this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. britain's borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, as his finance minister rishi sunak says the deal will reassure 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 roll—out of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu, starting with italy and the czech republic. and millions of americans lose their unemployment benefits, after president trump refuses to sign the covid economic relief bill into law. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk

or around the world. prime minister boris johnson is promising "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 newspaper, 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 industry 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. glad tidings of greatjoy. 1200 pages of detail spelling out britain's new trading relationship

with the eu. mps and others are poring over the fine print. this morning, the chancellor tried to dispel any fears the uk might be worse off under this new trade agreement. for those who were anxious about the economic implications of leaving, they should be enormously reassured. the free—trade deal means that when it comes to the price of french cheese or spanish tomatoes, there should be little change, according to the chair of the uk's largest supermarket chain. the administrative costs associated with have thing to make customs declaration for people sending goods into the uk will be there, but, you know, they are very modest. i don't think it will make any material difference to the prices that consumers pay. but the future isn't so clear cut on other important aspects of uk— eu trade. today, the prime minister told

the sunday telegraph, "on financial services, the deal does not go as far as we would like." obviously, we would have loved to have more in there on financial services, professional services and services in general. 80% of the uk economy, in 70% of the eu. it is the norm for deals such as this, free—trade agrement, that they are focused on goods. the chancellor says the uk will remain in close dialogue with the eu on how things will work moving forward, including financial services. this is, though, the largest free—trade agreement in history, it rules out added taxes on imports known as tariffs, and quotas limiting how much can be bought and sold. but there will be more checks, red tape and possible delays when goods move across borders. that's better than no deal but not ideal, says labour. this is a thin deal, it's not the deal the government promised, and there are large areas

of our economy, such as financial services, that employs one in m people in our country, where there aren't clear elements within this deal where much more work will need to be done. despite criticism, the labour leadership will urge their mps to support the deal in the commons on wednesday. as scrutiny of the document continues in the coming days, more questions will inevitably arise about exactly what this new trading relationship will mean. the deal itself comes into force in just five days. anand menon is the director of the think tank uk in a changing europe hejoins me now. good to have you with us. when we spoke about a week ago, things were looking very uncertain. would you say they are a lot better than they wear with the prospect of no deal at that point? as always it depends in what way, given what the chancellor was saying, for businesses this is far more reassuring, it provides exporters with tariff and quota free

access to the european market and allows businesses finally at long last to sit down and plan for the year ahead, knowing what the trading relationship with the eu will look like. with that in mind what are the biggest impacts that businesses will feel even though this deal has been agreed? for that you have to think through what sort of business you are talking about. if you take manufacturers, they were delighted by the lack of tariffs, car manufacturers delighted by the agreement on electric vehicles and rules of origin, but as you heard in your vt a minute ago, they will still have to fill out customs declarations to export that you, trading will become slower and more expensive as a result of the checks and controls that will be in place and controls that will be in place and for services there is relatively little on services, we heard about financial services earlier. for financial services earlier. for financial services earlier. for financial services there is very little in the deal, still waiting to

see if the eu gives what called an equivalence decision which will allow some financial decisions to be traded into the eu. anyone looking for a glimmer of hope might conclude the factor deal has been done as far as goods are concerned, bodes well for the prospect of a deal on services. it would have been a lot more precarious if they were not able to do a deal on goods? absolutely. if the talks had broken up absolutely. if the talks had broken up in acrimonious that would have set the eu and uk at loggerheads for a significant about time and made it ha rd a significant about time and made it hard for us to work with the eu on anything, trade or security or climate change or any of those back issues that confront us in common. that being said there are severe limits to how far we can go in the future in signing a deal on services because services requires regulatory alignment at the bottom line of the government was we want to be out of the red glittery orbit of the eu, we don't want to have rules they have any oversight over and that

immediately limits your ability to work together on services. thanks very much. thank you. the coronavirus vaccine will be given to millions of people across europe from today, as countries including france, spain and italy begin the roll—out 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's been turned into a mass vaccination centre, providing yet again a lifeline for berliners, but this time in the fight

against the pandemic. the first person in berlin to get the vaccine this morning was gertrude haase, 101 years old. translation: i told myself that i didn't have to be among the first. i wanted to see what it was like for the others. but a little later i thought, come on, i'll do it, too. in italy, where fatalities among health care workers have been particularly high, there was relief, as doctors and nurses were among the first to get the jab. in denmark, a moment of vaccine humour. "let's hope it works," says the doctor. "if it doesn't, i'll come back to haunt you," replies a 79—year—old. in some countries there are worries that not enough people will want the vaccine, so to boost support some european leaders have also gone first, including the czech prime minister and, in greece, both the president and the prime minister.

