this is bbc news. the headlines at eight... brexit talks between the uk and the eu will resume on sunday after a phone call between boris johnson and the president of the european commission — but both sides say significant differences still remain. translation: whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved. more rapid testing is introduced in areas in the highest tiers of restrictions in england, but there are concerns about their accuracy. a man's charged with attempted murder after a 4 month old is found seriously injured in blackpool. three people have been taken to hospital after an explosion at a house in west yorkshire. coming up at 8.30pm — veteran explorer robin

hanbury—tenison describes how the healing power of nature helped save his life. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the uk and eu have agreed to return to the negotiating table to try to agree a post—brexit trade deal with negotiating teams reconvening in brussels tomorrow. prime minister boris johnson and european commission president ursula von der leyen made the decision during a phone call on saturday and will speak again on monday evening to discuss the progress. a joint statement released by mrjohnson and ms von der leyen in the past hour said that "significa nt differences" remained between them on three critical

issues — the level playing field, governance and fisheries. both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved. the statement said "whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that 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." with the latest on the stalled brexit trade talks — here's our political correspondent chris mason. checking out for now, the eu's chief negotiator leaving his hotel in london after talks on a trade deal were paused. so what does this mean for the chances of an agreement? any hope for a deal? good morning. we keep calm, as always, and if there is a way, still a way, we will see.

mr barnier didn't give much away as he headed for his train to brussels, but a statement from both sides had already made clear that there are big differences to overcome, or "significant divergences" as they were described. so, in the last few hours, the prime minister spoke by phone with the president of the european commission. afterwards, she said... we welcomed the fact that progress has been achieved in many areas. nevertheless, significant differences remain on three critical issues — level playing field, governance, and fisheries. both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved. whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that 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. i will speak again to prime minister borisjohnson on i will speak again to prime minister boris johnson on monday i will speak again to prime minister borisjohnson on monday evening. in the four and a half years since the eu referendum, we have all become wearily familiar with loose talk of deadlines. but this time it really is it. the uk left the eu at the end ofjanuary, and since then has been in a transition period we are very little has changed. but that runs out at the end of this month. so if there is going to be a trade deal, it has to be sorted in the coming days. 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 are 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 to a deal. fish — how many, if any, are allowed to be caught by eu countries' boats in uk waters is one of the big remaining disagreements, along with competition rules, and how any deal is enforced. if we have a deal, at least there is some certainty. even if we have a deal, we have to adjust. the government has sent out a letter to every business in the country saying "check, change, go." well, check what? change what? go where? big changes are coming to the uk's relationship with the eu whether there is a deal or not. this is now the endgame. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. our political correspondent, chris mason, explained more of what happened on that phone call between boris johnson and ursula von der leyen.

what have we learnt as far as that telephone call this evening. there are still significant gaps between the two sides. they are long—standing gaps, the whole business of competition rules, fishing, and how any deal will be governed. it would appear from the uk side that they feel that the gaps between the two sides have grown in the last few days. they felt a few days ago that they were getting close to securing a deal, and now it does not seem that there is that likelihood or it is a strong a likelihood or it is a strong a likelihood as it was. they have not downed tools or pulled stumps yet. the negotiation is starting again tomorrow with the two chief negotiators. lord frost for the uk, michel barnierfor the negotiators. lord frost for the uk, michel barnier for the eu. negotiators. lord frost for the uk, michel barnierfor the eu. what is quite striking as far as the timeline is concerned is that we already have a scheduled and publicly announced catch up chat, it is not quite the language of diplomacy, between ursula von der

leyen and the prime minister on monday evening. in 48 hours' time. effectively they are setting another deadline. they will reconvene into day's time with the hope, that there has been some progress made between now and then. as things stand, there isa now and then. as things stand, there is a big gap. they will have to be compromise if we are going to get to the point by the end of monday where a deal looks possible. i guess there is the potential beyond monday that you could delay perhaps a little bit more, but not by much. what are these sticking points that are holding things back? lets look at fishing first. as a contribution to the uk economy, it is absolutely tiny. but symbolically it is huge, and geographically it is concentrated. plenty of fishing communities feel that the existing arrangements under the common fisheries policy, the eu wide agreement, leave the uk in a very poor circumstance. they want a

