this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. closing in on a brexit agreement — there are signs from brussels and london that there's a deal on the table. pizzas are delivered to the eu's headquarters in brussels, as negotiators prepare to work through the night to finalise the details. donald trump is accused of an act of staggering recklessness, as he uses his veto to block the us annual defence bill. six million more people in england face the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions, as hospital admissions surge to their highest level since mid april. the first trucks are on their way from dover as france lifts its ban on travel across the channel — but it could take days to clear the backlog.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. with just over a week to go until the uk's brexit transition period ends, it looks like a deal could be done within the next few hours. the cabinet is about to discuss the deal in a conference call, but negotiations are continuing in brussels: pizzas have been delivered, as the talks continue into christmas eve. with the view from london and brussels, here's our political editor laura kuennsberg and our europe editor katya adler. take a deep breath, we are very much on the verge of this deal actually being signed, sealed and then, in the days to come, delivered.

negotiators are, i am told, in the room, going through some of the very fine details on the issue, you guessed it, fishing, which has been such a stumbling block. on this side of the channel, uk cabinet ministers are being summoned right about now for a conference call to talk to the prime minister about the deal that is on the verge of being agreed. that wouldn't be happening, or at least would not be made public, if they were not very confident that they were really within touching distance of actually getting it done. there is no question it has been a tricky process, over many months. one of the timetable, the beginning of all this, seemed, to some, to be unrealistic. but after all of the wrangling, all of the agonising, it does feel now is if this agreement is just as good as having the final i's dotted under the t's crossed. i's dotted and the t's crossed. we do not know what has been agreed. it is said to run to several thousand pages and only a tiny group

of people that have seen anything like the real detail, which will be crucial in the days to come. we do know what seems to have been avoided, the potentially very profound disruption of this process failing, and the two sides walking away without a deal. for the country, it does seem that we are finally on the edge of a real milestone on this process. the brexit story, which has cost the country so much in terms of political turmoil, has cost the tory party two of its leaders and two prime ministers, and, like it or loathe it, it is a big step in this process that will shape so much of this future in the country for years to come. it has been an evening of ups and downs because earlier we were poised for an imminent announcement of a deal and then it all went quiet in the european commission headquarters where these negotiations are taking place. what exactly did that mean? then over an hour ago a whole load of pizza boxes arrived.

so they are chewing over these last tiny details of the deal. as laura says we need to find out exactly what the deal entails and then it is notjust the uk parliament that wants to have a look but the text will be sent to all the 27 eu countries for a little light christmas reading. each one of those member states can veto this deal, although it is not thought likely they will. it is worth bearing in mind what we are heading towards is what used to be known as a hard brexit. that means out of the customs union and the single market and we don't know what it feels like yet. the transition period has cut relations with the eu the transition period has kept relations with the eu pretty much the same. all of that is going to end in eight days and that is when we find out what brexit really means. steven erlanger is the new yorl times' chief diplomatic correspondent

and is based in brussels. hejoins me now. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. after all the years of argument, negotiation, bluster, rhetoric, do you think we are very close to a deal now? i think we must be. we have just entered thursday here, christmas is coming, everybody is tired, it is meant four and half yea rs, tired, it is meant four and half years, but i don't think it really got serious until probably the last last couple of months, having a deadline was always going to matter. always going to come down right to the end which is why i think the government was right not to have any sort of extension, but it is worth saying again, it is a hard brexit, and may be hard harder brexit than at many britain the stock they were actually voting for. but britain made a decision not to stay in the single market, not to stay in the

customs union, which meant there was a very narrow area to really negotiate. and i think both sides have probably done it pretty well for britain committed a lot about sovereignty, for the eu it is a lot about protecting itself in the single market from what could be unfair competition in the future. and for both sides come a way of figuring out some sort of adjudication procedure because britain would not recognise the european court of justice. britain would not recognise the european court ofjustice. there has to be some kind of arbitration measure in case of any real disputes, but ireland seems to be settled, though not in a very easy way, and now fish, the poorfish, it is not important economically, we all know, but politically very sensitive, and it is very important portions to be able to claim some sort of victory on fish because these had to give away on a lot of

other more important things like some form of adherence to european regulations over time. both sides talked about the real possibility of no deal but in the end, do you think both sides needed a deal so much that that in the in what was not really going to happen?” that that in the in what was not really going to happen? i don't think either side wanted no deal just because it would be so chaotic, much more chaotic than even now. i think to be honest the covid—i9 virus help push for a deal because for the british point of view, let alone from the european point of view, the economic disruption already there because of the virus would've been made much worse by a no deal, so i think it would a political disaster frankly for either side to have walked away and

