christiano ronaldo has been named the world's best player. he pips messi and neymar to the ballon d'or. and the winner is... coventry! a night of celebration for the city, after it's awarded the next uk city of culture. and snow has been falling overnight. warnings of disruption later in the day. carol has the full forecast. snow has been falling in the north and west of the uk and in the midlands. that will continue through today. some snow showers getting into eastern areas and there is ice to watch out for first thing. a cold day as well and windy, but not as windy as yesterday. a full forecast in15 windy as yesterday. a full forecast in 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. theresa may has just arrived in brussels after intense negotiations which continued throughout the night to try to break the deadlock over the irish border in brexit negotiations. we can talk now to our political correspondent chris mason who's in westminster. you are really where the story began ina you are really where the story began in a way. in the early hours of the morning presumably you've got the nod that the may was going to brussels and this is a significant moment. we await the details of what will be said. we got the first hint that something was afoot yesterday evening when there was a plan for an update from one of the officials in brussels on the brexit negotiations and then since then it has been a very long evening and a very long night. the huge number of calls taking place. the prime minister involved in the thick of it. conversations with dublin and belfast and also with brussels and then in the middle of the night, as you say, the story moving from here to brussels, with the prime minister and brexit secretary getting onboard and brexit secretary getting onboard a plane to the belgian capital and within the next couple of hours, a very busy couple of hours, we are likely to hear from all of the main players on the british and eu side, with their updates and the expectation that a deal has now been done. it will be very interesting to hear the response from the irish government in dublin, given what happened a few days ago and their particular concerns around the irish border and crucially from northern ireland's democratic unionist party, that's propping up theresa may's government and managed to scupper the whole prospect of the deal, witty much as it was being agreed in brussels at the beginning of the week. so with will be well worth keeping an eye on brussels as well. thank you. so from westminster to brussels, where the reason may risibly landed, our brussels correspondentjoins us risibly landed, our brussels correspondent joins us —— risibly landed, our brussels correspondentjoins us —— theresa may landed. this couple between michel barnier and theresa may has happened. will it pay the way for better negotiations?” happened. will it pay the way for better negotiations? i think the prime minister and david davis would not have got on a plane in virtually the middle of the night, arrived here in the dark and phoned us journalists just after 4am your time if they thought it would be a repeat of what happened on monday, when eve ryo ne of what happened on monday, when everyone came here, and hopes were high that a deal would be done and thenit high that a deal would be done and then it didn't happen. what this is about is the eu deciding that enough progress has been made in the first days of brexit talks, which is all about divorce related issues, citizens rights, money, but northern irish border, for talks to them progress to phase talk about trade, a transition deal and the future partnership between the two. so this is about deciding that enough progress has been made in phase one to get moving. a lot of stuff will happen. presidentjuncker with and michel barnier, the chief negotiator, are sitting down to brett test with the prime minister and david davis. we think they will doa and david davis. we think they will do a press conference and then theresa may will meet donald tusk, the man who chairs the european very important documents. one will be a joint report... inaudible... guidelines, the instructions from michel barnierfor the guidelines, the instructions from michel barnier for the second phase, the trade talks. and a quick hit of info, all of this was negotiated last night while downing - is past few minutes and the fire is really flaring up on the hillside there, and pushing along the canyon. there are some homes down there. we can hear shouts in the valley and there are some families refusing to leave. the walkers are among them. it wouldn't add to the door, but they were inside and intent on staying put, spike the danger lurking nearby —— answer the door. at least two dozen horses have died in the fire, the worst here in living memories. in the exclusive suburb of lead they attacked the fires aggressively, successfully saving many homes —— bel air. lionel ritchie and paris hilton were among those forced to flee. every firefighting aircraft in the us has been summoned to california and they are making a big difference. in times of crisis, extraordinary moments of compassion. here, a man a p pa re ntly moments of compassion. here, a man apparently in distressed, runs to rescue a rabbit. 0ne apparently in distressed, runs to rescue a rabbit. one little life saved. several new fires have broken out in the past few hours, containing them is a superhuman effort, but mother nature is likely to have the last word. a ‘day of rage' is being planned by palestinians angered by america's recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. around 30 demonstrators were injured in clashes with israeli forces in the west bank yesterday. they have warned against cancelling talks with might p garma —— might hence you will be set in a couple of weeks. a student who died weeks after starting at university was failed by "every nhs organisation that should have cared for her", a review has found. averil hart, who was 19, died of a heart attack caused by anorexia in 2012. the parliamentary and health service 0mbudsman says her death could and should have been prevented. nhs england has apologised and says it's making "real progress" with eating disorder services. snow, ice and windy conditions are set to sweep across large parts of the uk today, as storm caroline heads towards scandinavia. severe gales have already caused disruption to air, rail and ferry services. yellow "be aware" weather warnings have been issued across much of scotland, northern ireland, wales and north—west england, with up to eight inches of snow expected in some areas. of course carol will bring us the latest on that and tell us which areas are likely to be worst hit later in the programme. two of the country's biggest discount retailers, primark and sports direct, have been forced to pay back thousands of staff who were paid less than the minimum wage. overall, 260 companies have been fined for failing to pay their staff the right amount. victoria's here. good morning. how widespread is this problem? it really is quite widespread. this is the 13th time the government has had to come out with this list and they've found 16,000 workers, more than any other time they've done this list, are being underpaid. the biggest culprits were primark and sports direct. primark had about 10,000 workers and they were getting them to pay for their own uniforms. primark have said they have changed their policy and given their money back. the other big offender was sports direct and the two big recruitment companies that give them extra staff at busy times, like christmas. they say this is an historic problem, they've paid it back. so far the government is spending about 25 million trying to make sure that companies are paying the right wage to their staff, but no one so far has been prosecuted. if you do think this is you, get in touch with the ombudsman and find out if you have a case. they will go to hmrc for you and about 200 cases are currently in progress. how long has this —— is this process likely to get, to get your money back? has this —— is this process likely to get, to get your money back7m can take some time. there was an investigation by the guardian into sports direct, for example, and they found that although sports direct you about the problem they were very slow to sort it out and give the pay back. thanks very much. prison inspectors have found high levels of serious violence, chronic staff shortages and filthy conditions at one of britain's biggest jails, wormwood scrubs, for the third year in a row. they also found areas of the west london prison, which houses 1,200 inmates, were strewn with litter, attracting rats and cockroaches. the ministry ofjustice says it's taken "decisive action" to address the problems. coventry has been chosen as the uk city of culture for 2021. it beat submissions from paisley, stoke on trent, sunderland and swansea to win the title. the bid team said their plans were "about changing the reputation of a city" as well as hosting a year of cultural celebration. there's a0 million people within two hours drive. we are looking at 2.5 million 5,000,020 21. we are going to do something incredibly special and give something special to the uk. -- 2.5 and give something special to the uk. —— 2.5 million by 2021. 0ver over to the sport now. the ballon d'or was given to the world's best foot all and there is the latest winner, again, cristiano ronaldo —— footballer. since 2007 there have only been two names on it, cristiano ronaldo or lionel messi. in the past it has been george best, among others. it means now in terms of the number of golden balls on the mantelpiece it is now five all between cristiano ronaldo and lionel messi. for the second year running it's the portugese and real madrid star ronaldo, who has been given the ballon d'orfor the world's best player to draw level with his great rival, messi. wales say they're extremely disappointed they won't stage any matches at euro 2020. the matches taken away from brussels, due to stadium difficulties, have been given to wembley stadium instead. that will now stage seven matches, including the final and semi finals. in front of the lowest ever crowd at the emirates, arsenal got some shooting practice on the europa league last night. already qualified they'd be 6—0. everton also won, despite being already knocked out of the competition. and ronnie 0'sullivan heaves a sigh of relief as he scrapes into the quarter finals of the uk snooker championship in york. in this tournament of upsets, he was taken to the wire by sunny akani of thailand. so ronnie 0'sullivan, one of the only seeds left in the competition now. it was chilly this morning. did you have snow when you are coming in? ididn't have snow when you are coming in? i didn't have any. i saw loads. big fla kes. n ot i didn't have any. i saw loads. big flakes. not settled. it has got to be warm to snow. there is a fine point. 0bviously i'm just talking nonsense. that grew to know small. it was a little bit warmer. when the snow comes down it always feels like it will be really cold, and then the next day when it's a bit warmer it snows. sort of... snows. sort of... . snows. sort of... . 0f snows. sort of... . of us snows. sort of... . of us this snows. sort of... . of us this morning snows. sort of... . of us this morning it was 10 degrees colder than yesterday. but i've got some lovely weather watchers pictures to show you, send him overnight. this one is from northern ireland. we've seen lying snow. with c falling nicely in northern ireland. more to come today. this one is from aviemore, currently seven centimetres of lying snow. 0ther currently seven centimetres of lying snow. other parts of the north and west have seen snow. other parts of the north and west have seen some snow snow. other parts of the north and west have seen some snow and as will as ice there's the risk of some travel disruption because there's more snow on cards. the storm has pushed away towards scandinavia, but as you can see the isobars across as are still tightly packed. they are coming straight down from the arctic, where the wind is coming from, so it is going to feel it today. —— bitter. yesterday we had 13-1a today. —— bitter. yesterday we had 13— 1a and now we are looking at about freezing. temperature will write the morning. nothing especially substantial. three in london by the time we get to eight a.m..a london by the time we get to eight a.m.. alot london by the time we get to eight a.m.. a lot of dry weather and sunshine and some snow showers across the moors. snow showers getting across the midlands and a lot of dry weather into england. watch out for ice. snow showers continue to come in on the gusty winds across the of scotland and the same can be said across northern ireland will stop as we move across the irish sea and isle of man, again further snow showers piling on across wales. cold with the risk of ice. through the day there will be a large swathe of the country that remains dry. you can see down towards the far south—east. but they will continue across parts of scotland, northern ireland, through wales, southern counties as well and in between them we will also have sunny skies. no heatwave. these are the maximum temperatures. 0ne sunny skies. no heatwave. these are the maximum temperatures. one in edinburgh and maybe four into southern england. 3d evening and overnight it won't be as windy. —— through the evening. snow showers through the evening. snow showers through scotland and into the west, driven on that wind. again it will be cold enough for some ice towards the west. these are the overnight temperatures in there will be a lot of dry weather around. afair there will be a lot of dry weather around. a fair bit of... inaudible. coming in on the wind, which will be lighter. then you can see the next system waiting in the wings. that will come in from the south—west. it will bring in some rain and milderair it will bring in some rain and milder air but on the leading edge we have snow. the snow distribution is still open to question. this is what we think coming into northern ireland, through the midlands, down north of the ma corridor here comes the milder air. snow pushes further north—east and for the north of the country something dry and sunny. wherever you are, north of where you see that eight it will feel cold. so if you like it cold, you are in for a treat! you know i don't... more than anybody you don't like it! exactly. thank you. i did try to save... you agreed with me. it can be too cold to snow. but just because mike cold to snow. butjust because mike agrees, it doesn't mean very much. if that was the marker... you are probably right. unless it's bought. —— sport. let's take a look at today's papers. everything we are doing is geared around what's happening in brussels this morning, we are expecting an announcement, theresa may has landed in brussels in the last 20 minutes, we saw the first handshake. there's a number of press conferences planned within the next hour to do with the brexit breakthrough. can i say a couple of things that have happened? say a couple of things that have happened ? there was say a couple of things that have happened? there was a disagreement with the dup and the leader of the dup, arlene foster, has said we have clear confirmation the whole uk is leaving the singles market and customs union, that was a sticking point. the northern ireland dup leader arlene foster has said there are still issues on brexit we want clarified but we ran out of time and amusingly and aid tojean—claude juncker has tweeted a picture of white smoke, in relation to what happens when you get a new pope. clearly announcements on brexit hugely significant in relation... whatever they are to do with business more generally? good morning, that's right, what tends to happen is every time we get a bit of good news, all white smoke when it comes to brexit, we see the value of the pound increasing, a bit more confidence in the uk economy. what tends to happen is the companies in the ftse 100, tends to happen is the companies in the ftse100, the biggest companies in the uk, or listed in the uk, the value of those tends to go down because a lot of them are actually foreign companies so they make their earnings in currencies that aren't the pound. weekend to see a bit of a switch where we see the pound rise and we see the value of things like pension funds that arlington to the ftse 100 fall -- pension funds that arlington to the ftse 100 fall —— weekend to see. another thing is bitcoin, do you know about this? the crypto currency. 