this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. eu ambassadors are due to receive a christmas day briefing around now on the historic post—brexit free trade deal pledged by the eu and the uk. an extra 800 military personnel are deployed near the english votive door to help clear the backlog of lorries waiting to cross into france. queen elizabeth and prince philip break tradition by spending the holiday period at windsor. and nearly two years after notre dame cathedral was ravaged by fire in paris the first concert is held in its remains.

hello, a very good day to you and welcome if you are watching in the uk oraround the welcome if you are watching in the uk or around the globe. after relief on both sides following the post—brexit trade deal, european union ambassadors are getting some of the details in a christmas day briefing. we are hearing from michel barnier, who has led the eu negotiating team during a year of fraught negotiations with britain. borisjohnson said that britain have 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. the agreement must be ratified if it comes in on the 1st ofjanuary. helen catt reports. it's little wonder that he looked so pleased. this was a big moment, a deal done after nine

months of talks and years of divisive debate. 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. in the eu the tone was more muted, but they, too, say they got a good deal in the end. 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. three, two, one... the uk left the eu back injanuary, but nothing really changed as we've been in a transition period ever since. this deal sets out how the uk will trade and cooperate on security from next friday, when it ends. on wednesday, mps and peers will be called back from the christmas break to debate it. between now and then,

the hundreds of pages that make up the deal will be carefully pored over by many. labour has said it will back it, as, it says, the only alternative to no deal. when this 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. even with this agreement things are going to change. freedom of movement will end after next thursday. trading with the eu won't be as easy as it was. what this deal will do is avoid more significant disruption and prevent customs taxes being put on goods. the deal that was never certain to happen has now been done. unwrapping what's in it, well, that's just about to start. helen catt, bbc news, westminster.

iamjoined by i am joined by the senior editor of the economist. hello there. merry christmas to you. merry christmas to you. there is no mistaking that this isa you. there is no mistaking that this is a historic day. you have seen a lot of big events in your time. where does this right for you?” think it ranks as an event which seems a little bit undramatic, possibly, the time of year and the challenge we are facing with the pandemic. but i think the ramifications of this will last for yea rs if not ramifications of this will last for years if not decades. i always felt they would be some sort of a deal, speaking personally. iam they would be some sort of a deal, speaking personally. i am quite happy that there is one that i think it was a bit like those events you look at on the day and think, phew, that got done, some people are still frustrated. but for a lot of people

they will be happy to see something on paper that regulates our trading relationships with the european continent. but the detail of that, and some of the arguments i think thatis and some of the arguments i think that is going to throw up, that will be with us for many more christmases. that is part of the issue at the moment because we know the deal is done but we have very little detail. i've been trying to wrap my head around it. like a lot of people, apart from those poor ambassadors who have been called in to get that christmas day briefing from michel barnier, it is a bit like looking at one of the government's are regular budgets but by more complicated but the headlines each side want to put out a clear. boris johnson headlines each side want to put out a clear. borisjohnson says this gets his leave deal done, we get the sovereignty we aspire to when we agreed by a narrow margin to leave the eu. on the european side they are saying borisjohnson had to give are saying borisjohnson had to give a lot of ground and particularly on something that became symbolic, the issue of fishing and access to

waters and fish catches. that has been pushed not quite to the never—never but a five year or so agreement which grants rights, but then we'll have another look at it. it is better than letting it hold up the deal i think it will be the equivalent of the codwars from the 19705. this will be the first of many deals that lie ahead and some will be very cumbersome. what you think about more broadly the relationship the uk will have with the eu? boris johnson relationship the uk will have with the eu? borisjohnson spoke about how we will remain culturally close to europe and of course geographically close. what can we expect in the years to come?” geographically close. what can we expect in the years to come? i think it is good that he said that and