better deal as a result. it is actually quite a strong hand for the uk, fishing. lots of eu boats come into british waters, fish in our seas, and plenty of british fishermen think that is unfair. but on the eu side, they do not want to lose everything that they have had for the last generation. the uk side wa nts for the last generation. the uk side wants something to show for brexit as far as fishing is concerned. can an arrangement be arrived at without either side saying it is a sell—out? that is a sticking point. governance, if any deal is done, how is it managed to ensure that both side stick to it. then there's this whole business of a level playing field, one of these glorious bits of brexit gibberish really. sufficient gibberish that michel barnier even went to a playing field in london to stand between the goalposts to talk about level playing field. this is about level playing field. this is about competition. this really matters, because the uk leaving the eu is all about being governed by

its own laws rather than by eu laws. the eu is rather keen to keep a very big economic player on the geographically on the margins of europe, very close to the eu, relatively close to the eu set of rules. the uk does not want to be bound by that because all point of brexit is to not be bound by that. the whole business of a level playing field, fair competition, as both sides want to see it, is still a big sticking point. our europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels — he explained the priorities for the uk and the eu in agreeing a deal. over the past 48 hours or so, we have seen a reflection of the fact that this is a club of 27 different members. sometimes there is an uneasy relationship between those members with different priorities. notably france. a minister yesterday said that if a trade deal is agreed, if they manage to bridge all the gaps that chris was talking about, thenif gaps that chris was talking about, then if the french do not like it,

they will veto it. they will not have any qualms about that. that is an indication of the difficulties involved in this. it is notjust a case of the negotiators being able to do what the british are doing, just make an agreement on behalf of one people, one set of voters. it is much more difficult than that. that is why we got a sense during the week that some countries thought maybe michel barnier, the eu's chief negotiator, was prepared to give it a bit too much to the british and they got a bit nervous. given what we have seen over the past few days and today, what sense do you get in brussels that a deal is possible?|j think brussels that a deal is possible?” think it is worth saying that a lot of people who normally would be giving a running commentary, not necessarily publicly, but may be behind the scenes, helping the likes of me. they are not seeing a huge amount. i think that is a reflection of that eu wanting to hold the line. ican of that eu wanting to hold the line. i can tell you one eu source has said that they believe that this is all part of the choreography and they remain quite optimistic that a

deal could be done may be in the next 48 hours. they see a bit more drama, a bit more time is needed before a deal is reached, but ultimately it boils down to the british. the eu would say that, wouldn't they? but they believe the decision is in borisjohnson‘s court. the ball is in his court. he needs to decide whether he is prepared to sign up to some of the rules the eu is offering in order to get a ccess rules the eu is offering in order to get access to the single market without those taxes and tariffs and quotas and limits on all the goods. of course, i think at the same time the eu has to compromise on fish. will find out how the story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages this evening in the papers. our gastronomyjoining front pages this evening in the papers. our gastronomy joining me tonight by the broadcaster... are the broadcaster lucy beresford and co—founder and director deltapolljoe twyman.

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—i9 test. that means on average in the past week, 427 deaths were announced every day. (00v 6 it takes the total week, 427 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 61 thousand and 14. 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. a 28—year—old man has been charged with attempted murder after baby girl was found seriously injured inside a property in blackpool. the baby is in a critical condition in hospital. our news correspondent steve saul gave us more detail. well, lancashire police were called to a house on onslow road in leighton at around six o'clock on thursday. now, they were made aware by the north west ambulance service. there they found a four—month—old baby, she had been seriously injured at the property. she was taken to blackpool victoria hospital and then she was transferred to the specialist alder hey children's hospital. i am told that she remains in a critical condition tonight. a 28—year—old man from blackpool was initially arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. but lancashire police say

after consultations and talks with the crown prosecution service, the man, 28—year—old jordan lee from the same property was charged with attempted murder. now, he appeared at blackpool magistrates‘ court this morning, and has been remanded into custody. dci eric halford of blackpool police in lancashire said the thoughts of the force remained with the family at this difficult time for them and of those their little girl. she remains in hospital in a critical condition. they say while a man has been charged, their investigation is very much ongoing, and they are asking anyone with information or anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the area around the time to contact the police. the headlines on bbc news... brexit talks between the uk and the eu will resume on sunday after a phone call between boris johnson and the president of the european commission. more rapid testing is introduced in areas in the highest tiers of restrictions in england — but there are concerns

