this is bbc news. i'm ben brown — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. brexit deal within striking distance — as signs from london and brussels point to a deal on the table. a deal is expected monday morning. pizzas are delivered to the eu's headquarters in brussels, as negotiators prepare to work through the night to finalise the details. 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. and athlete tightens measures and closes ski resorts and he now has the highest coping death toll in europe. ——

highest covid—19 death toll. 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, the final picture said to be over 2000 pages long and talks are expected to continue through the night. let's get the latest from kevin connolly from the bbc in brussels. we saw pizzas being delivered to the negotiators to give them and keep them fed. we thought there might be a deal tonight but it sounds like we will have to wait a while longer. it is

been a rather strange day here when that historic agreement has really seems within touching distance all day, but has not quite been touched it. 0ur has not quite been touched it. our understanding is in the small hours of the morning here it is our understanding is that talking will continue through the night, perhaps on the vexed question of fisheries, but it sums up the state of the negotiations come and by their free brought atmosphere around them that when those pizzas we re them that when those pizzas were delivered, there was genuine speculation as to whether there was the keep the negotiators going through the night or whether it was for some kind of celebration because a deal had been done. the senses that is that close, you have to enter the cavity outcome of this is brussels, nothing is done until everyone to detail is done, and that is not done yet. we are hearing for the british side there is likely to be in early morning news c0 nfe re nce likely to be in early morning news conference that suggests that something is going to be

announced in the morning. that something is going to be announced in the morningli think there is a very high probability of that. part of all of this of course is you may well still be arguing about fishing stocks, but there's also a presentational issue. if you finally start out that issue about fishing stocks come at past three in the morning, you don't want to throw away the announcement of what is a pretty historic moment, let's not forget that. this is the first time the country has left the eu. it is the first free trade deal therefore of his time that the eu has ever negotiated. it is usually economically significant for britain and you don't want to come to an agreement in the middle of the night and lose the headlines making power of launching a deal. expect to see borisjohnson in launching a deal. expect to see boris johnson in london launching a deal. expect to see borisjohnson in london and expect to see ursula here and expect to see ursula here and expect a fuss to be made because after the very difficult negotiations. they still continue. now comes the

task of selling the steel to the public. more of an issue on the public. more of an issue on the british side. but there will be a strong desire to get the public behind it and the best way to do that is to have a convincing lunch at a good moment in the morning rather than in the middle of the night here. and there's been a lot of rhetoric on both sides about the real possibility, even probability, be no deal. and yet we are now on the verge of a deal. do you think all along both sides, they really could not contemplate no deal. both sides, they really could not contemplate no dealli think no deal would have been extraordinarily disruptive. you're talking about $900 billion worth of trade going into directions, it is a huge pa rt into directions, it is a huge part of the british economy. it is even a big part of the overall eu economy. so no deal with the main tariffs, quotas, it would have meant huge disruption to industrial supply chains, car components meeting

your and assembled in britain, fresh land and sea fish delivered from scotland to france, all of those things would have been subject to ta riffs would have been subject to tariffs and that would've been a huge interruption to trade. i think at every point in the negotiation it is a basic tactic of any negotiator that you have to look as though you are prepared to walk away and have no deal rather than accept unacceptable conditions but the truth is you are almost certainly right that either side would've been very relu cta nt to side would've been very reluctant to emerge from this without a deal and it would've felt damaging whenever politicians been said. if it is right that they are still talking predominantly about fish, it is extraordinary because fish for the british economy is a tiny part of the economy, like 0.02%, and yet it has this ideological status amongst the brexiteers in the

