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. 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. the united states covid stimulus bill has been flown to florida, where donald trump is spending his christmas vacation. senators are hoping the president will sign it into law, after previously attacking the legislation. millions of americans currently face losing their pandemic—related unemployment benefits from boxing day.

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! so even though rules mean the family could get together today, they have chosen to keep it virtual and open their 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 ca rlisle 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 1,000 years now, so we couldn't let it down and miss a christmas. we had to find a way. ijust think it's 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. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of the year from our world — a film about the impact of the coronavirus and lockdown on two maids and one employer in sao paulo, brazil. coronavirus has wreaked havoc on brazil. over 1.6 million have been infected and more than 65,000 have died. its people are suffering deep economic pain, with the country's millions of domestic maids especially hard hit. many have lost theirjobs, forcing them to choose between eating and paying the rent.

this is their story. neca is a maid. she is preparing to go to work for a family who live in one of sao paulo's wealthiest neighbourhoods.

with a spike in deaths in may, sao paulo's population of 12 million has been put under a near total lockdown. however, many have no choice but to work.

rossana is a lawyer. neca has worked for her family for over 20 years.

it is thought that the virus entered brazil with the wealthy returning from their holidays. spreading rapidly amongst their ranks, it became known as the disease of the rich. but soon the virus began to spread to the poor in the city's vast favelas, such as paradise town.

zeza is a maid and mother of seven children. as her wealthy clients locked down, she was sacked from all herjobs. when the virus struck brazil,

nearly a million informal cash—in—hand maids like zeza were immediately laid off without any pay. zeza misses one employer in particular.

with no work, she is now trapped with her seven children in just two small rented rooms. neca wasn't let go. she was paid to stay at home when the virus hit and rossa na's family went into quarantine. but soon rossana had to go back to work.

brazil's president bolsonaro has tried to downplay the threat posed by the virus... ..and to distance himself from its effects. he believes that the economy is being severely damaged by the lockdown. defying social distancing rules, he has been campaigning for me people to follow in rossana and neca's footsteps. and even though bolsonaro has himself now contracted coronavirus. ..

..he remains opposed to people staying at home. but the country is bitterly divided.

horns blare pots and pans bang believing he is responsible for unnecessary deaths, many have been expressing their anger with their president, demanding his removal from power.

many believe that the relationship between a maid and their employer exploits the lack of opportunities available to the poor.

in some homes, maids are treated as socially inferior and their work is seen as demeaning.

but with an abundance of unskilled labour in favelas like paradise town, maids like zeza are cheap to employ and easy to dismiss when crisis hits.

but the relationship between maids and their bosses is much more thanjust an economic one, often blurring work and affections. neca was invited to rossana's wedding. in otherfamilies, she may well have been serving the guests.

neca has a very special bond with rossa na's daughter, joana. neca became pregnant at 15

with the first of her four children and her youth suddenly ended as she sought domestic work to make ends meet. miguel, her youngest child, is nearly the same age as joana.

but on her maid's wage, owning her own home remains a distant dream for neca. and with the brazilian economy still on its knees after its last recession, now dealt a further blow by the pandemic and the lockdown, maids‘ lives are even more precarious.

zeza has received a relief payment from bolsonaro's government but it is barely enough to pay the rent, let alone feed the family.

birds chirp every weekend, neca walks to her mother selma's house. she recently had a stroke and requires neca's constant attention.

coronavirus has exposed just how insecure the lives of maids like zeza and neca can be. it has also revealed that while the virus can infect anyone, the impact it has on rich and poor is profoundly unequal.

birds chirp 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.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm freya cole. possible human remains are found near the debris of a large explosion in the centre of the us city of nashville. european union ambassadors receive hard copies of the post—brexit trade deal in a christmas day briefing led by michel barnier. still no resolution over the us covid stimulus bill — millions could lose benefits if donald trump doesn't sign it into law. and joining the ranks of pop legends like the beatles and the spice girls — a couple who sing about sausage rolls make uk chart history to score three consecutive christmas number ones.