10,000 it went through. that was a few days ago, it went through $19,000 overnight, it's gone down again, absolutely crazy on its about ten years old now and it's on the front page of a number of the papers, one on the front page of the ft and the times, massive variations in price. what happens is because it is so crazy, lots of people are using to use them, they say it is too volatile and we can't use it. it's been interesting, hasn't the bank of england governor even caution or there have been comments about bear in mind this isn't backed bya about bear in mind this isn't backed by a government? two thirds of uk investors say this isn't sustainable, it's a bubble. mike? i don't know how many have letters after our don't know how many have letters afterour name. don't know how many have letters after our name. charlie? bae, ph.d. ? none of those. you could make them | ? none of those. you could make them up! if ? none of those. you could make them ou ? none of those. you could make them up! if you are an olympian and you could apply to have olly after your name, sirmo farah could apply to have olly after your name, sir mo farah oly. they want athletes who have competed at the olympics to have recognition for what they have achieved, this is in the mail, according to the ioc. if you had a name like ollie you would be ollie oly. brussels have had the matches they were going to stage at euro 2020 taken of them because they're worse doubts about whether they're worse doubts about whether the stadiums would be ready in time so the stadiums would be ready in time so this time they are going to be spread around 12 countries. when the matches came away from wales, brussels, wales and scotland got excited, cardiff has got excited, wembley had three and now they have seven and wales empty—handed. wembley had three and now they have seven and wales empty-handed. we often talk about people taking up sports later in life, you have done this quite a lot. you haven't really got the best of charlie this morning, have you? sheila hancock, 8a, morning, have you? sheila hancock, sa, has taken up weightlifting. morning, have you? sheila hancock, 84, has taken up weightliftingm is great for osteoporosis, it improves your bone density, excellent for women of a certain age and so go and do it! sports that increase your body mass are better when you get older rather than running marathons. and less impact but bone density so important. absolutely, as muscles waste away. do you know much about coventry? it's the birthplace of the poet philip larkin and the best—selling author lee child. now coventry has another claim to fame, it'sjust been named as the uk's city of culture for 2021. it beat off stiff competition from swansea, paisley, stoke—on—trent and sunderland to be crowned the winner. 0ur arts and entertainment correspondent colin paterson is there. colin, a few sore heads in coventry this morning? a very special night. everyone i've spoken to have said it's been the happiest day in the city since they won the fa cup in 1987. i'm trying to learn about coventry, i'm in the herbert art gallery and museum, this is henry vi, the man who signed the charter that turned coventry into a city, it's now a city of culture, here are some prehistoric noises. normally louder than that! come this way and we can find out about the industrial past. we know about the car industry and how important it was but this is one of the weeds that was used, the looms that was used when it was the ribbon industry and if you come here, that's the chief executive we will be talking to in chief executive we will be talking toina chief executive we will be talking to in a minute, this is george elliott's writing desk, middlemarch was written at this very writing desk in about the 18a0s. now, last night, as we said, there was a lot ofjumping up and down. and the winner is... coventry. cheering of this was the moment coventry was chosen to be the new uk city of culture. the city's bid focused on youth and adversity, that was key in it clinching the title.l huge opportunity for the city to make such a massive difference. amazing, i'm so excited. it's really paid off all the work we've done, amazing, so happy. i love the city and i'm so happy today. the ghost town has gone, moved on. coventry has grown... coventry will have until 2021 to prepare a calendar full of arts and performance events. a0 million people within two hours drive time, we're looking at visitors of two million in 2021, we're going to do something special and give something special to the uk. amid the wreckage of a noble city, crushed by the force of hundreds of tons of bombs... the price includes a £3 million heritage lottery grant, a welcome boost to a city that suffered from the decline of the british motoring industry and the devastation of bombing in world war two. our voices of diversity, all our stories, all ourjourneys... the title is awarded every four yea rs the title is awarded every four years and coventry will hope to emulate the success of hull, which is currently the uk city of culture, something thejudges is currently the uk city of culture, something the judges considered too. we were looking for the city that would actually give us the biggest impact across the uk, because it is the uk city of culture, and all we raise the bar a bit with what hull has done in this fantastic year as well. the city's most famous musical exports are the specials. in 1981 they reached number one with ghost town, all about urban decay in coventry. in 2021, the goes town will become a party town for a whole yearin will become a party town for a whole year ina will become a party town for a whole year in a city dreaming about being reborn. colin paterson, bbc news, coventry. i'm joined by martin reeves, the chief executive of coventry city council. what does this mean to the city? everything. exhilaration. we have been looked through as a city forfar have been looked through as a city for far too have been looked through as a city forfar too long have been looked through as a city for far too long and here have been looked through as a city forfar too long and here is our opportunity to shine culturally for our people on a national and international stage. what will happen in four years time then? it's incredible, physically as we have seen incredible, physically as we have seen with hull, a different city, it will feel and look different but most of all through culture and the a rts most of all through culture and the arts with an amazing diverse programme of young and diverse people we will think these people have ownership of their city again. ghost town to host town, it's amazing. how much damage did the specials do with that song? that was our past, though, there were some great assets, a mediaeval city, an industrial past but now we have to protect our confidence into the future. our young people don't remember the ghost town but they remember the ghost town but they remember the ghost town but they remember the amazing stuff ahead of us remember the amazing stuff ahead of us and they want to be part of 2021. we will find out more on commentary through the morning on breakfast but first, the news, travel and weather where you are —— coventry. good morning from bbc london news, i'm victoria hollins. the foreign secretary says he will visit the iranian capital this weekend and called for the release ofa weekend and called for the release of a yet london woman being detained there. borisjohnson will urge the ulreich live nazanin to go rewrite clisby freed on humanitarian grounds. the mother from clisby freed on humanitarian grounds. the motherfrom hampstead has been held in tehran since april last year, accused of trying to overthrow the iranian government, charges she denies. a man has been summoned to appear in court after a double—decker bus collided with a pedestrian on a pavement in reading. the footage from the incident in june went viral when simon smith got up and walked into a bar after being knocked over. a man from wallingford will appear before magistrates next week. the families of children who go to a respite centre in watford are starting a new legal fight to save it. it follows another decision by the nhs to stop funding care at nascot lawn. a legal challenge in the high court was postponed earlier this year, when the nhs said it would review the decision. but health bosses have once again decided to withdraw the money, putting the centre—back at risk of closure. shoppers have been warned after counterfeit goods worth millions of pounds were seized by border force officers in the run—up to christmas. at heathrow, a haul of 16,000 gillett razor blades worth nearly £150,000 were seized. counterfeit goods are destroyed and the rights holders can then decide whether to privately prosecute the importers. let's have a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tube, this morning although a reminder on london 0verground. no service from gospel 0ak to barking because of planned engineering works. 0n the roads, a13 slow moving westbound from dagenham to barking because of usual delays. chelsea embankment is closed westbound for roadworks between chelsea bridge and battersea bridge. let's have a check on the weather now. hello, good morning. today is going to feel mighty chilly, a big plunging temperatures of up to 10 celsius in some areas from where we we re celsius in some areas from where we were yesterday. feeling bitterly cold, a chilly north—westerly wind but if you wrap up warm it won't be too bad, quite pretty, sunshine around and lots of blue sky but a lwa ys around and lots of blue sky but always the chance of seeing one or two fla kes always the chance of seeing one or two flakes falling wherever you are across the capital but particularly in this line here we may well see some wintry showers and they're most likely to fall in north—western areas of the capital. highs between 3-5 areas of the capital. highs between 3—5 only and it will feel colder than that of course with the wind chill. through this evening and overnight those showers where we see them are likely to die away. clear skies, temperatures dropping low and for a widespread frost, some areas perhaps as low as —3. very cold start to saturday. still feeling cold on saturday. lots of sunshine around, a ridge of high pressure. 0n sunday we may well see problems caused by this band of rain coming in from the west, that could well fall as snow, particularly towards northern areas of the capital. further south, more likely to fall as rain but watch this space. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. bye for now. hello. this is breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment. plenty coming up. averil hart wasjust 19 when she died of anorexia. now a damning report says her death was an "avoidable tragedy", with every nhs service she came into contact with missing opportunities to save her life. we'll speak to her father later. bring upa bring up a conversation and she will be like, we're not talking about this right now. do you know how to talk to your kids about tricky subjects like sex, or drugs? as new research finds parents are skirting around the difficult issues, we'll find out how to have those frank conversations at home. it's kept millions of us gripped every sunday night, now blue planet 2 is drawing to a close. we'll recap our favourite moments with the programme's producers. good morning. here's a summary of this morning's main stories from bbc news. theresa may has arrived in brussels after intense negotiations which continued throughout the night to try to break the deadlock in the brexit talks. let's ta ke let's take you through what we understand to be the sequence of events. phone calls at about four a.m.. an events. phone calls at about four a. m.. an early—morning events. phone calls at about four a.m.. an early—morning flight by theresa may to brussels. and in the next few minutes a joint conference between theresa may and jean—claude juncker. a breakthrough is what we are told. a —— we are waiting that conference. let's speak to our brussels reporter, kevin connolly. what are we expecting? the truth is we are hearing very little by way of detail from anybody involved in the talks, but we think it's reasonable to assume that the reason they would not have made this rather dramatic dash to brussels if a deal wasn't in place —— theresa may. this is of course the deal that collapsed rather dramatically on monday. the deal that was meant to get the brexit talks to move on from the first phase, the divorce bill, the first phase, the divorce bill, the irish border and citizens rights and get them to wear theresa may wa nts and get them to wear theresa may wants them to me, on the issue of the uk's future trading relationship with the european union. that decision will be taken by eu leaders next week at a summit in brussels, if the deal is done today. we don't know what the details are and we don't know how theresa may and the british government got the problems over the irish border i end out —— ironed out, but there's a real sense that after a rather sticky week in brussels it now seems as though the bump in the road in the process has been overcome. it won't be the last bump in the road, but theresa may will see this as quite an achievement, as long as it sticks the morning. thank you. let's keep you up—to—date. we should maybe go back to the images. that's the hallway where we are expecting the press co nfe re nce hallway where we are expecting the press conference to take place —— the hall where. it will take place sometime in the next few hours, but we will bring it to you as it happens. there is a —— images on twitter, a working breakfast which is happening right now. the press aide tojean—claude juncker has tweeted the handshake which are between jean—claude juncker and theresa may. and of course the brexit secretary david davis is also there with theresa may. we are expecting a preference —— press conference later and will bring it to you as it happens. wildfires have happened in southern california, stretching firefighters to their limit. any thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and planes have been diverted to one of the main places in san diego. officials say more than a00 buildings have been destroyed. a state of emergency has been declared. a "day of rage" is being planned by palestinians angered by america's recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. around 30 demonstrators were injured in clashes with israeli forces in the west bank yesterday. the us has warned palestinians against cancelling talks with vice—president mike pence, who'll visit the middle east in less than two weeks' time. two of the country's digg is the retailers have been forced to pay back thousands of staff who were paid back thousands of staff who were pa id less back thousands of staff who were paid less than the minimum wage. primark and sports direct are among 250 companies which have been named and shamed, for failing 250 companies which have been named and shamed, forfailing to pay workers when there were travelling between jobs, not paying workers when there were travelling betweenjobs, not paying overtime and deducting money for uniforms. all firms on the list say the issues have now been rectified. prison inspectors have found high levels of serious violence, chronic staff shortages and filthy conditions at one of britain's biggest jails, wormwood scrubs, for the third year in a row. they also found areas of the west london prison, which houses 1,200 inmates, were strewn with litter, attracting rats and cockroaches. the ministry ofjustice says it's taken "decisive action" to address the problems. mike has the sport now. we are talking golden balls. ronaldo now has five! it's quite a nice number. symmetrical. that's true. it was 2001 when the last briton won it. before that it was the charlton, among others. did david beckham ever win at? no, he came second. close. you have to go back to 2007 for the last time it wasn't either cristiano ronaldo are lionel messi taking it home. it's the ballon d'or awarded to the world's best player. for the second year running football journalists, decided christiano ronaldo needed another golden ball for his mantelpiece. he won the champions league with real madrid, as well as the spanish domestic title. it means he now equals messi's own tally of five of these awards. he also got a baby globe for his latest baby daughter, born in november. i still have the motivation to be cristiano, to play with happiness, so the main word is happy. enjoy myself. i'm still motivated and i play in a fantastic club and a fantastic national team, so let's see what the future brings. at this moment i'm very happy. that was ronaldo speaking last night halfway up the eiffel tower in paris. wales say they're extremely disappointed they won't get to stage any of the matches at euro 2020. they reached the semi finals in paris last year of course. but wembley will now host seven games at euro 2020 after brussels lost the right to host matches for the tournament. wembley was already scheduled to hold the semi—finals and final but will now also host three group games and a last 16 tie. it was a lowest ever crowd at arsenal's emirates stadium, but the 30,000 that did turn up were treated to six of the best as arsenal warmed up for the knock out phase of the europa league, thrashing bartey borisov of belarus. the gunners were already through, hence the crowd of 30,000, although lots of clubs would be pleased with that. a cracking strike from a 20—year—old and and at last a win in europe for everton. it's far too late for them to go through, but young ademola lookman looked the part in cyprus and everton gave debuts to five youngsters in the 3—0 win, as they now prepare to face liverpool in the merseyside derby at the weekend. five—time winner ronnie 0'sullivan is through to the quarter—finals of the uk snooker championship, but only just after a six frames to five win over thailand's sunny akani. 