good that both borisjohnson and ursula von der leyen, on the eu side, in what we must now call the eu, "the other side". we are still european, as boris johnson eu, "the other side". we are still european, as borisjohnson said. if your whole campaign has been built around separation and uk sovereignty, in what way, then, do you still consider yourself connected? what does it mean to be european and not in the eu? it's a perfectly reasonable question, when the eu has struggled to answer. what do you do with countries in europe who share a western democratic values and belong in the security and defence architecture very closely together for one thing, and it's not all that of course determines culture and cultural ties, but it is important in a very dangerous role. you have to show what that means. i'm pleased to see the government is saying there will bea the government is saying there will be a replacement for that exchange programme of student that was so

valued, the erasmus programme. we don't really know what it is. i is a lwa ys don't really know what it is. i is always worried when one thing gets replaced with another that the value might be less. from the government's a point of view, it will be more ambitious, more global. but we need to watch we don't become... victorians used to call us awkward cousins when it came to relationship between britain and germany. we can between britain and germany. we can be awkward cousins but we also need to be cooperative cousins in the 21st century and i think that will bea 21st century and i think that will be a challenge on both sides, both from london and foot borisjohnson and the rest of the country, and for europe and for what the eu wants from us. just briefly. where does this now leaves borisjohnson, who entered number 10 with this very specific mandate and this platform of getting brexit done?” specific mandate and this platform of getting brexit done? i think borisjohnson will be seen on this score to have scored, in his terms, a win if not a triumph. i think if he had gone into and no deal scenario it could have been

dangerous for him, it would certainly be very perilous in terms of relationships with scotland, which is already thinking and looking again at independence push. i think he got the deal and showed that he could do it, a lot of people said he couldn't do it. the question is now, when we get to the proof of the christmas pudding or otherwise being in the eating, what have we gained and what have we lost? very good to talk to you. thank you so much. anne mcelvoy from the economist. thank you. thousands of lorry drivers are spending christmas day in their cabs near dover stop an extra 800 military personnel are being deployed to help clear the backlog of lorries waiting to cross the channel. our correspondent is in the port of dover for us this morning and said a little early that while things are now moving it could take a long time for the tailback to clear. for many of us this isn't the christmas we hoped we would have, sat at home, but spare a thought for a lot of these drivers who have been

stuck, some of them for four nights here, queueing to try to get on the ferries going across the channel to france. if you look behind me you will be able to see we have movement. some of these lorries are moving, they are slowly but surely being loaded onto ferries this morning to make their way across the channel. port staff have been working through christmas throughout the night to try to get this moving, to see these scenes, all these lorries will have tested negative. in order to get those tests there has been a huge weight in store. around 800 troops were drafted to try to speed up the process. just over here, as we head into central dover, a lot of the roads seem to have cleared, but there is still a big backlog. there are thousands of hauliers still parked up at manston airport, still parked up along the

mto zero this morning. a long wait in store for many of them and i don't want to be the bearer of bad news on christmas but some of these lorry drivers will not make it home in time for christmas and it will be some time before things here get back to some kind of normality. lets get some of the day's other news 110w. get some of the day's other news now. us authorities have announced that passengers arriving on flights from the uk will need to test negative for coronavirus before departure. this is the latest restriction imposed due to a new covid—19 variant. the strain is believed to be more transmissible and has led nations around the world to close their borders to travellers from the uk. democrats in the us congress have failed in their attempts to increase direct covid relief payments to americans from $600 the increase was demanded by president donald trump on tuesday but republicans in congress have blocked the change. the president has refused to say if

he will sign the bill if the payments are not increased. india's prime minister andrew modi has announced around $2.11 billion of benefits for farmers in has announced around $2.11 billion of benefits forfarmers in its ongoing protest around reforms a decade. he just that is if i was virtually and claims the opposition have been misleading them around new laws which loosen the rules around sale, pricing, and storage of farm items. the first concert to be held inside notre dame cathedral in paris since it was partially destroyed by fire last year has been broadcast on french tv. there was no audience for the concert, and socially distanced singers war hard hats and boiler suits because it is still a construction site. they performed pieces by mozart and schubert as

