this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the european union and united kingdom have finally reached a post—brexit trade deal — after months of wrangling. both sides hailed it a success. it was a long and winding road, but we have got a good deal to show for it. it is fair, it is a balanced deal. and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides. i am very pleased to tell you this afternoon that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet worth £660 billion a year, a comprehensive, canada—style free trade deal between the uk and the eu.

the final hurdle was access to fishing waters. so what does this deal mean for the fleets on either side of the channel? and a socially—distanced christmas in bethlehem, as pilgrims stay away from the festive celebrations. four and a half years after britain voted to leave the eu, a post—brexit trade deal has finally been agreed. the uk prime minister borisjohnson said britain had achieved a 660 billion pound per year trade agreement — which would protect jobs. but the opposition labour party said the deal was thin and didn't protect workers. one of the main stumbling blocks was fishing quotas.

under the plans, mrjohnson said britain would eventually take full control of its waters, with its share of fishing rights rising over a five and a half year period. the prime minister told a news conference at downing street that britain had taken back control of its laws and destiny. mrjohnson said the deal was fantastic, and gave stability and certainty. in brussels, president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, said it was a ‘fair and balanced deal‘. the 2000 page document — which has not yet been published — now has to be approved by the uk parliament next week. it also has to be endorsed by members of the european parliament. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon said brexit was happening ‘against scotland‘s will‘ and no deal would ever make up for what brexit had taken away. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports.

time is finally up. a deal at last agreed, that number ten believes will pull power back to this building from brussels. a vast trade and security agreement the prime minister and brexiteers promised. until a matter of hours ago, it wasn‘t guaranteed, but look, the optimist really did have something to cheer. his ubiquitous thumbs up, achievement relief written all over his face. i am very pleased to tell you this afternoon we have completed the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660 billion a year, a comprehensive canada—style free trade deal between the uk and the eu. and we have also today resolved the question that has bedeviled our politics for decades. it is up to us altogether as a newly and truly independent nation

to realise the immensity of this moment and to make the most of it. can you tell the public honestly, where did the uk give the most ground and where did the eu compromise the most, do you think? we wanted to make sure, for instance, that we got access to, got complete control over our fisheries from the get go, the eu began with, i think, wanting a transition period of 1a years, we wanted three years, we have ended up at five years. i think that was a reasonable transition period. the tally of losses and wins may take years to settle. talks through the early hours in brussels sustained by pizza tangled over the specific quotas of different species of fish. but getting this far was never a question ofjust minor detail, but settling or smudging perhaps

profound differences of view. so we have finally found an agreement. it was a long and winding road, but we have got a good deal to show for it. it is fair, it is a balanced deal, and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides. on both sides of the channel, the agreement has to be approved by parliaments, but given the exhaustion with and enthusiasm for brexit in the commons, there‘s not likely to be a block. even the labour leader, who fought the notion, is likely to come on board. when the deal comes before parliament, labour will accept it and vote for it. but let me be absolutely clear, and say directly to the government, up against no deal, we accept this deal.

but the consequences of it are yours. and yours alone. and we will hold you to account for it. what has been achieved is a truly vast trade deal that will set a vital relationship for a long time to come. there will be some new barriers to doing business, but the uk will be free from european law despite warnings at the start. it is really a landmark moment in the country and the tory party‘s tricky relationship with the european union. and what has been avoided is potentially profound disruption, and the political embarrassment of failing to agree. yet within more than 1000 pages of tightly written texts could yet be some hidden pain. and the scales that will balance the cost and opportunity of brexit won‘t be settled for many years to come. for the inhabitants of number ten this has been a long wait. boris johnson‘s tenure may be defined by what is grabbed and gained. and what slipped from grasp.

