this is bbc news with the latest headlines... another deadline extended. brexit talks will now continue as both sides agree to carry on after being unable to come to an agreement. i'm afraid we're still very far apart on some key things but where there's life, there is hope. we're going to keep talking to see what we can do. the uk certainly won't be walking away from the talks. i think people will expect us to go the extra mile. we have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can be reached even at this later stage. following the decision to continue the talks, the prime minister held a cabinet conference call.

neither side is prepared to walk away from the negotiating table yet but has anything changed and is a deal now in reach? a warning to the prime minister — relaxing coronavirus restrictions this christmas will lead to a third wave of infections. germany's angela merkel announces tighter coronavirus restrictions to run through christmas until january the 10th. and anthonyjoshua knocks out kubrat pulev to defend his heavyweight world titles, setting up a potential super fight with tyson fury. good afternoon. borisjohnson and the european commission president, ursula von der leyen have agreed to continue talks to try to break the deadlock over

a post—brexit trade deal. after speaking on the phone this morning, they issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to go the extra mile to try to find a solution. the prime minister said the two sides remained far apart on key areas but they wouldn't be walking away while there was still hope of a deal. today had been given as a deadline to decide whether negotiations should continue. our political correspondent, helen catt, reports. it was supposed to be the call that would make the call. was there enough chance of a deal to keep talking? the answer? despite the exhaustion after almost one year of negotiations, and despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over, we both think that it is responsible at this point in time to go the extra mile. we have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the task,

and to see whether an agreement can be reached, even at this late stage. in the last few minutes, the prime minister has downplayed expectations. as things stand — and this is basically what ursula and i agreed — i'm afraid we're still very apart on some key things, but where there's life, there's hope. we're going to keep talking to see what we can do. the uk certainly won't be walking away from the talks. i think people would expect us to go the extra mile. but i've got to repeat — the most likely thing now is, of course, that we have to get ready for wto terms. the two leaders met face—to—face earlier this week. a political breakthrough then was not found. as late as last night, the uk government was calling the eu's offer "unacceptable". both sides had upped expectations that no—deal was looking probable. ireland's prime minister had said that would be an "appalling failure of statecraft".

that is why i say, any bit of energy we have left, we must continue to focus on negotiating our way to a deal. the two sides continue to clash overfishing but, also, those shared competition rules. the government believes the way the eu wants to guarantee standards doesn't fit with the uk's new place as a nonmember, free to make its own rules. the eu disagrees, and so does labour. what the government seems to be saying is, we are willing to accept no—deal — which would mean tariffs across the board — because of some future theoretical threat, maybe some time in the future, to have tariffs in relation to some products. now, that makes no sense. that's like saying, i'm worried my roof is going to leak in five years' time, so let's bulldoze the house now. talks are expected to start in brussels this afternoon again. the question is if the outlook is any brighter. helen catt, bbc news. you saw some of what the prime minister had to say in that report. let's let some more of his reaction to the outcome of his phone call

with ursula von de leyen: the idea was that when we went out on wednesday, the hope was that we were going to be able to finish these off today, if there was a deal to be done. as things stand, and this was basically what ursula and i agreed, i'm afraid we are still very far apart on some key things but where there is life, there is hope. we are going to keep talking to see what we can do. the uk certainly won't be walking away from the talks. i think people would expect us to go the extra mile. i repeated my offer which is, you know, if it's necessary to talk to other capitals, i am very happy to do that. i'm very determined to keep the thing, to keep the negotiations on the way that they have been done between us and the commission. that is fine. i will repeat that the most likely thing now is, of course,

that we have to get ready for the wto terms, australia terms. and don't forget, everybody, we made huge preparations for this we have now been at this for four and a half years, sam, you know. that is a long time. perhaps, more intensively in the last couple of years than previously. anyway, we got ready and anybody who needs to know what to do, get on to gov.uk/transition to see what needs to be done. the british prime minister speaking a little earlier. the british prime minister speaking a little earlier. our political correspondent nick eardley is at downing street. it is pretty clear that neither side wa nts to it is pretty clear that neither side wants to be blamed for the breakdown in these talks but substantively, has everything moved 7 in these talks but substantively, has everything moved ?|i in these talks but substantively, has everything moved? i think that is absolutely right. we have a real sense from both sides, notjust from ursula von der leyen or boris johnson but from eu leaders this morning as well that they don't want to be the ones to walk away from