well as more light—hearted songs like jingle bells. # bells # bells ## # bells # #jingle all # bells # # jingle all the way # # jingle all the way # 0h, # # jingle all the way # oh, what fun it is to ride in a one—horse open... #jingling, jingling. you are watching bbc news. let's look at the latest headlines. the eu's chief brexit negotiator michel barnier is to breathe member states about the historic free trade deal he finalised with britain on thursday. an extra 800 military personnel are deployed near the english port of dover to help clear the backlog of lorries waiting to ci’oss the backlog of lorries waiting to cross into france. the queen is expected to focus on the effects of the pandemic in her broke as this afternoon. for the first time in more than 30 years she and the duke of edinburgh i spending the festive period at windsor instead of at sandringham. our royal correspondent is at windsor for us. a different christmas for the queen

and the duke of edinburgh and in a very strange year. yes, absolutely. they have had to make the same kind of decisions as so many other families have had to do this year and, yes, of course, they have the castle and the support bubble after tea m castle and the support bubble after team around them to look after them at this time year but essentially they have done what so many other families have done, chosen to scale down their christmas, limit the number of family members they see, and to give it very, very small this year. officials say they will be spending christmas just quietly here at windsor castle, away from their widerfamily, following at windsor castle, away from their wider family, following the tier 4 reels, reels. this was decided at the beginning of the month, that she would stay at windsor and not go to sandringham with her wider family, which is how she would normally spend christmas day. at this sort of time normally on christmas day at sandringham we would be seeing hundreds of people queueing up

outside the church on the sandringham estate where the queen and members of the royalfamily would go for an 11am service. it is very different here, nobody here at windsor and that was the plan, watch the royal family had wanted. they didn't want lots of people gathering here outside the castle, causing any kind of problems for anybody here. they wanted it to be very quiet, very scaled—back and that is what is happening. the queen's traditional christmas message will be broadcast a little later on but, unusually, there are no extracts from the this year. that is unusual. normally in previous years we get a little snippet, perhaps clip of the queen's a message 01’ a sense snippet, perhaps clip of the queen's a message oi’ a sense of snippet, perhaps clip of the queen's a message or a sense of what she is going to say, some kind of text, but not this year. there has been a decision to hold everything back until 3pm so perhaps it would have the greatest impact. there are no previous at all. having said that, i think we can all pretty much take an educated guess at kind of themes of this christmas message. of course

the country's a response to the global pandemic, coronavirus, is going to run through her whole message, i think we can expect to see that. if we look back to april and that message she gave to the nation at the beginning of lockdown, perhaps that gives a little clip as to the town and the kind of things she will be saying today. she will of course reference the challenges that many families have faced over the past few months, but i suspect, as ever with her christmas message, she will also want to offer a note of hope and optimism. many thanks. christmas in bethlehem looks a little different this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. this was the coronavirus pandemic. this was the scene in bethlehem this morning in manger square. you can see a normally busy scene is quite empty. the celebrations are still went ahead of the nativity, where christians believe jesus ahead of the nativity, where christians believejesus was born. the service, normally attended by thousands of local and foreign worshippers, was closed to the

public this year. this is a christmas eve unlike any that local people have ever seen before. not even when there have been flare—ups in violence in the israel palestinian conflict have festivity been so muted. typically this will be the busiest night of the year for bethlehem, with no this will be the busiest night of the yearfor bethlehem, with no room in the hotel. inevitably that is not the case this year, and that is just devastating for a place that is so reliant on tourism. in the vatican, pope francis celebrated christmas eve mass in st peter's basilica in front ofjust 200 worshippers who wear wearing facemask. the mass, traditionally held at midnight, was moved forward by two hours to meet italy's a night—time curfew. as in bethlehem, thousands would normally fill st peter's square on christmas eve, but this time it was deserted. the pope delivered a message calling on followers to console those who suffer, rather than lamenting our

own fate. translation: jesus gives us an example. heed the word of god as a baby. he does not speak but he offers his life. we, on the other hand, speaka offers his life. we, on the other hand, speak a lot but we are often incapable of goodness. when most people are asleep, mother of four leonne hutchinson has been cycling around the streets of edinburgh in the dead of the night. she has clocked up more than ten hours every day on her bike she picked herself against the other 297,000 players across the world who compete in a virtual game called turf. points are won by cycling, running or walking to as many zones as possible. leonne hutchinson is with us. hello! tell us more about this game, turf and why people use it. it has been a wonderful discovery for us this year, particularly with the covid restrictions and cancelling of our normal orienteering event.

