this is bbc news. these are the 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 yet 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.

eu ambassadors have received a christmas day briefing on the post—brexit 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 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. the centre of the us city of nashville has been sealed off after a large explosion in the early hours of christmas day. three people have been injured and flights to and from the city were temporarily suspended

for stop police believe the blast was caused deliberately. they evacuated the area after responding to reports of gunfire and finding a suspicious camper van parked outside the building of the at&t communications company. recorded m essa 9 es communications company. recorded messages playing from the van warned it would shortly explode. up to 20 buildings have been badly damaged. nashville police chief john buildings have been badly damaged. nashville police chiefjohn drake spoke to journalists. this morning, around 5:30am, officers responded to a call for shots fired in the downtown area. specifically second and near commerce. 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.

we had one officer that was knocked to the ground. the metro nashville police department has released a still on the camper van on second ave before it exploded and have appealed for anyone who had seen it to get in touch. 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 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. 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 advance of the arrival of storm bella, which is forecast to bring heavy rain and winds of up to 70 miles an hour. more than 70,000 people in uk have now died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. 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, 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. 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 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 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.

what a year it's been for captain sir tom moore, the former british army officer and centenarian, known for his achievements raising tens of millions of pounds for charity in the run up to his 100th birthday during the covid—19 pandemic. john maguire has been to meet him and find out about his christmas plans. it's been a year like no otherfor all of us. but for captain sir tom moore, 2020 has seen him catapulted from his back garden to worldwide adoration, and to a specially convened ceremony where he was knighted by her majesty the queen. december‘s always a time to look forward, but also back to boyhood christmases during the 1920s. you got up at six o'clock in the morning to see what father christmas had left overnight. when we were small boys, or small children, we didn't get a stocking,

we got a pillowcase. you knew there'd be an orange at the bottom of it somewhere. but not a lump of coal? no! and later, as a young officer in the british army during the second world war. all the officers gave all the other ranks their christmas lunch. we served them their christmas lunch. and that was a happy occasion, with a little bit of relaxation and some drink, which hadn't been readily available for some time. but that was a very good day. one of the main objectives of the captain tom foundation is to tackle loneliness, which can be especially cruel at christmas. for people who don't have a family who can come and knock on the door, it must be a very lonely time.

and, of course, how are they going to have a christmas lunch if there's only one of you? so i do hope that everyone will have more than one person to have the christmas lunch. but you would, of course, expect some of his famous optimism. we've always had all the family around us, and we've all had a lovely christmas lunch with turkey and all the little bits that go with it. and that's always been a joy for the parents, and for the children. this year, of course, with things as they are, things can't be quite the same for everyone, but things will get better and next year we'll be all right. he's spending the festive season not walking, but hopefully relaxing, having been invited to barbados.

i had a bucket list, and one of the items on that list was barbados. and this is going to come true. barbados has very kindly taken barbados off my bucket list. and what's next on that — do we know? what's the next plan on your bucket list? the next one is on the route 66 across america with a bentley. well, let's hope you get that one soon as well. so as he works his way down the list, let's hope captain sir tom gets his kicks in the new year. john maguire, bbc news, bedfordshire. 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 0lwen? 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. congregants 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 come and 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 beatles first, then the spice girls, and now the youtuber act ladbaby are the first act in 25 yea rs ladbaby are the first act in 25 years to get three consecutive christmas never ones. lizo mzimba reports. # just a sausage roll... ladbaby, driving his latest charity single into the charts. a tongue in cheek new take on a popular classic. and a third consecutive christmas number one. 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, nobody 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 2 become 1...

# i need some love like i never needed love before... ..followed by too much... # too much of something... ..and their almost farewell single, goodbye. now, nearly a quarter of a century later, that achievement has been equalled. # we built this city... 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. huge congratulations to them. i will be back in a few moments with the

headlines. you can reach me on twitter. thanks for watching. as promised, weather was pretty quiet on christmas day across most 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 for the bulk of the uk i think a fairly calm night. 0vercast in most areas, just a few showers here and there and 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 storm bella approaches. the thinking is during the course of the evening on boxing day the weather will go 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 nasty 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 for southern parts of wales and along the english channel. damaging winds, up to 80 mph are possible. also across england there will be gale force winds causing problems so storm bella is likely to bring some flooding, particularly across parts of wales 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 near 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 and there 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.

this is bbc news. the 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. 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. flights have been injured. to and from the city were temporarily flights to and from the city were temporarily suspended.

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