about their accuracy. a man's charged with attempted murder after a 4 month old is found seriously injured in blackpool. 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. earlier we spoke to richard griffiths, from the british poultry council. i think you we must remember that it isa i think you we must remember that it is a disease of birds, not of humans. the nhs has not seen any cases of this anywhere in the world, so as cases of this anywhere in the world, so as of now, we are concerned is an industry, we are concerned of individual businesses, because it will have a massive impact. we are

trying very hard to stamp it out. that is what we try every time there is an incident. we have seen, as have been reported, we have seen insta nces have been reported, we have seen instances all around the country, so we know it is quite prevalent in wild birds. that is the way that it generally gets into poultry flocks. so, yes, we might see more cases, but we are trying our very best to stamp it out. more now on efforts secure a post—brexit trade deal. and trade and transport organisations in northern ireland have expressed their concern about the stalemate in the post—brexit trade negotiations. they have urged borisjohnson and ursula von der leyen, to reach an agreement quickly. from belfast, mark simpson reports. whichever way the brexit negotiations go, there is huge interest in northern ireland. but some business groups say they are tired of waiting for answers. we would hope, and maybe use an old ulster phrase, that both the eu and the uk which are simply wise up, get

the deal done. this is too important for the games and we need to make sure that people understand what the rules are going to be from the 1st of january, and relationships are improved. first of all, we need a deal. that will be vital to reducing any barriers between trade between gb and northern ireland. then we need an implementation phase, because industry and government simply and government simply isn't ready for january the 1st. lastly, we need special derogations on retail food movements coming into northern ireland and post and parcels. politicians here have their differences on the brexit, but they all agree on one thing. what happens next could have major implications. i would say we have been very heavily focused on covid over the past 12 months and this has maybe slipped down the agenda, but what happens in this regard, this could have huge implications for both businesses and households alike in terms... not least in terms of their choice of available goods and also the prices. stormont politicians know all about difficult negotiations, and the thin line

between a breakthrough and a breakdown. the focus is on political leaders in brussels and london. they have been through the issues many times before, now it is crunch time once again. all people in belfast, dublin and across europe can do is wait to see whether a last—minute deal can be done. mark simpson, bbc news, belfast. 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. let's return now to the pandemic and efforts to combat rising infections through testing. mass coronavirus testing has started in one of the areas hardest—hit by covid—19 in wales.

people living or working in the lower cunnen valley are being offered tests — as morgan hammond reports. in a bid to tackle the rise of covid cases in the lower canaan valley, this indoor bowls centre is one of two main sites, along with abercynon sports centre to be turned into a mass coronavirus testing centre. from today up until the 20th of december, people living or working abercynon and surrounding areas will be eligible for tests. extending the test pilot into the lower canaan i think is really important. we are offering it to 27,000 residents your. this area in the canaan valley has seen some of the highest cases per 100,000 in wales, and actually some of the highest in the uk over the last three to four weeks. this is an opportunity to try to get those asymptomatic cases, which we know is part of community transmission. this testing programme uses so—called lateral flow devices, which can get results in around 20—30 minutes. if somebody tests positive, they will be asked on site to take part in the contact tracing,

and then they will go home and self—isolate. but if someone tests negative, health officials say they should not have a misplaced sense of reassurance. when people test negative, they are only negative in the now. there is nothing to say that they will remain negative tomorrow, so it is extremely important that people still maintain social distancing, use facemasks, universal precautions, the standard messages. it is extremely important that people still do those things. so, what do locals here make of what is going on? i think it is a very good idea because of the amount of cases that have been in the lower end of the valley. i think it is a good idea to pick up hotspots if they can to do something about it. ijust want to make sure that all my family and relatives are going to be safe over the christmas period. there's an awful lot of asymptomatic people, they do not know they have got it but they are spreading it everywhere. with the rate of covid—19 infection is still running high in this community, going forward it is hoped that by engaging with the testing programme, people in the lower