but the prime minister‘s reputation is the least of it. the very nature of the country poised to change. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. business leaders have welcomed the trade deal saying it has come as a "huge relief" despite being so late in the day. the details of the 2000 page document will be poured over in the hours and days to come. it finally gives businesses some certainty — but there are still big challenges ahead with just days until the uk leaves the eu. here‘s our business editor simonjack. it has been a hard one to land, but after a titanic struggle over fish, the uk has finally netted a trade deal, a perfect last minute christmas present for businesses that feared the damaging consequences of cutting ourselves adrift from the eu. this is a huge relief to british industry. our economy has suffered an awful

lot of damage this year and we couldn‘t really take any more. so, yes, we are still to see the details, but i think a tariff— and quota—free deal means that our factories and farmers stay in business. we now have 2,000 pages and seven days to be ready. so, we‘re going to need immediate guidance for businesses. we‘re going to need to agree with the europeans a period of adjustment so that all of this doesn‘t come into play overnight, in seven days‘ time. without a deal, cheddar cheese from the uk could have faced tariffs of up to 50%. wyke farms exports 4,000 tons of it to the eu every year. we're hugely relieved that we've got certainty now and we know we've got tariff—free access to europe. the tariffs for our business at wyke farms would have amounted to over £4 million per year, and then we would have had all the complications about how we pass that onto customers, who is going to pay it?

because we certainly didn't have the financial resources to pay it. so, it would have been hugely complicated and really damaging to what amounts to about 30% of our business. but uk business is not home and dry. traders will still face a new raft of paperwork and cost, over 200 million additional customs forms will need completing, at a cost of over £7 billion. haulage companies warn many businesses are not ready for this new normal. celebrations may be brief. simon jack, bbc news. so what has the european union been saying about the deal? here‘s the man who led the negotiations, michel barnier. the clock is no longer ticking. after four years of collective eu unity to preserve peace and stability on the island of ireland, to protect the citizens

and the single market, to build a new partnership with the uk. thank you all, thank you all. 0ur europe correspondent kevin connolly was listening to michel barnier and he gave us his assesment of reaction in brussels. michel barnier‘s a really dry, technocratic figure, so when a man like that starts giving what basically sounds like an 0scars acceptance speech, you know there is a sense of occasion in brussels, but the sense of occasion here is different of course to the sense of occasion in london. brexit is still a matter of regret in the european union. they didn‘t want the uk to go. they miss the uk. they have seen it as a challenge to be managed, with the minimum possible disruption to the european union. their goal has been to defend the integrity of the single market and to attain their political unity under the pressure of negotiation. so they feel they have achieved all of that. but ursula von der leyen, a remarkable linguist who speaks

pretty much perfect english, she managed to quote both the beatles and shakespeare in saying goodbye to this phase of the british relationship. and she said britain of course remains a trusted partner and ally and a country with shared values and shared interests, so there is relief here, a sense thejob has been done, the process has been managed, but there is nojoy, and celebration, it has been seen as a bureaucratic task which is been successfully executed. let‘s look at some of the day‘s other news. democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempt to increase direct covid relief payments to americans. the increase was demanded by donald trump on tuesday, but republicans in congress have blocked the change. mr trump has refused to say if he will sign the bill if the payments are not increased. the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape region

are under severe pressure from a rising number of coronavirus cases, which are possibly linked to a new variant of covid— 19. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than fourteen— thousand new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise with one in 85 people in england infected according to officialfigures. london now has the highest percentage of people testing positive — more than 2%. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland. in scotland, the percentage of people testing positive has decreased. coronavirus has meant that midnight mass in bethlehem is being celebrated somewhat differently than usual. it‘s taking place inside inside the 1,700 —year—old inside the i,700—year—old saint catherine church,

next door to the church of the nativity — built on the site where christians believe jesus was born. it‘s normally attended by hundred of believers, with the square outside busy with tourists. however, this year the service is closed to the public due to covid—i9 restrictions. yolande knell, who‘s in bethlehem explains why. there‘s the usual christmas tree here, and as usual, palestinians scouts with their drums and bagpipes are excluding and bagpipes are escorting the church leaders from nearby jerusalem into the square. but this is a christmas eve unlike any local people have ever seen before. not even when there had been the flare—ups of violence in the israel—palestinian conflict have festivities been so muted. later, midnight mass at a i700—year—old nativity church will take place without members of the public. and the palestinian president, who is 85, will not be there either. there is still a coronavirus curfew

that remains in place in west bank cities at night time and at weekends. that will affect family get—togethers. typically, this would be the busiest night of the year for bethlehem, with no rooms in their hotels. inevitably, that is not the case this year. and that is just devastating for a place that is so reliant on tourism. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: we take a climb into the heights of the forests of the republic of georgia, to see the birth place of half of europe‘s christmas trees. the relative music has pay tribute to george michael who from suspected heart failure. he sold over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of

