this is bbc news. the headlines at four... borisjohnson and the president of the european commission will speak in the next few hours to try and break the brexit trade talks deadlock. the uk vaccine regulator says the covid—19 vaccine will ‘definitely‘ be ready to go into care homes in the next two weeks. a large—scale vaccine roll—out begins in russia. the makers of the ‘sputnik‘ jab claim it's up to 95% effective, but it's still undergoing trials. on small business saturday — what's next for the high street as we know it after the recent collapse of household names? and coming up — lucy hockings is joined by activists from around the world for a discussion about the climate challenges ahead, and how to resolve them.

that's in state of the planet in half an hour. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. leaders are hoping to break the deadlock over a post—brexit trade deal — with time running out to get an agreement through — before the uk leaves eu trading rules on december 31st. borisjohnson and the european commission president — ursula von der leyen — are due to speak on the phone, shortly, to try and end the stalemate. but negotiators said "significant divergences" remained, following a week of intensive talks. most of the deal has been completed, but key sticking points remain. these include fishing rights,

the rules governing state subsidies for business — and how the agreement is policed. our political correspondent jonathan blake has the story. checking out for now, the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, left his london hotel this morning after talks on a future trade deal were put on hold last night. what does that mean for the chances of a deal? any hope for a deal? good morning. we keep calm, as always, and if there is a way, still a way, we will see. "we will see," he said. his parting words as he returned to brussels gave nothing away. but a statement from both sides last night made clear there are still big differences to overcome, significant divergences remain between the two sides, lord frost, the uk's chief negotiator,

and michel barnier said. so, it is over to these two, the political masters on both sides of these talks. the prime minister and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, are due to speak on the phone this afternoon to determine whether a deal can be done. it will be decided politically, not in the negotiating chambers. there will be compromises, i suspect, on both sides. what the prime minister will have to protect, the key issues of control, not giving control away to the european union in pursuit of economic outcomes. but there will be, in my view, it is in everybody‘s interest to come a deal. fishing — how much, if any, is allowed by eu countries in uk waters is one of the big remaining sticking points. along with competition rules, often called the level playing field, and thirdly how any deal is enforced. meanwhile, businesses say they are left in limbo.

if we have a deal, at least there is some certainty. even if we have a deal, we have to adjust. the government have sent out a letter to every business in the country saying "check, change, go. " well, check what? change what? go where? there will be big changes to the uk's relationship with the eu when the current transition period ends. exactly what depends on the progress of talks from here on. earlier i spoke tojonathan blake, and he said there is now real urgency around these negotiations. the deadline, as it stands, is december the 31st, when the transition period we're in comes to an end. the rules by which we have been trading and doing dealings with the eu for the entirety of this year will cease to apply. so there will be change either way, regardless of whether a free trade agreement is agreed between the uk and the eu between now and then.

as you point out, it is notjust a case of reaching that agreement, it is the need for it to be signed off, approved, ratified by all the member states of the eu, the eu parliament, parliament here in the uk, as well. there has been some slightly shifting ground in the last week or so about how much of that process would actually need to happen before a deal was signed off by both sides. david davis, the former brexit secretary, who you saw in the report, suggesting this morning that come december the 31st there could be a freeze in those arrangements before a deal, if agreed by that point, could be approved. borisjohnson, i do not think, would want that to happen, would not want anything like an extension to the transition period to happen because he has insisted time and time again that come that deadline, we will either have a free trade agreement or we will trade on world trade organization rules. what he calls australia style terms.