valley can play a major role in reducing the spread of the virus. the first doses of the covid vaccine arrived in scotland today, and we're nowjust days away from the first vaccinations being carried out. but earlier, chief medical officers from across the uk warned that vaccines would only have a "marginal" impact on the pandemic over the next three months. it comes as the scottish government announced another 22 deaths from coronavirus, and 777 new cases. aileen clarke reports from glasgow. the specialist vaccine freezers installed and ready. as of today, they are now stocked with the pfizer vaccine at 23 storage sites across scotland. already, gp surgeries are taking calls from patients anxious to know when it will be their turn to know when it will be their turn to get it. when your time comes to

get called up for the vaccine, you will get a letter from central government and a leaflet alongside it- government and a leaflet alongside it—an government and a leaflet alongside it — an information leaflet that will tell you to contact your practice if you are over 80 years old. at that point we will be able to search out with an appointment. chief officers from around the uk have come together to say that getting these vaccinations on the way is very well, but it will only have a marginal impact on reducing the numbers of people with covid coming into the health service in the coming months. another challenge for the scottish government is how to ensure people and all of scotland's communities take the time to get the vaccine when offered it. in places where money is tight, people are being more seriously affected by covid. they are more likely to be hospitalised or even die. it is these same areas where they take up for vaccines is traditionally lower. generally in scotland, uptake of vaccines is generally high. but when we look at the data, it is lower in deprived

areas and certain ethnic minority groups. places like you're in govan, people just be scraping by. they might be working two jobs. customer facing jobs, as a shop assistant or security guard, the very people that the government would want to get the vaccination but also the people that mightfind it vaccination but also the people that might find it hardest to make the time to get it. that is where setting up vaccination centres locally could be key. just as the scottish government set up local testing centres, they say they are planning to do similarfor vaccinations in the new year. aileen clark, bbc news. 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 treated in hospital, two of them for serious injures,

after an explosion destroyed a house in west yorkshire. the blast happened at a property in illingworth, near halifax, shortly after seven—thirty this morning. west yorkshire police say their investigation involves liaising with the gas supplier, local council and the health and safety executive. as sabbiyah pervez reports. these were the startling scenes as residents rushed out of their home after hearing a loud bang at around 7:30am this morning. a property engulfed in flames was reduced to its bare bones. six surrounding houses were evacuated. the shock was palpable. i saw people jumping out of their house. there was no front of their house. there was no front of their house. there was no front of the house. from the top floor, i could say it had collapsed, and i saw someone jumping out. could say it had collapsed, and i saw someonejumping out. i heard people saying, get the old lady out

who lives next door. they managed to get her out and i saw them carrying her over their shoulder. it was like something out of a horror story. as i went out of my door, the flames we re i went out of my door, the flames were coming all along. we have all been evacuated in the immediate area to make sure that it is safe before we go back. it was an explosion that was felt by everyone living in this neighbourhood here in halifax. as you can see behind me, emergency services are continuing to extinguish any small fires that might appear. the family affected are thankfully safe and are currently in hospital being treated with minor injuries whilst investigations continue into the cause of this explosion. there is a gas main that is still ignited, but we are protecting that. we have got water surrounding the property. we have evacuated nearby properties. you can probably see behind me that the gas services are on scene along

with police and health and safety executives. we will not be going from the scene until we are happy it is safe. meanwhile, the community here at come together to raise funds and donate essential items for the family affected. they hope that at the very least, the family can have a comfortable christmas after a traumatic experience. now it's time for a look at the weather with thomasz shafernaker. good evening. it was a chilly day today and more of the same tomorrow. in fact, the week ahead does not look particularly warm either. a few showers in the forecast but also some sunny spells. the weather map looks pretty complicated. no pressure close by, weather fronts flirting with the uk. some showers across scotland and northern england overnight. in newcastle, durham, leeds. and the south—east, too. clear spells as well and the

tem ptress clear spells as well and the temptress will be between —2 and plus 2 degrees. a chilly night with a bit of frost and icy patches first thing. tomorrow, a good deal of bright weather around for places like belfast and glasgow. the central swathe of the uk often cloudy, apart from hull and the midlands toward southern parts of wales. the forecast for the week ahead shows single figure temperatures and variable weather, just a bit of sunshine now and then.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. brexit talks between the uk and the eu will resume on sunday after a phone call between boris johnson and the president of the european commission — but both sides say significant differences still remain. whilst recognising the seriousness of these