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'm 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 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 also 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. meanwhile, in brussels, the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, said it was a "fair and balanced deal". the 2,000—page document — which hasn't 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. our 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'm very pleased to tell you this afternoon that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660 billion a year, a comprehensive ca nada—style free trade deal between the uk and the eu. and we have also today resolved a question that has bedeviled our politics for decades. and 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's 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's geniunely 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. larry does have his own twitter account, by the way. 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 taking. 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. this is the work of so many women and men here in the commission, and your leadership, madam president, all the services and in particular the eu

task force for brexit. and in the member states, the council, the european parliament. i also pay tribute also to the uk negotiating team and the chief negotiator, david frost, and his deputies. that was michel barnier there. well, our europe editor katya adler was listening to that reaction from michel barnier and gave us her assessment from brussels. "the clock is no longer ticking." those were pretty much the first words of michel barnier, the eu's chief negotiator. no more threats or fears of no—deal, no more what was almost painful uncertainty between the two sides with this deal, which the european commission says is fair for both sides. but didn't you notice that immense difference in tone in the two press conferences this afternoon — the prime minister sounding victorious, the president of the european commission sounding sombre, defensive about the merits of the european union and regretful about the uk leaving? of course, for the prime minister,

he sees brexit, the 1st of january now, as almost like a rebirth of the uk. but for the eu, as we heard again from finland's europe minister tonight, this was a kind of a damage limitation exercise. the european union has lost a key member state. that was a slap in the face. so, out of this deal, what the eu wanted was to protect its business interests when it comes to the uk but not to make this deal so good that other member states might be tempted to leave the bloc as well. of course, what the two sides wanted to do was to have an advantageous deal. we'll find the details of that in the coming days. we've got the representatives of the 27 countries meeting here on christmas day with michel barnier, to work out and to ratify this deal in the individual member countries. katya adler there from brussels. 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 1,500—page document will be poured over in days to come. the deal does finally give businesses some certainty, but big challenges remain, with just days to go before the transition period ends. here's our business editor, simonjack. it's been tough to land, but after a titanic struggle over fish, which will see domestic boats get 25% more of the uk water's catch over the next five years, a trade deal was netted — a perfect last—minute christmas present for businesses that feared the damaging consequences of cutting the uk 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've 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've had all the complication about, "how do we pass that on to the customers?" "who's going to pay it?" because we certainly didn't have the financial resource to pay it, so it would have been hugely complicated and really damaging to what amounts to about 30% of our business.

but there is an elephant not in the room, and barely mentioned in the deal, which is services. finance alone is 100 times more economically more important than fishing and there is no automatic access to a market that to the uk was worth £35 billion last year alone. any champagne should probably stay on ice. uk traders will still need to complete over 200 million additional customs forms at a cost of over £7 billion a year. haulage companies warn many businesses are not ready for this new normal. a huge relief? yes. but celebration will and must quickly give way to preparation for a very different future. simon jack, bbc news. the full text of the agreement hasn't been released yet, though some details are beginning to emerge. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young looks at what we know about it so far.

after months of talks, a deal‘s been done which will shape a new relationship between the uk and the eu. the uk is no longer in the single market or customs union, which means there will be restrictions on trade that we didn't have before. the deal agrees that there won't be quotas or taxes known as tariffs on wholly british goods exported to the eu and vice versa. but there will be new paperwork and checks. now, what about resolving disputes and making sure that both sides stick to the rules? well, they have agreed not to water down the existing standards on things like the environment and workers' rights. but if one side wants to change that in the future or complain about how it's all working, they can go to an independent panel. special arrangements have already been agreed for northern ireland. it stays in the eu single market for goods and will continue to enforce eu customs rules at its ports. when it comes to security and policing, there will still be substantial cooperation,

but the uk will lose access to some databases, which could make investigations more difficult. of course, there are many things changing which aren't part of this trade deal. payments to the eu will be vastly reduced and only go towards specific projects. and the free movement of people will end. a new immigration system comes into force at the beginning of january. when it comes to holidays, visas won't be required when we travel to eu countries, but visits will be limited to 90 days in any six—month period. british drivers won't need extra documents and can continue to use their uk driving licences. european health insurance cards, which guarantee medical care for travellers, will be valid until their expiry date and will be replaced by a similar scheme. the trade deal now needs to be approved by both sides. mps will vote on the legislation on december 30th. the next chapter in our relationship with the rest of europe is about to begin.

