this is bbc news: i'm sally bundock with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, is due to brief representatives of member states after a weekend of intensive trade talks with britain. the first covid vaccine is being shipped around the us, mass immunisation begins later on monday. tributes are being paid to one of popular fiction‘s best known authors — the spy novelist, john le carre who's died aged 89. and climb every mountain, the adventurer who's defying the odds to reach his own personal peak.

hello and welcome. eu chief negotiator michel barnier will brief ambassadors in brussels who represent the 27 eu member states this morning on the state of play in the post brexit trade negotiations. this after the european commission chief ursula von der leyen said the eu would go the extra mile to reach an agreement. our political correspondent iain watson reports. uk chief negotiator is still in brussels, and brexit talks are still on. the eu's chief negotiator or brief ambassadors on the progress but is this

really no deal delayed or denied? there is still a wide gap between the two sides. squabbling over access for eu fishing fleets to uk waters and over how any wider trade you will be enforced and they may have been some progress on this front but the prime minister told cabinet colleagues that no deal was still the most likely outcome. if boris johnson deal was still the most likely outcome. if borisjohnson says look, the uk can prosper without the deal but his critics inside and outside the conservative party i thankfully without a trade agreement with the single biggest market, that will prove very costly. neither side is that a new deadline for the latest talks but deal or no deal, the uk will leave eu rules behind on december 31. the talks are making slow progress but that hard deadline is approaching fast. iain watson, bbc news. shortly will be live to berlin

with the views of a political blogger on where the talks are and business coverage in 30 minutes. the united states is about to begin its most ambitious vaccination campaign ever as millions of doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine arrive in the country. the aim is to vaccinate 100 million people by the end of march. president trump said in a tweet he wasn't curently scheduled to have the jab himself. on saturday, the us recorded a daily toll of 3,309 covid—related deaths. the figure is the highest total in a single day anywhere in the world. lebo diseko has more from washington. it's been a long and painful journey but finally, help is on its way. the first of nearly three million doses of the pfizer vaccine leave the firm's plant in michigan. packed on dry ice, they'll go out to distribution centres in all 50 states. the first immunisation could take place as early as monday.

applause. the government says it's aiming to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of the year, 100 million by the end of february. i never imagined that we would see a virus show up and have a vaccine available to fight it in less than a year. it truly is an extraordinary accomplishment for all the vaccine developers out there who have been working globally to tackle this problem with unprecedented speed and vigour. but now, the challenge is distribution because those vaccines don't do anyone any good until they're in the arms of the people who need them, and that's our big job ahead. but tweets like this from donald trump just hours before the fda's approval have heightened concerns about political pressure in this process. in it, mr trump tagged the head of the regulator, saying, "get those vaccines out now". add to that reports that the white house told dr stephen hahn to approve this

by the end of friday or resign — reports he told cnn's state of the union show were inaccurate. and what i can say is we've heard from a number of sources, including the white house, that there was a desire for us to move as quickly as possible. and, jake, we have, but our absolute obligation to the american people was to make sure that we did a thorough scientific review. we needed to ensure that our gold standard of assessing the safety and efficacy of the vaccine was done, and was done properly. we had to get this right, and i believe we did. that is something he is going to need americans to believe, too, as the vaccines start to arrive on the next leg of their journey. recent surveys show that willingness to take the vaccine has gone up, but it's still under the levels needed to achieve that all—important herd immunity. lebo diseko, bbc news, washington. vaccination clinics run by family doctors will begin across england from monday.

gp practices in more than 100 locations will have the approved pfizer/biontech vaccine delivered to them on monday, with some offering vaccinations within hours. the majority will begin providing vaccination services to their local community from tuesday. let's get some of the day's other news. jon worth is a political blogger and a visiting professor at the college of europe. he joins us from berlin. they have trying to go the extra mile as they put it, what are your expectations? rather pessimistic this will come to a positive conclusion. not even a deadline now and at least the time question we had in the path question at least forced

theissue path question at least forced the issue somewhat therefore i'm ratherfearful the issue somewhat therefore i'm rather fearful that time will run out until this real ha rd will run out until this real hard deadline, december 31, because the difficulty is that both sides also have to ratify the deal and that time is running very short right now. if there is an ideal outcome, what is the political fallout? let's talk about before the uk . for the eu, some . forthe eu, some sadness and being based in berlin in talking about german politics, we say, they made a fair offer to the uk but it's essentially the uk walking away. so the european union is like can manage to do with that problem relatively easy and the same would be the feeling also in paris or rome or madrid as well. they see in borisjohnson a relatively unreliable partner and therefore if these talks we re and therefore if these talks were to fail, the political consequences for the european

