this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, as chancellor rishi sunak says the deal brings reassurance to those worried about the impact on businesses. for those who were anxious about the economic implications of leaving, they should be enormously reassured by the comprehensive nature of this free—trade agreement. the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic. millions of americans lose their unemployment benefits after president trump refuses to sign the covid economic relief bill into law. bangladeshi authorities are planning to move a second group of rohingya refugees to a remote, flood—prone island in the south of the country.

storm bella brings gusts of more than 100mph — with roads in parts of wales and devon and cornwall blocked by falling trees. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. prime minister boris johnson promises "big" changes are on the way for the uk following his brexit trade deal with the european union. in an interview with the sunday telegraph, he says he wants to focus on "leveling up the country" and "spreading opportunity" across the uk. mrjohnson said the brexit trade deal would provide new regulatory freedoms to "deliver for people who felt left behind". but some fishing leaders have accused him of "caving in" to the eu and sacrificing their interests.

mps will vote on the deal in parliament on the 30th of december. our business correspondent vivienne nunis has more. it's now 2a hours since the government published its 1,200—page trade deal with brussels. this morning, the chancellor was quick to dispel fears the uk might be economically worse off under this new trading relationship with the eu. for those who were anxious about the economic implications of leaving, they should be enormously reassured. the free trade agreement will cover nearly £670 billion worth of trade every year, making it the largest in history. there will be no added taxes on imports — known as tariffs — and no limits on how much can be bought and sold. but there will be more checks, red tape and form—filling when goods move across the border. that could mean delays and added costs for businesses. labour says the deal is better than no deal but it's not happy with what's been agreed.

this is a thin deal, it's not the deal the government promised. and there are large areas of our economy, for example financial services, that employs one in 14 people in our country, where there aren't clear elements within this deal and where much more work will need to be done. the chancellor says the uk will remain in close dialogue with the eu about how things will work moving forward, for instance with financial services. indeed, many are asking for more clarity on how services will be dealt with under this deal since the service sector makes up 80% of the uk economy. now that we've left the european union we can do things a bit differently and we are embarking on that journey. for example, examining how we make the city of london the most attractive place to list new companies anywhere in the world. mps will vote on the trade deal in parliament on wednesday. despite labour's criticisms, opposition leader keir starmer has confirmed labour mps will support the deal. but as scrutiny of the document continues over the coming days,

more questions will inevitably arise about what exactly this new trading relationship will mean. the deal itself comes into force in just five days' time. the coronavirus vaccine will be given to millions of people across europe from today as countries including france, spain and italy begin the rollout of their vaccination programmes. more than 14 million people have been infected and strict lockdown measures are currently in place in nearly all the eu member states. damien mcguinness reports now from berlin. the european vaccine roll—out has begun. in berlin, mobile teams are taking the first vaccines from this distribution centre to those who need it most — the elderly in nursing homes. this airport once provided a lifeline for west berlin at the height of the cold war. it was closed down in november to make way for a larger airport and now it has been turned into a mass vaccination centre,

providing, yet again, a lifeline for berliners, but this time in the fight against the pandemic. one of the first people in berlin to get the vaccine this morning was gertrude haase, 101 years old. in italy, where fatalities among health care workers have been particularly high, doctors and nurses are also among the first to get the jab. translation: it's not the end of the pandemic because there's still a long way to go, but it is the beginning of the end. today is a beautiful day. to boost support, some european leaders have also gone first. the czech prime minister said he wants to set an example and said the vaccine provides hope that we will return to a normal life. across europe, elderly people have been isolated, afraid and vulnerable. now they are the first

to be protected. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. health officials in south wales have thanked medical students who've responded to an appeal for volunteers to help in intensive care departments. the cardiff and vale university health board had tweeted that it was urgently looking for medical students for its critical care department. the health board said while staffing was still challenging, the situation had improved and it had now withdrawn its appeal. the scottish government has pledged an extra £41 million to support businesses which were forced to close as they entered the country's top tier of coronavirus measures yesterday. the holyrood government says it's now allocated more than 5.5 billion to support businesses and help the economy recover from the pandemic. millions of americans have lost unemployment benefits as a consequence of president trump failing to sign a massive covid relief bill into law by a deadline of midnight. president—electjoe biden has warned of devastating consequences for the people who would have been

helped by the bill, which passed overwhelmingly in congress. the relief package aimed to provide a $1.1; trillion federal budget, agreed by both sides of the house. it also proposed one—off payments of $600 to most americans, but despite his administration negotiating the deal, president trump changed his mind, saying he wants to give $2000 instead. he also wants to cut foreign aid. legislators could pass a stopgap bill by monday to prevent a partial government shutdown looming a day later, but it would not include coronavirus aid and mr trump would still have to sign the bill ashwin vasan is the president of fountain house, a community—based mental health charity. he told us how many americans are struggling in the wake of the pandemic. too many americans already live paycheque to paycheque, 44% of americans said that they were living paycheque to paycheque before the

