hello and welcome to bbc news. possible human remains have been found near the debris of a large explosion in the centre of the us city of nashville. the area has been sealed off and a large police investigation is now underway into what the authorities have confirmed was an intentional act. tanya dendrinos reports. blackened smoke and a street ablaze. as families woke on christmas morning, a sinister scene unfolded in downtown nashville.

woman gasps. officers first responding to a call shots had been fired. as officers responded, they encountered an rv that had a recording, saying that a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes. officers, upon hearing that, decided to evacuate the buildings nearby. so they began knocking on doors, making announcements, having emergency communications to communicate with everyone to get people safe. the chilling recording ringing true, this aerial footage showing the scale of the destruction — time a saving grace. it is grateful that there were not more people around. it would be a different message if it was, you know, 5pm on a friday. police have labelled the explosion a deliberate act, attention turning to the investigation with a plea for public assistance as authorities posted

this image online. please tell us what you know. we need your leads and we need your help. officers now combing through the extensive crime scene with fbi experts being brought in from across the country. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. eu ambassadors have been given a briefing about the post—brexit trade deal reached with the uk by the bloc‘s chief negotiator michel barnier. here, mps will vote on the deal in parliament next week, before the existing trade rules expire on 31st december. here's our political correspondent leila nathoo. 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 for the eu side, michel barnier, briefed ambassadors of eu member states on its detail.

what is the plan for today, then? 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. good evening. 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's 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. let's get some of the day's other news. france has confirmed its first case of the variant of coronavirus, which has also been found in the uk. the country's health ministry says the patient arrived on french soilfrom london on december 19. president macron shut the country's border with britain last sunday after the new, more transmissible variant was found to be spreading in large parts of the south east of

england and in london. the mexican government says it has purchased another 43,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine a day after launching its national programme. the foreign ministry said the vaccines, produced by pfizer—biontech, would arrive in mexico on saturday. the opposition had criticised the government's strategy, saying it had ordered only a few thousand doses for a population of 120 million people. the latest government figures show there were 32,725 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. 570 deaths were reported, that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it takes the total number of deaths with coronavirus across the uk to 70,195.

with me is our news reporter aaron safir. these are very tough restrictions. these new restrictions, what can you tell us about them? you wa nted can you tell us about them? you wanted in a sentence essentially the people in the uk are underthe essentially the people in the uk are under the toughest restrictions around and some parts of the uk and some countries of the uk it is being called a lockdown but in others it is not. the simple fact is life is going to be very similarto life is going to be very similar to how it was in the previous two lockdowns in the uk. in england, 6 million people are now going into tier 4, those are mainly living in the east and south—east of england so sussex, oxfordshire, cambridgeshire, suffolk, norfolk, cambridge and hampshire, those parts of the uk. tier 4 means basically don't leave the house. you can exercise but shops, hospitality, none of that is open. you cannot mix with

people inside your house either. unless you are part of a support bubble with them so really, some of the toughest restrictions that there are. to give you a sense of the overall picture in england of the numbers involved, that additional 6 million people going into tier 4 means that 2a million people in england, nearly half the population of england, i now under those toughest restrictions. in addition as of about one hour ago, we have got nearly 25 million people moving into tier 3so million people moving into tier 3 so places like bristol, gloucestershire, somerset, the north of somerset, the isle of wight, and they are moving into a tear which means no indoor mixing, you can meet outdoors but only in groups of six —— tier. but shops can stay open for a mixed picture across england but generally things are getting tighter. it is not exactly cheery christmas news. that's england, what about the rest of the uk? the whole of mainland scotland has also just moved into the

toughest restrictions which means for about 5.5 million people there, travel severely is restricted and hospitality and non—essential retail clothing, and there is going to bea clothing, and there is going to be a big move in the new year to home—schooling for children at school. northern ireland, just entered a six week lockdown, similar measures to the ones we have been discussing. and finally wales, 3 million people are already under lockdown, they have been experiencing it since the weekend. again, all of those restrictions on leaving the house, retail and hospitality that we have all come to know and low in 2020. definitely. we have been talking about this in the newsroom and it has been a long year with the rules chopping and changing. just how concerned are authorities about people perhaps breaking the rules because they are fed up? essentially, you know, it is ha rd to enforce essentially, you know, it is hard to enforce rules like this ina very hard to enforce rules like this in a very large population, in big cities and in rural areas.