translation: i believe that every greek today is smiling underneath their mask. in getting vaccinated first, greece's political and state leaders want to send the message that the vaccine is safe and effective. across europe, elderly people have been isolated, afraid and vulnerable. now, they are the first to be protected. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. several countries have reported cases of the new variant of coronavirus, which was first detected in the united kingdom. norway's institute of public health says its traced the new variant back to two travellers from the uk who entered the country in early december. the portuguese island of madeira has also blamed travellers from the uk for an outbreak, but has not specified how many people are infected. and, it's a similar story injordan which has reported its first two cases of the variant. canada, australia, italy and the netherlands have also confirmed cases of the new variant, which scientists say is up to 70 per cent more transmissable.

some other news now... bangladeshi authorities are planning to move a second group of rohingya refugees to a remote, flood—prone island in the south of the country. officials say up to 1,000 of the refugees, orignally from myanmar, will be moved from camps in to a specially built housing complex. 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. insecurity has prevented many people from voting in the general election in the central african republic, with rebels warning those in some areas not to vote. officials said violence meant thousands of people did not receive their voter cards. security was tight in the capital bangui with armoured vehicles stationed outside some polling booths. it's the first election in the country since a peace deal

was struck in february 2019. 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—elect, joe 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 dollars to most americans, but despite his administration negotiating the deal, president trump changed his mind, saying he wants to give $2,000 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 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 eight out of 10 people reported they could not be able to 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 think 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, which is 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 show up in the data, more than half of americans reported having a negative impact 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. you're watching bbc news. the latest headlines on bbc news.... borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, as his chancellor rishi sunak says the deal brings reassurance to those worried about the impact on businesses. the roll—out of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic

gusts of more than 100 mph 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 uk government has released

the latest coronavirus figures. 30,501 confirmed cases were recorded in the past 2a hours. a further 316 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for covid—19, bringing the total of deaths to 70,752. the government said the figures reflected data from england and wales but said there was no new data from northern ireland and no new deaths data from scotland owing to the christmas holidays. the ever rising numbers of infections is putting a severe strain on the nhs across the uk. the london ambulance service says yesterday was it's busiest 2a hour period since march, and in scotland, doctors say health services could be overwhelmed, if the relaxation of covid restrictions for christmas triggers a surge in cases. but in wales one health board has had a huge response, after appealing for medical students to help out, in intensive care wards. here's sangita myska. stretched to the limit.

nhs staff and hospitals in wales are working to full capacity, say the welsh government. annual illnesses, staff shortages caused by shielding and the rapid spread of the coronavirus variant yesterday led cardiff and vale university health board to tweet this stark appeal. "our critical care department is urgently looking for assistance "from medical students and other staff groups who have previously "supported proning patients. proning patients, that is about moving patients when they are in intensive care from their backs onto their stomachs and vice versa. this process is quite heavy lifting, and it involves five to seven individuals. medical students and others answered the call in large numbers and the health board later tweeted that, while staffing remained challenging, the critical care unit remains open.

meanwhile, the london ambulance service says it has had one of its busiest days ever, with more than 8,000 emergency calls on boxing day. that's up over 40% on last year. the bbc has been told that student paramedics and volunteers have been enlisted to help. those representing a range of nhs services say the situation is increasingly difficult. i never want to say that the nhs is going to be overwhelmed, because we see the nhs being endlessly innovative and ingenious in how it can actually manage to spread incredibly thin resource, but i think it's worth remembering that things are incredibly challenging. in scotland, clinicians are issuing more warnings, this time that the nhs could be overwhelmed. mainland scotland is now in tier 4 restrictions. the new, faster spreading variant combined with the temporary easing of restrictions on christmas day could, they say, have created

the perfect storm for an nhs that is already overstretched. sangita myska, bbc news. meanwhile, hospital admissions for coronavirus have continued to rise across england. saffron cordery is the deputy chief executive of nhs providers. she explained the pressures hospitals were under. we are seeing a real rise in the pressure for hospital services, but also other types of nhs services as well, notjust hospitals, ambulance trusts in particular are coming under extreme pressure, as are community and mental health services. everybody affected by the impact of covid—19 and talking to trust leaders overnight, they are under no illusions about how challenging this

is at the moment and part of the issue is demand, many more people coming through the door with covid—19, but also people coming through the door with other conditions as well and we can see that to an extent as a success of the campaigns that have been run over the summer to make sure people do keep coming forward if they have suspected heart attack or stroke so it's really important people do use services, but it's also adding to the demand so we're seeing real pressure, particularly in london and the south, and that comes from this added demand but also staff absence. it's localised at the moment, but we could see that growing and i think it's really important to remember that what's going on in the community will also be going on in health care settings. so if someone is unwell with covid—19, they cannot go to work or if a member of their family or if they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive they need to self—isolate. this hugely impacts on staffing levels across the nhs, so i think that's worth remembering. in scotland, there are warnings that health services could be overwhelmed by any surge in coronavirus cases

after restrictions were temporarily eased over christmas. professor michael griffin explained what the concerns were. there are two elements that concern all of us clinicians across the united kingdom, but particularly in scotland. and that is first of all, the necessary christmas release of lockdown that occurred, it means of lockdown that occurred, it means households have mixed and met over christmas. and possibly more than we would have liked. the second issue, which is really important, is the discovery of the new variant of covid, which appears to be much more transmissible than the standard strain, and that the combination of these two occurrences where much more mixing over christmas and the very high transmissibility

