this is bbc news — i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. keep distance. britain and the european union remain "far apart" as talks between boris johnson and eu chief ursula von der leyen in brussels this is bbc news. end without agreement. the headlines: but, despite the lack of agreement, negotiations apart, as talks between to break the trade talks borisjohnson and eu chief deadlock, will continue, ursula von der leyen in brussels end without agreement. with a firm decision but, despite no deal, negotiations to break the trade expected by sunday. talks deadlock will continue, with a firm decision facebook is facing a major us expected by sunday. lawsuit that could force the company to sell off instagram and whatsapp. as thousands more people in the uk get the pfizer vaccine — facebook is facing a major a new warning goes out to those lawsuit in the us over concerns with serious allergies. it has become a digital monopoly that is stifling competition. and struggling to survive — how climate change, destruction of habitat and australia's if it loses, facebook could be

forced to break up the company recent bushfires have left and sell off instagram koalas on the brink. and whatsapp. medical regulators in the uk have recommended that people with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine. it comes after two uk nhs workers had an adverse response to the jab yesterday. talks to try to agree a post—brexit trade deal between the uk and the european union have concluded with both sides saying there are ‘very large gaps‘ to bridge. the british prime minister, borisjohnson and the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, met over dinner in brussels. both have agreed talks on a deal will continue until sunday, when a "firm" decision will be made. a source in mrjohnson‘s office said he didn't want to leave any possible route to a deal untested. without a trade agreement, tariffs will be imposed on goods from the start of january and trade will be disrupted by increased border checks.

earlier, i spoke with our europe editor, katya adler. she said it was a lively and interesting discussion. we've heard from the uk that it was a frank discussion which would imply that it wasn't necessarily so friendly. i think both sides totally agree that gaps still remain. as you say, talks will resume tomorrow, will go on until sunday. is sunday the deadline or is it just the latest deadline? of course, we have seen so many brexit deadlines come and go. to take a decision on the future of the talks we're told by the end of play on sunday could mean to carry on talking or it could mean of course announcing a deal or no deal. the very firm deadline that we have is the end of the year, the 31st of december. it's then that the transition period ends. that's when the uk fully comes out of the european union, it legally did so on the 31st of january. practically, it has remained in the eu's single market and customs union for the rest

of this year. as of the 1st of january, no longer. and it was by the end of this year that the two sides wanted this trade and security deal in place. tonight, that still looks like a very far off hope but we had news today that if you remember the brexit divorce deal on the protocol to deal with the practicalities from northern ireland, the implementation of that agreement has been going very badly this year and suddenly this week everything has clicked into place. so, it is possible even if at the moment that trade deal, itjust looks very troubled indeed. so katya, given that we've get yet another deadline come sunday, we weren't exactly expecting to hear of a deal tonight but at least we know that they are still talking. what do you think in your understanding was the kind of movement that made them think that actually we can still continue talking until sunday?

well, there's two possibilities, either that the two possibilities to see a chink of light. remember there are three main sticking points still there that have been there for months. that's the rights for eu fishing communities to access uk waters after brexit. it's competition regulations. the eu says, "uk, if you want to have preferential access "to our single market, then you need to sign up "to some principles on fair competition," says the eu. and the third point is the governance of the deal — how do you police it once it's in place? if either side breaks their word, what kind of penalties can be in place? those are the three outstanding issues, and they were discussed tonight. so it could be that even though not much progress was made tonight, some sense of progress was there, or it could also be that neither side wants to take the blame for walking away first from these negotiations because a no—deal situation will be chaotic and costly

and difficult for both sides. and so neither ursula von der leyen, the european commission president who tonight at dinner represented all 27 eu countries, nor boris johnson would want to be the ones to say, "right, i've had enough," and have that chaos on their shoulders. our europe editor there katya adler. our reporter paul hawkins is across the latest reaction. we weren't expecting to get any formal deal announced tonight. but the fact that they met face—to—face, do you think it made any difference? face—to—face, do you think it made any difference ?|i face—to—face, do you think it made any difference? i suppose they have nothing to lose, there is certainly that to be said. when two people get together in a room the dynamic is different than when you are talking on a zoom call, online, on the phone, etc, it was worth a shout. these two have met before at downing street roughly around the same time last year so it's not the first

time they have met but certainly there was nothing to lose by meeting in person. and of course they did notjust have a meeting, they also had dinner. i've got the menu here in case you're interested. sta rte r, in case you're interested. starter, pumpkin soup and scallops. maine, steamed turbid, mashed potatoes with was sobbing and vegetables and for dessert, pavlovich with exotic fruit and coconut sorbet. interesting that they picked up fish for the main dinner, that must‘ve an awkward dish given one of the issues on the main sticking point in getting a deal is fishing rights. —— maine, steamed turbot. a lot of the papers picking on that in the uk, the metro, "give us a meal deal" and the daily mail same deadlock at dinner and then the eye paper, saying fudge for the last supper at the eu talks