and i suppose borisjohnson has something of a balancing act in order to please those within his own party as well, hasn't he? a lot of pressure there. there is pressure because boris johnson's premiership, his authority and integrity as prime minister rests on delivering that central promise that was his during the election campaign — to get brexit done. he has to decide now exactly how he plans to deliver on that promise. in the hours ahead this afternoon before he speaks to ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission, he will be weighing up how much political will he has behind him from his party to do a deal. if a deal is to be done at this point, it is clear both sides have gone as far as they can with the negotiating mandates that they have, and compromise is needed from either, or more likely, both sites. many people will say, what is it that mrjohnson and ursula von der leyen realistically can achieve in a phone

call that their chief negotiators could not? what do they have that they could push it forward or over the line? what are we expecting? it is a good question, and i think what will come of that conversation is a sense between the two of them of whether the goalposts can shift slightly. how much, if at all, either is willing to compromise and where that compromise might come. if they can speak to each other and agree that there is more work to do, or that each other could give ground in certain areas, then that is where we will see the talks continuing. the negotiations running up to this point and being put on hold is an indication that there are significant differences, divergences as both sides put it in theirjoint statement last night, that cannot be overcome unless the political boundaries on both sides are to shift.

gps in england will start offering the coronavirus vaccine from the 14th of december. groups of gp surgeries will set up vaccination centres to administer the jabs — which will be given at first to people aged 80 and over. professor martin marshall is chair of the royal college of gps. thank you for speaking to us here at bbc news. first, are your gps ready? yes, gps are ready. it is fantastic news that we have vaccines available, they have got regulatory approval, now we have got the big challenge of delivering, making sure they get to the right people in a timely way. general practice is a really pop important part of that programme because we have a track record of delivering vaccines, the flu vaccine and childhood vaccines. our local communities trust us and thatis our local communities trust us and that is important for a new vaccine. we are ready, it is going to be a big challenge, but i am sure that general practice is up for it. talk

us general practice is up for it. talk us through the challenges and how you have got around those. the biggest challenge is the first vaccine to get approval is the pfizer vaccine. that is the one that needs to be stored at —70 celsius initially. it then has a relatively short life once you unfreeze it and ta ke short life once you unfreeze it and take it out into the community for delivery. it also comes in very large packs, so you have to make sure you have a lot of patience lined up to receive it. those are the challenges, but as i say, general practice is used to having the mechanisms in place in order to deliver it. we are reassured by nhs england that the freezer capacity is available to us. we know how to draw the vaccine up, we know how to dilate it, and we know how to administer it. all that will be done ina administer it. all that will be done in a safe way with social distancing. i understand the criteria is described as the most high—risk. does thatjust apply to age or will other people fall into

that category that your gps will be contacting? it appears from the evidence that ages the most important criteria by a long way. age is a proxy measure for things like having multiple diseases, as well. that is really important. age is the simplest and probably most valiant way to deliver it. that is why we are starting with the over 80—year—olds in the first instance and then work through the age bands. why is it always age? there are young people who are shielding, for example, cancer patients, are they not at risk? it is all about relative risk. it is about prioritisation. scientists have been looking at the data for a long time, looking at the data for a long time, looking at the data for a long time, looking at those who are most at risk, those who are most likely to benefit from the vaccination, and the conclusion they have come to is ages the most important factor. that does not mean there are not other important factors, but age is the most important. have you started

contacting patients? it is not long now, is it, the 14th of december? logistically, what happens? have people been ringing into surgeries or is there a standard procedure that you have received in terms of guidance? there will be standard procedure. we just guidance? there will be standard procedure. wejust got guidance? there will be standard procedure. we just got the 0k guidance? there will be standard procedure. we just got the ok for general practice to deliver the pfizer vaccine yesterday evening. prior to that, general practice was getting itself prepared to deliver the astrazeneca oxford vaccine, which is the one that is easier to deliver in general practice. the reason the pfizer one has been made available to general practices because of these priorities and our ability to access the older population. it will start happening next week, patients should notjust turn up and they should not try to make appointments. it is you important that they understand these priorities so that we do not end up with people of lower priority knocking on our door hoping to get the vaccine because that will not

happen. there is a double challenge, isn't there? people ignore letters, thatis isn't there? people ignore letters, that is the first thing. and also there is already a reluctance for people to be the first receivers of this vaccine. how are gps tackling this? people within the community trust their medical centres. that one to one to get people to come in, how are you advising gps and nurses and doctors to get around that? that is really important. let's remember that the vaccination rate in the u pta ke that the vaccination rate in the uptake in the united kingdom is really high. when general practice offer free vaccination, we are often vaccinating 75% or more of the population. people do look out for their invitations and they do turn up, which is great. trust is going to be really important for this new vaccine. what we have to do is first of all recognise that we have a internationally respected regulator that has given its approval based on