0'sullivan rode his luck as he came from behind three times in the best of 11 match to progress. moeen ali says the team still believe they can turn around the ashes series, despite their defeat in adelaide. he didn't bowl as much as he would have liked because of an injury to his finger but he says that would have healed in time for the third test in perth, which sta rts the third test in perth, which starts next thursday. ididn't i didn't bowl as much in the second innings, which was actually quite good for my finger. hopefully another week or at least five or six days will be quite good for it. in the first couple of days we were poor and then we started to fight back. that fight brought us closer together. we still have a chance. it isa together. we still have a chance. it is a slight chance, but we've got a good enough team and we've shown the fight in this team, that we can compete. scotland's kelsey macdonald is two shots off the lead at the halfway stage of the dubai ladies‘ classic. she's eight under par after her opening two rounds, just behind leader anne van dam of the netherlands. england's georgia hall is a shot further back on seven under. now, last week we heard about the people at the top of their sporting game who are competing for bbc sports personality of the year. today, we have the rising stars shortlisted for the bbc young sports personality of the year award. this year, ellie downie became the first british gymnast to win all—around gold at a major international event with victory at the european championships. she also won silvers and bronze. phil foden claimed the golden ball award at the under—17 world cup, after helping inspire england to victory. the midfielder scored twice as they came from behind to beat spain 5—2 in the final. i've trained with this next nominee. and she races at 60 miles per hour, without being able to see. did you do that? no. the visually impaired teenager millie knight and her guide brett wild won downhill gold at the world para—alpine skiing championships. the winner will be revealed at the ceremony in liverpool injust over ten days. they are in good company. well, ellie downie won it in 201a. but she still qualifies because you only have to be 17 at the start of the year, even though she is now 18. we will have lots of backstage interviews. it's part of the main show. sunday the 17th of december, which was —— is a week on sunday. and then it is another big week after that. is that? yes, christmas! straight to the brussels press conference which is under way. the prime minister and that's the reason why i would like to thank the prime minister for the determination. i would also like to thank michel barnier and david davis, for the extremely hard and skilful work over the last weeks and months. we discussed the joint report had agreed with the negotiators. prime minister may has assured me that it has the backing of the uk government. 0n assured me that it has the backing of the uk government. on that basis, i believe we have now made the progress we needed. today's result is of course a compromise. it isn't a-- is is of course a compromise. it isn't a——isa is of course a compromise. it isn't a —— is a result after an intense discussion between us and the uk. as in any negotiation both side has to listen to each other, adjust their position and show a willingness to compromise. this was a difficult negotiation for the european union, as well as for the united kingdom. 0n as well as for the united kingdom. on wednesday, last wednesday, the couege on wednesday, last wednesday, the college of commissioners gave me the mandate to conclude the negotiation of thejoint report mandate to conclude the negotiation of the joint report and it had to be concluded today. not next week. today, because next week we have the european council and in order to allow our partners to prepare in the best way possible, we had to make the deal today. on the basis of the mandate, which was given to me by the european council, the commission has just formally decided to recommend to the european council that sufficient progress has now been made on the terms of the divorce. speaks german. the decision on sufficient progress will be in the hands of the 27 heads of state of government. i am hopeful and confident that they will share our praise all and allow us to move onto the next phase of the negotiations. last monday i also met with european parliament representatives. 0peration between the european parliament and the commission has been close —— cooperation. 0ur position has been closely aligned. these negotiations can only thing —— these are the —— successful if we take a cooperative approach. without going into all the detail, allow me to touch on what these agreements mean in practice. later on today, after 9:30am, my friend michel barnier will be available to explain all the details of the agreement we reached today. a few remarks. 0n citizens‘ writes, first. in this negotiation, citizens have always come first. it has been a great importance for the commission to make sure that eu citizens in the uk will be protected after the uk leaves the european union. eu citizens have made important life choices on the assumption that the united kingdom was a member of the european union. brexit created great uncertainty for those citizens and for their families. today, we bring back the certainty. the commission‘s negotiators have made sure that the choices made by eu citizens living in the uk will be protected. we have made sure that their rights will remain the same after the uk has left the european union. this is in particular the case for eu citizens‘ right to live, work and study, their right to live, work and study, their right to live, work and study, their right to family unification, the protection of the right of eu citizen children and the right to healthcare pensions and other social security benefits. we have made sure that the administrative procedures will be cheap and will be simple. this is an issue for which the commission will pay particular attention when drafting the agreement. the same goes for uk citizens living in the eu 27. on the settling of accounts, the prime minister said in her remarkable florence speech that the united kingdom would honour its commitments, including beyond 2020. this was a detailed line by line process and she has been as good as her word. i‘m very grateful for that, prime minister. 0n ireland, the eu has consistently supported the eu has consistently supported the goal of peace and reconciliation agreed in the good friday agreement. the european union has made it a priority to protect the peace process on the island. i‘ve been in regular contact with the irish government over the past few days, including last night, including the last negotiations we had because of yesterday with our irish friends. the uk has made significant commitments on the avoidance of a ha rd commitments on the avoidance of a hard border after its withdrawal from the eu. all of the eu 27 stand firmly behind ireland and behind the peace process. let me be clear, we still have a lot of work to do. the joint report is not the withdrawal agreement, but agreement needs to be drafted by the negotiators on the basis of the talks today and yesterday and then approved by the uk parliament and the european parliament. 53a days ago the british people voted to leave the european union. 2a9 days ago the united kingdom notified the eu its intention to leave the eu and in aa7 days the united kingdom will dojust that. i will always be sad about this development, but now we must start looking to the future. a will be and will remain a close friend... inaudible kubot dedicated much of our meeting to ourjoint vision for a deep and close partnership ——... vision for a deep and close partnership ——. .. dedicated. vision for a deep and close partnership ——... dedicated. it‘s important for everyone that we continue to work closely on issues like trade, research, security and others. we will take things one step ata time, others. we will take things one step at a time, starting with next week‘s european council, but today i‘m hopeful that we are now all moving towards the second phase of this challenging negotiation and we can do thisjointly on challenging negotiation and we can do this jointly on the basis of trust. renewed trust. determination. and with the perspective of renewed friendship. thank you, prime minister. thank you, jean—claude. we‘ve been working extremely hard this week and as you‘ve all seen it hasn‘t been easy for either side. when we met on monday we said a deal was within reach, what we have arrived at today represents a significant improvement and i‘m grateful to the negotiating teams, led by david davis and michel barnier, for their efforts. getting to this point has required give and ta ke to this point has required give and take on both sides and i believe that the joint report being published is in the best interests of the whole of the uk. i very much welcome the prospect of moving ahead to the next phase to talk about trade and security and to discuss the positive and ambitious future relationship that is in all of our interests. i have consistently said that we want to build a deep and special partnership with the eu as we implement the decision with the british people to leave at the end of march, 2019. doing so will provide clarity and certainty for businesses in the uk and the eu and crucially for all our citizens. the deal we‘ve struck will guarantee the rights of more than 3 million eu citizens living in the uk and 1 million uk citizens living in the eu. eu citizens living in the uk will have their rights enshrined in uk law and enforced by british courts. they will be able to go on living their lives as before. i was clear in florence that we‘re a country that honours our obligations. after some toff, sessions we‘ve now agreed a settle m e nt sessions we‘ve now agreed a settlement that is fair to the british taxpayer —— tough negotiations. in the future we will be able to invest more in priorities at home, housing, schools and the nhs. in northern ireland we will guarantee there will be no hard border and we will uphold the belfast agreement and in doing so we will continue to preserve the constitutional and economic integrity of the united kingdom. we have taken this week... time this week to strengthen and clarify this pa rt week to strengthen and clarify this part of the agreement following discussions with unionists in northern ireland and across the uk. layover raqqa and i spoke yesterday and we have committed there should be no barriers in any direction —— layover raqqa. i am writing today to the people of northern ireland to set out our approach. millions of jobs depend on the future trading relationship we will determine and i‘m optimistic about the discussions ahead but in the meantime reaching this agreement now means that businesses will be able to make investment decisions based on a period that welcomes certainty. i will be seeing president asked shortly and i look forward to the publication of his guidelines. i also look forward to next week‘s european council meeting where i hope and expect we will be able to get the endorsement of the 27 to what is a hard—won agreement in all our interests. we have time for some questions. let me start with... yes. prime minister, this was a difficult negotiation, like you just said, very challenging, like the president said, but it isjust the beginning, the first stage, and it'sjust the beginning of a very long and complex negotiation. it was already very difficult. did ever the question come to your mind that maybe after all this whole brexit affair is a very bad idea for any second? thank you. in 2016, the british people were given ina in 2016, the british people were given in a referendum the opportunity to choose whether to stay in the european union or not. parliament was united across all parties, a significant majority agreed that decision would be given to the british people. the british people voted and they voted to leave the european union and i believe it‘s a matter of trust and integrity in politicians and i believe the people should be able to trust their politicians will put into place what they have determined, and that‘s exactly what we‘re doing and we will be leaving the european union. adam from the bbc? hi, adam fleming from the bbc. morning to both of you. what is the biggest compromise the other side has made to get you to this point today? was it a champagne breakfast? this was a question actually of coming together and working together for a report and agreements that we re for a report and agreements that were in the best interests of all sides. it‘s been finding the way through that enables us to deliver for citizens, to deliver on financial settlement, and also crucially to deliver in relation to northern ireland but agreement on no ha rd northern ireland but agreement on no hard border but also respecting the constitutional and economic integrity of the united kingdom. that‘s what we‘ve been working too and that‘s what i believe this joint report sets out. miranda from the german news agency? good morning. mr prime minister... sorry, miss prime minister, the arrangement seems to mean a special status for northern ireland, how come your partner, the dup, accepted that? will it not mean that the rest of the uk will also remain in the single market? it doesn‘t actually mean what you suggested. we‘ve been very clear, if you look at the text of the joint report, it says that we will work to achieve the relationship, the trading relationship, between the uk and the european union that we want to see, that we believe will also be a good trading relationship for northern ireland. if that is not the case then we will look for specific solutions to what are the unique circumstances of northern ireland. everybody recognises that because northern ireland is the only part of the uk with a land border with a country that will be remaining within the european union, that is a set of unique circumstances, and indeed there are already unique circumstances and specific solutions for northern ireland. there‘s a single electricity market across the island of ireland for example, but i‘m confident that we can, in negotiating the future trade relationship, ensure that we both won‘t have a hard border in northern ireland but that we will retain the economic integrity of the single market of the united kingdom. go—ahead. good morning. mark stone from sky news. prime minister, can i ask you, in some bulk terms, what has changed between monday's lunch and now which allows you to say a deal is done now and you couldn't on monday? —— in simple terms. president juncker, and you couldn't on monday? —— in simple terms. presidentjuncker, for you if i may, specifically on the european court of justice, you if i may, specifically on the european court ofjustice, it was one of the big sticking point is, the prime minister says now eu citizens in the uk will be under uk law and uk courts, is that correct? are you happy with that? —— sticking points. shall i take it? 0n the first point, as we both said when we stood here on monday, there we re when we stood here on monday, there were a couple of issues we still have to finalise as we went through the last few days, but as i said in the last few days, but as i said in the remarks that ijust made, one of the remarks that ijust made, one of the things you can see is we have a strengthening of the commitments in relation to northern ireland and the united kingdom. ithink relation to northern ireland and the united kingdom. i think that‘s important, i think that‘s helpful, so important, i think that‘s helpful, so within thejoint important, i think that‘s helpful, so within the joint report you‘ll see the commitment both to no hard between ireland and northern ireland, but also that we ensure we retain that constitutional integrity and economic integrity of the united kingdom. for eu citizens, the european court ofjustice will still be competent. michel barnier will explain later in detail what this is about because it will take too much time to explain this in detail. that's the end of our press conference, thank you. thank you. studio: that's conference, thank you. thank you. studio: that‘s the press conference between theresa may and jean—claude juncker on the first phase of brexit negotiations being concluded. let‘s pick up on some of the key issues from theresa may, let‘s look at the significant ones specifically to do with the financial settlement. "a deal that is there to british taxpayers and crucially allowing us to invest more in schools and the nhs", which harks back to some of the brexit campaigning. the main issues agreed on with this phase is areas of citizens‘ rights, the dialogue with ireland and the financial settlement. more on this through the morning. but first the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news, i‘m victoria hollins. the foreign secretary says he will visit the iranian capital this weekend and called for the release of a london woman being detained there. borisjohnson will urge dual—national nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe be freed on humanitarian grounds. the motherfrom hampstead has been held in tehran since april last year, accused of trying to overthrow the iranian government, charges she denies. a man has been summoned to appear in court after a double—decker bus collided with a pedestrian on a pavement in reading. the footage from the incident in june went viral when simon smith got up and walked into a bar after being knocked over. a man from wallingford will appear before magistrates next week. the families of children who go to a respite centre in watford are starting a new legal fight to save it. it follows another decision by the nhs to stop funding care at nascot lawn. a legal challenge in the high court was postponed earlier this year, when the nhs said it would review the decision. but health bosses have once again decided to withdraw the money, putting the centre—back at risk of closure. shoppers have been warned after counterfeit goods worth millions of pounds were seized by border force officers in the run—up to christmas. at heathrow, a haul of 16,000 gillett razor blades worth nearly £150,000 were seized. counterfeit goods are destroyed and the rights holders can then decide whether to privately prosecute the importers. let‘s have a look at the travel situation now. all the travel situation now. lines on the tube are run! good all lines on the tube are running good services. 0n the roads, a13 slow moving westbound from dagenham to barking, that‘s down to the usual delays. chelsea embankment is closed westbound for roadworks between chelsea bridge and battersea bridge. let‘s have a check on the weather now with elizabeth rizzini. hello, good morning. today is going to feel mighty chilly, a big plunge in temperatures of up to 10 celsius in some areas from where we were yesterday. feeling bitterly cold, a chilly north—westerly wind but if you wrap up warm it won‘t be too bad, quite pretty, sunshine around and lots of blue sky but always the chance of seeing one or two flakes falling wherever you are across the capital but particularly in this line here we may well see some wintry showers and they‘re most likely to fall in north—western areas of the capital. highs between 3—5 only and it will feel colder than that of course with the wind chill. now, through this evening and overnight those showers where we see them are likely to die away. clear skies, we‘ll see temperatures dropping low enough for a widespread frost, some areas perhaps as low as —3. a very cold start to saturday. still feeling cold on saturday too. lots of sunshine around, a ridge of high pressure. on sunday we may well see problems caused by this band of rain coming in from the west, that could well fall as snow, particularly towards northern areas of the capital. further south, more likely to fall as rain but watch this space. i‘m back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. bye for now. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. a breakthrough in brussels. get into this point has required devante cole both sides and i believe the joint report being published it in the best interests of the whole of the uk. i believe we have now made the breakthrough we needed. today's result is of course a compromise. good morning. it‘s friday, the 8th of december. also this morning: more on match news from brussels coming up. firefighters are stretched to the limit and nearly 200,000 residents are evacuated in california as more wildfires break out. good morning. failing to pay the minimum wage. 260 companies including primark and sports direct are named and shamed by the government. in sport, ronaldo rules again. for the second year running, and fifth time overall, christiano ronaldo has been named the world‘s best player, pipping messi to lift the golden ball up the eiffel tower. and the winner is... coventry! a night of celebration for coventry after it has awarded the next uk city of culture. snow has been falling overnight. warnings of disruption today. carol has the full forecast. we have seen a fair bit of snow in parts of the country overnight, especially the north and west of the uk and the midlands, the same areas that will see further snow today. the odd snow flurry might get further east and south, but there is ice to watch out for this morning. many central and eastern areas will be dry, cold and sunny. more details on about 15 minutes. good morning. within the past few minutes, the european commission has said "sufficient progress" has been made in the first phase of brexit talks, allowing talks to move on to discussion of britain‘s future relationship with the eu. the announcement is a key moment in the negotiations on britain‘s departure from the eu. a couple of first thoughts on what was said. theresa may spoke in the last 15 minutes, saying negotiations haven‘t been easy. she says the deal has been guaranteed... guarantees the rights of eu citizens in the uk and british citizens in the eu. also and british citizens in the eu. also a deal on the financial settlement, the much talked about financial settlement. a deal that‘s fair for british taxpayers. everyone is listening very closely to words from both sides. what were the key elements you drew from it? is not often that before 7am in the morning you have huge political developments unfolding, but that‘s what has happened this morning and this is an absolutely crucial moment for the british government. after the humiliation of monday, to finally get to this stage that‘s been talked about for months really matters. what is happening right now is we are going through line by line the accompanying document that has just been published, full of, as you would expect, lots of a—league —— lots of fairly dense and complicated prose, such is the necessary language to accommodate all of the competing sides, whether they be the uk and ireland over the irish border, the border that will separate the uk from the eu after brexit, or as you say on citizens‘ writes, there‘s the financial settle m e nt writes, there‘s the financial settlement as well. but there will be massive relief in downing street that they have cleared this hurdle. they‘ve worked throughout the night and we got the first hint that a deal looked likely at about 6pm yesterday when there was an announcement that one of the league chiefs in brussels would give a conference this morning. the pm spoke to all sides in downing street. we got a strong hint at midnight from the person in charge of ensuring conservatives can get the votes they need through the commons, he tweeted at ignite, praising the prime minister and talking about the second phase of the negotiations. at 5am we were told that the prime minister and david davis were en route to brussels, as you‘ve seen in the last few moments. that news conference between theresa may and john claude —— jean—claude juncker, announcing a big step forward. so what‘s to come will be trade talks, about the future relationship between the uk and eu, as opposed to an packing of the current relationship, which is where we have been up until now. and just a hint as to what is to come, if you think the discussions thus far have been complicated and two step forward and one step out and the huge amount of controversy and detail, we‘ve probably seen nothing yet because when we get into the 55e 5525455 35555 555 55e gee}? 55e 15525455 55555 555 55e gee}? discussions they 55e 15555455 55555 555 55e gee}? discussions they are likely to trade discussions they are likely to be again hugely controversial, hugely argued overfrom be again hugely controversial, hugely argued over from all sides because there‘s a huge amount at sta ke. because there‘s a huge amount at stake. but in pure and simple terms, today a hugely important moment for the british government. thank you. we can talk to our correspondent in brussels, adam flemming. you were just on that press conference and we we re just on that press conference and we were hearing from chris about the first phase being over, i know means the easiest phase. you did ask earlier what the biggest compromise was that both sides had to make and it didn‘t really get answered, they seemed quite positive. they wanted to accentuate the positive and not talk about the difficult stuff, because this is a moment for both sides, both sides of the paul —— podium, a moment of celebration, because they feel they‘ve done it. and by that i mean they‘ve got enough progress in the first phase of talks for both sides to be happy and it‘s located now start talking about trade, a transition period and the future relationship. as always the future relationship. as always the devil will be in the detail, to use the cliche. both sides have posted a 50 page document. tiny lettering —— 15. this is where we will find out exactly what the uk has signed up to when it comes to the rights of citizens. diplomats say look for the number of years at the european court ofjustice will still be able to rule on cases in the uk. someone said to me it could be as many as eight years after the uk leads. will have to check what paragraph that says. there are a few paragraphs about what they call the financial settlement, the so—called brexit bill. what has the uk signed up brexit bill. what has the uk signed up to the brexit bill. what has the uk signed the pay brexit bill. what has the uk signed up to the pay for years and years potentially after brexit and have they massaged the figures so that it‘s a good dealfor the uk as they massaged the figures so that it‘s a good deal for the uk as the prime minister was explaining? also theissue prime minister was explaining? also the issue of northern ireland, preventing a hard water, the thing that held up the whole process this week. paragraph if this seems to be the key. it suggests that there will be what they call full alignment in terms of rules and regulations between northern ireland and the republic of ireland in the sectors of the economy and national life that cross the border. so it will be the eu rules that will be the same in areas where there is cross border cooperation, so not everything. if there is a need for the uk and northern ireland to have different rules, but the northern ireland government and northern irish assembly will get a say on that. we have to go through the document properly, but my sense is that the solution they‘ve come up with two squared the dup, which was the hold up squared the dup, which was the hold up this week, they could get this document published and we could get this progress and start talking about the second phase. a very complicated issue indeed. good to talk to you. thanks very much. 0ur correspondence are cross what‘s going on. we know there will be a press co nfe re nce going on. we know there will be a press conference at 8am. they will discuss progress made on brexit and after 9a m discuss progress made on brexit and after 9am the chief negotiator michel barnier will issue another press co nfe re nce . michel barnier will issue another press conference. we will be keeping you up—to—date. a look at the other news now. a number of new wildfires have started in southern california, stretching firefighters to the limit. nearly 200,000 people have now been evacuated from their homes. planes have been diverted to one of the latest blazes in the county of san diego and officials say more than a00 buildings have been destroyed. 0ur north america correspondent james cook reports. the american west was never really tamed. the weather here was always wild and dangerous and in a warming world it seems to be getting worse. well, the wind hasjust picked up here in the past few minutes and the fire is really flaring up on the hillside there and pushing along the canyon. there are some homes down there. we can hear shouts in the valley and there are some families refusing to leave. they wouldn‘t answer the door, but they were inside and intent on staying put, despite the danger lurking nearby. at least two dozen horses have died in the fire, which is the worst here in living memories. we don‘t have any access... in the exclusive suburb of bel air, they attacked the fires aggressively, successfully saving scores of homes. the musician lionel ritchie and the socialite paris hilton were among those forced to flee. every firefighting aircraft in the us has been summoned to california and they are making a big difference. in times of crisis come extraordinary moments of compassion. here, a man, apparently in distressed, runs to rescue a rabbit. one little life saved. several new fires have broken out in the past few hours. containing them is a superhuman effort, but mother nature is likely to have the last word. a ‘day of rage‘ is being planned by palestinians angered by america‘s recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. around 30 demonstrators were injured in clashes with israeli forces in the west bank yesterday. the us has warned palestinians against cancelling talks with vice president mike pence, who will visit the middle east injust president mike pence, who will visit the middle east in just under two months. snow, ice and windy conditions are set to sweep across large parts of the uk today, as storm caroline heads towards scandinavia. severe gales have already caused disruption to air, rail and ferry services. 0ur correspondent clare fallon is in nantwich in cheshire this morning. __ up —— up to eight inches is expected in places. prison inspectors have found high levels of serious violence, chronic staff shortages and filthy conditions at one of britain‘s biggest jails, wormwood scrubs, for the third year in a row. they also found areas of the west london prison, which houses 1,200 inmates, were strewn with litter, attracting rats and cockroaches. the ministry ofjustice says it‘s taken "decisive action" to address the problems. those are the main story this morning. we will be crossing back to brussels shortly for those main developments in what‘s happening, dubbed a breakthrough in negotiations. an "avoidable tragedy". that‘s how a damning review has described the death of averil hart, a 19—year—old student who died of a heart attack caused by anorexia. averil spent more than 10 months in hospital after developing the eating disorder. she was discharged so she could go to university, but four months later, she collapsed, and passed away in hospital. averil‘s family brought a complaint about her care to the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, which now says her life could have been saved. we‘re joined now by averil‘s dad, nic hart. thanks forjoining us on the sofa. tell us about the parliamentary and health service averil hart.l tell us about the parliamentary and health service averil hart. a great daughter, great fun to be with, very outgoing, academic, love music and going to concerts, black belt in karate so a joy to have around. what happened with her illness, it was a rapid descent in terms of weight loss ? you have generally generously shared a photo before she died and we aren‘t showing it because it‘s distressing in terms of the weight she lost and how ill she was, but in our research you described her descent into this was very quick. averil did her a—levels and then spiralled in terms of weight loss, went into an inpatient unit. she was discharged probably below her target weight to go to university and that‘s where the real problem started. she was looked after by a trainee while at university and continued to lose weight because the trainee had no experience of anorexia, even though it was a specialist eating disorder service. we all knew that she was declining and that things were going wrong, despite calls to medical centre, nothing happened, and she was found unconscious in her room and taken first to a hospital that didn‘t know much about how to treat anorexia and then to addenbrookes, where sadly they didn‘t treat her for five hours and then there was a mixup in the middle of the night with a junior doctor and a consultant and she had a heart attack because she was hypoglycaemic. the distress of losing your daughter in the first place for you and your family in itself is a terrible thing for the family to live through but now with the knowledge you have about the steps along the way when there should have been helped, when people should have been able to step in and help in some way, that must have been so hard to deal with? we can‘t still really believe that she isn‘t with us, you could imagine what it‘s like. we have campaigned ha rd what it‘s like. we have campaigned hard and despite the factjeremy hunt knew about this case three yea rs hunt knew about this case three years ago, bernard jenkin and many people, it‘s taken averil‘s family, friends, whistleblowers, katharine murphy of the patients association, other people to get this report to where it is. i wish we could have the ombudsman here today to talk about it because he refused to a nswer about it because he refused to answer our questions only two weeks ago and the only reason we think this report is out today is because the ombudsman is in front of the select committee next week. it is tragic it has taken so much to get the truth from the trust involved and basically they are in my opinion financial organisations, their reputation is what they stand on. we should say the department of health has issued a statement saying averil‘s death was a tragedy and its cases like hers that have led us to make a step change in the way we treat eating disorders in the nhs. what can come out of this in terms of knowing these institutions have at least had to face up to this and try to make a change? there's a much bigger issue here, naga, how do we end up with mid staffs and southern healthcare? it‘s end up with mid staffs and southern healthca re? it‘s because end up with mid staffs and southern healthcare? it‘s because we haven‘t had a proper investigations. you allow trusts to investigate themselves, they don‘t worry about themselves, they don‘t worry about the ombudsman because they‘ve been so the ombudsman because they‘ve been so incompetent and then you end up with thousands dying. it‘s like a jumbo crashing every few months and nobody asking why. averil‘s case matters to everyone in this country because they care that she had was so because they care that she had was so poor and basically everyone said it was satisfactory and if it wasn‘t for averil‘s family and those people helping us, we wouldn‘t be hearing about it now so to be honest it‘s about it now so to be honest it‘s about the health service, how we investigate and improve the service for all of us. has this battle you‘ve been involved in that you detail so well for us today, has it prevented you and the family from grieving as you may well have done? i‘m waiting for therapy to connect with my wonderful daughter. you can‘t read an e—mail every morning, or several e—mails, about the death of your daughter and grieve at the same time. you have to put up walls and fight the fight and i‘m really ready now to let go and connect with my wonderful girl and think about her. nic, we wish you and your family all the best and thank you for speaking to us this morning. thank you both. you can find details about organisations offering information and support on eating disorders and diabetes via the bbc actionline pages at bbc.co.uk/actionline here‘s carol with a look at this morning‘s weather. we have seen snow coming down in all parts of the country? parts indeed, especially the north and the west and around the midlands and the west and around the midlands and our weather watchers have been working hard this morning sending us pictures, you can see the snow depth in county down. another in aviemore, afair bit in county down. another in aviemore, a fair bit of snow via too and i‘ll show you some of the depths around parts of the uk, aviemore has a lot of lying snow. —— snow here too. there‘s further snow to come. storm caroline has pushed away to scandinavia but you can see the isobars still closely packed together so that means it‘s still windy, especially across the north we re windy, especially across the north were once again we‘re looking at blizzards and drifting smoke. the cold aircoming blizzards and drifting smoke. the cold air coming down from the arctic is right across the country and for some it is 10 degrees colder now than this time yesterday. snow showers in parts of the moors, some getting down across the south coast and these ones in the south coast we don‘t expect to lie. dry weather, colder, three degrees in london at 8am. the north and west midlands seeing more 8am. the north and west midlands seeing more snow, 8am. the north and west midlands seeing more snow, northern england, dry and cold and watch out for ice on untreated surfaces, the same in southern scotland and northern scotla nd southern scotland and northern scotland seeing a plethora of snow showers being blown in with snow on. further snow in northern ireland, continuing to add up, and the same in wales, snow showers coming in here but in between the showers they will be sunshine. looking at the charts, stretching from southern scotla nd charts, stretching from southern scotland to kent, largely dry with some sunshine. you may see the odd wintry flurry over to the east at times, but we don‘t expect those to lie. temperature wise, onefive, 1—6, but with the wind chill it will feel below freezing for most. through the evening and overnight the wintry showers and the snow continue in more less the same areas and still a windy night and a cold night with a lot of clear skies around. 0ut windy night and a cold night with a lot of clear skies around. out to the west where we have the wet surfaces there‘s the risk of ice. temperature wise in towns and cities, we‘re looking at freezing or just below. tomorrow, again, same distribution of showers in the north and west coming in on a north—westerly wind. fewer and less frequent tomorrow than today and a lot of dry weather but look at this from the south—west, bringing a bit ofa from the south—west, bringing a bit of a change on sunday. temperature wise again, towns and cities, zero, four, five, this will bring in something milder and as it does from the west, on its leading edge again we‘re expecting to see snow. weaving northern ireland, wales, parts of the midlands, north of the ma corridor, this could change so keep in touch with the forecast —— we think in northern ireland. let‘s with the main developments in northern ireland. sufficient progress has been made in the brexit talks. jean—claude juncker has said paving the way for talks on the future relationship between the uk and the eu is going well. theresa may arrived in brussels overnight and she says there will be no hard border and the good friday agreement will be upheld. getting to this point has required give and take on both sides and i believe that the joint report being published is in the best interests of the whole of the uk. i‘ve very much welcome the prospect of moving ahead to the next phase, to talk about trade and security and to talk about trade and security and to discuss the positive and ambitious future relationship that is in all of our interests. i‘ve consistently said that we want to build a deep and special partnership with the eu as we implement the decision of the british people to leave at the end of march 2019. doing so will provide clarity and certainty for businesses in the uk and the eu and crucially for all our citizens. the deal we‘ve struck will guarantee the rights of more than 3 million eu citizens living in the uk and of1 million eu citizens living in the uk and of 1 million million eu citizens living in the uk and of1 million eu citizens living in the eu. eu citizens living in the uk will have their rights in shrine in uk law and enforced by british courts. they will be able to go on living their lives as before. i was clear in florence that we‘re a country that honours our obligations. after some tough negotiations we‘ve now agreed a settle m e nt negotiations we‘ve now agreed a settlement that is fair to the british taxpayer. it means in future we‘ll be able to invest more in our priorities at home, such as housing, schools and the nhs. in northern ireland we will guarantee there will be no hard border and we will up hold the belfast agreement and in doing so we will continue to preserve the constitutional and economic integrity of the united kingdom. earlier, the president of the european commission jean—claude juncker said the discussions had been challenging with compromises made on both sides. i believe we have now made the breakthrough we needed. today‘s result is of course a compromise. it is the result of a long and intense discussion between the commissioner negotiations and those of the uk. as in any negotiation, both sides had to listen to each other, a just their position, and show a willingness to compromise. this was a difficult negotiation for the european union as well as for the united kingdom. 0n european union as well as for the united kingdom. on wednesday, last wednesday, the college of commissioners gave me a mandate to conclude the negotiation of the joint report and it had to be concluded today. we‘ve also been hearing from the dup leader, arlene foster. i think it‘s important to say we have been working throughout the evening and right into the early hours of this morning. we've been negotiating directly with the prime minister. she has now a text she feels she wants to take back to europe. we think that there have been substantial changes made to that text since monday. 0n been substantial changes made to that text since monday. on monday we we re that text since monday. on monday we were unhappy with the text when we received it in late morning and we felt that there wasn‘t enough clarity, particularly around a very important issue of access to the gb market. having said that, constitutionally, politically and of course economically as well it was vitally important the integrity of the united kingdom was kept in place and that‘s why we had concerns on monday and we‘ve been working throughout the week in relation to those matters. arlene foster. we will keep you up—to—date with what‘s happening in brussels and more press conferences expected through the morning. a meeting at 9:30am this morning, michel barnier will give more details. lots of questions around ireland situation and how that will violence, chronic staff shortages and filthy conditions. it‘s the third time in three years serious concerns have been raised by prison inspectors. the government says it‘s taking action to reduce levels of violence, including the recruitment of 120 extra officers. the foreign secretary says he will visit the iranian capital this weekend and called for the release of a london woman being detained there. borisjohnson will urge dual—national nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe be freed on humanitarian grounds. the motherfrom hampstead has been held in tehran since april last year, accused of trying to overthrow the iranian government, charges she denies. a man has been summoned to appear in court after a double—decker bus collided with a pedestrian on a pavement in reading. the footage from the incident in june went viral when simon smith got up and walked into a bar after being knocked over. a man from wallingford will appear before magistrates next week. let‘s have a look at the travel situation now. all lines on the tube are running good services. a reminder on london 0verground. no service from gospel 0ak to barking because of planned engineering works. gatwick express have delays of up to 20 mins and some cancellations between victoria and brighton following a signalling problem. 0n the roads, a13 slow moving westbound from dagenham to barking, that‘s down to the usual delays. it has improved in the last half an hour, though, so not so bad. chelsea embankment is closed westbound for roadworks between chelsea bridge and battersea bridge. let‘s have a check on the weather now with elizabeth rizzini. hello, good morning. today is going to feel mighty chilly, a big plunge in temperatures of up to 10 celsius in some areas from where we were yesterday. feeling bitterly cold, a chilly north—westerly wind but if you wrap up warm it won‘t be too bad, quite pretty, sunshine around and lots of blue sky but always the chance of seeing one or two flakes of snow falling wherever you are across the capital but particularly in this line here we may well see some wintry showers and they‘re most likely to fall in north—western areas of the capital. highs between 3—5 only and it will feel colder than that of course with the wind chill. now, through this evening and overnight those showers where we see them are likely to die away. clear skies, we‘ll see temperatures dropping low enough for a widespread frost, some areas perhaps as low as —3. a very cold start to saturday. still feeling cold on saturday too. lots of sunshine around, a ridge of high pressure. on sunday we may well see problems caused by this band of rain coming in from the west, that could well fall as snow, particularly towards northern areas of the capital. further south, more likely to fall as rain but watch this space. i‘m back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. bye for now. hello, this is breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. here‘s a summary of this morning‘s main stories from bbc news. staying with our top story, that announcement on a breakthrough on the brexit negotiations. theresa may arrived in brussels, following overnight talks. she said there would be no hard border and there would be no hard border and the good friday agreement would be upheld. chris page is in the belfast newsroom. all of this delay and tension ahead of whether they would conclude the first phase of the agreement was because the unhappiness over what was agreed or what was negotiated when it came to the border? that's right. the dup rejected the text on the table in brussels on monday because essentially they were concerned it could leave the door open to there being a new barrier, a new political barrier, between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, effectively at the cost of new chip points and a land border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland. as unionists they said they couldn‘t accept that. so the dup have been involved in negotiations the week in westminster. the westminster leader has been meeting the government at whitehall and other senior mps and overnight the dup leader arlene foster had a series of phone calls with the prime minister. she has been speaking this morning. there have been changes right throughout the text and indeed we believe there have been six substantial changes. we are pleased to see those changes because for me it means there is no red line down the irish sea and we have a very clear confirmation that the entirety of the united kingdom is leaving the european union, even the single market, leaving the customs union, and i think that's a very important statement now. so in general the dup field that their concerns have been dealt with, but they didn‘t get everything they wanted. in fact, they say they still think they would have liked to have seen more progress on the think they would have liked to have seen more progress on the draft text, but they say they think the issues that they still have concerns that can be worked through in parliament or the next phase of the talks, as there will be plenty more talking to do on the issue of the irish border whenever the brexit talks move the second phase, which we now know will happen stop white thanks very much. we have made some significant progress this morning, but there is quite a big "but" attached. india really go on the trade talks and therein lies a whole mother can of worms. the prime minister has been on the lionel ritchie shift. all nightlong she was making calls to all of the different sides, notjust on the other side of the negotiating table, the european union, but as we were hearing from chris in belfast, the democratic unionists around what will be the frontier between the uk and the european union. but i think if... wherever you are watching breakfast at the moment, if you head to the nearest window and leave your ear towards the window you can probably just about make up the giant size of —— sighs of relief coming from downing street. the huge moment for them. it was a humiliation for the prime minister to be midway through her discussions with jean—claude juncker, only to discover that arlene foster was not going to accept the deal she was about to sign. ever since then there have been this very complex negotiations, multinational, multidimensional, lots of detail and finally this breakthrough. but, and it‘s a big "but", this is just breakthrough. but, and it‘s a big "but", this isjust the breakthrough. but, and it‘s a big "but", this is just the end breakthrough. but, and it‘s a big "but", this isjust the end of breakthrough. but, and it‘s a big "but", this is just the end of the beginning because as we move into phase two, the discussions about the future relationship between the uk and the european union, as opposed to an tambling the complicated the current relationship, there will come huge political battles as well, with a huge amount at stake. trade, so with a huge amount at stake. trade, so much business that takes place between the uk and the european union. if i may, ijust between the uk and the european union. ifi may, ijust want between the uk and the european union. if i may, ijust want to interrupt for a second, let‘s go and hear what donald tusk has to say. the respect budgetary commitments. it will respectjudicial the respect budgetary commitments. it will respect judicial oversight and of course all related obligations. clearly, within the transitional period following the uk's transitional period following the uk‘s withdrawal, eu decision—making will continue between the 27 member states, without