this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan—jones. our top stories: president trump is set to speak to supporters at a campaign rally in georgia for the first time since he lost the election — and still, he's refusing to concede. president trump and the first lady leave for his first britain's prime minister boris johnson and the eu commission president talk at length but fail to break the deadlock on a post—brexit trade deal. ajapanese space capsule lands back on earth carrying the first samples of rock from an asteroid, and possible clues to the origins of the solar system. and venice lights up for christmas — but you may have to be a local to see this year's spectacular sight.

hello, and welcome to bbc news. president trump has again insisted, without facts, that he won the us presidential election. he was speaking at a rally in georgia, his first campaign event since last month's election. he's in georgia to support the state's two republican senators, who need to win runoff elections injanuary if republicans are to hang on to control of the senate. he said the stakes at these runoff elections are high. because at stake in this election is control of the us senate, and that really means control of this country. the voters of georgia will determine which party runs every committee, writes every piece of legislation, controls every single taxpayer dollar. very simply, you will decide whether your children will grow up whether your children will grow up in whether your children will grow upina whether your children will grow up in a socialist country or whether they will grow up in a free country, and i will tell you this. socialist is just the

beginning for these people. these people want to go further than socialism. they want to go into a communist —— communistic form of government, but i have no doubt about it. crowd boos. we canjust no doubt about it. crowd boos. we can just go live back to the state of georgia, webp president trump is still speaking. his rallies tend to go on for quite some time, and this one is no different. we can speak now to a north america correspondent, peter bowes. good to speak to you again. it is like old times, isn't it? president trump loves a rally, and people there really love hi m. now, he is of course there to talk and to support these two crucial senate races, but he did start off by speaking about himself and the election, and frankly that is what the crowds that want to hear about as well? yes. the crowd seems to like what they have heard so far. this is typical donald trump.

he is in the kind of arena that he enjoys the most, and that is close with his most ardent supporters, and we are hearing to some extent, the president relitigate the election campaign. as you've said, he has claimed once again that he has claimed once again that he has won the election, that he won the state of georgia, which he didn't, but he won the state of wisconsin, which he didn't. but i did notice that during the course of this speech, which as we know is still going on, his tone did change a little bit, and he was talking about the number of federal judges that he has succeeded in appointing during his term in office, and then he said, if we do, if we do a second term, which i hope we do, he predicted that he would appoint hundreds more federal judges. so that was not quite as certain as perhaps when he started off this speech, perhaps a glimmer of doubt in the president's mind, but i think the tenor of the message is that he is fighting on and he is going to continue with

these baseless claims that there was fraud in this election, and he says, referring to the election coming up, which is really what this really is all about, the two senate seats in georgia, the election is injanuary, actually, early voting starts in less than two weeks, he says the democrats are going to cheat again, and that is the kind of allegation that a lot of people will be looking out for, especially local republicans, perhaps nervous but it might actually put off some of their supporters from going to the polls injanuary. interesting. let's quickly focus on these elections, because they might seem slightly marginal, just two senate seats in one state of the us, but they are actually absolutely crucial to the future of the country, aren't they? yes, they are. donald trump they? yes, they are. donald tru m p reflected they? yes, they are. donald trump reflected that during his speech. he was absolutely right. the historic importance of these two senate seats

really cannot be overstated, because at the moment, the republicans have the lead, they have the balance of power in the senate committees are not two republican seats. if they win them they will secure that majority in the senate, but there is the possibility that it may lose them to the democrats, both parties will have an equal number of seats in the senate, and then who would essentially hold the balance of power, the casting vote in close situations, well it would be the vice president, kamala harris. that is the main constitutional role of the vice president, to oversee the senate and to have the casting vote, if there is a need for a tiebreaker. that vote, if there is a need for a tiebrea ker. that is vote, if there is a need for a tiebreaker. that is why it is so tiebreaker. that is why it is so crucially important to both republicans and the democrats, and yes, it is very important to donald trump as well, because of the democrats have the balance of power, they will think about saying goodbye to a lot of the policies the president has managed to get through over the past two yea rs. through over the past two years. and it will be a lot easierfor

years. and it will be a lot easier for democrats to change things. post—brexit trade deal negotiations between eu and british representatives will start up again on sunday, according to the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen. she was speaking after an hour—long phone call with prime minister, borisjohnson. the two leaders failed to break the current deadlock, but they'll both talk again on monday. the sense of urgency is clear, the uk will transition out of eu trade rules on the 31st december. chris mason reports. the prime minister on the phone this afternoon trying to see if the brexit trade deal is possible. he was talking to ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission. big differences remain between the two sides, and afterwards, she said... whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we have agreed that a further effort should be undertaken

by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be, these issues can be resolved. we are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in brussels. the day began with the eu's chief brexit negotiator michel barnier checking out of his hotel in london with talks paused. any hope for a deal? 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 of january and since then has been in a transition period where 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, the key issue is control, not giving control away to the european union in pursuit of economic outcomes, but they will be, in my view, it is in everyone's interests to come to a deal. fish, how many 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, and a big few days lie ahead. chris mason, bbc news at westminster.

