this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. lam i am sally bundock. major differences remain after crucial brexit trade talks between borisjohnson and eu chief ursula von der leyen, but the talking continues. the us government wants to break up facebook over digital monopoly concerns, in a move that could force the company to sell off instagram and whatsapp. the chinese city of wuhan launches an exhibition to mark one year since the first case of coronavirus was reported. but is the battle over the pandemic, really over? an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company explodes while attempting to land during a test.

and the show must go on. on the road — how creative performers are taking their musicals to the nation's doorsteps. we have a very busy programme for you. a meeting in brussels between boris johnson and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has failed to break the deadlock in talks on a post—brexit trade deal. both have agreed talks on a deal will continue until sunday, when a firm decision will be made. but our political correspondent jessica parker, says the odds don't look good.

they met, a quick photo, masks off and on again. then, down to business. three hours of talks over a three course meal. in the end, big gaps remained. there was a good discussion, but there was no clear movement in the right direction. she described the conversation as lively, downing street, as frank, but the negotiations that had stalled are now back on. david frost for the uk and michel barnierfor the on. david frost for the uk and michel barnier for the eu, on. david frost for the uk and michel barnierfor the eu, are getting around the table again in brussels. you must remember that a trade deal is for keeps, not just for christmas, and that a trade deal is for keeps, notjust for christmas, and i think the prime minister deserves praise for standing firm and not allowing large and compromise —— fudge, we may regret just to get a compromise —— fudge, we may regretjust to get a deal over the line. fishing rates, business competition rules and how ideal would be pleased are

now familiar stumbling blocks. number 10 said that boris johnson was determined not to leave a ny johnson was determined not to leave any route to what they described as a third deal u ntested. described as a third deal untested. let's be clear. there was never any doubt that the promise to the british people was that there would be a treaty, quite frankly, there should be one already, this is not an ambitious deal that britain is seeking. it is now exactly three weeks into the brexit period ends, the uk and eu have named this sunday as the new deadline, when a decision must be made on the future of these talks. jessica parker, bbc news. we can now speak tojonathan charles, who's managing director of communications at the european bank for reconstruction and development. good morning, jonathan, nice to see you. very good to see you. give us your interpretation of how things are going right now? from my point of view, it looks like both sides feel no deal is better than a bad deal? well, i ama

better than a bad deal? well, i am a veteran of difficult brussels negotiations. from my yea rs brussels negotiations. from my years there at the bbc. you only have to look at the language to see how difficult this is, whether ursula von der leyen describes it as lively and interesting, whether uk says the talks were frank, where there is nojoint statement at the end, you can see that this was not a meeting where there was any breakthrough. certainly, when you hear brussels officials being both publicly and privately, saying the odds are now on a no—deal, you can see the way forward is not easy to find. on the other hand, we also have hope for the brussels negotiations, the darkest hours i was just before the dawn. there a few hours to see whether a breakthrough can be made, particularly on this question of a level playing field. the european union worrying that somehow the uk outside of any deal will try to undercut the eu, they don't wa nt undercut the eu, they don't want that for their businesses. maybe they can find a mechanism for this, a lot will come down to language. it sounds a language to be found on this

level playing field issue that is acceptable to the europeans and to the uk, even though it is very late at the moment. as uk, the darkest hours before the dawn, they have set a deadline of sunday, could they be moved? i think it is getting late. i think things can always be moved, particularly if there is some be moved, particularly if there is some progress, be moved, particularly if there is some progress, some progress would allow them to say ok, let's keep talking. i think if there is no progress it is unlikely to be moved because people want to know where they stand on the first of january, which is not very far away. who has the most to lose? both sides don't want it to come to that, both sides want a deal because they both feel they would lose something. the uk would lose something. the uk would be the single biggest loser, a country exporting heavily to the eu every single eu country is an exporter or has some engagement with united kingdom, and has something to lose, but all smaller individually. the fact that the uk is one country exporting to

the eu, it would certainly lose. it's interesting other stories coming out, a story from the financial times today that the eu would say britain would become a third world country would become a third world cou ntry after would become a third world country after january one, would become a third world country afterjanuary one, and eu nationals will not be allowed to travel into the uk because of covid—i9 restrictions, treating it like everywhere else. it's a reminder from everywhere else. it's a reminderfrom the eu to everywhere else. it's a reminder from the eu to the everywhere else. it's a reminderfrom the eu to the uk, there is a lots to lose with no deal and the uk can't expected to be treated like a eu country afterjanuary one. all right. we will have to leave it there. jonathan charles there. we'll have more on that in our business coverage in 25 minutes. let's get some of the day's other news. the united states has recorded more than 3,000 deaths from coronavirus in the past 2a hours — the highest so far in a single day anywhere in the world. the latest landmark comes

as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the us, with more than 200,000 daily cases reported through most of december. 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. youtube has banned videos which allege that widespread fraud or errors changed the course of the 2020 us presidential election. the streaming site said the ban would affect any posts uploaded from today because enough states had now certified joe biden as the next us president. 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 of using it to target religion.