uk but also important for president macron in france. that is right. fishing i think ina lot that is right. fishing i think in a lot of countries, notjust in britain and france, has a totemic powerfar in britain and france, has a totemic power far beyond its economic value. that is always been true. it is about control of the seas and sovereignty, about how you see yourself as a controlling your land in the seas beyond it. it is a very powerful emotional issue, it is economically important in some communities like in scotland and devin, in normandy, and brittany and francis welcomes other is economic importance there, but in an all in negotiations like this, it has tremendous symbolic power. —— scotla nd tremendous symbolic power. —— scotland and dublin. those last—minute negotiations may even be about what amount of individual species of fish european boats will be able to ta ke european boats will be able to take in british waters in the future. so we could even say this is a deal that is been

done over nine months of immensely complex negotiations but ultimately it was done macro by macro hearing by hearing. maybe they should be eating fish rather than pizza. kevin, thank you very much. earlier i spoke to steven erlanger, the new york times chief diplomatic correspondent, believes a deal is close. christmas is coming, everybody is tired, it has been 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. it was 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 as katya

did, it is a hard brexit, and may be a harder brexit than many 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 who is 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, a way of figuring out some sort of adjudication procedure because 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 brosi johnson be able to claim some sort of victory on fish because he 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 in the end was not really going to happen? i don't think either side wanted no dealjust because it would be so chaotic, much more chaotic than even now. i think to be honest the covid—i9 virus helped 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. 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. this sign will soon be turned. tighter restrictions are on their way in norfolk and elsewhere in the east and south—east of england. tracey owns a gift shop in holt and another in neighbouring suffolk. within days,

both have to close. we fully appreciate the fact that these measures have to be put in place because it's spiralling out of control in our areas, but as usual we feel the government has left it incredibly 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 learnt that, when it comes to being a matter of when and not if we take action, it's better to act sooner. and i know 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. you just said, when it comes to coronavirus, it's better to act sooner, but the prime minister said on saturday the new strain was present across the country. your chief scientific adviser said on monday it wasn't possible to stop it from spreading

beyond the south—east. haven't you wasted valuable time in trying to get ahead of the new strain of the virus? the whole basis of the tiered system is to 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. labour say businesses in areas already locked down are bearing a heavy burden. with all of the confusion around christmas and worries about what will happen in the new year too, we need to see clearer and firmer leadership from the prime minister, putting the health measures but also the economic measures in place so that we save lives and protect people's jobs. the government insists it's confident that the system of tiered restrictions 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 have 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. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. the first of thousands of trucks that have been stay with us on bbc news, still to come: look at the devastation filled in the northern ski resorts. 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. a brexit deal is within striking distance with an

agreement with the london and brussels now expected on thursday morning. 60 million more people are facing restrictions as hospital admission serve, the highest level since april. —— as hospital admissions surge. 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. we to ravi from the charity which has been delivering more than a hundred mils reports that both i think you for being with us. give us an idea of the help you've been able to these lori drivers. initially monday when we went down, we provided snacks and water, checking what was happening. we got in

contact with the emergency services to say we could offer help. yesterday morning they called saying can we assist with 800 hot meals last—minute notice and we said yes we can. they were wonderful. 800 hot meals and two or three hours. we did that all day yesterday and came back today. then this morning we left again and the police contacted us saying can we do more and there was a very generous businessman who donated 1000 pizzas. we spent most of the day distributing those in picking up. in late during the evening we had some chips donated by another 400 by chip shot business and that was delivered to the coast guard and other agencies being distracted. we have been busy.

these drivers are desperate for food. they have been there for days, and we see the pictures that are stuck on the motorway but able to get to shops and can give food or water. no toilet facilities. it is really tough for them. i think one thing we can remember, this situation like this, we work with refugees around the world. everybody gets lifted by a hotmail. does that matter if you're ina hotmail. does that matter if you're in a camp in syria or in a lower parking over. a hot meal is very important. —— it does not matter. —— in a truck park. there's nothing around. yesterday was even worse. it was quite heavily raining in the evening. we were stuck in the evening. we were stuck in the cab. it is like a prison in a way for them. are you surprised that they are in this condition? there wasn't help from the government or from the cou nty from the government or from the

