hello, this is bbc news. our top this is bbc world news. the headlines... stories. britain and the european union are still trying to finalise a trade with one week to go deal, which was expected to be until the end of the transition announced a few hours ago. period, disagreements over the irish foreign minister, fishing rights are simon coveney, says there has been thought to have caused a "last—minute hitch" on the terms a ‘last—minute hitch‘. of fishing rights. another 6 million people in england another 6 million people in england are told to stay are told to stay at home at home from boxing day from boxing day as the toughest as the toughest level of covid level of covid restrictions are widened. restrictions are widened. the uk's health secretary says the uk transport secretary urges thousands of lorry the increase is necessary to contain drivers waiting for covid tests a faster—spreading variant to be allowed to cross the channel to be patient — of the virus. but on the ground, that is in short supply. 6,000 lorries are still waiting to leave the uk president trump has issued and cross the channel. another round of pardons — among them two key allies the hauliers need covid tests before who were convicted over the russia inquiry the are allowed into france. president trump has issued full

pardons to his former campaign chairman paul manafort and long—time fixer roger stone. the move sweeps away the most high—profile convictions from the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the us election four years ago. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the uk and the european union are on the brink of an historic post—brexit trade and security deal — ending nearly a year of bitter wrangling. an announcement that the two sides have secured an agreement on their future relationship which will avoid import taxes on each other‘s goods — is expected in the coming hours. but yet again, fishing is the issue they're stuck on — and a news conference which was initially expected first thing this morning — has been delayed. negotiators from both sides talked through the night in brussels — and are continuing to hammer out the details, as jessica parker reports. an agreement emerging?

but taking its time after years of debate and months of trade negotiations, and all those missed deadlines. today, still a little wait yet. you have to feel for those businesses who still don't know on what terms they are meant to be trading with the eu on the 1st of january. people will be poring over this text over the next couple of days, yes, through christmas day as well, to try to understand what it means. there is a big question for the uk and the eu in terms of how they support businesses to adapt. pizza was on order last night as negotiators battled on in brussels last night. each side trying to catch some final concessions on fishing rights. the uk left the eu injanuary, in what's called the transition period, and has been following its rules since then while a deal was negotiated. a deal to cover goods, products that cross the border but one that is expected to be limited on services. but no details yet, they will have to be unpacked.

the initial indications we are getting is that many of those facets of sovereignty are being returned, we can get on with a decent relationship with our european allies and friends that we have been with for so long, but we have parted company, hopefully on very good terms. numerous phone calls between borisjohnson and eu chief ursula von der leyen in the last 2a hours. the diplomatic dash as the deadline looms. it's certainly a compromise, there is no suggestion the uk has achieved everything we wanted. we don't have the same access to the single market but without any of the obligations, which is what was talked about at various points, so it's a more distant relationship but it's also the basis on which a future relationship can be built. two prime ministers have been driven from office by brexit, an issue too that once consumed this place where debate was fierce, frenetic, angry at times.

with a week until the transition period ends, mps will likely soon be asked to sign an agreement off. jessica parker, bbc news. any more detail on this h? and afraid not. during the course of the night, there was still issues on fishing. they did seem to be moving closer together. there was a compromise on phasing in the new fishing arrangements. the uk wanted three year period. a compromise agreed by both sides. sources on both sides are telling us that was the case. a deeper level of detail, discussions on quota by quota,

species by species on fish during the course of the night. it looks like, if anything is holding them up, it is the fishing issue. it cou nts up, it is the fishing issue. it counts for 0.12% of the uk economy, but it is of huge significance for the prime minister who says he wants to claim back sovereignty and take back control of the ukquarters. big symbolic significance for coastal communities in france and some of oui’ communities in france and some of our eu countries as well. it seems as though with the level of detail, when you're trying to translate broad compromises into legal text. the expectation is that the call will take place between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson three or four hours ago but that has not yet taken place. it needs to happen to reach a verbal agreement to sign off before you unlock all the other

paraphernalia that will be necessary , paraphernalia that will be necessary, for example, next week you would expect the uk parliament to be called from their winter break to be called from their winter break to sign of any deal. it looks as though if that happened, the deal would go through. the eu's own parliament would have to retrospectively give the thumbs up for the deal in january. retrospectively give the thumbs up for the deal injanuary. in order to get those last levels of detail that seem to be causing a problem, none the less there seems to be confidence that the deal will go ahead. there are quibbles rather than a strategic disagreement. a new partnership still seems likely to be unveiled in the next few hours. we will come back to you later. thank you. as we've been hearing, the uk and eu have locked horns over a number of issues during negotiations. but there were a number of key sticking points that proved particularly difficult to navigate