let the chaos get worse and the economic damage also get worse. i don't think people would have forgiven their leaders for a no deal. good to talk to you, stephen. thank you so much. with less than a month left in office, president trump has wielded his veto, to block the us‘ annual national defence authorisation act. for decades, the bill has gone through with bipartisan support. the democrats are accusing him of an act of "staggering recklessness" in trying to block it. let's speak now to our north america correspondent david willis: david the, is this donald trump and the dying days of his presidency trying to create a bit of mischief? i think it is probably exactly that. the president and very miffed that senior republicans have failed to

back his claims that the result of the last presidential election was stolen from him and so he has vetoed the defence bill and he has also raised objections to another very important piece of legislation here, the new coronavirus a relief package, which also contains provisions that will keep the us government running from monday next when funding effectively runs out. now there is a lot of concern over the future not only of stimulus money here but what will happen if there is no kind of resolution reached on that one bite monday next but to go back to the defence bill you talked about, that has been vetoed by the president, it is been more or less accepted every year for the last nearly 60 years, so this is highly unusual and the president objects to the renaming of military bases that were named after confederate generals and also he is

arguing about liability protections for internet companies such as twitter and facebook. but it is a pretty chaotic situation that we have here now with the president and mar—a—lago come his florida retreat for the next week at least. what to his fellow republicans make of all of this? i think your heads are spending as much as many people's are here. —— their heads are spending. people have not seen this thing coming. with regard to the coronavirus relief bill, even the treasury secretary thought the president was on board for a stimulus check of about $600 a week. the president now urging for much more than that, urging $200 and more. that's $600 total. the democrats are very happy because they always argued for more by way

of stimulus and as far as the checks going out the people were concerned and they are calling for a fellow republicans now to follow line and back for a surprise move by president trump. thank you, david. —— back to surprise move. a further six million people in england will find themselves living under highest level of covid restrictions within the next few days, as coronavirus levels rise again. from december 26th, the government has said it's extending tier 4 restrictions across much of the south and east of england. that means staying at home, unless you're travelling to work orfor education, and no christmas socialising. this report from our political correspondent laila nathoo. just sign will soon be turned. tighter restrictions on their way and elsewhere in the east in norfolk. tracy owns a gift shop and

whole and another in neighbouring suffolk. within days, both have to close. we fully appreciate the fact that these measures have got to be put in place. it is spiralling out of control now. but we do feel as usual the government has left it late to make the decision. not the gift the government wanted to give. having already scaled back plans to allow christmas mixing, but ministers say the new strain of the virus has forced their hand. we have learned that when it comes to being a matter of when, not if, we take action, it is better to act sooner. and i know that some of these decisions are tough. and i believe that everybody will do what is needed to keep themselves and others safe. especially this christmas. and i know from the bottom of my heart that there are brighter skies ahead. hejust said that he just said that it is been attacked sooner but the apartment or set saturday the new strain was present across the country step ——

it is better to act sooner. your chief medical officer said it is not possible to stop spreading. haven't you wasted valuable time and trying to get ahead of the new strain of the virus? the whole basis of the tiered system if you take a proportionate approach to the areas where we need very firm action and other areas where we clearly need restrictions. added to that of course is everybody‘s personal responsibility. with all of the confusion around christmas and worries about what will happen in the new year, we need to see clearer and firmer leadership from the prime minister, putting the health measures but also the economic measures but also the economic measures in place so that we save lives and protect peoplesjobs. the government insists it's confident that the system of tiered restriction in england is now strong

enough to contain the new strain of the virus that is spreading quicker while the vaccine is being rolled out. almost half of the country's population will soon be in the toughest tier. ministers say they don't want another national lockdown, but are keeping everything under review. we've been here before, and they had to change course. the cheer of christmas is muted this year. and for millions facing even stricter rules, boxing day will bring a further test of resolve. the first of thousands of trucks that have been stranded in a temporary lorry park in kent are now being allowed to leave after france reopened its border with the uk. travellers will have to show proof of a recent negative test for the coronavirus. ministers have warned of severe delays before the backlog is cleared. with truck drivers desperate to get home for christmas tempers began to boil over in dover this morning. 0ur transport correspondent caroline davies reports.

after three days of waiting, patience is running low. drivers clash with police at manston airfield, desperate to get tested, get out and get home. we just want to make the test, and then go straight to home. in one day it is christmas. we are in here three days, we are very tired. we stay in the cars. we don't have a lot of food, no money. it's not very well. you need to go to your lorry, they will come to your lorry and test each of you. this morning, the airfield was full. tests have started. but even a negative result means lorries have to navigate this to leave the country. the port of dover's chief executive isn't sure when the backlog can be cleared. the key thing is to get the approaches to the port clear. that's got to be number one.