union and member states would probably not be so severe. and what about the eu strategy where they did not want to have one—on—one talks between leaders, such as borisjohnson and angela merkel and boris johnson and emmanuel macron. it was very much spearheading from the point of view of the european commission president. i think that with a very clear tactic from the european union and traits together and has done these deals with japan or canada i negotiated this way. the buried mine one thing that has been a surprise to me, borisjohnson has not been able to build a rapport with other leaders with other countries of the eu over a long period of time, in the 12 months or so since the general election, not many meetings between him and counterparts. so when the going gets tough, he doesn't really have that connection with them that he can potentially use and therefore i think that was done heavily by the european union

side. borisjohnson heavily by the european union side. boris johnson himself, has not really built those relationships himself to have a chance to meet them. to be fair, hard to build relationships during a global pandemic, few chances to do that. to say that quickly, your thoughts on the uk and the political fallout for boris johnson, if there were to be a no—deal? johnson, if there were to be a no-deal? it will be very, very difficult for him, if he claims to bea difficult for him, if he claims to be a deal man because there will be a degree of disruption and when coronavirus has been so severe. and when coronavirus has been so severe. you and when coronavirus has been so severe. you have and when coronavirus has been so severe. you have the perfect storm facing the uk now that all of these dynamics coming together exactly at the same moment. i definitely would not wa nt to moment. i definitely would not want to be in his shoes right 110w. want to be in his shoes right now. a series of horrible decisions that have to be taken but many of those have been brought upon him himself! he could have nicked grey shaded — at extended negotiating time but they were declined but

borisjohnson so if this fails, ultimately, the responsibility is all his. good to talk to you. to say, we will have more on that story on the business coverage, and the value of the pound has gone up on what is seen as an pound has gone up on what is seen as an optimistic outlook in terms of the fact they are still talking. let's get some of the day's other news. hundreds of boys are still missing after gunmen abducted them from their boarding school in northern nigeria on friday night. anxious parents gathered at the school waiting for news as the security forces continued to search a forest area outside the town of kankara to try to locate them. anti—government protesters have marched through the polish capital, warsaw, on the 39th anniversary of the communist authorities declaring martial law. around a thousand demonstrators avoided several police cordons but were eventually blocked from reaching the home of the country's most powerful politician, the right—wing nationalist,

jaroslaw kazcynski. new zealand prime ministerjacinda ardern says her government have agreed in principle to establish a qurantine—free travel bubble with australia. it's expected to open early next year. the measure will be contingent on the covid—19 levels in both countries remaining low and the deal being signed off by the australian government. one of britain's best—known novelists, john le carre, who shaped many people's view of cold war espionage, has died. he was 89. a former secret agent, le carre drew on his own experiences to create ha rd—edged thrillers without the glamour of james bond, but which proved to be just as popular. 0ur reporter keith boyle looks back at his life.

alec guinness in the version of tinker tailorsoldier sailor playing george smiley, the spymaster was john le playing george smiley, the spymaster wasjohn le carre's most enduring and celebrated creation, and like george smiley, john le carre had been a smile that a spy. david cornwell, his real name had been fascinated by lies and duplicity since childhood and first recruited for intelligence work at university in switzerland and then at 0xford spied on left wing contemporary. when the option was presented to me, it was immensely attractive. it was really as if my whole of my life had prepared me for the moment. display came in from the cold, later filmed with richard burton wasjohn le carre's breakthrough novel, written while he was working for mi6 at the british embassy in bonn when the berlin wall went up. the author stephen king tweeted: agent of 15 yea rs, king tweeted: agent of 15

years, johnny geller wrote: his work did define the cold war era but his first post—cold war era but his first post—cold war novel... the night manager. with another bestseller and hit tv adaptation 20 years later where the author played every cameo. but it was his final will still be most for and believed authors and spies had much in common, both hiding their real selves in characters of their own creation. keith boyle, bbc news. john le carre, who's died at the age of 89. and stay with us on bbc news.

a spike aspike in a spike in corona cases in germany expected over the festive period. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, is due to brief representatives of member states after a weekend of intensive trade talks with britain. the first consignments of pfizer's covid vaccine are being shipped around the us, ahead of a mass immunisation programme starting on monday. germany is bringing in tough additional covid restrictions from wednesday for at least 25 days as it battles new infections that are three times that of the peak in the spring. schools and non essential shops will close and people will not be allowed to drink alcohol in public. from dresden, jenny hill reports. for a country which cherishes christmas, no joyful tidings.

