this is bbc news the headlines at 6:00: borisjohnson and the president of the european commission have spoken in order to try and find a way forward on brexit trade talks. this is the scene live in brussels where we're expecting a statement from ursula von der leyen following her conversation with the prime minister. in fact, here she is and let's hear the outcome of the phone call. translation:

we do apologise, we are awaiting our translation and that is the french and the german we can hear there, but we are waiting for the english translation. if you are just joining us, that is ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission. she is giving a statement after a phone call which was nearly an hour long, and we will be talking about the significance of that with chris mason, who has joined me. but lets check one more time if that translation has come through... 0k. chris, we have been

waiting for this, talk us through it. my french and german is no better than yours, but i have received a statement from downing street, a joint statement from the prime minister and ursula von der leyen, who have just prime minister and ursula von der leyen, who havejust seen in brussels. i am seeing this at the same time you are. the statement says... ina says... in a phone call today in the ongoing negotiations between the european union and the united kingdom, we welcomed progress has been made in certain areas, but critical issues remain in the level playing field, governance, and fisheries. both sides underlined no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved. whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences we agree a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved. we are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in brussels. we

will speak, a reference to the two leaders, on monday evening. so, the talks are continuing, they have not broken down and the negotiations are going to continue for at least a few more days. we know, after all of these fake deadlines that have existed during this whole brexit negotiating process, this is now eight. only a matter of days, weeks before the end of the calendar year, which is the point when the transition period ends. the uk left the eu at the end of january but we have been in this transition period where things are pretty much stayed the same, other than us not being around the table in brussels. so the date to agree on a trade agreement is the end of the month. given the talks that have taken place in london over the last few days between lord david frost, the prime minister's chief negotiator and michel barnier, the eu negotiator,

there were sticking points, fishing and the level playing field. they could not get any further. so they referred up, the president of the european commission and the prime minister. there were two options that could have come from that telephone call. one could have been a pulling of stumps, a decision on both sides nothing was going to happen, given the current time frame and preparations for a no deal. or what we have got here, that talking will continue. so the existing blockages to arriving at a deal, but crucially given the question ten minutes ago, will they carry on talking? the answer is yes. we recognise the seriousness of these differences but we agree a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams. they will carry on talking tomorrow in brussels. it is an away fixture for the uk

negotiating team, having had a home round of negotiations in london over the last couple of days. they will continue tomorrow in brussels. the two lea d e rs continue tomorrow in brussels. the two leaders speaking again on monday evening. it speaks to the limited time frame they already publicly schedule their next meeting, because i guess if you arrive at any deal potentially between the chief negotiators, it obviously has to go to their leaders before anything can be signed off or potentially chipi down if there is another blockage discovered in the talks. so ursula von der leyen has also tweeted... just saying exactly what you have said. i had a phone call with boris johnson on the eu and uk. i don't know if we can show our viewers? differences remain at no agreement feasible if these are not resolved. we will speak again on monday. does that mean it is going to be done virtually, or does it mean david frost is heading to brussels?

secondly, basically the leaders have said, get back to it. will they then be told we will have to have concessions? it is going to happen in person rather than virtually. they are reconvening tomorrow in brussels so i think we can read from that there have been face—to—face talks in london and the uk side will be willing to jump on the train and continue those talks face—to—face in brussels. as i say, those three sticking points remain. it is worth unpicking there was a bit. there's a huge amount of brexitjargon that get sprayed around the place in these situations and frankly, it is gibberish to the lay observer of this process. let's unpick them. the level playing field, this is about competition rules, the extent to which is a uk diverges from the club of which it has been a part, it can adopt different rules. the eu is nervous about it doing too much of that because it would be perceived

to be unfair. obviously, the argument from the uk is the whole point of leaving the european union is to go your own way. if you are hitched to the wagon you have attached yourself from, what is the point. that is the argument around the so called level playing field. governance is about how any deal is in full governance is about how any deal is infull is, governance is about how any deal is in full is, how you go about ensuring any arrangement is stuck to in the future. obviously both sides wa nt to in the future. obviously both sides want to ensure that will happen but might have different interpretations. and then fisheries, which is a fascinating conversation in brexit. economically, the fishing industry is tiny, but symbolically it is hugely important and geographically, obviously, it is concentrated in the coastal communities for whom brexit was a very big deal and plenty in the fishing industry where big advocates are brexit because they felt the existing arrangements under the common fisheries policy did not do them any favours. for them, the idea