general manwell noriega. the pentagon says it failed and his principal objective to capture noriega and take to the united states to face drug charges. hammer and sickle was hastily taken away and sickle was hastily taken away and in its place the russian flag was hoisted over what is no longer so was hoisted over what is no longer so big you get the commonwealth of independent states. they broke slowly over at lockerbie. 0ver independent states. they broke slowly over at lockerbie. over the cockpit of pan—am made of the seas goes down in the south earth. you can see what happens when a plane eight stories high, a puppets falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to our albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 yea rs communist ban lasting more than 20 years with thousands what to midnight mass in the town where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. the european union and united kingdom have finally reached a post—brexit trade deal — after months of wrangling. both sides hailed it a success.

the final hurdle was access to fishing waters. there are some indications that fishermen in the uk are unhappy with the deal. for many brexiteers, leaving the eu customs union and having the ability to strike independent trade deals with other nations, was of paramount importance. at the top of the list was the us, with many arguing that britain would have more of a chance of striking a deal outside the eu. i‘m joined now by somebody who knows what is like to be in the room negotiating deals. let‘s speak now to the former us trade official harry broadman, who joins us from washington dc. first off, we are all talking about the devil being in the detail. but from what you have heard, what do

you make of a? i'm in the same vote as everybody else. i haven‘t seen the details but that is usually where the devil is hiding. but at the same time, there are things to be discovered in the text as well. we will all know exactly where those lay once we look at the text. but in every trade deal, people win some and people do something. this will become obvious i think over the coming days where those wins and losses are. you have been in those rooms, thrashing it all out and trying to meet or when as either side of course will be trying to do. what is it like in there? going to the stills and negotiations? they usually pretty tense. —— going to the stills. but some of the tension is as much on the side from whom you are negotiating because you have to represent to the best of your ability in balancing the national interest with the various

stakeholders one. for instance, in the case of the uk, mrjohnson obviously uppermost in his mind was the fisherman but there are other interests that he had to deal with as well, these are the eu, so he was not able to get probably everything that he wanted to give to the fisherman versus the truck drivers, you have to make these kind of trade—off. so there is tension behind you in terms of who the stakeholders are that you represent, let alone the tension with the folks you are meeting on the other side of the table. but they have the same problem as well. what do you think the uk sits in terms of striking a deal with the us? the uk sits in terms of striking a dealwith the us? -- the uk sits in terms of striking a deal with the us? -- where do you think? my view is i think i‘m glad that mrjohnson was able to do this deal prior to opening serious discussions frankly with the us or any of the large trading partner because the us as any other trading partner would do would like to see

what the relationship would be between the eu and the uk before doing a deal with the uk. so with that out of the way, hopefully this isa that out of the way, hopefully this is a fact that ratified by both sides of the parties, then it is time if the uk is interested to approach the us to do a significant free trade agreement perhaps. not this many deal that the current us administration is talking about, but administration is talking about, but a bona fide free—trade agreement. —— in many deal. the us i think generally would be receptive to that. it was not the case certainly several weeks ago on the irish border issue but i think that clear, it will be much more interesting out with the us. let's talk well trade deals. we heard mr barnier talking about the fact that it was u nfortu nate about the fact that it was unfortunate this at such that uncertain and unstable time. when you have economic powerhouse is like the eu, the us and now have asia

which was just struck the r step deal and the united states, what was this a good time to go it alone? that decision was taken sometime ago as we all know. and once the uk decided to leave the european union, there was no turning back and turns of having a deal because as we know, january one, things would be much more messy for the uk. i don‘t think, you can look back and say should they have withdrawn and the first place, i‘m not sure that is a fair argument at this point but having withdrawn, i think the sooner they were able to do a deal, the better they will be, and frankly the world of the economy will be better off. by having them have an agreement because everybody was apprehensive about what was going to ta ke apprehensive about what was going to take place on that side of the atlantic. unfortunately, we have run ata atlantic. unfortunately, we have run at a time. but thank you very much for your insight. ——

