know that some people want to change the agreement, others don't want an agreement at all, others don't want brexit at all, others want someone else altogether. so, more specifically, what questions are you wanting answers to, beyond the ratification or not of the agreement? translation: i'm having some difficulty understanding man state of mind. —— my own state of mind. it is even harder to understand the state of mind of the british mps. but following the debates in westminster, there seems to be a very wide gap between the various views, a huge variety of views. and thatis views, a huge variety of views. and that is what led us to think a few

days ago that there would not be an agreement one way or the other. and i think agreement one way or the other. and ithink i, i agreement one way or the other. and ithink i, lam agreement one way or the other. and i think i, i am sure that president was i think i, i am sure that president was will agree with me on this, if we go into negotiations on a future relationship we need to have a well constructive proposal. — — relationship we need to have a well constructive proposal. —— president tusk. and cogent ideas for our british partners and friends. and then we will look at that. i find it uncomfortable that there is an impression, perhaps in the uk, that it is for the eu to propose solutions. it is the uk leaving the eu. and i would have thought that it was eu. and i would have thought that it was rather more up to the british government is to tell us exactly what they want. but i am fairly relaxed. my friends, mr orban, after

the last council on the 25th of november, he said that i was responsible, that the outcome of the brexit referendum was my fault. well, i will be leaving myjob on the first of november next and then there will be an agreement, angel, a couple of days after. council will resume at ten o'clock. we will have a press co nfe re nce resume at ten o'clock. we will have a press conference then. a year ayear in a year in the to the, a short press conference, after the meeting the theresa may attended. —— barely had a short press conference that theresa may attendance —— there we had a short press conference that

theresa may attended. not getting under way much at all. you just add jean—claude juncker, the european commission president saying it's a theresa may to propose ideas. her idea is, do you like legal certainty, that's designed to prevent it. it can come to an end. they said no, thank you very much. i do have to say that the conclusions of the eu 27, minus the uk, make a very grim reading for theresa may. they say they are standing by the brexit deal. they are pushing ahead with ratification and face a very simply, it is not up for renegotiation. on this crucial issue of the backstop, they say, we would only like it to apply temporarily but it's a backstop and they will work very hard to have a replacement which is a free—trade deal which

would avoid a hard for them in northern ireland, and while they work hard on that, they will work on them backstop which has to be there u nless them backstop which has to be there unless and until the new arrangement is agreed. it's not what theresa may wa nted is agreed. it's not what theresa may wanted to hear. the eu was also saying they will set out all of it's no deal planning before christmas, well ahead of us. that's right. i think that's the 19th of december, but they are going to be putting out a whole bunch of documents and they have been working very hard on this because they have been gaining this out and they think the numbers in parliament, there is a strong possibility that could be no deal. we've been hearing in the uk some of the brexit supporters saying there could be managed no deal. but the eu's chief brexit negotiator michelle barnier, when he gave information to the commons, what

happens if we reached no deal? mr barnier said the negotiations will cease, we will not talk to you, we will decide what to do and we will act unilaterally and in our own interests. talking to some eu officials, some might say we will allow an hour route from x to why and this area of financial services to work but the eu will act unilaterally and they won't be talking to the uk at that point. thank you very much. in the french city of strasbourg, police say they have shot dead the man believed to have attacked a christmas market on tuesday — killing three people and injuring others. the man, named as cherif chekatt, had been on the run since tuesday evening. the suspect had a string of criminal convictions and had become a radical islamist while in prison. our correspondent gavin lee has the latest. the scene in the suburbs of

strasbourg tonight whether search for the suspected gunman of tuesday's attack ended with the death of 29 herald cherif chekatt. the french elite antiterrorism unit raid led the operation just over one hour ago, ending the a8— hour man—hunt. eyewitnesses say they heard gunfire as the police and military teams moved in. when i left the mcdonald's, i went to go home and it was very strange. cherif chekatt was born in algeria. he was convicted of petty crime. when released last year, he was placed on a security threat list for individuals monitored for extremism. it was here in the christmas market in strasbourg, the oldest and most famous in france, where the attack

was carried out and police say cherif chekatt was carrying a pistol and knife as others ran for their lives. he was shot by police patrolling the market in the arm but escaped by taxi. he told the taxi to ta ke escaped by taxi. he told the taxi to take in15 escaped by taxi. he told the taxi to take in 15 minutes away. there is a second exchange of gunfire but he escaped and has not been seen since. an earlier raid was carried out but police say they found nothing. three people were killed in the attack and 12 more were injured. tonight the city is notably quiet. people living here speak of their fear of the last few days and sheer relief that it looks like it has come to an end. there's significant concern about how the nhs in england is going to cope this winter, as the latest figures show that hospitals are already overcrowded, and that's before the cold weather has properly taken hold. some fear it could be as bad,

if not worse, than last year. last week, more than 94% of beds in england's hospitals were being used, that's above what is considered to be a safe limit. on at least one day last week one in ten hospitals were completely full, and not surprisingly there were long waits at a and e. our health editor hugh pym has been looking at the latest evidence. this is emily. she stepped on glass, came to a&e in west london this morning, and had to wait just one hour. it's been an amazing experience, especially at this time of year, i think, like, the doctors do an incredible job. but damian, who also hurt his foot, had to waitjust over four hours, more than the official target. there was like a lot of doctors around, and nurses, like, running around, and sitting there waiting and don't know anybody get seen's a bit frustrating, because basically you just want to get seen and just get out of there. same hospital, same day, two experiences of the nhs on the front line and under pressure. this week, a health minister toured a major hospital to assess their preparations for winter.