county council. this was a possibility that this kind of thing might happen if there had been no brexit deal in the next few days and their responsive have been preparations to avoid this kind of situation. —— and there was supposed to have been. everybody is really taken by surprise, i'm not sure what the counselling going to be honest. i'm not sure whether they were working. i'm sure they were working. i'm sure they are doing something from they are doing something from the government. 0nly they are doing something from the government. only the agencies in emergencies services i can say are doing a greatjob. you do get surprised. i really hope for the future you don't need charities to do this. the army or other agencies from the government. we are happy to work with them and support them. it is a really ideal charities doing this but we cannot sit still so i'm glad that we went and i'm glad we

are still there is still supporting the police because they are doing a sterling job, to keep order. it is a difficult situation for the emergency services. it sounds like you are doing a greatjob. ravi thank you for your time. italy is ending 2020 as the country with the highest covid death toll in europe — and the government has tightened measures over christmas, including closing ski resorts. italy was the first country in the west to be crushed by the virus, with the city of bergamo in the north particularly devastated. 0ur correspondent mark lowen has been back there to reflect on this tragic year. clearing the pistes for no one to use. high in the italian alps, foppolo should be preparing for a bumper christmas season. but it, and all italian ski resorts, have been shut by the government to slow coronavirus. it's in the province of bergamo, worst hit in italy by the pandemic. and now there's

the financial shock. translation: at christmas, we make up half of our season. losing it causes irreparable damage that we'll never make up. and i imagine some businesses here won't survive. what we from bergamo lived through in march was very frightening, hearing the sound of ambulances. we must take care not to relive it, but the mountains can be enjoyed safely. and this is not a fair decision. the first wave of the virus closed these pistes on march 8th, having to shut down again is a devastating blow for resorts that make up 11 billion euros of the italian economy. but there's always a trade off between economic damage and halting the virus. and losing this christmas on the pistes is a sacrifice the government feels it has to make. desperate measures to stop a repeat of march when deaths in bergamo were more than five times previous years.

christmas won't ease the pain of a city whose despair became a symbol of italy's agony. azia marquez‘s father, sirio, was one of the first to die at home, the kindly face of the local santa. his body stayed in their living room for two and a half days before the overwhelmed authorities could retrieve it. translation: someone like him deserved a funeral, something dignified, instead of being thrown into a coffin in our house like a carcass. there'll be an empty place at the table this christmas. he was the life and soul of the party. i'm angry, too, with the authorities who didn't close down bergamo fast enough. they put the economy ahead of human lives. the scenes in march of bergamo's main hospital, short of beds and oxygen, woke the west up to what it would face. today, it's quieter, numbers are lower. so many cases here has created some herd immunity.

but psychologists say the mental scars run deep. translation: patients told me of their dreams of being in a room on fire, needing someone to save them. bergamo has always been a very lively city, full of people and light. suddenly, it became a wounded city, ground to a halt, silenced. i, too, needed psychological help, and i think we will see more patients for years to come. in a year of hospital heroes, the building itself has become a christmas nativity scene here, with memories of the horrors of 2020 and dreams of a medical miracle to come. mark lowen, bbc news, bergamo. a reminder of our top story, the uk european union close to finally striking a post—break the trade deal in the final text is said to be some 2000 pages long. talks are expected to continue through the night.

you are watching bbc news. 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 4—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 build in 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, 4—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 news.

brexit deal within striking distance — as signs from london and brussels point to a deal on the table. a on the table. deal expected in the next few hours. a deal expected in the next few hours. they've been summoned to meet with boris johnson to discuss what's on the verge of being agreed. 6 million more people in england are facing the toughest rep —— the neck six million more people in england face the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions, as hospital admissions surge to their highest level since mid april. and then extending tier 4 restrictions across the south of englund. trucks that have been stranded are now being allowed to leave after france reopened its border with the united kingdom. travellers will have to show proof of a recent negative test for coronavirus. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.