this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. queen elizabeth has been reflecting on the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic in her christmas speech as she and prince philip break tradition by staying in windsor. people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year and i am so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit. european union ambassadors get details of a post—brexit trade deal in a christmas day briefing led by michel barnier. thousands of lorry drivers are spending christmas day in their vehicles near dover as 800 military personnel continue to test stranded hauliers.

police in the us city of nashville in tennessee say a huge explosion in the city centre was a deliberate act. at least three people have been injured. pope francis gives his christmas day address urging all nations to share covid—19 vaccines and calling for peace in wartorn areas. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. in her christmas day message, queen elizabeth has praised the scientists and medical staff, to whom, she said, we owe a debt of gratitude this year. she said this christmas is tinged with sadness because of the distance between people, many

of whom just want a simple hug or squeeze of the hand. nicholas witchell reports. from windsor castle on a christmas day without the customary companionship of families coming together, a christmas broadcast in which the queen reflected on a time of exceptional difficulty. for christians, jesus is the light of the world. but we can't celebrate his birth today in quite usual way. the pandemic has disrupted so much for people of all faiths but the queen said it has also brought us closer. in the united kingdom and across the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year, and i am so proud and moved by the quiet, indomitable spirit. to our young people

in particular, i say thank you for the part you have played. she thanked front line workers and the amazing achievements of modern science. we owed them a debt of gratitude, she said. she recalled that this year was the centenary of the burial of an unknown serviceman in westminster abbey, an unknown hero of an earlier generation who has become a symbol of selfless duty. he represents millions like him, who throughout history have put the lives of others above their own and we will be doing so today. for me, this is a source of enduring hope in difficult and unpredictable times. for many, the queen said, christmas would be a particularly difficult time. of course, for many, this time of year will be tinged with sadness, some mourning the loss of those dear to them, and others missing friends and family members, distanced for safety, when all they really want

for christmas is a simple hug, or a squeeze of the hand. if you are among them, you are not alone. let me assure you of my thoughts and prayers. the reference to a hug or a squeeze of the hand was a human touch, the kind of language that the queen does not often use publicly, deployed today in a christmas day message of hope and reassurance. nicholas witchell, bbc news. after a historic brexit trade deal, the european union's chief negotiator, michel barnier, has been briefing ambassadors from the 27 member states on the details. the document setting out the deal runs to over 1200 pages. the prime minister who was in downing street yesterday when the deal was confirmed has also received a copy. here's our political correspondent leila nathoo. i have a small present for anyone who may be looking for something to read in that sleepy post—christmas lunch moment, and here it is...

tidings, glad tidings of greatjoy, because this is a deal. some light reading. the post—brexit deal agreed yesterday between britain and the eu runs to more than 1,200 pages. this morning, the man who negotiated it for the eu side, michel barnier, briefed ambassadors of eu member states on its details. mission accomplished. what's in that blue folder sets out how the eu and uk will trade and co—operate from the new year — to finally have something on paper is a success for both sides. the deal was done in the nick of time with the uk already out of the eu and transition arrangements expiring within days. mps and peers will have until wednesday to digest the detail before being called back to parliament for a debate. there are unlikely to be any hold—ups in westminster, though — labour is set to back it. we will certainly be better off with this deal,

and we have to make it work. no deal would have terrible consequences for our country, and the labour party could not enable that to happen. during the long months of negotiations, both sides seemed determined not to give ground. what is now on the table is a compromise, but those who campaigned for brexit have broadly given the deal thumbs up. if the contents are as described by the prime minister, then i think it is a very satisfactory outcome, and actually an extraordinarily good one, given the rather bum hand he had been dealt when he took over from theresa may. britain's new relationship with brussels is now more defined. eu ambassadors are weighing up how the future looks with the uk on the outside. the deal will need time to play out in practice, but both sides will be relieved it was, against the odds, done. leila nathoo, bbc news.