he said more money had been made available for parts of the nhs. i am pleased to see that that money is now getting to the front line where it needs to be, and i'm pleased to see that, although this is going to be a challenging winter, i am convinced that we will be able to put in the right preparations but no—one is complacent. the emergency department is seeing between 550 and 650 patients a day. here at the north middlesex they realised there were long delays for people who weren't the very sickest, and they've reduced those with a new way of doing things. the nurses in our department are always identifying which patients need immediate investigations and immediate treatment. that cohort is selected and put into an area where there is consultant presence to see the patient immediately. those patients that don't fulfil that criteria still need our care, but they don't need it at quite the same speed. but with hospitals close to full

already, before winter's really set in, there have been warnings the service could be stretched to the limit in the months ahead. if the hospitals are full to the brim at the moment, and we haven't even seen the impact of some of the conditions that we know, that flow from very cold weather such as flu, or other conditions that are exacerbated by the cold, such as bronchitis or asthma, then we know that if we're seeing that already, we've got worse to come. a&e waiting times in england got worse in november, and were behind scotland, though ahead of wales and northern ireland. one health leader said the latest set of figures was deeply troubling. hugh pym, bbc news. in washington, a 30—year—old russian woman has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy in connection with attempts to influence us politics. maria butina, a gun rights advocate, was charged with working to infiltrate us political organisations such as the national rifle association on behalf of russia around

the 2016 general election. she has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. our washington correspondent anthony zurcher told us more about her. maria butina, she was a graduate student at a university here in washington dc and while she was doing that she was essentially doing a lot of the same hobnobbing with a lot of aspiring young political operators do, meeting with conservative officials, going to conferences but also doing it while communicating with senior russian officials and that is a crime in the united states, if you're representing a foreign government and you don't disclose it to the us government, that you are a lobbyist on behalf of a foreign government. the question will be, what sort of information will she reveal when she is cooperating with us prosecutors and if there is anything more than that. you have to view this in the

larger context of the ongoing investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 us presidential election. this may be one isolated portion of that but the special counsel's office has alleged the russian government helped direct hacking of democratic officials. they organised a social media campaign against us political figures and even paid for an organised rallies of protest on the ground in the run—up to the 2016 election. a man who became a police officer so he could gain access to young girls has been jailed for 25 years for sexual offences, including raping a teenager. ian naude met the 13—year—old after being called to her house for a domestic incident. thejudge said he'd abused his position at cheshire police. andy gill reports. ian naude was a student policeman based at crew in 2017 when he was called to a domestic incident at the 13—year—old's home. he contacted her online

and a few days later, raped her in his car. a cheshire police officer read a statement on behalf of the girl's family. there are no words that even begin to explain the pain, hurt or anger we have felt and are still feeling as a direct result of that vile and despicable man. he has destroyed our lives, our family and most of all, the innocence of our daughter. the grandmother of the girl naude groomed online, who now often runs away from home, said in a statement: naude was convicted last month, but was only sentenced today. the crown prosecution service praised the bravery of the 13—year—old rape victim who gave evidence against him. had she not had the courage to come forward, ian naude would almost certainly still be serving as a police officer today. this young girl has single—handedly saved many other young girls from the trauma of sexual abuse.

the court heard that naude joined the police specifically to get access to vulnerable girls. the youngest he groomed online was just 12. it was ian naude'sjob to enforce the law, protect people from harm instead he became the most dangerous of perpetrators and betrayed the very people he swore to protect. judge clement goldstone, qc said this was as gross a breach of trust as it was possible to imagine and ian naude was a very dangerous man indeed. he said naude had no idea about the damage he'd caused to the work police do to try and build trust in their communities. he sent ian naude to jail for 25 years and said he'd also have to serve an extra five years on licence once he is released. and we'll be taking an in—depth look

at the papers with our reviewers lord digbyjones, the former trade minister, and stephen bush, the political editor at the new statesman. that's coming up just after the headlines at 11:30. now it's time for the weather with ben rich. christmas is drawing closer and at the moment, the weatherfeels christmas is drawing closer and at the moment, the weather feels quite festive. chile south-easterly winds blowing across the british isles bringing cold out from the near continent, circulating around this big area of high pressure which has been blocking the atlantique weather systems over recent days. as we go through the next few days that changes. sliding across the country, we will see rain and snow, and as we get into next week, we switched the wind direction. it won't be a heatwave and won't be as chilly as it is at the moment. a touch of

frost in many places. not as cold in northern ireland. this weatherfront has been lingering to the last couple of days. unable to move through because the high pressure sitting to the east of us. there could be a few showers for eastern coasts. not as many as it was on thursday but still feeling chilly. it's during friday night that things began to change. we see this frontal system swimming in from the west but also snow. as we go through saturday, the combination of rain and snow and strong winds could cause some travel issues. still a bit to play for in terms of detail on saturday but we could see a bit of snow anywhere. further south and west, any wintry weather turning back to wet weather. something much milder working its way and 12 degrees implement. particularly scotland. here, we could see some

significant snow. out on the strength of the wind, minus five degrees. that's what it will feel like. significant snowfall is possible across scotland. even two lower—level. there are likely to be blizzard conditions. by sunday, the worst of the weather pushes away northwards. there will be some showers, still some wintry weather. the temperatures a little bit lighter, between six and 10 degrees. monday might start of quite chilly. fog patches around as well. some dry weather and sunshine. there may be something