vicki young, bbc news, westminster. so what's the reaction been across the uk? we'll be hearing from our scotland correspondentjames cook in glasgow, our wales correspondent tomos morgan in cardiff, but first, here's our ireland correspondent emma vardy from stormont. just think back — the brexit process was so seismic for the island of ireland, because it threw up all of those questions over what to do about the irish land border and it reminded everyone of the troubled history of this place. but now many of the issues which once seemed unresolvable, there are now agreements on. and northern ireland enters this new era where doing trade here will be different from the rest of the uk, those special arrangements in order to keep that irish land border invisible. now, the trade deal has been welcomed here, it is likely to make some of those special arrangements for northern ireland easier to carry out in future and it will bring great relief in the irish republic,

where many people's livelihoods, particularly in the food industry, depended on there being a deal for the future of trade between our two islands. well, most of the reaction in scotland so far has focused on fish and chips — or, to be precise, seed potatoes. that's the type that farmers grow, not the type that you and i will hopefully roast tomorrow. this deal appears to prohibit their export from great britain into northern ireland or the european union. scottish farmers say that's a blow, although they say that avoiding a no—deal has been good news. the first minister of scotland says that the deal is disastrous and brexit itself is disastrous. the prime minister, though, when it comes to fishing, insists that this is a great deal. now, many people in scotland's coastal communities voted for brexit because they thought it would mean taking back control of their waters. if they feel that hasn't happened, though, this could damage the conservatives here. and overall, this isn't just about food, it's not just about trade, it's about politics. a significant percentage of people

in scotland, a big majority, voted against brexit — and there's no doubt that it's breathed life into the campaign for independence. "any deal was better than no—deal, but this will be a difficult deal for wales, a thin deal, and not the deal we were promised." those were the words of the first minister, mark drakeford, in response to this afternoon's announcement. now, one of the reasons it was so important that wales and the uk got this trade deal was because a higher percentage of wales's exports goes to the eu compared to the uk average, 10% more. and when it comes to things like welsh lamb and fish, they top around 90% going to countries within the eu. the first minister has written to the presiding officer, calling for the welsh parliament to be recalled next week so they can scrutinise this new trade deal.

that will hopefully be done around wednesday, so even though there is some concern around the specifics of this deal, it's still a better deal, mark drakeford said, than the no—deal scenario. 0k, ok, let's take a look at some of the day's other news now. democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempt to increase direct covid relief payments to americans. the increase was demanded by mr trump on tuesday, but republicans in congress have blocked the change. the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape are under severe pressure from a rising number of covid—i9 cases, which are possibly linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 14,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise, with one in 85 people in england infected, according to official figures. in wales, the virus is infecting one in 60 people — a sharp increase. infection levels are also up in northern ireland.

we are going to stay with that story, as the uk reports another 39,036 new cases of covid—i9 and 574 deaths in the past 2a hours. cases have been rising everywhere across the uk — except in scotland. with more, here's our science editor, david shukman. just over a fortnight ago, the inspiring moment of the first vaccination. margaret keenan was delighted. and since then, right across the uk, more than 600,000 others have had their first doses as well. it's an optimistic start to a huge operation, but serious challenges live ahead. it is taking some real planning to make sure that we can scale up and deliver this vaccine at the levels we need to, it really will be a huge effort. all this comes as virtually

empty streets in london are about to become a common sight in many other areas as well, as tier 4 restrictions are imposed on them. new measures to try to stop the virus and its new, more infectious strain. the latest estimates say that in england, one in 85 people has the virus. that's up on last week. there are also rises in wales, now with one in 60 affected, and in northern ireland, with one in 180. only scotland saw a fall, to one in 1110. some areas have suddenly been hit very hard. we were one of the lowest counties in the country, and something has changed, and all of a sudden, this virus is getting out of control. it's important that we all get on top of this. ultimately, what matters is how many people end up in hospital with covid—19. and the numbers there right now are getting very close to the peak of the first wave back in april. and all the time, the hope is that the first vaccines will keep rolling off the production line and that new ones will get

the approval of regulators, a race to protect people before the virus can reach them. david shukman, bbc news. coronavirus has meant that midnight mass in bethlehem has been celebrated rather differently than usual. it was held inside the 1,700—year—old saint catherine church, next door to the church of the nativity, built on the site where christians believejesus was born. it's normally attended by hundreds of believers, with the square outside busy with tourists. however, this year, the service was closed to the public. yolande knell explains. there's the usual christmas tree here, and as usual, palestinians scouts with their drums 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 1,700—year—old nativity church will take place without

members of the public. unusually, 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. now, ‘twas the night before christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that st nicholas soon would be there. and any moment now, santa's journey will begin, and thus we bring you this newsjust in. santa is close, with stockings to fill, so get to bed quick. this is not a drill. but before you wake up