more than 3000 lorry drivers have had to spend christmas day in their vehicles near dover in kent. extra military personnel have been deployed to help clear the backlog. they are still waiting to cross the channel. 0ne they are still waiting to cross the channel. one of the situation is france imposed is that lorry drivers must test negative for coronavirus. the uk's transport secretary says of the 10,000 tests carried out in the last 2a hours, only 2a have come back positive. grant shapps said 4500 hgvs back positive. grant shapps said a500 hgvs are back across the channel. frankie mccamley has been at manston airfield and sent the latest. this is not the christmas thousands of drivers here were expecting. some have been stuck here at manston airfield for up to four days with no access to washing facilities and just portaloos dotted around the side of the airfield. we have heard a beeping protest

as drivers are getting more and more frustrated. i have spoken to some who say theyjust want to be at home, some say they feel like this is a political protest and they are caught in the middle. you can see just behind me some local people are coming here, rallying together, trying to provide hot food and drinks to give these drivers just something on christmas day. every half an hour, we are seeing around a dozen lorries leave this site, take the a0—minute journey over to the port of dover. each have been tested negative, have tested negative for coronavirus and each will be carrying a letter, signed by uk and french authorities, allowing them access to mainland europe. last night, we saw around 800 troops deployed to try and speed up this testing process — that does seem to have worked because a lot of the roads in the area surrounding dover that have cleared and residents

are now able to travel. but this is not back to normal — there are still thousands of drivers stuck here. they may be getting water, drinks and food, but this is not where they were hoping to be, especially on christmas day. studio: frankie mccamley in kent. the uk's biggest testing lab has been hit by an outbreak of coronavirus. a number of scientists at the lighthouse laboratory in milton keynes, are believed to have been affected along with admin and warehouse staff. the lab, which is being asked to process about 70,000 tests a day, says it follows covid—secure work procedures. a parked camper van has exploded in the us city of nashville, tennessee, in what police believe is a deliberate act. at least three people were injured in more than 20 buildings damaged. the police believe the explosion one is an

intentional act. they say they were investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle when the explosion happened. a bomb squad has been sent to the area. the nashville police chief, john drake, told reporters there are a force received reports of gunshots early in the morning and when they went to investigate a suspicious vehicle. this morning, around 5:30am, officers responded to a call for shots fired in the downtown area. whilst they were responding they encountered an rv that had a recording saying a bomb would detonate within 15 minutes. 0fficers, upon hearing that, decided to evacuate the buildings nearby. they began knocking on doors, making announcements, having emergency communications, communicating with eve ryo ne communications, communicating with everyone to get people safe. shortly after that of the rv exploded. the latest from the police in nashville

in the us. here, people living near the river great 0use in bedfordshire have been urged to leave their homes because of a risk of flooding tonight. more than 80 flood warnings have been issued across england and wales in the advance of the arrival of storm bella which is forecast to bring heavy rain and wind of up to 70 miles an hour. an australian expedition has been medically evacuated from antarctica following a five—day mission involving ships, helicopters and planes. china, the us and australia combined efforts to bring the patient back home in an operation described as complex but a success. operation described as complex but a success. details of the patient‘s edition have not been made public but officials say it is not related to coronavirus. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has announced around $2.a billion worth of benefits for farmers amid mounting pressure

on his government to scrap controversial reforms. mr modi has today been addressing millions of farmers across the country virtually, accusing his political opposition for misleading them over contentious new laws that will loosen the rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm products. 0ur south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan is in delhi. the government here of prime minister modi has been trying to reach out to various sections of the the fsrmers highlighting points regarding the new agrarian reforms which were passed in september this year, one of them has been inviting more foreign investment, private investment in agriculture and second thing is they want to abolish antiquated procedures like people are using some of the agents to sell their produce, which means farmers they have to pay money so these agents will be removed from the system and then the farmers are allowed to sell their produce for example from different states, now they have certain restrictions