stop what i am surprised they didn't have fish putting with that menu. fish pudding? let's not go there. figuratively fish on the menu and literally. we have this next deadline sunday. people saying this is going to be the time, it will be an end point. what are you hearing when it comes to deadlines, we have heard so much before...m has gone on forever, we have gone through december the sist. .. gone through december the 31st... we have heard tonight that the commons could sit as late as christmas eve if it needs to pass a brexit deal... that is being reported in the british media according to use the speaker of the house or lindsay hoyle. that could be pushed back to christmas eve and of course the european

parliament has to ratify the deal. and the prime minister, downing street, they saying he is determined not to leave a route to a fair deal untested but any dealer must respect the sovereigns and independence of the uk. and that is always the sovereignty issue. the prime minister could push that through the parliament in one day, is that the thinking? in theory, he has a commons majority of 80. there is probably to be some resistance to any sort of deal that is agreed but he could push it there in one day. it would just be interesting to see how they get there. because we are talking about two sites here that cannot reconcile with each other. you have one that says i wa nt to other. you have one that says i want to have access to the club but i don't want to follow the rules of the club and you have got the other one saying you can't be a member of the club but not follow the rules. how do you bridge that gap? indeed, thatis do you bridge that gap? indeed, that is the big question. paul thanks for bringing us up to

date. paul hawkins there. we will come back to the latest on those talks but first, but to bring you up—to—date with what is happening with facebook. facebook is facing a major lawsuit in the us over concerns it has become a digital monopoly that is stifling competition. the us federal trade commission and nearly every us state sued facebook, saying that it should potentially be broken up. they allege the firm broke competition law and could force facebook to sell off instagram and whatsapp. in the last hour, the new york attorney general letitia james, explained why they had decided to sue. just a few minutes ago, i have made a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys generalfrom around the nation in filing a lawsuit against the social networking giant facebook. —— i led. for nearly a decade, facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users.

by using its vast troves of data and money, facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats. they've reduced choices for consumers. they stifled innovation. and they degraded privacy protections for millions of americans. in an effort to maintain its market dominance in social networking, facebook has employed a buy or bury strategy to impede competing services. first, facebook used vast amounts of money to acquire smaller rivals and potential rivals before they could threaten the company's dominance. billions were thrown at smaller companies in an effort to get them to sell. the two most glaring examples of this unlawful scheme

were instagram and whatsapp. we are taking action today and standing up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by facebook‘s illegal behaviour. new york's attorney general there. us regulators have sued facebook, saying the company medical regualtors have recommended that people with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the pfizer—biontech coronavirus vaccine. it comes after two uk nhs workers had an adverse response to the jab yesterday. they've both recovered already. thousands of other people have received the vaccine without any issues. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. they've been together ever since they met while working at basildon hospital more than five decades ago. now, vic and penny griffiths have returned to the place where they each served for a0 years, from where the covid

vaccine offers some hope of better days ahead. our zest for life doesn't diminish when you get older, but the anxieties are there about catching something or doing something that may stop the span on life. as far as i'm concerned, both of us want to have it done and get on with life. sharp scratch now, angela. but, as vaccinations continue, a warning from the medicines regulator — two nhs staff, both with a history of serious allergic reactions, suffered side—effects after receiving the vaccine. we need to strengthen our advice now that we've had this experience in the vulnerable populations, the groups that have been selected as a priority — we get that advice to the field immediately. members are now well again, having received treatment, but those who experienced significant allergic reactions are being told to avoid getting thejob for now. are being told to avoid getting the job for now. experts say the job for now. experts say the thousands who have received the thousands who have received the vaccine but yesterday and in clinical trials, serious

reactions were very rare indeed. at reactions were very rare indeed. at bradley manning care home in belfast, staff and residents were receiving the jabs by the end of the year, more than 4 million doses of the pfizer by onset vaccine should have arrived in the uk, and gps will start delivering vaccines next week. but from the government most senior scientific advisor, a warning, this is no time for complacency. we have a very important light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines, we've got a lot to do to roll out the vaccines, we've got a lot to do to make sure the vulnerable are protected. it is not the time to suddenly say we relax everything, and if that happens, we will have a big surge. the vaccine is now reaching the most vulnerable, evenin reaching the most vulnerable, even in some of our more remote communities. today, some doses arrived in orkney, in the far north of scotland. but as we embark on the biggest mass vaccination programme we have ever seen, we expect some bombs along the road. don hughes, bbc news. still to come here on bbc

news: so good to see you! a warm welcome home for margaret keenan, whose face has been seen around the world after becoming the first person to receive the pfizer vaccine. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here standing in silent vigil, the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the old walls of dubrovnik. witnesses said shells landing every 20 seconds. the celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing.