here's our correspondent nick beake with the latest from brussels. i was talking to one eu diplomat this evening who suggested that this actually can be viewed as all part and parcel of the inevitable choreography you get just before a deal is sealed. in other words, you throw in a bit of drama, a dollop of intrigue and lo and behold it all comes together nicely a deal is done. however, the majority view here in brussels this evening as they are concerned. you get very few people willing to say, yes, i believe there will be a trade deal, and that is because it's not just haggling over the price of fish, that is of course very important topic in these negotiations, fish is something we have heard a lot about. but for the eu it goes to the heart of competition rules and that underpins the single market, it is sacred in the eyes of people in the city and they don't want to give the uk an unfair advantage in the future.

i think the key, really, is, is the eu able to say, if there is a deal that yes, we have got what we wanted, we haven't given up our principles. and is boris johnson able to say, i have got what i have wanted and not sacrificed any sovereignty that the uk wants back. at this late stage, that is really tricky to do, i think. but was nick beake in brussels. we will move their to france. for a second weekend running, there've been violent demonstrations in paris. riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters who are opposed to a draft law protecting french officers from being filmed on duty. our reporterjohn johnson has more. this was the scene on the streets of paris on saturday as peaceful rallies over a controversial draft security law turned violent for a second consecutive weekend. officers fired tear gas and a pocket of demonstrators set cars and barricades on fire. shop windows were smashed by some hooded protesters and a bank was ransacked and torched. the protest started over

a clause in a draft security law which aimed to restrict how people share images of on duty police, making it a criminal offence if there was an intent to harm their physical or psychological integrity. the government backed down in the face of pressure and said the controversial clause would be rewritten but protesters want the law to be scrapped completely. translation: france must distinguish itself being in the core of great democracies. it often has this habit of curbing freedoms while preaching their importance to others, and france being the country of human rights. the weekly nationwide protests, which have been peaceful in lyon, marseilles and rennes, have become a problem

for president macron‘s government. in an interview on friday, he acknowledged that some police officers are violent and said race was a factor but lashed out at an earlier violence in paris. translation: i can't let it be said that freedoms are being curtailed in our country and i can't say there is no democratic debate, sometimes a little vibrant. at least i will always be the guarantor of that but today we are facing violence which is sometimes unprecedented. images of music producer michel zecler being kicked and punched by three white policemen last month shocked the nation. human rights activists say they might never have been made public if the new security law had already been in force. john johnson, bbc news.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump attends his first campaign rally since losing the election — and he's still refusing to concede. the uk's prime minister borisjohnson and the eu commission president ursula von der leyen talk at length but fail to break the deadlock on a post—brexit trade deal. let's get more on our top story. president trump has been holding a rally in georgia — but still no sign of a concession tojoe biden. let's speak to lynn sweet, columnist and washington bureau chief at the chicago sun—times. thank you so much for coming on the programme. thank you for having me. i guess it is not a surprise you that donald trump goes on a rally, he likes going on campaign rallies, and secondly, he refuses to concede still? more than that. he told thousands of people in georgia, which as you have just discussed, it is the most

important election taking place there soon, trump is infecting there soon, trump is infecting the confidence of people voting in that race, sending two messages, that the vote is rigged against me, it is probably going to be rigged in the senate race, but you should vote a nyway. the senate race, but you should vote anyway. so one thing i wa nt to vote anyway. so one thing i want to point out, though, that isa want to point out, though, that is a little interesting and new, a wrinkle here, because i have been listening to this speech, which is still ongoing as we are doing this chap that we are having, he is now encouraging his followers to go out and vote early. the election is january five, the early vote begins on december 14. it is early vote begins on december 111. it is those early ballots that were counted after the day of voting ballots that trump believes were rigged against him. that is interesting. and how do you think his attacks on republicans in the state will be received? well, this, eve ryo ne be received? well, this, everyone who is listening to us, we are in new territory

here, whether president is attacking the republican governor and republican secretary of state. —— where the. trump phoned the republican governor of georgia this morning to try to get him to have a special legislative session to somehow overturn the results of the state election. my results of the state election. my guess is that trump republicans aside with trump over the elected republican officials. very dangerous new territory we are in here, where the elected officials, republicans, people who voted for trump republicans, people who voted fortrump and republicans, people who voted for trump and supported him, are now having, they are being me capped by the president because they won't conjure up some scheme to try to reverse the election results. -- some two by the president. and as for the elections themselves, these senate elections, not the presidential election, of course, we have discussed the huge significance of them. any sign from what you are seeing of which way the two seats could go?

