this is bbc news. merry christmas. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. after lots of heated negotitions, the european union and united kingdom finally reach a post—brexit trade deal. both sides hail the agreement as a "big success". it is fair, it is a balanced deal, and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides. 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. but what will it mean forfishermen 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 protectjobs. but the opposition labour party said the deal was thin and didn't protect workers. 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 canada—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 01:14 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, that'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 1,000 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. borisjohnson'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. that was larry the cat ending the trade deals. business leaders have welcomed the trade deal, —— ending that report. 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 overfish, 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 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. for many brexiteers, leaving the eu's 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. well, earlier, ispoke to someone who knows what it's like to be in the room negotiating deals — former us trade official and managing director of the berkeley research group, harry broadman. here's how he described the experience. they are usually pretty tense. but some of the tension is as much on the side for whom you are negotiating because you have to represent to the best of your ability and balancing the national

interest and what the various stakeholders want. for instance, in the case of the uk, mrjohnson obviously uppermost in his mind was the fishermen, but there are other interests that he had to deal with as well, vis a vis eu, so he was not able to get probably everything vis a vis 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 kinds 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 with on the other side of the table. but they have the same problem as well. where do you think the united kingdom sits in terms of striking a deal with the us? 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 is in fact 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 mini deal that the current us administration is talking about, but a bona fide free—trade agreement. 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, there would be much more interest from the us. let's talk trade deals. we heard mr barnier talk about the fact that it was unfortunate this took place at such an uncertain and unstable time. when you have economic

powerhouses like the eu, the us, you now have asia, which was just struck the 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 in term of having a deal, because as we know, january 1, things would have been much more messy for the uk. you can look back and say, "should they have withdrawn in 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 economy will be better off. everybody was apprehensive about what was going to take place on that side of the atlantic. that was harry broadman there

of the berkeley research group. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: santa claus is coming to town. we'll be finding out how sa nta's socially distanced journey is being monitored. the world of music's been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well 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 manuel noriega. the pentagon said it's failed in its principal objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight stories high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist

ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. welcome back. this is bbc news. the headlines: the european union and united kingdom finally reach a post—brexit trade deal. both sides hail it as a success, despite the fraught talks which preceded it. much of the detail is yet to be published. the house of commons will be recalled next week to vote on the deal, with the opposition labour party indicating it will vote in favour. hundreds more military personnel are being draughted into dover to help test thousands of lorry drivers for covid. thousands are still stranded there. the port of dover is to stay open throughout christmas — to try to get as many as possible back

across the channel. from kent, here's emma simpson. driving home for christmas. well, some of them, at least. the drivers tested and covid—free. lorries finally on their way, but many drivers are still left behind here at manston airfield, and desperate to get home. four days and counting. as far as france, because france make a new law, and it's impossible to come back to europe. lorries still stacked up on the motorway, and dotted around the county. more gridlock in dover, too. a christmas this town won't forget. but things are improving. lorries on the final approach to the ferries. but it's slow going, and over here, these drivers are still waiting for covid tests.

all this is going to take a while to clear. they're boosting testing capacity. these are french firefighters. they arrived today to lend a hand. the key thing is making sure that we get the testing going properly, and what that means is that we're achieving the through points that will keep the ferries full, and we're not hitting those levels yet. until we hit those levels, we can't make an estimate of how long it's going to take. and tonight, more british soldiers deployed in cans to deploy rapid covid tested drivers to try to clear the backlog on this crucial trade route. emma simpson, bbc news, dover. let's get 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 president trump on tuesday, but republicans in congress have blocked the change.

mrtrump has mr trump has refused to say if he will sign the bill if those payments are not increased. the authorities in south africa say hospitals in the western cape are under severe pressure from a rising number of covid—19 cases, which are possibly linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. the country is experiencing a surge in infections, with more than 111,000 new cases recorded on wednesday. levels of coronavirus are continuing to rise, with one in 85 people in england infected, according to officialfigures. 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—19 and 574 deaths in the past 2a hours. cases have been rising everywhere across the uk — except in scotland. 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. 0nly 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. midnight mass in bethlehem has been celebrated differently than usual as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. it was held at the

1,700—year—old church of the nativity — built on the site where christians believejesus was born — but the service which is —— actually, a correction, it was held at a church next to the 1700 —year—old church of nativity. it is normally attended by thousands but was closed to the public this year — not even palestinian president, mahmoud abbas was in attendance. yolande knell is in bethlehem. this is a christmas eve unlike any that local people have ever seen before. not even when there have been the flare—ups in violence in the israel—palestinian conflict have the festivities been so muted. typically, this would be the busiest night of the year for bethlehem with no rooms in it's hotels. inevitably, that is not

the case this year, and that is just devastating to a place that is so reliant on tourism. that was yolande knell there. 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. nathanial callon is helping santa this year. tracking santa every single year is so important. children all over 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 years now.

65 years. this is a very special year. does it matter if you've been naughty or good? well, i think because of the current situation, this year, i think santa has given a little bit of leniency for lots of boys and girls around the world, so hopefully 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. 0bviously, yes, it's something to look forward to, isn't it? because with remote schooling, it's been pretty hard for the children this year. i'm just looking at the tracker, i wonder if we can bring that up for our viewers. santa is travelling at some incredible speed, he is currently heading to senegal. when can we expect him in the uk? that's all that matters! we don't know santa's complete route, but we 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 are any children listening right now, you better get in bed and tucked in and close your eyes, because santa will only deliver presents if you are fast asleep. 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 that christmas tree tomorrow morning, it is time to get in bed and call it a night. yeah, i understand some of your volunteers have had to be furloughed. normally, you have 15,000 volunteers, but 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. fantastic! and if you celebrate christmas, we added bbc news wish you a merry christmas. i'm @lukwesaburak. hello. the weather is giving us a calm and mostly dry 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, particularly 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, so a frost in many places, but that means a fine and a sunny start for most. still, some of the showers just draped across the eastern side of england, a fairly brisk wind here, and one or two showers, too, for parts of pembrokeshire and the west of cornwall. but for much of england and wales, we will see some spells of sunshine through the day. just a bit more cloud into the north west later. certainly for northern ireland and scotland, things

will be clouding over, and we'll see some rain into western scotland. the winds strengthening here. but that's where we will see the highest temperatures. 9 degrees in stornoway. pretty chilly day elsewhere. and then as we head through christmas day night, into the early hours of boxing day, you can see generally 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. there will be 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 going to be a milder day for most, but this will be taking us into actually quite a rough spell of weather 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, which could cause some flooding but also some strong winds.

a met office amber warning is in force already for parts of southern england and south wales, gusts of 70 to possibly 80 miles an hour, but more generally across england, wales and the far south of scotland, we'll see wind gusts of 60 miles an hour in many spots. a lot of rain through saturday night into the early part of sunday morning. that could cause some flooding. most of that rain will clear during sunday morning, to leave brighter skies behind, but some showers too. and with some colder air digging in, some of those showers will turn wintry, top temperatures between two and 7 degrees. that's all from me. happy christmas.

this is bbc news,

the headlines... the european union and united kingdom have finally reached a post—brexit trade deal. 0t follows months of tough negotiations. it follows months of tough negotiations. both sides have hailed it as a success. much of the detail is still to be made public. 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 in the years to come. the treaty is set to come into force in january. prime minister boris johnson said the uk has "completed the biggest trade deal yet", taking back control of our money, borders and, laws. the main opposition labour party says it will support the deal when it comes before parliament. but decribed it as a "thin agreement". those of the main headlines here on bbc news. now on bbc news — it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.