it isa it is a game where you physically go out to locations and there are locations worldwide at points of local interest, national interest. you can play it in any way you like, there is a challenge for everyone, andi there is a challenge for everyone, and i think everybodyjust really enjoys the game itself. you have been fitting this into your clearly a very busy life in the middle of the night! how much have you cycled, how many hours have you done, what distance have you covered?” how many hours have you done, what distance have you covered? i compete at quite a high level, on the world level, but you don't have to. i do about ten hours a day, maybe 100 kilometres per day just about ten hours a day, maybe 100 kilometres per dayjust because i wa nted kilometres per dayjust because i wanted to compete well at that round. i fit it in around children and working as night—time is often easier because it is quieter and there are fewer demands on my time and the streets are quieter quite the question viewers will be crying out to the tv is, when you sleep?!

i sleep during the day that i probably have one of those endurance genes in me that i need less sleep than other people. i don't notice the lack of sleep. what does it do for you? describe the sensation of being out in the dead of night by yourself. you are the game itself, turf, there is a great physical achievement, there is physical exercise, mental challenge to it. you are discovering all these wonderful places around you that you thought you knew. you can use it to explore places outside of where you know and it is an all—around experience can be a part of a bigger community, and it is really rewarding and has been very good for mental health during the last few months quite and he wone mental health during the last few months quite and he won a medal, what did you went? a silver medal on the world league. there are a country and regional meet. i came second in the world, which is a silver medal. i'm the first person outside of the nordic countries to get that silver medal, or to get any medal! i got the silver with the

sixth highest score in the world for this year —— second highest score. that is fantastic and you speak so modestly. you must be very proud.” am, and i'm very delighted for the uk because it is largely based in scandinavia and there is a wonderful tea m scandinavia and there is a wonderful team in scandinavia when they settle locations all around the world for people when they see activity and they are really helpful. for the uk, we arejust beginning they are really helpful. for the uk, we are just beginning to get more into it and there has been an explosion recently and i'm really proud of all of us because we are a great community of turfers and we are all good friends. what are your ambitions for next year?” are all good friends. what are your ambitions for next year? i want to enjoy it and carry on its restrictions left, just exploring more places because i can use it to discover different locations and things. keep getting fit, keep myself sane, i suppose, and always pushing myself to achieve just a little bit more than i thought i ever could. there was a sound like very, very good resolutions. lovely

to talk to you, thank you so much. that is leonne hutchinson. let's go back to our top story, the post—brexit trade deal that has been agreed. european union ambassadors are getting some of the details in a christmas day briefing. the director of lse london and visiting professor in the department of government joins us now. hello, to you. looking at this deal, we still don't know the details, do we? in terms of the actual achievement, how would you characterise it, how important is it? it is clearly enormously important both for the prime minister, for the uk and the eu. it is not the same as being a member of the eu, it is absolutely important to stress that, but i think the downsides for the uk and the eu and particularly for ireland and northern ireland eye that no deal would have been problematic probably not only in terms of tariffs and

trade illegally but secondly, it would have created a very difficult diplomatic starting point to try to begin again, to reconstruct the relationship between the uk and the eu. in that sense it is hugely important, and of course it is something to build upon. we are waiting to see the details but it will be very interesting in the coming months to see what effect having achieved this deal, and the transition period ending, what effect this will have on british politics. how do you foresee that? first, i don't think brexit will ever quite end. i mean, it is easy to see this at the end of brexit, that january one comes, to see this at the end of brexit, thatjanuary one comes, and it is away and out of the transition period and everything moves on, political parties adjust. i think the truth is that the uk's relationship with the eu will become a continuous living thing and i think britain's relationship with the eu will be endlessly evolving and changing, even in this deal,