good clinical trials. it has been a very rapid process, but it has been a rigorous progress. it has been pushed through at a faster rate than usual, but nothing has been forgotten from that process. we had every reason to be confident that both the vaccine is effective and also that it has minimal, or at the moment, almost no side effects. we need to reassure patients that that is the case. there will be some patients that will be anxious about it, but my message to everybody is, this is what is going to get rid of lockdown, this is what is going to get us out of this crisis. if you get us out of this crisis. if you getan get us out of this crisis. if you get an invitation, it is you important that you turn up and receive the vaccine. just very quickly, have gp staff already started receiving the vaccine themselves? not yet, no. in addition to age, care home and health care staff will also be priority groups, irrespective of their age because of the rest of us transmitting the virus to other people. that has not

happened yet, to my knowledge. but it will be happening alongside the age criteria. thank you so much for your time. all that information. the labour party has revealed that sir keir starmer is self—isolating. a member of his private office staff tested positive for coronavirus, but the labour leader says he's not showing symptoms. in line with the government's guidelines, he'll be out of self—isolation on the 16th december. russia's coronavirus vaccination programme is under way — despite the sputnik vaccine still going through safety and efficacy trials. the firstjabs have been administered in clinics in moscow. it comes as russia is reporting record high numbers of confirmed covid—i9 cases. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. this is one of the moscow clinics that is now rolling out russia's sputnik vaccine to the population. first of all, doctors, medics generally, health workers, teachers

and social workers have been invited to receive the vaccine. now, sputnik v is still in an experimental form, more trials for its safety and its efficacy are still under way. but the chief doctor at this clinic has said she is confident it is fine to roll it out now. translation: this vaccine has been officially registered. we have enough research to know that it is 92% effective. and if there is a choice to get sick or have the vaccine, then this is a dangerous disease, the answer is obvious. this is a leaflet that patients are given before they get the jab and it talks about some of the possible side effects, although it sets out that they should be pretty minimal and last maybe one to three days, perhaps some weakness, perhaps some sickness or a fever. and it suggestsjust taking paracetamol. now, some 5000 people have supposedly signed up already to get this vaccination in the mass roll—out,

although we have only seen a handful or so here actually getting the jab. translation: we see how sick people get, so we have no doubts at all about getting vaccinated. we use protective clothing, of course, and now we are getting the vaccine as early as possible. from the very start, russia's treated this quest for a covid vaccine as something of a race. certainly it declared itself the first country to register a vaccine, sputnik v, back in august, even before the mass trials had begun. now it is moving very quickly to roll the vaccine out for use by the population at large. there are still questions about how much it can actually produce of sputnik v, though. manufacturers unable to quickly scale up their production. president putin has said 2 million doses should be available for people this year. and then next year, russia plans to roll this out much faster, much wider as the number of covid cases in the country continues to grow.

the mayor of liverpool, joe anderson, has been released on bailfollowing his arrest, as part of a fraud inquiry. he and four other people were detained as part of a year—long investigation into bribery allegations — linked to the awarding of building contracts in the city. in a statement this afternoon, joe anderson says he "will be talking with cabinet colleagues to ensure the challenges our city faces with the covid pandemic continue to receive the focus they deserve." he went on to say, he supported the labour party's decision to suspend him while the investigaion continues. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. hello again. good afternoon everyone. hello, we'll start in the premier league where everton and burnley battled to a 1—1 draw in the early kick off. burnley took the lead in the third minute when everton midfielder allan gave the ball away — robbie brady going on to score in the bottom corner. dominic calvert—lewin brought