over the past few weeks. with me is our reality check correspondence. fishing seems to be a real snag for these discussions. in what sense? it seems to be politically sensitive on both sides, even though economically it is almost insignificant. in the uk, there will have been fishermen that presume take back control over fishing means 100% control and immediately. there is the potential, among a minority, a vapour trail narrative building there. then reality is, this is a negotiation, there was always going to have to be compromise. we have heard about the compromise. we have heard about the compromise on the length of the transition period. there is also an issue on the amount of fish that u—boats currently catch in uk waters. how much of that will may be able to catch in the future? the opening ask from the uk is that we get 80% of all that catch back in

terms of value. the eu said no, we'll give you 18%. big difference. we think they have come to an agreement, which is closer to the eu and of that scale than the uk end. but overall if you look into the long term, the uk will take back control of its fishing waters at the moment it doesn't have the boats that can catch all the fish. the political importance of the fishing communities in their countries, is to say that they have one. there is a lot of spin going on over both sides of the channel. it is very emotive and political. in economic terms, it is a very small part of the uk economy. presumably, there are bigger economic issues at play, as well? anime clip main one is the level playing field, that there has

to be strict level playing field rules. we will find outjust how strict those rules will be soon. it is about what happens, when we know the uk has now got the ability, or will have the ability to diverge from eu rules. what happens when it does that? what will the penalties be? this texas onto the related issue of dispute resolution. how does arbitration work? how could the eu, for example, react, if the uk reached an agreement in one area, would it be able to re—impose ta riffs would it be able to re—impose tariffs in another policy area? that's really important for businesses. they are delighted there will be tariff free trade even though they know there will be additional new bureaucracy at borders. what they are worried about, additionally, it has for yea rs about, additionally, it has for years to come, there will be distract that if a uk government

decides to move away from eu rules, that potential threat of tariffs coming back will always be there. thank you very much for that. people speak later, i dare say. joining me now is a secretary from the department for exiting the european union from 2017 to 2019. perhaps you could shed some light on what may be going on in these discussions. they planned a press conference but presumably they have had something unforeseen if they had to delay it. this is complicated stuff, particularly when you get into fisheries. there is a lot of stocks involved in this. there are about 100 different species of fish in the eu and the uk. some are important for the eu, some are imported for the uk, so people will be crawling

over this to understand the fine print and what it means. we are now down, surely, to marginal differences in terms of the overall deal. fisheries, as everyone has been saying, a relatively small part of this economically, so we are now down to narrow differences within that. here is hoping it is also by the time we get the mince pies out later this afternoon. we are hoping —— we are expecting that the deal document will be around 2000 pages. in the prime minister expect to get that through parliament? most people would say, yes it is pretty much certain that he will achieve that. he's got his own in—built majority and it is unlikely that the labour party would seek to derail this. it is binary. it is deal or no deal. and more importantly, no deal in ten

days' time. it will go to the uk parliament, it will be taken in one day. this allows very little time for scrutiny. a bill this size would normally have weeks of consideration in the commons and the lords. this is pretty exceptional. people will worry about that, rightly so. businesses also need to understand what detail means for them. the ratification of this both in the uk and in the eu, has to take place, but then into implementation also needs to take some time. there will be small bumps on that road, dou btlessly be small bumps on that road, doubtlessly as well. you have a unique insight in how these were. given that this is all happening, these negotiations, at a time when it is very hard for the key players to be in the same room, face—to—face, how much of that do you think has had an impact? deal

conversations tend to happen on the sidelines during tea and coffee brea ks sidelines during tea and coffee breaks which you don't get if you are doing it via video call?|j breaks which you don't get if you are doing it via video call? i think we have all experienced this over the last ten months or so. of course, you can do a huge amount via video call, but nothing beats the face to face, particularly if you are dealing with difficult issues. it is the ability to have outside conversation. saying, ifi it is the ability to have outside conversation. saying, if i were to suggest there is, how might you react? its of record, you can build 12 stamps confident in that way. i have to say, in regard to the uk internal market bill and the threat to stop the withdrawal treaty, put another element of distrust into the mix. i expect that has delayed things as well. in an ideal world,