the challenges are immense. interestingly in northern ireland the government is moving to give the power to police to enforce part of the restrictions so there is going to bea restrictions so there is going to be a curfew in northern ireland until the second of january, eight in the evening until six in the morning and the police are going to be given the power to enforce that. whether we see that in the rest of the uk, to be honest, i doubt but you never know. and aaron, authorities will not be making these decisions unless they felt like they had to. just to recap what we have been chatting about, how about the virus is here across the entire uk. yeah, and it has been triggered, we heard earlier, by this new strain of the virus, and you know, under the virus, and you know, under the previous iterations of lockdown, the restrictions that we re lockdown, the restrictions that were in place, itjust didn't suit the virus, it was not falling on the way that was to be expected and a lot of that has been tied back to this new variant which, as has been discussed, is not more deadly 01’ more discussed, is not more deadly or more likely to call you

significant harm if you catch it but it does seem to be that much more transmissible. and therefore, even the tier 2 and tier 3 restrictions that parts of the uk were under an parts of the uk were under an parts of england were under when cutting mustard and as if to prove the severity of the covid pandemic in the uk, we have now passed the 70,000 mark in terms of the number of deaths, which is amongst the highest in the world. it is heartbreaking. thank you forjoining us and giving us that update. more than 3,000 lorry drivers have spent christmas day in theircabs near the port of dover. france reopened its border to arrivals through calais on wednesday, as long as people tested negative for coronavirus before travelling. more than 10,000 tests have been carried out in the past 2a hours, but extra military personnel have been deployed to help clear the backlog of lorries hoping to cross the channel and to distribute food and water to those waiting. andy moore reports.

this lorry driver did not expect to spend christmas day stuck in a queue of traffic at dover. his frustration was obvious and shared by many others as they waited for the backlog to clear. some drivers have been stuck for days after france closed the board on sunday stop the spread of a new strain of coronavirus. under police escort, groups of lorries were guided from their holding point at the disused manston airfield down to the port. these drivers had tested negative and were cleared to go. grant shapps that over 10,000 lateral flow tests have been carried out on drivers in kent and 2a were positive. more than 11.5 thousand lorries have crossed the channel that leaves thousands still to make the journey. for some drivers, that means a christmas stuck behind a wire fence instead of at home. tradition. on table, eat,

relax. music. no? istay here. local people are helping out by hot food and sympathy. because we live in dover, we wanted to do something, even though it is just a little something, and just a little something, and just spread a little bit of christmas cheer and take some hot mince pies and sausage rolls to people who probably or maybe would like them. the cross—channel theories have been sailing as soon as they have a full load of lorries. they are not easily as busy as this on christmas day but this is not a normal christmas day in dover. andy moore, bbc news. the queen has praised the "indomitable spirit" of those who have risen to the challenges of the coronavirus crisis. in her christmas address, she sympathised with people unable to see family and friends but also said that even the "darkest nights" had a promise of a "new dawn". 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 had disrupted so much for people of all faiths and yet, the queen said it had also brought us closer. in the united kingdom and around the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year and i'm 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 expressed gratitude to front—line workers and for the amazing achievements of modern science. and she'd found encouragement in the way people had supported each other.