imelda marcos, the winner of the former president of the philippines has gone on trial in manila, she is facing seven charges of tax evasion, estimated at £120 million. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales i do separate. a statement from buckingham palace says the decision had been reached amicably. —— are two separate. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: britain and the european union remain ‘far apart‘, as talks between borisjohnson and eu chief ursula von der leyen in brussels end without agreement. but, despite no deal, negotiations to break the trade talks deadlock will continue, with a firm decision expected by sunday. our political correspondent rob watson has been monitoring today‘s developments. i asked him what reasons may have been found to continue with talks. i think the answer is twofold.

one is that both sides would like to perhaps hope there is some thought of deal they can achieve, that they could be some sort of compromise, notably from the other side but the second is that if there is going to be a no—deal, i think neither signees keyed — as neither signees keyed — as neither side is keen to be seen as the one walking away because if there is a no break that deal in january, there if there is a no break that deal injanuary, there will be almighty recriminations as the economic dislocation kicks in. so we have this next deadline. i think we‘ve all lost track of how many we have had. in the next deadline is on sunday. what can we expect realistically? we had the three—hour dinner lots of fish on the menu and now four days or more negotiations. what next? another cracking question! that they gone down to the wire with the negotiations and i think that past the wire some time ago. so

many deadlines have been and gone. i think one has to remain rather cautious about what to expect but i guess the simplify and until there is definitively and until there is definitively a deal or definitively no deal, you would not rule out either option and one tries to judge the move sometimes looks bleak and sometimes it looks better but i think that is a full game and both options are still possible but i would say one thing that has become apparent over the last couple of days and just reflecting on and off and just reflecting on and off and if you are thinking about it, the uk‘s position and the nature of brexit has evolved since the referendum. it is become more extreme or radical, ifi become more extreme or radical, if i can put it that way, they don‘t want to be part of these single market, the customs union and if your concept of rock that is to not be an eu member light, you don‘t want to be part of its rules and regulations and you can see that the concept of brexit as a proper breakaway from europe does make it harder to do a deal with both sides.

does make it harder to do a dealwith both sides. does does make it harder to do a deal with both sides. does that mean with such a clash of ideologies and differences, are you suggesting they cannot be ultimately, we are looking at a no—deal? it isa it is a possibility, and i think it goes back to the main player, borisjohnson, although 30 million people voted in the referendum in 2016 and essentially it is his choice. his choices are inevitable. one is to go for a no—deal and involve compromises for the eu and unpopular with some sections that he is conservative party is for a pure brexit. on the other hand go for a no—deal which everyone has said will be disruptive in the short—term and long—term and leave the uk friendless and also be unpopular so he has a pretty difficult choice to make but i do think it is his. the uk is going to have to move more than the eu because it

seems from the outside his hand is weaker. let‘s get some of the day‘s other news: president—electjoe biden‘s son hunter has said he‘s under investigation for potential tax violations. in a statement released by the presidential transition team, hunter biden said he was confident a review would demonstrate that he‘d handled his affairs legally. the french cabinet has approved a bill aimed at tackling radical islam after a recent series of attacks by extremists. the draft law, part of a long—term drive by president emmanuel macron to uphold secular values, tightens rules on home—schooling and hate speech. some critics have accused his government using it to target religion. the veteran palestinian politician hanan ashrawi has confirmed her resignation from the leadership of the palestine liberation organisation. mrs ashrawi said the organisation needed more young people to reinvigorate it. now to australia —

where experts say one of the country‘s most iconic animals — the koala — is living on the brink. climate change, destruction of habitat and australia‘s recent bushfires have left the koala struggling to survive. the government has announced funding for a national audit of koala, but how exactly do you count these solitary creatures, in such a vast landscape? i put this question to dr romane cristescu — a koala ecologist from the university of the sunshine coast in australia. with great difficulty, sadly. we are, as ecologists, faced with the difficult, you know, looking for the needle in the haystack. we have the little dribble of fur in the tree, very quiet most of the time, doesn‘t move, not like a monkey jumping from branch to branch. to be honest, when we look with our own eyes, we miss most of

them, about 80% of them. and with all the awful images of the koalas with burnt pause after the bushfires, how endangered are they? they are endangered. they are losing their habitat, climate change isa their habitat, climate change is a really big game changer for them, they are not coping with the heatwave and even less with the heatwave and even less with fires. they are declining across with fires. they are declining a cross m ost with fires. they are declining across most of the range. the sad reality is that many more other species are declining even more than the koala. it is a trend we are seeing a crossed all animals at the moment. just across. do you know how many koalas there are or how many you think there are? can you put a figure on it? no, and thatis put a figure on it? no, and that is the problem. many people were asking us after the fires burned such an extensive amount of koala habitat, they we re amount of koala habitat, they were like how many did we lose? how many are there still? these