the uk. all of what i have said seems to be the only reasonable solution and it is in the interest of all our citizens that it is agreed as soon as possible. this is agreed as soon as possible. this is why i will ask the eu leaders to mandate a negotiator to start peace talks immediately. second, we want to begin discussions with the uk in order to explore the british vision of its future relationship with the eu. so far, we have had a number of ideas. we need some more clarity on how the uk sees our future relations after it has left the single market and customs union. i propose the —— that we start expert —— talks with the british government. we are ready to start discussing the close eu — uk partnership in trade, but also in the fight against terrorism and international crime, as well as security, defence and foreign policy. for this to happen, the european council will have to adopt additional guidelines next year. while being satisfied with today‘s agreement, which is obviously the personal success of prime minister theresa may. let us remember that the most difficult challenge is still ahead. we all know that breaking up is hard, but breaking up and building a new relationship is much harder. since the brexit referendum, a year and a half has passed. so much time has been devoted to the easier part of the task and now to negotiate a transition arrangement and the framework for our future relationship, we have less than a year. thank you very much. straight back to chris mason. sorry for interrupting you a moment ago. this press co nfe re nces interrupting you a moment ago. this press conferences are happening as we go to air this morning. donald tusk says these talks now go forward. that‘s the key thing. we go to the trade talk situation, but he is highlighting what he calls problems about the vision and that‘s been a common theme, hasn‘t it? problems about the vision and that‘s been a common theme, hasn't mm has. i think what was very striking, listening to donald tusk, is he is a man who repeatedly, and you could hear this in his tone, is deeply mournful about the uk‘s departure from the eu. he quoted john lennon lyrics in the past to articulate his sense of anger and disappointment at the uk leaving the eu. but the tap into the essence of your question, there‘s been frustration on the european side for some time, which is unresolved, that they feel the uk hasn‘t yet set out clearly to them precisely what it is that they actually want from these negotiations. in other words, what a wa nt negotiations. in other words, what a want the future relationship to look like between the uk and the european union. the british government has long said that in the first phase of the talks it was all about unpacking the talks it was all about unpacking the current relationship. we couldn‘t —— there couldn‘t be that much discussion about how it would look overall, because they had to talk about trade, which plays into how borders look like and has massive consequences on how the relationship will pan out in the medium and long—term. but the essence of what we heard there is what we were talking about a couple of minutes ago, before he started speaking, which is that it‘s a big moment and one that will be celebrated by cabinet ministers, who have been tweeting their congratulations to the prime minister. but after christmas and the new year, the sticky nature of these negotiations, because lets be honest all negotiations are sticky, will continue. the trade elements of the talks, up against a tight that deadline, will be long and complicated and will no doubt have the back and forth council meetings and deadlines broken and all—night sessions that we‘ve seen this week, yesterday, last night and this morning. thanks very much. just to wrap up what donald tusk were saying, of course he is the person who will now —— who will allow the preparation of the next talks, he says he is ready to start preparing a close relationship in trade, security, defence and foreign policy, but says they need more clarity on how the uk sees future relations after leaving the single market and the customs union. we will keep you up—to—date. lots going on this morning. mike is going to take a breath for the moment and speak about the awards season in sport. the golden ball has once again go on to dull —— gone to cristiano ronaldo. there are few british players who have one before. the first was one in 56. who chooses? it started as a french idea and now it is open to players all over the world. you have to go back to 2007 for the last time it wasn‘t ronaldo or messi taking home the golden ball, that‘s the ballon d‘or, awarded to the world‘s best player. for the second year running football journalists, decided christiano ronaldo needed another golden ball for his mantelpiece. he won the champions league with real madrid, as well as the spanish domestic title. it means he now equals messi‘s own tally of five of these awards. even after so many it still means the world to him, halfway up the eiffel tower there. i still have the motivation to be cristiano, to play with happiness, so the main word is happy. enjoy myself. i‘m still motivated and i play in a fantastic club and a fantastic national team, so let‘s see what the future brings. at this moment i‘m very happy. it was a lowest ever crowd at arsenal‘s emirates stadium, but the 30,000 that did turn up were treated to six of the best as arsenal warmed up for the knock out phase of the europa league, thrashing bartey borisov of belarus. the gunners were already through long ago, hence the crowd of 30,000, although lots of clubs would be pleased with that. a cracking strike from a 20—year—old! and at last a win in europe for everton. it‘s far too late for them to go through, but young ademola lookman looked the part in cyprus. everton gave debuts to five youngsters in the 3—0 win, as they now prepare to face liverpool in the merseyside derby at the weekend. plenty more to get through. i will be back with more at 8:30 a.m.. borisjohnson will boris johnson will travel to borisjohnson will travel to tehran today to call for the release of a british iranian woman who has been imprisoned there since last year. she is accused of spying, charges which she denies. her husband is in al london studio. last time we spoke to you was a few weeks ago and you we re very to you was a few weeks ago and you were very keen that borisjohnson made this trip. you think it will be very significant when it comes to the release or at least the hint of a release of nazanin? that's right. i was calling for the last couple of weeks, if only he could get there on time, and now he is managing to get there before her trial. so great and hopefully he will be able to meet with iranian government officials, maybe with people from the judiciary, and maybe with nazanin herself. but just to judiciary, and maybe with nazanin herself. butjust to really press herself. butjust to really press her case and do what he can to bring him home. have you had a chance to speak to nazanin recently? the last time was on tuesday. that thing we didn‘t know when he was going and she was asking if i had any news. also very up and down and really looking with trepidation towards the court appearance. what does she hope this trip will bring about in terms of... does she know it is happening before the court appearance? i'm not sure if she does know. i haven‘t spoken to her. she was really looking forward to anything he could do to get her home. i don‘t think she was in a place where she was especially strategic, just clutching onto any straw as to what might get out of this terrible situation. have you had any hint from the foreign secretary that he is able to have any influence, in terms of her release, or what he intends to save there? my understanding is that he will obviously be pressing for her humanitarian release, so we‘ll be calling for her release on humanitarian grounds, and he has been clear that he will do is best. the details, i‘m expecting to know more afterwards. and there was also this... the comments that he had made in regards to what your wife was doing in iran. hinting that she was doing in iran. hinting that she was their training journalists, that he then apologised for. have you spoken to him about that? in the wa ke spoken to him about that? in the wake of those comments it was important that he apologised and he went out there and is now making face—to—face clear representations. we talked about that briefly when i met within three ago. but at this point i think the visit is the crucial thing and hopefully he unlocks something for nazanin. do you know what he will say, when he will say it and how it will be receive with whoever he is meeting? i‘m waiting on tenterhooks. hopefully tomorrow will go well and hopefully sunday won‘t go badly. i‘m watching closely what happens in iran and expect to hear on monday how things have gone. richard, you‘re a friend of the programme, we will speak to you soon and we wish you well and we hope the trip is accessible for nazanin. thank you. here‘s carol with a look at this morning‘s weather. icame i came through snow this morning. you weren‘t the only one, good morning. many parts of the north and west have seen morning. many parts of the north and west have seen snow morning. many parts of the north and west have seen snow overnight, as well as the midlands and our weather watchers have been doing us proud. this picture sent in this morning of staffordshi re this picture sent in this morning of staffordshire and another one from northern ireland, this one from cou nty northern ireland, this one from county down, you can see the depth of the snow. some parts have had seven of the snow. some parts have had seven centimetres, some two centimetres and some have seen nothing. storm caroline has pushed off towards scandinavia but if you look at the isobars, still quite tightly packed, so another windy day, the wind coming from a cold direction, namely the north—west or the north, flooding right across our shores. for some parts, the north, flooding right across our shores. forsome parts, especially england and wales, 10 degrees colder thanit england and wales, 10 degrees colder than it was this time yesterday. snow showers persist, the risk of ice on untreated surfaces first thing, and we have the snow showers in scotland, and with the strong winds here there is likely to be blizzards and drifting snow and most snow coming in across northern ireland and that will continue into the afternoon. inbetweener there will be sunshine but it will feel bitter. snow showers bitter in the north of scotland. in between them there will be some sunshine and for there will be some sunshine and for the rest of scotland away from the west, mostly dry. for northern england this afternoon, mostly dry but we could get some snow flurries in the east but it won‘t lie, snow showers in cheshire, shropshire, but the midlands, east anglia, heading to the south coast, a lot of dry, cold and sunny weather. southern counties, especially to the west of the isle of wight, we aren‘t immune to some of the snow showers, especially around the moors in the south—west and the showers persist in wales. we will see the total is building up. that will continue as we go through the night as the snow showers keep coming in on the wind. the wind not as strong but it will be blustery and a lot of dry weather around. lots of clear skies and the risk of ice where we have the damp surfaces and these are the temperatures you can expect in towns and cities but in rural areas they will be lower and with overlying snow they will be lower. tomorrow, largely dry, a lot of cold, crisp winter sunshine, still some showers and a similar distribution to today. the north and west mainly. the wind won‘t be as strong and the temperatures, freezing where we have lying snow, and five, six and seven as we come further south. you can see the system coming in, that on its leading edge on sunday will bring more of us more snow. thanks, carol! victoria, talking about business, we are hearing about brexit, we know it is moving on to the trade talks. a significant moment but also has wider significance? it does. good morning. we‘ve had comments from lots of business groups this morning saying they welcome the certainty this move gives them and the chancellor says today‘s announcement is a boost for britain‘s economy. it gives more clarity with regard to investment and jobs, thejobs clarity with regard to investment and jobs, the jobs that are in the uk that people were worried might move elsewhere. but the devil as a lwa ys move elsewhere. but the devil as always is in the detail. we‘ve had the red hot headlines, but all we have seen is an agreement on the terms and the words. for people like investors and employers and businesses, ordinary employees, they need action, don‘t they? they need to work out what this means for them. it‘s no real surprise that we haven‘t seen a huge result in the market today so far. no real moves in the market. you talked about the relationship between the pound and the ftse100, the pound normally gets a boost but the main listed companies don‘t? gets a boost but the main listed companies don't? exactly. what's been interesting today, we thought we would get a big rally because we had this big breakthrough, actually we‘ve seen a bit of the reverse when the announcement first came out. it's the announcement first came out. it‘s this classic by the rumour and sell the facts. we‘ve known something was going to come out. we‘ve seen a fall in the value of the pound over the last few minutes. it's the pound over the last few minutes. it‘s pretty much flat now. it‘s just the beginning, isn‘t it crazy it will be a long old process. victoria, thanks very much. —— isn‘t it crazy. for more than 100 years, high street retailers have tried to outdo each other at christmas, creating lavish window displays to pull in shoppers. but with more of us buying online, is the art of window dressing still revela nt? breakfast‘s tim muffett‘s in oxford for us this morning. he is the window dressing. we are in boswell‘s department store, the old est boswell‘s department store, the oldest independent family run department store in the world, first started trading in 1738 and they‘ve kindly allowed us to bring a bit of brea kfast festive kindly allowed us to bring a bit of breakfast festive magic. we are addressing the theme of bbc brea kfast addressing the theme of bbc breakfast meets jack and the beanstalk. we are talking about christmas windows. for more than 100 yea rs christmas windows. for more than 100 years and retailers have been doing it, some shops and flagship shops spend tens of thousands of pounds on them. but given the competition from online shopping, is it worth all that effort and all that money? i‘ve been finding out. regent street in london... it's regent street in london... it‘s almost midnight and holly is overseeing her 50th christmas window installation. there, the scheme is based around a magician‘s show. a magician‘s show based in a theatre. we‘ve got a changing mannequin with a rotating wall and a hovering mannequin in the right—hand window as well. every year is the bar getting higher and higher? we‘re certainly finding an increase in the use of animatronics, the movement, certain tricks. why go to all this effort? with more and more consumers shopping online it‘s a really important way to drive customers and traffic to the store. the first christmas windows appeared in macy‘s store in new york in the 18 eighties. the christmas season is a window dresser delight... the idea spread. for generations of families a trip to see them or they treat in itself. today big flagship stores often spend more than £50,000 on christmas windows. just in one shop. this is the most important time of year to sell, so you‘ve got to pull the customer into your store, attract them and make them want to buy. their essential because they‘re kind of this nostalgic and emotional cell to try to help the retailer attract you. the thing we can do in stores is bea you. the thing we can do in stores is be a human being and serve and interact with people, so that‘s our advantage online. but online sales accounted for a quarter of all christmas shopping last december according to the british retail consortium, and that share is expected to grow. so in harrogate in yorkshire, independent shops have ramped up their christmas window competition. more than 100 have taken part. competition. more than 100 have ta ken part. the competition. more than 100 have taken part. the judging competition. more than 100 have taken part. thejudging panel‘s also been refreshed. it includes design student story and 0livier, both 18. it gets, like, the younger generation involved. it gets, like, the younger generation involvedlj it gets, like, the younger generation involved. i don't think ourage generation involved. i don't think our age really take a lot of notice in what's around them and i think when you have a shot like all of this and all the beautiful lights so well decorated it catches the eye and it makes us want to stop and turn and makes us appreciate what you don't get to see online. what was it about this window that made it the winner? it howled all the elements we were looking for, lights, creativity and the christmas spirit. it was all there. we wanted to involve our customers in the window and they sent in their favourite christmas memories. emotive and eye—catching, all a christmas window should be. back in london holly‘s design is ready. bigger budget, same name. a lot of the good designs are going to be shared on various platforms of social media. if people like something, they‘re going to share it. digital technology might threaten the high street but it also allows shoppers to capture its christmas magic. interesting to see how important it is to get the image digitally shared and here this morning max, the designer here in boswells, what significance does a christmas window have for you? the christmas windows for us area have for you? the christmas windows for us are a really good way of engaging the people on the street and getting people really far into the store to shop the different products we have at boswells. such an old and historic store. this morning you kindly let us come around with your creative vision, we have the bbc breakfast wrapping paper and the jack and the beanstalk theme, a bbc breakfast bauble as well, what can you do each year to do things differently? because we are such a small independent it means we can work reactively rather than have to plan the christmas windows months and months in advance so we can see windows months and months in advance so we can see what‘s going on in the local community. jack and the beanstalk is at the oxford playhouse at the moment so it means we can connect with the local area and make all sorts of fabulous changes to the store. some of the budgets for some of the big flagship stores in the big city centres, tens of thousands of pounds, some departments spend over £100,000. 