pandemic and that has increased to 63% during the pandemic. faced with a $500 emergency, eight out of people reported they could not cover those costs and we are seeing this show up in a host of ways and we are seeing unprecedented lines at food banks, for example. you are seeing the threat of eviction. and economic insecurity really starting to rear its head at the family and community level and we are seeing the show up in people's well—being and mental health. we are at the beginning of what i believe will be a second pandemic of mental health issues as a result not only of the kind of mass casualty event and trauma we have been under during covid but the long tail of the epidemic, the social and economic insecurity thrust upon so many people due to the pandemic is going to rear its ugly head for years to come. we are already seeing that showing up in

the data, more than half of americans reported having a negative impact of covid on their mental health and they are faced disproportionately by those who lost theirjobs. 40% of adults according to the cdc are reporting symptoms of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. suicide levels are three times higher than pre—covid. ideation. suicide levels are three times higher than pre-covid. thanks very much to ashwin vasan. fishing community leaders have charged borisjohnson with caving in on his brexit deal. barrie deas is the chief executive of the national federation of fishermen‘s 0rganisations. he's in york. what is a reaction of members to the deal? well, i think there is a lot of frustration and disappointment right across the industry. fishing had been given a very high priority

in the negotiations. it is clear that the eu played hardball. 0ur reference point is our rights under international law, under un law of the sea, which means the coastal state, which is what we are, has the right to harvest its resources within its own waters and that is absolutely what we have not secured in these negotiations. the quota shares that have been agreed are very close to the status quo, there has been some movement but for practical purposes on the fisheries that are of particular concern to us, there has been next to no movement. you sign next to no movement, roughly on the first reading what is it? about half of the quota level going up to about two thirds in five and a half years? i don't really recognise those

broadbrush figures, we are interested , broadbrush figures, we are interested, individual businesses will be focused on their fissures and the ones that we are particularly looking out for are the channel code, the uk has 9% and eastern channel cord has not moved at all and the western channel has moved from 9% to 10.2%. we should have something like half of those quotas. we are miles away from what we would consider to be a fair and balanced share. if you are miles away from having that quota share that you would be happy with, do you accept that the trade—off will be in the future, if you want to increase that share, you could face tariffs oi’ that share, you could face tariffs or reciprocal reaction from the eu? yes, that seems to be what has been stitched into the agreement and that actually is not that far away from the arrangement currently with

norway, norway pays tariffs, some level of tariffs on its fishing products although it has access to the single market for the rest. the problem is, that is in five or six yea rs' problem is, that is in five or six years' time, and i think the fishing industry felt that this was our moment in the political sun and who knows what priority a government in five years will give to fishing. it feels like a lost opportunity. we must leave it there but thank you very much for talking to us, we appreciate that, that was barry deas. at least 10 climbers are now known to have died during an avalanche in iran. more than a dozen others were rescued from the alborz mountain range, north of tehran. the victims include a mountaineering instructor. a search operation is continuing for other survivors. authorities in the us are investigating whether a campervan

explosion in the city of nashville on christmas day was a suicide bombing. three people were injured in the blast and dna tests are now being carried out after human remains were found near the site of the blast. elections in the central african republic are under way after a campaign marred by violence between government and rebel forces. three un peacekeepers were killed by unidentified assailants during two separate attacks ahead of the vote. it's the first election in the country since a peace deal was struck in february 2019. gusts of more than 100mph have been recorded as storm bella continues to bring heavy rain to large parts of the uk. the needles on the isle of wight saw winds that reached 106mph with a number of train operators reporting delays across the south of england. the met office has also issued yellow warnings for snow and ice — meaning disruption is likely for parts of wales, north—west england, scotland and the whole of northern ireland.