are the hardest questions to a nswer are the hardest questions to answer because we don‘t know how many there were before the fires, we know we have lost maybe 5%, 10% of the population, we don‘t know what the population was.|j population, we don‘t know what the population was. i guess when it comes to taking this on, you need funding, help, what does a koala punch out or a koala counter, rather, need? we are throwing everything at it because it‘s such a difficult survey. we are helped by detection dogs, that sniff koala gap and that is because everywhere they leave, they who, and that is because they stay in the environment for a while, —— to scat, and it is easier to find and with the detection dogs, they have such great noses and they find the excrement, they drop and tell us excrement, they drop and tell us that it is there and we play

with them and then read that data and that is very grateful koala mapping. we take to the airand we have koala mapping. we take to the air and we have heatseeking drones actually looking for the animal itself and the beauty of it because it is in the air, we do not have to walk the whole area of difficult terrain and recover many square kilometres and look at them like a hot little butt bubble in a tree. — ata little butt bubble in a tree. — at a hot little bubble. thank you to the doctor for explaining how you count koalas! at the age of 90, margaret keenan became famous around the world on tuesday after becoming the first person to have the pfizer vaccine as part a mass vaccination programme in the uk. today she left hospital to a warm welcome from her family. this report by our correspondent catherine burns contains some flashing images. yesterday, margaret keenan became the most talked about 90—year—old in the world.

it‘s the moment we‘ve all waited for... untranslated ..margaret keenan... untranslated ..margaret keenan. she was the very first person outside of clinical trials to have the pfizer vaccine against coronavirus. applause today, she got to leave hospital, after making plenty of goodbyes. bye! thank you. she's like royalty, isn't she? her daughter sue and grandson connor were waiting. come on, mum! hello, granny! she says this whole thing‘s been a whirlwind and she‘s pleased to get home to herfamily. there were a few tears when she saw them. are you 0k? yes, thank you. so good to see you. and, like any worldwide superstar, the inevitable fans asking for photos. margaret turns 91 next week and says this vaccine was the best early birthday present.

but a bunch of flowers is always a welcome extra gift. catherine burns, bbc news. wishing margaret all the very, very best. and the founder of tesla, elon musk has announced his firm is leaving silicon valley for texas. he predicts the tech hotspot could lose influence and he said that the billionaire intranet for california has too much influence in the world and its power was weakening. we just actually heard that the rocket prototype belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company has exploded while trying to land on the ground. the 16 story high rocket was being tested for plans in carrying humans to the moon and mark and it had made a successful lift from the spacex launch facility in taxes and they tweeted that they had all the data it needed and no—one was on board. that is

news just no—one was on board. that is newsjust in. as no—one was on board. that is news just in. as always, no—one was on board. that is newsjust in. as always, thank you for watching. more on the websites and social media. hello. in comparison to recent mornings, thursday gets off to a relatively mild to start but not very inspiring skies for the majority first thing. a lot of cloud around, gloomy, and we will be stuck with that cloud in many areas throughout the course of the day. it‘s courtesy of an area of low pressure, a big area of low pressure which actually is a combination of smaller low pressure centres — one to the south—west of the uk this morning could bring some showery rain in here. the tail end of another one to the north—west will, i think, bring some more persistent rain through the course of the day into western scotland, gradually tracking it a little further eastwards. some showers will push across wales into the north—west of england as the day pans out as well. the best chance of any brightness probably in a few sheltered eastern spots

across east anglia stretching up into lincolnshire. temperatures around average at best, typically 8—9, perhaps 11 for plymouth. but look towards the west and you‘ll see another band of rain approaching. now, this one tends to mean business. it will produce some heavier rain for all areas as it tracks way eastwards. it‘s tied in with another one of those smaller low—pressure centres we saw as part of that big one at the start. but clear skies look like they could just hang on overnight to give us a patchy frost from the north—east of england and eastern scotland initially on friday. but the day overall is dominated by increasing winds and some rain pushing its way eastwards, but this area of low pressure will also manage to pull in some comparatively mild air to the south of the uk. you can see the amber colour here on the air mass picture behind me. so, actually, if we do see the sun coming out on friday, it could well turn out to be one of our warmest afternoons across the uk if we compare the whole of the weekjust gone. and the best place to see the sun at the moment, it looks like probably southern counties of england. we could widely see double

figures here where the cloud lingers. further north, though, and some rather persistent rain, probably 7—9 just about covers it. now, for the weekend — blink and you‘ll miss it but there‘s a little ridge of high pressure in there. yes, that low still whirling away towards the west but saturday looks like a quieter, clearer, drier day. but as you can see, that low isn‘t giving up the ghost anytime soon. for saturday, a little bit cooler, quite cloudy, but not a bad day. sunday, milder but we‘re back with the wet and windy 00:28:23,133 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 conditions.