and then to be able to produce a flow rate into the port of negative tests, that allows us to keep the port full and the ferries full. and then we can process things very, very quickly. horns blare. in dover, you can hear the frustration. small acts of kindness in the queue. thank you. free drinks handed out, and volunteers opened the beach toilets. at the end of the day, it shouldn't be just down to the local community rallying round together. we live here. the government, the local councillors, our mp, who we haven't heard from at all yet — they should be here doing something. but people already exhausted by tier 4 restrictions are exasperated by the traffic. people can't get in or out of town or nothing. and there's elderly people that need shopping done, and no buses, no nothing. there are lots of old people in those flats. and it's gridlock, nobody can move. it's a dangerous situation now. this is the scene across many roads in dover today, complete gridlock.

some of the people i've been speaking to today say they have been here for several days. 0thers arrived this morning, hoping things would have calmed down. what many people have also asked me is, where can i get a test? speaking today, the transport secretary said things were moving. there's about 6,000 lorries now in the area, and we are using every single tool we can. for example, the army are joining us this evening in order to assist with the logistics. the police have done a terrific job in helping to clear the entrance to dover, to the port itself. the first tested drivers are now on their way to dover. a mobile testing centre has arrived in town. and the ferries sit tantalisingly close, holding the hopes of many to get home. caroline davies, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a huge fire breaks out, at a migrant camp in bosnia, it's thought that the migrants set fire to their own tents.

saddam hussein is finished. because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes. they brought a formal into three and a half years of conflict, conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, presidents put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silenced today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre from leaking out. a trial to his political life. the lewinsky affair guaranteed bill clinton's place in history as only the second president ever

to be impeached. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. signs of movement in brexit talks — with suggestions there could be agreement between the eu and uk in a matter of hours. president trump has vetoed a seven— hundred— and— a0 billion dollar defence bill that was approved by the us congress this month. thousands of migrants are sleeping outside in freezing temperatures in bosnia, after fire swept through the camp they were living in. officials say former residents set fire to tents and containers. there are no reports of any injuries. the un says the refugees are in dire need of humanitarian aid. let's get more from our balkans correspondent guy de launey.

this particular centre which we've seen the fire up their is called lipo. it's near the city in northwestern bosnia. that city itself is quite close to the border with croatia, so it's a magnet for thousands of people coming up those balkan trails who want to get into the european union, over the borderfrom bosnia into croatia. the problem is at anyone time bosnia has something between seven and 10,000 people who are staying in the country prior to moving on. it doesn't have the means to accommodate them. what's more is you've got places where organisations like the international organisation for migration have set up emergency centers for these people. but the local authorities, local residents don't want that to happen. they don't like having thousands of outsiders in their town. and what we've seen today is a result of that. the iom was going to close libre the national authorities

the iom was going to close lipa and the national authorities were meant to renovate it. but the local authorities were blocking people from moving elsewhere. and this fire appears to have been a protest at all those shenanigans. and a couple of weeks ago the international organisation for immigration were warning me about exactly this. we talked to them and they were saying look, people will die in the winter if they are not given accommodation. because now with the 1500 or so residents of lipa effectively out on their own, they are joining another 1500 to 2000 people who were already sleeping rough in abandoned buildings, improvised camps or even just in the forest. now this is not great at the best of times and winter in the western balkans is not the best of times if you have not got proper shelter. let's get some of the day's other news. the mayor of new york, bill de blasio, says sheriff's deputies will conduct home and hotel visits to ensure that visitors from britain stick to quarantine regulations, to prevent the spread of new variant covid.

if they don't abide by the rules, travellers face a fine of 1,000 dollars for each day they violate the quarantine. more than 50 countries have banned british visitors over the new strain of the virus. three police officers have been shot dead after responding to a report of domestic violence. a fourth officer was also wounded in the village of sanjoost in central france. they were trying to rescue a woman, who was trapped on the roof of a home. the french interior ministry says the suspected gunman has also been found dead. france has flown warplanes over the central african republic ahead britain has ordrered a halt to flights from south africa from nine 0'clock on thursday morning. that's after the discovery of a second variant of the coronavirus — apparently originating in south africa. there are fears that new variants of the virus are causing a surge in cases. our health correspondent, sophie huchinson has more. south africa, where another new variant of coronavirus is causing alarm. scientists say initial evidence