to pull your christmas cracker, let's get updated on santa's progress from the norad santa tracker. nathaniel callon is helping santa on his way. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. a very special year for sa nta, bbc news. a very special year for santa, we have had a petition in the uk put to the uk government and also the irish government have exempted father christmas from delivering he can go wherever he wants. how important is the santa tracker? tracking sent to every single year is so important. children all over the world are wanting to know when sa nta cla us the world are wanting to know when santa claus is going to bring presents to them, so on christmas morning, they will have something beautiful under the tree and something exciting for them to open up, and we've been doing this for 65 yea rs up, and we've been doing this for 65 years now. 65 years. this is a very

special year. does it matter if you've been naughty or good?|j special year. does it matter if you've been naughty or good? i think because of the current situation, i think santa has given a little bit of leniency for lots of boys and girls around the world, so hopefully eve ryo ne girls around the world, so hopefully everyone was very good, they studied ha rd everyone was very good, they studied hard in school, they wore their masks when they were supposed to and they can look forward to a present under the christmas tree tomorrow morning. obviously, yes, it's something to look forward to, because with remote schooling, it's been partey hard for the children this year. i am just looking at the tracker, i would this year. i am just looking at the tracker, iwould if this year. i am just looking at the tracker, i would if we could bring herfor tracker, i would if we could bring her for our viewers. tracker, i would if we could bring herfor our viewers. santa tracker, i would if we could bring her for our viewers. santa is travelling at some incredible speed, he is currently heading to senegal. when can we expect them in the uk? that is all that matters! we do not know santa's that is all that matters! we do not know sa nta's complete that is all that matters! we do not know santa's complete route, but we can give estimates, so, really,

sa nta cla us can give estimates, so, really, santa claus usually shows up anywhere between 9pm and midnight, and so since he is in africa right now, i suspect that he will probably be in the uk within about the next 30 minutes, so if there any children listening right now, you better get in bed and tucked in and close your eyes, because only deliver presents if you are fast asleep stuff he knows when you've been sleeping and he knows when you're awake, and so if you want to make sure that you have presents under the christmas tree tomorrow morning, it is time to get in bed and call it a night. yeah, i understand some of your volu nteers yeah, i understand some of your volunteers have had to be furloughed. normally, you have 15,000 volunteers come up very quickly, are you surprised at how popular this has become for young and old? yes, especially this year, this is one of the greatest things that we could look forward to. the end of the year, santa claus coming, holiday cheer, high streets lit up and bright and just spending time

with families, so it is very important. sorry, i need to go. you're watching bbc news. merry christmas. hello. the weather is giving us a common mostly try interlude for christmas day, a very chilly start with a touch of frost in places but a fine day for the most part, with some spells of sunshine. where we have had some showers, particular across eastern scotland and eastern england, there is the potentialfor some ice on untreated surfaces through the first part of the morning, certainly a chilly start, with temperatures well below freezing, soy frost in many places, but that means a fine and a sunny

start for most. some of the showers just draped across the eastern side of england, a fairly brisk wind here, and one or two showers for parts of pembrokeshire and the west of cornwall, but for most of england and wales, just some cloud into northwest later. we'll see some rain into western scotland. the winds strengthening here. but that is where we will see the highest temperatures. partey chilly day elsewhere. as we head into dismissed a night, you can see more in the way of cloud, some outbreaks of rain, more of a breeze, so not such a cold start to the day on boxing day, most places well above freezing, but boxing day will generally be a cloudier day, some bits and pieces of rain around and some quite heavy and persistent rain getting going across parts of western scotland, into northern ireland later as well, the winds really starting to pick up here. it is would be a milder day for most, but this will be taking us into quite a rough spell of whether

through saturday night, it comes courtesy of this area of low pressure, it has been named by the met office, it has been named storm bella. it is going some really heavy rain, and also some strong winds. a met office amber warning is in place for parts of southern england and south wales, gusts of 70 to possibly 80 miles an hour, but more generally across england and wales and the far south of scotland, when gusts of 60 miles an hour. a lot of rain saturday night into the early part of sunday morning. that could cause flooding. most of that rain will clear during sunday morning, to leave writer skies behind, but some showers too. and with some colder air, that will... that is all from me. happy christmas.

this is bbc world news, the headlines: 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 final hurdle was access to fishing waters — some fishing unions in the uk have spoken of their frustration and anger at the deal. and the traditional midnight mass has been held in bethlehem, only this year the public had to stay away because of the coronavirus.

now on bbc news — marcus rashford: