this is date over the news live from berlin the european union and britain on the brink of a brics it trying to deal the way it goes on outside downing street but as british prime minister barak johnson is expected to make an announcement shortly dragged on into the night in brussels we'll bring you all the day tiles also on the program. donald trump hands out more presidential pot this time to his close associates among them longtime confidant roger stud and the father of his son in law.

i'm rebecca rivers welcome to the program with just days to go before the end of the brics a transition period the european union and britain are on the brink of a post frex a trade deal reporters are waiting outside 10 downing street in london where british prime minister barak johnson is expected to announce the outcome of those negotiations shortly talks went on into the night in brussels to hash out the final details of the treaty which lays out rules for when the u.k. leaves leaves the a use single market and customs union in just a week's time. devotees big mass is following those developments from london being it is this shaping up to be the deal that boris johnson wanted. the big picture of back i think he

will be very proud to announce this deal because he had promised in the bricks of campaign that britain will take control of its borders its laws and of its money and that he would have achieved the will have left the european union would have left the single market and there will be no more free movement to the u.k. we'll have control over its own immigration and it will be sending less money to the e.u. so that's on the plus side for the prime minister on the minus side of course is that the brits that campaign had always promised that there would be almost no trade offs and that of course isn't true because economically even if there is a deal brags it will hit the u.k. economy about 6 percent less well off in years to come round about the estimates so it doesn't come without its trade of but does johnson will sell the

deal as something that he had promised that he won the election with and he will be confident promising this but it still hasn't been without its sticking points we hear that the fishing rights are the thing holding up the deal at the moment why are they such a tough nut to crack in these negotiations. yeah it's really puzzling i think for a lot of people who are looking at these negotiations fishing is such a small part of the u.k. economy it's only 0 point one percent and overall for other european states it's also not it's not a major part of a commie however it's very much a symbolic part of the economy for for many states for the brics a tears for the whole bricks of company that's intricately linked to that promise is it was all about this idea that britain was to be independent coastal state this

island nation so it's really linked to the promise of breaks and it's political it's not economic but then again breaks it is overall it's a political project and not an economic one or a big event just briefly does boris johnson have the british public and his party behind and i think a lot of british people will be quite relieved that this is over nobody really wants to hear more about breaks in and i think a lot of people are really not tuned in anymore and everyone this is concerned with kovi and with christmas and businesses will definitely be relieved that there is a deal and no more chaos at the border at this critical moment when the u.k.'s already overwhelmed by the crisis ram big mass in london for us thank you. thousands of truck drivers remain stranded in southern england waiting to make the journey back to mainland europe british authorities are warning it could take days

to clear the backlog as the monumental task of testing the drivers for covert 19 begins france abruptly hole to travel on sunday over a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant. or thirty's then agreed to let the drivers through but only if they could show a negative test result although some trucks are flowing slowly moving into fronts many of facing the prospect of spending christmas in a cab. let's take a look at some of the other developments in the pandemic drugmakers bio and taken pfizer will supply the united states with an extra 100000000 doses of the corona virus vaccine the u.s. government hopes to immunize 20000000 people by the end of the month canada has followed the u.s. by approving the covert 19 vaccine 2 weeks after giving the go ahead to the biotech pfizer shot and the british government has banned visitors from south africa 2 cases of a new variant of code that 19 which emerge they have been detected in the u.k.

let's turn some other stories making headlines this hour ethiopian state media says the military has killed over 40 people involved in wednesday's massacre in western benson rule region the security forces arrested 5 local officials following that attack which left more than 100 people dead it's the latest episode of unrest in ethiopia following a deadly civil conflict into dry. a russian court has given a 2 year suspended sentence to opposition activists gallium nina or violating rules on public gatherings the moscow council held rallies against race and constitutional reforms that benefit president vladimir putin said the sentence is designed to prevent her from running for parliament. but yes. austria has opened its scale if for christmas winter sports are underway at $400.00 alpine locations despite a 3rd national lockdown which is about to come into force the government says that an outdoor sport as an outdoor sports skiing is safe under strict conditions

restaurants remain closed all u.s. president donald trump has issued new pardons for his allies including the father of his son in law regard krishna trump has now granted clemency to 50 people this past week the list includes several people convicted in the investigation into the trump campaign's ties to russia allies from congress and other felons championed by friends have also been pardoned christmas is a time for family and friends and donald trump has not forgotten his not long after his arrival in florida for the holiday season the outgoing president's latest set of pardons were announced. what is interesting about the latest batch of pardons from president trump is that many of them have centered on people with whom he has a personal or political connection or bond among them was the father of his senior advisor and son in law jared kush not. chiles cush now was sentenced to 2 years in

