this is bbc world news. the headlines — the uk recorded 981 confirmed deaths education and their well—being and from coronavirus on wednesday, their development. and... the highest total since april. the continued spread of the virus could soon be slowed by a second vaccine, from astrazeneca, which has been approved. ireland's prime minister has announced a return thank to lockdown during january. you so much to you both. that is it ireland has extended a ban on travel from britain, blaming increased cases of covid—19 for the papers for tonight. on the new variant first identified in the uk. thanks to my reviewers, sam lister and lizzy buchan. borisjohnson has signed britain's post—brexit trade agreement see you in a bit. with the european union. in brussels, ursula von der leyen signed the deal on behalf of the eu. when i said see you in a bit, i said the agreement also won the backing five seconds. of the house of commons. and rescuers in norway let's return now to brexit. are still searching for people missing following a landslide. borisjohnson's trade deal received the the overwhelming backing of mps. for the last few hours, houses were crushed and buried it has been considered by the lords, in mud after the landslide who have voted on various amendments hit a village near oslo and are now awaiting royal assent. after heavy rain. let's speak to our political correspondent chris mason. he also specialises in constitutional affairs. take me through it, chris. evening to you. brexit was always likely to end like this, james. what time is it, almost

five to midnight new year's eve, bow to don, and the vision period for hello, and welcome to our look ahead the uk expires in, what, 23 hours' to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. time and we are waiting now for with me are sam lister, deputy political editor royal assent? in the last half—hour, at the daily express, and lizzy buchan, political correspondent at the daily mirror. the house of lords has cleared the tomorrow's front pages, starting with. .. brexit deal, lord true, the cabinet the daily telegraph reports that office minister rounding off of the borisjohnson has said britain houses of parliament are waiting for is in a race to roll out a freshly approved covid vaccine in order royal assent. the signature of the to avoid a third national lockdown as the new variant of the virus queen on that bill in order for it surges across the country. to become an act of parliament and the i reports the oxford/astrazeneca therefore the law of the land. that jab will be rolled out from next isa therefore the law of the land. that is a formality, but it takes some week, with enough vaccines on order time, perhaps in the next hour or to cover all uk adults. so, maybe the next few minutes, we the daily mirror says covid has will see that news and that will claimed its highest daily death toll since april. confirm legally the uk will leave the financial times also picks up on the latest coronavirus all of the entanglements it has had figures released today, saying the uk is in a "very with the european union, whether you dangerous situation" as it faces like them or not, at 11pm tomorrow a "grim and depressing picture" of rising infections night with a trade deal with our and deaths as millions more nearest neighbours.

are placed in the tightest night with a trade deal with our nearest neighbourslj night with a trade deal with our nearest neighbours. i think people might be interested to know — is the tier of restrictions. the guardian carries a picture queen having to stay this? —— stay of borisjohnson signing the uk's brexit trade deal with the eu inside 10 downing street amid criticism of limited up queen having to stay this? —— stay upfor queen having to stay this? —— stay up for this. it is a really good question, and i was suggesting on time for scrutiny. the radio was the case. she could the times says the deal marks an end to britain's a7—year close flick onto the television relationship with the eu as well as putting a full stop to decades of tory infighting over europe. to what you can watch waiting on the daily express lends its support parliament, and some people suggested might be possible for her to the brexit deal, saying britain is finally free from the eu. to sign the parchment in advance, and it adds borisjohnson but that's. .. do you remember doing is confident a game—changing vaccine will end the uk's "covid nightmare". that? do you really trust the other while the daily mail reflects on the oxford covid vaccine and a brexit trade deal both person? i am not 100% sure. being given the green light, making it a historic day. that? do you really trust the other person? i am not 10096 sure. she may well be up with a better pen than so let's begin. this, i will tell you that! and then, chris, that is it. it comes to men and, this four and a half years? i'm tempted to say every day at the yeah, and what is really moment is historic for some reason interesting, james, we have had so moment is historic for some reason so when a paper says historic day, i