like a farmer from southern india can now sell to the farmers or the merchants in northern india. these are the key points of the government's agrarian reforms and that is what the government has been trying to sell to the other farmers. 0n the other hand, what the farmers are saying is that india is predominantly an agricultural nation, more than 60% of the la billion population depend on agriculture. many of them are small landowners, so, the reforms will benefit only big corporations and we don't have the power to take on these big corporations in setting the price — when did the market ever give an advantage to poor farmers and the rest of the world? this is a classic case of deregulation of markets and the poor farmers, they are up against it, whereas the typical case of globalisation versus developing

countries‘ problem. chile's president has described the start of a national coronavirus immunisation programme as a moment of hope and excitement for the country. chile, mexico and costa rica have become the first countries in latin america to begin vaccination campaigns. argentina is also planning to start inoculations in the next few days. tim allman has more. in chile, potential salvation comes from the skies. the first 10,000 of an ordered 30 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, arriving at this airport in santiago. the country's president was there to welcome them, as the precious cargo was moved onto a helicopter. translation: it's a day of much excitement, seeing this helicopter transporting hope, because the truth is that many people have worked a lot over this time to secure the vaccine. 0ur compatriots will have a secure, effective and timely vaccine. the first compatriot, a health worker called zulema riquelme.

president pinera, there to witness this important moment. in mexico, they queued up for their jabs. doctors, nurses, members of the military. this country has had more than 120,000 covid fatalities, the fourth highest death toll in the world. so palpable was the excitement, the whole thing was shown live on television. argentina will begin its vaccination programme imminently. but they have sought help from russia rather than america or western europe — a decision that has led to a few raised eyebrows. translation: the first vaccines have arrived in the country, 300,000 doses of the sputnik vaccine. there was some scepticism, but as we always say, we do not want to get entangled in any type of discussion other than preserving the health of our people. another plane touching down, another batch of the vaccine arriving, this time in costa rica.

as the country's president put it, this may be the beginning of the end of this pandemic. tim allman, bbc news. in his christmas message, pope francis has urged world leaders to share coronavirus vaccines, saying walls of nationalism should not be built to inhibit the fight against a pandemic that knows no borders. he called for generosity and support for victims of the pandemic. 0ur rome correspondent mark lowen has been following the story. this time last year, there were 50,000 people in st peter's square watching the pope's christmas urbi et 0rbi to city and the world christmas message from the balcony of st peter's basilica. this year the square is completely cordoned off by police, we are in the middle of a christmas lockdown, and the pope spoke

from inside the palace. the world has changed, and many people's faith has been shaken and coronavirus was very much at the heart of the pope's christmas message. he called on people to care for and to offer generosity to the victims of the pandemic. he also called on world leaders to co—operate, so that there should be access to vaccines for all countries. he said "we cannot erect walls", perhaps a message to the outgoing donald trump administration there. interestingly, he singled out among the victims women who had suffered from domestic violence during months of lockdown. he talked about how his thoughts were for families who could not come together, and those forced to remain at home, so the pandemic very much at the centre of this urbi et 0rbi message. he also called for peace in the world's hotspots, from nagorno—karabakh, yemen, libya to mozambique. but this is a year

in which the world as a whole has been fighting a way, and the pope's message was to people, to arm themselves with compassion. studio: 0ur rome correspondent, mark lowen. some good news now, in this most difficult of years — the first concert to be held inside notre dame cathedral in paris since it was severely damaged by a fire last year. there was no audience and the socially distanced singers wore hard hats and boiler suits because the cathedral is still a building site. as well as classical pieces they gave a heart warming rendition ofjingle bells. they sing jingle bells

the concert was broadcast on french television from inside notre dame in paris. the battle for the top spot in the uk christmas charts is always hotly contested with even successful stars eager to see their name at number one. but this year the youtube star ladbaby one. but this year the youtube star ladba by outsold both one. but this year the youtube star ladbaby outsold both paul mccartney and mariah carey to top the uk chart for the third consecutive year. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. #just a mzimba reports. # just a sausage roll... ladbaby, driving his latest charity single into the charity box. a tongue in cheek new take on a popular classic. and a third consecutive christmas number one. the first year was actually just com pletely the first year was actually just completely shocking. i think not only to us but the entire industry. i don't think anyone saw it coming.