insofar as we can see it. plenty of other points for negotiation on fisheries in the future, and services, not really covered by this deal to any great degree. what i think this does is begin to signal some of the details for the future relationship but a lot of this is going to become clearer to us, as citizens and indeed as those running businesses, during the months of january 2021. interesting you say that because there have been strongly pro—brexit logicians in the uk saying, right, the battle is won, it's over. you are suggesting it is not. i don't think it will ever be. in the sense that you look at a country like switzerland's relationship with the eu. it is endlessly evolving. switzerland is not in the eu, but it's endlessly evolving. switzerland is not in the eu, but its relationship with the eu is endlessly having to be negotiated and we negotiated and

laws passed, someone with switzerland in relation to what the eu is up to. that means the uk's relationship won't be the same but it will have some of the same characteristics. i think it is unlikely, given the proximity of the eu 27, and the importance to trade and the way they strike trade deals and the way they strike trade deals and how the uk strikes trade deals, seems unlikely the issue is going to go away. europe has been in british politics for half a century or longer, and i don't think this is the end of it as a complex piece of politics inside the uk. we are running out of time. very briefly, what impact will this have on the conservative party, do you think?” think it is a piece of good news for the conservative party. boris johnson always made clear, he said, that no deal would be fine. i think the truth is they will be relief in the truth is they will be relief in the conservative party and after the difficulties of covid and dealing with that this year, they will be hoping to move into 2021 and perhaps regain some of the public confidence

that appears, according to the polls, to have disappeared this year. very good to talk to you. thank you so much. you are watching bbc news. hello. even the weather is taking it fairly easy this christmas day. a chilly start but a fine day for the majority, with light winds. it will remain feeling cold, even with some sunshine. the reason it is pretty quiet for today is this area of high pressure here. we might see a few showers coming into eastern regions of england today, and later, the westerly winds will pick up across scotland and northern ireland. so, more cloud arriving, and there will be some rain for western scotland and for parts of northern ireland to come in the afternoon. as the cloud comes in, temperatures will come up in these areas. overnight and into boxing day, we see a weather front sliding south across the uk, an early frost in the south—east before the cloud descends.

not much rain, as it gets into the south of the uk. but then another spell of heavy rain approaching western scotland by the end of the night. all of the cloud will make for a much milder start on boxing day. the wind, picking up all the while on boxing day, the rain fairly relentless across western scotland, as it only slowly starts to sink southwards. england and wales will be dry for most of the day but some heavier showers are possible for northern england, but a much milder day. take a look at this, on boxing day night, this is storm bella sinking down across the uk, very heavy rain, a risk of flooding and the wind is the biggest issue. for the south coast we are looking at gusts of up to 80mph. widely inland, 50—60mph, which is strong enough to do some damage and cause some disruption. and with saturated ground, yet more heavy rainfall will mean quite a significant risk of flooding

across many parts of england and wales on sunday. things clear up quite nicely in the afternoon, but towards the north and west, we will be getting a lot of showers on a chilly north—westerly wind, and we could see some snow even on lower ground. temperatures around 5—7. staying chilly as we look ahead into the coming week. a chance of some snow showers further south across the uk on monday.

you're watching bbc world news, the headlines... eu ambassadors are due to receive a christmas day briefing oi'i to receive a christmas day briefing on the eu trade deal. they will hear from michel barnier, who led the negotiating team for the eu during the negotiations. chile, mexico and costa rica have begun vaccinating thousands of people against covid—19. they have become the first countries in latin america to do so and they are using the pfizerjab. an extra 800 military personnel are deployed near dover to help clear the backlog of lorries waiting to cross into france. thousands of lorry drivers are spending christmas day stuck in their vehicles waiting for covid tests. a covid stimulus package designed to revise the us economy has struggled to make progress in congress. —— revive. the package is worth over $900 billion.