the us government wants to break up facebook over concerns it's abusing its dominance in social media to crush smaller competitors. federal and state regulators have sued the company, saying it's become a digital monopoly and should be ordered to sell off instagram and whatsapp, which have billions of users. let's speak to professorjoshua davis from the university of san francisco school of law. thank you forjoining us on the programme. what is your take on the move of the us government to go after facebook, from the point of view of the law, where does this stand ? point of view of the law, where does this stand? well, it's one of the boldest moves that the government has made in quite some time, there was also that lawsuit against google, but since then, it has been on this

20 years since we have seen a lawsuit of this, it's a very aggressive move. and a bold one. a bold one that facebook is saying it will fight the heavenly, facebook says in its defence when it bought whatsapp, when it bought instagram, they were very small companies, they have actually enabled them to grow exponentially, and so, therefore, they are not crushing competition, they were just buying small players at the time. they do say that. but... does not necessarily going to be successful as a defence because it can be potentially anti—competitive to nip the competition in the bud. while it's a good talking point, it's not necessarily by itself going to mean facebook will succeed. what you think will succeed. what you think will happen in this case? will the us lawmakers succeed in this? i think it is fairly unlikely. they may have modest

success , unlikely. they may have modest success, this is very exciting when it first happens, but there are a bunch of difficulties that the federal government faces. one, they are attempting to unscramble the egg, they didn't object at the time to the acquisitions now six and eight years old, that cou nts six and eight years old, that counts against them, that can seem unfairand counts against them, that can seem unfair and makes it difficult for them to divest as a matter of business and technology. there are also antitrust laws looking for anti— additive effects like higher prices, but doesn't really fit with facebook where price is not really what they are talking about. they have to argue the heavenly there is some anti—competitive behaviour, loss of choice, loss of privacy, something like that. and quite frankly, it's difficult for the federal government to maintain over the long haul a lawsuit like this. it's going to take a long time, it's going to cost a lot of money, and political winds article and facebook on the

other hand is going to be a very resolute defender of the lawsuit. i would be shocked. first of all, it will drag out, it's hard for the government to say we need action, they have waited quite a while, and it will drag out for years, and it is fairly likely that in the end of the government may accept, like microsoft, a really modest resolution. we appreciate your expertise. joshua davis, thank you. again, this is something we will unpack further in our letter is in this coverage as well. —— business coverage. an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company has exploded while attempting to land back on the ground. the i6—storey high starship rocket was being tested as part of the company's plans to eventually carry humans and cargo to the moon and mars. no—one was on board. tanya dendrinos reports. it looks like a scene

from a hollywood blockbuster. but this fiery spectacle was not planned. it's a crash landing of the latest prototype of the spacex starship. mission control: two, one, zero. codenamed sn8, it was the craft‘s first attempt at a high altitude flight test early on, it was smooth sailing for the uncrewed mission, it lifted from the facility in texas on a brief flight tojust over 40,000 feet, achieving much of what it set out to do, including horizontal descent. but after a flip back into the vertical position for touchdown, things went a little awry. in might not have looked like it, but according to spacex's owner elon musk, the flight was a success, congratulating his team, saying we got all the data we needed. his sights are firmly

set, tweeting: tanya then drew nice, bbc news —— tanya dendrinos. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll bring you the performers taking west end musicals to the uk's doorsteps. 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 more or less silent vigil, and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are 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 widow of the former president of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila.

she's facing seven charges of tax evasion, estimated at £120 million. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: major differences remain after crucial brexit trade talks between borisjohnson and eu chief ursula von der leyen, but the talking continues. the us government wants to break up facebook over digital monopoly concerns, in a move that could force the company to sell off instagram and whatsapp. one year after the first cases of coronavirus were reported in china, wuhan — the initial epicentre of the pandemic,

is striving to return to normality. for months, the city hasn't had any locally transmitted cases, and the local government is marking what it calls its victory in the battle. but how has wuhan changed and what's life like for ordinary people? vincent ni has this report. millions of people in wuhan lived under strict lockdown for 76 days. nearly 4000 people lost their lives to the virus. six months after wu han's lockdown was lifted the city's local government has launched an exhibition to mark the fight against the covid—i9 pandemic. the three—month exhibition hails the of the government, frontline workers, and

volunteers. this man was among the volunteers who fought against the pandemic by giving free haircuts to frontline workers.

his volunteer work has had an unexpected impact on his business. recovery has not been as smooth for everyone.