everton level though on the stroke of halftime — burnley remain in the bottom three with six points from 10 games. there is a lot of players giving a lot to the cause. we are still going right to the end. i am really pleased with that. we are just slowly but surely getting back to what we are. we know it can be effective, or effective enough in the premier league. we are getting fitter, we are getting stronger. we do obviously have to turn draws into wins, etc. there have been some good signs over the last five or six games. lam i am positive because they showed good spirit. good spirit from my team. of course it will be a difficult game, but every game is difficult. there is no easy game in the premier league. we did not think before this game that it was easy. to play here is really tough, to play against burnley is really tough. elsewhere in the premier league — the second half is under way at the etihad where manchester city

lead fulham 2—0. goals from raheem stirling and kevin de bruyne — that makes 400 goals for city under pep guardiola. chelsea face leeds at 8 o'clock. and before that there'll be fans back in the ground as west ham take on manchester united. in the championship, 2,000 fans were at the madejski stadium to see reading beat nottingham forest 2—0. it was a dreadful start for forest, they went down to ten men after ryan yates handled the ball on the line. lucasjoao scored from the resulting penalty. reading made it two in the second half through michael morrison's header. they are now second on the same points as leaders bournemouth but can be overtaken this afternoon. to rugby union now — and the autumn nations cup reaches its climax this weekend. ireland have beaten scotland by 31 points to 16 to claim third place in the tournament. two tries from keith earls and one from cian healy — the difference between the sides. duhan van der merwe scoring scotland's try. meanwhile wales take on italy later.

they've made nine changes from the side that lost to england. we want to keep giving guys opportunities. i think we have had probably eight guys have starts now. eight debutants who have had a opportunity across the competition. it is a tournament we have seen from the outset we want to build some depth. we will continue to do so, and also we think that we can get a result. that was part of what i laid down to the other coaches when we selected the side. a side we believe can get a result and also still build depth. elfyn evans' hopes of ending britain's 19—year wait for a world rally champion have suffered a huge setback. after he crashed out on stage ii of rally monza in italy. the welshman lost control of his toyota in the slippery conditions on the mountain stage and ended up off the road. his team mate sebastien ogier will overtake him to win the title if he can finish at least third

after tomorrow's final stage. qualifying for the sakhir grand prix gets under way from five o'clock with max verstappen hoping he can claim pole for tomorrow's race. the red bull driver had to play second fiddle to mercedes stand in driver george russell in bahrain yesterday. but he found his form today claiming the top spot by two tenths of a second from valtteri bottas. russell could only manage seventh, more than half a second off the pace. just about to get under way with qualifying in bahrain. we will keep you up—to—date with the afternoon's football and rugby union. stay tuned, i will be back with more at 6:30pm. see you then. families forced to separate over christmas are being encouraged to check in with loved ones remotely — after worrying signs that more people are at a higher risk of going missing. the charity missing people say they have seen the number of vulnerable adults contacting its helpline rise

by a third since march, with the impact of lockdown being blamed for the rise in the number of people thinking about disappearing. we can speak tojo youle, who is the chief executive of missing people and also to stella harding, whose son owen went missing in march. a big thank you to both of you for joining us. especially stella. just to start off with, tell us about owen. when is a really well loved boy by many of us friends and family. he is really, really messed. we have not seen him since eight and a half months ago when he left on the 26th of march. what is it like for you at home? it has been a really horrible and devastating time

for all of us. it is very confusing and we are very sad. luckily, we all have each other. i have received an incredible amount of support from my friends and family, and from the local community where i live. ifeel really blessed about that. when did you realise that he had gone missing? what happened? can you just give us a succinct summary about what happened that night?m give us a succinct summary about what happened that night? it was the first week of lockdown and he was really struggling with not seeing his friends and not seeing his girlfriend, but he was staying at home with me and my other daughter, his little sister. but on the evening of the 26th of march, around sunset, he went out for a walk and he did not come back. when it got dark, i became worried and i contacted some friends, and they began looking for him and we could not find him anywhere in the local