chi chi izundu reports. storm bella making her presence known on british shores. winds of up to 106 miles an hour have been recorded on the isle of wight, bringing down trees, including on this car, and huts alongside brighton beachfront. train operators have issued warnings about delays and cancellations because of debris and flooding on the railway lines. but parts of the uk are still reeling from heavy rains over christmas, like cirencester in gloucestershire. residents trying to adapt. more than 70 homes were without power and the environment agency has warned some river levels are still rising. this is ducklington farm in 0xfordshire, where farmer helen's priority has been the safety of her animals. the amount of rain we've had in the last few days has made it very difficult for us. we have over 3000 sheep and we've had to move 1200 of them

in the last three days, so the whole of christmas we've been moving sheep. they‘ re all pregnant, and their welfare is our priority at the moment, but finding dry ground is almost impossible because it's just completely saturated. the met office has issued three yellow weather warnings about snow and ice in parts of scotland in particular and the north—east. officials say they're working hard to help those in need but have added there may be at least another day of harsh weather to come. chi chi izundu, bbc news. the latest headlines on bbc news... boris johnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal as chancellor rishi sunak says the deal brings reassurance to those worried about the impact on businesses. the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic. storm bella continues to bring heavy rain and high winds. more than 17 hundred customers remain without electricity in south

west england and wales bangladeshi authorities are planning to move a second gorup of rohingya refugees to a remote, flood—prone island in the south of the country. officials say up to 1000 of the refugees, originally from myanmar, will be moved from camps into a specially built housing complex. farah kabir is the bangladesh country director of action aid and joins me now from dhaka. thank you for speaking to us. you are welcome. this is something that we have seen before, a few weeks ago, the movement of these refugees to this island. what do you make of that as an idea, as a principal? you know, the rohingya would like to go back to their state, to myanmar, and

relocation was not necessarily the preferred choice. this has had a mixed response. initially, all of us we re mixed response. initially, all of us were concerned because the island off the mainland from the bay of bengal, but where the camps are it is already over congested. that is pa rt is already over congested. that is part of the problem because of the numbers of people in that camp is staggering, the conditions are very difficult. there have been other charities that have actually criticised the conditions in this new camp on this island where they are going. what do you make of the conditions in comparing the two? the new camp, it is excellent compared to the original, brick walls and brick houses, it is customised but the problem is it is off the mainland and it is an island.

bangladeshis have dealt with that, many parts of the country are vulnerable and prone to cyclones and flooding. this was an issue because we all wanted the refugees —— of the authorities to make an informed choice on the first choice is to go back to myanmar but that is not happening with the authorities not making it happen. this relocation seems to be one of the options. making it happen. this relocation seems to be one of the optionsm is one of the options, the numbers are is one of the options, the numbers a re pretty is one of the options, the numbers are pretty small, and the low thousands when the overall number of refugees is absolutely huge. what do you make of the overall chances of any significant numbers of those people being able to go back to their home country? so far what we have seen is that there is no intention by the myanmar government to ta ke intention by the myanmar government to take them back so the repatriation does not get rolled

out. the state has been flattened, there is no reassurance that they will be welcome back and they will probably have to live in the displaced camps and that is not what the rohingya want. can i ask you about the pressures on bangladesh as about the pressures on bangladesh as a country? it is not a rich country, it has plenty of problems that it is trying to do with at the same time and it is devoting money and resources to do what it can to help the refugees. it is, you have expressed that very well. our national resources are also being called on. and the international donors have supported this but there is always at deficiency, there is a gap with what is needed on the ground, we need to service more than 1 million refugees every day, whether it is food, water, childbirth, health care, everything

needs to be provided, even education. and this is quite a challenge for a country like bangladesh. thank you so much for coming on to talk about this with us. lots of different coronavirus restrictions remain in place across the world as countries try to keep the pandemic under control. cases are rising in russia, but president vladimir putin says he won't impose a new national lockdown as he tries to protect the economy. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. red square is at its picture—postcard best. no sign here of covid—19 cancelling christmas, despite the spiralling infection rate. there are precautions and many things have been scaled back this year, but there's no lockdown, and people told me they are fine with that. translation: i think there is enough restrictions. lots of people wear

masks and gloves. i don't think we need anything stricter. translation: we don't need a lockdown, that would stop people earning wages and feeding their families. that happened in spring, and it was really bad. meanwhile, on another ice rink not far away, this is how moscow is dealing with covid. in october, we visited one of multiple giant temporary hospitals. there were free beds back then, but hospitals now across the country are close to capacity, and the death rate from covid is rising. vladimir putin is taking his own precautions. this year's press conference was by video link. the chosen few allowed close to him had to quarantine for two weeks first. but even loyal reporters told him things had never been this tough in russia. and mr putin promised he wouldn't make things worse with another lockdown.