we continue to be inspired by the kindness of strangers and draw comfort that even on the darkest nights, there is hope in the new dawn. she recalled that this year was the centenary of the burial of an unknown serviceman in westminster abbey — an unnamed hero of an earlier generation who had become a symbol of selfless duty. he represents millions like him who, throughout our history, have put the lives of others above their own and 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. and let me assure you of my thoughts and prayers. # joy to the world! the reference to a hug or a squeeze of the hand was a human touch — the kind of language the queen doesn't often use publicly, deployed today in a christmas day message of hope and reassurance. nicholas witchell, bbc news. this is bbc news, the headlines: police in the us city of nashville say a huge explosion in the city centre was a deliberate act. at least three people are injured. tougher covid restrictions have come into force in many parts of the uk — millions more people are now under lockdown. it's still unknown whether president trump will sign the stimulus bill which is currently

in a congress standoff. the bill has been flown to florida, where the president is spending christmas, in the event he changed his mind. millions of americans face losing their pandemic—related unemployment benefits from boxing day. mr trump refused to sign the measure into law unless it is amended, though republicans and democrats have blocked proposals. the coronavirus economic relief, which comes with a $1.1; trillion federal budget attached, was agreed by both sides of the house. we can now speak to the economist claudia sahm who previously worked with us treasury secretary janet yellen at the federal reserve. if the uncertainty surrounding this coronavirus aid package at christmas time would inevitably causing a lot of stress for the millions of family who rely on those benefits. if it is not

approved, what stress will they be under? first, thank you for having me on this evening. the stress will continue to grow. this has been a hardship and an uncertainty that millions of americans have dealt with for months now as congress and tried to get a relief package negotiated and very specifically the last of the jobless benefits will go out tomorrow to individuals who have been an unemployment for many weeks already and for those who had eligibility because of the earlier relief package. those two groups, tomorrow is the last day. the president absolutely has decided to get those back on track and all the rest that is on that relief package. there appears to be a lot of confusion about who supports what. can you explain the difference between these covered relief built and the

other welfare packages. —— covid. the relief package and that budget which happened every year, they passed both of them it was looking like smooth sailing to go to the president for his signature and that all blew up tuesday night so it really is disarray and even those who follow very closely what is going on in washington, who knows? they will be back at it on monday but honestly, it is the hardship and uncertainty inflicted on millions and millions of americans is just mind blowing. it is christmas. an easy solution would be for the president to signoff on this bill. what do you think he will do? i hope he does the right thing and he signs. the relief package is not perfect. one of the thing the president

is asking is the bigger checks to go out to families. i am all for bigger and better but the paper cannot be the enemy of the good right now. this money has got to get out. it is u nfortu nate we has got to get out. it is unfortunate we are still dangling over details with people waiting for this money. i hope this comes together but this has been a very, very frustrating several weeks. thank you so much for your time this evening. as well as in the queen's speech, the pandemic has also featured in the festive messages from religious leaders. the archbishop of canterbury said that, despite what he called this "year of anxiety", there were many gifts of hope, including the vaccine. pope francis called for universal access to innoculation. helena wilkinson reports. st peter's square — empty and eerily quiet. normally, thousands gather for the pope's christmas day message, but not this year.

instead, pope francis spoke from inside the vatican. at the heart of his address was the pandemic. he said the vaccine brought hope at a time of darkness and urged world leaders to ensure that everyone had access. the pandemic has left many places of worship empty this christmas. midnight mass at westminster cathedral in london was held online only. at canterbury cathedral, they did gather today at a social distance. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, reflected on what the pandemic had shown us. in this christmas of absence, mourning, and restrictions of all kinds, are there any gifts of good news under the tree? any gifts of hope? well, there are many. the vaccine is a gift of hope.