these negotiations and basically put an end to any talks of the trade deal coming into place on the 1st of january. that said, the fact that this conversation has happened this afternoon, both sides have agreed that they should get back on the negotiation table, isn't insignificant. if there really was no way forward, they wouldn't be doing that. boris johnson no way forward, they wouldn't be doing that. borisjohnson has made clear that if you think this has reached the end of the road, he would step back from the process. many thoughts that today could be the day that he would do that. what we don't know at the moment is, because the inner circle of people who are in the room negotiating is so who are in the room negotiating is so tight, we don't know exactly where one side is giving a nod and a wink to another and that is it is ready to move if the other is to. it does seem to me that we have potentially got a few days more of negotiating left. there is no deadline put today on when these talks would go on to. yes, boris

johnson is warning the wto terms which is basically no treat deal —— trade deal is still the most likely. but both sides are making it pretty clear that they thought that no deal was going to happen or very likely. that rhetoric has been dieted down a little bit —— dialled down a little bit. for europe, a no deal, on the symbolic matter of fishing would mean no access to uk waters, if there were no deal? this is the big question that both sides have to face as well. yes, you're absolutely right, french fishermen, emmanuel macron has told them that he won't let them down by signing up to a bad deal but if there were no deal, we had the uk's foreign secretary would

say that they would be no automatic access to uk waters. at the same time, the uk knows that if he doesn't agree to a trade deal, they could be some tariffs. i think the reason that both sides are prepared to dig in at this stage is with no disrespect at all to the fishing industry, is bigger than that. you have two ideological issues that they can't quite figure out a middle way on. one is sovereignty. boris johnson thinks the reason that people voted to leave the european union is that they wanted to make their own decisions. he is not prepared to sign up to something that allows the eu to have significant influence on the uk's rules moving forward. at the same time, the european union's ultimate loyalty is to the single market. they don't want to give the uk preferential access to that single market if, potentially, that

sovereignty that it once allows it to undercut eu businesses that will potentially put that at risk. that hasn't been solved. it is hard to solve. that's why it's still on the table at the moment. potentially, there is a few days now to try and figure out a way of inching closer towards each other. but no guarantee that it will happen. thank you very much. we will go to brussels in a moment but first of all, let's hear more of what the european commission president ursula von der president ursula von der leyen said after her phone call with borisjohnson. good afternoon. i had a constructive and useful phone call with the prime minister borisjohnson and we discussed the major unsolved topics. our negotiation teams have been working day and night over the recent days and despite the exhaustion after almost one year of negotiations, despite the fact

that deadlines have been missed over and over, we both think that it is responsible at this point in time to go the extra mile. we have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the tasks and to see whether an agreement can be reached, even at this late stage. the negotiations continue here in brussels. thank you so much. bbc europe correspondent, kevin connolly, joins us from brussels. so michel barnier continue to talk after a long night, as we have heard there. but there is no indication of any compromise at all at the moment orare any compromise at all at the moment or are we missing something? we are not missing something but what we need to bear in mind is that we know in broad, brash terms where the problems are. yes, there are bad, future rules that would... but the

actual detail of what that means, the numbers on fishing for example, the numbers on fishing for example, the precise proposals on how you synchronise british and european economic standards in the future, we don't really know those areas in any great detail and it is in great detail that fixes will be found. the negotiations have actually been pretty tight. the real detail is known only to a very small number of people, most of them in that negotiating room. they will be the people saying to those political masters whether or not there is any hope for a deal. no one is saying that there is huge hope for a deal. you heard ursula von der leyen bear, she is not saying that they are on the break of a deal tomorrow. just that it the break of a deal tomorrow. just thatitis the break of a deal tomorrow. just that it is worth continuing to talk. the eu belief has always been, that while you are talking, there is still hope that something might