sayjoin the club, almost every day megaphones in protest over the last four and megaphones in protest over the last fourand a megaphones in protest over the last four and a half years, and today it something is happening. but has felt like something of a fire nevertheless with these extraordinary events in one day, blanket being put on those brexit, the lockdown and the vaccine arguments. that is not to say the approval has been a fight for the arguments. that is not to say the front page. let's start with a arguments have gone entirely. some people saw very strong views in both guardian which shows borisjohnson directions on brexit, but i think, as of the turn of the year, the b with that 1200 page eu trade deal which he signed. i don't know if he word will not go away entirely, but gives away pens like american it will on the whole be much, much presidents do after they sign. i can only see one there. reflect on that more quietly spoken than it has been page in the guardian. it's a very for the last half a decade, if you striking image, sort of the day that include the referendum campaign and you never thought would come that we actually finally got to the end of all the months and years since. technically, i do, all the months and years since. technically, ido, i all the months and years since. technically, i do, i do count all this process is lasted for more than that, so it is well more than half a four years and there is the prime decade. briefly, chris, summing it allup, how do minister and what is a very striking decade. briefly, chris, summing it all up, how do we get from a picture holding up the trade position where theresa may had an agreement with the eu which looks awful lot of problems, getting smashed around by, what, losing 200, enormous. and looking onwards into and then boris johnson smashed around by, what, losing 200, and then borisjohnson getting this the future and as you say, we do majority? one led to the other, because theresa may had this bandy around the word historic quite horrendous time for so long, and i

a lot think that that paralysis in bandy around the word historic quite aloti bandy around the word historic quite a lot i suppose, but these really parliament was picked up on in the are historic times. and i think country. it certainly became the regardless of whether or where or central theme for the prime minister's election campaign a year how you voted in the referendum, i ago, and treated, i suspect come think this is a significant day for into that big majority he got, and the country. whether it makes our first rule of parliamentary democracy, life is a government is readers feel good or feel bad, much easier if you have majority if you have got a the country. whether it makes our readers feel good orfeel bad, it the country. whether it makes our readers feel good or feel bad, it is a certainly line in the sand. when i —— then if you have not so bright and having a good pen. next time, i look at that, that must be 1200 am making sure you havee pages long. was it right parliament only had a few hours to debate on and having a good pen. next time, i am making sure you have a good pen for that! chris mason, thank you very much. the weather now. that? obviously it had to be this way because the deadline, the final deadline was tomorrow after that we would have gone out without a deal. the weather now with alina jenkins. hello. snow and ice continue to be it isa would have gone out without a deal. it is a historic day. this time hazards for some as we move tomorrow we will no longer be bound into the final day of 2020. by eu rules, and obviously the still very much in the cold air across the uk, temperatures widely well below freezing country is still quite divided and through the early hours of thursday morning, with the potential for some freezing probably as divided in fact as it fog across parts of england and wales. for new year's eve, it's a cold was at the time of the votes so day wherever you are. for most, a mixture of wintry people will have mixed feelings showers with some sunshine,

about that. but it is definitely a but across scotland through the morning, a more general spell of rain, story day. obviously i think in sleet and snow sliding its way southwards and also ordinary circumstances it would have into northern ireland as well. been much better to have had more as the morning wears on, that snow will tend to become time for parliamentary scrutiny. but confined to higher ground, just pushing to the far north you have to deal with the of england through the afternoon. a few wintry showers circumstances you were in that is for parts of northwest, the reality of politics. and i think southwest england, west wales. the further south and east you are, mainly dry with some sunshine once we are here at half past 11pm and any freezing fog has lifted through the morning. the lords are i think still at it. still a cold northerly wind, particularly biting for parts of western scotland and northern there is a liberal democrat move to ireland. not quite as cold across scotland and northern ireland block the deal that will fail, but compared to wednesday, five or six celsius the top temperature here, compared tojust two or three celsius further south. still shenanigans going on, people through the final hours of 2020, we see this band of wintry showers just continuing to sink their way still shenanigans going on, people southwards, but most of the snow still on the remain side trying to by this stage should work this literally at the 11th be over higher ground. bit of wintry mix across scotland, quite a few showers along the east hour. but you know this time coast, where temperatures will hold up to around four or five tomorrow this part of rex is over. celsius at midnight. head inland, they'll be closer to freezing. a few showers developing just to keep everyone up today across northern england, including you both as i don't know parts of northwest wales, maybe south west england through if you are still getting messages as the early hours of new year's day. you talk to me but we understand the but also once again, the potential for some freezing fog house of lords have adjourned and developing across central, are waiting now for royal assent we southeastern parts of england and wales as we head talked about a earlier when the

