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 deal, as his finance minister tries to reassure those worried about the impact on businesses. the coronavirus vaccine roll—out begins for millions 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 a sunday newspaper, mrjohnson says he wants to focus on "leveling up the country" and "spreading opportunity" across the uk. and that the brexit trade deal would provide new regulatory freedoms to "deliver for people who felt left behind". vivienne nunis has more. glad tidings of greatjoy. 1,200 pages of detail spelling out britain's new trading relationship with the eu. mps and others are pouring 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 cost associated with have thing to make a customs declaration for people sending goods into the uk will be there, but they're very modest. i don't think it will make any material difference to the prices consumers pay. but the future isn't so clear cut on other important aspects of uk—eu trade. today, the prime minister told be endlessly innovative and the sunday telegraph, ingenious and how it can manage to "on financial services, the deal does not go spread incredibly thin resources but as far as we would like". obviously, we would have i think it is worth remembering that loved to have had more in there on financial services things are incredibly challenging. and professional services and services in general. in scotland, clinicians are issuing it's 80% of the uk economy more wordings, this time that the nhs could be overwhelmed. mainland and 70% of the eu. scotla nd but it's the norm for deals such nhs could be overwhelmed. mainland scotland is now in tier 4 as this, a free trade agreement, restrictions. the new faster that they are focused on goods. spreading variant combined with the the chancellor says the uk temporary easing of restrictions on

will remain in close dialogue christmas day could, they say, have with the eu on how things will work moving forward, including created the perfect storm for an nhs financial services. thatis created the perfect storm for an nhs that is already overstretched. this is, though, the largest free trade agreement in history. it rules out added taxes several countries have reported cases of the new variant of coronavirus, on imports known as tariffs, which was first detected and quotas limiting how much can be in the united kingdom. bought and sold. norway's institute but there will be more checks, of public health says its traced the new variant back to two red tape and delays when goods travellers from the uk who entered move across borders. the country in early december. that's better than no deal but not ideal, says labour. the portuguese island of madeira has this is a thin deal, it's not also blamed travellers from the uk for an outbreak — the deal that the government promised, and there are large areas but has not specified how many people are infected. of our economy, for example, and it's a similar story injordan, financial services, that employs one which has reported its first two in m people in our country, cases of the variant. where there aren't clear elements canada, australia, italy within this deal where much more and the netherlands have work will need to be done. also confirmed cases of the new variant, which scientists say is up despite criticism, the labour leadership will urge their mps to 70% more transmissable. to support the deal in the commons on wednesday. let's take a look at some but as scrutiny of the document of the day's other top stories. continues over the coming days, a 15—year—old boy is critically ill after being hit more questions will inevitably arise by a police vehicle responding to an emergency about what exactly this new trading call in stockport. relationship will mean. the deal itself comes into force the teenager was taken to hospital, where he's in a critical condition.

in just five days' time. an investigation has begun. voters in niger the coronavirus vaccine are choosing a successor to president mahamadou issoufou, is being given to millions of people across europe from today, who's stepping down after completing as countries including france, spain and italy begin the rollout the permitted two terms in office. of their vaccination programmes. it's the first democratic transfer more than 14 million people have of power in niger since it became been infected and strict lockdown independent from france in 1960. measures are currently in place in nearly all the eu member states. damien mcguinness us officials say they're investigating whether the explosion of a campervan on christmas day reports now from berlin. in the city of nashville, was a suicide bombing. three people were injured we reports now from berlin. don't have that report, wi in the blast and dna tests are now being carried out after human remains were found nearby. bring no one has claimed responsibility. we don't have that report, we will bring it to you later. in the meantime... millions of americans have lost unemployment benefits as a consequence of president trump failing to sign a massive covid gusts of more than 100 mph have been relief bill into law by a deadline of midnight. recorded as storm bella continues president—elect, joe biden, to bring heavy rain to large parts has warned of devastating consequences for the people of the uk. who would have been helped by the bill, which passed the needles, on the isle of wight, overwhelmingly in congress. the relief package aimed saw winds that reached 106mph with a number of train operators to provide a $1.1; trillion federal budget, agreed reporting delays across by both sides of the house. it also proposed one—off the south of england. payments of $600 to most americans, the met office has also issued but despite his administration yellow warnings for snow and ice, negotiating the deal, president trump changed his mind, meaning disruption is likely saying he wants to give $2,000 instead. for parts of wales, north—west he also wants to cut foreign aid. england, scotland and the whole