this would have been done some months ago to give people that certainty to prepare for a very changed reality. the uk's trading relationship, despite this deal, go through a massive change at the end of this year and that would be hugely important for lots of businesses and, ultimately the uk economy as well. like mike thank you very much. thanks very much. let's cross to brussels. 0ur european, respondent is at the brussels headquarters. any updates from that and? i am sort of outside the headquarters, i am and? i am sort of outside the headquarters, iam in and? i am sort of outside the headquarters, i am in the bureau just by the headquarters. i was just outside on the street and now i am in the bureau next door. we have had a bit of news in the past five

minutes. the negotiators have been brought sandwiches for their lunch. we don't know what type of sandwiches but they have been brought in from the uk residency with a staff observing strict covert rules. they have taken the sandwiches and so i'm guessing there is no white smoke or news on the fishing deal yet. i have been told that it will be a good few hours yet, but just to that it will be a good few hours yet, butjust to go through that process again, what we expected some point today, and they are silting today, one official has said it could be later this evening. we are expecting a press conference from ursula von der leyen with boris johnson on the other side of that. they will give the optics, and for some time after that we should get the detail coming through of these 2000 or so pages. for anyone who may have taken a break from the news for a couple of days, just switch on now, what would you say is so crucial about this deal that it has

to be done with such urgency? why is there so much pressure on them to get this done? if you look at the economic centre of all of this, the economic centre of all of this, the economic heartbeat of the uk businesses, manufacturing, farmers, livestock, all of a sudden, as of a week tomorrow, january the 1st, you have massive tariffs. getting your head round about how 40% on livestock and lamb going around the border and tariffs the other way and having limits on quotas saying what products can go back and forth. lots of companies were saying they simply could not survive this. they would go bankrupt very quickly. farmers, too. if this is a tariff free, quota free agreement, it won't be frictionless, that famous word that theresa may use to use. it would have to be be transition facilities, basically paying for checks of livestock, equipment and goods going

through the border. the customs union would basically be out of that. then you have the deal and what happens with european health insurance, for example. that is part of the negotiations for ordinary people want to travel in europe. it gets detail on that. there are a couple of things that have been sorted all the way which might get an upgrade. driving licences, as we already know, you will need to have an international driving permit, a green card and proof of insurance, a pet passport for example, having to have a jab for ten days having your pat raby said slide. these things will change very soon. might make another 6 million people in the uk will face tougher restrictions from boxing day. the health secretary, matt hancock, said because the current restrictions we re were not enough to contain the spread of the virus.

might make these shoppers in huntington, cambridgeshire, ithink the new measures in their stride. huntington, cambridgeshire, ithink the new measures in their stridem it will keep us safe in the end, it's good, and i will be quite happy. i think it's a good thing. personally, i think we should go into another lockdown. it worked la st into another lockdown. it worked last time. matt hancock said the new system was not enough to control the variant of the virus. he revealed another variant has been detected in the uk. this new variant is highly concerning bigoted because it is yet more transmissible. all flights arriving in the uk from south africa are banned from this morning. anyone

who has been in south africa or anyone who has been in close contact with anyone who has been an past format orfortnight, with anyone who has been an past format or fortnight, has with anyone who has been an past format orfortnight, has been with anyone who has been an past format or fortnight, has been asked to quarantine. in scotland, christmas bubbles will be allowed on christmas bubbles will be allowed on christmas day with a maximum of eight people from three households. in northern ireland, a six—week lockdown in northern ireland, a six—week lockd own starts in northern ireland, a six—week lockdown starts on boxing day. the first week will have stricter restrictions, though people can form a christmas bubble for one day between the 23rd on the 27th of december. wales is in a new national lockdown, after a large spike in cases. the health secretary had this christmas message. we mustn't give up christmas message. we mustn't give up now. we know that we can control this virus. we know we can get through this together. we are going to get through it by suppressing the virus until a vaccine can make us safe. all hopes now rest with the vaccine roll—out.