germany is struggling to contain the second wave, and the death toll is rising. this morning, angela merkel announced that, in addition to bars and restaurants, schools and shops must now close, too. "case numbers are rising exponentially," she said. "we are mourning a lot of deaths, we need to stop the health system from being overburdened." it's costing the country dear. there'll be more financial help for businesses like astrid's, forced to close at her busiest time of year. it hurts. it hurts, yes. can you survive? i hope. we will see. we will see if we get some help. we will see. but what's gone wrong for the country which came so successfully through the first wave? many blame regional leaders, who, until now, have dithered, bickered and resisted angela merkel‘s calls for a tougher, countrywide response.

new years eve and christmas could be a complete nightmare, with increasing numbers and increasing numbers of deaths. i mean, look at the death rate. in one week, we have more deaths due to covid—19 than in one year in 2019 due to accidents. i mean, traffic accidents. i mean, it has to be changed. in the middle of a hard winter, plans for the new year when, if approved, germany hopes to start vaccinations. already, this country's freezers are in demand, purpose—built in south—west germany, to transport and store the german—developed vaccine at the required —70 celsius. we are producing here a quite high, fourdigit number of freezers a year. and we are, say, a handful of leading manufacturers in the world making such products. but we have to serve the globe. hope then, perhaps —

but for now little cheer. even the traditional german mulled wine is off. there is to be a ban on drinking alcohol outdoors. in normal times, this square would be packed with people enjoying dresden's world christmas market. not this year. many assumed those german qualities of efficiency, scientific excellence, strong infrastructure, could carry this country through the second wave of the pandemic. instead, germany, a country which really cherishes its festive traditions, is all but cancelling christmas. jenny hill, bbc news, dresden. let's get some of the day's other news. the prime minister of eswatini, formerly known as swaziland, has died at a hospital in south africa. it come four weeks after he tested positive for coronavirus. ambrose dlamini was just fifty—two—years—old. south korea has reported its biggest daily increase in new coronavirus infections

for a second day in a row. more than 1,000 new cases were confirmed on sunday. officials say they might have to tighten existing restrictions to control the spread of covid—19. the first covid—19 vaccine vials have arrived in canada. the country's health regulator approved the vaccine made by pfizer and biontech last week. the vials are being sent to 1a distribution sites across the country. a french paralympian says he wants to climb three mountains in the pyrenees. david labarre — who has only around 10% sight — has already reached the summit of mont blanc. he now wants to cycle and climb up three more mountains in france and spain. the bbc‘s tim allman has his story.

climbing a mountain is hardly easy for anyone. but imagine what it must be like for david labarre. visually impaired but always determined, he can only see shapes and spots. that will not stop him, though, even if he may not enjoy the full experience once he gets there. translation: of course there are people who climbed to see the view, but deep down i don't think they are really going for the view, they are going for something personal and the view was just a bonus. david is used to overcoming obstacles. he is a paralympian, winning silver in 5—a—side football at the 2012 london games. he is also a cyclist and can often be seen on his mountain bike. it is almost as if he is not disabled at all. translation: as someone who works with david on a daily basis the word handicap

does not really feature. from the first day i met him i thought that this guy must be lying because he does not seem disabled. i have never considered him to be disabled. one way that david prepares for his big climb is by pushing a 300 kilo hay bale. he hopes to reach the summit later next year. he may not be able to see it but he knows it is there. more now on the news that the british spy thriller writerjohn le carre has died at the age of 89. i'm joined from melbourne by jason steger who is books editor at the age and the sydney morning herald. hello and the sydney morning herald. to you, thank you being hello to you, thank you for being on the program. just tell us being on the program. just tell us from your perspective, how significantjohn le carre was?

i looked, i think he was very significant. yes he was writing, you could argue he was writing, you could argue he was writing genre fiction, i would argue that his fiction was literary fiction. he chronicled the state of tune in the post second world war, postcolonial cold war days and in that chronicling a cross since 1961, he portrayed the decline of the country. certainly the moral decline of those in the political classes and the secret services. and he wrote some great characters, not the least george smiley, his most known i would say. many may not have the his books but will know his work through the many adaptations on television, on film, the constant gardener, the night manager, there is just so much that isn't there?