a year since the outbreak began, wu han's strives a year since the outbreak began, wuhan's strives to return to normality, but these because of the pandemic will run deeper. but for now, its people are trying to move on. the former italian international footballer, paolo rossi, has died at the age of 64 after a long illness. he was one of the stars of the italian team that won the 1982 world cup. he was the competition's top scorer with six goals and was given the golden ball award, for best player of the tournament. let's get all the rest of the sport now. hello i'm tt and this is your thursday sport briefing, where we start with the champions league news that paris saint—germain and istanbul basha ksaheer completed their tie the day after it had started following an alleged racial incident involving the assistant coach of the turkish side and the fourth official on tuesday. players from both sides

and the officials all took a knee ahead of rescheduled kick off at the parc de princes. a new set of officials were in charge on wednesday, and the players wore anti—racism t—shirts in the warm—up. psg comfortably won the game by 5 goals to i — neymar with a hat—trick. translation: they took a strong decision yesterday and they showed their solidarity with the opponents. i didn't get all that was happening on the pitch because i didn't hear what was said, but in the locker room it all became clear it was the right thing to show our solidarity and today we have the chance to play the match. there are things that are more important than football, more important than football, more important than football, more important than sport, they respect this game and they really showed great spirit. real madrid avoided heading out. the is—time champions won 2—0 at borussia moenchengladbach — karim benzema scoring both. but, inter milan do miss out afterfailing to win against shakhtar donetsk, while atletico madrid won

in salzburg to secure their place in the last 16. and atalanta beat ajax to go through instead of the dutch team. the final women's golf major gets underway later on thursday with the us open in houston. lexi thompson has played 13 times at this event, qualifying at the tender age of 12 for her first back in 2007. the american who has one major title to her name, the ana inspiration from 2014, finished tied for 2nd last year at this tournament and and has been reflecting on her career. it's pretty crazy to even think about, being 25 and playing on my 14th, i have seen it all over my instagram and i don't think i would have thought about it until everyone said it, but it's just an honour to be here, that the us open championship and it brings a lot of great memories from being 12 and being at my first

one. the european tour's season ending event in dubai is underway with patrick reed due out later leading the standings. the 2018 masters champion is trying to become the first american to win the race to dubai title this weekend. he tees off in the final pairing of thursday's opening round alongside second placed tommy fleetwood. to me you want to be successful on both sides of the world, you don't want to just be successful at home, you want to be able to win outside of the us, andi be able to win outside of the us, and i have been close a couple of times over here, but to have a chance to win the race to buy all the fedex cup in the states, the only way you are going to do that is not only playing great golf by playing well at last events and the big events that really count and matter. the big bash league in australia gets underway shortly with last year's winners the sydney sixers up against the hobart hurricanes and you can keep across that on the website bbc.com/sport and elsewhere across the bbc but from me tt and the rest of the team that is your thursday sport briefing.

and we are grateful to the team. december should be the busiest time of year for britain's theatres but most are still unable to open their doors. that hasn't stopped some performers, who're taking the traditional christmas pantomime on the road. a new company is going even further and bringing west end musicals to the nation's doorsteps. david sillito went to see the first performance on a very damp suburban street. this is normally the busiest time of the year in theatreland, but this year, is not going to be so much behind you, more it's on your doorstep. they are coming up the road now. hey guys, i'm

alvin cunningham! we have a surprise for you! come to the door! bert and mary poppins are in the front garden of number 14. meet doorstep productions. this is the real west end, real west end performers coming to doorsteps. that's right. look at this theatre, it's closed, the palladium. it's heartbreaking. all the shows are shut, all my friends are unemployed, some of them lost their homes, and i thought, hang ona their homes, and i thought, hang on a minute, i could get some people some work. and so this is why west and performers are here singing supercalifragilisticexpialidoc— ious in the pouring rain. how long since you last performed? march 16, 2020. how has it been? it's been rough... but we are here and making the best of

it. what does this feel like? currently, we are drenched, but it's wonderful, it's wonderful to be performing again, and we all got ina to be performing again, and we all got in a rehearsal room last week and i just felt amazing to be back with fellow colleagues, doing something you love, the people that were really grateful, hopefully. that's all i ask of you. this was only the beginning of the performance, and they are not the only ones taking the show on the road. in york the panto is on on the road. in york the panto isona on the road. in york the panto is on a tour of socially distant village halls and community centres, playing to dozens, rather than hundreds, and not shouting it's behind you. meanwhile, back by the bins at number 14, we were reaching the big finale.

tomorrow comes. incredible, this year... goodness me, 2020. here is another lovely story on our website, it's all about coronavirus students and retirees form a long—distance friendship. you can see the student there in that picture, thatis student there in that picture, that is merely, and she is here in the uk and she is learning french so she is busy talking to what she calls her new french grandma via video call because this lady in france is fairly lonely, and because she is isolating, and millie and her are getting to know each other and millie is improving her language skills. it's a brilliant new idea that has been birthed because of this pandemic. you can read all about that on our website, and i will be back injust a moment for more on the type of

business stories, facebook, brexit, and the other type of business stories including chicken that is not really check on. i will see you in just a moment. 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 its 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 any time 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 conditions.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hello and around the world. again. i'm sally bundock. still far apart, but talks will continue until sunday as britain and the eu teeter on the brink of a no—deal brexit. plus, too connected — the us sues to break up facebook, claiming it bought up rivals to crush the competition. more now on brexit because — as you've been hearing —