through the early hours of 2021. queen i believe in science or if she initials or science from windsor and another cold night but not quite as cold as recent nights, the act becomes parliament. have i got that right? that's howl but some places still getting a few degrees below freezing. understand it. the lords will get a so here's how we start 2021, call and say it's done from the with still a fairly messy picture, palace and then they can adjourn. as low pressure to the east of the uk and frontal systems still just $0011 palace and then they can adjourn. as 50011 as palace and then they can adjourn. as soon as that happens we will bring trying to slide their way across. that to everyone here. in the not much on them, but certainly meantime we carry on and look at the through new year's day, there will be a fair few showers daily mail. which has a picture of around, particularly for east borisjohnson daily mail. which has a picture of boris johnson with and northeast coasts. daily mail. which has a picture of borisjohnson with his thumbs up next to someone getting a jab and it and a few of those will penetrate their way a little is not him. two giant leaps to bit further inland. still the chance they could be wintry, particularly over higher ground. freedom, a bit cribbed from a neil the further south you are across armstrong. is that how the delete the uk, much more cloud around, mirror might see it? i think we and temperatures still not much higher than five or six celsius. looking ahead, then, to the first weekend of 2021, would probably have sort of a mixed it stays cold, we'll see fewer view on that. i mean, i think as you showers but still the risk of some pointed at the picture, there is an ice and snow in places. bye— bye. image on the front page of a woman having a vaccine, obviously huge news today where with the approval of the oxford/astrazeneca jab, which

can has been hailed as a game changer and really will help this country to accelerate our vaccination programme so that's a huge moment. so when that sense, thatis huge moment. so when that sense, that is a great leap for our freedom from the virus, but with that has come huge restrictions and further restrictions on the lee life in terms of greater numbers of people being put into tier 4. so it's a mixed feeling there and i think for us on mixed feeling there and i think for us on brexit, we would... i think the mirror would probably be about as divided as the country has been on it. and it's sort of the people i think and home will be feeling sad about the end of our time in the us we both will be feeling sort of happy and liberated i think a lot of people are feeling a bit fed up and quite look forward for it to be over. talking about that delete mail

headline, two giant leaps to freedom. which is the bigger leap? well, difficult to say because of the complete lee different... apples and pears really. i think for many people today what will have been the most important thing for them is the hope that they took from seeing that the oxford/astrazeneca jab has been signed off and has been given full approval and will be coming out from january the 4th. and our immediate problem is the pandemic obviously and we are in the i of the storm. so that has to be priority number one i would guess for most people at the moment. but it is really a day of hope actually. obviously we have had this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds with some terrible news about new the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. restrictions, the terrible rising the uk government extends death toll. but i think people will the toughest restrictions to three—quarters of england's population, as deaths from coronavirus soar to 981 try and cling onto that bit of hope from the news that the vaccine will