i think last year was kind of shocking again, a bit unbelievable, nobly thought we would come back. this year is just on another level. hopefully it's really got the message out there about food banks and it's made everyone smile at a time when we all needed it. the last act to produce three christmas chart toppers in a row was the spice girls with two become one, followed by too much, and they're almost farewell single, goodbye. now, nearlya quarter of a century later, that achievement has been equalled. by ladbaby, achievement has been equalled. by ladba by, with achievement has been equalled. by ladbaby, with a series of sausage roll themed charity songs. # i love sausage rolls... the singles have all raised money for the trussell trust charity that supports hundreds of food banks and helps those in greatest need. a

christmas message embraced by the thousands who bought the song and helped it to reach the top of the charts. lizo mzimba, bbc news. with that news of ladbaby topping the charts, what about live music this festive season? john mcclure from the band reverend and the makers has offered to play private gigs forfans makers has offered to play private gigs for fans genuinely on the run this christmas. his sheffield singer made the offer to his thousands of twitter followers after tighter coronavirus restrictions were announced. it was quite a flippant comment, really because of it was after the prime minister announced tighter restrictions and the cancellation of christmas for many people. i thought, cancellation of christmas for many people. ithought, what cancellation of christmas for many people. i thought, what can i do, because i don't like the idea of people being their own during this time. i guess time is the only resource us time. i guess time is the only resource us musicians have in abundance, so i thought the least i

can do is ring a few people up on zoom and have a bit of a actor and play them a song, maybe. what sort of response did you get? it has been lively but i don't think i can get eve ryo ne lively but i don't think i can get everyone in the song might have to extend it to boxing day and a bit of a new year stint. i thought it would be better to wring people directly rather than do one zoom gig, which i thought, it might be a bit impersonalfor lots of thought, it might be a bit impersonal for lots of people. i like the personal aspect, i do lots of that stuff, play in people's houses. i'm really missing playing gigs so it's good to have that interaction. you say you miss playing gigs. tell us what 2020 has been like for you and the band. how much has this affected you? yeah, obviously there's been no income for the band this year. we've not been able to do the festival the sand play live, which is a great thing that we love to do. but listen, in a great scheme of things, us musicians

are all right, we mustn't grumble because there are people far worse off. you mentioned no income, it must have been tempting to charge a fee to do these personal gigs. why did you decide not to?|j fee to do these personal gigs. why did you decide not to? i have toyed with the idea. there are lots of websites now where you can charge however much money to do personalised hellos and this sort of stuff but it seems a bit sort of antithetical to the spirit of rock and roll to me to be charging people for that stuff. i think it's good to remember, to do some things for nothing and remember how you are able to get to where you got to in life. either gets your fans that put you there so it's nice to give a bit back. are you just operating on the basis you think everyone will be pretty much back to normal, at least inafew pretty much back to normal, at least in a few months' time in any case? yeah, fingers crossed. we love the festival season. we are in the process of making a new album at the minute, we have a great new record deal we have just signed and we are hopeful for