that the uk can take control of its own waters again seems fundamental. from the european side, they recognise that the uk holds a good hand on fishing. lots of eu boats come into british waters in order to fish and they want to be able to maintaina fish and they want to be able to maintain a reasonable amount of that access, particularly the french and there is an election coming up in france which makes it particularly contentious. it comes back to the same sticking points, they have been the sticking points in these negotiations for months. there remains a sticking point and we know definitively there isn't long to try and sort it out if there is to be a deal, because that deal, if there is one, has to be ratified, signed off by the uk side and the eu side. that is before we get to new year's eve. picking up on that point, the ratifying stage, the signing off, there is even more that needs to be done before that? it is not a kind

of, pass that to the next department, 2a hours and we are through. there's a lot of administrative work that needs to be done? of course, it takes time in order to sign things off, particularly the eu ratification process because it is a club of 27 different countries. and that is why on the 5th of december, as we are now, there is a desire that if there is going to be a deal it has to be arrived at pretty scene because of the process to follow. might be able to bring you some reaction, my phone is pinging as people react to where we are. just got this from the scottish vitamin‘s federations are picking up on our conversation about fishermen. they say that they are urging the prime minister to refuse to a cce pt urging the prime minister to refuse to accept a bad deal, as they see it, for the uk fishing industry. amid media reports the eu will not accept any material change to access

rights or quotas in uk fishing waters. the chief executive has reminded borisjohnson waters. the chief executive has reminded boris johnson of waters. the chief executive has reminded borisjohnson of the pledges he and his ministers made to make sure the uk became a fully fledged coastal state and not one in name only. what that reminds you of is that the two leaders on that phone call in the last hour or so, having to keep the people they represent happy behind them. yes, compromise will be necessary if there is to be a landing zone for some sort of deal, but both of them have to keep those who have sent them to the negotiating table happy, in order to ensure they don't scream they have been sold out if an agreement is arrived at and plenty of people don't like the look of it. chris, i know we will be speaking to you through this evening, but thank you through this evening, but thank you very much for that. we have had reaction there, chris has talked about the messages he has been receiving. let's get the reaction

from brussels and nick beake is there. what reaction has this been receiving where you are? there. what reaction has this been receiving where you are ?|j there. what reaction has this been receiving where you are? i was listening to what chris was saying, the eu side having to keep all of the eu side having to keep all of the 27 leaders happy. of course, theyin the 27 leaders happy. of course, they in turn have to keep their people happy, their voters in those 27 different countries, they need to say that a deal, if one is reached, it is something in the interest of these people. whether it is the people of france, spain, germany, italy, no matter what. throughout this process, the eu has been keen to present itself as a united front, the 27 members of the club, although they are different geographically and culturally and economically, they are standing firmly behind their chief negotiator, michel barnier. but over the past 48 hours also, we have seen some differences emerge and chris mentioned it there on fishing. the french are unhappy

that too much ground may be given to the british in order to try and get a deal over the line and we have had a deal over the line and we have had a french minister saying, france would veto a deal even if one is agreed and they believe their fishing communities are being sold out. it is a difficult balancing act. we see in the statement from herschel of on the line, the eu trying to keep this united front. i think over the next hours or so, we will get more of an indication of how individual countries are thinking at this point. —— herschel of on the line. much has been said about where germany stands and angela merkel and perhaps having a more conciliatory approach to this, is that right? it is quite easy to characterise germany as being the good cop and france as being the bad cop. behind the scenes, there are some ambassadors who think at this point the germans, and angela merkel will not be leading her country for

much longer. this will be potentially part of her legacy and the fact germany holds the rotating presidency here and it is the germans who are in control when it comes to the meetings of the 27 eu countries in their various forms and went all the ministers get together. there is a sense among some countries the germans are very, very keen to do this and they could be going too far. that said, i think all of the 27, certainly the vast majority of them really believe the competition rules are sacrosanct, they cannot be letting the british have all of these advantages, as they see it. access to their club, no tariffs, no quotas in the future when it comes to trading, if the british are not prepared to sign up to their rules. that is the fundamental problem they have got to try to resolve between them and that is channelled into the talks that have been happening in london for the past week. nick beake, thank you very much. speaking live from