our sense of community and mutual care has changed so much. that is a gift of hope. many churches across the country have held services online this christmas, like st james evangelical church, in carlisle. others with space were able to invite churchgoers in. at st mary's church in congleton, near cheshire, they were able to book a pew — one per household bubble. well, i think it's wonderful. i think the old place has been going for 1,000 years now, so we couldn't let it down and miss a christmas. we had to find a way. christmas this year has been difficult for so many. the messages from religious leaders have been ones of comfort, light and hope in darkness. helena wilkinson, bbc news. as you saw in helena wilkinson's report, pope francis urged

world leaders to share covid vaccines, saying walls of nationalism could not be built to inhibit the fight against the pandemic. the bbc‘s rome correspondent mark lowen has more. well, 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, st peter's 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. interesting, 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 then called for peace in the world's hotspots, from nagorno—karabakh to yemen, libya to mozambique. but this is a year in which the world as a whole has been fighting a war, and the pope's message was to people to arm themselves with compassion. first the beatles did it, then the spice girls, but now youtubers known as ladbaby have become the third act in uk history to get three consecutive christmas number ones — with a song about sausage rolls. lizo mzimba reports.

# just a sausage roll...# ladbaby, driving his latest charity single into the record books. #..breathe in the nature...# a tongue—in—cheek new take on a popular classic... # don't stop me eatin'...# ..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 had seen me coming. i think last year, i think again, was kind of shocking, a bit unbelievable, noone thought we'd ever come back. this year is just on another level. i don't — hopefully, you know, 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...# # goodbye my friend...# ..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 which helps those in greatest need. # a sausage roll feeling...# 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. well, i would love to know what you think of that song. a reminder of the main story, possible human remains have been found in the debris of an

explosion at the centre of the us city of nashville. the area has been sealed off and a police investigation is under way in what the authorities have confirmed was an intentional act. you can reach me on twitter — i'm freya underscore cole... hello. well, the weather's still fairly quiet out there for the moment, but out in the atlantic looms storm bella. you can see it here on the satellite picture, a conveyor belt of cloud. the bulk of the wind and rain is still all out to sea, but you can see on the edge of the screen there, the coast of scotland and ireland. now, already in the morning, the winds will start to freshen in the western isles, the rain will pile in, but you can see that in northern ireland, much of wales and england, apart from a few showers, the weather actually doesn't look too bad at all. yes, it's fairly cloudy, but even a few sunny spells here and there. now, the temperatures in the morning will be a lot higher than they have been in the last couple of days, we're talking around 6 or 7 degrees. and it is going to be a relatively mild day,

and again, apart from the odd shower here and there, across england, wales, it should be mostly a dry day. but by the middle of the afternoon, it's raining in northern ireland, and the rain and wind would've spread deeper into scotland as well. but it's not until the evening hours when the really nasty weather arrives. so this is storm bella on the weather map. you can see a dartboard low there, lots of isobars and some very nasty winds linked to this cold front, which is going to be sweeping across the country. now, the worst of the weather will arrive during the night, into the early hours of sunday. very heavy rain across parts of western britain, but the strongest of the winds will be further south, and it's prompted the met office to issue an amber warning from the south coast of wales, south—western parts of england, along the coast, all the way to dover, up to 70 or 80 mph in gusts. further inland, the gusts right across wales and england will also be around 50—60 mph. that will lead to some damage and disruption. now, into sunday morning,

you can see that cold front, the tail end of it, just clearing the south—east of england, and then the skies clear. we find ourselves in the centre of the low pressure, and here, the weather will be quite changeable. there will be sunny spells, showers, some of them will be wintry, and it will be a good deal colder, temperatures 3—6 degrees, and then cold enough on monday for the potential of some snow there, even across southern parts of the uk. we're keeping a very close eye on this weather here developing in the south come monday. bye— bye.

nicholas witchell, bbc news.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the mayor of the us city of nashville has said he's amazed that there weren't more casualties after a huge explosion tore through a historic part of the city. three people are known to have been injured and possible human remains have been found in the debris. tough new covid restrictions have come into effect in more parts of the uk as the spread of the virus continues. millions more people have now been moved to tier 4 in england — the highest level. people in wales, scotland and northern ireland are also facing tougher restrictions. eu ambassadors have been given a briefing about the post—brexit trade deal reached with the uk by the bloc‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier. in the uk, mps will vote on the deal in parliament before the existing trade rules expire at the end of the month.