at a time. but thank you very much foryour insight. —— run at a time. but thank you very much for your insight. —— run out of time. it‘s that time of the year when millions of families gather around their christmas trees. in europe more than half the 80 million trees sold this year started out as seeds harvested from the forests of the republic of georgia. its nordmann firs are sought—after for their aroma and their needles that don‘t drop off quickly. but the annual harvest is not for the faint—hearted. the bbc‘s rayhan demytrie travelled to the alpine forests in western georgia to find out more. in the forests of western georgia is a job that requires a head for heights. and calculated risks. out of 80 million trees sold annually in europe, more than half begin theirjourney here. the seeds are harvested from nordmann fir cones in trees up to 50 metres tall. they will be grown in commercial

plantations in europe and sold as christmas trees in about 12 years‘ time. this man works for a danish company fair trees. its harvesters climb with safety ropes which takes time and patience. translation: i would not advise anyone to climb a tree without the right equipment because many people died, including my friend. my heart aches to think about it. safety is an important issue and companies operating here in the forests of racha are making sure that their pickers are well equipped and well trained to carry out what is quite a risky business. accidents can happen. this man was a cone harvester until he fractured his spine last year.

translation: the branch betrayed me. and i fell. i grasped for another branch, it also broke and ifell about ten metres. i survived by the grace of god. i will never let my son be a tree climber. god willing, he will not be so poor that he is forced to climb a tree to earn a living. elsewhere in the forest, harvesters working for another danish company, levensen, were not using safety ropes to climb. only a harness at the top. the company says it is working on improving its safety standards. the decision has been made and we are introducing increased level of safety in the tree climbing simply to avoid any accidents at all. we don‘t want accidents.

this team uses safety ropes which slows them down but their company pays them 1.2 euros per kilo. other harvesters are paid just a0 cents a kilo, they try to gather as much and as quickly as they can to maximise their earnings. it‘s a fraction of what is a multi—billion euro industry but a vital income in the land where christmas trees grow wild. 2020 has produced many poignant and powerful photographs. an image of two widowed penguins appearing to comfort one another in australia has won the ocean photography awards. the photo was taken by tobias baum—gaertner in melbourne. he was told, that the two penguins had recently lost their partners, and often appeared to be

comforting each other. how beautiful is that? get in touch with me on twitter. i will see you shortly. hello. the weather is giving us a calm and mostly dry interlude for christmas day. a very chilly start with a touch of frost and places but a fine day for the most part with spells of sunshine. where we had showers across eastern scotland and east in england, there is the potential for ice east in england, there is the potentialfor ice on east in england, there is the potential for ice on untreated surfaces to the first part of the morning. certainly a chilly start with temperatures well below freezing, so it frost in many places. but that means a fine innocenti start for most. still some of the showers draped across the eastern side of england, a fairly brisk when here and wanted to showers for parts of an percent in the west of cornwall before much of

england will spells of sunshine and a bit more clout into the northwest later. northern ireland and scotland, things cladding over and reigned into western scotland in the wind strengthening and that is where we will see the highest temperatures. pretty chilly day elsewhere. heading for christmas day night into the early hours of boxing day you can see more in the way of cloud and some topics to bring in more of a breeze, not such a cold start today on boxing day. most places well above freezing but boxing day will generally be a cloudy good day and of rain around and some quite heavy and persistent rain getting going across parts of western scotland into northern ireland later. the planes really starting to pick up here come it will be a milder day for most. but this will be taking us into quite a rough spell of weather through saturday night. you come to of this area of low pressure. it has been named by the met office, storm bellow, it will be have heavy gleaming heavy rain with flooding

and also a really strong winds commitment office everyone in the forest for parts of southern england in south wales. 70 to 80 mph wind gust but across england and wales in the far south of scotland we will see wind gusts of 60 mph. a lot of rain through saturday night into the early pa rt rain through saturday night into the early part of sunday morning. that could cause flooding. most of that rain will clear during sunday morning. the brightest guys behind bush hours two and a colder air didn‘t get in some of those showers will turn wintry. top temperature between two and 7 degrees. that is all for me. happy christmas.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines... the european union and united kingdom have finally reached a post—brexit trade deal after months of disagreement. both sides hailed it a success. the european commission president ursula von der leyen described it as a "good, fair and balanced deal". she said she hoped for a continued close relationship. prime minister borisjohnson said the uk has "completed the biggest trade deal yet", adding, "we have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters". the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier, said the clock is no longer ticking and expressed his relief that a deal has been agreed. and the traditional midnight mass is underway in bethlehem — only this year the public have to stay away because of the coronavirus. let‘s take a look back now at some of the lives we celebrated