happen. the view here is, there is still some sort of prospect for progress and for a deal. boris johnson, in his statement, said that he was happy to talk to other european leaders. i'm not sure what you're hearing about the fish supper with a ursula von der leyen on wednesday which really didn't go at all well in terms of the language and the british prime minister trying to reach out for a compromise. that was met with a black wall. is interesting. iwould be wary of going down the road of over interpreting these changes. this supposedly very difficult dinner took place a very short time ago with two people who just had a much more constructive telephone call where they agreed to continue negotiating, so, it is certainly possible that there are these wild emotional swings in mood. it is

likely that there are leaks in briefings which talk at difficulties at difficult moments. and essentially, there is some kind of functioning political relationship between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson. you're between ursula von der leyen and boris johnson. you're right, between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson. you're right, she is the person delegated by the european union to handle those face—to—face contact with boris johnson. union to handle those face—to—face contact with borisjohnson. in terms of following the roller—coaster of coverage, don't forget, yesterday, all the headlines were about the royal navy being deployed to protect the british fisheries and potentially to arrest or in pounds french fishing vessels. things feel a lot more positive than they did at that point. to what extent those shifts of mood in the media genuinely affect or reflect shifts of mood between the principles is very ha rd to of mood between the principles is very hard to say but clearly, certainly among the negotiations at

least, there is a businesslike relationship underlying the whole thing. let's find out how businesses are reacting to the news that pots—brexit trade talks between the uk and the eu are to continue. i'm joined by our business correspondent, katy austin. some relief i suppose. some reliefi suppose. there is a mixture of relief that today there hasn't been an announcement that the talks for a no deal. but still a sense of anxiety that we don't yet have a resolution and businesses don't know exactly what is coming after the 31st of december. some of the big business groups are talking of frustration and urging the negotiators to use this time well. exactly what the impact would be depends on which industry and which business you are talking about here. the car—makers body have said that they desperately still need a deal. they say that no deal will be nothing less than catastrophic. they

are thinking of because of the possible consequences of not having a free trade deal from january which would mean that we would see tariffs which are taxes on goods coming into the country which would push up costs for businesses involved in making those products. again, remember, things will change no matter what happens. because we will be leaving the single market, the customs union. businesses are already preparing to have some levels of disruption because there will be red tape, paperwork, customs declarations that we haven't had this year because we have still been in step with european union rules. businesses are trying to prepare the best as they can with only a few weeks ago. but we don't know when we will have things like tariffs and just how great is any disruption would be. i keep on saying the word ta riffs would be. i keep on saying the word tariffs but whether there will be

that extra degree of potential disruption. michael gove is chairing the x0 disruption. michael gove is chairing the xo committee about what will happen ina the xo committee about what will happen in a no deal scenario. reports have happened that supermarkets have been told to stockpile because they would be a shortage of vegetables, for example. have they confirmed that? supermarkets say that the 11th hour has now passed and businesses really need to know. it is becoming increasingly difficult to prepare. they do say that retailers, such as supermarkets, have been stocking up on longer life products. loo roll and tinned products for example. not ain! and tinned products for example. not again! they do say that they don't wa nt again! they do say that they don't want people to buy more than usual. they are saying, please don't stockpile. they have more supplies in case there are disruptions at the ports. there is only much they can do. when you're talking about fresh

fruit and vegetables, you cannot bring that in advance. it has to be a few days before. they are waiting to hear more detail as soon as possible so they can plan. thank you very much. one of the scientists who led the development of the oxford university vaccine has warned there could be a sharp rise in infections in january because of people meeting over christmas. it comes as one hospital in south—east wales said it was experiencing significant pressures from covid—i9. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. although some are being vaccinated now, the majority of high—risk people will get theirjabs next year. the aim is to immunise those most at risk by easter. this would allow a gradual easing of restrictions across the country. professor sarah gilbert led efforts to develop the oxford university vaccine currently being assessed for approval by the uk regulator. she warned people's behaviour in the coming weeks could delay