be rolled out very soon. you mention confirmed on wednesday. the word hope which brings us to the sun and it has that in its headline. but light at the end one giant hope for mankind and again of the tunnel. the uk gives approval cribbing from neil armstrong and 44 for the astrazeneca vaccine — with the firstjabs due to begin next week. it's a moment to celebrate million people are now in tier 4 and and have some optimism about where we've got to today and moving forward. primary schools delayed but the the uk and eu sign an historic british jab gets the nod. we talked trade agreement, after british mps give overwhelming backing earlier about how odey comes with so much mixed news. on the one hand, a to borisjohnson's brexit deal. jab might feel here which makes us feel good but as a day goes on there are more thunder blows about casualties and the tears and so on. how do you deal with that mix of news? is a huge challenge, as he said there is a huge number of very important stories today and it is working out quite how we are trying to balance those information we are getting. obviously the sun has chosen with their excellent graphics tea m chosen with their excellent graphics team and have mocked up a very good front page and they have chosen to

really focus on the vaccine as the kind of hope of it and the fact that that could help liberate us from the restrictions and from the sort of grim reality that we are living in the moment in terms of the billy death toll and the number of cases, which are very worrying. but they also reference the fact that that has been and is not the only part of this picture. and actually teared restrictions have been tightened, schools are going to be closed in certain parts of the country and primary schools closed in certain pa rt primary schools closed in certain part of the country and others delayed in their return to the classroom in january. delayed in their return to the classroom injanuary. so they have kind of got the mix in there of what isa kind of got the mix in there of what is a very sort of day full of good and bad news. it is quite a cool picture of a vaccine as a rocket. they always do that well with that

graphics team. 44 many people are 110w graphics team. 44 many people are now in tier 4. are un tier 4 and if so now in tier 4. are un tier 4 and if so what can you tell others about what it's like? i am in tier 4. i am in london and we have been in tier 4 for a couple of weeks now and i have to say there is not an awful lot you can do in tier 4 apart from going for a while. and i feel like london has always gone victorian in that i'iow has always gone victorian in that now the main hobby for most people is going out on the promenade. go walk around the park. but actually it's quite good for me to get out and get some fresh air so it's not all bad. it is grim. we know that it is not pleasant for anybody involved, but the government is doing these rules and look country because they feel that they have no alternative. the spiralling death toll, the new strain of the virus which seems to be incredibly contagious, they have to act quickly and be quite draconian. it's

obviously ruffling feathers among certain tory backbenchers, they are very concerned obviously about the impact this is having on business. and we would certainly hope that they resist or support coming down they resist or support coming down the line for the worst affected businesses. but we have got some support to get businesses back on their feet support to get businesses back on theirfeet in support to get businesses back on their feet in march and obviously they are already many many packages of measures in place. but it does not happen if your business is consta ntly not happen if your business is constantly stop start, stop start. it is quite costly to reopen a closed down all the time. let's look at the i which again focuses on the vaccine. vaccine for all with someone vaccine. vaccine for all with someone they are in a mask getting the jab. it has got me thinking about who is getting the jab and do recognise and we had a certain chemical a few weeks ago, do you think borisjohnson will sit there

get his own jab. would that be seen asjumping to get his own jab. would that be seen as jumping to the get his own jab. would that be seen asjumping to the head of get his own jab. would that be seen as jumping to the head of the get his own jab. would that be seen asjumping to the head of the queue? i think the prime minister we understand not probably being opposed to the idea of doing the vaccine live on tv. it is quiet in his area. but i think he feels it's very important not to be seen to be pushing to the front of the queue anyway. obviously there is a very sort of rich priority list that has been drawn up of who gets the vaccine first. care home workers, staff and residents over 80, the most vulnerable people who need to be getting the vaccine first. and so i think the prime minister would definitely not want to be seen to be jumping ahead of somebody who needs it more. now the financial times which goes again on the jab, front page virus search paints a grim picture and jab hailed as game changer. if i had to choose a word to sum up 20/20, i don't think i

used in the 19 but i used to grim almost every day this year and hope might use it much next year. let's pick up on what sam was saying about the jab. is it clear who should get it and the jab. is it clear who should get itand in the jab. is it clear who should get it and in which order? i had some gas and less with the said teacher should be moved up because they are right at the nexus of so much human contact. there are lots of groups calling for teachers and front line workers, especially the police and people like that, to be prioritise. i think the approach to government is taking and honestly they are saying we are guided by the science. that has been the mantra. they have gone up that has been the mantra. they have gone up a that has been the mantra. they have gone up a list and it starts with the most elderly and brought down by age group. but it also brings in vulnerable people, people who are particularly ill, and could be very

