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. 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 war—torn 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 the 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 this 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 un—named 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.

we will be showing the whole speech within the next half an hour, so stay with us. eu ambassadors have received a christmas day briefing on the postbag is a trade deal reached with the uk. chief negotiator michel barnier updated them on the 1200 page agreement reached after months of fraught talks on fishing rights and business rules. borisjohnson, who was in downing street yesterday when the deal was confirmed has also received a copy. here is 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 a 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 cabs near dover in kent. extra military personnel have been deployed to help clear the backlog. they are still waiting to cross the channel.

one of the stipulations france imposed is that lorry drivers must test negative for coronavirus. the uk's transport secretary says of the 10,000 says of the 10,000 tests carried out in the last 2a hours, only 2a have come 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 ao—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 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. 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. and more than 20 buildings damaged. police say they were investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle when the explosion happened. the nashville police chief, john drake, told reporters the force received reports of gunshots early in the morning and then 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 potential 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 everyone to get people safe. shortly after that, the rv exploded. the latest from the police in nashville in the us. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has announced around $2.1; 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 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

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 1.4 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. more than 70,000 people in uk have

110w more than 70,000 people in uk have now died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test was up 32,725 new cases in uk have been recorded in the last 2a hours. a further 570 deaths were reported. the figure does not include northern ireland, 01’ does not include northern ireland, or wales. 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. our 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 orbi — "to the 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 apostolic 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 orbi 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: our 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.

christmas in bethlehem looks a little different this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. this was the scene in bethlehem this morning, in manger square. you can see a normally busy scene is quite empty. but the celebrations still went ahead at the church of the nativity where christians believejesus was born. but the service, which is normally attended by thousands of local and foreign worshippers, was closed to the public this year. the latest headlines, queen elizabeth has been reflecting on the hardships of the pandemic in her christmas speech as she and prince philip break tradition by staying in windsor. european union ambassadors get details of a post—brexit trade deal ina get details of a post—brexit trade deal in a christmas day briefing led by michel barnier. 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 are injured.

here, people living near the river great ouse in bedfordshire have been urged to leave their homes because of a risk of flooding tonight. because of a risk more than 80 flood warnings have been issued across england and wales in advance of the arrival of storm bella, which is forecast to bring heavy rain and winds of up to 70 miles an hour. this christmas is, of course, one like no other with many families unable to be together because of the global pandemic. so how have we adapted our plans? judith moritz has been finding out. for so many, covid means christmas behind closed doors. bowie gladwell was born during the pandemic, he has a heart condition and his grandparents are vulnerable. merry christmas! even though rules mean the family could get together, they have chosen to keep it virtual and open presents via video call. there was a point where

we were thinking about having parents up on christmas day, but following the recent raise, you know, raising cases, and just the general uncertainty, we have decided to avoid it this year. how are you, raymond and olwen? 0k. happy christmas. coronavirus has changed christmas for church—goers too. the congregation of st james evangelical church in carlisle met on zoom instead of in person, though the sense of community was no less heartfelt. at st mary's near congleton, in cheshire, the church is big and draughty enough for everyone to space out. they had to book a pew, one per household bubble, to ensure social distancing. well, i think it is wonderful. i think the old place has been going for a thousand years now, so we couldn't let it down and miss a christmas, we had to find a way.

i think it is amazing this can be so safe to come and allow the older generation and younger generation to be part of each other. only the choir was allowed to sing. people have had to make special arrangements to make the church look beautiful, just everything's happened but in a different way. last christmas no—one could have imagined the way this year's festival would look or they would be praying for next year's celebrations to be back to normal. judith moritz, bbc news, cheshire. 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 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 sausage roll...