of the new strain would result in many more infections, and therefore many more hospital hospital admissions, and necessarily then, more admissions to intensive care unit and more deaths, sadly. it's the time of year when many of us take a moment to reflect, and say thank you. maybe for something that has happened this year, or for something that happened decades ago and has had a lasting effect. 50 years ago martin stephen was visiting family in east lothian in scotland when he nearly drowned, trying to save his cousin. he was saved by the lifeboat crew at dunbar, and has had the opportunity to say thank you for the very first time. hope webb reports. it was in these choppy waters 50 years ago that tragedy nearly struck. tragedy struck. this man and his cousin david were climbing rocks to watch

the storm when a freak wave pulled david into the water. martin was forced to jump in after him but the current was strong, david was swept away and martin was left struggling against the swell. a lifeboat was deployed and the crew saved him from drowning. and now martin is saying thank you. 50 years on, he was able to speak on zoom to davy, a lifeboat volunteer there that day. lovely to meet you at last. under very different circumstances, and thank you for your involvement. what i do remember is feeling the hypothermia start in my feet, thinking oh, dear, here we go... and then i blacked out. yeah. i was extraordinarily lucky. you were totally submerged apart from the top of your head when i seen you. you simply don't know how you survive that, i mean... to this day, i don't know why i am still here. crew member david brunton was the one who jumped into the freezing water to pull martin out that day.

he has since passed away, but now his sonjamie is only learning the true story of the rescue. i remember my dad coming home, soaking wet. if it hadn't been for my mother, putting the plaque up on the wall that he got for the rescue, we wouldn't have known about it. dad wasn't keen to talk about it. i don't think it gave me a new appreciation for my dad — i loved my dad, he was a great father. but it was certainly an eye—opener on what these people can do. i suppose what they take for granted — my dad, his five brothers, they all went out in the lifeboat, they were all crew members. so, yeah, it's incredible what they do. despite the years that have passed, martin says the bravery of those involved that day has changed the course of his life. i thought to myself, i've been given one of the most extraordinary christmas presents any human being can give.

one life was tragically lost on that day, but actually david brunton did notjust save one life, he saved nine. he saved my three sons, he saved five grandchildren. and here we are, i'm 71 now. i've had an amazingly happy, wonderful life, which i am really grateful for, and all because one man, and indeed the whole crew of that lifeboat, put their life on the line to people they don't know and who they have never met. i think that is quite extraordinary. one thing that hasn't changed is the dedication of lifeboat crews up and down the country. throughout this festive period, they will be prepared to head out and put their lives on the line for others if they're called. that's just about it for the moment. you can find us on social media.

back with the headlines in a few minutes but first, the weather with pain. that chilly and wintry flavour but we're going to lose the very heavy and persistent rain some of us have had over recent days, still flood warnings enforce across parts of england and wales and very brisk wind thanks to storm bella, you can see this band of cloud where we had a very wet and windy weather. behind it you can see the speckled cloud work down from the north and we will stick with a northerly air flow throughout this week, that means it will feel pretty cold out there. temperatures below—average by day, frosty night with the risk of ice. some rain but also sleet and snow. amongst all of that sun spells of sunshine. as we head through the night, showers around and across western areas, wales, northern

england, northern ireland, scotland, perhaps west country but snow over high ground and perhaps even quite low levels at times going to be a very, very chilly night, temperatures as low as —7 or eight across parts of scotland. certainly the potential for a she stretches tomorrow morning and for this slow—moving area of rain, sleet and snow could give some accumulating snow, even low levels, most likely across parts of wales, the midlands and central and southern england and into the west country. that will permit away through the day, an area of rain with no across northern ireland in western scotland, some showers across eastern areas. brisk wind across the west, later in the east. spells of sunshine on what will be a decidedly chilly day. temperatures between two and may seven. low pressure still in charge into tuesday, still northerly wind where you see the front systems across western areas, that's where

showers are like to join together. some snow over high drown, much of what falls well—being rain. a few showers into eastern counties. still chilly, 2—7 and we stick with that rather chilly theme as we head towards the end of the week. dry weather around but showers too and those showers will be wintry in places.

hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... british prime minister borisjohnson is promising big changes following his brexit trade deal. but his finance minister, 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 under way in the european union. the new covid variant caused several countries to begin inoculations a day ahead of the planned roll—out. millions of americans have temporarily lost their unemployment

benefits, after president trump refused to sign the covid economic relief bill into law. president—electjoe biden has warned of the devastating consequences if the bill remains unsigned. coming up shortly on bbc news, it's sportsday, but first it's click. ah, there you are! come on in! welcome to clickmas 2020! i hope you're doing 0k. it's all a bit different this year, isn't it? normally we'd be getting together around the table, having a laugh, cheering, having a good time. well, pretending

to have a good time.