of northern ireland. legislators could pass chi chi izundu reports. a stopgap bill by monday — to prevent a partial government storm bella making her presence shutdown. known on british shores. winds of up to 106 miles you are watching bbc news. an hour have been recorded on the isle of wight, more now on brexit and bringing down trees, the chancellor has sought to reassure the city of london including on this car, and huts in the wake of the prime minister's brexit deal. alongside brighton beachfront. rishi sunak said he'd be looking train operators have issued warnings at how to make the city of london about delays and cancellations an attractive place to list new companies from around the world. because of debris and flooding anand menon is the director of the think tank uk on the railway lines. but parts of the uk in a changing europe — and said it was important businesses are still reeling from heavy could start to look forward. rains over christmas, and given what the chancellor like cirencester in gloucestershire. was saying, for businesses, yes, residents trying to adapt. this is far more reassuring, it provides exporters with tariff more than 70 homes were without and quota free access power and the environment agency has warned some river levels to the european market and it allows are still rising. this is ducklington farm in 0xfordshire, where farmer helen's businesses, finally at long, long, priority has been the safety last to sit down and plan for the year ahead knowing of her animals. what our trading relationship with the european union the amount of rain we've had is going to look like. with all that in mind, in the last few days has made it what do you think are the biggest very difficult for us.

impacts that businesses will feel we have over 3000 sheep and we've even though this deal had to move 1200 of them has been agreed? in the last three days, well, i think for that you need so the whole of christmas to think through what sort we've been moving sheep. of business you are talking about. they‘ re all pregnant, so if you take manufacturers, manufacturers will be delighted and their welfare is our priority at the moment, but finding dry by the lack of tariffs. car manufacturers will be delighted ground is almost impossible because by the agreement on electric it's just completely saturated. vehicles and rules of origin. but as you were hearing the met office has issued three yellow weather warnings about snow in your vt a minute ago, and ice in parts of scotland they will still have to fill out customs declarations to export in particular and the north—east. to the european union. trading with the european union officials say they're working hard will become slower and more to help those in need but have added expensive as a result of the checks there may be at least another day of harsh weather to come. and controls that will be in place. chi chi izundu, bbc news. and for services, there is relatively little on services in this deal. bangladeshi authorities are planning to move a second gorup of rohingya we were hearing about financial refugees to a remote, services earlier, for financial flood—prone island in services there is very little the south of the country. in this deal, we are still waiting 00:06:45,261 --> 2147483051:40:07,345 to see if the european union gives 2147483051:40:07,345 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 us what's called an equivalence officials say up to 1,000 of the refugees, originally from myanmar, will be moved from camps in to a specially—built housing complex. farah kabir is the bangladesh country director of action aid and gave her thoughts about the relocation of the refugees.

the rohingya would like to go back to their own state, to myanmar. and the relocation was not necessarily the relocation was not necessarily the preferred choice. so this has had a mixed response from them. and we should all be concerned because this is an island off the mainland. from the bay of bengal. but where the camps are is congested. the new camp is excellent compared to the cox's bazar camp. its brick walls, brick houses, it's customised. the problem was that it's off the mainland and it's an island that has been formed over 20 years. but bangladesh is a delta, so many parts of the country are already vulnerable and prone to cyclones and flooding. this camp was an issue because we all wanted the rohingya

refugees to make an informed choice. and theirfirst choice is to go back to myanmar, but that is not happening with the myanmar authorities not making it happen. so this relocation seems to be one of the options. 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 it will 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. 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 exactly 50 years ago that tragedy struck. 21—year—old martin and his cousin david were climbing rocks to watch a storm roll in, when a freak wave pulled david into the water. martin was forced to jump in after him but the waves were just too 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. 0ne 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. can you imagine working in the same job for almost 80 years? well, postmistress kay white has done just that. now she's set to retire from her post office in shropshire and in that time she's seen it all. from world war ii to the transformation of the postal service, she's been honoured by the queen as well. as geeta pendse has been finding out. put your letter through because i've got to put it on. thank you. a life behind the counter. at 93, kay white is the oldest postmistress in the country, assisted by ann, her spritely 75—year—old niece. kay started working at her village post office in claverley at the age of 1a.