suggests it's more infectious than other versions of the virus, and doctors are reporting more young people who are seriously ill. this new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that's been discovered in the uk. the two people found in the uk with this variant are being quarantined along with close contacts. the government's brought in immediate travel restrictions with south africa and says anyone who has been there in the past two weeks must self—isolate, along with their close contacts. and all of this on top of a new variant believed to have originated in the uk. today the government released these graphs, showing its rapid growth in different parts of england. the dark lines are the new variant, the lighter lines the pre—existing strains. and mps were told today the uk variant believed to have emerged

in kent has probably spread further. the fact they have picked up ten cases with sequencing of this new variant in a country as small as denmark, with a relatively low infection rate, would suggest in my view that this virus has been introduced into the great majority, if not all of european countries at the current time. whenever viruses mutate into new strains, like the one that spread so fast here in london, there is inevitably concern about whether vaccines will still work. the developers behind the coronavirus vaccines are now checking that, but scientists are confident that vaccines will be able to adapt. one of the beauties, really, of this novel technology is its simplicity and in theory its adaptability, its agility to respond. the developers of the pfizer—biontech vaccine, which is being used by the nhs,

believe it will still be effective, reassuring those who were relying on it as a way out of this pandemic. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. before we go, octopuses have long been known to use their suckers to attach themselves to their prey. but scientists are now investigating a new weapon in their armoury. the sucker punch. this footage was collected by researchers in egypt's red sea, and shows octopuses using their tentacles to punch nearby fish. the scientists behind the study say the punches happened during hunts, when octopus and fish were working together to catch prey. in some cases, the ‘punches' appear to be motivated by practical gain like stealing prey. in others — researchers believe they could have been landed to ‘impose a cost‘ on ‘misbehaving fish'. everything you wanted to know about

octopuses punching in the deep seas. you have been watching bbc news. thank you for watching. hello there. wednesday brought another wet day, particularly to england and wales. and at one point, we had over 50 flood warnings in force. now, i'm sure as the rain eases off, the number of flood warnings through christmas eve will gradually begin to drop away, but still the potential for a few problems. there is the rain bearing cloud, then, we had across england and wales, but my attention right now is being drawn to this area of cloud just running in across the north of scotland, because this is going to bring some of you snow. yes, there could be a few centimetres lying on the ground in places, along with the risk of icy stretches as we head into the first part of christmas eve. a few showers also running down north sea coast, the irish seacoast, as our main band of rain continues to edge out—of—the—way. it will be cold, mind you, a cold start to christmas eve, a widespread frost certainly for scotland, northern england,

probably northern ireland, and perhaps into the north midlands and north wales as well. now, it will be a cold day for christmas eve, these chilly northerly winds diving their way southwards and bringing showers down north sea coasts. they will continue to fall as snow in land across parts of scotland, perhaps over the north york moors, might even see an odd flake mixed in with these showers across eastern england at times. but away from the east coast where it will be windy and cold, should be plenty of sunshine, but those temperatures way lower than they have been for a number of days now, 3—4 in scotland, may be 11—5 for parts of eastern england. and as we head into christmas day, there will be a widespread and sharp frost, so certainly a chilly start to the big day. that might be quite a nice sunrise to start the day. best of the sunshine across england and wales, but cloud will quickly building across the northwest, and ultimately, we will see some rain move its way into northwest scotland, where it will be turning milder, as south—westerly winds eventually pushing in, highs of 9 in stornoway. best of the sunshine, then,

hanging on across parts of southern and eastern england, but cold, 11—5 degrees celsius. beyond that, boxing day, and sunday, the second half of the weekend, we've got this area of rain pushing southwards across the country. given that the ground is saturated, that rain is likely to lead to further localised flooding with wintry showers following the main band of rain through. it's notjust rain that could cause issues, it's also going to become very windy, gusts could reach 50—70 mph, maybe even stronger than that. so there is the potential for some disruptive winds as well this weekend, and beyond that into monday, still windy for northern ireland. further east, a mixture of rain, sleet and maybe some snow.

this is bbc world news,

the headlines... the bbc understands the uk and eu are close to finalising a post brexit trade deal. the brexit negotiators, from both sides, are believed to still be, in the negotiating room in brussels. president trump has vetoed a defence spending bill approved by the us congress this month — in part because he objects to plans to remove the names of confederate leaders from military bases. around 3,000 migrants in bosnia are living outdoors in freezing conditions after an emergency camp was shut down and then set on fire. there are no reports of anyone being hurt during the blaze. tempers have become frayed at the english port of dover as truck drivers face continuing delays — despite france reopening its border. drivers must show they have a negative covid test result before they can travel.