0bviously your budget is smaller but does that make you more creative in a way? no matter how much money you have to spend you have to be creative because you have to make something eye—catching for people to want to come into the store, you want them to be photographed by people going past. the fact we have a small budget means we have to make a lot of the proximal in—house rather than getting other companies to make them. max, thanks for letting us, and invade your lovely space. hopefully in an hour it will be finished and i want to focus on this, the bbc breakfast wrapping paper. pulled along by some reindeers. you know what, that certainly gets me in the festive spirit. i can feel the creative juices flowing. it is fabulous! very politely put! we will have more from this later. by 9:15am it will look amazing. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news, i‘m victoria hollins. persistent failings, including violence and drugs, have been found at wormwood scrubs, that‘s according to a new report by inspectorate of prisons. the west london jail was found to have high levels of serious violence, chronic staff shortages and filthy conditions. it‘s the third time in three years serious concerns have been raised by prison inspectors. the government says it‘s taking action to reduce levels of violence, including the recruitment of 120 extra officers. the families of children who go to a respite centre in watford are starting a new legal fight to save it. it follows another decision by the nhs to stop funding care at nascot lawn. a legal challenge in the high court was postponed earlier this year, when the nhs said it would review the decision. but health bosses have once again decided to withdraw the money, putting the centre—back at risk of closure. shoppers have been warned after counterfeit goods worth millions of pounds were seized by border force officers in the run—up to christmas. at heathrow, a haul of 16,000 gillett razor blades worth nearly £150,000 were seized. counterfeit goods are destroyed and the rights holders can then decide whether to privately prosecute the importers. let‘s have a look at the travel situation now. all lines on the tube are running good services. a reminder on london 0verground, no service from gospel 0ak to barking because of planned engineering works. gatwick express have delays of up to 20 mins and some cancellations between victoria and brighton following a signalling problem. 0n the roads, a13 slow moving westbound from dagenham to barking, that‘s down to the usual delays. it has improved in the last half an hour, though, so not so bad. chelsea embankment is closed westbound for roadworks between chelsea bridge and battersea bridge. let‘s have a check on the weather now with elizabeth rizzini. hello, good morning. today is going to feel mighty chilly, a big plunge in temperatures of up to 10 celsius in some areas from where we were yesterday. feeling bitterly cold, a chilly north—westerly wind but if you wrap up warm it won‘t be too bad, quite pretty, sunshine around and lots of blue sky but always the chance of seeing one or two flakes of snow falling wherever you are across the capital but particularly in this line here we may well see some wintry showers and they‘re most likely to fall in north—western areas of the capital. highs between 3—5 only and it will feel colder than that of course with the wind chill. now, through this evening and overnight those showers where we see them are likely to die away. clear skies, we‘ll see temperatures dropping low enough for a widespread frost, some areas perhaps as low as —3. a very cold start to saturday. still feeling cold on saturday too. lots of sunshine around, a ridge of high pressure. on sunday we may well see problems caused by this band of rain coming in from the west, that could well fall as snow, particularly towards northern areas of the capital. further south, more likely to fall as rain but watch this space. i‘m back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. bye for now. i believe this is in the best interests of both the eu and the uk. today's result is of course a compromise. good morning — it‘s friday 8th december. more on those developments on the brexit trade negotiations throughout the morning. also this morning... firefighters are stretched to the limit and nearly 200,000 residents are evacuated in california, as more wildfires break out. in sport, ronaldo rules again. for the second year running, and fifth time overall, christiano ronaldo has been named the world‘s best player, pipping messi to lift the golden ball, up the eiffel tower. and the winner is... coventry! a night of celebration for coventry, after it is awarded the next uk city of culture. snow has been falling overnight — with warnings of disruption today. carol has the full forecast. we have had snow across the north and the west of the uk, also around the midlands. it is snowing in birmingham at the moment, as you can see from our weather watcher‘s picture. there is the risk of ice and it is still windy, with blizzards across the far north of scotland. more details in about 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. "sufficient progress" has been made in the first stage of the brexit negotiations, allowing talks to move onto the subject of trade and transition — that‘s the news breaking from brussels this morning. after hours of discussions and telephone calls late through the night, theresa may flew to brussels early this morning to announce that she‘d secured an agreement on the future of the irish border. getting to this point has required give and take on both sides. and i believe that the joint report being published is in the best interests of the whole of the uk. i very much welcome the prospect of moving ahead to the next phase, to talk about trade and security and to discuss the positive and ambitious future relationship that is in all of our interests. she was speaking there alongside the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker. he said the discussions had been challenging and compromises had been challenging and compromises had been made on both sides. been challenging and compromises had been made on both sideslj been challenging and compromises had been made on both sides. i believe we have now made a breakthroughjust two days result is, of course, a compromise. it is the result of a long and intense discussion between commission negotiators and those of the uk. as in any negotiation, both sides have to listen to each other. jean—claude juncker there, that joint press conference happening just over an hour ago. in a moment we will get the latest from westminster with chris mason. but first of all our correspondent was in the room in brussels, as that press co nfe re nce in the room in brussels, as that press conference took place. we knew it was no ordinary morning this morning, there were phone calls at four o‘clock in the mooring to the correspondence like yourselves, an early morning flight double theresa may landing, and then a significant moments — the trade talks will now go ahead? yes, it feels like i have done a days work already, charlie, at it is still early! this is a joint report produced by the negotiators for both sides. it is 50 pages long and it spells out all the commitments and compromises that have been made by both sides to get to this point. this morning is going to this point. this morning is going to be about officials from the member states going through this document, seeing what they think about it, the idea being that they will then publish another document in the next couple of hours which will be the blueprint for the start of the trade talks. before people get too excited and pop the champagne, which incidentally theresa may and jean—claude juncker did not do this morning over brea kfast, did not do this morning over breakfast, donald tusk, the man who chairs the european union summit, he said this was the easy part. said working out the divorce issues was easy. rebuilding the relationship between the eu and the uk on trade, security, defence, all that stuff, he says, is going to be much, much harder edit will have to be done very, very quickly. he said effectively there was less than a year to get all this stuff sorted out. in terms of the things that jumped out at me from this document from a quick first read of it, on citizens rights, it looks like there is good to be a role for the european court of justice is good to be a role for the european court ofjustice in the uk perhaps for up to eight years after the uk has left the eu, although it may only affect a handful of cases. so it may not be a very big role. and then northern ireland, the thing that held up the talks this week, how to avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, it does seem they have managed to find some language that gets them over the hurdle politically, but what it means in practice it might be some time before we can find out. thank you. we can speak to our political correspondent chris mason in westminster now. chris, to some extent, there will be a huge sigh of relief, because this was a real sticking point for theresa may and the dup leader, arlene foster, wasn‘t it? but this is the start of even tougher negotiations which are about to begin down we absolutely. yes, there will be huge sighs of relief, that will be the sentiment coming out of the british government or day—to—day. then there will be rather a lot of people who have been involved in all of this who might just want the rise sleep. but then, crucially, we're going to get into a very big and very complicated and unprecedented negotiation over the uk's future relationship with the european union. and of course, that is what really matters. this first stage was really unpacking our existing relationship. obviously a necessary part of the processor, but what really matters in terms of the flavour of brexit, if you like, that we are going to end up with, what our relationship is going to be like with our nearest neighbours for the next generation or so, what happens, starting in the new year, on a relatively tight timetable, is going to be absolutely crucial and hugely contentious and will matter a great deal for the biggest of reasons, for jobs and investment and for the state of the economy. to give you some sense of the timeline, because as ever in politics weekly one hurdle and immediately the next horizon appears for the future, the expectation is that something around a trade deal is going to have to be making a lot of progress by the autumn of next year. because the uk leaves the european union in march of 2019, and by the autumn it needs to have started making progress. so, there's still a huge amount to do and huge negotiations to come. but from the prime minister's perspective, a huge achievement overnight. thank you very much, we will be keeping a close eye on this throughout the morning and keeping you up to date. a number of new wildfires have started in southern california, stretching firefighters to the limit. nearly 200,000 people have now been evacuated from their homes. planes have been diverted to one of the latest blazes in the county of san diego, and officials say more than a00 buildings have been destroyed. 0ur north america correspondent james cook reports. the american west was never really tamed. to weather here was always wild and dangerous. and in a warming world, it seems to be getting worse. well, the wind hasjust world, it seems to be getting worse. well, the wind has just picked world, it seems to be getting worse. well, the wind hasjust picked up here in the last few minutes and the fire is really flaring up on the hillside and pushing along this canyon. there are some homes down there. we can hear shouts in the valley. there are some families refusing to leave. the walkers are among them. they wouldn‘t answer the door, they stayed inside, intent on staying put, despite the danger lurking nearby. at least two dozen horses have died in this fire, which is the worst here in living memory. in the exclusive suburb of bel—air, they attacked the fire is aggressively, successfully saving scores of homes. musician lila ritchie and the socialite alice hylton were among those forced to flee. every firefighting aircraft in the united states has been summoned to california. and they‘re making a big difference. in times of crisis, some extraordinary moments of compassion. here, a man apparently in distress runs to rescue a rabbit. 0ne in distress runs to rescue a rabbit. one little life saved. several new fires have broken out in the past few hours. containing them is if you presume an effort. mother nature is likely to have the last word. a "day of rage" is being planned by palestinians angered by america‘s recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. around 30 demonstrators were injured in clashes with israeli forces in the west bank yesterday. the us has warned palestinians against cancelling talks with vice—president mike pence, who will visit the middle east in less than two weeks‘ time. a student who died weeks after starting at university was failed by "every nhs organisation that should have cared for her", a review has found. averil hart, who was 19, died of a heart attack caused by anorexia in 2012. the parliamentary and health service ombudsman says her death could and should have been prevented. nhs england has apologised, and says it‘s making "real progress" with eating disorder services. snow, ice and windy conditions are set to sweep across large parts of the uk today, as storm caroline heads towards scandinavia. severe gales have already caused disruption to air, rail and ferry services. yellow "be aware" weather warnings have been issued across much of scotland, northern ireland, wales and north—west england — with up to eight inches of snow expected in some areas. prison inspectors have found high levels of serious violence, chronic staff shortages and filthy conditions at one of britain‘s biggest jails, wormwood scrubs, for the third year in a row. they also found areas of the west london prison, which houses 1,200 inmates, were strewn with litter, attracting rats and cockroaches. the ministry ofjustice says it has taken "decisive action" to address the problems. coventry has been chosen as the uk city of culture for 2021. it beat submissions from paisley, stoke—on—trent, sunderland and swansea to win the title. the bid team said their plans were "about changing the reputation of a city" as well as hosting a year of cultural celebration. there‘s a0 million people within two hours of driving time. we‘re going to do something incredibly special and give something to the uk. scientists working in the arctic believe they may have discovered why some whales repeatedly become stranded. researchers tracked narwhals, also known as "sea unicorns", which had been released after becoming entangled in fishing nets. they found that when the whales became frightened, blood—flow was restricted to their brains, causing the animals to become confused and disorientated as they tried to swim away. let‘s have a look at the weather. what is the picture, carol? in the midlands, as you can see from our weather watcher‘s picture, from halesowen, i think is how you pronounce it, but we have