prison for tax evasion witness tampering and making unlawful campaign donations the white house cited cushions charitable work since completing his sentence as the reason he deserved clemency but it's the pardoning of pul manifold what. and broad just stunning that has sparked the most outrage both men were convicted under the investigation into ties between the trump campaign and russia trump has now pardoned for people convicted in that investigation. mr president my family and i humbly thank you for the presidential pardon you to start in me words cannot fully convey how grateful we are manifold and star in a not considered conventional part of the recipients in part because byrd was saying to show a lack of respect to the criminal justice system manifold was accused of witness tampering and star and was convicted of lying to congress republican senator ben

sasse cold that pardoning rotten to the cole. they make up a fraction of the $26.00 total pardons the president issued on wednesday and with less than a month left in office more pardons are anticipating from the outgoing president. christmas holiday celebrations in much of africa has been dampened by the crown of virus pandemic many countries are saying kovac 19 infections rise forcing governments to impose restrictions on gatherings flourished were reports from lagos nigeria where the economic fallout of the pandemic has made things even worse. christmas is in the lagos is always packed with all kinds of parties festivals and events but this is going to be more quiet than usual because of the recent spike in $1000.00 infections the government has introduced strict shows patsy's can evolve

and music shows are now banned throughout the state of another major highlights of christmas shows here in nigeria is the our missing food fortunately nigeria is going through an economic recession as a result of the pandemic so food prices are the highest they've been all year. so. last year we were not solely this one for up to 300 you could even get 2 of these for 500 but this one goes for 1500 now this is not like last because. there is no more no markets. so. more needs to buy its own people. this is very.

despite all the high chiefs nigerians are great food that the media to the end of the sweet sweet tea. sport now in the 2nd round of the german cup continued on wednesday with 5 for display contains an action 2nd division side both from shock to top flight my it's off to basing them on penalties should got eliminated i bought in the only top to clash of the night all spec'd 2nd division sand house and 4 nil to move to the next round joining them vertebrae men after they have 800 over 3 mil and 4th to club or vice stunned fortuna dusseldorf

by munich frankfurt and laver cousin will play a big cup matches in mid january and spare a thought for thomas took the paris st germain coach has been sacked on christmas eve despite winning his last match 4 nil to who won 6 trophies with pay is cheney in that lead them to the champions league final last season his team a currently 3rd in the french top division just one point adrift of 1st place to hole is expected to be replaced by former tottenham boss not out of pitino. but for christians across the globe today is christmas eve in wa and one of germany as with many popular countries the most popular traditions is buying and decorating a christmas tree millions of young pines a cut down every year to adorn living room and rooms up and down the land but there's growing criticism over the damaging environmental impact so some entrepreneurs creating more sustainable alternatives. a tree is cut down.

and another. every year we cut down millions of trees just so that we can have one for christmas. in germany alone around $30000000.00 trees are sold over the festive season i then addict bruiser is selling christmas trees with a difference to make a difference well the idea of the regions of christmas trees is that we develop a system where we only cut the top off the tree and then have the natural succession off the tree and that will again build a new branch so to say hopefully so it's a regenerative tree that never is being killed but it always regrowth. in january birds of peas people if they bring back the bits they've had over christmas. those bits are cut up and mixed into soil becoming nutrients in the tree plantation. underneath the cover bristle plants potatoes. or wild strawberries.

and in the middle blackberries. and all around them the regenerating christmas trees. which have a special meaning for birds. through through all the technological advancements and the digital world we have lost many of those just natural ways of coming together and communicating and celebrating life and you know being aware of what life actually means and for me a tradition is the christmas tree at christmas where you come together as a family and you just enjoy being together and having that time to also reflect on the. if the project proved successful bursal hopes the technique will be used around the world to make christmas trees a little bit greener. and finally we have some festive cheer of the fairy variety courtesy of the berlin zoo the animals in the german capital were treated to some

early sacks of presents and i was even something under the christmas traits of the black bears to a visitors stahl's or its polar bears head to an tanya and they even took their trade for a stand off they faced. so i think they'd have a nice we're back next hour with more headlines thanks for watching. what secrets lie behind the swap. discover new adventures in 360 degrees. to explore fascinating world heritage sites. g.w. and world heritage 360 getting up now. they.

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