well i think what that is indicative of is the fact that he told terrific stories as well as portraying a world, particularly smiley novels that was incredibly accurate. so strong characters, good plot, but great depth as well. if you're looking for an ongoing picture of britain in the world and also the fate of western liberal democracy, if you like, it is hard to go past him because his first book came out in1961. his because his first book came out in 1961. his final, what i assume will be his final book, came out last year. yes, absolutely incredible career and life. thank you so much for being on the program to share your thoughts on john le being on the program to share your thoughts onjohn le carre who has died at the age of 89. let's pause for a moment and

bring you the latest sports news. hello i'm tulsen tollett and this is your monday sport briefing where we start with the news that lee westwood has won the european tour's biggest prize, the race to dubai title for a third time. in a frenetic finish that saw fellow englishman matthew fitzpatrick win the dp world tour championship, westwood secured outright second place in the event which lifted him top of the pile in europe landing a $2 million bonus. ididn't i didn't know what was going to happen at the start of the year because i didn't play a lot but i played out and won this year. i haven't played for more than half—an—hour, 45 minutes because i've had a bad back. 0nly plain nine holes practice. so it was — i'm a little bit better when there is no, kind of, goal and anticipation their. cristiano ronaldo converted two late penalties on his 100th appearance for juventus in all competitions. the champions ground out a 3—1 win away to genoa on sunday — ronaldo striking in the 78th and 89th minutes, taking his tally to 10 in the league this season.

tottenham and champions liverpool remain first and second respectively in the premier league after both played out 1—1 draws on sunday. for arsenal though it was yet more disappointment in the league after they were beaten 1—0 at home by burnley. the gunners have now picked up one point from a possible 15, and sit 15th with a third of the season played. when you have this type of performances, you have to win premier league matches. easy. it is not science. when you play the way we play and dominate the game, you have to win, it's as simple as that. when you give another game away, it puts us in a really difficult position and on wednesday we're going to go and try again. iam sure i am sure they will. that is the latest in terms of sport. the top business stories next. i'll be back in a few minutes' time. we are looking in detail at the brexit negotiations. as they say, they want to go the extra mile. will they clinch a

deal or not? we will have a conversation in a moment. hello there. it was a wet day across the country on sunday, and there's more unsettled weather to come over the week ahead as well. the more persistent rain, that has been sweeping away out into the north sea and instead, we are seeing more showery sort of airstream filtering into the uk. that's coming in around that area of low pressure, and that's not going to move very far over the next few days. so lots of showers, actually, coming in at the moment, particularly across western areas. but because we've got a blustery southerly wind, it's a very mild start to monday. temperatures have been rising, actually, in scotland and the north—east of england. those temperature probably won't change much through the day. good start though with some wetter weather in scotland, and we will continue to feed in quite a lot of showers, maybe even longer spells of rain into some

western areas of the uk. those showers will get pushed in land, but there will be some sunny spells too. probably not too many showers for northern ireland and showers becoming fewer in scotland. but there will be brisk and gusty south to south—westerly wind, particularly near those heavy showers, but it does mean it's going to be a mild day. temperatures higher in scotland and the north—east of england then they were yesterday, and the highest temperature this time is likely to be in the south—east, 13 degrees here. there will be some heavy showers, though in the south—east and east anglia during the evening, those showers continuing further west as well. 0vernight, the showers do tend to ease, skies will tend to clear, and we could well start a little cooler on tuesday. still a mixture of sunshine and showers on tuesday, mostly showers around western and southern coasts. more areas will have a dry day, there will be fewer showers, the winds won't be quite as strong and temperatures still above average for the time of year, so 9—11 celsius. things get interesting around the middle part of the week because this area of low pressure arrives. it's going to be deepening, not only will be bringing some wetter weather again on wednesday, it will bring some stronger winds. and by the morning,

we could be gusting 50—60 mph in the south—west approaches, and those gales will push up through the irish sea and across the north channel as well. so western areas in particular will be windy. we will see a spell of rain pushing its way eastwards and we keep some wetter weather going in northern ireland, perhaps into western areas of scotland. some more rain, stronger winds in the west. again, it's a southerly wind, so those temperatures are 9—11 celsius. really, through the rest of the week, it does stay mild, but it does stay unsettled. a quieter day probably on thursday before we see the cloud thickening, the wind and rain, again, pushing in from the atlantic on friday.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. brexit trade negotiations are extended — business groups urge the uk government to strike a deal before the end of year deadline. sterling rises on the optimism as the uk and eu say they will go the extra mile and continue brexit negotations. and as countries roll—out the covid—19 vaccine, we hear how businesses and workers in singapore are working around the clock to ensure it's a smooth process.