area. other friends had not find him anywhere in the local area. otherfriends had not seen him. ithen area. otherfriends had not seen him. i then called the police at about ten or ii at night that evening. what was it like, stella, making a missing persons report?m was pretty unbelievable, pretty surreal. i really didn't believe that i ought to be doing it. i didn't think she was missing, but now that the reality of him being missing is really massive for us. it has been eight and a half months now. joe, can ijust bring you in here. what is fascinating about this is that normally when a person goes missing, we tend to think that something, sadly, and i do not like seeing this in front of you, stella, but i am sure it is something you have thought about, you tend to think that something untoward has happened to them. but what we are talking about here is that people are deciding to go missing. just

explain that to us. people do go missing for all sorts of reasons, and we know that in particular in this last year that the covid pandemic really has taken a toll on people. people worried about financial issues, job worries, paying the mortgage, paying the rent, problems at home. sometimes people go missing and we just do not know the reason why they have gone. it is so important, as a charity, that we are able to appeal for people who are missing. we know that they do face risks whilst they are away from home. sadly, the longer they are away, those risks increase. we appeal at the charity for people who go missing, and are incredibly grateful to partners like the royal mail, who are the eyes and ears in local communities looking out for people who are at high risk whilst they are missing. we have got services that are available around the clock to support families who are in an awful situation ofjust

not knowing and living through the pain of that, but also for anybody who is out there who is missing, he wants to make contact with their family, that might be scared to make that initial call. we would encourage them to call our helpline thatis encourage them to call our helpline that is available to them. even just to get a message back to their family to let them know that they are ok. that is so important. family to let them know that they are ok. that is so importantlj family to let them know that they are ok. that is so important. i know that the charity has put out a call to action to watch out for people, but it was very interesting that your website goes to great pains to explain, and it will happen because police get involved, so you can imagine how frightening that must be for that person who is missing, who may be aware of what is going on but wa nts to may be aware of what is going on but wants to keep it in, that they are not committing a crime. why is that important? it is you important that when someone is missing, when they are feeling vulnerable, in crisis, that they know they are not in trouble. people go missing for so

many different reasons and our role is to support them to give them help and support in a confidential space, to help them work out what led to them going missing, what might help them going missing, what might help them to come back. of course, as an adult, it is our right to be missing, but we know that people do not go missing lightly. it is a dark world out there and people are facing real risks. people often go because a quite serious worries and things that are affecting them. we appeal to them to call through to us to speak to someone, a voice at the end of the line, some kindness, some support. we are grateful to so many supporters to support us to be open, as we have been the whole way through the pandemic, including the people's postcode lottery, his supporters to be there for people. if anyone is out there that is missing, please call through, if anyone is out there that is missing, please callthrough, speak to us in to help get you back to a place of safety. just have a chat.

stella harding, thank you. our thoughts are with you and owen. hopefully he is home for christmas. the public are being encouraged to offer vital support to small businesses as high streets reopen in time for christmas. the annual small business saturday campaign taking place today is calling on people to shop locally at independent retailers. research by the campaign group suggests there is growing public support for small businesses. let's discuss this further with someone let's discuss this further with someone who is living that reality. beth cosmos designs and sells rain coats. you are recycling left over tents at festivals. just very quickly describe your business. exactly as you said. we take tents... we are

going to pause for a minute. let's try and re—establish the link, and i promise we will try to reconnect with you. whilst we do that, our technical people are working hard. let's get the weather. apart from that, it is going to be a dry night with clear skies. it will be cold and frosty with a risk of ice. a bit of mist and fog across the sunday. we will start with some cherry burst of rain across the north—east of the uk. that should mostly clear away. into the afternoon it looks drier for many with variable cloud and some sunshine around. still on the cold

side, particularly where any low cloud lingers through central areas. temperatures ranging from 3—7. it stays cold throughout next week. it sta rts stays cold throughout next week. it starts to turn unsettled from tuesday onwards across the north and in all areas by the end of the week. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson and the president of the european commission will speak in the next few hours to try and break the brexit trade talks deadlock. the uk vaccine regulator says the covid—i9 vaccine will ‘definitely‘ be ready to go into care homes in the next two weeks. a large—scale vaccine roll—out begins in russia. the makers of the ‘sputnik‘ jab claim it's up to 95 % effective, but it's still undergoing trials. on small business saturday — what's next for the high street as we know it — after the recent collapse