deal we have just signed and we are hopefulfor a good deal we have just signed and we are hopeful for a good year. deal we have just signed and we are hopefulfor a good year. i can't tell you how much i miss playing live. it has been a real big part of my life for something like 15, 16 yea rs my life for something like 15, 16 years now. so hopefully we will get back to making peoplejump years now. so hopefully we will get back to making people jump a years now. so hopefully we will get back to making peoplejump a pound down and having a good time in the summer. down and having a good time in the summer. i think we need a bit of a party in this country, don't we? when people say, yes please, give me a personal gigs online, what do they actually get when they agree to it? is it all of you, do you all play? no, we are obviously all in different parts. my wife, laura, she's in the band, although she has been busy today because my mum has been busy today because my mum has beeniu been busy today because my mum has been ill today so my wife and i have stepped in to cook the dinner. so it will just be stepped in to cook the dinner. so it willjust be me on my own. i had to put a little caveat in for the fans are saying, make sure you are genuinely on your own. i don't want 15 of your relatives hiding round the corner all having a free gig. hopefully it's genuine callers only. i wonder how difficult that will be to verify. how much difference will it make to somebody‘s mood and how

much knee do you think is out there? 0bviously much knee do you think is out there? obviously i don't want to blow my own trumpet or big myself up too much but i have to put myself in the position of being a fan, i think. had one of my favourite singers and one of my favourite bands called me up one of my favourite bands called me up on christmas day, i would have been absolutely over the moon so i can only hope someone feels like that. maybe they don't, maybe they just like casual fans and they want company will stop either or is fine by me. we have 50 seconds left on the bulletin so i hope you can fill that with what you offer and play us out. i shall fill it with the most underrated christmas song ever. # i wanted the bottom is for christmas # 0nlya christmas # only a hippopotamus will do # only a hippopotamus will do # i don't want a dog, or wrinkly dinky toy # i want dinky toy #iwanta dinky toy # i want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy. # i want

and enjoy. #iwanta and enjoy. # i want a good bottom is for christmas # i don't think santa claus will find one # bring it through the front door... as promised, weather the was pretty quiet on christmas day across most of the uk, with some sunshine, but 110w of the uk, with some sunshine, but now all eyes on the atlantic and the weather is about to turn. storm bella is expected to bring heavy rain and severe gales on boxing day night. in the short term, the weather is actually not too bad. in the small hours of saturday morning it's a case of increasing wind around coastal areas but, yes, some heavy rain already reaching parts of western scotland but the bulk of the uki western scotland but the bulk of the uk i think a fairly calm night. 0vercast in most areas, just a few showers here and there are not cold at all. mild air is being swept in by the storm. through the course of saturday, the weather is looking pretty decent, especially around

eastern parts of england. maybe the midlands, the english channel coast as well. sunny spells here but generally speaking a fair amount of cloud in the skies as well. around double figures in the south of the country but at this stage the weather is quickly deteriorating in the north—west of the uk as a storm bella approaches. the thinking is during the course of the evening on boxing day the weather will downhill first in the north—west of the uk and then quickly the bad weather will spread from the north—west towards the south—east. we think particularly along this cold front we will see some conditions across wales and also england, and that's where the worst of the wind will be. the met office has issued an amber warning. this is certainly a southern parts of wales and along the english channel. damaging winds, up the english channel. damaging winds, up to 80 mph are possible. also ross england there will be gale force winds causing problems so storm bella is likely to bring some flooding, particularly across wales and the south—west of the country

and the south—west of the country and those damaging winds as well. as we go through the course of sunday morning that cold front sweeps out into the north sea and neo— continent. then the wind will dramatically die down and as far as sunday is concerned it is a mixture of sunny spells, chilly conditions and just about cold enough for some wintry weather here as well. we will find ourselves in the centre of that storm. we are still in the middle of the low pressure on monday and there is just the possibility of some light sleet or snow almost anywhere across the uk, even in the south of the country. goodbye.

these are the latest headlines this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines queen elizabeth has been reflecting on the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic in her christmas speech as she and prince philip break tradition by staying in windsor. people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year and i am so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit. european union ambassadors get details of a post—brexit trade deal in a christmas day briefing led by michel barnier. thousands of lorry drivers are spending christmas day in their vehicles near dover as 800 military personnel continue to test stranded hauliers. the government says more than 10,000 tests have been done. police in the us city of nashville in tennessee say a huge explosion in the city centre was a deliberate act. at least three people have been injured. let's ta ke