got some other ones as well... this one is from aviemore, the snow is starting to pile up. this is what we currently have. we‘ve currently got ten centimetres. and in other areas. . . some of us have got no centimetres! the back edge of storm caroline is still pushing a lot of isobars across our shores, so still pushing a lot of isobars across our shores, so today is going to be windy. it is from a cold direction. for some of us, the temperature now compared to yesterday is a good 13 degrees lower. that is quite a shock to the system. so, with the strong winds, blizzards across the far north of scotland, with drifting snow. the wind is strong, so some of those snow showers are getting over to the east. in northern ireland, the snow showers will be on and off throughout the day, and in between, there will be some sunshine. across northern ireland, in between the showers there will be some sunny cramps but it will feel bitter. for the rest of scotland, away from the west, dry with some sunshine. the same for most of northern england and as we sweep down to the midlands, east anglia and the south—east of england. week could have a wintry flurry over towards the east, however. towards southern counties as we go through the course of the day, some snow showers but we do not expect it to lie. across wales as well, further snow showers to come, interspersed with sonny skies. overnight the winds will be using, with snow showers coming in again, in the same areas, being driven in on the wind. there will be some ice on untreated surfaces in the west. if you‘re somewhere with lie-in the west. if you‘re somewhere with lie—in snow, it will feel much colder than that. tomorrow, a .gov dry weather and crisp winter sunshine. it will be a beautiful day but it will feel cold. there will still be snow showers coming in across the north and the west, but not as many or as frequent as today. then you can see this next system waiting in the wings. there‘s still some uncertainty about this, but on sunday as it comes in it will introduce warmer air into the south—west, and rain. as it pushes northwards on the leading edge we expect some snow. exactly where that will be is still open to question. but we think at the moment it will be northern ireland and parts of wales, north of the ma corridor, heading north—east. that‘s your forecast. it‘s a dilemma all parents face — finding the right words for those awkward conversations with your teenager about sex, drugs and alcohol. and even if you think you‘ve had the chat — your child may not have taken it on board. new research from the national citizen service suggests there‘s a communication mismatch between parents and teens — so mums and dads believe they‘ve broached the tricky topics, but young people don‘t think they actually have. here‘s what some teenagers in manchester think. ifind it quite i find it quite easy. ifind it quite easy. me i find it quite easy. me and ifind it quite easy. me and my i find it quite easy. me and my mum are close. we talk quite a lot about are close. we talk quite a lot about a lot of things. i find it quite hard, a lot of things. ifind it quite hard, because i'm pretty comfortable talking about it, but my mum is very traditional. so she is the one who normally gets embarrassed. i feel like it easier to speak to your friends about it, it is less awkward because they are your friends and they are more understanding. i would friends and they are more understanding. iwould rather go friends and they are more understanding. i would rather go to a friend than a parent sometimes. when you don‘t want to listen to what they have to say, you just don‘t let them talk. i feel awkward to speak about things like that with my parents, but with my friends i feel like they go through the same things as what i am going through, but the parents are a lot older than me. i zone out. sometimes it makes me cringe. if your mum is trying to explain it to you you must listen because she knows best, doesn't she? yes, she does! let‘s talk to anna colton, a clinical psychologist who was involved with this research, and to caroline newns and her son joe. good morning, everyone. doctor, can we start with you? just about this research. what does it tell us? as we we re research. what does it tell us? as we were just hearing, i suppose it is quality not quantity, isn‘t it? it is about what is being said rather than when and how often. exactly right. the key is that it is setting up the situation for the conversation. if there is a drip drip over months and years, conversations are acceptable, you are more likely to find that during the teenage years your children talk to you. if these things are not approached and all of a sudden it is approached and all of a sudden it is a monologue or diatribe it‘ll be a less comfortable conversation and it‘ll be less well received. young people will feeljudged. they feel like their parents disapproved. that‘s not a situation they want to put themselves in. whereas if there is an openness, and an openness leading up to the teenage years, where all sorts of topics are discussed and they are not a drama, those conversations, when needed, which will be much more well received and much easier to have. welcome to the sofa this morning. brave of you to come in. some families might be thinking that it isa families might be thinking that it is a tricky situation to even talk about it, and you are the expert in this, what is the right way and what is the wrong way? is it easy to know what is the wrong way? as far as talking to your child orjust a younger person, you must understand that it younger person, you must understand thatitis younger person, you must understand that it is a two—way thing. when a child comes to a parent nowadays they are notjust child comes to a parent nowadays they are not just looking for the right answer, they are not just looking to be told exactly what it is they should be doing, they want an open dialogue where they can discuss how they feel about a topic, how the parents feel about a topic. because the parents, where they are the knowledge source, there is a disconnect in that they have a different perspective on things because of the age difference. you just said such a lovely thing about your mum. you are the knowledge source, apparently! chuckles that‘s a lovely thing to say. in some cases you might think the other way, teenagers might think, i do remember being a teenager, and you think you know, don‘t you? remember being a teenager, and you think you know, don't you? yes. you assume that because you are the person living in the day and age where this is your problem, you assume that you are the only person, the only age group, capable of understanding it. but it's definitely the case that people of all generations have been through similar issues. to understand that and approach that, and to approach your parents with the understanding they can still help you with a topic, although it might be more difficult to discuss, it's definitely necessary. that's the tricky part, isn‘t it? say you are having a conversation about sex, a break—up, people have been through that, but you went through it differently, sometimes people don‘t wa nt to differently, sometimes people don‘t want to hear, well, i know exactly what you are feeling. you are right. that is what you do not say. what anna said about starting a conversation when they are young, getting used to having a dialogue, thatis getting used to having a dialogue, that is key. you've always had that relationship? since a very young age we have always, it's always been encouraged that talk about howl feel, talk about my opinions about various different topics, whether it be intimate things like sexual relations, orjust things like politics, whole range have been encouraged as topics of conversation, really. i've grown up with the idea of being comfortable. do you have a certain role when it comes to you and your partner, what his dad looks after, and what you look after, is there a natural ' ? look after, is there a natural split? what do you think? i wouldn't say it is either way. both my mum and dad! say it is either way. both my mum and dad i feel very comfortable talking to. again, just because i've been brought up by both of them to been brought up by both of them to be used to talking about the variety of topics. but i do lean towards things, such as political conversations, i will lean towards my mum. things like technology which me and my dad share an interest in, i will talk to him about... yes, sometimes people might feel more naturally inclined to talk to a certain parent about more intimate issues. sometimes the child mother relationship might be easier, but i don't see it like that. doctor, can i ask you, at what point, the notion of having a family, and this is a good example of people who have a lwa ys good example of people who have always talked. you have to respect that young people don‘t necessarily wa nt to that young people don‘t necessarily want to talk about everything as well, don‘t you? want to talk about everything as well, don't you? absolutely. part of the process of adolescence and growing up is separating from your pa rents. growing up is separating from your parents. it‘s a tricky thing to negotiate because, of course, when young people are in a vulnerable situation they are feeling shaky. they want to be contained and held. but sometimes it‘s not appropriate. but sometimes it‘s not appropriate. but it‘s really appropriate use peers as a support. that is the process of adolescence. you are right, they don‘t always want to go to their parents, and not everything should, but it is about being available when they need it and when they choose to use it. thank you very much. my apologies for interrupting. thank you all for your time this morning. we are covering events out of brussels this morning. the irish prime minister is making a statement from dublin, let‘s listen. ...0rany 0rany other or any other part of the european union, all they have to do is exercise their right to irish and eu citizenship. the common travel area will continue, allowing us to travel freely between britain and ireland. british and irish citizens will continue to have the freedom to live, work, study, access housing, pensions, and welfare in each other‘s countries as though we were citizens of both. the united kingdom has committed to avoiding a hard board as an overarching requirement with which any future arrangements must be compatible. —— hard border. there will be no checks or controls. three options have been set out as to how this can be achieved. 0ur preferred option is a deep and comprehensive agreement between the eu and the uk in its entirety, which will allow us to trade as we do now. however, that might not be possible. there is a backstop arrangement in place. in which northern ireland and perhaps all of the uk will maintain full alignment with the rules of the internal market and customs union, which are relevant for the avoidance ofa which are relevant for the avoidance of a border, and the island economy. people in businesses in northern ireland are being given the additional assurance that the uk government will ensure northern ireland business will continue to have unfettered access to the whole of the uk, and that no new barriers will develop between northern ireland and great britain, unless the northern ireland executive and assembly agreed to it. northern ireland and great britain will not drift apart. peace and funding will continue into 2021. we will all favourably examined continuing it beyond that. the united kingdom has committed to ensuring that in northern ireland there is no diminution of the human rights safeguards and equality of opportunity set out in european law. there will continue to be a distinct strand in ireland in the phase two of these negotiations. i hope soon to see the restoration of the northern ireland executive and the council. these institutions will be a vital voice as we move forward together into phase two of the brexit talks. i want to particular this morning to recognise the concerns of the unionist community in ireland. i want to ensure that the irish government has no hidden agenda. there is no question of us trying to exploit brexit as a means of moving towards a united ireland without consent. —— unionist community in northern ireland. we do not want to see a border anywhere. we wa nt not want to see a border anywhere. we want to build bridges, not borders. we want free travel on free trade to continue as it does now and has done for the past 20 years. we wa nt has done for the past 20 years. we want reconciliation and respect to grow. 0urguiding want reconciliation and respect to grow. 0ur guiding light and our only ambition throughout has been to ensure that the provisions of the good friday agreement continue to operate in full after brexit. and that people can go about their normal lives and businesses as before, just as they have done for the past 20 years. in particular, the past 20 years. in particular, the agreement we have reached explicitly recognises the provisions of the good friday agreement with regard to the constitutional status of northern ireland and the principle of consent. this principle is the foundation stone of the new relationships we have built on this ireland and will continue to build in the future. to the nationalist people in northern ireland, i want it assure you we have protected your interests throughout these negotiations, and will continue to do so. your birthright, as irish citizens, and therefore as europeans has been protected. there will be no ha rd has been protected. there will be no hard border, and you never will be left behind by an irish government again. these rights will be available to everybody in northern ireland who chooses to exercise his or her right to be an irish citizen, regardless of their political persuasion or religious beliefs. in conclusion i want to thank my collea g u es conclusion i want to thank my colleagues in government. the officials and diplomats in the department of foreign affairs and trade. and the ministerfor department of foreign affairs and trade. and the minister for european affairs, helen mcatee, for their ha rd affairs, helen mcatee, for their hard work and commitment in the months gone by. the government has been united and firm in its resolve. i‘d also like to thank the opposition leaders for the very practical support they have offered in recent months. by using their contacts with cystic parties across europe. i want to recognise the new negotiations led by michel barnier as well as donald tusk and jean—claude juncker. —— sister parties across europe. their contribution has been invaluable and beyond what we had hoped for. it has been the illustration of the values of the european union and why small countries are better off in the eu. it puts beyond any doubt that our future lies in the european union at the heart of the common european hold we hope to build. to our neighbours in britain, our neighbours, and colleagues, i value your concerns, your goodwill, and you‘re good faith. i know the irish issues are on your agenda, but they are among many challenges brexit imposes for your country and your people. ireland has always respected your democratic decision to leave the european union. and we‘ve always shared common interests in peace, free trade, free movement, and prosperity for everybody on these islands. and i can assure you of the continued friendship and good will of the irish government and irish people in the months and years ahead. speaks gaelic. studio: the press conference shortly after that news breaking from brussels that sufficient progress has been made on the talks between the uk and the rest of the eu in order to progress to the next stage of the talks. leo varadkar saying that the deal has achieved all we set out to achieve. he also spoke about the importance for northern ireland businesses to have full access to the uk. the issue of the border between the irish republic and northern ireland has been a sticking point in getting this preliminary deal done. it was one of three main issues. there was the issue of the northern ireland border, the issue of citizens right, both uk citizens elsewhere in the uk and eu citizens currently in the uk. if you see the language that is there in the paragraphs, it talks about the commitment to avoiding a ha rd about the commitment to avoiding a hard border. that commitment is overarching and stands in all circumstances. the strongest commitment which exists in this document is that political commitment there is the complicated business of negotiating treaties between the european union and the... the way we saw phase one was making sure that we narrowed the para meters was making sure that we narrowed the parameters within which agreement could be made and we got the guarantees and assurances that we needed and we have those now but this will continue for months and even this will continue for months and eve n yea rs . this will continue for months and even years. we wanted to protect assuring citizens‘ rights and the common travel area to make sure there would not be a