russia's doing its best to look festive, to lift people's moods despite the covid pandemic, but this crisis hasn't only pushed russia's health care system to the very limit, it's hurting the economy, too, and that's an issue for vladimir putin, who has always presented himself as the president of stability. this club was closed for months after the pandemic first hit. the dancers are back on stage now, but their clients have far less money to spend. and covid rules mean closing at 11pm — not ideal for a striptease show. all in all, this man tells me business is down 60%. covid rules mean closing at 11pm. translation: we are hardly making ends meet. i had to get a bank loan to pay wages. if there is another lockdown and we have to shut, then that's it — we'll go bankrupt and people will lose theirjobs. so russians are bracing

for another tough year once the festive lights go out. the covid vaccine has brought a flicker of hope, but this virus is one thing the kremlin is struggling to control. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. since the introduction of a wide—ranging national security law, hong kong has seen a growing number of young activists seeking asylum abroad. china has warned foreign governments against supporting their claims for political refuge. the bbc has spoken to several young protesters who attempted to flee to the us consulate inside hong kong. danny vincent reports. this is the unprecedented moment four young pro—democracy protesters attempted to flee to the us consulate in hong kong. these scenes are rare in the territory. they said they were seeking asylum from political persecution. the us government says asylum can only be sought inside the country. they entered the building only to be turned away. a new national security law has led

to a growing number of young people fleeing the city. they spoke to the bbc under the condition of anonymity. one is a us citizen facing protest—related charges. he showed us his birth certificate, a hong konger born in the usa. i feel helpless, hopeless and fear. i feel fear. i fear for my personal security and my life is under threat. there are agents around us, monitoring us. now every day our situation is getting worse and worse. activists say protesters are attempting to leave hong kong by land, by air, by sea. tony chung, a student leader, was the first political figure arrested under the national security law. he was detained outside the us consulate by plainclothes police officers. the teenager could now face life in prison. these protesters say they were turned away from the us

and the uk consulates. both governments say they do not comment on specific cases. i have a sense of feeling of being abandoned. and they are not concerned for our safety. amongst us, some of us have taken high risk to seek assistance. finally, we were rejected. china has labelled fleeing pro—democracy protesters as violent criminals. it has warned nations like canada against granting asylum. it says foreign nations mustn't interfere in china's internal affairs. but young activists fear they will no longer face a fair trial. danny vincent, bbc news, hong kong. something rather unusual happened during a professional football game in bolivia. a dog stole the show as it decided to run around the pitch with a football boot in its mouth. this went on for about three minutes before it was escorted off the pitch. it must have been a good luck charm, as the home side finished

the game three—nil. that's that‘s 8— that's 8— this is bbc news. —— that is it. hello, storm bella has been battering a large swathe of the uk in the last 2a hours. we had wind gusts in excess of 80 mph across the south of england and north—west wales. 106 mph at the needles on the isle of wight, coupled with some torrential rain courtesy of this very active cold front. it's now cleared south and eastwards. we are all in this much colder air and we've got plenty of showers feeding in from the west, many of them wintry. we'll come back to those in just a moment but let's talk about the wind. the amber wind warning from the met office has now expired. the winds continue to ease through today. a number of flood warnings remain in place and we have snow and ice warnings in place as well. the best of the sunshine through the rest of sunday, in central and eastern parts of the uk. plenty of showers feeding in from the west. they will continue to be wintry, particularly across scotland and northern england but almost anywhere could see some sleet 01’ snow.

certainly feeling very cold. still we are exposed to the brisk wind although the gusts easing down all the while. as we head through this evening and overnight, a more persistent spell of snow over parts of scotland, then sinking south. we may see some sleet and snow moving into the north of england, the midlands. mainly central and southern england by the time we get through the early hours. where we have clear skies, a sharp frost and the potential for some fog or freezing fog across the southern part of the uk. temperatures for many close if not below freezing, —6 or —8 across the glens of scotland. certainly a messy picture tomorrow. we have this area of low pressure to deal with and that will continue generating rain, sleet or snow across central and southern england into parts of north wales. significant snow for a time here across the chilterns. those wintry showers continuing to feed into scotland and later in the day across parts of north—east and eastern england so it's a day of sunshine and wintry showers. temperatures, at best, six or seven celsius. for many they will struggle to get

much above freezing. a cold, frosty start on tuesday but for many, a good deal of sunshine around. showers mainly confined to eastern and western coasts. again, temperatures not much higher than five or six celsius. heading towards the end of 2020, an area of low pressure to the east of the uk. high pressure trying to build in from the south—west. frontal systems just grazing the south—west and perhaps the far north of the uk. essentially as we end 2020 and move into the new year, it's cold and dry.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. british prime minister borisjohnson is promising big changes following his brexit trade deal. but rishi sunak has sought to reassure the city of london that the post—brexit trade deal will not damage the financial services industry. a mass coronavirus vaccination campaign is underway in the european union. the new covid variant caused several countries to begin inoculations a day ahead of the planned rollout. millions of americans have temporarily lost their unemployment benefits after president trump refused to sign the covid economic relief bill into law. president—elect, joe biden has warned of the devastating consequences, if the bill remains unsigned. now on bbc news. the people's war.