it is too early. president of balmer has been doing virtual rallies in the big guns are going up stop what we know though is that president trump has the ability to turn out the vote but his crowd does not believe he lost in georgia so he came in as a victor and as such he have made that mckee may have strong coattails but other republicans who are trying to help him have said do not vote because these election machines that were used are bad full of so multiple messages, some to suppress the vote, now donald trump is in georgia trying to get it out. it is a confusing situation and i cannot make a prediction. we appreciate your time, great to have you on. as we've been reporting, coronavirus vaccines are beginning to be rolled out, but scientists say it's more

important than ever that new infections are kept under control. a moscow correspondent has more. 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. it is still in an experimental form and mass trials are still under way. but the chief doctor at this clinic says 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 and the a nswer dangerous disease and the answer is obvious. this is a leaflet that patients are given before they get the jab and it

talks about some possible side effect although it sets out that they should be minimal and last maybe one or three days. perhaps some weakness, some sickness or a fever. some 5000 people have supposedly signed up people have supposedly signed up already to get this vaccination in the last rollout although we have only seen a hand here getting the jab. translation: we see how sick people get so we have no doubt at all about getting vaccinated. we use protective clothing and now we're the vaccine as early as possible. from the start, russia has treated this quest for a covid vaccine is something of a race. it declared itself the first country to register a vaccine, sputnik five back in august. now it is rolling —— moving quickly to roll the vaccine out. there are still questions about how much it can produce.

manufacturers are unable to quickly scale up their production. the president has said the 2 million doses should be available this year for people and then next year russia plans to roll this out much faster and much wider as the number of covid—i9 cases in the number of covid—i9 cases in the country continues to grow. are we one step closer to discovering how life began? ajapanese space capsule carrying the first samples of rock from an asteroid has landed in the australian desert. coming from right side and it is getting brighter and brighter. entering the earth's atmosphere. that's viable on your screen moving from right to left is a closely watched space capsule whose contents could help explain the creation of our solar system. applause there was joy and relief at the japanese aerospace exploration agency's mission control as the

soil sample sent from the japanese space craft parachuted down safely in the australian desert. translation: scientists are expecting about 0.1 of a gram will be returned for examination at their laboratory near tokyo from the asteroid which lies some 300 million kilometres away. they will measure the rocks age, what it is made of and how it is formed, potentially offering vital clues as to how the sun and planets came to be. this one is special because this one is going to an asteroid that we think is really rich in organic material and water so when the very earliest history of the earth we think it may have been pelted with asteroids like that and that is what gave us the water and the carbon to form our oceans and to enable life to flourish on earth. it is an

exciting prospect after a successful landing following what one member of the space agency here described as a perfect mission with many more to come. translation: perfect mission with many more to come. translationzlj perfect mission with many more to come. translation: i had jotted down the dates when the probe adjusted its orbit. if there is a three or four or even five i would like to be involved in the mission. that next mission on this mothership, having launched its first capsule, will boldly go examining the earth asteroids where no—one has gone before. fred watson has been following all of this very closely. he has the title of australia's official astronomer—at—large — he joins us now from sydney. thank you forjoining us. it is a great pleasure. an exciting day. yes. many excited scientists around the world which is what we want to see. what is special about these samples? what could they

reveal? potential is enormous because these are, for the first time, samples of the material of an asteroid which have been taken from the —— below the surface. the problem with asteroids is that they float around in space, sometimes for 11.5 billion yea rs. sometimes for 11.5 billion years. the age of the solar system. but they are bombarded by stunned radiation throughout that period so the surface material can be different from what is inside. so for the first time, the hayabusa mission has extracted a soil sample from within the asteroid and that could contain all kinds of secrets including the mineral content, it may tell us about the early history of the solar system. and the carbon content, that is the extraordinary part. carbon rich molecules may hold some clues as to the building blocks of life on earth. so it is that digging down under the surface thatis digging down under the surface that is the crucial bit and the