there we are. mrs drew, that was postmistress, asked mother if i'd come and help in the office. and in those days, if your mother says you're going to do something, you do it. and so, that's how i came to be here. kay became postmistress in 1960, and whilst technology has changed, she still remembers doing the accounts by herself. mother used to say to me, "kay, isn't there anybody who could help you?" i used to say, "nobody would understand this lot!" laughter. now, after almost 80 years, kay has decided to retire, leaving a big hole in the community. bells chime. how important is kay to the village? she's very important. it's about being the heart of the village, where people come to share their news. reverend garry ward says

when the post office closed temporarily this year during the first lockdown, people really felt the loss then. some people pop in dailyjust to say hello and just to, you know, speak to kay. so, if the church is the soul, then the post office is definitely the heart of the village and kay is a very important part of that. every week without fail, kay pops over to the only other shop in the village — the hairdresser‘s — for her weekly wash and set. and it's safe to say that her departure has become something of a talking point. she started working at the post office when she was 14. linda has known kay all her life. the impact kay has made on the village is absolutely immense. she is an absolute character. i think the person who will miss the post office the most will be kay herself, because it's just been her life. what is your secret, kay, because you've been working here for almost 80 years. i think you've got to like people and helping one another.

and how do you think both of you are going to feel on that last day? it will be very strange, really. you know, we shall be sorry, you know? i never thought i'd live till now. and i thought i shall die and the place will all be sold, and i shouldn't have had all this! i didn't think i'd be here! laughter. as 2020 draws to an end, kay and ann will lock up for the last time, but there is no doubting the imprint this shropshire postmistress has left on her beloved village. geeta pendse, bbc news, claverley. us wrestlerjon huber, better known to fans as brodie lee or luke harper, has died aged a1. his wife

amanda said "he passed surrounded by loved ones after a hard fought battle with a non covid related lung issue. " jon huber performed as luke harper for wwe, before leaving in 2019 and joining all elite wrestling as brodie lee. he stopped competing in october. all elite wrestling said it was "heartbroken" at news of the death. well, tributes have been pouring in from the wrestling world. hulk hogan said he is "totally devastated" over the loss of "a great talent and awesome human being". and triple h said he was amazing talent, better human being, husband and father. time to take a look at the weather with ben rich... a chilly and wintry flavour to the weather in the final days of 2020, but we are going to lose the very heavy and persistent rain some of us have had recently. still some flood warnings in force across parts of england and wales. we have had very brisk winds thanks to storm bella. this band of cloud, that is where we had the very wet and windy weather. behind it, you can see speckled cloud working down from the north, and we are going to stick

with a northerly airflow through this week. that means it's going to feel pretty cold out there. temperatures will be below average by day, some frosty nights with the risk of ice. some rain and also some sleet and snow. amongst all of that, some spells of sunshine. heading through tonight, some showers around and across western areas, through western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, wales, perhaps the midlands and the west country, some rain and some snow over high round and perhaps even at quite low levels at times. it's going to be a very chilly night indeed. temperatures down to —8 in parts of scotland and some icy stretches tomorrow morning. this slow—moving area of rain, sleet and snow could give some accumulating snow, even at quite low levels, most likely across parts of wales, the midlands, central southern england and the west country. that will slowly pivot away and we will see another area of rain with some snow

across northern ireland and western scotland. some showers in eastern areas. brisk winds in the west, lighter winds further east. there will be some spells of sunshine on what will be a decidedly chilly day. temperatures between two and maybe seven. low pressure still in charge of the scene for tuesday. still a northerly wind. you can see these frontal systems across western areas, where showers are likely to join into longer spells of rain and some snow over high ground, much of what falls from the sky at low levels will be rain. a few showers still in eastern counties. pretty chilly, two to seven. we stick with a chilly theme as we head towards the end of the week. there will be a lot of dry weather around but some showers, too, and they will be wintry in places.

hello — this is bbc news. the headlines... british prime minister boris johnson 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 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—electjoe biden has warned of the devastating consequences, if the bill remains unsigned.

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