progress in tackling the virus. what we've seen in the us is that after thanksgiving, when people were travelling and mixing, there has been a big surge in infections, and they are seeing 3,000 deaths a day now. the highest rate there's ever been in any country. if we have that kind of thing happening over the christmas holidays in this country, with very high transmission rates then possible injanuary, it'll take so much longer to get things back to normal because, partly, all the vaccination clinics will be disrupted. a 73—year—old man had to wait more than 19 hours in an ambulance outside grange university hospital in monmouthshire because of pressure on its services because of covid. ted edwards was at home when he suffered a suspected stroke. unless we are able to reverse the current trend in coronavirus, we are heading into a period where everything that our health service can do will have to be focused on the hundreds and hundreds of people who are now so ill with the virus that they need to be in a hospital bed,

and that compromises the ability of the health service to do everything else. hospital leaders have warned that relaxing covid restrictions could trigger a third wave of the virus. in a letter, they ask the prime minister to act with "extreme caution" in moving any area to a lower tier. england's three—tier system is due to be reviewed next wednesday. pallab ghosh, bbc news. and pallabjoins me now there is warning from the oxford vaccine that people should be very careful about their relationships over christmas and who they are seeing. did she go as far as saying that the restrictions should be much tighter because the fallout could be so serious? on a mac she hasn't said that and no one is really saying that. what scientists and health service officials and others are saying is that it is all down to us.

the government can only do so much with the tier system that the more that we mix, the greater the number of cases. cases have already started rising in the first two weeks of december after lockdown. cases have been increasing. the problem that many people are fearing is that, whatever number of infections there exist before the christmas holiday period when families will be allowed to mix even more, that will magnify the trends and magnify at a crucial point, where the nhs is at its most vulnerable. so, what people will be waiting for is the government's decision on the reviewing of the tier system and as you've heard, many health leaders are urging the prime minister and ministers not to lower the restrictions but where necessary , lower the restrictions but where necessary, increase them to try and keep the infection rates low as possible. there is a call to the

public to try and exercise caution and try and see as few people as possible. just because we can see people over christmas, it does not mean that we have to see people over christmas. back presumably all the scientist will accept this as well, now that there are vaccines available on the market, people will let their guard down? the vaccines won't do any good if people are infected over the christmas period. it just takes a infected over the christmas period. itjust takes a matter of days infected over the christmas period. it just takes a matter of days for the infection to turn into symptoms. weeks to turn into a severe illness if people fall into that vulnerable group and a few weeks after that for people to die. so, now is exactly the point for exercising restraint to save thousands of lives. it would be tragic if within a few months of lives being saved, those lives were lost because of people not taking

ca re over lost because of people not taking care over the christmas period. thank you very much indeed. pallab ghosh. meanwhile, germany will close shops, schools and hairdressers from wednesday as the country introduces harsher restrictions to counter rising covid case numbers. after talks with regional leaders this morning, angela merkel said that the current measures, which include the closure of bars, restaurants, leisure and arts facilities, were not sufficient. our berlin correspondent, jenny hill, sent this update. angela merkel has been fighting for this full sometimes. —— for some time. for months, she has been urging those regional leaders who have responsibility for imposing restrictions to get a tighter hold on this pandemic. germany, of course, came very successfully through the first wave but it's really struggling with the second. infections, deaths are reaching record numbers and they are still rising. angela merkel has been really trying

to bang heads together and finally those regional leaders seem to be going into panic mode themselves. they have agreed to these new measures. in fact, some of these have agreed to imposing harsh restrictions including night—time curfews in some parts of the country. in effect, germany is all but cancelling christmas. celebrations will be restricted to very small family gatherings. there is now a ban on alcohol consumption outside. that is the mulled wine gone too. and, new year's eve, is being cancelled. parties will be banned and there is a ban sale of fireworks with which german traditionally celebrate at the turn of the year. and numbers again are very much restricted. it is the lockdown that angela merkel wanted all along and i think that most scientists would say it's very late and coming. they will be looking very carefully at those numbers to see whether it has an impact. in south korea, president moonjae—in has warned that covid—i9 restrictions may be raised to the higest level. the announcement comes following the second day of record