easily prone to getting quite ill with this virus. so it's mainly an age —based category. with people who are very vulnerable and also care home workers and nhs workers and we have seen that some with nhs admin staff having the vaccine but that's money because the pfizer/biontech vaccine has to be stored at —70 an estimate is not an up an appointment for example, because it does not la st very for example, because it does not last very long outside the fridge, they are taking the view that it is better to use it on anybody rather than to be in it. so some admin staff have had it. but i think it is basically age—related, illness related and then some key front line nhs and care workers and that's the way the government is going with it. the daily mirror now which is your paper. the front page it's always darkest before the dawn. before we get to you, interesting for you and says 51 bracing british walk but if

you keep using the word promenade i guarantee you insight month the delimiter will begin using that word as well. i've always thought that of the last few days and weeks when the nights are getting longer but you hear word of the jab until some of that headline and about the story and how you are covering it.|j that headline and about the story and how you are covering it. i think it's quite a powerful front page. we get these images of ambulances queued up and we have been hearing lots of reports about the real strain that the nhs is feeling at the moment, problems with capacity and staffing is that sort of thing and staffing is that sort of thing and real fears that the nhs and staffing is that sort of thing and realfears that the nhs might be overwhelmed. obviously it has as he said earlier, we have used the word grim quitea said earlier, we have used the word grim quite a lot this year and i think there were moments and there have been moments the last few weeks that have been very challenging for people. the changes of the christmas rules, the kind of emergence of the

new variant right when we were sort of hoping that things might be starting to get a little bit better and we have got these vaccine starting to go and that's what a thing in them it really brought people back down with a bump. but we have tried to do here is to acknowledge the fact that things do seem very difficult at the moment and be realistic about that but remember that the oxford/astrazeneca jab is really exciting and whilst things might feel really terrible now that there is still hope. that we are going to come out of this. now let's look at the daily express, sam. the front page has that picture of borisjohnson with his thumbs up almost as if he is on that trip at the olympics but this is having signed the brexit treaty. and then grim but light at the end of the tunnel with a picture of a vial of the vaccine. take us to the daily express. we have tried to bring a flavour of both the big stories of

the day on our front page and they are both big stories for our readers. they have been really interested in the developments with the vaccine and obviously we are a brakes paper so brexit in the final chapter is obviously of massive interest to our readers. so we try to reflect both of that. obviously we try to look at the details of the vaccine and the headline reflects the prime minister press conference earlier when he gave one of his better talks about tunnels and shortening the tunnel and that kind of thing and you often get a bit lost in those. i think what he was trying to say essentially is a lie is there at the end of the tunnel and we are putting that there. you said brexit is your paper's story. will you be said not to be writing about it every day? note, it is such an important issue and it has been such an important issue but i have

thrown my always writing about brexit because it is a big issue for out brexit because it is a big issue for our paper. but i have to say i don't anticipate we will stop writing about brexit. this is the end of this chapter but there are many more battles ahead i'm sure and i doubt this will be the last brexit story i ever right. we will look to the next paper and pop of the final paper the telegraph. it has in its front page and rather sober looking picture of borisjohnson and rather sober looking picture of boris johnson and i and rather sober looking picture of borisjohnson and i think talking at a news conference with the oxford jab and also has a story about1 million primary people to stay at home with a sweeping school closure imposed. you might both remember that in september the government said we have to concentrate on schools this time and they made it just up to december but clearly in the second wave, it is a decision that have to be taken. the government feel situation has gotten the point where they have had to

ta ke the point where they have had to take some action. and this obviously has been a difficult decision for them because they can see that keeping children in school is the best thing for not only children but for their parents and for everybody involved. it is betterfor their