drivers have been trapped in dover. the government has sent a team of firefighters and 10,000 tests to speed up the process. 0ur reporter simonjones is in manston, near dover, where thousands of lorries have been parked up but are now beginning to move. there is a huge amount of disruption, particularly in the dover area, where roads remain clogged. but here at manston we've seen a steady stream of lorries emerge from that gate behind me. there is one coming out here now. these are drivers who have tested negative for coronavirus. they will now head down to the port of dover and be allowed to get on a ferry and finally return home. as you hear, sounding their horn. some drivers have been winding their windows down, waving. it is relief for them finally

to have the prospect of going home. but despite the fact that some are leaving this site and testing is under way, yesterday the backlog of lorries actually got higher because this site became totally full, almost 4,000 lorries here. another 2,000 lorries parked up on the m20. so more hauliers have been heading towards kent, hearing that the border with france is open now. but they are getting told to join the back of the queue, and for them, it's unlikely they will be home in time for christmas. donald trump has issued another round of highly controversial pardons as his term in office draws to a close. mr trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, and his long—time adviser, roger stone, are among the latest 26 people to benefit. both were jailed as a result of the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the 2016 election. cbs correspondent debra alfarone

joins me from washington. how unusual is it for an outgoing president to grant pardons to so many people? it's an interesting question because actually up until this point the president had given lot less power than other presidents at this point in their term. however, as you said before, he is definitely ramping up at this point. it's not unusual for present stu d e nts to it's not unusual for present students to give so many pardons at this point in the presidential career, with just 20 this point in the presidential career, withjust 20 plus this point in the presidential career, with just 20 plus days left. however, what is a little bit different, is that so many people that he is granting the pardons to, 90% is one estimate, people that he has a direct tie to. loyalty may be one of the things that is driving him to give these types of pardons to people. you mentioned roger

stone, and paul manafort. they had some connection with the president and they have the biggest audience of the mac. they have the biggest province right now. why are they so significant? we took about paul ma nafort significant? we took about paul manafort and roger stone. they had the legal issues because they were tied to the russian interference in the 2016 election. the president has been on the side for the whole time. he doesn't believe that this whole russian investigation should have even happened. so he has been giving pardons. they were two of five people connected to the molar investigation of who he has given pardons to. the results another man

who was convicted of tax evasion in the early 2000. there is also an interesting issue of witness intimidation in his own family. it is people who are connected to the president in some way. there are other people he has been given pardons to it as well. once that pardons to it as well. once that pardon has been given, is that absolutely it, the end of the matter, or could they face further punishment in the future? it is unique in that it is a federal crimes only. however, these people may have crimes that they may face in the future in new york, for example. it looks like paul manafort, there was an investigation into him in new york but because he was tried for these federal crimes it was double jeopardy but now that that has been taken care of, you may see that investigation ramp up again. there are investigations into the president's children and president himself and his tax

situation in new york. it will be interesting to keep our eyes open for that. like my thank you very much for that. you can read more about that on the website or the bbc news app. just before we go, 2020 has produced many poignant and powerful photographs. an image of two widowed penguins appearing to comfort each other in australia has one the ocean photography award. the photo was taken by tobias baumgaertner in melbourne. the penguins had lost their partners and appeared to be comforting each other. you can reach me and most of the team on social media. we will keep you up—to—date on talks on post

brexit deals and all other major stories whether you are in the uk or other parts of the world. thank you for watching. fine weather out there for most of us fine weather out there for most of us today. there will be a wide spread frost right across the country. christmas day will start crisp and cold for most of us. he is the gap in the clouds. this the brick front bought the clouds yesterday. cold air will be streaming in temporarily from the northern climes. stormy weather out in the atlantic is coming our way come boxing day. this is what it looks like in the short—term. if you showers, may be wintry ones close to the north sea coast, but the large majority of us have clear skies and

that widespread frost. it is around -6 that widespread frost. it is around —6 in parts of northern england. the frost will stretch right down to the south coast of england as well. lots of crisp, sunny weather on christmas day. however, clouds are increasing in the north—west of the country. that heralds a change, a big change, which is coming our way the following day. fine on christmas day, but boxing day looks like this. this is a big atlantic storm, a powerful one, called storm bella named by the met office. it will be approaching the north—west of the uk early on saturday. the rain will be spreading into northern ireland, scotland, western areas of the uk. it will be around 10 celsius. but the winds will be fashioning. very stormy weather by the time we get to saturday night and into sunday. an amber warning from the met office.

gusts of wind 70 to 80 mph in the south of the country and is widely across england and wales, 50 to 60 mph. take care that day. this is saturday night, look at that squeeze in the icy bird. strong winds following these isobars and rain. by the time we get to sunday, the day after boxing day, we are in the centre of this storm weather, where the winds are much lighter and it will turn a little bit colder as 00:28:32,847 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 well. goodbye.