difference this time. just quickly, this is a japanese mission. why did it landed back on earth in australia. well, it is the best place to land. it is the best place to land. it is all about, when you bring a spacecraft home, you are determined by the orbit of the spacecraft itself and the orientation of the earth at the insta nce orientation of the earth at the instance that this thing is going to land. so it is all predetermined as to when you should choose to put a spacecraft down, the target was chosen many years ago and so the whole orbit has basically been dictated by that. in fact this is the second time it has happened because the first hayabusa landed at wimmera. we only have 20 seconds left but ina only have 20 seconds left but in a couple of sentences, what happens next now to the capsule? the capital goes to tokyo where it will be very

carefully checked over in the volatile material will be taken out and it will be opened up to see what is inside. so we wait to see what is inside and what results we get. thank you for coming on and it is great to talk to you. venice is usually one of the world's year—round tourist hot—spots, but not this year. to control a second wave of coronavirus, italy has toughened its travel restrictions and this year's christmas lights have been switched on without much ofa bang. sophia tran—thomson reports. cheering. not the grandest of celebrations, but in 2020, moments like this are worth celebrating. translation: this christmas is different from the others. unfortunately, like everyone else around the world, we are experiencing the same challenges. but i strongly believe in positivity. italian artist fabrizion plessi was invited to decorate venice for christmas this year, and chose to illuminate the city's brightest attractions. translation: my purpose

is to light up this town, which needs lights, which needs culture, which is new emotions. from the golden led tree to the doge palace and the rialto bridge, all of the city's most popular attractions are shining bright. for many christmas travellers, news that all foreign arrivals landing in italy after december 21 will need to quarantine for two weeks is disappointing. but for venetian locals, in a time of darkness for many, it is a unique opportunity to reclaim and enjoy the city for themselves. let's head down to bethlehem where they have also switched on christmas lights. the city is famous for being the biblical birthplace ofjesus and isa biblical birthplace ofjesus and is a destination for tourists and pilgrims alike and these pictures are from angel square outside the church of the nazarene body south of jerusalem in the west bank. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @lvaughanjones. well, the chilly weather is here to stay for the next few days. it's not desperately cold but certainly cold enough for some of that snow to still hang around in the hills and the mountains. for most of us, sunday is actually going to be quite a bright day and, yes, a few showers in the forecast. low pressure is close by so hence there will be a fair bit of cloud in places from the morning onwards. but more significantly we still have that current of cold air coming in and out of the arctic. it is actually fed all the way down towards the western mediterranean. so, this is what it looks like through the early hours of sunday morning, clouds and some showers there across northern parts of england. i think the coldest weather will be early in the morning across many western parts of the uk.

temperatures in rural spots under the clear skies will have dipped down to around minus three degrees. but most towns and cities it will be around freezing or above. so, here is the forecast for sunday. notice a few showers as they are filtering in through parts of the midlands, maybe one or two showers close to the south coast of england, but for places like belfast, glasgow, much of scotland, actually, lots of sunshine on the way and there will be some sunshine in the south as well, but chilly, temperatures fall to six degrees celsius. and sunday into monday is going to be every bit as nippy as well. here is thejet stream for monday. we still have that big dip in the jet stream across many parts of western and central europe, and this is the reason for the cold air leaking in from the northern climes. so, this pattern are certainly worse through the first half of the week. in fact, what we are going to see is low pressure forming in the north sea during monday afternoon. monday afternoon itself is actually looking dry but then it does look as though monday night into tuesday, that weather front is going to roll in and it will produce rain, sleet and snow i think across the hills, probably yorkshire, the southern uplands, into the

highlands as well. but in the south of the country, it should stay clear early on tuesday morning. so, let's have a look at the outlook, then, for the next few days. this is the summary. you can see those temperatures are into single figures. there isjust a gradual, gradual rise in those temperatures as we head towards the end of the week there, from four to eight in southampton. bye— bye.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: president trump is speaking at a rally in georgia, his first campaign event since he lost the presidential election last month. but as he's made clear on twitter in just the last few hours, mr trump is still refusing to concede tojoe biden. negotiations between eu and british representatives will resume on sunday, after an hour—long phone call between prime minister boris johnson and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen. the sense of urgency is clear, as the uk will transition out of eu trade rules on the 31st december. for a second weekend running, there've been violent demonstrations in paris. riot police used tear gas to disperse protestors who are opposed to a draft law protecting french officers from being filmed on duty. protesters attacked shops, ripped up pavements and burnt cars and barricades. next week will see the start of the coronavirus vaccination programme, after the pfizer biontech vaccine was approved for use in the uk.

but the nations' four chief medical officers