brussels. you are watching bbc news. thousand of doses of coronavirus vaccine have arrived in scotland — ahead of the start this week of its vaccination programme. vaccinations are also expected to begin at 50 hospital hubs in england on tuesday. it's hoped that gp—run centres to administer the vaccine will be up and running from mid—december — patients who are over the age of 80 will be invited in first. but the uk nations' four chief medical officers have warned that this winter, the vaccine will have only a "marginal impact" on the numbers admitted to hospital, and so social distancing and other precautions will still be needed. more rapid mass testing is being introduced in areas in the highest tier of restrictions in england, including in wolverhampton. but there are concerns about their accuracy, afterfigures — based on a pilot in liverpool — showed lateral flow tests missed half of all cases.

our health correspondent katherine da costa reports. council staff here in wolverhampton are preparing to roll out mass testing from monday. nose and throat swabs are taken but instead of being sent to a lab, lateral flow tests provide results within half an hour. but there is concern they are not as accurate as standard pcr tests so more people could be told they are negative when they are not. if those people then go out and they visit their grandparents, they stop socially distancing and so on because they believe they haven't got covid, that's not going to help. it could actually make it worse. last month the government hailed a trial of rapid tests in liverpool a success having helped to reduce the rate of infection. but figures from the pilot show tests missed half of all cases. government advisers say they still have a value. we have been very clear that this test finds people that we couldn't otherwise.

what we are doing here is we are doing case detection, we are not trying to say to people they don't have the disease if the test is negative, we are trying to say you do have the disease and now we want you to isolate for ten days. trials of mass testing are being explored across the uk. in england that tests are also being used in schools, care homes and by students before they head home for christmas. behavioural experts say that could send mixed messages. the problem is that this is being used, for example, with university students to say if you get a negative result on two occasions you are all right to travel home. because this is being done in this way it is communicating that somehow those people are not infectious. they may still be infectious after two such a negative test results so the government urgently needs to explain this test is for identifying those who are infectious so they can isolate. it is not the reassurance for those who test negative. coronavirus is highly contagious...

this new public health video has just been released as a reminder that even with a mass testing and vaccines on the way we will still need to be vigilant to stop the spread of the virus this winter. katharine da costa, bbc news. the latest government figures show new infections continuing to fall. there were 15,539 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is now 14,400. 1,365 people had been admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last tuesday. 397 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week 427 deaths were announced every day.

it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 61,014. the labour party has revealed that sir keir starmer is self—isolating. a member of his private office staff tested positive, but the labour leader says he's not showing symptoms. in line with government advice, he will work from home until wednesday 16th of december. merseyside police say the mayor of liverpool, joe anderson, has been released on bail following his arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation. he and four other people were detained as part of a year—long investigation into the awarding of building contracts. in a statement, mr anderson said that he was "interviewed for six hours" and that he was, "co—operating fully" with the police. three people have been taken to hospital following an explosion

at a house in west yorkshire. the extent of their injuries isn't known. the blast happened at a property in illingworth, near halifax, at around 7.30 this morning. an investigation is under way. hens, turkeys and other captive birds in britain will have to be kept indoors from december 14th to prevent the spread of bird flu. the chief vets for england, scotland and wales made the decision after a number of cases were detected among both captive and wild birds. jon donnisonjoins me now. should consumers be worried? the government says not. it says the risk to people is very low and that people should not be affected in terms of their consumption of poultry products and that includes eggs. bird flu, like human flu is a

seasonal thing. there are numerous strains of bird flu and most do not affect people. this particular strain, the nhs is saying is hn 58. there are no cases of that affecting humans in the world. it is a busy time forfarmers humans in the world. it is a busy time for farmers and it could cost them tens of millions of pounds. we have had one farm in north yorkshire this week you had to order 10,000 turkeys because it had to cul. how long has this been bubbling away in the background ? long has this been bubbling away in the background? it is a problem for the background? it is a problem for the farming community and it seems to have been picked up in the last few weeks. it is a seasonal thing andi few weeks. it is a seasonal thing and i think there has been cases in