increases in cases as the country battles a harsh third wave of infection. presiding over an emergency meeting at the central disaster and safety countermeasures headquarters — for the first time since february — moon urged vigilance to contain the virus. more now on pro and anti trump rallies that turned violent in the us. four people are in hospital in washington with stab wounds after clashes broke out. police made at least 20 arrests as they tried to separate far—right supporters from left wing demonstrators , and campaigners linked to black lives matter. david willis reports. america's divisions on raw display once again, as pro—and anti—trump supporters clashed close to the white house. tensions rose after dark, as members of the right—wing group the proud boys fought

with black lives matter sympathisers and members of the left—wing group antifa. police used pepper spray. more than 20 people are thought to have been arrested and reports suggest some were treated for stab wounds. the stop the steal rally had been called to support president trump's unsubstantiated claims of voterfraud. intended as a show of force just two days before the electoral college meets to formally electjoe biden as the next us president, it brought thousands onto the streets of the nation's capital in support. we have a republic to save and a constitution to stand up for, and we cannot let individual states act lawlessly in a land built on laws. although the event had been planned for weeks, mr trump expressed surprise on twitter and his delight... only to pass over the rally a short while later on his way to a football game in new york.

all this as the president—elect was attending church and then hospital, where he is being treated for a foot injury incurred while playing with one of his dogs. on friday, the us supreme court rejected a challenge to mr biden's victory in four key battleground states. he is due to take office, to donald trump's dismay, injust over a month. anthonyjoshua has retained his three heavyweight boxing titles after beating bulgarian, koubrat poolev last night. a thousand fans were allowed to watch at the wembley arena asjoshua knocked his opponent off his feet several times over nine rounds, before the referee called time. his victory paves the way for a potential fight against britain's other heavyweight champion, tyson fury. adam wild reports. anthony. . joshua!

this was anthonyjoshua's moment. heavyweight champion of the world. but the man with it all had it all to lose. pressure, perhaps, or motivation. whatever it was, joshua cut a determined figure. kubrat pulev now looking to upset the odds. the fans were back, 1,000 of them, all instantly aware this was a real battle. joshua starting quickly, pulev taking it with a smile. but moments later, pulev was down, the end seemingly not far away. incredibly, pulev battled on until the ninth round. the finish, though, when it came, as swift as it was brutal. commanding, impressive, joshua back to his best, but he barely celebrated before thoughts turned to his future — tyson fury, britain's other world champion, immediately taking to social media. i want the fight. i want the fight next. i'll knock him out inside three rounds.

tyson fury‘s co—promoter describing the stage as set for the biggest heavyweight championship fight since ali—frazier in 1971. fury againstjoshua will have to wait, but with a performance as powerful as this from anthonyjoshua, the boxing world won't want to wait long. adam wild, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. there is milder air starting to push in from the south—west, but it feels quite cold in the rain in scotland and north—east england. there is a lull in the rain in few hours for parts of eastern and south east england. there is a clear coming into northern ireland, wales and south—west england to later. get ready for the heavy showers that will follow the persistent rain. they will spread east over night

accompanied by gusty winds. some of the showers, not only heavy but then in places too. temperature up a couple of degrees in scotland overnight. different tomorrow, there will be a bit of sunshine but a few heavy showers pushing east right across the uk and a chance of a rumble of thunder with the of these. it will still be windy tomorrow with average speeds of guests 30 to a0 mph. 60 mph in the northern isles. a mild start of the week. fairly mild throughout the week. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... another deadline extended — brexit talks will now continue as both sides agree to carry on after being unable to come to an agreement. i am afraid we are still very far apart on some key things, but where there is life, there is hope. we are going to keep talking to see what we can do. the uk certainly won't be walking away from the talks.