cheshire, norfolk and we have also had cases in wild birds. i think it isa had cases in wild birds. i think it is a big worry, we will hear from the poultry council in a moment and they are concerned it has been a difficult yearfor them they are concerned it has been a difficult year for them because we have the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty about brexit we have been hearing about, so it is a difficult year. let's do that right now. we are nowjoined by richard griffiths from the british poultry council. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. i am going to ask the same question to you, how worried should we be honestly? the public are very sensitive when it comes to viruses in animals that humans consume? on that point, i have to echo your previous guest. we must remember it isa previous guest. we must remember it is a disease of birds and not humans and the nhs has not seen any cases of this anywhere in the world. as of

now, we are concerned as an industry, we are concerned for individual businesses because it will have a massive impact. what can you tell us about the strain? this strain seems particularly very releva nt to strain seems particularly very relevant to the bird population. we have been dealing with bird flu seasonally for the last 15 years. this seems to be the worst spread of incidents that we have seen thus far. why is that, when you say the worst spread, that sounds concerning, so we could get worse before it gets better? we are trying very ha rd to before it gets better? we are trying very hard to stamp it out. we have seen, as has been reported, we have seen seen, as has been reported, we have seen incidents all round the country so we know it is quite prevalent in

wild birds. that is the way it generally gets into poultry farms. so yes, we might see more cases, but we are trying our very best to stamp it out. obviously you are talking to your members, what are they saying to you? they are very concerned, obviously. and has been stated previously, take bird flu on its own, covid on its own and brexit on its own you can probably deal with it, but all three together has left a beleaguered industry that has been working flat out through this year to feed the country. the statement by the, thejoint to feed the country. the statement by the, the joint statement by the chief of vets talk about swift action needed, which is why this was passed. if this doesn't work, what is next? have they pass that

information onto you? this is part of the contingency planning. it is something that was expected and something that was expected and something that was expected and something that is welcomed as well. i note that various farmers are already bringing birds in those ahead of the deadline. it is a very fluid situation. we are hopeful that we can't eradicate it in commercial flocks, but we still need to be very vigilant of wild birds. ok, you said this is... a wild birds have this strain and this is how it tends to be spread, so does that mean the farmed birds will have to be kept indoors until what? it is controlled in the wild bird population? how do you do that? or are we talking as far as christmas and satisfying customers, because you cannot control what is happening in the

wild? it is seasonal. from the experience we have, as we move through the migratory bird season and this is how bird flu at the different strains arrive at our shows, through migratory birds and then into the wild bird population. we are fairly confident that using this tool of bringing the birds indoors can see us through the migratory season. that is very interesting, seasonal. thank you very much indeed, richard griffiths. 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—19 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 he 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. just to remind you of the main development in brexit talks. there hasn't really been except the talks can reconvene and are taking place tomorrow. this follows a phone call that took place between the prime minister and ursula von der leyen, president of the european commission. this was the tweet, part ofa commission. this was the tweet, part of a joint statement that was released by the two leaders. i had a phone call with boris johnson released by the two leaders. i had a phone call with borisjohnson on the eu and uk negotiations. differences remain at their agreement looks possible if these are not resolved. we, meaning borisjohnson and ursula von der leyen, will speak again on wednesday. it is going to be interesting to see what can be achieved in a matter of 12 to

24—hour is. that is the main development that is taking place regarding the brexit trade talks, the stalled trade talks. now let's get the weather with thomas. it was a chilly day today and tomorrow doesn't look much better. this is the weather map and it looks pretty complicated, low pressure close by and weather fronts flirting with the uk. showers across scotland and northern england overnight. for example in newcastle, durham, and the leads there have been a few spots of rain. clear spells are well and the temperatures will be between minus two and plus two celsius. a chilly night with a bit of frost and icy patches first thing. tomorrow, godzilla bright weather for places like glasgow. but cloudy in hull,

the midlands and toward southern parts of wales. but the forecast for the week ahead show single figure temperatures and variable weather with a bit of sunshine now and again.